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Monday night in the NFL and Heed the Call has you covered. Is it time to take the Patriots for real as a true Super Bowl contender? Also, the power rankings are back.

And I'll tell you what, Sessie's all over the map this week. Well, I got in a little bit of trouble with the power rankings, and I get it.
It was a spicy meatball. It's time to heed the call.

Welcome to Heed the Call, an NFL podcast. I'm Dan Hansis.
Mark Sessler

is here. Justin Graver also is here on the ones and twos

on Monday night.

You know,

I'm going to try. I'm going to try, Mark.
I'm going to do my very best

not to be a jerk.

Okay. After Monday Night Football.

I'm going to give it everything that I got. What B is in your bonnet? To just try to

rein it in. Okay.

All right. After the Patriots' 33-15 win over the 2-10 Giants,

again, I'm just going to try to be cool. I'm going to that

any personal biases that I might have could be

irksome to the broader listenership. So I'm going to just try to rein it in.

Sure.

But I do want to share the upcoming schedule of the New England Patriots.

Week 14, bye.

Week 15, the Girl Scouts of New Hampshire.

Week 16, it's a group of WEI Colin trivia contest winners.

Week 17, Jets.

Week 18, they're going to play a collection of leftover cardboard crowd cutouts from COVID.

I think they're going to get the one seed, the Patriots.

Okay, I'm pissed. I'm so sick of watching the Patriots play tomato cans.

And then I got to listen to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman and Scott Van Pelt falling over themselves explaining to us how brilliant the Patriots are.

And oh, Mike Vrabel, he's about fun, but he's also serious. And Drake May, he's an MVP.
And the Patriots, they're what an incredible team. Am I?

I'm on crazy pills because how can anyone make any type of true judgment that this team is a juggernaut when their actual schedule here's their actual schedule mark?

And I tried and I failed, and I apologize.

This is the Patriots' schedule

since week five:

Saints, Titans, Browns, Falcons,

Paper Tiger Bucks, Jets,

Nojo Burrow Bengals,

New York Giants with Young Wei Koo kicking the turf.

That's an insane, almost unprecedented row of tomato cans that you couldn't find that many many tomato cans in your local shop, right?

And I just want it to be said that while I respect that the Patriots are 11-2, because there is something to be said for taking care of business, Sest Dog, okay?

Can we please keep it in perspective? Okay, can we please understand that what we're dealing with here is a team that has a schedule that is maybe the easiest in the history of professional football?

I totally disagree.

How can you disagree about the schedule?

That's what I think.

I guess I'm not using, I'm not going to lean on the schedule as

a device to dismiss them.

I'm not dismissing them. I'm just saying.
But that's not like I,

you're not wrong that the schedule, if you look at the teams you just named, is advantageous, but they're hammering these teams for the most part.

They're well coached. They're young.
They've got a bunch of

really interesting young players. Their quarterback is a rising star.
And just because they're gushing over Vrabel, and I know that

you view me as one

prone to gushing over Vrabel,

he's figured something out with this team and it's happened really quickly. So I'm not trying to mimic what Aikman and Buck said after the telecast.
I do agree that was a little gushy, but

they're not. I don't feel that they're fake and that we're going to find out suddenly that they're a complete fake operation.
Like, this is a good team that's like growing together.

I think that, like, the one thing that Vrabel's done, that a lot of coaches, we see it all over the league, they can't do it.

They can't get these, this group of younger people that are like 30 years younger than them to

unify and play this way. And I think this team is like, I think it's annoying, obviously,

because

we just did the Patriots thing for two decades but this to me and tell me if I'm totally wrong with the Mike Vrabel thing I think that once in a while you hit on a coach that gets a second job and

absolutely learns from previous mistakes and it in you're you're the Yankees fan so tell me if this correlation is totally off base but like um

Like Joe Torrey coming to the Yankees, like after a couple of failed assignments, like Vrabel just feels dialed in. And I don't think that it's, I don't think he's disingenuous.

I think he did a good job with the Titans, and Justin is here and can tell us that, his own opinion on that.

But right now, he's at the height of his powers, and he seems as a human plugged into these players.

And I think it's hard to connect to millennials, Gen Zers, and all these people that are like in the league right now. And he finds a way to do it.

And the Patriots on the field are responding to that. That's my initial.

Everything that you just said, I agree with. And that's why, and,

you know,

I've said that on this show. Like, I said that Robert Kraft and Patriots management deserve a ton of credit for

they were nosediving with a bad hire in Gerard Mayo. And they said, you know what? The move that most teams would do here is give Mayo a second year, but we're not going to do that.

We're going to realize that Vrabel was the guy we should have hired a year ago, and now he's available still, and we're not going to let him go to the Jets or any other team.

That was a great hire that looks even better now, because I also agree with that.

I think what he's done clearly, and what if you missed it, and what I'm referring to is after the game, and it's a one-sided game that was over by the end of the first quarter for the most part.

The ESPN crew is part of their post-game show. It's not like a ton to talk about when a game is that lopsided.

So they start to fixate a little bit on just a shot of Vrabel in the tunnel waiting for each player to come off the field on their way to the locker room and he's got kind of a celebration and various hugs and handshakes for all of them there's no question about it that he is dialed in with this team he's he's connected with this team and i also agree with you totally that drake may

has

real sup superstars uh potential um so yes i think

I think what it is, there's a lot of things, obviously, but like, I think part of it is I think the Patriots could be legit.

I think the Patriots have a chance, especially this year in this conference,

to make a run. I think I'm just frustrated that we've been waiting for weeks and weeks and weeks

now to see them play a real team. And

so all they've done is win 10 in a row. Like, I'm sick of watching them play bad teams.

And then people talk about Drake May as an MVP or the Patriots as a team that should be number one in power ranks and that stuff.

For me personally, it has reached the point with their schedule, a historically soft schedule, that

I have to hit pause on any type of evaluation on them until we actually see them play a real team. And luckily, their actual schedule does tighten up somewhat.

I think they're still a heavy favorite, Mark, to

be the number one seed at this point because they come at it, they get a buy at a week 14 junction. It doesn't tighten up too much.
Yeah, week 14 by, which is a tough spot to get a buy.

But what happened was until like last week, they were also on top of the schedule, like the healthiest team in the league until their offensive line and Milton Williams went down.

But out of their buy, they get home against Bills. Thank God.

Thank you, Jesus. I can't wait to watch that game.
I think Jesus crafted that plot and plan. Absolutely.
And then they go to Baltimore, which you would think is a

vicious assignment in December, but who knows about the Ravens this year? And then they close at Jets. And with all due respect to Connor or

the Dolphins,

they do struggle with the Dolphins, but it's Dolphins, of course, at home

because that's just been the nature of their schedule. So, you know, this team at 11-2, I think it's very fair to say they're going to

at least get to 13 and maybe even get to 14 wins. And it's a crazy turnaround.

And if you look, their schedule, it flips next year and it's going to be a very difficult schedule. So maybe we'll talk about how it all evened out cosmically in the end.

But yeah, they have taken care of business. And I can't wait to see them play real teams because the Giants are not a real team.
Do you want to talk about them a little bit here? Absolutely.

I think that's that, like, they're, they're maybe run. The Patriots have been fortunate to run into not just non-quality teams, but broken teams.

And for all the hoopla that I verbally created along with Connor about the Giants in the early autumn, like they're a mess. And like, that's to my point a little bit.

Like, it's not that I think that Mike Kafka is, we don't, we don't have a big sample size on him as a head coach. He did some weird stuff tonight.

You know, not going, punting the ball when he should have clearly gone for it late in the game when you're down by like 15 points. What are we doing here? But,

you know, you've got a shaky coaching situation. You've got, you're, you're down to the, you've lost your top two running backs by the end of tonight.

You're, you're missing players all over the place. Your quarterback is learning on the job.

It's a broken team. And you're, And your star defensive player is

not mysteriously, but just

he's been benched. For the second time in three weeks.
Exactly. And so, what's going on there?

Yeah, for discipline issues. And

that speaks to a house that is not in order.

The special teams was an embarrassment in this game, starting with Marcus Jones's

94-yard punt return for a touchdown. I mentioned the Youngway Koo.

Do you have Danny DeVito on the Manningcast reacting to this, Justin? Let it rip. Amazing.
Oh, little.

Kick the ground.

He likes to put one of your fat nine.

Danny DeVito on the Manning cast, sest dog, says, what the hell was that?

He misses the ball, and then he

and then

the poor punter has to scramble for his life. He gets viciously sent to the ground.
And then they ended up giving it not a missed field goal because he didn't touch it.

It was a sack for some guy in the Patriots fresh off the practice squad. I mean, they are blessed and always.

He gets a sack, his first career sack, I would imagine. And I think, like, just like Danny Dimes.

tripping and falling on his way to the end zone about five years ago on a Thursday night football game was like

the the image of that lost era of giants football post-Coughlin. I feel like that's the snapshot, the young way coup miss and then the shot to Jackson Dart on the sideline.

What did he say? Oh my God or whatever?

Yeah, yeah,

yeah. Like I feel like that is, Mark, the snapshot of this very, very deeply lost Giants season.
It is, and it's

another year where the Giants, it's a different group of players, but if you track back, I was just thinking about like the

Daniel Jones years and the Saquon Saquon years, like key players suffering injuries.

Like we always point to the Niners this way, but like they really do seem to be a team that they lose key individuals for a chunk of time. And that's been the case this year.

I think things changed a lot when Scataboo went out. Yeah, but it's more than injuries with the Giants, Mark.
Oh,

it's definitely more, but like that's just not helping. They're a young team.

Like they've got, they're playing a lot of rookies, and those teams go through rough times, but they've also lost a lot of snaps from those guys. I know, but like,

you do bring it up a lot, Mark. Like, injuries are part of football.
All teams have to navigate injuries.

The Giants, and what's shocking to me as someone who grew up in New York with the Giants being the vanguard for what you want a football team to be, they just internally seem sloppy.

And the Abdul Carter situation,

Kayvon Thibodeau at times in his career, you have the firing of the head coach, and then you're firing the DC separately, and the OC is gone, and all that messiness.

And then you, yeah, you have, and then you, when you make all these mistakes, yeah, that's when you're punting on fourth and eight, down 15 with eight minutes to go, or with 90 seconds on the clock.

And Jackson Dart, who, again, this all ties into it, can't stop taking vicious hits from the opposing defense, right? Like he,

who's, somebody's got to get through to this kid. And I just don't trust this organization to be able to preach that because I don't know if he's listening to anyone in that building right now.

Because

who's in that building that you would respect right now if you're a young hotshot rookie like Jackson Dart? Like he's in that game taking shots with 60 seconds to play down 18, dropping back to pass.

And Vrabel and the Patriots, they're laughing. They're sending the house on

fourth and long at midfield with the game over because they're just like, if you're going to try to get a cheap score on us, we're going to come after your golden boy again.

It just, all of it feels like so, especially knowing the history of Giants and Patriots, there's something that I would imagine a Giants fan being very disheartened watching how far apart these organizations are right now.

I'd like, we both have, we talk about this a lot, but like I'm on a thread where there's like three Giants fans going. absolutely effing crazy about what they're seeing.
And

it's a low point, but it's, you're right, you're right in the sense of the messiness of it because it's not just this year. It's been that way after they were very Steelers-like.

And it's like, we're going to keep a coach for 14 years, and he's, you know, through thick and thin. And it's been a lot of transition.
They can't find the right coach.

And they haven't been able to find the right quarterback. Maybe they have now, but you're right.
Like, it's like

the way he plays. And I think it's also youth and it's wanting to make a difference and use your legs to run.
I don't hate that, but you're right. That like we're losing.

These players' careers get truncated when

they get knocked out of like five games in two years so i don't know like i think that it's weird to watch the giants be this way because we grew up with them as a completely different organization yeah and here's the thing about dart dart has hit the scene and uh because he's a new york quarterback who had success and he kind of carries himself the way he does

uh he's got a target on his back and so on top of him not protecting himself you get the idea and you've actually heard opposing players kind of speak to this. Like

they want to go get him. And that's why it's even more imperative that if Mike Kafka can't do it, somebody's got to do it.

Hey, kid, when you're on the sideline, if your feet aren't in bounds, you're trying to get one extra yard on a, and so it's third and

one instead of third and two, like they're going to, they want to knock you out.

Like that's what, that's part of what,

you know, that's part of what this is. Like that game earlier in the season, the prime time

game against against the Eagles, where him and Scataboo are posing shirtless and going crazy at midfield with social media afterwards. Like, all that's fun and exciting, but it's also like,

you know, people, there are people that watch that and they go, okay, we're going to humble that guy. So, I think there's a couple of different things that are putting Dart in additional danger.

And I agree with you. It's kind of weird to see the Giants be so disheveled organizationally.

Anything else from this game? I do love it.

I don't agree. I think we're in a world where, like, with all the analytics stuff, and Greg Olson is going absolutely nuts on it on Twitter over the weekend, and I get it.
I get it. He's right.

Like, you're right. And I'm.
Raiders offensive coordinator?

No.

I can see that you're right with all this. And I'm not, like, I'm not.

I'm on your side with all this, but I love Troy Aikman's utter disdain for analytics. And he brings it up two to three times a game.
And he did tonight. And, like,

I don't know. It's just a voice.
He's not a voice voice from the past, he's a voice from tonight. But

I know that it agitates him, and he's he's not one to hide his agitation. And I find it slightly delicious.
He's like,

he's Troy, right? And that's why

I don't really watch the Manicast ever because I really appreciate the Aikman Buck booth,

which I think is a booth that CBS wishes that Nance and Romo was, where it's two guys that clearly

have warmth and friendship between them. and you feel that camaraderie every Monday night.
But, like,

yeah,

it is, it's, it's funny because it kind of reminds me in Moneyball when

we're talking about Moneyball for the second show in a row, but when they're in the conference room and it's a bunch of old stodgy scouts that are like, no, he's good because he hit 300.

What are you talking about? They're going to sign these two guys that equal one guy. And then,

and then I guess Jonah Hill's character, we're talking about Paul D. Potesta, Paul D.
Podesta again,

or the composite character. He's like, Yeah, but you know, Shay Hillenbrand has a 380 on base percentage, and that's more valuable than hitting 280.

And they're like, they can't wrap their heads around it. I feel like Troy is one of the older guys in that scene.
Yes, well said. But I love Troy.
Troy can do no wrong.

The thing that he does, he actually revels in having the opposite viewpoint of all the analytics. Well, he mentions he's going to get killed for saying it, and he knows.
I mean, you know,

he gets it. He doesn't care.
I think

that makes him very good at what he does. And he has the pelts on the wall because he's literally fing Troy Aikman.

All right.

Should we take a break and then do some news and then do some power rankings? Let's take a lush break and really just enjoy ourselves, stretch.

I feel like I want to go like renegade Connor and put the Patriots like 28 in my pocket. Well, that's the asset.

I want to see after

all this unfurling that you've done with your money. I'm not going to do it.
I'm not going to do it. And people are just going to clickbait this just to bury me.

But I want to underline that the Patriots

and the fans have every right to be excited about what's to come in January. I'm not saying they're going to shit their pants in January when they face a good team.

I just can't even remember the last time they played a good team. I feel like they are, as far as 11-2 teams go, not battle-tested, not truly battle-tested.

And I think as a football fan, I'm excited to see it happen. Starting in two weeks against the Bills, that's going to be a great game.

One battle after another. One battle after another.
Let's take a break and then get to all that fun stuff.

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And honestly, why not go big this year? Forget about another candle. Right.

Get a power reclining sofa for just $9.99, which honestly, that's insane. That's a great deal.
They've got those sploosh chairs for kids. I know Sessler has one on his mind for himself.
I also,

I'm a Bob's guy. I got two outdoor rocking chairs chairs and also got this storage bed for the bedroom.

We have space issues at our house, Mark. And having the storage bed, I can put a bunch of stuff under the bed and forget about it forever, which is my goal.
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All right, we are back. Have we mentioned we have merch now?

The merch sales are going very well, we're told. So, thank you to everyone that has already made purchases.
And you know, Ceci, with the holiday season coming up,

this is the perfect time as we turn the calendar over to December to get on heedthecallpodcast.com and get exclusive merch for the

fan in your life.

Yeah, we get on, we do some cameos, we reach out to fans, they reach out to us and say, you know, like my boyfriend is like loves the show and

cares about you guys and is a loyal listener. Like, what can I do to

bring you closer to that person, to that boyfriend? Well, I mean, this is your

avenue.

Get a t-shirt with a giant photo of Mark Sessler's face. I mean, Merry Christmas Christmas to you.

Probably be pulled over by the cops at some point, but that's okay. We can test that.
Can we talk for a second before we get to news about your shirt right now? I have known you, Mark. Yeah.

And you know I'm a big music fan.

I have known you for 15 years now.

And you know how many times I've seen you wear a shirt with a band on it?

Well, you're going to be annoyed at

why I'm wearing this. And not only are you wearing a band shirt,

it is a very trendy um uh cult

cult favorite the great joy division it's a great t-shirt i love it i'm curious the background i don't remember you talking up joy division in the past take me through it all well certain i would say one thing like from there's only one nugget on the music side of it joy division certainly part of my

youth and like i i do like them i i would agree to your point that i'm not walking around typically in band shirts,

but I am a nerd and I was watching my favorite podcast on YouTube, Odyssey.

We love Odyssey. Their very own fly on the wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade.
And they had Mike Myers on. And Mike Myers was wearing this shirt.

And it was like a late-night impulse buy where I just bought it off of Amazon. I will tell you one thing that annoyed me about that episode, then I'll leave it alone.

They also had Paul Myers, his brother, and both of them had white hair and they almost looked like twins, but they spent almost 90% of the episode talking to Paul Myers about his probably wonderful biography that he wrote about John Candy.

But it's like, I came here to watch Dana Carvey and Mike Myers and Wayne and Garth back together. Yeah, but Mike Myers almost didn't speak, but he was wearing this shirt.

So I thought I was inspired to purchase it. You know what that back? That backstory is totally on brand and it's a great shirt.

I actually was at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena last year, and the headliner on one of the stages was New Order. And if you know music history, Joy Division

was fronted by

Ian Curtis,

who passed away tragically. And then the band broke up and reformed.
Different people from the band reformed as New Order, and they went on to have a ton of hits throughout the 80s.

And they even played Level Terrace Apart, which is a Joy Division classic. That's the biggest hit, right?

I always loved that one. Yeah, that was always my favorite song by this.
But anyway, without further ado, good shirt, Mark. Thanks.

Well, I kind of wore it for you because I kind of was wondering if you would

caught it. Immediately.
Yeah. Immediately.

And for

you as well. We've never seen Mark in a band t-shirt, right?

One of my first thoughts when I saw what Mark was wearing is, wow, what a contrast to last night when he had on the blazer and the button down. And now he's got on like a graphic band tee.

It's pretty cool. I mean, he's all over the map.
To be fair, I said I wore that because my laundry was in a terrible place.

This new shirt arrived today and I'm wearing it. So I think that only adds to the like the concrete,

the factual concrete of that concept.

Factual concrete. Yes, yes, yes.
And meanwhile, Justin is... uh wearing a titans uh hoodie i've never seen justin wear anything else but titans much so

let's do some news. Last person to put up this much yards, guard, rest his soul, was O.J.
Simpson.

Respectfully.

They pay Cam Newton to go on ESPN and talk. God rest his soul.

Play that again.

Watch your Lofsky. Last person to put up this much yards, Garbrest His Soul was OJ Simpson.
Orlovsky's like,

Did you choose to say, God rest his soul about O.J. Simpson on live television? What about the wife and the waiter? Like, maybe God should be focused on that.
Maybe not everybody knows this.

Maybe Cam Newton doesn't know this, but O.J. Simpson was a vicious and habitual domestic abuser

who, when he realized that his ex-wife, who he had beaten for years and mentally tormented, wasn't going to get back with him.

He ambushed her in front of her home, stabbed her to death with their kids sleeping 20 feet away.

And then, when a poor waiter named Ronald Goldman showed up to return this woman, Nicole Brown's mother's eyeglasses left at a restaurant, OJ saw that, and he killed that guy too.

God rest his soul.

God rest his soul. To be fair, the court says that's not what happened, but that was one of the more botched cases of human rights.
He wrote, allegedly.

Allegedly.

Cam Newton, man.

I can't with that dude. No, he's on a heater.

One that we don't need.

It's like a reverse heater for the ages. Yeah.

Reverse broadcasting heater.

It was funny when OJ was like,

when he was found not guilty, he's like, oh, I'm going to spend the rest of my life. hunting for these killers.
And then the first shot the media got of him two days later was him playing golf.

Well, it was the sincerity that we yeah.

Anyway.

So let's start with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They're in crisis. Let's be real.

The fans are calling for the ouster of Mike Tomlin.

And this was tucked away in the postgame. after obviously the disappointing loss on Sunday against the Bills.
But Aaron Rodgers told the media afterwards that, you know, his

teammates, specifically his wide receiver group, has to be a little more plugged in if they're to climb out of this hole they've suddenly found themselves in.

When there's film sessions, everybody shows up.

And when I check to a route,

you do the right route. You know?

Like

John and I just weren't on the same page. I checked to his inbreaker and he ran out breaker.

You know, John is a true professional, so I'm sure he's you know, he's sick about that. But,

you know, I threw a ball I thought was going to get hit by the wind, and it was four yards over Roman. So I got to make that throw.

But, you know, we have our meetings every week. We have other opportunities outside of the facility.

And look forward to seeing all the boys there.

You know, I want to shellac Rogers for this, but

this guy, right now, his nose looks like he's Ben Rothelsberger because he's got a swollen nose. He took a vicious beating in that game.
He's playing with a cast on his wrist.

He's trying to make this happen for Pittsburgh. And I saw a clip, Ben Solak with the SBN did a nice job breaking down that route, specifically near in the red zone where

Rodgers checked out of a play and

the two receivers lined up to Janu Smith's right,

made eye contact, saw Rodgers check into it.

It was going, it was a play called China that he checked into holding his hands around his throat, which Solak assumed meant that it was checking into a play called Choke.

And those other two receivers broke off and changed their routes. Smith didn't.

And I would imagine he's bringing that up because this is not the first time this has happened either with Smith or perhaps other Steelers.

And he's trying to, I think, Mark, shake these guys into a sense that time's running out, but things are not lost. There's a chance to get right again.

As much as I want to paint this as here's Rodgers being selfish and throwing people under the bus, which I know a lot of people are doing right now,

I kind of see this as a veteran quarterback. trying to implore his players in any way possible to seize this moment because at six and six, they're still tied atop the AFC North.

I totally agree. I mean, in general, you'd rather that that exact comment from him comes behind the scenes with the players and the coaches, and we grow without putting it out to the media.

In general, in this case, like we're about a month away from Aaron Rodgers

hardcore vanishing into

the deep wilds of another nation. Like, he's going to be out of our lives.
I don't think he plays after this year.

But beyond that, it's like you've got a month for this team to awaken and not just be overtaken in a bad division by a hot and cold Ravens team. So I don't have a problem

putting this out there that way.

I think he also did not put Jonu Smith on blast the way that you would

in some cases. He called him a professional.
It's like, let's work together. I know that he was upset about that too.

We've got to course correct this. They had two completions to wide receivers, I believe, in the first half.

We need more. And you've got to find a way to become more explosive on offense.
And

there was another part of that whole press conference where he talked about, and it's a little tedious, but it was Packers, receivers of old.

And you always knew that Rodgers was pretty verbally and visually.

You could see when he was annoyed with a wide receiver on any team he's been on, right? Any year, that like if things weren't detailed and detail-oriented,

he would be quick to correct and to show you that he was annoyed. I have no problem with it.
Like this team is falling apart offensively, and that's not his,

that's not his level of play. Even if he's not the same Aaron Rodgers, like at least be detailed and do what we talk about.

Practice and play the way that you want and use these last four weeks to get this done or do not. Yeah, and Rodgers also, he did, he said some of his

throws could have been a lot better in the game.

So it's not like he

the way it was presented in certain areas of social media was that it was just him blaming others, but he blamed himself too. And everything he does, for better or worse, is very calculated.

So for him to make it a public thing, I would think it puts even more pressure on these guys to lock in. And I think that was his intention more than anything else.

But yeah, if you remember, a couple of weeks ago, Mike Tomlin kind of called Rogers out, you know, and somebody asked about the quarterback play.

And he's like, I think, you know, you could ask him about that. We know it wasn't up to the standard.
It was something along those lines. Rogers is doing the same thing with his wide receivers.

What do you got, Justin? I think Tomlin said something like, What did you think of the quarterback play today? And he said, What did you think? Right. Yeah.

So I think there's a lot of frustration in that building. And Rodgers, as a 21-year veteran,

carries a bigger stick than almost any player in the league at this point. So I don't know.
I hold him to a different standard from that.

See, and you thought because I'm a Jet fan, you would think I would just ambush Rogers there. I didn't do that.
No, you've got to do that. There's just incredible integrity flowing off that far.

But in this case, I got his back. Anyway, Andy Reid, how about this?

We talked about it when we showed the standings

at the end of the flagship show. The Chiefs are in a lot of trouble because the Broncos are too far gone, barring an epic collapse,

to get the division. So their only path is the wild card, and they might have to win out

at this stage to get that final, to get a wild card spot. Andy Reid was asked if the Chiefs can do that and make the playoffs.

What's your level of confidence that you can win these next five games in a row? Yeah, well, I believe that. I mean, I believe you

come, if you're coming to me on this, Matt, I'm telling you, we're going to go after you every game. And, you know, that's how we roll.
We're going to try to tickle your tonsils on every

play, every game. Huh?

It brings up other images.

I understand what he's saying.

We're going to try to tickle your tonsils.

Is that about like a tongue kiss?

What does that mean? I think it could mean multiple things. That's one option.
Is it a graphic?

It could mean that.

Is this like a baby boomer? Let me see. I'm going to look this up.

Tickle your tongue. Tickle your tonsils.

Maybe it's like when Justin Winter

shoves shoves the

tongue stick down to take a peek into your throat, and you're like, maybe that tongue stick goes a little too far into your mouth.

It's just like, we're going to make you feel slightly uncomfortable for five seconds. Maybe that's what it means.

Let's see.

Good option.

Thanks. Tickle your tonsils is an American football colloquialism.
That's a tough word. You want to try it? Colloquialism? Colloquial.
Colloquialism. Yeah.

Meaning to play Mariota.

To play aggressive, exciting, or complex football. That's AI slop.
I don't know. Zumal probably likes it, but

that's just saying Andy Reid made something up. I don't think it's a football anecdote at all.
I don't either. Mariota.
That's what you get for Googling something and then looking at the first result.

In these ages, yes.

Anyway, they're going to play their hardest and hope to win, but I don't think they will. I think

this team has been showing us all season long that they've got another stumble or two in them. I believe that, and I think they'll be on the outside looking in.

And if they do get in, that will mean that they got very hot, and we'll have a totally different viewpoint of the Chiefs come early January. It'll be fun to see it play out.

Not fun times at the Petula household in Philadelphia. Actually, this was in, I guess, South Jersey.

The Eagles offensive coordinator under fire with the Philadelphia offense stuck in neutral for much of this season.

He had his house egged.

Still doing eggs, huh? His house was egged after their Friday loss to the Bears. Let's check in on this.

It's a nice house.

Aren't you going to get caught if you film yourself doing that? It does feel like a stupid thing to do, but these are probably grown men. It's probably like 38-year-old men

with their wives and kids at home in bed,

drunkenly throwing eggs at a football coach's house because the big team lost the game on Friday. I mean, it's, yeah, it's,

I, I, you know, it made me think of something. Like, um, well, first of all, like.

You suck if you did this. Like, I don't, it's not, it's not that funny.
It's not that interesting.

Eggs are a smart thing to throw at a house compared to other things i will give them that but like um as a a youth there was a time that i remember and we've all done something like this but a bunch of us pulled up to a friend that we were fake friends with we weren't really nice to him and did something like that to his house and i still think about it like once a month like the what the egg because you know the friend's not the one that's trying to hose that off the house it's the poor dad or the mom or whatever.

Well, also just like, who am I? What am I doing? Like, who are you? You're right. You've grown a lot as a man.

You're now a man in a joint division t-shirt. I'm not egging the house of an offensive coordinator who's struggling.
Like, I will, at least in that sense, I feel like.

Thank you.

I got egged once.

Yeah, I personally was egged once.

The last year I ever went trick-or-treating, it was me and Bob.

And we were,

you know, it was right on that edge. I think we were either 12 or 13.
It must have been 13, which is maybe a little too old old at that point, right?

But

went trick-or-treating. I was

dressed as Don Mattingly, the Yankees legend. And

these, these,

these, these bullies that were hanging out by the local Walgreens, real skids,

you know, hanging out in their metallica shirts, you know, smoking darts. And

they kind of saw us and then they were kind of stalking us like prey. And at some point they got to a higher vantage point.
I can't remember what it was exactly, but

a couple of eggs started raining down and Bob and I. And then I heard that from a distance, the guy goes, Mattingly sucks,

which was a bridge too far.

I can't remember if they got us, but they came close. So that's my story of egging.
And I don't think that was mature either, local skids. Well, it seems

I would understand why. I would also think you're leaving some part of this out where you and Bob, you know, in terms of

you guys are mischief makers. You probably said something or did something that got the bully up in arms.

If it was in the newspaper, the headline would be area dirt bags target innocent teens.

We talked football, we'll leave it there. Sure.

It was football.

Yeah, maybe I tied into Petulo Ganez house egg. It does.
That's a terrible.

It is a football story. How about the size of that house?

Make me an OC, baby.

That's why I waited till the end when you're laughing and wrapping up to hit the drop. It's more a joke than an actual prod.

Thank you, Justin.

I wonder what Big Dom's house looks like. Oh, it's massive.
It's got to be bigger than Petulo's, right? Yes. Oh, yeah.

Wonder how much money is hidden in the walls. You know, there's all sorts of crazy shit.
Dominic's house. He's Sandro, Big Dom, and he's sort of a legend.
Can I ask you a question?

Give me the first number that comes to your mind, Mark. Okay.

How many guns does Big Dom have in his house? 26.

How many hand grenades?

Two.

Both are the right answers.

On the flip side of life, Ben Johnson, after he

and the rest of the Chicago Bears dispatched the Mighty Eagles on Friday night, had an incredible

post-game celebration in

the locker room. Johnson stripped his shirt off, and that went viral as you know it would.
Mark commented on his body several times.

It's good. It's a nice body on a man who works at it.

Here was Ben Johnson when asked about his shirtless post-game celebration. My wife was just laughing.
That's about it.

I guess my two-year-old was watching the TV screen back at home, and she's looking,

no shirt, no shirt. She just pointed at the screen, no shirt, no shirt.

My wife had no idea what was going on. So

that's really about how that went. You know, I think anytime you get a chance to feed a city,

you want to do it. So, man of the people.

Justin, can we get some context on that feed the city line? Yes. So, the iconic Chicago hot dog stand called the Wiener's Circle a few weeks ago, or

they had actually promised free hot dogs to anyone who stopped by after Caleb Williams had a four-touchdown day against the Cowboys. They said, Come by, we'll give out free hot dogs.

And then a few weeks later, they said, I guess it was last month, they said, if Ben Johnson takes off his shirt in celebration after any win this season, we'll do the free hot dog thing again.

So the Ben Johnson taking off his shirt moment wasn't just like, I'm hot. I want to get hyped up and show off my hot body just for the hell of it.
It was like, all right, that was an awesome win.

Let's give the city some free hot dogs. Okay.
I don't know what to add to that. No, the vibes are good in Chicago, no doubt about it.

By the way, just because I comment, I know it's always like, oh, Mark's commenting on the body of a man or a male, but it's like, it's like, it's like kind of colon, get to the gym. Me.

Yeah, but it's like, you know what? It's like, I don't know. And it's fine.
It's, you're secure in your sexuality. It's 20, 25.

It's not a judgment. I'm not judging you.
I just do. When you see a man's physique that you find impressive,

there's a kind of a little glint in your eye. Like it's, there's something that really,

who was it the previous week that you were head over heels for? Vrabel.

You were gag-eyed about Vrabel.

And

now it's, now it's Ben Johnson, and that's good.

Well,

I can't, it's I don't have a huge argument against what you're saying. Um,

it's inspiration for one's own physical form to improve. I think you look good, Mark.
A man of your age, especially.

Well, it helps that no one can see below like where the Joy Division title is on the shirt, but sure

I was going to say something, but I'm not going to say it.

All right. Now, finally,

AFC South Heat, Jaguars punter Logan Cook, the punter.

The punter

apparently threatened to kill Titans running back Julius Chestnut during Sunday's game, which led to a skirmish on the field.

This is right out of the Robert Sala handbook, who threatened to kill a man and apologized for it earlier this season.

Liam Cohen,

very clearly a weirdo.

I'd be curious to know his thoughts on such a thing, and let's see what he had to say when asked about Logan Cook allegedly threatening to kill

an opposing running back.

I've probably heard that said like

a hundred times, you know, from players in games. So,

whatever. 26, the 29ers,

that is um

oh that's right it was lim cohen who robert saw a threatened to kill

oh my god what a small world of death threats

amazing

I just like that there's someone named Julius Chestnut on our on in America, but right

I don't know.

Liam Cohen looks like eight friends I had in third grade in that video right there. But

I kind of think he's sort of right. Like, crazy stuff's happening out there on the field, right? Oh, yeah, man.
It's a real Duval.

It's like a Roman Coliseum out there, bro.

That's exactly right.

All right, let's take a break and hit power rankings.

Hey, Sass Dog, how's your Christmas shopping going? Have you you even started, Mark?

Well, no, I've not gotten going on that. I should.
Yeah, well, I'm all set over here. But if you're like Mark, still hunting for the right gift, I got you covered.
Aura Frames.

It's the gift that makes it look like you planned it all along. Thoughtful, personal, and easy.
Basically, the holiday trifecta.

Yeah, I always struggle to find a, I guess, a truly personal gift for the people closest to me. It's like it has to be meaningful, but not another useless item that ends up in someone's closet.

Don't have time for that. Exactly, Mark.
That's what's so great about Aura frames. Last year, I gave an Aura frame to my parents, Deb and Keith.
They absolutely loved it.

I preloaded it with a bunch of family photos, some vacation shots, even a few funny ones of the kids. Now it sits in their living room rotating through memories all day long.

So you're telling me you can preload the pictures, the photos before it ships? That's exactly what I'm telling you, Mark. And you can keep adding new ones anytime from anywhere.

Plus, every frame comes in a premium gift box with no price tag, so it's beautiful right out of the box. You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it.

Well, you've sold me, Dan, and for a limited time, you can save on that perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off Aura's best-selling Carver matte frames, named number one by Wirecutter, by using promo code heedthecall at checkout.

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What's good, y'all? It's Von Miller, Super Bowl MVP, SAG Master, and now your host of Free Range. This is where NFL meets real talk.

Every week, I'm bringing you inside the game, from locker room stories to league-wide headlines. You want football IQ, locker room insight, and real conversations with the people shaping the league?

Welcome to Free Range with Von Miller, where nothing is off limits and every down counts. New episodes every Wednesday.
Listen and follow Free Range with me, Von Miller, wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, Mark, have you heard of Gold Belly?

Well, yeah, from you, but I don't know if our listeners have heard about it. Okay, for anyone who hasn't heard of Gold Belly, know this.

I've been ordering from them for a while now, and honestly, it's kind of... Magical.

Gold Belly gives you access to the most iconic, the most famous foods from restaurants all across the United States. And they ship them right to your door.
It's perfect for the holidays too.

You should have seen how impressed my family was when we brought out a red velvet cheesecake from Juniors that I had ordered through Gold Belly.

I think it was the first time my dad was truly proud of me. It completely stole the show.
Well, that's a positive story. I mean, yeah, it sounds great.

I've always been a little skeptical, though, about ordering food online, right? Me too, Mark.

But from the moment our Gold Belly order arrived, perfectly packaged and tasting exactly like it would, straight from the bakery, I was blown away.

The quality was incredible and seeing everyone's faces when we dug into it reminded me why food, food, sese, can create such unforgettable memories.

This year, I'm eyeing Ina Garten's coconut cake for holiday hosting and it's something that will make the season feel extra special and indulgent. I can't wait to share it with my fam.

Well, this holiday season, if you're looking for that perfect gift for everyone on your list or you want to impress your friends and family with an unforgettable meal and make hosting a holiday gathering a breeze this year, go to goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code HTC.

That's goldbelly.com code HTC for 20% off your first order.

Unless you've got power! Farbox!

Farbuck, Farbuck. With great power comes great responsibility.
Big up powers, yeah. And when you get the money, you get the power.
Category orange incident. Power behind the power.
Yeah, wow.

you're playing with power according to Dan Hansa's power ranking.

Thank you, Paul Rudd.

Heed the call, the official power rankings of record, except no substitutes.

We are

now into December.

It is

nut cutting time, Sess Dog. Yes.
That's how I'd put it. So we're going to go through all 32 teams in the league

here

at nut cutting time in the NFL calendar, starting with tier one, the tier you want your team to be in. And let's see where they all come down.
All right. Oh, look at Sessler.

I knew you would get sucked in.

Not just me. They beat the five worst teams in football.
And they're

wins or wins.

This is the power rankings, not the power standings. Anyway, the Rams are still the number one team in the NFL because we don't get caught up in one bad week.

As you said, Justin,

and shout out to Connor, who also understood the assignment.

The three turnovers that the Rams had against the Panthers were all in Panthers territory. That was very close.
That was a blink away from another 40 burger by L.A. They stubbed their toe and lose.

They're still the best team in football, and that's why they're number one in the power rankings, even though Sese and Gravy have them at number two. Right behind them, the Seattle Seahawks.

They shut out the Vikings. The offense looks a little rough.
And by the way,

returning to Heed the Call on Wednesday, our front, our friend, Michael Sean Dugar

will join us to talk Seahawks and the madness of the NFC playoff picture.

Yes, can't wait to see Money Mike. Maybe bring Money Mike back.
We'll get him to give people some props for the rest of the season. Number three is the New England Patriots.

And like I said, I ain't buying. Not yet.
I got them at number five. They're a top five team, but I'm not going to make them number one.
Sessler, he made them number one. Gravy, he gets sucked in too.

Connor has them at number three. But they fall, the average puts them at number three in our power rankings.

Well, there's a team that you have above them that I find quizzical based on your own response to that team, and we'll get to that in a couple of minutes here.

Also, can you explain dropping them one spot? I know they haven't played anyone really competitive since the Bills, but they also have basically wiped the floor with every team that they have played.

Yeah, they are officially being penalized now for not playing any real football teams.

And I think that if they go, and that's how I do it, and I am the voice of reason of the power rankings, you could do it however you want.

And if they go and they spank the bills coming out of the bye in week 15. they already spanked the bills.

They beat the bills. I'm saying if they spank the bills again, I will put them up at either 3, 2, or 1.
We'll see how it all shakes out. Well,

you're floating into your own universe here. And that's part of the ball.

You have to understand not all of us just go by the record. You have to look at who they're playing.
You should be on the College Football Playoff Committee.

I just love everything you just said, and I hope the committee treats Texas the way that you don't just, you got to be rewarded for playing good teams and penalized for playing bad teams, and not just look at the record.

Thank you. All right.
That was out of left field, but okay. Good luck to the Longhorns.
Anyway, so the Patriots are at three.

The Packers, I moved the Packers up into the top three personally. They come in at number four in our rankings.

The rest of the gang had them at number five. I guess I'm a little more impressed by what we've been seeing in the last few weeks.
Well, you're impressed with your own rankings, is what you're saying.

Yeah, of course. They're impeccable.

But the Packers are playing a great brand of football. Their defense has been excellent.
Micah Parsons has taken over games, and now Jordan Love is coming off an incredible game on Thanksgiving.

I just love everything about the Packers right now. They're at number four in our rankings.
Number five is the Buffalo Bills, up three spots. The Packers are up five spots, by the way.

The Bills up three spots to number five after their impressive, gritty win over the Steelers.

Then the Denver Broncos. Now, Mark doesn't like the Broncos.
He has a personal issue with the Broncos. No, they're not.

And despite the Broncos having a record that is, what is it, the same as the Patriots? One less win because

the Patriots haven't had their buy yet. Mark, because he doesn't like the nature of the Broncos' wins, has them all the way down at 10.
Oh, Farbuck's not going to like that. I'm going to have to.

You know, like when you were.

in high school and like there was like

someone of the opposite sex, whatever you're, whoever you're listening, whatever you care about. Like, but like, um, or same sex.
Everyone was like all

doesn't necessarily have to be. Sure.
Everyone was like

into

this person. You were like, I don't see it.
Like, this is my...

I guess I'm just... Connor at him at seven, but I just, I've not seen it.
Four, you have them above the Patriots. That feel, Dan, that feels a little wild to me.
Why?

because the way i do this is like i think to myself like um patriots play denver um in denver or in new england who do i think wins and it's new england not who not like i do i can't come up with a reason why yeah but you have okay that's fine mark but it's like you have new england at one they both have two losses you have new england at one and you have the broncos at ten you think there's that much of a difference between those two teams like based on

what?

This will be like an area where Farbuck will come probably rolling in because it does look like an outlier compared to the rest of the group. I can accept that, but I just go with my heart.

I just want to say

as much as the Broncos at times will frustrate people because they let teams hang around or they take too long to wake up, they also have wins at Philadelphia.

They have a win over the Cowboys, at Houston, win over the Chiefs.

They have signature wins that the Patriots have maybe one or two at tops.

I just can't see that big a difference between those two teams.

I can't buy into that, Mark. That's what's great.
We'll find out. But I see, like, hi,

nice time in a playoff game. Bye-bye.

We saw you for four more quarters in January, and then you vanished into thin air. Gotcha.
All right, number seven, we got the Bears. We're pretty much in lockstep.
They're up four spots.

Welcome to the the top 10 to the Chicago Bears. I know Bears fans have been waiting for this moment, and you have earned it.
And here you are riding a long winning streak. Good for you.

Number eight, we're all buying in on the Niners. They're back in tier one.
It's been a while. Up four spots to number eight.
Now to tier two.

I can't believe that. I can't believe that about the Broncos, Sese.
I mean, I feel like you got it. You've got to move on.
Like, I know Ceci

so well that I could picture him actually Big Mad watching Sunday night football and just being pissed that, oh, the Broncos got away with one again.

Or that it went to overtime. Or it went to overtime and we had to stay up an extra hour.
Like, I get that.

But, you know, 10.

Well, what's the well, what's the difference between them and some of these other teams? 10 is not that. In this NFL today,

I'm not, you know.

Okay. Number nine in the power rankings is the Philadelphia Eagles down five spots.
Look at that. And we're all in lockstep.
We're all like, hey, Eagles, we're having questions. I got him at 10.

Connor's got him at 10. Justin's got him at 10.
Mark's got him at 9.

And by the way, if this slump continues, I swear to God, all you people out there that gave me relentless shit about Nick Siriani, if you join the mob calling for his dismissal and saying how he's not good at his job and

he's overrated and he's been held up by his coordinators, if you turn on him after burying me in August for having the balls to have that take when they are defending champions, I will track you down.

What did the guy, what did the punter say? I'll kill your ass.

Justin, this show is simply an unleashing of Dan's slights and checking in on Dan Slights. No, that one specifically.
I'm already sensing the mob starting to turn on this one. And it's like,

people were very angry with me about having that take in August, put it that way. If you wind up being right, or let's say he, this is the end, if something happens here and they collapse,

I'd have to tip my cap if I had one.

If I were wearing a cap, I would tip it to you. You would doff it.
Yeah. All right.
Well, let's see. There's a long way to go.

And maybe he is Vince Lombardi, but I don't know. Look at this.
The Lions.

We have finally dinged the Lions, but I'm dinging them harder than you guys. Personally, I have them in my Twilight Zone at this point because I just don't know what to make of them anymore.

I just don't know what to make of the Detroit Detroit Lions.

Connor and Justin have them at nine. Mark has them at eight, and I get that.
Like, I'm not going to go crazy about this one

and say that I think you guys are way off because you can make the case that they are still like a top eight team.

But I just think there's something wrong with the Lions, just like I think there's something off in the mix and the stew for Philadelphia.

And this is the first week where I had to kind of stand down a little bit.

You could say something similar about the Chiefs. They still have the pedigree that the Lions don't.

So we've kind of kept them in the top 10 and thereabouts all season, even when they were struggling. But this week they fell out of the top 10.
They're at number 11 in the HTC power rankings.

I had them at 11.

Speaking of Twilight Zone, Mark, Justin, and Connor all have them at 13. They feel like that perfect 13 team to me.

They are tough to figure out.

The Dallas Cowboys, they are up two spots. I thought they would move up a little bit more, to be quite honest with you.

After the Eagles come back and then doing what they did on Thanksgiving, I thought that they would get a little more juice. I put them in my top 10, but Mark, you have them at 15, Connor at 15.

That's a pretty big difference. We're six spots different there.
Justin splitting the difference at 11. They come in at 12.
Why do you,

where did you have them last week, Mark? They keep rising for me.

I thought I checked that. Wow, Mark.
That's like, I, you know, sometimes you're looking at this, you're like, but that, but that doesn't see that. I'm a little worried.
Far back again, man.

Some of the things you were saying about the Cowboys

after

the Chiefs game, they just beat both Super Bowl champions, and they move up one spot. You were singing their praises as loud as anyone after that game.
Well, Connor and I both have them at 15.

I don't...

have a problem with them at 15. I believe in that, but I think they've got a chance to rise as much as any team in this group and maybe into the top group soon.

I mean, nine is a little rich, but I think that we're just going to be able to. But I'm not judging it on 6-5- and 1.
Again, and I think that's a little bit what's happening here.

Like, you're telling me

that. By your rankings, you're saying right now where the Cowboys are and the way they're playing, there's 14 teams you think that are.
you put ahead of them.

That's tough for me to.

That's a tough one for me. 14 teams are better than the Cowboys right now.
Yes.

I also would say that there aren't miles from east to west between each of these teams. They're clumped together.
There is no great team right now.

And the Cowboys can go and beat the Eagles and the Chiefs.

I don't necessarily think they're better than the Eagles or Chiefs if those two teams are functioning at the highest possible level, but that just happened.

Our actual number 13 team, our official Twilight Zone team, is the Chargers,

who are up two spots and continue to march upward. Even if Justin Herbert, by the way, he did have that surgery, that hand surgery, to repair a broken bone.

He is listed as day-to-day, if you'd believe that. And I believe they play on Monday night football.

So they get an extra day. So they catch a break there, and there's a chance that Herbert plays in week 14, which is wild.

The Eagles. Against the Eagles.
Wow. He's not missing that game.
Herbert's a warrior. He's not missing the defending champs.
Expect him on that field. The Jaguars up three spots

to number 14. Wow, Sessler, you and I are very different this week.
You have them all the way up to number 11. I am just not a believer in this team yet.

I'm still not there, even though they have a very good record and they technically lead their division. I have them at 17.

Justin, who's our resident AFC South expert, I feel good about this because Justin also has them at 17. Connor has them at 12.
They come in at 14 overall. Justin, you want to chime in on that one?

Well, I think people are going to say, oh, you're a hitter because you're a Titans fan. You're biased.
But it's just like...

They are very up and down, inconsistent. I need them to be good for a longer stretch and not just beat the Titans before I buy in again because I was bought in early in the year.

But I feel like they're such a turnover-dependent defensive team that i don't know we'll see i guess i will say one that connor and i seem to be you're right dan you and i don't think there's been a week where we've been as farly removed on some of these um as this but connor and i keep

operating from the same pew

well you know that's either a good thing or a bad thing you guys could we'll figure it out we'll see how things look next week but just don't throw the baby out i mean it's not farbock comes i know it's going to happen with all this but it's like he's got to come at connor too, not just Mark.

That's probably where I'm more comfortable. We don't even know if Farbuck's alive.
I mean, the assumption

be on the,

I mean, certainly, there are certain things here that would pique his interest, put it that way, if there was a tip that were sent his way.

But let's see, the Texans up one spot.

We're, again, not in the same area on that mark. If I look at the AFC South right now, what I'm seeing from the Texans is a lot more impressive than what I'm seeing from the Jaguars.

I have them at 12 on my list. You have them at 16.

Justin at 14, Connor at 16 as well. The Colts, is this the biggest drop of the week, Justin?

It's tied for the

number 16 in the power rankings,

down six spots. So this team that, I don't know, they might have been number one at some point in these rankings or close to it.
Now they're all the way down to the bottom of tier two.

Connor's still keeping the faith. He has them at number 11, but the rest of us are all in this area.
Let's move to tier three.

Tier three, things start to get especially murky in our league. Starting with, there they are, the Carolina Panthers up three spots.

I had originally talked about putting the Panthers in the Twilight Zone 13 slot, but then I started going through it all, and I just feel like,

I don't know. Like, I got to see more than like one week of inspired play.
I got to see them put it together for a few weeks.

And I think everybody kind of agrees because we have them in a similar spot. Yeah.

Number 18. Okay, this has got, what a wild Cecil week this is.
You got the Bucks still in the top 12.

You have them at 12, despite them giving you every amount of evidence over the last month that they are not a true contender, but you love Baker. So they're getting healthy.

I think they're getting players back, and there's a kind of zest and zeal to them that inspires me.

Zest and and zeal is cool, Ceci, but there's also the business of getting their asses trounced by all the actual good teams that we've seen in the last month.

Oh, I don't know about trounced, but like you're, I think you're right. They've been through a rough road.

We'll find out if I'm right or wrong.

12 is not,

I don't shy away from where I put these teams. I believe it from within.

Let's see.

Yeah, I mean, 28-23 Patriots, 44-32 Bills, 34-7 against the Rams, and then they held off the Cardinals. Rams was a disaster.

Bills got ugly late, nearly beat the Patriots, which doesn't mean much to anyone in the room here, but

they're hanging around.

All right.

They were beaten. They were getting beat 28-16 by the Patriots until they scored a touchdown with 30 seconds on the clock, just for the record.
But okay.

But that doesn't make my own point about the Patriots being fake. So we'll take that out in post.
All right. Let's see.

The Ravens are down six spots. Also, as they continue to just fight through things, Lamar Jackson just not being himself is a major reason why I have him at 20.

Justin, you have him at 16, so you have a little more faith in them at this point.

Connor and Mark have them right in between there. The Bengals have a big Thanksgiving night win.
They get Joe Burrow back, and as a result, they're up four spots to number 20.

Right behind a team they just beat. That's okay.
I'm cool with it. It's okay.
That doesn't matter. That's okay.

Because you can't just just, because that's another folly of power rankings criticism that head-to-head matchups mean everything. No, it's a broader view on the teams.

And yeah, Cincinnati had a nice night. Let's see what they can do and if they can get any momentum or if they're kind of like the Panthers as well.
The Dolphins, credit to Connor Orr.

Yeah, Connor All is he's got his hot take about Miami stealing a playoff spot potentially, but he has them right with the rest of us in the teams. He has the lowest.
Yeah, he actually has.

That's Connor. He's the best.

Let's see. The Steelers.
We're all down on the Steelers, down three spots to number 22.

The Cardinals do what the Cardinals do, which is hang around and lose. They actually move up two spots, though.

I think other teams just rot, if you want to use an 80s term. I'm not going to go crazy about that.

The Commanders, they fight hard and lose on an island game, which gets us all a little, you know, doughy in the pants. And as a result, they're up four spots because they almost beat the Broncos.

Let's move to tier four.

The sad tier. The place you don't want to be.

Oh, Minnesota Vikings, welcome to Tier 4.

Down two spots after a harrowing loss in Seattle.

Let's see, the Atlanta Falcons, they just got beat by the Jets. So that costs you four spots.
Low breakout. The New York Jets.
Up two spots to number 27. Cecil doesn't want to give it up.

Cessor won't do it. He's got him down at 28.
I got him up at 25.

Connor at 26. Justin at 27.
They come in at 27, up two spots. Creeping up the board.
I had to balance you out. They're creeping up the board.

Do you know that the Jets have lost a grand total of two games in the last six weeks?

and about 250 games in the last six years so i mean

once again showing your lack of power rankings etiquette that has nothing to do with the exercise yeah but you're pointing to their win-loss record over the last six weeks i'm saying they're playing a lot better in the last six weeks certainly compared to all these garbage bags around them.

The Giants, for instance,

after a trouncing on Monday night, Sessler impossibly has them at 25. The rest of us see what's happening here.
29, 30, and 28 down one spot to number 28.

The Browns. Can I sign off? The Browns are down three spots.

The Browns stink, but they got a great defense.

That's why I have them. I want to get my sack back.
I have them out of the 30s,

but they are at 29.

And then no movement. Saints, 30.
Titans, 31.

And the Raiders. Wait a second.
Justin.

Oh, stop it, Justin. They are the worst team.
The Raiders beat the Titans by two scores. Stop it.
That's when? Week six.

Six. This is the week 14 power rankings.
Yes.

Oh, my God. We're going to get farbooked here.
The Titans were the worst team. I think the Raiders also beat the Patriots in week one.
What was the result of the.

So the Titans, because they took a step back, you wanted to punish them and make them 32 again. But the Raiders are

you have them at 31. The rest of us, that was our only chance for a Connect four this week.
Yeah, and you wanted to, you wanted to give them some fan tough love, so you moved him up a spot.

That's all right. Well, I wasn't going to like

get all your rankings in and be like, ooh, let me redo my personal ranking so we have two Connect 4s at the very end. We don't want to do that.
No, we're not saying that. We're not saying that.

Yeah, that doesn't.

If you talk to 100 people that know ball right now, I feel like 99 of them are going to to say the Raiders are the worst team in football right now. And then there's Gravy.

I think that's because they have a little bit more visibility because they're like, you know, a historic, great franchise. So everyone's key in on the fact that they're bad.

But the Titans just lost 25-3 to a division opponent. They were god-awful.
That's worse than the Raiders lost this weekend. So.

All right. That's the power rankings for week 14.
What a ride this one was.

Yeah, I'm a little bit. I'm exhausted.
I feel there's going to be some

response to this.

We'll be back on Wednesday with Michael Sean Dugar. How about that? Talking about the state of the fiercely competitive NFC and what happens,

Mark, when

you seek to avoid the Darnold Hive,

as Mike did, and then the hive comes to you and builds around you.

Sam Darnold, terrible one of the Seattle Seahawks. Terrible spot.
See what that feels like. Yeah, it's like it's also work.

It's his work, and it's like you're in it day after day, whether you want to be or not. You can't disengage.
He's got a young child.

We're going to have to really dig into that. Yeah.
With Mike.

All right. Thanks to everybody for watching.

And remember, the 30K challenge.

You get us to 30K subscribers on

YouTube, and we're closing in. We're getting closer and closer to that mark.

You know what's going to happen. Connor Orr shares the Sean Payton story of ill will between the two men, and you don't want to miss it.

So, what do they got to do, Mark? You've got to smash that button. Smash.
You know, you got to attack it.

Attack it. You got to be vicious with it.
Show no mercy.

Spirit.

Yes. All right.
Everybody have a great night and a lovely tomorrow. Till next time.
Heathen.

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