Week 17, Fastest 2 Minutes, Commanders In The Playoffs, Joe Burrow MVP? Plus Playoff Seedings
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Hey, pardon my take listeners. You can find every episode on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube prime members can listen ad free on Amazon music. Holiday magic is in the air and DSW has got all the shoes to make your season extra merry. Believe you've got parties to attend and list to check twice. So DSW is taking care of the details like gifts to make their eyes all aglow styles that bring joy to your world.

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implications going on. We've got a lot of the seeds set. We also have some fun games that are going to be set up for week 18. Some things still at stake.

We're going to talk a little who's back. We're also maybe do a little college football because we have the quarterfinals coming up in a couple days. And it's all brought to you by our friends at DraftKings from Monster Slams to Training Threes at the Buzzer. Watching our favorite NBA players is the gift that keeps on giving and playing. Pick six from DraftKings, an official partner of the NBA, is a way to take a shot at even more cash prizes today.

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Okay, let's go. A.W.N. Burn out my tape.

Welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. The fun of the NBA season continues with the simplest way to play for a little for a shot to win big. Pick six from DraftKings. Download the DraftKings Pick 6 app. Now use code TAKE. That's code TAKE for new customers to play $5 to get 50 in Pick 6 credits. Happy holidays from DraftKings Pick 6. The crown is yours. Today is Monday, December 30th. Week.

16, 17, week 17. We're on Zoom, Teej. We're talking on the computer. Let's not pull a Jeffrey Tobin.

We start in Cincinnati in a game with huge playoff implications as Bo Sticks proved that the Broncos are for real and isn't a grand illusion as he let the ball sail away, sail away to Marvin Yankee hat with no brims, Jr. Who? Who? No cap. Ran up the bill scoring two touchdowns, but it was Joe Spurrow who

that came out the victor. Duncan on the defense injecting T-Shot Higgins, who said, yeah, we may have been gals, but now we are men. And even with the win, there were questionable decisions down the stretch, begging the question, will Cincy want to transition and remove Zach Taylor? Bengals keep their playoff hopes alive. 30, Broncos 24.

We go down to SoFi Stadium where it's Saturday Night Live with Kyler and Bill Murray and it used to be a lot better with Aaron Norm McDonald. Trey McBridesmaid finally caught the bouquet and got out of the friend zone and into the end zone. But Puka make them knickled and afraid as he pulled their pants down.

Marvin William Henry Harrison hasn't had as sick of an inaugural season as you think he would since he can't catch a cold the way his QB is coughing it up. And Chad Thousand Ryland dressing is usually pretty solid.

but dipped around and missed an extra point leading to a situation where the cards are driving but needed a touchdown and a callow from the other side big catch pinky bet is still alive i'll tell you i'm sorry for picking you off but kyler threw the ball in to mcbride's mouth williamson steals the game and keeps the rams in the playoffs

to Sunday in the Meadowlands where the winless at home Giants were taking on the Colts without their AR-15. But they did have Joe Tick Flacco, who went over the X's and O's in prep all week as he looked like Prince Albert, the way he was tossing balls to wide receiver Fallick Pierce, finding a hole in the D time and time again. Typically super bad Giants quarterback Drew Cock

Must have looked at his notes. But unlike the movie, he never ended up getting the boos from the Giants faithful. McGreek Neighbors was the hero of the day as his skills didn't pita out as he had all of the targets kabobbing and weaving through the Colts defense on the way to the victory. The G-Men. The G-Men. 45. Colts. 33.

We go down to Tampon Bay, where it's that time of the month as Bryce is back in the flow and the Carolina crampers are looking to stop the bleeding on a bad season as they spotted the Bucs in early TD. And then a touching tribute to my dear friend Jimmy Carter. Dave Panama Canales turned it over in a contest some called It's Must Lose.

And the first time in Fastest Two Minutes history, we go to someone who's actually at the game, Max, who is at Philly.

Not a big deal!

After an unfortunate injury, Tanner McKeegan Bradley looked like the people's quarterback while throwing his first touchdown pass of the year. But then, A.J., what can Brown do for you? Express ship the Memorial Bowl into the stands.

After we all thought the ball was gone, A.J. went to Big Dom Corleone and said, someday I will call upon you to do a service for me. And that day is today. As Big Dom was able to retrieve the ball for A.J. to give to McKee. Shout out Big Dom. Eagles win 41, Cowboys 7. And now to the saddest game of the day. Western New York, the Bills and Jets memes was there.

We head up to Buffalo where Josh Allen was singing, that's Amare, as he finds him in end zone for a 30-yard pass.

The Bills weren't done as Keon, I'm a cold man, went up over the Jets secondary to possibly seal the MVP for Allen. To add insult to injury, the Jets let Tyrell shaving Private Ryan added a 69-yard touchdown in garbage time. As for the Jets, Aaron Rodgers looked like he was playing dodgeball out there, throwing the ball to the other team and getting unnecessary roughness penalties. He commented after the game,

Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No, but I do it anyway because it's sterile and I like the taste. No one chuckles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills. Thanks, memes. Down to Jacksonville where, yes, people actually paid to attend this game. Drug Peterson needed a win in this battle between Crack Jones and Free Basin Rudolph, but none of this game rocked.

Biden more time. Peterson won't be a job hunter quite yet. Calvin Coolidge, Ridley and Brian Thomas Jefferson had a tasteful homage to the late Jimmy Carter as neither went over 100. And much like our nation's capital, the refs need to lower the flags and let this game end. Jaguars 20, Titans 13.

We go up to Minneapolis where the Minnesota Vikings of Leon's sacks were on fire and they could really use Sam Buddy, Darnold, to continue his great season. Jordan, I love sprinkles. Yes, it's true. Yes, I do. Was anything but a cupcake as the Vikings took a page out of Gordon Hayward's playbook and kept looking to Addison.

Josh, very cool. Jacobs had a nice score, Gami, while Malik Heath-Ledger almost made it a dark night for the Vikings until just in the nick of time, Jefferson helped Minnesota take the top seed like a really tall squirrel. Vikings 27, Packers 25. Standing on the corner, James Winston, Cuyahoga, such a fine sight to see.

It's Snoop. My love, this game is poop on board. Miami's a lot technically. Come on, Jameis. This team is hate.

is. Rick Johnson, please look up. He's mad in Raidens. Dolphins win 20-3. And now it passes two minutes via Zoom. We crushed that last part. It was all brought to you by our friends at Chevy. It's that time of the season. Teams are in the playoff on every game counts. Our AWLs know when it counts. You can count

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Okay, boys, week 17 in the books. We are watching the Commanders and Falcons. We will update that at the end. Currently, PFT, you guys are down 10, fighting, fighting hard. Down 10, and let's just start off by saying that Jameis Winston, or excuse me, Jaden Daniels threw an interception in the first half. I know that Max wanted to see that. Also, Max, have you noticed that we start every NFL Sunday recap by singing the Eagles? Isn't that a little bit of a bias?

towards Philadelphia by this podcast. Fucking baby. There's Cowboys fans out there. You came out hot right there. Max hasn't said anything, but you know he's thinking it. He's thinking it. No, I'm on edge because we're down 17-7 and we don't look good, so I'm taking it out on Max. I apologize, Max. So we will update because this game actually has a ton of implications, not only for the Commanders, but also for the Seahawks and the Rams.

The Seahawks are hoping the Falcons win, so they have a shot in week 18. I guess it has some implications for my pinky as well. But week 17 in the books, and we will recap this game. We also should say this is our first podcast that we've ever done without Jimmy Carter alive. So RIP Jimmy Carter. Do you think it was the VACs that got him?

I don't know. I think it was probably watching the Titans-Jaguars. I was actually thinking about that. Imagine, like, this early slate. There was actually some fun games out of nowhere. Like, the Giants game was ridiculous out of nowhere. But to have that be your last game

You know, he died. I think he died exactly at 340 p.m. So he might not have even seen the Giants win a home game this year. But to have that be your last NFL Sunday, that's brutal. Like, I feel bad for Jimmy. He did. He went to he actually went too young because he should have made it to the Super Bowl.

Yeah, that would have been nice. I was addicted to actually reading the tributes from all the various different like pop culture websites. So like if you ran an account that had like a special logo next to it on Twitter, there was a mandate that you had to post something. So I saw tributes from Trap Ratchet TV, Film Discussion, Pop Crave. Here's my favorite Jimmy Carter stat is,

He outlived one of his obituary writers. I saw that. How fucking amazing is that? They wrote the obituary, I think in 2017. And he just kept going as, as our good friend, big T put it like, Jimmy just needed to stop building houses. Yeah. So they put him in, in hospice when he was still working on houses and he just got down off the roof and was like, Oh, maybe I just should have retired a long time ago and stopped, you know, climbing up 20 feet in the air every day and nailing, uh, ceiling tiles down in the hot sun. He, uh,

There's also a chance he might not be dead because he was famously just not waking up some days. So like if tomorrow they're like, hey, our bad Jimmy Carter actually still alive. I wouldn't be totally shocked. No, it could happen. It could happen. Another great stat about Jimmy. This is from Jeremy Frank. He said that Babe Ruth hit more home runs in Jimmy Carter's lifetime than any currently active player. Right now, Stanton is in the lead with 429.

Jimmy Carter famously saw Babe Ruth and Hawk Tua. Yeah, and there's really nothing that we can say about the man that hasn't already been covered by my Francesa earlier when he was just like, Jimmy Carter dead, not a great president. Right.

It's cool, though, when someone dies when they're 100 because it's just free reign to make jokes. Like, 100 is way too old. Like, dude, that's just – it was way too – way long past your expiration, dude. Yeah. You went to, like, four overtimes in Buffalo Wild Wings. You don't really want to be 100 years old. No. Nobody wants to be 100. All your friends are gone. You don't understand anything anymore.

I guess you get some sweet discounts on early dinners, though, which is pretty good. But besides that, there's not a whole lot going on. Yeah. R.I.P. Jimmy. R.I.P. Jimmy. He was a real one. Yeah.

Yeah, and he was an AWL, so one less listen for this episode. So someone please step up and listen twice for Jimmy. All right, let's get into games. So just to set the stage, Hank is living his Ben Mintz life right now. He's traveling across country to New Orleans to see his favorite band on New Year's, and he's got, like, flight issues, and then he just texted us and said that his bag is being shipped to Germany. So...

I don't know when he'll join us. When he does, he will have to do his boomer in monotone and also answer some questions about the Patriots. But let's start with that game. Chargers 40, Patriots 7. Just real quick, Jimmy Carter got shipped to Germany, and he still did his job. That's true. That's true. Well, he didn't do his job today listening to this podcast. It's true. Yeah. Chargers 40, Patriots 7. The Los Angeles Chargers are in the playoffs.

insane turnaround by Jim Harbaugh, the king of turnarounds. These are the, these are Jim Harbaugh. So his last three jobs, he took over the San Francisco 49ers in 2011. The year before he took them over, there were six and 10 missed the playoffs. They went 13 and three lost in the NFC championship game in 2015. He took over Michigan the year before Brady Hoke, who just didn't wear a headset on the sideline, looked like the dumbest piece of shit ever. Uh,

Michigan went five and 70 took over the team. They went 10 and three this year. He takes over the chargers who were a dumpster fire. Remember when the chargers lost last year by like 70 to the Raiders chargers were five and 12 last year. They're 10 and six this year. They like got rid of a bunch of their really good players and,

Jim Harbaugh brings the culture. He brings a change. And all of this is to be said without even noting his most insane turnaround, which took two years, but Stanford football that he made a real program in two years' time. So that's what he does. And the Chargers are back in the playoffs, and they're a functional team. And I know it makes Hank so mad that the Chargers, if they can win next week and the Steelers lose, could be playing the Texans, which is a very winnable game for this Chargers team.

Yeah, so I was thinking about Jim Harbaugh and his turnarounds, and the thought occurred to me that some NFL coaches might not really – they say they care about winning and they want to win, but Jim Harbaugh needs to win. He has to win. If he doesn't win, then he might as well be dead. That's Jim Harbaugh's reason for waking up in the morning is to win every single encounter that he has. Some people say I'm addicted to winning.

he's actually addicted to winning. Yeah. If you took winning away from him, he would, he would go through withdrawals. You need to lock him in a padded cell. And you remember when we were with him for a training camp and he kind of gave us that look where we're like, Oh, how are you guys going to be this year? And he's like,

kind of like, Hey, you know, we're going through some things. We're, we're changing over the roster. There's a lot of young players that have to, but he, he like gave that look like I wouldn't bet against Jim Harbaugh. Like I'm going to, I'm going to do something here. And they did in like lab McConkie outside of,

Malik neighbors who will get to, and Brian Thomas, he lab McConkie was the eighth receiver picked in the draft. He's the third best receiver so far from that draft. He was insane. He went, uh, he's top 15 in receptions, yards and touchdowns in the whole league, not just rookies.

And it's like everything. J.K. Dobbins got healthy. It feels like the Chargers, they're not going to win the Super Bowl, but they could make some noise. I feel like we've been sentenced to a lifetime of every time Ladd McConkie has a good game, just getting incessant texts from Jerry O'Connell. Just being like, why didn't he do that in week 16? Where was this in week 16? Just a heads up, guys. I drafted him in week 16. Sorry.

We're just going to be updated on everything with his life via those texts. But yeah, the Chargers look good. They dominated the Patriots. Wasn't really close. Got a little stone smart action going on. And J.K. Dobbins is back.

Yeah. And that's, that's huge. Massive. Yeah. I mean, depending on, on the way the postseason schedule shakes out, they might, they might win a game. Who knows? I wouldn't play the Texans. Yeah. They're, they're playing better football than the Texans right now. I don't know if playing the Ravens, that would be very difficult because the Ravens look unstoppable at this, you know, in December. But yeah, I mean, if they play the Texans and then,

You know, if they if they if it breaks out and they play the Texans and then they go maybe play the Chiefs. Hard to beat a team three times. It's true. They're going to lose the Chiefs, but it's still I'll say all week. It's hard to beat a team three times and then the Chiefs will make it look really easy. It's one of my favorite things to say. I don't think that it's true. No, it's not. Actually, no, let's not look it up. No, I think we did look it up and it was proven not to be true. Yeah, I don't want to know if it's not true, but it's good to say.

I mean, there's a lot of tape out there for how about a study now? I don't know. Weirder things have happened, but I guess if he goes up against his brother, then that adds up a whole new dynamic to it. Like the parents will probably be at that game and he'll need to win that even more. You never know. Obviously the Ravens are a much better team than the chargers, but yeah, great, great turnaround. And it's crazy because with the chargers, you know exactly what they need to add this off season. Like it's very clear that, you know, this was, this was not going to be a one year turnaround, but getting to the playoffs,

in year one that's why whenever anybody says it'll take you five years to fully rebuild a football team bullshit full of shit bullshit that's somebody that wants to give themselves a five-year runway to suck ass well it also like this chargers uh turnaround if you want to call it that because it's there they did get rid of a lot of players and they've they've had to like get young but it was all i mean it was justin herbert and you needed a coach who was going to

bring the most out of Justin Herbert who you know it's not like he was playing bad before Jim Harbaugh showed up but he wasn't playing to his like full potential and Jim Harbaugh is just I think if you just are around him enough you'll just have confidence to be great at your job like yeah you know when he told us about SpongeBob he's like I respect SpongeBob he's a hero of mine he just does his job every day like Jim Harbaugh if you just put him in any setting everyone's gonna work harder and get the most out of like there you know they're gonna be the most efficient they could be I

I think he reminds everybody of how much they cared about winning when they were in middle school. Yeah. That's what I think it is. He never got past that. He was a sore loser from day one. And all the guys in the NFL at some point had that same thing in them. A lot of them still do, but some, it's a profession. They go to work. They grind, whatever. But being around Harbaugh, you're like, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I only care about showing my teacher how fast I am.

It's very funny to think now of like Jim Harbaugh losing and going into the locker room and like having to take a moment in his office where he just like cries and like, you know, like is like an eight-year-old. He's crying and he's like punching things. And he's like, why didn't I – why didn't we win? It's like, well, you can't win every time. It's like, no, that's not right. I want to win. It's not fair. Yeah. All right. So we do have questions for Hank that we'll save when he gets on because –

I feel like Gerard Mayo, like he's got to be fired, right? They were. It goes back. It goes back to what we talked about the other week, which is, I don't think that craft wants to fire him because then that would be craft admitting that he made a mistake by hiring him in the first place. And he looks at the Patriots organization. His legacy is being like this very classy place where, you know, they, he thinks of himself like the Steelers where it's like, we don't fire coaches willy nilly in new England. But if you're,

I mean, you're going to make the same mistake the Bears just made, where it's like keeping a bad head coach around for a young quarterback is not a good thing. I mean, the Patriots did end up kind of winning the weekend because they vaulted into the number one seed, which we'll get to with the Giants game. But yeah, we'll ask Hank what he wants. So the next game, which was awesome, Bengals 30, Broncos 24, overtime thriller, and

We deserve this game. The Bengals stay alive. The Bengals still need help. They need the Broncos and the Dolphins to lose in week 18, and they need to win. But the Bengals, who were, I think, 4-8 at one point, are alive, still have a playoff shot in week 18 next Sunday. And this was a crazy game because it was basically a microcosm of the Bengals' whole season where their defense failed them at crazy times.

Their kicking failed them. Their coach kind of failed them. And Joe Burrow just kept on dragging them out of the mud over and over. He won this game three times. He won this game in regulation. He won this game in overtime. And then he won it for real in overtime after they got the ball back after the missed kick. It was insane to watch. And Joe Burrow is – I know he's not going to win MVP –

But I think he should absolutely be considered because what he's done, I was looking it up, PFT. So Joe Burrow is going to finish. I think he has 42 touchdown passes right now. He leads the league in touchdown passes and yards. There's no quarterback to throw. There's only one quarterback, sorry, to throw 45 or more touchdowns and not win the MVP game.

And that was Drew Brees in 2011. And the only reason he didn't win it is because Aaron Rodgers threw 45 and he won the MVP. So if he throws three touchdown passes in week 18, it's going to be unprecedented that a quarterback had the season he had and didn't end up winning the MVP and his team is to blame, but you could make the argument Lamar and Josh have been incredible. And like, I hope I selfishly hope Josh wins, but I like, there's no wrong choice. Saquon also 2000 yards, but,

Joe Burrow has been doing this on a team where he has no margin for error and he has to be this great week in and week out and no one's going to bail him out. I'm just going to say it. Joe Burrow should be the MVP. Yeah, I said two months ago I should have bet it. That's the thing. I'm a pussy and I didn't bet it when I told everyone to bet it. I think regardless of if they make the playoffs or not, Joe Burrow should be the MVP. He's been the best player. I know that's not what the award has become,

But it should be. Who's to say what the award is? The award is what it says that it is originally, which is the best player, the most valuable player in the NFL. And you can't get – how many wins do you think the Bengals would have if they had – who's like the most perfectly average – Dak. If the Bengals had Dak Prescott. Cooper Rush. How many – no, not Cooper. He's too good. If they had Dak Prescott –

How many wins do you think they'd have this season? They would not be playing for a playoff spot in Week 18. I think they would have lost that game to the Cowboys. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, Dak would have gotten confused. He would have thrown it to the Cowboys. Yeah, they would have definitely lost that game to the Cowboys. And so this was the third game, or excuse me, eighth game with three touchdowns and 250 yards in a row? In a row. But here's the crazy, here's even better of a stat, PFT. He's now done it 10 times this year. There's only four quarterbacks that have ever done that 10 times. 250 yards, three touchdowns in a game, 10 times in a year. So 10 games they did that.

The three others are 2007 Tom Brady, MVP, 2013 Peyton Manning, MVP, 2018 Patrick Holmes, MVP. So again, another unprecedented, if Joe Burrow doesn't win the MVP, all these other guys that had done the exact same thing he did, they were just on better teams, they won the MVP. All his numbers are MVP. His defense has kept it. If the Cincinnati Bengals had...

If they had won one of those games against the Ravens and had beaten the Patriots week one.

They would have, what, 10 wins now? So they'd be 10-6 going into – and they would be in the playoffs. Would it even be a debate? Like he'd be the MVP? No. And regardless of if they make the playoffs or not, I do think he should be the MVP at this point, even though it goes against my Lamar Jackson future. I don't care. I'm willing to stand up and say, like, you can take it. I've been lucky enough. Joe Burrow, he's done everything that you want him to do. And I don't want this to be looked at –

It's going to be a wasted season if they don't make the playoffs. And there's still a pretty good chance that they don't make the playoffs. Oh, I'd say a high chance. It would be the most wasted season, I think, of all time or up there. Because Calvin Johnson, he had 2,000 yards one time with the Lions. I think they won three or four games that season.

That was a pretty wasted year. Actually, just Calvin and Barry Sanders, both of them. And the Chargers. The Chargers year where they were number one in offense, number one in defense, and last in special teams and didn't make the playoffs. Max Holman, the Ryder Cup. Yeah. Wasted season. Incredible season. Incredible season. Robert E. Lee in the Civil War.

Crazy. He put up wilt numbers. Wild numbers. Tyrese Maxey this year. Yeah. Jared McCain in November. Yeah. I brought – I don't want to get into – you know, this show, we don't do media narratives for awards, right? Like we never push a certain narrative one way or the other. No, we go by the show. We go by the tape. I wrote something down. I'm not even going to read it.

Can you hold it up to the screen? I'll read it. Here, you know what? I'll text it to Max. Max should have to read it. Max will read it. And Ravens fans, this is Max Delente. He's the one who's reading this. All right. Say something nice about the Broncos, even though they kind of suck. And I actually, like, weirdly want the Broncos to get in the playoffs so I can bet everything on the Bills against the Broncos. Bo Nix throws the fuck out of the football.

When he throws the deep ball, he throws the fuck out of it. And I respect that. Yeah, that's true. All right, Max, say this. This is Max Salente saying it, by the way. Max Salente here. It's getting hot. It's funny watching because we obviously were kind of in the thick of the Heisman race.

Not having any wager and watching from afar, people are really angry about Josh, Lamar, Joe. Like, it's crazy. Like, Ryan Clark, I think his brain is broken. He's just finding random people online and quote tweeting all of them to say anything about Lamar. It's like, dude, everyone knows Lamar is incredible. He's having an incredible season. He's having such an incredible season. Max has a staff for him.

Yeah, here's a stat. Lamar against the Bengals twice, the Bucs once, and the Giants, which are three of the worst defenses in the NFL, had 18 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Whoa. I don't like that stat. Oh, so he's not supposed to play good against bad teams? Yeah, that's a crazy stat, Max. Why would you say that? Oh, also, Max, maybe their defenses are so bad because they have to incorporate the stats like what Lamar did to them. Yeah, true. That has a part in it. Yeah, yeah. And maybe if a running back breaks the single-season rushing record, they should be considered for MVP too. Oh, in an extra game?

And 50 less carries. Interesting. OJ did that in no less than 14 games. Yeah, Eric Dickerson. 16 games for Eric Dickerson. So one extra game. Yeah, I don't know what to make. I mean, the Broncos, like, nice season. I still think they'll probably make the playoffs. Although, I kind of feel like the Chiefs might win that game. Just out of, like, here's one thing that makes no sense to me.

People being like the chiefs don't want the Bengals in the playoffs. That makes no sense to me for this reason. If the Bengals were in the playoffs, they would be the seven seed and the bills would be the two seed and

If the, if the chiefs had to play the Bengals, that would mean the Bengals beat the bills. If you ask the chiefs, who would you rather play the bills or the Bengals? It's definitely the Bengals. Their defense has been so bad all year. The bills beat that the chiefs, like I know that this like burrowhead thing, but which by the way is not even real because I think the, I think the chiefs have beaten them the last three times they played like the

If you're a Chiefs fan, I think most Chiefs fans probably think this. Like, go ahead and let the Bengals in because if they somehow upset the Bills, that's an easier path. Yeah, a million percent. They would much rather play that defense than play against the Bills. And if you want, like, a team that will give –

the chiefs a puzzlingly good game and it'll come down to like the last five minutes and the chiefs will do something that will piss everybody off and win then yeah the bangles that would be the matchup that you're pointing at right there yeah so in in the last week of the season we got maybe carson which although i heard that that mahomes is is thinking that he might start i don't know because it's going to be a lot of time off for them yeah that's what i'm saying it's 25 days i don't i don't

I don't disagree with the fact that Andy Reid wants to start Mahomes. I don't think he should play the whole game. I think you're probably going to get like –

a quarter if they're up by like two scores or a half of Mahomes and then it'll be Carson Wentz time and Carson Wentz all I know for a fact is that he will do something that will piss everybody off with the way it impacts the playoff race. Probably going to be a tie. If you put Carson if he starts that game plays the whole game it'll probably be a tie. Everyone's going to get confused and then something's going to happen where you're going to be like God damn it that sucks that Carson Wentz started that game. Yes. Agreed. And also I don't know if you want to start Patrick Mahomes against a Broncos defense like

Zach Allen had three and a half sacks on Joe Burrow got sacks seven times on, on Saturday. Like, you know, I get 25 days is a lot of days. So memes, you just sent this, the chiefs are three and oh, against the Bengals in their last three. Like it's yeah, they play them tough. But again, the bills are more complete team than the Bengals.

If you're in a must-win game in Week 18 and you need help, something went wrong during that season that makes you not as scary of a team.

I don't think you want to play Josh Allen or Joe Burrow in the playoffs. But if you have the choice, you're going to take the Cincinnati Bengals. Yeah. It's not really that close. And I get it. Like you would maybe have to play the Bengals and then also the Ravens where in another way you'd maybe have to play the – I get it. But I'm just saying like I don't think the Chiefs as a franchise are scared of anyone at this point. Like it's just not – that's just not how they operate. No. They just win games. They shouldn't be afraid of anybody. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, they just win games. Okay, so yeah, I don't – the Bo Nix drive to tie the game was sick. That was like 89 yards and 70 seconds. But the Broncos, like, they're limping in right now. And it's not like they're bad. It's just they've had to play a couple teams that are better than them, and they've kind of been exposed for that.

I also think the Broncos are kind of irritating for the casual fan to watch because they cycle their running backs around so confusingly. Yeah. Like you have no idea who's going to be getting touches in the red zone, no idea who's going to be getting touches on third down. It's just like hard to figure them out. It's like their anonymous crush defense. They like thrive on just being interchangeable.

Also, I love that Zach Taylor was like, yeah, Chase Brown got hurt, so we had to abandon our plan. It's like you could have just stuck with the plan, dude, like totally botched that where he scored on the next play and didn't even make the Broncos use their last time out. That's the other thing.

That ending sequence right there where Chase Brown did the right thing. He went down to like what, the two-yard line? Took himself down. He got injured doing the right thing. If he had kept on going, he wouldn't have gotten injured. That's what I'm saying. So he tries to do the right thing, goes down at like the one or the two to kill the clock.

Let them end with a field goal if they want. Or probably the smarter thing would be run the football, let them burn a timeout, and then try to score a touchdown afterwards. So he tries to do the right thing, and then they just go ahead and score on the next play anyways. And then the game goes to overtime, and he's injured, and he's watching. He's like, why the fuck did I did that? It makes no sense. So, yeah, Zach Taylor – I don't know. Do you think Zach Taylor – is he safe? How safe is Zach? I think he's safe. I mean –

The Bengals have to pay T Higgins. I don't know how much he's going to get paid a lot of money, but if that was T Higgins last game, home game in Cincinnati, what a way to go out. Cause he had three touchdowns and like just absolutely abused Riley Moss. And, uh,

I like you got it. This is the Bengals are I feel bad for Bengals fans because this is just you have a franchise quarterback who's playing MVP level who's ascended to a different level. You have the best wide receiver in the game and you have a cheap owner that might not pay for an insane weapon in T Higgins. And this season is like you just can't waste seasons like this. And they did. They cheat. You know, they're just cheap ownership and it sucks.

Yeah, so you know what pisses me off is that it's not public information to find NFL coaches' salaries. That should be listed. I know it's just like it's not part of the salary cap, so the teams don't have to list it for any competitive reason. And why would a private business owner list how much they're paying somebody if they don't have to? But that's bullshit. Fuck that. We should know. I agree. I want to know how much everybody's getting paid because that way when they do something stupid, you can be like, oh, you get paid –

$17 million a season to fuck up the end of the fourth quarter. And I do it for free. So I don't know what his extension is right now, but I think he, I'm reading that he makes four and a half million per year. So depending on how many more, not that much. No, that's the low, that's probably the lowest of any NFL head coach. Like that's about the bare minimum, which shows the cheap ownership. And it also means that like, if he's got a couple more years left, they're probably not going to want to fire him because then you have to pay him. Yeah.

I think Andy Reid makes $20 million, which is actually a bargain. Yeah. Like when you think about it. Okay. Rams 13, Cardinals 9. The Rams are possibly in without having to play Week 18. We're still waiting for the Commanders-Falcons game to end. But obviously a big win. They need this win. They are...

I have a couple statements that might bite me in the ass in a couple weeks. The first one is I'm not scared of the Rams. Even though I have my pinky on the line, I'm not scared of the Rams. I think their offense is like broken. Their running game's not. Their running game's good, but they are now 11 straight games without scoring in the first quarter.

Three out of the last four games, so obviously the Bills game was insane. Three out of the last four games, I think they've scored like

I don't know, like 13 points a game. And Cooper Cup has been invisible in three out of the last four games or four out of the last five games. Sorry. Taking out the Bills game. He's caught seven balls for 70 yards in four of the last five games. I don't they just they start slow. Their defense is good. Their defense made some big plays against the Cardinals down the stretch.

I just don't think they're a complete team that can win the Super Bowl. So I'm doubling down. I think that might be mostly on Matt Stafford, though. Matt Stafford hasn't played well in like the last month. So yeah, Cooper Cup's been kind of invisible. The Cougars still manages to put up some stats. But Matt Stafford hasn't. When was the last time he threw for even 200 yards? Well, he definitely did against the Bills.

You got to take out the Bills game because remember the Bills game was just an insane up and down shootout Big 12 game. But yeah, he hasn't been that good since like November. Yeah. So I'm not afraid of the Rams in the same way that I'd be afraid of other teams. Like the Eagles are like a way more physical team and they'll beat the fuck out of you. I would be afraid of what Sean McVay is capable of in the playoffs. Yeah.

I'd agree with that. I just, and I think that when he knows that he might have like an undermatched team and that he has to do weird shit, that's what I'm afraid of. And this also comes down to the seating, how it's going to most likely work out. Um, you know, he's going to be kind of fucked up with the Reesey because the Vikings or the lions, uh,

are going to be seated as wildcard, but they're going to be better than whoever wins the South and whoever wins the West. Right, exactly. And same with the Packers you throw in there as well. Oh, big touchdown, not Brian Robinson. That hurts.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. The commanders take the lead 20-17, 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Again, this is going to probably bite me in the ass. The other statement's coming later that's really going to bite me in the ass. I'll give a preview right now. I'm not worried about the Packers at all.

Okay. Well, then beat them next week. How about that? These two statements are going to hurt me. Yeah, these two statements are going to hurt me. Say that after next week, please, because I need you to beat the Packers. We're not going to beat the Packers, PFT. We're not going to. The Bears will be lucky to field a team next week. Half the guys are probably going to be in Cancun by the time kickoff comes around. Harbaugh would be disgusted. He would spit on you for this attitude. Yeah.

Listen, I want to spit on myself. Pause. Cardinals, I just can't quit. I think I said it on Friday. Or maybe it was last Monday where I was like,

Kyler Murray, I don't know how many more years I can do this. And then he was actually incredible. He made some big-time plays except for throwing an absolute bullet off Trey McBride's face for the interception, which was very funny. And Trey McBride, shout out, got a touchdown. 98th catch of the season was his first touchdown reception. The second longest...

was Keyshawn in 2001. He had 92 before he caught a touchdown pass. But yeah, I don't... Kyler Murray is like... There's weeks where I'm just like, I don't want to watch this guy anymore. And then...

I'm like, yeah, I actually could sell myself on him being the guy. So I don't know. I'm just confused about Kyler at all times. They were trying so hard to get that ball to Trey McBride too. They ran like four or five plays. That was their Super Bowl was having Trey McBride score a touchdown pass. And yeah, they tried to go back. That pass was very funny at the end. Kyler, yeah, I don't know because when he's playing at his best, you can't really contain him.

And he looks like he's a little magical guy. But then you've gotten so much more of the bad Kyler as the season went on. Maybe Kyler was the one that he needs to absorb the Cliff Kingsbury stats. Yeah, because he does. He fades. That team faded. And they should have won that game against the Rams. And the Rams just held on. See, I don't know that Gannon's safe either. Pew, pew.

Pew, pew. He didn't do enough fuck shit. He had the one where he went for it on fourth and 10. I appreciated that, but it was not enough fuck shit for us to give him immunity for life. Yeah, his game plan was just Trey McBride. That's what he worked on, I think, all week. He just scheme plays for him. Yeah. Okay, let's go to Sunday. Eagles 41, Cowboys 7.

Our guy Max was there. We got to hear everything about it. Also, shout out Pug. He was right about Tanner McKee. Three for four, two touchdowns. Tanner McKee is electric. He might be the future. And the Eagles win the NFC East, continuing the streak 20th consecutive season that we haven't had a repeat winner in the NFC East. Max, you were there. What was it like? You got to meet Nick Sirianni? I did meet Nick Sirianni. Great guy. Great Paizan.

Never said a bad word about him. I love Nick Sirianni. Yeah, you guys love him. I publicly apologized to Nick Sirianni two weeks ago. That's true. It was a quick intro. It was a quick intro. I thanked him for his service. He is now the first Eagles coach with two 13-win seasons. Very impressive.

One of the most winning coaches in the NFL right now. That's a fact. Kind of. One of. Whatever. Nick Sirianni, my guy. What service did you thank him for? Being a good football coach. Okay. And Big Dom. You were with Big Dom, who's our favorite. Big Dom is the best. He gave you game ball?

Yeah, Big Dom gave me a game ball. It was a wild day from start to finish. He brought me out onto the field. I watched all of the guys go out for warm-ups, do their whatever.

Some he was some one of other another one of Big Dom's friends was just face face. I'm with Pete Davidson and Big Dom brings his friend over and he's like, yo, Pete, meet my friend. And then he just showed me the phone and it was just Pete Davidson. I was like, what's up? So that's how the day started. And then he gave me the sickest seats ever. Fifty fifty yard line. First row.

Eagles go up big in the fourth quarter. Then he just starts acting like Santa Claus. He comes over. He gives me a game ball. He goes to my mom. He gives my mom like a team-issued beanie. It was great. It was an unbelievable day. The Eagles beat the shit out of the Cowboys, and Big Dom was just the best, as you could imagine. Big Dom got – he got a lot of FaceTime today too. Big Dom was all over the screen after A.J. Brown threw Tanner McKee's first touchdown pass into the stands. Yeah.

The camera immediately cut to Big Dom and AJ because AJ was like, I'll give him my jersey. I'll give him my jersey. And Big Dom was like, I got this. I'm going to take care of this guy. Don't worry about it. So Max, as fate would have it, my aunt was actually at the game sitting next to the guy that caught that ball.

From A.J. Brown. Yeah, and so the team security came up to him and was like, Big Dom's going to take care of you. We need that ball back. But Big Dom says he's going to make you good. And the kid was like, yeah, sure, no problem. I trust Big Dom. Yeah, no, I mean, that – the Revell, whatever, the losers. Like, that is a situation that you should give the ball back, I think. Yeah, it's Tanner McKee. Exactly. The chances of Tanner McKee going on to be this, like –

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sorry, Pug. Sorry, Pug. Sorry, Pug. Tanner McKee is the truth. Tanner McKee, very good quarterback. He had a great – that was a great drive that he had today. He had two great balls in that drive. A.J. Brown caught two of his touchdowns. But whatever. It seems like all the Eagles backup quarterbacks have great relationships with A.J. Brown. Yeah. No. It's a great quarterback room. We're building a factory. But Big Dom is the best. That was awesome that he –

you know, hooked you guys up, you and your parents. And so I like Big Dom's one of those guys. Like when I grew up, I want to be Big Dom. I know that makes no sense because I'm about to be 40, but I do want to be Big Dom when I grow up. Yeah. Max, you know how you say that you'd prefer it if Jaden Daniels was not in the division? I would prefer it if Big Dom wasn't in the division. Like he's – I love that statement.

That's awesome. That rocks. He's a problem in the division. Yeah, he is. He has put him on any other team. Did you Max, did you see Jerry Jones went on his radio show after and he said that Eagles fan went up to him and said, keep doing the job you're doing this year. And he was not happy. I love that. I mean, the Cowboys, I should have known because I was like, oh, maybe the Cowboys are me frisky here.

The Eagles are Cooper Rush kryptonite. He's played the Eagles three times. He has 373 yards total against the Eagles in three games, full starts, two touchdowns, five interceptions. This game was a laugher. It wasn't even like you guys were pick sixes and Kenny Pickett got hurt. It still didn't matter. There was a little bit of a hairy moment there in the first quarter, but

I mean, it started off with a pick six, but then we stalled. We were getting out. I think at one point the Cowboys had like 150 yards to our 14. So it was like it wasn't from start to finish, but we picked it up. And Saquon. Saquon is so fun. Saquon started rolling. Yeah. He had a great game. And Kenny Pickett actually looked pretty good when he was in. I think he broke his ribs last week.

And so they said he had a painkilling injection shot and then he took another shot to the ribs. So I don't know. I don't know how long he's going to be out, but you should get Jalen back next week, right? Oh, he's going to sit. I don't know if I can play for him. Yeah. They get the two. Although the question is, do you, do you play Saquon next week?

I would say no. He's 101 yards from the record. I also say no. But if I had to guess, I think they will play him. I'm not happy about it. They should have kept him in longer this week. I know that doesn't make any sense because snaps are snaps. But once you're already playing a game, I don't know. My guess is they play him and give him 10 carries and see if he can break one. Yeah.

That feels like what they're going to do. Yeah. But I don't want him to play at all. Like, if he gets hurt and can't play in the playoffs. Don't say that. I mean, that's the whole conversation. That's the only thing you can say. I don't want him to do it. The only reason I wish they'd play him next week is because it would make that clip of Stephen Chay saying not to draft him in fantasy football even funnier if he then went on to have the all-time greatest season in the history of the sport of football.

I also – Eric Dickerson's been kind of a salty bitch about it. So I kind of want him to play for that reason too. So, yeah, it's like Mercury Morris vibes when Mercury Morris would talk shit about any team that was 12-0. But I kind of respect it too. If you're Eric Dickerson, you don't want your record to be broken.

That's not true. When people say that, like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, when he had to give that game when they stopped the entire NBA to give a ball to LeBron James, that is that's no nobody with a realistic like a true competitor would not want their record to be broken. They want to be known as the best. Here's the only counterpoint. And I feel like if I had a record like that, I would I'd want it to be broken before I died.

because you do get a bounce of like everyone saying wow Eric Dickerson was incredible that's an insane record so like if I could time it to like get my record broken like a year or two before I die so that I get all the because like once you're dead what does it fucking matter you know it's going to get broken you're going to be dead no one's going to be able to say hey you were awesome

Okay. So that's a good point because if you're like Michael Strahan and you have the single season rec for sacks, you're already famous. You're on every fucking TV show in America. You don't want that record to be broken. There's no upside for you. Yeah. But if, but if you haven't really done much since you played, you're fading off a little bit, then you get, you get a week of free dinners. Right. And, and you get to go to the game and you get to be like, Oh, young buck, like great job. And if you're Eric Dickerson, you get the added bonus of an extra game. And,

And I know the carries, Max, you mentioned the carries. You had that ready to go. But you could always be like, I didn't play 17 games. Yeah. So you could be like, oh, I had the 16-game record. It is cool to get 2,000 yards, though, in 16 games. Yes. Very cool. Very, very cool. Yeah, I don't know. Saquon did have a funny line after, which is more injury for the Giants, when he said it was his first hat and T-shirt game, and he didn't even know that was a thing.

That's tough for Giants fans that he was like, I had no idea that a hat and t-shirt game was a thing. Do you think the Cowboys will play Trey Lance next week? I mean, they should. Why haven't they? I don't know. It's a good question. Is Jerry Jones okay?

I feel like he's lost his fastball. No, Eagles fans are chirping him. He's getting chirped. And then he's going on and he's amplifying that. Yeah, it's bad. I'm worried about Jerry Jones. I don't think he's capable of making his insane decisions anymore. I think that he's just kind of a normal guy that doesn't like to stir the pot too much. I don't like that. Yeah, I agree. He's being a little too quiet about everything. What are you laughing about, Max?

I'm just thinking about Eagles fans are the best. There was this guy behind me at the game today and every single play was a bullshit call by the refs and it was a fucking show. I remember there was two tackles of like Saquon was just running outside and they just like took his legs out and he just goes, that's a chop block. That's a fucking chop block. I was just like having no idea what any of it actually means, but.

I shout out that guy. That guy was the best. Shout out that guy. Shout out that guy. Oh, B Rob. We need him to score a touchdown for the people. All right. Giants 45 Colts 33. Who's more mad at this result?

The Giants. But the Colts, too. The Colts were in the pecking order. Obviously, we've talked about the Bengals a lot, but the Colts were going to be in if the Broncos lost in Week 18. I still think the Giants are more angry about it. If you're a Colts fan, yeah, your defense sucked. Your defense was so bad. Drew Locke carved you up. But...

You had Joe Flacco, so you can just say, oh, we had our backup quarterback. So in terms of what this means for the future, we can't get the full picture on everything because if AR is in there, he's probably going to run the ball a lot more and limit the possessions a little bit. But yeah, it's bad. It's bad for both teams. Don't get me wrong. But for the Giants, this was such a bad win. This might be the worst win of all time. Yeah, I mean, they went from the first draft pick to the fourth draft.

And they obviously need a quarterback. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So they, it's crazy. They ended up winning this game. It does kind of prove that tanking in the NFL is impossible because the quotes from the giants players after we're like, we're not fucking trying to lose. Like we're, we're out here playing for our jobs. They did avoid becoming the first team ever to lose nine home games in a season. But so, so,

It's I actually think it's it could be worse for the Colts if they don't fire Chris Ballard. That would be my statement. Chris Ballard. Do you know this? This is a fun stat about Chris Ballard. So he took over the job in 2017. Since 2017, there have been I think it's seven. So seven years, seven winners of the AFC South.

The Jaguars have won it twice. The Titans have won it twice. The Texans have won it three times. The Indianapolis Colts have won it zero times. It is the most combustible division that you can win year to year, and Chris Ballard's teams have not won it a single time. And this is another year where, remember the 2021 year where they lost the Jags, a terrible Jags team at the end of the season? Yep. They had it last year where they had a win-and-get-in game.

His teams just fall apart. Their defenses fall apart. The Giants were averaging 14 points a game, and they had 45.

I know there were some turnovers, but 45 points. Malik neighbors couldn't be stopped. The running game was good. Drew Locke is a Bronco for life. We already knew that, but he's still even more of a Bronco for life for beating the Colts. It's bad. It's a very bad situation for the Colts. But I feel like this was – so if they had won this game and then they lost next week, didn't get in, I would think that Chris Ballard had a higher likelihood of sticking around, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. Yeah.

If this gets rid of Chris Ballard, this is an okay loss for the Colts because if you keep Chris Ballard and they already said that Anthony Richardson is going to be their quarterback starting quarterback to start next year. So I'd already like to make a prediction. If Chris Ballard sticks around, if they don't change anything for the Colts, I'd like to make a prediction that the Colts will finish eight or nine or nine and eight and miss the playoffs. Yep.

That's where they're going to be. This is one of those shootouts where I thought that the Colts should have gone for two when they scored a touchdown. I think they were down – what were they down?

I think to make it down nine instead of down 10, like your defense, your defense wasn't stopping anybody. And sometimes you got to do weird shit like that. And we saw Matt LaFleur tried to do something like that later on in the day, but yeah, bad, bad game for the Colts, bad game for the Giants fans. I know during the game,

They were very active. They were very vocal about like they were cheering on their team. They wanted to win. But there's probably like a hangover that you had when you're driving out of the stadium and you're like, that was fun. But fuck. Yeah, I really, I really, it's like I really should have wrapped it up. I guess the only thing you could, I think, I think the only thing you could say is maybe, and this is what I would do if I were a Giants fan, be like,

You know, there's no – it's not like the best quarterback class and we would have to talk ourselves into it and maybe you get the decision made for you. And also the Patriots are first pick right now. They already have a quarterback, so you could potentially trade, which sucks. But, yeah, it's a bad law. It's a bad win. I mean, it's a bad win. You can't win that game if you're the Giants. I don't know. Like you just can't win that game. There's somewhere – there's somebody's dad who's a Giants fan that –

That is like, it's okay. It's all right that we lost that. Cam Ward, he sat out the second half of the bowl game. We don't want to – that's not a giant. That's not New York. Do you think Eli Manning would ever do that? That's not the kind of guy we want. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that's true. I just can't – I just want to keep speaking up for Colts fans. I know Dan Dockage, our friend Dan Dockage is doing it because he's been saying the truth about Chris Ballard for a long time. Chris Ballard should just – like it's insane that he doesn't get more heat than – I mean that's sad about every other team winning the AFC South twice in his time and him never winning one. And not only that, but this was the first year in his –

that they had the same starting quarterback from one year to the next. Anthony Richardson technically was a starting quarterback last year, starting quarterback this year. That's all he's been doing is just changing quarterbacks. He's gone through a million. And I know Andrew Luck retired and that was bad, but like it's, I feel bad for Colts fans because it feels like this guy's never going to get fired. And, and you just have like soft teams that end up falling apart in the end, especially defensively at the end of the season.

Yeah. For the last, like, how long has it been? 15 years with Grigson? Even before this? The Colts always have a GM that kind of just, he just hangs out with Jim Irsay and gets his trust and then doesn't get any results until somebody that Irsay trusts tells him, like, hey, this guy's just taking your money. Yeah. It's...

It's crazy because you can't – like the Colts had Peyton Manning. So they can't – like if you're a Colts fan, you've had good moments. And then you had Andrew Luck and that obviously they couldn't protect him and he retired early. But I do feel bad for Colts fans because they are the ultimate tease team where they are always –

a little bit competitive. And they actually like weirdly do the right thing of like that when they lose, when they have a bad season, they really do bottom out. You know, they had the, the season to get Andrew luck. They, they had a four and 12 season and got Anthony Richardson. Like,

They do it correct, but they just, they're such a team. They're 8-9, 9-8 every single year, and they fall apart like this, and it would drive me nuts. And Chris Ballard, I don't know how you have a job. As a national sports podcast, fire Chris Ballard. Yeah, Bill Polian made one good decision, and that was he drafted Peyton Manning instead of Ryan Leaf.

And then he didn't have to make another decision about a quarterback for a very long time. And then, yeah, every other person that's taken over that right-hand man to Jim Irsay has just been like, Jim, I got this. Don't worry about the outside. I'm going to handle all this. You just go buy another guitar. I'll make everything okay. Yeah, yeah, exactly right. All right, Bucs, Panthers, Bucs 48, Panthers 14, Bucs.

Bucks are back. That was a big statement win just off of a bad game against the Cowboys. I know the Panthers defense, like the Panthers were missing everyone. They, you know, Chuba was out. JC Horn was out. Josie Jewel was out. Like they got absolutely gashed.

The big story of this, I had two big stories from this game. Actually, three. Bryce Young's still good. Quarterback of the future for the Panthers. Number two is Mike Evans now is 85 yards away from getting 1,000 yards. So I'm hoping for that because we're a big Mike Evans podcast. And number three, the duck that caused the block punt. That was awesome. Get that duck into the Bucs Hall of Fame. So I don't know how you can find that duck, but you need to get that duck. Maybe eat it. Maybe eat it before the playoffs.

I've seen better ducks, but PFT for people who don't, who weren't watching this game. I don't blame you. There was a duck on the field. They showed the duck. They were like zooming in on the duck and,

literally the second after they were zooming in on the duck, they had to go away from the duck because the bucks blocked a punt and got a touchdown out of it. The duck caused that. And then the whole crowd started chanting, ducky, ducky. Cause they were chanting Bucky earlier. Cause Bucky Irving had an incredible game. Get that duck. If you want to win a super bowl, don't eat the duck. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, get the duck, put it in a, put it in a mascot, you know, bin. I don't even know cage, have it on the sideline.

That duck is vibes that could win you a Super Bowl. Okay, listen, I got no problem with the duck. I just wish that the duck had been in the shot, like the live shot when the puck was blocked. That would have really sealed the deal for it. I think it's a very good duck. I think as far as ducks go, it's an elite duck. But if you're going to talk like Hall of Fame, let's turn this into a rally squirrel. I would like the duck to have a better sense of camera presence.

Yeah. And to know when he's on TV. I agree with you there. It was the magic of television where great job to the guys in the truck. Guys in the truck put the camera on the duck. They were the ones that spotlighted the duck for us. The duck just kind of, he didn't even know he was on TV and he flew away when the lights got bright. Yeah. So I'll take that. I agree with you there. Like the duck, it would have been cool if the duck had like run the punt back with the team.

They should bring that duck all around Tampa. Like I want to see that duck at hockey games. I want to give the duck a key to the city. If you turn the duck – because if you give the duck a chance to be great on TV and give him another shot, I think the duck does have something special. But I need to see more film of the duck before I can confirm as being like a duck of destiny. Yeah. Yeah.

Baker is going to end up with – because the Bucs do have to play next week. Baker is going to end up with 40 touchdowns, 40-plus touchdowns, and 4,500 yards. What a season. So are the Bucs a team that you would not want to play? I would say if the Bucs are a team I do not want to play. Okay, so would you rather play the Rams or the Bucs? I'd rather play the Rams, I think. Okay.

I don't know. The Bucs defense is not great, although they have been injured. I know Antoine Winfield was out in this game, and he's very important. But Todd Bowles can dial it up, PFT. He can heat up a quarterback. He can dial it up. The Rams and the Bucs are just complete polar opposites right now where the Rams' defense is very good.

And the Bucs defense isn't. The Bucs offense is clicking. The Rams defense looks old and slow. Yeah. The Bucs, like Bucky Irving is awesome. 190 yards from scrimmage today. Jalen McMillan is a real deal wide receiver. Number two option. Mike Evans looks fine. Like, yeah, I would probably not want to play the Bucs just because there's just more variance in like a shootout and stuff. You know, I wouldn't want to play a pissed off Baker. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that's facts. He'll be pissed off, for sure. And then, yeah, the Panthers were really injured, and I do think Bryce Young, he made an insane, awesome throw to Adam. The Panthers need to keep Adam Thielen. That they do need to do because that's clearly a connection that works for Bryce Young, and that was a smart signing that is now showing that it was smart. You need a guy like that for a young quarterback, and Adam Thielen still got some gas in the tank.

Adam Thielen's got to be so happy that things just like magically turned around. He was in hell. Oh, when we talked to him? Yeah. Yeah. I felt like Adam Thielen was like very, very close to having a hamstring injury that lingered on for like 10 weeks. Yeah. But I wouldn't blame him the way that things were going. But yeah, it's the minor car accident with Andy Dalton turned around the entire vibe. Yeah. Which sucks because like,

No one's happy that Andy Dalton got into a car accident, but it ended up making entire city happy.

Yeah, and the Panthers' arrow pointing up, which, again, if you had asked us this in October, there's no chance that you'd be enthused about the Panthers' season going into next year. I think legitimately you can be, especially in the NFC South, where that's a division where teams can feel like they can win it out of nowhere. So I just want the Bucs in the playoffs. I would like to see the Bucs in the playoffs. I want to see Baker in the playoffs. Agreed. It's like...

Like, no offense to Michael Penix in the Falcons, but, like, I have personal preferences. I want to see Baker over the Falcons. I want to see Joe Burrow over – imagine if the Dolphins make it. Like, if the Broncos lose and the Dolphins get in, no offense to the Dolphins fans, but, like, I want to see the Bengals. I'm sorry. I want to see the Bengals. I would like to see a Baker-Sam Darnold matchup at some point in the playoffs. Yes. Okay. Okay.

We're going to get to the Jets game, and Hank is about to join us. Before we do that, PFD, you had a couple quick ads. We'll get back to the games in a second. Before we do, they're brought to you by GameTime. Football season is here. We can't wait to get out to some games this fall with the help of GameTime, the official ticketing partner of Barstool Sports.

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for top shelf quality delivered straight to your door at 3G.com. Okay, we're back. I've changed locations. Hank has joined us, and the Washington Commanders are officially in the playoffs. Congratulations, PFT. We watched the end of that game. It was crazy. You're in the playoffs. Yoffs, baby. I mean, what a great season. This has been unreal. Like, yoffs were way outside my expectations. Now, as Hank says, let's go win the whole damn thing. Right, Hank? Yeah.

Yeah, fuck it. Yeah, but Dayton Daniels did throw that interception. I want to just talk about that interception for a little bit. It was a bad pick. Shouldn't have thrown that. Went right to the linebacker. They confused him. You know, he's a rookie. Sometimes mistakes will happen, but you can't make excuses. A simple zone blitz, you should know better as a rookie than to make a pass like that. Oh, yeah, also he had infinity rushing yards, and we are now 11. You know what? This is our 11th win, right? Yeah.

This is a very important moment for me, Big Cat, because the insult graphic that people like to put up, your memes, et cetera, is in the offseason of the last time each team has won 11 games.

And it's every other team since like 2009. And then Washington is in 1991. There you go. So that team is dead. We fucking killed them today. And we did it in 16 games. So you can't even do that excuse to it. I don't remember ever winning 11 games. I don't. I remember the Super Bowl in 1991.

But I don't remember winning 11 games. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel like. Shout out to Zach Hertz, who caught, I think, two balls with his dick, which has got to be a record. Pennix looked good. I want to give credit to Michael Pennix, though. Yeah, his drive to tie the game was awesome. But then Jaden Daniels' drive in overtime was incredible. And you're in the playoffs. Like, that was...

That was an incredible drive. That was everything that, you know, this whole year has been. He's been insane. And now you're in the playoffs. Hank lost a bet. But he now is all in on Super Bowl. It also changed essentially all of next Sunday because the Rams have clinched the NFC West officially. The Bucs are winning get in.

And then, like, you guys are set. So there was, I don't know, maybe like three or four games that were maybe going to be more meaningful. You're in the playoffs. We're not totally set because we just jumped the Packers. So now we're the sixth seed. So we would play against the Rams. That's why, Big Cat, I need you to beat the Packers. Oh, we need that. We need that. Can you try? Can you try for me, Big Cat? Just one last – I know you're – I'm already saying I'm not worried. I'm not worried about the Rams. They're not that good.

You're fine. You could beat the Rams. No, I'm saying in order. So there's a possibility that if the Packers, if they beat the Bears next week, then they're 12 and five. That means that we would have to beat the Cowboys to get the sixth seed. Yeah. And play the Rams. Yes. But you're putting what's more likely to happen.

The Washington commanders beating Cooper rush in the Cowboys or the Chicago bears beating the green Bay Packers. Don't put that on me. You don't need to handle that. You can't handle that. I would like you to chip in. You don't need them to, I can't handle that. There's nothing I can do. They're not going to do. There's no chipping in. They're not doing anything. They're not even going to show up to the game. You guys are going to beat the Cowboys. You're going to play the Rams. You're going to beat the Rams. And then you're going to play the Eagles. I don't know. What's what's wrong, Max?

Max has put his hand up. I thought I was playing the commanders in the first round. No, well, not anymore, buddy. Oh, no, Max.

Yeah, now you're going to be playing. So wait, who would Max play? The Packers right now. Oh, no. Oh, no. But it all comes down to what happens next weekend because if the Packers win and we lose, then it's back to the game means just win. Yeah, but just win. Actually, no, no, but just lose because we want Commanders Eagles. I want to. I want to. Yeah, we want Commanders Eagles for the show. Hank, come on.

So maybe, you know what? Maybe the Bears will – I can't even say it with a straight face. They're not going to beat the Packers, dude. Well, if the Bears beat the Packers, then we don't get Commander's Eagles first round. Oh, yeah. They would be – okay. So, yeah. So you don't – we need Commander's Eagles. The show needs Commander's Eagles. The show should be rooting for Commander's Eagles. So that means that the show – Now Max is worried. Max is worried. Best case scenario for the show and for you specifically –

would be Commanders-Rams first round, Commanders win. That's true. Eagles-Packers first round, Eagles win. Eagles win. That's true. And you get all the bad juju out of the way, and then we get Commanders-Eagles. Yes. Okay. I can live with that. I can deal with that. That's still not true. That's still not true. Max is, like, heartbroken right now. It would be Commanders-Vikings. Oh, yeah. Wouldn't even –

No, it wouldn't be Commanders Vikings. Those are two wildcard teams. Unless the Vikings get the one seed. Unless the Vikings. No, right now the Vikings have the one seed. That's why I said that. Right, because the Lions haven't played yet. Correct. Correct. No, the Commanders and Eagles are not going to play in the playoffs unless they play in the NFC Championship game. Yeah. Okay. All right. We need Commanders Eagles. Yeah, we do.

All right, so the show will be rooting for the Commanders to lose next weekend, but I will not be rooting for that. Max is so confused right now. Max, I thought you wanted the Commanders, right? Yeah, dude. The Packers are a million times better than the Commanders. Yeah, keep it up. Yeah, I love this, Max. Actually, Max, that's not true because the Commanders are the sixth seed right now.

How could they be a million times better than the Packers when the Packers are the seventh seed? Good point. What is this playoff? I don't know why in my head I was just – It's so great because Max like literally has spent the last month being like, oh, I'm so stressed out. Like the commanders could be bad for like my life and everything. But now it's setting in that he might have to play the Packers and he is terrified of the Packers. Terrified.

Because I'm going to have you on my side and you don't. I don't like you on my side in the playoffs. But I'm going to be on. If this sets up, I'm going to be on both of your sides big time. If the commanders play the Rams, I'm going to be fucking burgundy and gold. And then the Eagles play the Packers. We're going to be doing Kelly Green shit.

Yeah, that's bad for both of you actually now that I'm playing this out in my head. You might go over to that weekend. So they just announced the schedule for next week. The Tangle Web Weave. The Browns-Ravens fourth – the early – no, afternoon game and then the Bengals-Steelers night game on Saturday. On Saturday? Okay. That's good. So the Bengals and the Steelers are playing before the other teams that would have an impact on the Bengals season. Got it. I like that. I like that. Yeah, then –

The other big note is it looks like, yeah, Bears-Packers will be playing at the same time as Commanders-Cowboys. Yeah, they always try to link those up. And then Sunday Night Football, I would assume, would be Vikings-Lions for the one season, right? Vikings-Lions, and that kicks ass. Yeah, that does kick ass because that's such a massive game. Congrats, PFT. That's awesome. That was a –

like insane drive by Jaden Daniels at the end of the game. It was, yeah, his, his legs were great today. He took some bad shots. Um, that, that first half play where he got bent over, like his knee looked like it popped and I ran out of the room, screamed, Oh fuck, ran back in. And somehow when I came back in the room, he was on his feet and like smiling, smiling. Yeah. What the fuck? Again, he leads the league in smiles, but it's,

That was a true my life flash before my eyes moment. And if Dan Snyder was still the owner of the team, they'd be picking pieces of his PCL out of the Sean Taylor statues face mask. Yeah. Like his knee would break if somehow every bad thing has become a good thing for the vibes. And I just don't want to touch anything or do anything. But yeah, I mean, meaningful playoff football.

This is pretty cool. This is pretty cool. So hopefully I get max. So yeah, here's a recap. 12 of the 14 playoff spots are set in the AFC chiefs, bills, Texans, Ravens, Steelers, and chargers in the NFC lions, Vikings, Packers, Eagles, commanders, and Rams. The NFC South champion is still to be decided. Bucks and Falcons bucks win. They're in bucks, lose and Falcons win. Falcons are in.

And then the Broncos, Dolphins, and Bengals will get the last AFC wildcard spot, which, again, no offense to the Dolphins. It has to be Broncos or Bengals. I can't – like that would be such a bummer if the Broncos lost and the Dolphins won and the Dolphins got in because I feel like that would surprise a lot of people too. Because, you know, it's been all about the Bengals. Yeah. And then that would be a shit pumping. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I –

I think the – yeah, I mean if the Bengals get in, that's just a super awesome wild card weekend of competitive games because you got like – you have two seven seeds that could beat the two seeds in the Bengals versus the Bills and the Packers versus the Eagles. Yeah. He's so confused. He's looking at the numbers. He's crunching the data and he can't figure it out. The number on the left is the wins and the number on the right is the losses of each team. And right now –

It looks like if you look at the standings, the commanders have 11 on the left, and then they got five on the right. In max, it's pretty simple. So they have the same record, but the commanders are eight and three in the conference, and the Packers are six and five, and that's the tiebreaker. Two teams not in the same division, the tiebreaker is conference. Got it. You know what, McCatt? Yeah.

Like if, man, if the Eagles had beaten the Commanders, that would have helped a lot too, huh? Would have helped a lot. Would have helped a lot. Yeah. But, man. But the Packers are better than the Commanders. Well, actually, technically they're not. No, PFT, do not concede that point. You're the sixth seed. The Packers are the seventh seed.

The commanders are better than the Packers. We're currently seated higher right now. It's not even division winning. It's not like an 8-8 NFC South team is higher. You guys are both wildcard teams, and you are better than them. You know what, though?

I want to agree with Max, though. I want to say that the Packers are a better team. I want to encourage the hate. I want to encourage the nobody believes in us. I feel like that's a good thing to have on your side going to the playoffs. This just got me so juiced up for playoff football. I mean, Packers-Eagles first round. Holy shit, what a game. Max hates that. It's like, yeah, it's like actually. The Packers looked like shit yesterday.

Imagine that, Max. One of those teams, they started their season with them, and then they ended their season with them. Wow. Yeah, yeah. All right. You've got to be good teams in the playoffs. You've got to be good teams in the playoffs. But you thought you were going to get to play the Commanders first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got Tanner McKee. All right. Congrats to PFT, Commanders in the playoffs. All right, let's get back to the games. Bills 40, Jets 14.

Where do you want to start memes? Do you want to start with the Jets coming out? Aaron Rodgers is a bitch. Him complaining to Kenny Yeboah that he didn't come to the ball when he was wide open for a walk-in touchdown was just like the epitome of the Jets season.

Yeah. I was going to say, though, Gangster's Paradise, that was quite something. Did you see the alternate angle? No. What was the alternate angle? Josh Allen just staring at him, laughing. That's tough. What about Garrett Wilson's quote? Did you see Garrett Wilson's quote? He said, I always feel like we go out there, the vibe feels right, we're ready to play, then we get our asses kicked. Yeah, I saw that.

Do you want to talk about Sauce Gardner on Instagram telling Tee Higgins not to come to the New York Jets? And then after the game, in his post-game interview, he was like, yeah, it's kind of frustrating because some guys seem like they're checked out. Yeah, but then he did a fact check. He said, we already have Tay and Garrett, so we don't need Tee Higgins. But meanwhile, if Aaron Rodgers isn't on the team...

then you don't have Devontae Adams, so you would need someone like T. Higgins to be the center. And if Aaron Rodgers is on the team, you don't have Garrett Wilson. We might not have Garrett Wilson. The report was he could request for a trade. Could. And he also just went for his third straight year 1,000 yards. He's awesome. You want to keep Garrett Wilson more than Devontae Adams.

Yeah, if it's Garrett Wilson or the other two, you let the other two walk and you let Garrett Wilson pick the bridge quarterback or whoever else. Oh, shit. So now he's the GM. You just fired Brick? He's the guy. You just fired Brick? Brick's gone. We need to think outside the Xbox.

Memes, what do you think about there's a big free agent coach maybe this offseason has experience working with Aaron Rodgers and making him play to the best of his abilities, Mike McCarthy. I'll take Mike McCarthy in a second. They won. What do you go, 12-5 up until this year for the past four seasons? Would you take McCarthy with no Aaron Rodgers? Yes.

That's good. That's good. We're making progress now. My entire day during the game was looking up coaches and trying to figure out which quarterbacks are available. Yeah, but do you know what you just did? You just did a very powerful thing, which is you mentally moved on from having the entire purpose for your next head coach be to make Aaron Rodgers happy, which is good. Yeah, no, he's got to get in line. No more ayahuasca. If he's going to be here, you have to lock in.

I've never seen someone who's so good at football just not want to play football. He's like, I'll take a break. I'll do this. I'll go to Tahoe. Just lock in. You only have a certain amount of football games. Tahoe rocks. All right. Tahoe's the outlier. Tahoe rocks. Tahoe's in. But lock in the rest of the other weeks. You only have a certain amount of football games in your career. Just lock in for that certain amount of time and then go fuck off to Egypt after.

Okay, that's fair. Is he allowed to lock in in the offseason in some random hill in Oregon? How much time? Like one day? He's locked in. Like 24 hours. Yeah, that's fine. But he's just got to lock in.

Okay. All right. He had the worst QBR since like 2001 of any quarterback today. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah. Which I mean, I feel like those stats are like, they're created to get people talking about things. So obviously he didn't have a good game. He played very poorly. No, he's not. I don't think Aaron Rodgers is the worst quarterback in the NFL. Yeah. Not top five in everything. No. Well, today he's top one most sacks in NFL history. That's true. And he also...

benched himself. Yeah, he should have been benched a while before that. I don't think Coach Ulbrich's mic is plugged in. They took your advice and just unplugged his. Memes, you're in the same spot as me that as much as it hurts to say because I wanted Eberflus fired, you wanted Salah fired.

I think we probably both would have won more games if they didn't fire the coach. Oh, 100%. Not like a ton more, but like maybe two more, which is crazy to say, but it's probably the truth because it somehow got worse after. Like usually you get a little bounce. We got worse after firing the coach. Significantly worse. And the penalties today were so bad. I just want a coach who comes in and just teaches how not to false start or I'm blanking.

Illegal shift. You had 16 penalties today. That's a lot. It was brutal. Brees Hall would get a 20-yard run and then be called back for a hold. It was just nonstop.

It was an annoying Sunday to describe it. Yeah. Why did they do the boom box right next to Aaron Rodgers going out onto the field? I feel like that should be something that's more of like a defensive thing. Get the boys hyped. Instead, you have it like right next to Aaron Rodgers ear. Also, Garrett Wilson is nowhere to be found. Yeah. I also think PFT, it's also not a four and 11 team thing.

Yeah, probably. But the boys have fun. It doesn't feel like a 4-11 team. You got to do whatever you got to do to get mentally ready for a football game. I get it. That's my defense. You get to listen to me if you win. Yeah, I don't think it didn't matter. I mean, it was 40-0 in this game. By the way, shout out Mitch. One for one, 69 yards, touchdown. No big deal. Also, Bill's locking the second seed. They don't have to play anyone in Week 18. They can get a little mini-bye.

Also, Josh Allen just tied the record for most rushing touchdowns for the Bills, 65, Thurman Thomas. So he should – I hope he wins MVP. My personal choice is him. But I also feel like this MVP discussion is just going to get so ugly.

and he's been insane this year. And their defense, Bill's defense looked good. I don't know if that's much the Jets' offense looked bad, but the Bill's defense did look better than they've looked the last couple of weeks. Yeah, do you think that there's a chance that the quarterbacks split the quarterback vote for MVP and then the block of guys who are solid Saquon guys, they pull it out? Maybe. Three-way MVP? I don't know.

I, PFT as well, have Lamar, but I feel like Josh Allen locked it up today. I feel like if they won kind of an ugly 14-3 stinker, but he played well –

Had the stats. I feel like he pretty much locked it up today. But we've – before – and Hank had flight issues. We made the case for Joe Burrow earlier in the show because Joe Burrow is doing stuff that literally every time a quarterback has done it, they've won MVP. And he also – PFTU just said the schedule. Joe Burrow does get a standalone game on Saturday night. If he goes off against the Steelers and it's like the Bengals did everything they could –

Like it would be crazy because you could possibly have an MVP that's not even in the playoffs, which doesn't happen anymore. Yeah. Has that ever happened? It's happened. Who – there was a – I got to look it up now. But it's become – the MVP kind of sucks now because it's just the quarterback of the one or the two seed. That's just what it is.

But yeah, I mean, it would be having a standalone game week 18 if you're Joe Burrow and you have like an entire broadcast where they're talking about you and if you go off, that definitely could help him. Yeah, and I think having more games like he had against the Broncos where everything else around him fails and he's the only one that like steps up and if he has to win the game three times in a row again, like if Zach Taylor accidentally ices his own kicker,

as he's kicking the field goal goes in, they give him the timeout. The second kick misses. If like more shit like that happens that he has to come back from and, and cover up, then that's good for him too. Yeah. Um, okay. I'm looking it up right now. Uh, 97 lions went nine and seven and co MVP was Barry Sanders. Um, I'm trying to see if there's any other ones. Uh,

So, yeah, that's probably – I mean, it doesn't happen anymore. That just doesn't happen. You have to win like 12, 13 games to win MVP. So Joe Burrow is probably not going to win it. Josh, I hope, wins it. Lamar probably will end up winning it because, again, we talked about this. It's narratives. And Lamar played a couple standalone games at the end of the season, and that's how it gets decided. Okay, anything else, memes? I mean –

Did you see the business decision? What? Did you see Aaron Rodgers' business decision on the fumble? No. Yeah, he didn't really die for it. I wouldn't if I were him. Yeah. I don't blame him. He gone. Yeah. The memes, you and I are just the same, where it's just like get this hell season over with. Like wake me up when we hire a new coach and then wake me up again at the draft. Yeah. I saw a bunch of Jets fans getting mad at people for saying –

Just I want the season to be over, which I don't get because as soon as. Yeah. As soon as the season's over, you get all the new toys. Right. And then you have direction. I just didn't understand that. I think people. Yeah. No, that's that makes no sense. I've wanted the season to be over for a month now, month and a half since Thanksgiving. I've been like, get me out of this season. You've probably been longer than that.

Yeah, and I'm just mad that our tank-a-thon, we're now at seven. I don't understand how it works. There's a lot of bad teams. It's fucking bullshit. You know what's bullshit about the tank-a-thon and how they decide it? If you play a harder schedule, you should get –

I guess that doesn't make sense because if you play a worse schedule and you have a bad record, that means you really are worse. All right, I get it. I understand it. Yeah, that makes sense. Strike that from the record. But I got mad about that too, memes. We're the same person. Yeah. We should just sit down and have a long talk when we get back. Okay. Should we congratulate Hank though? What did Hank do? Number one. Well, I don't know if they're going to hold on to it. Yeah. I have a prediction. I think the Cleveland Browns are going to get the number one pick. Okay.

So Ravens backups. I think the Raven, I think the, the Brown, if they start DTR, I do, I do not think you can win a football game with DTR. The bills are going to play the Patriots. The bills are going to like the bills have every, why wouldn't they try to lose that game? Like they don't want the, the Patriots have the number one pick and,

A little MVP that we know as Mitch Trubisky, one for one today with a touchdown, 69 yards. I understand, but if you're in a division, you don't want to give them the number one pick, and you have the coach trying to keep his job, so he's going to try to win that game with a rookie quarterback. And then the other one is the Titans playing the Texans. Texans aren't going to play anyone. Also a rookie coach trying to keep his job, which I don't think he should get fired, but

probably trying to keep his job. I think the Browns could get the one. I think it could. I think he could find a way to sneak in there. I mean, Hank, you don't necessarily need the one seed because you've got a quarterback. So if you got the one seed, you would just sell it off. Yeah. Well, you take Travis Hunter. Yeah.

No, I think you would trade back. Yeah, maybe. Depends on how much. I don't know if this quarterback class would be like people might not be trying to trade multiple one, you know, number one picks to get to trade up in this. But you can trade back at least a few spots and get more picks.

I'm not, again, like we learned last year, I don't even know anything about the draft. But today I was thinking about it. It's like there's no world where even if we have the one pick, we're not drafting first. Yeah. It just depends on what other teams are behind you and what other teams are willing to do. Because if you're not totally sold on Shador Sanders or Cam Ward, you're not going to trade a future first-round pick to move up.

Yeah, but I feel like when it comes down to it, teams get sold on QBs. Yeah, you're probably right. QBs get sold off on QBs no matter how good or not good they are. You'd definitely rather end up with the number one pick than not because at least you have all the options. Then you can sell it for a shitload of money. You'll probably end up trading it to the Raiders.

Like Tom Brady will get on the phone with Robert Kraft. True. He'll be like, Tommy, Tommy, I want to make a deal. I'll give you a discount, Tommy. Yeah. Also, Shador Sanders tweeted, after the Patriots lost, before the Giants game, thank you, God. So maybe he's happy about the Patriots because that means he'll go to the Raiders.

With Tommy. I mean, Nick Wright's tweet was ridiculous, but also kind of hilarious. Yeah, very funny. Nick Wright tweeted that, would it be so crazy if the Patriots traded Drake May, drafted Shador Sanders? Because they traded Drake May, they got another pick. So they trade Drake May to like the Titans. They get the one and two pick. They draft Shador Sanders. They draft Travis Hunter. And then Dion's the new head coach.

That would be crazy. I mean, I like taking that shot by Nick Wright. Like, that was a fun shot. It would never happen, but it's a fun fucking hypothetical. And it would be exciting, yeah. Yeah. And I feel like Deion has made that happen the whole way. So why not? Why not? Yeah, I mean, why not? By the way— I think it's more likely that Deion takes the Raiders job and then they trade with New England, get the first pick, and get Shador. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, let's talk about the Raiders. Raiders 25, Saints 10. The Raiders might have a quarterback.

Yeah, AOC is pretty good. Scott Turner's working magic. The Raiders, they got there at like 1 in the morning. There was all this flight issue. I said that it might be a Darren Rizzi cry game. They did an insane trick play in the first half to go up 7-6, and then the Saints were like, oh, yeah, I forgot. We suck. And we suck dick, and we're going to just suck for the entire second half because Spencer Rattler played like a pretty good first half, and then it was just like, yeah, they just can't do anything.

Yeah, there's been a lot of travel issues getting into New Orleans recently. Henment knows about it. It was very surprising, actually, how good the Raiders looked offensively at times. At times, I say. Brock Bauer's getting the rookie record for tight ends, beating Mike Ditka, which has apparently opened a lot of people's eyes to the fact that Mike Ditka was a fucking baller. Yeah.

Yeah. Everybody like Mike Dick coach smokes cigars inside Mike Dick of farts. Yeah. Mike, Mike Dick having the craziest part about that. And it actually goes back to our previous discussion where like Mike Dick might actually be

be happy this was broken because everyone would be like, holy shit, Dick, like to have a record, an NFL record stand since 1961 is insane. In a 14 game season, he just got it broken. Like that's a crazy record from 1961 is a long ass time ago. And Dick had that rookie tight end record that Brock Bowers broke. Also shout out to Mirab Dula. He's been in the league for like a decade and

And I just like I remember watching him at Nebraska being like, I like Amir Abdul is like really good running back. He had his career high rushing today. Ten years in the league. Pretty cool. I think we can say that AOC has at the very least earned himself like a high tier backup spot somewhere.

Yeah, like the Dolphins should pay AOC like $6 million a year. Yeah, with the understanding that you'll probably start six to seven games. Ten to 12 games. Yeah, the Colts, they should sign them. Yeah, the Colts should, yeah. Memes, what do you think about AOC on the Jets? Is the town big enough for two AOCs? Nope. Nope. Okay, last early game, Jags 20, Titans 13. God bless anyone who went to this game.

Because I actually, I'll say something nice about this game. I actually enjoyed watching it a little bit because it was a throwback game in the fact that when either quarterback tried to scramble, it was the funniest thing to watch like ever. And it reminded me of like 90s NFL where like the quarterbacks could not move whatsoever. And Mac Jones and Mason Rudolph, every time they tucked it and ran, they

It was like watching the game in slow motion. And I got a little, I got a little chuckle out of that. Yeah. It was kind of nice. I, I liked this game because it ended so fast. Yeah. I think it was the first, the early slate and it was, it beat the other games with like eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. So good job speeding us through this one. Also, Hank, we should, we should ask Hank for his comments.

on Jimmy Carter because we talked about president Carter a little bit. He passed away. I think this game killed him, but instead of like really doing a recap on it, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the man. Not a great president. Thank you, princess. Okay. Also two other notes from this game. Brian Thomas is awesome. He's only the fourth receiver force, fourth rookie receiver ever to go 1100 yards, 10 TDs. The other three, uh,

Odell Beckham, Jamar Chase, and Randy Moss. So pretty good company that he's going to be a pretty damn good pro. And the Titans made history in this game. They are the first team in NFL history to not cover the spread in 14 games in a regular season. Wow. They are 2-14 against the spread. That is insane. Good job. They make that spread like you should be able to cover –

Half the spreads. Who did they play in the last week? They played the Texans, so they could win that game. This is a game where they might fuck around and win. Yeah, I think they will. That is my Browns theory of the Browns somehow getting the number one pick. Yeah. Also, Big Cat, I don't know if you've been able to keep an eye on Max for the last 15 minutes, but he's still trying to figure out these numbers. Torture chamber. He can't figure it out. It's been 15 minutes of him staring at a screen trying to make numbers change.

Max, what did you find out? No, I'm just looking. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. You're a Cowboys fan in week 18. It's literally, I think I would rather play any other wildcard team, except for the loser of Vikings line. So you'd rather play one other wildcard team. There's only three wildcards.

No, I'm including first round wildcard weekend teams in the NFC. Okay, but you can only play the wildcard teams because you won the division. So the only choices you have are Packers, Commanders, and Vikings and Lions. And you said you would rather play any other team. I wouldn't be saying I would also rather play either Falcons or Bucs, and I would also rather play the Rams.

Why do I have to play the Packers? But the Falcons and the Bucs aren't wildcard teams. They won the South. I get it. I don't think you get it. I don't think you get it. I get that you'd rather play a division winner, whether that's the Falcons or the Bucs, over the Green Bay Packers, who is a wildcard. I get that.

But that's how the seeding works. You win your division and you're not a wild card. If you don't win your division, then you become a wild card team. I'd also rather play the Texans. I'd rather play the Steelers. I'd rather play the Chargers. Oh, Max, this is so sad. Come on. I'll get you pumped up. We can beat the Packers. Yeah, we already did beat the Packers. We'll beat them again. Yeah.

All right. Real quick, wrapping up before we talk about Packers, Vikings, Dolphins, 20 Browns, three. I like I said this on Friday, but if they keep making DTR play NFL games, just keep betting against him. I don't know. It's it's just it's just an ATM. He's not an NFL quarterback. What do you think practice is like? Do you think that that the team is so bummed out going into Sunday because they've had to practice with him for a week and they just know that we have no shot?

I think so. It's crazy. Seems like a nice guy. Loved watching him at UCLA. Awesome college quarterback. Not an NFL quarterback. It's mean. At this point, it's mean what the Browns are doing to him. Yeah. Yeah, it is. And then Snoop Huntley was pretty good. He actually was really good. He was okay. He hit Tyreek. Tyreek still alive. Yeah. This was such a classic shitty weather thing.

Cleveland game where the Browns defense hung around as long as they could, and then it was like, yeah, we don't have any way of winning this game. I think they got stopped in a 10-point game. They got stopped on the 10-yard line. It was just so sad. So sad to watch. Yeah, Myles Garrett played well. That's about it. That's it. That's it. Okay. Okay.

Vikings 27, Packers 25. Hold on. I'm tweeting out right now. We're currently taping PMT, and Max just realized the Eagles have to play the Packers, and it's broken his brain. Is that fair to say, Max? Max is gone. He's trying to find a brain repairman. It's broken his brain. This is the most defeatist attitude I've ever seen in someone. Max, they have to come to the link.

I had to pee. They have to come to the link. No, I know. I feel good. I feel good. I just had to go pee. I feel good. Here's what I'll say to you. Vikings 27, Packers 25.

First of all, the Vikings are awesome. Sam Darnold was incredible today. His one mistake, that interception, next drive went five for five. The end of the game, when they need a first down to end the game, and Kevin O'Connell's trusting Sam Darnold to throw the ball, that says everything about it. It's not Sam Darnold like Jets Sam Darnold. I know that this is old news, but that was the final piece where it's like, no, no, they're trusting him in big-time situations to win this game.

And even with Cam Akers, who I forgot he was still around, had like two huge last catch he made was insane. And then he scored that touchdown. The Vikings are really, really good. And I'm excited to watch them play the Lions week 18 for the one seed. The one thing that you have to be scared about if you're a Vikings fan is the thing you've been scared about your whole life. Because the kicker, I've never seen someone not look like they're up for the big moment more than that guy.

He's a Barstool intern kicking in an NFL game. Yeah, he's got the SEC swoop haircut. Looks nervous. He's a little too pale. It's crazy. Hank, have you seen this kid? All right, I'm going to send you a picture. I want your reaction. It's torturous for Vikings fans because I really do think their team is good enough to go to the Super Bowl, and then they have this guy here.

uh will reichard who kicked for alabama and he's like a decent kicker he missed a couple kicks today but it's just his face his face makes me think that he is going to be the guy who makes kick for bama though that's a good at least like he's been through it all right yeah okay he got his ass chewed by nick saban a few times i mean hank

That guy's lining up for a big-time kick? I mean, he's a kicker. It's like it's kickers. Still, they showed him on the sideline. He was wearing the metal wedding ring, which I don't think you're supposed to do in case your finger breaks or something. But he's like, I'm never going to get into any physical contact. Listen, I hope that I'm wrong because that would be just so – but Vikings fans have an insanely good team. Their defense is good. Sam Donald's playing out of his mind. They have one of the best receivers ever.

and that's your kicker. And he missed one, easy one today. This guy looks like a perfect mix of Spider and Jack Mack. That's what I'm saying. He's like –

Oh, man. But the Vikings are really good. Kevin O'Connell should be coach of the year. He should be coach of the year. Sam Darnold, that was a cool moment when he walked into the locker room after the game and his whole team was waiting for him. You forget how many players are on the NFL roster, but he walked in and sounded like a full auditorium cheering for him. Then they picked him up on their shoulders. That must be one of the best feelings ever. Like you win a hard-fought game and then all your boys are like, we love you. What's better than that?

Not a lot. That's it. Nothing. Not a lot. That's it. Have you guys ever been picked up on someone's shoulders? Like in a Rudy type moment? I don't think so. No. Ruff and Roddy, you guys picked me up after Ruff and Roddy. That was elite. I think I hurt my back doing that. That was fun. We got to pick our boys up more. Yeah. We should start doing that more often because, yeah, Hank, I remember lifting you up after that. You were very sweaty. But I was mostly just happy that you weren't dead. Yeah. I'll throw this out there.

Because our boy's down right now. He's going through it mentally. I think if the Eagles beat the Packers in the first round, we should pick up Max. Carry him off? Yep, we should carry him out of the gambling key. Yep, yep. No, we'll do that. Yeah, we're going to do that. We're going to do that. Not if it's the Commanders. Yeah. It's got to be against the Packers. If the Commanders, it'll be a house divided.

No, we're going to beat the Packers. How about if it is Eagles-Commanders, winner of that game gets picked up? You can't put that on me and Big Cat Shoulders. No. We'll need some help. Yeah, I would not help pick you up. No, PFT. If Commanders win. I'll pick them up with one hand. Throw me over your shoulder like a stack of potatoes.

All right, so Max, here it is. And I alluded to this earlier. I'm no longer worried about the Packers. They're a good team. I think, though, they're not an elite team. They are 0-5 against the best teams in the NFC. That's the Vikings, the Eagles, and the Lions.

They make a lot of like, like their offense looks, Josh Jacobs has been great this year, Jordan love, and maybe it was Christian Watson being out, but he did not play well until, you know, like late and he needed to, they needed to score fast. Like he, it just doesn't, it just doesn't look as smooth as you would like it to look going into the playoffs. Yeah.

And also the whole what's going on with Zaire Alexander. Do you see him after the game? He had the big hat, which I'm pretty sure has not been cool for like five years now. And he was like, if I was playing in that game, we would have won that game. That can't really help, right? Like that's not something you really want to have a guy who hasn't played in like a month to be saying postgame. Was he wearing the cheese hat? No, he was wearing like the big, the funny big hat.

Right, right. Yeah, but I don't think – I think the Packers could like maybe win a first-round game against like an Eagles, but I don't think they can go to the Super Bowl. Right, they're a little bit flawed, but they can run the football. They can. They can run the football. They start slow though. They did it again where they started slow. They scored three points in the first half and it's like it's very – like you can't do that in the playoffs. You can't have a slow start in the playoffs. That's happened a lot for them this year where they've started slow and they had to play catch-up and it's like that's –

in a, in a, in an elimination game. Like you just can't do that for three rounds. Yeah. They, they've got their issue. I don't think that they're an elite team, but I think like I, maybe it's because every time they play a good team, they play them very close. They do. And I'm like, one or two things go the other way and they win that game. But one or two things don't go that way. Yeah. I did like, uh, the floor going for it. Uh,

When they were down 11, he went for two to make it nine, which I like that. That was a good move by him. He's learning. Tom Brady was perplexed by that. He had no idea why that was going on. He's like, well, I'm glad that it worked because if it didn't, that'd be bad. But yeah, that's kind of the deal. Like it worked and it actually put them –

where they want it to be. It was like, I think more coaches should do that, but they had no fucking idea what was going on the broadcast. Also, did you guys listen to Tom Brady say the word sacks? Yeah. What was that about? He says it like sacks. You took some bad sacks. I think somebody at some point told him that when you say sacks, it sounds like you're saying sex. So really announced, really, uh, pronunciate the, ah, part of socks. Can someone play it?

He had a tough day. I'll say it. He had a tough day. He started the broadcast and he was like, I think it literally started. I think he was saying something about the Packers. Like the Packers have lost to this team, this team. And then he's like, and what was the other team? It's like, how did you do a stat that you didn't even, you didn't even know the other end. And I think he's gotten better since the beginning of the season, but today was maybe not his best day.

Yeah, there was one time where he called out exactly who was going to blitz even though he wasn't lined up in a blitz formation. And I was like, okay, all right, we're doing something now, Tom. He's gotten a lot better. Yeah. Do you have the clip? I want to hear it. Memes, you have it? You're muted, Memes. Yep, I got it.

He's held onto the ball quite a bit this season, and he's taken a lot of sacks. Almost 46 sacks. Sacks. Sacks. It's like a Cali girl thing. Yeah, like sacks. 46 sacks this season alone. So many sacks. Why are they taking so many sacks? Sacks. All right, then. Good job.

Yeah. Max, you're going to beat the Packers. Don't worry. You're going to beat the Packers. They can't beat good teams. But they don't have to play the Packers in the playoffs. Yeah. Yeah, but if they do, if the Eagles do have to. But the Packers are better than the Commanders.

No, the Eagles have to play them. That's true. That's true. And the Vikings, Kevin O'Connell's coach of the year, Sam Donald's. I saw there was a report that they're, I mean, they're basically, they have to keep them at this point. Yeah. Franchise tag them. He's been awesome. And again, it was like the end of that game when you, when you need a, and I know Aaron Jones was, was hurt, but like, still you're like, Sam Donald's going to win us this game, throwing the ball in situations where most teams would just try to run it up the middle three times and hope they get a first down. Yeah.

Sam Darnold passed twice. And yeah, he's – it was the thing that finally – and I've already believed in Sam Darnold. If you remember, we had that clip from three years ago where PFT, you're like, I'm not done believing Baker. And I was like, I'm not done believing in Sam Darnold. So I've always had that in my head where I'm like, ooh, Sam Darnold. But that drive after the interception, like that –

nothing rattles him now. Like, yeah, he made a bad throw. Okay. And then he went right down the field and was hitting everyone. And it was five for five and scored a touchdown. Yeah. It's like they, they haven't had a whole lot of games where they've gotten Addison, Jefferson and Hawkinson going at the same time, all the sons. And today they were all weapons and nailer. Yeah. And nailer. How about nailer? Huh? Yeah. He was awesome. Their, their offense is a problem. Is Aaron Jones hurt?

That was weird when he took himself out of the game. Yeah. And then Cam Akers. Yeah, it was good. Okay. Wait, so this is for Sam Darnold. He sets a record now. This is the most wins for a quarterback in his first season with a new team.

Oh, wow. It's never been done before. 14 wins. And he wasn't supposed to be the starting quarterback going into this year. Yeah. I mean, good for him. I wonder how good Daniel Jones is getting just like absorbing that room and just being in that building. Because right now, I feel like Daniel Jones. They want to talk about that room. Yeah. That room. Daniel Jones.

Yeah, I feel like that's a good room to be. You get better just by living in the same zip code as Kevin O'Connell. Yeah, Kevin O'Connell is the QB whisperer. He's coach of the year, and he is going to get paid a lot of money because I think he has like two years left on his contract. You've got to re-sign him right now. He's one of the best coaches in the NFL, and he wins all the close games, and the Vikings are a real threat. And with the way the Lions have been injured, like,

The Vikings are – I feel like they might win that game on Sunday and get the one seed, which is crazy. They could. They very easily could. So, yeah, this is – what was the stat that we said the other week? There have been two 14 – or four 14-win seasons in the history of the Minnesota Vikings, and KOC has two of them. Yeah. Yeah, because the 98 season with – when they went 15-1.

And they lost the NFC Championship game to the Falcons. What do you think about the extravagant defensive celebrations for the Vikings? Listen, these guys got to have fun too.

Yeah. This most recent one felt like it was like a minute and a half. It was quite, it was quite extravagant. It was very well planned. The entire defense was involved. It's like the movie basketball where the refs get involved with the dance too. It just kept going. And it was also, I was watching two separate pregame shows today on NFL network and ESPN, and they both had long features on the Vikings touch or defensive celebrations. Yeah.

That's when you know it's gotten pretty out of hand. It's gotten pretty out of hand at this point. But I guess they're not going to stop it. So if they're having fun, good job. Yeah. Okay. Let's wrap up. Before we do Who's Back of the Week, a rowback question. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. Promo code TAKE. 20% off your first purchase. Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Rowback.com. Promo code TAKE. My rowback question is, Hank, did you write a boomer?

I did. Can you read it to us in a monotone voice? Yeah. Okay, great. That's what we were hoping for. I wrote that this is a rage boomer too. So I haven't, I haven't gone back to it. Wait. So what was your, tell us your travel day again. So people understand.

I will say this. Listen, I was in and I traveled from San Diego to Houston to New Orleans along the way. I had two flights get delayed. My bag got sent to Frankfurt, Germany. How does that happen?

Is it your golf clubs? No, no, not my golf clubs, but it's close. That's the thing. The people that I was with on the plane were so much more stressed out. And there was like a – when we landed in Houston, the lady – because we stopped and we got – we just got stuck on the runway for like an hour. And because they couldn't – there was no open gates. I guess there's construction going on at the airport. It was chaos. Yeah.

And so when we finally get to a taxi, the lady like behind me was like, does anyone have a connecting flight? And everyone like she was trying to like push up. Every single person was like, yeah, like everyone was on edge. There was a lady in front of me in a wheelchair. And so I'm taking my time. And there was people behind me like being like, run. Like people were on edge, sprinting through the airport, like really upset. Like I was obviously like not loving it, but also not like –

you know, perspective. I was like, it's not that serious, not that big a deal. And then I realized my, my bag got sent to Frankfurt, Germany. Uh, I'm pretty sure that the person in front of me was going to Frankfurt, Germany. And like when she scanned her thing, they just like gave me her tag and put that on my bag. I don't really know. Um, that was kind of what I came up with, but it's not, it's not that big a deal, but it was like just a long day.

But the people sprinting through the airport is kind of a funny people watching experience. Just people were flying. People were upset. The lady tried to push her way up the flight. So I had a long day, whatever. And then after all that, I was riding my boomer in the cab ride to my hotel. Okay. What was in your bag that's in Germany?

Just close. So it's like I actually have my boxers and my toiletries with me. So it's like all I need to do is go – I need to go buy – and I have my laptop and stuff. So like all the expensive stuff I have with me. The lady did kind of like make me check my bag. She was like, oh, can you just check it? Like it's a big bag. Like you have two big bags. I was like, but it's a carry-on. She's like, yeah, but it's a full flight. Like just check it. I was like, where does it go to? She's like, it goes to your final destination. I'm like, all right, whatever. I wish I had like –

shot that down. But this just means that your, your punishment is that you have to go out in new Orleans and buy sick outfits. Yeah. I'm going to go get some fits off tomorrow. And yeah, I have having boxers and like toiletries and my laptop and stuff. Like it's, it's really not, it's not too, too bad. It was just a long, like the lady was like, I'm like, I'm pretty sure like, she's like, well, this isn't your tag. I'm like, it is my tag. It's the tag that gave me whatever it was. It was a long day. Okay. Go ahead. Monotone. Yeah.

Justin Herbert Hoover said, damn, that was smooth after a jazzy first quarter touchdown to Darius Miles Davis. Drake Mayflower led a voyage down the field and connected with It's-A-Me, a DeMario Douglas for a touchdown. In the second half, Ladd McConkie said, I'll be your wish, I'll be your dream, I'll be your fantasy championship winning wide receiver.

scoring two touchdowns along with 94 yards to make a lot of people very happy Patriots 7 San Diego Superchargers 40 this team could make some noise in the playoffs boom oh I like it hey it's good play the Texans that was very good Hank what did you think about the game there was a lot of boos um it feels we discussed it earlier but like Gerard Mayo like

he should be fired. That was a good game. And for Gerard Mayo getting out of town, like that was best case scenario. I was with my brother. We were like, it was like, that was kind of what we wanted. Whereas like we were with my brother and some of our friends who aren't Patriots fans. And they're like, do you want them to win? We were like, we want them to get smoked. We want Drake to play well, but we want them to get smoked to the point where it's like, get him out of town. Right. Right. And that's what happened. Yeah. PFT. Yeah.

Yeah, Hank, do you think that Mr. Craft was – Minus a concussion. What's that? Drake May got another concussion. Yeah. Do you think Mr. Craft was a little bit upset and wanted to call a timeout to hate when all the fans were booing his coach? He was probably upset, but that's probably like the good thing. Who is he upset at though? Do you think he was more upset at Mayo or do you think he was more upset at his fans?

I feel like rich guys, they're surrounded by yes men. It's like situations like that, they force you to look in the mirror. Kraft is in that camp like Jerry Jones where I think embarrassment actually works.

That's what I'm saying. Like they're surrounded by so many yes men that like you literally can't look at anyone else but the mirror when it's like, oh, fuck, like this is bad. Like George McCaskey embarrassment doesn't work because if it did, he would have quit. He would have like sold the team a decade ago. But like Kraft definitely is like this is bullshit. And yeah, I mean, that was a perfect game for you.

minus the concussion minus the concussion which he came back to yeah he did come back but two concussions in a year not ideal yeah that deep ball that he threw to what's his name pop to mario yeah that was that was an awesome pass and for recognizing like hey free play free play yeah there's been there's been enough of drake may where you're you're excited now right like this is your guy

Yeah, we just got to do it one more time, and then we control. We have everything. You got to lose one more time, which I think you're going to win that game. Yeah. I just think the Bills are going to – if you're the Bills, you should not start anyone, right, of any significance. I just don't – I don't think like –

And I could be wrong. I don't think that the next season interdivisional, like that's a – I feel like that's a fan thing to think. Like I don't – like do you think Sean McDermott is that five head of a coach to be like –

Like, we don't want our interdivisional opponent to, like, get the first pick because that's going to screw us in the future. Like, they have to – even if they think it, they have to game plan to win. Here's where it comes to play. I agree with you. I don't think they go into the game being like, we're going to – because you can't really tank in the NFL. You can't tell guys, like, we're going to try to lose. Right. If it is close at all in, like, the fourth quarter, I think that's when it's like –

They'll just run the ball up the middle and be like, it's fine. You know what I mean? Like play as conservative as possible and not tank or try to lose, but do everything that like lets the Patriots win the game.

Yeah, because the Giants, that game, you're watching and you're like, all right, if they are tanking, they're going to find – but they just kept winning the game. No, you can't do it. The only time you can do it is like the second half of week 18. That's really it because guys are playing for their jobs. And you also can do it in a situation where it's like you can actively sit all your starters –

Like the Bills, the Bills aren't tanking, they're playing. You know what I mean? They're playing for something going forward. So it's like they can sit all their starters and be like, we're doing this for safety's sake and lose that way. But I think the issue is that Sean McDermott is a very good coach. Yeah, of course. The backups are going to be playing hard, obviously, because this is their chance to prove something on tape. And also they will have been coached up by a very good coach who is coaching them to win the game.

He's not going to like coach them to lose the game. He's going to try to win the game with his second string players and

And Jared Mayo is not as good of a coach. But he's really trying to win the game. Really trying. But McDermott is, I think, a good enough coach where he could beat the Patriots with very, very hungry second stringers. Actually, this is what you should be hoping for, Hank, because it Gerard Mayo has proven that he's such a bad coach that if he's trying extra hard to win the game, that's probably bad.

I feel like everyone knows he's just not right. But if he, but like, it's like you're, if you're trying that hard and you're bad at your job, it's only going to amplify the bad. Like you don't want someone who's bad at their job trying like extra, extra hard payments. You want them to just, just be. Yeah. I would hope that the, like that decision has been made already. Um,

I think it was like there's been three coaches that have the number one pick that have actually used it all time. What was that? The coach that was the coach the year they ended up with the number one pick, that was still the coach the next year. I don't know that stat. I mean, Iberfus did. Look up that stat. Look up that stat. I mean, you might be right, but that seems like it's not enough. Yeah, that doesn't –

Well, I guess we'll think about it. All right. So only three teams drafting number one did it with the same head coach as the previous year. The 77. This is weird. I guess this is from a Twitter account that. Oh, maybe it's because the Bears technically had the Panthers pick. Oh, that's probably why.

That's exactly right. The 77 Tampa Bay Bucs, the 1992 Indianapolis Colts, and the 2017 Cleveland Browns. Yeah, that's why. Which is also not potentially a reliable source, but it is the one that I saw. Okay, that works. It makes sense. If you have the number one pick, your coach probably is getting fired. I don't know that that's official. But the Iberflues thing, that makes sense. It wasn't their pick. It was the Panthers' pick. Yeah. Were the three teams, Hank?

1977 Tampa Bay Bucs, the 1992 Indianapolis Colts, and the 2017 Cleveland Browns. Did the Cowboys not draft first after they went? Again, this is Uncle Buck 2006-17. So asterisk, asterisk. Okay, asterisk. Should we do who's back of the week? Yeah. Let's do who's back of the week. It's brought to you by ourselves. Pardon my cheesesteak. Football is in full gear. And ordering pardon my cheesesteak for your game day meal or late night eats.

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Hank, who's back of the week? I mean, I'll just say it. It's 1140. I ordered like $100 a room service when I got in this hotel room two hours ago, and it's not here yet. I'm starting to get concerned, and I'm starving. So that's the who's back of the week? Nope. My other who's back of the week was club hockey. I just needed to get that out there because I'm dying inside. My other who's back of the week was club hockey. Oh, because of what team was it? UNLV. Yeah.

A-C-H-A-M-1, which is club hockey, which is like every college has their actual hockey team and the club hockey team, which is just kids that play in high school that get drunk and play club hockey, which is fun. They beat NCAA D1 defending national champions University of Denver 7-6. In a shootout. In a shootout, which is like that is –

That is the dream. That is like, that is why you play sports. That's what it's all about. Like a club hockey team beating the reigning D one national champions is like, that's, that's everything. Yeah. To be fair. I think club hockey is a little bit different than other club sports. Oh, I think that, I think that there's like D one club is like,

I don't know exactly what it is, but I remember talking to a hockey person who played club hockey. Yeah, probably a club hockey person. That's like, yeah, no, club hockey is legit.

No club baseball is not legit. I have my roommate. I played baseball. Yeah. And he would, I would like, he'd have a game and he would like wake up at noon and be like, don't you have a game? He'd be like, yeah, I'm skipping today. I have a lot of friends that play club hockey at UMass. They would say it's legit. I would, I, it is legit, but like, it's still, it's a crazy upset.

It's probably like club rugby because a lot of schools don't have varsity rugby teams. Actually, like almost all of them don't have varsity rugby teams. But the club level is like the highest that you can get besides like four schools. So there are good players. And it's probably the same for hockey. You don't have a varsity program and you're in a good area. You can still probably get good players, but it's not like. But UNLV is not really a hockey hotbed, I would imagine. Yeah.

I mean, I'm a club. I love club hockey. Like, shout out to clocky. But I like I don't I don't I'm not going to like it's not. It's crazy. A club hockey team beating the D1 national champions is an insane story. I don't I there's no world where it's not. Yeah. It's the only time boys are buzzing. Boys are buzzing for like two years off that one. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. For life. Absolutely. All right. PFT year. Who's back?

Uh, we're just talking hockey today. Cause my who's back is Alex Ovechkin. He came back from his broken leg, scored two goals in two games. First was a sick empty netter. The second one was more real goal. Uh, but now he's 25 away from breaking Gretzky's record. So my original projection of January 23rd, um, in Edmonton, that's been revised. And I think I'm going to, I'm going to release my official, my game, uh,

I'll do it on Wednesday as part of my take. I'll pick out a game on the schedule where he's going to break the record, but he could do it this year. Yeah. Friday's part of my take. We don't have a show on Wednesday. Good point. Friday's part of my take. Happy new year. Yeah. Happy new year. Um, all right. My who's back is bowl season. Let's talk about some college football quarterfinals. Also shout out the pop tarts bowl. That was awesome. Everything they put into that. Um,

Like the strawberry pop tart coming back from the dead. I saw Eddie and Clem were down there. Our guys, it looked like the coolest time. Also, anyone who's upset about Cam Ward is a loser, and they're just basically looking for someone to be angry about. Malik Neighbors did the same thing last year. No one was upset about it. He played until he got a record, and then he sat out. I guarantee you that the entire Miami team knew that Cam Ward was going to play until he got the record and then sit. And I know that because...

I bet Iowa State because everyone was talking about how Cam Ward was not going to play the whole game. So, like, it was not a surprise that he sat out. And I get it. People are like, oh, well, you're watching your guys battle out there.

He's also got millions of dollars on the line if he gets hurt. Like, I don't understand it. Are people just coming around to the fact that bowl games are like they don't really mean anything and it's entertainment and it's like it's kind of stupid, but it's also fun. Like, I don't understand that. I don't understand why people are mad at Kim Ward.

They had a fucking edible mascot on the field. Right. And we're mad at the guy for sitting out the second, not the whole game. The second half. The second half of that game, which was fun. And especially if you bet the over, because I feel like there were 42 points scored in the first like six minutes of the game. Yes. So we're mad at a guy for putting literally tens of millions of dollars on the line.

To not play in the second half. That's exactly right. I saw one guy say they should fine him, that the University of Miami should fine Cam Ward. There's no way. There's no way that everyone on that team didn't know the plan. Like it just wasn't – it could not have been a surprise because, again, I somehow like heard through the grapevine that was probably going to happen. Like how is that – there's just no way. And not only that, if you were a person –

who complained about the college football playoff being blowouts. And in the same token said, cam Ward sitting out is bullshit.

I, you make no sense to me because this is what the college football, like the, if you, if you're like, Oh, 12 teams is too many. At least it's more games where guys aren't going to sit out. And I have no problem with Kim Ward sitting out because guess what? That's like these games ultimately don't mean anything. When a guy's projected to go top 10 in the NFL draft, like he's got to take care of himself. Every single person in that situation would do the same thing.

But the college football playoff at least makes it so more of these games, this doesn't happen. So you can't argue both those sides in my mind. That's when it's going to get weird is if somebody does that in a playoff game. Well, Bo Pribula. Yeah. He's transfer portal. Transfer. A little bit different. But if somebody is projected to go high in the draft and doesn't want to risk injury in playoff games, then they sit out. Then I feel like that side would have –

Like a little more to complain about because you're playing for a national championship and the rest of your team would probably like you to play in a meaningful game. But yeah, in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, who gives a fuck? Right. Who gives a fuck? I'm shocked he played at all. I know. Well, he wanted the record, which is cool. And also, if you're a Miami player, like you get to say that you were on the team that had a record. That's pretty cool. If you're an offensive lineman, you're like, yeah, I blocked for the record-breaking quarterback. That's pretty awesome.

Yeah. I think that means more probably in like 20 years than it does. Like we didn't win the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Yeah. Although the Pop-Tarts Bowl is awesome. All right. So any picks or thoughts because – I was going to say one other thing from the bowl weekend. The confetti stuck to Matt Rule's face. I think it's still there. Yep. I don't know how they got that many pieces. That was a bad boy mover game, right? No, that was the pinstripe bowl.

Pinstripe Bull. Pinstripe Bull. Yeah, his daughter looked so embarrassed to be next to him when he had like nine – just like take him off your face, Dad. But that was fun. Good for Rayola. Good for Will Compton. Yeah. Nebraska's back. Go Big Red. All right. So, Max, are you – he's still thinking about the Packers. Are you at all worried about Boise State? No.

Yes. Yes. Because it's Boise State and the Fiesta Bowl. That is why I'm nervous about Boise State. Because of history. That makes sense. I lost so much on that game when I was, I don't know, I was probably like 19 years old. It was like Oklahoma versus Boise State.

I think Penn State's easy draw is adding to the confusion for Max of how come the Eagles don't get the same easy draw. Yeah. That's fair. That's fair. I think, I think you'll be okay. I do think Ash and Jenny will do well. I'm rooting for him to do well. Um,

The game I'm actually most excited – well, the Rose Bowl is going to be awesome. I think I'm going to take Ohio State in that game, and it's mostly based on the uniforms that Oregon picked. I didn't really like them. I thought they should have done more classic. Oh, I love them. You love them? Love them. I don't know. The Rose Bowl. I need classic uniforms, especially Ohio State-Oregon. No.

No, with Oregon, it's like the crazier the uniforms are, they're almost more Oregon. Yeah, I could see that. I'm going to probably take Ohio State in that game. I'm probably going to take Notre Dame in the Georgia game. And then I'm very excited for Arizona State, Texas, because I don't know if you guys saw Sam Levitt, like basically doing the thing you're not supposed to do with bulletin board material and being like, I'm going to prove that I'm the best quarterback in this game. Something about Arizona State, I feel like,

I feel like they're going to run shark wheel to start the game. I don't know. I feel like it could happen. Are we counting just a normal wheel route as being shark? Any wheel route. I'll just say it's shark wheel. Okay. Yeah. That's all. Yeah. It's, it's all it takes, but are you guys like what games, by the way, we're streaming the January 1st game. So we'll be in the gambling cave for those. I'm leaning towards Michigan or sorry, not Michigan, Georgia. I don't know. I'm leaning towards Georgia. Yeah. Against Notre Dame. Um,

I don't know. I feel like the athletes that they have, especially on defense, like when they play well, they're really good. They're so schizophrenic. You just don't know if you're going to get good Georgia or bad Georgia. Yeah.

Yeah, Notre Dame's defense is good. And they did lose – I think they lost one of their good defensive linemen, which definitely hurts. I don't know. These games are going to rock. Like everyone who complained about the first round, I think we're going to get some great games. I really do. I'm going to take the over in Texas and Arizona State too. Just rooting for points in chaos. Yeah, the early game on January 1st. And the fact that Rose Bowl, like a classic Rose Bowl, I know they're two Big Ten teams, but that's going to be awesome. I'm so excited for that.

Anything else? Oh, Georgia memes. You're going to win this game? Yeah.

Okay, there it is. You heard it here. No, I think it's going to be a good game. Notre Dame losing their defensive end is huge. Massive, massive. I'm a little worried about Mike Bobo. I saw his press conference. I wasn't fired up about that. Why? What did he say? He gave a pump-up speech to Gunnar Stockton that said, I told him to just be him, and I'll be me, and you just be you, and Kirby will be Kirby.

You just got to be yourself. When your pub of speech is just saying your names. Yeah. Slightly worried about Mike Bobo, but I think they'll get it done. Okay. Anything else? Like I said, we have no show Wednesday. We'll be back in person, though, on Thursday. We'll recap all of the games. We'll have a show on Friday. We'll be back in studio previewing week 18. Congrats again, PFT, on making the playoffs. Thank you. Max. Yes, baby.

Playing the Packers is going to be tough. We can do this, Max. I also, through my research, I will be a hard Commanders hater. Yeah, you've got to be a Cowboys fan. Yeah, you've got to be a Cowboys fan. I get it. No, no, no, no. I'm saying in the Rams-Commanders game. Why? Because then if the Rams win that game, the Eagles would avoid –

If the Eagles beat the Packers and the Rams beat the Commanders, then the Eagles avoid the Vikings or Lions. Got it. Yep. So now I'm kind of back in on that scenario. Yeah, because then the Commanders would be the lowest seed still available. Correct. So the Vikings, yes. No, wait.

No, I'm not. I'm right. He's right. So if the Rams beat the commanders, then, and the Eagles, when the seven seed, the Packers get eliminated. Correct. The commanders are now the lowest seed. So they would have to play against the number one seed. Yeah. Yes. And the, and the, and the, but you could play the bucks too, Max. No, but I'm saying if the Ram, you gotta be good teams in the playoffs. Max, you gotta be good. That's something you're starting to realize. Yeah.

It's crazy how fast you've turned. You've got to beat everyone. You should be expecting to beat – you're going to play the one seed. You're realistically going to play the one seed at some point, so you're going to have to beat them. You know what I say? Anyone, anytime, anywhere. Yeah. Yeah, that's good, PFC. You're ready for the playoffs. I'm not here. That's a team that has no aspirations to do anything.

Except for beat the best teams. Max, you want to be handed a Super Bowl. Max, you want to play against the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. Max, you want to be – you have to root for the Cowboys on Sunday. You realize that. You're a Cowboys fan on Sunday.

Yeah, I don't know. We'll say no. We'll play who's in front of us. Give me the Packers. I'm worried about that. His brain is fucked right now. The one thing that really does suck about this is if the Packers beat the Eagles, I am just completely taking all the joy that I would have of a Max loss is just completely gone. Like, I'll be just as miserable as Max. I'll be happy. We can do this together, Max. We're going to do this together. I'm going to put a bomb on the Eagles.

Let's go to the numbers. Bob Salah since last time they played. It's true. And Jalen Hurts had his worst game against him last year. But I'm on your side if you play the Packers because he's on their side. Yeah. Okay, yeah, let's kick it to ourselves. Let's do numbers, and we'll see everyone on Friday. Okay, last numbers of the year. Numbers. Three. 11. 25. 17.

70. I don't like what you did. 71. Wait, Jack, what was your number? 15. 54. 54. Love you guys. The entire year.