2025 NFL Week 15 Late and Primetime Games Preview

23:23And so I think that you saw, yes, it's the commanders. And yes, this was a weird game and a sad one for the commanders as well. But you're really seeing these like putting the blueprint on paper games are really important for a football team. And they were there. Every single one of them is important for J.J. McCarthy.

23:41Patrick Claybon:I think the blueprint that we've seen for so long that did return for the Minnesota Vikings was AVG getting a tipped interception on the edge. Harrison Smith extending his active NFL lead in terms of career players, in terms of interceptions. But the bit of the outlier against this commander's defense, which was faulting, and I know that they had De 'Ron Payne back in this game, but the interior pressure is a real issue for J.J. McCarthy when he can't get that full big stride into the throws. And Quentin Williams has changed the interior situation in Dallas where it makes me worried for this whole ebb and flow and rollercoaster J.J.

24:21Patrick Claybon:McCarthy discussion nationally that we may be on the other side. I mean, that step forward was like a nice little step. It's not going to mean anything if he has like a bad quarter and a half. And we've seen rookies in a tightly managed game like survive well for one week. The test is going to be this next month. But I think as we saw, you know, against the Lions, And the Cowboys defense like still will have holes in the back end. Ron Bland's a good player. He has given up the fourth most yards linebackers in coverage in the NFL. Trevon Diggs, like, I don't know if he's going to return or not.

25:00I thought it was interesting that Brian Schottenheimer said that we need to see Trevon Diggs do everything the right way as he's coming back. So it's just weird public back and forth between the team and digs. And yeah, I just I'm not buying in that the Dallas defense is suddenly like a top 10 defense. No, but I love their front now. I do. I mean, I loved it with Mike Parsons on it, too. I keep spraying at you. I'm sorry, Greg.

25:27Patrick Claybon:I did not notice. Jordan tells on herself for no reason all the time. I'm so sorry. It's an audio medium. No one would have seen it. Nobody would have known. Nobody would have known. I love their front. I love Quinnen Williams. He's playing, honestly, with so much joy, too. It's like he's getting to show the world what we've always known he's capable of doing and kind of out of a sad rebuild place once again. And I really like this defensive front. The back seven, I don't trust one bit. Some of it's feast or famine, and other parts of it just have fundamental issues and some tackling issues. Just famine.

26:04They're starving. Yeah, there's a lot of famine in there. But I do really like how they've been shaping this front and they they're they're attacking the ball. You know, guys like Sam Williams making plays and and Quinn and Williams having like the best month and a half of his career to this point. It's special to watch. And that's the side of the ball to me that will be interesting. This is a good Sunday night game, despite the Vikings record, because I think they are about the perfect spoiler down the stretch of any team. But the other side of the ball is where it really gets cooking. Like Dak Prescott versus Flores and this young offensive line for the Cowboys, which has mostly been good and getting better, trying to figure out everything that they send at it.

26:46And they Tyler's. Yeah. All the Tylers got the Booker. We got Tyler Smith. Actually, we don't have Tyler Guyton, so we don't have all the Tylers. but we have multiple Tylers, two thirds of the Tylers and, and Dak coming off a game where like he, he was up for the fight. We'll see about CD lamb's status this week, But that Vikings defense on turf and everything, I don't know. I'm really looking forward to it. You know what? And we already got through the first George Pickens crash out of the year, and so we're good, right? It'll be great.

27:16Patrick Claybon:Yeah. The rough Pickens game being churled from the booth on pride. Oh, my God. Don't even get me started on that. I'm wondering what George did to Herbie specifically. I miss that because Herbstreet is white noise to me, and I just try to block it out, go to the radio if you can. But it caused 10 days of conversation of like, you know, this kind of, you know, can George Pickens be trusted with a long-term contract? Yes. Does he give the great effort? Yes, he can. I'll answer it for you. Yes, he can. Okay, he didn't battle for a couple of those balls. Multiple things can be true. Uh-huh. George Pickens, since he came in the league, does have more reps where he did not give great effort than almost any wide receiver since he's entered the league.

28:04Like that was a thing on tape in Pittsburgh, which is crazy because there's so many other snaps. And obviously he's been incredible all season where he gives somehow like more effort than anyone else on the field. So that does just add a little bit of content. And also that, you know, who you're like, you know, who you're paying, like pay. I don't think it should affect his conversation about his contract at all. like have you seen with this guy the play is that this guy has been making i mean he's and you and by the way you've got the right quarterback you've got the right receivers room him and cd seem to get along really well and you've got the right coach that is like schottenheimer i would trust i would trust to handle whatever comes up honestly and this is a perfect matchup too because that's the vikings weakness too is that second cornerback spot whoever is out there like they got byron murphy but they can get picked on a little bit on the outside they're not a big group it's no Brian Flores likes him small and feisty.

29:03Before we take a break, though, I did want to close the circle here on George Pickens, who likes to wear the shysty, you know? Okay. The face covering. Popular. And so... Popular. Brian Schottenheimer's been doing it. And you might have seen that in Hard Knocks this week, where Dak actually gave Schottenheimer a shysty. and then Schottenheimer spoke about it actually to the media this week. Yeah, I didn't really like it. I couldn't breathe. I don't know why those guys like it so much, but I thought, hey, this is the cool thing going on. Let me try it. It's kind of like the 6-7 thing a few weeks ago.

29:41I'm a hip guy. But yeah, I didn't really like it. It didn't stay on very long. America's cool dad, Brian Schottenheimer. I'm like regular moms. I'm a cool mom. I misnamed him earlier when we were coming into the studio and I called him Jason Garrett. And it made me think he kind of is like just a cooler Jason Garrett. But, you know, he's like an evolved cooler dad, Jason Garrett. David Duchovny. I think he's better, though. Let's take a quick break. We'll be back on the other side with the game I really want to talk about. It's Phillip Rivers coming back to the NFL.

30:19Patrick Claybon:That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Toyota is all in all season with another year of Toyota game day giveaways. Coming up during this week's Sunday night game, the Minnesota Vikings versus the Dallas Cowboys. If there's a scoreless third quarter or a scoreless fourth quarter, 50 fans will each win a$150 Uber Eats gift card. Terms and conditions apply. Enter for a chance to win at toyotagamedaygiveaways.com. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Ends 2-8-26. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C., 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter, prizes, and official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com.

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33:31Back on NFL Daily. And we've hit Philip Rivers in each show this week.

33:39Patrick Claybon:Understandably. We're going to hit Phillip Rivers in each show the rest of the season. We can just call this Phillip Rivers Daily forevermore. This is a gift. Hopefully the Seattle Seahawks don't hit Phillip Rivers that much. The Indianapolis Colts, yes, and 44-year-old Phillip Rivers at the Seattle Seahawks, who are favored by 14 points. The over-under is 42.5. Andrew Catalan, the best, Charles Davis, and Jason McCourty, they're on the call. where maybe Phillip Rivers, maybe Tyler Warren, maybe somebody's taking snaps for the Indianapolis Colts against the best defense in the NFL. Jordan, how does it go?

34:19I mean, I feel like we just have to start out right away listening to Phillip Rivers, to be honest. There's only one way to start out this Phillip Rivers game, and that is by listening to Phillip Rivers' first comments to the Indianapolis media. I've tried to make this as simple as I can. I'll try not to get emotional, actually, you asking that.

34:36Patrick Claybon:As simple as it can be as a coach that I love, and an organization that I really enjoyed being with. You know, Mr. Ursae believing in me in that year in 2020 when it didn't go so good in 2019. And shoot, the teammates that I was able to – were able to play with, shoot, 14 of them are still here. Training room's the same. PR guys are the same. Equipment room's the same.

35:05Patrick Claybon:And they wanted me. I'm all the way freaking in You know me Earnest comments I'm in He Is obviously overwhelmed Like We'll see what the emotions are like If Byron Murphy is like cracking him in the back You know God I hope he's mic'd up We actually don't know if Phillip Rivers is even playing I'm assuming this on some level And I shouldn't We don't know if Riley Leonard is available We do know that Brett Rippon was signed to the active roster On Wednesday but they would need two active quarterbacks. Phillip Rivers for now is on the practice squad. One of my favorite lines was in the ESPN story by Stephen Holder, who does a good job covering the team.

35:50And he said, according to sources, Rivers, his workout was impressive. He threw the ball well, but it needs to improve his conditioning. According to source, how that impacts his ability to play this week is unclear. Like, yeah. But he knows the offense. He was running it as a high school coach for his kid. It was Shane Steichen's offense, Patrick. And so there's a couple of ways to look at that. Yeah.

36:12Patrick Claybon:Like, man, like this offense is these high schoolers are getting at it or the Colts are running a high school offense. Well, I think they probably. It was a slimmer. I think they simplified it. I mean, it's been working for both. They've been both. You know, this is one of the highest scoring offenses in the league. You can say what you want, Patrick. No, we're working. And I love looking back at this 2020 video. that we've shown a couple times on Fantasy Live, like Naheem Hines, T.Y. Hilton, I think Trey Burton gets a reception coming up here next, if you're watching us on YouTube, where I'm glad he's back.

36:46Patrick Claybon:You hear the way that Chuck Amato got him at NC State when the Titan Tigers missed out on this quarterback that they didn't want to play quarterback. The emotion there, he clearly loves the game. Maybe a little too much. Hopefully Phil stays healthy. He even said he was like, He was like happy to have a real press conference and that it wasn't in a zoom. That's how he kicked it all off. He, he just loves ball. And I liked people are like, Oh, they're in, and he's given up five years. He's going to have to wait five more years of hall of fame. But you think Phillip Rivers cares about, he's like, I just love ball, man.

37:18He just, he wants to be out there so bad. I, I love this game and all of this. We, we couldn't have invented a Mad Lib such as this. Right. And this really will be a game for everybody. It will be a game for the emotional poets of the world who are going in and watching Philip Rivers. And it's basically all heart and desperation to save the Indianapolis Colts season going up against the one of the most well-built, complete, aggressive, incredible, complete football teams in the NFL that we've seen in a while in the Seattle Seahawks. And so it's like when an audacious force meets an immovable object.

38:00Right. And I cannot wait for that. I'm going to be real. I'd rather be against the Titans. I know. I want to, I want to ease them in. Give me like a Titans Saints. We'll throw the Jaguars in for some fun, maybe, and then build up to the Seahawks at the end. With Phillip Rivers, he probably wouldn't want it any other way, Greg, to be honest. But he might change his tune again.

38:21Patrick Claybon:He'd want like a game against the Giants on Monday night where Eli is calling the game and he can make his a hall of fame case. Cause like waiting five years to give one speech is one thing, but we, we're going to see him for the next three weeks. We'll get a whole lot of Phillip. we have a chance to remember. yeah, the problem is. Yeah, I know that I got 11 years until I'm 44. I don't even want to know what my body's going to feel like then. I, I, I follow Theo Ash on, on Twitter. And he pointed out just the ages of some notable NFL players that, that are 44, like former ones, like Wes Welker is 44 years old.

38:56He also was pointed out this week, Todd Gurley is 31 years old. If you're just thinking of the comparison, I hate it. I hate that it's this matchup because the rest of the Colts are not playing well right now. It should be pointed out. You know how many quarterback hits and sacks combined they had last week? Zero. You know how much like Jonathan Taylor has done the last couple of weeks? Not a lot for Jonathan Taylor. Like the offensive line in general has given up a lot of pressure up the middle lately. The last two weeks on offense, actually really on the line play for both sides, has been a little concerning.

39:28And now you've got to play a team in Seattle that's healthier than they've been all season. They got Julian Love back last week at safety. They got Jerron Reed back last week to add to that defensive line mix. It's just, it's a tough one. And shout out to defensive rookie of the year candidate, Nick Imanwari, because first of all, he doesn't come off the field. And when you have to, what quite obviously will be lean on a lot of scheme and a lot of, you know, attempting to force mismatches for Philip Rivers, the Philip Rivers at 44 years old off of the high school football field sideline does not have to come in and play as much hero ball in this first one out.

40:03Nick Emanwari is a personnel neutralizer. And I remember sitting back here a year ago, Greg, we were talking with Nate Tice about what the future of some of these defenses will look like and the future of what defense is having another advantage again against offenses will look like. And Nick Emanwari is that player. And all of this to say, Nick Emanwari is also 21 years old, which makes him over one Nick Emanwari younger than the 44-year-old Phillip Rivers. and in fact, Nicky Manwari was born on February 7th, 2004, just a few weeks before Philip Rivers was drafted by the New York Giants and then traded to San Diego for Eli Manning.

40:47It makes me feel a certain. And I think multiple years after Philip Rivers' firstborn came into this world, because he was a father when he got drafted.

40:55Patrick Claybon:Yes, and if he plays, he will be a grandfather that is playing in another Rivers number, which is of course 17 which was Daniel Jones's number which Philip Rivers is now going to wear if he gets into this game it's also been 17 years since he played in the AFC championship game on a torn ACL his 44 is not your 44 if you're like a on the pickleball circuit or in Greg's if you're playing a real sport like tennis hey now um his 44 is a little bit different because he's getting smashed by people so good luck uh to Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis I love that this next game is, is announced by, by Drew Brees, the man that he replaced in New Orleans.

41:36And Eric asks, what's the first play you want to see the Colts run on Sunday? Like a classic. I mean, it's just simple. It's, it's a straight drop back and it's him with that intermediate throw over the middle that like Aaron Rogers isn't making that throw ever, but that's, that is the Aaron, the typical Philip Rivers timing throw. It's probably to Michael Pittman for about 18 yards.

41:57Patrick Claybon:And we, And we can basically guarantee that Rivers will have a snap with the Colts down six in the fourth quarter. That would be a great result. Just cover the 14. I'm taking that as a victory. Can you guys imagine being Brett Rippon over the years? And some of these teams have completely altered their franchise, their franchises at the looming threat of Brett Rippon. And I love that guy. He's very nice. But can you imagine? He's probably self-aware enough to be excited. He's getting an active roster check this week. Yeah, and that's what he gets for a throttling of Troy University back when he was playing for the Broncos.

42:36Patrick Claybon:The Tennessee Titans, fresh off of lighting up the Browns defense in Week 14 going on the road at the San Francisco 49ers. It is the aforementioned Drew Brees and Adam Ameen on a call. The Niners are favored by 12.5 points. Clearly, Greg, the Titans didn't move the needle that much last week. do you feel that that number is a bit too much no because i think the 49ers offense coming off a week off weirdly healthier right now than they have been all season not just because they had the they were actually healthier in that week before they got the buy against cleveland uh on both sides of the ball than they really had been all year and you're not getting fred warner and nick bosa back but this defense is playing with a lot of aggression you're getting production out of Cleveland Farrell getting production out of Keyon White.

43:25And it's not about that. Number is not about the defense. It's about the offense ready to turn into a wagon against a team. That's that's not complete. And I thought Purdy played great in that Browns game. That one really rewarded a rewatch because the numbers don't pop out. And he had five or six just classic sort of very difficult Purdy anticipation throws throughout that game, made a couple of great plays at a couple of great decisions where he just avoided making the big mistake and it just made me feel better about what's to come. And I think what's to come here is, you know, a top eight offense the rest of the way.

44:01So I think they'll put it on the Titans. Yeah, this is the game we actually wish we could give to Philip Rivers to onboard up because this is exactly the type of game. And I don't want to demean the Titans. They just they are going to go through a massive organizational change here in the next couple of months. And so it is what it is at this point, but the 49ers basically have to take this game and use it as the windup for the rest of their sprint and their season, the remaining schedule gets really, really fun for us. Um, they get the Colts. We hope with an intact Philip rivers Monday night football, they get the bears with NFC stakes that will be significant by that point.

44:41And then they get the Seahawks to close the season and that will probably have massive playoff implications due to the fact that the Seahawks lost to the 49ers early in the year. And Seattle also has the Rams one more time and already lost to the Rams once. So this is going to be an absolute like launching or should be. They should use it as this and attack as such a launch point to really barrel headfirst into the rest of their schedule. People sleeping, I think, on the 49ers as a real deal team. If they were in the AFC, I would consider them a Super Bowl contender. I don't quite in the NFC. Do you think that's too hot?

45:16Patrick Claybon:What AFC division are the 49ers going in? I want to play this hypothetical all the way out. So let's trade the Chargers for the 49ers. Sure. That's a good one. They're actually right around. If you kind of look where they are, for instance, in DVOA, they're ahead of the Chargers, the Patriots, the Bucs. They're right next to the Eagles. That all sounds about right to me. I think that's where they're at. The problem is, yeah, they're with the Rams, Seahawks, Packers. I think it's going to be tough to get through that tournament. So I'm putting them, sure, put them in the AFC West as a wild card.

45:45I think they could win that tournament. Yeah.

45:47Patrick Claybon:And they get an opportunity for a layup, you know, before that tournament, you know, in the stretch run where if you just watch the one game, if you just watch the one game, you saw Cam Ward and Tony Pollard and this Titans offense, like you start to believe. They limit Miles Garrett to one sack, and I'm wondering if the game plan was built around that, and it led to the best offensive output for the Tennessee Titans, who not just have the chance to win the first two-game win streak this season. This will be the first two-game win streak for the Titans since 2022. Holy cow. 2022. So, Cam, it's not you.

46:26Patrick Claybon:This is franchise-related. That's how they were in the position to draft you. Earl, you're in danger. but hey the pass rush of the 49ers is it's not even the browns that's that's almost as impressive or in the wrong way as the lions i think haven't lost how many two straight in three years something like that uh that is horrifying what a what a sad franchise before we move from this game i did want to just mention the news because we never hit it on the show the reports that brandon iuk are is not expected to play this season and it sounds like he's just going to be on the trade block this offseason that the relationship there's been a lot of reporting out there locally athletic everything is is maybe beyond repair and weird statements publicly and just that would wrap up uh one of the strangest contract negotiation extension situations of all time that they they didn't like each other we've been over it before like that there was a lot of consternation they gave him the contract then he gets hurt and never ends up playing and and they never made that trade.

47:29So he'll be an interesting person to track this offseason because I think there'll be plenty of trade interesting. DJ Moore to the 49ers? It's an interesting trade. Swap him.

47:40Patrick Claybon:How different things could have been if they had blocked it correctly in the final drive of the Super Bowl and got Brandon Iook, who was wide open, and then maybe offered him a deal or maybe an invite to Christian McCaffrey's wedding. Or just taking that offer from the Steelers when they thought they were getting it. Maybe Kyle Shanahan just is surfing that morning and doesn't march into John Lynch's office and say, we actually have to get this done, even though you guys want to train him. So many what ifs. The waves were probably good that day, Kyle. What ifs for fans of a team in purple in the AFC?

48:11Patrick Claybon:Because on Monday night football, the Miami Dolphins are on the road at the Pittsburgh Steelers, the high flying, high octane Steelers, where Aaron Rodgers is running all over folks and throwing deep passes for the first time in several weeks. The Steelers favored by three in this one. The over-under is 42 and a half. It is Monday night, so it's Joe and Troy on the call. The path is a little more constricted, Jordan. But do the Dolphins have a chance to win this game specifically on Monday night? I think Miami wins this game. And you guys know me. I hate making predictions. It makes my skin crawl.

48:45But I do think that they win this game. This run game is all the way back. And Devonny Chan is going to play, according to Mike McDaniel. and between offensive line coach Butch Berry and tight ends coach John Embry, who is a legend. If you know, you know, they have really got that entire collective between offensive linemen, tight ends and running backs cooking in a way that is what we had hoped. This is what we were promised with Mike McDaniel when he first came into the league. It is their blocking combinations. It is some of the personnel decisions that they've made. Aaron Brewer at center really making the entire engine run up front and doing so without regard for human life on the other side.

49:26And this, the combination at tight end of Darren Waller and Greg Dolchet, it works so well because both of these guys can do so many different things. And Mike McDaniel is not just using them in the intermediate. He's using them on a bunch of different types of leverage blocking. He's using them to create explosive plays, whether for those players or for other players. And that is still where the Steelers, as well as they can play when their defense plays well, they have still been quite explosive to the explosive, quite susceptible to the explosive play, particularly against a team that uses a lot of interesting blocking structure and pre-snap misdirection.

50:10I think they're... I really said that cleanly. It was great. I didn't spit, so... It was as effective as the Steelers defense against explosive plays. Wow. No. I think they're second to last. You said you liked it, you know, when the inner mass comes out. I think they're second worst in the league behind the Raiders. And they are bad. The matchup is bad for the Steelers. And he's putting out just like, I don't even know what's going on on these running plays, but a lot's going on. He's getting fancy with it. I don't trust them. I don't trust the Steelers either, especially in a game like they're quote-unquote supposed to win as a slight favorite.

50:53But they've won four straight games in maybe the worst month of Tua Tungavailoa's career. It's kind of amazing to me how poorly Tua Tungavailoa is playing overall, and that's just expected, and he's actually not getting any grief for it. He's been a good quarterback since Mike McDaniel got there in terms of when he's on the field and efficient. Obviously, there's some weaknesses to his game. And they're not that now. And they've had two really great games out of the division. I mean, in the division, they also had two games where it came down to last play against like the Saints and the Commanders.

51:25So I don't trust them overall, but they're getting closer to being like a relatively complete average team because the defense is solid. The running game is legit good. If Tua starts playing better, Patrick, I don't think they can win out. There's a reason they have a less than 1 % chance to make the playoffs. And the Chiefs actually have like a 12 to 15 with the exact same record the schedule doesn't help and yeah the team has its problems but if two could just play better they are they are quite dangerous yeah significantly

51:51Patrick Claybon:i would say in this game like if you get a good to a game you tell me you get a quality to a game like one of his best of 2025 i'm with jordan i've got the miami dolphins my inherent biases uh against the you know the sealers in this situation uh notwithstanding uh just because of the way that they've had improvement in the places that they've needed to and understand the schedule is a big part of the 2025 season but we talked about jonah savania right at guard the rookie guard and having all those difficulties his improvement has coincided with the improvement in the run game and the way that mike mcdaniel is able to reshape the line of scrimmage kind of choose where the line of scrimmage is ultimately going to be on the field on any given play where devon hann gets a chance to have these like on-field punt returns uh going like taking advantage of defenses that can be a little aggressive.

52:42Patrick Claybon:And that's this Pittsburgh Steelers group where they were releasing guys to grass last week, looking like they did at the start of the season. And the one game Rogers blip, that's a one game Rogers blip. Maybe that's against the team. I mean, I would tend to agree. I would no pass rush whatsoever in that game against the Steelers. Oh, I don't think it was about like the lack of pass rush or not. He just was on one. It reminded me a little bit, like I've heard Serena Williams talk about this, or Federer, like when you're an all-time great and you hit your 40s or whatever, sometimes you do just have it for a day, but you just don't.

53:20Sometimes you show up and it's just not there for you. And he had it. He was outstanding in that game. If he plays like that, they were not high percentage throws, but he was on one, then their upside is high. I tend to agree that it's a one-game blip, but he's got it. Like I'm, I'm more curious to watch them play offensive football this week after that performance by him than I was before. That's for sure. Maybe he can back it up. Okay. Greg's excited. I'm not excited.

53:45Patrick Claybon:Arthur Smith and Aaron Rogers. I'm not a Monday night football. Arthur Smith wishes he was moving gaps around like this run game in Miami's doing. Did you guys see the play where there were three skill players, including tight ends lined up in a stack next to the quarterback with the running back on the other side. And then there was a motion. So not only with the motion, he's changing the gap. I love what you said about reshaping the line of scrimmage, Patrick, because not only does the motion change the gap that the running back is supposed to run through to a different one for the defense, but then you don't know what it's actually going to be because all three of those players are splitting off in different directions.

54:17And one of them is getting the ball. And I just, I squealed. I made noises.

54:23Patrick Claybon:Loves ball. Loves ball back to being an offensive genius when it works. But when it doesn't, it can get a little. I always believe. talk about up and down changes there's the the quantum super position that is the carolina panthers they can be great they cannot be one of those teams they have not been great against greg is the new orleans saints they are two and a half point favorites on the road against the quarterback rushing machine like it was cameron jerell newton aka tyler shuck against the bucks on sunday the over under is 40 and a half jason benetti and rg3 on the call in this one which Which version of the Panthers do we get, Greg?

55:02That's new. We get the version that should win a game. You can't get swept by the Saints. That's just unserious. And still be in the playoff mix? Because they would be, whether they win this game or not. This is kind of where it gets real. That, okay, you're hitting the stretch run. You're hitting games that you have to win. That you are expected to win against the Saints. because, yeah, getting swept by them would be a little bit embarrassing. After this game, and they can't look ahead of this game, obviously, but after this game, they've got Bucs, Seahawks, Bucs. Yeah. And all of them will have playoff implications.

55:43So you better put your best foot forward and your best tape out in this game regardless. Right. If you lose this game, they might not all have playoff implications. You might be done by week 18.

55:52Patrick Claybon:I'll put you guys on a theory because folks have wondered, what is this about these Carolina Panthers? I think what if it's game plan related? What if when there's this opponent that doesn't see a lot of Carolina Panthers, Dave Canales going in to the tape room, looking at the specific aspects where you can attack defenses on specific plays. There's the mic'd up clip of Rico Dowdle knowing exactly where the rush and the defenders in the zone were going to be and taking a screen to the house where they go up against the Saints team. There's not going to be any surprises. both franchises intimately aware of others personnel you say he's bored i just i just think maybe sometimes david now is greg likes to spice it up he needs a project go on the like maybe it's not all player related maybe this is the the head coach and play caller sometimes needing a little bit of a chain i do think they just have like a slimmer path to the way they win It's like, it's a lot of running on downs where you don't expect them to run, which is, I think, great.

56:56You got to pull that off. Like, you got to hit your third and four runs. I'm always surprised by them running in those situations. And yeah, it didn't work. And if you're only counting on Bryce lately to just hit these big plays, but you're only throwing the ball 20 to 25 plays, like those plays change the game. And he hits two long fourth downs on the last one. Yeah, I'm curious. It is a good test for Canales' adjustments. I mean, you lose by 10 points to Tyler Shuck a couple weeks ago, and you're playing a defense that I know you, Jordan, have noticed statistically is now, you know, solidly in the middle of the NFL, maybe even like a little better than the middle of the NFL when you add up all the numbers.

57:37And I went to check because I was like, okay, is this just like a schedule thing? Actually, no. They've played a very difficult schedule of offenses. If anything, it's more impressive that they're a little better than average in general. So the Staley-san is much delayed. It's happening. Well, you know, I've been noticing this. I know our friends over at the Saints block party have also been noticing this improvement. Yeah, they're right at the middle, essentially a little bit higher than the middle in terms of points per game, in terms of yards per game, in terms of opponent third down conversion rate.

58:08I know we all saw the graphic on the broadcast, right? I think that there's something there. And when you have that improvement and you're lifting the floor of one side of the football, right? And then you're also getting this like glimmer of hope with the quarterback play. This team can be dangerous. And that's why I love that the Panthers get their bye week when they did. Right. I love that because this is when we're going to really see, okay, Dave Canales, like what are your bye week adjustments? When you know the stakes you're in the, you're in the race, man. Like, you know, the stakes are so high.

58:40Like it's time to show your work. and Bryce Young, if he could play even a little less than how well he played in that Rams game, they will be fine. And just for some context, they lost to the Saints. It was longer ago than I remembered. It was November 9th. It was week 10. The Saints doubled them up in total yardage plus. It was 388 to 175. It was watching it as big of a blowout as a 17-7 game can be. The Saints offense obviously has its limitations. Like they weren't going to put on a lot of points, but they controlled that game. So it's revenge time. Show us something.

59:17Patrick Claybon:And that was in Charlotte as well. And I'm reminded of the early, I think it was week one last year before the benching, before the Dalton conversation and all that, where Bryce and the offense looked miserable, miserable in New Orleans in the Superdome. It's revenge against that as well. Vibes revenge game. And the vibes probably will be bad in New Orleans. I have an eye on how many people are going to be in the crowd for these final few Saints games. They have created, through terrible management, apathy among one of the best fan bases in the entire NFL. The Pelicans fan base, it's like another level.

59:57They're literally allowing people to go free to games, and it's half empty. But I think the Benson family might notice that. And so these games are big, I believe, because you get blown out at home a couple of times with empty fans like that. That catches the attention. Empty fans. I like how you said that because you meant empty seats, but empty fans is probably how they're feeling. Yeah, that's it. It's poetic. We'll try to add a little poetry to all the early games. That's going to be coming up in your feed. We flipped it around. So stay tuned right here. We'll be back for the rest of the preview.

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