2025 NFL Week 18 Recap: The Playoffs are set!

20:00Patrick Claybon:I really don't care that it was the chargers backups in this one. You feel, you feel great about them in there. I think it's more of a credit to Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator for the chargers and the backups. It wasn't all backups, but mostly backups for the chargers that they were able to hold the Broncos offense to nine points. There are things to be concerned about, but these week 18 games are crazy. It's more of a feather in his cap because he's going to be going on some job interviews in the next couple of weeks, perhaps even the next couple of days. And all he's got to do is put this game plan right out there because he held the Broncos to only 240 yards total.

20:36R.J. Harvey finishes with 28 yards on 15 carries. And the Broncos crowd was actually booing the offense right before that field goal I was talking about. The score was 16 to three when they came off the field or they were about to kick a field goal to 16 three. And the Broncos crowd was booing the offense before a celebration of what is a truly epic defense, perhaps a championship defense.

20:58Gregg Rosenthal:Well, probably because they, like myself, have to just correct you, Greg, because I'm not looking at any points by the Broncos offense. I'm looking at four Will Lutz field goals. Well, they went on long drives to get there. I know, I know. And Bo Nix, you know what? Especially early on, Bo Nix was picking up some key conversions with his legs. They were playing, I think, efficient, no risk it, get the job done. Football, lean on your special teams and your defense. I can't wait to see what both of these teams do in these next couple of weeks. And hopefully we get at least an extended period of time to watch them.

21:32Gregg Rosenthal:Because you can just tell, this was the type of game where you can tell nobody's showing too much. Obviously, Chargers rested most of their starters. And they're gathering themselves ready for the big push here. And I just think this is going to be fast. They took care of business. There was no point in the game where they thought they were in real jeopardy. Trey Lance's completion percentage was like well under 50 for most of this game. Garrett Bowles, their left tackle who might make the all pro team this year, made our all pro team on NFL Daily. That's what matters. Got injured, but came back in the game, was celebrating afterwards.

22:05So it seems like he'll be fine. Keenan Allen, I know you were watching this as you were on NFL Game Day Live. You were like, why is everyone in for the Chargers except for Keenan Allen? And the answer was, Patrick?

22:20Patrick Claybon:Keenan Allen had some money to make. Both catches and yards, and he got them. This was week 18, like, ridiculousness. Everyone they're trying to keep in bubble wrap. Keenan Allen's one of the oldest players on the team, if not the oldest. They threw the ball to him. You want to know why Trey Lance couldn't get any completions? The whole plan was to get Keenan Allen a million dollars, which is a lot in incentives. He needed six catches to get$750 ,000. He only needed nine yards to get another 250. So he made a million dollars today, but they had to throw the ball 13 times to him to get him 36 yards.

22:52It's just kind of ridiculous. Like what, what if he had gotten hurt during all that thing? Thankfully he did.

22:59Patrick Claybon:Maybe a cool scenario where ownership in certain times is like, you know what? Why don't you just take this? And then we won't worry about it in week 18. That's meaningless game. Wouldn't that be better for them? I agree. the Chargers get a little bit of an advantage on the Patriots, I think. And I think it's great for them that so many guys, especially Justin Herbert, got to rest this week. So I don't want to lose sight of what an accomplishment it is for this Broncos team. Jordan, you had them in the offseason as a real deal Super Bowl contender. You were absolutely right.

23:29Gregg Rosenthal:However they got to this, you were absolutely right. It feels so good. I mean, they still got it. They are absolutely a contender. And they will, I would assume, be favored over, who knows, this could be a rematch. I do wonder if Harbaugh was out there with his defense playing that well and wondering, wow, if we had tried to win this game, we could have set up another rematch with the Broncos. Maybe we know this team, but maybe they'll get them in a couple weeks. He's just doing his buddy Jesse Minter a solid. He's just doing all of his buddies and longtime friends in the league. Fair point. And if you're curious why the Broncos are the one seed and the Patriots are the two seed, they both finished 14-3, it's because of common opponents.

24:09And you know what common opponent the Patriots lost to? The Las Vegas Raiders. Geno freaking Smith in week one. That's the difference between Denver getting home field and not. So the Patriots they were playing at the same time, but they weren't worried about it. They were going to do everything they could to get that two seed or get a little help, which we now know they did not.

24:33Nick Shook:This is third and 18 from the 45. Four man rice. Allen drops the throw. Checks it down. It's picked off. It is intercepted. Jaguars running it back. It's Antonio Johnson. 40, 35, 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchdown, Antonio Johnson with a pick six to Jags. He extended the lead. How good is that? That's better than a Patriots game. It's a Jaguars win. More interesting on Sunday afternoon was this AFC South, the early games. And we thought maybe the Titans could scare Jacksonville. They went into the day looking for the AFC South crown to set up the pressure on Denver and New England later in the day. Ultimately, they walked 41 to 7.

25:21Jaguars win over the Titans. That was Frank Frangie and Jeff Logman on WJXL. The Jacksonville Jaguars are your AFC South champions.

25:31Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, they are. Greg Rosenthal and myself, we picked them as our messy, fun team. Now they're just fun. Also, Greg, it's okay. Hey, Patrick and I have been tracking this all season. You just have Foxborough on the brain. You just have your New England Patriots on the brain. So it's totally fine. But Cam Ward left this game in the first quarter. It was ruled out by halftime with a shoulder injury. He'd scored a touchdown early and the Titans actually had a 7-0 lead. Jeffrey Simmons was giving the entire Jaguars offense the business, but that was only going to last so long, especially with Tennessee playing Brandon Allen, former Jacksonville Jaguar at quarterback.

26:07Gregg Rosenthal:So including that pick six on Allen that you heard by Antonio Johnson, this game was 31 seven at halftime and Trevor Lawrence became Jacksonville's new franchise touchdown leader. How about that? Already? Yeah. Past Blake Bortles. Someone had to, you know, I guess Mark Brunel didn't play that many years for Jacksonville and the touchdown inflation over the years, but he also went over 4 ,000 yards. Trevor Lawrence could be on an MVP ballot. Maybe. I don't think he should be, but a writer I really respect and trust, John Shipley, who writes about the Jaguars, said, you know, he should get some MVP votes and you get five votes.

26:46It's not that crazy. No, it's not crazy at all. I think you got to count the first half of the season and he wasn't playing that well, I don't think, for half the season. That's important. But he's on quarterback island, which is better than any MVP vote. And I would say if you were just going MVP second half of the season, remember how we did the first half? It really might be Trevor Lawrence. And so it's just wild. They take care of business in this game. So it's nothing like overly surprising. I'm a little concerned that their running game still didn't look good, even against the Tennessee Titans.

27:16But this has turned into a dangerous team. And basically like every team in the AFC, I think they have a legitimate chance to make the Super Bowl. But I feel like you're looking at that Jags-Bills game. And I don't want to spoil our preview show, but I feel like Patrick's going to be circling the Jaguars.

27:31Patrick Claybon:Yeah, I think the Jags have a good pass rush. They have, you know, between Hines Allen and Trevon Walker, the capacity and the athleticism, because you need guys on the edge that can bother Josh, where he just doesn't disregard them and go on his leisurely journeys to the sideline before he whips the ball down the field 50 yards. And also, I think they can cover. I think they're a very good thing. They scored 41 unanswered points. I wish Cam Ward was able to finish this game. I wish the Jags, maybe, especially the key players, have played a little bit less in the second half. but coach Cohen does as coach Cohen does.

28:02Gregg Rosenthal:They are a very complete team in every phase and we've seen the run game work. So I actually believe that at some point this thing pops loose again and Basial to in a minute. I mean, it's like once every four weeks or so. Well, it's there on, then they are, then they're due. They're right on time for the playoffs. No, this is the thing that their past game is so diverse and we've talked about this. It's so layered with, with Jacoby Myers getting into the building and becoming the stabilizing force basically right up the seam of that offense. When he runs the most in breakers of anyone in the offense, Trevor Lawrence is the most productive quarterback in the NFL on those in breakers, specifically to Jacoby Myers.

28:41Gregg Rosenthal:And every other piece around that spine of the offense falls into place in these very specific layers. That's exactly how Liam Cohen wants to run this system. And you see it with how every other player basically knows their role and is able to to execute that very effectively. And I think a lot of this too is helps because of the defense and the way that their defense has been playing all year. It is not lost on me that we're going to get a Josh Allen versus Josh Hines out this week. Take the name back. We've been, we've been waiting for it. We've been waiting for it and we've been wanting it.

29:13Gregg Rosenthal:And they also have the edge in my opinion, on a lot of teams and special teams. It's not just Parker Washington's dynamism in the return game. It's also Cam Little, a find who hits a 67 yard field goal today. I have to listen to it. I just have to. I love that he's getting all these records. There's the hold.

29:31Nick Shook:There's the kick. The 67-yard field goal is good! From 67 yards to in the half. How good is that? There it is. Jacksonville, 31. Tennessee, 7. Kim has just set the franchise record for most points scored in a season with 135. Are you kidding me? What a lesson that Cam Little is. Cam Little says, get away from me. I've got a celebration planned. I'm going to execute that celebration. I don't want you jumping all over me and ruining it. Just the vibes are immaculate. And for these franchises that haven't won as much lately like the Jaguars, Like a division championship means a lot. You saw the players showing up to the game on defense with these Anthony Campanile t-shirts, which I really appreciated.

30:33And you mentioned the defense. They are going into this week and it's going to improve. They're seventh in DVO on defense and 15th on offense. So for the course of the season, the defense has actually been more consistent, even better than this passing game in this offense, which has been peaking lately. But yes, the vibe's amazing. I think Trevor Lawrence's development has been one of the big stories. and before we get out of here, we have to enjoy the, I guess, culmination of what's kind of been a meme in Jacksonville this week. I don't know if you guys were on this Trevor Lawrence grills watch that's been going on, but after the game, Jerrion Jones gifted Trevor Lawrence some grills.

31:13Patrick Claybon:I got something to say, you know, Trevor, because we appreciate you so much for everything you do. I just want you to know all of Jacksonville behind you. We know it's a meme that's kind of going viral, so we got to your home. Yeah!

31:41Yes, Trev getting it done. And I guess it basically an image was going around, an AI created image of him with a grill, which makes me like this less. But back in our day, Jaguars are anti-AI.

31:55Gregg Rosenthal:Look at that. They did it for real. Yes. It's in real life. We had Photoshop. I mean, that's the original one.

32:00Patrick Claybon:And also a very brisk application of the grill by Trevor Lawrence. I don't think that's the first time that, you know, famously Georgia resident and native of that Trevor. Oh, and he knew he knew how to mean mug for the camera. He made it all happen. I love it. It's a really fun matchup that we'll be talking all week. Jaguars and Bills. And yeah, you mentioned the Cam Ward injury. It was reported by Jeff Howe of The Athletic that it was a grade three AC joint sprain. We'll see, but that's the highest grade. And that means that that's a multi-month injury. We'll see if he needs surgery or not, but a really disappointing way for, I think, a promising rookie season to end.

32:41We'll see what they do with their coaching moves.

32:44Patrick Claybon:After he comes out, that Brandon Allen snap was the first snap to a quarterback that wasn't Cam Ward. Wow. Yeah, that's the seventh thing comes back to bite him. Mike McCoy, the interim head coach, was getting some questions on the play call because it was a called design run where he dives into the end zone. I think he had an option to hand it off on the play, but I think ultimately it's just bad luck. You can't kill him for calling a football player or playing football. But as you say, the injury rate in this league is 100%.

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37:34It gets out of hand with the Jaguars pretty early. But does that stop Davis Mills and C.J. Stroud? It doesn't stop them.

37:42Nick Shook:Five seconds to go. First down, Colts at their 25. Leonard over the middle. He goes to Josh Downs. Takes it across the 30. Laterals back to Pittman. Pittman throws it back to Leonard. and Lannard is going to be sacked. He gets rid of the ball. Togiai picks it up. Togiai across the five. Togiai into the end zone. Touchdown, Tommy Togiai to end the game. And the Texans win their 12th. What a way to finish the season. There was no going down for Tommy Togiai. Tommy Togiai was going to house that baby and that's exactly what he did. You give me a Tommy Togiai, Mark Vandermeer call to end the season?

38:27Santa's come late. 38-30. Texans win over the Colts. Yes, that was, as it's lovingly called, a pitchy-pitchy-woo-woo play there by the Colts. Down two points at the end. And after my guy, Davis Mills, did something that he did for a third time this season, Patrick. He was given the ball with a chance to go on a game-winning drive. And you know what he did? He does what Davis Mills does. He went on a game-winning drive and let Kaimi Fairbairn do the rest. Yeah.

39:02Patrick Claybon:NFL Daily kicking star Kaimi Fairbairn. Don't need to highlight, you know, any other particular kicker. What do we make of this game where C.J. Stroud plays the first half and they're watching the scoreboard? But the game is close. Riley Leonard's playing well. The like Derek Stingley is getting cooked by Alec Pierce, like a lot's going on. It was it was actually just a good football game. And then the Texans kind of call off the dogs and take a lot of the starters out in the second half. But it still ends up going back and forth. I think, and again, perhaps I'm biased, and I don't necessarily like the Dave Canales of it all, take it off the scoreboard, not pay attention.

39:41Patrick Claybon:We're doing all this other stuff. To the antithesis of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were actually in that game, blowing out the Tennessee Titans. Coach looks up and sees that it's 35-7, I believe, at that point, and says, all right, there's no need for us to have our starting quarterback in the game. A lot of other guys go into the sideline, but they get everything they want. Jaden Higgins, his ascension has continued where Nico Collins was chilling on the sideline and street clothes for this game. He had a nice touchdown. They were able to get Lassiter some rest. He had a knee and ankle injury.

40:14Patrick Claybon:That leads to that first big Alec Pierce play because it's Tremont Smith over there. And as you said, Sting's having trouble covering Alec Pierce. Breaking news, everybody's having trouble covering Alec Pierce who went off today. And I think the major takeaway, other than Davis Mills performing excellently in Davis Mills's role is the benefit of hindsight to look back and say, I see that little backhanded compliment there. On a day where we were discussing, you know, Brandon Allen's rankings among the QB three people were pretty excited about

40:46Gregg Rosenthal:that.

40:47Patrick Claybon:Not me, not you, but some people, some people, but, but I do think, right. It's an opportunity to look back, not with hindsight because it was foresight for a lot of people. Riley Leonard should have started more than this last game for the Indianapolis Colts in terms of he not only hit those deep shots, which is something the offense really didn't have an option for for Phillip Rivers. He had a keeper on the on the end line where he breaks a tackle and gets into the end zone. Riley Leonard had them in this game to a to a great extent where we were questioning if it was fair for him to make his first start against this Houston Texans defense.

41:24Patrick Claybon:He looked pretty good today. No, I think I'm not going to second guess that they did the Philip Rivers thing to begin with. I think that's fair to do, considering how good Leonard looked. And Leonard did get hurt previously before.

41:36Gregg Rosenthal:I think the knee was a bigger deal than they let on. I remember that was my game when we covered that. And it was the way that Riley Leonard wants to play, which he showed today and is really talented, in my opinion, especially with the ability to run. And it was pretty clear that was going to be an issue. And they thought he might miss that one week. I do think, though, that they should have just had Riley Leonard ready to go last week because they knew there was a chance that they were going to get eliminated. I actually think Riley Leonard played well enough to be in the conversation, to be their week one starter next year, to just be in the mix.

42:15Because Daniel Jones isn't going to be ready for the start next season. That's assuming he's even on the roster, which I'm not necessarily assuming. We have learned since this game ended that Chris Ballard, their general manager, and Shane Steichen, their head coach, will be back. It was essentially announced by the team and sent out through all the insiders that both of them are going to be back. So, you know, Riley Leonard is going to be in this same offense. And it would have been really valuable to get more data on him because he looked good enough. Patrick, you watch this game closer. Like he looked good enough in this game, running, passing, decision making to think like, OK, maybe we get like an OK, like veteran that could be the week one starter.

43:00But actually, there's a good chance it's Riley Leonard until Daniel Jones is back. And you'd feel a lot better making that evaluation if you had, let's say, three games of games to go through and see rather than just like this one incredible performance.

43:14Patrick Claybon:And then you can figure out what we can attribute the bad plays to. Is that just a rookie having things go the other way? Because there was a play in this game where Leonard is trying to throw a jump pass and he checks wings on it. But the problem is he threw the ball backwards anyway. The Texans were able to recover within the five yard line. And C.J. Stroud has a rushing touchdown right after that to try to figure out, well, are these things the rookie is just doing because he's a rookie? Is this a long term trend? We don't know that because we got an extra opportunity to watch Philip Rivers play.

43:43It was fun, though. And who knows? It was reported by Ian Rappaport that multiple teams are potentially interested in Phillip Rivers as a head coach. Now, the Colts are not one of those teams because they're keeping Shane Steichen. I don't know that they want to talk to Phillip Rivers. That was a surprising report, to say the least. Your boy, Alec Pierce, by the way, who's going to be very close to the top of the top 101 free agency list when it comes out. topped a hundred, I mean, a thousand yards on the season with, by going over a hundred today. So he was their number one receiver gets over a thousand yards.

44:20He ended up averaging 21.3 yards per cat in the year of our Lord, 2025 slash six, I guess now, uh, that was more than three and a half yards more than anyone else in the league. And it's on pretty good volume. He, there's really no one else doing it quite like our guy, Alec Pierce, or Davis Mills, for that matter, going three for nine, but getting his third game-winning drive. I have to get Davis Mills a little more pop in there. I'm saying no one's doing it like him, where he's going three for nine, but getting another game-winning drive.

44:52Patrick Claybon:And we thought, you know, as the volume would go up and Alec Pierce would become more of a part of the offense, the short offense, like, ah, well, he's going to lose that opportunity. No. No. Still gets buckets deep. And I don't take much out of the Texans defense having some issues. We'll talk about them during this week. What do we think? And I think we'll get into the conversation about the Colts and deciding to keep Stiken and Ballard a little deeper on Monday's show. They're going to have a press conference and we'll cover that. But just quick reactions off of them keeping Stiken and Ballard.

45:22Gregg Rosenthal:I'm not surprised. As you know, I spent some time out there earlier this month for a profile on Carly Ursae, Gordon, the owner who made ultimately the decision along with her two sisters who co-owned the team along with her. it takes I look at the landscape of this coaching cycle and it's a lot of retread coaches and it is a lot of really inexperienced coordinators who would be first-time coaches I think Shane Steichen showed that he can that he has a lot of potential when they do get the quarterback right I think that Chris Ballard because of what they've built not only the incredibly like open dialogue that they have with each other and with Shane Steichen, but also you don't want a coach coming in with a, you don't want to keep a coach and then bring in a new GM or vice versa.

46:09Gregg Rosenthal:You don't want an overhang situation. And you also have really, despite their lack of playoff wins, one of the deeper and more respected scouting and executive departments that all goes if Chris Ballard goes as well. And you have, I don't know that there's a GM candidate out there right now, capable of building that as quickly as they want to win with this roster and potentially with probably with Daniel Jones.

46:31Patrick Claybon:Got to be able to acquire some more talent on the defensive side of the ball. Yeah. Get that sorted out. Have Coach Lou with a chance to get some guys. Well, with all these losses, their draft pick gets high. Oh, wait, no.

46:44Gregg Rosenthal:Here's the thing. Carly Gordon-Nurse approved that Sauce Gardner trade. And I didn't think it was an irrational big swing for the fences at the time. This was the ultimate win now type of team because they're an aging roster. roster. A lot of contracts are coming up this offseason, especially last offseason. I mean, next offseason. So I think continuity does make sense, especially because you have a real deal offensive coach in Steichen. And do you really want to start over as a GM? Do you want to hire from within? None of that really ended up making up sense. So they're going to be another win now team next year.

47:18But they go for continuity and they get the win. So we talk Texans, we talk Colts. Now let's get to those Patriots who are playing in the late window, knowing they needed to win because Jacksonville won earlier in the day to at least get that two seed.

48:01That's a good call by Scott Zolak. and Bob Sochi on WBZ. They're all good calls. I shouldn't sound so surprised. Ramondre's return has been a thing. What a weird up and down career he has had for a fifth year running back. Like the highs have been exceptionally high. He got a monster contract. At times he looks like a top 10 running back in the league. The lows have been extremely low. Like usually running backs don't get into such big slumps, but he is on a heater right now. He is breaking a tackle almost every touch. He touched the ball nine times on Sunday, and then he got 153 yards and three touchdowns.

48:41Mike Rabel didn't get the memo that you were supposed to be stat padding for Drake Mays MVP candidacy because he just didn't need to. They just ran the ball down the Dolphins' throats all day long. 38 to 10 was the final score. They go for over 450 yards. The starters stayed in more or less throughout. Josh Dobbs came in very late in this game and they made sure they insured the two seed. And I think the running game is going to be really big for them in the playoffs. And Travion Henderson also looked great in this game. And I think it's not a small thing that Will Campbell was back on the left side road grading down the field.

49:22Gregg Rosenthal:Healed by Bakemas. Yes.

49:24Patrick Claybon:Will Campbell has earned the smile on Greg Rosenthal's face. He did it. mission accomplished for the Patriots top 10 pick. To see Ramondre be the explosive part of the run game was nice because I don't think this was all the Finns kind of being in Cancun on three mode. I don't know. It might have been

49:44Gregg Rosenthal:early. The first touchdown, yes. The first drive was three rushes and 65 yards and one of those rushes was like a four yard touchdown. It was kind of ridiculous. They were just taking turns through their first two drives. They were averaging 13 yards per play. And I was like, oh, that must have fallen off big when you end up having 60 to 70 saps. Nope. I mean, they were still over eight yards per play on this game. And even though Drake made didn't light up like the box score, it actually was kind of a typical Drake may game. So if he does win MVP, he'll have done it in a unique way. He only throws the ball 18 times in this game, but he has a 30 yard or a 32 yard or another 30 yard or 191 yards and he runs the ball for 40 yards in this game that's why the comp for drake

50:33Patrick Claybon:may is not josh allen the comp for drake may is lamar jack i agree i agree as a runner it's not but i agree the way that they he targets guys uh down the field and the way that the offense where there was big stretches of this game we're like well the dolphins are still in this hold on and then all of a sudden the patriots have 40 points because that's what they do they score For points in bunches, they get buckets, and it's good football to watch. Yeah, he had four different plays of at least 20 yards. Efton Chisholm goes for a 35-yarder. Like, Stefan Diggs goes down the field, and it kind of did feel like 1-2-3 Cancun for the Dolphins' defense.

51:10On the other side, Quinn Ewers moved the ball very well for about two and a half quarters. It sort of fell off a cliff after that. He looked good, but they had no real running game. Milton Williams was also back on the field, which is a big deal.

51:23Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, huge deal for the Patriots because as explosive as their offense can be, their defense has really struggled. So having him back ahead of this playoff run that they make is going to be huge. And it does not escape me how tough of a matchup this game is coming up. I know we'll preview it on the show, but going up against Jesse Minter's defense with the Los Angeles Chargers that do not allow explosive passing plays. they have allowed, I think, three pass plays of 30 plus air yards this entire season. Touchdowns, I mean, this entire season. They do not allow explosives. So the Patriots are going to have to lean on this reemerged run game.

52:00Gregg Rosenthal:They're going to have to lean on biting away underneath and win in different ways. And that's what I think a real playoff team is going to be. Really fun matchup where I think both the Patriots and the Chargers fans and the teams could be looking at the other and thinking, oh, that's the matchup I want. which is a weird place to be. Once it never happened. But almost the entire AFC to me is just, it's just like some Dyson in a jar. You know, you just, it doesn't really, you have no idea. I'm trying to think of that game Boggle or whatever. I'm mixing metaphors here. Boggle. You just don't know what's going to, you don't know what's going to pop up.

52:36Like none of, there is no AFC result, literally, except for the Steelers making the Super Bowl. That would surprise me. Basically, the Steelers winning more than one game. Nothing else would remotely surprise me, but the Patriots get it done, and they've been very good down the stretch at just blowing bad teams out, one of the league leaders in point differential. So there was a lot of blowouts in the AFC. We're going to get to these big NFC games in a minute, but the Bills did say goodbye to Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday. That's what we call it, the Ralph, and they did it in style, even if Josh Allen only took one snap.

53:14Nick Shook:High formation here from the Bills. Fourth and goal from the two. And now Gilliam motions to the right wing. Motion for the tight end Latu. Trubisky back to pass. Looking right. Now back to the left. Back to the middle. And Gabe Davis just moths the defender for a two-yard touchdown reception. He reached over him. Pulled the ball back. and Gabe Davis is having his biggest night since he put the Bills uniform back on this season. What are you laughing at? The Ralph from Gabe Davis.

53:49Gregg Rosenthal:His little fists, just like he was so just, oh, that was great. Let Gabe Davis have his moment. It was great. And Mitch Trubisky, a part of the Ralphs' legacy forever. He really is. Because, I mean, it's not a joke. Because this game will live forever. and it's great what this Bills team did in the 35-8 win. They got out to a 35-0 lead against the Jets, and I know the Jets are one of the most pathetic teams I've ever seen down the stretch. I mean, they're literally the first team in the Super Bowl era to lose five straight games by at least 21 points. Just by scoring, which is how we measure things in this sport, they are the worst team in the final five weeks of a season ever.

54:33But that said, the Bills benched everyone. Their offensive line wasn't playing. They weren't even active for this game. Josh Allen played one snap. James Cook had a couple carries to start the game, then they benched him. Like, no one was really playing in this game. And they put up 470 yards, and it was an absolute celebration for the last, like, quarter of this game. And I just think that was cool. Like, after the game, they show Tredavious White looking up at the big board, and they're playing Iris. Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. By the Goo Goo Dolls. Oh, I welled up on that one. And everyone in the crowd is singing and they're showing so many different fans crying.

55:14And it just wouldn't have hit the same way if they had lost that game. So it turned out into like a three-hour party. So I thank Mitch Trubisky for his service.

55:22Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, 100%. His contribution to the effort does not go unnoticed or unvalued by the fine folks at NFL Daily. What a cool... To me, week 18, I think, has been stuff and nonsense for a lot of people. And some of these games feel so pointless at times. But that feeling and watching the fans get their moment, fans who have shoveled snow out of those seats, fans who have... Literally for this game, which was very fitting, they had the last call. I get texts from the Bills, you know, because I'm just on the notifications list or whatever. It's like$20 an hour. Anyone want to come over to Highmark Stadium and start shoveling them?

56:02Gregg Rosenthal:Absolutely. Fans who, and our producer Eric is one of them, we're lucky to catch a game that has been at a place that has been such a part of their journey through their life and their partner's lives and their kids' lives and heartbreak in that stadium and joy in that stadium and watching them discover this superhuman quarterback and what he could do in that stadium. And I just, you know, I love that they sent the Ralph out this way. I love that week 18 for as nonsensical as it can feel at times was just all feeling and such a joy ride for those fans with a little bittersweetness tinged at the end, too.

56:42Patrick Claybon:And a great decision to to have the throwback red helmets on where everybody's decked out. and you see all kinds of situations where you're critical of wearing old and weird jerseys where you could rock that J.P. Lossman Bills jersey. No, you can't. No, you can't. You're never allowed to rock the J.P. Lossman jersey. If you want to do E.J. Manuel, who carried himself well and there were some moments, you can do it. J.P. Lossman, you're not allowed. Never. J.P., I'm sorry. If you're listening to this, I did not know Greg was going to take a tomahawk missile to you. You know, we're both Tulane grads.

57:20We have that in common. There was a moment where they were doing Mr. Brightside and your friend, Catherine Fitzgerald, who covers the team, she noted a very theatrical moment where Spencer Brown, the tackle, had his cape ripped off right at the moment where, you know, they sing, he takes off her dress now. And it was like choreographed with all the players.

57:45Gregg Rosenthal:It was just a thing. And Ray Davis. Shout out to Ray Davis. 151 yards on the ground. If you watch our great show, Game Day View. That was my prop for the week. He goes over, I think, 29 yards. I mean, that's easy. First drive. First drive, he had it nailed. There's not much left to say in this game. Because I want to save some time for all these great NFC games. Bills-Jaguars is going to be awesome. And I think, ultimately, the Bills have to feel really good about the fact that they got to rest. Josh Allen and so many key players in this game. And that Dalton Kincaid, who was one of the real starters, played and played well in this game and is healthy entering the playoffs because he's been so important for them.

58:27OK, that's the AFC. We've got the matchups all set. We hear, by the way, that Aaron Glenn is safe, according to the insider. That's one where I just keep hearing it. And I don't know. I just it wouldn't surprise me if that was a surprise one. But we keep hearing that he's safe. And so we'll have to assume until proven otherwise that that is true. One game that featured no coaches on the hot seat. In fact, two coaches that I think were going against each other, potentially for the Coach of the Year Award. There are a lot of great candidates. But to me, going into Week 18, the best two candidates were Mike McDonald and Kyle Shanahan.

59:04Let's go back to the Saturday game and set up how the entire NFC slate was broken down first with that battle for the number one seed.

59:15Nick Shook:Charbonnet in the backfield on third down and two. Darnold under center. Long count. Turns. Hands to Sharks. Finds some running room. Bounces it outside left. Here he comes. 20. 15. Cuts back inside. 10. 5. Touchdown Seahawks. Zach Charbonnet from 27 out. His 12th rushing touchdown of the season. Fitting call. It was the run game. When the Seahawks can run the ball, they look like the best team in football. I mean, they look like the best team in football any old time, but when they run the ball, they just look especially unstoppable. The Seahawks win 13-3 in a score that doesn't flatter their offense.

59:58I think they were a little more effective than the score would indicate. That was Steve Rabel, by the way. A little help from Dave Wyman on K-I-R-O. So this was a game where the Seahawks defense made sure, Jordan, that they got the one seed. They are really as great as the Texans have been in the AFC. The Seahawks have been that good, maybe even better in the NFC. And this was their best performance.

1:00:23Gregg Rosenthal:This defense, which is an absolute marvel to watch, has this incredible ability because of the way that they play in their sub packages. is a larger nickel, a larger dime personnel, a fast personnel in those perceived sub packages. They stay in them the entire time and they neutralize any sort of alternative, heavier personnel that you want to use on them, whether it is a fullback in Kyle Juszczyk and George Kittle in the tight end, or if you want to use two tight ends or anything that you throw at this Seattle group, not only do they completely neutralize any of the little cutesy, like trickeration scheme things that you want to do, but they just keep coming after you.

1:01:06Gregg Rosenthal:It's like Michael Myers in one of these horror movies where you could literally run a bus into it and it will still keep coming after you. You could, hey, by the way, finally, if you're the 49ers, get inside the Seattle 30-yard line for the first time all game deep into the contest. And yet here comes the Seattle defense because Brock Purdy made his best throw of the game to Juwan Jennings to get to the Seahawks' nine-yard line and a play later, Christian McCaffrey bobbles a pass. It gets tipped. It's intercepted. If you go down even one score to this Seattle team, that is their A-plus plan to keep you smothered, whether it's their own ball control on offense or their defense, and you are eliminated from the game before you can even get started.

1:01:51They're one of the best defenses I think we've seen in a while.

1:01:54Gregg Rosenthal:I almost hit Patrick there. Sorry. I got excited. Their physicality in this game, it's not like the 49ers offense didn't want it or anything, but they just weren't in a good position. Like they kept catching the ball and then they would be absolutely leveled. Like they, they could have two of the like all pro team defensive tackles. They DeMarcus Lawrence could be in that mix. And then the secondary is outrageous. That reek woolen, who's just playing lights out down the stretch. Is there six defensive back? And as you mentioned, not leaving the field. What, what really stuck with me when I thought about this, like big picture, Patrick was like, this is literally the reason why Mike McDonald was hired.

1:02:29It's why he's my coach of the year is that it's so clearly his vision of how to play defense. He was supposed to be the Shanahan McVay stopper. And I know you can say, Oh, well they like racked up all these yards on McDonald last time. They had situational big plays, but they also held them to under 250 yards. The other time they played the Rams, like he came with a job to do and like he did it holding this 49ers team to three points is just masterful. only nine first downs. CMC could not get it going on the ground. There was really like nowhere that they could turn.

1:03:00Patrick Claybon:Yeah, and even when CMC did get free, things went the other way where that was not necessarily the game hinged on that play, but the margins were so slim for the 49ers and they were coming in again before the game, before I knew Trent Williams wasn't going to play. I thought this was going to have to be a Kyle Shanahan masterpiece. He was going to have to be calling plays from the Astral Plane to do what they needed to do in this one where you mentioned the depth for the Seahawks and the talent for the Seahawks where Leonard Williams only had to play 30 snaps. DeMarcus Lawrence only had to play 27 snaps.

1:03:32Patrick Claybon:Wow. They have this capacity to be smothering and get guys in where it's Jaron Reed on like his fourth pass rush of the game getting a whole bunch of pressure on Brock Purdy where the options were really limited for Brock and they weren't necessarily getting the separation that they were used to during their streak of winning the game, scoring all those points. And because it was complimentary football. because the run game was great in this game. It wasn't like as consistent success rate wise, but still very successful. Overall, they run for 180 yards. There was a key play where Kenneth Walker gets 18 yards on third and 17.

1:04:09That to me just felt like an absolute backbreaker. And it's only 10 to three at that portion of the game. But man, Walker runs with such suddenness. And just Charbonnet gets 74 yards in this game too and breaks a lot of tackles and gets that touchdown. It's a great one-two punch. And it was without Charles Cross, who signed a big contract, by the way, on Sunday, and they expect him back for the playoffs. It's not a consistent offensive line, but I thought this was a good enough offensive performance and they managed the game well against a lackluster 49ers.

1:04:40Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, the point I made on social media was it's hard to find a weakness in Seattle when they run the ball like this. That's a key phrase there. because running the ball like that, not only you could play total ball control and set up your defense to also do so against an offense and have that sort of handshake smothering principle that they do, but also you are hiding and you're mitigating pressure that could otherwise rattle your quarterback. And it's just a fact it has for Sam Darnold. Even in the first half of this game, I do not think he played a good first half of this game. But the key is, is he doesn't have to play this, you know, crazy quarterback Island where the game, right?

1:05:22Gregg Rosenthal:Like he can run the offense in a way that is, is fantastic because they, they lean on him. They look to him to lead. You hear every player talking about it and in the locker room post game. And I think it's a real, it's a real credit where you don't have a quarterback who all the time feels like he has to play hero ball. He's playing the type of football that this team needs him to play right now. When the run game is working the way that it is. It is such a complete team. They don't need to put up, you know, 25 points, 30 points a game because their defense is going to, it's a team built around the defense and their run game.

1:05:57Gregg Rosenthal:This is a Kubiak, Mike McDonald team. It's built around the run game and the defense. You know how I know I'm a small person, like literally and figuratively is because after the game, it really struck me as funny when they're like, it's like the defense gave up, you know, In my mind, the defense gave up three points. They ran for 180 yards. And the big takeaway from the game was like, Sam Darnold did it. What a story. Sam Darnold. Not on this show. He made us to do it. Not on this, Greg Rosenthal. With a defense that allowed nine first downs against the best offense in the league. The QB win, Greg.

1:06:34With 180 yards. But he played the right brand of football in the second half where he made some plays out of structure and he ran with his legs. I thought he played a good game in the second half. And like I said, I thought the offense overall was kind of underrated in this game. Because they possess the ball for most of the game. And he obviously is a big part of it.

1:06:51Patrick Claybon:And to start the highlight with the Charbonnet rushing touchdown. That's just a regular. If they want to run a run play and it's just a regular ISO play, it's Zach Charbonnet. When they need something weird to happen, it's Kenneth Walker. And that third down conversion, not fluky. At third and long, Kenneth Walker has the most yards in the entire NFL on third and long. Wow. Third and seven or more, he averages 10.9 yards per carry. He gets buckets.

1:07:17Gregg Rosenthal:That's incredible. He's such a unique talent. He's a really interesting free agent coming up because I don't know if Seattle's going to pay him the top dollar when they have Charbonnet there. Maybe they think they can replace him. He's someone I would like to sign if I was running a team. Let's look at the picture after the game. Here's where Darnold really shines because I do believe that his teammates really love him. I just thought this was a great selfie. I'm not great at taking selfies by Jalen Milrow of just the three different types of quarterbacks that you can have. Jalen Milrow, Sam Darnold, and Drew Locke.

1:07:51And yeah, they were smoking cigars in that locker room. And everyone's having a good time. Sam Darnold, he's a leader of men. He is. He's what? He's now the only quarterback who's won like 27 games in two years for two different teams.

1:08:07Patrick Claybon:If not for a bad night in Minnesota, been back-to-back one seed for Sam Darnold.

1:08:12Gregg Rosenthal:Listen, you're going to have to go through not just this Seattle defense, which again, God forbid you even go down a field goal to these guys, right? Because anything, any neutral or advantage by points keeps them in their A-plus defensive plan. But also you're going up against that Seattle crowd and the elements that are sure to be unfolding as they host the ride on the way here. A lot of different ways that the NFC playoffs can shake out. For as much talk of that the AFC is wide open, I think that's true in terms of who makes it to the end. I'd still be a little surprised if it's not the Rams or Seahawks that win the NFC.

1:08:50But I do think on a matchup basis, it's pretty wide open. But there is one route, which wouldn't surprise me, where the Seahawks never play out of the NFC West. That the 49ers win this next weekend, and that it's the 49ers that come to Seattle for a rematch in two weeks. And then it's the Rams in the NFC Championship game. It could be like an all-NFC West run. This has really been an epic division. Jackson Smith and Jigba wrapped up a historic season, I would say. Just absolutely ridiculous. And if you remember before the game, Diamonour Lenore talked about how he wanted to match up one-on-one throughout the game.

1:09:28That didn't really happen, but a couple times it happens, and JSN got a touchdown about it and was asked about Lenore's comment.

1:09:39Nick Shook:Yeah, I mean, I definitely heard it. You know, it's hard to respond back to all my fans.

1:09:52Patrick Claybon:But, you know, I knew that we were going to see him today and take care of business. It's the delivery, right? It's just amazing.

1:09:59Gregg Rosenthal:Just a very small smile before he decides, I'm just going to let it rip.

1:10:04Patrick Claybon:Different sides of the ball, different eras, different techniques. Yes. Does, can't respond to all my fans, get up to don't ever try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree. Oh, I love it. In terms of this rivalry. I love it. I mean, it's not going to live on that much. I mean, it'll live on. We're going to make sure it lives. Yeah. That is maybe the most famous post-game interview of my lifetime that Richard Sherman, but that is a great callback. By the way, Jackson Smith and Jibba finishes with 119 catches and 1 ,793 yards. Just an outrageous performance by him and a great job. Again, Mike McDonald, he is my choice, partly because he went for a fourth down early in this game.

1:10:47I think he knew what type of game it was. He trusted his defense. It didn't work one time near the goal line, and it worked a different time, whereas Kyle Shanahan was punting around midfield on fourth and two. I don't think he trusted his offense, and who can blame him?

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1:15:15Or was it? To Tampa.

1:15:18Nick Shook:Three seconds left in the game. Bucks trying to keep our playoff and division title hopes alive. The snap, chest high, dropping Young, looking Young, over the middle, Young. Gets the catch fade, the hook and lateral. They lateral the ball back to the left side. And a tenderal of McMillan. He throws it low. It's fumbled. It's fumbled. It's loose. Bucks come up with it. And the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers have come up with a ball on the final play of the game. The final play of regulation. And Tampa Bay will beat Carolina 16-14. Final game-winning call there by Gene Deckerhoff. You know, you guys know who went to the playoffs at this point if you're listening to this recap show.

1:15:59But at the time, we didn't know if Gene Deckerhoff, the great radio man, was going to get another chance. If nothing else, at least he's going out on a win. That was him on WFUS. Buccaneers survived. 16 to 14. They stopped the slide. It was the result that I wanted because I wanted the NFC South to come down to Falcon Saints on Sunday afternoon. And it did. And we're going to do that game next. But to set that up, the Buccaneers had to go and get a win. And for the first time in a long time, Baker ball was rolling, baby.

1:16:40Gregg Rosenthal:Sort of, I guess. A little. Kind of. Kind of. I think so. Yeah. You know, I mean, he picked. First quarter. He scrambled some, too. And he picked up some key yards. You know, made a couple perimeter throws that were good. And I thought what he did a really nice job of early was taking what the defense was giving him. He wasn't trying to force the ball into bad spots. He wasn't making bad decisions with the football because what a Giro Everose defense likes to do is it likes to fool you and dare you to throw the explosive play where they actually do have two pretty good ball hawking corners on the perimeter.

1:17:13Gregg Rosenthal:And instead, what it wants to do is make you bite away underneath their zone piece by piece. And Baker, I think, did a good job of that early on. You know, he averaged almost 10 yards per throw in this game. He's got the first quarter touchdown. In fact, since this is the last time we're going to hear from Gene. This was a great throw. Let's listen to Baker's touchdown to Cade Otten in a driving rainstorm.

1:17:37Nick Shook:Shotgun look, belt high snap, Mayfield throws a dart, caught ball, touchdown Tampa Bay! Cade Otten, boy, what a throw by Baker Mayfield with the Bucs are on top six for nothing.

1:17:47Gregg Rosenthal:It's a great throw. Wasn't perfect, but, you know, they moved the ball. He gets 31 yards on the ground. They rush for 140. They hold the ball for 37 minutes. The conditions were nasty. At a certain point, I was like, let's just can we just come back on Sunday and and not let the conditions decide it? There was that interception in the second quarter. So Baker ball quit rolling pretty quickly.

1:18:13Patrick Claybon:Yeah, the conditions actually improved as the game went on. And in the second, third and fourth quarter, Baker threw for 124 yards, had a pick and a passer rating of 60. Okay. Where it seemed like, and again, I don't know if it's just in my head. I could be. I am no doctor. I'm not going to diagnose Baker Mayfield by video like weirdos do on Twitter where no doctor is ever asking you for a video, so stop doing that. But Baker starts the game, looks good. He's pumped. He's lowering his shoulder, running over people, runs into Mike Jackson, has an argument with him, but what looked like the physical deterioration of Baker Mayfield happening in real time as the game went on to the extent where Grisard, the Bucs sideline, apparently was hiding Baker Mayfield, what felt like for the rest of the game as the Panthers' defense started.

1:19:02Partly because he does dumb stuff like lowering his shoulder on a run like that when he's right next to the sideline and you love the competitiveness, obviously. I hated it. You've been hurt all season. Right. He sometimes is his own worst enemy. They did just look like the better team, though. In general, they are much more talented. The collapse of the Chiefs and the Ravens and the Bengals and, you know, even in the NFC, you could look at the Lions has sort of hidden the fact that the Bucks are one of the very most disappointing teams in the league. There's not a lot of excuses for why they've been this bad.

1:19:40Ultimately, they were punished, you know, for it, even though they won this game. Like how they finished this season was kind of catastrophic.

1:19:48Gregg Rosenthal:They will show you why they finished the season this way. It might seem like it's unexplainable when you look at the names on this roster on both sides of the ball, when you look at, you know, the, um, the way that they started the season. And when you look at some of the ability and the potential that they have failed to live up to through the second half of the season, and it all boils down to these little microcosmic moments that happened from game to game a couple of weeks ago, it is multiple false starts in a row. This, this last game. It is Baker running into his own running back, Sean Tucker, knocking him down on the handoff, fumbling the exchange, killing the drive.

1:20:24Gregg Rosenthal:It is Baker throwing a completely just bad interception to Christian Roseboom, who's sitting in a cloudy zone that Giro Evero baits him into throwing by putting Christian Roseboom right where Baker needs to place the ball. and it's these types of things where they can't help themselves. They just can't win for losing. And it doesn't just happen over the course of a game in totality. It happens in these little moments. And ever since, you know, they started on this skid, these little moments have compounded for them. They were 6-2. They were 6-2 and they finished 2-7 down the stretch, despite getting healthier down the stretch.

1:21:07So the Panthers will be able to talk about them in their matchup against the Rams on West of this and leading into that game. This game was very concerning for them in general because, yeah, I still just wonder what what are what are they good at? Like, because they're not good at running the ball consistently. They're actually one of the very worst rushing teams in the NFL. They're bottom three in basically every stat since about week, I think, 10 or 12, something like that. Bryce has had moments. Tedaroa McMillan, I think, made a good closing case with a big, long touchdown. and another offensive pass interference that was a very questionable call that should have been a long call.

1:21:45That would have put him over 100 yards. He did go over 1 ,000 yards. They have a couple things, but I don't know what they're good at. To me, they're probably the 25th best team in the NFL or so, and they're making the playoffs, and the play calling with the flea flicker in the rain from the 20-yard line was special.

1:22:02Patrick Claybon:It's a part of the collective disaster where late in this game, I would have swore up and down that the Buccaneers were going to lose the game on the virtue of the Panthers having a successful offense that was just having things go wrong in the closing moment. So there's a solid young drive that starts with a touchback. They eventually get a Fitzgerald 54-yard field goal that he misses. The next drive, they have the big play to Tedderola McMillan where it's 32 yards. If it's a 32-yard play, the TMAC drops. It's not against the rules to discuss. But because it's a penalty and the Panthers made bad plays, it's against the rules to have an extensive discussion about the impact the penalty would have because there's other things there are other plays in the football game where the Panthers could have had success that was a significant one also bad call they don't they don't get points on that drive it's always I think it was a bad call but it also was a bad call that you understand when you watch the replay like why seeing that live that it just looked violent enough that it was made and it's like mistakes happen yes mistakes do happen uh they happen to the benefit of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in this game because the next drive after that, so that's a potential scoring drive, miss a field goal, potential scoring drive, penalty brings it back.

1:23:14Patrick Claybon:Then the infamous flea flicker call in the red zone, which was catastrophic. And then the next drive after that, they do get a touchdown where we've seen this Panthers offense be able to execute. It was just in weird moments, weird things happen in a weird football game and a weird division.

1:23:29Gregg Rosenthal:It drives me freaking nuts because they do things that make so much of sense and they do them in sequence and then they get too cute and then everything just implodes. And that's what drives me nuts because they have this like cohesiveness when it's clicking, it really clicks. This is, um, them deciding that they're going to go under center where Tampa Bay has really struggled against under center, passing plays and under center runs and play action of late. So they're going under center and that's great. And I'm thinking, wow, Dave Canales is keeping things simple right now. This is great. This is working.

1:24:05Gregg Rosenthal:All of a sudden they go into the pistol. The play fails. Do they go under Sunday? No, they move a Bryce back further and he goes into the shotgun and then he throws a pick. Jacob Paris just jumped the route on Tetrault McMillian. Same thing. They convert their first third down in eons. And the next play after that is the flea flicker that was, I think, intended to go to the player leaking into the flat, but everyone stops because the first part of the play fails. And so nothing looks like it works. You got to take the conditions into account and all of that. Don't get cute in conditions. All of that is true.

1:24:42And yet I got to keep going back to this running thing because I think it's important to think about intentions of how you want to build your team. The whole point of this team build was we're going to win in the trenches. We're going to pay a lot of money to guards. We're going to build around this offensive line. We're going to pay our backs. We're going to run the ball and support. That is literally our philosophy. And they had 19 yards on 14 carries. And it's part of a pretty long trend. And so that really worries me about them. Let's end the Bucs talk positively because we don't know if Todd Bowles and Jason Light are safe.

1:25:21I have to assume Jason Light, who's done an incredible job as a GM in my mind, is safe. We don't know if Todd Bowles is safe. In the Bucs history, the Glazers have often taken a really long time to make any sort of decisions. And the insiders seem to believe that Bowles is going to keep his job anyways. I don't think we'd find out for a little while. But I do think, based on the tone of the postgame speech from Levante David after the game, that there's a real chance it's the last time we see Levante David in a Bucs uniform. And so fitting in what might have been his last game, he actually tied.

1:25:53like the guy that you think about when you think of Levante David first, Derek Brooks, for the all-time lead in tackles. Let's listen to Levante David in the locker room.

1:26:05Nick Shook:I love y 'all, man. I love y 'all to depth. This is how you build relationships. I love how you're in relationships with each and every one of y 'all in here. And that's what it's all about, man.

1:26:12Patrick Claybon:I appreciate y 'all definitely.

1:26:24Nick Shook:This is what it's all about, man. Family 0-3. 1-2-3. Family. It was about a minute and a half long video, which if you're into those sort of things, I love these locker room things. I would recommend going to watch. But what really caught my attention at the very end of it was some random Buccaneer player just yelling out, Tyler Shuck! Like a cry of help and hope that Tyler Shuck, the man that has saved this Saints season, would save the Bucs on Sunday afternoon and send them to the playoffs? Could he get it done in Atlanta? Let's go. Torre and Pettis go to the left side. Johnson and another receiver here to the near side.

1:27:11Nick Shook:That's Austin. Estimates the back. Shuck's going to throw. Quick shot. Intercepted. It's D. D. Offered. D. Offered 40 midfield. and he's got Tyler Shuck to beat down the far sideline, out of bounds. He got edged down, and Atlanta gets the pick they need. I feel bad for using that at the highlight. It was the biggest play in the game. It was Tyler Shuck's biggest mistake in a big moment since he took over as the starting quarterback. Shuck gets the ball back. They go right down the field, and he throws a miraculous touchdown ball to Ronnie Bell, and they make it close. They don't get the onside kick, and the Falcons win the game 19-17, sending the Panthers to the playoffs.

1:27:56But the reason I feel bad is that Tyler Shuck heard that unnamed Bucs guy in the locker room. He played great today. I don't want him to win Offensive Rookie of the Year because I just don't think it's right for a guy who missed half the season to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, unless you were like Dan Marino or just an insanely high level from a rookie quarterback. And Shuck isn't that, but he was game. And they didn't have Chris Olave in this game. We know they've been missing their running backs. Kelvin Banks, their left tackle, left early in this game with an ankle injury. He's throwing to Ronnie Bell, like Taysom Hills lining up out wide.

1:28:35Kevin Austin Jr., Dante Pettis. And he's making some really impressive plays with his feet and his arms. So it's one I think you had to watch all the way through. And I did because I'm a sicko and I love the NFC South. And this was just a stupid game overall. I think he played his part. But ultimately, the Falcons are just like a better football team overall by the end. And it wasn't about the quarterbacks.

1:29:00Patrick Claybon:Yeah, even the Staley Sons limits Bishon to 33 yards on 15 carries where it's still the shell game with Kirk Cousins. But the Falcons able to facilitate that, you know, on the virtue of this defense. being able to make plays. James Pierce Jr. was huge in this game. Both he and Jalen Walker having to contend with the athletic specimen that is Tyler Shuck. Week after week, we see him, like even on the pick where it would have been a pick six, a lot of times, like Tyler Shuck had the angle and he could have turned around and tackled Alford facing him. Who was it that Shuck ran to the edge? And at that point you were like, Shuck has not been caught on one of these runs all season.

1:29:43It was Jalen Walker. That's right. Like a top 10 pick athlete.

1:29:48Gregg Rosenthal:And you may think when he came out in the draft, all Greg could think about was how old them legs and hips were. Well, not only old, but guilty. I'm guilty as well. I am, too. Like, obviously, he wasn't I don't think 100 percent healthy last year in general. He was getting healthier, but also that maybe he protected himself with how he managed the pocket because that's been a strength for him. There were parts of this game. He took a lot of sacks in this game where it reminded me of some of his bad college tape because like it was happening. And then he was just holding onto the ball forever and just kind of waiting until the sack arrived.

1:30:21And that did happen a little bit, but he went on to make so many plays that I think his development was one of the biggest stories in the NFL that I think the saints found a franchise quarterback in the early second round, which almost never happened. Derek Carr was one. Annie Dalton was one. Colin Kaepernick was one. It just doesn't happen that often. And he solved a major problem for them. I think his floor is like a pretty solid starting quarterback. And because of his athletic ability, like the ceiling is obviously much higher. In this game, though, like we thought winning four straight to end the season would save Raheem Morris' job.

1:31:02Maybe Terry Fontenot goes. That's what the insiders were saying going into the day. They're like, oh, Morris looks like he's probably safe. They beat the Rams. That's a big deal. But after the game, early in the evening, it was reported Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot are both out. Tough break, I think, for Raheem Morris. They finish 8-9. They win four straight to end the season. They actually tie for the division lead. They were eliminated on December 7th.

1:31:30Gregg Rosenthal:So NFC, so. There's no chance. I mean, we'd have to get research. There's no chance. that a team eliminated four weeks before the season was over has ever tied for the division lead, right? I mean, that's crazy. It's like, it's almost statistically impossible, but that is the NFC South. But unfortunately, it seems like Arthur Blank's mind was made up probably when they were four and nine and nothing was going to move them off of it. Yeah, and I think some of it's teams that are bad, that stay bad, that are set up to fail, whether you're the GM coming in with an overhang coach or you're the coach coming in with an overhang GM whose job security was not set in stone even before hiring the coach.

1:32:18Gregg Rosenthal:They were incongruous in terms of their tenure there from the start. And you have to feel you have to feel that the quarterback situation that they both made the decisions on, that they both pursued with Michael Penix and Kirk Cousins and that contract. you have to think about how that major decision or sequence of decisions ultimately set them up on this crash course, especially in light of the injuries. And it's tough. It's difficult because I know that Raheem Morris is really respected in that building, and certainly he won't lack a job. Terry Fontenot probably won't lack a job either. He's well-respected across the league.

1:33:00If Patrick's hiring, he did have him in the top 10.

1:33:03Gregg Rosenthal:You couldn't leave one and keep the other again. You just couldn't do it. And I think it is absurd to hire separate consulting firms the way that the Falcons are doing to make separately the decision on GM and head coach moving forward or to find those candidates. I think that is absurd. And Matt Ryan. Like, what is Matt Ryan doing? But also, just to start on even ground, you cannot have this incongruous situation over and over and over again. I don't think as a matter of practice, it's crazy to let a GM hire a second coach if the first one doesn't work out. The problem is for that second coach that yes, he's not going to get to hire a third and you're on a shorter leash.

1:33:49That's unfair to him because Raheem Morris went eight, nine back-to-back years. It's not a great start, but the problem with their team build is he coaches a very specific defense

1:33:59Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah. And the defense made sense this year. They've always wanted to sack the quarterback. You know what they did today? They set the all time franchise record for sacking the quarterback. I don't like I think Pierce's sack totals are a little misleading, but he's a promising player. And that pick that he that Terry Fontenot sent out the door that a lot of people made fun of him for like Pierce's like the next GM is now inheriting that. So it is how bad teams stay bad, especially the the reports that Matt Ryan could be coming in with a front office type of role. Quarterbacks always help their former front offices.

1:34:36Gregg Rosenthal:It always works. Miami and John Elway. That's fine. But like, what is Rich McKay doing there? Maybe Rich McKay, who's been there forever the entire he's the team president now. He's more on the business side. But he goes back to the Vic days as like the GM. Maybe he's going to go to. We don't know. that would make more sense to me. But yeah, two different groups. What are they? Sports? It's one group, Greg. Two ZRG partners is hiring I think the GM and Sportsology is hiring the coach. And they're proud enough about this that they put it in the statement. I'd be ashamed. It's like, we don't know what we're doing.

1:35:11That's what that says.

1:35:12Patrick Claybon:Well, why would Terry Fontenot, anybody involved in the operation, evaluate the operation, when Sportsology, who specializes in maximizing growth of elite sporting organizations, a leading provider of premium knowledge, Greg, not just regular knowledge, premium knowledge, strategic advisory, and operational support in the sports industry focused on global leagues and federations and institutional investors. You know what it sounds like to me? What's that? A grift. Yes. Like a way to extract money when you really aren't accomplishing anything because if you don't know how to hire your own head coach and GM, that's a problem that you don't have someone in the building.

1:35:56And then you are paying a lot of people in the building a lot. It's a bad start to the offseason, I think, for the Falcons.

1:36:02Patrick Claybon:The best decision you can make in this position, if you're McKay, if you're anybody in a position of leadership, is to hire the search firm. Because if you are the one that hires the search firm, the search firm is never going to say that you're the problem. And their values are curiosity, empathy, and challenge.

1:36:17Gregg Rosenthal:and it's really you think it's two search firms but it's really possibly just rich mckay in a giant trench coat okay uh by the way i was wrong it's zrg partners got to correct this that's doing the head coach it's very important to clarify which firm is doing not doing the gm search and you you checked out i believe it was the site of sports i'm on it right now and they they only had one quote what do they call it a testimonial yeah you go to the testimonial section of sportsology

1:36:45Patrick Claybon:plays because you think you get well they specialize in you know leading knowledge premier it's tom pin president of the los angeles football club is the only testimonial if you're gonna have a testimonial page you need more than one that's a bad sign yeah it's not a testimonials page it's a testimonial page a shout out to lafc it's a bad sign you know what's crazy is fontenot you know had a good draft like xavier watts was awesome in this game again one of the biggest reasons why they won this game and the pass rushers are going to be good. And yes, like I said, with talent, not important in terms of evaluating, you know, who else had a good knowledge.

1:37:22It's why you always got to just try to survive one more year. Cause you don't know what's going to happen that year. You know, what a good draft last year. Thank you.

1:37:30Gregg Rosenthal:Hey, I think I can hear him. His response to you, Greg, he says, it's really hard to respond to all my fans. Yes, exactly. like Drake May was all that matters for the 2024 and 2025 Patriots. Tyler Shuck is all that matters with the saints and it's looking good. Let's let's go through the rest of these games a little quicker. Cause those, those were the big playoff implication type of games, but we still have to figure out some seating in the rest of the NFC. Let's go to Chicago where the lions and bears were playing and don't tell Dan Campbell game is mean. Cause he'll go win it.

1:38:11Nick Shook:There it is. Jack Fox to spot. Bates with the kick. It is up and it is good. The Lions win it on the final play of the game.

1:38:23Nick Shook:The Lions come into Chicago on week 18 and complete a season sweep of the Chicago Bears and put up their ninth victory of the season. Awesome win. Awesome call by Dan Miller. Going to miss having the Lions potentially in the playoffs. W-X-Y-T. We should have seen this coming. It's just very Lions-y to have a proud way to go out on the season. Big day for Jared Goff. Big day for Amon Ross. I think we know who the Lions are. I want to ask you about the Bears. And just if there was anything from this game that concerned you going into the playoffs for them.

1:39:01Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, it was them seeming to forget themselves a little bit, forgetting how settled they'd been in these close games, forgetting how they've won these late games and in some cases come from behind games, in some cases clearing a tie. This Bears team sort of like frazzled out near the end because the Bears entered the fourth quarter down 16-0. they had just 139 total yards to that point. And they put together two scoring drives with two successful two point conversions to tie the game with five and a half minutes left. So then you're thinking, okay, these are the bears that I've seen all season to this point.

1:39:37Gregg Rosenthal:These are the bears that have gotten so good at especially winning in these late, in the late parts of these games, in these comebacks, but they blew it. And that's the old bears because Detroit quarterback, Jared Goff, who played great most of the game, but did try to force a ball to double coverage up the middle to Amon Ross St. Brown on a third and 20. It was picked by Kevin Byard and Chicago had an opportunity to close the game. And in this, in the subsequent two minutes and 11 seconds, they wasted two downs ahead of the two minute warning. And then they had to get back, give back the ball via punt with a minute 55 left.

1:40:11Gregg Rosenthal:The lions get the ball back. And of course it's Jared Goff on a short cross or yak play to Amon Ross St. Brown. And it sets up that field goal. So the The Lions did the thing that the Lions always have been able to do in this era. And the Bears forgot themselves. And they were, for a moment, the old Bears. It's two straight games where you're just reminded of how the Bears have won this season. And it kind of reminds me how the Bucs won in the first half of the season. The Bucs, by the way, played more games, five points or under, than any team in the history of the NFL this year. Like more close games.

1:40:43The Bears have been in a lot of close games this year, too. And they've won almost all of them. The last two weeks, they've had the ball with the chance to win the game. And if that keeps happening over and over and over and over, like it's hard to do every single week. And they didn't get it done. Dan Campbell, he was more disappointed after winning this game than I expected. I thought it was kind of going to be a celebration of like the culture that they've brought that, you know, he beats Ben Johnson for all the Ben Johnson talk. Well, they beat the Lions twice. I mean, they beat the Bears twice.

1:41:13If nothing else, they swept the Bears this year. This is him after the game.

1:41:19Patrick Claybon:It's, I mean, let's call it what it is. Pretty pissed all week, you know, and it's a bad feeling. And now we're going into the playoffs, and you get to watch everybody else go while you're sitting at home. And it's frustrating. So that's what fuels you. We don't want to be doing that again next year. That's not where we want to be. You got to get in. Resolved. Resilient. Not celebrating. I guess a game that to them probably was a little more meaningless than that Week 18 win, which I think set off this mini-era in Detroit over Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers, knocking them out of the playoffs in Week 18 four years ago.

1:41:56So they ran the ball really well today on the Bears, and the Bears could not run the ball against them. So that's something to watch next week. With the Bears' loss, and it was close the whole game, both the Bears and the Eagles were going for the two-seed. And the Eagles weren't really going for the two-seed because they weren't playing a lot of their starters, but they thought maybe Tanner McKee and the backups could win that game against Washington. And there was a moment in this game that it looked like they could. We're going to go to Philadelphia. And when we come back from this highlight here, we're going to have the man, Nick Shook, finally join the show.

1:42:34Everyone's in the YouTube comments right now. Where is Shook? He's right here. He's been with us the whole time. He's in Philadelphia. you.

1:42:42Nick Shook:Third and goal of the two in a tie game. Johnson under center. Rodriguez the back. Brooks comes in motion closer to the line. Play action. This time he's rolling left. Looking back. Now puts his head on. He'll walk into the end zone. Touchdown. Touchdown Washington. Josh Johnson. Masterclass score. Love that. Bram Weinstein had a masterclass all last season. Call in big time moments. this wasn't the final big time moment that he wanted, but Josh Johnson running for a touchdown and like a two score comeback in the fourth quarter against the Eagles. It's kind of a fun way to end the season. Nick, you watch this game closely.

1:43:22The Eagles had the lead with Tanner McKee. They were closing in on what in the end would have been the two seed, but at the end, Josh Johnson, the wily 17 year vet was too much. What was, what were your big takeaways here?

1:43:37Nick Shook:Yeah. in a fun way talk about an electric way for the Washington commanders the team that had really no reason to continue playing for the rest of the season they're down to Josh Johnson he's 39 years old he hasn't thrown a touchdown pass since 2021 he puts him on the board with a dime to Jake Bates in the back of the end zone excuse me that was different Bates Brendan Bates and suddenly before you know it actually John Bates now I got it right third time around before you know it the commanders are involved they're in this game but they still have work to do and that is where Josh Johnson channels the many years he spent in the NFL.

1:44:07Nick Shook:10, in fact. He's also been in other leagues with teams with names you can't remember. None of that mattered today because he led a drive that was aided by penalties, you know, committed by the Eagles backups. Keeley Ringo being a repeat offender on that one. But when the game came down to the goal line situation and it started one, and it seems like the commanders have been on the doorstep forever, the play action bootleg that we just played there, Josh Johnson rolling to his left, faking a pump just enough to get Ringo to retreat in coverage. and then he gets to stroll into the end zone. This is, I wouldn't call it redemption.

1:44:38Nick Shook:It's not Geno Smith. I didn't write back in Seattle, but it's glorious for Josh Johnson. And on the Eagles side, it's, oh no, we played our backups and we lost the opportunity to claim a higher seed. Maybe we shouldn't have done that. That's basically it for the Eagles. Okay, let's actually listen to Nick Sirianni address that point after the game. Asked if there was any regrets about resting as starters. I knew this was an outcome that these things could happen. Like I said to you guys, one thing I could guarantee was giving them rest. I couldn't guarantee anything else. And us being healthy and going into the playoffs healthy is a big deal for us.

1:45:18Nick Shook:And, you know, that served us well in the past. And so, again, I know there will be debate on that. But, you know, again, I have to do what's best, what I think is best for the football team moving forward. and that's what I did. You know, I agree with Nick's theory. I think it was just bad circumstance. I think they'll be more annoyed that they had a 17-10 lead going into the fourth quarter and that they give up two touchdowns then because the backups were obviously playing pretty well. Chuck, Jalex Hunt had an interception in this game. He now has three of the Eagles players that matter, including Devontae Smith and Jalex Hunt that played in this game.

1:45:59Anything stand out to you that you kind of roll forward into next week that you found meaningful? Cause as much as, um, I'm happy that the commander season is over. I feel like I'm ready to stop talking about the 2025 commanders.

1:46:13Nick Shook:I'm sorry. Same. You and me both. This is a disappointing team that we need to leave in the rear view who I don't want to leave in the rear view is take Bixby who got the lion share of the carries today, because obviously Saquon wasn't playing. He ran hard. He was running guys over. He was embodying his name of tank today. we've I think he's been a favorite of this show for a while when the Eagles acquired him we were like oh that's a great move for depth could he play a key role for them I don't know they can't run the ball very well um in most weeks we've seen that with Saquon's numbers but he had a nice day like you said Jalix Hunt did well you know it was mentioned on the broadcast third interception this year and I was like he's three interceptions I looked back that's true third interception of the year as crazy as that sounds for a guy who plays the position he plays uh and Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

1:46:51Nick Shook:also really played a nice game but you don't see him on the field that much I think that there were some mistakes made within Vic Fangio system that they're going to want to clean up but it's more of a like a systemic issue for them where it's just like it's not it's not something that you see week to week but it's just like how are you fitting into the scheme and are you executing I think you see that from backups who are getting larger shares of time on the field than they usually do but other than that I can't really roll that much forward other than no I loved watching Jahan Dotson run routes today it felt like an exhibition of how good of a route runner Jahan Dotson is that's about it it feels underused like when he had all those moments in the in the the Super Bowl and the NFC championship, I was like, oh, it's going to be more of a Jahan Dotson year in 2025.

1:47:29And it really wasn't. JLX Hunt, by the way, 24 quarterback hits, six and a half sacks, three interceptions, three more than a team that we're going to talk about a little later. I found it interesting. There were some insidery reports questioning whether Cliff Kingsbury would be back with the command. I was surprised to hear that. So more in this space in the coming days. But it sounds like they might be considering a change at offensive coordinator. and Josh Johnson will be turning 40 years old next year. He absolutely earned another year in the NFL. He looked pretty good the last couple of weeks.

1:48:02So the Eagles lose, Bears get the two seed. They play the Packers. Eagles get the three seed. They play the 49ers. Look, if those two teams play in the division round, that's a big if, and the Eagles are on the road, that is a disadvantage that they, you know, I guess earn by losing this game. But that's a lot of ifs. And I don't think that the 49ers are necessarily like a tougher matchup than the Packers. Anyways, so it's fine. Get healthy. Let's go to another team that's near and dear to your heart, Jordan, and my daughter's heart and my wife's heart, and maybe Nick Shook's heart because he likes Matthew Stafford.

1:48:35Let's go to the Rams trying to get the five seed against the Cardinals.

1:48:40Nick Shook:Matthew Stafford under center. Blake Corum, the single back. Puka in motion. Here it comes. Angle. Play fake. Stand up to throw. Shoot it right side. Touchdown, L.A. Colby Parkinson's Calls game Give Matthew his MVP A four touchdown Closing statement For the 37 year old In his 17th season The Rams are in the clear They'll be the 5 seed going to Carolina Next week Two objectives I think for the Rams Get back on the winning Track, just feel better about Your team and then get Matthew Stafford some stats in that MVP conversation. It sounds like they accomplished the Stafford part. What do you think about how this game played out and how they should be feeling the direction of the rest of the team?

1:49:33Nick Shook:It's funny because I think it was a great example of how football could be a tale of two different halves. And for the first half, I was concerned about the Rams, not necessarily because I didn't think they had the capability, but they just seemed like they were kind of sleepwalking. It seemed like they were almost hung over from that loss to the Falcons a week earlier, which didn't make as much sense because their offensive line was at a, you know, better standing of strength than it was the week prior. Matthew Stafford had time to throw. They scored a touchdown just before halftime. But until that moment, I was worried that, oh God, have the Rams peaked too soon?

1:49:59Nick Shook:Are they already on the downturn going into the playoffs? And then the second half arrived and the second half presented the Rams with a little bit of a wake up call, which is, Hey, I know the Cardinals have three wins this year, but you still got to play football. It's still the NFL. Cause the Cardinals jumped all over them. They threw a fake punt pass for a 28 yard game. The very next play, Jacoby Brissett hits Michael Wilson with a deep shot. They score a touchdown. They score another touchdown, Josiah DeGuarra, another guy who hasn't scored since 2021. He's in the end zone and the Rams are trailing.

1:50:25Nick Shook:And at that point, Sean McVay's team woke up, remembered who they were and played excellent football from there on out. Matthew Stafford leading the way with his arm. You know, we played the last touchdown pass that he threw, but it was the one right before that Tyler Higbee that reminded me of what this offense can be when it's near full strength, because they still don't have Devontae Adams. And I was like, you know what, maybe they'll be just fine and they just need a little kick in the hind parts to remember who they are and the fact that they're going to the playoffs i always say that you can tell exactly

1:50:51Gregg Rosenthal:who sean mcveigh is mad at by the roster decisions that he makes going into game to game and in this case leaving his secondary in for most of the game is starting secondary that entered the game in through most of the game and jacoby brissett at times really uh exploited them especially with some of those perimeter throws. Michael Wilson had a great game. This was a, this is the last few weeks. It has been a very pointed and specific effort to light a fire under a team that knows how good it is and needs to remember it. And I think that's part of part of playing them today. We could tell it was Sean McVay saying, I'm mad at this team right now without actually saying it, being professional about it, but basically reminding them if you play like this, like they did last week.

1:51:41Gregg Rosenthal:If you play like this, like they opened the half this week, they're not going very far. And it took a while, but he got there and he sounded pretty fired up in the post-game press conference of just like, that was it. That was why we wanted to play this week, essentially, was to have a half like that where we explode. And I think that's good to have. You got to, you're a coach, you got to have a feel of their team. They've sat starters before. I do think the five seed turned out to be a big advantage too. You get the Panthers, who I think are the weakest team in the entire playoff field. I know the Panthers beat them previously, but that's an advantage.

1:52:12And you never know. What if it's Rams 49ers NFC championship again? Then the Rams get a home game because they won this game or Rams Packers. I guess there's not that many scenarios as the five seed, whether you can host. So a big win. And it seemed like the defense was in the second half, at least getting after it.

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1:55:30Gregg Rosenthal:Hey, it's Carissa Thompson. Everything these days is fighting for your attention. Work, family, social media, and it makes it tough to figure out what should really come first. But here's something that absolutely deserves to be at the top of your list. Your breast health. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. and the rates are still rising. More women under 50 are being diagnosed too. But here's a stat that really hits home. One in two women who qualify for annual breast screenings aren't getting them. That's half.

1:56:03Gregg Rosenthal:And yet when breast cancer is caught early, the survival rate is over 99%, nearly 100 % for stage one before it spreads. If you're 40 or older, you should be getting screened every year. And if you're under 40, it is never too early to understand your risk. So come on now, Pay the girls some attention. Head to your attention, please dot com to learn your breast cancer risk and what screenings you might need. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Brought to you by Novartis. Let's talk about a more important defensive player that was getting after it on Sunday. This whole show has been preamble to Miles Garrett's moment.

1:56:42Nay, Andrew Siciliano's moment. That's who's the real star here. Let's go to Cleveland.

1:56:46Nick Shook:5-20 remaining in this game. Browns up five. Bengals have it first out of the Browns. 45-yard line. Burrow shotgun. Burrow to throw. Here goes Miles. He got him! He got him! There it is! Miles Garrett! Sack number 23! The new single season sack! King! And the Browns defense mobs their man at the Cincinnati 45-yard line. Browns go on to get the win and we will hear the game-winning field goal call. But I thought it was really cool, Nick, that he got it on such a classic Garrett sack, which defied all, like, how does a man move that fast, that big, in that bend? NGS had him as a.17 getoff, which I thought was maybe like a mistake with the chip.

1:57:41But you can kind of see it, that he essentially timed the snap perfectly and has a speed and a body control and just athleticism that maybe no one else has ever had off the edge position. A very cool moment for your Browns, and they capped it off with a win. Yeah, and I'm not going to deep dive on this tape here,

1:57:59Nick Shook:on this play specifically, because it was a great moment in football history, but folks are going to complain that, oh, Burrow took a dive like Brett Favre with Strahan, and I pushed back against that because of what you just said. The get-off time was absurd. It was also one of the few times that Myles Garrett wasn't facing some sort of chip or double team. He got a one-on-one against Orlando Brown and just simply beat him off the snap. In fact, I think Brown false started on that plane. It didn't even matter. And Burrow knew he was doomed. So congrats to Miles Garrett for getting it done. Also, if you look at the clock at that point, there's five minutes and four seconds left in the fourth quarter.

1:58:27Nick Shook:Not only were the Browns in a rock fight with the Bengals and trying to win a game, but they were also getting really anxious that Miles Garrett might not do it and he might finish at 22 sacks. So it was great to see him get the job done. They paused the game. They, you know, they kind of honored him on the sideline. They lifted him up on somebody's shoulders. like he was John Madden who just won a Super Bowl. For a team that only won five games, one of those wins coming today, it was a nice moment for them in a historic season for Myles Garrett. It was kind of a classic, what is happening type of moment.

1:58:55Zach Taylor, after the game, was not pleased with how they stopped the game. And I got the sense, listening afterwards and watching it back, that I'm not sure the officials really were sure if the game was going to stop. And I think, in my mind, the Browns just kind of stopped the game themselves and everyone had to just go along with it. And Zach Taylor was not pleased about that after the game.

1:59:18Patrick Claybon:There's five minutes left in our season. We're playing for our lives here. And I was never told that we're going to stop the game. And in a critical moment like that, and the refs just said that they made a decision that they were going to stop the game. And they said they tried to do it as quickly as possible. I didn't feel that. We didn't sub. We're trying to be on the ball and go and play with tempo. And the empire just held the ball. Thank you.

1:59:42Gregg Rosenthal:The sound you're hearing is the world's tiniest violin. Well said. Just, just don't. I mean, come on. It is an unprecedented situation. It was funny when it happened in the game. It was like under five minutes to go and they're driving for a touchdown. And I get what he means. He's like, we're going to try to do it as quickly as possible. And they're literally carrying them on their shoulders. but Zach Taylor has to realize that that sound clip is going to be remembered as like loser behavior. And you just lost to the Browns and you just went six and 11 on a season where Joe Burrow played a lot of games, bro.

2:00:19So just maybe just be quiet.

2:00:21Patrick Claybon:If he'd cut it off after they didn't let me know that they were going to stop the game. That's, that's fair. It would have been great to in the administration of the football game, tell the coach, Hey, at this career NFL record that hasn't been broken for a long time, you know, we've had it tied miles could get it today we're going to stop the game that's fine I don't know what schematic advantage you get after Joe Burrow got sacked to to get back on the ball with the same personnel that just had Joe Burrow get sacked I don't I don't really know but I guess you try to run as many plays as possible because you're trailing at that point but usually the clock

2:00:53Nick Shook:stops yeah survival it's survival they're playing for their lives man like you said it is life and death oh my god it was one of those moments that like everybody didn't know what to do Shelby Bobby Harris high five the nearby official. Like nobody knew what to do in that moment. That's amazing.

2:01:07Gregg Rosenthal:Here's the thing. I just going to need some more intestinal fortitude. I'm just going to need more.

2:01:12Patrick Claybon:The fortitude was by the Browns and by Larry Garrett, Lawrence Garrett up there violating the pay course stadium policy on camera lenses over six inches. Cause he's up there with the telephoto in the stands, take a picture of his baby boy, breaking the record. Great moment for the Browns. And you got to give a, you know, in terms of intestinal fortitude, How about Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase on an ensuing drive that only started with like a couple of minutes left to go? They actually go down, take the lead with a touchdown. It looked like it was almost going to be perfect. If you're a certain sort of Browns fan, you get you keep the draft pick, but you get the moment and you move on.

2:01:47But no, they get a field goal to finish the game. Hell, we're not going to hear Andrew again this year. Let's just listen to his game winning field goal call.

2:01:54Nick Shook:A 49 yard drive with three seconds on the clock. Sunohara, Bohorquez, Andre Schmidt. The snap, the hold, the kick to the uprights, and Andre Schmidt hits the kick. There's a flag. I think it's going to be leverage on the Bengals. Alex Kemp, who won the game? Tell me, please. I love that. The Cleveland Browns have won this football game. The Browns are celebrating. Andre Schmidt, 49-yard game-winning field goal. The field goal is good. Game over. so the browns uh thanks for the help on the call stripe yeah they win it they win a couple games late which knocks them from you know the top two or three of the draft down to number six we'll hit that in a second and they win a game uh with only 200 yards of offense what a performance uh in tough let's get some shout outs here greg let's give some quick shout outs here andre schmidt starts the season by missing a couple of key kicks and the browns open with a loss to the Bengals in a game they could have won their defense played well book ends this season by beating the Bengals with a game winning field goal.

2:02:58Nick Shook:So congratulations. Redemption are complete for you, Andre Schmidt. And also, you know, we, we just got to look back at Devin Bush's breakout season. Yes. It came late in his career, but he has the second pick six of the season and it went 97 yards. So eat your heart out, James Harrison. It wasn't the super bowl. It's January. I'm giving honors to people that won't matter next week. What a play by Devin Bush. Speaking of which I, I was surprised. I questioned, uh, our friend, Ollie Connelly, putting Devin Bush as his second team, all pro linebacker last week. And then immediately after he makes the big play here.

2:03:32So what a season for, for Devin Bush, what a season for shook. I would like, you know, have an emotional goodbye. It's our last, you know, big full scale recap, but you're literally on the show in about 12 hours. So, uh, get some sleep and we'll talk on what the artist, uh, formerly known as black Monday, uh, and talk a little Cochise on Monday. Thanks, Shook. Thanks for having me, guys. All right.

2:03:54Gregg Rosenthal:Did you say we're going to talk a little Cochise? Cochise. Talk a little Cochise. We've been on for a while. Let's go to Minnesota and finish out the last few games here, which did not have playoff ramifications. Then we'll set up the draft order, and we'll send you on your Sunday night. Appreciate everyone, by the way, who's sticking with us live in the chat on YouTube. You got to hear Greg say Cochise. Of course, if you're listening to this, you can see all of our awkward interactions on YouTube later, if you'd like to do both. Let's go to Minnesota.

2:04:28Nick Shook:Nailer in motion. Halo's behind Brosmer. Back to pass, looking right. Now he gets claustrophobic, and he trips over Justin School. Then he tried to get up, and he dropped the ball, and it was picked up by Baron Sorrell. No! All right, brother. Good seeing you, my man. Thanks for having me. God bless you, brother. God bless you. Happy New Year. Hey, hold on. Hey! Josh Duhamel has to lead. Say goodbye.

2:04:53Patrick Claybon:Hey, Vikings fans. Vikings fans, there's always next year. There's always next year. The final 11 to happen is today. We are going to win a Super Bowl. It may not be this year, but it is going to be very soon. I promise you that.

2:05:05Nick Shook:Love you, brother. Have a good day. That was Paul Allen and Josh Duhamel.

2:05:13Gregg Rosenthal:The Josh Duhamel. Famous-ish actor. Oh, wow. No, no, very famous on KFAN. He's aged very well, might I say. That call almost didn't make it into the show. It is now the call of the year. I think that won. I mean, there's... Incredible. I don't know if anything can possibly top that. The crazy thing is the Vikings won this game 16-3. So that was a tough moment there for our guy Max Brosnan. Hey! Josh Camel has to lead. Say goodbye.

2:05:45Patrick Claybon:I love that. Not even top five angry Paul Allen calls. I don't know. That's up there. No! That was more bemused, sarcastic, laughing at the absurdity of life. Say goodbye! And yet this game was never even dependent. The decision by Max Brosner! Poor Brosner has been in a couple of the lowlights of the season, which I feel bad about. He had the somersault fumble. I mean, let's even it out. Let's give one right back to the Green Bay Packers.

2:06:21Gregg Rosenthal:This came in a nutshell at one point near the end of the first half. Running back Emmanuel Wilson lost 19 yards on a tackle for loss on a carry. Not an inspiring day for the Clayton Toon led Green Bay Packers week 18 offense. Per ESPN research brought to us by Kevin Seifert. That was the biggest loss by an NFL running back on a rushing play since 2007. This is a type of play that happens in youth football. a lot. Like if you watch like high school football, that's happening more than once in every six years or whatever. Listen, we're just trying to be fair. Just trying to be fair. This was a game that happened in week 18 and now it's over.

2:06:59This was the most game that happened in week 18 and now that it's over game because the Packers had 56 yards on a truly garbage time drive at the end that they kicked a field goal at the buzzer in this game. Were you guys aware of that to get some points. If it wasn't for those 56 yards, they were held to, let's do the math. I believe about like 66 yards before the 65 yards in the entire game before that set. That's outrageous.

2:07:26Patrick Claybon:That is the saddest field goal of the season in terms of the total game operation. Just, just a rough one for, you know, two very good play callers. I feel bad for the coaches. Well, I mean, look, Kevin O 'Connell's moving the ball. It's Pat LaFleur and Clayton Toon that had 12 yards, I think, at halftime.

2:07:46Gregg Rosenthal:The artist formerly known as Matt LaFleur, Pat LaFleur, who has to call a Clayton Toon. Well, that's his alter ego.

2:07:52Patrick Claybon:Much like Nine, who made an appearance in this game when the referee was trying to hold him back after a taunting penalty. Oh, my gosh. Hilarity ensued.

2:08:00Gregg Rosenthal:I will say, we talked about this with the Bills. Week 18, it's ripe for games like this, but also stuff like what happened in the Bills game where you get some really sweet moments, sometimes bittersweet send-offs. Harrison Smith, the safety, just a legend for that franchise. The send-off for him was really, really nice. Kevin O 'Connell called time out so that they could give him a proper send-off. You can watch it on YouTube right now. He had sort of a Gatorade bottle shower. His family is in a sweet, classy touch by the Vikings. Really totally heartwarming. Head pats from all of his teammates and hugs.

2:08:36Gregg Rosenthal:And they really took their time sending off somebody who is so beloved and respected by this franchise. And the crowd gave him a well-deserved standing ovation. This is most likely, if not definitely, his final season in the NFL. Yeah, a lot of big decisions for a lot of these players. Taylor Decker, going back to the Lions game, had a very emotional, telling press conference where he talked about everything he had to go through to try to play this year. And so a lot of these players have been fighting through injuries and guys who've just been in a league a long time, like Harrison Smith, making big decisions.

2:09:10We'll see if Brian Flores will be back for the Minnesota Vikings. He's a coaching free agent. So that's intriguing. This defense finished the season just on total fire. And I think the one real football point to take from this, nothing from the Packers side, really, but from the Vikings side, that J.J. McCarthy didn't survive the game again. And, you know, he got hurt. And so that's five different games, I think, that he left during the game with an injury this season. And the positive play that he had when he did play later in the season, I think, got undercut by him getting hurt a couple more times down the stretch.

2:09:44So something I think to keep in mind. Yeah.

2:09:48Gregg Rosenthal:And this game, he started well. He was five for five. That's his longest streak of consecutive completions in his very short career so far. but then only went on to complete four of 11 passes. Some of them were so off target. And then he re-hurt the same hand he had previously injured. So the Vikings end up at 9 and 8. I think it was Luke Braun on Blue Sky who wrote this. I couldn't believe that this was true. That if the Vikings had beaten the Bears in November, I think the last time they played, and you don't change any other result, the Vikings are the NFC North champion. Wow. Now, obviously, everything would be different.

2:10:24The world would be different. because of that. You know, I'm just saying motivations would be different. The Packers would have played. Like, who knows what would have happened. Everything would be, you can't exactly do that. But that's how close in a way that they were. They did get to nine wins. They did get a winning record. They got over their over under win total by winning five straight. It's kind of crazy how good this defense was, especially down the stretch. All right, let's go.

2:10:47Nick Shook:Josh DeMille has to leave. Say goodbye. We really should have ended the show with that because I'm sorry, Jackson Dart and the Giants, you can't really top it. Third and 16. Pressure. Dart gets it away to Bellinger. He cuts inside to the 20. Bellinger to the 15. To the 10. To the 5. Touchdown, Giants! On the third and 16. Dart kept it alive. Bellinger made himself available. And the Giants with an improbable third down conversion score. People ask me all the time, Why do you do every game? Some of the games don't matter. You know, they all matter to us. And no one asked me that. That's just a thing that people say when they say something that they want to say.

2:11:35Usually the people don't ask them. You know what I mean? On Twitter, it's like a lot of people were asking where my link is to my article. Here it is.

2:11:41Gregg Rosenthal:More people should be talking about how NFL Daily covers every single game. We just do it because every game, there's only 272 of these, right? And Bob Papa and Carl Banks got to call a Giants win. And the Giants did the thing that the Giants do, which is win late season games to ruin their draft stock. And I know you think that's unfair and it doesn't matter. Well, they could have Drake made, Patrick, if they hadn't done it a couple of years ago.

2:12:05Patrick Claybon:But Greg, they have Jackson Dart. So the problem is ultimately Stahl and great call by Bob and Carl there. But they called it an improbable play. But it was the most likely outcome against the 2025 Dallas Cowboys defense where Jackson Dart looks great. He throws a backhand pass on third and super long to Daniel Bellinger, and he houses it from 29 yards out because that's the type of play we expected from the Iberflus defense as the season's gone on. And, you know, the overall dart concern was, is he going to look good? Is he going to take care of himself? He still put his body in harm's way several times in this game, had a couple of design runs, a couple of scrambles as well.

2:12:47Patrick Claybon:But I think the evaluation is Jackson Dart's pretty good, and they feel good about it going into 26. One of my issues with the Tyler Shuck rookie of the year thing is that if you're just looking at the numbers, like Jackson Dart's numbers are better. And he played a lot. Jackson Dart's weirdly, because of the concussion story, I think I don't think he's underrated in terms of how he played this year, but he had a very promising season. I think it closed pretty well, too. He runs for 32 yards, but the last few weeks he's just been steady. He gets Gunnar Olszewski over 100 yards in this game. Afterwards, we heard from the Cowboys a report that it could take up to two weeks before they decide on their defensive coordinator for next year, which is interesting.

2:13:30Matt Eberflus is expected to lose his job, but the Cowboys usually take their time. But yeah, Dak Prescott played the first half of this game. I don't think they were winning at halftime anyways. And then they brought in Joe Milton. And yeah, they didn't really go all out to try to win this game. And so they finished with seven wins on the season. And yeah, the Giants are 4-2 in weeks 17 and 18 over the last three years. And if you just start their record in week 17, week 18, three years ago, they're 4-28 otherwise. So that's just not ideal.

2:14:07Gregg Rosenthal:The newsroom was quiet for a stretch, and I was not watching this game. And all of a sudden, I just hear Patrick from behind his cubicle. We got Joe Milton. and that told me everything I needed to know about Joe Milton was going is a plane in week 18 to help decide a top five pick where it's going to be is now an annual tradition. He knocked the Patriots down a couple spots. They ended up with Will Campbell. The Giants get knocked down a couple spots. They're at the number five spot now. And that's about all we need to say on this game. Let's wrap up with the Raiders and the chiefs. Pete Carroll before the game was widely reported to be on the way out.

2:14:51Not a surprise, but all the insiders finally went in on that. It was going to be Pete Carroll's last game as a head coach of the Raiders. Certainly he knew that going into the game, which made this ending all the more satisfying.

2:15:05Nick Shook:It'll be from 60.

2:15:10Nick Shook:For the win. Cole puts it down. The kick is on its way. And it draws it! Colson! Good for 60! And with 8 seconds to go, the Raiders have a lead and a chance to end the season on a high!

2:15:33Life is short. If you have the chance to scream at the top of your lungs like Jason Horowitz and Kirk Morrison did for a 14-12 Raiders victory, over the Chiefs in week 18, you should scream. Like, you don't know what's promised tomorrow. Kyle Shanahan said it. We may not be here for the wild card round. No, I'm just kidding. I don't know. The world's going crazy. Raiders win, and I got to say, I kind of live for Aiden O 'Connell throwing it to Tyler Lockett to set up a game-winning field goal for Daniel Carlson in what could be Pete Carroll's last game. Like that to me is actually great week 18 theater.

2:16:20Gregg Rosenthal:What a sentence. Greg, who are the quarterbacks in this game? I know you have a list of them. That was going to be the only notes I wrote for this game. Well, Chris Oledukin, he started the game. He was benched for Shane Bichelle, right? Yep. On the other side, Kenny Pickett, who took some tough hits. but he was benched for performance reasons for Aiden O 'Connell, who, if I'm going to make like the lamest take ever, like should have been playing this whole time. He's obviously better at NFL football than Kenny Pickett. Fiery week 18 late podcast takes from Greg Rosen. I mean, I gotta say, Aiden O 'Connell, I guess he was hurt.

2:17:00That was right. He was hurt for most of the season and recently got healthy. But Aiden O 'Connell is probably better than 2025 Geno Smith, I hate to admit.

2:17:08Patrick Claybon:That's what Aiden O 'Connell does, is win late season games against the Kansas City Chiefs. This time, he threw for more yards, actually, in limited opportunity than the last time he beat the Chiefs late in the season. The only bummer was they showed Travis Kelsey after Carlson made the kick.

2:17:24Gregg Rosenthal:That was the only bummer about this game? The only one. Of that final result, yes. I mean, of that final kick, which was pretty joyous. Think about those Raiders fans. Those are the most expensive seats in the league to watch this Raiders team this year. They deserve it. They deserve a little fun. So does Pete Carroll. What a career he has had. They're watching their team make history. They're selecting first overall in this year's draft. That made it even more guilt-free because the Giants lost in the early window, which clinched the one pick for the Raiders so they could win without even any mixed emotions.

2:17:54And I think it's cool. Carroll is an all-timer. I love me some Pete Carroll, and this season was a total disaster. But to just win on a win. I bet it meant a lot to him, don't you think, Patrick? So if it means a lot to him, it means something.

2:18:07Patrick Claybon:Yeah, he was out there. He wasn't out there to have a bad season like this, you know, devolved into hilarity. But good for Pete, good for the Raiders, good for the fans. As you pointed out, they've been through a lot. That place was rocking when that it really was. And yeah, the Kelsey looked, looked pretty emotional, like a guy who it might be his last game. I think he just had one catch for under 10 yards in this game. And it's a tough way to go out. I think he wanted that that final just like good moment after what obviously has been a really tough season. for the Chiefs.

2:18:38Gregg Rosenthal:And Pete said, I've been here longer. I call dibs on going out with a good moment. Fair. Yeah. The Chiefs will pick in the top 10. The Raiders are number one. The official draft order, if you're curious, the Jets did finish at number two. So they got some help today. And the Cardinals, number three, moved up a few spots during this nine-game losing streak to end the season. The Titans are next. Then the Giants, who moved the most down in the last couple weeks are to number five Browns and Commanders round out the top seven. That's it. We did it. Week 18. Live on YouTube. We did it live. We did it live.

2:19:18We did it. We had coaches. We had lots of fun. And, yes, we had the call of the year. Should we hear Paul Allen, like, one more time? No, let's get out of here. We'll be back. we appreciate everyone checking us out live we'll be going live on Saturday night in the playoffs but we also have shows all week long including a big coaching roundup on Monday with Nick Schuch you can check us out then for Patrick Claibon Jordan Rodrigue and Nick Schuch it was a treat hey!

2:19:54Nick Shook:Josh DeMille has to lead say goodbye March is here and Uber Eats is delivering deals all month long score big savings on all the delicious food you need to fuel your sports fandom. Whether you're ordering in or hosting the whole crew, Uber Eats is serving up deals on wings, burgers, pizza, all from your favorite restaurants, plus snacks from top stores. Perennial powerhouse, underdog. However the madness unfolds, these deals keep it going all month long. Visit the Uber Eats app for all the latest deals and start saving today. You know how it's never really about where you're going. It's about who you're going with.

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2:21:06Gregg Rosenthal:Hey guys, it's Erin Andrews. Breasts get so much attention, but they're still so ignored when it matters most. Everything these days is fighting for your attention. We've got work, family,

2:21:17Nick Shook:social media, making it tough to figure out what to prioritize. I got something that should always be at the very top of the list, your breast health. If you're 40 and over, you should be getting screened once a year. And if you're under 40, it's never too soon to visit your

2:21:32Gregg Rosenthal:attention, please.com to learn about breast cancer risk. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees. Wasabi is the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals. Wasabi, driving innovation in data storage for up to 80 % less than market competition. Try for free at wasabi.com. Wasabi, hot cloud storage, proud partner of iHeart Podcast Network.

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2:22:37Gregg Rosenthal:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.