Rams-Falcons Week 17 MNF Stunner, MVP Race Movement and Falcons Future at QB

21:15Nick Shook:But let's all just lean on the rise and fall and the journey, not just what happened in December. I thought you were going to mention the Falcons game that May played, which I think the Falcons gave him some trouble between him, Josh Allen and Stafford, who are the three MVP leaders. Essentially, they gave trouble to all three of them. Now, May played the best against him. May is the one that got the win against him and avoided the big time mistake. And I think it's a really interesting argument in general. We have a comment here that's saying, you know, Drake May is doing it with worse receivers, worse offensive line.

21:44That's true. And I think that is sort of a point in May's favor. The system is great for him, but ultimately he's been under a ton of pressure without a ton of talent around him all year. Stafford, on the other hand, has played an absolute gauntlet of a schedule while May, according to DVOA, has played the easiest schedule for opposing offenses. Stafford and the Rams have maybe played the hardest schedule in the NFL. Like that's a point for Stafford. I watched each and every snap like both guys have taken each year, and they've both been really special. It's kind of silly to me. The only people that annoy me in this argument are the Patriots fans or the Rams fans that I follow on Twitter.

22:27And because of my rooting interests, I follow a lot of both of them that are so strident that it's so clearly one or the other. Just shut up. It's a beauty contest, and you're basically choosing which guy looks better in a bikini. And you're picking the guy that you like because he plays for your team. And the neutral voter is just kind of just picking on vibes or whatever they want because it's all about what you like. A lot of the really smart people out there like me. And I think a lot of the smart people like Stafford. And he, to me, has more of the narrative that would normally win the award.

23:03But it's all kind of silly. They're both great options. And it's not really a big difference. So shut up to everyone who says that it's a huge difference.

23:12Nick Shook:It's vibes, it's personal preference, and it's, I would say, bias. And it's voter fatigue. All three of those come into play. Well, I don't think either one of them have any voter fatigue. No, but I'm saying that's always an element. That's always an element. A lot of times it is, and it would have hurt Josh Allen or Lamar this year. I think Josh Allen played his way out of it. They've both just done some exceptional things. And I think the degree of difficulty for both of them on so many throws each and every week. And that's why Drake's numbers on the plus 20 throws are just outrageous, are so high.

23:47And anyway, they both would be really worthy.

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28:04you know who we haven't talked about enough tonight it's time for who delivered presented by uber eats let's talk about bajan robinson because he had some runs in this game and again we really appreciate if you're watching on youtube give us a like give us a subscribe we love you you can watch one of the best like five yard runs that we could have picked out a two yard run in this game. We could have picked out a five yard run. Here is a run in the third quarter where he makes two jump cuts. And when you're watching the original TV copy, you don't even think it's anything special. And then you realize Puna Ford beats his block.

28:42He's in the hole. Who's 90? Is that Kobe Turner? Beats his block. He's in the hole. Robinson makes them both miss. And then he drags another defender for another four yards. And he was absolutely outrageous in this game goes over 200 yards from scrimmage it's so ridiculous shook he averaged over 200 yards from scrimmage in these four prime time games I would I looked it up because I was like man he has been outstanding in these games and he went for 229 yards from scrimmage uh tonight in the other four priming time games 177 238 175 75. I mean, we just haven't seen another guy like him. I, as good as McCaffrey's been, I think he might be my, my, you know, either offensive player of the year or first team all pro at running back.

29:29We'll talk about that a little later this week.

29:31Nick Shook:Are we missing one more too? Because, um, uh, that average might actually be below because we got to think about the Falcons Buccaneers game, right? But regardless, he's had a fantastic run this season. Look, Raheem Morris has talked about this, uh, since the start of the season, essentially that he believes he's the best player in football and he's not wrong he's one of the best players in football i don't know if i'm going to call him the best player in football i mean there's a lot of frustration that is associated with the falcons coaching staff and specifically zach robinson the fact that they just go away from him for entire stretches of games uh and maybe that explains why they are where they are record wise but a weapon like that is always primed to break out no matter the stage whether it's prime time whether it's a one o 'clock window on a sunday because he is just different you know that highlight that we just played reminded me of sitting in the suite at Lucas Oil Stadium at the Combine and watching him do the bag drill and watching him do the do Staley drill and watching how he just visually when you're sitting there you can see the difference between the guys who are going to be elite and guys who could be all right or maybe won't last very long very visible from that moment clearly the best running back in this class by a mile because of the way he moved he's big he glides he's explosive he's light on his feet he does everything well he makes men miss and when he made those two guys miss i just thought about him cutting around the bags in indianapolis it's just carried over transition to haley continues to get better and better and they would be so wise to build their offense around him more frequently than they did there were there were times this year and i don't know if it's just because they want tyler algier involved which is fine he's a power back but like this is a player that can carry your team even in today's modern nfl because you can also catch the ball out of the backfield excellent night for him and 27 touches uh total He got five catches for 34 yards.

31:15And you were talking about that Bucs game. How dare you question next Greg's stats, which was scratched out right before we started. That primetime game against the Bucs. Yes, 93 yards rushing, eight catches, 82 yards receiving. If he's not getting it done as the running back, he's their number two receiver, at least when, you know, Drake London was hurt for a while. And Troy Aikman, when you hear Troy Aikman, who I love for a lot of reasons, but one is that unlike myself, he's not prone to hyperbole. He is very cautious to say, put players in historical context. And when he starts comparing him to Barry Sanders and is just saying like, there aren't many runners that have come around since Barry Sanders that could be at that level.

32:00I get it. Because for me personally, I've covered the league since 2003. And I think just in terms of total package, as good as McCaffrey is, And there's been some great, great backs in terms of just pure total package talent. Like the guys that he reminds me of is LaDainian Tomlinson and Marshall Pott. Like in terms of just being literally that good. Like that's how far back I have to go to find a guy. And we're splitting hairs because Jameer Gibbs is crazy and McCaffrey is crazy. But with Bajan, he is just he's just something special. And it's really cool that he did it in four primetime wins this season.

32:38man. That was who delivered presented by Uber Eats when football makes you hungry. Get game day deals on Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL order. Now, do you have one last Bajon point you want to make or should I tell you what the Falcons did in primetime this year?

32:54Nick Shook:No, I just I figured out the other primetime game we were missing. It was the Niners game in which Bajon went 14 for 40 and had six catches for 52. OK, you can absolutely question Those numbers might come down, but it's still impressive nonetheless. I just had to figure out which game was I missing. Yeah, I forgot about that one, though. 20 to 10 loss. Man, the schedule makers were so high on the Falcons this season, who get a double victory, by the way, in this game, because not only do they win, but they make the Rams draft pick that they traded for Atlanta. A little worse. Just a little revenge game for the Falcons, because all these Rams fans have been enjoying owning this Falcons pick, which looked incredible three weeks ago, but with three straight wins, it's closer to the middle of the first round instead of the top eight or nine picks.

33:44That 49ers loss, good note, the only blemish on the primetime schedule. They beat J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings 22-6. They beat Josh Allen and the Bills 24-14. They won that Bucs game by a point a couple weeks back, and now they beat the Rams here. So four and one in prime time. Do you think it's enough to save Raheem Morris's job?

34:07Nick Shook:Well, I always like to reference the one year in which Eric Mangini won his final four games of the Browns and got another year with them and then was a dumpster fire the next year. And while the Falcons are not the Browns, they do own some similarities and that they listen to what the outside people say in motivating how they proceed with their team. I think that it's, I could see, and this is going to be crazy because usually this does not work out, but I could see a scenario in which they make front office changes and they keep Raheem and they make an offensive coordinator change. So like there's changes somewhere, but they keep the head coach because clearly, what is the most important thing that everybody likes to point to late in the season for a team that's not making the playoffs and the head coaches on the hot seat is the team still playing for him.

34:46Nick Shook:And clearly this team is still playing for him. Defensive minded head coach. He got investment in his defense in the off season. We've seen how they've been better in the pass rush this year. We saw guys like Xavier Watts making plays, Jesse Bates making plays in the secondary. These are all encouraging pieces of evidence that he should stay, that they are playing for him, that they are figuring it out. But ultimately, it comes down to this. What is their future with Michael Penix? Because this whole stretch has been with Kirk Cousins, a guy that I told you was playing good quarterback, and he is playing good quarterback, even though he wasn't a huge part of tonight.

35:15He wasn't great tonight. Let's be real. He wasn't great tonight. He was solid in the first half. He was solid in the first half. And I'm glad you brought up Kirk Cousins, because it's actually time for quarterback keeper presented by a snap dragon. And yeah, the quarterback decision is going to be massive. What what do you think? Because Penix got hurt in terms of his ACL so late in this season. It's an injury he's had before. And I did think it was interesting that Troy Aikman cited some coaches on the field that he talked to, who apparently posited, hey, don't be surprised if Kirk Cousins is still on this team in 2026.

35:51I have a few things to say about that. I'm curious what you think.

35:53Nick Shook:Well, so he's one of the top guys that I look at in the offseason as a potential trade candidate for teams that need a bridge, that need somebody to stabilize a position. In fact, I wrote a piece about this in place of QB index last week. Three quarterback trades I like to see this offseason. One of them was Kirk Cousins to Cleveland because of his history with Kevin Stefanski and how he could be a bridge for whoever they go with long term. Financially, it's a little bit of a hurdle, but he is still an expensive backup. that becomes more valuable if you don't believe that Michael Penix is going to be 100 % ready, or maybe you don't believe that he can carry you through an entire season next year because of the injury and because of whatever else.

36:27Nick Shook:Do you still have the same confidence and optimism in him that you did the year before? Those two are tied. These decisions are tied together. Neither can be independent. Neither can be made in a vacuum. And I think it also comes down to, are you keeping Raheem? Because if you're keeping Raheem, you need to win. And if you need to win, you need to have more than one option at quarterback. And at that point, you keep Kirk Cousins because of what he's done this season coming in as a backup he stabilizes it much like he would for other options so it's an interesting decision that they'll have to make um i would side more toward them keeping him and just biting the you know the the cost that it's going to be in their salary cap and and that's fine because they've realized the value of having an experienced backup which a lot of other teams don't have but it's still far from certain right now yeah it's it's so complex and and this is a good time to talk about it because Cousins tonight showed like he's not the solution to everything.

37:21I think he's been playing good football. I think they've been a better offense with Kirk Cousins. Michael Penix was setting a pretty low floor this year. It was a disappointing season. He did not fit in this offense. They're clearly going to change offensive coordinators, even if they don't change Raheem Morris. It gets complicated for a few reasons. When Troy Aikman said that, I was thinking, yeah, but those coaches aren't going to be there next year. So, like, who cares what they think? And three straight wins, maybe if you finish off next week in New Orleans, that has an emotional, you know, resonance with Arthur Blanket.

37:57It shouldn't. But maybe that game ends up mattering for the Falcons, whether they win or lose, you know, winning four straight. Maybe he'll think, okay, let's stay the course. The buzz that you kind of heard around the league was they were going to make a change. that Fontenot has been there for their GM has been there for four years. He's got two different coaches. So I think in the ownership's mind, they've had this regime now for a while. It's not just Raheem Morris. We saw the report from Jay Glazer that they might be bringing in Matthew, Matt Ryan as a front office. Which would be hilarious, by the way, given how Fontenot got rid of Matt Ryan.

38:32Right. So if Matt Ryan's coming in, I would assume he's not going to be the GM, but maybe it's in a sort of president, you know,

38:43Nick Shook:or that he's helping to - Military advisory role. Yeah, he's helping to hire the next GM and coach. And then you would have to think everyone's gone. Raheem Morris, these coaches, and that next, you know, administration is going to make a decision on Kirk Cudd. Now, either way, you think about it, you look at his contract, it's not quite as bad as you remember now because there's$10 million left of guaranteed money. You got to pay him that regardless, okay? There's also a bonus five days into the year, which is, I think, another$10 million. So you've got to make the decision quick. You've got to either cut him or try to trade him before that.

39:21He's due$35 million, which sounds like a lot for Kirk Cousins in 2026. It is. It's too much. But it's not that crazy for a bridge quarterback.

39:30Nick Shook:Not when you have a rookie on a rookie contract. Right. my guess is they will try to see if they can get anything in a trade for him and the crazy part is they might just get something not much right you know so so they'll pretend that they're gonna keep them and then we're at the combine and there's a trade and it's like you got like a fourth round pick or a fourth to fifth swap and we spend way too many nfl daily episodes in the meantime talking about it i'm not looking forward to that but that could be an outcome no matter who is running this team i was just envisioning as you were getting to that point there of being in indianapolis and being at like a hotel somewhere or some restaurant and being like so what's the latest on kurt cousins like because because like that's that's going to be one of the things that's got to happen then because we're going to be right on the precipice of the newly year and that when that bonus is going to come in uh so yeah i think you're absolutely right but they'll get something but they won't get that much because of the money that's attached and they might not get anything i'm just thinking out loud i think it's possible something could be a day three pick an early day three pick but the money attached to it is going to lower the return on him and is it worth it at that point it only happens then like you said if there's a full regime change which i'm not 100 certain is coming right uh penix not playing well really complicated so do you want to start over do you want to start from scratch these are all questions for the offseason for now Now the Rams will keep playing.

40:55The Falcons have one more game against the Saints. That was quarterback keeper presented by Snapdragon. Learn more at snapdragon.com slash laptops. The other big item from this game is the impact on the NFC South race. It started filtering out Sunday afternoon, this little nugget that I frankly didn't put much stock into. I was like, oh, those are one of those cool little playoff scenario nuggets I love that actually the Panthers could lose in week 18 to the Buccaneers, fall to eight and nine, but still win the division if the Falcons won out and there was a three-way tie at eight and nine. And I kind of dismissed it, you know?

41:39It's like, well, what are the odds of that all happening? Well, the Bucs did lose to the Dolphins. Wasn't shocked by that. In fact, I picked it. That was a good pick. Panthers lose. But the one I didn't expect to happen is the Falcons actually They did beat the Rams. So now the Falcons Saints game next week takes on bigger meaning. The Saints have won, what, four straight now? And the Falcons have won three straight. And the crazy part is if the Bucs win that game next week, it will be a three-way tie at eight and nine. Like the Saints, you know, the Saints will have, wait, no, the Saints will have gotten to seven wins.

42:12The Falcons will have gotten to eight wins. It is crazy that this team that's been out of the playoffs for like a month, the Falcons could end up in a first place tie. It's just all the tiebreakers that will cancel them out. So the Panthers were watching this game, and I'm sure they don't want to go into the playoffs losing, but they're probably pumping their fists there when that final Pukunukuha catch was ruled out of bounds.

42:34Nick Shook:Yeah, but can you imagine a scenario? This is all in the same window. No, wait, we have the Saturday game between the Bucs and Panthers, right? Yes, the interesting thing here is if the Bucs win that game now, thinking about Saturday, we actually won't know who won the division until Sunday. The Bucs will celebrate, but it's going to be very strange and awkward. They're at home. Like, do you fire the cannons if you don't win the division? I don't think that you do. You certainly aren't doing any T-shirts and hats. It's going to be a very strange situation that I wonder if, you know, the ABC executives and everyone were even thinking about when they, when they put in that Saturday afternoon slot.

43:10Nick Shook:There's so much intrigue now though, because if you've watched the Saints over the last month, yes, they played a soft schedule, but they did beat the Panthers during that stretch. They're also one of the most electric fourth quarter teams that you'll find over the last month because Tyler Schuch has ice in his veins. And it's the best rivalry in football. Week 18 is saved. You make it a face. I've never been more excited about a Falcon Saints game in week 18 because I love the idea of a team that's basically eliminated playing spoiler just for the fun of it. I love chaos. I don't know if it was week 18, but when Jamal Williams and Jameis Winston decided to run that extra play that Dennis Allen did, Allen didn't want to rub it in on the Falcons.

43:49That was a truly electric moment.

43:51Nick Shook:That was almost a midfield fight between Dennis Allen and Arthur Smith. And anyone who's in the comments questioning whether the Falcons and Saints are the best rivalry in the league. I mean, Raven Steelers are up there, but in terms of pure fan hatred, they are right there. So congratulations to the Falcons. There is almost no better team in the NFL than the Falcons after they've been eliminated. Love this stat. I saw in Blue Sky tonight. Since 2018, they are 53-78 in games before they're eliminated from playoff contention, 25 games under.500. After being eliminated from playoff contention, they're 12-4.

44:27They're getting a playoff bye. They are 12-4 in their games, the Falcons, since 2018. So not a ton of games since they've been end-of-season games that don't matter. They are 12-4 in those games. They did it again.

44:40Nick Shook:So let's just start the season. Just tell them, hey, you're eliminated. Go play ball. What a night. We might've seen the MVP decided and indirectly, we might end up seeing the NFC South decided we will be back on Tuesday. Can't wait. NFL daily every day this week, back to full schedule. It's time for the final QB Island of the season. This was our last regular season recap of the season. It has been a pleasure, shook, but we will be back for the playoffs. They have a Monday night game in the wildcard round. So we'll be going live then. We're going live on Sunday night. We will see you then.

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