Week 14 Recap: The Best Slate of the Season Delivers

21:48DK Metcalf goes for seven and 148, and so, yeah, like, they definitely got a good whistle. I'm not particularly confident that the Ravens defense would have gotten a stop if they called that a touchdown anyway, so I just think that there's a lot that the Ravens and their fans, I'm sure, should be upset about when it comes to the Ravens, too, because it's just a team that is not playing well enough right now.

22:10Patrick Claybon:And the unfortunate thing about all those things, if the Ravens had purely played this well over the past couple of weeks, they wouldn't be in this situation. On offense. On offense. Not on defense, but yeah. Well, on defense, especially on the Jalen Warren screen pass where there's nobody on that side of the field. It wasn't even a screen. I don't think. It was just a swing to Jalen Warren. It makes one guy miss. and like there's nobody for Pat Friar. Can we actually watch and listen to that play? We have that play because that was typical of what we were seeing in this game.

22:42Nick Shook:Warren is to the right of Rodgers and the shotgun gets a snap, back to pass, throws to Warren. Wide open, scooting down the right sideline. Has room, there is nobody there and he's in for the score. Jalen Warren, a short pass out to the flat and he goes 38 yards in for the touchdown. Pittsburgh Steelers add their lead here. Not even touched. Yeah.

23:02Patrick Claybon:So you add in things like that, the nasty Rashad Bateman drop on third and four in the red zone, where it's, again, credit to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the pressures that they did get. TJ Watt adds another great plays to his great resume. But there's aspects of this that were also a donation. Sure. I agree. But you can't run the ball. And like I said, Rodgers played well. Like, for instance, there's like a third and one escape early that he gets. He had three or four dimes in this game to DK. The one to Austin was a beautiful ball. He ran in for a touchdown. So he's making plays. And then on the other side, here's my stat.

23:39I had it circled. I didn't want to forget it. I'm excited about this. I didn't want to forget it. The Ravens had 18 runs, I believe, in the red zone today. Is that right? That doesn't seem right. However many runs they had in the red zone, and I will confirm it. Do you want to know their success rate on it, Patrick? Tell me the success rate. It's a big fat zero. Zero. And that's where I think about that missed touchdown call at the end where, okay, you get likely, you know, doesn't complete that play. They are set up on a third and two on the five right after that because they have a good second down.

24:13And what does Derrick Henry and this offensive line do right after that? They lose three yards on the next play. And then Lamar has a chance to just like make something special happen. He can't pull off like a very difficult throw to Andrews. And there were a few times like that in this game where Lamar maybe had a chance to do something special and he didn't particularly I think he's looked much better in terms of his legs the last couple of games for what it's worth he runs for 43 yards in this game including a touchdown he looks healthier but like I don't know you can't run the ball and you're letting Aaron Rodgers make plays all over you like I don't feel that bad this was the ultimate Greg and Patrick game because not only did Aaron Rodgers play probably one of the best if not his best game of the entire season but also Jalen Warren got in the end zone so everybody loses I love it.

24:58I mean, I was rooting for the Ravens. I'm not lying about it.

25:00Patrick Claybon:The Jalen Warren thing is a joke. Neither Greg nor I enjoy Aaron Rodgers discount double-checking and celebrating and being all saucy in the post. But I do, yeah. I have to give credit where it's due. Indeed. He did have some post-game salt, I think, right? Aaron Rodgers did? Like in terms of his hair color or what are you talking about? In terms of his attitude. Don't we have some sound of him talking a little smack in the postgame? I'm sure it's out there. We got my Tomlin sound. Let's listen to that. You know, we knew what was on the line today. And that's why you go do business with a guy like Aaron.

25:38Patrick Claybon:For thick days like today, he's been there, done that guy. But beyond the experience component of it, he relishes it. You can just tell. And that's the benefit of having a guy like A.R. You know, Chris Bavona is doing a great job filling in for the great Eric Roberts behind the glass. That one's on me. I take on that one. I read the rundown wrong. Also, I'm also having a thing. Sometimes Chip Kelly calls the wrong play in the huddle. You got to be able to figure it out on the field. That's what matters. That's what Chris Bavona did right there. And I was talking about giving credit, by the way, in terms of red zone stats.

26:16But Dan Pazuda, who's a great follow on Blue Sky, by the way, who works for FTN, gave me that stat in terms of 0 % success rate in the red zone. I wanted to give him credit, and I wanted to give credit to everything that happened in Buffalo. I think we got the game of the day, Bills and Bengals, so good that we got to bring Nick Shook into this show early. But first, let's hear from Chris Brown and Eric Wood on WPR.

26:45Nick Shook:Brown Malone setback receiver to each side and it's intercepted jumping up in the air as Bedford gets away from Burrell 30 20 10 5 your AFC defensive player of the week has done it again Christian Bedford with a go ahead touchdown. Oh, great call there by Chris Brown. Put that in the play calls of the year. Giving you more work, Babona. Somewhere, someone in the office of the Players of the Week office is like, yes, big pop in a big spot. Someone finally cares about our award.

27:24Patrick Claybon:We got a dedicated room for it. Oh, yeah. It's just one guy's job. I sat really near him. Can't believe that's a full-time gig, especially in today's day and age. You get a pension. That catches a Scud missile. It's crazy. 39 to 34. Shook. I'm surprised we led with a defensive play. Because, man, this was a lot of great quarterback play, a lot of great offense. What stood out to you most in this courageous Bills victory?

27:52Nick Shook:Well, yeah, we start with a defensive play because that was the moment when I realized, and I think everybody in Highmark Stadium realized, oh, my God, the Bills actually can win this game. Because for a good portion of this contest, Joe Burrow and the Bengals had a step and a half on the Bills. They had a 28 to 18 lead in the fourth quarter. They had three straight touchdown drives to start this game. They could not be stopped. And it was snowing pretty heavily for most of this game. Didn't affect him at all. Josh Allen also having a pretty good game. It was a great example of two quarterbacks overcoming inclement weather to find success.

28:22Nick Shook:But the Bengals, they were better until that moment, until that moment. And the moment right before it, when Josh Allen faces a zero blitz, finds a running lane and takes off through one of the widest spaces of open field. you're going to find in an NFL field for a 40 yard touchdown in just rapid fashion. The bills went from being like, Oh God, there's like eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. We're really going to lose this game to the bangles, the bangles who are so desperate. They need every win possible to keep their dwindling playoff hopes alive that we thought weren't even going to be a possibility before Joe Burrow came back.

28:54Nick Shook:And instead in a quick, just transition of a couple of plays, the bills are on top and they ride that wave all the way to victory. It was one of those games that felt like a playoff game between a team that was 8-4 versus a team that was 4-8. It was that much fun. Well, it looked like a playoff game. The playoff game they played a couple years ago when the Bengals went in there and ran all over them. They've been playing that game on NFL Network all weekend long. You mentioned the Josh Allen rushing touchdown. Let's hear it. Here's the snap. Back to pass. Blitz coming. Allen steps up in the pocket.

29:28Nick Shook:40, 30. down to the 20 Allen looking for the end zone and he's in for a 40 yard touchdown rip the beast has been released my goodness what a touchdown run by Allen oh man back to being one of the most successful plays in football the Josh Allen run and I just think considering where they were at with the injuries that their defense had down a couple scores in this game to respond the way they did and set up such a big game next week in New England is just it's a big in terms of the story of this season and the story of the AFC. It also all but eliminates the Bengals from having a little hope. I think it's good when you see a defense like this that's been through what they've been through.

30:13And certainly I've not been shy of criticizing them on that. And today, absolutely porous on third down. And that was a huge reason why the Bengals were able to stay in the game and and to make the Bills play from behind through much of this game. But when your defense responds to something insane that your quarterback does, but not just doesn't just do that once, but does it time and time again, makes a couple of pivotal takeaway plays, splash plays at the end of the game when it matters after Josh Allen, after the button has been pushed, right? You guys are always talking about when, when does Joe Brady up in the box, just press, press the release.

30:50That was it. That was him pressing the button. Yes, and then the defense showed up in a big spot and returned the favor. That's better complimentary football than we've seen from the Bills in a while.

30:59Patrick Claybon:Yeah, the biggest button moment here was it was 14-3, and the Bills had a goal-to-go situation, gets to fourth down, and they run a, of course, it's Joe Brady, it's a mesh alteration, and there's nobody open at the top of the drop. And it's classic Josh Allen. He's buying time. He fakes a defender back. He's rolling to his right, and he throws a seeing eye touchdown to Khalil Shakir that saves the game. Like, it saves the game, and there's, I'll say it like, Lamar's hurt, Mahomes, that's it. In terms of making this, like, fadeaway throw, rolling to your right, like, on fourth down, that's it. And there was also a Dalton Kincaid touchdown later in the game that happens within structure, and Josh didn't have to do all this.

31:45Patrick Claybon:I feel like that's been the first one in weeks where it's been like that for the Buffalo Bills, where it's, I mean, it's 17. As long as 17 is there, they got a chance to do.

31:55Nick Shook:Even the touchdown that they scored to essentially put this game away was out of structure. It was Allen suddenly has all day to throw. It's fourth and goal. And he finds Jackson Hawes for a three yard touchdown to give them an 11 point lead, an 11 point lead that seemed impossible just a few minutes earlier. The sequence that followed that basically preceded the Benford play. take this for example james cook having a great year they're riding him on the ground everything's cool they're deep in in bangles territory he fumbles the ball into the end zone bangles recover boom there's their chance to score gone bangles respond with a touchdown drive mike getsicky puts him up 28 to 18 and then all hell breaks loose the allen touchdown the benford pick six then aj epinesa catches a deflected pass they go down and score that's the hawes touchdown to give them suddenly a 39 to 28 lead it just happened in such rapid succession and i felt like it was an illustration of the difference between a team that has found success for the majority of the season has overcome adversity and has positioned themselves now at nine and four to be in a great spot versus a team that has tried to overcome adversity has been held back so many times and is ultimately not going to reach the postseason uh and it's unfortunate for the Bengals like what a way for this Bengal season to essentially end that you have a 28 to 18 point Lee I'm glad you pointed out the time element of this with eight minutes left in this game and you end up giving up 39 points.

33:09And I know seven of those is on Joe Burrow and the offense, but it's just like another kick in the teeth. And you wanted at least to watch, Shook, that second T. Higgins touchdown. And while we do that, I want to let you wax on what this Bengals offense did today. Because you could argue this one-handed catch while T. Higgins is getting dragged down is not even the best Tee Higgins touchdown of the game. His first quarter touchdown was absolutely ridiculous. This was an awesome game, but what did you see out of the Bengals offense and the Bills defense today?

33:45Nick Shook:An offense that was really fortunate to get Tee Higgins back, an offense that almost lost Tee Higgins again when he crashed down to the turf and had to be examined, checked for a concussion after his head hit the turf and it was frozen there, obviously. And they were just really fortunate to have him in there. But another example of how Joe Burrow elevates this team like exponentially. This is an offense that could put up points with Joe Flacco for certain stretches earlier in the season, but we saw over the last two or three starts that he had, they had struggled. Now they didn't have Jamar Chase in one game and Higgins was in and out, whatever it might be.

34:14Nick Shook:Burrow, at one point I thought like, could he be, if he were able to lead them to the playoffs with performances like this, and this was a super impressive one until it all fell apart, could he potentially be in the running for MVP? Because that's how valuable he is to this team. All right. Well, I'm not putting him in the conversation, but I appreciate it. Now they lost the game, doesn't matter. Is that allowed? Do we have anything in, Well, they lost, but I'm saying if they had won this game in an alternate universe, I was allowing for the fact that the Steelers and Ravens are looking shaky enough that I was allowing for the fact Bengals could get back in it.

34:42But now I'm not feeling the point structure.

34:45Patrick Claybon:It's not possible for Joe to be in the conversation. OK, so we've been mentioning Babona killing it behind the glass, the whole crew. That means Eric Roberts is in Buffalo and we have a special message from Eric. I have not heard this yet. I'm looking forward to it. NFL Daily. We're out here. They're blowing the field. It's snowing on us. Look at that.

35:12Nick Shook:Hopefully this is sprinkled on top of a Bills Win recap. If not, I'm going to sit here and freeze to my seats and contemplate life because I flew all the way out here for Joe Burrow to ruin my family vacation. You're probably running late, Greg. Take a break. Chris, get him to break now go Bills baby that is a real producer right there

35:41Patrick Claybon:Eric keep him warm by any means necessary that looks like an amazing scene he knows that we're over time he's telling me just get to your break and stop honking but before I do that I will say just check out Eric on Instagram because he had some great shots great seats good job by the Roberts family whoever got those tickets If it was Eric himself, way to go. And he saw some of the best plays of the game from up close. I was happy for him. And I'm happy it sets up an awesome game in the AFC East next week. Let's take a break. On the flip side, we're going to talk about a game that could help decide the AFC South.

36:19So many big ones today. Chris, get them to break.

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41:44Nick Shook:A 14-yard scoring strike. What a throw. What a throw. What a day for Trevor Lawrence. 36-19. The Jaguars roll over the Indianapolis Colts. Take over first place in the AFC South. Feels like a long time ago. The Colts were 7-1. And on top of the conference. That was Frank Frangie, by the way, on WJXL. Some people are saying, Jacoby Myers, the best trade deadline pickup of the year. And in many years. That some people. was Patrick Claibon in the break leading up to it. Unfortunately, Jordan, like as great as the Jaguars performance is, and we'll get to it, it did feel like the biggest news of this day was what happened with the Colts.

42:32Yeah, so at that time, that put the Jaguars up 14-7. It was still a beautiful time when both teams were relatively healthy. They were going to compete, and this was going to be a ball game. Blows were being traded back and forth. but in the biggest game of the Colts season to date, they lose their quarterback, Daniel Jones, to an Achilles injury that Shane Steichen postgame did not have an official update on, but said does not look good. A non-contact injury on a throw in the first quarter, and he knew it immediately, and he slams his helmet down, and by halftime, he's in a boot on the sideline for the rest of the game, And it is an uphill climb for Riley Leonard at that point.

43:16Yeah. And this Jaguars defense has been playing better. You had your eyes, you know, on Riley Leonard the rest of the day. But to remind the listeners, Anthony Richardson suffers that freak injury with the exercise band that breaks his eye socket. We have no word on when or if he's going to be available again. So we'll just have to wait and see. Riley Leonard is a late round pick. Nate Tice's guy out of Notre Dame. But it's just hard to see this Colts team competing now. You remember, of course, they gave up their first round pick to the Jets to get Sauce Gardner. He is currently out with a calf injury.

43:58And suddenly some of these teams, like the Bills, for instance, who we just talked about, like you can almost cross off the Colts. I have a feeling because they have such a brutal schedule down the stretch, too, for Riley Leonard and this team to play a team that was already kind of showing signs of decline. Yeah. And it started with the run game with them. It was the biggest crack until, you know, Daniel Jones broke his leg and was trying to play through that. Entering the game was their run game that was really struggling in all of their losses. The season teams have held Jonathan Taylor for 86 yards or less.

44:33And this game was no different. Now, the Jaguars defense, I want to say it wasn't just that they were playing lesser quarterback competition. They played really, really well. It started with Devin Lloyd, who picked off Daniel Jones on Daniel Jones's very first pass from scrimmage, which, you know, you say omens and signs all the time, Greg. This was a big one. And it got they just they they swarmed to the ball and they covered really well. And they they just were relentless. They ended up taking the ball away three times, including forcing a fumble on a Jonathan Taylor carry. And like I said, bottled up the run game really, really effectively.

45:10And that's where I think this Jaguars defense has improved. But Riley Leonard did not play poorly, in my opinion. The statistics, I think he played better than what his statistics showed. And they show that he was 18 of 29 with no passing touchdowns, rushing touchdowns, and of course, the interception. But he made a couple of really tough throws. He showed that he wants to push the ball, that he understands how to run the offense, that he can push the ball and he can create out of structure, which he did a couple of times. He made a couple of really tough throws, including a possible pivotal throw, which really was one of two moments that could have helped get the Colts back in this game.

45:46That was a touchdown that was called back to a very suspicious penalty. And there were calls on both sides, guys, before I get it in my mentions. But that was a tough that was a tough one because you could see the Colts defense really kind of turned to Riley Leonard after he made that would be touchdown pass. And they were like, all right, we got a chance. And they ended up forcing a stop on the other side against Trevor Lawrence and the Jags offense that played had a really, really good game today. Yeah, the design success rate for the Colts, 34.8 percent. And it's been it's been falling in recent weeks.

46:20And that's, I think, what's going to maybe get forgotten in this cold season that, like, unfortunately, the seven and one fall was happening before these injuries. Now, I mean, it's crazy to think about what are they? They're eight and five. So they've won, you know, one game since that great start. And let's give the Jaguars some love. Yeah, I would love to because team Trev. It's a good day for team Trev. I'm so hard on Trevor Lawrence. I own that and I recognize that. And I am always lamenting the roller coaster that is the Trevor Lawrence experience. But he took care of the ball so well today, Patrick, in a downpour.

46:56It looked miserable in Jacksonville. It rained buckets the entire time. But he took care of the ball. He didn't turn it over. He ran a couple of times, including a sneak. It was really important for the Jaguars. And he made a couple of really incredible throws, including this video that I would like to present. Oh. I know, and it's me doing it as a possible throw of the year candidate, because this is a pouring rain throw right here to Tim Patrick down the sideline. And you see the water dripping off the camera lens. So it's Trevor rolling out, throwing on the move down the sideline, doing so on the move as his body's floating away in the pouring rain.

47:35Now, I don't know if it wins throw of the year, but it's Trevor. It's not. It's not going to win. No, of course, but it's Trevor. It's nice to be nominated. It's Trevor Lawrence, who I feel like I owed a nomination to at least one time during the season. I've been pretty hard on him.

47:46Patrick Claybon:I think he's playing his best football the last couple of weeks. And like that, a throw where Trevor Lawrence can make it look routine by making the right decision at the right time, getting the ball to come down in the right spot to Tim Patrick, where when he makes it look easy, it's like, oh, OK, well, yeah, anybody could have done it. When Trevor does that, that's when everything is working great. And we saw like the fully implemented design for BTJ as well, who's catching deep balls on the sideline, doing what Brian Thomas Jr. is supposed to do out on the edge. And, you know, it's fully assembled to this point where ETN in the run game, especially taking advantage of those early Colts turnovers.

48:26Patrick Claybon:The one from Jonathan Taylor, which was backbreaking in hindsight because dimes just goes down. And I'm sure Jonathan Taylor thinks, yeah, I got to grind out every single yard. And he's trying to reach for an extra when the ball gets poked out. You can credit the Jacks defense from that. And Devin Lloyd has continued his, you know, DPOY candidacy after missing a few games. He comes back. He gets dimes again with the play. He's got almost every quarterback they've played this season, lining up right at the line of scrimmage, dropping out, hiding behind the line and popping up for another pick. He does it all.

48:56What a ride this Jaguars team has been on. Like they started out hot and then they were, they don't look great before the buy. And suddenly it just felt like it went from messy fun to just messy. And now they're at nine and four. Everyone's contributing ETN with a long touchdown run. You mentioned, I know it slowed down a little bit later in this game. And yeah, we kind of wanted to see Trevor click with Liam Cohen. That's been the one thing we haven't seen. I thought he had his best game of the season last year. You can play well, even if it's the Titans. And I think what he showed on tape was good last week.

49:26You could see how fired up Liam Cohen was on the sideline, and he was a little fired up after the game, too.

49:32Patrick Claybon:When you have a team that feeds on disrespect, how does that continue to go when maybe the respect starts to come, which might be where you are right now?

49:40Nick Shook:I don't know if we'll ever really get it. So that's the beauty of it. It ain't coming. You know that. It's not. And that's the beauty of it, and that's totally fine. All right. He's putting that chip on his back. Isn't he from Massachusetts? Maybe. I don't know. Hey, we're getting no respect there. the chip is on the shoulder the Jaguars are nine and four currently the three seed and talk about no respect they haven't allowed the Indianapolis Colts to win a football game in Jacksonville since 2014 that's 4 ,102 days according to our friend John Shipley that includes some pretty garbage Jaguars teams over the over the years who's the leading rusher in that game for the Colts Trent Richardson also Liam Cohen hello we named the Jacksonville Jaguars the messy fun team of the NFL daily podcast which I know your organization is aware of so hello the disrespect is not in the building over here that's kind of like backhanded compliments but if I'm them I would take it as respect at least we're talking about we I we had a blast with that episode

50:45Patrick Claybon:absolutely unlike somebody else that's sitting at this table I picked the Jags to win this game I know the respect is, is all it was a direct comment toward Greg Rose. I understand everything. I'll take that out because I think they were winning this game, whether Dana Jones finished it or not after watching that. Okay. So that that's who's a top the AFC South. Let's see if we found any separation in the great NFC West.

51:08Nick Shook:New possession in plus territory. Short set, a ball fake. He wheels, he deals, jumping at the five. It's Puka again. on one play, a 31-yard strike. Puka Nakua with a new career high in touchdowns. Wow. Thanks for playing, MJD. Yes. It's appropriate. I'll see you in the film room in like an hour or so. Watch that Sunday night football game. Yeah, that was the Puka Nakua drive. One catch drive. Nice and efficient. It was the Puka Nakua game. Seven catches, 167 yards and two touchdowns. Much of those in the first half. Almost felt like, Patrick, he was trying to top himself. Like, oh, you thought that catch was good?

51:56How about this catch? The Rams win 45 to 17 in a game where Stafford got to just chill for a lot of the fourth quarter.

52:04Patrick Claybon:And I'm glad that he did. It's always a couple drives longer. I started to complain about it early because this one was out of the question to the point where I'm arguing with next-gen stats because there was a couple of Stafford throwaways. targeted that get credited as a target towards Puka Nakua, where I don't think they should count because he caught everything as he has for the past few weeks. He was spectacular to get a chance to watch this game and you're worried about the score. It's worth it just to see how Puka was playing. The start of the fourth quarter was Jimmy G in the game because the offense for the Rams was averaging almost nine yards a play.

52:41Patrick Claybon:Stafford does retake the lead in the conversation as the Patriots were on a bye. So I'll get a full score update coming out probably on Monday night. But the Rams defense is what made this one laughable. They pressured Brissette on 48 % of his dropbacks. He completed less than half of his attempts when he was under pressure. The offense looked disjointed and clunky for the vast majority of the afternoon. He was negative six in terms of completion percentage, overexpected. So he was underexpected in terms of that stat on the completion percentage. Michael Wilson in that one role where he can play because there was no Marvin Harrison Jr.

53:16Patrick Claybon:there, but it's scarcely difficult to call this one a football game. And late late Corum had a long touchdown where I wondered if that was the beginning of the end of the Jonathan Gannon error. I think that was the longest ramps touchdown of the season. They hadn't had they don't do a lot of explosive running, but Blake for him really. I mean, in the blocking on that. Yeah, like we keep hearing, oh, Gannon's safe. And Monty Ostenfort's safe. They're showing Monty Ostenfort in the owner's booth, sitting next to Bidwell. It's a good place to be. It is, so that makes me think he's more likely to stay.

53:52But I've just seen this enough. We've seen this over and over in the years where insiders say these guys are safe or they're not going to be in trouble at all. And that's early December. And then they get their teeth kicked in. And then there's another week and they get their teeth kicked in again. And then there's another week. And it's like this month, it's a long way to go. It feels like the Cardinal season is over, but they got to play four more of these games and they keep getting embarrassed. I just, it's hard to, for them to make a case if it continues to go like this, especially in this division where he's had a chance now year three to kind of show, okay, what can I do defensively against these teams?

54:32And everyone's putting up a 40 burger on them. the 49ers are that the Seahawks are and now the Rams are but yeah you mentioned the run game Patrick they go for 249 yards on the ground I don't think it's like a secret weapon but I think if the Rams win the Super Bowl and I think they have as good a chance as any team in the league to do it their running game is gonna be one of if not the biggest reasons why yeah it looked great

54:57Patrick Claybon:today and again you know the Cardinals caveat although in defense of Jonathan Gannon and the Cardinals, the close losses did pile up over the course of the season. It hasn't been like this. It has gotten there late, but it was, whether it was Williams, whether it was Corbett, whether it was Ronnie Rivers late in the fourth quarter. Shout out to Ronnie Rivers, who had a lot of garbage done today because there was a lot of it available. Well, partly because of my games today, by the way. Yeah, that's unfortunate. Yeah, I was thinking that your games early had some blowouts, too, but then you got the good one.

55:32Oh, I got the great one. You got the great one. This was back to the 13 personnel way that we've seen from Sean McFay, which is fascinating. I've been talking to some people around the league about this over the last couple of weeks, and there's this theory that's being played out, and I think we're just going to need a lot, like just more data from the entire season to just see kind of what matches what, but that it's so easy for him to skip right over 12 personnel and go directly to 13, not just because he has the tight ends to do it and the skill level of the tight end position to do it, even without, you know, even guys banged up, but it's a lot of the same 11 personnel concepts and route patterns that is just being run out of a heavier personnel.

56:13And when they go against a defense that is a little bit more of a matchup based defense of Jonathan Gannon scheming a matchup week by week, which we know he tends to do, this is their version of just loading up. and what other teams say will load up and run the ball down your throat. This is their version of it, except they keep their passing game open as well because of what their tight ends can do and what Puka Nakua can do. Yeah, I saw Tara Barsop with ESPN said they had more 13 personnel, three tight ends on the field in the first half of this game than any game all season. So they loaded up, they pushed them around.

56:46It was nice to see their pass rush get after it again. They had nine quick pressures in this game, a million pressures in general. As Patrick mentioned, they've been a little quiet at points lately. And Nate Landman did his thing again with a crazy awesome interception in the second half. I'm now going to put Bobona on the mic for the first time in his show. And this is a legacy game for Bobona. And I'm going to give you the decision. As we just talked all about these tight ends, do you want the Colby Parkinson touchdown in the show? Or do you think we should make up some time and move along? No, you're going to play it because I cut it.

57:24Nick Shook:What? Hellman high snap looking left throws middle. It's caught. It's a touchdown. Colby Parkinson. How about the Sean McVay flu game? The head coach and play caller sick on the road in Arizona. Five drives, five scores. Stafford surgical and LA is blowing out Arizona. Oh, that is awesome. You know, it's a blot when we spent the second half wondering, like, what was his sickness? Maybe it was the flu. JB Long knows all. And I like how spicy Chris got. I just want to add. Yes. Sean McVay is not the only one who had a flu game. I spent the last 48 hours in bed. There we go. Came here. There we go.

58:12I delivered, yeah. I've been kind of sick. I'm making Drew a little nervous. I mean, we haven't reached halftime yet, Chris. So, you know, don't smoke the football. A lot of game left. He's pointing at the scoreboard. This is Sean McVay 49ers 2021. Yeah, I also shouldn't be too surprised because Chris is a Rams fan. Of course, he's decked out. Of course, we played the highlight. He's got his cap and his jacket on. Well, not everything was happy in Rams fandom today because they had to watch the Seahawks put it on the Atlanta Falcons.

58:39Nick Shook:Shahid, the deeper of the two, back on the goal line. And here comes the kick. End over end. Shahid from the goal line. Near right side numbers up the field. 10, 20. Looking for a gap. He's got one. He's off to the races. Look out. This could be it. 50, 40, 30. They're not going to touch him. 10, 5. He looks back. Touchdown Seahawks. What a way to start the second half. Kick the ball to Rashid Shahid and say, go, baby, for 100 yards. And he does. So the score was tied at that point, 6-6 at halftime. The final score was 37-9. We can go in a lot of directions here. I appreciate the great call by Steve Rabel here on K-I-R-O.

59:24But how about we start this way? Let's do it. Raheem Morris got those three points by kicking a field goal when down 23 to 9 inside the 10 yard line on a fourth and two. That's the most gutless field goal I've seen all year and the most pointless. What are you doing, Raheem? Let's give the Seahawks some love, actually. It was a very, very sad field goal. And it's saddest. That was the saddest. It was the 23 to six. That's the clack. Like, what is it? The klaxon horn of field. We will.

59:58Patrick Claybon:We will give that the 2025 sad field goal award. Thank you for the Falcons. Where it's a tale of two halves. That's the start of the third quarter where the Falcons have somehow managed to have this a six, six ball game. Rashid J has that touchdown. By the way, the average length of Rashid Shahid's touchdowns in his career in the NFL is over 50 yards. This 100-yard kick return definitely helps that, but consistently, because we're years into this, and he's still doing it. So after the game, Raheem Morris said that that was a backbreaker. It cost the team the momentum. Kirk Cousins was asked about that and said, quote, who cares?

1:00:35Patrick Claybon:We have to find our way back. You have to play your way back from that. So in honor of Kirk Cousins, the Falcons are officially eliminated. Other than my linkage to Terry Fontenot after putting him up there in the GM rankings, there's no reason to discuss Kirk Cousins and the Falcons anymore. So we'll honor Kirk's request. Thank you. Seahawks, essentially, on the way. Although B 'Jawn Robinson crossed 1 ,000 yards and Kyle Pitts had 90-plus through the air. Let's talk Seahawks because against man blitzes, against a defense that was the top pass defense in the NFL at one point, Sam Darnold had an interception in the first half, a rough first half.

1:01:07Patrick Claybon:But this late season, Sam kind of went away in the second half. He had three touchdowns against man blitzes. There were two JSN touchdowns where he won that one-on-one battle with A.J. Terrell. And they got one quick pressure, did the Falcons on Darnold. The passer rating win pressure today was 127. So the folks that were watching this Darnold decline, it definitely went away. I understand, as Kirk Cousins says, who cares? But a much better game from Sam. slinging Sammy today in a dominant Seahawks performance where they go on a 34-3 run to close it out. Like, that is how the Seahawks play football, though.

1:01:43They have now four, this was a graphic during the show, four 30-point halves this year. Cool. And I'm like, that can't happen too often. They've done it four times. The rest of the NFL combined has done it six times. So they explode, whether it's special teams, defense, or offense. But I do think on a day where they didn't run the ball, too well. We kind of know their special teams and their defense is going to be good. That's not a surprise to me. I think they got to feel good to have such a positive Sam Darnold performance where he did get Shahid involved too as a receiver. Cooper Cup gets a touchdown and JSN gets back on the MVP track.

1:02:21I mean, it's not going to happen.

1:02:24Patrick Claybon:JSN does get the points from this game with the two scores on the road. And so, yeah, it's back in the positive in the conversation, but you know, the vibes in general on the offense are on the way up. Yeah, he beats AJ Terrell like on an inside move and then dust him on a catch and run early. That was their second touchdown of the second half. Yeah, it was incredible. He had five passes on seven targets when matched up against AJ Terrell for 81 yards and a touchdown. According to next-gen stats, this is maybe the best team in football. One through three, pick one and put them there, right? And you mentioned that.

1:03:01Who's three? Packers. Okay. Put the Packers there. It's cool. It's all NFC teams in my book. Anyway, I feel like because of body of work, I put the Rams and Seahawks above, but you're right. I think the Packers gets in there. I agree today. Yeah. That what that defense said today, I think, um, first of all, great for Sam Darnold. This is exactly when you want your quarterback playing some of his best football, especially problem solving against some of the pressure. Look, you know, that Jeff Ulbrich did not make it easy on him with some of the blitzing that, that Atlanta likes to do. So and also you mentioned, Greg, that the Rams were probably really sad watching the Seahawks cruise, but they got a draft pick.

1:03:36Good point. A little bit closer than that, I think. And Atlanta is giving them a pretty high, high value first round pick. Atlanta right now has is projected, according to Tankathon, for the number nine pick that trade looking better and better. Since I didn't watch this game, really almost at all, Patrick, I do want you to tell me something you found interesting about the Seahawks' defensive performance against your guy, Kirko, other than the fact that they were covering a man named Dylan Drummond who had four or five catches. Yeah, and David Sills also getting back in the game

1:04:09Patrick Claybon:in this high-flying Falcons offense where they had Nicky Manwari matched up, and I know Kyle Pitts had a great game, but really allowing Nicky Manwari to get involved in man coverage against Kyle Pitts. It's two incredibly large, fast, gifted athletes, and Pitts got the better of them on, honestly, Kirk Cousins' best throw of the game, but to have that amount of faith in the rookie, because it was still a game at that point before the second-half offensive explosion, where it's, I know that there's the rookie wall theorizers out there, but you get Nicky Manwuri in these situations where they're able to provide pressure from so many different places.

1:04:48It was the vintage Seahawks.

1:04:51Patrick Claybon:We haven't been concerned with the defense, but just in the deployment of the talent that they have available, it's a really good spot. Three more quick pressures from Demarcus Lawrence, who's turning this from a great story to just like, is he an all-pro this year? like he is getting into that with just one of my favorite players of the last decade. And I loved hearing Jackson Smith and Jigba after the game saying, yeah, Nick Emanwari was that guy in practice that he's been picking on all year because he thinks he can be special, but that he's kind of put an X on his back. I'm going to make you better by trying to embarrass you in practice.

1:05:25And now he's out there just balling as a rookie. So the Seahawks take care of business. Would another division leader who is playing today, the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers, do the same.

1:05:37Nick Shook:Again, the new right tackle is Sherman. Chuck. Oh, here they come up the middle. He got away from one. He got away from Bea. Here he goes. No way. Touchdown. His second touchdown run today. Chuck from 13.

1:05:58Nick Shook:Kevin, how he got away from that? That was amazing.

1:06:05Patrick Claybon:Yes, it was. That's the best of the game. I do not know. I do not know. Great job there. By Kevin Harlan and Trent Green with an excellently timed question. And, oh, wow. That boy can move. Tyler Shuck. What's the difference in this game? On the ground and not making many mistakes through the air. There was that one interception. Seven runs for 55 yards. two touchdowns from Shuck on a day that was played in a driving rainstorm for much of the game. Jordan's given me a curious look. Why are you giving me such a curious look? You know, Greg, it's just because I'm just so confused, you know, because all I heard from you leading up to the draft and then after the Saints drafted Tyler Shuck was that he runs from pressure.

1:07:01He spazzes out against pressure. He fritzes. So on that play, it looked like he navigated pressure and then didn't run backwards, right? Or get moved backwards. I'm just making sure I'm seeing it. He has done a great job using his feet. This game might not be the best spot for that. Negative 20 % completion percentage, overexpected, went under pressure, holding onto the ball, taking sacks. But I don't want to rain on that parade. It was raining so hard. That hurt the passing game in general. And you said it like these, like they basically were giving him the Taysom Hill plays. There was a design run in the in the first half for a touchdown.

1:07:40And his ability to play well late in the fourth quarter and his ability to run has been a total game changer for this offense. And he's looked better each and every week.

1:07:51Patrick Claybon:And it makes me kind of look back to that last season at Louisville where he breaks his leg in 2023. He's coming back. He's trying to play. He's already a little bit older through this process. And I'm wondering if our evaluation of Tyler Shuck was based on early coming back from that broken leg and playing on it, trying to get a chance in the NFL where you start with Spencer Rattler for the first few weeks of the season. And now this is the fully formed and fully healthy Tyler Shuck playing in a mud slop fest where, yeah, the passing numbers weren't great. They were better than Baker Mayfield.

1:08:27Patrick Claybon:Oh, yeah. And he had, you know, a few like just zone passes over the middle to Juwan Johnson or Foster Moreau. He had a few dump offs where he got through his read that were good. He avoided, you know, mostly big mistakes. But the plays that impressed me the most in this game were his two throws to Devon Vele late in the game where they are trying to kill clock. And Kellen Moore does show a little bit of faith in his young quarterback, you know, calling for passes late while they're trying to kill clock. and he hits Valey for 13 yards on the sideline. Really nice throw. And he keeps doing that on the third and five.

1:09:03And that was a few plays after he did a very similar third down completion to Valey. And it's like he's making those plays late in the game, whereas Baker Mayfield gets the ball back with all the time in the world. And they go four and out. And one of those four should have been an interception, but just was dropped by Jonas Sanker. and the Bucs go three of 13 on third down and two of seven on fourth down, many of which were runs. But it was another day where Baker was just not great under pressure, not great in terms of intermediate throws, just not great. Yeah, he's really struggling. And you're starting to see some of the they've had very few games where their entire line has actually been completely healthy and complete.

1:09:48And obviously, Tristan Wirth's not being a part of this one as well is a factor. But yeah, he has not played good football for weeks now. And yes, part of it, you know, you have to wonder how bad is the shoulder hurting him. And obviously that's not the, I don't think that's the throwing arm of the pain of it and all of that. He ran really well today. That was probably the best thing he did. That was good to see. And he has to, if you can't, he's been such an inconsistent thrower. It's almost like he's trying to force plays. And in In the early weeks of this, when he, I guess, in a way, he was still forcing plays and pushing the ball.

1:10:25It's just they were working. And so that was our particularly preferred brand of Baker ball chaos. And in this case, it's just not working. And I know I was, you know, being all tongue in cheek about the Tyler Shuck thing. But I think it's a it's a cool testament, Greg. And we've talked about this of like how a quarterback can change and grow up over the course of a season and how a lot of times it's happening on a really bad football team. And not a lot of people are actually watching it happen. But I know that you've been watching his tape really closely and understanding a little bit more about how he is starting to actually handle what's coming at him pressure-wise and seeing a lot of different types of it week over week, too, because other teams are coming at him with that consideration of what they saw in college.

1:11:06Yeah, this is a different test. And the Buccaneers chose to not blitz almost at all in this game. And it made sense because they still got a lot of pressure. But like we said, he handled it pretty well for the most part. I do feel bad because early in the day, I just send notes as we're doing it. And I did have a Watoting nominee from Chuck, which was an interception. I love it. But this was more of a miscommunication. It's just his receivers stopped on the route and, and a lobby read it differently. And I don't know who was at fault there, but it's always just funny when he just, you just throw the ball and there's no one else, you know, in the area.

1:11:47I love it. I do. He played great.

1:11:50Patrick Claybon:Yeah. We've seen both Lamar and my homes have bumbles this year where they, they try to get the check swing and the ball comes out. That's the one where you see why it happens. Cause Chuck, he's, he sees the receiver stop, but he's already in his throwing motion. He's already gone. Let me just lay this thing out here. And look, I know the Saints might have messed up their draft, you know, standing for a little bit right now, but the big takeaway here is obviously that the Bucs lose this game. They're still in first at seven and six, now tied with the Panthers, two games left against the Panthers.

1:12:21Patrick Claybon:And the Panthers sitting at home and watching a guy who's got a chance to be the offensive rookie of the year in Tedderall McMillan, watching a fourth quarter, Emeka Abuka out and up where Baker actually does get him the ball and he stone hands it right there in the end zone. Down the stretch for Abuka, it's been it's been it's tough. It's been one big drop a week enough where I think it's impacted his rookie of the year chances for sure. It doesn't mean they're over, but that ball was maybe like a little high and like a little hot. So it wasn't It wasn't quite as easy as it looked when they did show the replay.

1:12:59And I do have to repeat, most of this game was played in the most disgusting conditions. It was all mud. Everyone's uniforms were insane. There's giant divots in the ground. The reason why the Bucks went two for seven and fourth down is they kept going for these fourth and shorts in spots where it made sense. And you just couldn't get any push. The traction, it was disgusting in a great way. There was no baking. And as we head into a break, a teaser, also very little cooking Sunday. It is not a lot of baking. Let's take a quick break as Jordan teased. And yes, we'll come back on the other side.

1:13:42Little Jets, don't.

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1:14:49Patrick Claybon:Lowe's knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products, and more. Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in-store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. Innovation is what gets your business to the big leagues, and Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition. Break free from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top-heavy legacy providers.

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1:16:3812.5 or 15 milligram injection. ZepBound contains terzepatide and should not be used with other terzepatide containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if ZepBound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it. Or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop ZepBound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction.

1:17:11Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia, if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking ZepBound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbounce.lily.com. Hi, it's Karen in Georgia from My Favorite Murder. We cruised around L.A. in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.

1:17:51Want the full story? Take a listen. Hedy, she starts dating Howard Hughes, the aviation tycoon. Do you know a lot about him? I mean, I watch The Aviator, so I know everything Leonardo DiCaprio has allowed me to know about him. But incredible innovator.

1:18:05Nick Shook:Right. She says he's a, quote, very strange man. But they do get along really well. Give us examples. I know. They do get along intellectually. And in fact, she helps him design a faster plane. She takes a look at what he's designed. It's got these square wings. And she's like, that doesn't make sense. And so she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of like what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy Lamarr and Billie Jean King.

1:18:40Nick Shook:Presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Goodbye. First and 10 at the 12-yard line. Pitches to HM, left side. Trying to get around the corner. Comes it back in. 10, 5! Nice. Touchdown, Dolphins. Patience, and then the great burst. Once the blocks were set up to take off and get in the end zone, man, the Dolphins are having fun. Sounds like it. Dolphins win in the Meadowlands, 34-10. That was Jimmy Cephalo. Joe Rose maybe in the mix on WBGG. Devon Achan. been one of the best players at his position in the entire NFL. Unfortunately, got hurt in this game. Before the break, you made a great punt. That's what Jordan does, referring to a man named Brady Cook.

1:19:33And it went over my head in the moment. I was thinking of those goofy... So did a lot of the passes. Yeah. Brady Cook comes in for an injured Tyrod Taylor, and that was kind of all she wrote. In a game that the Miami Dolphins were dominated on offense even before that. Yeah, well before Tyrod Taylor left the game with a groin injury. Two consecutive early scoring drives, spearheaded by Devon A. Shane, who had an incredible start to this game, left with a ribs injury. And then Mike McDaniel said postgame that they held him out for the rest of the game, mostly out of precaution. He could have returned if it was a crucial game.

1:20:06He was already at 93 yards, including a touchdown, and just looked magical. and this game was so out of hand that when Tyrell Dodson made a great play on a Tyrod Taylor throw, a little Tyrell on Tyrod violence there, he corralled the ball between his knees to come down with an interception, and then the Dolphins scored on the other side of that. So it was 21-0 in the first quarter, and the Dolphins had 178 yards to the Jets' 18 yards, and then Brady Cook came in a little bit later. Overall, the Jets scored 10 total points and all of them were on special team. Oh, man. Yeah, Isaiah Williams getting it done for this Jets team.

1:20:51Second part return touchdown of the season. Yeah, and it was nice, too. He earned it. We weren't familiar with Brady Cook's work before this, Patrick. Did you go to school? Did you learn anything?

1:21:01Patrick Claybon:Well, we were actually on that drive of the highlight on Game Day Live, and Terod goes into the locker room and there's a player running out on the field wearing number four. And I'm telling Steve, I'm absolutely not Googling who Brady Cook is right now because I was behind on my SEC, you know, down the standings, Missouri quarterback. I was not aware of Brady Cook. If I was, I had forgotten he existed prior to today. It was part of a trend. This was the first week since week eight of 23, which is October of 2023, when there was more than four non-first-round quarterbacks playing, much less at the same time, much less all in the early window.

1:21:45But I don't want to take away what's happening in Miami. They have gotten a little lucky, frankly. Not just that the schedule's been easy, but they had close wins against the Saints and Washington. And if I'm going to knock them for needing kind of a lucky play here or there to win each of those games, we should give them some credit for just destroying the Jets, sweeping the series, What did you like watching the Dolphins today? I liked everything about their offense. I'm not kidding. Like, I know what their season is. But I have to say, like, since the start to the season, Mike McDaniel, I think, is coaching, like, one of the best coaches in the NFL right now.

1:22:23And so is Anthony Weaver. And the tandem really, really works. And I know people could hear that and groan. but go watch the games because this scheme, he is doing things that are freer in a sense that this is what you thought he was going to do when he took over the job. And I think a lot of times coaches start coaching into the ecosystem. And you heard a lot of stories about players get kind of doing whatever they wanted. And there was some, maybe some some voices in the room that were encouraging those types of things that aren't there at this moment. And so it's, it's one of those things where it's clear.

1:22:57It is so clear. he's Tyreek Hills like it just say my name well you know they and they moved on from Jalen Ramsey who you know that I am a huge fan of as a person and a player but also like it gets tough sometimes especially when you're losing and so Mike McDaniel even despite the fact that they've had some real stinkers of quarterback games you can see that this scheme and the way that they have these guys playing together and and fun and trying things he's got these two tight ends working in a way where they're like, they're working every single angle of the field, including like retirement home, Darren Waller.

1:23:32They're working every leverage point and angle in the passing and the running game on the field. They've got someone really, really special in Ollie Gordon who can come in and spell and needed to today at running back. Mike McDaniel is having so much fun that he's got his drawstrings around his hoodie tied like a bolo tie. Like this is the guy that we remember years ago coming in and putting up massive scoring games against some of these defenses. And I think they're doing a hell of a job. And I want to give them props because I feel like a lot of the season, and rightfully so, we're thinking this guy's out the door.

1:24:06I don't think it's crazy to talk about him possibly keeping this job at this point. No, we got to find out who the GM is. We got to see how it ends, too. They have the Steelers, Bengals, Bucks, and Patriots, so they'll be able to write their story. They did get to that point I've been talking about for a month that you can see a scenario where they get to 6-7. They're playing a meaningful game. It's a Monday night game against Pittsburgh. The problem is in the AFC, there's still two losses behind. So they still need to run the table. Look, they're testing the bounds of how little production they can get out of Tua Tungavailoa and still win a game.

1:24:35He goes 12 for 23 for 157 yards. I think that was last week. This time it's 13 for 21 for 127 yards. They win the game and they haven't topped 200 yards passing in a month. But they get the win and they're feeling good. It's always going to feel better when you're on a four-game winning streak. Let's go to Minnesota, where there's a team that needed to feel a little better, and they were after Sunday.

1:24:58Nick Shook:Fourth and goal from the two. Hawkinson in motion to the right. McCarthy back to pass. Fastball right. Hot. TJ bounces off. Commanders. Touchdown!

1:25:11Nick Shook:TJ Hawkinson with a tough guy touchdown. And the Vikings lead 30-0. Tough guy touchdown by Paul Allen on KFAN. Well, you see like the injured commander's defender just trying to recover from what TJ Hawkinson was throwing at him. I love that O 'Connell went for it there on fourth down. Let his quarterback try to get his third touchdown of the day, and he did it. The Minnesota Vikings got shutout last week, and they win with a shutout today, 31-0.

1:25:44Patrick Claybon:They get revenge against the Bagel. Welcome back, J.J. McCarthy, who really stepped in to all three of these touchdown throws, two of them to Josh Oliver. The first one comes up the seam against the commander's defense that we had seen some improvement with DQ call and plays. And they were in games that they were not in this one. They get Jaden Daniels back. He goes nine of 20 at a bit of a theme where he leaves the game with an injury to the same elbow. He just comes back from because he gets a huge hit. on a play where Andrew Van Ginkle does Andrew Van Ginkle. And it's the Brian Flores defense suddenly materializes.

1:26:23Patrick Claybon:And these are the plays that we're used to seeing them make where AVG looks like he's going to have another pick six. His problem is he's not as fast as Terry McLaurin. He was looking around to see how he was going to get caught and scary Terry comes back and gets him. But then Marcus Mariota comes in the game. He's trying to force the ball to Zach Ertz. He gets high load and he leaves the game with a knee injury. You saw the injury on the touchdown. to TJ Hawkinson, where it just goes bad to worse for the Washington Commanders. They get eliminated officially now mathematically, Greg. You don't have to worry about them being on any graphics.

1:26:58Patrick Claybon:Not sure that was going to be a concern after this one either. But the Vikings, the Vikings do still have an outside mathematical chance. They have not been eliminated. Falcons, Commanders, they were. And it's a bummer to see Daniels leave with an injury. After the game, Dan Quinn indicated that Daniels could have come back in and we'll see about next week. Zach Ertz, unfortunately, it sounds like he tore his ACL. They said it doesn't look good. It wasn't confirmed. So you hate to see that for anyone, much less a veteran like Zach Ertz. And yeah, Mariota comes in and throws an interception on his very first throw.

1:27:32JJ got more help today. You know, he obviously was more under control. I don't know what you saw, but he also gets a running game 50 % success rate. They rack up yards on the ground and the defense plays like the Vikings can play defense. What did you see out of J.J.?

1:27:46Patrick Claybon:Well, a player, again, a very young quarterback, still learning things. The overstriding critique does remain. You get those big steps, but when you have space in the pocket and he's making those throws on time where a couple of weeks ago, prior to the concussion where it was late, he had guys open and he wasn't hitting those throws, he hit them this time. And that's the up-and-down experience we're going to have, I think, with a young quarterback where we've seen this really intense long-term viability conversation about this 23-year-old quarterback up and down all season long. And I think we're going to hear it probably for the next couple of seasons.

1:28:26But he saw the growth today. Well, he could quiet it down.

1:28:31Patrick Claybon:And I think Max Brosner's performance definitely helped set people's expectations. That did too. And then there was this week where every question, every press conference is about how simplified the offense is going to be and they're dumbing it down. I don't know what they did. But if they can have a good month, that will be great for everyone involved. And I'd like to see Jaden Daniels. Like, you don't want to see him get hurt. I'd love to see him either, I don't know, not play or play well, because it has been a little bit of a story here. When he's played this season, it hasn't gone how they would like.

1:29:04And Dan Quinn said they weren't lost anymore. They're lost again. Well, yeah, I think multiple things can be true here, which is they maximize to such an admirable length Jaden Daniels' stellar rookie season. And then they waited too long and assumed that they could just return all of this and it would still continue to be this way. but football as Patrick likes to say it's a spheroid and it bounces all different ways in terms of your injury luck and especially has this year for the commanders and they got older along the way and they got they got worse along the way and they got more banged up along the way and so it's kind of one of those those age-old adages right in football where do you wait until you It's unquestionable that you need to rebuild lots of parts of this roster, or do you do it before you get to that point and then hurt some feelings along the way?

1:30:06I think they chose the former, obviously, and now they're going to have to do some cleanup. And unfortunately, they're going to be part of our lives because they're on a Saturday big game for the Eagles. There's two games against the Eagles remaining. They're on Christmas against the Cowboys. So we will be watching this commander's team. We will be tracking them, and we will be saying thank you to the tag team of Claibon and Jordan Roderick jumping off the top rope and winning a WWE title? I don't know. Thanks, guys. No problem, Greg. Let's go to Las Vegas. Chookie's gonna be joining us. The flying elbow.

1:30:42Chip Kelly's down. Poverage tack for the Broncos. Five and a half

1:30:45Patrick Claybon:sacks now for John Franklin Myers. Driving kick, Mims on a gallop from the 48. Marvin in trouble. Steps out of a tackle, and here we go. Marvin's loose.

1:30:54Nick Shook:Points to a Raider down the sideline. 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchdown! Marvin Mims. That was Dave Logan on KOA. When the offense isn't quite getting it done, there's a whole third element of football shook. It counts. And Marvin Mims made it count with a big punt return. Touchdown that gave the Broncos a 14-7 lead against the Raiders. They win 24 to 17 in a game that didn't feel that close. It was 24 to seven with just a couple of minutes left before the Raiders tacked on some points. A take it care of business game by the Broncos. What did you find most interesting from the Broncos point of view in this one?

1:31:39Nick Shook:I mean, Bo Nix is slowly but surely becoming more consistent. And we saw, you know, when they played Sunday night against the commanders last week, it was an inverse Bo Nix game where he was good early and didn't have a good fourth quarter. Well, he had pretty much a good game all throughout. They converted a number of third downs in this game. I mean, they went on three different drives. This is crazy. 14 plays, 81 yards, six minutes and six or eight minutes and 54 seconds. That's their first drive, touchdown drive. Then they go on a touchdown drive in the second half where it's 14 plays, 86 yards, and they take up nine minutes and 13 seconds.

1:32:13Nick Shook:The last scoring drive took up 10 minutes and 17 seconds. And it's because they were able to stay on the field by converting third down. So, I mean, he was consistent throughout the game. He made a lot of good throws, sharp throws, a little bit, you know, under pressure or needs to get it out. Made a no look throw. Seemed like every situation, this is very typical of Raider games, but it felt good to watch the Broncos do this against them because you have so much, you know, worry about how, whether Knicks can be consistent or not. It's just every third down, every, every situation, which you felt like they had them behind schedule.

1:32:41Nick Shook:They might get a stop here. They didn't. And a lot of that was because Bo was finding guys open, giving them opportunities to catch and run and continue the drive. But the Raiders are one of the most DOA teams I've seen in a long time. And we'll get to the end of this game because it was hilarious. But to close the Broncos side of things, look, they have a 63 % success rate. I know it's against the Raiders, but that's what you got to do. Build confidence. RJ Harvey had a crazy stat in this game. That he had more successful runs or 10 play runs, I believe, according to NextGenStats against an eight-man box than anyone in the NFL since Derrick Henry years ago.

1:33:19And so you're seeing Derrick, you know, R.J. Harvey getting it done on the ground. And then you got your fullback, like Sean Payton style, Adam Prentice is getting off for a couple of plays and McLaughlin. And like, those are just things that you like to see because Harvey is going to be a really important piece for them. They have a really difficult final month of the season where, yeah, you're the number one seed now. You're really going to be tested down the stretch. You're going to need that running game.

1:33:43Nick Shook:Yeah, this is your last tune-up game. because it's good that you went out and took care of business, but the next four games in your schedule are all against playoff teams or teams that are in playoff contention. It's going to get real difficult real quick. And you'd have to be able to prove yourself. I do like the trajectory of the Broncos have been on as a team, including bone Knicks, just that they've been a little bit more consistent, a little bit, not predictable, but more reliable than they've been for much of this season. I hope that it's a precursor of good things to come. We're going to find out very quickly.

1:34:08Nick Shook:And again, the Raiders are not a measuring stick by any means, but some teams like the Broncos like to play with their foods. who once beat the Jets, what, 13-11 overseas? Once beat the Raiders 10-7 or whatever that horror fest was. Exactly, because this was not a 24-17 game. This was a 24-14 game. Okay, so Gino gets hurt late in the third quarter, I believe. Maybe like the last play just about of the third quarter. Kenny Pickett comes in, and the Broncos, who only had six drives in this game. That's crazy, by the way. I've never seen a lower number because I'm not counting the kneel down at the end of the first half with three seconds left.

1:34:49They only finished with six drives. That's crazy. They turn it over on downs. And that whole time, Pete Carroll is calling timeouts late in the game after Kenny Pickett, you know, leads them to a touchdown drive with about two minutes and 15 seconds left. He's calling timeouts to save time. Even though they're down two scores, they have no chance. I guess in theory, they could have scored like immediately and then kicked an onside kick. But then they get the ball back. At this point, it's 58 seconds left. They're still trying to save as much time as possible. And they get a delay of game penalty on a throw from Pickett, which stops the clock with about five seconds left.

1:35:35And what does Pete Carroll do?

1:35:37Nick Shook:He sends out the field goal team with four seconds left. Now, there's logic to this. you'd think, all right, you try the field goal now, try to get the onside kick, except four seconds is the amount of time that it takes to kick a field goal. So as the ball goes through the uprights, Daniel Carlson starts to celebrate, and then he sees that there's no time left in the clock, and he does one of these half-hearted points to this guy, like, ah, well, I guess we did just score on the last second of the game in a game that didn't matter, sure. That is the all-time backdoor cover. If you were watching this game to get a penalty where Pickett throws it down the field, which stops the clock, makes it easier.

1:36:12They could have maybe had time to spike it, maybe not to set up that field goal. But also just Pete Carroll, just trying to make his team look like they're competing and look better and have anything positive to say. That's why, my friends, it is dangerous to gamble and why I'm glad, Nick Cook, we are not allowed to do so. But I will remember this because I'm trying to win for the 10th straight week on my pick show with Cynthia Freeland, and I had the Broncos minus seven and a half. So that did hurt me. Oh, like it did many other people.

1:36:46Nick Shook:Oh, banged in a big spot. You know, you can blame Brandon Jones for laying on the receivers and giving them that opportunity. What a stupid team this Raiders team is. Just wasting our time. Let's go to a game that was not a waste of time, despite it including two teams that will be picking high in April's draft. Judkins with White Hart in the backfield. Two-point conversion to tie. Back to Quinn's shot. He's going to fake the reverse. He's got it. And now he may throw. Now he reverses field. Now he throws it back all the other way to the other side, and it's incomplete. Oh, my. What was that? Oh, no.

1:37:25I love Andrew Siciliano. He's great when they win. He's great even if they fall short on a wild play. Bobona insisted. He wanted Siciliano's call. It was the better call. That's what we do. WKRK, the Titans survive against the Browns. Everyone's going to get on Kevin Stefanski for that play call, but it would have worked, right, Shook? I just think Judkins just didn't flip the ball.

1:37:51Nick Shook:He just forgot. I think Judkins took that handoff. Well, it wasn't a handoff. It was a snap to him because he's in the Wildcat. Yeah. And they've been doing Wildcat near the goal line a lot, especially in the last few weeks. They did it earlier in this game to limited success. I think it was actually a loss of the first time they ran it. but I think he got the snap and took off to the right and just adrenaline took over. And he completely forgot that he's supposed to pitch the ball in the reverse. Cause he realizes it after the fact. Yep. And it's open on the backside. Doesn't work out. Of course you're right.

1:38:16Nick Shook:So fancy is going to come under fire. It's the, those who are going to cherry pick criticism are going to look at Shadour stat line, which was solid 23 or 42, 364 yards, three touchdowns. And they're going to say, why'd you take him off the field in that situation? I understand the call. It would have worked. It's not about taking Shadour off the field there. How did Chador look in this game? Because, you know, I see a screen pass pops for a big play in the game, but also, you know, a nice throw that ends up being a 60-yarder to Jerry Judy. Harold Fannin gets in. I thought the touchdown to Njoku, right?

1:38:53Early in the game, it was a one-yard throw, but a nice toss and a really nice catch by Njoku. Was a sign of a quarterback making some plays. what do you think of of shader and a losing effort yeah you know there there were a handful

1:39:05Nick Shook:of highlight throws the one to njoku was definitely one of them is it is a difficult throw he was kind of off balance and he put it in a perfect spot essentially between two defenders and njoku makes a great diving catch that's a positive another positive is the touchdown pass to jerry judy not because he just threw a touchdown pass but because he looked to his right and then came off of that point in his progression moved to the next side saw judy coming open and put it right on him where he could catch and run through the rest of the defense for a touchdown it's a big boom for them because last week Judy and Shador were seen arguing on the sidelines.

1:39:35Nick Shook:So everything's all fine and dandy now because they hooked up for a 60 yard touchdown. Those were both two very good throws. The touchdown to fan and kind of came in a weird set of circumstances near the end of the game. So he had his moments. He also ran for a touchdown out of desperation, but he also did the things that Shador has done in his start so far, which is hold onto the ball too long, take it a necessary sack, throw a prayer of a pass into traffic over the middle when you're under pressure and you're already holding onto it too long. that ends up getting picked off and kind of swings the game in the Titans favor.

1:40:02Nick Shook:Do you take the good with the bad? And it's another very small step forward for him, I think. So the Browns lose this game in part because they just could not stop Tony Pollard on the ground. He finishes with a season best 164 yards. And I feel bad. We've had so few Titans highlights on this show that weren't just crazy Cam Ward plays in a losing effort. They actually won this game. And I've put a big asterisk this whole season over that Cardinals win. If any win in the NFL does not count as a win, you know, they say a win is a win. I don't know if that Titans win over the Cardinals counts as a win.

1:40:35This counts as a win. So let's listen to a positive Titans highlight.

1:40:41Nick Shook:Oconquo goes in motion. Pollard inside handoff. 25, 20, 15, 10, goodbye, goodbye. That is a Titans touchdown.

1:40:51Patrick Claybon:32 more yards for Tony Pollard. And the Titans have the lead back. back and forth they go. I mean, this was a score fest, 31 to 21. That was Taylor Zarzer and Dave McGinnis on WGFX. And it shakes up the top of the draft a little bit. Right now, the Titans fall out of the top spot and they are down to three. The Browns are at four. I think any chance Stefanski had to save his job? I don't think he has any chance to save his job anyways. I think he's out, but this is not going to help. Give me something on the Titans that you'd like to see.

1:41:25Nick Shook:I mean, I love the, I love the Tony Pollard got going. Cause I'm a big Tony Pollard guy. And I feel like he's been in a rough spot with them and they're inconsistent offensive line. He's making seven and a quarter a year, a million dollars. And I just feel like he hasn't gotten the opportunity to really prove that he's worth that money. So it was great to see him pop off some big runs today, especially against the Browns defense that seemingly lost contained second level was a rough job for them. And so it's good for him to thrive. It was also a snowy day in Cleveland. Cam Ward only completed 50 % of his passes.

1:41:51Nick Shook:He led a very impressive opening scoring drive where he hit IO mana for a touchdown from 14 yards out to give them an early lead. He handled the pressure of the job. I think pretty well, ultimately the Browns defense did cause some issues for him. So it was nice for Pollard to be that balanced, but more than anything, I'm just glad the Titans played a complete game as a team. This is probably one of the best performances they've had this year. Not just because it was only their second win. They just looked like a competent team, which is what I haven't been able to say that about them in a number of different games.

1:42:19Nick Shook:And I feel good for guys like cam ward who has too often been sent to the podium after a loss and had to explain why his team is terrible. Today, you were not terrible. Congratulations, Titans, on the victory. Yeah, it's been a brutal year. Shout out to Jeffrey Simmons, who had 11 pressures in this game. One and a half sacks, actually two sacks. I don't count half sacks in my book. That is two sacks, three quarterback hits. So he was the best defensive lineman in the game that included Miles Garrett, who, by the way, had the lowest pass rush win rate, according to PFF of his entire career. No, second lowest.

1:42:50He only had one pressure, but it was a sack. So he moved forward in the race to break that sack record. He is three and a half away. It's going to be tight, but he did get that one. Simmons, by the way, a couple of run stuff too. He has been awesome. Probably an all pro this year, which is crazy considering he's on the Titans. Let's take one break, but Shook, you're staying with me. We're going to wrap up. I said at the top of the show, we had six massive games that would really shape these playoff races. We got one more to go. It's Texans cheat.

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1:46:47Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking ZepBound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbounds.lily.com. Hi, it's Karen in Georgia from My Favorite Murder. We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.

1:47:26Want the full story? Take a listen. Hedy, she starts dating Howard Hughes, the aviation tycoon. Do you know a lot about him? I mean, I watch The Aviator, so I know everything Leonardo DiCaprio has allowed me to know about him. But incredible innovator.

1:47:41Nick Shook:Right. She says he's a, quote, very strange man. But they do get along really well. Give us examples. I know. They do get along intellectually. and in fact she helps him design a faster plane she takes a look at what he's designed it's got these square wings and she's like that doesn't make sense and so she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of like what the two would look like as a plane and that becomes the plane that we know today and he calls her a genius check out our new episode spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy Lamarr and Billie Jean King presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5 goodbye 10 from the Chiefs, 8-1 back, it's Hunt.

1:48:23Nick Shook:Mahomes to throw, four-man rush. Mahomes unloads downfield and tipped and intercepted. Aziz Alshire has it up the deflection. Another pick, third of the game for Houston. Wow! Kelsey could not hang on as he's got it. Hot potato pick. And the Texans have the ball in Chiefs territory again. And that time, the Texans would take advantage with a game-sealing Kaimi Fairbairn field goal. The Texans win 20-10. That was Mark Vandermeer on K-I-L-T. And what we might have seen tonight, Chucky, was the end of the Chiefs' dominance over this conference, at least for this season. But I wanted to start with that play because it's about a Texans defensive performance to really top all of them that they've had this year.

1:49:26In the fourth quarter of this game, the Chiefs had the ball five times. They had one first down, and that was on the garbage time drive before they just spiked it. Patrick Mahomes picked off three times. The ball's just a little inside there, but Kelsey could have made the catch, but he doesn't make the catch. And it's the Texans who are Johnny on the spot. What a fourth quarter. It was the last fourth quarter I expected, Shook, because at that point in the game, the Chiefs seemed like they were rolling. And I guess this is just how it ends for great teams. And yes, the Texans, maybe they could be a great team too.

1:50:04We know they have a great defense.

1:50:06Nick Shook:Kind of reminds me of the way the Patriots lost their last playoff game, the Tom Brady era, right? 2019 against Tennessee. I remember that being a similar, I don't know, go out with a bit of a whimper instead of a shout or an actual fight. Look, you're right. The Chiefs were dominating the Texans offense in the third quarter. I mean, Nick Haley seemed to have no answer for what Steve Spagnuolo was dialing up to the point where I'm watching it laughing, like just chuckling out loud because I'm thinking, how can you not anticipate these many blitzes that Steve Spagnuolo was going to send against their offense?

1:50:34Nick Shook:Adjust. Guess what? They didn't need to adjust because their defense took care of business, forcing Andy Reid into uncomfortable situations, fourth down decisions. They got to go. They're deep in their own territory. Guess who doesn't get the first down? The chiefs. Why? Because they ran into the Texans. Fantastic defense gives their offense a short field. They capitalize and then they seal the deal. This is Texans football in 2025, baby. I'm glad you mentioned that Andy Reid made decisions that Andy Reid would not normally make. You could tell that they felt that they needed this. They needed to do something different.

1:51:08And the sequence you're talking about was so telling. They get a fourth and one situation was more like one and a half after Mahomes just runs over Aziz Alshair. If Alshair had just tackled Mahomes in the right spot, they're punting there. I don't know how this game goes, but instead Mahomes kind of runs him over. He gets about a yard short and they decide to go for it on their own 31 yard line. But there's pretty quick pressure. The guys are ready on the interior, ready to stop Mahomes from possibly scrambling forward. He steps up in the pocket. It's an incomplete pass and the Texans take over.

1:51:49And I do want to point out that sequence because you know what happened right after that is the Texans actually took advantage. CJ Stroud pulled off a great third down conversion, and then they ran the ball right down the Chiefs throats to get the touchdown to go up 1710. So as bad as the Texans offense looked for parts of this game, and you're right, they had negative yardage in the third quarter. It was 128 yards to negative two. They have had these little moments in the last six weeks where they look normal and they don't look fully normal. But in the first half of this game, they put up 200 yards.

1:52:24That's pretty normal. And then in the fourth quarter, they at least had that one drive and they did get a couple first downs before the game ceiling field goal where they're just good enough. And then they let their defense carry them the rest of the way.

1:52:36Nick Shook:Exactly. Their offense is not going to be the most adaptable, the most versatile that you're going to see among teams that are fighting for a playoff spot this year. But that is fine because when you pair that, when you couple that with an elite defense like the Texans have this year, it doesn't matter. All you have to do is buy them more opportunities and give them the short fields that they gave them tonight. And they're going to be in every game, which is why I have a lot of confidence in the Texans. Why I think that this five game winning streak that they've put together is not a fluke. It is just indicative of a team that can, that has a defense that travels and can play with anybody and it can shut down anybody.

1:53:05Nick Shook:I mean, look, I know the Chiefs have been going through it this year, right? This has been a struggle-filled season for them. That's how you end up at six and seven at this point in the year. But I haven't seen their offense this flummoxed. Travis Kelsey, this just speechless, mystified, has no answer for what's going on. Patrick Mahomes looking this despondent and, dare I say, dejected by the end of this game. Maybe ever. That's what an elite defense can do to a team like that in a big spot. Yeah, let's talk a little bit about Jalen Petrie here. So in the first half of this game, the Texans play fantastic.

1:53:38They go into halftime leading 10 to nothing. It was the first time Patrick Mahomes had been shut out since the AFC championship game three years ago. Now, first time in the regular season since 2021. And part of that was Jalen Petrie and one of the plays on defense of the season.

1:53:59Nick Shook:Second and nine for the Chiefs from their 36. Pacheco in motion to the left as Mahomes takes the snap. Looking. Firing over the middle. Tipped in. Petrie with the pick. A diving effort at the 45-yard line. Tips and overthrows. We got to get those. And the Texans get it. The deflected interception. Great call. But when I think tips and overthrows, I think it almost like a lucky tip over the middle. That was a great pass defense by Petrie to get it up in the air and then to track the ball and actually intercept it himself, diving like a baseball player there was incredible. And you think about that play, and then you think about the hit that he had on Rasheed Rice in the second half.

1:54:45I know you were loving that. It looked like Rice might have caught that ball. It's a first down to start the drive late in the third quarter, and he absolutely truck sticks him. So many good plays. I know you were loving this play, Chuck, And I know you had got to be loving Petrie, who to me, I think cemented an all pro slot position tonight with the performance that he had.

1:55:08Nick Shook:Absolutely. Nobody embodies this Houston defense and their swarm mentality more than Jalen Petrie. It's because of hits like that. That is a clean throwback football hit made by a defender who's out to let you know that you're not getting any free yards. I'm breaking up your pass attempt. I'm going to put you flat on the ground. You might ragdoll down to the ground like Rasheed Rice did there. That's classic old school football. We don't see it nearly as much as we used to for better and for worse. But tonight, Petrie set the tone with a hit like that. And I think, you know, if anything on the national stage, Texans have been there a few times this year.

1:55:38Nick Shook:They've been good in some spots. They've been bad in others. Tonight, that hit alone sends the message that everybody's going to remember when they think of these Texans defense now, which is, oh, we got to take them seriously. They must be respected because they can flatten us like that. Well, you know who might have remembered it? You never know. Fourth down later in the fourth quarter. Mahomes knows the play is kind of collapsing and he finds Rasheed Rice throws it a little early it's a great throw and Rasheed Rice like he's done a lot during this stretch run just drops it I'm not saying that the Jalen Petrie hit made him drop it but he dropped it and I mean yeah like it just the culmination of having to play this Texans defense who's banged up at safety But you think about the plays from the secondary.

1:56:24Kamari Lasseter with a great interception on what was kind of an arm punt by Mahomes in the second half to start that fourth quarter. Kamari Lasseter tracking down Taequann Thornton on a deep shot where it looked like he was beat, but great makeup speed. They just got playmakers up front. And so on a night where the Chiefs were short, three offensive linemen, like obviously that played into Patrick Mahomes finishing 14 for 33. I can't believe I'm looking at that number that played into Patrick Mahomes going 10 straight passes with an incomplete or an interception in the fourth quarter. Like that was part of it.

1:57:01But man, uh, like I, I just think the Texans defense puts so much pressure on you just because of their talent, not because of their play calling necessarily, but because of their talent and the chiefs ultimately buckled. Yeah.

1:57:15Nick Shook:And I can give credit on both sides here because I think that the offensive line absences while they were a problem, it didn't look that much difference. than what we've seen from the Chiefs for good portions of this season. Ole, the replacement at left tackle, I thought did a really good job for most of the night, much better than I anticipated that he would. But, you know, we've given the Texans all the credit in the world. Well, I'm also going to take a little bit of credit away, not intentionally, but just because this is one of those games with the Chiefs where they just didn't make the plays they needed to make.

1:57:39Nick Shook:This is the game where they didn't do the things that they've done so often over the last decade that has led them to success, that has led them to three Super Bowl triumphs, to all these appearances in AFC title games, and winning the AFC West for a decade straight. They drop passes on fourth down. A lot of passes out of Mahomes' hand looked strange. A lot of nose diving out of his hand tonight, which I think hindered their ability to complete some of those passes in key spots. He was a little bit inaccurate at times. Didn't seem like he was entirely on the same page as some of his guys. You mentioned the interception off of Kelsey's hands.

1:58:11Nick Shook:That was a bit behind him, just uncharacteristic of him. So that explains that stat line. I'm not surprised to see that stat line. But for those who have watched Patrick Mahomes over the course of his entire career, you'll look at tonight's performance you'll look at those numbers and go god what did they replace him with a body double that's not who he is and that's what the texans defense can do to you and he was their leading rusher they decided not to hand the ball off to kareem hunt in that key fourth down situation ultimately the two chiefs running backs both finished with under three and a half yards per carry hunt and pacheco and that the defense and chris jones was up for the challenge to start the third quarter but i do go back to that cj stroud throw to jayden higgins on third down where Chris Jones looks like he's going to pull CJ Stroud down, but CJ Stroud evades it, gets the first down.

1:58:57Great throw. I thought just avoiding the sack would have been huge because they're trying to kick a field goal there. And instead he gets the first down, they end up with a touchdown. That's a big time play. And look, he had eight straight incompletions at 1.2. The conditions were not good for throwing. It's freezing there, but he had a good first half and he made enough plays down the stretch to win it. What a moment here in this season. They are 6-7, the Kansas City Chiefs, and they are going to need to win out. They are going to need to beat both teams in the AFC West, the Chargers and the Broncos, to have any chance to make the playoffs.

1:59:32They're going to need to get to 10-7, and they're going to need to get help. There's not a lot of reason to think they're going to do all of that. tonight really felt like when you're watching Patrick Mahomes with his hands on his head after one of those fourth down fails, like a moment in time, in part because the AFC is so deep this year. And I don't know if teams like the Texans are going to lose enough for the Chiefs to catch up.

1:59:56Nick Shook:It's all about catching fire at the right time. And the Chiefs, they hit their stride for a brief period, but that feels like ages ago. And I know it's shocking for us to consider a reality in which we go into a postseason that doesn't include the Kansas City Chiefs, but everything changes eventually. Nothing is forever in this league or in life. And I think the Chiefs are realizing that right now with everything that's happened, I'm not going to count them out yet. I'm still not going to bury them. I know it's annoying. It is a little annoying. Like this felt final and yet you look at it. There are two losses behind the Texans, but now they're down the tiebreaker.

2:00:26They're going to really have to just win those division games, win out. It seems unlikely, but they'll be rooting Monday night while we're watching and doing our show. It's not going to be live on YouTube this week, but they'll be rooting against the Chargers because they need the Chargers to lose some games here down the stretch. And the Texans now at 8-5 for now are in the AFC playoffs. And they're looking at the other team that's 8-5 out of the wildcard, like the Colts. And they're thinking, hmm, that next Colts game looking a little easier right now because of what happened on Sunday. Man, the season is a long one.

2:01:03We thought this Texans team was in deep trouble. They are full of badasses. I'm so.

2:01:07Nick Shook:Who can they thank, Greg? Who can they thank for getting back here? Who started it all? Tell me right now. Davis Mills. Respect the neck. I thought you were going to say Jordan Rodrigue for picking them to make the Super Bowl before the season. It's still alive in this AFC. Everything's still alive. Before we go. You also want to know who's a bunch of badasses. Eric Roberts deserved to go to Buffalo and see his team win a big time game. And so it really says a lot about Eric Roberts that he left the show in the hands of a very worthy group of men. It's not only Chris Babona who is doing it tonight.

2:01:42It's Abu Kamara. It's Devin Harris, like the whole group back there making it run seamlessly, maybe too seamlessly for Eric's hopes. But it shows that he's building a coaching tree here and they can run a top shelf game or at least recap anytime. He's gone.

2:02:01Nick Shook:Can a producer get Wally pipped? No. Is that possible? No. I don't like where this has gone. I did it. I'm sorry. Hit the music. We're so overdue to hit the music. But yes, thanks to Devin and Abu and Chris Babona and, of course, Jordan Rodrigue and Patrick Claiborne. And my man Shook. Like I said, we're going to be recapping a really fun Chargers-Eagles matchup on Monday night. We're not going on YouTube this time around. Check that out in the feed. Can't wait for it. See you then. you

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