An NFC West Side Story: Previewing Week 16

28:11I imagine the Browns come out with a very run-heavy game plan, which is what we're going to do against the Bills defense. But, you know, still taking Buffalo here. But I think your point is interesting about the strength-on-strength matchup if the Browns defense bounces back from last week. Yeah, I mean, all it takes is if the Browns offense can limit mistakes and Shador can do something, like one of those screen passes with 50 yards of yak or something, they can run on the Bills. The Browns' defense may be able to keep Allen down. This is, I think, a more likely upset than people realize, but I would still take the Bills.

28:51Yeah, we're taking the Bills. I need about 10 points from Harold Fannin Jr., so please, one of those screens or a little quick hitch to Fannin, yards after the catch. I mean, the Browns would love that. Fannin's been great. They would love lots of yak from Fatted to get over all of Sanders' problems, yes. All right. I got Chargers-Cowboys. Cowboys are basically out of it. You know, still challenging in terms of that offense. That's the side of the ball I'm interested in because Chargers' defense, it's funny because they started off hot and then they kind of fell off a little bit and now they're back on top.

29:29They're back to being a top unit. um so they're actually i think the kind of defense that gives dallas trouble because they're really good their first need paper play versus throws outside the numbers 17th for the slot so that could be a big cd game but they're really good at keeping things in front of them they're really good at limiting explosives they're really good at tackling they're really well coached so you know challenging for everyone but the thing that i wanted to highlight aaron was um the pass rush so the Gilman OA trade one of the more fascinating player for player trades also the rare NFL trade that seems to have made both teams better um talked about it a lot with the Ravens and what how that's allowed them to weaponize Kyle Hamilton and now they have our Douglas Washington back which is cool too Ravens just for safeties let's go but the Chargers pass rush since the OE trade has been third in pressure rate league-wide.

30:30Jesse Minter doesn't want to blitz very much, but now he has depth. Also, sometimes when he's on the field, they'll move Tuli Palotu inside, which is a very, with Cleo Mack on the opposite side, and OE's been way better these last few weeks than he was in Baltimore. So I think Dallas passing attack's very good. I would probably run the ball a decent amount if I'm Dallas, but just the Chargers team is going to be in the playoffs and don't sleep on this pass rush because it's kind of come alive. Yeah, run the ball. Chargers are fifth in DVOA against the pass, 21st against the run. So I do think you want to use a good amount of running in this game.

31:13When you flip it around, it's interesting. The Cowboys are surprisingly 12th in pass rush win rate. And of course, the Chargers have no tackles. They're dead last in pass blocking. They should run the ball too. Yeah. Quinnen Williams is in concussion protocol. Yeah. So I don't know whether he's going to be able to play in this. Yeah. I think the Cowboys defense has been really exposed because they came out after that, the trade and they beat up on a obviously dismal Raiders team. But since then And they look like they did before. I mean, Williams is a great player. He just doesn't cover up for so many of the holes at the second and third level of this defense that obviously need to be addressed somehow this offseason.

32:04Taking the charges here, I think that the defense will do enough. Obviously, the Cowboys offense is good. And I just don't believe in this Cowboys defense at all. Yeah, I don't really either. but Herbert has not been great this year. Like it's the usual Herbert thing, right? Where it's impressive on film and then the numbers just don't match. It's dismal. I mean, every play is like a jailbreak for him. So believe it or not, the Cowboys are actually favored. And the game is in Dallas. I'm going to go with the Cowboys. Their back's against the wall. They have to win this. I mean, if they win this and the Eagles win, it doesn't matter.

32:43But they have to win this. They're favored. I mean, they may have already know that they're out of the playoffs by the time the game starts, but they have pride. So I'll go with the Cowboys. I don't hate that, especially since it's in Dallas. The Chargers and the Niners, they can't keep getting away with this team. I mean, you've got to say that about the Bears, obviously. But like, I, yeah, I, I, I, the charges offensive line situation every week. It's just like, they're barely getting by, but the defense is legit enough to where I think they can support that. Okay. You have Chiefs tightens. We don't need to spend a lot of time on this.

33:27When I started to prepare on Friday for this podcast, I wrote down as my thing, how cursed is the Chiefs season really? And then we learned how cursed it was. It was really, really cursed. And next season is a little cursed too now. So instead, I would say that the key here is, can Andy Reid give Gardner Minshew the environment he had with the Colts two years ago? Because Minshew was 33rd in passing DVOA among qualified quarterbacks last year with the Raiders, but he was 22nd with the Colts the year before. So not that bad, but I don't think that Reed can give him that environment because the tackles are hurt and they don't have the running game.

34:16There's no Jonathan Taylor here. So this is not the environment Minshew had two years ago. So he's going to struggle. I mean, maybe not against the Titans because it's the Titans and they're bad at everything other than the quarterback looking like things would be better if they just weren't bad at everything but uh but yeah like it's Gardner Minshew yeah I mean your point is a good one which is I think what we're gonna see is how bad this Chiefs offense is without Mahomes we're gonna see how she be considered an MVP candidate maybe because like what do you what do you hang your hat on if you're Kansas City?

34:57What do you do well? What is your strength? Rushy Rice and Travis Kelsey on Little Chick. Rice has been... Yeah. I almost want to pick Tennessee here, but that team is just really bad at football. I think the Chiefs defense will show up. So I'm going to take Kansas City. Yeah, it would be fun to take the Titans, but I'll also take Kansas City. Okay, I got Bengals Dolphins. I've got Bengals Dolphins. Let's get into it. The news broke. We got a chance to deal with some breaking news. The Dolphins benched quarterback Tua Tunga-Vailoa. Zach Wilson is there, but they are going to the rookie quarterback.

35:40The sixth round, I believe, draft pick? Quinn Ewers. Seventh round. Wow. So I pulled out my notes from the draft on Quinn Ewers. First of all, Quinn Ewers, to your point, could not be a better time to start. Yeah, it's the opposite of Max Brosmer. If we're going to give the seventh round pick a first pick, a first go, let's give him one of the worst defenses of the last 45 years. One of the 10 worst defenses of the last 45 years, yeah. I know, and then JJ got to come back and play the Commanders after that. Anyways, okay, so I've watched obviously a lot of Quinn Ewers, played a lot of meaningful college football games.

36:20a player who was at one point thought to be a first round draft pick and then fell after his final college season I will say went later than I would have I thought he would go earlier than seven because he is talented he has a good live arm he can make a lot of difficult throws off platform he brings athleticism to the table the problem with him and why ultimately he fell was he turns the ball over and the mental side of the court like just bad decision making fleeing the pocket at times turn the ball over etc this all makes him kind of interesting right because you're going against against a bad bangles defense thought is they're going to go very i mean And all the stuff that Miami Dolphins doing the run game that we praised before they got just whomped by the Steelers, all that stuff should work on Cincinnati.

37:19I was looking for that stuff against the Steelers, by the way. They started. Where are the really cool runs, man? Where's Daniel Brunskill as a fullback? Where's the stuff? And then they stopped. Yeah. It was a weird game. Things kind of got out of hand. But in any case, so I think that's what, Aaron, what makes this interesting for yours is he shouldn't have to do much is what I'm saying. So the Cincinnati, I imagine they're going to play the run very heavily. So Ewers is going to have open receivers, open opportunities. Can he make just like a few key throws in this game without turning the football over?

37:54He doesn't have to be special, I think, to look competent. I'm Darren Waller, and I approve this message. I mean, what is the rookie quarterback's best friend, man? It's the tight end. and what is everybody's best friend against the Bengals this year? It is the tight end. Yeah. If you've got Waller in your fantasy playoffs, you're in a good place. Darren Waller has been kind of good. I mean, he also – Better than I expected him to be, sure. Better than I expected. He's also just – I mean, how many times do you see him post up in the end zone and Tua just throws it up? Like, there's, I think, a simplicity to what you were attested to do this week.

38:35I am not going to pick them. I'm going to pick Cincinnati because Joe Burrow is also playing in this football game. As sad as he is, I think his pride will not allow him to lose. The offense's pass defense is bad. Their run defense is much better than their pass defense this year. But I am interested in the Mike McDaniel piece of this because I think there's an opportunity here for him to kind of prove something, make a point. so and i and i'm also by the way i'm glad the dolphins did this right like i'm right now i'm looking up and we got espn's mcafee on they're talking about philip rivers playing on my net football we'll get to that game but like why what are we doing right indianapolis like what is the point of this like cincinnati understands or probably miami understands who they are where they are at this point in the season.

39:30Why not? Let's see what he's got. Let's, you know, to me, it's just, at least they're doing the right thing. I mean, I understand the point of Philip Rivers. They're trying to make the playoffs. They think he's going to help them. We can disagree about that, but that is what they think. So at least, you know, kind of what they're trying to do. And I agree with you, the Dolphins, they're out of it now. Give the seventh round pick a couple of, it had become clear that they were going to have to make some big decisions about Tua in the offseason. So give the seventh round pick three games and let's see what he can do.

40:00And what would not have made sense to me is if they pulled Tua for Zach Wilson. Yeah. That would have made no sense. This makes sense. Yeah. I think that's a good point. And there are teams that wouldn't have done this, though, to be honest. I think that's... We'll get to the Colts. Yeah. He might be awful. Totally. I'm not a Quinn Ewers person. I'm just like, so you've got the Bengals, the Bucs, and the Pats. So I guess it's a little bit harder after this, but let's see. All right. Not that much harder. Those are not great defenses, the Bucs and the Pats. Yeah, we'll get to the Bucs after the break.

40:37See what he can do. I was going to take the Dolphins because the temperature will be higher than 40 degrees, but I do think that Ewers is probably not good, and so I will take the Bengals. Jet Saints is you? Yeah. Can the Jets slow down Tyler Shuck with man coverage? Tyler Shuck minus 25 % DVOA versus man coverage. And the Jets use a lot of man coverage. They are also the worst defense in the league when using man coverage. Let's play name the cornerbacks for the New York Jets. Brandon Stevens, who everyone felt like what was that signing? And then fifth round pick from last year, Quantes Stickers.

41:22and undrafted rookie nickelback Jordan Clark. Jordan Clark, my guy. That's Ryan's son. You knew that, right? Oh, I did not know that. Yeah. He got a chance, I think, like two weeks ago because they've been so injured and he got to play. So anyway, sorry to interrupt. Well, I hope that he does well. They're up against it. It's fair to say. Not like Shuck is great. I know you're one of the Shuck boys, but not like he's great. And he has problems with man, but the Jets have problems in man and they play a lot of it. So that'll be interesting. The other, by the way, for me is the colossal special teams discrepancy here.

42:03I love this. This comes up all the time with the Jets. We got it. We have the fifth best special teams DVOA ever through 14 games. Fifth best ever. The Saints are 31st this year in special teams. yeah isaiah williams will run one back um the saints defense has been quietly competent yeah i don't think this i think this is kind of slipped under the radar and everybody got their brandon staley jokes off when they hired him but i just pulled up their 12th and run devua they're 17th overall uh and when i watch them they like they don't give up that many big plays like they it's a very staley-esque defense they want to keep things in front of them and kind of make you drive the length of the field but like this is not a star-studded unit young players are playing reasonably well the pass rushers are look better chase young's kind of been getting so So the Jets, you know, you and I are talking about like some of the Saints, some of the worst defenses in football.

43:12They're really not like in a different tier from them. Yeah, they're very average. It's a very average defense. That's a pretty big leap compared to last year. So credit to Brandon. Considering the players that they had when you looked at the personnel and you looked at the age of some of their personnel, it's a surprise. Yeah, some young guys, some later round draft picks playing pretty well. um so as the resident shuck boy uh if they play man coverage my guy's gonna gonna run all over uh he is a good athlete and he has been shown a willingness and ability to use his legs um the man stone numbers are through the air are i think interesting and speak to some of the outside of chris olave who you're really nervous about with this i kind of like vele on the saints That's his name, right?

44:02Yeah, Devon Vela used to be on the Broncos, right. He's kind of nice. He's kind of a good player. He was reasonable for the Broncos last year, too. He had good. Yeah. I'm taking the Saints here. I think the defense has been average. And the Shucks stuff, too, I mean, we'll address this more, obviously, around draft time. But I think for the Saints, especially seeing the way things are taking out the quarterback draft, it's good to me that they can potentially sit the next year out and focus on building out the rest of the team because it's kind of like a multi-year project for them. I think they have one more year of bad cap.

44:44One more year of bad cap. And then for 2027, they have a lot of cap space. They just have to make it through one more year. Mickey Loomis is like, is that a dare? I'm going to go sign an extremely inexpensive... It's not a dare. He should not listen to me. I'm not daring you to screw it up. Please don't screw it up. All right. Chef Boyce. I would want to take the Jets because of the special teams. It would be fun. But I don't think Isaiah Williams can overcome the fact that Brady Cook is not good. And the Saints defense is not bad. So I'll go with the Saints. Yeah. Jets defense against the Jaguars was a bloodbath.

45:21So, oh, by the way, Saints, please, if you're watching that, holy smokes, they could not defend play action. The linebackers were biting so hard on the Jags play action passes in that game. So I would try to borrow from that a bit if I was killing more. All right. Let's take a quick break, come back, and we will get to a very meaningful NFC South showdown. Buster Olney here for La Quinta by Wyndham. When you're on the road this summer traveling for work, your routine can fall behind faster than a 3-0 count, especially if your hotel gym is non-existent. But at La Quinta by Wyndham, every location features a full-size, fully-equipped fitness center.

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48:05the NFC South, Aaron, somebody's got to win it. That somebody probably is going to be whoever wins this game. They play each other twice. And the Bucs, actually, okay, you know what? Let me go over the scenarios. You're right. This game might not matter. I did look this up because I felt like I should be informed. So these teams are playing in week 16, and they're playing again. I hate it when this happens, by the way. Too close. I don't like that. I like it when the divisional matchups are more spread out. So if one team wins them both, they're in. So if Carolina wins both of these games, they're in.

48:38If they finish with the same record overall, the Bucs win the division after the various tiebreakers. If the Bucs lose this one, then week 18 becomes a win and get in. If the Panthers lose both, the Bucs are in. And I'll point out also next week, the Bucs play Miami. and the Panthers play Seattle. So there's a good chance that even if the Panthers win this game, they will go into the final week tied because there's a good chance that the Bucs will win and the Panthers will lose. So more likely than not, the Panthers have to sweep the Bucs to win the NCAA. Yes, the Panthers probably have to sweep the Bucs in order to win the division.

49:23If the Bucs lose, so the Panthers probably have to sweep. If the Bucs lose one of these, they're probably fine as long as they win the other. They just can't lose both. It's kind of the – Yeah, I believe that even if they lose in week 17, but it helps that they're probably more likely to win in week 17 too. Against Miami, yeah. Yeah. All right, so huge game for both teams, but especially for Carolina is kind of the takeaway here. I'm on the Panthers, so I'll start here. uh i saw oh god i wish i wrote this down i think i don't want to i hope i'm not saying this right but i think the panthers i saw somewhere have uh won every game they've been an underdog in or covered rather and not covered everything they've been paying which completely checks out i have been very public with my stance that picking panthers games in the Lord's Year 2025 is like kicking yourself in the nether region.

50:27It is just pointless. It is a pointless exercise that nobody should engage in. That said, we are here to do that. This team is completely inconsistent week to week. They're completely unpredictable. I wrote, can the Panthers exploit an increasingly leaky box pass defense that has really struggled? You obviously saw Kirk Cousins tore him up. um one thing that i think is going to be massive is i suspect that top bowls is going to blitz the hell out of bryce young what's the bucks already blitz a decent amount but he'll do so in part because bryce young has really struggled against the blitz this year 30th in epa per play 29 yards per tent 30th in qbr now that said in his last two games he's been better against the blitz including against the rams which is one of the aforementioned what the hell is going on games He was 5-6 for 93 yards and two touchdowns when blitzed.

51:22So for the Panthers, for Bryce Young, to me, that's ultimately what this is going to come down to. The Bucs have a better run defense than pass defense. If Todd Bowles sends pressure, can Bryce Young find answers the way he has the last two weeks? I mean, my key for the Bucs is basically the same as your key for the Panthers. I wrote down, can the Bucs figure out what ails their defense in the last few weeks. They were seventh in DVOA through week nine, 24th since week 10. They have declined equally against the pass and the run. Pass rush win rate before their bye week, 44.5%, fourth. Since their bye week, 32.9%, 21st.

52:09And here's a remarkable stat. But yards allowed when they pressure the quarterback before their bye week, 2.3 yards per attempt. Amazing. Since the bye week, 6.2 yards per attempt when they pressure the quarterback. Yeah. That's not good. And some of that was missing Jamel Dean for a couple of games. But yeah, yeah, it has to figure out the coverage has been a problem, even though Jamel's been fantastic this year. And now Zion McCollum is out. Yeah, so the Falcons went pretty mercilessly after Kendall Vildor, who came in for him. The linebackers we've talked about this year have been extremely gettable through the air.

52:50So there are many places you can attack in this Bucs pass defense. So yeah, let's see it for Bryce Young. I mean, I will take a quick note on the Bucs offense. I mean, you saw what an impact Mike Evans returning had. Holy smokes against the Falcons. Baker struggled with pressure in that game, and he threw a bad interception. I think that the Falcons' pass rush is much better than Carolina, so I wouldn't be surprised, and this is why ultimately I'm picking the Bucs, if in this week the Bucs' offense finally looks complete because they showed signs of it last week, and I feel like this game gives them an opportunity to put it all together now that they're healthy again.

53:36And here's an Evans stat. One of the things that I do at FTN is I track defense against different types of receivers, right? One, number one, number two. It's not always because of a specific corner. They don't really use J.C. Horn to travel with the number one wide receiver. So this is schematic. The Panthers are 30th against wide receiver ones. They give up 76 yards a game. And first against wide receiver two, they give up 30 yards a game. Wide receiver one, I'm going to assume, is Mike Evans. and Mike Evans is back and he's healthy. It's a good point. I'm glad you made the point about it's not necessarily about the cornerback because the teams approach it so differently.

54:14Because I use that stat, the defense versus receivers, a lot, which is great. It's on FTM Fantasy. It's a really good one. By the way, if you guys, for fantasy purposes, tremendous value to see how teams are defending tight ends, passes to running backs, things like that. Wide receiver one, though, to your point, is a little bit cloudier from a defense perspective. Sometimes you look at it and you're like, I know why that's that way. It's a passer can stat. Big Eagles, for example. The Eagles are great against number ones and terrible against number twos. You know why that is. Yeah. But from an offense perspective, it is very useful when you've got a receiver like Mike Evans, who's very clearly the one.

54:53So you're on Tampa as well? Sorry. Golly, the Panthers' pass offense has been much better in recent weeks. Everything else for the Panthers has declined, but Bryce Young has been much better in recent weeks. Also, God, there's so many interesting stats about this game. The Bucs have injuries. Tykee Smith is questionable. I guess I'm on the Bucs. But with the game in Carolina, it wouldn't be surprised me if the Panthers win this one and then the Bucs win Week 18, right? They each win at home. I can see that. Which is, I mean, the Bucs, which is good for the Bucs. All the Bucs need to do is split these two games.

55:30Well, per what I said earlier, the Bucs are favored by three. So Carolina, bet Carolina, apparently. Yeah. Yep. I just don't know. All right. Me and Mike Tenere on our podcast are the same way with the Falcons. We never bet Falcons games, but this year it is the Panthers. The Panthers make no sense. The Panthers are the annual makes no sense team. Uh, JJ gets another soft spot here. It gets to go up against the Giants. This is your game. Are you interested in him or the other side? I said, what will the Brian Flores blitzes do to Jackson Dart? Dart, 8 % DVOA against the blitz, which is 12th in the league.

56:14And the Vikings last year, they were not really that good when they blitzed, even though they blitz all the time. And this year they're 11th when they blitz. Again, they blitz more than any other team. They're not spectacular when they blitz. So it's interesting to see what happens when they blitz dart because they're the Vikings and you know they're going to blitz dart. And will he run because he's dart? And will he get hurt running because he's dart? So I think that's where the interest is. where are you so i know i've been kind of joking about it but you know jj has played better against admittedly very bad competition but set that aside when you watch he looks more device more decisive pardon me more confident holding on the football a little bit less um making you know i would say uh you see the arm strength the throw to nailer rolling to his left was like probably the best throw I've seen from him maybe this season, the touchdown against Dallas.

57:13And then there are other throws where you see the lack of touch and sort of, you know, he still doesn't know how to quite take the RPMs. You had a long one last week that looked good until you realized it was kind of hanging and it wasn't really the best throw. It was mostly the receiver. The throw to Ockerson? Is that the one you're talking about? Yeah, yeah. It may have been a different one, but I think people will know which one I'm thinking of. So generally, I mean, this is a guy who statistically got up to one of the worst starts ever, but seems to be turning things around a little bit. I don't know how much we're going to learn per se against the Giants who have an abysmal defense.

57:45But what do you make of him at this point? Because the Vikings are going to have to make some choices as well this offseason. Until two weeks ago, my feeling about J.J. McCarthy was is that I think that I am second to nobody in my insistence that we do not judge players based solely on their rookie year. especially half a rookie year. But I do not remember a first round pick at quarterback where the numbers and the film watchers were both in such agreement that a dude had no shot. Like when guys have had bad rookie years who were high picks with really bad stats, usually the film people were like, yeah, but look what they say about Cam Ward this year.

58:33Yeah, but look at everybody around him. Look at what he's dealing with. Look at where the natural talents are. And usually, a lot of times, they were right. Those guys like Jared Goff got a coach, got better receivers. Things improved. I couldn't remember one where the film watchers were like, yeah, this guy has no chance. And then the last two weeks happened, and he seems to kind of be getting. And I'm almost like to the point where if I was a Vikings fan, I'd be a little afraid that this is a mirage. and that now they're not going to find someone else for next year. And it turns out this is a mirage the last two weeks.

59:08So I think that I'm still in the camp that they need to go some other direction with the quarterback position next year, even though I usually say don't judge guys based on half a rookie year. You have the Lions and the Packers to close the season. Those teams will be playing for something. So real opportunity for him, I think, to just continue to show. If he looks like the last couple games for the next three, you probably have to go into next year with him as your starter, but you should at least go out and try to find some kind of Jacoby Brissett. Yeah, they definitely need a better backup situation for sure.

59:49I'm talking about Brissett and Cousins, actually, because they're playing against each other in their market. But yeah, I think it's encouraging. I think, you know, for me, let me pull this up against Dallas, less so than, you know, I know I mentioned the touch and whatnot, but I think... You know, pull it up. His time to throw under three seconds is the one I'm going to continue watching. You know, it's never going to be fast, but if he can stay under three seconds the rest of the season, I think that would be really encouraging to see. In this particular game against the Giants, they should be able to run on them.

1:00:31I mean, the Giants run defenses. The worst. First in the league. Yep. Brutal. I'm going to take Minnesota here How about you? I will also take Minnesota, yes But It's a closer It's close It is in New York It's close Jags Broncos Great game Yes, and I'd like to thank the Fox stations In New England Which will be showing this one at 4 Instead of showing a game at 1 Which is good um i i've i'm gonna talk about denver talked about bo nicks earlier in the week and his big day i wrote can the denver broncos defense get trevor on his back so trevor lawrence is on an absolute heater he has been unbelievable some of that has been feasting a lot of it on bad defenses, Jets, the Raiders, the Cardinals, but decent against the Texans.

1:01:39The Texans game was a little bit weird, and it was about a lot of things, but he did play the Chargers, and they smoked them. That was a weird kind of game where nobody talked about it, but... Smoked them. Yeah, people said to me for a long time, like, oh, the Jaguars don't have any definitive wins, and I'm like, the Chargers, that's a definitive win right there. I'm sure it put up more points on the Texans than any offensive football. So anyways, so the Broncos, you know, the Texans are up there, of course, but Broncos are a different animal from the defenses they played as of late. Since week nine, which is kind of when this heater has started, despite having the Texans in the mix, Trevor Lawrence has faced the fifth lowest pressure rate in football.

1:02:24Some of that is him playing fast. Their use of play action has helped, which they used just devastated the Jets. But, you know, the offensive line has been better. A lot of it is about the defenses. So if I'm Denver, I'm looking at this hot Jags offense. And in my mind, this is – and the Denver defense is amazing against play action. They're like second best in the NFL. We know it leads the league in sacks. Can you put pressure on Trevor in a way that he has not been dealing with as of late? it's interesting because my key for the Jaguars is, can the Jaguars run the ball to slow down the Denver pressure?

1:03:06Because Lawrence has been on a heater. The running game has not. Their run offense, DVOA, has gone from fifth in the first nine games to 26th since week 10. But the Broncos' run defense has also been struggling over the last few weeks. They're only 23rd in run defense. So the Jaguars may have a chance to run the ball here, although no basial tootin. Quietly losing tootin hurts. The run game in Jacksonville is like the one thing that's kind of holding me back right now. The defense is fine. They've been getting after. Defense is good. Would you say they're good? I know it's kind of crazy, right?

1:03:55Because the personnel, you don't look at that personnel and go, this is good. But the actual performance has been good. They get pressure a lot of different ways. Josh Heinz Allen is very good. They also use a lot of simulated pressures, blitzes. I think for Bo Nix, it's an interesting test because, you know, going into the Packers game, we talked about how much he was so much better against man than zone. And the Packers were like the specific kind of defense that's given him trouble. and he was amazing, of course. Yeah. So the Jags play zone at the sixth highest rate in football. They're going to try to get him to hold onto the ball.

1:04:30Coverage rotation, simulated pressures. So I think it's kind of like another test for Bo Nix. It was last week just like a crazy, I wouldn't say aberration because it's not like he's been bad, but can you do it again against a defense that also is a little bit tricky to solve? I'll point out, by the way, the Jaguars' defensive weakness is third and fourth downs. They're 24th on third and fourth downs, and the Broncos' offense is eighth. So even if they don't get a lot of yards on first and second, you can't necessarily count them out. I'm going to take Denver. I'm so tempted to pay. The Jags' offense has been such a joy to watch over the last few weeks, but I just feel like I'm not saying it's a mirage.

1:05:16I really don't think so. I just think that pressure is going to affect Lawrence. We might see a couple of bad decisions that we haven't. I mean, he is throwing downfield and over the middle of the field with such confidence right now, which is great. But the Broncos are the kind of team that can actually punish that. I will point out Lawrence, since week 10, while he's been on this heater, is seventh in DVOA under pressure. But it's still a lot better to not be under pressure than to be under pressure. So with this game in Denver, I will also go Broncos. But I think it's pretty close. It would not be a shock to me if the Jaguars win this.

1:05:54I'm a Jags believer. I would say I picked them to win the division before the season. Really? And I did not think it would be like this. I thought the Texans were going to decline, and I never saw the Colts' first half coming. And I thought the Jaguars were going to win their division at like 9-8. and that's not what has happened at all. I wish the Jags were playing the Texans at the end of the year because I genuinely don't know who I would pick. I was thinking, because I'm so high on the Texans right now and I think that defense sets such a bar for their floor, pardon me, for them. But I kind of like the Jags' offense.

1:06:37CJ Strassel, they're really, really closely matched at the moment. The AFC is very up in the air. I don't see the Chargers doing it, and I don't see the AFC North champion doing it, but the other five teams, I think any one of them can win the AFC. That's a good way to put it. I really believe either the Jags or the Texans could play in the AFC championship, no question. Yeah. Okay. I've got Falcons-Cardinals. The game itself is not interesting, but I wanted to use this to pose a question for you, which is if you were a team that needed a quarterback and just like a bridge quarterback, obviously, would you rather have Jacoby Brissett at$12 million or Kirk Cousins at$25 million next year?

1:07:30I think I would rather have Brissett if I knew that it was just a bridge because you're building for the future anyway. And because I'm not in the locker rooms, but all indications are that Brissett takes the, we drafted a guy in the third round that we might need to play him in the last five weeks of the season better than Kirk Cousins does. You know, these, the NFL backup quarterback commercials, which are by far the best commercials on TV right now. Kirk Cousins is not doing one of those. I was just about to say, I cannot imagine, I actually don't think Jacoby would either. I mean, I think he did, didn't he?

1:08:09No, I don't. Did he? Maybe I missed it. The tax one? The one about taxes, I think, is Jacob. Oh, was that earlier? Okay. The best one is Teddy Bridgewater, obviously. Agreed. Agreed. You can't fix him or whatever. The Tyler Hulley one where he gives the kid the talk is pretty good, too. They're all great. Anyway, sorry to go on a tangent. Yeah, so I was looking at their stats, and they're pretty comparable. Kirk Cousins is now, you know, since week 11. Jacoby, I went back to week six. Jacoby is actually third in completion percentage over expected. But they're almost identical in EPA and QBR. And yeah, I think the Kirk Cousins conversation is going to be interesting this offseason because for a team to trade for him, first of all, Atlanta is going to have to make a decision.

1:08:56What do they think of him and his play and Penix and his injury? But also for a team that wants to trade for Kirk Cousins, they're going to have to. It's going to be a negotiation. There's going to have to probably be some restructuring. Atlanta's going to have to eat some of it. So I think these final Cousins games are worth watching for that reason. Because if he were to play like he did against Tampa, which I understand Tampa is like his reverse kryptonite, some team is going to want a Kirk Cousins. I'm just telling you right now, you might not be happy about it, but if he plays the way he did, and there was another game where he was good, somebody's going to want Kirk Cousins.

1:09:35I know. And, I mean, he's reasonable, but if you're going to spend a year running in place, I'd rather spend$12 million than$25 million to do it. I think I'm going to take Arizona. Arizona's lost six straight games. This feels like a random Jacoby Brissett heater game to me. Cardinals are 25th in run defense and 31st against tight ends. So I will take B. John Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and the Falcons. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly.

1:10:21Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, They're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER. Click grainger.com or just stop by. I like things my way. My coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo Pre-Filled Syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time.

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1:11:36Wayfair, every style, every home. All right. I gave you Steelers-Lions. It was a big game. I don't know why. We could have done this one that length. There's a lot to talk about. I'm interested in hearing. What's your key? How much pressure can the Steelers get on Jared Goff? ESPN has them with a 28 % pressure rate. which is 21st. And here's a split that will shock nobody. Jared Goff is number one in DVOA without pressure and number 24 in DVOA with pressure. And that is consistent every year. Every year is like that. That's Jared's deal, man. It's like he's just not good under pressure. I don't know what the status is of TJ Watt.

1:12:21Derek Harmon should be back. The other thing, by the way, is I think you're the one who said at this point the Steelers games are decided by whether the opposing team can tackle. And the Lions are, according to pro football reference, third in fewest missed tackles on defense. So they can tackle. Yeah. So Lions have really struggled in pass coverage. Right. And some of that has been injuries. And obviously you lose Brian Branch. They play a ton of man coverage. They're down to the dregs in the secondary. Teams have gotten after it. I went and looked specifically at who their biggest corner was to cover Metcalf.

1:13:03And it's Rakia Sin, who's 6 '1", 195. Everyone else is 5 '9", on this defense. So I really think – I think they can be good on the ground. They can get limited yards after the catch. To your point, I think my question is just can they team up to stop DK Metcalf? Maybe all three of them need to get on each other's shoulders or something. But I do think this style of defense actually does work against Pittsburgh. And then on the other side of the ball, they should be able to run on them, man. Dominique and I talked about this on Monday, and I had to eat some crow because I thought Miami would be able to run on Pittsburgh.

1:13:40Game script kind of took that away a little bit, I do think. But Dominique made the point, which I agree with, which is the style of run defense or run run game that Pittsburgh struggles with. Like the bills is different from Miami. I think Detroit can replicate that. I really do. I think their skill play. I think about, think about those bills receivers blocking the Steelers defensive backs and just throwing them around. The lions can do that. So I, the formula for Detroit is pretty simple. It starts on the ground, But I think you watch the Bills tape and you can see Detroit pulling off a similar game plan.

1:14:18Yeah, I'm with you. Absolutely. And the passing game should be good for the Lions as well. Goff loves his middle throws. Steelers are 18th against throws up the middle. I would definitely go Lions. It's in Detroit, which means not only Detroit has home field, but also it's indoors. So no worries about Jared Goff in the outdoors or anything like that. I'm going the Lions. Jared was good against the Rams. I don't think I got to – yeah, we didn't talk about it. Ultimately, like the Rams just – that offense was just too relentless and the Lions – we talked about the Lions secondary. Oh, the Lions scored plenty of points.

1:14:54Yeah. Like Jared was throwing some beautiful passes in that game. And, yeah, I think he can do the same. This being in Detroit is a big deal. All right. Raiders-Texans is moi.

1:15:11I think, I actually don't know if it's going to be Geno back. It doesn't, poor Geno. If I was him, I'd be like, Kenny, you got this one, man. Just try again. Because the Texans defense is not, the Texans defense against the Raiders offensive line is not safe for television. That is brutal. Going to the other side of the ball, Houston throwing between the numbers. Unbelievable. 0.33 paper play second in the nfl cj stroud every week throws like a million in breakers to nico collins that go for massive gains the raiders are dead left in eva per play between the numbers on defense 0.36 so even worse than what the texans do on that flip side uh they allow nine yards per attempt and a 76 completion percentage this should be a bloodbath um the texans offense is one that I've been quietly starting to buy more and more into as the year has gone on.

1:16:12We know what the defense is. To go back to our point about can an AFC team win the, you know, go to the Super Bowl? We know that this defense is capable of it. And it feels, Aaron, to me, like the offense is starting to rise to the occasion as well. Pass offense, DVOA, since week 10. Houston is ninth. Yeah. Their passing game is connecting. So absolutely. I mean, the Texans are dangerous, especially if they get to start with a home game. If they win their division, that makes them a little bit more dangerous. Like I said, I feel like any of five teams can really win the AFC, and the Texans are absolutely one of those teams.

1:16:54All they need is to score like 21 points is that defense. You know, I just, I, I love watching them. I'm actually hopeful. ESPN, we always get the wildcard game on Monday and NFL Live. It's been a lot of Tampa over the last few years, but I would love Texans wildcard game or they would host it in Houston if they won the AFC South. I would, I would really enjoy going to Houston and watching that person. I don't think that happens because the Monday game is always a 4-5. Okay. Because that way they can schedule the following weekend without knowing who wins Monday night. It would be like Steelers-Chargers right now?

1:17:38Yeah, or like Steelers-Texans, but in Pittsburgh. No, no. I love Pittsburgh. Beautiful city. I was there on Monday. I do not want to go back. right now. I don't want to go back. It was so cold. Texans indoor stadium. It was amazing. We could be going to Tampa Bay. I know, but Tampa Bay is far. I do like going there. We stayed at a really nice hotel in downtown Tampa Bay, and every time I'm there, we go out, and last time we saw Ric Flair, which is like the perfect Tampa Bay sighting. Okay. I imagine we're both picking Houston. I'm on Detroit. I don't think I said that, but also Houston as well.

1:18:17Yeah, Houston. Detroit is favored by 7 wow Texas are favored by 14.5 this is one where I should have we got enough time so we can talk about it because Patriots-Ravens is a big game from the Ravens perspective I was interested in the playoff scenarios so if the Steelers lose to the Lions, which we predicted, then the Ravens need to beat them, obviously, and then win one of the two games before the final game of the season again. They go up against the Steelers again. They have this game and they have the Packers. It's tough, right? If the Steelers beat the Lions, assuming they also beat Cleveland, who they've got next week, the Ravens need to win out.

1:19:12So I think these two games are on the same dime. Not that it would really, obviously, they're going to play hard regardless. But yeah, the Steelers game, Steelers-Lions is at 125. Oh, no, this is Sunday Night Football. No, this is the night game. Okay, so there'll be some interesting. I think that that's useful to know, though, because if the Steelers win that game, you know the Ravens have to win Sunday Night Football. If the Steelers lose, then they've got a little bit of breathing room. All right, so those are the stakes for Baltimore. This is you. So I'm just so much talking about it. Just to point out the state for the Patriots, winning this game would be good, but the Patriots win the division if they beat the Jets and Dolphins, who are now starting yours.

1:19:56So the Patriots are feeling pretty good about their last game. Stakes are a little lower for New England. I wrote, can the Ravens pressure Drake May without blitzing? Because May has a 42 % DVOA against the Blitz, which is second in the league behind Brock Purdy. And of course, Purdy has a somewhat limited sample size this year. Well, where's Jordan Love? Like third or something.

1:20:23The Patriots are 28th in pressure rate and the Ravens are 26th. But the Ravens, according to ESPN charting, have a 42 % pressure rate with a blitz, which is 12th, and a 21 % pressure rate without a blitz, which is 30th. so they really need to blitz to get pressure but if you blitz drake may he kills you it's a great stat i my biggest takeaway from watching the ravens against the bangles was i thought the defensive line looked the best it has all year a trade that i completely overlooked draymond jones when we when the trade deadline happened i was like yeah whatever you You know, he was awesome against the Bengals.

1:21:11I mean, Bengals offensive line is not good. I get it. Travis Jones, who they just paid, is very, very good at getting after the quarterback. Tavius Robinson had a big day. So, yeah, a couple of those guys are going to have to step up. Your point is really good.

1:21:31I feel like I kind of think they can. I don't know. Because the Ravens can't, like, I don't know. Drake May has been so good. I mean, there is no, still no Will Campbell, right? So the Patriots are very weak at left tackle with Verderian Lowe. But, you know, they've overcome that the last couple weeks. On the flip side. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, and if May has time, he is the best quarterback in the league this year on deep passes. Baltimore ranks 20th on passes of 16 or more air yards. I would say, though, that's probably gotten better. Yeah, since the Gilman. And I mentioned, are Darius Washington's back?

1:22:16It's kind of fun. I didn't realize he had returned. How many weeks has he been back for? Just got back. I thought he was out for the whole season. Although they lost Buchanan, Teddy Buchanan, the linebacker. He's done now with a torn ACL. He's replaced by Trenton Simpson, who was originally the guy who was supposed to take that role. And then Buchanan outplayed him. and now Simpson's in that role because of the injury.

1:22:43So on the flip side, I kind of alluded to this. The Patriots' run defense has really fallen off a cliff. Yes. A lot of that has to do with losing Milton Williams. Robert Spillane didn't play in the game against Buffalo. Yeah, he was injured last week, and Buffalo just ran right up the middle with no Williams and no Spillane. They ran right up the middle, and I don't know what Spillane's current health is for this week. That one took me by surprise. I saw it, I was like, where's Spillane? And I was like, what? I picked Buffalo, but anyways. The Ravens' run game is not Buffalo's, but it did look better against the Bengals.

1:23:19Lamar didn't have to do a lot last week. He threw it downfield, but one thing that caught my eye was I thought he looked the most comfortable he has moving. Every week he looks more and more comfortable as a scrambler. He had a couple of first downs this last week where he saw him move in a way just he has not. I think that's meaningful against New England. I think that the Grodigan played a decent amount of man coverage here. New England, by the way, is this is an interesting to our point. They're much better against their it's not a good pass defense. No, they're 32nd against wide receiver ones, which is not really something Baltimore.

1:23:58I guess say Flowers is their wide receiver one. Right. Actually, Bateman, if you look at when teams use their number one corner on a wide receiver, like a Pat Sertain, they usually have that guy on Bateman, not on Flowers. Interesting. That makes sense because he's like the X, I guess. So my feeling is got to be a big Lamar day, got to run the football well, mix it. They're mixing it up between Henry and Mitchell. And I think the tight ends can the Patriots safeties are a vulnerability to my eye and coverage. Um, so yeah, I think you're just, you know, I, last week was encouraging against one of the worst defense, the worst defense in the NFL, but I don't want to overplay it.

1:24:40I think this Patriots defense, despite their struggles is better than, um, certainly better than Cincinnati. And I'm going to take new England here. I, I just think Drake may bounces back from last week. He wasn't even bad to me, but I think he bounces back. and I also just, I'm still not a believer in this Ravens offense. I'm going to say, first of all, just to let folks know, I've heard about the Patriots schedule a lot. By DVOA, it's going to end up being the third easiest schedule of the last 45 years. That being said, the other two teams with easier schedules made it to the Super Bowl, the 99 Rams and the 91 Bills.

1:25:20So that doesn't mean you count them out of the playoffs. The thing where the schedule really affects is pass defense. That's the place where I think the Patriots have looked a lot better than they really are because of the quarterbacks that they've faced. And now they faced Allen, and now they're facing Lamar Jackson, and these are better quarterbacks. Even if Jackson is still hurt a little bit and the receivers maybe aren't as good as they used to be, I still feel like these are better quarterbacks. I've said for a lot of the season, people were like, when's the game where the Patriots are finally going to really lose one?

1:25:53And I always kind of thought it was the Ravens. and now I think it's a lot closer than that because of the matchups and because of the pressure thing. I'm still going to go with the Ravens in Baltimore, but I think it's pretty close 50-50 on this one. The Ravens are favored, but it's three, so it's basically a pick-em to your point. Yeah, I think with Baltimore, it's just been hard to get a feel for them because we know what Lamar Jackson is capable of, and it feels like at any given week. Yeah, he doesn't feel like he's capable of it right now, but you know it's what he is capable of, And so you're just poking him with a stick waiting for attack.

1:26:27And he's all glimpses this last week. And so against, again, terrible defense. But it's like, okay, well, if he continues to move in that direction and he's actually moving well, yeah, I think he can have success against this. I think amidst all the Patriots discourse, I guess, I have felt the same kind of the whole time, which is I'm absolutely a believer in Drake Bay. I am very skeptical of this defense. pass rush not good enough as well. So, you know, if Lamar is back, then Baltimore can absolutely win this game. I'm just going to stick with New England because of May and because we just need to see that consistency from the Reyes.

1:27:07And May is the place where the schedule has affected them the least, by the way. Drake May really is this good. Like that's not – he's had an easy schedule, but not a tremendously easy schedule. So the pass defense is the place where the schedule has affected it the most. May is the place where the schedule has affected at the least. The Will Campbell injury is a big deal. He'll be back for the playoffs. I think we're also seeing an imperfect representation of what they're capable of on offense. Monday Night Football, we alluded to this, is Niners Colts. I wrote, can the Colts run the ball in San Francisco?

1:27:46Their run defense is terrible. They're obviously very injured defensively. 32nd in success rate against the run. They're less bad in an EV play, so they're not giving up that many explosives. Teams are just able to grind out four or five yards. That's what Indianapolis wants to do. All they want to do is hand the ball off to Jonathan Taylor and just grind it down, try to control the time of possession.

1:28:12And they have to run the ball because they don't want to be pass blocking because they're without Braden Smith and probably Bernard Raymond too. The thing working in their favor is the Niners pass rush is not good. Yeah. I have trouble talking about the Niners, speaking of the schedule stuff, because I don't think, like, they beat the Rams, right? Like, this is not, they beat the Seahawks week one. And then when you watch the offense last week against Tennessee, I thought that Purdy looked comfortable. He was running around. He was making throws downfield. This is why they like Brock Purdy so much, why they paid him.

1:28:48Yep. But I just don't think this defense is good enough with all the injuries to take them seriously. In the playoffs, you mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not in this game. I'm picking them to win this game. Yeah, I think the 49ers are rightly favored in this game against young man Rivers. He's younger than me, so I don't know. The 49ers defense is definitely, you know, we talk a lot about offense. In analytics, we talk a lot about offense is more consistent and more predictive than defense. And that's true. But I would rather be a balanced team than a team with a really good offense and a really bad defense.

1:29:26The more balanced you are, I'm trying to think of things more like how Belichick always thought of it, which is the more balanced you are, the more you don't have a weakness that other teams can attack. And you can attack whatever the other team's weakness is. And if the other team's weakness is offense, the 49ers can't attack it in any way because their defense is terrible. So I'm with you. I'm not that worried about them in the playoffs the way I would be. Even the Lions, with all the injuries that they have, are much better defense than the 49ers. Yeah, the NFC has a lot of teams where, I mean, like the Packers now, you know, really good offense, questionable defense with Parsons.

1:30:06We'll see. But I say questionable. They still have like a baseline, I think, that's above what we're seeing from San Francisco right now. I mean, the Packers defense is basically the same as defense as last year, and they finished last year top 10 in DVOA. They're flawed. Without Parsons, they finished in the top 10. Whereas the 49ers, they lost probably their, like, three best defensive players. I mean, they lost their clearly two best defensive players and their first-round pick. Crazy. I mean, they're still winning games. Like, the offense is still really good. I know he's hurt. I don't think he might not.

1:30:41I don't think he's playing this year, But Pearsall was so good against Tennessee. Yeah, they're worried about him. I think he got hurt in the game. That's a shame. Kittle's still a monster. And Brock, too, again, the benefit of his willingness to push the ball downfield. Because with Mac Jones, you saw defenses kind of cheating up to stop McCaffrey in the passing game. And McCaffrey basically carried this team through that period. I'm going to do something really weird. I'm going to compare Brock Purdy to Terrell Davis. the Denver Broncos offensive line and system in the late 90s, early 2000s, could make any running back into a star.

1:31:21But only Terrell Davis was special. And while he's not that special, the 49ers offense and scheme can turn any quarterback good. But Purdy is a level beyond those guys. Again, not quite as much as Davis, but in a similar fashion. No, I hear what you're saying. You've got Garoppolo and you've got Mack Jones, whatever. Purdy is the guy. A different quarterback. He extends in a way that they don't. He throws downfield. I really like to, when he throws downfield, it's contrast to Tunga Vailoa where you're like, you know you can't make that throw, right? Purdy, I feel like, has a pretty good sense of the throws he's capable of throwing downfield.

1:32:02So he's not – when he turns the ball over, it's different. It's – I feel like usually over the middle of the field. But yeah, he adds an extra element to this offense that really allows them to use the whole field and make plays outside of just the structure of it, which is obviously very good. Yeah, I don't mean to be like a Debbie Downer with this defense, but just. I just can't imagine them stopping the likes of the Rams, you know, I know there's a feeling this year that it's really anybody's ballgame. My numbers are a little bit different than some of the other analytics out there. I really do have the Rams and Seahawks far ahead.

1:32:45And I really feel like in the NFC, it's really the Rams or Seahawks. Just to bring us full circle to the start of the show. The AFC feels like. The AFC has got a lot of good competitors. And in one game, anything can happen. So the AFC could easily win the Super Bowl. But I think it's going to be the Rams or Seahawks that they play when they get there. I, like, I'm going to power rank all the playoff teams after week 18, and I truly do not know how I'm going to rank. I think, you don't think the Broncos are a cut above in the AFC? They're only a cut above, in my opinion, because they're going to get the number one seed.

1:33:22And therefore, they don't have any risk of losing in the first round because they don't play in the first round. I think if the Broncos offense keeps it up, they'll have a pretty strong bent towards them. And plus, and then they get home games and they get home games in Denver and the cold and the altitude and everything. And so I think that that gives them an advantage. But I think as far as the quality of the team, I don't think Denver is really that much ahead of Houston or Jacksonville. I think, or Buffalo. I think they're a little ahead of the Patriots. Once you look at the schedule, the Patriots have played.

1:33:53I mean, I think the Broncos offense, you know, until this last week, everybody had very reasonable questions. Yes. But that defense is so really good. Defense is so good. Yeah. If the offense keeps it up, we continue seeing that type of play from Bo Nix, and I feel pretty comfortable putting them on top. But let's see it. Big game this weekend against Jack. It's really interesting because you go to the playoffs in the AFC and you're like, okay, Drake May is still kind of in his first year of doing this awesomeness. Nix, people don't quite believe in. Lawrence, I don't think people quite believe in.

1:34:24Stroud, people don't believe in his blocking. So that leaves Josh Allen, but we'll see. A lot of pressure on Josh Allen. I know. It feels like this has to be the year because the Chiefs are out of it. So this is the – come on. This is your chance. When a team puts up 200 yards on the ground on them, you're like – Yeah. We don't know if that's going to happen. Honestly, there aren't that many good running teams in the AFC, so the Bills might not have to deal with that. No, Jaguars are struggling to run. The Denver running game is not great. The Houston running game is not great. The New England running game is very imbalanced with the explosives from Travion.

1:35:05Pittsburgh, we saw. Yeah. I actually – that's another reason why it might be the Bills' year, not just the quarterback issue, but the thing that their defense struggles the most. And imagine that they reach the Super Bowl and it's the Seahawks. Yeah. And what's the spot? Rams can run on them. Packers can run on them. There's a few teams in the NFC, but we shall see. You guys, if you're not already, check out FTN Fantasy. They have great stats in addition to DVOA. I mention them all the time, really useful stuff. You guys continue adding things, too. So you guys, I - We have two of the top 10 most accurate fantasy projection in the ranks with Jeff Radcliffe and Tyler Oh.

1:35:53And we are introducing NBA charting. We are going to be introducing a bunch of cool NBA stuff. Oh, awesome. So FTN has a lot of really interesting things coming. Annual subscription, totally worth it. Definitely recommend that. You guys can follow Aaron on social. What's your handle on Blue Sky? So on Blue Sky, I'm AaronShots.com. I did the validation thing or whatever it's called. And then on Twitter and threads, I'm AShotsNFL. S-C-H-A-T-Z is how you spell my last name. Check out this pod on YouTube, YouTube.com slash at MinaKimes. As I mentioned, I do my weekly power rankings on Instagram at MinaKimesShow.

1:36:37Go follow that. We also post clips and tomfoolery over there. I'll be back next week to talk about the Philip Rivers game with Dominique, amongst other things. Thank you, as always, to Omaha Productions for making this show, Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Tucker Tastien, Jack Foster. And also, one more thing, one more shout, my television podcast with David Dennis Jr., viewer discretion. On Friday, we are recapping the latest episode of Pluribus, Urubus, and we are also recapping Fallout, which is a show I love. So you can check that out if you watch either of those shows.

1:37:23As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by.