PMS 2.0 1475 - OVERREACTION MONDAY, NFL Week 16 Recap, MNF Preview, Adam Schefter, Peter Schrager, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

20:13Coker's turning into a younger Chris Godwin. It's insane kind of the comparisons between the two. And then when you look at this play, it really is like, oh, Baker Mayfield's going to go and win the game. And that's what Bryce Young does. Gets away, dodges another guy, and then throws a touchdown pass. How many times have we seen Baker Mayfield make that exact same play to win the game? Not in the past, even just earlier in the year. Like the Panthers really are kind of a new team of that division. Shout out to the Panthers.

20:38Pat McAfee:Shout out to the Jags too. They're for real, D. But it feels like you've been wanting to talk about them a lot over the last four or five weeks. I think the world hasn't really wanted to talk about it. But it's real down there in Duvall. And Trevor Lawrence, hey, everything they said he was seemingly becoming right in front of our eyes right now.

20:55Adam Schefter:Yeah, we talk about it. You guys always mention it. It's just very, very hard to actually succeed on this level. So people want that instant success. and he was crowned as that guy, the prince that was promised since coming into the league, and now he's hitting his stride. You know, Liam Cohen comes over. He was a hot hire. A lot of people, especially after his introductory press conference, you know, had some thoughts about him. I singled it. Absolutely, and rightfully so, but he's shown that he is a great football coach, and he's setting his quarterback up for great success. Also made a very good hire with Campanelli on the defensive side of the ball because they're living and dying with their turnovers right now, but Jaguars are blowing people away.

21:29Adam Schefter:And this was a huge, huge statement win in Denver, the number one seeded team in the AFC right now.

21:35Pat McAfee:And this is all without the number two overall pick that they still have. Here's some Hembo stats about this Jacksonville Jaguars six-game win streak. They've outscored their opponents by 113 points. Unbelievable. They spent more time leading by 25 points than trailing at all. And Trevor Lawrence has 14 touchdowns, zero turnovers in the last four games, 77.4 QBR. They are what we like to call rolling. And this is what they talked about in January, and we kind of mocked it a little bit because they lost right away to Jake Browning and the Bengals. But now, what, 10 weeks later, it kind of does feel like it's going to go on forever.

22:13Pat McAfee:Shout out to Shad Khan, obviously the owner for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Jarian Jones, or Jarian Jones. Just a couple games removed here from Saquon Barkley jumping over backwards his head. he's on a sideline you know some people get rolled up some people avoid straight up and over wow the athleticism like a damn cat right there i mean that is spectacular he'll go on get a pick jacksonville jaguars win in the old days of jacksonville jaguars he potentially tears acl yeah for sure he potentially tears achilles he certainly is getting speared to the ground and maybe taking out a trainer nine-year-old doctors ah that is what jacksonville jaguars fans would probably expect in the past now you have a sick jump over guy looks bad that got off balance and he looks like a stud and then oh yeah he's gonna carry it on yeah for the rest of the game d butt seems like they're rolling down there in duval i don't like it at all not good for the avers not good for the indianapolis colts they got a quarterback who's young cj's pretty young let's talk about young quarterback that can still go uh the chicago bears team hey maybe whenever a coach is the bell of the ball there's a reason yeah you know And maybe a coach turns down years, multiple years worth of, nah, I'm not going.

23:30Pat McAfee:Nah, I'm not going. It can maybe drive people to think, there's drama. There's only 32 head coaching jobs in the NFL anyways. What can this guy really do? Good, better, best, never let rest. Good is better and better is best. He comes in there and immediately changes the culture. At the beginning, allegedly a little bit rocky. Are him and Caleb going to be able to get along? Caleb wasn't even playing in preseason games, allegedly because he didn't really know the offense yet. and Ben Johnson didn't want to put him out there, which led us all to think, wait, Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams ever going to get along?

23:57Pat McAfee:We heard Ben Johnson's an absolute dog, and we heard Caleb Williams, obviously, a lot of moxie, a lot of swag, a lot of character. He has been very famous for a long time. Well, these two, yeah, they will, and he's about to break every quarterback record that the Chicago Bears have. Ben Johnson's got the entire culture ready to win the NFC North, and they pick up a massive overtime dub over the Green Bay Packers and make some huge plays in critical moments on both sides of the ball, including special teams, where they get an onside kick. Wow. Jeez. I don't know if I'm putting Guardian Cap guy out there.

24:28Pat McAfee:I don't know if I'm putting Guardian Cap out there as the hands guy. Best hands of the team. Not with a Guardian Cap. I think the hands team, you have to have a certain level of fuck it to you. I think you have to have that. Now, I'm not saying Dobbs doesn't have that. Guardian Cap tells me he does have at least some reservations. So I don't know if that's necessarily who I put there. But great kick by Cairo. Great recovery by the Bears. and obviously they come back fourth quarter drive and then overtime winner as well which has dropped in an absolute bucket Chicago Bears culture was ass team was shit now when the NFC

25:00Adam Schefter:North debuts maybe the whole damn thing man king of the north right now you talk about prime time games delivering all weekend long this is one of the best finishes I've ever seen for a throw like that that was obviously the icing on the cake but just everything down the stretch and this is who Caleb Williams has been this year in second half's ball game. Even some of the games that they lost, he has played great down the stretch. He already has the most fourth quarter comebacks for any Bears quarterback in history. He's just unbelievable. You talk about Ben Johnson, obviously the running game, the investments they made in the offensive line.

25:31Adam Schefter:But once again, when you talk about creating a culture, that's not only head coach, but it's also the staff. Hiring Dennis Allen on the defensive side, Al Harris as well. And they're bringing in some vets that can make big-time plays on both sides of the ball. He is playing unbelievable right now. I'm calling him Iceman going forward. Okay, I like that. I love the moxie. And then listening to Caleb talk, yeah, that's his thing. Listening to him talk, he sounds like a 12-year vet any time he's in front of the camera, even after that type of moment. It was all class, talking about the Packers and the rivalry, and then showing up and doing some stuff in the community with the cheese grater hat.

26:03Adam Schefter:So I love everything that Caleb's doing, and obviously it starts with your head coach.

26:07Pat McAfee:Yeah, and even more so to the Iceman just being cool as shit. Throws that ball. Hands immediately go into the thing. It's almost like a Steph Curry walk-off, which we saw from Drake May and the Patriots. It's like Chicago Bears. The new Kings of the North up there in the Bears world. Obviously, it was a midway miracle is how we framed it for the headline. Huge comeback late. Obviously, make plays whenever they need it. And the Green Bay Packers, more injuries here. Now, obviously, Jordan Love goes down with a concussion. Malik Willis goes down. It feels like the last couple weeks the injury bug has hit you guys hard.

26:43Pat McAfee:What does the rest of the season look like for the Packers, Ty Schmidt? Well, luckily, because the Lions lost yesterday, the Packers just need to win one of their last two games. They have Baltimore on Saturday this week, and then they end the season with the Vikings. If they win one of those two games, they'll get in. And right now, I mean, good question, because it seems like concussions this year have been multi-week injuries, not usually just, hey, that guy got concussed on Saturday. I mean, yeah, he took one on the button big time. So we'll see if he plays on Saturday. But it's looking like, for all intents and purposes, if the Packers can win one game, they'll get in with the seventh seed.

27:19And then they'll probably end up having to go back to Chicago and play the Bears again in the first round.

27:23Pat McAfee:And then the Patriots, the fourth ask the class team. And obviously saying the Patriots and ask together is leaving out the dynasty that they had for 20-plus years. This was the next chapter. This is when we were supposed to be celebrating New England not having a good football team. This is when the rest of the fan bases around the NFL were supposed to point and laugh at the Revolution region. This is what life is like with a real football team. You're going to have to struggle. You're going to have to see the hard times. Now, when that parade comes back, you'll certainly enjoy it more, but this is what life is like.

27:53Pat McAfee:And then all of a sudden, Mike Vrabel's still available somehow. He loves the Patriots more than maybe anybody in the history. Maybe he might love the Patriots. I mean, this just hit me as it was rolling out of my mouth. Top five for sure. behind me but top five i'm talking player coach wise because there's there was a falling out obviously with a lot of different situations now tom i think he ends up at tampa bronc julian edeman i think maybe but like julian jules for sure jules jules loves whatever the case vrabel whenever he gives his hall of fame induction speech while coaching for another team is like hey this is the greatest place on earth but i've seen other buildings i work in one right now it is ass compared to what you have here.

28:33Pat McAfee:The fans, the setup, the ownership, everything. This is dream come true for football, basically. And he gets up there. Once again, culture, culture, culture, and has the perfect quarterback for it. And then he gets stars to buy in. I mean, Stephon Diggs coaching on the sideline. Would we ever think that that's what we would be seeing this year from Stephon Diggs? I don't think so. So this Patriots team is unbelievable. Now, the other side we'll certainly talk about here in a little bit with Baltimore. But Drake May, what a perfect guy for New England. and your team goes from ask the class of the league, life is much better on this side.

29:05Yeah, life's unbelievable. Not to mention, you know, Mike Vrabel being a football savant. He also drafted four, five, maybe six Hall of Famers in this class that they just had. Kyle Williams, ridiculous touchdown catch on the sideline. He's a rookie. Craig Woodson, D-Bud actually texted me during the game. The rookie safety for New England, he's a Hall of Famer. Will Campbell not even playing. Let's keep that in mind, too. Drake May throws for 380 yards, down by 11 in the fourth quarter. Goes on an 89-yard drive to win the game at the end of the game without your starting left tackle. Starting right tackle missed about a quarter and a half.

29:39Starting running back, rookie Trevion Henderson going to be a Hall of Famer. He also, concussion, leaves the game. I mean, there really isn't that much you can say about Drake May. He's the guy going forward. I think everybody knows, especially when you watch him, he's only 23 years old. He looks like he's 43. He's 23. And then Stephon Diggs after the game saying, like, you know, I'll tell you what, he prepares to play games like, and I don't want to say the guy's name, but he prepares like Tom Brady, okay? Diggs wasn't going to say it, but everyone knows where he was going. He was walking you down.

30:11He's the next Tom Brady path. But we don't have to say it. It's very obvious. I think it's hard to watch that game, especially after watching, like, a Caleb versus Packers game. You're like, yeah, Caleb's cool. Jayden Daniels is cool. All these young rookie quarterbacks are cool. Drake May is in a different tier. He's ridiculous. He's the MVP.

30:27Pat McAfee:MVP odds very high for Drake May. Once again, he's only in his second season. You know? He's only in his second season. Another great hire, Josh McDade. Unbelievable. And he'll be there forever. He's already done the whole head coaching run around. Loves the area. DC, go ahead. Who wants to be head coach? You want to come be in DC for a little bit? Bobby Spillane's there, okay? Mike Vrabel's calling plays. You're just hanging out for a little bit. Yeah, it's like the opposite of what the Chiefs had. Bingo. You know, for a long time. Congrats to the Patriots. Congrats, Patriots. And we can all, if our team becomes completely ass and a shite show, we can look to those four teams as like, hey, next season can be better.

31:02Pat McAfee:You need to make a lot of good hires. But next season can certainly be better. Let's go to number four headline coming out of the week. That's AFC North football, baby. Coach Mike, Tom, when? And is it hard over in Baltimore? Oh, no. It's getting a lot. It's getting a lot in Baltimore. Derek Henry scores another touchdown. and doesn't touch the ball. The hell are we doing? Has John Harbaugh lost his football sense? Has John Harbaugh lost the team? How come this team looks so different than in the years past? Is the message not getting home anymore? And how are they blowing leads like this all the damn time?

31:41Pat McAfee:Is it a culture issue? Is it a talent issue? Is it a team issue? Is it a stale issue? Is it Coach Harbover in Baltimore, D-Buzz?

31:52Adam Schefter:I'm not going to call for his job. He's still a great football coach in my mind. But Baltimore Ravens fans, they are loud and have been loud because when you talk about both of these franchises that we just had up on the screen, the Ravens and the Steelers, those are championship-caliber franchises. And coming into this season, I think the Ravens were, what, either a one or two. Okay, the Super Bowl favorite to win it. So to be looking at a place where you're almost not going to make the playoffs, obviously you have injuries at your quarterback, but just critical fumbles. Once again, Zay Flowers, South Florida guy, I love him.

32:22Adam Schefter:You can't fumble the ball in a big moment like that again. Derrick Henry didn't touch the ball for the last 12 minutes, I think, with the backup quarterback in the game. That's insane, but he had another big fumble in this game as well. He's obviously a great play, chasing down and punching it out, but you can't have that in this game. And this is what you've seen over and over again with the Ravens. You talked about blowing fourth-quarter leads. They talked about it on teleclass last night. I think it was 12 games at that point with seven-plus lead in the fourth quarter, and you lost them. Like, that's historically bad, so something's got to change.

32:50Pat McAfee:That bums out butter and the boys are really good. I mean, you have the lead and then you lose it. And this team was supposed to go to the Super Bowl. A lot of people thought. I was excited to watch the Ravens. Continue to be excited to watch the Ravens. Anytime I see their name on the screen, like, hey, we got a Ravens game. Sick. I'm going to be able to see Lamar Jackson play football. I'm pumped about that. It started great, too. They're making it look really good. Zay a couple times. Derek running it. Lamar moving, spinning it. Yeah, defense doing their thing. It's like, all right, this is what we've been waiting for.

33:17Pat McAfee:This is what everybody's been waiting for. Then he just blew it at the end again. And Lamar doesn't – he had his ankle taped. I saw that. Okay, so I didn't know – I don't know if we all knew, but I certainly didn't remember an ankle being a thing. But him coming on to the field with his ankle, and then he had the hamstring this year, then he was sick. It was like – it feels like we haven't seen the electrifying Lamar Jackson all year either that we've seen. Through the air, he can certainly spin it. But whenever he was running, it just looked different this year, the entire year. Is it because of injuries?

33:44Pat McAfee:What does next year look like? I mean, there's a lot of combos about that. And then the AFC North, there's one thing that's going to be as steady as death in taxes, brother. And that's Mike Tomlin is going to Tom win. 19 consecutive non-losing seasons. That's 500 or better as a coach. Tom Landry had 20 winning seasons. He had won 500 seasons, 8-8 or whatever. Bill Belichick obviously did what he did with New England for so long. And Tomlin has 18 winning seasons with one 8-8 season. And then they have 22 in total as a team. Hey, we're used to winning football around here. Now, Tom Wynn gets a big one in Detroit.

34:21Steelers fans, ecstatic, right? We're ready to go? More than ecstatic, Pat. Like, more than ecstatic. Like, because, you know, they won in Steelers fashion. It having to come down to the last play and the last drive and blowing a fourth quarter lead. That is how the Steelers do it. But the other rest of the game was not in Steelers fashion. They had almost 500 yards of total offense, 230 on the ground. Aaron was unbelievable. They only gave up 15 rushing yards to Sonic and Knuckles. I don't want to say their other nickname. 15 rushing yards to Sonic.

34:52Pat McAfee:Oh, they're saying ass and cheeks? I think they are. Oh, no. Foxy, why are you guys doing that? We cannot call these two running backs ass and cheeks. If you want to call the offensive line ass and cheeks, go ahead. Ass, cheeks. Ass, cheeks. Ass. That would be the starting five? Is that what you're saying? Except for Penny Sewell. Don't touch him. Oh, sorry. Ass, cheeks. Ass, cheeks. I don't know. That's a flip of Derek Harmon. Thank you. Dogging him, too. But anyway. We love Penny. We love Penny. I know. We do. We do. I would like Penny to go. Well, I don't mind riggaeton. Sure, man. Speaking of riggaeton.

35:23Pat McAfee:But Penny Sewell, we are big fans of Penny. Go ahead. Speaking of riggaeton and Sonic and Nuggle and ass and cheeks, maybe Mario and Luigi and Kenneth Gainwell and Jalen Warren. They were both under over 100 yards total, each of them. They've been awesome the entire single year. Everything went well yesterday, except for the fourth quarter. we decide to go into prevent defense with 12 minutes left. That's been kind of the thing over the last three games. Last year, though, the Steelers went into the playoffs losing four straight. They've won three straight this year, so the momentum... That's a running back.

35:54Yes, it is. It is a running back. He has five games this year, over 100 total scrimmage yards. He has won before this season. So, Ken Gainwell has been unbelievable this year. Everything was awesome yesterday. Tomlin, last two weeks, five of five on fourth down. They only have 11 fourth down conversions on the entire year. Five in the last two weeks. So he's coaching a little differently, a little more aggressively. Everything was great yesterday. Everyone feels really, really good about the Steelers right now, where they are, especially with the playoff picture.

36:22Pat McAfee:Yeah, can we win it all? Yes, I think we – yeah. TJ still not playing. Two wins without TJ. That's huge. That's very abnormal. This was without TJ, without Nick Herbig. Echols, the slot guy, got hurt earlier in the game. Yes, there's some injuries going on. Hopefully our NFC brother and the Packers take care of business on Saturday night, or we can win on Sunday against the Browns and get in potentially see what the situation is week 18. But, yes, I think because, like, with the AFC, there are really, really good teams. Like, we talked about the Jags and the Patriots and the Broncos and the Chargers and the Bills.

36:53Like, those are all really, really good teams. But I don't know if there's, like, that team where you're like, oh, that's a definite loss. Like, I think any of these teams in the AFC, no matter who's playing who, like, feels like they have a chance this year.

37:05Pat McAfee:I think so, too. Patriots are my only difference just strictly because I see Vrape. Like, Vrabes trying to get cauliflower here. Oh, yeah. With the left side of his headset. Do you see that? He's got that thing trapped down the top of his thing. Needs some pain. Yeah, that legitimately might be what he's doing. Because every time I see him, I'm like, the guy, he's got to feel that. I mean, on your ears. Doesn't he coach with taxon issues? I didn't think about that probably. I mean, there's a chance he's chewing on actual rocks over there, too, just keep his edge. So I think about the Patriots.

37:32Pat McAfee:I'm like, I think the Patriots are going to win most games that they play. I think Josh Allen, tough to pick against Josh Allen. But I think Aaron Rodgers, Tomlin, everybody on that squad, especially if TJ is able to get back, which we're not saying he's going to, I don't think anybody really knows what's going to happen in that entire situation. We're hoping for it. It's like Steelers fans, I think rightfully so, think they can win it all. Now, if they don't, quarterback, not probably, unless Aaron, you know, maybe he's playing right now. He is playing right now. The demon Adam Thielen. Yeah, Thielen's doing it.

38:02Pat McAfee:Scooty, Scott Miller got a ball the other day. I mean, now we've got to talk about, obviously, the incident that took place with the blue hair in the stands. DK Metcalf grabs shirt of fan from Detroit in second quarter. And then side angle shows shoved shirt, but certainly in a very aggressive manner. Blue hair guy celebrates immediately upon it happening because he knows everything that he was hoping to accomplish certainly gets accomplished. There was certainly some physicality there from DK to Old Buddy. Now, old buddy told the Detroit Free Press that he called DK by his full name or something along those lines.

38:39Pat McAfee:Now, DK's actual name on X is his full name. And then there was other reporters that have said like, hey, I did a story on his name. They're seemingly not would get him this fired up to do this. Then DK reached out to Ocho. And on nightcap, Ocho said that he said the N word, I believe, and said something about his mother. Obviously, the Pittsburgh Steelers have not said anything yet. I think they are probably waiting. We have not talked to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but we are assuming the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to wait for the NFL to say something first, and then the Pittsburgh Steelers will kind of just follow suit in the entirety.

39:14Pat McAfee:We assume that there's mics on DK because he's a$30 million a year guy, DK Metcalf, Steelers on a hopeful Super Bowl push, Aaron Rodgers' potential last season. I assume there's a lot of mics on a lot of people, and on the sidelines there's a lot of boom mics. So we assume there'll be some sort of investigation on what happened, how it happened, but obviously you can't be touching fans at games. This is a nightmare for the NFL. This is not great news. But I think there'll be a lot more clarity, and I think everybody's probably waiting on that as it continues to roll on. I don't know if I missed anything there.

39:46Adam Schefter:No, crazy situation. Obviously, you talked about the Tom Pellicero tweet, talked about the history there, and then I think some other fan nearby said they had the input. But right now, as she's saying until we hear some audio, if we ever do, And when I saw the reaction from DK, that was the only thing I thought. It's only one word that I could see to get that type of reaction on the field. And then, hey, however you react, you react. But outside of that, like you said, as a professional athlete, you got to kind of have some restraint. And then fans, you know, it got to be some line there of what can and can't be said.

40:15Adam Schefter:So we always talk about it in public. Hey, once we came back, you can get punched in the mouth. And that counts for people that are in uniform, too. So we'll see how it plays out. And DK, we'll see how it plays out in the NFL as well.

40:26Pat McAfee:To that point about in real life, a lot of people on the internet have gotten very comfortable being chatty. You know, that has become something. I think COVID expedited that because it was the only way to really communicate with people. So people got real comfortable with the shit. And we gave a warning as COVID ended. Like, hey, remember now, in real life, people weren't just about the tweets and scrolling. Like, they actually hear it and they're there with you. And that first weekend back in live stadiums, boy, let the bodies hit the floor. I mean, there was a lot of pent up, a lot happening around there.

40:57Pat McAfee:And we're not saying that's how this should be. But we are saying there's like a moral code, I believe. You have the fan code that you sign up for whenever you buy a ticket. It's in there. They run the entire thing. So whenever they do and find out what it is, not saying that a fan should ever be grabbed. Performer and audience, physicality, not good, cannot happen. Actually cannot happen. But there are standards for both sides that are going to be obviously examined. And to your point, who knows if we ever find out what it is. You know, I saw a guy take a helmet off, and I still have no idea.

41:31Yeah. And everybody in there was miked.

41:34Pat McAfee:So I don't know if we'll ever find out, but obviously this cannot be happening. Okay, let's go to our third headline. The refs are on contract here. Yeah. Okay. Are they? The refs are on contract here. So normally when you're on a contract here, D, but what are you trying to do? Put your best foot forward. Every time. Trying to run that back up. Damn right. That's what we're trying to do, right? Is there a chance that these guys and girls are saying, let's show them what it could be like with ass officials. Let's remind them of what it was like whenever we had the replacement refs. Because it seems like, and now, granted, there's more primetime games, so there's going to be more eyes on all these calls.

42:08Pat McAfee:There are some terrible calls that happen at 1 o 'clock games that are slid into regional television that nobody really hears. More primetime games, we're going to see more stuff. But even if it is the right call, which we kind of agree with the right call because of the bygones, the three-minute talk on the field optically looks terrible, and then coming out of that just cutting a heel promo, we don't think that's the best way to go about doing it. Nope. We don't think that is necessarily the best way for a game to end. And then you talk about the Patriots game. The Patriots had multiple. You had to have seen it by now.

42:38Pat McAfee:There's a pass interference where the guy is actually, I mean, he's actually hugging him. He's hugging his entire body. And the catch is made, I do believe. No, I'm sorry, sorry. It should have been made. And then, obviously, there's no call for pass interference. Marlon Humphrey had a pick in the game. Clearly pass interference. What are you watching if you're not calling that? Right there. And then it wasn't even just that in this game. There's also a roughing the passer that takes place that, I mean, I guess there was contact chest-to-chest and face masks touched each other. But do we need to be calling a roughing the passer, which is a 15-yard penalty?

43:12Pat McAfee:A very, very, very gigantic penalty. I mean, 15 yards is a huge thing. A turnover. A turnover, but also 15 seconds left. I mean, who knows? Just in that moment, calling that is just like a bad decision. So a little bit more self-awareness we'd like to have. And then obviously Thursday night, we didn't get a chance to chat about it. What a game. Unbelievable. Insane. What a game. Great. And then the two-point situation where it was a foul, then it wasn't a foul, it was deflected. And then having the whole setup going back. And then going back in that moment in the time, it's like, can we work on the optics of some of these things?

43:48Pat McAfee:even if you get it right. We need it to be better just because you're representing the league, representing the game, let alone getting calls wrong, let alone having seemingly no football awareness on what should be called on what particular play. But as we get into the most important time of year here, we need some awareness about what the game needs and what it doesn't need and how it needs it, D.

44:06Adam Schefter:Yeah, absolutely. The most important thing, obviously, is getting it right. But when you have that white cap on, you're representing the game, you're representing the league to the millions that are watching. But getting it right is the number one thing. We agree. This play was unbelievable. This is something that I've never seen before. I don't know about you. The replay, I think the players on the field, especially the defense, because you've been around football a long time, we all have, we always preach, hey, pick up the ball, pick up the ball, pick up the ball. And the fact that the Rams, nobody on the team thought about even going to the ball on like a lateral type play because of it bouncing forward.

44:38Adam Schefter:You know, I think that kind of just almost freezes you, even on punts. It's like, hey, poison, poison, just get away from it, don't worry about it. but Charbonnet having a heads up being aware, picking the ball up and end up being the difference in this game.

44:49Pat McAfee:So wouldn't that be considered a Sam Darnold fumble? He fumbles it because it was a backwards. Yes. So then how can you advance a fumble? There are so many intricacies which once again, ref, these are, this is roll on this as opposed to saying touchdown. Yeah, right. We're joking. Like you are representing the game. We think that needs to be talked about in the contract here with the refs as well. Yeah, and that makes no sense. but this play right here is going to decide the one seed in the NFC. We're talking about the playoffs, a bye, the most important thing some of these teams need, especially in an 18-week, 17-game season.

45:25That bye week for the playoffs is massive, and this is the play that's going to most likely define who is the one seed in the NFC.

45:33Pat McAfee:Primetime games, a lot of eyes, a lot of important outcomes. Good luck to the refs. You're on a contract here. Remember, we need your best shit. And also, the guy, the Big 12 crew that reffed the Texas A &M-Miami game, let's get them in the NFL. I don't know how we fast pass. I don't know how we fast pass, so let's get them up there. They seemingly understand ball, all of them. They have like a good feel for it.

45:54Adam Schefter:A &M fans might not agree.

45:57Pat McAfee:Why?

45:57Adam Schefter:They didn't like the flag not being thrown in the Torrey hit. On the helmet? Yeah, when he knocked himself out.

46:03Pat McAfee:Would it have mattered? Would they have changed play call? They would have had a fresh set of downs a bit. Yeah, and they probably would have ran it. That's a big boo-boo.

46:10Adam Schefter:Whatever the case. For sure.

46:11Pat McAfee:Certainly helmet to helmet, though. Let's get to the number two headline coming out of the weekend. Philly flies over FOSTA back-to-back NFC titles. First time in 21 years somebody has won the NFC East back-to-back times. It is the Super Bowl champs. And when you talk about flying over FOSTA, it's every day. It's every day with this team, seemingly. And Nick Sirianni and the boys somehow remain focused. I love the fact that Cooper DeGene is dropping a five-knuckle shuffle, especially with everything that was going on in his potential rumored life. and then Jalen Hurts playing ball, Saquon Barkley doing his thing.

46:42Pat McAfee:The commander's obviously an interesting spot, but whenever you talk about going back-to-back in a division that hasn't had back-to-back, you have to respect it. A lot of primetime games, obviously very similar style of football year in, year out. Eagles able to get it done. Do we think they can win a Super Bowl again and go back-to-back not only NFC East, but also a Super Bowl?

46:58Adam Schefter:You know, I'm a little biased here. I think so. You know, I think you have a quarterback, you have a coach, a coaching staff, a defense. You have guys pretty much who have done it already, so I think they're battle-tested. it this was a battle too this was a cagey affair against a four-win washington commanders team and they found a way to get it done they'll have to find that running game back and i think when lane johnson gets back in there it'll be a completely different run game and jaylen hurts has been looking better down the stretch it was against what the raiders and the commanders now you'll obviously be taste uh facing some good uh good ball clubs down the stretch but i think they have what it takes in the building to get it done in the playoffs devontae smith blocking down the

47:33Pat McAfee:field here to free him i mean that's buy-in that's commitment good for them in their biggest ball and And then the number one headline coming out of the weekend it was for the NFL, Merry Clinchmas. Hey, seven teams at Pancher taking to the playoffs. Five in the NFC, two in the AFC. There's obviously a couple teams lurking. Congrats to the Seattle Seahawks, the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, the Los Angeles Rams, and the San Francisco 49ers who are playing tonight. Congrats to them. Congrats. Congrats to the Broncos and to the Patriots. Way to go. Way to go. Thanks, guys. Thank you. The seeds that would be there would be where they would be sitting, but obviously the seeds can all change, and the top four seeds go to division champs.

48:12Pat McAfee:So, you know, that's just kind of where they're sitting at. Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers can obviously still make it. Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who's going to win the NFC South? Then in the NFC North, who else is going to get in? Then the AFC, I think it's kind of figured out who's going to be there. Conman has an entire breakdown that he's going to do later. What? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's still some teams lurking like the Indianapolis Colts who would do a huge thing for their chances if they were to win tonight. Joining us now, speaking of tonight, ladies and gentlemen, is the senior NFL insider for ESPN, Michigan man, Adam Schefter.

48:45Pat McAfee:Schefter! Schefter, happy holidays, Merry Christmas, all of them. We kind of put you in a box here for only nine minutes, and we need a lot of information because there's been a lot of injuries and a lot of things happening. Let's start with tonight. San Francisco 49ers, five-and-a-half point favorites with the Indianapolis Colts. Phil Rivers looks smarter and faster than he's ever looked. What are a couple things we need to know before we pick tonight, Shefty? Well, the 49ers have struggled to stop the run. Jonathan Taylor has been a machine. I think we'd have an idea of what's going to come tonight.

49:16I think the Colts are going to be feeding Jonathan Taylor. I think he gets a ton of work this evening in an area that the 49ers have struggled defensively. And the Colts activated DeForest Buckner a short time ago. So that's going to help their run defense and be a big factor tonight. First game back from a neck injury. No sauce Gardner. He's out. And the Colts still are really good. It'll be Phillip River's second game with the team. And we'll see if he can save your franchise there and help get them to the playoffs in a game they have to have tonight.

49:46Pat McAfee:Sixth Monday night football game in the history of Lucas Oil Stadium, the Loud House. Can't wait for it to be on display. I heard the halftime show is going to be electrified. I saw a unicycle. Oh, no. Yeah, I think I saw a unicycle. Not 100 % sure, but I think I saw you in a cycle. All right, let's move to some other NFL stories. Go ahead, Ty. Shepty, any update on both Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson before that massive playoff implication game between the Packers and the Ravens on Saturday? Yeah, well, obviously there are some teams in some challenging quarterback spots here at the end of the season.

50:20The Packers are one. The Ravens are another. Packers have a situation where Love is still in protocol. Malik Willis banged up his shoulder. Now the good part is I don't expect them to go sign another quarterback, which tells you that at least one of those guys should be able to go on Saturday. They have Clayton Toon on their practice squad. If one of them can't go, obviously they elevate Clayton Toon and he would be the backup for Green Bay. but it sounds like they're not going to make another move for a quarterback, unlike a team like the Kansas City Chiefs that has to go at a quarterback after Mahomes and Minshew hurt their knees back-to-back weeks.

51:00We expect it to be a torn ACL for Gardner Minshew. We said this to you last week about another player, Mahomes, I think it was, as a matter of fact. So they're going to have to add another quarterback to get through the final two games of the season.

51:14Pat McAfee:Chiefs, penthouse to outhouse quick. I mean, we're talking about Dynasty about a week and a half ago now. Two straight losses, a lot of injuries, loss to the Titans in Nashville. Obviously, congrats to them getting a little bit of happiness for at least a few moments. And to the Chiefs, who knows what the years going forward look like. Also, let's talk about the next couple weeks going forward. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Schefter, obviously we saw the interaction between DK Metcalf and the fan yesterday in Detroit. What is the timeline? When do we expect the NFL to make a decision on if there's a suspension or not?

51:43and do you have any indication on what that could be? The decision I would expect to come in today, the league rules on discipline, usually on Mondays, usually later in the day, and I would expect in this particular case, obviously the fans said some things to taunt, torment, harass, badger, whatever word you want to use, DK Metcalf, but you can't do what he did to him. You can't put your hands on another fan. Again, when you speak to people around the league and look at how the league has reacted and responded to any number of situations this season. The league has not been shy in doling out suspensions.

52:23And I would think most people think that they're going to wind up suspending DK Metcalf here and he's not going to be able to play a game that the Pittsburgh Steelers will wind up having to win that division.

52:35Pat McAfee:I saw Graziano say that Mike Tomlin should have pulled him from the game and benched him and put him down. we all live in a reality where no coach would ever do that and the Steelers wait for the NFL to basically make a decision here. Is that what we're assuming takes place? Yeah, yeah. And the league will make a decision, and I would expect that to happen today. Okay, sounds good. Speaking of decisions, there's seemingly some tough ones going forward. Go ahead, D-Bud.

52:56Adam Schefter:Yeah, you know, this is the time of year we start forecasting, you know, new coaching vacancies going into the offseason. Kind of two different situations, but John Harbaugh in Baltimore. I know the Ravens fan base has been pretty loud about him, and then obviously Mike McDaniel down in Miami after that blowout loss against Cincinnati yesterday. What's the thoughts there? I think with Baltimore, he's been such an institution there, John. It's hard for me to see whether you're talking about Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh or Andy Reid, these situations going any which way other than what the coach wants it to.

53:31And I think when the coach feels like at a certain point, these guys, they're almost tenured. I know that franchises belong to the owners, but there's a certain level of respect that you get when you have done it that long, usually. And I think Baltimore, if it falls short of the playoffs, as it certainly can, they're going to have to have the organizational meetings that they always do and move forward from there. Whatever change that means, whether that's a coaching change, whether it means a player change, but I think there's some things up in the air if this team falls short here that they're going to have to go over.

54:06Every year after the season, Steve Busciotti gets together key individuals with that organization, takes them out on their boat. They go out for a few days. They discuss what's ahead for the organization. And I'd love to be on that boat this year to hear some of those conversations and what's going to transpire. As for Mike McDaniel, I know that people are saying he's safe. I don't think they've made any decisions there yet about his future. He might be safe, but he might not. I think that is still playing out in real time. And nothing has been decided there. And we'll see how that plays out over time.

54:41Nothing is decided there.

54:42Pat McAfee:Okay, that's huge, obviously, for the Miami Dolph fans and the Dolph fam community down there. A couple minutes left here. Conman has a question for you. Yeah, Shanti, first-year head coaches, some are really good. Vrabel, Ben Johnson, Liam Cohen, but then some are very, very bad. Any chance, you know, we see Pete Carroll or even Aaron Glenn maybe be one and done with how miserable they've been on offense, defense, special teams, just everything across the board? I think the Jets have no intention of changing out Aaron going after one year. I think that they like him and believe in him still, and I think he'll be given more time.

55:15When it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders, I think the year has not gone the way that everybody planned. I think all options are on the table, and I think obviously there'll be conversations there as to what happens moving forward with Pete and his future. Again, another one of those guys that I think deserves a tremendous amount of respect. and we'll see how they handle that in the offseason, but I think that one certainly is up in the air.

55:38Pat McAfee:All the coordinators have been fired over there already by the Raiders, so, I mean, that's kind of like, you know, anytime that starts happening, it feels like they are willing to move. We love Pete Carroll as well, but we assume Tom Brady getting into ownership is not to do that or whatever happened there. Who knows what the future looks like, and for the Jets, whenever they traded away everything in stockpiled picks, felt like that was a mention like, hey, we are moving in the Aaron Glenn direction. Why didn't you move yourself to Indianapolis today? Huh? ESPN started winning football. You could have been right here.

56:07Pat McAfee:We gave you a little seat right here. I didn't get invited to your studio today. Nobody invited me. Open input. Okay. That's because you're not here. Okay, Shafty. All right, ladies and gentlemen, he's the man. I've never been to the Thunderdome. Never been to the Thunderdome. Wow. I'm disgusted. But hold on. Not only have I never been to the Thunderdome, I've never been invited to the Thunderdome. Oh, Shafty! I can't believe that for a second. It's Adam Schefter, ladies. Yeah. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Not true. Always invited. Goodbye. It's Adam Schefter. I'm bummed out.

56:40What's he talking about? I mean, you've 1 ,000 % been like, come on down a million times. Had to have. Just he doesn't take it serious. Okay.

56:49Pat McAfee:True. Yeah, because he's going loose. Ten phones out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Hour two will be on the other side. Schrager will be live here, friend of the program. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It's my change of life.

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58:10Pat McAfee:This podcast is made possible by the NFL playoffs and the NFL playoffs.

58:35Pat McAfee:The San Francisco 49ers are five-and-a-half point favorites in Lucas Oil Stadium as Phil Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts are hosting their sixth ever Monday night football game at the Lighthouse. We'll obviously be in attendance. We cannot wait to watch the San Francisco 49ers team, who obviously has George Kittle and CMC and Brock Purdy, their own assortment of the exciting whites coming in to take on old man Rivers with a week of practice under his belt. Jonathan Taylor, the former NFL MVP conversation in a defense that we think has DeForest Buckner back in the middle of the D-line. It's a beautiful thing.

59:13Pat McAfee:It's a wonderful thing. We're incredibly lucky to be here, and we can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this for a living. The Talks of Table is here at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Damn! Cowboys AP Tone is here. I see you wearing that Steelers hoodie with a little bit of pride there. Yeah, this is the demon Adam Thielen's company, the UNRL. so I had to shout out to him because he had a huge game yesterday, four catches along with Scotty Miller. It was an all-around effort. I had to show up for that. Their own assortment of the exciting whites, it sounds like.

59:39Pat McAfee:And Pete Tone is excited about for the Pittsburgh Steelers, nine-year NFL vet, Darius J. Butler is here. That's a nice – anybody else got one else?

59:47Adam Schefter:Huh? Anybody else got one else? Yeah. You got one too? Oh, yeah. You two coming? Sure. I did not. Oh, all right. I did not. I don't know if I mean – Only playoff. You got heat? Only playoff team. I think you do because you knocked his ass out. That's just fair ball. I like tealing. It's a stinger. Oh, yeah. Somebody pulled that last night. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. We did. Diggs last night.

1:00:09Pat McAfee:Oh, I think it's a stinger.

1:00:10Adam Schefter:Yeah, coming in blue tent, brother.

1:00:11Pat McAfee:Oh, my God. Yeah, and he goes out the back door, they said. I loved how the information aggregates who are trying to get every piece of information that could potentially tear somebody down. They just admitted Stephon Diggs snuck out the back door. That was immediate. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Love that that's even a conversation piece. But D-Bud, tonight, Niners taking on the Colts. Obviously, five-and-a-half point spread. They think it's a little bit less than a touchdown. The Loud House is going to be spectacular. Obviously, holiday season in Indianapolis. It should be awesome. Phil Rivers at the helm.

1:00:42Pat McAfee:What do you think they do against this Niners defense led by Salah and the boys? And what do you think the Niners can do against this Indianapolis Colts defense that gets DeForest Buckner back?

1:00:52Adam Schefter:I mean, I feel very good about our chances, especially you're already in uniform damn near with the sweater, this helmet, seeing these jerseys. First time Phillip Rivers having some fans in the stands. Prime time. I like our chances. We went on to the road in Seattle, one of the most hostile environments in the NFL. And now his second game with the team, he's home much more comfortable. Had an extra day rest for that arm. I'm sure he loved that. So I like our chances tonight. Need a big night out of Jonathan Taylor. Need a big night out of 2-8 at home. And he's delivered a bunch of big games at home.

1:01:20Adam Schefter:And I think we'll get a little more creative in the past game. Fast track. It's been a little more comfortable. Yep.

1:01:26Pat McAfee:And then on the other side, what do you think Brock Purdy and the boys can do to the Colts defense? No sauce. That was obviously talked about. Ward, I believe not. Not playing as well. Our two number one corners out. DeForest Buckner back, though, gigantic.

1:01:37Adam Schefter:Huge, huge. DeForest 99 being back in the middle of the defense would be a huge, obviously, addition to that defense. But we played well. We played great last week in Seattle. Once again, needed a walk-off field goal to win that game. So, once again, on that side of the ball, I like our chances as well. The crowd needs to play a role. It needs to be a big part tonight. need to show up and I think we will.

1:01:58Pat McAfee:What's that? It's just a lot.

1:01:59Adam Schefter:Oh, okay.

1:02:00Pat McAfee:Adam Vinatieri hitting the anvil. Oh, wow. Hold the phones. Is that breaking? I think it was... He's going to break the anvil. I think it was... I think the Colts social media released it. I wonder if they capitalized the V in Vinny. Probably not. We hope so, though. No chance. For the good of the Paisan, obviously, Adam Vinatieri beloved out here in Indianapolis. Oh, yeah.

1:02:18Adam Schefter:Legend.

1:02:19Pat McAfee:Stayed out here, raised his family out here. Obviously, he's Adam Vinatieri and he... Yeah. Okay. Strapping young lad. Strapping middle-aged lad. Middle-aged lad, I believe. You're about to see a jacked Italian bang the hell out of a hammer onto an anvil, and he knows the deal. There's some people that go up there. I was very lucky. I believe I was the first person to ever do it. Very thankful for that. It was a different hammer, different anvil. Now it's a completely different spot. It's actually become a pretty sick little pregame routine for the Loud House because it involves something like pretty violent.

1:02:52Adam Schefter:I want to know what me on the anvil. Exactly. You did well, too, by the way.

1:02:55Pat McAfee:You actually hit that thing.

1:02:56Adam Schefter:You had to.

1:02:56Pat McAfee:Some people, I think they like, oh, this is kind of a gimmick. If you're swinging a hammer or something, a big hammer, people can see if you're swinging it or not. We're not pulling punches here. Let that thing hit that thing. There are some people that, I don't want to say basketball players, but.

1:03:12Adam Schefter:Oh, no. Yeah.

1:03:13Pat McAfee:I've seen basketball players. I think the job is to just put the hammer onto the thing. It's fading away, too. It wasn't Tyrese. I'm not going to say the exact thing. It sounds like it was Tyrese. It was not Tyrese. Rick Smith? Our Olympic gold medalist would never do that, Tyrese Albert. And also, new shoes seem to be doing well for him, and he's not even playing, so good for him. But, yeah, Vinny will be trying to break that thing. So I think it should be an electrifying start. Need the team, though, to continue giving things for people to continue to stay with it. I think that's a big deal, especially late night.

1:03:41Pat McAfee:We've got work tomorrow, Christmas right around corner. There might be some boosin, maybe some tiredness, maybe some of this. So let's make sure we have a little energy on that field. Shane Steichen. Yeah, you're going to need it early, too, because if they don't, you can assume all those factors. will cause people to leave. But this is massive for the ticket punching. If the Colts lose, Bills, Jags, Chargers in the dance. Their tickets are punched if the Niners win. And Niners can still get number one seed in the NFC. Yeah, if Niners win out, they are the one seed. Okay, so a lot on the line tonight for both teams.

1:04:10Pat McAfee:Colts need to win a stay in it. And they have announced what the halftime show is. Halftime Colts Carnival. Cheer and drumline light show featuring Red Panda and a pogo stick stunt team. What? I believe the Pogo Stick Stunt Team actual circus act. Like, they travel. Yeah, because I don't know how well known it is. Peru, Indiana, which is in the state of Indiana. North. It's right. So, the state of Indiana. It's right there inside the state of Indiana. Yeah, exactly. Everyone knows where Peru is. I think it's next to Miami, Indiana. Yeah, it's like northwest. Okay, Peru, Indiana. Argentina. It's in the state.

1:04:47Pat McAfee:Anyways, it's like the home, I believe, of multiple circus acts, circus schools. Like, Peru, Indiana is like a circus capital. Yeah, actual. I think a lot of people go there, potentially. From my understanding, this pogo stick stunt team is a traveling carny circus stunt team. So what that means is they're going to go for it. Like, that is what they—these things, these things like to go. Like the Jabberwockies. Yeah. What's that? They're just like the Jabberwockies. Jabberwockies. Like when you think of groups in your head that go, Jabberwockies, the Peruvian, Peru, Indiana, Pogo Stickers. Team.

1:05:23Yeah.

1:05:24Pat McAfee:I'm not talking like Jabberwockies, I think a little different path because I think they're like, what I'm saying is they're doing this in tents. They around. And they're going for it. You know, and they're very experienced. A lot of reps, a lot of time. Absolute dogs from my understanding. Never seen them. Okay. Never seen them. If you're doing Pogo Stick tricks, you're going crazy. Send. We're talking about send. And then you've got Red Panda that's going to be a part of this. And then a drumline light show happened. I've never seen Red Panda on the turf. I know. I'm very intrigued. They're going to have to roll on a stage like it's half the thing.

1:05:56Pat McAfee:I hope they know that. What's that? Hey, let's get a stand. She might have an ATV wheel. She might have a little bit of a bigger wheel. All terrain. Oh, what if she does take her little one, throws it out, all of a sudden a drumline with maybe an electric guitar. She gets this big wheel one. She hops up on top of that thing. Drives them off the truck in.

1:06:16Adam Schefter:Run this shit over.

1:06:17Pat McAfee:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, maybe the pogo stick team is actually laying down, and she rolls over top of them. There's a chance. Yeah, or the pogo stick team pisses her off, and Rod Ben was like, you know what? I got my big-ass wheel. I'm going to run over these little pogo sticks. What if her unicycle is a pogo stick as well? We haven't even thought about that. We haven't even thought about her rolling, and then boing, boing. We haven't even. We haven't even thought about that. Have we? I mean, we haven't even thought about that. There's a chance that that's – see, that's what we're saying. It's a big one tonight.

1:06:50Pat McAfee:It's a big one. It's a big one tonight. I hope she's practiced, especially coming off the, you know, broken wrist or whatever it was because one of these pogo stickers, they might go into business for themselves and just say, you know, fuck it, I'm just going to go over Red Panda. We'll see if she can handle it. A bad moonsault. Yeah, exactly. I didn't even think about a slow moonsault. Big backflip during a bowl flip. All right. All right. Let's not – so many opportunities. I know.

1:07:12Adam Schefter:I'm going to say you drink cocktails at the bottom. You see that? I did not. I'm sure you'll probably be boozing.

1:07:16Pat McAfee:Our suite is going to be – it's all right. We lost it. Here's the pogo stick team that we potentially – What? Is this who they are or is this just a team? This seems like the prominent pogo stick stunt team. That's not – but you don't know? So this is what's possible potentially. Okay. Whoa. That was it. Okay. Maybe. Okay. Maybe this is – There's going to be – Oh! That's what we're saying. We got a bunch of Travis Pastranas at halftime tonight. I like that. I like that. Okay, so tonight's a big one. They need hardwood, too. Joining us now, ladies. Yeah, they need a stage. No, they got the pogos for everything.

1:07:50Believe me. Coconut husk? Yeah, just wait. There might be a claw on the bottom of one of these pogo sticks. And if they're not getting enough, they will send someone off the top deck to go down on it. Really?

1:08:00Pat McAfee:Like where Blue throws the football from? Exactly. Wow, that'd be crazy if they were able to land that in spot. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, from Manatic in Ohio, He's a man who's a college football national champion. Hell, he might be a part of halftime show tonight. I hope. Who knows? Ladies and gentlemen, the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers, A.J. Hawk. Yeah, Hawk. Hawk, we thought maybe cowboy hat and cowboy boots for the rest of your life with how cool you looked on Saturday. Great to see you, brother. With this halftime show, potentially the greatest of all time right now.

1:08:26Pat McAfee:We got the making. Yeah. The Peru, Indiana pogo stick squad. Hey, I'm not joking. I'm a pretty legit pogo stick person, however you call it. I don't know what you would call that. But my buddy's dad had these big time commercial pogo sticks growing up. They were huge. And we used to pogo all the time for probably five, six, seven years, man. I'm on your side here. I didn't have an industrial grade pogo stick. But I did run into one whenever I was happening around neighborhoods. You know, we're either roller skating or roller blading or biking around. And then we'd end up in a neighborhood somewhere.

1:09:02Pat McAfee:And all of a sudden, a kid would be like, look what this kid's got. and it would be a monster pogo stick. You could really – I think I ended up on a roof. I think I ended up on a roof. Or maybe it wasn't me. Maybe somebody else. Somebody pogo stick landed on roof, left pogo stick, ended up on roof. They got those thick ass – Oh, yeah. The big pogers are no joke. Like the big black ones, I'm being dead serious, it actually has a bigger spring as well in the middle. Yeah. I know what you're talking about because there are some that are like kind of field goal soccer corner kick stand. Like, that's a normal pogo stick.

1:09:38Kind of thinner, yes. Yeah, a little thinner.

1:09:39Pat McAfee:Kind of just like for the civilian usage. Yes. Yeah, and then there's the industrial commercial pogo sticks. They're hard to find. I've been looking online for years to find the ones that my dad's or my buddy's dad had. You cannot find them anywhere, honestly. Tonight, we'll try to get a contact. We'll try to get a couple of these for you. Get someone's business card, please. Okay, we certainly will. And we're excited that they're doing the show. Speaking of doing the show, ladies and gentlemen, joining us live. What an honor. This guy's an Emmy Award-winning television personality. He's been a part of the NFL since forever, basically.

1:10:09Pat McAfee:He's been a part of our program literally since the first day we asked. He was at another network for a while, and then he comes over to another couple of networks, then he comes over to ESPN. Didn't forget about us, did he? This guy never forgot about us. Some other people forgot about us. Yeah. Talking to you, Dan Orlovsky, choosing not to come to Indianapolis. I got something for you, Dan O. Yes, we do. Ladies and gentlemen, to join us for the next 44 minutes or so, it's Peter Schrager in the Schrager 44 minutes. Yeah, Schrager.

1:10:45Pat McAfee:Good, Schrager.

1:10:49Pat McAfee:I'm never here when you're here. I felt like righteous gemstones coming out of it. We need to give you a little bit more lighting. Baby Billy. Yeah, it's on us. We apologize. Remember the pogo ball? What's that? The pogo ball. Does anyone know this when we were kids? It was a ball that you would jump around the neighborhood with. With the little held-on thing here? No. Sorry with the microphone here. I'm going to get physical. It was a ball, and there was a little outer ring to it. And you would hop on the ball all across. I don't remember that. I don't think we ever made it. Jersey. 1980s. There it is.

1:11:23That thing. Nothing. I mean, that's for infants. That's not for anyone over 60 pounds. Yeah, all the weird kids had those.

1:11:31Pat McAfee:Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don't deserve that, Shreggs, and neither does New Jersey. I will say, I never saw one of those things. I am thankful for that. Shout out Tim McAfee not bringing one of those. No, no, no, that's what we had. But the Pogos, did you ever do the industrial Pogo? Not what he's talking about. Yeah, that super thick one. They got good springs. I think we're going to see that tonight. These guys were on America's Got Talent, if I remember. I'm an America's Got Talent. I'm an AGT guy. Yeah, me too. Extreme job. They were unbelievable when they were on AGT. So if it's the same guys, like, we're in for a show.

1:12:00With Red Panda. With, I mean.

1:12:02Pat McAfee:And then a light show. Embarrassment of riches. That's what Monday Night Football at Lucas Oil Stadium is all about. I'm excited. Let's ask ESPN maybe to bring it back. You know, that would be good for our schedule makers to do that. Speaking of the schedule, San Francisco 49ers can still get the number one seed. Obviously, the Colts need to win. They have small chances, but still have chances to make it to the playoffs. Five and a half point dogs at home. What are you thinking about this game tonight, Tregs? And thank you for coming out here. Oh, absolutely. I love being here. I went back and watched, obviously, Phillip Rivers against Seattle.

1:12:31The guy played well. Did everything you could ask for him. The issue here is going to be how does he feel eight days later after playing? Can he still move his body? Can he still get around? Can he be mobile enough? It's actually a good matchup for him. As good as the 49ers' defense is, they're last in the league in sacks. They're not great on pressuring the quarterback. And if he can get to a seven-on-seven situation where he's just making a pizza in the back and just dissecting, this is the defense to do it again. He can do it. He can do it. So, you know, you talk to the people in the Niners organization, not for a second are they like, oh, we're going to take off Phillip Rivers' head.

1:13:06Like, they are actually very fearful that if he gets comfortable in the pocket, he can dissect that defense.

1:13:10Pat McAfee:Okay, I love to hear that. Obviously, we know that Jonathan Taylor can get busy, and tonight's going to be fantastic. Let's pivot away from Monday Night Football. Let's just talk about NFL as a whole. Seven spots secured for the playoffs coming out of this particular Sunday. Obviously, we had Thursday night, Saturday, and Sunday games. Kind of your take on where we sit as an NFL. Five teams in the NFC are in. Two automatically already in the AFC. What does this kind of tell you, Schrags, and what are your thoughts? The parody is great because you have all these teams that have not been perennial powers the last few years.

1:13:42I will say this. There has been sort of the excitement and the fangs out of Week 17 and 18 taken out just a little bit with all these teams having already clinched. And that Netflix schedule on Trippis is awful. Awful. Awful. And you can't flex out of it. So that's awful. The Amazon game at night is awful. So NBA is back, baby. That's what it is. No, I'm kidding. But it's just like as far as like Christmas Day, there was thoughts that those matchups were going to really dictate how the playoff picture was going to be. Pretty much insignificant. It'll come down to week 18. I know ESPN's got two Saturday games.

1:14:15One of them will obviously be of great significance. Another one will be at 430. But I look at this status here. It's like, all right, we've got some new logos in there. and then the teams that are going to be like the five seeds might be the Rams and the Bills who everyone might want to just say, well, those are the teams I know. They're the ones who are going to go on the runs.

1:14:30Pat McAfee:Yeah, and it is. We had a thing ask the class of the league in the first hour. It was actually our fifth headline coming out of the weekend. It's like you think about the Bears, the Patriots, the Panthers, and the Jags. It's like last year, 4-13 or whatever it was. This year kind of leading in the way. That's a beautiful thing for the league as a whole, but it is tough for schedule makers to get Christmas right whenever they're trying to project what teams are going to matter. Nobody could have thought it was going to be these four. Yeah, no shot, especially when you're thinking about first-year head coaches and just what that success typically looks like.

1:15:01That is the cool thing about the last two weeks, though, is all the seeds are up for grabs. Nobody has a division locked up, and nobody has any of the seeds locked up. There's a situation where tonight, I mean, the sixth seed is the Niners, and they might be the one seed. And then if you look at the AFC side as well, The Broncos haven't even won the division yet, and still they're kind of the runaway first team to clinch in the AFC. That will be what's interesting these last couple weeks is who's going to get that first round by. If the 49ers were to win out, and they've got this game, they've got the Bears, they've got the Seahawks, they will not have to play a single game outside of SoFi after tonight.

1:15:38They've got two home games left regular season. They would clinch the NFC West, and then there's never been a team, because I know the Buccaneers and Rams did it, but they didn't do it as one seeds that went the entire distance through the playoffs and won a Super Bowl in their own building. That's on the table for the 49ers, and I challenge anybody to go Google the 49ers depth chart, name four of their defenders right now.

1:15:58Pat McAfee:Yeah, it sounds like Shanahan should be up for coach of the year. You would think, and yet you don't hear his name anywhere in the conversation because everyone wants— It feels like that's a new coach thing. Yeah. Doesn't it feel like it's kind of like you graduate into being an NFL coach? Liam Cohen, Ben Johnson, and then maybe Mike Vrabel for bringing back the Patriots in a way that he has. Well, if Shane Steichen's able to get the boys in the playoffs. Okay. McDonald's. Mike McDonald's. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. McDonald's out there in Seattle. I mean, Shanahan being able to do this. As soon as we saw Warner and Bosa go down, I think we as a show, and we apologize to the Niners faithful, naturally we're like, okay, they're dead.

1:16:31Pat McAfee:Purdy, too. Yeah, Purdy was all banged up. Purdy banged up. Mack Jones was playing. It's like, are they moving on for Brock Purdy? They're dead. No, Iuke. Oh, he was driving by.

1:16:40Adam Schefter:He's going way too fast. Yeah, he's doing some dumb. Hufanga and Drake Greenlaw signed with Denver. Those were two defensive leaders. I'm telling you, go look at their depth chart. There are names that are not household names that are going to be asked to play huge roles late.

1:16:53Pat McAfee:And that's why Colts need to pull them away. That's why names we know. Phil Rivers, yeah, we know them. Jonathan Taylor, ever heard of them? Yeah, star-studded Colts team. Needs to put this Niners team away. But the thing that sucks about that is it feels like their offensive style and system is going to create yards regardless, especially with Brock Purdy. They got George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey. Those two might be the dynamic duo that maybe the league can't stop for the eternal time as long as they stay healthy. And on defensive side, Salah became the head coach of the Jets because of how damn great he is.

1:17:22Pat McAfee:He falls right back into place. They got players that are NFL talent. They'll be able to take care of business is how they view it, and they certainly have. And if they get the number one seed in the NFC, I mean, definitely warranted of coach of the year conversation. AJ has a question for you. Shregs over there in Ohio. Hey, buddy. Yes, Shregs, you mentioned Liam Cohn. The Jags went into Denver, got a huge win on the road yesterday, I guess. What are your thoughts on them heading into a possible playoff push? All right, so there's X's and O's, and then there's personality of a team and vibe of a team.

1:17:52No team has leaned into the nobody-believes-in-us narrative and the small-market-no-one-wants-us-here narrative more than this version of the Jaguars. And Liam is 100 % the rider of that bus. Sean Payton, most innocuous comment last week says, I know a lot of people haven't seen them. They're a small market team. Oh, I didn't know that was in response. Oh, yes. That was Sean Payton said that. And I talked to Sean. He didn't know it. He wasn't thinking to like, Liam took that, showed that to the team, showed it to the social media account. And then they go and they do their thing. Two weeks ago, Trevor Lawrence, they beat the Colts.

1:18:25Trevor Lawrence says, I know everybody else in the national media wants to talk about other teams in our own division because everyone was raving about the Texans after their Thursday night win against the Bills. He's like, we're fine with that. We know nobody wants us here. So you've got all these guys that are now leaning into this, hey, we're just a 30-second market in the NFL. No one wants us. We're not going to be on anyone's radar. And they're actually embodying that. And that is such a vibe thing, but that is a first-year coach with a young staff. Their defensive coordinator, a guy named Anthony Campanelli, jersey guy, total hype-up defensive coordinator, 40 years old.

1:18:58Their offensive coordinator, Grant Yudinski, 29 years old. Liam's 38. Their GM's 34. It's a bunch of young guys who have this young team believing. And it's one of those deals where it's like it could just be one of these runaway, charismatic bandwagon, us-against-the-world teams, which we get. For a long time. Yeah, for a long time.

1:19:18Pat McAfee:Many years. As you're laying it out, I don't love what that does for a team, what you were just saying there. And obviously the Colts got Niners, Jags, and Texans down the stretch, can still do it. Jags can still do it, and Texans can still do it. Trevor Lawrence still playing his best ball. Unbelievable. I mean, we forgot he's a stallion when he runs. Like, he's gigantic, and he can stride his ass out. He's big. He's spinning it. Liam's got him believing. And you talk about him talking about national media. They're definitely showing our clips, huh? Mm-hmm. We are definitely in there. We love him, Jack.

1:19:48We, we, we. I tell him to tape. Yeah. I don't know Liam's. Yeah, we changed Liam. Yeah, whenever he was going to fight. Yeah.

1:19:55Pat McAfee:Who was he going to fight? I forget who. Sala. Oh, yeah, Bob Sala. Keep my name out of your mouth, bitch. Yeah, and then hold back. Yeah. That's all part of it, though. That was week three or something, and that led into all this. Big game for Trevor yesterday, and Parker Washington steps up, but Sertan handled Brian Thomas yesterday. And then they had seven other receivers make plays, and that was a major deal for the Jaguars. Who else is going to beat you? Well, they spread the ball out, and they had backup offensive linemen in. They won a really good game against a team that hadn't lost since last year at home.

1:20:27Pat McAfee:And Shregs, this is something that they've been talking about for years down there, but more specifically this past offseason. Felt like the Jags had a lot of high hopes, especially from ownership. Well, I was just going to say, sorry, I was not prepared for that. No, I was like, I was going to go, don't get home. He had belief in Liam Cohen and Stoner. Like, he actually did have belief in Liam Cohen and Stoner and let them make massive trades. I mean, the Travis Hunter trade is one of the most boldest, brazen decisions to ever make. Huge. You're trading up three spots next year's first-round pick with your thought being, because we're not going to have a top five pick again.

1:21:02That pick's not going to be a top five pick. We're so confident in our roster that we can give you that first round pick and then we're going to take a cornerback slash wide receiver second overall, positions that do not go second overall. Yeah, he's injured, but like that move, that roll of the dice, that's a belief in what we have in the building. And they talk about expanding football

1:21:18Pat McAfee:and you talk about being young. It's like they got big dreams, big hopes, high expectations down there already. And for the Colts, obviously not great news because we don't know what the future looks like in pretty important positions. You know, numerous ones. And we don't have a lot of picks in the draft. You know, but boy, this could be the best Jacksonville Jaguars team of all time. And I think that's something that's very special. And congrats to Trevor Lawrence. He's had to sit in the pocket, literally and figuratively, while everything has been happening around him that is not good. 14 touchdowns, zero turnovers the last four games for Trevor Lawrence.

1:21:48Pat McAfee:77-point-something QBR, the best stretcher that they've had. Six-game win streak, never in Jacksonville. Do you even consider that? And you talk about Shad Khan. Yeah, lights out in the red zone. I apologize. Go ahead.

1:21:59Adam Schefter:Lights out in the red zone last few weeks, but Denver was by far the best red zone defense, and they went four of five yesterday, which is unreal.

1:22:06Pat McAfee:Yeah, so that's smaller. Everything like you need your quarterback to play better is down there in the red zone. So whenever you see high success, that's also indicative of what could happen in the playoffs whenever you're playing great defenses, let alone him playing one right here. Sean Conn, though, the owner, this guy founded bumpers. Yep. Okay, he created bumpers as a whole. One of the best mustaches in the history of just humans. His yacht, I think, is spectacular as well. Good for him. He's worked for it. But he has invested in this team as soon as he got it. We need fans to come and enjoy this.

1:22:34Pat McAfee:Let's put a couple pools in here. Drops a couple pools. Hey, we need to hire this. We need to build a new city. We need a Jaguar city within downtown. You got it. I'll do the entire thing. Like, he was all in on having a winner in the NFL for a long, long time. And now there's not even a consideration of kicking them out of Jacksonville to go to London. That was the combo for a long time. Good for Shad Khan, who's really been going for it for a long time. Yeah, and good for Trevor because how many of these early-round quarterbacks do we just crap on in the media and then it just destroys them?

1:23:03Trevor Lawrence just sat back there, didn't lash out at one time, just kind of stood in the pocket, like you said, and has been unbelievable to you. I know we do the MVP talk, and it's all Stafford and Drake May. There's an argument to be made. You want to talk about taking a franchise from the dregs and lifting them up on your back and taking them to where they are. Trevor Lawrence has been unbelievable this season. Good for Trevor, man.

1:23:22Pat McAfee:Hey, that was a lot of pressure coming into the league. I mean, going into college, a lot of pressure. Going into Clemson. Top high school guy, top college guy. Going into the league, everybody shut down basically their facilities to watch his pro day. Like, this was the chosen one, and then it goes how it goes down there since the beginning, and now he's playing his best ball, and he looks accurate as shit. Yeah. Like, there used to be some misses. No offense, Trevor. Used to be some misses that didn't look great, which I think J.J. McCarthy should be like, hey, there is potentially an end goal here that can happen.

1:23:51Pat McAfee:But he would miss some crosser or some easy one. Maybe it was just him not being confident in the throw. Now he's got an offense. He's completely confident in playing his best ball. Good for Trevor Lawrence. All right, let's pivot to some other stuff happening around the league. Another AFC team. Go ahead, D-Bush.

1:24:05Adam Schefter:Yeah, out west, I feel like the Chargers are kind of flying under everyone's radar. 5-0 in their division, 8-2 in the AFC. Herbert just had a big game yesterday, another 300-yard game against the Cowboys. What's your thoughts on the Chargers? Can they make a run in the playoffs this year? Yeah, they could still be the one seed. They still have a shot if they can beat the Broncos and they can finish out the season and the Broncos lose. There's still a chance for them. They need some help. Herbert yesterday was awesome. Remember, this is a situation where Joe Walt went down. Obviously, they lost Slater in the offseason, and everyone just kind of was like, all right, well, they've got no shot.

1:24:36They're winning. Now they're winning with guys like Marion Hampton healthy again. And Quinton Johnson played big yesterday. All these guys that they've drafted early on, lad, they're all healthy now, and they're all playing. And Justin Herbert is as good as anybody when he's dialed in. So the Monday night game was huge. And then you win this one here, quiet team, because of obviously you think of them as a second team in Los Angeles, whatever it is. I don't know. They win games. And Harbaugh's a damn good coach. I'd say.

1:25:02Pat McAfee:And Justin Herbert's a good guy. He is a good guy. Did you hear him say, he says, heads please, tails please, because he thinks karma is real. And he's being a good guy. That was all right. That wasn't a convo that I've been hearing about Justin Herbert, just because he didn't want to sign some other team's fans anything. Okay. Justin Herbert, good guy. Was that even him? Who knows? People are holding it against him, though. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if people are holding it against him for real. Anybody who thinks karma is real probably has fallen ill to karma at some point for some reason. Well, Justin Herbert says, hey, listen, I would like to let the football gods know that when I'm picking heads or tails, I would like to be nice to him.

1:25:37Pat McAfee:Hey, heads, please. He's asking for coin. And he also said, check the record. We've been winning a lot of coin tosses, which is obviously quite an advantage. I like the Chargers team as well. I like everything about it. I like the way Jim Harbaugh goes into a place, changes the culture. He was on the field, punching every offensive lineman for a great drive. And then my man Minter going after the defensive coordinator, also super fired up. Both those guys, Michigan guys, like they came together. It was the whole deal. It feels like they got a real family over there. And we saw their facility. Oh, yeah.

1:26:06What do they call it? It's like Bolt. The Bolt.

1:26:09Pat McAfee:Whatever it is, it's the nicest I've ever seen. It paid$300 million for that then. In 2024, 2025 in Los Angeles to build a brand new facility. The Bolt, yeah, it's like. Look at Connor. That's right, walking in there. Yeah, great time. I will say everything is great. The seats in the restaurant, below. In the cafeteria? They need new booths. It's not a restaurant. No, no, it's a private club. Oh, you're talking about the. Above where you can watch, yeah, where season ticket holders can go and watch. If you're a season ticket holder, I don't know how you go and sit down and not say like, Like, oh, okay, I'm never coming back because the booth is just miserable.

1:26:44But aside from that, I mean. For the football ops. Yes. It's amazing. With the cafeteria and everything.

1:26:50Pat McAfee:It was ice cream. Oh, the coffee ice cream. It was good ice cream. Crick oven pizza. Oh, pizza. Was it for real? Golf sim. Golf sim. Yeah, it was. First of all, they allowed us all access. This is pretty cool. This is a good video. We took advantage. Thank you. We had a good time. This would be a nice series. Pat and the boys visit all 32 facilities, all access. So that's the thing. There's a lot of facilities that would not want us to showcase how asked it is, which goes back to the report card, which is they're trying to get off the public. I'd be at least a B-plus. Yeah, we'll go through the old report card, you know, because theirs are going to be gone.

1:27:25Pat McAfee:The top ten. Yeah, exactly. Go check it out. Whatever the case, we appreciate how much they're invested in ball and how much they've seemingly invested in the culture. They seemingly all the way back. Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, you mentioned crapping on rookie quarterbacks and kind of just leaving for dead. That's exactly what happened with Carolina, Bryce Young, and everything that's going on there. And now they're on the doorstep of the playoffs. What do you think is going to happen in the NFC South? And also, what's going on in Tampa? Ten weeks ago, we were talking about Baker winning the MVP. They were the cardiac kids.

1:27:55And now they just look like a shell of themselves. Yeah, it's as low as it's been in Tampa in probably three, four years right now. and talking to folks there, they're confused because they have all four healthy wide receivers now. They've got back Mike Evans. They got back McMillan. They have everybody. Abuka, who looked like he was going to be the offensive rookie of the year first six weeks of the season, had one catch yesterday, and they only threw to him, I think, twice. All the things that they were excited about getting back for the last two weeks has gone terrible. They've lost to now the Saints, the Falcons, and the Panthers in three straight weeks.

1:28:27The Falcons game, I think, was the worst loss any team suffered all season. The Falcons had 19 penalties against them and still won without Drake London after being eliminated in Tampa. So morale's at all time. And yet, if they win out and they beat Carolina, and Carolina will lose one more game, it's like Tampa's in the playoffs and they're hosting a playoff game for the fifth straight year.

1:28:47Pat McAfee:Yeah, and we still have faith in Baker, it feels like, anytime he gets on there. Him and Mike Evans being on the exact wrong page here in the most crucial play to end it is obviously good for Carolina, bad for Tampa. But to your point, they could still host a playoff game down there in Tampa. And Carolina could host a playoff game. Yeah. That's crazy. It was packed out. It was actually – I think Gomsch might have posted or sent it into the group. It was packed in there. And the reaction from, like, the up-top mezzanine or whatever in that stadium was one of those things you watch and almost get chills.

1:29:16Like, wow. I'm not kidding. Like, it was on. I was watching. And I know it's not like, you know, Burkhart and Brady and Aaron Andrews and Rinaldi. It's not like that kind of like – you could hear the broadcast. You could hear the building. It's been years since Carolina has had that, maybe since Cam was the quarterback, where there's actual juice in that building yesterday.

1:29:34Adam Schefter:Yeah, they love Bald Diner, just been waiting for a reason. Cam's number one target, too. Greg Olsen was on the drum, the keep pounding drum.

1:29:41Pat McAfee:Oh, I did not know that. Which is a chance. Because he was Saturday, I get it. I didn't know. What's that? They chant, keep pounding, keep pounding. I didn't know that. That's like a thing inside the stadium. I just thought there was some dumb hashtag they made. Greg Olsen, great on the call, by the way. Great on any call that he's on. And keep pounding. Do we have a sound? Panther tight end adding to the atmosphere. Start of the fourth quarter. You know it's a big game when Greg Olsen shows up. Called the game on Fox yesterday. To start the fourth quarter. Keep pounding. I don't know if they do it while they're doing the drum.

1:30:23They do it while they're playing. Oh, while they're playing. Yeah, while they're playing. Oh, I thought it was during the drum. Oh, no, I don't know if they do it during the drum. Like, the fans just naturally do the keep pounding. It was incredible. Yeah, it was Sam Mills.

1:30:37Pat McAfee:I like it. And also, that lower shot that we had of Baker, I think, before that final play, the back shot. Yeah. That stadium looks like it goes up like this. I got a chance to play there. I don't remember it being like a crazy environment. Now, granted, the Mikey Car Care Bowl certainly brought the juice. And the Mayo Bowl certainly does as well. but nothing's like a Carolina Panthers game, I assume, whenever they're humming. That looks like a little Gladiator-type vibe in there. Are they going to have a real home for the fans? Are they going to host a playoff game down here? Just look at that.

1:31:03Pat McAfee:That shit looks like it's straight up. Yeah. That's a tight shot right here. Now, ESPN usually gets a 4-5 matchup on that Monday Night Wild Card game, and it's usually 4-5, and you wait for the rest of the team's play, and then the winner obviously plays the one seed. If Carolina's the four, it'll be either them or whoever the AFC's team likely hosting a playoff game on Monday Night Football. So it could be cool. We might have to get everyone down there. Yeah, we might have to get the squad down to Charlotte there. I think you don't go downtown. You go uptown there? Yep. I believe in Charlotte.

1:31:32Pat McAfee:And they got a great happy hour scene because I think it's like a big banking town. So happy hour, from my understanding, every time I've been down there, fantastic. I was there this summer, and it was for a friend's birthday, whatever, we fly in, and there was a soccer game. FC. Charlotte. Charlotte. And the streets were packed. I'm like, this is, it felt like I was in Europe. Great hosting. Great town. Great sports town. And close. Everything's kind of. Yeah. Back of all the readers right there, too. Yeah, and they got that entire plaza area that goes straight up. It's got a lot of bars and restaurants.

1:32:04Pat McAfee:And that's where Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s bar, Whiskey River, was. Yeah, it was. I think they had Howl at the Moon on the fourth floor. Wow. Yeah, they had Dale Earnhardt's bar on the third floor. Oh, man. NASCAR Hall of Fame. NASCAR Hall of Fame is in Charlotte, and it is a close drive, obviously. The hotel we were staying in had a walking bridge to Dale Earnhardt Howl at the Moon's place. So that was lethal. Yeah. That was pretty problematic, I would say, for a bowl week. We had a good time, and we won. So we'll just keep it moving and act like it didn't happen. Dale Earnhardt's Whiskey River place.

1:32:37Pat McAfee:It's been good to me over the past. I appreciate it. Fox, I think you've even been there, right? Yeah, that was absolutely insane. That place is awesome. And like you said, attached right to the hotel. How can you not walk into that place? Yeah, they got a bull in there. They do the whole gimmick. Oh, yeah. Shout out three. Yeah, I got to tell you. Shout out to three-handers, boy.

1:32:53Adam Schefter:Praise him. Praise the hell. That's right. Amen. Mission three. Love you three.

1:32:58Pat McAfee:Love you three. You know who we miss right now as well? Chiefs being in conversation. Now I just got Travis Kosci on his podcast. You know, meaningful football games, not really. They go from, are we still a dynasty? We just lost to the fucking Titans. That's what the Chiefs are at right now. Not even lost. And who knows if the dynasty is delayed. We'll obviously see that in the future. but right now they go Chiefs go from oh we still got Patrick injuries injuries two weeks later losing to the Titans in Nashville and now everybody's just saying this team's dead they're donezo it's a shame they're not the only ones though go ahead Conman yeah Shraig a lot of people gave you a lot of gruff once you said the Lions are not going to the playoffs 15-2 last year 15-2 what are you talking about Shraigar Shraigar shut up shut up Peter shush who is this who is this buffoon yeah get off my TV Welcome to ESPN.

1:33:50Shush. Quit that ESPN malarkey. You're just making shit up now. Turns out you pissed on all those Lions people's faces for a reason. You were right. They are going to miss the playoffs. They're 10-7 right now. Packers beat Snoop Huntley, maybe Lamar on Saturday. Packers are in. Lions go home crying. What the hell happened? The Chiefs are one thing. Injuries, even though it looks as though injuries in Andy Reid's culture, They got pummeled by the Titans very weird. Let's forget about that for a second. What the hell happened with the Lions? Where do the Lions go? It didn't just, you know, happen overnight, obviously.

1:34:27They still have a lot of their pieces, but a lot of their things, you know, trenches kind of fell apart. What do you think happened? I thought yesterday was a microcosm of their entire season. You have a fourth down early in this game, fourth and three. Dan Campbell, we're going to go for it. Let's roll the dice. Stopped. Turnover on downs. They were last year seventh in the league in conversion rate on fourth down, and we praised them for it. Grit. They were 21st in the league right now, and yet they still go for it every time. You know, we talk about grit and talk about the trenches. 17 play, 68-yard drive.

1:35:01Steelers, Jalen Warren just running it down their throat. I think they ran three offensive plays in the third quarter, and they had 15 yards rushing, their lowest total since 1970 yesterday. So that's all at home. And Foxy, I know. I wasn't trying to make a big splash on ESPN. You had to pick teams. And a lot of times what we get in my world is, all right, who are you going to pick in the Super Bowl? So you pick two teams and no one cares. What I like to do is tell me you're 14 because not all 32 can make it. And you're going to have 16. I don't know. What's the math? 32 minus 14. 18 maybe?

1:35:35Pat McAfee:32 minus 18, 14. No, 32 minus 14. 18 is 14. So 18 fan bases are going to be like, shut up. You're wrong. You can't. the Lions, I didn't see it this year because of Ben Johnson and because of that interior offensive line play that they let go of a lot of veteran players. And I'm not celebrating it and it's not over yet, but yesterday You should take a victory lap right now. Today's the day to take your victory. I'm not looking for it. No, you should. The Lions fans are coming after you. You know what that guy in the blue hair would have said to you? Gosh, allegedly, allegedly. Go ahead, Evan. Oh, no, I was just going to say, like, you took it on the shins all season long.

1:36:15I thought you were wrong. And honestly, the only thing about us not making the playoffs that makes me really angry is that you were right. And so that really pissed me off. I'm sorry. You deserved it.

1:36:25Pat McAfee:You earned it. Back to what Connor said, you kind of did piss on her face with that term thing. You know, you get the freezing cold takes. You get all these sites when you make a wrong prediction. I checked my phone this morning or yesterday. Not a sick. Now, there's millions of people who just tweet me heinous, awful, hateful things. I didn't get one person say that you were right on the Lions. That's just the game we play. That's the game. That's the game. That said, not looking for a pat on the back. And I would also add this, that that team, they've got a good quarterback. They could be right back next year.

1:36:57But yesterday was a terrible loss, and you could blame the refs all you want. At no point in that game did you feel like the Lions had it.

1:37:04Pat McAfee:And on that note, it looked like the same old lines. And that's scary for me because, obviously, I'm very close with Foxy. And what his life was like is the same old lines. I want to win 10 games and win a playoff game. That was all it was. And then now it's like, we're winning a Super Bowl. And then Shreg said, no, you're not even going to make the playoffs. And it's like, this guy's out to get us. This guy's out to get us. Their expectations became Super Bowl team. and then now it's like had transition, had turnover, obviously not having your best year. Will you guys be back next year? I think so.

1:37:38Pat McAfee:You're the shepherd with D coordinator. I think Philadelphia had to do it there for a little bit. They had one year, a new coordinator, and then they were able to get after it. I believe in Dan Campbell. I believe in their building. I believe in Jared Goff. If he has time, can be a guy. Like I believe in that type of shit. You guys get a lot of injuries up there, bad timing injuries, and then you're going to have to go improve it yet again to everybody because if not, you're the same old Lions. And that sucks, dude. I don't like that for you guys at all. No, 100%. I don't like it. To stay on the positive side, I'm viewing this as the 2023 Eagles season where they just look clunky all season long.

1:38:10They come back next year. They win the Super Bowl. That's what I'm hoping for.

1:38:13Pat McAfee:Because our marquee guys played great all season long. Goff was great. Gibbs was great. St. Brown was great. JMO great. Hutch great. All of our guys that got paid have been playing great, except Kirby Joseph, who was hurt all season long. So hopefully we stay healthy next year and MCDC rallies them. And with MCDC, the thing that gives me faith in the Lions, Brad Holmes. They pick the right guys. They have their culture, and they pick dudes that come in and make an impact right away. Tate Ratledge, I believe. Isaac Teslaw. Yeah, Isaac Teslaw, who hopefully will come back next year even better. They do pick dudes that make them better.

1:38:48So I feel like that's just like Howie in Philly. That is a huge reason. Brad Holmes took a running back and an inside linebacker with two first-round picks a few years ago, and it was Jameer Gibbs and Jack Campbell. You better believe they got killed for those picks. Sure enough, they're two of the best players. Iowa guy, Jack Campbell. And Amon Ra, too, like J-Mo.

1:39:07Pat McAfee:I think we all have faith. Let's go to the other side. Obviously, let's go to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The situation between DK and the fan, I don't know. No, I mean, Adam said it. The league usually comes out today and says this guy's been suspended for X amount of games, but there's two sides to every story. I hate it. I hate it from every side of it. I hate we're talking about it because there was such good football over the weekend. It certainly was. And this is not good. Can't happen. Obviously, what is being alleged can't happen either. So the NFL will make a ruling on this, and then everything else will kind of follow through.

1:39:37Pat McAfee:But we don't like this. We don't like any part of it. This is not what ball is. We do like fans that talk a lot of shit. We do like players that have a lot of pride. We can't be doing this, though. For a good a ball. For a good a ball can't be happening. And we'll be excited to see what the story is if we ever find out. You think we ever? DK might tell us a side of his story at some point. Well, allegedly he talked to Debo, too. I believe Debo and Joe Hayden have a podcast. Debo said the same thing that Ocho said on Nightcap. Ocho said he talked directly to DK as well, but we have not heard directly from DK or the Pittsburgh Steelers.

1:40:12Pat McAfee:And what the assumption is, have not talked to either party or heard from either party, that they will wait for the NFL to kind of set the course. If that's the same guy as Pellicero tweeted, like followed him to Seattle to talk smack, like that's... It's an interesting, it's certainly an interesting story. a little off but i think everybody's just kind of waiting on the nfl because it's an nfl game and an nfl building but certainly optically not good no no you would assume that someone around there has a cell phone video that you can actually hear what is being said if it's not already being because we saw the uh i think busson posted it first a kid named alex the one right yeah right next down the side where it that changed yeah this one i believe is from a kid named alex i think i saw busson posted i'm not 100 sure but like yeah that one showed that it wasn't a punch because the original shot from the front looked like it was a punch in the face.

1:40:58Pat McAfee:It's like, yo, DK's punching a fan in the face. That's fucking very good. This shot here, this angle's not good. That's very good. That one does not look good. And then you see from the side, well, actually it was a shirt grab where there is some physicality and then he throws the shirt back. I mean, if that guy with the blue hair just moves his head to the right, that is certainly a punch, but not good. Any of it. We'll wait to hear what the NFL has to say. And will there be more footage that comes from it or audio? We assume that could be, but will we ever see it? We don't know. Just can't happen, especially the whole A season.

1:41:25Pat McAfee:That's right. All A season. Now, on the flip side of that, big-time win for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Tomlin gets his 200th win. Pittsburgh Steelers, 19 consecutive non-losing seasons. And back in the driver's seat of everything they want. Let's head over to Hammer. Don, Don. AP Tone has a question for you, Shregs. Yes, I do, Shregs. Obviously, a great win yesterday. Almost 500 yards, 230 yards rushing. 15 yards given up on the grounds of that Lions team. They only gave up 60 last week to the Dolphins on the ground. So everyone's playing really good. And you talked about that Monday Night Football game between a 4-5 seed.

1:42:01The Steelers are in that spot right now. Shregs, is this the year that the Steelers can potentially get back to an AFC championship and restore glory in a Berg?

1:42:11Pat McAfee:Oh, mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long, mama, the long. Oh, we're not too far removed from Yenzer's booing that. Now there's real optimism, Shakes. Well, there are a couple bounces away right now from being a division winner for the first time since 2020, hosting a playoff game. And right now, as it plays out, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills would be the ones in the building for that first wild card game. Uh-oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Are we sure? No, I think it's the Chargers, right? Yeah, yeah, it keeps changing because I was on the same page I said you last Monday, and I was wrong, but I guess the Chargers are five.

1:42:51Oh, last night I went to bed. Maybe it was okay. No, it's weird. What's Kornacki saying? It's weird, man. I don't know. What's Kornacki got? See, there it is. All right, I'm sorry. They got Phil's jack. It's weird.

1:43:01Pat McAfee:Yeah, but that could happen. That's impossible. Yeah, that certainly is possible. Sorry, that was such a buildup, and then it fell flat. No, no, no. Still possible, though. Still very much an outcome that could take place. Here's the truth of the matter. We're going to talk about Phillip Rivers being 44, and what an amazing accomplishment it is. Rodgers was awesome yesterday at 42. Rodgers was amazing. They had nine different third and fourth down conversions yesterday. Rodgers was incredible under pressure, like five of eight, I think, when he had the pass blitz coming on him. He was unbelievable yesterday.

1:43:34And at 42 years old, maybe it's a story also if Rivers wasn't doing what he's doing. Hey, this is possible also. So they are all on the same page. They're feeling good. I love this team right now.

1:43:43Pat McAfee:AJ, with the pass blitz coming on him, what do you think? Oh, I'm sorry. Okay, come on. I'm sorry. All right, what do we say? Pause. Sorry. No, no, no. Yes, yes. That is. But Aaron does seem very comfortable, confident, and enjoying this particular offense at this point, AJ. Yeah, he does. I mean, watch him. You can see him walking off the field last night with Tom Wynn and Cam Hayward and Tom Wynn just gassing them both up. They're so excited about the big win. I mean, I don't know if you guys, like, yeah, this is awesome. But that game did not look great for the Steelers. It looked like, okay, the Steelers should have won this one.

1:44:17Oh, no, they lost it. Here we go. Lions are going to find a way to win. And then the bizarre situation that ended. So I think they're super happy they got a win. And with every single win, your confidence grows. And that trickles down throughout the rest of the team.

1:44:28Pat McAfee:I mean, Coach Tomlin beating his chest on the way out while they're talking shit. I love that. Yeah, I am a big – He's talking shit to local media. Yeah, Brooke Pryor, ESPN NFL reporter for the Pittsburgh Steelers. She's been around the Steelers for a long time during a large portion of this. What? She's been multiple years. She's not from there, but yeah, a couple years. Okay, but that is AP Tone, who's obviously a Pittsburgh Steelers diehard fan, who watches as a Steelers fan's lens and everything. Brooke's got to do her job. We respect and appreciate her, but she has been around for a while, so she knows a lot.

1:45:03Pat McAfee:And she's also been there for a lot of the winning seasons, but not a lot of winning playoffs, and then obviously a lot of different situations. So anytime you're doing that local report, just like Mark Bowley, every once in a while you can let something fly, and the entire team sees it. There was a time in Indianapolis where one of the local writers basically said Chuck should be fired and he needs to be fired. And then that person walked in the locker room like the next day and everybody was like, hey, we don't talk to this fucking guy. Like that is not how this whole thing is going. So the local reporters certainly have a little bit more of a chance to be seen by the team, I think.

1:45:36Pat McAfee:Well, they're there every day. Every day and they're talking about it. But if you do say anything that is negative towards the team, it can certainly be bundled as a package for motivation for everybody and uh sometimes they let you know about it and sometimes it's just being talked about in the team meeting a delicate dance it's easy to be the cheerleader when you're the local person and say everything's great it's really hard to go out there and sometimes be the negative voice so you put yourself out there you you're gonna have to feel the wrath because you have to actually walk in the building yeah but you're a hero to the fans though yes you know so you want to hear that yeah you're kind of celebrated out in public but then whenever you show up to work you know there's people that are waiting there like the shador conversation in cleveland's fascinating right now okay because i think the local media is is something to watch as far as like the talk radio guys they could say whatever you've got local beat reporters in there and the fan base all seemingly wants to door and then it's are you reporting are you giving your opinion are you because the truth of the matter is i talk to people in cleveland i don't have any assurance that shador is the guy moving forward yet he is playing very well and now the next few weeks are going to play out and as a local media member it's okay am i giving the information or am i giving my thoughts my opinion or am i giving something where it's this is what the fans want to hear it's a delicate tense every single day what about journalistic what's it called what do they say yeah journalistic standards i was asked about yeah what about it you know tell me about this content driven world where we all hear everything everybody says what's this what's that who are you making happy what things are you leaving out of the conversation just purposefully because of might be an easier landing of the plane i mean there's a lot of shit going on right now in reporting as a whole yeah but certainly in the biggest stories like shador in cleveland i just gave shador as an example it could be any

1:47:16Adam Schefter:of the things that's a great example that's a great example especially in cleveland because we haven't really cared about anybody talking or what they say in cleveland people watching the games or anything like that but every post-game press conference it seems like he has to you know be the grown-up in the room and answer the question. Like, hey, was this the right decision to go for in a fourth or two? Should have been a wildcat, a two-point conversion? And to Shadour's credit, just like I talked about Caleb earlier, he handles things like a 10-, 12-year vet. It's the same with Shadour. He's kind of been under that spotlight for his whole life.

1:47:47Adam Schefter:His family, obviously, reality television, they have been for a decade plus now. I remember watching, you know, and Coach Prime and reality TV was must-watch.

1:47:56Pat McAfee:I mean, this guy's rolling around on a scooter in his house. doing i mean it was it was a great show then they obviously carry that into uh the digital market it becomes a profession for uh i believe dion sanders jr like this is his full-time job is like a production company for their reality show and people will be like that's not a real job it's like well how come reality show production companies can profit off of families but families aren't allowed to do it themselves like it's actually a full business for them so whenever they were doing that all for a fifth round pick and whenever he's walking into the stadium and they had the cameras this is at the beginning of the season i think us and many people were like okay hey hey we got to read the room a little bit they did remember he was giving answers at like uh the car dealership where he like memed it and i was like we thought hilarious content but also like hey if you want to be quarterback of this team like that's not the shit and they he's completely stopped all that shit i mean like when you talk about trying to be committed to becoming like what the starters should look like for the cleveland browns with all the other sideshow shit that i think people were kind of holding against them it feels like he's kind of tried to do it great now he's made rookie mistakes.

1:48:55I'm talking about the way he's handled all this. He's been great.

1:48:58Pat McAfee:And his answers. Like, he hasn't sacrificed his authenticity while not burying anybody seemingly in the process. I think he has handled it. Now, do the Cleveland Browns move forward with what they've seen potential from the rookie quarterback? I guess that's the big question. But it's like there is rightful, positive conversation about Shador Sanders and the Cleveland Browns because to D-Butt's point, it's must watch. Yeah. Okay, you're at least going to check in with what they're doing. Miles Garrett on the sack hunt, and Shador Sanders on the offensive side. So if you're running a business, is that what you want?

1:49:28Pat McAfee:Is that what you don't want? I think it's a good thing for the Cleveland Browns. And if he's able to figure it out, you've got a superstar. You've got a megastar as your starting quarterback, which every owner, I think, is wanting in this world. And paying him fifth-round money. Yes, on a discount. On a huge discount. Yeah, so it's a fascinating— Who's making that decision, though, Shregs? Who makes the decision if Shador is the guy moving forward? It would be the GM and the owner, and then the head coach, if Stefanski, which I think he's still around, is going to have a huge voice. He's an offensive coach.

1:49:55So we shall see. I mean, it doesn't cost you anything to keep a fifth-round pick on that roster. And to your point, Deshaun Watson is lurking, and they're paying him money still, too.

1:50:04Pat McAfee:Lurking. Lurking. Lurking. Stefanski. I saw some videos of him. Was he working out? I saw him, yeah. I mean, he looks cool, too. He had a sweet thing. $160 million guaranteed or whatever. Congrats. Still for, like, next, what, two years? No, I think he's got the Bonilla deal. That thing's probably paying them to$26. Yeah, for annuities. Yeah, there's a chance. That's just going forever. And once again, got to give a shout out. Mool Geth is the one. Yep. You want college? I want big deluxe in there. Jimmy Sexton. I would like him. He knows where all money is. He knows where. That voice. I would like Jimmy Sexton to be the one if I'm doing college football.

1:50:41Pat McAfee:In the NFL, if I'm a player right now at one of those high positions, it's like you would like Mool Geth to be the one walking into that room because there is no history other than, yeah, my guys get the most. That is what we're doing around here. And he does. He's going to have every position knocked down whenever it's all said and done. And Deshaun Watson was the one who opened our eyes to him, we'll get this real. In the middle of all this, the biggest of all time, what is this guy doing? Guaranteed. Is he a magician? Like, is he actually hypnotized? You think he does the – because the deals he gets is, like, the best deal that you could possibly get or ever fathom at that position.

1:51:18Pat McAfee:It's like Mola Guetta has pulled that home. For the record. And the Cleveland Browns are paying for it. If that didn't work, if it would have worked with Deshaun, you're talking everybody having to do that at the quarterback position. That's just a fact, I think, personally. But since it hasn't gone well, there's still a lot of – Lost in that story, Carolina would have done it. Atlanta would have done it. Saints would have done it. It was not just one team. This wasn't a one-horse market. It was four different teams, and there was a market created for Deshaun Watson. And allegedly, right, Cleveland Browns were told no.

1:51:47Pat McAfee:Yep. And then that's when they came back with, is that right? How about boom? How does that sound? And then all the very serious stuff. And the Texans on the other side of it. They got all that stuff from Cleveland, and they're the Texans again. They're striding Willans. Yeah, in one draft. Pretty good. Pretty good back-to-back picks.

1:52:06Adam Schefter:Maybe I thought Jerry was scared to talk to him.

1:52:09Pat McAfee:I'll tell you what. Dallas Cowboys. Nope. I'm not going to get into it. That's a whole other story in itself. Yeah, it is. We did a whole day. That was the first time that name was mentioned. Wow. I didn't know you could do that. You allowed to do that? Here? No. You've been hosting. You've been doing the hosting. We've been watching hosts. You've been doing well. I love it. You've been enjoying that? It's fun, dude. Eastpan's been great. It's been fun. I think you've been kicking ass this year. Thank you for saying that. Legit. I think you've been doing a good job. Trying to find my spots. When they drop you into hosts, you feel very comfortable.

1:52:39Pat McAfee:I like it. I think you're very comfy at that. I like it. Because I guess it's not normal for an Emmy award-winning analyst to also be able to host. I guess it's two different worlds. It's been cool. Yeah, you've crushed it. Thanks, bro. Have you given any takes that you regretted? Yes. Okay. Every day or just? Fairly often. Dolphins. Dolphins are my playoff team. That was the other one. Yeah, that was the other one. Because Lions, we take a victory lap, but the Dolphins complete off. Right. I did a victory lap. Baker did something, and I was like, that's why Baker's the man. And then all the Eagles fans are like, how dare you say Baker's the man?

1:53:11Jalen Hurts is the man. I'm like, I can't keep it.

1:53:13Pat McAfee:Have you gotten into the Philadelphia Wars at all? Try to stay away from those? Yeah. Those ones are very loud. Dangerous waters. Still winning. Those ones get very dangerous. The Philadelphia fans are very good at talking shit, too. Like, they're good. There's some cities that are just good. They're also very funny. So, like, you see it and you're like, that's a good one. That was rude. That was good. Clever as hell. Okay, M. John's got good personality over there. You're the man, Shregs. Bro, I love you. We'll continue digitally with Shregs. Also, I think maybe the other guy. I'm not sure if he's left or not.

1:53:40Pat McAfee:Now he left. He left. Fuck. He had his other job. The other guy heading to another building. downtown. That guy's on a road 75 % of the fall. And he loves ball. And for that, we love him. Just like we love you for allowing us to do this for a living. We continue. We'll see you tomorrow. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Goodbye. Okay, did you see the fireplace? That's for the holidays. That's great. Did you see that? We just put this together. Very festive. Yeah, it was pretty good. It was, we also got the tree up. Shout out to Zito. Love it. And Tim McAfee.

1:54:11Pat McAfee:We've got some gifts under the tree here. I don't know if you guys saw the little details. I think has a Red Ryder BB gun as well. Nice. Shoot your eye out. Christmas story, great. Great. Great movie. Great movie. Hanukkah just ended, I believe, yesterday. I believe yesterday. I heard Jay Glazer, Julian Edelman have a conversation quickly about it back and forth before Jay Glazer went into the stem cell stuff for DeForest Buckner and how he got back. But I think Julian and Jay had an encounter that said, last day of Hanukkah. I'm not, is that right? It is right. Eight crazy nights. Are you a Jewish lad?

1:54:40Pat McAfee:I am. Okay. So I didn't want to, I didn't want to assume. I didn't want to assume that yet. Yeah, because I thought, so Shreks, tell me about Hanukkah. Tell me about Judaism. From what I've learned, I am actually a Christian, but from what I've learned. Okay, so you are Jewish. Eight crazy nights. We give gifts every single night? Yeah, so I grew up, I was one of the few Jewish kids in my high school, Freehold, New Jersey. So I was always around Christmas, but we would get eight nights, and it's kind of a moving target. Sometimes it's in early December. Sometimes it's in late December. It's around Christmas, and you get eight different gifts, one gift a night.

1:55:12and then on Christmas Day, you kind of sit back and you say, all right, those are my friends. They're getting all those gifts, but at least we got something.

1:55:17Pat McAfee:Okay, so you guys feel as if you're celebrating ahead of time and then when Christmas happens, good on you, have a good time. We love it. So are gifts small, get bigger? What are the gifts? Usually the first night is your big gift. You know, my son, I got my son, ironically, a Pukunakua jersey, which, well, we're okay now. He was ambushed. I wasn't sure what happened. I agree. That whole situation, we could do three hours of TV on that. There's a lot of those situations. I do not blame Puka on that. Puka is a great kid, and from everyone on that organization, he was just led down a road that he was not aware of what was happening.

1:55:50That said, that's a cool gift for a kid, a football jersey. And then by the end of it, we're talking about Legos, socks, kind of like the stocking stuffers for you guys.

1:55:58Pat McAfee:Okay, so we were taught Dreidel, the song about a dreidel. What do you do with a dreidel? I know we spin the shit out of it. You spin it, and then you're supposed to have this stuff called gelt, which is like a Jewish-wrapped chocolate. it, okay? And if you get a certain point on the, there's five different things on the dreidel or four, you get to get like five pieces of chocolate, you get four pieces of chocolate, you keep score, it's a game. Okay, so how are you as a dreidel spinner? Oh, I'm good. You get good numbers. Good flick, yeah. Okay, and how do you know? It's whenever, whatever it lands on top?

1:56:25Yeah, there's like four different Jewish letters or Hebrew letters, and the Hebrew letter represents a certain number, and if you get it, you can kind of keep track, and it's like you keep stats. Do you play that one time a night, or is that multiple times? Probably one time a holiday season, really, the first night usually, yeah.

1:56:38Pat McAfee:So first night feels like the big one. First night's festive. Okay, what are we eating in this thing? There's something called potato pancakes, also known as latkes, which are like these delicious fried potatoes, and then you dip them in like applesauce and sour cream. That's usually like the festive conica food. Okay, because Christmas has what? Ham? Yep. Prime rib. Seven fishes. Yeah, and the Italian and the super... Is that Catholics that do the seven fishes? That's the night before, though? No, Italian. That's Eve. Midnight. Those usually go hand in hand, though. Well, true. Italians and Catholics.

1:57:09Pat McAfee:Yeah, because then you go to Mass after. Okay, yeah, midnight mass or whatever, right, to start Jesus' birthday. I will say this, Hanukkah is not the most religious holiday on the Jewish calendar. It's more of a Americanized, hey, the kids all have Christmas, this is something that's in our month, let's make something really fun after. Passover. Okay, Passover. I would say Yom Kippur is actually the most festive. That is when you atone for your sins and you don't eat for the day, and you just cleanse out all of your wrongdoing. So you go to synagogue for the entire day, you pray, you don't eat, And then at like five or six o 'clock when the sun comes down, you eat and you say, all right, let's start the new year fresh.

1:57:45Let's be good. What are you eating? Same thing there? That is breakfast food. So like bagels and lox and pancakes and eggs. And you have like this awesome feast. And it's like break the fast, which is like breakfast. So it's the first thing in your body for the day.

1:57:58Pat McAfee:Break the fast. I'll tell you, even if you don't do any of the Judaism side of it, fasting for a day, it's pretty great. Yeah, they say it takes care of your body. Oh, it's great. And it's good celebration. I assume on the other side, you know, can't appreciate the sun without the storms. So whenever you think about celebrations as a whole, are the vibes always like a Jewish wedding? Because I was at a Jewish wedding and fuck. Fun, right? What a time. So awesome. Holy shit. You're forced to dance. Like, you know how at weddings it's like, are people going to dance? Like, we hope people will dance.

1:58:29Pat McAfee:That'll kind of be the thing. Everybody in the place was dancing. It was all upbeat. And then the chair. Didn't matter what age. Then the chair. The chair. Oh, my God. The horror is what it's called. And you get in a circle, and you take the bride, the groom, or in this case, sometimes the grandma, and you just hoist them up on the chair, and you dance around in a circle. It's super festive. AJ, I don't know if you've ever been there. There's a seat belt for the chair. It's fun. I was going to ask that. I've been there when there's not a seat belt. I was just wondering how many poor grandmas have been dumped on their head.

1:58:56Great, great. You can probably do a whole YouTube search of thousands of horror fails. Yes, that's it. People just go flying. Yeah, it is like coffee.

1:59:03Pat McAfee:We're not setting up shit. This is just actually happening. Okay, well, thank you for the rundown there. So, Hanukkah just ended. Happy Hanukkah. Let's go. Happy Hanukkah. Christmas coming right up. Can't wait. Holy hell. Now. Holy hell, Christmas. That's right. Depends on where you're at and what your team's doing at the moment. But on that note, we thought the NFL was going to come Grinch Christmas. These games not matter. Okay? Does the NBA potentially say, we knew this would come. We'd be able to fight back. And does the NBA still think that they should move to Christmas Eve? Or do they still think they shouldn't move to Christmas Eve?

1:59:42Pat McAfee:We would like to tell them, we need you on Christmas Eve, okay? We're going to be so bored, so bored on Christmas Eve. We need you to step up there, put all your best stuff, and then boom, let the NFL keep Christmas. Because this slate is not great, okay, at this current moment, not great. But the numbers that this will do versus the NBA will be outrageous. we could still get a one-two punch throughout the entirety of Christmas, I think, if they were willing to do that. They're going to say, we've always done Christmas. I think Adam Silver actually told us that. And it's like, well, Roger Goodell decided that the NFL is.

2:00:15Pat McAfee:You've got to take that up with him. But us, as sports fans, we need you to adjust.

2:00:20Adam Schefter:We need you to adjust a little bit. It might be moving. I don't know if you heard, but LeBron spoke yesterday. He's kind of bummed out he's got to play on Christmas. Said he'd rather be at home with his kids on the couch all day.

2:00:30Pat McAfee:Well, that's because LeBron has been playing on Christmas for what? Twenty what? Twenty-two straight years? He's also a Cowboys fan. He knows. My boys are going to be playing on Christmas Day every single year. I'd like to be able to watch them. I think they should move to Christmas Eve. I think they should just. That'd be cool. What's a day after? That's a good lineup. Boxing Day? They always have a good lineup. What is a day after Christmas Day? Boxing Day. Boxing Day. Yeah, of course it is, which is. Take back all the shit you don't want. Yeah, it's an English holiday. Canadian, I thought. English?

2:00:59Sure. English and Canadian. That's the same. Kind of. What's the difference? They box up all the terrible gifts and they donate it.

2:01:05Pat McAfee:That's very nice of them to do. We appreciate the Canadians doing that. Boxing Day. What do we have sports-wise on the 26th? It's got to be a bowl game. Yeah, it's probably a bowl game or two, but really. Okay, so NBA. Yeah, a bunch of ah-hoo characters. It's basketball day now. On Boxing Day is NBA Day. And Adam Silver, we've been told that maybe Clips make it to your office for certain decisions. Okay. We'd be very grateful if you moved to the 26th. Just as sports fans, but certainly football fans, they're going to be forced to watch these games. that don't fucking matter on Christmas because it's football.

2:01:34Pat McAfee:Okay? And that's just a deal I made with myself and my family and my eyes and my brain. I'm going to watch football, NFL football if it's on. But I'd like to watch your NBA because, boy, the lineup is insane. And the Stars, I believe, are playing well if they're playing at all. So it's either Stars aren't playing, but if the Stars are playing, they're playing well. So the NBA kind of having to hit them this year. I might be watching the NBA this year.

2:01:57Adam Schefter:What? What? Ant-Man, Joker, Ron, Luca, SGA, Wimby, Cooper Flagg.

2:02:05Pat McAfee:If Iowa State, I guess he's averaging 27 or something. I guess Cooper Flagg's feeling crazy. If Iowa State women's basketball. Audie Cooks. I'll watch. She's unstoppable. I loved her last year. I was early on the Audie thing. She was playing against Iowa last year and was unbelievable. Did 40 points. She's unbelievable. Yes, she just goes crazy on the court. Did she play last year and beat Iowa? and how do we not know about Audie Crooks last year? Because we've, as soon as I saw first. I know I'm an ESPN guy now, but Fox put Iowa State on like middle of the day and I'm like, oh, Caitlin Clark's not there anymore.

2:02:41Am I going to, why is this on? And then this girl, this woman comes out there and is just dominant. Scored like 37 and had 11. And then they did the tournament and they were in the play-in game and I'm like, I don't know anything about women's college basketball. I'm taking Iowa State.

2:02:51Pat McAfee:And they went and they won a couple games in there. Look at that, went in off of Audie Crooks' back, but she also has a team that I think that's going crazy this year. And whenever you think about women's college hoops, you think, oh, they had a glory day. They had a glory day. Whenever she gets rolling in the March Madness time, she's going to take care of your algo. She is literally so good. That's how she got into my life. She started taking over my algorithm. I'm like, got to be fake. I think this can't be fake. Putting up like 35, 40 points in basketball, college basketball, just in general.

2:03:21Pat McAfee:And then you scroll through it and then you just start seeing these highlights. And then you talk about her playing against Iowa. She's from Iowa. I believe her dad passed away. This past year, whenever she was in the Cy Hawk Bowl, she said she got emotional while she was at the free throw thinking about how much her dad would have loved what's happening right now. It's like, I think she's great for sports as a whole. So maybe they need to play on Boxing Day. Unfortunately, they are off until New Year's Eve. That's a good story, though. No, it is. But they do not play until. They got a 2 p.m. tip on New Year's Eve in Houston.

2:03:53Pat McAfee:See, we just need everybody to acknowledge the sports world. I know we sound arrogant, but it's just like, look at the fucking numbers. Everybody watches NFL games. Yeah, come on. If you could just acknowledge that and book around us, we'd be grateful. Now, that takes a lot of self-admittance that you don't want to do, and I respect it. But please, if you could start booking around ball, we'd be grateful. We can't be having the finals of shit happen in during football because it's going to be natural. We don't care. MLS Cup. Wow. Messi won. You got to put that one ever, right? Messi won. Okay?

2:04:28Pat McAfee:Ryder Cup. Get that fucker out of football season. Why is that in the football season? Can't have it. Get it out of there. That also, though. What's that? We got... We came back in that. I mean, it was a good Sunday. Yeah, yeah. Who gives a fuck? Okay? I ain't watching once they go down 14-3. On NFL Sundays. Yeah, who gives a fuck if I'm not watching that day. Week two, week three. They maybe need to do a digital deal so that they just take over everybody's phone. Like the Ryder Cup needs to do it. Or they need to get it. They need to get out of football season. Need it right before football season.

2:04:58Pat McAfee:There's a weekend. Or compete. What's that? Or try to win maybe. Oh, you're talking about the American squad? Yeah. They tried. Sure. They tried. Those Euros are just poor players. Play Thursday, Friday, take Saturday, Sunday off, play Monday during the day. Now we're talking. Sounds good. Now we're talking. See, look, this is what we're talking about. We need more of this type of brainstorming. I'm sure there's millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars that potentially say none of this can happen. But in reality, it would be cool if it could. Let's take a break. We've got overreactions on the other side.

2:05:30Pat McAfee:Schrager's got to head down to the lot house. I'm going to be on very shortly on ESPN. If you want to keep watching, I would love it over there. Yeah, we would love for you to come back someday. and also we appreciate how much you've done for us this season. Are you kidding? Hey, draft Pittsburgh. I hope you ask me back. That's it. I feel like we're not going to be able to. You're going to be. You're going to be on the main show. We'll see. I don't know. I mean, up is an interesting way to describe that, but you are going to be on the. I don't know. Especially in Pittsburgh. We had something special.

2:05:57I know you know it. There was a real magic there. I would love to recreate that, Shiggs.

2:06:02Pat McAfee:Pittsburgh is going to be fucking outrageous. I think. Yes. From my understanding, now, I don't know where they're going to put us. Remember, that was a whole thing last year. Yeah, almost didn't go. Almost canceled it. Yeah. Would have done it from here, but didn't want to go. They were going to put us on the other side. I remember. Why would you do it? What's the purpose? Guess what? Want us to come? What is the problem? What mattered most, Mad Mo was celebrating with Packers fans. It's all that matters. Right in the, I mean, we had the best location of all time. We did have a pretty solid location.

2:06:30Pat McAfee:It was unbelievable. Do you know how pissed so many people had to be because of that? Oh, I don't doubt it. Oh, my God. So I'll be excited to see what our setup is. Regardless, it's Pittsburgh, so we'll be celebrating ball there in its entirety. But, yeah, that's going to be awesome. This is another point. Like, the cities that can't get a Super Bowl because of weather and things like they don't have a brand-new stadium, the draft is a great celebration of ball that takes over the whole weekend and hopefully brings a lot of business to a city. Celebration of that city, too. Yeah, yeah. Should be.

2:06:56Pat McAfee:Will be. The views. Because at night, much better. You know, like, when we were there for game day, we had the fountain down there at the point, and we had the entire city and everything like that. beautiful view. But at night with the lights like that's what the that's what they tell stories about. Yeah, that's what they coming out of the Fort Pitt Bridge Tunnel, it's the best view in the world or wherever. It's like at night when that shit's all lit up, that's the

2:07:20Adam Schefter:They're going to show up.

2:07:21Pat McAfee:Now we're playing a game. Yeah, they're going to be boozed up. The issue is That's not terrible. Add an extra element. Pittsburgh people A little rowdy? Boozed up. In the middle of a draft with somebody maybe taking, I mean, there is a chance for high emotions. But it'll be great. It'll go flawless. Right, Tone? Depends on who we take. All right. Good point. A lot of pressure. They got picks, too. They could move. Yeah. They could make it real electrifying, too, if they wanted to in Pittsburgh, which I think the insurers would say, oh, they're great, you know, at the beginning. And then depending upon who it was, they go crazy.

2:07:56Who knows? You might have the 32nd pick this year. Damn right.

2:08:00Pat McAfee:Just putting it out there. That's Peter Schrager. We'll be back on the other side. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Goodbye.

2:08:09This episode is brought to you by Starbucks. That is fire. Whoa, that's good.

2:08:15Adam Schefter:This might be the drink of the summer. Okay, I like this one too. I'm rocking with it. Okay. Try it for yourself. Starbucks refreshers concentrates are coming home. Find them in the coffee aisle and make it yours. The Stanley Cup Final on ABC is more than a quest for the cup. It's 134 years of putting it all on the line and the heaviest 35 pounds ever lifted. It's broken curses and broken hearts. But for those chasing it, it's everything. The only question is, who will take it? You just have to watch the Stanley Cup Final presented by GEICO on ABC and the ESPN app.

2:09:24Pat McAfee:Football! us but those field passes are obviously sick like we are so lucky we get to do them it was a wild scene out there strictly because well i guess a couple different factors their fans are awesome and insane the uh in stadium music person pretty good with the timing of it all which is it does make a big difference and that wind aj was that was the windiest game i've ever been a part of i've ever stood on the sideline of that thing was relentless it was gusting the entire time they're Like, gusts up to 35, 40 miles an hour. It was like, what's a constant gust? Is that not just the wind at this point, AJ?

2:10:00Pat McAfee:I think that changed the game completely. Do you not believe that as well? Oh, my gosh. It made a completely different game. I had people ask me yesterday, like, hey, was it really? It seemed to be pretty windy out there. That game, I'm like, yes, the game was completely, it changed everything. And there was weird times where, okay, like, they're up at the line pre-snap. You know, QB may survey in the defense. and the wind will pick up between that and when the ball was snapped. And all of a sudden you're trying to throw it. Like, geez, all of a sudden a 30-mile-hour gust just comes two seconds after they're at the line of scrimmage.

2:10:29Like, you never knew where it was, but it was constantly there. There was never, like, a wall to where it calmed down, I feel like.

2:10:35Pat McAfee:Yeah, there was no full play operation without at least one of the gusts coming through because it would kind of settle down a little bit. We'd take our hands off our cowboy hats, and then all of a sudden four seconds, aha, okay, we got to catch that thing again. And that was wild. I'll tell you, you seemed to have a better relationship with your hat. Was that thing too small, or did your head just fill it perfectly, you think? My head did fill it perfectly. So I was at the old boot barn picking that hat out the day before, and I tried on many different hats. I wanted to make sure it had a nice little snug fit.

2:11:10And I was thinking about getting chin strap about halftime because I was holding that sucker on so hard.

2:11:16Pat McAfee:Yeah, it was a lot. D-butt, and we should have known this. Yeah, I know. I didn't realize it until you started the show. Like, yeah, of course D-butt's not going to wear a cat. He came to me like, oh, dude, you got an extra cowboy hat? Then he acted like he was looking for one. He was definitely never looking for one. Never. Never going to wear one. From my understanding now, he's telling me off air, there's dudes on the team, their families, like, putting photos together of these kids at Darius Butler's football camp. And now they're on the Miami Hurricanes. He's a South Florida guy. He's a Hall of Famer down in there.

2:11:46Pat McAfee:We should have pieced that together. I mean, that definitely should have been the case. And then Cristobal immediately went as soon as the second pick happened. I didn't see it because I was looking at Bryce. Allegedly, Coach Cristobal was looking over at me telling me to take the damn hat off. I watched him look directly at you multiple times trying to get your attention telling you to take the hat off. Yeah, I guess he's in the back right there. You, take the hat off. You, take the hat off. They were not happy. I think they felt disrespected that I picked Texas A &M. After the game, he came in for like a double leg.

2:12:15Pat McAfee:which we had been talking about and then he told me I saw your pick, I heard your pick, like he was actually disappointed it feels like and it's like I understand, I understand because we do appreciate Cristobal, we like his style, we think like we are a show that talks about ball in a way that I think Coach Cristobal appreciates like hey physical game, gotta be a dog gotta be tough, like the way he views his culture, I think he thinks we should be like simpatico and we'd like to tell him we do think that But at that moment, I was in front of the 12th man there. Yeah. And things were going crazy.

2:12:51Pat McAfee:And I was there at the midnight yell, and I got captivated by it all. I had that cowboy hat on. Had multiple belt buckles there. I got gifted multiple belt buckles. People come up to me. They say, sir, we think this belt buckle will be great for you. And I'm like, thank you so much for that. I think that's like a good gift that they give to each other down here. Great. I've got some great ones. Challenge coins, obviously, as well. Insane. Got an FBI one this weekend. Was not in uniform. Wow. So what is –

2:13:16Adam Schefter:Oh, yeah, I got one after the game, too. Oh, yeah. Yeah, me, too. Somebody got left out, so he made sure. Yeah. Hey, somebody got left out, got one more.

2:13:23Pat McAfee:Yeah, belt buckles, challenge coin – I mean, they took care of us. They took care of us down there. So whenever you talk about, hey, making a pick to 110 ,000 people, they had us to the stadium. That doesn't happen ever. Got to take advantage of the moment. Got to take – especially if I'm going to be standing there for the next three hours. Definitely. You know, going to have to do that. So I got captivated by it all. What I didn't think they were going to be able to do is keep up with the physicality of Texas A &M. Like, I thought Miami, in the big moment, maybe shriveled a little bit. It's like, yeah, right.

2:13:51Pat McAfee:That's the complete opposite of their culture, it feels like, AJ. Yeah, Miami's O-line and D-line were on fire. I mean, the whole team. I mean, both teams' defense obviously played very, very well. But I was just so impressed with, especially Miami's D-line. Like, they just put so much pressure on. They were so stout. They were like, a lot of times they were very disciplined in their rush plan. And like this, they tackled unbelievable in open space. Tell me about you watching games just as a linebacker the whole time. Is that what you do down there on the sideline? No, I try not to. I try to, you know, like, I guess change up exactly what I'm looking at.

2:14:21My eyes do go to the linebackers a lot because I tend to see when the linebackers are in a tough spot. Like when they're in a tough matchup, walked out on Malachi Tony or something, and they're running a little RPO read off of you and putting a run fake in your face, and Malachi's running to the flat. I'm like, okay, that guy's in an impossible spot right there, no question. But that's usually what I'm watching. But I was watching Miami's offensive line as well. I was very impressed by them. Yeah, just the overall team speed of both these teams, it blew me away.

2:14:48Adam Schefter:AJ's line, he's watching as a linebacker. You can see him right here. Through his head. He literally passed the cover. And then before the massive collision.

2:14:57Pat McAfee:Yeah, he saw his whole back tighten up right before the full collision. Yeah, AJ is the linebacker right there. Torre, I believe. Yep, behind the Torre. Torre, who's willing to go for it. But A.J.'s first takeaway was I appreciate that there's still players that are willing to just do that for their team, especially in that moment. And I think that is because you literally watched the whole play pass off. He did a great rep there, I think you were judging. But us being able to stand that close to it all, absurd. There are some drawbacks we can't see shit. It's very tough to see who's doing what, especially if the jumbotron is a little bit back.

2:15:29Pat McAfee:But we get a chance to feel it. It feels like we called what the game was going to be very early because of you guys. I feel like we actually did call the game. first points might win this entire thing. We said that literally from, I think, three, four minutes into the first quarter because we had a chance to feel it. We also knew Fletcher was going to be the problem. In the end, he turns out being that. It's like, it feels like we have a good perspective because of how much ball you guys have played and what you can see from that perspective as if you're on the field, which is what it feels like when I'm talking to you.

2:15:55Adam Schefter:Yeah, and in these big games, you know you're going to have to deal with shit. Everybody has a game plan until the game actually starts, and then sometimes it's weather, sometimes it's an environment, sometimes it's injuries, I feel like Miami had to deal with all that. Big-time players went out for sometimes small amount of times and then came back. Shit, you missed three field goals. Most of them, a couple of them were in gimme range. You had big-time fumbles. So you had all these things that you had to bounce back from, but it was unbelievable grit and winning this game. But now, looking forward to Ohio State, this is probably the most anticipated football game in Hurricane for the last 20-something years since that last national championship with the Chris Gamble flag, who's also a South Florida legend.

2:16:35Adam Schefter:Now you got Jeremiah Smith, who some people down in the crib calling Judas right now talking shit. So it's going to be spicy. Not a good idea.

2:16:43Pat McAfee:Yeah, Jeremiah said, you know, they're still worried about what happened 20 years ago. We got something for him, you know, in 2025. AJ, you were on that team, right? Yep, I was a true freshman. Okay, and played. AJ played. Of course. He said he wasn't supposed to play the year. I think he had like three picks or something. No. Yes, you did. Yes, you did. I had one pick, maybe two, but one early. Yeah, as a freshman, yeah. Mr. Ohio comes in there to Ohio State freshman year, gets on the field, has two picks, one pick six all over the place in the national championship. Maybe where the legend of the Hawker kind of began, which is why any car he's driving, his Ram truck in Ohio, it says Ohio State legend right across the back of it because as soon as they let eyes on him at Centerville, They said, that boy was going to be a good Buckeye.

2:17:31Pat McAfee:And as soon as they laid their eyes on him as a Buckeye, they said, fuck, that boy was going to be a great Buckeye. And then all of a sudden he becomes the all-time leading tackler for the Green Bay Packers. But on that note, are you picking up tendencies whenever you're down on the field there watching? Did you find yourself kind of knowing what an offense was going to run from the beginning of the game to the end of the game without having access to all the film in a week leading up to it? I mean, kind of. A little bit at times. I mean, I'm always trying to figure out what they're trying to do.

2:17:55But, yeah, being right behind there, When you're watching a play develop, when the offense is going out and we're behind it, like watching Fletcher downhill, this is going to continue all day. P and 10, first play of the drive, it's like line him up in the pistol, and he's going downhill, and he's going to get at least 10, maybe 35 yards. It was wild seeing that from directly behind the offense right there. You saw it over and over again. I'm like, he can continue to feed this guy the ball for sure.

2:18:19Pat McAfee:Who's the OC for Miami? Shannon Dawson. Shannon Dawson. We were trying to stay early. And he doesn't get to stay where we get to stay. We get to stand at a better place. It's like every time they were running with it, there was a lot of space. I mean, obviously, they're running a 3-3 stack on the other side, so there's always going to appear to be space. But with the way Fletcher was running, that felt like that was going to be good, especially with that win from the beginning.

2:18:40Adam Schefter:That was really the only thing that was working because everything you can tell, they were trying to feed Malakai Tony. And every time he was getting the ball in the flat, they were on him. He was a wildcat running east and west. The defense was all over him. And on third down, they were doing great as well. So, yeah, that was the only thing that we saw working. And another thing from our vantage point, we have much more appreciation of what the quarterbacks got to deal with because they're sitting in the pocket. Sometimes they're throwing the ball. And Reed wasn't the biggest guy. You knew he couldn't see shit.

2:19:06Adam Schefter:He had to be anticipating where these guys were. So he was making plays. Back to the win. Back to the goal plays for one of the drives. The win was an unbelievable factor we all felt. It's a great game, though.

2:19:15Pat McAfee:Yeah, we're lucky to do it. We're appreciative to do it. I think the next one is the Rose Bowl. But, man, it feels like that Cotton Bowl is the night before, right? Mm-hmm. That feels like a game, you know. Miami, Ohio State feels like a game you should want to be at. That feels like that's going to be Indiana, Alabama. Let's go in the Rose Bowl. Indiana favored by seven. The Indiana Hoosiers favored by seven in football. Feels like a lot. At the Rose Bowl against Alabama, who just had a 17-point comeback against Oklahoma. And Indiana has been resting for the last three and a half weeks. That does feel like a lot of points for any playoff game.

2:19:51Pat McAfee:But anytime we've seen Indiana play, seemingly they're up to the task. Fernando Mendoza feels like a veteran, so they've got leaders all across the board. Signetti, if what Fernando told us is accurate, is taking the same calendar or schedule that Nick Saban used to have where they're going to work out and just kind of let Fernando do the practices for a while, and then 13 or 11 days, I forget what it was, 11 days before the game or 7, I forget the exact number, before the game, that's when they'll start back up as if it's a little bit of a normal game week, so you don't wear anybody out or anything like that.

2:20:21Pat McAfee:So I'm intrigued to see how it works out because last year the weight was not good for any team. Last year teams were rusty. The other team coming in hot. I mean, Alabama just eliminates 17 points in like basically four minutes, five minutes. They're riding quite a high right now, and Indiana's just been kind of hanging out. That's an interesting advantage that they're saying it is, but I don't know, honestly. We do have to remember that last year it was the conference champions who got the bye, and this year it was just the top four teams. So we'll see if that makes a difference because in the first round it made a difference.

2:20:53the home teams were 4-0 last year, and obviously they had two losses this year.

2:20:56Pat McAfee:Yeah, and point differential, I think, went from 19-16 or something like that, but if you didn't have the Tulane Ole Miss game, obviously that'd be vastly different because at the end of that JMU game, they came back a little bit on Oregon. I guess Coach Lanning put his ones back out. Did he? I think so. I think there's a chance. I haven't got to see the film yet. I've just kind of seen, but yeah, had backups out, had backups in. JMU obviously starts scoring, and then allegedly he's like, yeah. You're fucking right. Put the ones back out there at the very end of the game. Like last drive, maybe.

2:21:28Yikes. That's the worst. Or to cut your tape off your wrist.

2:21:31Pat McAfee:And also, Coach Lanning's only doing that if he's incredibly pissed. He was post-game. Yeah, about everything going on. So, I think they still feel they got a chance to get the rust out, play a game. But I don't think they're thinking they played their best game or got to play their best game, I guess. So, it's like I think we're going to have a great second round. There's people that are obviously pissed about Tulane and JMU getting in, and they're saying, like, basically, until they fix that, I'm not watching. It's like, you're missing great shit, man. Like, there's great plays. You're talking about these dudes who are going to go on to have Hall of Fame careers, making magical moments at these universities that have so much tradition and passion and fan bases that span back decades, if not centuries.

2:22:10Pat McAfee:It's like, it's a special time. Oklahoma hosting that game? That was electric out there. They lose. Texas A &M hosting that game? that whole city was alive. They lose. Teams going into that type of environment makes the road even better and it's like, yeah, I still think we got a pretty good product. Now, if you were to say Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas, Ole Miss, yeah. Sure. That might have got the people going a little bit. But we can't live in that world. That wasn't the rules, okay? So hopefully they'll change the rules so that next year we have that. But in the moment, we got good shit with college football right now.

2:22:48Adam Schefter:Great shit. And look, I understand the potting, but just win your games. Win the games you're supposed to win.

2:22:53Pat McAfee:Well, it's easy to say that when you're playing JMU's schedule.

2:22:56Adam Schefter:Win the games you're supposed to win and you get a chance to shine. And if you don't, you don't. And, you know, I'm sure they'll change it next year. And I think the right answer is group of five can get in if they're ranked in the top 12. I think that's an easy thing.

2:23:07Pat McAfee:Just do the rank. Easy fix. And they will do that. Boom. They will make that fix. I think they have shown that they will fix things or adjust things. But they're going to also say the first round in total has to get figured out because it's still 16 points differential. But what I would like to say is that Alabama-Oklahoma game was electrifying.

2:23:24Adam Schefter:Banger. Banger.

2:23:26Pat McAfee:What a comeback. Yeah. What a comeback. Texas A &M, Miami. Now, the win certainly changed the way that entire thing goes, but they were battling it. Oh, yeah. I mean, they were battling in there. Good football being played. Both sides. Huge hits. Massive. Huge hits. And the refs letting them play. We need that crew in the NFL. Yep. They did a great job. Did you notice the refs at all? Did anybody say, oh, these guys are stepping in? I guess there was one. People claimed they wanted a late hit. Who was it on when he tossed them out of bounds a little bit? It was a great no call.

2:23:56Adam Schefter:Yeah, it was a great no call. Who was that on? OJ. Who? OJ, cornerback for Miami. 29? Yeah, that's the young man that was at my camp.

2:24:05Pat McAfee:Yeah, it turns out the guy who maybe had the late hit there.

2:24:09Adam Schefter:Good job, ref. Stay on him. Stay on him.

2:24:11Pat McAfee:Yeah, exactly. Hit him on the court. There was a questionable roughing the pass. Roughing late that kind of spurred Texas A &M's drive to go down to tie it. Helmet to helmet, too, on the Torrey hit, I guess, also could be it. But that ref crew, very open. Very open about, hey, we're playing football here. Let's go ahead and do that. We're not fighting. I think we're not going to get into the fight and stuff like that. But I think that's a crew that everybody has the same mindset. Normally, I think head ref can have an idea on what he is. But he might have one or two people within the crew that aren't the same way.

2:24:44Pat McAfee:So maybe it is a little inconsistency on who's calling what because these crews have to be teams. They have to all decide that they're doing shit the same. That's obviously not as easy as it sounds if it was in a video game. That crew feels like they see football the same exact way, and they're all very comfortable. I mean, they're all very confident. Dude, that was absolutely shredded. Who's black dude that shredded?

2:25:07Adam Schefter:Oh, you're talking about the ump. I'm not sure that he was like – With Jordan's ump, the Jordan Cleaves. Oh, Jordan, he's a UConn grad.

2:25:13Pat McAfee:Jordan, Dave, I think is his name. I forget. Bill George. I've got a chance to chat with him multiple times from college and through it all. I think we've seen him kind of grow up. Yeah, the black dude that was jacked with the Oakley glasses. Did you see him, Oakley glasses? He's middle of that game. Smile on his face. It's like they weren't scared. There was nothing. And, like, that's what you need out of the refs. I think that's our big conversation. It's like you are the representative of a ball. Okay? Fucking act like it. Like, that's what you need to do. and it's easier said than done of course but we've seen it done in the past so let's go ahead and get those people or at least put into place the best ways to get those people into those positions you know what i mean aj yeah i guess it's tough to think like what do you have those guys like the those refs crews try to mentor young guys or use them to coach your young guys whatever it is that the head guy there they're all they're all going in the same direction they're on the same page and they also like i don't know they're not you know some reps feel like almost you can watch them and they're nervous.

2:26:09You can tell they don't want to inject themselves. They don't want to have to make a call or have a no call that decides the game. That ref crew feels like, yeah, whatever happens, that's what we do. We're the referees, but we're not worried about it. We're just going to call it like it is.

2:26:23Pat McAfee:And we're not saying it's an easy job. No. It's not an easy job at all. It's a very difficult job, and who would want to do it? But it's just like at the NFL, we need to find those people. Be the best. We need to find those people. I don't want to say jeopardizing the game, but there's a couple things that happen. It's like, how is this what's representing this multiple hundreds of billion dollar league and everything like that? I just think that needs to be a part of the conversation when we're figuring out who's doing what. Definitely jeopardizing the game. But the point about the helmet-to-helmet, like in A &M Miami, if that's the thing that you have a gripe about, in no world does a helmet-to-helmet call make or break a game.

2:27:01In that, it would have. Like you're, you give them four more chances and you're going to make that call after kind of swallowing the whistle, the whole game, you're going to completely flip it on the last drive. Like they would have got murdered. They would have got murdered. Yeah. And we would have thought the same thing too. Like you're going to make that call in the college football playoff to basically hand A &M the ball, not only the ball on the two yard line, the two and a half yard line, but also the new set of downs. Like after already calling a questionable can see the rough in the pasture, but still questionable on the final drive.

2:27:32No way can they make that call.

2:27:34Pat McAfee:Football feel, I think, is what we're talking about. We need people with football feel. Their contract's up. We've got to remember that. Contract's up. So right now is a time where the league is okay with figuring out solutions with the refs. Normally, league, always going to back the refs. Always. Always. If you look at our league versus other leagues, we have good officials, and obviously they have full-time refs. So you're always going to hear Roger Goodell. you're always going to hear the NFL backing the refs. They fine people for saying anything bad about the refs. Now, because there's a little bit of a contract coming up, we need some leverage.

2:28:08Pat McAfee:We need some leverage, you know, is what we're thinking. And they're like, yeah, it's okay if we've got, yeah. They're not perfect, are they? Yeah, it is interesting that they're not perfect. And maybe they do need a little bit extra. This guy, yep. He brings it back then, too, like a little bow and arrow thing. It's part of his thing. We have it. Is that the beginning or the end? No, after he goes, he can throw it. There you go. Hang loose, bro. Throw it, and then watch. He pulls it back like a bow. Oh, I didn't see the bow. I saw the throw because, for those that don't know, Whitecaps standing opposite end zone of kickoff.

2:28:42Pat McAfee:Okay? Their job is to make sure all the refs are off the field, everybody is set up and aligned, and then, bang, they blow that thing to be a live play. So whenever that happens, normally it's just a point, right? This guy throwing up the, hey, shocker. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, bro. Yeah, yeah, I got you. And then him, you know what? Take that shit to you down there. It's just like so comfortable. Like that's like.

2:29:05Adam Schefter:Big 12 crew.

2:29:07Pat McAfee:So confident, so comfortable. It's like they were, I'm a big fan of them. I think they do a good job. I think they do a good job.

2:29:13Adam Schefter:They don't move on unless they do well either. Unless they're great. Because we asked a guy before the game, oh, where you at next week? He's like, hey, we don't know. Depends on how we do today. So hopefully we see you down the road.

2:29:23Pat McAfee:Here's the crew. Here's the crew here. We saw them a lot last year. The guy from UConn. Gabriel. Sorry, I called him Dave. That's 100 % on me. Gabe. Sorry, Gabe. That's a loss of translation. There's a lot in there. I apologize. We've seen them multiple times. They're all awesome, though. That is a good crew. That is a good crew. Yeah. And we appreciate how, because I would say some shit, like, during break, you know.

2:29:46Adam Schefter:You asked them about the replays. Yeah, reviews.

2:29:50Pat McAfee:Yeah, because there was Texas A &M trying to run Hurry Up a couple times, and before even getting a snap off it before anybody would be able to have the challenge like it was like a good executed hurry up because it could be a reviewable play it got blown dead from up top but we didn't know if it was up top or if it was the refs who was it so we asked him he's like yeah it's gene uh gene uh he did say somebody in pittsburgh something about pittsburgh gene semco yeah gene semco and uh he said he was kind of whistling it down or blowing it dead or whatever And it was like, even that operation, like that quickly being like, we got to look at that.

2:30:28Pat McAfee:That was even good. It was like, I thought they did a fucking great job. Especially given the elements, like knowing that, like the way, like because it became apparent very early on, like this is going to be super, super physical. Not that it wouldn't have been beforehand, but it's like, okay, Pat, like, and they could have, they could have been really ticky tack with several flags. And it was kind of just like, nope, this is kind of a shit show. Like the tougher team's going to win and we'll just let them play. We appreciate the college football playoff as a whole. We're lucky to be there, and we'll continue staying on us.

2:30:56Pat McAfee:Now, granted, if we didn't appreciate it from where we're standing and watching, we'd be the biggest pieces of shit on earth. You don't have to even love football to love that experience. Yeah. Yeah. What a time. Can you imagine somebody that doesn't know anything about football, and they stood with us and watched the game from there, and they really didn't have any kind of idea. They'd be like, oh, my gosh, how does everyone not die on every play? Who's Miami returner? uh keelan marion keelan marion i guess he a yukon transfer yeah yukon started yukon went to byu now at you he waved fair catch for a kickoff and then he was down near us for the next kickoff and we're literally screaming hey nah no fair catch take this thing he turns he sees d butt full point to d butt he goes okay d butt like a whole thing and it was like wait a minute we might you can get this guy some real shit here please don't focus yeah yeah hey we need you to not do that kid kicked a touchback yeah thank god because who knows what happens but in that score like low scoring offenses weren't really scoring or doing much it's like you would want kickoff return just like the punt return from alakai yeah it's like that's where you can kind of maybe break one so whenever i saw the fair catch i'm like yeah right bro you're fucking you play for miami dude Like, take it out.

2:32:11Oh, yeah.

2:32:11Pat McAfee:Let's fucking go, dude. And him turning around and going, okay, do you want clapping? My immediate thought was, oh, fucking Cristobal is going to hate him so bad.

2:32:20Adam Schefter:Hey, need one here. Hey.

2:32:24Pat McAfee:Get these assholes off the fucking field. They're talking my players into doing things they're not supposed to do. That was right through my head. I was like, oh, no.

2:32:33Adam Schefter:If I was Keela, I would definitely get talked into something.

2:32:37Pat McAfee:Oh, what? Yeah. Oh, hey, man. For sure. Dude, could you imagine? For sure. Take it to the house. He crimps that. That would be a much different story. Oh, yeah. Now he takes that. That thing comes flying out. All of a sudden, they get the ball in like 25. Return team's expecting him to put his hand up. Fair catch. Nobody's blocking. Oh. I thought about all of it. He's running directly to you. Double A. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Didn't happen. Hey, we live to see another day from the sideline. And we hope you'll watch with us. Rose Bowl will be live, I believe, on ESPN2. It'll be Alabama versus Indiana.

2:33:11Pat McAfee:That Cotton Bowl, we should. Boy. It's a long trip. Texas to L.A.? How far is that? Two? We did it once. Yeah, I remember. Hey, shut up. Oh, yeah, everybody was sleeping. Be quiet. Just play your cards. Don't make any noise. Turn the lights off. Oh, yeah, you did. Oh, okay, man. You did. I wasn't made that true Rizou, Ohio State? Yep It was awesome We're on a private plane Holy shit Just left the cotton bowl Heading to the road Well, this is a good time Hell yeah You want a drink? Absolutely Everybody would like one? Yep, absolutely Then all of a sudden All the lights go down And the whole plane It's like, what the fuck Is going on here?

2:33:58Pat McAfee:Turn on our little fucking Alright, figure this out Hey, can you guys keep it down? We're going to try to get some sleep Turn that off Sleeping on a fucking private plane? I didn't know we did that. Holy fuck. We're real comfortable on this goddamn thing. Just used to it? I love that. So we whispered while playing Uka and boozing for the next two and a half hours. We did try to keep it down. There was a couple moments where Connor got very excited, though. I mean, we had some good hands. We had some good winds up there in the sky. You got to do that. Yeah, it was a good time. What was it, two and a half hours?

2:34:23Pat McAfee:I forget. Probably about that, yeah. It actually made it more fun. Like, we were hysterically laughing at points because we had to be quiet. Yeah, seriously. That was crazy. That was a wild time. There was another time I was lucky enough to be on a private plane. Remember, I sat sideways for Atlanta and L.A. That's right. And that one, though, was just a hop, skip, and a jump. You know, that's not bad. That one was good. It wasn't obvious that I was certainly not on the original manifest and tossed into the thing later there. Here's one seat that's open. Faces that way. We're flying out. You're comfortable.

2:34:55It was about a seven-hour flight.

2:34:56Pat McAfee:Okay, see, do I have a back or anything? Well, I actually can't turn it because then there's no walkway and you need to have a walkway. Oh, sweet. Thank you guys so much. Here is the infamous night card game. Here's Connor introducing himself as him. Hi, how you doing? I'm him. Nice to meet you. Hi. Hi. Yep. Please. I'd like to meet you. I'm him. Thank you. Yes, sir. I'm him. Thank you. Whispering, obviously. Wow, a lot of inside baseball here. That was a fucking epic night right there. It was. That was so fun. That was a great night. That was a great night of cards. Yeah. He was him in that moment, I think.

2:35:30Adam Schefter:That at their loan room or something? Yeah. Okay. Good one. Ow!

2:35:35Pat McAfee:There was a bit. Quiet, quiet. Yeah, quiet out. Yeah, it was certainly something. Just know that we are not the people that are supposed to be in the situations that we are in. And if you were in the situations we were in, we think you would handle them the same way. We try to do the right thing all the time. I feel like that is accurate. We try our best to do the right thing. But we also try to enjoy literally everything. I think literally everything. And it's sports. you're supposed to.

2:36:01Adam Schefter:These are the good old days.

2:36:02Pat McAfee:We're in them. Come on, we're in them. And on that note, Ryan Day said he'll be taking over the play call during the college football playoff. So, Kurt Signetti, good luck being the only Big Ten team that can maybe go and get it, because Ryan Day's back under center for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He doesn't like that his play callers potentially go into a different team. That was happening at Texas A &M, wasn't it? Well, yeah, I don't think so. How about this? I'll be in control of what we end up doing. What's Ryan Day like as a play caller? Do we know? He was the play caller before Chip Kelly. What's he like?

2:36:38Oh yeah. He cut his teeth on being a great play caller as D-Bone would say for all the people in Nashville that he hates that didn't cut their teeth there. But I feel like Ryan Day, this is what he does. This is what he does. It's nothing out of the norm. Known as a great play caller.

2:36:56Pat McAfee:Great explanation of cutting your teeth and why it has entered our universe with the way D-Bud has gotten very pissed off about awards being given out in the country music space, which he thinks shouldn't be going to who they're going to, because where did they cut their teeth at? Are they appreciative of the city? Ryan, when was the last time he called plays? That would be, what, three years ago? Two years ago, yeah. Before Chip, right? Because Chip was only there a year. Oh, man, that's actually a pretty good little weapon now. Nobody knows his tendencies. He's not too far removed, but also might be fresher after watching Chip and watching Hardline.

2:37:25Pat McAfee:maybe a little bit of a mixture. He's seen what his offense does well. He's seen what it hasn't done well. And if this is what he was supposed to be the super genius at, it feels like that's a good thing, not a bad thing. Do we think it's because of what happened at Texas A &M? No. I think it's just because, I mean, I don't think it's anything to do with him looking at A &M. He just knows that Hartline, you know, is probably 99.9 % in on the Buckeyes, but he's 100 % in on the Buckeyes. Yeah. Well, the thing about Hartline is he'll be in a new city next year. You know what I'll be? in this house that he used to have to have 24-7 security.

2:37:58That guy's not answering questions after the game. He's leaving. You're correct.

2:38:01Pat McAfee:And he's trying to recruit out of our building. So I'm going to make sure that the boys are happy with how these plays are being called.

2:38:07Adam Schefter:That's right.

2:38:08Pat McAfee:Look for Jeremiah Smith getting the paint.

2:38:10Adam Schefter:Mm-hmm. Yeah.

2:38:13Pat McAfee:Oh, Julie insane in the playoff. We've only really seen him in one massive moment, really. It's that Michigan game. And I remember his hair kind of like, you know, flowing perfectly. It looked like he was made for the moment. Then we see him take on Indiana. It's like, wait a minute. Indiana was able to hang. Is that because Indiana's number one team in the country? Or is that because Ohio State isn't who we thought they were? I guess we all find out.

2:38:35Adam Schefter:We all find out. It's a good D-line.

2:38:38Pat McAfee:It's a great D-line at Miami. They're chirping, too.

2:38:41Adam Schefter:Oh, they're confident. Reuben Bain doesn't take kindly to disrespect. Oh, no.

2:38:47Pat McAfee:Three sacks, I believe four tackles for loss, a blocked field goal. Reuben Bain was a bane to their entire existence down there at Texas A &M. Was he not? He was. He was a little fired up with what Zoon III had to say. You said what? Walk in park. Block kick. Quarterback destruction. Tackle for loss. Oh, yeah, and Mezzador's going to eat on the other side as well. It was a wild game on both sides, but that Reuben Bain character, he's fun to watch. And then they put a live mic on him in the locker room afterwards, and he'll give you all his motivations that he had. What he was thinking. I like it.

2:39:25Pat McAfee:Me too. Now, I'm going to move on. These lives from not just college, NFL, everything, NBA, I guess, whoever's doing them. I mean, that is a moment of high emotion, right? Yeah. Like the highest. That is like the highest. So I think what we're watching, it needs to be taken under consideration that there is an intoxication happening in front of us of dopamine and everything that is taking place. Like, I think, you know what I mean? Like, I think people try to take it as if it's like... On the road, too? Yeah. Yeah, like, it's like, almost like, yeah, you got to be responsible for what you say, but almost you don't need to be, like, especially after a big win on the road.

2:40:05We saw, Chris, we saw that Miami team, like, what you can do, like, if you go on the road and get a huge win like that to advance in a sudden death game, like what that can do for your team that'll last for years like confidence and juice and knowing like yeah of course like we belong here we're supposed to be here yeah and they use back that that was like the that was the playmaker we got a playmaker giving coach kisses like we got i mean

2:40:28Pat McAfee:he's amazing yeah so so i would just like people to judge people off of that like that is a very wild time in a human's existence in a winning locker room and whenever these lives are coming I think we should be a little bit more forgiving for things that say. And I don't think we should be judging it as if it's clear head, clear mind, sober thoughts. Might have been sober thoughts, but I don't think it's like.

2:40:51Adam Schefter:Yeah, we've seen his notebook. That's kind of a constant, hey, fuck this guy. Fuck this coach. Fuck this player. Fuck this team. Yeah.

2:41:02Pat McAfee:They wrote checks they couldn't cash, Bane said. So they can keep talking. And I'm going to run in that guy probably at the next level too, and guess what? It's on site every single time. Speaking of that, Myles Garrett almost got it. Yeah. Miles Garrett almost got it. JJ being on the call for Myles Garrett breaking TJ's record. TJ's tied with Strahan for 22 and a half. JJ being on the call for that would have been awesome, I think. Just kind of the sack family kind of all being there. But instead, he still remains one away. Could break it against the Pittsburgh Steelers. a Cleveland Brown breaking a sack per season record against the Pittsburgh Steelers would be great for the city of Cleveland.

2:41:45Pat McAfee:It would be great for the Browns as a whole. Browns obviously not really playing for anything. Steelers certainly playing for something. So a little bit, a tale of two different stories in two different cities, who knows what the future holds. But Myles Garrick getting against Pittsburgh would be very poetic, I think, for the good of all. Yeah, I think it was, I don't know. I was talking to someone in here maybe four weeks ago, six weeks ago, just looking at the numbers. I said he's definitely going to break it against the Steelers. This would be the 16th game? Yes. Which would be what the old schedule was, the old calendar was.

2:42:17Pat McAfee:So I think if you break it in 17 games, I think there's always going to be a little asterisk. But if you break it in 16 games, I think there will also be an asterisk. They said, got it in 16 games, ended up with a total of blah, blah, blah, because you're being judged upon the past. It's just like, Adam Vinatieri's all-time leading scorer, that was only 16 game seasons. So like 17 game seasons, if anybody ever catches him, which would be very difficult, he's going to hit the anvil tonight, maybe break that fucking thing. But like, there is like asterisk forever, like this is during a 16-game season, because an extra game adds a lot.

2:42:46Pat McAfee:You know, it's opportunity. Big time. I mean, stack that up over 20 years. How many years has he been and Terry play? 25. 25? Jeez. Yeah. Was he always that jacked as a player, as he is now? Always, always considered him. Always worked out hard. Always worked out. Tackled Herschel Walker? Yeah, he always worked out really hard. He was quarterback and a wrestler in high school and a kicker. That's awesome. Good for him. Yeah, so he was always like benching, and his bench was very good. So he didn't mind laying his ass down there, 39 years old, 38 years old, and with the young buck seeing him move, you know, 275, whatever it is that he's moving.

2:43:23Pat McAfee:It's like, yeah, got it. There was a decision made by he and I, though, that we were going to explore the space whenever we retired because we had seen and heard about these things that were available. And we certainly have. I think it's very, I think it's very, uh, but he is, he might break that anvil tonight. You're right. Yes, he is big. He's fucking last time I saw him, I haven't seen him in maybe six months. I assume he's been in like four different remote areas, hunting things. You know, he goes into like a rainforest for like 13, 14 days and just lives in there. Yeah. I mean, he was telling me a story.

2:43:55Pat McAfee:It was like, I'm living in a rainforest for 17 days. Oh, he's like full go. Okay. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. He's not glamping. He's out there for weeks. Yeah. So he's literally gone for a while. And then he has full family. So I don't really see him as much. I don't think he's at as many games. But every time I see him, he's more jacked. It's like, holy fuck, dude. He's lifting all day. He might break out an ankle. Red panned at halftime. Here we go. The Pogo Steak Boys. Just stay out of her way. She's already coming off an injury. Stay out of her way, please. All right, let's do our overreactions.

2:44:29Pat McAfee:Then we'll make our picks. She is coming off an injury. Let's make sure we keep Red panned. Okay, she's in the middle of NBA season right now. True. It's a prime calendar, get money year time for Red Panda. These pogo sticks boys know? Yeah, they could ball out. The Peru pogo stick boys. Might get a pogo stick. It's been a while. Something to think about. I mean, we have heavy-duty ones. Let me know. We have actually a pretty good little space here for it. Yeah, we cut up this floor, though. Well, the industrial one. You get good. Non-scuff. Non-scuff. Well, the issue would be if there's any of the dust that kind of accrues down here, maybe from our ceiling.

2:45:07Pat McAfee:We're not 100 % sure where the fuck it comes from. If you ain't scuffing, you ain't pogoing. Yeah, well, the scuffing for sure, but I'm worried about the... Oh, yeah. Getting your feet taken out from underneath you. Well, foot. Well, technically, yeah. Yeah, peg. Peg, yeah. Stick. Single leg. Yeah, that's night, night. Oh, head on the back of the ground. Yeah. Yeah, so that's only worry. It's more a helmet. Maybe. You're right. There you go. Full helmet.

2:45:38Adam Schefter:I don't live in my fears. Smart. You're right.

2:45:41Pat McAfee:I think you're a little bit different than maybe everybody else in here, you know, with your athleticism versus, you know, we're talking about.

2:45:47Adam Schefter:Got good athletes in here.

2:45:51You do?

2:45:52Pat McAfee:Have you thought about Bone on that pogo stick? You remember him falling off the second rope in that ring?

2:45:57Adam Schefter:National champion Bone? U-Ball former champion? Former.

2:46:03Pat McAfee:Have you guys defended yet? I haven't been cleared. I'm still waiting. All right. I actually have an appointment. Upper body? No, lower body. If it was upper body, I'd play. I'm not a wuss. Commish. Got it. I'm not a commish. That's the problem. There's no commissioner. U-Ball has always been about the universe. It's never been about one person kind of deciding what it is. Yeah, it's up to you to vacate, of course. In that sense, it would be me, and I will not be vacating. But there's been a full conversation amongst the U-Ball leadership group that there certainly should be a defense soon or a handover of the title.

2:46:39Pat McAfee:That has been happening. They said March. That's what the leadership council said. No, leadership council did not say. You said doctor said that to leadership council. It was said around leadership council. I know doctors have told me. I don't know if they've told leadership council that. I mean, this injury would keep it. You literally told us earlier that it was going to be until March until the lower body injury was going to be back to when you thought you could maybe defend the title. For defense, I mean, normal person, this would keep him out until 27. But, again, I'm not someone. So, I mean, we can do that song and dance tomorrow.

2:47:11I could vacate.

2:47:12Pat McAfee:He was on the sideline of a college football playoff game. Yeah, in pain. Dogs barking. Legs damn near falling off. But, I mean, shit, it's Texas. It's Texas football, baby. I'm not going to not be there. Well, what about U-Bowl, then? It's U-Bowl, baby. I mean, look, I just don't want to lose a leg. Okay? I don't want to lose a foot. And that's possible, they told me. Fox, did you know that he could potentially lose a limb if he was playing U-Bowl right now? Listen, I don't like this one bit. Because if you recall, Pat, the only reason we lost the title was because D-Bott looked us in the eyes.

2:47:43We didn't want to play a game. We were done with it. We had won 10 ,000 games in a row. And he said, you guys are fighting champs. You have to play. And I learned. Sure, I guess we will. And then we lost two in a row. So that was some bullshite right there. And I learned from that. And I said, you know what? Okay, you're right. I'm not going to play unless I know I'm at my peak physical performance.

2:48:01Pat McAfee:You said previous champions have worked way too much. And they've screwed it up. You know, they played hurt. And I ain't doing that. Okay?

2:48:09Adam Schefter:That's why your championship role will never be remembered. Is that right? Nope. Because mine might be the longest. And plus, sure, I'd rather not be remembered than be considered the John Cena era of usual. Oh, jeez. John Cena is one of the greatest of all time. Not the good era. They're not talking about it in the good era.

2:48:25Pat McAfee:Yes, they are. John Cena carried the entire – what's the biz doing now? They're talking about his last run, his shite run. Oh, you're talking about the final – Yeah, the poop run. No, it was good. The last time is now. He should have stuck with, like, the emo John. Yeah. No graphics or whatever it was. Heel John. The emo John? He was sad. I was just thinking the walkout, like, the sad, the black screen, I believe. Did he have eyeliner on as well? I don't recall. I don't think so. That's kind of like Bruce and I now. We kind of are like the Emo Cena title defenders. Trying to ruin the game. You're trying to ruin the game.

2:49:03Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're trying to ruin the business. You're trying to ruin it.

2:49:06Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah, because he did say that during that era. Yeah, I'm not trying to ruin you ball. Look, you guys are trying to ruin you ball by making me play hurt. Yeah, that's what champions do. I saw Foxy play through it.

2:49:16Adam Schefter:He broke his ankle twice. And what did he do? Cab was cramping. And what did he do? he lost the title. I'm not some fucking Mark. I'm just going to play hurt and lose it. We need to replace Connor with someone else, and because U-Ball is a gentleman's game, the community decides. No, no, that wouldn't make sense. It would kind of be up to you.

2:49:35Pat McAfee:It would be the first time ever a three-person U-Ball team. That person would be subbing in for Connor is what you're saying. Connor's on IR. So I would pick my U-Ball replacement? I think so. Michael Jordan, get him in here. and we can continue this thing. He'd be so good, by the way. He'd never fucking miss. If not Jordan, LeBron. If not Bron, Steve Nash. If not Steve Nash, John Stockton. If not Steph. Caruso? Caruso. I'll take Caruso. Maybe you're going to have to see him play a little bit more. Okay, now on that note, Caruso, shout out to him filling in for us. Yeah, he's already filled in once.

2:50:12Pat McAfee:I don't know if I want him filling in for me. He's thankful for him doing that. But the Johnny Manziel thing, fascinating. Very, very fascinating. Because, you know, I think a lot of people made a huge deal out of it because it is Johnny Manziel. I think for us, it was like we knew he was at the fight the night before. We kind of watched the fight. It was like, ah, that could kind of happen. And then Caruso stepping up was just like a huge thing. I don't think I was ever offended. I don't know about anybody else, but I think it was just like, ah, that happened. We don't really, we're like very appreciative whenever people decide to do the show.

2:50:42Pat McAfee:But I think a lot of people are trying to make it like, this guy stood up. It's like, we're lucky. Johnny didn't, I saw Johnny's statement. Didn't he say he's recovering now? Something happened? Yeah, I don't know what happened. I had talked to him because whenever he put the entire thing, I'm sorry to Bob, Bob, Pat, Desmond and everybody, it was like, yo, you don't have to apologize to us, brother. Like, we're just lucky that you were going to do it. Like, we're very thankful that anybody will do that. That's a lot of time out of your life. That's a trip to a place maybe that you don't live to go back.

2:51:08Pat McAfee:Like, it takes a lot for people to be the picker. So, like, we're just very fucking grateful that anybody does it. That's how I feel, at least. I don't know how everybody else. I think everybody else on the set certainly feels that way. Like, we're just grateful somebody will do it. So I don't think there was anybody that was, like, super offended by Johnny Menzel. Like, he was at a fucking fight in Miami last night, right? Johnny Menzel was at a fight in Miami. It's like we assumed that potentially had a good time, wasn't able to make it. I think we're all like, yeah, understandable. And then Caruso being there is, like, perfect.

2:51:36Pat McAfee:Got the fucking NBA champ here. It's like, and he was, you know, he was great, too. So if Caruso was first choice, we'd be fucking pumped. So, like, it's – I don't think –

2:51:47Adam Schefter:Probably A &M fans. Mad? I would assume. You know, because he is the most probably well-known Texas A &M player ever. I mean, the first, you know, college football player on campus. I hope – you know, hope T's and P's, hope he's good. But I would assume that fan base.

2:52:02Pat McAfee:And also he was with Diego this year a lot and there's, you know, all this type of stuff. So I think there was potentially a feeling from the A &M faithful that he, you know, could have showed up for us, which I did see in the comments, and they're allowed to feel that way. Hey, however you feel. I'm just letting people know that he didn't fucking apologize to me. We're just thankful anybody will fucking come up there and put themselves right into the fire with me. Yeah, I think this team's going to lose. That team's fair. I'm never watching your fucking movie. All right. Thank you for coming up here.

2:52:32Pat McAfee:This is the most aggressive part of the show by far, by far. So thank you for doing this. Good luck. You're going to be on the fucking scoreboard. You better be because if you're on the other side, everybody's going to dunk on you. That's just what's going to happen. On that note, you can get in there and kill it, like Timothee Chalamet. Yes, he did. Chalamet, I'll remember forever. Unbelievable. And he called Navarro in Ohio, getting a big black win. Everybody else was the other way. And now he's Marty Supreme. That's right. And I guess that's crushing it? Yeah, at the box office. And I think at least early trends are indicating they think that he's a lock for sure to get nominated for Best Actor for the Oscars.

2:53:07But a lot of people are saying, like, oh, this is it.

2:53:08Pat McAfee:Timmy Chalamet is winning an Oscar this year. Congrats to Timmy. we're big fans. We appreciate them. Sorry about your Knicks. Well, they did win the NBA Cup. I was talking about last year. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. Because Pacers, I don't think, are running Knicks in the playoffs. You know, there was a lot of we'll see you next year's at the end of that particular series. Sure. And I kept saying, you think you guys, you think you guys, little I know, we'd be losing the guy. Yeah. Game seven of the finals shortly thereafter. And I don't know if we're anywhere near that right now. Might need to be an MVP conversation, Tyrese.

2:53:46Pat McAfee:Yeah. We're talking about value. What we're seeing, what we're watching. That's just like a few months ago, it seems like. To what it is now. Still love the play. What's the record? They have won a few more recently. We don't talk about those things. Those things, they're going up and to the right. Coach Carlisle. Six and 22. Got a lot of time. A lot of time to string a couple together. Carlisle's going for 800 this year, right? Is it 800, 700? Yeah, it's a big one. He wins all games. And we like Coach Carlisle. But, boy, 6-22 after going to Game 7 of the NBA Finals is a tough pill to swallow.

2:54:20Pat McAfee:Especially with what Oklahoma City's doing. I guess Oklahoma City's only lost three games or something like that. Yeah. And they lost, like, two out of their last three or something. So they start out 24-1 or something like that. I'm learning that on the set as Caruso comes up. I'm like, are you guys assed this year like us? And he's like, yeah, we've lost two out of the last three. Thanks. and then Stanford Steve was like, they were 24-1 before that. They were 24-1 before that. I'm like, you guys have only lost three games all season? And Crystal goes, yeah, but we've lost the last couple. I'm like, all of you guys are coming back down to earth.

2:54:51Pat McAfee:The Pacers are about to go. I say, you guys are really fucking good right now? He goes, yeah, we're playing very good, yeah. I'm like, good for you guys because we felt that, what game seven was like. How about our city? I know. Unbelievable. How about everything? I mean, that was electrifying to experience that. But Oklahoma City, they're saying the same exact way. Remember their fans fucking heralded. It's like they got something. They got something. I guess Shea's still unstoppable. Yeah, they're absurd. You know who the second best team is? Who?

2:55:21Pat McAfee:Detroit basketball. Wow. 22 and six. Oh yeah. Okay. So we're back. The Pistons lead the G League. The Eastern Conference pass. Holy shit. Cade Cunningham like that. Cade Cunningham's unbelievable. He could start on the Olympic team right now. He's been playing phenomenal. Jalen Dern has been incredible. Our coach JB Bickerstaff who you saw on first take after we lost in the playoffs last year is an absolute dog basically all those years for the pistons being really bad they just had a bunch of top five picks and all those guys are growing up now and they're playing phenomenal and we're back to playing gritty defense like the 0-4 pistons did when we won the title and the bad boy pistons what's that unfortunately the celtics they're really good still oh really you guys didn't have tatum and guess who's coming back Jason Tatum Much sooner than everybody would have thought What's the deal?

2:56:21Pat McAfee:So that means we're just a couple weeks behind Because that's when Tyrese was behind No, no, unfortunately Tyrese does all the WWE Mickey Mouse bullshit Jason Tatum just does PT and he falls on his child Yes it is And it's going to end up being Pistons vs Celtics Winner plays OKC Alright, well we're excited about the NBA We'll certainly pay attention to it whenever their time comes Boxing Day, the day after Christmas That's right. It's time now to overreact around the world. I put out a tweet saying, hey, I can't wait to hear your fandom emotions. All you got to do is put a tweet out with the hashtag.

2:56:54Pat McAfee:I don't want to overreact. But. Ty scanned him and ended up being like the number two trend on X. We can't thank you all enough for participating, but also we can't thank Ball enough for getting people in their feelings as much as it does. Let's get through these. I'll get to these. I'm sorry. Nate Moore at Nathan Moore 08. Hashtag I don't want to overreact. But. The jig is up, the news is out since Tomlin was fired. Three weeks ago, the Steelers have come alive, though. They've gotten their swagger back. Roger has commanded the offense and the defense flies. Boys, we've got a shot. I agree. I agree.

2:57:33Pat McAfee:And they don't have T.J. Watt out there and they're winning these games. The jig is up, the news is out. Tomlin's showing to have been fired, potentially. or the fan base maybe lit a fire, lit a spark, and you're welcome. Okay, something like that. But, yes, they are flying around. They should thank you as a fan, Diggs, that they're playing well, right? Thank you, AJ. Thank you, yes. Okay. And Aaron and the offense is awesome. I'm sure you'll get that next presser from Tom. I will, yeah, yeah. Johnnie Smith went in motion last night, and Aaron looked at him and said, what the fuck are you doing?

2:58:06And then pointed him back to where he was supposed to go. It was awesome. He does have command of the offense. I love when he gets mad at everyone. And then, yes, look at the demon on third down was awesome last night. DK getting loose. Hopefully he's not out. No, it was – It feels like he's going to be –

2:58:23Pat McAfee:For sure. Yeah, it feels like just Sheffield and Schrag's kind of setting the table today for, yep, this is what's happening. A lot of people say if he said what he said is deserved. He has come out now. The fan with the blue wig has a statement through a lawyer that basically said, I categorically did not say what is being said that I said. So this is going to get very loud. Obviously, it's a big situation. But the Steelers are rolling. The J gaze up. The news is out. Tomlin finally found his fire. That's what you guys are saying. Yes. All right, maybe that's the case. Let's go to the next one from the Ravens.

2:58:54Pat McAfee:At D. Klimkowski. Hashtag, I don't want to overreact. But the Ravens are on the cusp of completing the most disappointing season in NFL history. Derrick Henry not in on the final two drives. The most incompetent coaching decision of all time. Lamar should refuse to play until hardball is fired. A lot of this, Ty? All of this. There's really nothing other than, hey, the jig is up. Hardball stinks. Let's get him out of here. They're saying hardball over. That's AFC North football, baby. Let's go to the next one, shall we? This is from Patient Hawksman at Bradley Hilbert. That's good. Redhead Redemption, Sam Donald.

2:59:26Pat McAfee:Hashtag, I don't want to overreact. But does he see the paranormal? Sure. Does he give up a few? Sure. Does he not know to throw the ball away and take unnecessary sacks? Sure. Does he clutch the hell up in the biggest moments and drive your team to victory against the NFL's best? You're damn right he does. Sam Donald, redhead redemption. Shout out to the Seattle Seahawks. Proud of McDonald. Proud of Sam Donald. Obviously a gigantic Thursday night. One of the most epic games that we've seen, obviously, all year. Sam Donald shows up in a massive moment. Two-point conversions, interestingly handled.

3:00:03Pat McAfee:and the Seattle Seahawks now NFC West favorites, number one overall seed favorites, and nobody could have predicted this with everything that had been happening over the last two years. Congrats to the Seahawks fans. All right. So the next one is from Trey Haglund at Haglund Trey. The S-O-L, which means same old lines, are all the way back. Campbell and Goof can take a damn hike. Ben Johnson was the reason why the lines were successful. Now the Bears own the North. You will not hear another golf chant in Detroit. It's over. Hashtag go Wings. Hashtag go Pistons. Hashtag I don't want to overreact.

3:00:44Pat McAfee:But congrats to you, Foxy. I'm happy about this. Is this how everybody feels up there? No, this guy's wrong. Golf is not the problem. He had 360 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers yesterday. St. Brown's still playing good. J-Mo's good. Our marquee guys are fine. We just need an offensive line, and we'll be back in the dance next year. They just forget that Gibbs is on their team. Sometimes after the game, they're like, oh, shit, forgot about Jameer Gibbs. He's one of our players on this play. All right, last one here from the overreaction world. It's from Apes Nose Ball. Hashtag, I don't want to overreact, but how about them Cowboys?

3:01:18Pat McAfee:Just another season where America's team takes a big, fat dump on its fan base. Trailed away Michael Parsons, let the defense get torched again, and got walked like a dog by the Chargers at home to miss the playoffs for the second straight year. Big games, lose them. Big-time players, trade them. Playoffs, miss them. This team is dookie. The Cowboys have wasted all their fans' lives under the age of 30. With that said, next year is our year. Hashtag I wasted my life. And that is basically Overreaction Monday in a nutshell. We appreciate that from all your fans. Let's make our picks for tonight.

3:01:51Pat McAfee:AJ, you and me tied. Tied, 7-7-1. 7-7-1, not bad, not bad. Now, obviously, we're looking to go over 500 here, both of us. D-Bud, who's your pick? How do you like it? Tonight, Niners favored by 5.5 in Lucas Oil Stadium.

3:02:07Adam Schefter:I'll be quick. I'll be a homer. The Colts, JT has a big game. Phillip Rivers does, too.

3:02:11Pat McAfee:I pick the Colts as well. AJ, who do you like? How do you like it? Yeah, obviously, if I want to win this, I cannot pick the Colts. But I am going to take the Niners here. But I am a bit worried about JT running on this Niners defense. But I'm taking the Niners. All right. I appreciate you doing that for the good of ball and for the good of the pick segment. That's A.J. Hawk. The boys are all here. D. Butt, we appreciate the hell out of you. We hope you have an incredible Christmas week. Happy holidays. Ball is great. And we're lucky as hell to do this. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice.

3:02:37Pat McAfee:It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.