December 24, 2021 • 42 mins
In hour 4 of The Ben Maller Show, Brian Noe tried to avoid it, but talks some COVID and the ravaging impact it's having on sports, particularly now with Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook who is now in health and safety protocol. Then, Marcel from Brooklyn and Rob from Vegas bless us with their week 16 NFL picks!
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Ben Mallers Show podcast.
It's me Ben. Be sure to catch us live every
weeknight from two to six Eastern eleven pm the three
am Pacific right here on Fox Sports Radio. You can
find your local station for The Ben Mallers Show over
at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every night on the iHeartRadio app by searching f s R.
(00:25):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh man, it was
a stink fest on Thursday night football. As far as
Jimmy Garoppolo is concerned, it was not a great performance
from the San Francisco forty nine ers quarterback. As we
(00:47):
welcome you into another hour here Brian though in for
Big Ben on Fox Sports Radio. So, Jimmy g like,
this is the thing. Look, sometimes stats are misleading. I
think that. I think that when it comes to analytics stats, right,
I think it's silly to be on one extreme or
(01:09):
the other. I don't think it makes sense to be like, oh, analytics,
oh stats, this is unbelievable. This is the end all
be all. I don't think that makes sense, And I
think the opposite also doesn't make sense. If you're like,
there's nothing to this analytics shenanigans. Oh, these statistics are
for losers, Like, it doesn't make sense to either extreme.
In my opinion, I think the middle ground makes a
(01:31):
lot more sense where analytics wise, there's definitely something to it,
just not everything. And with stats, there's definitely something too statistics,
but not everything because they can be misleading. Jimmy Garoppolo.
When you look at his numbers on Thursday Night Football,
(01:52):
I don't think they tell an accurate story. I think
he was way worse than his numbers. Because here's the
thing with stats, they're just black and white. They say,
all right, he attempted these many passes, this many completions,
he had this many yards, these many touchdowns and interceptions,
this was a passer rating. That's it. It's just black
(02:13):
and white, this is what happened. It doesn't take into
account the part of the game. It doesn't take into account. Hey,
he didn't have an open receiver at all, right, Like,
not all interceptions are the same. If there is a
ball that should have been caught, that was delivered with
(02:35):
pinpoint accuracy and the receiver just dropped it and it
turns out to be a pick, well that's a lot
different than completely misreading the defense and making a horrible
decision and throwing a pick. That's totally on you, right,
Like you have to decipher where stats are accurate and
where they're misleading. And so for Jimmy garoppolo twenty six
(02:59):
of thirty five, it's pretty good. Three hundred twenty two yards. Hey,
you'll take that a touchdown in two picks. And there
have been worse performances. Passer rating of eighty eight point one. Ah,
you'd like that to be healthier, but not a complete
disaster statistically. Now, if you watch the game, you know better.
(03:20):
You know it was a disaster. Jimmy G through his
first interception to Jack Rabbit Jenkins one of the best
nicknames ever. That's actually his legal name. He's changing it
to that. Jimmy G tried to hook up with George Kittle.
San Francisco was absolutely crushing Tennessee to begin the game.
(03:41):
Sanfran was up seven nothing, they were looking for more.
Jimmy G forced the ball, picked off, terrible decision. Then
he missed Kyle Uschek for a walk in touchdown. Again
in the stats, that's just one incomplete pass. Not the
end of the world, big deal, Like They're plenty of
passes that are batted down out the line of scrimmage,
(04:02):
not even the quarterback's fault. So you have to be
watching the games to know how do you miss Kyle Uscheck.
It was a breakdown in coverage. You gotta hit that,
it's gotta be a touchdown. He missed that. Jimmy g
should have had another piss another another pass picked off
by Rashaun Evans. He dropped it, and then Jimmy made
(04:25):
a terrible decision another interception to Amari Amani Hooker. So
two interceptions Jack Rabbit Jenkins and Amani Hooker. The all
name team over there with the Tennessee Titans. The second
interception was in the second half. Sam Fran had control
of the game. They're leading ten to three. The Titans
(04:46):
had fifty five yards of total offense in the first half,
fifty five yards. They couldn't do anything, and Jimmy G
missing us Check for a touchdown, throwing two interceptions, should
have actually thrown three interceptions. It was just a brutal performance.
And that's the other part is forget about just this
(05:07):
one game. If you look over the course of the season,
if you look at Jimmy Garoppolo's stats over the year
not that bad, not bad, respectable, right, twenty touchdowns, twelve picks,
You're in the neighborhood of a hundred passer rating, Like
that's not bad. But it's just those games where if
(05:30):
you screw up a game where Deebo Samuel has one
hundred and ninety one yards of total offense, Deebo Samuel
was just an absolute stud against the Titans on Thursday,
and the Titans offense had a hard hard time finding
its footing fifty five total yards in the first half,
(05:51):
and you breathe life into their lungs. That's the type
of stuff that sometimes doesn't show up in the box score,
either of that particular game or in the course of
an overall season. Sometimes that stuff is hidden, And I
think that Jimmy Garoppolo, he's one of these guys where
(06:12):
he'll give you some good performances. He's not always a dud.
But when he's a dud, man is he brutal? Now,
this was his head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game
talking about what went wrong for the forty nine ers.
We weren't good on third down, and you know, I
think and then our first play in the third quarter
on offense was a pick, which that was a real
(06:33):
bad one. Shan I'd have thrown that was a bad play.
No one was open on the play. He just had
to take it. I was glad that we tied it
up there at the end, but then they came back
and finished on the final drive. I mean, Kyle Shanahan
worked in like I don't know, three or four different
opinions in a thirteen second SoundBite, but the most important
part is base I'm going to paraphrase, there was no
(06:55):
one open when he's trying to throw to George Kittle.
That you can't throw at pass. At worst, you eat
it or listen, scramble outside, try to make something happen
if you have to throw it away, but don't throw
it to the other team in the end zone. That's
it's just stupid. There's no excuse for that. Now, thanks
changed quickly because it was just last week against the Falcons,
(07:18):
Jimmy G looked a whole lot better. Of course, not
as good of an opponent as the Titans, but this
was the forty nine Ers Radio network waxing poetic about
Jimmy G. Jimmy Garoppolo is smoking hot. Thanks Jimmy Garoppolo.
(07:38):
Mmmm yeah yeah, bad, bad performance on Thursday night football. Now,
this was Jimmy G after the game, assessing his own
performance mixed with the team's performance. Here is Jimmy G's
a it's a game. We had an opportunity to go
and go into their place, and we got off to
(07:58):
a good start, got the lead like we wanted too,
and we just we had a lull in the middle there.
And if we don't hit that lull, I think it's
a totally different game. But you know, that's football. We
had a chance. I mean, in a game like that,
you just get off to a hot start like that,
and we were rolling early on and kind of just
got a little sluggish in the middle there. But I
don't know, it's tough when you let one like this
slip away. Wow. Yeah, Brian Finley said it best. Where
(08:21):
where's the eye? In that sound bite? It was we
that was the wrong time for we. Yeah, we got
a little sluggish. Oh you mean the time when you
were throwing stupid interceptions, Jimmy G. Is that the time
you're talking about, like it should be Like I screwed up.
I was making bad decisions. I was throwing interceptions. We
had it rolling except for me. That's I just threw
(08:46):
it in. They're like, yeah, we got a little sluggish,
got a little sluggish. You're making brain dead decisions. What
are you doing? That was a terrible performance by Jimmy
g just awful. Now on the other side, a J.
Brown study performance eleven catches, one hundred and forty five
(09:06):
yards and a touchdown and the turning point I think
in the game. The end of the third quarter. It
was third and twenty three for the Titans, and Tannehill
got the Niners to jump and then he just threw
a deep ball. A J. Brown came down with it,
and that really got the Titans moving. Now, the Niners
(09:27):
scored and tied the game up late and just couldn't
get a stop. Titans just methodically worked the ball downfield,
got in the field goal range, Boom, got the field goal.
They walk off with the win. But I think when
you spin this forward with the Titans, like the Titans
have a legitimate shot in the AFC. They beat down
(09:48):
the Chiefs earlier in the year twenty seven to three. Now,
it was a long time ago. That was a much
different Chiefs team at the time. But the Titans get
Derek and reback, they could absolutely beat the Chiefs in
the playoffs. They could make it to the Super Bowl.
I want to be shocked at all. The thing with
the Titans is, and look, you could say this about
(10:11):
any team turnovers. It's just if you're turning the ball over,
it's it's a killer. If you're taking the ball away.
I mean, you can be the lesser team and win
games consistently. We all know that that is just stating
the obvious. But I point this out because the Titans.
The main reason they've been losing games consistently heading into
(10:34):
Thursday night, they've been turning the ball over like crazy.
Listen to some of these stats here. Okay, so last
week the Titans against the Steelers, the Steelers only converted
two of eleven third downs. The Steelers had one hundred
and sixty eight yards in the game, a buck sixty eight.
(10:57):
They couldn't do anything offensively. The Titans defense was sensational,
but the Titans offense they turned the ball over four times.
Three of those turnovers were in the final sixteen minutes.
And you also look at heading into Thursday night football
over the previous four weeks, the Titans had thirteen turnovers.
(11:21):
Those are just killers. And so it's the most obvious,
like no kidding, no, you gotta hold onto the ball. Yeah,
but I point this out because the Titans have just
been giving it away, giving good away. It's like the
old Red Hot Chili Peppers song, give it away and
give it away. Now. That was the Titans heading into
Thursday Night Football. And then that's what Jimmy g did
(11:42):
on Thursday Night Football and it swung the game in
the favor of the Titans. So just protecting the football.
I love what Bucky Brooks said last week. Bucky and
I did a show on Saturday night. He was filling
in for e from Salam, who I normally worked with
on Saturday Night, and Bucky was talking about the Patriots,
(12:03):
right because the Patriots were at the Colts on Saturday
night during the show we were doing. And I love
the description he said, the Patriots are like a baseline
tennis player, right where you're just you're at the baseline.
You're not charging the net, and you're just hitting the
ball over the net, hitting the ball over the net,
(12:24):
hitting the ball over the net, and the Patriots are
just waiting for their opponent to screw up right, hit
it into the net, hit it long, and they're just
waiting for you to commit an unforced error. And a
lot of playoff football is like that. It's not just
(12:45):
about physically dominating your opponent or just executing in all
phases better. A lot of it comes down to just
not shooting yourself in the foot. A lot of times
you just protect the foot ball. You know, it's funny
because we always look down at certain quarterbacks like Alex
Smith where a he's a game manager, meaning eyes limited.
(13:08):
It's not a compliment, it's a disc But there are
a lot of times, the way the game is playing out,
protecting the football is your number one job like that.
So what you have to do the most. I'll tell
you what. Last week, if the Titans protected the football
against the Steelers, there's no way the Steelers win that game,
zero chance. The Steelers had one hundred and sixty eight
(13:30):
yards of total offense, the Titans coughed it up four times,
and it was still a game. If the Titans just
protect the football, they win that game walking away with ease.
So that is the thing to keep in mind. With
the Titans. Two questions, can they get Derrick Henry backhealthy?
(13:51):
They can, they're in business. And the other part is
can you just not kill yourself with those turnovers when
for a month they had just been handing it to
their team like yep, here you go, yep, here you go.
They had a bunch of turnovers against the Texans for
crying out loud when they lost that game. So let's
protect the football and get King Henry back, and the
(14:14):
Titans could absolutely make some noise in the AFC, no doubt.
I plenty to get to eight seven, seven ninety nine
on Fox is your phone number? I glanced down on
my notes. I have not forgotten about Roberto's recommendations on
the old boob tube over there. You know he's been
watching a lot of TV, and it hasn't been Lakers
(14:36):
basketball or the NBA. I do watch some of the Lakers,
were not every game, like how many games do you catch?
How many of you seen this year? Like three? One
game from starting to finish one a game on game?
Which game was it? Do you remember? Because the Celtics
obviously did they win or lose that they lost that game?
If they had won that game, would you be watching
(14:57):
them more? No, because they're playing the Celtics. Yeah, I
got you. Okay, Well, well I need to get your
I need to pick your TV brain here. Coming up
next we'll do that and also get your calls in
again eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox. If you're
raring to go, we'll get you on. I want to
get to this as well, coming up shortly. It's become
(15:19):
a dirty word, but it's made a monstrous impact. So
that's on the way as well. I'm Brian no in
for Big Ben Mallard. This is Fox Sports Radio. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show
weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio Allard related by John Deer
(15:49):
Driving see you can see there's no one believe she'd
been drinking whiskey and whack cloud. Listen to Malla Malaysia.
(16:09):
The Ben mallow Show is the show of the people.
Buy the people, for the people, Join the movement. You
can follow the Big Guy, Big Ben on Twitter at
Ben Maller. You can follow Brian Know who is subbing
in for Big Ben, and Brian is on Twitter at
the No show and our producer extraordinary in for Coop
de Loop Justin Cooper, it is Ricky Herrera. He does
(16:32):
not have a Twitter unless he talked to talk to
ye Andy Furman, one of our other co hosts during
the during the weekends, and he made a candle for
it's like our Herrera four or five six, So that's
not him. So if you want to follow Ricky the
best way at Fox Sports Radio with that back to Brian,
(16:55):
is he just doing that on purpose at this point?
He does it all the time? Yeah, all the time. Yeah.
I don't know about our guy Firman over here right
where he keeps me guessing some of his takes. I'm like,
this guy doesn't really believe this, right, And then I'm like,
I think he might. I don't know, right. And it's
the same thing with Twitter handles. There's half of me
(17:17):
that thinks he's in on the joke. And then I'm like,
but I'm not sure that's the case, right, Like, I
don't know, I don't know where it ends up right there.
Not quite sure. Okay, I'm gonna go fast on this
because I think I've gone the entire show without mentioning
the dirty word. One time, and that is COVID, right.
(17:40):
I don't think we've talked hardly at all about it.
But the only thing is the impact on the sports
world is it's crazy where we don't have the Hawaii Bowl.
Hawaii had to pull out of that thing. It's a
Christmas Eve tradition and it's gonna be axed for a
second straight year. There an outbreak that Hawaii had. Also
(18:02):
Texas A and M they are not going to play
in the Gator Bowl. They had all these COVID results,
they only had thirty eight players available, So that's pretty crazy.
In steps in Rutgers, Rutgers will play Wake Forest. You
probably don't care about it. I certainly don't care about it.
But what's interesting to me is the reason Rutgers is
(18:25):
stepping in as a five and seven team. They qualified
because they have the best academic progress rate of all
the schools with five and seven records. So, wow, welcome
to twenty twenty one. I guess right. The other part
of this is, I don't know about you, but the
(18:46):
way I am look all these COVID related I don't
know what you would call it. Some of these players
that they're just not gonna be able to go in
the games. Right when I hear about it, I just
immediately roll my eyes, like, oh my gosh, I'm just
so over this. I want it to be done, you know.
(19:08):
And then I checked myself because I'm like, look, if
this was a hamstring strain, or this was a sore knee,
or if this was an ankle injury or shoulder, you
name it right, it would be significant. So whether Dalvin Cook,
the Vikings running back, is out due to COVID or injury,
(19:28):
his absence is huge for the Vikings. So I've had
to check myself. I don't know if you're the same way,
but it's been I don't know how long we've just
been hearing COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, and I'm like,
oh my gosh, this again. I'm done. I'm over it.
But the impact on the game is huge. So Dalvin Cook,
(19:49):
he has followed all the protocols for unvaccinated players, which
is basically saying he's unvaccinated, but it isn't set in
stone that he is right. It's a reporter just trying
not to completely step in it. But Dalvin Cook tested
positive and because he's expected to be an unvaccinated player.
(20:12):
He's out for a minimum of ten days and that's
a huge loss for the Vikings because they're taking on
the Rams this Sunday and Dalvin Cook's the third leading
rusher in the entire NFL. It's a monstrous loss for them.
The Vikings are seven and seven right now, they're trying
to scratch into the playoffs, so not having Dalvin against
(20:34):
the Rams it's a monstrous deal. And the last time
that Dalvin Cook wasn't available for a game, the Vikings
lost to the Lions. So yeah, Dalvin Cook. In Week twelve,
he got banged up against the forty nine Ers. He
suffered a dislocated left shoulder and torn labram. He missed
(20:56):
one game and the Vikings lost that against the Lions.
And then he came back in week fourteen and was
unbelievable against the Steelers. It was that crazy Thursday night game.
He rushed for two hundred five yards. It's unbelievable. He's great,
but he's on the shelf. I'll say this, this is
the takeaway. You could have your own version of what
(21:18):
the protocols should be for the NBA, the NFL, whatever,
all that matters is what the current protocols are. And
for an unvaccinated player, if you test positive, you're on
the shelf for ten days, no questions asked. And so
teams with a number of unvaccinated players they're at a
(21:39):
significant disadvantage just based on how the protocols are set up.
I mean, that's it. If Dalvin Cook is a vaccinated player,
he's got a chance of playing on Sunday. But it's
the same thing as Cole Beasley because those guys are
unvaccinated and they can track COVID. The policy is you're
(22:00):
out for a minimum of ten days. It's a huge,
huge deal. And look, I think that you have to
look at what the rules are instead of what you
think they should be, or what they could be, or
what they might be, or it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter,
like all this stuff about Beasley and I'll get off this,
trust me. I don't want to do a whole COVID
(22:22):
thing here, But it's just making a monstrous impact in
the sports world. The argument that Cole Beasley made of well,
it's the rules, it's not the virus that's keeping me out.
It's like, dude, your decision to not get vaccinated is
what's keeping you out because that's the way it's set
up in the NFL. That's the system that's set up.
(22:44):
If you're vaccinated, you need a negative test, boom, you're
back in business. If you're unvaccinated, you're out for ten days.
You could raise your hand and say that's stupid, it
makes no sense. Make your argument could be the most
well reasoned argument ever. It doesn't matter. It just matter
matters what the protocols are. It would be like me
getting busted for driving twenty miles per hour over the
(23:06):
speed limit. It would sound pretty stupid for me to say, well,
it's just because of these rules and these laws, and
it's like, yeah, welcome to life. There are rules, there
are laws. And in the NFL, if they have rules
and you're out for ten days as an unvaccinated player
who tests positive, well guess what. That's the way it is.
(23:31):
That's the way for any employee. If your employer says
these are the protocols, this is the setup, you can
make your argument all day till you're blue in the face.
It doesn't matter. Remember the Rock when he was wrestling
and its famous saying it doesn't matter. That's exactly it.
It doesn't matter what you think the protocols should be.
(23:53):
It just matters what the protocols are. And so these
teams with any number of unvacated players, as this thing
continues to spread, if the protocols are set up where
you're on the shelf for ten days and you are
at a significant disadvantage. Last thing I'll mention is how
about the Ravens. The Baltimore Ravens, they practiced with just
(24:15):
thirteen defensive players due to COVID. They've got nine defensive
players that are on the COVID list and they're at Cincinnati.
They're taking on the Bengals in a huge game for
the AFC North and playoff positioning and all of that.
So the Ravens absolutely feeling the effects. And their defensive coordinator,
(24:39):
Wink Martindale, he came out and said that he doesn't
know if they're playing football or the squid games. Quote
unquote is what he said. And he said, look, people
don't care about your problems. You're just trying to get
guys ready to play. But he's basically saying, it's crazy
what's happening to us over here. So there you go.
Take it. For what it's worth. It's just it's a
(25:02):
reality in the football world right now. That look, if
you're unvaccinated, your team is at a significant disadvantage compared
to teams that are vaccinated. It's just the way the
rules are set up in the NFL right now. That's it.
So you can disagree with it all day, but it
really doesn't matter until the NFL changes their protocols. So
(25:25):
for the time being, this is what it is. All right,
We'll get off to the phones eight seven, seven ninety
nine on Fox. That's coming up momentarily. First though, Brian Fenley,
who has just been waxing poetic behind a hot microphone
throughout the Oh, Brian, know you are too nice, and
I don't know if you're exactly correct there. I try,
I try, I try. But let's start with the NFL
(25:47):
from Thursday and Randy Bullock kit that forty four yard
field goal at the end of the game to push
the Titans past to forty nine ers twenty to seventeen,
and Tennessee wide receiver standout aj Brown made his return
off injured reserve and did he thrill or what? Eleven
catches for one hundred forty five yards, and that loss
(26:08):
for San Francisco was a good thing for Cowboys fans
because their team, by virtue of that loss, is now
in Dallas having able to clinch a spot in the postseason.
In college football, UCF devastates Florida twenty nine to seventeen
in the Gasparillo Bowl Hawaii. That football game, the Hawaii Bowl,
(26:29):
which Brian had mentioned, was supposed to take place later
today in Honolulu. It is a Christmas Eve tradition that's
not going to happen because of COVID issues with UH
And they were going to take on Memphis, and you
feel from Memphis because they had made the trek already
out there to the Islands, and now they're going to
go home without playing a game. They might as well
(26:49):
just scrimmage against each other while they're out there. In
the NFL, or excuse me, in the NBA, the Spurs
all over the Lakers one thirty eight to one ten.
Lebron James thirty six points, nine rebounds, Steph Curry filling
up the statuet with forty six points as the Warriors
overcome the Grizzlies one thirteen to one oh four. Donovan
Mitchell supplies twenty eight points as the Jazz tattoo the
(27:11):
Timberwolves one twenty one sixteen. The Sons have the best
record in the NBA twenty six and five. After they
put down the Thunder one thirteen to one oh one,
the Hornets were able to climb out of a nineteen
point a hole and surprise the Nuggets one fifteen to
one oh seven. And finally, the Bucks are victorious over
(27:33):
the Mavericks one o two to ninety five. Three of
Milwaukee starters did score twenty plus points. One would be
Chris Middleton as we send it back to Brian. No
great stuff, as always be Fenley, superb job. Okay, let's
hear from the militia here. The militia is. They are
(27:54):
all lined up here. So we'll go one by one.
Let's start off with Ed is over in Washington, wants
to talk some ball. You're on Fox Sports Radio. Ed,
what's up? Hey? I love your show on TV. I'm
I'm a huge fan of your Brian Familey. Merry Christmas
(28:15):
as well as to you, Brian, well, thank you appreciate that.
Merry Christmas to you. Also, we just got married in Portland,
actually we started in Portland. Me and my wife Christina
drove all the way to us. It was awesome, very nice. Okay,
how do you think? What do you think about the
(28:35):
Seahawks right now? What do you think? Yeah, they're they're
they're terrible right now, you know they're bad. Do you
think they should trade Russell Wilson? Nah, not unless he's
demanding it. I wouldn't do it. I mean, he's still
got a lot in the tank. He's Russell Wilson. He's fantastic.
He kind of looks right now though. Yeah, I mean
(28:57):
he's His pass rating overall is very good. It's just
we're used to him being much better than he than
he is this year. He's he's not bad though, Like
he's just normally a lot better. I agree. I don't know, man,
I don't know if he's going anywhere. But thanks for
(29:19):
checking in, Ed, appreciate you checking in. Very cheerful, right,
NFL life comes at you fast, man. We were just
talking about we got a deal. Time for y'all to
go to bed, and now, yeah, who knows what happens
next sep there's that such an awkward couple right right, Like,
(29:47):
I don't I don't even know how anyway, I let's
go out to Marcel and Rob. We're in Brooklyn and Vegas,
or at two places at once, picks for the weekend.
Welcome to the show, gentlemen. Yes, good morning, mister Fenley,
Falise navida, schui noel, the glorified New Year. No. I
(30:10):
just said it, mister Brian Fenley, but I had to say, Brian, no,
that's it, Brian no happy holidays, faliz navidad, chui noel.
I like it. Man, You're covering all bases here, very good. Absolutely,
And I have mister Vegas who joins to say good
morning to you. Happy holidays, schwan noel, felise Navidad, happy
(30:37):
festivist everybody. And I have no idea what the hell
you're saying. I had to said for you, mister Rob.
Falise Navidad, schwan noel, Falise Navidad in Spanish, schwan noel
in French. That's why flie nuevo falise Navidad. All right, enough,
already you got some NFL picks or what let's do
(30:58):
the NFL picks on this alright. I at thirty seven
past the hour, and I had to say, for this Sunday,
it will be two left until the playoffs, poll Ball,
and the Super Bowl will take place. All right, mister
no get ready for tomorrow. Packers, brows, I'm gonna pack
I'm gonna have gold pack go. What's yours? Yeah, I'm
(31:19):
going packers in that one, Jack said? And how about
you rob what you got? My four games for this
weekend are the Cardinals minus one, Giants plus ten, Bears
plus six and a half in the Rams minus three.
Oh yeah, Cardinals and the colt will take place on
NFL Network tomorrow, eight fifteen Eastern, five fifteen Pacific. Um
(31:42):
the Giants mine, you're exactly right plus ten against the Eagles,
the enemy of the Northeast pat Com one pmme stertin
ten am Pacific on Fox, and Jaguars, you're right, play
the Jets one same thing on CBS. And then and
then I have um I Seahawks play the Chicago Bears
four or five Eastern, one or five Pacific on Fox.
(32:05):
Seahawks or Bears go, mister Noel, Yeah, I'm gonna go
with the Seahawks. Uh yeah, I think they it stink
versus stink. But I think I know so lose. The
losing shriek scenario continues, but that's okay, it will win
and then uh, lastly, as the holiday season continues, the
(32:28):
Saints against the Dolphins seven seven oh, same thing, eight
fifteen Eastern, five fifteen Pacific on ESPN, Rob, what you got?
I do not have that game this weekend? Oh shoot,
how about some snap? Oh? I like that? Hey, Brian, Rob,
(32:52):
thanks for my phone call today, Yes, thank you. Let's
finding all of you listeners. If you want to vote
for me three times, that's a caller of the millennium
and the caller of the year. That Betty Awards is
going to be just around the corner, the biggest, the losers.
Anything you want to say, let us know. If you
fall at Ben Mall on Twitter and everyone else, he'll
(33:17):
get you there, all right, man, ad of me within
Blair doesn't know, so stay out of it. All right.
That's a good drop to Mike moment. Right there, Marcel,
you take care of Happy holidays to you and Rob
Bulson Blair right away. There it is there, It is
all right. We covered a lot of ground there, a
(33:38):
lot of picks, a lot picks over all right, we're
gonna close the show in style. Coming up here, We're
gonna shoe Horner as much stuff as we can before
we have to say Sayonara, I want to get to
a tweet here that was very informative. Also, the amount
of shameless apologizing for this player is unlike any buddy else.
(34:00):
I'll have details for you. I'm Brian though in for
Big Ben Mallard. This is Fox Sports Radio Jimmy garoppolow MM.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Hey,
I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball. We
(34:23):
usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more
about the stories about what made these people love their
sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We
talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories.
You download it, you listen to it. I think you
like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or ever you get your podcast.
(34:55):
Felis do felis na fleas feleist not give me the
album of this one. We are always looking to proliferate
the malor militiam. Help our grassroots movement add new listeners
(35:17):
to the Ben Mallers Show support our noble efforts by
posting comments about the Ben Mallor Show on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,
and all other social media. You have the power to
influence others to join the cult of the Ben Mallers Show. Now,
let's get back to a man who is the leader
of the cult right now? In for Ben it's Brian. No,
thank you, Brian Finley. You are the opposite of a
(35:41):
menace to society. You are an asset for a society
right there? Do you take travelers checks? I don't. Okay,
we've gotta be cold heartcash. Yeah, could heartcash. By the way,
I got a tweet here from Kevin and he just
wrote egg nog. The easy way to understand it is
(36:02):
to ask yourself if you like frozen custard. Eggnog is
custard before it has been frozen. That's where the egg
in the name comes from. Both are egg custards. I
appreciate the explanation. I'm going to assume that on the
money sounds like it. I still don't know what the
(36:25):
hell it means. I have no idea what Look, man,
it's simple. If it sounds like you're drinking something that's
flavored like eggs. It's not going to sound appealing. They've
got to change that name. It's a horrible name. I
think if it was called liquid icing, I think eggnog
tastes like icing. I think it's tremendous. It's just bad branding,
(36:49):
you know, name that thing liquid icing. Who would not
want to drink something that tastes like icing? I think
without bourbon here, I'm just straight up eggnog. It was great.
It's great. You Roberto, where do you stand on eggnog?
Was some bourbon? It's good? Yeah? I like it. Yeah.
(37:10):
By the way, real fast, he paid this off? What
are the TV shows in the movies that you are white?
Cut up on Ted Last? Everybody talked about Ted last one.
I never watched it before. It's great, Like yeah, yeah,
cut up on movies? Uh oh movie he's really fast.
Uh Ghostbusters, great movie. I love that movie. Uh uh
the Ricardos I was watching it so far. I haven't
(37:31):
finished watching that movie yet. King Richard Red Notice Garbage,
the old Cleanness clean that Clint East the movie that
came out recently, like a few months back. Garbage, which
one the one where like he he like punch. He's
a nine year old man. He like takes a swing
at somebody. I forgot the name of the movie. It
was brand Torino. No no, no no, no, the recent one
(37:53):
before it just sounded just like, yeah, oh that one
wasn't good. Uh, The Shreek Neck Drink next door and
really good on the Apple plus Will Farrell and Paul Rudd.
Good stuff. Nice. Appreciate the recommendations right there. Now, I've
thought this was interesting here. So I was I've been
mentioning a couple of times. I was on a Seattle
(38:15):
sports station on Thursday morning. I was just doing some
fill in stuff, and so we were previewing the Bears
Seahawks game. So we had a Bears guest on. So
this guy is from six seventy the Score in Chicago.
It's a producer. Guy does a great job, Shane Reardon.
And so I just threw it out there. I was like, hey,
(38:37):
is there any talk of a Russell Wilson trade? I
know you trade it up and got justin fields, But
if Russell Wilson said I want out of Seattle, and
he's like, you know, I want to go to Chicago,
And all of a sudden there was a deal on
the table. You'd have to take that. If you're the
(38:58):
Bears and I got some pushback, listen to this, I'll
push back on you. I mean as hard as possible.
I would not trade justin Fields for Russell Wilson. That
there's no you're crazy, You're out of your money, You're crazy. No, no, no,
I'm not. Because you've got to capitalize on a rookie contract.
All right, you mentioned other things. Rookie contract and the
(39:18):
roster isn't good enough. You know they have holes here,
holes there, YadA yeaut of that type of thing. I'm like, Look,
Russell Wilson is Mascara. I know he's taking a step
back this year. But to think the guy is broken,
and I'm not saying Shane was saying that, I'm just
saying for anybody out there, to think that Russ is broken,
that's just as wrong. That's being caught up in a moment.
(39:38):
Russ suffered the first injury of his career. He hasn't
gotten back into rhythm. It's really that simple. But to
think that his powers are just gone and destroyed and
have left forever. I don't agree with that. Now, to
take it one step further the apologizing for Justin Fields.
Just listen to this. I don't know what he's done
in the NFL to earn this type of backing. I
don't know if Russell Wilson right now is much better
(40:00):
than Justin Fields. I don't know about dude. Wow, I
don't know what to I don't even know what to say.
I don't even know what to say that you watch
Justin Fields all year, He's done nothing. He had a
good game against the Steelers and that's it. He's been
trash for all year. It's all about system. He's got
a tight end that they drafted in the second round
(40:22):
and Cole Combett that has caused four interceptions by the
balls hitting off of his hand. He's had no consistency
and wide receiver. He doesn't have a deep th threat.
He's got Alan Robinson giving up on routes everywhere. It's
all about situation. It's about circumstance, and right now the
future is Justin Fields. You're not going to take a
step back and trade him away for Russell Wilson again.
(40:47):
Now this is me talking. The soundbite's over. I don't
want it to be confusing. I don't get it. I
don't understand the amount of just shameless apologizing for Justin Fields.
I don't understand it. All year it's been like that. Oh,
it's the offensive line, it's Matt Naggie's play calling, it's
Cole Comet, it's everybody, but Justin Fields. How can that be?
(41:11):
How can he not be part of the problem. It's
just everybody else. It's crazy to me. Who says that
about two a tongue of VLOA. Whoever has said, wow,
his offensive line isn't the greatest and you can't run
the ball effectively. That puts a lot of stress on him.
No one, No one's it's just like, ah, it's freaking tuah.
Who says that about Taysom Hill? The Saints quarterback. Taysom
(41:34):
Hill has started seven games. Who's given him the benefit
of the doubt, Like, all right, yeah he's had some
bad decisions, but yeah, give it a little bit of time.
He's barely started at all. And who's No one says
that I say that. No one says it's get this
gadget guy out of get him out of here. But
Justin Fields, I don't know what it is. He's got
(41:54):
the golden pass of golden passes. It doesn't make any
sense at all, none, But that's where we're at. Okay,
my insight sources have informed me that you might get
one more segment out of me. Just no, oh, we're done. Okay,
(42:15):
you're in business with LaVar Arrington coming up right around
the corner. I heard a little glee in Roberto's voice, like, no,
you can go. Jimmy Garoppolo. Mmmmmmmm
Hey, thanks for listening to the Ben Mallers Show podcast.
It's me Ben. Be sure to catch us live every
weeknight from two to six Eastern eleven pm the three
am Pacific right here on Fox Sports Radio. You can
find your local station for The Ben Mallers Show over
at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every night on the iHeartRadio app by searching f s R.
(00:25):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio. Oh man, it was
a stink fest on Thursday night football. As far as
Jimmy Garoppolo is concerned, it was not a great performance
from the San Francisco forty nine ers quarterback. As we
(00:47):
welcome you into another hour here Brian though in for
Big Ben on Fox Sports Radio. So, Jimmy g like,
this is the thing. Look, sometimes stats are misleading. I
think that. I think that when it comes to analytics stats, right,
I think it's silly to be on one extreme or
(01:09):
the other. I don't think it makes sense to be like, oh, analytics,
oh stats, this is unbelievable. This is the end all
be all. I don't think that makes sense, And I
think the opposite also doesn't make sense. If you're like,
there's nothing to this analytics shenanigans. Oh, these statistics are
for losers, Like, it doesn't make sense to either extreme.
In my opinion, I think the middle ground makes a
(01:31):
lot more sense where analytics wise, there's definitely something to it,
just not everything. And with stats, there's definitely something too statistics,
but not everything because they can be misleading. Jimmy Garoppolo.
When you look at his numbers on Thursday Night Football,
(01:52):
I don't think they tell an accurate story. I think
he was way worse than his numbers. Because here's the
thing with stats, they're just black and white. They say,
all right, he attempted these many passes, this many completions,
he had this many yards, these many touchdowns and interceptions,
this was a passer rating. That's it. It's just black
(02:13):
and white, this is what happened. It doesn't take into
account the part of the game. It doesn't take into account. Hey,
he didn't have an open receiver at all, right, Like,
not all interceptions are the same. If there is a
ball that should have been caught, that was delivered with
(02:35):
pinpoint accuracy and the receiver just dropped it and it
turns out to be a pick, well that's a lot
different than completely misreading the defense and making a horrible
decision and throwing a pick. That's totally on you, right,
Like you have to decipher where stats are accurate and
where they're misleading. And so for Jimmy garoppolo twenty six
(02:59):
of thirty five, it's pretty good. Three hundred twenty two yards. Hey,
you'll take that a touchdown in two picks. And there
have been worse performances. Passer rating of eighty eight point one. Ah,
you'd like that to be healthier, but not a complete
disaster statistically. Now, if you watch the game, you know better.
(03:20):
You know it was a disaster. Jimmy G through his
first interception to Jack Rabbit Jenkins one of the best
nicknames ever. That's actually his legal name. He's changing it
to that. Jimmy G tried to hook up with George Kittle.
San Francisco was absolutely crushing Tennessee to begin the game.
(03:41):
Sanfran was up seven nothing, they were looking for more.
Jimmy G forced the ball, picked off, terrible decision. Then
he missed Kyle Uschek for a walk in touchdown. Again
in the stats, that's just one incomplete pass. Not the
end of the world, big deal, Like They're plenty of
passes that are batted down out the line of scrimmage,
(04:02):
not even the quarterback's fault. So you have to be
watching the games to know how do you miss Kyle Uscheck.
It was a breakdown in coverage. You gotta hit that,
it's gotta be a touchdown. He missed that. Jimmy g
should have had another piss another another pass picked off
by Rashaun Evans. He dropped it, and then Jimmy made
(04:25):
a terrible decision another interception to Amari Amani Hooker. So
two interceptions Jack Rabbit Jenkins and Amani Hooker. The all
name team over there with the Tennessee Titans. The second
interception was in the second half. Sam Fran had control
of the game. They're leading ten to three. The Titans
(04:46):
had fifty five yards of total offense in the first half,
fifty five yards. They couldn't do anything, and Jimmy G
missing us Check for a touchdown, throwing two interceptions, should
have actually thrown three interceptions. It was just a brutal performance.
And that's the other part is forget about just this
(05:07):
one game. If you look over the course of the season,
if you look at Jimmy Garoppolo's stats over the year
not that bad, not bad, respectable, right, twenty touchdowns, twelve picks,
You're in the neighborhood of a hundred passer rating, Like
that's not bad. But it's just those games where if
(05:30):
you screw up a game where Deebo Samuel has one
hundred and ninety one yards of total offense, Deebo Samuel
was just an absolute stud against the Titans on Thursday,
and the Titans offense had a hard hard time finding
its footing fifty five total yards in the first half,
(05:51):
and you breathe life into their lungs. That's the type
of stuff that sometimes doesn't show up in the box score,
either of that particular game or in the course of
an overall season. Sometimes that stuff is hidden, And I
think that Jimmy Garoppolo, he's one of these guys where
(06:12):
he'll give you some good performances. He's not always a dud.
But when he's a dud, man is he brutal? Now,
this was his head coach Kyle Shanahan after the game
talking about what went wrong for the forty nine ers.
We weren't good on third down, and you know, I
think and then our first play in the third quarter
on offense was a pick, which that was a real
(06:33):
bad one. Shan I'd have thrown that was a bad play.
No one was open on the play. He just had
to take it. I was glad that we tied it
up there at the end, but then they came back
and finished on the final drive. I mean, Kyle Shanahan
worked in like I don't know, three or four different
opinions in a thirteen second SoundBite, but the most important
part is base I'm going to paraphrase, there was no
(06:55):
one open when he's trying to throw to George Kittle.
That you can't throw at pass. At worst, you eat
it or listen, scramble outside, try to make something happen
if you have to throw it away, but don't throw
it to the other team in the end zone. That's
it's just stupid. There's no excuse for that. Now, thanks
changed quickly because it was just last week against the Falcons,
(07:18):
Jimmy G looked a whole lot better. Of course, not
as good of an opponent as the Titans, but this
was the forty nine Ers Radio network waxing poetic about
Jimmy G. Jimmy Garoppolo is smoking hot. Thanks Jimmy Garoppolo.
(07:38):
Mmmm yeah yeah, bad, bad performance on Thursday night football. Now,
this was Jimmy G after the game, assessing his own
performance mixed with the team's performance. Here is Jimmy G's
a it's a game. We had an opportunity to go
and go into their place, and we got off to
(07:58):
a good start, got the lead like we wanted too,
and we just we had a lull in the middle there.
And if we don't hit that lull, I think it's
a totally different game. But you know, that's football. We
had a chance. I mean, in a game like that,
you just get off to a hot start like that,
and we were rolling early on and kind of just
got a little sluggish in the middle there. But I
don't know, it's tough when you let one like this
slip away. Wow. Yeah, Brian Finley said it best. Where
(08:21):
where's the eye? In that sound bite? It was we
that was the wrong time for we. Yeah, we got
a little sluggish. Oh you mean the time when you
were throwing stupid interceptions, Jimmy G. Is that the time
you're talking about, like it should be Like I screwed up.
I was making bad decisions. I was throwing interceptions. We
had it rolling except for me. That's I just threw
(08:46):
it in. They're like, yeah, we got a little sluggish,
got a little sluggish. You're making brain dead decisions. What
are you doing? That was a terrible performance by Jimmy
g just awful. Now on the other side, a J.
Brown study performance eleven catches, one hundred and forty five
(09:06):
yards and a touchdown and the turning point I think
in the game. The end of the third quarter. It
was third and twenty three for the Titans, and Tannehill
got the Niners to jump and then he just threw
a deep ball. A J. Brown came down with it,
and that really got the Titans moving. Now, the Niners
(09:27):
scored and tied the game up late and just couldn't
get a stop. Titans just methodically worked the ball downfield,
got in the field goal range, Boom, got the field goal.
They walk off with the win. But I think when
you spin this forward with the Titans, like the Titans
have a legitimate shot in the AFC. They beat down
(09:48):
the Chiefs earlier in the year twenty seven to three. Now,
it was a long time ago. That was a much
different Chiefs team at the time. But the Titans get
Derek and reback, they could absolutely beat the Chiefs in
the playoffs. They could make it to the Super Bowl.
I want to be shocked at all. The thing with
the Titans is, and look, you could say this about
(10:11):
any team turnovers. It's just if you're turning the ball over,
it's it's a killer. If you're taking the ball away.
I mean, you can be the lesser team and win
games consistently. We all know that that is just stating
the obvious. But I point this out because the Titans.
The main reason they've been losing games consistently heading into
(10:34):
Thursday night, they've been turning the ball over like crazy.
Listen to some of these stats here. Okay, so last
week the Titans against the Steelers, the Steelers only converted
two of eleven third downs. The Steelers had one hundred
and sixty eight yards in the game, a buck sixty eight.
(10:57):
They couldn't do anything offensively. The Titans defense was sensational,
but the Titans offense they turned the ball over four times.
Three of those turnovers were in the final sixteen minutes.
And you also look at heading into Thursday night football
over the previous four weeks, the Titans had thirteen turnovers.
(11:21):
Those are just killers. And so it's the most obvious,
like no kidding, no, you gotta hold onto the ball. Yeah,
but I point this out because the Titans have just
been giving it away, giving good away. It's like the
old Red Hot Chili Peppers song, give it away and
give it away. Now. That was the Titans heading into
Thursday Night Football. And then that's what Jimmy g did
(11:42):
on Thursday Night Football and it swung the game in
the favor of the Titans. So just protecting the football.
I love what Bucky Brooks said last week. Bucky and
I did a show on Saturday night. He was filling
in for e from Salam, who I normally worked with
on Saturday Night, and Bucky was talking about the Patriots,
(12:03):
right because the Patriots were at the Colts on Saturday
night during the show we were doing. And I love
the description he said, the Patriots are like a baseline
tennis player, right where you're just you're at the baseline.
You're not charging the net, and you're just hitting the
ball over the net, hitting the ball over the net,
(12:24):
hitting the ball over the net, and the Patriots are
just waiting for their opponent to screw up right, hit
it into the net, hit it long, and they're just
waiting for you to commit an unforced error. And a
lot of playoff football is like that. It's not just
(12:45):
about physically dominating your opponent or just executing in all
phases better. A lot of it comes down to just
not shooting yourself in the foot. A lot of times
you just protect the foot ball. You know, it's funny
because we always look down at certain quarterbacks like Alex
Smith where a he's a game manager, meaning eyes limited.
(13:08):
It's not a compliment, it's a disc But there are
a lot of times, the way the game is playing out,
protecting the football is your number one job like that.
So what you have to do the most. I'll tell
you what. Last week, if the Titans protected the football
against the Steelers, there's no way the Steelers win that game,
zero chance. The Steelers had one hundred and sixty eight
(13:30):
yards of total offense, the Titans coughed it up four times,
and it was still a game. If the Titans just
protect the football, they win that game walking away with ease.
So that is the thing to keep in mind. With
the Titans. Two questions, can they get Derrick Henry backhealthy?
(13:51):
They can, they're in business. And the other part is
can you just not kill yourself with those turnovers when
for a month they had just been handing it to
their team like yep, here you go, yep, here you go.
They had a bunch of turnovers against the Texans for
crying out loud when they lost that game. So let's
protect the football and get King Henry back, and the
(14:14):
Titans could absolutely make some noise in the AFC, no doubt.
I plenty to get to eight seven, seven ninety nine
on Fox is your phone number? I glanced down on
my notes. I have not forgotten about Roberto's recommendations on
the old boob tube over there. You know he's been
watching a lot of TV, and it hasn't been Lakers
(14:36):
basketball or the NBA. I do watch some of the Lakers,
were not every game, like how many games do you catch?
How many of you seen this year? Like three? One
game from starting to finish one a game on game?
Which game was it? Do you remember? Because the Celtics
obviously did they win or lose that they lost that game?
If they had won that game, would you be watching
(14:57):
them more? No, because they're playing the Celtics. Yeah, I
got you. Okay, Well, well I need to get your
I need to pick your TV brain here. Coming up
next we'll do that and also get your calls in
again eight seven, seven ninety nine on Fox. If you're
raring to go, we'll get you on. I want to
get to this as well, coming up shortly. It's become
(15:19):
a dirty word, but it's made a monstrous impact. So
that's on the way as well. I'm Brian no in
for Big Ben Mallard. This is Fox Sports Radio. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show
weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox
Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio Allard related by John Deer
(15:49):
Driving see you can see there's no one believe she'd
been drinking whiskey and whack cloud. Listen to Malla Malaysia.
(16:09):
The Ben mallow Show is the show of the people.
Buy the people, for the people, Join the movement. You
can follow the Big Guy, Big Ben on Twitter at
Ben Maller. You can follow Brian Know who is subbing
in for Big Ben, and Brian is on Twitter at
the No show and our producer extraordinary in for Coop
de Loop Justin Cooper, it is Ricky Herrera. He does
(16:32):
not have a Twitter unless he talked to talk to
ye Andy Furman, one of our other co hosts during
the during the weekends, and he made a candle for
it's like our Herrera four or five six, So that's
not him. So if you want to follow Ricky the
best way at Fox Sports Radio with that back to Brian,
(16:55):
is he just doing that on purpose at this point?
He does it all the time? Yeah, all the time. Yeah.
I don't know about our guy Firman over here right
where he keeps me guessing some of his takes. I'm like,
this guy doesn't really believe this, right, And then I'm like,
I think he might. I don't know, right. And it's
the same thing with Twitter handles. There's half of me
(17:17):
that thinks he's in on the joke. And then I'm like,
but I'm not sure that's the case, right, Like, I
don't know, I don't know where it ends up right there.
Not quite sure. Okay, I'm gonna go fast on this
because I think I've gone the entire show without mentioning
the dirty word. One time, and that is COVID, right.
(17:40):
I don't think we've talked hardly at all about it.
But the only thing is the impact on the sports
world is it's crazy where we don't have the Hawaii Bowl.
Hawaii had to pull out of that thing. It's a
Christmas Eve tradition and it's gonna be axed for a
second straight year. There an outbreak that Hawaii had. Also
(18:02):
Texas A and M they are not going to play
in the Gator Bowl. They had all these COVID results,
they only had thirty eight players available, So that's pretty crazy.
In steps in Rutgers, Rutgers will play Wake Forest. You
probably don't care about it. I certainly don't care about it.
But what's interesting to me is the reason Rutgers is
(18:25):
stepping in as a five and seven team. They qualified
because they have the best academic progress rate of all
the schools with five and seven records. So, wow, welcome
to twenty twenty one. I guess right. The other part
of this is, I don't know about you, but the
(18:46):
way I am look all these COVID related I don't
know what you would call it. Some of these players
that they're just not gonna be able to go in
the games. Right when I hear about it, I just
immediately roll my eyes, like, oh my gosh, I'm just
so over this. I want it to be done, you know.
(19:08):
And then I checked myself because I'm like, look, if
this was a hamstring strain, or this was a sore knee,
or if this was an ankle injury or shoulder, you
name it right, it would be significant. So whether Dalvin Cook,
the Vikings running back, is out due to COVID or injury,
(19:28):
his absence is huge for the Vikings. So I've had
to check myself. I don't know if you're the same way,
but it's been I don't know how long we've just
been hearing COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, and I'm like,
oh my gosh, this again. I'm done. I'm over it.
But the impact on the game is huge. So Dalvin Cook,
(19:49):
he has followed all the protocols for unvaccinated players, which
is basically saying he's unvaccinated, but it isn't set in
stone that he is right. It's a reporter just trying
not to completely step in it. But Dalvin Cook tested
positive and because he's expected to be an unvaccinated player.
(20:12):
He's out for a minimum of ten days and that's
a huge loss for the Vikings because they're taking on
the Rams this Sunday and Dalvin Cook's the third leading
rusher in the entire NFL. It's a monstrous loss for them.
The Vikings are seven and seven right now, they're trying
to scratch into the playoffs, so not having Dalvin against
(20:34):
the Rams it's a monstrous deal. And the last time
that Dalvin Cook wasn't available for a game, the Vikings
lost to the Lions. So yeah, Dalvin Cook. In Week twelve,
he got banged up against the forty nine Ers. He
suffered a dislocated left shoulder and torn labram. He missed
(20:56):
one game and the Vikings lost that against the Lions.
And then he came back in week fourteen and was
unbelievable against the Steelers. It was that crazy Thursday night game.
He rushed for two hundred five yards. It's unbelievable. He's great,
but he's on the shelf. I'll say this, this is
the takeaway. You could have your own version of what
(21:18):
the protocols should be for the NBA, the NFL, whatever,
all that matters is what the current protocols are. And
for an unvaccinated player, if you test positive, you're on
the shelf for ten days, no questions asked. And so
teams with a number of unvaccinated players they're at a
(21:39):
significant disadvantage just based on how the protocols are set up.
I mean, that's it. If Dalvin Cook is a vaccinated player,
he's got a chance of playing on Sunday. But it's
the same thing as Cole Beasley because those guys are
unvaccinated and they can track COVID. The policy is you're
(22:00):
out for a minimum of ten days. It's a huge,
huge deal. And look, I think that you have to
look at what the rules are instead of what you
think they should be, or what they could be, or
what they might be, or it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter,
like all this stuff about Beasley and I'll get off this,
trust me. I don't want to do a whole COVID
(22:22):
thing here, But it's just making a monstrous impact in
the sports world. The argument that Cole Beasley made of well,
it's the rules, it's not the virus that's keeping me out.
It's like, dude, your decision to not get vaccinated is
what's keeping you out because that's the way it's set
up in the NFL. That's the system that's set up.
(22:44):
If you're vaccinated, you need a negative test, boom, you're
back in business. If you're unvaccinated, you're out for ten days.
You could raise your hand and say that's stupid, it
makes no sense. Make your argument could be the most
well reasoned argument ever. It doesn't matter. It just matter
matters what the protocols are. It would be like me
getting busted for driving twenty miles per hour over the
(23:06):
speed limit. It would sound pretty stupid for me to say, well,
it's just because of these rules and these laws, and
it's like, yeah, welcome to life. There are rules, there
are laws. And in the NFL, if they have rules
and you're out for ten days as an unvaccinated player
who tests positive, well guess what. That's the way it is.
(23:31):
That's the way for any employee. If your employer says
these are the protocols, this is the setup, you can
make your argument all day till you're blue in the face.
It doesn't matter. Remember the Rock when he was wrestling
and its famous saying it doesn't matter. That's exactly it.
It doesn't matter what you think the protocols should be.
(23:53):
It just matters what the protocols are. And so these
teams with any number of unvacated players, as this thing
continues to spread, if the protocols are set up where
you're on the shelf for ten days and you are
at a significant disadvantage. Last thing I'll mention is how
about the Ravens. The Baltimore Ravens, they practiced with just
(24:15):
thirteen defensive players due to COVID. They've got nine defensive
players that are on the COVID list and they're at Cincinnati.
They're taking on the Bengals in a huge game for
the AFC North and playoff positioning and all of that.
So the Ravens absolutely feeling the effects. And their defensive coordinator,
(24:39):
Wink Martindale, he came out and said that he doesn't
know if they're playing football or the squid games. Quote
unquote is what he said. And he said, look, people
don't care about your problems. You're just trying to get
guys ready to play. But he's basically saying, it's crazy
what's happening to us over here. So there you go.
Take it. For what it's worth. It's just it's a
(25:02):
reality in the football world right now. That look, if
you're unvaccinated, your team is at a significant disadvantage compared
to teams that are vaccinated. It's just the way the
rules are set up in the NFL right now. That's it.
So you can disagree with it all day, but it
really doesn't matter until the NFL changes their protocols. So
(25:25):
for the time being, this is what it is. All right,
We'll get off to the phones eight seven, seven ninety
nine on Fox. That's coming up momentarily. First though, Brian Fenley,
who has just been waxing poetic behind a hot microphone
throughout the Oh, Brian, know you are too nice, and
I don't know if you're exactly correct there. I try,
I try, I try. But let's start with the NFL
(25:47):
from Thursday and Randy Bullock kit that forty four yard
field goal at the end of the game to push
the Titans past to forty nine ers twenty to seventeen,
and Tennessee wide receiver standout aj Brown made his return
off injured reserve and did he thrill or what? Eleven
catches for one hundred forty five yards, and that loss
(26:08):
for San Francisco was a good thing for Cowboys fans
because their team, by virtue of that loss, is now
in Dallas having able to clinch a spot in the postseason.
In college football, UCF devastates Florida twenty nine to seventeen
in the Gasparillo Bowl Hawaii. That football game, the Hawaii Bowl,
(26:29):
which Brian had mentioned, was supposed to take place later
today in Honolulu. It is a Christmas Eve tradition that's
not going to happen because of COVID issues with UH
And they were going to take on Memphis, and you
feel from Memphis because they had made the trek already
out there to the Islands, and now they're going to
go home without playing a game. They might as well
(26:49):
just scrimmage against each other while they're out there. In
the NFL, or excuse me, in the NBA, the Spurs
all over the Lakers one thirty eight to one ten.
Lebron James thirty six points, nine rebounds, Steph Curry filling
up the statuet with forty six points as the Warriors
overcome the Grizzlies one thirteen to one oh four. Donovan
Mitchell supplies twenty eight points as the Jazz tattoo the
(27:11):
Timberwolves one twenty one sixteen. The Sons have the best
record in the NBA twenty six and five. After they
put down the Thunder one thirteen to one oh one,
the Hornets were able to climb out of a nineteen
point a hole and surprise the Nuggets one fifteen to
one oh seven. And finally, the Bucks are victorious over
(27:33):
the Mavericks one o two to ninety five. Three of
Milwaukee starters did score twenty plus points. One would be
Chris Middleton as we send it back to Brian. No
great stuff, as always be Fenley, superb job. Okay, let's
hear from the militia here. The militia is. They are
(27:54):
all lined up here. So we'll go one by one.
Let's start off with Ed is over in Washington, wants
to talk some ball. You're on Fox Sports Radio. Ed,
what's up? Hey? I love your show on TV. I'm
I'm a huge fan of your Brian Familey. Merry Christmas
(28:15):
as well as to you, Brian, well, thank you appreciate that.
Merry Christmas to you. Also, we just got married in Portland,
actually we started in Portland. Me and my wife Christina
drove all the way to us. It was awesome, very nice. Okay,
how do you think? What do you think about the
(28:35):
Seahawks right now? What do you think? Yeah, they're they're
they're terrible right now, you know they're bad. Do you
think they should trade Russell Wilson? Nah, not unless he's
demanding it. I wouldn't do it. I mean, he's still
got a lot in the tank. He's Russell Wilson. He's fantastic.
He kind of looks right now though. Yeah, I mean
(28:57):
he's His pass rating overall is very good. It's just
we're used to him being much better than he than
he is this year. He's he's not bad though, Like
he's just normally a lot better. I agree. I don't know, man,
I don't know if he's going anywhere. But thanks for
(29:19):
checking in, Ed, appreciate you checking in. Very cheerful, right,
NFL life comes at you fast, man. We were just
talking about we got a deal. Time for y'all to
go to bed, and now, yeah, who knows what happens
next sep there's that such an awkward couple right right, Like,
(29:47):
I don't I don't even know how anyway, I let's
go out to Marcel and Rob. We're in Brooklyn and Vegas,
or at two places at once, picks for the weekend.
Welcome to the show, gentlemen. Yes, good morning, mister Fenley,
Falise navida, schui noel, the glorified New Year. No. I
(30:10):
just said it, mister Brian Fenley, but I had to say, Brian, no,
that's it, Brian no happy holidays, faliz navidad, chui noel.
I like it. Man, You're covering all bases here, very good. Absolutely,
And I have mister Vegas who joins to say good
morning to you. Happy holidays, schwan noel, felise Navidad, happy
(30:37):
festivist everybody. And I have no idea what the hell
you're saying. I had to said for you, mister Rob.
Falise Navidad, schwan noel, Falise Navidad in Spanish, schwan noel
in French. That's why flie nuevo falise Navidad. All right, enough,
already you got some NFL picks or what let's do
(30:58):
the NFL picks on this alright. I at thirty seven
past the hour, and I had to say, for this Sunday,
it will be two left until the playoffs, poll Ball,
and the Super Bowl will take place. All right, mister
no get ready for tomorrow. Packers, brows, I'm gonna pack
I'm gonna have gold pack go. What's yours? Yeah, I'm
(31:19):
going packers in that one, Jack said? And how about
you rob what you got? My four games for this
weekend are the Cardinals minus one, Giants plus ten, Bears
plus six and a half in the Rams minus three.
Oh yeah, Cardinals and the colt will take place on
NFL Network tomorrow, eight fifteen Eastern, five fifteen Pacific. Um
(31:42):
the Giants mine, you're exactly right plus ten against the Eagles,
the enemy of the Northeast pat Com one pmme stertin
ten am Pacific on Fox, and Jaguars, you're right, play
the Jets one same thing on CBS. And then and
then I have um I Seahawks play the Chicago Bears
four or five Eastern, one or five Pacific on Fox.
(32:05):
Seahawks or Bears go, mister Noel, Yeah, I'm gonna go
with the Seahawks. Uh yeah, I think they it stink
versus stink. But I think I know so lose. The
losing shriek scenario continues, but that's okay, it will win
and then uh, lastly, as the holiday season continues, the
(32:28):
Saints against the Dolphins seven seven oh, same thing, eight
fifteen Eastern, five fifteen Pacific on ESPN, Rob, what you got?
I do not have that game this weekend? Oh shoot,
how about some snap? Oh? I like that? Hey, Brian, Rob,
(32:52):
thanks for my phone call today, Yes, thank you. Let's
finding all of you listeners. If you want to vote
for me three times, that's a caller of the millennium
and the caller of the year. That Betty Awards is
going to be just around the corner, the biggest, the losers.
Anything you want to say, let us know. If you
fall at Ben Mall on Twitter and everyone else, he'll
(33:17):
get you there, all right, man, ad of me within
Blair doesn't know, so stay out of it. All right.
That's a good drop to Mike moment. Right there, Marcel,
you take care of Happy holidays to you and Rob
Bulson Blair right away. There it is there, It is
all right. We covered a lot of ground there, a
(33:38):
lot of picks, a lot picks over all right, we're
gonna close the show in style. Coming up here, We're
gonna shoe Horner as much stuff as we can before
we have to say Sayonara, I want to get to
a tweet here that was very informative. Also, the amount
of shameless apologizing for this player is unlike any buddy else.
(34:00):
I'll have details for you. I'm Brian though in for
Big Ben Mallard. This is Fox Sports Radio Jimmy garoppolow MM.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Hey,
I'm Doug Gottlieb. The podcast is called All Ball. We
(34:23):
usually talk all basketball all the time, but it's more
about the stories about what made these people love their
sport and all the interesting interactions along the way. We
talked to coaches, we talked to players, We tell you stories.
You download it, you listen to it. I think you
like it. Listen to All Ball with Doug Gottlieb on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or ever you get your podcast.
(34:55):
Felis do felis na fleas feleist not give me the
album of this one. We are always looking to proliferate
the malor militiam. Help our grassroots movement add new listeners
(35:17):
to the Ben Mallers Show support our noble efforts by
posting comments about the Ben Mallor Show on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,
and all other social media. You have the power to
influence others to join the cult of the Ben Mallers Show. Now,
let's get back to a man who is the leader
of the cult right now? In for Ben it's Brian. No,
thank you, Brian Finley. You are the opposite of a
(35:41):
menace to society. You are an asset for a society
right there? Do you take travelers checks? I don't. Okay,
we've gotta be cold heartcash. Yeah, could heartcash. By the way,
I got a tweet here from Kevin and he just
wrote egg nog. The easy way to understand it is
(36:02):
to ask yourself if you like frozen custard. Eggnog is
custard before it has been frozen. That's where the egg
in the name comes from. Both are egg custards. I
appreciate the explanation. I'm going to assume that on the
money sounds like it. I still don't know what the
(36:25):
hell it means. I have no idea what Look, man,
it's simple. If it sounds like you're drinking something that's
flavored like eggs. It's not going to sound appealing. They've
got to change that name. It's a horrible name. I
think if it was called liquid icing, I think eggnog
tastes like icing. I think it's tremendous. It's just bad branding,
(36:49):
you know, name that thing liquid icing. Who would not
want to drink something that tastes like icing? I think
without bourbon here, I'm just straight up eggnog. It was great.
It's great. You Roberto, where do you stand on eggnog?
Was some bourbon? It's good? Yeah? I like it. Yeah.
(37:10):
By the way, real fast, he paid this off? What
are the TV shows in the movies that you are white?
Cut up on Ted Last? Everybody talked about Ted last one.
I never watched it before. It's great, Like yeah, yeah,
cut up on movies? Uh oh movie he's really fast.
Uh Ghostbusters, great movie. I love that movie. Uh uh
the Ricardos I was watching it so far. I haven't
(37:31):
finished watching that movie yet. King Richard Red Notice Garbage,
the old Cleanness clean that Clint East the movie that
came out recently, like a few months back. Garbage, which
one the one where like he he like punch. He's
a nine year old man. He like takes a swing
at somebody. I forgot the name of the movie. It
was brand Torino. No no, no no, no, the recent one
(37:53):
before it just sounded just like, yeah, oh that one
wasn't good. Uh, The Shreek Neck Drink next door and
really good on the Apple plus Will Farrell and Paul Rudd.
Good stuff. Nice. Appreciate the recommendations right there. Now, I've
thought this was interesting here. So I was I've been
mentioning a couple of times. I was on a Seattle
(38:15):
sports station on Thursday morning. I was just doing some
fill in stuff, and so we were previewing the Bears
Seahawks game. So we had a Bears guest on. So
this guy is from six seventy the Score in Chicago.
It's a producer. Guy does a great job, Shane Reardon.
And so I just threw it out there. I was like, hey,
(38:37):
is there any talk of a Russell Wilson trade? I
know you trade it up and got justin fields, But
if Russell Wilson said I want out of Seattle, and
he's like, you know, I want to go to Chicago,
And all of a sudden there was a deal on
the table. You'd have to take that. If you're the
(38:58):
Bears and I got some pushback, listen to this, I'll
push back on you. I mean as hard as possible.
I would not trade justin Fields for Russell Wilson. That
there's no you're crazy, You're out of your money, You're crazy. No, no, no,
I'm not. Because you've got to capitalize on a rookie contract.
All right, you mentioned other things. Rookie contract and the
(39:18):
roster isn't good enough. You know they have holes here,
holes there, YadA yeaut of that type of thing. I'm like, Look,
Russell Wilson is Mascara. I know he's taking a step
back this year. But to think the guy is broken,
and I'm not saying Shane was saying that, I'm just
saying for anybody out there, to think that Russ is broken,
that's just as wrong. That's being caught up in a moment.
(39:38):
Russ suffered the first injury of his career. He hasn't
gotten back into rhythm. It's really that simple. But to
think that his powers are just gone and destroyed and
have left forever. I don't agree with that. Now, to
take it one step further the apologizing for Justin Fields.
Just listen to this. I don't know what he's done
in the NFL to earn this type of backing. I
don't know if Russell Wilson right now is much better
(40:00):
than Justin Fields. I don't know about dude. Wow, I
don't know what to I don't even know what to say.
I don't even know what to say that you watch
Justin Fields all year, He's done nothing. He had a
good game against the Steelers and that's it. He's been
trash for all year. It's all about system. He's got
a tight end that they drafted in the second round
(40:22):
and Cole Combett that has caused four interceptions by the
balls hitting off of his hand. He's had no consistency
and wide receiver. He doesn't have a deep th threat.
He's got Alan Robinson giving up on routes everywhere. It's
all about situation. It's about circumstance, and right now the
future is Justin Fields. You're not going to take a
step back and trade him away for Russell Wilson again.
(40:47):
Now this is me talking. The soundbite's over. I don't
want it to be confusing. I don't get it. I
don't understand the amount of just shameless apologizing for Justin Fields.
I don't understand it. All year it's been like that. Oh,
it's the offensive line, it's Matt Naggie's play calling, it's
Cole Comet, it's everybody, but Justin Fields. How can that be?
(41:11):
How can he not be part of the problem. It's
just everybody else. It's crazy to me. Who says that
about two a tongue of VLOA. Whoever has said, wow,
his offensive line isn't the greatest and you can't run
the ball effectively. That puts a lot of stress on him.
No one, No one's it's just like, ah, it's freaking tuah.
Who says that about Taysom Hill? The Saints quarterback. Taysom
(41:34):
Hill has started seven games. Who's given him the benefit
of the doubt, Like, all right, yeah he's had some
bad decisions, but yeah, give it a little bit of time.
He's barely started at all. And who's No one says
that I say that. No one says it's get this
gadget guy out of get him out of here. But
Justin Fields, I don't know what it is. He's got
(41:54):
the golden pass of golden passes. It doesn't make any
sense at all, none, But that's where we're at. Okay,
my insight sources have informed me that you might get
one more segment out of me. Just no, oh, we're done. Okay,
(42:15):
you're in business with LaVar Arrington coming up right around
the corner. I heard a little glee in Roberto's voice, like, no,
you can go. Jimmy Garoppolo. Mmmmmmmm
Host
Ben Maller
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com