Richard Sherman Podcast - Week 15 REACTION: Titans-49ers, Colts-Seahawks, Lions-Rams, Bills-Patriots & Packers-Broncos | Richard Sherman NFL

Week 15 shook the NFL to its core, and Richard Sherman breaks down everything you need to know. From Brock Purdy’s strong performance in the San Francisco 49ers’ win over the Tennessee Titans to ongoing defensive concerns, Sherm explains where the Niners really stand heading into the playoff push. The Seattle Seahawks pull off one of the strangest wins of the season without scoring a touchdown, while the Los Angeles Rams stun the Detroit Lions and tighten the NFC West race.

This episode also covers massive, season-changing injury news, including Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL and the Kansas City Chiefs officially missing the playoffs. Richard reacts to what this means for Mahomes, the Chiefs’ future, and a wide-open AFC. Plus, Micah Parsons suffers a torn ACL, dealing a devastating blow to the Green Bay Packers and their postseason hopes. From Drake May vs. Josh Allen, Bo Nix’s breakout for the Denver Broncos, and the Chicago Bears surging behind Caleb Williams, to dark-horse contenders emerging across the league, this Week 15 breakdown explains why this NFL season has become completely unpredictable.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everybody, I appreciate you joining us as always. You
guys are phenomenal. You're the best in the world. You're
watching the Richard Sherman Podcast. But if you could do
me a huge favor and hit that sub button, it
would be greatly appreciated. You would do a service for
your boys. Sherm And I'll tell you what. I got
you back, You got my back, all love. Welcome back

(00:27):
to the Richard Sherman Podcast. And an incredible amount of
action in Week fifteen for the NFC West, especially because
that's what we're paying attention to. Mitchell. I know, I know,
I was watching the NFC West and your Detroit Lions.
It was a rough one. They were right there for
so long. It looked like they were in control of
this game, and then they let it go. The forty
nine Ers beat the Titans. That's an expected result. Brock

(00:50):
Purty plays well in this game. Three touchdowns, the defense
left something to be desired, and the Seattle Seahawks don't
score a touchdown on the day and somehow win the game.
I love it. But we'll start off with the San
Francisco forty nine Ers. Brock Party twenty three to thirty
two hundred and ninety five yards, three touchdowns, also forty
four yards rushing a career long rush in the game.

(01:13):
Brock looked good. He looked under control, in command, whatever
you want to say about it. He looked fantastic. CEMC
twenty two carry seventy three yards, got a touchdown in
the game. Ricky persoul. This might have been his best
game as a pro. Six catches for ninety six yards.
And the thing I loved about this game they got

(01:34):
my guy George Kittle involved early and often made an
impact on the game. Eight catches for eighty eight yards
in a touchdown in this game. It was beautiful offensive game.
Juwan Jennings three catch for thirty seven yards but got
two touchdowns in the game, and of course impacted it
blocking and just added tude throughout the game. I enjoyed

(01:57):
the game. I'm sure Niners fans felt good about the game,
especially going into the fourth. Once you got into the fourth,
the Titans score I think fourteen unanswered or fourteen points
in the game. In the fourth quarter. In the defense,
it was just leaky, leaky, you know, leaky yards in
the run game, dropped interceptions, no interceptions on the game,

(02:22):
but could have been three, maybe four interceptions on the day,
and that's just inexcusable. When you put in position to
make the plays, you gotta make them. Even in a
win like this, you gotta be critical and you gotta
take a hard look. Mustafa had one. I think it
was right before to have Jaiire Brown had an opportunity
where the balls are just hitting them right in the face.
Pauls the football is hitting them right in the chest

(02:45):
and right and you gotta have them. You gotta have
them when the ball hits you in the chest. Kyle
Shanahan said it. If we just catch the balls that
are right there that come to us, we be in
good shape. And the guys just didn't do it in
the second half. And that's that one of the frustrations
in this game, and and in otherwise really really good
game for the San Francisco forty nine ers. You look

(03:06):
up and you feel good about every phase of the game,
but you would feel a lot better if we caught
those interceptions. If you if you got those interceptions. We
didn't get sacks in the game. Cam Ward did a
great job of avoiding sacks. I thought we got a
number of pressures in the game. But Pollard fourteen carries
for one hundred and four yards is unacceptable, and that's

(03:28):
that's something they got to clean up.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
There's no question about it, Richard.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
That's where my eyes go to is Tony Pollard fourteen
carries for one hundred and four yards and a touchdown.
I mean, let's be real. The Tennessee Titans are two
and twelve. I know we're gonna hype this one up,
but at the end of the day, I mean San
Francisco forty nine ers are up against these La Rams
who I just saw first hand tonight, and if you

(03:52):
want to win this division, you're gonna.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
Have to pay.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
It played a lot higher level than this. That's my opinion, Richard.
But I mean we'll keep that to myself.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
I suppose, right, right right. I mean, brock Perty had
the fumble in the game on a Simmons sack. It
was a controversial, but it was a fumble. But it's
those are the plays where you where you hope in
a game like this you could build on you you
you hope, hey man, the defense we got multiple interceptions,
two interceptions, three interceptions in the game against the team

(04:24):
that's struggling. When you have no sacks and no no
turnovers against the team that's got two wins on the season,
an offense that's been really bad all season long're you
start to scratch your head and you're like, hey, you're
gonna look at You're gonna look into the draft to
replace some of these guys. You're gonna look at the
draft to strengthen these positions. You're gonna have to look
into free agency to get some guys in these positions

(04:45):
that can make the plays, because I mean, those are
those aren't like talent plays where you're like, hey, man,
he made a heck of a play. He needed to do.
Those are you gotta have? Those are NFL. You play
in the NFL, you're a professional, make the play. And
that's I'm sure Kyle Shanahan and Robert Sala are gonna
take a hard look at this defense, especially on plays

(05:06):
like this. You know, I think Mustafa and jire Brown
have had great moments where they played really good football.
Thought Jaira Brown played an awesome game last week. But
those are plays you expect an NFL player to make,
and and so you don't want to be critical in
a win, but you gotta be you gotta take a
hard look at everything, and that's what I'm doing. That's

(05:27):
what I'm doing. I thought the special teams were impactful
as they as they have been as of late, especially
this season. In the return game, I thought it was great.
They didn't punt this game. Morstead didn't punt. They had
a miss field gold in the game, Thank goodness. It
didn't matter and it didn't count, and they got another

(05:47):
he got Pinero got another shot at it. So he stays.
Let me just make sure he stays perfect on the season.
Sky Moore an eighteen yard return and a return game.
He's having a really impactful season. I'm sure they're excited
about his addition. They made some really good additions at
the trade deadline. But more news in San Francisco forty

(06:11):
nine ers laying is Brandon and I you being put
on the reserve, left the squad list. People. People have
been speculating what the issue has been after he was missing,
not seeing on the sideline, not seeing on the sideline
at practice h for a couple of weeks and now
we know what happened. You know, he's left the team.

(06:33):
I can't speculate on where he is right now. I
don't know if he's gone home, if he's gone somewhere else,
but they're saying he's left the team, and and and now,
you know, you you could you can get into a
conversation about voiding guarantees, avoiding some of the the signing
bonus that he's been given. You know, we don't know
how that's gonna all shake out, but it looks like
his time with the San Francisco forty nine ers is

(06:54):
coming to an end. I have a hard time seeing
a way to mend this relationship, to mend this this
partnership at this point, for me to sign Brendan obviously
feels slighted and frustrated. And for the life of me,
I could not understand why they paid him a lot

(07:16):
of money to play receiver in the National Football League. Obviously,
you get injured, you feel frustrated. There was some speculation
about him getting traded before he got paid, you know,
and it just seemed it didn't feel right when when
it got signed in the first place, it seemed like
a situation that was a trade was inevitable. He was unhappy,
he was frustrated, he was he was venting, he was

(07:37):
feeling away. You know, it was one of those situations
where you take all the San Francisco forty nine er
stuff down, then you put it back up and all that,
and so it seemed like it was a split, was
inevitable at the time, and then it you know, maybe
things mended a little bit and he got paid and
everybody was happy. But even the way his injury happened,

(07:58):
I think he played four games and he got banged
up and hasn't seen the field since. And everything that's
come out of the forty nine ers camp is it's
been pretty negative from the from that situation. And I
think when you get to the situation where everything's negative,
every conversation, every interaction is negative, then it's gonna it's
destined to be a split. And I know people feel

(08:19):
a way about man. They avoided his guarantee as soon
as they could. I the San Francisco forty nine ers
did not want to avoid Brandon Ayuks guarantee. But and
I know people feel a way about the training staff
and all that, because all the injuries, some of them
are unavoidable, but you can train, and you can you

(08:40):
can rehab on your own. Nobody's against that Nicholas John
Bosa did it. He rehabbed on his own. Guys do
that from time to time, and that's that's their right.
But when you rehab on your own, there's certain expectations
when you come back, and if you you haven't been
with the team the entire offseason, then there's an expectation that, hey,

(09:00):
there's a report date for players that are starting the
season on injury reserve, and there's a report date for
teams that are that players that are coming in healthy
and competing in training camp. And when you're coming in
on injury reserve, you come in about four days early.
About four days are nothing crazy. It's not two weeks,
three weeks. It's about four days five days early, just

(09:21):
so you can get so they can check up on
you and make sure nobody else is there to distract
them away from you, because when they get all these
guys in, you get ninety guys in, it's it's hard
to pay attention to the injured guys and get them
situated in the way you need to. So in order
to avoid that, they get the injured guys in there early.
They get them in there early so they could say, hey,

(09:41):
I'm gonna take my time. We're gonna diagnose where you are.
We haven't had a chance, especially, we haven't had a
chance to to rehab you in the building. We're gonna
see where your need is, how much atrophy, how much
work we got to do before we can get you
on the field. When they're paying you thirty million, and
when they're paying you anything and football league, that's fair,
that's fair. It's fair to expect you to come in

(10:03):
early because you haven't been in the building. When you don't,
they find you. They find you. Hey, you don't come in,
you don't show up when you're supposed to show up.
There are fines in the National Football League, and that
was communicating that's understood. When you show up when everybody
else does, then there's issues. Then there's issues that come
up because they don't they can't evaluate you in a

(10:26):
proper way. Then they finally get to the point where, hey,
they've evaluated you, they see where you are, they start
your rehab process, and then it's almost like you're holding
yourself back because you don't want to show up for
certain things. You want to go to certain things, you
want to do things your way, and the team has
a way of doing their own things. So again there's frustration,
there's miscommunication, there's misunderstandings on both sides. But eventually Brandon

(10:51):
decided that he wanted to he no longer wants to
be with the team, and the team decided to take
his his his bonuses and everything and take his guaranteed
money for the next year, not that he couldn't earn
it back if he played, and they continue through their partnership.
But that's what it looks like on that front. That's
what I think happened, and it's unfortunate. But let's move on, Mitchell.

(11:14):
Let's move on to bigger and better things than happier things.
Because the Seattle Seahawks somehow won a game without scoring
a touchdown versus a forty four year old quarterback that.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Hadn't played in five year Richard, I cannot believe what
we saw today. Philip Rivers delivered somewhat greatness in that
first half. Every time I looked up, I'm like, holy cow,
Sattle or the Indianapolis Colts are moving the football. And
it was Philip Rivers that dunk downs checked down city

(11:44):
with him. But you know, yeah, I mean, I guess
my question has got to be Riley Leonard the rookie,
Like how demoralizing is it got to be to be
him knowing that the Indianapolis Colts are going with a
forty four year old guy who hasn't played football in
four to five years and spots starting him. Richard, I

(12:08):
would expect Seattle to blow this team out and that
they did not. Is there a cause for concern with
you with that? Because I mean, let's fear real, Indianapolis
could have easily won this game today.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah. I mean, first off, you got to give Shane
Steichen and Philip Rivers a ton of credit because anything
he did in that game positive was impressive for you
to not play in the National Football in the League
for five years, then to step in laten the season
it's not even mid season, this past the mid season point,

(12:43):
and be effective, be able to diagnose against one of
the best defenses in the National Football League. And that
was something that I was concerned about because I was like, hey,
Mike McDonald is gonna throw crazy looks at him the
guy the safety's even line Fitzpatrick was text meter in
the game like, hey, these safeties probably aren't going to
back up a step during this game because they know

(13:04):
he can't push the ball down the field. It's like
Peyton Manning late in his career. But they can still process,
and they can still hit the ball where it's supposed
to be, and they can still beat a defense. But
when you expect that as a dB, I'm not backpedaling.
It's either slant or out most times. And if I
can read the split, maybe you'll get me once or twice.
But eventually I'm gonna feel comfortable breaking on these passes

(13:25):
and making a play. And the Seattle Seahawks did not.
The Shane Stiking in this offense kept them on their heels.
They did a good job running the ball, Jonathan giving
Jonathan Taylor the ball, whether it's screens or pass plays,
and he was getting gritty yards. You know, if he's
hit at three yards, he was pushing the pile for
three or four more yards, and that was the issue.

(13:47):
So yeah, I think the Seattle Seahawks defense did a
really good job because you gotta think this is still
a really good offense. This is an offense that we
thought was one of the best International Football League early
in the season when when our guy Daniel Jones Indiana
Jones was playing some great football. We thought Jonathan Taylor
was having an MVP season, So let's not get get

(14:08):
this twisted. They were playing good football early on and
this offensive line can move people and that's what they
were doing early on. But the Seahawks defense did a
good job. They only gave up one touchdown on the
game on that on that downs reception that it looked like, hey,
they found a hole in the coverage where when one
guy was was manned up and everybody else was zoned.

(14:29):
It was it was an interesting coverage, but they found
a hole in it and they were able to execute.
I thought Sam Darnold played a solid game. He got
the ball to JSN. He had seven catches for one
hundred and thirteen yards. Obviously they didn't have a touchdown
on the on the day, but he started to find
Rashid Shaheed in critical moments where he knew, hey, they're

(14:50):
gonna respect his speed and his ability to push the
ball down the field, so we're gonna take what the
defense gives us. I thought Rashid Rashid Shaheed made a
made a really big impact in his game, and I
know fans are like, oh, we fixed the rushing issues.
I see the game a lot different than you see
it just because you get a few chunk runs here
and there, it's not fixed. And when it's not consistent

(15:12):
and it's not consistently there schematically and it's not consistently
blocked up goods, you got issues. And today the issue
showed again forty nine total rushing yards on the game.
And this is against the coach defense that's been solid
and stout, but without DeForest Buckner, without Tarvari's Ward, without

(15:32):
Sauce Gardner, without their big time superstar players, and you're
still only able to rush it nine for forty nine yards.
That's gonna be the issue going forward. And that's the
concern I have and has had have had throughout the
season for the Seattle Seahawks, is their inability to run
the football consistently and effectively from a schematic standpoint, like, hey,

(15:56):
it's it's something if you're saying, hey, we're getting three
yards in a cloud of dust, and where we're getting stopped.
Our guys aren't breaking enough tackles, et cetera, et cetera.
Some of these players aren't blocked enough for K nine
or Charmonna to get three four yards untouched? And what
is that offensive line play? Is that scheme? I think

(16:16):
it's a mix of both. But again, it's a win
and the team played well enough to win in this game,
and I think that's to be said something to be
said about that is playing well enough to win in
the game. That's what champions do. It's like finding a way. Hey,
everything's going wrong, things aren't aren't going the way we
expected them to go. Can we still win the game?
And I think the Seattle Seahawks and Mike McDonald, Mike

(16:38):
McDonald figuring out a way to win is huge. Jason
Myers was named Special Teams Player of the Month for
the month of November and then goes on to win
this game. He himself scored more points than the Indianapolis
Coats six field goals, made eighteen points, wins the Seattle
Seahawks the game on I think it was a fifty

(16:58):
eight yard field goal or fifth six yard field goal. Clutch,
clutch performance by him. Obviously, they couldn't have won this
game without him. He deserves a ton of credit. This
might be a Pro Bowl season for him, and that's incredible.
With some of the kickers and some of the things
we've seen this season, but for him to come through
that way in a critical game for the Seattle Seahawks's huge.

(17:20):
They are now eleven and three and got a primetime
matchup on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams that
I'm gonna be there and you better be there, Mitchell,
or you better be tuned in, because it's gonna be.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Like you know, I will be tuned in. There's no
question about it, Richard.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
I do not leave this game with the same optimism
you do, though, I mean, Philip Rivers, let's be real.
I know the Indianapolis Colts, that they tower record at
eight and five, they've been one of the best teams.
She would with a seven and one, we were talking
about them as one of the best teams in the AFC,
not the best team in the NFL. And now, I mean, Richard,

(18:02):
let's be real, let's talk about this. If I were
to wake you up from a coma four weeks ago,
Indianapolis Colts at seven to one, best team in the NFL,
and I wake you up and say, hey, Richard, Philip Rivers,
as you're now starting quarterback, you'd be like, what are
way back in twenty twenty I mean, let's be real here.

(18:24):
If we got to call spade to spade, Seattle played
well defensively, they did not play well offensively. I know
Indianapolis has got a good defense, but I expect more
out of this team. I like Seattle, I genuinely do,
but I gotta see more, especially going into LA. They

(18:44):
got bodied by LA last time they played. This is
a huge game for them. Let's see how they mold
and let's see how they turn the tides. Because Richard,
this is going to decide the division. And you called
it going in. You said it was going to be
Seattle and Sam Francisco. Well it's looking like it's gonna
be Seattle, LA and San Francisco. And this same LA

(19:07):
team took care of my Detroit Lions. I hate to
say it, but God bless it, Richard.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
They look good.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
Forty one to thirty four that they took care of
business against my Detroit Lions. Richard, I want your thoughts
on this game because I am emotionally unstable because of
this game.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
The Trey had so many opportunities, did not take advantage
of her bottom line.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, but I'm not under the same impression. I'm not
under the same some mindset that you are about the
way the last game between the Seattle Seahawks and the
Los Angeles Rams went. The Los Angeles Rams won that game.
Seahawks missed Jason Myers didn't have enough leg on a
sixty something yard field goal that would have won them

(19:53):
the game. But you gotta remember Sam Dornell played maybe
the worst game of his life four interceptions in that game.
The Seahawks defense gave them a chance, gave them a chance,
kept getting stops. Obviously, you're dealing with Matt Stafford having
an MVP like season in one of the best seasons
of his career, and two receivers that are potential Hall
of famers, and for the defense to be able to

(20:16):
keep this game competitive like they did. It was a
two point game. They lost by two points. In this
game that the Rams were only able to score twenty
one points with four turnovers in the game. So again,
I don't expect Sam Donald to turn the ball over
four times again. Maybe he will. Maybe he'll turn the
ball over four times and it will be a blowout,

(20:36):
but I highly doubt Sam Donald's gonna play that bad
in this game. An issue that I think is gonna
come up. That wasn't an issue last game was what
is Devonte Adams gonna be? What is his status gonna be?
I'm I'm I'm almost guessing he's for sure out of
this game. I don't know what. He pulled up lane
on a route in this game against the Detroit Lions,

(20:57):
and I wonder how that impacts the game, because when
you have to deal with both of them, both of them,
and you got to deal with Pooking the Cool and
Devonte Adams, you can't double either one of them. You
got to play it straight up or pick your poison,
et cetera, et cetera. But when you only have to
deal with Pooking Nicoua, he has a very particular skill set,
it makes it a different game plan going into the game. Now, Still,

(21:19):
you got to stop the run. You got to stop
mat Stafford and his ability throughout the game. I think
they're gonna bring more pressure in this game, but I
can't wait. It's gonna be a chess match between Sean
McVay and Mike McDonald. You better stay tuned. But I
feel good, and I think the Rams feel really good.
I would say they played really well against your Detroit Lions.
I thought Detroit had this game in hand. They were

(21:41):
in control for a lot of this game, and I
think they're up what ten points at one point? Was
it twenty four to fourteen? Jared Golf was playing really well.
Am and Rock caught that pass, got a lot of
yak thirteen carry catches for one hundred and sixty three yards,
two touchdowns. He was he was having a day. Jamison

(22:02):
Williams was having a day, had a touchdown, seven catches
one hundred and thirty five yards, but in the end,
poop in the cool nine catches one hundred and eighty
one yards. Matt Stafford getting the job done moving the ball.
They got it done on the ground. Kyron william fifteen carries,
seventy eight yards, two touchdowns. Blake Korn got involved on
the action, got him an eleven yard touchdown in the game.

(22:23):
You gotta find a way. This is a complete performance
in a complete showcase by the LA Rams and that's
what's gonna make this so exciting on Thursday night. What
way are they gonna attack the Seattle Seahawks defense? Is
it gonna be? Kobe Parkinson five catches for seventy five yards,
and two touchdowns in his game. Finally Matt Stafford finally
finding the big Stanford target in the end zone multiple times.

(22:48):
But DeVante Adams. The loss of Devonte Adams is gonna
be huge. It's gonna change the dynamics of this game
for sure.

Speaker 3 (22:55):
The one thing that I find interesting with LA especially
Washington the last couple of weeks is they've moved to
a running back by committee. Blake Korham's getting a lot
more carrious now when you see Kyron Williams get freed
up more.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
You saw that today.

Speaker 3 (23:08):
I mean it was every rush was five yards at minimum,
and these guys dominated. It was like they were unstoppable defensively.
And I know Detroit's battling injuries, trust me, Richard. If
there's anyone that knows injuries, it's a Detroit Lions. They've
been battling them for the last couple of years, you know,
specifically in the secondary. But their run defense was always

(23:31):
so dominant. They had struggles today. Both Blake Corham and
Kyron Williams dominated today. You know, Richard, I left this
game thinking, Hey, the LA Rams may just be the
best team in the NFL. I don't know if I've
seen personally first hand anyone better offensively than this this season.

(23:51):
Maybe that's them. I Detroit's got a lot to clean up.
They still have an opportunity to get into the playoffs
and get another opportunity against them, but they're gonna have
to win out.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
Bottom line.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah, this but this is the division game. And one
thing that's that was pretty consistent throughout the season for
the La Rams was their defense. They were arguably statistically
one of the top defenses, top four to five defenses
in the National Football League throughout the season and you
look up now they give up thirty four points. This
defense for the Rams had been playing really well. They

(24:28):
only gave up seventeen to the Cardinals. But you look
at that Carolina Panthers game where they gave up thirty
one points in the loss in Carolina. They're showing some
vulnerabilities that they didn't show earlier in the season. And
they give up thirty four to the Detroit Lions or
the Seattle Seahawks and Jackson Smith and jig. But going
to be able to expose those same inconsistencies in this defense,

(24:49):
I'm going to have two receivers go for over one
hundred and thirty yards in the game shows that there
are some holes in this defense and the Rams only
only being able to uh only being able to sack
Jared Golf one time once in the game. This has

(25:09):
been a defensive line that has gotten a lot of
acclaim and a lot of credit during the season for
Jared Verse and and this Rams defense has gotten a
lot of credit for their for their past rushing promise
Kobe Turner, Jared Verse, Uh.

Speaker 4 (25:34):
What do I always it is? Who's Brandon Fist?

Speaker 1 (25:42):
Okay, yeah, this defensive line for the l A Rams
all throughout the season has gotten a lot of credit.
Jared Verse, Byron Young Uh poo pooon a Ford? Uh,
Brandon Fist. I'm not gonna make that point. But are
they gonna be able to make be effective against the
Seattle Seahawks. Are they gonna be able to get to

(26:04):
Sam Darnold and create the kind of chaos they created
in the first game. That's gonna be the story of
the game, no question about it. I can't wait to
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Speaker 1 (27:24):
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(28:07):
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Speaker 3 (29:00):
Richard, there was there was a barn burner. It was
time for Drake May to shine. These New England Patriots.
We talked about it all year. They were eleven and
two coming in this game. But let's be real, their
strength of schedule had to be near the bottom of
the NFL, and we called it. I mean, shoot, we

(29:20):
called it like eight weeks ago. Look at the runway
for New England. They might not lose until they play
the Bills the next game. Well, Richard, they lost, but
that being said, they were very, very good in this game.
They lose thirty one to thirty five, the Bills with
a huge win.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
Richard.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
Let's talk about these Patriots though, because they look good.
They were in control for the most of this game
until Josh Allen took over in that fourth quarter. New
England Are they back? Is it safe to say they
are back as a franchise? I think it's definitely safe
to say they're back. I think this was one of

(30:01):
Drake May's worst games. The Bills did a great job
of keeping Drake May contained, keeping his his his patented
deep ball and deep passing contained in this game. But
it was your guy, Travion Hendrickson Henderson, Trevion Henderson who
had a huge game and had multiple explosive runs, fourteen

(30:22):
carries for one hundred and forty eight yards and two touchdowns.
He was the reason that the Patriots were in control
of this game and up twenty one nothing at one
point in the game because that's how they were getting done.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
They were imposing their wheel and then it stopped, and
that's that's something that they're gonna have to get get fixed.
It looks like the Buffalo Bills found a way to
found their mojo, found the answer. It's in the second half.
The Buffalo Bills found answers, found ways to stop the
New England Patriots, and then they scored twenty eight points
in the second half after being down twenty four to

(30:55):
seven going into the halftime. You gotta think Josh Allen's
to find his hit a way to win. He's gonna
find a way to get his But it's when you
let James Cook get going is when teams struggle, is
when teams have issues, and James Cook got going in
a big way in the second half. He had twenty
two carries for one hundred and seven yards through touchdowns,

(31:16):
had to receive in touchdown. Josh Allen had three touchdown
passes in the game and he added in a number
of ways. And the defense also stepped up in the
second half. They had three sacks interception in the game.
They came back from twenty one points down in the
game to win. So I don't think this says that
the New England Patriots aren't who we think they are.
I think they are, But this says that the Buffalo

(31:37):
Bills aren't going quietly into the night. And you gotta
respect that this is a team that's been to AFC Championships.
They got an MVP candidate that quarterback. You don't expect
them to not be competitive in a division that they've
won the past I think five years. But I still
think the New England Patriots find a way to win
this division, end up getting the two seed and in

(31:59):
the playoffs. Anything can happen. This has been a chaotic
year on a number of fronts. You don't know who's
gonna win and where they're gonna win. You don't know
what's gonna happen. Anybody that thinks they're gonna predict what's
gonna happen in these playoffs is fooled. We have I
think they have four of the top five quarterbacks maybe
someone would say five at the top five quarterbacks in
the National Football League on the AFC side, and it

(32:19):
looks like three or four of them, maybe five of
them are gonna miss the playoffs outside of Josh Allen.
That Joe Burrow won't be there. It looks like Lamar
is fighting for his life. It looks like they'll they'll
be there, Josh Allen will be there, but Mahomes for
the first time in a long time, won't be in
the playoffs. So it's you look up and you're like, hey,
the AFC's wide open. The NFC's wide open. It's gonna

(32:42):
be a fun playoff is totally different. We've not had
this moment in six, seven, eight years. I mean, it
seems like the same team's repetitively have been in it.
And now we see it with these New England Patriots
having an opportunity under Drake May you know, Richard, they
were down. I mean, they had the they had this

(33:02):
game in hand. Let's be real as.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
A viewer, the Buffalo Bills were down and out and
credit to Josh Allen taking over this game. Relying on
James Cook, I would say the Buffalo Bills have got
to be the team to beat in the AFC right now.
If they're gonna play this on the road in New England,
imagine playoff time because New England I don't know.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
If they're ready for it.

Speaker 3 (33:27):
I mean today's game, it might be indicative of how
the rest of the season is gonna unfold. Let's talk
about the Denver Broncos. Another huge game playing the green
Bay Packers. Denver Broncos, what are they number one in
the AFC right now? Twelve and two hosting the green

(33:48):
Bay Packers on the road, and green Bay had this game,
I would say relatively in hand up double digits going
into that third quarter, and then we see the injuries
take place, Christian Watson out with the shoulder injury.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
I don't know what it is. And then you see
Micah Parks.

Speaker 3 (34:08):
Parsons came up lame on a pass rush there, non
contact knee injury, and ultimately the Denver Broncos coming up
with a huge win. Richard bow Knicks four touchdown passes today.
I mean, you gotta love to see it against a
great Green Bay defense. Your thoughts on this Denver Broncos team, Well,

(34:32):
this is bow Knick's best game of his career. I
believe four touchdown passes.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
He was twenty three or thirty four, three D and
two yards and he just was doing it in a
number of ways. We talked about his accuracy, and we
watched him play live against the Raiders and he struggled
milily with his accuracy, threw multiple interceptions. Who are like,
maybe he's the the issue for this team, a team
that you think could be potential Super Bowl contenders, Like,
maybe he'll be the thing that holds him back because

(34:59):
they haven't defense, really good corners, one of the best
corners in the best going in the National Football League,
and Patrick's certain in an underrated corner in Riley Moss
that that gets really I mean, I think he gets.
I think there's a lot of bias working against him
right now. He gets a lot of unfair pass interference
calls in another one today. But they have an incredible

(35:20):
pass rush and Cooper and Bonito, really good good interior
defensive lineman, good good linebacker play. So they're a complete defense,
that's gonna give a lot of teams trouble, especially in
the AFC in the playoffs, and you expected that. But
on offense, if they play like this, if Courtland Sutton
plays like he did in this game, if Troy Franklin

(35:40):
plays like this like he did in this game, if
low Jordan Humphries plays like he did in this game.
Mams was banged up a little bit but came through
in the clutch when they needed him, They're gonna be
a tough team to beat. RJ. Harvey nineteen carries for
sixty five yards. They were able to control do enough
on the ground to make to keep Green Bay honest.
But they made a lot of big plays down the field.

(36:03):
There were a lot of plays where bow Knicks trusted
his arm, put the Gavis receivers a chance, and they
made plays against this really good Packers defense. And the
pass rush was getting there, Micah Parsons, they were they
were getting there. They were putting pressure on bow Knicks
and he was finding a way to avoid the sacks
and extend plays with his legs and that was huge.
But his accuracy was the was the tail on this game.

(36:26):
And if he plays like that in the playoffs, They're
gonna be a really tough team to beat. They're the
number one seed right now for a reason, and they
earned it. This was the kind of game, statement game
that you need as to build your confidence going into
the playoffs, and that's what they did for the Packers.
On the other side, it's concerned. It's concerned on a
number of fronts because Jordan Love your your your franchise quarterback,

(36:49):
who you believe in, who you think struggled down the stretch.
He was looked really good early on in command pushing
the ball down the field. Then Christian Watson gets hurt,
and again just like last season, they get hurt, these
receivers start to go down. You don't know who you're
gonna have out there safety blanket. Tucker Craft out for
the season. Now, you don't know where that's gonna where

(37:11):
his safety blanket and the consistency is gonna come from
down the stretch. How long is Christian Watson out? The
offense looks totally different when Christian Watson's in the lineup
versus when he's out of the lineup, and it looks
like he had a maybe a collar bone or ac
joint injury. He got injured on a deep post to
Patrick curtain that was intercepted on Patrick shirtan that was intercepted.

(37:32):
And you hope he's he's healthy, But if you lose
Christian Watson, and you lose Micah Parsons, who has really
turned this defense into to a lot of what they've been.
They were really good before. Let's not that an eyelash
at that. Let's not lose sight of that. They were
a really good defense without him, but he takes them
to another level, obviously, and they paid him a lot

(37:53):
of money and they use a lot of draft capital
to get him. So if they lose him for the playoffs,
that would be devastating. And if it's you know, you
hope it's not Aco or anything like that, but it
non contact injuries usually aren't great, and if they lose
him for an extended amount of time, that's going to
be devastating for this team's chances in the playoffs in
long term.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
Well, Richard, I hate to be the one to report this,
but according to Adam Schefter, it is a torn torn
acl for Micah Parsons. He's done for the year. Richard,
this is a huge deal for the Packers. We hate
to see these type of injuries go on. But in
your opinion, like, how does this impact the Green Bay

(38:36):
Packers the rest of the season. I mean, we had
to view them as somewhat super Bowl hopeful, so at least,
I mean, they've been relatively dominant, especially defensively this season.
I know there were question marks with Jordan Love, but
defensively this team was anchored by a guy like Micah Parsons.

(38:58):
With him out of the lineup, what do you think
their hopes are the rest of the season.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
I don't know, because we just don't know what they
look like really without in this season. We know what
they looked like last season. They were able to still
get things done, still generate pressure, but it's gonna be different.
Two of their most dynamic players and Christian Watson and
Michaeh Parsons are out. That changes this team and it's
going the Bears are now leading this division. After you

(39:26):
lose this game and you gotta play them next week,
and now you got to play the Bears again, and
they're gonna be feeling good. Obviously they lost the last game,
but there was a play there where you look and
you say, hey, man, if he hits dj More. Maybe
they win that game, and think about how bad of
a situation that would be for the Green Bay Packers
that they also lost that game. So they're gonna be
fighting for their playoff lives. And with all the expectations

(39:50):
going into the season, with all the expectations and everything
they did, acquiring Michaeh Parsons, you know, paying Jordan Love
and all the hope that you had going into the season,
to miss the playoffs would be really devastating for a
team with Super Bowl aspirations coming in. In Super Bowl myself,
I was calling them super Bowl contender because of what

(40:12):
they had built and to fall all the way out
of grace like that would be incredibly devastating. So we
hope the best for this team, but we're gonna keep
an eye on it, because you go from the Darlings
to the Ducks really fascinatly.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
No question about it. Speaking of Darlings to Ducks, we're
going Cinderella to Ducks. The Kansas City Chiefs are going
to miss the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
Richard. This is unheard of.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
I cannot remember the last time the Kansas City Chiefs
have missed the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
And it comes with some major news. Patrick Malmes tears
his ACL today. That is gut wrenching to this franchise,
Kansas City. If you want to make a bad season
worse of your starting quarterback, terror's ACL, Richard. This is
big time for the Kansas City Chiefs now six and

(41:07):
eight missing the playoffs. Your thoughts, first off, before we
get into the game, let's talk about the overarching picture here.
Patrick Mahomes ACL injury. Your thoughts on how this affects
this team going forward?

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Well, first off, I mean it's a devastating injury.

Speaker 4 (41:24):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (41:25):
And and you want to tip your cap off to
the consistency that the Kansas City Chiefs have shown over
the years, eleven straight years, eleven straight seasons, uh, making
the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes had never seen a season where
he didn't make the playoffs. And and you hate to
see it happen in such devastating fashion with him hurting
his ACL and tearing his ACL, which which a lot

(41:47):
of times means he's gonna miss time going into next season.
We're in we're into December right now. You tear your
ACL in December, it means you probably missed the start
of next season, which you hate to see for one
of the best players in the National Football League really
has been the fake to the National Football League for
the last few years, I mean since Tom was going.
You know, there's a lot of conversations about who Patrick
Mahomes is in terms of the league and the greatness

(42:10):
of this league. But you really hate, hate to see
it for this team. You you you know what's gonna
happen eventually. You know a team actually is gonna eventually
miss the playoffs. For a lot of teams, it's a
yearly conversation a team, the teams that go to the
Super Bowl. You you talk about Super Bowl hangover. Are
they gonna have to hangover? Are they gonna miss the playoffs?
And for five the last six years, they have not

(42:32):
had a hangover. They've been in the AFC Championship Games
seven years straight. So it's a testament to the team,
their their focused, their concentration, and wherewithal their dedication to
their craft. So you want to give them all the
credit in the world, but in this game, in this division,
you also want to get the Chargers a lot of credit.
They're ten and four now and they've they've dealt with

(42:53):
devastating injury after devastating injury throughout the season. You lose
both of your tackles. You lose Joe aut who's been
fantastic in this league. You lose with Shaun Slater. I
believe in training camp and for them to fight and
and call and scratch to a ten and four season
is incredible. And it's a testament to Jim Harball and
their coaching staff and everything they put together over there.

(43:15):
And a really in a in a division that's been
dominated by by the Kansas City Chiefs, and in a
year in any other year you'd be talking about, hey man,
they're they're fighting to win this division. But of course
it's in a year where the Denver Broncos are really
just handling business, uh and doing everything they can, winners
of eleven straight. So the AFC West is really an

(43:39):
incredible division right now, and outside of the the Raiders
and what they're dealing with. Hopefully my guy Pete Carroll
gets that turned around.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
I mean, how big of a threat do you view
this LA Chargers team as in the AFC.

Speaker 1 (43:54):
It's all up in the air right now. Everything is
up in the air. Everybody's a threat. Everybody can win
everybody can beat everybody, because that's what it's been this season.
The teams that I'm most if I'm going into the playoffs,
that I'm most nervous to run into are the Denver
Broncos in the Houston Texans because if you have those
pass rushers, defense wins championships, and those guys can disrupt

(44:16):
and ruin a game plan in a in a in
a split second. Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson and Cooper
and Benito, guys like that are are the are the
nightmare fuel for a lot of these offenses. So I expect,
you know, these teams to factor in. But I think
the Chargers are are a really great story. Their defense
is playing well down stretch. They have five sacks of

(44:37):
Patrick Mahomes in this game, the guy they traded for
midway through the season. Oh way, two sacks in the game.
Chargers got two interceptions in a game won by their
superstar safety Derwin James, and they're they're peaking at the
right time. I think their defense is playing well at
the right time. So there's a lot of things going
well for this team. You just never know what you're
gonna get this playoff season. Again, We're sorry to hear

(44:59):
about Patrick Mahons and his injury. You hate to hear
about any injury news in the National Football League, especially
to the best player, one of the best players in
this game today, one of the faces of the franchise,
one of the faces of the National Football League. We
wish him quick healing, uh and and and everything that
means hopefully as a quick surgery and everything goes according

(45:20):
to plan. This was a This was a physical game,
and you could tell by by Jeffer Tony Jefferson getting
ejected in the game for for a bang bang play
that I thought, uh I, I hate the narrative around
the game sometimes, I really do. I get frustrated with
the narrative. Every physical hit is is dirty or every

(45:41):
physical hit is oh man, he should have done this,
he should have done this. It's hard for anybody that
hasn't played in the National Football League and in secondary
not even just play in the National Football League, because
I would argue that offensive defensive lineman it'd be hard
for them too, are well, offensive lineman, because you see
a lot offensive line talk about it and they're like,
oh man, they shouldn't have done that. That was that
was this Hey it's bang bang out there. It's bang bang.

(46:03):
I couldn't argue how tough it is to play offensive
line or defensive blocks. I never played it. I couldn't
tell you some of the plays and how difficult they
are to blot somebody or to hand fight, or to
keep your hand out of somebody's you know, too high up,
or whatever the case may be. But in a secondary
I know how fast things happening. I know how quick
decisions are made. When you see a receiver about to

(46:25):
catch a back pass and can you aim for a
spot on his body that you can contact and you
can hey commit to and run through. And you also
know how quickly they are. You know whether they brace
or take us take a staff, or whether they hit
you with a juke move. You have to put all
of that into consideration when you're hitting somebody and Tony
Jefferson and a split second aim for a guy's chest

(46:48):
that ended up being his helmet, and guys are saying,
oh man, that was a dirty play. But he hit
He hit Rashie Rice the same way earlier in the
game on the slant route, but Rashi Rice didn't brace.
He didn't brace on the play. That play he just
was allowed to run straight through him. Rashi Rice stayed
up took the hit. It was a clean hit, and

(47:11):
Tony Jefferson hit him in the same way. He led
with the same part of his body. His head always
leads his body. It just went across Rashi Rice's face,
I mean went across his chest and his shoulder went
through him instead. On this play, when you lower your
head and lower the target area, the same exact hit
looks more violent. And they kicked him out of the game,

(47:31):
and I just don't like it. I don't like the
call because it's happening too fast. Things are happening too
fast out there. If he goes low, they're calling him dirty.
If he hits him in his knee and blows the
guy's knee out, they're saying, why you hit him in
his knee, You should have hit him higher. Well, it's
this much space, it's this much space, and it's moving.
It can go up, it can go down, and it's

(47:53):
moving in a split second. And people are judging him
and like, oh man, he should have done this. Well,
you couldn't have done it. You've never been in that situation.
I want you to go outside and I want you
to take take your kids or your niece or nephew
and just walk through the movement, and I want you
to lead and then tell them the duke catch the
ball real quick. And I want you to try to
hit them and try to take your head out of it.

(48:14):
Try to hit them with just your chest, or try
to hit him with just your shoulder, but don't lead
with your head. And then see how that works out.
It's not a realistic thing to do. It's not a
realistic possibility and it's not a realistic action. But people
are trying to talk about it online like they know
something you don't know. This is a violent game and
these if it's a dirty hit, you can call it
a dirty hit. But that is not a dirty hit.

(48:34):
And they shouldn't have kicked him out of the game
for it. And the football gods know what they're doing.

Speaker 2 (48:38):
No question about it.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
When when he when he was in that moment, you
could see his his head was already aimed at it,
at Thornton's chest, And when Thornton ducked his head down,
his head was already going towards his chest. His had
Thornton's head just happened to be there. Richard, this is
one of the things in the game that's always gonna

(49:00):
be there. It doesn't matter how much we talk about it.
It is what it is. I do not know how
a defensive player cleans that up anymore other than playing
with their head up. Like you just said, there's nothing
they can do. They're just gonna have to take this
on the chin and move on to the next game.
I'm with you. I do not think that was a
bad play by any means. Let's talk about the next

(49:22):
game here. Let's talk about the Houston Texans. You've already
talked about them. I believe they're the hottest team in
the NFL, let alone the AFC. I think this team
might be the best team in the NFL. The way
their defense is playing, Richard, you've been talking about him
for the last month, month and a half. Their offense
has been so so. But now that they got CJ.

(49:45):
Stroud back, I mean, let's talk about these Texans. How
big of a threat do you think they are in
the AFC right now?

Speaker 1 (49:53):
They're a huge threat. They've won seven of the last
eight and the one loss they took was to those
deep Denver Broncos. In a defensive battle that could have
went either way. I think this is a team that's
catching their stride at the right time, and I always
trust the team with a great defense. CJ. Stroud was
banged up throughout the season and they found a way

(50:15):
to continue to win. Davis Mills held down the fort
but Stroud is starting to find his rhythm. He threw
for two to sixty and three touchdowns against the Cardinals,
team that hasn't been great this season, but they're finding
their stride at the right time. And they play the
Raiders who haven't been great and look really awful and
looked awful today versus the Philadelphia Eagles, and you expect

(50:38):
that they're gonna factor into these playoffs. And I wouldn't
be surprised to see them in the AFC Championship game
in a weird year like this, where you don't have
the top quarterbacks, you don't have the top teams that
you're used to seeing in these situations, and you'll run
into a situation where they run into a young team
and find a way to get a win, find a
way to make some plays down the stretch and get
a win. It's gonna be a lot of inexperience in

(50:59):
a play so you really never know what could happen.
But the Texans are currently the seventh seed. They've been
battling their way to start the season on three and
to get to nine to five with winnable games down
the stretch where they can play the Raiders, the Chargers
who've been playing good football. Two ten win teams playing

(51:21):
when they play the Chargers, the Colts with Philip Rivers
at their hailm. I feel really good about this team
going into the playoffs. If they get into the playoffs,
they're gonna be a tough matchup for somebody. And if
you say, hey, the New England Patriots are playing the
Houston Texans in New England, I don't think. I'm not
sure they feel great about that.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
I'm with you.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
It comes down to defense and bottom line, we've been
talking about the last handful of weeks. This team, defensively,
in my mind, is the best team in the NFL.
You look at this team, you straddle them up against
one of the best teams in the NFL, put them
against the La Rams. I believe this team neutralizes that team.

Speaker 2 (51:57):
And CJ.

Speaker 3 (51:58):
Stroud, I mean, he's got a lot to prove his
sophomore slump last year is resonating in a lot of folks' heads.
Let's see how he responds this year. Three touchdowns against
the Cardinals. Maybe he's on the right track, Richard. I
like the Houston Texans. I believe they are that dark
horse in the AFC that could take over. We shall

(52:19):
see that being said, a team that had an abundance
of opportunity, especially seeing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose on
Thursday night, Richard, that you were at the Carolina Panthers
go on the road to New Orleans and fumble it
big time, losing seventeen to twenty against the New Orleans Saints,

(52:39):
who have nothing to play for? Richard, who is gonna
win the AFC South. Let's be real here, why is
this even a division anymore?

Speaker 2 (52:50):
I mean, what do I end.

Speaker 1 (52:52):
With that question? Mark don't I don't know. I don't know.
You got to give credit to Count Moore in the
New Orleans Saints. They're fighting, their battling, they're not giving up,
they're not mailing the season in. That's back to back
wins for this team in the division, just showing hey,
we can win in this division and I think that
builds confidence for the future. You can talk about building
winning habits and just showing your team that, hey, within

(53:14):
this conference, we can do within this division, we can
do our job. Tyler Shaw playing another good game is
twenty four thirty two two seventy two a touchdown, also
doing it with his legs again thirty two rushing yards.
Chris o'love. They did his job. They won on a game,
winning field goals back to back games. That's confidence building,
confidence building. But the Carolina Panthers, in a game where

(53:39):
they could have took the division league could have felt
really good. Got some help the other day by the
in the game where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to
the Atlanta Falcons, and Kirk Cousins gives you some help
and gives you some breathing room. They failed to capitalize.
So they're gonna have to find a way to beat
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in two of the games when

(53:59):
they play them. They play them twice in the next
three games, and they're gonna have to win both of them.
Whoever wins those games is likely gonna go on to
win that division. They also have a tough, tough game
against the Seattle Seahawks who are fighting for their playoff
lives as well. So in a game where you probably
should have won, you could have won, and you lost.
Oh I know, I know that's frustration. I know that's real,

(54:21):
real life frustration. And in NFC South, I don't know.
It just seems like it always happens this way down
to stretch where the teams that are supposed to win
don't win, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find a way
to sneak off with a division championship at the end
of the day and end up in the playoffs and competing.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
And it was delivered to the Carolina Panthers on a
silver platter. Let me deliver you this silver platter here.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
All you gotta do is beat the New Orleans Saints.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
Uh no uh.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
And that's where we're at with this division, so so
be it.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
But you want to talk about a team that's rising
to the AKA, let's talk about these Chicago Bears ten
and four. Shout out Ben Johnson. As much as I
hate to say it, as a Detroit Lions fan, I
always knew he'd be a successful coach. I wish it
were not in a division that we also subsided. But
here we are Chicago Bears ten and four. You see

(55:18):
the Green Bay Packers suffer a loss today, Micah powartt
Parsons out with the injury, Christian Watson potentially out for
we'll see how long. But this Bears team delivers a
thirty one to three win over the Cleveland Browns. And
I know the Cleveland Browns are not anything to write
home about, but the reality is they've been keeping the

(55:38):
offenses in check. They did not do so against the
Chicago Bears team today. Caleb Williams threw for two hundred
and forty two yards, had two touchdowns. I mean, we
saw DeAndre Swift run all over the yard for ninety
eight yards and two touchdowns. DJ Moore had sixty nine
yards and two touchdowns. I mean, let's talk about the
Chicago Bears, Richard, as much as I hate to talk

(56:01):
about them, Yeah, I mean, right now, they're view them
as a you view them as a true threat in
this NFC right.

Speaker 1 (56:08):
Now, I don't know. I don't know. Again, it's a
strange year, so you gotta view him as a true,
true threat. They're leading the NFC North right now. Obviously,
a lot can change between now and the end of
the season. But they're finding ways to win. Caleb Williams
seventeen to twenty eight, two touchdowns. He did fumble in
the game, but this is a dominant win. And again
DeAndre Swift and eighteen carries for ninety eight yards from

(56:31):
two touchdowns and a couple of those touchdowns he made
a lot out of a little bit mental. It looked
like he was stopped four or five yards down the field.
He made it, broke a tackle, made some plays and
got going. Him and Manangai or two of the most
dynamic backs in the National Football League, And when they
need to, they lean on them and they've been impactful.
The defense five sacks, three interceptions in the game. Again,

(56:53):
I trust good defenses, and they're getting healthy at the
right time. They're getting healthy at the right time. Jalen
John comes back in the fold, gets an interception in
the game. I get. I think Al Harris is gonna
get major consideration to be a defensive coordinator in this league.
It just somehow happens that the teams that he's coaching

(57:16):
get a lot of turnovers. It happened when he was
in Dallas multiple years where they where they were either
leading the league or amongst the league leaders in turnovers
per game or turnovers. And now with the Chicago Bears,
they're leading the league in turnovers, are amongst the lead
and turnovers, and every time, every single time that you

(57:37):
turn on the tape, they're making plays. Their dbats are
making plays. Whether it's whether it's no Sean Wright who
had five interceptions, whether it's a guy like Jayla and
Johnson or Kevin Byerd who's been really good in this
league but having a stellar year with I think six interceptions.
Right now, you got to give him credit. He's getting
these guys prepared and they're making plays. Williams the fewest

(58:01):
interceptions on a thousand passes pass attempts in NFL history.
He only has twelve interceptions on a thousand passing attempts,
and you got to give them credit for that in
a league that's tougher to play in. I mean, I
think it's more efficient than ever because the quarterbacks are protected.
But you got to give him credit. He's gotten a
job done. Ben Johnson has done a great job surrounding

(58:24):
him with talent and putting him in a system that
showcases his abilities, and he made an incredible pass today
to Dj Moore. I mean he threated at the needle
on now he had a couple of where you could
just scratch your head. You're wondering how he got that
that passed through the defenders like he did. But right now,
the Bears are doing what they need to do. There's
gonna be a lot of change. They're the number two

(58:44):
seed right now. Are they gonna end the season on
the number two seed? I don't know, because there's so
little margin for error between the number seven seed and
the number two seed. Every every week it could change
one win, one loss here, two losses here, and that
that can change. But the Browns, on the other hand,
Shador Sanders eighteen or thirty five one to seventy seven

(59:06):
and three interceptions. It looks really bad. It looks really bad.
But if you watch the game, and I got a
chance to watch the game, a number of these passes, uh,
you know, one of the interceptions get tipped up in
the past, tipped up in the air and he gets intercepted.
That happens, just bad luck one of the players. He
hits Jerry Judy in the hands in the end zone.

(59:28):
It goes through Jerry Judy's arms to Jalen Johnson for
an interception in an end zone. And I don't want
to be the one to talk about Jerry Judy. I
think enough has been said about him. But when you
go to the sideline and you fuss out your quarterback,
you gotta be a guy. You got to be a guy.
You can't You can't be the guy fumbling. You can't

(59:49):
be the guy dropping passes. You can't be the guy
making mistakes in the game and going there and telling
the quarterback what he should be doing, especially a rookie quarterback.
If you're that guy, you have to be respected, established
veteran who's who's really showing up for him in a
big way. You can't be the one with multiple drops
in the game. You can't be the one, Hey, he
hits you right in the hands and you drop a

(01:00:10):
touchdown pass that ends up leading to an interception. It's
hard for a young quarterback to trust a guy where
you throw it and it hits him in the hands
and it ends up in an interception and your stats suffer.
And that's what's happened. That they aren't doing themselves any
favors right now. But he's definitely not doing himself any
favors right now. And I think early on, I think

(01:00:31):
people people obviously coming out of Alabama had high expectations
of Jerry Judy and what he could possibly be in
his league because of how dynamic and explosive he is.
But he's gonna have to do a lot to change
that narrative. Coming from Denver, he got a fresh start
with the with the Browns, and I thought he had
a really solid season on his first year and his
first year, but right now he's struggling. And when a

(01:00:54):
young quarterback and he should have made a play, you
can't be the one that's costing him. And I think
that's gonna be the story of the game. Obviously, Shadors
completion percentage in the three interceptions are gonna look awful
you watch the game. They could have done a lot
more to help him out and make some plays for him.
He has to find a way. Congratulations to Miles Garrett.
Getting closer and closer to the record is gonna be

(01:01:16):
big time. I think he's gonna gonna break it this year.
And and for a guy who's playing on a defense
that doesn't have much to play for continue to play
at a high level, continueing to fight. Obviously, I think
he's a runaway defensive Player of the Year because of
how he's played. You come close to breaking records in
this league, usually they give you other rewards, no question
about it. But it's just unfortunate the way this game

(01:01:39):
went for Shdoor Sanders in this offense.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
No question about it. Richard.

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
Before we leave this game, I got a question to
posed to you. Is it safe to say, you know,
looking at last year's draft class, I guess two years
ago with draft class, would you penciling Drake May as
the best quarterback out of that draft? Considering you had
Jade and Daniels, Caleb Williams and Drake May.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
No, I wouldn't have pen soiled him, man, But I
think a lot of people did have Drake May really
scouted as a high level prospect, and a lot of
things change year to year. Right now, he's having a
fantastic year. He was in the MVP race. He was
an MVP favorite at one time or another during this season.
But you look at last year and Jayden Daniels taking

(01:02:26):
his team to the NFC Championship game. Every year something
different because last year you'd be saying Jayden Daniels the
best quarterback in this division this year. You're saying Drake
May could potentially be maybe later on down the line.
You're talking about Caleb Williams being the top guy in
this draft class. So every year is its own adventure, no.

Speaker 2 (01:02:47):
Question about it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:48):
I mean, Caleb Williams assumed certainly stood his ground, and
he is Chicago right at the crest of potentially winning
the NFC outright this regular season, Let's talk about the
Philadelphia Eagles taking on the Las Vegas Raiders. Nothing to
really talk about here, thirty one to nothing. I mean,

(01:03:08):
kudos to Jalen Hurts one hundred and seventy five yards
passing three touchdowns. We saw a little bit of say
Kwon Bartley, you know, nothing too impressive, twenty two carries,
seventy eight yards and a touchdown.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
Richard. Have the Eagles, I guess I don't even want
to say.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
Have the Eagles found their ground because they played the
Las Vegas Raiders. Do you view the Philadelphia Eagles as
a true threat in the NFC right now?

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
I don't know. I don't know. I mean, you can't
judge battle for how they played the Raiders, their defense
shut them out. Jalen Hurts was efficient, threw three touchdowns.
Aj Brown got a touchdown in a game. Dallas Goddard
had some had a drop, but had two touchdowns in
a game. The defense played really well. They had four
sacks and interception. But I don't know if this tails
you much. We won't know until the playoffs. For a

(01:03:59):
lot of this. They played the Commanders twice. In the
next three they played the Buffalo Bills. You know, maybe
that'll tell you a little bit, but right now, I
don't know. I mean, they're in the NFC eight East,
they're the third seed right now. The NFC South is
obviously going to be the fourth seed and doesn't look
like anybody wants to win that division. So I don't
know if we learn a lot until the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
With the Eagles, no question about it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:22):
And then we got to move our focus to the
AFC North. I mean, this division is up for grabs,
and we saw the Baltimore Ravens take care of the
Cincinnati Bengals today.

Speaker 2 (01:04:34):
Richard.

Speaker 3 (01:04:34):
Before we get into this game, we got to talk
a little bit Joe Burrow. I mean, I don't know,
do you view his future in Cincinnati or do you
think it's going to be elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (01:04:46):
I don't know. I don't think if he stays in Cincinnati,
I don't think his career lasts as long as he
as long as people would expect it to. I think
you have an Andrew Luck situation where the guy retires
early because he's not having fun and his body's breaking
down on him and he keeps getting injured. But I think,
if you know, the only way to renew his his
his love, and he had that that Prescott's conference where

(01:05:09):
he spoke about it, is to give him a fresh
start somewhere else. And I know that's gonna suck for
Jamar Chase and T Higgins, who he's grown and built
the rapport with, but uh, in order for him to
have real longevity, he has to he has to go
somewhere else. This organization hasn't done a great job protecting him,
and I know they've spent draft picks on it and

(01:05:29):
done whatever they've done, but he's been banged up every
season for a reason, and and they'll have to do
something There's he'll have to do something to to to
to to help himself and his mindset be better. Going
down a stretch. But the Ravens this is a huge

(01:05:51):
win for them. Lamar Jackson only completed eight eight passes
for twelve yards for one hundred and fifty yards two touchdowns.
Derrick Henry fourth player in NFL history to record three
thousand rush yards in the first two seasons with a
new team, so congratulations to him having another phenomenal season.
It looks like they're gonna find a way to win
the AFC North. And you know Lamar in the playoffs,

(01:06:15):
he's a dynamic player. And their defense, if they're playing
well down the stretch, they're gonna be a dangerous team.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
Richard, You're gonna make some Pittsburgh Steelers fans real mad
with that proclamation. But I think you're right.

Speaker 3 (01:06:27):
The Baltimore Ravens at the end of the day are
probably gonna rise at the top of this AFC North Division.
I guess we shall see that being said, Joe Burrow said,
I guess, being a team guy, there's no team in
the NFL that would have won today. If I was
a quarterback, I would beg to get different with you there,
Joe Burrow. I think the the New York Jets would

(01:06:51):
probably have loved to have you speaking of that team version.
I don't want to talk about it too much, but
I gotta ask you you have not loved Trevor Lawren
and his game too much, but he showed up today
and these jaguarres have seemed to rise to a new level.
Do you view the Jaguars at any level of threat

(01:07:14):
in the AFC?

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
I heard he threw five touchdown passes against the Jets,
so congrats to him. I think I think their defense
creates enough turnovers that they can They'll give him a chance,
but I don't know. I don't know if the Jags
will be competitive. We'll see. They might get a favorable
matchup in the first round and have a chance, but

(01:07:37):
it depends on who their matchup is fair enough. All
odds and lines come from our partners at hard Rock Bet.
We've got the Dolphins at the Steelers on Monday Night
Football tomorrow. Hard Rock Bet has the Steelers as a
three point spread in this game, and I think that's accurate.
This game could go either way. The Dolphins have played

(01:07:58):
well at times. You know which to what tongue Biloa
shows up, but it also depends on which Steelers defense
shows up, So this game could go either way, but
I think a three point spread is fair. I do
feel like the Steelers can pull this one out.

Speaker 4 (01:08:12):
Man.

Speaker 3 (01:08:13):
I agree with you in that, Richard. I have the
Steelers winning this game. Albeit I think it's going to
be a close one. Miami has been coming out of
of late, but the reality is Steelers have a lot
more to play for. I think it's going to be
a high scoring game. You know, Miami can board put
some boardings on the go board, and I think the
Steelers are going to have to put a lot of
points on the board for the Steelers. Jalen Warren and

(01:08:36):
DK metcalf and I've got Devon a Chan I mean,
bottom line, the guy's been an absolute stud. So if
you got to pick a couple of touchdown scores, I've
taken Jalen Warren, DK Metcalfe.

Speaker 2 (01:08:49):
And Javon ah chan Is to get in the end
zone in this game.

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
Sounds good, I think a Chan. I mean he's found
a way every single game, so dynamic, so fast, he'll
definitely I would definite agree with that. Yeah, we're in
week fifteen and we appreciate you joining us. As always.
You could be anywhere in the world, but you're here
with us when we sincerely appreciate it. I hope you
having a beautiful holiday season with your family and friends.
Give as many eggs as you can, buy as many

(01:09:15):
gifts as you can, enjoy it all of how do
you