December 31, 2025 • 41 mins
Jason Fitz & Buck Reising, in for Jason Smith and Mike Harmon, talk about the Rams loss last night and how it reframes the playoffs going forward, the bad day for the Diggs family, waning or surging interest in the college football bowls, and more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
If you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Over the course of the last several days, there were
stunning results in the NFL that had us rethinking everything
that we thought we knew about stable franchises. But as
the dust settles, particularly Monday night, may have left everybody
the most shocked, because now what do we make of
a team in the Rams that certainly looks like they could,
(00:49):
should would be a Super Bowl contender, that just lost
like that to the Falcons and now appear to be reeling.
He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason fitz buckin fits taken over
to on the jaysusmission of Mike Harmer. We're gonna be
with you all the way up until two a m.
We got a lot to cover over the course of
the night. But Buck, I just sat there last night
(01:09):
watching Monday Night full, and I found myself laughing because
this is the modern NFL, right Like this year's NFL,
nothing is predictable.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I love it this year's NFL.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Everybody's throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm in. I'm in for all of the chaos of
this year's NFL. But at what point do we.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Take a result and say, Okay, what does this actually mean?
Because by losing to the Falcons, the Rams now have
lost three of their last five. Their defense looks like
it can get got and all of a sudden, instead
of being in a battle for the number one overall seed,
they're gonna be the five or the sixth seed. But
more importantly than that, they're just not playing well going
(01:45):
into the playoffs. And I don't know what to make
of a team that on paper certainly should be a
Super Bowl contender, but on the field for the last
month hasn't looked like it.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Now, I'm not worried about him. I'm not worried about
him at all. This felt like one of these games
as you looked at what the Falcons have to play for,
which is nothing but spoiler at this point in time,
and you look at the way that the Falcons are
constructed and the fact that they came out last night
with the intention of doing exactly what they did, which
is too rough a good team up and show that
(02:15):
they weren't just a doormat. And they were constructed to
do exactly that. In the offseason, right this was the
Draft Capitol Bowl. The Rams and the Falcons did a
trade in the first round this year for the James
Pierce pick. This year in the first round. The Falcons
traded their first round pick in twenty twenty six to
Los Angeles. Rams had every reason to go out there
(02:35):
and beat their ass and improve their draft pick, because
dropping the Falcons down further would give them a better
a better percentage chance of improving that pick, obviously, and
Atlanta said, no, we're not gonna We're not gonna put
up with that. We're gonna play you tough. We're gonna
come out there and rough you up. We're gonna get
pressure on Matt Stafford all night. I thought Jeff Ulbrich,
(02:57):
the defensive coordinator for Atlanta, had a really good I
think Xavier Wats is an absolute star. All of the
things that they put their put their I mean they
basically put their mortgage on. If you're Terry Fontina, the
general manager in Atlanta. It feels like we were having
this conversation locally today on the Nashville show that we
(03:18):
do here. I couldn't figure out whether I thought the
Falcons were well built team or not, because I guess
just the proposition of their quarterback situation gives me so
much uncertainty because I'm not really sure what Michael Pennix
is when he's healthy, much less coming off a serious
knee injury into twenty twenty six. And I can't imagine
(03:40):
a world in which Kirk Cousins is still on their
roster beyond this season. But maybe he is, because Pennix
is no certain thing. The rest of it, though, feels really,
really so solid. B John Robinson was awesome last night.
Their offensive line was awesome last night. And just in
the same way that you and I have had many
conversations about college football teams playing down to competition prior
(04:01):
to the College Football Playoff being put together, I think
that's the definition of the NFL season if you just
as you've just described it. The Rams are still one
of the best teams in the field, and the Falcons
just happened to show up at home last night.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
I want to agree with you because what you're saying
makes sense, But part of what I okay, that's perfect.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
No, where's the fun and that where's the drama? If
we go straight to that, I win. Think about this.
I like to in order to try to avoid being
prisoner of the moment. I tell you this all the time.
I like to look in threes. Like you ask, is
Michael Pennix Junior the guy? Well, here's my honest answer
to that. That doesn't make for great sports radio content.
Takes three years to know, like I think, it takes
(04:40):
three years to know if a rookie is panned out.
It takes three seasons to know if a coach is
really the guy.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
It takes I like threes because.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Year one, my thought for everything is year one, you know,
you're a little ahead of the curb. Year two, everybody
catches up to you. Year three it normalizes. That's sort
of my mindset. But even within season, what I like
to do is take three three week sample size. That way,
I'm not just looking at this week. My problem with
the three week sample size right now is that this
defense for the Rams this vaunted very good defense for
(05:12):
the Rams, particularly with the pass rush.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
I know they were beat up last night.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I know they got injuries in the secondary last night,
But they gave up twenty seven points to the Falcons.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
They give up thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Points the week before and a loss to the Seahawks.
They gave up thirty four points the week before that
in a win over the Lions. In fact, they only
gave up seventeen of the Cardinals. The Cardinals suck go back.
Before that they play the Panthers, who may or may
not get into the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
They gave up twenty eight points. If you look at
this defense over the course.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Of the last five six weeks, this defense is getting gashed.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So I hear you that. You know, frankly, it should
all be fine.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
They certainly have so much talent, and I trust their
coaching staff. I trust any proof of concept when I've
seen it before. There's a lot to trust about the Rams,
But I can't get past the fact that their defense
is currently broken.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
When you get a kick return a.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Kick block return for a touchdown in a game and
you still lose, things went weird, like letting Bajon go
off that way. For almost two hundred yards, rushing over
two hundred yards until the offense they had no It
wasn't just the.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Ninety three yard run.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Every time that defense needed late in the game, they
just needed to get a stop on third and short,
they couldn't do it. This defense has looked outmanned for
the better part of a month.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
That's concerning to me, and.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
That's reason for It's something to keep in the back
of your mind as we get ready for the NFL postseason,
right because obviously now the Rams will be playing on
wild card weekend, and this is a situation that could
keep them in the sixth seed and potentially block them
from moving up at this point in time, and that
will give them a tougher matchup in the wildcard round.
It's gonna be fascinating to see how Week eighteen plays
(06:53):
out because we do have playoff implications. There's more so
in the AFC with the number one seed up for
grabs by basically what we've got, England, Denver, and Jacksonville
all have a path to the number one overall seed.
In the AFC side of things, things are a little
more definitive in the NFC, but you still have the
I mean, for God's sakes, the NFC South is still
entirely up for grabs, which is crazy given the state
(07:15):
those three teams or four teams, and the fact that
the Saints might be the best of them, or at
least playing their best football right now, and they're the
ones who can't do anything about the division at this
point in time. The story to me last night was
not about the Falcons running rough shot on the Rams defense.
It's the fact that the Falcons had such a stellar
(07:35):
game and took a sledgehammer to Matt Stafford's MVP odds
at this point in time. Three times was Matt Stafford intercepted,
including a pick six, which is a huge blow to
his MVP hopes. Now, I had this conversation again, as
I mentioned today, not just so if whatever crossover we
might have between the two shows in case I'm in
(07:56):
reruns for some people, I think that the idea that
Matt Stafford had this game so late in the season
doesn't should not detegrate his MVP case as much as
it seems to with the Vegas sports books and things
like that, Because if Matt Stafford had this game in
Week three and still went on to have the season
that he's had, Matt Stafford would still clearly and obviously
(08:18):
be the most valuable player in the NFL this season.
So I'm not really as in on that as Vegas
seems to think that it will be such a lopsided
victory for Drake May when the MVP voting finally comes
down at the end of the regular season. But last
night was about Atlanta's defense. To me, man, that was
that was that was just a top to bottom badass
performance against Matt Stafford, who's who probably should be the
(08:40):
MVP so far the season, and gave them just enough
wiggle room to put his team in a bad situation.
I thought the defense played. I think Joe Buck called
it inspired football last night on the broadcast, and I
think that's a really good way to describe it.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Well, look, Vegas reacted wildly to that action last night.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
By the way, he's Buck rising. I'm Jason fitzeran on
Fox Sports. If you look at just the way the
odds shifted, you mentioned the MVP odds the Super Bowl.
It's changed all because of the last night's game, which
to me is just asinine.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Like if last night was.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
The thing that changed your mind, completely about the Rams,
and you were already probably on the fence, which I
have bet, and I do think it's fair when you
look at the NFC as a whole, to just say
there's a yeah, but about every one of these teams, right,
if you just go up and down the list of
the teams, like, look, I'd love to say the sky
is falling for the Rams. I'm telling you that I don't.
I feel less confident today about the Rams and the
(09:32):
super Bowl. But let's be honest. The forty nine ers
have absolutely no pass rush. I have no idea how
their defense manages to do anything, considering they literally can't.
Like they just saying the word sacks seems like it's
sacrilegious for them this year. They can't do anything date
after a quarterback the Panthers, Look, whoever.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Wins the South. As a joke to me, the Eagles offense.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Three times this year, three times has had less than
five yards passing and a half and have won those games.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
They're all is broken. There's a yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
But the Seahawks still have Sam Darnold as their quarterback,
and I'm sorry that's gonna be a yeah, but until
he proves otherwise, maybe the least question comes from the Bears.
But the Bears have been wildly lucky this year, and
they just lost to a San Francisco forty nine ers team.
But again, I must reference has absolutely no pass rush,
So like there's a fatal flaw to every team in
the NFC.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
If you ask me, I love it so much. Oh
my god, this is my favorite NFL season and so long.
I mean, seriously, I just I love that there's no
definitive I mean, and maybe there's not every year, right Like,
I think, we get so caught up and weigh so
heavily for reasons that are completely understandable. We put so
much weight into the individual position of quarterback that we
(10:41):
are quick to gloss over a lot of the other
things that are required to ultimately win a championship, beyond
luck and health, which we understand are a factor each
and every year. I love that there's a flaw to
each and every one of these teams. I love that
there's no clear and obvious best team in the NFC.
I love that there's no clear and obvious best team
in the AFS. This is as wide open an NFL
(11:02):
season and preparing for a postseason as I can remember
in quite some time fits and I you know, I
hate that I'm not working postseason football. I mean, my god,
I haven't covered. I haven't covered as a NFL reporter
a postseason football game since what January of twenty twenty
two is when the Titans pooped themselves against the Cincinnati
Bengals in the Divisional round. I am, however, looking forward
(11:25):
to if I can't work a playoff game, I'm just
as happy to watch them on the couch this year
because this year's slate, this year's field should be awesome
on both sides.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I actually on this, we agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
There is always some sort of a plant the flag,
David Goliath sort of thing we want in the playoffs
on I think this year is just a legacy maker.
This year's an opportunity for somebody to come in and
just change a narrative. All the way across the board,
there are opportunities in AFC and the NFC for teams
to change the narrative.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
I find this to be riveting, even though I think.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
They're just the possibility that we could end up with somehow.
A Panther's jag Super Bowl is something that will keep
NFL offices in New York up all night like that
there is no world where they want those matchups.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
The super Bowl is still the super Bowl. It'll be fine.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I'm with you, though, I love every ounce of this chaos.
So just riddle me this. Then we have over the
weekend for the number one seed, we have Seattle versus
the forty nine ers. Do you think without we have
plenty of time to get into which team you think
goes to the super Bowl over the course of the night.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Let me ask you this, though, is it really that important?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Like is there a moment here where you think that
the winner of that by getting home field advantage in
this NFC has some great advantage that just makes them insurmountable.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Mmm. No, I'd probably say not at this point in time.
And you know the I don't know how much weight
to put in a home field advantage anyway in a
lot of these situations, especially if you're talking about some
of the sanitized environments that not sanitized in terms of
like we play so much football indoors now that I
(13:04):
don't know how much home field advantage where it comes
to the atmosphere versus the crowd versus the weather and
the impact that some of these other games can have
that seem to be a bit more prevalent in the AFC.
I just I don't see a clear and obvious home
field advantage for any of these teams right now, do you?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
No, I think this is where I continue to say,
if the Bears are the Eagles, we're in contention for
home field advantage in the NFC, I'd be very worried
about it because Seattle, San Francisco, LA having to go.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
East would make me nervous. But if you're telling me.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
That you know most likely you're going to end up
in pretty decent weather in a situation that, yeah, there's
crowd noise to account for all these things, but I
don't think that taking the weather variable out of it,
which I think is the really tough part of it,
I just don't feel like it actually makes that big
a difference.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
We got a lot we're going to break.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Down over the course in the next four hours, from
what you're going to see this weekend, but coming up
next a weird day in the NFL. If your last
name was Diggs, we'll break down all of the breaking
news coming up. Buck Rising Jason fitz Buckin fits hanging
out with you on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
This isn't your.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your.
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Throat every day.
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It's a Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, but it's
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Will be with you all the way till two am.
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Smith's show and subscribe. That's why you get in on
the fun. Not a lot of fun today. Weird day
today in the NFL if your last name was Diggs
for two very different reasons. Let's start with the less
controversial of these two reasons, buck As. The Cowboys released
(15:32):
Trayvon Diggs today in a move I think that surprised
a lot of people. Jordan Schultz is reporting that this
all comes from Diggs wanted at Christmas time to stay
in Washington longer. The team said no, and that just
was the divide there was no coming back from. He'll
go through waivers, He'll be a free agent if he
isn't claimed, And if he isn't claimed and becomes a
(15:53):
free agent at twenty seven years old, he can join
somebody and get on the field right now. So if
you need secondary help going into the playoffs, Digs can
still turn around and make that happen. This is the
end of a two year span that's been really weird.
He signed a five year ninety seven million dollar contract
extension in twenty twenty three. But he's only played twenty
one games over the last two years because of injury,
(16:16):
and this year he's been out a bunch. So you know,
if he were to get claimed, he could come in
and play right away. If if he doesn't get claimed,
he could sign anywhere. So depending on his health, book,
this could actually matter to the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Well, that's that's a curious angle to look at it,
because I was just I was just thinking from Dallas's perspective.
Their defense has been suspect all year long, right, and
we can talk about how vocal Stefan Diggs or rather
Trayvon Diggs. I'm gonna do that. Probably a bunch of
this segment. Trayvon Diggs was very vocal about the trading
(16:52):
away of Michael Parsons. He was one of the first
players to change his profile picture on social media to
a picture of Michael Parsons. He was clearly dissatisfied and
on the same page as the organization throughout the course
of this, as reported by several people, Jordan Schultz Adam
Schefter adding some context as well. Today and you look
at the contract, though Fitzie. They he had no guaranteed
money left on his deal at the end of this year.
(17:15):
He was going to be he was going to have
a twelve and a half million dollar cap charge for
them next year, which, based on what the Cowboys need
to be spending their money on, Trayvon Diggs is not
that high of a priority. It feels like this was
destined for a parting of ways at some point in time,
and the Cowboys are I mean, I guess just had
(17:37):
enough of his whatever the level of behavior was. I'm
not in Dallas. I can't speak to it on a
day to day nature, but if they felt that there
was a degree of petulance that they felt was just
bad vibes in the locker room. They're trying to finish
on a strong note. We're going to cut you at
the end of the year anyway, but we appreciate your
time here. And I mean, certainly he's been compensated. He
earned forty two and a half million dollars of that
(17:59):
night nine and a half million dollar contract that the
Cowboys gave him, So he's no worse for the rere
where really and this is this has always been my
difficulty with investing in corner as a roster building proposition,
and not just because I cover a team that traded
a third round pick for Lagerius Sneen then paid him
more money. I mean, he was It wasn't the richest
(18:21):
cornerback contract in history, but it was a big corner
contract and it was a disaster. And in the same
offseason gave Chetaha Woozie a three year, three year deal
that he only made one season into, barely played at all.
It's just a huge, high variance position. Of all the
other positions in the NFL, corner to me is the
really it's the most difficult one to meaningfully invest in
(18:45):
long term for how much it can fluctuate and how
much the rules are basically adjudicated against the defensive back,
how hard that position is to play period, given the
level of wide receivers that we have in the NFL
right now, Like it's just a it's a it's a
variety of different things that combined to make that position
really difficult to put real money in. And the Cowboys
did it, and Trayvon Diggs had earned it, But at
(19:07):
this point in time, I have no problem with it.
It was gonna happen anyway. They just decided we don't
need to wait until the end of the season to
do this. You can go about it. You can go
about it, and maybe you'll find a team that'll make
you happier with a bit of a postseason run situation.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
To your point, I just looked up in twenty twenty
five the highest cap number for corners. In twenty twenty five,
Lagarious Need with the Titans the highest cap number twenty
two point sixty five seven. Jalen Ramsey of the Steelers
the second highest. What is that really done? I mean,
I'm just above and beyond everything else.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
It's fun. Marshawn A Lattimore for the Commanders, Denzel Ward
for the Browns.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Those are your top one, two, three, four, and then
Jalen Johnson for the Bears in at five. I am
only saying that. By the way, Trayvon Diggs right in there.
Trayvon Diggs was seven this year. I only say this
because we constantly hear this narrative.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
In the NFL. Oh my god, you can't pay your
quarter back and win. Before I left.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
ESPN, I had their stats and infogroup run a bunch
of numbers for me because I always believed that that
was a fallacy, and we did find that over the
last fifteen years, there's truly no empirical data when it
comes to making the super Bowl or making a deep
playoff run. There's no actual data that supports you can't
win once you pay your quarterback.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
It's a fallacy that we've all accepted as.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
The truth, when in fact, if you look at the
number of quarterbacks that were on rookie deals versus not
on rookie deals that have had playoff runs resulting in
getting to the conference championship payment of the super Bowl, it's
about a fifty to fifty split all the way across
the board.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
But one thing I did find that was interesting in.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That over the last whatever fifteen years, and this dated
out a couple of years ago, but over that last
fifteen years, no team had won a Super Bowl that
had the highest paid player at any position. And nobody
ever wants to hear that. But like the fact is,
if you believe you can't pay a quarterback, the real
reality is any year that you have the highest paid
(21:02):
position at player at their position for the value that year,
you don't win the Super Bowl. So I don't know
that that's causation and correlation.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I'm not sure. I'm not smart enough to figure out that.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
But to your point in investing in corners, it seems
like a great idea. I would ask everybody, like, certainly
nobody had a hard time with the Colts going all
in on sauce Gardner when they went all in on sauce.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
Gardner this year.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
How does that look now when you're gonna be without
first round draft picks, you've fallen apart, and you're not
going to make the playoffs. So I don't I mean,
this just comes back to my constant. It's fifty three.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
It's never won.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
No one player will save a team, No one player
will will destroy a team.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Yeah, and we've seen that year in and year out right,
It's just and to your point about the highest paid
player or having a a player on a roster that
is a champion, that is the highest paid at any
individual position, I mean, think about Brady. How when was
Tom Brady, if ever, the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
(22:00):
It famously never happened. For the way that they were
able to maneuver his contract situation and he got he
was compensated fairly and he was still married to Guzel
at the time, who made more money than you know,
any higher power out there, right just held the primary breadwinners.
Or you could do whatever you want, Tom, that's cute,
you little fourteen million dollars. Go out and get go
ahead and get you some new teammates, some new toys
(22:21):
to play with. Well, don't worry, Mama's got it at home.
We'll take care of you. So it's one of those
things where you really struggle with the idea of well
thought out and well executed roster construction versus man. Sometimes
you're just gonna have to overpay for some of these positions, right,
(22:42):
like cole Pits Monday Night football, Coppits and Cowpits didn't
have a stellar game on Monday Night or anything like that.
But he's had a decent run the last couple of weeks,
and he's had one really big game in the last
month of football that's made you think, Okay, Cole Pits
is going to be free agent. He's probably gonna get
a decent amount of money, let's say somewhere ballpark. And
I'm just guessing based off spa track market valuations, which
(23:04):
are always kind of you know, it's like a Zillow listing, right,
it's not really the actual price, but it's ballpark Cowpits
somewhere between twelve and a half and fourteen million dollars
a year. What the hell is Cole Pits going to
do for you at fourteen million dollars a year that
you can't find? You know, basically from right now. With
all due respect to him, because he's clearly a high
(23:25):
level athlete, high level traits that's never just really just
never realized his potential outside of his rookie season. How
big of a difference is paying Cole Pits fourteen million
dollars on a bad football team going to make you
for some other team that's not the Falcons, because I
assume they're not going to resign him.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Yeah, and again this year.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
The highest cap number for the tight ends this year
Travis Kelsey at one, not in the playoffs, Mark Andrews
at two we'll see on the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
TJ.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Hockenson it three, not in the playoffs, Dawson Knox fine,
and Taysom Hill with the Saints not in the playoffs.
So those are your top five tight end sallaries. I
will correct myself there was one player.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
I forgot this.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
There was one player during that entire fifteen year period
that we looked at that had won a Super Bowl
or been to a Super Bowl as.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
The highest paid of his position. I digress one player.
I look back at the note. That was Gronk.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
The only time that had ever happened. So Gronk is
the one exception to my rule. Steve Desager, get us
caught up on the scoreboard, then we'll get everybody caught
up on what's happening with the other more controversial takes.
Speaker 7 (24:22):
College football games, three of them and bowl game in
San Antonio.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
At halftime right now.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
At the Alamo Bowl, TCU lead sixteenth ranc USC fourteen thirteen.
Jade Mayaba, the sc quarterback, nearly one hundred and fifty
yards passing but no touchdowns, one interception. Music City Bowl
in Nashville went to Illinois thirty to twenty eight over
Tennessee on a short field goal on the final play.
Tennessee had taken the lead with about five minutes left
on a kickoff return for a score. At the Independence
(24:49):
Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana Tech defeated Coastal Carolina twenty three
to fourteen combined seventeen punts in that game and seven
turnovers and twenty five pen Miami will play number two
Ohio State on New Year's Eve at the Cotton Bowl Quarterfinal.
Northwestern's new offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly. The new defensive
coordinator at Boston collegeist Ted Rufe. The Dallas Cowboys cut
(25:12):
veteran defensive back Trayvon Diggs. The Steelers are optimistic the
pass rusher TJ. Watt can play in the finale Sunday night.
Pittsburgh tight end Darnell Washington had surgery on his broken arm.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield was limited at practice today
with shoulder and knee injuries. Drew Brees and Eli Manning
are among the fifteen Hall of Fame finalists. Also on
(25:33):
the list Frank Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinettieri and others.
There are only four NBA games.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Tonight.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
In the final minute, Philadelphia tied at Memphis at one,
twenty eight for Philly, thirty two points for Tyrese Maxi
and thirty for Joel Embiid. Boston with a win would
go to twenty and twelve this season. Celtics are tied
at Utah late third quarter eighty eight eighty eight. The
two late games Lakers about to starting Detroit, and in
(26:01):
a half an hour the Clippers host a Sacramento team
that is eight and twenty four. Denver Nuggets star Nikola
Jokic will miss at least a month with a hyper
extended knee. He has a bone bruise in the left
knee as well. In men's basketball, number twelve, North Carolina
when its conference opener against Florida State seventy nine sixty
six thirteenth rank, Nebraska is pulling away, leading New Hampshire
(26:22):
now fifty eight to forty three, and it's Louisville ranked
sixteenth now leading sixty four to forty one at Cal
early in the second half. Among the five NHL games,
Montreal and overtime winner at Florida three to two, Pittsburgh
five to one over Carolina to baseball reliever Joe Kelly retired,
the Angels are signing veteran reliever Kirby Yates. The Angels
(26:44):
in third basement, Anthony Rendon reportedly restructured his contract. He
was due to end a seven year deal next year.
Now the last thirty eight million of the two hundred
and forty five million dollar contract will be spread out
over a few years.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Back to you, is.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
It Jason Smiths show, He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging in buck and fits taken over some controversy
in New England today. New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon
Diggs facing a felony charge of strangulation and a misdemeanor
charge of assault from an incident on December twelfth. They've
had a hearing, emotion hearing and the arraignment is scheduled
(27:23):
for January twenty thirt As we sit right now, that
could or could not happen on that day, that's the
Friday before the AFC Championship Game. According to a police report,
a woman went to police December sixteenth, shared that she
was working as a private chef on the date of
the incident in question when Diggs entered her unlocked bedroom
and allegedly smacked her across the face after they had
(27:44):
discussions about money that was owed to her. According to
the police, she said she attempted to push Digs away
when he allegedly tried to choke her with his elbow
around her neck and later threw her onto the bed
and said lies when she said she hadn't been paid.
After the assault, she left her position. She left the
residence that she was staying in Dig's residence where she
was staying to stay with a friend she retrieved, came
(28:06):
back on December night to retrieve her property. At that
point was referred to his assistant, who told the woman
she had to sign an NDA before she would be paid.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
She did not sign the NDA.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
So this is a dispute over money between a private
chef and in Stefan Diggs that has now resulted in
charges of felony, charges of strangulation and a misdemeanor charge
of assault.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
This is buck.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I want to be clear here, I would be stunned
if the NFL does absolutely anything quickly on this. The
NFL has taken of late the same very consistent path,
no matter the person, no matter the accusation, no matter
whether it's domestic assault or whether it's not. The NFL
likes to take the approach of we're going to see
what the legal process looks like, and then we're going
(28:51):
to do our own investigation. That investigation rarely goes quickly,
and that investigation is rarely transparent, and then they will.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
Rule whenever they will.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I would be stunned if anything actually happens of consequence
to this any time before the Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
Well, and the Patriots immediately, I mean very very quickly
made a statement about this situation that make it seem
to me, based on the reporting of the local Boston
TV station, that this did this. I believe it's News
twenty five in Boston. I want to make sure I'm
(29:27):
giving proper credit, but the statement that the Patriots put
out The New England Patriots are aware of the accusations
that have been made regarding Stefan Diggs. Steffan has informed
the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Steffan.
We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully
with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary. Out
(29:48):
of respect for all parties involved, and given that this
is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further
comment at this time. But the thing that stands out
to me there is twofold Steffan has informed the organization
that he categorically denies the allegations. Okay one, and followed
very right thereafter by we support Steffan, so New England,
(30:11):
you know, again not going to jump the gun on
this situation, not just because they need Steffan Diggs, but
you want to let the legal process play out. Doesn't
mean that what's being alleged didn't happen and that there
won't be a situation where Steffan Diggs, if this is
in fact something that did happen, where he is held
to account. But they need to let the legal situation
(30:32):
play out as a result, there was also a note
in there from the local TV station that did the
reporting on the Steffan Diggs and breaking the Steffan Diggs
news is that he was already in the process of
reaching a legal agreement with the alleged or the party
that was making the allegations, this chef that was making
the allegations, even though the initial report from the Boston
(30:54):
TV station did not list that it was his chef
or a person who had been giving him services as
a chef for a period of time. So I don't know.
I mean, the arraignment right now is scheduled for the
day after the AFC Championship Game. I would imagine that
you would see that date be moved provided that there
isn't any additional information that's come out, and I know
(31:16):
there's a lot of speculation fits. I don't know if
you've seen this. I don't know how much you're doom
scrolling on the internet right now. But when cases like
this come out, unfortunately in a very different scenario, but
like in the case of Charon more right, where people
are just constantly updating, trying to update their news feeds
because it felt like we were getting some new salacious
detail about Hiron Moore and his involvement in all manner
(31:40):
of different things that was not verified or credibly reported
until I don't know, maybe two days later. Is all
the time that it took for us to get the
actual information, but the Internet ran wild with it. They're
there are also a good deal There is also a
good deal of that being pushed on social media right now.
So I would just people before they jump to conclusions
(32:02):
one way or the other, to make sure that the
information that you're seeing is vetted, is real, is not
ai on the internet, because there's so much of that
going around these days.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
This is where I mean, and I believe me, I'll
throw myself under the bus and say I've had to
learn this lesson. In my almost ten years doing this
full time professionally, I've had to learn the lesson of
it's better to be right than to be first, and
I think we've lost so much of that in the
(32:31):
way we.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Cover all of this.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I've become very consistent in these things, like right now,
when it comes to digs, everybody's gonna have takes, and
I just don't think it's time to have a take.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
You know, what we need.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
We need information, and that information is going to take
time to come out. And the only right way for
any of this to happen is for you know, the
the alleged victim in this situation to make their you know,
their side known, and then Stefan Diggs makes his i'd known.
We get as much information as humanly possible, and then
when we have all that information, we can collect that
(33:05):
information and actually have educated conversations.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
About what's happening.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
But to your point, what happens, especially because there are
so many people worried about being first, and that's tougher
and tougher in today's world, the way Twitter acts is built,
it's tougher and tougher to know what's legit and then
in an AI world it's tougher and tougher to know
what's legit, and you can have one person that doesn't
even have a credential or any sort of a journalism
(33:30):
with the capitol J background. Like I always tell people,
I'm not a journalist. I don't pretend to be a journalist.
I didn't go to journalism school, right, But unfortunately, you've
got a lot of people that have a mic, or
have a platform, or have a social media following that
use these moments to say something. I think that the
right time to say something is when we have a
bunch of information. So right now, all we can do
is give people information about what this is. And I
(33:51):
think the important thing to know today is that whatever
this situation is, it's going to play out, and to
be very logical and very fact driven. For a second,
the courts are going to do their process. Whatever you
think of that doesn't really matter. Then the NFL is
going to have their own process, and whatever everybody thinks
of that doesn't really matter. Roger Gell's gonna do whatever
(34:12):
the hell he wants. And then when we have all
of that information, then we'll be able to make some
sort of sweeping statement. But I don't think this there's
any way that this impacts anything that we're going to
see this season from Stefan Diggs or this season from
the Patriots. I don't think it's going to impact the
Patriots on the field, And as for everything that's going
to happen off the field, I think we are months
away from getting any sort of a cognitive answer to
(34:34):
what this looks like.
Speaker 5 (34:36):
I don't think I have anything more more well thought
out to add than that. I think you said it
very well.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
Look at that. Hey, who I mean? Look, you know
we won't get in trouble.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
For one.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
We'll get in trouble on the show. It just won't
be for what we have to say about that.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Okay, We've not got a good trouble for what we
have to say about that. I'm okay with that. We get.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Now that we've been fair and reasonable and balanced and smart.
I need to lose my damn mind about one thing
that happened on Sunday that I just can't figure out,
and it has rocked me from the entire core about
what we.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
Think of the NFL. We'll tell you about it next
fucking fits on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
So Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon. But it's a
Bucking Fitz takeover. He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason Fitz.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Will be here with you all.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
Night, hanging over, hanging out, hanging over, hang two am.
Speaker 5 (35:36):
That's tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
That's wow.
Speaker 5 (35:42):
This is random.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Rob Parker pop I had a gluzzy in my mouth.
Speaker 5 (35:47):
Yeah he did.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
I mean that is wow.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Things have escalated quickly at eleven o'clock on the East
Coast on this night. That's how you know it's a
good party. Uh, it's time for the tyrack play of
the day. Let's check out the tyrack player of the day.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Three seconds left Alatto in the middle of the field
from nineteen pore.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
The winds snap back kick in.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
The air, but pies, we do It's gone victory.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Best. Brian Barnhart from Learfield on the Call.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
For over forty years, ti Raq has been helping customers
find the right tires for how, what and where they drive.
Shipped fast and free back by Free Road Hazard protection.
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Speaker 4 (36:38):
Buck.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
I had to play that just to make sure that
I twisted the knife. A little bit of what happened
at the Music City Bowl is the Valls fell in
your city, only minutes away from where you sit right now, Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Blew it how I feeling, Buddy.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
I was supposed to go to this game and I
I I somebody who was very kind to give me
all inclusive sweet tickets, and I I didn't. I didn't
end up.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
It was cold outside like you'd have been indoors, like
you'd have been living.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
The free free food, for free booze, and I I'm kind.
I don't know, Pitcy, I'm just kind of spoiled anymore
about going to sporting events. I don't want to. I don't.
I didn't have parking, and that was the deal breaker
for me. I'm like, no, I really want to slept
down there anyway, which it's literally.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
You had you had free suite tickets, you had unlimited
food and drink. Yes, you could have ubered there, which
would have been very safe. Right would drop you off
right at the stadium right like, we're just gonna drop
you off right there.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
So the safe way to do it.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Then you could have taken partook in whatever you want.
You could have had a nice, nice afternoon in the
Music City and had time to come home sober up afterwards,
and you elected not to because you didn't feel like
paying for transportation.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
Oh you thought I was gonna you know, booze and
then dry out before we did four hours of national
radio in the middle of that. I what a terrible
idea that would have been.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
I'm just here offering good suggestions.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
Now listen. It's not a twisting of the night for
me personally. It's better for me when Tennessee football does
well because I live in Nashville. I do local sports
talk radio in Nashville, and anytime the balls or I
mean Vandy, Vandy having a year as well was an
unexpected and pleasant surprise because that's almost never the case.
(38:22):
Tennessee losing thirty to twenty eight to Illinois, though, it
brings up a whole different conversation that I don't know
if it's the if it's the conversation to be had here,
but Josh Hipel, who is the head coach of Tennessee.
His seat needs to be at least moderately warm in
these chili chili temperatures as we enter the month of January.
That was a pretty bad way to lose that football game.
(38:44):
It only looked as close as it was because Tennessee
got I believe it was a ninety four yard kickoff
return to give them a lead twenty eight to twenty
seven with like four point fifty eight left in the
fourth quarter. It was not an impressive showing for a
team that maybe you thought they were going to be
eight and five after they went to the college football
playoff last year, given the Niko Ya Mali I'm a
(39:06):
drama that you and I talked about all summer long
and all these different things. But yeah, it was. It
was not an impressive day for Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
So that aside, it has just not been a riveting
bull season for me. Like, and this is weird because
you you know, and anyone that's listened to us at all.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
We're usually on.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Saturdays, by the way, from six to eight pm on
the weekends you can hang out with us. Will also
be on Friday morning for two pros and a cup
of Joe and Thursday after, we're on all over the place.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
This week we'll be every we really are.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
But part of the reason we were excited to work together, yeah,
a little bit we were excited to work together on
New Year's Day is because it's during college football. You
and I both love, appreciate, and get to work around
a lot of college football. I freaking love the sport,
and this year I just haven't felt drawn to flipping
on a bowl game. Like even today, I turned on
(39:55):
the Music City Bowl and I saw, you know, my
friends on the broadcast.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
I saw friends.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
I realized it was on because I feel like everybody
I know was there. Some my Instagram's just like blowing
up with pictures of everybody hanging out at the stadium.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
And I'm like, oh, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
The Music City Bowl.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
I don't know what it is, and maybe this is
that hole.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Well, this is what we told you was gonna happen
because of the college football playoff. But I kind of
don't want to hear that, because, let's face it, you
were either into the Pop Tart Bowl or you weren't
into the Pop Tart Bowl before the playoff expanded, Like,
there's nothing about the Pop Tart Bowl that's really to
me directly affected by the college football playoff. I just
I think there's a lot of bad college football teams
(40:33):
right now, and.
Speaker 4 (40:34):
Maybe that just makes it worse to watch.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
No, that's fine, get over it. It's college football, it's
bowl season. It doesn't have to be you know, the
highest level of entertainmentutes TCU and USC right now on
a late night, Tuesday night broadcast. There's nothing wrong with it.
It's just more football. You should be grateful.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
I know I'm grateful for it. I would just rather
watch Steve Harvey right now. I don't know. Maybe I'm
the only one.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
We'll keep breaking it down. He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging out with the on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
I'm a woman, all right,
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every night on the
iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
If you're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Over the course of the last several days, there were
stunning results in the NFL that had us rethinking everything
that we thought we knew about stable franchises. But as
the dust settles, particularly Monday night, may have left everybody
the most shocked, because now what do we make of
a team in the Rams that certainly looks like they could,
(00:49):
should would be a Super Bowl contender, that just lost
like that to the Falcons and now appear to be reeling.
He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason fitz buckin fits taken over
to on the jaysusmission of Mike Harmer. We're gonna be
with you all the way up until two a m.
We got a lot to cover over the course of
the night. But Buck, I just sat there last night
(01:09):
watching Monday Night full, and I found myself laughing because
this is the modern NFL, right Like this year's NFL,
nothing is predictable.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I love it this year's NFL.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Everybody's throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I'm in. I'm in for all of the chaos of
this year's NFL. But at what point do we.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Take a result and say, Okay, what does this actually mean?
Because by losing to the Falcons, the Rams now have
lost three of their last five. Their defense looks like
it can get got and all of a sudden, instead
of being in a battle for the number one overall seed,
they're gonna be the five or the sixth seed. But
more importantly than that, they're just not playing well going
(01:45):
into the playoffs. And I don't know what to make
of a team that on paper certainly should be a
Super Bowl contender, but on the field for the last
month hasn't looked like it.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Now, I'm not worried about him. I'm not worried about
him at all. This felt like one of these games
as you looked at what the Falcons have to play for,
which is nothing but spoiler at this point in time,
and you look at the way that the Falcons are
constructed and the fact that they came out last night
with the intention of doing exactly what they did, which
is too rough a good team up and show that
(02:15):
they weren't just a doormat. And they were constructed to
do exactly that. In the offseason, right this was the
Draft Capitol Bowl. The Rams and the Falcons did a
trade in the first round this year for the James
Pierce pick. This year in the first round. The Falcons
traded their first round pick in twenty twenty six to
Los Angeles. Rams had every reason to go out there
(02:35):
and beat their ass and improve their draft pick, because
dropping the Falcons down further would give them a better
a better percentage chance of improving that pick, obviously, and
Atlanta said, no, we're not gonna We're not gonna put
up with that. We're gonna play you tough. We're gonna
come out there and rough you up. We're gonna get
pressure on Matt Stafford all night. I thought Jeff Ulbrich,
(02:57):
the defensive coordinator for Atlanta, had a really good I
think Xavier Wats is an absolute star. All of the
things that they put their put their I mean they
basically put their mortgage on. If you're Terry Fontina, the
general manager in Atlanta. It feels like we were having
this conversation locally today on the Nashville show that we
(03:18):
do here. I couldn't figure out whether I thought the
Falcons were well built team or not, because I guess
just the proposition of their quarterback situation gives me so
much uncertainty because I'm not really sure what Michael Pennix
is when he's healthy, much less coming off a serious
knee injury into twenty twenty six. And I can't imagine
(03:40):
a world in which Kirk Cousins is still on their
roster beyond this season. But maybe he is, because Pennix
is no certain thing. The rest of it, though, feels really,
really so solid. B John Robinson was awesome last night.
Their offensive line was awesome last night. And just in
the same way that you and I have had many
conversations about college football teams playing down to competition prior
(04:01):
to the College Football Playoff being put together, I think
that's the definition of the NFL season if you just
as you've just described it. The Rams are still one
of the best teams in the field, and the Falcons
just happened to show up at home last night.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
I want to agree with you because what you're saying
makes sense, But part of what I okay, that's perfect.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
No, where's the fun and that where's the drama? If
we go straight to that, I win. Think about this.
I like to in order to try to avoid being
prisoner of the moment. I tell you this all the time.
I like to look in threes. Like you ask, is
Michael Pennix Junior the guy? Well, here's my honest answer
to that. That doesn't make for great sports radio content.
Takes three years to know, like I think, it takes
(04:40):
three years to know if a rookie is panned out.
It takes three seasons to know if a coach is
really the guy.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
It takes I like threes because.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Year one, my thought for everything is year one, you know,
you're a little ahead of the curb. Year two, everybody
catches up to you. Year three it normalizes. That's sort
of my mindset. But even within season, what I like
to do is take three three week sample size. That way,
I'm not just looking at this week. My problem with
the three week sample size right now is that this
defense for the Rams this vaunted very good defense for
(05:12):
the Rams, particularly with the pass rush.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
I know they were beat up last night.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I know they got injuries in the secondary last night,
But they gave up twenty seven points to the Falcons.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
They give up thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Points the week before and a loss to the Seahawks.
They gave up thirty four points the week before that
in a win over the Lions. In fact, they only
gave up seventeen of the Cardinals. The Cardinals suck go back.
Before that they play the Panthers, who may or may
not get into the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
They gave up twenty eight points. If you look at
this defense over the course.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Of the last five six weeks, this defense is getting gashed.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
So I hear you that. You know, frankly, it should
all be fine.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
They certainly have so much talent, and I trust their
coaching staff. I trust any proof of concept when I've
seen it before. There's a lot to trust about the Rams,
But I can't get past the fact that their defense
is currently broken.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
When you get a kick return a.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Kick block return for a touchdown in a game and
you still lose, things went weird, like letting Bajon go
off that way. For almost two hundred yards, rushing over
two hundred yards until the offense they had no It
wasn't just the.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Ninety three yard run.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Every time that defense needed late in the game, they
just needed to get a stop on third and short,
they couldn't do it. This defense has looked outmanned for
the better part of a month.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
That's concerning to me, and.
Speaker 5 (06:30):
That's reason for It's something to keep in the back
of your mind as we get ready for the NFL postseason,
right because obviously now the Rams will be playing on
wild card weekend, and this is a situation that could
keep them in the sixth seed and potentially block them
from moving up at this point in time, and that
will give them a tougher matchup in the wildcard round.
It's gonna be fascinating to see how Week eighteen plays
(06:53):
out because we do have playoff implications. There's more so
in the AFC with the number one seed up for
grabs by basically what we've got, England, Denver, and Jacksonville
all have a path to the number one overall seed.
In the AFC side of things, things are a little
more definitive in the NFC, but you still have the
I mean, for God's sakes, the NFC South is still
entirely up for grabs, which is crazy given the state
(07:15):
those three teams or four teams, and the fact that
the Saints might be the best of them, or at
least playing their best football right now, and they're the
ones who can't do anything about the division at this
point in time. The story to me last night was
not about the Falcons running rough shot on the Rams defense.
It's the fact that the Falcons had such a stellar
(07:35):
game and took a sledgehammer to Matt Stafford's MVP odds
at this point in time. Three times was Matt Stafford intercepted,
including a pick six, which is a huge blow to
his MVP hopes. Now, I had this conversation again, as
I mentioned today, not just so if whatever crossover we
might have between the two shows in case I'm in
(07:56):
reruns for some people, I think that the idea that
Matt Stafford had this game so late in the season
doesn't should not detegrate his MVP case as much as
it seems to with the Vegas sports books and things
like that, Because if Matt Stafford had this game in
Week three and still went on to have the season
that he's had, Matt Stafford would still clearly and obviously
(08:18):
be the most valuable player in the NFL this season.
So I'm not really as in on that as Vegas
seems to think that it will be such a lopsided
victory for Drake May when the MVP voting finally comes
down at the end of the regular season. But last
night was about Atlanta's defense. To me, man, that was
that was that was just a top to bottom badass
performance against Matt Stafford, who's who probably should be the
(08:40):
MVP so far the season, and gave them just enough
wiggle room to put his team in a bad situation.
I thought the defense played. I think Joe Buck called
it inspired football last night on the broadcast, and I
think that's a really good way to describe it.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Well, look, Vegas reacted wildly to that action last night.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
By the way, he's Buck rising. I'm Jason fitzeran on
Fox Sports. If you look at just the way the
odds shifted, you mentioned the MVP odds the Super Bowl.
It's changed all because of the last night's game, which
to me is just asinine.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Like if last night was.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
The thing that changed your mind, completely about the Rams,
and you were already probably on the fence, which I
have bet, and I do think it's fair when you
look at the NFC as a whole, to just say
there's a yeah, but about every one of these teams, right,
if you just go up and down the list of
the teams, like, look, I'd love to say the sky
is falling for the Rams. I'm telling you that I don't.
I feel less confident today about the Rams and the
(09:32):
super Bowl. But let's be honest. The forty nine ers
have absolutely no pass rush. I have no idea how
their defense manages to do anything, considering they literally can't.
Like they just saying the word sacks seems like it's
sacrilegious for them this year. They can't do anything date
after a quarterback the Panthers, Look, whoever.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Wins the South. As a joke to me, the Eagles offense.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Three times this year, three times has had less than
five yards passing and a half and have won those games.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
They're all is broken. There's a yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
But the Seahawks still have Sam Darnold as their quarterback,
and I'm sorry that's gonna be a yeah, but until
he proves otherwise, maybe the least question comes from the Bears.
But the Bears have been wildly lucky this year, and
they just lost to a San Francisco forty nine ers team.
But again, I must reference has absolutely no pass rush,
So like there's a fatal flaw to every team in
the NFC.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
If you ask me, I love it so much. Oh
my god, this is my favorite NFL season and so long.
I mean, seriously, I just I love that there's no
definitive I mean, and maybe there's not every year, right Like,
I think, we get so caught up and weigh so
heavily for reasons that are completely understandable. We put so
much weight into the individual position of quarterback that we
(10:41):
are quick to gloss over a lot of the other
things that are required to ultimately win a championship, beyond
luck and health, which we understand are a factor each
and every year. I love that there's a flaw to
each and every one of these teams. I love that
there's no clear and obvious best team in the NFC.
I love that there's no clear and obvious best team
in the AFS. This is as wide open an NFL
(11:02):
season and preparing for a postseason as I can remember
in quite some time fits and I you know, I
hate that I'm not working postseason football. I mean, my god,
I haven't covered. I haven't covered as a NFL reporter
a postseason football game since what January of twenty twenty
two is when the Titans pooped themselves against the Cincinnati
Bengals in the Divisional round. I am, however, looking forward
(11:25):
to if I can't work a playoff game, I'm just
as happy to watch them on the couch this year
because this year's slate, this year's field should be awesome
on both sides.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
I actually on this, we agree wholeheartedly.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
There is always some sort of a plant the flag,
David Goliath sort of thing we want in the playoffs
on I think this year is just a legacy maker.
This year's an opportunity for somebody to come in and
just change a narrative. All the way across the board,
there are opportunities in AFC and the NFC for teams
to change the narrative.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
I find this to be riveting, even though I think.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
They're just the possibility that we could end up with somehow.
A Panther's jag Super Bowl is something that will keep
NFL offices in New York up all night like that
there is no world where they want those matchups.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
The super Bowl is still the super Bowl. It'll be fine.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
I'm with you, though, I love every ounce of this chaos.
So just riddle me this. Then we have over the
weekend for the number one seed, we have Seattle versus
the forty nine ers. Do you think without we have
plenty of time to get into which team you think
goes to the super Bowl over the course of the night.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Let me ask you this, though, is it really that important?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Like is there a moment here where you think that
the winner of that by getting home field advantage in
this NFC has some great advantage that just makes them insurmountable.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Mmm. No, I'd probably say not at this point in time.
And you know the I don't know how much weight
to put in a home field advantage anyway in a
lot of these situations, especially if you're talking about some
of the sanitized environments that not sanitized in terms of
like we play so much football indoors now that I
(13:04):
don't know how much home field advantage where it comes
to the atmosphere versus the crowd versus the weather and
the impact that some of these other games can have
that seem to be a bit more prevalent in the AFC.
I just I don't see a clear and obvious home
field advantage for any of these teams right now, do you?
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
No, I think this is where I continue to say,
if the Bears are the Eagles, we're in contention for
home field advantage in the NFC, I'd be very worried
about it because Seattle, San Francisco, LA having to go.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
East would make me nervous. But if you're telling me.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
That you know most likely you're going to end up
in pretty decent weather in a situation that, yeah, there's
crowd noise to account for all these things, but I
don't think that taking the weather variable out of it,
which I think is the really tough part of it,
I just don't feel like it actually makes that big
a difference.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
We got a lot we're going to break.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Down over the course in the next four hours, from
what you're going to see this weekend, but coming up
next a weird day in the NFL. If your last
name was Diggs, we'll break down all of the breaking
news coming up. Buck Rising Jason fitz Buckin fits hanging
out with you on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 6 (14:18):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
This isn't your.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Throat every day.
Speaker 6 (14:28):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
And all the best guests.
Speaker 6 (14:37):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
It's a Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon, but it's
a Buck and Fitz takeover. He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
Will be with you all the way till two am.
Be sure to check out our brand new YouTube channel
for the show. Just search Jason Smith's Show on YouTube. Again,
that's Jason Smith's Show. Be sure to hit the subscribe button.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
Don't stop there get that thumbs up icon.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Comment away, let us know of you which of us
you agree with, then who you disagree with? Check out
the brand new channel on YouTube again. Just search Jason
Smith's show and subscribe. That's why you get in on
the fun. Not a lot of fun today. Weird day
today in the NFL if your last name was Diggs
for two very different reasons. Let's start with the less
controversial of these two reasons, buck As. The Cowboys released
(15:32):
Trayvon Diggs today in a move I think that surprised
a lot of people. Jordan Schultz is reporting that this
all comes from Diggs wanted at Christmas time to stay
in Washington longer. The team said no, and that just
was the divide there was no coming back from. He'll
go through waivers, He'll be a free agent if he
isn't claimed, And if he isn't claimed and becomes a
(15:53):
free agent at twenty seven years old, he can join
somebody and get on the field right now. So if
you need secondary help going into the playoffs, Digs can
still turn around and make that happen. This is the
end of a two year span that's been really weird.
He signed a five year ninety seven million dollar contract
extension in twenty twenty three. But he's only played twenty
one games over the last two years because of injury,
(16:16):
and this year he's been out a bunch. So you know,
if he were to get claimed, he could come in
and play right away. If if he doesn't get claimed,
he could sign anywhere. So depending on his health, book,
this could actually matter to the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (16:31):
Well, that's that's a curious angle to look at it,
because I was just I was just thinking from Dallas's perspective.
Their defense has been suspect all year long, right, and
we can talk about how vocal Stefan Diggs or rather
Trayvon Diggs. I'm gonna do that. Probably a bunch of
this segment. Trayvon Diggs was very vocal about the trading
(16:52):
away of Michael Parsons. He was one of the first
players to change his profile picture on social media to
a picture of Michael Parsons. He was clearly dissatisfied and
on the same page as the organization throughout the course
of this, as reported by several people, Jordan Schultz Adam
Schefter adding some context as well. Today and you look
at the contract, though Fitzie. They he had no guaranteed
money left on his deal at the end of this year.
(17:15):
He was going to be he was going to have
a twelve and a half million dollar cap charge for
them next year, which, based on what the Cowboys need
to be spending their money on, Trayvon Diggs is not
that high of a priority. It feels like this was
destined for a parting of ways at some point in time,
and the Cowboys are I mean, I guess just had
(17:37):
enough of his whatever the level of behavior was. I'm
not in Dallas. I can't speak to it on a
day to day nature, but if they felt that there
was a degree of petulance that they felt was just
bad vibes in the locker room. They're trying to finish
on a strong note. We're going to cut you at
the end of the year anyway, but we appreciate your
time here. And I mean, certainly he's been compensated. He
earned forty two and a half million dollars of that
(17:59):
night nine and a half million dollar contract that the
Cowboys gave him, So he's no worse for the rere
where really and this is this has always been my
difficulty with investing in corner as a roster building proposition,
and not just because I cover a team that traded
a third round pick for Lagerius Sneen then paid him
more money. I mean, he was It wasn't the richest
(18:21):
cornerback contract in history, but it was a big corner
contract and it was a disaster. And in the same
offseason gave Chetaha Woozie a three year, three year deal
that he only made one season into, barely played at all.
It's just a huge, high variance position. Of all the
other positions in the NFL, corner to me is the
really it's the most difficult one to meaningfully invest in
(18:45):
long term for how much it can fluctuate and how
much the rules are basically adjudicated against the defensive back,
how hard that position is to play period, given the
level of wide receivers that we have in the NFL
right now, Like it's just a it's a it's a
variety of different things that combined to make that position
really difficult to put real money in. And the Cowboys
did it, and Trayvon Diggs had earned it, But at
(19:07):
this point in time, I have no problem with it.
It was gonna happen anyway. They just decided we don't
need to wait until the end of the season to
do this. You can go about it. You can go
about it, and maybe you'll find a team that'll make
you happier with a bit of a postseason run situation.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
To your point, I just looked up in twenty twenty
five the highest cap number for corners. In twenty twenty five,
Lagarious Need with the Titans the highest cap number twenty
two point sixty five seven. Jalen Ramsey of the Steelers
the second highest. What is that really done? I mean,
I'm just above and beyond everything else.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
It's fun. Marshawn A Lattimore for the Commanders, Denzel Ward
for the Browns.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Those are your top one, two, three, four, and then
Jalen Johnson for the Bears in at five. I am
only saying that. By the way, Trayvon Diggs right in there.
Trayvon Diggs was seven this year. I only say this
because we constantly hear this narrative.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
In the NFL. Oh my god, you can't pay your
quarter back and win. Before I left.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
ESPN, I had their stats and infogroup run a bunch
of numbers for me because I always believed that that
was a fallacy, and we did find that over the
last fifteen years, there's truly no empirical data when it
comes to making the super Bowl or making a deep
playoff run. There's no actual data that supports you can't
win once you pay your quarterback.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
It's a fallacy that we've all accepted as.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
The truth, when in fact, if you look at the
number of quarterbacks that were on rookie deals versus not
on rookie deals that have had playoff runs resulting in
getting to the conference championship payment of the super Bowl, it's
about a fifty to fifty split all the way across
the board.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
But one thing I did find that was interesting in.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
That over the last whatever fifteen years, and this dated
out a couple of years ago, but over that last
fifteen years, no team had won a Super Bowl that
had the highest paid player at any position. And nobody
ever wants to hear that. But like the fact is,
if you believe you can't pay a quarterback, the real
reality is any year that you have the highest paid
(21:02):
position at player at their position for the value that year,
you don't win the Super Bowl. So I don't know
that that's causation and correlation.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
I'm not sure. I'm not smart enough to figure out that.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
But to your point in investing in corners, it seems
like a great idea. I would ask everybody, like, certainly
nobody had a hard time with the Colts going all
in on sauce Gardner when they went all in on sauce.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
Gardner this year.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
How does that look now when you're gonna be without
first round draft picks, you've fallen apart, and you're not
going to make the playoffs. So I don't I mean,
this just comes back to my constant. It's fifty three.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
It's never won.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
No one player will save a team, No one player
will will destroy a team.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Yeah, and we've seen that year in and year out right,
It's just and to your point about the highest paid
player or having a a player on a roster that
is a champion, that is the highest paid at any
individual position, I mean, think about Brady. How when was
Tom Brady, if ever, the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
(22:00):
It famously never happened. For the way that they were
able to maneuver his contract situation and he got he
was compensated fairly and he was still married to Guzel
at the time, who made more money than you know,
any higher power out there, right just held the primary breadwinners.
Or you could do whatever you want, Tom, that's cute,
you little fourteen million dollars. Go out and get go
ahead and get you some new teammates, some new toys
(22:21):
to play with. Well, don't worry, Mama's got it at home.
We'll take care of you. So it's one of those
things where you really struggle with the idea of well
thought out and well executed roster construction versus man. Sometimes
you're just gonna have to overpay for some of these positions, right,
(22:42):
like cole Pits Monday Night football, Coppits and Cowpits didn't
have a stellar game on Monday Night or anything like that.
But he's had a decent run the last couple of weeks,
and he's had one really big game in the last
month of football that's made you think, Okay, Cole Pits
is going to be free agent. He's probably gonna get
a decent amount of money, let's say somewhere ballpark. And
I'm just guessing based off spa track market valuations, which
(23:04):
are always kind of you know, it's like a Zillow listing, right,
it's not really the actual price, but it's ballpark Cowpits
somewhere between twelve and a half and fourteen million dollars
a year. What the hell is Cole Pits going to
do for you at fourteen million dollars a year that
you can't find? You know, basically from right now. With
all due respect to him, because he's clearly a high
(23:25):
level athlete, high level traits that's never just really just
never realized his potential outside of his rookie season. How
big of a difference is paying Cole Pits fourteen million
dollars on a bad football team going to make you
for some other team that's not the Falcons, because I
assume they're not going to resign him.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Yeah, and again this year.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
The highest cap number for the tight ends this year
Travis Kelsey at one, not in the playoffs, Mark Andrews
at two we'll see on the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
TJ.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Hockenson it three, not in the playoffs, Dawson Knox fine,
and Taysom Hill with the Saints not in the playoffs.
So those are your top five tight end sallaries. I
will correct myself there was one player.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
I forgot this.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
There was one player during that entire fifteen year period
that we looked at that had won a Super Bowl
or been to a Super Bowl as.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
The highest paid of his position. I digress one player.
I look back at the note. That was Gronk.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
The only time that had ever happened. So Gronk is
the one exception to my rule. Steve Desager, get us
caught up on the scoreboard, then we'll get everybody caught
up on what's happening with the other more controversial takes.
Speaker 7 (24:22):
College football games, three of them and bowl game in
San Antonio.
Speaker 5 (24:26):
At halftime right now.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
At the Alamo Bowl, TCU lead sixteenth ranc USC fourteen thirteen.
Jade Mayaba, the sc quarterback, nearly one hundred and fifty
yards passing but no touchdowns, one interception. Music City Bowl
in Nashville went to Illinois thirty to twenty eight over
Tennessee on a short field goal on the final play.
Tennessee had taken the lead with about five minutes left
on a kickoff return for a score. At the Independence
(24:49):
Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana Tech defeated Coastal Carolina twenty three
to fourteen combined seventeen punts in that game and seven
turnovers and twenty five pen Miami will play number two
Ohio State on New Year's Eve at the Cotton Bowl Quarterfinal.
Northwestern's new offensive coordinator is Chip Kelly. The new defensive
coordinator at Boston collegeist Ted Rufe. The Dallas Cowboys cut
(25:12):
veteran defensive back Trayvon Diggs. The Steelers are optimistic the
pass rusher TJ. Watt can play in the finale Sunday night.
Pittsburgh tight end Darnell Washington had surgery on his broken arm.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield was limited at practice today
with shoulder and knee injuries. Drew Brees and Eli Manning
are among the fifteen Hall of Fame finalists. Also on
(25:33):
the list Frank Gore, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinettieri and others.
There are only four NBA games.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Tonight.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
In the final minute, Philadelphia tied at Memphis at one,
twenty eight for Philly, thirty two points for Tyrese Maxi
and thirty for Joel Embiid. Boston with a win would
go to twenty and twelve this season. Celtics are tied
at Utah late third quarter eighty eight eighty eight. The
two late games Lakers about to starting Detroit, and in
(26:01):
a half an hour the Clippers host a Sacramento team
that is eight and twenty four. Denver Nuggets star Nikola
Jokic will miss at least a month with a hyper
extended knee. He has a bone bruise in the left
knee as well. In men's basketball, number twelve, North Carolina
when its conference opener against Florida State seventy nine sixty
six thirteenth rank, Nebraska is pulling away, leading New Hampshire
(26:22):
now fifty eight to forty three, and it's Louisville ranked
sixteenth now leading sixty four to forty one at Cal
early in the second half. Among the five NHL games,
Montreal and overtime winner at Florida three to two, Pittsburgh
five to one over Carolina to baseball reliever Joe Kelly retired,
the Angels are signing veteran reliever Kirby Yates. The Angels
(26:44):
in third basement, Anthony Rendon reportedly restructured his contract. He
was due to end a seven year deal next year.
Now the last thirty eight million of the two hundred
and forty five million dollar contract will be spread out
over a few years.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
Back to you, is.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
It Jason Smiths show, He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging in buck and fits taken over some controversy
in New England today. New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon
Diggs facing a felony charge of strangulation and a misdemeanor
charge of assault from an incident on December twelfth. They've
had a hearing, emotion hearing and the arraignment is scheduled
(27:23):
for January twenty thirt As we sit right now, that
could or could not happen on that day, that's the
Friday before the AFC Championship Game. According to a police report,
a woman went to police December sixteenth, shared that she
was working as a private chef on the date of
the incident in question when Diggs entered her unlocked bedroom
and allegedly smacked her across the face after they had
(27:44):
discussions about money that was owed to her. According to
the police, she said she attempted to push Digs away
when he allegedly tried to choke her with his elbow
around her neck and later threw her onto the bed
and said lies when she said she hadn't been paid.
After the assault, she left her position. She left the
residence that she was staying in Dig's residence where she
was staying to stay with a friend she retrieved, came
(28:06):
back on December night to retrieve her property. At that
point was referred to his assistant, who told the woman
she had to sign an NDA before she would be paid.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
She did not sign the NDA.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
So this is a dispute over money between a private
chef and in Stefan Diggs that has now resulted in
charges of felony, charges of strangulation and a misdemeanor charge
of assault.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
This is buck.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I want to be clear here, I would be stunned
if the NFL does absolutely anything quickly on this. The
NFL has taken of late the same very consistent path,
no matter the person, no matter the accusation, no matter
whether it's domestic assault or whether it's not. The NFL
likes to take the approach of we're going to see
what the legal process looks like, and then we're going
(28:51):
to do our own investigation. That investigation rarely goes quickly,
and that investigation is rarely transparent, and then they will.
Speaker 4 (28:59):
Rule whenever they will.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
I would be stunned if anything actually happens of consequence
to this any time before the Super Bowl.
Speaker 5 (29:06):
Well, and the Patriots immediately, I mean very very quickly
made a statement about this situation that make it seem
to me, based on the reporting of the local Boston
TV station, that this did this. I believe it's News
twenty five in Boston. I want to make sure I'm
(29:27):
giving proper credit, but the statement that the Patriots put
out The New England Patriots are aware of the accusations
that have been made regarding Stefan Diggs. Steffan has informed
the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Steffan.
We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully
with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary. Out
(29:48):
of respect for all parties involved, and given that this
is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further
comment at this time. But the thing that stands out
to me there is twofold Steffan has informed the organization
that he categorically denies the allegations. Okay one, and followed
very right thereafter by we support Steffan, so New England,
(30:11):
you know, again not going to jump the gun on
this situation, not just because they need Steffan Diggs, but
you want to let the legal process play out. Doesn't
mean that what's being alleged didn't happen and that there
won't be a situation where Steffan Diggs, if this is
in fact something that did happen, where he is held
to account. But they need to let the legal situation
(30:32):
play out as a result, there was also a note
in there from the local TV station that did the
reporting on the Steffan Diggs and breaking the Steffan Diggs
news is that he was already in the process of
reaching a legal agreement with the alleged or the party
that was making the allegations, this chef that was making
the allegations, even though the initial report from the Boston
(30:54):
TV station did not list that it was his chef
or a person who had been giving him services as
a chef for a period of time. So I don't know.
I mean, the arraignment right now is scheduled for the
day after the AFC Championship Game. I would imagine that
you would see that date be moved provided that there
isn't any additional information that's come out, and I know
(31:16):
there's a lot of speculation fits. I don't know if
you've seen this. I don't know how much you're doom
scrolling on the internet right now. But when cases like
this come out, unfortunately in a very different scenario, but
like in the case of Charon more right, where people
are just constantly updating, trying to update their news feeds
because it felt like we were getting some new salacious
detail about Hiron Moore and his involvement in all manner
(31:40):
of different things that was not verified or credibly reported
until I don't know, maybe two days later. Is all
the time that it took for us to get the
actual information, but the Internet ran wild with it. They're
there are also a good deal There is also a
good deal of that being pushed on social media right now.
So I would just people before they jump to conclusions
(32:02):
one way or the other, to make sure that the
information that you're seeing is vetted, is real, is not
ai on the internet, because there's so much of that
going around these days.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
This is where I mean, and I believe me, I'll
throw myself under the bus and say I've had to
learn this lesson. In my almost ten years doing this
full time professionally, I've had to learn the lesson of
it's better to be right than to be first, and
I think we've lost so much of that in the
(32:31):
way we.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Cover all of this.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
I've become very consistent in these things, like right now,
when it comes to digs, everybody's gonna have takes, and
I just don't think it's time to have a take.
Speaker 4 (32:43):
You know, what we need.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
We need information, and that information is going to take
time to come out. And the only right way for
any of this to happen is for you know, the
the alleged victim in this situation to make their you know,
their side known, and then Stefan Diggs makes his i'd known.
We get as much information as humanly possible, and then
when we have all that information, we can collect that
(33:05):
information and actually have educated conversations.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
About what's happening.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
But to your point, what happens, especially because there are
so many people worried about being first, and that's tougher
and tougher in today's world, the way Twitter acts is built,
it's tougher and tougher to know what's legit and then
in an AI world it's tougher and tougher to know
what's legit, and you can have one person that doesn't
even have a credential or any sort of a journalism
(33:30):
with the capitol J background. Like I always tell people,
I'm not a journalist. I don't pretend to be a journalist.
I didn't go to journalism school, right, But unfortunately, you've
got a lot of people that have a mic, or
have a platform, or have a social media following that
use these moments to say something. I think that the
right time to say something is when we have a
bunch of information. So right now, all we can do
is give people information about what this is. And I
(33:51):
think the important thing to know today is that whatever
this situation is, it's going to play out, and to
be very logical and very fact driven. For a second,
the courts are going to do their process. Whatever you
think of that doesn't really matter. Then the NFL is
going to have their own process, and whatever everybody thinks
of that doesn't really matter. Roger Gell's gonna do whatever
(34:12):
the hell he wants. And then when we have all
of that information, then we'll be able to make some
sort of sweeping statement. But I don't think this there's
any way that this impacts anything that we're going to
see this season from Stefan Diggs or this season from
the Patriots. I don't think it's going to impact the
Patriots on the field, And as for everything that's going
to happen off the field, I think we are months
away from getting any sort of a cognitive answer to
(34:34):
what this looks like.
Speaker 5 (34:36):
I don't think I have anything more more well thought
out to add than that. I think you said it
very well.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
Look at that. Hey, who I mean? Look, you know
we won't get in trouble.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
For one.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
We'll get in trouble on the show. It just won't
be for what we have to say about that.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Okay, We've not got a good trouble for what we
have to say about that. I'm okay with that. We get.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
Now that we've been fair and reasonable and balanced and smart.
I need to lose my damn mind about one thing
that happened on Sunday that I just can't figure out,
and it has rocked me from the entire core about
what we.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
Think of the NFL. We'll tell you about it next
fucking fits on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
So Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon. But it's a
Bucking Fitz takeover. He's Buck Rising. I'm Jason Fitz.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Will be here with you all.
Speaker 3 (35:32):
Night, hanging over, hanging out, hanging over, hang two am.
Speaker 5 (35:36):
That's tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
That's wow.
Speaker 5 (35:42):
This is random.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Rob Parker pop I had a gluzzy in my mouth.
Speaker 5 (35:47):
Yeah he did.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
I mean that is wow.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
Things have escalated quickly at eleven o'clock on the East
Coast on this night. That's how you know it's a
good party. Uh, it's time for the tyrack play of
the day. Let's check out the tyrack player of the day.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Three seconds left Alatto in the middle of the field
from nineteen pore.
Speaker 4 (36:08):
The winds snap back kick in.
Speaker 5 (36:11):
The air, but pies, we do It's gone victory.
Speaker 4 (36:21):
Best. Brian Barnhart from Learfield on the Call.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
For over forty years, ti Raq has been helping customers
find the right tires for how, what and where they drive.
Shipped fast and free back by Free Road Hazard protection.
We comedian installation options like mobile tire installation, tire rack
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Speaker 4 (36:38):
Buck.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
I had to play that just to make sure that
I twisted the knife. A little bit of what happened
at the Music City Bowl is the Valls fell in
your city, only minutes away from where you sit right now, Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (36:49):
Blew it how I feeling, Buddy.
Speaker 5 (36:51):
I was supposed to go to this game and I
I I somebody who was very kind to give me
all inclusive sweet tickets, and I I didn't. I didn't
end up.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
It was cold outside like you'd have been indoors, like
you'd have been living.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
The free free food, for free booze, and I I'm kind.
I don't know, Pitcy, I'm just kind of spoiled anymore
about going to sporting events. I don't want to. I don't.
I didn't have parking, and that was the deal breaker
for me. I'm like, no, I really want to slept
down there anyway, which it's literally.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
You had you had free suite tickets, you had unlimited
food and drink. Yes, you could have ubered there, which
would have been very safe. Right would drop you off
right at the stadium right like, we're just gonna drop
you off right there.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
So the safe way to do it.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Then you could have taken partook in whatever you want.
You could have had a nice, nice afternoon in the
Music City and had time to come home sober up afterwards,
and you elected not to because you didn't feel like
paying for transportation.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
Oh you thought I was gonna you know, booze and
then dry out before we did four hours of national
radio in the middle of that. I what a terrible
idea that would have been.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
I'm just here offering good suggestions.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
Now listen. It's not a twisting of the night for
me personally. It's better for me when Tennessee football does
well because I live in Nashville. I do local sports
talk radio in Nashville, and anytime the balls or I
mean Vandy, Vandy having a year as well was an
unexpected and pleasant surprise because that's almost never the case.
(38:22):
Tennessee losing thirty to twenty eight to Illinois, though, it
brings up a whole different conversation that I don't know
if it's the if it's the conversation to be had here,
but Josh Hipel, who is the head coach of Tennessee.
His seat needs to be at least moderately warm in
these chili chili temperatures as we enter the month of January.
That was a pretty bad way to lose that football game.
(38:44):
It only looked as close as it was because Tennessee
got I believe it was a ninety four yard kickoff
return to give them a lead twenty eight to twenty
seven with like four point fifty eight left in the
fourth quarter. It was not an impressive showing for a
team that maybe you thought they were going to be
eight and five after they went to the college football
playoff last year, given the Niko Ya Mali I'm a
(39:06):
drama that you and I talked about all summer long
and all these different things. But yeah, it was. It
was not an impressive day for Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (39:13):
So that aside, it has just not been a riveting
bull season for me. Like, and this is weird because
you you know, and anyone that's listened to us at all.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
We're usually on.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Saturdays, by the way, from six to eight pm on
the weekends you can hang out with us. Will also
be on Friday morning for two pros and a cup
of Joe and Thursday after, we're on all over the place.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
This week we'll be every we really are.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
But part of the reason we were excited to work together, yeah,
a little bit we were excited to work together on
New Year's Day is because it's during college football. You
and I both love, appreciate, and get to work around
a lot of college football. I freaking love the sport,
and this year I just haven't felt drawn to flipping
on a bowl game. Like even today, I turned on
(39:55):
the Music City Bowl and I saw, you know, my
friends on the broadcast.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
I saw friends.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
I realized it was on because I feel like everybody
I know was there. Some my Instagram's just like blowing
up with pictures of everybody hanging out at the stadium.
Speaker 4 (40:07):
And I'm like, oh, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
The Music City Bowl.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
I don't know what it is, and maybe this is
that hole.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Well, this is what we told you was gonna happen
because of the college football playoff. But I kind of
don't want to hear that, because, let's face it, you
were either into the Pop Tart Bowl or you weren't
into the Pop Tart Bowl before the playoff expanded, Like,
there's nothing about the Pop Tart Bowl that's really to
me directly affected by the college football playoff. I just
I think there's a lot of bad college football teams
(40:33):
right now, and.
Speaker 4 (40:34):
Maybe that just makes it worse to watch.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
No, that's fine, get over it. It's college football, it's
bowl season. It doesn't have to be you know, the
highest level of entertainmentutes TCU and USC right now on
a late night, Tuesday night broadcast. There's nothing wrong with it.
It's just more football. You should be grateful.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
I know I'm grateful for it. I would just rather
watch Steve Harvey right now. I don't know. Maybe I'm
the only one.
Speaker 3 (40:57):
We'll keep breaking it down. He's Buck Rising, I'm Jason Fitz.
We're hanging out with the on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
I'm a woman, all right,
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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