On today’s episode, Jason discusses where the Philadelphia Eagles rank in the NFL hierarchy following their road victory over the Baltimore Ravens, whether or not it’s fair to call the Pittsburgh Steelers the most complete team in the AFC with Russell Wilson under center, why it’s so hard to envision this current Kansas City Chiefs team making the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season, the fallout from the Ohio State-Michigan flag planting that led to a all-out brawl between both teams and why he’s picking Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty to win the Heisman trophy over Travis Hunter.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight Fire fail? It's me Jason McIntyre.
Straight Fire for Monday, December second. Welcome to the month
of December. It was ushered in in the snow last
night on Sunday Night Football. The Bills roll over the Niners.
Not that interesting of a game. But we'll get to
Christian McCaffrey in a little bit. Hope everybody had a
(00:33):
phenomenal Thanksgiving break. Rob Gie is back in the saddle,
coming off a huge, huge couple weeks off for good news.
He'll reveal that a little later on. And my Thanksgiving
was excellent. We went out to the desert, hung out
with some friends. We went to a zoo and I
got some dogs to nearly attack us. It was phenomenal,
(00:54):
the living desert in Palm Springs, and you know, they
had the Christmas lights up at night, and it was
kind of it's like a scene at night there and
me and you know, the kids, I'm like a kid.
I act like a kid sometimes a public we're goofing off.
We see these rabid dogs, you know, in their little exhibit,
and I'm like making noises and the dogs, three of them,
sprint over and we were all like, whoa, you know,
(01:17):
holy Kelly. They were like running around like they were circling,
you know. But there was a big obviously the plex
not the plexiglass, but the big glass encasement that they
were in. And it was fun.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I like a good zoo and enjoyed some turkey. We
got the Christmas trees up, got the Christmas lights, and
we're ready to rock in December. I have a super
busy couple weeks coming up, and thankfully the weekends are
consumed by football, and my gosh, we'll get to the
college football madness. This is gonna be a big, big
week in college football with the playoffs gonna get set,
(01:48):
a lot of teams on the brink. SEC guys are
crying already. I love it. But we got to start
with the NFL. And what I think is probably the
biggest story this Monday following Week thirteen's just an absurd
slate of games. And that's the Philadelphia Eagles. Remember when
this team headed into their bye week two and two,
when the sky was falling and Nick Sirianni was, Oh,
(02:11):
he's in trouble. Is Belichick going to replace him? That's
the best job.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
On the market.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
All these stories were emerging about how Nick Sirianni was
kind of clueless. They got spanked by Tampa. It was bad. Well, folks,
they have not lost since the bye week and in
the I think it was the most impressive victory of
the season and it not reflected in the point spread.
But the Philadelphia Eagles go into Baltimore become the first
team in what seems like eons to defeat Lamar Jackson,
(02:38):
someone from the NFC, and the Eagles impressive twenty four
to nineteen win. Not only that they came from behind
to beat Baltimore. This was nine to nothing as the
Eagles off to their slow start, as they are wont
to do. Fortunately, Justin Tucker, I'm sorry, Hall of Famer
Justin Tucker, who's now washed. It's official. I'm not saying
(02:59):
he's gonn lose his job, but the Ravens will certainly
bring in other kickers. That's gonna be a big story
this week in Baltimore. Tucker misses an extra point, misses
two field goals. It was a rough one. He's now
missed a career high eight field goals on the season.
If he makes those different game, maybe the Ravens win,
and maybe Lamar is still in discussion for the MVP.
But remember that, remember Lamar as the MVP. Yeah, I
(03:21):
remember that warm weather September October. Lamar he's great and
Lamar Jackson was not great. On Sunday, Ravens two for
five in the red zone. And I know some of
the stats will show that they outplayed the Eagles, but
some of that was garbage time that final drive down
what they were down like twenty four to twelve, like
two minutes left and they get to garbage time drive.
(03:44):
But the big story is the Eagles have now, in
my opinion, become the best team in the NFC. I
think they've surpassed the Lions. Detroit a little wonky on Thanksgiving,
got lucky that Matt Eberflus had no clue what he
was doing at the end, and yes, Caleb Williams as well.
But I think the Eagles have passed the Lions for
several reasons. Number one is that defense, Folks, This kid
(04:04):
Zach Bond, Oh my gosh, what an acquisition linebacker number
fifty three. You just watch him. He is a ballhawk.
He is just his instincts are tremendous. The defense under
Vic Fangio totally locked up Derrick Henry, who had eighty
two yard rushing on nineteen carries. Lamar could do nothing
and this kid, Cooper Dejen. I don't know if you
(04:27):
saw it. I thought it was one of those hits
that Serve noticed so late in the game. Raven's trying
to come back. It was third down and they dump
it off to Derrick Henry in the flat, and as
soon as he catches it, he turns and Cooper Dejen,
the rookie from Iowa, who I'm sure you've seen his
YouTube basketball highlights, he gets his shoulder into Henry and
plants him down and the Eagles sideline explodes, and it
(04:48):
was like, oh my, oh, my goodness. Is this is
a physical Eagles defense. And what they changed during a
bye week. I read Ian rapaportt write something up for
NFL Network is that during the bye week it seems
like Hurtz and Sirianna got on the same page. No
more of this, Let's throw the ball. They are a physical,
smash mouth football team. I know they lost Kelsey to
(05:11):
retirement in the offseason, so they started to go away.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
From the run. A little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well, they've gone back to it. They are now the
most physical team in the league. Hurts is not turning
the ball over because he's force feeding guys in the
red zone. Since the bye week, Hurts on fire ten
touchdown passes, one interception, He's got nine rushing touchdowns, and
most importantly, my man Saquon Barkley one of the best
(05:35):
running backs this league has seen in the last five years.
The Giants didn't want him. Sekwon Barkley goes to the Eagles.
If you roll the tape, you go back and listen, guys,
I said almost the exact words that Barkley can have
a Christian McCaffrey type impact on this Eagles offense. McCaffrey
went to San Francisco was tremendous, Barkley goes to the
(05:56):
Eagles is phenomenal. And Saquon Barkley are you ready for
these stats? He leads the NFL with fourth quarter rushing
yards four hundred and eighty one, leads the NFL with
fourth quarter touchdowns six, and he's averaging a staggering seven
point four yards per carry in the fourth quarter. The
Eagles are wearing teams down and Saquon is just cooking
(06:17):
late in games. He went off in the fourth quarter
against the Ravens. They had no answer, and you know,
we could get to Baltimore in a minute. But this
is an Eagles team again. You go back to the
bye week and it was this guy's falling. Nick Sirianni's
terrible and they have turned it around have not lost since.
I don't know if they'll catch Detroit for the number
one seed, but I don't know that they have to.
More than anything, Detroit has to hold on to it
(06:39):
because I don't know that they can play outdoors in
Philly the way Philly can play indoors. Now, yes, the
Detroit offense is amazing, but this Philadelphia defense is tremendous,
and I don't think the Detroit offense is that much
better than the Philly would.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
They're doing this without Devonte Smith, who missed another game.
AJ Brown was solid again, He's a horse. But Saquon
Barkley Jalen hurts This team as impressive. I think as
of now that they are the team to beat in
the NFC, and I think you could make a case
rob that they're the best team in the NFL right now.
I don't want to hear this. Kansas City Chiefs nonsense.
They got lucky as hell again to win their thirteenth
(07:13):
straight one possession game, which is laughable. So Eagles beat
the Ravens on the road. Remember, no NFC teams beat Lamar.
He was like twenty three and one against the NFC.
Eagles went to Baltimore, beat Lamar, and Serve noticed that
they're the best team in the NFL. They're the team
to beat right now. Rob And I know you agree
with that, right.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Ooh, I'm not ready to go that far yet, Jason.
I'm right there with you. I have a really close
number two behind Detroit. But it's not like if you
say the Eagles are the best team in the NFC
or the NFL, I'm going to argue with you because
they are currently playing like they are the best or
one of the best teams in the league. I want
to go back to what you said about we were
talking on this podcast another show. We're talking about it
(07:53):
that they were in trouble. Nick Siiranni might get fired.
They had just lost. Coming to the by or going
to the bye week, everybody was concern Jalen Hurts was
giving these really awkward press conferences. He doesn't really say
a whole lot to begin with, but just the things
he was saying was really raising to my brows. The
one that stood out to me and we talked about
on this show was he didn't know what their identity was,
(08:14):
and anytime you hear a team say that. On the
heels of the offseason that they had where there was
a lot of reporting about the disconnect between Nick Sirianni
and Jalen Hurts and Sirianni wanting to do what they've
always done, which was a ground and pound team, and
Jalen Hurts wanting to prove that he's worth the massive
contract extension that he got. And you and I had
(08:36):
said maybe it was on the pod or off the pot,
don't recall, but we were saying, you know, who's to
blame in this situation. I think we settled on Sirianni,
but I was always under the idea that Jalen Hurts
deserved a big portion of it as well, because I
thought that he wanted too badly to show that he
was a top flight franchise quarterback, like he was a
(08:56):
Joe Burrow type. He was a Josh Allen type, Trick
Mahomes type, and that's just not who he is. And
if you look at this eight game winning street that
they've been on, he has attempted more than twenty five
passes once in the first month of the season is
passing yard or his passing attempts were thirty four to thirty,
thirty eight and thirty. So once they've remembered who they are.
(09:19):
And Nick Sirianni, God save him because I've given him
a lot of shit on the air, off the air,
on Twitter, so on and so forth. He was right,
Like what they are is a physical, smash mouth team
that is gonna live and die with their running game.
They have a great running back and a fantastic offensive line.
They are gonna wear you down. As you mentioned in
(09:39):
the fourth quarter. By the time you get to there,
people do not want to tackle Sakwon Barkley. They do
not want to see that offensive line guard trap over
and over and Jalen hurts with the RPO going round
the left edge. And now what you're seeing with this
team is now that they've figured out and they've settled
on who they want to be, which is more quon,
(10:00):
more running game, less Jalen hurts. You're seeing the fully
formed version of the Philadelphia Eagles. And to your point,
if it comes down to a playoff game with them
and Detroit, I would lean Detroit because the home field advantage.
But again, if it gets to a point where they're
playing outdoors and they have to go to Philadelphia, that's
a totally different conversation right there.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It's interesting you mentioned that. I just looked at the schedule,
and we all know that the Lions played a million
games indoors to start the season. These are their next
games indoors against the Packers on Thursday. Great game indoors
against the Bills, outdoors against Chicago, outdoors against San fran
but that's warm weather, and then indoors against Minnesota. So
(10:41):
they're probably favored in They're not favored against Buffalo at home,
are they? Oh, that's an interesting one.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
At home, they should be They should be favored at home.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
San Francisco feels like a dead team walking. It feels
like they're over. You know, I'm assuming the McCaffrey things serious.
The Minnesota game is interesting, but you're right, they're probably
gonna be favored in either four or five or five
of five. But if you look at the Philly schedule,
rob it has one big land mine that I'm worried about,
and that's the game against Pittsburgh, you know, the intrastate scrimmage.
(11:11):
I think they handle Carolina. They do have to go
to Washington, but I don't know Washington. What are they
for real or no?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Or I mean with that team, they started out like gangbusters,
and I think you called them the best team in
the NFC, and at the time I thought you were right.
And then they just kind of hit this dry spot.
Part of it being team started to adjut a little
bit to the Kingsbury offense. But I think the bigger
part of it was Jaden Daniels was more hurt than
I think anyone wanted to admit. And as the season
has gone on, he's gotten a little bit healthier each
(11:41):
and every week. And now I think on Sunday you
saw what was the most healthy he's been in about
a month.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
How about this, The Eagles will probably be double digit
favorites in their final two versus Cooper Rush at home,
versus Drew Locke maybe at home. So the Eagles they're in,
they're not gonna be lose, maybe to Pittsburgh. That race
for number one in the NFC is fascinating. I don't
know who do you get the edge two in Eagles
(12:08):
at Detroit and then Eagles hosting Detroit NFC hip because
there's not even like a clear three.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
No. That's what's kind of disapoint about the NFC this
season is it's so clearly the JV Conference and it's
not like the AFC where you could go down the
list and say, if Pittsburgh came out of the AFC,
I wouldn't be shocked if Buffalo did, if Kansas City did,
if Baltimore. Like, you can get legitimately five or six
teams where you would not be surprised at all if
they made the Super Bowl. If it's the NFC, if
(12:35):
it's not Detroit or Philadelphia, I think, you know, we
would be dumbfounded. So if we're playing in Detroit, I'm
gonna give the benefit of the doubt to the Detroit Lions.
I think they've shown that they've been the better team
throughout the season. Now right now, Philadelphia is hotter if
you're playing in Philly, though, with the cold weather so far,
I think Detroit only has one good outdoor win and
(12:57):
that was in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, no, definitely number three currently and so the NFC
is Detroit and Philly, and then three and four as
of today are Seattle and Atlanta. Seattle, I guess you
could as Rob laughs. I guess you could say that
could be a difficult place to play in January, could
have the weather, obviously, Atlanta. I'm not a believer at all.
(13:21):
I actually think Tampa could pass them. And we'll get
to whether or not Kirk Cousins is gonna get benched
or even be back there next year. That's for later
this week. But like Minnesota is the fifth seed at
ten and two, so they're gonna have to win on
the road and then go to Philly or Detroit. And
I don't know, Sam Darnold in January. Are you scared
of them?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'm not. No.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Now, the Jordan loved Ones interesting, as is Jaden Daniels.
Those guys can be dangerous. But I thought the Eagles
were the biggest story. And now I'm gonna eat some
crow because I was shouting from the rooftops, Rob, All
summer Steelers are done. It's over. Tomlin's first losing season.
Take the season win total under Russell Wilson come on,
(14:02):
and I think I even said they should trade TJ.
Watt and get a bounty of picks and start over.
I think I remember that that was a great take.
At the time, I thought it was good. People love that,
and unfortunately none of that has come to pass. As
the Steelers. And here's the scary thing, rob are they
kind of good? They're nine and three. They can beat
(14:22):
you in many different ways. Naje Harris, I mean, he
had a monster game. Pickens. If he ever gets his
head on straight, it's gonna be really one of the
best receivers. I don't think he's Randy Moss, but he
could be Moss Light the way he plays. He just
gets some dumb penalties. And Tomlin after the game was like,
George Pickens has to grow up. I think guy's got
a target on his back. He's got to grow up
in a hurry. I mean, the rep he could have
got ejected for that second fifteen yard penalty on Sunday
(14:45):
because he's just doing dumb stuff, celebrating by putting the
ball on a guy's head and making like a finger
guns Like, what are you doing, dude. But outside of
some Pickens nonsense, I gotta give give it up to
Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith. Folks. Russell Wilson threw for
four hundre in fourteen yards and three touchdowns. And I
need to add this, he opened the game with a
(15:05):
pick six, so he rebounded from that. I thought after
that point, I was like, oh boy, Tomlin ain't gonna let.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Himcrew this up.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
They're just gonna be running football everywhere. And it was like, not, really.
Here's the scary thing about Pittsburgh and this Arthur Smith
offense totally different than anything we've seen in the last
few years from Pittsburgh and the post Ben era. Ten
different Steelers caught passes ten eight of them caught explosive passes,
not just eight, and not just ten yards. Eight guys
(15:33):
caught passes over twenty yards. Now, obviously this speaks to
the Bengals at Captain lou He's got to be toasted
if he's not fired by the time this podcast drops.
The Bengals got major problems. And I know the ownership
is cheap and stupid, but I mean, get a clue, guys,
this is embarrassing. Cincinnati now out of the playoff mix.
At four and eight, there is no hope with what
eleven they got six games left, Yeah, six games. There's
(15:57):
no chance that they are catching anybody for a playoff spot.
How's this The Bengals have an NFL record four losses
when scoring thirty three or more points. Joe Burrow awesome season.
Now he did have two fumbles and a pick on Sunday.
Not great, But Joe Burrow can't do it all. And
the Cincinnati Bengals, I'm telling you, there are Dan Marino
(16:20):
Miami Dolphin vibes right now in Cincinnati. Marino goes to
the Super Bowl in his second year. Everybody says, oh, bro,
he's gonna be back every year, Oh Marino, he's gonna
be here for never got back to a Super Bowl,
never had a defense. He had the Marx brothers, Duper
and Clayton. They were an awesome offense. They were a
(16:40):
finesse team, and they never and now you can look
it up on the DVA numbers, they've they never had
a good defense under Marino. And I don't know how
the Bengals fixed this. I saw stat the Trey Hendrickson
was either leading the league in sacks or second, and
yet the Bengals as a team are thirtieth in the
league in sacks. So it's basically Ray Hendrickson a bunch
(17:00):
of bumps, and I just if I'm Borrow, I'm disgusted.
I would be so irate. He's having a good season
and they're just wasting it. But the Pittsburgh Steelers now
Mike Tomlin twenty first straight non losing season. I gotta
give the man his props. I was way wrong on
the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Rob.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Listen. Sometimes you know you take a lot of swings,
you're gonna you're gonna have a couple of whiffs. This
was bad. Now, I still am not ready to say
they're dangerous in the AFC, but I'll say this. I'll
say this for sure. I don't think they're gonna be
scared of the Kansasy Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I mean they this offense, the way they're explosive with
Pickens and Friarmouth. Hell, Austin is tough, Naja Harris, they
got the two running backs. I mean, I don't know.
I'm really down on the Chiefs. I think I thought
the Steelers could not be dangerous in January, Rob, But
I've flipped my tune after Buffalo, and you know, maybe
(17:56):
the Ravens who are slipping on her a little. I
think the Chargers have some are limited. I think the
Steelers are maybe trending toward dangerous in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
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listen live.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Why are you so late to get on this train? Man?
I think I told you the last time I was
on this podcast couple weeks ago, that I thought that
the Steelers were dark horse super Bowl contender. And they've
done nothing to make me change my mind. Okay, just quickly,
what works? I know?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, when you make up, when you make a prediction,
you want to be right.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
So that's right now, You're right true?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And I was holding fast. Just at some point you
gotta let go.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Well, just quickly. On the Bengals, two stats are gonna
blow your mind. The Bengals this season are one and
two when scoring at least thirty eight points. The rest
of the NFL is twenty one to zero. Okay, so
that's one. Here's the other one. The Bengals against teams
with a winning record, so against the best of the best,
they average thirty point three points per game and they
are zero to seven in those games. I mean, shout
(19:01):
out to the defense, Joe Burrow, better luck next year.
But with the Pittsburgh Steelers, I don't know if this
is a hot take, but they're out there to you anyways.
To me, I'm not saying they're the best team in
the AFC because I don't think they are. I don't
know if their peak is as high as what Baltimore
can be. Even after what we saw on Sunday, I
don't think it's as high as what we've seen from Buffalo.
At times. I don't even think it's as high as
(19:23):
Kansas City because Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes. On
any Giving day, he can put on the cape and
do some incredible things. But I will say I think
Pittsburgh is the most complete team in the AFC, that defense,
most complete, complete team. That their floor, their baseline is more,
(19:44):
is higher. Their floor is higher than every other team
in the AFC because the defense we know is great.
It's notwithstand who happened on Sunday, because Je Burrow does everybody.
They are a top five defense anyway you slice it.
They stop the run, they forced turnovers, they affect the
pass rush, they don't give up a lot of points.
They are a great defense. I think we all know that.
(20:05):
And now with Russell Wilson there, suddenly, as you allude to,
their offense is explosive. I don't think it's ever gonna
be as efficient as some of the other like I
don't think they're gonna be a fficial in Detroit. I
don't think it's ever gonna be that kind of an offense.
But the fact that Russell Wilson adds something that they
just did not have for basically five or six seasons,
(20:28):
and that is the ability to pressure down the field.
On Sunday against Cincinnata, I know it's the Bengals, he
went eight of nine on passes over ten air yards
for two hundred and five yards and two touchdowns. He
currently leads the NFL in completion points over expected on
deep balls at plus fifteen point seven percent. He is
(20:52):
making defenses respect that they're going to push the ball
down the field and as a result, it's leading to
that Jalen Warrant and the corpse of Nase Harris being
a legitimate ground attack. So when you got a defense
it's gonna travel cold weather, warm weather, it doesn't matter,
and an offense that it can be plucky in the
(21:13):
right situation. I think that their floor is right there,
and I think they are the most complete team in
the AFC. We'll see if that ends up playing out
though in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Now that's a hot take. I need to let it marinate.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Because I think Baltimore their peak is better than everybody.
The problem is they have so many just bad performance,
like they are their own worst enemy way too often.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
What about the Bills.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I know something again, I everyone remember Sunday Night because
you know what they did is the Niners. I understand
that part. But yes, I think they're number one in
point differential in the AFC. My only concern with them
is I don't think that they have enough weapons outside
of Josh Allen that their offense is just Josh Allen
is going to have to be incredible in the postseason
(22:04):
against the better teams.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
So here's the thing. If you remove that Raiders game,
their their loss is to the Texans. Now, Allen was putrid.
He was nine of thirty in that game. Maybe he
was nursing an injury or something.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, I mean he may have gotten concussed in that game,
if you remember, that's right.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
He was a good memory. He was concussed. They didn't
have Amari Cooper at that time, and they were much
more limited. I don't think they've lost Cincia Maari Cooper
trade I could. Yeah, no, they haven't, and they basically
scored thirty plus points in I think every game with Coop.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Well, Cope hasn't really played where either because he's been
in and out of the lineup.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's fair. He did have the nice shovel pass to
Josh Allen on the hook and ladder creative creative play
on Sunday, But like I would not discount. I mean,
Josh Allen is playing like Superman at this tame.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He's awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And Josh Allen, I just wonder, like, is he is
he gonna be like what Patrick Mahomes done the last
couple years. Just the team. I'm not letting my team lose,
you know, We're not. We're not gonna lose. And Milano
will be coming back from injury, like that's gonna be interesting.
I just I don't know something about Russell Wilson. How
bad he's been the last couple of years. I can't
(23:14):
I'm having a problem disassociating that with just this nine
game sample size of like or not even nine sorry,
because Justin Fields it's like six games. Yeah, it's like, oh,
he's been hot, wonderful. And by the way, the Bengals, Like,
if you want to wonder why the Bengals should be
firing their entire defensive staff, it's like ball game on
the line, Justin Fields comes in. It's like, oh, Justin
(23:36):
Fields is on the field. He's running the football and
they couldn't even contain him, and he gets the yardage
and neel downs and it's over. But yeah, Steelers are
a really really interesting story. I I hate being so
wrong about them. I well, let me, let me just
check the schedule on them, rob something's just telling me
that they're a little fugazi.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I mean, they have a Gottley coming. I know they
got Philadelphia. I think they have Baltimore again.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
I mean, so their first clean at home against Cleveland,
which they just lost to, so a great revenge spot
for them at Philly at Baltimore back to back. And
the Baltimore is a short week ooh, that's rough, and
then versus Casey at home, so they could take three
l's in a row. And then I guess week eighteen,
maybe Burrow's not gonna be playing. I don't know what
the Bengal status is gonna be, but there's a world
(24:25):
where Tomlin's probably got Rookie of the year, sorry, coach
of the year locked up. I guess we should probably
last topic before we get to college, because there is
some good college football stuff on the horizon. Let me
just say a couple of words about the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rob I saw an incredible stat that I think it
was from Shale. He's been on the podcast Capatia Cho
(24:47):
Capatia had a stat that there's been twenty one, I
think twenty one teams that have got eleven wins through
thirteen weeks or something something to that effect since two
thousand and the Chiefs have by far, by far, the
lowest point differential of any eleven win team through thirteen weeks.
And if you again, I know they have Patrick Mahomes
(25:10):
and Andy Reid, and we could keep saying that until
we're blue in the face and that that's like the
mic drop. Well, we've got Andy Reid and we've got
Patrick Mahomes. Okay, they struggle to beat your Raiders, which
I think you called that game. I was a more
two weeks in a row. I thought I thought Casey
would open it up, you know, like Pacheco's coming back,
and it's late season Chiefs and the rebounding from the
(25:33):
lost to Buffalo. But they looked ordinary against Buffalo. They
beat Carolina by three on a late field goal. They
survive your Raiders on a totally botched effort by the
Raiders offensive line and the quarterback and everything, the Denver
blocked kick. They needed overtime to beat Tampa when Tampa
had no receivers on Monday night football. They beat the
(25:57):
Raiders by seven. The best win I guess you could
call it was against the Chiefs when the Chiefs got
hurt and the Chiefs were off. I'm sorry, not the
Chiefs got hurt. That was the game. I think you
got hurt. Chiefs were coming off a bye. Great spot
for them. The one win that the other double digit
win was against the Saints. The game against the Chargers.
Kind of luck box Falcons imploded. Somebody stitched together a
(26:20):
video I don't know if it was this guy NFL
memes maybe, but it was like, of all the wacky plays,
Isaiah Likely's toe the flag against the Bengals on fourth
and sixteen with the game on the line, the Falcons
imploding in the red zone multiple times. It was just like,
oh my gosh, all of this has happened, and I
know sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. I
(26:41):
get all that, guys, I totally do, but at some
point this is going to catch.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Up with you.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You can only run so hot for so long. Rob
You've been at the craps table where you just you're
on fire. You're like, I've never been this hot. Oh
my gosh, it's unbelievable, and all of a sudden it
starts to peter out. It's gonna happen now. I don't
know if it happens this week. Chargers game is gonna
be awesome Sunday night football. I like the Chargers. We'll
see what the injuries. The Dobbins injuries brutal because that
(27:07):
offense is so limited. They didn't even have two hundred
yards against the freaking Falcons. So Chiefs are gonna be
considerable favorites here. At Cleveland, come on, that should be
a dub. Houston is limping, and you know, we can
have a discussion about CJ. Stroud and the sophomore slump
at Pittsburgh's interesting, and then at Denver. Denver could be
fighting for a playoff spot. So there's a chance. I
(27:29):
still believe Buffalo has a shot at the number one
seed in the AFC and Rob I would not be
shocked if they got it. Now, if you're a Kansas
City fan who cares the Ravens had the number one
seed last year, we had to go on the road
to beat Buffalo, and we had to go on the
road to beat the Ravens. Rob, wasn't last year's KC
team way better? They had Snead, they had a functional
(27:49):
left tackle, they had Rashi Rice, they had Pacheco healthy. Like,
this team's nothing like that team. Do you think they are?
Speaker 3 (27:57):
No way? Yeah, no way to put in respective their
point differential I believe was plus fifty six entering Sunday's
action or as the conclusion of Sunday's action, that would
be the eleventh highest mark in the NFL. And they
have thirteen wins, Like you're not gonna get away with
stuff like they got away with against the Raiders. Against
(28:18):
the best teams in the league, the AFC is entirely
too deep, especially at the top, for you to think
you can get away with smoking mirrors like they have
basically this entire season. You might be able to beat
one of Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Baltimore or or you know,
you mentioned the Chargers, You're not gonna beat three of
(28:39):
them playing like that, Like, that's just not gonna happen.
So unless something can change here in the month of December.
Patrick Mahomes, I know, has been kind of heating up
a little bit the last few weeks. We got to
get credit on that, but the rest of their team
is following, even their vaunted defense. I think they have
a great defensive team. The last few weeks have been okay,
(29:01):
like they've been solid, but they can't afford to just
be solid because their offense isn't good enough to make
up the difference. They have Patrick Mahomes, they have Travis
Kelcey and that's about it.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Hey, hey, don't sleep on that other guy, Noah Gray.
I picked him up in Fantasy for the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Dude, he's a machine. No, Yeah, he's not bad and
he all he does catch touchdowns. Yeah, but I'm not
trusting Kansas City. This is for my money. Even though
they eleven and one, this is the worst Chiefs team
of the Mahomes era.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Oh, no doubt. I totally agree.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Rob.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Let me ask you this, if these three quarterbacks hit
the market this offseason and you are, oh, let's just
go with your Raiders. If you're your Raiders, which of
these guys are you pursuing assuming you don't get shadur
in the draft Sam Darnold, Because you know Minnesota has
JJ McCarthy and they just signed Daniel Jones. So we'll
see Aaron Rodgers, who the Jets should and likely we'll
(30:00):
cut baitwith after this season. And then your sleeper and
that would be drum roll please. Kirk Cousins. Captain Kirk
has hit a massive snag. He is one of the
coldest quarterbacks in the league right now. In the last
three games, all losses, since they were six and three,
Kirk Cousins has zero touchdowns, six picks. And this is
(30:21):
not against the league defenses. This is against the Saints
indoors at Denver, which was predictable disaster and then against
the Chargers yesterday, and like an idiot, I was on
the Falcons thinking, oh, hey, great spot for them. The
Chargers had the Hardbowl, short week, go East, and then oh,
by the way, after that, they have Sunday night football
against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who they're trying to
(30:43):
catch in the AFC. So yeah, there'll be a letdown
from the Chargers. No, Kirk Cousins said, I'll just throw
four frickin' interceptions, all of them in Chargers territory. One
in the end zone, won a pick six that I
think was seventy one yards. He threw two inside the
Chargers thirty yard I mean, kirk Cousins imploded. I'm shocked
they didn't bench him. There will be talk about going
(31:05):
to Michael Pennox this week. That's gonna be a storyline
in Atlanta. But what's even spicier is if somehow Tampa
is able to snag that playoff spot and the Falcons
miss rob. Do you think Atlanta says, hell, let's just
take the dead cap hit. And I'm on spot track
right now and I see that the dead cap hit
next year for kirk Cousins is only forty million dollars.
(31:27):
That's not that bad. And I know it sounds bad,
but it's not. Russell Wilson had a big dead cap
hit number. I think it was Matt Ryan had a
big one back in the day. It can be overcome,
right now, Okay, move on. You got the quarterback on
the rookie deal. Of those three Cousins, Donald and Rogers,
which which of those guys appeals to you most?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Gosh darn it, I guess Sam Darnald. But I don't
feel good about any of those three guys right now,
not at all. And again, if Rodgers right, definitely not.
Rogers is a distant third for me. He's just been terrible.
And not even when they're talking about the New York
Jets entering Monday morning, the idea they're not shooting down entirely,
the idea of benching Aaron Rodgers, that's a lot about
(32:07):
where they're at. But with Kirk Cousins, and I know
it seems crazy to move off of him after you
just signed it this massive deal, but to your point,
you drafted the quarterback already, he's on a rookie deal,
so he's ready to go. The rest of your great
playmakers are also on their rookie deal, but Jean Robinson,
Drake London, and I don't think Darnell Mooney cost you anything.
(32:28):
I don't think Tyler algieer is going to cost you anything.
And I know that Algier might still be on his
rookie deal for all I know. But they are in
one of those unique positions where if they really wanted
to move off of him, they could do it and
absorb the cap hit and it wouldn't really materially impact
their team moving forward because the rest of their core
is so young. So Atlanta, I don't think they're going
(32:53):
to make the move this week, but I also wouldn't
be shocked they did either because coming into the draft,
and you and I both love the Pennix pick because
we both really high him as a player, But coming
in he was viewed as the most pro ready prospect
at the quarterback position. So that's why I was so
surprising that Atlanta would take him, because they just signed
a quarterback to be their stopgap starter. You would think
(33:13):
you go to a tea where, hey, we're gonna throw
him to the fire immediately and see what happens. Well,
that might happen much sooner than anybody anticipated.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Michael Pennix. I'm looking him up, the guy who was,
as you said, the most pro ready quarterback. He turns
twenty five in May. So this isn't some like young
kid getting tossed into the fire. If you give him
the reins and frankly, you know, you make Pennix your guy,
and you've got some wiggle room pretty instantly to be good.
B Jhon Robinson was solid. I think Drake London's emerging
as a really nice player. Kirk Cousins just it looks washed.
(33:46):
I don't want to pile on Aaron Rodgers. Rob you
said it pretty well, but I have a stat here
that's staggering. So on passes over ten air yards against
Seattle Sunday, Rogers was two of fourteen. That's like my
shooting in a men's league in a big spot. I
mean he was two or fourteen for the season on
passes over ten are yards. That means, you know, it's
(34:07):
not checked down. Charlie, he's thirty eight percent. Thirty eight Like,
I mean, that's like Anthony richardson territory. It's just unbelievable
how bad Rogers has become.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
But let's move to college football real quick. Rob. I
know you, you know you have the new baby arrived.
I'm sure you were watching a lot of football on
the couch. Did you see Michigan Ohio State at the ending?
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (34:42):
And I'm just curious you played football at a high
level in high school. Ok, I denied, I did not
play in high school. I did, I did try out orde.
But I am curious if some like give me the
mindset of why planting a flag would make somebody so upset,
especially after you got your butt kicked as a twenty
(35:02):
point favorite.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Well that the second part is why this is such
an absurd story, Because if this is any other game,
if this was last year or even the year before,
where these teams are reasonably evenly matched and they're both
playing for something like a playoff berth or the Big
Ten championships on the line, with one of these two teams,
then sure I could see how emotions run hot. You
(35:23):
get a little upset, you can thinks get a little
spicy and it leads to that kind of confrontation. But
for Ohio State in the situation, you had sixty minutes
to punch these guys in the mouth. This Michigan team
is not good, point blank period. They're just not a
good football team. And you tricked away this game over
(35:46):
and over and over, both with you know, special teams
play and the quarterback, which I can imagine if you're
an Ohio State booster, you're like, why are we giving
out millions of dollars to a guy who can't beat
a mediocre Michigan team? Like what are we doing here?
But for them to get that upset when as you
alluded to, they were the heavy favorites coming in, they
(36:06):
should have bludgeoned Michigan. They went down meekly, and it
wasn't until after the game that you saw a little
bit of fire from Ohio State. That was so disappointing
to me.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yes, so that was not the only one, apparently, And
I watched we were traveling on Saturday, but I was
I had the game cueued up. The technology these days
is awesome. So you have like cable so you can
get the app for your cable provider and you can
just watch the game in the car, but I'm driving,
so my daughter was kind of give me the play
by play, and I was just I was stunned, you know,
(36:36):
I had I thought Ohio date was a lock. I've
got Ohio State to win the National Championship, like feeling great,
and this loss was just stunned. I was similar to
Ryan day ill prepared without a handle any thinking Ohio
State related. I just I'm not ready for this. But
the flag planting was just minumbingly stupid. And it happened
(36:58):
also in Florida. FSU is terrible. I don't know why
they would care about anything. They didn't care about their
season NC NC State and then Arizona State Arizona And
my only conclusion is that there's gonna be a rule
this offseason about this dumb flag planting, like you're just
not allowed to do that.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Now.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Somebody, when I put this on social media, somebody counted, well,
they're probably gonna make it like storming the field where
you get fined every time, and I that's different. Storming
the field is different than teams fighting and the police
eating pepper spray to secuate them. That's a bad look,
that's horrible. For college football. It's like, what that just
marred the entire game. The story wasn't how did Michigan win.
(37:38):
Nobody's really articulated that. It's all why were they fighting?
Because the video of teams fighting over a flag being
planted and Rob wisely called it the Baker Mayfield rule
because he, of course at Oklahoma planted a flag back before.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
It was cool.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Now everybody now, all the kids are doing it, and
it just let's just get that rule out there and
get it done. Like, let's focus on the football now.
The football is not great. I mean Mimiami Hurricanes. I
like that team a lot. I like cam Ward. They
lose to Syracuse. I don't think Miami's gonna make the playoff.
But the college football playoff rankings Tuesday for the first time,
I'm going to be fascinating because it's like, is anybody good?
(38:14):
Remember when Penn State, like two weeks ago, everybody's like, oh,
they're not good.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Who have they beat?
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Why they deserve a spot? Penn State's now playing for
the Big Ten championship if they somehow beat Oregon, and
I don't know, Texas loses the SEC title game, it's
Penn State. The number one.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
See.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
I don't know. I mean, it doesn't make sense. I
don't think it should be like that, but it could.
And Penn State's not very good. I mean, they didn't
need an overtime against USC, And I mean Penn State's
got some good players. I like their coach, but I
don't know. Tennessee are they good? Is Ohio State good?
I don't know. They don't seem like they're built for
cold weather. They've got if you could run the football,
(38:53):
they're in trouble. But this flag planting thing kind of
flip the whole weekend. By the way, Oregon's number one
rob and you watch a lot of West Coast football.
Is Oregon that good?
Speaker 3 (39:04):
No? But I think they're easily the best team in
the country. And then I think this is one of
those situations where the playoffs is actually hurting them because
if this was any other year, you know, they're already
the national champions. If this was two years ago, they
got to win two games and it's it's a rap. Yeah,
now you got a twelve team playoff and you know,
we'll see what happens. I will say, bad job by
(39:26):
you for not acknowledging that a flag planting also took
place at UNLV, but because nobody got upset about it,
nobody talked about it because I don't think anyone in
Nevada cares that the UNLV planned a flag and then
then you know there's no fights. But this is It's
What also is disappointing is I know Ohio State lost,
and that's it's a stories, not these stories you mentioned.
(39:46):
It was the brawl. That's not going to impact them
in the playoff. They're going to be in the playoff
even still, even after a debacle of a loss like that,
they're still was going to be seven eight.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Thinks I think so are we sure about that?
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Though? I'm almost positive Ohio State will get in, just
like I'm almost positive that Alabama's gonna get in, because
even Lane Kiffin put out this really bizarre posting on
social media breaking down the difference between South Carolina, Ole Miss,
and Alabama, and according to his you know, statistics, it's
clear that ole Miss was the best team of the
(40:20):
three and they deserved the twelfth spot or whatever it was,
but he put at the end because it's Alabama and
they're a brand name, Alabama's gonna get in. Overall, miss
so Ohio State is gonna get in.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
I would largely agree. Real quick, I'm looking up some
stats because I have a question you're not going to
be prepared for, but I don't care. I think it's
a good topic. So the leader in the country in
passing yards is this guy named Kyle McCord at Syracuse, Rob,
do you know where Kyle McCord played.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Last year the Ohio State Yeah, I did.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Not even know that. Unbelievable. Okay, now the other question
and we can we can wrap up with this a
huge Heisman Trophy guy. But if I asked you, who
would your high school? First of all, no, no, I'm not
gonna ask you your votes for first what is your
criteria for the Heisman Trophy?
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Oh my gosh, I mean it's the problem is it
changes year to year. Usually you gotta be the most
outstanding player on a national championship.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Contending Okay, what does outstanding mean?
Speaker 3 (41:21):
The best player? Statistically? One of the best players.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Okay, statistically that's the word. I was gonna keep browbeating
you until young gave it to me. So I'm just
looking at stats, and I'm looking at like receiving leaders
and h Travis Hunter's fifth A bunch of guys call
it more passes than him in yards and touchdowns. I'm
looking at the running backs, and this fellow by the
name of Ashton Genty at Boise State has six hundred
(41:46):
more yards than anyone else. He is trending toward Barry
Sanders territory. Ashton Genty is an amazing player. I think
he's gonna be a first round pick, and he is
having one of the greatest seasons any running back is
ever had in college football. He has twenty eight touchdowns
twenty two hundred yards. I mean, this is a historic stuff.
(42:07):
And I'm being told that the Heisman Trophy is going
to go to Travis Hunter and he is the heavy favorite.
Can you just explain it? I mean, now, gent's played
a week schedule, I get it. But when he faced Oregon,
which is number one, he had twenty five carries for
one hundred and ninety two yards and three touchdowns. So
(42:27):
decent effort against the number one team in the country.
Why are people voting Travis Hunter again?
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Well, and Boise State is going to be in the playoff,
it looks like all most likely it's trending that way. Yeah,
so for my criteria, he checks all the boxes. He's
having a statistically incredible season. He is easily one of
the best players in the country regardless of position, and
last but not least, he's playing for a national title
(42:56):
contender in Boys States. Now, they're going to be down
on the list of contender, but they're gonna be in
the mix. Colorado, lest we forget gagged away a game
against Kansas a couple of weeks ago or else, they
could have been in that conversation and they're not. I
made this joke on the radio last week when it
was my first time back. I wasn't here on this podcast,
but I was on the radio, and I joked that
(43:18):
Travis Hunter is gonna win the Heisman because he's a
snap merchant, because he plays one hundred plus chet snaps,
and people can't seem to get over that fact that
he is. He's a very good player. I'm not saying
he's a great an excellent player. Is he the best
wide receiver in the country.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
No.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
Is he the top five receivering I don't think so.
Is he the best cornerback in the country, I don't
think so. He's very good. He's very good at both.
But Ashton Genty is by far the best running back
in the country. He is arguably the best running back
we've seen in a decade in college. So I'm voted
(43:52):
for that guy.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
Yeah, I don't get it. I get the whole most
talented whatever that means. That's like if you ask to
people who's the most talented player where you could just
go to like the Bruce Feldman list of the freaks
and then find that person and say they're there. But
like Travis Hunter, yes, I get it, he's super talented.
He's probably gonna go top ten. I, by the way,
I don't I wouldn't draft a defensive back in the
(44:15):
top five. You know, Sauce Gardner by the way, he's
starting to look ordinary. Stingley was clearly overdrafted. Like I'm not.
I'm not rocking with getting a defensive back that early
in the draft. I just don't think it pays off.
All I know is Ashton Genty is the most productive
college football player. Now, this isn't what Ron Daye. You
remember Ron Daye, the big kid from Wisconsin. He got
(44:37):
like the it was like the Lifetime Achievement Award where
he was he didn't he had a good season, but
it was more like, oh, this guy started for like
three plus years. Look at all the stats he accumulated.
We got to give him the award, and they gave it
to him. Fine. I forget who he beat out. It
might have been like Tiki Barber or something, but.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
I think he beat out Cade mcdown.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
Was it Cade mcdown?
Speaker 3 (44:54):
I think so the quarterback?
Speaker 2 (44:56):
What U c l A U CLA Yeah, okay, And
I was like, that's not a lifetime and cheaping a word.
But in one season, like Ashton Jenty's been incredible, so
I know. Listen, people love Dion and Dion's a Carnival Barker.
By the way, it sounds like people think he's staying now.
He's signed a bunch of high profile recruits over the
Thanksgiving break and everybody's like, would you be signing with
(45:17):
him if you think he's leaving. I'm like, well, just
know that players could change their mind at the drop
of a hat. You can decommit any time. But that
that doesn't mean anything. I need to see what jobs
are open. I'm just we'll talk about it later, Rob,
we gotta wrap up here. But I think that Chicago
Bears job is the best job that's open in the NFL.
I mean, Jacksonville is gonna be good because you got
(45:39):
Trevor Lawrence and my gosh, I'm glad he's okay. But
that Bears team, they got some talent.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Man.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
I think there's something there.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
No love for the blank Slate Raiders. It's okay, I
get it.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Yeah, wait, wait do you think Pierce is what he's gone?
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Tom Brady's gonna fire him as soon as he can
shoot him into the sun.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
All right, that's a lengthy Monday pod at football. Not
even a great game, So I have zero dollars on
this game. If anything, I would probably lean Browns thanks
to my guy cleave Ta, who likes the Browns. I
think he took him on the contest here just because
again it's bo Nick's high profile game, a smart defensive
coach in Schwartz. I think the Browns can cook stuff
(46:18):
up and keep it close. And also, by the way,
I'm rooting Browns because I have a like a ten
point lead in fantasy and I'm facing Bo Nicks and
Jo Judy. Not great, but I've been first, so I'll
be tied for first after that. It's a pretty good
weekend at Fantasy. I hit unbelievably two five team teasers
in the NFL. Those were great contests, only three to two.
(46:39):
But anyways, all right, we are back tomorrow. College football
heating up, NBA, rob G. How about your Lakers?
Speaker 3 (46:45):
Yeah, we're back.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
You feeling good after that went over the Jazz?
Speaker 3 (46:49):
Of course not, but we're back. Don't worry about it.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah, the injuries mounting. But how about Dalton Connect? Dude,
when are we gonna do? Could we get him on
the potter? Is he too big of a deal now?
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Would get him now? Would definitely gang get him after
the All Star break because he's You're taking.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
Over Connect for baby. All right, talk to you tomorrow,
seem
This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
What is up straight Fire fail? It's me Jason McIntyre.
Straight Fire for Monday, December second. Welcome to the month
of December. It was ushered in in the snow last
night on Sunday Night Football. The Bills roll over the Niners.
Not that interesting of a game. But we'll get to
Christian McCaffrey in a little bit. Hope everybody had a
(00:33):
phenomenal Thanksgiving break. Rob Gie is back in the saddle,
coming off a huge, huge couple weeks off for good news.
He'll reveal that a little later on. And my Thanksgiving
was excellent. We went out to the desert, hung out
with some friends. We went to a zoo and I
got some dogs to nearly attack us. It was phenomenal,
(00:54):
the living desert in Palm Springs, and you know, they
had the Christmas lights up at night, and it was
kind of it's like a scene at night there and
me and you know, the kids, I'm like a kid.
I act like a kid sometimes a public we're goofing off.
We see these rabid dogs, you know, in their little exhibit,
and I'm like making noises and the dogs, three of them,
sprint over and we were all like, whoa, you know,
(01:17):
holy Kelly. They were like running around like they were circling,
you know. But there was a big obviously the plex
not the plexiglass, but the big glass encasement that they
were in. And it was fun.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
I like a good zoo and enjoyed some turkey. We
got the Christmas trees up, got the Christmas lights, and
we're ready to rock in December. I have a super
busy couple weeks coming up, and thankfully the weekends are
consumed by football, and my gosh, we'll get to the
college football madness. This is gonna be a big, big
week in college football with the playoffs gonna get set,
(01:48):
a lot of teams on the brink. SEC guys are
crying already. I love it. But we got to start
with the NFL. And what I think is probably the
biggest story this Monday following Week thirteen's just an absurd
slate of games. And that's the Philadelphia Eagles. Remember when
this team headed into their bye week two and two,
when the sky was falling and Nick Sirianni was, Oh,
(02:11):
he's in trouble. Is Belichick going to replace him? That's
the best job.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
On the market.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
All these stories were emerging about how Nick Sirianni was
kind of clueless. They got spanked by Tampa. It was bad. Well, folks,
they have not lost since the bye week and in
the I think it was the most impressive victory of
the season and it not reflected in the point spread.
But the Philadelphia Eagles go into Baltimore become the first
team in what seems like eons to defeat Lamar Jackson,
(02:38):
someone from the NFC, and the Eagles impressive twenty four
to nineteen win. Not only that they came from behind
to beat Baltimore. This was nine to nothing as the
Eagles off to their slow start, as they are wont
to do. Fortunately, Justin Tucker, I'm sorry, Hall of Famer
Justin Tucker, who's now washed. It's official. I'm not saying
(02:59):
he's gonn lose his job, but the Ravens will certainly
bring in other kickers. That's gonna be a big story
this week in Baltimore. Tucker misses an extra point, misses
two field goals. It was a rough one. He's now
missed a career high eight field goals on the season.
If he makes those different game, maybe the Ravens win,
and maybe Lamar is still in discussion for the MVP.
But remember that, remember Lamar as the MVP. Yeah, I
(03:21):
remember that warm weather September October. Lamar he's great and
Lamar Jackson was not great. On Sunday, Ravens two for
five in the red zone. And I know some of
the stats will show that they outplayed the Eagles, but
some of that was garbage time that final drive down
what they were down like twenty four to twelve, like
two minutes left and they get to garbage time drive.
(03:44):
But the big story is the Eagles have now, in
my opinion, become the best team in the NFC. I
think they've surpassed the Lions. Detroit a little wonky on Thanksgiving,
got lucky that Matt Eberflus had no clue what he
was doing at the end, and yes, Caleb Williams as well.
But I think the Eagles have passed the Lions for
several reasons. Number one is that defense, Folks, This kid
(04:04):
Zach Bond, Oh my gosh, what an acquisition linebacker number
fifty three. You just watch him. He is a ballhawk.
He is just his instincts are tremendous. The defense under
Vic Fangio totally locked up Derrick Henry, who had eighty
two yard rushing on nineteen carries. Lamar could do nothing
and this kid, Cooper Dejen. I don't know if you
(04:27):
saw it. I thought it was one of those hits
that Serve noticed so late in the game. Raven's trying
to come back. It was third down and they dump
it off to Derrick Henry in the flat, and as
soon as he catches it, he turns and Cooper Dejen,
the rookie from Iowa, who I'm sure you've seen his
YouTube basketball highlights, he gets his shoulder into Henry and
plants him down and the Eagles sideline explodes, and it
(04:48):
was like, oh my, oh, my goodness. Is this is
a physical Eagles defense. And what they changed during a
bye week. I read Ian rapaportt write something up for
NFL Network is that during the bye week it seems
like Hurtz and Sirianna got on the same page. No
more of this, Let's throw the ball. They are a physical,
smash mouth football team. I know they lost Kelsey to
(05:11):
retirement in the offseason, so they started to go away.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
From the run. A little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Well, they've gone back to it. They are now the
most physical team in the league. Hurts is not turning
the ball over because he's force feeding guys in the
red zone. Since the bye week, Hurts on fire ten
touchdown passes, one interception, He's got nine rushing touchdowns, and
most importantly, my man Saquon Barkley one of the best
(05:35):
running backs this league has seen in the last five years.
The Giants didn't want him. Sekwon Barkley goes to the Eagles.
If you roll the tape, you go back and listen, guys,
I said almost the exact words that Barkley can have
a Christian McCaffrey type impact on this Eagles offense. McCaffrey
went to San Francisco was tremendous, Barkley goes to the
(05:56):
Eagles is phenomenal. And Saquon Barkley are you ready for
these stats? He leads the NFL with fourth quarter rushing
yards four hundred and eighty one, leads the NFL with
fourth quarter touchdowns six, and he's averaging a staggering seven
point four yards per carry in the fourth quarter. The
Eagles are wearing teams down and Saquon is just cooking
(06:17):
late in games. He went off in the fourth quarter
against the Ravens. They had no answer, and you know,
we could get to Baltimore in a minute. But this
is an Eagles team again. You go back to the
bye week and it was this guy's falling. Nick Sirianni's
terrible and they have turned it around have not lost since.
I don't know if they'll catch Detroit for the number
one seed, but I don't know that they have to.
More than anything, Detroit has to hold on to it
(06:39):
because I don't know that they can play outdoors in
Philly the way Philly can play indoors. Now, yes, the
Detroit offense is amazing, but this Philadelphia defense is tremendous,
and I don't think the Detroit offense is that much
better than the Philly would.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
They're doing this without Devonte Smith, who missed another game.
AJ Brown was solid again, He's a horse. But Saquon
Barkley Jalen hurts This team as impressive. I think as
of now that they are the team to beat in
the NFC, and I think you could make a case
rob that they're the best team in the NFL right now.
I don't want to hear this. Kansas City Chiefs nonsense.
They got lucky as hell again to win their thirteenth
(07:13):
straight one possession game, which is laughable. So Eagles beat
the Ravens on the road. Remember, no NFC teams beat Lamar.
He was like twenty three and one against the NFC.
Eagles went to Baltimore, beat Lamar, and Serve noticed that
they're the best team in the NFL. They're the team
to beat right now. Rob And I know you agree
with that, right.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Ooh, I'm not ready to go that far yet, Jason.
I'm right there with you. I have a really close
number two behind Detroit. But it's not like if you
say the Eagles are the best team in the NFC
or the NFL, I'm going to argue with you because
they are currently playing like they are the best or
one of the best teams in the league. I want
to go back to what you said about we were
talking on this podcast another show. We're talking about it
(07:53):
that they were in trouble. Nick Siiranni might get fired.
They had just lost. Coming to the by or going
to the bye week, everybody was concern Jalen Hurts was
giving these really awkward press conferences. He doesn't really say
a whole lot to begin with, but just the things
he was saying was really raising to my brows. The
one that stood out to me and we talked about
on this show was he didn't know what their identity was,
(08:14):
and anytime you hear a team say that. On the
heels of the offseason that they had where there was
a lot of reporting about the disconnect between Nick Sirianni
and Jalen Hurts and Sirianni wanting to do what they've
always done, which was a ground and pound team, and
Jalen Hurts wanting to prove that he's worth the massive
contract extension that he got. And you and I had
(08:36):
said maybe it was on the pod or off the pot,
don't recall, but we were saying, you know, who's to
blame in this situation. I think we settled on Sirianni,
but I was always under the idea that Jalen Hurts
deserved a big portion of it as well, because I
thought that he wanted too badly to show that he
was a top flight franchise quarterback, like he was a
(08:56):
Joe Burrow type. He was a Josh Allen type, Trick
Mahomes type, and that's just not who he is. And
if you look at this eight game winning street that
they've been on, he has attempted more than twenty five
passes once in the first month of the season is
passing yard or his passing attempts were thirty four to thirty,
thirty eight and thirty. So once they've remembered who they are.
(09:19):
And Nick Sirianni, God save him because I've given him
a lot of shit on the air, off the air,
on Twitter, so on and so forth. He was right,
Like what they are is a physical, smash mouth team
that is gonna live and die with their running game.
They have a great running back and a fantastic offensive line.
They are gonna wear you down. As you mentioned in
(09:39):
the fourth quarter. By the time you get to there,
people do not want to tackle Sakwon Barkley. They do
not want to see that offensive line guard trap over
and over and Jalen hurts with the RPO going round
the left edge. And now what you're seeing with this
team is now that they've figured out and they've settled
on who they want to be, which is more quon,
(10:00):
more running game, less Jalen hurts. You're seeing the fully
formed version of the Philadelphia Eagles. And to your point,
if it comes down to a playoff game with them
and Detroit, I would lean Detroit because the home field advantage.
But again, if it gets to a point where they're
playing outdoors and they have to go to Philadelphia, that's
a totally different conversation right there.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It's interesting you mentioned that. I just looked at the schedule,
and we all know that the Lions played a million
games indoors to start the season. These are their next
games indoors against the Packers on Thursday. Great game indoors
against the Bills, outdoors against Chicago, outdoors against San fran
but that's warm weather, and then indoors against Minnesota. So
(10:41):
they're probably favored in They're not favored against Buffalo at home,
are they? Oh, that's an interesting one.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
At home, they should be They should be favored at home.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
San Francisco feels like a dead team walking. It feels
like they're over. You know, I'm assuming the McCaffrey things serious.
The Minnesota game is interesting, but you're right, they're probably
gonna be favored in either four or five or five
of five. But if you look at the Philly schedule,
rob it has one big land mine that I'm worried about,
and that's the game against Pittsburgh, you know, the intrastate scrimmage.
(11:11):
I think they handle Carolina. They do have to go
to Washington, but I don't know Washington. What are they
for real or no?
Speaker 3 (11:19):
Or I mean with that team, they started out like gangbusters,
and I think you called them the best team in
the NFC, and at the time I thought you were right.
And then they just kind of hit this dry spot.
Part of it being team started to adjut a little
bit to the Kingsbury offense. But I think the bigger
part of it was Jaden Daniels was more hurt than
I think anyone wanted to admit. And as the season
has gone on, he's gotten a little bit healthier each
(11:41):
and every week. And now I think on Sunday you
saw what was the most healthy he's been in about
a month.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
How about this, The Eagles will probably be double digit
favorites in their final two versus Cooper Rush at home,
versus Drew Locke maybe at home. So the Eagles they're in,
they're not gonna be lose, maybe to Pittsburgh. That race
for number one in the NFC is fascinating. I don't
know who do you get the edge two in Eagles
(12:08):
at Detroit and then Eagles hosting Detroit NFC hip because
there's not even like a clear three.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
No. That's what's kind of disapoint about the NFC this
season is it's so clearly the JV Conference and it's
not like the AFC where you could go down the
list and say, if Pittsburgh came out of the AFC,
I wouldn't be shocked if Buffalo did, if Kansas City did,
if Baltimore. Like, you can get legitimately five or six
teams where you would not be surprised at all if
they made the Super Bowl. If it's the NFC, if
(12:35):
it's not Detroit or Philadelphia, I think, you know, we
would be dumbfounded. So if we're playing in Detroit, I'm
gonna give the benefit of the doubt to the Detroit Lions.
I think they've shown that they've been the better team
throughout the season. Now right now, Philadelphia is hotter if
you're playing in Philly, though, with the cold weather so far,
I think Detroit only has one good outdoor win and
(12:57):
that was in Green Bay.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, no, definitely number three currently and so the NFC
is Detroit and Philly, and then three and four as
of today are Seattle and Atlanta. Seattle, I guess you
could as Rob laughs. I guess you could say that
could be a difficult place to play in January, could
have the weather, obviously, Atlanta. I'm not a believer at all.
(13:21):
I actually think Tampa could pass them. And we'll get
to whether or not Kirk Cousins is gonna get benched
or even be back there next year. That's for later
this week. But like Minnesota is the fifth seed at
ten and two, so they're gonna have to win on
the road and then go to Philly or Detroit. And
I don't know, Sam Darnold in January. Are you scared
of them?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'm not. No.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Now, the Jordan loved Ones interesting, as is Jaden Daniels.
Those guys can be dangerous. But I thought the Eagles
were the biggest story. And now I'm gonna eat some
crow because I was shouting from the rooftops, Rob, All
summer Steelers are done. It's over. Tomlin's first losing season.
Take the season win total under Russell Wilson come on,
(14:02):
and I think I even said they should trade TJ.
Watt and get a bounty of picks and start over.
I think I remember that that was a great take.
At the time, I thought it was good. People love that,
and unfortunately none of that has come to pass. As
the Steelers. And here's the scary thing, rob are they
kind of good? They're nine and three. They can beat
(14:22):
you in many different ways. Naje Harris, I mean, he
had a monster game. Pickens. If he ever gets his
head on straight, it's gonna be really one of the
best receivers. I don't think he's Randy Moss, but he
could be Moss Light the way he plays. He just
gets some dumb penalties. And Tomlin after the game was like,
George Pickens has to grow up. I think guy's got
a target on his back. He's got to grow up
in a hurry. I mean, the rep he could have
got ejected for that second fifteen yard penalty on Sunday
(14:45):
because he's just doing dumb stuff, celebrating by putting the
ball on a guy's head and making like a finger
guns Like, what are you doing, dude. But outside of
some Pickens nonsense, I gotta give give it up to
Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith. Folks. Russell Wilson threw for
four hundre in fourteen yards and three touchdowns. And I
need to add this, he opened the game with a
(15:05):
pick six, so he rebounded from that. I thought after
that point, I was like, oh boy, Tomlin ain't gonna let.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Himcrew this up.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
They're just gonna be running football everywhere. And it was like, not, really.
Here's the scary thing about Pittsburgh and this Arthur Smith
offense totally different than anything we've seen in the last
few years from Pittsburgh and the post Ben era. Ten
different Steelers caught passes ten eight of them caught explosive passes,
not just eight, and not just ten yards. Eight guys
(15:33):
caught passes over twenty yards. Now, obviously this speaks to
the Bengals at Captain lou He's got to be toasted
if he's not fired by the time this podcast drops.
The Bengals got major problems. And I know the ownership
is cheap and stupid, but I mean, get a clue, guys,
this is embarrassing. Cincinnati now out of the playoff mix.
At four and eight, there is no hope with what
eleven they got six games left, Yeah, six games. There's
(15:57):
no chance that they are catching anybody for a playoff spot.
How's this The Bengals have an NFL record four losses
when scoring thirty three or more points. Joe Burrow awesome season.
Now he did have two fumbles and a pick on Sunday.
Not great, But Joe Burrow can't do it all. And
the Cincinnati Bengals, I'm telling you, there are Dan Marino
(16:20):
Miami Dolphin vibes right now in Cincinnati. Marino goes to
the Super Bowl in his second year. Everybody says, oh, bro,
he's gonna be back every year, Oh Marino, he's gonna
be here for never got back to a Super Bowl,
never had a defense. He had the Marx brothers, Duper
and Clayton. They were an awesome offense. They were a
(16:40):
finesse team, and they never and now you can look
it up on the DVA numbers, they've they never had
a good defense under Marino. And I don't know how
the Bengals fixed this. I saw stat the Trey Hendrickson
was either leading the league in sacks or second, and
yet the Bengals as a team are thirtieth in the
league in sacks. So it's basically Ray Hendrickson a bunch
(17:00):
of bumps, and I just if I'm Borrow, I'm disgusted.
I would be so irate. He's having a good season
and they're just wasting it. But the Pittsburgh Steelers now
Mike Tomlin twenty first straight non losing season. I gotta
give the man his props. I was way wrong on
the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Rob.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Listen. Sometimes you know you take a lot of swings,
you're gonna you're gonna have a couple of whiffs. This
was bad. Now, I still am not ready to say
they're dangerous in the AFC, but I'll say this. I'll
say this for sure. I don't think they're gonna be
scared of the Kansasy Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I mean they this offense, the way they're explosive with
Pickens and Friarmouth. Hell, Austin is tough, Naja Harris, they
got the two running backs. I mean, I don't know.
I'm really down on the Chiefs. I think I thought
the Steelers could not be dangerous in January, Rob, But
I've flipped my tune after Buffalo, and you know, maybe
(17:56):
the Ravens who are slipping on her a little. I
think the Chargers have some are limited. I think the
Steelers are maybe trending toward dangerous in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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listen live.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Why are you so late to get on this train? Man?
I think I told you the last time I was
on this podcast couple weeks ago, that I thought that
the Steelers were dark horse super Bowl contender. And they've
done nothing to make me change my mind. Okay, just quickly,
what works? I know?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, when you make up, when you make a prediction,
you want to be right.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
So that's right now, You're right true?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
And I was holding fast. Just at some point you
gotta let go.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Well, just quickly. On the Bengals, two stats are gonna
blow your mind. The Bengals this season are one and
two when scoring at least thirty eight points. The rest
of the NFL is twenty one to zero. Okay, so
that's one. Here's the other one. The Bengals against teams
with a winning record, so against the best of the best,
they average thirty point three points per game and they
are zero to seven in those games. I mean, shout
(19:01):
out to the defense, Joe Burrow, better luck next year.
But with the Pittsburgh Steelers, I don't know if this
is a hot take, but they're out there to you anyways.
To me, I'm not saying they're the best team in
the AFC because I don't think they are. I don't
know if their peak is as high as what Baltimore
can be. Even after what we saw on Sunday, I
don't think it's as high as what we've seen from Buffalo.
At times. I don't even think it's as high as
(19:23):
Kansas City because Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes. On
any Giving day, he can put on the cape and
do some incredible things. But I will say I think
Pittsburgh is the most complete team in the AFC, that defense,
most complete, complete team. That their floor, their baseline is more,
(19:44):
is higher. Their floor is higher than every other team
in the AFC because the defense we know is great.
It's notwithstand who happened on Sunday, because Je Burrow does everybody.
They are a top five defense anyway you slice it.
They stop the run, they forced turnovers, they affect the
pass rush, they don't give up a lot of points.
They are a great defense. I think we all know that.
(20:05):
And now with Russell Wilson there, suddenly, as you allude to,
their offense is explosive. I don't think it's ever gonna
be as efficient as some of the other like I
don't think they're gonna be a fficial in Detroit. I
don't think it's ever gonna be that kind of an offense.
But the fact that Russell Wilson adds something that they
just did not have for basically five or six seasons,
(20:28):
and that is the ability to pressure down the field.
On Sunday against Cincinnata, I know it's the Bengals, he
went eight of nine on passes over ten air yards
for two hundred and five yards and two touchdowns. He
currently leads the NFL in completion points over expected on
deep balls at plus fifteen point seven percent. He is
(20:52):
making defenses respect that they're going to push the ball
down the field and as a result, it's leading to
that Jalen Warrant and the corpse of Nase Harris being
a legitimate ground attack. So when you got a defense
it's gonna travel cold weather, warm weather, it doesn't matter,
and an offense that it can be plucky in the
(21:13):
right situation. I think that their floor is right there,
and I think they are the most complete team in
the AFC. We'll see if that ends up playing out
though in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Now that's a hot take. I need to let it marinate.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Because I think Baltimore their peak is better than everybody.
The problem is they have so many just bad performance,
like they are their own worst enemy way too often.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
What about the Bills.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
I know something again, I everyone remember Sunday Night because
you know what they did is the Niners. I understand
that part. But yes, I think they're number one in
point differential in the AFC. My only concern with them
is I don't think that they have enough weapons outside
of Josh Allen that their offense is just Josh Allen
is going to have to be incredible in the postseason
(22:04):
against the better teams.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
So here's the thing. If you remove that Raiders game,
their their loss is to the Texans. Now, Allen was putrid.
He was nine of thirty in that game. Maybe he
was nursing an injury or something.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Yeah, I mean he may have gotten concussed in that game,
if you remember, that's right.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
He was a good memory. He was concussed. They didn't
have Amari Cooper at that time, and they were much
more limited. I don't think they've lost Cincia Maari Cooper
trade I could. Yeah, no, they haven't, and they basically
scored thirty plus points in I think every game with Coop.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Well, Cope hasn't really played where either because he's been
in and out of the lineup.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's fair. He did have the nice shovel pass to
Josh Allen on the hook and ladder creative creative play
on Sunday, But like I would not discount. I mean,
Josh Allen is playing like Superman at this tame.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
He's awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And Josh Allen, I just wonder, like, is he is
he gonna be like what Patrick Mahomes done the last
couple years. Just the team. I'm not letting my team lose,
you know, We're not. We're not gonna lose. And Milano
will be coming back from injury, like that's gonna be interesting.
I just I don't know something about Russell Wilson. How
bad he's been the last couple of years. I can't
(23:14):
I'm having a problem disassociating that with just this nine
game sample size of like or not even nine sorry,
because Justin Fields it's like six games. Yeah, it's like, oh,
he's been hot, wonderful. And by the way, the Bengals, Like,
if you want to wonder why the Bengals should be
firing their entire defensive staff, it's like ball game on
the line, Justin Fields comes in. It's like, oh, Justin
(23:36):
Fields is on the field. He's running the football and
they couldn't even contain him, and he gets the yardage
and neel downs and it's over. But yeah, Steelers are
a really really interesting story. I I hate being so
wrong about them. I well, let me, let me just
check the schedule on them, rob something's just telling me
that they're a little fugazi.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I mean, they have a Gottley coming. I know they
got Philadelphia. I think they have Baltimore again.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
I mean, so their first clean at home against Cleveland,
which they just lost to, so a great revenge spot
for them at Philly at Baltimore back to back. And
the Baltimore is a short week ooh, that's rough, and
then versus Casey at home, so they could take three
l's in a row. And then I guess week eighteen,
maybe Burrow's not gonna be playing. I don't know what
the Bengal status is gonna be, but there's a world
(24:25):
where Tomlin's probably got Rookie of the year, sorry, coach
of the year locked up. I guess we should probably
last topic before we get to college, because there is
some good college football stuff on the horizon. Let me
just say a couple of words about the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rob I saw an incredible stat that I think it
was from Shale. He's been on the podcast Capatia Cho
(24:47):
Capatia had a stat that there's been twenty one, I
think twenty one teams that have got eleven wins through
thirteen weeks or something something to that effect since two
thousand and the Chiefs have by far, by far, the
lowest point differential of any eleven win team through thirteen weeks.
And if you again, I know they have Patrick Mahomes
(25:10):
and Andy Reid, and we could keep saying that until
we're blue in the face and that that's like the
mic drop. Well, we've got Andy Reid and we've got
Patrick Mahomes. Okay, they struggle to beat your Raiders, which
I think you called that game. I was a more
two weeks in a row. I thought I thought Casey
would open it up, you know, like Pacheco's coming back,
and it's late season Chiefs and the rebounding from the
(25:33):
lost to Buffalo. But they looked ordinary against Buffalo. They
beat Carolina by three on a late field goal. They
survive your Raiders on a totally botched effort by the
Raiders offensive line and the quarterback and everything, the Denver
blocked kick. They needed overtime to beat Tampa when Tampa
had no receivers on Monday night football. They beat the
(25:57):
Raiders by seven. The best win I guess you could
call it was against the Chiefs when the Chiefs got
hurt and the Chiefs were off. I'm sorry, not the
Chiefs got hurt. That was the game. I think you
got hurt. Chiefs were coming off a bye. Great spot
for them. The one win that the other double digit
win was against the Saints. The game against the Chargers.
Kind of luck box Falcons imploded. Somebody stitched together a
(26:20):
video I don't know if it was this guy NFL
memes maybe, but it was like, of all the wacky plays,
Isaiah Likely's toe the flag against the Bengals on fourth
and sixteen with the game on the line, the Falcons
imploding in the red zone multiple times. It was just like,
oh my gosh, all of this has happened, and I
know sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. I
(26:41):
get all that, guys, I totally do, but at some
point this is going to catch.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Up with you.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
You can only run so hot for so long. Rob
You've been at the craps table where you just you're
on fire. You're like, I've never been this hot. Oh
my gosh, it's unbelievable, and all of a sudden it
starts to peter out. It's gonna happen now. I don't
know if it happens this week. Chargers game is gonna
be awesome Sunday night football. I like the Chargers. We'll
see what the injuries. The Dobbins injuries brutal because that
(27:07):
offense is so limited. They didn't even have two hundred
yards against the freaking Falcons. So Chiefs are gonna be
considerable favorites here. At Cleveland, come on, that should be
a dub. Houston is limping, and you know, we can
have a discussion about CJ. Stroud and the sophomore slump
at Pittsburgh's interesting, and then at Denver. Denver could be
fighting for a playoff spot. So there's a chance. I
(27:29):
still believe Buffalo has a shot at the number one
seed in the AFC and Rob I would not be
shocked if they got it. Now, if you're a Kansas
City fan who cares the Ravens had the number one
seed last year, we had to go on the road
to beat Buffalo, and we had to go on the
road to beat the Ravens. Rob, wasn't last year's KC
team way better? They had Snead, they had a functional
(27:49):
left tackle, they had Rashi Rice, they had Pacheco healthy. Like,
this team's nothing like that team. Do you think they are?
Speaker 3 (27:57):
No way? Yeah, no way to put in respective their
point differential I believe was plus fifty six entering Sunday's
action or as the conclusion of Sunday's action, that would
be the eleventh highest mark in the NFL. And they
have thirteen wins, Like you're not gonna get away with
stuff like they got away with against the Raiders. Against
(28:18):
the best teams in the league, the AFC is entirely
too deep, especially at the top, for you to think
you can get away with smoking mirrors like they have
basically this entire season. You might be able to beat
one of Buffalo or Pittsburgh or Baltimore or or you know,
you mentioned the Chargers, You're not gonna beat three of
(28:39):
them playing like that, Like, that's just not gonna happen.
So unless something can change here in the month of December.
Patrick Mahomes, I know, has been kind of heating up
a little bit the last few weeks. We got to
get credit on that, but the rest of their team
is following, even their vaunted defense. I think they have
a great defensive team. The last few weeks have been okay,
(29:01):
like they've been solid, but they can't afford to just
be solid because their offense isn't good enough to make
up the difference. They have Patrick Mahomes, they have Travis
Kelcey and that's about it.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Hey, hey, don't sleep on that other guy, Noah Gray.
I picked him up in Fantasy for the stretch run.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Dude, he's a machine. No, Yeah, he's not bad and
he all he does catch touchdowns. Yeah, but I'm not
trusting Kansas City. This is for my money. Even though
they eleven and one, this is the worst Chiefs team
of the Mahomes era.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Oh, no doubt. I totally agree.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
Rob.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Let me ask you this, if these three quarterbacks hit
the market this offseason and you are, oh, let's just
go with your Raiders. If you're your Raiders, which of
these guys are you pursuing assuming you don't get shadur
in the draft Sam Darnold, Because you know Minnesota has
JJ McCarthy and they just signed Daniel Jones. So we'll
see Aaron Rodgers, who the Jets should and likely we'll
(30:00):
cut baitwith after this season. And then your sleeper and
that would be drum roll please. Kirk Cousins. Captain Kirk
has hit a massive snag. He is one of the
coldest quarterbacks in the league right now. In the last
three games, all losses, since they were six and three,
Kirk Cousins has zero touchdowns, six picks. And this is
(30:21):
not against the league defenses. This is against the Saints
indoors at Denver, which was predictable disaster and then against
the Chargers yesterday, and like an idiot, I was on
the Falcons thinking, oh, hey, great spot for them. The
Chargers had the Hardbowl, short week, go East, and then oh,
by the way, after that, they have Sunday night football
against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, who they're trying to
(30:43):
catch in the AFC. So yeah, there'll be a letdown
from the Chargers. No, Kirk Cousins said, I'll just throw
four frickin' interceptions, all of them in Chargers territory. One
in the end zone, won a pick six that I
think was seventy one yards. He threw two inside the
Chargers thirty yard I mean, kirk Cousins imploded. I'm shocked
they didn't bench him. There will be talk about going
(31:05):
to Michael Pennox this week. That's gonna be a storyline
in Atlanta. But what's even spicier is if somehow Tampa
is able to snag that playoff spot and the Falcons
miss rob. Do you think Atlanta says, hell, let's just
take the dead cap hit. And I'm on spot track
right now and I see that the dead cap hit
next year for kirk Cousins is only forty million dollars.
(31:27):
That's not that bad. And I know it sounds bad,
but it's not. Russell Wilson had a big dead cap
hit number. I think it was Matt Ryan had a
big one back in the day. It can be overcome,
right now, Okay, move on. You got the quarterback on
the rookie deal. Of those three Cousins, Donald and Rogers,
which which of those guys appeals to you most?
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Gosh darn it, I guess Sam Darnald. But I don't
feel good about any of those three guys right now,
not at all. And again, if Rodgers right, definitely not.
Rogers is a distant third for me. He's just been terrible.
And not even when they're talking about the New York
Jets entering Monday morning, the idea they're not shooting down entirely,
the idea of benching Aaron Rodgers, that's a lot about
(32:07):
where they're at. But with Kirk Cousins, and I know
it seems crazy to move off of him after you
just signed it this massive deal, but to your point,
you drafted the quarterback already, he's on a rookie deal,
so he's ready to go. The rest of your great
playmakers are also on their rookie deal, but Jean Robinson,
Drake London, and I don't think Darnell Mooney cost you anything.
(32:28):
I don't think Tyler algieer is going to cost you anything.
And I know that Algier might still be on his
rookie deal for all I know. But they are in
one of those unique positions where if they really wanted
to move off of him, they could do it and
absorb the cap hit and it wouldn't really materially impact
their team moving forward because the rest of their core
is so young. So Atlanta, I don't think they're going
(32:53):
to make the move this week, but I also wouldn't
be shocked they did either because coming into the draft,
and you and I both love the Pennix pick because
we both really high him as a player, But coming
in he was viewed as the most pro ready prospect
at the quarterback position. So that's why I was so
surprising that Atlanta would take him, because they just signed
a quarterback to be their stopgap starter. You would think
(33:13):
you go to a tea where, hey, we're gonna throw
him to the fire immediately and see what happens. Well,
that might happen much sooner than anybody anticipated.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Michael Pennix. I'm looking him up, the guy who was,
as you said, the most pro ready quarterback. He turns
twenty five in May. So this isn't some like young
kid getting tossed into the fire. If you give him
the reins and frankly, you know, you make Pennix your guy,
and you've got some wiggle room pretty instantly to be good.
B Jhon Robinson was solid. I think Drake London's emerging
as a really nice player. Kirk Cousins just it looks washed.
(33:46):
I don't want to pile on Aaron Rodgers. Rob you
said it pretty well, but I have a stat here
that's staggering. So on passes over ten air yards against
Seattle Sunday, Rogers was two of fourteen. That's like my
shooting in a men's league in a big spot. I
mean he was two or fourteen for the season on
passes over ten are yards. That means, you know, it's
(34:07):
not checked down. Charlie, he's thirty eight percent. Thirty eight Like,
I mean, that's like Anthony richardson territory. It's just unbelievable
how bad Rogers has become.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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listen live.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
But let's move to college football real quick. Rob. I
know you, you know you have the new baby arrived.
I'm sure you were watching a lot of football on
the couch. Did you see Michigan Ohio State at the ending?
Speaker 3 (34:41):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (34:42):
And I'm just curious you played football at a high
level in high school. Ok, I denied, I did not
play in high school. I did, I did try out orde.
But I am curious if some like give me the
mindset of why planting a flag would make somebody so upset,
especially after you got your butt kicked as a twenty
(35:02):
point favorite.
Speaker 3 (35:03):
Well that the second part is why this is such
an absurd story, Because if this is any other game,
if this was last year or even the year before,
where these teams are reasonably evenly matched and they're both
playing for something like a playoff berth or the Big
Ten championships on the line, with one of these two teams,
then sure I could see how emotions run hot. You
(35:23):
get a little upset, you can thinks get a little
spicy and it leads to that kind of confrontation. But
for Ohio State in the situation, you had sixty minutes
to punch these guys in the mouth. This Michigan team
is not good, point blank period. They're just not a
good football team. And you tricked away this game over
(35:46):
and over and over, both with you know, special teams
play and the quarterback, which I can imagine if you're
an Ohio State booster, you're like, why are we giving
out millions of dollars to a guy who can't beat
a mediocre Michigan team? Like what are we doing here?
But for them to get that upset when as you
alluded to, they were the heavy favorites coming in, they
(36:06):
should have bludgeoned Michigan. They went down meekly, and it
wasn't until after the game that you saw a little
bit of fire from Ohio State. That was so disappointing
to me.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yes, so that was not the only one, apparently, And
I watched we were traveling on Saturday, but I was
I had the game cueued up. The technology these days
is awesome. So you have like cable so you can
get the app for your cable provider and you can
just watch the game in the car, but I'm driving,
so my daughter was kind of give me the play
by play, and I was just I was stunned, you know,
(36:36):
I had I thought Ohio date was a lock. I've
got Ohio State to win the National Championship, like feeling great,
and this loss was just stunned. I was similar to
Ryan day ill prepared without a handle any thinking Ohio
State related. I just I'm not ready for this. But
the flag planting was just minumbingly stupid. And it happened
(36:58):
also in Florida. FSU is terrible. I don't know why
they would care about anything. They didn't care about their
season NC NC State and then Arizona State Arizona And
my only conclusion is that there's gonna be a rule
this offseason about this dumb flag planting, like you're just
not allowed to do that.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Now.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
Somebody, when I put this on social media, somebody counted, well,
they're probably gonna make it like storming the field where
you get fined every time, and I that's different. Storming
the field is different than teams fighting and the police
eating pepper spray to secuate them. That's a bad look,
that's horrible. For college football. It's like, what that just
marred the entire game. The story wasn't how did Michigan win.
(37:38):
Nobody's really articulated that. It's all why were they fighting?
Because the video of teams fighting over a flag being
planted and Rob wisely called it the Baker Mayfield rule
because he, of course at Oklahoma planted a flag back before.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
It was cool.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Now everybody now, all the kids are doing it, and
it just let's just get that rule out there and
get it done. Like, let's focus on the football now.
The football is not great. I mean Mimiami Hurricanes. I
like that team a lot. I like cam Ward. They
lose to Syracuse. I don't think Miami's gonna make the playoff.
But the college football playoff rankings Tuesday for the first time,
I'm going to be fascinating because it's like, is anybody good?
(38:14):
Remember when Penn State, like two weeks ago, everybody's like, oh,
they're not good.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Who have they beat?
Speaker 2 (38:18):
Why they deserve a spot? Penn State's now playing for
the Big Ten championship if they somehow beat Oregon, and
I don't know, Texas loses the SEC title game, it's
Penn State. The number one.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
See.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
I don't know. I mean, it doesn't make sense. I
don't think it should be like that, but it could.
And Penn State's not very good. I mean, they didn't
need an overtime against USC, And I mean Penn State's
got some good players. I like their coach, but I
don't know. Tennessee are they good? Is Ohio State good?
I don't know. They don't seem like they're built for
cold weather. They've got if you could run the football,
(38:53):
they're in trouble. But this flag planting thing kind of
flip the whole weekend. By the way, Oregon's number one
rob and you watch a lot of West Coast football.
Is Oregon that good?
Speaker 3 (39:04):
No? But I think they're easily the best team in
the country. And then I think this is one of
those situations where the playoffs is actually hurting them because
if this was any other year, you know, they're already
the national champions. If this was two years ago, they
got to win two games and it's it's a rap. Yeah,
now you got a twelve team playoff and you know,
we'll see what happens. I will say, bad job by
(39:26):
you for not acknowledging that a flag planting also took
place at UNLV, but because nobody got upset about it,
nobody talked about it because I don't think anyone in
Nevada cares that the UNLV planned a flag and then
then you know there's no fights. But this is It's
What also is disappointing is I know Ohio State lost,
and that's it's a stories, not these stories you mentioned.
(39:46):
It was the brawl. That's not going to impact them
in the playoff. They're going to be in the playoff
even still, even after a debacle of a loss like that,
they're still was going to be seven eight.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Thinks I think so are we sure about that?
Speaker 3 (39:59):
Though? I'm almost positive Ohio State will get in, just
like I'm almost positive that Alabama's gonna get in, because
even Lane Kiffin put out this really bizarre posting on
social media breaking down the difference between South Carolina, Ole Miss,
and Alabama, and according to his you know, statistics, it's
clear that ole Miss was the best team of the
(40:20):
three and they deserved the twelfth spot or whatever it was,
but he put at the end because it's Alabama and
they're a brand name, Alabama's gonna get in. Overall, miss
so Ohio State is gonna get in.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
I would largely agree. Real quick, I'm looking up some
stats because I have a question you're not going to
be prepared for, but I don't care. I think it's
a good topic. So the leader in the country in
passing yards is this guy named Kyle McCord at Syracuse, Rob,
do you know where Kyle McCord played.
Speaker 3 (40:47):
Last year the Ohio State Yeah, I did.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Not even know that. Unbelievable. Okay, now the other question
and we can we can wrap up with this a
huge Heisman Trophy guy. But if I asked you, who
would your high school? First of all, no, no, I'm not
gonna ask you your votes for first what is your
criteria for the Heisman Trophy?
Speaker 3 (41:10):
Oh my gosh, I mean it's the problem is it
changes year to year. Usually you gotta be the most
outstanding player on a national championship.
Speaker 2 (41:18):
Contending Okay, what does outstanding mean?
Speaker 3 (41:21):
The best player? Statistically? One of the best players.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Okay, statistically that's the word. I was gonna keep browbeating
you until young gave it to me. So I'm just
looking at stats, and I'm looking at like receiving leaders
and h Travis Hunter's fifth A bunch of guys call
it more passes than him in yards and touchdowns. I'm
looking at the running backs, and this fellow by the
name of Ashton Genty at Boise State has six hundred
(41:46):
more yards than anyone else. He is trending toward Barry
Sanders territory. Ashton Genty is an amazing player. I think
he's gonna be a first round pick, and he is
having one of the greatest seasons any running back is
ever had in college football. He has twenty eight touchdowns
twenty two hundred yards. I mean, this is a historic stuff.
(42:07):
And I'm being told that the Heisman Trophy is going
to go to Travis Hunter and he is the heavy favorite.
Can you just explain it? I mean, now, gent's played
a week schedule, I get it. But when he faced Oregon,
which is number one, he had twenty five carries for
one hundred and ninety two yards and three touchdowns. So
(42:27):
decent effort against the number one team in the country.
Why are people voting Travis Hunter again?
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Well, and Boise State is going to be in the playoff,
it looks like all most likely it's trending that way. Yeah,
so for my criteria, he checks all the boxes. He's
having a statistically incredible season. He is easily one of
the best players in the country regardless of position, and
last but not least, he's playing for a national title
(42:56):
contender in Boys States. Now, they're going to be down
on the list of contender, but they're gonna be in
the mix. Colorado, lest we forget gagged away a game
against Kansas a couple of weeks ago or else, they
could have been in that conversation and they're not. I
made this joke on the radio last week when it
was my first time back. I wasn't here on this podcast,
but I was on the radio, and I joked that
(43:18):
Travis Hunter is gonna win the Heisman because he's a
snap merchant, because he plays one hundred plus chet snaps,
and people can't seem to get over that fact that
he is. He's a very good player. I'm not saying
he's a great an excellent player. Is he the best
wide receiver in the country.
Speaker 2 (43:31):
No.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
Is he the top five receivering I don't think so.
Is he the best cornerback in the country, I don't
think so. He's very good. He's very good at both.
But Ashton Genty is by far the best running back
in the country. He is arguably the best running back
we've seen in a decade in college. So I'm voted
(43:52):
for that guy.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
Yeah, I don't get it. I get the whole most
talented whatever that means. That's like if you ask to
people who's the most talented player where you could just
go to like the Bruce Feldman list of the freaks
and then find that person and say they're there. But
like Travis Hunter, yes, I get it, he's super talented.
He's probably gonna go top ten. I, by the way,
I don't I wouldn't draft a defensive back in the
(44:15):
top five. You know, Sauce Gardner by the way, he's
starting to look ordinary. Stingley was clearly overdrafted. Like I'm not.
I'm not rocking with getting a defensive back that early
in the draft. I just don't think it pays off.
All I know is Ashton Genty is the most productive
college football player. Now, this isn't what Ron Daye. You
remember Ron Daye, the big kid from Wisconsin. He got
(44:37):
like the it was like the Lifetime Achievement Award where
he was he didn't he had a good season, but
it was more like, oh, this guy started for like
three plus years. Look at all the stats he accumulated.
We got to give him the award, and they gave it
to him. Fine. I forget who he beat out. It
might have been like Tiki Barber or something, but.
Speaker 3 (44:51):
I think he beat out Cade mcdown.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
Was it Cade mcdown?
Speaker 3 (44:54):
I think so the quarterback?
Speaker 2 (44:56):
What U c l A U CLA Yeah, okay, And
I was like, that's not a lifetime and cheaping a word.
But in one season, like Ashton Jenty's been incredible, so
I know. Listen, people love Dion and Dion's a Carnival Barker.
By the way, it sounds like people think he's staying now.
He's signed a bunch of high profile recruits over the
Thanksgiving break and everybody's like, would you be signing with
(45:17):
him if you think he's leaving. I'm like, well, just
know that players could change their mind at the drop
of a hat. You can decommit any time. But that
that doesn't mean anything. I need to see what jobs
are open. I'm just we'll talk about it later, Rob,
we gotta wrap up here. But I think that Chicago
Bears job is the best job that's open in the NFL.
I mean, Jacksonville is gonna be good because you got
(45:39):
Trevor Lawrence and my gosh, I'm glad he's okay. But
that Bears team, they got some talent.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Man.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
I think there's something there.
Speaker 3 (45:47):
No love for the blank Slate Raiders. It's okay, I
get it.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Yeah, wait, wait do you think Pierce is what he's gone?
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Tom Brady's gonna fire him as soon as he can
shoot him into the sun.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
All right, that's a lengthy Monday pod at football. Not
even a great game, So I have zero dollars on
this game. If anything, I would probably lean Browns thanks
to my guy cleave Ta, who likes the Browns. I
think he took him on the contest here just because
again it's bo Nick's high profile game, a smart defensive
coach in Schwartz. I think the Browns can cook stuff
(46:18):
up and keep it close. And also, by the way,
I'm rooting Browns because I have a like a ten
point lead in fantasy and I'm facing Bo Nicks and
Jo Judy. Not great, but I've been first, so I'll
be tied for first after that. It's a pretty good
weekend at Fantasy. I hit unbelievably two five team teasers
in the NFL. Those were great contests, only three to two.
(46:39):
But anyways, all right, we are back tomorrow. College football
heating up, NBA, rob G. How about your Lakers?
Speaker 3 (46:45):
Yeah, we're back.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
You feeling good after that went over the Jazz?
Speaker 3 (46:49):
Of course not, but we're back. Don't worry about it.
Speaker 2 (46:51):
Yeah, the injuries mounting. But how about Dalton Connect? Dude,
when are we gonna do? Could we get him on
the potter? Is he too big of a deal now?
Speaker 3 (46:58):
Would get him now? Would definitely gang get him after
the All Star break because he's You're taking.
Speaker 2 (47:03):
Over Connect for baby. All right, talk to you tomorrow,
seem
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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