Richard Sherman Podcast - NFL Week 17 Reaction

Richard Sherman reacts to Week 17 of the 2024 NFL season, including Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings improving to 14-2 with a win over Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers, Saquon Barkley joining the 2,000 yard club in the Philadelphia Eagles' dominant victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Joe Burrow leading the Cincinnati Bengals over Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos in a thriller, Josh Allen carving up the New York Jets defense in the Buffalo Bills' 40-14 victory over Aaron Rodgers' hapless team, Patrick Mahomes helping the Kansas City Chiefs improve to 15-1 with a Christmas Day victory over Russell Wilson's Pittsburgh Steelers, and Lamar Jackson shaking up the MVP conversation in the Baltimore Ravens' blowout win over C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans in the other Christmas matchup.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume championships that should always do the expectation. All right,
man at you go ahead. Welcome back to the Richard
Sherman Podcast. You know who he got me and my
guy Mitch Eisenstein. And for a change, we're starting it

(00:24):
off with the Sunday Night Foodball segment, brought to you
by Uber Eats, the official on demand delivery partner of
the NFL. You know, this game is the game everybody
was prepared to watch Mitchell Green Bay Packers versus the
Minnesota Vikings for all the marbles, and people have been
sleeping on the Minnesota Vikings, and people being this guy Mentchell,

(00:49):
I've been sleeping on him because they are still in
the hunt from the number one seed. After all this
said and done, they play your Detroit Lions. The Honolulu
Boys beat up, very beat up, very determined to get
that one seed, in need of that one seed. How
are you feeling, Richard? I'm feeling on edge to say

(01:12):
the least.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Who would have thought two teams, you know, two losses,
same division. It's gonna come down to Week eighteen in
Detroit for all the marbles for the one seed. Rich
I mean the fact that one of these two teams
is going to be going on a road Week one
in the wildcard round is absurd. I mean, their strong
argument can be made. These are the two best teams

(01:34):
in the NFC and two of the best teams in
the NFL. And Minnesota showed it today, Rich, I mean
Detroit Lions. The storyline here was the Detroit Lions need
Green Bay to win in order to secure that one seed.
If they beat the forty nine ers, they would secure
the one seed. That didn't happen in Minnesota despite the
score being a two point game. They blitzed green Bay

(01:57):
early and often and took care of business. Green Bay
came back late. How impressed were you, Rich with Sam Darnold.
Let's start at the top. Three hundred and seventy seven
yards and three touchdowns, getting everyone involved, from Justin Jefferson
to Jalen Naylor to Jordan Addison, who's had a breakout
second half of the season. This team is clicking on

(02:17):
all cylinders, and I think the whole league should be
nervous about them, not just the fans in Detroit.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Like myself, I said this, and and and green Bay
fans keep going back to that clip of when Aaron
Rodgers left and I said, Jordan Love, you know, green
Bay won't be feared anymore. Green Bay used to be
Kings of the North, Kings to go to Chicago, we
own a division. Go to Minnesota, we own a division.
Go to Detroit. And they laughed their way through, and

(02:42):
we own a division. And I said, you won't be
feared anymore. And they keep they keep tweeting me, Mitchell.
They keeping up to twitter gram and keep sending me
the clip like, oh my god, do you take it back?
I don't. I don't you know why because Detroit beat
it twice, Minnesota beach twice with Sam Donald. Sam Donald
threw for three seventy seven, thirty three and forty three.

(03:05):
And that defense. Green Bays defense has been playing stellar
this year. Valentine got in this game and it's it's
crazy because they are doing something. They're fourteen and two
and fourteen and two record, and any other year you'd
be sitting here looking at a one seed, no question
about it. They're looking at a wild card, Mitchell. They're
looking at it going on the road fourteen and two.

(03:28):
They might be fourteen and three for the season, and
they got to go on the road through the playoffs
to get a It's incredible the amount of talent the
NFC North has this year, and it's I guess it's
a premonition of things to come in the future because
Detroit isn't going anywhere. I think Jared Golf is going

(03:48):
to be there for a while. I have believe that
the Minnesota Vikings keep Sam Donald. Aaron Jones looked a
little beat up today, kind of had some injuries, but
cam Akers came on and made huge made a huge
third down conversion to seal the game. Justin Jefferson continues
to be one of the top receivers in the National
Football League, if not the number one. Jalen Naylor starting

(04:09):
to find his rhythm. Five catches for eighty one yards
and that touchdown on that post against cover two. On defense,
they bring a lot of pressure and I told people
this week on Thursday Night Football that that's the Achilles
heel right now. Jordan Love he does not deal with
pressure well, and until he does, they'll continue to bring it.

(04:30):
That's what the Detroit Lions did when they needed to
have it. Aaron Glenn brought pressure after pressure after pressure.
He said, hey, we're depleted. We don't have the guys.
We can't keep up with this receiving corps that's really, really,
really good. Any different guy can go off on it
at any different time, whether it's Romeo Dobbs, whether it's Read,
whether it's Watson, anybody. They got a lot of guys

(04:52):
that can get it done, and we need to figure
out how are they going to deal with this? And
he showed obviously. They came back, ran two minute at
the end. Josh Jacobs seventeen carries for sixty nine yards.
They ran the ball in a few touchdowns. Jordan Love
threw four touchdown. But the reason they were behind is
because they couldn't deal with that pressure early. So I'm

(05:12):
interested to see this last game. Obviously. Detroit played Monday
night against San Francisco forty nine Ers in a big
time revenge game. You hit the forty nine ers, George
Kittle talking about it. Hey, we know what they're coming for,
we know what's on their minds. Everybody understand what's on
their mind, Mitchell revenge. Now, sometimes you get a little
too jacked up, Sometimes you get a little too high,

(05:33):
and you go past and you look up and it's
still a pretty good team. It's still a pretty good team.
And if you mess around so angry and so emotional,
so hijack, they'll slip around and make this a lot
tougher of a game than you want it to be.
And so, you know, we'll see how that game goes tomorrow.
But this NFC North has been incredible. It sure has.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
In Week eighteen, the NFL could not have dreamed up
a better scenario to end the season. I'm sure this
game will get flexed into prime time Minnesota Vikings and
the Lions next week. Guys, I'm sure you're going to
be watching, but it's gonna be legitimately for all the
marbles Richard. Coming into this season, Minnesota was viewed as

(06:16):
kind of having a rebuilding year, right, They draft JJ McCarthy,
they sign Sam Darnold to kind of hold down the
fort in case things get rocky, and all of a sudden,
this team just got off to a hot start and
never got off the gas pedal. How does this happen
in Minnesota? Do you view them as true Super Bowl
contenders with this record and how they've been playing lately.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
I have no reason out to think that, Mitch, Well,
we've already overlooked them enough. Give them credit now, because
credit is earned. This is a dessert. This is fourteen
and two. You've played the season, and I don't care
if you think they've been LUCKI or good. Fourteen and
two in the National Football League is fourteen to two
and they've earned it. They got a lot of names
on defense, Grenard ben Gink that you don't necessarily think

(07:01):
of as household names that are playing really well right now.
Blake Cashman had a sack and a half in this game.
Dallas Turner had a sack in this game. And that's
Brian Floor as a system like he's making a complex.
He's putting a lot of pressure on himself and maximizing
this personnel, and you have to respect that and give
them credit. Kevin O'Connell on the other side, we talk

(07:21):
about QB development. He's showing a masterclass in QB development.
I think he's going to do great if JJ McCarthy
is the quarterback next year, or if they bring back
Sam Darnold for a deal that allows JJ McCarthy to
learn behind him and to heal up from his injury
and come back strong. But at the QB Clinics this year,

(07:42):
are at the quarterback are the coaches clinics. Everybody needs
to just shut up and have their notebooks out and
listen to what Kevin O'Connell has to say, what Sean
McVeigh has to say, because his coachings tree has really
blossomed and shown a lot in this league. A lot
of guys coming from his tree have had a lot
of success in the National Football League. We talked about
Shanahan's tree and them having success, but this guy, Kevin O'Connell,

(08:06):
is showing, hey, quarterbacks sometimes there just needs be in
the right system. He's drawing up plays to give Sam
Donald easy looks, and Sam Donald is also making really accurate,
smart decision with the football. He's hitting slants in very
small windows. We saw it to Justin Jefferson, we saw
it to Jordan Addison, and he deserves credit for that.
So no, this isn't luck. This is great coaching, great

(08:27):
game planning by both the offensive and defensive coordinator, great
use of personnel by both sides of the football, and
then great play by the players. You know, Sam Donald,
hats off to you, Sam Donald, because you're doing it.
You know, this is what development means in the National
Football League guys sit there and ready to give up
on guys, But if you give them time, give them

(08:48):
the right situation, like put them in a situation, empower
them with it, develop them, help them understand what's going
on out there. Maybe they're not totally league ready at
twenty one two years old, but let him get a chance.
Sam Donald's what twenty five twenty six, Like you would
think Sam Donald's been in the league for fifteen years,
all the stuff he's been through, Like people have given

(09:12):
up on him so early that you don't even realize
the kid's not old. He's a He's twenty five, twenty
six years old, and he got a lot of football
left ahead of him. Tom played tillleast forty five. I mean,
not everybody's gonna play today forty five. But does a
lot of trail left on that tire? You looked at
Geno Smith in a way you revived his career with
the Seattle Seahawks. I mean, sometimes you go to New
York if people give up on you, and then if

(09:32):
somebody else just happened to gives you a chance, maybe
there's more trail left on the tire. So good for
Sam Donald. But I don't think this is a fluke
at all. Well, Richard.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
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Speaker 2 (12:37):
Let's go to Cincinnati. What a wild finish. Probably one
of the best games, if not the best game of
the season. I keep watching this game and I see
Zach Taylor making all these aggressive fourth down calls, and
they're they're just getting stuffed, you know, at the goal
line for consecutive plays, and then they go down in
the red zone again, another fourth DOWND call. I'm thinking, man,

(12:58):
Dan Campbell's got a pretty sizable effect on this league
right now. If these coaches are going forward in the
red zone like this on fourth and two, fourth and three,
Cincinnati could have easily been up multiple scores going into halftime.
But it was a close game going into half. Starting
at the goal line, Chase Brown slides and injures his ankle,
resulting in an injury timeout, which gave Denver life. Denver

(13:23):
goes down the field in scores with eight seconds left
to tie the game. Marvin Mims, what a catch? First off?
Did you think that was a catch? You saw him
bobble in the ball. I know they called it a
touchdown on the field, and then his helmet slides out
of bounds, balls still moving around. It appears that they
call the play stands is called on the field. I mean,

(13:44):
you have thought about that. I mean, what a heroic
finish of this game.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
You catch it between two defenders like he did, and
he's not the biggest guy in the world. I'm with
the standing on the field stand call stands on the field.
You know, I understand there was a little bit of
a bobble in there, but I'm not the defenders have
more than enough chance to get that football out that's
the right calls. Then that's the way the game should
be played. That's the way the call should be called.

(14:09):
You know, people get slow motion and semantics, the rules,
the way the game is meant to be called, the
way the game is, you know people think it should
be called. Is that way? That's it? And that was
a great catch by him. I love that the game
went to over time. Joe Burrow continued to shine, had
two game winning drives one and fourth quarter that gave

(14:30):
him the lead, and then another one in the overtime
that that gave him a chance. They missed the field
gold and guess what. They said, Hey, Joe, do it again,
and he said, you know what, DJ Conley, I get
another one. And he did it again. This time he
hits t Higgins in a corner in the end zone
for a touchdown, walk off, touchdown, game winner again. Joe
Burrow is having an incredible season. Forty two touchdowns, eight interceptions,

(14:54):
forty five hundred yards, a really really remarkable season and
all pro season of sorts. And that's where it's gonna
get interesting this offseason. And not to take away from
the Broncos, who we're gonna be in the playoffs this year,
Bo Nicks had a really really cool game three touchdowns,
one interception to two hundred and nineteen yards. We talked
about the Marvin Mems play he ended up with two touchdowns.

(15:14):
Really starting to shine for this offense. Courtland Sutton, big
plays down the stretch, five caps, fifty five yards in
the touchdown. Jonathan Cooper and Nick Bonita are starting to
become a really really incredible tandem of pass rushers in
the National Football League. Along with now Zach Allen with
three and a half sacks. It's gonna be it's gonna
be really interesting to see how they developed their big

(15:36):
reason why this defense is as effective as they are. Obviously,
in the back end, you got our guy, Patrick er Ten,
the best cornerback in the National Football League. In a rough,
rough game for Riley Moss, you know, coming back from injury.
I'm gonna let you know something, coming back from injury
and having to face he Higgins and Jamar Chase and
Joe Burrow is not what you want. I expected a

(15:57):
tough game for him. He'll bounce back and continue to
play as he has played. He's had a really good season.
Outside of this game. The Broncos go to the Chiefs
and they have a game where the Chiefs will likely
rest Patch Mahoons and the Boys. I thought maybe they
played for a half, just knowing the amount of time
they're going to get off from this point, it's going
to be like two three weeks. But we'll see. We'll

(16:20):
see how much they play him. We'll see how much
they play Chris Jones. He didn't play last week and
their defense still had a number of sacks. Again, I
don't know if you I don't know if you make
decisions to win this game. If you're the Chiefs, I
know you don't play to lose. Your game plan to win.
But if push comes to shove, do you really want
to potentially see Burrow in the playoffs? Is that really
something that you you want to sign up for. No,

(16:41):
it's not. You like a lot of other people to
be in the playoffs. There's very few people that have
put the Kansas City Chiefs out of the playoffs. Guess
who's one of them, Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow has sent
them Yep, he has sent him home. So I don't
think they really even you know, I know there's a
very small possibility that they get in even with the
Chiefs winning and everything going as it is. But and

(17:04):
I don't I don't know if he beats him, if
he plays them, But why risk it? Why put him
in there? Why put put somebody that dangerous in the
playoffs with a puncher's chance? I wouldn't, But we'll see
how that goes. I think the Broncos find a way
to win, and they in in these hopes of the
Cincinnati Bengals, but still a great season from Joe Burrow

(17:25):
and a good season from bo' nicks, you know, a
way to come back from what the way he started.
The Bengals played the Steelers in a very meaningful game.
Steelers have lost three in a row. They need this
win going into the the final week going into the playoffs,
the wild card. If they lose this four straight going
into the playoffs is not what anybody wants.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
The Cincinnati Bengals for as good as they've been down
this stretch, and for how does his team's been and
how has Joe Burrow's been that disappointing start to the season,
and it's happened on back to back seasons where they're
just having these lackluster starts. Of the season, and it's ultimately,
you know, unless he can catch some serious lightning in
a bottle here and you make it into the playoffs,

(18:03):
you know, it's also gonna be their doom. Cincinnati, like
you said, could cause a lot of damage in this playoff,
and there's no question about it. I bet if you
pulled the Kansas City Chiefs, they're gonna tell you, hey,
we'll play whoever's in front of us. But I can
promise you the last team they're gonna want to play
is gonna be Cincinnati Bengals. So, like you said, Richard,
the motivation for the Chiefs to win, I'm sure they're

(18:24):
gonna tell you they're motivated, but I highly doubt that
they want to see since he in that playoff picture.
Let's take it to Buffalo. You've been very critical about
Josh Allen and his his you know, being a favorite
for the MVP race. We saw it today though, I
mean Josh Allen statistically not the best game, I guess

(18:44):
in terms of numbers wise, but Buffalo destroyed the Jets,
and I know this division is horrendous right now, and
the Jets are a bottom feeder and everything could not
be going more wrong in New York. But I mean
Josh Allen, man, he's got this team playing so well
at the right time. Richard, what are your thoughts on
the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen right now?

Speaker 1 (19:05):
Well, they're a great team and they continue to show that.
You know, we're not giving their defense enough credit. They
made a ton of plays to set their offense up
and corn position, and they did the same thing at
the New England Patriots game. And I think that's the
part that I think everybody's overlooking, well, at least Buffalo
fans and their argument for Josh Allen being MVP. You're
discrediting the defense and what they've done. You're saying, hey,

(19:28):
people before the season said we weren't going to do well,
and we're doing well and it's all Josh Allen and
we don't have any other players outside of Josh Allen.
That's just not true. This defense calls two turnovers in
this game. They played really good defense health this Jets
team to fourteen points and it should have been less
than that. And they've had games this season where they struggled.
They gave up forty plus points and then Josh Allen
had to carry the team on his back. But when

(19:48):
he didn't carry the team on his back, they showed
up in a big way. And the same with James Cook.
James Cook is running the ball really well. And when
he runs the ball well, you know, and they need
him to run the ball well, he makes big plays
when they need to have him. Josh Allen deserves credit.
You know. It's fifth straight season of forty plus touchdown
total touchdowns. That's a great accomplishment, you know, in the
National Football League, it's been around a long time, a

(20:10):
lot of players, a lot of phenomenal players, and he's
on his way to a Hall of Fame career. But
when you're talking about arguments that people are making, I
guess again they give it to him because I have
a hard time arguing when last season I was like
twenty nine touchdowns for Lamar, I don't think that gets
it done. And they gave it to him, you know,

(20:30):
because they said he's playing on the best team. They
beat San Francisco forty nine ers in December, he scored
five touchdowns and they said, you know what, it's all
Lamar Jackson. That's the reason it's not because their defense
is number one in the land. Or top defense. It's
not because you know, they got other playmakers and making plays.
It's because of Lamar Jackson. Even though twenty nine touchdowns,
I said, okay, you know, what are we doing this season?

(20:52):
Josh Allen. Circumstances a little bit different because they learnt
the number one seed. The number one seed is the
Kansas City Chiefs far and away. But Buffalo is playing
really the football. He's elevating his team, he's pushing him
to the next level. He's the reason they are number
two seed. So you have to give him that credit.
But statistically, Lamar Jackson is in that conversation as well.
You know, with the amount of touchdowns that he has,

(21:13):
the amount of passing touchdowns he has, the amount of
passing yards he has, and then people try to say, hey,
you know he has Derrick Henry now, but you would
think that Derek Henry would take away from the stats.
Hey they're running the ball more, Derek Henry has seventeen
hundred yards. But no, it's elevating him. And the reason
I say that because that's what they're saying about a
lot of other quarterbacks. And I'm not gonna say any names,

(21:35):
but when Justin Herbert's stats are down. They're saying it's
because they're running the ball more, and say, I'm not
gonna say any names. I'm gonna say names, but they're
saying Chargers Spans are saying it's because they're running the
ball more. And obviously they have Greg Roman as the
offensive coordinator and that's their style. They're going to be
a ball control, control the clock, play defense, don't turn

(21:56):
the ball over. And that's what they've done is twenty
one touchdowns, three interceptions, efficient football, not turning the ball over,
but not having the Gotti stats. So they're winning football
games their ten wins, they're in the playoffs. That's the
way they're choosing to win. But on the flip side,
Lamar Jackson and Baltimore Ravens are running the ball well,
he's throwing the ball well. They're scoring a lot of
points and they're playing football and their defense is starting

(22:18):
to wake up and playing their best football. We'll see
those two teams face off in the wild card, it appears.
I'm looking forward to seeing what that it will be.
But the Buffalo Bills look really good, look dominant. It
looks like they'll make it to the next round. In
the playoffs. I mean, I don't know who they'll play
in the wild card, but it won't be Joe Burrow
in the Cincinnati Bengals, I don't think. And so it'll

(22:41):
likely be either the Broncos or the Miami Dolphins. And
you know, I would expect them to win the game
in Buffalo against either of those teams, and then they'll
have a matchup with whoever's left, whether it's to Houston
Texans or Pittsburgh Steelers or whoever is the lowest seed,

(23:02):
or actually it could be Baltimore. You know, it could
be Buffalo Baltimore, which is a game that everybody would
want to see against the MVP and the MVP runner
up likely whichever way it goes, if Josh Allen wins
the MVP, Lamar would likely to be the runner up.
If Lamar wins, Josh will be the runner up. So
we might get that match up in a divisional which
would be a really fun game and the NFL will
love it.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Richard on the other side of the field was the
New York Jets, and this team is in disarray. It's
easy to say this season has been a utter disappointment
for this organization. From the way they handled Roberts Salah
and his firing, now to this Aaron Rodgers situation. Allegedly,
there's reports that Garrett Wilson wants out if Aaron Rodgers returns.

(23:43):
What do the Jets do with Aaron Rodgers? What would
you do if you're the New York Jets going into
this offseason.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
I think they got a tough decision this offseason. You know,
I don't know if they bring Aaron back because the
performance was just not up to snuff. They'll bring a
new coaching staff in and a new GM, a new everything.
So when you're bringing that in, you want to start fresh. Obviously,
you have the talent at receiver. You could probably show
up that offensive line some but I think you would

(24:13):
want to have your quarterback of the future in there,
and I think you draft that which you want Aaron
to mentor him. I'm not sure what Aaron's cap number is,
but I'd have to look that up. But if it's
too high and it doesn't make sense to get rid
of them, then you have him mentored in the next
young guy. But if not, then I think you go
to young guy with a veteran backup who can understand it.

(24:34):
Get him a veteran tackle, some veteran offensive lineman who
can help him understand how to play this game, a
good coordinator, a good head coach to coach him up
and put him in position to be successful. Your guy
Ben Johnson would be a number one on my list.
But again, I don't think a lot of guys are
going to have the New York Jets and high on
their list because of the way Woody Johnson handled this

(24:54):
Robert salav situation firing him five games into the season,
So I don't expect him to necessarily have their pick
up the litter who wants to come there, not because
they don't have a talented team, because their ownership groups
has shown that they will be volatile, that they will
get involved, that they will will put their input in
where it's not desired and really detrimentally impact this team.

(25:18):
And that's what they did this season. Firing a head
coach five games into the season. You gave this team
no chance. They were two and three at the time,
not the best recond in the world, not the worst record,
but teams have come back from that. You look at
the Baltimore Ravens, they were a ze to two to
start one and two, and then came back and imagined
him firing a coach because he had to stumble out
the gates, No, you don't do that, and so it

(25:38):
didn't end up working out for them. They won two
more games the entire season. So you fire a coach
at two and three, your team is at four and twelve. Now,
like I'm sure Woody Johnson's he's probably not kicking himself
because he's you know what I mean. I don't think
he's the kind of guy that really owns his mistakes.
But it's a mistake all together. And so if you're
a head coach and you have your pick of a litter,
you don't necessarily want the New York Jets way because

(26:00):
of that. You understand the media scrutiny that that position gets,
and they're on you every week. They're they're killing you,
you know what I mean. Coaches go there to die
at this point, and so do you really want that
to be the first place you go in your coaching
career if you're Ben Johnson? And I doubt it, man,
I think I think it goes Chicago and that's it,
and you go back to Detroit. You know, if you

(26:22):
don't take the Chicago job and you don't think that's attractive,
you go back to Detroit and you say, hey, one
more again, and you get a raise. You get a
pay raise, maybe a couple million dollars. You talk to
the Fords and say, hey, I know you don't want
to pay me like a head coach, but you got
to get me into the ballpark. And that's and I
think that's something that they could probably work out. But
I don't I don't know if they continue with Aaron,
and I don't know if he wants to continue, you

(26:42):
know what I mean. I think at some point you
look up and you say, man, I don't want to
keep putting bad tape out there. I don't want to,
you know, I know I can play better than this.
I believe in myself more than this, and I don't
want to keep putting myself and my teammates through this. Obviously,
Garrett Wilson, there's rumors about him wanting now. I think
that can be qull with the right situation that comes in.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
Well, if you watch Aaron Rodgers documentary on Netflix, you
can see the competitive fire that burns inside of him,
and I highly doubt he's gonna hang it up atter
this year, and I'm sure he's gonna come and be
prepared for next year, but I don't know if it's
gonna be with the Jets, Richard, You've seen it from
this staff, from this ownership group. We'll see, but it's

(27:25):
just clearly not working out right now. The Philadelphia Eagles
put a pound into the Dallas Cowboys forty one to seven.
This was without Jalen Hurts, obviously bruised up with the
concussion last week. And we saw Kenny Pickett come in
and also get knocked out. And then your boy from Stanford, right,
Tanner McKee comes in and that rock all over the yard.

(27:49):
Holy Kyle Man, Let's start with Saquon Barkley.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Here.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
This guy, it cannot be stopped. Thirty one rushes for
one hundred and sixty seven yards. He's got two hundred
five thousand yards on the season, and he's only one
hundred and one yards away from Eric Dickerson's record. First off,
I got to ask you because obviously, with the expansion
of the league's schedule, when playing seventeen games now, like
I could if I was Eric Dickerson, I would have

(28:14):
a legitimate beef about somebody breaking my record. That's playing
an additional game. And what do you think the NFL
should do with these records going forward, because as we
see games added to the schedule, inevitably that gives more
people opportunity and more opportunity to break these records.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
I don't disagree with Eric. Nobody wants to see their
record break broken, regardless of the circumstances. Obviously, though, let's
use common sense. Because Eric Dickerson broke O. J. Simpson's record,
and O J. Simpson's record, they had fourteen games to play.
Guess what, Eric Dickerson broke it. He had sixteen games.
So now sa Kwon breaks it, he has seventeen games.

(28:51):
You're starting to get the rhythm here. It's going to
keep happening. If the game keeps increasing, the people want
to see more games, Guys get to play games. Records
are meant to be broken. Anybody that has them will
say that. I'm sure he doesn't want it to be broken,
but somebody will be break Saquan's record. If he breaks
this one, somebody will go get his. And that's what

(29:13):
progression is. You know, I don't think you'll ever run
into a time where somebody's not going to be able
to break the record because guys, you know, keep evolving,
The game keeps evolving, the rules keep evolving, in more
games or to be played. You hear the eighteen You
hear the eighteen game schedule continuing to be a point
of conversation. Roger Cadell speaks about it almost every year.
They were speaking about it when we were in collective

(29:35):
bargaining agreements. We said no, and then it went seventeen,
and then we got into a tough about that, and
it ended up being seventeen. So I congratulations first off
to Sakwan Barkley for the two thousand yard club, big
season for him, career season after leaving the New York
Giants in a way that he did not want to
go into a team with a great offensive line, great

(29:57):
great scheme, a team a divisional rival. This fan base
has embraced them. I'm happy for him, happy for his family,
happy for his career. He's getting to shine like the
player that people expected when he came out of Penn State.
So this is a great deal for him. Only the
ninth player ever to go over two thousand yards in
a season, that's a big deal. A huge deal. Again,
the National Football League has been around for a very

(30:19):
long time, and he continues to elevate, continues to shine.
At a time where running backs aren't really appreciated, are
seeing he and Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry are doing
everything in their power to bring the running back position back.
Your guy, Jamier Gibbs as well, Christian McCaffrey, guys like

(30:40):
that are continuing to do what they can to allow
people to know running back position is not dead the
National Football League, and if you have a great one,
you have a chance. All their teams are in contention
right now. And if you lose a great one the Giants,
the Titans, the Raiders, you're likely going to be picking
in the top five next year. So maybe you take notes,

(31:00):
National Football League take notes.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
It certainly looks that way. And the Eagles go to
play the Giants next week. We'll see if he gets
that opportunity, if they choose to play him. With the
number two seed pretty much locked up for the Eagles,
I'd be curious to see if Saquon goes for the
record next week. Richard, He's earned a lot of awards,
but he's earned our Award of Players in Prime Time,
brought to you by friends and partners at Brightling. You

(31:25):
just spoke so highly as Saquon Barkley. I can only
imagine John Morrow right now seeing this guy eclipse the
two thousand yard Club and probably just kicking himself. And again,
I am they're gonna see it firsthand. Next week, the
Giants are gonna be seeing their mistakes in the flesh.

(31:45):
Shout out again to Saquon Barkley. The La Rams beat
the Cardinals on Saturday Night. Rams are hot right now,
and Pooka a cool I mean, my goodness, we've seen
Cooper Cup pretty much avapp rate over the last three
weeks here, and it's Pooka the.

Speaker 1 (32:03):
Coolest time to shine.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
This guy gets targeted early and often and throughout this game,
and whether they're they got a run game going or not,
it seems like they just their safety net and this
offensive identity is really run all.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
Through Pooka Nakua.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
But you look at them as a matchup across the
NFC landscape in the in the playoffs, they can truly
contend with anyone that's in front of them. I truly
believe in the La Rams if they can keep this pace.
Do you have that same belief in the Rams? Do
you think they are true Super Bowl contenders?

Speaker 1 (32:35):
I don't know. I don't know because they've been so
inconsistent defensively. But one thing I will say, And the
guy who made the game saving, game ceiling play for them,
Ikello Witherspoon, my guy. I'm so happy for him. I
am so happy for Akela because he deserves this moment.
A guy who's been through the ups and downs of
the National Football League. He's been he's been the heel

(32:57):
of jokes. He's been you know, he's been blamed for things,
and he has been playing stellar this football season for
the Rams. He's stepped up in a big way. They
didn't have him in training camp, they didn't sign him
in a fifty three. They sign him in September, and
now he's got a starting role. He's played it, played
a big time game last week, only gave up three

(33:17):
catches in the game playing against Marvin Harrison Junior, and
made the game ceiling interception in the end zone off
the tip pass. He deserves everything he's getting. But Matthew
Stafford has always had a puncher's chance He's a guy
you don't want to go against. And if they can
find a way, it looks like they'll likely have the
Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. If everything holds as is,

(33:39):
they'll play against the Green Bay Packers at home in
Sofi Stadium. And you've seen, Hey, can they get pressure?
Can Chris Shula draw up some pressures on Jordan Love
like the Minnesota Vikings did? Can they Can they do
it like the Detroit Lions did. I don't know, but
their front Jared burst and the boys are starting to

(34:02):
become really disruptive in what they can do. And they
got young guys playing at a high level. We talked
about a Kellow, We talked about this D line and
then poking Nikola offensively, Kyron Williams running the football. Their
offensive line starting to show some continuity at this point
in the season. And again, if you got Stafford, he's
just a dangerous gunslinger. And anytime you got a gunslinger

(34:23):
out there, you got a chance.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
Let's take it to New York Giants. They put an
end to the Indianapolis Colts season forty five to thirty
three win. No one really saw this coming and Giants
had absolutely nothing to play for. We talked about it
last week. In fact, they had everything not to play
for that they wanted that number one overall pick in
the draft. I'm sure they want cam order Shador Sanders

(34:46):
with that number one pick. But this was a devastating
win for this Giants organization if they fall all the
way to four in the draft order. Now, so you
gotta look, I mean, are they going to even have
a chance to one of the top two quarterbacks in
the draft. It's it's unbelievable. I guess maybe it's a
little bit of karma, Rich Maybe maybe it's a little

(35:08):
bit of karma from this managing the Saquon Barkley situation.
How does this happen for the Colts? So you look
at a team that's got absolutely everything to play for,
still a playoff aspirations, and they go on the road
and they give up a forty five spot to the
New York Giants.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
How does this even happen? Well, the way it happens,
Mitchell is, teams aren't built that way. And obviously, you know,
I thought, when you know they had a veteran playing
flat call, that they'd have a chance and scoring thirty
three points, you would think they had a chance. Their
defense just didn't show up in a way they needed to.
Giving up forty five points is unacceptable, and I'm sure

(35:47):
Gus Bradley is telling him that in a critical game
that you need to have But this is one of
those games where it just looks like they were sleepwalking
through it and the Giants battle. You know, they're not quitters,
and sometimes that's what you need. I don't think Dave
Bowl is going anywhere, and his team fought for him.
I know they probably wanted the number one pick, but again,
teams don't tank. I know fans are like tank tank

(36:08):
tank tank, tank tank, but that's just not how these
guys are built. When they scored the winning touchdown, you
drew lots scored that touchdown, you didn't see the players like,
oh man, we don't get the number one pick. They
were excited. They want to win this game. They want
to win. It feels better to win than lose. You
work too hard to just go out there and lose
games on purpose. So when people are like NFL's fixed
or this, and that it's not by the players, it's

(36:29):
very difficult to fix it. As a player. After eleven
guys too many things, too many circumstances, too many things
on the line for guys. Now if they want the
rest or something to say something, and I don't know
about that, I don't think that would ever be the case.
But again, I don't think anybody these guys care. They
want to win. I don't give dang if they got
two wins on the season or twenty. And that's what
you've seen out of the New York Giants. They wanted

(36:50):
to win this game. And it's weird because you just
saw Schidors Sanders where the New York Giants cleats in
the bowl game win. And again, don't care, bunch of
chickens before they hatch, because you'll mess around and be
in Tennessee before you know it. And now you're looking
up and you better hope the Tennessee Titans don't feel
the same way, because you know, those cleats won't age

(37:11):
well in that situation. They're gonna be about to have
some difficult conversations in his social media age.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
That would be wild, Richard. Let's take it to Christmas, man.
I mean, the NFL gave us two gifts with the
games with the Chiefs and Steelers and Ravens and Texans.
You know, overall the first game the Kansas City Chiefs,
they're kind of like we've been, I guess somewhat critical
of them all season long despite their record. They're sixteen
and one now, but they've looked more dominant over these

(37:41):
last two weeks with wins against the Texans and now
against the Steelers particularly, they look more explosive offensively. You
can see the difference a guy like Hollywood Brown mates
with Xavier Worthy out there and the veteran DeAndre Hopkins.
I mean, it looks to me that the Chiefs. Chiefs
are getting to the point where the Chiefs truly look

(38:02):
like that same Super Bowl champion that they were were
last year. I just don't know what's gonna stop them.
I know the Bills are playing well, I get it.
I know the Ravens are tough, but like, what is
truly gonna take to beat this Chiefs team, especially now
that they got a healthy Hollywood Brown at their disposal
as well.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
Mitchell last year I said, this is a down year
for the Chiefs. You want to get him, you better
get him now. They played down in the playoffs, They battled,
they didn't play great against Baltimore. Their defense stepped up,
made plays, found a way to win, found a way
to go to Buffalo. People said, hey, if they got
to go to Buffalo, they're definitely not getting out of
there against Josh Allen is veteran defense. All the positive things,

(38:44):
Sean McDermott, and win, the Buffalo got to win, win
to Baltimore, got to win, and they had a good
time beating San Francisco in overtime in the playoffs in
the Super Bowl. I mean, now we're sitting here critical
of a team that's sixteen and one, sitting there saying, man,
they don't look good. There are they might not be
a great team, and they're sixteen and one. I tell you,

(39:07):
a back to back Super Bowl champion being sixteen and
one is an incredible feat. I don't care what it
looks like for all the reasons we talk about why
the San Francisco forty nine ers have struggled, because you
get fatigued mentally, physically, emotionally. Even when you win, you're
like boredom. Boredom kicks in and you're like, hey, we've
done this. Died at a riga moreau, I'm died at

(39:29):
a repetitiveness of this process, and Andy Reid has found
a way to keep it fun. I mean, you looked
at the Christmas game. He comes in there with a
Santa Claus outfit on all the jokes you think, oh man,
we're all making. He's making on himself, and the team
is loving it. You see their two best players, two
of their best players, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey coming
in there with the robes on, hyping their team up,

(39:50):
and you see how excited they are for each other's success.
That's the way they've been able to keep this thing going.
They kept it fun, they've kept it new, they've kept
it energetic. And I don't know how to say this,
but like it seems like throughout the season they've just
been experimenting. They've just been trying stuff. Like you you
lose Isaiah Pacheco and you say, hey, we used to

(40:13):
have a guy. We used to have a guy, didn't we? Uh?
The running back? You know, he got in a little
bit of Troy, he got in that thing and cream Hunt.
Let's go get him. Let's go get where is he?
I don't know, just get get him, get him. We'll
figure it out. And then you're like, hey, there's there's
some good receivers out there. I mean, they're not doing much.
What is what is what is Nuke Hopkins doing? Is
he Is he still a Tennessee or let's see if

(40:35):
he's available, We'll we'll get him. I mean, I know
we lost our best, we lost our guy, but let's
bring him in and we got worthy. We'll we'll bring
him along at his own pace. And it doesn't matter
who they have. They got my guy Jay Watt out there.
Justin Watson scoring touchdowns, getting open, making big plays. Again,
it does not matter as long as you have Patrick

(40:57):
Mahomes in this offensive scheme that Andy Reid and then spags.
Let's get to the other side of the bass bags.
You don't have Chris Jones last game, but they got
four or five sacks, doesn't matter. Carl loftis get there,
Nick Bowden having a great season, Justin Reid battling having
a great season. We talked about Trent McDuffie all the time,
and it's just a lot of guys that they have

(41:18):
that they continue to develop well. The great teams continue
to develop through the draft, through trades, through moves that
make sense. They didn't give an arm in the leg
for new Hopkins. They didn't. They got Xavier Worthy right
where they were supposed to get him Kareem Hunt, and
they got him off the streets and he came in
and make an immediate impact, and big games came and

(41:38):
they didn't lose a step at all. Isaiah Pacheco, you know,
and you talk about their offensive line, they've had trouble
and I've spoke to it, their tackles. So they moved
Toney to the outside, bring Collendo in at left guard,
and the show continues. The show goes on, and that's
what I mean. They continue to make the right adjustment,
the right moves, and the oh keeps going on. Sixteen

(42:01):
and one might end up sixteen and two because they
don't want it at the end. They If they're seventeen
and one and they put Joe Burrow in the playoffs,
that's gonna be history that I'd like to write.

Speaker 2 (42:16):
The other side of the ball was the Pittsburgh Steelers,
and they were I guess the AFC Darling, you know,
he saw Russell Wilson come in and lead this offense
and scoring forty plus against the Bengals, thirty plus numerous times,
but these last three games they've hit a little bit
of a road bump. I mean, they've played true playoff

(42:39):
teams and they came out on the losing side of
each matchup. You know, this one was probably the worst
for him. But with losses to the Eagles, the Ravens
and the Chiefs in the last three weeks, like are
they are they a playoff one and done in your eyes?
Or do the Steelers have any life left in them?

Speaker 1 (42:55):
They're falling back to reality, you know. And you talk
about Mike Tomlin and credible job he's done, but then
you lose three straight and and could be four straighted
Cincinnati Bengals played with the sense of urgency and that
they've been playing with over the last couple of weeks.
And offensively, Joe Burrow continues to throw the ball around
the yard and Jamar Chase continues to have an all

(43:16):
pro season like he is uh and their defense makes
enough plays they could be four straight heading into the playoffs.
To be hard for us to not say that they're
likely a one and done team, but they're likely running
to the Baltimore Ravens and it's the division game, and
again we again you throw the records and out all
that out of the window. When it's a division game,
even in the playoffs, it'll be a dogfight. But if

(43:36):
Lamar Jackson plays like he has been playing, and they
let Derrick Henry run the football, it'll be it'll be
a store at Cinderella Story where where she didn't get
the glass slipper put back on her foot. You know,
she went back to the step stepsisters and stepmother's house
and and Prince Charmon didn't come get her. Because this
story is over with, but it's still the great season,

(43:58):
and and they're gonna have to make a decision about
Russell Wilson in the offseason. It looks like they'll likely
extend him or renew his contract, or figure out a
way to make that relationship continue at least for another
year or two. But you look at after these three
losses in eleven days, and the Pittsburgh Steelers fans, at
least on some of these social media sites are singing

(44:20):
a different tune. You know. Some of them are claiming
they want to see justin fields in the playoffs. They
want to see a change up, And I don't think
that's the right decision. You know, with the way Russell's played,
I think this is a bit of a stumble by
the entire team. You see Camp Hayward and things that
he said, eight ten guys doing their job and one
guy's not. You can't win like that. And I don't
think he's talking about the offensive side of the ball.

(44:41):
I think he's talking about the defense. I don't know
who the one guy he is, but that's what they're saying.
And so you know, clearly there are some things they
need to get cleaned up defensively, but offensively, you got
to score more than ten points. And I know the
Chiefs have a great defense and a lot of playmakers,
but they're missing their best defensive player and you can't
get it done against them. That's an issue. So those

(45:02):
are some of the concerns the Ravens go on and
route the Houston Texans CJ. Stroud struggles in year two continue,
they continue to mount and and this is with Nico
Collins back, and I don't really know how to explain
it to Baltimore. Ravens defense has just taken a great
turn or deserves a lot of credit for whatever adjustments

(45:24):
he's made, because they look totally different yeah, they look
like a different team. They do. I mean Houston Texans.

Speaker 2 (45:32):
This team a lot of people had a ton of
expectations of them.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
You know, a super Bowl dark horse. CJ.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
Stroud after his rookie year, was expected to be, you
know in that conversation, for one of the best quarterbacks
in the league in year two, and it hasn't gone
that way, at least in the second half of the
season for the Texans. Don't get a twisted They've been
banged up. Losing Tank Dell and Stefan Diggs certainly hurt
this team. But you know, to me now at nine
and seven, I don't know how much fear they stoke

(46:01):
in their opponents. But the Ravens to go on the
road and win thirty one to two on Christmas Day
is just remarkable. And like you said, this defense is
picking it up the AFC's top three. It's gonna be
an absolute battle in this playoffs. How much belief do
you have in this Baltimore Ravens team.

Speaker 1 (46:21):
I got a tremendous amount of belief. And my belief
is that they won't make the same mistake they made
last year, and if they go out, they'll go out
on the sword that came in on, or the horse
they came in on my mistake, and that's running the football.
And that's the Lamar Jackson included. You see these games
where his mom's getting on him, and he goes into
the press conference and say, my mom got on me
for not running the football. I guarantee you this is

(46:41):
the season and he cannot go out like that. If
he goes out and they lose the game and he
has one hundred and fifty yards rushing and one hundred
and fifty yards basket, I think people will be like, Okay,
all right, you lost al you you came in. But
if he throws for twenty yards and rushes for twenty
five yards and Derek Henry rushes for eighty five yards
and they lose that game, We're going to be questioning, Hey,

(47:01):
why aren't you moving the way you wanted to move?
Why aren't you doing everything possible to William team to victory.
People don't care how the art looks. They don't care
how pretty it looks. They don't care if it looks
quarterback he or whatever the case may be. They care
if you win the football game. So if you want
to run for two hundred and throw for fifty yards.
If you win that game, then people will applaud that.
And I think that's what he understands more than anything,

(47:22):
and John Harborough understands he can't stop running the football
in general. You know, I think Derrick Henry and every
playoff game they have will have over twenty carries in
order to give them a chance to say, hey, at
the end of the day, we knew what it takes
to win these ball games, and we're going to go
in that way. And if they lose it not running
the ball like they should be, then you shame on them.

(47:43):
And I think it's going to be a dogfight, though
I look forward to that game if it comes to it,
between Baltimore and in Buffalo, in Buffalo in the snow,
at home, in front of those Rockets fans. I think
that'll be a great game and I think that's must
see TV. The Kansas City Chiefs will we'll play whoever's left.
I guess, you know, don't. I don't know how that'll

(48:04):
shake out on the other side, but I think I
think that Buffalo Baltimore game could be one for the ages.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
Rich A little off topic, but you know, teams are
starting to make decisions on head coaches, and we're starting
to see a landscape of teams that are gonna need
a coach in this offseason. And one perspective coach that
threw his hat back in the ring as your former
head coach, Pete Carroll. He's come out and expressed, I
guess interest in the Bears job. Do you think it's
realistic that Pete comes back one and do you think

(48:34):
that's a good fit.

Speaker 1 (48:34):
With the Bears and Pete Carroll? I think I think
somebody I can't remember who tweeted it, but they said
people need to be more focused on culture builders instead
of quarterback builders. And I think that's a really important distinction,
because there are quarterback coaches that can help built your
coach quarterback up and help him be more effective, more efficient,

(48:56):
and all that good stuff, but the rest of your
team struggles and you got a good quarterback without the
rest of your team developed. What made Jim Harpball special
was developing the entire culture of the organization. And from
the outside end, you can see what he did at
at Stanford, you can see what he did at Michigan,
you can see what he did at San Francisco forty
nine ers. You can see what he did at UC

(49:16):
San Diego, and it's hiring great coaches, enforcing the fundamentals,
enforcing the rules and structure of the organization that you desire,
Understanding your players, understanding your staff and relating to them,
speaking to them, understanding them, listening. And Pete Carroll does
all those things. He's going to maximize the abilities of

(49:38):
his players, both defensively and offensively. He's gonna get guys
that fit the scheme that he desires to play. He's
gonna get coaches around that are really great at their jobs,
that coach the way that he would like to see them.
Coaches you coach. You've seen that he's had success in
history around the league, guys leaving the Seattle Seahawks and

(50:00):
going to be coordinators ahead coaches elsewhere. And although they
may have been set up the best way, dan Quinn
left the Seattle Seahawks and went to the Super Bowl
the first years as a head coach. How many guys
can say they've done that. But he deserves a chance
to at least build the culture and show that, hey,
it can be done this way. Still, and I think
a lot of guys, a lot of organizations and a

(50:22):
lot of coaches have taken notes from what he's done
and what he did with Tar Seattle Seahawks teams and
the way he built us and the way that we
were talked about and the way we talked about him,
and the nuances of the inside the building activities that
allow them to continue to be successful. And that's playing
music in the locker room, playing music on the field,

(50:43):
allowing there to be looseness before meetings, playing fun videos,
et cetera, et cetera. Just the little things that go
into making the mundane things a little bit more fun,
a little bit more exciting, a little bit more eventful.
And I think that if he gets a chance, he'll
he'll do great with Kayleb Williams, He'll run the football well,
have a great coach to help him develop further in

(51:04):
his skill set, allow that defense who's really jaloused to
continue to thrive and flourish in what they do well.
Jalen Johnson, one of the best corners in the National
Football League, to continue to flourish in his job and
his responsibility. And I think although it may not be
the trendy pick, it's the pick that will likely get
them further than they have been.

Speaker 2 (51:22):
As we conclude this Sunday night, we've got another game
on Monday night. We already alluded to it earlier, the
LA I'm sorry, the San Francisco forty nine Ers take
on my hometown Detroit Lions. Here's the deal with Detroit.
You know, with Minnesota winning this game today against the Packers,
Tomorrow night's game is relatively meaningless, you know, So my

(51:46):
question starts with you with number one. If you're Dan Campbell,
how do you treat this situation? Do you rest your
starters and gear them up for Minnesota, because really that's
all that matters. They need to beat Minnesota in the
final week of the season in order to secure the
one seed, regardless of the outcome of tomorrow night's game.
So how do you handle this one, Dan Campbell? Do
you expect to see if the full full starters out

(52:06):
there for the full game?

Speaker 1 (52:08):
I can't expect anything other than what Dan Campbell said
he's gonna bring. He said he's gonna empty the clip.
He says he's bringing everything they got and they putting
it out there. They're not holding anything back. They don't
care about the results of any other game. They have
this one circled on their schedule since the game last
year NFC Championship when they lost, so then the schedule
was announced. So I expect them to come out there
and give their all and bring their best to the fight.

(52:29):
I think the San Francisco forty nine ers are gonna
have a few tricks up their sleeve and they're going
to play a very loose game and try to try
to give Detroit all they can handle. But if Detroit
continues to play as they have been, it'll it'll be
a game where they can pull out a very comfortable win.
But again, this is a very talented San Francisco, very
prideful San Francisco forty nine Ers team, so I would

(52:51):
not be surprised if they put up a fight and
this ended up a one possession game late to the
fourth quarter, and then you got to got to stress
about Then you wonder if Dan Campbell's going to do
everything he can to win this game put his guys
at harm's way. I don't know, but I think winning
is winning, and I think he's gonna want to win
this football game to give his guys the best chance
moving forward. And to make sure that they're ready for

(53:11):
that Minnesota Vikings game. The only way you get through
this season is keep sharpening iron iron sharpen's iron. You
can't sit there and rest your guys and think they're
going to be ready next week unnecessarily rest of them.
That just doesn't make sense. That's not how football works.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
Well, Richard, we are almost at the conclusion of the
season and things are going to heat up continuing tonight
and tomorrow. Richard, I will allow you to sign us off,
my friend.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
Well, thank you guys for joining us on the Richard
Sherman Podcast. I hope you guys had a happy holiday
scenes and I hope you guys have a beautiful New
Year's Day. Give yourself some goals, work to them. At
least make them last more than two weeks. Everybody understands
quick day in January is January fourteenth, two weeks into
the year. Do not let that be the day where
you give up on your goals or the things that

(54:00):
you set out to do. At least let them last
two three months. Keep pushing through. Everybody, love and respect.
Appreciate your joining us, whether it's for a minute, an hour,
a second. We surely appreciate it to hit that up
button if you're new the volume