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December 15, 2025 • 11 mins

Playoffs lining up and postseason hopes coming to an end: 

  • It looked very fun
  • Time for another change
  • Hate this storyline
  • Sickening run
  • A record that matters
  • The 'Not Yet' Game
  • Avoid this city in the playoffs
  • Worst words in travel

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ten Takes is a production of the NFL in partnership
with iHeartRadio. Ten Takes. Welcome, you're here, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas,
Thank you for clicking. I'm not going to waste your time.
We say ten takes and ten minutes. We're gonna get
right to it. Start the clock. Take number one. Philip

(00:28):
Rivers was really cool on Sunday. He wasn't really good,
he didn't win, he wasn't really athletic any He was
just really really cool. I found it awesome. We spent
an entire week making old guy jokes and wondering morbidly,
how is this going to look? It looks pretty cool.
It wasn't aesthetically pleasing. It wasn't wow incredible. He looks great,

(00:50):
and it never was going to be played. All four
quarters got in and out of the huddle, got to
the line, barked the signals. Was exactly like he used
to be on the sideline, talking, yapping. It was really
really fun. I'm pleasantly surprised, really pleasantly surprise, not only
as a football guy, but as a guy in his
age range. That's possible. Get some more on that in
a minute. Philip Rivers had them a position to win

(01:11):
the game throwing a touchdown without any interceptions. That's an
incredible You take that every single time. If that had
been on the table his performance, you would always take it.
The funny thing was that the Seahawks just didn't give
a damn and they're dumb kicker. Jason Myers decide I'm
going to make all six of these field goals and
ruin the day. I say dumb kicker because I'm just
kind of annoyed, like the rest of us are. You
can't miss one of those, Jason and finish the story. Nope,

(01:32):
Seahawks are like, we're here to go to a super
Bowl this year. We don't care about your Hallmark movie Christmas.
Quarterback was very funny to me how little the Seahawks
cared at the end of the game, but very inspiring
how Rivers played Take number two. Philip Rivers' message after
the game is even better. During the game, did you
hear him? He took some time as a father and
as a coach to say, you know, it's not about

(01:53):
embarrassing yourself and take risks and put yourself out there.
He was really preaching and I really appreciated it. I've
said this many times. My least favorite word on the
Internet is cringe. I absolutely hate it. I think it
is a generational word, and there is cringe culture where
anyone who even steps outside their comfort zone by an
inch is cringe this and cringe that, And I can't

(02:14):
even look cringe. Cringe, cringe, cringe, cringe. I think what's
cringe is never risking being cringe. I think it's chance
the rapper who once said I'm never gonna lie on
my deathbed and look back and say, well, at least
I wasn't cringe. I'm telling you, if you watch Philip
Riverson got at least one little drop of inspiration. But
what he did this weekend, I am with you. Man,
Take risks. Put yourself out there, leave your comfort zone,

(02:35):
for the love of God. Don't just sit there on
the couch on your phone. Try to go for the
job you're not quite qualified for. Try to ask out
the girl you don't think it's going to say yes,
Get up there at karaoke and I do anything. Step
out of your comfort zone up. The worst thing that
can happen as somebody calls you cringe. At least you
tried it. I thought it was awesome when he said
after the game, and it wasn't cringe at all. And
I don't care if it was take number three that

(02:56):
said I think the coult should start riling Leonar next week.
I'm not even joking. If you're playing a game you
really need to win next week, and they really do.
It's national television, it's on ESPN, and ESPN wants no
part of Riley Leonard. That's the first time they're ever
going to say they want no part of a Notre
Dame quarterback in ESPN. They play the Niners. You drafted him,

(03:16):
you like him, he's been there the whole year. If
he gets a clean bill of health, and I know
that's a little dicey, I would start him because, yeah,
Philip was great, and I just said all these things
about how impressive and inspiring he was. He couldn't really
do anything. They severely limited him. They asked them to
make a big throw like one time, even at the
end of the game when they were looking at a
sixty yard field goal, instead of trying Phil try like

(03:37):
a five or six yard pass to get the field
goal short, and they just ran tailor into the line. Again.
I don't know, if you want to be that limited
again against Robert solads defense in a game you have
to win, I would go with Philip. I would go
with Riley Leonard, even I had a Freudian slip. I
almost said phil at the end, because we all want
to see more Phil and I know on ESPN they do.
I'd go with Wiley Leonard. I don't know. Maybe that's
a freezing cold take. I would start him take number four.

(03:59):
I hate that the Chiefs are out. I hate it,
hate it, hate it. Of course, I don't want to
see Mahomes hurt, which is just the Czar to see,
but compartmentalize that for a sec even aside from the injury.
I'm super bummed that that's the way the Chiefs went out.
I'm not bummed that they're out. I'm bummed that's how
they went out. Because even if you have Chiefs fatigue,
which a lot of people do, I get it. Even
if you openly hate the Chiefs, didn't you want to

(04:19):
see them go down in grand fashion in the playoffs
where whether it's Lamar or Alan or even Herbert like
finally get over on them and beat them in the playoffs.
That would be the down in flames Viking funeral that
the Chiefs kind of deserved and that all even their
critics want to see. This was this, oh god nothing

(04:43):
loss in a random December game at home, with Gardner
Minshew throwing a bad ball to slow Travis Kelcey to
seal it as Mahomes is in the locker room with
his knee ripped apart. It just sucked. It was depressing.
This was the waterloo of the Andy Reid Patrick Mahomes era,
so ani climactic, so more bid and unsatisfying. I hate

(05:06):
it for the Chiefs, but I hate it for everyone
who hates the Chiefs too. You didn't really are you?
Are you feeling great that the Chiefs lost yesterday? It
was just kind of sad and pathetic. It would have
been really cool if they were in the playoffs and
just got shocked by somebody. It didn't happen, and I
hate it. Take number five. Hate that Michael Parsons is hurt.
The injury gods are cruel and they demand sacrifice. But
this was one of those sickening things where the non contact,

(05:30):
instant certainty by the athlete in his body language that
he has done for the season. We had a tough
run yesterday Sunday A. Mahomes goes down, Micah goes down,
DeVante goes down. We thought Pooka went down too. It
was just these injuries falling out of the sky. I
hate that Michael Parsons is hurt. I absolutely hate it.
We were supposed to have a treat Saturday night National Television, Primetime,

(05:52):
Packers at Chicago. The first time around Bears Packers was
Infinity Ward. This was gonna be endgame and Michael was
going to chase Caleb all over that frozen field. It sucks.
And now Micah's gone, Christian Watson goes down. You're not
supposed to say, well, there goes the season because it's
freezing cold. Take possibility and you just try to spawn positive.
At least I do. But the Packers aren't winning the

(06:13):
super Bowl. They just lost their best defensive player by far.
They're not winning the super Bowl. That's a huge injury.
Is there any Packers fans like I really believe we
can still do it? I don't know. You lost Craft,
he lost Parsons, Watson, who the hell knows. I don't
think they're winning the super Bowl now, And I think
that sucks that that happened on a random injury on
natural turf. By the way, take number six, Take number six.
I think Miles Garrett should break the sack record week

(06:35):
seventeen against Pittsburgh. I feel very strongly about this because
one of these records that matter, and this will be
a historical moment. I did not want them to do
it on the road against Chicago. I don't even want
them to do it this next week, which will be
home against Buffalo home Week seventeen versus Pittsburgh. Why do
you ask One, it has to be in front of
the home fans because the team is so bad. You
gotta have it some sort of pageantry. You can't do

(06:58):
it on this terrible team on the road. Two, it's
against their arch rival allegedly at least their division rival, Pittsburgh.
And it's aginst Rodgers. Miles Guard has never sacked there
in Rodgers. That's a cool way for it to go down.
Look at the context, Michael Strahan when he breaks the record,
it's against FARV when Farv was running the league. It's
in front of his home fans. That was cool. TJ Wow.
When he ties the record down the stretch against arch

(07:19):
rival Baltimore. As that Pittsburgh team is headed to the playoffs.
This Cleveland seems terrible. So if he's going to break
this record on a terrible team, I want him to
do it against the Steelers, in front of Browns bands,
against Rodgers. Any other way. I don't like it, especially
if it has to go all the way to the
last week, because then you get an asterisk because it
took me more games than straighthand we don't want that
week seventeen against Steelers. I feel strongly take number seven.

(07:41):
The Bills were hilarious yesterday. They said not today, tough guys,
too bad. What an amazing game, twenty one to nothing Patriots.
That's not just them beating the Buffalo. They're beating them down.
They're ripping the torch out of their hands. This is
our division, this is our house. All of this is
changing of the tides. And you got everybody who reached

(08:01):
for the Patriots. Simmons is tweeting and Portnoy is screaming,
if it's over, it's over, and the Bills just said no,
not today, tough guys. Is still our division. I sympathized
with whoever had the box of division Champion hats for
the Patriots. It was probably someone in PR and they
had these boxes of AFC East Champion hats and T
shirts and a box cutter, and they were gonna put

(08:22):
them in every locker and they're ready to hand them
out twenty one or not that we got it, and
they're like, no, no, no, put them away, put them away.
The Bills are coming back. What an incredible win for Buffalo.
I want that game to be played again. I want
it in the playoffs buff in New England and we'll
probably get it. Take number eight. I don't want to
go to Denver if I'm an AFC playoff team. I'm
gonna keep saying this. If you are some team and
your your favorite team is going and to get a
wild card or even if they're a division champion, I

(08:43):
do not want to go to Denver. I'd rather go
to Houston. I'd rather go to Buffalo, you name it,
name an AFC team, I would rather play there than
go to Denver. In that cold and that altitude and
those conditions, with that home field. Everything about Denver says
no to me. That defense that coach bo Nix was
great yesterday. If he's gonna play like that. It's gonna
be fair difficult to everything about Denver. That crazy, spooky,

(09:06):
haunted horse by the airport. I don't like it. All
the vibes are bad. Give me anybody in the AFC.
I'd go to Foxborough before I go to Denver. I
do not want to go there. I think you go,
then I think you lose. Take number nine. The story
about Rob Reiner's death is so morbid and so terrible,
and I am so depressed and so sickened by it.
The movies he made, and Princess Bride and the cameos
and Curb Wolf of Wall Street. I was just watching

(09:28):
the other day and you hear, oh, Rob Reiner died.
That's sad, And then you start to click on the story,
You're like, oh God, this is the most worst thing
I've read. I don't want to wake up to that.
Just terrible. I feel so terrible for everybody involved. I
know that's not a positive take, but I had to
get that out because I'm just sick to my stomach
about what I read about it. Take number ten. The
worst words in travel this time of year are we're

(09:48):
going back to the gate. I had some friends come
in to visit this weekend. They got on the tarmac
and sat there for two hours. The captain comes on.
You're like, all right, we're finally taking off. Well, folks,
I wish I had better news for you, but we
are going back to the gate. Oh, going back to
the gate, and then we're gonna d board. It's the worst.

(10:11):
I'm sorry if anybody had to go back to the
gate this weekend. I feel so bad. Could you at
least give me the pathetic optimism of sitting here on
the tarmac for the fifth hour that we might finally
get cleared for takeoff. Well, folks, that's never good, never
good at all. Heading back to the gate if you
head back to the gate, I'm sorry you guys. Never
head back to the gate. Just let us sit. That's it.

(10:34):
I'm going in overtime. It's not eleven takes, it's ten.
I should stop and I will. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas.
We will be back until then. Thanks for clicking, see
you later. Ten Takes Bye. Ten Takes is a production

(10:54):
of the NFL in partnership with I Heart Radio. For
more iHeartRadio pods, go to the iHeartRadio app, go to
Apple go anywhere you like will be there
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Host

Kyle Brandt

Kyle Brandt

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