December 22, 2025 • 28 mins
NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapaport, Judy Battista, and Stacey Dales react to the Bears beating the Packers to take control of the NFC North while the Lions failed to finish off a come-from-behind win against the Steelers and fall further out of the NFC playoff picture.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Happy holidays everyone, and welcome inside with the Insider's Alongside
Judy Batista, Andy and rapaport, I am Tom Pelaicero. A
Monday podcast edition of the show, wrapping up the entire
weekend around the NFL, one that had a ton of
playoff implications. Let's just jump right into it here on
(00:24):
the NFC side of things, going all the way back,
of course, the Thursday night, it was the Seahawks that
wrapped up their spot in the playoffs. The Rams had
already clinched their spot with the Seahawks right now would
be the number one seed. The Bears got in by
virtue of their part owner Aaron Rodgers victory over the Lions,
(00:44):
as well as the Bears win over the Packers the
Eagles right now, I find this fascinding. The only team
that is in first place that won their division a
year ago right now. The other seven did not win
their divisions. The Panthers took a step forward to the
win over the Bucks and then pending the results as
we record this of Monday night football tonight, we could
(01:06):
have some additional teams into the playoff field. But let's
back up here for a second. Judy, as you look
at this NFC playoff field right now. We've talked about
it over and over on this show on The Insiders
on NFL Network. Where there's not a true dominant team,
I still would kind of argue that's true. But you've
got a bunch of really good teams that seem to
be peaking at the right time.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You've got a bunch of really good teams just in
the NFC West. I mean, look at the like we're
still well in the case of the forty nine ers,
they still have three games to go, and you've already
got three three NFC West teams into the playoffs. You're right,
I think the teams that I'm certainly I'm impressed by Seattle,
no question, to take down the Rams the other day.
(01:50):
It was a crazy game. We can talk about the
d I mean, it was just nuts. Look, I was
impressed by the Bears. You know, that was as big
a game as they've played at Soldier Field in years,
years and years, and I thought that was you know,
I thought that was a big step forward for that
(02:10):
franchise and a big step forward for Caleb. So I'm
impressed by the Bears, and I'm curious to see how
far they can go, because the offense is still you know,
uneven and inconsistent, but they do seem to have they've
got it and they've got they're really clutch, like they
are not afraid when it comes down to the final minutes.
(02:32):
They just do not you know, quake in their boots. Then,
So I like the Bears. They're kind of fun. They're back.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, it's actually an interesting playoff picture too.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I mean, the Bears have been awesome and the Seahawks
have been I mean, I know they were good last
year even though they didn't make the playoffs, but they're
have really taken a step forward. And you know, all
the people in Seattle were so optimistic about the kind
of leader that Mike McDonald is, and it's.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Like I thought so too, but you never quite can tell.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
And then you see it this year and it's like
them and the Chargers have been the like quietest, really
good teams, just marching along beating everyone. The crazy thing
to me is how set everything seems right. It's like,
if you look at the picture, there's really probably really
only one team that's in doubt, right, it's really the
(03:22):
NFC South and everything else.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
You're sort of like, all right, we probably am in.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
The lines probably are out, and everyone else is probably in.
And then the NFC South, it's like who knows. But
it's weird because you know, we love drama. And then
you look at the games the last two weeks this season,
and there will be drama and we'll be exciting and
they'll be seating and everything, but you're kind of gonna know,
with the exception of maybe two teams total, who's in
(03:46):
and who's not.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Which one makes.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
It like, all right, that's annoying you to get down
the stretch, but it means the playoffs are going to
be as high powered as we have seen playoffs in
a long time. Like, these are some excellent team The
bad teams are also bad.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
But you know the.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Fact that these are like the really good teams is
pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Wilson shouldn't overlook the Panthers. All year. It's been, as
we've talked about, this roller coaster ride of they've beaten
good teams, they've suffered some really bad losses. Although based
upon what the Saints are doing again yesterday, i'll bee
it against the Jets, those losses getting swept there doesn't
look quite as bad. I just think that it speaks
to I mean, if you think about this, how many
(04:31):
young coaches are on that list right now or young's
probably not the right works. Mcveig has been around for
nine years, he's still one of the youngest guys. Mike
McDonald in year two, Ben Johnson year one, Dave Canalis
in year two as well, a bunch of teams that
have kind of undergone these quick turnarounds contrasted with the
(04:52):
longer builds of Green Bay and San Francisco, the Rams,
of course, the Eagles is the defending champs. Then obviously
even the Lions and the who have been in this
position before but right now have some their work cutout
and need some help to be able to get into
the playoff field. Over on the AFC side, you have
some similar types of dynamics. You've got the first year
(05:13):
of Mike Vrabel and Liam Cohen. You know, Sean Payton's
in year three now in Denver, but it still feels like,
you know, that's been a really rapid turnaround from where
they were. And then of course Jim Harbaugh with the
Chargers and Demiko Ryans has had the Texans in playoff
position three years in a row. One thing in talking
to people with some of these teams you're seeing on
(05:34):
both these listening the AFC and NFC. If you're going
to be a wild carter, if you're going to be
one of the lower first round seeds, what are your
ideal matchups? Judy, There was a long debate, maybe the
most intense one that we've had back in the spring,
about the idea of reseting the playoffs, whether that was
in the wildcard round, whether that was after the wildcard round,
(05:55):
but the idea being, if you're, let's say a nine
to eight division winner, you shouldn't be hosting a twelve
and five wildcard team. Well, that's exactly what we're gonna have.
Somebody's gonna win the NFC South, somebody's gonna win the
AFC North, and they're probably gonna be underdogs in their
home building when we get around to that second weekend
in January.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Right, And part of that conversation about the idea of
receding was you would only receed in the second round.
You would recede for the divisional games, not in the
wildcard round, which presumably you know, the wildcard round would
probably weed out some of the weaker teams that are
in the field. Yeah, except you know, like I in
this case, what you're looking at is the AFC North, which, yeah,
(06:37):
the record is not good, not as good. Let's let's
just assume that it's going to be the Steelers that advance.
The record is not as good, but you know, but
they have played some really good games. Like I don't
view the Steelers as like the weak link of the
AFC because they have they seem to they're very uneven,
(06:57):
but they do have good games. They're often seems to
be getting a little bit more on track. And like
I'm reluctant to just right off Aaron Rodgers in the postseason, right,
I mean, I just still sort of feel like Aaron
Rodgers gives you a chance even if everything looks ugly
and the games are sort of muckety. But like it's
(07:19):
hard for me to just light off the steel Height
and yeah, weird, right, But you know, I struggle with
just writing them off, Like, I mean, they almost lost
the game in Detroit, obviously became very very close to
losing the game, but the fact that they did have
a big lead on the Lions in Detroit in a
must win game like they've basically been in must win territory.
(07:40):
I'm talking about the Steelers now. They've been in must
win territory for like the last three weeks, and they're winning.
It's not pretty, it's probably never going to be pretty,
but they are getting it done. And so to me,
that sort of suggests like a resilience and toughness that
you can't just write off in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Can we stay? Can we spend a second though on
end of that game, because that was the longest delay
I can ever remember, and I understand I read the pool.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
For something that was actually simple and straightforward, right, Like,
it was not that there's OPI on the play, that's
the end. The outcome of the play doesn't matter. Yes,
there was a lot of stuff going.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
On in terms of.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
If there was let me ask you a dumb question,
because I'm pretty sure I'm right, But let's say there
was OPI and one second left, then it's a redo, right.
That's the issue was that the touchdown took the time off,
so therefore it wouldn't redo it.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That was It wasn't that what Dan Campbell's question was like,
he didn't know.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
He thought they were going to replay which by the way,
the official said there's no replay, but I think what
he meant was no replay the down.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I think they I feel like the confusion and the
mayhem and even CBS seemed confused, was mostly about delivery,
how it was delivered, and and I don't want to
blame the officiating crew, but I feel like if you
lead with the the game is over. There is no touchdown.
There was an OPI instead of leading, it was a touchdown,
(09:11):
So then you're like.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yay, and then the turn off the mic, turn it
back on and though the touchdown doesn't count, just I
forgot the part of the most important part, no touchdown.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And then he says it's like even even I think
for us who like probably know the rules, you know,
you're really paying attention. Like even I was like for
a few seconds, I was like, well, who won the game?
Like wait, wait, so.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Good to hold on. We got Stacy coming on, so
we'll talk more about that game with her. But let's
focus on the other side of that in the AFC North,
with the Steelers now very much in control that they
didn't even need to win that game. Even if the
Steelers were to have lost to and the Ravens won two,
it still would come down to Week eighteen. But now
there's a chance that the Steelers this week could end
(09:54):
up clinching. They either need a win or Ravens loss,
and they clinch, and Week eighteen becomes irrelevant, which the
NFL probably would not be big fans of, because that's
the obvious game two seventy two that I would like to
put primetouth.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Would probably be in primetime theoretically.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So, but two points on this one. Watching that Ravens
game last night, and I had this this sense of
deja vu sitting in my hotel room the Sunday of
Week one in Foxborough after watching the Patriots lose to
the Raiders, and there was that game between the Ravens
and the Bills where you're like, the Ravens are in
complete control, and all of a sudden Derrick Henry ball
(10:31):
security fumble that changes the entire game. You fast forward
fifteen weeks in the scene. As much as you don't
want to say like this is the story of the season,
like that gets cliched, This is literally the story of
the season. Again last night in a really big spot,
it's like just they're in control, they came out, it
was like, all right, here they go. He fumbles, it
flips the game. And then on top of it, you
(10:53):
have Lamar dropping out with a kind of nebulous, vague
back injury ian that now in perils him and his
availability on Saturday night against the Packers in a must
wing game.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
So, first of all, the watching Derrick Henry fumble, he
is a he's a good dude. He is He stands
up when he makes a mistake and takes ownership of
what happened, and he treats things in such a good way.
And it's so frustrating to see him stand there and fumble,
(11:24):
and you know, God, like you can feel the game
completely change, and I think that sucks. I want to
so a couple of things like and then I have
to deal with an injury thing.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
So excuse me for a second.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
But the raven I feel like the Ravens and the
Bengals are in the same category of like, I wish
I knew what their season actually was, Like we're never
gonna know. I feel like what the Ravens season should
have been, and we're never gonna know what the Bengals season.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Should have been.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
The Bengals looked like a freaking juggernaut yesterday, and they're
gonna miss the playoffs by a bunch.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And the Ravens missed the playoffs too, and Lamar.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Couldn't even finish because he got a stupid back bruise
on a play. I feel like we, not reporters, but
fans got cheated a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Because we didn't get the outcome we probably should.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
And the playoffs are going to be awesome, especially if
the Steelers are in at Rogers with one more go
and Tom win with so much on the line.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Like it's going to be great. But I do feel
a little bit like we're gonna get cheated, which kind
of sucks.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
But you know what, here, I just want to go
back to Derrick Henry because yes, that was it was
like got wrenching to watch him fumble again. Having said that,
he ended up having a really productive game and then
he wasn't on the field, I know, in the last
two drives, and the explanation and the explanation from Harbag
was like, well, we're trying to rotate them to keep
them fresh, and but looking back on it, yeah, you
(12:47):
would want Dereck Henry on the field, But why wasn't
Derrick Henry on the field? Like he was running well,
he'd scored two touchdowns, Like, why wasn't Derrick Henry on
the field with the game and basically your season on
the line like that, I thought was very curious coaching.
Not to take anything away from the Patriots, because Drake
may was also awesome down the stretch, but that was, like,
(13:08):
I feel like there were a lot of things that
are just off about the Ravens this year, and that
little piece at the end of the game made me
wonder too.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
We'll be right back with more on the inside.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Let's welcome in our Stacey Dales to the conversation. Who
is at one of I can't even call it the
wildest game of the weekend, but one of the wildest
games of the weekend. It was the Packers and the Bears. Stacy,
thinking back on it after the game, it almost gave
me twenty fourteen NFC Championship vibes, where the Packers have
what seems like an insurmountable lead that somehow crumbles at
(13:57):
the end, in part based on not recover an on
side kick. The fallout of it is it's the biggest
win that the Bears have had in I don't know
how many years you were there. Just take me through
the entire flow of that game on a night where
I'm sure the Chicago's celebrated like they haven't in quite
a while.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
Well as an absolute stunner. I mean, it was unlike
anything I've seen in quite a while. I think about
the twenty eighteen playoff kind of picture for the Bears,
and they had that great defense, but there's so much
faith right now in Caleb Williams. I mean they were
down sixteen to six basically towards the end of this
thing and rattled off all these points against a defense
that I thought was really good. Jeff Haffley had such
(14:39):
a good plan going into it. They blitzed a heck
of a lot more without Micah. But Caleb is just
doing this crazy thing this year. He's got six comeback victories.
When he needs a big play, he gets a big play.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Comeback victories.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
Yeah, it's wild links all quarterbacks actually, but it was.
I can't explain postgame, guys, you know how it is
when you're down there. It felt like almost like an
NFC championship.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
To your point, Tom No, can you explain it? I
have almost never done it. Ian doesn't go to games. No, seriously,
he really wants to know what it's like I do.
It seems chaotic and crazy.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Yeah, it is chaotic and crazy. It's like when you're
at an AFC or NFC championship situation and it's utter
chaos on the field. You don't know who you're interviewing,
you don't know who you're getting, you have not assembled
with the team. I was over on the Packers sideline
and I'm standing there at the end of regulation. I
am like ten feet for Matt Lafleur with eyeballs on him.
(15:39):
Shep Our producer will appreciate that. Whose family was there?
Shout out to Shep's fam. I'm standing ten feet for
Matt Lafleur and he's in constant communication with the official.
I mean, this guy is dialed in. And then the
walker touchdown happens and he does hit the celebration on air,
and Matt Lafleur had no expression and it was like, okay,
(15:59):
here we go to overtime, and then the onside kick happens,
and I could have sworn something popped in the universe
around Chicago, like it was that wild and then postgame, guys,
it was just a free for all. I mean, I
was thrown Colston Lovelin's coming towards me, he brings in
Tremaine Envins, and then DJ Moore's coming in, and then
Caleb's trying to come in, and then Caleb goes to Fox.
(16:20):
It was wild. It was an absolutely wild night.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I mean, the the one thing I would sort of
wonder and when and why I like having you on
and other people who go to games and are there,
is like the onside kick happens? Yeah, and did the
I mean it felt like watching TV like this thing
is over.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Did it feel like that in the stadium, Yes, it did.
Speaker 6 (16:46):
It was as big a moment as when you remember, guys,
when Chicago went into Wildcat with Manungai early in the
game and goes way over his head, which was None
of Ben Johnson's plays are gimmick, because I want to
make that very clear. When he does something like that,
he does it probably forty times in practice that week,
(17:08):
like that throw to DJ Moore. They put that in
on Thursday to win to win that football game in overtime,
and they were hursted it perfectly in practice on Thursday
and DJ told me that's what we drew up, and
I knew as soon as Caleb looked at me that
was the play that was coming, and it did. It happened.
That's how strategic Ben is. So when that thing happened
with Manungai in the first half, it deflated the Bears.
(17:31):
They were a different team after it. But this play,
this play was like, Okay, they're going to win. It
was like a foregone conclusion they're going to win the game.
I mean, you just knew it. You could feel it.
And you could feel it because I was standing on
the Packers' sideline and I just looked down their bench
and I'm looking at some of the players and I'm
getting the eye rolls. I'm like, like, it was so
(17:53):
deflating on their sideline and so uplifting on the Bears sideline.
It really was a signature game. I mean, Caleb was asked,
after you guys, is this a signature win? And he
deflected it. He said, it's a big moment for us,
but it was such a signature win.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
I think, well, I mean, I think if the real
problem for the Bears is like you're excited, but then
it's like this is starting to look like a team
that could be in it for I mean, it feels
to me like the Commander's team from last year, and
it looks a little bit like the Commander's team from
last year, which, you know, the Commander's team didn't get
to the super Bowl, but certainly they could have. Like
I don't know what the ceiling for this Bears team is,
(18:29):
especially if they're going to like be as physical running
the ball as they are and have the takeaways they have,
Like like, you know, this game is cool to celebrate,
but they could do so knowing that, like there is
a real possibility they're celebrating a lot better things later
in the season, which, like, you know, the other funny
thing is like and I know, Tom, you get this
as well, is like, you know, it's coaching season coming up,
(18:51):
and we talked for years about Ben Johnson being like
the can't miss guy and the guy everyone wants, and like,
I know, Ben is an awesome coach. Even I kind
of rolled my eyes a little bit because it's like,
how good can he be?
Speaker 6 (19:06):
Pretty good?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
How good can he be pretty good?
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, let's take it over to the Packer's side of this, too, Stacy,
because There's a lot of things that happens around in
that game. One Josh Jacobs plays, but it is plainly
not himself. In that game, he has the fumble, he
doesn't touch the ball again, although I think he was
on the field on the hands team for the on
side kick. He got Christian Watson gutting it out. Then
(19:29):
Jordan Love gets hurt and Malik Willis is banged up,
finishes out the game. They've got It's not a short week,
but they play on Saturday again. The only way that
the Packers don't make the playoffs is if they lose
these last two and the Lions win their last two.
Where do you envision Green Bay goes from here. It's
going to depend a lot on who's available. But I
(19:51):
mean to your point, I mean that that was a
gut punch type of a loss. They'd be sitting pretty
right now and instead, you know, they got to find
a way in these next couple of weeks and try
to heal up.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
Yeah, I mean it was wild because they go for
a season high one to ninety two on the ground,
running the football. I thought Malik Willias Willis was fantastic
and he has been fantastic under Matt Lafleur. It was
such an emotional week. I mean spending time talking to
the Packers leading up to that game. Frankly, Jeff Hathley
(20:22):
was probably tired of answering questions about how are we
going to replace Micah Parsons. But now the Jordan Love
comes in, and you know, I thought he was you know,
he wasn't great before the concussion, but the concussion obviously
is concerning. I mean, he was down and out cold
for a second, like it was a big deal. You
(20:42):
could feel it when you saw it, almost and they
obviously they need to finish these last two games out
with a bang. But Chicago's in control right now, I
mean in this division. Now they have to go play
San Francisco this week, so that'll be interesting. But the Packers,
you know, you brought up Josh Jacobs. I watched him
(21:03):
extensively in pregame warm up. He just didn't look right,
you know, he just didn't look right. And if he's
banged up, Emmanuel Wilson's been great, but you know, there
was a little something off with Josh Jacobs. He's so tough,
He's going to play through everything and I probably will
for the remainder of the season. But I think it's
(21:24):
concerning because quarterbacks now in concussion protocol and we'll see
how Jordan comes out of it this week.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
And so the Packers have they have Ravens and then Vikings.
I was just thinking in my head, like, could you
sit Josh Jacobs a week?
Speaker 3 (21:39):
I don't know that you even could.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Yeah, I don't know if he could either, because I
think it's just too tight in the division And while
they're sitting there, are they not sitting in the seventh
spot right now? And obviously Detroit has to count on
them to lose. So I mean, we're going to see
this quite a bit all week this board in front
of us. But yeah, I mean in the hunt, you
(22:03):
have Detroit there. Detroit can't afford to lose another game.
Maybe green Bay has a little wiggle room, But do
you not play him against Baltimore? I don't think so.
I think I think he goes. I think Jacobs goes.
But the quarterback's more concerning. Good news is Malik Willis is.
He is. He's a cool cucumber back.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
There making themselves some money. Come march to there.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Stacy, Yep, yeah, he is. He's you know, you look
at his numbers and he goes nine for eleven, one
hundred and twenty one pass yards, a passing touchdown. He
had a one forty three passer rating. He doesn't turn
it over, which is really good, and forty four rush
yards to complement it. So I feel like they'll be okay.
(22:48):
But you want Jordan Love in there, the way he's
been playing, how efficiently he's been playing. But going back
to the Bears, you guys, I haven't seen a team
quite like this in my time, and I've covered it
for a while, covering the Bears specifically, I haven't seen
a team this united, this together. The twenty eighteen team
had it, but there's a different vibe at quarterback from
(23:11):
trupis Key to Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
There just is so Katy.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I actually did not. I mean, look, it's a gut
punch that the Packers lost the game, but I actually
did not feel I thought the defense played better than
I expected given that they had just lost Micah. They
were playing they played most of the game without I
mean they obviously played without Michael Parsons. Josh Jacobs for
a lot of the game was not in there. Then
(23:39):
Jordan Love gets concussed, Christian Watson again was gutting it out.
He's clearly so I thought, like for a team that
is as injury depleted as they were, I thought that
was a pretty good showing. Yeah. Now, I mean if
Jordan Love misses the game next week or missus two games,
I mean, you just don't know how a concussion is
going to go. That is very concerning. I don't think
(23:59):
you can have or to sit Josh Jacobs because the
Ravens presumably are still going to have something to play for,
so they are going to be laying all out whether
the Lamar is in there or not. I think, I mean,
the Packers have to do everything they can to just
win the games.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Stacey, you cover that whole NFC North closely. What did
you make of the Lions, the way that that game ended,
the way the entire thing played out, And now the
fact that a team that we've talked about for what
two three years now is being a favorite, if not
the favorite, in the NFC to go to the Super
Bowl is on the verge again barring two wins and
two Packers losses from missing the playoffs entirely. In twenty
(24:35):
twenty five.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
I just felt like the Steelers were in control for
the entirety. I really did. I mean, the time of
possession was in their favor. They ran Oh my god,
they had two hundred and thirty on the ground. Every
time I turned around, there was a big gain, whether
it was gain well or it was somebody that was.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Jalen Warren.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Warren had an unreal career, Like it was crazy. Every
time they were offensively, but Aaron still threw it a ton.
I mean, Aaron played. Aaron is playing really well. I
think that's a conversation that you know, they've won three
in a row and Aaron Rodgers is playing as efficiently
as he has in recent years. I mean, what he
(25:19):
you know, what do you have? Three passing touchdowns? Was that?
Am I correct on that? Or two or three? I
wrote it down earlier.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
He's playing very efficient. I mean, it's the most efficient
football we've seen him. You're you're absolutely right yeah on that.
And it seems like down the stretch of these games too,
if you watch them at the line of scrimmage, it's
old school Aaron making checks and moving people around and
kind of playing the chess match a little bit at
the line too.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
They're also getting chunk plays like which they had they
weren't earlier in the season when the offense was stagnant.
They're starting to get twenty yard plays, twenty five yard
runs like bigger chunk plays and that you know, that
gives the offense some momentum. The offense has looked as
good in the last few weeks as it has at
any point this season. For sure.
Speaker 6 (26:08):
Yeah, Judy, I mean each of their touchdowns was like
forty five yards or something like that. It was. It
was a really impressive.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Running back touchdowns. That is the weirdest stat that I
can remember, exactly forty five.
Speaker 6 (26:22):
I agree. Aaron hasn't turned it over in five games.
I mean, he hasn't thrown a pick in the last
five games. Yeah, it was, uh, you know, I'm and
raw for him to have it that that weird closing
to have two opis. It just was, it was this
is just not a Detroit team. I mean, Dan Campbell
(26:45):
said at one point this season like this is the
year We're just going to have to grid everything out,
and they have nothing has come easy again. They're just
completely ravaged by injuries to their defense. So it's not
their years it Unfortunately for them, it just hasn't been now.
They can't afford to lose and they have to have
(27:05):
somebody help them out. They have to the Packers lose
in order to get into this thing. But I give
a lot of credit to Mike Tomlin, by the way,
shout out to Mike Tomlin. It was Did you guys
notice him coming off the field with Ron?
Speaker 3 (27:20):
That was great?
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah he does that every game. Yeah, yeah, that's every game,
said Judy.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
Thank you, because like that was such a cool moment
for him to be kind of celebrated by these two
future Hall of Famers and two hundred career wins. Hitting me,
He's not going to Penn State anybody, Like, what.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Are we doing?
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Stacy? Yeah, thank you very much for being here. Appreciate
your perspective. As always, you have a lot of NFC
NORS teams to cover in the playoffs over these next
several weeks.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
But for Jim next this week ago, I'm Indy Jacksonville.
I think so.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Another potentially very interesting one with one of the hottest
teams in the NFL right now in the Jaguars. All right,
we got part two. If you're watching this on the podcast.
Go over to part two if you're on YouTube, if
you're watching on the NFL channel on fast streaming platforms,
just stay right here. A lot more insiders to come
for Stacey and Judy and Ian. I'm Tom, will see
(28:22):
you there.
Happy holidays everyone, and welcome inside with the Insider's Alongside
Judy Batista, Andy and rapaport, I am Tom Pelaicero. A
Monday podcast edition of the show, wrapping up the entire
weekend around the NFL, one that had a ton of
playoff implications. Let's just jump right into it here on
(00:24):
the NFC side of things, going all the way back,
of course, the Thursday night, it was the Seahawks that
wrapped up their spot in the playoffs. The Rams had
already clinched their spot with the Seahawks right now would
be the number one seed. The Bears got in by
virtue of their part owner Aaron Rodgers victory over the Lions,
(00:44):
as well as the Bears win over the Packers the
Eagles right now, I find this fascinding. The only team
that is in first place that won their division a
year ago right now. The other seven did not win
their divisions. The Panthers took a step forward to the
win over the Bucks and then pending the results as
we record this of Monday night football tonight, we could
(01:06):
have some additional teams into the playoff field. But let's
back up here for a second. Judy, as you look
at this NFC playoff field right now. We've talked about
it over and over on this show on The Insiders
on NFL Network. Where there's not a true dominant team,
I still would kind of argue that's true. But you've
got a bunch of really good teams that seem to
be peaking at the right time.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
You've got a bunch of really good teams just in
the NFC West. I mean, look at the like we're
still well in the case of the forty nine ers,
they still have three games to go, and you've already
got three three NFC West teams into the playoffs. You're right,
I think the teams that I'm certainly I'm impressed by Seattle,
no question, to take down the Rams the other day.
(01:50):
It was a crazy game. We can talk about the
d I mean, it was just nuts. Look, I was
impressed by the Bears. You know, that was as big
a game as they've played at Soldier Field in years,
years and years, and I thought that was you know,
I thought that was a big step forward for that
(02:10):
franchise and a big step forward for Caleb. So I'm
impressed by the Bears, and I'm curious to see how
far they can go, because the offense is still you know,
uneven and inconsistent, but they do seem to have they've
got it and they've got they're really clutch, like they
are not afraid when it comes down to the final minutes.
(02:32):
They just do not you know, quake in their boots. Then,
So I like the Bears. They're kind of fun. They're back.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, it's actually an interesting playoff picture too.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I mean, the Bears have been awesome and the Seahawks
have been I mean, I know they were good last
year even though they didn't make the playoffs, but they're
have really taken a step forward. And you know, all
the people in Seattle were so optimistic about the kind
of leader that Mike McDonald is, and it's.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Like I thought so too, but you never quite can tell.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
And then you see it this year and it's like
them and the Chargers have been the like quietest, really
good teams, just marching along beating everyone. The crazy thing
to me is how set everything seems right. It's like,
if you look at the picture, there's really probably really
only one team that's in doubt, right, it's really the
(03:22):
NFC South and everything else.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
You're sort of like, all right, we probably am in.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
The lines probably are out, and everyone else is probably in.
And then the NFC South, it's like who knows. But
it's weird because you know, we love drama. And then
you look at the games the last two weeks this season,
and there will be drama and we'll be exciting and
they'll be seating and everything, but you're kind of gonna know,
with the exception of maybe two teams total, who's in
(03:46):
and who's not.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Which one makes.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
It like, all right, that's annoying you to get down
the stretch, but it means the playoffs are going to
be as high powered as we have seen playoffs in
a long time. Like, these are some excellent team The
bad teams are also bad.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
But you know the.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Fact that these are like the really good teams is
pretty awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Wilson shouldn't overlook the Panthers. All year. It's been, as
we've talked about, this roller coaster ride of they've beaten
good teams, they've suffered some really bad losses. Although based
upon what the Saints are doing again yesterday, i'll bee
it against the Jets, those losses getting swept there doesn't
look quite as bad. I just think that it speaks
to I mean, if you think about this, how many
(04:31):
young coaches are on that list right now or young's
probably not the right works. Mcveig has been around for
nine years, he's still one of the youngest guys. Mike
McDonald in year two, Ben Johnson year one, Dave Canalis
in year two as well, a bunch of teams that
have kind of undergone these quick turnarounds contrasted with the
(04:52):
longer builds of Green Bay and San Francisco, the Rams,
of course, the Eagles is the defending champs. Then obviously
even the Lions and the who have been in this
position before but right now have some their work cutout
and need some help to be able to get into
the playoff field. Over on the AFC side, you have
some similar types of dynamics. You've got the first year
(05:13):
of Mike Vrabel and Liam Cohen. You know, Sean Payton's
in year three now in Denver, but it still feels like,
you know, that's been a really rapid turnaround from where
they were. And then of course Jim Harbaugh with the
Chargers and Demiko Ryans has had the Texans in playoff
position three years in a row. One thing in talking
to people with some of these teams you're seeing on
(05:34):
both these listening the AFC and NFC. If you're going
to be a wild carter, if you're going to be
one of the lower first round seeds, what are your
ideal matchups? Judy, There was a long debate, maybe the
most intense one that we've had back in the spring,
about the idea of reseting the playoffs, whether that was
in the wildcard round, whether that was after the wildcard round,
(05:55):
but the idea being, if you're, let's say a nine
to eight division winner, you shouldn't be hosting a twelve
and five wildcard team. Well, that's exactly what we're gonna have.
Somebody's gonna win the NFC South, somebody's gonna win the
AFC North, and they're probably gonna be underdogs in their
home building when we get around to that second weekend
in January.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Right, And part of that conversation about the idea of
receding was you would only receed in the second round.
You would recede for the divisional games, not in the
wildcard round, which presumably you know, the wildcard round would
probably weed out some of the weaker teams that are
in the field. Yeah, except you know, like I in
this case, what you're looking at is the AFC North, which, yeah,
(06:37):
the record is not good, not as good. Let's let's
just assume that it's going to be the Steelers that advance.
The record is not as good, but you know, but
they have played some really good games. Like I don't
view the Steelers as like the weak link of the
AFC because they have they seem to they're very uneven,
(06:57):
but they do have good games. They're often seems to
be getting a little bit more on track. And like
I'm reluctant to just right off Aaron Rodgers in the postseason, right,
I mean, I just still sort of feel like Aaron
Rodgers gives you a chance even if everything looks ugly
and the games are sort of muckety. But like it's
(07:19):
hard for me to just light off the steel Height
and yeah, weird, right, But you know, I struggle with
just writing them off, Like, I mean, they almost lost
the game in Detroit, obviously became very very close to
losing the game, but the fact that they did have
a big lead on the Lions in Detroit in a
must win game like they've basically been in must win territory.
(07:40):
I'm talking about the Steelers now. They've been in must
win territory for like the last three weeks, and they're winning.
It's not pretty, it's probably never going to be pretty,
but they are getting it done. And so to me,
that sort of suggests like a resilience and toughness that
you can't just write off in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Can we stay? Can we spend a second though on
end of that game, because that was the longest delay
I can ever remember, and I understand I read the pool.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
For something that was actually simple and straightforward, right, Like,
it was not that there's OPI on the play, that's
the end. The outcome of the play doesn't matter. Yes,
there was a lot of stuff going.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
On in terms of.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
If there was let me ask you a dumb question,
because I'm pretty sure I'm right, But let's say there
was OPI and one second left, then it's a redo, right.
That's the issue was that the touchdown took the time off,
so therefore it wouldn't redo it.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
That was It wasn't that what Dan Campbell's question was like,
he didn't know.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
He thought they were going to replay which by the way,
the official said there's no replay, but I think what
he meant was no replay the down.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I think they I feel like the confusion and the
mayhem and even CBS seemed confused, was mostly about delivery,
how it was delivered, and and I don't want to
blame the officiating crew, but I feel like if you
lead with the the game is over. There is no touchdown.
There was an OPI instead of leading, it was a touchdown,
(09:11):
So then you're like.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yay, and then the turn off the mic, turn it
back on and though the touchdown doesn't count, just I
forgot the part of the most important part, no touchdown.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
And then he says it's like even even I think
for us who like probably know the rules, you know,
you're really paying attention. Like even I was like for
a few seconds, I was like, well, who won the game?
Like wait, wait, so.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Good to hold on. We got Stacy coming on, so
we'll talk more about that game with her. But let's
focus on the other side of that in the AFC North,
with the Steelers now very much in control that they
didn't even need to win that game. Even if the
Steelers were to have lost to and the Ravens won two,
it still would come down to Week eighteen. But now
there's a chance that the Steelers this week could end
(09:54):
up clinching. They either need a win or Ravens loss,
and they clinch, and Week eighteen becomes irrelevant, which the
NFL probably would not be big fans of, because that's
the obvious game two seventy two that I would like to
put primetouth.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Would probably be in primetime theoretically.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So, but two points on this one. Watching that Ravens
game last night, and I had this this sense of
deja vu sitting in my hotel room the Sunday of
Week one in Foxborough after watching the Patriots lose to
the Raiders, and there was that game between the Ravens
and the Bills where you're like, the Ravens are in
complete control, and all of a sudden Derrick Henry ball
(10:31):
security fumble that changes the entire game. You fast forward
fifteen weeks in the scene. As much as you don't
want to say like this is the story of the season,
like that gets cliched, This is literally the story of
the season. Again last night in a really big spot,
it's like just they're in control, they came out, it
was like, all right, here they go. He fumbles, it
flips the game. And then on top of it, you
(10:53):
have Lamar dropping out with a kind of nebulous, vague
back injury ian that now in perils him and his
availability on Saturday night against the Packers in a must
wing game.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
So, first of all, the watching Derrick Henry fumble, he
is a he's a good dude. He is He stands
up when he makes a mistake and takes ownership of
what happened, and he treats things in such a good way.
And it's so frustrating to see him stand there and fumble,
(11:24):
and you know, God, like you can feel the game
completely change, and I think that sucks. I want to
so a couple of things like and then I have
to deal with an injury thing.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
So excuse me for a second.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
But the raven I feel like the Ravens and the
Bengals are in the same category of like, I wish
I knew what their season actually was, Like we're never
gonna know. I feel like what the Ravens season should
have been, and we're never gonna know what the Bengals season.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Should have been.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
The Bengals looked like a freaking juggernaut yesterday, and they're
gonna miss the playoffs by a bunch.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
And the Ravens missed the playoffs too, and Lamar.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Couldn't even finish because he got a stupid back bruise
on a play. I feel like we, not reporters, but
fans got cheated a little bit.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Because we didn't get the outcome we probably should.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
And the playoffs are going to be awesome, especially if
the Steelers are in at Rogers with one more go
and Tom win with so much on the line.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Like it's going to be great. But I do feel
a little bit like we're gonna get cheated, which kind
of sucks.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
But you know what, here, I just want to go
back to Derrick Henry because yes, that was it was
like got wrenching to watch him fumble again. Having said that,
he ended up having a really productive game and then
he wasn't on the field, I know, in the last
two drives, and the explanation and the explanation from Harbag
was like, well, we're trying to rotate them to keep
them fresh, and but looking back on it, yeah, you
(12:47):
would want Dereck Henry on the field, But why wasn't
Derrick Henry on the field? Like he was running well,
he'd scored two touchdowns, Like, why wasn't Derrick Henry on
the field with the game and basically your season on
the line like that, I thought was very curious coaching.
Not to take anything away from the Patriots, because Drake
may was also awesome down the stretch, but that was, like,
(13:08):
I feel like there were a lot of things that
are just off about the Ravens this year, and that
little piece at the end of the game made me
wonder too.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
We'll be right back with more on the inside.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Let's welcome in our Stacey Dales to the conversation. Who
is at one of I can't even call it the
wildest game of the weekend, but one of the wildest
games of the weekend. It was the Packers and the Bears. Stacy,
thinking back on it after the game, it almost gave
me twenty fourteen NFC Championship vibes, where the Packers have
what seems like an insurmountable lead that somehow crumbles at
(13:57):
the end, in part based on not recover an on
side kick. The fallout of it is it's the biggest
win that the Bears have had in I don't know
how many years you were there. Just take me through
the entire flow of that game on a night where
I'm sure the Chicago's celebrated like they haven't in quite
a while.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
Well as an absolute stunner. I mean, it was unlike
anything I've seen in quite a while. I think about
the twenty eighteen playoff kind of picture for the Bears,
and they had that great defense, but there's so much
faith right now in Caleb Williams. I mean they were
down sixteen to six basically towards the end of this
thing and rattled off all these points against a defense
that I thought was really good. Jeff Haffley had such
(14:39):
a good plan going into it. They blitzed a heck
of a lot more without Micah. But Caleb is just
doing this crazy thing this year. He's got six comeback victories.
When he needs a big play, he gets a big play.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Comeback victories.
Speaker 6 (14:54):
Yeah, it's wild links all quarterbacks actually, but it was.
I can't explain postgame, guys, you know how it is
when you're down there. It felt like almost like an
NFC championship.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
To your point, Tom No, can you explain it? I
have almost never done it. Ian doesn't go to games. No, seriously,
he really wants to know what it's like I do.
It seems chaotic and crazy.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Yeah, it is chaotic and crazy. It's like when you're
at an AFC or NFC championship situation and it's utter
chaos on the field. You don't know who you're interviewing,
you don't know who you're getting, you have not assembled
with the team. I was over on the Packers sideline
and I'm standing there at the end of regulation. I
am like ten feet for Matt Lafleur with eyeballs on him.
(15:39):
Shep Our producer will appreciate that. Whose family was there?
Shout out to Shep's fam. I'm standing ten feet for
Matt Lafleur and he's in constant communication with the official.
I mean, this guy is dialed in. And then the
walker touchdown happens and he does hit the celebration on air,
and Matt Lafleur had no expression and it was like, okay,
(15:59):
here we go to overtime, and then the onside kick happens,
and I could have sworn something popped in the universe
around Chicago, like it was that wild and then postgame, guys,
it was just a free for all. I mean, I
was thrown Colston Lovelin's coming towards me, he brings in
Tremaine Envins, and then DJ Moore's coming in, and then
Caleb's trying to come in, and then Caleb goes to Fox.
(16:20):
It was wild. It was an absolutely wild night.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
I mean, the the one thing I would sort of
wonder and when and why I like having you on
and other people who go to games and are there,
is like the onside kick happens? Yeah, and did the
I mean it felt like watching TV like this thing
is over.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Did it feel like that in the stadium, Yes, it did.
Speaker 6 (16:46):
It was as big a moment as when you remember, guys,
when Chicago went into Wildcat with Manungai early in the
game and goes way over his head, which was None
of Ben Johnson's plays are gimmick, because I want to
make that very clear. When he does something like that,
he does it probably forty times in practice that week,
(17:08):
like that throw to DJ Moore. They put that in
on Thursday to win to win that football game in overtime,
and they were hursted it perfectly in practice on Thursday
and DJ told me that's what we drew up, and
I knew as soon as Caleb looked at me that
was the play that was coming, and it did. It happened.
That's how strategic Ben is. So when that thing happened
with Manungai in the first half, it deflated the Bears.
(17:31):
They were a different team after it. But this play,
this play was like, Okay, they're going to win. It
was like a foregone conclusion they're going to win the game.
I mean, you just knew it. You could feel it.
And you could feel it because I was standing on
the Packers' sideline and I just looked down their bench
and I'm looking at some of the players and I'm
getting the eye rolls. I'm like, like, it was so
(17:53):
deflating on their sideline and so uplifting on the Bears sideline.
It really was a signature game. I mean, Caleb was asked,
after you guys, is this a signature win? And he
deflected it. He said, it's a big moment for us,
but it was such a signature win.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
I think, well, I mean, I think if the real
problem for the Bears is like you're excited, but then
it's like this is starting to look like a team
that could be in it for I mean, it feels
to me like the Commander's team from last year, and
it looks a little bit like the Commander's team from
last year, which, you know, the Commander's team didn't get
to the super Bowl, but certainly they could have. Like
I don't know what the ceiling for this Bears team is,
(18:29):
especially if they're going to like be as physical running
the ball as they are and have the takeaways they have,
Like like, you know, this game is cool to celebrate,
but they could do so knowing that, like there is
a real possibility they're celebrating a lot better things later
in the season, which, like, you know, the other funny
thing is like and I know, Tom, you get this
as well, is like, you know, it's coaching season coming up,
(18:51):
and we talked for years about Ben Johnson being like
the can't miss guy and the guy everyone wants, and like,
I know, Ben is an awesome coach. Even I kind
of rolled my eyes a little bit because it's like,
how good can he be?
Speaker 6 (19:06):
Pretty good?
Speaker 3 (19:07):
How good can he be pretty good?
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, let's take it over to the Packer's side of this, too, Stacy,
because There's a lot of things that happens around in
that game. One Josh Jacobs plays, but it is plainly
not himself. In that game, he has the fumble, he
doesn't touch the ball again, although I think he was
on the field on the hands team for the on
side kick. He got Christian Watson gutting it out. Then
(19:29):
Jordan Love gets hurt and Malik Willis is banged up,
finishes out the game. They've got It's not a short week,
but they play on Saturday again. The only way that
the Packers don't make the playoffs is if they lose
these last two and the Lions win their last two.
Where do you envision Green Bay goes from here. It's
going to depend a lot on who's available. But I
(19:51):
mean to your point, I mean that that was a
gut punch type of a loss. They'd be sitting pretty
right now and instead, you know, they got to find
a way in these next couple of weeks and try
to heal up.
Speaker 6 (20:01):
Yeah, I mean it was wild because they go for
a season high one to ninety two on the ground,
running the football. I thought Malik Willias Willis was fantastic
and he has been fantastic under Matt Lafleur. It was
such an emotional week. I mean spending time talking to
the Packers leading up to that game. Frankly, Jeff Hathley
(20:22):
was probably tired of answering questions about how are we
going to replace Micah Parsons. But now the Jordan Love
comes in, and you know, I thought he was you know,
he wasn't great before the concussion, but the concussion obviously
is concerning. I mean, he was down and out cold
for a second, like it was a big deal. You
(20:42):
could feel it when you saw it, almost and they
obviously they need to finish these last two games out
with a bang. But Chicago's in control right now, I
mean in this division. Now they have to go play
San Francisco this week, so that'll be interesting. But the Packers,
you know, you brought up Josh Jacobs. I watched him
(21:03):
extensively in pregame warm up. He just didn't look right,
you know, he just didn't look right. And if he's
banged up, Emmanuel Wilson's been great, but you know, there
was a little something off with Josh Jacobs. He's so tough,
He's going to play through everything and I probably will
for the remainder of the season. But I think it's
(21:24):
concerning because quarterbacks now in concussion protocol and we'll see
how Jordan comes out of it this week.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
And so the Packers have they have Ravens and then Vikings.
I was just thinking in my head, like, could you
sit Josh Jacobs a week?
Speaker 3 (21:39):
I don't know that you even could.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
Yeah, I don't know if he could either, because I
think it's just too tight in the division And while
they're sitting there, are they not sitting in the seventh
spot right now? And obviously Detroit has to count on
them to lose. So I mean, we're going to see
this quite a bit all week this board in front
of us. But yeah, I mean in the hunt, you
(22:03):
have Detroit there. Detroit can't afford to lose another game.
Maybe green Bay has a little wiggle room, But do
you not play him against Baltimore? I don't think so.
I think I think he goes. I think Jacobs goes.
But the quarterback's more concerning. Good news is Malik Willis is.
He is. He's a cool cucumber back.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
There making themselves some money. Come march to there.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Stacy, Yep, yeah, he is. He's you know, you look
at his numbers and he goes nine for eleven, one
hundred and twenty one pass yards, a passing touchdown. He
had a one forty three passer rating. He doesn't turn
it over, which is really good, and forty four rush
yards to complement it. So I feel like they'll be okay.
(22:48):
But you want Jordan Love in there, the way he's
been playing, how efficiently he's been playing. But going back
to the Bears, you guys, I haven't seen a team
quite like this in my time, and I've covered it
for a while, covering the Bears specifically, I haven't seen
a team this united, this together. The twenty eighteen team
had it, but there's a different vibe at quarterback from
(23:11):
trupis Key to Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
There just is so Katy.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I actually did not. I mean, look, it's a gut
punch that the Packers lost the game, but I actually
did not feel I thought the defense played better than
I expected given that they had just lost Micah. They
were playing they played most of the game without I
mean they obviously played without Michael Parsons. Josh Jacobs for
a lot of the game was not in there. Then
(23:39):
Jordan Love gets concussed, Christian Watson again was gutting it out.
He's clearly so I thought, like for a team that
is as injury depleted as they were, I thought that
was a pretty good showing. Yeah. Now, I mean if
Jordan Love misses the game next week or missus two games,
I mean, you just don't know how a concussion is
going to go. That is very concerning. I don't think
(23:59):
you can have or to sit Josh Jacobs because the
Ravens presumably are still going to have something to play for,
so they are going to be laying all out whether
the Lamar is in there or not. I think, I mean,
the Packers have to do everything they can to just
win the games.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Stacey, you cover that whole NFC North closely. What did
you make of the Lions, the way that that game ended,
the way the entire thing played out, And now the
fact that a team that we've talked about for what
two three years now is being a favorite, if not
the favorite, in the NFC to go to the Super
Bowl is on the verge again barring two wins and
two Packers losses from missing the playoffs entirely. In twenty
(24:35):
twenty five.
Speaker 5 (24:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
I just felt like the Steelers were in control for
the entirety. I really did. I mean, the time of
possession was in their favor. They ran Oh my god,
they had two hundred and thirty on the ground. Every
time I turned around, there was a big gain, whether
it was gain well or it was somebody that was.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Jalen Warren.
Speaker 6 (24:57):
Warren had an unreal career, Like it was crazy. Every
time they were offensively, but Aaron still threw it a ton.
I mean, Aaron played. Aaron is playing really well. I
think that's a conversation that you know, they've won three
in a row and Aaron Rodgers is playing as efficiently
as he has in recent years. I mean, what he
(25:19):
you know, what do you have? Three passing touchdowns? Was that?
Am I correct on that? Or two or three? I
wrote it down earlier.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
He's playing very efficient. I mean, it's the most efficient
football we've seen him. You're you're absolutely right yeah on that.
And it seems like down the stretch of these games too,
if you watch them at the line of scrimmage, it's
old school Aaron making checks and moving people around and
kind of playing the chess match a little bit at
the line too.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
They're also getting chunk plays like which they had they
weren't earlier in the season when the offense was stagnant.
They're starting to get twenty yard plays, twenty five yard
runs like bigger chunk plays and that you know, that
gives the offense some momentum. The offense has looked as
good in the last few weeks as it has at
any point this season. For sure.
Speaker 6 (26:08):
Yeah, Judy, I mean each of their touchdowns was like
forty five yards or something like that. It was. It
was a really impressive.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Running back touchdowns. That is the weirdest stat that I
can remember, exactly forty five.
Speaker 6 (26:22):
I agree. Aaron hasn't turned it over in five games.
I mean, he hasn't thrown a pick in the last
five games. Yeah, it was, uh, you know, I'm and
raw for him to have it that that weird closing
to have two opis. It just was, it was this
is just not a Detroit team. I mean, Dan Campbell
(26:45):
said at one point this season like this is the
year We're just going to have to grid everything out,
and they have nothing has come easy again. They're just
completely ravaged by injuries to their defense. So it's not
their years it Unfortunately for them, it just hasn't been now.
They can't afford to lose and they have to have
(27:05):
somebody help them out. They have to the Packers lose
in order to get into this thing. But I give
a lot of credit to Mike Tomlin, by the way,
shout out to Mike Tomlin. It was Did you guys
notice him coming off the field with Ron?
Speaker 3 (27:20):
That was great?
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah he does that every game. Yeah, yeah, that's every game,
said Judy.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
Thank you, because like that was such a cool moment
for him to be kind of celebrated by these two
future Hall of Famers and two hundred career wins. Hitting me,
He's not going to Penn State anybody, Like, what.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Are we doing?
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Stacy? Yeah, thank you very much for being here. Appreciate
your perspective. As always, you have a lot of NFC
NORS teams to cover in the playoffs over these next
several weeks.
Speaker 6 (27:56):
But for Jim next this week ago, I'm Indy Jacksonville.
I think so.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Another potentially very interesting one with one of the hottest
teams in the NFL right now in the Jaguars. All right,
we got part two. If you're watching this on the podcast.
Go over to part two if you're on YouTube, if
you're watching on the NFL channel on fast streaming platforms,
just stay right here. A lot more insiders to come
for Stacey and Judy and Ian. I'm Tom, will see
(28:22):
you there.
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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