December 22, 2025 • 19 mins
NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapaport and Judy Battista, give you an update on the status of Lamar Jackson heading into this weekend's game, react to the Jaguars dominating the Broncos, the Chargers handling the Cowboys and take a look at the AFC playoff picture as a whole.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to the Insiders. Tom Pellisero, Judy Batista, and
Ian Rappaport. If you're catching this on the podcast, this
is part two on this Monday. It doesn't matter. You
can listen to them in either particular order. If you're
on the NFL channel, If you are catching this and
a variety of other platforms, you've been here already. We
appreciate you sticking around. Let's talk more about the Jacksonville Jaguars,
(00:25):
a team that has been through a lot of different
things over the past decade. If you think about the
arc of the Jaguars, they were in the AFC Championship
Game eight years ago with Doug Moron and Blake Bortles.
They are very close to winning that game in New
England and going to a Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
That regime ends up on Gilmour fingertip away.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You are that close to being a super Bowl team
with Blake Bortles. Then a couple of years later, that
part blows up. You make the heralded hire of Urban
Meyer that lames out spectacularly, bringing Don Peterson. Quick build,
get into the playoffs, win a playoff game, and that
remarkabile come back over the Chargers then a slow burn
(01:09):
as that comes out. Here we are. This is three
regime changes later that you get to Liam Cohen now
taking over as the head coach judy of the Jaguars.
I think even in your wildest dreams, I don't think
that you anticipate the Jaguars being this good, this fast.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
No, And part of that is because Trevor Lawrence is
now now looks like I mean, I remember when Trevor
Lawrence was coming out of college. This is what we
thought Trevor Lawrence was going to be, and they finally
unlocked it. He's playing in the last few weeks almost
flawless football.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
He's not throwing interceptions, He's just all he does is
just throw a touchdown passes. Sometimes he runs for a
touchdown too, So he's playing really well. The defense is
really good, and I love the edge Liam Cohen has,
which I know sounds better Nanas.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
But like because he's great, but it's great.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Like I love that he was mad at Robert Sala
earlier this season, and now I love that he's chippy
about Sean Payton, who probably was trying to.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Pay no.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Of course, not no way.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You know, small market.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
And I love that liam Cohene is like a small
market bristling up.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
By the way, Jacksonville tenth largest media market in the country,
so huge.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
It's a huge population area, too, huge population center.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Anyway. Uh it does feel small, yeah, flying like it's small.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Okay, look at the population figures for the Jacksonville area anyway,
come with me with your facts. Okay, awesome, Okay, exactly
what you want to hear from a reporter anyway. I
I love everything about how the Jaguars are functioning right
now and Trevor Lawrence has been. I'm so happy for
(02:59):
him because I think until this you really wondered if
he was ever going to reach what we thought Trevor
Lawrence was going to be in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Right and even.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Earlier this season before the bye, I was sort of
like like, in my head, you're sort of thinking, I
mean thinking of like off season storylines.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's like, what are the Jaguars going to do?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
He's ripping it right, Like, this is the best Trevor
Lawrence we've seen since Clemson and with the last whatever
it's been four games during this hot streak, I mean,
he's playing at a really, really high level, which if
you can do that particularly in a division where you know,
some of the quarterback plays been up and down this season.
Probably shouldn't surprise anybody at the Jaguars are at the
(03:42):
top of that division. What is surprising me and is
right now if they're on the precipice of maybe potentially
being the number one seed. That part is the shock.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Well, there's so many interesting things.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
First of all, like, you know, I haven't talked to
him a little bit, but I assume Trent Balky is
doing an exaggerated I roll with the team that he built,
watching them just be awesome with really good coaching, you know,
like and they've made some additions to Kobe Myers, but
like basically the team. I mean that the guy they
traded a lot of draft picks for has barely played
(04:13):
this year, and when he has he was just okay.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
That's an undersold part of this. Travis Hunters, who was
this year's and next year's first round pick, it played
what half the season before he got hurt and was
not super impactful during that time.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Right, And so this is the team that Trent Balky
built and always thought would be good enough with good coaching,
and he just never got to see it. Out Now
he did get multiple contracts extensions, so that's cool. But
like that part is interesting. The other thing is Liam
Cohen wears all of this. He was mad at the
Broncos for outing them as the other team and the
(04:49):
Devon Veley trade which was supposed to be private because
they're trying to trade for another receiver, which they eventually did,
which Tom broke, and he was mad at him for
the small market quip and used it in a way
that Sean Payton fully appreciated.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It was ultimate Sean Payton.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
It was like, I'm gonna take this a little bit
and I got to use this my rally and cry
and then when we finally win, we're gonna take it
and we're gonna shove it somewhere.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
And it was perfect. And there's a lot of things
about being a good coach, but taking the little things
and getting your team galvanized around it was pretty awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
And they're they're good and like, yes, for a small
market team, they don't get a lot of attention. I
don't see why they don't have a shot at this thing,
and that is and that's pretty fun.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Well, they just took down a team, the team that
we thought was the best team in the NFC in
one of the hardest places in the league to play,
you know, pretty comfortably. They were in control of that
game all day. So yeah, anything is possible.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The Chargers also red hot right now. I don't think
that ian. You know, year two with Jim Harbaugh, anybody
should be surprised. But you know, if it's possible to
be a quiet eleven and four team playing in Los Angeles,
which is definitely not a small market, I would argue
fan base size. You can argue things like that, but
this is you know, a team that should be in
the spot like it.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Not that was a Peytons comments.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That's not a shot. I'm just saying they have a
reputation for other teams fans coming and filling the stadium
when they play against the Chargers. But Jim Harbaugh, the
moment he was hired, he made them extremely relevant, Judy.
They're playing at a really high level. Justin Herbert battling
through some of the injuries, he looks, you know, healthier.
Right now. They are going to have to deal, as
(06:39):
we're recording this podcast, with a potential two game suspension
for Denzel Paraman, their linebacker who hit Ryan Flournoy as
he was on the ground yesterday. Paaraman can appeal that,
but seems like he won't be on the on the
field for at least the near term here. But Judy,
the Chargers look like for all their injuries, let's remember
their offensive line is not their offense line. They're down
(07:00):
to like their fourth, fifth, sixth tackles, you know, no
Joe Alt obviously, Nora Sean Slater the entire season. Uh,
They've been banged up in other positions, but they just
they keep finding a way running back as well. But
they just keep finding a way to press forward here
in Stack wins Well.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I actually think that the decimated offensive line is part
of the reason why they are the quiet team, because
I think most of us wrote them off thinking there
is no way you can overcome just your offensive line,
you know, being in an operating room essentially. So I
think that's why you sort of put them to the
(07:36):
side and didn't think about them much. And now all
of a sudden, I can't remember what they're seven of nine.
They've wanted something like that, and here they are at,
you know, eleven and four. The other reason I think
that they get overlooked is because we pay so much
attention to the Chiefs, and then the Broncos have been
so strong that you just sort of you've had the
Chargers over here a little bit. Having said that, any
(07:58):
team that has Justin Herbert playing the way he is
playing is a factor. And you saw what happens when
they can protect him. Now, it was the Cowboys, who
we've maybe talked a few minutes about their defense this season,
not the greatest, not the greatest, but he didn't get
sacked at all. That he barely got pressured. I mean,
(08:19):
they barely got anybody in his face at all. And
you saw what he does when they can protect him.
And so that now can they possibly do that when
you're going against elite pass rushes, which you're going to
face in the playoffs. I mean, they probably can't keep
them that clean, but I mean, if they could just
keep them upright more than you know, the games where
he's been sacked seven times or whatever, it is like
(08:42):
he is a dangerous quarterback. There's no question about it.
They are a dangerous team.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
And I mean one of the best ways to keep
him fully healthy is to run the ball, which they
have Kimani Vidal did get injured. I'll tweet this soon
as we get done here, but sounds like a next strain,
probably dated, so I could miss some time.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
But it's mostly okay. I think that is That is
good news.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
But I just tweeted it. You don't need to bother.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Oh did a joke, that's Joe.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
It's hard to keep track of all these things.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
They've gotten twenty five phone calls all taping this podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
It's tough to keep track of what's out there and
what is it?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
All right, let me refocus your brain here because Saturday
on NFL Network, we have a absolutely huge game when
it comes to sorting out some of those things in
the playoff field Texans Chargers Saturday, four thirty pm Eastern Time,
one thirty Pacific on NFL Network. That could potentially impact
some of those things in terms of the seeding the Texans.
(09:42):
That was a weird game yesterday against a Raiders team
that decided for the first time, and I don't know
how long to show up and be competitive, but Heuston
found a way to get a win. I just I
mean Ian sitting back and looking at this playoff field
right now, if I'm the Steelers or potentially of the Ravens.
I don't know who I want to face out of
that wildcard group. I don't I don't really feel great
about going up against any of those teams, although I
(10:03):
guess you'd say, just from an offensive firepower perspective, if
you had to pick one, it might be Houston.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I would rather not face Houston.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
I mean to me, like, I don't know what seed
they're gonna be, but like almost nobody does what they do.
Like Justin Herbert is good, he's mobile, he's physically strong,
he's got a great arm, Like there are other quarterbacks
that do that.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Josh Allen, you know, probably does.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
It a little bit better, I would say, but like
I've seen that before and you could sort of game
play that Houston defense is suffocating and so like offensively
they do just enough, and like look, if CJ. Strids
is gonna play a get in the fourth quarter, then
they're gonna be a real problem. But if you say
to me, now, who gives you the most like upset
potential in the whole playoffs, Houston, to me is is
(10:53):
number one, because like you can't replicate and they ruin
everything you try to do. So you're you could win,
but you're going to win like seventeen fourteen, And that's
a challenge, especially for teams that I used to putting
up a lot of points.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Judy, who do you got? All right? If it's one
of those teams, now, potentially that still could be the Jaguars,
depending how this thing plays out. Let's say you're picking
from those three teams right there, who is it? Do you?
Who do you actually want to see? If you're let's
say the Steelers hosting the four or five game.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
If I'm the Steelers, who do I want to see?
I guess I would say I want to see the Chargers.
And that's no disrespect intended to the Chargers, but I
you know, I look at Buffalo and all I see
is Josh Allen with his Superman cape on and so like,
no matter how much of a mess they are, I
just envisioning him saying like, Okay, I'll handle it and
(11:49):
take it from there. And then he takes the Bills
to a victory. And the Texans defense is so good,
even though the offense is concerning to me, you know
that they're so up and down, but the defense is
so good. I think they could just you know, screw
you up. No matter who they're going to play, I
definitely think they have the upset potential the Texans. So
(12:10):
I guess if I were the Steelers, I would say
I want the Chargers, And you would think to yourself, like, well,
they're not going to be able to keep Justin Herbert upright,
especially if TJ. Watt gets back on the field in
time for the playoffs. You know, like we'll be able
to get in Justin Herbert's face a little bit. Our
defense has been playing a little bit better. I guess
that's who I would want. Not not an enviable position though,
(12:33):
that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
And to bring this conversation full circle to the twenty
seventeen Jaguars. Their first round playoff game that year was
at home against the Bills. I believe the final score
was nine to six. Tyrod Taylor was the Bills quarterback
in the first year of.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
The h That was what caused them to reboot right
because they were like the Bills shed salary in year two.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
The Jaguars pushed all the way forward. They were a
really good team that year. I would can't give gambling
device on this show, but if you told me fifteen points.
Give me the over in a remat.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
We'll be right back with more.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
I'm the inside.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
As we record this, we did get an update on
the most significant injury to come out of the Sunday
of Week sixteen. Ian Lamar Jackson did not finish after
taking a need of the back. It didn't look that
bad in real time, but to hear John Harbaugh tell
it today, there seems to be real uncertainy about whether
Lamar's can be ready to roll Saturday against the Packers.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
John Harvard called it a serious contusion, which is like
saying a bad bruise, but in a lot bigger words.
But you know, it's sort of like when someone like
when someone has a deep thigh bruise, you're like, oh,
it's just a bruise, but like if you can't walk,
then it's not just a bruise.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Like it can be a real thing.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Lamar saying last night after the game that he took
a shot, like a numbing shot and still couldn't even throw.
You know, that's alarming, and I think obviously he wanted
to play. He was he was pretty pissed off. He
really never gets like that, but he was saying it's
bs just that he had to deal with it, and
I for sure don't blame him.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, he's day to day. You hope he would.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Play, but I think it's safe to say we just
we don't know, and we're gonna have to see, like
is he able to get out there and practice on Tuesday,
because they have a right, yeah, they play Saturday, so
they have a short.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Beaks at the calendar. Right, that's the first time ever.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I mean, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
It's like it's Tuesday, but it feels like a Wednesday,
and then on Saturday it'll be Saturday, but it feels
like a Sunday, except it'll be Saturday anyway. So I
think it's okay, and they're against the Ropes for Shore
for sure, but we don't know whether they're gonna have
Lamar or not.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I mean, they can't win if Lamar doesn't play. Snoop.
Snoop is fine, but they're going against another team that
has to win the game, right, so you're not going
to get You're not gonna be able to sort of
stroll through this game, and you're going up against a
good defense. I you know, if Lamar doesn't play, I
don't give the Ravens much of a chance. This has
(15:13):
been a very off year for the Ravens anyway. Even
when Lamar has been playing, it just hasn't been right.
It's all been just sort of a tick off. Lamar
hasn't looked right the whole time. It just doesn't feel
like your year. Stacy was saying that about the Lions.
It just does not feel like the Ravens year.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Even with Lamar. I wouldn't have liked this matchup from
the Ravens perspective. And the Packers shut down the bears
high powered offense for the bulk of that game, if
not for a and then all of a sudden, obviously
the floodgates open. But barring a you know, mishandled on
side kick, you know, the Packers are winning that game
and they're in comfortable position. The Ravens have not been themselves,
(15:51):
and barring two wins plus two Steelers losses, they do
play Week eighteen, they're not making the playoffs. The Lions,
pending whatever happened these next two games, they need two
wins and two Packers losses to get it. They may
not make it. The Chiefs already haven't make it made it,
and now, Judy, we've got a Bucks team. That first
half of the season you looked and you're like, how
(16:12):
is anybody going to stop these guys? Now you watch
them right now and it's like they just they cannot
put together a winning performance. Even when Todd Bowles calls
the team to the carpet, they kind of come out
and look the same as they have for a couple
of months.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Here.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
What is so concerning is they had focused so much
on when they finally get healthy, thinking when they finally
get healthy, they will get back to normal, the offense
will get back to normal, and they will surge into
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
And that has not happened.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
They're as healthy and as intact offensively as they've been
all season, and it's still not working. They're turning the
ball over a lot the last however, many games with
Bakers throwing interceptions. It's just it's not as easy to
flip a switch on an offense as maybe you think, like, oh,
everybody's okay, we'll be back to normal. No, it doesn't
(17:02):
work that way. And I mean, the slide is just
it's unbelievable and it looks unstoppable to lose three straight
games in your division. Let's be perfectly on is this
is not a dominant division, so that that just tells
you everything you need to know about the Bucks. It's
(17:22):
it's ugly, ugly.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And still the crazy thing is, first of all, they
had a chance to win, I mean, the Baker Mike
Evans miscommunication at the end, but also like all they
need to do is win next week and then it's
win and in which I know seems crazy, but like
just get in right, So like all of that is true,
and I agree that it has not looked at all
(17:45):
like they imagine when they were trying.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
To get healthy. But unbelievably, we'll probably still be watching
this next Sunday night and being like, all right, Bucks
Panthers winning in.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Well, same exercise we did on the AFC. All right,
if you're looking at the rest of the potential and
see wildcards, who if you're the buckshore of the Panthers,
are you going that's a favorable matchup for the Panthers?
You probably would go ahead and say, well, it's the
team you'd be facing the Rams, because we already beat
him at home once here. But that's a that's a
treacherous group of wildcard teams. Judy going into whoever ends
(18:17):
up clinching that number four seed.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
List enough, I'm the Eagles. I'm not thrilled about having
to play one of those wildcard teams. And the Eagles
are going to be the three seed, presumably they'll stay
in that spot.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
So yeah, the wildcard.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Teams are nuts. It's a good look.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
See it's right ego. I mean it would be great matchups.
If you're the Panthers, who do you want to see?
I mean, I guess you would take them.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Are we going to get the Packers again?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I mean that would be a matchup, and that would
be the matchup on That would be awesome.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And Hackers, I mean right penning these last couple of
games that very well could end up being the matchup
here tells.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
The streets give us that, which is.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Which is pretty wild. Hey, we got big games coming
up this week. We've got games on NFL Network, We've
got games on Netflix on Christmas. This is crunch time, man.
This is Week seventeen in the NFL. So many of
these games coming live in a nationally televised form. I
(19:19):
can't call it national TV because Netflix is you know
international streaming, right, I think it's international. I probably should
know that information at any rate. Tons of football, We
will be with you all this week leading up to
it as well, back on Tuesday night, seven pm Eastern
Time on NFL Network. You can catch us throughout the
week as well right here on the Insiders. Thanks for
(19:41):
being here, everybody, for my whoever be and Judie. I'm
Tom steal I.
Welcome back to the Insiders. Tom Pellisero, Judy Batista, and
Ian Rappaport. If you're catching this on the podcast, this
is part two on this Monday. It doesn't matter. You
can listen to them in either particular order. If you're
on the NFL channel, If you are catching this and
a variety of other platforms, you've been here already. We
appreciate you sticking around. Let's talk more about the Jacksonville Jaguars,
(00:25):
a team that has been through a lot of different
things over the past decade. If you think about the
arc of the Jaguars, they were in the AFC Championship
Game eight years ago with Doug Moron and Blake Bortles.
They are very close to winning that game in New
England and going to a Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
That regime ends up on Gilmour fingertip away.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
You are that close to being a super Bowl team
with Blake Bortles. Then a couple of years later, that
part blows up. You make the heralded hire of Urban
Meyer that lames out spectacularly, bringing Don Peterson. Quick build,
get into the playoffs, win a playoff game, and that
remarkabile come back over the Chargers then a slow burn
(01:09):
as that comes out. Here we are. This is three
regime changes later that you get to Liam Cohen now
taking over as the head coach judy of the Jaguars.
I think even in your wildest dreams, I don't think
that you anticipate the Jaguars being this good, this fast.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
No, And part of that is because Trevor Lawrence is
now now looks like I mean, I remember when Trevor
Lawrence was coming out of college. This is what we
thought Trevor Lawrence was going to be, and they finally
unlocked it. He's playing in the last few weeks almost
flawless football.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
He's not throwing interceptions, He's just all he does is
just throw a touchdown passes. Sometimes he runs for a
touchdown too, So he's playing really well. The defense is
really good, and I love the edge Liam Cohen has,
which I know sounds better Nanas.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
But like because he's great, but it's great.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Like I love that he was mad at Robert Sala
earlier this season, and now I love that he's chippy
about Sean Payton, who probably was trying to.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Pay no.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Of course, not no way.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You know, small market.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
And I love that liam Cohene is like a small
market bristling up.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
By the way, Jacksonville tenth largest media market in the country,
so huge.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
It's a huge population area, too, huge population center.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Anyway. Uh it does feel small, yeah, flying like it's small.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Okay, look at the population figures for the Jacksonville area anyway,
come with me with your facts. Okay, awesome, Okay, exactly
what you want to hear from a reporter anyway. I
I love everything about how the Jaguars are functioning right
now and Trevor Lawrence has been. I'm so happy for
(02:59):
him because I think until this you really wondered if
he was ever going to reach what we thought Trevor
Lawrence was going to be in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Right and even.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Earlier this season before the bye, I was sort of
like like, in my head, you're sort of thinking, I
mean thinking of like off season storylines.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's like, what are the Jaguars going to do?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
He's ripping it right, Like, this is the best Trevor
Lawrence we've seen since Clemson and with the last whatever
it's been four games during this hot streak, I mean,
he's playing at a really, really high level, which if
you can do that particularly in a division where you know,
some of the quarterback plays been up and down this season.
Probably shouldn't surprise anybody at the Jaguars are at the
(03:42):
top of that division. What is surprising me and is
right now if they're on the precipice of maybe potentially
being the number one seed. That part is the shock.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Well, there's so many interesting things.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
First of all, like, you know, I haven't talked to
him a little bit, but I assume Trent Balky is
doing an exaggerated I roll with the team that he built,
watching them just be awesome with really good coaching, you know,
like and they've made some additions to Kobe Myers, but
like basically the team. I mean that the guy they
traded a lot of draft picks for has barely played
(04:13):
this year, and when he has he was just okay.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
That's an undersold part of this. Travis Hunters, who was
this year's and next year's first round pick, it played
what half the season before he got hurt and was
not super impactful during that time.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
Right, And so this is the team that Trent Balky
built and always thought would be good enough with good coaching,
and he just never got to see it. Out Now
he did get multiple contracts extensions, so that's cool. But
like that part is interesting. The other thing is Liam
Cohen wears all of this. He was mad at the
Broncos for outing them as the other team and the
(04:49):
Devon Veley trade which was supposed to be private because
they're trying to trade for another receiver, which they eventually did,
which Tom broke, and he was mad at him for
the small market quip and used it in a way
that Sean Payton fully appreciated.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It was ultimate Sean Payton.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
It was like, I'm gonna take this a little bit
and I got to use this my rally and cry
and then when we finally win, we're gonna take it
and we're gonna shove it somewhere.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
And it was perfect. And there's a lot of things
about being a good coach, but taking the little things
and getting your team galvanized around it was pretty awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
And they're they're good and like, yes, for a small
market team, they don't get a lot of attention. I
don't see why they don't have a shot at this thing,
and that is and that's pretty fun.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Well, they just took down a team, the team that
we thought was the best team in the NFC in
one of the hardest places in the league to play,
you know, pretty comfortably. They were in control of that
game all day. So yeah, anything is possible.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
The Chargers also red hot right now. I don't think
that ian. You know, year two with Jim Harbaugh, anybody
should be surprised. But you know, if it's possible to
be a quiet eleven and four team playing in Los Angeles,
which is definitely not a small market, I would argue
fan base size. You can argue things like that, but
this is you know, a team that should be in
the spot like it.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Not that was a Peytons comments.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
That's not a shot. I'm just saying they have a
reputation for other teams fans coming and filling the stadium
when they play against the Chargers. But Jim Harbaugh, the
moment he was hired, he made them extremely relevant, Judy.
They're playing at a really high level. Justin Herbert battling
through some of the injuries, he looks, you know, healthier.
Right now. They are going to have to deal, as
(06:39):
we're recording this podcast, with a potential two game suspension
for Denzel Paraman, their linebacker who hit Ryan Flournoy as
he was on the ground yesterday. Paaraman can appeal that,
but seems like he won't be on the on the
field for at least the near term here. But Judy,
the Chargers look like for all their injuries, let's remember
their offensive line is not their offense line. They're down
(07:00):
to like their fourth, fifth, sixth tackles, you know, no
Joe Alt obviously, Nora Sean Slater the entire season. Uh,
They've been banged up in other positions, but they just
they keep finding a way running back as well. But
they just keep finding a way to press forward here
in Stack wins Well.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
I actually think that the decimated offensive line is part
of the reason why they are the quiet team, because
I think most of us wrote them off thinking there
is no way you can overcome just your offensive line,
you know, being in an operating room essentially. So I
think that's why you sort of put them to the
(07:36):
side and didn't think about them much. And now all
of a sudden, I can't remember what they're seven of nine.
They've wanted something like that, and here they are at,
you know, eleven and four. The other reason I think
that they get overlooked is because we pay so much
attention to the Chiefs, and then the Broncos have been
so strong that you just sort of you've had the
Chargers over here a little bit. Having said that, any
(07:58):
team that has Justin Herbert playing the way he is
playing is a factor. And you saw what happens when
they can protect him. Now, it was the Cowboys, who
we've maybe talked a few minutes about their defense this season,
not the greatest, not the greatest, but he didn't get
sacked at all. That he barely got pressured. I mean,
(08:19):
they barely got anybody in his face at all. And
you saw what he does when they can protect him.
And so that now can they possibly do that when
you're going against elite pass rushes, which you're going to
face in the playoffs. I mean, they probably can't keep
them that clean, but I mean, if they could just
keep them upright more than you know, the games where
he's been sacked seven times or whatever, it is like
(08:42):
he is a dangerous quarterback. There's no question about it.
They are a dangerous team.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
And I mean one of the best ways to keep
him fully healthy is to run the ball, which they
have Kimani Vidal did get injured. I'll tweet this soon
as we get done here, but sounds like a next strain,
probably dated, so I could miss some time.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
But it's mostly okay. I think that is That is
good news.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
But I just tweeted it. You don't need to bother.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Oh did a joke, that's Joe.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
It's hard to keep track of all these things.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
They've gotten twenty five phone calls all taping this podcast.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
It's tough to keep track of what's out there and
what is it?
Speaker 1 (09:19):
All right, let me refocus your brain here because Saturday
on NFL Network, we have a absolutely huge game when
it comes to sorting out some of those things in
the playoff field Texans Chargers Saturday, four thirty pm Eastern Time,
one thirty Pacific on NFL Network. That could potentially impact
some of those things in terms of the seeding the Texans.
(09:42):
That was a weird game yesterday against a Raiders team
that decided for the first time, and I don't know
how long to show up and be competitive, but Heuston
found a way to get a win. I just I
mean Ian sitting back and looking at this playoff field
right now, if I'm the Steelers or potentially of the Ravens.
I don't know who I want to face out of
that wildcard group. I don't I don't really feel great
about going up against any of those teams, although I
(10:03):
guess you'd say, just from an offensive firepower perspective, if
you had to pick one, it might be Houston.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I would rather not face Houston.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
I mean to me, like, I don't know what seed
they're gonna be, but like almost nobody does what they do.
Like Justin Herbert is good, he's mobile, he's physically strong,
he's got a great arm, Like there are other quarterbacks
that do that.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Josh Allen, you know, probably does.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
It a little bit better, I would say, but like
I've seen that before and you could sort of game
play that Houston defense is suffocating and so like offensively
they do just enough, and like look, if CJ. Strids
is gonna play a get in the fourth quarter, then
they're gonna be a real problem. But if you say
to me, now, who gives you the most like upset
potential in the whole playoffs, Houston, to me is is
(10:53):
number one, because like you can't replicate and they ruin
everything you try to do. So you're you could win,
but you're going to win like seventeen fourteen, And that's
a challenge, especially for teams that I used to putting
up a lot of points.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Judy, who do you got? All right? If it's one
of those teams, now, potentially that still could be the Jaguars,
depending how this thing plays out. Let's say you're picking
from those three teams right there, who is it? Do you?
Who do you actually want to see? If you're let's
say the Steelers hosting the four or five game.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
If I'm the Steelers, who do I want to see?
I guess I would say I want to see the Chargers.
And that's no disrespect intended to the Chargers, but I
you know, I look at Buffalo and all I see
is Josh Allen with his Superman cape on and so like,
no matter how much of a mess they are, I
just envisioning him saying like, Okay, I'll handle it and
(11:49):
take it from there. And then he takes the Bills
to a victory. And the Texans defense is so good,
even though the offense is concerning to me, you know
that they're so up and down, but the defense is
so good. I think they could just you know, screw
you up. No matter who they're going to play, I
definitely think they have the upset potential the Texans. So
(12:10):
I guess if I were the Steelers, I would say
I want the Chargers, And you would think to yourself, like, well,
they're not going to be able to keep Justin Herbert upright,
especially if TJ. Watt gets back on the field in
time for the playoffs. You know, like we'll be able
to get in Justin Herbert's face a little bit. Our
defense has been playing a little bit better. I guess
that's who I would want. Not not an enviable position though,
(12:33):
that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
And to bring this conversation full circle to the twenty
seventeen Jaguars. Their first round playoff game that year was
at home against the Bills. I believe the final score
was nine to six. Tyrod Taylor was the Bills quarterback
in the first year of.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
The h That was what caused them to reboot right
because they were like the Bills shed salary in year two.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
The Jaguars pushed all the way forward. They were a
really good team that year. I would can't give gambling
device on this show, but if you told me fifteen points.
Give me the over in a remat.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
We'll be right back with more.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
I'm the inside.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
As we record this, we did get an update on
the most significant injury to come out of the Sunday
of Week sixteen. Ian Lamar Jackson did not finish after
taking a need of the back. It didn't look that
bad in real time, but to hear John Harbaugh tell
it today, there seems to be real uncertainy about whether
Lamar's can be ready to roll Saturday against the Packers.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
John Harvard called it a serious contusion, which is like
saying a bad bruise, but in a lot bigger words.
But you know, it's sort of like when someone like
when someone has a deep thigh bruise, you're like, oh,
it's just a bruise, but like if you can't walk,
then it's not just a bruise.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Like it can be a real thing.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Lamar saying last night after the game that he took
a shot, like a numbing shot and still couldn't even throw.
You know, that's alarming, and I think obviously he wanted
to play. He was he was pretty pissed off. He
really never gets like that, but he was saying it's
bs just that he had to deal with it, and
I for sure don't blame him.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, he's day to day. You hope he would.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
Play, but I think it's safe to say we just
we don't know, and we're gonna have to see, like
is he able to get out there and practice on Tuesday,
because they have a right, yeah, they play Saturday, so
they have a short.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Beaks at the calendar. Right, that's the first time ever.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I mean, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
It's like it's Tuesday, but it feels like a Wednesday,
and then on Saturday it'll be Saturday, but it feels
like a Sunday, except it'll be Saturday anyway. So I
think it's okay, and they're against the Ropes for Shore
for sure, but we don't know whether they're gonna have
Lamar or not.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I mean, they can't win if Lamar doesn't play. Snoop.
Snoop is fine, but they're going against another team that
has to win the game, right, so you're not going
to get You're not gonna be able to sort of
stroll through this game, and you're going up against a
good defense. I you know, if Lamar doesn't play, I
don't give the Ravens much of a chance. This has
(15:13):
been a very off year for the Ravens anyway. Even
when Lamar has been playing, it just hasn't been right.
It's all been just sort of a tick off. Lamar
hasn't looked right the whole time. It just doesn't feel
like your year. Stacy was saying that about the Lions.
It just does not feel like the Ravens year.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Even with Lamar. I wouldn't have liked this matchup from
the Ravens perspective. And the Packers shut down the bears
high powered offense for the bulk of that game, if
not for a and then all of a sudden, obviously
the floodgates open. But barring a you know, mishandled on
side kick, you know, the Packers are winning that game
and they're in comfortable position. The Ravens have not been themselves,
(15:51):
and barring two wins plus two Steelers losses, they do
play Week eighteen, they're not making the playoffs. The Lions,
pending whatever happened these next two games, they need two
wins and two Packers losses to get it. They may
not make it. The Chiefs already haven't make it made it,
and now, Judy, we've got a Bucks team. That first
half of the season you looked and you're like, how
(16:12):
is anybody going to stop these guys? Now you watch
them right now and it's like they just they cannot
put together a winning performance. Even when Todd Bowles calls
the team to the carpet, they kind of come out
and look the same as they have for a couple
of months.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Here.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
What is so concerning is they had focused so much
on when they finally get healthy, thinking when they finally
get healthy, they will get back to normal, the offense
will get back to normal, and they will surge into
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
And that has not happened.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
They're as healthy and as intact offensively as they've been
all season, and it's still not working. They're turning the
ball over a lot the last however, many games with
Bakers throwing interceptions. It's just it's not as easy to
flip a switch on an offense as maybe you think, like, oh,
everybody's okay, we'll be back to normal. No, it doesn't
(17:02):
work that way. And I mean, the slide is just
it's unbelievable and it looks unstoppable to lose three straight
games in your division. Let's be perfectly on is this
is not a dominant division, so that that just tells
you everything you need to know about the Bucks. It's
(17:22):
it's ugly, ugly.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And still the crazy thing is, first of all, they
had a chance to win, I mean, the Baker Mike
Evans miscommunication at the end, but also like all they
need to do is win next week and then it's
win and in which I know seems crazy, but like
just get in right, So like all of that is true,
and I agree that it has not looked at all
(17:45):
like they imagine when they were trying.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
To get healthy. But unbelievably, we'll probably still be watching
this next Sunday night and being like, all right, Bucks
Panthers winning in.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Well, same exercise we did on the AFC. All right,
if you're looking at the rest of the potential and
see wildcards, who if you're the buckshore of the Panthers,
are you going that's a favorable matchup for the Panthers?
You probably would go ahead and say, well, it's the
team you'd be facing the Rams, because we already beat
him at home once here. But that's a that's a
treacherous group of wildcard teams. Judy going into whoever ends
(18:17):
up clinching that number four seed.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
List enough, I'm the Eagles. I'm not thrilled about having
to play one of those wildcard teams. And the Eagles
are going to be the three seed, presumably they'll stay
in that spot.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
So yeah, the wildcard.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Teams are nuts. It's a good look.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
See it's right ego. I mean it would be great matchups.
If you're the Panthers, who do you want to see?
I mean, I guess you would take them.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Are we going to get the Packers again?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I mean that would be a matchup, and that would
be the matchup on That would be awesome.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And Hackers, I mean right penning these last couple of
games that very well could end up being the matchup
here tells.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
The streets give us that, which is.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Which is pretty wild. Hey, we got big games coming
up this week. We've got games on NFL Network, We've
got games on Netflix on Christmas. This is crunch time, man.
This is Week seventeen in the NFL. So many of
these games coming live in a nationally televised form. I
(19:19):
can't call it national TV because Netflix is you know
international streaming, right, I think it's international. I probably should
know that information at any rate. Tons of football, We
will be with you all this week leading up to
it as well, back on Tuesday night, seven pm Eastern
Time on NFL Network. You can catch us throughout the
week as well right here on the Insiders. Thanks for
(19:41):
being here, everybody, for my whoever be and Judie. I'm
Tom steal I.
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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