NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport, Judy Battista, and Mike Garafolo break down the Texan’s win over the Colts and what it means for Indianapolis chances at the one seed. Later, they share their takeaways from Shedeur Sanders second start and the Bears dominant performance against the Eagles.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to the Insiders. Tom Pellisero, Mike Grifolo, Judy Batissa,
and Ian Rappaport clockwork clockwise on your dial if you're
catching this right now on the podcast, it is a
two parts. You can always flip over to see part
one or just listen to part two. Totally different content,
Double the pleasure, double the fun. Let's talk about the
(00:23):
game that I was at yesterday in Indianapolis, one that,
as I spoke with a number of people about before
the game, it felt like the biggest Colts home game
in five years. They haven't made the playoffs since twenty
twenty when Philip Rivers was the quarterback, which feels like
eons ago. The Colts, of course, had come out a
very hot start. Then over the past several weeks there
(00:44):
have been a couple of bumps in the road. A
Texans team coming in that started zero to three, climbing
up beat the Texans, you kind of push them back
to be three games back, lose. All of a sudden,
the Texans are a game back and the Jaguars can
be tied for first place, which is exactly up taking place.
I did not Judy come away from that game thinking
(01:05):
This is a Colts team in crisis now. As we
talked about in the first part of the show, losing
Sauce Gardner for however long it ends up being, It
could be a couple of weeks, it could be more
like four weeks. We'll find out. That is clearly a
blow to the defense. Not the guy that you want
to lose on the very first series of the game.
And not just because he clearly was supposed to be
the sidekick with Cam Binham doing the Rkle dance and
(01:27):
so then Cam was just awkwardly doing that dance himself,
but also because Daniel Jones and Ian reported it last week,
dealing with a fracture in his fibula. This is an injury.
It should be healing while he's playing. That's a big
reason why he's able to be out on the field.
In other words, he should get better. You still have
Jonathan Taylor, you still got weapons all over the field.
But that race where a one point we were talking
(01:49):
about the Colt's going to be the one seed. All
of a sudden, it kind of feels like they need
to make a run starting this week in Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, this is why I'm concerned about the Colts. They
have the toughest remaining schedule in that division. They have
the Jaguars twice. Now, the Jaguars, as we know, you're
not really sure what you're getting with them up and down,
not really sure what you're getting from Trevor. But then
they also have Seattle, San Francisco, Houston. So those are
all teams that are going to be making pushes for
(02:20):
the playoffs, right, all teams that are going to be
playing at a very high level. That's a tough It's
tough again without Sauces, it's going to be tough, and
Houston is coming together.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
The defense.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
The Houston defense is so good that they have a
chance in every game, even though CJ. Stroud is still
not twenty twenty three c J Strowd, But the defense
is so good that they're winning games anyway and they're
going to push it. So don't I wouldn't say the
Colts are in crisis, but I'm certainly concerned about the Colts. Again,
that looked like a division that they were going to
(02:54):
absolutely run away with not even have to think about
it after the midpoint of the season, and now I
feel like they've got the toughest way into the playoffs,
because I think in that division, you're you're going to
have to win the division to get into the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Probably, Yeah, I mean, I am concerned about the Colts.
And I only say that because it was so good,
Like all these seasons have sort of like like they
have arcs, right, and so at the beginning, it was
all up and it was so much positivit and Dale
Jones has resurrected his career and he's going to get
an extension, and Shane Stekin could be coach of the
(03:29):
Year and oh my god, they just traded for Sauce Gardner.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Can you believe that?
Speaker 4 (03:32):
And he's so good and look at the job and
Rumo's doing and it was all coming together. But these
are also humans, and so you start to lose a
bunch in a row. You lose one of your best players,
your quarterback has a broken leg, and because they're human beings, like,
it all wears on you and it is a lot
to handle. And to have to go and play really
(03:53):
good teams, you know, Jaguars can be good, but to
go and play really good teams down the stretch knowing
you got to have it without sauce and your quarterbacks
hop up.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
It is just it's a lot for any team to handle.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
And I think, you know, up to this point, Shane
Steichen has done a very good job. But we're gonna
learn a lot about them, and you know, I think
there is a chance they go into free fall. I
hope they don't because you want Daniel Jones to succeed,
but like, there's a chance they go into free fall,
and there's plenty of teams, Mike that seem ready to
take advantage of that and make a push for the
(04:25):
playoffs instead of them.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I love the Texans are they started oh and three,
and I know that there was a lot of chatter
of them coming in the season as the favorite in
the division, and then for them to start out that way,
it was like it was a you know, and then
and of course then that yeah, and the Colts are
winning games and really coming along and then I so
(04:48):
owing three, So there's seven and two since then uh
five and one in there and beat beating a bunch
of playoff teams along the way as well. So that's uh,
super impression there. They're just they've got so many guys
up front. Sheldon Rankins Tim Settle, Mario Edwards, Derek Barnett,
Daniel Hunter has a big good But I'm saying so
many guys that were like mid to low free agent
(05:09):
signings for them and guys that have been around, and
they're just playing so well for them and really making
that front not just on the edges but in the middle,
and I enjoy. I know some people don't love the
defensive battles. I think there's some really good defenses this year.
And I haven't seen anything about record scoring, so I
would imagine that scoring is down in the NFL this year,
which I know that they don't love to promote as
(05:31):
people love points, but not it's good defense, Like teams
are playing good defense here and I appreciate watching it.
I love watching the Texans, and you know this is
going to be the old defense wins championships. Maybe with
we talk about who the complete teams aren't. It may
be a team that really didn't play great offense this year,
but it's played stellar defensively and the Texans might wind
(05:52):
up being one of those teams that just goes on
a run in January here and sort of out of nowhere.
So the Texans, to me are fun right now. Demiko
Ryans got these guys energized, sort of came out of
nowhere and they've got Look, they got the Chiefs, they
got the Chargers, they got another tough game coming up.
I think they got the Colts left as well. So
Texan is going to be in some high profile games
down the stretch.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Very first snap of or very first series of that
game yesterday and Aziz al Shire shockingly just absolutely lays out.
I believe it was Jonathan Taylor who caught a short
pass in the flat and just eviscerates. I mean, it's like, listen,
azizel Shire has a history, He's been suspended, there have
been all kinds of players safety things, but like you
watch it and you're like, this is why they love
that guy. He's that tone. Early on, it was just
(06:35):
like this is the type of game it's going to be.
Matt Burke, their defensive coordinator, is probably the name we're
gonna be talking about in the head coaching searches in
several weeks here has done a remarkable job. He took
over the play calling for Demiico Ryans after that early
bumpy start so that Demiko could spend more time with
the offense. Nick Kaylee had a backup quarterback in Davis
Mills playing yesterday. CJ's back. There's probably some rusts they're
(06:58):
drawing up, stuff like an end around to Nico Collins,
who I believe had three career rushing attempts before that.
You can see the Texans finding their identity as this
season goes on, which historically would tell you you look
at the best coaches, the best teams over time, that's
what those teams do. They don't always start hot, but
they're always getting better. And you're watching the Texans as
(07:18):
we go into December getting better. You're also seeing the
Jaguars Judy play better football. You mentioned it earlier, Trevor Lawrence,
you know, has been up and down through the course
of this season here, but and listen, they played a
frankly a terrible team yesterday that can't do anything right.
But that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to
dominate inferior opponents. And that's exactly what Jacksonville did to
(07:40):
take a share of the AFC South League.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Be talking about it if they had played down to
the level of the Titans. So props to them for
playing up. Still, it's up and down. The offense did
disappear for stretches yesterday. Having said that, the Jaguars were
pretty banged up, and ultimately they they obliterated the Tennessee Titans,
which is what they should be doing. I wish Trevor
(08:07):
would be more consistent, but when he plays well, they're
a good looking team. And in that division where it's
clear that none of the teams are totally complete. I
thought the Colts were complete early on, but now they're scuffling.
Like again, this is another case none of these teams
are dominant. It's going to be who gets hot at
(08:30):
the right moment in these final and when they play
each other, who can prevail in these games. The Jaguars
can certainly do it. I think they have I'm trying
to see what their schedule is. Oh, they have a
pretty easy way. I mean, they've got the Colts, but
then Jets, Broncos obviously difficult, and the Titans. So that's
a pretty easy go for the Jaguars if they can
(08:53):
just hold serve there.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I like their chances.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I probably feel better about the Jaguars right now than
I do about the hol just because of the strength
of schedule.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, they've done sort of what the Broncos have done
this year, which I talked about earlier, that they're making
the plays to win the game at the right. They've
had some close games that maybe the two point conversion
that they knocked down, some other games they maybe could
have lost that they wound up on the winning side,
and that's why their record is what their record is.
Can I talk Titans real quick? Because I find the
Titans interesting in that they got their quarterback last year
(09:22):
and potentially gonna have the first overall pick. This reminds
me of when they drafted Marcus Mariota and then had
the first overall pick and then it was like, hey, guys,
pick for sale, who needs a quarterback? Come get it?
And being the Jared huh, it's gonna be the same.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It's gonna be the same because if there's a Jared
Carson Wentz that someone wants to go up and get,
which ye begin to the pre draft process.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Fernando Mendoz are being talked about as the top quarterback
right now by a lot of people. The argument the.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Kid, yeah, right, but it's not like a slam dunk.
You don't have a Caleb Williams, who we knew two
years ago. He's the number one pick in this draft.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
It's a quarterback league com and there's something with that
all too. That's the other thing. It's like you're you're
like last year they win, all the teams are going
into that draft, each holding their own first round pick.
Now you've got multiple teams with multiple first round picks
jet spread that need a quarterback potentially, So I find
that interesting. Let's go, I'm gonna be covering who's Who's
who's going to make the move around the combine. You know,
(10:19):
potentially that could be the case because Tomm You're right,
the Titans are really bad and I just don't see
them winning enough games take it out of that number
one spot.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
As we're talking about teams that could end up trading
up in the draft for a quarterback in twenty twenty six,
one of them is a team that drafted a couple
of quarterbacks last year. The Browns have two first round
picks next year. They got their look at Dylan Gabriel.
They are now getting their look at Shador Sanders and
Mike Well. It has been not a you know, full
(10:51):
on breakout type of thing for Shador. He's done enough
positive things to clearly he has warranted a longer look.
And these next five weeks, while you don't want to
reduce it for a team that is effectively out of
the playoff chase, that you know this is going to
make or break. Is he the guy? There is gonna
be something to be said for. Do they see the
type of growth that makes them believe at minimum, Okay,
(11:12):
this is a guy that we have to him or
Dylan Gaber or neither, we have to at least take
this into account when we're figuring out what exactly is
our quarterback play for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I sort of always felt that this was gonna sort
of be incomplete, Like I thought he was gonna play
well enough, but I did think he was going to
blow everybody away, and especially in that offense and the
way that that team plays games. I mean, they're playing
low scoring games. You're now into the weather portion of
the program. Yesterday's weather was not great there, which doesn't
lead to good quarterback plays, especially for a guy who
remember our Daniel Jeremiah at his pro day said he
(11:44):
threw a loose ball and how would he be able
to drive that ball through win through cold air. So
now you're into that right now, which I guess is
the perfect time for him to bak a statement if
he can down the stretch here. But he's not going
to throw for three hundred and fifty yards in this
offense three touchdowns and it's gonna be a okay cool.
He sort of did what we asked them to do.
(12:06):
We want a game here and there, and then I
gonna win a lot of games too. That's the other
thing with the Cleveland Browns. So I just especially because
what we just talked about a short while ago, which
was the draft, them having the draft capital, the chance
to potentially get up to number one or whatever it
may wind up being. So I sort of feel like
the same conversation we're having now, we're going to have
after Week eighteen, and then it's gonna be up to
(12:26):
the Browns for how they want to handle it.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
We also had a highly compelling slate of games over
Thursday and Friday, three on Thanksgiving the Black Friday Game,
which was impactful in a lot of different ways. Judy.
There was heavy impacts on the NFC North and the
NFC East from the holiday games. Let's package them that
way those four games. What is your biggest takeaway about
(12:50):
what you learned?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
First of all, credit to the scheduling department for putting
that line up together over those two days, because they
haven't said what the ratings are yet book.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Oh wait, okay, haven't.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
I wouldn't all the talk about a broken fifty there.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
The four to twenty five game on Thanksgiving is the
one that usually is the most watched game of the
regular season, and this was a really, really good one.
So my takeaway from this is from all of the
games is again, there just is no team you can
totally count on this year, right like, there's just everything
is up for grabs. I did not. I mean, we
(13:28):
know the issues that the Eagles of that and Mike
can't get into those more. We've been talking about it
all season. I still didn't see the Bears going in
there and dominating that game. I just did not envision
that that was going to happen it. I guess the
team I was most impressed with was the Bears, who,
you know, all during the early part of the season,
(13:49):
they were winning games, but winning them against not the elite,
elite teams of the NFL, and so you're sort of
undercutting their their record there. Well, then they beat the Steelers,
Okay without Aaron Rodgers, so you're undercutting that. Well, now
they went in and beat the defending Super Bowl champions
in Philadelphia, albeit a team that's got some issues right now,
but still that was an impressive victory. That was the
(14:11):
team I came away saying like, wow, okay, yep.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
For me, it was the Cowboys.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
And I think after all this after a weird offseason
where they kind of barely did a coaching search and
hired the guy they had in their building, and they
started off with just a horrific defense despite a really
good higher defensive coordinator, and I've added six starters since
week one. I think the Cowboys are good. I really do.
(14:41):
I think they're good. And Kyle Brand talks about the
come running team, the team that catches fire right before
the playoffs and somehow gets in and you're like, God,
I hate to face those guys that could be the Cowboys.
Now they've got some ground to make up. They have
a stupid tie, and they have some ground to make
up in the record, but I think they're good and
watching them play defense and everyone just killed Jerry Jones
of like, oh, got to stop the run, like welcome
(15:03):
to the nineteen seventies. Their defensive tackle play has been
so good and it's really made their edges better and
they're good, and their offense is rolling, and so like,
I think I learned that the Cowboys are a team
to watch out for, and when they're like the sixth
seed in the playoffs, nobody's gonna want to face them.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Like yeah, I mean I got a lot of elements,
especially now with the with Kenny Clark and Quinny Williams
added and the way they're playing defense. Yeah, I like
the Eagles side with there. I covered that game, I
saw you there. Maybe it's amazing how you talked about
how cold your hands and your head and your your
feet were and you weren't wearing an overcoat.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Weren't wearing an over Yeah, but the suit, No, the
suit I was wearing. You got to show that off.
So here's what I did. I had feet warmers, I
had hand warmers. I had base layer top and bottom,
like I'm going skiing, and then right before the hit,
take the jacket off.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
But like that's a weight A lot of times.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
So I sat there and just really toughed it out
for a good like eight minutes or so before my head.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
It was so it was in the forties, and we've
covered games in the twenties and below. It was so cold,
it was the wind. It was just like I could
my mouth wasn't working, my brain wasn't working. I just
wanted to get the hell out of there. I was
still squeezing handwarmers in the third quarter in the heated
press box, and then by the time I got warm,
I was like, hey, time to go back down. I guess. So,
(16:31):
I don't know how these like I just on days
like that, I look around at the players warming up,
and I go The last thing I want to do
right now is run into a fully grown human being,
Like I just don't understand where their mind gets to.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
You can see the teams that run the ball do
well in December and January. Nobody wants to talk.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
You don't want that. Don't a thing like that. You
don't why you don't want that on an eighty degree day.
You don't want that on that kind of day. It
was so bad.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
How was that team? The Bears are not the Eagles,
that was the Eagles before. You did not want to
deal with you didn't want to deal with physical pounding.
It's just it's not it's not the same right now,
Why is that money?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So everybody goes, oh, offensive coordinator play call it. He sucks,
right And and I'm not saying he's the best in
the league. And I'm not even gonna give you my opinion.
What I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Is A J.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Brown after the game is calling it a crazy question,
saying we can't change change on the coaching staff, and
that's a crazy question. Uh Jordan Malata has repeatedly come
to uh Petullo's defense, uh sa Quon Barkley as well.
And then you go, okay, what else are they going
to say in the media?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Right?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
So you kind of go like backdoor and you say,
talk to on the side, like, I know a couple
of guys, no, seriously, dude, like he's where the problem
is us execution, you know. And then you go, okay,
well maybe he still wouldn't tell me. So you got
to go and you say you ask their friends and
their agents and you go, what are they telling you?
And they're like no, dude, like they're all behind Petullo
(17:53):
and they say, like we're schematically, we're good enough. We're
just not so now. And I think this is starting
to you know, there's a little bit coming back on
the cornerback now and it's saying, okay, well he's not executing.
And there was that throw to Devonte Smith that he
thought he was going to sit down and Devonte was
going to keep going, which from my understanding, Davonte made
the right read on that and if you hit him
and stride, maybe he's in the end zone. I know
(18:14):
they people were talking about Goddard being open on that play.
So look, it's a misread, a misthrow, a miscommunication. The
offensive line lane Johnson's died in there is killing them
right now because Fred Johnson's been good in pass protection,
not when he's run blocking. So they're not even the
guys that are in are not healthy. It's just there's
a lot of problems for the Eagles. They got an
(18:34):
extra day to get right here. Friday to Monday. We
shall see. They played well coming off the ten day
layoff in Minnesota last time. Let's see if they could
do it again.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Thirty four days left in the regular season, sixty nine
days until the Super Bowl. The countdown is on and
there's still so many different things that can happen in
that time. Good thing. We're here five days a week
to bring you all the information. You can catch us
on NFL Network Tuesday's, Wednesdays Fridays at seven pm Eastern Time.
(19:04):
You can see us on the NFL channel on fast
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There's a podcast five days a week. You can you
get to Sunday mornings on Game Day Morning, all the
news and information that you can possibly handle. We appreciate
you as always for watching, listening, subscribing, and downloading for
(19:25):
Judy Batista, Mike Garafalo Ian rapport. I'm Tom Peliicero. See
you tomorrow
Welcome back to the Insiders. Tom Pellisero, Mike Grifolo, Judy Batissa,
and Ian Rappaport clockwork clockwise on your dial if you're
catching this right now on the podcast, it is a
two parts. You can always flip over to see part
one or just listen to part two. Totally different content,
Double the pleasure, double the fun. Let's talk about the
(00:23):
game that I was at yesterday in Indianapolis, one that,
as I spoke with a number of people about before
the game, it felt like the biggest Colts home game
in five years. They haven't made the playoffs since twenty
twenty when Philip Rivers was the quarterback, which feels like
eons ago. The Colts, of course, had come out a
very hot start. Then over the past several weeks there
(00:44):
have been a couple of bumps in the road. A
Texans team coming in that started zero to three, climbing
up beat the Texans, you kind of push them back
to be three games back, lose. All of a sudden,
the Texans are a game back and the Jaguars can
be tied for first place, which is exactly up taking place.
I did not Judy come away from that game thinking
(01:05):
This is a Colts team in crisis now. As we
talked about in the first part of the show, losing
Sauce Gardner for however long it ends up being, It
could be a couple of weeks, it could be more
like four weeks. We'll find out. That is clearly a
blow to the defense. Not the guy that you want
to lose on the very first series of the game.
And not just because he clearly was supposed to be
the sidekick with Cam Binham doing the Rkle dance and
(01:27):
so then Cam was just awkwardly doing that dance himself,
but also because Daniel Jones and Ian reported it last week,
dealing with a fracture in his fibula. This is an injury.
It should be healing while he's playing. That's a big
reason why he's able to be out on the field.
In other words, he should get better. You still have
Jonathan Taylor, you still got weapons all over the field.
But that race where a one point we were talking
(01:49):
about the Colt's going to be the one seed. All
of a sudden, it kind of feels like they need
to make a run starting this week in Jacksonville.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, this is why I'm concerned about the Colts. They
have the toughest remaining schedule in that division. They have
the Jaguars twice. Now, the Jaguars, as we know, you're
not really sure what you're getting with them up and down,
not really sure what you're getting from Trevor. But then
they also have Seattle, San Francisco, Houston. So those are
all teams that are going to be making pushes for
(02:20):
the playoffs, right, all teams that are going to be
playing at a very high level. That's a tough It's
tough again without Sauces, it's going to be tough, and
Houston is coming together.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
The defense.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
The Houston defense is so good that they have a
chance in every game, even though CJ. Stroud is still
not twenty twenty three c J Strowd, But the defense
is so good that they're winning games anyway and they're
going to push it. So don't I wouldn't say the
Colts are in crisis, but I'm certainly concerned about the Colts. Again,
that looked like a division that they were going to
(02:54):
absolutely run away with not even have to think about
it after the midpoint of the season, and now I
feel like they've got the toughest way into the playoffs,
because I think in that division, you're you're going to
have to win the division to get into the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Probably, Yeah, I mean, I am concerned about the Colts.
And I only say that because it was so good,
Like all these seasons have sort of like like they
have arcs, right, and so at the beginning, it was
all up and it was so much positivit and Dale
Jones has resurrected his career and he's going to get
an extension, and Shane Stekin could be coach of the
(03:29):
Year and oh my god, they just traded for Sauce Gardner.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Can you believe that?
Speaker 4 (03:32):
And he's so good and look at the job and
Rumo's doing and it was all coming together. But these
are also humans, and so you start to lose a
bunch in a row. You lose one of your best players,
your quarterback has a broken leg, and because they're human beings, like,
it all wears on you and it is a lot
to handle. And to have to go and play really
(03:53):
good teams, you know, Jaguars can be good, but to
go and play really good teams down the stretch knowing
you got to have it without sauce and your quarterbacks
hop up.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
It is just it's a lot for any team to handle.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
And I think, you know, up to this point, Shane
Steichen has done a very good job. But we're gonna
learn a lot about them, and you know, I think
there is a chance they go into free fall. I
hope they don't because you want Daniel Jones to succeed,
but like, there's a chance they go into free fall,
and there's plenty of teams, Mike that seem ready to
take advantage of that and make a push for the
(04:25):
playoffs instead of them.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I love the Texans are they started oh and three,
and I know that there was a lot of chatter
of them coming in the season as the favorite in
the division, and then for them to start out that way,
it was like it was a you know, and then
and of course then that yeah, and the Colts are
winning games and really coming along and then I so
(04:48):
owing three, So there's seven and two since then uh
five and one in there and beat beating a bunch
of playoff teams along the way as well. So that's uh,
super impression there. They're just they've got so many guys
up front. Sheldon Rankins Tim Settle, Mario Edwards, Derek Barnett,
Daniel Hunter has a big good But I'm saying so
many guys that were like mid to low free agent
(05:09):
signings for them and guys that have been around, and
they're just playing so well for them and really making
that front not just on the edges but in the middle,
and I enjoy. I know some people don't love the
defensive battles. I think there's some really good defenses this year.
And I haven't seen anything about record scoring, so I
would imagine that scoring is down in the NFL this year,
which I know that they don't love to promote as
(05:31):
people love points, but not it's good defense, Like teams
are playing good defense here and I appreciate watching it.
I love watching the Texans, and you know this is
going to be the old defense wins championships. Maybe with
we talk about who the complete teams aren't. It may
be a team that really didn't play great offense this year,
but it's played stellar defensively and the Texans might wind
(05:52):
up being one of those teams that just goes on
a run in January here and sort of out of nowhere.
So the Texans, to me are fun right now. Demiko
Ryans got these guys energized, sort of came out of
nowhere and they've got Look, they got the Chiefs, they
got the Chargers, they got another tough game coming up.
I think they got the Colts left as well. So
Texan is going to be in some high profile games
down the stretch.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Very first snap of or very first series of that
game yesterday and Aziz al Shire shockingly just absolutely lays out.
I believe it was Jonathan Taylor who caught a short
pass in the flat and just eviscerates. I mean, it's like, listen,
azizel Shire has a history, He's been suspended, there have
been all kinds of players safety things, but like you
watch it and you're like, this is why they love
that guy. He's that tone. Early on, it was just
(06:35):
like this is the type of game it's going to be.
Matt Burke, their defensive coordinator, is probably the name we're
gonna be talking about in the head coaching searches in
several weeks here has done a remarkable job. He took
over the play calling for Demiico Ryans after that early
bumpy start so that Demiko could spend more time with
the offense. Nick Kaylee had a backup quarterback in Davis
Mills playing yesterday. CJ's back. There's probably some rusts they're
(06:58):
drawing up, stuff like an end around to Nico Collins,
who I believe had three career rushing attempts before that.
You can see the Texans finding their identity as this
season goes on, which historically would tell you you look
at the best coaches, the best teams over time, that's
what those teams do. They don't always start hot, but
they're always getting better. And you're watching the Texans as
(07:18):
we go into December getting better. You're also seeing the
Jaguars Judy play better football. You mentioned it earlier, Trevor Lawrence,
you know, has been up and down through the course
of this season here, but and listen, they played a
frankly a terrible team yesterday that can't do anything right.
But that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to
dominate inferior opponents. And that's exactly what Jacksonville did to
(07:40):
take a share of the AFC South League.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Be talking about it if they had played down to
the level of the Titans. So props to them for
playing up. Still, it's up and down. The offense did
disappear for stretches yesterday. Having said that, the Jaguars were
pretty banged up, and ultimately they they obliterated the Tennessee Titans,
which is what they should be doing. I wish Trevor
(08:07):
would be more consistent, but when he plays well, they're
a good looking team. And in that division where it's
clear that none of the teams are totally complete. I
thought the Colts were complete early on, but now they're scuffling.
Like again, this is another case none of these teams
are dominant. It's going to be who gets hot at
(08:30):
the right moment in these final and when they play
each other, who can prevail in these games. The Jaguars
can certainly do it. I think they have I'm trying
to see what their schedule is. Oh, they have a
pretty easy way. I mean, they've got the Colts, but
then Jets, Broncos obviously difficult, and the Titans. So that's
a pretty easy go for the Jaguars if they can
(08:53):
just hold serve there.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
I like their chances.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I probably feel better about the Jaguars right now than
I do about the hol just because of the strength
of schedule.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Yeah, they've done sort of what the Broncos have done
this year, which I talked about earlier, that they're making
the plays to win the game at the right. They've
had some close games that maybe the two point conversion
that they knocked down, some other games they maybe could
have lost that they wound up on the winning side,
and that's why their record is what their record is.
Can I talk Titans real quick? Because I find the
Titans interesting in that they got their quarterback last year
(09:22):
and potentially gonna have the first overall pick. This reminds
me of when they drafted Marcus Mariota and then had
the first overall pick and then it was like, hey, guys,
pick for sale, who needs a quarterback? Come get it?
And being the Jared huh, it's gonna be the same.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
It's gonna be the same because if there's a Jared
Carson Wentz that someone wants to go up and get,
which ye begin to the pre draft process.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Fernando Mendoz are being talked about as the top quarterback
right now by a lot of people. The argument the.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Kid, yeah, right, but it's not like a slam dunk.
You don't have a Caleb Williams, who we knew two
years ago. He's the number one pick in this draft.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
It's a quarterback league com and there's something with that
all too. That's the other thing. It's like you're you're
like last year they win, all the teams are going
into that draft, each holding their own first round pick.
Now you've got multiple teams with multiple first round picks
jet spread that need a quarterback potentially, So I find
that interesting. Let's go, I'm gonna be covering who's Who's
who's going to make the move around the combine. You know,
(10:19):
potentially that could be the case because Tomm You're right,
the Titans are really bad and I just don't see
them winning enough games take it out of that number
one spot.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
As we're talking about teams that could end up trading
up in the draft for a quarterback in twenty twenty six,
one of them is a team that drafted a couple
of quarterbacks last year. The Browns have two first round
picks next year. They got their look at Dylan Gabriel.
They are now getting their look at Shador Sanders and
Mike Well. It has been not a you know, full
(10:51):
on breakout type of thing for Shador. He's done enough
positive things to clearly he has warranted a longer look.
And these next five weeks, while you don't want to
reduce it for a team that is effectively out of
the playoff chase, that you know this is going to
make or break. Is he the guy? There is gonna
be something to be said for. Do they see the
type of growth that makes them believe at minimum, Okay,
(11:12):
this is a guy that we have to him or
Dylan Gaber or neither, we have to at least take
this into account when we're figuring out what exactly is
our quarterback play for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
I sort of always felt that this was gonna sort
of be incomplete, Like I thought he was gonna play
well enough, but I did think he was going to
blow everybody away, and especially in that offense and the
way that that team plays games. I mean, they're playing
low scoring games. You're now into the weather portion of
the program. Yesterday's weather was not great there, which doesn't
lead to good quarterback plays, especially for a guy who
remember our Daniel Jeremiah at his pro day said he
(11:44):
threw a loose ball and how would he be able
to drive that ball through win through cold air. So
now you're into that right now, which I guess is
the perfect time for him to bak a statement if
he can down the stretch here. But he's not going
to throw for three hundred and fifty yards in this
offense three touchdowns and it's gonna be a okay cool.
He sort of did what we asked them to do.
(12:06):
We want a game here and there, and then I
gonna win a lot of games too. That's the other
thing with the Cleveland Browns. So I just especially because
what we just talked about a short while ago, which
was the draft, them having the draft capital, the chance
to potentially get up to number one or whatever it
may wind up being. So I sort of feel like
the same conversation we're having now, we're going to have
after Week eighteen, and then it's gonna be up to
(12:26):
the Browns for how they want to handle it.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
We also had a highly compelling slate of games over
Thursday and Friday, three on Thanksgiving the Black Friday Game,
which was impactful in a lot of different ways. Judy.
There was heavy impacts on the NFC North and the
NFC East from the holiday games. Let's package them that
way those four games. What is your biggest takeaway about
(12:50):
what you learned?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
First of all, credit to the scheduling department for putting
that line up together over those two days, because they
haven't said what the ratings are yet book.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Oh wait, okay, haven't.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
I wouldn't all the talk about a broken fifty there.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
The four to twenty five game on Thanksgiving is the
one that usually is the most watched game of the
regular season, and this was a really, really good one.
So my takeaway from this is from all of the
games is again, there just is no team you can
totally count on this year, right like, there's just everything
is up for grabs. I did not. I mean, we
(13:28):
know the issues that the Eagles of that and Mike
can't get into those more. We've been talking about it
all season. I still didn't see the Bears going in
there and dominating that game. I just did not envision
that that was going to happen it. I guess the
team I was most impressed with was the Bears, who,
you know, all during the early part of the season,
(13:49):
they were winning games, but winning them against not the elite,
elite teams of the NFL, and so you're sort of
undercutting their their record there. Well, then they beat the Steelers,
Okay without Aaron Rodgers, so you're undercutting that. Well, now
they went in and beat the defending Super Bowl champions
in Philadelphia, albeit a team that's got some issues right now,
but still that was an impressive victory. That was the
(14:11):
team I came away saying like, wow, okay, yep.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
For me, it was the Cowboys.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
And I think after all this after a weird offseason
where they kind of barely did a coaching search and
hired the guy they had in their building, and they
started off with just a horrific defense despite a really
good higher defensive coordinator, and I've added six starters since
week one. I think the Cowboys are good. I really do.
(14:41):
I think they're good. And Kyle Brand talks about the
come running team, the team that catches fire right before
the playoffs and somehow gets in and you're like, God,
I hate to face those guys that could be the Cowboys.
Now they've got some ground to make up. They have
a stupid tie, and they have some ground to make
up in the record, but I think they're good and
watching them play defense and everyone just killed Jerry Jones
of like, oh, got to stop the run, like welcome
(15:03):
to the nineteen seventies. Their defensive tackle play has been
so good and it's really made their edges better and
they're good, and their offense is rolling, and so like,
I think I learned that the Cowboys are a team
to watch out for, and when they're like the sixth
seed in the playoffs, nobody's gonna want to face them.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Like yeah, I mean I got a lot of elements,
especially now with the with Kenny Clark and Quinny Williams
added and the way they're playing defense. Yeah, I like
the Eagles side with there. I covered that game, I
saw you there. Maybe it's amazing how you talked about
how cold your hands and your head and your your
feet were and you weren't wearing an overcoat.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Weren't wearing an over Yeah, but the suit, No, the
suit I was wearing. You got to show that off.
So here's what I did. I had feet warmers, I
had hand warmers. I had base layer top and bottom,
like I'm going skiing, and then right before the hit,
take the jacket off.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
But like that's a weight A lot of times.
Speaker 4 (16:02):
So I sat there and just really toughed it out
for a good like eight minutes or so before my head.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
It was so it was in the forties, and we've
covered games in the twenties and below. It was so cold,
it was the wind. It was just like I could
my mouth wasn't working, my brain wasn't working. I just
wanted to get the hell out of there. I was
still squeezing handwarmers in the third quarter in the heated
press box, and then by the time I got warm,
I was like, hey, time to go back down. I guess. So,
(16:31):
I don't know how these like I just on days
like that, I look around at the players warming up,
and I go The last thing I want to do
right now is run into a fully grown human being,
Like I just don't understand where their mind gets to.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
You can see the teams that run the ball do
well in December and January. Nobody wants to talk.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
You don't want that. Don't a thing like that. You
don't why you don't want that on an eighty degree day.
You don't want that on that kind of day. It
was so bad.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
How was that team? The Bears are not the Eagles,
that was the Eagles before. You did not want to
deal with you didn't want to deal with physical pounding.
It's just it's not it's not the same right now,
Why is that money?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
So everybody goes, oh, offensive coordinator play call it. He sucks,
right And and I'm not saying he's the best in
the league. And I'm not even gonna give you my opinion.
What I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Is A J.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Brown after the game is calling it a crazy question,
saying we can't change change on the coaching staff, and
that's a crazy question. Uh Jordan Malata has repeatedly come
to uh Petullo's defense, uh sa Quon Barkley as well.
And then you go, okay, what else are they going
to say in the media?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Right?
Speaker 3 (17:32):
So you kind of go like backdoor and you say,
talk to on the side, like, I know a couple
of guys, no, seriously, dude, like he's where the problem
is us execution, you know. And then you go, okay,
well maybe he still wouldn't tell me. So you got
to go and you say you ask their friends and
their agents and you go, what are they telling you?
And they're like no, dude, like they're all behind Petullo
(17:53):
and they say, like we're schematically, we're good enough. We're
just not so now. And I think this is starting
to you know, there's a little bit coming back on
the cornerback now and it's saying, okay, well he's not executing.
And there was that throw to Devonte Smith that he
thought he was going to sit down and Devonte was
going to keep going, which from my understanding, Davonte made
the right read on that and if you hit him
and stride, maybe he's in the end zone. I know
(18:14):
they people were talking about Goddard being open on that play.
So look, it's a misread, a misthrow, a miscommunication. The
offensive line lane Johnson's died in there is killing them
right now because Fred Johnson's been good in pass protection,
not when he's run blocking. So they're not even the
guys that are in are not healthy. It's just there's
a lot of problems for the Eagles. They got an
(18:34):
extra day to get right here. Friday to Monday. We
shall see. They played well coming off the ten day
layoff in Minnesota last time. Let's see if they could
do it again.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Thirty four days left in the regular season, sixty nine
days until the Super Bowl. The countdown is on and
there's still so many different things that can happen in
that time. Good thing. We're here five days a week
to bring you all the information. You can catch us
on NFL Network Tuesday's, Wednesdays Fridays at seven pm Eastern Time.
(19:04):
You can see us on the NFL channel on fast
streaming platforms both Mondays and Thursdays. There's clips on YouTube.
There's a podcast five days a week. You can you
get to Sunday mornings on Game Day Morning, all the
news and information that you can possibly handle. We appreciate
you as always for watching, listening, subscribing, and downloading for
(19:25):
Judy Batista, Mike Garafalo Ian rapport. I'm Tom Peliicero. See
you tomorrow
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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