December 12, 2024 • 9 mins
Craig and Cam close out the show with an NFL discussion surrounding that final wildcard spot in the NFC.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
It's The Craigway Show with the voice of the Texas
Longhorns in Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Of Thursday afternoon edition of the program. I'm glad you're
along for the ride, as well talks from NFL. I'm
not just saying this just because I'm a Rams fan,
but it's a pretty important game tonight in the NFC
West between the Rams and the forty nine ers playing
in Santa Clara at Levi Stadium. And here are the
(00:42):
reasons for that. Look, I will be the first to
admit it. For a lot of this season, a lot
of this season, the NFC West has been the NFC worst.
Fact that it's been the NFL worst, but not of late.
Seattle has won four in a row. The Rams have
(01:03):
won back to back games. Seattle actually has a better
record than Tampa Bay, who leads the South at seven
and six and the Bucks, by the way, who have
won three in a row to get to seven and six,
only hold a one game lead on Atlanta, who has
lost four in a row. The Falcons look to be
in control of that division. They've dropped four in a row.
(01:27):
Tampa Bay's won three and zero in a row, and
all that has done is to push the Bucks ahead
of the Falcons by one game in the NFC South.
In the West, the Seahawks, and again, if we're being
fair about this, it's taken a four game winning streak,
just like for Tampa Bay. It's taken a three game
(01:48):
winning streak for the Bucks to get the seven and six.
It's been a four game streak for the Seahawks to
get it to eight and five. And they're playing really
good football right now. The Rams are playing pretty solid football.
They won two in a row, and of course the
winter for Buffalo was huge. But they've also lost some
games during this I would say six week stretch of
(02:09):
the season that are head scratchers, you know. And they've
won some games that you wow, like they beat the
Vikings and they beat the Bills, but they lost to
the Saints, you know, so earlier the season, lost to
the Bears, so you go, I don't know, you know, so,
and then they lost to some teams you'd expect them
(02:30):
to lose to. They lost to the Eagles, they lost
to the Packers, so you'd kind of expect that. But
they're only one game back of Seattle and they play
San Francisco, and right now in the NFC West, Seattle's
on top. They're eight and five. They got a big
game this weekend, the Seahawks do, because they play the
Packers on Sunday night. That's a home game that they play,
(02:52):
and then then they play the Vikings at home. Then
they go to Chicago and they finish the regular season
in Los Angeles they play the Rams, and you get
the feeling that maybe that might be the game that
decides the NFC West, but we'll find out. I know this,
(03:12):
the Seahawks are eight and five and the Rams are
seven and six. If Los Angeles wins the game against
San Francisco tonight to get to eight and six, I
think it puts the forty nine Ers on the shelf.
They're six and eight at that point, so they are
two games back. They would have lost they had to
head with the Rams, and they still have other games
(03:34):
remaining that are going to be tough games on their
schedule as well.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The forty nine Ers.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
This weekend or after playing the Rams tonight, they go
to Miami, then they get the Lions at home, and
then they finish in Arizona against the Cardinals. So that
would be a problem. The Cardinals are also six and seven,
and they have been tough to figure out because they
look good for a while.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
They've lost three in a row.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
That was after winning.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Four in a row, and those wins included wins over
the Chargers and the Dolphins. They beat the Bears and
the Jets, but they lost at Seattle. They lost at
Minnesota two tough games, and then lost to Seattle again
that was at home. So they've got New England winnable
game do the Cardinals, then they play at the Rams,
(04:23):
and then they close with the forty nine ers. They're
still in the hunt in the NFC West, and as
we were saying, probably probably the NFC West is only
going to get one playoff team, and that's going to
be whoever wins that division, because otherwise, obviously, the Eagles
are eleven and two, Lions are twelve and one. They're
(04:44):
battling for the best record overall. But the Lions have
the leg up on the Eagles in that one. They
hold the head to head, so I'd say the Lions
are probably gonna wind up with home field advantage throughout
the playoffs, especially if they continue on their pace. Eagles
would be the two seed, and after that you're looking
at the Vikings, You're looking at the Packers. The Vikings
(05:06):
are eleven and two, the Packers are nine and four.
Then you've got Washington at eight and five. They've had
some injury issues, but the Commander is still in a
good position to be in the playoffs. So that's those
three right there. Make along with the NFC South and
NFC West champs, that would be the other three playoff
(05:27):
spots Minnesota, Green Bay, and Washington. So there's probably not
gonna be a wild card spot available for anybody out
of the NFC South of the NFC West.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, and looking at the Commander's schedule because right now
they are that last playoff team in the NFC, Craig,
You're at New Orleans, who is without Taysom Hill, without
Derek Carr. They might be start starting Travis Hayner, the
Fresno State quarterback at Philadelphia. A tough game. But then
you've got Atlanta, who has just been up and down
(05:56):
in a Cowboys team that may have Trey Lance at quarterback.
So you feel good at least with two wins there
probably three, I would guess three and one in those
four games, Craig. So if you're a Los Angeles or Arizona,
San Francisco, Atlanta, you gotta win out. Yeah, Atlanta at
least can still win their the Vision because they do
have those two wins over Tampa Bay.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I think they gotta winter the Vision to get in.
But for Los Angeles, Craig, I think you're spot on.
I think it's almost one must win game tonight. Now
for Seattle, though, they play Green Bay, Minnesota next two
games and then at Chicago in December.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So and of course they end with the Rams.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
That Rams game on January fifth, that might decide to
the Vision. But if the Rams can win the night,
I feel really good about your chances of winning the division.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, put it.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
This way, they're in the thick of the fight if
they win, and I think it can I think it
all but mathematically eliminates the forty nine ers. Yeah, they're
six and eight and they're pretty much on the shelf.
Arizona still has a head to head with the Rams,
so there's that they would have to win, and they'll
probably beat New England this weekend, so it would keep
them one game back and only one game out of
(07:06):
the Division. Well, no, they'd still be they would be
two games out of the division race still, depending well,
they get the seven and seven. If the Rams win
and the Seahawks lose, then yeah, Arizona's only one game back,
so they're still in the thick of the fight. However,
Arizona's another game of San Francisco, but they have lost
the tiebreaker to Seattle. They drop two right now, they
(07:29):
hold the tiebreaker on LA because they just clobbered them
early in the season in Glendale. But they do have
to go to LA. So if the Rams beat them,
then yeah, then it probably eliminates them at that point.
I think the Cardinals are still in the race if
they win the game against New England this weekend and
stay within striking distance at the top. But for the
(07:49):
forty nine Ers, if they lose tonight, they're done. I
think they're toast. If they win and they are at home,
So if they win then I think then then the
forty nine ers are still in the race. They're still
in the thick of the fight. So that's why it's
going to be really interesting to see how they do
in this game tonight with the Rams. It's what I'm
(08:13):
not forty nine ers a three point favorite. Remember you
asked me yesterday if the Rams might be favored. I
said not on the road.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
They're down in their eighth stream running back. I know
they looked good last week, but who do they beat? Like,
who do they play?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Last week? San Francisco? It was a bottom dweller. It
was the Bears.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Yeah, a Bears team that the locker room has clit.
So I like Los Angeles tonight in this game, I
feel really good about your offense.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I think Stafford has dialed.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And you know that that first meeting between San Francisco,
would you guys, the Rams won one by three, right.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, that was in LA. They won that contest. That
was that crazy game when it looked like they were
definitely gonna lose. They were down in the fourth quarter
and came back and and I think got a walk
off field goal to win it. So they won twenty
seven to twenty four in that earlier game. The Rams also,
for the first time in a while, are a bit healthy.
(09:10):
Pukinaku is back. He had a monster game last week.
Cooper Cup is back. The defense is playing really well.
The two Florida State kids, Jared Vers being one of
those guys have played really well for them of late,
and they're going to have to and like you said,
the forty hits are bang up. Grendo says he's good
to go tonight. They've really been beaten up in the backfield. Obviously,
(09:30):
McCaffrey is out and Jordan Mason went out, so we'll
see that's an important matchup there. All right, we'll be
back to wrap up today's edition of the program here
on sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone of the
iHeartRadio app.
It's The Craigway Show with the voice of the Texas
Longhorns in Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Of Thursday afternoon edition of the program. I'm glad you're
along for the ride, as well talks from NFL. I'm
not just saying this just because I'm a Rams fan,
but it's a pretty important game tonight in the NFC
West between the Rams and the forty nine ers playing
in Santa Clara at Levi Stadium. And here are the
(00:42):
reasons for that. Look, I will be the first to
admit it. For a lot of this season, a lot
of this season, the NFC West has been the NFC worst.
Fact that it's been the NFL worst, but not of late.
Seattle has won four in a row. The Rams have
(01:03):
won back to back games. Seattle actually has a better
record than Tampa Bay, who leads the South at seven
and six and the Bucks, by the way, who have
won three in a row to get to seven and six,
only hold a one game lead on Atlanta, who has
lost four in a row. The Falcons look to be
in control of that division. They've dropped four in a row.
(01:27):
Tampa Bay's won three and zero in a row, and
all that has done is to push the Bucks ahead
of the Falcons by one game in the NFC South.
In the West, the Seahawks, and again, if we're being
fair about this, it's taken a four game winning streak,
just like for Tampa Bay. It's taken a three game
(01:48):
winning streak for the Bucks to get the seven and six.
It's been a four game streak for the Seahawks to
get it to eight and five. And they're playing really
good football right now. The Rams are playing pretty solid football.
They won two in a row, and of course the
winter for Buffalo was huge. But they've also lost some
games during this I would say six week stretch of
(02:09):
the season that are head scratchers, you know. And they've
won some games that you wow, like they beat the
Vikings and they beat the Bills, but they lost to
the Saints, you know, so earlier the season, lost to
the Bears, so you go, I don't know, you know, so,
and then they lost to some teams you'd expect them
(02:30):
to lose to. They lost to the Eagles, they lost
to the Packers, so you'd kind of expect that. But
they're only one game back of Seattle and they play
San Francisco, and right now in the NFC West, Seattle's
on top. They're eight and five. They got a big
game this weekend, the Seahawks do, because they play the
Packers on Sunday night. That's a home game that they play,
(02:52):
and then then they play the Vikings at home. Then
they go to Chicago and they finish the regular season
in Los Angeles they play the Rams, and you get
the feeling that maybe that might be the game that
decides the NFC West, but we'll find out. I know this,
(03:12):
the Seahawks are eight and five and the Rams are
seven and six. If Los Angeles wins the game against
San Francisco tonight to get to eight and six, I
think it puts the forty nine Ers on the shelf.
They're six and eight at that point, so they are
two games back. They would have lost they had to
head with the Rams, and they still have other games
(03:34):
remaining that are going to be tough games on their
schedule as well.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
The forty nine Ers.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
This weekend or after playing the Rams tonight, they go
to Miami, then they get the Lions at home, and
then they finish in Arizona against the Cardinals. So that
would be a problem. The Cardinals are also six and seven,
and they have been tough to figure out because they
look good for a while.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
They've lost three in a row.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
That was after winning.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Four in a row, and those wins included wins over
the Chargers and the Dolphins. They beat the Bears and
the Jets, but they lost at Seattle. They lost at
Minnesota two tough games, and then lost to Seattle again
that was at home. So they've got New England winnable
game do the Cardinals, then they play at the Rams,
(04:23):
and then they close with the forty nine ers. They're
still in the hunt in the NFC West, and as
we were saying, probably probably the NFC West is only
going to get one playoff team, and that's going to
be whoever wins that division, because otherwise, obviously, the Eagles
are eleven and two, Lions are twelve and one. They're
(04:44):
battling for the best record overall. But the Lions have
the leg up on the Eagles in that one. They
hold the head to head, so I'd say the Lions
are probably gonna wind up with home field advantage throughout
the playoffs, especially if they continue on their pace. Eagles
would be the two seed, and after that you're looking
at the Vikings, You're looking at the Packers. The Vikings
(05:06):
are eleven and two, the Packers are nine and four.
Then you've got Washington at eight and five. They've had
some injury issues, but the Commander is still in a
good position to be in the playoffs. So that's those
three right there. Make along with the NFC South and
NFC West champs, that would be the other three playoff
(05:27):
spots Minnesota, Green Bay, and Washington. So there's probably not
gonna be a wild card spot available for anybody out
of the NFC South of the NFC West.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, and looking at the Commander's schedule because right now
they are that last playoff team in the NFC, Craig,
You're at New Orleans, who is without Taysom Hill, without
Derek Carr. They might be start starting Travis Hayner, the
Fresno State quarterback at Philadelphia. A tough game. But then
you've got Atlanta, who has just been up and down
(05:56):
in a Cowboys team that may have Trey Lance at quarterback.
So you feel good at least with two wins there
probably three, I would guess three and one in those
four games, Craig. So if you're a Los Angeles or Arizona,
San Francisco, Atlanta, you gotta win out. Yeah, Atlanta at
least can still win their the Vision because they do
have those two wins over Tampa Bay.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
I think they gotta winter the Vision to get in.
But for Los Angeles, Craig, I think you're spot on.
I think it's almost one must win game tonight. Now
for Seattle, though, they play Green Bay, Minnesota next two
games and then at Chicago in December.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
So and of course they end with the Rams.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
That Rams game on January fifth, that might decide to
the Vision. But if the Rams can win the night,
I feel really good about your chances of winning the division.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Well, put it.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
This way, they're in the thick of the fight if
they win, and I think it can I think it
all but mathematically eliminates the forty nine ers. Yeah, they're
six and eight and they're pretty much on the shelf.
Arizona still has a head to head with the Rams,
so there's that they would have to win, and they'll
probably beat New England this weekend, so it would keep
them one game back and only one game out of
(07:06):
the Division. Well, no, they'd still be they would be
two games out of the division race still, depending well,
they get the seven and seven. If the Rams win
and the Seahawks lose, then yeah, Arizona's only one game back,
so they're still in the thick of the fight. However,
Arizona's another game of San Francisco, but they have lost
the tiebreaker to Seattle. They drop two right now, they
(07:29):
hold the tiebreaker on LA because they just clobbered them
early in the season in Glendale. But they do have
to go to LA. So if the Rams beat them,
then yeah, then it probably eliminates them at that point.
I think the Cardinals are still in the race if
they win the game against New England this weekend and
stay within striking distance at the top. But for the
(07:49):
forty nine Ers, if they lose tonight, they're done. I
think they're toast. If they win and they are at home,
So if they win then I think then then the
forty nine ers are still in the race. They're still
in the thick of the fight. So that's why it's
going to be really interesting to see how they do
in this game tonight with the Rams. It's what I'm
(08:13):
not forty nine ers a three point favorite. Remember you
asked me yesterday if the Rams might be favored. I
said not on the road.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
They're down in their eighth stream running back. I know
they looked good last week, but who do they beat? Like,
who do they play?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Last week? San Francisco? It was a bottom dweller. It
was the Bears.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Yeah, a Bears team that the locker room has clit.
So I like Los Angeles tonight in this game, I
feel really good about your offense.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I think Stafford has dialed.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
And you know that that first meeting between San Francisco,
would you guys, the Rams won one by three, right.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, that was in LA. They won that contest. That
was that crazy game when it looked like they were
definitely gonna lose. They were down in the fourth quarter
and came back and and I think got a walk
off field goal to win it. So they won twenty
seven to twenty four in that earlier game. The Rams also,
for the first time in a while, are a bit healthy.
(09:10):
Pukinaku is back. He had a monster game last week.
Cooper Cup is back. The defense is playing really well.
The two Florida State kids, Jared Vers being one of
those guys have played really well for them of late,
and they're going to have to and like you said,
the forty hits are bang up. Grendo says he's good
to go tonight. They've really been beaten up in the backfield. Obviously,
(09:30):
McCaffrey is out and Jordan Mason went out, so we'll
see that's an important matchup there. All right, we'll be
back to wrap up today's edition of the program here
on sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone of the
iHeartRadio app.
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