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December 31, 2025 61 mins

John is joined by betting guru, Stuckey from The Action Network to break down the upcoming weekend in both college football and the NFL. They dive into the biggest matchups, key storylines, and deliver their expert insight on where the value is for bettors. From College footballs slate of massive playoff games to Saturday and Sunday’s NFL action that will determine who makes the playoffs and who doesn't, they’ve got you covered with sharp analysis and some of the best bets to make this weekend. #Volume 

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
What is going on Everybody? John Middlecock Three and Out podcasts,
brought to you by our friends and partners at Zone Pouches.
Today will be a podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
It will just be me and Stucky.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I was gonna do a mail bag too, but me
and Stucky went for an hour. You know, the next
couple of days are kind of holidays, so I was like,
let's just do Stucky. I'll do a mail bag probably
for Friday, with some college football talk as well. So
at John Middlecock's the mail Bag, we will get one
later this week, and today we'll just be Stucky hitting

(00:49):
on obviously the Niner game, the Raven game, the Panther game,
some other stuff, and then the college football games, which
we got four games starting Wednesday night with Miami at
Ohao State. Miami versu Ohoa State. It's not Ataha State,
but then you know all the games the following day.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
So let's get excited. You guys know the drill.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Make sure you subscribe to the podcast wherever you may listen,
subscribe to the YouTube channel. We'll be live on Thursday
night reacting to the slate of games on New Year's Day,
and then again on Saturday night. Reacting to the nighter game.
So make sure you subscribe, never miss a thing, and
let's dive into Stucky. Okay, Week eighteen, I'm lucky enough

(01:34):
to get Dad of the Year Stucky from Lexicon, Kentucky.
This is a It's bittersweet because for the first time
on Monday Night it kind of hit me. I'm like,
we don't have any more Monday night like regular season games.
You only got four more real college games that matter.
You got the you know, the Elite eight starting. You

(01:55):
start doing the math in your heads, you're like half
to you know, a large percentage of these Week eight
team games mean nothing, So we don't have that much
meaningful football left in our life. Stucky as we turn
into twenty twenty six, I mean, you just had a
child born in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
That doesn't make you feel old. I don't know what will.
But how you doing? My man?

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Good? Yes, It'll be two hundred and forty more days
until our next college football game on a Saturday. So
that's done. None of the playoff games are on Saturdays,
even the SCS Championships on a Monday night this year.
So no more collegeable Saturday. Yea, no more Monday. You
have one Monday night Wildcard game. That's it. Like the

(02:37):
rest of the bowl games are going to be finishing
up this week and then it's just a couple of
college wall playoff games. The NFL playoffs should be good.
This week will be weird as usual, but enjoy it.
The Sunday afternoon slate in morning slate if you're on
the West Coast, is going to be pretty bad because

(03:00):
you basically just had Luckily for the NFL things broke right,
Like the Ravens won, the Steelers loss, so kept the
AFC North interesting. The Seahawks won and the Niners one
kept that division interesting. You even had the Falcons upset
the Rams and then the Panthers and the Bucks both
lost to keep all that interesting even into Sunday. So

(03:21):
the Bucks win, at least you have a game on
Sunday afternoon, so now there's only three games. But there
was a chance, like if the Steelers beat the Browns,
Steelers Ravens is meaningless, you know, the Panthers Bucks could
have been meaningless. You this if Seattle had won and
the forty nine ers, like, excuse me, if the forty
nine ers had lost, Seattle clinches the division already, so

(03:43):
luckily for the NFL, they got three market games in
the stots. But then you haven't now the games in
between on your early and late afternoon slate on Sunday,
there's some rough ones. You're gonna get a ton of
backup quarterbacks. You're gonna see a lot of line moves
this week. As always, you're gonna have a lot of
decisions on who's resting who's not. Looks like there's a
chance the Eagles might rest, even though they could move

(04:05):
up to the two if the Bears lose to the
Lions and then the Chargers, they're going to rest. Even hardball.
Last year in Week eighteen, with a chance to move
up to the five, they played their starters and Week
eighteen and beat the Raiders pretty handily. This year, they
do have a chance to move up to five, but
it would require the Texans losing in the one o'clock
slate or the Jags, which is very unlikely. And yeah,

(04:28):
I think that they're probably making the right choice. And
then you had McVeigh. This is all Week eighteens about
for the most part, because then you have a lot
of these teams that are eliminated. Do you really want
to Risks like they're going to sit some of their
star players even have like a Raiders, the Raiders actually
trying to lose versus the Chiefs who probably want to
get a better draft pick. And then why would you
play some of your vets like Chris Jones and like

(04:49):
they're probably gonna sit. But McVeigh after the game last week.
Mcdaigh is known for resting his starters and not caring
about seating lot this time. I mean, if the forty
nine ers win on Saturday, they get the one seed
and the Rams are locked in to the the six.

(05:13):
But if Seattle wins, then the Rams can jump them
to get the five, which I think is super important
this year because it's the difference between probably going to
Philly or you go to the NFC South winner. So
that's important. And then McVeigh said after the game, we're
playing our starters right away. Maybe he was emotional, but
he says we need to buy.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
I think he was. I think he was heated.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
He just lost, like his best friend kind of got
embarrassed from you first head.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
But I do think that they will if the Seahawks win,
If the forty nine Ers win, no chance. I think
they're sitting everyone against Arizona because you're locked into the
six that's his m O. And why would you risk
any more injuries with the Rams. And it's been a
start like the Rams had it all ten days ago.

(06:00):
This was your Stafford MVP one seed. This is the
best team by far. Now they're on Stafford might have
lost the MVP. They and this was all since they
were up sixteen in Seattle on the fourth quarter, and
it's all falling apart since now they might be the
sixth seed going to Philly. Stafford lost the MVP. That's
life in the NFL on a week to week basis.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
Let's just jump right into the to the main event then.
I'm sure you remember this game.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
This happened not that long ago and was like a
defining moment for Kyle and a young Niners team with
Deebo and Kittle and Jimmy g They beat Seattle on
a Sunday night to get the number one seed. Drake
Greenlaw had a game winning tackle at like the half
yard line. And obviously a couple of weeks later they're
in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs and they kind
of dominated those two playoff games. I think they Minnesota.

(06:50):
I actually went to that game, and then they beat
the that Aaron Rodgers team where I think Jimmy threw
like ten times and most of they ran for like
four hundred yards.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
They little kickers over a couple of years by just
running all over them.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
A little different operation here, obviously a dramatically different Seattle team.
You know, I was looking at the box scores, like
DK Metcalf, Bobby Wagner, obviously Russell Wilson was still damn
good through a couple of touchdowns in that game.

Speaker 3 (07:15):
I think this is fascinating. We've seen the forty nine
ers now play two teams whose defenses are atrocious, right,
and they just I mean, Party's had ten touchdowns two weeks.
I mean, he looks like it's like the best player
of the league.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
But this is a different animal, right, This is a
team who's offense I think is kind of questionable. I mean,
I don't think most people realize because Sam's getting a
lot of credit because the back to back seasons thirteen
wins on two different teams. Last year, he threw thirty
five touchdowns and up until the last week was pretty bad.
He's kind of been a little shaky, I would.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Say for a while, you know.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
And I didn't realize this until I saw the static.
Lee's a league in turnovers, bunch of fumbles, picks. Didn't
Carolina drop a pick last week? He's been all over
the map. Now their defense, Mike McDonald, do you remember
the game a couple of years ago, that's Sunday Night,
not Sunday Night, Christmas Night with that Ravens team and
the forty nine ers were rolling and he punked him,

(08:06):
and you know, Purty was like MVP watch and it
was like Mike McDonald. I don't want to say it
was coming out party because people do about him, but
that was like a moment like this motherfucker's here to stay.
And now this year their defense is awesome. It's crazy.
Some of the stats in the forty nine ers like
dead last in sacks, which makes sense. They don't have
any defensive lineman. If it wasn't for the Jets and

(08:27):
there are no interceptions, they'd be dead last and picks.
But can Sam Darnold and that offense take advantage of him.
You got Kubiak, who might as well be a Shanahan,
who's their offensive coordinator. Obviously, Mike knows Kyle Well played
with a bunch now the last couple years in Seattle.
But go back to that Ravens game, I would just
lean the home dog here. It's a coin flow game

(08:47):
to me. Don't feel great about it. Obviously, the Niners
have a ton of momentum coming in Offensively, you know,
Trent's probably gonna be.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
Out, but Kittle will be back.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
But you see, I mean, Pierceall it feels like he's
an NBA player. Time he goes down, you think his
career is over. But god, he when he's on the field,
he's pretty good. And you know, todj is pretty good.
Backup quarterback. McCaffrey's playing damn well. I mean, Kyle's just
he's him, and Perty have been in his own McDonald's
been in his own Defensively, I mean they offensively, they
were terrible. I thought that first half against Carolina. Hell,

(09:19):
they were bad against the Rams, you know, up until
the end of the game. So I don't know, I mean,
I don't have that much faith right now. Clear quarterback
advantage I think for Perty right now, and that's to me,
the slight difference in the game so I'm I would
take the Niners as a home dog.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yeah, I would lean that way, like I'd like the
Niners as a teaser piece. I mean, he's gotta have
kittle in they're healthy, I think. I mean, you can
get away with it without him against the Bears defense,
but he's such a difference maker, especially you know the
run game and his ability catching the ball against an
elite defense. But you're right about the Seattle offense. I mean,

(09:56):
it's in a way it's been solved almost a bit
like they I mean, since Week ten, they're twenty first
in EPA per play on offense. And if you look,
I mean the last week, which could should give it
might give the forty third forty nine Ers defense is bad.
They just can't get any pressure. I mean, and Michael
Parsons was tweeting this the other day. He just kept

(10:19):
he was tweeting about if you can't get pressure on
NFL quarterbacks, you're you're just not gonna have success. And
then forty nine ers are in capable of getting pressure.
But the Panthers are just as bad as the forty
nine ers in terms of pressure. Eight and the Seahawks
offense didn't do anything. And this has been like if

(10:40):
you go back to I mean, we could go all
the way back to Week ten. That's when really this
has started, like against the Cardinals and and it kind
of got masked because the Seahawks scored like two defensive touchdowns,
like the same exact plays, like right off they were
yeah game, but like Donald threw like three picks in

(11:01):
that game against the Rams. The next week he threw
three or four picks, you know, against the Vikings. That
game was three to nothing at the end of the
first half until Brosmer threw a pick six the Falcons.
They broke out in the second half, but there were
some special means that the game was three to three
at the half. The Colts game against Philip Rivers, that

(11:24):
was an eighteen to sixteen win in Rivers's first start.
You know, they broke they broke out against the Rams,
but that game just flipped on like a punt return touchdown.
Donald made some mistakes there. He was good at the end.
But this offense is like what they were doing early
in the year is they were like kubiaka platch and
was so good. They were using heavy personnel and they

(11:44):
weren't running it efficiently, but with all the heavy personnel,
teams were like, all right, we're going to stop you running,
and then they were just setting up deep shots and
they were hitting them. The JSN now defenses have said like, okay,
if you want to run it, run it. We're not gonna,
you know, commit and try to sell out to your
inefficient run game. We're gonna make sure we stop ASN
on the back end and stop giving up these explosive plays.

(12:07):
And Donald is still a statue. And then you get
into these obvious passing down situations because they're not an
efficient rushing attack, and that's when Donald is making some mistakes. So, yeah,
the Seattle offense right now is very problematic. That's what
I would be worried about in the playoffs if I
was a Seahawks fan, because the defense is obviously excellent.
And then the forty nine ers it's a complete opposite

(12:28):
case that their offense right now is rolling party, is
playing so well, but the defense is just it's bad.
It's just void of talent. They just have no pass
rush and that's gonna really, you know, limit your ability
to do things and get stops. And we saw that
last week against the Bears. So it's also the.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
Game you think the game plan is that you remember
the Lions Week eighteen last year when they had a
match unit and they just brought the house constantly and
he was all over the map.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
That it's one of it's gonna be one of two extremes.
Like it's either we're gonna all out blitz the whole game,
which isn't like salid But this is the time where
you you know, playoffs a Week eighteam game for the
one seed. This is when you bring out wild cards
and change up your mL or they're just gonna sit
back and then just try to bake Donald into a

(13:21):
mistake and say drive the field and they're just gonna
play a ton of uh too high and take away
the explosive plays because Seattle is not a very efficient
rushing attack. So I could see it going either way,
but it's not a great spot for Seattle. Seattle kind
of got screwed by the NFL winning this game on
a Saturday because they're on the East Coast on Sunday,
short week, flying across the country late in the year.

(13:43):
That's not ideal. But yeah, I think it is a
point coin flippage game. If you want to take the
points with the Niners, I don't blame you. But if
you look at the the NFC playoffs right now, I mean,
I think most people would agree probably win healthy. The
Rams are the most complete team, but they're they're most
likely gonna be six seed and the five or six seed,
especially through the sixth seed, that's a brutal path. They

(14:06):
have some injuries now right I think they should be healthier.
But the offensive line you have some injuries. We saw
how much that impact against Atlanta. You have Devonte Adams's injury.
But the defense, I think on the back end still
has some questions. I think they're the most special teams,
aren't great. They're the probably the most complete team, but
every team in the NFC has a war. I mean

(14:29):
you have. I mean, if you just look at it
like this, the NFL, how wide open it is. This year.
The Ravens, who I think were the best team over
the past two years, not this year. The you know,
in twenty twenty four and twenty twenty three. Unfortunately for
them they didn't get a Super Bowl out of it.
But in those two years, the Ravens went twenty twenty three,
they went ten to four against winning teams, teams of

(14:50):
the winning record, and then last year they went nine
to three against teams with the winning record. Nineteen wins
over two seasons. No one has more than four this year.
And the Patriots, who are going to be you know,
they might get the one seed, probably not because Denver
is gonna win. They have one win. They've only played
three teams that have a winning record, and they're one
and two in those games. So like there's there's a

(15:12):
lot of bad teams in the NFL. And then at
the you know, the rest, it's like there's no Chiefs
now or like oh if they put the Chiefs in
the Super Bowl. It is so wide open. You just
look at the NFC. It's like, Okay, the Niners offense rolling,
but can you trust the defense? Seattle elite defense, but
can you trust Donald and that offense is dwindling? The
NFC South winner get them out of year. The Eagles offense,

(15:35):
I mean they've gone two different halves this year where
they have no no pass completions and they won both games.
But their offense doesn't score for two three quarters every game.
That's a major question. The Packers that they were my
pick originally, but the Parsons injury, other injuries, they are
so beat up. So the NFC, it's gonna be wide open.

(15:56):
I wouldn't be surprised if, like any team comes out
of it. Beside whoever wins the NFC.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
So well, one thing, I mean before the Rams these
last couple of weeks, I think they would have been
I said this last time on the podcast, not just
the sexy pick for the NFC, but I think a
lot of people would picked him to win the Super Bowl.
And the one thing that jumps out now, I give listen.
I was hard on the Atlanta trade when they traded
a first round pick for Pierce, but I mean.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
He is fucking pretty talented.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
And their defensive line, that the organ kid that got
hurt last night. They were dominating the line of scrimmage.
And the one thing for Stafford is you know, in
his younger days he was much more and Rogers is
the same now, like they were like scrambles making plays
with their arm. He is a statue now he can't move.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
He's old.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
And their offensive line, I mean, if you look at
the matchups for them, you know you brought up Carolina
defense obviously, you know, the pass rush. Tampa's defense is
a joke.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
So getting that five seed for them is pretty big
because the Eagles, you bring ninety eight back, like you
see fans you up there, that unit is bringing. I
think that would be and I know they've played them.
They easily could have won this year, they could have
won the game last That's a rough first round matchup
for them, just at the line of scrimmage for their
own line and a quarterback that can't move in a

(17:11):
cold weather game.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Right, yeah, massive, And then yeah, they need to get
Alaric Jackson and Dotson back because they're I mean Humphreys
and their offensive lines is not the same. You could
see that last night. But this is, yeah, the the difference.
The most nervous I mean you, it's you, I'm talking
to you. The most nervous fan base. It'll be Steelers

(17:33):
Ravens fans on Sunday night, but they're they're the most
nartist So that's a win. And in Panthers Bucks isn't
even winning in unless you're the Panthers. But I think
that those teams, those fan bases are they know that
they're not going far. The forty nine Ers have a
chance to go far. If they win, they get the

(17:53):
one seed, a bye, a home game in the Division round,
a home game the Comfort Championshi, and then a potential
home game the super Bowl. But if they lose, the
Rams are going to play their starters against Arizona, who's
now a practice squad, and then the forty nine Ers
are probably gonna drop to the six and then you're

(18:15):
probably going to Philly. The difference between the one seed
and then three home games to the super Bowl and
then oh wait hey, you're in Philly next week is astronomical.
So I.

Speaker 3 (18:30):
Wish you and other I would say this for the
Philly game.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
Let's say the forty nine Ers lose this game Seattle,
they go to Philly. All the pressures on the Eagles, yes,
like Robert Sali is dealing with me and you. On defense,
you got high priced players everywhere.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
You know.

Speaker 2 (18:46):
It's like you would have no excuse to not win
that game. You cannot lose to this Niners team with
that defense, with your offense, you had Aj Brown, DeVante Smid,
Dallas Goddard, Saquon Barkley. If you can't score twenty five
points on these guys every you know, people get heads
are rolling that I would guarantee you this if the
Niners of the six seed and go to Philly and

(19:07):
beat them, which I would trust me. How he wants
no part of Kyle Shanahan coming in, you know as
an underdog in round one.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
You lose that game. I mean, Patola might as well
pack up his ship because he would immediately get fired.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, he might be in trouble no matter what. But yeah,
and honestly, it's not all his fallow. I mean, the
quarterback they're a bizarre team that they were, but their
defense is when healthy. M Cooper's Jean's been. I mean,
that guy looks incredible right now. Jalen carter back, They're
just so physical a linebacker. Their defense is good.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
I mean, yeah, Quinnion Mitchell, he said he's allowed I
think the lowest completion percentage of any cornerback over the
past five years. He's dominant to Like, their defense is elite.
But I wouldn't be shocked if the forty Niners went
to Philly and when they came.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
It.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
The Eagles offense is almost matchup proof in that it
doesn't matter who they play, they go unless you're like
completely impoversed like Giants with all their injuries. The Raiders
like that's the only time their offenses look good in months,
like for a full game, literally months. It doesn't matter
that they played the Cowboys defense and couldn't score in

(20:17):
the second half. The Bills defense is not great by
any stretch. And they went oh of seven set nineteen
plays for nineteen yards in the second half and one
because you know, they had a blocked extra point and
then now and missed the wide up and two point conversion,
did four and could easily go into pill and win.
I'm just saying the difference between having to do that
and then getting a bye and knowing that they would

(20:38):
they have two home games to close the regal seasons,
they would They don't have to leave Saint Clara for
two and a half months as long as they keep winning.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
Okay, let's let's just go to Sunday and I don't
even care about the Saturday afternoon game. We'll come back.
The Steelers Ravens just feels right. You know this, this
this game has mattered for a long time. Though I
think we'd all have to we'd all have to acknowledged
this doesn't quite feel like some of the prime matchups
because the Steelers.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
I just don't think.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
People take the Steelers out seriously anymore. And Sunday afternoon,
I get a DK suspended, Washington breaks his arm. That
was a pitoful performance, It really was. I agree with Cowar.
He came on once the game ended on CBS. It
was like, why did they abandon that they didn't have
much offensive firepower. Warren was having a successful They had
like twelve carries for seventy yards and they only had

(21:26):
twelve carre Like, why didn't he have twenty plus carries?
Why didn't they try to do something else? They've just
been a weird offense. Maybe Arthur Smith and Rogers the
rapport of the play calling, maybe Rogers changing plays in
the Lion of Scrimmage. I don't know, but that was
a rough watch. I just have little to know faith
Now there are a lot of, you know, things up
in the air, like is TJ a Watt coming back

(21:47):
or he just kind of sneaky done for the season,
and they're just not wanting to acknowledge that Lamar Jackson
is there, like a behind the scenes Lamar Jackson beef
with the Ravens there's just a lot of weird shit
going on. You tell me, I like thes in this matchup.
But you know Tomlin home dog. They they've played well
against the Ravens historically.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
This is a bizarre game.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
The home when Tomlin and Harbaugh face off in the
regular season, the team getting three or more points I
think is twenty one to two and one against the
spread in saying it's not over ninety percent. Over almost
twenty years, it's been a dog dominated series. It's usually
lower scoring. I don't mind the under here. There's a
lot of moving parts here. First, with the Steelers defensive,

(22:35):
I mean they say that what has a chance now?
Tomlin said last week he needs all full participants, so
he needs to be a full pardicipant practice every day
of the week. So we'll know tomorrow today if he's
a full present.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Is that because that injury is different than like a
rolled ankle or something.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yeah, that's what he said. He said because it's a
medical condition, because if it's long, so i'll see if
he's back. James Pierre their corner, he's been banged up.
He's been really good for them. Brandon is also banged up,
so they have some defensive injuries that are worth monitoring.
Also their starting guard Isaac Simolo, he's questionable. Calvin Austin,
I think they need him, like he didn't play last week.

(23:12):
They need his speed because the problem with the Steelers
offense right now is without DK Metcalf. And you saw
this last week and DK Metcalf, it's not like he's
the best receiver in the NFL, but he's still really
good's it's his the gravity Number One. He can make
plays and he can go down the field, but the
gravity that he commands right you can watch whenever the
Steelers are near the bowl line, you'll have a corner

(23:34):
on Metcalf and then you'll have a safety sheeted over there.
Without Metcalf in there, you can just man up. Like
last week, it's Adam Feelen, Scottie Miller and mvs. You
just man them up and your safeties can come up.
And then now they also lost Darnel Washington, who's out

(23:56):
for the year. That's big because they want to go
heavy and now you don't have metcalfs want to throw
to your tight ends more. And he found a nice
role in this offense. So without Metcalf, this just becomes
a much easier offense to defend, and there's just no explosiveness.
I assume they're going to try to lean on their
run game. The one good thing here is that the

(24:19):
Ravens can't get pressure like you watch a raate They're
like the forty nine ers defense. Now they have a
lot more talent on the back end because they haven't
had as many injuries as the forty nine ers, but
they don't get pressure, like so Rogers is not going
to have to just be like getting rid of it
in one second.

Speaker 3 (24:34):
Worry about it.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah, yeah, they so. But ken the Steelers receivers actually
get open, I have my doubts. But then on the
other side of the ball, when like the Ravens, who's
who's playing quarterback? Is it Lamar Jackson? Is it Tyler Hunting?
If it is Lamar Jackson, is he not one hundred percent?

(24:55):
And then he can't move as well and their run
game isn't as good. And then like then, the Steelers
have had a lot of success containing Lamar. If it's
Huntly there, it probably would benefit one hundred percent healthy
Huntley like that probably benefits their run game more. And
then they're gonna feed you can run on the steers.
They're gonna feed Ah, well, they're gonna feed Henry here,

(25:16):
just like last week. You can run on the steers
and the Steelers know that. Do they load the box?
But I mean the Bills, So it's all the Bills
did They just ran all over them with the same play.
So so many moving parts here. Like as a Raven's fan,
I don't even know who I want to start like
I want to I would obviously you want to fully
healthy Lamar. He's way better than Huntley, but he's not
fully healthy, hasn't been all year, and every time you

(25:38):
see him he's not. So I don't even know who
I want, but it's gonna be.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
I think it's you expect Labar Jackson to be on
the team next.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
Year, depends how this season ends.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
Like I think if they're mad at him that he's
not available at the end of these seasons.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
Yeah, I think that there's some there's some stuff going on.
You also could it also could be Harball. So they're like,
if the Ravens don't make the playoffs this year and
they lose Sunday Night, there's definitely gonna be some big change.
I don't know what exactly it is. But there's gonna

(26:18):
be some big change coming for the organization. So but
here and here's the thing. If the Ravens get in
and like Lamar is healthy, like they could win the
a f C. Because the one, like the one and
two seeds are the are the Pats, the Broncos. You
have the Jags, Like this is not this is not

(26:41):
a gauntlet.

Speaker 4 (26:42):
A f C.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
The Bills are probably gonna have to go to the
Jacksonville who are playing as well as anyone, Like the
Jags are playing so well. The Bills are obviously dangerous
with Josh Allen, one of those teams is getting knocked
out and on the first weekend, so like the Texans
are still Dangerous's that's probably you'll have to play, but
you get you get to the divisional round and the

(27:06):
conference championship, Like are you really that scared of playing
bow Knicks and the Patriots, Like they're they're good teams,
but this isn't the peak Buffalo and Kansas City teams
of the past years that you had to get through.
So if Lamar can somehow get healthy and the Ravens
get in, they could make the super Bowl. But if

(27:27):
they don't. I think there's gonna be big changes. So yeah,
that's that's why we love the NFL. And obviously the
script writers got it right, and it's gonna the it's
gonna come down to the last game of the regular
season on Sunday Night. The biggest the thing that I'm
most confident that game is that it'll be low scoring.

(27:48):
I think the Ravens are gonna rely on the run.
The Steelers, they the receivers can't get open. There's no explosiveness,
like they actually hit some explosives for like the first
time in months against the Ravens when they first played.
That was Metcalf and he's not there. So I think
this would be a lower scoring game, probably come down
to something random. But there's a lot of moving parts
here with injuries and then the Ravens quarterback situation. I'm

(28:10):
not sure I'll have a bet on it, other than
I did bet some under small.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
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Speaker 2 (30:06):
Okay, Uh, I guess I'll just ride Todd Bulls Baker
Mayfield line in the sand game.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Uh doesn't even guarantee them the division? Uh? But at home?

Speaker 2 (30:19):
I don't know what a bizarre season from them? I
saw you tweeted out either last week? Yeah, it would
have been last week against Miami, like.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
They're they're a terrible team. But Carolina, I mean they
quarterbacks just through fifty yards.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Carolina's good. The best team the division is the Falcons.
Yeah this the NFL should step in and say the
Saints Falcons is for the division. I agree, they should
just change the rules. Funny enough, I King could decide
the division if the Bucks win, and.

Speaker 2 (30:50):
Uh the way that we who would who would the Rams,
Seattle or the Niners. They would much rather play Tampa
or Carolina than they would go to the road in
New Orleans or Atlanta right now, right.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
For sure, definitely don't know. None of all those teams
are chooses over Atlanta, who has They have a good defense.
Atlanta's has a dumb staff and historically bad special teams.
Like if you look at this this Atlanta team, they
easily could have eleven twelve wins. I mean they lost.

(31:22):
They lost to the Patriots in New England by one
because they missed an extra point. They've had like four
kickers this year. They lost to the Jets. They out
game ABO one hundred years because they moufed a punt
at the one. I mean the almost pulled the game
last night becausey had a fuel goal to go up
seventeen blocked and returned for a touchdown. They lost the
Colts game in overtime. They gave up like three long
returns in that game. I mean, their special teams are

(31:44):
historically bad. They blew the Panthers game. Everyone got hurt.
They lost in overtime in that game. I mean this
team has like four or five They like the Bucks
game they blew early in the year. Now, they probably
should have lost the Bucks the second time. But I
mean This team easily should be a ten plus win
team with their schedule in that division, but they're not.
It's typical Falcons the most like this would it would

(32:07):
make so much sense that this NFC South, what's gonna
happen is the Bucks win and then the Falcons win
on Sunday and the Panthers get in at eight and
nine like that that would be that would wrap it all.
And it would be so Falcons to finish eight to
nine tied for first and not get in and somehow

(32:29):
finished tied for first when they've been eliminated for a
month from the playoffs and they finished tied for first
be the most Falcons thing ever. I think that's gonna happen.
So I did bet the Bucks. I hate the bull
I think the Bucks are terrible. I've been saying it
for months since Week seven. Bakers twenty eighth and EPA
per play. I don't know if he's hurt poor, he's

(32:50):
just part of it. He might be hurt part of it.
As he came back crashing back down on the earth.
You got to remember it. Over the first he was
playing at like an MVP level that we've never seen before.
In the final two minutes of games like it was
so one sustable. They were winning all these games with
like the last drive that was never gonna last. And
they've had injuries. It looks like Tristan Wurfs will play.
That's big at left tackle, and the Panthers can't get pressure.

(33:11):
Bryce Young is not the same quarterback. It's away from home.
He's I mean, he's not great anyway. But I had
to play the Bucks year. This is the first time
we've had in the Bucks all year. And yeah, this
was my first bet on the Bucks all year. I
just got it under three. I don't think it should
be under three. Two weeks ago, the Bucks were minus
three in Carolina. Now they lost by three. It's a

(33:33):
coin flip game. They outgame Carolina. They had a Jamel
Dean had a coverage bust at the end of the
first half with like twenty seconds SOUF that led to
a touchdown. He ran the wrong coverage. But now you're
they're laying two and a half. It's just two weeks later,
and it's not like the Panthers had a good data
point last week. I know the Bucks didn't lose them
to the Dolphins, but the Panthers through they had twenty

(33:53):
four attempts for fifty yards, so I have to play
two and a half worth. I know there's some other
injuries Dean Reddick, their guards, but this Panthers defense can't
get pressure.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
There.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
It's Bryce. It's Bryce Young on the road. I think
this is the bottom of the market on the Bucks.
Like everyone, no one wants to bet them now. They
they haven't covered in two months. They're a and eight
against the spread in their best eight games, one and
seven overall. It's this is the bottom. I mean, you're
two weeks ago they're fair by three in Carolina. Now
they're like two and a half at home. I have

(34:28):
to take it. It's terrible. It sucks. And what I
think my prediction Bucks win, Falcons win on Sunday. Then
the Panthers get in the playoffs at eight and nine
and host a game.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
And what's the what's the line on the Bucks or
on the Atlanta Falcons minus three games in.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
Atlanta Falcons minus three. I don't mind, dude, Falcons. You
never want to bet as a favorite, though, like you
bet them as a dun't because.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
They're just Tyler Tyler Shuck's, you know, like perty junior.
Right now, he's hot.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Shuck is very hot. Now I will say, like it's
maybe the the shuck love is that you know, you're
right in an all time high. He's the last. He's
played the the Jets, the Panthers, the Dolphins, the Bucks,
the Panthers. I mean, he's on there on a run
of playing like the worst teams in the NFL. So,

(35:20):
but the Falcons will probably find it. This game was
gonna go overtime. That's just gonna happen. Saints Falcons is
gonna go overtime, and if they tie, the Bucks go
to the playoffs. If the Saints win, the Bucks go
to the playoffs. If the Panthers win, I mean, if
the Falcons win, then the Panthers go. It's gonna get wild.
I'm actually, I'm actually really excited for it. But I
did bet the Bucks of minus two and a half

(35:41):
lean Falcons, but I just I hate betting them as
a favorite because they're special teams. They do dumb things
and but they're they're like a decent team, Like they
got a good defense. Cousins is playing well, Pitts has emerged.
You know, London will be a thirty and back Bijon
is unbelievable. Their offensive line is good. If they just
I have like a decent special teams, this division would

(36:03):
be wrapped up and they would be an interesting team
in the NFC. But it's not. We're gonna have a
team that's probably gonna get blown out in the first round.

Speaker 2 (36:11):
If you and me were Andy Reid and bread Veitch
and we're going to play the Raiders, a team that
you know, it's in theory, it's a historic rivalry. We've
been there, we've kind of dominated. But we go, listen,
why are we just gonna win this game and just
hand them and there's no guarantee Fernando Mendoza's gonna be

(36:32):
a top ten quarterback, But give them the opportunity to
resurrect their franchise. We don't really need to do that
much different than what we've been doing because we got
Ola Kanu or whatever rolling around out there. But why
don't we make sure and I bring the owner in
as well, why don't we make sure we lose this game?
You know, Lamar Hunt, remember in Al Davis I think
used to butt heads way back.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
In the day.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
It's an easy one to like, Okay, let's you guys
took care of business. You got Crosby's run around playing
basket all.

Speaker 3 (37:00):
He looks fine. I mean, Kraft was just the best
player in the field two weeks ago against the Houston Texans.
I mean he was. He was incredible in that game.
Uh and Bowers on Irs, I see what you're doing,
which I don't. I would do it too if I
were you, But I'm gonna ruin your season. And here's
the thing with the Chiefs one two, three, four, five, six,
seven eight. If the season ended today, they'd have the

(37:21):
ninth overall pick. So a loss now Cleveland, the Saints
could technically win that that pick could be like eighth.
I mean this is it could be a big swing
with an extra win to get to seven. You're in
this world of like the Cowboys, the Dolphins, Tampa Atlanta.
You just kind of swim in a different world. Maybe
that goes from eight to like fourteen, you know, you

(37:42):
know how sometimes those swings happen. I think the Chiefs
are very incentivized to lose this game for multiple reasons.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
So yeah, this game is wild.

Speaker 2 (37:50):
All of a sudden, you get like Bane the kid,
the Miami passer or whoever, right, like you could change
your franchise with like, oh, look at they got him,
and like lad mcconkee in the second round. I mean,
you get two top ten picks in the first second round,
Like I could change the course of you know, mahomes
Nandy's second second run here.

Speaker 1 (38:09):
Yeah, so this gime's fascinating. I will say there's a
scenario where, well, number one, if the Giants win, they
played the Cowboys, they're like five point hundred dollars. If
the Giants win it one, the Raiders have the number
one pick already wrapped up, So that's worth mentioning.

Speaker 3 (38:28):
The Cowboys are gonna try, though Dack's already said.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
Yeah, I'm just saying like that is. But if the
Giants lose, in order for the Giants to get the
number one pick, then they Vegas would have to win,
and then you would have to have at least two
of these four teams win Seattle, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Chicago.

(38:51):
So if like Seattle lost, there's a there's a a
what I'm getting at, because then it would come down
to strength of the victory.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
There's a path for the Raiders to win and still
get the win pick.

Speaker 1 (39:03):
Yeah, there's a path that the Raiders know at four
o'clock or o'clock that they already have the one. I
don't know if they're if they're like if they're even
going to consider I don't know. But so like number one,
they don't know that that during the week, and they
won't know that until the one o'clock games are over.
So who are they going to rule out? Is Genti

(39:25):
going to get ruled out? I mean Gino has already
been ruled out. Who else are they going to rule out?
Not that they have a lot of players that matter.
I mean last week they basically took out their their
best defensive player. They ruled they ruled Colton Miller out,
their best offensive player, and Bowers they were actively trying
to lose. But yes, you have the Chiefs who, regardless

(39:46):
if they want to say the Raiders already have the
one pick locked up, they want to improve their draft pick,
which they rarely get to do. So what does that
mean for the Chiefs? Yes, they I bet them against
the because that was Christmas Night against Denver. You're trying
to play spoiler. Remember the week before in Tennessee they
were lifeless, and now this is week eighteen, like you

(40:09):
said you're incentivized. The players on the field are going
to try. But do you sit Chris Jones? Did Nick Bolton?
You know carlaftis worthy right, A lot of these guys,
you could just sit them all, and then you have
a third string quarterback in Ola Duken. They I mean
the Chiefs had one hundred and thirty yards and three

(40:29):
point three yards per play last week. I get it
was the Broncos defense, but this line is crazy, so
Ola Duken and potentially a shell roster is laying six
on the road in in Vegas. I get the Bowers
in Crosby are out, but the Raiders were just mine.
I mean the Broncos were just minus seven and a
half and in Vegas, and the Broncos were just minus

(40:53):
thirteen and a half in Kansas City. That's an enormous move.
So like, how much is this is tank worth? But
the Chiefs might also be tanking, so I don't know.
I feel like the bet in the game is the
Raiders catching the points.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
But.

Speaker 1 (41:13):
It's ugly.

Speaker 3 (41:14):
Any other games that you like in this weird slate?

Speaker 1 (41:18):
I love the Bengals. I think the Bengals roll the Browns.
There's so the Bengals. Their offense is obviously clicking right now,
like some of their young offensive line pieces are playing better.
You got Borrow back all your pieces. Borrow is going
to start and play so and their offense right now
is clicking. And the Browns defense is just not the
same unit on the road, Like they have one objective here,

(41:39):
it's to get Miles Garrett's sack record, and their defense
is just not that. I mean, over the past three years,
the most profitable home team against the spread, the Browns.
The least profitable road team the Browns. I think. I
think they're six and twenty against the spread on the road.
I mean, it's been pathetic. But the other thing is
that on the other side of the ball, I don't
think I don't think that they could slow Barrow up

(42:02):
enough to a point where they can keep up, Like
you can do that against the Steelers offense, which was
very shorthanded. But they're not gonna have Fen in here
most likely Nadjoku and their offense is basically throw it
to Fen. And that's how good he is as a rookie. Luckily,
he was in there for a quarter before he pulled
its growing last week, and he caught a fifty yard touchdown,
because after that their offense couldn't do anything. And the

(42:23):
Bengals defense is actually playing much better, and it's I
think it's there's always gonna be a lot of variants
in defensive numbers over short term timeframes, but there's reasons
to believe why the Bengals defense is much better than
it was now. Over the first ten weeks of the year,
they were historically bad. I'm talking like if you go

(42:46):
by DVA or just for opponent, they were the worst
DVA defensive through ten weeks of all time, So adjusting
for opponent year, they were that bad. Why has it
improved since Week ten? So over the past six weeks
one of the better defenses in the NFL from an
EPA perspective. And it's not like they've played clowns. I mean,

(43:07):
they played the Pats, the Bills, the Ravens twice, the
doll and then you know, they played the Dolphins and
the Cardinals. But the Cardinals offense has been putting up
points and they shut them down last week. Why has
it even been better? One they changed their front alignment,
Slayton is playing much better. They're getting something from Murphy.

(43:28):
Up front, they have two rookie linebackers and Carter and Knight,
who were basically unplayable for the first ten weeks, like
un unbelievably bad. But they've been playing better, which you'd
expect for rookies. Both they're still not great, but they
were not They're like serviceable. And then they they moved

(43:49):
Dax Hill out to outside corner and he's been locked
down and I mean he's been unbelievable since moving to
the outside. And then DJ Turner's been one of the
better corners. That's been their one bright spot for the
entire season. So now they have two really good outside
corners and and a lot of it is because this guy,

(44:09):
I always forget his name, Jalen Davis. He's been on
like the practice squad. He's been around for a while.
He's he took over the nickel role and is playing well.
And then the other thing is that you had a
new defensive coordinator come in and now Golden highly respected guy,
so it took him some time to like figure some
things out. He's changed some things schematically, so their defense
is actually respectable. And that's they're not great. It's not

(44:31):
a good defense. But it's not horrendous and they are
improving and that's all you need to slow down this
Brown's offense, which is abysmal and it's going to be
probably without Fannin and Nadjoku. So yeah, I think the
Bengals role here and you might have a little bit
of an emotional letdown for the Browns, right like they
last week was kind of their super Bowl to spoil

(44:51):
the Steelers season potentially. So yeah, I like the Bengals
to roll elsewhere. There's not much I mean, there's a
lot of like, all right, who's playing watching it's still
early in the week.

Speaker 2 (45:18):
Yeah, Well, let let's talk about some games that in
the matter. Let's hit on a couple of the quick
college football games. You know, Miami's defense is pretty good,
yeah right, and we just saw you know, Indiana, who
has a really good defense, you know, give slaying them
a little trouble. Now you get this long layoff, it

(45:38):
can go well, but it can also they proved last
year that you know, it cannot go well.

Speaker 3 (45:43):
They came in and like boat raced.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Oregon in that game, which was one of the crazier
I would say outcomes I can remember, just because it
happened so fast.

Speaker 3 (45:53):
Now.

Speaker 2 (45:53):
I think a lot of people just don't trust Carson Beck.
But like nine and a half feels like a lot
of points for a team with NFL guys all over
its roster, especially like you said last week in the
Trenches or two weeks ago against A and M, and
like you had good offensive defensive line, like you can
just hang in games, you can run the ball. They
start running the ball at the end of that game
against A and M. I heard someone say, like they

(46:15):
were at the game against A and M. I think
it's underrated for people sitting on their couch how much
the wind was blowing. Like the wind was you could
show see it when they put the flags up there
in that game.

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Yeah it was.

Speaker 3 (46:25):
Yeah. So I is Miami kind of a sneaky live
dogre maybe not to win the game, but plus nine
and i half feels like a lot.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Yeah if I that's that's the way that I would look,
especially with the total it's forty one, Like the points
are gonna make a premium. Getting over a touchdown is
even more valuable. I do think that the Miami defensive
line can cause the Ohio sted offensive line major problems.
I think that the ohigh Sted offensive line and their
running game is where they are significantly worse than last year.
I mean, obviously you lost Henderson and Judkins. Their running

(46:56):
game is just not as good. And then their offensive line,
specifically on the right side, and this this Miami team
in the trenches. They have the top five offensive and
defensive line. That will help. So I think that they can.
They're gonna play a lot of too high. They're gonna
take away the explosive plays. They're gonna let their defensive
line and make plays make the Buckeyes drive down the field.

(47:19):
So yeah, I think their defense can hang. My biggest
concern is the Ohio State defense is elite. Is Beck
Is he gonna make mistakes and which he is prone
to do because he did not play well against A
and M. Now there was wind and A and M's
defense is good, but it's nowhere close to as good
as Ohio State. That would be my biggest concern. But yeah,

(47:43):
I think this will be a lower scoring game. Two
really slow, methodical teams. Ohio State was the slowest team
in the country this year. Now, a lot of that
was load management, and there's this narrative out there that
oh well they did this last year, which they did
and then once they got into the playoffs they sped
it up. No they didn't. They played just really slow again.
So we'll see. Like there's talk with the play calling

(48:04):
at Grian Day is gonna be more involved the play calling.
Herdline is still there, but he's going to South Florida
after the season, so see if that changes. I don't know,
but like from what we know, this will be a
really slow, methodical game where like just you might have
like ten to fifteen fewer plays than a normal game
in an average game, if that makes the points even
more valuable, So yeah, I think you have to have

(48:27):
to look at the points. I think it'll be a
defensive battle.

Speaker 3 (48:31):
I'd be lying if I said I watched that much tech.
I do respect.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
I mean, I think Utah and BYU were obviously good programs,
and they beat the shit out of them three times,
so it was like clearly they paid for this defensive line.
You know, Oregon's favored in this game Morning Game.

Speaker 3 (48:50):
I don't know. I mean long travel right, this game
is in Miami, correct, so this is.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
I guess I would take Oregon. I don't feel great
about it. I just don't have a great feel for
Texas Tech. Beside, I know their quarterback has been a
little hit or miss. But the defensive line is just
really good. Right, defensive defensive line like high end guys
like you create havoc.

Speaker 1 (49:12):
Yeah, defensive line with height.

Speaker 3 (49:14):
David Bailey is the linebackers stud Yeah, Lee.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
Hunter nose tackle, Jacob Rodriguez, Ben Robert chacob Ariaz linebacker
and watched him. He's a great player. So like they're.
My biggest question for them is their corners. They haven't
really faced elite passing attacks all year, Like Utah doesn't
have good receivers BYU is decent, but that they don't
have like this electric passing attack. That's my biggest concernative.
But they're their defensive line will get after any quarterback.

(49:42):
We'll get after any offensive line. And in this Oregon team,
their offense didn't look It looked pretty pedestrian against most
of the high end defenses they played. Right against Indiana,
it wasn't great against even on the road against Penn
State against Iowa there was some weather involved in there.
But when they played like these high end defenses, it

(50:05):
wasn't great. Which lents me to think that this game
is going to go under. I like a first half
under two Morton the Texas. That quarterback, he's still not
at one hundred percent. He has a hairline fraction in
his leg. He says he's at like eighty percent. Now
Tech can't really run the ball. This is like the
best defense they will play all year. The only top
twenty ish defenses they played all year were BYU and Utah.

(50:26):
And I mean those games were at the half were
like ten seven ten nothing, seven to three. They were
ugly low scoring games. They have a rhythm, timing based
offense too. They've been out, they've been on a long break.
A lot of these air raid ish offenses when they
have long breaks. This is going back to Leach. Takes
a while to get back in the rhythm. You can
see some slow starts. So I like some first half under,

(50:47):
some full game under. I believe in the the Tech
defense making enough plays. That defensive line is super elite,
their linebackers are super elite, and this is the best
defensive Tech will face all year. Their running game isn't consistent,
it's very inefficient. That's how you want to attack Oregon.

(51:10):
But it's not the strength of Texas Tech so and
Morton's not out one hundred percent, so I think this
will be a lower scoring game. So I played some
first half under, some full game under. If it got
the three, i'd consider Tech, but I don't have a
strong feel on the side.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
Yeah, this is it's a little like the Indiana Ohio
State game. Now, obviously Indiana is playing another huge game,
but like this would be the biggest win the history ATACH.
I mean, this would just be a massive moment for
the program. It doesn't get any bigger for Oregon. You know,
obviously their expectations now over the course since Chip got
there is like can be for national championships. Not saying

(51:47):
that this wouldn't be like a they'd be disappointed they lose,
but it's like they're a big picture program at this
point in time.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Yeah, next year is the year. I mean, Oregon could
win all this year. I don't think they will, but
it could. I mean, it's pretty wide open, but next
year's the year for Oregon. We'll see about Dante Moore
and what he decides. I assume he's gonna go, but if.

Speaker 2 (52:07):
You can see him coming back because they can pay him,
like they payhim like ten million dollars.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
I can see. So if he come if he comes back,
like this, next year is the year really for Oregon
because they are so young. You look across that roster
they are, I mean, because they lost a ton from
that roster from last year and they I mean they
have obviously have a pipeline of recruits and then they
fill in with the portal. But their roster is set

(52:32):
up next year to be I mean, so is Ohio State.
But like, those are your two favorites going in the
next year. So any anything that they if they were
to win it, that would be just house money found
money this year. But yeah, it should it should be
a good entertainer gain the Tech defensive line, Like the
front seven for Tech is national title best in the nation. Good.

Speaker 3 (52:55):
I would say this.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
You know, when I was seventeen to nothing, You're like, oh,
this Bama team's a joke, and then it flip. Clearly Materii,
I don't know what the hell happened to him. You know,
after the hand injury, he was a shell of himself
and he was bad in this game.

Speaker 3 (53:08):
Again.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
I made you look at Indiana played two really good
teams and they won by ten on the road at Oregon,
which was a massive win for their program and obviously
the biggest win the history of the Indiana football when
they would beat Ohio State. They blow out a lot
of the bad teams, but seven points feels like a
lot against Kalin, who's excellent against high end opponents, and

(53:30):
you just have to go, well, Bama obviously has a
bunch of high end guys on their roster.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
Did they find a little something, they get a little momentum?
No one on their roster.

Speaker 2 (53:40):
And I'm not saying this is correct, but we'll look
at Indiana like an equal. You know, how could they
They fucking are at Alabama.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
But I don't know. I kind of like Bama in
this spot. Plus seven little risky, little risky. Might it
might be you know, recency bias on the second half.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
But yeah, I mean they definitely got fortunate against Oklahoma.
I mean, they had Oklahoma some somehow. They have like
elite special teams all year. The Blue Gros Award winner
missing kicks, they dropped a punt, they dropped the wide
up and touchdown. I could have made it to what
twenty four to seven? Mitchyeer throws the pick six at
the end of the half like that, everything that could
have went wrong went wrong. My concern with Bama, I mean,

(54:19):
like this team for like a couple of months has
not been playing like an elite team, not even like
a top ten team. I mean, they should have lost.
They could have easily lost to Auburn, they should have
lost that South Carolina. There's been just been a number
of games that they've gotten away with this year.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
And why is that so?

Speaker 1 (54:34):
Like, well, they cannot run the ball. They were one
of the worst rushing offenses in the country, so that
when you're so one dimensional and you play elite teams,
it's very difficult to win. And on the other side,
they don't really get elite pressure. They're like, so if
I look at these two teams, one of these teams
can run the ball, that's Indiana. One of these teams

(54:55):
can get pressure, that's Indiana. I think that might end
up being the difference. But Alabama, with their talent at
receiver and Simpson like there, I mean, they have the
capability of hitting explosive players and winning this game. The
Bama special teams also all year have been really bad,
but that's just hard to rely on, and Indiana knows

(55:16):
that has extra time to repair really smart staff. It's
it's just the super unsustainable formula to try to win
these games with just like Simpson having the drop back
and known passing situations against the defense that can get
pressure that is really good and you have to get
I mean, Indiana two of the teams that people wouldn't
be surprised won the national title, Oregon and Ohio State.

(55:36):
They won both both away from home, so like you
have to give them credit for that. And they have
they have the Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, a really
good efen, a really good offensive line, and the better
they have a better offensive line than Alabama. So I
think Indiana gets it done. If you took the points
with Alabama now it's seven, I wouldn't blame you though,

(55:57):
But super cool.

Speaker 2 (55:58):
Matchup of like Indiana was gonna have a season to
be pretty crazy when you look back that in Alabama.

Speaker 1 (56:05):
Neutral field and the college club against Alabama.

Speaker 3 (56:08):
It's pretty wild, you know, Georgia.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
I saw Lane Kiffin talking about how his coaches, you know,
I mean, they're working two jobs a lot going on
to get a pretty big patch against Tulane which clearly
they match up with the game.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
It never has a shot. Georgie.

Speaker 2 (56:23):
I remember watching this game in the middle of the
season and they just they went up and down the field.
I mean they they scored it will and then all
of a sudden the fourth quarter hit in Chamblists. He
kind of like melted down. They started getting pressure and
he turned into like a different quarterback.

Speaker 3 (56:36):
Immediately. It was like, what is going on?

Speaker 2 (56:39):
And you know that kind of flipped George's like that
gave them a lot of momentum moving forward after that win.
And you know, you know, Lane doesn't call plays. I've
seen a lot of people talk about this, like Charlie
Weiss called like over ninety five percent of the place.
Lane would chime in every once in a while in
a big spot or when he sees something, but Charlie
Weiss was this wasn't one of those situations where he

(57:01):
was an offensive coordinator by name only.

Speaker 1 (57:03):
Yeah, Lame would just have his wrinkles. He would make
some Indian calls, some aggressive stuff.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
So like their core of the defensive coordinator and the
offensive coordinator are still there. Their defenses isn't as good
as a lot of these other teams. Right from a
personnel standpoint. You know when you talked about Oregon Miami
OSU like Texas text d line that ain't that ain't
all missed. They got to score now the running back
suite quarterbacks when he's on, he's fucking good. I just

(57:30):
wonder I see these clips of Kirby just lighting them
up in practice.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
I wonder if he's kind.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
Of thinking like this could be number three this year
there So I mean, I guess I don't have a
great feel for this game.

Speaker 3 (57:42):
I just I wonder iful Miss kind of runs out
of steam here.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Yeah, I would lean Georgia, but as always with Georgia,
I'll be looking to bet them live. They go down
so much in games, like more than any good team.
They're not good on the script offensively, Bobo. Their office
quater is not good on the script. Ole Miss usually is.
And they'll have some wrinkles here, they'll have some like
I think that they will probably start fast here and

(58:09):
then the best end game adjuster in the sport, And
that's what happened in the first meeting, Kirby started changing
some of the looks. He's won them countless games by adjusting,
so he already did that against ole Miss once. I
think ole Miss will have some counters early, so if
Georgia gets down, I'll be looking to bet them live.
But I think Georgia will be able to run the
ball here. They might get Kobe Young back. It looks

(58:31):
like they will get Colby Young back at receiver. He
got hurt in that first game, hasn't played since. That'll
give him another big target. So yeah, I think Georgia
gets it done. I think the line is about right.
But if I can get like a cheap number on
Georgia live, if ole Miss scores first, if it's like
fourteen to seven, fourteen to three, I think this game
could play out similar to the first meeting. The one

(58:54):
thing that gives me a little pause with I do
kind of want to root for ole Miss after it
with like kind too, all right, like that the Georgia
game against Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech defense is really bad
and they played on a neutral field and they couldn't
move the ball, And that game I can't get out
of my head. That was two weeks ago. They just

(59:14):
couldn't do anything. I don't know what happened that week,
So like now I'm so confused, about the Georgia offense.
I thought it was like a sending and that game
just has me. Now. They beat Alabama after that, but
that game is I just can't get out of my head.
But I do think Georgia advances would lean them on

(59:35):
the number, will be looking for them live for sure,
and then if if we do get if the chalk
does hold, I think we're in for some really good
semi finals. But part of me does like just after

(59:58):
what happened with Kiffin ole Miss making a run, I
think it was pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
I would totally agree with you.

Speaker 2 (01:00:07):
Well, enjoy a rager with you had you had a son, right, yep,
a baby boy. So I enjoy New Year's even, enjoy
the enjoy the games, and we will talk next week
when we see the uh the brackets come out, which
I think you and I we've already been hitting that.
But it's gonna be really hard to bet on this

(01:00:27):
playoffs because these teams, like, there's no not much difference
in any of these teams, so it's it should be
a pretty exciting NFL playoffs as for damn sure, So
let's enjoy the games and then UH and then get
after it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Yeah, good luck to your niner. So, by the way,
the one thing, one question I want to ask you
is isn't Warner potentially coming back. I've heard rumblings.

Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
I mean, he shattered, is it? I mean I'd be stunned.

Speaker 2 (01:00:50):
Super Bowl maybe the Super Bowl, which seems a little
now he was out there celebrating, but I would.

Speaker 3 (01:00:57):
We got a long way to go before that's even
a come conversation.

Speaker 1 (01:01:00):
Good Luck to you on Saturday night, at least you're
in the dance. Good Luck to me on Sunday night,
because we're not in the dance yet.

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
So go ravens Audios.

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
The volume
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