December 11, 2025 • 23 mins
Catch “The Drive with Spence Checketts” from 2 pm to 6 pm weekdays on ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM. Produced by Porter Larsen. The latest on the Utah Jazz, Real Salt Lake, Utes, BYU + more sports storylines.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's not a little Thursday night football tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
To start your weekend in the NFL, we'll have a
little Tampa Bay Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Really good slate, though, really good slate.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Excited for the weekend ahead of the NFL, but we
have to welcome out our favorite too. Lane Alum, you
might have some bragging to do today. Hello, Sam Broadcasts,
How are you, sir?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm doing good. I'm doing a lot better that the
Green Wave are making their first college football Playoff appearance.
And you know, I think we have as many as
Louisiana State University right now. So I'm not here to
say we may be Louisiana's top dog, but I think
at least as it stands now, we are.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I think you should take that, Moniker quite frankly, you know,
on a serious note, help us understand how big of
a deal this is for a program like Tulane that
historically speaking, has not existed in this ecosystem.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I think it means a ton, obviously, but I think
it's more of a testament to the investment and the
innovation of what Tulane has done. Tulane basically about four
or five years ago, ironically, after a pretty tough hurricane
in Southeast Louisiana, which put most of the team staying
in an under construction hotel in Birmingham, Alabama for about
(01:15):
four months. They sat down and tried to figure out
how they were going to rebuild a program that was
two and ten. And they looked at the structures of
NIL and the way that the G five P five
split works, and they decided that they were going to
have one of the most professional outfits both in house
and outside of house, with the collective when it comes
to NIL, that they were going to make smart coaching decisions.
(01:38):
Obviously that's a little bit of a rolling roll of dice,
but John Summer worked out that that was a guy
who was previously at Tulane understood the culture of New Orleans.
They now move on to Will Hall, who coached me.
I owe a ton. He understands Tulane, he understands how
to recruit there, and I think the operation of what
Tulane has done, and to other degrees U Tall for
(02:00):
example BYU Texas Tech. Some of these teams who aren't
necessarily absolute powerhouses, look at their situation and because of
how the NCAA has kind of managed itself, lately, they're
able to find a niche and able to win really
big and be able to consistently win. I think that
(02:21):
Tulane is kind of just a program that will run itself. Obviously,
there may be some down years, but at this point
they have the backing, they have the boosting, they have
the people in the right places. You're going to be
able to get talent there now, and I think that's
more of a testament to the process than necessarily just
one or two good years.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And you know, look, Old Miss is a seventeen point
five point favorite, but look like they lose their coach.
You know, I think Charlie Watsh Junior is going to
go back and call plays. And obviously Tulane's a big
time underdog. But I think on the like James Madison
is like a twenty two point dog, it could have
been worse, right, Like how do they keep this close?
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And the world.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, I think this is our best matchup from a
structural perspective, and ironically, I think for Twu Lane it's
it's very opposite of what Ole Miss is. Ole Miss
from a high level perspective is kind of fractured and
there's a lot of chaos and Tulane's kind of in
the same position. However, they've kind of rallied together and
made this almost like the Last Dance where John Summerle
(03:23):
is in Gainesville right now, I believe, but will Haul,
the new head coach who is on staff is running
the ship. Also player led practices. They know what to do.
A bunch of those guys are going to transfer out.
Look like I'm not the wiser there. I know how
this game goes nowadays, and I think us banding together
off the field as an ex player means a lot more.
(03:44):
It's going to be interesting to see how ole Miss
and particularly on those scripted plays like you mentioned, how
they're going to look, because if they don't look good
on those scripted plays, if we're able to take advantage
of them in the first fifteen to twenty blays of
the game, I think we have a real shot of
winning that game if we get up about fourteen. Now,
they are more talented than us. Turning down Chamblee, the
quarterback has played extremely well this year. Our weakness on
(04:07):
offense is their weakness on defense, so not really a
place to take advantage of them there. In terms of
the run game, and their offense is just very good.
The question becomes, is that Lane Kiffin or is that
the offensive coordinator? Or is that the team? Is it
everything firing on the same wavelengths, So typically, like I
like to pick out one thing that I want to
(04:28):
watch and I think it's going to take away. I
think it's those scripted plays the first twenty twenty five
plays of the game on both sides. If we are
able to get seven to ten points and hold them
on one of their drives, I think this could be
a very very good matchup for the Waves.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Look Sam as a man in his mid forties, and
I'll say mid forties. I think I have one more
year till after lean into the late forties. I am
hoping to see Philip Rivers start a quarterback for the
Indianapolis Colts coming up this Sunday for all of us
that are aging and believe that maybe we sh we'll
have some gas left in the tank, it would be quite.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
A story, is it really?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Do you think it's really a possibility that he gets
the call to start for the Colts coming up against
Jacksonville on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It seems to be for the reason that it seems
like to have nobody else who wants to come play
for him. There were talks of Sam Ellinger allegedly being
considered to be grabbed off the practice squad. Heat remains
on the Broncos. Leonard is hurt, Richardson is hurt, Jones
is hurt. So it seems as if in a pinch,
a three day kind of loop, he is their best option.
(05:33):
The problem is, when I was analyzing the Colts, like
five or six weeks ago, I was looking at their schedule,
I was looking at the trends of their team, and
Daniel Jones could have been completely healthy. I still thought
that they were going to lose out. They go up
against the Seahawks team that is venomous and dangerous and
angry for most names, and I don't know if that's
(05:55):
the best standpoint for a forty four year old quarterback
who is popping off of the headset down there with
his kids and now jumping into a helmet and playing
against one of the most just absolutely beast defenses in
the national football like frankly, that we've seen in a
couple of years. They shut Matt Stafford down, who's around
(06:18):
that age, quite easily, and Matt Stafford might be the MVP.
I don't think it's gonna look great for Philip Rivers
to be steps on the field, But I gotta say,
you know, that man has some he has some fortitude,
let's say that. And he's clearly a gamer. He's been
that his whole career, so he's gonna try to make
it happen. But I don't think it's gonna look great
for the Colts offense if he is a major part
(06:40):
of the game plan.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
A lot of awesome games this weekend.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I don't know that tonight's one of them, but you
know it's on our radio station, so I should be
kind of about the product. Baker Mayfield's had a rough
month or so. The Falcons are eliminated from the postseason.
What's the most intriguing thing to you about Falcons?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Bucks Thursday at Football?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, I think he got to look at this game
and the kind of slug race when it really comes
down to it. Neither of these teams are fantastic as
it stands right now. Between Tampa Bay and Carolina is
really interesting. Carolina has been doing it with defense in
the running game. Tampa, like you said, Banker has been
immensely banged up. Frankly, most of their team has been
(07:20):
immensely banked up, banged up throughout the season. What Atlanta
has been able to do is make big plays on defense,
and sometimes that looks great and then sometimes it looks awful.
If they're able to get the big plays against Baker,
I think they take this victory. I really want to
look at what that wide receiver room looks like. I
think this the Bucks team, for better or worse, has
(07:41):
the core pillars of a good team. They have two
good tackles, they have multiple good wide receivers, two good
running backs, good play caller, a quarterback who went healthy
can have some juice, and some good pieces on defense.
I think they just have to take this game as
one where they can get over on somebody. And I
don't know exactly if they're going to be able to
do that. I think it could be a tough matchup tonight.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
All right, let's move over to some of the more
exciting matchups. Let's do Chargers Chiefs, because of course, everybody
wants to know what's up with the Chiefs, and I
believe the playoff percentage this point is twelve percent, So
if they don't get it done coming up tomorrow morning.
They're probably cooked. And the Chargers are really solid team.
They got Amrion Hampton back last week. So two prong questions,
(08:21):
your thoughts on the game and what ultimately has gone
south for what really has been a dynasty for the
better part of six seven years now.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
My thoughts on the game really tie into my thoughts
on this team, that the team seems to be coming
together except for a few backbreaking plays that last year
went their way literally every single time. And when you
are a dynasty, when you are a top team in
the league, you play a difficult schedule. That's how the
NFL works, and they are in a difficult division as well,
(08:50):
and so you got to have some of those breaks.
And I think this is just the year from heck
for the Kansas City Chiefs. If you were to go
look at what we as analysts like to call the
Thaggorean win theory, which looks at point differential. Other people
use it using EPA and there's multiple different models. But
the Chiefs, you would expect him to be one of
(09:10):
the best teams in the league, but they just had
have had terrible bounces, missed field goals, type games that
they weren't able to win, so forth and so on,
Trevor Lawrence falling on his butt being able to get
back up and score a touchdown in the close game.
So this is a really anomalous year. You look at
the Chiefs offense their fifth and expected points out of
for play. Their defense looked really good last week and
(09:32):
basically got them back into the game, and I think
that's the key standpoints against the Chargers, who have just
been able to win games. That's what Jim Harball does.
He wins games. It's looked pretty pretty gnarly. But when
it comes down to it, if Kansas City's defensive line
is able to recreate the performance that they had last week,
where it looked like everyone was getting shot out of
(09:53):
mccannon over and over again, I think they should take
this game because Justin Herbert is immensely banged up and
they have little to no talent on that offensive line
right now, or at least it's tough to get that
O line ready, I'll say. And I think if they're
able to take advantage of Justin Herbert in a way
that shockingly we saw the Eagles do, but they weren't
able to really drill it down on the other side
(10:14):
of the ball. I think the Chiefs are going to
be able to get it done on the other side
of the ball. So I like the Chiefs in this game.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I don't know that anybody really wants to win that
AFC North and Tomorrow we've got Ravens Bengals. Ravens have
lost a couple of straight games after it looked like
they were just going to roll through and get the thing,
and the Bengals have burrow back and they're basically dead.
But Maddy Python not dead yet dead. So what do
you make of this matchup?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
This is a tough one. I think you look at
that output of the Bengals on offense and that is
going to stress a defense that has been really inconsistent
all year, whether that's analytically or just by the eye test.
And I think that this is going to have to
need to be a high scoring game if the Ravens
want to win. We haven't seen the Ravens being able
to put up high scoring games. I think Lamar is
(11:00):
pretty banged up. I think we're going to hear after
the season that he's dealing with multiple injuries. We're not
seeing the athleticism on our tracking data that we have
seen in previous years from Lamar. It's showing up in
his rushing statistics, it's showing up in his scrambled statistics.
And I think, you know, you got to score when
you're going up against Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase T Higgins,
(11:23):
I believe is in concussion protocol. So that's going to
be a major loss for them. But when it comes
down to it, this needs to be a high scoring
game for the Ravens to win, and I frankly don't
know if they're going to be able to do it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
All right, Bill's Patriots.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
You know, every weekend you kind of wait for the
Patriots to come back down to Earth. You've been good
to remind us of kind of the topsy turvy nature
of the Bills during the regular season.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Then they just kind of end up figuring it out.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
But we sit here at this point, and I don't
know how many people called this, If.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Anybody did, I didn't read it or hear about it.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
With the Patriots of the commanding lead in the AFC East,
we'll talk about your Dolphins a little bit, because you
need a little love for your boy Mike McDaniel.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
But what do you make of a massive AFCs clash here?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
We got vintage Josh Allen last week, and I gotta say,
whether you look at the advanced statistics where his expected
points at, it is very good. However, he does not
have like the sheer reps that he's had in previous years.
They actually haven't asked him to do a lot. When
you look at what he's really done on the field
via r Soomer scores, which look at every tenth of
(12:26):
a second on a play and try to make an
evaluation by learning the relationships between all the players, he
has had just like a quality starter season, We're not
seeing an MVP season from him. I do think he
will end up making the Pro Bowl, and we discuss
that on our Pro Bowl Suomer Sports show this week,
and I got to say, shockingly, there are a lot
(12:47):
of Patriots who are playing good. I think Drake May
is the MVP this year. If I had a vote,
I would be voting for Drake May for MVP. They
have guys across the offensive line, Morgan, Moses, Mike could
win you who are playing extremely well. They got eyes
across the defensive backfield that are playing really well Jalen
Hawkins at the safety position. This is just a team
who has been able to put players in the right
(13:09):
place over and over and over again this year, and
as a result, I really think they are a true contender.
I think there's a lot of value in them as
the Super Bowl champion. If you want to go check
out those odds. I think there's a lot of value.
And I think people look at the Bills and look
at the Chiefs, who may not even make the playoffs.
But if some of those other a SC teams catch
(13:30):
the breaks that I expect them to break downward. This
is the Patriots cake walk to the Super Bowl. I
think that's definitely in the odds. Now Mont Dolphins, as
you mentioned, all of a sudden winning games, offense is
starting to creep up, Andy Weavers defense is starting to
creep up. Do I think they're for real?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
No.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
I think they're probably an average team that can give
pretty much any team in the league problems due to
their scheme advantage with Anthony Weaver and Mike McDaniel. So
I think this is a Patriots cakewalking. I think the
Patriots are going to pull it out. I think they're
going to really test that Nickel defense of the Buffalo Bills,
and I just don't think they're going to be able
to hang with them for four quarters.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
You think McDaniel has saved his job.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I mean you joined us about a month month and
a half ago when there was all this noise around him,
and you made a very interesting case for why he
should be retained and felled. At one point people were
talking about it like in the past, tense, like hey,
he'll be great at his next opportunity. But winning four straight,
you think he's kind of saved his gig.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, I just like don't know how they can get
rid of him. I feel like he's going to get
hired as an offense coordinator head coach immediately. And when
you have a guy in the room like that, particularly
if you are considering looking for a quarterback or need
someone to make to a tongue of bwai looa usable,
there's not a better guy that will be available this
(14:51):
year than Mike McDaniel. And I think that's a real
underrated story going into this offseason, is that there's no
a lot of clear head coaching candidates. I think you
think of Shula with the Rams, maybe Jesse Mentor with
the Chargers. But the offensive coordinator pool right now is
mostly guys who have been retreads. I think Joe Brady
(15:12):
is the only one who has not been a head coach,
but he has been fired from the Panthers ends up
going to the Bills having some success. Klint Kubiak has
been the offensive coordinator for several different situations. Brian Daball
just got fired as a head coach. There's just not
a lot of great, Uh, There's not a lot of
great offensive young talent in the coaching pool right now.
Cliff Kingsbury is another name who has come up. He's
(15:34):
bounced around the league, fired as a head coach, now
an offensive coordinator for a team that's struggling but keeping
themselves alive offensively to a certain degree. And so I
just don't think it makes sense for a team that
has a clear scheme advantage every single week, both on
offense and on defense with Andy Weaver to go a
different direction. The scenario has changed. My previous argument was
(15:56):
that if they are going to be a terrible team,
you'll want to bring a quarterback into that situation. I
think now it becomes if you are bringing a mid
first round, mid second or third round quarterback into a
situation where potentially he can take over for two a
tongue of bailoa via injury or just via poor performance.
I still think you want Mike mcgango to man that ship.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Got a cross conference matchup at Mile High that will
be very highly watched in our market with Jordan Love
and the Green Bay Packers taking on Bonnix and the
Denver Broncos, who have won ten straight games. A lot
of excitement about the Broncos, and of course Jordan played
his college ball about forty miles north of here. Two
teams that are high speed ahead of the postseason, maybe
playing for a buye.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
What do you like most about Packers Broncos.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think the matchup to watch in this game is
Keishawn Nixon versus Courtland Sutton. We have Keishawn Nixon as
one of the best quarterbacks in the league this year
according to our summer scores, and Cortland Sutton is a
borderline pro bowler according to our metrics, and I think
it's really going to come down to that matchup if
Courtland Sutton is able to get open quickly, especially with
(17:01):
a defense that is extremely good at getting pressure. I
don't think they're going to be able to sack bow
Knicks as usual. Bow Knicks never get sacked. One of
the best sack of boaying quarterbacks in the league. Frankly,
the entire engine of that offense, quite literally. But if
Courtland Sunn's able to get open have a big game
against Keishawn Nixon, I think that this game could open
(17:21):
up in a way that we don't really expect from
the Broncos. Now do I think that's necessarily going to happen.
I don't know. Boonix, It's still up to him to
be accurate and hit him. We haven't seen him play
super well in past weeks, even though the results have
been good. I think Jordan Love probably is going to
have a couple Jordan Love plays against this terrifying defense,
(17:44):
and their offensive line really struggled to have an identity
through most of this year. They've kind of found it
in the last two weeks. But this is a whole
other beast in the Broncos defense. So I think it's
really going to come down to the Broncos offense, particularly
Courtland Sudden the receiver group to win this game. Frankly,
I think this is going to be a defensive lock
(18:06):
up rather than an offensive lockup that you would expect
between a La Floor and Peyton coach team.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Last game that I'll set you loose, and these are
two of my favorite teams to watch when they're ticking.
With the Lions and the Rams, it's so fine and Englewood,
you know, ultimately again two teams that are probably high
speed of the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
The Rams are among the favorite win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Now, so what do you like most about what should
be a really entertaining game in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
There's a couple items to this, and it's kind of
like this every time the Rams play, where there's these
unique matchups because they are such a good team, and
on the flip side, the lines are very good as well.
Of like there's always one strange matchup that always pops up.
And so I think if they're able to keep Matt
Stafford clean in this game in a way that they
(18:52):
were not able to do against the Seahawks, I think
we could see the Rams play really well. But that's
a big if. Aiden Hutchinson right now is playing at
a certified Player of the Year caliber. They've been able
to get pressure that Lion's defense has for multiple spots,
including from the linebacker position. And interestingly, this team likes
to trot out eleven and thirteen personnel. That is where
(19:15):
the Rams like to live, ironically separate from what the
Seahawks did to them. The Lion like to stay in
base personnel, want to play Derek Barnes, they want to
play Jack Campbell, and they want to play Alex Adeloni
at all times. I think that could give the thirteen
personnel attack trouble. I think it's going to be a
true eleven game from the Rams. That means that Puukunakua
(19:36):
is going to have to step out. He'll be against
the depth of the Lions secondary, which once again tons
of injuries in that secondary. So I think that's going
to be really interesting. Can Aiden Hutchinson get one on
one pressure against this offensive line? I think it'll end
up being a close game if he can. On the
flip side, they're going to trot out dime against an
(19:58):
into your offensive line of the line that has struggled
throughout this year. They're going to have to pass over
the middle to win this game. The Rams have one
of the best safety groups in recent years, including Cameron Curl,
a couple other guys, Kim Kitchens that has played really well,
Nate Lanman the linebacker as well. It's going to be
a struggle to pass over the middle. This is a
(20:19):
true strength on strength game. And that's why I think
it's going to be fascinating to watch Sam.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Before I sat you lose, I'm going to be selfish
and I'm gonna ask you for fantasy football advice because
I'm in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Are you ready?
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Let's do it? All right?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I'm in a two quarterback league and Dak is my
quarterback that I'll start, and then I was playing Daniel Jones,
who is obviously hurt. So my options for my second
quarterback are cam Ward or whoever starts for the Colts.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Who should I go with?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Oh? You know, have any other options? No?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Man, and there's none on the waiver wire. It's a
bad spot. It's a bad spot.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
That's brutal. Well, look, I mean you gotta think about it.
I don't think there's any good mashup against the Seahawks
that I like, and I think cam Ward and the
Titans are likely to be put in a situation where
they could be throwing just because they don't have a
high team strength. So based off of those sheer principles,
I'm gonna go with cam Ward. I'm really frankly afraid
(21:13):
of anyone playing against the Seahawks defense. It could be
Josh Allen, it could be Philip Rivers. I'm just a
trust that Mike McDonald is going to give a quarterback troubles.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Wait, we have a late entry into this group. Kenny
Pickett is available on the waiver wire.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
What do you think?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Oh, that's an interesting one. Can you think it may
bring a little bit of rushing upside? Now we have
not seen that from the Raiders offense at all, But yeah,
I think I'm still gonna have to go cam Ward
on this.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Man, I don't know why I play fans.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Oh, it's so brutal, It's so brutal. But we'll see
what happens. Hey, Sam, tell everybody where they can go
find your work, Bud.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, go check out the Sumer Sports Show on YouTube
and be sure to subscribe. We also have had some
excellent days leave film videos from our film expert SEAWANSI ed,
do you want to figure out how Michael Parsons is
getting his pressure. How some of these excellent NFL coaches
are scheming up their offenses every single day. You can
catch a video and as well you can catch a
(22:12):
Sumer Sports show help. We helped you build out your
Pro Bowl ballot this week, so great thing to do
as you're doing.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
That, Sam, Thank you, my friend. Enjoy the football and
enjoy the weekend. We'll chat soon.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Sam Bruckhaus one of our favorites from Suomer Sports, previewing
the Pro Football Weekend Ahead. It starts tonight in Tampa
between the Falcons and the Bucks. Of course, you can
see that game on Amazon Prime. And we are your
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we've got a football special, Holiday Football special with our
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(22:47):
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It's not a little Thursday night football tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
To start your weekend in the NFL, we'll have a
little Tampa Bay Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Really good slate, though, really good slate.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Excited for the weekend ahead of the NFL, but we
have to welcome out our favorite too. Lane Alum, you
might have some bragging to do today. Hello, Sam Broadcasts,
How are you, sir?
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm doing good. I'm doing a lot better that the
Green Wave are making their first college football Playoff appearance.
And you know, I think we have as many as
Louisiana State University right now. So I'm not here to
say we may be Louisiana's top dog, but I think
at least as it stands now, we are.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I think you should take that, Moniker quite frankly, you know,
on a serious note, help us understand how big of
a deal this is for a program like Tulane that
historically speaking, has not existed in this ecosystem.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
I think it means a ton, obviously, but I think
it's more of a testament to the investment and the
innovation of what Tulane has done. Tulane basically about four
or five years ago, ironically, after a pretty tough hurricane
in Southeast Louisiana, which put most of the team staying
in an under construction hotel in Birmingham, Alabama for about
(01:15):
four months. They sat down and tried to figure out
how they were going to rebuild a program that was
two and ten. And they looked at the structures of
NIL and the way that the G five P five
split works, and they decided that they were going to
have one of the most professional outfits both in house
and outside of house, with the collective when it comes
to NIL, that they were going to make smart coaching decisions.
(01:38):
Obviously that's a little bit of a rolling roll of dice,
but John Summer worked out that that was a guy
who was previously at Tulane understood the culture of New Orleans.
They now move on to Will Hall, who coached me.
I owe a ton. He understands Tulane, he understands how
to recruit there, and I think the operation of what
Tulane has done, and to other degrees U Tall for
(02:00):
example BYU Texas Tech. Some of these teams who aren't
necessarily absolute powerhouses, look at their situation and because of
how the NCAA has kind of managed itself, lately, they're
able to find a niche and able to win really
big and be able to consistently win. I think that
(02:21):
Tulane is kind of just a program that will run itself. Obviously,
there may be some down years, but at this point
they have the backing, they have the boosting, they have
the people in the right places. You're going to be
able to get talent there now, and I think that's
more of a testament to the process than necessarily just
one or two good years.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
And you know, look, Old Miss is a seventeen point
five point favorite, but look like they lose their coach.
You know, I think Charlie Watsh Junior is going to
go back and call plays. And obviously Tulane's a big
time underdog. But I think on the like James Madison
is like a twenty two point dog, it could have
been worse, right, Like how do they keep this close?
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And the world.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yeah, I think this is our best matchup from a
structural perspective, and ironically, I think for Twu Lane it's
it's very opposite of what Ole Miss is. Ole Miss
from a high level perspective is kind of fractured and
there's a lot of chaos and Tulane's kind of in
the same position. However, they've kind of rallied together and
made this almost like the Last Dance where John Summerle
(03:23):
is in Gainesville right now, I believe, but will Haul,
the new head coach who is on staff is running
the ship. Also player led practices. They know what to do.
A bunch of those guys are going to transfer out.
Look like I'm not the wiser there. I know how
this game goes nowadays, and I think us banding together
off the field as an ex player means a lot more.
(03:44):
It's going to be interesting to see how ole Miss
and particularly on those scripted plays like you mentioned, how
they're going to look, because if they don't look good
on those scripted plays, if we're able to take advantage
of them in the first fifteen to twenty blays of
the game, I think we have a real shot of
winning that game if we get up about fourteen. Now,
they are more talented than us. Turning down Chamblee, the
quarterback has played extremely well this year. Our weakness on
(04:07):
offense is their weakness on defense, so not really a
place to take advantage of them there. In terms of
the run game, and their offense is just very good.
The question becomes, is that Lane Kiffin or is that
the offensive coordinator? Or is that the team? Is it
everything firing on the same wavelengths, So typically, like I
like to pick out one thing that I want to
(04:28):
watch and I think it's going to take away. I
think it's those scripted plays the first twenty twenty five
plays of the game on both sides. If we are
able to get seven to ten points and hold them
on one of their drives, I think this could be
a very very good matchup for the Waves.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Look Sam as a man in his mid forties, and
I'll say mid forties. I think I have one more
year till after lean into the late forties. I am
hoping to see Philip Rivers start a quarterback for the
Indianapolis Colts coming up this Sunday for all of us
that are aging and believe that maybe we sh we'll
have some gas left in the tank, it would be quite.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
A story, is it really?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Do you think it's really a possibility that he gets
the call to start for the Colts coming up against
Jacksonville on Sunday?
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It seems to be for the reason that it seems
like to have nobody else who wants to come play
for him. There were talks of Sam Ellinger allegedly being
considered to be grabbed off the practice squad. Heat remains
on the Broncos. Leonard is hurt, Richardson is hurt, Jones
is hurt. So it seems as if in a pinch,
a three day kind of loop, he is their best option.
(05:33):
The problem is, when I was analyzing the Colts, like
five or six weeks ago, I was looking at their schedule,
I was looking at the trends of their team, and
Daniel Jones could have been completely healthy. I still thought
that they were going to lose out. They go up
against the Seahawks team that is venomous and dangerous and
angry for most names, and I don't know if that's
(05:55):
the best standpoint for a forty four year old quarterback
who is popping off of the headset down there with
his kids and now jumping into a helmet and playing
against one of the most just absolutely beast defenses in
the national football like frankly, that we've seen in a
couple of years. They shut Matt Stafford down, who's around
(06:18):
that age, quite easily, and Matt Stafford might be the MVP.
I don't think it's gonna look great for Philip Rivers
to be steps on the field, But I gotta say,
you know, that man has some he has some fortitude,
let's say that. And he's clearly a gamer. He's been
that his whole career, so he's gonna try to make
it happen. But I don't think it's gonna look great
for the Colts offense if he is a major part
(06:40):
of the game plan.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
A lot of awesome games this weekend.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I don't know that tonight's one of them, but you
know it's on our radio station, so I should be
kind of about the product. Baker Mayfield's had a rough
month or so. The Falcons are eliminated from the postseason.
What's the most intriguing thing to you about Falcons?
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Bucks Thursday at Football?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, I think he got to look at this game
and the kind of slug race when it really comes
down to it. Neither of these teams are fantastic as
it stands right now. Between Tampa Bay and Carolina is
really interesting. Carolina has been doing it with defense in
the running game. Tampa, like you said, Banker has been
immensely banged up. Frankly, most of their team has been
(07:20):
immensely banked up, banged up throughout the season. What Atlanta
has been able to do is make big plays on defense,
and sometimes that looks great and then sometimes it looks awful.
If they're able to get the big plays against Baker,
I think they take this victory. I really want to
look at what that wide receiver room looks like. I
think this the Bucks team, for better or worse, has
(07:41):
the core pillars of a good team. They have two
good tackles, they have multiple good wide receivers, two good
running backs, good play caller, a quarterback who went healthy
can have some juice, and some good pieces on defense.
I think they just have to take this game as
one where they can get over on somebody. And I
don't know exactly if they're going to be able to
do that. I think it could be a tough matchup tonight.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
All right, let's move over to some of the more
exciting matchups. Let's do Chargers Chiefs, because of course, everybody
wants to know what's up with the Chiefs, and I
believe the playoff percentage this point is twelve percent, So
if they don't get it done coming up tomorrow morning.
They're probably cooked. And the Chargers are really solid team.
They got Amrion Hampton back last week. So two prong questions,
(08:21):
your thoughts on the game and what ultimately has gone
south for what really has been a dynasty for the
better part of six seven years now.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
My thoughts on the game really tie into my thoughts
on this team, that the team seems to be coming
together except for a few backbreaking plays that last year
went their way literally every single time. And when you
are a dynasty, when you are a top team in
the league, you play a difficult schedule. That's how the
NFL works, and they are in a difficult division as well,
(08:50):
and so you got to have some of those breaks.
And I think this is just the year from heck
for the Kansas City Chiefs. If you were to go
look at what we as analysts like to call the
Thaggorean win theory, which looks at point differential. Other people
use it using EPA and there's multiple different models. But
the Chiefs, you would expect him to be one of
(09:10):
the best teams in the league, but they just had
have had terrible bounces, missed field goals, type games that
they weren't able to win, so forth and so on,
Trevor Lawrence falling on his butt being able to get
back up and score a touchdown in the close game.
So this is a really anomalous year. You look at
the Chiefs offense their fifth and expected points out of
for play. Their defense looked really good last week and
(09:32):
basically got them back into the game, and I think
that's the key standpoints against the Chargers, who have just
been able to win games. That's what Jim Harball does.
He wins games. It's looked pretty pretty gnarly. But when
it comes down to it, if Kansas City's defensive line
is able to recreate the performance that they had last week,
where it looked like everyone was getting shot out of
(09:53):
mccannon over and over again, I think they should take
this game because Justin Herbert is immensely banged up and
they have little to no talent on that offensive line
right now, or at least it's tough to get that
O line ready, I'll say. And I think if they're
able to take advantage of Justin Herbert in a way
that shockingly we saw the Eagles do, but they weren't
able to really drill it down on the other side
(10:14):
of the ball. I think the Chiefs are going to
be able to get it done on the other side
of the ball. So I like the Chiefs in this game.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I don't know that anybody really wants to win that
AFC North and Tomorrow we've got Ravens Bengals. Ravens have
lost a couple of straight games after it looked like
they were just going to roll through and get the thing,
and the Bengals have burrow back and they're basically dead.
But Maddy Python not dead yet dead. So what do
you make of this matchup?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
This is a tough one. I think you look at
that output of the Bengals on offense and that is
going to stress a defense that has been really inconsistent
all year, whether that's analytically or just by the eye test.
And I think that this is going to have to
need to be a high scoring game if the Ravens
want to win. We haven't seen the Ravens being able
to put up high scoring games. I think Lamar is
(11:00):
pretty banged up. I think we're going to hear after
the season that he's dealing with multiple injuries. We're not
seeing the athleticism on our tracking data that we have
seen in previous years from Lamar. It's showing up in
his rushing statistics, it's showing up in his scrambled statistics.
And I think, you know, you got to score when
you're going up against Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase T Higgins,
(11:23):
I believe is in concussion protocol. So that's going to
be a major loss for them. But when it comes
down to it, this needs to be a high scoring
game for the Ravens to win, and I frankly don't
know if they're going to be able to do it.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
All right, Bill's Patriots.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
You know, every weekend you kind of wait for the
Patriots to come back down to Earth. You've been good
to remind us of kind of the topsy turvy nature
of the Bills during the regular season.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Then they just kind of end up figuring it out.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
But we sit here at this point, and I don't
know how many people called this, If.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Anybody did, I didn't read it or hear about it.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
With the Patriots of the commanding lead in the AFC East,
we'll talk about your Dolphins a little bit, because you
need a little love for your boy Mike McDaniel.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
But what do you make of a massive AFCs clash here?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
We got vintage Josh Allen last week, and I gotta say,
whether you look at the advanced statistics where his expected
points at, it is very good. However, he does not
have like the sheer reps that he's had in previous years.
They actually haven't asked him to do a lot. When
you look at what he's really done on the field
via r Soomer scores, which look at every tenth of
(12:26):
a second on a play and try to make an
evaluation by learning the relationships between all the players, he
has had just like a quality starter season, We're not
seeing an MVP season from him. I do think he
will end up making the Pro Bowl, and we discuss
that on our Pro Bowl Suomer Sports show this week,
and I got to say, shockingly, there are a lot
(12:47):
of Patriots who are playing good. I think Drake May
is the MVP this year. If I had a vote,
I would be voting for Drake May for MVP. They
have guys across the offensive line, Morgan, Moses, Mike could
win you who are playing extremely well. They got eyes
across the defensive backfield that are playing really well Jalen
Hawkins at the safety position. This is just a team
who has been able to put players in the right
(13:09):
place over and over and over again this year, and
as a result, I really think they are a true contender.
I think there's a lot of value in them as
the Super Bowl champion. If you want to go check
out those odds. I think there's a lot of value.
And I think people look at the Bills and look
at the Chiefs, who may not even make the playoffs.
But if some of those other a SC teams catch
(13:30):
the breaks that I expect them to break downward. This
is the Patriots cake walk to the Super Bowl. I
think that's definitely in the odds. Now Mont Dolphins, as
you mentioned, all of a sudden winning games, offense is
starting to creep up, Andy Weavers defense is starting to
creep up. Do I think they're for real?
Speaker 1 (13:50):
No.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
I think they're probably an average team that can give
pretty much any team in the league problems due to
their scheme advantage with Anthony Weaver and Mike McDaniel. So
I think this is a Patriots cakewalking. I think the
Patriots are going to pull it out. I think they're
going to really test that Nickel defense of the Buffalo Bills,
and I just don't think they're going to be able
to hang with them for four quarters.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
You think McDaniel has saved his job.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
I mean you joined us about a month month and
a half ago when there was all this noise around him,
and you made a very interesting case for why he
should be retained and felled. At one point people were
talking about it like in the past, tense, like hey,
he'll be great at his next opportunity. But winning four straight,
you think he's kind of saved his gig.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yeah, I just like don't know how they can get
rid of him. I feel like he's going to get
hired as an offense coordinator head coach immediately. And when
you have a guy in the room like that, particularly
if you are considering looking for a quarterback or need
someone to make to a tongue of bwai looa usable,
there's not a better guy that will be available this
(14:51):
year than Mike McDaniel. And I think that's a real
underrated story going into this offseason, is that there's no
a lot of clear head coaching candidates. I think you
think of Shula with the Rams, maybe Jesse Mentor with
the Chargers. But the offensive coordinator pool right now is
mostly guys who have been retreads. I think Joe Brady
(15:12):
is the only one who has not been a head coach,
but he has been fired from the Panthers ends up
going to the Bills having some success. Klint Kubiak has
been the offensive coordinator for several different situations. Brian Daball
just got fired as a head coach. There's just not
a lot of great, Uh, There's not a lot of
great offensive young talent in the coaching pool right now.
Cliff Kingsbury is another name who has come up. He's
(15:34):
bounced around the league, fired as a head coach, now
an offensive coordinator for a team that's struggling but keeping
themselves alive offensively to a certain degree. And so I
just don't think it makes sense for a team that
has a clear scheme advantage every single week, both on
offense and on defense with Andy Weaver to go a
different direction. The scenario has changed. My previous argument was
(15:56):
that if they are going to be a terrible team,
you'll want to bring a quarterback into that situation. I
think now it becomes if you are bringing a mid
first round, mid second or third round quarterback into a
situation where potentially he can take over for two a
tongue of bailoa via injury or just via poor performance.
I still think you want Mike mcgango to man that ship.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Got a cross conference matchup at Mile High that will
be very highly watched in our market with Jordan Love
and the Green Bay Packers taking on Bonnix and the
Denver Broncos, who have won ten straight games. A lot
of excitement about the Broncos, and of course Jordan played
his college ball about forty miles north of here. Two
teams that are high speed ahead of the postseason, maybe
playing for a buye.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
What do you like most about Packers Broncos.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
I think the matchup to watch in this game is
Keishawn Nixon versus Courtland Sutton. We have Keishawn Nixon as
one of the best quarterbacks in the league this year
according to our summer scores, and Cortland Sutton is a
borderline pro bowler according to our metrics, and I think
it's really going to come down to that matchup if
Courtland Sutton is able to get open quickly, especially with
(17:01):
a defense that is extremely good at getting pressure. I
don't think they're going to be able to sack bow
Knicks as usual. Bow Knicks never get sacked. One of
the best sack of boaying quarterbacks in the league. Frankly,
the entire engine of that offense, quite literally. But if
Courtland Sunn's able to get open have a big game
against Keishawn Nixon, I think that this game could open
(17:21):
up in a way that we don't really expect from
the Broncos. Now do I think that's necessarily going to happen.
I don't know. Boonix, It's still up to him to
be accurate and hit him. We haven't seen him play
super well in past weeks, even though the results have
been good. I think Jordan Love probably is going to
have a couple Jordan Love plays against this terrifying defense,
(17:44):
and their offensive line really struggled to have an identity
through most of this year. They've kind of found it
in the last two weeks. But this is a whole
other beast in the Broncos defense. So I think it's
really going to come down to the Broncos offense, particularly
Courtland Sudden the receiver group to win this game. Frankly,
I think this is going to be a defensive lock
(18:06):
up rather than an offensive lockup that you would expect
between a La Floor and Peyton coach team.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Last game that I'll set you loose, and these are
two of my favorite teams to watch when they're ticking.
With the Lions and the Rams, it's so fine and Englewood,
you know, ultimately again two teams that are probably high
speed of the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
The Rams are among the favorite win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Now, so what do you like most about what should
be a really entertaining game in Los Angeles.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
There's a couple items to this, and it's kind of
like this every time the Rams play, where there's these
unique matchups because they are such a good team, and
on the flip side, the lines are very good as well.
Of like there's always one strange matchup that always pops up.
And so I think if they're able to keep Matt
Stafford clean in this game in a way that they
(18:52):
were not able to do against the Seahawks, I think
we could see the Rams play really well. But that's
a big if. Aiden Hutchinson right now is playing at
a certified Player of the Year caliber. They've been able
to get pressure that Lion's defense has for multiple spots,
including from the linebacker position. And interestingly, this team likes
to trot out eleven and thirteen personnel. That is where
(19:15):
the Rams like to live, ironically separate from what the
Seahawks did to them. The Lion like to stay in
base personnel, want to play Derek Barnes, they want to
play Jack Campbell, and they want to play Alex Adeloni
at all times. I think that could give the thirteen
personnel attack trouble. I think it's going to be a
true eleven game from the Rams. That means that Puukunakua
(19:36):
is going to have to step out. He'll be against
the depth of the Lions secondary, which once again tons
of injuries in that secondary. So I think that's going
to be really interesting. Can Aiden Hutchinson get one on
one pressure against this offensive line? I think it'll end
up being a close game if he can. On the
flip side, they're going to trot out dime against an
(19:58):
into your offensive line of the line that has struggled
throughout this year. They're going to have to pass over
the middle to win this game. The Rams have one
of the best safety groups in recent years, including Cameron Curl,
a couple other guys, Kim Kitchens that has played really well,
Nate Lanman the linebacker as well. It's going to be
a struggle to pass over the middle. This is a
(20:19):
true strength on strength game. And that's why I think
it's going to be fascinating to watch Sam.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Before I sat you lose, I'm going to be selfish
and I'm gonna ask you for fantasy football advice because
I'm in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Are you ready?
Speaker 3 (20:29):
Let's do it? All right?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I'm in a two quarterback league and Dak is my
quarterback that I'll start, and then I was playing Daniel Jones,
who is obviously hurt. So my options for my second
quarterback are cam Ward or whoever starts for the Colts.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Who should I go with?
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Oh? You know, have any other options? No?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Man, and there's none on the waiver wire. It's a
bad spot. It's a bad spot.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
That's brutal. Well, look, I mean you gotta think about it.
I don't think there's any good mashup against the Seahawks
that I like, and I think cam Ward and the
Titans are likely to be put in a situation where
they could be throwing just because they don't have a
high team strength. So based off of those sheer principles,
I'm gonna go with cam Ward. I'm really frankly afraid
(21:13):
of anyone playing against the Seahawks defense. It could be
Josh Allen, it could be Philip Rivers. I'm just a
trust that Mike McDonald is going to give a quarterback troubles.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Wait, we have a late entry into this group. Kenny
Pickett is available on the waiver wire.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
What do you think?
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Oh, that's an interesting one. Can you think it may
bring a little bit of rushing upside? Now we have
not seen that from the Raiders offense at all, But yeah,
I think I'm still gonna have to go cam Ward
on this.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Man, I don't know why I play fans.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Oh, it's so brutal, It's so brutal. But we'll see
what happens. Hey, Sam, tell everybody where they can go
find your work, Bud.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, go check out the Sumer Sports Show on YouTube
and be sure to subscribe. We also have had some
excellent days leave film videos from our film expert SEAWANSI ed,
do you want to figure out how Michael Parsons is
getting his pressure. How some of these excellent NFL coaches
are scheming up their offenses every single day. You can
catch a video and as well you can catch a
(22:12):
Sumer Sports show help. We helped you build out your
Pro Bowl ballot this week, so great thing to do
as you're doing.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
That, Sam, Thank you, my friend. Enjoy the football and
enjoy the weekend. We'll chat soon.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Sam Bruckhaus one of our favorites from Suomer Sports, previewing
the Pro Football Weekend Ahead. It starts tonight in Tampa
between the Falcons and the Bucks. Of course, you can
see that game on Amazon Prime. And we are your
home of the NFL in this market. Speaking of football,
we've got a football special, Holiday Football special with our
friends at Advance Window Products. Our guy, Nate Orchard is
(22:47):
buddy Jake Weber. They run this company and they're the
best at what they do. And working with them for
a long time, down a bunch of remotes at their
spot and you can trust them.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
That's number one.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Number two is if you're in need of new windows,
there offering savings of three thousand, five hundred dollars when
you buy ten windows or more. That's right, three thousand,
five hundred dollars when you buy ten windows or more.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
It's very mild and warm, but the cold weather's on
its way.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
And if you've noticed that your house gets a little
bit colder while you're at work, even though if you
have the heater up, you come home and it's cold,
your kids are cold, it's probably because your window quality.
So take advantage of the special save three thousand, five
hundred dollars when you buy ten windows or more with
this local Salt Lake company operated by a guy, Nate Orchard,
the mayor of Sac Lake City and former NFL player.
(23:31):
Give them a call today at eight oh one eight
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