Season 3 Episode 17: Bills/Lions Shootout, Rams in First out West, Chiefs Win Another, Here Comes Penix!

On this episode, John and Randall start by discussing the shootout between the Lions and Bills and whether or not this could be a Super Bowl preview. They discuss the Rams finding a way to win and leading the NFC West, as well as Drake Maye's progress and what Randall would like to see with the coaching stuff. Plus, the Chiefs win again, Michael Penix will start for Atlanta, and all our favorite games!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:21):
What is going on?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Everybody? Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to another edition of the John
Randall Football Experience. My name is John Ofvino, and with
me from the other side is my guy, Randal Denoau,
the newly minted softball champion Randa Randall. How's it feel
to me once again a softball champion?

Speaker 1 (00:41):
John, I'm a winner again, baby, you know, it feels great.
It feels great. Some may say it's just rec league sports,
you know, but that's where I thrive, John, I thrive
in the rec leagues. Okay, I'm a rec League All
American Rec League Call of Famer. Okay, that's where my
talents are best, Huesed. I got guys from other teams

(01:05):
trying to recruit me, trying to steal me away from
these teams. And I'm loyal, Okay. I'm a loyal guy
to the teams that showed faith to me from the beginning.
And guess what, John, we raised the trophy tonight again.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, I'm proud of you because I know that you've
You've worked really hard in your life to get to
this point.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
That I did. Know who else has worked really hard
in their life? John, These football guys that we're about
to be talking about.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
That's a great point you bring up. I think it's
a great transition into the beginning of our episode here.
So why don't we jump into quick hits, Quick kits. Well,
it is week fifteen, or we actually just wrapped up
Week fifteen, unbelievably, only three weeks ago before the playoffs,
and we had two really big games in the four

(01:58):
o'clock window this past week. One of them kind of
lived up to the billing. The other one really did not.
The Steelers an Eagles game, which we'll talk about later on,
but let's start with the Bills and Lions game. This
game did live up to the billing. I keep using
that word, not with the pun intended, but it's there
for anybody to talk about anyway. But anyway, the Bills,

(02:19):
they end up going to Detroit. They hand the Lines
their second loss the season. Detroit, I think, had won
their previous eleven games. Their only other loss came in
Week two against the Buccaneers. So they had gone this
incredible stretch of just winning and winning and winning, and
unfortunately for them, it comes to an end tier against
the Bills team that had come off a loss when

(02:41):
they scored forty plus points a week ago, and Josh
Allen was responsible for six touchdowns against the Rams. But
the Bills go here to Detroit, they knock off the
Lions and it was a really good game, a lot
of offense, Jared Goff nearly five hundred yards passing five tds,
and I think what you saw from the Bills here
was a good response, a calculated respect against a really

(03:01):
good Detroit team that has been banged up. Randall, So
what did you make of this game? Because I think
it very well could be a possible Super Bowl preview
when you look at these two teams in the season they've.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Had, John, it was a fantastic game. I mean, if
you had the over easy cash.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Some signs of concerns though for the Bills right The
big one for me is it is back to back
games they let up forty points, forty points to the Rams,
forty points to Detroit. Okay, I get it both on
the road, but can you do that in the playoffs
since remain successful? I don't know. Maybe you can because

(03:41):
you have Josh all as your QB and he's about
to potentially win the MVP depending how these last three
games of the season, go right. But Detroit just lost
a key player for them, John, They just lost David
Montgomery out for the season. And speaking of that, I
sent you this on Instagram. He's over under for the

(04:04):
season was seven hundred and seventy five rushing yards and
a half and this dude finished at seven seventy five.
So for anybody that had the over on him, I feel,
I truly, truly feel sorry for them. That's just a
bad beat, right there.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah it really is.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Oh no, you go, you go.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
I was just gonna say, it really is a bad beat.
I mean, you can't make this stuff up sometimes. And
unfortunately for him, obviously, he's a really important part of
their team too. And you kind of said something about
the Bills. I think you can apply to the Lions too.
They're giving up a ton of points here in some
of these games, and I think the fact that they've
had so many injuries on defense. I know Dan Campbell's
not using his excuse, but now the offense has started

(04:48):
to feel to burn a little bit. With Montgomery going out,
It's gonna be interesting to see if they can continue
to put up points and keep up with teams at
this pace, but they did it with the bills, they
just unfortunately came up little short. And you had a
really funny stat about Jared Goff that you were telling
about earlier on.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah, John, So when he's gonna retire, he's gonna sit
down with the kids, he's gonna sit down with the
grand kids. He's gonna be telling a story, and that
story is gonna be Hey, guys, guess what one time
I played in a game through zero touchdowns and five interceptions,
and we still summon same exact season. He had five touchdowns,

(05:37):
zero interceptions and lost the game. Like that's just wild,
absolutely insanity that that is going to be a story
of his career that he's gonna be able to tell
people one day.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Unfortunately, you cut out a little bit when you were
saying that, So I'm just gonna repeat it real quick
so that you don't have to. But basically, he threw
five picks in a game that they won. That was
against the Texans in Houston, and now he has a
game where he threw his five touchdowns and they lose.
So five picks and they win five touchdowns and they lose.
And Randa was trying to make a very dramatic He'll

(06:11):
be telling his grandkids about both these games that happened
in the same season. He's Jaredavs had some really crazy
games his career. Don't forget that Chiefs game from Monday
at football when he was on the Rams, when they
went like fifty four to fifty one or whatever the
final score was. There have been some crazy games throughout
that man's career. But yeah, this was a really good game.
It's be interesting to see how these two teams kind

(06:31):
of finish up the season. Give the their two different trajectories.
The Bills, I mean, they had the AFC East wrapped
up obviously, and the Lions are playing in a very
competitive the most competitive division in football. Anything else you
wanted to add about that.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Nope, that was perfect. Just if the Lions can overcome
these injuries both on the off I mean, you'll lose
your best running back, you lose your best defensive player.
If they were able to overcome these injuries, man, it's
it's gonna be a very very well deserved championship.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, one hundred percent. The Rams played Thursday night football,
will head back to the beginning of the week. Now,
that was just about a week ago, they played against
the forty nine Ers in a game that was pretty
important for the fate of the division. Both teams could
have been seven and seven had the forty nine Ers
end up winning the game. With the Rams winning, they
moved to eight and six, and of course, with the

(07:25):
Seahawks losing later in the weekend, the Rams are now
in first place in the division. And look, it wasn't
a pretty game. The Rams that were just coming off
that win against the Bills on Sunday afternoon, in which
they put up forty plus points and looked as good
as they looked at offense all year long, and they
ended up going out there and not scoring a touchdown.
The good news for them was that Brock Purdy and

(07:46):
the forty nine ers also didn't score a touchdown. I
don't think anybody would saw six field goals coming in
this game, but quite frankly, I'll take a win anyway
they can get it. And I think that this kind
of just proves that the Rams, as much as they
must have been under it might have been us underestimated,
excuse me, at the beginning of the season. They're now
putting together a stretch where they've won seven of nine,

(08:09):
and they're winning games in different ways, both offensively and
showing their defense as well. But obviously the forty nine
ers had some adversity.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, adversity, John, that's what And that's the word I'm using. Yeah,
complete team wins that and that's a great sign. But
I think the biggest shocker, other than no touchdowns in
the game was Cooper Cup no receptions in the game.
Oh my god, how does that happen? I lost?

Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (08:38):
Is he falling off a cliff? John? Is that what
this is? Is he falling off?

Speaker 2 (08:42):
I mean, if you look at his numbers from the
whole year, it's not you know, they haven't been this bad.
He's had a couple of games that maybe weren't as
good as some of the others, but he still had
plenty of production in a few games. I mean, let's
not let's not you know, let's not sugarcoated here. Pooka
Nakua is now the number one receiver on that team.
Cooper Cup has always been more of a slot guy anyway,

(09:03):
even when he was at his best a few years ago.
You know, he's not running the traditional number one routes.
You know, you could say that him and Calvin Johnson
both being paired with Matthew Stafford. They've both been very
different types of receivers throughout their career, even though they've
had a lot of success with him. But I will
say Cooper cup is gonna make some plays down to
Stretcher for the rams that helped win them some games.

(09:24):
So I'm not worried about him. The guy I might
be worried about.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
What that.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah, the guy. The guy I would be worried about
is maybe Deebo Samuel dropping wide open touchdown passes that
should have won the forty nine ers game.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, you can't be complaining about catches John and looks
and targets and then you drop a ball where Yes,
I get it. He was cutting over the middle, but
there was nobody near him John, Like, there was no
one near him where he needed to worry about getting
popped or anything.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
Well, the thing that's I mean, it's just you know,
I'm not a Debo hater. Really. I do think that
he's a little bit overrated and certainly got overpaid, But
I've always kind of enjoyed watching him play, and I
think he's a fun personality. I watched that show receivers
on Netflix. I think he came off well on there
as a family man as well. But I think, you know,
you can't do what he did and expect to go

(10:12):
out there and get the love when it doesn't go well.
And I'm not saying he's sitting here expecting to love,
because he took ownership of it after the game, but
they booed him pretty hard after he dropped that, and
I thought it was pretty warranted because I'm like, you
know what, this guy was out there complaining about targets,
and maybe he wasn't doing it in a malicious way
like we've seen some receivers do in the past, but
he still was doing it. And I don't know. I

(10:34):
feel like sometimes karma comes back around, and I think
that was obviously a spot where karma got him. But
the four Niners did have a chance to win this
game still. It was nine to six. They were driving
down the field. Rock Purty throws a ball towards the
end zone and he throws a pick and then the
Rams go down the field add three more points and
that was all she wrote. So I'll take the win,

(10:55):
as I said, because now with the Rams, they're in
first place. With the Seahawks losing their game, and they
control their own fate really because they have three games left.
Two of them are in division against the Cardinals and Seahawks.
Seahawks are obviously going to be a big game for
them Week eighteen. But I'm pretty I could not be
more happy with where they are right now given the
way they started the season. So yeah, I'm.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
I'm glad you're happy with your team, John, because especially
the way they started, it was like, oh my goodness,
this thing is going to be a horrible season for them.
It wasn't what a lot of people were expecting. But
like you said, seven out of the last nine, they're
turning the ship around. Unfortunately, the only team not really
turning the ship around is going to be the forty
nine ers. They're headed out to see and then coming back.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, it's hard to believe they're in the last place
in that division. It is very close, obviously, everybody's been
two games, but it just wasn't what you would have
saw coming. And for the Rams, the last thing I'll
say is it's very very reminiscent of last year when
they put a big run together at the end of
the year. That was a little bit more dire because
they were winning every game and they needed to just
to get a wild card spot. This is different because

(12:01):
they're you know, they haven't won every game, they won
seven out of nine, but they're in a spot now
where they lead the division and again they control their
own fake given the fact they have two division games
left and one against the Seahawks. So we'll see what happens.
As we moved into Sunday, Randall, we had a Ravens
team that blew out the Giants, which was I don't
think any surprise here. The Jets they beat the Jaguars

(12:24):
in Jacksonville. The only reason I want to bring this
game up is because Mac Jones was playing on the
other side against the Jets, and he had never lost
to the Jets before this game because as a Patriot,
they had started him. And they had obviously beaten the
Jets every game up until the second time they played
them last year with Bill Belichick. For a long time,

(12:44):
they had beaten them. So Mac Jones I thought he
was talking a lot of trash for a guy who's
not very good, pretty cocky out there, and in the end,
Aaron Rodgers ended up getting the best of him here.
But really, I mean, besides that, I think Aaron Rodgers
is starting to make a case to come back next
season as the Jets quarterback. As crazy as I might

(13:08):
sound saying.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
That John mac Jones is absolutely trash. I mean, I
can't believe this dude thought he could talk any trash
talk at all, John, Like, it's honestly amazing to me
that he thought. And I get it, he's played well
against the Jets when he was in New England. But still,

(13:29):
this dude cannot throw them well against them?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Or have they just won the games that.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
He was playing exactly, That's more what it is. That's
more what it is. He's just won the games against them,
and with Aaron Rodgers coming back, I do not understand why.
And I know what you're gonna say, John, but he's
been playing well the last eight games, fourteen touchdowns, one interceptions.
I get that too, And yes, but have they won

(13:56):
those games? They have they been? Have they been putting
up points in those games? No, they haven't, right like
they should have lost. And now granted a majority of
these games as well this season, they've been up in
the fourth quarter, not only up in the fourth quarter
of the Jets up with a minute remaining in the

(14:18):
fourth quarter. Yeah, and they blow the lead, they blow
the game. Yeah, But I don't know, I think it's
time to move on.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
Well, I think the whole premise that I'm coming from
is that if they hire a new coach, which they're
going to be hiring a new coach, they're not going
to bring Jeff Ulbrick back the interim coach, then you
know what's the alternative? And this Jets team is not
gonna be picking in that first couple of picks just
based on how many wins they have right now. So
I just I don't know what the alternative is. And
maybe he's a guy who's there for another year or

(14:47):
even two, especially if he finally is fully healthy. I
know this sounds crazy because I think last week I
probably said the opposite, But this game he played well,
he was moving around well. I mean I think he
rushed for over forty yards, So I don't know, Maybe
there's still a little something left in the tank there.
Maybe I'm crazy, but I think if they hire the
right guy next year that has the right offensive mindset

(15:08):
about things, they maybe can squeeze another year or two
out Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, I mean, but what's the point. I don't think
the guy is a good team guy. He's not a
good locker room guy.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
They love him, you say that, but they love him
for whatever reason. They love him. He's got this new
Netflix documentary that just came out I think today, called Enigma.
I gotta check that thing out because it's really Yeah,
it's like a three part docuseries and I think it
gets into all the weird stuff about him. And I'm
also a big conspiracy theorist when it comes to this,
because I think that he only wanted to act like

(15:41):
he was coming back from that Achilles terror last year
because he was filming.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
I mean, that'd be insane if that was the case.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
All Right, so let's move into the next game, Cowboys Panthers. Randall,
Cowboys were fairly disrespect in this one. They were three
point underdogs on the road going to Carolina. And I
know Bryce Young has played a little bit better lately,
maybe better in air quotations. I know the Cowboys have

(16:13):
had a rough year and injuries all over the place,
but I just feel like Cooper Rush, you know, he's
not bad. He's been playing well, and I felt like
the Cowboys have the better offensive players obviously, and I
just felt like three points on the road. So luckily
for me, I bet them both spread and line and
won a few bucks on them. And they were also
able to go in and make a statement keep their

(16:34):
dim playoff hopes alive, I suppose, and go on the
road and beat Carolina. So what did you make of
the Cowboys here getting a win? And what did you
make of the line to begin with? Did you feel
like I felt like they were disrespected here?

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah? I mean I wouldn't say like totally disrespected, but
me and you both had the same line John and
our picks. I mean, you had a much better week
than I did. You went, let you go thirteen and
two to three, and I was I was ten and five.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
You were supposed to bring the top, man.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
I know, I'm sorry, I'm a little late giving you
ten and six. Okay, you know, but any AnyWho, both
of us had winning weeks. Both of us saw Dallas
winning this game straight up. Because the big thing is
Cooper Cup like you said, he's been oh sorry, Cooper Rush,
like you said he's been, he's been playing well right,

(17:27):
Like he's not doing bad he does well against bad
teams essentially as well. Where the Panthers, Now, this would
have had to been like five straight games in a
row where they were gonna have to play clean football,
good football, which there was no way that was gonna happen.
I get it. They were at home again and they
played some competitive games coming in, but this was just

(17:49):
not gonna be the case.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
And we were right, Yeah, I mean they you know,
we say that they had played better of late. They'd
still lost their last three straight games, but they had
played really well considering their competition. A three point loss
to the Chiefs, a three point loss to the Bucks
in overtime, and a six point loss to the Eagles
in Philadelphia, and all things considered, you know, like Bryce
Young had played a lot better. But yeah, I think

(18:11):
the Cowboys going on the road here, it was an
easy spot for them to kind of get things back
on track. The question becomes, are they still going to
be able to Are they still going to be able to,
you know, figure out how to get into the playoffs here.
I don't think it's going to be possible for them,
just giving the situation in the NFC with so many
teams kind of jumbled up. But you know, you never

(18:34):
say never, I guess with the Cowboys, but I kind
of feel like they're they're kind of at the end
of their rope, so to speak.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, they needed to have won that Cincinnati game to
really have somewhat of a dition shot to get in right.
But and and those games that they lost by three
to Kansas City lost by three to Tampa, both were
on They lost both of those on game winning field goals, right,
So I could see why the oddsmakers wanted this one.
But there was just no way. I get Dallas is depleted,

(19:06):
but there was just no way they were losing this game.
And they came out hot, too hot.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Hot hot they did, and doubt he'll have like one
hundred and fifty on the ground. It was a good
game all round for them. The Commanders also won in
that same division. Obviously, they are currently in second place
behind the Eagles, but they still are in a playoff
spot as of now. But Randall, you've been high on
them since the beginning of the year. I know Jaden
Daniels has continued to play well, but this was a
game that it felt like they were going to just

(19:30):
put the Saints away. They were up seventeen nothing early
in the third quarter, and then all of a sudden
you had the one trick play from the Saints got
them a touchdown when Cedric Wilson threw a touchdown to Kamara.
And then the fourth quarter, you know, aside from a
field goal from Greg Joseph, everything else was all Saints,
and they ended up in a situation where they scored
a touchdown with no time remaining and of course nothing

(19:53):
to lose. They end up going for two, luckily for Washington.
The Saints don't get it, but man, I mean, this
was a game that almost completely slipped away from them.
They probably should have won.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
I don't want to hear it. I don't. I don't
want to hear it, because what have you been saying
all season long about the Kansas City Chiefs. A win
is a win, John, A win is a win. And
I get it. The local sports guys for there in
DC metro area, they're gonna diagnose this thing as far
as they can. You know, they're gonna crap on them,

(20:25):
and they should. That's I mean, that's what they do
in Boston at least. Yeah, yep so, But I mean,
Jaden Daniels is playing really well. He's continuing to impress.
He ran for sixty yards on like six or ten carries.
He's he is their future quarterback, which is phenomenal. You
pair him with the guy like Scary Terry, who's just

(20:48):
an unbelievable wide receiver. They're gonna be fine. They have
a couple of games coming up, one against Dallas that
they're gonna really be able to put on a show
for get ready for the playoffs. But I do expect
I do expect Washington to pull off a win in
the playoffs. They're not gonna win the division like I
predicted at plus one thousand, that would have been great. However,

(21:12):
they are going to get a playoff win. They fight
their competitors, they're showing that they can win these tough
games and these tight games.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yeah. Well right now, if they were in the playoffs,
I think they would be the sixth seed just based
on who's ahead of them, because you have Detroit, you'd
have Philly, then you'd have the Rams and Tampa Bay
as the four division leaders, and then Green Bay, Minnesota
would still be ahead of Washington. They would slot in
just behind its six which means they would end up
going to I think Tampa Bay holds some sort of

(21:43):
tiebreaker against the Rams, so they would Tampa Bay would
be the three seed right now, so that would be
the first matchup. That's certainly a winnable game for Washington.
But we'll see if that's how it ends up shaking out.
With three weeks to go, anything could change, But it
does look like the Commanders are gonna end up with
a nice one year turnaround. Things last year were not
very good at all. You know, speaking of not very

(22:04):
good at all, you had this Will Levis led Titans team.
He ends up throwing another pick or two maybe, but
they end up benching him and they go with Mason
Rudolph in this game, and they announced that going forward,
Mason Rudolff will be the guy. The Bengals on the
other side of your Randal guys win thirty seven to
twenty seven. They keep their dim playoff hopes alive here

(22:26):
they're six and eight, and I know you've been trying
to tell me that they still have a chance to
make the playoffs here, but again, I mean, this was
a game which Burrow through two picks, which he only
has eight on the year. But his other numbers are
just unworldly. He's closing out on four thousand yards, He's
got thirty six touchdown passes. He's been unbelievable. But the
story for them has been their defense, which obviously in
this game did enough to get them a win. But

(22:49):
you know, where do you think the Bengals are? Because
I still feel like you feel like they can make
a playoff push here, even at six and.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
Eight, do because there is a way for them to
get in, John at six and eight, and some of
it's already happened. Okay. Out of the four games, Miami
had to lose, like two of them they already lost one.
The Chargers, I believe had to lose two of them,
they already lost one. Okay. The Cincinnati Bengals have to
obviously win out to get in, so they they gotta

(23:19):
win right there. That's that's a check mark, right. I
do feel like they are good enough offensively to make
a little statement, to make a little run, to make
a little magic happen, to make the NFL playoffs come
down to the final week eighteen. Because that's what the
NFL wants, and what the NFL wants, John, the NFL

(23:41):
gets well.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
I think the one flaw with some of the things
you just said was, yeah, they need some help, but
you know, ultimately, if they end up in a tie
with the Chargers, the Chargers beat them head to head,
So that would be a detriment to the Bengals, but
you know, it would kind of feel like a disservice
with the season Joe Burrows had if they don't make
the playoffs, because they are the kind of offense that
I feel like if they kind of snuck in look out,

(24:04):
they could go on the road and beat somebody. But
it is kind of weird that they're sitting there at
six to eight because they feel like a much better
team than a six to eight team right now. And
speaking of a team that has a much better record
than that, here are the Chiefs at thirteen and one
now Randall after yet another victory on the road in Cleveland.
This was another dumpster fire game for Jameis Winston. He

(24:27):
threw three picks. A little funny story about Jameis Winston
and the picks here. I actually ended up with a
what I was calling the pick train the other day.
I put five players together who ended up trying a
five player interception parlay all guys to throw picks. I
put Jay Hayner in there from the Saints. I put

(24:49):
Matt Jones from the Jaguars, I put Will Levis from
the Titans, and I put Jameis Winston from the Browns.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
They all threw obvious choices so far.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
The first half, they all threw picks. So four of
the five legs.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
Oh, you were cooling, then you're cooling.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
I was cashing the money before it even hit. And
the fifth guy, Randall. You know who the fifth guy
took was who my Italian brother, Tommy DeVito. He got
concussed and didn't come out for the second half. So
my bet ends up not hitting, even though four of

(25:27):
the guy is hit in the first half. And it
was pretty obvious to me that if I'm gonna do
an interception parlay, I have to include my guy, Jamis
Winston because he's he's a legend. I mean, he had
the thirty thirty season. Who could forget that with Tampa
just before they replaced him with Tom Brady. But the
real story of this game ends up being the Saint
of the Chiefs once again finding away Randall in a

(25:48):
game in which Mahomes throws for two touchdowns but ends
up leaving late with an ankle injury. But your Chiefs,
your favorite team in AFC, just keeps on finding ways.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
To win, John, I knew this game. I picked the
chief smiling lie, I picked the Chiefs minus four in
this game. Okay for my picks. Yeah, I knew they
were gonna win. It was pretty obvious. However, does that
change how I feel on them? Absolutely not. I still

(26:21):
think they are garbage. They are not going anywhere in
the playoffs. I am not sold on them at all,
even though it was probably their best win in the season,
I think in terms of not playing of quality opponent,
but putting up points at least.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
Yeah, Well, they keep finding ways to do to do things.
You know, interestingly enough, the last two weeks before this,
they won nineteen to seventeen, both weeks against the Raiders
and Chargers. This week a little bit more traditionally, scored
three touchdowns. But you know, I don't know that you're
necessarily right or wrong. All I know is that every

(26:58):
year we say the same thing about them, they get
to the playoffs and they go on some run that
nobody saw coming, especially the last couple of years. The
first couple of years, I think everybody saw it coming.
But the last couple of years people have been trying
to write them off, much like the way people tried
to write off the Patriots after they just kept on
winning and winning and winning every year, and people got
tired of it. So I see the similarities. I understand

(27:19):
why people are not so high on them because these
games they're winning are not the most convincing. If you
told me that Jameis Winston was going to throw three picks,
and you know the other side was the Chiefs, I
would tell you, Okay, the Chiefs are going to win
this game thirty five nothing. And obviously they only win
by two touchdowns, so you can make the argument they
should have won by a lot more. But they did
win by two touchdowns, and in the end they're thirteen

(27:41):
to one, so they're still trudging towards the playoffs as
the number one seed, potentially.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
Congratulations to them. I still think it's just going to
fall fall, fall apart. Okay, there's no way they're going
to beat Buffalo again.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Just replace the word think with you're onto something there.

Speaker 1 (28:04):
I can only pray.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
So you mentioned earlier when you were talking about the
Bengals of the Dolphins lost a game that they needed
to lose to help the Bengals out. This was kind
of the last stand for the Dolphins as they went
down to Houston with six wins to try to get
themselves to seven and seven. Unfortunately for them, Houston came
out of here the winner. Two or throws three picks
in this game. They had a rough game all around.

(28:26):
And now the storyline has become does Mike McDaniel deserve
to keep his job after this season based on the
ray they've played? And you know, I'm a guy who
believes that they've been a lot better when two has
been healthy. He's gotten the most out of two of
that anybody's been able to get out of him in
his career. But there are some really big red flags
when it comes to this Dolphins team, and I feel

(28:49):
like you might not be as keen on him as
the future coach of the Dolphins as I might be.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
John. What question for you?

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah, questions, Jim.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
Did you happen to watch this game?

Speaker 2 (29:02):
I watched some of it.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
I had the Texans money line somewhere.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
Okay, so you believed enough in the Texans to beat
to beat Miami. It is absolute blasphemy that you think
Mike McDaniel's job should be on the line. Blasphemy, blasphemy. Okay,
you want to know why.

Speaker 2 (29:23):
John, Why?

Speaker 1 (29:25):
I get it? Who is the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins?
To who a tug of a lowa? How many interceptions
did he throw on Sunday?

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Three?

Speaker 1 (29:36):
All three to Tyreek Hill? But by the way, fun fact,
and he had a fumble that he lost. Okay, So
I don't want to hear anything about this being Mike
McDaniel's problem, okay, because he has shown that he has
been able to drop some good plays and every time
one of their losses, TUA craps the bed. Why can

(29:57):
I not beat teams with the winning record? McDaniel though,
one in fifteen against teams with the winning record, the
Texans team with the winning record loss l l l oka.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
Saying he's good or bad, I'm confused.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
I'm saying he's good. I like his schemes. I like
the things he does on the offensive side of the ball.
It's not his fault that two less sides, kya. I'd
rather throw the ball to the other team instead.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, But the success of them has been so much
greater when Tua has been healthy, and that's undeniable.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
John John, John, What team does not have success when
the quarterback is healthy? What team has had a better record?
What team has had a better record with the backup
quarterback in For the most part, besides brock Party.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
The Patriots is in two thousand and one.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Great, we gotta go back twenty years.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
Look, I know what you're saying. Your point is that
usually if backups playing, it's not gonna be as good
as the starter. I get it, But I just think
you're you know, if you're saying that Mike McDaniel is
getting off scott free here, I think I very much
believe that his future could be in jeopardy. But I
actually fall on the same same side as you. I

(31:16):
think they should keep him as head coach. I just
feel like you have to reevaluate everything here, and it's
not even consider making a change would be silly considering
all the things you've just said. The winning record or
the record against winning teams is one in fifteen. That
is not good enough.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
So I don't know that's nowhere close to being good enough.
But it comes down to it's two of the guy
that can get you guys in the playoffs, it's two
of the guy that can get you in the playoffs. Consistently,
it's two of the guy that can get you on
a playoff. We're un to win a super Bowl And
the answer is clearly no.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
All right, well, we know where you fall on this
as far as who you're giving the blame to, So
that's fair. The Dolphins right now are in dire need
of a lot of help if they have any prayers
left in making the playoffs. I think at this point though,
they're pretty much cooked for the season, but who knows.
The Colts and Broncos played an interesting game just because

(32:15):
Anthony Richardson another game where he didn't look so great,
less than fifty percent completion percentage, two picks, and on
the other side he had a guy named Bo Nix
who threw three touchdowns but also threw three picks. He
continues to kind of be up and down. But right
now the Broncos are in a spot where they would
be in the playoffs. So what do you make of

(32:35):
I think each of these guys right now, because obviously
Richardson in his second year, really his first year is
the full time starter. Bow Knicks is in his first season,
you know, obviously being drafted this year. But where do
you think these teams are kind of where you expected
them to be at this point or are the Broncos
kind of exceeding things and maybe the Colts underachieving to
a degree.

Speaker 1 (32:56):
I think the Broncos are definitely X seeding my expectations.
I mean, their defense has been great all year long,
Like they are top defense in the NFL. Okay, that's
number one, number two, Number two. Number two is bo Nicks.
He's impressed me. I mean, obviously he didn't start out great,

(33:18):
but that dude has been balling right and again, I
get it he and he's stone some interceptions, but he
went on a streak where he went about five six
seven games without throwing a pick. I know he had three,
but that goes to show they he had three interceptions,
they still found a way to win the game. I
get it. The Coats hit that horrible pick six right

(33:41):
on that trick play they tried to do. I get it.
They had the drop ball. Okay, I'm the one year.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Taylor two of all people, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
So I understand those things. But still that's part of football.
Those things happen, and at the end of the day,
what matters most, John, according to you, wins and they
got it. They got the win, and they're gonna It's not.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
Just according to me, it's generally speaking most people feel
that way. But yeah, you're right. I mean, they win again,
they're nine to five. That the rest of their season
for them is gonna be interesting because they have a
couple of tough opponents here. You have the Chargers, you
have the Bengals, which is no kkewalk obviously, and you
have the Chiefs to finish up the season. So if
they end up dropping their final three games, suddenly they're
at nine and eight and one of those other teams

(34:27):
that you're talking about maybe can get in. You know,
a Bengals team possibly that could win all three games,
could be looking at the Broncos saying you have a
very tough schedule, including ahead to head against the Bengals,
So maybe that's a team that ends up helping. One
of those six and eight teams still have a chance
of getting in, But right now they're scheduled or they're

(34:47):
they're set up nicely here other than their schedule that's remaining.
The Patriots and Cardinals played a game in Arizona and
it was maybe closer. I think, you know, when he
looked at the score, then I feel like it played out.
Although the Patriots did some nice things offensively, Drake May
had another decent game. He threw a pick, but he

(35:08):
was very efficient. So where are you at with Drake
May right now? Because I feel like this team right
now is in a situation where everybody kind of agrees
that Drake May has played really well. But I think
that everybody kind of agrees that he's played well in
spite of a lot of craziness around him. When it
comes to the coaching stability of that staff.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
Yeah, John, I mean you said the Patriots offense had that. No,
Drake May played well. The offensive line is booty cheeks. Okay,
some of the play calling his booty cheeks the wide
receivers or booty cheeks the whole It's just a mess.
I love Drake May. I think this kid has a
lot of talent. He runs the ball well, he goes

(35:53):
through all his progressions. He truly, truly, truly is going
to be the French quarterback for the New England Patriots.
I feel very confidence heated it throws a great deep ball. Okay,
but they gotta fix the left tackle and offensive line issue. Okay,
we gotta get some talent at wide receiver. We gotta

(36:13):
get Alex man pelt Off stop calling offensive plays. We
need to bring in Josh McDaniels is what we need
on the offensive side. That's what I think. Hey, that
is the only guy that made Mac Jones actually win
games and look somewhat decent. Okay, he may have got
them to the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yeah, well that's you know right now, that's the hot
rumor out there that maybe Mike Rabels the head coach
and maybe Josh mcdaiels comes back as oc.

Speaker 1 (36:42):
I would love that. I feel like Draw Mayo's throwing
guys under the bus in press conference is I don't
think guys like Mayo right now, they got a really
clean house. Draw Mayos still kind of under that Belichick Tree,
get him out, bring their Rabel in and I get
he played for Belichick, but he's more of a players
guy er Belichick.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
He just played for him.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
Correct, So get Rabel in there, have Rabel, bring in
Josh McDaniels, and next thing you know, they are going
to be dominating the AFC East once again with some
more talent coming into obviously, because.

Speaker 2 (37:19):
I think right now it just comes down to whether
or not they're going to make the change, because obviously
it's the first year of this regime, and I think,
you know, you've heard a lot recently in the Boston
media about the two crafts, Jonathan being the son of Robert,
and I think he's looking to take more control of
the team, and maybe he's the guy who would be
more willing to make a change at this point because

(37:39):
his dad's not getting any younger. Roberts now in his eighties.
I think he's eighty three now, and you know, he's
made decisions based on what he thinks is best, and
what he thought was best was giving a guy a
job who he promised a couple of years ago because
he was impressed by him at one point. And quite frankly,
I think we've kind of agreed that drawd Mayo is
a little bit underwhelming in position for a lot of reasons,

(38:01):
and I think they do need to reevaluate, and it
is going to be interesting to see if they're willing
to do that after one year, because ultimately it would
be the best thing for the player Drake May for
them to reevaluate things and get here get some stability
around him offensively. But we shall see if that remains
the case. The Buccaneers took a trip out West Randall.

(38:24):
It was a pretty impressive win for them against the
Chargers team that is now eight and six after a
loss that they probably which they were a little bit
more competitive. Baker Mayfield balled out in this game. Mike
Evans had a good day, Bucky Irving had a nice
day on the ground. So I mean, we were you
more surprised that the Bucks were able to go out

(38:44):
West and put up forty points or that the Chargers
really didn't put up much of a fight in this
game at all.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
They really haven't put up that many points this season.
John the Chargers. I mean, I don't know what's up
with Justin Herbert. I don't know if it's the play calling.
I I really expect this hid to be throwing the
ball for three hundred yards every single game. I know,
like with the arm talent that he has, and and
it's not like he's turning the ball over. I mean,

(39:10):
what does he have two interceptions on the year? Right? Like? Yeah,
which is good.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
This past week. I mean, he yeah, he's just been very,
almost overly cautious with the ball.

Speaker 1 (39:22):
But Baker mayfield man Tampa Bay got a steal on
that deal. Let me tell you, he is. He's worth
every penny he's He's balling out. Even when Mike Williams
was hurt and they had nobody on that offense for
him to throw to. Chris Goblin's obviously out for the season.
But with Mike Williams back, they are Wow wow wow,

(39:46):
wow wow wow. I don't know how they lost two
games this year, John to the Falcons.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
Yeah. Yeah, well we'll talk about them in just a
second year because they made an interesting decision after their
game last night. But I don't how either. It's just
one of those situations where the Bucks, you know, they
could be staring at ten and four or even nine
and five had they taken one of those games from
the Falcons, and they'd be in a little bit better position.
But yeah, they they've been good. As I said earlier,

(40:14):
they're one of the only teams to have beaten the
Lions this year. They were the only other one besides
the Bills to do that, So they've they've got some
resume wins on their dock of this year, and all
things considered, they should be in a good position to
make the playoffs year. With the remaining schedule of the Cowboys, Panthers,
and Saints, all they really have to do is lock
up that division and they should have no trouble doing

(40:35):
that with that remaining schedule. The Steelers and Eagles was
kind of a letdown. I don't know if you felt
the same way. The Steelers played really. I don't want
to say disappointing, but their offense is just not as
good without George Pickens in there, and the receivers are
just not able to make the same types of plays.
So I think it hinders Russell Wilson a little bit,

(40:56):
and I think it was a little bit of a
predictable game plan. The running game was not much of
anything because the Eagles have a good defensive front. But
the Philly Delphi Eagles continue to play really well. They
put up twenty seven points here. They're now twelve and
two and in the driver's seat of the NFC East, obviously,
And when you look at the Steelers, Randal, I know
you've kind of always been lower on them than most

(41:18):
given the consistency that Mike Tomlin has given to that organization.
But recently you started to come around on them a bit,
and then they go out this week and put up
a little bit of a dud here against one of
the better teams in the league. So are you a
little bit concerned that the Steelers might have shown their
true colors here against a good team this week?

Speaker 1 (41:37):
No, not really. I still think the Steelers are going
to play well come playoff time, right, like it happens. Right,
all these teams have had bad games. There's not really
one team besides maybe Detroit and the Vikings who have
really put together a great resume. I would say even then,

(41:58):
but like the Bills got blown out by the Ravens. Okay,
Ravens have lost some tough games. Okay, Eagles have even
had a tough loss. It's it's nothing to worry about.
It happens. Still just want to get it out of
the way now. Anyway, But like you said, the running
game was just not there. Naj Harris did not have
a great game.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
No, And I think it was kind of predictable too,
with the Eagles defensive front and the fact that George
Pickens was out. You had you had a feeling that
you would need to have a big day for Naji,
and unfortunately just didn't come together for him in the end. Here,
the Packers beat the Seahawks pretty convincingly on Sunday Night football,
which was a good win for the Rams obviously because
it ends up setting up the Rams with the division

(42:40):
lead now with both of them at eight and six.
In this game, Gino Smith got hurt late, he ends up.
I think he's back at practice already this week, so
hopefully he'll be okay in the long run. Here, But
did this win do more for you for the Packer's
sake or was it the loss for the Seahawks that
showed you more?

Speaker 1 (43:00):
Or I think it was more for the Packers right
because they were kind of like Miami a little bit
this year. John didn't really have any wins against teams
with the record above five hundred, so they needed this
one mixed with that being on the road. And when
I say road, I'm using quotes here, John, because that
was kind of like a home game. I'm listening to

(43:21):
the radio, I'm like, after the Green Bay went down
on that first drive, and I'm hearing all the cheers
I'm like, I could have swore this game was in Seattle, right,
I'm like, I could have sworn it was in Seattle.
I turned the TV Onnest see it is in Seattle.
I'm like, what is going on? The fans are just
taking over Seattle. I've never seen that.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Yeah, I've never seen that anything like that. You could
hear multiple times throughout the broadcast, Go Pack go breakout
in the crowd, which was astonishing to me because having
watched so many games in Seattle over the years. You know,
you talk about what a great home field advantage it
is and maybe one of the best in the NFL,
but the Green Bay Packers clearly had a contingency of
fans that made it a point to get out there

(44:03):
and make their presence felt and known and helped that
the team played really well from the get go.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
Here.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
You know, they've really never gave Seattle a chance, and
I commend them. They're just right now. The Packers are
an incredibly tough situation because they're ten and four, yet
they're somehow third in their division just based on how
many teams are ahead of them. So you know, you've
got the Lions and Vikings, who both only have two

(44:30):
losses at this point, and they're stuck in a division
where they're obviously not going to win it if things
stay the way they are right now. So it's gonna
be tough if they're gonna you know, they're gonna make
the playoffs at this pace. Obviously they haven't clinched a
spot yet, but they're closing in on that. And I
don't know where they're gonna have to go on the road,
but right now it appears they'll have to go on

(44:50):
the road for a playoff game. But they're playing some
good ball right now. And have you heard about this
whole Jordan love Toyota Than conspiracy theory.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
The dude loves a good deal John. What can we say?

Speaker 2 (45:03):
I mean, he plays unbelievable the last two years. Once
Toyota Than has started, go look it up at people.
I'm not gonna get into it, but if you're interested,
go look it up. I know Randall knows what I'm
talking about, but I can't just we can't break it
down right now. We'd be here all night, all right, Randall.
That brings us to the two Monday night games, and
I can't decide which one was worse. The Falcons and

(45:24):
Raiders was a painful watch. Quite frankly, the Falcons just
could not get anything going. They still win the game
fifteen to nine, just because the Raiders are so inapt
on offense and Desmond Ritter was their quarterback and you
thought maybe he would be inspired by the fact that
he was playing against the team that gave up on
him just a couple of years into his NFL career,

(45:46):
but he didn't have anything. Kirk Cousins continues to be
one of the more disappointing players this season, considering the
fact that he went to a team that has all
these offensive studs around ball and he just continues to
be booty cheeks as you would like to say. So
what ends up happening after this game is he gets

(46:06):
benched Randall, Uh, They're gonna go to Michael Pennix for
the next few games here. They're gonna try to inject
a little offense or a little life into this offense,
and a guy and Kirk Cousins, who signed a major
deal this offseason, will now be on the bench for
the foreseeable future for Atlanta.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
It's kind of crazy. I'm honestly shocked that they're making
this move because their record is they're five they're five
hundred right now.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Right, yeah, seven and seven.

Speaker 1 (46:33):
Yeah, So like I mean, they're they're not they're not
out of it yet. But I mean maybe they're seeing
something in practice. They're only a game back of the Buccaneers, right,
so I mean maybe they're seeing something.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Tie breaker as you just talked about, because yeah, I
think twice yeah.

Speaker 1 (46:48):
Yeah, so maybe maybe they're seeing something in Pennix that's
making them say, you know what, we gotta go to
this guy, like he's doing well in practice, Let's give
him a shot. But it's it's strange to see Kirk
Cousins play this poor, yeah, especially when it's been doing
so well with with Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
And you know what's interesting is that they make the
choice the switch after a game which they won, and
they had lost the previous four games. I mean, they
lost to the Saints, Broncos, Charters, and Vikings all in
a row. They were at one point six and two,
and then they were at six and six or sorry,
they were, yeah, six and six and three, and then
they lost four straight games to get to six and seven,

(47:29):
and then they win this past week to get seven
to seven so you know, they have the Giants next week,
which is very winnable for them with Pennix, and then
they have the Commanders and Panthers, so they can easily
win two out of these last three games and make
a VYE for it. But it is going to come
down to how that big Pennix energy looks, you know.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
Yeah, I mean, if you are making a switch, this
is a good game to make a switch against the Giants,
get his feet wet against them, because there's no way
should lose that game, even with Michael Pennix at starting quarterback.
But we did see this with Steelers this year, right,
justin fields three and one, three and two winning record, right,

(48:05):
they made the switch and it changed their their trajectory
phenomenally for them.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
Yeah, and that was a point where he felt like
they didn't need to make a change. I think this
one's a little bit more like maybe they do need
to make a change. Maybe maybe we don't agree fully,
but I'm sure they're gonna inject some life. And that's
a home game for them, so I'm sure the home
crowd will turn out. And then finally the other game,
I mean, the Vikings just absolutely took it to the
Bears here. The Bears just look cooked. Caleb Williams not good.

(48:31):
He's got all these guys around him that can play ball,
but he just continues to not be very effective throwing
the ball at all, and he holds onto it forever.
I mean, it is painful watching some of these young
guys playing because they just don't throw the ball. But
I think Caleb Williams might be the worst of all
of them because he just continues to hold onto the
ball and run in circles when there's no chance in

(48:54):
the world that he's gonna be able to make a play.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
He misses guys wide open that are right in front
of him, crossing ten yards in front of him with nobody.

Speaker 2 (49:01):
It's got to be maddening being a receiver for him,
and it's insane.

Speaker 1 (49:06):
But John kind of going back to Kirk Cousins a
little bit, how he was phenomenal in Minnesota and now
Sam Darnold phenomenal in Minnesota. Right like this suit's career
is resurrected. If I'm him, I'm taking less money to
stay in Minnesota.

Speaker 2 (49:23):
I mean, it might come down to that, because, as
I've said, I think the theory right now for me
at least is that why would they resign him because
they didn't sign Kirk Cousins long term because they were
trying to save money and they have the JJ McCarthy factor.
They've got Daniel Jones in the house now, so who
knows what they're thinking. But you're very right when you
say that him being in that system has greatly led

(49:43):
to what should be highly considered for comeback Player of
the Year this year after where his career was. So
if he doesn't stay there, though, he'll probably make a
lot of money going somewhere else based on.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
This, I else make a lot. I think if they're
smart too, like they should keep them in this system.
This show. See, hey it's playing well, maybe we could
trade McCarthy get get another draft pick. But I saw
a fun fact stat today, John Oh, and it.

Speaker 2 (50:10):
Was about the fun fact stats.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
And I want you to guess about which player it
is for on the Vikings. It's a wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
This is perfect because this is gonna lead us right
in a guess that's spread right after.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
What player? Do you think I'm gonna give you a
fun fact for?

Speaker 2 (50:28):
I think you're gonna give me a fun fact about
Daniel Jones.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
I said, yeah, okay, No, it's not Daniel Jones, even
though he's on the Vikings. Now it is about a
wide receiver.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Oh you said receiver, Give me Jordan Addison.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
Ding ding ding ding ding ding. It is about him.

Speaker 2 (50:50):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (50:50):
Do you know where he played? What year we're in,
twenty four, twenty three, twenty two? In twenty and twenty
one in college? Correct? Do you know who his quarterback was?
JJ McCarthy knows it was Kenny Pickett at Kenny Kenny

(51:11):
Pickett that year, had a career year. Twenty twenty two.
Do you know where he played?

Speaker 2 (51:20):
Same place?

Speaker 1 (51:21):
No, he played at USC with Caleb Williams. Caleb Williams
Heisman winner that year, career year.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
So you're saying that Jordan Addison is the good luck charm.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Twenty twenty three? Who did he play with? Kirk Cousins
who was having a career year before he got hurt?

Speaker 2 (51:40):
Okay, Kurt? So Sam Darnold now too, So you're saying
that Jordan Addison is the guy.

Speaker 1 (51:45):
Jordan Addison might be the key to this whole thing.
We're thinking Justin Jefferson is the guy. No, no, no, no, no,
no no that's crazy, Jordan Addison. I saw this stat.
I'm like, my mind was blown and I'm like, there's
no way.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
That was a very fun fact that.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
I'm like, there's no way. I'm like double checking in
like looking at it, I'm like, oh my god, this
is incredible this and it's true. It is true.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
That's wild. That is awesome. That's a great fun fact.
That's a great way to close out and discussion about
Week fifteen.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
Beautiful, John, beautiful.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
All Right. Well, with that, we are going to move
into week sixteen discussion now, and as we always do,
we will start with Guess That's spread.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
It's time the play guess dam spread.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
Alright, it's time to play guess that Spread, the game
that I have dominated most of this season, although last
week was the full time. Oh yeah, I know last week.
Last week was the first time though that I didn't
get one since Week four, So you didn't get one either.
But we didn't have a winner last week. So we're
moving into this week with a freshly clean slate.

Speaker 1 (53:07):
My friend, Gone, there's just one thing I want to
mention that the audience forgot. What is that you gave
me a due over on a player I gave you
a due over on a player. You did get an
exactly on that due over, just saying I know we're
not counting it, but I exactly they did.

Speaker 2 (53:28):
But it's it's again. It was after the buzzer. It
does not count. It's like hitting a buzz after the
buzzer sounds all right, radll, I'm gonna go ahead and
get us kicked off here with the passers, and I'm
going to start with one of your favorites. I'm gonna
go to the Rams Jets game here, and I'd love
for you to tell me the passing yard number for
Aaron Rodgers this weekend against my Saint Louis La Rams.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
To twenty four and a half.

Speaker 2 (53:58):
You are incorrect. What two forty five and a half.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
We'll get the fuck out of here, John, Oh, that
is horrendous. There's no way in hell, man is that
number for two forty five and a half is one
higher than Matthew Stafford.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
Matthew Stafford's two forty four and a half. I would
think that Stafford should be much higher.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
But whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
whoa whoa You said, Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 2 (54:28):
Yes, I did.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Where are you seeing two forty five and a half.
I'm scrolling on mine and I see actually two twenty
four and a half, exactly what I said.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
Well, I'm looking at DraftKings sportsbook.

Speaker 1 (54:40):
Oh, this is horrendous.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
Twenty four and a half on DraftKings two twenty five
is minus two hundred.

Speaker 1 (54:49):
Wow. Maybe I don't, I don't. I don't know why
that's what's showing here. It says minus one ninety for that.
Then yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, John, I'm sorry, sorry, John.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Okay, maybe they just haven't adjusted it there yet. Maybe
if the pundits love his number this week as the
Rams defense sucks.

Speaker 1 (55:09):
That could be it. That could be it. Okay, No,
what then, because some of these I'm seeing some of
these lines that are not at minus one ten. Let
me just find the guy then that is minus one ten,
so that way I can make sure it is fair.
All right, John, give me Baker Mayfield Tampa Bay.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
At Dallas, Baker Mayfield would put up some big numbers too.
I feel like this number is gonna be similar to
what I just said at Dallas, so there's no weather elements.
Give me two forty two and a half.

Speaker 1 (55:41):
Oh to thirty five and a half to thirty five.

Speaker 2 (55:46):
I was gonna go a little bit lower, and I didn't.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
Can you confirm that's what you see on your end?
For DraftKings?

Speaker 2 (55:51):
Let me I here, who are they playing? Where can
I find again?

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Dallas Tampa, Dallas.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
Tampa at Dallas Sunday night. Let's see here, Baker Mayfield
two thirty five and a half.

Speaker 1 (56:09):
Yep, we're good, We're good.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
No checking business for back in business. All right, I'm
gonna give you a good one here for rushing because
you all know I love a good rushing attack. I'm
going to go with let's go with Patriots bills. Why
don't we? I would love you to tell me James

(56:32):
Cook's rushing number for this week.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
Let's see here, John, I'm gonna I'm gonna go with.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
Hat one hundred plus this past weekend against the Lions.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
That he did. I don't think he's gonna be doing
that quite again, though, So let's go with fifty eight
and a half.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
Sixty four and a half. You were one on the
outside of the window of points there.

Speaker 3 (57:03):
And that is by brutal brutal. Okay, let's go with
my man that was on my fantasy team this year.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
Let me down sometimes, Jerome Ford Cleveland at Sacinnati.

Speaker 2 (57:23):
Oh, Man, is Chubb has heard again?

Speaker 1 (57:26):
Correct that he is?

Speaker 2 (57:27):
That is they're playing at Cincinnati. Cincinnati's defense sucks, So
this number is gonna be a little bit higher than
it would normally be. I'm gonna say fifty two and
a half.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
Ding ding ding, forty eight and a half. Job, forty
eight and a half. Good job.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
Okay, thank you. This is what brings it down to
the receiving for you now, nop okay, I would love
for you to tell me your boy, scary Terry. The
Eagles are playing at the Commanders. What is Terry mclaurin's
receiving yard number for this weekend?

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Seventy three and a half? John, you are.

Speaker 2 (58:12):
Incorrect. It is sixty three and a.

Speaker 1 (58:15):
Half way what Yeah, I was gonna go like sixty eight,
but on the cut would have been good. Oh wow.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Fact, if I gave you AJ Brown and you said
seventy three and a half, you would have been too off.

Speaker 1 (58:32):
Well that doesn't matter, John, For AJ Brown, I probably
would have said fucking eighty for all I know. All right,
all right, here we go. I won. But yeah, can
I give you a guy? Now? Can I give you
a guy just to humor you? Yes, go ahead, I'm
gonna give you New England at Buffalo. Hey, Sean Boody,

(58:55):
come on, all right.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
I think you're trying to set me up for an
exacty year. I gotta go with twenty two and a half.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Four and a half. It was either Hammer, Kendrick Bourne,
I saw Bonna.

Speaker 2 (59:10):
I was like, there's no way this is higher than
twenty five. But I gotta give him the respect of
going into the twenties. Uh, that's good, Okay. So I
took two out of three there, no exactly, but another
win for your boy, and that will do it for guests.

Speaker 1 (59:25):
That's Spreadeah, that doesn't for guests. That's spread.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
You're not as excited at the end of that anymore.

Speaker 1 (59:32):
Still, the last couple was a guess.

Speaker 2 (59:36):
Spread.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
No, not anymore. Now it's just guess that's spread.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
Alright. That's fine, that's okay, uh, because now we're gonna
move into the game that you've for the most part,
had the most success this week this year. Even though
this past week I beat you, I was three and
oh you were two and one, but still another consistent
two in one week for you. That's five street two
and one weeks for Randall. So if you're just following
along with Randall, you're waking my consistently. I was three

(01:00:01):
and oh though, so you didn't lose anything with me
this week, maybe making up for some bad weeks in
the mix. But that will bring us to hard locks.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
Stop four hard locks.

Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
All right, it's time for hard locks that will be
rad Do you want me to go first or do
you want to go first?

Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
We'll go for a shot. Great, all right, John, the
first team I am gonna be picking. It's once again
a matchup for the Ages. Pittsburgh at Baltimore. Pittsburgh's had
the number of Lamar Jackson in his career, you know,

(01:00:48):
but Lamar's at home. Lamar's an MVP conversation. Give me
Pittsburgh plus six d roah John as a dog.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
Wow, Wow, that's a good pick. I like the whole
six and a half premise year. I'm gonna go a
six and a half spread as well. In this time.
I'm gonna take the road team that's a favorite, and
go with the Detroit Lions against the Chicago Bears. We
all just saw what the Bears did against the Vikings
on national TV. I think the Bears are just trying

(01:01:23):
to get to the end of the year here in
one piece. Caleb Williams hopefully can make some drastic jumps
in year two. But right now they are done, and
seven points to me seems like a breeze for the
Lions to win this one by. So I'll take the
Lions minus six and a half.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
I like it, John, Yeah, you know. I went with
the Steelers plus six. I get they already have beaten
the Ravens once and beating the team twice, especially divisional opponent,
is very tough, very toime. To win.

Speaker 2 (01:01:50):
You just need to cover six and a half.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Hey, good teams win, great teams cover. Speaking of covering,
speaking a winning, give me Cincinnati. Mine is seven and
a half at home against Cleveland. Okay, this team is
on a mission. They're trying to get Joe Burrow into
the playoffs. I want Joe Burrow into the playoffs. They're
gonna cover this thing by a mile. Make it back

(01:02:14):
to back weeks. I've had them in my hard locks.
Lock it in.

Speaker 2 (01:02:21):
Okay, you are on one right now. That's a big spread,
but you can have it if you want. You had
seven and a half there, seven and a half? Hey
I had?

Speaker 1 (01:02:31):
I had Ravens minus sixteen, Am, I am. I hard
locked last week And you thought I was crazy for that?

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
You're right, I did. Okay, My next one could be
a little bit controversial, but I'm going to venture to
believe that it is not, and that is going to
be the Rams minus three and a half against the
Jets on the road. I could be looked at as
a homer here, but the Rams I think have hit
a stride over the last several weeks. And yeah, I

(01:03:01):
just you know, if the Jets I got some money
out of them this past week. They were on the
do not bet list, even though I did not listen
to that this past week and ended up working out
for me. But I'm gonna go ahead and put them
right back on the do net bet list this week,
and in fact, I will bet against them and take
my Rams minus three and a half. I would have
liked it a lot better if it was just three
like it was earlier, but three and a half would

(01:03:22):
be just fine.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
I'm seeing three on my end, John, So if you
want three, I'll give.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
You three, allow it. I'll take the three.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
Oh yeah, I give you. I'll give you three at
my give it a minus three. Let's see. Uh. The
fun thing is, John, I was gonna take Rams minus
three just so that way you couldn't do it, because
I knew you were gonna do.

Speaker 2 (01:03:45):
It, all right, That's why I did it. Second, what is.

Speaker 1 (01:03:50):
Really crazy to me is Atlanta is minus eight and
a half at home against the Giants, starting a rookie
quarterback called Michael This is That's how bad the Giants are.
But let's take our talents to the Poopy Bowl, the
Booty Cheek Bowl, and Jacksonville and Vegas. Just kidding. Give

(01:04:10):
me Buffalo minus fourteen against New England. John, this thing's bull.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
The fake out like you did last week with the game.

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
This thing is gonna be an absolute blowout, not even close.
Buffalo minus fourteen.

Speaker 2 (01:04:26):
Yeah, I wish I could say something to the contrary,
but I have a feeling you're right, And it's just
funny that you're picking against the Patriots at this juncture,
given the situation. But I commend you because it's not
an easy spot to be in. All Right, I'm going
to go ahead and just finish off my road warriors' mentality.

(01:04:46):
Here go three straight road teams this week, and I
will take the Arizona Cardinals minus four and a half
at the Carolina Panthers. They're making that daunted trip across
the country to the East coast. But Arizona needs some
wins to stay in this thing, and they're gonna be
playing a Carolina team that really is not very good,
as we know. So give me the Cardinals to cover

(01:05:08):
four and a half. I don't think they'll have any
problem coming across the country and winning. It's not a
it's not a doggler.

Speaker 1 (01:05:15):
But yes, oh oops, never mind, I thought when you
said give me four and a half, you know, but
that's okay.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Yeah, Well, I just like saying give me, even though
it's not really giving them the points. They're just.

Speaker 1 (01:05:28):
I got you, I got you, John.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
That does it for hard locks. We will see who
reigns supreme this week. All right, Ran, Well, that brings
us to the end here, and the only thing left
to do is decide if I can figure out what
the word of the day is.

Speaker 1 (01:05:48):
All right, John, what do you think the word of
the day is?

Speaker 2 (01:05:53):
I don't know, man, I really this episode was weird
because full transparency to our audience. We were about forty
minutes of this episode and then had to re record
everything because I lost the file. So I don't know
if you tried to drop it on me early and
then had to drop it on me again, or if
it never made it into the original cut. But I

(01:06:14):
honestly had trouble tracking at any types of words except
for maybe one, and I'll just throw it out there though.
I think it was just you randomly using it, and
that word is blasphemy.

Speaker 4 (01:06:26):
Let's find out, John, John, that's just blasphemy.

Speaker 1 (01:06:37):
Just McDaniels should be fired. So I did get Oh man,
I knew I should have threw you off the scent
a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (01:06:48):
Honestly, it was still pretty good, though, because you had
me waiting for another word the whole episode because I
didn't think that was it. But I honestly, I can't
believe I even remembered it, but it still out in
my mind when you did it, and it ends up
as a win for me, So that's good.

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
Congratulations, John, You're a winner tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:07:07):
Thanks man. It's the first time in a couple of
weeks you had gotten me back for a few weeks there,
but after an iconic run you had gotten me, and
now I am back, So it feels so good to
be back. All right. Well, that just about brings us
to the end here, Randall. It is the week before Christmas.

(01:07:30):
We're going to have certainly a little bit of a
jumbled schedule next week, just given the days of the games.
There's games this weekend that will be taking place on
Saturday and Sunday and Monday obviously, and then there's just
Tuesday of a break, and then Wednesday, Christmas Day, there's
a couple of games, and then the weekend will go

(01:07:50):
on like normal with a game on Thursday and other
games over the weekend again, So the NFL has completely
taken over every day of the week essentially, is what
I'm getting at here. So next week, Randall and I
will hope to produce and bring you an episode on
Christmas Eve or thereabouts. Will probably have to record it
early the day or late at night on the twenty third,

(01:08:10):
But we'll figure it out because we always do, right.

Speaker 1 (01:08:12):
Randall, Well you always do, John. We always find a way.
Winners find a way.

Speaker 2 (01:08:17):
The NFL is trying to prevent us from getting you content,
but we will not let it happen. So that is
all I have to say until then. It's been a
great season so far. Just a few weeks left before
the playoffs, and Randall, just a few more episodes left
before the playoffs begin as well.

Speaker 1 (01:08:37):
Perfect, John, I can't wait. I can't wait to.

Speaker 2 (01:08:40):
Get to talk about everything that you want to talk
about tonight. Twice twice in some occasions.

Speaker 1 (01:08:47):
Yeah, John, the big the biggest thing I want to
talk about is how the backup quarterback can be a
great position. When you're n QB goes down, you get
to rise up to the occasion to show what.

Speaker 2 (01:09:03):
You're worth, much like Cooper Rush.

Speaker 1 (01:09:05):
Right, Cooper Rush does that, Bailey Zappi, Mike White. Those
are some pristine guys that are able to do that,
guys that.

Speaker 2 (01:09:13):
We haven't seen playing like a really long time. So
I don't know if we can keep using those examples.

Speaker 1 (01:09:19):
But we're we're about to see what Michael Pennix has
about to become a backup or see you about to
solidify himself as QB one. And there was.

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
A bigger there was a bigger point to this whole thing.

Speaker 1 (01:09:35):
Okay, correct, there was because now that game. I believe
there there was a game that got flexed to a
primetime game now and I think that might have been it.
People want to see, Michael Pennix.

Speaker 2 (01:09:50):
I love the fact that you're coming in here with
concrete information, and I can tell you right now. The
Falcons game is at one o'clock on Sunday. They're playing
the Giants. The Giants are two and twelve. They're not
gonna be flexing any games. I think they did get
flexed the week after.

Speaker 1 (01:10:06):
That is correct, Yes they got flexed the week after.
But yes, yes, that's the one. That's the one that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:12):
Certainly they're not getting flexed against the two and twelve Giants.

Speaker 1 (01:10:15):
Correct, correct, I was partially right. I knew someone was
getting flexed. I knew it was the Falcons getting flexed
prime time. But wrong wrong team, wrong team. But John,
that's all I have.

Speaker 2 (01:10:25):
Thanks, all right, well great, then I'm gonna let you
go ahead and finish it off with the song of
the day. I guess we can call it. But thanks
everybody for joining us, and randall go ahead and take
it away.

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
Goodbye, good bye, good friends, goodbye. We got to talk something.
John went three and oh in his odd.

Speaker 3 (01:10:49):
Locks, and he's been amazing guests.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
The spread, guess the spread so long, folks, that's just blasphem.

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
Steve Nice Smith voice about yeah, blasphe class