NFL Cover Zero: Bring on the snow games!

00:00:06
Speaker 1: NFL Covers Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and iHeart podcast.

00:00:20
Speaker 2: Welcome in to a new episode of NFL Cover Zero, the Sunday Night, Week fourteen edition. Drew Franklin here filling in for Matt Jones, and our good friend Billy r. Sports, who's in the producer chair, has slid over into the co host chair to join us for tonight's episode as we recap all the week fourteen fun, including a couple of snow games that added to the excitement. Before we get to all that, I just want to make a you know, let everybody know why Matt's not here. We also weren't here Wednesday. We're gonna be fine getting through the show without him, but Matt needed some time away. His father had a surgery last week and that came with an unexpected diagnosis after the surgery, and Matt's just needed a little time away to hang with his family as they process that and his dad, Larry recovers. But like I said, we'll get through it and we're thinking about Matt. Hope everything goes there. Well, Sorry we missed last this week's episode. This all kind of last Wednesday's midweek episode. This all kind of came out of nowhere as Matt's dealing with that, but he's been home with them. So I hate that we missed you in the middle of last week. But Billy, we got it under control today. We'll handle tonight's episode. We had a lot of fun football lots that we can get to our in our weekly recap. That's right.

00:01:23
Speaker 3: Our heart is with Matt during this tough times. We're thinking about you and your family, Matt. But we got a great slate of games to talk about today, Drew. And there's nothing like sitting on your couch for four or five six hours at a time. I really do feel like a slob sometimes, but I'm working, Drew. I can't be taken off the couch right.

00:01:39
Speaker 2: Of course, it is a tough assignment to sit and watch football day, but you know we'll tough it out. We do that for the league and for this podcast and our NFL Cover zero listeners. I was actually late getting to my couch. I was in Nashville all weekend. I actually got to listen to my local Titans broadcast for the first quarter or two as I was making my way back and then my lovely wife for about halfway home, she was like, want me to take over driving and you can just watch Red Zone in the passenger seat, And I was like, I love you so much right now. So I did miss a little bit of the first half of the one o'clock games, but got home in time to catch up with the end of everything and had a good time in Nashville. You know, I know we have a lot of Kentucky listeners from our KSR audience. That's right. That basketball game was bad, but otherwise in Nashville I had. There's a lot going on my Nashville trip. I mean, the basketball was part of it, but just starting right away. I get to my hotel, uh and we pull in. It's probably one thirty. We go valet. You know, we're just just getting there. We're excitement games at night. Go upstairs. I'm not in my room ten minutes. I'm coming right back. Then we're just dropping bags, going to meet friends. Come down. And in the ten minutes from me handing my key to the valet and coming back down, there was a shooting right there in the doorway that included one of the vale I come down and literally that's they're putting up the crime tape as we're walking out the door. Ten minutes into my trip to Nashville. I think everything's okay. Shot in the leg, the valet guy.

00:02:57
Speaker 1: But the.

00:02:59
Speaker 2: Shot, yeah, I shot him in the leg. That they didn't catch the people they took off, they had the car and everything. But I mean it was I don't know. I must have missed it by a minute or two because i'd just been writing that spot dropped my car, went straight up and set my suitcase down. And then when I came back, we have a crime scene right at the front door of the hotel.

00:03:15
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, Nashville usually a great place to drown your sorrows after a bad Kentucky basketball loss, But that just goes to show you there's too many.

00:03:22
Speaker 2: People in Nashville. There's way too many people.

00:03:25
Speaker 3: Good luck finding a parking spot, and in good luck getting around during a busy time there.

00:03:30
Speaker 2: I should know my trip was getting off to the rough start with that. Then I had the basketball game. I don't know if anyone saw on Twitter, but I tried to do karaoke at Miss Kelly's. I love Miss Kelly's. I got booed for being a Kentucky fan because they're full of falls. At one point, the guy even said, boo, this man, he's responsible for giving us Will Levis, and I just got off the stage of this. This is too much. I don't like Tennessee fans as it is. Now. We got Will Levis catching strays. I'm just out here trying to sing that ain't my truck with my friends, and it turned into me getting Buddha. The basketball was the biggest problem, but just the whole trip, I had fun, but there was just a lot going on beyond that.

00:04:02
Speaker 3: Well, it seemed to work, as the Titans got a big victory today that I'm sure we'll talk about. I mean, even if Titan fans wanted them to lose so they could get the number one overall pick.

00:04:11
Speaker 2: But you did bring a little luck to the city. It seems like, yeah, well it is good to get back. I had my fun and you had the full day of couch. I did see some because I was a little late getting started. I saw Red Zone was a little off to a slow start. Oh yeahently I didn't miss much.

00:04:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, they was a little bit like KSR and US with the technical difficulties They had about like five to seven minutes of audio issues, so much to the point where they switched over to the NFL Fantasy red Zone to try to give people some audio.

00:04:36
Speaker 2: But it was it was okay, though.

00:04:38
Speaker 3: I was so locked in on the snow game Cincinnati and Buffalo that I didn't need to watch red zone, Drew.

00:04:44
Speaker 2: I think that's football at its best. Snow games are so fun. They are, I mean, and us just being in Buffalo, we were talking about it there with their fans, but you know, they thought about getting a dome at one point. What are you doing. You're Buffalo, you need snow. Obviously we'll just start there. That game ended up being great. But snowgame, even if it hadn't have been, you know, come down in the wire the way it did. Just something about snow games on TV. It's just special. The Titans Browns had one. It wasn't quite as snowy as the one in Buffalo, but it just adds to the experience.

00:05:10
Speaker 3: And in Buffalo too, I'm a little jealous we didn't get that snow. I know it was cold and we went, but just the snow in Buffalo is just a different type of field. Burrow and Josh Allen. It was a great matchup. I don't know, man, it's just you see that ball in the air with the snowflakes. It just kind of brings me back a little bit. And then you see guys that you do a little slide when they score a touchdown or a snowball. All the snow Angels were out today.

00:05:33
Speaker 2: Yeah. I saw one of the players in an interview was like, we're not We're still kids. Like, yes, I'm doing snow Angels, very unapologetic in my snow angels. Everybody knows where that one hill is in their town, right, Oh? I lived on it. I live Oak Street in Madisonville. Had the best hill right in front of my house. I miss it, did you see? I can't remember one of the Bill's defensive tackles. I believe it's Jordan Phillips. Before the game, he was wearing like a Canadian goose down coat with a big hood. Oh I did for around. He was wearing it under his jersey in warmups.

00:06:01
Speaker 3: That would be me, Like I there's a lot of tough guys out there. When the snow comes out, I'm gonna need to be bundled up. And if I'm not on the field. You would see me on the sideline next to those heaters, those huge heaters that they have.

00:06:12
Speaker 2: So are you if let's say in a different world you made the NFL, you went to h you're still a different world. Yeah, You're at Western, you were a star wide receiver, big ego, big arrogant wide receiver, wide receiver, one out there, moss and people. You make it the NFL, you get drafted by Buffalo. Okay, are you the type of player that does like I'm warming up with my shirt off, you know, just gonna show some skin and tough it out, or you like Jordan Phillips would have his parka on. What kind of guy would you be in the snow? You know those like Russian hats that completely cover all of your ears and your head.

00:06:45
Speaker 3: I think I'd have one of those on underneath my helmet. I would need it. I mean, right now, I'm a Florida boy, and I've got that warm blood. So if if that stays intact of my storyline here, then there's no way I'm going out and getting goosebumps before the game even starts.

00:06:59
Speaker 2: Drew, But are you gonna try to match you? It out? A little bit. No, I don't. I don't understand. We get it. Your NFL, You're you're already tough. We can see you're tough. But these games, when they're at Lambeau, and it's usually the visiting team trying to show off. They get out there. We can see their breath. We know they're cold on the inside, quid acting all hard, we know it. We know it's freezing out there. So I would I would absolutely, I would not do that. I would be more of wearing the Canadian goose. I don't know. Can you can you just like wrap yourself in like handwarmers too, I mean, I would be the weakest guy out there by far. That's right.

00:07:28
Speaker 3: You see guys that have handwarmers on their belt right when maybe befront or behind. I've got like the heated up squares in my handwarmers.

00:07:37
Speaker 2: I have to. This is even if I come out of the locker room at all. So it sounds like we're on the same page. We were cold in Buffalo, I mean, and that wasn't the snow game. That was just a little wind.

00:07:45
Speaker 3: So I imagine Bill's mafia was still out there and doing all their tailgating.

00:07:48
Speaker 2: If I'm going as a fan, I if to somewhere like Buffalo or a Lambeau, and I've been fortunate enough to do each of those. In the last couple of years. Lambeau, I did get a little bit of snow. I want it to be miserable. I want the full experience. I want snow everywhere. I saw today. There was two guys that drove from like Ohio, and the early in the morning went, we're shoveling snow in Buffalo, like in the stadium. They called it Josh Allen's wedding gift. But I mean, you can't even get to your seats without help, like these guys from Ohio driving up. I don't know how they got in the stadium. By the way, did the bills just open the gates and say, come help us shovel all this out. Well, remember, I don't know if it was last year.

00:08:21
Speaker 3: A couple of years ago, they called on the fans to dig out the players homes. They couldn't get out of their house, and so they had fans do that and come to the stadium as well. And then not only on top of that, we got a great game.

00:08:34
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean Joe Burrow there is for four touchdowns, Josh Allen's running wild it was a great comeback. Yeah, Josh Allen's forty yard run. It's just it's Josh. It's peak, Josh. It's beautiful. And even though they've taken some losses that you know they shouldn't have and they're not exactly in the spot where they want to be in the playoff standings, they are in the in the wild card mix. After getting today's win, it's looking like the Bills are kind of turning it on at the at the right time. Josh Allen had a great game through three touchdowns, ran for another that forty yard when again, just in the snow a Buffalo a Bills game, Josh Allen, that's just like picturesque for the NFL.

00:09:07
Speaker 3: Right, T Higgins comes back and plays well, had a great one handed grab. But Joe Burrow has these back to back interceptions, I.

00:09:14
Speaker 2: Believe, and it just kind of let the Bills run away with Burrows looks so good for those two interceptions, I mean, coming back from injury, we wondered why it was even doing. I mean, it looks like a dude who's been playing all season. He's he's looking great, except that the back to back I in T's. I mean, poor Bengals fans, you start getting some energy, you start getting life. They could even play off dream a little bit before this week. Still a little unlikely, but mathematically they were in it. Yeah, Burrow back, Higgins and Chase looking awesome, and then that screen pass where he just throws it right into the hands of defender who takes it to the house, completely flip the game.

00:09:47
Speaker 3: No wonder that fan base is so drunk, Drew, I mean, they've got to drink to keep up with all these losses that they have.

00:09:52
Speaker 2: And you're right, if they just win a couple.

00:09:54
Speaker 3: Of more here or there, they are right in that AFC North hunt. But I don't know how to feel about Zach Taylor, what this team should do with him after this season.

00:10:03
Speaker 2: But I mean, I feel like things are coming to a head a little bit here. Eles fans are a little tired of him. They were tired of him before today. Even that play call where burrowed through the interception was a little suspect in itself, just an absolute meltdown when it should look like the Bengals were going to hang on and still win in Buffalo and really turn those dreams into maybe, hey, maybe we will make a playoff. Push Chase not Chase. Higgins did have a spectacular game though in the loss, some amazing catches. We like to think of the Burrow Chase connection. Higgins is a wide receiver. One sit right over there with him too. He was He was awesome. Yeah, it was amazing.

00:10:35
Speaker 3: They were able to keep all these guys in the off season and even bring back Trey Hendrickson even though he's been injured. But two touchdowns for Higgins, And meanwhile, Buffalo is what the five seed in the AFC playoff hunt now at nine and four, so a.

00:10:47
Speaker 2: Big win for them. There, scary team with Alan turning it on right at the right time. I thought of one more thing from the snow game that threw thro wanted to see more Ray Davis because I did too, did I didn't want to see more radye. We can't get enough of Ray Davis, who's really been playing well lately, and they don't seem to go to him like they should. I follow some former Bills players on Twitter, former UK guys, and they're constantly like more Ray Davis. Not just because the Kentucky connection. It's because they know ball and see what he can do. But I'm the snow. My lovely wife asked me a question, and I, you know, at first I was like, well, that's silly. Then I really started thinking about it, but like, there's snow everywhere, but then you can see all the lines and the hash marks and everything, and she was like, is the field heated right there? And I was like, no, it would be silly. And then I just kind of sat there awkwardly, like, wait a minute, that's a pretty good question. Are they out there shoveling that very much? Because it's very crisp, very clean. Is it just like a crew of guys with their shovels that run out and get that, Because at first I kind of just thought that was one of those silly questions you get from someone who you know, maybe had locked in on football. And I was like, well, mate, it's not the worst idea, but I don't think they have that in Buffalo. But there was a moment where I was like, how do they get those so crisp and clean in the middle of the snow.

00:11:53
Speaker 3: They need to have them on the new stadiums. That would be a good thing. But I don't think they have them on this old one.

00:11:59
Speaker 2: For a second, I said it like I was certain and that I actually I might have even googled it like high Mark Field.

00:12:03
Speaker 3: Well, as much as these like these fields can just age in an instant, you'd think that they would have the technologies for this. So maybe so, But I think I did hear the announcers say the crew came out and cleaned off the field specifically for this game, And and that brings back some other memories.

00:12:18
Speaker 2: Is that the snowplow game that had the.

00:12:19
Speaker 3: Guy that came out from the sideline to put a little area so the placeholder and the kicker could kick it.

00:12:25
Speaker 2: So I mean that now we're going way back. What team was that that was? Uh, I gotta look this up. He completely cheated and moved on at the Dolphins that ended up doing that.

00:12:35
Speaker 3: I'm completely on the fly the snowplow game because it was like a former convict or something that it came out there and it.

00:12:41
Speaker 2: Was the Dolphins. Pats. Look at that, look at you. The game winning field goal to give the Patriots a three to nothing win could have been a three to nothing. Yeah game, Okay, the cheater with the snowplow. Also, I didn't get to bring this up on Thanksgiving. Uh, but the leon Lett game that it's like my one of my worst memories of a young Cowboys fan Thanksgiving Day. I remember exactly where I was. It's weird how you can remember certain things and not others. I'm probably eight years old. I think this was ninety three ish, kind of doing math on the fly. The regardless I'm young, I can still right now, over three decades later, look around the room where everyone was sitting, just how everything it was when leon Lett tried to pick up a fumble against the Dolphins, I believe, and completely loss of Thanksgiving game for the Cowboys. Just another snow memory that's not as positive. That's weird about memories. I was six years old Thanksgiving Day. Michael Vick ran around in overtime to beat the Minnesota Vikings in two thousand and one, and I remember that like it was just yesterday, Drew. So, I don't know. Maybe it's those NFL memories that keep your brain shark. The tuck rule that was a snow game, yes, Broody and the Raiders, that one stands out today's. I don't know. We'll reach that category. But it's a lot of fun, a lot of fun watching the run around the snow. But let's get some more games. It's fun day. Yeah. How about Matt's Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers turning it on today? Do you think maybe Matt is also stepping away just because he didn't want to give Aaron Rodgers his praise. I mean, that was Aaron Rodgers best game as a Steeler, Pittsburgh winning twenty seven to twenty two over Baltimore. Big for the AFC standings there, and right when we wrote him off just a week or two ago saying he's too old, season's two long, bodies, too banged up, looks like prime Aaron Rodgers, at least for a day out there. DK Betcalf has a good game.

00:14:23
Speaker 3: I mean, this is exactly what Mike Tomlin needed to do to respond to all those fans that were booing him the other day.

00:14:29
Speaker 2: That's not right.

00:14:30
Speaker 3: This guy's done how many seasons without a losing record, So I mean he is continuing to do it, and they now lead the AFC North by one game. But you're right about Aaron Rodgers. Man played well two hundred and eighty four yards in a touchdown. Meanwhile, Baltimore's just broken. I don't I don't know. Lamar may have lost a step.

00:14:47
Speaker 2: I know, I love to do. I keep trying to think or say, you know, they'll turn it on, They'll turn on. I mean, he had a bad interception today. You mentioned the Tomlin getting booed thing. There was a moment after the game where the TV's caught him. It looked like he blew a little kiss to the camera. You know, Tomlin's not normally that personality is that, you know, we just always see that same expression, whether good or bad. He just has that dock look on his face. But I'm pretty sure he blew a little kiss. It might have been for the haters that were boon him last week because he got a went and got a good road win today. But you're right, as just as Aaron Rodgers, is the story on one end lamar man bad interception. Yeah, it's it's just I don't know, Well, we have the Lamar that we once saw. Will let Lamar be back because the one we're seeing now is not a top tier QB. Yeah, I don't know.

00:15:29
Speaker 3: I mean Father Time is the only one that's undefeated, right, and we're only going to get older and older. At this point, you gotta wonder how long John Harbaugh is going to be the coach of the Ravens, even though you know this matchup between him and Tomlin was the two longest tenured coaches in the NFL and the second or the matchup between the coaches of the longest ever the second longest I believe that.

00:15:50
Speaker 2: Is, but I don't know. There was a there's a big controversy in this game time. Oh yeah, right, as we're piling on the Ravens for losing an important game, I will say Isaiah likely had a touchdown. It looks like he had two feet. They're down by what five at this point? Yeah, drive in the field a few minutes left in the game, makes the catch two steps in the middle of the end zone, and before his third step, Joey Porter Junior knocks the ball away and they ruled it an incompletion, and Harpball said after the game the explanation they got was he didn't get the third foot down, Like what when do we need three feet? He had both feet down in the middle of the end zone with full control of the ball. Looked like this could have should have been a Ravens win, because that should have been a touchdown in my eyes.

00:16:32
Speaker 3: In my eyes too, Drew and I worked for the NFL, and I couldn't explain to somebody what a catch.

00:16:37
Speaker 2: Is in the NFL.

00:16:37
Speaker 3: And that's a problem, that really is a problem. I feel like we have these all the time. I think a Dez Bryant back in the day too. We've seen rule changes, burn a manual if you want to go back to the Bucks back in the day.

00:16:48
Speaker 2: But this is another one that was a little bit questionable.

00:16:50
Speaker 3: It looked like Isaiah likely got that and then eventually a turnover on downs by the Ravens later in that drive.

00:16:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the Ravens were pretty upset after the game. That play was part of it. Also, just you know, having a losing record of this stage, their frustrations growing might be the end for them. But that should have been a touchdown. Also, Aaron Rodger had to catch see that. Yeah, forty two year old Aaron Rodgers ball gets batted towards him Apollo upward. I mean, it's kind of tough, you know, normally you just want to bat it down, but he had to take the loss there because there were four Ravens piled around him. But the rare catch by forty two year old.

00:17:22
Speaker 3: I was going to say, I think it was five days ago he turned forty two years old, which is I mean, the only one to do it past forty is Tom Brady And was it Mercedes Lewis.

00:17:31
Speaker 2: Who just joined one of the teams at the right end.

00:17:34
Speaker 3: So I mean it is special watching old men try to keep up with the youngins.

00:17:40
Speaker 2: True, and then that hits us at all points of our life, right, That's right, that's right, Maybe me one day. Uh so, Steelers looking like a playoff team, No, but somebody's.

00:17:48
Speaker 3: Got to make the playoffs out of that division.

00:17:49
Speaker 2: True.

00:17:50
Speaker 3: So I still think if there was enough time, Cincinnati would be that team. But I think it's going to be Pittsburgh by default here.

00:17:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, Cincinnati fell four to nine today when Pittsburgh seven and six. Just really stellar records there in the AFC North, but a huge win for them getting over the Ravens. They should hold on. But there's still a lot of football left me one game back. If they'll start counting their touchdowns as touchdowns and Lamar can stop throwing interceptions, maybe they'll have life, but not today. Uh, Steelers got the dub. And I know, Matt, if you're listening out there, Uh, we were happy for you and Aaron Rodgers.

00:18:23
Speaker 3: So I know, just tearing them up today watching these games that Aaron Rodgers is having that success and he couldn't talk about it today. Well, just as he's disappointed that Aaron Rodgers had a big game, I'm just disappointed that disappointed that my Tennessee Titans had a big game.

00:18:49
Speaker 2: Oh, come on, they've they win their second game of the year. He should be happy another snow game. Snowing in Cleveland for the cam Ward and Chador Sanders battle. Here I am with my one win Titans, thinking, man, we're just gonna lose out, get that number one pick, then trade that really get this rebuild going. And they went and play really well, winning thirty one twenty nine offense looking kind of good. I will say, Billy, I was all in on the Tank, but I was pretty happy to see him win because it's seeing a little bit of progress, seeing cam Ward, seeing some of the young receivers defense. He should have had a big game, but I wasn't as upset as I thought I was. When I would be when I was all in on the tank before they won.

00:19:27
Speaker 3: Well that was against a good defense, right, I mean Cleveland has Miles Garrett, who's going to break the all time sack record in a single season this year. So I mean that was impressive. Tony Pollard has a career high in rushing yards. So, yeah, exactly what you wanted to see from cam Ward as people have started to have discussions about him and how good he could really be with will Levis on the bench.

00:19:48
Speaker 2: But that was Pollard's maybe best game.

00:19:50
Speaker 3: He said, oh yeah, no doubt. But you know I was all about Shugar there for the first three quarters. I mean it was wrist in the air three hundred and sixty yards. This a three hundred passing yard game before Drake May. I mean, this guy was dumping it off with the best of them.

00:20:06
Speaker 2: Well did you see after he threw the touchdown to Harold Fan and Junior by the way from Bowling Ger That's another thing. He was great. The Browns came back and almost tied it up, and Harold Fann and Junior of all people, caught the touchdown to put him in down two. They didn't get the two point version by the way, to jump on that the two point version. They don't even have a quarterback in the game. Was doing everything, had four touchdowns, three throwing, three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown. He's throwing up the watch and then you don't even put him in on the two point conversion. The running back wasn't ready for it either. You know, that was absolute disaster. I didn't know what they were trying to do, but it was pretty cool for Shadur. I've found myself rooting for him. I mean, in this game, it is what it is. I obviously conflicted of do I want to win or not win. I'm happy my young guys are looking good. Mike McCoy might actually be a distant coach. I'm not saying keep him, but it just shows how bad Brian Callahan was before they got rid of him. But I do it was pretty neat see him have a big moment. He ran right up to Big Jeff and put it in his face the way he sure it is. He sawt him out and put it right in his face.

00:21:04
Speaker 3: Now when he's not miming to the porters in the locker room, I am rooting for him. I don't know if it's the narrative of like Stefanski wasn't giving him a game ball because the team doesn't like him and things like that, which is obviously not true.

00:21:16
Speaker 2: I hope, uh. But I mean, that's a guy that's got a lot of.

00:21:20
Speaker 3: Pressure on him, the world on his shoulders, and for him to have any success I think would go a long way to proving a lot of people wrong. But that was just an odd game. And now Tennessee is not in the driver's seat for the number one overall pick.

00:21:33
Speaker 2: It's the Giants. Now, yeah, I think we've filled to three and we had it right there. Just just keep plasing. I talk about the Giants for the second. You can talk about whatever you want to talk because they run a bye this week.

00:21:44
Speaker 3: But Jameis Winston was a guest analyst on the Fox Sports NFL Countdown, daw I.

00:21:51
Speaker 2: Saw tweets about it. I just didn't watch it, but I love Jamis. What all did he have?

00:21:55
Speaker 3: Gamis could run for president? I think that people would vote for him. He's my guy, being a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. But I got a twenty second clip for you. Oh, I guess let's just let's just let's get a little bit of it.

00:22:05
Speaker 2: Says Liam Cohen, has been getting recommendations on how to pronounce the right way. He went, Duval, how would you pronounce the change? What's your Broadway one? They all to me.

00:22:23
Speaker 3: But I got the jacks, You got the jack a little falsetto And that was just twenty seconds, Drew.

00:22:28
Speaker 2: Imagine a whole two hours with Jameis Winston. It was great. So when he retires, maybe this year, it's just straight to TV. Put him on politician. Man need him. I need him doing that on my pregame show. So I don't care what network he goes to. Just put a microphone in Jameis wins He.

00:22:44
Speaker 3: Did like a pregame hype up speech with the other Fox Sports people to parody off the eating the W's and things like that.

00:22:51
Speaker 2: So I mean, yeah, just has the best personality.

00:22:54
Speaker 3: And whether it be writing books or motivational speaking, whatever, he'll do after this, Like you said, maybe in the booth, better be in the booth. These former players get jobs immediately, so why not him? You mentioned he mentioned Duvall, just go there.

00:23:07
Speaker 2: Next. Okay, big shake up in the AFC South Colts once a hot team started seven to one, have now lost four of their last five, and Jacksonville controls their own destiny in the AFC South whooped him pretty good today, thirty six to nineteen. You see Liam Cohen in the locker room. I know we talk about these videos calling who's fired up? Though it could be a Coach of the Year candidate there we're watching. He's got the Jags looking good. Trevor Lawrence had a big game, two hundred fifty yards, two touchdowns, Travis at the end, two touchdowns. Jags looking good, Colts looking not so good. Tough injury though for Daniel Jones and non contact injury dropping back went straight down. They're calling it Achilles injury. I mean their quarterback room with Anthony Richardson still out from his you know, was it band was? What was he?

00:23:54
Speaker 3: Stadium injury? Yeah, slingshoted his eye. This is bizarre at this point. I mean, Indianapolis started seven to one and they've lost four of their last five. They have onequarterback on their roster if they're not going to have Daniel Jones, that was Riley Leonard who came in today. Besides one quarterback they have on their practice squad. They don't have another quarterback on the roster because Anthony Richardson is hurt. So, I mean, this was the darling of the NFL and according to Matt Daniel Jones, MVP candidate.

00:24:21
Speaker 2: And now not anymore. I mean they're not even I mean they're at the seventh seat right now in the AFC. That's crazy to've been as hot as they were. I mean we were all everybody was couldn't believe how good the Colts started going seventy to one. They had that run without even punning. Their owner has been fun. I saw today though she's still awesome. She was over you know this, it was a road game, right She's over in the crowd, like people are just handing her phone down and she's taking selfies and it was like one or two. I even saw the tweeted the video assault said that she's stuck around in anyone that wanted a photo or autograph, she made sure they got it. So, I know her team has gone the other direction, but she's been a fun, fun, you know, kind of side story there in the Colt So she's really gotten involved with that team.

00:25:02
Speaker 3: Well, I'm just glad that's the conversation around her. While for Jacksonville, I mean this was huge for them. This is the eleventh straight year they've beaten Indianapolis at home.

00:25:12
Speaker 2: Think about that. Oh wow, I eleven years in a row.

00:25:15
Speaker 3: They have taken care of business with the hot tubs around them to beat Indianapolis. So maybe we should have saw this coming. But for Jacksonville, now they're the three seed. They're nine and four, and Trevor Lawrence, who this was a big year for, is proving some of those doubters wrong too.

00:25:30
Speaker 2: Yeah. I wasn't really sure on Trevor Lawrence. He hasn't lived up to you know, kind of a hype as he was drafted, but up and down a year a little bit. But I think he and Cohen have worked well together for the most part. And obviously they're looking like a playoff team and could win this division if they hang on. So he might still be the future in Jacksonville.

00:25:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the Jets have to like the two first round picks they got for sauce Gardner. Now probably going to get a little better if the Colts start losing more games.

00:25:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, you went out and got sauce Gardner for a win, now, immediately got to get it going and it's gone the other way.

00:26:00
Speaker 3: He got hurt, and then then you've been losing all these things and it's not his fault.

00:26:04
Speaker 2: I mean that the team has big problems, but you make that deal thinking you're going to make a big push in the playoffs and it has gone the complete opposite direction. What game we got next, little vikings commanders.

00:26:16
Speaker 3: I mean, let's talk as quick as that game was true, because it was the quickest game in the NFL this year, only two hours and forty minutes. And jayde and Daniels got jacked up. If you used to watch that segment back in the day, Oh yeah, we can't do that segment anymore.

00:26:31
Speaker 2: You know. I was back when they were hitting a little harder and it got me a flag. Yeah. Now, and there's a couple though. I remember Reggie Bush was on an awful wrong hit on an old jacked up session. But yeah, Jade Daniels today, another injury to him and to just get completely shut out. Tough loss, But I was looking at another angle with this. What said your boy, JJ McCarthy, I mean you mean nine yeah, excuse me, nine nine on game days. Yeah, I'm not going to say what you called him earlier in the year, but you don't think he's that good of a quarterback. But I feel like today we at least have to acknowledge you had a big game, three touchdowns, that's great. Happy for JJ. In a corner on JJ, you know, you know he had.

00:27:09
Speaker 3: Nine interceptions in six games, I believe. So let's pump the brakes a little bit. This Minnesota team is not good. They I think they have some sellers remorse after not resounding Sam darntnerold, but this was his moment. I think Justin Jefferson is probably the biggest loser in all this. This is somebody that was going in the top five picks of people's fantasy leagues and he had two catches for eleven yards today drew.

00:27:30
Speaker 2: So it's just it's been rough for him. I will have to compliment his attitude. He's the opposite of AJ Brown. Did you see what he said after the game? Now, what do you say? I mean, you know he's down that he's not putting up the numbers he wants. I mean, let's not be crazy. But he was like, we're winning. You know, if we win, it's fine, that's the right answer. Yeah, that's not what some other people, especially in that position, would say, but even I hope he means it. I don't know, but at least he's saying it and putting on the front because I was a big win for them, even though he was a very very small and insignificant part of it.

00:27:57
Speaker 3: Not apologizing to nine yet, I just feel bad for Jaden daniels Man. He was what rookie of the year and win in playoff games against my bucks. And you know, injuries have really hurt this team, with Thawson Eckler and Taylor McLaurin out for a long time too, so this is a tough season for them.

00:28:12
Speaker 2: Well, how about the other injury in this game? Zach hurtz Oh my goodness, that knee kind of caught him in the air. Defender goes low. That looked horrible. I don't know, you know, he's been in the league over a decade. Now makes you wonder if he's even going to be able to come back from that or if that was the last time we saw him. To look on his face might have suggested he knew too. But just a Daniel's hit was bad. But I mean, that was a nasty season ender for Zach Hurtz too.

00:28:38
Speaker 3: Did a flip in the air. You saw Mariota obviously emotional next to him afterwards. He knew it was serious. That's a guy that was really good with Philadelphia back in the day. And you're right, he's got a ring getting up there in age. So multi year pro.

00:28:49
Speaker 2: Bowler, I mean, he was the only one that they.

00:28:52
Speaker 3: Had there for a while with all their receivers getting hurt besides Debo.

00:28:55
Speaker 2: So it gets it just gets getting worse for the Commanders. Three wins this year and you get shut out by the Vikings, the Vikings first shut out in eighteen years, and they're the first team since nineteen ninety two to get shut out. And then a week later producer shout out, wow, since ninety two, it's been a while since that. What a turnaround to go from all right, we're just gonna get shot out. Next week, we'll shot somebody out. They lost twenty six to nothing at Seattle last week and then win thirty one.

00:29:18
Speaker 3: Oh today, Well, it literally could not get worse after their last game, So it's all up from him.

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Let's get to the other exciting game. I know you're fired up and about the Dolphin's Jets. I didn't think that's where you were going. Speaking of apologies, I think we owe Mike McDaniel apology. I believe we talked about him getting fired on the first five for six Sunday night shows this season, expecting on Monday to get the news. But to his credit, you know, I mean, they're not going to be in the playoffs doing any real contending, but they're still playing for him and they're on a little bit of a run here thirty four to ten. I know it's the Jets, not the biggest opponent you can play in the NFL these days, but I four point day and another win for the Dolphins. You got to tip your cap for the guy that we thought was on the hottest seed in the league. No, they rebounded, they've they've played well.

00:30:13
Speaker 3: If they weren't in the AFC, they might even have a shot to make the playoffs. But you know, a Chan is a touchdown machine. He got hurt, but I think he's gonna be fine moving forward. And Tua just stay healthy, buddy, just stay out there and maybe put a guardian cap on. I'd love to see that from him. Every time he can finish the game. It's a it's a win for the Dolphins no matter what the score.

00:30:34
Speaker 2: We got the good Brady Cook to a showdown with a little bit of Tyron's we're talking about Yeah, all the poor Jets. I believe I heard the Red Zone say that the Jets almost went the entire first half of that a first down. I think they got one with like a minute left.

00:30:48
Speaker 3: Well they had was it like a punter or a kick return touchdown? And that allowed Aaron Glunn to run down the sideline. That's all he's been able to do this year is score on special teams plays.

00:30:57
Speaker 2: But it's the Jets. I mean, did you expect to complete turnaround and you're one of a new coach? Probably not.

00:31:02
Speaker 1: No.

00:31:02
Speaker 2: When they officially missed the playoffs today, you know, I think we were knew for a while. But fifteen straight years without the playoffs, it's the longest drought by any team in pro sports. Not just the longest drought in the NFL, They're in NBA, MLB, you name it. The Jets are all little sports. It's the longest playoff their longest drought fifteen years. Well, now I feel a little bad for what is it?

00:31:25
Speaker 3: Fireman ed and the fan base there, Giants hold the number one overall pick. Jets are out of the playoffs. There's just they're they're a pair made for each other.

00:31:34
Speaker 2: I root for a team that's not very good, but we at least had a decent run a few years ago, made it the AFC Championship. You know, the Derrick Henry experience was fun. Had Chris Johnson before that? Of course, I can go back to Steve Mean, you know, Titans have had some good years even though overall bad experience. Jets fans, man, I don't know how they get up and do it every day. Like at some point I would just be like, I can't keep doing that fifteen years.

00:31:54
Speaker 3: Remember my boy Nameth making those plays through the last time I was happy in my life. I mean, you got to think there's some Jets fans out there that that's what they think of. I mean, what's the other thing that they would think of? And Mark Sanchez AFC Championship game, Like, I don't know.

00:32:10
Speaker 2: It's just a tough existence for them and it doesn't look like it's getting any better. I don't know if Brady Cook was going to come in and rally.

00:32:16
Speaker 3: The troops now get ready to draft a quarterback again. I'm sure where.

00:32:19
Speaker 2: Does that game rink on all the favorites you watched the hul Jut Stacks probably last. But I am happy for McDaniels.

00:32:26
Speaker 3: He's kind of got like the swagger I would have if I was an NFL coach. I mean, if you had to pick one coach that maybe looked like me the most, it might be him.

00:32:34
Speaker 2: And you do look a little like Mike.

00:32:36
Speaker 3: So every time Matt starts as McDaniel's talk with what a dork that shouldn't be an NFL coach, you know, maybe shit a.

00:32:44
Speaker 2: Tier winning some games? Speaking of shed in tears your bucks? What the hell, man, the Saints, what are we doing? I saw this game coming from a mile away, Drew. We did not do a survival pal pick this week. If we would have, I would have picked the Saints. And you might think I'm lying, but I got a little story time for you. Really.

00:33:00
Speaker 3: In two thousand and two, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. I went to two games that year. Was the first game of the year against the Saints, and then we went to New Orleans for a Monday night football matchup against the Saints. Saint Saints won both of those games, drew.

00:33:16
Speaker 2: Both of them. The year the Bucks won the Super Bowl, I went to two games. They were both losses to the Saints. This was set up from a mile away.

00:33:24
Speaker 3: I could see the Bucks losing this game to Tyler Shuck in the terrible Saints. Tampa's now lost five of their last seven, and they were starting a tackle from Nigeria who majored in cybersecurity at Georgia State last year. Drew undrafted. They picked him up for the league minimum because they've gotten so many injuries. It was embarrassing, and Baker played a terrible game.

00:33:47
Speaker 2: So I don't I don't know. I mean, he's angry enough for you. Well, there was a moment. You know, Baker wasn't good, But your boy Buka had a horrible drop down seven. He's wide open. I couldn't have thrown it any better. I mean, it was just a little soft toss to him. I mean, that's that's your stud young receiver, and that absolutely called could have tied it up there and then they don't end up scoring it. Maybe they got a field goal, but I mean that was their big shot to stay in the game. He's been bad the last few weeks. It started so good, started so good, but he's been really bad.

00:34:18
Speaker 3: And I don't know if that's because Mike Evans hasn't been playing and they've become much more one dimensional, but he has been bad. And now I've hit the panic button. I mean, they're tied with Carolina. They play them two of the last three weeks. Carolina just beat the Rams, the best team in the NFL, you could argue right now.

00:34:34
Speaker 2: So I am officially worried.

00:34:37
Speaker 3: But we'll see how much of a gamer Baker is and if he can drag these guys to the finish line, this is going to be one of the more bigger collapses for the season.

00:34:44
Speaker 2: It'd be almost like the Colts, right, yeah, Baker versus Tyler Shuck. I did not have Tyler Shuck winning that battle or having fifty five yards rushing in two touchdowns to throw for a touchdown, but ran for two the long and the thirty yarder. I mean, it's like, what in the hell are the Bucks doing? Then he ran over you with the goal line to get in. That's a rookie Tyler Shuck at home at home in a game they needed.

00:35:10
Speaker 3: Man, this is a divisional game at home disgusting performance. Todd Bowles should be embarrassed. He's a defensive coach and he's and he's got Tyler Shuck running all over him.

00:35:20
Speaker 2: So I think you're more than a touchdown favorite too. Yep, they were.

00:35:24
Speaker 3: And it is really sad when the Bucks are losing a game and they fire the cannons. I mean, I love firing the cannons, but when you fire the cannons, you're losing to the Saints and it's it's in doubt, it's it is a sad moment.

00:35:35
Speaker 2: Had a little rain rain couldn't even stop to o is porn porn? At that game. We talk about how the snow made the Bills Bengals games even better. The rain in this one and even Jacksonville just kind.

00:35:45
Speaker 3: Of well, you get a glimpse every now and then at the camera angle when it really shows you how much it's raining. These cameras are so good you don't really see most of the time, and then you get a glimpse and it's just poorn cats and dogs out there. But that's just another normal afternoon in Tampa. That's that's the home field advantage they have as much as the Bills have the snow, So.

00:36:03
Speaker 2: You got Panthers Ers Atlanta, then the pan There's then the Dolphins, than the Panthers. Come on, Okay, I worry about it. I mean, if you're gonna do anything, you can't really ask for a better run than Falcons, Panthers, Dolphins, Panthers.

00:36:15
Speaker 3: No, they're set up and it's been tough these last seven games. That's maybe why they're five of their last seven. But even if they were to make the playoffs, I'm just they're two banged up and Mike Evans ain't gonna break the records. It might be the end of a streak of consecutive division titles. I think they've won four in a row, so that would be sad.

00:36:33
Speaker 2: Well, there's another big shake up in the NFC, A little bit bigger rivalry than Bucks, Panthers or Brooks. Is there? What we got? The Bears Packers today always a great game. This was this one no different than the rest. I wish Matt were here to get his thoughts because he's had this Bears excitement. But they took the loss today, losing by a touchdown, but they were in it. Caleb william drives down the field, down by seven, get right around the red zone and just a bad interception, completely under threw his target there in the end zone for an I and T to lose the game. A tough way to end it for him, and the Bears dropped from the one seed to the seventh seed. Yeah, shows you how crazy the NFC in that division are right now lines right behind him. But the Bears play the Packers again in a couple of weeks. They have a chance to get him back. But a big swing in the NFC playoff picture with.

00:37:18
Speaker 3: That game in Lambeau today, Yeah, almost felt like a playoff game, these two teams being so high up in the rankings, and Jordan Love has been pretty impressive for the Packers over.

00:37:26
Speaker 2: The last two weeks.

00:37:28
Speaker 3: And yeah, I mean a normal night, this would be all about Matt Fanning over Caleb Williams and how he's the quarterback of the future. He made a bad throw that last play, really bad. DJ Moore wide open, could have strolled into the end zone, ended up throwing that interception. Nevertheless, though I had to come back to reality a little bit, right, I mean nine and three before this game.

00:37:49
Speaker 2: Keep that up.

00:37:50
Speaker 3: So, I mean this was expected. This was in Lambeau too, But these two teams looked good. The Packers defense looked good. This is a team that's getting hot at the right time. When I talk about green Back, yeah, and I don't think it says anything too bad about the Bears. I mean they're and you just have the bad throw at the end. I think there's still and like they can get them back coming up and maybe flip things again.

00:38:09
Speaker 2: But you're right about Love. He started really bad and turned it on. He was like eleven for fifteen in the second half. As they started finally get some touchdowns on the board there, Packers just kind of not quietly, but right there in the mix where we thought it'd be. They have that odd like tie with the Cowboys that just throws off the standings even more. I hate that. I don't know why it should bother me like it does, but just having that little one on their record throws me off. But uh's that's one of your NFC contenders.

00:38:33
Speaker 3: Well in Green Bay is what beaten Minnesota, Detroit and now Chicago in three straight weeks. So, I mean they have taken control of that division. Even though the tide is odd. It just doesn't look right when you look at the standings.

00:38:46
Speaker 2: I don't know. My brain doesn't know out of the process.

00:38:48
Speaker 3: Is it maybe because I'm an American, Drew and there shouldn't be ties in the NFL? Just keep them out there, maybe more people want to see football. But anyway, that was a good matchup and like you said, we'll see it again. So that coming up, they go to Denver the Packers. Okay, they go to Denver, hot team right now. Then they have that game in Chicago. Bear's going to back, then the Ravens, although we don't know what version of the Ravens will be. And then of course then with number nine and JJ McCarthy, which will be absolutely tough to wrap up the regular season. I want to talk about Lafleur for a second, because wasn't he with the Titans at one point or like he's an old Titan. Okay, good, he is somebody that drops the challenge flag instead of throwing it, and I don't like that, Drew.

00:39:27
Speaker 2: I'm with you, thank you for bringing that up. If it were me, I'm throwing that thing. As far as I can see, I'm chucking it. Like so he did great.

00:39:34
Speaker 3: He won two challenges today, so we actually got a third, so he was he was doing pretty well, but he.

00:39:38
Speaker 2: Just like, hey, ref come over here and then and then drops it. Make sure that they see it. I'm not doing that. I'm chucking that thing. We also got a little bit of a blowbar with him and Ben Johnson after the game.

00:39:49
Speaker 3: Chicago Owen won since Ben Johnson took his shirt off in the locker room.

00:39:52
Speaker 2: Oh man, what a stat is that? A next gen stat? Is that our next gen stat of the night?

00:39:57
Speaker 3: Well, we had the coin toss stat for Carolina that we tracked for a while, and then Ben Johnson takes his shirt off. I don't know if you saw that story. A Chicago hot dog restaurant, the Wiener Circle, said that whatever takes his shirt off in the postgame locker room talk, they would give a hot dog to everybody in Chicago, and he did, and then this past week they had to give out hot dogs.

00:40:18
Speaker 2: But I'm just saying on one since that moment, Drew, do you like Chicago dogs like pickles and tomatoes and onions? I had my first with you just a couple of weeks ago. That was your first Chicago dog. And that was not in Chicago, No, that was in a middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania right where were on our right?

00:40:34
Speaker 3: And Relish that was al g bright green that I don't know if tasted exactly like Relish should.

00:40:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think that was real realish, so it looked like it was made in a factory.

00:40:44
Speaker 3: Maybe we could make a trip to a Bears game one time, because that's Matt's team, and we got to check off all our teams, right, and we can get a Chicago dog.

00:40:51
Speaker 2: Maybe Ben Johnson can keep his shirt on. Well, if they want to start winning again, got me one a Chicago Dog. How about the Broncos Raiders. There's another big game. I don't think. I don't think they're good though, but we keep saying that in the next week they win again. At some point we just got like they're good. Is it ten in a row? At ten in a row and I don't think they're good, which is a strange thing to say. I mean, I don't know.

00:41:15
Speaker 3: If Sean Payton just gets these guys together, they play well as a unit. But like I see Bo Nicks, I see a rookie.

00:41:21
Speaker 2: Running back and RJ. Harvey.

00:41:22
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't even see a dominant receiver in Troy Franklin and Courtland Sutton.

00:41:26
Speaker 2: Yet they have won ten games in a row. They have beat up some bad teams in that ten game stretch. I mean they have some good wins too, just getting Kansas City a few weeks ago. But you know, Raiders aren't the world beaters out there, speaking of beats, and there's still bit a bad beat in this game. A little bit of controversy in this Yeah, well I kind of caught the Twitter rundown after it happened. Were you watching in really wise? Yeah?

00:41:48
Speaker 3: So its a ten point game, less than a minute left, the Raiders are out of timeouts. It is over at this point. The Raiders are tackled inbounds. There's less than ten seconds left, but one of the players for Denver kind of sits on the Raiders player and so they called delay a game, and so they move the ball up. The clock has stopped because of this, and with five seconds left, Pete Carroll sends out the field goal unit to kick the cover.

00:42:14
Speaker 2: So the clock's hit zero. The Raiders kicker makes the field goal and they cover the spread of seven and a half eight and a half depending on where you got it. I wasn't partaking in this. I enjoy a bad beat from Afar when it doesn't involve me, sound like tough when I saw a few people online who were pretty upset about Yeah, yeah, that was one that Scott Van Pelt will be recapping on a sports center here in a couple of days or so.

00:42:38
Speaker 1: You know.

00:42:38
Speaker 3: Watching the Raiders is always so humbling for me because I always come to the realization of players I have never heard before, I mean all for the first time, like Jack Besh led the Raiders and receiving today six receptions for fifty years and never heard or have seen of Jack Bell.

00:42:54
Speaker 2: He's a rookie, right They called his name a lot today. And then Kenny Pickett.

00:42:57
Speaker 3: Comes out of nowhere to be the backup for Gino Smith. And I had forgotten Kenny Pickett after his fake slide for Pitt back in the day that or maybe even in the NFL he did.

00:43:07
Speaker 2: The fake slide. There was a bunch of arguments there. So it's always like who's in the NFL, who plays at the highest level. I always am remembering that there are more athletes that I don't know when I watch the Raiders. No Raiders have lost eleven straight games in their division. That's kind of sad for a team that used to come with you know, eleven streets. You know you can't be losing eleven straight. Yeah, what are you doing? Tom? You gotta fix and Pete you're a minority owner. At this point, I was going to ask you you kind of already answered it for me, but I will say, so we're not now. I believing in the Broncos, the one seed ten straight wins, Well, I mean, what do they gotta do? Billy.

00:43:41
Speaker 3: The conclusion you and Matt had at the end of the last episode we did was there are no good teams, Like, there is nobody that's great this year that could run away with it. And when I look at quarterback play, I just bo Nicks doesn't hold up to me for an eleven and two team. And Denver's defense isn't that good, I mean, not that dominant. They're pretty decent, but so I don't know where those they win, those close games like seven or eight games, fun score games, straight games, touchdown or less. So I mean that's valuable, that is valuable experience moving forward.

00:44:12
Speaker 2: But I'm not a believer. No, Well I wasn't Tim Tebow was there. I mean I don't know what else you want them to do. They just keep going. You remember that T bow game. I do remember that t bow game and they're off the row against Pittsburgh for eighty yards. Damarius Thomas Oh just getting said kind of double deep. Yeah, that's just feels like you're going through over there and think about that T bow. I love that stuff. What about that t bow haircut back in the day when he got hit the haloh initiation. Yeah, they always think about that bad stuff there. This game was last Thursday, and I meant to bring it up after the Bears Packers, but the Lions Cowboys also big for the NFC. Lions. I think might have been my NFC championship pick at the beginning of the year if I didn't say them, they were at the front of my brain. Them are the Packers. I can't remember which one I went with, but they're looking to be in a little bit trouble. They did beat the Cowboys, which helped still farther down the standings one forty four to thirty. Last Thursday night Cowboys was a moment where on an offensive pass interference at the end zone, first I had a touchdown that would have given him better chance, but they go on to lose by two touchdowns. Can't make a big deal out of that. Gibbs just had a great game.

00:45:17
Speaker 3: What was Pickens's problem? I saw somebody online said they told him before the game he was getting the franchise tag and that's why he played so poorly. I mean, that's a guy who's gonna get paid by the way. I mean, if he can make it a free agency, he's gonna make a ton of money.

00:45:31
Speaker 2: But you know, Ceedee Lamb got hurt. You know, Pickens wasn't himself.

00:45:34
Speaker 3: I mean that was that should have been a big game for Dallas to keep their playoff hopes alive, and maybe that kind of put a fork in them there.

00:45:41
Speaker 2: He had to cool off at some point because he had been so hot. But you know, thirty seven yards, no scores for an offense that's been just absolutely spectacular. Even in the losses, Prescott's been throwing it around. They justn't having it much that game. Brandon Aubrey though, best kicker ever. He's good. He's unbelievable. And it's not just like, oh he made it like if you took if you measured how centered his kicks were I think they're perfectly centered. Every time he kicks a field goal, well, he made a sixty yarder, didn't he He had three kicks that were fifty five yards or more that's never happened before. Three midfield goals from that far. Yeah, sixty three yarder. He's a weapon.

00:46:19
Speaker 3: Greg the little or Cam little one of the two. He's a weapon for Jacksonville.

00:46:24
Speaker 2: We've talked about the kicking balls changing the game, but when you're in field goal range, like before you pass midfield, you're changing the sport. Drew and I think.

00:46:32
Speaker 3: That's part of why me and I think even Matt would want the kicking balls to go away.

00:46:38
Speaker 2: What about you? I love watching Brandon Aubrey kick, though I'm kind of with you on the kicking balls, but he's just so automatic it's unbelievable. Even if sixty three yarder could have gone in from seventy.

00:46:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, all these sixty yarders, I feel like I have five more yards than what they actually are, which is wild. We'll have seventy yarders here in about two or three years.

00:46:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, golf, three hundred yard game for him. Prescott almost had four hundred yards, even though they didn't get the win. Saint Brown had a big game. Lions, Lions needed that one. I know, the Cowboys had life and as Cowboys a secondary Cowboys fans, we were starting to dream. But still six six, they got that ugly one. Like we said with the Packers, that Todd just hanging out on their record, but a big one for the Lions to get their eighth win and stay in the mix.

00:47:17
Speaker 3: And Dan Campbell must have just been staying up at night wondering why Gibbs wasn't getting the ball enough, and that's why he took over play calling duties and that's why we've seen Gibbs just been phenomenal recently. As what did he have in this one?

00:47:30
Speaker 2: Three touchdowns? Three? Yeah, what a ton of yards, but three scores broke off a big win. So yeah, they're finally remembering that they have Gibbs on their team after he had a quite a few weeks. But yeah, there's a little Lions Cowboys talk. But Dallas probably out right, I mean they're not back. Yeah, let me see who Dallas has left. But I can't imagine. Well, they played JJ McCarthy your boy up next, then the Chargers come. Actually, wait a minute, Vikings Chargers, Commanders, Giants, what I.

00:47:58
Speaker 3: Mean, hold on? Okay, so that's them at what ten, six and one?

00:48:04
Speaker 2: If they were to win at Okay, the dream still off would have helped winning Thursday. But there wins against the Chiefs and Eagles right before taking that loss really helped him to go to and one in that run of Eagles Chiefs lines. Yeah, still good, even though they took the loss.

00:48:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, those were big wins for them. So I don't know, maybe there is a chance you're saying there's a chance.

00:48:23
Speaker 2: I'm gonna speak in new existence. I know that's your second team. So you got a happy wife, happy life, she loves the Cowboys, and that how it goes. It is.

00:48:31
Speaker 3: But then you have the NFC West that has all those titans that might keep out the team like the Colts, yeah, or the Cowboys.

00:48:38
Speaker 2: Excuse me. There's also tough NFC teams like the Seahawks. How about them today? Thirty seven to nine?

00:48:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that was a six to six game at halftime and then see the Seattle just ran away with it. Jackson Smith and Jibba had what two touchdowns in this game?

00:48:54
Speaker 2: He's he's great. We already knew it. But he's the best receiver in the league by far. He is, and he's an incredible.

00:49:00
Speaker 3: Year still looking at two thousand yards and it's it's amazing how little Seattle throws.

00:49:05
Speaker 2: Like if you were to look at actual next gen stats, which we don't have right now, well you did, you had the Ben Johnson's own ones and taking his shirt off. That was next gin.

00:49:14
Speaker 3: It was also the trial one though, like we couldn't get past the paywall for the more you.

00:49:17
Speaker 2: Got to get you on the other side of that paywall. It's a big option. Wink wink.

00:49:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right, but another win for them. Sam Donald turned it on late Atlanta. I feel like it's more of the story in this game and what has happened to them.

00:49:30
Speaker 2: Robinson had a bad fumble. I mean, Kirk Cousins is your quarterback. He had two in or so. They paid him a lot of money to throw those interceptions though, like I've paid him a lot of money then drafted someone right after him who doesn't play. Now, Yeah, I think this might be it for Raheem Morris, Kyle Pitts looked good. If they have one something, one thing to be excited about and.

00:49:49
Speaker 3: Talk about, somebody that was overdrafted in Kyle pitts Man. How many different guys that they could have had besides him these last three or four years.

00:49:55
Speaker 2: So Seahawks kind of have a nasty defense to I mean, we think about how well Sam Darnold's playing in Jackson Smith and Jigby the year. He's hapened. But they forced three turnovers today. They kind of have some of that tenacity back that they they had when they were, you know, in their prime, back in the Russell Wilson era.

00:50:10
Speaker 3: Good special teams unit two. One of their kickers, one of the best in the league. Did they have a return touchdown in this game? Maybe that was the defense doing all the scoring, but well.

00:50:18
Speaker 2: They had a I'm gonna try to say his name, nick em and warr believe he's a South Carolina He's a rookie second round pick. He had let me get this right. He had an interception, a sack, a block, field goal, and a tackle for loss today. That's a pretty good day, sir. That's a pretty good day, rook.

00:50:36
Speaker 3: That's like you getting close on your contract incentives type of day. You know what I mean that is that is a great one for Seattle. But you know, I think I walked straight into the my boss's office.

00:50:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't need money now.

00:50:46
Speaker 3: Well, look, they need to enjoy it because the playoffs will come around and Sam Donald will turn into playoffs and.

00:50:51
Speaker 2: Donald and it'll be one and done for Seattle. Well, we've been talking a lot about the NFC Seahawks good and Cowboys fighting Bears, Packers, Are any of them beating the Rams? That offense is so fun to watch. They won today, played the Cardinals forty five seventeen. But Stafford and now with Puka and Kua back in healthy, he had a huge game Defonte Adams. It's like he and Stafford have been teammates forever with the connection they have. That offense is just so fun. They had like five hundred and fifty yards today.

00:51:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I'm ready to give Stafford the MVP, or at least I'm close. And this feels like kind of a career achievement as well. And even though it's a single season award, this is a guy that's been doing it for a while. He has, you know, done great things and won a Super Bowl. But at the same time, this may be his best season yet. And not only throwing the ball I mean Blake corm and kiraen Williams were a great.

00:51:58
Speaker 2: Duo as well.

00:51:58
Speaker 3: So Sean McVay says he remembers every play that he's ever been a part of in his coaching career.

00:52:04
Speaker 2: Do you believe No, I've heard this before. I don't believe that at all.

00:52:07
Speaker 3: I mean, some people have a photojetic memory where they can just I mean, you've seen people speed read Drew.

00:52:13
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, I'm with you. I mean, there is some weird things going on with the brain. But I mean he's coached a lot of football, though. Do you remember every play? I can't remember what breakfast I had a couple of days ago. I mean, every play there was a play. Today, Stafford did the no look thing again. Maybe that's not as hard as I think it is, but it blows my mind when he does the like crossbody throw where I'm looking the complete other way to hit a guy in the numbers. He did it again today. It's a little reckless though it is, but he's Matthew Stafford and right now the best quarterback in the NFL.

00:52:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's got a show off for Clayton Kershaw or somebody like that. That somebody back home that he's he's trying to athletically beat. But that's that was the old Mahomes doing a little side arm. No look, So Stafford's got a little bit of that in him too.

00:52:56
Speaker 2: It helps when the team you're playing his quarterbacks by Jacoby Brissett and their running backs combined for twenty yards in a football game.

00:53:03
Speaker 3: Well, listen, man, they just throwed Brissette out there, and you've got to throw fifty times a game. You don't even have Marvin Harrison Junior out there. Just go out there, buddy, there's Michael Wilson and Trey McBride.

00:53:12
Speaker 2: Have a fun. Big game by Michael Wilson if they had anything to get excited about. He had four hundred and forty two yards and two touchdowns. Yeah, he was good. He was good.

00:53:20
Speaker 3: Trey McBride probably the best tight end in the league besides Brock Bowers.

00:53:23
Speaker 2: Two guys on bad teams. Another big game by him. Do you believe in the Rams is the NFC's top team ten and three? Stafford on a crash course with the MVP award of this holds. I mean, I don't believe in Philly. You know, they just shift their focus each week and they forget how to play football for one quarter at every single game.

00:53:46
Speaker 3: And then what are my alternatives? Green Bay and Tampa there's your division leaders, and then you've got Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago. So yeah, I mean LA at home home field advantage throughout the playoffs. I don't think that I could take a team against him. Now, maybe Jordan Love can continue to get hot and Micah Parsons becomes that dominant force on defense, maybe that's the contender here. But you know what, the Rams got a good defense too, so and they're just scoring so many and DeVante Adams is breaking records. Pooka Nakua looks like one of the best receivers in the NFL. You let Stafford get those two guys on the same team.

00:54:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, we focus on Lamb and Pickens in the year they're having, but Puka being out a little bit now that he's back, his day was shot. Adams didn't have as big a day today. But that's another tandem that doesn't seem fair that they're on the same time. Yeah, I mean, if kas Matthew Stafford.

00:54:36
Speaker 3: Throwing it to him, if Kiren and Williams and Blake korm can stay healthy, then yeah, this offense is probably the best in the NFC.

00:54:43
Speaker 2: And in the night game Sunday Night Football, Chiefs in prime time once again like always playing the Texans, but didn't get it done. Billy, the AFC South, the powers of the AFC South, getting a big win. Houston goes into Kansas City wins twenty to ten. That defense is so nasty and today they force Mahomes into three interceptions. Now, part of the problem is the Chiefs offensive line was completely banged up and on the first play of the game. Yeah, first play, first played the game, one of the backups gets rolled up. Looked like a leg injury. I don't know exactly what they you know, with games ending now we'll find out what it was. But they were just down to whoever they could find to come in and play offensive line. And it leads to a ten point game with Mahomes having three interceptions. Kelsey's backup at tight end. No agree. I felt like every time I looked up he was dropping a pass. He dropped a critical one on the first drift for a first down, dropped one later in the game. That offense just never got it going. As the Texans defense just absolutely beat them up, taking advantage of that thin offensive line group.

00:55:44
Speaker 3: Number one defense in the NFL and showing it tonight. This group was great. I mean, if you look at the receiving numbers for the Chiefs, Worthy with three receptions for fifty five yards, where she Rice for four receptions for thirty four yards, Hollywood Brown one catch, Taekwon Thornton two catches nineteen yards.

00:55:59
Speaker 2: It was.

00:56:00
Speaker 3: It was a complete beat down. And this is I mean, Kansas City is now six and seven. There's no coming back from this, right, I mean, this is you almost maybe do the six to seventh thing there. I gotta quit doing that. But no, there's no coming back.

00:56:11
Speaker 2: Especially I know the Texans have a tough defense, but to have you know, you need wins. At this point. You have an opportunity at home, Arrowheads rocking Sunday Night football ten.

00:56:21
Speaker 3: Points and there's nothing like a little Davis Mills to get you on a win streak. That's five wins in a row for the Texans, two with CJ. Stroud, three with Davis Mills to put the Texans squarely back into the playoff Hunter.

00:56:34
Speaker 2: Stroud had a good game in his comeback I know we missed the Davis Mills experience, but he kept that team together and really set them on the right path. I know, you know AFC South, we were talking about the position the Jaguars were in, but a huge win for the Texans is they're still fighting for their playoff life to go and knock off the Chiefs like this, and I've written the Chiefs off I feel like five times this season, and then the very next week they go get a big win to try to make me look like an idiot. But they're dead, Billy, I think they're dead. They're dead. I'm sticking with it this time. There's nothing they can do to convince me that they're back. Ding Dong. The witch is dead. But you're right about the AFC South.

00:57:07
Speaker 3: I mean, Jacksonville's nine and four, the Colts are eight and five, the Texans.

00:57:11
Speaker 2: Are eight and five. There's gonna be some good games down the stretch here in your division. Titans are hot at the moment, as we covered earlier. Well, but just of all that, you know, there's been some pretty surprising stuff throughout the year. The Chiefs, you know, being six and seven right now at this point in the years, by far the most shocking for me. I still thought they had another year or two and that in that dynasty they have going on, and you know, maybe they'll be fine next year on down the road with the young pieces, Rice Worthy and all that. But the chiefs as we know them, with Kelsey and that bunch, looks like the it could be the end. Yeah, I'll tell you.

00:57:44
Speaker 3: What's shocking is that Travis Kelsey is saying that he didn't fight with Taylor Swift.

00:57:48
Speaker 2: Well, come on, all right, let's let's you know, we're getting here to the end of the show. That's our Sunday night game. Let's goofyed up a little bit. What are they talking about. They haven't fought in two and a half h I don't know. Come on, it was somebody that told me this story.

00:57:58
Speaker 3: It was like they released in a magazine or something that they never fight. They're engaged now right, they've set a wedding date, but they never fight. They don't get in those type of arguments.

00:58:08
Speaker 2: True. Do you believe that as a as a married man? Not at all. Listen, I have a great marriage. We rarely fight, But in two and a half years, you're gonna have an argument or two. That just happens. And I do not believe that Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift have not had one single dispute in their two and a half years.

00:58:23
Speaker 3: I agree that means like you're in a loveless relationship if you don't have the passion to fight every now and then, that's just what humans do. But I'll play devil's advocate for a second. If you've got that much money, I mean, do you really have? Are there's still problems?

00:58:38
Speaker 2: True, people still have problems with that amount of money because she's like billions with an ass. Oh if I'm Travis, I'm not fighting at all. Ever, Yes, yes, ma'am. H huh yep, I would love to do that. Oh absolutely, Oh yes, I will do that right now. Oh I thought you'd never Yeah, I would love to take the trash out right now. No, I'm not going to see the boys golf. I've never heard of golf. What's a golf club? With her? One point seven? But I still humans are humans, and you cannot go two and a half years without an argument in a couple. They're completely lying about it, unless he's just so afraid she's gonna put him in a song. Maybe I could believe, Oh, great point, great point, she might put him in a song if they had a bad enough argument. So what I'm saying, I can see it on his end, I could completely get it. He didn't want to end up in another song. She's been ruthless at the breakup album, see right. She was also ruthless with her news. I keep bringing up my wife Abby here, but we recently let everyone know what we're expecting a baby, Yes, congratulations. We announced that on Friday, the same morning Taylor and Travis announced their their wedding date. I mean, they completely just pushed us down the headlines. You know, I'm on TMZ waiting to see whatever they're saying about my future child, and it's just old Rhode Island wedding, Travis Taylor, blah blah blah blah blah. We're gonna have a cover zero baby. That's great, that's right now. But the news got completely pushed away by Travis and Taylor in their stupid wedding day, which is a day after my birthday. I understand you want the attention to be on you, guys, and Travis and Taylor just took it from you. She was at the game. Let's still get people worked up. I saw her in the swine of dramatt was the one worked out about it. He's like, why don't they put her on TV more? But are you gonna make your daughter a Titans fan? I actually thought about this well when we were in Buffalo. Abby was like, let's just she can be a Bills fan. She won't have to go through this existence. We can put her through a table. It'll be my reason to go hang with Bill's mafia. So I might have a little Buffalo Bill on the way. Wow, we'll see though. Now I might have a whole recruiting process.

01:00:37
Speaker 3: You can teach you about the music City music a miracle, And you know, this sounds like a good way for me to just take five official visits to different NFL stadiums.

01:00:45
Speaker 2: And take a baby along and just say I'm just scouting for her.

01:00:48
Speaker 3: We need to tour more NFL stadiums for Drew's child, not for us, for Drew's child.

01:00:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, we got that going on. Congratulations, thank you, thank you, and Boo Travis and Taylor for still that come on humans fight. We didn't really care, but that that was big news that they have their wedding date in Rhode Island. I heard they bought out somebody that I had the venue. I mean, oh wait, so somebody was booked. Yeah, and they bought them out.

01:01:10
Speaker 3: Like, we'll see my weddings next year. See they're stealing my shine too. But think if you're that person, Like, yeah, what if I played hardball a little bit? I know who's on the other side of the negotiation. I'm like, Nope, this is my date.

01:01:23
Speaker 2: A little higher, little higher, Nope, can't have it. This is my date. I'm trying to get as much as I can. I assume Taylor like paid for their wedding at the other date or something. But you know you're wealthy when you can just go to a place that's already booked and like, I don't care. I'm buying that.

01:01:35
Speaker 3: That is probably what happened, right, They probably offered to pay for everything that they did, But I would.

01:01:39
Speaker 2: Have played hardball.

01:01:40
Speaker 3: No bezos in Italy, I guess where they shut down the town for for a while and everything.

01:01:45
Speaker 2: Do you think the NFL will send us to Rhode Island to cover I mean, it is one of the biggest stories in the NFL.

01:01:51
Speaker 3: Like they're gonna like they would send us to the draft. Do you think they would send us to the wedding?

01:01:56
Speaker 2: Why not? What's the worst thing they could say is no? Right, Yeah, we just got to hope we're invited back after we're doing the show without Matt. Oh, come on, Yeah, it look like we've done pretty good. I've enjoyed talking to you.

01:02:05
Speaker 3: I like doing I get to talk more when I Mats sires, so I definitely did enjoy it. But we are thinking about Matt and his family and the tough time that he's going through. But definitely he tells us he'll be back on Wednesday to do our next preview episode.

01:02:18
Speaker 2: All right, looking forward to that one. We got a little We won't preview Monday night football because you know this will get old by the time the game's played. But we do have a little Eagles Chargers tomorrow. Do you have any hot Eagles Chargers takes eight and four teams. Yeah, in La Sofa Stadium, Charge has been sliding a little bit. This would be a big win for them. These two teams have the same record, both at eight and four. Right now, who would you have more confidence in Drew? I'll say the Eagles. But this could be a good game looking forward to it. They've lost two in a row. Yeah, I need Did you see I'm getting off topic here as we're trying to wrap it up, But did you see Devonte Smith talking about his juicer? Juicer? You know, like like that juice and juice. Okay, Yeah, so I guess he's kind of a quiet guy. He's doing an interview where he talks about his juicer. He is talking about this juicer like it's his firstborn, Like he is so excited. He's like talking about the things he juices, like, oh, apples, you got to use so many more apples than this, blah blah blah. But the joy on his face talking about a juicer. This is a multimillionaire with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, currently playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, who could end up with more Super Bowl rings on his finger, and he is so excited that he owns a juicer. Those aren't even I have a juicer. I mean, you know, one hundred bucks will get you one. I wouldn't think that a millionaire that would move the needle for him, but my man was fired up. I love that. Very relatable.

01:03:38
Speaker 3: It kind of reminds me of when I got a fancy coffee machine Drew and I figured out that you could like timer it oh big time mornings and things like that. Like I was a was on cloud nine. Is becoming a new coffee drinker. So yeah, I mean, look at him. I guess he's getting his protein shakes in.

01:03:52
Speaker 2: Huh. Yeah, you ever juice? You have a juicer, man, you can get him at a store. I got a blender. It can work, It can work juice occasionally, just buy a bunch of vet. I don't like to eat vegetables, but I recognize his life goes on. Maybe I should eat some vegetables. So what I usually do is just throw them all in the juicer and chug it it. Just completely take it downcond Maybe you're like Rocky and instead of raw eggs, you just go in for a little exactly what I do, vegetable juice. Put a little ginger in there. Ginger covers up the flavor of Still you do know what you're doing over there? Got juice me, And that's why I got so excited. I wasn't as excited as DeVante Smith and his juicer, but knowing that there's an another juicer out there that knows the game.

01:04:33
Speaker 3: We were just in an NFL locker room. So if we ever find ourselves in the Eagles, I think we know who we're going up to to.

01:04:39
Speaker 2: Ask a question. I want some recipes. I gotta let him know to put a little ginger in there. It helps. Yeah. How how often are we juice in a day? I know I'm not doing it daily? Really the it's it's way two time. But our guy might be juice. Oh he could be. He definitely could be. He was so thrilled we're talking about veget little apples, carrots. He needs to work in a few more like Houston. Have you been to No the vegetables? No, no, No talking about Ko and the veggies. So I'm going Eagles just because of the green juice.

01:05:10
Speaker 3: Okay, you've talked me into it, give me, give me Philly on the road.

01:05:13
Speaker 2: And to wrap it up, you know we didn't have our mid week episode. I guess we don't have any touchdown scores to recap.

01:05:18
Speaker 3: Well, Harold Fan and Junior scored, and that really is I think our touchdown scorer. So maybe we should just give us all each.

01:05:26
Speaker 2: One point in the in this week? Do you like that? I like that. Who would you have picked? Who would I I'm putting you on the spot. Don't think about who scored today. Who would you have picked? God, I don't know. Somebody on the rams. Probably we'll give you that one. I might do a little little Dvante Smith touchdown. Since we didn't get to bet it this week, we didn't get a little makeup. I will speak Davonte Smith Monday night football touchdown into existence, and I will celebrate with a nice green juice. Might even bring you one on Tuesday today.

01:05:52
Speaker 3: Okay, I'll match it with you with little v doll inch down the Chargers running back.

01:05:57
Speaker 2: And we're keeping your Survivor Street going. You get to write the rules. I survived this week by not having to make a pick, and you claim the Saints. We're going to be your team.

01:06:06
Speaker 3: I'm telling you as somebody that has sat through those games. Matt won't believe that will get shouted down. I'm sure, but we're putting that in the record books because he's not here.

01:06:15
Speaker 2: All right, I'll count it. I'll count it in advance. We got through it without Matt. Appreciate you doing this. I hated that we missed last Wednesday, but you know, a lot going on, very unexpected. We're thinking about him and his family, and we were happy to do it. We had a fun day, fun day, games, lots of snow. I made it exciting.

01:06:30
Speaker 3: Good job, Grew, and glad that you know. You survived the karaoke last night in.

01:06:35
Speaker 2: Nashville and I didn't get shot at my hotel lobby. I hope that guy's doing okay. But that was really wild. I mean, I must have just missed it by like a minute. They closed the whole street. There were probably fifteen police cars, news camera, everybody showed up out of nowhere, and I was literally right there, right is it right? Then the Titans one, and then the Titans one. Weird weekend. We'll be back on Wednesday with our mid week episode to preview Week fifteen and everything that else comes with it. Matt will be back with us. We'll be excited to hear from him. But for Billy R. Sports and Drew Franklin, we're signing off on this week fourteen some nine edition of NFL Cover zero. Thanks for listening.

01:07:17
Speaker 1: NFL Cover zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and iHeart podcast. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.