NFL Week 16 Reaction: Drake Maye Or Matthew Stafford For MVP? Are The Bears A Super Bowl Contender?

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the NFL Recap with Greg Olsen. My name is Tayl. Lawan. This is Busting with the Boys and Bust with the Boys. If you're wondering by the one the only FanDuel sportsbook, I Ho ho Hope you guys are ready for to boost your holiday winnings because this year you're getting eight straight days of holiday rewards. Every day brings a new way to play, so keep checking in to see what drops next. All and it all leads to Christmas Day and where fanduels got something extra special for everybody on the nice list. Eight days of gifts, one big finale. Your holiday football just got a whole lot brighter. Head tofanduel dot com slash Busting to get in the holiday spirit. Fandel, Let's play your game. Also, hey, before we get in this a little back and forth, gregles. It's not really an interview anymore. This is boys having a fun little football conversation. Do me a favor and just subscribe to this podcast. It helps us a lot, it hurts you none. It would be very beneficial for us, so please consider doing that. Also at bwtv dot com, is where you can find all your busting with the boys more clearly, you've missed the boat and the Christmas stuff, but there's no better time to start shopping. Then just get that bad boy done early for next year. Big hugs, tiny kisses, let's enjoy this episode. There he is. What up? What you have to dude?

00:01:16
Speaker 2: Sorry? I was trying to find my my headphones. What's up? How are you guys?

00:01:22
Speaker 3: We're doing great? Man. My Our first question as as a bus that we're very curious and knowing with you is, uh, what's your favorite color?

00:01:33
Speaker 2: Blue?

00:01:35
Speaker 3: All right? You want to say, go blue? Hey, you really shut the haters up with that one. Why did we just we just we just want to say. It's a segment called get to Know Greg.

00:01:43
Speaker 1: Get to Know Greg. We'll get to you next week.

00:01:45
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm walking into something.

00:01:46
Speaker 3: You're not walking into anything.

00:01:48
Speaker 1: Nothing. We just know that we know that your favorite color is blue.

00:01:51
Speaker 2: Now all right, well, I'm glad we settled that. Can you did your guys? My entire time line during NFL football games is people talking shit about momentum. By the way, and I literally smile like I'm now like searching the word momentum to see how many of them are related to like our conversations on here. It makes me so happy to be chirped by the internet and be like, can't wait till Olsen's on with Buston and we could talk about all the momentum that Seattle had or like the rams it was. It is magical moments on the internet.

00:02:32
Speaker 1: It is. Did you watch any of the college football? I know your NFL guy, did you watch Oklahoma Alabama?

00:02:37
Speaker 2: I watched Oklahoma Alabama?

00:02:39
Speaker 3: Lot shifting?

00:02:43
Speaker 1: Was that one toss out to their sideline all of a sudden momentum shifted.

00:02:48
Speaker 2: It's just you know, there was so many, so much momentum playing out, so much momentum. I guess the part the part that I just have a hard time and you got again. I'm very open minded to being taught and I'll change my ways. It's very hard for me to believe, like, why when I have all the momentum, do you guys take it back so easily and then give it back to me.

00:03:12
Speaker 3: It's a fickle thing because it's funny people trying to acquire momentum. They're waiting for that opportunity to strike to garner the momentum.

00:03:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, that's true. Yeah, that's a great point.

00:03:23
Speaker 3: I think.

00:03:24
Speaker 1: I think college football, there's much more of an argument that we could stand up for momentum. The young psyche of a young man hardly even able to drink momentum goes a long way.

00:03:33
Speaker 2: Who had the momentum in the Miami game?

00:03:37
Speaker 1: Neither Neither neither, because I'm playing the game back in my head, dude, and it's like Miami could have won that game by multiple scores, maybe.

00:03:47
Speaker 3: All those field goals or field goals.

00:03:49
Speaker 2: Tony got tripped by his toenail on that he's by the way, he's awesome, unbelievable on that punt return, and then we didn't get any points. Uh. Yeah, I would say that's probably a fair assessment of that game. But Miami, man, we're back, you guys. We've been saying, we've been saying that U is back for like ten years. College football playoff win, going to play Ohio State, I mean, yeah, go play Ohio State and the Cotton Bowl feels back.

00:04:18
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:04:18
Speaker 3: Do you feel like Miami has a chance against Ohio State?

00:04:23
Speaker 1: Yeah?

00:04:24
Speaker 2: I think you always have a chance, right, I think at this stage, the teams that are that are all left. I think the defense is really good. I think our defensive coordinators a stud you know, obviously I'm a huge Mario guy just because for I mean for a lot of reasons. But we go way back. I mean I've known Mario since I was a freshman in high school. He coached me, recruited me at multiple I mean, we have a good friendship and go way back. So obviously I always root for Miami. I root for Mario specifically, but uh yeah, man, I think we got a show. I'm also a big Ryan Day guy. And you know, here's what I will say about my fandom, and then we can talk about whatever. It's your show. I I'll just get all this off my chest. Obviously, I always pull for Miami. I'm a Miami guy. Met my wife there, Miami household, my kids love it, so like we're We've always supported Miami, good, bad, indifferent since I left. But I'm more and I'm more at all levels. I root for people like when Mario Christoval was the head coach at Oregon, I was an Oregon guy, like I love Ryan Day and right now he's the coach at Ohio State. I like Ryan as a guy. I've gotten to know him as a friend, like I want now, I want Miami to win. Don't get me wrong, but I root for Ryan Day. If Ryan Day and I woke up tomorrow and he was the head coach at Michigan, he was the head coach at Nebraska, I would still root for those schools. So I like follow people more than I do schools or teams. But that's just my approach. Yeah, I like that outside of Miami.

00:05:53
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously, No, I share a lot of that too.

00:05:55
Speaker 1: I'll say this, Ryan Day is not being considered for the Michigan job.

00:05:59
Speaker 2: He's not a who is Michigan going to hire? That's not going great, buddy.

00:06:03
Speaker 1: I know, I know, and I'll be honest, like it's a ship show. It's I think like right now, if the strategy was wait for debor or dialing or if you can't get to bor Get dilling Ham, you can't base a top five programs head coach off of possible results going one way or the other. It's just a foundationally, it's a bad move. And I personally believe like if you are a top five school, you need to always have that get at a jail free card that, Hey, our chest move in the background in case something like what has happened at Michigan, Like if you have a guy that he loses his job, goes on a mental breakdown, the whole thing allegedly allegedly you.

00:06:42
Speaker 2: That you guys, can you hear me?

00:06:45
Speaker 3: Can you hear us?

00:06:46
Speaker 2: I lost your sound your.

00:06:49
Speaker 1: Baby that he's blaming you talking about Michigan.

00:06:57
Speaker 3: Let me just yeah, let me mute this. I can't no going back.

00:07:01
Speaker 2: Where were you saying about Michigan.

00:07:02
Speaker 1: It's a shit show. And I think that like strategically, you can't you can't be Hey, if this happens, then this kind of result based if you're a top five program. I'm a little disappointed in the fact that you didn't have like in your back pocket, like, hey, if something ever happens, we got this guy, this guy and this guy.

00:07:19
Speaker 3: That we know.

00:07:20
Speaker 1: Hey, they and they're aware, we're aware back channels the whole thing. We had an oseron on and he's meeting guys at a gas station in the middle of Louisiana knowing that he's gonna be the interim heead coach three days before it happens, Like that's the kind of that's the kind of backdoor stuff I need going on at my school so that we can kind of figure everything out. Now, clearly there's a lot of bigger issues out there, but the Boor wins and dilly ham Sin's an extension in my mind.

00:07:45
Speaker 3: The entire Michigan plan just got yeah, yeah, if that is, do.

00:07:47
Speaker 2: You really think do you really think Kaitlin de Borr if they would have lost that game to Okloma, you really think he'd lead Alabama for Michigan.

00:07:55
Speaker 1: So I think, in a vacuum, just that statement is no. I think if there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that made me believe, oh, this is a real possibility. But I think if you just said, hey, do you think the head coach of Alabama would leave to go to Michigan, I think it's clearly the answer is no. But then you put in a bunch of factors that people are saying question marks behind the scenes. It's like, if these three things happen, then you see it. That's where I start to have some level of belief. But once they beat Oklahoma, it was like, all right, yeah, that's that's on life support. That whole thought process if I'm Michigan, and your two guys are Debor and Dillingham, and then the rest of the pack, because there's plenty of good coaches out there. I know Whittingham from Utah, he's like his name is now, like come in the fold. He's a fantastic coach with the limited resources. But if you're a mission like it's these two then everybody else. And I'm of the mind frame of you need to stick with the interim head coach, foundationally, find yourself a president, start to heal from a pr standpoint the mistakes that Michigan's clearly made in the last few years, and do it the right way, because if you just get a guy to get a guy, you're you're a band aid on a bigger wound and it's just going to be an issue in twenty eight, twenty nine to thirty and beyond.

00:09:05
Speaker 2: The Dillingham thing to me is interesting, right. So he signs the extension, and obviously I know his roots and ties to Arizona State, but he then had his press conference where you know, everyone's excited he's signed an extension, he's not leaving for another job, and he's like, hey, I need somebody in Arizona that can cut a twenty million dollar check, and we didn't cut a twenty million dollar check. I can't win. I can't compete. So I'm thinking to myself, like, at Michigan, you could have five guys right, twenty million dollar checks. I mean, the money is completely not even the problem at all.

00:09:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's it's in big game.

00:09:39
Speaker 2: Bryce Underwood ten million. So if you know money is an issue, and you know that's what it takes to compete, why not take the Michigan job. Unless that Michigan job is just such a disaster and you're just walking into such a shit storm that it's not the time to take it, is all I can think of.

00:09:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is everything you just said. Is the fear that goes in the frame of mind of a Michigan fan of Michigan alone is like, is it if you were really a top five coach? Are you looking at that situation going let me be the guy that walks into that because it is It is scary, and for me, it's like everyone's willing, Like the ad of Michigan says, I'm willing to open up the check book for the next head coach of Michigan. And if you're Dillingham and your heart's truly in Arizona, sign a ten year deal, spend a decade in an arbor, get us a couple of natties, and then guess what. The ASU job is probably gonna be open. That's not gonna be like a oh we hope so like that has more of a rolodex of new coaches every few years. Anyway, you need a guy like Billiam.

00:10:37
Speaker 2: You give me interest. See they get man.

00:10:40
Speaker 1: Last thing on the on the momentum, last thing on momentum. I mean, the Panthers take down Tampa Bay and it was kind of wishy washy until some guy walks out, starts beating the drum and completely changes the momentum for the Panthers. What's that about?

00:10:55
Speaker 2: That is where a momentum is real. But I banged the drum and that place came alive, and I gave just a nice casual. It's not about me, but it is about me for me. But we are here for me. I'm not saying who's saying it. People have said this, that place hasn't been that packed in years. Whether it's a correlate, you know, causation, correlation to the guy banging the drum will I guess we'll never know. But all I know is that place came to life and we went a huge Division game at home to keep our playoff hopes alive. I'm not saying it. Some people are saying it was the drum, So thank you the momentum there. In that case, the momentum was completely real. The sideline felt it, the locker room felt it. Yeah, that was real.

00:11:46
Speaker 1: It's it's Greg Olson in Carolina, it's fifty cent in Oklahoma. Both one. Greg Olsen did more for the Panthers than for Oklahoma. That's what we're getting at.

00:11:57
Speaker 2: Exactly when you smacked that drum.

00:11:59
Speaker 1: The first time you put a dent in that mother like that thing, did you think I'm abo to rip this thing?

00:12:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I didn't want to go too hard, you know. I feel like there's it's like we have like an epidemic right now in the league of guys like getting like oblique injuries. I feel like I've never seen guys hurt their obliques as much as they have this year. I was worried about that rotation that I wasn't prept I saw the team Cairo, who's a buddy of mine who had worked on me for years, and I was like, dude, I might need you to give me like some t spine, some lower lumbar and just like get me moving at halftime, just so I don't I can go in and be real tight in the turn. But yeah, I don't want to say it was the it was the moment of the day, but it certainly was the moment of the day.

00:12:42
Speaker 3: The team needed a spark and they got it.

00:12:44
Speaker 1: They need.

00:12:46
Speaker 2: I needed the guys to be on the sideline and be like, guys, I feel something right now. I feel like I'm so much more motivated to go play. That dude banging that fucking drum. He did that for me. I was going to quit. I wasn't really into the game. But I'm alive now, and uh that was my role.

00:13:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, dude, how do you uh, since we're in the NFC, how do you see the playoff picture shaking up? For the Panthers. You got Panthers bucks. For the division, you got Packers Lions. Packers have to lose out and Lions have to win out to make it in there. But it's like the Chicago Bears over the weekend, them and three NFC West teams are now cemented in the NFL.

00:13:27
Speaker 2: Players crazy, It's unbelievable. I think the NFL NFC is really fascinating. I think they're loaded. I think there are some division winners that are not thrilled to see some of these wildcard teams. We gotta hope Jordan Love is okay. You know, obviously Green Bays already, you know, kind of gotten a couple of big injuries, and obviously Mike get and all that. So you've got to hope that he's ready to rock come playoff time, if you know they make it as a presumably as a wildcard. I still think Philly is a I've been saying this for so was like something about Philly that I don't want to play them. That defense has gotten really good, playing as well, if not, you know, better than they were last year, even which is saying a lot that d Lion's coming to life. Jalen Phillips. What a great trade by Roseman in the front office, getting him from Miami a couple of weeks ago. They've been really good up front, taking the ball away, playing really good defense, and then the offense just keeps It feels like they just get a little bit better, a little bit better, and we all know talent. Talent can pop at any moment. And you look in that huddle, they got some real dudes. Sounds like that Lane Johnson's going to be back for this weekend's game. That's huge. Jalen Carter on defense. So I still think LA and Seattle are the two top, and I think Philly's right there. Chicago's a thrill a minute, whether or not that you know, we'll see how that race ends. I think that the seven NFC teams, it's going to be a fascinating to see how it all falls. And then I think that's gonna be one of the better NFC playoffs that we've had in years.

00:15:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm with everything you said, except for that the Eagles. The last two weeks they played the Commanders and the Raiders, and I just can't put a whole lot of stock and then like they are, they clearly look better, but they also had to come back from a deficit against the Commanders the Raiders. It's like, you hate it for those guys, especially guy like Max Crosby, who deserves to be on a winning team, but it's like they're both non competitive teams, and the Eagles look great against the Raiders and the Commanders. It's like, well, you had to come back from that game and all that. I'm just I'm hesitant to be supportive of the Eagles right now.

00:15:31
Speaker 3: Love love, love some of those.

00:15:34
Speaker 1: Players, but it's just like something's not clicking, something, something's.

00:15:38
Speaker 3: Not they they might win their first game, like they'll have a home game, but after that, like they won't get any farther than the second round.

00:15:47
Speaker 1: It's gonna be tough to get through.

00:15:48
Speaker 2: Who do you think in the first two rounds? They can't be right? So let's assume let's look at it. Let's assume La Seattle will be one. Let's just say it's Seattle. Let's say Seattle doesn't stub their ho because Seattle has the Panthers, and then I think they play the forty nine ers drive that right, ye yeah, okay, So what's weird is San Francisco controls their own destiny as does Seattle. So assuming they both, you know, so san Francisco plays tonight against Indy. Let's say they handle business, and then who does who does San Francisco play in week seventeen?

00:16:23
Speaker 1: They play the Seahawks, I think or the Rams.

00:16:25
Speaker 3: They played Seattle.

00:16:27
Speaker 2: Okay, they played I thought they played Seattle the last week. I thought week eighteen they played Seattle.

00:16:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, last last week they played Seattle. Next week they played the next play the Bears.

00:16:37
Speaker 2: It's a big game too.

00:16:38
Speaker 3: So that is a big game that man.

00:16:40
Speaker 2: They that's because because what would be really interesting is if Seattle wins. If Seattle wins and San Francisco wins, and they go into Week eighteen, that's not only for the division, it's for the number one seed, which is wild to think about that San Francisco potentially could be the number one seed and not have to play a road game. They could go all the way to the super Bowl and not play a road game. That's pretty remarkable. But so your question is who My question is who do you think in the divisional round Philly can't beat.

00:17:13
Speaker 1: I don't think they can beat the Seahawks, but.

00:17:16
Speaker 2: The Seahawks might be the one seat.

00:17:18
Speaker 3: We're saying.

00:17:20
Speaker 1: They already beat the Rams. But there was a weird situation that took place. It was in it was in Philly, correct when they played Yes, yeah, it was in Philly. Multiple bit.

00:17:29
Speaker 2: I called that game I called that game.

00:17:30
Speaker 1: I think the Rams, the Rams will beat them. I think the forty nine ers the way they're going would beat them.

00:17:36
Speaker 3: It's Rams, forty nine ers in green Bay right now?

00:17:40
Speaker 2: Remember so remember so if they I still think there's a decent shot. We'll see how the NFC North shakes out and all that. But there's a shot that Philly could become the two seed, correct, right, so they would host this seven who could be Chicago? It could be right now, right now, it's green Bay, green Bay. You don't think so Philly at home against green.

00:18:02
Speaker 3: Bay, Yeah, they could beat him.

00:18:04
Speaker 1: I think Philly wins that game. I think Philly. This is just the injuries, this is yeah. I mean if Jordan loves not playing, yes, Jordan.

00:18:14
Speaker 2: Now let's say they win. Now they play in the divisional round. They don't have to play the NFC West champion because that obviously will be the one seed. So now you're looking at the Bears, the forty nine Ers, the Rams potentially. Like again, am I saying they're gonna win the Super Bowl? No, it's just I think the NFC. You take out Seattle, who I do think is really good if they're the one seed, you're not playing Seattle until the NFC champion until the NFC championship. Yeah, any of those teams for Philly unbeatable.

00:18:50
Speaker 3: They're not unbeatable. But again, the Bears went into Philadelphia and beat them by two score game not too long.

00:19:00
Speaker 2: That was the two point. That was the down fifteen to two point play right, So they went in.

00:19:05
Speaker 3: It was a November twenty eighth night, it.

00:19:08
Speaker 2: Was think it was it was Black Friday game.

00:19:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, they beat them twenty four to fifteen. Yeah. Again, I my point is they're beatable. They are beatable.

00:19:18
Speaker 2: I could make a strong for Philly. I could make as strong an argument that Philly could win that I can any of the rest of the team. And that's my point. I think the NFC playoffs is fascinating because I genuinely do think I do think Seattle's the best. Then the Rams are close. I think the rest of that group two through seven, I could throw them in a hat and I could make an argument why either of them could beat them home away. I really do think all of those teams could potentially go as far as any of the rest.

00:19:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna be done for that Eagles team to beat a Bears team with all that momentum the Bears got.

00:19:56
Speaker 2: Right now, momentum of the Bears is real.

00:20:00
Speaker 3: Dude, it is. I have so much fun.

00:20:02
Speaker 2: They have so much momentum.

00:20:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, they do. They have a lot of momentum. If you watch those post game locker room clips, I love them. I said a few weeks ago that the Bears were gonna make the playoffs. Boy was I wrong. But I've had so much fun watching Ben Johnson in the locker room with the squad, with the with their little chant going on, like that's a chant to we're in the beginning. When they win, it's kind of like, oh, this is corny, and now the chant is just hey, if you don't like the chant, like you might have a little sweetness to you. Yeah, you know what I mean, Like you're so bought into these post locker room chants, these fourth quarter comebacks. Everything happening in Chicago right now is it's it's been fun to watch, and.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: It's it's clearly there's always been some sort of not hit the defense and not very good. They're more opportunistic the Williams, he throws the ball under sixty percent completion percentage, but they just win. Yeah, and then Caleb Williams in overtime throws an absolute bomb and doesn't get crazy, except he just does maybe the hardest celebration ever by just dusting the shoulders and putting his hands in his pockets. It's like, hey, these boys are real. Yeah, hate on the nails, but you want.

00:21:01
Speaker 2: His hands were in his hand warmer before the ball was caught.

00:21:04
Speaker 1: Dad, you can't. You got a juicy up walk off.

00:21:08
Speaker 3: It's amazing, amazing, Bears, when the Super Bowl?

00:21:11
Speaker 2: Your nails? What's that?

00:21:13
Speaker 3: Bears?

00:21:14
Speaker 1: When the Super Bowl? Are you painting your fingernails in solidarity? Yeah? Sure, yeah, I'll do it.

00:21:20
Speaker 2: I'll have a Macha, I'll paint my fingernails whatever.

00:21:22
Speaker 1: Hey hey, I'll tell you what though, Manchas kind of go hard, right.

00:21:26
Speaker 2: I've tried it. My wife's got My wife got into Mancha for a while, and I would like, I'm not a coffee guy. I've never had a cup of coffee. But I'll crush an espresso martini but I've never but I've never had a cup of coffee. Like, I don't start my day with coffee.

00:21:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a it's it's a weird brag. It's a weird brag. But also, you've had coffeepresso martini.

00:21:44
Speaker 2: I crushed an espresso martini at dinner. We actually made him at the house last night, just as like a little nightcap after the game. And yeah, it's just a weird thing. I do not crave coffee. My wife loves it. I've sipped it. I've I'll be like, hey, is this a great cup? Like She's like, this is a great cup of coffee. I'm all right, I'm gonna try it and I'll take a sip of like I don't I don't get it. I don't get it.

00:22:06
Speaker 3: Life is your caffeine, bro.

00:22:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, I'm just I'm ready to talk ball with the boys. Need a coffee to get up in the morning to talk ball.

00:22:14
Speaker 3: No, a cup of coffee is life. That's wild. As Taylor just puts down in some cold brew. I love it the cup right now.

00:22:22
Speaker 1: But Macha you like macha?

00:22:23
Speaker 2: No, that was my point. I took a sip of her like when she was in her Macha phase, and uh, yeah, it just had like a weird I don't know. It didn't do it for me.

00:22:32
Speaker 1: Man, that's a bummer. That's a bummer.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: Coffee are you into it? Is it like a daily I'm.

00:22:37
Speaker 1: Like, I'm a black coffee guy, and I only waver from that kind of like during the holiday season when I'm like, yo, I'm feel a little faster. Let me get this pumpkin spice, let me go and get this peppermint whatever. But it's it's pretty much just that my wife's had a couple of machas and it tastes like what are those like Japanese desserts that are like a little rice paper round up but there's ice cream in the middle. What are the called? Anyway, I'm man just tasting a green tea one of those onward. Yeah, not the show. Not the show we're looking at, dude. I mean, the NFC is exciting, but like you look at the Broncos, Patriots, and Jags right now, even the Chargers. It's like.

00:23:16
Speaker 3: A Hello, is there a hotter team in the NFL right now than the Jacksonville Jaguars.

00:23:22
Speaker 1: No sinse.

00:23:23
Speaker 3: Last week when it was the Broncos, yeah, then they just.

00:23:26
Speaker 2: And the Broncos had all the momentum until last week's game against Jacksonville. But to your point, I have Jacksonville this week against Indy in Indy. Could be a sneaky fun game.

00:23:38
Speaker 3: Could be a sneaky fun game. I don't It's hard for me to buy that the culture going to put up a fight now that we have a little bit of film with Philip Rivers and we see what, you know, how they might try and schematically attack Jacksonville. Jacksonville is hot, right yeaw bro, they're good.

00:23:54
Speaker 1: But to put it uh, for Greg's point, like Jacksonville the top dog right now, they just beat the top What a perfect game for them to kind of like play a little below their level and making a sneaky fun game to watch.

00:24:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, like if they search out the storylines, I think storylines.

00:24:10
Speaker 2: I think Indianapolis played their ass off on defense. Last week in Seattle, had the lead with twenty seconds left. You know, here we are talking about Seattle is one of the best teams in the league in Indy with a quarterback that I hadn't played in four years. Went to Seattle and took the lead with thirty seconds and you know, obviously didn't win, but went toe to toe with them in their place. We'll see how they do tonight against San Francisco. They play well against San Francisco tonight, Philip Rivers gets a couple more weeks to get his feet under him, get back in shape a little bit, get the juices ripping.

00:24:47
Speaker 1: I don't know.

00:24:48
Speaker 2: I think when they assigned us that game, I was like, interesting, like not typically a Fox game, not a game that I would have anticipated. But as the last week or two have gone on, especially watching Jacksonville yesterday for the first time, like really sitting down to watch them in that late window against Denver, I was like, these guys are good, Like there's nothing fluky about this. I mean they won against they beat Denver decisively.

00:25:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm more like going to the Seattle going thinking about the Colts. Like I know, there's really no like lookover games in the NFL, but part of me I buy more that Seattle was looking toward more of their Thursday night game against the Rams than when they were you know, having full focus, having full energy into the game against the Colts. You can get loaded in that trap, you can get LOLd. I'm not saying like it's intentional on Seattle's part, but again, they had a massive game coming up Thursday night, a rematch against the Rams. To where you're playing the Colts Philip rivers like you don't have You don't know exactly how they're going to go about everything offensively with Phil. They kind of snuck up on them. Then Seattle had to realized in the final minute of the game, Hey hey guys, we're the Seattle Seahawks. Let's go down here to some points. Yeah, and get onto a Thursday game.

00:25:58
Speaker 1: Dude, I mean just being on the Seattle that that game against the Rams is that the best That had to be the best game of the entire year.

00:26:05
Speaker 2: Totally, it was.

00:26:06
Speaker 1: We were able to watch that game because we were Dude. Last Thursday was a ship show for us. But the two do you think we are?

00:26:15
Speaker 2: You guys?

00:26:15
Speaker 3: Okay, I didn't. I was in New York doing Christmas in New York with the family, so I didn't get to really watch which of the game last last year for Busting with the.

00:26:23
Speaker 2: Boys, I saw the lady took your family picture and put her finger in the lanes. That was good. You guys don't think I follow you, guys. I know I am. I'm all in on busting. I'm all in with the boys. I appreciate their lives. I like following your kids.

00:26:40
Speaker 3: I'm in I love it. Yeah, one thing.

00:26:42
Speaker 1: One thing too. We had a whole conversation about Greg Olsen leaving Fox coming to bustle with the boys last.

00:26:47
Speaker 2: Weear like, we know you're about it.

00:26:50
Speaker 1: We're about it as well. We'll figure the whole thing out. But you're watching that game. I'm watching that game to the first two point conversion happens and ball gets bad at down, someone just picks it up in the end zone and itcounts from your vantage point if you are the referee and you're watching that back, is that a backwards pass? In your opinion?

00:27:10
Speaker 2: It was. I love it because remember La, because remember sideways is backwards, so different the way the letter of the law. And they harp this. Mike Pereira sends out videos to us at Fox like weekly, anywhere between ten and twenty five minutes of like all the controversial calls, real nuanced rules, just to try to bake some of these situations in our head in the event you get that like random one off. So lateral is backwards, backwards is backwards, it has to be a forward pass. So from the time that ball left his hand and hit the guy in the helmet, it was clearly going backwards. And it's just such a weird play because the whistle doesn't matter. There's no such thing as an inadvertent whistle if it is picked up. A backward pass can be at advanced by the non throwing player, a fumble cannot be advanced, or like, there's some real nuance to all of this. But by the letter of the law, that is a conversion. I would not be shocked to see that placed on the table at like the owner's meeting and say, Okay, no one ever imagined that moment was going to happen. Let's put some guardrails in place to make sure you don't get awarded a two point conversion when you failed the two point conversion. I would not be shocked to see them try to put some more like specific rulings for that exact situation, because that sucks. Like you defend that play. Everyone had given up on the play and it eventually led to you losing. Kind of a weird one, but by the letter of the law, it was legit.

00:28:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean did the referees, man, but.

00:28:53
Speaker 2: Will what do they teach you? Right? What do they teach you guys on defense? Man?

00:28:58
Speaker 3: No, you're right, but I'm thinking of other situations everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely, get on the ball, pick up everything.

00:29:04
Speaker 1: But we don't have this episode to bring you Lucy. Let's level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to Lucy dot Co. Forward slash bus him and use promo code bust and that's b U S S I N to get twenty percent off your first order. Lucy has a thirty day refund policy if you change your mind again, that's Lucy dot Co. And use code busting to get twenty percent off. And here comes the fine print. Lucy brodocks are only for adults of legal age and every customer is age verified. Warning this proacupates nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Let's get back to the episode.

00:29:34
Speaker 3: Did you see the situations with the Lions. Yes, even when you're watching the Patriots game and the uh Drake may throw is a deep ball, I forget the.

00:29:44
Speaker 1: Booty should have been should have been a flag? Yeah, nearly as clear as day should have been a flag.

00:29:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, Humphrey's just sitting there tackling him like right in front of like everybody. The announcers are even laughing about it, like, yeah, that's a miss. Like that's that's a pass interference, right, Like moments that just at her and we're seeing we just I feel like it, especially this time of year, like it sticks out like a sore thumb, and like when there's a bad call that happens. Would you make of the lion situations down there? Like when they went for it was when they went for two, right or the touchdown the score the little pick touchdown, the little pick route and then he was even not even a pick route.

00:30:17
Speaker 1: It was a bott let me go body, Jel and Ramsey throw him into the the rafts for a second, come back to the ball, not score.

00:30:25
Speaker 2: There was two.

00:30:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, so there was there's a lot of.

00:30:27
Speaker 1: Time with the last play of the game. Is that What about that they scored?

00:30:31
Speaker 2: They scored on a pick route, They ran a little dart slant.

00:30:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, Washington, Darnell Washington, Okay, remember the wrong play, keep.

00:30:42
Speaker 2: Going no but no, but that no, but you're right. But the whole series of events was wild because they're up five. They kick a very short field goal to go up eight, saying, okay, at least we gave force a tie at the very least, and the guy misses it. They picked this dealers. Kicker misses it, so they remained down five. So now it's touchdown or bust four down mode, go to win the game, and they score, But it was real late, Like the TV, they didn't reference that there was a flag on the pick route to the right corner, like they no one said there was a flag. They're showing the celebration, you know how usually like the yellow thing that says flag, yeah, pops up. Nothing came and then like i'd say, a good fifteen seconds later, the flag was referenced. Then they showed the replay and you're like, okay, obviously clearly past interference. Then the aman Rah one that you're talking about, Taylor was insane. I mean, the amount of moving parts there. I would have liked to have seen a replay. I don't write like we all assumed it was going to be some sort of past interference, but we didn't actually get a replay of aman Rah punching the guy in the chest at the goal line Jalen Ramsey until clearly after the officials announcement. But in those situations, putting all that together is not easy, right for Romo and Nance to try to decipher all that in the real moment is not easy. The biggest part of all of that is offensive penalties don't extend the game. Right, So even if you don't know, even if in which I don't blame them for not knowing, then there was a lateral. If it was clearly a lateral, it can be advanced by golf because it's under two minutes. If it was a fumble, it cannot be advanced by anyone other than the fumbling party.

00:32:29
Speaker 1: In that case, Tom and Ross worked down correct.

00:32:32
Speaker 2: Inside two minutes.

00:32:34
Speaker 1: I thought it was only fourth down. The only person that can advance the ball is the guy that fumbled.

00:32:40
Speaker 2: Pretty sure. Now you have me second guessing myself. We have to Now you have me second guessing. I'm fairly certain there's a time element. I think fourth down for sure. Yes, So in that case it would have been fourth down, and in the last two minutes, I'm pretty sure there's a time element. But now you have me second and guessing myself, so we can fact I hate doing that fourth down, fourth down for sure. But so like, there was so many different factors on there, but the only thing that mattered was offensive penalty. As as time goes to zero, regardless of the outcome of the play. There is no untimed down. Untimed downs only for defensive penalties, which happens very rarely. That off the top of your head, I'm not sure f in the moment, I would have known it either.

00:33:28
Speaker 1: And the thing that's crazy too, is like, while the referees are sitting there and talking, you have Steelers players and Lions players like coming in trying to give their two cents in the whole thing. And you could tell, like in their minds from an entertainment standpoint, it might not be just entertainment, but they're like getting the players far enough away to where they can have a conversation without them hearing, to where you don't see like the Steelers guys cheering or any of that. Exactly true. Ww shit. And then for the referee, and I my heart goes out to the Lions and fans made because it's got to be such a heartbreaking, like getting your hopes up like that heartbreaking. But for him to start over all the things being like the result of the plays a touchdown is the craziest way to start all of that.

00:34:09
Speaker 3: And you're just like, and you.

00:34:10
Speaker 1: Hear the Lions fans lose their mind, like we just won and our playoff hopes are alive. We're ripping all the things, and he goes the result of the play is a touchdown. But but but that it was like, oh my god, it was It was true cinema.

00:34:27
Speaker 3: It really was fair.

00:34:28
Speaker 2: And that's such a tough announcement, right, because you have to acknowledge it was a touchdown. It was a legal lateral, but it was an offensive penalty. Yes, time expired, because if there was one second left, they would have enforced the offensive pass interference retried fourth down. But because it went to zero. I mean, there was so many elements to that play in real time, and then to get up there and address the crowd, the country and concisely package it all together for it to just make sense. I don't envy the position of the officials.

00:35:00
Speaker 3: Now, you almost can't start off with the result of the playoff a touchdown. You almost just have to say, all right, guys, bear with me for one for sixty seconds, grab a beer.

00:35:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, just hold hold on your ass.

00:35:15
Speaker 1: R take a quick five minute break. We'll get back to you in.

00:35:18
Speaker 3: Just a moment. Yeah, yeah, everybody, bear with me, because I'm gonna say something you're gonna get excited, but then it's gonna make you very mad, So just let me finish the sixty seconds.

00:35:25
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, And dude, like Rogers after that just kind of like sitting there and you can see he's like reflecting in his postgame press conference about ten years ago he did X, Y, and Z. He was a part of a game like this thirteen years ago, except where we had a bad refs and you just kind of see like the joy on Rogers's face for the first time in a long time. It's like, good for you Mansen.

00:35:45
Speaker 2: Putting good balls. Bicep tack. Yeah, that kept sticking out to me. I was like, God, I didn't realize he was all tatted up, but they kept showing. I don't know if you wore like a different sleeve or like he didn't work. I don't know what was going on, but like we got a hundred shot. We didn't get the replay sequence, but we got the shot of Rogers's arm tat like ten times, which was also mind blowing. I didn't even realize he was tatted up.

00:36:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was.

00:36:09
Speaker 1: It was awesome. Man.

00:36:11
Speaker 2: Lot going on that. I mean, you talk about the three three National Games, Thursday the Bears Packers on Fox, and then that ending on CBS, like both teams down ten points plus in the fourth quarter come back. It was oh no, that was last night's game. But like then you factor in Sunday's game where they were down ten New England. Those four games, the drama that ended those four games is incredible.

00:36:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, there was a in that New England game when they were I think it was eleven. Yeah, they were down, they were down eleven, they were score and so they're down by four and I thought I saw a Rabel put a one up, and I'm think him, ain't no way they're going for one right now to make it a four point game, Like, you got to make it a three points. So I got my phone out, We're ready to take a photo, not minutes left in the fourth blah blah blah. And then the end up going for two. I'm like, all right, what are gonna talk about this with Greg tomorrow? Because that would have been a devastating, strategically bad move by them.

00:37:09
Speaker 3: Yeah. Bad. I sit there now, and all the games I watch, I almost question every time do they need to be going.

00:37:15
Speaker 1: For it right here? One hundred percent?

00:37:16
Speaker 3: They should go for two. Damn there every time. Yeah, yeah, they should.

00:37:19
Speaker 2: Go amount up two point plays this weekend, dude, we saw Siriani late in the game. The game was over. In our game, go up seventeen, Tank Bigsby, I want to say it was Tank Bigsby scored to go up seventeen. Instead of kicking the extra point to go up eighteen, he went for two to go up nineteen. In the moment, right, I'm factoring on this. I'm like, I guess being up nineteens better than being up eighteen. I'm like literally doing this in the commercial break in my brain, and I'm like, well, cause it's two touchdowns, two two point conversions and a field goal tie versus two touchdowns, two two point conversions and a field goal beats you. But there's four minutes to go in the game, Josh Johnson's at quarterback. Is there really a likelihood of them even getting three? And I'm like doing all these mental gymnastics in my head, and I'm like, you know what, They've missed three field goals. They're kicking situations a disaster, Like I don't blame him, just go work on your two point plays. Like that's literally how I ended up like summarizing it, Yeah, because to be up nineteen eighteen, I don't know if it really mattered at that point in the game. It was over, you know, yeah, what is that fight broke out?

00:38:29
Speaker 1: What's your preference on calling a Friday game? Like does it mess up your routine or you kind of about it that way? You can go watch ball Saturday Sunday.

00:38:37
Speaker 2: It was so my game was Saturday, so I called it this Saturday. That Saturday. Fox had a doubleheader this year, which was super cool. So we got two national games. We did so I think when they started, when they set the schedule and they told us about this, I think the assumption was our crew was going to do Bears Packers, and then the night game Burkhart and Tom Kevin and Tom were going to do the rematch of the NFC championship, right Eagles depending Super Bowl champs against the Commanders and and all that. So obviously, with the year Washington had, they flipped the game, so we got Washington Philly. But still really cool. I mean, two national games on a Saturday obviously went up head to head against some of the college football playoff games. But I loved it. It allowed me to go to the Panther game yesterday. Took my boys to the Panther game. Got to watch them. Obviously the momentum that we built on banging the drum. But yeah, it was weird waking up on a Sunday and just like hanging strolling up to the stadium. Had a couple of beers during the game, watch it. It was it was fun.

00:39:35
Speaker 3: I love it, dude on the on the situational ball. The Bears ended up winning the game, but at the end when they decided to kick the extra point, then go for two? Are you thinking are you going for two?

00:39:50
Speaker 2: You know what, in most instances, I'm going for two to try to just end the game in the moment, the moment, I do think you.

00:39:58
Speaker 1: Have all the momentum win the game in regular and.

00:40:02
Speaker 2: I've said that you want to win the game in regulation. I think the calculation that they made was the team we're playings down, their star quarterback, offensively, struggling, haven't really gotten a lot of things going. So this is where the analytics world fights back and says, these are not computers, these are not robots. All of these factors are baked into the final number that gets spit out. Right, you go into there's a league wide do you go for it, don't you? League wide trends? Then each individual team has to take that data in advance predetermined Okay, how does this data affect my team based on what we know? And that's before the game and these little books that they produce because you're not allowed to have tablets, you're not allowed to have the technology. We can have it in the booth as broadcasters. They can't have it in the booth with the coaching staff. They can't have it on the sideline. They're not allowed access to computers, phones, tablets that have like any Internet access because they don't want them doing these real, real time calculations. So it's all pre set in these scenario books that they do, but then you have to apply it to what's actually going on in the game. Right, So there is an element of real time information that's being calculated. And I think the knock on analytics is, well, you say, go for a quarterback sneak, but what if you're left guards or what if you're and and the guys who do support it sit here and says it is being baked in. All those decisions are being calculated by yes or no. So I actually do think it was smart to go to overtime because I think the conversation there was, we're playing against a backup quarterback. We're playing against you know, Jordan loves out. I think if Jordan loves in and that game is a higher scoring, more offensive efficiency, I'm going for two. I'm ending the game.

00:41:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I can get on board with that.

00:41:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, he said a lot. He said a lot to essentially say, I like our ball club better in ot because we have momentum going forward. So we're playing against a backup quarterback.

00:42:04
Speaker 2: Well, momentum, the momentum of the game, and the fact that Jordan Love, one of the best five quarterbacks in the league, is out of the game in concussion protocol are two very different conversations.

00:42:17
Speaker 3: I don't disagree with you, but you're still you're you're basing it off your your gut instinct and you're feeling on, Hey, they don't have Jordan Love. We just drove down a scored.

00:42:27
Speaker 2: Like well thirty eight.

00:42:30
Speaker 3: Because again, by the book, by analytics, you go for two and win in regulation, greg are number one. Win in regulation.

00:42:38
Speaker 2: You want to win in regulation. That's every decision that you make is about increasing your opportunity to win the game in regulation that is one hundred percent. How all these the point being, you're not trying to play for a tie when there's five minutes to go in the game and you're deciding how many possessions do I have? How many times am I going to get the ball back? Do I want to be down nine or seven? All the things we've covered this year, especially in the last couple of weeks. Every decision, the final output is about win probability, not tie probability. Okay, so just understanding that's the framework of how all these models are built. But then in the nuance of the game, and this is where like and again, like the analytics crowd gets kind of like put like into a locker. Like you guys are the nerds on the internet. You know, we're football people. We know more than you that the knock on analytics is that you're not taking into account what's happening in a football game. Right. You're not taking into account injuries. You're not taking into account is the starting quarterback in or out the center, whatever it is, the score of the game. Is it a high scoring game? Yeah? I want to end this shit. I do not want Green Bay to possess the ball. We haven't stopped them all day. We talked about that last week in the Buffalo, New England game, right where it's like, we haven't stopped Josh Allen in three quarters, Why do I want to give him the ball back? So all those factors, the analyts, crowd, if that's what I want to be thrown in, I don't. That's fine. Those things are being taken into account, but we're not taking into account how people feel on the sideline and how good the postgame, the pregame huddle was, and we just scored two touchdowns, so I'm going to go for two now, and I didn't score a touchdown, so I'm not going to go for two. Those are the arguments that have zero bearing on the actual outcome. It's not that guys don't feel it, it's just over long periods of time, the outcomes don't support that right.

00:44:31
Speaker 1: And a lot of the coveries we revolve around with situational two not to happens at the end of the game. In the Miami Texas A and M game, it was clear that both defenses were being were killing each other they were the biggest part of the game in the office is we're getting nothing going. Miami finds himselves in a fourth and three to five situation, down on like the six yard line, going into their end zone. They elect to kick three. They missed the three, and that's what youuation. Are you going for the touchdown in that position?

00:45:04
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:45:04
Speaker 2: So college. I don't pretend to know the college landscape.

00:45:08
Speaker 1: Just use the conversation we're having as these are two football teams that both defenses are I'll.

00:45:14
Speaker 2: Take, I'll take. Yeah, So I'll again this happened in the NFL game, because I do think the kickoff situation in the NFL is a significant difference. There's some nuance about field position, right, Like, you know, I fail going forward on fourth and three at the three. If I get it, I get seven. If I go for it and fail, you got the ball in the minus three. But if I kick a field goal, let's just call the average starting field position in the NFL is the thirty two. So I got three points, but I gave you twenty nine yards. So there is some There is some context about the NFL that makes some of these goal to go situations very different. I'll take my game. I called on Saturday and I said this in real time. What it have mattered, I don't know. Opening kickoff of the game, Philadelphia gets the all. They fumble the opening kickoff. Washington gets the ball on the I don't know, inside to thirty. They go down, they go down, they go down. They have like fourth in goal to two two and a half ish and uh on third and two, third and three from they threw an incomplete pass on fourth down. They kicked the field goal, so they got an opening kickoff return fumble, got the ball in Philly's field in Philly side of the field, got the ball inside the five and kicked the field goal to go up three to nothing. If you're a Philly running off the field defensively, let's talk vibes for a minute. How you feel and will you just got a sudden change. You didn't think you were starting the game. Next thing you know, you're on defense, sudden change backed up, All of the motions are high, all the vibes we talk about and all this, and you force a field goals at a win or loss, it's.

00:46:52
Speaker 3: A massive dub massive win.

00:46:55
Speaker 1: Right, You go for it, you go, you go for the touchdown.

00:46:58
Speaker 2: So that's that's an example. So that they kick off and now instead of the first time, you know, the first time Jalen Hurts gets you know, behind center in that game, instead of if he's in the gun, he's in the end zone. If not, he's under center at the one. Instead he's got the ball at the you know, we'll call it the thirty three.

00:47:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, fair points.

00:47:17
Speaker 1: You gotta go for it.

00:47:18
Speaker 2: You gotta go for it. The goals get your beat, man. I mean, look at look at the Rams on Thursday night. Now they scored thirty points. How many now that one got taken away on a pass interference? Are on a legal man downfield? Right? One of the early touchdowns. How many field goals did LA kick inside the ten yard line?

00:47:39
Speaker 1: I don't know the number, but a lot.

00:47:42
Speaker 2: I'll look at least too.

00:47:43
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, if you get inside the ten, you got to start having the conversation with yourself as like, we're using four downs to get these ten yards. It seems like that is now I think the new world we are living in. But if you're going through the game and both offenses are absolutely crushing it and you are, are you then thinking maybe we don't go for it here. I don't know kind I'm losing my train of thought a little bit because they so nuanced and it does have so much to do with what's taking place during the game.

00:48:11
Speaker 3: Take the points, man.

00:48:12
Speaker 2: I think, first two field goals. First two field goals that La kicked. They were down seven to nothing. They kicked the field goal from the six in the first quarter to go down seven to three. And then their first possession of the second quarter, they had the ball and they got down fourth and two at the five, got a delay a game fourth, and then they went to fourth and seven at the ten, they kicked the field goal. Yeah, well, you may had the ball at the six and they had the ball at the two and they got six points.

00:48:45
Speaker 1: You get the delay a game, you gotta kick the field goal, but you should be going for in the situation.

00:48:49
Speaker 2: Again, I didn't see that part of the game. So then they try to make them jump. I don't know exactly what they did, but yeah, no, And listen. The cool thing that I think about all of this is and we joke about momentum, and we joke about what's the best in all this. At the end of the day, I think the cool thing that comes from a lot of these conversations we've had all year is more people are thinking about it, talking about it, discussing it. They might not agree, they might not all be on the same side of the argument, and that's fine. But I think it's pretty cool that people now are watching the game with those scenarios in their head and watching the game that they think it's time to chirp all of us on Twitter. They're thinking about it. It's in their mind, and maybe a year or two ago, it never even dawned on people that these are the decisions that the coaches are wrestling with in real time. We're thinking about it sitting on the couch just watching as fans. But this is very much what's going on all week long, during the game, after the game, in postgame recaps, pregame meetings, and I think it's cool that now fans and viewers are going through the same mental exercises of game management and strategy that the players and the coaches are going through. I think that's the win of all of this.

00:50:00
Speaker 1: If anything's come from this conference reason that we've been having on busting with the Boys, it's that we are building strong character in these coaches to understand it's okay to go to the podium and stand ten toes down on some of these decisions you're making. Don't take the scared way out anymore. We are now giving you a vessel to where you can stand on a podium and go. I learned this on Busting with the Boys. This is the correct.

00:50:21
Speaker 2: Exactly, yeah, exactly.

00:50:22
Speaker 3: I'd love to I love to watch a game with Greg. Yeah, just look over and be like, you gotta take the points here.

00:50:28
Speaker 1: Because it was truly great, Like, no, you gotta take the points here.

00:50:32
Speaker 3: And then when a Chicago kicks the extra points set of going for two, I'm like, look at Ben Johnson, he's just taking the easier press conference yep, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:50:41
Speaker 1: I'm thinking when I want to watch a football game, since we've been doing this on these recaps, it's the first fifteen plays on both teams in the first quarter, It's the last two minutes of the half. It's the first fifteen plays in the second half, and the last four minutes of the game that are the most exciting for me to watch. Yeah, Like, there could be multiple touchdowns going back and forth, but like, when it comes down to your players have given. This is the proct players have given you. Now as a coach, it's your job to put them in the most advantageous spot to be successful at the end of game, and watching how different coaches make different decisions, that if this team had that coach, they would be more successful than the other way around. Because I've said this before in the bus, Like as a player, I didn't always look at the coaching staf and be like, oh, we have great coaches. That puts us in good position. I just thought we have good players that we don't have good players. We're going to figure out the game and it's all on us. Yeah, truly, it's like these very little, these pockets in the game that great coaching elevates your team to a whole new level because then it breeds momentum.

00:51:38
Speaker 3: And Greg's right too, like fans are in it. They're involved, They're they're kind of watching and go through what are you what are you laughing at it?

00:51:44
Speaker 1: That brings that was.

00:51:49
Speaker 3: With the fan part being involved and everything else. It's like I didn't know Greg was coming on today, but I saw whenever I jumped on Twitter, I saw somebody at me and I can't wait to hear. Uh you guys talk about the fourth quarter of the Patriots game, and here Greg's takes on everything else. So since my brain was thinking that Greg was gonna come home like sad, like sad, we don't get to talk about the situation.

00:52:09
Speaker 2: Why did you not think I was coming on?

00:52:10
Speaker 3: By the way, I don't know why I thought that. I think Clump might have said that you were possibly not going to be on today. So I have no clue. I just again I heard here.

00:52:21
Speaker 2: Now, So what do you want to talk What situation did they want to talk about?

00:52:24
Speaker 1: Because the fourth quarter of the Patriots Portriots game, Patrid's Ravens is like, I think they handled it exactly the way you would say you should handle it.

00:52:34
Speaker 2: Was there any was there like a significant situation that I missed?

00:52:38
Speaker 3: I don't think so, Like maybe it went the way it should have went. And that fan is just excited to you know, excited that they're seeing the same things we are. To your point, Greg, everybody exercises, so they're just you know, they're giddy, like all the boys are probably going to talk about the way everything was handled situationally in the fourth quarter, well.

00:52:55
Speaker 2: Fourth quarter went touchdown Ravens touchdown. Patriots punt six play punt by the Ravens. What was the down and distance when they punted?

00:53:05
Speaker 3: Oh, Greg might have found something. What was the D and D?

00:53:07
Speaker 2: No, it was all right. So it was fourth and four at midfield.

00:53:14
Speaker 1: What oh, they're on the fifty yard line.

00:53:16
Speaker 2: Now they took a You guys probably know that they took a penalty. Mark Andrews false start. Were they were they lined up to try to snap it. I might have been in and out of it.

00:53:29
Speaker 1: They seem like they were in an ice situation. And then the the nickel came down and kind of did one of those but cost the line, and Mark Andrews along with like the right guard like jumped out of there. We got him, We got there at.

00:53:42
Speaker 2: Oh, So it was like we were going to try to and they didn't. They were going to take a delay game anyway.

00:53:46
Speaker 1: Probably, Yeah, it seemed like they were to take delay a game.

00:53:48
Speaker 2: So I think fourth and four at the time, they were up twenty four to twenty one. Fourth and four at midfield. So let's see. So they punted backup quarterback, backup quarterback. Yeah, they punted and they pinned New England at the eleven and New England went eighty nine yards for a touch.

00:54:13
Speaker 1: You gotta go in that situation, you go for it. Let them shoot you first or sooner so you have a better opportunity.

00:54:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you get the ball back because.

00:54:21
Speaker 1: Now the Patriots are thinking, all we got to do is get three here, very able to probably not thinking that, but like the old thought process of football is like, we're only down by three, let's.

00:54:30
Speaker 2: Case them a field range at least I can always tie. Don't put the ball on harm's way, don't.

00:54:34
Speaker 1: Be yep, a little more con Yeah, because I was thinking that when they were on the I believe it was the like the fifty yard line, and they lined up and it was fourth and four. I'm like, I wonder if they're actually and go for it. And then they started doing the hardcounts, all like, okay, they're going to I state the delay game, give their partners some more room to kick it. But I was kind of hoping they would go for it in that situation. It's just so this conversation would have been like was it the right move?

00:54:57
Speaker 3: Well, it sounds like it was not the right move to kick to punt the ball.

00:55:02
Speaker 2: And then getting a backup quarterback. It's hard. Listen. I'm not saying any of these decisions are easy, and they're hard to stand up there and defend. I just always think in those situations, I would rather be in control of the outcome in the game than deferring it to you and my reliance on stopping. I don't know, I just think you have an opportunity there to really change the outcome of the game. Under your terms, you get to call the play, you get to decide the formation, you get to decide it's something you've worked on all week, all year for multiple years. It's a big moment play at top of your play sheet, as opposed to now I punt it to you, and now I'm reacting to Drake May I'm on the defensive literally trying to just react to a two minute mode, hyper aggressive, four down mode against one of the best quarterbacks in football. My defense isn't particularly great all season. You're not the Texans, you're not Seattle other than Thursday when they weren't that good. But like, I wouldn't say Baltimore's defense has been this killer all year. So you're like, oh, we're gonna let our defense win the game. Really why.

00:56:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, if it was the Houston or Seattle or Den sure you're like, okay, yeah, you feel pretty good about putting your boys in that position. But yeah, I like going for it. I'm fully starting to buy into this.

00:56:25
Speaker 3: Fired. We found the situation, Yeah that this was excited for us to talk about.

00:56:30
Speaker 2: Because this fan meant chirped us on or not chirped us.

00:56:33
Speaker 1: But was it seems yeah about it, that's what you want? Greg, Uh, this is probably a I don't know if you really want to answer this question. Like for us with the boys, I don't know. I hate putting in these positions. What's your favorite Christmas movie?

00:56:47
Speaker 2: Oh? Wow, Home Alone?

00:56:52
Speaker 1: The original, fantastic movie. My kids are all about it.

00:56:56
Speaker 3: We just watched too over the weekend.

00:56:59
Speaker 2: Oh Home Alone, I love elf. Yeah, I know that doesn't have like the nostalgia of like some of those like classics, you know, Christmas Vacation, Jemy that that's an all timer. Yeah yeah, Home Alone though, like that was my childhood. That was the Christmas movie we watched a thousand times. That the old man neighbor who's so scary and then he turns out to be like this loving man like that was a that was that was just like my childhood, Like you can't get enough of that.

00:57:31
Speaker 1: What's interesting to me watching that movie now having kids that are old enough to like watch consume, they're not just involved with like cartoons, Like they're kind of going through that transformation right now. We're watching Home Alone a couple of days ago, and I'm always over the conversation with my kids, like, hey, if you're in a situation, you're in public and someone's like come with me, and you say no, you scream as as you can. And my oldest is kind of like, Dad, this kid handled business. Yeah, And I had to basically sit them down and be like, that's a movie. You know what happens to that kid? If he tries to pull half of those things, he's he's unalived. At the end of that movie, that's what takes place because my kids are legit thinking if we just put some marbles down and tie tie some bancands with some string, we're gonna fuck some bandits up. And it's like, guys, no shot, They're gonna go like this, oh and you're done and you're done.

00:58:22
Speaker 2: So the plot of that movie magical. Every kid maybe a little unrealistic. Yeah, maybe call home. It was not eighteen fifty. We were not like using the pony express, like simple call to the landline. How you doing? Uh calling neighbor? Can you walk down the street? Like apparently that entire block was just abandoned by people. Everyone on that shore town everyone left.

00:58:51
Speaker 1: Uh, And the kid just doesn't call nine on one to like the very end when he's finally got his devious planel set up.

00:58:57
Speaker 3: It's hilarious. Did you see the s and they'll skit on home alone?

00:59:02
Speaker 1: I think so. I think it was kind of what I was just doing, right.

00:59:06
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:59:06
Speaker 1: Well they're walking in the room like, hey, watch out, there's some marbles on the ground right there, and like.

00:59:11
Speaker 3: Like no, no, no, no, no. They did it to where everybody's basically dying from you know, the the uh oh yeah. The family comes home and they're like, oh my gosh, you're here, and he's like, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go in the room and get something. Some just fire sprays the top his head, likes his entire head on fire, and he's screaming, and then it, uh, it sets off this domino effect to everything that happens everybody's essentially dying from all the booby traps that were laying around. Yeah, but it's it's hilarious. You should check it out, dude.

00:59:39
Speaker 1: Okay, first, only if I could put you on a little bit of game for you and your wife. Two movies that I would suggest is a family Stone tear jerker, and then another one is Spirited with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell.

00:59:51
Speaker 3: That's a good newer one.

00:59:53
Speaker 1: It's a good newer one. I'm telling you. Christmas Chronicles, it's more like a more It's definitely an adult holiday.

00:59:59
Speaker 3: Movie like Christmas Chronicles.

01:00:01
Speaker 2: Love it.

01:00:03
Speaker 1: What the hell's Christmas Chronicles?

01:00:04
Speaker 3: Check it out. It's on that flip all right, all right, all right.

01:00:07
Speaker 2: Kids used to watch Christmas Chronicles when they were kids. Last thing I'll say it, and they're still kids, they were younger kids.

01:00:13
Speaker 1: Last thing I'll say about home alone. When Kevin's mom finally comes home and she looks from and she walks in, she goes, Merry Christmas, Kevin, and they have a hug, and then the rest of the family walks in and like pretty cool, you made it. And they all just go in the other room and Kevin walks to the window and looks at it, the old man who's hugging, and it's like, this kid's been home alone for three days and you've been you've been raking yourself over the coals and being a terrible mother, and all you can say to him is Merry Christmas, Kevin and then walk in the other room to do whatever. Terrible pandemic and didn't Dad the whole time is like, he'll be all right. It's just fucking wild to me, the way.

01:00:52
Speaker 3: The dad handles it's so good.

01:00:55
Speaker 1: I have the Chiefs just completely packed it in, like you don't make the playoffs, and it's just.

01:01:00
Speaker 3: I think Patrick mahomesseys to be in the MVP conversation still still because you should. They are such a dog shit team without Patrick Mahomes.

01:01:08
Speaker 1: Did you see all the players that didn't play? No, it was just fifteen. I was hoping this score would end two to nothing. So I was hoping the same thing.

01:01:19
Speaker 2: But sad again, it's the reality of this thing. Man, It comes for everyone. It's just some people get to last a little bit longer. Yeah, team, you know, team wise, obviously Mahomes will be back, He'll be fine, But like that thing's going to look a little bit different going forward, and maybe that's a good thing. Maybe this is what they needed to say. You know what, We've stretched this probably longer than any of us imagined. We've been thrown into the garbage a hundred times. We thought we were dead. We rebranded with this young defense, kickstarted it a couple of years ago, won the Super Bowl, got back to another Super Bowl, and maybe we just need to reset and start all over again. And there's nothing wrong with that.

01:01:58
Speaker 1: It's just sad. They were probably watching the last of Travis Kelcey lose to the Titans. Would is like, hey shot the Titan, that's great, but it was just watching as huge jakeson.

01:02:11
Speaker 3: Greg probably knows. No, this tighten you, brother, that's tight in you family, brotherhood man.

01:02:18
Speaker 1: Thick, Yeah, yeah, Thick. We only have five minutes left. Is there anything Greg that you want to talk about?

01:02:23
Speaker 3: Who do you got in the m v P race right now?

01:02:26
Speaker 2: Oh? Love that? Right now? I think it's too I think it's Stafford and Drake May agreed.

01:02:36
Speaker 3: Who do you have as the front runner currently? Drake? Drake?

01:02:45
Speaker 2: If the season ended right now, God, if you had asked me two weeks ago, I would have said Stafford, right, I mean it's Stafford the reason they lost that. I don't like punishing guys for like, oh they lost to Seattle, and you become like a creature of you become like a creature of the moment. I still think I'm gonna give it to Stafford. I'm probably not as strong in that opinion as I was two three weeks ago. I think what Drake May is doing on a team that preseason had very little expectations, won how many games last year? Four new coach bottom of the barrel for them to not only be better, for not only them to be good, but them to be like potential top seed one or two seed good and be and do that as a young quarterback in this league where we see young guys struggle. Man, He's I can make an argument for both. If I had to vote, I'd vote for Stafford.

01:03:39
Speaker 3: Yeah. I do think it's it's Razor thing close because again, with Drake May, it's not like he's got Puk DeVante Adams.

01:03:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got a bunch of Yeah.

01:03:47
Speaker 2: I mean, I can make a great case. So why I would vote for Drake And he's a Charlotte kidd. I've known him for a long time. I mean, he's he's special in all categories and just.

01:03:59
Speaker 3: To be that see being your two and just observing and watching, he seems completely unfazed in the moments that he gets in, whether it's hey, they're down, you know, down eleven, like just his ability, his poison everything else. Only being uh, second year in the league, I feel like it's just super impressive.

01:04:18
Speaker 2: Here's a fun exercise. Redraft last year's first round quarterbacks.

01:04:23
Speaker 3: Okay, give me, give me because you got what you got.

01:04:25
Speaker 2: Drake May you got you got Drake, You've got Caleb Williams, you got Jane Daniels, you got bow Knicks JJ McCarthy.

01:04:35
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, yeah, Drake's sitting there one right, totally completely.

01:04:42
Speaker 2: I think is the most fascinating part.

01:04:44
Speaker 3: If I'm sitting there and I'm drafting, they're all, they're all, they're all on a bench, I.

01:04:49
Speaker 1: Think tough because it's really between bow Knicks Caleb Williams, those are the two.

01:04:57
Speaker 3: One day.

01:04:58
Speaker 2: Daniels was the player.

01:05:00
Speaker 1: Injuries injuries, injuries, I know, I know.

01:05:05
Speaker 2: But you're drafting for the next ten.

01:05:06
Speaker 1: Years, right right exactly, and so are you gonna take the guy with the higher ceiling, which I think we can agree with Caleb Williams, or take the ultimate pro and maybe a higher floor than bow Knicks. That's kind of how I'm looking at this.

01:05:21
Speaker 2: So you would take both bon Knicks and Caleb over Jane Daniels.

01:05:25
Speaker 1: You're talking about the next ten years.

01:05:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's your franchise quarterback. Yeah. I think what hurt because if I would have if we would have done this at the end of last season, Jane Daniels I think would have been the unanimous number one.

01:05:39
Speaker 3: Agreed, agreed.

01:05:41
Speaker 1: The thing is his injuries, and here's about the next ten years, and it's like it's too eerily similar to me from an RG three standpoint, or a great first year than the second year. It kind of it all fell apart. And if we're talking about ten years longevity, well, I see in by the sample size of fifty, like it's been fifty percent of your career has been injured. Basically, it's not your fault and everything can change. But because of those reasons, I have to go with the safer route and go to bow Nix with Caleb Williams who have stayed healthy.

01:06:07
Speaker 3: I I was listening to Matt Ryan kind of talk about quarterback development, and he was talking like, you know, for in the first year, like if you were like you strike lightning in the bottle, Like as a quarterback going into your second year, you're kind of just trying to keep your head above water in the first year, and then in the second year, like if you have some success, you could get trapped into Hey, I think I know what's going on more out there, so you could play a little over your skis, which I feel like Jane Daniels could be the case in your two outside of the injury stuff. He's like not until like you know, the third even for really the fourth year is when you feel like you're seeing the field, You're seeing the game from all angles that the coaches want you to see it at. And if I'm looking at all these quarterbacks right now, I feel like I see that go against Jane Daniels for how he kind of developed in the second year when he was on the field, and I feel like the lights starting to click for Caleb Williams to where if you're looking at a ten year quarterback like dude, he I feel like he's so close. So you could talk about his inaccuracies, but the way he continues to sling the rock even when he has a couple bad moments, the way he moves around and have it being paired with Ben Johnson, I feel like he's so close to like breaking through and being like that elite quarterback were on why he was drafted first overall. Yeah, Drake May, I feel like has that again the game's kind of slowing down for him and even bow knicks again, higher floor everything else. But if I'm chasing that higher ceiling of the quarterbacks were kind of picking from to me, go one Drake May, two Caleb Williams than three bow Knicks.

01:07:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, I could flip two and three at any point.

01:07:37
Speaker 3: But Ryan had a great breakdown, not like talking about if you're redrafting, but just a great breakdown of like quarterback progression and development over the years and when he felt most confident being on the field that he alluded to it being year five for him.

01:07:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can make an argument when everything you just said, well, I can make the same argument happens the teams that have a quick turnaround. Right you look at Washington, low expectations, you hadn't been good in years, New ownership, You get DQ dan Quinn, you draft Jayden, he's the offensive player that you're a game away from the super Bowl. Oh my god, we are ready to compete. Do you always get a good, real honest perspective? Did you win some games you shouldn't have? Was your record better than what you really are? Right? That goes both directions. Some years your record you're actually better than your record. Some years you're not as good as your record. Right, So there's a lot of I think it's thrown off. A lot of teams rebuild when they have early success and then all of a sudden in year two they get exposed. So I think everything you just said about quarterbacks, you can make the same argument of just overall teams six that you think of the Giants first year day ball, they go to the playoffs, they beat what they beat Minnesota in Minnesota, huge upset, Coach of the year. Now Daniel Jones is getting paid, Saquon wants to get paid these and all of a sudden, did you push back your rebuild? And if you would have went seven and nine and didn't make now I guess seven and ten and you didn't make the playoffs, did you have handled drafts different, would you have handled free agency different? Would you have handled extensions different? But all of a sudden you feel like, oh my god, we're in win now mode. You double down on some guys and it doesn't work. You just push that rebuild off. So it's a pretty fascinating exercise about early success in a turnaround.

01:09:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, when it's like, did we actually realize that we were just fortunately keeping our head above water throughout the year? Now we think we're getting a little too confident in what the reality of the situation is, right, Yeah.

01:09:31
Speaker 2: It's interesting. I think I would go Drake May for sure. I think i'd go Caleb two, Jaden three, bo Nix.

01:09:43
Speaker 3: Fascinating.

01:09:43
Speaker 1: I don't hate that. The only thing that takes me away from Jayden at this point is the injuries.

01:09:47
Speaker 2: And the injuries are real. I do think a change in offensive plan. I'm not saying Kingsbury goes. I'd like Kingsbury a lot. I do think there can be a little bit of an evolution into what they're asking Jayden to do. They started doing it with Mariota, granted, different stages of careers and whatnot, but they were starting to do it a little bit better. I actually think that would have served Jane a little bit better. Play action, boot game, under center, run game, not being in the gun on every snap more early throw reads the thing about Jayden that's so impressive last year, and then in his small sample size this year, he is incredibly accurate down the field. His downfield passing game, he is exceptional in those moments, and exceptional end of game fourth quarter last year, best passer rating the fourth quarter, best completion percentages, I mean everything about end of game last year he was unreal. Hence why they won so many close games. I still think I would take Jayden as of right now, but you could probably make an argument for me to at least consider flipping him in bow Knicks. But I love Caleb In Ben Johnson's system. It's not always going to be perfect, it's not always going to be in rhythm and time, but that dude is uniquely talented.

01:11:02
Speaker 1: Could you imagine when Caleb Williams actually has like all his you know, techniques and everything figured out, and he's throwing above sixty percent completion percentage, like they're going to be incredible On offense, His is elusivity, able to move around, get out of danger, Like I have not seen a quarterback that able to get out of elusiveness, that elusive to get out and make plays down field. It's just it's much so impressive. What's that?

01:11:31
Speaker 2: I don't like chasing completion percentage?

01:11:34
Speaker 1: Huh?

01:11:35
Speaker 2: Personally, I don't like chasing.

01:11:37
Speaker 1: I don't disagree with that. I don't disagree with that. I think it's completion percentage is one thing, but it's another thing when it's multiple games like he's done it. He's done it nine times this season and they're eight and one. He was over sixty percent in this past game, and it's like, okay, if you're eight and one when your quarterback's not that productive from getting the ball down field and you just bumped that that number up a little bit, like, dude, it's going to be impressive. And it's just I think it's.

01:12:03
Speaker 2: I think there's like at some point, like a a like a cross section between like average depth of targets and completion percentage, right, because I can make an argument like there's guys that have been seventy five eighty percent completion percentage average depth of targets like three yards, correct, that doesn't do a whole lot for me. I just think of today's modern NFL. You your margin for error is so small. You have to be incredible on third downs, don't turn the ball over, incredible in the red zone, like you just can't. You don't have anything. You can't make any mistakes because you just can't get any yards and chunks. But then I think there's also on the other side where your completion percentage is just so bad that regardless of how far short you're throwing it, your efficiency is just so low. You also can't overcome that. So I do think there's like this X Y axis where they eventually like cross each other and you say, okay, that's the dream, Like you are throwing it downfield, so we are getting that explosiveness, but there is some element of a and see that we can count on playing and play out. We're not just like hoping in prayer and well maybe it's gonna work, but in between that it's a disaster. You don't want that.

01:13:08
Speaker 3: Either, No, I agree, not not as much in like the completion percentage over overall, Like on PFF, you can go into and see like inaccurate throws like outside of the frame, this that the other which is always like fascinating to see all these little new details and wrinkles that they have in the whole database and analytics part of the game on PF. But I'm with you. I think completion rate is hard now if it's really good. And again it's like Drake May, he'll have a completion rate. He's been throwing it around seventy percent in his like yards per attempt is like what over eight?

01:13:41
Speaker 1: Yeah?

01:13:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, super, he's unique. He's unique because he's doing well. Yeah, here's the last thing I'll sam Caleb. Not to beat a dead horse here, but his inaccuracies sometimes throwing on the run, right, those are high level, highly difficult throws. How many pass attempts This would be a fun study. How many pass attempts has he gotten off that were deemed inaccurate but they came after he avoided a sack. So he avoids a sack, runs around and he misses the guy. He misses DJ Moore in the back of the side, you know, the corner of the end zone sideline that goes down as a pass attempt incomplete pass off target onto the next down. Yeah, but what if he instead of being oh for one with with an inaccurate pass he was oh for oh, because he got sacked, his completion percentage would be better. And he's doing that at such a high volume of snaps. His ability to escape pressure is incredible. Yeah, So if he tipped more sacks and got less inaccurate throws off on the run, hypothetically his completion percentage would go up. The offensive success would go down because he's taking sacks, and would that be better.

01:14:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're absolutely right. That's a good point. That's why you're on the show, Greg.

01:14:54
Speaker 2: There's always a balance to all of this stuff, right, Like I always say about turnovers, Like the ideal turnover number is not zero, Right, I could take a knee and go for sixty five knees in a row, and we didn't turn the ball over, we didn't take any sacks. So like there's a little bit of nuance. Again. I don't want a team whose goal is to get to get commit zero turnovers. I don't want to fumble, but I don't want my quarterback to fear throwing interceptions.

01:15:25
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, you're probably not going to be that very good.

01:15:30
Speaker 2: I don't want to throw four, but I certainly don't want to throw if the goal is to throw zero. That would scare me a little bit.

01:15:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, being too risk averse. I know that we got we had a boogey.

01:15:43
Speaker 3: Correct, Yeah, we got a boggy.

01:15:44
Speaker 2: Great.

01:15:45
Speaker 1: I appreciate you by that. We'll see christ week. We'll see you next week.

01:15:48
Speaker 3: Merry Christmas, best friend, Merry Christmas.

01:15:50
Speaker 1: Voice, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas. He didn't say what was he ain't come back next week?

01:15:56
Speaker 3: Back?

01:15:56
Speaker 1: That's okay, that's okay. We'll need every button next week. I'm gonna grab some nicoteae.

01:16:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I need a peepe Okay, guys, thank you for tuning in.

01:16:05
Speaker 1: Quick oh sorry one.

01:16:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, we can wear this the yeah, the NFL recap stuff we can. We can uh, we can sign off on. Busting with the Boys comes out tomorrow. Ty Simpson, the quarterback of Alabama, he joins the show. We also have the locker room, Josh Payton. We're talking all things college football. Thank you for tuning in. Big hugs, tiny kisses. Do not forget to make sure that you are subscribed to all channels and leave comments. Love you, Appreciate you