Kyler Murray torn ACL, Sloppy Steaks & 49ers-Seahawks Preview

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Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast knows how to pronounce gift or is it Jim from the Chris Westling podcast studio. It's around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansas. I have heroes here, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal and the Great Tiny Box Contie Fox. Hi, is everything straight over there? You seem to be um fiddling with a lot of things before we start lining up your papers and your pens. I am this is you know? This is um the bongo God's very busy day. God. So I got a lot of going on here, and I'm just h But I love the Tuesday show because it's fun and it's looser. And Colleen is here and she has her own theme song. That's nice. Mark. I think it's an excellent feature for her to have. Do you want to yes? An impression of the Mark. But I don't know that was a human trying to express happiness for another person. I was. I am happy, unhappy that I'm here. I'm always excited when you're here because I think it adds a levity to the to the room, UM, a different layer of analysis and fun. That's great. You keep going if you want, Yeah, that's good. How are you my favorite? Get that on the record. Uh, coming up on today's show, there are four weeks remaining in the regular season, so this is a good time to take a step back and you know who is the most at stake in our league over the final four weeks of the regular season. Is this A Is the segment mark clear to you before we begin? Yes, I believe it is. UM. On Mondays, we're all very busy. I typically don't text my tech check my text messages as much as as I should, and I was scrolling through attempting to find out what, yeah, what the segment was actually about. So I did have a question or two for you, because I think I think this applies to calling to you like to go in if you're going to prepare for something. You know, it's crazy to want to prepare for shure. Everyone just let's just play at all time and just like roll spaghetti around like but like still classic guy doesn't really no food throwing food into the conversation and so but no, I feel I feel UM somewhat crystal clear on what it's about. Excellent, It's gonna be a good COMBA. It is only four weeks in the regular season. That's that's good. That's good. It's a lot of spaghetti to roll rolling all over all over the place. Um, what else do we have today? We have a Thursday and I preview huge, huge game, uh for two teams, the San Francisco forty Niners and the Seattle Seahawks NFC West on the line, I believe it's a hat and T shirt game, as Kirk Cousin was, and yet it could be a tie at the top of the division. Mark if your take last week was spot on that Kirk Cousins doomed the Vikings the moment he said the game at Ford Fields at ever allow that to get out in publicly saying, well, I think for Kirk ITTs, he is just so excited about the hatton T shirt. But he's like, it's like a birthday party and he's ten years old and it's a birthday parties when he's a kid. So this is he's got a bit of a Michael Scott as a child thing going on and now this is his opportunity. So I feel like he had friends when he was a child. He's so he well, I don't know, I don't know anything about Kirk. I was not I was actually a pretty. I was kind of a sweet, more quiet child. You might be surprised by that, you were a middle child. I believe he turned into a monster, A total monster, all right. And before we get to that, we're gonna do some news. I want to get something off my chest. I would do it during the It's About Me segment coming up on Friday. But this Friday very exciting. Connor, or our dear friend from Sports Illustrated and former around the NFL alum, is going to be sitting in on the show and he will be sharing his favorite holiday movies of two thousand twenty two. He's been keeping me abreast of the situation for months. Yes, he sits down with his wonderful wife and they just pour through Christmas movies. Um at a really almost like a disturbing clip. We're talking. He'll take in five six movies a week and he's going to share some of his favorite this year. How does he have time to do that? Connor is not like other people, and I mean that the highest regard for the men. He just operates at a kind of a different speed. And I think he found a life partner that that's incredible. I once when I went to London with Connor, and we were going up and down the hallway heard them on a phone conversation together and my thought was these two Jael, they just really talking about each other Connor on Friday, UM. But what I was saying was, since I can't take the it's about me slot this week, can I just share one thing that's really on my radar? It's too late, I've already started coming monster. UM. On Sunday, I'm watching Jets Bills tense game. Obviously it's it's that game starts as a defensive struggle, teams feeling each other out, ten straight punts to start the game, and they come back and break at the end of the first quarter, and there's Tracy Wolfson grabbing the head coach of the Bills. Let's listen in to the entirety of the interview. So just slow start offensively. Three punts and now the sack that Alan just took. How much is this weather affecting what you guys want to do? Yeah, I mean we're not in a rhythm. That's the bottom lot regardless of the weather. At this point. You talk about the run game, we talked about it just twenty four yards and this weather. How important is it to establish that We've got to be able to stablish a lot of scrimmage. Okay, So this isn't a criticism of Tracy Wilson, who does a great job for CBS. It is a criticism of the entire concept of these interviews. And they're weird enough when they come out of the half and the coaches are in a mindset. But to do it in between quarters, that just seems next level. And I don't know who it's for. Didn't they in between quarters lately? I've noticed that? But who is that for? I know it shows that the broadcast has access, but it really doesn't if you actually listen to the interview. So who is that the producers of the show? Because this has been on my radar too, and I feel like no one wins. Like it's bad for the reporter, it's bad for the coach, it's bad for the audience. You never get anything from that interview. I would love for them to interview one of the players that did something interesting in the game that we saw already, So whether it was like a rookie that scored for the first time or someone who came up with a big play or someone who was like a third stringer that did something cool like that would actually give a little bit of juice to that interview. And I'm also like the coaches, like, here's about to kick off and the coaches got his headset off and he's over here talking to Tracy Wolfson or fill in the black nightmare. Dan Campbell was the one exception though. Dan Campbell came out and maybe that wasn't the quarter, but thank you, they're way. Dan Campbell chose to use it as a chance to engage. I think people get if you are a coach that wants to get known better, you could use it in a positive way, but most of you get nothing. But like Ultra Fleff and we called that out Campbell's exception that proves the rule that it's just I don't know. Players would be great. I don't think the teams would agree to it, because players, you know what, they're gonna be perfect because you would have a defensive player on if the offense is coming out next, or vice versa, and so they actually might say something like, oh what about this play? But teams would never allow because afraid, how is that doing right? And I'm more on the side of like, just let these guys. They have to be at an elite headspace to succeed in our league. Just leave everybody alone until after the game. Um that you did see it in MLB and they were interviewing guys on the earpiece like on the field, and I'm like, if that ever happened, if Aaron Judge missed the flyball that knocked the Eggs out of playoffs because he was talking to Chris Rose or something, it would be like in chronicle. We can we just calm down with the quote unquote access. If if I would pay money, genuine money to have Evan Washburn, like after a first quarter of a game, like, uh so, Matt Patricia going to call another screen there just to see what would happen. I would make an exception for Evan Washburn only just because I want to see the well adjusted uh Patrick Bateman more. I just need him more in my life. All right, let's do some news. The history is very rich here, I know, you know what, shout out to the reddit because they find everything. They founded Connie and we have a treasure trove of various golf courses in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania, not just one episode. We have the entire season of Connie on Golf with with an elderly gentleman as this as the co host work. Harry's a dream class act. Yeah, he's awesome. We should get these tapes to Connor. And that's my favorite Christmas movie. It's just Connie on Golf. All right, let's get good. Okay. I've never played. There's one point in one of the videos where I know nothing about. You walk a hole with a golf pro and one of the courses and before he shoots, he's like, oh, you set yourself, but pretty well you about a hundred and five yards to the pin. And I'm like, there's no there's no chance she has any idea of what she's saying right now. This is clearly fed to the tiny box absolutely, Like I will say that is accurate. I know nothing about golf and I hosted a golf show for a while. You pulled it off, did I don't know fired people are still talking about it years later. So you walked away under your own you know what? It was pretty good? Um as suspected and I know Greg you covered this on the Monday Night football recap between the Cardinals and Patriots. Kyler Murray went down with that non contact injury on the third play from scrimmage um on Monday, and yes, he tore his a c L in his knee mrs. Obviously, the remainder of the season and the timing of it happening in mid December obviously puts into question his availability for a part um of the season. Everyone's different, but just as an example, um Odell Beckham tore his a c L in early February and we're hearing he won't be ready to come back at all this year. It's everyone's different. But Murray's got a uphill climb and he knows it and that's why his reaction was the way it was on the field. So here we go. Market's Colt McCoy to finish out a law season for Arizona. That, yeah, there's levels to this in terms of the devastation for the organization. I don't think HBO knew that they were gonna be telecasting essentially a horror film by chronicling this team over the course of a month plus it last year. By the way, the in season Hard Knocks was the I would think twice if I was a team going for I do also wonder why that these the Cardinals are getting on these primetime games because of this HBO thing. I don't know that's the next level question. But it is a rough um ending to a terrible season. Uh. And I mean really like this journey began with last offseason and Kyler Murray talked about the contract and having the agent do this or that, and we spend all these months doing it, and then the team completely flatlines. Um they look about is disorganized on offense and schemeless and without a plan as any team in the NFC, and Kyler Murray didn't really save them or help them that much out of that problem. This year. I have a weird question. I will say this, do you need immediately You'd say, of course not, because he's injured, But does it if the Cardinals just blow everything up and they're looking for assets, does it make Kyler Murray more tradeable to a team that says, we get it, We lose them for a chunk of next year, but we believe we can do what the Cardinals couldn't and Kyler Murray goes somewhere else in highly versus running this back. I don't think he's tradeable because of the injury. Why And I don't think they'd want to treade him. Why would they. I want to keep Kyler Murray. I just want to see what probably the logical answer, what he looks like with a different coach. And I didn't totally realize that in the moment, just like, oh, this was this was the end of something. Last night, I think this was the end of the the Murray Cliff Kingsbury eras that that injury. You could kind of see it on Kingsbury's face. I think that he kind of knew that too, be he was in that game. I mean, I felt like even the whites of his eyes were just like blazing red when they when they panned to him on the sideline, like you could see the stress literally oozing out of his eyes. Like this has been such a bad season for them, and the future is so uncertain for not only Kingsbury but Steve come to and I don't know what they're gonna do, what the plan will be for next season to fill in the spot at quarterback, because you never know when he's going to be back and when he's going to be healthy enough to play, because that's such a big part of his game moving around. It's interesting too, Yes, and you hope he comes back and he's the same guy, the same guy before the injury. But I actually had the opposite thought that I wondered if uh Murray now exiting the picture? So these final four games for Kingsbury, is no one's even gonna factor anything in how the team closes? Does that somehow in a way help Kingsbury keep his job and then gets a fresh start with Murray back eventually next year. I mean, could you put it past this team after what they did? I would say, wouldn't put it past maybe the ownership because of the contract extinction they also gave Cliff Kingsbury and kind and maybe you try to just chalk this up as everything went wrong. Um there, we're gonna try this again. But I think there's enough evidence to suggest that, like another year of click, Cliff Kingsbury is not going to look drastically different than this. And I tend to agree, even though I asked the question that like, your asset is Kyler Murray and maybe if you think, I know, it's not Sean Payton, but someone can come in and do with Kyler Murray. What other great QB whispers do with other quarterbacks and then you can sell that to people. I don't think you can sell this to Cardinals fans. Again. I think it's actually is a the most logical place for Sean Payton, just because I think they'd handle hand over all the controls and all the money potentially to let him just do whatever he wanted. And there's a quarterback there. I looked up the numbers you could trade them like after June one without dealing with the salary cap complications. Before that you couldn't. Uh. They right now would be projected to have the six pick in the draft, though, so it's not the craziest thing to ask. I mean, look how they got Kyler Murray who they had before that, so they will think differently that stay it's the same GM Maybe not then though A morose um Jason Zumwalt on text uh noted Cardinals fan Voice of God on our program said that he felt like this that his team was going to be in the darkness for like decades, and I said to him, he's experienced that, so yes, I And my reply was, these things can turn around quickly in the NFL, as we know. But I think the first you got to get this brain trust figured out in Arizona, and now it's complicated by the one guy that you kind of saw his potentially a superstar on the roster, and he is. Now you do have a remarkable, um sturdy, well respected backup to take you, to take you through this darkness until the end of the season. And maybe did annoy me that he didn't play well against the Patriot did not play well and that game needed some he cult McCoy to play well. You look like did you tweet something like we're all cult McCoy or something like that? I was like, what is going on with Dan here? Because I've never what was what was there? It's pretty easy to follow the threat on that one. I mean, you just complimenting cult McCoy had in general to defeat the Patriots, who are in a playoff race, played, he played okay? The Patriots. Jets fans are like anyone that likes a little Patriots shouting for it. Just just wait for the next couple of weeks. It's coming. This team is done. Last night did not? That's interesting? All right? Did you watch the game on Monday? All right, let's move on. Weird situation developing in Atlanta. Um, I'm seeing this reported in the Athletic that Marcus Mariotta has left the team and there's no indication or on when or if he will return. This comes, of course, a day after head coach Arthur Smith announced that the team had made a quote performance based decision to bench Mariotta in favor of third round rookie Desmond Ritter. Obviously, the media covering the Falcons is going to ask about this, and here's what Arthur Smith had to say today. Yeah, and that had nothing to do with the move here, Josh. But there's you know, like a lot of athletes, some chronic nothing that's been an issue this season. But that's the prerogative. And so you know, as this happens, you know, that's why we signed Logan on Saturday though, make sure we have depth there. And well, you know, once that decision is made then I'll up at you. But he's not here right now, so in case, you know, just give me in full transparency. Alright. So just to clarify, there is a quote unquote chronic knee injury that's leading to the team putting Marcus Mariotta on i R. But that doesn't pass the smell test. Greig, Well, he said it he left the team and that that was the reporting to from the athletic. If you go to i R, it doesn't mean you're allowed to just leave the team. I'll see you next July. Just for people clarity, I think he's being put on i R because he left the team, not the other way. Checked in about our show in the same capacity. I think it's a great thing to do your work in a certain pinch, but I don't think it applies. But you could step away for a podcast based i R, but you'd still have to come to the office. You can't disappear. And Marcus like, all right, keep me on the active roster. I think Mark and I are aligned that we like this move for Mariota, just saying, you know what, things are not working out here, I'm gonna go. He did, I could not his wife. Yeah. I did. Also just have a child, you guys. You guys mentioned and so it's like a paternity leave. But it's quite a move. The second time he's been benched by Arthur Smith in the middle of a season, once for Ryan Tannehill and uh Arthur Smith, who is not very transparent with the media was interesting there. He offered up information he didn't have to and said, oh, just to be transparent. He's also the guy it's like, I'm about moving off Mariota at all. I promise I'm not moving off Mariota at all. And then he did it. And now Logan Woodside would be your Falcon starter should anything happen to Desmond Ritter in these last final four weeks, and when all the fantasy owners out there that's still have a pulse in the playoffs that want to pick up a streaming defense to take a look at who the Atlanta Falcons play in the final four weeks or if they forbid ever won the division, which is not beyond comprehension. And then something been to Desmond Ritter, and Logan Woodside is starting a playoff game, and I wanted a garage door to close on my body at that point. So I think Greater will be good. I think he'll be at least as good. You could just not watch. Also, well, that circles back to what we were just discussing about my employee here, so that doesn't apply all right, Yes, Mr here comes justin off the top turn buckle. To dunk on Marcus Marianna. Here we go. This is just because we mentioned it on the Friday Fun Show, but not everyone has always tuned into every show. So I just wanted to reiterate that Mark will now be allowed to keep his shirt on for every podcast episode until the next time he declares that he would do it. We did leave open the possibility that he still could take his shirt off if he chooses, if he wants to. I think everyone would appreciate. But this was tied to Mariota not starting every game, which I vowed he would not write. But I knew that when I said that, So there's no drama to out to this update. All right, that's what's happening in the news. All right, let's take a quick break and then we will get into our what do we calling this seg This is uh figuring it outline. Let's see what the line we're talking about. Uh, yeah, we're talking about. All right, We're gonna think during the break, will be on the line. All right, here we go, We'll be right back. Are you ready? It's a Saturday triple header only on NFL Network. First, the Colts battled the bike, then the Ravens space the ground and the Dolphins take on the Bills in prime time, back to back to back. It's a Saturday Showdown triple header Saturday, starting at one only on NFL Network. Welcome back. We have we thought it over, and we've decided the name of this segment is something about steaks, steaks, dinner, Steaks dinner. We prepare ahead of time, the alright, steaks high stakes? Stakes are high? Stakes? Are stakes are high? A classic day last soul album you thought they were in their peak was passed, but they came back for one more banger. Nice. I like that. That's good. How about sloppy Steaks of I think you should leave fame? All right, sloppy steaks here we go, sloppy steaks at your working title as we're known for. All right, let's get into it. Four weeks to go in the regular season. Some players, teams, what have you? Coaches, GM's owners who knows um have higher stakes than others. As we come down stretch of this regular season, Greg Rosenthal, get us go, put a stake on it, Put the steak on the grill, get it sizzling. Don't be annoyed that I'm going to talk about Gina Smith because actually, I don't think we've hit him that much lately, but the steaks are genuinely high. I think I think he's this is this is apt, it's apt. He's a free agent after this year. The Seattle Seahawks had the number two overall pick in the draft, but that drafts not till late April, still annoys me. The draft is after free agency. I think eventually we could get that change if we complain about it enough. Uh got another It's about me here. That's how it is, though, And so Gino Smith has to sign a contract before then. The Seattle Seahawks have to decide what to do with Gino Smith. Before then, he's proven he's a starting quarterback in the NFL. To me, he's proving that he should be the Seattle Seahawks starting quarterback next year, because if you have an above average starter at this point, you gotta just keep him. Whatever the cost is gonna be, whether that's a franchise tag or a long term deal, you need to make it happen. But I'm not totally sure, and I'm definitely not assuming that the next four weeks won't be instructive. They've got some tough matchups starting with Thursday night, which we can talk about later. But how he plays in these last four weeks is gonna affect his career with the Seahawks or his career on the league. I don't know how the other teams are gonna view Gino Smith, but I think people remember the end and whether if if this stays at the same level or goes down. And he's been a little more up and down, I would say over the last four or five weeks, uh, not as consistently just amazing. That's gonna affect his future. I think, barring a collapse, he wins Comeback Player of the Year, he'd be my vote. There's other couple other candidates, but there's got to be multiple teams of Seattle ever went in another direction that have to view this as a marketable player who recreated himself. And even when he's had some of these ships, I get that there's been a few more turnovers. It hasn't been like the pristine metrics and numbers of some of the earlier showings for Gino, but he's still every week is doing pretty amazing Geno esque things, and I think it's more about the rest of the offense kind of they're doing the run game and stuff right now, exposing him a bit. But Geno Smith, to me, like absolutely would get a starting job somewhere else of Seattle ever passed. I don't know if Geno Smith's the guy i'd want to, Like, let's bring in a first round rookie and have Gino be super cool to him and hope that goes well. Maybe he is such a he's become now, um something of an afterthought to a bit of a fascinating off season figure. Because yeah, if the Seahawks do decide not to bring him back, or even if they do, when they give him the how much do you pay Gino Smith? Like that what I mean, what is his value on the open market? Like, do you pay Gino Smith thirty five million dollars a year? What if it's like Derek Carr's type contract or something that's what Derek Carr makes though, So that's that's what I mean, And I do you have to He's got the forty Niners this week, You've got the Chiefs and the Jets. It's a tough closing stretch here too, and I think if he gets them into the playoffs, and you watch like a nice geno playoff performer. He's going to make more because of it, and he's gonna be more likely to be in Seattle. I think it couldn't be a bad Panthers team at home, Like he's lost me a little bit over the bad What are we talking a morning? Different podcasts, different two different shows. The Panthers are a little bit like my pet team. I have adopted them, but Gino just said they suck. I'm just saying that the Seahawks should have beat some pets suck. But I think people I love them just the same, even if I don't think they're great. People can separate the quarterback from the rest of the team a little bit. But I do think that's why the stakes are high. That he has to finish off what he started on some level, and I'm confident he will because he hasn't really shown it. Even if he plays at that level like he did on Sunday or the last couple of weeks throughout the next month, that'll be enough. But football is unpredictable. He could make himself a lot of money, or he could lose. I think Seattle will want to keep him ultimately, steaks are high. You nailed it, Okay, steaks are sloppy, steaks are sizzling. H The sega is that, UM, let's stick with quarterbacks since we're here, and I want to talk about two guys that you'd say, what's what's their connection? But they kind of sneaky, have an interesting connection. I refer to Jets QB. Mike White referred to forty Niners QB. Brock Party. These are two guys that have a real opportunity in these last four weeks to make their team think long and hard about some big decisions they made in a draft a year and a half ago. Because Zack Wilson and the two thousand twenty one draft went number two overall, Trey Lance in the same draft went the next pick, number three overall. Zack Wilson has bombed out this year, and he may I think maybe they listened to the podcast the Jets, or maybe they just watched the tape. It sounds like Zack Wilson, if Mike White plays on Thursday, will be elevated to active duty as the backup quarterback. That gotta get alacko out of there. Um. But obviously it's been a terrible season for him, Trey Lance, he's missing this entire season. If Purdy steps in and does the Garoppolo type job, Garoppolo I think gets traded either way, most likely, I think um. And then they then can make a decision like do we want to roll with this kid if he proves to be someone that could play the guitar? And I think the same thing with White. If White can finish strong and the Jets can go to the playoffs, are the Jets gonna turn back to Zach Wilson next year or get somebody else? I think they'll think long and hard about it. So steakes are high for both these guys. They can really put their teams in a mind bender with a strong finish one like the Link between My life that you paired them because I can't think of two other No namers that Day three draft were elevated to starting roles very quickly during a tumultuous season for two different reasons, and all in Unison. Both locker rooms are coming out of the woodwork to tell you how much they love these guys. And I mean you can see at number one with what happened to Mike White physically, like the dude as a warrior, and he I think he's He is probably in every personality tick and characteristic, the polar opposite of what Zack Wilson projected to the locker room. And I don't know how the Jets could do anything more than give Zack Wilson a chance in the preseason if he's still on the team at that point, if you haven't moved him to get that job. I just would never go into the next Jet season with Zach Wilson. Maybe I'd be the one would be wrong if I made a decision and he goes somewhere else and thrives. But you can just see it or not see it with these guys on some level, and I see nothing with Zack. Are you saying Mike White as a starter potentially going forward and pretty is the backup in front of him. I think he has the respect of the locker room and the coaching staff, and he and Sala despite the fact that they lost, he thought he played really well and then was tough as hell, and I think if he could finish strong, yeah, I think he will have a hold of that organization, whether it's the right move or not. Well, some context for this Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent. That's right. He set that up when he came back to the forty nine ers. So I think you're right. How Pretty plays informs that. Could we be having a tray Lance Pretty conversation next year like we were having with Trey Lands Garoppolo this year. I'm with you. If Pretty plays well and he's played better uh than than the C. J. Bethards or Nick mollins is of the world, He's already shown that he has higher potending. We're gonna get to Thursday, we'll see more. Mike White's a free agent, though, too, so that just complicates it. He's going to have a job in the NFL next year. The Jets aren't going to be the only team that will happily give him that job. Certainly they'll have the pole position. If they want to keep Mike White, they can. But how he plays, you're right over the next four weeks is going to change his life. Mike White needs to maybe show his loyalty though to the family. But brought him in and gave him this opportunity. That's that's what you do. I still haven't finished the movie Mike White. He's got to show respect. He's got to show his family love. They showed him love, otherwise it would be a betrayal. He put his body on the line for his teammates and for the city that he represents, and that will not be a forgotten So he can't forget that counterpoint. Every one of these films that you guys are aping like has massive betrayal, elements of betrayal that's started the plot, so perfect for him to do that. Hopefully he has better decision making than locking up the Seahawks against the Panthers too. It's the lock Father then breaking great you will have You will be judged for that in this life or the next by the lock Father. All right, Colleen, I believe you also have some quarterback I do. Okay, So how about this one. Steaks are wait, that last one with the stakes sloppy or sizzling? Right? So this is the second. Now I think they're high stakes. Stakes are high for the teams and the players in your in your case, yeah, they're high to sizzling. Okay, Um, I think that the steaks are sizzling here, Like I I like a rare steak. I don't like anything that is above that it can't be if it's medium rare gross, Like, don't even give it to me, it's overcooked, so well done with catchup gross. Jared Golf is a guy who has so much on the line, guy that I didn't think at the beginning of the season would be in this position. But here we are with the Lions rolling, and he's he has them rolling at this point, back to back weeks where he has played incredible three yard games. He hasn't had a pick. He's throwing these long bomb touchdowns. He's playing as well as he did when the Rams went to the Super Bowl. And he's doing it with Dan Campbell in Detroit with the Lions, which seems kind of unbelievable to me. And now you have guys coming in like Jamison Williams. This is a situation for Jared Goff where he has gotten his opportunity. He showed them that he can be the guy to take this team on a ride with him. And the Lions have two first round picks coming up in the draft. What are they going to do now? They're in a position where they don't necessarily have to have their hand forced to get a quarterback if they don't want to yet their defense needs so much help they could use one of those picks to help the defense. Instead, they've already brought in some of these pieces to surround the quarterback. So maybe wait. It gave me this memory of reading this like seven thousand word long form about the Browns organization passing on Big Ben because they had Jeff Garcia. And I'm not saying that Jeff Garcia and Jared Goff for the same guy, but there wasn't actually, perception wise, a huge difference between that. That they just delayed the idea of going getting a guy that went to college in Ohio and did a trial for them in the pouring rain, because they had the prospects of Jeff Garcia, a veteran that they kind of liked to come in a great job with Davis. But pointing, I would just say the only thing about Jared Goff is it shouldn't prevent you from getting the number one, like getting the top quarterback in the draft. You can get, that's all. But their draft position makes that tougher than it would have been if you thought they were gonna go you know, three and fift their fourth overall. Now with that, with that Rams pick, uh, so they will have a hard decision. And my initial instinct is like this would be in the stakes are high category, not sizzling, because Jared Goff's made his money, He's proven he's a this is a great story, it's a top five offense. But maybe it could be sizzling in the sense that if he leads them to a playoff spot, he's a legend forever in Detroit. Like it just in the sense that, like, why are we talking just about money and what's gonna happen next? Is like this could be one of the most memorable things he ever does on this planet Earth is go bring the Lions to the playoffs and that that's why you you play the sport. He can be like an all timer And even if nothing happens after this year and they do take a rookie, that alone would be a not that clothing line of his in Detroit. I mean everything he does right now is working out. Yes, I think he already has earned the right to sit down at the nicest steakhouse in Detroit and pour a big glass of water and then support all over that steak and sa water jumped on it. It's really really good. Yeah, Like he deserves that already, and what I'm gonna do is, um, I think there's some half measures involved here with Greg's take on this. If I was Brad Holmes the gym, I'm saying, screw this. I am keeping Jared Goff. I'm picking up the option on his contract. But there's no option. They haven't out. They haven't out after this year. It's not an option, but they haven't out. They can get out of the deal. I'm I'm sticking with Jared Goff, and I am selling that draft pick, and I am building at roster. I'm not even taking a quarterback unless you're absolutely in love with, like a that you think could be Trevor Lawrence or something. Just go for it and give golf. That's giving golf his I just think, like, the one thing we know about golf is that offense has changed year to year, and if golf has suddenly put in an environment that's not great for golf, you will be the guy they're talking about on Sports Talk environment great by continuing to that's the obvious, obviously what you'd want to do, but you would be you would be the guy historically that passed on filling the blank draft guy that blew up and became Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes because you wanted Jared Goff after he won one playoff game, trying to have my slappy steaks to need him to you know, I wanna, I want to get the like he's in the running four comeback Player of the Year too. I just don't know what Jared Goff has to do to prove to you people that he should be the future in Detroit at this point, Well, Baker Mayfield want a playoff game, and look where you are a couple of years later. Just changes so quickly. I think he's Peter Schregar made a good point about golf. I believe on g MFB that he's also shown that he's a he's tough minded golf like he was kind of viewed as a bust early in his career. He came on and became a star for the Rams, and then was written off as it has been by the time he got to Detroit, and and here he is again. I think sometimes people just see Jared Goff and they're just like, there's a lot of this Alex Smith, Yes Smith, but he is he's not this, He's not he's not up all the way up here, but don't pass on your mahomes. If if if you have the number three overall pick and you and there's it falls the right to you, and you'll think, let me just couch it a little bit. If there's a guy you're sure about, a quarterback, if you're absolutely in love with somebody who you think is a superstar, go ahead and get him. Otherwise think hard, and then you might be wrong. He might be turned out to Zack Wilson, and then you still have Jared Goff just chilling there who needs coaches you know exactly. But in that case, then you you burn the draft pick. Like how great would the Jets be if they use that number two pick and got better on the team rather than take a gamble on a guy that you know he's making their decision really difficult right now. If it continues to play this way, it'll get worse. What kind of stakes do we have? What kind of spelling are you using? Mark for that last one that we just do well? I think the stakes are quite high for this individual, a former comeback player of the Year. I think stakes st e A K S sizzling for this person's future, Like the future of this individual. They're human future. Here he comes around the bend our old friend, Ryan Tannehill. Ryan Tannehill is sitting in Tennessee this in this situation, former comeback player of the Year, stuck in an offense with a bare bone cupboard, a GM that just got canned, an owner that said publicly this week, I don't like the way this roster is constructed. Ryan Tannell has not Josh Allen. He's not a Patrick mahomes Um. I think he's an acquired taste. I think Greg and I like Ryan Tannehill more than the average person. Maybe, but he lines up to me as a person with zero guaranteed money after this season and an appropriate fall guy when you've drafted the league. Willis And it's possible that if you look at the last time Tom Brady was out on the market, that Mike Rabel with Patriots connections could maybe be a team that could lure tom Brady in. Um, maybe they could trade for someone out there. And then just Ryan Tannehill's career is back in another dimension where he's got to start all over. I just think that Ryan Tannehill because I just find this the true underdog quarterback that is never really viewed for how valuable he's been in Tennessee. That if this team that is in a free fall right now, you've got four weeks to become the guy that turns it around, and we forget about this slump and we look at Ryan Tannehill once again as someone that can come in save an offense, and it's all about, let's keep Ryan Tannehill, let's pay them again, or the get fixed the guaranteed money situation and put an offense around him because he hasn't had that. How many good quarterbacks have so little around them right now with the record they have minus the last couple of weeks and a team that I think he fits so well and they love him. And if or or the whole thing goes south and he's looking for a job elsewhere, maybe he becomes Arthur Smith's Falcons quarterback. I would be shaken and and I'm already a little bit shaken. And what's going on over there in Nashville? Uh grave digger. But if they took A J. Brown off the roster, didn't truly replace him with anyone, and then blame the quarterback after the season was over and get him out of time. I could see them gutting the roster though, and Ryan Tannehill is not pay Ryan Tannehill. They could trade, well, he's under contract. I like his contract. It's weird that people think, like, oh, that's a lot for Ryan Tannell. Twenty seven million dollars is great for a starting quarterback. At this point, the cap has gone up so much he you could get a draft pick for Ryan Tannehill in a trade. The thing the thing about his contract is the cap hit this year is super high because they converted last year's guarantees and pushed him onto this year. But next year his contract gets a lot more manageable, so it's the last year of his country. He's sneaky thirty five though he was kind of old when he came in league. And he's thirty five. He's about to be next year. Sorry, he'll be thirty five. I would trade Derrick Henry if he had value before I would trade Ryan Tannell. There's a lot of Titans fans that are saying that Titans should have traded Henry around Week eight this year right now, but I understand like the idea like spinning forward as an organization how many truly elite years does he have left? Do you even count? This is an elite year where Henry. I think it also depends, like, does Malik Willis show enough that you feel comfortable moving on from Tannehill? Or can you get a Tom Brady and do you want him at this stage of his career. I don't think it can be because I think he seemed super raw and shaking. It's like a nice project. But I do think that if someone like Tom Brady and they were like, look at we've got we're gonna we got a new GM, a coach you you're aligned with, maybe Tom Brady already got there and said I don't like that GM, get this guy instead, And maybe I do like Rabel. I'll come do all this and get some pieces in place that I like. It's just like he was slightly connected to Rabel last time he was out there. Do you have eight o'clock to light? You want to do some speedy steaks? Donald Stakes, like throw him in that microwave there, Alright, we gotta get it in under time. Go ahead, Greg alright, se Kwan Berkley, free agent to be had his big comeback year. Can he stay healthy? Can he make it through a year? Can he carry this giant's team? Very good? Stakes are high there. Let's see the old jewser Oh no, I wasn't ready and I'm banging us my god. Um Oh, Baker Mayfield, he went from a punch line to a momentary hero. Can he keep it going and build his stakes even higher for next season? Mark all right, I have turned pro Mike McCarthy. I think he's done a great job. Congratulate this season. I don't see him as a zaddy on any level like you do. I think it's a great coach. Credit to him. He's got a titanic offense. There's really no excuses for that. Now, go to go win playoff games and you've got that. I saw the look on his face when they were losing the Texans, like he was sucking on a lemon. I don't want to see that at the end of a week eighteen or the week after, with Sean Payton hanging out there in the atmosphere and Mike McCarthy becoming an unfair fall guy. They got to keep him around. What happened, he said, a titanic offense. You know what happened to the Titanic, it sunk, finally became a movie that made a ton of money. So there's always a nice thing that can happen from those things. Bubble coaches Steve Wilkes, Brandon Staley, Dennis Allen, Lovey Smith. I'm not even bringing up in Navaniel Hackecks. I think he's done. Um. All those guys can't collapse. Their team has to finish strong or I think they're vulnerable. I throw Ron Rivera in there just because the ownership is changing. I think you got it onto the well, nailed it. That was good. Yeah, Yet I got Drew, you know, Big seven seven Drew with the mask on the cap on getting into my I AM message, like, you guys are sixteen minutes in on the seg throwing it too Mark, you want to just skip the segre And I said, no, you didn't know about this sizzling steaks and how the stakes can be stakes in a second we did how many seconds? Drew wanted to cancel my part of the segment. He wanted He's like, let's wrap up the Mark thing and get out of the segment. Do Speedy come? What an absurd concept by you? He refuses to speak it's a clever move. Actually it makes him more mysterious. Camera. Can we at least give people watching on YouTube and surrounding territories. I would like to also get a time code. Let's get a time code on how long each of our segments inter segments were inside the segment itself? True? Can we can you at least turn into the camera his head shakings not bury the lead here. Mark wants to start individually keeping track of each part of our mini parts in this way, in this one particular case, it's like wrap it up, wrap it up on your previous interactions with producers, though, Mark, I would think you would love a producer that refuses to be on Mike. I mean, if you famously want to keep them in the shadows. I like, I liken joining some of them, to talk with some of them, but have been great. Drew is going the Wilson from Home Improvement d He's like, I'm on the other side of the fence. You'll never see me, you'll hear me, but maybe in a different way. It's perfect. Great, let's take a break and then it all paid off. I'll take a break and hit the Thursday night preview. Are you ready? It's a Saturday triple header only on NFL Network. Just the first the Colts battled the Biking, then the Ravens space the Browns, and the Dolphins take on the Bills in prime time. Back to back to black. It's a Saturday Showdown triple header Saturday, starting at one, only on NFL Network. All right, welcome back. It is time now for the t NF Preview, presented by Prime Video, the new exclusive home for Thursday Night football. Love it good one, real good, real good. What did Al Michael's call some of the games this year leaky on the Thursday night schedule. This one is not leaky. In fact, it's one of my favorite games of the week. The Seattle Seahawks. They need it, they need to win. They're watching their postseason hope slide away. And who is coming into their building? The rampaging San Francisco forty Niners with rock party at nine and four with a chance to put on a T shirt and a hat in Seattle. Gotta love it, Gotta love it. High steaks here as well. Well, How rare is it that there's a rare steak that's my corner? Like a rare steak, I'll get a medium are sometimes when it's like a little blue well, now you're basically a savage. That the way it was actually just in my mind conjuring the image, because I do know what you're talking about. Nuts, you're a feral animal, like a mountain lion in Griffith Park that just found like a buck. Go ahead the thing with a rare steak, though it's got to be like weirdly, it's almost more important that it's well cooked. So it's like when you're counting on, you're counting on precision, good nugget, you really counting on. All right, that wraps up another edition of Around the NFL. We'll be back on. So it's so strange that the forty Niners can clinch the division on Thursday night. It feels like there's so much left of the season four weeks and yet if the Seahawks win this game, they're like right in this division race. Like it's as massive as a Week fifteen game can be. And everything is trending against Seattle right now. Not only are they two games back over the last four weeks. And this is why I think Gino probably hasn't hurt himself that much. If you just when you watch them last four weeks or five weeks. Rather, according to Football Tiders, they are dead last and rushing in the NFL. They're the worst running team in the league. Maybe they get Kenneth Walker back for this game. They are twenty nine in defense, so we're right back to September when they were one of the worst defense in league. Within that their thirty one in the league defending the run. Over that those last uh four or five games, and you gotta play against San Francisco, who, finally this season and it's been coming, is starting to look like the running team. Kyle Shanahan wants to rack up over two hundred yards on the ground against a good Bucks run defense. With cmc resting the last twenty eight minutes of that game, it's a bit of a nightmare for the Sea. I thought getting a chance to rest so many Niners players was massive with it being Thursday night, and you are You're right. The Seahawks have allowed two hundred plus on the ground average over the last four weeks. I think that's where you point to, like, why hasn't Gino been as well supported and why is he had some of these fource plays. It's like, well, it's they're not. They don't have the Kenneth Walker blowing up the scene like they were earlier in the year. And the Niners on defense are gonna make it as tough as possible. Since that game, which feels so long ago, when they were blown up by the Chiefs, they have allowed in individual games fourteen sixteen, ten, zero, seventeen and seven points. They are the best defense in football right now. And I don't care if this is in Seattle or San Francisco. Can I don't know absolutely, you know what in a big spot it is. It is I on the fringe of death in the in the law competition. So I'm just gonna go with my heart on a lock in the Niners all right now. Who haven't been done before this early in the week. I've done a few Thursdays. Because here's the case. Why Mark is gonna be sweat and bullets on Thursday again, Thursday's weird. Thursday night is weird. Uh Seattle, that building is gonna be hopping. Uh. Seattle needs the game. And Pete Carroll is a good coach and he's gonna have these guys ready to defend their turf and make sure San Francisco isn't celebrating in their building, And yes, there are concerns here. When you look at the matchup itself, I totally agree. Um. I thought it was a borderline disgrace, and I think it factors in because it cost me a lock. But the way that defense got man handled in the fourth quarter by Caroliners Caroline is like it was like cadre cadre. He no, amotized. Yeah, they've been amortized all season, she said, amortized, just atize. Give her, Give her a break. She's been eating raw meter entire life. She's worms inside her. Um, Christian McCaffrey is gonna eat. And they're gonna use mccaffre to help protect brock Purty and not ask him to do too much. But you're still gonna be asking, uh, this kid to make big throws in a very dificult environment. So well, if I had to pick a side, I would obviously say forty Niners. But this game, I feel like, with all the various things up in the air in terms of the matchup, in the sight of the matchup, and then when it is in the week, I feel like it's gonna go down, go down. To the very end. One little, one little tiny out I'd have is if we found out in the next two days that this oblique injury for Purdy john him out and they put Josh Johnson in there and locking that up. Okay, So I'm glad you brought that up, because in general, I feel like you shouldn't be able to get out of the lock unless there's like a quarterback injury or something significant. Just moving off a lock for the sake of it feels. I also know a ton of people on on these like there's these Reddit like people like, no, they shouldn't. It's just it's like, I don't think we can do whatever the heck we want. But that would be one situation where it's suddenly Josh Johnson is starting. No logical individual would lock that on the road in Seattle in a must win game. But I think he's playing. Everything we hear is that it was more they got good news on it. They won't have Deebo Samuel. Of course I don't care. Do we know that they're just hoping he comes back by the end of the regular season. So he's out multiple weeks. Yeah, so they're gonna need Christian McCaffrey to help step up. Thank I mean the fact that they traded for him, brought him in that helps them immensely. At this point without Deebo, they're gonna need Jown Jennings to get more involved. They already used him a lot on third down, but just at the wide receiver position. And then the thing about brock Purty, if he is good to go with the oblique and the rib injury on a short week, it would be great for him to start in this game at Seattle in that atmosphere ahead of a playoff game like that is a situation that you want to throw him in and see how he reacts, because he looked really good this week, but that's not how it's going to be in the playoffs. He has shown so much though that I don't think you can teach like. He has a great feel of the pocket. We know his nickname in the locker room that rhymes with brock and it's big, and I saw a little bit of that. You haven't heard that, no, no, but a lot of it. I backed myself into a corner here when he is going what have you done? Greg? Across the goal line on his rushing touchdown, and he already starts like sticking out the ball at the other thing, like he is a very confident sticking out player, sticking out the football. You know, he's declaring in there, very very confident. They're doing no huddle like in his first start, Like he has shown some real deal stuff as a quarterback. And the Seahawks are thirty first over the last month because they're bad at everything. They don't rush the passer well at all, and he'll have time to throw. Greg, you did a good job getting through that with Dan just chiding you the entire time and off in his own little childhood world. Uh No, Whenever you could lock up Mr ir Relevant on the road with on the Thursday night, you do it. So I think it's a good lot. Why not do something gutsy versus just mailing a six and a half point favorite or something. To me, this is not like like implications on the line too when I'm picking on you, But I think this is right in between, like they're a heavy favorite. It would be shocking in the way the seas are playing for me to I would we believe in you have to in the power rankings, like they are a much better team than the Seas. The only reason I wouldn't lock it is I like the Seas. I want to root for them. I'm not going to be rooting against it, but I'd be stunned if they won this game. I'm with you, Mark, I believe in your I think it's a great lock um. I don't make fix on the show, but I am taking you could take this particular lock once, right, just for fun. That might be bad for my record, my overall lo Actually I think I have, but it's been there's like a website Satty's. We'd have to have our own nickname too. I don't know what that the lockouts? What doesn't work for me? The ladies, the lackeys, another thing to workshop in real time? All right, what's my record? I don't know. It turns out that we don't have that data. I don't figure that's convenient. It's convenient, um, but I'm sure you were doing very well if it was tracked. Okay, well, go for it, you'll get it. Will only advance your record, you know what. But feeling that like you and I are on the same frequency today, so I will lock them up. Look at that? What are the stakes on that? Slop air, Yes, but I think you guys will come out of it. There's something about locking Thursday too. It's so nerve wracking. There's it's the only another thing about last week. Sitting on the couch, you know, Daddy pours a Tito's and I thought to myself, this is literally the only game all week where I just get to sit down and watch it and I don't have to go do a podcast after or work before. I'm just gonna watch this game. I don't need the stakes of a lock. You are right, I will say I locked a Thursday game a couple of weeks ago, and it was well in hand, and it wasn't It only added to that joyment, right, But what if it goes the other way? But it has gone the other way? But I am sitting in third place. Um, I have plenty of other things to be concerned about beyond the locked situation. This this pantomime of a game that we play, and if I were to ever lose on Thursday night, I would somehow survive the situation. Okay, you know, eat you up a little bit, though I already am in that I've been eaten up because I don't see myself winning this at this point. So now I'm doing wild things and I'm gonna do lock offs with people from here on out and try to like, I mean, you guys are acting like that this thing is over the trophy. Yeah, there's four weeks after the regular season. There's five weeks. There's literally nine weeks left. Yeah, we could do the ceremony right now. We want the trophy. She was, take it out of my foyer, sitting on the marble um presentation. You don't have to put something else Thereade, I mean, I'm familiar with it. I had it, so I know what it looks already. But it's time for you to have it again because it's over now. The trophies. Like, I'm back in this house. Nine nine weeks to go? Where's my marble presentation? Nine weeks? It's almost half the season. Can you imagine living with me? That's what they said. All right, there you go, let's pick the game. You guys will be happy. It will be No, let's go the other way. Let's get behind the Seahawks, keeping their season alive. Pardy gets brought down to earth a little bit. They'll still be okay. Just for fun, I thinks will win. I think they will cover. Does anyone know what what the line is on this game and a half? Three and a half, Yeah, I think I would definitely like the forty Niners there. I hope it doesn't happen, but I think the Seahawks three Niners thirty three. That would be pretty similar to the Week two game. It is stuck in my mind that three the Seahawks offense did not score a point against the forty Niners in Week two. And then there's a different though I get it, but that was this seat. He didn't play that bad. That was seven to seven though. Uh they So you are writing and he's not planning to write you back. It's more about I don't know him not. But I think this is like like Tom Brady, I'm not writing tom Brady off. I'm not entirely writing too off either. They were demolished by the Stephen Seahawks score three points in their building with their season kind of on the line here, that's that's gonna be an indictment of the entire operation. So they need to step up in this. It would be alright, as they say, that's the good stuff, and that was the t NF Preview Present did by Prime Video. The new era of Thursday Night Football is officially here and it's only on Prime Video. Good stuff, Colleen, you will be heading to Buffalo. I'm so pumped. I can't joy that. I hope it snows so much, so hard. Who is Buffalo playing in that game? The Dolphins? Where did the Dolphins play Miami? From me? Can you give me a amortized in an old juicer accent amatized, amazed, amatized here as I sling my pizza pizza over here? Now, what a business? All right, thanks everybody for listening. We'll be back Thursday. Until then, you know what you need to do. Heat the call, se