Fantasy Football Week 15 Reactions - The Day Everything Changed!

Week 15 fantasy football. A memorable one. Hayden, I think it's only fitting that we get a Thursday night 40-plus point performance from Cow Pitts to roll into banger after banger after banger of games in the main slate of Sunday's action that also emphatically, emphatically hurts teams' playoff chances, elevates others, and even more so, and I'll get to them in my games, some major injuries that impact even the 2026 season.

But we have to start with the Buffalo Bills walking into New England and beating the Patriots 35-31. At one point, Hayden, they were down 21 to nothing. But then a 28-7 Buffalo Bills turnback here. One of their many comebacks, amazing ones this year from Josh Allen and company. How'd it happen?

Early in the game, it was exactly what we talked about. The Buffalo Bills run defense has been so, so, so bad. And that's what we got right away. Drake May has not one but a second designed quarterback run. He had a zone read where he sprinted out at absolute full speed wins to the pylon. They go also to empty quarterback draw untouched up the middle. Next up is Tayvon Henderson's turn. He has a 50-yarder untouched and a 65-yarder untouched. That was most of the scoring because when Drake May was going back to to pass, they just did not have enough guys open. So they got really, really hot early. And in the second half, they only ran a couple of plays. They only ran the ball four times in the entire second half. One, because of the long Travon Henderson runs, but also because they didn't trust their ground game to win in like short-yardage situations. They were putting all of it onto Drake May's back in the second half. Way too many completions. Some of them definitely his fault. Some of them I want to give some credit to like someone like Tradavius White popping up out of nowhere for the Buffalo Bills. But really, M. Collins cannot have eight targets if you're going to go beat an alien quarterback. He had twice as many targets as Steph Diggs. We didn't see much of Kahan Booty aside from the one catch in the first uh drive of the game. The Patriots wide receivers failed Drake May. Drake May um missed a couple throws that he was hitting throughout the rest of the season. The ground game stepped up, and then on defense, they just could not tackle Josh Allen. So it was a tale of two halves. We'll get to the Josh Allen stuff. Another gutsy performance, but extremely frustrating performance from New England. And obviously, you can talk about a pretty iffy uh play uh by the refs, uh defensive pass interference late in the game, but really, they could not run the ball uh when they needed to in the second half to kind of take away the clock, and they absolutely could not tackle Josh Allen and James Cook.

It's just another example of first halves feeling like, well, this is going to continue exactly for the following two as well, and it doesn't happen. Like you said, the opening two quarters, this is how the Bills started. Punt, punt, punt, touchdown, and that was it. And then the second half, this is what it was from the New England Patriots. Punt, let's say arm punt by Drake May down on that deep shot.

Then one play, 65-yard touchdown run by Trevon Henderson. Then a three-play, negative seven-yard drive. And then a four-play turnover on downs, five-yard drive from the Patriots. And that's it. I mean, they went into halftime having to think that, oh, we're the best team in the NFL. We are scrambling with our super athletic quarterback, which it felt like the Buffalo Bills defense was unprepared for heading into this. And I'm not saying we've seen a lot of designed runs from Drake May this year, but I think we could all use our eyeballs and see, oh, we should probably have someone accounting for that dude who is a sick athlete and then demolishes us in the first half. And then, yeah, you still have a 65-yard single play touchdown run. And yet it's the three-play, seven-play, three-play, four-play drives that they just couldn't jumpstart any first downs after that.

It was just a bunch of incompletions in a row. The interception for Drake May, third and 25, was actually a fantastic punt by him, kind of pinning him to the 10-yard line. But a perfect example and a got-to-have-it situation in the fourth quarter. Hunter Henry's in the slaughter in line running an out route near the sticks. I thought Drake May threw a beautiful pass. It goes right through his hands. And then there's other times where you'll see probably on the all-22 where it was just a bunch of coverage sacks, and if they weren't sacks, or kind of Drake May stepping up and then kind of throwing the ball out of bounds, uh, forced incompletions because not because the pass rush necessarily, but just because I thought there was going to be a lot of sticky coverage when we go back and watch the all-22. Tradavius White uh was all over the football, which was crazy because remember Christian Benford, the top corner in Buffalo, was not out there. Like this is the game where the Patriots, their record is awesome. They can obviously go on a run. They almost beat the Buffalo Bills here, and they really should have, but some of the weaknesses on the roster, you do see them. Like I thought that defense was pretty lackluster. And then the wide receivers didn't come out to play, and those were the two weaknesses that we talked about. And they got the explosive runs when they needed to because Trayvon Henderson's so fast. Uh, but the offensive line is going to have some weaknesses uh against uh more uh physical opponents than Buffalo Bills.

Many weeks ago, we asked the question, well, this Patriots team is ahead of schedule, right? And so if in a perfect world, they had the ability to add something next year, would it be an offensive line to kind of fix the running game or help improve that, or would it be like somewhat of a top target? Now, it's going to be difficult when you're 11 and three and picking in the back half of round one to, you know, oh, this is our wide receiver one. We're going to be able to draft him at that spot because you know other teams might want those.

A lot of Keon Coleman's and Xavier Worthies kind of in that range.

Correct. Uh, but I mean, it feels like the big difference in this game versus the first Bills game is that Stefon Diggs just gets four targets, three receptions, and 26 yards. Whereas in that first matchup,

he was a mainstay of the offense, a target player, the reason that they won.

And in this one, he's just like one of the dudes.

He ran fewer routes than Matt Collins. Matt Collins, like I said, had twice as many targets than Steph Diggs. It just, it's just not good enough, you know? So, that was just a choice that they made. Um, and it did not pay off. Do, do want to mention a couple things on on the Bills side. Obviously, early in that game was super frustrating because the Bills punted in New England territory twice. Twice. So, those punts early on the game, those were, I thought, very cowardly punts. There was also two challenges where Vrabel opted to challenge a Brandon Cook's catch that got reversed. And on the flip side, McDer did not challenge a Kahan Booty catch, which should not have been a catch that led to touchdowns. The first half, the coaching swing. Rael was outcoaching McDermott by a mile. Obviously, in the second half, Josh Allen goes hero mode. And really, what was so crazy about this game is there was not one moment where here comes a huge long James Cook touchdown. Here comes a big yards-after-catch play. Khalil Shakir had the only play that was beyond 25 yards long. All those drives that you talked about, five in a row, all of them were like six, seven, 11-play drives, just relentless chunk gains. So Josh Allen obviously getting getting going in the scramble drill. Uh, James Cook was phenomenal. Just kind of consistent grinded-out carries, but a lot of first downs there. Tons and tons and tons of successful plays underneath. Dawson Knox kind of squirms in for two touchdowns. Uh, James Cook gets out in the flats for another touchdown, three in this game. But really, this was just Josh Allen too hard to tackle, and you kind of felt the weakness of the Patriots kind of middle of that spine, a little bit slow. They just don't have like premier talent uh up the gut right now. And obviously, when you're facing James Cook and Josh Allen, you're going to feel that. But uh, fantastic win from Josh Allen. Uh, very clearly was the better quarterback in this one. Uh, as good as Drake May was in the first half.

I have to ask about the Patriots running game. I mean, the stat sheet is simply incredible. It's 14 carries, 148 yards, and two scores for Trevian compared to Raandre's 6 for 50, which 8.3 yards per carry. Not bad, but when you're staring in the face of a rookie, 10.6 six. That is uh absolutely nuts. Um, I mean, Hendo all season when he was a starting running back has been extremely effective, and here it seemed like it was, and we'll look at the chart on Stats vs Film this week if I make it there. It felt like way more uh Trevian Henderson and then Arandre Stevenson would pop in there in certain packages. And to me, that finally did pay off here for the Patriots, as you can see, because uh Trevion is super fast, going over 20 miles per hour twice.

Yep.

Uh, and on the 65-yard, May saying stride for stride with him, going over 20 miles per hour himself on that one, too.

That's what I was going to say. Drake May was the reason why he scored that second touchdown. He reached 20 miles per hour. So that was really impressive stuff from Drake May out there. Yeah, both those touchdowns were largely untouched. The reason why you go untouched is because you're faster than everybody on the football field. So that's obviously Raander Stevenson will never be able to do what Trayvon Henderson did today. Hendo did only play 48% of the snaps. When he would get on the field, they would run the ball to him. He's just not going to be trusted in the pass protection game. That's why Raandra Stevenson played uh more snaps than Trayvon Henderson. But the touches kind of went uh uh um towards Trayvon Henderson by a pretty wide margin. So I'll keep mentioning Raheem Moster. Obviously, Trayvon Henderson has a bigger ceiling than Raheem Mostard has, but how he's winning right now is getting to the edge of these big cutback lanes, and when you're faster than everybody, every other game or so, you're going to be able to rip off massive, massive, massive uh plays, and that's pretty cool to do when your left tackle is not even in there right now.

I see Dawson Knox with another two touchdowns after last week's multiple touchdown game, too. Uh, weapon.

Um, no, not really. I wouldn't say weapon. They weren't like standing out. Uh, Dolan Concade did get tackled at the two-yard line a couple times. Yeah, both of them were were pretty effective uh overall. You go back and watch this game, and there's not a single play that like really stands out of like, oh my gosh, that was like a Josh Allen MVP moment, but just like the relentlessness that he had. When someone asked Rabel after the games like, "Hey, like what's up with this Josh Allen guy?" And he's like, "Well, he's 6'5, he's 250, he's fast, he can throw the ball, and you can't tackle him, so that's why you pay him $60 million." And that was really like a pretty good summary of what happened in this game. There was like not a lot of turnovers. There's like no wonkiness. Um, I think that these two teams are pretty evenly matched in general. Uh, Josh Allen went full superhero mode, and they grinded out a close win.

Yeah, Patriots still, according to The Athletic's playoff simulator, expect to win the division 76% chance and likelihood of that happening. But this definitely makes it spicy the rest of the way as the Bills are, I guess, technically one game behind, but you know, there's a lot of different iterations that can happen from here.

The big deal for this game is the Patriots lost a huge percentage chance for the first-round buy. So now the Broncos are at 64% chance, and now the Patriots at 17% chance. That was like what the big-time stakes were for this game.

Yep. Because the number two seed, as of a few years ago, no longer gets a by-week at the start of the playoffs. Okay. I had both ACL elbow bows. So, we'll start with the LA Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs because as everyone knows, and I'll lead with the end, uh, Patrick Mahomes suffers what is likely to be an ACL injury, and that not only knocks out the Kansas City Chiefs from the playoffs in week 15 of the NFL season, imagine telling someone that back in August.

But that is going to impact his 2026 start to the season at the very least, because his legs were a big part of this game early on. Um, in fact, the opening touchdown and the only touchdown that they scored was a Mahomes rushing touchdown, 11-play drive, uh, and a third and 11 conversion to Travis Kelce to set it up. And yeah, Mahomes in pivotal games, as we know, uses his feet. I won't go like play-by-play and drive-for-drive here because it was only 29 points combined, but I, I do just want to point out that Justin Herbert by himself kind of won this game for the Chargers on offense. And I understand you can look at it's 19 to 29, 210 yards, one touchdown, one interception, four sacks, a 52 quarterback rating, an 84, excuse me, 52 QBR and 84 quarterback rating. It was much better than that. I continue to say it. When the Chargers put you in negative situations because of your offensive line, maybe the raw stats aren't going to look great. But what is fantastic is when you look at these isolated throws that Justin Herbert makes with bodies around him and moving off his spot. Those are the game-changing moments. Okay, just before half, for example, Chris Jones, you know, just one of the best defenders in the league, all over Justin Herbert. He launches it to Trey Harris because QJ is out for this game, along the left sideline, 37 yards. Dot. Harris even like kind of bobbles it a little bit. They have to review the catch. They call it on the field as it stands. He follows it with an even better throw, I would say, a 16 to Keandre Lambert-Smith. Just a second catch.

I remember him.

As a professional. Yes. Preseason god KLS. Uh, and he threw this while leaping into the air because he was expecting a hit from his front side. And so at halftime, that breaks it to 13-10, the Chiefs lead. And as you can tell, the Chiefs don't score another point from there. Um, because Justin Herbert, once again, a highlight reel 27-yard end-over-end. I mean, he is forcing this pass once again through contact, and the ball more than flutters, uh, gets to Aronda Gatson, that gets him down the four-yard line. On that same drive, it wasn't just Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs also lost Nick Bolton for a period of time. Chris Jones to a hamstring injury. Jaylen Watson. It was basically back-to-back-to-back plays. Uh, and okay, so we get to that point, and the Chargers, after two field goals, find the lead for the first time. Chiefs get the ball back again. Consecutive completions here to Taekwon Thornton for 50 yards. Uh, Tony Jefferson, who had an amazing clean hit to dislodge a ball on third and four earlier in the game from Rashi Rice, now gets ejected for a second huge hit here on Taekwon Thornton. It was helmet-to-helmet that left Thornton injured. Um, third and 15. Again, they're already in field goal range to cut this to a tie game. Mahomes throws an interception to Dion Henley, who was apparently a former wide receiver turned linebacker here. He blankets Kareem Hunt. Yes, this is third and 15. Uh, on a, I'm assuming a wheel route along the sideline, in phase, pinpoints it, and then brings it down for the interception. But still, Chiefs have a chance. They get the ball at their own eight-yard line, 5 minutes 20 seconds to go. Near midfield, Mahomes rolls right. As he throws it away, a Chargers defensive lineman kind of dives his legs for a sack. He doesn't fall to the ground, but he kind of gets tripped up, or you can tell he knows arms are around him. And then on basically his second step, you can see that Mahomes' knee hyperextends. It does kind of like that bounce that we've all come to expect here when it comes to knee ligaments. And every national insider has already reported that Patrick Mahomes has suffered an ACL injury. And so, sure, Gardner Minshew has a chance to lead a field goal drive, and he just simply can't do it. So, Chiefs are eliminated. Chargers, despite everything that has happened on that football team this year, despite, you know, the running, get the running backs averaging 3.2 yards per clip. The leading receiver was Aronda Gatson with four for 61. Improved to 10 and 4 on the season.

Super gutsy win from the Chargers here. It buys them time to like figure out exactly who's going to win the offensive line tryouts that they're holding. There was a rotation I'm understanding on the interior. They're trying to get some guys back uh and then hopefully they can get Quinton Johnson back in time. But at least they bought themselves time to kind of figure things out because the last couple weeks on offense, it's just Justin Herbert running for his life. And it sounds like based off your recap here, that's exactly what happened the entire game.

This is my thing with EPA, man. Again, it's just 1.7 here when like Justin Herbert puts the team on his back and forces them and wills them into another win. It just to me doesn't encapsulate just how good a performance. And yeah, he had an interception on top of it, but when you go back and watch it, you will see just outrageous plays that he makes. Now, to your point, we know the Chargers offensive tackles have been miserable this season. It's backups to the backups to the backups. Okay.

The interior was their choice. So, Bradley Bozeman has been horrific at center all season long, but they plan because he's a leader, right?

At right guard, they signed Mai Beckton from the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles. He is splitting drives,

flipping drives with Trevor Penning. Okay. And then they have Zion Johnson at left guard. So, it's not like this guard, center, guard combo has been injured and not their choice. It was their decision to go into the league into the season with these guys, and that has been a big issue, and it showed up a lot with the rushing attack. I will say I understand Amarin Hampton had 15 carries uh to Kamani Vidall's 12. Hampton had a few long runs at the end, and that 26-yard definitely helps. It was really a 50/50, and I'm sure you'll see that in that chart this week, too.

Yeah. Yeah. I was going to ask you, did anyone kind of separate on tape between Hampton and Vidal? I'm just my assumption always just going to be the first-rounder is going to like kind of eventually separate from Kamani Vidal, but um, it hasn't been like that so far.

Spags was throwing a lot of pressure looks in the direction of the Chargers. Just by my eyes, a handful of them was when Hampton was on the field, and they were getting a free rusher,

either a defensive back or someone off the edge, just going clean on Herbert to force him off his spot. And so I don't know exactly what the snap counts were, but I would be surprised if if Hampton played more. At the same time, that doesn't mean that like Kamani Vid Doll totally outplayed a Marvin Hampton here. It's just again, I think it's going to prove to be a 50/50 spot moving forward for a team that is struggling to block up front for the running game.

Yeah, Hampton played half as many snaps to Kamani Ball, even though the touches went in his favor. So, it's one of those situations where Hampton's on the field, he's getting the rock, but he's not being trusted in uh all phases, and I think that's warranted.

I'm not sure what there is to say about this Chiefs team either. I mean, now we're, you know, in your fantasy semi-finals and the fantasy finals. It's Gardner Minshew at quarterback. You're going to have Travis Kelce. You're going to have Rashi Rice. I mean, this rushing attack has generated zero explosiveness all season long. Uh, it's probably just going to crumble the rest of the season. And uh, and then you head into 2026, and we'll see if Travis Kelce is on this roster next year. It's that simple. And like Xavier Worthy was even in and out of this game and got like tested for a concussion uh as well, and he returned. So, a lot of players got injured for this team, and we've seen it all season long with their tackles, with their interior offensive linemen, and now we're seeing with the quarterback and defensive pieces, too.

Yeah, I'm guessing we're going to watch the offense crumble, and you're just going to see how bad, you know, the offense really is without Patrick Mahomes. So, I think Rasheed Rice, you'll be able to start him, but aside from that, it's going to be really, really tough. And I think you nailed it with the Patrick Mahomes stuff. What's so difficult is one, it might be a multiple ligament ACL tear. It's December 14th today. He's probably going to have surgery, not right away, and wait. So, best case is he's like rushing to get to week one. Probably more likely maybe starts on the PUP list, misses a couple games, and if he misses for a lot of next year, that also wouldn't be that outrageous, too. What's so difficult is this year was the most he's ran ever. It's his highest uh attempts per game. It's the most yards per game uh by far at 31 rushing already.

Yes.

It's career numbers. It's like he was playing playoff games the entire time, and they were only 500 with him healthy. And I think a lot of that just because he does not have like a true like number one wide receiver. Like he's not been able to find the guys down the field, and in man coverage situations, they've been getting smoked. And then this game, a pretty quiet game across the board uh in an elimination game. So the TEs are going to have some like very, very tough questions to kind of answer here. Uh, I think definitely they got to get a running back. They're going to have to replace Travis Kelce. I'm assuming he's just going to retire. And then uh the offensive line's good, but you maybe you're going to have to dip your toes back in the wide receiver market again, despite spending top picks on Xavier Worthy and Rasheed Rice. And I think the biggest problem on the team is the defensive line just has no pass rush, you know? So, I was looking at the pressure numbers here. Justin Herbert was under pressure some, but it wasn't an outrageous number. And that's because the Chiefs, aside from Chris Jones, who's uh highly paid and he's getting up there in age, too. Uh, they're going to have a lot of lot of issues to kind of solve here. And they'll be able to restructure some contracts, but right now they're bottom three in cap space heading into the next off-season. If the season ended today, the Chiefs would have the 12th overall selection. That could get into the top 10. We'll see what other teams win around there. Uh, yeah, I mean, they have invested a lot in pass catchers. I hear you on not having anyone that can beat man coverage, but like, you know, Rashi Rice is there. They invest a first-round pick in Xavier Worthy. Obviously, the contracts they've had for Travis Kelce, and then, you know, giving 10-plus million every single year to Hollywood Brown. But then it's telling like when Taekwon Thornton is your best deep threat every single season.

Right? They need a somebody with some size that can win like third and seven, you know? Like that's the type of profile. Maybe they're drafting high enough, and I know the wide receiver class is supposed to be pretty good, that maybe this is the year they they actually find that type of body, but they they've really missed that for a while. And I think once you remove Kelsey from it, and Patrick Mahomes is going to be scrambling around as much next year, you're going to have some have somebody that you can like truly rely on in all phases. And they just have not had that so far.

They will get the third-place schedule next season. They'll be third place in the AFC West this year. So that'll at least be easier for them to attack in 2026. All right. Not very often we get 75 points scored in an NFL game. Rams improved to 11 and 3, 41 points. Lions dropped to 8 and 6, 34 points. Who stood out here?

I mean, pretty much everybody stood out in this one, right away. Early in this game, Matthew Stafford throws an interception to Aiden Hutchinson on what was going to be a tight end screen, where Aiden Hutchinson, I believe, just like knew what the play was going to be because Matthew Stafford canned it. He nearly brings it to the house. Right after that, Amon-Ra St. Brown touchdown uh over the top. And after that point, I mean, Matthew Stafford was completely on a roll. Early in the game, big out routes to Devonte Adams. Devonte Adams later in the game on the go ball, pulls up lame. It's the same hamstring injury. They play on Thursday night. I can almost guarantee he's not going to play that one. I'll even ask like, what exactly do we need to see Devonte Adams in the regular season for, already after a huge win here? Maybe they just kind of save him for the playoffs because that's been kind of a lingering injury. But really, it's the Matthew Stafford connection with Puka Nacua. Puka near the sideline was completely unstoppable. I know he left with cramps, but it was just cramps. He's going to be good to go for this Thursday. He hangs on to like 170 yards in this one. Matthew Stafford was fantastic. Um, but really, the to me, the big storyline with the the Rams in this one is once again how efficient their ground game was. So heading into this, they had the highest rushing success rate of the decade at over at 52%. And this one, 69% rushing success rate. That is without a Lamar Jackson type to kind of add numbers to the box. Uh, this is just under center, old-school duo, a little bit of outside zone, a little bit of pulling, and this is just Sean McVay lighting up a Lions defensive line that for the most part the last couple years has been very strong. So that was a 100th percentile rushing success rate outcome in this one. And that's crazy to me because Matthew Stafford could easily win the MVP this year. And then as a side hustle, the Rams have the most efficient run game in a very, very long time. So if you're planning on beating this team in the playoffs, be prepared to score 35-plus. And in a lot of these games, 35 is not even the right number. This is why in the start-sit show, like when we talk about, I don't know, Breece Hall or Austin Ekeler or Kyren Williams, these teams that are projected for 13, 14, 15 points,

and then you look at the Rams that are projected for 30, and you know that they are just exchanging drives with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. It's why I can't get over suggesting Blake Corum in those situations despite, you know, players that you drafted in round one or round two in your drafts. Because we've gotten to this point, we know that the Rams backfield is arguably the best in the league, and they generate touchdowns, you know? And here you get it. Kyren Williams, 15 carries, 78 yards, two scores, and Blake Corum, 11 carries, 71 yards, and one touchdown. And that's not even talking about whatever passing down work the two guys get. So, it's basically splitting what we previously got with the Lions with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery into this one. Yet people just, to me, are not treating Blake Corum like 2025 David Montgomery, and they should.

I think that's especially going to be true for the next couple weeks when Devonte Adams is probably not going to be out there, and he's been a huge part of the goal-line package. So if we're actually just getting goal-line touchdowns to the running backs, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, all that stuff came uh pretty close to the goal line there, that's just going to be easier for him to score touchdowns. Other player I wanted to throw out here, Colby Parkinson. His numbers in the last month, we'll talk about in Stats vs. Film when I actually have the the model uh ran. He's going to be top five, top 10 in a lot of the categories for the tight end position. In this one, he had two scores. One of the scores debatable. He, I think, was probably down at the one-yard line, but in the stat sheet, we're calling it a win. And on tape,

one of the scores, he actually didn't score, but

but he did moss. It was a fantastic play over the top in traffic. Great play by Colby Parkinson. I think he's actually pretty good. And I went back and looked at it over the cap. He signed a multi-year contract, and Tyler Higbee is a free agent. So like dynasty shares, this multiple tight end stuff with Sean McVay is not going away long-term. So down the stretch, without Devonte Adams, next year, they play the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. The Seahawks being shredded by tight ends. Colby Parkinson is the under uh appreciated hero of the Rams offense right now. Uh, and he just happens to score two touchdowns, 75 yards at a pretty disgusting position. Okay, we've spoke glowingly about this Rams offense. Should we start having just a couple questions about their defense? Because this is 34 points here. We've seen them, you know, give up some big chunk gains to wide receivers over recent weeks as well. Um, at one point I thought this is one of the best defenses in the NFL, but are they generating the same amount of pass rush? Are they covering as well as they were, I don't know, a month ago?

No, they got absolutely shredded in this game. The the the Rams secondary is a complete weakness. A.J. Terrell was like just a healthy scratch in this one. Emmanuel Forbes has just really regressed. Uh, early in this game, it was this kind of the same old Chargers defense. A lot of quarter shells, and what does Jared Goff do? And Dan Campbell? They said, "We're just going to throw it over the top. Just post route, post route, post route." Jameson Williams had one for a touchdown. Amon-Ra St. Brown had one for a touchdown. Jamo had big crossing routes. Amon-Ra St. Brown had big crossing routes. So, it's the same like type of play that won Jared Goff the ball like right down the seams was on a terror, terror. In the first half, he was doing absolutely nothing wrong. I thought Jared Goff played fantastic football in this one. You saw him slide up into the pocket. He was like really feeling himself. In the second half, there were minor adjustments. It seemed like the Rams, instead of staying in two-high shells, they rotated a guy in the box. They had someone kind of roaming over the middle of the field, and they had a deep safety back there. So, it's a little bit harder to push the ball over the top. There's just not like these simple quarter speeders. That Chris Shula game plan adjustment at halftime did slow down Jared Goff just enough. They weren't quite as efficient. So, I agree with you. The Rams secondary is by far their Achilles' heel, but hopefully they get Quentin Lake back in uh eventually. Roger McCreary, I have to check in back on their injuries, but the Rams offense is way better than the the weakness of the Rams secondary. So unless a game like the Panthers happens where there's a bunch of turnovers and stuff like that, you're going to have to be very, very comfortable throwing the ball over the top. And the Lions were able to do that in this one, but I'm not sure if every other team across the league can could do that.

Yeah. And we know other than, I don't know, three defenses across the league, like these kind of go in waves, right? Like even great defense isn't sticky week overall.

But these guys are wide open. Like Amon-Ra and Jamo were were wide ass open for a lot of the game. Like that should be at least a little bit concerning for Rams fans,

right? But like, for example, if the Rams somehow face the Seahawks again in the playoffs, we know like Chris Shula has dialed up things against Sam Darnold. I think Chris Shula is a very good defensive coordinator. So, uh, we will see. Okay, I need to ask about the Lions a little bit more. I mean, it's way more Jahmyr Gibbs in terms of touches than David Montgomery. However, David Montgomery is the one that gets a touchdown. And I mean, for everyone that was able to get to the playoffs with Jahmyr Gibbs, he did zero for you. Just 58 yards here on 17 touches in comparison, like you said, the passing game, Brown 13 for 164 and two, and Jamo 7 for 134 and one, which by the way, is so cool to see from Jameson Williams versus the inconsistency early on this year. It's just to me obvious he's a very, very good wide receiver talent out there, and everything that they were running in combination with him and Amon-Ra was fantastic against his quarters coverage.

Yeah, Jamo really stood out. There was a very funny moment, the Amon-Ra St. Brown screen touchdown, which about like from the seven-yard line. Jameson Williams thought the screen was going to him. So you see Amon-Ra looking at Goff like this, and Jamo's right next to him like this, and then after Amon-Ra catches the ball, Jamo like the last second tries to block somebody, gets absolutely pancaked. So Jamo was trying to score touchdowns on plays that weren't that weren't even designed for him. Uh, but yeah, it was a fantastic game for all them. Unfortunately, with Jahmyr Gibbs, he played 81% of the snaps, you know, he just did nothing with it. And I, I kind of understand the game plan. Uh, there was one Jahmyr Gibbs drop in the flats, but the Jared Goff pass game was like absurd. It was so good. Like there was no reason to be running the football. If everything down the field was working, then why would you be running the football? Pins. So, it's like one of those situations where you score 34 points, you play 81% of the snaps, you're one of the fastest guys on the field, uh, and you just have a kind of a goose egg fantasy performance. That happens. It's just called range of outcomes. You just got got to deal with it. And hopefully the Jahmyr Gibbs drafters had a by-week um, because he's probably going to go crazy uh next week.

Just noticed that both teams combined for five for five on fourth downs here, too. They're nasty.

Yeah, nasty. All right, let's talk about another injury. Uh, we'll get there in a moment, I guess. But the Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, you could argue, at least record-wise, that these were, if not the best teams from their conferences, maybe a Super Bowl preview in some people's eyes, but the Broncos at home improved to 12-2 and now have easy command of the AFC and the number one seed as they beat the Packers 34-26. There was a little scuffle, scrap before the game. That hitting carried over into it for all four quarters. Um, early on, Packers settled for two field goals. Josh Jacobs got stuffed on a third and one, I think twice. Uh, and then next time on a third and six. Romeo Doubs was well covered. Broncos on, I believe, their third series get their first touchdown. They finally convert on a third down. Third and five to Courtland Sutton. Then a third and seven to Lil'Jordan Humphrey, who I didn't know he was back on the roster, back in Sean Payton's good graces after he was with the New York Jets earlier this year. But if you thought Lil'Jordan Humphrey was an obscure wide receiver to catch a pass.

The first touchdown was a 20-yarder down the left sideline to Michael Bandy, which I think sounds more like a kicker name than a wide receiver name. But here we are. Broncos lead 7-6.

Packers then respond through Josh Jacobs. Third and goal from the 14-yard line. Josh Jacobs wheels down the sideline, grabs the ball with both hands, holds it with Drake Greenlaw, who has one of those massive knee braces on his elbow, can't like lift his right arm. He can only compete for the target with his left. But even through that contact and trying to swipe it away, Jacobs comes down with the touchdown grab. Uh, he had a glorious day uh with that touchdown catch and also 12 carries, 73 yards, and a score. But the Broncos get it back, get to a second and two, which I believe is Sean Payton's favorite down and distance, you know, from watching way too much Bo Nix tape. Uh, if it's second and two at like the 40-yard line, he is running some type of shot play or double move or throwback screen or whatever you want to call it.

This time it's a 42-yard to Courtland Sutton. Drive ends with a touchdown. Again, a five-yard sit route by Lil'Jordan Humphrey. Nix throws it to the right leverage in the right spot. That brings us to halftime where actually the Broncos lead 16 to 4. Um, excuse me, the Packers lead 16 to 14. Out of half, Riley Moss called for defensive pass interference on third down. To me, my eyes, great coverage. He has that same arm bar that everyone does as he's tracking back for the football. Some way, somehow, referees call it. Very next snap, Josh Jacobs takes it 40 yards to the house. So, now they lead 24-13. You think, man, how they played all season long. Second halves. Micah Parsons, they're going to win this one. And you think it even more because they force a three-and-out. And after that play, Jordan Love takes an immediate shot on the next snap. Patrick Surtain intercepts it, diving one-on-one man coverage down the field against Christian Watson, who lands on his left shoulder. Serious injury it looks like. I'm not going to know what it is from a shoulder injury to a clavicle or whatever, but he misses the remaining contest. And then after that, Bo Nix produces a perfect third quarter where the Broncos score 13 points and simply don't look back. I mean, we can talk about other completions to Lil'Jordan Humphrey where he rolls all the way to the right and then goes to left and throws a 22-yarder or this run-out where he draws the defenders and then flips it to Troy Franklin for 11 yards. That drive also into the 14-yard touchdown on a rope back right corner to Courtland Sutton. At this point, he has three touchdowns compared to three incompletions. Um, next series they get on their minus 40, their own 40-yard line. They go for it on fourth and one. He gets it on a quarterback sneak. Couple plays later, it's when the injury happens to Michael Parsons, non-contact left knee injury on a pressure. He's already been reported as an ACL. Um, and then yeah, the game-winner, basically a 23-yard touchdown to Troy Franklin in a zone with four Packers around him. So, this is that Bo Nix performance I think that we all were hoping what we got in week one, but uh, they were still winning without it, Hayden. They're 12-2, and you get it here with 23 of 34, 302, four touchdowns, and then another 10 rushing yards.

I don't know how you can't take the Broncos as like very serious Super Bowl contenders at this point. They've lost two games. They happened in week two and week three. They lost by one point, and they won or they lost by three points against the Chargers and the Colts. And at the time, the Colts were absolutely rolling. Right now, they have a 64% chance of having a by-week, and they're looking really good there. They have not lost at home this season. They will be playing all of their games in the playoffs at home. And we've eliminated Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, two potential boogeymen. We'll see about Lamar Jackson, and we'll see about Josh Allen. Uh, but really, this is like one of the weakest AFCs, and this defense, I know, is really good, and that's sticky. This offensive line is extremely good. That's sticky. Sean Payton, we know is good. And then Bo Nix is emerging. So like I was kind of like looking through the the Super Bowl winners on like just kind of where defense is kind of dragged uh kind of mediocre offenses. Ben Roethlisberger in his second season won the Super Bowl. Uh, he wasn't like an extremely good player at the time. There's one like the Joe Flacco years, the Eli Manning years. Like obviously those guys uh as their careers developed became better and better. But there's some times where just a really good defense, you go the you have the right season at the right time, and then Bo Nix can make some plays on the move, or the ball is thrown downfield, get completed, and they can absolutely going on a go on a run. So like this team doesn't get chatted about. I think Denver people believe in them, and then everybody else doesn't really believe in the Broncos. And at what point like who else do they need to beat here uh or just have a first-round buy where they can't actually be treated as contenders? And I think Bo Nix kind of developing a little bit would be like the the last missing ingredient for more people to kind of catch on to that.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, the opening, I would say three games for Bo Nix this season were were horrible. They, they were miserable. Guess what? That was the case during his rookie season. Maybe we just keep in mind moving forward that September Bo is different than December Bo, you know?

Uh, and look, we're are always going to have >> plays from Sean Payton where maybe he believes in himself too much. Either these screens, I'm not going to call them trick plays, but manufactured touches, all the sort that can somewhat limit his quarterback. But at the same time, you know, he always gets compared to Drew Brees because I'm sure Sean Payton told all the media people that, oh,

I see Drew Brees when I look at Bo Nix, despite them playing the game very differently. Like I would say Bo is much more high variance in his game than Drew Brees ever was. Like Breeze would just pick you apart like long sustained drives and not dink and dunk, but oh, you have a void here. I know exactly where it is. My vision's exceptional, and I'm going to work in this confine of the pocket. This is, you know, later career. Drew Brees. Bo just always wants to be moving, right? He always wants to, you know, maybe change the launching point or change the vision of what the coverage is going to be and the angles that they have to cover and all these types of things. And when it works, man, it it like really works. And yep,

on top of that, like you said, amazing defense, top three, if not top one in the league. Great offensive line. That really helps, too. And then you have a quarterback who has excellent pressure-to-sack rate. So, we know that in drives that you don't take a sack, or when you do take a sack, let's say, that tanks the percentage chance that you have of scoring any points on it. So, at the very least, all three of those things give you a platform of success in a year when a lot of those teams, other teams, opponents of yours don't have two uh or even maybe one of those dynamics at play for their squad.

Yeah, I was like throwing like I think Courtland Sutton's like an underrated like real player for them. He can just be dunking on dudes uh and he can win in

man coverage. So, he's kind of like a player that like the Chiefs don't have and it's kind of hard to find like reliable receivers and they have one of those. So, really just comes down to like, can they get some explosives on on the grounds with with RJ Harvey? We know he's capable of that. Could you get the right manufactured play for Marvin Mims or Troy Franklin or Bo Nix scrambling around to win a close game or could just Bo Nix kind of progress in year two? Um, which happens all the time like you don't ever know when like the big leap is coming when things kind of dial in. But, uh, yeah, like ever since the they lost those two games early on, they're 14th on offense in EPA per play, which isn't fantastic, but when you got a top two defense, top three defense, and you have a buy, a buy, then who knows what can happen in the playoffs. So, I just think it's it's beyond time to like treat them as like they have a actual chance of reaching the Super Bowl at this point.

I personally want to shout out RJ Harvey. He now has 10 touchdowns on the season, his rookie year. That's freaking awesome. Um, and while this backfield was split three, four different ways to open the season, it's very clear of who's getting the football from this backfield now. I mean, in this game, got to have it. RJ Harvey gets 19 carries. Jaleel McLaughin two carries. Adam Prentice gets stuffed on his only fourth and one attempt at fullback. Uh, Tyler Badie gets stuffed on his only like third and six escort screen out there, too. So RJ Harvey, while he did fumble uh on an early drive, I think has continued to win this backfield when given the opportunity and he is a part of the big plays and especially I would say their red zone touchdown success rate. So many of his touchdowns this year have been in the red zone and he's a crucial piece of that for them.

Yep. I think the offensive line is going to be helping them out in those situations. So yeah, really excited. On the Packers end, I said after they lost Tucker Kraft that he was such a pivotal piece for them in yards after catch that that already knocked them out of the Super Bowl chances for me. They played really well over these last few weeks. Hayden, I'm back. I don't think that they can win the Super Bowl without Michael Parsons. And if Christian Watson misses an extended period of time, too, with what looked like to be another serious injury for him, that is too many hits. that's like your three best players arguably this year on offense other than the quarterback and then your defensive superstar that uh gets you off the field and is the difference maker because the other edge rushers have just not done enough for the Packers this season.

Yeah, really tragic injury for for Micah Parsons. It comes at the part of the season where you just don't even know if he's going to be fully himself next year or miss part of the season. Um especially at that position, but he's young enough. He's a freak athlete. It's modern medicine. So hopefully he can bounce back. I agree with you. The defense is going to take a huge huge step back with that. They play like a lot of a lot of just kind of zone coverage and that's >> that can be picked apart against veteran quarterbacks who they'll see like you're going to see Matthew Stafford perhaps. You can see uh obvious like Jared Goff and those types. We'll see about the 49ers. They can just kind of pick you apart if you sit in that zone coverage. Um so that's going to be really really bad for him. And I think the Christian Watson is a really big one too. He was he's freaking hospitalized with a like chest shoulder issue. So, we'll see about that when Luckily Matthew Golden popped in there at the end and made a couple big plays, but yep, >> that there's a big >> he'll have to play a lot more. I mean, he had a sweet back shoulder 27 yard gain on third and 11, >> right? >> Um he's had an extremely slow rookie year now when you say all this stuff, the Packers are at home. It's already come out that they're two and a half point favorites on the road against the Bears this week. Uh >> well, they're number one right now in in EPA per play um since week four. So, the offense like Jordan Love has to go absolutely changed without Christian Watson and Micah Parsons. Like the math isn't going to math the same to me.

No, of course it's not going to math the same. Jordan Love has to go absolutely crazy on the downfield passes and that might have to be to someone like Matthew Golden. So, like all of a sudden, like the chances that this can click are substantially down. And not to mention right now they are going to be having to win on the road for a lot of their games in the playoffs even if they get it. So yeah, tough.

They they are still 94% to make the playoffs, 62% to win the NFC North. They're scheduled the rest of the way. It's on the road in Chicago, then verse the Ravens, and then on the road against Minnesota in in week 18. It might sound crazy. The key player for them kind of has to be Matthew Golden. even if >> you know La Fleur trusts them or not like now is the case, now is the time you have to. One of the interceptions went off of Dante Whitner's hands I believe. And so you had Jalen Reed mixed in there with some you know underneath manufactured stuff. They actually did some cool things uh in bunch sets for him to get him free releases. They got him out of the backfield with the reception too. But you know that's only one layer here. like Christian Watson and the downfield explosives and also on comeback routes and sideline routes has been the difference this entire Packers offense since they lost Tucker Kraft. And so who's going to do that now? That's the big question. And the only answer because everyone else has been playing this entire time other than Jalen Reed is Matthew Golden. And so to me it's questionable if that's possible.

Yeah. I've always thought this entire rookie season while he's not been playing, I thought his tape has actually been good. Now he's this is his chance to go prove that to be true.

All right. The most important game of the day was a lot tighter than any of us expected. It took a final second field goal for the Seattle Seahawks at home to beat the grandfather, the 44-year-old Philip Rivers, who throws for 120 yards, one touchdown, one interception, takes one sack. Lead with whatever you want here. You have free reign.

Well, we got to just talk about the Philip Rivers part of this. We all expected the Seattle Seahawks to win this game. It was just really comes down to what the hell was Philip Rivers. The first couple plays were run plays. Everyone knew that was coming. And on his first drop back, he go throws it to the right sideline and that thing came out like a total duck. And I was like, "Oh no, >> this is this is not going to go well." And for the most part, the rest of the game was fine enough for Philip Rivers. His EPA per dropback was basically zero, which like a 30th percentile performance for for Philip Rivers uh across the league. That's kind of what it felt like. He obviously was making a lot of clean decisions here, but was not able to push the ball down the field whatsoever. So, it's dink and dunk. Dink and dunk. Two of my favorite moments. Philip Rivers slips on the logo uh in the middle of the field on his like drop back. Gets up. No one's around him. I mean, it took him forever to even get up. Kind of falls forward for a couple more uh yards. It was He looked really big uh once he got the pads on him. And then my second favorite moment was the touchdown to Josh Downs where they're marching slowly down the field. Everything was a really slow march for the Colts. They finally get Josh Downs a touchdown. He goes crazy. The They cut to the sideline. Everybody on the Colts sideline is just laughing. They're not like pumped. They are just laughing uh because Philip Rivers was able to get it done. Fast forward. The Seahawks are constantly marching the field and then once they would get to the red area, everything would stall out. We've talked about this plenty of times before with the Seattle Seahawks. Lots of explosives in the offense, but the red zone efficiency right now is just not very good. So, the Seahawks kicker goes six for six, including the game winner there. For all 18 of the points, the Seahawks did not score a single touchdown. Liatu Latu stood out to me. Lanna Rumo had a great game plan from uh the Colts side of this thing. But at the end of the game, Philip Rivers has a chance to win this. He runs the ball a couple times. There was multiple like within the two-minute drill just straight up carries. Shane Steichen was very evident that he was okay playing for a 60-yard field goal. But on a fourth and two, the decision was are we going to try to hit this 60-yard field goal or are we going to try to move the chains, have a better opportunity to score a a shorter field goal and actually close the game out with zero seconds left. Shane Steichen decides, let's bring the kicker out. He drills a 60 yard. It's the tiniest kicker I've ever seen, by the way. He looks like he weighs about 60 lbs. believe it's Blake Grupe, former Saints kicker, who was terrible there.

He was and I think Nick Underhill had a story where they wouldn't even let him through the gate. The security guards thought it was like a prank that he looked too tiny to be on the roster. So, he looked that tiny and he drilled the 60 yard. That's just the state of kicking in 2025. Unfortunately for Philip Rivers, they get a a good moment there, but Sam Darnold rips a couple big-time throws and then in comes the sixth and game-winning field goal over there. So for the Colts, their season is pretty much eliminated. They could have squeaked out a win. We'll see if they're going to go back to Philip Rivers once again or if they want to see Riley Leonard, who by the way was a full participant in practice. They like decided to go with Philip Rivers. Uh I'm curious if they're going to keep rolling with it. Philip Rivers, it was a fun story, but we got zero fantasy production out of anybody. Obviously, first game against the Seahawks, that's gonna happen. Uh and then the Philip Rivers's final attempt throws it over the middle and that thing was hanging out like a blimp and for an interception like one of his uh only passes that traveled beyond 15 yards uh straight into the Seattle secondary. We've done the Colts thing every other week. They only have a 13% chance of making the playoffs this season. I saw a lot of discourse this week of I can't believe they're starting Philip Rivers. uh why not pick up, you know, a backup from another team or Mike White or someone like that in someone else's practice squad. Riley Leonard did practice all week despite getting banged up last week. when I saw the first touchdown, I guess the only one that he threw to Josh Downs, um, and I saw like the sideline erupt, to me, that was the answer why they went with Philip Rivers because all week long when you sign someone like him, someone that your locker room has either played against or watched growing up knows is, you know, a potential Hall of Famer out there, that at least gives you hope at eight and five when the world is telling you that your season is over. It gives you some inkling, some optimism that hey, we can upset in Seattle this team that is 10 and three. And for that reason, to me it was the right choice. Like I know they lost here, but it was a lot closer than we thought. And I just think sometimes we lose sight of how, you know, all these people have feelings and personalities and there's, you know, more time spent behind the scenes than there is the three and a half hours in front of the cameras for us. And to me, the decision actually paid off here for Philip Rivers, even if I didn't watch a single snap of it.

I think it was versus him versus anybody else you could have signed off the streets. I think that Philip Rivers would have given you the best chance to win this game. Uh now I think the the other part of the discussion is it sad that Philip Rivers is the best option that instead of Riley Leonard coming from college a good athlete that he's not the best uh opportunity to win a football game. I do think there's some truth to that that the college game is so different than the pro game that the amount of available quarterbacks that you can go to is like smaller than what the NFL product would want. But um Philip Rivers fought uh he got hit a couple times, bounced right back up. He was chirping at dudes as much as he can. There was not that much to chirp about. But in terms of like Michael Pittman, Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, it's a no-brainer. You cannot start any of these guys no matter what. Uh this team's just going to try to win with defense. Now, I will say that defense, there's something to this. Reminder, Sauce Gardner's out. Tre'Davious White, their other corner, he was out. DeForest Buckner was out. The rest of the defensive line really stepped up. Sam Darnold, he only took one sack, but you will see he was never like in command until like the second half of the game where I think that they got to play action a little bit more uh and he started to rip some big throws, but that first half was pretty worrisome uh for the Seahawks. And that was like Liatu Latu making some big plays. Uh they were sending some pressures from from Lanna Rumo. So they they definitely gave it a good effort here on defense too despite not having their their top three players. And then also Colts left tackle Bernard Raimann. He left with an elbow injury, went straight to the locker room, but did not look pretty as well. Their right tackle, uh, Braden Smith with another concussion. He was like thinking about retirement early on. Uh, he's on injured reserve. So, whoever is going to be quarterbacking for the Colts moving forward without their left tackle, without their right tackle. So, uh, for the rest of the season, unfortunately, for Indianapolis, it's all for show that this team's not going anywhere. Um, as gutsy as this one was, it just kind of shows you like the different tiers in the NFL.

Quickly, a couple more questions here on the Seahawks. I see 74 yards for Rashid Shaheed and then I looked >> uh on the final series he gets 17 yards and then another eight yarder to set up the game-winning field goal kick. Was he more involved? Was he more involved because >> you know this was a tight game they were trailing. Why do we get more Rashid Shaheed here? I think this was a game where they just needed him to create a big spark because the first half was was bad, but this was the first time where Rashid Shaheed actually ran more routes than Cooper Kupp. We've been kind of waiting for that. This was the flipping. Uh this won't pop up in the box score, but at one point Rashid Shaheed one-on-one a big go ball. He thought there was a defensive pass interference. I didn't think that there was one, but that was a big shot play opportunity uh potentially for a touchdown that goes incomplete. So, this was the game that felt most Rashid Shaheed since he's been been traded. Uh it it mattered just a little bit. You get the 74 yards, but he was out there for 33 of 40 dropbacks running routes, which is by far the most uh it's been. AJ Barner had a couple plays underneath, shown some athleticism with Elijah Moore out. But JSN, Shaheed, Barner, those are the their best three playmakers uh in the pass game, and that's now the order uh that they run in terms of snaps and dropbacks.

Yeah, season's long. I mean, maybe Shaheed is a big-time player for them when they get to the playoffs. And obviously, he had a kick return touchdown last week, too. Okay, positives over a game where the team is favored by what was it? 14 points, whatever it was here, and then Zach Charbonnet goes eight for 31. Ken Walker goes nine for 17. Uh, what the hell, dude? I mean, the offensive line is just a total disaster. You know, they were not in in a rhythm whatsoever. Yards before contact, my first time looking at I can just tell you it's bad. Yeah, yards before contact, negative one for Kenneth Walker. So, yeah, they they're rotating them and they were just not in a groove. Like the the whole thesis with Kenneth Walker was that they were going to be up by so much. You're going to be a bunch of carries. Well, guess what? They barely won this game. They needed to do on the last drive of the game. So, there wasn't this like game script. Uh so, it was Charbonnet played more snaps than Kenneth Walker and that's because they trust him more in pass protection and they were not able to get uh big plays down the And that's why I wanted to bring up the Colts defensive line because like the Quindell Johnson and a defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore and then you have Liatu Latu all these guys it's hard to pronounce their names. They're actually really good players for the defensive line and that was without DeForest Buckner. So uh they held their own but that Seattle Seahawks offensive line definitely was a weakness of the team.

All right, we'll close out this segment before we bring Brenley in with the Panthers just freaking dropping it. Okay, after Thursday, the loss for the Bucs, all the Panthers needed was to win in week 15, win in week 16, and then they won the NFC South, and instead, uh, they lose the New Orleans Saints 2-17. Um, I think when people go back and watch this game, they'll see a number of things. One, I think that the Saints just out coached the Panthers, uh, defensively especially, and then offensively in terms of pivotal situations. Um, for the Panthers, the issue was they kept running into brick walls. I mean, Rico Dowdle, 16 carries, 49 yards, one touchdown. That touchdown was on the first series of the game. That's an average of 3.1 yards per clip. Chuba Hubbard, eight carries, 29 yards, 3.6 yards per carry. In fact, Bryce Young tied with Rico Dowdle as a team's leading rusher. And Bryce Young was having very good success in the passing game. I mean, early on it was a sick sideline throw and more important catch by Jalen Coker. toe tap for 15 yards. Um later on, you know, he beats fourth and three pass rush, an unblocked defender. Then on third and 11, the throw is just behind D'Onta Foreman. He gets both hands on it, but it's ripped away. So it only allows him to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. But out of half, a 50-yard catch by Xavier Legette on third down as Bryce Young gets demolished in the pocket. The pass like floats in the air, but no one is near him. And then second and 21 after a penalty later, Bryce Young to Jalen Coker for just a beautiful double move sluggo 32 yard touchdown that you couldn't place it better in the front pylon. Um but Dave Canales just wanted to show how let's say stubborn he is running the football and in a pivotal fourth and inches play. Chuba Hubbard does not get it as the offensive line generates zero push against this above average Saints defense. And then on the Panthers defensive side, Tyler Shurmur just crushed them when given the opportunity. Like Panthers were up 17-7. Okay. Then the Saints go on and score 13 straight points. This is all in the same drive. Mason Templeton fumbled on a jet sweep. went directly into Christian Rauscher's hands, but he drops it and the Saints recovered. Same series, Panthers allow a third and 13 conversion because Ed Donatell all day long in those third long situations was sending zero rush or excuse me, zero blitzes, pressure looks and the Panthers were just playing off coverage and getting burned in those spots and the Saints wide receivers were winning at the catch point. Um Rauscher has a direct line to Shurmur to have a sack. instead he leaps because Tyler Shurmur head fakes and then second and 24 they put him in automatic first down on penalty. One of six first downs that the Panthers gave the opposition uh with penalties in this game. So yep, Saints win it with basically a walk-off field goal. remember the name Charlie Smyth who has been part of the NFL pathway program for only a couple weeks. They booted Grupe. They brought in Smyth and he is uh an insane kicker that won it with what would have been a 61 yard. But again on the final drive, Tyler Shurmur scrambles up the middle is short on what would be a fourth down and Lean Ransom, a rookie, leads with his shoulder into Tyler Shurmur's shoulder and that gives him a free 15 yards to make it a 46 yard. Basically a walk-off. Charlie Smyth, 6 foot4, 210 pound kicker by the way, versus my boy Grupe, who's uh 5'7, 156 lbs. So quite the upgrade there in terms of the physicality in the kicking department. Turns out to be the difference here.

You said it and there's a little bit of shock factor there, but the data kind of backs us up. You said above average Saints defense.

Very good.

With who? Like that's like the crazy part about this. like Brandon Staley kind of in his bag here, winning a lot of uh close games or keeping the games pretty tight here. That's a pretty like wild thing to say, but uh they are actually like 11th in EPA per play on defense this year. definitely a fringe top 10 unit when you watch every single week and granted those like I don't know eight through 17 can wax and Wayne but they kind of play as that cohesive unit and they stuff the run like they are perfectly built to prevent what the Panthers are trying to do with like 12 and 13 personnel and then generate no push off of it. Mhm.

Um, yeah, this is so disappointing for a Panthers team that you think can like turn the corner and make this season a memorable one and then they just like lay a total goose egg and it wasn't because of the quarterback. It was because again a fourth and one here's one thing, okay? If teams, and this goes for anyone, if teams refuse on fourth and one to go with the quarterback's league, which >> Hayden, you know the numbers, probably the best avenue, especially fourth and inches, is that is the move. If you don't want to put your quarterback in that spot, whether he's Bryce Young size or Lamar Jackson isn't good at it, so you use Mark Andrews or like Pat Mahomes got injured on it previously, so you use Noah Gray, whoever else, or like Sam Darnold and said, you go to AJ Barner. All these other teams, you have to have a package. You've been practicing since last May. Put a tight end under center. Put a running back under center. have to have someone that you're not going to go back three yards and instead you simply go forward and get push and find the crevice and get the three inches that you need. The Panthers have never run a quarterback sneak this season or a tight end sneak or any of that. That is a failure to me of a coaching staff to be in a preparation to not have a package that fulfills that exact need because if they got that play they would have won this game.

I want to go to the other side of the ball real quick on Tyler Shurmur. Was there anything to learn about him? Cuz he's the more games he wins, that means the draft uh positioning gets lower and lower, which means the odds of him uh finding a replacement uh gets lower and lower. We just watched Leno Sers uh go back to school. We'll see about the Oregon quarterback. It might just be Mendoza and nobody else in the first round. I haven't studied any of these guys, but this is just what I'm hearing from the people that know some ball. So, with Tyler Shurmur, another win here. They're not going to be picking in the top two top three anymore. Tyler Shurmur, is he looking like he's going to be the 2026 NFL quarterback for the Saints and should they actually roll with it?

Yeah, they picked seventh overall if the season ended today. And so that is probably outside of the quarterback range here and he finishes with 272 and a touchdown. Um it was again a lot of those pressure looks that got zero pressure on them. So, if that's the case, that one goes with quick decision-making for Tyler Shurmur to understand, I'm going to fill this area or I'm going to take this uh one-on-one situation, this man coverage, and throw it kind of high and away from defensive backs and give my guy a chance. Devin came up with those catches. Juwan Johnson tipped one to himself and came up with one of those. And then Chris Olave's touchdown, JC Horn tries to undercut it and the ball just has too much heat on it. And that's why Chris Olave gets in for there. Yeah. I mean, again, both teams averaged 5.3 uh yards per play. It was >> uh some again big-time throws in crucial situations for Tyler Shurmur that allowed the Saints to win. And then the penalties when they didn't get into favorable situations that the Panthers gifted them first downs and longer drives because of it. But I think the Panthers are now 0 and 2 when favored over their last 12 games being favored. I mean, that is so bad.

You'll run you'll run into the this the sample size with the Panthers. You can find the craziest stat on either side.

Well, and I'm sure that that goes back to like Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Last time they were favored over the last 12 games. Maybe even back to Cam Newton days. You know, >> I would not be surprised, man. They haven't been favored very often. Uh what's the scenarios for them? They beat the Buccaneers twice, they're >> they have to beat the Bucs twice and then they're >> if they split it, then it's it's who knows? We just have to kind of play.

Yeah, because they're against the Seahawks. I I highly doubt that they beat the Seahawks. Um, >> but yeah, I mean again it could have been win today, win next week, Panthers are in and instead they have to beat Tampa Bay both home and away. Uh, it's just a unfortunate inexperienced young team and I would say young coaching staff on that where like Evero kept sending he obviously came to the week and said, "Oh, that's a rookie quarterback. I'm going to send the house." And then you can't get pressure when you send the house and you get blitzed on them, the penalties. And then again, I would say Dave Canales being ill-prepared in certain situational aspects and uh failing >> failing. Good for Shurmur. I mean, that's a lot of pressure looks and that was the kind of the MO coming out is he can't handle the pressure. He falls down, throws it to the other team, and doesn't >> he did also take five sacks, I will say.

Yeah. But he's willing to take a sack. That was part of the thing. Is he willing to do it? like all that stuff seems a long time ago with the Tyler Shurmur conversation now >> for that you you will love watching some of the throws that he made into uh tight coverage and for some reason as we've seen with JC Horn and Mike Jackson they've covered let's say better wide receivers and then they have just an inability to cover these Saints wide receivers.

Yeah, it happens. Speed kills.

Speed kills.

What is up there running a 44? >> Oh, it's Vele. I I thought it was Chris Olave for 69. >> Yeah. No, Vele is there's not there's his lack of speed kills. >> Speed kills for Vele. >> No, Chris Olave. I thought he was the one that had the big touchdown here.

All right, we're bringing in Britley Weissman for this segment of the show, which is uh three NFC contenders beat up on bad opponents. That's what I'm calling it. Uh here we go. First one, Chicago Bears 31, Cleveland Browns three. Brenley DeAndre Swift, one of the biggest performances people that stuck by him all season long in the playoffs. 18 carries, 98 yards, two scores. A lot of us thought that maybe that's the pathway that Ben Johnson wanted to beat up on this Browns defense. Uh and it wasn't just that. We also had some sick Caleb throws on top of it.

Yeah, I mean the the Bears offense today, guys, was outstanding. You mentioned it, DeAndre Swift. The way he runs is so just pleasing to me. just hardnose, one cut, no-nonsense type of runner, gets north and south quickly, breaks tackles. I'm I'm a big DeAndre Swift fan. I thought he was outstanding today. His 17-yard run uh that that resulted in a touchdown was so fun. He did like a weird kick in the middle of it. It was really entertaining, but he had a great game. Then Caleb, you know, he he didn't he wasn't asked to do a ton today, but when he did, it was just it was outstanding. I mean, he had some of these throws. the one that was at a touchdown to DJ Moore. He was rolling to his right kind of throw throw across the body on a rope in the back of the end zone. Just just sick just sick stuff from Caleb today on his first touchdown to DJ Moore. You see him kind of just layer the ball in the back of the end zone a on a corner route. I thought it was just overall outstanding. Luther Burton, guys, uh he was terrific today. Obviously, they were out with Roman Dantzler, but Burton stepped in. You saw the explosiveness. You see what they can do after the catch. He's going to be a real weapon for them in years to come. I thought he was great. Just overall just an outstanding performance from the Bears offense. You can beat you guys in so many ways. Yeah, I think the DeAndre Swift part is really interesting to me because the way that you were describing him, uh, I agree for this year, but I would not have described him like that up until we got Ben Johnson, who I think has just found the right formula for him where he's not having to make as many decisions and he can just one cut back run lane and he's off and racing. And the data supports that it's the most 10 plus yard carries he's had in a single season uh of his career. And there was back in like with the Philadelphia Eagles, he had like 300 uh opportunities 250 opportunities in some of those seasons. So, this is just like a different version of DeAndre Swift. So, uh he's only 26 years old, so he's he's under contract for next season, but Ben Johnson's like found something very real with DeAndre Swift in this offensive line. I just wanted to shout out that the way that you were describing him. You could not have said that two years ago. He was extremely even last year, super frustrating player. You're just seeing a lot less of that since the by-week.

Yeah, his second touchdown. I mean, he ran through people. That is not something that you previously would have thought. It It really has felt like since the by-week, and you know, we all joke about sometimes halftime adjustments or by-week adjustments.

This Bears team has been one of the best rushing attacks in the league since the by-week, and they have figured out what works and what doesn't, and they have focused in on their strengths and they continue to roll with with them. Yeah. I mean, the Caleb throw to DJ Moore in the back of the end zone was just nutty. He was rolling to his right. Just rifles his pass. It kind of goes through this tight window and somehow someway goes straight to the like kind of getting tipped around in this congested space too and goes into DJ Moore's hands. He had two touchdowns, four for 69 in terms of catches and receiving yards. Those with Roman Dantzler about five minutes before kickoff being ruled out with his stress fracture. Um, and then you have the two rookies. I mean, these two rookies also Brenley are very different than what we got early season Bears when these guys weren't touching the field. And Luther Burton in terms of once again receiving yards is this team's wide receiver one was six for 84 and seven targets. And then Cole Kmet chips in for four for 63 as well.

Yeah, I thought both of those two players made a lot of plays. Kmet in particular because a lot of the the Bears today were actually having drops. Kyle Pitts had a drop. Cole Kmet had a drop and Kmet made this just beautiful catch where he had to pluck the ball. It was a low throw. He plucked the ball to convert a third down. And you just see the the reliable hands he has, the the chemistry he has with Caleb. I think he's only getting better and I I think really the the the future for him is just going to be unreal. I think he's outstanding. And then again, Luther Burton, I mean, he had some plays today where he just made defenders look stupid. He gets to get the ball in his hands and he just his short area quickness, his change of direction, making defenders miss is just remarkable.

Did he leave with an injury?

He didn't. So, he left. It was midway in the third quarter. He didn't come back. Now, obviously at that point, the game was out of hand. So, you know, I think even if he could have came back, there was no need to uh bring him back, but he did leave with an injury, but b based on reports, I don't think it's going to be that serious.

Good. Yeah, I think it was an ankle injury for him. Um

Yeah, just keep doubling down the Luther or the the Well, I think Luther Burton, but I think Cole Kmet is like the one. He's going to be the main character of this offense for sure. Super >> Luther Burton's pretty good, Hayden. He he's going to be like for for a freaking tight end, Cole Kmet moves so differently than ever than everybody else at that position. I think I think he's going to look like an all-pro type of guy. Um Luther definitely is making a lot of plays. He dropped I think he had a big drop in this one, but uh that happens.

He did have a drop. I watched it.

No, a lot of the guys had drops today for the for the Bears offense. It was, you know, this could have been a lot worse, I think. You know, cuz the >> Yeah, it was 10 degrees. It felt like >> Yeah. >> The I was going to say the the frustrating part was the Roman stuff. He kind of rushes back. It's negative 10 degrees and you have a stress fracture in your foot. What do you think is going to happen? There's probably feels like concrete out there. Like what what what were the >> made no sense. Made zero sense. Let's talk about the Cleveland Browns offense here because what Shador is coming off of a 350 passing yard game and here it's 18 of 35, 177, three interceptions, five sacks taken for 35 yards. Uh I'll be the first to say one of those interceptions not his fault.

Jerry Jeudy perfectly plays pass along the right sideline. Jeudy somehow basically hands it off to Jaylen Johnson at the two-yard line who then walks through the most nonchalant cool interception you'll see. So uh that one was not his fault but were the other two and uh you know the other 17 incompletions.

Yeah, I mean the pass you're referencing Josh he put the ball on the money. I mean that was a great throw. Beautiful plays ball plays. I mean Jerry Jeudy I mean I don't know what how do you not catch that? But the other ones were on him. um just kind a lot of the same stuff just just drifting uh in the pocket, kind of falling back, not not throwing from a solid base. And then he really should have had two more other interceptions that defenders dropped. So the the day was not great for Shador. He did have two explosive passes to Isaiah Bond uh multiple times. So that was good. You still see the aggressiveness, so you like that. But really today, he was under a ton of pressure checking the ball down to uh Harrison Bryant. I think they targeted him 14 times today. Uh and just the the average depth of target for Harrison Bryant was just very minimal. So that was very clearly his security blanket because he was getting pressured a ton today. Uh the Bears defense was just chasing him down and he was just running for his life the majority of the game. Uh so certainly a step back from last week. Uh, but I did think he made enough plays where obviously you're going to roll him out next week and continue to see what you got in him, but definitely not his best day.

His four backup offensive linemen Sanders. So, we got to keep that in mind. No, David and Njoku. Uh both the backup running backs are out there, but at the same time, it was it was negative 22 EPA on on the day. So, that's never good.

Yeah. I mean, again, this is just one of those matchups where like, yeah, the running back can get all the work and get all the snaps, but just 12 for 21 >> in a long run of four yards against a Bears defense.

Gosh.

Uh that has been diced up all season long. I mean, it shows you kind of how important, you know, starting offensive linemen are when this team is down three.

So, >> what's fascinating here for the Bears, Brenley, I know Hayden and I talk all the time, so I would love to get your thoughts here. So, Bears are actually one game ahead of the Packers right now, but the playoff simulators give them less of a chance by about 30% to win the NFC North.

Uh they play each other next week. So, that's kind of a decider there, right? Uh if the Bears win that, then they have a two-game lead with two games left.

Uh 62% down to 32%.

Where are you at just overall with the Bears as contenders right now? Well, I I do think given Green Bay's injuries today, they're going to, you know, be in a better position to win next week. Uh, so I think Chicago's sitting pretty based on what I saw today. um if their defense and obviously the Browns offensive line was decimated. If their defense can get pressure on other opposing quarterbacks, that would be massive because I do think the Bears defense is still just living and dying off of turnovers and eventually that's going to there's going to be regression there. Um because I don't think they have the most talented secondary in the league. I I think there's holes that could be exploited there by the better offenses. We saw that last week with Jordan Love. Um, so if their front four can get pressure and mask some of the issues in the secondary, I think this team could do could could compete because offensively, I mean, I've seen what I needed to see. As long as Caleb just limits his classic kind of boneheaded mistakes that are just few and far between, this offense can win in so many different ways. It's hard to defend. And the the running game will travel. Caleb has the talent to air it out and create big plays. So to me, I think their defense, if their front four can get home, they could win against any NFC team. In my opinion.

I think they can beat anyone if Caleb has a good game from quarters one through quarters four. I think they can win a playoff game if he, you know, has his patented second half spectacular games. It's just like getting it in rhythm early on like he did here, which to me is like the huge difference for them on offense. And then on defense, somehow someway they're going to create pressure and they just like haven't been able to do that all season long. And then like hopefully at some point you get both Jaylen Johnson and Kyler Gordon on the field in pivotal situations.

Yeah, Gordon went back to IR. So we'll get our we'll get our uh questions answered. Packers, 49ers, Lions the next three weeks. If you can get pressure on those offenses, that'll mean a whole lot more than you know, Shador. But to me with, you know, offensive line questions and redeveloping that entire group this offseason, I know Miles Garrett got a sack and a half, but even getting out of there versus a sack and a half, which >> I'll take one and a half. I'll take one and a half sacks.

He's one sack away from getting the record here. I know Ben Johnson had like a really good game plan for that, too. So, it's a it's a great first season with the combo together. Yeah, I was going to say the last thing about the Bears, I I do think the Ben Johnson effect like can't go unnoticed. I I think he's a legit superstar. And, you know, I I do think he just gives the the Bears a coaching edge against pretty much most NFL teams. You know, maybe not in the next few weeks with Kyle Shanahan and things like that, but for the most part, you're not really getting better than Ben Johnson.

Another NFC force bullying another squad, albeit only 13 points in the end. But the San Francisco 49ers beat the Tennessee Titans 37-24. Uh Brock Purdy seemingly a spectacular day here at Brentley 23 of 30.

Yep.

295 yards, three touchdowns. His only sacks >> went for a loss of three. Uh I mean Ricky Pearsall popping up for six for 96. George Kittle eight for 88. And then Jauan Jennings catches a touchdown on two of his three passes here. Yeah, I mean the Niners offensively could do whatever they wanted. I mean, Brock Purdy was just a classic. The Niners are the best NFL team at just beating down bad opponents, you know, like they they're just the most front running team, but they they they do great at it. Brock Purdy was fantastic today. You mentioned it. Only what, eight incompletions, um three touchdowns, spread the ball out to his playmakers. Just he throws such a good ball to allow his receivers to get YAC yards. I think that's a really underestimated uh trait that Brock Purdy has. He was outstanding today with his legs. He had multiple long scrambles. Uh he had one where he did like a pump fake. It was hilarious for like a 26-yard scramble. Um he was he Yeah, he he was celebrating. No, I thought Brock was really efficient today. Really strong uh strong debut or performance from Brock. And then for me guys, the Ricky Pearsall, you know, the his route running is elite. His speed really stresses the defense. He got nicked up on like the first play of the game, was able to come back, missed, I think, maybe one series, and then it was just dominant. I mean, he was the clear kind of go-to receiver today for for Brock Purdy. Um Jauan Jennings eight in the red zone. That's we know that's kind of where he shines. I think George Kittle was a monster. I mean, he was absolute monster today, breaking tackles, getting yards up to the catch, just a great touchdown in the end zone. Uh he was just phenomenal. I mean overall the 49ers were clicking on all cylinders today and the Titans really couldn't do much.

Yeah, I think the two things you said right there that stand out to me is Brock Purdy using his legs. So coming out of the by-week, uh that was really good to see him because with that toe injury, uh and then the other one, yeah, Ricky Pearsall, you know, like when he's getting targets, he's very good. It's just when sometimes you don't have to throw him the ball because everyone else is wide open underneath, but getting some explosives out of him like really raises the ceiling of the offense. Like that's like really the question long term is is there any path

where the offense is just so damn good that even with a bad defense, they can go on a legitimate run here because they're what 98% to make the playoffs. They're for sure going to be in.

They the they haven't beaten anybody good in a very long time. They're ma they're the matchups they've had recently. They beat the Giants, Cardinals, Panthers, Browns, and Titans recently. They go get Philip Rivers next week. So we're not going to learn anything until we get to the playoffs here.

Um, but are we approaching where the offense is so damn good that they can actually get spicy here uh down the stretch?

And the one thing I'll say on that is I think the defense actually plays well as a unit in terms of the cohesiveness and moving together and you know the zones overlap and everything of the sort. It's just they don't have any talent left on that side of the ball. And at some point that might end up hurting them or it might not. Like maybe they just play average enough defense where the offense can be like the reason why they win all these games.

Well, in this game, the Tennessee Titans offensive line, which is not good, allowed a 10% pressure rate. Yeah. So, I mean, that's going to be where the 49ers have to be an A+ offense for it to matter. Uh, but they they do have the potential to be an A+ offense. We saw today.

When Cleveland Ferrell is your best pass rusher, you have major major concerns. I will say Malik uh Malik Mustafa, he was making plays today, just destroying people. Uh he's he's a really fun player to watch. I think he's one of the more underrated safeties in the uh in the NFL.

Um but but yeah, I mean you guys mentioned I mean Cam Ward today, he had a lot of time to sit back there. Wasn't getting a lot of pre getting pressured. Um made some big time throws. The throw he had to Gunner Helm was great for the for the touchdown. But again, coming here every week, I feel like I say this, he had a couple just brutal misses. Van Jefferson at at the end of this the first half was wide open on what would have been like a 50 yard touchdown and he missed him by five yards, you know, and so just the lack of consistency for Cam Ward and the Titans offense minus Tony Pard is just really hurting hurting that team.

Closing thoughts on Tony Pard who in backto-back weeks has uh been a running back one and previously I don't think he did that one single time.

Yeah, I mean like the I think he had what 14 carries for just about 100 yards. I mean, he he that stat line like it looked really good. Like, it wasn't just empty stats. He looked explosive, was breaking tackles, making defenders miss. A lot of the things I saw last week with him, I saw this week. You know, the the the wide zone stuff. He's excellent at the vision, the contact balance. It's really like this is the Tony Pard we know the past two weeks. and what what we got before that. That's the the question, you know, because this is a Tony Per that we we've seen in in in years prior. I thought he was outstanding today.

One final here. Philadelphia Eagles 31, Las Vegas Raiders zero. I don't know if we need to spend a single moment on the Raiders end. But on the Eagles, 12 of 15 for Jaylen Herz, 175, three touchdowns. Those three scores, two of them went to Dallas, one to AJ Brown, Devonte Smith sandwiched in between with two for 50. And then Saquon Barkley, 22 78 and one score. Uh, Raiders, nice deodorant, nice band-aid here for all the concern for the Eagles, just like we all expected when these guys didn't even play the fourth quarter.

Yeah. No, I mean, the Raiders came to the Eagles at the perfect time for Philadelphia. I mean, what a slump buster this was. uh just to get everything back on track. Uh Jaylen Hurst was efficient. He was able to uh push the ball vertically to AJ Brown and Dvonte Smith. Both of them had um explosive plays uh down the field. Dallas Carter would have had three touchdowns had he not dropped a perfect pass in the end zone. Uh his two scorers are off shovel passes kind of close to the goal line. Saquon was efficient, looked good, looked explosive, moved the ball. I mean, this the the Eagles did whatever they wanted. Their defense was just all over. Kenny Picket felt like he was hit. I think he was only sacked four times, but I swear he was hit every single play. Like the team speed that Philly has on defense is remarkable. Uh Nico Dean, he might be playing like one of the best linebackers in the NFL. Like I mean the past two weeks, he's just been so noticeable. He's everywhere. He had he he he was phenomenal today. uh just overall great team win, but you certainly playing against the Raiders that are just absolutely lifeless. Uh that that'll that'll do it to you. I will say last take for the Eagles, Tanner McKe came in in the fourth quarter, three for three, 33 yards. Look, I mean, he looked kind of nice. Like I the preseason stuff was good. Like he he's going to be kind of nice, I think, next year, man. I I do think so.

Yeah, I went back. Tanner McKe is under contract for for next year, as is Jaylen Herz. Uh, so we'll see if another team starts calling for Tanner McKe. Whenever he steps in there, it does he does look pretty.

Um, is there any positives we can take from the Saquon stuff?

We are obviously going to be playing him still though. 3.5 yards per carry, a long run of 17. Is it just more of the same and you just got like an accumulation factor here?

Yeah, I think so. You know, I it he didn't look great, but also didn't look bad. You know, he he got yards. He he made defenders miss. He looked explosive. That the long the 17 yard run was really good. You know, you saw him make a defender miss and have excellent kind of vision and things like that that we know he does. Um but I wish there was more consistency. You know, I I wish we weren't seeing the the the one yard runs, the two yard runs that we're seeing now. You know, because last year it was five yards, five yards, 20 yards, 80 yards. you know, that that's not really what's taken place today and and really for most of the season. I do think, you know, they they they were really committing to get him the ball all the time today. I think they know they didn't really need him to win this game, but I do think, you know, he's he's still Squan. You're never going to bench him, you know. So, I I do think today was at least a step in the right direction.

Yeah, success rate was at least up for him just a little bit. Um, but once again, the Raiders, I do got to ask just real quick for for Brock Bowers. Is there anything that they were doing defensively against Brock Bowers? Because I watched Patrick Certan line up and just like shadow him like he was in line and they would have Patrick Sertan uh the last game just like shadow him from inline the corner in line. I was like I couldn't believe it. Uh, was there anything that the Eagles were doing in particular?

Not necessarily. I know it was a lot of Georgia and Georgia crime Dean plastered him twice in coverage, you know, So I I I think you know the Eagles just have really good personnel to match up. I know Cooper Dene was on him quite a bit as well.

But for the most part guys, I mean Kenny Picket couldn't even begin to try to deliver a pass down the field. He was running for his life the entire day today. It was brutal. So it was really hard to judge, you know, the Rams pass catchers at 75 yards.

It it was it was ridiculous. I mean, they they couldn't move the ball. Like, it was painful to watch.

All right, thanks for joining us.

All right, on to the games that we did not get full eyeballs on because there were a ton in week 15. First one, Ravens 24, Bengals zero. We can talk about Lamar Jackson here in a moment. 150 yards and just eight completions, two touchdowns, one interception, four sacks taken. Maybe more importantly, 26 yards on two scramles here, too. But I kind of want to ask you about the Bengals here. like Joe Burrow comes back from a major injury. T Higgins we know not playing here because of concussion. Uh you have Jamar Chase with his comments afterwards. All of that investment in an offense and you get zero points. Uh that will not stop fueling the flames of maybe some big changes happening here in Cincinnati.

Yeah, It just stood out to me after the game obviously two weeks ago Joe Burrows his comments like how much he even likes this and what's the point of playing football. And then uh this week with the Jamar Chase stuffs, they asked him like, "Would you make changes?" And he's like, "Yes, I would absolutely make changes." And like usually players are like, "Oh, it's like the players. We got to we got to, you know, make the changes ourselves and stuff." But that's like comments from your two best players talking about the the scouting department, the the coaching, just the lack of investment to the facilities and stuff. So, it's it's pretty miserable over there. We'll see that the T. Higgins contract is one that we'll have to pay attention to moving forward. Just the way that the the Bengals kind of orchestrate things. Everyone always talks about the three of them together. Could you win when you're shoving up that much money to two wide receivers and a quarterback? It's not going to matter if the defense plays like this. So, at some point, you got to hit on your picks. Um, but yeah, truly a wasted season. We knew that when bro went down earlier on. Uh, we had a cool flacko moment. But this is a fantasy football team. Uh, and you don't win Super Bowls when you look like a fantasy football team.

On the opposite end, Derrick Henry, just like the first time these teams lined up, gets like 11 carries for 100 yards, but nothing more, nothing less.

And then Z Flowers finally catches a touchdown. Uh, on way to three for 68 and one. There must have just been like no plays in this game, period.

Yeah, this game was over before you even knew it. This game was actually incredible. I I will say the from this the clips I saw from Lamar Jackson, he's looking healthier. I thought he was moving around better two games ago and then that big boy throw to Zay Flowers for the touchdown did stand out. Rashin Shaldi, Rashin Ali got wide open out in the flask for his touchdown. But that's like backto-back games where that version of Lamar Jackson looks a lot different than what week eight, week nine. So they're moving in the right direction. Obviously shut out the Joe Burrow uh offense on the road. That means that the defense is making some big boy plays, too. So we'll see. This is at least they got a chance now. Yes, Steelers Dolphins on Monday night is massive here for for the Ravens. Uh, because if a Steelers loss happens, then they're both seven and seven.

Uh and we'll see what happens the rest of the way. All right, next game. Jacksonville Jaguars 48, New York Jets 20. I love seeing this as a man that has continued week after week, month after month, year over year to be patient about Trevor Lawrence. Here he goes. six touchdowns, 20 of 32, 330, six scores, including five carries for 51 yards. Uh he made some insane out of structure crossbody throws at the same time. Liam Cohen got his pony personnel working and just took advantage of these Jets defenders and namely linebackers. Uh and both the pair of the quarterback and the play caller were in their freaking bag. That's back-to-back weeks that Trevor Lawrence's same play that roll out from to his left just down the field an absolute laser beam. I mean, if we're getting that version of Trevor Lawrence, then like let's let's go fully party. And we haven't had the the backbreaking uh turnover in a little bit. After the game, Liam Cohen said, "We'd love to pass the ball in Jacksonville." Which I thought was really cool because a lot of coaches are like, "We want to run the ball." And they're like, "No, we're leaning into throwing the ball down the field." Trevor obviously enjoys throwing the ball to Jacobe Meyers over the middle. You get the Brian Thomas uh big plays, but really Travis ETN comes out of there, the huge 50-yard and the flats. Um and then they had a couple like design stuff. So they just completely annihilated the Jets linebacker group like in particular in this one. That's what happens when the running backs are wide open. But Liam Cohen was I mean there was guys wide open all the time. And then on top of that Tre Trevor Lawrence, you start making plays out of structure like that. Uh, you're just a totally different quarterback.

Can I make a slight pitch of why these last two weeks it might have felt like, oh, now Trevor Lawrence is playing really good football. I get the backbreaking turnovers and brain farts that he's had in the past. But at the same time, let's keep in mind while they were winning, this Jaguars team was making horrific mistakes, you know, in terms of alignment, being in the correct position, uh, false starts, illegal formations, all that type of stuff. like stupid, crippling, dumb decisions. And every time and every game since Jacobe Myers has come in, a true veteran presence that has played in multiple offenses and will actually catch passes over the middle of the field instead of dropping those passes over the middle of the field. It seems like everything's consistent and like that intermediate portion of the passing offense, we talked about it with Liam Cohen in Tampa Bay. That was the bread and butter. That's where they won everything. Brian Thomas while he does pop here for four for 66 and another score we know like probably at his best it's 15 20 25 plus yards down the field especially if we're not getting the screen stuff anymore so Jacobe in lie of probably where Travis Hunter was going to operate for this team is now creating some level of consistency in the area where Liam Con wants to build his entire passing attack around. and that's part of the reason to me while it's felt so much better over these last few weeks.

Yeah, I think I think all these the running back receptions too kind of goes into that. It's what Liam Cohen uh when he was with Tampa Bay like the offense was going because they were getting a lot of free production and like to be good in the screen game if your running backs to be wide open like that takes a lot of chemistry and just kind of development across the team. I think some of the best teams like when I think the best Andy Reid years, their screen game is just so lethal. I think that's just a good a sign of a good well coached team that's kind of in their groove is in the screen department. Running backs catching the ball out in space and going. Uh, you only do that if you're pretty smooth. And right now, Liam Cohen's got this team in an absolute groove.

I mean, it's a sick ability to pivot as a play caller when, you know, your running backs average 2.7, 2.8, and only one carry to BAL Tutin. Um, and then they just get all their production in the receiving game. Like, it's okay, let's just ditch the running game. other than the quarterback scrambles, and then we'll just unleash all of our best passing attack assets and get these guys out in space. That's pretty sweet. I think Ton had like a finger injury. I don't know the extent of it. Um, and then just Travis ETN, he was a free agent. He's going to make so much money and he's not leaving Jacksonville. Like it seems like Liam Cohen loves him now.

Okay, On the Jets end, again, I did not watch this, but my guy Annie Mitchell makes a fingertip touchdown catch, nine targets, six receptions, 58 yards, and a score. I think it started good for Brady Cook and then finished miserably. Uh, like that touchdown drive early, then three interceptions, three sacks as you go along. And then yeah, I mean, Bree Hall 12 carries, 23 yards, and I know like Isaiah Davis is the one that plays deep deep deep into this game as uh when it gets out of hand for nine carries, 58 yards, and a score. So that like is heartbreaking for people that played Bree Hall, expecting him to get 90 something% of the work. And then the backup is the one that gets the score.

Yep. That's the risk you run into when you're the Jets and you're supposed to lose by two touchdowns every single week. Moving on, Houston Texans 40, Arizona Cardinals 20. We can lead with Cobra Set being the first quarterback to hit over 20 fantasy points against the Houston Texans. That's pretty cool.

Oh wow.

We can also lead with Trey McBride I think having the NFL record with five plus receptions in what 16 straight games now I believe it is.

Yep.

Uh in this one 13 targets, 12 receptions, 134 yards, two touchdowns. Michael Wilson who was in and out because of some injuries, 11 targets, five receptions, 54 yards, and a score. This all happens because I believe before Jacob Brassette even took one drop back and one completion, they were down by 10 points.

Yeah, I was just going to say Texans 40. That's the story line here. Texans 40. Like if the if the offense could put up numbers like this, we know the defense is going to go crazy in the playoffs. then they they're one of these teams that suddenly in a weaker AFC they have a chance to to go upset some teams and go on a little bit of a run here. So Nico Collins right off the bat 57 yard touchdown just so fast gets another one. Dalton Schultz that one was out of the pocket for CJ Strad. So we we mentioned that a couple times in the last month of him just kind of breaking contain a little bit and throwing on the run. So that's that's all great. And then uh thankfully uh the Woody Marks touchdown, we got that in before he was in and out of the blue tent leaves this game. They said he was going to be be able to come back in, but um it sounds like they got pretty lucky there where the ball went just bounced right into his lap and he scores a rushing touchdown that's in fantasy could be graded as a uh a fumble recovery touchdown. So hopefully you got fantasy points for that. You should have. Um but um unfortunately he could had a monster game because Jaward Jordan rush rushed for 100 yards. Well, the third crazy stat here, Jawar Jordan is the first Texans running back to rush for over 100 yards this season.

Think about like think about like July, they had Nixon, Chub, uh Woody Mars, Damen Pierce, and that the first one is Jawir. Unbelievable.

Yep. Uh but yeah, Woody Woody Marks did get there barely. Did he not? I don't see it.

No, it's the fumble.

Oh, it was a fumble that he ran.

They ruled it as a fumble. But but some fantasy leagues if you don't if your commissioner is an idiot and they don't count that as like fantasy points then you're out of luck.

It technically was a direct snap to him.

Well, Dima Ryan after the game said he got lucky and the ball bounced.

Oh, so so we're not going to How can that not be a fantasy touchdown for anyone else? Your commissioner is an idiot. If you are listening and you didn't give if you started Woody Marks and you do not have six points for a rushing score, you have to show that play to your fantasy commissioner and add in that six points after the fact.

Yeah, that's we have to all boycott and quit this game if that does not happen for you person out there. No, I completely agree.

Um yeah, I can't wait to watch the Nico Collins stuff. I can't wait to And then that was it. I mean Jane Higgins one for four. Xavier Hudson one for 16. No Jaylen Null. No, Christian Kirk. No, no one else. Uh, yeah. For a defensive-minded head coach getting 40 points put on you this week, 45 points put on you last week, I understand your players are hurt, but how can that happen?

Yeah. Yeah, it's year three. He's He's not gonna he's not going to survive over there. Uh, just wanted to say Michael Wilson, we got lucky. That was a full-blown garbage time touchdown. Now, we do deserve our garbage time touchdowns as well, but gets to the end zone late. Uh Trey McBride's going to go round one fantasy next year and he absolutely should. He's he's unbelievable. I I think his quads get bigger and bigger every single week. Like watch like the when he's running across there's a broadcast angle of him. His dude, it's unreal how big his legs are. So he's strong as an ax, man.

Okay, last one. Washington Commander 29, New York Giants 21. Giants once again stay competitive but lose uh as the Commanders get their fourth win of the season. We got just before the game Chris Rodriguez inactive. So Bill Krosky Merritt early on 18 carries 96 yards and a touchdown. Terry McCorin 3 for 69 and a score. They're only two offensive touchdowns of the game.

I would say the biggest story here was maybe Abdul Carter's best performance of the season.

Uh he had tackles for loss. I think he had sacks, some fumbles, and really the Giants pass rush is what got them back into this game in the second half because we had like Brian Burns forcing fumbles or intercepting passes, whatever it was, and that gave the opportunity here for the Giants offense, but just in the end didn't quite get there.

Yeah, my two big takeaways here is Bill finally gets it done. I'm definitely counting that Chris Rodriguez eruption spot. I'm counting that as a win with Chakori Kroski Merritt going for 96 in a tutty there. Um, but also just kind of a measuring stick game for the Giants. This is my biggest takeaway. The Commanders stink, man. Marcus Mariota's backup quarterback. Their defense is tragic. You, for the most part, got blown out here. And Jackson Dart is like fighting for his life. Like, you hit on Jackson Dart given the cost. Abdul Carter steps up, but the lack of depth everywhere on the roster is so glaring. If they keep Joe Shane and when you're getting blown out by the Commanders at home, they've lost like eight in a row. To me, this is just like a measuring stick game. Joe Shane, if you want to show that, hey, this team is actually not that far away. I deserve another year, which is to me crazy. You can't lose to the commanders at home, you know? So, like this is another one of these like Joe Shane moments. She's like, "The Commanders stink and they beat your ass."

Yeah, they sink bigly. Um Jackson Dart, another trip to the Blue Tent uh off of a I think it was a goal line. Um manufactured manufactured run. Um, yeah. I mean, is it getting to the point where Mike Kfka can't keep this job as an OC? I already said it a couple weeks ago when like he had just horrific uh go for it or don't situations on fourth downs in the past, but I don't think he's contributing any favors to himself here is my thoughts.

Yeah, I mean like 5.7 yards per play is not great, but the offense is just not great. I mean, my boy um Darius Sllayton 53 yards, but he could have had multiple touchdowns in this one. I saw a couple drops from from the poor guy.

I mean, I'm the poor guy. I'm the poor guy here. Uh, but he did hit the higher on his receiving. Uh, which noted. Um, the only game we didn't talk about was Thursday night. Falcons 29, Bucks 28. I know you had some conclusions on this one after watching Kirk Cousins 30 of 44, 373, three touchdowns. Uh, I would say this loss for the Bucks has less meaning now that the Panthers also lost on Sunday.

Yeah, this feels like a lifetime ago, but man, the the Kyle Pit stuff is obviously the it was the third highscoring tight end game ever, ever. Most in the playoffs, it's like the most since 1983. Um, he's running by everybody, you know, like the knee injury is so many years ago. He's a free agent, but I was looking at the numbers. I'm going to write like up a top 10 uh best free agent probably position. I think he's gonna get the franchise tag from the Falcons because the other players around him are kind of where the franchise tag is instead of committing to him long term. Slap the franchise tag on him and make him prove it again. But man, you don't go 166 yards by accident here. Caught 11 of his 12 targets. Uh really was phenomenal here. And same thing with Kirk Cousins. He's going to be a free agent uh after they release him this next off seasonason, too. So cool win for the Falcons. Uh largely meaningless. They're going to keep him outside that that top 10 draft pick graphic. Uh, that's the whole point.

Totally. Uh, I saw a lot afterwards of which team is Kurt Cousins going to start for next year.

Uh, I get it and he probably will be a starting quarterback next year if not just for the Falcons. Um, I would also say this is like the perfect game for him where he's played Todd B's defenses or other defenses and seen all these pressure looks that give young quarterbacks, inexperienced quarterbacks fits all the time. And I would say with this version of the Bucks, without Collia Cany, without some of these other uh their inability to, you know, create disruption up front and then, you know, their quarterbacks going in and out and being hurt and all this type of stuff that Kurt Cousins probably had the game slow down for him more in games like this than other quarterbacks have. So, it was like the perfect outcome for him to showcase that on Thursday Night Football and to thrash a blitzing pressure secondary and replace a whole bunch of spots with the helps of cows. Yeah, we'll say with Kurt Cousins. Totally agree with that point, but he's also still throwing the ball to David Sills and Mooney was dropping passes.

I've also seen him throw the football and the football not get there.

Yes. No. And and that's going to be a problem. I think he's gonna be 38 years old next year. But like with Marcus Mariota, everybody, you have to count to 32. Find 32 quarterbacks next year. Start slotting. And there's going to be some weird like Justin Fields was a starter this year, like shouldn't have been a starter. There's going to be some quarterbacks that are undeserving starters next year. And I think Kirk Cousins is gonna be uh potentially one of those guys.

Yeah. Let us know in the comments down below how much you think Kalpitz is making uh in free agency next year or if he just gets franchise tag by the Falcon. We go all the way back. That's like 13.8 million or something.

Um okay, Tampa Bay Buccaneers real quick. There were some tough rough postgame scenes with like the players and Todd BS losing it again. Now they still have a chance. The biggest issue though is, and it's so tough to recognize this in season and in the middle of a heater, but how Baker Mayfield tight ropes when he has quality performances and stacks those where we said it every single week. No one plays the game like him. Throwing in the face of pressure, dropping his eyes, you know, escaping sacks that other quarterbacks would take and fitting passes the tight windows that others simply aren't. when you get a cold streak, it looks real bad, you know, and it hits you fast. And that's exactly what's happened here. I can't say if that's just because the variance or the injury or, you know, wide receivers dropping passes and all this type of stuff, but here we are and uh this Bucks offense just does not look good right now.

Yeah, I think the big thing the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense was a total train wreck and like that's the real reason why they lost. But Baker Mayfield has regressed. I will also mention the offensive line has been dealing with injuries. Both guards are out. Tristan Worst a couple weeks ago had missed that game. Uh and then yeah, Baker's playing through something. So yeah, there's just the AMCA stuff's gone up and down in this one. Chris Godwin scores a touchdown but was largely quiet um otherwise. Mike Evans took a couple humongous shots. Like he landed on his back a couple times. So luckily he's um walked out of there. Okay. Uh but 132 yards was like the standout performance from him. And then Bucky Irvings, same old stuff. He's he needs the offensive line to be really good to like have those crazy crazy games. Um because Liam Con's just not coming back uh through that door and he's not going to get the 40 yard screen receptions like that's going to Travis ETN right now. So you kind of feel the no Liam Coheness of the Buccaneers offense uh on top of it.

Do you think I'm being too harsh on a Baker Mayfield game where it's 8.1 yards per attempt?

Um, well, I mean, he took some big sacks here and like it just Yeah, he he's just so high variance and I'm just kind of taking it for for what it is. Like, you can't get too crazy when he's riding hot. You can't get too low on him when things are falling apart. He's like the quarterback 15 or whatever it is. And there's going to be some moments when he looks awesome and some moments when he looks like crap. I think for the the I think Todd BS was just really mad at the defense. Like he was super pissed off on the like big third down conversion. the the fumble. I could the Darnell Mooney fumble, the screenshot where there was six Tampa Bay Buccaneers around him. I I could not believe that. You're talking about magic on this start show. That was some magic right there on how the Falcons were able to recover that stuff. So, I think Todd Bulls was really mad at like the effort and the communication of the defense. And I think he's should be mad at them. And at the same time, he is the defensive head coach.

Yeah. And I'm sure all Bucks fans are like, "Oh, look what Liam Cohen's doing in Jacksonville. we could have just promoted him in-house and all that type of stuff. And let's not forget the sitcom, not the sitcom, the soap opera of what happened with Liam Cohen staying and then leaving 24 hours later and all that type of stuff. Uh the two teams while Tampa still is favorites to win the NFC South uh are in very just different top bottom situations here at this moment.

Beat the Panthers and you're in.

All right, that does it for us. I believe we covered every single game. Um thank you all for tuning in. Uh oh, I should say it. At some point I will be taking two months off the show. It's because welcoming your first child. So that could happen tomorrow. That could happen Tuesday. That could happen Wednesday. So at some point you will not see me. You'll see Hayden probably by himself unless he brings on guests.

I'll bring on my own baby.

Yeah. There you go. So one day I will not be on the show and you'll know why. And I'll be off Twitter for two months. That's what I do.

You're gonna be great.

All right, Thanks to Mosho and Weaves. Thanks to all of you for tuning in up the villa. Talk to you'all soon.