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00:00:00
00:00:01
Goal Line: Burn The Ships
50 Plays1 day ago
The boys reflect on the disastrous finish of the Falcons, reflect on the off-season prospects for the teams missing the postseason, and preview all the action in the college football and NFL playoffs this weekend.
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Transcript
NFL Playoffs Excitement and Disappointment
00:00:13
Speaker
What is up goal line listeners? It is play off time. This is the best time of year. We have 13 NFL football game football games left. They're all going to be bangers. Let's get right into it. Jordan, how you doing, man? Yeah, it's, uh, it's exciting, but it's also depressing cause, uh, me and your teams are and are not playing anymore, which sucks, but it also kind of just lightens the load of, uh, having to worry about watching our teams play and lose and disappoint us every weekend. So excited, but depressing the same boat.
00:00:43
Speaker
I'm sure you could tell from the tones in our voice, one of us had accepted the fact that they were going to be watching postseason football with any kind of rooting interest months ago while one of us was hanging on hope to the very end, man. So George is still coping, but we're going to get into it right now.
Titans' Draft Pick and Strategy
00:01:04
Speaker
We'll do yours first because yours is going to be a lot less ranty than mine. Mine's definitely going to be worse than yours. Um, I mean, honestly, dude, you gotta be kind of happy, dude. Titans get the number one pick. Yep. Things broke very nice for the, uh,
00:01:18
Speaker
Titans, man, they get the wind and Joe Milton decided he was going to put his resume out there for the rest of the league, balled out, takes down ah the, the, the, the Bill's JV team and the Titans have the number one pick in the draft, man. It's not the best draft ever to be at the top, but it's always nice to, to be in control there, man. And at least, you know, control your own destiny with what you want to make for that, that key move this off season. I didn't look this up, but when is the last time the Titans had the number one pick?
00:01:45
Speaker
It's been since before they were the Titans, dude, that, you know, it would have been way back in the Oilers days, man. So maybe, uh, I don't know. I'd have to go back to it. It's been, since it's been before my, um, you know, like cognizant football watching days. Steve McNair was the number three pick way back in. I think that was maybe 97, 96. Mariota was the number two pick. Here you go.
00:02:10
Speaker
I got it back in 2015. So 1973 and 1978 are the only two times that they've had the number one pick. They drafted Earl Campbell in 78 and John Mataszak in 1973.
00:02:24
Speaker
Historically, the Titans slash Oilers have been have been a pretty competent football team and like not that they obviously they've never won a Super Bowl, but they're really not which they're not the Browns or the Lions of the of the league as far as historical performance goes. They've always kind of been middle of the pack decent franchise um last few years notwithstanding. Yeah, but yeah, you know, we'll see what happens man to be honest.
Drafting Linemen for Success
00:02:47
Speaker
is when I like Shador from an interest standpoint. yeah and to And to be clear, ah you know ah me and Jordan have different types of fanhood right now, big time. I root for the Titans and stuff. They're our local team. ah My dad's ah a straight up die hard, but I'm really more of a casual. I kind of, you know I root for them when they're on, but I'm not living or dying.
00:03:03
Speaker
by these games and Shador is kind of intriguing and just from an interest standpoint. It's so at least going to be interesting to see what happens with this dude's career. But X's and O's man, I think the Titans with as much as they need right now, dude, if you got one of those teams that falls in love with Cam Ward or Shador.
00:03:18
Speaker
If you could trade back and get a decent haul, I think that's probably the move. If you can't, I mean, Travis Hunter seems like a lot, dude. I don't know. yeah You've really got to get with the scouts, see what they think. Maybe Abdul Carter from Penn State, if you want to just get a beast on the D-line. If one of these linemen just seem like an absolute five-star gym, I'd go with that or Travis Hunter, because your team's not going to get worse by bringing a guy like that in the building. I think both the top quarterbacks, Chador and Cam Ward, are both you know both have flame-out potential for sure.
00:03:48
Speaker
I could easily see the Titans drafting an offensive lineman number one to it would definitely be it's not gonna be a sexy pick at all but they got Bill Callahan as their offensive line coach. um His son's the coach like I I wouldn't be surprised that they take an ah offensive lineman number one I mean, it ain't gonna get anybody excited but Dude, that's how you win. Look at the teams that ah have been have been tearing up the last few years, dude, the Chiefs, the Eagles, the Lions. They're built from the inside out, man, the offensive and defensive line. Because you could plug you know the economy price skill players around if you got ah if you got a really, really awesome O-line. And the D-line just sets the tone for it. makes If you have an awesome D-line that can generate
00:04:26
Speaker
ah pressure on their own. That's a cheat code for the rest of your defense, man. So I'm right there with you, dude. And we enjoyed, we're joking about that on, on Sunday. I said they'll probably draft a guard or something. ah You know what, but those meat and potatoes type picks, man. That's what set you up for success. I mean, the Chargers have the number five pick this year and they picked Joe all and he's basically already an all pro like that. Yeah, you need look at the dude man. He has absolutely no swag no or whatsoever a plain ass name like Joe all you just know looking at that profile dude is going to be an all pro for like the next 10 years man. I um right as fun as Travis Hunter would be I don't know how much better he really makes your football team and he seems like an awesome piece to add to
00:05:09
Speaker
a roster that's kind of already ascending, not somewhat, not, you know, the Titans are kind of, I hate, I mean, they're kind of sitting at the bottom right now, dude, literally, I think there are better. I don't think they were the worst team in the league this year, but end of the day, they had, they ended up with the worst record and you know, that you get the top pick in the draft for a reason. Your record says what you are, man. Uh, I, I think Travis Hunter's best situation has ended up on the Jaguar somehow. I know that sounds weird, but dude, that team's not far off and having him in prime Thomas as your number one and two receivers. We're still with Christian Kirk too. I mean, he got hurt this year, but he's still there. It's just, I'm still holding my Trevor Lawrence stock to you. I think, I think if that dude got, a you know, a little bit better offensive coordinator, a little bit better system, I think, uh,
00:05:53
Speaker
I still think he could be, you know, uh, MVP candidate.
Titans' GM Firing and Franchise Direction
00:05:57
Speaker
Okay. Since we're still on the Titans, uh, Titans fire their GM today. So in the last three years, they've either fired their head coach or GM every year. It's isn't this GM, the reason that variable will kind of, yep. Yeah. This is the one variable couldn't. Yeah. If you, but if you listened to the, you know, the, the football dirt sheets, him and variable couldn't get along in the GM.
00:06:18
Speaker
Uh, when, when the power struggle behind the scenes, man, I think variable was, uh, I think he was the easiest guy to work with there and inside Titans headquarters. Well, this guy who went out and blew a bunch of money and none of them really hit, uh, Tony Pollard was good, but I mean, he probably was good outside of that. Like, what did he really hit on? I mean, it's understandable why he's getting fired this year, but the thing I don't like, man, is that they already said Callahan's coming back. And I feel like that always puts you in limbo, dude. You know, if you're the GM, you're wanting to hire your own coach and.
00:06:48
Speaker
I just feel like it's going to be another limbo situation where, you know, next year we got the GM who's going to kind of have, you know, it almost feels like Callahan is going to have like a tryout year next year for the new GM. Then maybe he goes, it just seems like, yeah I mean, it's literally, you can't help but notice, you like you said, it's three straight years. It's kind of a revolving door with the two most important pieces um off the field for your football, for your football organization. I don't, I mean, I can't say it was a bad move getting rid of the dude, but I don't like what the overall just direction for the Titans franchise is right now. I don't think they have a direction, man. Yeah. It's not good right now. I'll tell you that. All right. You want to talk about
Falcons' Season Review and Criticism
00:07:27
Speaker
anything else, Titans? Are you ready for me to talk to eviscerate the Falcons?
00:07:30
Speaker
yeah Let's hear it. du They go out Sunday. The saints, dude, they obviously the saints didn't get it done, but the saints gave the Falcons every reason to be fighting hard for four quarters, man. I think the saints put up as much fight as they possibly could to keep the bucks at the playoffs and give the assist to their hated rivals. And The Falcons were just bound and determined man. I think even if you know you could say maybe they let up in overtime once they saw that score, but I don't know. It just seemed like they were bound and determined to to um to lose that game in spite of in spite of Michael Pinnix is best efforts. Yeah, so.
00:08:05
Speaker
My biggest thing with this team is they started out six and three. And if you go back and listen to the podcast, I was never sold on this team. I just, fact I never saw it from them. And at that point is when Kirk cousins started to slow down a little bit. I felt like, so the Dallas game on November 3rd, they won 27 to 21.
00:08:27
Speaker
After that point, they went to New Orleans and lost 17 to 20. They went to Denver and lost 38 to six, had a buy, came off the buy, lost 17, 13 to the Chargers in a game they 100% should have won. They lost to Minnesota at Minnesota, 42 to 21 in a game that was tied 21 all going into the fourth quarter.
00:08:50
Speaker
They beat the Vegas Raiders 15 to nine and one of the worst football games I've ever watched in my life. They beat the Giants who weren't even trying to win 34 to seven. And then they went out and lost to Washington and overtime 30 to 24. And then lost in your season finale at home to Carolina 44 to 38. Going through that whole thing. I mean, obviously a big part of the reason they were losing games is because Kirk Cousins couldn't put the ball in the end zone.
00:09:20
Speaker
I think there's deeper issues than that though. I just, every week this team just looked flatter and flatter every week when they came out. Like there was never any juice, so just everything about Raheem Morris just screams coach. That's just never going to get the most out of your roster. I just, he wasn't good in Tampa. He wasn't good as the Falcons interim coach.
00:09:42
Speaker
Arthur Blank loves the dude. That's why he still has a job. That's why he got the job. But the problem is, is now you're wasting another year. like it's just I have no faith in this dude moving forward. He made it such a big deal after the bye week that he was calling the defense. And then the last two weeks, they just revert back to the old ways. And it's like everybody wants to blame Jimmy Lake. Well, is it Rahim Morris, a defensive coach? like He can overrule any call that Jimmy Lake makes. I mean, it's his system in the end. And I don't know, just the, the, everything surrounding this team down the stretch was just, it wasn't good. Like I said, you beat the giants in the, in the Raiders, which is two of the worst teams in the NFL after you were six and three. I just,
00:10:29
Speaker
I don't know, man, they lost every game that I thought they were going to lose down the stretch. Denver chargers, Minnesota, Washington did not see him losing to Carolina. I just, I don't know, man. i It's really hard to get excited. Michael Penix is going to be really good. That's one really exciting thing, but the fact that they fired nobody and were two days removed from, I don't Dude, it's not even a rumbly driver. He Morris is definitely coming back. Correct. Yeah. Giving up 44 points on your home field to Carolina. And I know Carolina has played better down the stretch. There's no excuse for giving up 44 points to Carolina.
00:11:06
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, and for all intents and purposes, it was a playoff game for the Falcons. And they went out there and let Bryce Young have, you know, best game of the season. Looked like a all pro out there. And like you said, much improved, but there's still no reason a team that's got the roster that the Falcons got should be even competitive against ah the Panthers. They should have blown them out of the water, handled their business, and they could have spent the fourth quarter, you know, in a prayer circle, watching the scoreboard, hoping that the Saints can somehow pull it out, man. that's another problem I have with Raheem Morris though like dude it it shouldn't even have came down to a prayer circle fucking guy doesn't use his timeouts against the commanders last week now that I've had a week and a half to stew on that it pisses me off even more it's just I don't know and then
00:11:48
Speaker
when he did his press conference yesterday and the season press conference, he's talking about the team missing field goals and stuff. The fucking dude played young ho while he has a dislocated hip for five fucking weeks, just tried them out there knowing he wasn't healthy. He missed a shit ton of kicks. I mean, the New Orleans game alone, they lost by three, he missed two kicks in that game. It's just I don't know. Charger's game was another example. It's just complete. It's, it's a disaster from the top down. I still, I've said it before. I don't think blink is the guy to get them there. He got them to the super bowl, but I just, I don't know, man, it just, he's saying he needs to sell a team.
00:12:30
Speaker
Here's my biggest problem with him, dude. He's always about like being friendly with people. Like it's, it's always a friendship. Dude. There ain't no goddamn friendship. Like look at Robert Kraft. You think that guy's friends with anybody in that organization? You don't give a shit who you are. Like if you suck, you're getting let go. It's just, yeah I mean, dude, Richard McKay has been part of the Falcons for so long. And what the fuck? twenty he plus you now man What does he provide? They never, they never hire the right coach. I did. To put it in perspective, dude, he came in with Jim Moore Jr, man. yeah That's how long he's been there. I don't know. hey It's cool to see Dan Quinn do what he's doing in Washington, but it also kind of fucking hurts my soul to know that he's doing this. I mean, the the same thing that happened to the Falcons could happen to the commanders though in two years, it could just all wear off. All the hoopla around him could just wear off.
00:13:21
Speaker
But still go back to that 2016 team, man. When they let Kyle Shanahan walk, I just, I'll never understand that move, dude. Should've found whatever they had to do to break the bank. They have a head coaching way. Yeah. They should have kept Kyle Shanahan in the building. Yeah. Make him the associate head coach, offensive coordinator, paying $6 million or whatever he needs to be paid so he doesn't leave. I just, that move will always come back to me. Dude, they had everybody on that staff too. They had McVeigh. They had fucking every Mike McDonald, they had yeah the floor. They had all those guys on that staff. And I don't know, man, it's just depressing. Like I just
00:14:00
Speaker
I don't know. I know Seth texted me on Sunday and said, if the saints went and the Falcons ended up losing, will that be the end of it for you? Or like, where will this rank? I'm like, dude, to me, this is already one of the top five most disappointing seasons in Falcons history. history I mean, there, there were six and three had a three game lead. Tampa was at the bucks twice. And Tampa was floundering at that point. Yeah. Like they did not look good at all at that point. Yeah, the Falcons could ah if they go do a little bit better in the middle of the season. Maybe see the Bucks go ahead and shut down a few more of those key players that were were banged up there in the middle of the season, man. it ah Yeah, there's no that it's absolutely inexcusable that the Falcons aren't hosting a playoff game this weekend.
00:14:39
Speaker
dude, that chargers game is just always the one that's going to stick out to me. The defense played unreal. That game allowed nine points on offense. They give up a pick six. Well, Kirk cousin throws a horrible pick six. And then he threw three of the most God awful picks in that game. Outside of that, that was the one where he was like running towards the line and just floated that ball into the end zone right to the chargers guy. I just,
00:15:04
Speaker
I don't know, man. I just think they waited way too long to get him out. Like you could see he was done before the bye week and yeah, he just left him out there, man. And the other deflating thing is then they announced PENEX is the starting quarterback and feel like, Oh, he hasn't taken any first team reps.
00:15:22
Speaker
what the fuck are you serious like dude your QB can go down in at any minute and your backup QB shouldn't have any first team reps like what other team does that I just I refuse to believe that any other NFL team with any brains didn't give their backup some first team reps in practice like if for nothing else to get timing down between him and the receivers I just I don't know, man. It seems like a wasted season. Bijon have like one of the better seasons. You're probably going to get out of him. Dude's unreal. Drake London had a great year. It's just, it's frustrating as a fan to watch and they brought in Judon and Justin Simmons to do big things and
00:16:02
Speaker
both those guys just absolutely were duds. Now granted, some of that's on the scheme. Like they had Judon covering running backs out in the open field. It's like, what the fuck are you doing? This dude's a pass rusher. Like if, if I was a Steelers fan, I saw TJ Watt 35 yards downfield covering somebody, I'd be a little concerned. I just, I don't know, man. it I'm not getting any like good vibes around this team because he's going to come back and it's going to be the exact same problems next year. And, uh, it's, it's really frustrating. And now I got to play a second place schedule on top of all that. Like, I don't know, not good. Poor season. Like I said, top five or bottom five for me for seasons of watching. Cause I mean, they literally had everything in front of them and they lost it. So just sucks. But.
00:16:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's, that's really all I got for Falcons. I didn't completely eviscerate them. I didn't feel like, but I just, I don't know, it's more disappointment than than anger more than anything. Um, the only game I the only, two things I really wanted to touch on about games this week.
Lions vs Vikings Disappointment
00:17:07
Speaker
I want to touch a little bit on lions Vikings. Dude. What a letdown of a game. I just, me and a couple of friends went to the bar to watch it. And I just said to him, I was like, watch this just be a defensive struggle. And nobody really plays good on ah offense. I mean, I wasn't that far off outside of Jamir Gibbs. I was a pretty awful game offensively.
00:17:27
Speaker
almost so like it almost. Yeah, like even just like the intensity level, man, it's like it almost felt like a preseason game and like the Vikings weren't I don't know. Like obviously we don't know what was going on in the locker room. We're watching this with bird's eye view. But it seemed like the Vikings weren't treating this like a straight up giant playoff game. And it just felt like it was kind of it felt close to a preseason game that, you know, the regular season game of the year we were expected.
00:17:51
Speaker
I don't know what happened to Sam Darnold in that game either. like He was just missing wide open receivers the entire game. he I watched him overthrow Jefferson, I don't know, eight times in that game, three of which should have been touchdowns. it's just I don't know, maybe I'm with you. I, the intensity was not there at all for what I thought we were going to see in that game. It was just, I don't know, man for expecting like basically a Superbowl type regular season game. We definitely did not get that. I'd be a tad concerned if I was a Vikings fan, just more about Sam Darnold. I didn't think their defense played bad at all. I thought their defense actually played pretty well. Um, but yeah, it was just kind of a dud of a game.
00:18:34
Speaker
Um, the other thing I want to talk about, cause this is kind of a hot topic is, uh, teams, resting players in week 18.
00:18:43
Speaker
I mean, dude, I cannot believe that there was people that really thought Kansas City was going to stroll out there with all second stringers and beat the Broncos. Like that game was destined for disaster before it even started. And if you watch that one, even a size one, you know, I thought they may let Carson Wentz have a little bit of a showcase game, something like the Patriots did with Joe Milton. but that clearly wasn't the case if you watch the game and it's see if they didn't hardly blitz any on defense they were basically either going cover two shell or cover three shell and playing vanilla defense and offense they weren't doing anything creative and it was hand off hand off in some basic pass play like the Chiefs were literally even though they didn't have any of the starters out there they were still they they were literally just trying to get through this game without showing anything on tape and without getting anybody injured man that was
00:19:32
Speaker
you know, just priority number one, they were they did not sweat what the Broncos were doing on offense or defense. And here's the thing. So the reason this is coming up is because Bengals fans are pissed off on the internet that the Chiefs just basically tanked to not see them in the playoffs.
00:19:47
Speaker
Dude, there was 17 weeks of football before this week. Like you can say whatever you want about week 18, but you had 16 other opportunities to win games and eight of those games you did not win. And you had a chance in all of them. I mean, how many times have me and you talked about this in two years about the bangles coming out slow to start the season? Like it, it happens every year. And it seems like every year it comes down to the last week on whether or not they're going to make the playoffs like.
00:20:18
Speaker
I don't know what needs to change with that team, but they got to figure something out where they don't start off the season. Oh, and two or own three. Like I, yeah. And it was just smart for Casey to like, think about it. Who would you rather see in the playoffs, man? If one of these, if one of these wildcard teams sneaks through, dude, would you rather catch, you know, a scrappy Denver team with rookie Bo Nicks or a bangles team? that yeah capable of dropping a 40 bird guard, anybody in the playoffs, man. Yeah. I mean, again, you can't complain about that stuff. And dude, it's week 18 of the NFL. People are like, just cut it back to 16 weeks. Why? So then week 17, we can have the exact same thing. Like, dude, this has always been a thing in the last week of the season. If you clinch a first round by the number one seed, there's always been players resting.
00:21:00
Speaker
I remember every year I drafted Peyton Manning. I just prayed that they somehow lost three games in the regular season because otherwise they were not playing him barely in week 16 or 17. So God forbid you were in a fantasy football playoff game and you had Peyton Manning as your quarterback. You're basically just taking a loss at that point. oh um Yeah, I do think that the, you know, the slightly longer season and adding playoff, adding an extra playoff team, I think has killed some of the drama because a lot of these things are wrapped up. You just have, gets a little bit more separation. ah You know, you're not seeing as many bad-ass teams get left on the outside. Like I said, it it did seem like in this year, particularly, man, there was a lot more stuff figured out
00:21:40
Speaker
going into week 18, even last year, it wasn't this bad. I just think for a variety of reasons, there just wasn't most, most stuff was settled up by the time we got to, uh, to Sunday this year. We did have a little bit of history be made this week. Seattle became the first 10 win team ever to not make the playoffs. So yikes. Really? Yep. That's crazy.
00:22:01
Speaker
Yeah, not good. No 10 win team has ever missed the playoffs. That's what it said at the end of that game, whether or not that's a hundred percent accurate who fucking knows, but that's what it said across the screen. So, um, okay. Let's go into, so we're recording this on Tuesday, by the way, let's go into the firings from around the NFL.
Surprising NFL Firings
00:22:21
Speaker
I think the most surprising one is Gerard Mayo getting canned after one year after Robert Kraft, like made it known i'm like, Hey, this guy's not interviewing anywhere else. Like,
00:22:31
Speaker
It's just, all right I mean, dude, what the hell did they expect him to do with this team? The team was absolute dog shit. I just, I don't, I don't get what they were expecting here. I mean, I understand what's probably about to happen. They're about to hire Vrable and probably bring Josh McDaniels back as the offensive coordinator, but dude, this just seems so fucked up to me.
00:22:54
Speaker
I agree, man. did Dude didn't deserve it. I get it, man. If rebel's the guy if if you Vrable was going to be your guy, you should have done whatever you had to do to make it happen last season. I don't i don't know if Vrable was just looking to take a...
00:23:06
Speaker
a year away or I don't know if rape was just going to take a year away or what the deal was, but it was really unfair to drive Mayo. Obviously record doesn't show it. I thought the Patriots played pretty good football this year, man. Like when I watched them play, they they look solid, they look competitive and with what they had to work with on the talent level on that roster, I thought he did about as good as you could expect them to do. um Yeah, I agree, man. I normally don't shed tears over this kind of thing, but I thought that was some definite bullshit that he got fired.
00:23:35
Speaker
Um, Doug Peterson fired as well. I think this was not even remotely surprising. I mean, a lot of us expected this eight weeks ago. So I mean,
00:23:48
Speaker
I still have had a lot of talent there, man. The last couple of years, you know, 2022, obviously they had the playoff collapse against the Chargers, but it still felt like this was a team on the rise, man, that should have been doing kind of like the Texans have done the last couple of seasons. I remember last year they had the late season collapse. I was in the building when the Titans knocked them out of the playoffs, when the Titans had nothing to play for.
00:24:08
Speaker
in week 18. Um, but it's just been bad. This is, this is a team that it's been less than the sum of its parts, man. They got good players down there. Wait, wait. You had that backwards. The, the jags were the ones that overcame the chargers playoff collapse when they were down 30 to three and came back in one 31. And then lost, they got and then lost to the chiefs with, uh, like portals.
00:24:30
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. When my home's got knocked out with the ankle injury. Yeah. Um, but they, uh, yeah, they just have not performed to that level at all. The last two seasons, man, they looked decent. The first half of last year and since then it's been horrible and eventually, yeah, the head coach has got to be wanting to pay the price for that.
00:24:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's not surprising. And I hope they get somebody good in there for Trevor Lawrence, because dude, if if this dude is going to start rotating off offensive coordinators and head coaches, he ain't ever going to be able to make it. So hopefully they get somebody good in there. Bengals fire their defensive coordinator. Another Why the fuck did this not happen sooner? I just I cannot believe that they went all the way through the season with this dude having no idea what to do on defense. It's just, I mean, that's the reason they lost almost every one of their games because their defense couldn't get a stop. So yeah, i nothing surprising there.
00:25:22
Speaker
They didn't fire anybody, but dude, what the fuck are the Giants doing? Like, I don't know, understand how you just keep running this back. I mean, it was the GM and the head coach's fault that they brought Daniel Jones and signed them to that big deal after the playoffs a couple of years ago. Like, so we're just gonna act like there's no fault from either one of those guys that they did that. They picked Daniel Jones over Saquon Barkley. And Saquon Barkley just ran for 2000 yards in 16 games. Like, I just,
00:25:52
Speaker
I don't, I don't know what they're doing at all. That's just baffling to me. Um, the last one we had in this was actually today, the Raiders fired Antonio Pierce calling Dion Sanders to be the coach of the Raiders. Like it's just actually going to happen, man. I think they'll interview him at least whether or not it actually happens. I have no idea, but I mean, what do you really be surprised? They got a top 10 pick that could easily trade up into the top three and draft should or like,
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's gonna sell tickets. Yeah, it'll sell tickets, man. It'll definitely be a Raiders move, man. Dude, like, the Raiders just continue to make stupid moves, though. It's like, it's, they, I just, I don't know what's wrong with this franchise. They never should have hired Pierce last year. I don't know why they even did that last year, man. It's, ah yeah, it it seemed like a reach. Yeah, and then they come out this season and and the players don't want to play for them. It's like, what did you expect to happen? I mean,
00:26:49
Speaker
We've, we talk about it every time. Yeah. You get juice from an interim coach, but how long does that juice last? Like it's just, I don't know. I just weird organization overall, but yeah, I mean, that's really all I wanted to go over for this week. Like granted we're going to the playoffs and the big things was talking about the Titans and Falcons. So yeah, we can ah move on to whatever. yeah For those wondering, well, we're going to do our year end awards on that week in between the conference championship and the super bowl. So that that's the week that we'll do our, uh,
00:27:18
Speaker
our goal line into season awards and there'll be, it'll be regular season awards with a, you know, the, the post-season will kind of be the tiebreaker.
MVP Debate: Lamar Jackson vs Josh Allen
00:27:24
Speaker
look Let's just do this. Who, who do you honestly think deserves to win the MVP this year? I mean, I think it's a two person race at this point. Yeah, it's between Lamar and Josh Allen. I go Lamar Jackson, man. I think Josh Allen was the better player. Like if I had, you know, if my family's life was on the line and I had to pick a, you know, I could draft a football team to to win it to save him. I think I'm putting Josh Allen at QB. I don't think he was in nearly as good a situation with the players around him. But that being said, just the level of efficiency and the stats, man, people say like, Oh, it's just stats, but du the stats represent production, man. And I think Lamar
00:27:58
Speaker
put a big enough gap between him and Josh Allen numbers wise, that it's enough to overcome the the slightly better situation he was in, man. i just unless you Unless you just want to give it to Josh Allen, just because he's a good dude and hasn't won one yet, I don't think there's really any other argument for giving it to Lamar Jackson. Yeah, he had the second highest completion percentage of his career. He had the most passing yards of his career. He had the most passing touchdowns by five, and he only had four picks on the season. like dude 4,000 plus dude, 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards, man. That's Madden numbers. No, that's tough to do on Madden on pro difficult 4,172 passing yards and 915 rushing. Like dude, he broke 5,000 yards and had 45 total touchdowns to only four picks like
00:28:41
Speaker
I mean, if if if they gave it to him last year based on those numbers, now I know last year was different because nobody and I just last year was just kind of a throwaway, honestly. I still think Josh Allen is going to get it. I agree with you. I think it feels like it feels like the NFL. meet It feels like the voters are dying to give it to Josh Allen, man. But I think it's the wrong call. I do too. I think Lamar definitely should get it. But I think Josh Allen will get it so.
00:29:11
Speaker
Alright, let's pick these college football semi-finals. One
00:29:36
Speaker
Did you see that Dion ah was tweeting about the Titans GM getting fired? Yeah, I did see that, actually. I thought that but that was a little interesting day. Hit the wow with the big eyes emoji. Do your choice, man. which Which game you want to go to first? Let's start with Penn State and Notre Dame. It's like a mirror match. You have Mortal Kombat. I remember when you used to pick the same guys to see what would happen. that's That's what this game feels like to me.
00:30:00
Speaker
Yeah, that this one is, I mean, the point spread reflects it like this game is going to be tight. It's going to be a defensive battle. Yeah. Who could force a fumble? Who could tip a pass into a pick, man? Penn State's been playing awesome, dude. Their defense is ridiculous, man. I kind of feel like Notre Dame's got the juice though, man. Riley Leonard's tough, dude. i I, to me, I feel like Notre Dame kind of grits one out by the skin of their teeth and we see them playing for, for a national championship. I'm going Notre Dame as well. The main reason this is usually where James Franklin has the biggest problems is in when he gets to the actual big games. So yeah, i' I'm going to go Notre Dame as well. I feel like their defense is just a little bit better than Penn States. And I trust Riley Leonard a little bit more than I do Drew Aller, even though I think he's going to be really good. And and I think the football gods,
00:30:51
Speaker
they open state some punishment, the fact that they got to this point by beating SMU and Boise State. like no No offense, man, but definitely the easiest path of all the teams that are in the Final Four so far. like Compare that to Ohio State running but blowing the doors off of Tennessee and Oregon in back-to-back weeks. Yeah. it It is interesting, though, that all the bye teams lost. All the teams of the bye lost right out of the gate. so I don't know, man. There's going to be definitely getting some tweets. Yeah. Cause there's no way Oregon should have been playing Ohio state in their first game. Yeah. And I don't necessarily think we don't got the four best teams right here, but just, you know, to tie, obviously we have a wrestling podcast we do as well. This is on the feed for a wrestling show. You want to build to those bigger match ups, man. I felt like we kind of smoked some of our big match ups there in the, uh, the first and second round, you know what I mean? Yeah, I agree.
00:31:41
Speaker
All right. And then, uh, the, the big prime time matchup, man, Texas and Ohio state, does Texas got any chance now with the way Ohio state's been playing the
Ohio State's College Playoffs Dominance
00:31:52
Speaker
last couple of weeks? I don't think anybody has a chance to get to Ohio state to be completely honest with you right now. What they did to Oregon in the first half of that game was honestly one of the most impressive things I've ever seen from a college football team in my life. They just, I mean, Oregon couldn't even move the ball past the line of scrimmage. Like I just,
00:32:09
Speaker
And honestly, I said this all year. I felt like Oregon just looked like the best team all year. They played like it. They went undefeated. They blew the doors off Oregon. I i do not see a team that's beating Ohio State unless Ohio State just has a meltdown.
00:32:24
Speaker
Yeah. And that was right after crushing Tennessee, man. I mean, Tennessee had one of the best defenses in the country all season long and they straight up so blew them off the field too. So I'm right there with you, man. Let's Ohio state just chokes this one away. I don't see. Yeah. and I think Ohio state wins and I'm not sure if it's going to be particularly competitive. I was surprised. It's only at five and a half points on the spread. And I mean, that's, they're given tennis or Texas respect, which I get, but dude, after watching Texas, the first two games, I just, I don't see it at all, man.
00:32:54
Speaker
I get it. I have to be the biggest Quinn Ewers hater. And it's mainly just cause I want to see arch manning play cause I want to see what he can do. He seems special where it's Quinn Ewers just seems like, you know, just a guy yeah yeah. He did. He did credit though, dude, when it was time, when it got to the clutch moment, dude, he stepped up, man. That's undeniable, dude. Dude balled out the last couple of minutes of the fourth quarter in overtime. He straight, he saved a Steve Sarkeesian's bacon big time. A hundred percent.
00:33:21
Speaker
All right, so we're both going um Notre Dame and Ohio State. yep What a classic matchup that's going to be for the championship. I saw some funny tweets today, man. People were talking about how the 12 team playoff was supposed to allow, uh, you know, a lot of new blood and different teams getting the mix. And we have arguably like the most traditional final floor we've ever had since they went to the playoff back in 2014 with Notre Dame Penn state, Ohio state, and Texas for the true, just like all blue bloods, all blue bloods, all top 10 and wins in college football history. So yeah yeah, really got some new blood in there.
00:33:56
Speaker
which for college football, I i mean, i don't get me wrong. we're We're both on record. We love the 12 team playoff. I don't think there's, the downsides to it are really minimal, but I do think you're going to see a situation like this more often than you're going to see somebody like an Arizona state or an SMU make a run to the semi-finals because what it's really doing, it's given the most talented teams in the country a do over. You know what I mean? Like those ones that stumbled once or twice in a regular season, you're giving them a chance to get their shit together and put their best foot forward at the end of the season. But end of the day, we want to see the best teams playing for the championship. i think That's what we're going to have. Both of us agree. There will not be an SEC team in the final for the second straight year, which is very surprising. I mean, I already say that Texas is a big 12 team, dude. They're, they're, they're, they're Scooby-Doo bro. Take the SEC patch off the Jersey and it's going to be big 12. But, but yeah, the, the, the SEC, man, definitely this was a ah punch in the face for all the, the SEC zealots across the, ah across the Southeast, man. This was not, it was a down year for them.
00:34:54
Speaker
Uh, at least at the top of the conference, man, as far as having contenders, dude, George Carson Beck's injury weighs into that big time. But even before that, we saw Georgia stumble a couple of times this season and, and Alabama, uh, was not Alabama first year post saving dude. And just somebody was talking about that. Uh, Alabama started the 2024 year with a loss to Michigan and ended 2024, the loss to Michigan that that cannot feel good.
00:35:21
Speaker
Dude, the other thing that's hurt in the SEC last couple of seasons is LSU being just slightly above mediocre with Brian Kelly, man. like but you know well Before he was there, LSU was kind of right there with the Georges and the Alabamas as being you know one of the best teams in the country year in and year out. Yeah, it appears that Notre Dame was not the issue. It was Brian Kelly that was the issue.
00:35:41
Speaker
Yeah, I'm surprised he survived this year. I think one more season like, uh, like we had this past year, I think he's going to be gone. They're going to be looking for the next, uh, the next big thing. All
NFL Playoff Predictions
00:35:53
Speaker
right. Let's get to the games that really matter. NFL playoffs.
00:36:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:12
Speaker
All right, we're going to just go in order. We'll start Saturday afternoon. The Texans come limping into the playoffs, man. I had a rough back stretch of the season. um What do you think, man? Can they can they stop this this powerful Chargers team from the town? I'm going Chargers, and I think they win this game easily, honestly.
00:36:31
Speaker
Yeah. Charger's team seems like for a team that's not got a ton of momentum, man, this Charger's team is the last one you want to see rolling into. Just a tough physical team, play some mean defense, man. Justin Herbert made almost no mistakes this year, only three interceptions for the season. um Yeah, I think this one could get could get pretty ugly. Yeah, I agree. I don't think this is going to be a good game at all.
00:36:54
Speaker
All right. We got the Steelers and the Ravens in Baltimore. Same thing. Steelers lost last four games of the season. This was a team. I was high on the Steelers you ever up until the end of November, man. I thought, I thought that that their style of play that they had was going to, uh, was going to trans translate really well to the playoffs. But the offense just seems toothless, man. Russell Wilson, it's like he lost his fastball all of a sudden when he was looking rock solid earlier this year. Um,
00:37:21
Speaker
And they're going up against that Baltimore team that when they're on there as good as anybody in the, in the, in the league, man, I think Baltimore rolls and we get a couple of snoozers on Saturday. Yeah, I agree. That's why these games are on Saturday. Cause even the NFL knows we're about to get some snoozers. Yeah. Baltimore is going to steamroll. It's where checking the weather real quick.
00:37:40
Speaker
It's going to be cold, but no precipitation, man. 29, but no rain or snow. So I don't see it being a factor. If there was a little bit of snow or rain, i would you know question you know you see some funky things happening. Because I do think the Steelers defense is probably a little bit better than the Ravens defense. But I don't think it's going to be enough to overcome Lamar and Derek Henry on on Saturday night in Baltimore. Yeah. All right, Broncos, Bills, and Buffalo. Again, great season for the Broncos. But i think I think the buck stops here. Yeah, I think Buffalo wins this game easily.
00:38:09
Speaker
All right, we got two really competitive games to close out Sunday, man. Both these, really, our last three games are all kind of coin flips, man. Packers and Eagles in Green Bay. No, in Philadelphia. ah yeah Excuse me, in Philadelphia. Both QBs coming a little bit banged up. We got Jalen Hurts coming off a concussion. Jordan Love heard his hurt his hand on Sunday. Sounds like he's going to be OK heading into it, if even if he doesn't practice a lot this week.
00:38:35
Speaker
um Eagles obviously played way better on the season. They're 14 and three. So they're super strong division winner going up against 11 and six Packers team. That was kind of up and down, but you know, it's the Packers. They got Jordan love. Um, how do you see this one playing out, Jordan? Uh, dude, I don't think, uh, Jalen hurts is actually still in concussion protocol. I think this is a little gamesmanship on their part. I think you'll probably clear it on Friday or Saturday, but Dude, Jalen Hurts is playing in this game. Let's not get it twisted. And with him playing, I just, I do not like the way Green Bay has played in December. I mean, I've, I've told you as much. I just, I don't feel like they're playing at the top of their game, which usually when it comes to play, gets close to playoff time, you can tell Green Bay like turns it on.
00:39:21
Speaker
Dude, I just, I don't think they have enough to turn it on this year. They just lost Christian Watson for the season in this game. Like you just said, Jordan loves banged up. You heard his elbow and apparently he couldn't feel his hand. I don't know, man. I'm just not getting positive vibes around the Packers right now. So I'm going to go Eagles. I do think it's a good game. So I'll go, uh, I'll go Eagles by seven.
00:39:44
Speaker
I think Packers are pulling off the upset, man. we We're going to see at least one of these favorites is getting dropped on this wildcard weekend. I think it's going to be the Eagles, man. I think the Packers catch them flat footed and go in there just like they stunned the Cowboys last year on wildcard weekend. I think they take out the NFC East champs for the second straight season and beat the Eagles. All right. All right. Sunday night, commanders and Buccaneers down in Tampa, man. Baker versus Jayden Daniels.
00:40:10
Speaker
This is a season opener. Marissa's the season opener. The bucks beat them and Jane Daniels first game. um I mean, Washington is completely healthy at this point. So did I just, I still don't trust Tampa Bay to their defense is still leaky as shit. I mean, if the saints didn't kick four field goals in the first half of that game, like dude, that game could have been a massacre at halftime.
00:40:39
Speaker
Look at the offense though, bro. They dropped 40 on the chargers a few weeks back, man. Dropped 40 on the Panthers, dude. Like i know Baker may feel 41 touchdown passes. I'm not saying that their offense is not good. I just don't trust their defense at all. And I trust Washington's a little bit more, even though that's not a huge thing for me either. I'm going to go Washington. Like you, like you just said, I think one of the favorites is going to get upset. I went with Philly. You went with green bay. I'm going to go Washington over Tampa.
00:41:05
Speaker
I think, I think books get it done. I think this between Jay Daniels and Baker Mayfield, I think this has got a ton of potential and end up being our most entertaining game of the weekend. I think, I think that's what it's going to end up being looking forward to this one. But I think that the, I think the bucks, I think the home food advantage is enough for the bucks to get it done. Yeah. It's going to be a good game no matter what I feel like.
00:41:26
Speaker
All right.
Vikings vs Rams Playoff Preview
00:41:27
Speaker
And then Monday night, man, we talked about some of the college football teams getting a bad draw. The 14 and three Vikings, they put together one of the best seasons in franchise history. They got to travel out to LA to face Matt Stafford and the Rams. Vikings are actually a one point favorite in this game, man. But I don't know, dude, I feel like the Rams got a little bit more playoff chops to them. Matt Stafford, obviously, you know, you trust him in any game at any time. This is an extremely brutal draw for the Vikings.
00:41:53
Speaker
It is whoever lost that game on Sunday night was going to be going into this game, not feeling great. The Rams kind of screwed the Vikings ever man, because if the Rams would have beat the Seahawks on um on Sunday, they would have been the three seed and the Bucks would have been the four seed. I feel like going down to Tampa is a lot more enticing than going out to LA to face the Rams.
00:42:17
Speaker
um Dude, I just, I don't think Minnesota is going to lose two straight games in the season. I just, I feel like this team played so well all year. I think Darnold just had his stinker. I don't think he has two in a row. I know we're talking about Sam, Sam Darnold here, but i'm I'm with you, dude. I do trust the Rams and and Stafford and McVay and stuff, but dude, Minnesota is just, they're a really good team, man. I just, I would hate, let me just say this. I would hate for them to end this season with 14 wins and then lose the last two games, the regular season finale, and then a playoff game. I think it being Monday night is an advantage for Minnesota. Honestly, I know
00:42:58
Speaker
LA is getting all this rest now with Stafford and everybody but Minnesota just getting that extra day. I feel like they can reset this week. O'Connell's a really good coach. I feel like they'll have a good game plan. I think we're in for a classic on Monday night and I think Minnesota barely edges them.
00:43:13
Speaker
Nothing you said was wrong, man. I agree with everything. But it's playoff football. And I've been doubting the Vikings all year. And I'm not about to stop when it's Sam Darnold versus Matt Stafford in the playoffs. I'm going Rams to win this one. I mean, I get it. It's going to be a good game.
00:43:28
Speaker
Yeah, like I said, those the they really you know they get they laid out the schedule very nice for us, man. yeah You kind of got your get your little appetizer on Saturday, a little quick palate cleanser with the Bills and Broncos Sunday morning. And those last three games should all be bangers, dude. Philly Green Bay, Washington Tampa Bay, and Minnesota, l LA. Those are all going to be pretty great. Yeah, it's going to be good. All right, let's get into our million dollar bets. OK, KK. Jesus.
00:44:06
Speaker
All right, we both lost all our bets last week I do think I got screwed man because technically if you go back and listen I said that Mike e I said the Bucks were gonna win and Mike Evans was gonna get his 85 yards But what the line was what 92 right was what the betting line ended up being I think it was a 97 and a half and Yeah. So I got hosed up on that. So he he did what I said he was going to do, but didn't do quite enough to satisfy draft King. So.
00:44:29
Speaker
Either way, we're in a a damn near dead heat as we have 13 playoff games left. Jordan has got the lead by 51,000, which you know, the kind of best we've been laying this year. That's a pretty slim margin. I'll let you go first, Jordan. What's your first bet? and Okay, I'm gonna go charges by the spread, which is two and a half plus two Justin Herbert passing touchdowns. I'm gonna put a hundred thousand on that to win $290,000. All right, I am gonna go So for my AFC ticket, I'm going chargers with the spread, Ravens and Bill's Moneyline, all three parlayed. I'm going to throw $250,000 on that to win $682,000. Whoo!
00:45:15
Speaker
What do you think is my riskiest leg on that, dude, the the charger spread? I feel like Ravens and Bills are dead guaranteed to win. Never guarantee in the playoffs. That's true. Very true, man. I didn't save my second bet. Sorry. Hold on. I got a phone. Broncos could be squirrely, dude, but the the I feel like the ah the Broncos and Steelers, man, I feel like the Broncos got the better chance to go up there and get the upset just because I don't know. It's just Sean Payton's, I hate to say it, but he's a great coach. They got a really strong defense and yeah, they could, they could totally cook up some wild ass game plan on ah offense that just gets the bills, defense and fits. Okay. I did save my second bet. I don't know why I wasn't showing up. So I'm going to go a touchdown parlay. I'm going to go Derek Henry to score one touchdown. James cook to score one touchdown and sake one to score one touchdown. I'm going to put 300,000 on that and it's going to win 1,273,048.
00:46:11
Speaker
God dang. So we could, it could be completely blown open or it could be a yeah ah straight up, you know, another dead heat. I got a, I got a bang or two from our last one day. So I'm going on Packers with plus five and or plus four and a half Rams plus one and a half and the bucks money line again, throwing down 250,000 on that. That's going to pay out $1,402,173. That one is way more risky.
00:46:38
Speaker
Yeah, all three legs of that are iffy, dude. That's more what it has to do with just the NFC playoffs, man. The NFC games are much tougher to bet than the AFC, man. We got some clear-cut favorites in the NFC. NFC, all three of those games. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked to see yeah any of those you know edit any any teams winning in any of those games.
00:46:56
Speaker
All right. That's a wrap. Me and Jordan got to get out of here. We got a, we were recording a episode of the chick full of short after this. So, uh, slightly shorter version, but I think we covered everything, man. Jordan hit us with some closing thoughts and we'll get out of here. Yeah, man. ah Enjoy the football this week. You got football Thursday night, Friday night, and then Saturday through Monday as NFL. So yeah, enjoy the football and we'll talk to you guys next week.
00:48:11
Speaker
Welcome to paradise!