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CFP Bracket Reactions + Conference Championship Recap, NFL Week 14 Recap
57 Plays6 months ago
The Goal Post is back after a fantastic weekend of College Football & the NFL
Damien and Patrick start off with breaking down the College Football Playoff Bracket - the information leak, Penn State’s lucky break, Oregon’s tough path, the SMU vs. Alabama debate, possible solutions to the system, and the most likeable and unlikable teams left in the final twelve.
After that, they do a comprehensive recap of each Conference Championship game in the power-four conferences - ASU keeps their winning streak alive, Georgia guts out a close game over Texas, Oregon remains undefeated, and Clemson steals the bid on a last-second field goal.
To finish, the boys recap what they learned from Week 14 in the NFL with the biggest takeaways from the weekend — Kirk Cousins and the Falcons fall further, there’s problems brewing in Philadelphia, the Dolphins are still in the hunt, and Josh Allen may have wrapped up the MVP conversation.
They finish by making their picks for the Week 15 slate - Damien now leads +6 at 26-16.
Enjoy!
CFP Bracket Discussion: 0:00 - 37:33
BIG 12 Championship Recap: 37:35 - 45:22
SEC Championship Recap: 45:24 - 53:45
BIG 10 Championship Recap: 53:47 - 59:10
ACC Championship Recap: 59:12 - 1:05:26
NFL Week 14 Takeaways: 1:05:28 - 1:42:48
NFL Week 15 Picks: 1:42:49 - 1:49:52
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Transcript
Introduction and College Football Playoff Drama
00:00:17
Speaker
Alright, welcome back to another episode of The Goalpost. Coming at you after an amazing, amazing weekend of football. And you know it's college football season because everyone is just pissed off online. I'd say that was that was the sentiment of of Sunday, of the start of the week. Everybody's upset online. I don't even know where to start, but I think that's the place we start with. It's just just pure vitriol out there.
00:00:46
Speaker
tough to please everybody but somehow you please nobody at the same maybe there's one fan base thought that is very happy with how the bracket unfolded and the rankings and everything we'll get into it ah in a bit but yes obviously the the first ever twelve team college football playoff bracket was officially released Over the weekend and thank thankfully they did it Sunday and didn't wait to
Nick Saban's Surprising Acceptance
00:01:09
Speaker
Tuesday first off. They they tossed us a bone there ah But then after that that was about the only thing that went, you know to plan I would say ah there's a lot to talk about a lot to get into but ah yeah, it's I think the they have the 12 teams correct and But I don't necessarily think the placement of all 12 teams was necessarily correct. Yeah, embrace debate. Even even Nick Saban, of all people, said that the 12 best teams were in the playoff, which I was shocked to hear. I did not think he was going to take that on the chin like he did.
00:01:44
Speaker
He's going to turn into Kirk Herb Street where you try so hard to become like unbiased. He's going to turn into an Alabama like hater and have like background like be against them ah to prove people that he is not biased. He's going to start going against Alabama. And I think you saw the start of that ah this past Sunday, Kirk Herb Street, Nick Saban, two Alabama haters or at least unbiased reporters.
Brett McMurphy's Leak and Playoff Chaos
00:02:08
Speaker
Bill Belichick looks like he's going to become the UNC head coach just It's raining cats and dogs in college football, but yes, we're starting by talking about the college football bracket. The selection show was spoiled before it even started. ah Brett McMurphy from the Action Network dropped that SMU had made the field and Alabama was out.
00:02:29
Speaker
This was believed to be the first leak of any bracket information in the 11 year history of the college football playoff. I love the idea of just some sort of like double agent working at Bristol and working in in ESPN. And it's such a, you know, an air of mystery around this selection show, around the releasing of this. And then it just got spoiled like Frank's Sarah Valley spoiling the the crack and expansion draft.
00:02:56
Speaker
That's exactly where my head went. um yeah Brett McMurphy did his best cerebellum impression. He did it pretty well, too, I would argue. It was I go back and forth on it because Brett McMurphy has kind of made a career of, you know, poking, poking the fire, you know, like messing with some fan bases ah during the Ohio State game when Will Howard had that, you know, he missed ah a gamer or a possession or two. He yeah he made a tweets and.
00:03:21
Speaker
Well, we all know how the committee feels about backup quarterbacks and insinuating that they should leave Ohio State out because of Will Howard. Didn't see that tweet for Georgia over the past weekend. I found that quite ironic. Yes, but he tweeted SMU in over Bama, but like at 11 59, the show came on at 12.
00:03:40
Speaker
I kind of didn't hate it, Damien, because like if you think of it, that show was 25 minutes of pure BS. It was just hypothetical talk, this, that, how they should order the show is go straight to the bracket, unveil the teams, then you have 25, 20 minutes to discuss what what like the playoff will actually look like. I don't like the hypothetical pre-talk.
00:04:03
Speaker
Like just get to it and then discuss what the actual implications are. So I think Brett McMurphy was definitely looking to, you know, yeah get some likes, some retweets and a lot of comments and just kind of cause chaos. But I also didn't mind just getting the the news and facts right away.
00:04:20
Speaker
It's so funny to drop that at eleven fifty nine to like it. There's no way that scoop came in that late like to to drop it a minute before the selection show starts is like peak trolling. um Regardless, it went out like this. The auto buys go one Oregon to Georgia, three Boise State, four Arizona State. Before we get to the first round match ups, some people were, you know, debating Boise State at the three over Arizona State at the four.
00:04:51
Speaker
like they have one more one more loss Arizona State did it now what whether you want to bring up strength to schedule all that talk I Wasn't as angry with that as maybe other people were I think that Boise State earned it by only losing one game and that one game being to work Yeah, by three points, too. like it was It was a tight game. It was a battle. um Boise State was also ahead of Arizona State the entire season, pretty much in the rankings. I think they got the buys in the order of the buys correct. um you know there There could be arguments for reform on who gets the buys in the future.
Playoff Bracket Critiques and Debates
00:05:26
Speaker
But in this instance, I believe like they got the order correct, Oregon, the no doubt number one.
00:05:32
Speaker
By default, I would assume the SEC champion was getting number two, no matter what, which makes sense to me. And then Boise State, like they've they've been a team that people I think are trying to write off, like trying to pretend that they don't have a chance in this. But Maddox Madsen is, you know, catching fire late in the season. We all know what Ashton Gente brings to the table. Boise State is just a tough team. They're going to get an extra week of rest now.
00:05:57
Speaker
Like they they have to earn their third place and their buy and then Arizona State, we all know they are one of the hottest teams in college football, especially down the in the second half of the season. Um, so they absolutely, I think deserve the buy over Clemson, ACC, the other ACC Championship who would have been fighting for the other buy, but I think they got the order and the teams in the buys correct.
00:06:20
Speaker
Yeah, this reminds me of when people argue targeting online. It's like you're arguing with the rule, not with how they called the rule. So it's like buy their own rules for this year. I think they got it right. ah The first round matchups, number 12, Clemson versus number five, Texas.
00:06:37
Speaker
number nine Tennessee versus number six or sorry versus number eight Ohio State. We'll get to that in a bit. ah Number 11 SMU versus number six Penn State and number 10 Indiana versus number seven Notre Dame. Some fun facts about these matchups. Clemson and Texas have never played each other, which I found very interesting.
00:07:01
Speaker
Ohio and Tennessee has happened once that was in the 1996 citrus Bowl, which Tennessee won I think the score was 20 to 14 Penn State and SMU have only played twice and Indiana and Notre Dame has happened 29 times in But not since 1991 and before that, not since 1958, which is insane to think about for two teams that are in the same state. So a lot of interesting matchups and some matchups we've never seen before.
00:07:32
Speaker
The Clemson Texas Clash of Orange. I believe we had a Clemson Tennessee matchup last year in a bowl game. That was a fun orange matchup. These two oranges are going to clash insanely hard. The burnt orange to the Clemson orange is going to be not not appealing to the eye. I don't know who gets to wear which jerseys in this matchup. I kind of hope.
00:07:56
Speaker
Clemson wears the whites and Texas wears their home, their orange jerseys, because they have like white helmets and everything, so it won't look as as bad on my eyes. But that's a fun matchup. um The one that I'm most intrigued about, I guess, would be Notre Dame, Indiana, just because of the history of the two programs, like you said, in the same state.
00:08:19
Speaker
ah It these those are the most expensive tickets surprisingly the average ticket I would not have guessed that going into this game ah But it's a Friday night game, which I also think adds a fun dynamic to this um It's a perfect the kind of like a Houston Texans Saturday, four o'clock divisional game. Indiana, Notre Dame, Friday night just makes sense to me. ah But yes, a lot to kind of unpack here. SMU ahead of Clemson. what what What did how did you react to that? Well, it's interesting because I think that in line with a lot of the other decisions that they made,
00:08:53
Speaker
It was SMU's performance in that game which gave them the edge because normally you would look at that you would say head on head how the hell is Clemson behind them. But when you look at how many losses each of them had ah and one of them being in a conference championship they clearly valued teams getting to a conference championship and didn't detract from them losing a conference championship. And I think losing on a walk off like that I was fine with Clemson getting bumped back a bit because In all honesty, they were the last team to sneak into this. So I think it only makes sense for them to be put in that position. And obviously, SMU gets in over Bama. They were down 24. Like, we'll get into the full thing. But if that score finished as as the halftime score, let's put pretend it's 24-7 final score, I can't help but think not only would Clemson be ahead of SMU, but I i would think SMU would have been out. But credit to them, they had a ah great fourth quarter, came back,
00:09:50
Speaker
I thought that game was for sure going to overtime. Apparently college kickers can kick, some of them at least. um So Clemson, yeah. like that just I love the idea of bid stealers. It's one of my favorite parts of March Madness in college basketball is a team can just get hot at the right time, win your conference tournament, and you just cause chaos. And that's exactly what Clemson did here.
00:10:11
Speaker
They use their second chance correctly after the loss of South Carolina and Miami, you know, tripping all over themselves and losing to Syracuse. ah So yeah, Cade Clubnik and Clemson could be a dangerous team. It was going to be a fun matchup against Texas. um i get I'll just, I'll just rip the Band-Aid off. I don't understand how um I'll rephrase this. I don't like how Texas and Penn State have been rewarded for playing nobody all season long. Yeah. How about we go into this? Let's role play a little bit here, Patrick. Let's
Seeding Controversies and Team Comparisons
00:10:45
Speaker
do it. You're Ohio State. I'm Penn State. I can play that role quite well. So if you're Ohio State, why do you think that that Penn State was gifted the sixth seed? I would assume that they're being rewarded for making the conference championship.
00:11:03
Speaker
And why do you think Ohio State, like why do you think Ohio State should have been higher? I should have phrased it as. ah Because first off, I'll just start off with head to head. I think head to heads should matter in this instance in Ohio State when on the road to Penn State without giving up an offensive touchdown and beat them by a touchdown. That's where I would start. I understand that Ohio State lost a bad matchup by they were 19 and a half 20 point favorites at home. They lost to Michigan.
00:11:33
Speaker
i I still think when you bring up Penn State's resume, the first thing you're bringing up is who they lost to. Who have they beaten? They have beaten Illinois. They have won ranked win at home. Then you go common opponent, which is Oregon. Ohio State was at Oregon at night. They led for 33 minutes of that game. They lost by one point with the ball in their hand because their quarterback made a bit of a boneheaded move and slid a second too late.
00:12:02
Speaker
OK, so now we go to Oregon versus Penn State on a neutral field, which basically was a home game for Penn State. They were down 18 at one point, trailed the entire game, lost by eight points. To me, if you if you look at the scoreboard, you can argue Penn State was in that game. They never had a lead. They were behind the entire time. Oregon was going up and down the field. And I understand that Penn State started going up and down the field in the second half, but they never got ahead of Oregon. They were behind that entire game.
00:12:32
Speaker
Ohio State has wins over two top five teams, including Penn State. And and to me, I think wins should outweigh losses. And when you we I get it. It's like, for SMU, you're not going to punish them. You're not going to kick them out of the playoff. Penn State was never in jeopardy of being out of the playoff. So when I think that you have you know all your playoff teams lined up,
00:12:56
Speaker
You have the opportunity to see them correctly and make the bracket make sense. The bracket makes no sense. now Oregon has the toughest path. The only team that has been convincingly the number one undisputed best team in the country all year long. They would happily switch paths in Penn State right now. So I just think The committee is putting too much weight on a conference championship where the scheduled disparity between these teams is kind of ridiculous and you have a head to head. Texas, i can you can argue ahead of Ohio State because they, like I said, common opponent, they demolished Michigan on the road. Ohio State lost them. So I would have no problem putting Texas ahead of Ohio State. Penn State ahead of Ohio State, even Notre Dame. Notre Dame's a team that lost to NIU. They beat Army.
00:13:45
Speaker
Okay, you beat Texas A and&M, neither of those teams are threatening. You know what I mean? Texas A&M is not even ranked right now. it kind of I forget if Army is ranked or not. um But yeah, I truly believe Ohio State should be ahead of Penn State, probably ahead of Notre Dame, and Oregon is the one who is being punished because of it.
00:14:06
Speaker
Yeah, okay. A lot of time back there, I think the first place to start is the Oregon part because I think that the what a lot of people have been pointing to and maybe a simple fix for this is you mentioned college basketball. College basketball, like the NFL, recedes after rounds. So I think that you know Oregon, as many people have noted, have an extremely hard path and weren't quite rewarded for being the number one seed.
00:14:33
Speaker
Let Oregon play the lowest seeded winner from round one, Georgia the second lowest, and so on and so forth. But it could still be Ohio State. like all there they would be the low If all favorites win, Ohio State would still be the lowest seed.
00:14:48
Speaker
It's a good point. That's a good point. I'm not saying all favorites are going to win. And you're right. I do think there needs to be. We can go jump right into the reform if you want. This is not the correct way. And I think it's going to be changed immediately. I don't think just because you win your conference, you should have a buy. I think it should be the top four seeded teams should get the buy.
00:15:11
Speaker
I think that's fair too. I think that would would solve a lot of headaches ah in terms of seating in terms of who was actually the best team going up against lower ranked opponents. um Penn State like I understand you know that the word manual and the committee made very clear that if two teams aren't playing that weekend, one can't move ahead of the other. So I get why Ohio State didn't move ahead of Notre Dame, for example.
00:15:39
Speaker
um An interesting thing is I think that to set all this up, Georgia in the middle of the season, they dropped nine spots in the rankings after losing on the road to a ranked Ole Miss. Ohio State only dropped four spots after losing at home to an unranked Michigan. So I think that and think it was a bit skewed based on how far Ohio State didn't fall after that loss. I think that has has muddied the waters a bit here.
00:16:07
Speaker
i' They clearly didn't punish teams for losing the conference title game like you mentioned. So if you're going off of regular season ah you know resumes, then it you know PSU has a better record because they have one more you know or one more win or one less loss ah over Ohio State.
00:16:26
Speaker
Then they're judging off of, you know, if always you has two losses, Penn State being, you know, one of their losses being a top 10 team in the country, Ohio State, while Ohio State's second loss was as a 19 and a half point home favorite. Then you start it started to make more sense to me. But I think my opinion changed when I saw Penn State fans online being like, holy shit, like not no Penn State fan was putting up an argument like they were just like,
00:16:54
Speaker
thank the thank the gods that we got this break they they weren't even putting getting on their soapbox for it i think that's actually the worst part is they got rewarded with the best path i would argue right you have you start off with smu you're an eight and a half point favorite and i could see that line continuing to go their way and if you win you get the group of five school who i think boise state has had a good season I don't think they can compete with a top three big 10 school and ah Penn State's going to be probably close to a touchdown favorite against them as well. And it's not a home game. You know what I mean? It's not like they have to go to Boise State, play on the blue turf in the cold. It's going to be on a neutral field. And I guess who's fans are going to travel more. Penn State fans are going to travel more than Boise State fans.
00:17:42
Speaker
it's just insane that they get rewarded for having the easiest path without having beat anybody i guess that is more of my gripe is with the committee it's just the format of this it's exciting right the matchups the entertainment value it's all gonna be great don't get me wrong but i just think you've gotten it so wrong uh in just how it's formatted with the buys it it's You know, you brought up what what would it look like with the with the four and it would be horrible. I agree with that. It would be, you know, Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Penn State. I think I'm very grateful for having 12 teams in Ohio State having, you know, being and invited at the table. Just have a chance. Very grateful for that. But I believe wins should outweigh losses, especially when there's a head to head. I understand Ohio State has had a bad loss.
00:18:33
Speaker
Penn State has beaten Illinois, and that's about it. And their scheduled disparity between Ohio State and Penn State has been quite evident to me. So that's why I think these conference championships, similar to Texas, it should count as a normal game for your schedule because you've played nobody. So it's a real eye test to see where you actually match up. And to me, I think in the big 10, it's pretty obvious. It's Oregon 1, Ohio State 2, Penn State 3, Indiana 4.
00:19:02
Speaker
in the college football playoff with the rankings, they decided not to punish them for losing in a conference championship game. I have another question. Let's say Penn State loses by 15 to Oregon. Oregon gets one more touchdown or Penn State gets one less touchdown. Do you still keep them at at their spot? Like, well, what would it have taken for you to drop Penn State below Ohio State? I think that it it would have been their performance in that game, because based on everything that they've said, especially in regards to getting SMU in,
00:19:31
Speaker
I think that the fact that they put up more points than any other team had on Oregon this entire season ah was a big ah like arguing point for Penn State in their eyes. ah And I think that their performance in that game, like they seem to have valued how teams bounce back in the second half. They mentioned that both in Penn State's case and in SMU's case, which is interesting because then you're, it's interesting the weight they put on performance in the conference championship game but then don't detract for any loss like it's a win-win situation which I guess makes sense for rewarding teams for getting to the conference championship but it's not like Penn State did anything extraordinary to get to the conference championship game they won off of a technicality based on how
00:20:22
Speaker
hard their schedule was compared to Indiana who had an even easier schedule in the Big Ten. Penn State got rewarded with one missing having to play both Indiana and Oregon in the regular season and then you know tripping their way into a Big Ten championship.
00:20:39
Speaker
Penn State has been the luckiest team all year all year long. i'm not That's not you know Penn State Finch. I'm not going at you or the team. i'm I think it's a solid team. I think they are a playoff team. No one has failed upwards more in this season than the Penn State Nittany Lions. I always struggle to say that. You're Penn State to me. um like It, there's also the argument of how, how do you value Texas losing to Georgia twice? And we all know how the committee feels about backup quarterbacks. They're apparently second-class citizens. Texas lost to a backup quarterback in the second half. You had a lead and you lost it to a backup quarterback in overtime. Like why, why wasn't that part of the president and Carson back is out. he's He's gone. It's not like he's coming back as UCL is, you know, in his throwing arm.
00:21:25
Speaker
is is done so I it's it's all chaos to me I in the future I it needs to be reformed I think like I don't know if you go just based the 12 teams and rankings because that would have Alabama in and Clemson out right one's a conference champion one has three losses how I guess they both have three losses but one has won a conference it's it's all screwed up to me but this is not the way forward it if it is in my opinion this needs to be changed in the coming years or next year I think it should be right away I think you're right about that and I think they will um based on kind of how this whole shit show has gone down I think like let's get the easiest path conversation finished I think Notre Dame has a
00:22:10
Speaker
strangely easy path to the national title. I think if i I had the capital right now, I'd be throwing down a ton on plus 850 to win the national title because you're already seven and a half point favorites against Indiana. So if you beat Indiana, then you go up against a Georgia team that in all likelihood will be without Carson back. And then you get the winner of Penn State SMU slash SMU against Boise State. And then you're in that the national title game. Dude, that lower half of the bracket is a joke.
00:22:40
Speaker
It's a joke. Oregon's gonna have to go through the winner of Ohio State Tennessee then probably have to play Texas and Oregon's gonna have to play the top four betting or the top three betting odds to win the national championship. I think Georgia's third. I think Texas is is second. Well, just like the top four are Oregon. They have to play the three other teams in the top four of betting odds to win the national championship and then Penn State or Notre Dame. Like you said, they only have to go through Georgia and then play whichever one comes out of the other side of the bracket. So I think Notre Dame, Penn State,
00:23:17
Speaker
You you guys are lucky. I think it's you've earned it like just the way it all unfolded with the rankings. The bottom side of the bracket is is you've got to be. It's a beautiful sight to those teams, even Indiana, like it's even teams like Indiana. They can like convince themselves they have a chance. SMU, you just got to have one big upset and then, you know, like SMU would be playing Boise State. Who the hell knows how how that game would go? And then Indiana, if you somehow upset in order to aim, then you get a backup. quarterback in Georgia and a team who has lost some games throughout this year. It's it's the wild west in this and you know, while I don't like it and I think Oregon has should have every right to be upset.
00:24:01
Speaker
It's wide open. you know like at This play, this bracket, this playoff, it is one of the more wide open things I've seen in a long time. So I think that is good for college football and the entertainment factor is good for college football. But I think the teams that have earned it, well, basically Oregon, the only team who really has earned it.
00:24:19
Speaker
The one C needs to be rewarded and they did not get rewarded for for being the best team in college football all year. But yeah, Notre Dame. Yeah, it's basically Notre Dame or Penn State. Like those are your two teams that like have the easiest path and we'll see who can make it count. Yes, we will. We'll move on to one last thing
SMU vs Alabama Playoff Debate
00:24:37
Speaker
here. SMU, well, not one last thing, but another big debate. ah SMU and Bama, the big debate. Everybody's going nuts over it.
00:24:44
Speaker
People were acting crazy from Alabama, which I was surprised why Nick Saban wasn't. Athletic director Greg Byrne of Alabama goes, we have said that we would need to see how strength of schedule would be evaluated by the college football playoff committee. With this outcome, we will need to reassess how many P4 non-conference games make sense in the future to put us in the best part position to participate in the college football playoff. That is not good for college football.
00:25:10
Speaker
I'm sorry Alabama. Did you lose out of conference or did you lose in conference to Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, and Tennessee? like this That was one of the craziest quotes I've ever seen. They had west Western Kentucky, u USF, Mercer, and the weakest Wisconsin team in the past 10 years as they're out of conference games. The only reason they were in the conversation was because of strength of schedule. Was anybody talking about 9 in 3 Duke or 9 in 3 Syracuse or 9 in 3 Illinois or 9 in 3 Colorado? Of course not. like
00:25:49
Speaker
They actually might have gotten a stronger benefit of the doubt had their out of conference schedule been stronger. And they did get the benefit of the doubt of strength of schedule because they lost to unranked teams yet were still ranked above two lost teams in the college football bra like ranking system.
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah, due to their strength of schedule, they beat South Carolina, they beat Ole Miss, so they were given the benefit of the doubt over those teams with head to head. and And basically throughout our entire kind of arguments that we've been having over Penn State, Ohio State, Texas, wherever teams,
00:26:23
Speaker
The committee did stay consistent in not punishing teams in conference champions. So I do think SMU is a product of that. Alabama is no one to blame but themselves. Maybe Clemson, like Clemson still, if Clemson doesn't win, Bama's in, right? It's pretty simple math, but there's bid stealing. And I guess, you know, Alabama never thought that Clemson was going to win that game. And they did. And they just thought, you know,
00:26:48
Speaker
We got like they didn't think that it was possible to have two ACC teams in this playoff But that happened weeks ago that they were probably gonna get multiple teams and obviously crumbs into Miami kind of you know tripped over themselves But Bama you lost the Oklahoma that is to me a worse, like the worst loss of the year, three points against Oklahoma. That is horrible. Uh, and yeah, you lost the Vanderbilt. So you have no one to blame about yourselves. But like you said, I think if you continue to schedule strong out of conference teams, the three losses might help you in a way and not help you, but your strength of schedule with three losses can help you in the future. And, uh, I think he's got it backwards. Like you said, I think that's just like he saw red yeah has to give a press conference and you just got his like,
00:27:34
Speaker
the most alabama bias speak you could ever have like all right man why don't you just schedule d two teams then like it pretty much do with mercer like it it's crazy that was nuts um smu did exactly what they had to do if they were goingnna lose that game like that that is what it came down to ward manual said they performed very well defensively They had shut Clemson down in the second half. They performed better in the second half offensively as they had done all year. So they clearly valued their performance. Their ability to come back in that game really should have been an overtime game. Doesn't get much closer than a 56 yard field goal to walk it off. um So I have no qualms with SMU and I think they showed a lot of fight in that game.
00:28:19
Speaker
That second half saved their season, man. They were playing in the Pop-Tart Bowl if they, if they kept that 24-7, you know, like 31-14. I don't think that would have been enough, but they just climbed back 17 fourth quarter points. and And I thought it was overtime and I would have favored SMU in that overtime. Cade Klubnick turned into a pumpkin in the fourth quarter, unfortunately. And yeah, SMU did what they had to do. And then Clemson,
00:28:44
Speaker
did what they had to do to to win that game and and win the ACC. ah So I guess to me it was easy for the 12 teams, but it was like my beef, like I said earlier, it was just the seeding of the teams I disagree with and and how the buys work. it's It's frustrating for teams and I can only imagine what Oregon fans feel about about seeing their their path to the national championship.
00:29:07
Speaker
No kidding. um We'll move on to some final things here. I want to ask you, who do you think out of these 12 teams, who's the most likable underdog? Because for me, it's between Clemson and Ohio State, I would say. um There's a lot of options.
00:29:23
Speaker
I cannot believe that these circumstances have brought me to actually like a Clemson team or state that a Clemson team is a likable underdog. If you would have told me that five, six years ago, I wouldn't have believed you. But based off of that game, how Tabbo handled the postgame, shouting out SMU, ah the likability factor of cade K. Clubnik.
00:29:46
Speaker
They're high on my board. Arizona State, on the other hand, there's something feisty about them. Just the way that, you know, Cam Scadibo is so fun to watch. I'm gonna ignore that he called himself the best running back in the nation. You have to bet on yourself. Kenny Dillingham, as crazy and hardo as he is. There's something likable about him.
00:30:04
Speaker
ah His comments on the transfer portal like saying even if guys choose to to hit the portal they can stay on the team ah He said no, that's not fair for you guys to go in after our run is over um Our guys have the opportunity to stay on our football team. I'd also accept Indiana Signeti maybe not the most likable guy who who's the most likable underdog to you and As a team, it's Indiana with Rourke, like you have a Canadian at quarterback, Signeti. Signeti has turned them away from being like a likable underdog story. He's kind of been brash, a little arrogant, which is fine. Like ah if if that's the level they want to get to, I get it. But as of right now, they haven't really you know consistently been an elite team in the Big 10. Maybe they will in the future.
00:30:50
Speaker
I don't know if you call him an underdog because they're the three seed, but Boise State, just like Ash and Genty's probably not going to get the Heisman after having an amazing season. ah If he wins one game, I think he's going to have a solid chance of beating Barry Sanders record. I understand he's going to be playing more games than Barry did, but just like get your name in the record books, how go on a little bit of a run here. ah Boise State's a team that has kind of been overlooked all year long.
00:31:16
Speaker
and i think that if they can get a decent matchup in the second round whether you know if smu finds a way to beat penn state boys he's taking going to run i know they're the three seed and it's tough to call them the underdog i guess you'd say but i guess uh aside from those teams you mentioned i I cheer for Cade Klubnick. I've been in that a believer of Cade for a while now, so it was nice to see you know the fan club finally get rewarded. ah But ill I'll go between Clemson and Boise State. And it's a shame. I'm a sucker for Tennessee. It's a real shame. Ohio State has to match up with them in the first round because I just love the the volunteer dog, their mascot. It's all
00:31:54
Speaker
The pageantry of Tennessee to me, uh, they're like my default sec team that I think I associate with the most. Uh, so it's a shame that Ohio state has to match up with them in the first round, but I'll go Clemson or Boise state as my likable underdog stories. Yeah. It's a, wouldn't that just melt melt Heisman voters minds or, or are yours online? If, but if Boise state was to beat like a ah Penn state in that game,
00:32:21
Speaker
Did they get to the national championship on the back of Ash and Genty? It's like, oh, but hey, Travis Hunter played both ways, man. He plays both sides. What do you not understand? That would just that would just melt people's brains that and I'm really hoping for that. I also think Penn State going far would melt people's brains, but that would that would rattle me.
00:32:40
Speaker
yeah that on me I'll be honest. I'll be honest. I have a slight I'll slightly be rooting against a Penn State even though Yeah, I'm not gonna be putting on my big ten hat at all in this playoff. Not not one hit Who do you think is the least likable favorite?
00:32:56
Speaker
Probably Ohio State. Everyone hates Ryan Day. that's That's fine. It's probably Ohio State. I had that as well. But there there could be another one. it could be like I think you could pick Texas or Georgia also, right? The SEC. You can go against the SEC. I think it's a good year to go against the SEC. We'll get into that um in in the recap.
00:33:18
Speaker
of the SEC Championship, but I think there's more likable teams in this bracket than not. So I guess I'd go between Ohio State, Georgia, or Texas as the most hateable teams in this tournament. had I had Ohio State and Texas. There's something deeply unlikable about this Texas team. I can't quite put my finger on it.
00:33:37
Speaker
Sarkeesian's got the huge dip in on the bus. Everybody goes crazy. Uh, but there's something, I think it's Quinn and Ewers, honestly. Like if I, if I really had to dig down deep and find what, what the problem was, because Archmanning is incredibly likable. And when he, we'll, we'll get into it in, in the recap, but when he gets one snap and Quinn Ewers is throwing fucking pics galore.
00:33:59
Speaker
I think that just makes them unlikable. I think the fact that they beat absolutely nobody to your point makes them unlikable. They seem to get treated kind of with velvet gloves from the committee. That makes them unlikable. Oregon, surprisingly likable.
00:34:14
Speaker
Yeah, like I'm not I'm not a huge fan of Dan Lanning But I can acknowledge that like that's a good head coach and he gets his team to play and he doesn't really care about Anything else except his guys the guys that he's ah got got inputs out on the field So like I can kind of I respect Oregon because they're the only team that's truly earned the spot that they've been given I think and I think they I think the bracket that they've been given in their path kind of adds to me, you know, liking them, feeling for them, a little empathetic towards the Oregon Ducks. But it's they're they're kind of like a team that, you know, aside from their million different versions of jerseys and I don't know who's playing necessarily, I Oregon's kind of like a brand that is they're just out on the West Coast. They don't really harm anybody. And they they like you can't I don't hate. They're not a hateable undefeated number one team.
00:35:07
Speaker
whereas the sec the alabama if they're always up there easy to hate george undefeated like those are teams to me that i i can go i don't like you but oregon has done really nothing to to you know bring that upon them fair enough closing thoughts here we mentioned it a little bit earlier If this was the old system, we would have gotten the exact rematches of the Big 10 championship and the SEC championship. Number one, Oregon versus number four, Penn State. Number two, Georgia versus number three, Texas. Thank God it's not that. um I think that's something that the committee valued in their decisions, was not repeating matchups we've seen before.
00:35:49
Speaker
um who knows what the committee would have done we saw them kick Georgia out last year due to the loss in the SEC championship so I still think this system is just by and far more entertaining for fans I don't know if you saw that resillo take about the fact that they should this was the perfect year for if the BCS system the computer was still calling things He argued that the BCS system would have worked better because the two best teams are very clearly Oregon and Georgia. um They might be the two best teams, but isn't the best part about all this is that we're going to find out like if they are, they should find their way to the national championship.
00:36:24
Speaker
Yeah, I would have preferred the BCS over the four team, right? like it's It's either just like, just make it the two teams, like the the winner of the big 10, the winner of the SEC. Those are the two teams or open it up to everybody and everybody gets a kick at the can. And I think that is better for the sport.
00:36:39
Speaker
especially with just how high stakes the regular season is in college football and the pressure that's put upon these players and coaches ah like you shouldn't your season shouldn't be over if you lose one game right to me I always think that it was always crazy if you lost the game you're just hanging on the edge of your seat for the rest of the season, every snap so high pressure. So the fact that a team can lose one, two games, Clemson's case, three games and and just get into the conference championship and find a way to win there um it is good for the sport. But, yeah, it it has been a very I can't tell if it's the best year to have the 12 team playoff or the worst, like, like Rusello was arguing. Yeah, it's a good point. I think that
00:37:23
Speaker
I'm excited for it.
Exciting Matchups and Game Recaps
00:37:25
Speaker
I'm hashtag excited ah Friday night. Indiana Bowl full so slate on the 21st of December. um We're not going to do our previews in this episode, um but we are going to do our recaps of the championship games because I think that helps.
00:37:40
Speaker
kind of lay out how we think these teams are going to go moving forward. um Starting with the Big 12 championship game, Arizona State 45, Iowa State 19. This was the 12 o'clock game on the Saturday. ASU and Kenny Dillingham take their six game winning streak into the playoffs. They lock up the Big 12 bid, finish their resume by beating four ranked teams, um some notables in this game. Cam Scadibo, we mentioned him before.
00:38:07
Speaker
First snap of the game goes 28 yards. I think that was you know told you what kind of game this was going to be. And you know before all this, kudos to us. I think that we both saw that, one, this game was going to be one on the ground. Two, this game wasn't going to have a ton of defense. ah And you know we also picked that Arizona State was going to win this game. That's on us. You picked that Clemson was going to win that game and steal the bid. That's on us. We both liked Georgia in that last game.
00:38:35
Speaker
And we both kind of said that Penn State's defense was going to get ripped apart and Oregon was going to put up a ton of points and win. So. We know ball. Yeah. and And thank God. I bet. I actually bet. But the, the four leg parlay of the teams, I believed I got a little cute with trying to do eight with the over unders didn't always hit, but at least the teams, we picked them out. We called their shots Damien and and we got a pretty accurate. I think the only thing I missed, I said, Oregon would beat him by multiple scores. Eight eight is as close as you can get to multiple scores. Um, so I think we did well, but back to the big 12 championship game.
00:39:09
Speaker
I thought like when when Iowa State and Rocco back went right down the field to respond to Arizona State, I'm thinking, we we got a full-on shootout here in Jerry's World. This thing's going to go 45-42 last team with the balls winning this game. And then out of nowhere, like you just saw it shifting late in the second quarter, where you know Arizona State's just continuing to break off these massive runs. And Iowa State's it's just kind of struggling to move the ball a little bit. And then it was 24-10 and a half.
00:39:38
Speaker
and then the second half was a disaster for Iowa State. You started off with turnovers in your own territory on three on your first three drives of the second half and it was game over. ah Sam Leavitt and an Arizona State made them pay for it and something that really stuck out to me in this game Sam Levitt's scrambling ability and his ability to deal with just he had a scramble for a touchdown, had a couple key third down scrambles to extend drives. Iowa State looked a little bit like the Dolphins out there struggling to tackle. But Arizona State, they played four quarters. Iowa State did not. And it was very evident in the second half who the better team was in this matchup. Yeah, you could not draw up a worse start to a second half than Iowa State had. Guillory for ASU gets touchdown catches.
00:40:25
Speaker
two touchdowns in a 71 second span after two of those turnovers. Like it was, the game was over just like that. Like it turned from, you know, all right, this game's kind of out of hand too. This is an absolute barn burner. Um, you know, upsides, I would say for Iowa state, I think Rocco Bex coming back right in the end, Jesse Palmer, you know, who knows with the transfer portal. Um, but Jesse Palmer mentioned how they have a lot of guys coming back to this team or a lot of guys who at least aren't graduating out of this team. And more importantly,
00:40:56
Speaker
yeah ESPN says they have a good chance to get into the Pop-Tart Bowl, which to me would be a huge win. Like if I was a college football player, that would be the only bowl game other than a playoff game I would want to play in right now. Dude, they used to, I don't know if they still have it, but the Cheez-It Bowl, that's a pretty good one. They have the hotels you're staying in, like Cheez-It Bowl themed hotel rooms. That's kind of fun. But you know that the social media clips and all the hype, if you're not in a playoff matchup, yeah, I mean,
00:41:23
Speaker
povar bull will have a lot of eyess on it the Scadamo couldn't stop hitting the Heisman. And I think this should help Ashton Gente's Heisman gates because I don't recall him striking it once. And that's a man of class. That's a man who knows he's a quiet killer and he just goes about his business every day, doesn't ask for attention, but he he's brought it upon himself with his playing ability.
00:42:03
Speaker
yeah and it. kind what does it even get fight it to new york know it's crazy it like so he goes one hundred and seventy yards rushing two touchdowns thirty eight receiving one touchdowns a two ah eight all purpose three touchdowns even at a passing attempt I thought Kenny Dillingham was going to execute him when he almost threw that interception. The looks that Kenny Dillingham throws off the sidelines to me are so entertaining. He just looks like a crazy person, ah which is part of the entertainment factor. um But 47, 54 yard runs, he's just got defenders bouncing off of him. And then he goes, he's hitting the Heisman, you know, a million times in this game.
00:42:42
Speaker
Then we get to the post game presser and he goes, nobody respects the fact that I'm the best running back in the nation. I'm the best in the nation. And I'm going to stand on that. And he goes, I'm going to keep proving people wrong. And whatever NFL team takes me is going to get a gem. What what a quote, man. Do you think he's going to be an NFL running back? Because let's remember, Kyle Juszczyk was a tight end at Harvard.
00:43:06
Speaker
i i If he is, it's going to be late, man. Did you notice every time he broke off a big run, he had to go to the sideline? like His stamina isn't there to be an everyday every day, every down back in the NFL. That's for sure. I'm sure there's plays for him. There's going to be a team somewhere for him to be on, but I think it's like a six, seventh round pick, undrafted free agent, get a look in training camp. ah But yeah, it was very eye-opening. I've watched him a couple of times, especially on Arizona State's down like second half stretch here.
00:43:36
Speaker
He just, he, he can't play every down, which is going to be a problem in the NFL if you can't do it in college. So yeah if he works on his conditioning, keeps his strength, there's absolutely a path for him to be an NFL running back. But if, as it stands right now, I don't think NFL teams are clamoring over camp scatter, but I think there's plenty other athletes across NCAA that, uh, will be drafted ahead of them for sure.
00:44:00
Speaker
Correct, I think he's got NFL fullback written all over him. um One last thing from this game, Mel Kwan Stavall for ASU, what a name one, um but they're playing without the top receiver, Jordan Tyson. ah He had a 22 yard reception to open the scoring for ASU, beautiful catch, and then the 63 yard catch on fourth and one. I want to know if that's some sort of record for a fourth and one gain on a play. It's probably not, but incredible.
00:44:29
Speaker
See that stuff. It's you're not going to get that lucky with that safety biting like what the your last man back. you You can't let anyone behind you. And for some reason, he bites so hard on that play action wide open touchdown. That's where I'm like, okay Arizona State's hot. they're They're one of the best teams right now. But I don't think they're going to get those opportunities against a Notre Dame, a Penn State, whoever whoever they end up playing. Indiana, even like I think you're going to be playing more disciplined, high level teams.
00:44:59
Speaker
where i like I think Arizona State is a bit of a dark horse in in this playoff. But I think that they could also be in for a real wake up call. So I think the ah the big 12 is arguably the worst conference out of the power for. So I'm just very interested to see Scott about Levitt and this entire Arizona State team against ah a big 10 or an SEC opponent. Well put. We'll move to the SEC championship. Man, was this a game Georgia 22 Texas 19 in overtime Some things never change and that thing here was that Georgia absolutely owns, Texas ah The Bulldogs win their third SEC title under Kirby smart first round by chance to win their third title in four years When this game went to overtime? There was no doubt in my mind that Georgia was gonna win
00:45:51
Speaker
I didn't, it wasn't as confident as you. It felt like that second half Georgia outplayed them Gunnar Stockton kind of gave them a bolt of energy that they really didn't have in the first half. ah And they kind of rode with it, rode with it, lost its momentum. Texas was able to kind of tie it up. So I was kind of worried that the the shine wore off with Stockton and that Texas was going to take advantage of it. But Quinn Evers.
00:46:16
Speaker
when like you said, like I didn't want to get into it too much with you, but Quinn Ewers, it looks like he's throwing it all over the yard and he's going up and down the field. He's he's great. He's going to lead this team to an SEC championship. Then you look at his stat line. guy he's got you know hat He's got like a 52% completion percentage. is caught turning the ball over stalling out in the red zone time after time and his balls float. They float. They are not they're not on a rope. They're not zipped. There's no pop to his throws. They're all just floating out there asking to be intercepted or under thrown or just out of bounds. He's just not accurate.
00:46:54
Speaker
And it's costing Texas like it it was the first that was a battle of who who could be a worse quarterback between Carson back and Quinn who is Carson back one unfortunately had to get injured. I I think Texas could have won this game without that injury. ah Gunner Stockton came in was somehow the best quarterback in this game. That was the most shocking part to me. It was a backup redshirt sophomore comes in first real game time and he was the best quarterback in the game. Yeah, it was crazy to me.
00:47:23
Speaker
um that in the first half I think that the signs on the wall for me were when you out gained Georgia 260 yards to 54 yards in the first half and you're up six to three it's probably not a great sign for you in that game ah they hurt themselves with penalties all over the field like they finished with 11 flags for 94 yards um Just kind of undisciplined yours get sacked six times. He's thrown throws a pair of interceptions um I think that you know speaking of that injury. That was a stupid play all around I think that you know what was it three seconds left in the half something like that They snapped the ball one I don't know why Kirby is drawing that up like ah you got out of that half Six to three you escaped that half of bad football down three points and only giving up six that was dumb
00:48:15
Speaker
for Carson back to not feel that pressure and attempt that throw. That was dumb. It had strip sack written all over it. And I think that was just a totally unavoidable injury and a totally unavoidable play. Yeah, Kirby kind of threw him under the bus in the halftime interview, too. He goes, Carson's got a note to throw that away. But it's like dude, you put him in that position. Like, I agree that he should have gotten rid of that way earlier than he did. But you put him in that spot. You could have taken a knee. Hell, you could have tried for I forget what it would have been. It would have been a very, very long field goal.
00:48:48
Speaker
But like to me, there's less room for it. I don't know. It's tough. It's risky either way. But like you said, you're in a dog fight and the SEC championship, you're getting outplayed. and But it's clear that like points turnovers are really going to matter in a six three game. And you almost gave Texas the the momentum shift of all moment. The game would have been over if Texas took that formal back to the to the end. Absolutely. Would have been 13 to three at half, maybe 14 if they felt like going for two.
00:49:18
Speaker
And it just it would have changed the entire game. But my biggest takeaway from it was you can't tell me that this is yeah J.D. Pickle text yeah tweeted. I just watched the national championship. I got the complete other. I go, this is not the best conference in college football. And if these are the best two teams and it it is ah down here in the SEC, I understand that both of these teams are kind of built from the defensive line. And that's where they are our best at in their in their team. But the quarterback play, the turnover battle, it was all just a mess and it was kind of organized chaos. This game was destined to go to overtime. and And Georgia basically just survived in this one. It wasn't like they won the game. They just they kept their head above water the longest. And they came away with Kirby Smart's third SEC championship. Yeah, big turning point. Gunner Stockton, he's a third year sophomore. He's only played in six games in his college career, all of them in blowout wins.
00:50:18
Speaker
He goes in, goes 12 for 16, 71 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, Stockton somehow held onto the ball. He gets absolutely demolished on a scramble in overtime. Looked like he was knocked unconscious and somehow his unconscious brain, a a true football guy, holds onto the football while he's unconscious. If he drops that ball, Georgia's not in a good position to recover it based on, you know, the scramble play. so many more Texas bodies around that play. If he drops that ball and Georgia doesn't recover, the game's over. So he, in the biggest moment of his career, holds on to the ball after getting delivered. One of the biggest hits of the college football season is his helmet goes flying. That to me was like the most impressive thing about Stockton's performance in this game.
00:51:09
Speaker
Yeah, i I knew he was like ah the real deal, like a gamer, a guy that's not going to put you in a position to lose this game. When he started the second half, his opening drive and he goes down the field and gets him a touchdown, holds onto the ball after getting his head knocked off. Very, very impressive performance from Gunnar Stockton. Going to be interesting to see, you know, he's got like a couple of weeks now where they can game plan him as the starting quarterback.
00:51:32
Speaker
What I saw, man, was more talent than Carson Beck. I don't know if I'm crazy from that, but like Carson Beck in that first half was horrible. He's been not good, really, all year long. He's really struggled with his turnovers. Gunnar Stockton was just looked like a quarterback. He's zipping it around. His teammates seem to play for him. um And then on the Texas side, I'm just very interested to see how this team is going to do in the playoff. They have no ranked wins right now, right? And it's just, you go up against Clemson, Clemson's got to be feeling themselves after an ACC championship, uh, Cade Klubnick, Quinn Ewers used to always battle in Texas high school football. That's going to be a ah dynamic. They kind of know what they're getting. I think when with Quinn Ewers at quarterback, I think you got to see more arch manning. If you're Texas, even in throwing packages, man, I don't think he's going to hurt you
00:52:21
Speaker
with how Quinn Ewers has performed this entire season. Like you've had ah an entire sample size and Quinn Ewers has not beat a ranked team and you lost to Georgia twice. And what did he get? One snap is a five yard rush. I think you mentioned that, that they were going to abandon it if it didn't, you know, if he didn't run for a touchdown on on his first carry.
00:52:40
Speaker
The running game, 31 yards on 28 carries. They couldn't get anything going on the ground. Yours finished with 358 yards. It did not look like a 358 yard passing game. I think that a lot of those were really empty yards. They couldn't get big conversions when they needed them. They couldn't get big passes when they needed them. I think Texas really has to look in the mirror because like you said, I like Clemson in that game.
00:53:06
Speaker
Yeah, i I forget what the line is. I think it's around seven. and ah it's six and out It's right around a touchdown ah in favor of clemza or sorry in favor of Texas. i It kind of blows my mind. like I guess Clemson has lost more games, obviously, than Texas. But Texas hasn't beaten anyone. It's the same thing I say about Penn State. Who have you beat? And it's nobody. I don't know. a Texas is a weird team to me, where it's like they get a lot of respect without really having to do anything. So they got to prove it to me in this playoff because like even going into this game, like we call it, like I trust Georgia more in big spots than I do Texas. And that, you know, show true in the SEC championship. Exactly. We'll move on to the big 10 championship. We talked about it a little bit earlier because we were deep in the Penn State trenches, Oregon 45, Penn State 37.
00:53:57
Speaker
Their first ever year in the conference, Oregon captures a big 10 title, locks up the number one seed. Dylan Gabriel throws for four touchdown passes. The late interception from Drew Alar helps Oregon outlast them in this one. They won despite giving up a season high points total and nearly kind of, I'm not going to say nearly blowing a 15 point lead, but it was getting dicey in those final four minutes. That's what I'll say. The turning point in this one was the failed two point convert.
00:54:27
Speaker
early in the fourth quarter. We have people all all season in the NFL talk about how you you go for two if you're down 14 on the first one. To me in that position, it did not seem like that was the right call. I get you have you have momentum, you just scored a touchdown, but they were down 38 to 30.
00:54:48
Speaker
if 38 to 31 to me is a lot better than 38 to 30. Simple as that. It's why James Franklin is not a big game coach. where where did When did you become an analytics guy? like you It's not your identity. And out of nowhere, in the biggest game of your season, you decide we're going to the analytics. We're going to them now. And like you said, I think it was a huge momentum shift. Oregon was like, OK, we got a little bit of room to play with now. like They have to get a touchdown and a two point after we already saw them.
00:55:20
Speaker
you Burn a two point play like maybe that was their number one two point play that they used they already burned it what what are they gonna bring out next time if they even get a touchdown and yeah, it was I That decision blew my mind from James Franklin. I don't know if it was a panic play someone got in his ear But it's not what they've been doing all year long. It was it was strange to me.
00:55:42
Speaker
It was a great performance from Drew Aller, Tyler Warren, and and the pair of running backs they had. They both went over 100 yards. but Penn State's biggest issue to me is they have no other playmaker at the receiving position aside from Tyler Warren. So the team's able to just take away the tight end.
00:56:01
Speaker
I don't know what they have to offer. it It's going to be a problem, especially when you continue to play big teams, even against SMU. I think if you just have two weeks to game plan around Tyler Warren, you're going to be in this game. If you can execute on that game plan is Penn State really doesn't have any other options if they can't run the ball successfully. Yeah, they ran the ball great, but you're right. It was, you know, Harrison Wallace was the guy who got the touchdown late. Drew Larr absolutely threaded the needle. He might've moved up some NFL.
00:56:30
Speaker
spots some draft boards just with that throw alone. um But you're right, I think that Penn State looked one dimensional in this game. I think that um once they shut down Abdul Carter, it was it was kind of easy to score points on them like they I think ah Oregon's offensive line had a great game. And I think that Penn State's defense just could not get a stop for stretches on ah on stretches here And that was they just got into a hole that they couldn't really dig themselves out of um Oregon this this Oregon team man, you weren't kidding about these weapons like it's Jordan James amazing 87 yards two touchdowns Tez Johnson man, he gets named the MVP of the game 11 passes 181 yards and a touchdown
00:57:15
Speaker
i Kenyon Siddique, two touchdowns. He hurtles the guy for the first one. When he hurtled that guy to start this game, I was like, oh, we're on for a show here. Oregon's going to drop 50 on them.
00:57:28
Speaker
Yeah, it was impressive. Taz Johnson always seems to be the fastest guy on the field, no matter who he's playing, what he's doing. He's always the fastest guy on the field. And like Gabriel is just the perfect quarterback. He's for this offense. He's he's a vet. I think the left, he kind of helps them a little bit too, especially against college. defenses they don't you know they're always so used to a right-handed guy rolling out to the right side you got a lefty rolling out to the other side it just kind of throws you off great game plan they basically just said we're not gonna block Abdul Carter we're just gonna run it away from him we're just gonna make him like he can't impact this game like he normally does and it was a great game plan from Dan Lanning they executed
00:58:09
Speaker
I would agree with you like the fourth quarter the second half wasn't perfect for them and i'm sure they're a little bit worried what happened on defense giving up 37 points ah you can't have that you If that defense goes against Tennessee or Ohio State, I think they're in trouble. They need to make some adjustments. ah fine like They had the late turnover, but I just got kept waiting for something else. I make a play on defense. They just never really made that play. um And then, yeah, it was it was just Oregon was ahead of them the whole game. Penn State was trying to catch up, trying, trying, trying. But they never even got it tied. You know what I mean? it just It was never there. They were just behind the entire game. And Oregon handled business, perfect season.
00:58:50
Speaker
Welcome to the Big Ten the new champions the Oregon Ducks. Yeah, and I I'm interested because you know Penn State part of the knock on James Franklin was that his offense couldn't score points in big games either So I guess they did that You still didn't win the big game, so you know you don't get truly the points for that. But interested to see how both of these teams move from this game. um Moving on to the ACC final game recap here, Clemson 34, SMU 31. It was like that meme where the guy's looking in his eyes in two separate directions, trying to keep an eye on both of these games at the same time. I really wish they staggered these so I could have focused on these games a bit better you know on solely.
00:59:32
Speaker
um but What a game, man. You know, Clemson rips, rips out to a 21 to seven lead. They're two and a half point underdogs. Clubnik throws three touchdown passes in the first quarter. ah they They just could not have started this game better. I was kind of worried that this was going to turn into an absolute blowout.
00:59:53
Speaker
And some early, early mistakes from SMU were just killer. Like the game's first series, there's a sack fumble on SMU. A lot of drop passes, penalties, turnovers. SMU could not have started this game in a worse way. Clemson couldn't have started this game in a better way.
01:00:10
Speaker
I thought it was over at half. i really I really did. And it was basically just like, can SMU do enough to put like on it, ah like to just make it a ah reasonable, respectable loss to earn your way in the playoff? Because I do feel like the committee was looking for an opportunity to throw Alabama in, but SMU thankfully made some great halftime adjustments, did all the things properly. They adjusted to what Kate Klubnick and the Clemson offense was throwing at them, turned them into just a horrible quarterback in the fourth quarter. He he really couldn't do anything. And then SMU started chipping away with 17 fourth quarter points, gets it tied. And then, you know, it's it's I think they every I think SMU thought it was in overtime, but the Clemson mindset was like, we're we're not going overtime here. And you start on the kick return. I don't know if he caught him off guard or what.
01:01:04
Speaker
but it was a perfect kick return sets up one quick play uh and and it was just time out and then i thought there's no chance nolan houser was gonna make this 56 yarder and he just drilled it it it was just it never like got too high but it stayed at the same level it was just piercing through the the charlotte sky and it's it goes through the uprights and clums and wins man and like it was what it was They the kickoff was with 16 or 17 seconds left. But I think Cade Clubnik had to operate with about nine seconds on the clock. Pro just that's pro. I think he kind of jumped up a little bit. I think it's a horrible quarterback class. ah But I think, you know, a Drew Aller, a Cade Clubnik, those those are quarterbacks who kind of went up some draft boards. And I think you saw Quinn Ewers and Carson Beck go down some draft boards over championship weekend.
01:01:56
Speaker
absolutely uh yeah man i i think i sent a text uh to somebody saying you know this game's going to overtime unless clemson pulls something out of their ass and that's exactly what they did dabble got some swagger in this game man like that when he goes on the post game presser everybody thought we were gonna lose i don't coach like other college coaches i don't recruit like other college coaches he's been very staunchly against the the transfer portal and against NIL. And you got to give it to them, man. Like they just this is we said it in our our pregame for this Clemson is that team that is synonymous with ACC success. And again, it's just like that's who this team is, man. They just win the ACC. I think they've won eight of the 10 ACC championships. and they're Yeah. And they're nine and one under Dabo in the ACC championships. That was their 10th appearance.
01:02:48
Speaker
Dabble got that drip. If you've ever seen that TikTok, it belongs to the TikTok hall of fame to me of just college coaches trying to be relatable to college kids and recruits. But yeah, mean Dabble, like he's he's a polarizing figure in in college coaching.
01:03:07
Speaker
But you can't you can't dispute the results that he consistently gets. This was seen as like a down year for Clemson. They still get the ACC championship. ah He's probably going to turn out a bunch of guys to the NFL as well. And it's just it's a team like you said, I don't think they're going to lose a lot of players in the transfer portal. They're not really going to bring anyone in. They're just they recruit normally.
01:03:28
Speaker
ah He does it in Jesus's NIL, name, image, and likeness. Dabo, he's a he big religious guy. ah But it seemed to work for him because if this is a down year for Clemson, I think a lot of schools would take, ah ah what is it, 10 and three with an ACC championship. that That sounds like a pretty good down year to me.
01:03:46
Speaker
Yeah, we found out in the post game that God God is a a Clemson fan, clearly ah or Dabo Sweeney would believe it. um Last thing from this game, Kevin Jennings, he I thought he had a hell of a game and a hell of a bounce back, especially of how he started this game. 310 yards, three touchdowns ran for a touchdown. He was he was an interesting guy in this game, like in terms of, you know, guys that you don't get to watch a lot, like you don't get to see a ton of SMU games.
01:04:13
Speaker
like he's very raw but man another guy who I was like kind of viewing him through a bit of an NFL Lens like this is a guy who's at least a dynamic athlete can make big throws and moves really well. Yeah, he's he's a playmaker, right? like he just if If the first second option is not there, he has he can resort to his feet. like He can even just make plays. And yeah, it' I'm glad SMU broke out like the powder blue uniforms, too, with a nice pony on the helmet. And I think SMU's got one of those underrated great uniforms. And thankfully, we'll get to see him again in the ah college football playoff.
01:04:51
Speaker
Yes, we will. That will do it for our college football talk. We will be back um probably episode after next or or I guess next episode. Actually, next week will be before um the first round of the college football playoffs. We will preview those for you. I'm sure we'll get all sorts of take quakes in between now and and now and then. But we're we're on top of it. um Coming back after this, we will do the same thing we did last week in NFL week 14 recap. We're not doing game recaps, but
NFL Coaching and Player Criticisms
01:05:21
Speaker
more.
01:05:21
Speaker
the Biggest storylines, what we learned. ah So come back after this for some NFL talk. All right, welcome back to some NFL talk. Not gonna lie, not the best weekend of NFL football. I think it's not crazy to say that. um We will go, we'll do a little, that's the rewind noise. We're going back to Thursday night because I think it's valuable to talk about ah the Lions stayed number one in our invisible power rankings. But more importantly in this game,
01:05:51
Speaker
Dan Campbell's decisions on fourth down. You know, i I posted the gift where he's, you know, the guy's holding the wheelbarrow full of balls. That was Dan Campbell goes forward on fourth and one, uh, up three. They could have just taken the field goal. Um, this was a, this caused some take quakes. This caused some old Dan Campbell take quakes talking about, he doesn't know how to coach in these situations, this and that and this and that. I will say to start this,
01:06:19
Speaker
they were not stopping Green Bay. Like if they kicked that field goal, Green Bay was coming back and tying it up. So if you miss it, they're going down and scoring either, or if you miss it, you're going over time. Probably if they come back and score, you're going over time. The only way to win that game in regulation was to go for it on that fourth and one.
01:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, there's 43 seconds left, right? So it's fourth and one on the Green Bay 21. And it's it's he's he's already gone for it four times in that game. I think everyone kind of knew where it was headed. The the Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreet were in disbelief. But I mean, it was pretty obvious that they were going to go for him. And he went for it. That was his fifth time. He went four out of five on his fourth down conversion attempts.
01:07:03
Speaker
and And it won them the game like that that is what some of you can't argue in this instance it going for it on fourth down and converting Won Detroit that game and I think it's all hypothetical. What if this didn't happen? It doesn't matter it's It's what happened was Detroit got it and they and they won the game and you know golf tripped which I'm sure But but like Lions fans hearts in their throats. They're like, oh my god. I saw a couple just Uh, a couple of people revealed themselves online being like the college rules, like he's down, his knee was down. Like, all right. he No, it wasn't touched. Um, but yeah, so like Teddy Brouski, a couple of other people were saying like, a is this going to come and bite them in the ass? Like in in the playoffs, right? you You go for it five times. What if you only went one of five in the playoffs? Is this going to lose them a game in the future?
01:07:55
Speaker
My counterpoint to that is this has been their identity ever since he's been their coach. So it's something that you can live with and you can die with, right? And I think i think the Lions players are under that same kind of viewpoint. and And I think that's something that you're going to see throughout the rest of the year and continue into playoffs.
01:08:13
Speaker
yeah i think that that this is you know if you can't i kind of like the belief that if you can't get a yard like in that sense that you almost don't deserve to win the game like they they had been ripping on offense for most of that game i tend to believe that you you can get a yard and you can get it especially since that week 11 game where the commanders Where jane daniels threw that 87 yard touchdown pass with 40 seconds left in the game like that could happen Equally on the way back especially with the amount of players that they have injured So lions stay number one in our invisible power rankings until further notice um Moving on to the weekend though
01:08:54
Speaker
lot Lot of takes, a lot of storylines in this weekend. We'll start with the continued transformation of Kirk Cousins into an absolute pumpkin. He has now gone four games without throwing a touchdown. He has thrown eight interceptions in that time span. The Falcons lose 42 to 21 in a game that they looked live in early in this game.
01:09:19
Speaker
Pretty much until Kirk Cousins started getting really involved in the wrong way. um hey This is a season from hell for the Falcons, man. We were on it kind of early, I would say, on this podcast. um We hated the the draft decision kind of right when we mentioned it. Maybe it's starting to look a bit better now. I don't think they're going to go to Michael Penix, but man, this is like turning into a lost season.
01:09:43
Speaker
It's really close. and And they were so close to proving us wrong too, right? They they what they swept Tampa Bay, who we we we thought and is their biggest threat in the NFC South. Well, now that you've lost you know four games in a row, you're you're in trouble. And you've lost the tiebreaker, Tampa Bay is now ahead of you in the division. And Kirk leads the league in interceptions. You used your eighth overall pick on a player that can't even help your team win now When you are in win now mode, you have the two, what you believe are the two best safeties in the NFL. And you got, you give up 133 yards and three touchdowns to Jordan Addison, then 132 yards and two touchdowns to Justin Jefferson. Sam Darnold looks like the MVP.
01:10:27
Speaker
Atlanta's got or real big problems and to me the most eye-opening thing of it all is They're not they're not gonna go to panics at any point because they know something that we don't I heard John Grund say it's like if he was good enough You would see it or like he would at least be mentioned. He'd be competing in practice There'd be an open quarterback battle There's none of that and that's why that pic looks even worse because you used a project on the oldest quarterback in the draft it makes no sense and and Atlanta Oh, like your your season is it was slipping away three weeks ago. It's it's right there to being absolutely gone out of your grasp because Tampa Bay, they're winning games. theyve They've kind of got their mojo back with Mike Evans. They're getting some other receivers to step up in depth roles.
01:11:14
Speaker
And Atlanta is just going backwards and backwards and Kirk's throwing muffins every week. And it's there's big problems in Atlanta and Minnesota. They just keep winning football games, man. Yeah. Friend of the program, Zolfi Sheik mentioned early in this season when we were haters on the Falcons that they it's all right. We have an early we we have an easy finishing schedule. We have an easy path to the playoffs if we just win enough games because then we can sweep the end of the season. They go Raiders, Giants, commanders, Panthers.
01:11:45
Speaker
The commanders aren't an easy game, and neither are the panthers anymore, so I don't think people expected the panthers to be an easy game on the schedule. At the very least, very very least, you gotta go 3-1 I would say to have a commanding commanding lead ah in the division because you know the Bucks will have to be pretty stellar moving on but now they have a one game lead on the Bucks the Bucks are still first in the NFC South now they've taken that back ah in the command or in the Bucks have to play the Cowboys the Saints we Sorry Chargers Cowboys Panthers Saints, so if the Bucks go two and two and you go two and two you're out you're You're a game back. So it's really coming down to it now for this Falcons team that that's still image of I don't know what safety it was I don't know if it was Jesse Bates looking into the stands. Well, Justin Jefferson is waltzing in for a touchdown I've never seen a safety get more lost on a play than that um But yeah dire straights for the Falcons right now and for the Vikings
01:12:43
Speaker
um I'm back in. I said a few weeks ago i I was kind of out. They've done enough over the past few weeks that I'm back in on the Vikings ah looking commanding. Kevin O'Connell is a great coach. I like where they're headed right now. um Moving on to the Giants tank man. what and What a game ending to this game. The Giants cover for the first time in like seven games, but they don't win. They lose 14-11 to the Saints. They're lining up the final field goal to tie the game.
01:13:13
Speaker
push it into overtime. Graham Gano kicks a field goal that is about 10 feet off of the ground. It gets blocked, dables in disbelief. If you were trying to point to any team that has clearly tanked, like that looked like somebody shanking a kick on purpose.
01:13:31
Speaker
Dude, they had chances. like they The Saints only put up 14 points. so So the Giants were in this game the entire time, right? It's just you needed one touchdown. If you'll go at the end to tie it up to give yourself life in overtime, you have a plane flying ah of what is something like clean house, like fire everybody, circling around the stadium for like 90 minutes.
01:13:53
Speaker
the walls seem to be caving in but the Moras like I don't know if they're gonna stick to their word because they mentioned it was way earlier in the season it's like we're gonna stick with day ball we're gonna stick with the the general manager which basically means that they're moving on from Daniel Jones they're gonna bring a new quarterback try and do a ah retool reset with the same management coaching staff like I don't know if he's in I don't know if this is a a convoluted plan to tank and lose games but if it is they're doing a hell of a job because that was an impressive one because that was the most I was such a winnable game right it it was like they were in it with the Cowboys for a bit and then the Cowboys pulled away last week this one they were in it the entire game
01:14:33
Speaker
And they're going down the drive. And I'm thinking, OK, the Giants are going to do something. yeah They're going to send this game to overtime. And like I said, just get I couldn't I had it on the side to be muted. I just thought it was genuinely the worst kick I've ever seen in my life from Graham. You know, Brian Brzee did get a thumb on it. But yeah, it it feels like the walls are caving in on the Giants here. And I think the fans are going to start to put pressure on the Morris to be like, hey, we don't we don't want this coaching staff next year. We don't want this general manager So it's it's going to be like who's going to hold it. Who's going to hold strongest in this Giants debacle because it feels like down the end of the stretch if they don't get the one.
01:15:11
Speaker
draft pick it's all for nothing pretty much because it's between them and the Raiders and we both know they probably want the same guy. Yeah it's interesting to me if I i saw somebody floating this around I can't remember who it was if they do get the number one overall pick seems like Shudora Sanders and the Sanders family and I mean Antonio Pierce shouldn't be there next year but that weird weird video of them at some gala together like yucking it up If you do get the number one pick, you should go to the Raiders and be like, listen, you're going to draft Cam Ward. We're going to draft Shador Sanders and you're going to give us a first round pick for him. It's not, it's not crazy because like you think New York could be a spot that Shador would want to go to, right? It's a massive city. You would be the hope of a rebuilding massive franchise.
01:16:00
Speaker
But he seems so set on Vegas. And I can't believe that they're letting this guy call the shots. Kayla Williams wanted ownership stake in the Bears. like This stuff doesn't age well, man. It really doesn't age well. And I think it's going to result in the Giants and Vegas kind of kicking themselves next year. Because I don't think this is the class to tank for in the quarterbacks. And I know they're not like good enough, necessarily, because you know they they can't just win games. So it's just a race to first overall.
01:16:30
Speaker
But I don't think that it's... I don't know. I struggle. But these teams are clearly trying to get the first overall pick. I think they both want Shader first overall. we'll We'll see who wins the the sweepstakes because it's definitely coming down to the stretch. I don't know who has the tiebreaker over the over the two.
01:16:48
Speaker
right now Vegas is in first and the Giants are in second the Giants finished the season with Ravens Falcons Colts Eagles ah so not an easy schedule for them going down the line here And the Raiders, who do the Raiders
Miami Dolphins' Playoff Hopes
01:17:04
Speaker
finish with? Oh, they were on but the Falcons this week. Yeah. The Raiders were on by this week. Uh, and then they play two and 11 man. Fuck dude. They have the Jags in two weeks. Yeah. They go Falcons, Jags, saints, chargers. So it's looking like the Raiders have more winnable games out of the two there. Um, but moving on from tank talk.
01:17:26
Speaker
Miami Dolphins are somehow still in the hunt. That was that was a fun game to watch yeah at points. It was not a fun game to watch at other points. um Pete in the jab the Jets ending their season ending that any sort of playoff. Hope was beautiful I loved that to a not even letting Aaron Rodgers get on the field and over time That was beautiful the past the John who Smith in the in the end zone. That was beautiful ah they have a stretch here that we mentioned it they I
01:17:58
Speaker
finished with the Texans 49ers Browns and then the Jets again so I tend to think they're gonna have to win like four games to really really have a shot they win three games and they get um to nine and seven I think that is gonna be where you get into the sticky situation where you lost the game to the Colts so you don't have the tiebreaker ah over them anymore We have the big matchup between the Colts and the Broncos this week. Those are the two wildcard teams. Denver can't seem to lose a damn game. um Denver finishes with the Colts, the Chargers, the Bengals, and the Chiefs. So it's not easy for Denver, but it's going to require a lot of help. The Dolphins are somehow still in the hunt.
01:18:38
Speaker
They have they're given a five percent chance to run the table. um And like you said, there's going to be huge implications in that Colts Broncos game. So I guess I'll just ask you who who like who do who do who are you going to be cheering for in that matchup? Because i'm but I'm trying to do the math for myself. Like you said, they lose the tiebreaker to the Colts. I think you want the Colts to win. That's where I lean to because the the Broncos are in this spot that you want. So you need them to come back to you.
01:19:03
Speaker
Yeah, you can't because if the Broncos win, then they get to nine wins and then they just essentially need like one of those last three games to get a win out of them, which they they more than all likelihood will get. So I think you need the Colts to win that game somehow. I don't love that. They're plus four favorites in that or plus four underdogs in that game. And then the Colts finish Titans, Giants, Jaguars.
01:19:30
Speaker
So yeah, that's tough. I got to believe if Miami runs the table and they get to 10 and seven. I think they're in at 10 wins should get you into playoffs. I know the the Broncos have a great record right now. They have eight wins right now. They're eight and five. Yeah. Yeah, two and two. I don't know who the tiebreaker is between the Dolphins and the Broncos. But I think if if Miami runs the table, they're at least in a tiebreaker spot for this playoffs. Hopefully starts with the Colts taking them down next week for you. ah But It's not all it's thought all you know sunshine and rainbows for the Dolphins. They they gave Aaron Rodgers 300 yards, Damien. yeah That's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. Our favorite stat in maybe all of sports, he was at 29 straight games without a 300 yard game. He could have gotten to 30. 30 would have been glorious.
01:20:21
Speaker
yeah Yeah, that one hurt. There were times in this game where the the vintage dolphins from this season came out and they couldn't tackle a soul. The Jets ah offense is so predictable, dude. Like if it's a big down, it goes to Garrett Wilson. If it's not a big down, it's a dump off to one of the running backs.
01:20:38
Speaker
Like that's essentially it. Yeah. It's always first look at Devontae Adams to keep them happy. And then, oh yeah, Garrett Wilson's the one that actually gets open. So I should throw it to him. Um, yeah, it's a lot of offense in this game. This was like one of the few fun games of the week. Nice to see they got Tyreke and Jay. Like I think they finally gotten waddle back to what he was 99 receiving yards, like Tyreke one 15.
01:21:01
Speaker
Johnny Smith having a no receptions than going into overtime and just getting three catches 44 yards and a touchdown Just just wonderful Miami great offensive game plan Gotta win that they need it. Yeah, and a big one against the Texans next week Texans are coming off of a pie Don't love that but you got it you want to be a playoff team you gotta win that game. It also sucks that the Chargers go Bucks, Broncos, Patriots, Raiders. like They can easily go 2-2 in that game and they get to 10 wins so you don't really get the benefit of of the Chargers having a tough schedule down the line but we will see.
01:21:37
Speaker
um Quickly, Bucks take the division lead. we We talked about this a bit already with the Falcons. um The Bucks man roaring, roaring back. We mentioned this after that Chiefs game that they lost in overtime. Something very likeable about this Bucks team. They fight, they they don't really take games off. It looked like you know for a portion of this game that the Raiders were going to be live in it.
01:21:59
Speaker
um But they cleaned it up 28 to 13 they won this game It it was never really a doubt going down the stretch that they they were gonna win this game They don't take games off at all I think that this is a box team that you wouldn't want to play in the playoffs in the NFC.
01:22:14
Speaker
it's it's It's the Baker Mayfield Bucks. They're there' they're frisky good. You know what I mean? It's not like a team that's outside the playoffs that's going to ruin your season. They're not playing spoiler. They're frisky good because it's a team that is going to be fighting for a playoff spot, especially with that division. It's horrible. And and they they're winning it. they're And they're getting hot at the right time. They love to play for ah Baker Mayfield. and they're again I mentioned it earlier, but they without Chris Godwin, I thought that was going to be a massive hole. Kaydon obviously stepped up earlier, big time in the absence of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Well, now you're finally starting to get Jalen McMillan going. He had two touchdowns. Sterling Shepard had a nice game. like You needed the depth in the receiver room to step up, and it appears that it's doing so right at the right time.
01:22:59
Speaker
And like, it's just something that you can keep going. The Bucky Irving injury, not the greatest thing, but at least he got Rashad White to kind of lean on and as a back, not as a back boy, if he needs to start, he was there. I don't think it's going to be a long term issue. ah But Bucky Irving's kind of been battling this hip thing the past two weeks. And yeah, Raiders have lost nine straight and they're they're gunning for sure. Yeah. Brock Bowers set the rookie tight end reception record.
01:23:26
Speaker
It's looking a little more doubtful that he's going to break the Pukanakua record. It's definitely still, I think it's 103 actually. So we probably should unless he kind of, if he can't get 16 receptions over the next four games, something's probably wrong. We got Desmond Ritter throwing to him. It looks like now, which is, doesn't help his chances, but he still tend to one to win the ah offense or offensive rookie of the year. So like it's still dropped from 12 to one. So clearly they're seeing some value in Brock Bowers.
01:23:53
Speaker
I think he obviously has to break the record if he wants to win it.
Rising Stars and Team Dynamics
01:23:57
Speaker
ah But yeah, so I'm going to take a look at if you want to get involved in that offensive rookie of the year race. Absolutely. um Next, Bryce Young is nasty. Question mark. i he He led a game winning, almost a game winning drive. Xavier Laguette dropped that ball. I mean, it wasn't the easiest ball to catch. Xavier Laguette was catching strays on the timeline, man. a lot of Lad McConkie was trending because people were so upset that the the Panthers took x Xavier Legat over him.
01:24:27
Speaker
Um, but Bryce young man, he is looked like a, a new person, a new quarterback, um, given new life. Like he has confidence. He has swagger. He's stopping in the middle of games to pray for his opponents who got injured. He is fourth in big time throw rate. Um, we're not stat guys, but that's gotta be good. He's behind Sam Darnell, Josh Allen, and Justin Herbert. So.
01:24:53
Speaker
It's starting to look which man like i I don't know if I've ever seen a different or or this type of trajectory of a single quarterback in a given season going from like this guy might be out of the NFL next year to Going forward they have confidence in Bryce Young. What what a transformation for him One of the better feel good stories in the league this year. um And hey, man, people may have been disputing it when it happened. But I think them benching them him for Andy Dalton, knowing that he was going to get another chance was good for him, was good for his confidence, gave him a couple of weeks to just like learn from a veteran and and get like the the confidence and the game knowledge and get used to like the speed and just you know how everything develops. It was huge for him. And you've seen it.
01:25:41
Speaker
it It is hilarious. I do think we're somewhat coddling him a little bit because yeah he was 19 to 34 for 191 yards. he He wasn't like the greatest quarterback you've ever seen, but in it, he outperformed Jalen Hurts in this one, head to head. Like the two quarterbacks combined for 299 passing yards in this one. Not good. Not good. ah But don't you think like Bryce Young, I was just looking at he's a hundred to one for comeback player of the year.
01:26:08
Speaker
think it should be lower than that. He's got an argument. We thought Lisa, we thought this guy was going to be out of the year. He's going to be the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers this year. I've mentioned it a couple of like, it just feels like they're actually starting to build something in Carolina where I thought they were going to be stuck in purgatory forever.
01:26:24
Speaker
Damn shame what happened to Jonathan Brooks, the same ACL going out. That that is a yeah bad, bad instance there. But it was ah aside from that, it was like, yeah, you were so close again from Bryce Young leading that comeback drive. ah Xavier Laguette couldn't haul it in. But there's still just so many things to take away for Carolina. That's a good loss, I would argue. Because like you showed all the signs. He's doing all the things right. ah But you you didn't.
01:26:50
Speaker
you know You helped your number one overall, you helped your first round draft pick. On the other side, problems problems in Philly? Man, and we were waiting for it. We were waiting for something to to spring up with this team, dude. You got yeah Brandon Graham going on podcasts saying that AJ Brown and and Jalen Hurts don't like each other anymore, and they used to be great friends before this. and And now they're not great friends. AJ Brown says, if we could improve on anything, it would be the passing game. You've got your Dan Orlovskis drawing up and breaking down films of how badly Jalen Hurts is seeing the field. Not good.
01:27:27
Speaker
Not good. And we thought the problems were going to come from up top in Syria. We just want something to laugh at from the Eagles. We didn't actually want them to be like real, you know, like hatred in the locker room. And AJ Browns also like tossing his helmet around like he's clearly pissed off. And it really like it to me, it boost Saquon Barkley's MVP case, because where the hell would this team be without him? He has another um hundred ah Sorry, 124 yard rushing performance, no touchdowns because Jalen Hurts loves to steal him from him. Like it's without him in a good running game. This Eagles team would not have the record that they do, but they're still in a position to win this NFC massive one coming up against the Steelers next week. um It's it's just I don't know if these are real problems that are going to last the entire year or it's something that, you know, they can fix over over a ah couple of
01:28:21
Speaker
whatever like the a cup of coffee you figure it out talk about your problems keep it in house but the fact that they let it get out of the locker room and into the media is not a good sign for the philadelphia eagles coming down the stretch no it is not this comeback player of the year odds board is insane these are nuts dude i don't know who's going to win it i have no idea joe burrow is minus 250 right now But why is he the comeback player of the year? He but he got like at year, but it wasn't like a wasn't serious and he missed eight games I think last year. Tyler Murray is second with plus 1300. That's going down the drain. We'll get to our Cardinals next.
01:29:00
Speaker
ah yeah Tamara Hamlin is plus 2200. He's the fifth odds favorite. Tamara's got a better case than a lot of these guys. He's actually playing good football this year in like, in the Bills are winning games. Russell Wilson plus 2500. Cam Hayward's in there. How does Cam Hayward have more better odds than Russell Wilson? Like he's been fine. It's it's a weird race. I guess they're just inferring that Joe Burrow is going to win this thing.
01:29:23
Speaker
Christian Gonzalez is in there. it's It's all over the place, but I just had to take a look because I was like, oh, maybe Brace Young is coming back here. We'll see what his odds are. They're saying no chance for him. Aaron Rodgers plus 25,000. This is hilarious. um Next, our Cardinals blew it. Our Cardinals have lost three straight or is it four straight now? ah No, three straight. They are fading from the playoff picture. um They could have moved into a share of first place with a win.
01:29:54
Speaker
He threw interceptions on back to back passes in the first quarter. Kyler did um not good. The Cardinals are turning back into the themselves from earlier in the season. This is.
01:30:04
Speaker
This is bad news. Oh, very bad news. and And the Seahawks, I didn't really realize the storyline going in, but they own the Cardinals that they've not won seven in a row against them, swept the season seriously. They have the tiebreaker over the Cardinals. That might've been their season, man. Like that was their last stand where it's like you win it. Then like you said, you're in a share of the lead. You're tied and you you got two teams behind you.
01:30:29
Speaker
Now you got two games behind and you've lost the tiebreaker so you basically have to win out or at worst drop one game I don't see that happening their offense is just they've lost all the mojo that they had in the mid-seed they went on that mid-season run And I really thought it was going to be a turning point in their season. They were going to be able to carry that momentum. I didn't expect them to run the table, but I just thought it was going to be a really competent offense for the second half of the year. And it's gone. they They don't even have like a number one receiver right now. It feels like it's, I don't know, it's all over the place. Kyler's not being himself. He's not really making the plays that he needs to. And that he was earlier in the season and the Seahawks like they're, they're just this frisky team that keeps winning. And I don't know what to make of them and I don't know what they are.
01:31:14
Speaker
I have no idea either that was gonna be my next thing from this game they've won four straight um going over forty nine er cardinals jets cardinal so the real test starts now though that's the fun part about this they go packers vikings bears rams so excluding the bears those are three likely playoff teams that ram game in week 18 could be for the division the Rams like we'll get it but they're clearly live now because I think the Seahawks are gonna be underdogs in a decent amount of those games coming down the stretch they'll be favored against the Bears ah but like who know who knows what they'll be against the Rams ah but like they did some good things in this game like Gino didn't get sacked that is huge that is huge for the for the Seahawks ah ja Jackson Smith and jigba I believe
01:32:00
Speaker
We talked about like he's got to be their number one receiver. I think he's fully overtaken DK. He had, you know, five receptions, 82 yards touchdown. And then Zach Charbonnet, uh, he's earned himself some money, man. Like they're going to have to make a decision with Kenneth Walker in about a year. And I think he's making it a little bit easier on them than, uh, they maybe thought before the season because he had 134 rushing yards, two touchdowns, seven receptions for 59 yards. So an old like over 200 yards in the game, two touchdowns. it's It's just impressive because this Seahawks team, I'm not doubting them or knocking them. I just don't really know what they are, but they're a team that's finding ways to win games and important games. Like sweeping the Cardinals is huge. Yeah, it is. And Charbonnet, he just goes nuts when Kenneth Walker isn't in the lineup. like
01:32:47
Speaker
little anecdote here. I traded him mid season from my fantasy team when Walker had come back and was healthy and he was getting no points. And in such a big fantasy week to see him get like 40 points, and i I struggled this week in fantasy. Shout out Jaden Reed for the zeros. That was tough for me. That was really tough. But we will see with the Seahawks. You're right, he has made himself a ton of money. And he's an interesting player, man. Like he is just a a dynamic back. He's a great athlete. So a lot of money for him. And and we'll see with the Seahawks. Last couple of things here. Quickly, the Steelers get their revenge on the Browns for the Thursday night game.
01:33:26
Speaker
um Looking back on it, even though I went 3-0, that Steelers pick should have been a layup. Yeah, I was scared. I was just scared, man. I'd never like taking the Steelers as that big a favorite, but i like it's a different team than it was. like I'm so used to the Kenny Pickett-led teams and just all those teams winning games from the defense.
01:33:45
Speaker
not a ton to talk about in this one i think the defense did start this uh the turn in this game like they were down set seven three in the first quarter the offense looked horrible to start without george biggins i think russell wilson went into half with like 36 passing yards it was like halfway through the second quarter and he had 36 passing yards um so nice to see that they were over able to overcome. George Pickens ah took care of business. I don't think I think he's doubtful against the Eagles, which is a real shame. It's not like a for sure. Mike Tomlin just said, I don't know if he's going to play, but it doesn't mean he's not going to play. I would list him as doubtful. That is the quote from Mikey T. And yeah, I think he's huge. If the Steelers want to beat the Eagles, I think you do need George Pickens in the lineup.
01:34:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think yeah that game showed how important he is to this team. It's ah it's always the double-edged sword with the diva receiver, you know or like the troublemaker receiver. Yeah, yeah. But but the Tomlin, and you got to watch this hard knocks. Yeah, I do. I watched the first episode. ah it's It's nice because the Steelers play a ton of divisional games down the stretch. So they're going to be featured a lot more prominently than some of these other teams, especially this week, like another one against Cleveland.
01:35:01
Speaker
But the way Mike Tallman commands a room and talks to these guys, man, makes you want to put on the pads and get out there.
Josh Allen's MVP Candidacy Discussion
01:35:08
Speaker
um Moving to the most exciting game of Sunday, Josh Allen, I would say more than likely locked up the MVP with a six touchdown performance. He becomes the first player in NFL history to get three passing touchdowns and three rushing, rushing touchdowns. Fun fact, that's happened before. in the CFL Kent Austin back in the day with the tie cats did it um but with two things from this game MVP performance from Alan and also we mentioned this after that Dolphins Rams game we were waiting for the Sean McVeigh game we were waiting for him to get his get right game his master class game this was it
01:35:44
Speaker
high flying on the ah offense, man. Like they were doing everything they wanted. Pukka gets a bunch of receiving guards, a receiving touchdown, a rushing touchdown. Kyron Williams doing his thing. Cooper cups out there blocking like he's a, like he's an offensive tackle. Everything about the Rams on offense was extremely impressive. and It was to me this kind of reminded me of like that Penn State Oregon game Where it's just like LA got out of the gates quick and just had to lead the entire game Buffalo was great on ah offense, but they had to come back and they're trailing the entire game and it just wasn't enough ah You want to talk about McVeigh? I want to talk about McDermott
01:36:20
Speaker
This guy, this guy can't manage a clock to save his life, man. You start with that Texans game earlier in the year, some of the most insane things we've ever seen with just throwing the ball away from your own one, just not killing any clock. Well, in this one, he decides to kill clock, or at least he was going to. like You can't sneak the ball there. You can't. You can't run the ball. You have three timeouts, just over a minute left. You have to throw it three times. You have to, because if you do, you get it in,
01:36:50
Speaker
You don't have to one side kick it now, because it's over a minute and you have all three of your time out. So you can just play defense, call your timeouts, call your timeouts, hold them, stop them from getting a first down, get the ball back, and then you just need a field goal. You didn't need a touchdown. You need a field goal to win the game. But Sean McDermott wants to get cute and make sure Josh Allen got another touchdown, sneaks it with, like and then you have to burn a time out. And I'm not saying that lost them the game, because who knows what would have happened. But it's just poor clock management from Sean McDermott. And it's not the first time that we've seen it this year.
01:37:20
Speaker
I will say for Sean McDermott, I don't think they were stopping him. You couldn't stop him the whole game. What makes you think you were gonna stop them on on a last big drive where you have to stop them on exactly three downs? Because usually the the playbook gets smaller. You know they're gonna run the ball. You can kind of cheat a little bit. You can bring guys up.
01:37:37
Speaker
And if they don't want to run the ball, then that brings into play incomplete passes. You can keep the timeouts in your pocket. It's just something that an NFL head coach should have in mind. Right. You're right, though. they Maybe they wouldn't have stopped it, but you would have saved yourself from the criticism.
01:37:53
Speaker
Yeah, no, that's fair. Tom Brady was losing his absolute mind. Well, if you can have a voice, Tom, take a day off, dude. It's not been a good year for Tom Brady, man. Oh, yeah I noticed that like 10 seconds into the game. I was like, dude, Brady sounds so sick right now. It was bad. Yeah, dude, I keep waiting for Tom Brady. I'm not hating on him as an announcer. he's just He hasn't come into his own yet. And I don't know if this is his own, but it's it's been a rough rough season for Tom.
01:38:23
Speaker
It has been a rough season for Tom. I saw some people floating out that Josh Allen's getting coddled a bit in the MVP conversation. they They brought up the Colts game where he finished with no touchdowns, two interceptions. They brought up the Ravens game where they got blown out by the Ravens.
01:38:38
Speaker
They brought up that Texans game, which he was concussed for. ah I don't know. It's he gets a lot of boost from his good games and not a ton of detraction from his bad games. But I still think by and far he is the most valuable player.
01:38:53
Speaker
to his team and probably in the league this year. That's where I go to, man. There's no stuff on digs. It's a different team, not ah a very unproven receiving room, including the tight ends. He's kind of doing it all. And like, yeah, he had a better year last year. I think the interceptions was his detriment last season. Well, he's fixed that. He's turning the ball over way less. Like he he need he is one of those guys where it's like, yeah, he genuinely deserves an MVP in his career. And this is a perfect year to give. It's not coddling, man. They're 10 and three. Yeah. With three like solid law, like obviously the Colts wasn't you know pretty. But Ravens, you also have decent team. The court the Rams are kind of surging right now.
01:39:37
Speaker
Yeah, he's the MVP. It's him or Saquon. And and i it's Joe Burrow. You got a you know bad team. Lamar, like you have Derek Henry on your team. That's helped you out um a ton this year. So i think it's I think it's Josh Allen. Fair enough. Moving to our very last quick point here, the Monday night game last night, um Patrick, to the viewers, everybody, Patrick hates fun. ah Patrick hated the Simpsons game.
01:40:01
Speaker
He was hating on it. i I enjoyed some of the shtick of it. I thought it was kind of funny. Some of the things they did, they put Jerry Jones in the press box with Mr. Burns. They got itchy and scratchy as the down markers. Why do you hate fun, Patrick? Everyone has known this, Damon. This is not news to anybody. i've i've I've hated fun for a while now, but to me, I just don't know who that game was for.
01:40:23
Speaker
I kind of get that because it if you're going for Simpsons fans, simpson's fans like true Simpsons fans are in their 40s, in their 30s. They wouldn't be able to find the game. yeah you know they mean They wouldn't know where to go to watch it. And and to me, it was the clips were good. But are we going to put on an entire production and and broadcast just for clips? like that's what it That's what it seemed to look to be for me. I tuned in. I gave it a try.
01:40:48
Speaker
it was it was it was I want to watch football, man. It was crazy to me. I'm like, how I get if kid but like kids aren't aren't Simpsons fans, i adults? I don't know. I just like the football um meat and potatoes. You know, run the ball and just just give me the the fear sets. Mo Mo. I heard Mo had a hell of a game, though, out there. I heard he was buzzing around. That one killed me. He he looked like he was like a top. the The funny part for me with the technology, it's not quite there yet.
01:41:17
Speaker
but It gets like how guys casually walk or like celebrate after tackles and it like look It looks very lifelike where it's like mo is like is like puffing his chest out and walking around with swagger I thought it was fun ah for the game Man that punt rule. I don't know how you don't know that as a defensive player It's fine for me to not be up to date with the punt rules as a viewer, but it's not fine if you're on special teams and That guy just felt like he goes, this is my moment. He goes, I'm going to make a play. And it cost his team the game and the season pretty much. Right. Because if the Cowboys won that, I wouldn't think they were going to make the playoffs. But you could convince yourself your season still alive at six and seven. Oh, yeah.
01:41:59
Speaker
Yeah, now and now you're at five and eight with the Bengals and you're done. It's your seasons over um But yeah, what a it's just a brain-dead move man. Everyone knows get away from the ball Just get away who cares if you get the ball at you know The Bengals 40 or the 50 yard line you have like four minutes to operate and you can go win the game It's gonna be your ball instead the opposite happened Jamar Chase gets a second touchdown of the game and the Bengals don't they're They're dead like stop that you're trying to be like the Bengals have a chance. They legitimately do not have a chance I don't know how they're not mathematically eliminated yet, but I think it's basically One win from the Broncos and they're done Perfect spoiler team though. They they have a chance to spoil a lot of seasons a lot of teams in the mix have them ah Down the stretch in their lineup but we will move now finally to our goal post picks and
01:42:54
Speaker
I was 23 and 16. I went 3 and 0. I am now 26 and 16, up 10 units on the season. Patrick was 19 and 20, went 1 and 2, now 20 and 22. Patrick, we're getting into stealing pig's territory.
01:43:13
Speaker
But what's the point if you're going to go 3-0? It's just going to hurt my record. I have to stay true to myself, Damien. I need a 3-0 week. I need it. I've been in the lab heavy, which means it's probably going to be 0-3. But i can't I can't fade you, because look if you keep going 2-1, 3-0, then I'm going to get further and further back. So I got to keep sticking with my picks and just hope something happens with you. But I mean, if you are a listener, Damien's winning your money week after week.
01:43:41
Speaker
And I'm just, you know, average Joe, but like Damien is winning you picks. So I would start riding with him. Wait till we do our college basketball picks. Then then Patrick will really come to light. Just um tweet tweet them from the goalpost account. Oh man. Remember when we used to do F1? Like we did in the early days of this podcast, especially when we were doing it like partially in the summer, we we had some crazy episode. We talked F1.
01:44:05
Speaker
F1. We could do tennis if you want. We could go NASCAR. We're well rounded over here. we We got layers to us. NBA, college, you name it. Everything except for the MLB, baby. Yep. I'll start off here. ah There's been some line movement in this one, but it's going the right way. I hate the board this week. It is not a good board. I will go get ahead of it and say that um I am going to start things off with Panthers minus two and a half against the Cowboys the Panthers have been a sneaky good betting team this ah season I think that's a tough loss for the Cowboys last week. You're on a short week going on the road to Carolina I think it's about time over these past few close games that Carolina has had that they actually get a win
01:44:54
Speaker
Yeah, Cowboys like you can't bet on the Cowboys like yeah it's just Cooper Rush. Every time he had a chance last night to make a play, he did not. ah We talked about them in the last game. They're spoilers. I'm going to go with the Bengals minus four and a half against the Titans. Titans are the worst team in the NFL against the spread. They've only covered the spread twice. Worked for me last week. Hopefully it works for me again this week. Yeah, that was a great pick with Jags. Weird line on that game. um All right, this is where it gets tough here, because there's a lot of weird games out there. I am going to lay the number with the Kansas City Chiefs catching four and a half against the Browns. I think that is playing into these close games that the Chiefs have won last possession games ah that the Chiefs have won. The Chiefs aren't aren't going to win this game by less than four and a half.
01:45:45
Speaker
I like that one a lot. I think this is one of the few times the, this is like the chief's opportunity to make a statement, you know what I mean? And I know it's against the Browns, which kind of sounds insane, but they just, the chiefs haven't been covering spreads all year long. This is their chance to kind of win it by two scores, but we also have been saying that kind of all year. So we'll see what happens.
01:46:03
Speaker
um You're right I don't love the board it's like do you touch the massive game there's a couple big games this week that starts the Thursday nighter it's basically a ah loser leaves town game you got a massive one between the bills and the lion Steelers Eagles. I'm getting ugly I'm going under forty six and a half Tampa Bay Buccaneers l LA Chargers.
01:46:24
Speaker
I think it's charges got a hell of a defense. I think the Buccaneers are missing that extra piece to be that high powered offense that they were at the start of the season. I think this is just a a nice dog fight that finds a way to go under, or at least I hope so. I enjoy that. I'm staying away from that Bills Lions game. I think I've been on the wrong side of the Bills about a million times so far this season. I am going to go with your Steelers, Steelers five and a half point dogs.
01:46:53
Speaker
Against the Eagles they're on the road. I think this is a big prove it game for both teams I think this is a tightly contested game with how the Eagles offense has looked lately I I like the Steelers secondary in this game and You know the Eagles they haven't looked they didn't look stellar against that that Panthers team So I like Steelers catching a lot of points in this game.
01:47:15
Speaker
Yeah, Tomlin as a as an underdog is a great bet as always. George Pickens availability worries me slightly in that one. Oh, the two Monday Nighters this week, like that's always kind of tough to keep up with. I don't there's a game that's jumping out screaming at me, but it's a division game, Damian, and I don't like to take division favorites.
01:47:41
Speaker
But the Bears look so bad. umm I'm going to do it. It screams kind of push, but I'm going to take the Vikings minus seven push. But like the Bears, they they have nothing. Caleb Williams just kind of looks like he wants the season over with. The Vikings are still playing for a one seed here. It's to me, this is a.
01:48:01
Speaker
a team that's playing for a lot and it has a lot to lose and a team that has quit on the seasons. I think you're going to get down the stretch. There's going to be a lot of teams that are quitting and you got to find those games. Did you, did you think about laying the number in that Baltimore game?
01:48:15
Speaker
I did not you're the big spread guy bud and but more than two touchdowns is crazy. Yeah, it is crazy I think they want you to take the Giants in that game though Like I think that's what the the trap is there but I think it was the same thing with the Eagles last week I thought it onto something with the massive spreads. Maybe I'm not as good of a gambler as I think I am I And I thought about taking the Rams as a dog on Thursday night because they i usually for me, it's like, oh, you're traveling to San Fran. I can see, you know, how you'd be an underdog. They're staying in the same time zone. They don't have to travel that far. I think the Rams are kind of finding something. Like I said, I think the Bears are a team that have quit on them. I've just quit on the season. and The 49ers, you know, they still need to win games. I don't know. I kind of like the Rams Thursday night. So fade me. Yeah, I got it.
01:49:02
Speaker
That 49ers game against the Bears, like I can't really tell if that shows that the 49ers are like back in any sort of way or or have any sort of juju or if it's the Bears.
01:49:12
Speaker
Deebo's tweeting. I'm not getting the, but it's not, it's not me. I'm not getting the ball. Like it's see community notes on that. No, I didn't. I was, I guess it was early to the game. The community noted him and said, Deebo has the most drops of his career period. He is struggling. That, that is the stuff about Twitter. I i love like that is, that is a cell phone to the highest degree. That is yeah incredible. Um, but that'll do it for us on the goalpost this week. Uh, if you're listening, thank you for the support.
01:49:42
Speaker
We'll keep it up here and get the you know these half college, half NFL episodes for you. Get out there, watch some football, and until next week, I'll see you, Patrick. See ya, Damien.