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The Goal Post Christmas Special
31 Plays5 months ago
The Goal Post Christmas Special is here!
Damien and Patrick start off by breaking down the biggest headlines and lessons learned from Week 16 in the NFL — The Packers still love to bully bad teams, The Dolphins are technically still alive, Josh Allen opens the MVP discussion back up, and Michael Penix Jr. starts a new era in Atlanta. They finish by making their picks for the Week 17 slate - Damien leads +7 (and might be home free).
To finish, Damien and Patrick do a full recap of each game in the first round of the College Football Playoff. There’s bad takes as far as the eye can see, Kirk Herbstreit is the College Football grinch, and everyone should settle down and enjoy the football ahead.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas + Happy Holidays!
Week 16 Recap: 0:00-45:13
Week 17 Picks: 45:14 - 50:43
CFP First Round Recap: 50:44 - 1:28:40
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Transcript
Christmas Day NFL and Netflix Excitement
00:00:16
Speaker
all right welcome back to the goal post a special christmas edition episode feels like this is one of the best christmases for football in a long time we've got two games on christmas day netflix is hosting them We've got bowl games everywhere. We've already had college football playoff games. I'm in the Christmas spirit and in the football Christmas spirit, Patrick, I wish I could say I'm in the same
Criticism of Christmas Day NFL Scheduling
00:00:46
Speaker
spirit, Damien. I just got some gripes with the NFL and and how they've done these four teams playing on Christmas Day. They've done them a little dirty. They've put them through the ringer for four sort of the top five seeds in the AFC, by the way. Well, I guess Baltimore and Pittsburgh flip flop with the division, but
00:01:03
Speaker
four of the best five records in the AFC, all playoff teams of all clinched birth in the playoffs. Yet they're all having to play three games in 11 days right at the end of the stretch before the playoffs as well. Plus, we got pressure on Netflix hosting. I'm still a little worried about that from the Tyson Paul fight. um But yeah, I mean, I'll try my best to keep a positive outlook. But I can't say I've i've been happy with how this The scheduling has gone with the NFL, especially on Christmas Day. It's funny, like, I feel like I've almost been brainwashed into it. I was explaining to my girlfriend, she asked why.
00:01:38
Speaker
They were playing NFL games on Saturday last week. And, you know, I was explaining how, you know, they wanted to give them extra rest going into into the Christmas day games. And she goes, what, one day? And I was like, you know what? Now that you say it, that actually does sound pretty damn silly. Yeah. Like all four of those teams have stopped practicing by the time week 16 ended for their next for for week 17, they've already stopped practicing week 16
Player Safety Concerns
00:02:06
Speaker
games. Well, one specifically was still going on.
00:02:09
Speaker
I don't know. It just doesn't sit right with me. I got no problem playing on Christmas Day. That's kind of been a thing with the NFL and having one short week is not the end of the world. Go in three short weeks in a row, especially with the injuries that have kind of amounted for now multiple of those four teams. It it just seems a little aggressive by the NFL, especially a league that kind of preaches player safety these days. And just just stop lying to us, NFL. we We know you don't care about the players. And I think it'd be a better product if you spaced these games out, by the way. like I don't think you're going to get the best product from four playoff teams throughout that three-game stretch that they all have to play in.
00:02:47
Speaker
Well, especially Houston, like it for Houston to have to get up off the mat, you lose tank Dell and to have to spin around after a tough loss to the Chiefs and then go play the Ravens like it's you couldn't draw up something
Impact on Playoff Performance
00:03:00
Speaker
worse for them.
00:03:01
Speaker
Steelers have a tough ro loss to the Ravens. They have to get up and go around with a roster that's pretty banged up. it's just You're right about product because if you were the NFL and you really wanted to you know knock this Christmas Day out of the park, you're already kind of setting yourself up for failure.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yeah, I guess they thought four good teams, no matter what happens, we're going to get a good product, but you can't put the four teams through the ringer leading up to your, your, yeah you know, your best products, your biggest day, Christmas day that you get two standalone games.
00:03:33
Speaker
If they don't deliver, then it's just going to look bad on the NFL, possibly Netflix as well. Who knows how that broadcast goes. um But I mean, hey, don't complain. It's it's the clearly they thought these four teams were deserving of the spotlight and thought they could handle it. But um yeah, I mean, it I wonder how this is going to affect these four teams in the playoffs. That's more of my ah yeah i gripe with them in the NFL specifically.
00:03:58
Speaker
We're going to get some legendary freakouts if Netflix doesn't work like across North America. Some dads throwing controllers like it it is going to get bad. Yeah. Thankfully, most kids are home for the holidays so they can set it up for their parents on the
Netflix Broadcast Concerns
00:04:12
Speaker
TV. There there won't be too much pregame anger at least. But yeah, mid game. Who the hell? no Nobody knows what's going to happen because the lasting image from Netflix is that Tyson Paul fight and that went horribly.
00:04:24
Speaker
yeah that ring of death around the middle um anyways for this christmas episode we're going to keep it pretty brief
Packers' Challenges and NFC Rivalries
00:04:30
Speaker
um but we're going to go through the nfl headlines from week 16 kind of what we learned as we're getting pretty late here in the season then we're going to touch on college football it was it it was a weekend for takes in college football so we'll get you all caught up on those we'll do our picks for week 17 And yeah, kind of get you out of here. But starting off last night on Monday Night Football, a game that you could have gotten by with not watching a single second of Green Bay wins 34 to nothing against New Orleans. And my my biggest takeaway, my biggest headline from this game is I think Green Bay has some karma coming their way. I've been building it up. this this It's been seeping inside of me since that Dolphins loss on Thanksgiving.
00:05:14
Speaker
They're currently set to play the Rams in the 3 seed if the playoffs started today. Something's rubbing me the wrong way about this Green Bay team and i I can't help but feel like they're building up bad karma to somehow come and hit them in the playoffs.
00:05:29
Speaker
the The bully, the bully allegations are still strong with the Green Bay Packers. Cause once again, we've, we've mentioned it on this podcast before there are three losses this season have come to the three teams that are ahead of them in the NFC. That's a problem. A lot of people see them as Superbowl contenders. I see them as, you know, having the skillset to win one, you know, representing the NFC, but they have yet to prove to me that they can win these big games and you know,
00:05:56
Speaker
34 nothing against the Saints at home against Spencer Rattler that changes nothing for me Some people may read into it a lot You know you kill the bad teams and you're supposed to do that if you want to win a Super Bowl So I'll tip my cap to Green Bay on handling business against a horrible Saints team.
00:06:13
Speaker
They got some two two games down the stretch here where they can kind of prove things to me. But the um a big reason, sorry, why I don't think they're going to be able to win a Super Bowl or represent the NFC, they're not going to have a home game in the playoffs.
Packers' Playoff Struggles
00:06:27
Speaker
And Lambeau Field is one of the best home field advantages in the NFL playoffs.
00:06:31
Speaker
So for them not being able to host and having to possibly go across the country to L.A., that's not the best first round matchup for a team that thrives in cold weather um and and snow games and having a great home base. I'm sure the Packers fans will travel well with the team going to L.A. if that's who they play in the first round. But I'm still not sold on these Packers, Damon. I feel like you kind of feel the same way. Yeah, very much so. I think that maybe a win against the Vikings this weekend A win on Sunday against the Vikings would change my mind, would change the bully allegations, but they lose that game, especially if they lose that game badly. I mean, Jordan Love didn't look fantastic last night. He hasn't looked fantastic this whole season. ah That might change my mind if if they were to flip that switch. But if you go into the playoffs losing that game and then a win against the Bears in week 18 does nothing for me, then I feel like they don't have great momentum heading into the playoffs.
00:07:28
Speaker
Uh, that's pretty much where I stand with green bay. If they lose to the Vikings, I don't understand how people can still talk about them as super bowl contenders, man. Cause it's just your go. We, we as fans analysts, everyone else, you go off the sample, what you've been given from these teams and they've been given.
00:07:46
Speaker
you know, after next week, they'll be given four opportunities to beat teams ahead of them in the NFC. And if they don't win against Minnesota, they would have failed four times. So how can I expect you to win three, four games in the playoffs to go win a super bowl?
Saints' Quarterback Dilemma
00:08:01
Speaker
I can't, if you don't beat the Vikings, like you said, if they do, I'll start to, I'll start to put ah more respect on your name for sure. Cause the Vikings are a team that continue to find ways to win, but the Packers,
00:08:13
Speaker
their team that has not found a way to win over better opponents correct I think the only other thing from this game is that might have been that might have been it for Darren Rizzi the Rizzler might have might have run out of ah leeway or or might have run out of a runway in that game but zero points like they were they were dominated on every level of the field last night yeah It was a horrible worst. The Saints have looked all year, maybe in my lifetime, actually, that that was um an atrocious game from the Saints. There's such a weird team because obviously I wouldn't expect Darren Rizzi to be re resigned as head coach. He's just ah ah get him across the finish line, finish this season and, you know, figure it out in the offseason.
00:08:54
Speaker
The Saints are five and five with Derek Carr as their quarterback. Oh, and five without him. They're missing any sort of skill receiver that that ah that room has to offer. I mean, I'm not going to put a ton of stake in like the Saints are in ah in a horrible spot, but it feels like they're not fully committed to Derek Carr. They don't have a head coach for next year. They're just a mediocre team. It feels like they're a team that's, you know, stuck where they are because they're not going to have a top five draft pick to get a quarterback.
00:09:24
Speaker
probably gonna have to look into free agency, have to get you know try and get an experiment quarterback similar to Sam Darnold, one of those quarterbacks that you're taking a bit of a risk on, you don't know how it's gonna turn out. So the Saints are a team where a lot of questions going on, you're not a horrible team with your starting quarterback, but you're still not a good enough team to compete ah to get into a playoff spot, and then there's a whole nother level of competing in the playoffs to win a Super Bowl. So they have a lot of work to do this offseason to figure out ah where they're going to go from here. Yeah, just complete complete limbo for the Saints, especially with all that money they have tied
Buccaneers' NFC South Prospects
00:10:00
Speaker
up. I feel like I've been hearing about how the Saints are in Capell for like four years now. And I feel like we're now really just starting to see the ramifications of that. um Moving on to our Buccaneers, a tough week to start our Buccaneers fandom. They lose in a bad way to Dallas on Sunday night football.
00:10:21
Speaker
They could regain first place in the NFC South next week if the Falcons lose to the commanders, ah which is not by any means an easy game for that Falcons team. But how will our bucks respond to that gut punch is the question. They're now 0-4 in prime time games for the first time in franchise history. The pass rush was non-existent. Cooper Rush looked like a pro bowl quarterback against them.
00:10:47
Speaker
Cowboys secondary balled out, they shut down Mike Evans for a large portion of that game. ah Yeah, I don't know how how will the Bucks respond to that gut punch? This just, you know, it wasn't a good game from the Bucks. They fell behind early, said nothing in the first quarter and they just were playing catch up the rest of the way and they just could never get their nose ahead of the Cowboys.
00:11:08
Speaker
And the credit to the Cowboys, they've been a ah streaky team down the stretch of Cooper Rush, winning five of their last six. I i think Mike McCarthy's job is is saved. And I can't tell. you know Some people are saying that the Cowboys are playing for him because they like Mike McCarthy. Or i think these I think these guys are playing for themselves, man. I think they want contracts. I think they want money. they They're a prideful bunch.
00:11:31
Speaker
Micah Parsons has also come back over that stretch of games, which has to help your defense in winning games. But yeah, the the Cowboys executed their game plan perfectly. They came out opening drive with the touchdown, followed up with a field goal later in that first quarter. And then they just never let their foot off the gas to let the Bucks, you know, they were trying, the Bucks are coming back heavy. They had the the late drive there looking to get a field goal to win the game.
00:11:57
Speaker
fell short in the Cowboys win. And now the box, like you said, losing those two games to the Falcons puts them in a horrible spot with any tiebreaker. You know, they're going to be the biggest commanders fans in the world next week. But this box team, what we know from them, at least in their tough scrappy team. And I like them to bounce back next week.
00:12:17
Speaker
I think so, too. I think they'll finish the season strong, but it sucks whenever you have another team kind of controlling your destiny. ah Really, really intrigued for that Falcons commanders game. um But we're going to keep this quick, so we'll keep them firing off here. Will the Miami Dolphins make the playoffs? I feel like for the last four or five episodes I've gone from the Dolphins are dead to the Dolphins are back to the Dolphins are dead, so on and so forth. The Dolphins win a I'm gonna call it a big game because the 49ers to me aren't I can't fully wrap my head around them being a bad team to me a win over the 49ers is always a good thing, especially in the last, I don't know, five to six years. um But again, Johnny Smith, like absolutely puts his mark on this game.
00:13:06
Speaker
He's now the franchise leader in single season yards at tight end. Devon A. Chain puts his mark on this game 198 yards from scrimmage. ah he Here's the situation, they gotta win out. So you got games against Cleveland and the Jets to finish. good Good teams to have to finish the season against when you need to win out. You need a Colts loss. I can trust the Colts to lose a game, all right? that there's anything I can trust about this I can trust Indiana to lose a game Indianapolis sorry and then they need this is the tough part either two Denver losses who play Cincinnati in Kansas City very possible or two Chargers losses who play the Patriots and the Raiders who are currently battling the tank that part not so not so possible the bad part is Miami would also be eliminated if the Chargers and Broncos both win on this Sunday so if the
00:14:02
Speaker
Broncos beat Cincinnati and the Chargers win the Patriots. It's absolutely done. So do you think the Dolphins will make the playoffs?
00:14:12
Speaker
There's a chance they're they're they are not eliminated. That is what I will say. um And they have been the team that has ended multiple team seasons. You had the Jets earlier, you now you ended the 49er season. I think that sticks into the Dolphins heads where it's like, we don't want to be on the receiving end of that, at least from a direct loss. You know what I mean? If a team wins here that you can't control,
00:14:33
Speaker
oh well but i think miami is motivated to win out the rest of the season and just keep fighting right and that's kind of what you want to see from a team that had a horrible start to the year lot of injury problems with the quarterback but now they're kind of healthy they're figuring out their offense a little bit and like you said I think beating the San Francisco 49ers is a good win no matter where they are in their season, ah who's playing for them. I know Patrick Taylor was there starting running back. you know Nobody's ever heard of him before last week unless you're a sicko fantasy owner.
00:15:05
Speaker
but the dolphins are fighting their scrappy their team that like you said they can spoil seasons unfortunately they're not playing teams where that you know i mean like uh they'd be fun to play the bills ruin their season ruin their chances out of one seed things like that but i mean you're going to be favored in your two games down the stretch So I think the Dolphins just got to take care of their business and hopefully some things bounce your way. So you need the Bengals to beat the Broncos and then lose to the Steelers in the last week. Essentially, dude. So I was going to say, like, who wins? Who has the tiebreaker between the Dolphins and the Bengals? Do you know that? I think it's the Dolphins because the Bengals are at a seven percent playoff chance right now and the Dolphins are at eight.
00:15:45
Speaker
OK, so let so yeah if they beat the Steelers week 18, it doesn't matter if if Miami takes care of business and the Broncos and Chargers don't. Yes, yes, I think so. Yeah. um And yeah, so it's a lot of different things have have to happen, but ah kind of similar to um you know other teams that are still trying to gain something like the Cowboys at the end of this season, you want to see them be scrappy rather than just kind of lie on their back.
00:16:11
Speaker
Something interesting, Chomp Robinson's at plus 2100 to win defensive rookie of the year. That's third shortest odds. Jared versus minus 550. Quinnyon Mitchell has plus 400. Mitchell gave up a bad touchdown on Sunday against the commanders. Chomp Robinson's now leading for rookies and sacks. So i something happens over these last two games. I would not be shocked if that ah were to change and he were to win that award.
00:16:38
Speaker
That would be big, because it was not looking good early in the season. And he has come out as a a player who has quickly learned the NFL game. He was a very fast guy off the line. He was never going to bully any offensive lineman and and pancake anybody. But he's starting to use his speed a lot better. He's been a a huge addition. Mike McDaniel is trying to recruit Nick Bosa at the end of the game. He said South Florida is pretty cool. I was thinking about it last night.
00:17:04
Speaker
That would be the funniest thing of all time for me as a Dolphins fan if Nick Bosa was on the Dolphins next year. like i I would unashamedly become a Nick Bosa guy. He's a Florida guy too. Played his high school football there, grew up there. I think his dad may have played for the Dolphins. I might be making that up, but I believe that's the NFL team he played for. They settled down in Miami post-career. Joey and Nick grew up, played their football at St. Thomas Aquinas.
00:17:30
Speaker
I. Yeah, I mean, who know why not? Because the 49ers have a million business decisions to deal with in the soft season. I mean, we got the whole Kirk Cousins, Brock Purdy, quarterback saga. That's going to be so fun to watch happen in the audience season, dude. I mean, last week and then since then, it just the legs of that story have taken off.
00:17:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think I said, like, oh, we might see Michael Panax Jr. down the stretch. Didn't account for them to release Kirk Cousins and make him the starter but when you're on a playoff run. It's unbelievable. We'll get into that later. But yeah, the Brock Purdy saga in the offseason is going to be really fun to watch. And I don't really know, because who knows? Maybe the 49ers just draft. They've been known Brock Purdy was a seventh rounder. He worked out. Maybe they go the ah the financial route and just go for a rookie. Maybe. Moving on.
00:18:22
Speaker
Did Josh Allen open the door for a Lamar Jackson MVP odds dropped from minus 900. Last week, when we were talking about it, when we kind of questioned if if the door was really closed or not, when a lot of people seemed like it was to now minus 450. That's a pretty, pretty significant drop in odds, having his odds to win MVP. Alan kind of struggled under pressure. I thought the Pats defense played great in that game. ah The offense faltered at a lot of different points in that game, especially in the first half.
00:18:58
Speaker
James Cook was really the highlight point of that team on offense. um What do you think about the MVP?
00:19:06
Speaker
it's It's tighter than I believe the odds indicate, but I think the movement in the odds from last week to this week shows that the door is wide open. Especially if Lamar and the Ravens can get this division, which they basically just need to win out and the Steelers lose one of their two games against the Chiefs and the Bengals, which is very possible as we've seen them kind of struggle down the stretch here.
00:19:29
Speaker
Josh it but now we're getting different arguments gaming Simon was watching Sportsnet last night Adam rank of the NFL Network is on doing a segment and he's trying to argue that because Josh Allen is dealing with some injuries in his non throwing hand that that can help bolster his MVP case and because Khalil Shakir had a down game and Dalton Kincaid has been non-existent for most of this season and He happened to so just slide in that James Cook had a great game against the Patriots and was a key piece of them winning that game, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I think it's as tight as a race as you know we can kind of get going down the stretch. I think Josh Allen is going to get the benefit of the doubt for most voters. ah You know what I mean? I think Josh Allen has to have a really bad game.
00:20:17
Speaker
Or Lamar Jackson has to have like a five touchdown for four touchdowns passing one touchdown rushing over 400 total yards. Someone has to win it or lose it. But if nothing changes down the stretch, it will be Josh Allen's MPP. That's a good point to make. But you think about it, who's playing on Christmas Day, right? Like it's like all the eyes on Christmas Day are going to be on that Baltimore team. If if Lamar stunts out in that game, I could see that being the winning game, you know.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah, I think the NFL won in Buffalo to get the one seed based on them not being in those, uh, those four teams that have to go through the gauntlet. That is a great argument. Like, you know, we talk about Heisman moments in college football, and MVP moments in the NFL are a real thing. Feels like Josh Allen has already had one or two of those moments earlier this season, specifically the run against Kansas city. Um, you know, the, the, the not stopped forward progression, Amari Cooper toss.
00:21:14
Speaker
Lamar's got a chance prime time. I would argue this is his last chance along with the Ravens having to win the division to make a statement game because week 18, I think people's minds are going to be made up. So Lamar's got one last chance here in prime time spot against the Texans on Christmas Day to make his MVP statement. That's a great, great, great storyline. Um, moving on to the NFC. Uh, do you think that the Vikings will get the one seed in the NFC final games are against the Packers and the Lions. Two huge games for them. They will clinch if they win out. ah The Eagles lost to the commanders, vaults them ahead of Philadelphia. um With Detroit's injuries, I'm starting to lean yes. What do you think about that?
00:22:01
Speaker
people of People don't believe that this can happen, but they've been there all season long. They just continue to win games. Everyone wants to look at the lines, rightfully so. The Eagles rightfully so. People putting the Packers out of the Vikings. They're a little crazy to me because Vikings have already beat them straight up. They're one and a half point favorites heading into the game this week. So clearly they are getting some respect from the books as well.
00:22:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's going to come down to week 18. I kind of like the Vikings this week. I'm going to foreshadow a little bit. I'm not going to be taking them in our picks because I'm just scared of the big game, the small spreads. I've been wrong on 90 percent of them this year, so no reason to go for it now.
00:22:43
Speaker
But I think the but the I think that line indicates that the Vikings are getting respect finally from these, you know, the books, the people, the fans. And I think they can make a statement when I think the game against Green Bay is going to be tighter than Detroit, like you said, because the injuries um i obviously Detroit won't be able to rest in week 18 of Minnesota beats the Packers, which I'm sure they want to do because of all the injuries they've had.
00:23:09
Speaker
um And then, yeah, so if the Vikings can find a way to win at home, by the way, as favorites against the division rival, I think it's a better chance than not that they can beat the the Lions in the last week and get the number one seed. And they've got Mojo right now, like to win that Seahawks game the way that they did.
00:23:29
Speaker
To have Sam Darnold connect on that pass to who else but Justin Jefferson to to ice that game. I felt like that was just you know the final piece of that Vikings team really catching fire and momentum. um The opposite, I think, for that Seattle team. That was a gut punch for them to lose that game. you know They get the touchdown late. You think that you know maybe Seattle can pull off this game.
00:23:51
Speaker
um But again, this Vikings team knows how to win in different ways. They've been kind of doing it the entire season. And now Seattle will not only need a win over the Rams in week 18 to have a chance at the NFC West. They'll also need a Rams loss next week. They're playing at home to Arizona. Seems like Seattle might be on the outside looking in as well.
00:24:12
Speaker
Yeah, for Minnesota, it's a tough place to win in Seattle. So that's a huge win. You got Gino Smith getting into it with the fans as well at the end of the game. Kind of feel bad for Gino because, you know, as much as I like to kind of poke fun at him, we saw how bad that offensive line really is when Sam Howell steps in and how easy it is to get sacked 10 times a game with that offensive line. So for him to only get sacked, you know, three, four, five times a game, get the offense that they're able to get through the air.
00:24:39
Speaker
Uh, it's, it's impressive. Seattle's backs against the wall though, as, and it's tough, like you said with Tampa Bay, you're just not in a spot where you control your own destiny. So you're, you know, cheering for other teams rooting against others. And it's not the spot you want to be in, but it's a team that has been up and down the whole year. I still don't know what the Seahawks are starting to kind of figure out what the Rams are a little bit. And I kind of lean the Rams in that division, but I mean, Seattle still got a chance. They, they can win out here.
00:25:07
Speaker
They got a nice matchup next week, if we're being honest. I know they have to go on the road to Chicago, but that's a team that seems to be waiting for the season to end, let's just say. So, yeah, the Seahawks have a chance, but I mean, you can't have any more mistakes down the stretch here. Yeah. ah Thankfully, thank God we jumped off the Cardinals ship because that would have been a very tough week for us as a Cardinals podcast. They get eliminated from playoff contention with the overtime loss to Carolina.
00:25:35
Speaker
who's I think they're going to continue to play spoiler. I think it was something like the fourth straight year that the Cardinals have been eliminated from the playoffs before Christmas. Seems like a real changing of the guard is going to happen. Like there were some horrific vibes after that game. Kyler throws a terrible interception again. Something something seemed to have shifted there with the Cardinals and and Kyler like it it it just seemed like it was like a defining moment them losing that game.
00:26:05
Speaker
I found myself on Cardinals Twitter somehow and they hate Kyler Murray. They hate him. They want they want a new quarterback badly and I don't really blame him because I tuned into that game like specifically to watch it down the stretch fourth quarter and I watched all the overtime.
00:26:22
Speaker
Their offense down the stretch turned into Kyler Murray just running the ball. They weren't throwing it. They weren't looking to get anything going on offense. Marvin Harrison Jr., four catches 39 yards. Trey McBride, three catches 20 yards. Once again, they failed to get those two going at the same time. Neither of them got going at all in this game. And this offense has so much talent. I mean, it's it's hard to dispute it. You have a first round wide receiver. You have one of the best tight ends.
00:26:47
Speaker
Kyler Murray is a dynamic quarterback. James Connor continues to have great seasons, yet they they don't produce on offense week in and week out. And it's a Jekyll and Hyde team that has not been able to find consistency. I don't know if that's on the offensive play calling. I don't know if that's on the head coach. I don't know if that's on Kyler Murray, but like you said, it feels like this is a team that's at a bit of a breaking point.
00:27:09
Speaker
and something has to give, whether it could be adding guys to a team and it doesn't necessarily have to be, you know, trading away players, firing coaches, firing GMs. Sometimes it can just be adding a veteran presence to a team that can help as well.
00:27:23
Speaker
But the Cardinals are in a horrible spot. I mean, unfortunately, the Bucks lose the first game that we hop on their bandwagon. So we're we're a little bit of ah in no man's land there. Nobody's winning the breakup with the Cardinals right now. Hopefully we win it in the long run. But yeah, the Cardinals just an unfortunate end to their season. Yeah, it's starting to make me think we should have picked the Rams, like you said.
00:27:43
Speaker
um it Does Sunday's win for Washington lock up rookie of the year for Jayden Daniels? It certainly seems like that way he is now minus 20,000 Such an insane number good for us Brock Bowers is second at plus 2,500 Daniels has 22 touchdown passes including five to beat the Eagles also rushed for 82 yards in that game ah you that is kind of what I took from that game. I'm not crowning the commanders for their comeback like everybody else seemed to be doing on Sunday. ah You were playing against Kenny Pickett, ah so I don't think you get many points for that, but I think Jane and Daniels gets points and ah for playing that well against a good Eagles defense.
00:28:29
Speaker
I think the last drive specifically locked off the rookie of the year, you know, gets the commanders their first 10 win season in forever. So congrats to the fans of the of that team. They're going to be in the playoffs. Listen, yeah, I'm not going to overreact to a ah game against Kenny Pickett, but I'll, you know, that's a good defense on the Eagles. And I know CJ Gardner Johnson got kicked out for, for words, which is,
00:28:53
Speaker
i've I've yet to see in the NFL happen. I'm sure God knows what's being said out there, but I'm sure there's many, you know, ejectionable offenses verbally throughout the game. But I guess CJ Gardner Johnson has a rep. The officials were aware of that and he does not get the benefit benefit of the doubt ever.
00:29:11
Speaker
Jim Daniels, yeah, he's he makes me believe every week. He had a little bit of a lull at the mid point in the season. But for a rookie quarterback like that to you know get back off his feet, can continue to rise to be an elite quarterback in this league, makes me believe he can possibly win a game in the playoffs. I don't think this is a team that's going to win a Super Bowl, win multiple games in the playoffs. But I believe the commanders can win a game in the playoffs if they get a favorable matchup against let's say the atlanta falcons right like if that's a team who wins the south the commander i guess the commanders can't get the five seed though with the nfc north being as strong as it is no so they might have a tougher matchup but i can see this team like it's not a team you want to play in the first round as an underdog i know they'll be on the road but jane dingos has shown me
00:30:01
Speaker
um Great things locked up rookie of the year and probably should have been the first overall pick if we're gonna look a little short-sighted based off this season I agree ah Felt like that was some serious wind out of the Eagles sales We were talking about it over the last few weeks kind of waiting for something to happen with this Eagles team It's like you you can't expect them for everything to go. Well, And it ended up being, you know, Jalen hurts going out with a concussion. he He puts his thumb up to the ref as if that's going to like stop them from taking him out of the game. um But I think Philly should be concerned with this man. Like speaking ah from a fan of a team who has concussion problems, ah that is not a good sign for this Eagles team. I'm sure he'll be probably be back out in week 18, maybe not because they won't be playing for a one seed, um but it felt like, you know,
00:30:53
Speaker
If there was anything that could take the wind out of the sails of this Eagles team, a serious injury is certainly something that can do that. Yeah, it it was a bit of a double loss for them. You lose the one seed, you lose your starting quarterback to a concussion who, you know, Josh Allen wouldn't get that same treatment. So I understand for Philly fans to be a little upset with how that was handled. But yeah, thumbs up isn't enough to clear you to, uh, to play the rest of the game and not even, it wasn't even, it was the thumbs up was just to get checked. He's like, I i don't even need to go to protocol. It's like, dude, relax. like
00:31:24
Speaker
That is something that every player has to go through. I was surprised that they made him you know leave the game. So I guess it was a lot serious than it looked on the field. But man, that this the Eagles had their set sights set on the one seed. They were the hottest team in the NFL after the Lions took a loss. And yeah, it's we'll see how Sirianni can get this team back and how they'll answer. Because especially losing to a divisional opponent like that, a rookie quarterback,
00:31:52
Speaker
ah yeah I get it. Can you pick it was your quarterback? You shouldn't put a ton of stock into this game alone But it's more so how a team can bounce back down the stretch You don't want to take a loss this late in the season that like you said can take the window to your sales When you had your sights set on the one seed and now you're kind of you got enough You're in no man's land now for the rest of the year So we'll see if they can get back up for the first round of the playoffs well put um moving to a team we mentioned briefly earlier the Atlanta Falcons and Did Michael Penix pass the eye test? We talked about it. We we mentioned it last week. You said that you know maybe they'll put Penix in. In the span of a few days, Kirk Cousins gets thrown to the curb. It's already widely reported that they are going to be
00:32:36
Speaker
cutting ties with him in the offseason, which is who could have seen this coming? um But he goes 18 to 27 for 202 yards in interception. That was not his fault. It was Kyle Pitts fault. He got helped by a pair of pick sixes. But I'm going to say yes, that he passed the eye test um just for a few reasons. I think one, the Falcons were one in four in their last five games. The 34 to seven lead in the fourth quarter was their biggest since 2020.
00:33:04
Speaker
Although it was against the Giants, Penix for me passes the test simply because they needed a confidence builder game and that's exactly what they got. He didn't make the big, big mistake. Uh, like the, the interception was in the red zone. Um, and the other thing for me was that it looked like Michael panics at Washington, like the way he throws a ball, like the completions he was getting, they weren't checkdowns, you know, he wasn't being a checkdown merchant. Yeah, he had some incompletions, but, but to me, similar to Bo Nicks, this is a old quarterback and experienced quarterback who seemed to be able to be, to step into the spotlight and perform.
00:33:43
Speaker
Well said, yeah, the moment didn't look too big for him. He looked comfortable out there, um especially in the pocket. He wasn't really panicking. He used his legs a little bit, um like four four rushes just to survive. You know, he's not a rusher, so there could have been some early nerves, some happy feet with those.
00:33:59
Speaker
But yeah, he was solid and Mike or Kyle Pitts like because that interception looks you know Not so great when you don't throw any touchdowns, but like I said, it was a fine game from panics and the interception was You gotta to wonder if Kyle Pitts is maybe the next guy to leave the Falcons after the hopes they had for him and The Penix looked like a guy who could have come in for come in for Kirk Cousins in relief in one of those nightmare games that he was having. I'm surprised they didn't throw him in at any point because based off that and I think someone else said it that I believe John Gruden was just they know that you you know, they've seen Michael Penix. They would know if he could do better than what Kirk Cousins was doing. So in my head, I'm thinking he's
00:34:41
Speaker
He's a little bit behind these other quarterbacks. He might not be ready, but that was a guy who could have come in in relief in any of those games. And now he's he's got the keys to the car, baby. He's he's in the a playoff spot, leading the NFC South. And if he wins out, he's going to be playing in a playoff game, a home playoff game, which is just shocking because, you know, a lot of us are kind of poking fun at the Falcons taking panics junior eighth overall.
00:35:08
Speaker
Maybe that was short sighted of us didn't think it would happen this quickly and what like that Kirk Cousins deal It doesn't ruin a franchise, but what a mess of an offseason signing that was no kidding I think he's up to 321 million dollars in career earnings after that contract plays out He'll he'll get 90 million dollars for like 10 games this season that that is my go like that in his agent is Everyone should be looking for ah Kirk Cousins agent to represent them in the future because he's clearly he knows how to swing a deal for his clients incredible I'm moving on to a big debate going down the stretch here we talked about it who will win the AFC North if Baltimore and Pittsburgh both win out
00:35:54
Speaker
The Ravens lose that top spot because their record in common games is worse than the Steelers. The Ravens will likely need to win out at Houston and at home against Cleveland and the Steelers will need to lose at least one more time. Pittsburgh's last two games are at home against the Chiefs on Christmas and the Bengals a bit of a role reversal in that game on Saturday usually it's the Steelers who are turning over the Ravens this time it was the Steelers more specifically Russell Wilson who was turning over the football ah he has a force fumble inside the Baltimore 5-yard line
00:36:31
Speaker
Marlon Humphrey gets the pick six off of him. That was the first defensive score of the season for the Ravens ah for a secondary that has been struggling. um But that game, you know, it's hard to beat a team twice in your division. I think even Steelers fans saw that game kind of going the way ah that it would. Who do you think will end up winning the AFC North?
00:36:52
Speaker
Baltimore is playing the better football right now But I that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll win the north because like you said the Steelers do have the tiebreaker. I Like their chances against the Bengals. That's just a team that they naturally match up well against I obviously you have to go through the Chiefs at home, thankfully. um And you know, you're both off a short week. Steelers against some guys healthy. um they Their secondary at the end of that Baltimore Ravens game was depleted. And like you said, it was the turnover battle. The Steelers tried to force some turnovers early. The ball was on the ground. Baltimore was able to recover. Russ makes the fumble inside the five.
00:37:27
Speaker
ends a sco ah ends a possible scoring drive. Minka picks off Lamar Jackson. that There's another opportunity to kind of turn the game around, get back in it. Two plays later, Russell throws the pick six. It was game over. So Baltimore winning the turnover battle was absolutely the difference in that matchup.
00:37:45
Speaker
I got to like Baltimore to win both of those games down the stretch, so the pressure is more on the Steelers to take care of their business. But it's nice having the tiebreaker. You're getting some guys healthy. I believe George Pickens will be playing against the Chiefs, or at least they're listing him as probable to play not 100%.
00:38:01
Speaker
Uh, and then you're getting some guys back on the defensive side of the ball, which I think will help immensely. Derek Henry kind of shredded them a bit, especially through the defensive line. Um, so yeah, it's, I trust the Steelers to bounce back. I don't, I'm not going to put a ton of stock into that. I think the Eagles loss was worse than that Ravens loss because the score was, you know, not close 34 17, but the Steelers were moving the ball. Like you said, it was just the turnovers that just killed them and, uh,
00:38:29
Speaker
Hey man, Justin Fields wasn't turning the ball over earlier in the year. Russ has got the turnover bug a little bit and hopefully he learns. I don't know what was going through his mind on that run. He thought he was in 2014. He thought he was turning back the clock, going danger Russ mode. And I just, I couldn't believe it. Cause dude, he like, he's running down and it's like ah amazing Russ. Like you made the play, you made the scramble, you're going down.
00:38:53
Speaker
if he stayed straight and went to the corner of the end zone more so to the pylon he cuts into the middle of the field at like the 10 yard line the 12 takes on the linebacker head on head right when he turned into the middle of the field i go oh my god he's he's going for he's going for the pay dirt and it did not pay off for us um but yeah just clean up the turnovers the reason why and tell me if i'm crazy like i'm going to next week chief steelers We all know the Chiefs love playing those one score games, usually low scoring. They've only scored 30 points once this year and one was in an overtime game. Steelers got some closes on the defensive line. They know how to win some close matchups. They're at home. They win more games at home than they do on the road. So I think the Steelers absolutely have a chance in this game and I think they can pull it out ah late in the game. Just got to win the turnover battle and that's their way to success. Yeah, I think the Steelers alive in that game. Part of me worries like I feel like
00:39:49
Speaker
A couple of times this season, I felt confident about the Steelers at least keeping things close and like, especially that Philly game. I think that is sticking kind of lingering in my mind of of whether they can keep this game close. But I think the short week is huge here. ah You know, if you do get to Sean Elliott back, I think that's huge at the safety position. Not having Joey Porter Jr. is going to be tough. ah You know, Jackson's coming back, though. So this is one corner.
00:40:14
Speaker
Yeah, I can like match up on, you know, DeAndre Hopkins or whoever. But yeah, they're they're not a healthy team right now, which is plaguing them a bit. And my that goes back to my early rant about the three and eleven. Don't love it. A lot of injuries happening for the Steelers over the course of these games. Yeah. If George Pickens comes in and is, you know,
00:40:33
Speaker
he's he practiced fully on monday i think he's going to be back in this game if he has a game we talked about how russ has a low low floor and a high high ceiling if you get a high ceiling russ game i think they are more than live to win this game and not just keep it close uh very excited this will be airing you know right as that game is playing so it'll be interesting to see how these takes age um moving to our last Last spot here in week 16. Are the Denver Broncos a fraudulent football team? That is the question. Losses to the Seahawks, Steelers, Chargers twice, the Ravens and the Chiefs. They're kind of getting bully allegations in my mind too. All good teams, all teams over 500.
00:41:21
Speaker
Not the best sign going into the playoffs. I think that finally that run game question that we have been harping on really came to a tee in that game against the Chargers on Thursday night.
00:41:33
Speaker
They ran the ball on seven of the 10 opening possessions to score a touchdown to start that game. And then Sean Payton runs it 14 times the rest of the football game, finished with only 110 yards rushing, which looks like a good number for Denver. But then you remember Bo Nicks had 25 yards scrambling. So then you go, all right, maybe.
00:41:56
Speaker
Maybe bring that down to somewhere in the 80s and then you you know estimate is the lead rusher again. This team to me is so confusing. They're almost like the Seahawks of the AFC to me where I can't quite grasp what they are. um Do you think the Broncos are fraudulent? Because I think even some Broncos fans are starting to feel that way.
00:42:17
Speaker
Broncos are, I think these are two teams that are far ahead of schedule, far off ahead of where I think most people thought they would be. I think people saw them competing for the seven seed, which I guess they both are in a sense.
00:42:30
Speaker
the Broncos blew that game. That's, that's what I'm taking away from it. They came out of the gates. Like you said, it was good. Where's this running game coming from? It looks great. This is the best they've looked all year long. And then Sean Payton for some reason deviates from the plan, starts getting in his own head a little bit. And that second half, the charges bullied them. The charges took over that game. Herbert had one of those like vintage games for your go. Oh yeah. This guy is one of the best quarterbacks in the league, like 284 yards, two passing touchdowns had the,
00:43:00
Speaker
the The window dressing on his rushing yards isn't looking great because he was over 40 at one point or at 40 rushing yards. couple Couple of the longest kneels I've ever seen. Damian had a parlay with the last leg, Herbert, 25 plus rushing yards.
00:43:16
Speaker
And we were scared to die. I was scared to death for him. I don't even know how he was feeling in the moment. But Herbert's taken seven strides back on these deals. Thankfully, you it hit. So it's all good. These are two teams that I think teams want to play. And you can put the Steelers in that um category, I think, right now as well, because they're kind of reeling. But I think when they're healthy, they're better than these two teams. They beat both these teams in the season. and So I think these are two teams that should just be happy to be in the playoffs. so Maybe you can pull off an upset win, but I'm not gonna call them frauds Damien because I don't I never had them as a playoff team going into this year I think bow next has been a highlight of their season. You got some other you know Mims is stepped up a little bit You got Devon valet as like as so as a rookie stepping up as well
00:44:06
Speaker
And now it's just can they find a running game? They got to pick one of these running backs for next year to step up. And then that's the next evolution of this team. Right. You got to focus on some things. The defense was concerning because I think people saw them as ah as an an yeah unelite defense. But since Riley Moss has been out, they've really been struggling. Yeah, I think that that is a good point to remember. It's hard to be a fraudulent team when you're ahead of schedule, as far ahead of schedule as the Denver Broncos are. I don't think it's quite fair.
00:44:35
Speaker
um It's a good point to remember Interesting interesting week 17. I can't believe we're already at week 17 feels like this season just blew by Like yeah we're doing our NFL preview. It feels like a month ago Yeah, I guess it goes by quicker when you're, you know, you talk about it every week and you have to dive into these games and, you know, everything's like you said, everything's just still in my mind from week one. So it feels like everything's happened a lot quicker than it actually has. um But I mean, hey, it's kind of just got to get through these two weeks and then the playoffs are are just such a blast to watch and even better to talk about.
00:45:11
Speaker
Very excited for that. um But we will go now to our goalpost picks for week 17. I was 27 and 18. I went one and two. No thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles. I am now 28 and 20. Patrick, you were 21 and 21 and you went 0 and 3. Now 21 and 24. Tough spot to be it tough. Tough week to lay an over.
00:45:39
Speaker
Yes, I'd like to say congratulations to you all winning the battle, but, uh, spin zone, you have to be cheering for me. Well, I'm getting, I'm finishing the season 500 or above. Um, so I'm, I'm fighting hard. I'm not going to be fading you or anything. I'm just looking for some picks. i'm winning I got a strategy in my mind, which is usually a bad thing, but we'll see if it works this week. All right. Without further ado, I won the week. So I will lead back off again, back in my rightful place. I am going to go with a spread that really doesn't make sense to me. ah It's been working the past few weeks, so I'm going to stick with it. It's Lions three and a half against the 49ers. I think that is a tiny, tiny number for a Lions team that will still be dying for a one seed here, especially with how injured they are. The Lions, it's on Monday night next week. Long rest for the Lions. You get a lot more time to kind of charge up
00:46:37
Speaker
I think the Lions route the 49ers in this game. I don't care if they're on the road, especially with the 49ers being eliminated from the playoffs. They really have nothing to play for. I think a lot of those veteran guys kind of want the season to be over a little bit. They kind of already, you know, they're planning their offseason vacations with their wives. Like they've got their heads are elsewhere.
00:46:57
Speaker
here we go raiders saints under thirty seven and a half getting as a board oh gro rosis game of the board two of the worst teams um the line flipped actually for when i first looked at it now it's a pick im at minus one oh eight aside but i'm goingnna go with the under um Yeah, all right. Yeah, that's that's the pick. I love it. um My next pick here, I am going to go in a very similar vein to my first pick of a team that's still trying pretty hard for something. It's Seahawks three and a half against the Bears. I mean, this is another one where, you know, the Bears have checked the hell out for this season. The Seahawks are going to be doing everything in their
00:47:42
Speaker
in their power to still try and win the NFC West. I'm looking i'm looking for hungry teams against teams that are out of it, and and the Seahawks fit that bill. Love it. Yeah, I mean, that fading the Bears is a good good method. to it's It's won the past couple weeks, and I don't see why it won't win down the stretch.
00:48:04
Speaker
titans jaguars under thirty nine and a half i've seen so spot the pattern i don't know if you can two worst teams picked the under let's see let's see if it works watch these are gonna be shootouts now that you say that uh the jags did you so dirty on sunday that jags plus three and a half i think it was against the raiders like Well did you see the like the the jags around 14-13 and early in the fourth quarter and then O'Connell turns into vintage Eli Manning in the Super Bowl scrambling out of the pocket making the most insane back foot throw.
00:48:40
Speaker
i yeah I couldn't believe it. I also fully thought Desmond Redder was starting that game when I made the pick. Didn't nobody know Connell pulling up because he's not awful. Yeah. Yeah, very fair. um I'm going to go with my Miami Dolphins, six and a half against the Browns. I love the hook at six and a half just under a touchdown. um this is ah This is a bit of a hedge, emotional hedge for me um because if the Dolphins lose than my pick loses, it's fine. um If they win and my and I don't cover, then I'm still happy with a win. But i think they I think they beat the Browns. This will be on the road, so a good cold weather test for the Dolphins. I think something's changed a little bit. I think they're playing for Mike McDaniel right now based on like that 49ers game, based on the post game. you know I'm i'm inite in debt with a million videos on my feed of them winning that game. So I'm riding high with my Finns right now.
00:49:38
Speaker
I love it. i Your strategy is clear and and I like it. I thought about throwing another under end, but since my season's kind of over, and I do believe in this pick that I'm about to make, I'm going with the Steelers plus two and a half. ah Just rip the Band-Aid off, get it over on on a Wednesday. See, you know it's going to set my week, hopefully.
00:49:57
Speaker
in the right direction. But I think the Steelers at home here getting some guys healthy, they need it. i think I think the Steelers need this one a little more than the Chiefs. I think the Chiefs have a little bit of breathing room for that one seed. um And yeah, I just, why not? Go Steelers, win a game, prove the world wrong and let's let's add a two in the loss column for the Chiefs.
00:50:19
Speaker
There we go. Three favorites, one underdog and two unders. What a meal. That'll do it for the week. Seventeen goal post picks. It's our second to last week. Looking to finish strong, both be above 500. That'll be a great graphic if we can get that out. um But we will be back after this with a little bit of college football round up. So come back after this for some college football.
00:50:43
Speaker
All right. Welcome back to a little college football roundup. We had the first round of the first ever 12 team playoffs on the weekends, all four favorites. One, it was the weekend of favorites all by double digits. Um, and this was a take quake weekend. There were takes everywhere, everywhere you looked, Twitter, Instagram, everywhere, network TV.
00:51:10
Speaker
People getting their takes off wherever they could. Nick Saban's wearing an Indiana Jones hat. ah It was just chaos, is how I would describe it. And it started all on Friday night with Indiana. After causing takequakes everywhere, pregame, postgame, ended up somehow with the lowest losing margin of any first round team.
00:51:31
Speaker
ah to borrow a line from the Winnipeg writer, Ed Tate. Lots and lots of scoreboard cosmetic surgery in this one. They get 14 points late in this game. To put it simply, they were outmatched on a lot of levels. This happened pretty much how we thought it would. ah the The Notre Dame rushing attack gashed them early.
00:51:50
Speaker
with a 98 yard touchdown from Jeremiah Love. I think Patrick, you said that he was going to be the best, most talented player in this game. And that was overwhelmingly true. That TD just poured gasoline on a lit match of a crowd. Like it was, there was no worse way to start that game, especially after getting an early interception off of Notre Dame, you know, things were looking good for Indiana.
00:52:17
Speaker
Curtis Rourke throws a red zone interception just seemed like after that things kind of seemed to spiral in the wrong way. Indiana's run defense actually did pretty well in that game. They seem to hold their own. I think in both that game and the Ohio State game, the Indiana defense actually did their job and it was the offense that didn't. The pass protection was a problem and you know Nathan Rourke posted it or Curtis Rourke posted a photo thanking the fans.
00:52:45
Speaker
And if you zoomed in his thumb looked like it was growing another thumb on top of it goes back to that Purdue game. I think they beat them 66 nothing or something where he injured his thumb that and it was on the throwing hand that had to have been a problem. um But yeah, they got down early and then they never seem to recover after that.
00:53:04
Speaker
this This game, like you said, the the cosmetic surgery on the scoreboard, the signeti special, whatever you want to call it. But Indiana does it better than any team of just making that scoreboard look a little closer than that actual game was because this game was over.
00:53:21
Speaker
from the second Jeremiah Love went 98 yards for a touchdown 14 points in the fourth quarter for Indiana they were just down the entire game ah they were out of it like you said Curtis Rourke in the offense just could not get anything going I root for Curtis Rourke. He's a Canadian quarterback in D1, especially out of power five school. Now ah we don't get that too often as Canadians, you know, and, you know, Jesse Palmer is regarded as a folk hero in our, in our media. And he's been given a job for life basically because of it.
00:53:54
Speaker
He can't win big games and it scares me for like, i don't these I don't think he's an NFL quarterback. Like it's just, it's unfortunate. He's had a great year and he dominated the competition that he played. But I just, Curtis Rourke, like you look at all these other quarterbacks that who we don't even think are that good and aren't going to the NFL. They step up in big games, they make big plays. Riley Leonard, we people laugh at Riley Leonard. He was good enough in this game, 23 of 32, 201 yards.
00:54:22
Speaker
got a little bit of action on the ground, 30 yards. His game was a dominant from Notre Dame. And to me, the the biggest, what my takeaway is just the two coaches like Marcus Freeman, coaches with a quiet confidence.
00:54:37
Speaker
that instills like motive like it's motivation without speaking and running your mouth and it's a guy that you want to play for and easy to get behind he's young he's likable he's like you know I mean he's just he galvanizes a room and just you know keeps going forward knows that there's bigger things to play for Kurt Signetti can't keep his mouth shut What was the core again? We beat the shit out of top 25 teams. We don't beat, we don't, we don't just beat top 24 teams, 25 teams. We beat the shit out of them. And he referenced Nebraska. What was that man? In Coastal. He referenced Nebraska and Coastal Carolina. The only top 25 team you played up until this Notre Dame game was Ohio State, Kurt. And you got the shit kicked out of you. Then you play another one at Notre Dame. You got the shit kicked out of you again, man. So,
00:55:27
Speaker
i don't know kurt zignetti you have had a great season i'm not gonna take anything away from you but in the future learn to handle yourself with some class stop embarrassing yourself embarrassing program because he's putting a target on indiana's back when it's a school like i guess maybe that's his intention right he's trying to bring him up into the media trying to get him into the into the limelight.
00:55:47
Speaker
but don't like stop doing that. You're making a fool out of yourself consistently. It's so disheartening because Indiana is a team that should be likable Cinderella's. This is a team that people should rally behind, especially against a team like Notre Dame. People don't like Notre Dame. like Notre Dame likes Notre Dame. and To bring that attention on game day before the game, like it It is just head scratching. That Coastal Carolina game was fucking four years ago when he was at James Madison. Like, it was to say that when the average college football fan would be able to hear get the bells dinged in their head and say, wait a minute, didn't they lose their only top 25 game? Like, for for a college an average college fan to know that that was horseshit, I don't know who you're fooling with that quote. And then he goes on to play coward football
00:56:40
Speaker
in the in the biggest spot possible, punting in the second half there on Notre Dame's side of the field when you're down two scorers. I think he realized they were outmatched in that game and and focused more on on the scoreboard cosmetic surgery rather than really trying to rally back and win that game, which sucks. i You're right, he did have a great season. I can see how he's trying to maybe vault Indiana into a national media discussion But the players can't like that. Like the players don't like that, that target being put on their back. And that's exactly what he did. That, that to me was the most upsetting part of this Indiana loss. Yeah. Your, your actions on the field should bring you into the national limelight, the media, that should be what the people are talking about. You shouldn't make it about yourself, especially in, in a college.
00:57:30
Speaker
ah situation I find you should make about your players or you should take pressure off of your players, right? If they're taking heat, put it on yourself. Don't bring the heat to you and your program and your players when the players are, you know, just going about their business. They weren't running their mouths. um But yeah, it was Indiana was outmatched. Obviously, there's going to be take quakes of people saying, you know, Alabama should have been in Ole Miss, Miami, South Carolina, you name whatever, whatever fan base that didn't make it. They wanted in over Indiana.
00:57:59
Speaker
i I don't know I'm not gonna be I'm not gonna overreact to a matchup like this Indiana ah had the resume to get in um but basically what I was you know mentioning before is you can change the seating on teams I think once once they make the playoffs and yeah there's gonna be other arguments with these other games but I think You get the 12 teams that are in the playoffs and I think you completely reseed them. That's what I think you do based off real resume. I think you have to look at teams that you have beaten. ah so if If they have like top 25 wins before you look at losses and just overall record.
00:58:35
Speaker
um but i Who's to say that like Ole Miss, Alabama, Miami, you're just going off hypotheticals that you think that you can handle your business when you lost three games or in Miami's case two games in and ah in a horrible game you couldn't lose to Syracuse in your last regular season game of the year. So these teams that are complaining,
00:58:53
Speaker
talk Talk amongst yourselves because I'm not interested in hearing it. Indiana handled their business throughout the season. Yes, they had an easier schedule than most, but they won the games and they won most of them convincingly. So Indiana deserved the spot that they got. They got handled. um The committee is unfortunately probably going to start looking at things differently when I don't really think they have to. um But yeah, and then you go to the Notre Dame side, they perfect win for them. Just one horrible loss. They they lose Riley Mills on the defensive line. Probably the best defensive player was making an impact throughout that entire game. He's now out for the rest of the playoff. That's going to hurt you, especially once you get, you know, you it's a step up in competition every time you go to the next round. And I think that might hurt the Notre Dame defensive line going forward big time. And I love them in that game against Georgia. Right. It was a perfect win.
00:59:46
Speaker
I think Notre Dame is a really good football team. Like it is, there's no if ands or buts about it. They're a great team. And I think losing a guy like that against a team where you're going to need a good pass rush, like the the Georgia O-line is good, but the quarterbacks really aren't. So it's like, that's where you could really find an edge in that game is if you were able to get a ton of pressure on whether it's Carson Beck, whether it is ah Why am I forgetting his name? Gunner Stockton. Gunner Stockton. Carson Beck officially announced out for the remainder of the playoffs, by the way. Yeah. So Gunner Stockton, that is a blow for Georgia. Obviously, we're not going to be prepping those games because they are not until New Year's Day. um But yeah, I like Notre Dame's ah mojo going forward is how I would put it. um Moving to SMU Penn State. This was a game that we saw coming from a mile away.
01:00:42
Speaker
did exactly what everybody hoped they wouldn't do and absolutely got pushed around. It seemed like they had no business being there. Kevin Jennings picked a bad time to have one of the worst games, I'm sure, of his entire football career down to Pop Warner. He goes 20 of 36 for 195 yards, the late touchdown, and more importantly, three picks, including a pick six off the bat.
01:01:10
Speaker
just It was like watching that game in slow motion when they go down on their opening drive. You know, it's it's fourth down. They choose to go for it. He scrambles. He has the first down.
01:01:23
Speaker
Like he could have scrambled for the first down instead sees the open tight end. It was a touchdown like that. I i agree that he should make that pass 90% of the time wide open, but then throws literally one of the worst balls I've ever seen in my life. Like I throw a better pool football than that and, and just throws it right into the corner's arms. And from that point onward.
01:01:50
Speaker
They then get the pick six and the Penn State crowd gets right into the game and it was, it was over. Yeah, it was ah he just floated that ball. He needed to rip it or even just like you said, like you had the first down. I get it. You're excited. You saw the guy open in the end zone. You're thinking touchdown. Let's open this, you know, that's let's open this game seven nothing. And yeah, that was you had a chance to kind of take the crowd out of it. I don't think that, you know, touchdown would have been the difference. But I do think it would have been ah a bit of a closer game if they had gotten a touchdown on their opening drive.
01:02:23
Speaker
I knew this game was over from when Kevin Jennings did his pregame interview with College Game Day, and he was visibly shaking, visibly cold. He's just, the breath's coming out, he keeps blowing into his hands, trying to keep him warm. SMU was out of place in this one, in Pennsylvania, and I think, it and like you said, the four favorites, the four home teams, home field advantage certainly played a difference in these four games.
01:02:49
Speaker
And Kevin Jennings and SMU was no different. They were kind of outmatched from the beginning. They missed their big opportunity to get out ah to a 7-0 lead. And then you know Penn State, their defenses became their offense, especially in the first half. ah Two picks, sixes.
01:03:04
Speaker
Um, and then Kevin Jennings had, had another chance in the red zone. They were driving again. I think this was in the second quarter. Then he throws another interception for three interceptions. And then, you know, transfer portal Preston stone, they were, they were dual quarterbacks to start battling it out the start of the year. But Preston stone is in the transfer portal. So you can't make that quarterback switch. Kevin Jennings has no confidence. This game was over very early, especially in the, in the, in the first quarter.
01:03:31
Speaker
And it's like it's going to look like Penn State dominated that game, but it was more so just Penn State's defense, dominated SMU's offense. Yeah, which ah credits to you. You mentioned you know their scoring defense. And that was the difference in this game, was you know the SMU offense versus Penn State's scoring defense. And that's what they did. They scored. They forced three turnovers, three sacks. They hold SMU to season lows in points and yards. ah They only got 253 total yards.
01:04:00
Speaker
um you mentioned like transfer portal we mentioned Prabhu not being in this game drew a lot man he did not look great like I know they focused on the Russian game they got defensive scores he didn't have to do a lot but 13 to 22 for 127 yards and no touchdowns Maybe he saw this coming and and didn't declare for the NFL draft because of how he thought he might play in the playoff But man like that was that was concerning to me like if I was a Penn State fan I'd be like alright like I know we have Boise State next but like we're gonna need a hell of a lot more out of you Drew
01:04:41
Speaker
Yeah, this game was 28, nothing at half, but without the defense, it could have been 14, 10. It would have been a much closer game if that defense hadn't, you know, become their offense and score 14 points for them. He looked tentative early. There was a, there was a third and short. I forget if it was on first or second drive and he's just got his out.
01:05:01
Speaker
to the sideline, he's looking at it, he's looking at it, and then he just freezes. He was frozen. He froze up multiple times in this game, was hesitant, didn't really trust himself, relied on his legs probably a little bit more than you'd like in a game against SMU where you just say, you can throw it all over the yard against a defense like that. SMU's strength was their offense, not their defense. I was expecting kind of a more back and forth game.
01:05:24
Speaker
like a 38 21 38 24. I thought I he was going to score a little bit in this game, but man, drew drew a Heller just looked a little bit over war overwhelmed, little nervous, especially to start. But then like you said, the defense helped them out. The Russian game came through with Singleton and Allen. And yeah, I mean, they get the wind. So it all kind of gets swept under the rug. But for the people that watch that game, I hit I think they put Notre Dame above Penn State in their kind of power rankings on the lower side of the bracket after watching that. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, if those two teams were to play next, the next game, instead of playing Georgia and Boise State, I think Notre Dame would be heavily favored, like at least the touchdown.
01:06:08
Speaker
I forget. No, it's I forget. I saw the look ahead line. It's one and a half. I forget. now I forgot which team, but I might have ben pen i know it was one and a half points spread between the two. Forget who was favored. What do I know? um Moving to Clemson and Texas, Clemson played the best game out of any underdog. I think that was clear.
01:06:26
Speaker
Um, what we didn't really see coming was this Clemson run defense. That was a problem in this game and a week, week secondary ended up being kind of the death of them. Um, they couldn't really stop Texas on offense. I think that ended up being the problem in this game. Like Clemson's offense held up like it, it, they did their thing. I think kid club Nick, you know, showed that albeit he wasn't perfect. He is a very, very good quarterback and he showed how good of a quarterback he is and can be.
01:06:57
Speaker
you know he He kind of neutralized that Texas defensive line. like it There were certainly moments where he got pressured, but for a lot of the game, he was scrambling, he was making throws on the run, and he kind of kept Clemson in that game. Ironically, it was kind of Dabo. I didn't love this coaching game from Dabo. I think that that fourth and goal play late was brutal. like You're going right into the meat and the potatoes of of this great Texas front. You're going right into them.
01:07:25
Speaker
And that proved to be a huge mistake. Um, and you know, I think that in a, in a big spot like this, I actually think dabble got out coached by Sarkeesian. Um, but a good game from Clemson, like nothing to shake their head at. They were outmatched in that game. I would have loved to see them come away with it. Um, but in the end, Texas was the better team in this matchup. Yeah. Texas's second quarter.
01:07:48
Speaker
and that fourth downplay that you mentioned were the difference in this game Texas kind of pulled away into the into the halftime the score 21 points in the second quarter and they carried ah a 28 to 10 lead at half so that was you know it looks really bad but Clemson like said was in that game they had a bunch of drives stall out at midfield double made some halftime adjustments to kind of stop the running game a little bit in the second half but it was kind of too late and they kept trying to come back and then they had that fourth downplay to make it a one score game with time left in the fourth quarter and they just couldn't find a way to get it and like you said they kind of just went right into the strength of Texas's defense
01:08:28
Speaker
And yeah, Texas won that game. I was praying for a Clemson back door, half a point off. Just give me a field goal sometimes, Dabo. and we know you We know you know the spread. We know you love the boosters. um But yeah, Clemson was in this game. The score might not indicate it losing my 14 points, but Cade Klubnick, good game. I think he's continuing to prove some people wrong. gain some believers along the way along the way. ah Definitely look better than Drew Aller. I don't think Kade Klubnick has made an announcement if he's going into the draft or not. ah But I think if he comes back for another year of college football,
01:09:04
Speaker
He's definitely gonna be the best, maybe a top five, for sure a top five um quarterback in college next year, possibly the best. If if we're looking at it like that, he's gonna be a veteran. He's played in a lot of big games and I think his talent naturally is just kind of better than a lot of these other guys that we're seeing. ah But yeah, it was Texas. Texas proved a lot to me also in this game.
01:09:29
Speaker
where, you know, Queenie Rose didn't make any mistakes. The running game was flying. ah And yeah, I think Texas' game plan, I think they can get through ASU. I think this is a team that has kind of not proved me wrong because I was not out on Texas. But this was their best win of the year, right? They hadn't had a win like this. They lost to Georgia twice. They beat Texas A and&M, which is a fine win. But this was their best win of the year.
01:09:55
Speaker
They did it in ah in a pretty good statement fashion, and we'll see if they can kind of carry this momentum throughout the playoffs, right? Because Ohio State's next, but like sometimes a loss and losing in ugly fashion can be good for a team when you still got a whole playoff bracket to play play for. Yeah, it felt like they kind of righted the ship, which was like big for them.
01:10:14
Speaker
um And it felt like, you know, you're right with this win. It felt like this was kind of the performance people were waiting for from Texas. What a great, great second round matchup in Ohio state and Texas, like just to have, or, or sorry. If, if it like.
01:10:31
Speaker
Third round. it there is on yeah yeah Like, I would love to see that. I know Oregon's a great team, too, but I think that that is a game I would love to see um between those two teams. And that brings us to Ohio State because Tennessee, where do we even start with Tennessee? Tennessee absolutely saved the weekend. They saved the takes of the weekend and it was cathartic to watch a 10 and 2 SEC team get waxed.
01:10:57
Speaker
after an onslaught of anti big 10 takes of anti Indiana and SMU takes of just. SEC, you know, not losing a hypothetical for the entire weekend, and then your Lane Kiffins go quiet on Twitter. Your SEC defenders go quiet in the media after Tennessee, who this should have been the closest game. They were the closest matchups in the bracket.
01:11:23
Speaker
get destroyed like that this was a game there Ohio State races to a 21 nothing lead and we we almost got this one wrong because it was the flip of like a lot of what we thought it would be it was Ohio State's offensive line that did the talking Tennessee couldn't generate pressure whatsoever and it looked like Ohio State versus Indiana with how much time and space Will Howard had to work with They diced the secondary. OSU could do whatever they wanted through the air. I think they probably took from that Georgia Tennessee game earlier this year. Georgia absolutely waxed them through the air. A bounce back game from Ryan Day and Chip Kelly. He had a ah great game plan. And Tennessee looked like they didn't have an answer for any single part of this ah Ohio State offense. Patrick, I'll hand it off to you.
01:12:16
Speaker
What did you like about this game? What was it like watching it? Give me your takes. They got up off the mat. I didn't know how i don't think anyone knew how this team was going to respond after that Michigan loss. They just had two two weeks to just sit there, think about it, hear all the media talk, um and all the the fan base. You saw many Tennessee fans, 30,000 Tennessee fans in that stadium, Ohio State fans, I think, myself included.
01:12:42
Speaker
I just I didn't want to get my hopes up to get crushed again. I wasn't out on the team by any means. I thought they could win this game, but the fashion in which they won it has me has me all the way back in. ah And yeah, man, credit to Ryan Day, credit to Chip Kelly. They clearly came in here with the game plan. It's the game plan that should have run against Michigan and they You can't stop Ohio State when they operate like that. You can't. They are the best team in the country. I don't know if they can do that for three more games. But that game right there is what the offense is. It's what the defense is. They were crushing Nikko. Yeah, they cracked his helmet. Did you see that one? That was I saw. But credit to Nikko. He seemed to be like the only player on Tennessee that showed up and tried.
Dylan Sampson's Impactful Injury
01:13:24
Speaker
ah He just kept getting hit and kept getting up and kept like making plays, running the ball a lot. I don't think that was
01:13:30
Speaker
in the game when, but Dylan Sampson left with an injury. So he kind of had to carry all the weight on offense. it was it was It was very nice
Ohio State's Dominant Performance
01:13:39
Speaker
performance. The defensive line was buzzing. Yeah, like you said, the offensive line was kind of moving them around a little bit. Trayvon Henderson, like 80 yards on 10 carries. ah Will Howard at all the time in the world to pass. It was a perfect game from Ohio State. They they don't get much better than that. um My biggest part of this game was when Tennessee made it 21-10 at half. They get the ball to start the second half. And I'm thinking,
01:14:04
Speaker
Okay. Like I'm not, I was never like over the moon. I wasn't saying this game was over at half.
Turning Point: Ohio State's Halftime Drive
01:14:09
Speaker
I said, this is going to be the a massive drive and they just stopped Tennessee right out of the gates, go down, get the touchdown. And then it went right into blowout territory. Uh, it was, it was nice. I'm very encouraged to see that from Ryan day and chip Kelly and just proud of that team for kind of getting up off the mat after.
01:14:28
Speaker
just hearing at all the takes for two weeks and all the negativity. um Yeah, they came out there with something to prove, and I think they proved it to a lot of people. Yeah, I especially like that point about when this offense operates like that, there isn't a better team in college football right now. Maybe Oregon, they can they can operate on a similar level with how many weapons they have.
01:14:50
Speaker
But and we're going to get to see that, thankfully, this is a team that the ceiling is just huge for this Ohio ah Ohio State team. Like they can operate on a level where nobody can beat them. And I think that is the most entertaining for the fans. Like I think you should be rooting for that in this game against Oregon, because we potentially, I think, have a national championship matchup in the second round, which is unfortunate in this seeding.
Anticipation for Ohio State vs. Oregon
01:15:19
Speaker
I think that.
01:15:21
Speaker
We might get robbed a bit in terms of getting that game a little bit too early. But you got to go into this game, you know, riding a high and using that momentum against this Oregon team. If you're Oregon watching that game, it's got to put a little bit of chills down your spine being like, oh, shit, like it's this team has played us before we beat them. And it's hard to beat a team twice. And I think that's exactly what Ohio State needed from this win was to kind of strike some fear in the heart of Oregon and say, fuck, we have to play that team next.
01:15:51
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, credit to Dan Lanning. He's a great head coach. He's not going to complain about the matchups. He's already kind of given Ohio State their flowers early in the week, saying like, we know that this team is as good of a team in the country and we have to go out there and beat them. We got to play them no matter what. So who cares if it's in the second round or in the national championship? I do a agree with you where I think these are the two best teams and you have the three favorites to win the national championship on the same side of the bracket. So even whoever wins this,
01:16:16
Speaker
Then as we go play, most likely a Texas team who, uh, is going to be, I think this, the look ahead lines was Ohio state minus one and a half against Texas and then Texas minus one and a half against Oregon. Um, I mean, barring any injuries and changes like that. So it's going to be like, those are the three teams that are there. They are looking at to win the national championship. Hopefully Ohio state can just do it again. They got an ideal matchup in California, nice weather. They can throw the ball around.
01:16:45
Speaker
Um, yeah, I mean that gave me on to Ohio state, Oregon earlier in the year is probably the game of the year. So hopefully it kind of lives up to that same game. Uh, if Ohio state wants to blow them out, I'd be fine with that too. But yeah, I think, you know, like, did you have anything else on the Tennessee Ohio state game?
01:17:03
Speaker
Not really, no really yeah not Not particularly, I just love that the SEC lost in the fashion that they did in that game.
SEC Teams' Performance Critique
01:17:11
Speaker
Well, I was going to say, like now we can kind of get into a little bit bigger picture, like talk about that. um Yeah, the ah Lane Kiffin, that was the funniest one for me, man. He was talking so much trash on Twitter, so much. And then his last tweet for a while was, let's go at Vols underscore football and Then do just look in the comment section after that game and he's just getting shredded by everybody. I think Joel clatt tweeted Adam saying like yeah if you if your team could play as well as you tweet you would be in this playoff when he said way to keep us on the edge of our
01:17:43
Speaker
Seat committee after the Indiana Notre Dame game. So Lane Kiffin is was so on his high horse Riding high and then ah Tennessee just got their face beat and dude, Indiana put up a better fight against Ohio State than Tennessee did same same conditions all in in Ohio Stadium and yeah, let's like why are these teams like Alabama Ole Miss and in I'll give Alabama credit. Kellen DeBore hasn't said a word. So it's not your coach running in his mouth. I got no problem with Alabama. It's more so the fans. Lane Kiffin. Just shut up, dude. Like it's just so annoying. He's he's the Kurt Signetti of the big 10 because he hasn't done anything to win. Anytime he gets in a big opportunity or a big game, he finds a way to lose. So to me, Ole Miss and Indiana are kind of the same team. But they seem to think they're a better team because they play in the big bad SEC last take on this. The Big 10 has been the best conference for the past two years, and especially at the top. ah To me, it's undisputed. I think you could argue. I think Texas kind of messes it up, but I think you could even argue the top three teams this year are from the Big 10. So.
01:18:50
Speaker
The SEC can, you know, get a reality check the sooner, the better. And I think it might be coming for them in the Notre Dame game against Georgia. And I mean, it's a double digit spread, but I think of the two double digit spreads. Arizona State's a live or more live dog than Boise State.
01:19:06
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that brings us to our final
Kirk Herbstreit's Controversial Comments
01:19:09
Speaker
piece of college football. And since it's Christmas time, it's time to talk about the Grinch of college football, Kirk Herb Street and the SEC shield factory that yeah ESPN has become in what Kirk Herb Street has become plain and simple.
01:19:25
Speaker
made an ass of himself on national television whether it was him the next day on game day after that indiana loss he goes indiana was outclassed in that game it was not a team that should have been on that field when you consider the other teams that could have been there and then he goes it's no knock on indiana he's like how is that not a knock on indiana And then he goes on on SportsCenter and he says the words, I don't want to hear about wins. Who did you be? Which in Kirk's defense, you had used that similar line of logic for Penn State. But I think in that.
01:20:02
Speaker
In this realm, it is it is using that logic for evil versus like using that logic to debate seeding. um He's referencing how an 11-1 Indiana team couldn't be in the same stratosphere as a 3-loss SEC team, completely disregarding how a 2-loss SEC team got boat raced.
01:20:23
Speaker
and it It brings me back, I saw somebody mention this on Twitter. Back in 2017, you'll remember this quite quite vividly. The 11-1 Bama put ahead of the 10-2 Ohio State Buckeyes. Even though Ohio State had two better wins per the college football rankings better than Bama,
01:20:44
Speaker
Herb Street waxes poetic about how losses matter. And and he's talking about ah ah when Ohio State lost to Iowa that year. So within the span of seven years, we've gotten Herb Street going from losses matter to I don't want to hear about wins. It's got to be one, Kirk.
01:21:02
Speaker
I'm very happy people are are starting to figure out Kirk Herb Street because I've been onto this for a while now as an Ohio State guy. Like you said, 2017, he's become so trying to be, I mentioned this before, he's trying to be so not biased that he's become anti-Ohio State because he's an alumni of there.
01:21:19
Speaker
It's a shame, man. It's a real shame with Kirk, because what I was saying about wins was you you let the teams into the playoff, but then you recede throughout the playoffs where I don't want to see Boise State with the bye. I don't want to see Arizona State with the bye. I don't want to see ah Penn State ahead of Ohio State in the playoff when ah Ohio State beat them. I don't want to see ah Clemson behind SMU when they beat them head to head. I think the seeding was messed up, but I think he got the 12 teams. And Kirk, here's the reality of it all.
01:21:49
Speaker
There's probably not 12 teams that are good enough to win the national championship, but because they did well enough in the regular season, you have to give them a chance. BAM is not winning the national championship. Ole Miss isn't winning the national championship. Neither is South Carolina. Neither is Miami. So the quicker you realize this and stop complaining and just enjoy the games, dude, they're only going to get better. Someone had a great Joel Klatt. Joel Klatt was... He's become the white knight of college football, dude. He's been my guy for a while. He's measured. I don't love him in the booth, but I love him on his show giving him his opinion. He doesn't give opinion so much in the booth. I like when he gives a measured opinion. He usually does.
01:22:26
Speaker
yeah the first round the NFL is the same stuff there's blowouts all over the place and it's usually the home teams that do the blowing out of the row teams so you got the same thing here you put ah you put these games on a neutral field I think they're a little bit closer I think the same four teams win but I think you get better matchups I think home field was a huge advantage
NFL vs College Football Playoff Outcomes
01:22:45
Speaker
in this first round and I think people kind of overlooked that a little bit but Kirk Stop being a Grinch. College footballs, and look at the spreads. None of these games were meant to be close. ah You knew there you were going to get some blowouts, but the fun part of it all is what if ah what if Indiana pulled it off? right like What if Clemson beat Texas? It's the possibility and these teams deserve a chance to do it because they had the regular season resumes to get in into the playoff.
01:23:12
Speaker
stop being so upset kirk and just the games are only going to get better dude so just relax pump the brakes like you said so many take quakes after one round of a college football playoff i don't think it's a perfect setup don't get me wrong i'm not going to tell you it's the greatest greatest thing ever but just calm down guys like In this 12-team playoff, it's almost taking a little, it's taking some fun out of college football for sure. Yeah, it's it's just tough. Everybody's dying to be right. Everyone's dying to be the smartest guy in the room about the playoff. Ironically, the best take somehow comes from Troy Aikman and Joe Buck on the fucking Monday Night Football broadcast.
01:23:48
Speaker
Eggman goes, I think the disappointment is for those that want to question whether those teams belong in the college football playoff. We see teams in the Super Bowl that lose by larger margins. And Joe Buck says, I think what it does is diminishes the job that the teams that won did. It diminishes what Notre Dame did. It diminishes what Penn State was able to do, what Texas was able to do and get a good win finally. And I think that you're right. Like it it sucks some of the life out of this because it It is so different to college basketball, where another athletic writer, Scott Doctorman, said the most hated team in college football doesn't belong to the Big 10 or the SEC. It's the overachiever. Instead of celebrating the underdog for its fabulous achievement, the team is torn to bits for daring to infringe.
01:24:35
Speaker
upon blue blood territory. And that is really what it boils down to. it is It is daring to upset the status quo of college football, daring to say that maybe an Indiana team could be to know Notre Dame, maybe a Clemson team could be to Texas. And it's it's just so different. like Nobody talks about when the tournament starts, whether this team deserves to be there. like Whether it's a big loss, whether it's an upset, whether it's a blowout.
01:25:04
Speaker
and hopefully that changes over a few years of this 12 team format and hopefully a little bit of that that college basketball spirit makes its way into college football. Yeah and I mean thank like thank you for Ohio State for just winning for my mental health but then also just shutting up like this whole discussion because before that game they were loud. Paul Finenbaum's another one that you could throw as an SEC guy real quiet and then the day after on the sunday or monday whenever it was goes out and like you said they're just ignoring that tennessee game man yeah you had the most fans represented out of any of those home team stadiums and you know tennessee's out there acting like a bunch of tough guys before with no shirts on
01:25:48
Speaker
bad luck for their strength and conditioning program by the way they only picked out big boys only picked out big boys and it was i don't know how teams haven't learned yet that the whole no shirt gimmick doesn't work like the saints did it last night on monday night football like it's gotta be 0 and 500 Yeah ryan clark said a great last night actually if you wouldn't warm up like that ninety five degree weather don't do it in twenty five degree weather like it doesn't make you a tough guy because ohio state was out there full full warm up close they do it all the time tennessee maybe you should practice outdoors during the week and not indoors like it the home field advantage definitely played a part in a lot of these games.
01:26:26
Speaker
People are going to be upset about the results, relax, pump the brakes. The games are only going to get better, only going to get more competitive. Even the two double digit dogs this the next week. Who's to say? I think Arizona State is arguably like the hottest team. I think they kind of have a bad matchup against Texas, but I don't I think they have a chance in that game.
Hope for Future College Playoffs and Holiday Wishes
01:26:46
Speaker
Boys, you say it's like just a massive question to mark. I don't know what they are. Penn State didn't look great, like you said, and it's not like, you know,
01:26:53
Speaker
Boys, he's going to be trying to throw it all over the yard like Kevin Jennings was. They're going to their their strategy is clear. Ash and gente. So they're going to try and keep it on the ground, which should limit turnovers and you know keep them in the game. ah So I think the games are going to get better. You basically have a national championship in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. I'm just it's be excited. Don't be upset is what i my takeaway from this is. And everyone just pump the brakes. They're going to change the playoff. It will only get better and just stop being angry.
01:27:22
Speaker
Exactly stop being angry. That's a perfect place to leave off on Christmas. Hope everybody has a great Christmas. Enjoy it. Patrick put it perfectly. We basically have a national championship on New Year's Day. New Year's Day football is still very alive and well.
01:27:38
Speaker
um Thanks again to all the listeners. We're very grateful to you on this Christmas for listening, for supporting the podcast. And yeah, enjoy the Christmas break. We'll be back still. We'll be back to preview that next round of college football games ah and go over everything that happened in the NFL up to that point. And we're getting right into the sweet spot of the Christmas break with with sports galore. So enjoy it.
01:28:02
Speaker
Yes, enjoy it. Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Happy New Year. Everything to everyone. Thank you all for listening. And yeah, just enjoy the the Christmas break. and And yeah, hopefully we got good football, the World Juniors as well. ah just Just sports galore and everyone should just be happy and not upset like Kirk Herbstree. Perfect way to end it. Until next week, Patrick. I'll see ya. See ya, Damian.
01:28:26
Speaker
It's time to make him hurry, telling he can take the freeway down.
01:29:01
Speaker
Like a merry-go-round