The Around the NFL podcast. Found Love and the diabetes at the Santa Summit.

Hello and welcome to a very special Christmas Eve edition of Around the NFL, the flagship program, week 16, can you believe it? Dan Hans is here with Mark Cessler, Greg Rosenthal, and our respective homes. And yes, right now, upstairs from where I'm recording this, my in-laws from Texas are here, and they're having the traditional chicken spaghetti dinner and then going to church, and then celebrating with the family. But the three of us talking football, all right, that's fine too.

This is somewhat of a tradition too. I feel like we've had a number of Christmas Eve-type shows over the year, one in the office. This one I'll take.

Well, yeah, we had the advantage of working from home today, which Greg, I don't know about you, we've spent a lot of Sundays consecutively together in that office. It's perhaps not as vibrant as our last NFL headquarters were on game days. But I quite enjoyed being home on the couch wearing the clothing I chose while these games unfolded.

Very nice. Very well said, Mark, as always. Yes, the gift, the way the calendar fell was a full slate of Sunday action. Also two games to get to on Saturday. Just a little program note here, a little bit different show here. We're going to try to be a little bit tighter with the games. We're not going to do Sunday Night Football. We're going to hit Sunday Night Football and the Christmas triple header on Tuesday morning. We're going to spin through the leak, get you caught up where you need to be, and we thank you if you're listening right now on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning or you're hiding in the bathroom because your mother-in-law is driving you insane. We're here for you. Let's get into it and start with the big game on Sunday. It was at, I almost called it Joe Robbie Stadium. That is outrageous. Whatever that place in Miami is called, I think it's Hard Rock, where the Cowboys and Dolphins, two, ten and four teams looking to make a statement, only one could.

Ferguson, the Snaps, to.

Hold down by Bailey.

The kick is up. It's good. The Miami Dolphins defeat the Dallas Cowboys 22-20 here at Hard Rock Stadium. What a last drive by two in his offense. Great running by Wilson and Jason Sanders, a perfect five-for-five in this game, and that's going to do it. What a finish.

What a finish indeed. Jimmy Ceevillow and Joe Rose with the call, WB, G. G. Fun fact, boys, little Christmas gift for you. I did the research myself. Kickers were 15 of 15 in the four games that I tracked today, but nobody was more nails than Jason Sanders, who went five-for-five, including three pipes from 50-plus, and that game-winner, Chippshot, you just heard. Those are the three points that were the difference in a 22-20 win for the Dolphins over the Cowboys. Gregie, Doc Prescott, led the Dallas offense on what could have been like an MVP season, winning touchdown drive in their final possession. But that Cowboys D just didn't have an answer for Miami's offense when it mattered most.

I can't believe the Dolphins win this game scoring one touchdown. I had to double check that just now as I'm looking at it. And yet it felt like their offense was in control this whole time. They could not finish drives. But I think on that last drive, two against the ball, 3-27 to go down a point. They've been trailing throughout the second half. It's very much a, Okay, what do you got right now? Miami Dolphins. They made it look fairly easy. I think the gravity of Tyree, kill was such a big part of that. On one big third down play where they bring Tyree Kill in motion or else they would have had to kick a longer field goal and they would have given Cowboys the clock back. The cowboys are falling down on the ground before the balls even snapped. A very creative play call from Mike McDaniel. They ran the ball a handful of times really effectively on that drive, something Dallas could not do. Then a couple of throws were just easy because of the gravity of Tyree Kill that they were so afraid of beating him over the top. That was the case throughout the day.

He went nine for 99 that the cowboys were giving up short passes and Miami just controlled that was able to kill the clock. I thought that was the difference between these two teams. Yes, it was close in the end, but the Cowboys couldn't run the ball. The cowboys couldn't get their pass rush going. I thought the Miami offense had more schematic and coaching answers than the cowboys did in this game. So it was a very deserved one. Even though it was close, I really felt like the Dolphins were the better team throughout the day.

I think it's definitely a case of what if for the cowboys. It would have been for the Dolphins had they not been able to close it out the way they did. Because both teams in a low scoring game, Dolphins lost the ball on fourth down, essentially, a drive fizzled out on the Dallas Five. Dallas had that opening drive fumble where they looked so good and they never really had that drive again until Jack went and did what we've been asking him to do as an MVP candidate, which is march down the field and generate a touchdown drive. And so in a way, it's like the atypical Monday morning cowboys talking head scenario. Because Doug went and did it. And then it was like two of the other guy that we don't really trust to go do it, went and did it too. And it wasn't because of him necessarily, but that third and three conversion to Tyreke Hill, he's such a special player. And then they were able to force the cowboys into timeouts. And you get that one Jeff Wilson run and these inflection points for that drive for the Dolphins, where he converts.

And Dallas is out of... They're out of options at that point. And Jason Sanders, you mentioned it, Dan, on the day for Kickers. I mean, he went three for three on 50 plus before that game winner, which was much shorter. He's the first Dolphins player in a long lineage of Miami Dolphins players to kick three 50-plus yard field goals in a game. And that was the difference because you're right, these two teams could not close drives. And to have a kicker like that on a day like this made a big difference.

Yeah, I had a mega spicy Christmas Eve hot take on Twitter that kicking is now too good and we have to maybe start doing something about it. A listener and tweeter replied that maybe we could do something that could mess with the depth perception or vision of kickers, which I like that. This is coming from the guy that built the kicker club, Break by Break.

By the way, I think Fulkit, his 80th straight kick under 40 yards. Remember when he broke that record a year ago? It's still going actually. I was like, Wait, that thing's still going? This is insane.

It's really crazy what's happened to that position over the course of this podcast's life, which has been 11 seasons now. I'm going to preface this because I know Dolphins always have their antenna up when I'm talking about their team with the show. I'm going to preface this by saying this is not a shot against Dack, against Toa because the way it's set up was beautiful because it was a back and forth game. Dallas had a big fail inside the five-yard line on a fumble with the full back, which come on, guys, give it to your best players. This game is too big for that. Then the Dolphins fail on a fourth and goal from about the five-yard line. Then it comes down to these last two drives and it's like, Hey, Jack, this is it. This is the type of stage that all this talk, and you mentioned, Mark, the talking head type, shut them all up, or this is what everyone's going to talk about. And Daak makes so many big plays on that drive. He's taking a beating. The offensive line is a mess in this game on the left side with Tyrant Smith out, and they keep having miscommunications.

And Daak keeps on finding a way with C. D. Lamb with a couple of big catches, one on third, one on fourth. They have a bad sack and a blown offensive lineman play and they still near the goal line and they still find a way on a beautiful touchdown pass and a great catch by Cooke. It was like everything you could ever want as a Cowboys fan for your quarterback and your offense in that big spot, they come through. Then speaking of Twitter, I then tweeted, Okay, now, Toa, it's your turn. It wasn't to that single-handedly drove that Miami possession to the game-winning field goal. It really was a Mike McDaniel masterpiece and the running game and I think and Tyreke. I think what this game showed me and other people that are still harboring some doubts about the Dolphins is what they're really good at is some of the stuff that doesn't get talked about as enough. Their ferocious pass rush, how their defense has been really good for the better part of the season now. Then their offense ability to run the football and scheme up ways to gain yardage when it's not those splashy, Tyreke and Waddle plays.

I want to say one quick thing about Jack because that drive, he did make some key throws. There was one to Michael Gallop. That was just money. I mean, he had connections with City Lamb. He was on with City Lamb. But they got to the Miami 4. This was a legit call, I think, but it was an incomplete on second and goal, an incomplete on third and goal. He got a lot of heat on him in general. There was a holding that maybe wasn't called on Miami. But then on fourth and goal, it's incomplete. But defensive holding on the Dolphins is then called and reignites that touchdown drive and sets it up. That said, Doc made a... I feel like today I saw him-.

But those were two clear penalties.

On that play. They were. But it's just like that's the particulars of the game. This game was not good in this game. But Doug also, I thought today, had a handful of throws where he was absolute money while getting crushed by someone and put it right where it needed to go. There are these positive plays that I think you cannot blame anything on Jack and anyone that does that didn't watch this thing.

Well, the Cowboys defense just isn't that special to me. I think that's what we've learned in the last couple of weeks. And that's when you zoom out and think about how we thought this season was going to be, I think that's a disappointment because I had no faith they were going to stop the Dolphins there at the end of the game. And when you watch these two defenses, I thought that the Dolphins even has made life much tougher on the Cowboys. Twelve cubie hits, four sacks on deck versus two or five cubie hits, one sack. Now, part of that is the schematic answers and how quick to it gets rid of the ball. And both quarterbacks had their misses. But I look at these two defenses, and right now I'd probably take the Dolphins over the Cowboys. And that's concerning because as well as they don't really have a running game. You look at the box score and it's CD for 6, 118. And then the next one is Jaylen Tolbert, who caught a prayer ball for a bomb at one point. Just things were hard for the Cowboys in a way that I just didn't feel like they really were for the Dolphins.

It was a nice drive to put them ahead late. But God, I feel very similar about the Cowboys now than I have many other years.

Well, yeah, they're 10 and 5 and headed to the fifth seed again right now. You never know.

They're the fifth seed. There's really nothing they could do now. They're going to be that number five seed. Even if they win another road game, they're going to finish under 500 at home. This team just does not play with the same swagger and at the same level. I'm on the road as they are at home. Now the path to the Super Bowl and this NFC title game they haven't been to in 25 years is once again, you got to win one, two, three road games. I don't like their chances. I think they had a window here these last two weeks to really cement to that they're different. I think they're better than they've been the last couple of years when they flamed out, but they're not that much better. You mentioned it, Greg, that defense. Time and time again in this game, even if the stats don't make it look like Miami lit them up and they didn't, they scored one touchdown, could not get a big stop, could not force a game-changing play. I thought the affiliating was terrible in this game and it worked, I think, more pro Miami than pro Dallas. But Dallas did not find a way when it mattered most.

Now you're going to be on the road. You'll probably beat the NFC South Champion and get waxed in the divisional round and prove me wrong.

Well, you never know with the way the Eagles are playing, but they probably need the Eagles to lose two out of three. Although the Eagles are collapsing so hard, I'm not ruling anything out there, but you're right, they probably need the Eagles to lose two out of three or else, Eagles win the division.

All right, let's move on. This is a historic day in Michigan. Let's go to Minneapolis.

Minnesota now 30 yards from the.

End zone, they've got to.

Have.

Down six. Fifty-eight seconds to go clock will.

Start on the snap. Mullen takes the shotgun snap. He's back. Mullen looking, pressure comes, stepping up, looking, throwing deep down field. It is picked up by the lions.

Intercepted.

Coming back the other way.

Ifatu Melifonwu, this is going to be over. Lions are going to win it.

Lions are bringing the NFC.

North title back.

To Detroit. Oh, yeah. And the Pongos, deserve it. How about this for a Christmas gift, Detroit? Your Lions are division champions for the first time in 30 years. Jameer Gibbs had two rushing scores. Amanra St. Brown went over the century mark receiving and had the third quarter go-ahead touchdown. And yes, Melifon-Wu had the game-sealing interception at the five-yard line with less than a minute to play, and it allowed the lions to escape the Vikings 30-24 at US Bank Stadium. The injury-ravaged Vikings the team of around the NFL. They made the visitors sweat here. They had back-to-back touchdowns on each end of the half. But otherwise, the lines were pretty clearly the superior team today. They won the turnover battle, 4-1. That was a big differenceMullins. Mullins was, again, ignore the stats, Mullins was a mess. Nick Mullins, the Vikings quarterback in this game, despite high yardage and some nice throws, but he was throwing the ball up for grabs, including that interception where hes just... He spots the open receiver a little bit too late, he holds it too long, and then gives a gift wrap interception to close out the game. They were the superior team of the Lions today.

They've been the superior team in the division since they beat the Chiefs on the first day of this season. You know what? Quite clearly, we need to hear from Dan Campbell right now.

This is special. This is special. It's something you don't get to do all the time. They're always special to winning division. I don't care how many of them you get it because of the work that goes into it, but to do something that hadn't been done in 30 years for a team is special. That's a special group of men back in there that are staying tame at this point.

They're staying tame at this point because the Lions believe there's more ahead of them here, Greg, than the JustinNFC North Title. This is a team that has really, under Campbell, turned into a whole different animal, even from, I think about, what were they? One and eight last year, one and seven. They've been one of the best teams record-wise in football for a season and a half now. So a well-earned division title and a home game in the playoffs.

Yeah, back it up even a couple of years, just thinking about how ugly that start was under Dan Campbell and then to get it going. It's very cool to see the step-by-step process of a team like this and culminate. They deserved it. He could say that they were calm, but I saw some of those locker room videos and Aden Hutchinson was breaking out the stanky leg and going wild. It's wild how putting Melifonwu in the lineup who's been on the team for three years and hasn't had a lot of play times, really made a huge difference the last couple of weeks. Last week, he had nine tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. Today, two sacks and an interception, and he's that roving safety. And suddenly you add Chaunsey Gairner Johnson along with him next week. He's expected to return probably next week, maybe week 18. Some of their issues maybe on defense will get solved. They also have James Huston might be coming back, or Lee McNeil. Maybe the won't be a total tie or fire by the playoffs.

I mean, the Chauncey Gairner edition would be huge. I think everywhere he goes, he's just like this guy that creates change. I'm happy when the right team wins the division. No more nonsense and no more mathematical nonsense. The Lions are the best team. And it's like today to me felt like a lot of other Lions wins. It's imperfect, but the vision is there. They're young guys like Jameer Gibbs. Today, there was this one critical third and fourth where he caught the ball behind the line of Scrimage and was dodging between people and dragging tacklers for the first. It's like, you don't get to this game and to this point without your rookie class, which has been one of the better in the NFC. And you don't get here with all the other guys you brought on the team over the last couple of years. You also gave up 400 yards to the air and nearly let the whole thing down in the end with Justin Jefferson going nuts with Mullen. It could have gone either way potentially, but it's like, the Lions are going to do this. And Dan, you said it on NFL Plus.

I asked you what would happen to the Lions. You said they're going to wax someone, essentially, in a home playoff game and then see you later the next week. That's probably who they are. But they're.

So much farther along. I have everyone being eliminated in the divisional playoffs. Every team gets eliminated somehow.

Well, they will. But it's like people I was reading, Do we now trust them as a Super Bowl team? It's like, No, but I do trust that they continue to be more impressive. They're really well-coached. Brad Holmes has done a great job bringing a roster up that looks just like the vision of their head coach.

Let me rephrase that because, or correct myself because we see the Cowboys lose again. We know the Niners are the Niners, okay? They're cut above right now. But anything else in the NFC is pretty wide open. Including, by the way, if the Lions, for instance, with Jared Goff, get the rams with Matthew Stafford, which seems like something that could very well happen. Yeah, I think we all remember when Jameer Gibbs was taken in the first round because everyone, and this isn't his fault necessarily, but everyone had B. John Robinson fever. He was a cross between Gale Sayers and Jim Brown and La Danian Tomlinson. Then when the other guy got taken, it was like, It's a reminder that with running backs, you come out of college, get on a good team. Because if you get on a bad team like B. John, you get forgotten. But if you get yourself in a good situation with pieces around you, him and Laporte, obviously, that is the big difference between this year and last year on offense. It's going to be really exciting to see what their journey is from here on out. As far as the Vikings go, listen, here's the positive spin.

Okay, the team of ATN, all but dead according to... -team of ATN. -ow. According to ESBN's Football Power Index, which is quite a title for something, Sunday's loss brought the Vikings' chance of making the playoffs down to 25 %, which is actually one out of four.

Basically, if they win out, they're in still.

They're still a path. And yet, even with Justin Jefferson back in being a superhuman, the quarterback play is killing them. I found myself pining for Joshua Dobbs again. I know Jaron Hall is out there as too, but Nicks has just thrown those balls up for grabs. I think, more than anything else, quarterback play ruined their season in these last three or four weeks. It's frustrating because I thought this team really did have a lot of DNA to be a fun, exciting group to follow as the team of ATN, but it's a tough spot.

They lost too many guys, but they have Green Bay at home and then they go to Detroit. Who knows what Detroit is doing in week 18? I would imagine.

They could just-I just don't trust them against anybody.

Right. I don't either that that Packers game is basically an elimination game. But the thing that surprised me most after all the results that have come in in the Vikings and Packers are 7 and 8 is that if either the Packers or Vikings win their last two games, they're almost definitely in, which it feels like, How is that still possible? But just because of all the teams that are playing each other, yeah, according to New York Times, if Vikings did win those two, they'd have a 96% chance. It's in front of them. I don't trust them to actually do it. Partly because their defense, as fun as they've been, they didn't get after Jared Goff, the Lions had answers today. Only three quarterback hits with all those blitzes and everything. Everyone's like, Oh, the blitz versus Jared Goff. The Lions were better than the Vikings defense.

When you guys check the game out, let me later this week. But I'd be surprised that Sofanski watches this film. Dobbs got benched for being mistake-prone and Mullins could have thrown five interceptions in this game. I wonder if we see the rookie on the field of the season on the line, which is a tough spot. But like several other teams across the league, it's dire straits as the quarterback and you're just looking for a miracle. Let's give the final word to Taylor Decker. He's in his eighth season with the lines. He was born in 1993, the last time the lines had a home game. He was emotional after this win. When you love the guys that you're playing with, it means a lot more. Ben Bosher tweeted, He's been a lion for 2,796 days, and for the first time, he could call himself a champion. You know what, boys? I feel like we're champions because they were the team of ATN when they were dirt, when they were nothing, and we believed.

I know. Maybe this means that the Vikings, a year from now, we're doing something similar. We've been that prescient again, just not at the moment.

I felt bad for the Vikings because in my heart watching this, it's like I want the nice things for the lions, even though the Vikings are the team of ATN. Cynthia Freeland, Kevin Patrick, all the great Lions fans out there enjoy this.

Yeah, how could you root against the Lions? All right, let's keep moving. How could you root against the Cleveland Browns?

Harris in the back field of the left. Flacko from under center from the 25, play fake to hunt and a roll out to the left. Flacko, eyes downfield, deep shot, left side live. Wants Cooper. He has it. Running three in the 20 and the 10 touchdown! Amari Cooper is in the end zone with a 75-yard touchdown!

That is what you call a tone setter. Amari Cooper set a franchise record with 265 yards receiving. Hey, everybody, this is the semifinals of the fantasy playoffs. My goodness, I think Greg, your powerhouse daughter's team took a dirt nap because of that.

I mean, she still got a chance as we're taping, but yes, Cooper dropping 52 on her is putting.

Her in a big hole. Oh, my God. That's legendary. I mean, that's not Alvin Camarro with seven touchdowns at Christmas Day in 2020, legendary, but it's close. Anyway, Cooper, 265 and two touchdowns, and he added a two-point conversion because hes why the hell not? And the Joe Flacko-piloted Browns beat the Texans, 36-22. They are in great shape to play relevant January football. Mark, what a fun time to be a Browns fan and what a damn performance by their number one wide receiver.

It was an incredible game for Browns fans. I can only imagine Andrew Cicilliano calling this, who has been a Browns fan since he was a child, and watching something that seems so atypical, once again, for typical Browns teams. It's like Flacko made it very clear right away that Amari Cooper was going to have a huge game. Within minutes, he had whipped a 53-yard bomb to Cooper that set up a quick touchdown for them. There was later on, a 75-yard touchdown we just saw. It just kept coming. At the end of the first half, Flacko had 11 completes for 246 yards. At the end of the first half, Yeah. He right now leads the NFL since week 13 with 486 yards on deep passes. At the end of the game, he had 370. This was a weird game because it was clear Cleveland was going to win. But they took Flacko out and they took Amari Cooper out minutes into the fourth quarter. Cooper at that point was nine yards shy of Josh Gordon's single-game receiving record with the Browns. You could see him talking just to fancy, playfully like, You want to throw me back in there so I can get this thing done before… And Stefanski's- Hell, yeah.

-recorded to… CBS was just like, No, absolutely not. But then Houston did a bunch of garbage time theatrics, came back into it, Flacko and Cooper come back into the game. Then there's a huge third down completion to Cooper that essentially set the record. I think that probably prevented a lot of annoying conversation this week about Stefanski not putting him in there for that final couple of places. Put it this way, Mark.

Mark, if Antonio pierce can call some Fugazie double pass in a 60-nothing game to get Devante Adams a touch in one of the great blocks ever? Absolutely. When Cooper's done something that special, you let him cap it off and put his name in the record books.

I'm with you, and I'm glad it ended up that way. There was a really strange beeline today because with all the kickers succeeding, Cleveland, Dustin Hopkins has been absolute money in the bank for them and won games for them, he had a hamstring injury very early. From the very first moments of the game, they're having to go for two on every touchdown. They're having to go for it on fourth and eight from the 16. Stefanski was asked at half-time, Do you not have anyone else? Even your punter that could kick a field goal? He's like, We flat out do not. And so it caused them, I think, to be more aggressive. It was a case study and a kicker-free roster. Because a couple of that just set up more touchdowns where it could have been field goals. But it leaves you concerned because their punter also was banged up. They come out of the game in great position for the playoffs. But if the Hopkins thing is real, you're taking a massive factor to their offense away. I just cannot believe what their defense was their defense. I cannot believe what Flacko has done over these couple of weeks.

It's got to be one of the most unpredictable things we've seen in 10 years doing this show.

Well, I mean, they average 1.8 yards per carry and they put up 36. They had under 30 rushing yards last week when they ended up winning that game against the Bear. I give Stefanski so much credit because he's just leading on what's working. The kicker being hurt absolutely got them an extra couple of touchdowns. Because one of those death, fourth, and eighth one where Flacko is basically in the grasp and throws an opposite hash throws to Cooper on the sideline. Cooper had maybe one of the best games I've ever seen any receiver have because of the difficulty of all these throws. They were great throws, but it's unreal the plays that they made. It wasn't even bad defense most of the time. The Browns are going to the playoffs. I know it's not official, they're 10 and five, but they're basically going and heck, they actually have a little chance here to win the AFC North.

Of course, the AFC is wonky. Our favorite Canadian, Stacey Dales, was at the game and she spoke with Amari Cooper, who predictably was feeling good about himself.

Yeah, I mean, every time I step on the field, I try to put forth my best effort. I do truly feel like I'm unguardable. It's all about opportunities and I had a lot of opportunities today, so I was able to take advantage of him.

I booted Amari Cooper out of the Superstar Club a couple of years ago. I'm not saying that he's going back in this summer, but at the same time, I said he had a really interesting career. Even if he's not a superstar per se, whatever that means in terms of how you view it, he is an absolute legit number one for the Browns. He was for the Cowboys there for a while, too. He's had a great career. Mark Flacko.

The second player ever to have three 200-yard games for three different teams. Teo being the other one, which says a lot.

Three different teams. Where's the other one?

The Raiders. Come on. That's where.

He did most of his damage. Shoot, you know what? I glanced over his Raiders career. That's where he started and he got traded, yes, to the Cowboys. Man, we've been doing this a long time. The Flacko, Mark, he keeps on going through my head. The flacko 1998 Vinny Testiverty season keeps spinning in my mind that this forgotten big armed pocket passenger who actually did have something left in the tank, even if people didn't think that necessarily to be the case, goes on a special run and the team starts believing, Yeah, why can't thisis actually a good year, Mark. We could lament their injuries and imagine if nick Chubb was here to help Flacko, that we're talking maybe they're a true Super Bowl contender. But in the AFC, why can't the Browns get and win some games? I think this is a great, exciting time in Cleveland.

Well, their defense, which has never complained the whole year, is really well coached, is playing with a lot of the same players with intense confidence compared to an organization, compared to a year ago, are getting help now. I mean, it's like, again, you're through for 250 yards in the first half. The Texans are without C. J. Straud, and other players, a bunch of them were easy pickens today, but Cleveland destroyed them in the first half. I am left wondering that I would say one little football note, Dan. I don't think that Bill Parcells goes after Vinny Testiverdi in that situation in that time period. If Bill Belichick wasn't part of that staff or part of that who had gotten him in Cleveland in '94, I'm getting a lot of tweets today about Vinny Testiverdy taking Cleveland to the playoffs in their last playoff win before Baker Mayfield as an aging quarterback for the Browns when they beat Parcells and the Patriots in the playoff. It all comes.

Full circle. Vinny washed out from Baltimore to get to the jets. You're right. Interesting. I don't know what else we really need to say about the Texans other than it sucks because the injuries have been an absolute nightmare for them and take a lot.

Of- They're supposed to get stroud back next week and they're still tied for first place. It was not a damaging loss for them.

They get stroud back and hopefully he stays healthy and we'll see if they have a run in them. But time is running out. Time is also running out for us to take the Jacksonville Jaguars even a little bit seriously because their struggles continued on Sunday.

Here's the snap on first down from the 22, Bayfield throw to the.

End zone. Club ball.

Mike Evans touchdown to Tampa Bay. Evans has two today. Merry Christmas, Michael.

Merry Christmas to Gene Deckerhoff if he celebrates. You don't know.

We don't know. Okay.

Producer, producer Eric, find out if Gene Deckerhoff is Christian. Thank you. Baker Mayfield threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns to help the NFC South Leading, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat Trevor Lawrence and the stumbling, bumbling jaguars 30-12. That is four straight wins. Four straight wins now for the Bucks who I was talking about, Amari Cooper's had a weird season. The Bucks have had a weird season. It started out strong mark and then it went into a deep tail spin and they were a complete afterthought. Now they got to be seen as a pretty substantial favorite to win the South. Again, a team that can make noise in the playoffs if you get this version of Baker and the team playing at this level in terms of confidence right now.

Man, Baker Mayfield. Dan, we keep nailing it with these Thursday-plus segments. Greg- Home run. -we talked about the Lions having their moment, which wasn't wholly unpredictable. But then also the rise and fall of Baker Mayfield, then the rise again. Because this version of Baker Mayfield, what he did today, I was just like, This is a team that could go into a weird NFC and be the team you don't want to deal with because they're going to be at home if they win this division. But not to get ahead of ourselves, I just thought that he today, once again, it was very much the performance we've seen for him over and over. I mean, he galvanized the sideline and the entire offense with a string of key third-down conversions on the ground. He's underrated. He's not going to go run for 41 yards, but he will barrel over people to get a six yards on third and five. His connection with Mike Evans, after watching that connection with Tom braided a year ago, be so frustrating, has been absolutely on. And he kept getting the team out of jams with great throws. He had a pristine first half.

But this doesn't happen also without the full and entire meltdown of Trevor Lawrence on the first drive, a terrible interception to Devin White. He is destroyed on a sack on third and 12 on the second drive. A terrible interception on a miscommunication with Evan Ingram on the third drive. Then he strip-sacked to open the second half with the team down, like 27 to nothing. They never climbed back in. Then to top it all off, Trevor Lawrence, who probably should not... I don't even know if he was healthy coming into this game. He did not look right. He only practiced once this whole week. He was completely off with an offense that's missing a bunch of wide receivers. Then he left with a throwing shoulder injury that we don't know exactly what is going on with that too.

It's a tough year for Lawrence.

One injury after another. The Jaguars are like, for weeks we've been seeing they're disappearing before our eyes. They are hardcore disappearing. I don't know what will happen and if they can sneak back into this playoff race at this point, but they look like the opposite, the polar opposite of the defense and offense that we knew from even a month ago.

Mark, everyone lost in the south. They're in as the tank. They're still there.

I get that... I get that. But you know that stuff starts to get me annoyed because I get that I'm saying that right now the quarterback is hurt. He's playing terribly. They have no running game. Their defense is a hot mess and was totally eaten up today. It's not the way I want any team to go into the playoffs.

That's all. Right. I had that on our Wednesday show. It was my bold prediction that they're not going to make the playoffs. I just don't think they're a good team. Lawrence, I think, has played better than his numbers have shown most of the year, but that's not true the last three or four weeks as he keeps taking these injuries. They were down 30 to nothing in this game. I think even though because of their schedule, the projections have them making it because they have, I think, Panthers, Titans. Those are relatively easy match. They're capable of losing to any team right now, including the Panthers, the way the Panthers are playing late in the season. Everything is falling apart at the same time that it's coming together for the Bucks. The Bucks are a week 18 win away against the Panthers. In between, they have the Saints, and then they can... They can finish it first. But even if for some reason they lost to the Saints, all they really got to do is beat the Panthers in week 18, and they're almost certainly the NFC South champs. The way they're playing, well, offensively, they're a better offensive team than defense.

Why wouldn't they beat the Saints next week anyway?

I think Todd Bowles, there's a lot of Coach of the Year candidates, but Todd Bowles, he's not.

Going to- Oh, don't go there. Oh, my gosh. No. Hold on. He wouldn't be in my top 10.

I'd say one thing he's done really well is like- Too far.

-his team is- Too far, too far, Mark.

-he's kept this team together. I will say one defensive player week, here's another prediction, Antoine Winfield, interception, forced fumble, like a huge sack on third down. He's been really good, but he was a huge nuisance to the Jaguars the entire day.

My All-Pro. He's been so good all year. Right, so good.

The Bucks might not be a great team, but they're in a great division to be an okay team. They're playing better than okay right now. You mentioned they scored in their first four possessions, two touches, two field goals. They held the ball for more than 18 minutes in the first half. They out gained the Jacks 2:24-84, and they went into half time up 20-nothing. They ended the game immediately. The Bucks, and don't tell me, Baker and YOLO mode, if they do close this division out, which I think that they will, and the Cowboys coming to Tampa on a Saturday night? That ain't a gimmmy. It ain't like last year when Jack carved up a braided, Carcus, Bucks team. This could be a little bit different.

It is crazy. This thing is setting up. This take of offense is unquestionably better than the Tom braided Bucks. There's not even a debate.

About it. I mean, braided was like '74 at the time. I get.

It, but it's still crazy. I know what you mean. It's still crazy.

All right, one more game before we take a break. Let's head to Atlanta, where another NFC south team, the Falcons, was looking to stay in the race.

Lined up at the right side of Indianapolis's offensive line, and here is Menchie on a drop. He'll be forced up in the pocket, going to take the shot for pierce and who else has picked it? But Jesse Bates on his feet, 45 and tripped up at the 43. For Bates, that's his sixth interception of the year. Boy, you cannot throw the ball late down the middle with a guy like that guy in the middle. Nope.

Can't do it, mean, shoo. Jesse Bates with another big play to seal it. Taylor Heinekee did not turn the ball over a quarterback. I mean, that's a win. I don't need anything else with team. Just don't turn the ball over at quarterback for the Falcons. That was enough. Adding one touchdown pass leading Atlanta to a 29-10 win over the Colts. I mean, come on, Indy. You get blown out here by the Falcons? The Falcons keep themselves in the mix. Whether or not we want them there, Greg, they're here. They're still around.

Yeah, the formula they came into the season with, hoping for, was finally there. This was a very... What's the app? Just blah game. There was nothing extraordinary about this game, but it was exactly as the Falcons wanted. A nothing burger, if you will. Like, Bajon for 122 yards. An entire drive coming out of half time. That was all Cordarell, Patterson, Tyler, El Gire, and Bajon, Robinson. Kyle Pits with a long, early touchdown, they ran for 177. Other than giving up an early, long touchdown drive by the Colts, they basically just shut him down. I think it's all because Arthur Smith's kid wanted him to get rid of the facial hair. He's back to the no mustache. Let's listen. The last time you showed up without a mustache, you said it was like a 3:00 AM impulse.

Yes, it was.

An impulsive.

I had to change momentum.

But clean up.

Church myself up for.

The holidays. Hey, he's got to church himself up. They're not dead yet. Seven and eight.

What does that mean? The charisma is just exploding out of my laptop screen right now.

There was no Michael Pitman for the Colts. At some point when, what's his name? Noah Grayson and Will Mallory are your two leading receivers? You just don't have enough on offense. And Heineke got lucky on one pass that could have been a pick six, but other than that was very steady. Hit open receivers was solid. The Falcons finished at Chicago at New Orleans. Even if they won those two games, they probably wouldn't get in. They are still just barely holding on.

I've been touting the Colts as a solid team, and they have been a solid team and they've been consistent. But you cannot have Gairdner, Menchie getting sacked six times and having tribes fizzle out long. They had Jonathan Taylor back and that looked like it would make a difference early, but they just fell apart today. I don't know. I'm struggling. I'm trying to find teams to believe in. I guess the Colts are just another one of these flots and jets and operations.

Here's a hot take, Dan. The AFC South is worse than the NFC South. At least the NFC South has some teams that have outscored opponents this year. There's no one in the AFC South that's done that. Hopefully, CJ Strauss saves us there because the cold schedule is so easy that they might get in. I don't know, I just don't think they have enough firepower.

Mark, how about this? You got the Browns, man. That's a team to believe in. Just ride, baby.

That's your wildcard.

Team to believe in. I'm fine with that.

I think it's just like.

It's- We can't force these bottom of the wildcard teams to be something they're not. They're inconsistent and sometimes good, sometimes bad. Their seat fillers come.

January, ultimately. No doubt. But then I also don't need to go down avenues with deep math constructions to figure out how a completely lifeless operation is going to sneak into the seventh seed. That's not doing it for me either.

Don't need to do it.

Sit it out. I'm not going to.

Remember the Netflix.

Quarterback series this summer?

You wouldn't have done it if they were great. Remember that, Mark? Or you just got up and left the studio for that series, that conversation? I could do that right here. That's not hard to do. Whenever we're doing permutations of a team that you don't believe in, you don't have to walk away. Just do the Tiki Barber move when he got mad at Joe Beningo a few months ago. Just turn the Mute button off, sit back. We won't get mad, we'll get it. Okay.

Message received.

Anything else on this one, Greggy?

No, we're good.

All right, good. Good for you. By the way, I got my jets Christmas sweater on. Mark, you have a nice red plad shirt, and Greggy is best of his right now with his Santa hat.

We're trying to help old Eric on the edit here Christmas Eve, but there's a little beep for you. But yeah, you could check us out. I think this will go up on YouTube.

Eric, can you jump in for a second?

There was an awkward dynamic, though, because Dan, this is all for the show, entreated Greg and I to go find our ugly Christmas sweaters, which in the past we owned. Greg couldn't find his, and I was like, I don't even know where mine exists. I think.

Mine lost... I moved and I lost a lot of clothes on purpose, but I think it was gone in the move.

But there was a sense that early this morning as the games were kicking off, I think we've really disappointed Dan, and I'm not sure- You did. -how this is going to go down on the show, but you've been very... You understand how it is to move and have possessions and.

All that. Oh, yeah.

It's tough.

It's tough. You just don't know where everything is. Listen, I'm the blind ambition of the show. I want to do things and try things. Sometimes that gets... Eyebrows go up and like, Why is he even worrying about wearing matching Christmas gear on the four box or the three box on the Christmas Eve show? I just think it's nice. I think it makes the show 3% better.

3%. That's pretty big.

Eric, I'm sorry for the F-bomb, but you have to admit that Greg's hat is festive as fuck.

It is.

It's worth it. It's worth it. A couple of-Sorry, Andy. All right, let's take a break and we'll keep going. Drop that beat, hip hop Santa. Santa's coming tonight. Santa's having a nice year. A nice year for the kids, Jack and Harrison. Some high points, some low points, but overall enough where they don't get cold. What is the big gift that's arriving in your respective homes for your children? For me, let me just make sure. Okay. Santa's got the PS5 coming with the Spiderman game bundled in there. People are just going to be going off in the house at about 7:30 AM tomorrow.

Yeah, we did our Christmas last weekend because my kids are now... They've arrived in Japan. It's already Christmas there. They've already opened their second load of gifts from Santa there, which.

Is- Aren't time zone is pretty crazy when you.

Think about it. Yeah, it's way ahead. But I did the thing where they opened their presents, they were happy, and then it was like, Oh, I think there's one more thing. I was like, I don't know if this is a little risky. This is going to work. I think there's one more thing I left upstairs, bring it out. It was a PS5 as well, and they went freaking nuts. They went.

From Japan. I don't think you should have had.

Two ponies upstairs. No, that was when we were here. That was when we were.

Here last week. But it was made in Japan. Yes, go ahead, Mark.

I was Greg. I was going to say I think you should have had two ponies waiting upstairs. That would have been theatrical. Luke is very into plane spotting. He's got his own Instagram site that is quite- He.

Does great with it.

-it's exploding. He got a flight simulator console, or he's getting it tomorrow. Colton's at the age, and this will happen to you soon, where he's just like, Yeah, just give me money so I can go buy what I want when I want. Okay, that's easy. Versus targeting a gift that a child doesn't want, you can't force that.

Yes, along the lines of what you did, Greg, I'm taking a page out of a Christmas story with the Red Ryder baby gun. After all the toys are open and Ralphie was like, He didn't want the parents to know he was disappointed, but he was. Ps5 is going to be in a little different area. That will be like, Oh, you could do one of these moves. I'm now father of a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old. I've had a lot of years and I hardly endorse this to any young parents out there. Do the old rope of dope. Let them open the presents. The one that they want most, they don't get. Then all of a sudden, Oh, what is that? You want to go nuclear? You want to see the house explode? I can't wait. Actually, I'm more excited as a parent for Christmas morning than I was as a child. I didn't think that was possible. That's one of the great things about being a parent. My kids are getting older and I know there's only so many years that it's special like this. So cannot wait. Let's get back to the games. I shared some intimate feelings about how I feel about family, but I'm also very passionate about the Sunday Drive, presented by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander.

Let's head to the Saturday game starting with Cincinnati.

Peter Sleight is 24-8. I love all corporations. The Bangles bring the blitz. Touch pattern down the left sideline. And it's tried. There goes George Pickens to the 10-5 touchdown. He beat corner of losing badly. I'll tell you what, Mason, Rudolph, played it in there perfectly.

He sure did. Yeah, Mari Cooper was probably in most starting lineups. I don't know about George Pickens, but if he was, congratulations. Mason, Rudolph threw for 290 yards and two long touchdowns to George Pickens, who's been under fire for some of his effort and toed the season, to say the least. The Steelers gave a little jolt to their fading postseason dreams with a 34-11 win over the Bangles. Greggie, I'm so mad at myself. Last week we did the Fearless predictions, and I said the Steelers were done winning this season. But I forgot the golden rule of pro football, which is Mike Tomlin literally can't have a losing season. I wish if one of you just would have said it to me in the moment, I would have pulled back to reins on everything. I would have put up a hard stop sign and pivoted. I think maybe you did that on purpose so I could look like a fool today because they absolutely stomped the Bangles in a game where everyone was not only counting out Pittsburgh entirely, everyone at Erdy was busy writing the obituaries about Tomlin in Pittsburgh. We'll see what happens down the line, but for now.

They're still alive. Right. I was one of those everybody. I thought the Bangles were going to drop a hammer on him. Pickens goes Randy Moss, four for 195 and two. He has an 86, a 66, and a 44. Almost all of them on a woozy. The first one was a little fluky. It was a nice throw, but Dax Hill comes down and takes out two defenders by taking a bad angle and suddenly he's off. But the Bengals are just soft. They're 0 and 5 in the AFC North, which is crazy. Symbolically, I think there was that play where Warren just depleted the Bengals linebacker, Jermaine Pratt, on the Calvin-Austin rushing touchdown. Then on the opposite side, the Bengals are just stuck on the one-yard line. There was a five-yard line, needy a yard, and they can't get a foot for three straight plays, so then they try to throw it and they don't get that. It's just like they're not tough. For this game, the Stealers are tough, and at least they brought the Bengals back into their muck. It's like if we're probably not going to the playoffs, you're probably not either.

This was the Stealers offense we were expecting when they fired the OC or hoping for, not expecting. But Mason Rudolph, who's been an afterthought, it was surprising that they even brought him back this season, is throwing the ball with confidence down the field. It's like the connection between him and Pickens had a lot to do with the fact he's fearlessly tossing deep balls and they're working. I'm with you, Greg. My one concern for the Bengals, it's like, yes, Jake Browning masked over a lot of sins, and he had a couple of terrible intersections in this game. But both lines seem so easily dominated. This defense, which has been not talked about, I think, a lot nationally as having major issues completely fell apart. At this point, I thought they were one of the most hopeful notes that we had in the AFC because of Browning, reality struck hardcore yesterday.

It does feel like these quarterbacks, even the ones we believe in, and I'll use Dobbs as an obvious example, Browning as well, some of them, once a few games pass and there's some tape, they get exposed a little bit. I hope that's not it with Browning. I hope he bounces back. Who do they have after this, Greg? What do we have left for Cincinnati? The Chiefs.

And the Browns at Kansas City and then home for the Browns.

That's tough. Obviously, that's a tough close for Cincinnati. If they.

Won't win both, they're probably in. That's the thing with all these teams because they probably won't win them both.

That's the thing. No. You got to win the Pittsburgh game when the Stealers are on their back and they couldn't. That is that. We'll see in terms of for Mike Tomlin, how this could change his future even if they don't make the playoffs, if they close out with the winning record. Does that quiet anything about him being fired or traded? I don't know. But the one other take I have is in the fourth quarter, when there were Mason, Rudolph, Chance, he's been there forever. There's been all sorts of stories around Rudolph forever. He'll probably be, I don't know. I was going to say he'll be somewhere else next year, but he's been around Pittsburgh for a long time. They're playing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the PA after the game, and he's being interviewed. When the sideline reporter mentions that to him, he rolls his eyes like, Don't bring up this damn song again. I don't like it. It does nothing for me. It's way on the nose, Red Nosed, nailed it. Let's just move on.

I did like how much Alex Iselin, his teammate, was gasing him up just like, This guy is the man. The players, I think, like Mason, Rudolf, and they were all but saying, Don't go back to Kenny Pickett. I don't think they will. I think they'll give Rudolf another try.

Did you see Kenny Pickett and next to each other as the crowd is chatting. I was thinking, what's going through those minds? Do they share any words together as 70,000 hammered Pittsburgh? Yinsers are going nuts. Channing Mason, Rudolph's name. Bangles playoff chances down to 14% after the loss. So yeah, they're in a bad way. That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Learn more at toyota. Com/grandhighlander. Saturday Night Football at Sofi Stadium. Let's go.

Right of Allen takes the snap, pocket collapsing, has to roll out to his right to buy time.

Looking downfield, he's got Dave Davis over the shoulder, caught at the 15, and he drives his way into the end zone for the touchdown.

Wow! Josh Allen buys time, rolls out, and drops it over Davis' shoulder, and he grabs a defender the last eight yards for the score.

That might have been… Eric Roberts was at the game with family, the Bills fan, producer Eric, and a call from Chris Brown, the most important throw of the season for the Bills. We'll see. They're down 10-nothing. Gabe Davis hasn't done a damn thing in a couple of weeks. Allen hits him. He drags the DB into the end zone with him. It gets them on the board, calms the game down. Josh Allen helped to do the rest. He rushed for two touchdowns through for that one, and you needed the 29-yard field goal from Tyler Bass with 28 seconds to play. They had to escape with a 24-22 win over the chargers. Mark, a loss to the rudderless and Herbert Free-Boltz would have been especially after what happened in the previous game for the chargers who gave up a 60-burger and everybody got fired. That would have been an absurd and almost fitting stumble for this particular Buffalo team. But they narrowly avoided catastrophe, checked the box for the W, and their playoff and division hopes are still alive as a result.

I guess it just almost doesn't matter how they got the win they did. But it reminded me early on because they were real sleepy. It reminded me of the way they showed up in London against the Jaguars where it's like, What's going on with this Bill's team? I mean, if anything, it was an opportunity- Too much of.

This year.

Excuse me?

Too much of that this year.

Too much of that. It looked like other Bill's games on that front, and they got in their own way. James Cook, who was awesome a week ago against Dallas, had a killer fumble that nearly caused them this victory. The Josh Allen interception was on an incredible throw across his body. It was just a wild interception and a great play by the defense. But guys like Ed Oliver, I think like Rosuel Douglas, they bailed out this offense until it got going. And you're still going to get, I think, Josh Allen down the stretch on third down through the air and on the ground. He'll always do these incredible things. But it didn't leave me. It just left me encouraged by their defense to some degree about what happened later in the game. But again, I'm just wondering when the Bulls season might just end because they don't show up for four full quarters.

It's 9 and six. I think Collinsworth was fair to keep hammering the short week coming off an emotional high. It is hard, I think, for these teams to get emotionally as high as possible for each one of these games. The fired coach principle is real. Three and a row this year. I know the Chargers didn't win this game, but they were 11 point under that Giff Smith. They were playing hard. Brandon Staley is watching this game thinking like, Oh, my God. He completely changed our defense, and it's totally working. Derwin, James, are on the line of scrimage, doing different concepts, and East and Sticks playing clean ball. It just was the tough night for Staley. But Allen also made the plays. He had to get a field goal basically to keep their playoff likelihood going. He hits a money, very difficult throw to Stephan Diggs on third and eighth, and then hits Shaqiri, which would look like a touchdown at first, but they ended up calling it back. But that was still a money play by him. They got it done. You just got to escape these things. I have a feeling we'll have a better performance next week.

Those fumbles are what killed them. The bills, by the way, before this were one in 72 on the road when being negative three in turnovers. The only other win was against Sam Darnell and Adam Geiss in week one in 2019. They overcame a lot. They got out of there with a win. I suspect we'll see a much better Bill's team in the next couple of weeks. Come on.

Clean it up, guys. I mean, how long are we going to be doing this? To turn it over three times is essentially your season hanging on the balance and need your kicker to make sure if your kicker slips or someone blows a blocking assignment, your season's all but over. It's just like, Guys, we just can't keep flirting with disaster like this. Eventually, your season is going to be ruined because of it. Shout out, by the way. #tooeasy4kickers, Cameron Dicker, who had a, listen, a commendable social media post put out by The Chargers in the wake of that disaster against the Raiders, where they had some fun with Dicker trying to gain a pro bowl spot. It was a fun, viral video that obviously nice to follow up a viral video like that with a five-for-five performance in prime time. But it was not enough for the chargers. By the way, Greg, fired Coach Principal, that's fine, but it's the Pasachia bump.

My bad. I was going using the Brad Spice, wording. You're right.

That's ATN certified, bro. What are we doing?

My bad.

I regret it. It's okay. If you think Fire Coach Principal is better than the.

Such a bum. No, it's not. The such a bum just rolls out of the tongue.

Anything else on this one?

Bill's got to win these next two. I know they're nine and six, so it seems like they're super safe. But of all the teams, tie-breaker-wise, if they go 10 and seven, if they win next week against the Pages then lose week 18 against the Dolphins, they're probably out, which I think would be surprising to people, even though they'd be 10 and seven, so they probably got to win both.

They're driving me crazy. I want to get behind them. I want to see them. Eric, I want to see your team as the real AFC team that could just blow through January. But they're hard to trust. But they survived. Who else survived? The Packers against a bad Panthers team. What's so bad today.

In the shotgun, here's the snap, Brice Young looking around, but he throws the middle, got his man, had him thrown on the inside the.

35 down to.

The 31-yard line. No, not enough.

Not even close. Time winding down. Down to one second ago, they get.

The ball, Spice.

And do they have a chance for a field goal try? And the officials are conferring, trying to figure out… Passed at the ground with zero on the clock, the game is over. And there is your Christmas Eve dagger.

All right, Wayne. Wayne Larivie with the call, W-R-N-W. I didn't think it was even a chance there. I was watching it for the.

First time just now. It was so close. It was like half a second. They got it right, but it was so close.

Yeah, Jordan Love threw two touchdowns, ran for another, made some big throws to set up Anderson Carlson's go ahead, field goal, 19 seconds left. And yes, the Panthers painfully run out of time on that last gasp rally. Packers hold on 33-30. Greggie, the pack defense still obviously stinks. My God. Come on, guys. But Love and company did enough to survive a 2-13 opponent.

Yeah, I thought it was a really mature effort by Jordan Love. It helped that Aaron Jones is back getting over 120 yards on the ground, but they kept having to score and they kept scoring. He had to answer there when Bryce Young tied it up at 30. It was obviously Bryce Young's best game of his career. I thought from the beginning, he made a lot of good throws and people would be like, Oh, the Packers defense sucks. He was hit 10 times in this game. The Packers defense sucking was part of it. But if you ever do watch this game, he was on the run, made a great touchdown throw there, had a two-point conversion, overturned. A lot of these were wall getting hit. I thought he had a really nice game, but not as nice as Love, who didn't have as many difficult throws to make, but I just thought it was really mature. He had to deliver late and had a dime to Dobbs. That was a controversial call that Panthers fans were upset about, it looked like he might have dropped it. I think they were right to keep the call on the field, then another dime to craft.

And they're winning again with these rookies and guys like Bo Melton who picked up off the scrap heap. It's very impressive what they're doing offensively, defensively, they stink.

It's got to be tough to be Joe Barry because you're getting talked about week after week. You know you're going to be without a job in a couple of weeks here. You gave up 394 yards, 26 first and 6.4 yards per play to an offense that has been almost entirely unwatchable. I am glad for Bryce Young. It's not just because of Green Bay, you're right. We needed to see this thing. If you're a Panthers fan, you're dying to see some shred of evidence that this first overall pick has something inside of them that speaks to more than what we've seen. I think guys, there are these unsung heroes on that offense. Adam Thielen, who it feels like week to week, was just cast off as a useless free agent signing. He's been there week for week. He had nearly 200 yard receivers today, Bryce Zhang, which would have been quite different than what he's experienced. Green Bay's defense to me is like putting Jordan Love in this terrible spot week after week. It almost is just like, ride this thing out. I get it. They can go nine and eight if they want. But it's just like you've got to change so much on this side of the ball.

Mark, imagine they followed your Thursday game plan and ran the ball 50 times. Bryce would never have this moment where he could build off it. This is whenever you have Joe Barry defense, it's like all bets are off, it seems. We should try to get out. Who are they playing next? Let's get onto that roster.

nick Mullins in the Vikings in the elimination game, basically.

Yeah, let's find a way onto the Vikings roster. We could fill in behind Hawkinson at tight end. Mark, we're going to put you at the number three wide receiver. Greg, we're going to put you in a nice scatback roll and we're going to put up about 300 total yards combined. I feel it. I feel it. There's nothing Joe Barry can do to stop us. All right, let's move on. Let's head to Nashville, where the Seahawks were looking to keep their playoff hopes alive after that dramatic Monday night win.

Third down in goal from the sixth. Parkinson on the left. Ginos looks that way, throws back shoulder. Parkinson has to catch. Touchdown, Seahawks. A perfect back shoulder throw by Gino and the Seahawks go up 19 to 17.

Steve Ravel with the call, K-I-R-O. Gino Smith threw his second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. That five-yarder to Colby, Parkinson with 57 seconds to play Seahawks. They are in the playoff picture for sure in clear focus by beating the Titans' 2017 back-to-back victories. Now, Mark, last year was Jule Lock playing the hero. Today, Gino got in the act.

It was before the game, because when we did our draft on Thursday, it was my impression that when Greg took Green Bay, Carolina at the end of the lineup there, that he labeled it as the last available game. But sitting out there was Seattle, Tennessee, and we've got a true Gino file here. I DMed him this morning and said, Greg, if you want this Seattle game to see your guy. And he was like, No, I'm actually fine with what I picked. I went on to enjoy Gino Smith's fourth comeback victory of the year, which leads the NFL among all quarterbacks. It took a while for him to get going. He was a bit of a sleepy start for Seattle. Tennessee, I got to give them credit. I really think, Rable, this is the sign of Mike Rable. Tennessee battled in this thing. They just simply... They're outmanned on offense, but they just battled and they gave Gino Smith a lot of troubles early on. But this drive, I wrote down, this is Gino's moment with 3:21 in the fourth quarter, down 17 to 13. Go show me Gino Smith that you can do exactly what Drew Lock did a week ago.

And he unfurls a total money throw to Tyler Lockett on third and six. He is destroyed on a sack, but he does not give up. He hits on third and 14, Jackson Smith and Jigba for 18. Another couple of big conversions to Lockett. Then a deep shot to DK and Metcalfe that this happens all the time, but it drew a PI, gave them first and goal. Zach Charbonne hit twice, but then he hits Colby, Parkinson, on that touchdown. I was like, Gino just made these throws. I think he was like six for six. Five for five or six for six was like 60 yards when it mattered most. And then the defense put the coffin on Ryan Tana Hill and the Titans offense in the final last gaspotence. So Seattle, I believe you, if you're going to go win games like this, what's not to like in the NFC? They can do it with two different quarterbacks in six days.

Very similar games, too. Yeah, the Titans have lost five games by four points or less. This is like every Titans game. It's just like this. They could have had a very different season. And so could Seattle. Dave won a lot of their games just like this. I think Gino now is tied for the League lead in game-winning drives. It's not necessarily even a stat that means you're doing great. I think Kenny Pickett is also tied with them and Ridders up there. But they've won a lot of these games on the last drive.

If Pickett and Ridder are up there, we got to eliminate the whole stat.

We don't know where to go. That's what I mean. I saw it. I was like, Wow, Gino has four, I think, four game winning drives.

If we're bagging on QB wins in the Twitter Cognacente, we got to come for the late game drives, too.

I'm with that. I'm not really into the game winning drives thing, but made it happen when it mattered most and they get to eight and seven. They're in pole position, but their two games are pretty tricky with... Who is it? It's Pittsburgh, and then I forget who it.

Is in the week of two. Pittsburgh and then Arizona.

Yeah, they probably have to win both of them to get in. They could win one and then get some help. They'd have a better chance than most teams, but we'll see.

All right, let's head to the Meadowlands, where the jets jumped ahead big and then had a hold on for their lives against the Commandos.

Out of the hold of Morestead to try and put the jets on top, 54 yards away. Tennessee will try to get the ball in the middle of the net. There it is, the placement down. It's away. It's got the distance. It is good. Greg Zirlag does it. Five seconds to go.

Bob with Susan for the call. I mean, calm down. Let's calm down with the time of.

The city to tonight. Time for Bob Sala. He's partying tonight. He's partying.

What a… I mean, every day is just… The jets are God's cruel joke. Greg Zirlin kicks a 54-yard field goal, five seconds to play, and the jets, after blowing a 20-point third quarter lead, hold on with the... They don't hold on. They actually lose the lead. They go down 28-27 and then Zirlin bailes him out. Another kicker having a monster year. He's missed one kick all season. 54 yard with five seconds left. That was enough. I say that the jets are a cruel cosmic joke because the day begins with Brian Costello of the New York Post reporting via direct conversation with Woody Johnson that indeed, Robert Sala is coming back and so is Joe Douglas. We're running this thing back. Essentially, this entire year was a mulligan. This isn't necessarily a surprise. It feels like it's been trending that way. I don't necessarily agree with it, but this is how it's been trending. It would have been so on brand for the jets then to blow a 20-point lead to one of the worst teams in football at home on Christmas Eve, no less. It's also funny in a sad way that they find a way to thread the needle where they don't even give us just a real fun afternoon.

We had to suffer through the second half. Then they make the kick that actually makes our draft pick worse. They are masters of the craft. I have to almost give the jets credit for what they do to their fan base. But anyway, you should know this about the game and shout out to who once again came in for Sam Howe. We're going to get into that in one minute. But first, let's hear from Bob Sala, who has very strong takes that might upset one Patrick, Claybon. It wasn't necessarily a complacency or anything. It was just momentum shifted. Listen, the blow in that lead, it was just momentum and there's nothing you could do about it.

But they got it back. They did something about it.

Because then they won. That's an NFL coach telling the world where we sit with momentum. You just put it.

In a different barrel. That man makes like four million dollars a year to coach football. Am I going to sit up here? It's a fair point. As Shaq would say on Mount Pias and say that he's wrong?

I don't think so. Shout out to Greg Zirline, by the way. Hitting that kick, I just feel like it helped the mood of this whole show. This would have been a dark day for the jets, I feel like. I know you're-You got me all.

Wrong, Greg. -i know that.

Wasn't fun. But I'm just saying if on the day they announced Salah was getting the job, blowing that lead to the commanders, it would have been a little salty.

No, totally at peace with it, Mark. Greg, I was totally at peace with them losing the game because of the draft pick. It provided very little joy, the fact that they won because they played so damn poorly. I want to just give a little shout out to Jake Briskett, who at one point, factoring in the last week's game and this week's game, had five consecutive touchdown trives. Slides me off the page, Jake. Which is awesome. You have to say, we know Ron Rivera is not part of the future in Washington. We don't need to say much more about this game, but we know he's not the future in Washington. But now Ron is benched Sam Howe two weeks in a row. Howe played dog poop in this game and he wasn't getting a lot of help from his offensive line. But to see Jacob Brisset, who we all like and respect, but a career backup come in and just for the second straight week, light up the opponent and get his team back in the game. It's like you would make even in a playing for nothing situation, you might go with Brisset the rest of the way.

I don't know if Rivera will, but I think Sam Howe is really mortally wounded his opportunity to be the quarterback of the future in Washington with these last six weeks. The play has just not been there. I feel bad for him because it's a tough situation there. But he hasn't been playing the guitar.

Put it that way. Yeah, I think I'm with you. I think you couldn't be in a more perfect storm of problematic scenario for future young quarterback with issues. Ownership change happened, Coach is gone. I don't like it for Eric, the enemy, who finally became a soul play, calling OC, who's going to be out of there. It's like Sam Howe is probably going to be swept out with the rest of them.

All right, one more game. It is the Chicago Bears and Cardinals hold onto your butts.

Fields, center brings Mooney in motion. Dj Moore to the left, snap, play fake. Fields fakes the end around the money, now rolling to his right, being chased, zings it into the end zone. Wide open. Mercedes-lewis, touchdown. Touchdown, touchdown, bears. One-yard toss and the 40th career touchdown for Mercedes-Lewis.

Mercedes-lewis, everybody. Our buddy, MJD's favorite dude, always talking about Mercedes-Lewis in the theater on.

Sunday nights. I think they were in the same draft, like literally the same draft class.

I believe they were. Mercedes-lewis has now caught touchdown passes in the National Football League in 2006 and 2023. That's cool. Anyway, Justin Fields threw for that touchdown to Lewis and ran for another score. The bears beat the Cardinals 27-16. Cole Comet had another big game in this one, four for 107, even though he missed the second half for the knee injury, hopefully he's okay. Kaleel Herbert goes for 112 in a touchdown. The bears bounce back after melting down against Cleveland the prior week. The bears have 420 yards of offense in this game, 250 rushing. We're talking about how this team, and is it too little too late for the coaching staff? I don't know, but they do seem to have an identity and fields. While he wasn't perfect in this game, he had a bad interception in the red zone, but he started out beautifully. He throws for 170, he adds 97 yards rushing. It'll be interesting to see how he closes here and what that means for Chicago.

There were two things happening, and we talked a little bit about it on Thursday, that you nearly have Green Bay falling to Carolina. Instead, they nip Carolina and the Green Bay Packers can celebrate tonight. But they brought the bears one step closer to having the first overall pick that they can do whatever they want with and maybe change the future of both teams in that division for the next 15 years.

Bear and jets both win both at six and nine. They are the eighth and ninth pick in the draft right now. The Bear is happy they have the one pick on top of the eighth pick, and they're not eliminated. How about that? We're going into week 17. The Bear are technically still alive. Then again, a lot is technically alive. The Cleveland Browns mark, as I was looking for elimination, are still alive for the one seed in the AFC. That's how many things could happen.

Is that the the Browns win out and everyone loses out?

More or less, yes, to get the one seed. But I think they have a chance to win the division in a more realistic way than people would understand because they would win the tie breaker over the Ravens if the Ravens lost twice.

Well, that's not probable, but we're at the point where that is far from impossible.

Tyler Murray, by the way, they're passing game, he's given them a little boost, but their passing game just is not clicking. That was the sixth game of Murray running the offense. They have work to do. I know, Greg, you're pretty confident that they're running it back with him. But it would be nice to see him have one of those vintage Tyler games before we fold up the tent. I don't really have anything else to add about this game.

No. I just want to wish you guys a merry Christmas. Good luck on the big reveal tomorrow, Dan. I want to hear that. Are you going to tape it at the time? I have mixed feelings about that. You want to be in the moment. I pleaded with Emica to tape it quietly. I am glad that I have it because I've watched it a few times since it makes me happy.

Yeah, it is the eternal quantary. Christmas morning, I could still picture my mom, Deb, in 1990 with that big old video camera on her shoulder, and we hated it. My sister and I just despised it. My brother was younger, so he didn't care. But do we want to do that same thing? However, Mark, this is a different culture now. Cameras are everywhere. The phones are always out, so kids aren't nearly as self-conscious as we once were. There's a lot of different angles to look at it from this.

I think I would get the moment recorded and sort through the feelings around that at a later time.

With a licensed therapist? Sure. That would be good. But yes, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Thank you for listening to this show and every show and until next time, which will be Tuesday, do one thing. Have yourself a merry Christmas and heat the car.