Gut check time plus a victory week. You know what that equals greatness folks because you know why this is the 53rd episode of
The football junkies podcast
Okay, we have a lot to talk about in a little bit of time because you know why Thursday night football is
Tomorrow, but you know this episode is gonna come out before then but you know what we have to talk about a few games
Okay, Browns and Steelers Eagles and Panthers Rams and Bills Seahawks and Carnals and most importantly gut check time
Okay, I know that you have been waiting for this episode and I am here to deliver the fix that you need
Okay, but guess what? I am your host with the most. Okay. I am your GM who currently is not on a team right now
But don't you worry about it? Okay? I am your chief
Bagrodomas chief head of the table when it comes to anything and everything
Related to football whether that be bag alerts whether it be the draft will there be opinions about the draft
Will it be why the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl this year? Just know it's all gonna be from here the football junkies podcast
Okay, but guess what? I'm all these things and more but most importantly
I am your host kale. You already know what I'm getting ready to say
But guess what if you got something that you have to do today
Guess what it will get done because why this is the football junkies podcast
It's probably gonna be an hour long and so buckle up because guess what it's gonna be a great episode
So guess what on three one two three? Let's lock in
All right folks, let's just get into the meats and
Potatoing that is going on the league right now. So before we get into the gut check time
We got to talk about a few games that caught my eye. Okay, so let's just dive into everything
Okay, so Russell Wilson 15 for 26 158 passing yards to touchdowns
6.1 yards per attempt in a 57.7 completion percentage
Okay, Najee Harris 16 attempts for 53 rushing yards
3.3 rushing yards per carry and one rush of 10 plus yards or more Pat Fryer move three targets for three receptions
48 receiving yards one touchdown and 16 receiving yards per reception James Winston 24 for 41
212 passing yards to touchdowns to picks
5.2 yards per temp in a 58.5 completion percentage Nick Chubb 11 attempts for 48 rushing yards
4.4 rushing yards per carry and one rush of 10 plus yards or more Jerry Judy six targets for five receptions
64 receiving yards one touchdown and 12.8 receiving yards per reception now. This is what I will say about this game
This was a highly anticipated game that definitely drew a lot of attention by a lot of people
Simply because of how things you know went down with the first matchup between these two teams
All right, it started to look a little bit shaky at first because the you know after after the Browns scored their first touchdown
They started to build some momentum and they started to drive up the field and then things were starting to get to a point
Where they were you know setting themselves up to either score a touchdown or get a field go the Steelers being the Steelers of course
We're starting out really slow. We needed somebody to make a play
Who was that person that made it play Keanu Ben? Keanu Ben gets a very much needed interception and in doing so
Puts you know puts the offense in a great put you know in a great position to score and then the rest is history
And you know with us getting Alex Highsmith back that was very much needed because you know
He was doing his thing TJ White still has someone of a quiet game
He was still doing his thing as well Cam Hayward continues to defy the odds and
Continues to silence the naysayers every single season
So all in all a really great win and this puts the team in a really good position because as of right now if I'm not mistaken
They could clinch their playoff spot on Sunday
Now it can be clinched in two ways. It can be clinched with either Miami or
Indianapolis, I'm losing or if they win against the Eagles now
Do I think they will win against the Eagles? I don't know simply because George Pickens is going to be out and
You know the offense was really struggling on Sunday without George Pickens
And you see how much of a role Joe George Pickens plays on this offense now granted
Yes, we did get Mike Williams and in what not but he can't do what George Pickens can do right and so I just
Want to see exactly how things are going to go now. I can be you know a fan and I can say oh, yeah
We're gonna be the Eagles. We have not won against the Eagles in a long time
So only time will tell I still have my spirits up high get on on Sunday
But only time will tell but you know for the Browns
This basically just puts the nail in the coffin for your season
And I'm not saying this you know to be funny or anything, but I'm saying this because you know the aspirations of possibly making
You know somewhat of a play a playoff run or trying against a wild card
It's over now on to another game that definitely caught my attention as well
And that is the Eagles in the Panthers game now before we get to any of the hot takes and any of the things that you know
Have been leaked out within the last few days. Let's just get into the stats first
Okay, so Jalen Hertz 14 for 21 108 passing yards to touchdowns 5.1 yards per temp
In a 66.7 completion percentage say Kwame Barkley 20 attempts for 124 rushing yards
6.2 rushing yards per carry and five rushes of 10 plus yards or more AJ Brown for targets for four receptions
43 receiving yards 10.8 receiving yards per reception Bryce young
19 for 34
191 passing yards one touchdown one pick
5.6 yards per temp in a 55.9 completion percentage Chava Hubbard
26 attempts for 92 rushing yards 3.5 rushing yards per carry and one touchdown and one rush of 10 plus yards or more
Adam Thielen 11 targets for nine receptions 102 receiving yards
11.3 receiving yards per reception now. This is what I will say about this game before this game even happened
Most people would have thought okay. This is going to be a complete slaughter
This is going to be a game where the Eagles are basically going to run up the numbers
But no the Panthers have actually been playing fairly well within the last few weeks of the season
And mind you they're doing this without a lot of their star players on both sides of the ball
They put up a fight against the Eagles if Xavier Leguette catches that touchdown
We are having a whole different conversation about this game
but because he did it of course the Eagles won and the rest is history but
the bigger conversation that's being talked about now though is
The potential friction in the locker room between Jalen Hertz and AJ Brown
There was a point in the game where you know, it was another three and now and
You know AJ Brown was getting off the field and he threw his helmet on the ground
And you can see that he's voicing his frustrations with Devonte Smith and company and you can definitely see that there's
Frustrations and whatnot and you know, that's fine, right?
But then when you have your teammates like Brandon Graham who go publicly and say oh, yeah
There's there. There's there's a little bit of friction between AJ Brown and in Jalen Hertz
I don't know about that birdie. You know what? Hold on. Give me three seconds. I'm gonna find this quote
Stay tuned and we're back here folks and I found that quote. Okay, so this comes from Brandon Graham
Okay, we're gonna talk about this quote as well as the apology that he put out as well
So here we go and I quote I don't know the whole story
But I know that one is trying the leaven could be better with how he responds to things
They was friends before this but things have changed and I understand that because life happens and I quote now
This is what I will say Brandon Graham
This was probably the wrong time to say something like this because now you have somewhat created this giant media storm
within Philly which we all know has been very toxic and
For I don't know even how long but they're super toxic when it comes to their sports teams
now you have created this storyline that
Jalen Hertz and AJ Brown are basically beefing in all those different types of things and then you try to you know
Spin things and try to apologize and try to tamp out the fire when it's like bro. You can't do that
So this is what he did this is what he says right and I quote first I wanted to start off by apologizing to my guys
I made the assumption
I didn't know all the details and I still don't and I was just like dang
I just really saw everything that you all saw with the video and I was
Reacting to that and I should have used a little bit more logic on it as always
We got to stand up through the good in the bad right now. I don't think it's that bad
I think it's a great thing because chaos definitely creates diamonds pressure makes diamonds
I feel like this is about to be something where we're going to bounce back from really good. This is what he's saying
That's not what I'm saying. This is the direct quote the direct quote that he's saying. That's not me missing any words or anything
I just want to put that out there. We all make mistakes
All of us just want to win for the city and we all may made some mistakes in this one
I understand that you're trying to apologize and you're trying to you know rewrite your wrongs and everything but
What's done is done at this point now
Everybody is going to start speculating and going to start using their quote-unquote sources
imaginary sources and try to put out leaks and all these different types of things but the fact of the matter is
The team is winning we are on the cusp of potentially making it to the Super Bowl once again
And the only way that we can do this is if we stay locked in and if you're not locked in guess what's going to happen
It's going to create friction from the outside and then what's happening on the outside is going to try to link it to the inside
And you don't want that especially at this point of the season
Right now the only teams that you really have to worry about in your division is the Lions the Vikings
and the Packers
That's it. Everybody else it's up in the air and you wouldn't even have to face them because why you're in great
You know, you're in a great position playoff wise. So again time to put out, you know quotes and assumptions of this magnitude and great
I understand, you know, when you look at the games and you see frustration and whatnot
You instantly want to assume things but this was the wrong time to do that
This is what I will say though for the Eagles
You do have some tough matchups do I have to go up against the Steelers?
Despite, you know, you guys have been winning and beating us for the last up team years
You still have to go up against us, you know, we're not no slouches
So maybe this is the game where they try to you know silence the haters and they see it
There's in all those people that are assuming things. Maybe this is the game
But I'm telling you if they lose bad against the Steelers this thing is going to blow up even more
But I'm not even gonna go there. I'm just gonna leave it where it be. All right now on to another game
The Rams against the Bills now. Let's just get into the stats before I say what I need to say. All right
So Josh Allen 22 for 37 342 passing yards three touchdowns 9.2 yards per temp in a 59.5 completion percentage
Josh Allen, that's crazy, right? He's running back 10 attempts for 82 rushing yards
8.2 rushing yards per carry three touchdowns and three rushes of 10 plus yards or more
This is listen when I was pulling up the stats. I was a little bit skeptical about putting Josh Allen on it twice
But I was like, you know what?
And we might as well want to do it. All right, Khalil Shakir eight targets for five exceptions
106 receiving yards one touchdown and 21.2 receiving yards per exception Matthew Stafford
23 for 30 320 passing yards to touchdowns 10.7 yards per temp in a 76.7 completion percentage
Kyren Williams 29 attempts for 87 rushing yards three rushing yards per carry two touchdowns and two rushes of 10 plus yards or more
Pukka Nakua 14 targets for 12 receptions
162 receiving yards one touchdown and 13.5 receiving yards per reception
This is what I will say this game definitely could have been winnable for the Bills
But because of their own mistakes, they allow the Rams to win
There was a stretch where it was a bunch of passion and ferrets holding passion and ferrets passion and ferrets passion and ferrets
I'm like, bro. How many times you guys are gonna keep on calling passion and ferrets on this defense?
This defense is starting to get a little bit leaky here folks. I'm just saying I'm just saying any time
You have a team like the Bills who have a really good defense and they are continuing to repeat the same penalty
over and over and over and over again
That catches up to you and guess what happened the Rams caught up and they won the game
They couldn't stop Puka nor could they stop Cooper Cup?
As of right now
The Rams are definitely a dark horse within the NFC playoffs
Because they are a team believe it or not that could give you know teams a run for their money now granny
When you look on paper
You're probably thinking well, they don't got this or they don't got that or they don't got that
But guess what they play fundamentally sound and they've been doing it for the second half of this season
And it's paying off phenomenally and right now
They are in the driver's seat where they can determine if they're really going to make a deep playoff run now
I'm not saying that they're gonna go to the Super Bowl. I'm not gonna say they're gonna win the Super Bowl
But what I will say is this they are a team that you cannot sleep on that offense is running on all cylinders that defense
Especially that defensive line Jared verse Brandon Fisk
Once again, the Rams are hitting on their draft picks
But that's a deeper conversation for another day that we will have this offseason though onto the Cardinals in Seahawks game. All right
Geno Smith 24 for 30 233 passing yards one touchdown 7.8 yards per 10 in a 80% completion percentage
Wow Zach Charbonade 22 attempts for 134 rushing yards 6.1 rushing yards per carry two touchdowns and four rushes
Of 10 plus yards or more Jackson Smith and the jigba five targets for five receptions 82 receiving yards one touchdown
16.4 receiving yards per reception
Collin Murray 25 for 38
259 passing yards two touchdowns two picks 6.8 yards per attempt in a 65.8 completion percentage
James Connor 18 attempts for 90 rushing yards five rushing yards per carry and four rushes of 10 plus yards or more
Tray McBride 14 targets for seven receptions 70 receiving yards and 10 receiving yards per reception
This was a pretty good game
But then it started to get out of hand
Once the Seahawks really started to impose their will on this Cardinals offense
Kyler Murray seemed a little bit startled once things started to not go in his direction
And then ultimately, you know, the Seahawks just ran with you know, the momentum that they had and they sealed the win
This does affect the the Cardinals because again, this is a
divisional game and we have hit that point where
If your divisional record is not in a good spot, it's going to affect you when it comes to playoff seeding and whatnot
So all in all, you know, this is something that you know
The team has to sort of be concerned about with with you know, the next few games, you know coming up
You want to try to win as many games as you have a safety net
For yourself just in case things go a little bit
Right because right now your division is topsy turvy
You're competitive with the Rams and the Seahawks
And so right now of those three who is one going to win the division and who's going to get you know that that seed
from from that division
Because right now you can make a strong case that the Rams are just as dangerous as the Cardinals
And you can make a case right now that the Seahawks are probably the biggest problem within that division
It's a team that is young
Hungry and has a head coach who has done phenomenal things with this defense. May I remind you folks?
This is the same head coach who was the defense of coordinator for the ram
I mean not for the Rams for the Ravens last year with that historic defense
I'm telling you
The Seahawks team
It's gonna this division as a whole outside of the 49ers. They're going to be problems moving forward
All three of these teams are young all three of these teams have young coaches
All three of these teams are going to be ultra competitive as time progresses, but
It's gut check time and you already know what that means. Okay, this one is going to be a little bit different
Why?
Because this is going to be a gut check for every single team in the division. Okay
32 gut checks. Okay
So let's begin with the greatest division in football the amc north. Okay, so for the browns finish strong
Okay, you have four games left. You need to put out some good tape
Especially if you are a player who was supposed to be a free agent after this season
This browns team needs to go through somewhat of a makeover, right?
The Dishon Watson project has not worked
So far you have seen more production with two backup quarterbacks
Then you have the quarterback that you traded for and you gave him a fully guaranteed contract
I'm not saying that you have to get rid of Dishon Watson
But you need to assess the quarterback position as well as other positions on both sides of the ball
Because as of right now, there is no reason why this team should have not been, you know fighting
You know to get into the wild card because again, james winston despite all of his ups and downs
He's had flashes of you know, good james winston and he's had bad james winston
But all in all, you know what you're getting with him. You see that he's been more productive than what Dishon Watson has been prior to him getting injured
If I am the browns if i'm kevin stafansky, you're gonna have to start james winston next year
You're gonna have to wolf. Well, actually, you know what skirt?
Let me bring that back. You're gonna have to resign james winston and you're gonna have to make him the starter
until
Dishon Watson can prove that he is you know, the guy because as of right now as I just said
Joe flacco
literally carried this team into the playoffs
And basically was playing with house money and james winston did it. I'm sorry
Decisions have to be made. All right. Now for the bangles
I really don't know because they are a team that
I really didn't expect for them to get to this point when you look at the stats that joe bro has been putting up
You can make a strong case that if they were winning if they had a winning record
Most likely he would be competing for MVP
But because of their defense is so lackluster and their defense has you know has failed them more than helped them
This is the situation that they're in now greening you won against Dallas cool
But you have Tennessee Cleveland Denver and then Pittsburgh. You're going to lose at least two of those games
Maybe even three if we're being honest here. Do I think they could possibly you know sneak into the playoffs?
Maybe but I think that window is so
So small. I'm talking about the smallest of the small
I'm talking about not even a little bit of air could get through that
There's just no point you might also want to try to finish the season strong
Assess what you have and what you don't have what you need
How are you going to you know get those needs and then just go from there try to retool for next year for the Ravens lock in
Okay, you're coming off your buy, you know, you're going up against a team in the Giants who they're not going anywhere
And so that should be a game where you can just steamroll them and whatnot
But outside of the Giants you have Pittsburgh
You have Houston and you have Cleveland
You are going to probably need to win out in order for you to possibly try
To win the division because even when you look at Pittsburgh's schedule not not trying to you know, put the car before the horse
they have
Philly Baltimore, Kansas City
in Cincinnati, right?
even even though they are in a good spot to win the division
and although
Pittsburgh has a two-game lead over you
If they start losing some games
It can you know it can it can start to make things a little bit dicey
You have to lock in because as of right now
You don't want to get to a point where
You're gonna you're gonna be going up against one of those hot teams like the Broncos or the Chargers or the builds
You don't want that you want to try to go up against a team that you sort of have
Somewhat of a balanced type of matchup not something where it's like. Oh, this is gonna be a hard matchup
I don't know how we're gonna do this. I don't know how they're gonna get out of this for the Steelers
maintain your divisional lead and the reason why I say that is because
As I just said, you do have a two-game lead over the Ravens
But this is the hardest stretch that you are going to have this entire season that everybody was talking about
You have to go up against Philly
Baltimore, Kansas City, and then Cincinnati
But you have to go begins Philly Baltimore, Kansas City within a matter of a few days not to mention George Pickens is out for this game
So
I I don't know. I really don't know but I will tell you this my time is going to have that team ready
I don't care anyone says
Mike Tomlin is going to have this team ready to compete now
Now the Steelers are in a situation where they could still win and and still secure their their playoff spot
either by winning their game on Sunday or
Miami losing or
The Colts losing so either way they're going to make into the playoffs, right?
It's just a matter of do they want to continue to try to compete for a higher seed?
Because if the bills lose against the Lions on Sunday, I think they do have a chance of possibly getting the second seed
So hey man a lot is riding on this now for the afc south
Fight you got to fight to win the division because as of right now
You're coming off your body. Okay, cool. Your first opponent coming off the body is Denver
Denver is red hot right now Denver is ready. They are ready to be competitive into the wild card slash playoffs
So you're going to have to you know, you're going to have to deal with it
And then after that you're going to have to go up go up against Tennessee. I don't expect, you know, Tennessee to really put up a fight
I think they're just you know in a position where they're preparing themselves for the draft
New York steamroll
Jaguars steamroll
Well, actually, you know, I take that back. I take the back the divisional. I forgot all about it
You still have to worry about the Jaguars despite them not having Trevor Lawrence for for the rest of the season
You still have to worry about them because why they are your divisional rivals
So you see them twice the season for the Jaguars hit the reset button. Yep. Hit the reset button
I said what I said and I'm going to stand on it hit the reset button better yet hit it two three hit it about about three times
okay, because uh
Yeah, you're not going anywhere
There is so much that is going to have to happen on this off season that it's ridiculous
Because most likely Doug Peterson is going to get fired
You're going to have to clean house with that entire coaching staff
You're going to have to bring in a new head coach
It also doesn't help that there's not as many offensive coaches available as there is defensive coaches
As of right now, the most popular offensive coach will be ben johnson
Not to mention all the other head coaches you have bill bellichick who's still in the mix despite all the rumors and speculations that he's going to take the
UNC job
Mike Vrable brian flores
And maybe one or two other people that i'm not thinking of right now
So
A lot's about to happen not to mention you are going to have to go up against
Tennessee
New york lost vegas. No, no, no, they are i think they already went up against Tennessee forget about that
You're gonna have to go up against new york
the raiders
Tennessee and then
Indy i don't know really what to say about the jaguars, but you know
This is this has been horrible for the jaguars if you would have told me
That you know that they would be in the in the position that they're in i would have called you a liar
They have yet to try to pick themselves up since you know
They had that great defense with jaylin ramsey and telvin smith and
Miles jack and kaleis camber and company but it's another story for another day now for the titans hit the reset button because why?
You have not really done anything
You're not supposed to be doing anything because you're still going through a rebuild a hard rebuild if if i may
You know if i may add in in that as well, so you know your expectation low now
You're going to have to go up against Cincinnati that's going to be someone of a tough matchup
Indianapolis division
Jacksonville division and then houston division the rest of your opponents are division outside of Cincinnati
I don't think you're going to win any of those games, but again divisional games are very close
Always have been always will be i've seen crazier things
Shoot if you would have told me that the stevens would have lost to the browns in their first matchup
I would have called you a liar, but it happened for the Texans maintain divisional control
Because as of right now the only team that you really have to worry about within your division is the cults
And right now if the cults went out
That can put you in a sticky situation
but if you win against
Miami, Kansas City, Baltimore and Tennessee
Hey, you might be able to put yourself in a good spot and on top of that you're coming off a bi-week
So you're fresh
So you're you know you're you're prepared and and whatnot and on top of that you're in a position where
If you beat Miami if you beat the chiefs
You can mess things up for them as well
Just saying just putting that out there for the a fc east for the jets
That's three words for you reset refresh
Refocus, okay
Because right now this team is not going anywhere. Okay, if I'm a player in this team
I am calling my agent. I'm figuring out. Hey
What would my value be if I was a hit free agency? What teams you think will probably be interested in me?
Let's start, you know, let's start building up a transition plan once this season is over with
If I'm on a contract, you know, what do I need to do so I can request
Request a trade so I can get out of here all those different types of things. Okay, because this is a mess
This is a complete mess and you are going to need somebody
To come in and to clean this up on both sides of the ball
Okay, you have to figure out what you're going to do with Aaron Rodgers
You have to figure out what you're going to do with the vante atoms. There's just so much to figure out at this point
This isn't going to be an overnight thing. This is going to be a
You know multi-year process thing and so you have to be able to sell that
To the owner as well despite his departure because he's going to be the ambassador for the uk from that mistake
I don't know. No one no one cares about that. But
I do think what what does need to be talked about though is the vante atoms
You know words that you know that that came out a few days ago on the up and Adam show
And I quote I mean it'll be a sad thing for sure. But hopefully that's not the case
That's why we got to make the most of the ones we have here
We had a decent showing last game and I do say decent because it's not up to our standard of greatness
But it was definitely a step in the right direction and I quote
And that's basically him talking about you know the potential of him
You know being released and you know not playing with Aaron Rodgers anymore
But this is something important that I think needs to be talked about though since joining the Jets
Devante Adams has had four re-receptions for 453 receiving yards three touchdowns in seven games, right?
He has failed to surpass 100 receiving yards in six of the seven games that he's been with the Jets
This has been a complete dumpster fire
For this season. Okay
I understand that you wanted to play with your guy
Understand, you know, you have the most success with your guy, but at the end of the day, guess what?
It has been nothing but a waste of time
You have wasted another season
Trying to think that you are going to win
with this guy
And granted I understand that you know you have chemistry with him
And you probably didn't want to try to develop chemistry with other players
But guess what when you look at all the other teams that were interested in you?
Guess what all three of those other teams are going to go to the playoffs
You're not going to go to the playoffs and not to mention it also doesn't help
That you also have the highest cap hit on the team at 38.3 million
So it'll be different if your stats was phenomenal
Then they can try to talk themselves into you know taking on that cap
But because you really have been playing the best this season
They're gonna have to let you go and if I'm Devonte Adams if I'm in his corner
I'm probably telling you a bro. Listen, you done did everything else. Okay, you done got the money
You didn't got all the other success
It's time for you to end this thing with the championship and if I'm Devonte Adams
I want to be released and I want to try to go for any of these other playoff caliber teams at this point because
You have more years behind you than you do ahead of you and you want to end things on the right foot
Which is what holding up a Lombardi trophy for the other team that we are talking about okay?
Patriots in the season strong
Nobody expected for you to win five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve games. All right
We all know that you're going through a hard rebuild. So the expectations are fairly low, but
You are going to have some tough matchups. Okay some really tough matchups
You have to go up against Arizona
Buffalo the Chargers and then Buffalo again. Those are some really good defenses and they're going to punch you in the mouth
So you have to be prepared for that
Not to mention you just released kj Osborne who's probably one of your most productive receivers
Even though yes that it was a mutual parting, but still
You know you have that and whatnot. So
Just just just try to win something at least try to make it competitive
If you try to make it competitive, I don't think no one's really gonna say just get steamrolled by the rest of these teams
I don't know now. I'm not saying that you know, they're gonna get rid of Jarot male or anything, but again
The expectations coming into this season was fairly low. I think this was probably their ceiling with three games
You know now you have to position yourselves for next year when it comes to the draft and free agency and all those different types of things
Now when we look at the dolphins though, you still have a chance to make it into the playoffs
However, the role to get into the playoffs is going to be hard
Okay, because you're going to have to go begins Houston San Francisco Cleveland and the Jets
You're going to have to go up against some teams that are still trying to fight
To you know, either make it into the playoffs or just try to end the season strong case in point the Browns
No disrespect to the Browns
And so, you know, right now you are five in no no no no no no no they're six and seven
They are six and seven because they won against the Jets on Sunday. You're six and seven, right?
So right now if you go in a little bit of a run, you beat Houston
You beat San Francisco
That's eight eight and seven. Okay, cool. You beat Cleveland nine and seven then you beat the Jets 10 and seven
You can still get into the wild card now. Am I saying or am I saying that they're going to make it far? Probably not
Probably not simply because of the time that you know that tool was away from the team because they were trying to figure out exactly
the severity of his concussions and whatnot and you know, that's not necessarily a penalty to the team or whatnot
But that's just where where the team is right now if I'm the dolphins
Try to see if you can get to the wild card
If you can't get into the wild card within at least you have some good tape that you can review
And assess and make your decisions about how you want this team to you know to move forward
You know going into next year because as of right now this team in my mind has failed the expectations, right?
You paid to a all that money
cool
You traded for Tyree kill you paid Jay Robato. You got a left tackle
You you know did what you did with the defense and whatnot and so far it really has not paid
Fairly well you haven't made it to a fc championship
Let alone you made it to the Super Bowl and right now
It's not looking good
And I would not be surprised if that head coach is sort of on the hot seat right now
But hey, that's another story for the offseason. Okay now for the bills
Keep adding pressure on the cheeks for the number one seed now granted
You had an ugly game against the Rams on Sunday. And so now you have to try to bounce back from that
Okay, because as of right now Pittsburgh
Could jump over you and get the second seed if you lose to the bills
And that's probably going to be one of their hardest matchups this entire season
So you're going to have to be buttoned up when it comes to the play calling and whatnot
And then after Detroit you have New England the Jets and then New England again
Those are three games that you should be able to steamroll and to win
But again, those are divisional games so anything can happen
Moving on to the afc west keep adding pressure onto the chiefs because as of right now the chargers
Could continue to be a nuisance to the chiefs even though. Yes, they do have the number one seed
You can still try to mess things up, you know for them, right?
Because as of right now you have Tampa Bay
Denver
New England and then the Raiders two of your divisional rivals
Fairly soon. Okay, Tampa Bay's defense even though. Yes, they are banged up a little bit. They can still give you problems problems
New England no problem
Vegas no problem. So
Again, you're in a really good spot. You really are so
You want to try to continue to build off of this momentum because you're going to need it going into the playoffs
You really are now for the Broncos keep fighting
Okay, yes, you you know
You're in the mix to make it into the playoffs great, but at the same time guess what you want to try to
You know
Get as high as you can with when it comes to the seating
You want to because as of right now if i'm not mistaken
I think the chargers are still the fives are still the fifth seed and the Broncos right now are still the seventh seed
so
Hey, if you want to get a little bit higher, you know what you you know what you're going to have to do
You're gonna have to win your you know the most important games you are
You know when we look at it you have the chargers you have Cincinnati and then you end things with Kansas City. So
Most likely that game against Kansas City patch of my homes and company will probably be rested. Who knows but
You know for the Raiders
Thanos snap
Yes, I said it Thanos snap get all that get all that uh infinity stones
Better yet use all your super bowl rings that you won, you know in the 80s and whatnot
Put them all into an infinity gauntlet and then snap your fingers because guess what this season is over for you
Okay, it is kaput. It is done. It is finito. It is over game
over, okay
Even when you look at their schedule and lana jacksonville
Uh new Orleans and the chargers
I do not believe they are not going to win any of those games because I think they are
You know 100 of focused on trying to get your door sanders
And so they realize hey, we want to be able to try to get that you know that number one pick and keep the number one overall
Pick because we have to do lose and that's exactly what they're going to do
The chiefs prepare for the gauntlet
That's right
Prepare for the gauntlet and the reason why I say that is because you have to go against cleveland, houston, pittsburgh, denver
All have really good defenses and I would not be surprised if the browns want to try to damper
You know the the end of your season
I would not be surprised and then not to mention you have to go against houston can't sleep on them
You have to go against pittsburgh on christmas. Everyone's going to be watching that game on my fellow junkies
You know you're going to be watching that game because I'm going to be watching that game
Most likely there's a good chance you might lose but again
Who knows?
But I do know this the chiefs
They don't look the best they sort of look like some of those patriot, you know teams
In the later parts of their dynasty where it seemed a little bit shaky
You don't really know if they're really going to be super competitive in the playoffs and then guess what next thing you know
They're in the super bowl once again, but hopefully that is not the case though, but
Let's go to the nfc side
whoo nfc east man
I'm what is there to say about you guys that hasn't been said already, you know giants hit the button
Okay, hit the better. Yeah. Don't even hit the button. Just yank out the cord
From the wall. Okay, because it's it's over. Okay wrap it up tie it up throw it in the trash
It's over with okay, and then not to mention not too long ago
Brian Dable reported that you know drew lock is in a walking boot
So that means Tommy DeVito was going to be the starting quarterback on Sunday. Whoo. This is uh
This is not going to be good
This team is about to get steamrolled. Okay, they are about to get cooked. They are about to get baked
Habachi grilled fried pan seared with a little bit of butter and in time
You know do do the little thing when you get the spoon you keep on scooping scooping scooping scooping scooping
That's exactly what's gonna happen. Keep on scooping scooping scooping scooping else. Okay
Oh, that was a great analogy. I'm gonna have to keep that in but
Yeah, there's nothing really to say about the giants. They're preparing for the draft
They're preparing for you know their next quarterback who they're probably going to draft and whatnot. Oh probably can't war
That wouldn't be surprised for the cowboys finish strong
You know the reason why I say this is because despite
The ups and downs that the cowboys have had this season
You still want to try to root for them not me because I don't like the cowboys not one bit
But if you're a cowboy fan, you still want to try to root for them just to finish strong
Especially for players on that team that you know have a lot of uncertainty because again, this team has a lot of uncertainty
You don't know if they're going to keep Mike McCarthy. You don't know if they're going to bring in a new head coach
You don't know if they're going to you know clean out the positional coaches even though you're your season didn't end the best
Guess what you finish strong. Do I even really want to say the rest of their matchups? Yeah, you might as well
Carolina Tampa Bay Philly Washington. I don't think they're gonna end well
I do not think this is gonna end well folks. I just don't know
Now for the commanders you already most likely are going to be in the playoffs
Do I think they're going to win?
No, do I think they probably could try to win possibly but hey, who knows?
But you know when we look at this, you know
When they were on that hot start, you know, there there was people saying oh man, jayden danes looking
You know like a generation talent. He's doing his thing
And that's the thing, you know, he runs into Baltimore and Pittsburgh and then things get a little bit cool
Things get a little bit chilled and now they're in a situation where although you do have a winning record
You want to try to at least end things with you making to the playoffs just to add the cherry
On top the next games that they have to go up against are
New Orleans Philly Atlanta and then Dallas
New Orleans is somewhat of a dumpster fire
um
Everybody else up in the air because I mean, you know the divisional poems especially Philly and in Dallas
Atlanta, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if they bench, you know, Kirk Cousins and had Michael Penik's play
So wouldn't be surprised with that. But all in all you had a really great season build build off of that momentum for next year
Address the holes on the team and figure out how you can make this team better now for the Eagles
I had silence the naysayers
Especially with everything going on right now with the whole
You know jamerhurst and aj brown situation
You want to tamp that down and the only way that you can tamp that down is if you be dominant for the rest of the season
Because right now you have to go up against penceburg
Washington Dallas and then the Giants. I can tell you right now the Giants
Most likely they're going to rest their starters and Kenny will not Kenny. Lenny Pickett is going to be in
Uh, Dallas, I don't know that might actually be a pretty good game. That might actually be a bad good game
I don't know Washington might even be the same thing, but penceburg. Yeah. Yeah
We want our revenge especially from from two years ago when y'all was doing your thing and aj brown was
Was pointing at people when he was basically Randy moss 2.0 on the field. Oh, yeah
Yeah, we want our revenge
We wanted it's a little bit personal on sunday
So all my eagles fans just know if y'all don't hear from me on sunday. Just know it's nothing but love after the game
Not during the game for the nfc north though lions
Maintain control of the divisional and conference lead. You are on a hot streak right now
You are the most dominant team in the nfc. However
You want you don't want to try to you know get the high horse and feel like you're undefeated and no one can
You know can take you down because guess what it'll be that one team that
Nobody would expect and then guess what they punch you in the mouth and now you're out of the playoffs, right?
Because when we look at it, you have to go against Buffalo. That's going to be a tough matchup
Chicago, I don't think that's really going to be a tough matchup
I think they're just you know licking their wounds and just reassessing and how they're going to
You know address this team, you know moving forward, especially next year
San Francisco, they may try to put up a fight just because they want to try to see if they can get into the playoffs
In the Vikings, they're already in the playoffs, but they'll definitely try to you know fight you tooth and nail
That's not a game where you can just rest your starters. I'm sorry
But for the Packers clean up your self-inflicted wounds and prepare yourself for the playoffs
You know the last few games the problem with the Packers is
their self-inflicted wounds the holding calls the
You know the small minute things those things add up, okay? If you keep on getting a holding call, you know every two or three drives
That's going to put you in a bad, you know in a bad position on the field
But if you clean that up and if you try to play a little bit more better football more consistent better football
Well, then guess what you won't have to worry about those things and even now they're still in a really good spot
So you want to try to sneak into the playoffs because right now people are sleeping on you
But guess what I believe in you. Well, I really don't believe in you, but I believe in you
Just a little bit
Not a whole lot though because when we look at this you have to go up against Seattle
New Orleans Minnesota, and then Chicago
Chicago you can most likely you know rest your starters, but the rest of those three games. Oh, no, you're gonna have to fight
You're gonna have to fight for your rights. I know all the chiefs fans are probably saying to
Nobody cares vikings prepare yourself for the playoffs
Okay, because right now you are right under the lines when it comes to playoff seating and whatnot
If I'm not mistaken, I think they have the second seed second or third seed don't
If I got it wrong, you know, don't don't hold into me and whatnot
But when we look at this, you know, you have to go up against Chicago
Then Seattle Green Bay and then Detroit
The last three games. I mean that's pretty brutal just to to end things right. I mean dang
Green Bay and then Detroit to the two games to end the season good. God. Oh my
Whoo, man, man. Oh man, but you know
If you would have told me this Vikings team
Would be in the position that there are right now, especially with Sam Darno. I would have called you a liar
But you know Sam Darno has basically played himself into a new a new contract
most likely 30 to 40 plus million a year and
You know, they could probably be a big problem to other NFC teams
I wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings make it to the Super Bowl this year. I just would not be surprised. Hey, you never know
Vikings and Steelers
Super Bowl who knows?
Bears reset. I understand, you know, you guys have a lot of hype coming into the season
I understand that, you know, the team got you this weapon and that weapon and this person and that person but
You know, I think it's just I think it's just time to just assess where the team is and just realize. Hey
We're not going anywhere. There's no there's no point in us trying to fight to go anywhere
We might as well just want to assess what we have
You know on the team and figure out if we need to make any adjustments and whatnot and if I'm the head coach
This is also important for you as well because hey if you win
In the next four games
You might have a little bit of leverage to say hey, we won the last four games of the season
Keep me on the team. I want to stay here and I want to continue to build with Caleb Williams, right?
compared to just you know getting rid of you and then
You know bringing in somebody else and then messing up that chemistry and whatnot
Now for the NFC south finish strong
If you would have told me that Carolina would would be where they are right now would have called you a liar and for them to
You know turn their season around
especially specifically for
Bryce young I would have called you a liar
I definitely was under the impression that Bryce young was definitely going to get traded by the trade deadline simply because you know
He wasn't playing well then he got benched and whatnot. And so, you know, once that happens, you're probably thinking oh
They're about to move off of him and you know ride with with uh with Andy dawn
But clearly that's not the case and they've showed a little bit of fight and a little bit of grit
And you know, that's something that you can that you can carry on into next season
So, you know, when we look at their their schedule the remaining schedule
Dallas, Arizona
Tampa Bay and then Atlanta
So you end the season with two divisional opponents
Most likely two of those opponents are probably going to make it into the playoffs
So, you know, just try to fight. Maybe you could try to mess up their their odds or their chances of making it into the playoffs
Who knows?
Saints prepare for the offseason
I don't want to go on this on this crazy sold box
But I think it's just time that you acknowledge that you're going to go through a real
Rebuild I think this experiment with Derek Carr has has you know has run its course
And I think it's time for you to go young and cheap at this point because outside of that game against the cowboys
Derek Carr really hasn't been doing a whole lot. I'm I'm sorry
He just has it and you know
With his head coach getting fired and then you have the intern head coach and whatnot
Most likely he's going to get fired as well and then they're going to bring in somebody else and
It it's just going to be a whole lot of change and turnover. So it's just best that you go into a different direction at this point
Now when we look at their schedule, right? They have
Washington Green Bay, Las Vegas, and then Tampa Bay
I don't know if you know
If they're going to try to see they can fight but if I was them
Maybe you could try to see if you can, you know
When maybe one or two games to just to have a little bit of momentum, but at this point just just prepare prepare for the off-season
Okay, you know when you have players like demario davis
and Cameron jordan
I think if I'm the Saints organization, I would release them and not not not for anything bad
But simply because you want to put them in a position where you know, they could possibly compete for a title
You know, I think it would be right for them to do so because they've done so much for this team
They've been with this team through the ups and downs highs and lows
So what better way to you know to help them than to just let them choose
If they want to you know go to a championship team or if they want to retire
Because this team needs to get young
They need to clean up their their books when it comes to the catchphrase and whatnot
And then you start off loading some of these big contracts instead of just
Doing a whole bunch of restructures and pushing money down, you know towards the end of the contract and then before you know it
Now you're you know, you're in the negative and you're trying to figure out exactly how you're going to get
Into the positives so that you can try to you know sign some people and then sign your your draft picks and whatnot
It's a whole bunch of stuff. Just hit the reset button. Please now for the Buccaneers fight for a wild card spot
Okay
You can still make it into the playoffs
You're your neck and neck with the Falcons
But the only way that you can you know that you can separate yourself is if you keep on winning and right now
You have to go against the Chargers
Dallas Carolina and then New Orleans, right? You know that the chargers are going to give you a problem
They are a really good defense as well as a really good offense. Okay, Carolina
They still got some grit with them. Okay, New Orleans run them over. Okay
Go on the ship and say set sail for New Orleans run them over. Okay now for the Falcons
Extend your divisional lead. Okay, because remember there was a point in time where you know
There was a lot of uncertainty with Kirk cousins because Kirk cousins wasn't looking the best and that you know, there was a chance that
You know, Michael pinnings would come in but you know, they have confirmed and basically stood by Kirk cousin side
And will continue to give him a chance. So but when we look at their schedule
Schedule schedule schedule excuse me. They have the the Raiders the Giants Washington and then Carolina
The Giants and the Raiders you can steamroll them simply because they're preparing for the draft
Washington they're going to fight you tooth and nail and on top of that
That's a little bit of a revenge game for Dan Quinn
Uh, Carolina, they have a little bit of grit with them too. So you can't count them out as well. So
You know, there's that now when we look at the NFC West
You want to try to fight?
Okay, and the reason why I say that is because your division is still very competitive. Okay
It's not like you're the lions or the eagles where you just have this large
Marjoram of a Lee against your other divisional rival rivals. It's still fairly close
So, you know, you want to try to extend that as much as you can
You have Green Bay, Minnesota, Chicago, and then the Rams. That's a very tough four game schedule. Okay
Green Bay, they're going to give you problems
Minnesota problems the bears
Hunting
The Rams they're going to give you problems as well. So
You you have to prepare yourself because most likely you're going to be fighting
Okay, because if you give the car knows just a little bit of wiggle room
If you give the Rams just a little bit of wiggle room
They can come come on in take your spot and the next thing you know
You're trying to figure out how you're going to you know, try to fight even a little bit harder to get where you're trying to go because
Again, this team is young fairly inexperienced. The ceiling for them is a little bit lower
Simply because you know, they've had a lot of turnover. They got a new head coach and whatnot
but you know for them to be in the driver's seat of their offseason is great and
You know to me, I feel like they have exceeded expectations
And I feel like you know, this team is going to be a really good team
You know moving forward now for the car knows
Try to win the division and get a wild card spot now
I understand that they lost against the Seahawks and whatnot and and I understand, you know
It puts them back in in a bad position
But you still want to try to fight you don't want to lay down
And just mope and and grop and whatnot. No, you want to fight. Okay
You have new England. That should be a winnable game
Carolina that should be a winnable game in the last two games or your divisional games the Rams in in San Francisco
You have to play those games serious because if you don't
The Rams can go over top of you the 49ers could try to sneak their way in into the wild card. Who knows, right?
Those Cardinals are still a really good team. They still have a lot of good pieces. They can do it. They just have to be
better, okay
Collin Murray has to be better when it comes to his throws his play calling and everything, okay?
Because once he starts throwing interceptions, you can physically see that he's just like mentally checked out or whatever
Now for the final team
49ers. Yes
49ers
Oh 49ers 49ers 49ers. Oh the faithful
Hit the reset button and offload large contracts. Okay, and the reason why I say that is because
Your team has gotten old and expensive
You haven't really been hitting on your draft picks, especially in your first round, you know draft picks
So it's time for you to offload some of those contracts and to prepare yourself
you know
Possibly for the end of your Super Bowl run
I understand it was a great run. I understand that you know, you have multiple chances and you wasn't able to get them
Now some of that could be blamed on certain people who will remain anonymous
But the fact of the matter is this was a failed experiment and now it is time for you to get young
and cheap
Not to mention you have to prepare yourself for paying Brock Purdy, which
Be possibly in the in the ballpark of 50 plus million a year. So you have to figure out what what you're going to do
Um, if it was me personally, javon hardgrave
If he doesn't want to do restructure got to go debo Samuel got to go George Kittle figure out what you're going to do with him other
Uh, if it was me personally, maybe give him an extension maybe and then just figure out exactly
What positions do you want to address now if it was me personally?
I feel like they do need to address offensive line now. Am I saying they need to address it in the first round? No
But at some point they they do need to address offensive line because it is now bite them in the butt
Okay, do I think you know depending on how they do things in the off season that they could possibly make maybe one more run?
Yes, but at the same time when you look at their division the Rams
Have gotten a
Tremendously better. Okay, the seahawks have gotten tremendously better and they're young
Okay, the Cardinals are the same thing as well
So you have passed the time where you could have steamrolled these these teams now
Now these teams, you know, they they got some weapons with them and now they can fight back
And so now you have to figure out exactly what can you do to make yourself stand out?
Not only against your divisional opponents, but against any and every opponent that you have to face come next year
If I'm Kyle Shanahan, maybe you have to figure out what you have to do with your personnel because you know
There was a point in time where Kyle Shanahan's play calling
You know, you were trying to figure out. Oh, what is it? How they do this? How they do that?
And it was like somewhat of a secret
But now that half of his you know personnel are either head coaches offensive coordinators or
You know assistants or other teams
Everybody now sort of knows a little bit of the playbook of the Kyle Shanahan offense
And now defenses have been able to catch up and to scheme against it a lot better
So when it in this episode here, oh my god an hour and three minutes. Whoo
Man, man. Oh man. Oh man. This was a loaded episode. But yeah, I'm gonna end this right here
There's nothing else I need to talk about because everything else is related to the offseason
But if you guys like what you are listening, please, please, please, please, please leave a five star review
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Thank you guys so much for listening to another great episode of the football junkies podcast
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Peace and love. Happy holidays as well. Be safe everyone. I'm out