E (3:38)

What is going on everybody? How are we doing? John Middelkoff three and Out Podcast brought to you by my friends at Zone Pouches. How are we doing? Hopefully you are doing better than Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, who I would say unofficially were KO'd tonight from the playoffs. Drake May throws his hat back into the ring for the MVP discussion. Has a fantastic second half. Threw a beautiful touchdown down the stretch. Nice win for Rabel and the Pats on the road. Controversial ending in with the Lions game. I want to discuss the Jags go from the little small market team to dominating the Broncos today. That that was one of the more eye openening games I would say so far of the year. It's like whoa, didn't see that one coming. Especially because I had Denver in that game. But that, that was a butt whooping. Some playoff thoughts, couple other little thoughts from the day and, and yeah, a little bit of a comedown after, after the Bears game last night. Not the greatest slate, but still. I mean we're not going to complain about football because it's December 20th so we only have so much football left so we got to enjoy it while we have it. But before, before we talk about any football, you know I need to subscribe to the podcast. So if you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe. Spotify, Apple, wherever you may listen, subscribe to the YouTube channel. We'll be live tomorrow on the tube after the 49ers beat the Colts. So get ready for that before we dive in. Any football. You know I got to tell you about my friends. You know I got to tell you about my partners. The official ticketing app of this podcast. Game Time. Best ticketing app in America. You're looking for a tick. You. You looking for a present last minute. You know you got Christmas right around the corner you. If you're like me, you procrastinate. You're like what am I going to give my dad, my brother, people in my life, maybe a brother in law. Well if you want to give them some tickets, maybe do a playoff game. The playoff, we don't know the seating and who's playing where, but it's pretty clear who's making it. So if your team's going potentially having a home game, take care of a loved one, do it at game time. Doesn't get any easier. Just download the app, take the guesswork and out of buying tickets with my friends at game time, use the promo code John at checkout for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account, redeem the code Joe H.N. for $20 off. Swipe, tap Ticket. Go download the GameTime app today when Lamar got hit in the back and he got knocked out of the game, the first thing I wrote down if you are going to be a Super bowl contender, which I don't know, a month ago I thought the Patriots were. And then after the Josh Allen experience, you went well, you just chalked that up to Josh being Josh or is the Patriots showing some flaws and then you're watching tonight like, are they going to lose on the road? Which isn't that crazy of a loss. The Ravens are. They're not having a great season, but they're one of the best organizations in the league. And the moment Lamar got knocked out, I wrote down if you're going to be a Super bowl contender, you don't lose to Tyler Huntley. Now, that being said, a lot like last night with Malik Willis, really good organizations function at a pretty high level when their backup quarterback comes in in the middle of a game when he doesn't know or is prepared to be the player. Right? When you're the backup quarterback, you run the scout team. You don't take reps in practice. The game plan is not built or has anything to do with you. You have not taken physical reps with the game plan on a weekly basis. Basically everything is mental. Your physical preparation is typically done to service the defense of the scout team quarterback. But as we saw with Malik Willis and we saw flashes tonight with Tyler Huntley, there actually are some similarities. Malik Willis a couple of years ago was a laughingstock. I watched a lot of Pac12 football when Tyler Huntley was done playing at Utah. It never crossed my mind that he would have an NFL career. Like, I didn't think he would ever play in the NFL, let alone be a Longtime backup. It's really, really impressive what he did. And then the game started getting weird. You know, Drake May had a fumble. They ran the fake punt, which I have no problem with. You're on the road, you're 11 and three. Your last two games were the jets and the Dolphins, like put your nuts on the table. And the play call, which had one option, was covered and you were screwed. It's like maybe it's not going to be your night. And then Drake May, I thought he was fantastic in the second half. Obviously the deep touchdown pass to Kyle Williams. But you talk about a guy that's poised, who's under control, and he just was excellent. And I think a lot like the Bears playing the backup quarterback last night. A good coaching staff with a young quarterback in that position. Obviously the Bears needed a freak onside kick in this game. It was like, we can win this game. And there's just a confidence with Vrabel on the sideline, with Drake May who throws. I mean, I would say the prettiest deep ball I've ever seen was like prime Russell Wilson. It didn't get any better. The arc, I mean, it was just. It was a thing of beauty. It's something that you would put like best attributes of our all time, like legs, arm strength, you know, deep passes. Like I would say his deep ball was as good as any in league history. That, that being Drake May going back to like Kenny Stabler or something, or excuse me, Russell Wilson. I would say Drake May, early on in his career, throws an absolute gorgeous deep ball that is perfectly, you know, the accuracy on it, the ability to like put it on the right shoulder. Because part of a deep pass, you know, depending on the positioning of the defender, the positioning of the ball is really, really important. Like in his heyday, Brady and Randy Moss, it was always over his back shoulder. Randy was great at putting his hands out, you know, right into the last second. So the DB didn't do anything. And you saw tonight that played at Kyle Williams down the sideline was really a thing of beauty. He ended up 31 of 44 for 200 or for two touchdowns. And I think he threw for like 340 yards. And he pulled the box score here really quick. Yeah, 380 yards. And he's blown me away this year. I think him and Caleb, the coaching really matters. I mean, nothing has been on more full display this season than Drake May and Caleb Williams. Around competent leadership, around competent coaching, around a competent vision. We saw it last night and over the course of the season with the Bears and we have seen it over the course of the season with Drake May. And here's the other thing with Drake May last week as the game unraveled, I thought Josh McDaniels kind of called crappy last couple series. His quarterback was a little frazzled. Their offense wasn't operating at a high level and he didn't call any run plays and it kind of all fell on Drake and kind of crumbled. The offense looked terrible. They didn't gain any yards and they went three and out. And then they went turnover on downs in four plays. And tonight the efficiency, the play calling, scheming guys wide open, taking advantage. Like Marlon Humphrey has had a fantastic career. He's been a really good player in his younger days. At this point in time, if you get him in one on one situations, he's at a major disadvantage. And Josh had him circled. You know, like we are going to attack you over and over and over again with different players. And that's exactly what they did. Hell, I mean the play to Booty, Booty, Booty. I think not Booty. He tackled him. Now he caught it, but when he caught it and then he dropped it, Marlon Humphrey could have just grabbed the ball, but what do you think he thought? He just got a pass interference because I tackled him in the open field. Then he turns around, there's no flag. He's like, what the hell just happened? He could have just grabbed the ball for an interception, but he kind of playfully hit it because he thought he was screwed. And I think the coaching with New England, I think the growth of Drake May, I mean Diggs tonight was a monster. What do you have? 9 for 138. Obviously the big play late in the game on the out route when the, when the Ravens start sitting on some of the quicker stuff. But I was really, really impressed with Drake May down the stretch after again a little bit of a rocky start, the turnover. Good coaching builds guys up. They don't let their good players and the guys that they're going to depend on go into a hole. They're too, in football, you're too dependent on those guys, especially a young quarterback. And if they're confident, if their confidence spirals and disappears, you're just, you know, up Schitt's creek without a paddle and they're, you know, uplifting of Drake May after last week to this week, getting a little weird on the road against a desperate team. I mean a desperate team to come out and down the stretch just kind of kick their ass. Now you can say they're missing Lamar, and obviously that was huge. Right? But I've. I've gained. Not that I didn't have a ton of respect for Lamar, because I think over the course of the last several years, he just became a. An elite player. I know he did not play well in the playoffs. It's well documented. Anyone that watched me, like, kind of look like a different guy, honestly. Beside, the 1/2 was against Buffalo last year. For the most part, I think he's been bad in the playoffs relative with what he was in the regular season. This season has not gone great for him in terms of, like, relative to some of his previous statistical years. He's obviously been banged up, but I feel like he's played injured the entire season and he's kind of represented. What the Ravens stand for is like, this is a tough fucking organization and we're going to go down swinging. And that's kind of what they did tonight. But the reality is, is their season's over. Like, the Steelers are not losing to the Browns next week. No chance. So especially now, given that if they win that game, this division is over. If you would have told me a couple weeks ago that Week 18 against the Steelers would not have mattered, I don't think I would have believed you. But you could have told me a lot of things several weeks ago, and I definitely wouldn't have believed you about the way this kind of playoff picture has played out, about the way some of these teams have played out. But I just thought the Ravens would figure out a way just to limp there even if they didn't get it this year. Right. Like, I mean, obviously the Steelers beat him a couple of weeks ago. I think the Steelers have kind of found some of their mojo. But this thing's over. And there have been questions out there, at least by the fans of, like, has this kind of situation run its course? Right. We've talked about this before with the Lions, and we'll get into it here in a little bit when we talk about that game. But, like, Windows do close with the group of certain players under contract who are in the prime of their career. Like, you see with the Chiefs, the group of guys they had that they made their super bowl runs with will look dramatically different at the start of next year. Chris Jones will be gone. Kelsey probably retired. Joe Tunis already been traded. Like, it's. It's just over for a core group of guys that you made a large run with. Now some guys will carry over some younger players. McDuffie Carloftis right. But there is a lot of new faces and I think the same thing with the Ravens. I think this team is going to look dramatically different next year. And they, like the Steelers, have been very consistent. Why they've had the same coach what feels like for 20 years. And you know exactly what you're going to get season in, season out. And typically, especially over the course of the last four or five years, they've easily been one of the best teams in the NFL. But they had some injuries. Some of their guys got old. Obviously. Lamar, Lamar Jackson has just been injured throughout the season. I don't care what the injury report says. I can use my eyes. He hasn't looked the same. Like, I'm watching Drake May, like, looks like fully healthy to me. I'm watching Caleb Williams last night. Looks fully healthy to me. Like I've been watching Lamar Jackson long enough to know like, yeah, it doesn't quite look right. He kind of found some mojo last week, but clearly he's been battle stuff because he gets hit weird and then boom, he's out for the game. And it wasn't the reason they lost tonight because again, I have a lot of respect, you know, for Huntley, a guy that again, never thought he'd be in the league, went 9 to 10, only threw for 65 yards. But yeah, I just, obviously there's a massive drop off between those two guys, but their season's over. I mean, like I said, the Steelers are beating the Browns and I think the Ravens will be officially eliminated from the playoffs. Now what to see, you know, the Patriots, the next two weeks, they. It's really, it's crazy to say this because you like, they've been so terrible, but it's kind of unfathomable how bad the jets are. Like, they've been a really bad franchise over the past decade plus. But you watch them over the course of the last several weeks, you're like, I don't think you could get any worse. Like today the Raiders showed a lot of heart. Genti made a bunch of plays. The Titans, like, played pretty well today. Now the Chiefs were playing with a guy that I don't think any of us literally have ever heard of. I had to go immediately to the wiki page. Like, who is this guy? He's been on the practice squad for the Steelers. Like, what's this guy's deal? He's in the league. He's got two rings on the practice squad for the Chiefs. But like, what is going on with the Jets? They don't even try. Patriots are winning that game. And then they get the Dolphins, who I was reading the story, they had a guy that they made inactive today that if he leaves, they get a comp pick and it's like, oh, they're tanking. Which. Right move. So the Patriots are going to win the next two weeks. Now the Broncos get the Chiefs on Thursday night. Minu tore his ACL today, so they're going to see that backup quarterback that again, no one's ever heard of. So we'll have to see how this plays out. I mean, they both might end up 14 and 3. So who. I don't know who gets the tiebreaker there, but I think the AFC playoff picture is basically taken shape. You know, the, the Texans, or excuse me, the Colts are technically still alive. But if they lose tomorrow, they wouldn't be mathematically eliminated, but to me it would be over because they would be 8 and 7. Their last two games would be against the Jags and the Texans. The Texans already have 10 wins, so they would need the Texans to lose out. And pretty sure the Texans play the Titans this week. No, they. Excuse me, they play the Chargers this week. Actually. It was a pretty good game. That's Saturday game. But then they play the Colts the last game of the season. But I just think the Colts, I think they're done. I think we know the afc. It's Denver, New England in whatever order it plays out. The Jags, who we'll talk about in a second, the Steelers, the Chargers, the Bills and the Texans. That's a pretty good AFC playoff picture. Part of the reason it's really good is that depending on the order and the seating, how this plays out, if the three wild cards teams, in whatever order are the Chargers, the Bills and the Texans, I don't think any of us would be shocked if two of the three of those teams win. It is not inconceivable that the Chargers with Herbert and Harbaugh, the Bills with Josh Allen, who had a weird game today, and the Texans, who also kind of had a weird game today. But they have won seven straight games. So your boy had them, you know, -14 and a half. I was pretty dialed in on that game, actually. I kind of came away like I'm kind of rooting for Gen Z. It was kind of fun. Sucked to lose, but Texas still pulled it out. I would not shock me. They're all going to be very, very live dogs depending on the matchups. You know, it's crazy if you're the Jags and you have a fantastic season and you draw Josh Allen in the first round. It's like that kind of sucks. You know, the Steelers getting the Chargers, that's a little bit of the Spider man meme of them pointing at each other. That is a, I mean, it's a game that the Steelers can win. We'll see if TJ Watt can come back. But you know, it's going to be hard to bet, you know, against Harbaugh and the Chargers that are going to have a lot of momentum going in. And then the Texans, you know, against the New England Patriots, that's or the Broncos. That's just a tough, tough matchup if you're the two seed. I mean, it really is because most years the Texans are better than a 7 seed, right? They have an elite defense. CJ was a little hit all over the place today, but at the end of the day, like, I think the Texans, they would be the type team that I would want no part of in a playoff game just because their defense is so good. At any moment, pick six, trip six game could just get really, really this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is addictive, chemical and underage. Sale is prohibited. If you're as competitive as I am, you always are looking for something to help you stay dialed in. And for me, that thing is Zone pouches. You won't catch me without. I actually have a big package coming from my friends at Zone with some of my favorite flavors. Excited to share those. So not to mention 20 pouches per can versus 15 the other guys provide. Choose Zone and dominate the day. Use the promo code number three and out 20 on nicokick.com for 20% off at checkout.

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I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi Dan.

J (24:00)

Hey, how's it going today?

E (24:01)

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

J (24:04)

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

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The insurance companies and other companies that we go against know that we're going to take it to the end that we believe in the case. So we fight for every dollar and we're not afraid to go that extra mile for our clients.

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Are insurance companies like actually afraid of you guys?

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We don't bluff. We take it to trial. And we are not strangers of getting very, very, very large verdicts.

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Awesome.

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So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

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Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247365 wow.

E (24:47)

Dan Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the.

J (24:51)

Show. Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near.

E (24:54)

You. Speaking of weird, the end of the Lions game, there has been a lot of talk and people screaming. Lions fans mad. I get texts from buddies about how bad the refs are. And don't get me wrong, the officiating is today was really bad. I mean there are some calls. It feels like guys are either afraid to blow the whistle or get really whistle happy. There's no like middle ground, right? I can disagree with certain calls. Like the body weight call, it's like, what is the guy supposed to do? He's £300, he's sacking the quarterback. Is he supposed to float away? But so many plays in the secondary with pass interference or defensive holding, it just feels so subjective, so, so random, right? It's just like, what, what are you seeing? Some referees see it one way, other guys see it other way. Obviously sometimes it's pretty clear and obvious. But throughout the, throughout the day, throughout honestly the season, you just don't know what you're getting. Game to game, play to play. But the last play in the Lions game one, I feel no sympathy for the Lions. None. It's not their fault. Maybe it is. I mean, I don't know their training and practice habits. They have a million injuries every single year. And even today the I forget who was calling the game was like they're down to their third center and defensively they're just a mass unit. In the secondary, they're down 2917 in the fourth quarter. It was, yeah, it was Nancy Romo that it was just you're down 2917 in a game that is basically for your season. And even Dan Campbell Said when he addressed the team, he said that that might have been our last chance. Right? So he's no dummy. He understood, I'm sure that they built this thing as like all of our chips are in the middle of the table for this game. And you kind of get worked by a team who star wide receiver hit a fan, who you could argue their second best quote unquote receiver is a 300 pound tight end who actually is a free talent, but probably should be playing right tackle if he wants to maximize profits. I just think that they worked you now. You came back at the end, it got weird. They missed a field goal, but the final play, Give me a fucking break. There is a thing called forward, forward, progress, or just like the play is over. And it was pretty clear that one, he not only didn't cross the goal line, but they drove him back like five yards. And in 20, 25, with officiating, you can't slam the guy to the ground. You can't make sure everyone knows they tackled. You were taught to kind of like after a couple steps, kind of stop this, like play it to the whistle. Not in 2:25. You know, in this day and age, right? You, you don't want to get a penalty. Give him another free play. By the time that he lateraled it to Jared Goff, it felt like the play had been over for two seconds. Anyone complaining? Now we can argue whether it was offensive pass interference or not. I'd argue it's irrelevant because he didn't score a touchdown. He would have been tackled. They didn't have timeouts. The game would have been over. But like I said, when you are making Jalen Warren look like Barry Sanders, I'm not going to feel bad for you. You're not a playoff team this year. And I'm a Dan Campbell, Jared Goff Lions fan. Like, I have rooted for the team just because I like what they stood for. I've, I've had a ton of admiration for how they've rebuilt this operation, but give me a break. With everyone screaming and bitching and moaning about the way the game ended. Yeah, referees are idiots. Like, I don't even, I'm not even listening to what they said because it didn't even matter, even if the pass interference hadn't happened, that there was no lateral and this notion that like, well, by the letter of the law, no, he was, he was clearly tackled and it was over. What are we talking about? So I just do not understand if they would have allowed that lateral to happen. That would have Been one of the biggest con jobs, Ponzi schemes, Fugazi's in the history of the NFL. It would have been the most outrageous thing I've ever seen in my entire life. And we've seen some crazy ones. The des catch. I'm probably. I can't. I'm so tired right now. I can't even, you know, come up with five. But we've seen a lot, especially recently. But that would have been the worst one of all time. I truly believe that if they would have allowed a lateral after he had been driven back for five yards and neither guy is trying to get a penalty. Like you lost fair and square and now you know, essentially you are eliminated because you get, you know, the Vikings this week who are going to have their backup quarterback because J.J. mcCarthy's probably going to be out for the season with a fucked up hand. But the packers just have to win one of these last two games. And to me the packers are a much better team. The packers deserve to be in the playoffs. They didn't deserve to win the last game against the Bears because they screwed up the onside kick. But to me, like if you said who's more deserving out of those two teams, like, I'm sorry, the packers are in the Jags. Clearly. Sean Payton this week when he made the comment about it's like really impressive coming from a small market. He's worked in a small market like New Orleans is not treated like the Dallas Cowboys. The Green Bay Packers, I know they're a small market, but they're treated like a major brand. The 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles like these major teams that we don't talk about the Jags. He was just speaking facts. This wasn't college. He wasn't being offended that your town smaller than others. To me, the way I took it is like they're a really good team. They just play in a market that no one pays attention. I told Coward earlier today, they're like, are they even a top five most famous football team in their own state? College, high school and pro. I think the answer would be no. The U. Florida State University of Florida, the Miami Dolphins, St. Thomas Aquinas. I mean what are we talking about here? Now that being said about the market size and their visibility nationally, which I don't think it's really disputed, most people aren't locked in on Jags game, myself included. I mean I have every game on all the time. But like about watching all their snaps most time because historically they've never mattered. They have Been bad for so long, they are no longer bad. Today was really impressive. They click. They dominated that game. They destroyed Denver. They were unstoppable on offense. Liam Cohen as Trevor Lawrence looked like he's back at Clemson. He was fantastic today. I mean his, his throws in the red zone. I mean he looks like, I don't know, like Josh Allen or Justin Herbert. Moving around with his feet, accurate on throws, just under complete control. Defensively, they're really physical. They are. And this speaks to what Sean Payton is talking about. Ben Johnson is getting a ton of credit. The Bears and the Jags are the same. They have sucked for a while now. The difference is the Bears have a lot of history and they are in one of our biggest, most important cities in America. So when they are good, they are a major story. Right? So Ben Johnson has turned Chicago around overnight. Liam Cohen has turned around the Jags around overnight. Yet we have been talking about the Bears, Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson 24 7, 365 all year. I'm as guilty as anybody. They're a fascinating story but a lot of people are paying attention. We have not been talking about the Jags. Besides. Yeah, Liam Cohen, what he's doing, like what he's doing. I'm blown away. Like watching that game today. I kept waiting, I was like, ah, this is, this is not going to hold. And it was like boom, another touchdown. Boom, another touchdown. Parker Washington. Is that Jerry Rice? No, it's Parker Washington etn. It was like we are blasting these guys. What was the final score of that game? Because it doesn't feel as close as the final score was. The final score was 34 to 20. Felt worse than that, especially in the second half. That was, I mean, Bo nix to a terrible pick right to the defender. Then they immediately scored again. Basically ran the same play like back to back series to Parker Washington where you like made one guy miss. All of a sudden he's just free down the sideline. That, that was really impressive. I, I was, I was blown away. I really was. I, I, I tweeted this. I don't know if I really believe it, but I definitely don't not believe it. Like, could the Jags win the Super Bowl? I mean could the Jags beat the Steelers? Yes. Could the Jags beat the Chargers? Yes. Could the Jags beat the Bills? Yes. Could the Jags beat the Texans? They have and they, the game they lost to them, I think they were up 29 to 10. Could they beat the Broncos? We just saw them do it. It's Like, I, I don't know why they couldn't win. You know, the AFC now they're probably going to end up with the, with the three seed because like we said, the Patriots schedule is really easy. And now the Chargers get Gardner Minchu's backup and the Chargers, who, depending on what happens this week, might even have nothing to play for. And even if they do, and it's the difference between the five or six seed, wouldn't be shocking. Some of these teams are going to rest people week 18 if they basically know I'm going to be the five or six seed. But whatever, I don't care either way. Sean McVeigh did this a couple of years ago. I'm not playing people week 18, and he did it years ago in the preseason. Everyone copied him. I do think more and more teams, if it's like the difference between the six or the seven seed or the five and the six seed, it's like, I'm not risking getting a starter injured when I know for a fact I'm going to play the next week. And I think you can justify that. I wouldn't blame any team for doing that because, like, well, I'd rather play the Panthers or I'd rather play the Steelers than the Jags. Like, I just, I cannot lose my star fill in the blank player in a game that like, well, I could have changed the seating, but regardless, I was playing next week anyway. And listen, all. It's the playoffs. All these teams are hard at the end of the day, you know, especially in the afc. Like, I'm not playing Brady or Manning here. Patrick Mahomes is in a hospital bed somewhere. So it's like, it is what it is. But, man, I. Nothing but, nothing but respect for the Jags today. That, that was, that was really, really impressive. And the Lions losing makes it official. The 49ers and the Bears are in the playoffs. So basically the NFC playoffs now, I think it's set unless the packers seriously implode. They play the Ravens this week, but that might be against Tyler Huntley, and I would like him in that spot. And then the last week, the Packers. There's so much stuff going on in my head right now. The packers play the Vikings, who are going to have, you know, the, the quarterback Bosmer is just atrocious. So I would expect the packers to win the next two games. Technically, they're not dead for the division. They would need the Bears to lose the last two games, but they could potentially be playing. They are playing the Lions Week 18 who would have nothing to play for. So. And the Bears have a huge advantage coming up here this week playing the 49ers. But either way, I do think it's right in the nfc, right. The Rams, Seattle, the Niners, all in. The Bears in, the Eagles are in. And in some combination, I don't think it matters because whoever they play, whether it be the Bears, the Niners, Seattle or the Rams, again, a lot can change over the next couple of weeks in terms of seating. I do think whoever gets in the Panthers or the Buccaneers will be an underdog, especially the Panthers, who actually weren't terrible today. Part of it is the Bucks defense is so bad, Bryce kind of runs around. McMillan's a good player and Baker just is, I don't know, shell of himself. It's crazy that that MVP bet that kind of felt good a month in. I mean, feels like you on drugs. What were you even talking about? Because even on that final drive today, I'll be honest, I didn't have much faith he was going to drive him down for a game winning touchdown. I thought he'd get him in the field goal range, but like, it never crossed my mind like he's going to drive him down for a game. When he touched down, I didn't think he was going to do it. Now. I didn't necessarily think he was going to throw an interception right to a guy, but that's what happened. And when it happened, I was like, yeah, been happening a lot. So, you know, I think Whoever gets the 5 seed in the NFC is pretty powerful because it draws you one of those two teams. Especially to me, if it's the Panthers, that I don't think there will be a soul that will believe that they can win a playoff game. And I think they would be correct. And the seven seed, like let's say the Bears get the two. I think the packers would like their chances in a rematch. And that's not trying to diminish anything about the Bears, but you know, we've seen those two teams play. Both games have been a coin flip at the end of the game. But the packers have had the lead, you know, the whole time. They had the lead the whole time in the first game. And I mean they were up 16, they were up 10 plus points, you know, in the second half. And again, what the Bears are doing feels a little bit that it's more sustainable. I think they have a lot more young players. I would take Ben Johnson seven days a week, 10 times. I think Dan Quinn's a little Overrated. Nice guy, good energy, feels like an uplifter, but, like, I think he's a little bit of a roller coaster. Every. Everyone in the league would take Ben Johnson over Dan Quinn, but a little bit like that team last year of just, like, everything was breaking their way. That's what the Bears kind of feel like right now, and rightfully so. The football gods owe them one, and it was really, really cool to see that city alive. Some of you guys dming me that I had a guy that says, like, I run a restaurant and my cooks and everyone in the restaurant was standing up and hugging, and it was. It's a powerful moment in the city. Everyone felt together, and that's cool. One of our big markets, one of our. Our teams that really matters. You know, growing up in the Bay area, like, the 49ers really, really matter. And I've been there when they're. When they're humming, it's a powerful thing. When they suck, it's. It's. It's not as fun. And for Bears fans, like, it's. It's been really ugly for a long time. And to have that moment against Green Bay, you know, was really, really cool. And I think we're going to get some major star power in the NFC now that the Bears are in, obviously, the Eagles, you got Sean McVeigh, you got Kyle Shanahan, you know, the packers will be in, and the Seattle Seahawks. So, you know, lots on the line. With the seating, you could argue this year in the NFL, you know, everything being so close, seating might mean a little less. Like, none of these matchups. Beside the Carolina Panthers, I could see any team beating the other. Like, no team like Seattle playing the packers, the Niners playing the Bears, the Eagles playing the Rams. All these games go either way. That's going to be what's really fun about January. And I would say the same thing for the afc. Like, would you be shocked if the Bills beat the Jags or if the Chargers are the Steelers? Like, that, to me, is a coin flip game. The Texans could take out the Patriots in the first round of the playoffs. I think it's the first time in a long time that you go, yeah, there are probably three teams that can win the Super Bowl. I don't know if all 14 can, but I think you could make an argument the number is closer to 10 than it is 3, and that's cool. And I think you could say somewhat about that in college football, even though it does feel like if they play their best game, Ohio State's probably the best team. And more than likely, if you're going to find people to bet on it, you're like probably Ohio State or Georgia, but it would stun you like. Texas Tech paid $25 million for their roster. They're really good. You know, Oregon has a highly paid roster. Ole Miss pretty good. They took Georgia down to the line at Georgia earlier this year. Like they can play, you know, so it's, that's what's cool. This for the first time in college football with the nil is like everyone's kind of alive. And that's what the NFL kind of feels like right now. Ten plus teams going into the playoffs are going to go. We got a chance to win the super bowl because. Did everyone feel that the last couple years? I don't think so. Do you think people thought they were winning, beating Patrick Mahomes? No. Deep down, no chance. And they never did. I mean, they, they didn't. The NFC might have been a little more open the last couple years, but it has definitely never been more open than it is right now. So I'm excited to watch this play out. And it kind of sucks that our future partners, you know, this Christmas day games look good at the start of the year. But you know, injuries. We had a time today where J.J. mcCarthy was hurt. Josh Allen limped out of the game because he rolled an ankle. Something happened to Shador's finger. Minchu tore his ACL at one point in time this morning, like four or five quarterbacks were out of the game. It's like this is. This season is kind of unraveling. Couple things I wrote down before we get out of here. I understand guys are paid a lot of money and your job, whether your team's good or whether team's bad, is to play hard and try and effort. And of course guys should play hard. That's not the case. You look around the league, some of these bad teams, it's. It's a really hard watch. And I was a little more locked in on the Raider Texan game because I had the Texans and I just. They had. They were on my own little TV just by themselves. And I couldn't get over and listen, this guy's a stud. But the effort in which Max Crosby and I understand he always plays like this. I felt like today he even went up a level. And maybe it's because two of the best pass rushers in the league are on the Texans. They're known as the best defense. His team is just a laughing stock. He played today. Like they were playing win or get into the playoffs. He played so hard. He reminded me of a guy that if you're scouting and you go, hey, this guy plays for one of the worst teams in the SEC or the Big ten, but he's like going to go in the top like 15 picks and you just watch him, his team sucks. They're getting crushed. They're down 20 points. You turn on the second half, the third quarter on the road and he's just playing balls the wall. He's playing like his nil check or scholarship tech depends on it. And that's what Max Crosby looked like tonight. So like this off season to me, his value, if you're a, if you're a gm, you just turn on games like today you're like, he's playing like this for this team in these circumstances. What would he be like if he was on a team like a 10 and 4 team going in the last couple of weeks, he's everything you would want for a star player for a guy to build around. I was, it was fun to watch. If I'm going to lose a bet, at least I can do it to a guy just playing his ever loving balls off. And Ashton Genti feels like for the first time in a long time showed some signs of life and a loss, had I think well over 100 yards. He got a big touchdown catch for like 60 yards. He was, he looked good. He want his touchdown touchdown run. Kind of was reminiscent of Boise State. Broke a couple of tackles and took it to the house. And last but not least, you know, famous players now, if they want to go into broadcasting, they do have to ask themselves. Like Drew Brees, for example. I was pretty critical a couple of years ago when Drew did the new the Notre Dame game because I thought he was terrible. And listen, as we see with Tom Brady, you get better the more you do anything. Welcome to life. Welcome to whatever you do. But it was like, I think this guy's pretty bad. And clearly he said something. I think this off season, like if I ever got a chance, I think I could be one of the best guys. And I think a huge part of being a broadcaster is like, it's not, you're not just famous guy. You kind of got to entertain us. We're sitting on our couch watching the game, like, give me something I understand. Not everyone's John Madden or John Gruden, enormous personalities. But like, just give me some energy. And one thing I got to give Drew Brees some credit. He feels dramatically better than he was the last time he had a mic in front of his mouth. And there's something to like. There's. There's an energy behind it, there's an enthusiasm behind it. He. He just feels kind of fun. And I, I have no problem saying I'm. I was wrong. And J.J. watts been really, really good. Every time that I, I click on his game, he's always just having a good time, really into it. One thing I respect about both those guys, you know, Drew's got a big family, young kids. JJ's got really, really young kids. I would guess on and off the field. Drew's made closer to $500 million and $300 million. You know, JJ on the fields probably made $150 million. He was one of the most marketable athletes for probably like a five or six year period during his prime. Who knows how much more he made off the field. These guys are uber wealthy. They do not need to be getting on a plane and flying around the country to call Cowboys, Chargers, to call, you know, Bill Saints, or all these games across the country. Like, they don't need to be doing it financially, but you can't fake it. You know, part of it is they clearly want to be there because they really like football and they're enthusiastic. Even Tom, obviously, Tom is being paid a ton of money, but the one thing you hear with Tom doing these games, like, he's having a good time, he likes football a lot. And now I don't know if all these guys like Tom are getting on a PJ and getting there, which makes life obviously way easier, but he's still got to leave your home. Like, listen, I love Peyton, and I would do what Peyton did if I was in his shoes. Like, yeah, I want to be involved, but I don't plan on getting on a plane and flying all across the country. I'll just do this from a garage while the game's going on and link up with my brother on some Zoom app and we'll just play it across ESPN too, from our homes. I like their style, but I respect these guys who are clearly financially, like, they've made enough money. And I think it's safe to say both those guys probably haven't blown it. They're probably not, like, liking the Instagram tweets from, from Odell beckham on blowing $100 million. Safe to say they got some cash in the bank, but both those guys, I mean, J.J. watts been really, really good. Like, he's got a future in this. And Drew Brees, you know, he started really slow, but I do think he's. And it could have just been college. It's much harder. You don't know the players, you don't know the coaches. I do think he's battling back. So he talked a big game, said he'd be really good. I give him props because he's definitely. He's an enjoyable listen. And I just think you put most of us in his shoes. I'm just standing. I don't need to do this. But he's doing it because especially now, like, he's just filling in because Sanchez, you know, beat the living. You know what, out of the guy in Indianapolis, it was not like he's been doing this from the start. He got called up out of the bullpen a couple weeks ago, just came in off the bench just because he's pretty, I would say, like dead set on getting an opportunity and trying to show that he wants to do this and can do it and we'll be good. So maybe don't sleep on Drew Brees getting a second chance. And other than that, kind of a rough Sunday. So let's just, let's just move on, get closer to the playoffs and thank God for those, those Saturday games before we get out of here. I do like the 49ers tomorrow on Monday Night Football. I just think their offense is going to be too good. And I just have a hard time seeing Philip Rivers score enough points, especially because last week Seattle and Stucky mentioned this. The way they play defense, they don't change personnel often for your changing personnel, they'll leave their safeties back because they're much more versatile. Like, they weren't worried about Philip Rivers dinking and ducking them to death. I don't think the 49ers will allow that, especially because their run defense, unlike Seattle, now they're getting some guys back off injury, especially a couple defensive linemen and put or a defensive lineman and a linebacker. But I would imagine the majority of their defensive players are going to be within three or four yards of the line of scrimmage. So it's like you can run wheel routes and little out routes, but we plan on having multiple guys around. And most important, if Jonathan Taylor gets by our first line of defense, which might happen, you know, we're, we're missing some guys. We're going to have a lot of guys around there. So I just have a hard time seeing the colts get around 20 points. And I would be stunned if the 49ers don't get over 25 sauce gardeners, you know still injured. Charvarius had his like third concussion of the season. He's out. So from a secondary standpoint, Juwan Jennings really coming on George Kittle's coming on. Christian McCaffrey's great catching the ball. Purdy's looking good. The 49ers now, you know kind of have some momentum. It's crazy to say but if they win these last three games it would be the number one seed which still feels improbable when I say it out loud but I do think 45 year old against Robert Sala Kyle Shanahan I have a hard time now Indy that plays gonna be rocking but I'm gonna go with the 49ers and I also think I'm gonna go Juwan Jennings who was really heating up him Purdy have a really good connection. I'm gonna take him to get two touchdowns. So I'm go 49ers -5 and I'm going to go with the Juwan James scored two touchdowns and parlay that on hard rock bed. It's about 12 to 1. Adios. Have a great night. The volume. And Doug here we have the Limu emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally.

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