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[Assistant] Aren't a whole lot of games this season, week 18, where teams can just rest guys. I feel like there are fewer this year, especially with the good teams at the top, still fighting for a one seed. I guess it's the one bye. I can't remember it ever.


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[Assistant] We would have thought that the Eagles would have had the one seed wrapped up a couple weeks ago, but they've lost a couple in a row now. No Jalen Hurts has been a big reason why they can clinch the one seed finally with a win.


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[Assistant] Hosting the Giants, they can also get it if the 49ers and Cowboys lose, but the easiest path is beat the Giants, who are one of those rare teams this year that really have nothing to play for. They're locked into their playoff seed. I know.


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[Assistant] They're favored by 14. Right. They beat them 48-22 in week 14. It's not a favorable matchup for the Giants.


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[Assistant] Definitive word right now, but this is the kind of game in a bad matchup for the Giants, and they might be resting their starters that, I don't know, even if Gardner Minchew has to play,


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[Assistant] In a Cooper Rush game. That was back when we were saying Cooper Rush might be the answer to the Dallas Cowboys ride the hot hand until they lost. And then Dak was like, alright, I'll come back next week. Uh, this game early in the fourth quarter, they kind of put it away with a 30 yard touchdown pass to CD Lamb. But if anything is going to trip up,


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[Assistant] The Dallas Cowboys this time against the Commanders. It will be...


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[Assistant] Of all the teams that I feel like could just fall apart, week 18, the Washington commanders seem like a top choice for me.


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[Assistant] All that's happened with the ownership and all that, it's just like. Yea, it's a lot of crap. It is. They'll be half, half foot out the door. Uh, half way out the door. Uh, Vikings at Bears.


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[Assistant] This is significant because Minnesota can clinch the number two seed with a win and a 49ers loss. And so for seeding purposes right here, uh, they're favored by only five and a half points in Chicago. That's gonna go up. You do think it's gonna go up?


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[Assistant] Oh, hold on. What was the line below it here? Oh, Justin Fields is out. Right, so there is no chance the Bears can win the game. That's over. So we can just move on to the next one?


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[Assistant] Yeah, say now it's minus eight now. Oh, it's minus eight. Wow, he was right. Just in that 30 seconds, it's going up to minus eight.


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[Assistant] You make the line. Which watching Justin Fields play against my Detroit Lions last week, it did look like he wanted to just be done with the season.


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[Assistant] I hope the Vikings can keep it a one score game though, so that they can improve to 12. Oh, that's very important, very important. One score games heading into the postseason. Uh, one more game I want to talk about, because it is important to my Detroit Lions. So Rams at Seahawks.


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[Assistant] Uh, Seattle can clinch the number seven seed if they win that game, but they also need my Detroit Lions to beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football.


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[Assistant] My Lions can get in if the Rams can figure out a way to win this game, which they almost did in week 13 in LA.


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[Assistant] It was 27-23 was the final. Seattle won this game, but they needed a 10-place, 75-yard drive to win it in the fourth quarter. It was Gino to DK Metcalf for an 8-yard touchdown with 41 seconds left. In a game that the Rams were starting John Walford. So they were...


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[Assistant] Well into beat up Rams territory that we've seen this season. So it was close in these circumstances. Hey, who knows? Maybe it can be close again. I, I don't, I wouldn't be shocked by that.


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[Assistant] We just need a little bit more out of the quarterback.


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[Assistant] They host the Cardinals, last game we'll talk about here. Uh, 425, should beat the Cardinals there, and it is significant for the 49ers, cause you can lock in that number two seed, and then you'll play either Seattle, or you're gonna play Green Bay, or you're gonna play the Lions, so I ask you, Chris Sims, if you're the 49ers, who are you rooting for? Who would you rather face in that first playoff game?


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[Assistant] Seattle Seahawks, that's who the 49ers, who would have thought the 49ers would be rooting for that fierce division rival in Pete Carroll, uh, to get into the postseason. We'll see if that, if that happens. We'll also see.


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[Assistant] Who finishes out the year strong. Man. Because these off-season awards are coming up. They are coming. Our bet MGM comeback player of the year odds. Now this is interesting because you got a couple players out there in the NFC West. Christian McCaffrey along with Geno Smith.


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[Assistant] The co-favorites at this moment, plus 175, Saquon Barkley the third choice, Jared Goff now.


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[Assistant] The fourth choice at plus one thousand. Wow, look at Jared getting in the mix here.


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[Assistant] So maybe if you're hurt one game and that's it, you're like, okay, you can get your, you've not qualified for comeback player of the year. Uh, but they are good stories and Christian McCaffrey missed a big portion of the year. He did. I don't know. I like Geno. I like the Geno story. That'd be my pick.


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[Assistant] So that's where, yes, it's Gino to me all the way. I'm with you there.


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[Assistant] Trying to think now who has got the leg up on next year's award. I guess maybe Lamar Jackson, right? He's missed a lot of games, right? Can he do it? Uh, yeah. So those are the current odds. Comeback player of the year. We'll have those debates as the off season progresses here. Uh, the action never stops at bet MGM. You can sign up now using the bonus code Sims, your first wager risk free up to $1,000.


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[Assistant] Simply download the BetMGM app today or go to betmgm.com, enter the bonus code Sims to make your first wager risk free up to $1,000. Now we play some music. We haven't played music yet in this pod. We play music for the first time because it is time to give out the week 17 Big Butt Awards.


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[Assistant] Of the world. Not even of this country. Of the world. Or Connecticut. Of the world. Of the world. Did you tell your wife that? That's gonna be part of the swag. I don't know what she'd say about that.


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[Assistant] Edge, big butt of the week goes to Aiden Hutchinson with his NFL high six hurries. Got his third pick of the season. Also had a sack. Although I do want to give an honorable mention to his teammate. Six round draft pick.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that's why I'm kind of excited about the Lions. Keep everyone together on offense. Yeah. Jameson Williams gets a whole year. Exactly. And then use your two first round picks or two second round picks. Use them all. Use all four of those picks on defense. DBs. Secondary.


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[Assistant] I'm excited about my Detroit Lions. Defensive Tackle Big Butt of the Week award goes to a New England Patriot. Christian Barrymore had seven pressures, three quarterback hits. Both of those were career highs. They also led the NFL in defensive tackle.


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[Assistant] We'll see. He's got the added confidence of winning a big butt of the week award. So congratulations, Christian Barrymore, Aiden Hutchinson, and everyone else out there. You only got one more week. If you haven't won one so far, you got one more week. Although I will, I do think I'm gonna give up.


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[Assistant] Oh, and then Pete notes and if you're a listener, you're not getting to see this photo of Aiden Hutchinson. That is a butt photo, basically. That is.


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[Assistant] Alright, so Kristen, well done. So Kristen, well done there. And next time it's just all, all butts. And now HR has made its way down to level one of this building.


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[Assistant] We offended them. We offended them and made them chuckle all at the same time. Uh, the last thing we'll do on the pod is we'll see how the homies are doing in their playoff picks. We're tracking your predictions that we had in the beginning of the season. 816 predictions rolled in. Chris and Pete, you've been tweeting out the


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[Assistant] The spreadsheet and so homies can check how they are doing and if they forgot who they picked, you can remind yourself. So sad news, none of the entries can still correctly predict all 14 playoff teams. I'm not surprised. I was hoping one homie would be able to.


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[Assistant] That's why the NFL's amazing though. To do it. But, 13 smart, beautiful people, Pete notes here, had them, uhm, making the playoffs. The Giants. For the New York Giants. Oh yea, the New York Giants.


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[Assistant] That was good. A little bit there. Chris, Pete, you did not have, how could you not have?


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[Assistant] How could you not have the Giants? No faith. Yep, I know. What a bad fan I am. Uh, but you're happy. You're happy to be wrong there. As far as the Buccaneers, 83% had them winning the NFC South. See, we knew all along. We knew all along. It would be cruised right into the postseason.


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[Assistant] Uh, 14% had them as the wild card, uh, which was, which was okay. I, I, I almost give more credit to the 14 people than the 83%, the 14% than the 83%. They just had them as a wild card? Cause they knew there was trouble. Yea. They were like, what's gonna, who's gonna pop up in the division? There's, there's trouble brewing.


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[Assistant] Falcons are, yeah. Right. Uh, Jets, 15 people had them in the playoffs.


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[Assistant] Man, they were looking so good a month and a half ago. Man, like geniuses. Sorry. Sorry. Uh, Washington commanders, four and a half percent of you out there had them in the playoffs. Almost. I kinda give you credit. You went on a limb and there was a good chance there a couple weeks ago.


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[Assistant] Uh, by the way, breaking news. The commanders are gonna start Sam Howell, Sunday versus the Cowboys.


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[Assistant] As far as the Carolina Panthers, 16% of you had them in the playoffs, including me. Ah, I put my faith in them again, two years in a row.


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[Assistant] Damn, you were so close. It was, I was close when it was 21-10 in the fourth quarter. I was feeling so good, I was almost right. I give credit to myself. Raiders, 27% of you had them in the playoffs, that's not gonna happen. Saints, 60% of you. That was me. Had the Saints in the playoffs, including you, including me.


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[Assistant] Sure. I don't think the Dolphins are getting in. I don't think the Titans are getting in. I doubt it too. You never know. One of those could. Uh, so that's it. So Chris and Pete will post those results on Twitter later today. It's probably already out there.


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[Assistant] Let's hear it. It was my snap count from like two years ago. Red four. Red four. That's my Texas.


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[Assistant] But same thing, like I've worked in New Jersey, MLB network out in California, so I had to kinda like get rid of it. Right. It was standing out, especially what I called soda.


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[Assistant] So maybe it'll come out as we talk about what happened on Sunday with What the F happened Wednesday, or if you got kids in the car right now, it's Treasure Hunters. We're looking for nuggets, treasure.


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[Assistant] Chris went into the lab again, looked at all the film for these games that we're gonna highlight here today. Good stuff. Some revelations. We did get some good stuff. When I read it every week, it's like I get a preview and Pete gets a preview.


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[Assistant] There are always things I'm like, oh, that's interesting. I, we haven't talked about that before. This is a different way to see this quarterback or this team or this offense. That was interesting. This defense did that. So we'll do that with Tua, of course, and Justin Herbert to start here. Brock Purdy, a little closer look at what he's doing for the 49ers. Dak Prescott's been a little inconsistent here lately.


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[Assistant] Uh, so let's get right into it. With our Sunday Night Football game, we looked a little deeper into this one because it warranted it. Yep. Chargers.


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[Assistant] And dolphins chargers won this one was not a good day for two. We'll get to two and look at that offense, but I wanted to start with Justin Herbert here because we've given him a lot of love on this podcast, right? You've been in the, he's the man leader of the, the, the conductor and the choo choo for Justin Herbert for a long time. But I think the country here, if he can make a run here,


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[Assistant] And he can get this team. You did it for Joe Burrow, right? You're like, let's throw his name into the MVP conversation. I mean, probably Justin Herbert's not far behind because they've had injuries and it is all on his right arm.


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[Assistant] You've got some really cool notes in here. Let's start with two stats in a lie just to highlight how good he's been here. So let's quiz you. Alright. Alright, so two of these stats are true. One is a lie on Justin Herbert. Okay.


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[Assistant] He is second in the NFL in passing yards. He is second in the NFL in passer rating.


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[Assistant] You're three for three in this game. Boom. Thank you very much. You nailed that one again. You're right. Second passing yards to Patrick Mahomes. Uh, Mahomes has 4,100. Uh, Herbert second, 3,700. Yeah. Uh, you're right on that, uh, air yards per completed pass. Right. Just 4.2. It's one of my complaints.


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[Assistant] 100%. Only Kyler Murray of qualified quarterbacks has a lower air yard completed pass. Two of the stronger arms in football.


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[Assistant] Couple things you said there that stand out from your notes. You noted the wide receivers, you didn't think they were getting a whole lot of separation out there in this game once again. But the thing that you mentioned right there about him in the pocket, when he gets a little bit of time. Now that is not always because it's great pass protection. What did you notice about his ability in the pocket?


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[Assistant] Which was really impressive. We have a graphic on that. He was pressured on 44% of his drop backs. He completed 13 of the 20 passes, 185 yards. You know, 9 yards per pass attempt. So that just goes to show you how effective he was even when he had to move around.


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[Assistant] Couple names you mentioned there, Jalen Phillips, Christian Wilkins, a Big Butt Award winner. Both of those guys have won it in the past. Highest honor you can get as a defensive lineman, of course, but everyone knows that.


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[Assistant] Chalk it up. Pete texted in the thread yesterday to all of us. He's like, I haven't heard a whole lot of people talk about Bradley Chubb. Did he show up at all on film?


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[Assistant] As impressive as Justin Herbert was and the Chargers offense was, I think their defense was almost equally impressive because we have seen this Dolphins team.


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[Assistant] I mean last week as we said, you know. Which is crazy because you can make the argument 10 to 28 for two and you're like, oh, it definitely was all on him, but you think it was less all on him.


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[Assistant] They're gonna have to adjust a little bit. Every playoff team in the AFC is now diving into this tape. And what the Chargers did. It's exactly what you did yesterday. What'd you see?


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[Assistant] So the Dolphins, at the Bills, Saturday night, cold, could be snowy. Buffalo is favored by seven and a half.


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[Assistant] I mean, this is a, this is a game where, you know, two bad games in a row for 2-0. Yeah. Chatter out there, oh, has he hurt? I mean, how is he playing this poorly?


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[Assistant] I mean, the offense clearly cannot function with him playing the way he's playing right now. No, no definitely not.


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[Assistant] That's a really good game. So is Chargers versus the Titans. Chargers favored by two and a half there. Trevor Lawrence just carved up the Titans defense. That's one where it's just like, man, Titans are teetering. And if they get beat, blown out in that game, that's, that's tough times. Definitely. Which is possible.


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[Assistant] That was a meaty breakdown of that game because Chris looked at both sides of the ball, offense, defense for both teams here. As we move on to the 49ers, another searching team here, talk about the Chargers out in the West coast. Uh, 49ers destroyed Tom Brady, 35, seven. You already know that Brock pretty got to win as a starter. His dad.


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[Assistant] One of the coolest stories from last week in all of the NFL, but this is not about narratives and this is not about stories here.


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[Assistant] If there's criticism to be had on a quarterback, Chris Simms is going to deliver it. You know it. Right? You're not going to hold back. I don't hold back. Just because a guy was Mr. Irrelevant, you feel bad that everyone's calling him that. You're going to crush him if he deserves it. So Brock Purdy has been one of the stories, one of the coolest stories this year in the NFL.


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[Assistant] Beats Tom Brady in this one. That offense looked awesome. And he looked really good too. You mentioned it. Maybe more mobile than Jimmy Garoppolo. Does some things that he couldn't do. Definitely can do off schedule stuff and move better than Garoppolo. That's for sure.


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[Assistant] When you, when you took a look at the film, the story is that, like, this guy is awesome.


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[Assistant] Was he as awesome on his throw in his play on Sunday?


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[Assistant] I want to get into more of what Shanahan did here, but let's close the loop on, on Purdy. Sean Danner6 says to you, with Purdy, is he better throwing accurately on the run?


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[Assistant] Then Jimmy, we've said he's a little more athletic now and we have a graphic on that. And so those who are listening, I will describe it to you. When scrambling on the run this season, Jimmy Garoppolo, four of nine, the whole year, four of nine for 68 yards does have a touchdown. No interceptions. Uh, Brock Purdy when scrambling this season, five of seven, 42 yards and a pass.


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[Assistant] So you've hyped up, uh, Kyle Shanahan. And by the way, Papa Stu asked a question that you kind of answered there about adding McCaffrey and what that allows them to do. I think you gave an early shout out to Papa Stu there. It was Sean Danner with the first question. You confused your homies.


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[Assistant] Have you seen significant differences in how Shanahan provides his quarterback answers versus pressure since adding McCaffrey? As good as their weapons are, his impact as a safety valve when the quarterback is hot seems like the best they've had since 2017.


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[Assistant] Uh, tweet it out. He's uh, prominent in the football Twitter community. Yes, he is. He's done a lot of things in, uh, in his football career. That's a good thought by Adam Austin Gale. He goes, the only quarterbacks that I would choose over simply having Kyle Shanahan as a head coach, offensive play caller. Patrick Mahomes.


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[Assistant] Don't have one of those quarterbacks. Give me any other quarterback, but definitely give me Kyle Shanahan first.


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[Assistant] Well, if that's the case, right? The point I made, if that really is the case, and if you believe that tweet, that there are only a handful of quarterbacks, you might debate which names belong in there and which don't, but if there really are only seven or eight quarterbacks that you would take over Kyle Shanahan,


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[Assistant] He's in the class of those guys right there. Uh, we're going to do DAC right now, Pete says. So we're going to move it up. So, uh, so let's do it. We're changing the rundown as we go. That's what we can do here.


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[Assistant] When you go there, we go there. So well done everyone in the back here. Let's talk cowboys cause you looked at that tape because you mentioned this Monday when we were done with the pod and we saw this last year a little bit as the year went on. I was like, ah man, it's not.


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[Assistant] Quite as crisp for Dak Prescott. It's just a little off. I've seen better. We've seen better. And so you're like, you're a little disappointed with what Dak did. You hadn't looked at the tape yet. Yeah. Well now you have. Yeah. And so when you looked at the tape, Dak, and of course it wasn't a great game for the Cowboys beating the Houston Texans by four, but when you took a closer look at Dak and his actual throws throughout the game, what, what'd you see?


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[Assistant] Good! It may have actually been better than you were anticipating seeing.


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[Assistant] Good news for DAC though is that they have a very, very good running offense. One of the better in the NFL and we have a graphic on that. I will describe it to those who are


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[Assistant] Just listening to this podcast while they're driving around. So total rush yards, um, and then rush yards by the quarterback. This is real interesting. So the bears have the most total rush yards, but you got 37% from


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[Assistant] From Justin Fields, right? So Ravens are second, but you got a lot from Lamar there and Eagles there, but you got a lot from Hertz. And basically it's every team, Browns get a little bit, not much, 15% though. But then you go down there to the seventh most rush yards in the NFL. It's the Dallas Cowboys only getting five from their quarterback.


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[Assistant] Cooper Rush was not rushing a whole lot. No. Contrary to his name. Seriously. Cooper Pass. That's propaganda. What fake bullshit is that? Fake news, right? His name is fake news. Uh, but Dak doesn't do it, do it either. And, uh, you, the two running backs here, you know, you've, you've been a staunch supporter of Tony Pollard getting more runs.


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[Assistant] And you had maybe, maybe one of the best compliments I've seen in your notes for this whole year about Tony Pollard in this game.


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[Assistant] You go Tony Pollard and Christian McCaffrey are the best dual threat running backs in the NFL.


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[Assistant] I mean at the other end of the spectrum, you have Austin Eckler, who might be a better pass catcher than Running Bad.


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[Assistant] Exactly. Having said that, you said that before and you're like, it's time to pass the torch to Tony Pollard. Having said that, in your notes, you go, Zeke's still good.


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[Assistant] So the Cowboys in uh, two weeks basically, faces the Eagles. But, they got the Jaguars this weekend. Yeah. They're four and a half point favorite.


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[Assistant] Which is down from the 17 and a half points they were favored against the Houston Texans. Could be a bit of a trap game, although you just had kind of a let down game. That's right, it does help.


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[Assistant] Full circle in that recap right there. Uh, so the Cowboys pretty good running game. We just got done talking about Pollard and Zeke there. Uh, the Ravens have had that good running game in the past and maybe it was the best, you know, the non quarterback running game that we have seen from Baltimore this year against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a two point win. We want to take a closer look at how the.


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[Assistant] The Ravens did that, and by we, I mean you. You did this again. We're a team. Because I think, you know, and you've made this point.


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[Assistant] For Baltimore to make a run, it's gonna, Lamar's gonna have to be playing and playing well, but they have to have that running game. Exactly. And we haven't seen it. But we did in this game. Uhm, and so what did you notice, what stuck out to you the most about what the Ravens were able to do in this game that they haven't been able to do up to this point?


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[Assistant] I think that's an interesting point you make here, sticking with the run game, and you've heard that for years, and that the conservative coaches, uh, stick with the run game, might be ugly early, but eventually, we'll, we'll wear them down. And that looks like what they did here, because their first 12 games they had,


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[Assistant] 19.2 rushing attempts per game. They had 30 against the Steelers. They had 189 yards on the ground there, 6.3 per carry. So as the game went on.


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[Assistant] You said all schemes were working for the Ravens run game. What were those schemes that were working and what might work going forward?


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[Assistant] On rep counts, both trending up with Lamar incoming. He goes, watch out for the Ravens offensive. All three gel by week 18. And we've said this before, you know, the top six teams a couple of weeks ago are like, wouldn't be shocked if they were in the Superbowl.


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[Assistant] Ravens haven't looked as good. Lamar's been down. There's still nine and four. I mean, it's not that crazy to see them in the Super Bowl.


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[Assistant] It won't matter. Last week might not matter. Uhm, so Raven's still in the playoff mix of course at 9 and 4 there and we take a brief break here to reflect on the fact that we did this at the beginning of the season. We had 816 homies submit their playoff picks. Right. And Pete went through all of them, put them all into a spreadsheet.


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[Assistant] Playoff pick team, I would think. I would think, them or the Chiefs. Maybe Chiefs, yeaah. 95% of those pretty high. You're right, probably Chiefs, probably Bills too were in the 90% range. Yeaah, I would think so. Uh, but here's the bad though. Right. So the home, we gotta point out the bad with the homies too. We do it with the quarterbacks, we do it in your evaluation.


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[Assistant] Yeah, actually it's not gonna happen, it's mathematically impossible at this point. Uh, 22 people had Chicago in the playoffs, which, you know, whatever. You know, they're probably in Chicago.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so, uh, Peter will tweet this out under the name Chris Sims, and there's a link so if you submitted your pics, you can see your name there. You can see how you're doing so far.


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[Assistant] Let's call out some homies who are crushing it as we go on here who have some of these teams in here. Now, just 15 people had the New York Jets in the playoffs. So borderline right now, I think they're out right now, right? I don't think they're in. They're out right now.


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[Assistant] But they're close, so those 15 people could be geniuses. Uhm, real quick, because we got this tweet that I saw yesterday, and it will give us a chance to talk a little bit about this.


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[Assistant] Healthy enough to play. I think he's gonna play, right. Okay, alright. But you got some thoughts on this, and you've had some thoughts on this for a while.


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[Assistant] They might be feeling like, okay, let's ride the wave. We're in the playoff mix right now. We're just trying to navigate this season and what happens will happen in the future. It'll all work itself out. But I think the thing is, is like, there's no bigger question for any franchise than who is our quarterback. And who is our franchise quarterback? And do we have it right now? And if we don't have it, what do we got to do to get it?


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[Assistant] And it's human nature too to close the loop. We don't like unresolved questions, right? And so, if you're a fan base, you wanna close the loop. And you go, alright.


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[Assistant] Zack's done. You know, I don't want to have to, like, it's kind of uncomfortable thinking, like, we're kind of in this murky middle. It's like, no, he's done. Mike White's the guy. Hey, Mike White's doing well. So you want to, you want to get on board that train. But how crazy is it that this could all be different if he had just said,


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[Assistant] Yeah, I do feel like we let down the defense. What if that really, what if that really set off this whole


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's a gotcha moment. It's crazy, if that gotcha moment changed the trajectory, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse, who knows, we haven't seen it, but of a franchise, it's possible.


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[Assistant] Fascinating. It really is. The Carolina Panthers for the most part have not been a fascinating franchise. Just kind of fascinating how poorly it's gone. Right. But now that might be changing because they beat the Seattle Seahawks, uh, two teams just like the Jets who are


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[Assistant] So here are the numbers from week 14. They ran it 46 times against Seattle and they had 223 rush yards against Seattle, who didn't have their star running back, didn't have their backup, just 46 yards, but run game went entirely to the Panthers. And so what'd you, what'd you see from them? Was, was this just them beating up on a?


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[Assistant] One guy on defense that you wanted to point out though, for Seattle, was uh, Tariq Woolley. Oh my gosh. He jumped off.


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[Assistant] And why this formula may work is because the defense is pretty good. And we mentioned last year, I said a lot, I don't know if you agreed all the time, but I thought it was a playoff defense last year. Playoff defense. When you see the defense and how they played against a pretty good offense in Seattle, obviously without their


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[Assistant] Start running back, but still, weapons in the passing game. Uhm, what'd you see from that Panthers defense?


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[Assistant] Yeah, you, you, uh, said Brian, I mean, you haven't even mentioned Brian Burns here, you know, Jeremy Chin. Yeah. They just got, they got guys standouts on, uh, on defense. You thought Brandon Smith looked pretty good too. Oh my gosh. I mean, another freak long guy, rookie from Penn State. He got hurt early. He did. He had to come out. Yup. Um, Shaq Thompson, Frankie Lou who had a good game.


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[Assistant] And if Carolina wins out, as I said, they'll win the division. It's crazy. So that takes us to our bet MGM dark horse division winners.


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[Assistant] So we got a list of non-favorites to win the division. Which one do you like the best? And so we have, uh, the Bengals are not the favorite. They're plus 110. Raven's currently the favorite, minus 135. Panthers are at plus 375.


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[Assistant] Jaguar's at plus 450. Tennessee's the favorite to win there. Tennessee's got a good jump on him.


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[Assistant] Although who knows if that falls apart for the Titans, uh, Cowboys plus 500 got to catch the best team in football, the best record in football and the Dolphins are plus 900.


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[Assistant] Versus, uh, the bills who are minus 1200 to win that division. So if you had a dollar, what's the best value you think right here? Bengals have the best odds.


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[Assistant] Uh, last but not least. Oh, I like this variety. The most prestigious trophy. In all of sports. In all of sports, right? It is. What did the NBA just do? They just did the Michael Jordan MVP now? I do like that. I did. I was a big fan. That was cool.


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[Assistant] So now whoever wins the MVP, it's like, hey, you've won the Michael Jordan MVP. Congratulations. By the way, you'll never be as good as the guy that made that trophy. Or just keep working hard.


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[Assistant] That's true. If I develop one one day, then you're right, it is Omid's Big Butt Awards here. And it does have a song, I almost forgot that, so let's play the song.


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[Assistant] Uh, my edge big butt of the week. We'll do that first here.


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[Assistant] 10th sack of the season. He is the first player in NFL history to have at least 10 sacks with three different teams and he's done it three years in a row. That's amazing.


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[Assistant] I'm glad you did that. He's gonna like that too, hopefully. On the, uh, Defensive Interior.


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[Assistant] De-tackle big butt of the week. We're giving that to DJ Reader of the Cincinnati Bengals. Stepped up against that Cleveland rushing attack. Faced multiple double teams in this one. Uh, they didn't have them. The Bengals last time they played the Browns and the Browns ran for 140 yards. And there was a quote from Jesse Bates after the game. He goes, quote,


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[Assistant] I mean he's got two bum ankles, a messed up knee, tore his quad last year. It's crazy to see. And he gets double teamed every single play. Every. And he still makes plays. He's amazing. He's the best run stopper.


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[Assistant] It was, it was last week when I was talking about how far you have come from wearing, you know, when I first got here, you wanted to wear a blazer every time we're in the studio. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I got to work with Florio and wear a blazer every day. Like, Oh man, I got to do something and try to change this. So I think we were talking about that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, you know what happened? I got a little gun shy on that one, honestly. I'm not even gonna lie. I actually do want to do that. I feel like sometimes I'm not a team player if I'm not wearing the suit and tie like everybody else. And then the other thing is, the last time I did it,


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[Assistant] Well, I'm gonna pick the 49ers, but I don't look at it and just go, oh, this is a slam dunk. Like, this is definitely gonna happen. First off, you know, Brock Purdy, the injury there.


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[Assistant] You know, his status, how close is he to a hundred percent? Yeah. Does it worry me a little bit? Yes, for sure.


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[Assistant] You know, and then the Seahawks and Pete Carroll have shown a little propensity over the last few years to kind of slow down the Shanahan attack. There's no Debo Samuel, so that bothers me a little. It is in Seattle, right? And I do think because no Debo Samuel on the field,


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[Assistant] And Seattle has, you know, one corner that's really good and Tariq Wolin and the other one, Michael Jackson is not bad himself.


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[Assistant] I think that could allow them to load the box and put everything into stopping the run and maybe feeling comfortable with, hey, we'll just play man out here and we're not gonna.


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[Assistant] You know, we're not gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna roll the dice on. We don't think Brock Purdy's gonna tear us up for a hundred or 350 yards, right? So that, that's what worries me as far as the Seahawks keeping it close. But the 49ers are clearly the better team. We know that. The running game has been.


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[Assistant] Like, special as of late. The true running game. Like, not even the tricks, just between the tackles, Smash Mouth football.


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[Assistant] And I think that's the encouraging thing. And Seattle, you know, last week they hung in there for like three quarters against the Carolina run game. In the fourth quarter, the dam broke.


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[Assistant] And that's kind of how I kind of think it's going to happen tonight. I think it's going to be a little bit of a defensive struggle. Their defense is going to hang in there. You know, I don't think Seattle is going to have an easy time moving the football and their round ground game and controlling the clock. I'm going to take the 49ers 20 to 17 in this one, Mike.


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[Assistant] I mean, I'm gonna take the Vikings to win. I do think this is scary.


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[Assistant] I don't think they're gonna cover. I'm gonna say that. I think the Colts will hang around. I think the Colts defenses...


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[Assistant] I think that the Vikings will have a hard time consistently moving the ball on this team. We've seen not a lot of teams run the ball with great success against the Colts.


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[Assistant] And you know, they're, they're really well coached from that, you know, standpoint, as far as the defense, they don't put themselves in a lot of man-to-man situations where they're going to have to be trying to chase Justin Jefferson all over the field.


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[Assistant] They're, they're with the architect of the Seattle 3, Cover 3 zone defense there and they know how to pass people off and do that. And, you know, something you talked about and we talked about on PFT a little earlier today, like, uh,


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[Assistant] The Vikings defense, I mean, come on, this is a game where, yeah, it's not a great offense they're playing, but.


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[Assistant] But so what? The Vikings defense is not good to where I could see Matt Ryan having, you know, the short intermediate passing attack, having success and then being able to run the ball with, with Jonathan Taylor. So I'm going to take the Vikings here, but this is one of those games where.


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[Assistant] You know, we have those three, four unforeseen upsets every weekend. This would be one of those I'd probably put in that category to go, uh, upset could happen in this one, but I'm going to go with the Vikings and their late game magic and what we've seen. And I'm going to go 21 20 Vikings. This one's pasta in me.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I'm a little with you. I mean, it's scary. You know, I don't look at it and go, oh, I feel like totally comfortable here. But I'm gonna pick the Ravens to win the game. I am. The Ravens, first off, the defense is...


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[Assistant] Played like really good the last five or six weeks. The only thing you can kind of look at that's a little bit like, Oh wait, that wasn't a good day was when Trevor Lawrence threw the ball and then the way he did in the fourth quarter and the third quarter of the second half against that and that loss against the Jaguars.


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[Assistant] Every, other than that, they've probably been, they've been pretty good in all areas. I have a hard time thinking that the run game of Cleveland's gonna really get going, and I have a hard time still thinking that the pass game.


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[Assistant] You know, is gonna get going and Deshaun Watson's gonna be able to carry the squad with his right arm quite yet. We saw improvement last week, certainly.


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[Assistant] But, I'm not sitting here ready to think that he's gonna be able to dice up the Ravens defense and move the ball up and down the field on them. I don't know, I'm just...


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[Assistant] I feel like the Ravens have righted the ship on that side of the ball to a degree. It's not a dominant defense, but it's a good defense and it's playing pretty good football right now. And then the thing I love is just what I saw in the Steelers game last week.


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[Assistant] You know, one of the things I wrote in my notes when the game was over, I wrote...


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[Assistant] We can't forget about the Ravens when their O-line is healthy, which it was last week, except for Kevin Zeitler, and the running backs are healthy. They're a different team.


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[Assistant] And they're more closer to the elite category, in my opinion, when it's like that.


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[Assistant] So, I'm gonna go with the ravens here. I think it's gonna be close. It won't be pretty.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna, I'm gonna take a, a thread the needle approach here and go Raven 17-16. I think it'll be a late game field goal that kinda wins the game for them. Uh, but I, I just, I, I trust them in these type of games that they'll get it done this time of the year more than the Cleveland Browns.


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[Assistant] Oh yea, duh. See, that's how I'm still, it's weird, it's crazy, right, right.


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[Assistant] Yeah, this is, I can't wait for this game. I mean, this is one of the games of the weekend. Of course, we know there are two of the better teams in the ASC. Bill's in, you know, in control of their destiny as far as home field advantage.


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[Assistant] They lost to the Dolphins earlier this year. The Dolphins, like you said, on a losing streak here where the offense is sputtered and mainly it's because of Tua.


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[Assistant] So, and now he's got to go up to Buffalo and play a good defense and play in elements that we all questioned whether he can do it. You know, so far in his NFL career, when he's played in elements like this, it's been bad. Like not, not just okay. It's been bad.


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[Assistant] So, I'm expecting that again. I'm not expecting maybe as bad as we've seen, but I can't, I can't sit here with a good conscience and football IQ and go, I feel good about the Dolphins. I mean, this is a team that had heaters on the sidelines last week when it was 54 degrees in LA.


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[Assistant] Alright? Yeaah, it's gonna be 20 degrees, so who knows what it is gonna be with windchill. And, Mike, did I hear this right?


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[Assistant] That the Bills aren't gonna put heaters on their sidelines, therefore the Dolphins can't put any on their sideline? Is that a real thing? Am I off base on that? Uh, I don't know. Okay, but either way, getting back to the X's and O's of it is...


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[Assistant] I do think we saw a team last week with the Chargers who laid a little bit of more of a framework of how to stop the RPOs and all that, all the easy throws that McDaniel delivers her toa. And the Bills did a pretty good job of that already the first time they played them. So, and the Bills,


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[Assistant] ...are healthy. The first time they played, remember, that was a game where, what did we say, it was 11 out of the 22 starters, maybe more than that, were missing for the Bills in that game, and a number of their keyed events suppliers.


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[Assistant] So I like the Bills in this one. And then I do think the Dolphins defense, which is good and talented, this is just not the right matchup for them. Being over aggressive against this guy at quarterback is not the right thing. And I don't know if they're good enough in zone coverages and all that to stop them either. So I'm going Bills 28-17, Mike.


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[Assistant] Yeah, you know, there's some things about the Panthers that are, that are good and that I like. And Steve Wilkes and the things he's done to the defensive side of the ball, he certainly made them better. And you know, as we've discussed really for the last two years, they got some really talented guys. They do.


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[Assistant] And you know, that's where, you know, it is interesting here.


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[Assistant] Their front seven has got great speed and length and they're linebackers the same way and the secondary is really good. They got two corners in J.C. Horn and C.J. Henderson that are phenomenal. I mean, phenomenal.


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[Assistant] D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett could not get open against them last week. All their yards came in the slot and really all their yards came on the last drive of the game when they were up by 13, the Carolina Panthers and just played Prevent. Each one of those three receivers on the Seahawks had 25 yards receiving on that last drive.


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[Assistant] So, their defense is, it's not gonna be easy for the Steelers. Alright, and then the other side of it is, the Panthers are, you know, they're extreme patients, they're gonna run the ball, they're trying to play run the clock out, high percentage pass, play through the defensive type of game.


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[Assistant] I don't know. I mean, yeaah, I like that approach. It's the right approach for Carolina. But that's right up the alley for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's the way they want to play right now. And I just think they're better at it.


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[Assistant] And as long as, you know, Kenny Pickett or Chubisky, whoever's playing, just plays conservatively, I think they'll win an ugly defensive struggle type of game. I'm going 16-13, Steelers.


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[Assistant] How do the Bears stop the Eagles offense? Somebody explain to me how that's going to happen. I, I, there's just, there's, there's no area I can look at to go, well, if they do this or if that happens, I mean, I just, I don't see any area that they have really any chance in.


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[Assistant] They're not going to be able to stop the run. They're not a good run stop at defense anyways. And that's the best running offense in football. Even if they didn't have Jalen Hurts and they just ran normal running back runs, it would still be the best running offense in football if they just stayed with it.


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[Assistant] And then, okay, yeaah, I mean we know the recipe, or now you're playing man to man, and they don't got the guys to cover that crew there.


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[Assistant] So that's where I just don't see any really bright spot for the, the Bears. And then on the other side of the ball, Hey, of course there's the Justin Fields. I get it. He's crazy. Awesome.


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[Assistant] He's gonna make two or three runs in the game where we're gonna go, holy shit, how did he do that? He got 60 yards up the sidelines. You know, I'm, I'm sure, but I, I just feel like that's about the only thing that's gonna happen positive.


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[Assistant] The eagles have righted the ship. They have fixed their issues on the Demon's Align.


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[Assistant] Between Javon Hargrave kicking butt in the middle, you know, Sweat and Hassan Reddick on the outside. I think they're going to be a pain in the butt for fields to get around the edge. This is a defense that practices against their own offense. So they know some of the quarterback design run stuff. Eagles 38-21.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well, I think it kind of stinks for the Texans psychologically and emotionally. To me, it's like the worst storm. Oh wait, you get the Chiefs who didn't play that good, but still won, so they're going to be like, yeah, we won, but we're kind of pissed off and we know we got to play better. And it sounds like Kaderius Tony McColl-Hardman will be back.


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[Assistant] You know, and then it's the other side of it is the Texans should have won and they didn't really play that good. It's just the Cowboys messed things up.


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[Assistant] Prescott two dumb interceptions, dropped a punt close to their own end zone. I mean, so that's where I just, I look at it and go, I don't think that bodes well for, for the Texans in this one.


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[Assistant] And I, I just think this is a game where one, Houston, yeah, it's about the run game and Damian Pierce isn't totally a hundred percent.


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[Assistant] And when you're one-sided or lopsided like that, the Chiefs are pretty good on defense that way.


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[Assistant] And then I just feel like this is a game where it's a stat game.


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[Assistant] This is where I just feel like the Chiefs offense, they're gonna feel it, they're gonna know it.


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[Assistant] You know, my home's going to be Maddie through three interceptions last week. They're all going to look at it and go, wait, we could, uh, Kelsey's gonna be like, I can get a hundred receiving this week. And my home's going, I can throw for 405 touchdowns and really sell myself with the, the MVP and all of that. I just, I,


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[Assistant] The Texans aren't going to be able to get pressure on them. I'm 35-17, Chiefs.


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[Assistant] I do think it's, it's scary. You know, and again, you know my thoughts on Jacksonville.


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[Assistant] Their talent is not going to be outclassed here by the Dallas Cowboys. It won't be. But, I mean, you're right with Jacksonville. It is all over the place. And even last week, watching back that game,


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[Assistant] Yeah, they were good, but a little bit like we just talked with Dallas where I go, I don't know if they really would have won that game. The mistakes that Tennessee made just were a little surprising that way.


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[Assistant] They were. And I just don't know if you can expect Dallas to make those mistakes. Now Dak Prescott has not been on his game. And maybe they can steal a turnover that way. But Dallas is running attack.


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[Assistant] Is right up there with the Philadelphia Eagles and their traditional running attack is, is actually better. They have the best traditional running attack in the game. You know, their quarterback doesn't run much. He doesn't account for rushing yards very much for their football team as compared to the other top rushing teams in the sport.


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[Assistant] Their balance there, I do think is going to put Jacksonville in a tough spot. Jacksonville has had issues stopping the run against just a battle against a lot of teams. And that means then the play action and Dak Prescott hitting CD Lamb, crossing over the field is going to work. Uh, but I will say,


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[Assistant] You know, I do think Jacksonville is going to be able to move the ball on Dallas too. I think they'll be able to run it enough and Dallas will play some man to man and give you some chances to make some plays down the field because they're aggressive. I think that the Jaguars are going to hang around. I'm going to pick Dallas to win 24-21.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I think one, the Atlanta quarterback thing is weird. It's a little bit of a distraction.


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[Assistant] And I, you know, by all due accounts and maybe I'm wrong about something here, but it looks like a bullshit move by Marcus Mariota. I mean, he quit the team. I could say what we want. And if it was another guy and it was a DB or receiver and they did this, we'd be every talk show and football and TV would just be killing the guy.


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[Assistant] I don't know, but by all due accounts right now, it looks like he literally quit the team. And that's annoying.


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[Assistant] But I think the thing I look at is Saints, you know, defense has been pretty good as of late. Offense, you don't know what to expect.


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[Assistant] But it's not a great defense by the Atlanta Falcons, by any stretch of the imagination.


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[Assistant] I'm gonna play off the, a little bit here of, it looks like the Atlanta Falcons have folded the tent and you got a new quarterback gonna play against a team that


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[Assistant] Does a lot of different stuff on D events. And the fact that like you're talking about the Saints got some chances, you know, got a chance here. I'm going to say they kind of control this game and go win this one 24 13 over the Falcons.


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[Assistant] Yeah, this is a, I mean, I'm, I'm picking it as if Mike White's playing and he's good to go. That sounds like that's the plan and I'm excited for this matchup. I mean, you got a battle of the heavyweights here when you talk about the Jets defense versus Lions offense. And let, let me just say this.


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[Assistant] The Lions offense is more to deal with than the Buffalo Bills. I mean, the Buffalo Bills is just dealing with one guy. It's dealing with the, you know, Magic Man part two and Josh Allen.


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[Assistant] And digs. Yea, and digs, right. Right. I mean, that's what it comes down to. The Lions, that's not the case. The Lions make you defend every square inch of the field and they got a lot of things to defend.


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[Assistant] The receivers are good. The offensive line is good. The run game is good. They do a great job of tying together the plays and, you know, making plays that are different, look very much the same. Uh, I think they're going to be a pain in the butt.


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[Assistant] For the Jets defense. I think this is one, this is one that's, it's not the best matchup for the Jets because the Jets are a little bit smaller on the defensive side. They want to do it with speed. And this is a team that could, you know, bludgeon them in the run game a little bit.


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[Assistant] Uh, and then the other side of the ball, the one thing the Lions have corrected is their run defense. That's the, you know, the first half of the year, you could do whatever you wanted against Detroit, run or throw.


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[Assistant] But ever since they made the defensive coordinator change and had a few guys get healthy on the D line.


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[Assistant] They've put more big people on the D-line and they've slowed down teams rushing attacks.


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[Assistant] I'm going to take the Lions to get the upset here. I am. I think the Lions are kind of feeling the mojo and I think they're a tough matchup for this Jets defense that I think a lot of. I'm going to go 21, 23, 21 Lions late field goal wins it.


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[Assistant] It is, because it's one where, if Russell's playing, I'm gonna take the Cardinals to win an ugly football game. If he's not, if Russell's playing, I'm gonna take the Broncos to win an ugly football game, excuse me. If Russell's not playing, I think the Cardinals will win an ugly football game. So again, I'm not trying to cop out here, but I'm just being real with you.


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[Assistant] I'm going to play the fact that Russell's going to play and that, you know, their, their, their defense, the Broncos, that simple offense of the Cardinals outdoors in Denver, season's over Arizona. See you later.


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[Assistant] You know, and the Broncos are trying to end on a good note to have something for, for next year. Uh, I, I think this is one they gut out and win like 20 to 17. Ugly football game. And did you know what my look away reference was from? Do you know what that's from? Look away, look away. You remember the movie bridesmaid?


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's another one where it won't be a best bet. I mean, this is, this is, it's a coin flip game. You know, it's the team who can, you know, make it's, it's going to be one of those that comes down to two or three plays here. I think the one, the thing I look at


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[Assistant] Is, is, one, McDaniel's knowing the Patriots' defensive system and how they operate. I think that's more advantage McDaniel in that department there.


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[Assistant] And, you know, Josh Jacobs, a little extra rest, hopefully closer to healthy and their balance there, I think can pose some problems for the Patriots defense. And then, you know, again, it's not a great Raiders defense. We know that.


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[Assistant] But it's not a great Patriots offense either.


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[Assistant] And I just, I think, you know, again, you kind of have a feel for a team and what they're doing and how they approach things. I'm going to just go with the fact here a little bit of like, it's a close game. Both teams know each other. And I think.


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[Assistant] Between Max Crosby and then just Derek Carr and Devonta Adams and them being at home that they're going to win a close football game. I'm going to take the Raiders 20 to 17 in this one.


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[Assistant] Man, I know this is the Titans, you know, pass defense that I thought had kind of righted the ship and was one of the better pass defenses in football. And in the last two weeks here, it's struggled. Now, you know, one of those games that was against the


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[Assistant] Uh, uh, a team that they were just overmatched and it was, they, they couldn't match up to stop the run. So they had to play man to man and then they couldn't stop AJ Brown.


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[Assistant] Last week, game was, defense was playing really good early. They really were, but it's just like one of those things again where offense messes up and gives the team a little momentum and slowly but surely there late in the second quarter, Jacksonville finally puts some drives together.


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[Assistant] And then all of a sudden they couldn't stop Jacksonville in the third quarter. Uh, so I'm a little worried there, right? But.


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[Assistant] I guess the thing that I look at here is no run game to worry about with the Chargers. The Chargers can't protect the passer all that well.


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[Assistant] I don't think it's a overly complicated offensive attack by the Chargers in the passing game, like you've heard me say, right? So this isn't like...


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[Assistant] So this is where I just feel like they could be all over some of the stuff they do. And then I think this could be the Mike Vrabel control the clock and run the ball and play that style.


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[Assistant] They're gonna be able to run on the Chargers. I'm gonna take the Titans to win this one. I think this is a game that matches up just right for them. I'm gonna say they win control the clock type of game 21-17.


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[Assistant] Well, I mean, the man wins. The guy who's the man right now. And that ain't the goat anymore. That's not. That's Joe Burrow.


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[Assistant] Joe Burrow's the man. I mean, I think the one thing we've seen, it's pretty clear, is...


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[Assistant] Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Herbert, I, I don't know how much people, how you can't watch football right now. I'm going to go, eh, they look a little different than everybody else. Uh, there really are. And then Burrow, you know, yes, he's on fire. And as we've discussed, they have a run game now too.


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[Assistant] And they protect good enough to where it's not that bad. And this is a, it's, we have to get this out of our head. It's a Buccaneers defense that's not the same as last year, the year they won the Super Bowl. It's not.


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[Assistant] You know, they're, they're banged up. They got guys in there that aren't really starting caliber at some positions.


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[Assistant] And, well, it's just, they're, they're a little bit compromised up front. And that's where I just think the Bengals will, they'll move the ball with their offense. And I love the Bengals defense. And yeah, I don't have any really hope for the, the Buccaneers, uh, offense against them. I'm going Bengals 27-17.


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[Assistant] I like the commanders. I do. I mean, you know, my heart's with the Giants, but I'm trying to pick with my brain and, you know, what I see on the field here. So I'm going commanders. And, you know, here's my big reason. One, I mean, the commanders I just think are the better football team. You know, two,


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[Assistant] They outplayed the Giants the first time. If you remember a little bit like...


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[Assistant] Taylor Heinecke missed a number of throws that day when we were sitting there watching the game in the control room where we kept going, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. And then they, you know, let the Giants back in the game late to where like the Giants had an opportunity to win the game or really make it interesting. And they kind of blew their opportunity. But I just feel like one, like I said, Washington's better. And then I feel like the second matchup


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[Assistant] Coaching and what they do, you know, catches teams by, Oh wait, I didn't think they were going to attack us this way and do that. And now they've lost that advantage since they played them already. And I don't think they have enough versatility in their team to change things up a whole lot there.


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[Assistant] And again, Washington's one of those teams that's just kind of got their mojo going. They do. And I don't think Taylor Heinecke is going to leave some of the plays he left on the field again. I think that's of course going to be something he looks back and go, man, how do I miss some of those throws? And I think Washington will have a better field as far as how to defend.


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[Assistant] They're the giants of what they want to do. I'm going Washington, 2720.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I'm gonna go with the Packers, but not my 7 points. That's just like too rich for me. Again, this is a Rams, it's a Rams defense that's still good. I mean, we saw that last week. I mean, the Raiders came out and had a little early success, and in the second half, they couldn't do shit.


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[Assistant] Alright, so I, I just, and again with a simple offensive attack that the Packers have there, I have a hard time thinking that they're gonna just march the ball up and down the field on the Rams. I, I don't see that. And then, you know, I, I do think with


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[Assistant] Baker and your point and McVeigh and that combination there, that'll be enough time for them to be formidable on that side of the ball.


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[Assistant] And we've discussed them many a times. I don't think this playbook is anything that's like crazy to him, to Baker Mayfield. He's been in this system. He knows a lot of this stuff. I'm going to go Packers, but 19 to 17. I think they're going to sweat it out. It might take a late game drive by Rogers to get a game winning field goal.


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[Assistant] Alright, my first best bet of the week is I'm going with the Kansas City Chiefs against the Houston Texans. I just feel like this is a game where yeaah, they're gonna be kinda pissed off about their performance last week against the Broncos.


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[Assistant] Texans feeling kinda, oh hey, we stayed close with the Cowboys. It's a 14 point spread and it sounds like it's a Mahomes big time stat day. I'm going with them.


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[Assistant] Yup, I hear ya. I'm gonna go to the other big point spread. I'm going with the Eagles over the Bears. I, I, I just, I, I, I don't know. I have a hard time seeing it.


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[Assistant] I know you got the, the bears kind of keeping it close, but I just have a different feel for this one. It's a nine point spread. And I think the Eagles are in total, all cylinders, all systems go for the Superbowl push here right now.


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[Assistant] Well, you're right. Maybe we next week, we should just, we have to pick somebody other than a team not playing in the Texans. Maybe we should change that.


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[Assistant] Thanks for watching, homies. Hit subscribe to see all my Unbuttoned videos. You get to see me, Ahmed Fareed, all the big player breakdowns, game breakdowns, player interviews, and my film analysis. So please subscribe. Chris Sims, Unbuttoned. Peace out.


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[Assistant] Oh yeaah, that's right. We keep it real here on What the F*** Happened Wednesday, right? I mean the guy's wearing a grey hoodie to match his grey hair and his grey beard. That's why he's wearing it. The beard definitely is grey. What's up everybody?


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[Assistant] That is Ahmed Fareed's beautiful voice. I am Chris Sims. My voice is not beautiful, but hopefully can shed some beautiful knowledge on you from the...


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[Assistant] Sunday, week five football games, watched a lot of football the last few days, so we got some good things here. The AKA, the Treasure Hunters are here. Yup. Right, we are.


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[Assistant] Captain Wednesday, and uh, that's it for my opening. You good though? Everything good? It's been two days. I haven't seen you in a while. I missed you.


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[Assistant] Yeah, you get a little break, hiatus, and then we charge up and go again Sunday.


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[Assistant] They, they, yeah, they, they realized that they weren't going to be able to live that life against this crew. And against a crew where we know offensively the Bengals haven't been consistently good. And this hasn't been a year where we look at them and just go, Oh, they go down the field, seven plays, 80 yard drive every time. Right? I mean, you break them down for the better part of the year.


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[Assistant] It is like when they get blitzes and they get a one-on-one.


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[Assistant] That's when they kind of have a good drive or make things happen. That's pretty consistent through the first part of the year. When they got to hold the ball and read coverage, they can't hold it that long because they can't protect very well. So I think the Ravens realized the beast or the nature of the beast in which they were playing here and said,


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[Assistant] We might actually, even though we're not a great pass rushing football team, and really one of the worst,


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[Assistant] This might be the week where our front four can actually get there against this crappy front five.


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[Assistant] of the Cincinnati Bengals and, you know, and then we can play some coverages and not put our guys in vulnerable positions and we have a pretty good feel for their offense and their rules anyways to where


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[Assistant] You know, we can coach our guys in zone to kind of read things out and do it the right way. So it was a good start for Baltimore. Will I say I'm totally sold that they're fixed with all these issues? Absolutely not. It's a matchup league and I think they matched up very nicely with this crew here. So I got to see a little bit more of it before I say, okay, but it was certainly the right thing here. And I think it's at least something there.


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[Assistant] Gonna have to do more of as compared to the first few weeks where they were, you know, much more aggressive. So that's interesting. Let's dig deeper into that.


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[Assistant] I think it's a little bit of, wait, we can get away with this maybe more than normal this week because of the bangles. And I think it's a little bit of, wait.


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[Assistant] We need to play this way a little bit more. We can't be the Baltimore Ravens of five, six years ago where we got crazy blitzes with intricate zone and man coverage behind it and, and do all that. I don't think they're going to be able to live that style going forward. So they have to find a mix and I would say more lean this way of let's be.


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[Assistant] conservatively exotic, okay? And what I mean by that is, right, do you like that? conservatively exotic, where


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[Assistant] You saw in my notes enough, their best plays, their best things are...


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[Assistant] You know, disguise, looks like it's a blitz, blah blah blah. Two guys blitz, but two guys drop out, and we're playing Tampa too.


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[Assistant] And we made it look like cover three, and the down safety ended up being really the middle linebacker that runs down the middle of the field in Tampa too, and we found some cool way to get it, right? If that makes sense there.


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[Assistant] What the hell, they were in cover three and now it's Tampa two. I think that's their best way for an advantage. They're not going to turn it around and be a dominant defense or a top 15 defense at any point this year. I don't think that's going to happen. So they're rushing four.


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[Assistant] How they do it. But zone change is how I was. That's what we would call blitz zone change. You're changing.


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[Assistant] We're blitzing, we're playing zone, but we're blitzing and changing one blitzer for another guy to change into coverage, right? And that's, that's really to me where they were most effective. And in this game, you know, they blitzed one, they blitzed, I think I got done with the first half and I was like, Whoa.


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[Assistant] Have I ever written this before in my life? I was like, I'm at halftime and I'm pretty sure there was one real blitz the whole first half. If not, maybe two. And on that one real blitz that came in the second quarter, it was a first and 15. And guess what happened? They threw a 15 yard curl. He was open.


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[Assistant] He broke a tackle and it became a 34 yard game. That was that Mike Thomas play. That was the Mike Thomas play. Right. And then I think that's what ball throw was like. Okay. We learned our lesson. That we'll be going back to the zone coverage.


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[Assistant] Well, I think two, two things. I mean, the lose Marcus Williams at safety, got another young safety, Kyle Hamilton, who's, Kyle Hamilton is still learning his way. Marcus Peters is not quite the Marcus Peters of old.


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[Assistant] Right? He's still good, but I think he's still kind of in the transition of getting back to his 100% self.


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[Assistant] You know, they're nickel cover guys, a younger guy. So they're not as stout in the secondary. Marlon Humphrey to me is still a really awesome football player, but the only guy that I think you can consistently count on like being on an island doing that.


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[Assistant] Right? Now, the real problem though, and you've heard me say this a little bit through the first four weeks, their D-line is really the biggest issue. There is not one difference maker on that D-line. It's, it's, it's painful to say for the Ravens, I just, I can't even believe I'm saying these things. And what's even worse is, the guy that's been there for five days is their best D-lineman already, and that's JPP. Clearly their most disruptive player. But, the problem is not only in the pass rush, but, I mean,


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[Assistant] Even in the run game, it's, it's, there's nobody that can get off blocks in the run game. That, that's the concerning. It's concerning that the Bengals ran for 78 yards on 14 carries with Joe Mixon. That, this offensive line is, it's one of the shittiest in football right now. It has not improved.


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[Assistant] Lyle Collins is horrible at right tackle. It's horrible. It's not like, oh it's okay, it might get better. You know, it's horrible. So...


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[Assistant] Is having to play true defensive end, right? And that's okay, but I think he was more along the lines of a guy that they wanted to be kind of like,


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[Assistant] Outside linebacker slash defensive end because, but because they're so not talented there, he's got to play it all the time. I, you know, in my heart of hearts, I think they wanted to use a more like a.


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[Assistant] Leonard Floyd in, you know, the Rams are back when the Bears. End of the scrimmage linebacker, can drop into coverage, he's athletic, he runs well. And then hey, it's a nickel or a pass or a situation, we let him go get the passer.


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[Assistant] They're having to ask him to do, you know, stuff where I don't think it's in his DNA quite yet, as skinny as he is to stop double teams in the run and set the edge all the time to do that, but certainly not popping too.


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[Assistant] Saturday on Sunday Night Football in my little segment with Coach Dungy, where I tried to say, hey the X's and O's gotta be better, they're too reliant on the Jimmy's and the Joe's.


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[Assistant] It's simple and shitty. That's what I would describe that as. And that's what I've been trying to tell people a little bit.


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[Assistant] You know, it's to the point where you don't even have to double team the guy anymore because, like I said last week, right? All they do is run goes and slants. And a shallow cross every now and then. They never got to do a shallow cross in this game. But everything there is, other than a five yard out route,


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[Assistant] Is goish or slanish according to where he's aligned on the field. It's just not acceptable for a guy that talented.


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[Assistant] The offense is not acceptable for the talent they have at the skill position. I know their offensive line's not good, but they're so talented at the skill positions where if they moved and did some creativity, a little more creativity, it would help their offensive line out. The fact that they're so stagnant and simple actually is hurting their own line.


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[Assistant] Teams are figuring out, oh, we can expose the protection this way. If we blitz this guy or drop that guy, they're in trouble. There's nothing to worry about, right? You don't have to, hey, we're going to blitz here. Oh wait, they motioned and shift.


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[Assistant] Wait, check the blitz, check off, check off blitz. We're gonna blitz now to the other side or we're just gonna check out of it and play cover two, right? They don't ever do that to teams. That's the things that help out offensive line. They're not very good at wide receiver screens or anything like that.


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[Assistant] Really good teams. They can see the Eagles. You see the 49ers. You start to overplay their run and run blitz and do things like that. Zoom. There you go. You know, AJ Brown or Deebo Samuel. And now you're


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[Assistant] Because everybody's trying to inside the box, trying to stop the run. And now it's Debo Samuel and you're going, if he breaks one tackle, he's going to be off to the races and nobody's there. There's nothing there. There's no checks and balances. There's no creativity. There's no stress they put on you. And that's where it's got to change. And it's being.


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[Assistant] Exposed more this year than last year because at least last year they could run the football a little bit.


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[Assistant] So then they could go, okay, hey, we're still running the ball. And then it opened up the play action pass and then teams had to worry about that a little bit. And then it made some of the bland simple plays you're talking about here and all that. Well, they were still effective because teams were having to play and worry about other things right now. All they have to worry about is one thing.


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[Assistant] Just big play. Let's just not let Jamar run a go route by us. Let's not let T Higgins run a go route right by us. Let's not let


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's a bad interception. I mean, just, you know, play action pass comes out of it, you know, and just took, I guess just took for granted. He thought the effect of the run fake was going to suck up that linebacker. It never did. And yeah, that was his worst play of the football game for sure.


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[Assistant] You know, the stat line you read was perfect. 35 attempts or 24 completions for 217. Are you kidding me with this group against that defense? Get out of here.


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[Assistant] Get out of here. That's, that's embarrassing. It is. For a guy too, listen, this is not check down Charlie. This is a guy that's looking to, he's looking to strike every time he drops back. I mean, it's to the point where if he has Jamar chase on a go route and it's one on one, he's going to throw it because he's going, this might be the only time I get a chance to go down the field with it.


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[Assistant] T Higgins in that game against the Dolphins. He was literally just, oh wait, it's a go-round. It's one on one. I'm throwing to him.


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[Assistant] I mean, he's looking for the big play, but they can't deliver it for him right now for a number of problems. And yeah, as much as the Ravens thing was good and positive for their defense, they still come away from the game going, wait, I'm still not, the Ravens defense is still not good. And it's even more concerning that the Bengals couldn't move the ball on this Ravens defense.


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[Assistant] It's, it's... Bad offensive lines? Exactly right. The offensive lines are f***ing pitiful.


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[Assistant] You know, they would get away with some of the simpleness if the offensive line was really good because he would make unbelievable throws and if people weren't open, it would give him a chance to buy time and move and then he'd make another incredible throw. And Chase is going to get open if he has time. Exactly right. So that's where it just exposes it even more.


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[Assistant] That's the biggest thing. And that's what's disappointing. I mean, they have a superstar cast of skill guys. The old line stuff's a real issue. Same with the rams. I mean, and it's the same system. Except the rams have more creativity.


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[Assistant] And the Rams though, it might be, it's every bit as worse, except the Rams don't even have people that scare you other than Cooper Cup, where the Bengals have that at least going for them to back people off at times and stuff. The people play the Rams and there's like,


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[Assistant] We just slow down Cooper Cup. Nobody else are we even remotely scared of. Who cares? But yes, offensive line play is an issue.


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[Assistant] And you see that, you know, across the league really. Oh, really the bottom, all the bottom offenses in football for the most part, you really look at it and go, yeah, it's really.


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[Assistant] Below average offensive lines, and it's a thing in the NFL anyways. You've heard me say this. To me, one of the things that's going on in the league right now, where the rules are set up for the offense, and even though we're not seeing the offensive score a ton of points, people keep asking me why.


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[Assistant] I go, because there's way more talented defensive linemen than offensive linemen in football right now. It's just, it's, they're overrun in games. And if you have one injury on your line, you're in deep shit. Most teams can barely field a team of good 5-0 linemen, other than the top quality teams. Every team has eight good defensive linemen.


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[Assistant] And that to me is a big imbalance in the league right now. Just something food for thought there. But hey, yea, the Bengals got to improve there, certainly. And wait, I want to answer this question that I'm seeing here right now. Bronte, Bronte, Bronte?


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[Assistant] They've bottled both Allen and Burrow back to back. Bront, Bront, Bront. I mean, so hopefully you just heard here, I mean, the Bengals offense is certainly nothing to write home about. Yeaah, the skill positions are really good. Don't make it about Burrow. A lot of people are gonna bottle up Burrow when you have that shitty offensive line right there. And then,


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[Assistant] I'm not gonna really go that far. Was it a good day by them? Certainly. You know.


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[Assistant] The rain and the rainstorm and the monsoon certainly...


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[Assistant] No, they're not worse, but they're not the worst, but they're- They're not the Lions, but they're not- No, they're not the Lions. You're right about that. But they're definitely, without question, in the bottom quarter of the league. That's without a doubt. Let's move on from these


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[Assistant] You know, Notre Dame, smart, has a little more physical ability than people gave him credit for in college. And yeah, they weren't afraid to put him in some man to man situations and see what he got, but he did a good job. He was very competitive and really other than one slant and go that Rodgers didn't throw.


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[Assistant] That would have been wide open towards the end of the football game. Uhm, he really was very good in coverage throughout. So what's working? What's working right now for the New York Giants defense?


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[Assistant] The New York Giants defense, I think the great thing they have more than anything is they are big up front, right? You've heard me say that this is two, three years in a row here. To where, you know, they're, they don't have to over expose themselves as far as like, oh, we got to stop the run. They can lean on them a little bit.


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[Assistant] Alright, I think that's the first thing I look at. And then, they do a great job of...


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[Assistant] You know, some of the things we talked about with Baltimore just there where, you know, creating the illusion of complexity, great disguises, blitz a guy here, drop a guy back here. They break down of how they break down teams must be good cause there's,


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[Assistant] There's just too many plays too where, you know, I go back to the old phase, like they brushed five and they're dropping in zone and the guys all dropped to where Rodgers wants to throw the football in a true drop back situation. And they're, they're very good at that.


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[Assistant] For the most part, don't give you a ton of opportunities to make big plays down the field.


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[Assistant] So even though they do some of this intricate detailed stuff underneath, they kind of play it safe on the back end and don't let you have a lot of huge chunk plays or opportunities just go, oh, here's a play action post down the middle for, you know, a 70 yard gain. You know, they're tactical about when they take their chances, I guess is the, the big thing I would say more than not, you know, like the end of the game.


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[Assistant] They might, they're going to throw it quick. It's Rogers. I don't want them to sit back there all day and find and buy time and then throw a laser. Let's, let's blitz them.


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[Assistant] Let's make him get the ball out of our hands and get our hands up and maybe tip a pass and stop the quick game like that instead of, oh, he doesn't like it and then buys time and then, you know, ends up getting the touchdown anyways.


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[Assistant] Right, and it's not, you know, the occasional all outs, but it's good five man blitzes, like I'm talking about, where they're playing good sound zones behind it. You know, I think that's the thing that, you know,


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[Assistant] I look at more than that. It's not like it's Miami blitzes where we're like, Whoa, it's all out. Everybody's at the line of scrimmage every time this is a little bit more controlled aggression. We're going to bring five. Cause I think you're going to slide the line this way and we're faking you out to that side. You're sliding too.


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[Assistant] And then those guys are gonna drop out and we're gonna bring one guy around the edge and it's a five man pressure and one of them's free. Right? So they're very good at that. That's where Wink Mountain Martindale is a mastermind. And to me, one of the best events of mines in the sport that way.


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[Assistant] Not only is he good at, you know, hey, we're less than one guy in the secondary and we've blitzed, but we still can cover everything, but also exposing the actual protection plan. That's where he really, you know, makes up for lack of talent here with the Giants.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well cause they were kind of playing like, you know.


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[Assistant] Bare front, five, you know, three defensive tackles, right on the guard, two guards in the center. And that time sometimes leads, lends to, between the tackle and the tight end, some, there's lack of manpower there.


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[Assistant] So they were finding some nice runs off tackle and, you know, the guard and tackle were getting to double team that guy over the guard and the Giants couldn't get there to stop them on some of those runs. Well, second half, they moved those guys out a little bit.


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[Assistant] You know, they played like basically like what I would call a three technique and a two eye where there was no shade nose or nobody really inside the guards now. So it was hard to create that double team and win that gap we were talking about. That was certainly one big thing, but I think the biggest thing more than anything that really


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[Assistant] Won the game, and this is, we've talked about this with the Giants and helped the defense out more than anything.


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[Assistant] Is the offense. The offense. They play complimentary football. And I know you and I have talked about this a lot. How, you know, they know what they are, right?


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[Assistant] Their defense is making it happen with, you know, great coaching and not letting up big plays and being a little opportunistic. And the offense is, you know, we're not going to make a mistake. We're going to run the ball, high percentage passes, and we'll just look for our time to


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[Assistant] You know, here's our game plan splash play to kind of strike like wink on the defense. We're just looking for our time and then we'll send that crazy blitz and maybe make something happen. Until then we'll be somewhat creative, but conservative, a creative conservative approach. And I think they have great complimentary football going as far


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[Assistant] Exactly right. They do. And they play, they shorten the game.


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[Assistant] Right? To where it's like, this is my issue with the Packers.


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[Assistant] You know, you're going to, you just, there's very little room for error. You know, if you're going to play the dink and dunk style of football and play that way and not be aggressive always, well, you know, you falter on one or two drives and all of a sudden, oh, it's a game against the team we were controlling.


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[Assistant] And that's where my complaint is. They're too good, in my opinion.


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[Assistant] They're playing us man on the outside, I'll throw a go route. And that's just, that's not good football. You know, I mean, you're going to get away with it some weeks, but against some better defenses who are coached well and kind of know how to break you down, it's not going to get it done. And that's what I keep trying to say to everybody about Green Bay. I know they're still very good, but it's just a hard way to win and be dominant the way they


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[Assistant] Well, you know, they go down at the end of the game, right? Don't get points there. You know, they, they drive down, you know, the other time, what was that, late third quarter, and they're kind of on the fringe field goal territory, right?


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[Assistant] Uhm, I just want to make sure I got this right here. And I believe that's where they get a sack, right? Knock them out of field goal position, right? So that led to the Giants going down, I believe, and that might have been the drive that took the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So here, I gotta write down, I wrote it down. They're fringe field goal territory. Alright, so they're moving the ball. They run the ball for two yards on first down. Second down, it's a play-action pass, there's a two-man route, right? It's all kind of covered. Alright, so there's nothing there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then third down, alright, that's when Dexter Lawrence gets a sack and knocks him out of field goal territory. But my point was the dink and dunk execute type of offense, one mess up and the drive's over. And that's their big problem. You have no room for error there. Offenses that are aggressive don't have this problem.


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[Assistant] Sometimes to throw it short, you gotta have people running deep. And what they run into is everybody's running short.


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[Assistant] And then if that one guy, he pulls the ball for a set hut, wait, I'm gonna, because these are plays, like you played quarterback in high school, set hut, it's one, two, boom, hit him, right? It's a quick throw, one, two, boom, hit him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If that guy, oh wait, that guy dropped out there, doubled him. There is no...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know that. It's not like, oh, one, two, hit them, and then, wait, the other side's running short routes too, and it's too late to throw the ball to them. Cause now it's like, they're out of spot, and you don't, you haven't seen it clearly, cause they're all designed for, you know, one step, two step, three step, throw it, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's the other issue that they run into sometimes too when they go, Oh, we think we got them here with our little cute short completion. Oh wait, we don't have them. And now I have no other options because I pulled the throat of that guy and the line's expecting the ball to be out quick and it leads to those issues. So it's, it's all the same things you've heard me talk about with Green Bay.


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[Assistant] How would you make the distinction there? He hit Randall Cobb on a scramble play down the middle. Okay? Where he just made an unbelievable human play, like by Aaron Rodgers. And again, he was running full speed at the line of scrimmage and like awkwardly threw a 20 yard laser over the middle and Randall Cobb like turned around and ran for another 20 something yards.


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[Assistant] So that's what Lenz. Exactly, that's what I mean. To me, they're dropping the ball here. You got one of the greatest arms in football and we're throwing the ball four yards


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[Assistant] 39 completions for, I mean attempts for 222? I mean 25 completions for 222? I just, now, they're gonna get their explosive play, the 20 yard plus play, because everybody's trying to stop the dink and dunk and all that. You know, again, even in the, in the, in the Buccaneers game, they had some explosive plays.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They were RPO throws where, okay, you got the bucks over playing the run. The guy caught it at five yards. Roger threw it right on the money and let them run. And they got a big run after the catch. But again, that to me is not like conducive to me sitting here going, Whoa, they're a big play explosive offense. Whoa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, and it won't be, be able to be consistently available once they play some of these better defenses. So that's where they're really good. And then they have a guy like the New England game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, okay. Well, they're just going to play man to man. Oh, Dobbs runs straight. I'll just throw the perfect go route. Oh, you dropped it in the back of the end zone. So they're going to have some of those opportunities because teams are going to play like that because they're going to go, well, they're going to throw the three yard slant here, or they're going to do some sort of play here to throw it short. So they're fortunate to get some aggressive coverages. And then he's also very good at getting him in the right play.


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[Assistant] They have a great sense too of when to call screens and throw screens in that way too. So that's another way where I throw it to Aaron Jones behind the line of scrimmage and he runs for 30 yards and we go, Oh, it's an explosive play. Look, they're an explosive offense. And I want to go, no, that was just an explosive play.


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[Assistant] It hasn't been dominant. I think that's, that's the big thing that's, you know, a little concerning there. It's good, but, uh,