Week 17 Reactions, Week 18 Previews and Prepping for Chaos ft. Curtis Brown | Episode 127

Please Like, Comment and Subscribe (1:17) NFL MVP Discussion (3:17) AFC East: Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins + New England Patriots vs New York Jets (10:10) AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens + Cleveland Browns vs Cincinnati Bengals (20:41) AFC South: Indianapolis Colts vs Houston Texans + Tennessee Titans vs Jacksonville Jaguars (34:23) AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs vs Los Angeles Chargers + Denver Broncos vs Las Vegas Raiders (39:09) NFC East: Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Commanders + Philadelphia Eagles vs New York Giants (42:51) NFC North: Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers + Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions (47:20) NFC South: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers + Atlanta Falcons vs New Orleans Saints (54:25) NFC West: Los Angeles Rams vs San Francisco 49ers + Seattle Seahawks vs Arizona Cardinals Follow us on: / chaoticallyintolerant / chaoticallyintolerant https://www.threads.net/@chaoticallyi... / chaoticallyintollerant / ci_podcast_ Checkout our website! chaoticallyintolerant.com Blog: https://chaoticallyintolerant.com/blog Catch Summer Smash Here: https://chaoticallyintolerant.com/sum... All Updates on Tecmo Bowl: https://chaoticallyintolerant.com/tec... Meet the personalities of Chaotically Intolerant: https://chaoticallyintolerant.com/per... Meet the Hall of Famers: https://chaoticallyintolerant.com/hal...

Alex Boyajian (00:00.967)

Okay, welcome back, Chaotically Intolerant episode, what is it, 127, our first Thursday episode. This is a, I mean, this is a big episode. This is, we're getting ready for football. This is the biggest week of the season by far. No doubt in my mind it is. But the wheel has to be obliged first. We do have Curtis and Michael on too. Hall of Fame nominees. We'll know on Monday who.

if they get in or not. I would say as a CEO, they should, but I can't sway the voters. I am a voter and I won't give out my vote, but this is like the baseball hall of fame. It's horrible. It's just horrible way of doing it, but I want my voters to be as prissy as possible like the baseball hall of fame, just constantly having something to say, something negative to say.

Curtis Brown (00:41.232)

Hahaha

Curtis Brown (00:57.983)

I feel that.

Alex Boyajian (01:00.471)

that's how they are. But we have to oblige with the wheel. What we have on the wheel today, just talking about there's FSU because FSU is always complaining, Immaculate Grid, the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the NFL MVP, Sydney Sweeney because she just needs to be on there, Sporkle, Naaman athlete, and then Michael Alex or Curtis's choice on the wheel. So we'll do

Alex Boyajian (01:30.139)

Okay, NFL MVP, this is perfect. Just first thought, who's your MVP? Curtis, I'll start with you.

Curtis Brown (01:39.899)

First thought, it's probably gonna be Lamar, honestly. I don't necessarily wanna give it to Lamar, but I think Lamar gets it.

Alex Boyajian (01:49.971)

Yeah, I think the same thing. He has to be at this point after what we saw against Miami. He has to be, can't not be. Michael, if, ooh, I think his wifi has gone down.

Curtis Brown (02:03.847)

Might be hella frozen. Yeah.

Michael (02:06.862)

Can you guys hear me?

Alex Boyajian (02:08.712)

Now I can hear you.

Curtis Brown (02:08.816)

Kind of? Yeah, there we go.

Michael (02:10.11)

Yeah, that's right. You're going out. Mine would have to. Yeah, I mean, I think it would be Lamar Jackson, but that's just based on the fact that the numbers look sexy. And it's this season is very reminiscent of 2019. You know, a lot of blowout wins, a lot of sexy stats. But I want to see that Lamar can win close games, especially in the postseason. I'd have to look. I'm going off the top of my head, but I think the Ravens only won one game by less than one score this year.

Alex Boyajian (02:16.855)

Mm-hmm.

Michael (02:39.694)

I'm not mistaken. But when you're putting up 56 against Miami, 33 against the Niners, how can it not be? And he just rock and rolled all over Brock Purdy when they faced off, so I think that answered that question.

Alex Boyajian (02:56.447)

Yeah, the Ravens hit the over on their own on Sunday. So I picked the over for that game. So thank you to the Ravens. Yeah. All right. That was good enough. It's Lamar decided. We're the voters now. Let's jump into, I don't wanna do specific games. I wanna do teams. Some teams don't matter anymore. Others do. We're gonna look, we're just gonna start with the AFC East.

Curtis Brown (03:04.099)

Hmph.

Curtis Brown (03:11.719)

Hehehe

Alex Boyajian (03:24.875)

So right now, the Bills and the Dolphins, that's the marquee game, that's the Sunday night game this week. I'm gonna say this, I feel like the Dolphins losing that bad to the Ravens is almost good for them. That was almost bulletin board material going into this game.

Michael (03:40.97)

Losing Alex or is it just me?

Curtis Brown (03:45.255)

i don't believe that the raven or the dolphins beat anybody with a winning record this season

Alex Boyajian (03:49.943)

The Dallas Cowboys. It was the Fraud Bowl.

Curtis Brown (03:54.undefined)

Oh, interesting. So they go, they got one team.

Michael (03:56.232)

No, I don't think they have.

Alex Boyajian (04:01.051)

Oh boy, that's gonna be a tough one to think of.

Curtis Brown (04:03.239)

That was the, it's like been their whole like stink this season is that basically they can't beat anybody good because they lost to the loss of the bills already this season, like after putting up 60 or whatever 70 on the Broncos, they turn around and lose to the bills. Um, I mean, honestly, the, do the dolphins have anything to play for other than, I guess the division.

Alex Boyajian (04:09.6)

Bye!

Alex Boyajian (04:20.68)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Michael (04:25.688)

when the

Alex Boyajian (04:33.435)

Uh, well the number two seed, they would drop, I assume they would drop until the five or the six seed, if they did lose.

Michael (04:35.978)

Yeah, dolphins are playing for the two. Chance to be home for the first two rounds of the playoffs, but they're going in the wrong direction. And dolphins are the kind of team that when they lose, man, do they mail it in. They really do. The dolphins look very sexy when they win, and they look like a celebrity who gets caught without their makeup.

when they don't. It's pretty gnarly. You cannot trust a team like that in the postseason. You just can't. I want to apologize to Mike Tyson, who made the first bet at Hard Rock in Florida. His bet was Miami Dolphins to win the Super Bowl. That's going to be wasted money.

Curtis Brown (05:23.229)

Hehehehe. Mike Tyson.

Alex Boyajian (05:24.028)

Poor Mike, poor Mike. He's got enough from the weed from all the weed he's selling anyways.

Curtis Brown (05:29.347)

that's alright. I just like that video of him and Rick Flair on the street smoking blunts together. I just I just like why can't I not be around for that like what is this who do you gotta hit up it's true it's the nature boy

Alex Boyajian (05:35.648)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (05:40.66)

Ric Flair gets everyone going.

Alex Boyajian (05:45.055)

Yeah, yeah. The Buffalo Bills, I feel like, again, this feels like a game to me. I just, hard to beat a division team twice, especially the Miami Dolphins are a good team. They aren't a great team. They're good. It's hard to beat a good team twice in the same season. And I feel like the pressure going into this game is actually all on Buffalo. You're on a winning streak at this point. You've won four in a row. You were dead, dead.

Now you're coming in, everyone thinks you're the shit now. And I feel like everything is on Josh Allen and, and in the past, when the pressure has been on Buffalo, they fold. So that's why I feel like this is honestly the dolphins game that the pressure is now all off the dolphins. To do anything because they got their ass kicked and a lot of teams, you'll see them get their ass kicked and then they'll come out and they'll play pretty good the very next week because of that.

They learn things from that. I'm curious how Mike McDaniel will respond to just getting your absolute teeth kicked in by the number one seed.

Curtis Brown (06:53.507)

Yeah, I mean he doesn't really respond well to anybody who's got any sort of idea of how to figure him out Uh, it seems like when teams come in with a really good game plan To counteract what mike mcdaniel's been doing all season There's not really much of an adjustment. He's just like It only it's flukes that that's happening that they're that they're better than us right now. It's flukes I tell you he's basically like

just so committed everything that's wrong has to be a flaw of like just pure luck. And it's going to, it's going to be an early exit for the dolphins. I think, I mean, that's purely why I want the Texans to not win the division so we can play the dolphins. I'd rather play the dolphins. If we win the division, we're playing the Browns.

Alex Boyajian (07:38.753)

Hehehehe

Alex Boyajian (07:45.655)

That's a tough one. The Browns will be tough. We can have a little discussion about them later. And then the other side of the AFC, the ugly side, the gross side. This is gonna be Bill Belichick's last game as a New England Patriot. It's gonna be Bill Belichick's last game coaching against the Jets as a Patriot. I'm gonna take the Patriots by about 10 million points this week.

Curtis Brown (08:12.763)

Yeah. I mean, there's they've been playing very well as of late. Not necessarily like world beaters, but they've been playing a lot better and significantly closer to what the standard of New England's Patriot way is. But, you know, Bill Belichick's on his way out.

I actually read saw something today where he was talking about he's like, I don't know what the future holds for me. But I treat every day the exact same every week is the exact same. That's me. And I'm just like, all right, Bill. All right. I can respect that. This early man.

Alex Boyajian (08:51.365)

That's Belichickian for you. That's exactly. Michael, you got anything on Patriots Chets, this gross game?

Michael (08:59.412)

Well, I had to rejoin. I heard Belichick. I think I missed most of that.

Curtis Brown (09:04.255)

I like his wall.

Alex Boyajian (09:08.299)

Hehehe

Michael (09:09.561)

What was the topic? Sorry, guys.

Alex Boyajian (09:12.191)

Patriots Jets.

Curtis Brown (09:12.232)

uh, Patriots Jets.

Michael (09:14.768)

Oh, I mean, well, it's the longest winning streak that one team has against another currently now, right? Because Kansas City ended its hex over Denver, so New England hasn't lost to the Jets. I want to say since that Eric Decker overtime touchdown game in 2015, but like if you're the Patriots, what's the difference if you finish 5-12 or 4-13 other than, well, no, they can't finish out of the basement. I mean, they could say they swept the Jets.

which is all good and fine. There's not much to say. I mean, I don't think they're going to learn any more about their awful quarterback situation by this one game, unless Bailey's Appy throws for, like, 600 yards and eight touchdowns. I wouldn't expect that.

Curtis Brown (09:52.013)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (09:53.315)

Pride. That's it. Pride. Yeah, he's still cutting in and out. We'll move to the AFC North. We did talk Ravens. The Cleveland Browns are officially in the playoffs. Congrats to the Cleveland Browns. Are they the scariest team right now? Scariest wild card team? I mean, I feel like they are.

Michael (10:04.897)

Ugh.

Curtis Brown (10:15.783)

Yeah, it's really not even close. Like, the scariest wild card, like, you got the Bills are in one, the Colts are in another, and then the Browns. Joe Flacco's playing crazy right now, and their defense is, like, what do you even do against that? Like, how do you stop all of that?

Alex Boyajian (10:33.901)

Mm-hmm.

Curtis Brown (10:40.059)

and their secondary is probably the best like the corner unit alone is probably the best trio in the league. They're definitely if not the most terrifying they're right up there with whoever else you would put up there like probably the Ravens I guess.

Alex Boyajian (10:57.963)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, the Ravens are I think they kind of Forced my hand on saying they're the elite team at this point I wasn't really big on being in on the Ravens But now I mean I kind of have to they they've kicked the shit out everyone they've seen they've forced They've stepped on their throats. It's it's not even competitive. I mean the Niner game It was kind of competitive at the end

Curtis Brown (11:06.311)

Yeah.

Curtis Brown (11:18.632)

Yep.

Alex Boyajian (11:26.411)

you know, the 49ers are trying to come back, but there was nothing really there. The Ravens are in a very flawed league this season. They are the best team. And I really wouldn't, I feel like if this Ravens team existed any other year, they wouldn't be the number one team, but right now they have to be. And the Browns, I think we did lose Michael. Let me just text them real quick and tell them.

We're just gonna, we'll try for next week.

Curtis Brown (12:03.023)

In the meantime, you can check out Alex's OnlyFans page.

Alex Boyajian (12:07.635)

Oh here he comes. He was coming in right at the perfect time.

mike (12:11.678)

Can you guys hear me? I'm just gonna use my phone. It seems like better. You're talking Ravens-Browns. I can tell you as a Ravens fan, I think the team that's scariest right now is the Browns in terms of, you know, obviously from the Ravens standpoint, you have the familiarity, division rival. You've got, of course, a quarterback that led you to a Super Bowl. That'd be quite a juicy storyline. Ravens have already lost to the Browns in Baltimore. And they're kind of playing with house money at this point because...

Alex Boyajian (12:14.579)

Yeah, that's good. Yeah.

mike (12:41.386)

They're going in as a wild card. They're going in with their fourth quarterback, even if it is the guy that's won a Super Bowl. Defense is just fast, aggressive. My take on the Browns is just they're having one of those years where they're winning games in the most improbable fashion. And sometimes that doesn't translate to the playoffs and it's just because it's pure luck or it's not sustainable. And sometimes it's just an indicator that it is your year. Are they gonna be?

kind of like one of these magical Patriots teams in the early dynasty or are they gonna be the 2001 Bears with Shane Matthews and Jim Miller that were winning games on pick sixes by Mike Brown. And of course I'm aging myself here, but the Browns win close games, they win with defense, they win high scoring, low scoring. The smartest thing they can do this week against the Bengals is who they've dominated. And with the game meaning nothing for both teams is get through that game healthy.

treated almost like a bye week. My prediction is the Browns will absolutely win at least one playoff game against that AFC South winner. Hopefully, you guys, it's not that team. It might be that team, but I just have a feeling it's shaping up to be a good wild card round for the Browns.

Curtis Brown (14:02.011)

Yeah, no, I agree. They're, I don't want to play the Browns. I don't want to play the Browns. Like if, if the Jags can just win their game and the Texans win their game. I'm cool. We're way above expectations. We're cool.

mike (14:07.099)

I don't either.

Alex Boyajian (14:20.299)

This is the anti-Browns. Like they are the anti-Browns. They win games they should lose, and they don't lose games they should win. The Browns normally will lose a game they should have won. They should have, in Brown's history, they would have lost to the Bears on that Hail Mary that somehow just bounced out of his hand. But I think the curse-breaking is Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco is the absolute curse-breaker.

They said, you need to go and get the guy that tormented you for years. He even tormented them on the jets last year with that massive comeback. And now the sky's the limit. I think for this Browns team, I, they could, I could see them beating anybody in the league because they're, they just have the right juju right now. And it's so rare that the Browns actually do have the right juju, but I'm, I'm afraid for Browns fans because they could go into the playoffs.

mike (15:01.089)

Okay.

mike (15:07.214)

Thank you.

Alex Boyajian (15:16.319)

and they could just have another, they could go up against another like Elway-esque. They could have another, the drive, basically. Yeah.

mike (15:22.558)

The drive or the fumble, yeah. And I referenced that 2001 Bears team and one of those wins was a Hail Mary that the Bears caught against the Browns in the final play regulation that set up that pick six in overtime. And that was a year of just good juju all the way through for the Bears until the postseason. We'll see if it's the same thing for Cleveland here 22 years later. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (15:43.919)

Yeah. Steelers. Huh?

Curtis Brown (15:44.755)

But what curse did the Browns break though? Did they break the curse, like the team triangle that was created? So the Colts leave Baltimore, travel to Indianapolis, Baltimore doesn't have a team now. So Cleveland moves in the 90s and becomes the Ravens. And then the early 2000s, the Browns come back. Is that the curse that's broken? Because I think it would make sense because you got to take somebody from Baltimore and send them to Cleveland and...

Alex Boyajian (16:07.307)

That, yeah.

mike (16:12.788)

Hmph.

Alex Boyajian (16:13.195)

Browns already beat the Colts this year as well. So, and they beat the Ravens. It's getting, this is getting way too weird. They must have some sort of seance.

Curtis Brown (16:16.007)

That's it.

Curtis Brown (16:20.455)

and joe flack was their quarterback yeah they did they probably did exactly the same thing that the uh jeff daniels and what's his name did for the lions oh yeah jeff daniels and payton uh probably the same thing just with a different cleveland area celebrity

Alex Boyajian (16:29.751)

Pain. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (16:38.695)

Now the Pittsburgh Steelers, congrats to Mike Tomlin, you have another winning record, clap it up for Mike Tomlin, winning record of the year award. Clap it up, he has the winning record. The Steelers can somehow get into the playoffs with a loss. Obviously winning is more important, but if you lose, it's not the end of the world for the Steelers. I'll read off their clinching scenario here. Okay.

mike (16:45.23)

No. Heh. No.

Alex Boyajian (17:09.087)

Steelers win and a Bills lost they will get in Steelers win Jaguars loss or tie they will get in Steelers win Texans Colts tie they will get in Steelers tie Jaguars loss Texans Colts doesn't end in a tie they will get in or a Jaguars loss Broncos win Colts Texans doesn't end in a tie. They will also get in no matter what happens That fifth one is the most reasonable scenario in my opinion

Curtis Brown (17:38.203)

Broncos winning, the Jaguars losing, Texans Colts don't end in a tie. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (17:43.411)

and Texan's cult doesn't end in a tie. Yeah.

mike (17:47.562)

Wow, I fell asleep halfway through that. But remember a couple years ago, wasn't it the Raiders and the Chargers? If it had ended in a tie, it would have knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs and the Raiders tried to give the Chargers a playoff berth and Brandon Staley said, no, I don't want to keep my job after 2023. So you just give that one away. I mean, as a Ravens fan, I mean, I kind of tip my hat, kind of.

Alex Boyajian (17:50.379)

Yeah

Curtis Brown (18:10.137)

Yeah.

mike (18:16.126)

like a little bit like Fernando Rodney I put to the side a little bit for the Steelers but it's I mean I could have seen this coming because they played horribly for three weeks the Steelers like your Colts flattened them they've been flattened by the Texans the whole AFC South is kind of steamrolled them this year except for Tennessee. The Steelers are the New York Yankees right the Yankees got they squeaked by to go 82 and 80 this year and all for what so that they could.

Alex Boyajian (18:19.735)

Ha ha ha!

mike (18:42.91)

just say they continue their winning streak. I mean, is there any scenario you guys see where the Steelers do anything other than waste the playoff spot if they get in?

Curtis Brown (18:51.993)

No.

Alex Boyajian (18:52.511)

They were one of the worst 11-0 teams in history, and now they're one of the worst 9-7 teams, I think, in NFL history. They're awful.

mike (18:54.93)

That's right. 2020.

Curtis Brown (19:01.203)

Yeah. I mean, it's completely irrelevant to me if they make the playoffs. The fact that the roster is what it is. And Mike Tomlin continues to get wins as a coach. I don't care if they're wasting a playoff spot. I mean, like just how, how? The amount of bailouts that defense is given, they should be working for the government.

Alex Boyajian (19:23.527)

I almost, I want to see a Browns-Steeler's playoff game just so I can watch Mason Rudolph run away from Miles Garrett with a helmet in his hand. Again.

mike (19:34.028)

Yes.

Curtis Brown (19:36.105)

Yes.

Alex Boyajian (19:37.463)

That's all I want. Bangle's not much to say. They go down with a fight. They do. I was sitting in a bar just screaming for the Bengals to lose this game because there was a way that if the Colts won, they beat the Texans, they would still not get in if the Bengals happened to win out, along with a few other teams winning out. So the Bengals were the most likely team in that scenario to lose a game and they did.

Giving me a heart attack, but they did I guess good effort right? You know you showed up you tried to play But I don't have much else for them really

mike (20:20.522)

Ditto.

Curtis Brown (20:22.267)

Yeah, not saying.

Alex Boyajian (20:24.555)

Uh, AFC South, the, I'm going to say possibly the biggest game in AFC South history is going to be on Saturday night football. I mean, that's, that's exciting. Um, two teams that were not expected to do anything all year. I picked us to win five to seven games. We've already hit that mark. Uh, congratulations. I probably picked the Texans to do around the same. Um, and they're going to be playing for a playoff spot no matter what, even, even if things don't work out. Uh, with.

with the Jacksonville game. But this Colton, I can't be on the internet during the game. I'm going to be too scared, too nervous.

Curtis Brown (21:02.199)

I feel you. I've I just did my podcast before this and I was so hype. I'm ready for this weekend. Like give me Saturday already. I just want this game to be rocking and rolling. Yeah, not this. It's gonna be so much fun. The Texans Cole

Alex Boyajian (21:20.923)

My dad won our fantasy league and he's standing in my doorway right now trying to get me to introduce him as the fantasy football champion. Yeah, now he's walking away because I called him out on it. Oh no, he took that as a challenge. No, go away, go away. We're biggest game of the week. Okay, okay, okay.

mike (21:30.517)

Thanks for watching!

Curtis Brown (21:31.037)

Hehehehehehe

Curtis Brown (21:34.527)

You hear anything? Yeah.

Curtis Brown (21:45.317)

that was a fun laugh your dad's a fun guy I can tell that

Alex Boyajian (21:49.312)

Yeah. He is, he is. I don't even, I can't say much about this Colts-Texans game because I think both teams are schizophrenic. And I guess maybe that's a, I don't know, anyone who's schizophrenic listening to this, sorry, but that's what these teams are. I mean, the Colts, they don't show up against a horrible Falcons team and they get shredded in the secondary. Aiden O'Connell picked them apart. That's gonna be the problem. And-

I mean, CJ Stroud is a great quarterback. So great quarterbacks against this Colts secondary is not a great combination. I have the utmost confidence that the Colts will collapse, but I think it's a little bit of a unstoppable force versus a movable object when it comes to the Texans history of collapse in big moments.

Curtis Brown (22:38.735)

Yeah, I mean you got to go back to the last time we were relevant which was the playoffs in 2020 or something 20 now not 20 2019 Yeah, we lost to the yeah lost the Chiefs after being up 24 nothing I was on my on my pod. I was actually just talking about The Colts defense they're not actually that bad like

Alex Boyajian (22:48.undefined)

Patrick Mahomes.

Alex Boyajian (22:53.453)

Mm-hmm.

Curtis Brown (23:07.379)

They're middle of the road in passing defense. They're number five in sacks.

Alex Boyajian (23:13.419)

Sax- oh our line is very good. Our line is very good.

Curtis Brown (23:15.612)

Yes.

Curtis Brown (23:20.415)

Where's the... Oh, here we go.

Curtis Brown (23:26.055)

where they have more interceptions in the Texans do. Houston's got 14, Indianapolis has got 15. They've allowed 19 touchdowns, which puts them in a tie for...

Curtis Brown (23:41.971)

ninth or something. I mean their defense does pretty solid against the pass it's just they're on the field a lot.

Alex Boyajian (23:43.692)

Mm-hmm.

Alex Boyajian (23:51.267)

It might be, I think it's just has to, it's the cover three. It really is. It's the prevent defense in like the biggest situations, which I don't know who's to blame for that. You have to blame Gus Bradley for at least part of it, for the play calling.

Curtis Brown (24:07.419)

Well, I brought this up on my podcast. Um, Jeff, I asked Jeff to rank the linebackers, the defensive lineman and the secondary with red with letter grades, defensive lineman, a, uh, linebackers B he almost went a, we just didn't do plus system. And then he gave the secondary, um, high D or a C.

And now we're just observers. We're not actually involved in the organization, but if we can tell that the secondary is not that good and they're producing, you know, 15 interceptions only allowing, you know, the 16th most yards in the air. And the defensive line is producing, you know, fifth most sacks in the NFL. The defense is playing pretty solid, all things considered, and that's predominantly because of the scheme.

He's not bringing outside pressure because the front four is getting it done. And I think it, while we, I've definitely been critical of him and Jeff has been critical of him, uh, Gus Bradley for not blitzing enough when the front four isn't getting home and to that end. Yeah, I agree. You got to mix it up, but at the same time, when your secondary is your weakest element, you've got to do things to help them.

And by doing by allowing the linebackers and the secondary to just be in coverage, you're helping your secondary a lot more. It also helps when your pass rush gets there.

Alex Boyajian (25:35.615)

So I'll say, I mean, obviously numbers don't lie. So like the defense has obviously been a lot better than expected. I would like to know like inside of five minutes left in the game or maybe in the fourth quarter what they're doing. Cuz I feel like the first quarter and the third quarter, they're a lot better than especially in crunch time. Again, they may be tired. It seems to me that especially with young quarterbacks.

they're not sending pressure when they need to. And I understand you gotta help the secondary, but when the secondary isn't getting the job done in those crucial moments when you're sending four, how much worse can they be when you're sending five? Because, I mean, Taylor Heinecke picked us apart. Aiden O'Connell was, they were picking us apart down field all game. I felt like almost every single 15 to 20 yard pass was like an automatic.

Curtis Brown (26:31.527)

Yeah, but how many?

Alex Boyajian (26:31.699)

They picked up like a couple of third and longs on screen passes too.

Curtis Brown (26:35.495)

The difference would be a 60 yard bomb for a touchdown versus a 20 yard gain. That's, that's what you're weighing as, cause let's just say Heineken makes the right read on the blitz cause you're supposed to throw into the blitz. He makes the right read. That dude's not there because he's blitzing. Gone. If they don't blitz dudes there, he's home. 20 yard game.

Alex Boyajian (27:02.031)

Yeah, I, the, I, yeah, that's, it's not, it's always been his style to Bradley and I liked it for a while, but then like, we really started to build the trenches and you see what they're able to do. And it's like, why can't we do better? I like Jalen Jones being available at the deadline. This past, you know, at this past deadline and not going after him knowing that, you know, your number one corner is gone and

Curtis Brown (27:03.625)

It's a bin but don't break defense.

Curtis Brown (27:15.623)

now.

Alex Boyajian (27:30.831)

you're down to like Tony Brown or Troy Brown, whatever the hell his name is. Or Jalen Johnson, sorry. And you're down to Troy Brown or whoever like a good special teamer was, but he was having to play corner because our depth was so bad. And now there's arrests. Like Drew Ogletree just got arrested for domestic violence. Like what is going on in the locker room?

Curtis Brown (27:34.139)

You mean, you mean Jalen Johnson? Yeah, you're good.

Curtis Brown (27:46.695)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (27:58.563)

because there's been so many suspensions. It's crazy. I don't know what's going on.

Curtis Brown (28:03.163)

I just imagine Jim, uh, was it Jim, Jim Ersay walks in with a cigar and a full bottle of whiskey. And it's just like, boys, let's get wild in that. And then they just kind of go where the night takes them.

Alex Boyajian (28:15.063)

That could be what happens. Mike, you have any thoughts on Colt's Texans? We took a little, much of your shine there.

mike (28:23.798)

That's a should be a should be a really fun game. I mean, you don't know what to expect. You don't know which of these teams going to show up could end up as a I can't imagine. It's not a good game. You know, sometimes you say you're like, oh, this should be a good game. You don't really know because could be twenty eight to seven. But I just feel like the way these teams play, neither of them want to lose. And then there might be parts of the game where neither of them want to win either. And so somebody lets somebody back in. But I don't know. I kind of like the Texans mojo getting.

CJ Stroud back. I mean, you know, boy, did they put a pummeling on Will Levis and the Titans and it's not really saying much. But I just like, you know, you get two first year coaches, very little expectations. You've got a backup quarterback for the Colts. You've got a rookie quarterback for the Texans. And here they are with a chance to what both teams are trying to get to 10 wins, right? And get, win a.

Curtis Brown (29:20.145)

Mm-hmm.

mike (29:21.642)

possibly win a division or at least get into the playoffs. This is, yeah, I think the NFL made the right move putting this one in prime time for sure. And kind of a good way to start off the week. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it. Just for you guys, for your sake too, but I think it's gonna be a fun football game.

Curtis Brown (29:40.187)

Yeah, absolutely.

Alex Boyajian (29:40.911)

Now you mentioned mojo. I'll counterpoint that with this. CJ Stroud recently said on some vlog or youtube or something that Indie is a trash city. Now this game is in Indie. I can't imagine this place is not going to be rocking. So I'm going to counterpoint your mojo with my mojo and that Indie is pissed. Indie is pissed. Now I don't know, they're also the nicest fan base in the league.

apparently, so I don't know how I'm gonna, how we're gonna parlay that into something.

Curtis Brown (30:14.15)

I don't know you better

mike (30:14.302)

Well, he's had players who've torched their own cities. I remember Aubrey Hough trashing Baltimore when he played for the Orioles. At least he wasn't dragging his own city.

Alex Boyajian (30:23.047)

That's true.

Curtis Brown (30:25.587)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (30:28.079)

um Texans or uh Jaguars Titans Derek possibly Derek Henry's last game as a Titan most likely Ryan Tannehill's last game as a Titan possibly Mike Vrabel's last game as a Titan they might try and they're either gonna lie down and say fuck you to the Colts and the Texans or they can say fuck you to the Jaguars for stealing the division last year and

Curtis Brown (30:54.48)

Yeah

Alex Boyajian (30:54.999)

go out and beat the shit out of them. I feel like Mike Vrabel is the type of guy to say, fuck you, you took our division, we're gonna win, and we're gonna go out with a bang.

Curtis Brown (31:04.139)

I agree. Mike variable is definitely the kind of coach that would say that, but this team is the kind of team that shows up and says, I don't know how to football. I mean, if you don't believe me, just go and watch Andre Dillard at left tackle two back to back plays last week. He let Will Anderson just like woo him. Like I don't even know a better word to describe it. It was just, woo, like go get out of the way. Um,

And that's been the story with the Titans all season. Doesn't matter if it's offensive line, whoever. Derrick Henry's had a Derrick Henry season, but it's not like crazy Derrick Henry numbers. It's just barely past a thousand. This is a bad Titans team. I expect the Jaguars to mollywap these boys and send the two-tone blue packing.

Alex Boyajian (31:54.435)

Thanks for watching!

mike (31:56.176)

I don't know. I mean, there's part of me that says that, yeah, and that was as bad as I could have played the Titans last week. But Mike Vrabel, he comes off, he's kind of like a sixth grade bully. He's kind of one of those guys probably. He's fun when he's your friend and you hate him when you're on the other side. Like the Titans haven't committed to a full rebuild yet. And to me, they still look like a team that just they don't know what they want to do. They're kind of afraid to rip that bandaid off and try to start all over.

So they're in this kind of rut where they five and 11. But hey, a couple of weeks ago, they beat the Dolphins in Miami, right? They were down 14, but you figured no passing offense. They were gonna come back and win that game and they did. And is there anything that makes you think Jacksonville can just walk over? I mean, they did it to Carolina, but I feel like Carolina's in another stratosphere.

Alex Boyajian (32:46.819)

I feel like they didn't really walk over Carolina either. That was a field goal happy game more than anything.

mike (32:51.702)

Right, right. And you have a backup, you know, maybe you have Trevor Lawrence playing, but how healthy is he and all the pressures on Jacksonville? I don't know. Jacksonville's definitely the better team. But yeah, if this is in fact, I don't think it's gonna be Mike Rable's last game, but it definitely could be Derek Henry's last game and maybe Ryan Tannahill. So there, you know, if the Titans have any pride, then maybe they come up with a good effort. And we remember the Titans for a day.

Curtis Brown (33:20.465)

Otherwise they are forgotten in the sands of time.

mike (33:22.239)

Right.

Alex Boyajian (33:24.959)

point differential before we moved to the West, I just recognized, I just saw these numbers. Who do you think leads the South in point differential right now?

mike (33:33.514)

Houston.

Alex Boyajian (33:35.447)

That's correct. At plus 20. In comparison, other division leaders, the Dolphins are at plus 112. The Bills are at plus 133, which they're in second place. The Ravens at plus 210. The Browns are at plus 51. The Kansas City Chiefs are at plus 76. So hilarious AFC South parody.

mike (33:37.056)

Yeah.

mike (34:02.206)

Subtract 50 for Miami though. That was one game

Alex Boyajian (34:05.791)

That's true. We did forget about that. AFC West, this is the one I think we can kind of skip over. Denver is basically preventing any free agent to ever want to come there. Vegas, they're just having fun. It seems like they're having a lot of fun. The Chargers aren't even having fun and they're bad. At least the Raiders are having fun and they're bad. And the Chiefs are not having fun, but they're kind of good.

mike (34:29.906)

Well, I, sorry, I've been jumping just because the Chiefs, you know, here's the thing that kind of is getting lost with the Chiefs. They got the third best scoring defense in the league, number one, and number two, they are the only team in the NFL that has not given up 30 points in a single game this year. And so what's scary about that is if the offense figures it out, and I don't know that there's anything to say that like any of the receivers are just going to ever take over, right? They're still going to have to, you know, Andy Reid's going to have to.

dig deep into that playbook. Although, you know, the reports were that he really simplified it this past week and they lean heavy on Pacheco. But Kansas City's got a defense this year. I mean, they've had a defense before. It's not like they just won the Super Bowl by scoring 100 points. But I don't know, Chiefs defense. I mean, that could be if the offense can figure it out, they could be a dangerous team in the postseason because it hasn't been pretty at times in the regular season and they haven't been great at home. But

I wouldn't sleep on them making a run.

Curtis Brown (35:31.543)

Yeah, I, uh, the Chiefs are definitely a little better than we think. Uh, the defense is definitely the one thing that's been constant for them all season. The other, well, I guess two things, uh, defense and drops, um, cause they lead the league in drops, their offense has got, like if I'm Patrick Malhomes, I'm pissed.

Like how we have all these dudes in here, but we're paying millions of dollars to, I took several different contract renegotiations restructures or whatever, just to bring some of these dudes in and they can't catch the ball. What are we doing? I would be so irate. And then I'd be asking Travis Kelsey why Taylor Swift is not at every freaking game because they just tend to do better when she's there. I don't know why. I don't.

Alex Boyajian (36:19.043)

Travis has been way on the down when she's there, but overall I think they win.

Curtis Brown (36:24.379)

Yeah, Travis doesn't play well when she's there. You know, what's the, I guess he's a grower, not a shower. You know what I mean? This is something like, it's like a performance anxiety. Yeah, it's like performance anxiety. There we go.

Alex Boyajian (36:34.711)

something like that. Yeah. He's a grower, not a shower. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (36:46.584)

The Chiefs probably, I think they have the worst wide receiver room since the, I think it was the 2020 Packers. The most common denominator here, Marcus Valdez Cantley.

mike (36:58.387)

Mmm.

Curtis Brown (37:00.369)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (37:00.415)

So I saw I saw him drop like an easy first down to late in the game last week that was just the maybe the pass was a little behind him, but All he had to do was just go back here Just just put those hands out and just hold on to it and you just couldn't do it. We also saw Tyreek drop one right in the end zone, which maybe he's just he's He's thinking about Patrick Mahal. He was thinking about the cheaps. He was like

Curtis Brown (37:04.403)

Yeah.

mike (37:18.346)

So that was a, yeah, tone setter.

Alex Boyajian (37:24.711)

man, I wonder what would have happened if I stayed with the chiefs and then ran that route and dropped it. And he was like, well, I'm glad I'm in my hand.

Curtis Brown (37:31.135)

Mm-hmm.

mike (37:31.762)

Yeah, if you believe in tone setters, that was one for that game. But you mentioned the 2020 Packers, and they didn't have a lot at the receiver position. They went 13 and three and were, you know, almost rallied to beat the Bucs in the NFC Championship game. So there's nothing to say that the Chiefs can't, you know, transform into more of a, you know, ground and pound offense because man, this Pacheco guy, boy, does he run angry and they can use him in the receiving game. And he could be.

the X Factor, the guy that they really lean on to help stabilize the offense in the postseason. Especially if they gotta go on the road, which, you know, it's a good chance they will, although it'd be a very Chiefs-like thing if they found a way to host another AFC Championship game as a three seed because the Ravens' Dolphins or Bills get knocked out at home. I wouldn't be shocked if that happened because keep in mind, the Chiefs have hosted Championship games twice as a two seed.

Alex Boyajian (38:16.919)

Ha ha

mike (38:27.634)

in 19 and 21, so every other year, so we might be due. But, and then the Chargers, is there anything to say on the Chargers, they're just pathetic, and I think the only thing they've done right all year was fire Brandon Staley.

Alex Boyajian (38:40.927)

Yeah, sounds about right.

Curtis Brown (38:42.859)

Yeah. I mean, they need to bring in OC head coach, like just Ben Johnson, go to the chargers. Somebody help Justin Herbert.

Alex Boyajian (38:52.231)

Absolutely. The NFC East, we have two juggernauts and two polar opposite of juggernauts here. The Cowboys and the Eagles, I think it is win and you win the division for the Cowboys. And the Eagles are just not what they used to be. They're not last year. People are calling for Nick Sirianni's head now.

How is this turned so quickly? I understand it's a down year for them, but you can't dance. Just keep playing musical chairs with head coaches. That's just not how this league works. And calling for, I understand calling for the OC's head, but Nick Sirianni, like come on, let's be real. This is just Eagles fans being Eagles fans to call for his head. I think Dallas.

Nobody's going to the NFC Championship game out of the NFC East. I'll say that.

mike (39:52.442)

Unless somebody takes out San Francisco like the Rams, that's the ticket.

Alex Boyajian (39:58.635)

That's possible. Very, very possible. A division game, I mean, you never know. You absolutely never know. That's all I have on the NFC East. It's really not that interesting, actually, the NFC East.

Curtis Brown (39:58.932)

Yeah.

Curtis Brown (40:11.143)

Yeah, I just want the Rams to win.

mike (40:12.554)

that.

That would be nice. Do we, has anything come from Jalen Hurts illness? I mean, has that been a factor at all about maybe why he struggled a little bit these last few weeks? But obviously the defense has been just porous. This is why it's been almost two decades since a team has repeated as a Super Bowl champion. I know the Eagles weren't a Super Bowl champion, but it's just so hard.

Curtis Brown (40:29.106)

Yeah.

mike (40:44.63)

to sustain that level. What, they have like 72 sacks or something last year? I mean, you can't, I mean, the law of averages has to get you. And you know, yeah, you said it Alex, Eagles fans being Eagles fans, they're 10 and one, right? 11 and one, 10 and one a few weeks ago, and they're still 11 and five. If you said, well, you know, we made the Super Bowl last year, we're 14 and three, we'll probably regress a little, it'll be 11 and five. My God, you're still 11 and five, but yeah, it's trending in the wrong direction. And if you look at the stats in the Cardinals game,

Curtis Brown (40:49.063)

Yeah.

mike (41:12.882)

What the Cardinals put up like almost 450 yards and it shouldn't have even been that close. You had that bad pick six and you know, we were watching that game Alex just look like Philly was getting manhandled. Manhandled kind of like Dallas does sometimes on the road, but Philly got manhandled at home. By the way, Arizona has beaten both Philly Dallas this year. So how good can either of those teams be?

Alex Boyajian (41:23.735)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (41:36.875)

They did blow the lead to the Giants as well, correct? But... Ha ha ha!

Curtis Brown (41:36.988)

Thank you.

mike (41:40.122)

They did, yeah. Almost, well yeah, almost. They think they've got down to like two points or something, but.

Curtis Brown (41:48.383)

Jesus. Let the giants beat them. The giants won.

Alex Boyajian (41:48.799)

No, I thought they... I thought they ended up losing that game. Yeah.

mike (41:54.542)

No, the Eagles beat the Giants. That was the one win.

Curtis Brown (41:56.251)

No, no, no. Giant's Cardinal.

Alex Boyajian (41:57.843)

No, no, I'm talking about Cardinals.

mike (42:01.426)

Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Sorry. I thought you guys were talking about Philly. Yeah, the Giants came back from what like 28 to 7 down. I mean, Arizona

Alex Boyajian (42:08.947)

It was their biggest comeback in franchise history, which was hilarious, because it was like a 21-point comeback.

mike (42:12.494)

That's hard to believe. Yeah, hard to believe. And you know, Arizona went into Pittsburgh, pushed the steel. Well, I don't know if that's saying much. They just like playing in Pennsylvania, I guess, but.

Alex Boyajian (42:24.492)

world beaters.

mike (42:25.572)

Mm-hmm.

Alex Boyajian (42:28.907)

Curtis, you got anything?

Curtis Brown (42:32.083)

No, I think we're good.

Alex Boyajian (42:34.499)

NFC North. Lions have clinched the NFC North for the first time in their franchise history. Last time they did it, it was the NFC Central and it was 1993. So party like it's 1993 Detroit. They might have to play Matt Stafford too in the playoffs and they will lose that game. That is a Detroit way to lose it. They'll probably play the Saturday night game on the wild card or that wild card game.

Curtis Brown (42:46.888)

Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (43:02.655)

I would assume it would be the Saturday night game. The Packers and the Vikings, I mean, the Bears are dead. They were dead. They needed a tie between the Packers and Vikings. I think the Bears should stick with Fields for one more year, take Marvin Harrison Jr. and say, OK, this is definitively it. This is your last chance because I don't think Caleb Williams is the quote, must get draft pick that we think he is.

and I don't have anything fun to say about the Vikings or Packers. I guess it was cute when the Vikings were going on a run. That was cute, right?

Curtis Brown (43:37.659)

Yeah, Josh Dobbs.

mike (43:37.739)

Well, you could spend... Yeah, you spent 20 minutes now reciting everything that needs to happen for the Vikings on

Saturday and Sunday for them to get into the playoffs. But I would say this about the Bears, they remind me a little bit of last year's Lions, right? They got a terrible start, everyone's calling for the coach. I mean, because the Lions were one in seven last year, finished nine and eight. The Bears, I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was bad, two and seven, two and eight, something like that. And they're playing really well. They got the number one pick in the draft, which, as you said, Alex, they probably should.

trade, we'll see, or they take Marvin Harrison. But they got a chance to do exactly what the Lions of last year did, which is go to Lambeau Field and knock off the Packers to sort of cap that great second half. Lions did it at Lambeau. And then you've got Detroit playing Minnesota. And by the way, weird stat of the day, NFC North teams in division games on the road are 8 and 2.

The road teams have had the advantage, right? And the Bears have never beaten the Packers recently. It's kind of like Jets Patriots. So that'd be a big milestone for the Bears to win that game. And the Lions are still playing for maybe a second home playoff game. Because if they can win, they would need Dallas to lose to the Commanders and Philly to lose to the Giants. It's a stretch, but you know, the way those teams have played lately, why not? If Detroit wins, gets the two, that'd be a big deal. So.

At least they got somewhere to go up. But if not, home playoff game against Matt Staff for bringing on.

Alex Boyajian (45:19.523)

I don't know why that started playing, that was weird. Did you guys hear that?

Curtis Brown (45:19.759)

Yeah. I don't know. Uh-uh.

mike (45:23.062)

That was the Emmy music queuing me off the stage. I was just going on too long, you know, when you're at the Academy Awards.

Curtis Brown (45:27.791)

me yeah um kudos to the lions this is the most hype they've been since barry sanders um not a whole lot not a whole lot going on between then and now but um look uh the nfc north somebody had to win it and the lions have definitely been the only team that's consistently trended upwards uh the last couple seasons

Alex Boyajian (45:39.469)

That's fair.

Alex Boyajian (45:54.359)

Mm-hmm.

Curtis Brown (45:57.203)

The Bears, I don't necessarily think that Justin Fields' play has warranted another shot. He's graded out consistently as one of the league's worst passers. An elite runner of the football, absolutely. I think for the peak Justin Fields, he's going to have to pull a trail prior and change positions.

just it's the only thing that makes sense let's just we know he's an athlete let's just let him do athletic things

Alex Boyajian (46:33.703)

I would like to see him just with an offensive minded head coach. I think he's one of the guys where he can, I think he really can be good, but he's got to be surrounded by a lot of guys. I mean, I don't think it's, yeah, exactly. Do the Jalen Hurts thing with him. Not really the Lamar thing. Lamar's done it all on his own. But yeah, I think if you give him the right opportunity, he'll succeed.

Curtis Brown (46:39.95)

Yeah.

Curtis Brown (46:45.339)

Yeah, if he was in Philadelphia.

Alex Boyajian (47:02.347)

but he clearly can't do it on his own, at least from what we've seen so far. He just doesn't have the physical ability to do that.

Um, NFC South, the second most fun South in the NFL. Um, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Baker Mayfield first off is my comeback player of the year. I mean, the, I think the Bucs were calling for Kyle Trask to be the starter in training camp. Like the team was the players. And he has just brought this Bucs team. I mean, I know it's eight and eight. A lot of people are going to say it's not that big of a deal, but for what this Bucs team was last year.

Curtis Brown (47:28.456)

See ya.

Alex Boyajian (47:41.383)

Eight and eight is pretty damn good, I would say. I mean, this is what Brady did too. And they're also the most fun team, I think that could come out of the NFC South. The rest of them boring as shit. I don't wanna see the Saints or the Falcons on my screen on playoff Saturday or Sunday.

Curtis Brown (48:00.495)

Yeah, but the Falcons are sneaky, sneaky good on defense. They can stop a run and they're not terrible against the pass, but their offense is the most bipolar thing I've ever seen since high school. Um, it's. And then the saints are like, if they, if they could ever figure out how to use Derek Carr, it might be something, but yeah, because he's not drew breeze.

Alex Boyajian (48:06.659)

They're boring.

Alex Boyajian (48:24.791)

They hate their quarterback.

Curtis Brown (48:30.047)

It's like just bead your breeze.

Alex Boyajian (48:33.682)

It's not hard man, just be Drew Brees.

Curtis Brown (48:35.411)

Be Drew Brees, what are you talking about? How is this difficult?

Alex Boyajian (48:38.283)

Dennis Allen, I think also record wise, is one of the worst coaches in the league in his tenure. Like, just bad. I don't know how he's had a job so long.

Curtis Brown (48:42.247)

Now.

Curtis Brown (48:46.951)

I don't know how he got the Raiders job before that. Cause he, a long time or a few years ago, he was the Raiders head coach. Terrible.

mike (48:53.743)

Anybody can get that Raiders job. That is not Not saying much

Curtis Brown (48:56.723)

That's true. That's true. They brought that random red haired ESPN commentator. He was there. He'd go for a second.

Alex Boyajian (49:07.055)

Yeah, he drove a victory lap around Kansas City when they beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead.

Curtis Brown (49:10.667)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is. That a boy. Oh God.

Alex Boyajian (49:16.319)

Yeah. Mike, do you have anything on the NFC South?

mike (49:21.246)

Well, I was all, I gotta pump the brakes on the bucks now because I was touting them as kind of a sleeper team and they just laid an egg. Although in fairness, you know, there's probably a part of them that realized, hey, we don't need to win this game. We still just need to beat Carolina. So maybe they treated this as their de facto bye. You know, Baker showed some toughness, man. And you know, you say what you want about the guys, underperformed as a, certainly as a number one pick. But

If they win Sunday or they play Sunday, right? If they beat Carolina, they Will still match last year's win total with Brady, which I don't know that a lot of people would have expected that If you're asking who of the potential teams in the NFC South could make a run Curtis said the Falcons maybe you know They got there's some talent there, but it's hard to trust them hard to trust the Saints I still think Todd bowls not great. I know Alex. You're not a big fan of

Todd Bowles or you have a friend who's not a big fan of Todd Bowles, but I still would lean towards the Bucs just because they have some guys with Super Bowl experience recently that have been part of a playoff wins, right? They also want to play off game against the Eagles two years ago. We'll know exactly who the Bucs are, how they come out on Sunday. Do they do they step on the neck of Carolina as they should? Because they Carolina kind of came back on them first time they played.

And if not, between the Falcons and Saints, I would still lean towards the Saints having a little more of a chance in the playoffs. But it's just, I mean, how many years, the NFC South is just, it's just hard to watch.

Curtis Brown (51:01.551)

Yeah. And it's been like this for it feels like it since drew Brees retired.

mike (51:06.354)

Breeze and break? Well, breeze. Yeah, more so.

Alex Boyajian (51:09.615)

Even I think even before that there really wasn't much to write home about them I mean there was the panthers and then like the saints just kind of won that division by default for a while Um, I guess like the cam newton panthers that was probably the best time because you had the cam newton panthers the drew breeze saints you had Matt ryan falcons and then you had the jamis winston bux which were fun they were they were a fun team to watch because

mike (51:20.659)

Right.

Curtis Brown (51:28.219)

Matt Ryan Malkins.

mike (51:30.995)

Yep.

mike (51:36.95)

kept both teams in the game. He was great.

Alex Boyajian (51:40.231)

Yeah. 30 first or what? Second 30 quarterback.

mike (51:42.822)

Yeah, 2019 and prompted the arrival of Thomas Brady.

Curtis Brown (51:44.713)

Yep.

Alex Boyajian (51:49.319)

I actually, I watched him throw for the NFL record in passing yards in a single game against the Colts in 2019. Where they came back, they came back down like 18 points or something to win the game. And the Colts were fighting for a playoff spot at that point and heartbreaking.

Curtis Brown (51:57.8)

Nice.

mike (51:57.87)

Alright.

mike (52:04.462)

Yeah, I think didn't Leonard have a pick six or something in that game? And then. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (52:09.339)

Yeah, he did. Yeah. The South clinching scenarios. Atlanta will clinch with a win and a Bucks loss. They will be eight and nine and win the division. The Saints will clinch the division with a win and a Buccaneers loss or tie or a Saints tie and a Bucks loss. They will also clinch a playoff birth with a Saints win, Seahawks loss or tie and a Packers loss or tie or a Saints tie, Seahawks loss and Packers loss.

Curtis Brown (52:11.86)

Mm.

Alex Boyajian (52:39.115)

The Bucs will clinch a division title with a win or a tie and a Saints loss or tie. Tampa will clinch a playoff berth with a Bucs tie, Seahawks loss and a Packers loss. So easiest way in obviously Bucs win. NFC West, this is the more exciting division.

mike (52:57.171)

You didn't tell us what the panthers clinching scenarios were, but that's okay.

Alex Boyajian (53:01.904)

Turn back the clock and take CJ Stroud. That's the quickest way you can do that. NFC, oh and David Tepper threw a drink on a fan also. Hilarious.

mike (53:04.434)

That's right.

Curtis Brown (53:08.007)

You pour the soda back in the cup. Yep.

mike (53:12.123)

He only got fine. He got fine 300,000, which is like you or I being fine $3.

Alex Boyajian (53:16.863)

Yeah, easily.

Curtis Brown (53:17.339)

yeah and how much how much of that money went to the person who was thrown said drink upon yeah

mike (53:25.353)

Three cents.

Alex Boyajian (53:25.773)

I hope they bring a lawsuit to him just because Tepper would have 15 lawyers at that guy's door if the roles were reversed.

mike (53:32.463)

It's considered assault in Florida, apparently. I think I saw that somewhere.

Alex Boyajian (53:36.087)

Good.

Curtis Brown (53:38.236)

Okay.

Alex Boyajian (53:39.571)

I made a video, we actually made a video about David Tepper, just how much I hate him and how he's just a bad owner. He replaced, what's his name, Dan Snyder is the worst owner. Not just because you make money in the financial world doesn't mean you're a good football owner. Let's just say that. I would buy a team if I had enough money though. That would just be so much fun. Spend all the money to get players there. I'd spend billions and billions of dollars.

Curtis Brown (53:48.871)

Richardson.

Curtis Brown (54:01.459)

Same.

Alex Boyajian (54:08.427)

then I'd go broke, but the Colts would win a Super Bowl. NFC West, so the 49ers clinch the number one seed. They are 12 and four. The Rams have clinched a playoff spot. They're nine and seven. The Seahawks felt like they were dead, but they have a very reasonable opportunity to get in. And they also play the Cardinals. Seattle will clinch a berth where they Seahawks win and a Packers loss or tie.

Curtis Brown (54:11.039)

Alright.

Alex Boyajian (54:38.059)

This would also be the second opportunity for a lowly NFC North team to knock the Packers out of the playoffs in week 18. They can also get in with ties and a Packers loss plus a Bucks loss or tie or a Saints loss or tie. That's, I think that's the most interesting scenario. You know, of the...

Curtis Brown (55:00.271)

What happens if just everybody in the NFC loses? Like in the playoff picture? Because it doesn't sound like they're... Well the Cowboys are playing the... who? Eagles are playing the Commanders.

Alex Boyajian (55:05.599)

I don't think that's possible.

Alex Boyajian (55:11.735)

They're playing the eagles.

Alex Boyajian (55:16.739)

Oh, oh, everyone that's in the playoff picture? Oh, that's an interesting one. Let's go to the playoff machine here.

Curtis Brown (55:18.648)

Yeah.

Curtis Brown (55:24.351)

Because like, I just want to know how many teams would make it with a losing record. That's the question.

Alex Boyajian (55:31.083)

Let's see this one. Okay. Let's look at this.

Alex Boyajian (55:37.123)

Assume the Cardinals win, the Bears win, say the Panthers win.

Vikings, Giants, who would we say the 49ers or Rams? Because they both have winning records and they are in the playoffs.

Curtis Brown (55:55.643)

Are they playing each other? Okay. Well, wah-wah. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (55:57.267)

Yeah, yeah. I would say Rams. Let's just say the Rams win that one. Say Falcons win their game and the Commanders win their game. We would have first seed San Francisco at 12 and 5, second seed Dallas at 11 and 6, 7th seed Minnesota at 8 and 9, 6th seed LA at 10 and 7, 5th seed Philly at 11 and 6, 3rd seed Detroit at 11 and 6, and 4th seed Atlanta.

at eight and nine, we would have a bird off. The fourth and fifth seed would be Philly and Atlanta. I love bird offs.

mike (56:34.918)

And and the Falcons have never fared well against the Eagles in the playoffs. They've just had so many They've had dead just it is over the years in general. So

Curtis Brown (56:45.307)

Yep. All the way back to Michael Vick.

mike (56:49.074)

Yeah, I was going to say the two Super Bowl years for the Eagles, they beat Atlanta on the way.

Alex Boyajian (56:55.171)

Oh, it would be the dog bowl, actually. Really the dog bowl. Not, yeah, the eagles and falcons would be the dog bowl. Not the bird bowl.

mike (56:58.75)

with Michael Vick.

Curtis Brown (56:58.879)

How was that? Oh yeah, cause my...

mike (57:07.074)

and Vic also played for the Steelers. So that takes me back to 04 when you had three of the final four teams were Michael Vic teams. Anyway, but the NFC West, I mean, are the Rams, are we, you know, you said it Curtis, are we sleeping on the Rams or they, could they bank a run? Cause they're, you know, what's his name? Kyle Williams running it well. Stafford mostly avoiding the turnovers till last week. Experience.

Alex Boyajian (57:14.921)

Hehehe

mike (57:36.282)

They're an underdog, which they didn't have that luxury last time. They were the heavy favorites, so they had to deal with expectations. Now all the expectations are on their rivals to the north, the 49ers, and they could meet again.

Curtis Brown (57:48.539)

Yep. Yeah, I think the Rams are poised to play upset to a couple different teams. Stafford, Stafford's played pretty well this season, especially considering the offensive line is kind of patchwork. And Cooper Cupps not been available for most of the year, it feels like. But the emergence of Pukin Akua and I think even Matt Stafford missed a couple games at some point this season. But.

Alex Boyajian (58:13.704)

Yeah, he did.

Curtis Brown (58:16.623)

And they're somehow still right here, nine and seven. Like, I'm not saying it's the same kind of scenario as Mike Tomlin by any means, but like, this was a team that nobody even entertained as being playoff contenders. It was the Seahawks, the 49ers, and then the Rams were rebuilding or, you know, just kind of laying in their own filth after all the trading and money laundering they had to do to get all those players.

mike (58:44.776)

All right.

Curtis Brown (58:46.843)

Um, I mean, they were basically dead in the water and Matt Stafford's got him playing meaningful football here in January. And if you're a Rams fan, you can't ask for much more. This is playing above the pedigree that you're expecting. It's hype. Gotta love it.

mike (58:55.818)

Thanks for watching!

Alex Boyajian (59:01.139)

Yeah, this is a very well coached team. I think we really did forget about how good of a coach, what the hell's his name? All the young coaches, I get them all mixed up. McVeigh. Yeah, I get him, McDermott, and like a few of the other guys all mixed together into one pot. They're a really well coached team. I think we forgot about the value of a well coached team and the value of a healthy Matthew Stafford.

Curtis Brown (59:09.464)

Sean McGill.

mike (59:12.186)

Make way.

Curtis Brown (59:12.231)

Big Bay.

Alex Boyajian (59:29.307)

he dragged those Lions teams to like at least fighting for a playoff spot in the second to last week of the year. Like he, those Lions teams should have gotten the first pick almost every year except for him. He was the only reason. So, um, just I'm giving, I'm giving Matt Stafford his props. He gets them all the time, but I'm going to give them to him again. He deserves the flowers. Um, so just get, get another, get another vase and fill it up with water. We're giving you your flowers. Get Matt Stafford. Um, I'm surprised the Seahawks are in this.

Curtis Brown (59:56.88)

Get ready, we buying the whole flower shop.

Alex Boyajian (59:59.891)

Yeah, I thought the Seahawks were dead. I thought they were dead in the water. I thought their wings were ripped off from their body, but they were just broken and they're healing now. And at eight and eight, very reasonable opportunity to get in. I don't think they could do anything, but they could get in and have a seat at the table.

mike (01:00:20.742)

The Seahawks are kind of the NFC Steelers. I mean, we said the Vikings, and they just eventually ran out of quarterbacks. But of course, the Steelers won that battle last week. But I mean, every time you want to go to sleep on the Seahawks, they surprise you. They kind of squeaked their way in last. They beat the Rams on like the last second field goal last year in the final game to get in. And I could see them really struggling with Arizona.

They win and somebody gets knocked off. And then if you're like Detroit, for example, if Seattle ends up playing Detroit and Seattle won there in overtime back in week two, um, if Seattle ends up potentially playing the Niners, yeah, they really struggle with the Niners, but division rival. And I mean, they're just, I don't know. They're not the Legion of boom Seahawks, but they're not, they're hard to kill off, you know what I mean?

Curtis Brown (01:01:12.519)

Yeah. They won't go away like a bad fungus.

Alex Boyajian (01:01:13.011)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Alex Boyajian (01:01:19.867)

Um, that's all the, that's all the teams. Um, I do want to talk a little bit about the officiating before we jump off. Um, so last week, Lions, Cowboys, we had a little, not a TIF, not even a TIF. It was just really bad. Uh, the Lions say they reported eligible. The referees didn't. I feel like, I don't know, I feel like the Lions would have been going a little crazier. I feel like there would have been a lot more complaining if, if that really happened because

Curtis Brown (01:01:26.291)

Good.

Alex Boyajian (01:01:48.659)

If the referee is just up and missed that call, if I'm Dan Campbell, I'm screaming at everybody until after the game. I'm meeting with the commissioner. I'm like, you need to fix this. Our guy did the right thing. So we don't actually know what happened. Like you have people, we have video of them going up to the official. But again, we don't know if he didn't, if he didn't say anything. But Bill Vinovich is one of the known refs. He had the infamous missed PI call in the Saints Rams game.

He will be the referee crew, or his crew will be on the Colts-Texans game. On Saturday night. I know. Fan-fucking-tastic, right? No, that is the crew that was on the Cowboy Lions game. They're gonna be on Raven Steelers.

Curtis Brown (01:02:23.367)

Great.

mike (01:02:27.205)

I thought it was the Ravens.

mike (01:02:33.422)

Oh, I thought that's all right. I thought that's what you said. Yeah. Okay. You were talking about which game did Bill Vintro do.

Alex Boyajian (01:02:38.507)

Colts. Bill Vinovich was the missed PI call in Saints Rams NFC Championship game.

mike (01:02:43.602)

Gotcha. Right, right. Yeah, of course. Tommy Lewis.

Curtis Brown (01:02:49.939)

Mm-hmm. Tommy Lee.

Alex Boyajian (01:02:51.359)

Yeah. So I figured I figured I would just mention it. A little stats from that. They have been assigned to 15 games a season. One Colts game against the Panthers. Fifty three point one four percent of penalties thrown by Vinovich's crew have been on the home team, like against the home team. And the visiting team has won 60 percent of those games with the Colts set to be the home team this week. These are less than ideal statistics. Yes, I was reading that off an article. If you have a problem with that.

mike (01:02:52.042)

Tommy, we're here.

Alex Boyajian (01:03:22.263)

any listeners have problems with me giving accurate information. So I'm really curious how this is gonna go down. This is like the second most important game of the week besides Dolphins Bills. The fact that they would give this to this crew, I don't know why. I really don't know why.

Curtis Brown (01:03:41.087)

Maybe they're trying to jumpstart a redemption arc. I don't know.

Alex Boyajian (01:03:45.971)

Maybe.

mike (01:03:47.418)

The team that probably has been impacted the least this year by the officials is the Ravens. And the key to that is you just blow everybody out so these calls don't really matter. Just don't play close games and then officials can't really ruin it.

Alex Boyajian (01:04:01.907)

Yeah, that's true. I live my life by that. If you don't make mistakes early, you don't have to worry about it. Like if the Colts didn't fucking lose to the Browns because they gave away 20 points, we would be in the playoffs right now, probably. Yeah.

Curtis Brown (01:04:03.636)

True.

Curtis Brown (01:04:17.803)

That's why you know it's interesting you believe that I believe the if the refs don't see it it's not illegal Yeah, so bring your prison chinks

Alex Boyajian (01:04:24.823)

That's true too. They don't, I mean, if they don't catch it, they don't catch it. That's just a part of the game. You know, I just watched the longest yard. That reminds me. Just watch that. Apparently it was based on a real soccer game with the Nazis. So didn't know that one. It's interesting. Anyways, thank you all for listening. Get excited for Saturday and Sunday. This is the last week.

Curtis Brown (01:04:37.807)

There you go.

Curtis Brown (01:04:46.083)

Interesting.

Alex Boyajian (01:04:53.383)

of football of this glorious regular season at least. So get excited. Clear your schedule for the weekend because family doesn't matter or also just past the holidays. So you guys probably spent all of your time with your family. So tell them I don't want to see you guys anymore because this week 18 slate is going to be a monster. But make sure to go to the Curtis Brown or the Curtis podcast network by Curtis Brown.

on YouTube, like, subscribe, comment, the whole thing. Make sure to go to Draft America, see Michael Sepp's articles on his website, but most importantly, make sure to check out Chao on Instagram. We've had over one and a half million impressions on Instagram in the last month. So that's very exciting. And we will see you guys next week.

mike (01:05:47.308)

Thanks for having me see you guys

Curtis Brown (01:05:49.291)

Thank you.