Kind: captions
Language: en
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I'm the bad guy.
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I'm the
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>> All right, welcome back to Across the
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Grid Iron. It's another solo edition.
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Matt is still away, but don't worry,
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I've got his picks written down. Maybe
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mainly so I can remember what they are
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and I can send that back to him. Week 16
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is where playoffs M turns into playoff
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reality. Um, division titles are on the
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on the line and wild card doors are
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closing for a lot of teams, including my
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Dallas Cowboys. I know. Um, okay. So,
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we're going to run through um our picks
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as we normally do. Um, and um we
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encourage you to join in the
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conversation as well. So, drop into the
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comments uh what you think about this
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pics. But it is getting very exciting.
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Um, playoff time is here, but it also
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means that football will soon be gone.
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And, uh, we're back to those long months
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of waiting for football. But before I
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waffle on, let me just, uh, encourage
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you to hit that like and subscribe
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button. Um, don't forget to share this
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with as many NFL fans as possible. Help
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us grow this channel and really, really
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appreciate all of you. Okay, so let's
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run through the games um and what they
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mean for the playoffs where Matt and I
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agree and where we absolutely do not
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agree. And we'll start with the NFC
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East. Um the Commanders versus the
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Eagles. Uh this is a huge game in the
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NFC East. Um but let's be clear about
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what the Eagles actually are right now.
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You know, I had no love for the Eagles.
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Um but from week 10 onwards, this has
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not been an elite offense. um by EPA per
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play, they are 21st in the league, um
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bottom third in yards and outside the
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top 20 in scoring, but the eye test
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tells you that they are not really a
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good team. So um they're not going to be
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blowing teams away um anytime soon, but
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they have a few things that they're
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working for them and that kind of makes
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you understand why we've we've gone for
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what we've gone for uh in this matchup.
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So, Red Zone, you're very good, but
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that's, you know, arguably due to the
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tush push. Um, they're second best in
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the NFL. Um, actually, they're probably
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top um in the NFL only behind the Lions.
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Um, game control through situational
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football. Uh, although you can say to a
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large extent and a lot of players that
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haven't really showed up recently, Son
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Barkley has has really been missing. You
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know how I feel about Jaylen Herz, you
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know, as a coach. I mean, as a as a
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quarterback,
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um I don't think he's particularly very
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good when he doesn't have all his
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Avengers uh with him. Um their time of
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possession in ter from a context
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perspective is um about 30.1 minutes
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around 17 in the league. Um but we're
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still backing the Eagles because the
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commanders are so much more worse. Uh,
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and Jayden Daniels is down. Mariota will
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probably be starting at quarterback. I
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think that the Eagles find a way to win
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this one. So, we're both backing the
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Eagles, but I don't expect pretty
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football, just effective football in
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this one. Okay, still staying in the NFC
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East. Let's go to the NFC North because
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we'll be talking about the Eagles versus
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the Packers in this game. Um, and this
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is where, you know, we've gone, you
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know, um, very different. Did I say
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Eagles? And then Bears versus the
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Packers. Um we're going very different
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in our picks to to in this one. Now the
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Bears are not the top eight um team in
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EPA per play. They are ninth and but
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that still puts them firmly in the upper
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tiers of offense in the league. Uh
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they're quite elite and actually they've
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been beating up very very good teams.
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You know, they beat the Cowboys, they
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beat the Eagles. You know, you might
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argue whether those two teams are good
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teams. Uh, but the Bears have shown
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that, you know, when you have a good
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coach, you've got Caleb Williams as a
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quarterback, uh, and a coach that
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understands how to play to the the
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quarterback strength, uh, it means that
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you get some efficient play happening,
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um, for the Bears. So, top five early
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down success rate, especially on rushing
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plays, they're very, very good at that.
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And the second in rushing yards per
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game. Um
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so it means that their offense is bell
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for December, right? You know, everyone
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talks about December being very good
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from a running um perspective. Um and
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they're trying to stay out of long yard
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situations, which is pretty good. Now
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for the Packers on the other hand, um
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yes, um the the loss of Micah Parson is
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going to be so devastating
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for this team. I I I kind of think
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about, you know, what Michael Parson was
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going to be doing um for the Packers and
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he was supposed to be making the
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difference for them. Um and now he's not
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there. So things are going to be
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slightly very interesting for the
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Packers, but um I'm going for the Bears
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in this one. Max is going for the
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Packers, but mostly because I want to
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try and claw back some points. you know,
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I am actually not doing well in the
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prediction. So, I really need to get a
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few more points uh to claw back on what
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Matt has done. So, that's what we're
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going for. Now, let's go to the Panthers
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and the Buck Box cuz that's the next
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game that we're picking. Um this one was
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slightly a much more difficult team um
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and game to pick because I still have a
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disconnect with what's happening with
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the Panthers. I don't know if they're
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really that good. I think that they can,
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but I don't expect them to make a deep
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run in the playoffs. Having said that
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though, the box have been sliding and
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they're pretty much been on roller
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skates uh with no training. Uh and
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they've just been sliding down the the
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the
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league, sliding down, you know, as we
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get into the home stretch. Uh it's not
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looking really good, especially even
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with all the good players coming back
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from injury. But I guess you just cannot
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force chemistry and you can't force a
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lot of things um you know in this time
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of the year. Now the Panthers are not
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very good in their defensive play.
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They're 26 um in defensive EPA um on the
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season and they're not really dominating
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teams when they win um games. But as
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long as you don't ask their quarterback
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to do too much, uh Bryce Young is still
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very young, still learning the the
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league, avoid negative plays, then they
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play clean football. Um and
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yeah, so we're both going for the
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Panthers in this one. Um
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I don't think any much more we can say
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with that. So yes. Okay, let's go to the
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AFC. um Broncos versus the Jaguars.
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And this is probably one of the cleanest
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one to actually um pick for the week. Um
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some context for the Jaguars. Um they've
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been picking up wins, you know, very
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very slowly going into the home stretch
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um for the end of the season. Uh but I
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mean they're they're not their numbers
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don't scream a lot. Um they don't scream
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like they are a top top team, but they
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are finding ways to win. Um the bad news
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for the Jaguars is that the Broncos have
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been pretty good. Um they they bring in
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a lot of pressure and very elite from
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that point of view. Um their defensive
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front is very good and they do force
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people into predict predictable downs.
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Um,
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so I think this is a a matchup that's
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just a little bit too much for the
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Jaguars. I know they beat the Colts, but
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the Colts were also a team in a bad
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form. And it's been really interesting
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as to um what has happened to the Colts
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in terms of how good they started the
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season. To see them slide down to where
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they are right now, it's a real real
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shame. And it would have been a a good
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story for the Colts. But we're talking
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about Broncos and Jaguars here. I as I
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digress, we're both going for the
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Broncos to win this one. Um I I think
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this is just going to be a matchup
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nightmare uh for the Jaguars. So,
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Broncos to win in this one. Um last game
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that we're picking
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is the Ravens versus the Patriots.
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Um okay, so Matt obviously doesn't like
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the Patriots. They're in the same
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division as his beloved Dolphins. Um I
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don't care either way. um for either of
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these teams, but there's a nostalgia
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feeling, you know, around the Patriots
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and what they've been able to do in the
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league and and you know, it's in a way,
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you know, now that you kind of gotten
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over your post Brady, you know, sort of
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hate and angst, you can maybe have a
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soft spot for the for the Patriots. Um
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okay, but they've been good this season.
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Absolutely fantastic. 11 and three in
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their record in the league. um topping
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the AFC right now and all but secure
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their player birth and I think they're a
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team that nobody really wants to face
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right now and if they hang on and all
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get to that number one seed I think
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they're going to be a problem um for a
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lot of teams. Um they're fourth in
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defensive success rate and they're fifth
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in their run defense. And that's
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excellent, excellent for making people
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make do long drives, you know, across
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the field. Um and they create a lot of
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third and long situations for other
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teams. So I think, you know, with the
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secondary, I like what's going on there.
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Christian Gonzalez, um you know, he's
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pretty good. Um, so this is going to be
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tricky for the Baltimore Ravens and I
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know that they are um coming on strong.
00:10:12.640 --> 00:10:14.470
So do apologize if you're hearing kind
00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.949
of a lot of background sounds. I'm not
00:10:16.959 --> 00:10:20.150
at home today. Um, I'm recording this.
00:10:20.160 --> 00:10:23.910
Um, so but like I said, you know,
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Baltimore uh Ravens are probably
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don't know what's happening with Lamar
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Jackson. um he has a a shot of just
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trying to get into the playoffs, but
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this is not a very very good team. Uh
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and the signs were there from the
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beginning of the season when the defense
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were giving up 40 points on a regular
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basis. Um so so we're going for the
00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:51.829
Patriots um to win this game. Both of us
00:10:51.839 --> 00:10:54.470
are going for the Patriots. Um okay, so
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that's those are our picks, guys. Week
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16 picks. Um, if the Eagles win,
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Cowboys season is done, right? So, um,
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that's sad. Um, but if the Bears win,
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they make a statement. And, uh, and if
00:11:11.760 --> 00:11:14.470
the Patriots keep doing this, people
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might start talking about the return of
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the Brady era, Brady days. Um, nostalgia
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for the Patriots fans, I'm very, very
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sure. But for all of us, we just want
00:11:24.079 --> 00:11:27.110
good football. um in the NFL as we get
00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:28.870
to the the home stretch, the business
00:11:28.880 --> 00:11:31.269
end. So, don't forget to hit that like
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and subscribe button uh and you know,
00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.550
join in the conversation. Uh and my
00:11:36.560 --> 00:11:38.870
question to you is which of these teams
00:11:38.880 --> 00:11:41.750
really bell for um December, January
00:11:41.760 --> 00:11:44.069
football uh and who's going to get
00:11:44.079 --> 00:11:45.910
exposed? Who's going to be one and done?
00:11:45.920 --> 00:11:48.310
I've got my eyes on a few teams, but
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let's know who you guys think uh will be
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one and done uh in the playoffs. All
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right, guys. I'll see you in the next
00:11:54.880 --> 00:11:59.000
one. Across the grid iron.