Join Sterling Holmes and Mike Luciano for another week of Stacking The Box! In this week’s episode: Who is going to make the PLAYOFFS? Plus, biggest winners & losers from Week 15, the Eagles look terrible (again), the year of the backup QB, Week 16 predictions and much more!
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00:00 – Welcome to the Stacking the Box Podcast!
02:15 – Biggest Winners and Losers From This Past Week
13:11 – Who Will Separate & Make the Playoffs?
26:03 – Eagles Look Terrible (AGAIN)
32:16 – Year of the Backup QB
38:35 – NFL Week 16 Picks & Predictions
Want to join us for our live show on YouTube? We stream every Tuesday at 9am PST/12pm EST at https://www.youtube.com/c/StackingtheBox
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Welcome in to the stacking the Box podcast I am Sterling Holmes no Ian McMillan he was doubtful with a illness and unlike Max Crosby he could not bounce back so Ian McMillan uh he’s been downgraded to out for today’s show but Mike luchano will be filling in in his
Place Mike how are you well I I’m upset we couldn’t get a Michael Jordan flu game but I will dutifully do my best to sub in for Ian uh feeling okay because I actually think I might be on track to go play in the NFL because I scored as many
Points as my beloved New York Jets did this weekend so look at you that if that’s the barometer for Success maybe I can get in I won’t turn the ball over three times like Trevor Simeon I’ll get sacked on every play but I won’t fumble it like Simeon did you say that now
Until you get hit by a dude chasing you I think the ball might be popping out we got a lot to talk about today who’s going to make the playoffs biggest winners and losers uh eagles look terrible yet again in the year of the backup quarterback before we go any
Further sleeper sleeper ad they are joining us stacking the box as we are partnering with sleeper daily fantasy to give new users a first deposit match up to $100 make sure to use our code fansided 2 when signing up to receive your deposit match that is fansided 2 please remember to always game
Responsibly scan the QR code on screen to see if you qualify all right Mike let’s start with biggest winners I’ll let you go first here biggest winner for this past week I mean there couldn’t be a bigger one than Baker Mayfield right 381 yards and four touchdowns and the
First player in NFL history to have a perfect passer rating at Lambo field against the p Packers I’m just happy for him because for so much of his career in Cleveland Carolina La not really LA but Cleveland Carolina he had horrible coaches number one and then number two
Horrible coaches that kept getting fired and they keep churning new ones in even though I’m not the biggest Todd Bulls fan I think the world of Dave Canalis as offensive coordinator Gino Smith won’t shut up about how great he is he’s finally in a system where they believe
In him and he believes in them and look what’s happening right now they’re pulling off some good wins if the season ended today they’d host a home playoff game and they play New Orleans week 16 I think there’s a very good chance that the Bucks end up winning some of their
Last few games and then Baker Mayfield was hosting a home playoff game I think at this point it would be even though I don’t think he’s necessarily like a lock to be a franchise guy he has to be the starter next year which considering what they signed him for and what his value
Was when they signed him what a comeback for Baker Mayfield considering Baker Mayfield is only 28 years old he is a lot younger than you might think he is again I don’t think he’s a franchise quarterback either but you have to start making that hard decision as he uh might
Be getting the Buccaneers into the playoffs for me biggest winner Colts Houston Seahawks three teams obviously in the playoff hunt had to have at Seahawks last night which we’ll talk about more a little later on in the show you know this was a game that you think they’re dropping backup quarterback
Against the Eagles right tough game Drew lock gets it done that was a huge win for the Seahawks keeping their play of hopes alive then Houston without CJ stad found a way to get it done and finally the Colts perpetually underrated this season I don’t know how to view them
Like I don’t think they’re a good team but yet here they sit at eight and six Gardner menu and this team getting it done all of the issues last year seem to be resolved defensively on the offensive line This is the offensive line we were
Used to seeing in Indie they are back so for me the biggest winners are those three teams just so upset we didn’t get to see Anthony Richardson with this team it would have been so damn fun to see him the whole year well now Gardner menu
Where is he gonna end up next year he probably ear himself te gonna give him like the Nick FES Jaguars contract and then he’ll I just can see it and I like menu but I mean I could see that happening a mile away uh Biggest Loser
Who do you got here Mike it’s gonna be a guy that you know pretty well cadarius Tony and I don’t want to seem like I’m picking on a guy in a 277 win but that was a game that Kansas City I think should have romped in and that was a
Struggle for a large part of it and then Tony with his new trademark move which is off his hands bat the ball around and get intercepted which is now the second time this year we’ve seen that because it happened in the Lions game you can
Make a direct case now that he is lo like the receivers have just lost two games for him the the Philadelphia won with Valdez scantling right off his hands and then the Lions won with Tony who’s having pretty much as bad of a year like for a wide receiver that plays
A lot pretty much as bad of a year as you could possibly have I remember looking up his numbers because I hear Tony all the time I’m watching the Chiefs I’m like all right they gotta be throwing at him a ton he didn’t even have 200 yards this year he has six
Games this year of 10 or fewer yards and yet every game I hear his name five times because he’s doing something stupid like Kansas City just because of the momes factor is going to be fine generally I think this year I’d be stunned if they like don’t win a playoff
Game but the fact they keep trotting him out there I don’t know I know they’re not working with a ton but at a certain point you got to say enough’s enough right yeah I I could not agree more and by the way I would say at least three
Games because the Bill’s game uh he was lined up off sides so three games where of course that was him yeah good Tony still complain about it not having the best year Tony has been very frustrating to watch and I I’m starting to I have questions and maybe you you’ll
Have a good answer for me Mike here I this happened to me everyone keeps saying talent talent talent right they’re enamored by his talent and I was too but I think we’ve been fooled I think sometimes we equate athleticism with Talent um like like Darius Hayward
Bay right or or John Ross or John Brown you know we we get so enam with 40 times and quickness and speed and all that stuff you got to catch the ball you got to be able to use that speed for good not just be fast like
I don’t remember do you remember Dante Hall Dante Hall was good though no no great great Return Man but but no one said because of his athleticism and quickness and speed that he was gonna be this Elite wide receiver no no one did but for some reason Tony we did and and
I don’t understand I think we’re getting fooled in equating athleticism with Talent he’s gen Z Tavon Austin is what he is where people got so enamored by the T I mean everybody did those West Virginia teams with Tavon Austin were fun I feel like people forgot to check
Oh wait can the guy actually play because like when he is juking Five Guys it looks cool the punt return of the Super Bowl I mean that that validated the trade immediately but I mean that doesn’t necessarily excuse everything else one really cool play that doesn’t mean Desmond Howard was a
Great player because he had that punt return in the Super Bowl guy can’t play yeah and so when you look at it Kadarius Tony he he’ll probably getting his snap count cut back even more but skymore placed on the eye are for Kansas City Richie James looking like according to
Andy Reid will get a bigger sample size at wide receiver V micle Harman will be coming off of the IR and then Justin Ross uh remains to be seen how much he gets involved as the season uh regular season at least is starting to come to
An end for me my Biggest Loser was the Eagles yet again getting their ass kicked eagles look like frauds Ian McMillan called it I thought he was writing a little hot take article uh he was not he was correct uh too bad an night here to hear me give him his uh
His flowers because the eagles look horrible man bad Jaylen Herz what happened I know you’re sick but I was sick watching you play football um the defense is atrocious I mean that secondary is bad I mean the defensive line don’t get me wrong is still very talented for the Eagles but they’re not
Getting the sack numbers they had last year even with the talent they have and then that that that secondary I know they’ve had some injuries don’t don’t get me wrong but they’re bad that’s one of the worst secondaries in the entire NFL and I do wonder if a lot of the
Coaching change has anything to do with it because you do see a lot of the same players but the regression has been noticeable obviously as they lost Jonathan Ganan to Arizona and then the Jags to me Jags needed to have this game Jags had everything going their way they
Were what eight and three and now they sit at eight and six man now the Colts now the Texans all sitting there at eight and six with you you thought the AFC South was lock someone put the key in it’s unlocked wide open I don’t want to be too hard on
The Jags because number one Trevor Lawrence I mean the discussion was going to be is he gonna play ever again in this season how many how much time is he going to miss he didn’t miss anytime and then unluckily he gets maybe the two best defenses in the league Browns
Ravens back to back I mean on on one leg I don’t think that’s ideal either but I think what the Ravens game I think exposes I just don’t think outs because I think law is still really really good I just don’t think the Jaguars roster
One to 53 is as good as I thought they were like I think Calvin Ridley’s not a number one receiver I feel like they’re trying to make him one but he’s not the offensive line was playing pretty good earlier in the year they just haven’t been very good the last couple games etn
Was unbelievable to start the year Travis etn he’s kind of slowed up lately like Lawrence I think kind of over like he he was a Band-Aid who kind of hit a lot of those issues now I think he’s a little compromised and I think you’re seeing that like
Obviously I think he didn’t have a great game against Baltimore but it’s Ravens defense and he’s got a half of a good receiver in Calvin Ridley and then that’s kind of it as far as wide receivers go so I I just need to like when Jacksonville was healthy they were
Beating everybody they were supposed to beat and their losses were to teams you know Kansas City the ners teams that are better than them so I just feel like they’re kind of regressing to the mean here too and I think the injuries came at very inopportune times yeah I think
Christian Kirk has been a big loss for them offensively obviously but I’ve never been enamored with Trevor Lawrence I don’t think he’s bad I think Trevor Lawrence is a good quarterback I just don’t think he’s great I thought that the the the talks about him being Elite
And in the same category as Joe burrow and Josh Allen I I think it’s asinine I I think he’s a good quarterback I top 10 quarterback I think if he’s top 10 he’s 10 like he he to me and this year I think proves it more than anything else
Is he as good as Dak Prescott like he’s as good as Dak Prescott at least this season right dak’s having a great year that’s that’s cherry picking I understand that but but Trevor Lawrence to me is more so a Kirk Cousins type quarterback than he is a josh Allen Joe
Burrow or Mahomes quarterback again you can win with him but you gotta have a lot of talent around the dude that that that’s my thought process when it comes to Trevor Lawrence uh Chris Albright has a good uh good good take here I think lot of fun hot take instead of picking
Jaylen Carter might have been smart to have drafted a wide receiver or DB I I think Deva to back would have made the most sense honestly um there were a couple guys they could have gone with um Christian Gonzalez obviously he ended up getting injured for the Patriots this
Season but that was a guy who I was very high on shocked he fell as far down as he did again when you have that much depth in the defensive line I understand Jaylen Carter’s been incredible this season but your D Line’s already so deep
You have a lot of question marks in that secondary wonder if that would have been a smarter pick there um I guess Carter was in that rare tier where you’re like how the hell did this I mean we know why it happened the off field sub we know
Why he fell that far but it was just a point where you’re like all right because at the time the the secondary wasn’t great but it wasn’t like oh my God we need two more defensive backs like we do now yeah so I guess they’re like let’s just take best player
Available which was clearly like I I don’t fault howy Roseman for that especially with Carter being as good as he is well in they pick uh before Kansas City they went with the Georgia uh Edge rusher Nolan Smith noan Smith again I I think you’re on to something here Chris
I think they they’re trying to bolster a strength they can only get so strong while the rest of the team starts to flounder uh all right top story which teams are going to separate and make the playoffs there’s been so much average to above average football uh being played
This season so many teams at eight and six seven and seven um H H how do you see it shaking out here Mike because there’s so many teams and a lot of teams with backup quarterbacks teams that I thought were going to start SL sliding down well they’re still there the Browns
They’re still there you look at the Bengals they’re rising up like Jake Browning is winning more games than Joe burrow was again Joe burrow is being injured but still Jake Browning is finding ways to get it done you know I mentioned no CJ strad no problem Texans
Got it done Drew lock keeping the Seahawks alive I mean you look around Gardner menu with the Colts like that might be the most underrated one what do you think of the uh crowded playoff race right here well I think now a lot for a lot of the the playoff race
It seemed like a lot of the backup quarterbacks were honestly going to get in with teams like Pittsburgh they’ve kind of fallen off lately Minnesota coming back to Earth recently I think finally they’re starting to have a little bit of an aggression in the mem even Buffalo who looked like they were
Dead and buried they’re back into it now it looks like they’re probably I think going to be make a playoff be one of the playoff teams just because they’re peing at the right time when when I’m looking at all these teams all these seven seven teams which by the way there are seven
Seven and seven teams and there are five eight and six teams in the NFL so there there’s a lot of mid oh and there’s three six and eight teams so there’s a ton of mid right now in the NFL when I’m looking at them if I had to pick a
Couple I’m just looking coach quarterback immediately and I think that’s eventually where you’re going to get your answers so when I look at teams like Jacksonville eight six I feel confident in Doug Peterson and Trevor Lawrence at least more so than some of the other guys Houston I feel very
Confident in guys like demo Ryan CJ strout even though they’re young I feel like they both shown to be exceptional in this particular area and then I’m also looking at Cleveland they might be the Cleveland’s really the only exception in my opinion because Cleveland I don’t love stefansky and
Obviously Joe flacko at this stage of his career is Joe Flaco at this stage of his career they just had this Death Star defense that completely runs people over Hey Joe Flo got it done last game I mean and the interceptions were bad don’t get
Me wrong but when the game was on the line Flaco stepped up well if Darnell Mooney catches that pass man then it’s we’re having a whole different discussion here the Bears could be eight and six too they had like three choke jobs the Bears could legitimately be in
The playoffs right now have e flu Le let’s stick with the AFC right here so you think Jacksonville holds on and then wins the AFC South correct even even if they don’t I feel like they’re going to be one of the Wild Card teams because they’re scheduled to end the year they
Play the Titans and Carolina so I think that’s probably two wins right there Then you have Jacksonville in okay Miami and buffalo um I think actually Ian and I talked about this last week we don’t think Buffalo is out of winning the AFC East we think that there’s a decent possibility the AFC
East actually ends up being a Buffalo Bills team um because they’re playing some damn good football right now so then you have both those teams in right I feel like Buffalo’s going to be in also because of schedule too they’re at the Chargers and then home against the
Patriots well then who do you have falling out and then making it in the AFC because again you have Cleveland at nine and five ciny at 8 and six Indie at8 and six right now the six and seven seed are ciny and Indie Houston at eight
And six uh Buffalo eight and six I still think Jacksonville Skin of Their Teeth wins the Division okay I think right now Cleveland Cleveland seems like a lock to me agreed I would agree the Wild Card just because the defens is is what it is I think Houston sneaks in and I think
Buffalo sneaks in so that unfortunately leaves my guy Shane styan and the Indianapolis Colts on the outside looking in in the AFC which is a shame because I think styan might be a coach of the year guy I mean he picks Anthony Richardson game three or four D for the
Year and yet here he is getting this team who nobody thought would be good with Anthony Richardson let alone with Gardner mchu he has him on the doorsteps to the playoffs and look at what the Eagles offense has become without him realistically week 18 is gonna be the
Most crazy week we have seen in NFL history oh it’s that you know how they always do the Sunday night game where it’s always some pivotal winin your in thing there could be like four winin your in games oh easy I mean you’re looking at right now the the Texans and
Colts right now if they hold serve that might be for a final playoff spot um or even to an extent that might be for the AFC South uh again you look at Buffalo you look at their schedule week 18 who do they play the bills they play the
Dolphins in Miami the Dolphins right I mean you look around the NF the the the NFL especially in the AFC right now uh Cincinnati their final three games who do who do they play week 18 the Bengals they play the Bengals right okay the Bengals have a very difficult final
Stretch okay because they play the Steelers the Chiefs and the Browns but the Steelers are not technically out just yet week 16 upcoming this is going to be a huge game for the Steelers and I feel like Mike Tomlin just I mean he hasn’t had a losing season yet every
Year you think oh this is the year it’s all finally gonna go to hell and then it it never does go to hell but then if you look at Denver they play the Patriots buns you play the Chargers horrible with East stick then you play the Raiders I I
I I mean you look at the NFL right now especially in the AFC and there’s just so many ways the uh the cookie can crumble um I’m looking as I think Jacksonville does hold on I think they do end up winning the AFC South um I’m
Gonna go ahead and say buffalo and Miami I think that week 18 game is going to be for the AFC East I’m gonna go a little uh do you think the Dolphins are losing their next two games uh they only have to lose one more I mean it could happen
It’s Cowboys Ravens Cowboys Ravens bill so yeah we looked at this last week and so I had the Dolphins ending up as the wild card with the bills winning the AFC East I have the Browns in right so it leaves one spot left who don’t the CJ stra propaganda got to
Me dude I you know who was on CJ stra in the Texans this year it was this guy preseason but I think they’re still a little early I I like the way the Colts in the season they play the Falcons who I don’t think are any good they play the
Raiders who I don’t think are any good I know they put up 63 points come on they’re fooling you um and then they they play week 18 against the Texans the issue is it’s in Indie give me the home team with a chance to make the playoffs
They blew it last year right remember they had the chance to make it and then they blew it against the Jags this year they learned their lesson they’ll make it in I’m it’s close I just maybe part of it is a rooting thing too like ideally you’d want the seven
Best quarterbacks facing off against one another I want to see Stout in the playoffs too hey to to to to make my preseason prediction I want to root for the Texans too come on I I was high on them but I’m also trying to be unbiased
At this point in the season I think the loss of tank Dell has been a underrated talking point about against this Houston team again your jets put up 30 against the defense right they were just so banged up and they were pulling hot the hot dog vendor out to have him
Play wide receiver that game but that’s in the defense yeah but I think the defense just got put in really like un advv situations like a couple of put up zero hey I’m with you man it’s the Jets offense I’m telling you right now that game in particular gave me a
Lot of cause I I love the way the Texans are building this team right now I loved all of their offseason moves I love their draft but I’m telling you right now that game give me so much cause to pause especially offensive with no tank Dell they were also missing Dalton
Schultz and nicoo Collins got bang to Mela stuff but defensively as well that may have been my biggest talking point my biggest takeaway they might not be there yet a Colts team that can put up a lot of points they play very weird games um I’m going to
Take the Colts at home in week 18 and that’s going to be the uh the deal breaker for me now looking at the NFC obviously San Fran Dallas Philly those three teams are in already comes down to who wins the NFC East Dallas or or um or
Philly uh the Eagles had an inside track until they blew it last night against Drew lock uh Detroit right now is leading the NFC North and in the atrocious NFC South right now Tampa Bay is in the lead sitting at seven and seven New Orleans has seven and seven as
Well but Tampa Bay has the tiebreaker maybe this might be hot taky I feel like there’s going to be two NFC South teams in the playoffs because I feel like the the Saints play the Rams on Thursday night football this week I feel like whoever wins that game is
Going to be one of the wild cards because the Rams are seven and seven and if they win then they’re eight and seven with Shawn McVey one of the best coaches in the league got a Super Bowl Matthew Stafford still cooking hukan AA Cooper cup as good of a one-w punch as we’ve
Seen in the NFC at wide receiver just this year performance-wise so that could be enough and then if New Orleans gets it they’re eight and seven Derek Carr it’s easy to make fun of Derek Carr he really has turned a corner last six weeks his pass rating is like 105 so he
Is playing better I like the defense I think they got some winnable games coming up I feel like whoever wins this Thursday night game that’s one of the Wild Card spots obviously either Philly or Dallas is going to have one of the other ones and then I just feel like
Minnesota’s gonna fall out of it yeah because I they I gotta credit to Kevin oconnell I don’t know why Vikings fans want him fired but Kevin oconnell I think has done a very good job in some really tough situations because he loses Justin Jefferson then he gets him back
And Kurt Cousins is gone he he’s really he’s got all the juice out of this orange and possibly can but I think they’re eventually going to fall off because Nick Mullins and Josh dos or maybe jiren hall or whoever the quarterback is I don’t know as good as
Brian Flores defense is I don’t know if that’s a viable recipe for success in the NFC I said the Vikings were gonna make the playoffs even after their horrendous start to the season I kept saying I was pounding the Vikings train and then of course Kurt Cousins went
Down uh I’m out on them now I feel bad to an extent because I think they’re a better team than some of the other teams that are probably going to make the playoffs end of the day injuries happen and last year everything went their way in one score games this year they’ve
Lost uh a game of the Cardinals by one Vikings by three eagles by six Chargers by four um they last week yeah well yeah they they um there’s another one-point game they lost to uh they lost to the Broncos by one the Bears by two um and then the Bangles obviously on that
Three-point uh overtime loss but their schedule’s very tough they play the Lions twice still as well as the Green Bay Packers so to me I have the made the schedule the Bears fan made the schedule the vik I the Vikings falling out I have Seattle making it because you look at
Their final three games Titans Steelers but that game’s at home and then against the Cardinals uh that could easily be three and0 for Seattle especially if they decide to go back to Gino Smith who knows um obviously Drew lock had a great final drive but up until the point he
Was struggling this is coming from a missou fan although I will say that finale was phenomenal are you out on Green Bay too you think they’re out of it because they got they got Packers Vikings bears for the last three games or Panthers Vikings Bears rather
Yeah man that’s easy I don’t think two teams from the NFC South make it they play each other too much they’re going to beat up on each other someone’s gonna have to win those games and they’re they’re gonna knock one one of them out so I think it’s gonna be the Rams in
Seattle um that get oh man yeah because I think I think the Rams beat the Saints this week but then I think the Saints end up making the playoffs in the NFC South because I think they’ll beat um uh Tampa Bay uh week 17 God that’s a horrendous
Division I the only one worse I remember I think the Panthers went seven eight and one one year with Cam and they won that Division and then they won a playoff game because the Cardinals had Ryan Lindley who was like the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen him and Tim
Bole are the two worst quarterbacks I’ve ever seen and I think they won a playoff game that year that was the year before Cam went crazy when the MVP they won seven Gam games and W a playoff game all right let’s talk about the uh the Eagles
Again because I we brought this up last week how big of an issue is there in Philly right now because I like a lot of the pieces like you look at the roster and I think it’s a very talented roster but then you see James Bradberry getting cooked by jsn he
Might just be washed at this point Darius Slay has not been the same big game slay that we have seen we’ve talked about the secondary but the defensive line as good as they are we’re not seeing a lot of the same pressures and sacks from last year uh not just
Offensively offensively Jaylen Herz does not look to be the same guy um what have you seen from this Eagles team they’re they’re on a roller coaster going down right now can they ever get back up well I do think it’s funny that after the Chiefs beat him in the Super Bowl they
Tried to make Jonathan Ganon look like this clueless buffoon who had no idea what he was doing and then he ends up getting a head coaching job with the Cardinal Shawn Desai looks infinitely worse than Jonathan Ganon ever did with mostly the same players but I got a bone
To pick as much as there are problems schematically with the Eagles I think that putting vaunted offensive coordinator Matt Patricia in charge of the defense was a bad decision the Desi hire didn’t make sense they got old really quickly like Darius Slay was great last year he just got old really
Quickly same with Bradberry Kevin byard hasn’t really been the addition I thought he would be as a safety they don’t really have a linebacker they had TJ Edwards that didn’t pay him so their linebacking core is really bad so unless they don’t get consistent defensive
Pressure the defense is bad but I got a bone to pick with this fan base too because admittedly as a Jets fan you don’t like the AFC East fan bases if you take that out of it they might be the most reviled now because these tweets I’m seeing Brian Johnson’s the worst
Offensive coordinator in the league Nick serani this is a true tweet Nick serani is a puppet head coach he doesn’t know what he’s doing I’m I’m more embarrassed than I was in the forign 12 season where Andy re got fired like can we get a grip for two seconds please like there are
Problems with this Eagles team admittedly the offense yet is a little vanilla I think they should be getting more out of Jaylen Herz right now Herz has made a lot more bad decisions than he did last year especially when he’s playing from behind too I think what
Made him so great last year was they were always up and he could just run you over with that great offensive line they’re not doing that this year but the sky is not falling this is a and four for crying out loud that still has a very good offense Jaylen Herz has 31
Total touchdowns this year even with some of the problems the front four is still very good they just need to figure out a way to get better defensive back play Maybe It’s Too Late in the season but you know what this is still a good
Team and I think if any team in the playoffs gets Philly I don’t think anybody’s going oh yeah we get the Eagles they’re terrible they have a horrible coach nobody’s thinking like that like can we can we calm down please Eagles fans I know that you you got a
Reputation to play up to and you gotta be angry for the bit and all that but I mean come on guys you were 10 and one with your only lost being to Zack Wilson a couple weeks ago for crying out loud and you looked unbeatable and it was oh
They’re gonna just Coast to the number one seed like like things don’t change that much when everybody’s healthy in three weeks I I will say coming from a guy who’s wearing a 76ers pullover right now okay they they got to calm down they gotta calm down um I still think they’re
A good team they’re not a elite team but outside of the 49ers there’s not an elite team in the NFL right now the Ravens are the only one you can make a case for but again it’s it’s the same thing you said maybe Baltimore I say the same thing it’s always well maybe
Baltimore if they’re a maybe I don’t think they’re there the Niners are the only team in my mind right now they’re just sitting here yeah that’s that’s an elite team it’s wide open every team has issues every team the Eagles right now are like Kansas City pointing at each
Other great team but one fatal flaw the secondary versus the wide receivers like it’s very similar it’s like it’s very similar how close they really are and you looked at that game that when the Chiefs played the Eagles what it came down to was the Chiefs couldn’t take
Advantage of the weak Eagle secondary that’s what it came down to um who was worse the Chiefs receivers or the Buns Eagle secondary members Chiefs receivers that was the correct answer apparently so that’s what it comes down to I mean every team has a flaw so everyone’s so
Upset I know people in Kansas City with the receivers and Eagles fans with the secondary and you know you look at Baltimore I don’t think there’s really a fatal flaw necessarily I think their wide receiver play could be better the loss of Mark Andrews was huge but Isaiah
Likele has been stepping up you look at Miami you know you look at times on the defense as well as the offensive line um Buffalo Bills right their inability to have anything go besides Josh Allen until recently when James Cook has been a massive Factor like every team has
Flaws Detroit whenever they like play a big game the defense doesn’t really show up so Cowboys same thing play a team over 500 their ass like it’s the same thing every team has flaws and that’s why this play off uh this year is GNA be incredible that’s the funny thing to one
Thing about the Eagles too it’s it’d be one thing if they did like a Marlins after they won the World Series and just tore everything down and then they’re like oh the secondary is bad like this is pretty much the same team and then they’re acting like this is
Some great indictment on the coaching staff and Hoy Roseman it’s like last year they were great and you loved them now there’s some minor decline I mean the biggest decline of thing has been with slay and Bradberry on the outside but again like how is that the coaching staff’s fault sometimes physically guys
Just don’t have it as much anymore well the Chiefs wide receiver same thing it’s the same thing outside of JuJu Smith Shuster in the addition of of Rashi rice the issue is the veteran mvs has regressed and Sky Moore also regress which you don’t expect a rookie
Going into a second year to actually regress instead of get better cadarius Tony also regress can you regress if you’re Tony like is there a point to regress too can you go through the ground to regress like I don’t think you can tough but fair uh all right I want
To talk about the year the backup quarterback because that’s what this year has been I mean you look around the NFL and we we’ve talked about playoff teams with backup quarterbacks how impressed have you been with the level production from backup quarterbacks which backup quarterbacks do you think
Are legitimate and going to get an opportunity to start next season and you know H have we been undervaluing the backup quarterback for too long have we been undervaluing or should I say even overval value in the quarterback play of a starter making way more of a difference like you look at
You mentioned it with Jacksonville like you can have a really good quarterback but if the rest of the team is not complete you’re not going to get a get a ton of wins CC Chargers Justin Herbert but perfect yeah I mean that’s best but I think that looking at the backup
Quarterbacks too like it’s easy to say like there’s just been almost like a Renaissance a backup quarterback play but if you look at the ones where they’re playing the best it’s also teams good offensive coaching staffs Jake Browning in Cincinnati Zack Taylor very well regarded I don’t know why his
Brother the OC for the Jaguars is not as good as he is but anyway Cincinnati is regarded as a great offensive coaching staff and Jake Brown’s playing very well Gardner mchu in Indianapolis with uh with Shane ston over there then if you go to backups that don’t have very good
Offensive coaching staffs the the Cavalcade of Giants quarterbacks Easton stick with the Chargers Zack Wilson and all the the rest of the guys in the clown car with the Jets it looks as bad as anything the Jets have one or fewer offensive touchdowns in 12 of their 14
Games that’s what happens when you have the Kansas City and Houston were the only two where they have two or more and they have zero and four of them that’s what happens when you don’t give a backup quarterback a good offensive coaching staff because a good offensive coaching staff can at least identify
Even though he doesn’t have the talent that like a Joe burrow or an Anthony Richardson would have they can identify where he’s really good and they could figure out a game plan on a week-to-week basis to get the most out of them when you don’t have that I feel like teams
Can get very Deus with their backup quarterback and they go well nothing really matters it’s a backup quarterback let’s be super safe super conservative don’t try to have him make a mistake e even the Seahawks were doing that with lock before the the last Drive everything was short and dinking and
Duncan like I I really don’t want to be one of those guys where it’s like you gotta hire an offensive coach because bellich Tomlin Carrol are defensive coaches Deo Ryan was is a defensive coach he’s gonna probably one coach of the year so I’m not on that but if you
Have doubts about your starter it just helps so much to get an offensive coach because it’s just you could see the gears turning and you could see how they’re getting put in good situations like if if Jake Browning was on the Jets right now or the Bears or the Cardinals
Is he performing like this I don’t think so even Gardner muu if Gardner minu was on the Giants or New England or Carolina is he playing like this I don’t think so of these guys who do you think gets a long-term opportunity or at least shortterm opport all Baker Mayfield to
Start again right because Baker was going to be the Perpetual backup got an opportunity this season in Tampa Gino Smith Perpetual backup got an opportunity to start last year in Seattle he kept that opportunity you know of the I think Drew Lock’s obviously too early to say he had one
Game and quite frankly one drive and even on that drive he had a couple of questionable throws right that’s Dre lock for you but but but but who do you think has an opportunity let’s say like New England might have a spot open let’s be real now um Chicago might be a little
Interested with whether they draft a quarterback or not Justin Fields might hit the open market where’s he GNA go New England obviously is a spot though I think where everyone’s wondering who is going to be the guy the Jets what happened with the Aaron roders the Giants Daniel Jones coming back but is
He still the dude um Sam Hal how how convinced are you in Washington I mean there there’ll be some spots right I there’s always gonna be spots you look at um the Raiders is Aiden o Connell the dude Pittsburgh but Pittsburgh with Kenny picket like who do you think of
These guys who’ve got an opportunity this season who do you think sticks as a starter next year are you gonna laugh at me if I say Brock pie come on now come on now I all right I’ve accepted what Brock pie is he’s not the MVP but I’ve accepted
That what he is I think damn good muu if anybody I feel like is going to get a legitimate starting offer because number one he’s played it’s not just like a three four five game sample size which is always the tough part with backup quarterbacks it’s gauging well anybody
Can look good for five games is that because he’s good or because he just got hot for a month because nobody had tape on him muu at least has years of even though he wasn’t just lighting the world on fire like he was a pretty good starter in Jacksonville serviceable
Backup in Philly and then he goes to Indie and he’s performing at a level we can get them to the playoffs so minchu is the one where I think legitimately he could end up getting a starting role outside of that maybe I could see somebody getting fooled with Jake Browning like if he
Keeps playing like he is the rest of the year and if he gets the Bengals of the playoffs and maybe if he I don’t know wins a playoff game or even performs really well in a playoff loss I think some team might be like all right we’ll
Make you like a fringe starter in front of our rookie quarterback kind of thing like I a Washington the Giants something like that but that’s all dependent on Jake Browning still continuing this Jeremy Lynn Lin sanity run that he’s currently on like muu and I would have said Jacobi brassette in Washington if
He got kind of a longer leash but he hasn’t really played a lot this year because of Sam how I I do think by 2024 menu is gonna be a week one starting quarterback I don’t think it’ll be with the Colts because I think they’re gonna move ahead sure with
Anthony Richardson and I think he’s kind of played himself out of regular backup money which is what the Colts are probably gonna want to ask for him but I think somewhere mench will end up being a starter yeah uh all right now let’s head into next week’s bets okay Mike let’s do
It we uh we were on a heater last week on for me at least because I went two in one and that constitutes a heater in my book because I am uh not very good at this but somehow I’ve been very lucky all season long and I am exactly now 500
22 22 and one yes there’s a tie uh Ian went one and two last week in week 15 he is sitting at 20 and 22 he’s been on a uh a cold streak he was crushing he was like 16- n at one point uh we got to get
Ian right maybe that’s why he’s sick today because of uh his performance for the past couple weeks he took sounds like he’s running from the music sounds like he’s ducking the criticism here he he took the Falcons minus three last week they lost to the Panthers I took
Baltimore minus three and a half they easily covered uh last week he had Jets Dolphins under 40 and a half that one hit for him as the Jets as you mentioned did not score I had Vikings remind me I had Vikings Bengals over 38 and a half
That was easily over uh and we both had Bears over Browns we couldn’t think of a good upset one last week if you look around there weren’t a ton of upsets to be had we thought that game was looking good the entire way and the fourth quarter happened where the Bears choked
And Joe flacko turned back into 2012 Joe flacko and got it done if I’m looking at this week though this is this is like a bet the house on everything like go go and double what you got like pay for kids college everything bet like that slam
Eagles minus 10 and a half this week I love it there’s just something about good teams when they get embarrassed in prime time and then the next week they go Crush I mean look at Miami that will Levis and the Titans have a crazy comeback against them and then they just
Completely humiliate the Jets quarterback difficulty curve what it is it’s still a 30 to nothing win in the NFL that’s really against a good defense that’s really hard to do I have a hard time believing the Eagles against Tommy DeVito who I am sick of as an Italian
Guy from Central Jersey I am sick of Tommy DeVito and the whole like hey pasta meatballs DeVito thing I’m I’m getting sick of it yeah D last name is luchano I think he’s got a good Insight on this one I’m qualified to to speak on these issues I’m sick of Tommy DeVito
Seems like a nice guy but I’m sick of the whole his agent wearing a pinstriped suit like he’s freaking Al Capone a Monday Night Football when he knew the TV cameras would be on him I’m not I’m not like happy he’s losing he seems like a really nice guy and I’m happy there
Was kind of like a great undrafted success story kind of thing but feel like last week against the Saints he kind of regressed to the mean a little bit and I feel like the eagles are going to be really kind of out for blood after a really embarrassing Monday night loss
I feel like they’re just going to open up a can of whoop ass on the Giants yeah I love that one uh there’s actually a lot of uh spread picks I liked this week uh DOL or the Eagles was one the one I like is the Dolphins over the Cowboys
Dolphins uh one and a half Point favorites again the Cowboys can’t be anyone good at home I mean it can’t be anyone good on the road um you know they theyve struggled anytime the Cowboys play any good team they get beat they get beat bad again I think Miami has a maybe not
Quite the home field advantage over other teams uh because the Cowboys playing a dome right but I do think there’s something to play in warm weather at this time of year compared to playing in the snow and the cold um but I I like the Dolphins a lot at home in this
Game see the thing with me though if I’m looking at this at this schedule because I I have some thoughts on Dolphins Cowboys a little bit later because I don’t know if I necessarily agree with a lot of that because I think this could be prime upset territory but if I’m
Looking at this week too like the over under bets are kind of funny to me because there’s so many like under 40 point games which is kind of emblematic of kind of what’s happened with all the injuries this year and I think the fact is defenses have adjusted very well
Another like slam slam it pay for a vacation kind of bet is under 36 and a half in Packers Panthers because like we know what Bryce young is in Bryce Young’s bad so honestly so bad that I remember I was having this discussion off the air with somebody where I said
If Carolina had the number one pick would they some people at least think about going with with a quarterback again I mean that’s how bad it’s been for Bryce young this year so why is it under even though Jordan love is has 25 touchdowns well because oddly enough
Carolina’s got a really good defense they’re third in the league in yards allowed to jroo despite all of this I think is’s honestly GNA get head coaching looks because he’s performed really well with key guys getting hurt and and and the fact that their offense is always putting him in bad positions
That defense is still really good I mean they won a 97 game last week this is this looks totally like a 13-10 or a 16-13 this is going to be just a slugfest it’s gonna be nasty yeah I love that one I also love commanders jets
Under 38 and a half uh be under eight and a half yeah jet Jets offense is atrocious they still have a very solid defense man I yeah 38 and a half seems uh crazy un Aaron Rogers completes the the greatest medical miracle comeback ever 24 like no like I’m I’m so out on
That the under in that game which means of course the over’s probably gonna hit but the under in that game I’ve never been more confident at picking than in this game right here it’s like Iowa at the end of this year where their unders were like 24 for an entire game and
They’d hit because it would be 13 to S uh all right then finally we’ll do the upset pick uh you’re going to break my heart here aren’t you I am because I’m going Cowboys over Dolphins because what was the main criticism of the of the Cowboys well they can’t really be any
Good teams guess who else doesn’t be good teams that often Dolphins the Cowboys it’s not going to be cold December Buffalo weather it’s gonna be pristine Miami weather so you’re not gonna have that and I’m gonna apply the same Eagles principle to this where the Cowboys got their butt kicked
In front of everybody big not a Prime Time game but a window everybody was watching against a good team pretty much outside of this game Dak had like 25 touchdowns in an eight n game span I mean that is an unprecedented heater for Dak Prescott he’s gonna I
Think get back on track now granted Miami allowed zero points last week and they’re gonna put Jaylen Ramsey on CD lamb which could really throw a wrench into things but I just feel like Dak is on such a high level I can’t expect two Clunkers in a row in a pivotal situation
Like this for the Cowboys I I feel like Tua is going to get his but the offensive line while I think better than people say it is it is banged up and then you get Micah Parsons against the banged up offensive line I don’t know if that’s necessarily a great Omen for the
Dolphins yeah I’m still going Dolphins I I just do not trust this Cowboys team against anyone good I don’t trust who it’s very untrustworthy game uh which hopefully makes for a good one for me my final one uh my upset pick is Commanders over your jets Mike I’m sorry
But the jet how are they favored they can’t score a point literally it it blows my mind um but yeah dude I’m I’m I’m rolling rolling with Sam how slinging Sam and the commanders the fact that this team do the Jets had four total yards of offense
In the first half last week good good more than three it’s more than three it is more than three marginally but after this week like once you once you score four yards and a half I don’t care who you’re playing I don’t care if they were playing Carolina with Ben denucci and
XFL guy playing quarterback you can’t over favored because they’re at home what good is home do they get killed at home too they threw aund a h pick six on Hail Mary at home H if you want to follow Mike luchano and see his incredible just fandom of the Jets shine through follow
Him at by Mike luchano you can follow me on Twitter as well at homestretch KC Ian will be back uh I feel bad hopefully he feels better there’s nothing worse than getting sick before the holidays uh Mike there’s no Che for it like watching Taylor hinei play football I’m sure
That’ll that’ll fix everything up uh and no show next week as we will be off for the holiday so everyone have a great Christmas happy holidays going to be fun watch some football and wh the unfolding of Madness that will be the NFL Week 16 until next time we are out
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