12-9-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

How do we measure road trips? In miles traveled and memories made. In scenic views and backroads that don't show up on your GPS.

And in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go, but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid goes the extra mile with class-leading 53 mpg combined.

Farther for all. The all-new 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid. Kia.

Movement that inspires. 2023 Niro HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits, and your vehicle's conditions.

See fueleconomy.gov for more details. How do we measure road trips? In miles traveled and memories made. In scenic views and backroads that don't show up on your GPS.

And in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go, but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid goes the extra mile with class-leading 53 mpg combined.

Farther for all. The all-new 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid. Kia.

Movement that inspires. 2023 Niro HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits, and your vehicle's conditions.

See fueleconomy.gov for more details. Hey, hey. Wrapping up a work week. Heading into a weekend. Excited to talk more football with you. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Not sure we could have asked for a better start to week 14, but it's only the beginning. It's only the tip of the spear, so to speak. We are live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Do you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Rocket can. Rams have to go 98 yards without a timeout. 23 remaining. 15 seconds. Mayfield flings it.

Left side. End zone. Caught.

Caught. Caught by Van Jefferson with nine seconds remaining. Touchdown LA!

16 up and a MacKay extra point can win it. Mayfield comma Baker, the touchdown maker. That's JB Long on Rams Radio and yes, all of that. A pair of touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Two touchdowns on the board in the final three and a half minutes for the Rams.

So those Rams fans who stuck around were treated to an epic conclusion. From the category of You Can't Make This Stuff Up. Find me on Twitter, ALawRadio.

Also on our Facebook page. Love to hear your reaction to Baker's rise from the ashes. I can't wait to I can't wait to react with our guest as he joins us from Seattle. Longtime NFL insider, now with the athletic podcast host. He's got part of that Hall of Fame selection process that he gets to do every year.

An AP voter too. Mike Sando joining us here on the show. Mike, what's your reaction to what we just saw on Thursday Night Football?

It is so unbelievable. You know, there's been a couple games here recently. Of course, the Tom Brady one against the Saints, right? Where the Saints are complicit in giving away the big lead. And then I even thought over the weekend, there was no way the Ravens were going to win. They couldn't do anything on offense the whole game. And then they suddenly put it together with a late drive. So this tops them all because Baker Mayfield, like what time? Think about this. Think of the way the NFL schedule is during the week.

Baker Mayfield is claimed on waivers Tuesday. Well, it's players day off in the NFL. So on Wednesday, in a short week, do you think you're practicing at full speed live?

It's probably a walkthrough. This guy didn't even really practice. And sometimes it looked like it during the game. And then to do that, I don't care if the Raiders are bad, but to lead 98 yards, needing a touchdown, not a field goal, that's way harder because when you need a field goal, you know, we see teams do that.

You got to go the whole way and cross the goal line. It's just, there's no way you should be able to do that with not only, it's not like he's joining the greatest show on turf Rams here. He's not stepping in for Tom Brady like Matt Castle did when you got a stacked squad. We don't even know who's playing for the Rams. Like they're showing on the sideline, Cooper Cup on the sideline, Stafford on the sideline.

You couldn't even name other players. It's unbelievable. It's a shame for the Raiders. Amazing for the Rams and just a great win in a lost season. And they've played tough. They played Seattle tough. They competed against the Chiefs when they were a 15 point underdog.

I give them credit. It's funny that you mentioned Tom Brady, because I was thinking about that too. He threw the touchdown pass against the Saints on Monday night football with three seconds remaining on the clock. But we have seen him in those situations countless times. Baker Mayfield throws his winning touchdown to Van Jefferson with nine seconds to go.

You really can't cut it a whole lot closer. Not to mention there was an interception that was negated on the drive by a penalty. Absolutely, and there were penalties along the way. If you look at that drive, they got a 15-yard penalty. So the Raiders get a sack and they're all happy. Baker Mayfield gets up. It's a loss of nine early in that drive. And somebody, I forget who it was, knocks the ball out of his hand.

It wasn't egregious at all. But that's a 15-yard penalty. So your nine-yard sack turns into a six-yard gain. Then later in the drive, they have a third and four, the Rams do. And the Raiders, neutral zone infraction, give them a first down.

So you have to be complicit. There's a reason no one ever does these types of games like this, because the defense has to be complicit. And the Raiders and the Raiders were then. Did you see at the end, did you see what Mayfield put on the postgame show?

It was hilarious. He said, to be honest with you, I was completely shocked they would line up and press coverage with 15 seconds left. And then Ryan Fitzpatrick, who went to Harvard, says, yeah, the defensive coordinator went to Yale. I mean, that's just one of the all-time great lines, which the Raiders defense coordinator, Patrick Graham, did go to Yale. So amazing for Mayfield, amazing for Rams, but it takes two teams to make something like that happen. And the Raiders have now, I believe, lost four games this season where they led by at least 13 points, which is really hard to do. Oh yes, they are leading the NFL in that dubious category. So Mike Sandow is with us from Seattle. You say that about the Raiders being one of the worst losses in their history.

You saw that on your Twitter. Why? Why is this one so tough to stomach? Well, I think, you know, there's going to be tough losses in the NFL, but when you have it on national TV, you've won three in a row, you're probably not going to make the playoffs. Like, if you look at the percentages or whatever, they're like 7%, but it feels better than that. Like you've won three in a row. Hey, look, we get to play the Rams. They don't even have a quarterback. They just got Baker Mayfield. We're up by 13 points in the final whatever minutes of the game. I mean, that, that, and then we've already blown these games before. So to have all of that happen on national TV or, you know, Amazon is now national TV, um, felt like one of those games where like an owner has a reaction, like something's going to happen, you know, it just, it just, that's how bad it was, you know, and, um, this type of thing just can't happen.

You know, you can't let that happen. Just the calendar year arc for Baker Mayfield. Mike, how would you describe from where he was on January 1st, 2022 to where he is now in one night Baker Mayfield is a sympathetic figure. And I think we've all sort of seen the worst of him lately, right? I mean, whether we played that year injured and you just kind of, you know, that competitive arrogance that he has, that people liked when he was a successful quarterback coming out of college, when you sort of have that and aren't having success, it rubs people the long way.

You can wrong way. You can kind of picture him with his lip up a little bit on one side, uh, or use some bad body language in Carolina here or there. You just weren't really rooting for him, uh, lately now to have him in this situation.

It's a no one win situation. I think everybody felt great for him tonight. You're like, wow, this is really this, what a positive reflection on him. So in one night he kind of temporarily, maybe permanently salvages kind of his career and reputation and just the feelings about him. He hijacks the narrative of himself and makes it a positive one. And this can't be taken away from him.

This is a big deal to do this. Like this may never happen again. Who's ever going to pick up a quarterback and play him without even practicing hardly two days later on a bad team and to win the game. And as you say, I actually found myself rooting for him tonight.

There's a first there. Although I say that, and then I think about the opener between the Panthers and the Browns. And I would say I was rooting for him to have a big game in that one too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Cause you felt like, you know, even though he could have handled himself better at certain parts along the way, he kind of got railroaded there at the end and, and was really put into an impossible situation in Carolina, but what's a, this is a more impossible situation, isn't it? I mean, to come in on two days is just unbelievable to even think at one point during the game, they, they played audio of John Wilford, who was, was the backup and when it was starting, practicing the play calls in his car. And you know how these play calls are like impossibly long.

I mean, I don't know, I could barely study for my Spanish test in high school. These guys are, you know, in a short amount of time, he's wearing a wristband. How could you even recite a play? And remember on the last drive, and I think this was actually a smart strategy by the, by, by the Raiders. The Raiders were not calling timeouts on the last drive. Cause I think they wanted to see Baker Mayfield offer it under stress. Don't give them time to go to the sideline and get the play from Sean McVay, right? He's having to sort of walk the high wire late in the game without any chances to even like, Hey, what do we want to do here? What, wait, what does the receiver do on this play again?

What do you like Baker? Is there a play you like in this situation? No, they're going total seat of the pants. That's the other thing about it.

Total seat of the pants all the way down the field, 98 yards. And I kind of feel like in some cases, not every time, sometimes it explodes miserably in his face, but in many cases we've seen Baker Mayfield play his best football with his hair on fire. That is the situation that he prefers, right?

It just doesn't always work the best when he's under duress and making decisions. So yes, it was one kind of a crazy start to week 14. There was this documentary years ago on seven critical human mistakes are required for a modern jetliner to crash. That's what this is like. Like seven things have to have, you have to have the DPI, you have to have the neutral zone infraction. You have to walk by and swap the ball out of the guy's hand and get 15 yards. You know, all of the defense has to play man coverage that you can't believe. And the coordinator went to Yale, not Harvard. You know, all of these things like have to happen for this to even be pulled off.

That's why it's so miraculous. And in between the two touchdown drives for the Rams, the Raiders have to go three and out because if they even get one first down, there's not enough time left on the clock. One first down. I think they were playing, you know, they had another fourth down earlier, a fourth and one where they punted it. And I kind of get it because you're like, Baker Mayfield on two days. Yeah, you try to go 80 yards, right? I would rather almost have him trying that. I feel good about that.

Even if I'm a bad defense, there's no way this should be able to happen. Mike Sando of The Athletic, longtime NFL reporter and insider with us here after hours, CBS Sports Radio in the wake of this crazy game to start week 14. And then we think about some of the other storylines this week. A lot of the attention has been focused on the San Francisco 49ers looking ahead to starting a rookie quarterback, not just a rookie, but the very last athlete selected in the spring draft against the Buccaneers, who literally just snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat a few days ago.

Wow. I mean, everywhere you look, it seems like the NFL has got these explosive headlines. No doubt, you can't predict this stuff that Brock Purdy would be playing. The 49ers may probably win the division with Brock Purdy if they can hold off the Geno Smith-led Seahawks, right? I mean, is that a storyline we were thinking was going to be happening before the year? I mean, we didn't even think Geno Smith would start. People thought it was going to be Drew Locke. And that's the race down the stretch while Matthew Stafford holds the clipboard for Baker Mayfield with the Rams. It really is amazing how this league is like that, to just have things you could never predict.

It's what makes it so entertaining. We've talked about two teams that have had disappointing campaigns in the Rams and certainly with the Raiders, but as you look around, what's another team that's kind of played out in a way that you didn't expect it to go so horribly wrong? So I'm just looking through here through the standings of who? Well, Green Bay was certainly one.

I mean, I think we don't have to talk too much about them. Indy, I think, has been way more of a train wreck than I expected. I mean, look, I thought Matt Ryan was diminished, but that's another one. If you told me Jeff Saturday would be coaching the team, which by the way, Jeff Saturday's Raiders beat the Raiders, Jeff Saturday's Colts did, but I think that is another completely improbable storyline where we knew Matt Ryan was declining, but you kind of thought he'd be a steadying hand, right? And they would be maybe a nine and eight, 10 and 17. And here they are completely out of it and reeling and flopping around and doing stuff. And I think Denver, who would have thought Denver, right? It would be that bad. I mean, I thought there was a good chance they would finish fourth in the division, but it was more on the strength of the division.

You figured they'd at least be nine and eight or something. And in that same division, the Chargers have seemingly made all these moves to get better and keep up with the Chiefs. And while they're competitive a lot of the time, they still don't have that winning culture yet. Not yet. Getting closer, I suppose, but not quickly.

Yeah. What is your reaction to what you've seen from the Patriots this season, also sitting at 500? So right now, if the playoffs start today, three teams in the AFC East make the playoffs and the Patriots aren't one of them.

And if you look at the percentage chances of making it, just those mathematical models or whatever, that's the order. It's like 98% for Buffalo, obviously, and a very high percentage for Miami. And then the Jets are like 50-50 and then the Patriots like 30% or 35%. So I think that's a fascinating storyline.

What if that happened? What if three teams made it from the AFC East and the Patriots weren't one of them? And they're sitting there with this kind of weird setup with their offensive coaching staff and trying to get Mack Jones through and everyone else has got something going for them here. So the NFC East has been another one of those out-of-nowhere developments in the NFL. And I would still say the AFC East belongs in that category, too. I think the Jets are ahead of schedule. And the fact that the Patriots are the last team in that division is pretty fascinating.

Every team in the NFC beast, as I call it, is above 500. How did that happen, Mike, from where they were the last couple of years? Well, I think no doubt the Brian Deval, immediate coaching, sometimes it takes a while to make the adjustments and figure out how we're going to use our personnel.

Case in point, Chicago, right? Now, they obviously traded away their defense, but they figured it out. It took them six weeks to figure out, here's how we're going to play Justin Fields. It felt to me like Brian Deval came in and immediately they were like, you know what, we're completely limited here in the passing game.

We don't have any weapons. And let's just build something off of our athletic quarterback and our star running back, and we'll just find a way to be in the games. And so that's just a great job, I think, of coaching. They're a team that's found a way to win some of those close games. I think Dallas could be a coaching job by Mike McCarthy, because that place has been all over the map. And they identified early on, early on they were going to be a defensive-led team, and they're going to play a certain way. It's a little conservative, but they changed their style and played to the strengths of their team. And then they did that even after Dak Prescott came back. So I think those are two really good coaching jobs. Surprisingly, I think Washington's defense has come around.

And I'm not 100% sure why. Maybe this is what it should have been the whole time, because they had a good front. But that defense has played pretty well. So, you know, at Philly, I think we could have seen was going to be a good team. But I think those teams have gotten some good coaching in that division that they haven't had certainly to this degree in a while. Great. It is definitely the best division in football.

And then you compare it with, say, the South divisions, where there's one team above 500 among the eight that are in the South. So, Mike, before we let you go, I know you have the Football GM podcast with the great Randy Mueller, who's a former executive of the year in the NFL. We love to have him on the show, too. There was a bit of a stutter with a first-place team this week in the Titans firing their general manager mid-season, coming off of a game in which they lost to a team in Philadelphia that now has one of the Titans' former receivers. How much do you think that had to do with the timing of this move? I think it had to do with it. I mean, I think it had to.

It would be too coincidental, and we all know. I think there was a time during the season when, you know, Mike Fravel was asked about, hey, how come you're so run-heavy? And he made some kind of a flip comment like, well, who should we throw it to?

Or something like that. We've seen the video where, when they traded him, he got up and walked away from the table. So, that had to be part of it for the timing, I think, for sure. But I think it maybe was going to happen.

I think it was going to happen anyway. And so, it was interesting because you mentioned I do the podcast with Randy Mueller, which is on the Athletic Football Show feed, a little plug there. But Randy was executive of the year in 2000 and was fired like a year later.

So, we had a conversation on the podcast that we recorded for today about that. And I think it just shows, you know, in that case, in Randy's case, it wasn't a power struggle with the coach. It was more just, hey, an owner can do whatever they want, right?

Head any time. And so, I think this one feels a little bit more power struggle-y because you would see Vrabel's probably going to come out of this with more power. I don't think they're going to hire someone over him necessarily. He's kind of an empowered coach right now and a strong personality. So, that's what this one looks like for them. And I don't know how that's going to work out, you know.

I'm not real excited about it. Even if you criticize John Robinson's draft record, which you can do, I think there's real risk in going this route. Certainly. There are only so many coaches who've had any success when they've combined not just their on-field duties, their coaching duties, but also that general manager route or at least having the autonomy over personnel. It doesn't happen at a high success rate in the league. Tons of pressure, of course, and we see why because the razor-thin margin between wins and losses, it exists in every game regardless of what the teams look like coming in. Yes.

You know, I saw a great note. Someone did the what-if standings and it was if you took every one score game and flipped the results. Kind of on the theory that those are 50-50 games, right? Like the Vikings would be like 1-10 or something because they're 9-0 in one score games, which is impossible.

They like hit the 19 parlay or whatever, you know. You just can't do it. Isn't that amazing? It is.

They'd be 1-11 if you put the one score game. Man alive. That is an interesting game to play down that rabbit hole.

I can only imagine. Alright, it's awesome to catch up with Mike Sando again. He's with The Athletic now. He's part of the Hall of Fame selection process. He's an AP voter. He's got the football GM pod.

Look for him on Twitter at Sando NFL. Okay, here's my promise to you because I always love when you come on the show. We won't go as long as we did between guest spots the next time, Mike. I promise. Okay, no problem.

And I thought you'd say we won't go as long on the conversation next time, but we won't go as long in between. So that's good. I sure enjoy it. So thank you very much. Have a great night. Happy holidays, Mike. Thank you. See, enjoy that.

I really do enjoy that. The fact that we can react in the moment with someone who has also made a living out of watching the NFL and yeah, I wasn't going to tell him we wouldn't go as long with our conversation because all of that was real valuable stuff and a good setup to week 14 in the NFL. We've got your game of the week poll up so you can find it now on Twitter after our CBS or on our Facebook page.

A lot of people already weighing in. I could see it even as I was talking to Mike. It's a bad habit I have of surfing around even as I'm talking, although sometimes I find good tidbits for questions and I'm reminded of various topics that I want to bring up. So great to reconnect with Mike. By the way, we did not have our Steelers player on Thursday. We were supposed to and got stood up after how long do we wait? Two hours, two hours roughly about two hours. We were told to hang on with communication. Yeah, we were told to hang on there. They had a practice run long. Okay, that was an hour into it and then we reconvene 30 minutes later. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Nothing.

Finally just gave up and never did get a response back. So yeah, this is yeah, poor producer Jay who's frustrated. This is kind of the part for the course when it comes to working with teams and athletes. It's far worse when it would have been a live interview. Thankfully that was not what we were doing on the air tonight.

Waiting for an athlete or waiting for Mike. Thanks so much for hanging out with us. It's our last show of the work week.

It's been a week. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

This is After Hours. How do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made in scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go, but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Niro hybrid goes the extra mile with class leading 53 mpg combined.

Farther for all. The all new 2023 Kia Niro hybrid. Kia.

Movement that inspires. 2023 Niro HEVS fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits, and your vehicle's conditions. See fuel economy deck out for more details.

How do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made in scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go, but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Niro hybrid goes the extra mile with class leading 53 mpg combined.

Farther for all. The all new 2023 Kia Niro hybrid. Kia.

Movement that inspires. 2023 Niro HEVS fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits, and your vehicle's conditions. See fuel economy deck out for more details.

How do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made in scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go, but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Niro hybrid goes the extra mile with class leading 53 mpg combined.

Farther for all. The all new 2023 Kia Niro hybrid. Kia.

Movement that inspires. 2023 Niro HEVS fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits, and your vehicle's conditions.

See fuel economy deck out for more details. With Amy Lawrence. If you are a sports fan, you need us. Great show. Love it. Thank you so much for what you do.

Kiss and hug. Amy, thanks for taking my call. Once in love with Amy, always in love with Amy. I love this.

Become a big fan of yours real quick. Enjoy hearing you at night. That's a great point, Amy. Love the show. I think I'm the luckiest girl in the world who doesn't want to talk about sports for a living. Thank you to you, Amy.

I'm a single parent with two young girls. They listen to you in the morning and it excites the crap out of them to hear a girl on the radio. You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Off and running week 14 in the NFL and yet again quarterback news. We'll get to the extended version of QB news as really we double it up as prep for the upcoming weekend but another quarterback change that maybe isn't a massive surprise and yet it really does follow a pattern that we have seen this season as the Falcons are the latest team to decide this is not working. Here's Ian Rappaport.

The future is now in Atlanta. Sources say Desmond Ritter, their third round rookie from Cincinnati, is expected to be the starter this week when they start against the New Orleans Saints and moving forward which means veteran Marcus Mariota who started every game from the start of the season up until now. He heads to the bench to become the backup for Ritter and of course for the Atlanta Falcons there's a lot to like here and there's a lot to see here. Ritter's a guy who I know impressed coaches and general managers personnel executives a lot during the pre-drop process. Very smart.

He's very talented. Really flashed in the preseason. They want to know what they have their quarterback and they still have an outside chance here and winning the division and making the playoffs it's going to be Desmond Ritter at the helm if they get there.

Whoa. Again, it's not like the Falcons are burning it up in terms of their offense and if you look at what they've done specifically over the last couple of weeks it becomes a greater sense of urgency to make a change like this. I don't know that they're throwing in the towel necessarily but they've dropped four of their last five. They faded a couple games back of the Bucks who are only at 500 and they aren't likely to win a wild card unless they run the table and even then it's dicey.

And so they decide let's see what Desmond Ritter can do when we're talking real time, real temps, real game action. Right now they are middle of the pack when it comes to points scored per game. 22 points scored per game. It's the defense that it's toward the bottom giving up more than that. They are second in the NFL in rushing yards per game but here's the crux. They only manage 156 passing yards per game. Now they're not asking Mariota to pass the ball that much but they're only averaging 156 passing yards per game which is fewer than what they average rushing yards per game. That's not something you see very often not in today's NFL. They're averaging 159 rushing yards per game which is second best in the NFL but they're second to last in passing yards per game. Ian Rappaport on NFL network and for Mariota remember he was the domino that fell immediately after Matt Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts and for a while this was steady. For a while this is exactly what the Falcons wanted.

He had a pre-existing relationship with Martha, excuse me, Arthur Smith from their days in Tennessee and his numbers aren't hideous but they're also relatively vanilla. 15 touchdowns, 9 interceptions. The biggest thing is the wins and losses in the last five weeks.

While they were hovering, hovering, hovering, breathing down the necks of the Bucs, they were never able to take over even though the Bucs themselves have scuffled and left that door wide open. But you have a ceiling with Mariota, you know what he is, you know how far he can go. If you're not gonna win well then why don't you throw in your rookie quarterback and see what happens. But wait until I tell you I've counted about the number of teams that have made quarterback changes because of injuries or ineptitude this season.

The Falcons falling into the latter category. We'll get to that coming up soon. So find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. We're reacting to Thursday Night Football and looking ahead to week 14. We're asking you to help us choose the after hours game of the week. So again on Twitter or on Facebook where you've been blowing it up. We've had a lot of fun this week. Arson Judge, it's unfortunate that he's no longer trending but Al Michaels is now trending because you know what happens when Al sinks his teeth into dramatic storylines.

He is in his element. So take our poll for game of the week. Right now this is kind of fun.

Marco is sitting here in studio. We give four games right? I'll tell you the games. Three of them are in a dead heat. Like the exact same number of votes. Oh and as I say that we got more votes but it's going to be really tight.

All of them right now within six percentage points of one another. So it's it's going to be close. Vikings, Lions. So Vikings second best record in the NFL and the Lions who've won what is it five of their last six I think. I think so.

I'd have to look it up. It sounds about right. Okay but they're they're playing their best football. Maybe it's four or five but they're playing their best football and that game is in Detroit.

Jared Goff actually is putting up some of the best quarterback numbers in the league so it's really about their defense. Vikings at Lions in the NFC North. Jets at Bills in the AFC East. Mike White everybody's wearing his t-shirt and the Bills obviously are fighting, scratching, clawing but they lose Von Miller this week. So that's AFC East. Both those teams could be headed for the postseason.

Mike White. Buccaneers at the Niners. Niners with Brock Purdy but that incredible defense. Fierce, ferocious. The Buccaneers who have been on life support all season long and just keep managing to stay ahead of the pack in the NFC South but right now are very average.

Very average. Can't run the ball to save their lives and then finally Dolphins at Chargers. So Miami taking a step back. Their five game losing or their five game winning streak ended by San Francisco last week. The Chargers also six and six so right there in the mix in the AFC for a playoff spot.

Now the other one that I thought of. I'll let you take a flyer if you want but the other one that I thought of was the Ravens Steelers because Ravens are first place in the AFC North and these are always knockdown drag outs but they are also without Lamar Jackson this week. They've got Tyler Huntley and the Steelers defense is playing some of its best football of the year. So what's your game of the week because you can't pick Thursday Night Football. I know you would have picked Thursday Night Football. I would have been all over it and matter of fact you know what before I say that can I ask you one question about Thursday Night Football that's been bothering me since the start.

Yeah and no one seems talking about it and I get it because it's not a storyline. What was the point of John Wolford for three handoffs and then to go to Baker Mayfield? I have no idea.

I mean anybody? Maybe they were hoping that he didn't throw a pass. That's true. I don't know. Dramatic effect. What was the point of that? It's fine if you wanted to go to Baker Mayfield. Baker the paint wasn't dry on his helmet.

I'm not sure. What did he not get there for kickoff? Like what was the point of that? He was there. It just doesn't make any sense.

No it doesn't. I didn't get it either. I thought that's an odd time to put him in there.

But back to your original question. I would probably lean towards the Bills and the Jets simply because I mean the Jets won that game in New Jersey. Zach Wilson now it's Mike White and Zach Wilson who's been not good obviously which is why he's on the bench but the Jets still found a way to win that game. Josh Allen was awful in that game.

Two terrible interceptions. So the Bills now in the number one spot fighting for the one seed which is something that they think they need. I think I agree with them that they need to get to the Super Bowl. They have Kansas City go there or Cincinnati go there or anybody else go there. So for them to get to where they want to go they want that one seed.

They want revenge. That's a good spot for the Jets and the Bills. I like that game. All right so vote for the game of the week on Twitter or Facebook. I actually went with Buccaneers 49ers but I was teetering between that game and Vikings Lions because I love the fact that the Lions actually have a game with some interest and some excitement and that there's a lot of buzz.

They're going to be home like they were on Thanksgiving day against the Bills and the atmosphere was fantastic. So yeah but I always end up choosing the game that nobody else picks or that the fewest number of people pick. I went with Bucs 49ers this week. What about you Jay?

I like the Bills and the Jets I think. Okay so we've got a tight race early on so we'll pick the after hours game of the week over the next couple. How do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made and scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Nero Hybrid goes the extra mile with class leading 53 mpg combined farther for all. The all-new 2023 Kia Nero Hybrid Kia movement that inspires. 2023 Nero HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and your vehicle's conditions. See fuel economy deck out for more details.

How do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made and scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Nero Hybrid goes the extra mile with class leading 53 mpg combined farther for all. The all-new 2023 Kia Nero Hybrid Kia movement that inspires. 2023 Nero HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and your vehicle's conditions. See fuel economy deck out for more details.

How do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made and scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions. It's not about how far you can go but how far you're inspired to move. The 2023 Kia Nero Hybrid goes the extra mile with class leading 53 mpg combined farther for all. The all-new 2023 Kia Nero Hybrid Kia movement that inspires. 2023 Nero HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPA estimated combined fuel economy for entry CUV class. Actual mileage will vary with options, driving conditions, driving habits and your vehicle's conditions.

See fuel economy deck out for more details. Well days and then of course Sunday is the payoff. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. They go empty with Garoppolo in the gun. They stack McCaffrey behind Iuke right. Punch formation left with Jennings and Kittle. Jimmy got pressure and a tuck and now throw on the run.

It is caught by George Kittle. Breaks a tackle five. Touchdown San Francisco.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Greg Papa on Niners Radio. We can't even say that's the last big quarterback headline in the NFL. It happened what four days ago and we can't even say that's the last big QB headline because there have been three since then. Three since the Niners turned to Brock Purdy. Now they did find out that Jimmy Garoppolo is still a long shot to return if they make a deep run into the postseason.

Gippy. I hope that's the case because I'm a big fan of Jimmy. I've been saying this now for a year plus but since then we've seen the Rams pick up a Baker Mayfield who they throw into the fire 48 hours after he lands in Los Angeles and yet he was already dropping we and home in the postgame locker room festivities.

The fray. He was right there in the middle of the fray and we've seen the Falcons now decide they're gonna scrap the Marcus Mariota science project for now and they're gonna start something new with Desmond Ritter. Life comes at you fast in the NFL. So I've been telling you I keep a running tally of the number of NFL teams that use multiple quarterbacks because of injuries or ineptitude. I want to run through them so you recognize how much of the NFL has been affected by what is some in some cases a revolving door not always but in some cases it's been a defining factor if not the factor not always but sometimes in in how their season has gone in their story arc of 2022. You can find me on Twitter A-LOL Radio.

You can take our poll for after-hours game of the week. Good to catch up with you. Also seeing your reaction to Thursday Night Football. Yes I was yelling.

I'm not anymore. I was yelling but Baker Mayfield getting what I think is such a cool moment that's got to make him feel good. It's not like it's going to happen every game and I don't know how the rest of this plays out with him and and he doesn't have a job past the end of the season. The Rams aren't going to the playoffs and so his season likely ends if he stays healthy his season likely ends in mid-January and then he's a man without a country.

Is this going to be enough? Four games left right? Is this going to be enough with the Rams to somehow earn him a contract and isn't it likely to be as a backup?

Now we don't know yet. Always there's a musical chairs among quarterbacks in the off season last season being or last off season being a great example of that the number of quarterbacks that changed teams that we weren't expecting and so there's always a chance that another starting job could open up but it's unlikely he gets the 35 to 40 million dollar a year deal that is the going rate for QBs these days. So why don't we start there in the NFC West because that's what we're talking about right now. The Niners go from Trey Lance to Jimmy Garoppolo to Brock Purdy.

Okay the Seattle Seahawks they're the stable one in that division. Geno Smith he's their starter period. The Arizona Cardinals well they've started Kyler Murray but they've also started Colt McCoy because Kyler's been injured. He's less durable last season and this season and the Rams now. We've talked about them Matthew Stafford coming off the Super Bowl but then he ends up with well he was in concussion protocol it appears to be a spinal contusion likely out for the year or for the most part they don't think they're going to bring him back so they go to John Walford they end up having to start. Who's the rookie?

Bryce Perkins. Bryce Perkins yes so this is their fourth quarterback. The Rams have now started four different quarterbacks this season that's just the NFC West you guys. The NFC West that's it and we've seen four seven nine ten different quarterbacks start for the NFC West so far this year.

How about that? That's crazy. The Saints have gone from the Saints have gone from Jamis Winston to Andy Dalton. They didn't go back to they changed their minds right they thought they were gonna go back to Jamis but they didn't but anyway it's two quarterbacks for the Saints. The Panthers want to count Taysom Hill too.

True though that's not a change kind of looking at changes so the New Orleans Saints they fit that category. The Panthers have started how many QBs? Three and they would have started four if Matt Corral was healthy so they go from Baker Mayfield to PJ Walker to Sam Darnold no hold on Baker PJ Baker back to Sam when Sam finally gets healthy so they've started three different quarterbacks that's the Panthers. The Falcons are now about to start their second QB with Desmond Ritter making his debut this weekend or coming out of the bye excuse me and the Buccaneers they've had Brady so yay. Maybe that's why they're the only team that's even got a 500 record in the NFC South. All right moving forward the NFC North Bears are officially eliminated but Justin Fields he did miss a couple of starts because or one start because of the ribs oh no it wasn't ribs it was shoulder it was shoulder so he was out for a game I forgot who start was it Case Keenum shoot I complete I complete I can't remember they all blend together but Justin missed at least one full game he missed one start though obviously what he's done since they kind of retooled the offense around his running ability his explosiveness has been revelatory. Was it Tim Boyle? I don't remember I said Nathan Peterman is listed as their number two quarterback he didn't get the start I remember a couple last week or two weeks ago they thought he might he never got in but I don't remember Tim Boyle getting I don't remember who started Justin definitely missed it might have been more than one game he definitely missed a couple of games so Chicago belongs on the list the Green Bay Packers kind of belong on the list I mean Aaron hasn't missed a start but he did miss some time we've seen Jordan Love the Detroit Lions well they're playing their best football of the year and Jared Goff is a big reason why you're gonna pop in it's Trevor Simeon got the star that's right it was Trevor Simeon for the Bears and then the Minnesota Vikings well one reason why they're 10-2 is because it's been a resurgent year for Kirk Cousins so there's your NFC North in the NFC East oh yeah the commanders they've started multiple QBs the New York Giants they've had Daniel Jones for the most part I think he missed a couple of snaps a few weeks ago because he was off the field and injured though he's been relatively stable if you consider the rest of the NFC the Dallas Cowboys lose lose Dak Prescott in week number one and yet with Cooper Rush starting they go four and one but that's three of your four teams in the NFC East and then the Eagles have that best record at eleven and one it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio Denver Broncos they have had Russell Wilson for the most part though he did miss some time so they're on the list the Raiders have been they've been driven by Derek Carr and that's great the offense is not the problem with the Raiders as we saw once again on Thursday night the Chargers had Justin Herbert have just had Justin Herbert for the majority of the time but they also had another quarterback who played for them too sometimes I forget who these backups are they all blend together the Chiefs have been stable with Patrick Mahomes can you tell me who the Chargers other QB is that's throwing passes Chase Daniel Chase Daniel but it wasn't like he was out there for a long time Tennessee has had to start Ryan Daniel but also Malik Willis so the rookie has made his debut we know about the Colts who go from Matt Ryan to Sam Ellinger back to Matt Ryan the Jacksonville Jaguars all right they're okay the Houston Texans they started Davis Mills but then have also now recently gone to Kyle Allen only to return to Davis Mills the Steelers started a different quarterback at the beginning of the year that was Mitch Trubisky now they've got Kenny Pickett the Browns obviously went from Jacoby Brissett now to Deshaun Watson the Baltimore Ravens have gone from Lamar to Tyler Huntley Patriots Jets Dolphins have all started different quarterbacks seriously it's after hours with Amy Lawrence CBS Sports Radio how do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made and scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions it's not about how far you can go but how far you're inspired to move the 2023 Kia Niro hybrid goes the extra mile with class-leading 53 mpg combined farther for all the all-new 2023 Kia Niro hybrid Kia movement that inspires 2023 Niro HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPS made a combined fuel economy for entry CUV class actual mileage will vary with options driving conditions driving habits and your vehicle's conditions see fuel economy.gov for more details how do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made in scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions it's not about how far you can go but how far you're inspired to move the 2023 Kia Niro hybrid goes the extra mile with class-leading 53 mpg combined farther for all the all-new 2023 Kia Niro hybrid Kia movement that inspires 2023 Niro HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPS made a combined fuel economy for entry CUV class actual mileage will vary with options driving conditions driving habits and your vehicle's conditions see fuel economy.gov for more details how do we measure road trips and miles traveled and memories made in scenic views and back roads that don't show up on your GPS and in the wrong turns that turn out to be the right decisions it's not about how far you can go but how far you're inspired to move the 2023 Kia Niro hybrid goes the extra mile with class-leading 53 mpg combined farther for all the all-new 2023 Kia Niro hybrid Kia movement that inspires 2023 Niro HEVSX fuel economy claim based on EPS made a combined fuel economy for entry CUV class actual mileage will vary with options driving conditions driving habits and your vehicle's conditions see fuel economy.gov for more details