1-2-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

Here's what you do if you're a Lions fan. You enjoy this.

This is fun. I am absolutely, openly and unabashedly rooting for the Lions success with Dan Campbell. I like him. I think he is unique.

I mean, tell me who else in the NFL is quite like Dan Campbell. And they are entertaining. I get it. Their defense is young and leaves a lot to be desired. Still growing up.

There's some holes there. But the way that this team fights, it is a little bit like what he told us when he got the job. We're going to bite kneecaps. I still don't really know what it means, but I feel like the more I watch the Lions, okay, maybe it makes sense if you know Dan Campbell who swears he's not a lunatic.

He is a lot of fun though. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. They are so much fun to watch. I'm definitely rooting for them and their success. And they are still alive for the playoffs. They put themselves in position after starting out 1-6 and fans jumping off the bandwagon, if there's even a Lions bandwagon, jumping off the bandwagon in droves.

Same old Lions. This guy's got to go. This person's got to go. The ownership has to change. Yada, yada, yada.

Well, a lot has changed. And I hope that the fans are now on board. I hope that you aren't expecting the other shoe to drop. They may not make the playoffs. That 1-6 start means they don't control their own path.

It's not a win and you get in. But if you win against Green Bay in week 18, you have definitely put yourselves in an even stronger position by eliminating one of your top competitors. Actually, Jay, don't know if we can find this at some point, maybe before the end of the hour.

I heard Dean Campbell on the Westwood One post-game show when I was driving into work talk about how you couldn't ask for anything better. An iconic location like Lambeau with the playoffs on the line in week 18. Now we don't have the schedule yet from the NFL. If you look ahead to week 18, all the Sunday games are TBD. But there has been this conversation about how maybe the Lions and the Packers end up in the Sunday night spot because the rest of the NFC will be waiting on Green Bay.

Right? So Green Bay with the four straight wins and a win over Detroit next week, the Packers are in. And it's Lambeau and it's Sunday night. It's under the lights. Who knows if it'll be cold.

The weather's kind of weird right now. But Dean Campbell's right. It's iconic. Final week of the regular season and you get a chance to be at Lambeau with playoffs hanging in the balance. And so the Lions aren't necessarily in control of their own fate.

They need help. But a win over Green Bay? Well, that would get them a lot closer. And I don't know if they play the way they did on Sunday. Green Bay better watch out.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Bears? Well, they're going the wrong way. We'll talk about them a lot in the offseason because certainly even though Justin Fields has looked better, he's banged up a little bit, even though they've allowed him to use his explosiveness, they want him to run more, it'll come with a cost. The more he gets hit, the harder it is to stay healthy.

And so somehow they're gonna have to balance that. But at least we know that Justin Fields, franchise QB, they like their new head coach. It's just they don't have the wins to show for the work.

They're not at that point yet. So the Bears in Detroit, where the Lions look like they were a freight train steaming down the tracks. This game actually didn't require that. This game didn't require that the Lions do much more than what they did in that first quarter. Their defense, which has struggled a ton this season, was actually able to lock it down.

But it certainly helps when your offense is scoring on four of your first five drives. Golf up under center, single back behind him. DeAndre Swift takes the pitch left side, gets a block, to the 10, cuts back at the 5, to the end zone, touchdown Detroit Lions.

Oh, baby, what a run that time. Golf up under center, single back Jamal Williams. Golf takes the snap, turns, gives to Jamal, bounces left, to the 1, to the end zone, touchdown Detroit Lions.

Jamal Williams peeked at the middle set, uh-uh, bounced it outside, and found the house. That is his 15th rushing touchdown of the season, and Dan Skipper with a nice block to help spring him. Dan Miller on Lions Radio.

I love to hear Dan with compelling calls. A 17-point second quarter, and then right away in the third quarter a couple of more quick touchdowns. And so here are the Lions putting together drives of 75 yards and 92 yards.

They go heavy on Jamal Williams, heavy on DeAndre Swift. And the Lions defense allows no points to the Bears after the opening quarter. Now in that opening quarter, it's worth noting, Justin Fields had 100 yards rushing in the first quarter alone. It was pretty impressive. As I say, though, the more he's out there running, the more he's going to get hit.

And he definitely is banged up. So there was the highlight, but it was a flash in the pan. It was just that first quarter. Meanwhile, you've got a legit running game for Detroit. A career-high 144 yards for Jamal Williams. Detroit was over 500 yards of offense. Now at 8-8, they've won seven of their last nine. This is the Lions we're talking about. And even though they had that disappointing loss to the Panthers in week 16, that kind of left them behind the Packers in line, still, this is who they want to be.

This is special. And I want to thank them for showing up again and being loud. It was awesome. I was proud of our team. I was proud of our coaches. I was proud of our team.

We bounced back and I knew we would because of the guys we have on this team, man. They went to work. They trusted us. We went full pads on Wednesday and said, we're going to get our identity back and we're going to recalibrate.

Those guys did that. They trusted us and they came out and it looked like that. It looked like we were ready to go. It looked like we were more physical.

Do you dare to believe? Do you dare to dream in 2023 Detroit fans? I know it's easy for me to say because I'm not emotionally invested, but going back to the beginning of the year, going back to the preseason, maybe because of what we saw and hard knocks that kind of pulled the curtain back, I wanted to root for this team. I want this team to be successful. And also I love it when you've got a team and a franchise long suffering, a little bit like the Bills, right? When they finally ended their playoff drought and now here they are trying to get that elusive Super Bowl win. Well, the Lions aren't lovable losers anymore, but they need the postseason to validate. And just making it to the playoffs would be huge for Dan Campbell in year number two. But the Packers, well, they stand in the way.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. The change in culture is so critical. It's never stuck or it hasn't stuck for quite a while. Maybe going back to Jim Caldwell with the Lions. And you know, I talk about it a lot. Constant change equals constant losing. They've had different guys at the critical positions. And Dan Campbell is atypical.

He's unconventional, but he's tough. And he inspires confidence because it works or it is working, I should say. Again, they need playoffs to validate, but they've won seven of nine and he just asked them to keep showing up and keep going to work. This is what you want them to taste. They need to feel this. They need to understand what this is because this has got to become the norm.

You know, this has to become the norm. And then once you get, you start to understand this, you know, then it becomes, you know, you're playing for the division. You're playing for where your seating is going to be like that.

That's coming. But right now to get a taste of all this right now and be in the hunt, be in the run, I think is huge for our guys. Wouldn't it be amazing if the Lions and the Packers got flexed into Sunday night? They were the only team when the NFL schedule was released in May, I think it was. They were the only team that did not have a prime time game. That's what the NFL schedule makers thought of Detroit. The only team that did not have a prime time game. And yet they have played worthy of prime time.

And here they are after an abysmal start, same old Lions, all of those familiar phrases. If they beat Green Bay in week 18, well, it depends on what happens with Seattle, but you're telling me there's a chance. Who says we can't get flexed?

That's what he said back in May. Come on, NFL, come on. You cannot say that this isn't an opportunity. I love Dan Campbell.

I want to play for Dan Campbell. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. We'll have our Monday mortification poll up as we head into January 2nd, 2023. Oi, I mean, it's good. I guess it's just going to take a little getting used to.

On our Facebook page too, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. So just to reset your NFC playoff picture, we talked about the Buccaneers. They finally, even though they made it really hard on themselves, clinched the NFC South title. They're now 8-8 and first time in the Bucs franchise history that a team has won a division crown in back to back seasons.

I didn't know that. In fact, I had to think about it. But yes, the Buccaneers in the playoffs for the third time since Tom Brady joined their franchise, since he deigned to join their franchise.

So they get in. And the Giants. The Giants have the Colts on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, and this one was a landslide from the beginning. Jones out of a shotgun set, takes the snap, back to throw. Has time, releases to his right, looking for somebody to uncover. Throws it to the end zone, touchdown Giants.

Empty set for Jones. Calls out the signals, takes the snap, and back to throw. Fires it right, completes it for the goal line for Hodgins.

Is he in? Touchdown Giants. Isaiah Hodgins. Calls in a shotgun, punch formation right.

Three step drop, calls, fires it. Intercepted by Landon Collins down the left sideline. Collins to the 20, 15, 10, 5, touchdown Giants. Landon Collins with the pick six. That's Bob Papa on Giants radio.

Yeah, this one was as lopsided as they come. A little bit like say the Lions and the Bears. And with Daniel Jones throwing for a pair of touchdowns, and also rushing for a pair of touchdowns, he was their leading rusher yet again. I say this about Josh Allen and the Bills a bunch. I don't love it when the quarterback is the leading rusher. But Daniel Jones is similar to Josh, athletic, and his legs are a weapon. You just need these quarterbacks to slide. We're not out of bounds.

Try not to get hit. Otherwise you've got Justin leaning against the TV cart when he needs a break in the first quarter. Anyway, good for Daniel Jones. And their victory and their playoff clincher comes on the heels of the news that the Giants intend to keep Daniel Jones.

They intend to keep Saquon Barkley in 2023. He got a massive standing ovation as he was coming off the field. He was pulled early. And while he doesn't change much because he's essentially an Eli Manning clone, he definitely heard the crowd giving him all kinds of love. Really appreciative and grateful for the support of the fans. But you know, it's a team thing and you know, this was a complete team win today. You know, all three phases played really well on offense.

We executed, did our jobs. The guys up front played really well. Just proud of this team, proud of this team to come out in a game like this opportunity to clinch the playoffs. And we put together a good game, played really well.

So just proud to be a part of it. It certainly helps when you rush for 217 yards. And that's with Saquon Barkley only accounting for 58 of those yards. First season for Brian Daybal. The expectation is that he would turn Daniel Jones into Josh Allen. Well, that's not what's going to happen because Daniel Jones is not Josh Allen, but he can beat Daniel Jones. And as long as he's not turning the ball over, he's been playing smarter football. They're allowing him options and a healthy Saquon Barkley means so much. But yeah, Brian Daybal's first year and they're able to clinch the playoffs. They have a chance at double figure wins and he gets doused by some cold Gatorade.

It was sticky and wet. Yeah, no, it was good excitement, obviously. You know, you work hard in this business to try to give yourself a chance to play extra innings or more games. Extra innings, yes. But that's put ourselves in a position to compete more than just one other game. I think it kind of started week one when we score a touchdown and he can go forward too. I think it starts there, shows the trust that he has in us, the belief that he has in us.

And you know, when a guy like that and when it's your head coach showing that as a player, you don't want to go out there and let him down. After the break, we'll look at the rest of the NFC East because that division title is still not clinched and there will not be four teams from the division. It won't be a clean sweep for the Beast. However, three teams out of four is pretty impressive.

Especially considering what we've gotten from the East the last few years. It was 2020 actually, yes it was, when the Buccaneers ended up winning the Super Bowl. They were a wild card team and they had to go to Washington, who won the division with a losing record. That's where the NFC East was just two years ago. And last year they ended up with two playoff teams. In Nick Sirianni's first year, the Eagles were a good surprise.

They kind of snuck in there. But still, the division didn't take advantage of its opportunities and primarily that's the Cowboys who won the division title. Now they've got three teams in. Giants are back in for the first time since 2016 and the division is so competitive that we still don't have the winner of the East, who is likely, not guaranteed, but likely to get the top seed and the bye. That's still hanging in the balance in week 18. So we'll talk about Eagles as well as the commanders who make a quarterback switch on Sunday to no avail. And we'll also get to the Seahawks because the Seahawks are the other team along with Lions and Packers still alive for that final wild card in the NFC. Going down to the wire.

Get out of here. On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too. Happy New Year to you. Thanks so much for hanging out with us on what is a Sunday night. The first Sunday, well into Monday morning depending upon where you are.

First weekend, well first Manic Monday, first Monday headache of the new year because that won't change either. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. First and goal of the one it's Taysom again. Now he takes a quarterback cut to the left and he takes it into the end zone. Taysom Hill right over the left hash mark. The Saints take the opening kickoff and just bang it 75 yards for the touchdown. Second and 8. Empty backfield now for Minshew. Takes the snap, throws a quick one and that's picked off by Marshawn Lattimore. Pick 6. Welcome back Marshawn. That's how you do it.

Happy New Year baby. Hits, misses and messes time to talk football After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Still no Jalen Hurts for the Philadelphia Eagles and they have dropped back to back games even as they're trying to lock up the top seed and the buy, the home field advantage in the NFC. The Saints are up 13-0 at the half and this one Taysom Hill with a rushing touchdown.

He is a bull and would you believe, you probably would believe, the Eagles fans were booing their team at home on Sunday. As in loudly, royally, roundly booing their team. They've won 13 games. With a victory against the Saints, I know they didn't get it, but with a victory against the Saints they would have set a franchise record for most wins in a season. In fact they can do that next week against the Giants. And there are the fans booing.

Okay. It was clear that the Saints were going to play a ball control game from the beginning if it was at all possible. Their opening drive was 9 minutes.

It wasn't that cold in Philadelphia on Sunday, but man, you warm up and then you sit there and you sit there and you sit there and you wait. Now the Eagles did pull within three late in the third quarter. AJ Brown had a 78 yard catch and run through traffic. And so Gardner Minshew was able to connect with the Eagles top receiver.

However, he also throws a pick six. Marshawn Lattimore slams the door in his face and in the Eagles face with that pick six in the fourth quarter. And you hear the calls there on Saints radio.

By the way, Lattimore just returned after 10 games on the shelf with injury. He comes back and this is how he reintroduces himself to the Saints and to the Eagles fans. Now, New Orleans was in a position like a bunch of different teams as Sunday is playing out, they beat the Eagles and they were still alive for the playoffs at the time. When all the dust settled on the NFC, they were eliminated. And so now Buccaneers are the division champs in the South. We'll see whether or not they end up above 500, but we knew that it was going to be a long shot for any other team from the South to make the playoffs. This is mostly about the Eagles and the fact that they have not yet locked up the East division title, despite a 13 and three record, though they still have week 18 and the Giants ahead of them.

Our goal from the very beginning has just always been about taking it one day at a time and trying to go one and O each day in attempts to go one and O this week. And this week we got it. Obviously it was disappointing what we did today, coaching, playing everything. But next week we'll have a chance to win the division title at home. Today we came up short credit to the Saints.

They came in, they played. But I think that it's a great feeling to know that it's all in your hands at the end of the day. Yeah. We were talking about this with the Green Bay Packers, with the New England Patriots.

What you want is to have the control. And Brandon Graham makes a great point. As long as they win week 18, not only do they set the franchise record with 14 wins in a season, but they are ultimately still the top seed and they've got the only bye in their conference, which sends the Cowboys to Tampa. And so with the Buccaneers being the division champion with the worst record, they're guaranteed of that.

They will host the top wild card, which will be Dallas. Now, do you remember how they opened the season? It was really tough to score touchdowns in that game. And Dak Prescott got hurt and was out for the next month or so. And so they've played to start the year.

I think each of the last two seasons now, we've seen them kind of in a home and home. This game would be in Tampa, even though the Cowboys will have a much better record. But that's only if the Eagles take care of their business and they end up winning the division. Otherwise, the Cowboys would gladly step in and take that bye. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. To start Sunday, there was the chance that the commanders could make it a four-pack and all four teams could either have a playoff spot from the NFC East or in the case of the commanders, still be alive going into the final weekend of the season.

But the Browns had other plans. Third down and five. Michael Woods out wide left. Inside of him, it's Cooper.

People's shelves to the right. Inside of him, it's Njoku. On the right hip of Watson, it's Kareem Hunt.

He's got the snap. Third down and five. He's looking left, throwing. Cooper's there. He got it. Cooper off the sideline.

Still going. Cooper running down the sideline. Ten, five. Head zone. Touchdown, Amare Cooper. Michael Woods and Amare Cooper near side to the right. One receiver out wide to the left. In the shotgun, it is Watson with Chubbin's right hip.

From the Commander 33 with a play-action fake. Watson up in the pocket, looking. Cooper's wide open. Caught it. Ten. He's at the five.

He cuts to the pylon. Touchdown, Amare Cooper. His second of the day at Watson's third touchdown pass.

33 yards. Jim Donovan on Browns radio. It was a slow start for Cleveland, but they overcame it with takeaways and also with Amare Cooper and the connection with Deshaun Watson. Amare's, and I don't think this is fair to put it just on Amare. He's a receiver, right?

So he has to wait for the ball to come to him. It's not been a great season for any of the receivers for the Cleveland Browns. And now, even as they've got their, I don't know, $500 million made or whatever Deshaun Watson is, $280 million man, he's been shaking rust off. And it wasn't pretty.

The first half was pretty ugly, actually. But the defense was doing its job, picking off Carson Wentz, the newly installed, reinstalled starter for the commanders. They pick him off three times. And then Amare Cooper becomes a great weapon for Deshaun. In the second half, he had touchdowns of 46 yards and 33 yards. And I was watching him thinking, this is one of the reasons why Amare is still such a great weapon for whatever team he's on. Because, he pays attention to detail, and he's committed to running the right routes, to being where he should.

His footwork is impeccable. And so, along with his talent and his size, of course, he's now up to, well, he's over 1,100 yards this season. And he's a guy who, once he and Deshaun get on the same page, can certainly be a productive tandem. But right now, it's still a lot of stop and start for the Browns, who are officially eliminated from the playoffs.

But maybe there's some solace or some delight in taking the commanders down with them. So Nick Chubb goes over 100 yards, and the Browns ultimately run away from the commanders. And here are the Browns kind of looking for the silver lining, right? Myles Garrett with a fantastic year when he was healthy and he was out there. Another sack and a half on Sunday, but the Browns ultimately finish at seven and nine.

About doing this all year, and now we're hitting our strides a little bit late, but just like last year, we gotta be able to carry this into the next year and be able to use that momentum. As for the commanders, they were still alive until they lost this game against the Browns. And so, there's something to be said for that, considering the revolving door quarterback. But Ron Rivera goes back to Carson Wentz, and he specifically mentions Taylor Heinecky not being able to make the deep throws.

So Carson does have a stronger arm, but man, it did not look that way on Sunday. There were a couple of wobbly throws that did not reach their destination that were picked off. And so, Rivera makes this change, trying to do anything to spark his offense, give them some energy, and it blows up in his face. The only real highlight for them, I don't know if you saw this, but Washington had a 21-play drive in the second quarter. 21 plays, but ultimately nowhere near enough points and enough offense to get the job done. We drove the ball in that last possession in the first half and just felt we'd be able to come out and sustain something like that again, and then we just didn't do it. Yeah, the turnovers are a huge part of that, right?

Because you're wasting opportunities, you're giving your opponent extra opportunities. The defense has to bear some responsibility. It's not like the Cleveland offensive numbers were amazing, though they did rush for nearly 150 yards. The only bright spot for Washington is their rookie running back, Bryan Robinson.

What a story for him this season. So now what for the commanders? I mean, there's the question yet again, what do they do at quarterback? And that has been the question since Ron Rivera took over.

I know they have the one division title, there have been some highlights, but you've got your fans at home yelling for Taylor Heineke and the commanders fall short. Ultimately, that's the same question since Rivera was hired. Who can be a consistent quarterback for them? I can't imagine that it's Wentz. They've had him on the shelf anyway.

They just kind of went to him as a last ditch effort. So the commanders don't make it a clean sweep in the NFC East. And again, just to recap, in the NFC, Packers win and they're in in week 18. If they stumble and they lose to Detroit, the Seahawks can take advantage. So the Seahawks, they're also at eight and eight and their game in week 18 is the Rams.

So that game in Seattle. And then if they both stumble and Detroit, well, Detroit beats Green Bay and Seattle doesn't get a win in week 18. Well, the Lions end up in the playoffs.

So the dominoes have to drop. Now in the AFC, you have a similar story where there's one team that wins in week 18 and grabs the last wildcard spot. That's the Patriots. We'll talk about them, the Dolphins too, in a free fall yet again. We're going to try to squeeze in some college football at some point over the final 90 minutes of the show. But I guess if we don't get to college football, we can also do it on Monday too, to try to catch up. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. Monday mortification poll is going up in these next couple minutes.

So check it out either on my Twitter or show Twitter, After Hours CBS, also on our Facebook page. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. This is I've heard him say after the game that he's grateful to the Jets for drafting him. He's grateful to New York for giving him his start in the NFL. And no, it wasn't all sunshine and roses, but he might not be in the NFL if not for the Jets giving him that first opportunity. So the Jets on the road at the Seahawks and right away, Gino sparks a touchdown on their opening drive.

Colby Parkinson catching that score. And then after a take away from New York, a field goal, another touchdown drive before the half is all said and done. And that was all the Seahawks needed. Because the return of Mike White was no spark, was no change, was no offense for the Jets. And so it was 17-3 at the half and they did enough to possess the ball in the second half.

Kenneth Walker, the rookie running back 133 yards on the ground for Seattle. And so the Seahawks are able to snap a three-game skid and remain alive for the playoffs. Now, they need help, obviously. They're not in control of their own path, but stranger things have happened. And so the Seahawks get back to 8-8.

That's a big deal for them. I think the way they started was one of the best stories of the first half of the NFL season. And Pete Carroll has got this team believing not only that they can compete with any other team out there, but that they have the right pieces in place and that they're just a couple of pieces away. And this isn't a really difficult division in the NFC West. Plus, the defense is playing better and better. So Quandre Diggs kind of points to what the defense was able to do against the Jets.

Four sacks of Mike White, another 10 hits on the quarterback. They don't even give up 300 yards and the only offense they allow is a pair of field goals. At halftime, I just want the guys to keep our foot on their neck.

You know, I mean don't give up, don't let up. Because we've had points where we've held teams down. We've held them down.

We've held them down and we give them some cheap touchdowns and things like that. We had a good football day. We had a really good football day. Across the board, everybody played like we were hoping. We were able to play like the complimentary football where we made the turnovers. We had field position when we could have done better in the red zone, but we did a lot of really positive things all day long. Offense did not turn the football over. We're plus three for the day. It's a huge, huge day for us in that regard. Isn't that exactly why Pete Carroll told us that Geno had the nose in front in his QB competition going back to when they traded Russell Wilson away to the Broncos?

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. So even as the Seahawks end their losing skid and stay alive, the Jets are unable to snap their losing skid. It now reaches five consecutive games, and they are officially eliminated from playoff contention. So yeah, the return of Mike White, it doesn't result in any touchdowns at Seattle.

Instead, he has a pair of interceptions and a fumble to go along with those four sacks. And this is not what the Jets were hoping they would see. In the grand scheme of things, yes, we have taken a step forward, but that's not what matters right now. And I think that's a positive sign. When your mentality is the playoffs and no moral victories, that means you are doing something right, but we didn't do it right enough. I promise you no one's hurting more than the people in the locker rooms, especially me. But at the same time, I know it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there's still a lot of really cool things to look at from this season. But right now, it stinks big time right now.

There are a couple of positives, certainly, to take away. Now, they've got to figure out their quarterback situation as well. Do they trade for, say, a Jimmy Garoppolo? Or I guess they don't need to trade for him, necessarily. Do they sign a Jimmy Garoppolo?

Derek Carr is likely to be available. I'm not telling you that Mike White shouldn't be on the roster, only that I don't believe, at least at this point, that he's starter quality. A spot start here and there, a locker room guy, yes. But I don't know that he's a guy who can elevate this team to playoff caliber. Now, it certainly sounds like and it seems like the team is going to move on from Zach Wilson, so they're going to cut their losses after picking him number two in the draft a couple of years ago. So are they starting from scratch? It's going to be yet another change for the Jets at that critical position.

A lot of people would have told you the Jets were ahead of schedule this year to even be part of the playoff conversation in the second half of the year, but it doesn't make it any less disappointing. They have sauce Gardner, huge, huge pickup for them out of the draft. The rookie quarterback, Garrett Wilson, another rookie. How about remind me of the running backs name? The rookie that got hurt, Breeze Hall.

Thank you. A huge revelation for them before he got hurt, and that probably is a big reason why their offense was derailed after that, regardless of who was the quarterback. I mean, I say it all the time with the other New York team. Daniel Jones is a hell of a lot better with a healthy Saquon Barkley next to him. It's just football, and so without Breeze Hall, their offense really started to sputter.

But yes, definitely still disappointing. And so the Jets are no longer in contention, but the Dolphins and Patriots in the AFC East, they're still both alive. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. So New England was facing a Dolphins team that did not have Tua Tangoveloa. Instead, it was Teddy Bridgewater who started this game, because Tua is back in concussion protocol. And early on, you have both these teams got to go in toe to toe.

You can tell they're familiar with one another. Third and six from the seven. Stevenson to the right of Jones. Thornton motions right to left. Henry there.

Myers, Aguilar right. The snap to Jones, he's throwing it toward the left corner of the end zone. Caught. Touchdown New England. Second and goal from the two. This is the 13th play of this drive coming up.

Dogs have controlled the ball for seven minutes and 15 seconds on this drive. Tariq in motion. Gets a quick pass. Going for the corner.

And did he get in? Touchdown. Touchdown Miami. On the Patriots and Dolphins radio network, early on, seven to seven, Miami is able to spread the ball around. So Teddy Bridgewater may not be as accurate as Tua.

He may not bring the same energy, but he knows how to use his weapons. Raheem Mostert. He was a big factor in this game. Jeff Wilson, those two former Niners running backs. Of course, Tyreek Hill. Yes, Jalen Waddle. They've got so many guys around their QB, but that has been the revolving door for them.

New England though. I like how they steadied in the second half. They have a five-minute drive that leads to a field goal. And then how often have we seen this for the Patriots in 22? Three receivers right, two left.

It's an empty set. Patriots start to crowd the line of scrimmage. Bentley back out there in the middle along with Duggar. Up behind the front four. And a third and 15th snap. They rush four. Bridgewater is back to fire it right. Pass is intercepted by Duggar. Left to the 30, outside to the 20, to the 15, to the 10, Duggar to the 5. Duggar to the end zone.

He took it to the house again. And the Patriots take the lead. On Patriots radio, Bob Socey and Scott Zolock. That's late in the third quarter. And that defense gives the Pats a good margin for error. They end up putting the game away with a clutch drive.

It goes five minutes to Kobe Myers, hauls in the touchdown. And this is the situation for the Pats. If they win in Buffalo in week 18, they are a wild card in the AFC. So they know Buffalo really well. They won their last year.

Remember that crazy wind game? You want to talk about the type of weather that Buffalo can throw into the mix in December or January. Well that was what we saw last year. But they're alive and they're in control of their own fate. So the Dolphins will have to wait and see if the Patriots stumble against the Bills. And then the other team that's still alive is the Steelers. After their win on Sunday Night Football, they've also kept their playoff hopes on ice.

Though they need help as well. We'll get back to Steelers and Ravens coming up next. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.