1-6-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

What's the strangest thing you're afraid of? Tails without fur on them, such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast Your Weirdest Fears, where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of. Everything from animal people hybrids, you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal, to giant statues.

If I ever saw one of those giant statues, I probably would poop my pants. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your attention from. the podcast from. Producer Jay and I both agree that it feels different doing the show last night and this morning. It feels as though a weight has been lifted and we're just members of the media. We're talking about the real life situations, the anxiety, the stress, the, the worry, the concern, certainly the grief and and the care that so many of these NFL athletes have been carrying with them this week. And to a man, Damar Hamlin's health and what the Bills and Bengals experienced on Monday night has has been paramount, far more important even for those teams that have games that are critical for them to make the playoffs. The Patriots are great example. Bill Belichick barely spoke about football yesterday. In fact, he spent the majority of his press conference offering support, not just for Damar and his family, but mentioning that he reached out to Sean McDermott on behalf of of the Patriots organization.

Think about it. The two teams are about to step on the field together. The Patriots have to go through the bills to make the playoffs and the head coaches are communicating this week.

It's just unheard of this deep into a season. We now have some contingency plans for what happens moving forward in the AFC. If there was a way that it can be cut and dried, the NFL is trying to make it as simple as possible.

The fact that it does not affect the final wild card team in the AFC and it doesn't affect the NFC at all, makes it a little easier to manage and to navigate. So there's a bunch of different scenarios, but essentially the game is canceled. We now know they're not going back to replay the rest of Bengals and Bills. They don't have time.

There's not enough real estate. If this was game, sorry, if it was week four, yes they would have replayed the game at some juncture, but they just don't have the time or the days that would keep it fair for everybody involved. And so instead they've come up with multiple scenarios that would kick in based on who wins and loses in week 18. So we'll kind of give you, I'm not gonna read them all to you, only that the NFL feels like they've come up with an equitable solution.

Even if it's not perfect, it's what they feel like will keep the fair and the competitive balance in the AFC postseason. So we'll talk about that a little bit, but mostly on this Friday morning. Happy Friday to you.

It's a football Friday. It feels good to talk about the actual games knowing that DeMar Hamlin is making significant progress. His doctors Timothy Prince and William Knight sat down together and did a zoom call at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Thursday afternoon and gave us the news we've been waiting to hear. We would like to share that there has been substantial improvement in his condition over the past 24 hours. We had significant concern about him after the injury and after the event that happened on the field, but he is making substantial progress. As of this morning, he is beginning to awaken, and it appears that his neurological condition and function is intact.

We were very proud to report that very happy for him and for his family and for the Buffalo Bills organization that he is making improvement. He continues to be critically ill and continues to undergo intensive care in our surgical and trauma ICU. He's being cared for by ICU neurosurgery, I'm sorry, neuro critical care teams, trauma surgery and a cardiology team, as well as our expert nurses and respiratory therapists. They are attending to him, and he still has significant progress that he needs to make, but this marks a really good turning point in his ongoing care.

Very encouraging. We've been getting incremental updates, and Brandon and Nate, Brandon Bean and Nate Breski, Nate being our head trainer, as well as to Bonnie. Richard stayed behind in Cincinnati at the hospital. They've been there the whole time, and so my hat goes off to them as well, but they've been giving us updates, or DeMar's doctors have been giving our doctors updates, Dr. Bisson here in town, and then the updates have flowed basically through either Brandon and Nate or Dr. Bisson or directly from DeMar's doctors, and the news has been very encouraging as we all are up to date at this point, and just extremely grateful. Not only did we hear from Dr. Timothy Pritz and Dr. William Knight in Cincinnati, but Sean McDermott, Josh Allen, other members of the Bills spoke for the first time on Thursday, and while their practice was still closed, they did get back to practice, there were still photos and just the smiles on their faces.

The thumbs up that we saw from groups of Bills indicates that this massive weight has been lifted because of what we heard from the doctors in Cincinnati, and so he started to wake up Wednesday night into Thursday morning. It sounds like it would have been about the time that we were on the air, which is incredible, and they believe his neurological function is intact, and that's a great credit to the men and women who are on site there at Pecor Stadium. They said over and over that the quick thinking and the quick response, the emergency action plan saved the life of Damar Hamlin. Can't say enough about the quick actions of the Bills training staff and then the physicians who are on the field. I would get into him recognizing that this was a very serious situation and responding and saving his life.

It was really, really outstanding work from all of them. And not just saving his life, but his neurologic functioning. The reason why we're talking about his recovery of neurologic function is the true critical importance of immediate and good and high quality CPR and immediate access to defibrillation. Heroes, they saved that man's life, and the NFL has these plans in place at every single stadium. They work in conjunction with a local hospital, in this case it's UC Medical Center.

They do have various levels of care that kick in based on what's happening and how rarely they need to use their emergency action plan in such an extreme. But these two doctors went into detail. They went in-depth about the plan and what happened and how this kind of trickles down and how they were waiting for him when he arrived in the ambulance with his family. So if you're interested, I would say go back and watch the zoom call.

It really does give you some insight. This wasn't the doctors as a separate entity, the hospital as a separate entity, and the NFL doing its thing. No, they have these plans in every city where a stadium is hosting a game because they recognize, thank God, that the quick thinking, the quick actions of trained medical professionals can in fact be the difference between life and death. And in the case of DeMar Hamlin, that's exactly what happened.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I think the part of the press conference with the doctors that not only made me smile but also brought me to tears was hearing about Demar's response as he is waking up. We're in the situation where we wanted to allow him to gradually, you know, wake up as the rest of his body was healing. Um, and last night he was able to emerge and follow commands and even ask who had won the game. The bear phrase, one of our partners, you know, when when he asked, Did we win? The answer is yes. You know, tomorrow you won.

You've won the game of life. Uh, and that's probably the most important thing out of this. And we really need to keep him at the center of everything else that's going on. And we really want to ensure a good outcome for you. His dad said the first thing that he's gonna ask when he wakes up is who won the game? And sure enough, that's what he did, man. And, uh, his teammates, he you love hearing that response that the first thing on his mind wasn't, you know, poor me. It was. How are my teammates doing? Did we win this game? And that's powerful in itself.

And I don't think people really understand the bond and the relationship and the brotherhood that you have as an NFL team, especially this one here, Josh Allen reacting to what they heard, what we all heard. It was blowing up social media. I happened to wake up just because I suck at sleeping. And as I pick up my phone, I realized the doctor is about to do a press conference.

Well, then I'm not going back to sleep. So I'm live tweeting. I'm refreshing on Twitter, not not watching it at the time. I went back and watch the press conference later. But then to see Bill's weighing in and praising their head athletic trainer, the one who delivered CPR and just them reacting in real time. And then the photos of Josh Allen and some of his teammates getting back to practice and also hearing that Josh and the bills locker room were able to speak to Damar Hamlin's father. So Mario Hamlin made a point to communicate with the bills, the teammates to kind of encourage them. Even as the bills are waiting for any type of news, the family obviously is in limbo and so emotional. And yet it was important for the Hamlin's both Mario and his wife, Nina, to be able to reach out to these teammates of these young men who they knew were hurting from a player's view hearing Mario talk to us. The words of encouragement that he had for us. Um, I had the chance actually to talk to him monday night and the only thing he said was my son's gonna be all right when the Mars father spoke to us again, the days have have blended together here. So today is thursday. So yesterday, Damar's father spoke to the team and um really his message was um the team needs to get back to um focusing on the goals that they had set for themselves.

Damar would have wanted it that way and I'm paraphrasing. And so that includes our game against New England this week. And I think that that has helped. And uh and then again today the news today as josh alluded to uh was a was a big was a huge help uh to getting us back to focused um on on the game this weekend. I feel strongly um that as his dad, as Mario mentioned to us that this is what the Mar would have wanted and wants. And um we owe that in my, this is my opinion and my take on it.

We owe that to the Mar and we owe that to his family. Sean McDermott and you can hear the emotion in the voice of the bills head coach as well as Josh Allen who multiple times got choked up now to a man. The bills are praising the leadership of Sean on the field and Sean of course was uh saying how grateful he was for Zach taylor.

So in my opinion, I know people want to complain about anything and everything in nitpicking. But if you think big big picture and big perspective here, not only did the teams and the officials handle the situation, one that they had not been in before the right way, but the NFL did to allowing these players allowing these teams and really allowing athletes around the league, the NFL P. A. As well as coaches and Andy Reid mentioned his coaches, they've offered them, you know, counseling and someone to talk to if they need to think about the number of coaches in the league who also played and how this hits them differently. And so the fact that the NFL was so in tune with what was happening around the league and didn't force football decisions, didn't start talking about when this game is going to be replayed. In fact, they tried to downplay it and put it on the back burner. We rarely see football operations come to a stop, but they waited, they waited until Damar Hamlin had awaken until there was positive news before they start talking about contingency plans. And in fact, as it turns out on Friday, I'm not sure when today, but sometime today the owners will be voting. They have to pass this contingency plan, but they've got a potential plan in place which would determine top seeds based on what happens this weekend, but also would determine if the AFC championship comes down to bills and chiefs or bangles and bills. It's going to be at a neutral site or it's not, yada, yada, yada.

I won't read them all, only to say that they've come up with a step plan. But I think the NFL, as much as I criticize the league, and the league certainly deserves a ton of credit, they, they maybe didn't make the decisions as fast as what people would have wanted. But I think sometimes speed is is not what you're going for. And in this situation, there was shell shock and and there, there needed to be a little bit of time to absorb what was happening to get it right, right? The NFL doesn't want to dive in with both feet and then have to backtrack. And so I felt like the NFL going back to even Monday, yeah, people were upset because it took 35 minutes for them to postpone the game. But there really never was the chance that they were going to get back on the field.

I think that's pretty clear now as we hear from Zach Taylor, as we hear from Sean McDermott, they weren't going to keep playing. So the NFL was just trying to make sure they had all the information and everybody was on the same page. And then to allow the business of football to to just take a back seat and really stop until there was something positive about tomorrow. They weren't forcing the teams to move forward.

There was nothing really definitive about week 18, just that they weren't making any changes. Once tomorrow's doctors came out with the news that everyone wanted to hear, now they're okay with talking about football again. So I applaud the league. I mean there are times when the league is hypocritical and they only really make decisions based on what's happening in terms of their feedback and criticism. They obviously can be very wishy-washy but in this particular case they listened, they were sensitive, they were empathetic to what was happening around the league with their players and players came first.

And I think that is critical. Sean McDermott, he of course as I say gave Zach Taylor and the Bengals credit for what was happening in that moment and how they were handling it on their field. And the emotions they're still processing and it was the first time we had the chance to hear Josh Allen and Sean McDermott tell their versions of what was happening on the field on Monday.

The scene just replays over and over in your head and there's again it's hard to answer that question and actually describe how you know I felt how my teammates felt in that moment. It's something we'll never forget but to know that Damar is he's doing okay and I know there's still a lot of a lot of things and stuff that he has to process and continue to go through to get back to himself. We're just again we heard that news this morning and there's nothing that that could have been told to us to bring our day down. You know we're extremely happy for him and his family.

You know we just want to we just want to love up on him you know so the next chance we get I don't know when it's gonna be if we if we get to see him anytime soon it's gonna be awesome. I really feel like I did what anybody else would have done and and so when you're in those situations you just react and... What's the strangest thing you're afraid of? Tails without fur on them such as rats or opossums. I'm Larry Mullins host of the podcast Your Weirdest Fears where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of. Everything from animal people hybrids you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal to giant statues.

If I ever saw one of those giant statues I probably would poop my pants. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from. The listening you love is on the free Odyssey app. Your trusted local radio stations. Coverage of your favorite teams. Live news from your hometown. And millions of podcasts on demand. Best of all you can completely customize your listening experience. Follow topics you care about like leagues and teams. Pause or rewind your local sports and news and add shows to your queue to catch up later.

There's a lot to listen to so get started and download the free Odyssey app today. No one's more locked into the NFL than first and pod. Why is it not within the realm of possibility that Geno Smith was a victim of a horrible organization, bad offensive coaching and then went and played behind three high-level talents and only got spot starts and did okay by the way. Well because it's just it doesn't really happen that often anymore.

Subscribe to first and pod on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast. When you prepare for a game the game can slow down because you've prepared for the game and you visualized it ahead of time. In this case I can tell you it was moving very slowly at the beginning just as we were as tomorrow was on the field. It was time was just creeping by as we were trying to get a response to where you know how he was doing and then from that point on it moved very very quickly in terms of us trying to get to a decision and do the right thing and I think that's what it really comes down to is just trying to do the right thing for everyone involved. When it comes to player safety our personal lives he's been unwavering in this but this is kind of you know in the most paramount time doubled down on it was just the fact that he's he needs a human being he has our safety and well-being in the forefront of his mind at all times and you know when the stakes were at its highest not only you know for football but for a young man's life that you know there was no thought about football rather than rather just the welfare of his team and of course tomorrow. We tack on that last one from Bill's Center Mitch Morse because he really echoes what everyone was saying about Sean McDermott and his leadership so we got to see a different side of Zach Taylor and Sean and these players and I I hope we don't see it again for a long time maybe ever but it has changed the perspective their perspective but also I think the perspective of a lot of fans what these guys are about and who they are to see them in their vulnerability but to also recognize that for them yeah football is incredible they get paid a lot of money to play a very popular sport but they are human beings first and yeah I'm not sure how many of us could see them the same way every time I think about Josh Allen this week do you know the vision or the image that comes to my mind him with red eyes you know red giant red circles around his eyes because he's been crying and the look on his face like he's he's devastated he's shocked also Dane Jackson who was a childhood friend is a childhood friend of Demar's they grew up in the same side of Pittsburgh and they went to Pitt together he was the one who instantly started sprinting across the field he knew something was horribly wrong when Demar stumbled backward and didn't get up and we think if I'm wrong please forgive me but I think it was Dion Dawkins who actually said when Dane reacted like that I realized something was really wrong so Dane Jackson I mean this is a guy who's known Demar since they were kids I mean think about how he's feeling this week I'm hanging in there but I'm doing a lot better now since all the updates were coming out you know I mean so since everything that's been coming out since he's been you know giving signals and everything like that so I'm doing a lot better now that's a huge relief you know I mean like I think the worst part about like everything is the unknown you know what I mean like us not knowing like his status or anything like that which everybody did great job of giving us updates and everything like that but you know just as a player as that being our brother and him being so close it's just like you know I mean you're just wondering like is he gonna be alright in the end so like once we got updates and once we got you know feedback you know it just started to make us feel a little better for sure I think Dane Jackson expresses what many of us are feeling it's been a long couple of days waiting for some news to come out of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and we finally got it and yes it's still a long road but moving hands and feet neurological function appears to be intact he's communicating it was kind of interesting to hear what the doctors said and how they put it but what they said essentially is that when when they were communicating with Damar even though he can only write he can't speak it's not only that the lights are on we know that Damar is home meaning it's Damar his brain is working they do believe he has some lung damage and he's still breathing on a ventilator but all of that that they were sharing with us is such incredible news and they're so proud of the fact that he is pulling through so a lot of prayers a lot of support a lot of people caring about him which by the way he now knows and he also knows about his GoFundMe page the last time I checked it was approaching 7.8 million dollars is incredible his parents told him and I'll leave you this before we start to move forward with week 18 his parents apparently told him that when he is healthy and out of the hospital he has a lot of toys to buy it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on Twitter a law radio our show Twitter our Facebook page what is the after-hours game of the week we're glad to have you with us on a Friday morning man what a week it has been here on CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the after hours podcast young in motion across the formation gonna throw back inside balls caught and making the catches Mabry and Geno Smith fires a dart to the goal line and Mabry is the man there to catch it it looks like make a little move played definitely better in some areas last week and then we came back and did it again this week big finish coming up so it was a really good day this is after-hours with Amy Lawrence when the Seahawks finally ended their losing skin against the New York Jets in week 17 they kept themselves alive for that final NFC wildcard now they need some help it's Packers and Lions Sunday night and here's the scenario yo Packers win and they're in if the Packers lose to the Lions and the Seahawks beat the Rams the Seahawks get that final NFC wildcard yeah why do you do that to me you know that I can't keep talking when I hear Pete Carroll get out of here he was actually talking to Russell Wilson in that moment who had kind of bombed his photo bombed his zoom call anyway that was back to the days of only zoom calls so if the Lions beat the Packers and the Seahawks win well then Seattle is in now the way the NFL has stacked this deck Seattle is hosting the Rams in the afternoon window so it's a one I think it's a 125 Pacific Time start it's a 425 Eastern Time start if the Rams beat the Seahawks will it really it then that Sunday Night Football game is the winner moves on to the postseason so the Lions are third in line they're third in line for the throne if you will Seahawks are second in line Packers are in the driver's seat similar to the Patriots in the AFC it's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio this is still have to be that was awkward this still has to be one of the most unlikely storylines of the entire season that the Seahawks with Geno Smith and really a team that has what one player two players left from their Super Bowl years the years when they were they were considered a Super Bowl contender it's a team that's been completely rebuilt and Geno Smith is their starting quarterback they are at 500 and they're still alive I mean it's not quite the euphoria that it was in the first half of the season but it's still pretty incredible and Geno has been one of the most consistent quarterbacks in the NFL it's exciting you know I really think it's exciting for our team obviously we get a chance to you know if we win give ourselves a shot at the playoffs so I think everyone's excited you know the entire locker room focus everyone's ready just to prepare and get ready for the week so I think you know over the course of the season we've done some good things to put ourselves in this position obviously wish we could have done a lot better but you know it's what you want at the end of the year to be playing meaningful games and so we got one coming up this Sunday you know it's really crazy Geno Smith can actually break a few single season passing records for the franchise this week yeah Jay's face just said it all your reaction was really really yeah yeah listen to this he needs 151 yards and five completions to top Russell Wilson's best single season marks in those categories so I'm not exactly sure I guess I could look here hold on what the numbers are okay so Geno has 4,069 passing yards and 29 touchdowns Wowzers but he needs 151 yards and five completions and he'll own the single season passing marks in those categories here's another one he can also break Wilson's average which was a sixty eight point eight percent completion rate depending on how many passes he throws this weekend and how many he completes Geno actually leads the NFL in completion rate right now okay nerd alert are you kidding me when I tell you he's been one of the most consistent things about the NFL and the quarterback position this year I'm not joking seventy percent right now he's tops in the NFL and completion rate only a dozen quarterbacks in NFL history have ever finished a season completing seventy percent of their passes or more we're talking Drew Brees Ryan Tannehill not that long ago Geno Smith has had a solid steady complimentary season exactly what the Seahawks needed so into that Bobby Wagner returns to Seattle a ten-year linebacker for the Seahawks and Pete Carroll eternal sunshine of the spotless mind is hoping that the fans greet him warmly they're gonna be great they love them I think they're gonna welcome him back I just think that's what'll happen and then if he makes a tackle or something maybe they don't give him as much love you know I don't know he's gonna make some hits in this game he's playing good ball and doing good stuff but I they'll do the right thing whatever it is they'll do it he's going into a stadium I've been well thousands of times like playing hundreds of times and you know to be in a position to spoil their playoff hopes is always a good position something worth playing for and you know be fun to go back there be be back in front of those fans I've spent so much time and there should be a fun game Pete Carroll says I just think they're gonna cheer for him Bobby Wagner is ready to play the role of spoiler believe you me he does not love the way that the Rams treated him as he was there in his late stages late in the ten years in Seattle and so he believes he has an axe to grind which is why if you remember their first game when the Seahawks were in LA he was really animated he was fired up and now with Seattle having so much to play for and the Rams being eliminated well his singular focus can be about adding misery misery loves company right Bobby Wagner so that'll be interesting again that game is in the afternoon 125 Seattle start and then it's followed by Packers and Lions we will let you hear from not just Dan Campbell but Aiden Hutchinson Jamal Williams gosh I hate this line of questioning but people are asking Aaron Rodgers is there is this your last game at Lambeau Field yawn how many times has he had to answer that question over the past couple years it's like eventually you ask the question and it will be appropriate but for the last three years it's not been applicable I don't think so take the after-hours game of the week poll we've got it up on social we had three of them but there were slam dunks and then I just blamed producer J for the fourth which one of these is not like the other I'm just kidding it's on well not really it's on Twitter after-hours CBS or on my Twitter also on our Facebook page and yes people are yelling why not bangles Ravens why not this why not that somebody actually said Texans and I don't even know who they're playing but I think if the Texans lose this weekend they're the number one pick in the NFL draft so I guess there's that I mean something to look forward to right sad hopeless Texans fans you are listening to the after-hours podcast in motion Davis to the left side straight-eye formation beyond Rogers under center he takes fakes the handoff bootlegs right looks the end zone pumps once now to the end zone Rogers for the tips down first in goal for the Lions from the nine golf takes the snap turns fakes wants to throw does left side completed the five fighting to the end zone and getting in second of the day for Brock Wright hungry for a taste of the most delicious audio of the night you came to the right place it's time for bite me with Amy Lawrence here's Amy Lawrence line it up let's go last game of the NFL regular season it all comes down to this baby in the NFC North Lions and Packers both still alive for that wildcard spot and both of them look dead in the water about mid-season the Lions started out one and six the Packers were four and eight and yet some kind of surge in the second half so you hear Wayne Larivie on Packers radio as well as Dan Miller on Lions radio they will clash at Lambeau Field on Sunday night Jamal Williams is closing in on a thousand yards in fact if I got this right he's six yards shy he's got 15 rushing touchdowns the Lions have earned every ounce of this opportunity we deserve it grateful to be on this team with so many nice and selfish selfless players so I feel like we just ready to go I feel like this is gonna be a great challenge for a lot of the young players too since it'd be like that first night game what do you call it big game or something wherever the hell is called but yeah it's gonna be great just to get out there and then you know come out with a dub but I'm just grateful for the opportunities that we get and I just can't wait to see all the little younglings and see how they react to it but I know that they gonna be ready you know ready no one's more locked into the NFL than first and pod why is it not within the realm of possibility that Geno Smith was a victim of a horrible organization bad offensive coaching and then went and played behind three high-level talents and only got spot starts and did okay by the way well because it's just it doesn't really happen that often anymore subscribe to first and pod on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast no one's more locked into the NFL than first and pod why is it not within the realm of possibility that Geno Smith was a victim of a horrible organization bad offensive coaching and then went and played behind three high-level talents and only got spot starts and did okay by the way well because it's just it doesn't really happen that often anymore subscribe to first and pod on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast what's the strangest thing you're afraid of tails without fur on them such as rats or opossums I'm Larry Mullins host of the podcast your weirdest fears where we dig into the crazy things you're afraid of everything from animal people hybrids you know people who get surgeries to look like an animal to giant statues if I ever saw one of those giant statues I probably would poop my pants listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcast from going focus and want to get this done that's it we call them Padawans they're Padawan learners we spoke to Justin Rogers in Detroit last night or a couple hours ago first time we've had a lion specific interview in two years I'm not kidding anyway I asked him about playoff experience in addition to Jared Goff who went to the Super Bowl there are 14 other Lions who have some semblance of playoff experience but clearly it's a very young team Jamal Williams is indicated by the way that he really likes the way things are going in Detroit and even though he wouldn't answer the direct question he would like to return it sounds like Aiden Hutchinson rookie defensive player this guy's got multiple interceptions he's so much energy he's I mean he's all about the dancing every time he comes up with a sack and he's excited they got flexed to final week of the regular season into Sunday Night Football in primetime this is huge man and you know obviously we can't control our entire destiny but you know either we're getting in or we're knocking someone out so it's gonna be fun and you know we're gonna I'm just so excited man to be primetime to have to do my intro here pretty soon for Saturday Night Football it's gonna be all everything about being a primetime game and being one of those primetime teams is something that I think playing for the Lions that I want to get used to it's big man it's it's really big and I think we're excited for it I think it's you know something we've earned and you know we're playing for a playoff spot and been through a lot this year and you know we're ready for a game that'll be fun in front everybody you say what it is you say the reality of it and you say what the reason why you're that's where they want you at and and then you say hey man we got nothing to lose here you know it's we go in and we got nothing lose we cut it loose and and let's have the time of our life and let's find a way to win this game and the bottom line is I can just gauge the room and you can feel it I mean we get to be on the big stage man and our guys are excited about that going back to the summertime and hard knocks he wanted to know who says we can't get flexed well it took until week 18 but the Lions are in fact making their first primetime appearance of the season 1 & 6 to now 8 & 8 do you know they have a chance of becoming the second team in NFL history to make the playoffs after winning just one of their first seven games you have to go back more than 50 years to the 1970 Cincinnati Bengals who made the playoffs after starting one and six it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio no one's gonna forget the way this season started we just stayed the course you know I mean that was look we came into the year and that's that's where we were at and you know we had a rough spot we stayed with it and then here we are I mean I just think more than anything it's I don't know what it says I'm just rambling right now I don't know I just know for us it means something that we climb back out of the the cellar and got ourselves in position to play for one more meaningful game here before the year ends man and that's a step in the right direction I mean there are times when I am rambling as well so that speaks to me if you want to know more about Dan Campbell what he's like as a coach as not just a leader of men but also someone who has to direct this franchise great conversation with Justin Rodgers of the Detroit News who joined us earlier on the show it's part of our podcast really good insight into why the Lions are actually a playoff contender it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio Aaron Rodgers and the Packers of course have the upper hand this game is at Lambeau Field they got a ton of experience three consecutive seasons before this one of at least 13 wins why do we have to keep asking Aaron Rodgers whether or not this is his last game at Lambeau when I think about that it's nothing but gratitude not remorse or sadness just gratitude for the time that I've been here the amazing memories that I've had on this field I've been a lot of great moments but you know I'm still undecided we're all undecided about the future and we're just gonna enjoy a Sunday night and hopefully have some more to play for they've won four in a row so they go from four and eight to eight and eight and Rodgers has admitted that he just felt like they had to get that one win one win under their belts but of course not only can you not say that but you have to keep playing as though it's a must win and Robert Tanyan Matt Lafleur they've kind of feel like this team has been in that playoff mode now for over a month it's kind of been our mindset the last handful of weeks just you know either you know you win or you go home and I think that that has kind of just shown the competitive nature of this team in this group and I think it's just brought out the best in us you never try to make one game bigger than the next it it truly is a championship mentality every week otherwise you get into these types of games whether it's this game or you get into a playoff game whatever it may be and then all sudden it's it's it's bigger than the last game like we all know what's at stake and you try to keep it as normal as possible each and every week and you attack it the same way super cool can't wait right now far and away your choice for after-hours game of the week by the way there is a very awkward cut where somehow Aaron Rodgers tries to make a makeup sex joke and it just it goes so horribly wrong I don't even want to play it because it's so uncomfortable he was he was talking about his emotions on the field and he and I think presumably Matt Lafleur yelling at each other and so he was asked about that and he somehow turns it into a reference to makeup sex and I don't I keep thank you I don't I listen to it Jay why would you give me that I don't know and even as he said it he's like oh I don't mean that of course it was like one of those moments where people are looking around going what did he just say did I hear that correctly all right you can save it for a potential Hall of Flame induction man we haven't done one all season I've missed that we have to get back to it in 2023 it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio there there may be a lot of games that you don't necessarily think have any playoff implications but there's certainly tune-ups for what's to come I don't know if we have time for the entire Tom Brady cut maybe we can cut it short but the first few seconds of its 42 the first few seconds of this where he's like I like I think spring practice we need to go out there and it's important I mean yeah you don't want to disappoint Tom Brady every game is important you know for one reason or another I don't care spring practice is important it's all season workouts are important okay important so all right to minimize the importance of a game is there's no important that you took 11 days off right in the middle all right that's mean some things are more important than football I'm knowledge of anything right I'm just saying is all hey Jalen hurts returned to practice so there's that though the Eagles don't know yet if he will play this weekend in week 18 so just a quick refresher as fast as I can talk here with the next two minutes here's what's on the line in the NFC Eagles and Cowboys are both still alive for the East Division title if the Eagles win they've got it but they may not have Jalen hurts if it and they're hosting the Giants who are already in as the number six seed in the NFC Cowboys can grab it if they beat the commanders in Washington and the Eagles lose okay so that's the NFC beast that title is still up for grabs the other division titles are set we don't know about the top seed I mean if the Eagles aren't gonna lose a third straight game they're gonna leave it open for Cowboys or Niners moving forward and then we have the last wild card Packers win on Sunday night they're in if they don't win and the Seahawks do it's Seattle's playoff spot if both those teams lose then Detroit will get in unlikely but amazingly in year two of Dan Campbell in the AFC a little more convoluted bills and bangles will not be made up and a lot of you have asked me why not just delay the playoffs my response to that is this it then puts everybody else on a bye week it throws off the entire structure of the playoffs you don't want guys sitting around and the whole point of getting a buy is so you have an advantage so it would just not to mention the logistical nightmare of moving it all back so they're not gonna do that instead they're gonna wait and see how this weekend plays out and then the scenarios kick in where it would be a neutral site potentially if Kansas City and Buffalo both win this weekend KC would end up with the number one seed but the if they would meet in the championship game it would not be an arrowhead it would be at a neutral site there's a bunch of contingencies there so I won't run through all of them old ultimately though bills and bangles will not be made up first NFL game to get canceled since 1930 Patriots win in Buffalo and they're in if they don't and the Dolphins beat the Jets Miami gets in if both those teams lose and the Steelers beat the Browns Oh perfect way to end Pittsburgh we'll get in as the wild card and then Jacksonville Tennessee on Saturday night for the AFC South we'll talk to you Sunday night CBS Sports Radio to support communities working hard to recover from the pandemic's impact Lowe's hometowns program invited people across the country to nominate their hometown projects in need now Lowe's is supporting the completion of the first 100 community nominated projects in the program and each year from 2022 through 2026 Lowe's hometowns will complete nearly 1,800 community impact projects across the country see more at Lowe's comm slash hometowns or search hashtag Lowe's hometowns if you have ever thought about remodeling your bathroom but we're worried it would take too long or cost too much then stop worrying right now jacuzzi bathroom model 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