1-5-24 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Well, this will do the trick. Happy Friday! Oh my gosh, why does it feel like this weekend is one that we all desperately need more than any other weekend? I think because we're coming out of the holidays and it always is a bit jarring to get back into that familiar, typical routine.

I've been pretty tired this week and I'm sure I'm not alone. It's just... Yeah! To have to be disciplined again? Are you kidding me? That's not nearly as much fun.

To have to find that familiar rhythm and... Oh wait, I have to use my brain for work again? Okay. So yeah, this week has been one of those that's hit me smack dab between the eyes. But I will say that I really, really enjoyed all of your feedback from our last show, which included the wedding tales. I got messages from both moms.

My mom and my mother-in-law mom, who I call mom. And friends, other family members who hadn't even heard the stories or didn't even realize some of these things that happened at the wedding. And I got so many messages from you all. I think by far the element that you responded to the most was the song that I used to walk down the aisle. And some of you told me you cried when you heard it and that you got all teary and that it was really an emotional moment for you too, which I appreciate. It was definitely meant to be that, I'll tell you what. And I'm not exaggerating when I say it was 15 years.

That moment was 15 years in the making. So thank you for all of your tweets, all of your Facebook messages as I settle into week 18 coverage, as we've been doing tonight. And back to football being Primero Uno, just because it's that time of the year and the audience is bigger and there's more of a sense of urgency. And these next six weeks are some of the biggest that we have our entire calendar, just because of the implications and how many sports fans are into this run up to the Super Bowl. And also thinking about the number of fan bases too, because right now there are still 20 teams alive for the Super Bowl, meaning the teams that are already in who will definitely have a chance to compete on that playoff stage. But the number of teams that still have a chance to get in this week 18. So two-thirds of the NFL can still win a Super Bowl from this point forward. You want to talk about keeping fan bases engaged and keeping the sport relevant. The NFL, of course, loves its supersized wildcard weekend, having seven teams from each side. But also this sport, this league has perfected the art of parody, and it is certainly an art. That's the goal for every sports league, of course, is that you keep fans guessing until the very end and that once you're into the postseason, there are no guarantees. And I still say the one-by format lends itself to those top seeds having an advantage. Now, they've worked for it. The Ravens and the Niners have certainly worked for it.

I still don't love it. I would prefer two teams on by, because I feel like it maybe levels the playing field even more. But we have to have a larger sample size when it comes to the one-by for each conference. But NFL loves wildcard weekend. It's got urban sprawl. It's so much football. And even thinking back to last year with the Jaguars, who had all those turnovers and fell into a 27-point hole, and then they end up rallying against the Chargers, right? That's the kind of drama that we're here for.

That's the kind of action and entertainment that we're signed up for. And the NFL has perfected this art. Half the playoff field turns over every year.

And outside of the Patriots, who for 20 years were such a dominant story, even now the Chiefs, not that I don't think they could still win a Super Bowl because that is not accurate, but the Chiefs having that bullseye on their backs, right, and every other team's best shot. And they've not taken care of their business this year. They've been undisciplined. Way too many penalties. They lead the league and drop passes. Careless with the football. According to Travis Kelce, we've played like dog poo.

Well, he says he has, but that none of them has played really well. Yeah, if you are not constantly moving forward and getting better while you're getting left behind, or at least you're getting caught. And that's the case with the Chiefs right now. So it's wide open, I think.

Ravens and Niners, obviously those top seeds. But I wonder how the week off and on this Saturday, Sunday will affect them. That's always a question too, right? Without playing for 18 days, how will it affect your rhythm, your timing?

Not necessarily your defense, of course. That's more about effort, heart, desire, communication. But a lot of times when it comes to the offense, it is a little more about rhythm and timing. How quickly can you find that?

How quickly can you capture it? Settle into a groove and stay consistently in that groove. So buckle up. We're on the horizon.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I should say it's on the horizon. I guess we could be on the horizon, but we're keeping eyes on the horizon.

If I just let it go, probably nobody would have even noticed, but I had to correct it. I like to look out on the horizon. Yeah, but are you on the horizon? We are now. No, we're not on the horizon. We're on someone else's horizon. We're not on our horizon.

Never mind. No one says I'm on the horizon. You look at the horizon. You gaze at the horizon. You can see the horizon. You're looking ahead to the horizon. If you're on the ISS and you're looking out, you could say I'm on the horizon.

Okay, no one's on the ISS. Just say horizon about five times and see how weird. Wherever you are right now, say the word horizon. Well, if you're not going to wake someone else up, say it out loud five times and just sound out.

Feel how weird it sounds to you after five times. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Horizon. Wireless. That's what I'm thinking of. Not horizon wireless.

Is that a new phone company? I want to change. Anyway, if you say it enough times, really it happens with a lot of words, right?

You say it too many times and it sounds so foreign coming out of your mouth. Horizon. Keyboard. Keyboard. Keyboard. Nah, that one's not that bad. Yeah, that's kind of normal.

But your keyboard has dirt and dust and debris in it. Yeah, that's the best it's got in it. I'm glad it's in there. It's after hours on Facebook page as well as on Twitter. After hours, CBS, we've got the game of the week poll up.

Haven't had one of these in quite a while. We've got a bunch of teams that win and they get division crowns for their efforts or they win and they simply get in. And there are other teams, bunch of other teams too that need help, which adds to the drama. So we'll get to that coming up. Little bit of eyes of the quarterback, if you will.

Jordan Love and Dak Prescott. Jalen Hurts. He's always waxing poetic. He's always teaching us philosophy.

It's very philosophical all the time. If he's that soft spoken in the huddle, no one could hear him. I'm going to assume that he's got a little more pep. When he's in the huddle, I think he preps his answers. You think he writes them down? How can he when he doesn't know what the questions are going to be?

He's got like stuff on reserve for like seven standard answers, right? And they always it's you press a button. It's like a video game character. I just watched Home Alone over the holidays. We just watched Home Alone and shoot.

I can't remember where. Oh, actually, it was with it was with Bob's family for their Christmas and we watched Home Alone. And there's a scene in there, of course, the original where he's got a remote, right? And he's watching this particular movie on TV. And based on what he hears from the criminal, the crook outside the door, he fast forwards or plays a particular clip. That's that's Jalen Hurts, depending on what he hears from media, he just plays a particular clip in response. And I really respect him. I'm very impressed with his maturity.

It's just he's so soft spoken. Actually, can we give people a taste? The locker room having to stay together after the Eagles have dropped four or five.

It's as simple as taking ownership for the things that you can control and committing to giving your best self and being your best self, the daily process, the daily routine of that. And giving us your best. You know, that's what it's all about. Keep the change, you filthy animal. Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.

He's just very low key when he talks to the media. That's all right. You can have two sides to your personality. I certainly do. I don't walk around my house talking like this. Although at least one of my pets couldn't hear me anyway. So what's the difference?

All right. Before we get to football, though, it was quite a finish between the Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors. Keep in mind, Golden State at Chase Center had an 18 point lead early in the fourth quarter, but did it not last long. Nuggets played great defense. Aaron Gordon had a fantastic game and with mere seconds to go, Nuggets inbounding the ball. 3.6 seconds left. Denver looking for the game winner.

Here we go. Aaron Gordon looks in, throws it off over to Jokic. Two seconds.

He's across the timeline from 45 feet. Got it at the horn. Nicole Jokic parries the Golden State Warriors for the second year in a row. Denver stuns the Warriors with a last second three point shot. And the Golden State Warriors can go ahead and take that out on the way out. Oh, man, what a shot by Joker.

That was from the logo. Final on the big board. One thirty to one twenty seven. I think we were down twelve in the last three forty to go. I think there's only three actually four point three points in the last three, three forty, something like that. So it was a really, really nice comeback room for us. We didn't give up.

That's what I think this is one of the best description of us if we never quit. Nicole Jokic and the defending champion Denver Nuggets with yet another stake to the heart of the Golden State Warriors right now. They've lost six in a row to Denver.

Gosh, that would be unheard of, say, five years ago. That's Jason Kosmicki on Nuggets radio. He eats the microphone and Nicole on TNT. But here's the thing. I am such a student of radio and such a radio junkie that I always enjoy hearing the other perspective. So would you like to hear the call from Tim Roy on Warriors radio? Same moment. Murray trying to get a running start.

Can not. Jokic in the backcourt catches dribbles on Looney. Jokic from the chase at her side. Banked it in at the buzzer and Denver wins the game. Silence.

Speechless. Golden State led 123-105 with 634 to go. They score four points the rest of the way. Outscored 25-4 and lose the game. A lucky shot by Nicole Jokic at midcourt.

Wins the game for Denver. But the Warriors have themselves only to blame. They put themselves in this position to allow Jokic that chance.

Give them credit. They really tightened up defensively. And then their guys hit some big shots.

They got to the line. I thought Aaron Gordon was fantastic tonight. Really dominated the second half in the paint. Especially the fourth quarter. And then Watson hits the big three. That was probably the shot of the game.

And they did a good job getting stops. These games all come down to the wire. It feels like for us this year. And we've probably lost four or five that we should have won. Maybe we've won one or two that we shouldn't have. But these are gut punches for sure. So Steve Kerr and his perspective.

The other side of it. But this is becoming an issue for the Warriors though. And I don't mean just against the Nuggets. They've now lost four games this season in which they've had at least a 17 point lead. So remember last year their Achilles heel is that they couldn't win on the road. Not to save their lives. This year apparently no lead is too large.

No lead is safe. In fact the larger the lead it seems like the harder they fall. Each of them for different reasons. The Sacramento game was a bunch of turnovers. This one was just one with subpar offense and defense for a sustained five minute stretch. The nature of the season right now.

So I don't know. You don't want to be in a position where you're having to explain away bad losses. But that's who we are right now.

Quite an assessment. That's who we are right now. Having to explain away bad losses.

I don't know. Would you rather be the team that can't win on the road or the team that has to explain away bad losses. Neither one enviable. They are actually I think they're right now exactly at 500 without Draymond Green. You can quote me on this.

You can even fact check me if you want. There's six and six without Draymond I believe. Including this loss last night. So a dozen games without Draymond and he is reportedly set to rejoin them at the facilities to get back into basketball shape. So his suspension has not been curtailed yet.

It's not got an end date on it. But the expectation is that as he's ready to play when he's physically ready to go again that Adam Silver will be on board with allowing him to rejoin the Warriors. So there's not been a lot of contact with him according to Steve Kerr. They've kind of let Draymond do his thing which includes counseling and we've heard Zoom meetings with him, his agent, the NBA, the NBA Players Association. So a lot of talking which is something Draymond does well. I hope that this does result in a breakthrough for him. Maybe him recognizing how much he has to lose.

I hope for the same thing with Ja Morant. The second suspension. Now Draymond's obviously been suspended more than once but this is his first indefinite suspension in which maybe he comes face to face with how much he has to lose.

How much he has and how much he's been given and certainly how much he's earned. But also the fact that the league is not letting him get away with his extracurricular activities anymore. The league has warned him. I would say he's on a zero tolerance policy similar to say Bobby Knight back when he was in Indiana if you all remember that scenario. And while they can't kick him out of the league so to speak, another example might be Josh Gordon with the NFL. How many different chances did he have?

Now completely different rules that were violated. But how many chances did he have? I mean chances did he get and the NFL would let him back in and let him back in. Eventually he just got to the point where he couldn't.

He couldn't abide by the rules and the options ran out. With Draymond Green, his teammates don't have any issues with him. I mean we know last year there was the whole punching of Jordan Poole in the preseason and that really did change the tenor and the relationships in the locker room. Poole's gone because in large part Draymond is their priority.

That core with Dray and Klay and Steph, that's the priority. But Draymond has to return the favor. He has to recognize that the league is going to take every ejection. He's not going to get the benefit of the doubt. The league's going to take every ejection, every flagrant two foul and they're going to come down harder on him. And they've warned him, it's not as though this is a surprise, they've warned him that he no longer has any leeway.

There's no wriggle room. No, he's lost the benefit of the doubt. And so he needs to understand that his team is relying on him and honestly, I'm sure there's some arrogance associated with this for Draymond. The team can't win without him. They can't win consistently without him. As much as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are incredible shooters and they both work hard on defense and we've seen guys like Jonathan Caminga and others step in. Chris Paul's had some big games. They cannot win Jack without Draymond Green.

They're essentially a 500 team. The defense is built around him. And so I hope that he recognizes the responsibility and if not do it for his opponents, right? To be a better sportsman. I don't think sportsmanship is a huge concern of his.

Fine. Then do it for the guys that are counting on you and hope that's the motivation. Same thing for Ja Morant. Make decisions because there are people counting on you. He's also a father. And now his kids are are old enough to understand what's happening and so I think I hope that for Draymond, it kind of hits home this time. On Twitter, A Law Radio, you can vote for the After Hours Game of the Week also on our Facebook page.

Hmm. Micah Parsons gives you his version of the Lions and the Cowboys from last weekend even as the Cowboys sit on the cusp of the NFC East division title. That's good stuff.

I love the edge with Micah Parsons on the edge point blank period. Laugh now, cry later. Actually, did that not come to fruition? Well, except that it was specifically about the 49ers, but there's a chance that he could have the last laugh now, cry later.

Laugh now, cry later. They're going to get they very well could get their shot. They take care of their business.

They could get their shot. Happy Friday to you. It's after hours here. Pizza ordered.

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I just feel like he's making a way more personal than it had to be. Kittle's my guy. But I must say this. Laugh now. Cry later.

You got something for that. Just trust. If we see them again, just trust. And we're going to put it just like that. I ain't gonna put too much on it. You gonna make it personal? We can make it personal.

That's cool. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I had already decided that The Edge with Micah Parsons, the podcast, was one of my favorites and complete with sound effects.

That's the best part is there's now he's obviously got someone who's producing this for him. But there are these sweeping sound effects when and sometimes. Well, here's the secret. The behind the scenes secret.

This is an industry secret, if you will. The reason why there are they're called these transitions and these what how would you refer to them? Not drops, but.

Transition markers. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, they're to cover up edits. That's what they're for.

They're to serve as a way to join to two statements, two pieces of audio. And when you've cut something out of the middle. Right.

So it's maybe not natural. It's a it's almost like a melt. Only it's a melt with audio. Right. So he probably records the podcast and then someone goes back and edits it and over the edits. So that doesn't sound jumpy.

They put in this little transitional piece of audio. Laugh now, cry later. Well, maybe not on that one. No, the swoops.

Yeah, they're definitely definitely are sweeps, sweeps and swoops. And so we really enjoy his podcast. But after after he got wind of George Kittle's T-shirt that said F Dallas on it, he decided that he would he'd go a little deeper.

Love now, cry later. That goes back to October. What? What do you say? OK, wait on Micah's producer. It's after our CBS Sports Radio.

Yes. So he finally got to his version of the Lions and Cowboys. Here's the funny part about Micah. He does the podcast whenever he feels like it. It's not like Tom Brady's podcast where it's every single week on the same day and it's available, blah, blah, blah, every single week. Now, Micah gets through it when he gets to it.

I just check every day to see if it's uploaded or not. And I'm like, oh, not yet. Oh, there it is.

Oh, hey. So anyway, he's he's dropping this one a couple of days before the Cowboys go out there and compete in the nation's capital for the NFC's title. But still looking back at the end of what happened between Lions and Cowboys. It was a monster's game.

Great game. We're still healing from that game. It was a hard fought game, I think, for both sides.

But obviously what came up the most is a calm. Obviously, the controversy at the end of the game. And I'm just going to let it know right now when the ref came up to me.

And for some reason, I was kind of like on edge that a play like that was already happening. But when 68 caught it, I did not think he was eligible. The ref reported that 70 was eligible. He reported him eligible.

Majority of the game. So therefore, you know, when it happened, when the flag was thrown, I was not surprised. But I was surprised they went for it again after I jumped off sides. That was kind of like.

Wow. But at the same time, I guess in their mindset, we already clinched their division. They already clinched their division. They kind of have nothing else to lose. So it's just kind of like we want to beat them.

He is he's one of those guys that he gives you. So I say this with former athletes all the time. They ask me for advice on broadcasting. First of all, I say welcome to the dark side. But then I'll tell them you have the option of taking people to a place where most of us will never go. Right. Like most of us will never line up across from a world class quarterback and have a chance to pursue him, track him down and sack him. Right. So Micah Parsons, who may very well be the best defensive player in the league, definitely is one of the best defensive players in the league. You take people to the line of scrimmage.

You take people to where you are, where you're lining up. And he gives us his perspective. The referee said 70 is eligible. And he said that's kind of what was happening most of the game.

And so according to the official, it wasn't 68 who was eligible. So that kind of goes back to the end of Lions Cowboys. But he also says, I can't believe they kept going for two. Wow. That was kind of like, wow. Honestly, isn't that the reaction of a lot of us? Wow. Wow. Also, he never resists the opportunity to take a bit of a dig at the Eagles. Right. So as much as he wants the Niners to laugh now, cry later, really about the Eagles and their struggles, he's not going to waste that chance.

Getting hot when it matters. The Bills have lost and their last loss was an OT against the Eagles. They have gone on to win four straight. The Eagles have lost for the last five games since they beat the Bills. What does this mean for the Eagles? The Eagles last loss moved us into first place in the NFC East and gave the 49ers the number one seed. You could say what is going on, right?

You know, a lot. One of my teammates said it's better to learn when you win to learn when you lose. And I think what's going on right now is the same mistakes that Philly was making when they won. They never corrected them when they won and when they lost. They're just like, well, this should be corrected.

This could be fixed. So something internally going on for sure. Definitely going to count on and lean on to their leaders to make things change. You never want to start losing confidence in your teammates and your coaches around this time. This is when you're supposed to come together. You're supposed to build your team chemistry. You're supposed to lock in just a little bit more because you know how important playoffs is.

You know how important everyone needs to be locked in. I can't decide if he writes this stuff out because at times it sounds like he's reading, but it may be that he's reading the headlines. He's always reading the topics because he's like, ah, OK, the Eagles. And then he kind of launches into what he wants to say. Most of it sounds like it's not scripted, but you could tell that he's at least reading off of something. He's definitely got like bullet points that he knows he wants to hit. When he gets to each one, I think it's just kind of like scattered. Stream of consciousness.

Right. But he definitely you could tell that he's got his outline that he wants to hit. But I'm not sure. I don't think he writes it. But at the beginning, you can tell that he's reading something. So play like the first five seconds of that one again.

Getting hot when it matters. The Bills have lost. Their last loss was an OT against the Eagles. They have gone on to win four straight. The Eagles have lost four of the last five games since they beat the Bills.

What does this mean for the Eagles? So it's like he that part was written down and he's got topics. Maybe he came up with them.

Maybe someone else came up with them. So he maybe has a producer that's come up with these topics and he's just supposed to react and respond to them. Right. So outside of Lions Cowboys, because I know every week he talks about the MVP and who the MVP is. And then in this particular case, he's reacting to one of the big storylines around the league, which is Bills slash Eagles. And you can tell after that, he kind of shares his opinion.

It's much more off the cuff. But that sounds like he was reading off a card like, OK, next question or next topic. Yeah, I agree. It sounds like he had that the stats there ready to go like that was a plan. Right.

And I think it's smart because he may not remember all these things in the moment. But would you like to do that for me? You just give me a card here. Like have the first few lines, the topic set up for me, prewritten out. The thesis. Yeah. The thesis. Just no. Just be the topic. Here's the topic.

Go. That'd be a fun show. You could try it. I'll get the sound effects and the transitions ready. The bubble noises and the pops. Do you think there would be any topic that you could hand me that I wouldn't have an opinion about? Because that's always the issue, right? If someone hands you a topic or ask you a question. So I don't take a lot of calls. But back when I was a younger broadcaster, my my biggest fear was that someone would call with a question or a topic or a trivia question, even worse. And I would have no response that I'd be caught unawares. Now, I don't ever worry about it.

If I don't the answer, I just say, I don't know. Taking out public basketball courts and putting in pickleball courts. Any opinion? Of course. Of course I have an opinion.

Since I played on a lot of public basketball courts, outdoor basketball. I've got a big opinion. I've heard that being an issue now coming up. Interesting. That would be a fun show, actually. I'm not. Well, I don't know if it'd be fun for anybody else. It'd be fun for you and I.

All right. On Twitter, A Law Radio. I feel like I really need to know how the sausage is made for Micah Parson's podcast. But I feel like we've got it figured out. Yeah, it's I mean, I think we're on to it.

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Visit Takovis.com, that's T-E-C-O-V-A-S.com and point your toes West. It's time for QB news on After Hours. You guys know what, the next time we talk, we'll have the playoff bracket all set. Oh my gosh, I'm starting to get really excited. Plus it's the weekend, so happy Friday. It's After Hours on CBS portrait, a little bit QB news to look at week 18. And we were just talking about Dallas and Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.

If they win in D.C. on Sunday, they are NFC East champions. What an excellent opportunity. Just getting to have everything in our control, obviously.

Talked about running our own race, just doing that and staying committed to that. Not looking around or waiting or fingers crossed on things to happen. We've got one game right here to go win this division. Have a two seed and that makes it a playoff game.

That makes it a game obviously with a lot of implication. But another game that this team needs that will just help us, obviously sets us up in the position for the playoffs. But also for us to have that playoff mindset as we've had for the last couple of weeks or so headed into the actual playoff. I've said it over and over again, they need home field advantage. And for them to be in this position, now the Eagles had to drop 4 of 5, but good for the Cowboys. And they've had a bit of a rocky road, but we know being perfect at AT&T Stadium, that's a big deal. And so to have the two seed with only the Niners, who would be ahead of them, you know the whole laugh now cry later.

That could come to fruition. Line them up. Alright, also in the NFC, this cracks me up.

The irony. No Aaron Rodgers, no problem. Or no Aaron Rodgers, did anything change? The Packers are still in the same position as they were a year ago.

Week 18, you win and you get in. Now last year they lost at Lambeau Field to the Lions. This year it's the Bears and Jordan Love understands the stakes. Just the opportunity that we have in front of us to win and get in the playoffs.

Obviously after kind of the year we've had a lot of ups and downs. So I think just putting ourselves in this position, it's awesome and it's obviously a huge game this weekend. I'm excited for the Packers. What a step forward this would be to make the playoffs the year after Aaron Rodgers.

I'm sure he's rooting for them. I have absolutely no doubt. And honestly, it does help when you're fighting for your postseason lives for the last, say, six weeks. And that certainly is the case with the Packers.

They had to work to get into this position. I think for a couple weeks now we've had that mindset that every game for us is a playoff game. We have to win every one of them to have a shot. So I think all of the games we've played the past couple weeks have all been high-level games that we've all known what's at stake and known what we need to do to get in the playoffs. Are we going to hear that from every one of these quarterbacks, Jay?

Is that the theme? We've been playing postseason football for a few weeks now. Yeah, it's the Packers hosting the Bears. Now this isn't the Sunday Night Football game, but it is a 3-25 kick at Lambeau.

And I'm telling you, it's ironic. Maybe nothing changed. Maybe the year didn't really pass. The only thing that changed is that Aaron Rodgers got hurt four plays into the 2023 season. The Detroit Lions, we knew that they would be a revelation in 2023.

There was a consensus about Detroit taking a major step forward, and they have. They are locked into that three seed right now in the NFC. So, Jared Goff, why play in Week 18?

What's Week 18 about? We'd love to finish the season with a win. Regardless of what's in front of us after that, you want to head into the postseason with some momentum. Again, division opponent. They're a tough team, and it'll be tough. It's interesting to think about the various philosophies regarding Week 18 when there's not much on the line. Last week, Dan Campbell went for the win against Dallas, right? Knowing that they were already division champions, and we're going to have Detroit Lions hosting the Minnesota Vikings and could potentially pick up win number 12, which is pretty impressive.

I've got controlled fury. I love the fact that they're channeling all this emotion from last week. Staying in the NFC, Baker Mayfield. Hello. Look at you. Baker's Bucks.

They're on the cusp of a division title, and of course, they've got a win this weekend at Carolina. You try and keep it as similar as possible because as soon as you try and do too much, that's when things go wrong. It goes back to the mentality that we had.

Everybody just doing your job. You're 1'11th when you're on the field and trying to execute the best you can, and good things will happen. That needs to be the mentality. Playoff teams and the great teams are the ones who don't mess up. That's an extremely high level of focus on your job at hand, even if it's the simplest play that you've done over and over all season.

It's the focus and the little details, and so you can't change your approach on that. Do you think after this game we're going to get a high Baker or a that sucked? I sucked. Everything sucked. We sucked today. Everything sucked.

It was awful. Oh, no. They just played like that last weekend, so will the real Tampa Bay Buccaneers please stand up? Please stand up. Please stand up.

What's up, man? That's the way to fight. Oh, my gosh. Baker, we're rooting for you, man, but if the Buccaneers don't take care of their business, well, then it's either the Saints or it's the Falcons. Oh, my gosh.

That's crazy. From the NFC South, Derek Carr, by the way, not pain free. Ever since that Green Bay game, it's been a struggle. I've been honest about that.

It's been a struggle for me physically. But the last, I don't know, the weeks, but I have felt better, and hopefully that continues because we're going to need it, especially against this game. Yeah, so if the Buccaneers leave that door wide open, it's the winner of Falcon Saints. That is the division crown.

Well, that's... Crap. Not what I expected for the NFC South, although we did know it was going to be competitive. As for the Seahawks, of course, they still have a chance to make it the playoffs. They got, had some dominoes fall, and Geno Smith not shy about admitting he'll be watching the scoreboard. For us, we got to win the game first. So, you know, I mean, guys might peek at the scoreboard. I mean, I don't think that matters much. You know, you still got to go out there and execute and do your job, and that shouldn't factor into the way you play.

You know, you should play hard regardless of what the situation is. So I don't know, you know, if that'll happen. I'm not sure how that'll work. I mean, it's up to Arizona to show it. But for us, man, we just got to lock in and play ball and do whatever it takes to win. The Seahawks need a win and a Packers loss or a tie. Stop it with the ties. If the Seahawks tie the Cardinals, well, then some other things need to happen, too. But I can't legitimize ties in Week 18 in the NFL. Cannot wait for Sunday Night Football, Game 272 of the NFL regular season. It's the Bills and the Dolphins with the AFC East title as the victor. No, as the spoils. To the victor, go the spoils.

Tua and Josh together on Sunday Night Football. I don't think I am making this any bigger than what it is. I understand that there's, you know, you know, seeding at stake, if you will. But outside of that, I think if we continue to prepare the way we've prepared, you know, and play team football, in which I think that's the most important thing for our team in this back half, that I, you know, I think we'll be fine. We've just kind of taken the mindset of it's that we've been in the playoffs. You know, it's been survive and advance or win and go home.

And it's no different this week. You know, we don't want to rely on anybody else. We've got to, you know, in our minds, it's a must-win game. You know, we've got to go get this done. And there's a hungry team, a team that's really good, that's played very well throughout the season, standing in front of us.

So we've got to do whatever we can. I mean, it definitely is a must-win for the Bills. And if they do beat the Dolphins and sweep that season series, well, they are the AFC's champions.

If they don't, they could end up on the outside looking in. So, yeah, there's definitely a tension there and a sense of urgency. The AFC, the playoff picture is not what we expected, right? There's no Bengals, the Jaguars.

I mean, they should get in, but it's not a slam dunk there either. The Chiefs just won their division title last weekend. So much on the line, the Steelers and Ravens, though. Colts and Texans, those are your games on Saturday, both with playoff implications. There is no rest for weary football fans. Let's go. We'll talk to you Sunday night after Week 18. Have a great weekend.

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