You're.

Listening to DraftKings Network. God-bless football, Billy Gill.

God-blessed football, Mikey.

God-blessed football, Stewart.

Yep, it was... It was a weekend. One of my favorite things since we started doing God-blessed football nearly, well, three years ago, I guess, one of my favorite things is the relationship with Billy and Chris Sims and the text that Billy will send Chris Sims over the weekend saying that he was right and Chris was wrong.

I didn't.

Know such thing.

That is what you.

Did, though. That is what you did. That is what you did.

Fantez, you were not on this text chain. I was not. He didn't answer it for a long time, but let me find it.

That was great.

This is what I texted.

Well, he'll tell you.

He's busy on Sundays. Yeah, no, he's busy on Sundays, allegedly. Not if he's right. If he's right, he's available right away. He'll tell you. This is what I texted him, Fantez, in audience. I go, No, Tyraeke, and Wado has taken over. Maybe it was to a making Tyraeke look good all along.

And then you heard from two disgruntled Jet fans. Yeah. And then then the Sim just laughed at Billy's text. It was great.

I didn't factor that into the equation. What? Us? Sports are funny, huh? How Fwentaz and I experience that game completely differently than you and Mikey.

Did, Stugats. I know. I went to the game. I went to a football game. Why? I have no idea. Let me tell you, it's worse in person than it is on TV.

Where did you sit? You probably had nice seats, though.

We did have good.

Seats, yes. Did you sit on the top side, like in the sun?

No, that's the visitor side. We sat on the home side because of the shade.

You were cheering for the visiting team. It's not crazy to think that you were in the.

Visitor's side. He's absolutely right, though. I would never sit on that side.

No, I know, but I don't know if you were like, I want to sit on the jet's side, and then got the tickets and didn't think about it.

Real quick. Stu Gaudson, you went to possibly one of the worst games your favorite team has ever performed, at least in the last decade? Yes. Do me a favor. Don't go again.

Why? Don't go again. I janked them. It's my fault, huh?

Listen, you didn't help.

They don't need my help losing. They They don't need my help losing and being awful. They don't. Mike, I haven't gone to any games in the last decade, and they've been dreadful. So what are you talking about?

30 to nothing is different. It's the Dolphins, 30 to nothing is different.

The Dolphins were so impressive. The jets, listen, the misery of watching them in person when you can't go to another game, it's the worst. You're stuck with the Dolphins. You're stuck watching the Dolphins and jets, and you can't switch channels. And so that parthas made it a misery for me. I just liked the viewing experience from home. The whole experience from home is just a lot better. But the Dolphins, man, so impressive because no Tarik Hill, they're missing guys on the offensive line. The offense looked great yesterday. Jaylen Waddle looked great yesterday. Here's, Billy, why I think the Dolphins are so good. You know they're going to Jaylen Waddle. The second Tarik Hill, it's found that he's not playing. You know they're going to Waddle. You know he's going to be an emphasis on offense, and the jets knew it, and they still couldn't stop it. He was.

Great Waddle. Well, offensively, the jets couldn't do anything either. Yeah, they're bad. Well, I mean, Zach Wilson had no time to do anything, and he was getting crumled all day. He ends up leaving the game. Wasn't his fault. He's in concussion protocol now. Yeah, what is he supposed.

To do? I don't know.

I don't know. Wednesday is the deadline for them to activate Aaron, and you were also eliminated from the playoffs yesterday. Do you want.

Aaron to play? That's 13 straight years, by the way.

Yeah. Do you want Aaron to play?

No, I don't.

You don't want them to activate him?

Yeah, I could be alone here, but I do not want the jets to activate Aaron. I don't want to see Aaron Rogers until next season. There's no point. Mike Yee, how do you feel about that?

I'm with you. It would have been different if the offensive line was playing halfway decent. But at this point, don't give me hope.

Don't give me hope. Well, there's no hope. You know that the season's over already.

Yeah, but I don't want to go into this offseason talking about did you see how good they looked with Aaron Rogers? Yeah. Because they're coming. I'm going to do it anyway, but don't give me hope.

Yeah. I have a conundrum that I'd like to share with all of you, and I think that I'm in the right, but it's a temptation that I have fought off and I have not acted on.

Okay.

So, Rahim Mostar has a relationship with Yous2God. He's been on the show a couple of times. Oh, I never asked you. He invited you out on a Friday night to go have drinks with him. Did you.

Ever do that?

Yeah, I didn't go. Yeah.

So he invited you to do that. We assumed that that wasn't going to happen. We told him as much.

I want to tell the real story, but I won't do that.

Okay. He invited- You didn't.

Show up.

That's the real story.

Yeah, what else is there? You didn't show up. It just didn't go.

That's the real story. I do not believe for a second that you showed up to hang out with where he mostered and he left you hanging.

I just don't believe that. He may have showed up at that bar and he may not have been there.

Well, we're going to have to get to the bottom of this.

We'll try to have him.

On this week. He's going to have to come on, and we're going to have to have this conversation.

He had two more touchdowns.

Yesterday, yes. He had two more touchdowns yesterday. I believe has more touchdowns this season than he's had in his entire career. Combined up until this season.

He had brought the Dolphins' single-season record for touchdowns, Mark Clayton's record yesterday. That's a big time accomplishment and a record I thought would never be broken.

They knew it, too. They knew he was close. They were trying to get it for him. They were feeding it to him, yeah. Yeah, no doubt. I've never seen Mike McDaniel give a run back the ball three times in a row in the goal line. Correct.

Exactly, yeah. So here's my conundrum. Because of this show, because of him coming on, because of him scheduling, I have his number, and I was tempted to text him.

Right.

A congratulatory text, Hey, man, so happy for you, blah, blah, blah. But I didn't because he doesn't know who I am. Yes, he does. How do I then explain who this is? It's like, Oh, this is Billy from... Because I don't even know if he knows that the show he's on. It's called God Bless Football. He does. Then if I say, Oh, it's Billy from God Bless Football, he'd be like, Who? What? And then it's a whole awkward thing, so I didn't do it.

You should have.

Done it. I did it. You got scared.

Yeah, you got scared. 100 % I got scared. And also I feel like that's not what I have his number for, you know what I mean? So then he's like, Why is this guy bothering me? Why is he texting me?

Billy, the easy answer on how to get out of this is you just throw some little detail in the text that makes it clear who you are. Like, Oh, I was just talking to Stugots, and I told him you were going to do this, and now you did it. Congratulations, Billy, from the God.

Or I was looking at the golf clubs in my room that I never used, that you always make fun of me for, and I thought of you. Congratulations.

Yeah, but here's the other part about it. Even if he did in some world know who I was when I sent that text, why would he want to hear from me? You know what I mean? That's the second part about this.

I sent him a text. Did you? Congratulations on breaking the record.

Did you really? Yeah, I did. Are you just saying that? Did he get back to you? No. Okay, well.

What just would have happened to you? He was.

Probably still waiting at the bar.

He'll get back to me. I mean, planting the seeds to get him on this week. That's all I was. I didn't ask him to come on this week.

I will now.

See, but that's the thing is I wouldn't ask him. I'm bad at that. I could have this conversation with him and just be like, All right, talk to you never again.

I had texted him, Two more. Congratulations, my friend. You broke the record. You loved doing it against the jets. I was there with my family watching you in person.

You were not there watching him in person. See, that's the unnecessary lie. You make it seem like you went there to see him. You went there to root him. You wanted him to fail yesterday.

Well, I had the Dolphins. I did. I bet the Dolphins. It was a win-win for me, the classic win-win. What else stood out for you yesterday in the NFL? By the way, I have a top five, top five quarterbacks, okay? Who were not their team starting quarterback at the beginning of the year. I have that for us. Austin Echler is going to join us in this episode. Good time to.

Get Austin. A Monday.

Austin Echler. A Monday Austin Echler.

Should we sit on it until Friday?

Well, no, I think we got to air that today, right?

100 %. He's going to be part of this episode coming up today.

I just teased it as such that he'd be part of this episode. What stood out for you yesterday, Nile?

I just wanted to say something. Okay.

He had 19 touchdowns his entire career until this year, and now he has 20. He has more touchdowns this season than his entire career. He has more touchdowns this year than the first eight years of his career.

He needs to hold out.

And the jets have 16 touchdowns this year. He has 20.

Wait, you want him to hold out.

Right now?

Yeah, he needs to hold out right now. We'll tell him that when he comes on. Why don't you text him that?

I thought I told him the last time, didn't I?

You should text them, Congratulations.

Now hold out. I'm always telling people to hold out. Me, myself, I keep doing the show for free, but that's another thing.

What?

What happened?

Anyway.

Free?

Free.

Are the.

Cowboys good? I have no idea. Are the Bills good?

The Bills are good.

Yeah, the Bills. Now they're good. The Bills are good. This is the beauty of the NFL. Last week, the Cowboys were the best team in the NFL. This week, they're not. And this week, no one wants to face the Bills. I mean.

That's it. Don't you have a segment about somebody who's the MVP in Super Bowl.

Every week that we're doing? Yeah.

He doesn't have.

That today. Yeah, I don't have it today, but I can come up with it quickly if you'd like.

Yeah. Sure, okay. It depends on what happens with the Eagles tonight. If the Eagles win, they might be in the.

Super Bowl. Thank you, Mike. I have to let the week play out.

Why are the Cowboys so bad on the road? I don't know. They're a totally different team.

Yeah, I think they had one loss under 500 on the road, but they're undefeated at home.

They are 7-0 at home. They're 3-4 on the road. They score 39.9 points per game at home, 21.7 points per game on the road. They turn the ball over more on the road. They have a plus 10 at home, minus one on the road. They allow more points on the road. They allow less at home. They're a totally different team when.

They're out of Dallas. I think the Browns are the same way. That defense is historically great at home, and on the road, it's not that good. The Browns had a big.

Victory yesterday. Yeah, but no one thinks that the Browns are one of the best teams in the League when they think that about the Cowboys.

You're absolutely right. The Cowboys are considered one of the elite teams in the NFL. The Browns are not. People fear the Browns. People feel like the Browns could win a playoff game or two, perhaps. But the Cowboys have different expectations, so you're right there. I can't explain why they're a better team at home other than the best explanation I could offer you is they're playing in a dome. It's a controlled environment. They're at home. It's like the Dolphins. The Dolphins offense clicks at home. It does it so much on the road. I mean, that's the best I can come up with right now.

But you're right, Billy. Four teams have clinched right now, a playoff spot. Yesterday, four teams clinched. The Ravens, the 49ers, the Eagles, the Cowboys are one of them. Yes. Of those four teams, which is the team that you trust the least?

Cowboys. That's a great question.

I don't even... Talking out loudly.

The.

Ravens? I don't even know about the Ravens.

What are you talking about?

I don't trust the Ravens.

They dominated yesterday. I was going to say the Eagles. The Eagles are iffy, too.

You trust the Ravens to make it to the Super Bowl?

More than the Cowboys? They have an easier road, I feel.

The Ravens are going to have to get past some form of Toa, Patrick Mohom, Josh Allen.

I'm totally out on the Chiefs.

Really?

Yeah. They don't look good at all. Cedarius, Tony is unpredictable. I'm totally out on the Chiefs.

It was not an impressive win at New England.

Not at all. They were struggling in the beginning, and then now Travis, Kelsey has an arm thing. I'm just not excited for them at all.

Which team.

Do you- Did you see Cedarius, Tony literally give the ball to the Patriots? He literally batted it to them.

Is he.

Bad at football?

He's unpredictable.

Is heis he a really good athlete who's just bad at football? Because I think you could be that.

Yeah, but it's bad when you're a football player because.

You should be good at football. Yeah. Put that on the pole, please, you two. It's unfortunate. Is Caterious, Tony, a good athlete who's bad at football? Wall.

Did you send them after the game highlighting Travis, Kelsey with his arm around Caterius, throwing him like, Wow, what a good teammate he is.

Talking about. What a great teammate.

He's all you got. You should take Taylor Swift. He's all you got. He's got to make him.

Feel like something. Travis had a crazy flop in the end zone. Did you.

See that?

Such a bad flop. He got touched, throws himself on the ground.

He had some drops, too, though. He didn't. He used that arm to catch the ball instead of putting it around Katerius, Tony's shoulder.

The only person who looked good yesterday was Rashee Rice.

He's.

Good. Rashee Rice is a receiver. He is good. But everybody else stinks. Yeah.

All right, we're back after this.

And James Cook is good.

What are you doing? I'm trying to fake out. What are you doing? He got us. I wanted.

To know we're back. You thought an Andy were back was coming.

James Cook is good. Yes.

But really good.

He's really good, yes.

What have they been doing with him all season?

I'm not using him correctly. Do you.

Want to play a game called If the Season Ended Today?

I love that game. I think.

It's a great game. It's my favorite.

Game of all time. Because I have the playoff matchups if the season ended today. Do you really? I do. This is exciting.

So you're going to ask us what we think of these games if the season ended today and the playoff started this weekend.

Let's say. Yeah, these would be the matchups that we would be seeing this weekend.

Are we picking winners?

Yeah, you're going to pick winners.

Oh, this is amazing. This is amazing. I've wanted to do this segment my entire life.

I've done it week one.

How did we feel about Saturday football? Did we like.

Saturday football? I love Saturday football.

Loved it. I liked it. I like that it's there for me. I don't know that I necessarily love the games, but I like that it exists. The first game was great. The Bangles game. The Bangles and Vikings game was great. The other games, the Lions are back, though.

The Lions are back. The NFL is funny, man. Maybe we.

Don't have to watch out for the Broncos after all.

Well, I mean, they're still in.

The mix, though. The Chiefs better watch out for the Broncos.

I'm with you. This would have been a big week for the Broncos. If they would have won. Yeah.

You had the good game, 27-24, Bangles over the Vikings.

Jake Browning is good. He's good. Jake Browning is good, and Joe Borough needs to watch out. And Peter King laughed us off when we said that, but he really needs to watch out. And he really needs to stop letting the Browning family in that booth.

Well, I think that Peter King was laughing you off because Joe Borough is the quarterback there. They gave him a big contract, and he's not going anywhere. But I was thinking about Peter King because he told us about that discussion he had with Mike McDaniel last week, spent 20 minutes in a car. It was weird, right? But he told us that Mike McDaniel is not really watching film on the other team. He only watches his team and tells his team, If you do what I tell you to do, if you execute it the way I tell you to execute it.

It's unstoppable. I didn't love that.

Well, I know, but you saw it yesterday when Waddle gets slaughtered into that Tarik Hill spot, and everyone knows it's coming, and the jets have one of the best defenses of the NFL, and they still couldn't stop it.

I didn't love that. Watch film of the other team.

How about.

You do both? Exactly, right? Or assign someone that's task. Let's not just decide we're not going to watch the other team every week. That seems crazy.

I also love the idea that he's just like a tire kill, Run faster than everybody. Jaden Waddell, Just run faster than everybody. Jaylen Waddell just run faster than everybody. And then if you do what I said.

We'll win. It's not just run faster than everybody, though. It's just constantly be moving and confuse the hell out of everyone because you never know who's going to be where because they're just always moving. Right.

That pass from Two to Jaden Waddell. Oh, Jesus. No, it was nice. It was.

So nice. I was surprised that the Dolphins had the A-Team yesterday of Nance and Romo.

Why? I don't know.

It was just a treat. They're one of the best teams.

In the League. Yeah, but the Bells Cowboys was on Fox because the Cowboys are an NFC team.

It's just a treat. It was a pleasant surprise for me.

Okay, good. I'm glad you were surprised.

I'm done with Romo, though.

You're.

Done with Romo? Yeah, I'm over it.

Why?

Why? He was good when he was breaking down plays and stuff. Now it's just a lot of speculation that's not really great.

How about this? Now follow me down this path. Tom braided is coming in. He's going to be the Fox one team, A team, whatever. We think, yes. No, no, we know. He's not getting paid $300 million to not be on the big game.

He's going to be there.

With Spear, Odidas, or whoever. Yeah, exactly right. I think Greg Olson has a clause, right? What if Greg Olson bounces and goes and replaces Romeau at CBS. That'd be nice. Even though Romeau has a big deal, too.

Now you know Greg Olson.

Maybe they move Romeau to Nicolodeon, that would be electric.

You know, Olson's been very vocal about wanting that Carolina Panthers job.

That's a terrible move by him. God, no.

Don't do that. Call Jeff Saturday, let me.

Know how that worked out. They in the booth. Jeez, why would you want that? Did you see yesterday's game? It looked miserable in the rain? I think.

They're going to win. They're in the mix. I love that, Mike.

Yeah, they won.

Two and twelve. What are you talking about? They won.

Yeah, they won, all right.

They don't have a win. We all lost, they won. They're going to have the number one pig, except they traded it away, so they're not going to have the number one pig. To the bears, right? Yeah. God, what a misery that gave away.

The bears have had three or four games this year where they have an 85 % win probability, and they've lost all those games. It's unbelievable.

Unbelievable. Did you see what tickets were going for in that Panthers game? No. At one point, it was 45 cents to go to the game.

I wish the Feds.

Were going for that much. The feeds are probably 20 times that.

I spent an arm and a leg.

That was just on parking.

Who did you go with?

With my wife and my children.

Okay, I was going to make sure your daughter was there that you told- Both daughters were there. Yeah, that she.

Said- She didn't say.

Any of that.

I playedI played that laughter right there, and me pausing was Billy exposing me for yet another lie.

Everybody knew as soon as you said it that that that.

Wasn't true. Well, Rachel even said what I played it for, Dad, that's cool, but I never said a thing. But it's cool.

I mean, she got the mention. Right.

She did get the mention. She also got blown out.

If the season ended today?

Let's do it. Yeah, I'm so ready.

We don't have to do it all right now. We can just sprinkle them in. Last week, remember, we had the segments that were just sprinkled in last week?

Well, we're going to evaluate every game.

Wait, hold on. Fontas, do you have a top.

Five today?

I do. Oh, man. We still have the last segment to get to. Yeah, it's bringing up the rear.

Okay, I have a top five. You have a top five. We have Billy's Bigboard, bets as well.

Can we play a game really quick? Also another game because we just touched on it, and it's called This Game is Not Worth Talking About. We can just cross it off the list of games that have to be discussed today.

100 %. Did you make this for Falcons Panthers?

Falcons Panthers were on my list of This Game doesn't have to be talked about. I have notes on it, but it's also this game doesn't have to be talked about. Because every week I go in there and I've talked to Fletus about this. I'm like, Man, I have little things on every single game. He's like, But there's some games we just don't need to talk about. He's 100 % right. And the Falcons and Panthers are a game that we don't need to talk about.

The Falcons were in first place, but I understand. You're right. I mean, they lost, and there's no reason to talk about it other than to make the joke that the Carolina Panthers are in the mix, okay?

Let's move on. If we didn't have Jets fans here, Dolphins, Jets is probably a game we don't need to talk about.

Yeah, that's fair.

Just because it's a blowout.

That's fair. Colt, Stealers? Don't need to.

Talk about that. I've never been to a game where one of the teams never has a chance of winning. It was never interesting. It was never interesting. Not for one freaking second. Sorry, I was cursed on TV. That was close. I know.

Anyway, keep going, Billy. How about this? Texans, Titansans, close game went to overtime. Not a good game.

And.

Who cares? That was not a good game. The Texans needed it, though. I don't know what happened there. I know.

It was eliminating.

I'm about to say Will Leavis, K-Skino, huh? Battle of giants.

Backup quarterbacks. They're having a moment, man. They really are.

Anyway. Giant sinks.

They almost tied that game. You know where I was when I was watching that game? That's the part of The Witching Hour that it's like, You can't move. You had that game and you had Bears Browns that were both close. At that time, my wife was like, Oh, I promised her daughter that we're going to make cookies today. I'm going to go to the store and get cookies. I was like, Billy, you have an option here. Either you let her go to the store and get cookies, and it will take two hours to get ready and have everyone go get cookies and you stay at home. But you may or you will have one of the two girls regardless, or you just go and you can get the cookies 150 times faster than this whole ordeal is going to take of the getting ready and all that stuff. I made a decision and I went and I bought the cookie mix. Very good. Then I said, You know what? We also need cold cuts. I was watching that game on my phone at the deli. I honestly couldn't tell the field goal went in to end the game because it's so little because it was on my phone.

That game so deserved to be a Thai. If there was ever a game deserving of a Thai, it was that one.

How about the cookies?

They made the cookies? They were fine.

Cold cuts? What did you get?

I just got some ham and some monster.

Do you try the cold cuts before he hand you.

A slice? You got to try the.

Cold cuts. You got.

To see how thin.

It is. If it's cut to the right, yeah. If it's thin enough or not. And then there was also a deal on some like, some like, Choriso, like ham, sticks.

I thought you wanted to make a quick.

I mean. And then there was also a cheese that I would buy one, get one half off or something like that. I don't need two of these blocks of cheese. Why would I buy that? Okay. So then I feel bad because they're really pushing it. And then I also wonder, because this is out of publics, I wonder, the person that's pushing this, they seem really invested in me getting this. Do they get some something if I take advantage of this deal of the day? They don't get a commission. So why do they actually care? Why are they pushing products? Yeah, if I care.

About it. But maybe they really want you to enjoy it.

Right.

It was fine.

So what time did you get home? Just the time for the Sunday night game?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I did it quick. No, because I knew I could miss a little bit of the start of the four o'clock, so it's not a big deal. Right. It never is. I watched the end of the game at the deli and in the car before I left. Okay. If the.

Season ended today.

Let's do it. Okay, good. If the season ended today, do you want to go AFC or NFC?

Oh, I would love to go. I want to do the whole thing, so let's go AFC first.

All right, so the Ravens would have a buy, right? Right. And then the two-seed dolphins would face the seven-seed Colts at home in Miami.

Okay, so you have Dolphins, Colts, Min-Shu, and Toa. We're assuming everything stays the same, which is a ridiculous assumption someone's going to get hurt.

Well, no, the season ended today, so everyone is the same health.

The season ended today, so everyone's healthy.

Okay, got it. But if the season ended today, is Tyreke going to play this game? You know what I mean? Because that's how if the season ended today works.

I don't think it would matter. I would say Tyreke, even if he is available. Yeah, exactly. Take a week off. Yeah, I have the Dolphins blowing the Colts out at home.

I don't think it could be close at all. I think Minshe would have a-Give me.

The Dolphins and.

The Over. Yeah. All right. If the season ended today, the Chiefs would be hosting The Bangles. Oh, wow. That's a good game.

Yeah, but it's Jake Browning.

I know that's why it's a good game because if it was just the Chiefs, I.

Would have watched- If it was Joe Borough, I put the house on this Bangles, if it was Borough.

Yeah, but you can't.

He's not there. I just said Patrick Mohomes is washed.

Terrible.

Take. Itry. Show me something. Show me something in this game.

Yeah.

These two rings. What? In this game, show me something.

It's not even 30. In this fake playoff game against the Bangles?

Show me that you can keep up with Jake Browning.

But they don't have Chase Young.

Two tuddies, two interceptions from the homes. I would take the Chiefs to win that game.

All right. Close game.

Close game.

But the Chiefs.

Were at home on the edge. But the Chiefs are at home on.

The edge. We also.

As Mike Fuente's eloquently put it earlier, Travis Kelsie has that arm thing.

He does. Yeah.

All right. Give me the bangles and an upset.

Wow. Jake Browning. J. Browning, huh?

I don't think that's that crazy.

He only loves Jake Browning. He is now invested in J. Browning going a long way in the playoffs.

Mike had a good destination for Jake Browning. Where?

Don't say the Jets.

Atlanta Falcons.

Maybe. Yeah, he was cut by the Vikings, right?

He was. I think so, yeah.

Yeah, because he made a comment about it. He was not- Revenge game. It was a revenge game. It was, okay. Sam Hull was benched yesterday.

For?

He was. Jacobie %.

Yeah. What? Yeah, Jacobie Perset had more yards than him. What a town grade. No, it wasn't. He had a better game than him.

Wait a second.

He still- Jacobie % dropped back and threw it long to Terry McLauran, who they remembered could catch the ball.

Dude, in the last 10 minutes of the game, it seemed like they forgot he was on their team. He put up all of their numbers in the last two drives of the game, which is fine because I have-.

Not that I went.

Against him in fantasy. I had him in one of my fantasy leagues. In my other fantasy league, I lost horribly. I lost to someone who had Herbert as their starting quarterback. And as you guys know, he did not play. He did not play. That's. Well, the reason that I.

Lost- That's.

So.

Bad. Why is it bad? I mean, you lost to a guy who had no quarterback.

Well, the thing is, James Cook had 40 points for them. Oh, okay. So it was a.

Ridiculous week. He bailed them out.

Okay. So if the season ended today, the Jaguars would be hosting The Browns. Wow, that's.

A good game. I would take the Browns as well. Mikey? He's going to take The Jags. Jaguars. He's going to.

Take The Jags. If Trevor Lawrence was playing in New York, we'd be murdering him. He's so bad.

Trevor Lawrence was not the problem yesterday.

Just dropping the ball.

That wasn't good. That wasn't good. Because he.

Fumbled one?

He fumbled on-.

He fumbled.

By himself. A ghost touched that ball. Right.

I mean, he's good.

He's not great. It was raining, but still.

I mean, the jets would... I don't know. What do you think the jets would be?

I love this segment. What would the jets be with this guy?

What would the jets be? What would they be with Jeff, Brownie? What would be with Jeff, Brownie?

Four wins better.

You think they'd be nine and five? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I agree with you. If the season ended.

Today- What do you think the jets would be with Tommy DeVito?

Wow. Six and eight.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Two more wins.

Extra win. Yeah.

Something like that. If the season ended today, the 49ers would have to fly. This is the best cycle we ever had.

We're onto.

The NFC? The NFC, yeah. The Eagles would be hosting the Rams. Wow. Big one tonight, by the way. Monday night football.

Before we get to the.

Playoffs, yes. The big one tonight, yeah, I guess the season ends today, but in reality-.

Well, the season ends tonight, right? In reality. In a couple.

Of hours, right? Yeah, in reality, BV is very complicated this week.

No Darius Slay.

It's the rare... You don't know who's going to be the quarterback for either team headed into the game at time of recording?

I would take the Eagles to win that game.

Okay.

I don't know. Eagles moving on. That's tough. I know it is.

I don't know. -rams have looked good.

-they look very bad, yeah. I'm taking the Eagles. Okay. All right.

Would you take, Mikey?

I'm going to take the Eagles, but I don't like it. Okay.

Well.

Okay. I think the Ram's.

In an upset. All right, Lions, who are.

They playing? Tyrone Williams has also been great, by the way, before we.

Move on. He's been really good, yes. Oh, my God. Yeah, he's been really good.

Look at you. Nitro has to be livid with himself for taking age hand instead of Kyron Williams, which he said was his decision that he had to make. Anyway, if the season ended today-I'm.

Sure nitro's just a sleepless night.

If the season ended today, the Lions would be hosting the Vikings.

Lions and Vikings. Who was the Vikings quarterback over the weekend? Give me a second.

Mullins. Mullins, yeah.

They.

Face each other twice in the next three weeks, and then they also have to do the-.

Yeah, but the season has ended already, Mike. Yeah, the season has ended. They didn't even get to play each other. No, they didn't. The Vikings are in.

Mcmullins had 300 yards.

Yeah.

But bad, bad. They did two intersections.

I'm going to say it's lions and a close one because Jared Goff reverted.

Jared Goff, man. The whole, like- Jared.

Goff is different.

I know. Vikings defense is good, though.

Yeah, I would take the lions in that game.

I would. Lions and a close one.

Home Jared Goff.

Do you... The Vikings went from a team that was like a darling that everyone loved to like, I don't think we can trust this team.

You.

Can't. I mean, they're 10 and four, just.

To game out. They're 10 and four, but they're the worst of the 10.

And fours. They're the three Cs. What am I talking about? They're a game out of nothing. They made the playoffs, they made the playoffs. They won the division.

Good year for the Lions. Not yet. They haven't yet. Well, they have. The season ended today. Oh, that's true.

Yeah, they're in the quench.

It's over. We're in two different.

Worlds right now. It's a tricky game.

It's your segment.

Yeah, it's a tricky game.

There was.

One more game. All right, so the final game. If the season ended today, the seven and seven buccaneers would be hosting the 10 and four cowboys.

Baker Mayfield.

I was.

Just saying a name. Oh, they're hosting. That's right. I'm taking the Bucks. I'm taking the Bucks. Cowboys stink on the road.

I'm taking the Bucks.

Let's.

Win over that. That's the game I've been waiting for.

I'm taking the Bucks. Mike Evans, 150 and a tuddy.

It's a good game.

Is.

It?

Only visiting quarterback to win in Lambo, Baker Mayfield. Give it to me. Okay. Who are.

You taking?

I'm just asking the question.

Oh, okay. Austin Ecler next.

I

want to know what Austin thinks about floppers.

About flopping.

Yeah, floppers.

It's a good place to start with Austin today. I agree. Yeah.

Wow, the art of flopping. That was that flop. Yeah, it's not great. It's not great. I don't even know how. I've never actually really thought about how I feel because I feel like it's very situational. I think we see it more basketball, were you able to flop? But I don't.

Know, football. I told that to Josh Allen.

Quarterbacks, yeah, because they can get pushed and be like, Oh, I got pulled. I'm so fragile. I don't know. I really don't know. I have no comment on how I feel.

About flopping. On flopping? All right, but just don't no comment. Don't no comment on the rest of the.

Questions we're about to ask. You've used your no comment for the answer. You used your no comment.

It was a trick. We got you to no comment on flopping. Love it.

Well, hope you guys have had all right last week. Appreciate you saving me of coming on and having to talk about all this stuff we're probably talking about now.

Right.

Where do you guys want to start? There's been a lot that's gone on these past seven days.

Well, for the record, we'll remind the audience that you wanted to come on Friday after that loss. But we told you to take a by week, right?

Yes. Want is a strong word. I would have tolerated it.

He was willing to come on, and we said just take some days.

Yeah, so the boys in the studio were looking out for me, so shout out to you guys for being great as always.

Billy, here's how we'll do this. If I ask an inappropriate question, a leading question, a question where you think I'm trying to get Austin Ecler to say something bad about his former coach, just stop the interview and tell me, okay?

Okay.

Or I could just flop and be like, Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you.

You should do that. You should flop out of your chair.

Oh, sorry.

Something happened to you.

Oh, my God.

Next question. I have a feeling I'll be getting a lot of those coming up here in the next few minutes. Austin, take us through the last few days. How have the last few days been for you?

Yeah, it's something that I've never actually had to deal with in my sporting career, but we're experiencing the, what Coach Dilly, I thought, put it really well, the ugly side of football. It's what it is. It's the ugly side. We didn't ever think it would ever come down to this where our GM and our head coach were going to get fired. I guess that's pretty obvious, but it's a death by a thousand cuts. And eventually we got pushed over the edge. And Dean Spanos, who's the owner and sitting in that chair, decided to make a decision and wanted to do it after we got beat on Thursday Night Football brutally. And so how has it been? I've been talking to coaches, talking to our new coach, seeing what's going on, what's the expectation. I'm feeling good about where we're at for just these last three games. And what we have as far as the people in place to help us get through these and continue to compete at a high level, because we still got to go out there and try to win every single game we can, and that's what we want to do as players.

But yeah, so there's been some changes. We got acclimated to those changes here today, on the day that we're filming this. And like I said, I think we're in a solid spot looking at these last three games.

Let me get my dog to shut up for a second. I'm sorry about that. Austin Echler is with us here on God bless Football. I hate this term, but the term is being tossed around a lot. You would know, obviously, you're on the team, you're in the game. Do you guys feel like you gave up on your head coach?

No, not even no. You don't really give up. This is my perspective. There's no real... That's not even an option. It's not even a thing that's on the table because there's so much more that goes into it than just playing for your head coach. He's a part of it. Yes, we're all playing for this together. But if we gave up on our head coach, you're giving up on yourself, you're giving up on your teammates, you're giving up on the organization, you're giving up on all the work that you as an individual put into this to get to this moment and try to get a good example of what you're trying to be on the field. So that's not an option. And we 100 % believed in Coach Day. If he was still there today, we'd still believe in, Oh, hey, we got to go out there and continue to work hard. Yeah, we haven't been winning games, but we still believe in each other as, Hey, we're going to go out there and compete and play for each other. And so that was still strong. But then I think that the business side actually just ended up catching up with the whole organization, and Dean made a decision to make a change before the season ended.

After it happens, just because of the way the game played out on Thursday, where you guys fall down 40 to nothing at half time, is there not a sense of responsibility, but like, Wow, if it was 14-nothing or 21-7, maybe this didn't happen?

You're saying if we lost, not in the way that we lost?

Yeah, right. If the game didn't start out the way that it did because then that leads to narrative, Oh, he's lost the team. Oh, the chargers have given up on Brandon's daily. Oh, what's going to happen the rest of the season? Because the first half just wasn't competitive for whatever reason.

Well, the reason was the damn turnovers and we're not moving the ball in offense.

Without your starting quarterback, by the way.

Yeah, and without Kenan and without then go on down the list. That was definitely our most beat-up our team has been in this entire year. And then it was just the onslaught of just bad plays happening. Would it have been different? It's hard for me to tell. I don't know. I can't answer that question. I have no idea.

Austin, on the outside looking in, we were all expecting it. But were you guys surprised when the news came down after the game that all this happened?

Yeah, absolutely. Because from our side, from the player's side, this is our group. We're going all the way to the end. And for me and my experience in the NFL, it's how it's been. I've had a team where we were four and 12, lost one less game than we've lost now. I think I forgot what year it was. I think it was my third year. And we made it all the way through. There were some changes in between the season, but it was never the head coach and the GM. So yeah, I was surprised.

Austin, it's your first time through this, as you pointed out, first time with Coach getting fired. You'll have a new head coach obviously next year. Is there a level of guilt you guys feel as a team that, Oh, man, we didn't play well enough, got Coach fired?

It's not necessarily a guilt that we got him fired, but it's a guilt that as an organization, we have failed. As an organization, we have all failed, and it failed each other. And so I guess he would be packaged into that as well, because there is an expectation and we felt way short of that, and we have to own that. And we have to own that. I'm not scared to come out and say that. It's obvious, and you have to own it as a player. We failed. We did not do a good enough job on the field executing at the level that we were expected to and that we expected ourselves to. And that's what the result is. And as we know in this business, it's very fluid, not only for players, but for coaches as well. And this is what happens when you fall short of expectations, not only in football, but in life. But in football, you get to see it because there's so much media around it and there's so much... There's a lot of narratives getting drawn and all the speculation. So moves a little bit quicker and is covered. Yeah, man, it sucks.

But like Coach Staley said, man, it's the ugly side of the NFL.

So not to keep it in the ugly side of the NFL. There's still three games left this season. And you have a big one this Saturday coming up where while you guys are not technically eliminated from the playoffs yet - -Willy.

Need you're playing- We really need you, Austin.

That's where this is headed. No, it's not headed there. No, I would love it if you could beat the bills and keep them out of the playoffs. But looking ahead, and I don't think that you've done this or you have time to do this, but this has implications for you as well, because they've removed your coach, they've removed your GM. This is the team that you signed with as an undrafted free agent, but you're headed into free agency. So you have decisions that have to be made too. So not that you're thinking it, but do you now sit back and see how they handle this head coaching vacancy, determining your future?

There's a part of it. And because of that is Tom Talesko, who is our GM who brought me in as an undrafted free agent, and then also was part of the decision to sign me back for another four years. And there's the politics and that where we've built a relationship. He knows me, he knows me as a player. And obviously, I don't know what their intentions were past this year, but it definitely has an implication, because now I don't have as anchored of a relationship within the organization on the player personnel side. And maybe that works out. If Tom gets picked up somewhere else, maybe it can go somewhere else. And same thing with the head coaching with Brandon. And so I'm a free agent after this year. And so we'll see what happens. There's a lot that has to play out in my story. And like you said, we have three more games here, and so there's still opportunity to go out there and continue to play. But yeah, it's a thing that when this happens, it's going to be interesting for sure when The Free Agency hits.

Austin, do you have any expectations as a team captain, a guy who's been there a long time, a guy who has done a lot for that organization on and off the field? Is there an expectation from a guy like you like, Hey, on the next coach, consult me. I should have a say in who it is you bring in here. I know my team better than you guys do. I don't.

Think I have the right to do that. I think that's more so on- You.

Should, though, man.

It's tough. I think just as a player in general, you should express what you expect, especially if you're in my shoes where you've been around for it'll be eight years next year where it's like, Hey, this is where we've been through. This is what I like. This is why I don't. And then it's going to be up to the head coach or whoever's in that position to implement that or listen or not. But definitely have to be vocal because in the NFL, there's great X's and Os. That's awesome. But to actually go out there and execute those, there's a lot of other stuff that has to happen, whether it's the camaraderie, whether it's how locked in, how much we believe in the coaches, how much we believe in each other, the talent on the field. There's so much that is going and executing those that isn't X's and O's that it's so important. And those are the things that need to be addressed and make sure that we're on with those and we're solid with them. And we have a path and a plan to continue to build that part of the team so that we can execute on the field.

It's only been a couple of days, obviously, since this has happened. But football is a weird sport in that when you hear about teams tanking for a draft pick or whatever, the reality of it is that everybody on the team, it doesn't suit them to tank because they're playing for their own livelihood. They're playing for their own contracts. They're playing for their own things. So when you fire your coach or your GM or whatever with three games left in the season, I imagine that it would be easy for you guys to, from an outsider's perspective, give up on the season. When the reality is you are someone, for example, who's a free agent and you had an injury, so your numbers are not what they were prior to this. You are 28 now, so you're looking to get a contract, presumably that'll be one of your last contracts or one of your last big contracts, right? You cannot afford to just, not financially, but you can't afford to just punth on the season. There's a lot of guys in the same position that you're in. So in the days after this has happened, how much time have you guys allowed yourself to realize and absorb what has happened?

And we need to get right back into this because we have a game on Saturday.

Yeah, absolutely. There's been this time that we've had, because we played on Thursday night, where we've had a couple of days to digest what's going on and realize, Okay, there has been a change. And then we've come back into the building sense and talk to Dean Spanos and talk to our new interim head coach, and he set the tone, right? This is what it's going to be. And so I was like, Okay, we have the expectation that's there. But when it comes to tanking, no one can afford to tank mentally, in my opinion. Maybe you can in your contract because you got guaranteed money next year, but if you are mentally trying to tank, I cannot stand you as a person. If you are the person that's like, Oh, yeah, I'm going to take it off, or I'm just going to sit out, or I'm going to.

Milk my injury a little bit longer. You're so not.

Wired that way, man. No, there's not. Mentally, to get to the point that we're at, this is just me speaking, to get to the point where I'm at, I've had to continue to build and build and build, and there's still opportunity to continue to do that. And if you're able and willing to just lay off the gas pedal for a little bit because you feel bad for yourself, then I definitely do not want to be on a team with that type of person. I hope you never step foot back on my field when I'm on your team. There's no option of tanking because of what's on the line for not only you as an individual, but all your teammates around you as well. We're still fighting for stuff out here. It might not be the Play-Ot or the Super Bowl, but it's our own livelihood. It's our future in the NFL. It's our health for that game. If you're not playing hard, you're going to get hurt. That's just the way this thing works because you're going to not be going and bring as much energy as the other people are. The concept of tanking just eats at me.

I don't ever want to hear that, or if I even feel that at practice, it's like you will be addressed immediately. So that's where I stand.

Well, that's the difference also between I would imagine players and fans, right? Because as a player, your career is only so long, right? So even thinking selfishly, this coaching change isn't something that you can take lightly because you only have... I mean, we've gotten to know you somewhat. I don't view you as someone that's going to be playing until he's 40 years old, right? Hell no. So you need to go into the right position with the right coaching staff and the right front office to maximize your career. So this almost in a strange way for you personally could be beneficial because you're headed into free agency, but you also are, for the first time, in charge of who you want to play for and what environment you want to be in to maximize the little time that you have left.

Absolutely. And I don't think the situation is beneficial from the coaching standpoint and all that. It's more so just going into free agency is beneficial for a player.

Well, I mean, more so you don't have question marks anymore with what's going on with the charges. If you come back and there's still this cloud over, are we going to make a change? Are we not going to make a change? You'd have to make a decision without knowing.

Right. Yeah. In this situation now I know I'm going to be hitting the market. I'm going to have to find out. There's going to be a whole new GM here. There's going to be a whole new offensive or head coach here. I don't know what happens with the coordinators or all that, but there's going to be a reset here. So maybe this is a team. But now this team is no different than any other team out there during free agency, if that makes sense, because all of the new things. Sure, I know some guys on the team, but as far as the actual structure of the coaching staff, it basically is like a new reset team. So who knows where I end up next year? That's something that will play itself out here in the next few months.

Mikey, two things are happening here. The first question from Billy was he really needs Austin to beat the bills. The second one was a pitch to, Hey, Miami.

Miami.

No, I.

Find Austin to be in an interesting spot, and he can choose it if, because of payroll parameters, whatever, you can choose, do I want to be part of Rebuild? Or do I want to hop aboard on a team that's seven years in that's about to break free and go on a deep run or whatever it may be?

So there's a really interesting thing that's going to about to happen or that's about to happen this offseason because there's a ton of running backs in my group that is going to be hitting free agency. And I think this actually, in my theory, this is a reason why some of the franchising was happening because it's like me, Joe Mixin, Alvin Camara, Aaron Jones. And the list goes on of people that are about to hit free agency, which is the same with the guys that just got franchised: Josh Jacobs, Zakwan, and Derek Henry leading his franchise, but he's about to be free too. Tony Paulard. There's about to be my group and the group right behind me that those years we're about to just flood the market. And so it's going to be interesting how it plays out because there's going to be backs that you can pick up guys that have been proven for a while. Yeah, we're getting older compared to the younger backs, but hey, are we still able to play? That's for these people to decide if they wanted to bring our type of play style into their organization. I'm not trying to wish my life away, but I'm excited to see how all this plays out when it gets in a free agency, because it's going to be interesting what happens at the RV Market.

Mikey A wants to try to cheer you up. We'll find out how in a second. I want to ask you -I don't know how. Well, have you ever dreamed the playing for Bill Belichick? Just in your dreams, I'm.

Just wondering. Oh, you guys are.

Still on this.

No, he is.

He is Austin. I mean, am I getting to stick around? I don't know. I'm just saying.

Hey, look, if I have a place where I'm playing next year, it's probably because I've made a decision like, Hey, I want to go play for this organization. I'm at that point. And so it's like, I get to pick and choose, like Billy was saying, which is great. Obviously, it has to be a two-way partnership. But I'm not going to go to a place where I know I'm not going to be happy playing. I don't know. I have never met Bill or anything like that, but I'm not scared to be coached. I'm not scared to have a really disciplined organization. That's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a tight ship and everything's in line, everything's moving forward to try to win games. That's all I care about.

Some advice, don't go to the jets. I'd love to have you, but things don't work out there. They just don't. Listen, I'm fascinated by this, the dynamics of an organization. That's why I'm asking and pressing. I don't like doing this. None of us do. We'd rather just laugh and have fun with you. But this is big news for you. Yeah. How does it work? So with your coach, did he talk to you? Did he call you? Did he talk to you as a team? Did he talk to you as an individual? As he's leaving, how does that work for a coach talking to the players?

Yeah, I think it's more of a personal thing. And obviously, things are still fresh. And so I don't think it's something that happens immediately. But being a captain on the team, we'll definitely get in contact with each other, and even with Tom, too, because Tom is one of the reasons why I'm even here and even having this conversation right now. He's one of the early guys that gave me the green light and believed in me to come on and try out for the team because he's the one setting that final 90 man. So these guys have been a big impact in my life. And so they would definitely be a conversation with both these guys just because they have been such pivotal people in my life in the back half of my career with Brandon so far, and then also my entire career with Tom. So it's going to be different for different guys because they have different relationships with guys. So that's probably how it'll go out.

It's going to be interesting. Is Staley someone? Sorry about that, Austin. Is Staley someone that will always be in your life? Were you guys that close? Absolutely.

Even if we weren't close, we're doing such massive thingsthings in our life. For me, like you said, I'm not going to be playing until I'm 40. And so the NFL in general is going to be such a story in my life that everyone that's been involved is going to have their part in it. When I retell it, they'll have the moment where it was Anthony Lynn, now it's Brandon and Staley. And so that's when I got my second contract. It's part of that story. So regardless if it was good, bad, ugly, it was everything, right? We had great runs. We had bad years. And so it is all of it, which is, I think, even better because in the long term, anyway, not right now, it sucks right now, but in the long term, it adds just grit to the story. And I was talking to actually Tom, and I was like, We're going through some cloudy times right now. And I had to get through cloudy times to get to where I am right now. And so now we're finding it again. And so guess what? I can't wait to continue to push through this stuff.

There's all the media about, Oh, Austin's wash, and all this stuff, and, Hey, the chargers suck, and, Oh, they got to fire the coach. And it's like all cloudiness. But it's just a time where I'm getting tested as a man mentally, my poise, my mental strength. How can I continue to push forward and try to get on the other side of that? And it presents an opportunity that's not always joyful, but it's, for me, something that's like a challenge. And I freaking love challenges. I'm going to freaking kick his ass and continue to push forward, man. And so I'm excited. I'm excited not for this season. The season has sucked, and it's been terrible, and it's definitely tested me. When you're going through this, it is one of the worst things because it makes you... It makes you think like, Oh, I'm second-guessing myself. I'm having a conversation with my running back coach. I'm like, What's going on? I'm trying to figure this out. We're all trying to figure it out. We got the media on our ass where it's like, Oh, you this. All the sports betters are just letting you have it. And it's just like, What the heck is happening?

And so it's not desirable. And the media makes it even worse. But it's part of sports. And so like I said, it's a little cloudy, but I'm looking forward to the future. Absolutely.

I don't know if you caught what Jamis Winston did yesterday, Austin, but if you're in need of motivation or in need of motivating others on your team, Jamis Winston was walking around with a briefcase.

He's laughing.

A mysterious briefcase. Yeah. So for those of you who don't know, he was walking around with a mysterious briefcase. No one knew what was in it. He gave this impassioned speech about whatever, opened the briefcase, it was empty. And then he said, That's what's standing in the way of us and greatness. Nothing. So maybe you want to throw that one in there to the rotation.

I like it. It depends on how it was set up. If he was making this big, all-like anticipation What's in this briefcase? What's the difference? And he's setting it up, the whole speech. And then at the end, he's like, All right, this is what it is. And he opens it up and it's nothing. It's like, Nothing. I think that could have been epic.

But at the same time, who has assigned James Winston for being the one to motivate people? It seems like a someone...

James.

Winston has. Yeah, it seems self-affordant. He has gone and printed his own C-patch that he puts on his.

Own shirts and check.

Oh, come on. Come on. Yeah, he's crazy.

Look, hey, you are who you are. Look at what he's been doing. Everyone remembers the eat and the dub thing. I know back in the day.

You didn't think you could get crazier, did you?

He's on the same line right there. So hey, he hasn't changed. I'm glad to see he hasn't changed.

All right, two quick ones will get you out of here. We appreciate the time. It seems like the GM being fired hurts you more than Staley. Not that Staley doesn't hurt because the GM was the guy who believed in an undrafted rookie, right? Is that fair to say?

What hurts me most is that we sucks this year. That's what hurts me most. Regardless of they getting fired or not, that had no effect. Obviously, it had effect on their job. That's why they got fired. If we would have had a great season, then yeah. I don't think it really makes a difference. It was, do you play well or did you not? And I did not play well this season. If you can look at the numbers, all that stuff. So that's what has affected me the most.

You're wearing some of this, man. You're putting some of it on you, man.

You have to. You have to. Because you as an individual, me, myself, I am the one putting the product on the field. I am a leader in this organization. And so, yeah, it's a collective, but it comes to a point where it's a bunch of collective efforts altogether that go and create the product. And so if something is slipping or something is subpar, if it's not addressed, if it's not brought up to speed, then that's a failure on the entire organization, which includes me as an individual.

Billy, I'm going to ask it. I'm not certain what reaction we're going to get from Austin, Echler here. But next week, you and Brandon Staley together. What do you think?

Oh, Jeez.

What are you talking about? I'm going.

To have them all at you. You know that line? Oh, my.

You know that line? Yeah, yeah, stop. Remember when you said.

Stop you? Block, block, block. He's a flopper.

Austin, I know something that will cheer you up on the way.

Out here. I didn't answer my question.

You.

Did.

Though. You did a lot of- I can't answer it. It's not about that one.

I thought it's something that could cheer you up. It has been a difficult season. Obviously, it's been a difficult week. But on the bright side, last game of the season, playing the Chiefs, one more chance to see Taylor.

He fought again.

He.

Fought. Wow. You won the ultimate?

Go ahead and say that. That was great. Thanks, Billy. Thanks, Billy.

I know I was thinking about you, man.

Yeah, I didn't think about it like that. But now that... Yeah, now, wow.

I don't know if that makes you- It almost makes up for the rough season, getting to see Taylor twice.

I would say not even close, but keep your head down.

Okay, keep your head down. All right, I want to see if I can get one more flop out of him. If Austin Echler was running the chargers, would he have fired the head coach?

Oh, jeez.

Wow.

As a player?

No.

Because we're also locked in and tied, right? Now we got to figure out who's what, and now the whole culture's changed. And so yeah, it's tough. That's why it doesn't happen often. Even on teams that are bad, it doesn't have to not happen often. There's teams that have lost less games than us and still the head coach. Look, it's not my decision, obviously, that's Dean's decision. And there's three games left. It's not looking great for us for the playoffs. It's like a 0.07 % chance. And so they made a change. And guess what? We'll live with it and we'll continue to play as hard as we can. For me, anyway, it changes nothing with my preparation, all that. So go out there and try to give everything I can to play out one game at a time.

All right. I hate myself for asking that last question. I'm sorry, Austin.

Hopefully, you'll forgive me. We hate you. It's been.

Brutal today, guys. I know. I'm sorry. Listen, it's.

Not fun for us either. We have to cross the line.

Today, man. Listen, you know us. You know this is not fun for us. We don't ask pro.

Beat guys. It is fun for you, Damit.

You love doing stuff. No, it's not. It's fun for Levitar, not me. You know me, man. I don't want to stick on one topic.

But it is a big thing that's happening. It's obviously huge news for our organization, so I'm prepared to talk about it absolutely. But yeah, it's tough. It really is tough. At the end of the day, you were talking about people's families, and you were talking about it's not just their family, it's us too. I'm a free agent now. This is affecting my future too. So you never celebrate or even really... There's so many fans like, Yeah, that's someone's family, man. It's tough. And I'm just like, as a player, we have to make sure we stay together and we stay connected and go out there and, like I said, continue to play for one another. And if Ran was still here, absolutely, we'd be doing the same thing because there's a lot of... Back to what Kobe said, there's a lot of grass and there's a lot of flies and all that. Remember I talked about that? You got to stay locked in on the gazelle.

All right, man. We're sorry for the probing questions. I crossed the line twice. Billy wants you to beat the bills. He wants you to come to Miami. But we apologize. We love you, dude. Anything you want to promote on the way out here?

No, I'm good, you guys. I appreciate you guys, as always. Taylor was a little edgy today. So we'll come back. Hey, hopefully we can give you some good stuff to talk about next week.

All I want to talk about next week is Easton Stick. Can we do that? That's it. I like.

That guy. You still, also, you guys have been promising of a best man speech for about three months now that you haven't done. Next week is.

Our week. It's next week.

Yeah, a lot.

Of that.

Is daily. Next week. Yes, always next week.

Next week, let's get back to shenanigans, okay? Merry Christmas, Austin.

It's going to end up being at the Super Bowl, and I'm going to be there sitting on your show and be like, All right, so where's the speech?

Austin, thanks so much. We appreciate it. We know it's a difficult time, but thank you for sitting in here and taking all these ridiculous questions about one topic.

For sure. Appreciate you, boys. You guys have a good one. Thanks, Austin. See you.

Thank you, Austin. Thank you so much, man.

And we're back. There it is. I didn't do it before, and I know that you wanted it, so I.

Missed it. I missed it.

We only have a couple of minutes here. This is the saddest segment of the day for me.

Why?

Because it feels like the last week of high school. It feels like our journey this week through football for Monday has ended, and we're just slowly getting to the end of that journey. Yeah. There's usually so much left to do. You know what I mean? Yes. We have my BV, BV, BV. Right. Want us as a top five. I have a top five. You have a top five? Maybe two top fives. I think you just have one, though, is what we settled on.

I think I have one, yeah.

But then we don't talk to you again until Friday. Right. That's usually the way it works. So it's sad for me. With our audience is getting to an end for the week.

Okay. I mean, you want to do.

A Wednesday episode?

No, I don't want to do any more.

No, no, no, no. Yeah, what are you trying to get.

Out of here? You want to do it.

Every day? No, I just want the audience to know how much I value them and how sad I am that our journey on this Monday has come to an end.

It's very you.

But I don't want to talk to them until Friday. Okay. Not a day sooner.

Really? Yeah. Not even Thursday.

No, not a day.

Not a day sooner. Not a day sooner. He really misses you, audience.

Anyway, so what do you want to start with? The top five?

Let's start with Fuente's top five. You have your big board bets coming up. I have a top five. Mike Fuente's told me his top five before we started today, and it made me laugh. Well, he told me the subject, and the subject actually made me laugh. So what is.

Your top five? Actually, it's the top five things I've seen enough of. I'm done with them. I actually have a late submission of O-L-I. Okay. The late submission of O-L-I is back up quarterbacks.

Okay. You're tired of seeing backup quarterbacks?

Well, nobody ever wants to see them. Then a bunch show up and then all these stupid storylines. Josh Jobs, he's an astronaut. Tommy DeVito is Italian. Jake Browning, he's Jake Browning. Joe Flackle, he's back.

I think Jake Browning won three national championships in a smaller division, I believe.

Then he go to Washington State or something? I don't know.

I think he went to Washington State. Maybe he must have transferred. I think.

You're thinking about DeVito.

No, DeVito, about the state. We went to NC State, and then we went to Syracuse, and then did a year at NC State.

Well, either way, look at that. We got the.

Storylines all mixed up. Well, because here's the problem, right? We've seen too many of them. There's too many stories. We can't keep them straight. Right.

That's the problem. Is that your excuse? Yeah. Because I don't think Jake Browning won anything, ever.

What are you going to do?

Stewart, we've had two decades of backup quarterbacks.

Right. Yes, we have. Even our starters.

Are backups. Yeah, he went to Washington. I don't know who I saw that won three national championships. He went to Washington. Someone.

We're tired of backup quarterbacks.

Here's the thing also with the internet, internet's full of lies, okay? I don't have the bandwidth to keep up with who's telling the truth and who's lying. I just assume everyone's telling me the truth. I'm sorry for believing you, audience, and thinking that.

You're good people. My best guess as to who won three national championships on a D2 team is nick Mulans. That would be my.

Best guess. No, he went to Southern Mississippi. He went to Brett Farves, all the matter.

So who won three national championships?

I think it was Baygent.

Guys.

Really? Special Baygent?

Baygent. Special Baygent, man.

No, someone from yesterday, Billy, is saying.

Well, look at that. We're already all crossed up.

We're.

Getting bogged down. Yeah. Next week, I'm going to be doing top five backup quarterback stories, and I'm going to rank them.

Now, Billy's trying to find it. I know.

He is. It was someone. You know what I can tell you. The uniform was yellow. It was yellow. Yeah, it was yellow.

Yellow. So Stealers, maybe now?

No, no, no. The uniform of the national champion was yellow.

Oh, South Dakota State maybe?

I don't know.

It's either South Dakota State or North Dakota.

We've gotten way bogged down on this.

But who's the damn quarterback?

North Dakota.

Number four, Trevor Lawrence. I said this in the second segment. He's bad. If he was in New York, he'd be getting throttled. He would not be able to perform like that in New York and get away with it.

Okay. Number three, the Atlanta Falcons in general. Tough team to watch. I had a little bit of hope last week. Desmond Ritter was dealing. Drake Lundon, looked like a player. Johnny Smith, though.

Shining, calls up. Yeah. We're all.

Looking for the same thing. Every week that I don't have him, he does great. And every week that I do have him, he does not. Right.

Carson Wentz.

Went there. No, it wasn't Carson Wentz. Don't worry about this. Look, guys, I was wrong. We're so bogged down. I was wrong. I was wrong.

I apologize. I was wrong. I am so bogged down right now. All right.

Anyway, go ahead. This one.

East and Stick? Yeah.

Oh, I think it was East and Stick.

It was. It was.

East and Stick. He sounds like a guy who won three FCS.

National Championship. It was. It was East and Stick.

Austin's quarterback. His name is a baseball bat.

He should be a.

Baseball player. I was actually wrong. He's a four-time FCS champion. Wow. Where did he go? East and Stick.

Dynasty.

South Dakota State, right?

Yeah. North Dakota State. North Dakota State.

One of the Cotas. It's always.

One of the Cotas. Four-time national championship.

Number two, New York Jets. Okay, look.

You're in the.

Wrong podcast. Exactly. They're out of the playoffs. Rogers isn't coming back. Every quarterback, they have sticks. The defense got exposed. It's the Sopranos. It's over. Find a new show. That's done. We're done here.

Okay.

Number one, Tommy DeVito's agent.

The guy's walking around with his green jacket yesterday on the sidelines. -hall of Fame jacket. -exactly. Listen, there's one green jacket that matters. I gave it out at Augusta.

-.

Whoa, be very careful with that. Yeah, I mean, the Italian Hall of Fame. Yeah, be very. -i'm just concerned about you.

That's great. That's great. That's very careful.

That's great. -totaled to the town last week, and this week, he's a joke.

Exactly. He's not a joke. Did you see what the.

Saints were doing?

I'm not saying he's a joke. Fontas is saying he's a joke. You just said it.

Well, he leaned into the joke. But did you see what they did every time they would sack Davito yesterday?

No. The Saints.

Would give him the hand. They'd give him the hand, yeah.

They're right back to him. He was the victim of a late hit. Well, he got knocked out for a couple of plays, right? Dirty hit. They sat him up until it was like four plays before the half, and then he ended up coming.

Back out. That's what happens, though.

I mean, scary moment.

But you have a couple of good games and the agents become a star, and then all of a sudden, the Saints want to beat the hell out of you. And they did. All right, top five who weren't the starting quarterbacks for their team when the season started. How about that?

Okay.

Quickly. Number five, Kase Keenem, because he won yesterday. Number four, Aden O'Connor. Big Aden O'Connor. Final game. Big game. Number three, Jake Browning. These are quarterbacks who were not the starting quarterbacks when the season started. Yeah, two better than that. Number two, Joe Flacko. Number one, he's been great. You got to give him credit, Gairdner Minhsue.

I said it the first time Richardson got hurt. He was better with.

Gairdner Minhsue. I forgot that he wasn't the start of that. That's how long ago that happened.

Yes, Richardson, remember? He was your top rookie quarterback. He used to.

Play Richardson Young or. That game ended so quick.

Listen, Bryce.

Young has a chance to get right back in this thing.

Big win on the weekend.

Let me tell you. I have a couple of people not participating. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Let's get to Billy's big board bets. Mikey did it last week. Was out. Mikey went one and two.

No, I did it last week. I went two and one. No, we both did it last week. We both did it last week. Okay, you both did it. I'm sorry. If you took all of our picks, you went three and three, 500. Okay, great.

Let's get started real quick.

But anyway, go ahead. Anyway, so these are bets that maybe I would make if I was living in a state where I could bet with DraftKings sportsbook. We get it. Anyways, here's the first one. Aj Brown, under six and a half receptions today. Okay, wow. Okay. All right. At present time, we don't know who's going to be quarterback for either team. That seems like a recipe for let's go on receptions.

That has been the case the entire season. Fans are going to games all across America wondering who's going to play quarterback for their team.

Yeah. Ticket price will stay the same, though.

It's unbelievable, man. Unless you're in Carolina. Unless you're in Carolina. How much was it? Eight bucks?

45 cents.

45 cents. I got to tell you, you overpaid if you paid 45 cents.

Especially with.

That weather.

You probably paid $20.

In fees. Put it on the bowl as 45 cents too much for a Carolina Panther ticket.

Thank you. All right, next one. Dk Metcalfe, anytime touchdown.

Okay, it seems like Billy likes the Seahawks tonight, the Eagles.

Here's the thing about the DK Metcalfe, anytime touchdown. Mike Wendy has a parlay in which he needs DK Metcalfe to score a touchdown today. Also, our friend Andy Slater on Monday had a parlay with a sportsbook that generated him, I think, like $26,000. It was like a six... Well, hold on to your hat. Okay, hold on. He has an anytime touchdown parlay here, and all he needs is a DK Metcalfe touchdown and he will win $59,000. Andy Slater could have won $90,000 this week in Parlay. He's one touchdown away from that, and it's DK Metcalfe. Really? Yeah.

Okay, I'm rooting against DK Metcalfe. Really? I don't know why. I don't like when other people win money.

That's not nice.

I know. It's so bad.

Scoops later, huh? All right, and my final BVVVV of the week, I'm taking the under today, under 45 points.

Wow. Okay. All right. Those are Billy's big, bored bets. You want to say goodbye to the audience that you love so much, you won't speak to them again until Friday.

Bye.