Talking Grit: A Detroit Lions Podcast

E51: “Pride Preview” Week 17 Bridgewater is Back! - Lions Vs. 49ers MNF

• Jason Harwood / Jacob Litton • Season 1 • Episode 51

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In this episode of 'Talking Grit,' hosts Jason Harwood and Jacob Litton discuss the Lions' upcoming Monday Night Football matchup against the 49ers, revisiting the site of last season's NFC Championship game. They start with a light-hearted segment on their new Lions-themed Christmas gifts. They also talk about Teddy Bridgewater's surprising signing with the Lions to provide veteran support and playoff readiness, emphasizing that it's not a sign of concern about rookie QB Hendon Hooker. Key statistics and injury reports for both teams are dissected, highlighting the 49ers' struggles with injuries, including offensive linemen and injury-prone kicker Jake Moody, while the Lions benefit from some returning players. Jason and Jacob analyze key players and strategic elements

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Jason Harwood:

Welcome everybody to another episode of Talking Grit. I'm Jason Harwood and Jacob Litten is here as well. It's week 17. The Lions are going to be on Monday night football. We're going back to the scene of the crime, the NFC championship game. Jacob and I are going to preview that matchup as we always do every week. But first, let's take care of a couple things. Jacob, from your camera, I'm seeing a couple Lion's things for Christmas. Is that all you got back there, or did you get any other cool Lion's gifts?

Jacob:

People know me. Right? They know what to get. So, from work, my Secret Santa gift was a lion's blanket, which I really needed. I don't have my own blanket so that was cool. And then Milo, from Secret Santa Shop, got me a lion's flag, so that's back here too.

Jason Harwood:

that's

Jacob:

yeah, two awesome lion's things I can display while we're recording on here.

Jason Harwood:

That's awesome.

Jacob:

What about you? What did you get?

Jason Harwood:

Well, first I want to tell you, I was afraid to tell you this before, but my lion socks, my lucky lion socks or whatever, have a hole in them. And so I was worried about what I was going to do. I have a backup pair, but my wife came through two more pairs of lion socks. So we're good. Good to go for the, definitely through the playoffs, I'll be wearing those on game day.

Jacob:

We also got talking grit socks, right? Remember? I was also from work, yeah.

Jason Harwood:

that is pretty cool. My wife framed up a nice picture for my podcasting room of a picture of us at Ford field. So that'd be awesome. I sent you this picture, but I'm going to tell everybody that. My son Preston got an awesome picture. It's like a poster board size picture of Jamo hurtling the bears defender on Thanksgiving day. When I opened it up, I almost wanted to, before I wrapped it up, I want almost wanted to steal it. Cause it was so awesome. Put it in my room here. So I might have to get something similar, maybe not the exact same picture for this podcasting room, but I got it from fanatics online. My wife found it. it. He wanted present this, he wanted a poster for his room, but he wanted an in game action shot. And I

Jacob:

Okay.

Jason Harwood:

more in game action shots. Cause you know, a spin move by Gibbs doesn't look cool when it's a still shot, but this hurtling looks super cool.

Jacob:

I wonder how Jared Goff's touchdown catch would look

Jason Harwood:

Oh,

Jacob:

Dan skipper in the end zone.

Jason Harwood:

no. Yeah. Just like just barely getting over the inline. Yeah. Those would all be cool. Or Penesul when he stiff arm that bears the fender

Jacob:

Yeah, there you go. Right. See all kinds of opportunities.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, that'd be pretty cool. so today I got a nice text message from you. Teddy Bridgewater signed with the Lions today. You sent me that with a question mark exclamation point. So I'm taking a, you were shocked by that signing just as I was.

Jacob:

Oh yeah. When I saw that, it was just like the rumor dropped. And then within like five minutes, it was when I think like Schefter or somebody like the confirmation started coming in. And then, of course it's everywhere, but yeah, I sent it to you. Just like, have you heard this? Have you heard anything about this? Did I miss something? Where does this coming from? Totally unexpected. Teddy Bridgewater had a lot of success this year coaching the high school football team. They steamrolled everybody in the playoffs and won the state championship. And he figured, you know what, not doing anything for a few months here. Might as well just go back to the NFL, right? And I can do that.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, in the press conference today, they asked Dan Campbell about that and Dan Campbell, the first thing before no one even got to the question about Hendon Hooker. He's like, this has nothing to do with Hendon and his progress. This is all about adding to our team. Essentially, I look at it as we're adding another coach to the team, we're adding another QB to get Jared Goff ready for a playoff. I mean, God forbid something were to happen to Jared, yeah, Teddy would be great to have some experience and put in there. But at this point, this late in the season, it's more about of the team and Putting someone else in that room and it probably was going to help Hendon out too. You're going to have another quarterback on the bench during the game to point things out to Hendon as opposed to him talking to Jared later on or in the meeting room.

Jacob:

Absolutely. And it's not like we are literally pulling somebody off the street that hasn't been here before. I mean, Teddy Bridgewater was here with Hennon hooker already. And outside of just the quarterback room, Teddy's a veteran presence, and he really helps the receivers and helps the team out as a whole. Yeah, I like how you said, it's basically just like having another coach around, because it really is. And maybe that's what he's looking for, is a coaching opportunity in the NFL after this, and here we are, one last little ride for him as a quarterback, as a player, and then we'll see what happens next year.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, I think he wants to get a Superbowl ring as a player. So this is going to be his opportunity. And, Dan Campbell in the press conference today said, we, I've been in contact with Teddy for a while. So I think that this has been in the work. I had seen some rumors from Schefter before that. Bridgewater was going to look to get back in the NFL after his season ended, his coaching season ended. I thought I was like, what, where would it make sense for him to go? And the lions were one of them, but I was like, are we going to take up a roster spot for that? But it's kind of probably working out well because we're getting some of our players back. I know we're going to have to add some of some to the roster, but we have just a lot of, we Quan Alexander today, I'm assuming that there might be some other cuts coming when we get, Jalen Reeves Maven back on the roster and, add them back to the active roster. There might be some more cups cuts, but the Lions figured that this was important enough to put him on the active roster. So.

Jacob:

That's the interesting part of this is, you have to sign with the active roster. We can't do anything with hookers. Now we have three quarterbacks on the active roster. We are injury riddled already. We've been these spots, how many people have been shoveling around on the practice squad and everything. Some people are active some week and they're not. That's the most interesting part of all this is that we valued having that third quarterback and having teddy in the room Over having you know, one of these extra linebackers or extra edge spots I you know, just because you already mentioned the kwan alexander thing But you know the linebacker room as a whole dan campbell says that germ may be able to come back this week You know the clock's already been going on him. So we still have a couple weeks, But we released kwan alexander We signed around Gilbert back to the practice squad. So Gilbert's the one that's from Detroit. He was here with us in the preseason. He had the injury settlement before the season started. But, we also just 2 days ago, we cut linebacker David long. The idea was to cut him and put him on the practice squad. He was claimed by the Titans. Now today news broke, I don't know if you saw that, he filled his physical with the Titans. So that's off. So I don't know what, where that leaves him. You would think the Lions probably want to keep him back on the practice squad, but now, do we have room? What do we do with Gilbert, who just got here? There's also the rumors that when we cut Kwon, that the idea was to hopefully keep Kwon on the practice squad. Kwon Alexander doesn't play special teams, so that would just be for linebacker purposes. Dan Kimball also says Anzalone is getting close. That's that quote was like he said, I don't know about this week, but it's, it's getting close. So you would think that means next week, which was kind of what the idea was all along, he hasn't practiced yet, but there's just been a really interesting shuffle of the linebacker room. And, now we have one last spot to work with because we have an extra quarterback.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah. I'm going to trust the lions on this, that roster spots is more valuable to have experience back there. I mean, they, we've also, they also credited Teddy Bridgewater with the maturity of JMO too. And.

Jacob:

right.

Jason Harwood:

I mean, it's not just, not just helping the quarterback room. I think he just helps the whole team in general. And you're also, he's going to do things off the field. He's going to work with the wide receivers out the field. Even some of the people that maybe are on the back end of the roster. So a good signing all the way around. It's an interesting signing unexpected for sure. And especially adding to the practice roster now, if we. Having him on the active roster, it basically means we're going to be able to activate one of our, either Hendon or Teddy, probably Teddy's going to be our emergency backup. I would assume at least for the first two weeks, maybe playoffs, maybe, maybe they play this a little different because of Ben with the team. Hopefully by our first playoff game, three weeks, because given the by, if that, happens. So I could see them maybe being the emergency quarterback, Teddy, the emergency quarterback in case Hendon gets hurt. That gives you basically an extra active person on the roster. So we'll see how it goes, but that's the way I think it's going to play out.

Jacob:

Yeah. Really interesting. I mean, we'll find out. Hopefully we don't have to. Hopefully it doesn't come to them having to play.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, no it's all coaching right now. We don't have to worry about that. Cause you're, it's going to get us through the, all the way to February. right, Jacob, this is. Yeah, this matchup when we did our scheduling podcast way back when that was like our second episode ever, was the mat, this upcoming matchup. This was the one that we both look forward to, right? I mean, this is, when season had started, we were just like, this is could be for the number one NFC seed kind of is except for it's just Us, the Lions looking for the number one NFCC, not the 49ers. So my question for you, does this matchup still hold weight for you? Are you still for this matchup? Even though the 49ers really have nothing to play for. And depending on the Vikings game, we may or may not, this game might count for anything. If the Vikings end up winning, then it really has no playoff implications at all.

Jacob:

I will say it holds some weight, obviously it's going to be different, if the Vikings were to lose and then we know this is for the number one seed, then it gets way more interesting. But you know, you're right for us to have before the season, this was the one that we circled on the calendar, premier match up late in the season, but now It's just kind of another game for the 49ers. They're out of the playoffs. They don't really have anything to fight for other than it's just being. It's their last home game of the season, so they don't have a whole lot riding on it, but you know, if you're Dan Campbell and the Lions, you still have to get revenge from last year, right? Especially, it's been less than a year, you're back in San Fran, we have the NFC Championship game and everything, we really need to put that behind us. There's only one way to really shake that loss and it's to come in here and get a win this week. And Dan Kim has already said, regardless of what happens, because I know they asked if the Vikings were to win and this game doesn't matter. Are we like playing it differently? Are we arresting anybody? Absolutely not. We're giving everything we have in San Fran. We're coming to win the game.

Jason Harwood:

I going to be time to exercise some demons might be similar to the Cowboys outlook where, that game, once we got rolling, we weren't letting up because

Jacob:

I hope it looks like that.

Jason Harwood:

yeah, we wanted to make a statement. So it'd be on Monday night football lions play well in prime time. So, yeah, it still holds a weight for me just because of my own bad memories of I felt after that game and how I still feel after that game, that of how close we were at least, I mean, at least we're not on the other end of it, right, Jacob, at least we're not the ones that. Our out of the playoffs and we're going back to 49ers. I mean, how bad would you feel at that point, knowing that season's over. And now we have to go back to this 49ers team that, knocked us out of the playoffs, knocked us out of the Super Bowl where, you know, and we have every right to. be there. Almost be that way with all the injuries that we've had, right? I mean, we would have the ultimate excuse. We lost Hutch. We did all this, but that's kind of what makes us all special is that we fought through all this. The 49ers have had their, share of injuries this year. But. They're fourth in their division we're, we're still number one in ours and hopefully we get the number one seat. So it's interesting from that fact, just to see how the two teams, are different from year to year, but

Jacob:

Wait, well, so like this year, the 49ers have 16 players on IR. So where the lions have been able to overcome this injury bug, the 49ers really have not, they have not looked good. They haven't been the same, it's different players injured from week to week and everything. They've got the whole McCaffrey thing going on. Of the 22 starters in last season's NFC Championship game for the Lions, of the 22 starters, 12 of them are going to be different this year.

Jason Harwood:

Okay.

Jacob:

And then you look at the 49ers, of the 22 starters the 49ers had, 10 of them are different.

Jason Harwood:

Okay.

Jacob:

there's 22 out of 44 total starters on both sides that are going to be different players this year. So this matchup looks completely different. And obviously there's a lot less writing on this than there was last year. So it really, it just looks like a different game.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, it's interesting. But the players that were here last year that lost in the NFC championship game, they're going to remember that, right? I mean,

Jacob:

Yes.

Jason Harwood:

that's still going to hold weight for them. So, yeah, again, it's, for me, it's just, I don't know. It's disappointing from the fact that, we, it'd be great to be a heavyweight battle. And I, and that I'm not taking anything from the 49ers when we get to their rankings, there's still a solid football team, their record doesn't show it. And I have some thoughts of why that is, but there's. They're not a pushover team. They could still come in and win their defenses, largely back. That they've had from injuries, it's their offense. That's, lost some pretty key pieces. So we'll just have to take advantage of that. You ready to get onto impact players?

Jacob:

Yeah. Let's go.

Jason Harwood:

All right. I'm gonna let you hit off the offense for the 49ers here, Jacob.

Jacob:

All right. Impact players with offense. This is only going to be including the players that we're going to see this week because they have quite a few impact players that are not going to be there with them. Tight end George kiddo is actually ranked number one out of 78 on pro football focus. He was number 14 top 100 quarterback. Brock Purdy is the number 10 rated quarterback on pro football focus. He was number 28 on top 100 wide receiver. Debo Samuel was number 30 on the NFL top 100 pro football focus right now as I'm rated number 43 out of one 30. I'll get into that later. Debo has not had a very good year, but there are other receiver Jawan Jennings he's right. Number 11 out of pro football focus. And he's actually been very consistent for them this year. And it's really stepped up where Brandon I used to be

Jason Harwood:

Yep. Yeah I was surprised to see Jawan Jennings. I know he's had a consistent year, but yeah, he's breaked way up there. Debo's had a, I would say an off year for him. Probably losing Brandon Ayuk has affected that a little bit cause it's more of the focus and definitely not having Christian McCaffrey, you're losing two major weapons and defense can. Reshift their focus away from those two players. So I'm sure

Jacob:

right

Jason Harwood:

Debo. As far as defensive back players, they got Fred Warner. Everyone knows him. He is a menace. He's one of the best linebackers in the game. He got Nick Bosa, awesome edge. Again, another top player on the edge and D winners is there are other linebackers. So their linebacker core is very good. And when you look at like their stats for intermediate passing, they're one of the, I think there might be the top ranked team for defending the intermediate pass and it's probably because of those linebackers. They're just that good. So we got to, Jared golf likes to throw in that area. So that'll be a tough matchup for us, for the lions in that game. Anything you want to add on their impact defensive players, Jacob.

Jacob:

now, just, if we're going to talk about the linebackers, just real quick, I want to point out, because they had Drake Greenlaw, who was, an impactful player. He, got hurt in the Super Bowl last year. He just came back a couple of weeks ago. He, it was kind of, they called it fatigue or maybe a calf strain or something like that. And because the 49ers were eliminated, they've decided to just shelf him for the last couple games, so they're not even risking it with him. So we, that's one less linebacker we have to worry about. And then Devondra Campbell, who actually was playing pretty well in his absence, is the one that quit on the team. Refused to go in so we don't have to worry about him either.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, we'll get to that later on. I got some questions for you about

Jacob:

Yeah.

Jason Harwood:

quitting on the team, far as the 49ers, we've kind of already talked about it. They're out of the playoff race. They're six and their fourth in the NFC. They've lost five out of their last six. And they had a couple of big blowout losses against the Packers and the Bills, their only win in the last six have come against the bears. And that was the week after they had fought fired Eva for this. They had an ugly loss to the Ram six to 12. And then, the last, the most recent losses to the Dolphins, 17, 29, whereas the Dolphins had stuff to play for 49ers. Like as we talked there, they're pretty much eliminated. So. gone the 49ers way, but you know, next year, Jacob, they're going to have, they're going to probably finish fourth and they're in the NFC West. So they're going to have the fourth place schedule and They'll be back. They will be back next year. And that's going to only benefit them having the fourth place schedule. So you might want to, depending on what everybody, the over under next year for the 49ers, probably about the over if if Vegas has them low. Cause they're going to probably have an easier schedule. All right, Jacob, we're used to having the longest injury report, right? Least recent history. It doesn't look like it this week. We're getting some reinforcements back. The 49ers injury report was very long. Just to hit on that, we're going to, they're going to, Trent Williams is going to be out for the rest of the season. So just like Drake, your in law, they basically shelved Trent Williams. He's not. Recovering as fast. And since they have nothing to play for, it's probably just in there and Trent's best interest and the 49ers best interest to shelve them. So they're going to be losing out on Trent Williams, but they also have three other offensive linemen that did not practice Aaron banks, Robert Beal jr. And Spencer Buford. So they are beat up on the offensive line. Not to mention that, McCaffrey's out what Mason, there are other, their primary backups out looks like they might get Isaac Garendo He was a limited practice today. So we'll see how that goes. So he might be there starting back, it'll be interesting. Jaya year Brown safety, limited practice, Leonard Floyd on the defensive line, limited practice, Colton McKivitch offensive line. He was limited practice. They had a bunch of players that had a full practice, so they must have some sort of injury. Going, but it's Tate and Bethune, Bosa, Jordan Elliott I don't know how to say that. Hu Funga, the safety. Yeah, well, I like it. Nice. And then Dee Winters has got a full practice. And so, they've, their list is quite extensive. It's the offensive line that's going to be hurting them which is not going to be good for Brock Purdy, which is going to be great for the Lions. All right. What about our inter report, Jacob, what who showed up on ours?

Jacob:

much smaller than you report for us Terry and Arnold actually did not practice. They're calling that due to an illness. Hopefully, that's just a stomach bug or something like that just kept him out and that he'll be okay. David Montgomery still not practicing because of the knee injury. That's expected. That's expected. But we got a full practice out of Graham Glasgow. He's going to be back. Dan Campbell's already said he's slotting right back into the starting spot. Kalief Raymond got in a full practice. They've started the window for him. And then we already mentioned Jalen Reeves, maybe another full practice, the windows open. We're really hoping that he'll be activated and he'll be able to play this week. But we'll see.

Jason Harwood:

I'm hoping Jalen, we've made them back. We need some more, I mean, just special teams alone. He's dynamite on that, but in the linebacker room, we need. We need our players back. So hopefully we get him back and then maybe next week or the first game of the playoffs, we get Alex back. gonna make a world of difference having those two guys back. Jalen Reeves maybe could cover in the secondary. So I'm excited for that. Just alone might not hurt this week, but team, we get to Philadelphia. We're going to need something that can cover a back out of the backfield.

Jacob:

Yes. That's actually, I was just going to bring up is, germs been very valuable in special teams, but with everything, the way that it stands right now, if he comes back, don't you think he's primarily going to be just playing on the defensive side and that we're going to kick someone like Zeke Turner over to special teams more,

Jason Harwood:

The Lions will probably do that, especially, he has Jalen, where his name hasn't played in a little bit. So I'm sure he's going to take a little bit to get his wind back. So they're probably not going to want him, him playing double duty over there. We get to the playoffs, bets are off how they're going to play that. They might, just go to the wall and just. Do what they need to do to win this week. If he does come back, yeah, I think it'd be one or the other. He probably won't be playing both. And I'm going to imagine they're going to want him at linebacker just with the injuries, everything be in there.

Jacob:

Right? Yeah.

Jason Harwood:

All right, let's get into the Niners rankings this year. When I went through this, I was actually really surprised where they were ranked in some of these categories because I was based on the record. I was expecting them to be much worse. But PFF has them overall rated the seventh type for the seventh team in the NFL,

Jacob:

And how does that make sense? 6 and 9 out of the playoffs,

Jason Harwood:

I don't know. But when you look at their stats, I could, I can kind of see it. They're so PFF has a rank of fourth rated offense. They're 15th and points scored, but they're, however, they're eighth in yards per game. that equates the seventh and passing and 11th and rushing. So their offense has been moving the ball, but they're not scoring points, which tells me that, they're probably not getting it done in the red zone and they've had some turnovers and that's probably, ending drives right there. So that could be, when we get to keys of the game you bet I'm going to be pointing to that for sure. How's their defense look, Jacob?

Jacob:

just real quick. Speaking of the offense, I think that also, that's maybe skewed a little bit because after, they're by week, they had a really good game against the Buccaneers where they won and then it's just like their offense fell flat against the Seahawks, the Packers, the bills, they had obviously that really good game against the bears, but then a, tanked again against the Rams. So I think those numbers have to be because of what happened at the beginning of the season and less, of late. As far as offense goes, So defense pro football focus has them rated. They're tied for 13th total defense. They're 18th and point scored, but they're actually 2nd and yards per game on defense. It breaks down their 3rd and past defense and 15th and rushing in terms of yards per game. So, brilliant past defense, but for some reason, even with those great linebackers, teams have been able to rush on them.

Jason Harwood:

And. think it's interesting. You look at all these yards per game and all that, but the points scored and we've talked about it before, you've got to score more points than the other team to win and when you're giving up points and you're not scoring yourself, it's a hard combination and there's a lot of things can lead to that, but yeah, I was just surprised with how good their passing past defense was. I was really surprised that their rush defense was ranked so low. Their defense as a whole is, bringing back most of their, their starters are mostly healthy. So I just found that very interesting. Just thought they'd be better at the run. All

Jacob:

Right.

Jason Harwood:

So we'd have a 49ers writer on. We'd go through the, we'd interview them, ask questions. I just. With Christmas week. I didn't even bother reaching out to our 49ers writer. Cause I did, I figured the scheduling was going to be too too much. So Jacob and I thought we would just do our own 49ers questions, stuff that interests us as lions fans from afar, or in the case of the first question as Michigan fans, so Moody has been kind of Rocky from just from afar. Seeing him. So would you rather have him or Jake Bates right now, Jacob?

Jacob:

Oh, I think right now you'd have to want Jake Bates, right? Just in terms of, how they've done this year. I really, obviously Moody, Michigan man and everything, higher draft pick for a kicker. I really wanted Moody to do well. And, even though I don't like the 49ers, it still pains me every time Moody misses a kick. I'm like, Oh man, like I just wanted him to get it. I want him to do well, even though I don't want the team to do well. So, the fact that he's been struggling and, it's just been really weird. He was so consistent in college and for, the inconsistency to be happening. The support of the team obviously isn't helping either. I don't know if you saw the argument Debo, taking a shot at him and the long snapper and everything earlier in the year after a miss. Yeah. Yeah. He's in a high pressure situation with the team right there, and he's, unfortunately, he's really, he's been crumbling.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, I think when I look at I, when I take Moody, that is when he came out. I really, lions had an iffy kicker situation at the time. I thought he was going to, he would slot right in and I was hoping we would draft him not in the third round, like the 49ers

Jacob:

really.

Jason Harwood:

I think that also complicates his history with the 49ers too, cause you're spending pretty high, a high draft pick and you're expecting Justin Tucker Level kicking when you I would assume if you're picking someone that high, so that's been kind of disappointing. It, I agree with you. It does hurt me when he misses a kick. However, a lot of times I've kind of, cause of the situation between the 49ers and lions late, the last couple of years I've been wanting him to miss kicks just cause it, it'll help the lions, but it does still hurt my feelings when he loses. Cause Michigan man, I want him to do good. But yeah, I think the question is Jake Bates is our Jake. Yeah, I'm glad that we have him on our team. Yeah. And he's kind of just like, he's played outside of that one really bad miss a couple of weeks ago. He's been everything I wanted in a kicker. A clutch hit the long kick. Does well on kickoffs, does everything we need to do on my kickoff. So yeah, he's been what we needed.

Jacob:

Yeah, I mean, for Moody, it's just, any time a kicker is drafted in the first three rounds, you're just destined for failure.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah.

Jacob:

There's too much pressure to be drafted that high when you're drafted later, like kickers normally are, or when you're undrafted, I guess the downside of that is that the leash is so much shorter because, for Jake Bates, if he, started the year off and missed a couple of kicks the first couple of weeks, he wouldn't be here anymore. It's been very easy for them to just kick him off and get somebody else, but for the 49ers to have drafted him as high as they did, they kind of have to ride this one out. And in his defense, Moody's also had injuries, I think both years. So maybe that's got something to do with it. I think some of his misses were also in like cold weather climates. So who knows if it's the holds or whatever, there may be a reason, but to be dressed that high, you want more consistency.

Jason Harwood:

Shanahan said today, I listened to his press conference. He said that Jake Moody's dealing with a high ankle sprain on his kicking foot. So that's probably dealing with some of the misses recently, you, you gotta be available, right? I mean, if you're a kicker and you're constantly hurt or you're not able to play, that's not good either. So. And, I don't watch 49ers football enough to know like how often he's missing or whatever, but you're right. It's for his saving graces that he was drafted in the third round because otherwise, kickers are given the heave ho really quickly. If they don't, if they miss a couple of kicks or don't miss or don't make them in the clutch or whatever. All right, Jacob, this is an interesting question for you. Will Brock Purdy be the starting quarterback for the 49ers next year? We'll

Jacob:

I believe so, right? I mean, I don't know if they'd be looking to move on from him. I think that he, especially this year with the injuries and everything that have happened there, kind of ask him to make something out of nothing right now. And he's, he's been playing well. I don't know. Obviously he's Mr. Irrelevant. He was the last pick in the draft and everything. Maybe you draft somebody, in the middle rounds or whatever, and just see what you have in somebody else. Also, the interesting thing is just the contract situation, right? I mean, like, is he going to be demanding top five money? Are you really going to break the bank for him that, I don't know that it'd be warranted. I, it's tough. because I also did not think that Jordan Love was going to be breaking records for his contract and sure enough, they gave him that money, so, you If you're the 49ers, do you really pay Brock Purdy that much? Or do you, it's tough. I still think he's going to be the quarterback of the 49ers next year, but there's a lot of dominoes to fall here. What are your thoughts?

Jason Harwood:

I have two thoughts. So just that when you talked about the contract, let's just, he signed next year, he signed for 1. 1 million. He's an unrestricted free agent after that. So, I mean, 1. 1 million, incredibly cheap, right? I mean, you're not going to get much better deal than that. However, there may be where you have a good deal. Kurt Cousins. He is gonna, possibly be cut by the Falcons by all accounts. That's what's rumored to happen. He would sign a veteran minimum contract because the Falcons would still be on the hook. So you got a Russell Wilson situation. He has a connection with Kyle Shanahan. You could have a really cheap quarterback room and having Kurt Cousins And Brock Purdy. I mean, whether Kirk Cousins wants to go there and, compete with Brock Purdy, I don't know, but wouldn't that be interesting? That's my thought.

Jacob:

That's an excellent take. But, you're right, Kirk Cousins, is he coming here with the, idea that he's gonna be the backup but he's possibly competing for a starting spot? Is he okay with just coming here as a backup? Are they gonna tell him that he's gonna be the starter and then they're gonna bench Brock Purdy? They also would be able to have more leverage in the contract situation, I guess, if they're going to put Kirk Cousins as starter and then tell Brock Purdy, I don't know, they're going to try to skimp him out and tell him, well, find more money elsewhere then. That's, that's very interesting. I could see that happening though.

Jason Harwood:

well, here's the thing, if you get Kirk Cousins there, right? It protects you from a Jordan Love situation where Brock Purdy says, well, I'm just not going to practice. I'm going to sit out and you're going to sign me this big contract. They could say, well, we got Mr. Cousins over here. We're going to pay him about what we're paying you. It might give them some insurance on, on that. So I could see that would happen. I don't know. It's all a long shot, but I've seen crazy stuff happen. Where. These things come out of the woodwork, but I just think Kirk Cousins connection with Cal Shanahan, the unique situation that Kirk Cousins is going to be in where he's not going to be looking for big money because Atlanta is already paying him. And essentially, there's no advantage to a team signing him for more, unless I don't even know what else they could give. I mean, I guess they could try to outsign them from Atlanta, but no one's going to give a Kirk Cousins that kind of money. So I could see that just a unique situation that come The other one that I could see. That is a more of a long shot for me, but Sam Darnold going back to the

Jacob:

Yeah, right.

Jason Harwood:

He's going to be up. They could, it just depends. I mean, Brock Purdy, I wouldn't say that he's played bad this year, but I, it's looming that they're going to have to pay him and whether they feel that he's going to be necessarily worth 50 some million dollars, that's to be seen. I mean, they can always franchise them, but then you're, then you got a lame duck quarterback situation and that's not good for team morale. So kind of interesting situation to monitor next for next off season, for sure.

Jacob:

Right. Absolutely. I mean, I've heard that too about Sam Darnold possibly going back to the 49ers or going back to the Jets, but if you're Sam Darnold, don't you just want to, like, take it to them or whatever and kind of let them, just seems weird to me if he would want to go back there and make more money and try to do that again, after all the stuff the fans have said about him from those teams and how his experiences went with both of those, that's just weird to me for the Sam Darnold thing. I definitely could see Kirk Cousins, and you're right about the holdout thing. It almost, if they don't have a different quarterback on the roster, it almost inevitably is going to be a holdout situation.

Jason Harwood:

I agree.

Jacob:

But then you also have to figure, are they really going to budge? Are they really going to pay him top dollar? Because I just don't feel like he's worth it,

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, I don't know, but a quarterback puts you in that situation, but I think having the insurance on there would help save them money in the long run. Kirk Cousins, but if Kirk Cousins can get a guaranteed starting job somewhere else, all bets are off,

Jacob:

right?

Jason Harwood:

Team, I think that's ultimately probably going to be Kirk Cousins game is to get a starting job somewhere because he's going to want to play. Whereas if he goes to 49ers, who knows how that's going to work out. But, Kirk Cousins didn't exactly light it up in Atlanta this year. So I don't know how many people are going to be, lining up for Kirk, Kirk Cousins either. So we'll see.

Jacob:

but you also have a Russell Westbrook, or sorry, Russell Wilson type thing too, where it's like, hey, now you can sign them for minimum dollar and He did not play very well. He did not have a very good year in Denver and he's actually been playing really well here in Pittsburgh. So it is about the scheme and it is about the situation. And if the dollar amount is right, then you absolutely, if you have a starting spot would, be able to bring Kurt cousins in.

Jason Harwood:

Wherever he goes, it's going to be interesting. Cause I think there's a lot, the contract situation opens up to a lot of possibilities that normally wouldn't be there. I think Minnesota is still in a realm of possibilities for like a one year deal. I, cause Kirk Cousin could try to parlay that into a bigger contract. If he has a good year with Minnesota, who knows, I don't know his relationship since he left, if it's still good with Minnesota or if it, soured or whatever, but

Jacob:

Yeah. That's another thing like the darn old thing. Like I just, I don't see coming back to a team like that. And,

Jason Harwood:

Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. So I have a very broad question for you. Now, what do you think happened to the 49ers this year? Why do you think that, they had the downfall they did?

Jacob:

I expected them to have a better year. We already mentioned that. They had the injuries happen, we had the injuries happen, and we've been on the right side of that, and they've been on the wrong side. Who knows if that's, comes down to coaching, or if that's just, the players that they have that they're left with. We already mentioned Debo has not had a very good year, and he doesn't really seem like the type of person to put the team on his back and try to show him like, leadership qualities and everything like that. And, Brock Purdy is also very quiet. I don't know, what type of a leader he is in the locker room, but it just doesn't seem like they've had anybody step up and take charge. With the offense and they just, they really needed to turn it on after their bye week so that they could stay in and they fell flat in the worst way possible, against the Packers and Bills and all those games that they've had since, and the Dolphins game last week, kind of just the icing on the cake. They just couldn't get anything going. And now here they are out of the playoffs looking towards next year.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, I, for me, I, this goes all the way back to training camp, the whole brand and I, you sitting out, they had Trent Williams sitting out, they were in the super bowl. So they've already had a short off season and then you have, turmoil in the locker room. And then the, Christian McCaffrey got hurt. And I just think that just the locker room probably turned sour. I mean, you had a player, we mentioned it earlier, player quit on that team, would refuse to go into the game. That doesn't scream good locker room for me. And whether that's, the leadership that you mentioned, whether that's the coaching or just, Hey, we're losing. And I'm not, I'm just not happy or whatever. So I, but I. When you look at a team like the lions, they signed all their players. Everyone's at training camp. Everyone's showing up. We, the lions have added more injuries of 49ers fought through them. Whereas the 49ers just had a dud of a season and it just seems like the players aren't as bought in. And so when you have those injuries coupled with players, not willing to step up and do their part, this is, I think what happens. So I think that blaming anyone individually, I just think that The way the team was constructed or whatever it's just lens to that, lions don't have that problem, but it seems like the 49ers did this year, not saying the lions will have it in the future. knows what's going to happen in the future. It can turn real fast, but for, from afar, just looks like an unhappy locker room,

Jacob:

Yes, I would say that's fair.

Jason Harwood:

A lot of people looking out for number one and.

Jacob:

Yeah.

Jason Harwood:

and the team, just not taking care of their players as well as they could. Now my other question, we just mentioned the kind of coaching. I'm going to talk to you about Kyle Shanahan. So I have some stats 70 and 60 with the 49ers, which I would, when I, before I saw that, I would expect it a better record started out the first couple of years were bad and then he, it goes to the super bowl. And then he has the follow up year. That's pretty bad. That was an injury riddled year, similar to what they're experiencing this year and similar

Jacob:

Yeah.

Jason Harwood:

Lions

Jacob:

is repeating itself.

Jason Harwood:

it's just You know, this has happened before, but an interesting set that I'd read in one score games, Kyle Shanahan's record is 0. 378. So he doesn't seem to win a lot of the close games and that, kind of goes hand in hand with what's happened in the Superbowl, right? It's for him. So what is your thoughts on Kyle Shanahan? And I'm assuming you think he's going to be there next year, but what are your thoughts on Kyle Shanahan?

Jacob:

Yeah. That's, something else that was interesting too, as they talked about him possibly leaving or being traded out of there, finding a way for him to get out of San Fran too. But you know, he's had a lot of success. They haven't won the Superbowl, but they've been to the Superbowl twice. They've been to the NFC, they lost the NFC championship game a couple of times too. They had quite the run the last couple of years. They've been consistently on top with decent records, everything, I definitely think he's still going to be the head coach next year there if he wants to be, and I don't see, any reason why he would want to bounce, especially when you've got McCaffrey coming back, you've got the offense, it's just a down year for them, like we said, history repeats itself, they had a down year the last time the Chiefs took him out in the Super Bowl, it seems to be going, maybe they're going to go on another run, and be the top team again for the next couple of years, but I also don't think if you look at Kyle Shanahan, I mean, he's one of the younger coaches, right? Like he's still not that old. He still has a lot going for him. His coaching pedigree, the people that he's coached under and everything that he's got, you're not going to find any upgrade. I don't think, there's nothing in it for the 49ers to let him go because of this season. Right. What are your thoughts? Like,

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, I think he's going to be there. But I also think this is a overall warning for lions fans that you can have a pretty good coach, which I think Kyle Shanahan is, and you could have some down years. And this is what happens. If you don't have a solid locker room, one thing I think is, Dan Campbell's superpower is getting everyone to buy in. I'm not saying that Kyle Shannon hasn't got his team to buy in, this is the, if you don't get the right players in there, and that can be just as much on the GM as, as the coach, don't get that team mentality, things could fall apart in a hurry. Lions haven't lost back to back games and, since that one and six start, they just haven't back to back games in a while. And that's. This is a sign of a team that's together and can win. But the caveat is, you could have the injuries in the right spot. Hold their offense was predicated around McCaffrey and they lost that.

Jacob:

Right. Yeah.

Jason Harwood:

some of those injuries are gonna just be hard to overcome, but that's what makes what happened with the Lions

Jacob:

Okay.

Jason Harwood:

so miraculous. We lost Hutch, who's essentially off on that side of the ball, and until the injuries started to really pile up where our defense was still ranked number one in the league. So, I, that's where I think Dave Campbell shines above a lot of other coaches. I think Kyle Shanahan will be there next year, but he has had some down seasons and he doesn't. to be able to handle adversity as well as Dan Campbell's teams have at least recently.

Jacob:

Right. I will also say that, from their, I don't know if 49ers don't have an offensive coordinator, but I mean, their coordinator positions and stuff like that. I don't think that those coaches are necessarily as strong as ours. Right. And that's, what we've got going for us right now is the same coaching staff for the last couple of years also.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah. Well, we also 49ers keep losing coaches cause they keep winning and, lines are going to experience that soon enough and possibly this off season. So we'll see how, we recover from losing a coach, a coach. and there. But I think part of what 49ers, why they do that is they have some consistency as moving up coaches and just consistent philosophy. So the players can buy into that. I, and I think the Lions will have that similar thing. If we, we lose AG, then we, Bring Shep up and, he's going to have a similar type of philosophy as AG learning under him. That, we'll see how that goes, but that's an, that's an interesting point you brought up about, the assistant coaches and stuff like that.

Jacob:

before we have the keys of victory, I just have a couple interesting things that have come up just about the lions. Just so we can talk about our own team again. I don't know if you saw these, but just some things I want to go over. The lions are the only team in the NFL to have a running back with 1000 rush yards and 10 touchdowns and a receiver with 1000 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. And that's a Monroe St. Brown and Jameer Gibbs. Gibbs has at least 70 scrimmage yards in every game this season. It's the first time it's been done since David Johnson in 2016. And he also tied Barry Sanders record for longest streak in team history. And then outside of that, he also joins Barry Sanders and Billy Sims as the only running backs in franchise history to produce a season with 1, 500 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns. Who's laughing about the Gibbs pick now, right?

Jason Harwood:

exactly. Great point. Yeah. I still flashbacks to being at Ford field when that pick was made.

Jacob:

Yeah, right,

Jason Harwood:

night and people were mad and walking up in the aisle going, this is why we are the way we are. And yeah. And I was, surprised by the pick. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt until they're proven wrong. And glad I did because Fred Holmes looks like a genius right now. Yeah,

Jacob:

happened I didn't have that on my drive forward. There was the, like, the outside chance we were thinking about Bijan. Like, maybe if we're going to go running back, if we've got the high and then, we trade back and everything and then for it to be Gibbs, like, okay, what do they see? What do they see in this guy? And, now we see what they saw, right? That's why we don't make the decisions. A lot of fans, they're saying people that were like, this is why we are the way we are. Those are the people that probably have Gibbs jerseys on,

Jason Harwood:

I agree. I think I made the comment. I don't know if it was a comment to you or my buddy Paul. One of the two. I just said, when he has a 70 yard touchdown, everyone's thoughts are going to change. I didn't think it'd take a season and a half to get the 70 yard touchdown. But yeah, he changed people's minds really quick. So yeah.

Jacob:

right?

Jason Harwood:

And

Jacob:

and then Munrah, he was the, other part of that statistic, he joined Larry Fitzgerald as the only player in the NFL history with multiple seasons of 100 plus receptions, 100 plus receiving yards and 10 plus touchdowns within the first four years of a player's career. So suck on that. Jamar chase.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, one of those players was drafted in the first round and one of those players was drafted in the fourth round. Larry Fitzgerald, one of the all time greats, but yeah, I mean, when you talk about value per pick. I'm going to start out with my keys to victory. It's actually going to include Amin Ra. So all my key to victory is remember last year, just remember how we felt at the end of last year and Amin Ra basically said that he goes, it's one of the worst losses of his career. And I feel like they're going to come right out and have that feeling and have something to prove, even though you, like you said, a lot of the starters are different. The team situations are different. They're going to remember being out there just, it was earlier this year. Well, it wasn't even, it hasn't even been a full calendar year since we've walked out. That field is not going to the super bowl after being up by 17. So they're going to remember that and that's all they got. Not that they need additional motivation, but that's all, that's all they need right there is remember last year.

Jacob:

Right. First key to victory I have is just, don't let Brock pretty scramble. We saw it last year. It's been the same thing this year where he's not a run first quarterback. But he has the ability to extend plays and convert those crucial 3rd downs, which, happened at some really bad times last year, late in the game. We were able to sack him twice and cause him to throw a pick with pressure. So, hopefully we're able to do that again. We can send Iffy and Branch a few times like we did last week, disguise some different looks so he doesn't see where the pressure's coming from. Cause he will make some mistakes, but I just, you can't let him scramble around and create that extra time. And our linebackers just really need to be prepared to step up if he scrambles. And that's where it'd be helpful if Jerm plays and that we don't have to have, Zeke Turner or Ben Neiman out there to make those plays.

Jason Harwood:

Yep, yeah, he's produce rush for 311 yards. This is actually one of my keys to victory too. So, he's rushed for 311 yards. He's rushed more this year than he has in the past, because of the injuries on offense. And the offensive line is breaking down. So he's just had to escape more to just keep the offense moving. We need to keep the pressure on Brock Purdy. Like you said, we got him for a couple of sacks last year. He did throw a pick on us. struggled in the last game when Dolphins got pressure on him. So we just need to keep that up. And it may be easier because of the offensive line injuries that we talked about earlier.

Jacob:

Yes. Hopefully. I mean, and just if we're going to talk about that again real quick, the injuries. If they're looking towards next year, you've got, I think they've got two of their starting offensive linemen that are healthy right now, the other ones are, are they really fighting the play? Are they trying to hold them out to be safe? Are they trying to protect Brock Purdy? It's going to be interesting to see whether they actually play or not. And then, it goes for Nick Bosa also. He got a full practice in and everything. Is Nick Bosa going to play? If he plays, is he going to be giving 110 percent because that's kind of where he differs from Aiden Hutchinson is I feel like he does not go necessarily as hard as Hutch does on most of those plays and in a game where nothing matters. Maybe he rams it up on third downs, but outside of that, is he just out there going through the motions, trying not to get hurt? So, that'll be interesting too. On defense, key to victory I have is just limiting Deebo and Kittle. Deebo has had a very, a really down year. Other than the week that they played the Vikings, he's been very ineffective without IU drawing defenses away. Juwan Jennings, though, has been able to, kind of capitalize on that and has been having a pretty good year. Deebo still has big playability, so you have to account for him at all times, but yeah, has been, Really average, I would say this year. I know he had, maybe he's got two games where he's had more than a hundred yards and the one game he had like an 80 yard touchdown or something. So really, outside of the one game, he hasn't played very well. And that's somebody else that's like, I just don't, it doesn't seem like he's really got a whole lot of leadership qualities. It just seems like he's, even said earlier, a few weeks ago that I need to be touching the ball more, so then they gave him plenty of touches and he still finished with like 40 yards or something like that. It just, Not ideal part of the team, but then you got George Kittle who, Kittle doesn't have any games with double digit catches, but it's more about the impact for him and less about the volume and Kittle is tough to cover. He's tough in all aspects of the game. He's just a really good, complete tight end, but I'm really interested to see Campbell versus Kittle to see how he, how Campbell doesn't coverage against George Kittle and also just, on those blocks and everything, if Kittle's blocking him to see how Campbell does, cause he's been playing so well this year.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, Kittle's been, like I said, PFF number one ranked tight end. He's been fairly healthy this year. That's something he hasn't had in the last couple of years. He's had some injuries. So yeah, I, we have to watch along with what you said about Deebo Sanyo. We have to watch him lining up in the backfield. They have been using him as a running back more, especially with the running backs being out. to like a DJ Moore situation where we saw with the Bears, right. Where. just going to try to get him the ball and create matchups wherever. So you have to keep an eye on Debo, whether the want is there and whether he's going to be playing as hard. I, I don't know Debo that well, but I just know that he hasn't had that great of a season. So for whatever reason, so we just got to keep an eye on him because he is, him and Kittle are the playmakers right now on their team. So we, you just have to You know, keep an eye on them. We have to win the turnover battle that goes every week. We could say that San Francisco is negative five and turnover differential. Whereas the lines are plus nine. I suspect that's why the San Francisco's aren't score isn't scoring as many points is because they're turning the ball over more than they're creating turnovers lines, just need to keep that up that, we need to take away possessions from that 49ers offense. And we just need to convert on our end. And so. We're in the right position to be on the plus side of it. They're on the negative side to just keep that, trend going.

Jacob:

Absolutely. I mean, that's the name of the game, when the turnover battle also, I've got a quote here from Campbell too, which is something that I said earlier, but just, about playing Detroit football. Dan Campbell the quote says, I wanted to see us play Detroit football and I wanted to win. That was it. I gave no other stipulations. So that's kind of just the story from here on out for sure. It doesn't matter how we win. Stick to our guns, play like we know that we can, and we'll win the football game by any means necessary. As long as we, are taking care of the ball. And, we're effectively using our rushing attack and using that to open up the passing attack. And that's the last key to victory I have is to feed Gibbs the ball. He's a weapon, we really unleashed him last week. He went for 154 yards. We just need to see a lot of the same, having him to having him as a threat to touch the ball every single time really opens up the play action. And that's where it really dangerous is, the linebackers and safeties, when they see that handoff, they have to crash down. They have to, even if it just takes that one extra step, they have to account for that because our rushing attack is so effective. And the 49ers for whatever reason, I've been allowing like 150 plus rushing yards in like five of the last six games, they've really had teams running all over them. They've had all the issues with the linebackers, green law out. Fred Warner is as consistent as they come, but he's, I think he's playing with like a broken hand or something like that. Like Fred Warner has been hurt all year and it's still been playing. We already talked about Devondra Campbell quit on the team. He was playing well, but he's not there anymore. I think that's the recipe for success as it has always been for us as use that effective rushing attack to open up the play action, opening up the pass and soften up the and, just win by any means necessary.

Jason Harwood:

Okay. So Jameer Gibbs is going to be, is one of my keys. It's funny. All your keys were my keys. So

Jacob:

Yeah.

Jason Harwood:

was interesting. It was like, you were reading my document over here, but Jameer Gibbs is going to be a key. We got to establish the run. The 49ers are 20th against the play action in the league right now. So. Again, establishing the run play action, funny enough works, whether you're establishing the run or not, but I just feel like it, can get those linebackers to bite up a little bit more, get the intermediate passing. Like I said, they're number one in intermediate passing. We need to move those linebackers up to create passing lanes for Jared golf. So we can hit Amin, Ross, Sam Laporta maybe Jamo over the top or whatever, but we need to see it's a play action pass and move that up. 49ers are not effective in the, their run defense. So this seems like a pretty good recipe for Jameer to have a good game. I just have a couple more stats just to watch out for. So lions Jared golf has been really good against the blitz this year. Part of that's the offensive line picking up part of it's just Jared golf, the experience and know what to do. The 49ers defense is 29th when they blitz, I do not expect a lot of blitzes in this. And that's probably why they're intermediate. Past defense is good. The linebackers play back. They're not, leaving the middle of the field open. Offense is eighth against the Blitz. Whereas the Lions defense is number one with the Blitz. If we get germ back, I expect we might be blitzing a little bit more, especially with iffy out there, iffy and branch, splitting that time at nickel or, however they divvy that up. We'll probably blitz because I getting pressure on Brock Purdy has been the key. So I expect us to blitz. We've been one of the highest teams blitzing since Hutch went down that trend's going to continue this week as well. All right, real quickly. I want to talk real quick About the Vikings Packers Minnesota's favored by one this week. I'll be tuned into this game, Jacob. I'm assuming that you're going to be sitting on your couch watching this game as well, or do you have plans on Sunday?

Jacob:

No, Sunday, most of the time, is football day. I might be doing some other things, I'll keep an eye on it, I might have red zone on. I don't want to get too involved. I can't be rooting for the Packers too much, it just doesn't sit right.

Jason Harwood:

We'll be watching the game. My whole family will be Sarah last week, like before the lion's game of the bear, she's, we were talking about, probably have scenarios. She listened to the podcast. She goes, so what time is the Vikings Packers game? And that was before it got moved to four 25. I think I said, I think it's just a one o'clock game. I get home. I said, they moved that game to 425. She goes, I already know. So my wife is like totally in tune with what's going on. I know we'll be watching the game. I'm living my best life here, Jacob. So

Jacob:

Right? Awesome.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah. Packers I've been playing really good football. It's in Minnesota, but. The Minnesota is only favored by one. Generally, the rule of thumb is, the home teams gets three points just off the bat for just being the whole team. So it's almost like the Packers are favored here. So that's I can't believe I'm saying it, but I hope the Packers pull this one off. It should be a good game. It'll be fun to watch. I can't wait to watch it. Actually.

Jacob:

Right? I mean, they, the last matchup was a 29 31 Vikings victory, Other than that loss, they, let's see,

Jason Harwood:

That was the

Jacob:

so I lost the Vikings.

Jason Harwood:

nothing to that game

Jacob:

Yeah,

Jason Harwood:

28, nothing, and then

Jacob:

right. And they came back.

Jason Harwood:

fell apart in the second half Packers came roaring back, but did just enough to win that game.

Jacob:

Yeah, that was week four. And since then they're only losses the Packers only losses have been to us. And then you've got the Vikings. Obviously they've only got two losses all year. One of those was to us. And then the other one was the week after against the Rams. I guess this is an interesting question. Are you more scared right now of playing the Packers or the Vikings in the playoffs?

Jason Harwood:

That's a really good question. I'm honestly not scared of either team, to be

Jacob:

I guess that's the wrong, I pulled like a Stephanie thing. So you're not ever scared of anything at all. Right? That's not inducing.

Jason Harwood:

beat the Packers twice. had the Vikings number the last couple of years, and I think we match up pretty well with them. Yeah. can't say that I don't like that Carlton Davis is out with Justin Jefferson.

Jacob:

Yep.

Jason Harwood:

been good out there, you're asking a lot cause Justin awesome. So that does scare me. We've beat the Packers twice. They, I, they're all good teams. I don't want to play any of those good teams. Or I'd rather play

Jacob:

Right. Well, any given Sunday, I mean, any of these teams could be any of the other teams, any week, I'm not going to say that, if we play a team 10 times, we're going to beat them 10 out of 10. No, I think all of these teams is closer to, neck and neck. It's just with the Vikings for me, I really have been way less impressed with the Vikings than I have the Packers. There's so many of the wins by the Vikings that have been such close calls or they've had, this will go their way that go their way, their defense has been pretty consistent, but their offense has not. The bears took them to overtime. They had the really close game against the Jaguars, the Titans, pretty much up and down. They've had so many of these really close. Like if you take all their one possession games and flip flop them to losses, they would be already out of the playoffs by now.

Jason Harwood:

I agree with that. That's a Vikings had that, that year that they won all those games, made the playoffs and got bounced the first year. They want all those close games. And it feels very similar to this. Like just lucked out and won so many close games, but there is something to say that the pulling those close games out, right. I mean, to be, to figure out how to win I'm not saying none of that was luck, but that is there is some. Some sort of skill there. We're just learning how to win.

Jacob:

Well, I guess with a Texans game, I mean, you can't really, there were some things that had to go our way in that Texans game outside of just our play. And it, it did.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, exactly. So I don't know the answer to that question. Do I, team is really good. The Packers probably have been playing better lately, but we've already beat the Packers twice. We'll see if we'll match up with the Minnesota, whether it'll all be on the line or nothing will be on the line and, a couple of weeks here. So, maybe my answer might change after seeing how Justin Jefferson and Kevin O'Connell attack Lions defense being down with injuries getting the playoffs, our defense is going to look a little different too, getting Alex back, Jerm back, and, maybe Dave Montgomery would be coming back on our offense. So, we'll see. I probably would lean to rather play in Minnesota, but I am scared, like I said, about our cornerback over there and then facing Justin Jefferson, because no one like Justin Jefferson. He is just unreal.

Jacob:

Right, right.

Jason Harwood:

let's get on to grip picks. Let's let's fly through these pretty quickly. Last week I went 2 1. You went 1 2. Had the Chargers over the Broncos. We both picked the Broncos. The box and the Cowboys one and then saints at Packers, just, saints, what? That was an ugly Monday night

Jacob:

We knew it was going to look like that, right? I mean, I knew they didn't stand a chance. It was even worse than I thought though.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah it looked bad. Preston was wanting to stay up and watch the game. I was like 14, nothing. I was like, it's over. And he's like, it's not over. I go, the saints aren't going to be able to score 14 points in this game. It is over. And yeah, they didn't end up scoring anything. Let's talk this week. We're going to pick the Thursday night football game, which is we're recording at Thursday night right now, as of as we're talking, it is six to three Seahawks. I am actually going with the bears in this one. I texted you before the game ahead of time, Jacob. So you knew I was picking. So if the score was different, you wouldn't be calling me a front runner or whatever. So I'm going with the bears. Who are you taking this one?

Jacob:

Yeah, you did that because you knew if by chance the bears were out big at this point I would have called you out and said there's no chance that you would pick them to win.

Jason Harwood:

Exactly. Yeah.

Jacob:

so yeah, you text me that you picked them to win. Seahawks were favored by four and a half. The Bears are on a really long losing streak, so they desperately need a win. This is their last home game of the season. So, they have nothing to lose. They should be going all out. But if you're the Seahawks, you still have a shot at the playoffs. You have to win this game. The bears are reeling right now. Nothing's going right for them. The Seahawks really have to take it to them and when I'm picking the Seahawks to win, although as of right now, it's just been kind of a dud six to three at the, towards the end of the third, we'll see, I think the Seahawks are going to pull it out, but if the bears keep it closed, maybe they are able to make something happen.

Jason Harwood:

It's raining pretty hard right now there, too, which is interesting. It seems like there's been a lot of weather games this year, either like hard rain or, weather in these primetime games. All

Jacob:

Was it the bear or the bills? One of them was like with their new stadium proposal or whatever said that they're still not being a dome. They're still going to make it outdoors.

Jason Harwood:

I thought it

Jacob:

of those two teams.

Jason Harwood:

I think the bear, the bills will always be out outdoors. I don't know for sure, but I think bears was going to get a new same, they got, especially being as close to the lake there. Yeah. I would think they would, they'd want to be a dome,

Jacob:

Why wouldn't like, I mean, it just, everything I've ever interacted with a thing. Outdoor football is cool in the Midwest until frickin December. And then you really need that dome. You need to cover Of football. Just, and there's always the argument like, well, the other team has to come out and play in the two. And if they're, a warm weather team, maybe they'll struggle with it. But everybody struggles when it's cold. I just don't see the benefit of, maybe you're from here and you're a little more used to the cold weather. But yeah.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, as we're talking, the

Jacob:

There's a pig six.

Jason Harwood:

They fumbled it, they ruled it like, I don't know, they never must have never blew the whistle. I don't have the sound on scored a touchdown. So, I think it's going to be ruled down just based on my quick

Jacob:

They're arguing right now. I can't tell.

Jason Harwood:

they're

Jacob:

right.

Jason Harwood:

he pulled it out. It's definitely a fumble, but I think it's going to be, he's going to be touched, but we'll see. Anyways, let's get onto this. We're going to pick the Saturday night football game, Arizona at the Rams. Who are you picking in this one, Rams or Cardinals, Jacob?

Jacob:

Yes. Another one where Cardinals have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Rams are leading the division, but they don't have it locked up yet. The Rams are at home. They're looking for payback because the Cardinals earlier this year beat them 41 to 10. They smoked them earlier. So the Rams definitely have more on the line on this one. I think the Rams are going to win.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, I'm going with the Rams too, definitely from what you said they just have more on the line, but although it's a divisional game there's nothing, if you're out of it, you want to make your, people in your division suffer as well. So Cardinals will be on this, but yeah, I'm going to go with the Rams. Next game is a game that was flexed into Sunday night football. This one's got some playoff implications for sure. Atlanta at the com commanders. Commanders did us some help last week. Taking out the Eagles. So maybe we're rooting for them just because of that. Atlanta is because of the Bucs loss to the Cowboys is they're now the front runner for the NFC South, which, could have some playoff implications too, about who we face and when we face them. So interesting. I'm going to take Atlanta in this one. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he took the commanders, but I'm going with Atlanta.

Jacob:

Yeah, this one's interesting because now, it's a primetime matchup and it's rookie quarterbacks. Jane Daniels has been on fire. He had that huge victory against the Eagles. He threw five touchdown passes. Michael Penix is only going to be making a second start for the Falcons who are leading the division. So, This looks like it's gonna be a really good game. I like the late season primetime games that really matter. So it's nice, for them to flex stuff and change stuff around, atlanta needs to win to stay on top of the division. Washington needs to win to stay in line for a wild card spot. There's a lot on the line in this one. I will say, last week I think Atlanta had a little bit of an easier game. So maybe they come into this one a little fresher than Washington. Because Washington had a hard fought game against the Eagles. But Dan Quinn the commander's head coach, I'm sure he wants to beat the Falcons. Because this is his first game back since the Falcons let him go a few years ago. So I'm actually going with the commanders in this one.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah. We'll see how it goes. And then Monday Night Football, which is the game we've been discussing all day, and we don't pick those, Detroit and San Francisco. So yeah, we'll end the week there. Hopefully that game matters because that would mean the Packers had beat the Vikings and we can have some online stay up and Get the number one seat. How excited, then I won't be able to sleep

Jacob:

Yes.

Jason Harwood:

you're watching all the playoff scenarios and everything go through. And yeah speak of that. So obviously next week our podcast will be a day late, just because, we don't, we're not going to record on Monday night because the game will be going on. So we'll do it on Tuesday and then release on Wednesday. And then we're kind of playing with how we're going to do next week. It depends on how, Much the game matters. Are we going to have a guest on, how are we going to do things? We'll figure that out next week, but we'll probably release that on Thursday, like we normally would. So our release schedule next week is going to be Wednesday and Thursday as least how it stands right now. All right, Jacob, it's time for our great guarantee. to go first or you want me to go first?

Jacob:

I'll go first, I have a different, I don't think I've had this as my guaranteed all this year. I'm going to say the same Laporte that catches at least five passes.

Jason Harwood:

All right.

Jacob:

I think the 49ers are going to have to make some things up in their defense. They're going to have to try to prevent Gibbs from having a huge day. And I think that results in maybe, some of these linebackers or safeties being out of position and maybe some miscommunication. And I'm going to say Laporte gets at least five catches.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah. LaPorta has been definitely more part of the offense in the last couple of weeks, whether that's him becoming healthy, him getting, just things have been opening up. I'm not sure, but I like what he's. I think he's going to be for this team for the rest of the season and in the playoffs. I think he's going to be a big player for us for the rest of the season on offense. so I like your pick there, Jacob. Mine is, I mean, I haven't done this one yet too. I think the lions are going to cover the spread. It's three and a half right now. I think they're going to cover that and I think it's going to be more. I think that they're going to just want to go out with vengeance, whether this means anything as far as playoffs or anything, I think the lions are going to have a Cowboys type game. So I'm, you're betting.

Jacob:

I hope so.

Jason Harwood:

and the points, so, so yeah, it's good. I'm glad your Christmas was good, Jacob. And yeah.

Jacob:

Same.

Jason Harwood:

yeah, it's I had to go to work this morning, so, it was a quick turnaround for me. It's always weird going back to work after Christmas, just cause everything's shut down at our work and then we come back into a fresh day. But

Jacob:

A full day behind.

Jason Harwood:

yeah, full day behind. That's what it feels like, but it's worth it. Got to spend a lot of good time with my family and So, and

Jacob:

Awesome.

Jason Harwood:

I like your lion's gear back there. So, oh man, Caleb Williams just goes down terrible. Like a 15 yard sack, but anyways, go bears this week and get, I'm

Jacob:

No.

Jason Harwood:

up to you. I don't have very much time to catch up to you. So this season we'll see if I can get my grip picks up, but I don't know. But

Jacob:

say go bears. You root for them silently. If you say go, I'll quit the podcast right now.

Jason Harwood:

definitely not going to say that. I'm not

Jacob:

root for them quietly. We want them to win.

Jason Harwood:

know it's going to be so tough on Sunday, but I am not going to be the only lions fan rooting for them. And I'm sure I wonder if I'm gonna, I was going to wear his green base sucks shirt on Sunday. Do you think

Jacob:

Right? Keep that one in the bag for that one day.

Jason Harwood:

Yeah, exactly. So, all right, Jacob for for talking grid, I'm Jason. He's Jacob. go lions.

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Jacob Litton

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Jason Harwood

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