 You wanted our Mange, Matthew Hamilton? I'll give you our Mange. Hammie! I can't even hear you. I'm going to do the whole show like this. This is exactly what we want. This is, yeah, everything will go perfectly smoothly with you in a pool by a cactus with the our Mange shirt on. This is it. This is what we want. Okay, it's not what we want, but we have a great show. Our last show of the year and our last show from Cabo, probably forever. So let's do this thing up and down. Oh, let's go, bye. And happy New Year to everybody. Last show of the year, we are off on Friday. So first I'd like to say happy New Year to my staff, everybody on crew, everybody at FanDuel, on our floor especially. All of the TV people trying to make FanDuel TV happen and that work on up and Adams and the other programming, the editors, the stage guys. Stephen, I miss you and my coffee every morning. So happy to be back in LA starting next week, but happy New Year and hopefully everybody's enjoying their day off and the three-day weekend that we have granted ourselves and have been granted to spend some time with family and loved ones. So happy New Year to everybody out there. I'd love to know your plans. Let me know at up and Adams show. Please tweet me final show. And it's a big one. We got big news coming out of Vegas with Derek Carr. We'll get into that with Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston because there might be some weird Brady connection to that. And he knows Brady in and out. We'll also get to what's going on with the Patriots as they cling to their playoff hopes. They got to take down the dolphins and win out and have a bunch of other things happen. So Super Bowl champion Eric Weddle will stop by as well. We've got the weekly gritless going on. And then it is TNF action. So we got to get into that with the Cowboys going to Nashville to take on the Titans who are still scrapping to win the AFC South. And this game actually means more to the Cowboys. Let's get into it. I'll explain why here. A win keeps the Cowboys chances of winning the NFC East alive. They need to win against the Titans and against the Commanders and have the Eagles lose out to the Saints and Giants to make it happen. Now on the same side of things, sorry on the Titan side of things rather, a win doesn't really help them. That's why you're seeing this Derek Henry not going to play. They're going to rest all these guys. Wrable is just doing a smart thing. The AFC South is going to come down to the Week 18 meeting with the Jags regardless of what happens tonight. So Doug Peterson says the Jags are going to play full go. All their guys this weekend anyway. So Wrable is taking a different approach here and you got to respect it. They've already ruled out eight starters. Townhill is not playing. It's looking like they'll be without Henry, as I said. Eagles fans and people, Derek Henry on their fantasy team, they're not happy. But guess what? Wrable doesn't care. He wants to get his team arrested for what matters in Week 18. So we'll see whose strategy plays off in the de facto AFC South Championship game next week. And I love this because there's always these questions, especially in the office. What would you do if you had the situation or this playoff scenario, it's situational playoff picture. And we get to see what's a fun level experiment between the Jags and the Titans, which works out. So now you understand why it matters more to the Cowboys tonight. Okay, Josh McDaniels got to get to this news. Oh my goodness. Could there be, just cover where I come to just have tons of news happen in a given week. It's unbelievable. He announced that the Raiders are going to be benching Derek Carr, as I'm sure you know, because you don't live under a rock. And they're going to excuse him from practice for the rest of the season, something about him being a bit of a distraction. He's going to, they agree to have him like peace out from the team. It's all very weird. And this move, a move like this is one that you have to think is going to potentially end a nine season run that Derek Carr's had with the team. And everything's gone wrong in Vegas for Derek Carr, honestly, and he hasn't had a top defense as Daniel Rolofsky will, you know, die on the hill and point out to. And I agree with him. He hasn't had one that has been really strong in close to a decade playing there. And the defense was never top 10. They had questionable coaching moments along the way, of course. And this season, this one of all of them was the worst statistical season of his career. Carr threw a career high 14 receptions. He had his lowest completion percentage and pass the rating since his rookie year in 2014. And, you know, this was with DeMonte Adams, who's putting up middle finger emojis on Instagram. This is with Josh Jacobs leading the NFL in rushing this year. So what that does is open up floodgates. Who will go to Vegas this off season? Are they going to figure out something with Devontae Adams that makes him happy? They just gave him all that money. He called Derek Carr the reason he's a raider. He played out and said, this is why I'm here. This is my guy. I mean, is Devontae Adams going to say, I want out of here? And where does Derek Carr end up in all of this? It's fascinating. So at this point, we don't know. But there's a coach who is pulling the strings there. Highly anticipated coach, a offensive mastermind, if you will, who's won several Super Bowls up there in New England. And so we bring in a guy from New England. Do I love my good friend Tom Curran of NBC Sports, Boston, and a host of Patriots, the Patriots podcast, Patriots Talk podcast. To sort some of this stuff out. It's kind of a mess around the NFL, huh? Yeah, it is. And to me, what's interesting is when you see this Derek Carr thing happen, Kay, you look at what the bar is and you can look at the stats and the numbers and say, man, this guy throws a 4,000 almost every year. But it's a look and a feel about a position too. And the amount of money that's spent, like the $44 million was going to be guaranteed right at the early part of 2023 for Derek Carr. The radio said, look, we have to push away from the table on it. He's not someone who's performing at that level. It shows us how hard it is to go into these jobs, Kay, too, and have to make that really hard decision because you and I have both watched Derek Carr this season, teary-eyed, doing everything Josh McDaniels asked for him. So I can understand why Devonte Adams looks at it and goes, man, this is what we're doing to our loyal soldiers, but it's a business decision. Well, you know Josh McDaniels from 14 years that he spent there in New England. Why do you think it didn't work out between McDaniels and Carr? Too many critical moment mistakes in terms of, I think, when you watch it poise. I think that Derek Carr is a prolific quarterback. I just think that at moments when you need accuracy and poise and the ability to thread throws, it's not there. I don't think that he is, he likes to project that he's got a little bit of a swagger, but I think he plays scared sometimes. And it's hard to define. I just don't think that you look at his game, Kay, and say he's in command. You know what I'm saying? And I think that that's what Josh wants. He wants an extension of himself on the field with someone who feels like, okay, I understand what's going on. But the funny thing is, is Josh can be a little bit high strung himself on the sidelines. Yeah, and it hasn't always worked out as a head coach and it's not working out right now. And that's just one quick thing. That's exactly what happened with him in Denver. You know, the Jettison J. Koppler. And the next thing, I think it was Kyle Wharton and then they draft him Tebow and off the rails and he's back in New England and Jiffy. Well, so let's talk about what this Jiffy could be because you're here, you're plugged in and you just sort of know what couldn't happen. I always ask you stuff like that. So there's always an instant, you know, hack it gets fired and it's Sean Payne will go. There's these storylines that just like marry themselves. Right. Is there a chance that we could be building towards a Tom Brady, Josh McDaniels ringing because he certainly would be that extension of himself on the field that commands the offense like he sees fit. I think that it's a more remote chance than we would really think. I mean, what's there that would attract him? Well, Devonte Adams, Hunter Renfrow, Darren Waller, Josh Jacobs, Josh McDaniels, Ziggler, Mickle and Barty, guys that Brady was familiar with. But I think he also will look at the offensive line. He will look at the defense, which has been a little bit spotty and he would also look at his personal situation, K, obviously. He'd be going to the desert close to the West Coast, a little bit closer to family immediate, you know, blood family in San Francisco and San Mateo. But he'd also be moving further away, perhaps, from where his kids are now that they've encountered a split, which is also there's that dynamic. And at 46, how complicated do you want to make your life? We say that, but we've been saying that a long time. At 44, how complicated do you want to make your life? At 42, at 40. Isn't that when you start thinking about the family? I don't know what pulls him. If you wanted to be like, wouldn't he have been by family already? Wouldn't that count coming to his decision before? It becomes, what does Tom Brady want? I know. I'm sorry, you can switch this from, you know, Raiders fans are like, what's going on with our team? And we're going to put it to Brady. And, you know, New England fans always invested in that because it's a guy who means the most to them up there in New England. And he rules our league. Where is he going? He's the best and everybody wants to know. I asked Gromp when he was on my show. What do you think about him? I said, where would you be least surprised? I crafted it that way. Where would you be least surprised if he went? And he said Tampa Bay, that he'd stay in Tampa Bay, that he knows those guys, that he knows that system. And I was surprised to hear even that, but he goes, Tom just wants to be happy. And I thought there was such a simple obviousness to that, but it's true. Then you start thinking what makes him happy and is it just playing football? Would he rather play for the Texans or the Bears and lose than not play at all? That's where I am with Tom Brady now. No, I think it's, look, there's, see, I know that you play a ton of golf and love the sport. When you're really the better golfers, and I'm not one, but guys who shoot 70s, 75, when they don't play and they go out and they shoot 82, they don't even want to play anymore. They can't be satisfied with playing mediocre golf that other people would be delighted by. So they quit the game if they can't play at that level. And I think that Brady would be the same way. So what are the landing spots? It has to be a ready-made situation like Tampa Bay was. Las Vegas does qualify for that. What's interesting to me is there has to be an alternative plan. And Kay, when you look at Josh McDaniels, who would he covet as a quarterback to run his systems? He going to dip into the draft? Is he going to, you know, most outlandish, but worth batting it around? Would he call Bill Belichick and say, can you send Mack out here? Because I really like working with him. I mean, it's not like Mack Jones, who's got each touchdowns and seven picks this year, is right now playing at a level that exceeds Derek Carr, although I do think he has better. I better ceiling than Derek Carr does. I mean, there's something has to happen in Vegas. Something has to happen in San Francisco. Where does Brock Purdy go? This is a domino that fell yesterday, Kay, as you are well aware and starting the show with it, that is going to have ramifications all over the week. And Brady being out there too has ramifications. Yeah. Does McDaniels like Mack Jones from what you know? Big fan? Loves him. Absolutely loves him. Just a great, great kinship that I think that they established over the course of 2021. And I think that's what's going to be interesting to watch work is what kind of kinship Mack has had. It's not been good. What would it be like going forward if it is indeed Bill O'Brien who comes back and we presume Bill O'Brien would come back to New England, but other teams might be interested in having him go as well to wherever they need. So this is going to be a fun little stretch. It is, but maybe your stretch as a covering the Patriots for the season isn't over yet. They have fallen those paths to seven and eight. It's not great, but they are still alive. If you look at the playoff picture, everybody, they're a game back of the Dolphins for the final wild card spot in the AFC, but Tom, the path is pretty clear for them. If they beat Miami, that's this week's task, and they beat Buffalo, and that's the top for one in the final two weeks here. They lock up the last remaining playoff spot. They're in charge. They have lost four or five right now. So I ask you, what do they need to change to get things back on track against a spiraling Miami? Just score a touchdown here and there. Okay. Just a touchdown once in a while. It's not a ricochet touchdown. I mean, the last week, there are two touchdowns offensively. One was a nice drive. They got that one touchdown third of Kendrick Bourne. The other was a third and 29, 49 yard heave that bounced off a guy named Scotty Washington and into the arms of Jacobi Myers. Scotty Washington was on the field for the specific reason that the Patriots are in the situation they're in. He's a tight end. Well, why wasn't Hunter Henry in there? Because John O'smith ran directly into Hunter Henry on the first third down in the game, injuring Hunter Henry. Why was John O'smith out? Because there was a later play design in which Kendrick Bourne was basically on top of John O'smith and invited a sandwiching blow that left John O'smith on the sidelines. So that's the issue. Score some touchdowns, get some points offensively and you're good to go. But I think there's a resignation k that, look, it's just not going to happen. We're just not going to wave a wand and everything gets fixed. And is that because of Matt Jones? I mean, that's who would have to score touchdowns, right? There's so much clamoring for the return of Bailey Zappy up there. And plans continue to be more and more frustrated with him. We talked about it on Quickslan. So he even talked about his bad PR with these dirty hits like we do with Eli. Do you think there's a chance that we see him over these final two weeks? Zappy, I don't think so. I really don't. I think that the relationship right now between Belichick, Patricia, the team, and Jones has to be repaired because it's been a difficult year. They sold Matt Jones and Bill of Goods to be quite honest about it. They told him, look, trust us. We understand that it does not have a direct line logical path for this to be an easy season post Josh. But trust us, we'll put something together for you. We'll have you throw downfield a little bit more. We're going to run some wide zone. And it's been an absolute travesty offensively. Look, eight touchdowns and seven picks. He's barely going to get to 3,000 yards. Can't have it. Can't have it. But are you blaming him for that entirely? I find it hard to blame Matt for what's going on because I think everyone can agree, even as somebody who supports Bill, that there was a mishandling of the play calling situation, right? The offensive line has been a mess. You can't tell me there's not a ton of talent on offense, right? So I do feel a little sensitive about people piling on, Matt, for all that. Yes. So I don't know if I was pile jumping myself. No, it's not him. It's the pivot that they made. And as a result of the pivot and that little stretch of Bayley-Zappie magic that came out, K, people said, well, let's just do that. Well, it's just the teams that they beat, Cleveland and Detroit were complicit in their own demise on those days. It wasn't all Bayley-Zappie. It was Remandre Stevenson just as much in the running game and the defense giving them a lead. But it's been a confusing year. And that's the thing too, K, right? Second year in the league. And you don't know if Matt Jones is any better than you thought at the end of 2021. That's two years, right? So true. I just thought of something, Tom. What? We were talking about McDaniels, the Ripples. Why it should be important to you if you're not a Patriots fan, if you're not a Raiders fan or whatever. But is McDaniels going to want Jimmy G? He really liked Jimmy Garoppolo. He liked his development, liked the way he competed. He liked so much about Garoppolo. Why not, right? He's Garoppolo better than Derek Carr. He's a hell of a lot more injury prone. I mean, it's hard to tell you about- And I think people would argue that you saying is Matt Jones better than Derek Carr. I think is a hot take in national circles, don't you think? Oh, I think it would be too. I just think the number one thing that Matt Jones has, Derek Carr certainly has arm strength over Mc. Probably has a little bit of mobility. I'd call that a dead heat. But in terms of accuracy and poise, as much as Mc has looked a little shaky this year, I think he is a supercomputer behind in the pocket. I think that given the best opportunity, he reads at extremely high level. And I think that Derek Carr, while making decisions, gets jumpy, happy feet and is given to panic. You don't know if- I think Jimmy Garoppolo is an upgrade. Actually, I don't know. But it's his guy, right? That's more what we're talking about. McDaniels wants his guy. His guy would be- He wants his guy. He wants his guy. But if your guy breaks, it's like- Yeah, you need an insurance. I love this car. It's in the shop all the time. It costs you money and costs you. Now you have to take the bus. You don't want to take the bus. Yeah. But you also don't want to piss off your best race car driver. Like when you have this nice car. Like, and that's Devante Adams. Like- Oh, no doubt. I'm Devante Adams right now. And we're talking about Jimmy Garoppolo and we're talking about Mc Jones. And there's even an argument whether or not they're better than what they have. It's like, what are we doing here? Yeah. If you're Devante Adams, you're sitting there and your head is in your hands saying, okay, we got this nitwit from Boston saying, let's go Mc Jones or Jimmy G to throw to me. And I just played with this guy at Fresno and spent all this time in the NFL with him. And I came here to play with him. And now some nitwits out there telling me I should play with Mc Jones or Jimmy Garoppolo. What are we talking about? Because Matt, it was funny. Did you see the text that Josh Allen sent to Von Miller? No, it wasn't. To convince him- Oh, yeah, yeah. With the- You get to take the order back on, yeah. I mean, that's the whisper around the league is like, these guys, you can have them. You can feast on a Mc Jones to a Zach Wilson quarterback contingent. And that was interesting to me. But that would be so Devante Adams- How'd that go over? How'd that go over in New England? We haven't talked about it much. There's so much to talk about. It sounds a little, I don't know, biased. But to not bring that up, I think it's hilarious that he did that. Josh Allen isn't getting enough grief for that either. Like, you'd think that that would be something that you'd get. Josh Allen just doesn't get a lot of grief for anything, though, honestly. It's so busy. Like, the league is so busy. You'd never even get to it. There's so many things going on in every division. Like, just look at the west, AFC West, with Ross and Vegas. Nobody has a quiet happy life anymore. Herbert's going to win the Super Bowl. It's going to all be so incredible. Lots of storylines for you. So Miami, how do we get past Miami if we want the Patriots in the playoffs? Because, you know, no two are out there. We know that. You and I talked about Bridgewater on Quick Slance on NBC Sports Boston, which airs on Tuesdays, which is a live show, which is super fun. Everybody should watch. But, you know, there's all the stats, right? They've had the Patriots number. Who cares who's coaching? Who cares who's the quarterback? Miami's won five of six in this rivalry, including two games in Foxy Town. So why is this team giving the past so many problems? Talent and speed. That's the biggest issue. Look at, for instance, where he most are in the backfield. He's just a fast, one of the fastest backs in the league. The speed of the outside receivers. Tyree killed Jalen Lotto. We understand that. Just Sicki has been a pain in the posterior for the Patriots, too. And it's the ability to feed them the ball. But the Patriots, when they lost in the opener last year to Miami, I think that was up here. Either way, defensively, they were giving massive cushions to some of the Miami receivers. Tyree Kill wasn't even there yet. I think it was Waddle. And they went on a drive in a four-minute situation that just consumed the clock. I don't think the Patriots feel they match up well with the speed. They tried to get faster defensively in this offseason. They've done an okay job of it. They have very fast guys, Marcus Jones, Jack Jones, Jonathan Jones, all the Joneses. But Marcus is hurt this week. He's got a concussion. And Jack Jones is hurt as well. So it's going to be hard for them to stop Miami entirely. And you have to keep the 17 or less, right? Just given the offense? 100%. 100%. All right. We'll see what happens there. But there in the future, on your show, there wasn't talk about this, but I think there's a national sentiment and swirl going on about Belichak and what his future should be. He should think about stepping down after the season. You've been, I think, pretty adamant that that's not happening, right? Right. I don't think he has any attention at all at stepping down. I don't think that anyone in the organization presumes that he will be stepping down. The Mike Sando from The Athletic, did an excellent story. Talked to Bill Polian. He talked about the idea that this is how the crafts should approach it, said Polian. You just walk in and say, Bill, okay, what's your plan? We're not going to smash through the saloon doors and say, you know, with guns blazing. But what's the plan to get better in 2023? And I'm sure that Bill understands what things look like. What's interesting, Kay, is all the kind of ancillary issues. Bill's 20 wins from Don Shula. The Patriots already moved on from Tom Brady and Robert Kraft's watch. Do you move on from the greatest coach of all time, a couple years after the greatest quarterback of all time? Would that land at Robert Kraft's feet? And if the Patriots go to three and 14, people say, well, you blew it, Kraft. So there's a lot of pressure on the organization. And we'll see what happens. I'm glad. I'm glad. I want it to be up to him. I want them to make some changes and own up to some of the missteps that have happened. Because I think that's part of it, accountability. We see it with other coaches. And in 2022, it's something that we just said or sort of don't see with the Patriots organization. And I think that makes them less likable. I do. It does. Yeah. I mean, just the shell game they play with explanations as to why decisions were made. Just to trust us. We understand what we're doing here. And then it doesn't look so good. Kay, what are you doing for New Year's? I hope you're going to wear an outfit like that. That's a great question. I'm in Mexico. I haven't noticed. We know that. All the kids know that. What am I doing? Probably nothing. Probably a little yoga. Probably a little lying on the beach. Maybe get a massage. Can I tell you how many massages I've got this week? Like eight. And the great thing is Kay is like four foot one. So the massage probably takes about three and a half minutes. Full body and she's out of there. No. My whole thing is I go in there and I am, I'm five. Actually, I just weighed myself this morning. I'm 100.9 pounds. And I, and I'm five feet tall. And I go in there and I'm like, no, I want firm. And I write firm, extra firm, deep pressure point. I like, I want someone to walk on my back. I want somebody to really make, I don't, I want to be clenching my teeth the entire time I'm in there. And then they're like, uh-huh. And then they'll still do this. And they'll like, It's like a little cat. Because they think I'm little and I can't handle it. That's what I do. All right. So a massage for New Year's and then a little rice pilaf. And then you can go to bed. Probably. I think, you know, I'm really like into like a New Year. I thought thoughtfulness, mindfulness on my New Year's Eve. So I think New Year's Eve, I think you are probably too in this way. A lot of gratitude, trying to be grateful for what I have and what the things that support me in this world. And I think it'll just be very low key. That you're like, when you're in Cabo, there's this, you know, push towards the resort, the mariachi band or whatever. And I'm not doing any of that. I would rather hide into the covers. You know me though. People think that I'm like, you know that I'm an introvert. You know that I'm from people. I love the fact that Kay, when she has moved on from things just disappears. Like literally goes off far off the grid as you possibly can in 2022. And you know, she showed us a million pictures of her trek to Machu Picchu. Yeah. And I think if I'm not mistaken, am I wrong about this? It's just Kay Fable I created. You did that by yourself. I did it with a girlfriend of mine. Yeah. I did that for a girlfriend of mine. The parts of it were by myself. Yes. But we didn't seem like massive. I've taken so many solo vacations. It's not this massive Instagram event. Yeah. I've taken solo vacations so many times. It's actually absolutely pathetic. I can't even I can't even get into it. But do you have a New Year's resolution? You want to put out into the universe here on the Up and Atom show? Oh, that's a good point. You know, just try try not to worry about what other people are doing, whether it be how they're driving. I'm just not the police. I know citizens arrest mentally. Why is that guy driving like that? Or why does this person feel this way? And trying to direct order from myself to the universe. That bothers me. I wish it was be who cares? What about you? And I think that's that's a big. I listened to my there's a great book. Okay, Untethered Soul. I'm writing it down. What is this book? It's called Untethered Soul. Tell me. It basically trains you to say, okay, your thoughts are basically like a roommate that never shuts up. And it's not you. It's how you're processing the world around you and weighing in on it. It's if you can get back to the thing that watches the thoughts. There's a thing in your head that watches the thoughts. Just look at those thoughts and say, huh? And yeah, and the most successful people and the most self-actualized people know that. Yeah, it's true. So my thoughts about, wow, that guy's a really crappy driver. I, you know, maybe if I can get him in the current box here and I'm in the left lane and he's in the middle lane, I can put him in here and he has to suffer and go 65 for a little while. What am I doing? Just get to where you're going. It's called the current box. Remember it. No, it's called being Petty Murphy, which is what I'm... That's me. I'm Petty like that. It's great. Okay, Tom, I appreciate you so much. My oldest friend. I love you. And I will hope you have a wonderful celebration, whatever you do on New Year's and we will see each other next week. All right, buddy. Thanks so much. Safe getting home, kid. I will. Are you going to Super Bowl? Yeah, as far as I know, we have to ask the Belleville Flash, Kevin Miller. He'll let us know. Kevin Miller. Yeah. Okay. See you guys. We're going to wrap it up. Richard, it's my last show of the year. Calm down. We'll be back right here on the episode. So, Eric Weddle. Yeah, we hear you, Richard, on the things out of my ear pods and bye. We'll be back with Eric Weddle. And we'll be counting down to the playoff picture. We'll show you the conferences and who needs what to do what and when and what to make their resolution come true. Back to up and Adams. You're looking at the divisional round playoff picture. Look at the whole playoff picture. So, let's do it. Matchups could potentially look a little bit crazy. We've got some spicy ones. Bengals versus Chargers. What? Matthew Hamilton is here. Tom Kern didn't even mention the hat. He just thinks this is something I would normally wear, apparently. Yeah, I'm surprised. He usually comes with a strong hat game. So, I was a little disappointed in him for that. Yeah, he's got like the Newsy cap. But, you know, I'm Armand. Yeah. Was that a dab? I'm just trying to make you laugh. All right, let's do this. We've got a lot going on here. So, New Year's Eve style. We've got countdown to the playoffs. Taking a look at who is in the running for a playoff spot. Last show of the year. Let's go NFC style. These are your NFC teams in the playoff picture countdown. Eagles, Vikings, Niners, Cowboys. They clinched a spot. They can ride a 2023 without a worry. But for the rest of them, don't let all the work you did in 2022 go the way, people. Let's keep at it and start the New Year strong just like these teams will. First up, the ones, these ones are shooting for the stars, right? And they don't miss, by the way. Teams like these are the guys who show up, you know, dressed to the nines, black tie to a normal New Year's party. They're trying, they're the ones really starting to get on the right foot. They're making toast. They're telling everybody, you know, how they adopted a chimpanzee in some rogue forest you've never heard of, that they're going to be supporting for the next 365 days. You know who I'm talking about. These are the role models. They're your NFC division leaders, the Eagles, Vikings, Niners, Buccaneers, then wildcard teams that you're looking at right now. The Cowboys, the Giants, and the Commanders. These are the guys who desperately want to stick to their resolutions. They made a positive change. They need that extra oomph to carry their good work into 2023, though. The Giants, by the way, can clinch a playoff spot this weekend with the win over the Colts. And so, Hammer, who went through the playoff picture, the Packers looked really down and out a few weeks ago. The door left open just a crack, and they can sneak in somehow. How can they join the party? And do you think they can? Yes, so they can get in if they win out and either have the Commanders lose one game or the Giants lose both of their games. So there's a real possibility that they can make this happen. And I think we've seen them turn it around. We've seen the chemistry between Rogers and his weapons come a long way. I think he's also just healthier. We talked about it a few months ago. I think that thumb was really bothering him and affecting him more than he let on. But this defense has been a huge part of the turnaround as well. When you look at what they've done over the last four weeks, they've been a top 10 defense. And, you know, Joe Barry caught a lot of heat during that time, but Matt LaFleur stood by him, was really steadfast. He never wavered that Joe Barry was the guy to lead this defense. And he stepped it up and turned it around. So as for whether or not they are going to do it, I do think they beat Minnesota this weekend and it's going to come down to Packers Lions Week 18. And I think that the Lions are going to be the ones that end up getting it done. I love what we've seen from the Packers over the last month. I think it's a sign of good things to come in 2023. But I just don't think this is their year. Okay, I got a pool boy here who was really excited about that first thing you said and now he's jumped into the pool on no site to be seen with that other part. Lions taking down the Packers to eliminate them from the playoff contention. Not wow, wow. But it's so fun. I mean, I'm rooting for Vikings fans this weekend, but I mean, nothing cooler than taking down the Packers on their own. Can you imagine how much fun that would be if we're on a tortured fan base like the Vikings? Yeah, they've been waiting for this. Yeah. What do you got? So the other team that we're looking at that's been kind of on that bubble, the commanders. I know we talked about it a little bit yesterday with Wenz taking over the starting job. What's the path for them? And do you see them making it happen? Okay. The path for them is if they win out, they're in. So it's all in their control. They got the Browns this week. I do think they beat them. And then here's where it gets interesting. And I mean, Hamilton, you're sweet to ask me how to do it, but you broke this down for me. If the Eagles beat the Saints this week, they will have clinched the NFC East in the one-season, the NFC obviously. And that means Washington's week 18 opponent, the Cowboys, they've got nothing to live for. Nothing to gain here in this game. So they're locked into the five-season either way. So if the Cowboys sit down, and the Cowboys sit other key players, which they would be smart to do, do you tell me Washington can't win there? They got a playoff spot waiting for them for the taking. It is gift-wrapped for them to do. So the more thought about it, Hammy, in these past 24 hours, the more excited I am to see Carson Wentz sort of get this opportunity. This is probably it. I don't know if you'd agree with that, but it's his last chance to show something, to earn some respect, some interest from around the league, and show people he wasn't the problem, the other places he was. And I kind of hope he takes it and runs with it. Do you think he gets it on? Yeah. For sure. For sure. That would be exciting to see. Eagles will beat the Saints. Eagles will beat the Saints, and the Cowboys will rest everyone. Yeah. I think that's a likely scenario, and it would be fun to see. It was rough how he was kind of pushed out of Indy and had all that blame heaped on him. So it'd be a heck of a story to see Wentz get this done and get Washington into the playoffs after everything transpired over the last calendar year. Tell me if I'm wrong. Chase Young Clay, he was out there, but he played on less than 60% of snaps, right? Yeah. So he's still working back up to full strength. So he's going to be more and more of a factor with each passing week now, for sure. They got to beat the Browns, and they got to win against a Cowboys team that has nothing to play for, probably. If the, I mean, Eagles, do your job. Do your job in this situation for your fellow NFC East brethren. All right. We've got Eric Weddle on the show. He's probably like, why are you wearing this hat? What is happening? I'm dressing like our mom. Okay, what is going on? Where are we? Now we're in the gym. I'm in Cabo. He's in the gym. I don't know what's going on. We'll be back right here with a great list. Look at that smile. That doesn't look very gritty to me. Let's bring him in our starting safety for up and out of Super Bowl champion. Eric Weddle is here. Happy almost New Year, Eric. Can you believe it's going to be 2023? It, uh, 2022 is gone fast. That is for sure. Eric, where are you? I'm in a little racquetball. Is that, is that not good enough? Is it, are you here in the echo? Wait, a racquetball? Show me. I'm not playing racquetball. Let me tell you, but, uh, you know, I'm just trying to do my part, be a pro. Let me, is this better? Well, what are you, what are you, wait. What, what reason would you be in a racquetball court with that if you don't play racquetball? That sounds very suspicious to me. I was trying to be quiet so you could hear me, but maybe not. Just saying. I still don't understand. Where, I mean, I'm in Utah. I'm in Utah. I didn't bring you the stuff. And, uh, so I'm just trying to, you know, execute me. That's amazing. No, I hear you great. I'm happy you're in Utah. And I know you'll be back and, you know, you won't be back in Utah, but you will be celebrating your Utah youths and cheering them on in the rows the one Monday. Will you be, will you be in Pasadena? Of course. Of course. I'll be in there dressing red, cheering them on, hopefully for a dozen. Not to tear your heart out of loss like we experienced last year. Now have you ever played racquetball? No. And I'm probably gonna say I won't ever play racquetball. Is there, well, you, because you seem to have something against racquetball. What's, what's your problem with racquetball? Nothing if you can't play a normal sport. I guess that's what you play. Or, you know, you're up there in age and you need to get some exercise. That's what you do. But I haven't, you know, a crime. I mean, I'm trying to make my third comeback and just got done playing basketball and ready to come back. So I'm ready. Just kidding. No, are you being serious? Are you being a little serious? No, not at all. I'm not one of those. Okay. Don't you think Andrew should get his butt to Cincinnati? There's a lot that goes into it, okay. And he's got a great game. He's happy. If there ever was a situation that would be right, it would be that. But it's a lot. And it has to work both ways too. Like we don't even know if the games even reached out or are thinking that way. So it's all speculation. But if he, he definitely could. Like there's no doubt in my mind, he can go in that game with three or four games if they need to then. Just like I did last year. Did you reach out to him? No, I haven't. Really? I'm staying away from that. I'm staying away from that confrontation right there. I'm not trying to stay as far out. The thing about it is he does have a great job. That job ends tonight though for the season. Do you understand? It does. It's over. It is. It's the finale. The jig is up. The curtain will fall. And then, you know, I think he's not going because there's not many direct fights from LA to Cincinnati. That's the trouble I'm having to getting. I want to go to that Bill's Monday Night Game on the second. I can't find a flight to save my life. Yeah. All right. I'm suss on that. All right. We want to get to, you're at a gym. So we'll make this quick. We have to get to the grid list. Before we get to the grid list. Oh, okay, fine. Let's do it first. Grid list. Go, go, go, go, go. Number one. Last week, obviously, Chandler Jones debacle from the Patriots, Justin Dilt, and Penet Soule. Number three. But we will have some newcomers. The Irwin James pick right here. The guy tried to early stand, but once we know that the fingers and they try to hard jab inside, we know it's an outbreaking route. Irwin James is one of the best, if not the best point. Look at that extension. The grid, the flexibility, the explosiveness. A lot of things that I couldn't do. So he's incredible. Chanel, look at this. I mean, amazing run, but just the horrific tackling here. And then, you know, just to be able to finish this run, how great are the Panthers playing right now with everything, the division on the line coming up? So just one of the Mark Carolina coach, Wilkes, he coached me in San Diego back in the day. Love him and wish him all the best. And we got Malik Willis right here. Touchdown run. First career touchdown. Then there's often some linemen dragging him in there. That's gritty. That's grit to a tee. Helping out your boy, helping out your teammate. You know, three top ladies. Tennessee's kind of going in the wrong direction right now. It's unfortunate. Rape will love their team. But we got our new list. Top three. Let's show it. We had the Channer jokes. Making it this way is Malik Willis's first touchdown. Pretty amazing run. He didn't help when it was lined in. And obviously Justin builds spectacular plays and we can look out. He can be honest every week. That's the grid list. We'll see what happens tonight, of course. Derek Hemme, they don't really have anything to play for. Their big game comes to week 18. So I think Frable is going to rest a bunch of those guys, eight starters already, not starting in this one. This final season finale for Thursday Night Football. Eric, really quickly, where would you put racquetball on a list of gritty sports? Gritty sports? I wouldn't put it on a list of gritty sports. Sorry, racquetball. I'm sure you get great workouts. It's, listen, if you play and you love it, good for you. It's not my cup of tea. All right. Eric Weddle, happy new year to you and your family. Good luck to you. You too. Andy, Rose Bowl this weekend. We'll be back up in Adams to wrap it up. Man, racquetball Twitter. Get ready. Get ready. We got something for you. Because that was unbelievable. We'll be back. Don't go anywhere. If you need a player to find the end zone in week 17, no worries. I got you covered. I looked at some of the action. And last week, we did go two and three with Derek Henry and Derek McKinnon, both scoring touchdowns for this week. Here's how we're feeling. Christian McCaffrey at Raiders. Pay up for him in daily fantasy. Go over to the sports book and have fun. Throw a couple bucks that way if you want to have something to look forward to in this game. CMC has scored five touchdowns in his last four games. The Raiders have the 25th ranked run defense. They were ranked, sorry, ranked defense in the league so it makes sense. Also Travis Etienne gets the Texans. Six straight games to touchdown is something. So congrats to him doing this thing. And I think, you know, it's an anomaly. It's, you know, not an anomaly. And I think it'll happen, of course, against the Texans. They have the worst ranked run defense in the national football league. And then AJ Dillon is the last guy. He's become the go-to guy for Green Bay in the red zone. He's scored five times in the last four games. So I think he does it again against a struggling Vikings defense. Here's your recap. Christian McCaffrey at the Raiders. Travis Etienne at Texans. I think he finds the end. So again and again and again and again. And AJ Dillon up against the Vikings. All right. I can feel it in the air. Hammer time is next right here on Up and Down. Let's fight. We got a big one tonight. Last Thursday night football game of 2022. This season Hamilton is here for some. Hammer time. What's up? I try to find a badminton court to block for this, to do this segment. But unfortunately it's too short notice. I'm not listening. I'm doing hammer time. And I'm such a I should get an Oscar because there's no music. But I'm still doing it. All right. I don't hear anything. All right. Do you know why I'm standing? I can't hear anything. My computer's about to die. Also I want you to know whatever these whatever these are that I found in Cabo. Delicious. Continue. What do we got for each day? We got a big game of course. We saw Jeff Preston lighted up Christmas Eve. Highest scoring fantasy quarterback on the week of course. What stood out to you from that and can he build on it going forward? Yeah. And we saw him in full command. And I think a lot of it has had to do with him building trust with CD and the other guys in this receiving core. Or losing a Mario Cooper clearly hurt this passing game. And I think Dak missing five games with that injury as well cost him some valuable reps. So I think we're seeing that chemistry, seeing everything just start to come together right now. And let's check it out on tape. This was a third and seven. Dak's going to go with a hard count. You'll see gets the Eagles to jump off sides. He knows right now he's got a free play. So the Cowboys are going to send four guys deep. That's CD Lam running up the seam on the hash up top. And as soon as CD clears these linebackers, watch him get his head around. He makes eye contact with Dak. He knows he's got that window to fit this ball in between those three Eagles defenders. And he's going to drill this ball in. But I want you to watch it from the end zone view. You can really appreciate how difficult this throw is. Because he has to get it over the linebacker, but keep it on a low enough trajectory still that it gets there before the safety can make the hit. Look at that. It just clears the fingertips of that linebacker and it gets into Lam so that he's able to secure the catch before taking the hit from the safety. And that's just a product of some great chemistry between these two guys. But this was the play of the game, the third and 30 to TY Hilton. The Cowboys are going to send three guys deep. You see TY circle there at the bottom of the screen. And the Eagles are going to try to keep three DVs over the top here. That's a nickel Josiah Scott that's kind of walked down that's supposed to be getting over the top of TY Hilton. And you'll watch as he drops, he turns to the middle of the field. And that's where Dak senses the opportunity and seizes it. He knows what was Scott turning to the inside. He kind of loses the angle on TY and he's going to have a shot to drop this ball into that window. And this ball travels 62 yards in the air right on the money to TY. You can't throw a better ball than that. And it's a phenomenal catch from TY in traffic as well. I think this is the element that this Cowboys receiving court was missing. Even though TY may not be the guy who was a few years ago as that complete number one receiver at this stage of his career, he's shown he still has that speed to take the top off the defense. And you know, okay, we've talked about over the years. I love when you have a receiving court with guys with diverse skill sets. We know CDs are balanced, complete all around receiver, but they don't, they haven't had that guy all year that can take the top off. That's what TY brings. And it's going to open things up for CD. And guys like Dalton Schultz underneath as well. 363 days between 300 yard games. So he last had one week 16 of last year against Washington. So if there's something you like over as a sports book tonight for this bad boy. Yeah, I was looking at the alternate passing totals for Dak. And he's plus 134 to throw for over 250 yards. I think against this 31st ranked Titans pasty that's going to be resting some guys. I think he hits that number. I'm smashing the over on that one tonight. I, you know, I did my K-makers. What, I messed, I misspoke on ET and he hasn't had a touchdown, right? Yeah, he hasn't had a touchdown in six games, but I agree with you against that Texans run D. I think he gets it done. He's been running the ball so well. It's such a weird thing that he hasn't found the end zone. I think it's not exactly. Yeah, not exactly a crazy, you know, their defense is so bad. Literally 36 in a league. I will say I will add another one here quickly as an extra one. The fourth K-maker it's CD lamb. Okay, he's going to score the Titans. They've allowed the second most touchdowns to receivers this season. They're resting guys. CD will keep the hot street going and find the end zone. So if you're a fan of props or anything, that's what I would do. How do how do ambulance sirens follow me? From you. How? Hey, Amy. Hey, what's up? What's going on? I'm glad you're going to enjoy the beach. I'm glad you get an extra day. You know, I'm upset that we don't get a show tomorrow. So I can't see what the next, what the next, the next outfit in the Armand signature collection is, but I'll send the family chat a group text. Don't don't you worry. I'll send some selfies. Happy New Year to everyone out there. Please be safe. And Hamilton, you know how this goes and how I feel about it. I don't I'm not a soapbox person, but I think drinking and driving is about the most selfish thing anybody can do, especially in 2022 turning 2023 when you can literally find a million ways to figure it out. So take a little time right now. Make a plan, figure out how you're driving, wherever you're going on Saturday night. It's really dumb and stupid. And you're an absolute idiot and you're selfish AF if you don't figure it out. So don't drink and drive and happy new year from everybody here at Up It Happens. Bye guys.