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00:00week 14 of the National Football League regular season now in the books after a wild game
00:11on a Monday in Dallas week 15 on the horizon.
00:15Just four weeks remain in our National Football League regular season.
00:19If you are in the playoff chase, if you are even remotely featured in the in the hunt
00:24graphics each and every week, each and every game will have some direct implications on
00:30a divisional race or that playoff chase as well.
00:35Joe, that is certainly how week 15 starts.
00:38NFC West rivalry in California.
00:42This one up north in Santa Clara as the 49ers on a short week get ready to welcome the L.A.
00:48Rams.
00:49The Rams looked as less than a field goal favorite now just a two and a half point spread
00:55total stands at 48 and a half.
00:58Joe, the importance of this game cannot be undersold because if either one of these two
01:04clubs is more than likely to see the postseason, it is winning games like this within the division
01:11to win the division.
01:13The Rams are seven and six.
01:15They're a full game behind Seattle.
01:17The Niners are six and seven.
01:19They are also behind Seattle.
01:22But the thing that is harming the 49ers more than just the overall record, Joe, sub 500.
01:27It's their NFC West record at one and three.
01:32Again, the importance of Thursday night to kick off week 15.
01:37It is a big one.
01:39What do you like in terms of the numbers?
01:41Wow.
01:42And it looks like both offenses have finally figured some things out.
01:48That was a big effort by the Rams against a very good Buffalo defense.
01:55And they were able to put up more than 40 points there.
01:58We saw, of course, San Francisco finally start getting the ball.
02:03That was the Brock Purdy.
02:05That was good Brock Purdy.
02:06What we saw there, despite the fact that they have no running game of dimension, but they
02:12still didn't have both.
02:13And they're still missing guys on the defensive side of the ball.
02:17I mean, call me crazy.
02:19How is this game not going over?
02:21They scored 51 in the first meeting.
02:24In fact, if I'm not mistaking, the last 15 games between these teams have averaged 50
02:31points here, Ben.
02:32It feels like this is going to be two teams very familiar with one another.
02:38Issues on defense for both teams.
02:41Offenses seem to finally be figuring it out.
02:44Yeah, this feels like a wild shootout to me.
02:47So it is a Thursday night game on a short week with two teams that have battled injuries
02:52all year long.
02:54The Rams just played one of the wildest games in the history of the National Football League
02:59that featured the most offense we have ever seen this season or in a game the first time
03:05in NFL history.
03:06Both teams scored 40 plus points and did not turn the football over.
03:12What are the lasting effects of eking out a win over Buffalo in a highly dramatic game
03:19on a short week with a road trip?
03:21No, they're not going cross country or even halfway across the country.
03:25They're just going up to Northern California.
03:28But still you wonder, Matthew Stafford is a 36 year old veteran quarterback.
03:32A couple of concerns there for LA.
03:36For San Francisco, Joe.
03:38I do wonder how injured they will look come Thursday.
03:43Isaac Garendo left the game late in the second half, had to be escorted to the locker room
03:48dealing with a lower leg injury.
03:52They had just placed Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason on IR entering week 14 and they
03:59got a little bit healthier on the defensive side of the football and a couple of guys
04:04are getting back to practice.
04:07But are they game ready?
04:09Talanoa Hufanga, their outstanding safety.
04:12You look at Drake Greenlaw trying to return from the Achilles injury that sidelined him
04:17at the end of last year's postseason and Nick Bosa, who really did not practice last week
04:22but is trending in a positive direction.
04:25Were they held out last week against the Bears to be ready for this critical divisional duel
04:31on Thursday?
04:32So many questions, Joe.
04:34Here's what I would say.
04:35If this game even played in Santa Clara, was a full week on a Sunday, and even the
04:41oddsmakers made the 49ers a favorite, as they have often been this season and since the
04:46start of last year, I'd probably pick the Rams outright as an underdog.
04:52The short week component, though, really scares me for LA and scares me because a couple of
04:58weeks ago, I bet the Rams at plus 290 to win the NFC West.
05:02It is now plus 160.
05:04It's a critical game for the Rams to lose if they are going to do so, just because it's
05:09on a short week.
05:11Yeah, but give Stafford and a healthy core of wide receivers there that are basically,
05:20I mean, listen, Buffalo couldn't cover it.
05:22Buffalo couldn't stop that.
05:24I mean, we figured the Rams were going to have problems stopping the Buffalo Bills and
05:30Josh Allen, and they certainly did, but they got just enough stops in order to be able
05:34to win that game.
05:36Very experienced Stafford in this spot, two teams and two coaches that know each other
05:41very well.
05:42I think, forget about it, to me, it's just, let's go out there.
05:46We need to score 30 points to win this game, and I think the first team that does it is
05:51going to win because both teams have major issues defensively and in the secondary, which
05:58I think is where this game will be won.
06:00You almost wonder, Joe, full week Sunday afternoon in Santa Clara, is this total 50 and a half?
06:07Probably, right?
06:08You would think it would be on the upswing just a little bit.
06:11By the way, you mentioned the familiar foe nature of this game.
06:15Kyle Shanahan, his old buddy, Sean McVay.
06:18Shanahan still owns a 10 and 6 direct head-to-head matchup record against McVay, but the Rams
06:24have won the last two, both in the regular season, including earlier this year.
06:29The Rams won outright as a dog.
06:32They are 3 and 4, both straight up and ATS as an underdog this year.
06:36When they cover and keep a game close as an underdog, they win outright, as they did last
06:42week against Buffalo.
06:43The 49ers, six wins this year.
06:46Five of the six they have covered as the favored side in all five covers.
06:51The over for the 49ers as well in the game.
06:55Week 15 is awesome.
06:57Five weeks are done around the National Football League.
07:01We've got full slates each and every week to end out the final four weeks of this regular
07:06season.
07:07And so, Joe, on Sunday, the matchup in the Commonwealth, the Keystone State in Philadelphia
07:14between the Eagles and the Steelers.
07:17Not divisional foes or even conference opponents, but two teams that each have at least 10 wins,
07:23the 10 and 3 Steelers, the 11 and 2 Eagles that sit atop their divisions right now.
07:30You see the spread in favor of Philadelphia on Sunday, actually working even more in favor
07:37of the Birds.
07:38Five and a half points spread in favor of Philly at home.
07:42What do you make of it?
07:44Well, the Steelers likely without pickings again because of the hamstring, which was
07:50interesting because we didn't learn that until very late, Ben, in the game before kickoff.
07:55And we saw that total crater, although we were very close to still getting the over
08:01in that game and plenty of opportunities.
08:03I mean, they still put up 21, 27 points, Ben, without their number one wide receiver here.
08:09They're going to be able to move the ball on the Eagles.
08:13It feels like giving Tomlin five and a half points in this spot, never a good idea against
08:20a better team.
08:23This has always been a profitable spot to back Pittsburgh getting points, not against
08:28a sub 500 team, but against a divisional leading team.
08:32Yes.
08:33Better competition, better effort.
08:35I expect Pittsburgh to hang around this game.
08:38Yeah, no doubt about it, Joe.
08:40When you look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, this is their spot.
08:45They are five and oh, outright as an underdog this season.
08:50Even if they come up short in Philly wins its 10th consecutive game, I would keep them
08:55in that number.
08:57Total is intriguing to me, 42 and a hook to the top five scoring defenses in the NFL Philly
09:03tied for second 18 points per game allowed the Steelers just about 19 points per game
09:10given up.
09:11We'll talk more about that in the trends of playing upper tier competition and how that
09:16has looked from the scoring output for both on the other side of the break as we hear
09:21on the early line.
09:22Look at the early lines for week 15 next.
09:26What a week it is going to be week 15 around the National Football League.
09:30It starts on Thursday with a divisional duel.
09:33It continues into Sunday with a game of the year potential number five in just a moment,
09:40but you're to finish out our conversation on the in-state showdown in the Commonwealth
09:45between the Eagles and the Steelers in Philadelphia.
09:49Total of 42 and a half is intriguing again, two of the top five scoring defenses in the
09:55National Football League, the Eagles and the Steelers, both allowing less than 20 points
10:01per game Philly in this nine-game win streak where the defense has really come along under
10:05in six of nine under in four of their previous five since Russell Wilson became the starter
10:11for Pittsburgh only two games for the Steelers against teams that are 500 or better the commanders
10:18and the Ravens against Washington a shootout 55 combined points, but in a matchup against
10:26the Ravens where we expected points game stayed well under 18 to 16 the Steelers won
10:32outright as an underdog five games for Pittsburgh as a dog this year outright victories in all
10:39five under in two of the five only over more times than not.
10:45It listen, I mean it this has been a great opportunity year after year with the thing
10:53you worry about the Steelers, especially on the road is playing down to competition.
10:57Well, I haven't done that this year and ever since Russ has taken over and you mentioned
11:01it Ben, he's not turning the ball over.
11:04They're scoring way more points than we're used to and now they're taking on a team.
11:09That's kind of the mirror image of them in the NFC, right?
11:12They want to run the ball.
11:13They want to control clock and they want your defense out on the field as much as possible
11:18so they can win the game in the second half.
11:21I don't know that this is a great matchup for the Eagles to do that.
11:26I'm more than happy at 11 and five since 2022 is a road dog.
11:31Yeah, the Steelers will have my money this weekend and don't be shocked by the way they're
11:37saying Pickens might be out, but I would not be shocked if Pickens is ruled in before this
11:44before kickoff.
11:46The Steelers the fourth best rushing defense in the NFL.
11:49The Eagles the eighth best Saquon Barkley will continue his chase of history trying
11:54to catch Eric Dickerson for the single season rushing record in the NFL Saquon more than
12:00sixteen hundred and twenty yards right now Dickerson two thousand one hundred and five
12:05back in 1984.
12:07He is certainly on pace, but the Steelers also know that fourth best rushing defense
12:13only allowing ninety one and a half yards per game on the ground.
12:17We talked about it throughout the opening hour Brandon Grand detailing a little bit
12:22of a strife between Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown props not out yet.
12:27Of course, as you would expect on a Tuesday morning, I would keep an eye on those AJ Brown
12:32numbers receptions receiving yards touchdown, whatever it might be Joe what a game we will
12:39have on Sunday afternoon as well.
12:43The Steelers and the Eagles in that 425 window as is a game of the year 5 potential because
12:52we don't have any buys anymore.
12:54We've got so many games on Sunday 425 p.m. Eastern in the Motor City.
13:00It's the Lions and the bills just a point and a half now in favor of Detroit.
13:05You can see the short distinctions in terms of the Moneyline price minus one twenty six
13:11for the Lions plus 108 other side for Buffalo in stare at that total fifty four and a half
13:20the Lions are still the best scoring offense in the NFL Buffalo just behind the bills of
13:24scored at least 30 points now in seven consecutive games in Joe Detroit's defense is ailing not
13:32because they're playing bad football just because of the litany of injuries.
13:36The Lions have suffered this year in the Packers took advantage of the tune of 31 points
13:4224 of them in the second half on Thursday night against Detroit game of the year 5 Buffalo
13:49and Detroit from Ford Field in the Motor City.
13:53What do you like early on?
13:55Yeah, and listen, I think that if Buffalo had won against the Rams, I might look at
14:02this game a little bit differently, but I do think Buffalo losing the way they did to
14:07the Rams.
14:09And while yes, that was a rough loss for for Detroit as well, losing the Green Bay there
14:15by three.
14:17You mentioned it, Ben, and we've been talking about it.
14:19The injuries on that defensive side of the ball are just mounting.
14:23I mean, we're talking a bunch of backups here, Ben.
14:27They have been fortunate enough in a few games to not get caught by it.
14:32But Green Bay lighting them up and Josh Allen lighting them up are two different things.
14:37No elements, not indoors, fast track.
14:41My goodness here, I think Buffalo bounces back, wins this game.
14:46And I think some team totals are in play for this one as well.
14:51Yeah, no doubt about it, Joe.
14:53To me, it feels like a Bills bounce back spot as well.
14:57A couple of spots here, though, Joe, where the home team is favored, trying to hold on
15:03to a top spot in a division, really not tested nearly as much in the NFC East as the Lions
15:10are in the NFC North.
15:12Only a game in front of Minnesota.
15:14They did beat the Vikings in their only matchup so far this year with week 18 and a regular
15:19season finale looming on the horizon.
15:23But the Lions battling for that number one seed in the NFC, direct correlation to Philadelphia.
15:29Buffalo trying to get back in the AFC number one seed race, them losing to L.A. on Sunday
15:35in the Chiefs yet again, finding a way to win two game lead for KC and yet Buffalo has
15:43the head to head tiebreaker as well.
15:45Joe, here we are entering week 15.
15:48We're calling it a game of the year five.
15:50If I had to bet right now, Super Bowl 59 exact matchup, this would get my money.
15:57What say you?
15:59Yeah, I would not bet against this, Ben, because I do think both teams, I got to see the Lions
16:06get a little healthier on that defensive side of the ball.
16:11But you know, the Bills certainly able to go offensively toe to toe with this team.
16:17Not many people have been able to do that with the Lions.
16:21The Bills are certainly capable of doing it.
16:23I like the Bills defense more than I like Green Bay's defense and Green Bay was able
16:28to get it done.
16:29Listen, the Bills could not get a stop, but the Rams could not do anything against Josh
16:36Allen and the Lions are just dealing with so many injuries.
16:40It is unfortunate.