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00:00Adam Kaplan is our NFL insider extraordinaire from Pharrell,
00:04Adelphia, and we've been together a long time and he sets the standard.
00:08The bar is very high.
00:10You can follow him on X at Kaplan NFL and you hear him every week
00:15on Coast to Coast on Thursdays getting ready for the games with Intel injuries
00:20and otherwise, plus in the second segment, the infamous busted cap
00:25and yo ass where Adam breaks down his spread pics for the week that is.
00:32And remember, it's week 18, which means no one is trying or playing
00:37in any game in the NFL.
00:39And the NFL is going to go 19 weeks and 18 games very soon.
00:43And it'll be the same thing, only worse when they move it to 19 weeks and 18 games.
00:48All right, let's start here with key injury and lineup updates for week 18.
00:53Let's start with Saturday's games.
00:55And I am going just so you know, to the Steelers-Bengals game
00:58and it will be minus 10 with the windchill in Pittsburgh.
01:02And I will be freezing my onions off, but I will be drunk.
01:06And that is all that matters.
01:07When I am going outside with my son in 10 degree weather
01:10and 10 below with the windchill, it is not going to be good.
01:14So you need whiskey and I will drink whiskey and be prepared
01:18for the elements in the Steel City.
01:19But let's start with the Browns and Ravens.
01:22I need the Browns to win the game with Bailey Zappi.
01:25Will this occur?
01:26He'll give you your pick later, but they're playing the Ravens
01:30and they are heavy dogs.
01:32Scotty, you have a better chance to score 30 on that team that you play for
01:38than the Browns have of winning, OK?
01:39It ain't going to happen.
01:41Yes, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, we need to make,
01:43actually we need to add something to what you just pointed out.
01:47Kevin Stefanski, the Browns head coach, did say that Dorian Thompson-Robinson
01:52DTR, if you will, might actually play.
01:54He actually might relieve Zappi at some point in the game.
01:58Thompson-Robinson is a very raw quarterback.
02:01He needs a ton of work.
02:03It was known around the National Football League
02:05that it was a two or three year process for him.
02:06He's just not ready.
02:08Zappi, Bill Belichick drafted him.
02:10Patriots were done with him.
02:12He's bounced around a little bit and he's going to get a chance
02:15to sort of revive his career.
02:17But the problem is this game's on the road.
02:20As you well know, the Ravens are a monster favorite here.
02:24In fact, I'd have to look this up.
02:26I think they're the biggest favorite this season, if not, Steve.
02:28They are.
02:30Yeah, we'll talk more about that later.
02:33But here's the thing, and we'll talk about the Ravens right now.
02:36The only injury of note, and this actually means something for the playoffs,
02:40Justice Hill, one of the better backup running backs
02:42in the National Football League.
02:43He's out of game with his concussion.
02:45Nelson Aguilar, speaking of concussion, he's
02:46been cleared out of concussion protocol.
02:49So this game obviously should not be closed.
02:51And the Browns, boy, not only do they have a bad quarterback situation,
02:56they have to kind of reevaluate what the roster looks like.
02:58Because they've underachieved.
02:59It's not just the quarterback.
03:00Obviously, that's a major problem.
03:02But they've come way short this season.
03:04The Browns are going to get whacked.
03:08The Bengals, meanwhile, are still alive.
03:10And they're playing in the Steel City against the Pittsburgh Steelers,
03:14who have fallen to pieces.
03:17I am hearing that Justin Fields will play in this game,
03:22and that he's gotten the first team reps all week,
03:25and that they're going to sit down Russell Wilson, who
03:27has, in the last month, turned into an utter disaster for the Steelers.
03:32He is looking washed to me.
03:35Like, what a disaster he's become over the last month.
03:39Like, his season went 12 weeks.
03:43And then after that, he's just been terrible.
03:47Boy, in the game against Kansas City, when you have to win,
03:51you've got to be more competitive.
03:52He throws that interception in the red zone.
03:54You can't do that.
03:55It was a bad throw.
03:57By the way, we need to talk about Justin Fields.
03:59He had an abdomen injury.
04:00He was dealing with it for a couple weeks.
04:02He's fine to play.
04:03Now, we have to understand here, and this is the problem with this game,
04:07not being at the same time as the first game.
04:10Obviously, we know, Scott, if the Ravens win this game, which they should,
04:15easily, by the way, the Steelers will have nothing to play for.
04:19It means nothing to them.
04:20So you clearly could see what happens.
04:23They're going to know before the game starts what happened
04:25with that Browns-Ravens game.
04:26And if it means nothing, you're almost starting
04:28to see a lot of backups playing anyway.
04:30And the Steelers, man, I really thought about four weeks ago,
04:34because they were on such a roll.
04:37Yes, they had a number of injuries.
04:38Joey Porter Jr., by the way, is going to be available to play,
04:40depending on if the game means anything to them.
04:43But he's good to go here.
04:44And that's good news, because he's got a PCL sprain.
04:46It's a grade one, I believe.
04:47But getting him back is huge.
04:49Getting George Pickens back a couple weeks ago was pretty big.
04:52But you can blame Russell Wilson all you want.
04:56But the lack of imagination in their past game,
04:59they would not get Mike Williams the ball when George Pickens was out.
05:02That was a problem.
05:03They need more juice on offense.
05:04That's something that Omar Khan, the general manager, and Andy Whitel,
05:07his right-hand man, they've got to look at in this offseason.
05:10They've got to look at the offensive structure.
05:12And obviously, they don't know who the future quarterback is.
05:14Russell Wilson, of course, is on a one-year deal.
05:17Do you believe the rumors that Kyler Murray
05:20would be the Steelers' choice?
05:23First, no, not at this point.
05:24No, I get it.
05:26Because if you look at Arthur Smith,
05:27he coached a mobile quarterback before.
05:30Marcus Mariota, he's coached guys who can move.
05:34There's a cap issue with trading.
05:37Kyler Murray, by the way, we'll talk about this more
05:39when we get closer to free agency.
05:40But here's the thing, Scott.
05:41And one thing I do want to tell you, and this is important.
05:43We talked about this on the Pro Football Today show.
05:46I already started working on free agency
05:48in terms of the quarterback position.
05:50It is absolutely dreadful.
05:52It's bad for the draft.
05:54There are two quarterbacks who are really, really good.
05:55Cam Ward, who's a top-rated quarterback by teams
05:57I've spoken to so far, and Choudhury Sanders.
06:00After that, you're not seeing a quarterback in the first round.
06:02So your Steelers are another team
06:04that's got to figure out a quarterback.
06:06This is not a year to need a starting quarterback.
06:09What is the deal with, and by the way,
06:12Notre Dame just kicked a field goal,
06:13and then Stockton got sacked and fumbled,
06:16and the Irish recovered with 30 seconds left in the half.
06:19And on the first play,
06:21Riley Leonard threw a touchdown pass,
06:23and Notre Dame is sitting on top of Georgia at the half,
06:2920 seconds before the half, 13 to three.
06:32The Irish lead by 10
06:34in the worst game I've ever watched in my life.
06:37What is the story with Jalen Hurts?
06:41He's a mess.
06:43Yeah, so let's go back to the Washington game, right?
06:46They lost, he suffered a concussion in the first quarter,
06:49didn't return, obviously.
06:49You suffered a concussion, you're not allowed back.
06:52He has not practiced one second, okay,
06:55since he got hurt against Washington.
06:58He's not progressed enough to even practice,
07:00to get a little practice time
07:02in the five-step concussion protocol.
07:04This is someone to watch next week,
07:06leading up to their first postseason game,
07:08whether it's likely gonna be against the Packers,
07:10by the way.
07:11Outside chance will be against the Commanders,
07:13who they just played three weeks ago.
07:15So that's a concern here.
07:16There's no question about it.
07:17Anytime a player suffers a concussion,
07:19you're worried about it.
07:20It's a brain injury.
07:21Let's call it what it really is.
07:22Kenny Pickett, by the way, his backup has broken ribs.
07:25This week, you're gonna see Tanner McKee,
07:28the pride of Stanford University.
07:29Well, it could be worse.
07:30Just a start, yeah.
07:31By the way, how about those touchdowns on four passes?
07:34Did a pretty good job last week.
07:36Let me ask you about the Steelers' constant meltdowns
07:40in December over the last several years.
07:42They haven't won a playoff game since 17.
07:44They had the division by the onions and blew that.
07:47That's over with and done.
07:48They're gonna have to play on the road again
07:50in the wild card, no matter what,
07:53unless they win and the Ravens lose,
07:55which isn't happening.
07:57Come hell or high water.
07:58So who is to blame for the last several years?
08:02This is going on seven years,
08:05eight years of meltdowns in December,
08:08and they just cannot win in the month of December,
08:10and they are kicking themselves in their own shin.
08:16You and I have defended Mike Tomlin
08:18in the five years we've done shows together,
08:19but I'm no longer gonna defend him here.
08:21I'm just not gonna defend him because this is a collapse.
08:24This is another collapse in December.
08:27As you mentioned, and we've talked about this ad nauseum,
08:29Tomlin hasn't won a playoff game since the 17th season.
08:32At some point, the head coach has got to take responsibility.
08:35He's got to look at why they're collapsing.
08:38He changed offensive coordinators,
08:39which should have been done years ago with Matt Cannon.
08:41He did it in the middle of last season.
08:44Arthur Smith, they started off well.
08:46They faded.
08:47You can't keep blaming injuries, by the way.
08:49You can't keep blaming injuries.
08:51They made a trade for Mike Williams.
08:52What did they do with Mike Williams?
08:53Mike Williams, I'm told, has been fine
08:55and he's been healthy.
08:56They don't get to guide the football.
08:58Offensive line's been fine.
08:59That's not been the problem here.
09:01And defensively, yeah, they've had a couple injuries,
09:03but that's not the problem.
09:05Why did they collapse again?
09:06You gotta start with the head coach.
09:09Making the playoffs is a nice accomplishment,
09:11but you gotta do better than that.
09:12At some point, the head coach has gotta take responsibility
09:15for this collapse.
09:16Absolutely, it's fair to say it starts with him.
09:19Okay, fair enough, and I agree with all that.
09:21I also think that in the NFL,
09:24if you don't make the playoffs, you're just a loser.
09:27And if you make the playoffs, that matters.
09:30That's it.
09:31If you get in to that tournament,
09:33that is all that matters.
09:35And they never do anything with it, but they get there,
09:38which is really, I believe, all the Roonies expect
09:42is playoffs and a possible championship run
09:46more than they used to demand,
09:48excellence and championships.
09:50That's all there is to it.
09:51Now they're satisfied with making the playoffs.
09:54All right, Sunday, commanders at Cowboys, meaningless.
09:59Yeah, but don't tell Dan Quinn that.
10:01Dan Quinn, the commander's head coach, made it very clear.
10:04They want that sixth seed.
10:06Look, the chance of them, first of all,
10:08if they get a home game,
10:09they have to be in the championship game,
10:10and everyone ahead of them has to be out.
10:12But they want that sixth seed over the Packers,
10:14and he claims that they're gonna play the starters to win.
10:17Now, the one issue, and this is gonna come into play,
10:19especially next week, they've got pretty significant
10:22injury issues on their offensive line.
10:23The Oddish, their center, he's got an ankle injury.
10:25Andrew Wiley, the Super Bowl winner with the Chiefs,
10:29he's the right tackle.
10:30He's got this lingering injury, this groin injury.
10:33Now, he did some work today.
10:35You gotta be careful.
10:36They gotta play next week.
10:38But the big thing, this is really important,
10:40is Austin Eckler had this concussion.
10:42He's going to inter-reserve.
10:43He's very close to being cleared.
10:45He did the last step of the concussion protocol.
10:48He had a season-high eight catches
10:50against the Eagles earlier this season in Philly.
10:52He's their third down back.
10:53They've absolutely missed him in tough situations
10:56when you need to get a first down or third down.
10:59Getting him back potentially this week would be huge,
11:02and particularly for the playoffs.
11:04And when you really look at it, Scott,
11:06I'm with a lot of people.
11:10They're on the road anyway.
11:11Does it really matter?
11:12We know for sure that they're gonna play the Eagles
11:15or most likely the Rams,
11:16and that's gonna be on the road anyway.
11:18So to me, it really doesn't matter.
11:19But it is interesting, depending which coaches you talk to,
11:23some say if home field is not in the line,
11:28we're not playing anybody.
11:30Some teams say, hey, wait a minute, we can't,
11:33if we've got something on the line,
11:34we're playing our starters.
11:35And by the way, that's what Dan Quinn is doing here.
11:38Another meaningless game, the Packers and Bears.
11:42Yeah, and again, this is for seating,
11:43but the Packers, they have some injury issues
11:47on the back end of their defense.
11:48The big one is Jair Alexander,
11:50their best corner he will not play again this season.
11:52He's having knee surgery.
11:54Scott, you remember last year,
11:56you and I were talking about him
11:57leading up to that Dallas game,
11:58and he had a great game, his best game of the season.
12:02He's not been the same since then.
12:03He's had this lingering knee injury for most of the season.
12:06It finally gave way, he had to have surgery.
12:09That would worry people for the playoffs.
12:11They're not very good at corner to begin with.
12:14That is by far the weakest position on defense.
12:16And to me, that's why they're not gonna make
12:18a big run in the playoffs.
12:19And most likely, by the way,
12:20next weekend, it's almost certain
12:22that they'll play the Eagles in Philly.
12:25Vikings and Lions.
12:28Yeah, this is a great one, obviously.
12:29This is the game of the season.
12:31Who knew the Vikings would be in this place now?
12:33The Vikings have overachieved a corner.
12:34Fabian Moreau, he is a true journeyman.
12:37He's been with six teams.
12:39Scott, he's missed the last two games due to a hip injury.
12:41He's still limited.
12:42They're not very deep at that position.
12:44You've gotta be deep when you play the Lions
12:47because of the way that they throw the football.
12:49That worries me.
12:51Going to the Lions, David Montgomery with MCL sprain.
12:52He's out.
12:53Their hope is if they make it to the championship game
12:55that he could return.
12:57He does not need knee surgery.
12:58But Alex Anzalone, we've talked about him
13:00coming back from that elbow fracture.
13:03It's healed.
13:04He's gotta get his conditioning back.
13:05But the good thing is he's one of the best
13:07inside backers that he's practicing.
13:08But this is a great game.
13:10I cannot wait for this game on Sunday night.
13:12As soon as this game is over, Sunday night,
13:14they will announce the wild card round schedule.
13:18All right, it's time for Bust a Cap in Your Ass
13:20where Adam's gonna have to haul ass.
13:22Saturday, Baltimore laying 20,
13:24Pittsburgh laying, getting one and a half
13:26at home from the Bengals.
13:29I like Pittsburgh one way or the other.
13:32The game, as you were talking about,
13:33it's probably gonna be meaningless.
13:34But the other game, 20 is absolutely insane.
13:38Bailey Zappi, by the way, is better than DTR.
13:41I'll take the Zappis plus the 20.
13:43All right, so let's do pairs.
13:45Atlanta laying eight to Carolina.
13:47Dallas getting six and a half from Washington.
13:50I like Atlanta and I like Washington.
13:53Green Bay laying 10 to the Bears.
13:55Indy laying five to Jacks.
13:58Like Green Bay to blow out the Bears.
14:00And what was the other game?
14:02And it's Indy laying five to the Jags.
14:05Yeah, I like Flacco to bounce back
14:07and get the job done against the Jaguars.
14:08Buffalo laying two and a half to New England.
14:11Giants getting three from Philly.
14:13Yeah, Buffalo's gonna rest their players.
14:16I like, by the way, in both games,
14:18I like the away team.
14:20All right, Tampa laying 13 and a half to New Orleans.
14:22Tennessee laying one and a half to Houston.
14:24You gotta haul ass.
14:25Tampa will blow out
14:27and New Orleans will not cover that game.
14:29Arizona laying four and a half to San Francisco.
14:31Denver laying 10 and a half to Kansas City.
14:33Haul ass.
14:34Like Denver and like Arizona.
14:38Vegas getting four and a half from the Chargers.
14:41Rams laying, getting six and a half from Seattle.
14:43Hurry.
14:45Like the Raiders, the Chargers will rest their players.
14:47Jets getting one.
14:48And Seattle's done.
14:49Miami, Detroit laying three.
14:51Miami and Detroit for sure.