0:00 Aaron Rodgers on if he wants to play in 2025
16:04 Bill Belichick on Aaron Rodgers and his situation with the Jets
23:28 PFT Power Rankings
26:47 Assessing legitimate Super Bowl contenders
31:11 PFT Live Draft: Thanksgiving food
PFT Live with Mike Florio
Aaron Rodgers on his future in New York + Week 13 Power Rankings (Hour 2)
Carreon is an edge-of-your-seat action thriller that follows a young TSA agent who's blackmailed into an impossible situation at the height of Christmas Eve travel pandemonium. Either let a dangerous package slip through security and risk the lives of many, or save the passengers and risk the life of his pregnant girlfriend. Starring Taryn Edgerton, Sofia Carson, and Jason Bateman, Carreon is a holiday thrill ride with nail-biting non-stop action and suspense. Watch Carreon only on Netflix December 13th. Rated PG-13. The holiday season is here, and it's the perfect time for family gatherings and celebrating with plenty of delicious food. If you're the kind of person who loves not only preparing meals, but also watching cooking shows, reading cookbooks, and listening to music while you cook, Amazon Prime has you covered. It brings all of these experiences together, making your holidays much easier and enjoyable. With Amazon Prime, you can get one day free delivery on tens of millions of eligible items, so everything you need arrives just in time. Imagine having your recipe books on hand right when you need them, plus exciting cooking shows and music with Prime Video and Amazon Music, all included in your membership, whatever you're into or getting into. It's on Prime. Sign up for Amazon Prime today from streaming to shopping. It's on Prime. Visit amazon.com/prime to get more of whatever you're into. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now, you're multitasking, but what if you could also be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers you save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multitask right now. Get your quote now at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliate's national average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary, discounts not available in all states and situations. Guys, enough with this Sonic and Knuckles stuff. John, stop leaving your rings all over the place. It's a facility hazard, demo, stop smashing everything that you touch. Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys, oh my gosh, please stop scratching everything that you touch, please. All the Sonic and Knuckles thing going next level, PFT Live presented by Accenture, you'll see Sonic and Knuckles tomorrow for the Detroit Lions. And, you know, we talk about all the great running backs in the NFL this year. That's the best duo by far, and I think I saw the staff this weekend. First time ever that two running backs on the same team have 10 or more rushing touchdowns, each in back-to-back years. I think that's right. There's a chance it's wrong, but it sounds impressive. No, and you know what, I see more impressive about it, Mike? When you think about these teams that have these duos, he's running back duos, generally, that's the offense. So, what it means is, oh, it's a running offense. You don't have to worry about anything else. And if you go all the way back, Miami Dolphins, Zonka, and Kick, and Blier, and Harris, Biner, and Kevin, I mean, like, there's so many of these, you know, one, two combos in NFL history. And generally, those are running teams, and if you can stop the run, you can beat them. The problem with Detroit is, yeah, if you stop the running game, you're just getting started. They can pass on you and beat you that way, too. And I am looking at this now. It's accurate that both guys have 10 or more rushing touch downs separately last year and this year. So, I think that that stat is right. It's the first time that's ever happened. There've been multiple running backs to have a thousand yards. The same season, Franco, Harris, and Rocky Blier did that. But that, yeah, that was back in the day when they really were throwing the football all that much, to have that kind of production out of your running backs and to have the passing rules conducive to a high-octane air attack, which the Lions have. It's one of the reasons why they're 10 and one. Okay, a team that is not 10 and one, the New York Jets. They were off this past weekend. Jets fans everywhere grateful for that fact. And two weeks ago, Aaron Rodgers said that on the question of whether or not he planned still play in 2025, he said, "I think so." Yeah, that was the end of it. Last week, the news came out about Woody Johnson, suggesting after week four that he'd be benched. Then there was a report from the Athletic that Rodgers wants to play in 2025. But for anyone but the Jets, here's Rodgers from yesterday with Pat McAfee and AJ Hawke on his future in football and specifically in. And listen carefully. Listen carefully, people, his specific future, not with the Jets, but in New York. Here it is. For as my future goes, I haven't told anybody in my life that I want to play in 2025 and not in the Jets. So that's 100% false. I actually said the opposite. I'm going to wait and see what happens at the end of the season and if they want me back. There's a lot of things out of my control when it comes to that. But I've really enjoyed my time in New York. I mean obviously, we haven't had success that we've all wanted to have. But I've made some great friendships on the team. I've enjoyed living in Jersey. I've enjoyed time in the city. I've enjoyed getting to know the fans. And I came here to win here. So I'm not jumping off ship. I definitely want to play and not in New York. I don't even know if I want to play it, but New York will be my first option. New York, you say Mr. very careful with your words. Yeah, I've been immunized and I'm sorry, Aaron. You're going to wear that for the rest of your life. You may as well get that tattooed on your chest like the no-regerts guy. Pull down the shirt. Yeah, I've been immunized. You're never getting away from that because you knew what you were doing and it provided a window into the kind of gamesmanship. Smartest guy in the room. I'm sorry people are going to get mad at me, but it's true. Smartest guy in the room, smarter than everybody else. I can outfox the media. They're going to ask me if I'm vaccinated. Yeah, I've been immunized. And then it's on them to realize that I was pulling the fast one. That history caught my ear when he's not referring specifically to the Jets, Michael, and he's saying New York, especially because I had just written hours earlier on something that people who are in the league and like to connect dots are saying, Aaron Rodgers, Bill Belichick 2025, well, where could they join forces? How about New York and not the Jets? Yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty good, pretty shrewd on Aaron Rodgers's part. And in both cases, I'm glad you brought up the immunized thing. In both cases, he could turn around and we could turn around and say, well, there's a power, there's power in a follow-up question. And in both cases, the follow-up question didn't happen. Yes, I've been immunized. So what does that mean? No one said, what does that mean? Or are you saying you've been vaccinated or immunized? There's a difference of why are you making that distinction? There's no follow-up there. Yesterday, when he talked, there was no follow-up to, okay, you're not jumping off the ship. What I've heard you say is, and I wrote it down, hey, good friendships. I love my time in New York, enjoyed living in Jersey, made some good friendships, loved being in the area. But I haven't heard you say, why do you like playing for the Jets? Especially when you said you came here to win. So why, why would, why would New York slash the Jets slash the Giants? Why would that be your first option? So we didn't ask the follow-up. And so he is able to just kind of skate along. And look, hey, Pat McAfee, you know, it's a good gig. There's, I'm on board for it. There's room under the tent for all sorts of stuff. There's the hard school, hardcore journalism. There's entertainment. There's talking to your friends in the media, which is what Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee do. I'm all for it, but let's just point out there was no follow-up question. So he's able to just say what he wants to say and keep moving. But look, it's a great one to punch if the rough-and-tumbled New York media follows through today with their opportunity to ask the follow-up. It kind of happened a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't as tight. It wasn't as narrow. It wasn't as specific as it needed to be when he was going off on McAfee show about how teams don't stick with coaches and players. And they're not patient and it all starts with ownership. And he was asked kind of a follow-up the next day. And he turned down the gas light on everybody. And they just let him do it today. Simple follow-up, rough-and-tumbled New York media. Hey, Aaron, you know, and feel free to be dismissive when you ask the question. Hey, Aaron, you said New York a few times yesterday. And there's this dumbass out there that thinks maybe it means the Giants. You're talking only about the Jets when you say New York, right? You're not talking about, you know, maybe joining forces with Bill Belichick and going, not even going, staying with the Giants. You're just walking over to the other side of the stadium. You're just going to a different locker room and different practice facility. You don't even have to move. And I say that, Michael, because here's the thing to keep in mind. Number one, it's obvious Bill Belichick is strategizing for next year. He's plotting for next year. Yes. His media bully pulpit is a combination of settling scores and laying the foundation for next year. He's not bound by any of the rules that would apply to anybody who's working for a team. He can tamper his ass off. He can talk to Aaron Rodgers about joining forces somewhere next year. He can talk to coaches who are currently employed by other teams, otherwise focused on when the football games about coming to work for him next year. He's in the best possible spot to do whatever the hell he wants and line. Anyone up that he wants for next year, including and starting with a quarterback that likes him and a quarterback who he likes. Okay, a quarterback who likes him now because he hasn't played for him. Okay, Aaron Rodgers, you need to have a conversation with Tom Brady. Have a conversation with Tom Brady and they're doing great now. Brady and Bella check, they're doing great now. Oh, they love. Oh, remember the time we did this? Remember all those great times we had together? And they just kind of gloss over that there was a moment. There was a nice stretch, four or five years stretch where they really couldn't stand each other. And it started to wear on Brady. This guy, I can't satisfy him. Nothing makes him happy. He's miserable. And so he is tough on quarterbacks, even Hall of Fame quarterbacks. I mean, the best there ever was. And Brady really could tell you that there were some times, it's just difficult to be around Bella check. He nitpicks. He really finds that area and he'll just keep pushing until you do it or until you break. Or in Brady's case, until you finally walk out the door after 20 years. And so, and that's part of it. Primarily, I can see Aaron Rodgers saying, sure, I can handle that. I'm fine with a little pushback. But Bella check does it publicly in front, well, not publicly. He does it in front of the team. He's not going to call you out in front of the media, but he's going to call you out in front of the team and say, hey, Aaron, this is some BS. What are you doing? That's a terrible throw. That's a bad decision. You're holding the ball too long. And I just don't think any coach has done that to Aaron Rodgers in probably 10 years, maybe early in his career, but in the last 10 to 12 years, no way. Okay, but how about this? Because I'm fascinated by the perspective. And I vaguely recall back in August for some reason, Sims and I were talking about this alternate universe. Oh, it came up because Sims is quoted in the Ian O'Connor biography of Aaron Rodgers out of the darkness colon, the mystery of Aaron Rodgers. And his point is if Rogers had been with the Patriots, they would have won the Super Bowl every year. That's how much better of a quarterback Rogers is than Brady. Now, now that's what we got into this question. And I think about this. How dare you? Think about this, think about this. Bell check had a special set of rules for Lawrence Taylor. Because Lawrence Taylor was phenomenal. You want to show up late for a meeting? Fine. You don't want to show up at all? Fine. We got a sleeping bag at the front of the room where you can come in and sleep through the meeting? Fine. You want to show up five minutes for kickoff? Fine. Whatever. Show up a handcuffs on. I think that happened once. I think that story has been told by Sasquatch here. Fine. But not because he was not because he was arrested and escaped either. Is there something a little, yeah. But I think that Bell check would be Bell check would be willing to tip to around the delicate genius. Bell check would know what worked on Brady isn't going to work on Rod. Brady was in the right mindset beaten down by being drafted 199th. And he was this lump of clay that I could keep down. I could squeeze that. And I could use that the way that Bill Parcels used to treat Phil Simms. And the message to the locker room at large is, if I'm going to treat your star this way, your quarterback this way, you're all subject to except Lawrence Taylor. You're all subject to it. And so I feel like if push came to shove and if Bell check would want him. Now, who knows? Bell check decided Tom Brady was getting over too old. Maybe this is the way he rectifies getting it wrong with Brady, getting the most he can out of Rogers when Rogers is on the wrong side of 41. Very soon he'll turn 41. I just wonder if Bell check would would understand what it takes to get the most out of Aaron Rodgers and not treat him the way he treated Tom Brady. Well, okay. Oh, there's so there's so much here. Sims, what are you talking about Sims that Rogers would have won as many Super Bowls or more with Bill Bell check would not have happened. But that's a different story for a different day. I'll say, of course, Bell check gave Lawrence Taylor special treatment. Lawrence Taylor, the linebacker, and if you listen to Bell check, he's the only one who says this about Taylor. Nobody else says this. Oh, he was devastating in the kicking game, kicking game. Who's talking about Lawrence Taylor in the kicking game? Outside of Bill Bell check, it's he loved that he was a great gunner at times and he was a freak on special team. So a special teamer and a linebacker. Yes, Bell check is going to give that guy a special treatment. He'll give the kicker special treatment, the long snapper, maybe the center, never the quarterback. He is hard on quarterbacks, has been his entire career. You never noticed everywhere Bill Bell check goes. And it's not like he's had a lot of stops, but he's had some big quarterback controversies throughout his career. Goes to Cleveland. Bernie Cose has there. Get out, Bernie. I'm going to fire you. I'm going to bring in Vinny. Goes to New England. Drew Blesso's there. Got a $100 million contract. Get out, Drew. I got Tom Brady. And even at the end, when Brady wanted to come back, the greatest quarterback ever wanted to come back. Bell check says, no, we'll move on. We'll do something else. So he is not kind to quarterbacks. Does not give them special treatment. Aaron Rodgers would be no different. Aaron Rodgers at 41. Aaron Rodgers at 21 would not have been different. I think it would have been tough for him to deal with the Bill Bell check. You're talking about the Aaron Rodgers experience. There's a Bill Bell check experience. And it's tough if you're the leader of the team. If you're one of the leaders of the team, he'll lean on your heart. Well, maybe, just maybe then, if Bell check won't change for Rodgers, Rodgers would change for Bell check for one year. If this is the way to erase the last two years, the disappointment, the underachievement, the disaster, ultimately, that has been his time with the Jets and go out on a high note. Get his second Super Bowl appearance, not just win, but appearance. He's been in one. Same one, Mike McCarthy got 14 years in the rear view mirror. So that part of it is up to Rodgers. Now, here's Bell check utilizing his media bully pulpit and no rules applicable to him can't be accused of tampering. Can say anything he wants publicly or privately to or about Aaron Rodgers. Here he is from the Let's Go podcast. This was last Monday talking about Aaron Rodgers, aka the delicate genius. It's really hard when you're not on the inside on with these guys. You're not sure exactly what they're being told. How maybe where they have some physical limitations, but they're playing through them. Certainly, Rodney Harrison was a good example when we got him from the Chargers, that he didn't have a great year the previous year. But he was playing injured. He was playing through it because he's a tough competitive physical player. Once he was healthy, he was probably our best defensive player when he was there with the Patriots. And certainly, after Taylor, the next best defensive player I've coached. So what they look like physically sometimes can be a little bit tainted with Aaron. You know, I mean, I'm not sure. You still see the snap in his throws. You still see the ball come out quickly and accurately. Maybe a little less mobile than he was, but it doesn't look like it should be that limiting of the factor. So I don't know. I think being on the inside is really certainly there's been a lot of turbulence at the chance this year. And it's probably negatively affected a lot of people, not just him. Yeah, look, the short passing game that Josh McDaniels runs with the Patriots or ran with the Patriots would be running with the Giants under this scenario. That would fit well with what Rogers likes to do. It's just funny because when it looked like Rogers is on the outs with the Jets, that's when folks in the broader league ecosystem started connecting dots. And they know, they know that I'm a willing listener to creative theories and like, hey, Rogers and Belichick Rogers. And so then you should I think of, well, it can't be Dallas, not with the Dak Prescott contract. It can't be Jacksonville, not with the Trevor Lawrence contract. Where could Rogers and Belichick get together? And I narrowed it down to the Raiders of Saints and the Giants. That's it. That's the only places it would work. And the Giants, that's the place Belichick's worked for in the past. That was the place he, according to Gary Myers, was ready to go to when the crap hit the fan with Jimmy Garoppolo and Tom Brady and Robert Kraft six, seven years ago. That would be the ultimate middle finger to Woody Johnson by Aaron Rogers, by Bill Belichick, and by John Mera. It would be the three-pronged middle finger to the New York Jets and Woody Johnson if they pulled that off. If you ever talk to Bill Belichick about the Giants, that's your moment. Okay, if you remember back in the day, Roy Firestone used to do that interview show. In touch. What was it called? It's up close. In, up close. Yeah, yeah, up close. In touch, up close. Two words close enough, up close. And then at one point, it became a parody. Hey, I know you're trying to get me to cry. I know you're trying to do it, Roy. If you try to get Bill Belichick in that situation, if you want Bill Belichick to cry, you want to see some tears, well, talk to him about the Giants in the 80s and what that team meant to him, some of those players, Carl Banks, Lawrence Taylor, Pepper Johnson, the whole thing. Ownership. What do you learn? Even, he'll he'll rhapsodize about Ray Perkins and how Ray Perkins brought him in and made him a special teams, special teams coach and how he learned about special teams and talking to the entire team. He loves New York, loves the Giants. So that is always in play no matter what. As a matter of fact, I put them first on a list. I put them first on a list on desired, my number one destination for Bill Belichick is the New York Giants. And then the other thing, Mike, you pointed out he's really, he's smart and he's smart. He knows how to do this. So I'm going to give rightfully so. I'm going to give a little Hall of Fame shout out to Rodney Harrison, second best defensive player or coach. I'll take care of that. I'm going to get my shot in at the Jets. Yeah, you know, it's negatively affected Aaron Rodgers and others because it's the Jets. I've taken care of that. And then I'm going to tell you that Aaron Rodgers is still good enough to be a productive quarterback, just in case we team up with the Raiders or Giants next year, covered it all. And I think, and look, who knows how things are going to play out, but I don't think it's crazy. And it adds a little more intrigue to his repeated references to New York yesterday. And we'll see if the rough and tumble New York media ask him today for clarification. And again, feel free to say, hey, that dumbass, that dumbass who you once said, don't watch your time reading crap like that. He's thinking, because you said New York, you might be in the Giants. When you say New York, you only mean the Jets, right, right, right, right. Go ahead, ask him, do it. I don't care. At least we get an answer now and we don't have to wait for it. Although part of me wants to wait for it for the same reason part of me now is intrigued by whether or not Mike McCarthy is going to come back to coach the Cowboys. Are you not entertained? Step right up to the ultimate reality show and let's milk this cow as long as you can. So maybe don't ask him, let's let this play out. Let's get maximum value out of it. Two points of order before we take a break. First of all, Roy Firestone, that's a guy who was everywhere and then just gone. And he's only 70. I looked it up. I don't know what he like. He was like, like he was one of the faces of ESPN. And he's just gone. No other reasons. He was the guy and then he's just gone. Isn't that weird? Like, where is he? What's he doing? You know, I think he he may have the last time I heard about him, he had emceed something. He had emceed, you know, these team team gals and they bring in somebody. You probably have done it. They probably I don't get invited to those. No, not me. Hey, let's bring in. I don't imagine. Let's bring in Mike Floyd to to to emcee this. But I think it was something like that. That was made like five or six years ago. Haven't heard much about Roy Firestone though. Yeah, I don't see much here. And it's just odd because there was a time in the 80s and into the early 90s where you couldn't turn on ESPN without seeing or hearing from Roy Firestone at some point. And it feels like it's been years. Of course, it's been years since I've watched ESPN for anything other than Monday night football, frankly. But I have a feeling he hasn't been on there in the past several years. But and the last important point. Just so no one can accuse us of being factually incorrect about the Lawrence Taylor Handcough story, Carl Banks said this back in 2018. We have these meetings the night before the game and everyone is looking around for LT. And we know he's in the hotel and he's got both of his hands underneath his sweater. Lights are off and we're watching film and we hear makes soft metal clanging sound. That's what fasted during the interview. And we go, what's going on with you? And he says, I'm handcuffed from, you know. That's the Lord's Taylor showing up with handcuffs. On that note, more PFT live right after this. Carry on is an edge of your seat action thriller that follows a young TSA agent who's blackmailed into an impossible situation at the height of Christmas Eve travel pandemonium. Either let a dangerous package slip through security and risk the lives of many or save the passengers and risk the life of his pregnant girlfriend. Starring Taren Edgerton, Sophia Carson and Jason Bateman. Carry on is a holiday thrill ride with nail biting nonstop action and suspense. Watch Carry on only on Netflix December 13th, rated PG-13. The holiday season is here and it's the perfect time for family gatherings and celebrating with plenty of delicious food. If you're the kind of person who loves not only preparing meals but also watching cooking shows, reading cookbooks and listening to music while you cook, Amazon Prime has you covered. It brings all of these experiences together, making your holidays much easier and enjoyable. With Amazon Prime, you can get one day free delivery on tens of millions of eligible items so everything you need arrives just in time. Imagine having your recipe books on hand right when you need them, plus exciting cooking shows and music with Prime Video and Amazon Music all included in your membership. Whatever you're into or getting into, it's on Prime. Sign up for Amazon Prime today from streaming to shopping, it's on Prime. Visit amazon.com/prime to get more of whatever you're into. With Kingsford Matchlight, all it takes is a match. No light or fluid needed. So, whether it's a backyard barbecue or a parking lot tailgate, nothing gets the party started like Kingsford Matchlight charcoal. It's the perfect charcoal for on-the-go get-togethers. Give your food a smoky barbecue flavor and give your crowd something else to cheer about. Kingsford Matchlight charcoal, Kingsford's fastest lighting charcoal. Visit kingsford.com Let's bring to life the power rankings for the 2015 show. We presented by our friends at Toyota and we'll bring it to life first by talking about the teams that are dead. Most of the teams on this panel are cooked, put the fork in them, the little plastic thing is popped out, it's over, it's done. Now, for the first three or four Texas dolphins rams, okay, Saints Longshot. The rest, they got to be pulling something out of their butts to pull out a playoff spot this year. It's pretty much done for almost all of the teams in the second half of the power rankings. That's right, only issue is 32, Jaguars at 32. I'm not sure they're the worst team of football, it might be the Raiders. I think the Raiders are at 32 and the Patriots should be right there. The Patriots have gone up to 27, 28 Patriots should be down there, 31, 32 Patriots Raiders. Yeah, and Giants, perfect. That's your group Patriots, 29 too high, move them down, move the Jaguars up because they beat the Patriots. Jaguars up to 29 Patriots down in the 31, 32 range, the bottom of the barrel, the low end theory right there. Well, when it gets down to separating those four, I'm reminded of something I've heard Jerry Jones say multiple times. You're basically circumcising a mosquito at that point to figure out which of those four is 29, 30, 31 and 32, but they are the worst and they deserve to be where they are. Now, let's take a look at the best of the bunch. The top 16, 14 playoff spots, obviously. Deliance still number one, unchanged for the top three, Eagles move up a spot because the Ravens, no, not the Ravens, the Steelers lost, the Steelers lost and fell. So the four teams they were ahead of all bump up one and the Steelers go down to number eight. Is that a good spot for the Steelers eight after losing to the Browns last Thursday night? No division game and they usually struggle on Thursday nights against Cleveland. I think they got a losing streak against the Browns in Cleveland, which is hard to believe. I think the Steelers should be a little bit higher and I'm going to nitpick in the top five because there's a team you know very well. You don't believe in them. Minnesota Vikings should not be six. They should be five. They should be ahead of the Ravens. They've got two losses. The Ravens have four. Put the bike, give the Vikings their love. They're nine and two. They should be in the top five. But I think if the Vikings in the Ravens played right now, the Vikings would lose by two scores. I think if they played either either place Baltimore or Minnesota right now, I think the Ravens would handle the Vikings. Now that leads to what we're going to try to do next. This is a question that I posed yesterday. We'll take a break and do it on the other side. Who are the actual Super Bowl contender this year? Who are the teams that actually have a chance to win it all? Where's that line? And it might not be, you know, in line with the power rank. We're going to try to identify the teams that we believe are the real contenders to do it next year on PFC Live presented by Accenture. For the first time ever Detroit Lions are the favorites from the DraftKings Sportsbook perspective to win the Super Bowl at +2.50. Those are some of the other odds and you know, it's really not that crazy. There's only five teams that are under 10 to 1 to win it all. And that's what I want to do now. How many teams are legitimate Super Bowl contenders? I've heard coaches say any given year, you only have to worry about 10 teams in the NFL. The rest of them aren't going to win the Super Bowl. And it changes. There are some that are in that conversation every year. There are some that are in and they go out, but there's really only at most 10. So let's let's identify. And I think we can agree. Lions, Chiefs, Eagles, Bills. Right. Those four without question. Got them on my card so far. Right. Beyond that, who are the teams that actually can win it? Can beat those teams in the playoffs at some point and beat one of those teams in the Super Bowl? All right. I don't have 10. So the coaches say 10. I've got six to eight and you just named four of them. Lions, Chiefs, Bills, Eagles. How about one of one or both of the AFC North leaders, Pittsburgh, Baltimore? I mean, would it really surprise you? Would it shock you if one of those teams was able to get to the Super Bowl? They've got both of those teams have championship coaches. Both of those teams have championship traditions. One of them has an elite offense. The other one has an elite defense. I'll put Pittsburgh in there. Pittsburgh slash Baltimore. And this is going to bother you. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to jinx you or troll you. I'm going to go to the NFC North. I'm going to the NFC North. Two teams there, Minnesota and Green Bay. Both of them, it would have something special would have to happen. Minnesota has a great defense and a great creative defensive coordinator and an imaginative offensive coordinator and head coach Kevin O'Connell. And they Green Bay has all the talent in the world. If they do the same thing they did last year, they got hot down the stretch and gave San Francisco a real challenge before wilting in the end. If they do that, I could see them making a run. So I think those are my eight teams. That's it. After that, anybody else is considered a dark horse. I'll definitely put the Ravens in there. They're a half step below the others. And the propensity to lose when we don't expect it is the thing that bothers me about the Ravens. The Packers I'll put in there because I think they're better than eight and three suggests. They've lost to three teams who have a combined five losses between the Eagles, the Lions and the Vikings. I won't put the Vikings in there. I will put the Steelers in there because of Mike Tomlin and the way that they're constructed. I think they're constructed to win and and they're in a conference where I think it's going to be easier to get to the Super Bowl than it would be in the NFC. The Vikings, it's going to be tougher because they're going to have to win at Philly. Or at Detroit or both to get in. The Steelers won't have to do that. So I think the Steelers have a better shot to get there. And then once you get there, anything can happen. So I've got seven. You've got eight. Give me one dark horse though. Give me one dark horse real quickly. Denver. Denver. Denver is a dark horse. Because look, all you got to do is you got to be able to defend, play an ugly game. And to do that in the AFC, you're probably going to have to take on the Bills or Chiefs. If it's the Chiefs, we know a divisional opponent. You're not afraid of them. You are a whisper away from beating them. I could see Denver kind of hanging around there, shockingly. Yep. Yep. I agree with you completely and also the Chargers. The team we saw lose to the Ravens on Monday night. I think they could be a problem when they get in because they're going to get in and they'll turn it around and maybe they'll beat the Ravens the next time around if they cross paths in the postseason. Let's take a break. All right. Tomorrow, if you haven't heard, is Thanksgiving. So on this edition, free Thanksgiving of PFT Live presented by Accenture. Let's do a draft. And we probably do this every year. And I probably pick different things every year. It depends on my mood. What I want on my Thanksgiving plate. Go, Michael Hawley. I'm going to go early and it's not going to be on the plate. It's going to be dessert. I'm drafting it first because it's so good and I've had some already. I want specifically Gary Carter's sweet potato pie. It is the best pie. My wife said this. It's the best pie I've had in my life. That's a quote from Mrs. Hawley. We drove my wife and I, my drove an hour and a half from Boston to Hartford to meet Gary Carter to pick up two pies. And I bought him lunch. Okay. Bottom lunch. This pie is so good. Grandmothers and aunties who make pies hate Gary Carter because he makes pie better than anybody makes anything. So, sweet potato pie is first on my list. Number one overall from Gary Carter. For me, and this has become a trend in recent years, I want ham on my Thanksgiving plate. I'll have some turkey but there's something about hamming. I don't know whether it's honey baked ham or heavenly ham. It's one of the places where you go buy a ham. My wife goes and buys a ham and it is awesome. And the leftovers for the ham are far better than the leftovers of anything else because you can take it and you can like put it in a pan with eggs. You can get creative with it and it's all ham all week. After Thanksgiving, after Christmas, after Easter. I got ham up the wazoo or out the wazoo. And I love it because it's the only time of the year I have ham. Well, I love it a little saltiness in there. Just like the writer, not too salty. I'm going to some people call it stuffing. Some people call it dressing. I want it on my plate with a little with some gravy over there. And especially if it's stuffing, if it's been inside the turkey just right, you get some of that turkey juice and then you put gravy with it, goes with everything. You can it's a standalone or it could be a compliment. Give me that stuffing slash dressing. My wife's sister makes it in a pan. It's a big oval shaped almost like a football. And I like to get it, I like chip it around the edges where it gets brown and like almost hard enough to break your teeth. And it's got sausage in it and chestnuts and just all sorts of stuff. But I like to have the edge on it, that hard edge on it, that it really is potentially hazardous to the health in more ways than one. All right, let's take a break. We'll be back with more PFT live and round three of what we want on our plates. But thanksgiving right after this. Minder controversy on round two, my pick is not stuffing. It's the burnt edges of my sister-in-law's stuffing, which is a different food altogether. So we have not overlapped yet. Round three, you're up. Mike, I can't believe they're still on the board here. Maybe the top of some draft boards, turkey. How about turkey? Just symbolically, you have turkey on Thanksgiving, that just lets you know, you're probably not going to have it any other time during the year. So why not on Thanksgiving? Give me a turkey. We now cook the turkey for the major holidays that we host. And it's really not that difficult. And I like the turkey that we make. I like small portions on my plate, that's my last one. Because I don't want one big plate, because I'm going to go back anyway. Give me small portions, and I'll go back again. And again. And again. And again. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Carry-On is an edge-of-your-seat action thriller that follows a young TSA agent who's blackmailed into an impossible situation at the height of Christmas Eve travel pandemonium. Either let a dangerous package slip through security and risk the lives of many, or save the passengers and risk the life of his pregnant girlfriend. Starring Taryn Edgerton, Sophia Carson, and Jason Bateman, Carry-On is a holiday thrill ride with nail-biting non-stop action and suspense. Watch Carry-On only on Netflix December 13th. Rated PG-13. With Kingsford Matchlight, all it takes is a match. No lighter fluid needed. So, whether it's a backyard barbecue or a parking lot tailgate, nothing gets the party started like Kingsford's Matchlight charcoal. It's the perfect charcoal for on-the-go get-togethers. Give your food a smoky barbecue flavor, and give your crowd something else to cheer about. Kingsford Matchlight charcoal. Kingsford's fastest lighting charcoal. visit kinksford.com [BLANK_AUDIO]
Hour 2: Mike Florio (@ProFootballTalk) and Michael Holley (@MichaelSHolley) discuss the latest news in the NFL including Aaron Rodgers on his playing future, Bill Belichick on Aaron Rodgers, and PFT Power Rankings.