In this episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, we discuss the players' opportunity to make a case for Antonio Pierce.
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00:00 Hi everybody this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast joined now by my very good friend we've been doing this every week
00:13 for John is it 17 years?
00:18 I think we're wrapping up the 15th or 16th.
00:22 15 yeah yeah 15.
00:24 Man, John is we call him Johnny Guitars but he's a terrific journalist a very successful
00:32 attorney in the Atlanta area but he's again a very successful journalist as well and I
00:40 love his analytical way of thinking and John joins us each week because we talk Raiders
00:46 because I have a lot of people have asked me you know why do you have certain guests
00:51 I have John for a couple first of all he's very analytical and so I love people who are
01:00 plugged in and analytical because they have a tendency sometimes to see things that even
01:05 others don't I think he does a very good job of that plus so he watches the Raiders intently
01:11 because this is what he does with us but also because when we go around the NFL it brings
01:17 an analytical view sometimes a legal view and I really think he gives us not only a
01:22 great shot of the Raiders every week but about the NFL so John first of all Merry Christmas
01:28 to you and Alicia I hope she's doing really well and from especially from my family you
01:34 know how much we love you and so let's get into this now nobody likes a late bye week
01:41 but dear God did it work out great for the Raiders this year that was an early Christmas
01:46 present from the football gods yeah we talked about it this summer they were going to have
01:52 12 weeks in a row you know there's that bye week before the season starts 12 weeks then
01:57 then the break and then kind of a sprint to the finish with a little scheduling quirk
02:01 with the with the Chiefs showing up twice timing wise I think it actually does work
02:05 pretty well for them they know what they need to do because they basically have to win probably
02:12 all the games or at least four of them to have any shot at a playoff so that part's
02:17 done and simple you could say they get the Vikings at a very interesting time because
02:24 they do Justin Jefferson is supposed to come back Josh Dobbs had a bad event last time
02:31 out but that sets up pretty well for the Raiders that they know what they've got to do they
02:37 know they've been preparing in a unique way and I wonder how that will do with the focus
02:42 around the building it's professional football we shouldn't need to work so much on focus
02:47 okay now in reality when you're playing two games in five days and you're preparing for
02:52 two opponents at once essentially I wonder if that does shape and frame stuff differently
02:59 sometimes people get distracted it happens all the time it's probably less likely to
03:04 happen when everybody's not maybe working double time because of the constraints on
03:08 the the rules but they're preparing for two it is going to be a real interesting time
03:16 we're going to know a whole lot more late Thursday night but the first things first
03:23 Minnesota no the thing that I'm excited about is I think this is a real chance I mean you
03:32 play then BAM four days later your archrivals here for a national game I just think this
03:39 is an incredible opportunity the Raiders have two more national games left and I don't I
03:47 don't think they're going to get to ten wins I certainly think they could I don't think
03:50 they're going to and I think if they get to ten wins they'll get the playoffs I don't
03:55 think there's any shot at nine but I mean small but I just think that these next two
04:05 games what an opportunity for the players to make a statement AP's our guy this is our
04:13 guy BAM with the Vikings BAM with the Bolts back to seven and seven with three games left
04:22 dear god I love football John yeah that would really be something they're going to send
04:29 a statement no matter what here's what I mean by that to quote the great rock band rush
04:36 if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice let's apply that to the Raiders
04:42 if for some reason guys did not like Antonio Pierce which doesn't appear to be the case
04:48 they checked out they'd start mailing it in they would get floored in these two games
04:52 and that would pretty much seal the deal not just Pierce anyone in this situation so they're
04:57 actually going to send they're going to send a statement no matter what but the statement
05:01 is going to be really strong if they show up they look prepared they look energized
05:07 they continue to play with the kind of energy that they have if that happens I think that
05:12 we could probably be to well I mean we could be to Christmas Eve to Festivus if you will
05:21 or to Christmas Day and there would be a huge lot of momentum behind Antonio Pierce to be
05:26 named the full-time head coach so a secondary story because to win them obviously is the
05:34 first secondary story is the Raiders are going to send a message to their owner and to their
05:40 fan base about how much they are playing for Antonio Pierce with these two games in five
05:46 days no doubt about it let's talk about Antonio Pierce for a minute because you know this
05:53 I've told you privately he and I share mutual friends so it wasn't like I was unfamiliar
06:00 with AP before he got the interim job but I really respect earlier this week my dear
06:09 friend Braylon Edwards was on the show which on Tuesday he was phenomenal and always is
06:15 and you know he's been friends with AP a long time and he had told me a lot privately you
06:22 know that he always thought he was going to be a head coach he was just that kind of leader
06:26 even though Braylon was on the Jets and he was on the Giants and how he mentored him
06:31 and it just all it was really cool but it's cool to me to watch AP he's not making this
06:39 about him I mean he said the other day hey my team's running out he's making it about
06:45 the players and the more he makes it about the players the more they're making it about
06:50 him it's really it's been fun to watch he gets it the switch has clicked in him you
06:58 know some guys get it they understand the locker room they understand the dynamics they
07:05 get it they understand he gets it he understands it his players have been ready each and every
07:12 week they've played hard they've not played mistake free but they have played hard they've
07:17 been prepared they've been ready it's fascinating to watch his handling of this team isn't it
07:23 it is because he's got the perspective of playing at a high level for a long time what
07:28 I mean by that is he wasn't in the league for such a short period of time that he didn't
07:32 really get to appreciate the full four seasons of a career if you will from when you're coming
07:37 in to developing your game mastering your game and then when it's probably time to go
07:42 then he goes on and does some work at the college level so you're dealing with a totally
07:48 different place in time in a guy's career but now the ability to apply that as a head
07:54 coach in the NFL that's probably experience that he would find more valuable now than
08:00 he may have perceived it to be at the time relative to being an NFL coach what I mean
08:04 is when he's working there as an assistant under Herm Edwards he may not be realizing
08:09 hey this is really going to help me if I'm a head coach at the NFL level where now it's
08:12 like oh that actually helped what I like to see what strikes me is his demeanor on the
08:20 sideline is consistent and it feels like it's running at like 80 85 percent all the time
08:27 he's not blowing a stack too much that I've seen and he's not like asleep at the wheel
08:32 either and I think that's probably a little bit intentional and specific and my guess
08:38 is he's modeling and after some of the coaches that he liked playing for and working under
08:44 and maybe away from the ones that he did not and there is a real value in that when you
08:50 talk about how when you're about the players it seems to feed their love for the coach
08:58 we are seeing that in a totally different and unique situation in Miami watching in
09:03 season hard knocks as I know a lot of the folks are you're like this this does not look
09:10 like traditional NFL football this does not look like the normal situation between players
09:17 and coaches but you see how it feeds itself and that's a unique situation that will work
09:23 well as long as that is the case Pierce to me seems a little bit more traditional but
09:29 really coming at it from a former player angle you know Art Shell comes to mind of course
09:34 because he coached at the Raiders and obviously he was a tremendous player we see D'Amico
09:40 Ryan's in Houston a more recent player and then you contrast that with you know Tom Coughlin
09:48 who Antonio Pierce played under which is a totally different thinking or mindset what
09:55 I see is what it looks like is he actually had put a lot of thought into the kind of
10:01 head coach he wanted to be before he said okay I'll take this job and I don't know that
10:08 we could have expected that before he was named so he probably he probably came into
10:13 this maybe a little more or a much more prepared than we realized and you see the evidence
10:19 with the players attitude their effort and their desire to play for all 60 minutes and
10:24 until otherwise we're going to expect to see that two times in five days with full power
10:32 full gas. I want to address something that Braylon said that I I have never heard that's
10:40 why I love surrounding myself with friends like you and Braylon and other people I love
10:47 hanging around smart people and good people but we were talking about a players coach
10:55 did you hear I mean his comments were just brilliant he goes you know everyone thinks
11:00 a players coach is is this guy that lets the players do whatever they want he goes that's
11:05 not true players coach you could be a disciplinarian and be a players coach a players coach is hey
11:10 I care about you I'm accessible to you I'm going to call you out when you're not I was
11:16 his analysis not absolutely brilliant. It sounded like it yeah that's the thing that
11:22 stood out to me about that discussion I don't remember hearing somebody break it down in
11:28 exactly that way and I even dragged the thing back to listen to part of it again and I probably
11:35 will do that again in the future what he presented was basically here's what a players coach
11:42 is right now and it really is not what I get you know there's so many fans of professional
11:50 football it's the most popular form of entertainment in the country some of us lose perspective
11:56 of just how many different frame of references or thoughts there are thought process there
12:02 are about what a players coach is so while you're watching this show and you may have
12:06 already seen Braylon Edwards break this down and you may have a better idea of what a players
12:10 coach means to an NFL player a lot of folks probably did not and when he said that I kind
12:16 of went back for a second was like oh I guess I didn't realize that you know fans of the
12:21 Steelers that think Mike Tomlin is a terrific players coach okay what that means to different
12:29 folks is more disconnected to what it means to NFL players I think than we probably realized
12:35 and that's why that was the number one thing that stood out to me about that chat for sure
12:42 I have to tell you I was talking to a native Alaskan one time and when I was up in Alaska
12:48 and he was talking about how the Atabaskan I think I'm pronouncing it correctly Atabaskan
12:55 people have like 70 words for snow and you know it can be you know the fluffy snow that
13:02 if you've ever been around snow you can't make it into a snowball or it can be the hard
13:07 packing snow whatever but it's almost 70 words I thought that Atabaskan excuse me anyways
13:14 I and he goes whereas you guys say snow you know we say you know what kind of snow anyways
13:21 my whole point was it's interesting as a journalist it's interesting as a fan it's interesting
13:27 then to get a perspective from a player I just thought it was so good that I had an
13:31 NFL executive I'll tell you who when we go off air tell me he sent it to his staff and
13:38 said listen watch Braylon Edwards listen to what he says send it to his head coach that's
13:44 how he goes I thought it was brilliant I thought it was really good too all right one more
13:48 quick note that on the Raiders and I want to talk some NFL with you I made this statement
13:54 on the show yesterday no it had to be two days yeah it was yesterday so no all right
14:04 whatever it was two two days ago I don't remember now that all runs together we do one or more
14:10 of these a day so anyways on the show I talked about if anyone Mark Davis champ Kelly who
14:22 I want to get the GM job or anyone that Mark brings in calls this a rebuild that is football
14:29 malpractice you've got the best kicker the best punter your long snappers very very good
14:35 your special teams have been excellent your defense considering you spent over a hundred
14:42 million dollars on the offense only 60 millions on the defense Patrick Graham's been great
14:49 Colton Miller one of the best left tackles one of the best running backs you've got arguably
14:54 I think he's become the best in the NFL and Josh Jacobs Devante Adams Jacoby Myers Hunter
14:59 Renfro Michael Merrill I mean I can keep going this is anyone call well you know it's a rebuild
15:05 or treats it like a rebuild I don't care if they say it's not if they treat it like a
15:11 rebuild that is football malpractice man I'm throwing spin around I'm so excited your thoughts
15:16 on that did you think I was too too strong no I don't think so you know and from an outside
15:23 perspective the Raiders have made a mess in recent years so the outside perspective of
15:30 the Raiders is that things are probably worse there than they actually are when we saw the
15:35 Raiders nationally earlier this year and we saw Troy Aikman he specifically he tried to
15:40 make a real big point to that big audience that look the Raiders have a lot of talent
15:46 this is not that bad of a franchise it's not like it's far off I can understand the thinking
15:52 of you don't know the stability of the quarterback you've signed the wrong quarterback he was
15:58 hurt now you've moved on to rookie I understand that I understand that the enormous subtraction
16:03 of any kind of starter with the kind of money that Chandler Jones was paid with an unfortunate
16:09 situation developing I understand that too but because of what you laid out because of
16:15 Max Crosby playing at such a high level Crosby Adams Jacobs no this does not look at all like
16:21 a rebuilding project this looks like one of those teams that is maybe one to three pieces
16:27 away from being able to compete with the Kansas City Chiefs who now look a little bit vulnerable
16:35 until they find somebody that can go down the field and catch the deep ball we all have
16:39 seen the same thing everyone knows what's that this is it's not that the Chiefs are
16:44 bad they're just not quite as good as they were and in reality the Raiders I think that
16:51 the reality is they're not many pieces away from being within a puncher's chance.
16:57 And I'm going to tell you John one of the things you know this I have so many friends
17:03 in management coaching or playing on nearly every team in the NFL I don't get to be a
17:10 fan first of all as a journalist that just wouldn't be the way to do it but I don't get
17:17 to be a fan but that doesn't mean I'm not rooting for good people and I'm going to tell
17:22 you something you knew this from years ago when Matt Mellon said you know every NFL team's
17:28 fans think they're part of the team but there's only one the Raiders where the players think
17:32 the fans are part of the team I have just so fallen in love with these Raider fans they
17:39 are just so incredibly misunderstood their franchises sold them for decades just win
17:46 baby and they haven't these people John I'm telling you they are faithful now they are
17:55 faithful faithful they don't deserve it and as a media person who covers this team I will
18:05 call that out anybody who tries to rebuild the Raiders right now that's just buying more
18:13 time from this fan base and enough's enough win they need somebody to seize the horns
18:19 and say we're gonna win let's go we got we made some mistakes let's correct them maybe
18:25 they've got their quarterback maybe they don't that that's the next guy's decision to make
18:30 but that doesn't require a rebuild I'm going to tell you something I am really feeling
18:38 bad for these fans and they deserve better than what they've been given and it's time
18:42 for that to turn now I think AP can do it he's got five more games to show but I think
18:50 him and Jim Kelly I'm rooting for him to get it but man I'm telling you what I keep hearing
18:55 well you know they're gonna have to rebuild no this fan base no no no no no enough you
19:02 know when you brought in Josh McDaniels you said it's not a rebuild we're going forward
19:05 well you went backwards and don't sell these fans chicken excrement and tell them it's
19:12 chicken salad enough's enough there's a lot of pieces here there's a lot of great players
19:19 time to go forward now John.
19:22 Yeah it is and we talked about it I think last week that the next hire is really going
19:28 to be the one that stands out it's going to be the fork in the road either good or bad
19:34 there is a stability in the Raider franchise that really hasn't been around for decades
19:40 when they started bouncing around that just hasn't from the first bounce out of Oakland
19:45 there was always some instability there's absolute stability now without any question
19:51 so that is good you have a expanded fan base because of some of that moving and shaking
19:57 sure some people check out other people check in and Las Vegas is a growing area Nevada
20:02 this that's the team for the state so you've got some some headwinds behind and this is
20:12 a fair statement to make that this is not it's not anywhere near a rebuild that's not
20:20 even that term is a little loose at the NFL level but if there was no Adams no Crosby
20:25 no Jacobs if there was no left tackle then you may be thinking rebuild but this is not
20:32 like a roster like Houston had a year ago for example no no absolutely not and you know
20:37 I'm going to tell you John I got to get you out here you got to come out and just meet
20:45 these people it is phenomenal to me just meeting them and hearing their stories and their you
20:55 know at first I thought it was humorous that every time I get an email or a comment it's
21:02 always Hondo I've been a Raider fan since 67 76 84 they know the game or the play they
21:11 know it now I am just so appreciative I'm gonna I'm gonna say this to you John and you
21:22 know my years of covering college sports it is the NFL them in Green Bay are the NFL version
21:30 of college with passion from their fan base loyalty I mean listen watch the kid everyone
21:38 tells all the Cowboys fan base is huge and it is Jerry Jones has done a great job but
21:43 it wasn't when they suck and I'm not saying they're great now but at least they're competitive
21:51 and they're in the discussion but when the Cowboys suck well you can't find a Cowboy
21:56 fan but I'm gonna tell you when the Raiders suck they're still running around.
22:06 I mean that in a respectful way yeah crazy crazy okay Johnny hard knocks I love it you
22:20 know that I'm a big fan I think this season of and it's only the second but I think this
22:30 season this in season season with the Dolphins maybe the best of them all as far as really
22:37 pulling back the curtains I thought the Jets this year was the worst it was the worst season
22:43 of hard knocks it was terrible it was horrible it sucked this may be the best season of it
22:50 your thoughts what's standing out to you my guess is that the ownership said handle this
22:55 however you want Mike McDaniel and GM and he said fine we don't have anything to hide
23:03 it does feel like they're catching something a little bit magical here there are it's a
23:08 unique team with it is extraordinarily unique coach but some of the stuff he said last week
23:15 I'm talking he broke down to a tongue of Iloa's throwing mechanics he broke down how important
23:24 it is that he has a very wide base he compared that to Drew Brees because he said at this
23:30 level you don't have time to take a big step when you throw I don't remember anybody saying
23:35 that and I would think that a lot of NFL teams would not let that air so this week's episode
23:42 that has that you need to find it if you can it's an incredible insight into a couple of
23:48 things what it takes to play quarterback at the NFL level as far as getting the ball out
23:56 and when you see guys arm strength vary how it can be improved he talks real specifically
24:03 about to his core is the power he actually makes a golf comparison which is not off it's
24:09 not completely off but when you think about guys that have elevated their arm strength
24:14 whether it was Kirk Cousins and obviously two of their that's the kind of insight that
24:20 makes that show so unbelievable for super fans of football he explains he uses a comparison
24:29 and I don't I don't imagine the rest of the teams in the league wanted want that out there
24:34 but if you're a high school or a college quarterback you just got a lesson from one of the top
24:39 minds in the sport right now offensively one of the quarterbacks playing the best in the
24:45 in the sport right now about what the actual differences between okay functional and great
24:53 and McDaniel's like hey this is why this guy's great because he can get the ball out he can
24:58 get the ball out because he's already got a wide base and here's a comparison of how
25:03 important that is and it just it kind of blows your mind it was really really really good
25:07 you're a football person that wants to learn the game or is constantly trying to learn
25:13 more this was almost going into classroom episode absolutely yeah and look they got
25:19 a unique situation there they knew they were going to blow the Washington football team
25:24 out and they also were it was interesting to get honest assessment of Mike McDaniel
25:31 really likes Sam Hartman the quarterback in Washington I think that caught some maybe
25:36 would it caught me a little bit by surprise because he I don't think he was blustering
25:39 he thinks this guy can play a little bit that was interesting to hear and then you get to
25:44 see the whole scene of the Washington football team deciding to single cover to rekill and
25:50 how that went so it was a good one yeah and then and then and then on Monday night you
25:55 get to see on the Manning cast Tua ripping out his guitars and playing guitar on live
26:00 TV Tua looks locked in also I mean I understand he's a locked in guy I was actually in Hawaii
26:07 when he was in high school it's the first time I ever heard of him from June Jones who
26:12 said it's the best quarterback we've ever seen but they look locked in and this is going
26:18 to be a fun ride to finish with hard knocks this in season well what did you think of
26:23 Tua on the Manning cast I think he's really locked in he appears to be an easygoing yet
26:33 serious and focused guy and he can play the guitar a little bit so I'm a bigger fan now
26:38 that I was before two quick things and then I'm going to move on to our quick picks NFL
26:46 why is there no game this Saturday the college football isn't playing there should be another
26:55 national get rarely does the NFL screw up this is a big one I don't know I understand
27:02 the deference to the army navy football game that's fine you can clear that out but I would
27:06 think that there would be a space for a game or two at night the NFL schedule after Thanksgiving
27:12 is is a moving target we're going to see two Monday night games this week that's fine why
27:17 aren't we seeing two Saturday night games this week that would be maybe something that
27:22 would hopefully be tweaked in the future people can't get enough of it we want more of it
27:28 I'm going to be sitting at home Saturday night playing one of these things wondering why
27:32 I'm not watching a football game in the NFL also have you ever been to army navy game
27:38 no I mean they've been around obviously the mid-Atlantic but no listen just go I've been
27:44 to so many Super Bowls I can't even remember I've been to Stanley Cup finals World Series
27:50 NBA finals Stanley Cup I've been to them all I have national championship games bowl game
27:59 whatever nothing oh my god my country matters to me I know it matters to you I love America
28:09 and it is when you're there with the tens of thousands of warriors who are going to
28:17 go put their life on the line for us and it's just it's it's magical and go Navy all right
28:25 now sorry my family's Navy well my dad is Navy my sisters were army so are my two my
28:33 dad and brothers were Navy my sisters were army but still go Navy because of my dad all
28:37 right last real quick there is so much discussion about banning the tush push I'm so tired of
28:44 hearing about this it's like the only people that want it stopped are those who get beat
28:49 by it I think you let it go because everything in the NFL is cyclical people are going to
28:54 learn how to stop it shut up and the argument figure out how to stop it these are the same
29:01 people that said the forward pass is going to ruin football give me a freaking break
29:06 Johnny is the play safe it appears safe so far does it need to be adjustment on the rule
29:16 maybe I mean call me simple the easiest thing if you want to adjust it the easiest thing
29:21 that to say is to limit the amount of pushers to the ball carrier now that may sound like
29:27 a big deal but maybe it's not when you watch one of these this weekend how many guys are
29:32 actually pushing the back of the person carrying the ball a lot of times it's only one or two
29:38 at a time I think that may be a limitation to do we are pro balance around here we would
29:45 like more running and passing to be kind of balanced out I don't think we want it just
29:49 to be pass pass pass sport like a pitcher throwing a game so I'm not opposed to this
29:55 and I like the fact that it promotes running I want to see more teams doing it on first
29:59 and second down because they can get runs of four yards or more and it's so let's see
30:06 what they do but my buddy Dominic Riola yeah well yeah great guy great friend his son right
30:14 now is the number one quarterback prospect in America with this latest recruiting class
30:18 quick guy and he came up with a play that in short yardage when there's nobody in front
30:28 of him he would call something out and he would hike the ball in the quarterback would
30:33 just follow him and it would I mean they would do it first down second down didn't matter
30:38 and pick up huge yards again I love watching the game of all I don't want more rules I'm
30:45 tired of rules rules shut up we don't need any more legislation we need to work no more
30:49 bureaucracy let the guys play all right let's get to our picks Johnny Guitars let's go.
30:55 Johnny Guitars>> There are four games that are bigger and better and more important this
30:59 weekend than any other they seem somewhat obvious but these are the featured foursome
31:04 the first is Philadelphia Dallas it's monster it's monster in the NFC East Eagles appear
31:12 to be the better team still no team is perfect no team is perfectly healthy Mike McCarthy
31:19 maybe there should be hopefully you think the Eagles are going to get them there's a
31:23 lot more pressure.
31:24 Mike McCarthy>> Yes I think the Eagles.
31:25 Johnny Guitars>> There's more pressure on Dallas here I think the Eagles are a better
31:29 team as well.
31:30 Mike McCarthy>> You know I'm going to say this Dallas is a good football team with the
31:36 most annoying they're constantly propped up because their fan base is huge when they're
31:41 good which I understand but they melt in playoff settings and until they prove to me they can
31:49 win big games I'm riding with the Eagles.
31:52 Johnny Guitars>> Maybe the top NFL head coaching candidate is Dan Quinn maybe we'll see that
31:57 in a couple weeks I like that guy quite a bit I think he's going to get a lot of calls
32:02 Buffalo and Kansas City sounds great look at the standings Buffalo is absolutely back
32:09 against the wall they've got some off field distractions controversy or worse but they
32:15 have to win this game what did we see in recent weeks we saw it with the Bengals last week
32:20 they put up a big fight and they won a game they had to have the Bills have got to have
32:26 this one any shot in Kansas City.
32:28 Mike McCarthy>> You know I always laugh because every time I say some people come back okay
32:35 I'm out here I give my opinion I don't think Kansas City is as good as that's not true
32:41 I think they're a very good football team I think they're struggling right now a little
32:44 bit so I think they're susceptible but not at home I'm riding with the Chiefs I think
32:53 it's because I don't think the Bills are as good as we thought I would not be shocked
32:58 with the Bills win but I'm expecting a Chiefs win.
33:03 Doug Galloway>> I think the Bills are too injured to win the Super Bowl but I'm also
33:07 going to go with the Bill Parcells rule and pick the team that can afford to lose the
33:12 least in this case that is the Bills I don't know why other than that the Bills cannot
33:17 lose I think they find a way now Indianapolis and Cincinnati is interesting if you want
33:24 to talk about the playoff situation these are teams obviously that others in the AFC
33:29 are going to pay attention to Cincinnati grits their way it looks like they're going to get
33:38 blown out of Jacksonville at the start of the game they don't they end up somehow pulling
33:43 it out they get the quarterback from the University of Washington from seven years ago played
33:47 excellent the Bengals now have some momentum shouldn't I think the Bengals are going to
33:53 knock the Colts out I don't know what the Colts are even doing having won as many games
33:56 as they have Cincinnati's going to kill them.
33:59 Mike>> Yeah and you know some of my friends on the team so if I picked against them they
34:06 would kill me so no I'm right yeah I'm riding with the Bengals here.
34:13 Doug Galloway>> The last one is in Las Vegas there's no question Minnesota at the Raiders
34:19 that we know where the Raiders are in their standings I saw a stat that said 1.4 percent
34:26 chance of making playoffs now we also know where Minnesota is Justin Jefferson comes
34:31 back so that means Jefferson and Addison are out wide that's a problem Hawkinson's tight
34:38 end that's a problem Dobbs really bad last week how does he recover this is one that
34:48 really does matter because the loser is probably done and right now the Vikings are in playoff
34:55 range we know the unique spot of the Vikings schedule where they've got the Lions two out
35:00 of the last three weeks this is one of the best games of the week you'll be there I may
35:07 be there Minnesota at Las Vegas.
35:09 Mike>> You may be there?
35:11 Doug Galloway>> I may we'll talk about it.
35:13 Mike>> We're doing dinner.
35:15 Doug Galloway>> Yes for sure.
35:18 Mike>> Raiders they're gonna win this game.
35:23 Doug Galloway>> I think that the Raiders if they can get I know it sounds cliche if they
35:29 can get north of 24 points I think they've got an 8 out of 10 chance of winning how do
35:35 they get there I don't know they probably need a little help from Josh Dobbs they probably
35:40 need some help from Josh Dobbs and they probably need a fantastic game from the running back
35:44 Jacobs.
35:45 Mike>> And I think I let me just say this I think they're gonna be a little more aggressive
35:53 with Aiden O'Connell just giving an opinion.
35:57 Doug Galloway>> I'm gonna go 26-17 Raiders a little bit of an oddball score what a could
36:03 have should have for Minnesota Minnesota would have could have should have won they probably
36:08 let it get a little looser in the first part of the game than they should have the first
36:12 half the Raiders know what's on the line two games five days I think they're gonna come
36:19 out ready to rock and punch and they can disrupt Josh Dobbs with you know who and I think you
36:25 know who's gonna have a big day in the backfield for Minnesota he's gonna be in there a lot.
36:31 Mike>> I agree with you 100% all right that's the great Johnny Schaap joining us for this
36:36 week's podcast John Stanlein I want to talk to you but hopefully get to see you in Vegas
36:40 this weekend thank you everybody now remember this is Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las
36:47 Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast part of the Fans First Sports Network this is Johnny Schaap
36:52 he has a podcast on the Fans First Sports Network called Spartan Pride we also we do
36:58 a podcast every day as you all know but also we have our pod this podcast every day available
37:05 for those that just want to listen to the audio because you don't want to look at me
37:08 I don't blame you you can pick that up at Spotify Apple wherever you get your podcast
37:14 but I do a second podcast every day it's five to fifteen minutes called Riding With Hondo
37:19 it's just an exclusive for our audio only audience with just tidbits of information
37:24 and knowledge that I get that I want to share check that out as well but from all of us
37:28 to you happy Festivus for the rest of us Merry Christmas and John thank you for joining us
37:35 again this week bud.
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