Steve: Till Showtime. We're going to start with Hockey Jesus.
Chris: One minute to Showtime.

Steve: Or you could just put the music on now.

Chris: OK.

Steve: That's what I would do.

Chris: There we go. Looks like we're live on Instagram. That's good stuff.

Steve: I'm going to play a little bit.

Chris: I don't know what you're trying to do.

Marc: I'm trying to get on Instagram.

Chris: Well, listen up here guys. I want to thank you for being here. This is the sports porch. The porch is live right here. We are live all over the internet. We are live on Facebook. We are live on LinkedIn. We are live on X and YouTube, and now we are live on Instagram. I guarantee you we are live on Instagram right this very minute. I will try to verify. Um,

Steve: This is not our traditional time.

Chris: Yeah, we are now. Yes, we are definitely now because I forgot to hit the go live button.

Marc: Oh, there it is. Okay. Forgot to hit the go live. Technical director. And now we're on.

Chris: There it is. There it is. The latest fail. There it is. So thanks for being here guys. Really appreciate it. Uh, and obviously the sports sports podcast, we're live right now, so you can call into the show. We'll put the phone number up soon. Um, we're generally on, we're usually on Monday nights at seven 30, but because of the Christmas holiday, That's why we're here today. So we're going to drop the podcast right after the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your frigging podcast.

Marc: There's that pirate again. Yep.

Steve: Yep. Pirates coming out, man. Spring training will be here before you know it.

Chris: Itching to get back. And if you're watching our show live, you can always drop a comment like Brad did just now.

Steve: Hey, Brad. Hey, Brad.

Chris: Good afternoon, Brad. And we are on Radio PGH, which you can find at radiopgh.com. If you're in the car, I would suggest that you don't

Steve: You know watch the video while you're driving correct unless you have like that heads-up display, right, you know Yeah, I don't know put it right on your screen.

Marc: We want people to be safe and sound Be safe this holiday.

Chris: Grant Schwabini and I were having a discussion before the show and essentially he he had to remind me that I was grounded and he was rich

Marc: I said no such thing. I would never say anything like that.

Chris: No, I just made that up. That's right. I just made that up. Okay, why are we here? Well, it's obvious. We're the Sports Porch Pittsburgh. We're going to talk Steelers. So much going on this year. I mean, this has been one of the weirdest years for the Steelers. Then we of course have our esteemed guest, our esteemed colleague, the Hockey Jesus will be joining us. And he will opine and preach about the state of the Pittsburgh Penguins. But let's jump right into this. What do you guys think here? Mason or Kenny? Your choice. And if you want to call us, if you're listening live or watching live, 412-805-7236. We do have one line open, as usual.

Marc: Well, I will start us off here. Now, I got a text from the Yinzer, Steve, down there. The Yinzer. Show us your shirt there. Well, he doesn't have to. His text basically said, Rudolph is starting. Now, that's not 100% confirmed. It seems like Tomlin is leading in that direction, kind of using the Kenny Pickett might not be healthy enough, but let's put that aside for a second. When I saw the text from Steve that said, Rudolph is starting, I actually got excited. I thought, they have a chance. And honest to God, if Kenny Pickett was starting, I felt that they had no chance at all. Right. And so, you know, you know me, I've always been a big Rudolph supporter. I mean, I'm not saying he's a franchise quarterback, but I've always been a supporter. You know, I've always felt that he's got a really good arm. when he plays with emotion. And I think the guys like him. But, you know, to me, he's never really gotten his fair shake. He was kind of treated like dirt by Ben Roethlisberger. And then, you know, just when he was sort of getting his feet wet, he got hit the head. by a Miles Garrett with a helmet, which probably knocked him, you know, senseless, not silly, right? Or for the rest of that season. Oh, yeah, definitely. So, you know, look, I mean, look, all I can tell you is, yeah, it was one week. But you know what? For one week, he looked like a pretty darn good quarterback.

Chris: Yeah. And I think that there's a bigger, bigger issue going on here. But I want to hear what what Steve has to say.

Steve: Well, I mean, we don't get to say so and who gets to play quarterback, but we can we can we can pretend that we're Mike Tomlin today. And I think Tomlin's running a little scared by using the words that he used because he knows he needs to get. He's got to get a win in the next two. And, um, he probably has a better chance of beating Baltimore because if Baltimore wins, uh, against, uh, Miami, let's assume they will, then they have the number one spot and they don't have anything to play for in the final week. However, if they lose the Miami which is also possible because Miami is playing pretty good right now. They just beat Dallas then Then Baltimore it has to win and hope for Miami loss and they they actually play Buffalo the last week of the season so So that'll be really interesting how that's gonna play out because Tomlin is in it to get a winning season. We all know that. Right. And if a winning season means making the playoffs, so be it. But he doesn't even he's not even looking at the Ravens game. He's just looking at this game in front of him. And he's saying, well, my quarterback, my starting quarterback, who I want to start. you know, he's not playing great. And the guy that I just put in played the best game in two seasons in the position. Right. Maybe I should stick with the guy who has a better chance at, you know, leading us to a victory.

Marc: You know, what's you know, what's really interesting, too, is I found it really interesting just how much the players seem to want Rudolph playing. You know, like the way that the way that Highsmith reacted. Yes. During the postgame interview. Yes. I mean, he's he's obviously the guys like him and want to rally around him. Yeah. Read the tea leaves. Yeah. Exactly. And, you know, like I'm sure you you have to imagine that George Pickens has decided that he's a Rudolph supporter. He's happy. Yeah. You know what I mean? So You know, I mean, it's interesting.

Chris: I think I think the bigger issue here is that it is quite obvious that the Steelers don't have a quarterback on their roster. They don't have a real quarterback on their roster. That's that's the bigger issue. So when you when you play these games like, you know, who's going to start Mason had the best game in two years. But Mason has always also demonstrated that, you know, he has the ability to, you know, not, not, not be, not be very good.

Marc: He actually has a pretty good record as a starting quarterback.

Chris: He does. He does. But, but here's the thing, like there, there's a reason that when Ralph Osberger decided to retire, that they signed Mitch Trubisky and they drafted Kenny Pickett when they had a guy.

Marc: But maybe that's because they don't really know how to evaluate talent.

Chris: Well, we've talked about that, like Tomlin in his career as a head coach has never had to evaluate it. He's always been able to plug and play Ben Roethlisberger. And then if he went down, you know, you bring it back up. So the problem that I see right now is that, you know, is he going to trot Mason Rudolph out there against Seattle? I don't know. What he said today was basically exactly as Steve said. It's the same situation as last week. Kenny's not 100% ready to go. We're going to let Mason take the reins and get another week of practice in. And depending upon what Kenny's availability is, and that word is so open ended, that's a decision they make, you know, and, and that's a game that he's playing with Seattle. You know, who do they prepare for? You know and really in all honesty who does seattle need to prepare for they don't really have to prepare for anybody You know because there's there's no way rudolph's going to come out And if he does good for him because I I think rudolph has been a class act through this entire Situation he was never given a chance

Marc: You know, Seattle sort of has a good defense, but at the same time, their secondaries, their weakness.

Chris: It is. But the problem is Pittsburgh has historically never played well in Seattle anywhere. Anyway, there's something about that trip that they don't win there. So the cards are stacked against any Pittsburgh Steelers QB that walks on the field because of this history. But the bigger issue here is the Steelers, as far as I'm concerned, they don't they don't have a they don't have a quarterback. And Kyle's in the house. He warned me he would be trolling us today. What's up, Kyle? Sports porch, baby. Maria carry 14.

Marc: I don't know why. Mariah Carey had her Christmas special on last night. I caught a little silent night. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris: So how many number ones do the Steelers have? Zero. Kenny Pickett is the best. I disagree. I think they are rudderless at quarterback. Yeah, I do. Yeah, he's terrible. I think they're rudderless at quarterback, and we know, like, I don't have to say it again. I was a big Kenny Pickett supporter, 100%. I'm out on him now.

Marc: I'm just it was more your infatuation with his long locks of blonde hair.

Chris: Look, I'm not going to shy away from that. It's exactly true. I was very attracted to him and I'm a heterosexual male. So, you know, but he's a good looking kid. Now, I like the way he played at Pitt. I like that last year. And I thought because of the extra year at Pitt, you know, so, OK, maybe there's an X factor there. Maybe the X factor is that Kenny Pickett takes a little bit longer to get comfortable and next year is his year. I don't know. But right now, listen, man, as far as riding the hot hand, you know, I was thinking about this. These guys are paid to win football games. They're not paid to lose football games. All right. So their job is the business of football. So they're going to try to win every single game or they should anyway. No matter what. So of course Tomlin is going to try to make the playoffs this year. Of course he doesn't want to lose the whole I never had a losing record situation. I already opined on that a couple shows ago where I think that's first on his list. I really do. I don't think it's second on his list. I think it's first. Second is we'll make the playoffs and maybe win a Super Bowl because he's been there. So, hey, we have Phil commenting here, and then I'll turn the reins over. Phil's in the house. Thanks, Phil. Who flipped the switch from Mason's the guy when seven retires? That's Ben. And the media was on board. Also, Mason being treated like a redheaded stepchild. Well, after his last start, Tomlin, Rooney, NFL, you don't go from he's on the basis of he's it on the basis of 19s and to when he's not when he didn't play to one. I'm not sure how to even finish that comment.

Marc: I don't understand.

Chris: It's so darn long that I just my I was tripping over my words, but we get your point.

Steve: I understand what Phil means. He's saying, why suddenly are you playing Mason Rudolph? Like, why is he suddenly the chosen one? Right. And it's really pretty simple. Mason Rudolph is playing for a job next year. He doesn't have a contract with the Steelers. Right. Right. So this is the only time he's going to get to basically say, look, these are my skills. So if he can take the Steelers and win the games that he starts, he's got he's got he's got he's got a resume that basically says, I'm a viable number to look. I, I even scored the most amount of points for Pittsburgh Steeler team who people think can still make the playoffs and at a time when they needed to make the playoffs. So I think that's, I think that's really why Tomlin is playing him. He knows that Mason Rudolph one is. A better quarterback can go through his progressions quicker and has a better chance at winning one of these two next games. That's really, that's it. That's really what it comes down to. And, you know, maybe it's because Kenny's not healthy enough this week. We're never going to know that. Maybe it's because he has more confidence in Mason Rudolph at this point. We're never going to know that. Tomlin's never going to tell us. He wouldn't even come out and say that, you know, Mason Rudolph is the starter this week. I don't care if Kenny's healthy, then we would know. But he's not doing that. And that's what he that's what he always does. So that he makes it so that everybody's happy and yet nobody's happy because you don't even know where he can always switch. And he always looks right with that. And that's the problem with Tomlin's leadership skills right now. it's just it's he's playing the middle he's he's he's in the middle of the fence he's on top of the fence and he can go down to the right side of the fence or he go down to the left side of the fence wherever the past years are green that's where he's going to step down to and it's going to make it look like he was always on that side of the fence no matter what And that's which I think also driving Steelers Nation a little crazy about Tomlin. And I think that's why you hear the sounds of, you know, get rid of Tomlin. It's time to move on from Tomlin. We're tired of the platitudes. We're tired of this non-leadership stance on things. Just whatever he wants to say to make himself sound good so that he can get the next win, which gets him the night.

Chris: Yeah. And, uh, I love this from Phil. How about Mason was being Mason. If Mason was being Mason, why has he not been playing? I mean, that's, that's a great, I mean, and if you look at this, you go back into some of the teams that have been successful in the league, you look at, and the Packers come to mind, you know, they, they draft Aaron Rogers, Brett Favre is still there. He sits on the bench for three years, maybe four. Um, and, and they groom him. Um, Who else has done this? Well, they did the same thing with Jordan Love.

Steve: Yeah.

Chris: Yeah. And Jordan Love, obviously, I mean, he's not lightening it up, but it definitely looks like he benefited from that time. I also want to say, who else has done that? Did the Giants do that with Eli Manning? No, they started him, right? No.

Marc: Well, I think the more appropriate comparison, though, with a guy like Rudolph, is, you know, like Rudolph basically came and had to sit. Then he played sparingly when Ben got hurt and he played pretty well. Then he had that crazy situation where he got hit in the head.

Chris: Yeah, but that was quick. That was like only a couple games in. Yeah. So it was soon. It happened early in his career.

Marc: Yeah, but I think isn't his record something like like seven and four or something like that? It's not that good, but it's a winning record. Yeah, it's a winning record. Right.

Steve: , and He he like duck had a better arm, but he wasn't a better quarterback. You know what I mean? Like he could throw the ball faster and harder and down the field further, but he didn't know how to play quarterback in the NFL like Mason Rudolph has been doing it his whole entire life. And I think they just soured on him once again because it was about the record. They didn't feel like. They didn't feel like Mason Rudolph could go out there and win games, and they felt like Duck could give them that spark to win the games. It's always this way with the Steelers. They're just looking at the very next game. They're not thinking about longevity planning or sustainability or any of that stuff. Who can win the next game? That's who we're going to put in. And that's the way it's been since Ben's gone. And it's not been good. And if they don't do something about it next year, it's going to get worse.

Chris: Yeah, I agree. If you think about it, they had kind of they began to execute a plan to turn over the reins at the QB spot when they drafted Rudolph, when they knew that Ben had at best maybe three years left. Now, Ben's reaction to that, I think, may have been overblown a little bit. You can never really know exactly how the guy feels, but it made a little news. His comments made some headlines. But that was their opportunity. You know, here's a guy who set records at Oklahoma State. You know, he throws a really good deep ball. uh they drafted james washington at the time um so there's your plan there's your succession plan but they didn't stick to the no they didn't stick to the plan stick to the plan and because of that you have this guy who's been just kind of lingering in the background look you know everybody feels bad for mason i don't i don't how much does he get paid to like

Marc: Practice football a million dollars.

Steve: Yeah.

Marc: Yeah, like a million 1.5 Okay, here's the thing. I mean look I I know you can say all kinds of different things like you can sit here and you can say well, you know, he signed as a third string quarterback for the Steelers because nobody else wanted him and Well, you know what, he signed as a back, you know, Nick Foles signed as a backup quarterback with the Eagles because nobody else wanted him. Right. Kurt Warner signed as a backup for the Rams because they needed him because they needed him and he was stock and shell. Right. You know, right. Brett Favre was cut from the Falcons. Yeah. Yeah. By Jerry Glanville. You know, like, you know, like the bottom line is, is that, you know, sometimes guys actually you know, get better and if they get an opportunity, they can actually play. I'm not saying that Mason Rudolph is you know, look, the easy thing would, would be to say that Mason Rudolph is maybe a good number two quarterback. But if you guys have been watching, you know, and you're constantly talking about the state of port quarterback play, you're going to tell me what you saw last week is in amongst the, you know, number 15 to number 25 quarterback in the league. He could be, you could start on some teams. I truly believe that.

Chris: Yeah. Well, he definitely had Everything that Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky don't have. Pocket presents. he had a pocket presence watching him play you could see that he trusted his line he understood his footwork he would step up in the pocket he would keep the pocket alive and he would deliver the football and george pickens made a comment about a quarterback standing in the pocket and delivering a football the week before so you wonder if these guys aren't seeing this kind of stuff in practice as well and not frustrated and I'll tell you what, I'm really not shocked. about how Tomlin presented the idea of Mason starting. I understand the dilemma. The dilemma they have now is, do you ride the hot hand? I hate that phrase. Do you ride the hot hand or do you go back to your anointed starter? And like, because you haven't planned for this and because you haven't paid attention, the real kind of attention to the quarterback position on your roster, the way you should as your aging successful quarterback starts to phase out. They're in this, what do they do if, what happens? What happens if… Rudolph comes into this game in Seattle and lights it up again. Is Kenny Pickett still your starting quarterback? I mean, yeah, but is he your start? Let let's pretend, let's fantasize that Rudolph plays well against Seattle. Not necessarily 300 yards, three TDs. Let's say he gets like 260, two touchdowns, maybe one interception, but they win the game by seven points and it's a close game, but he's in control. Now, you have to start in the last game. You have no choice. Absolutely. Okay.

Steve: That's not true. You don't have to start it.

Chris: No, of course not. We get it. In the real world, you have choices, but I'm looking at it and saying you got to start him because now he's put up two straight games where he looked like the best quarterback on the roster. And if you went out and some other crazy stuff happens, then you get to go to the playoffs. Right. So let's in this fantasy, let's fantasize that game. And then the last game of the year is against Baltimore. Right now, it looks as if Baltimore may have a chance to rest everybody. They might. And let's say he comes out in that game and plays well enough to win and they don't make the playoffs. Now, do we have a quarterback controversy going into next year?

Marc: I don't think they just make Mason Rudolph the number two next year, and they think quarterback to replace Kenny Pickett, right?

Chris: And that that that that's, you know, Christopher's comment here. If not Rudolph or Mason, who do you think Pittsburgh goes after? Do they look for a new coach instead? You know, I know where Steve comes down on this. First of all, they're not going to look for a new coach. Not not right now anyway But my point is why do you not have a quarterback controversy? Okay, if if Rudolph plays these last three games and they win and he plays the way I talked about Well, yeah, he's proven. He's the best quarterback in the roster.

Marc: You absolutely do I mean look now if I'm here if I'm reading the tea leaves here, this is this is my My thought as to what Tomlin is doing here. Okay Tomlin wants to play Kenny Pickett But knows he can't He knows he can't because he knows Mason gives them a better chance to win, and the team is rallying around Rudolph. So that's why he's going to play. Kenny Pickett's going to be fine. He'll be able to play this week, and he's not going to. Now, if Mason wins in Seattle, he plays the last game against the Ravens. If he loses in Seattle, Kenny goes in against the Ravens. That's the way I see it unfolding. That's what's going to happen.

Steve: Yeah. And by the way, he's not going to say that Kenny Pickett's fine. He can go. He's going to say, Kenny's still not a hundred percent. That's what he's going to say. He's cleared the play, but he's still not playing at a hundred percent. So he'll make it look like there's a doubt that Kenny will be at his peak. So we're just going to go with the guy who played great for us last week. And that makes sense, right? As far as next year goes, as far as next year goes, yeah. They're probably not even going to sign Mason Rudolph. So he'll probably be gone. So there'll be no quarterback controversy for next year because next year, they'll only be Kenny Pickett. I mean, I don't even know if Trubisky is going to be back next year, to be honest with you. I don't know. I mean, I don't know. So they're going to, what they're going to do next year is they're going to clear the deck. They're going to bring in a new offensive coordinator and that's, that's where they're going to go. Yeah. They are going to look for a new coach, a new offensive coordinator coach, and that's going to be the only difference you're going to see on this team. It's still going to be Kenny's team, whether or not they make the playoffs with Mason Rudolph or not. And by the way, they're probably not going to, there's a lot of other things that have to happen in addition to them winning both games. I do agree with you. I do agree with you, Mark, that if, if Mason Rudolph goes into Seattle and Seattle does have to win it to keep their playoff position. So this is a big game for Seattle. If, if, if Mason Rudolph can go into a, basically it's a playoff situation, the loser of this game is not going to make the playoffs. almost guaranteed, like Seattle could still make the playoffs, but they'd have to have some things happen. And likewise, if the Steelers win, they still have to win against Baltimore. And I don't know. I mean, who knows what that'll bring? We'll talk about that next week. But I think if he can win in a playoff like situation, I think you're right. They have to play him. But I don't know that that's what Tomlin will do, to be honest with

Marc: This really is the big game, the Seattle game. Because everything's in this game. You know, they can still get their 9-8 if they're playing against the Ravens backups. But this is the game, if they want to make the playoffs, they have to win this game. And I think it's a winnable game. I mean, it is tough to play in Seattle. But look, I mean, come on. Nobody really believes in Geno Smith, right? I mean, come on.

Steve: I mean, look, he's all over the place.

Marc: and He beat the Eagles. Yeah, that's right. The team that's tied for the best record in the NFC. And actually stinks. That blew me away.

Chris: I know, I know.

Steve: I think they're going to have a really hard time beating Seattle in Seattle. And that's going to be the problem.

Chris: Yeah, I think so too. The danger here is that Rudolph comes out and does what I said he could do if he does what I said.

Steve: You know, if he comes out and throws for 300 yards and three scores, you know, no, there's a chance that that could happen, but the defense is going to have to play better than they have played in the past few games. And I just don't know that they're capable of doing that. I think this defense is tired and they got a boost from the offense last week.

Chris: I don't know if me, I don't, did he say anything about Minka today? I didn't catch that.

Steve: He didn't say anything. No, he didn't say anything about Minka status for this week.

Chris: All right, let's move on here. Did, did Pickens grow up or was that a flash in the pan from him?

Marc: No, it just shows you his talent. Right. But, you know, the bottom line is he's got to do it consistently.

Chris: Was that do you think that enabled him maybe to say, see, I told you, I'm really all that. I don't have to block. I don't have to do anything. Just throw me the damn ball.

Marc: No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I, I still think he should have been sat down even though he's their best chance of winning games. But, uh, but you know, I mean, look, but you know, what it did was it enabled Tomlin. There you go. That's a better, that's like, see if I don't see, I know what I'm doing. I know how these people are. I don't, I don't, you know, reprimand them. And, and you see, that's why we won the game because I didn't reprimand them. Right. You know what I mean? Right. So what are you going to do? I mean, it's a, it's a shame if you think about it, I mean about how good pickings could be and that he really, isn't because he doesn't show up every week. Well, you know, I think he might be the quarterback, too.

Chris: I think it's that. And I also think when somebody is only 22 and they've been put in a spot like like this for a long time, you know, they feel enabled, they feel entitled. It doesn't mean that they won't mature at some point. I mean, it doesn't mean that between this year and next year, somebody who really matters to him sits him down and says, hey, look, you are all of these things, but a little bit of humility would go a long way for your career. And there's nothing that says he wouldn't listen to that. I'm trying to be positive about that because everybody is beating him over the head so much. It's kind of like, yeah, I get it. It's stupid. You don't take a playoff. It's like I'm looking at it and saying, who were his coaches growing up? that they didn't instill this in him.

Marc: Well, apparently the coaches, some of the coaches in Georgia said, stay away from them.

Chris: Yeah, well, maybe they couldn't. Maybe they couldn't. Maybe they couldn't get through to it. Maybe that was the whole thing, but actually look, it doesn't mean people can't change. Doesn't mean they can't change. I would love to see a game somewhat like that from Pickens every game. That would be great, but I think he could have another one this week in Seattle.

Steve: Their defensive backs aren't that great, so there is a chance to see a repeat of it this this week for sure.

Chris: OK, well, listen, they play Seattle. When do they play Seattle? Is that a Sunday game? I can't remember.

Marc: I think it's just a Sunday, regular Sunday four.

Chris: Yeah, that's our only yeah. OK, that's our second four o'clock game of the year. So last comment in here, Tim Eggert says they think their shit don't stink. That's Schwab's problem, to be honest with you. So you can see Kenny starting next year. Right now, unfortunately, I say yes, I do see Kenny starting next year. And I think we're all in agreement.

Steve: Yeah, he'll be the last man standing. Yeah.

Marc: I call it a 50-50. Yeah, really? You call it a 50-50? I call it a 50-50. Wow. I think a lot, you know, a lot can happen in these last couple weeks. Like, you know, Steelers could go 10-7 and make the playoffs. They could go 10-7 and not make the playoffs. But still, 10-7's not bad. No, it's a good record. You know? Or, you know, if they were to lose out, like if they were to go 8-9, then I think you have a decent chance of Tomlin not being here. and them doing a reset and, you know, bringing in somebody who is going to compete with Kenny Pickett and maybe even trading up in the first round to get a quarterback. I think that definitely could happen. It all depends on how it goes down, you know? I mean, what happens, you know, let's say like Mason Rudolph gets hurt and Kenny Pickett comes in and, you know, against Seattle and just, you know, stinks the joint up and then he stinks the joint up and he can't even beat the backups in Baltimore. That's what I'm saying.

Chris: I think Kenny Pickett, that's what Kenny Pickett is. Right. But I think that's why I say it's a 50-50. Yeah, I agree. OK, let's move on here. We got to get to our NFL picks this week. Last week, Mark was 2-1, Steve was 1-2, and Chris was 2-1. So the only person I picked up a game on was Steve, who is now 24-22. market 32 and 14 is running away with it and I am 19 and 270 so yep 19 and 270 it's not a good not a good record not where you want to be all right we want to know what your pick is in the comments if you're watching us live the first game Thursday night Jets at Browns now normally this would be a game that The idea, I don't even realize is on. Right. Um, but the Browns have, uh, Joe Flacco and they have a shot at the playoffs, which is, uh, makes me not like Mike Tomlin even more because they went through four quarterbacks this year.

Marc: They're going to make the playoffs.

Steve: They did make the playoffs and the Browns actually still have a chance at the number one seat.

Chris: That's crazy. And they have a good defense.

Marc: Um, yeah, I'll take, I'll take the brownies in this one.

Chris: Okay. Mark's got the Brown, Steve.

Steve: I don't know. The jets had a big win this week.

Marc: I think they could go into Cleveland and against two, the commanders who, but they came all the way back and then they gave up a field goal to lose it. Yeah.

Steve: Hey, any win is a big win for the jets.

Chris: So you're saying jets.

Steve: I'm saying Browns.

Chris: OK. And it's it's it's do or die time for me, so I'm going to have to go with the Jets.

Marc: Why don't you just make a try to make a run at 500? Yeah, instead of just trying to always pick the ones we're not picking, you'll never catch us because nobody around here gets it.

Chris: Nobody gets a prize for 500.

Marc: You'll never catch us. So nobody. There's no prize for 500. Just save embarrassment.

Steve: Yeah, I mean, it might be the Mike Tomlin or the sports porch. Chris, come on.

Chris: Christopher says Jets. All right. Next up, we have the Lions at the Cowboys.

Marc: And this is a wild one, isn't it? I'll tell you what. Lions are good, and I think a lot of people are sleeping on that. I don't know. For some reason, Lions just don't seem to get much credit. You know what, I understand the fact that the Cowboys are undefeated at home and are a completely different team. I mean, the Cowboys have basically stunk up the joint against Buffalo and Miami on the road, as expected. So the typical thought would be the Cowboys are going to come back home, get right and route the lions. I say it ain't happening. I say the Detroit lions squeak out a victory and give the Cowboys their only home loss of the season. Okay. Steve girls for the Steve. Yeah.

Chris: He always takes the Cowboys.

Steve: Yeah, because they're going to win the Cowboys.

Chris: He said that last time, too.

Steve: Well, you said, well, I mean, let's face it. It was one field goal with time expiring that they lost that could have easily gone the other way.

Chris: But it didn't. I agree with Mark.

Steve: I'm just saying, like, that was a coin flip. It's not like the Cowboys went in the Miami, by the way, Miami could get the number one seed and they almost beat Miami in Miami. So, I mean, they're a good team. I don't know why you guys are sleeping on the Cowboys. They're going to make the playoffs and they're going to win in the first round. promise you that.

Marc: Well, we're gonna have to play on the road.

Chris: And Christopher Beckerdite says he's picking the Lions.

Steve: I promise you the Lions will not win a playoff game this year.

Chris: Okay, we're gonna hold you to that promise. I think they will. What happens if they do win a playoff game? What will you do for us?

Marc: I think they will.

Chris: What will you do for us if the Lions win a playoff game?

Steve: I will do nothing for you. What will you do for me when I'm right?

Chris: And then nothing because it's what you were expecting. All right, Packers at Vikings Sunday night.

Marc: Packers at Vikings, it's it's an interesting game. This is a garbage game. It's really it's really hard to to to say Vikings when every week it's a different quarterback and they all seem to throw four interceptions a game. But somehow they're like in it to the last play, right? I'm going to go Packers. Give me some Jordan love.

Chris: All right. Hockey Jesus.

Steve: Well, Jefferson's back for the Vikings. That's all you need to know.

Marc: Minnesota didn't help this week. Almost did.

Steve: Almost did you see that?

Chris: I'm going, I'm going with Minnesota at home. All right. And, uh, it looks like Chris is trying to, uh, Vikings just to make the wife mad. Are you sure you want to do that? I mean,

Steve: Yeah, that's probably a bad idea. Christopher, I try to make the wife happy.

Marc: So Chris's wife is a Green Bay Packers fan, a cheese head. There you go.

Chris: Sunday bonus game. We're doing a bonus game bonus game. I love this game. Dolphins at the Raven.

Marc: This is an interesting one because, you know, are the Ravens going to be, is it the trap game? Even though you should say, of course it can't be a trap game because they both have such good records and the Ravens, if they win, they lock up the one seed. But still, coming off of the destruction of the 49ers, you know, you gotta think like they gave everything they had this past week, you know? And so what happens when the Dolphins roll into town?

Chris: Well, this is a total trap game because the Dolphins have only beat one team with a winning record, and that happens to be the aforementioned Cowboys. And they're going on the road now, and they win more at home. So, you know, it plays into the weaknesses of the Dolphins and the strengths of the Ravens.

Marc: It does. But you know what? I'm going to say, for whatever weird reason, I just don't think that it as good as the, the Ravens looked against the 49ers. I just don't see them getting up for a game two weeks in a row like that. I think they're going to, I think they're going to take the foot off the gas a little bit. I'm going to say the fish is going to get a win in the inner Harbor.

Chris: That's perfect. All right, Steve, who you got?

Steve: Well, the dolphins. The dolphins did beat the cowboys who you think the cowboys are garbage and they had to go to the last second to beat them. So the dolphins clearly aren't that good. However, I love what the Raven said after the game was over. If you heard any of the post game stuff, Lamar Jackson was asked, you know, well, what do you think? You know, you've got the Dolphins, you know, you have a chance at winning, you know, and getting the first seed. He was like, I'm just thinking about next week. I don't care about anything else past that, you know, because she was asking about the Super Bowl and winning a playoff series. And he was like, that's all noise to me. All I care about is what happens next week. and the dolphins are coming into town. So clearly they're already thinking about it. I actually think the Ravens are going to stomp the dolphins. OK. Because I don't think the Dolphins are that good. I'd love their offense. Don't get me wrong But the the Ravens can score almost as well as the Dolphins can look it up They're only like three points per game behind them or something like that. So I I really do believe The the Ravens are gonna win and that isn't just because it actually helps the Steelers by the way

Chris: I am I'm with you. I think the Ravens are going to win. I think they're on a roll. I think this is the whole idea of peaking at the right time.

Steve: And I think it's been the most consistent game team in the NFL all season.

Chris: Right. And well, and peak by peaking, I mean, you know, they ripped up San Francisco yesterday. This is their chance to rip up the Dolphins. They've secured a playoff spot. They're working on the number one seed, which, by the way, isn't that important, but it's important. And I just, you know, I think the Ravens are going to, I think the Ravens are going to win this game. I think the Eagles, um, they have the ability to peak now they've been struggling, you know, and I use the term lightly on that because they they're struggling, but struggling based on what you expected last year. So there's certain teams that are starting to peak at the right time. And I think the Ravens are one of them.

Steve: So, well, do you think Lamar Jackson's an MVP candidate? You think he'll win the MVP?

Marc: I got no idea. I would say after this game. Yes.

Steve: Because he basically right birdie and CFC right out of it.

Marc: Yeah. Yeah. So he's I think he's going to win it. Yeah. So.

Chris: Yeah. All right. Those are our picks. Listen, I want to thank everybody for watching us live. If you're watching live right now on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube X, and believe it or not, Instagram as well. Um, I want to thank you for that. And of course, remind you that the sports porch podcast will be dropped right after the show. So you can grab the podcast. You can go back and listen to the whole thing. Uh, please subscribe, leave us a review. We would absolutely love that. It's, uh, the sports porch podcast on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast spotify or anywhere you get your podcasts and our new radio station radio pgh.com lots of exciting things coming down the pike for that uh one quick comment could be football related um cd basically is in the house by the way he says merry christmas boys but he he says i hate to say it but they could have done it last year if lamar didn't get hurt uh and if the ravens beat the dolphins he's saying mvp absolutely so now

Marc: Let's talk now. Well, as you say now, if the dolphins beat the ravens, right, and somehow get the number one seed, then you can make your case for two.

Steve: No, it would be Tyree kill about that.

Marc: Yeah, I think it'll be Tyree kill because they Tyree They have the odds up and and and he's two is in the top five and a Tyree kill isn't Yeah, well, I don't see two winning it.

Chris: Sorry. No two is not gonna win it. Is that a good year? I'm not saying he had he didn't have a good year. I just don't I just don't see him as the mvp Okay, Hockey Jesus preaches on the podcast after every single Penguins game. You can grab the Sports Porch podcast to hear Hockey Jesus' take on the game on the iHeartRadio Apple podcast, anywhere you podcast. What's up, Hockey Jesus?

Steve: Well, if you missed the first 32 of the season, you still have 50 more to go. So you can jump in on the hockey Jesus podcast anytime. The next one will be tomorrow night.

Chris: Tomorrow night, right?

Steve: Tomorrow night. That's right. The Pittsburgh Penguins play at the New York Islanders. Actually, I kind of circled this one because I'm going to the second half of that game on the 31st when the Islanders come into Pittsburgh.

Chris: So what's so important that you have to miss the first half?

Steve: Oh, no, I'll I'll be watching it, but I'm not gonna fly to the island to to watch.

Chris: Oh, you're doing the back to back My apologies hockey jesus.

Steve: I'm sorry actually in between then they actually play st Louis, which is kind of weird Normally, they just do a back to back but this is not really back to back but they play. Um, They do play back-to-back because they play the 30th and the 31st I kind of wish they did it the opposite where they played st. Louis first and then they Anyway, the the schedule is a little bizarre, but those are big games There are no big games yet, but we're slowly reaching the point where the Penguins need to get to They need to get to 50 points pretty quickly And right now they only have 34, um, points, but. I mean, the Metro is such a jumbled mess. It's like, there are so many, like, once you get the 36 points, the difference between them and the second place team, we're going to, the Rangers are an outlier at this point. The Rangers are just, just fly in there. They're playing great hockey. I think the best thing they ever did was not re-sign Patrick Kane. Um, they're even playing without just Durkin, which is pretty incredible. They're doing most of it with Mike quick, which is hilarious because the penguins had a chance to go get them. And honestly, the only thing that the LA Kings are, are missing is a goalie. And they traded Mike quick last year at, at the trade deadline, which is hilarious. Um, but it's really proven dividends for the Rangers. I, I think the Rangers are the most solid teams. I've, I've been watching a couple of the other teams play. I don't know why Boston is so good. I've watched him play a couple games now. I mean, they have a lot of points and they're dominant in the Atlantic, but I don't think they're really that great of a team. And once again, I've watched the Islanders play. Sometimes they play really good, and sometimes they're just garbage. So once again, hockey's all over the place right now, and it's kind of that way for the Penguins. They won four of their last six, which is good. And the last one they lost, they lost in overtime, the Ottawa. And that was after they came back and tied the game by scoring two goals in the third period. I like the makeup of this team now. I just don't know what happens. So, for example, Valery Pustinin is a new guy. He's a rookie. He's a kid, right? Right. But he's been playing great up on the first line or the second line, wherever he plays, which is not normal. Like normally, when you bring a guy up like that, You, you, you don't put them right up on the first line or do you don't put them on the second line? He, and he actually wasn't lighting it up in the minors. Like he wasn't, he was an average player, but like you put them with Sid, you put them with Gino and it's just like, he knows how to play with those, those guys. And they say this every once in a while, like sometimes the, the, the game in the minors doesn't equate to the game in, in, in, in the NHL. And some, some kids just know how to play that type of game. So I think I think they got a problem because Raquel is healthy now and Rust hopefully will be healthy very soon. When Rust comes back, that means Pustanin can't play, which means he can't play. He's not going to play on the third line and you're not going to put him on the fourth line. That's not the kind of player he is. So the question is, do they try and make a trade now with somebody? And I'm not an advocate of trading Gensel. I know there's a lot of talk out there about trading Gensel for somebody. I think they might need to try and trade Raquel, even though his value right now is not very high, to basically free up a space for Pusanen, who's been playing really well. The penguins have some problems when it comes to that. The one place they don't have problems is in their defensive core. I actually really like Ludwig. I think he has really solidified that bottom pairing. Shea, he can play with Shea. He can play with Brewedle. He can play with anybody on that bottom six pairing. And they've been messing around with the defensive pairs by putting petterson sometimes with um with latang now and graves with uh carlson I still don't think they've figured out what to do with carlson to be honest with you The guy is not really a defenseman and you know We said this at the beginning of the season like he is he's more of an offensive guy first and that he kind of plays defense sometimes, and that's been true for him all season long. You can't. You can't talk about the Penguins without talking about how horrible their power play is. They did get another. They did get another power play goal last last game, so that's 1234. Once again, four power play goals in the last six. That's pretty good, but when you can't score five on three against Ottawa, who has the worst penalty kill in the league? That's their first their first penalty. Their first power play unit is still an absolute mess. And I haven't seen anything that's going to fix that yet, to be honest with you.

Marc: Steve, I have come to the point of the year where I've decided who I want a weekly update on. Can you give me.

Steve: A Ruedel update, Chad Ruedel, yes, I can. He. He just he played in the Ottawa game, but lately he's been a on-again, off-again player, which means he gets scratched about every other game. I see he's played 18 games, though. Right. But he played the first like 10 to 12, like right away. Then he got injured. And then since he's been back and Ludwig's been in the lineup, he'll play for Ryan Shea. Him and Shea are basically flipping and flopping out of that sixth position. So, and by the way, he doesn't score, so all he really can do is play defense.

Marc: What is his ethnicity, Ruedel?

Steve: That is, you've stumped the hockey Jesus.

Marc: I have stumped the hockey Jesus. I was thinking maybe Slovakian. Yeah. Or a Fin, maybe a Fin.

Steve: Yeah. Maybe, maybe he's Swedish. I don't know. Norwegian? Yeah.

Marc: I will tell you what. I will tell you what, get back to the more serious hockey talk and I will give you that update. I think he's South African.

Chris: No.

Steve: South. Uh, no.

Chris: All right, DG's in the house. Happy holidays. What's up, DG? Thanks for being here. Glad you found us. Chris Beckerdite says he's going to the game when the Pens come out to Phoenix. Good for you.

Steve: Oh, dude, I'm so jealous. I told my son that I'd like to go out to see them play in that small little arena. It only seats like 6,000 people. In Phoenix? Really? Yeah. Well, because they're building, supposedly they're building a new arena for them.

Chris: A 300,000 seat stadium.

Steve: Uh, no Someday there will be one of those don't you think but but they're playing they're basically playing in university. I I think it's university of arizona's uh, uh place where they play and it's like literally seats like four or six thousand people I have real wheedles country of origin.

Marc: Would you like to know?

Steve: I would like to know America So the pens need to get their shit together they need to start winning games they've been doing good I would say their last their last six games they went from 27 to 34 points and That's what you want to see. They need to continue that they play twice against the Islanders. They gotta at least win one of those right out and hopefully in between beat Saint Louis. So I'll take five points in the next three games.

Chris: All right, guys, well, we will definitely look forward to the next Hockey Jesus update. And I want to remind you, the Hockey Jesus Preach is on the podcast after every single hockey game, right after the game, most likely. Anywhere you get your podcast, iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, Spotify. Always a joy. He's got the music down, he's got the sound down, now he's just got his opinions down. And now we're going to move on to something before we leave, something we talked about before the show. What is your favorite holiday movie that your wife or your significant other will watch with you?

Marc: I'm going to say if the wife is watching with me. Yeah, like, like, like, let me let me let me qualify.

Chris: So we both have.

Steve: Oh, look who just jumped on. It happens to be your wife.

Chris: So you better you better get this right.

Marc: We both have to like it, though.

Chris: Right. Well, that's what I'm saying. So, okay. So we all know what happens over the holidays, somewhere in the house, a TV is on and it's just, it's just ringing through all the movies and you know, on AMC, they play the vacations, blah, blah, blah.

Marc: So Mark, big city, high powered woman goes back home to the small town, meets the lumberjack, uh, and then realizes that the lumberjack is incredibly wealthy. He's got a huge lumber company.

Steve: Yeah.

Steve: OK, well, I haven't seen her back. They have huge numbers.

Chris: I haven't. Yeah, I know.

Marc: I was I was going to say that, Amy. I was going to say Elf.

Steve: Yeah.

Marc: He says Elf. I was going to say Elf would be the one we would enjoy watching and Christmas vacation. And that was the one I'd say I'd watch myself.

Chris: OK, well, so now you have one. OK, so that but that was the next one. So the first part, what's your favorite holiday movie that, you know, your wife will watch with you? Yours is Elf and Christmas Vacation. Right. Steve.

Steve: Well, I too also know this answer just because we were out at some pop-up bars in the Pittsburgh area talking about Christmas movies. And my wife said the only movie that she has seen more – that she would watch every year would be Elf.

Marc: There you go, Will Ferrell.

Steve: That's actually not my favorite, by the way.

Chris: No, no, no. We're going to get to that. We're going to get to the one that you watch every year, no matter what. Mine is Four Christmases with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon. My wife will watch that. She watches it. I like it. I'm sure I've seen it.

Marc: I just don't remember. You have. It's good. It's pretty good.

Chris: I've never seen it. It's like a second shelf classic. It's not a classic. It's right below.

Marc: okay so now the movie you will watch over and over again you know how we do we watch it in little snippets but but amy's like i don't know how you can watch that christmas movie well amy does not have christmas movies that she just likes oh she likes she likes them all okay i mean you know she likes to watch hallmark clearly wow you could watch that 24 7 yeah that's how i look yeah i mean she's hallmark yeah

Chris: Like, not Die Hard? She won't watch Die Hard?

Marc: I've, personally, I'm on the side of that Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. Right. Um, so I don't include that. I mean, you know, just because it's Christmas time of the year, I mean, it's a… Well, it's a Christmas party that they're at.

Chris: They're at a christmas party. It has nothing to do with the movie, but it's a christmas movie because they're at a christmas party No, it's not. Yeah, they're at a christmas party. It's not and the dudes that come to steal the shit from the hall said it's not Okay. All right. Fine. So what is it? You got to pick one. There's one, you know, there's one where she's like, I don't really like this movie

Marc: You know, well, I am not exactly how she sounds. I am not a huge, uh, well, and I didn't really like bad Santa either. I didn't think it was that good. Yeah. Um, I don't know. I mean, roll out a list of a Christmas movie. I don't know. Okay. Let's move on to Steve. I'll look for one.

Chris: What's your, what's your, what's the movie that you, you, you watch all the time? Your wife can't stand.

Steve: The movie is Scrooged.

Chris: I love that movie. Yeah. I love that movie too.

Steve: Yeah, I love that movie because it's funny. It's kind of retrospective. And then at the end, it's a great message. It's the perfect Christmas movie.

Chris: Excellent. Mine is Christmas Vacation. I love that movie. Everybody does. I know. But my wife hates it. She can't stand it. Why? He's not a Chevy Chase fan. She just thinks he's childish, which I've tried to explain. That's the whole point of watching Chevy Chase movies.

Marc: Right. Well, she also doesn't like you, too. So we know there's something off. Yeah. Yeah.

Chris: Well, what's funny is that's kind of a double entendre. She doesn't like you, too. Right. Right. You've fallen on their Schwaber because there's a little truth to both.

Steve: Yeah. Yeah. She does like Pearl Jam, though.

Chris: She does, which makes her very attractive, very attractive. So, Schwaber, you got the movie?

Marc: No, but I'm surprised. By the way, Four Christmases, ranked number 12 Christmas movie of all time by somebody's list. Oh, that's interesting. Elf wasn't ranked number one, by the way.

Chris: Yeah, it wasn't ranked number one or was ranked number one. Was ranked number one. Yeah. I'm going to tell you guys something right now. I have never watched Elf. Really? Not one single minute of it.

Steve: I promise you, you will hate it the first time you watch it.

Chris: Really? I mean, I do like Will Ferrell. I have nothing against it. I just, Elf is one of those movies that just slipped through the cracks for me. And once it slipped through the cracks, years went by and now everybody's talking about it as like a classic. And I'm like, huh, never watched it. And I just don't have a desire to. You should though. Is it worth 90 minutes of my time?

Steve: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But you'll have to watch it again. You'll have to watch it like three times before you really like it.

Chris: Really? I'm not sure I'm into that. I like to like it.

Steve: You have to give it some time. OK.

Marc: I gotta be honest, I'm looking at all these Christmas movies. There's not a lot of good ones. No? It's not, I mean, look, it's, I mean, there's some classics.

Steve: Come on, you shoot your eye out. Come on.

Marc: I always like the, you know, the Charlie Brown Christmas, you know, with the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Steve: That's not a movie, it's more of a special.

Chris: Yeah, I've grown up and I don't watch cartoons anymore, Mark.

Marc: That's what I said. I never saw Journey to Bethlehem. Maybe you could bring me up to speed on that.

Steve: I never saw it either.

Marc: Listen to this. Obviously there must be a horror movie called It's a Wonderful Knife.

Chris: I love it.

Steve: Number one.

Chris: I've never even seen it.

Steve: Number one.

Chris: Oh, my God. That's about that. Yeah, that's about it. All right. Listen, guys. I want to wish everybody an incredible holiday season. I hope yours is peaceful, sunny, bright, all that good stuff. Thanks for being here and watching and listening to the Sports Porch on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Instagram. And I'm going to drop the podcast right after the show here on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your fucking podcasts. That sounded more like a gorilla. Anyway, and you can always catch us at Radio PGH. Amy's upset with me, and I don't know why.

Marc: Well, she thinks you're a fraud for not ever seeing Elf. Oh, you're a sham of a human being.

Chris: All right, guys, that's it. I'm your Technical Director, and I am out. Let's go, Pens!

Marc: There it is, your Christmas edition.