NFL Rants & Raves is your weekly dose of unfiltered football talk. Steven breaks down the games, the calls, and the storylines that had everyone yelling at their TV, and this season he goes head to head with Axis Iron, the AI challenger, in a season-long battle of NFL picks. Rants, raves, hot takes, and a scoreboard that never lies.

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Episode 7.58 – NFL News & Catch-up Show

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.58 – NFL News & Catch-up Show
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It has been a month since the guys have come together to do a show, so blame the crazy weather, Jeff’s illness and life for that. The good news is they are back to talk about almost everything that has been missed since they’ve been away.

They have some Good Ole Boys to talk about, this does not include WR Brandon Marshall who is now a Bear but is accused of striking a woman in Miami. Mario Williams is in Buffalo, as the Bills throw way too much money at him. The Peyton Manning Watch has come to an end as he shows he has lots of love for horses in picking the Broncos.

Plus the guys discuss what will happen to Tim Tebow now, what will Alex Smith do, and they give their opinions on what the league should do to punish Greg Williams, Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints for their ill-advised bounty scandal.

Episode 7.57 – The Whaaaaaaat Show

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.57 – The Whaaaaaaat Show
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After some much needed rest, Steven and Jeff are back at it and today’s podcast sort of catches everyone up on some things that have happened since the Super Bowl. The guys talked about getting lots of sleep. Jeff heard a story that he did not even know happened after the game and the guys are just getting caught up with the latest NFL news.

The guys get you ready for the 7th Annual RAVIES, and let all Show Donors know to start checking emails this weekend for the ballot. Then they talk about the combine coming up and all of the Facebook questions they received. They talk about the 49ers, Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin, plus where is Peyton Manning going to land.

It sure is good to be back!

Episode 7.56 – Super Bowl 46 Recap

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.56 – Super Bowl 46 Recap
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The guys are beat down and the last ones standing on Radio Row in Indianapolis. The great folks at the JW Marriott were nice enough to hook the power back up so the guys could record a final podcast from the Indy and talk about Super Bowl 46. The show is only 25 minutes long, but that’s because we really needed to get out of our location.

Jeff and Steven agree that it was a fantastic game and that the city of Indianapolis has earned the right to host another Super Bowl in their fantastic town. There were awesome and great hosts that threw great parties, and it ending with a great game.

The Giants are champions once again and Jeff says that folks can no longer deny Eli of elite status. Steven says he will wait until Eli’s complete body of work is finished, but that he certainly will not be calling him “Happy Feet” anymore. Giants 21 – Patriots 17 and it was a great way to end the season.

Episode 7.55 – Heading to Indy

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.55 – Heading to Indy
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Yes, it’s a short show, but as the guys are getting ready to head out to Indy, even with their hectic schedules, they were able to sneak this show in before they leave to cover Super Bowl 46 for Sky Sports News Radio and Sky Sports News.

They mainly focus on current NFL News and get bogged down with the Colts and Buccaneers new coaching hires. Neither of the guys likes the Bucs hiring of Greg Schiano. This hire is the same as keeping Raheem Morris as their coach. Steven says it might even be worse since Schiano may not have the NFL coaching tree to help him out. Both guys do not expect much from the Buccaneers next year.

As far as the Colts hiring Chuck Pagano (Ravens DC) as their new head coach, Jeff feels strongly that QB Peyton Manning will be out the door. Jeff thinks Colts owner Jim Irsay will be able to spin the release of Manning by saying that Manning did not want to restructure his deal. The Irsay and Manning ordeal has just begun.

Episode 7.54 – Championship Recap

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.54 – Championship Recap
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What a weekend of football. Super Bowl 46 is set and its a rematch of Super Bowl 42 as the Giants and Patriots both escaped with victories thanks to the 49ers and Ravens special teams units. Steven says he aches for the losing teams but was left with an uneasy feeling knowing the games were not won on heroic plays but rather lost with horrible plays.

Steven says he is not excited for this match up, until Jeff reminds him that he is going to the Super Bowl and is one of the luckiest guys on the planet. Steven says he will have a great time covering the Super Bowl but is not looking forward to covering the Patriots and Giants players as they will not be as fun as Packers and Giants players, they will get rehearsed and canned answers.

In discussing the games, the guys agree that Joe Flacco out played Tom Brady but Billy Cundiff’s miss was just wrong. Steven goes on record saying he would never have his season end on the foot of a kicker, not even if the kicker for 100 fro 100 from 32-yards out. Jeff makes the case that Eli Manning has earned elite status and nobody will be able to deny him if he gets his second Super Bowl ring.

Finally, Steven feels for the 49ers and says that the NFC West needs to watch out as this team is going to be around for a long time.

Episode 7.53 – Championship Preview

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.53 – Championship Preview
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The guys are all pumped up and ready for Championship Weekend. What could be better than one Sunday with two games and the outcome determines who goes to Super Bowl 46. The guys talk about T.O. being shunned by the NFL and heading to the Indoor Football League, Steve Spagnuolo becoming the defensive coordinator in New Orleans, Chris Mara of the Giants missing his first Giants game in 40 years to attend the Golden Globes, and Bears RB Matt Forte suggests he might hold out if Bears use franchise tag.

The guys are joined by Ravens nose tackle Terrence Cody who talks about watching the Alabama/LSU National Championship game with friends at home because of having practice, owning and breeding dogs for his dog kennel, looking for double teams when the Patriots run the ball and the Ravens having confidence going into this game against the Patriots. One the Ravens will not be is afraid of playing New England.

Finally, the guys discuss both games and make their picks. Steven is a bit surprised that he and Jeff had made the same picks for this weekends games. Should make for an interesting Championship Sunday!

Episode 7.52 – Divisional Recap

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.52 – Divisional Recap
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The guys have returned from San Francisco and have some great stories to share about the Saints/49ers Divisional Round game. In NFL News, the guys discuss the Rams announcing Jeff Fisher as their new head coach and also stealing DC Greg Williams away from New Orleans. John Elway says Tim Tebow will be the starting QB heading into training camp next year, while longtime NFL coach Mike Martz announces his retirement.

The guys then discuss the four Divisional Round Playoff games. They spend plenty of time on the 49ers/Saints game since they were actually there covering the game for Sky Sports and Sky Sports News Radio. Guys talk about heading down to the field for the final Saints drive and the final 49ers drive and were standing behind the end zone when TE Vernon Davis made his game winning catch. Steven congratulates QB Tom Brady for tying the postseason record of most TD passes thrown as he torched the Broncos with 6 TD passes. Tim Tebow train is derailed and the guys are a little happy about that.

Finally, Steven says the Texans outplayed the Ravens with the exception of the turnover category, but also says Ed Reed is the man and can play ball until he is 50 and in a wheel chair! Jeff is a little sad to see “his Gold team” lose to the Giants, but Steven says he knew it was going to happen all along. Both guys went 3-1 with their Divisional Round picks.

Episode 7.51 – Divisional Preview

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.51 – Divisional Preview
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The guys are getting ready to head to San Francisco to cover the 40ers/Saints game but get you ready for all four Divisional Round Playoff games with this episode. The guys talk about Jeff Fisher not being ready to make a decision between the Rams or the Dolphins and Bill Cowher says he has been contacted by several teams but he is not interested. The guys talk about some of the collegiate players that have declared their intentions for the NFL Draft.

As Steven promised in the last episode, he has wrangled up not one but two player interviews for the show. 49ers LB Blake Costanzo discusses his days playing in Germany and the great Special Teams unit in San Francisco, while Giants CB Prince Amukamara talks about his affinity for Pippa Middleton and the guys say they will pull some strings to see if they can get him a tweet or something.

The guys then get around to talking about the four Divisional games and Steven points out that this is the 1st time in NFL history that 4 Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks play in this round, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. Gonna be tough for the other four QBs. Jeff and Steven differ on two of the games this weekend. Jeff is rolling with all four home teams, while Steven likes the Giants and Texans on the road.

The guys would like to thank SSNR for allowing their interviews of Prince and Blake to run on the podcast.

Episode 7.50 – Wild Card Recap

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.50 – Wild Card Recap
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The guys go over the Wild Card Weekend madness, where nothing was wild, until the last game. In NFL News, the guys talk about the Chargers staying in San Diego for the 2012 season by not opting out of the stadium contract. Romeo, O Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo! The guys tell you, he’s in Kansas City as the Chiefs and Romeo Crennel agree to a 3-year contact making Romeo the Chiefs head coach. And finally the guys talk about the sad missing persons case that Packers OC Joe Philbin is missing his 21-year old son, Michael.

In the Wild Card recaps, the guys both go 2-2 as Jeff took the Texans in the first game and Steven missed out on the Bengals. All four home teams won for only the third time since 1990. The Saints routed the Lions and Steven has some harsh words for Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz, saying he needs to stop being a sore loser. Steven gets the Giants pick correctly and thinks they might beat the Packers in Green Bay and finally, what about that Tim Tebow, huh?

Steven was fascinated that the Steelers dared Tebow to throw against them and for 4 quarters he did not take the bait. But on the 1st play of Overtime, Tebow made them pay with an bullet to WR Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown pass. Are the guys going to start believing in Tebow? Listen and find out.

Episode 7.49 – Wild Card Preview

NFL Rants & Raves
NFL Rants & Raves
Episode 7.49 – Wild Card Preview
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The guys are excited that the Playoffs are here and get you ready for the four games on Wild Card Weekend. In NFL news, Steven and Jeff discuss the Chargers firing of defensive coordinator, Greg Manusky and promoting John Pagano, the Jets fining Bart Scott 10k for an obscene gesture at a reporter and Jeff Fisher going all over interviewing at the head coaching vacancies in Miami and St. Louis.

The guys are joined by NFL BMOC West Coast and LA Times NFL writer, Sam Farmer. Sam talks about all four Wild Card games while in Denver for the Broncos/Steelers game. Sam thinks the Broncos will have their hands full, the Siants/Lions game will be a shoot-out and he even gives us his NFL MVP vote.

Finally, the guys get their picks in for Wild Card Weekend. They agree on three of the four games as they both like the road teams in the AFC and the Saints, while they disagree on the Falcons/Giants game. Steven likes New York while Jeff is rolling with Atlanta.