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NFL Divisional Round Prevew: Will Chicago Bears or L.A. Rams Have Fourth Quarter Magic Again? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, Welcome to the Inside the Birds NFL Divisional
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Round Preview. I'm Jeff Mosher, and we are headed toward
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a great weekend of football, and it's been a very
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: interesting week in general for the NFL. They never short
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: for storylines. I mean you, in one sense, a lot
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of people relate Divisional Round weekend when there's two games Saturday,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: two games Sunday to sort of like the final four
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of March Madness. It's just that exciting of a weekend
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: you usually get. Of the four games, at least two
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: maybe three are really good games. Last weekend in Wildcard Weekend,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: you got tremendous action from the from from Wildcard Weekend.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: It really wasn't until the Sunday night game that it
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: wasn't really I think every game was decided by four points,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken. In the Wildcard round, you know
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: the Rams winning coming back in the last minute of
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the game. That was thrilling. The Bears game, but that
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: was about as exciting as it gets. The Bills, same way,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Bill's Jags. And then of course the Eagles forty nine
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Ers game, and that Patriots Chargers game was close for
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: a sixteen to three score. It was close going into
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the fourth Patriots pull away, so it becomes a little
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: bit more lopsided. And then of course the Texans destroying
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the Steelers. But again that was a seven to six
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: game going into the fourth quarter and then it was
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: all Texans. They just wore out the Steelers. So I imagine
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: coming up here in the indivisional round you have some
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: really really good matchups. I like, when you get a
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: divisional matchup, you'll have forty nine Ers, Seahawks and playing
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: each other yet again, and so that'll be you know,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: they just played each other a couple weeks ago for
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the number one seed. The Seahawks won that game. It
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: was close, so that'll be fun. I think Bill's Broncos
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: is gonna be fun. Rams Bear is gonna be fun.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Curious about Texans Patriots. You know, you have two teams
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: that are you know, it's been a long time since
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: the Patriots have been really good and the Texans are
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: a good defensive team that can be somewhat painful at
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: times to watch on offense. But it makes for a
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: good matchup. And of course we'll see if weather gets involved.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I know it's supposed to be very, very cold, as
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: it usually is this time of the year in Chicago
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: for the night game on Sunday night. But it's a
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: good ticket. It's a good ticket. And it's an exciting
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: week in general for the NFL because while you have
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: these four games looming over the weekend, you have incredible
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: movement going on in the league. You have so many
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: head coaching openings, and then of course one already being
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: filled with John Harbaugh going to the New York Giants
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: and listen, and the Giants did a very very smart thing.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: They didn't let Harball get back to his home where
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: he was supposed to have more interviews. They didn't let
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: him out of East Rutherford without basically signing to the
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: dotted line whatever he wanted. And so Harbaugh, who is
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: obviously a great coach as won a Super Bowl eighteen
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: years of one organization, will go to the Giants. And
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: you look at the NFC East now, and there's a
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: chance that the Giants are going to start to become
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: a decent team again. And I say that because there
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: is some building block talent there. They have that as
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: an advantage going on for them right now. The one
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: thing I will say, though, is this, as we talk
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: about Harball with the Giants. It's not a slam dunk.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: He is a slam dunk higher. It's not a slam
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: dunk that he's going to go to the Giants and
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: then suddenly they're going to be a very very petitive team.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: So I think it's really important to remember two things. One,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: when he got that job with the Ravens, they had
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: some they had some good time. I mean, they had
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: Ray Lewis on that team, they had some real players
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: on the rise, they were able to get Flaco, they
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: were really growing okay, and they had some guys who
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: were won before, and that's important. There were a winning
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: organization and a winning culture, all right. I'm not saying
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: it was easy for him, but he was able to
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: go in there, get some buy in for some key veterans,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: and then really start building a great culture and winning games.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: That's great. The Giants are a great organization, but they
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: have not acted or built themselves or carried themselves like
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: a great organization for quite a while. For about a
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: decade now, they've had bad coaching hires, They've had drama
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: with players, they've gotten rid of good players, they had
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: offensive line issues, and they've had GM issues, and they
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: had had struggles putting together consecutive good seasons. I mean,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: they've been terrible, honestly at it. They've been a bad
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: decision making franchise, and they've made some obviously bad decisions
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: too that the rest of the league would look at
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and say, why are you doing that, whether it's a
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: coaching hire or a draft pick, and it's come back
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: to haunt them. So they needed they needed stability, They
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: needed a proven winner. I don't think they were at
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: a position where they could just gamble on a guy
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: who's never coached before been a head coach. I mean,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: you never want to limit yourself because then you can
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: lose out on a guy like Andy Reid or Baltimore.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: If they never gave John Harbaugh a shot, would have
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: lost out on a guy who turned out to be
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: a great head coach just because he only came with
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: that special teams coordinator tag. So I just want to
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: make that clear that it's not a slam dunk for
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the Giants because although they have some good building block
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: talent and dart, they got Lawrence, they got Burns, they
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: got the left tackle Thomas, they got Abdul Carter. You know,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: they got guys who can play, so that's good building
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: block talent, but they haven't acted as a good organization.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: And we'll have to see if Joe Shane stays or
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: if Harbaugh continues to make moves to get his guys
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: in there. But the bottom line is you can have
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: a very good coach, but if you don't have a
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: good organizational philosophy, you don't have a good organizational front office,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: scouting chain, decision making process, then even a good coach
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: is going to struggle. That's just the reality of the situation.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: So it's not a slam dunk. The Giants took a
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: huge step in getting John Harbaugh. They did the right thing.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: They should at least be I'll equate it to this.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: The Commanders are coming off a terrible season, so it
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: sounds like it's a bad analogy. But when Josh Harris
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: took over and he hired Dan Quinn and Dan Snyder
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: is out of there, and they draft jayde and Daniels,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: who's going to be the right guy? I still believe'll
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: be fine. You know, they beef up the offensive line.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: They have a tough year, There's no doubt. Injuries were
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: mostly due to that, but you look at the Commander's
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: organization and I still think they have a better future
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: because of guys like Quinn and because they seem to
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: have some more adults in the room there that understand
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: how to operate a football team. So we'll see with that.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Now again with Harball, I think the biggest thing he'll
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: bring to the Giants is the ability, and this is
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: so crucial. Harbaugh will bring the ability to build a
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: real coaching staff and maintain a coaching staff there. It
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: sounds like he'll bring Todd Munkin over as a as
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Ocmunkin did a great job up until his last year,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: where again injuries, but he generally did a very good
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: job as the Ravens offensive coordinator, and he has such
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: strong connections around them. I mean, if you can look
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: at all of the coaches that Harball in Baltimore was around,
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: from Wink Martindale to Dean Peas to Jim Caldwell to
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Jesse minter ah Man, he was around a lot. I
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: mean there, Greg Roman, I mean, a lot of these
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: guys are good coaches. Some of them may not be
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: great head coaches. Some of them may just be really
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: good position coaches or coordinators who cares they're good coaches,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: and Giants have had struggles not only with their their
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: head coaches, but putting together good staffs. Dabell had a
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: few good coaches. He had Martindale there, he feuded with
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: him and fired fired him. That was the reason they
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: made the playoffs a couple of years ago because their
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: defense was so hard to figure out. They gave teams
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: fits because Martin Dale's great, but he couldn't get along
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: with him. That's big part of Brian Dabele's issue. And
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: of course Mike Kafka, his offensive coordinator, no connection to him,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: hires him as his oci takes play, calls away, gives
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: it back, takes it away, gives it back. I mean,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: it was just constant friction between Dable and his assistant.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Special teams guy got fired. I mean that's been an
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: issue for the Giants offensive line coaching, defensive client. Obviously,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: after Martin Dale's firing, they hire Bowen from Tennessee. He
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: didn't do a very good job. The one thing you
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: get with Harball you get a guy that people want
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: to come work for because he treats his coach as well.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: He runs a good operation. He is generally known as
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: a guy that is good to coach with. He lets
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: his coaches coach because he hires usually experienced coaches or
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: really bright minds, and that's what you need. And so
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: he'll come to New York and I guarantee you he'll
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: put together a pretty good coaching staff, which is really
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: really hard to do for most new head coaches, especially
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: first year head coaches. I think I mentioned that last show.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: You often see guys get a head coaching job, hire
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: a staff not the one that they thought they were
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: going to hire. You know, they usually tell the GM,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna get this guy, that guy, and that guy,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: and it winds up not happening. And then you do
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: bring in some guys that you're not familiar with. Then
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: the next thing you know, you're firing a guy here
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: you fire even good Listen, it happens to really good coaches.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: It's not a flaw. It's just that it's really hard
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: to get the guy you want. Case in point. And
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: I can think of a million examples. But the number
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: one team in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks, right, this
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: is Mike McDonald's second year. In his first year, he
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: had a different offensive coordinator. He hired Ryan Grubb from
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: the University of Washington right there in the backyard. Okay,
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Seattle's backyard had that really nice offense a few years ago.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: I went to the championship with Pennix and and rom A,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Doonsa and all those guys who were in the NFL. Well,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: he got fired after the first year, and then they
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: hired Clint Kubiak, who was available because of Kubiak wasn't
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: available the year before he was with the Saints as
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: their offensive coordinator. Hires Kubiak, and you can very easily
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: say Kubiak is up there with anybody in the NFL
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: for Assistant Coach of the Year. So it is not
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: easy process. You lose guys, you don't have the guys
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: you want. Remember one of the big, big, big reasons
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Nick Sirianni got the job or was an attractive head
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: coaching candidate for Jeffrey Lurie was because Nick Sirianni knew
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: he could bring Jonathan Gannon over. And I know Eagles
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: fans don't love Gannon. They still hold the Super Bowl
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: from twenty two against him and everything like that. And
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: he obviously went to Arizona. It didn't work out as
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: a head coach, But the bottom line is he was
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: a very well regarded defensive coordinator. He did a pretty
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: good job as the Eagles DC for two years, and
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: the Eagles knew they were going to be able to
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: bring him over because he was an assistant with Sirianni
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: in Indianapolis and it wouldn't be hard to get he
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: would be able to come over. And they got him,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: and that, you know, they said they started to change
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: their defense more in the Vic Fangio mold, and when
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Fangio finally came over, then he was able to put
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: them over the top. But it's a big, big issue
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: for or first time head coaches, or just head coaches
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: in general, getting the guys you want on your staff.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: And I think the Giants will be all right there.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: I think that they will have They should have a
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: lot of stability because they went with John Harblough. It'll
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: be interesting to see what happens with some of the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: other jobs that are opening. You know, dables getting looks,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: and obviously the Eagles are trying to get offensive coordinator.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Mike McDaniel's getting a bunch of interviews. There are certain
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: jobs where I see man, I think this guy like Tennessee,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I don't know who they're gonna hire as their head coach,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: but they've got this kid quarterback who's number one over
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: picked cam Ward. And I think, you know what, Brian
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: dable if he were there as either the head coach,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: but probably better as the OC where he doesn't have
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: to preside over the football team and argue with this
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: guy and that guy. If he could just make him
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the OC again like he was in Buffalo where he
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: worked wonders with Josh Allen, maybe he would be a
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: really good pairing with cam Ward. So, you know, it'll
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: be interesting to see who the Eagles get, you know,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: the Raiders. I feel like the Raiders have to pay
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: a Raiders tax. Nobody's really gonna want to go there.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: The roster's not very good. They do have the number
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: one pick, they'll take Mendoza. I think there's some questions
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: that personnel people have about Mendoza's true upside. He's had
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a great year, no question about it, but I know
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: some people felt that the Oregon kid who's going back
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: to school may have more upside, more athleticism, bigger arm,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: things of that nature. But the Raiders need to be
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: safe here. They just got they have to take Mendoza
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: and then they got to figure out how to build
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: a team. But more importantly, they need a head coach,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: and that's not going to be the number one choice
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: for a lot of really good head coaches that are
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: out there right now. So it'll be kind of interesting
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to see, you know, where he lands. It'll be interesting
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: to see if Jim Schwartz gets a second chance. I
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: know he's going for a Round two interview in Cleveland.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: He's really adapted as the Browns defensive coordinator, something that
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: we've talked about on Inside the Birds. He used to
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: be straight wide nine, four man rush zone behind it.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: He has done a lot of adapting with the Browns
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: playing multiple fronts, blitzing more, blitzing from different levels, disguise blitzes.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: He's really diversified his arsenal. He's not just known as
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: this guy who's gonna throw four rushers at you from
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: the wide nine plays zone behind that or a cover
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: three behind that and see how there you go. So
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: good for him. I like to see coaches be adaptable
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: and adjust I've always praised Sean McVay for completely changing
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: around his offense from when he won the Super Bowl
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: when he was a wide zone offensive guy to now
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: running basically inside zone and duo because that caters to
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: the strength. He has a good, decent interior offensive line,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: and he's got a running back in Kyra Williams is
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: a good inside runner as opposed to trying to stretch
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: him to the outside all the times. Not exactly a Blazer,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: So good on Sean McVeigh for doing that. And other
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: than that, it'll just sort of be interesting to see
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: where all the dominoes fall. The Chargers lost. You know, obviously,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Jim Harbaugh made a very difficult decision to fire Greg Roman,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Who's you know. Greg Roman is the type of guy
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: who gets you to a point with your run game
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: because he's so good at it. But then when you
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: realize that you need to advance your passing game, you
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: say goodbye to him. And Jim's brother John did it
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: in Baltimore. Fired Roman, hired Todd munkin all of a sudden,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Lamar is an MVP, and that's what Justin Herbert needs.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: I give Herbert a lot of credit this year playing
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: behind that offensive line and with the broken left hand.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: But I've always told you I really will become eventually
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: a Herbert guy when I see him really make the
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: plays in the playoffs. He did not do that. He
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: needs more advancement until he can honestly be considered one
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: of those top five seven quarterbacks. You just have to
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: be able to do it in the playoffs. Not every
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: single time, but sometimes, you know the playoffs are where
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: your moments are made. You look at what Rock Party
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: did in Philadelphia against Vic Fangeo's defense without Kittle, and
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: you realize that guy's a pretty good quarterback. He's lacking
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: in a huge arm. He doesn't throw the ball downfield.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Sometimes he can get stuck in the pocket and take
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: a sack. He was sacked a couple of times against
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: the Eagles. And he'll throw a bad pick. You saw
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: that he'll throw off his back foot, and he threw
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: two picks in that game. But his timing, his anticipation,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: his rhythm, he is clearly not rattled by the pressure.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: He can play the game and he's pretty perfect for
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: that system. And I don't care if you call him
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: a system quarterback, because you have to be able to
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: make those throws in those tight windows, and he does so.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I give him more credit than maybe some give brock Party,
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: now the Bears quarterback. We'll get to him in that
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: matchup in a second, but I just said the postseason
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: is the time where heroes are made in the NFL,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and kileb Williams to me, has a little bit of
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: a Jalen Hurtz factor to him. What I mean is
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: he's a guy who can just kind of look average
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: or not so good, or make more athletic plays than
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: great actual NFL throws for two quarters and then all
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: of a sudden he looks like a combination of Joe
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Montana and Randall Hunningham and Tom Brady all in one.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: And that fourth quarter he played against the Packers was brilliant.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: That jump pass that he made too, I think it
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: was a donesday for the touchdown was unbelievable. And he's
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: already won in his second year a huge playoff game
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: against a division rival, a very good team that he
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: had to come back and win. Though I'm not putting
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: him among the pantheon of the great quarterbacks to ever
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: play the game. But when you juxtapose that to a
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: guy like Herbert, who has been in the playoffs a lot,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: right and just hasn't gotten it done to Caleb Williams,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: who in his first ever playoff game, gives you a
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: performance like that. If you're a Bears fan, you have
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: to be very encouraged. You know there's going to be
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: and it could be this weekend. There's going to be
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: some ugliness as he continues to develop within Ben Johnson's offense.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: But when you know that this quarterback in the pressure
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: moments can make plays like that, and by the way,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: that's the second time against the Packers in a three
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: week span that he does it, come back, makes huge throws.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Let's face it, that game a couple of weeks ago
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: against the Packers was like a playoff game. They needed
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: to win it to keep on to their number two seed.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Right then, you know he's got some magic in him.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: He's got something special in him, and everybody can just
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: kind of get off his back now and wonder if
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: he loves football or how he looks or how he dresses,
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: because he played a remarkable fourth quarter and he made
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: throws that a lot of quarterbacks can't make. He has
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: an arm that is special, and as he gets comfortable
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: in that offense for the Bears, he's going to continue
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: to make plays and the Bears to me, you know,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I thought all year long, the way they won games
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, I thought it was somewhat flucish.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: I thought it might catch up to him. I thought,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: maybe they're the team that next year. You think, eh,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: kind of like the Commanders. This year, they'll take a
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: step back. But you win those kind of games, and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: you have those kind of moments, and you have a
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: coach like Ben Johnson. I'm not really in love with
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: his whole I hate the Packers, and I have to
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: rub this in Matt Lafleur's face. I don't know what
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Matt laflor ever did to him, and I don't know
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: how professional that is if I'm gonna criticize Nick Sirianni
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: for acting the fool when there's no reason to say
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: the same about Ben Johnson. But I can't can't can't
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: knock the coaching job that he's done, the program that
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: is he instilled, and I've got some faith that he'll
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: be able to keep this up next year. They may
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: not win, you know, thirteen games or anything. They're gonna
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: play a first play schedule and that'll be difficult for them.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: But they've got some good young players. They should be. Remember,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: the Commanders this year entered the year coming off everything
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: last year, but with a ton of aging older players.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: The Bears have younger players and they've got a lot
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: of draft picks still, I believe, and they can get younger,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: and we'll see what they do in the offseason, and
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: we'll see how far they go in the playoffs this year.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: As we now look forward to these games, these four
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: games starting with Saturday four thirty Bills versus Broncos, the
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Bills Bill showed you that they may not be the
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: sexiest offense, they may not have all the playmakers. I
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: thought the Bill's Jags game was one of those games
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: that between two really really good teams. I think I
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: even said in the last show that might be one
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: of those sort of games where whoever has the ball
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: last wins. But the Bills showed you there. And Josh
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Allen is now in a real prime position. Okay, there
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: is no Lamar, there is no Patrick Mahomes, there's no
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts in case he has to play him in
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, because we know he hasn't Beaten Hurts.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: There's really nobody in the AFC, especially standing in his
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: way that he hasn't already accomplished more than all right,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: So the first thing you gotta do is go to
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Buffalo fourth, I'm sorry, go to Denver and knock off
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the number one see Broncos. In most years, that's tough
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: for a sixth seed to do. In this year, I
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: don't think it's gonna be as difficult. In fact, the
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Broncos are only one and a half point favorites, and
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: there are Home and then their number one seed. So
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: that just tells you everyone including Vegas, is thinking the
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: same thing that the Broncos have a great defense, but
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: they're not going to score a lot of points. And
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: in a game where it's going to be close and
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: tight and neck and neck, if Josh Allen has the ball,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: he could very easily win it. Now. I know he's
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: come up short in the past in those situations, especially
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: more so against Kansas City, but this is not Kansas City.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: There's no Mahomes, there's only Bo Nicks and an Okay,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Broncos offense a very good defense, but Josh Allen has
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: shredded good defenses before, and even if he doesn't shred it,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: he can make that one or two backbreaking runs or
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: throws that can kill a team. I think this is
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: going to be a really good game. This will not
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: look like a game between a number one seed and
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: a number one six seed. It would not surprise me
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: if at some point in this game the Bills have
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: the lead, or if they even if they win it,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: and will be interesting to see. The Broncos have played
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: from behind this year. You know, they did it against
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: the Eagles. They had that huge comeback win against the Giants.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: So I'm not saying that the Broncos aren't ready for
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: the moment. But this is Josh Allen's moment. This is what, honestly,
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: most NFL fans who have no horse in the race
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: and who have appreciated Josh Allen's otherworldly talents would love
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: to see. Can he do this? Can he go win
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: three straight road games and get his team to the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: super Bowl and then finish it off. It would be
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: a great story. I don't even think the asterisk of
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: no Mahomes or no Lamar would even matter because they're
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: the sixth seed and it's hard enough to have to
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: go and win three straight road games to get to
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the super Bowl and then win the Super Bowl. So
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: this is Josh Allen's time and if he can't do
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: it now, then the Bills. The Bills aren't moving off
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: for Josh Allen, but the Bills will have to rethink
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: how they build the rest of the team going forward
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: because the guy doesn't have a whole lot of playmakers.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: So if he can't do it, that's the first thing
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: people are gonna say. Ay, first thing they say is
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Josh Allen fails again. Be they're gonna say, well, maybe
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: he's failing because you know, his best receivers are guys
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: like Curtis Samuel and Brandon Cook's Khalil Shakir or a
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: tight end in Dalton Kakaid. All Right, they're gonna say,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: you got to get this guy some real true weaponry
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: to throw to. Should be a great game. Both teams
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: like to run. Both teams have you know, efficient offenses.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Now the Bills will be as usual without a couple
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: of guys that are important to them. Sounds like Jordan
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Poyer is gonna be out, Maxwell Harrison, the rookie corner
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: is going to be out. Terrell Shavers out stinks to
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: not have a wide receiver him and gave Davis are out.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: But I'll tell you about this, The Bills have injuries
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: all the time. They're more of a schematic defense than
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: they are a defense that's reliant on a great pass
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: rusher or a great corner or a great linebacker. They
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: have several really good players, but Sean McDermott is an
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: excellent schemer. Sean McDermott is the brains obviously behind the defense,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: and he gives them a chance every week. So I
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: don't look at the Bills situation with injuries as anything
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: to worry about. And the Broncos, of course, they had
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: a pretty clean slate, so they'll be good to go,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: and that should be a great game. It's good love
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: that it's the first game, not surprising given the markets
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: love that it's the first game. Should be a nice,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: nice tune up to what is going to be a
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: very interesting matchup at eight o'clock, that is the Seahawks
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: and the forty nine ers. And just to give you
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: an example of how that other one to six game
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: is expected, I said that Denver is only one and
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: a half point favorites. The Seahawks are seven point favorites
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: at home, as they should be against the forty nine ers.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Is that I'm excited about. But I also acknowledge that
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: this one could get out of hand. It could get
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: very ugly. The Niners losing George Kittle against the Eagles
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: in the second quarter. There sometimes you look at how
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: they played against the Eagles and you wondered, if they
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: did it on adrenaline, can they really get one hundred
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: more yards out of de Marcus Robinson? Again? Can they
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: do that? Can they get every can they get more
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: from Jake Tongs Who's gonna be the the tight end
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: who's gonna wind up replacing Kittle? Pearce All's questionable. If
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: he can play, that is huge for them, enormous really
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: if he can't, yikes, because you know you can only
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: get so much out of Juwan Jennings. And you know,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: of course I mentioned Robinson. I mean without Kittle, who
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: is really not only what from a passing game standpoint
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: and a chain moving standpoint, but a good blocker, very
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: good blocker, and gives there a running game a lift.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I mean McCaffrey was out there catching some really tough passes.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: By the way, they had to score a touchdown on
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: a trick play. I mean Kyle Shanahan had to empty
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the playbook. I've never seen Kyle used to have to
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: catch forty nine yards where the passes for the forty
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: nine ers to win. I don't know if that's duplicatable against,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: if that's a word replicatable against a Seattle's defense, which
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: is so good and so suffocating and comes after you
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: and gives you so little across the field. I mean,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: San Francisco has played them twice now and has struggled
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to score. All right, this is a San Francisco team
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: that during the regular season scored a lot of points.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: They beat the forty nine ers. I'm sorry. They beat
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: the Seahawks seventeen thirteen in the first game. That's when
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: they were healthier. I'm obviously lost to them thirteen to
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: three in the season finale. Kind of crazy. They play
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: each other week one, they play each other week eighteen. Right,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: so you talk about the difference, you know between September
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: seventh and January third, two, you're totally different in the
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: season finale than you are in the season opener. And
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: then they meet again here in the divisional round. Now
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Darnold's beat up a little bit. He's dealing with an
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: oblique injury. He says he's gonna play. I trust he's
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: gonna play. My concern from him, though, is that that's
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: a tough injury that hurts, and if he takes a
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: few hits, which is not really the forty nine ers
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: fourte If he takes a few hits though, and lands
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: awkwardly and something happens, then you get Drew Locke in
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the game, and then it becomes a circus for the Seahawks.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: You know, they're still going to try to run the
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: ball as best as they can, and they're still going
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: to try to work off play action to Jackson Smith
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: and Jigba. I don't think the Seahawks can get tripped
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: up here. I just think losing Kittle is going to
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: be too difficult. Part of me is pulling for Shanahan
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: and the Niners because I've just been so impressed with
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: the job that they've done all year with so little
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: weaponry around them, so impressed with Robert sala who, much
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: like I said about the Bills, it doesn't matter if
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: the Niners don't have Fred Warner back yet, or if
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: they're down to their fifth or sixth linebacker. I never
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: worry by the way. I think I said this last
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: show about when a team is really beat up at linebacker,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: because there's ways to scheme around it. You can go
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: big nickel, you can get some guys on the field
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: who just swarm to the ball. I mean, unless you're
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: built around your linebacker crew kind of like the way
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: that Belichick Patriots were built. Trying to think of the
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Steelers and Ravens have always built around their linebackers. The
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Niners don't build their teams around the linebackers. Warner wasn't
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: even a first round pick. You just emerged into a
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: great linebacker. Same thing with Dray Greenlaw. I mean they
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: used to be back in the day when they had
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: Navarro Bowman and Patrick Willis. Under Vick Fangio, he builds
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: this team around line But the Niners don't. They want
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: defensive ends, they want pass rushers and tackles. They want corners.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: They've you know, Sala has always been a guy with
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: pass rushers and some corners. It's not really having linebackers.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Has been good if he had them, but it was
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: not a necessity. And so he's been able because again
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: he runs a highly schemed defense. He's been able to
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: get by I said last show, I think if the
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Niners don't have Trent Williams, that's far more of an
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: issue than if they don't have you know so and
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: so at linebacker de Winters or so. So. I think
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: they'll be okay there now, Settle Seattle does like to
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: pound the ball. They got the two running backs, so
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: we'll see if that that impacts them. But I don't.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: If you guys remember when the Eagles won the Super
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Bowl in twenty seventeen, right, they were really banged up
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: at linebacker. They started the season with Jordan Hicks and
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: with Nigel Bradham, and Bradham had a great year. They lost,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and then they had to play Michael Kendricks, who was
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: always kind of a an athletic linebacker who could blitz,
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: even though the Egos didn't blitz linebackers back then, who
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: could run around. Was not great in coverage, and by
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: the end of the year they were even more beat
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: up at linebacker. I think Kendricks got hurt when they
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: played the Falcons in the Divisional Round. It was just
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: a week or two before that they signed Danell Ellerby
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: off the street. He had been with the Ravens. He
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: was a big thumping kind of linebacker. They needed some
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: juice against the run, so they found Darnell Ellerby basically
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: off the street. They were playing a lot of big
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: nickel as well. I mean they were playing nause good
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: at times in their defense. I'm pretty sure yeah, they
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: were beat up. I don't I think Kendricks was only
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: playing a little bit so. And it might have also
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: been the same the week after against Minnesota in the
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: NFC Championship game. So if you're good enough to win
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: a Super Bowl signing a linebacker off the street right
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: before the playoffs, okay, then that shows you can overcome
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: injuries there as long as that is not the backbone
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: of your team, which is why when we were previewing
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: the game between the Eagles and Niners last week, I
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: didn't think it was going to be as big of
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: an issue. Besides, the Eagles have had problems attacking team's
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: defensive deficiencies all year long. So anyway, this game I
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: like Seattle to win. I just think that the forty
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: nine ers have lost too much. I can see them
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: keeping it close for a little bit. They're going to
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: try to get the most out of McCaffrey. They're gonna
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: have to get more out of them as a receiver
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: without Kittle, may have to line them up in the slot.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: They may have to leak them out. They may have
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: to keep them in quick and then leak him out
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: after some pass pro if the Seattle is going to
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: send a few extra guys. But they've got to get
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: the ball in his hands as a wide receiver if
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: they want to be able to stay in this game.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Sunday's game, early game, Houston against New England. I'm gonna
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: give New England a ton of credit, you know, a
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: ton of credit for showing that they can win when
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: they can't necessarily play their style of game. And what
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I mean is New England under Drake May, they love
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: to take deep shots. I mean, that is what they do.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: They drive the ball. And I said last week that
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: I thought that game could be close and uncomfortable for
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: Drake May and the Patriots because the Chargers have a
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: very good defense and they're really good at not letting
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: you beat them over the top. All right, And for
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: the most part, I know there were I know Henry
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: had had a big catch and Booty had keasehan Body
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: had had a big catch. But for the most part,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Drake May was not able to just throw the ball
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: all over the the offense. I'm sorry over the Chargers
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: defense he had. He did have a high yards per attempt.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: He was able to get it. There were a couple
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: of plays I think Stevenson had a seventy five yard gain,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: but for the most part the ball was spread around.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: But again, when you I'm not saying he was playing
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: with a hand behind his back, but when you have
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: to run as much as Drake did and May did
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: ten times and you're not having anybody stepping up with eight, nine,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: ten catches, you got to play differently, and they did,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: and they won a kind of game, a sixteen to
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: three game that if you told me the score is
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: gonna be sixteen three, I might say that Chargers would
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: have won. Okay, they won uncomfortably, and that's going to
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: really benefit them in this game against the Houston Texans
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: because as good as the Chargers defenses, Texans to me
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: have the best defense in the NFL. I love the
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: way they go about their defense. Matt Burke has done
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: a nice job as the defensive coordinator. Tomko obviously has
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: a ton of input as to what they do. They
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: are unlike. They're not at all like the Broncos. The
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Broncos have great defensive personnel. They blitz, they come at
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: you from all these different directions. You know, Vance Joseph
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: can't wait to throw some exotic crap at at the quarterback.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: Texans they just win. Will Anderson wins, Daniel Hunter wins.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: The uh the linebacker they got as ease he wins, right,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: Derek Stingley wins. I mean, they are just better man
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: for man, pound for pound than what their opponent has
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: on offense. And they are that good. This will be
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: another low scoring game. You can guarantee it. At one point,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: I really seriously considered Houston as an upset and maybe
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: even being good enough to make the Super Bowl because
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: their defense is so elite. But Nico Collins is out.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: To me, that's a backbreaker. Okay, that's that just seals
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: the nail in your coffin. Because this Texans offense isn't
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: that good. We know that, and now you're taking away
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: its best weapon. This will be for the Texans like
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: playing with one hand tied behind your back. I'll be
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: shocked if they can get more than fourteen to seventeen points.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I won't be shocked if New England can get twenty
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: to twenty four, because again they showed you that they
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: can play uncomfortably their three point favorites at home. Their
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: defense played really well against the Chargers. Milton Williams has
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: really he had. He was injured a couple of weeks ago,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: he's come back, He's played really well. Christian Gunzalez I
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: believe I saw he was going to be able to play.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: I think that's huge. But not having Nico Collins for
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: the Texans puts too much pressure on CJ. Stroud and
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: on a couple of rookies and Higgins and Noel to
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: make plays down the field. Against the Patriots defense, that's good,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: done an excellent job this year. So you gotta really
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: like New England's chances to be in the AFC Championship Game.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: I said last week that I thought teams like the
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: Patriots and the Bears might struggle because of inexperience, and
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: it turned out to be the exact opposite. You could
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: say inexperience and maybe being too big for the moment
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: made the Bears fall behind early in that game. I
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: don't think so. I think they just didn't play very well,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: a couple of interceptions. It just you know, the Packers
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: are a good team, but they showed you that they
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: are well beyond their years with that comeback. And the
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: same thing with the Patriots against the Chargers. They showed
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: you that they were ready for the moment and that
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: was really impressive. So I expect that they'll be in
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the championship game in the AFC Championship game as well,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: and that brings us to me maybe the most exciting
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: matchup of the weekend the Rams and the Bears. You know,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: a lot of people said that the Rams last week
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: against the Panthers took their foot off the gas. You know,
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: they got up fourteen to nothing very quickly, and then seventeen,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: and at halftime they were controlling the game. They bryce young,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: and the Panthers were struggling offensively. And then the next
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: thing you know, it's the fourth quarter and they're down
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: by five points with a few less than a minute
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: togo or less than two minutes ago, and they have
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: to go down the field and get the touchdown to win,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: which they did. And people said, you know, the Panthers
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: were the Rams took the Panthers lightly. They should have
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: done that. I don't believe that at all. Yes, they
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: were up fourteen nothing. Sometimes that happens. You just get
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: out to a great start, which they did. They ran
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: the ball well, they threw the ball well. They got
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: Nkua early, you know, two touchdowns, catching a run and
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: they were up fourteen nothing. But that's a good Panthers defense.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: The Panthers team that had beaten the Rams before they
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: were in Carolina, and honestly, I just think the Rams
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: made mistakes. You know, I don't think it was coasting
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: when on fourth down in Carolina territory, Matthew Stafford has
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: a run, he's scrambling, He's got the first down. If
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: he just runs and bounces a little more to the
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: outside and he decides to kind of make aut cross
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: his body throw over the middle to a tight end.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: It was low. They turned the ball over. Okay, I
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: don't think that was coasting. I thought that was a
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: bad decision. I don't think it's coasting that Nikua had
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: a wide open touchdown down the right side, bounce off
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: of his hands. You almost never see nikoua drop a pass.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Never never. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you know
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: Ben Johnson and Dennis allener are the Bears. They're watching
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: tape of that game, and you know they're thinking, this
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: guy drops one one past a year, and why did
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: he have to do it a week before they're playing me,
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Because it's probably not gonna happen again. So I don't
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: think that was coasting in Nicua. You know, obviously he
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: had two pass breakups against the Panthers unfortunately. You know,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: one was a great play in the end zone on
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: a bad Stafford pass and to let him live to
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: see another down and get the touchdown. The other was
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: in his hands that would have been a touchdown and
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: he just dropped it. So I don't think it was coasting.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: I do think the Rams have not been as buttoned
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: up as they were for the first twelve fourteen weeks
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: of the season. They have turned the ball over a
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: little more in these last games. They've made them a
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: little closer than they need to be in some cases,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: and they've shown a little penchant for, you know, a
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: turnover once in a while. And Stafford obviously did have
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: an interception. I was a little surprised, you know, that
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: the defense gave up thirty one to Carolina, and that's
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: the issue that the Panthers now have going forward is
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: that they've got to make a decision soon on Bryce Young.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: It's after three years now. It's normally when you want
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: to give a guy an extension, you know, maybe they'll
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: pick up his fifth year option and see what they
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: got for another year. But it's tough when you're not
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: sure about your quarterback and then he gives you first
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: half and then all of a sudden, he lights it
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: up in the second half. And that's kind of been
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: you know, his story, not his story that he's hot
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: and cold, but that he's cold a lot, and then
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, every once in a while he
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: gets hot. So I will have to see what the
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: Panthers do with Bryce Young. Probably gonna make sure that
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: they have a really really good backup next year, maybe
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: even a young backup, not like Andy Dalton, somebody younger,
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: just in case they feel they want to hand the
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: keys over and maybe take a look at somebody else.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: But as for the for the Rams, they're gonna go
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: into Chicago. Yeah, you're playing it. They're playing another team
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: that lives on the edge. Right. We just talked about
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: the Bears and how they win every game in the
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: fourth quarter So the Rams are four and a half
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: point favorites. I think that's pretty interesting. They are the
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: better team, the more veteran team, They have the better quarterback,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: they have the better coaching staff. Although I do think
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: this matchup between these four or four coaches really I
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: mean Ben Johnson for the for the Bears, and and
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: McVeigh of course for the r I think mcvaigy is
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: the best coach in the league personally, I think he's
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: that good. But Ben Johnson has done a great job.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: Dennis Allen is a good defensive cordator. Chris Shula is
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: a good defensive coordinator for the Rams. I mean, there's
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: good players, but the Rams are the better team. They're
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: the more complete team. They can pass the ball more
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: consistently than the Bears can. They can run the ball
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: as well as the Bears can. They don't run the
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: ball as much. They run a lot. They don't run
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: the ball as bear as much as the Bears do
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: because they don't have to. They have Nakua, they have
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Devonte Adams. They have great tight ends that they can
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: throw the ball to. Chicago. Chicago is Rams light. They
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: have a very good running game. Like the Rams, do.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: They have good receivers who are coming into their own
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: Doomday's coming into his own Burn's gonna get there eventually.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: It's a little bit of a slow going for him
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: as a rookie. But Lovely Loveland had fifteen targets last week. Okay,
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: Lovely is a guy who comes up huge. Eight catches
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty seven yards. You can tell he
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: is on pace. He's on the track to become a
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: star in this league. There's a reason they took him
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: in the top ten. He's that good of a tight end.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: He's going to continue to get better in that offense
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: as Caleb gets better and as they all have a
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: better understanding of what Ben Johnson wants to do offensively.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: But I don't know that this is their time. Their
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: time is going to come in next year, two three, whatever, Right,
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: But I don't know if this is their time. I
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: do know that time is running out on Stafford to
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: win another one. I don't know if he'll be back
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: next year. We know he had a back issue in
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: summer and they missed all of camp and there was
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: concern if he would even make it this far into
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: this season. All Right, this is the time for Devonte Adams.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: This is a time for a lot of the players,
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: for McVeigh if he wants to win another one, because
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: who knows what the Rams future holds. This is a
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: very complete team. They've got some really good young talent
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: mixed with some very good veteran talent. They're a force.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: They showed you that they are not afraid when they
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: fell behind by a touchdown on the road against the Panthers.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: They just went right down the field and Stafford through
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: a beautiful ball to Parkinson, just one of the many
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: weapons that the Rams have. One of the many pass
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: catchers that the Rams have among their receivers, tight ends,
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: and even their running backs. They're balanced, they have an
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: excellent play caller. On defense, they have a tenacious pass
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: rush that can really put some problems on a quarterback.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: I think that if the Bears were down by something
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: like fourteen to seventeen in the fourth quarter of this
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: kind of game, they wouldn't win. I don't think. I
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: don't think that's a knock on them, and I don't
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: think I would look at them any differently. But the
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: stakes are higher now. This is a very very good,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: very experienced, very well coached Rams team that if you
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: fall down by too much in the fourth quarter, they're
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: not gonna let you back in the game. Stafford's not
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: gonna throw two picks in the fourth quarter, not gonna
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: fumble the ball all over the place. It's gonna be very,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: very cold. You'll probably see a lot of running. I
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: just don't know that the Bears have enough weapons. You know,
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: they have good young guys. I don't know that they're ready.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: I was very impressed with that win against the Packers,
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: but again they fell behind and had to come back.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: Can they do that twice against the team as good
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: as the Rams and as well coached as the Rams are.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: That's where I have my doubts. The one thing about
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: the Packers is and the big reason why I feel
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: like they fell off down the stretch and lost twice
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: to the Bears, is because they didn't have Micah Parsons.
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: And if you go look at the year that Michaeh
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: Parsons was having for the Packers, not only was it
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: a great year, but in fourth quarters, Micah Parsons was
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: the closer he was. He had three sacks in the
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: fourth quarter of one of their wins this year. I mean,
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: he was just the guy who made the play when
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: they needed the most. The Packers missed that in that
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: game last weekend against the Bears. The Rams aren't. The
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: Rams are good, good health. They've got played, They've got Verse,
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: They've got Fisk, they got guys up front, young who
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: can get the job done and will get the job done.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: And if you give them a cushion of fourteen fifteen points,
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: they're not going to squander it. I like them in
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: this game. I think you're looking at Rams. I think
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: it's gonna be pretty interesting to see a Rams Seahawks
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: NFC championship game. You know, a week after you get
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: Rams forty nine ers in the Divisional round. Two weeks
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: after you got Rams, I'm sorry, you got Seattle San
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: Francisco in the season finale for the number one seed.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: It's been an NFC West type of year for at
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: least three teams in the NFC West, and I think
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: it's going to be in NFC West NFC Championship game.
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• 50:28
  Speaker 1: So I went back to my losing ways last week
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: in picking games for the first time all year. I
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: decided to use an Eagles game to pick. I had them.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: I just didn't think the Niners were gonna be able
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: to move the ball. I took the Eagles, I lost.
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: I took the Steelers getting three points, lost badly on that,
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: and I took the Rams ten and a half over
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: the Panthers. On I lost, I was owned three. I
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: fell to twenty twenty three and thirty four on the season.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: So I decided I'm doing so well I was gonna
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: pick all four games this week. So here it is.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Give me the Give me the Bills one and a
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: half in Denver. I think they have a really good
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: chance to win the game. If not, I can see
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: him losing, you know, seventeen sixteen. So you're giving the
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: Bills one and a half. I'll take the Bills getting
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: one and a half. I'm gonna go with the Seahawks
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: minus seven over the Niners their seven point favorites. Again,
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: I just think that the Niners lost a little too much.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: I think it'll be a close game, but I think
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: the Seahawks are just so good defensively. I can see
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: him getting a defensive touchdown pulling away winning this thing
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: by thirteen to fifteen points when all is said and done,
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: even though I think it'll be pretty close. Set the half,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: we'll say, and into the third quarter. I like the
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: Patriots over the Texans. I told you why Nico Collins
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: isn't playing. I don't know if the Texans can score
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: enough points. They can hold the Patriots offense down, but
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: you got to score points in the playoffs. Drake may
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: has played exceptionally well. I trust him to make a
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: few plays here and there to be able to put
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: some points on the board even against this really good
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: Texans defense. I do not trust the Texans offense to
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: be able to score very many points. So give me
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: the Patriots minus three at home, and give me the
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: Rams minus four and a half in Chicago. I was
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: tempted to take the Bears because I could very well
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: see this one coming down to a field goal or
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: last possession type game. But the Bears have lived on
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: the edge even more than the Rams have. I think
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: the Rams are primed and ready to go. They're healthy.
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: It's gonna be very cold. I don't think that that's
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: gonna work against the Rams like some may think, because
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: the Rams played really well last year against the Eagles
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: in the snow. Just think they're the better team, more
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: complete team, and if they get a lead, they're not
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: gonna get let this one. You know they're not gonna
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: squander it. So give me the Rams four and a
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: half to cover against the Bears. That's gonna do it.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: That as a preview. Like I tell you every week,
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: enjoy your football watching because this could be a classic
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: classic week of NFL playoff football. See you guys later,
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: have a great one.