Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / JB Long previews the LA Rams Divisional Round matchup with the Bears in Chicago, Niners improbable win over the Eagles + more

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JB Long previews the LA Rams Divisional Round matchup with the Bears in Chicago, Niners improbable win over the Eagles + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: Another one. You were listening to the Sean O'Connell show,
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  Speaker 1: your source for the best youthes football cover reach. Here's
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  Speaker 1: OCN from the Murdoch Hyundai studio of ESPN seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: ninety two to one.
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  Speaker 2: Half Hams NFL playoffs can be heard right here on
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  Speaker 2: ESPN seven hundred and ninety two to one FM Saturday
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  Speaker 2: and Sunday, and you might just hear this person's voice, JB.
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  Speaker 3: Long, voice of the Rams.
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  Speaker 4: Gonna join us for a few minutes here to talk
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  Speaker 4: about how the Rams got here for their matchup with
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  Speaker 4: the Bears, playing for a shot at an NFC championship
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  Speaker 4: Berth JB.
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  Speaker 3: Long, Welcome to the show.
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  Speaker 5: How are you, Sewan? Good at connect with you? I'm
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  Speaker 5: doing great, Hook, You're having a good day and a
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  Speaker 5: good show.
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  Speaker 4: Uh yeah, so far. We're getting close to the end here.
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  Speaker 4: Wanted to catch up with you this. This Rams team
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  Speaker 4: had a tough test against Carolina and you you've been
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  Speaker 4: tweeting about this and it's actually right at the top
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  Speaker 4: of your feed For people who don't follow JB.
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  Speaker 3: Long, it's JB Underscore Long.
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  Speaker 4: You know, Caroline is one of those teams that surprised
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  Speaker 4: a lot of people this year. But I don't feel
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  Speaker 4: like the Rams were going to be surprised because of
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  Speaker 4: the regular season matchup, in because of how McVeigh and
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  Speaker 4: his team prepare as coaches. Did anything surprise you how
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  Speaker 4: difficult this game was in the playoffs for the Rams.
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  Speaker 5: A little bit, only because I think the Rams were
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  Speaker 5: healthy at the right spots to go out and do
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  Speaker 5: some damage, and because they set the tones so early
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  Speaker 5: with that two touchdown lead thanks to Pokinakua and Matthew Stafford.
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  Speaker 5: But you know, as you know, styles make fights, and
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  Speaker 5: I think the style of Carolina is such that they're
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  Speaker 5: able to drag Los Angeles into the mud a little bit,
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  Speaker 5: beat them Thanksgiving weekend, and nearly got them again in
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  Speaker 5: the wildcard round. So I think LA is glad to
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  Speaker 5: be through that hurdle. I understand they were the biggest
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  Speaker 5: road favorite of the wildcard weekend and that the expectations
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  Speaker 5: are that they would have one by two scores, and
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  Speaker 5: I think their body of work justified that. But Bryce
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  Speaker 5: Young played arguably the two best games of his career
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  Speaker 5: against this lot Los Angeles defense. And when he does that,
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  Speaker 5: when he goes punch for punch with someone like Matthew Stafford.
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  Speaker 5: I think you tip your cap, you celebrate the right
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  Speaker 5: to survive in advance, and you get onto the next
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  Speaker 5: style in the next fight, which is the Chicago Bears.
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  Speaker 4: Everyone here loves Pooka. Pooka had another huge day ten catches,
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  Speaker 4: one hundred and eleven yards and a touchdown. It feels
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  Speaker 4: like you can't help but make him a big part
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  Speaker 4: of your offensive game plan. Well it look any different
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  Speaker 4: against the Bears than what we've seen most of the
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  Speaker 4: year and last week against Carolina.
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  Speaker 5: Well, since I'm largely preaching of the choir, I'll just
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  Speaker 5: go ahead and say he should be the NFL's Offensive
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  Speaker 5: Player of the Year. He probably won't be guessing JSM
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  Speaker 5: will win that award, but three sensational seasons for Pugainakua
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  Speaker 5: deserving First team All Pro. I know a wide receiver
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  Speaker 5: will never win the MVP Award anymore, that's a quarterback award.
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  Speaker 5: But I think he is equally deserving as Matthew Stafford.
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  Speaker 5: His impact has been outsized. As for what he's going
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  Speaker 5: to be able to do this weekend, it sold your field.
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  Speaker 5: We'll see, you know. I think the conditions and the
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  Speaker 5: elements are going to play a big factor in that.
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  Speaker 5: If it's subfreezing with the wind chill, and if winds
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  Speaker 5: are gusting, it could be a difficult night throwing the football.
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  Speaker 5: But that's where having you know a Clydesdale like Pukinakua
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  Speaker 5: helps because unlike a lot of true number one receivers,
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  Speaker 5: he can do it all. If he has to fit
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  Speaker 5: up in your running game and play as a fullback
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  Speaker 5: or a tight end on Sunday night, then that's what
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  Speaker 5: he'll do and he'll impact winning that way. If he
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  Speaker 5: takes a jet sweet hand off and gets a corner
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  Speaker 5: for a first down in crunch time, we've seen him
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  Speaker 5: do that as well. And if you have to go
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  Speaker 5: to him in a third or fourth down situation or
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  Speaker 5: in the red zone, no matter how cold, his hands
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  Speaker 5: have been as trusty as any in the National Football League.
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  Speaker 5: I know he dropped one going into halftime that should
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  Speaker 5: have been a touchdown, but believe me when I say
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  Speaker 5: that is the exception that proves the rule. For Puka's
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  Speaker 5: third season.
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  Speaker 4: We started the show today talking about how how good
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  Speaker 4: is sometimes the enemy of great because of what's going
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  Speaker 4: on with the Steelers and obviously Mike Tomlin during our
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  Speaker 4: show the news that Mike Tomlin is stepping down, so
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  Speaker 4: there will be a head coaching change with Pittsburgh. But
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  Speaker 4: I thought that was a good example of, like, no
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  Speaker 4: one will debate whether or not he's a good coach
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  Speaker 4: or even a very very good coach, but the debate
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  Speaker 4: was being had, especially in Pittsburgh, about whether or not
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  Speaker 4: he was still a great coach who could help your
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  Speaker 4: team achieve great things. And you've been around the Rams
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  Speaker 4: when they've been good, when they've been not so good,
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  Speaker 4: and when they've been great, when they won a Super Bowl?
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  Speaker 4: Is there any decision made along the way that you
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  Speaker 4: could point to that separated good from being great that
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  Speaker 4: they were like, you know what, we'll have to We'll
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  Speaker 4: make this hard decision and maybe take a risk that
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  Speaker 4: we're getting rid of something good in order for us
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  Speaker 4: to have the chance of being great.
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  Speaker 3: Is there anything in your tenure that you can point to, Well.
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  Speaker 5: How about it something as recent as moving on from
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  Speaker 5: one of the greatest receivers in franchise history, Cooper Cup
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  Speaker 5: in favor of, as it would turn out, Davonte Adams.
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  Speaker 5: Does that qualify for the conversation you're having, because you
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  Speaker 5: know DeVante despite missing the last three games the regular season,
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  Speaker 5: has more receiving touch sounds than anyone in the league
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  Speaker 5: this year, it wasn't particularly close. And as much as
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  Speaker 5: the Rams felt his impact on third down and in
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  Speaker 5: the red zone, you know, I think he freed Pooka
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  Speaker 5: up to do what he does best within this system,
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  Speaker 5: to play in the slot, to be in motion, to
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  Speaker 5: be the queen chess piece on the board that Sean
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  Speaker 5: McVay can deploy situationally and on a game by game basis.
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  Speaker 5: So yeah, you know, Tomlin and McVeigh are now on
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  Speaker 5: the short list. Andy Reid's there too, Harbaugh's you know,
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  Speaker 5: part of the conversation. Guys who have earned the right
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  Speaker 5: to iterate and to evolve as coaches and as leaders
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  Speaker 5: for multiple years in multiple cycles in the NFL. Normally
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  Speaker 5: the league does not allow for that. Normally you have
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  Speaker 5: to do something special to make it past year two.
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  Speaker 5: And so here we are in the cycle with was
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  Speaker 5: if you're like nearly half of the league turning over
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  Speaker 5: at that all important position. But I get why not
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  Speaker 5: specific to Harbor or Tomlin or anyone else, But I
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  Speaker 5: think coaching in football matters more than in any other sport.
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  Speaker 5: There's a reason why Signet has Indiana worse the first
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  Speaker 5: and competing for a national championship in college football. Right,
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  Speaker 5: you can really move the needle if you find the
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  Speaker 5: right person. And just like every NFL team is trying
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  Speaker 5: to find that franchise quarterback, now, equally, I would say
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  Speaker 5: they're trying to find, you know, the CEO or the coordinator,
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  Speaker 5: head coach who can impact winning consistently.
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  Speaker 4: On Sundays, JB Long for another couple of minutes here
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  Speaker 4: on the Sean O'Connell shotalk and rams and all things NFL.
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  Speaker 3: I'm asking every NFL guess this. So I've got to
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  Speaker 3: ask you.
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  Speaker 4: There are a ton of head coaching openings, and not
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  Speaker 4: all jobs in the NFL are created equal, even though
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  Speaker 4: there are only thirty two of them. And that's the
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  Speaker 4: pinnacle of the profession. Somebody calls you and says, hey,
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  Speaker 4: we want you to be the head coach of whichever
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  Speaker 4: of these teams you get to pick.
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  Speaker 3: What's the best job? Which one are you taking?
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  Speaker 5: Well? I thought for sure there'd be a forty nine
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  Speaker 5: ers question coming along the way there, knowing where your
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  Speaker 5: colors rest. But we'll get there soon, right, We'll get
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  Speaker 5: to this current question I think is Baltimore for me?
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  Speaker 5: How many jobs have an mv HE caliber quarterback, proven
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  Speaker 5: waiting in his prime, pretty solid culture, pretty solid tradition,
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  Speaker 5: a front office that durrasts extraordinarily. Well, that's a situation
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  Speaker 5: that I would love to walk into personally, especially as
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  Speaker 5: the division turns over. Zach Taylor the only coach left
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  Speaker 5: in that division, I believe. So so you have it,
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  Speaker 5: you can walk right in and kind of not start over,
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  Speaker 5: but pretty clearly draw a line in the sand and
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  Speaker 5: say this is a division that we can rule again.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 4: Time to get to my Niners. But there's a Rams
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  Speaker 4: element to this question. Most of the people we've talked
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  Speaker 4: to have said that it's the Rams super Bowl to
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  Speaker 4: win or now some people are skewing towards Seattle. And
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  Speaker 4: obviously the Niners have to try to get by Seattle.
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  Speaker 4: They just played them last week, didn't work out, and
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  Speaker 4: now you've got to do it without George Kittle. What's
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  Speaker 4: your outlook on that Niner Seahawks playoff game? Because you
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  Speaker 4: know both of these teams, Well, yeah.
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  Speaker 5: I had Mi brothers. They would have played on Friday.
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  Speaker 5: Why did they give them all the way until Saturday, Seawn.
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  Speaker 5: It seems like too long arrest for your San Francisco
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  Speaker 5: forty nine ers.
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  Speaker 4: It's the worst turnaround possible. They're trying to get the
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  Speaker 4: Niners out of there.
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  Speaker 5: Pretty impressive what Shanahan and Purdy and McCaffrey have done.
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  Speaker 5: Solid equally, I mean, my goodness, he's basically coordinating the
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  Speaker 5: defense with one hand tied behind his back. And the
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  Speaker 5: fact that they're in the final final eight super impressive.
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  Speaker 5: You know, I'll just call attention to this fact to
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  Speaker 5: the NFC West has three of the final four seats
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  Speaker 5: at the NFC table. I don't think any of us
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  Speaker 5: are surprised, but you know that, to me was the
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  Speaker 5: best division in the league going into this season and
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  Speaker 5: proved to be as such. I think the coaches, the coordinators,
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  Speaker 5: the quarterbacks all led me in that direction, even though
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  Speaker 5: everyone was still high on the NFC North. And I
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  Speaker 5: understand that one as well. But you know, a bespoke
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  Speaker 5: game plan can do anything, and no one is better
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  Speaker 5: at that than Kyle Shanahan. But this Seattle defense is real,
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  Speaker 5: and I know you know that. I know you saw
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  Speaker 5: it in person just a couple of weeks ago. I
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  Speaker 5: think Mike McDonald has perfectly orchestrated this defense. It's a
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  Speaker 5: defense that was built to derail the Shanahan McVeigh offenses,
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  Speaker 5: and they have the pieces to do it. So as
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  Speaker 5: valiant as impressive as San Francisco's season has been, I
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  Speaker 5: wouldn't be surprised if it comes to an end this weekend.
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  Speaker 5: That being said, if they crack the door open for
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  Speaker 5: the Rams to host another NFC Championship game at SOFI
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  Speaker 5: Stadium against the rival from up north, that'd be pretty
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  Speaker 5: cool too.
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  Speaker 4: What is most dangerous about this Chicago Bears team For
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  Speaker 4: the Rams?
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  Speaker 5: Two things come to mind immediately. Their downhill running game,
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  Speaker 5: their ability to shorten a game, especially in cold conditions
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  Speaker 5: against a roster that I know loves to get play
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  Speaker 5: count up. And then Caleb's ability to playoff schedule. You know,
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  Speaker 5: Bryce Young did a little bit of that against them
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  Speaker 5: last week. I think they do generate a ton of
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  Speaker 5: pressure in terms of hemming a quarterback in the pocket
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  Speaker 5: and making him beat you on schedule. That's not always
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  Speaker 5: been the strength of this Rams defense, and to see
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  Speaker 5: Caleb do it a couple of times against the Packers
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  Speaker 5: in the cold recently, those kind of secondary actions, the
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  Speaker 5: creating when the play breaks down. There's a reason the
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  Speaker 5: Rams are favored. But I think if there's a path
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  Speaker 5: of victory for Caleb and the Bears, it's that it's
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  Speaker 5: extending drives, it's converting on key third and fourth downs.
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  Speaker 5: Even if the wizardry of Ben Johnson doesn't do it initially,
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  Speaker 5: Caleb has the ability to create himself. J B.
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  Speaker 4: Appreciate you giving us a few minutes today. Have a
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  Speaker 4: great call, and I'll hope for that Niners Rams NFC
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  Speaker 4: Championship matchup.
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  Speaker 5: Well, I'm just hoping that the Rams are part of
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  Speaker 5: it next weekend because we're going to get frostbite one
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  Speaker 5: way or another pursuing it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, stay warm, all right, See I have a good show. JB.
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  Speaker 1: Long