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NFL 2025 | Championship Round Recap | Banter with the Boys - Gridiron Updates · Banter with the Boys

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  laced up let's go it's time for banter with the
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  boys welcome to gridiron updates hi with banter
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  the boys that is jake Joining us tonight, Coach
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  Smeltz, he's out sick. Get well soon. I am Roberto,
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  vibrating in your drums. We also got Kevin behind
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  the computer, slash camera, slash lights, everything
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  else. And we're here to talk championship football.
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  So, yeah, I totally lost where we're at right
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  now. Buckle up. It was a good weekend. Yeah.
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  Ready for it? Welcome back to Gridiron Updates.
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  Jacob. Robbub. And Rob. Roberto. Bob. Whatever.
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  Either way, we're here to talk some championship
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  football. Yeah, we are. How did you enjoy this
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  weekend? I really loved it. It was pretty solid.
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  We had a lot of interesting things happen, weather
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  -wise, impacting games, which is great to see
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  this time of year. Where you have an open -roof
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  stadium and you get weather impacting the outcome
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  of the game. Well, it sounds like you're a rough
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  guy, so we're going to avoid that conversation
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  and move on to the AFC Championship, which was
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  that weather game we were talking about. The
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  New England Patriots sneak out a win against
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  the Denver Broncos in Mile High. Overall thoughts
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  of this game? It was pretty good. It was good.
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  Yeah. Interesting first half of the game. Stidham
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  made one mistake in the first half that kind
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  of, I think, really. A bad one. Yeah. In totality,
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  really cost the Broncos the game. And then I
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  enjoyed seeing the snow actually come down. changed
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  the the dynamic of the football game entirely
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  it did making it like next to impossible to make
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  field goals having to rely on a on a run game
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  versus trying to just continue to throw the ball
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  down the field Back to basic football, pretty
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  much, yeah. And the TV, I mean, they love the
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  drama of it. They love the shots of it. You couldn't
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  even see the numbers. Exactly. They were like,
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  we don't know where the ball is on the field.
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  So it's that classic game. I know we were talking
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  domes. Everybody's probably going to end up at
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  the dome at one point because they want to have
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  the best athletes showcasing all their talents
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  on an even playing field. I get that aspect,
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  too, but it's always fun. about it back in the
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  day playing football in the backyard and five
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  feet of snow uphill both ways that's right um
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  that turnover though it's one of those turnovers
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  how many broncos fans yelled throw it how many
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  times before he attempted to one hand shove it
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  Well, I mean, he like was going to throw it and
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  then he tucks it in and continues to run. And
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  then he's like, oh, time to get rid of it now.
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  Yeah. Like you had your chance. It took me a
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  little bit of time to actually like process it.
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  And I went back and I watched it a bunch of times
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  because I didn't I don't I don't agree with the
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  ruling that it was a backwards pass. Because
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  he was trying to throw it forward. And the only
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  way for that to go backwards is to be tipped
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  or a force pushing it the other way. So I think
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  it would have been better ruled a fumble. It
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  should have been either a fumble or an incomplete
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  pass. And an incomplete pass would have obviously
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  favored the Broncos. But there wasn't enough
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  there for me to be like, oh, yeah. got tipped
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  to go back well they didn't actually look at
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  it i mean they did look at it to where i think
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  they had assistance on it but they didn't sit
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  there and analyze it for a minute and a half
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  because i saw the thing same thing looking at
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  the replay because there was a lot of quick replays
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  um because initially it was more of the discussion
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  you know why didn't they let the play play out
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  right you know and then they're like all right
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  it's it's a fumble or backwards pass New England
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  gets the ball at the spot. But then they're like,
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  whoa, whoa, whoa. No way. Is that how they ruled
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  initially? They ruled it an incomplete pass initially.
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  And then they ruled it a fumble on the spot after
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  they said, yep, upstairs looked at it. But then
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  I also looked at the same pass. I'm like, yeah,
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  he was initially pushing it forward. And I'm
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  like, did alignment and never really got a good
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  angle. And they just moved on to the next play.
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  So, yeah, I totally understand that. And that
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  was obviously the mo -mo changer of that whole
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  game. My group text. I'm like, oh, that's a momentum
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  changer. But the series prior or maybe to that
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  fourth down play. Why are you not kicking a field
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  goal with the backup quarterback in the red zone?
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  Oh, yeah, taking the points. Yeah, you should
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  have. I don't understand that call. You know,
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  yeah, one of my Broncos fans, buddies, was saying,
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  well, yeah, what if you get that first down and
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  then you go up 14 -0? And I'm like, well, that's
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  not a lot of AFC. Even if you get that first
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  down, it doesn't even guarantee that you're getting
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  it in the end zone either, too. So I just thought
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  that was a kind of mistake. And when points came
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  to a premium, you know, They would have been
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  up 10 -0, and you would have had to make Patriots
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  drive the field, which they struggled at doing
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  all day because their defense was playing good
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  enough. So, I mean, it could have went either
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  way. And then the weather rolled in. Then the
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  weather rolled in, and it became kind of an old
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  -school football play. Yeah, at that point, it
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  became which team has a better running game,
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  and clearly it was... It was the Patriots. Yes,
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  for sure. And it was enough to continue to get
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  first downs, milk clock, and then change field
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  position. And then they also had the advantage
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  of Drake May having, I guess, to run the ball,
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  too. So when they did throw the pass and it was
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  in there, where Stidham didn't really want any
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  of that. Right. And that was, to your point,
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  that was the clinching first down was that. The
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  boot? Yeah, that bootleg, right? That nobody
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  knew was coming? Yeah, they're just like, oh,
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  they're going to hand it off. And then, yeah,
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  just like bootleg, like, oh, and just there it
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  is. Did you hear the mic of that, the video of
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  him? No, I didn't catch that. Yeah, there's a
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  video of him. It's just a bunch of grunting,
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  you know. And then he gets around the corner,
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  and he's like, that's how we do it. But congratulations,
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  Drake May out of North Carolina, who I really
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  wanted to be in my purple. Like they were talking
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  a little bit earlier on the radio today, the
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  Vikings did put a generous offer to the Patriots
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  for that third pick. And Patriots obviously thought
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  it was not enough or Drake was their guy. So
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  congratulations to the Patriots. Any other big
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  thoughts on this? Broncos are going to be a tough
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  out next year, even with their number one schedule,
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  because they're going to have a truckload of
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  salary cap available to them this time around
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  to spend, because all of that Russell Wilson
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  money is finally done and over. That is huge.
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  Yeah. And as if you were a Broncos fan, like
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  your defense is set. Yeah. Offense, a couple
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  more weapons. Harvey's kind of came on. You can
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  trust him possibly. So you probably don't need
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  to go running back if you need to. But I'd still
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  take it. stab at one yeah um maybe sear cure
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  up that offensive line a little bit you know
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  that's kind of only really what denver needs
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  yeah and they can spend some money too yeah they've
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  got all of the dollars yeah with bo nick still
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  being on his rookie contract so spend it spend
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  it so broncos you're not done but a good solid
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  year out of you and uh let's move over to The
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  horse race of the two. Yes. The NFC Championship
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  game played in Lumen Field in Seattle, home of
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  the 12th man. High scoring back and forth shootouts.
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  What's your kind of takes here, Jacob? My takes.
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  Both teams played. For the most part, a really
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  clean game. Each team made a mistake, and it
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  cost them a touchdown. And so a trade -off. A
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  little 6 -7. Yeah. There you go. Because the
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  Rams had that muffed punt, they got recovered
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  by Seattle. And then two plays later, they score.
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  And then the Rams turn around, and they get that
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  free first down on a fourth. Yeah, on a fourth
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  down, of all things, you get a free first down
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  on that taunting. And then turn that around into
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  seven right out of the gates. Yeah, then they
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  threw at him the very next play. Just like, oh,
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  insult to injury right there. And what a great
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  catch. So amazing. And the Puka and JSN both
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  just lit it up. Like two of the top. top wide
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  receivers in the league right now i mean there's
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  still justin jefferson and there's chase but
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  like puka and jsn are right there and just amazing
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  to just watch them work yeah it was a showcase
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  and and they got uh jsn involved early and which
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  you saw that he got real like when you get a
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  star involved early and it just you just feel
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  like he steps up his game a little bit more and
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  oh man that guy is elite you know they were really
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  creative with them too they were putting it in
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  the backfield and getting backers on them and
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  then getting them out. So just super creative
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  play calling from Clint Kubiak to just be able
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  to get them open. Yeah. And for Seattle, you
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  know, I mean, even both defenses, you know, the
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  high 20s is a decently high scoring game. It's
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  lower than, I think, well, definitely the last
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  game because they went to overtime. Both defense
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  played pretty well, but also both offenses, when
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  they had an opportunity, took advantage of it.
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  And pretty balanced offense on both sides. Defense,
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  you know, just that critical stand at the end
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  that Seattle made, made Rams punt. And that was
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  kind of the difference. And then Seattle got
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  a couple of first downs, and it was kind of game
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  over. Because everyone, it was like three and
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  a half, four minutes left. You're like, all right,
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  Rams are going to get one more time. Nope, they
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  didn't. And congratulations to Seattle. sam um
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  you know him playing here last year getting to
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  know him um you think other vikings fans are
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  excited or happy for sam bradford or are they
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  upset that we couldn't or that they couldn't
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  swing a deal so there's multiple i thought about
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  this actually pretty heavy today um so i kind
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  of look at it is would this year's sam darno
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  with seattle beat last year's sam darno to the
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  vikings and my answer is easily yes i think seattle's
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  a better defense overall offensively um pretty
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  equal i think they have a better running game
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  which probably washes out the receivers a little
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  bit more um offensive line i think they're like
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  especially this year if we're looking at injuries
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  and stuff like their offense line so that's the
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  tough part so even if we have sam again next
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  year then we don't also have Jason Allen. We
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  don't have Hargrave. We don't have Fries or Kelly,
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  who ended up not being effective at all this
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  year. But going into the season, we're like,
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  oh, we locked up our center, our right guard.
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  We ended up getting our left guard that we wanted.
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  We're like, we got Darryl. We're solid. I think
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  Sam would have struggled a little bit. I think
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  he would have regressed from last year. to be
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  honest. So that's where I kind of look at. So
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  we would be in a financial scenario. So it just
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  wasn't there. I know they put a competitive bid
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  at him for one more year. Seattle gave him extra
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  years is why he ended up picking that direction.
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  So I don't know. I'm good for him. We had a Porsche
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  in the garage that we had to drive. And it is
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  what it is. I mean, Vikings fans every year is
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  like, you know, for years we've been getting
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  veteran quarter quarterbacks and we're like,
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  we need to draft a rookie and let them grow.
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  We'll fight through the. growing pains we get
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  it and like day one everyone's like jumping ship
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  so i don't know you can't win you can't lose
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  so i don't know i'm just happy for sam and him
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  you know being a good dude and making the super
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  bowl so um yeah i'm kind of leaning sam's direction
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  i don't in my heart for them to win so yeah he
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  had a pretty rough journey i mean getting drafted
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  by the jets first and then getting shipped out
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  to north earth north carolina yeah it's north
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  carolina play for the panthers Which he did okay,
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  and then he had that nice respite in San Francisco.
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  Yeah. I think it did him wonders. It did. I think,
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  like you said, he learned off Purdy and how he
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  preps and stuff like that. He was just a little
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  aged. He was seeing ghosts, and now he's not
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  seeing ghosts. He's seeing, you know. tarmac
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  to the airplane to the Super Bowl is what he's
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  seeing now so congratulations both teams are
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  in a spot through completely different styles
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  you know New England kind of grit and defense
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  and Seattle through offense and firepower they
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  do have the defense too but they didn't have
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  to rely on them as much as New England did so
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  awesome game it should be fun moving forward
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  any last thoughts or anything on these two games
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  Maybe you feel this, too. I mean, we're happy
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  for Darnold. We should be happy for Diggs, too,
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  finally making one. I mean, maybe, maybe not.
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  I don't like him. I think he's a good football
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  player. I don't think he's a good human. That's
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  fair. That's fair. Okay. So I'm not congratulating
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  him. Okay. And New England's won too much, too.
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  I don't know. I'm just kind of giving away who
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  I'm picking for the Super Bowl. But it's such
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  a different team. It is totally complete. And
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  also the Vrabel scenario adds a little twist
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  to it because I think that's kind of a cool story
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  of him being a former player and having the opportunity
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  to coach his former team in a Super Bowl on a
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  legendary franchise. All right. Well, that wraps
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  up the AFC NFC Championship. We will get another
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  episode of some news coming up, and then we also
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  have a little Super Bowl preview, obviously,
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  and we'll give you some updates where we're at
• 15:18
  with that. Are we allowed to say those words
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  together? Yeah, who cares? Maybe. I don't know.
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  Come knock on our door. We'll change it up. Yeah,
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  we might get censored. If someone in the NFL
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  is listening to us, we got to that point, we'll
• 15:32
  take the letter that we will no longer say the
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  soup. Having the soup in your bowl? Yeah. Either
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  way, find us on all the socials. Where at, Jake?
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  I think it's on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube,
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  Facebook, and anywhere else you listen to us.
• 15:52
  and any of your other favorite podcasts. He's
• 15:55
  got it down. First try. All right. Until next
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  time. Bye. Peace. Don't forget to follow, like,
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  and subscribe. Tune in next time for more banter
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  with the boys.