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Cowboys - 49ers Discussion, Patrick Mahomes' High Ankle Sprain, & Joe Schoen on Daniel Jones · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
0:08
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Chase straight Ahead, got into the
0:17
Speaker 1: end zone, Hated Hearts touchdown. The Cincinnati Bengals are heading
0:23
Speaker 1: to Kansas City. My homes to Chelsea for the twelfth
0:26
Speaker 1: time in the postseason. The Homes now steps up in
0:29
Speaker 1: the pocket, throws lane right open, back in the end zone.
0:32
Speaker 1: Touched it, catch bat Your hearts can out bobbled in
0:35
Speaker 1: a couple of times. End up mccampbrey touchdown four three
0:43
Speaker 1: two one. The Philadelphia Eagles have reached the MP the
0:50
Speaker 1: championship game. We had two pretty close games. We had
1:01
Speaker 1: to blowouts. How in the world is Pats my home
1:05
Speaker 1: is gonna play on that ankle for the a f
1:07
Speaker 1: C Championship game. What about the quarterback and the coaching carousel?
1:12
Speaker 1: We will spend them both on this Monday edition after
1:15
Speaker 1: Divisional weekend of NFL Now on NFL Network from our
1:19
Speaker 1: newsroom in Los Angeles. Hope you enjoyed the weekend, That
1:22
Speaker 1: next game being in Philadelphia, the NFC Championship Game coming
1:25
Speaker 1: up on Sunday. Jane Slater and Mark Ross, Hello to
1:30
Speaker 1: you both. Let's start Jane with you still at Levi Stadium,
1:33
Speaker 1: where Brock Purtty is still technically a rookie. But the
1:36
Speaker 1: last game that he started and lost was the one
1:41
Speaker 1: Cheese It Bowl the Clemson and d j Ui Ungola lay.
1:46
Speaker 1: It's been that long, dare I say, andrew pretty good
1:52
Speaker 1: performance last night against the Dallas Cowboys. We kept saying
1:56
Speaker 1: that this team had not been tested defensively, and the
1:59
Speaker 1: Cowboys did just that. Watching this game here at the stadium,
2:03
Speaker 1: you saw the constant usher from the Dallas Cowboys, particularly
2:07
Speaker 1: when we talked about all the weapons that the forty
2:09
Speaker 1: niners offense had, and then you look at the Christian
2:11
Speaker 1: McCaffrey boxsco. I remember at one point going where is
2:14
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey. He only had thirty five rushing yards in
2:17
Speaker 1: this game. Now, of course he did have a touchdown, uh,
2:20
Speaker 1: But the point was they stuck with it and that
2:22
Speaker 1: was his second what was rushing games since coming to
2:24
Speaker 1: San Francisco. I thought what stood out about him was
2:28
Speaker 1: exactly what you heard in the locker room. Rock Purty's
2:31
Speaker 1: composure and if the defense can play the way that
2:33
Speaker 1: they played, and you have that offense that can get
2:36
Speaker 1: through the defensive fronts, that the Cowboys put up, you
2:38
Speaker 1: gotta think they've got a pretty good chance against the Eagles.
2:41
Speaker 1: I mean, I just look at his performance as a rookie,
2:44
Speaker 1: and then you look at the other guy, Dak Prescott,
2:47
Speaker 1: seven years in the league. He's the one that throw
2:48
Speaker 1: the two through the two picks not brought purty. Now,
2:51
Speaker 1: he had these small moments that seemed to creep up
2:53
Speaker 1: during the game. I think there was that one right
2:55
Speaker 1: before the half. We probably should have thrown it into
2:57
Speaker 1: the stands. But other than that, I thought he played
2:59
Speaker 1: a pretty good game. Like I said, because there was
3:01
Speaker 1: so much pressure in his face for all those at
3:03
Speaker 1: saying forty niners hadn't really been tested, there was your test,
3:06
Speaker 1: and he did pretty good. He certainly did, Jane, and
3:09
Speaker 1: he did just enough, and that's all he had to do.
3:12
Speaker 1: When that defense, as you mentioned, dominated the game. It's
3:15
Speaker 1: a shame the Cowboys defense played good enough to win,
3:19
Speaker 1: but they were the second best defense on the field yesterday.
3:22
Speaker 1: That is d Usually you see that front with Bosa
3:25
Speaker 1: just taking control, but this time it's Fred Warner and
3:28
Speaker 1: the linebackers and the defensive backs really taking control of
3:31
Speaker 1: the game and making the big plays there with the interceptions,
3:35
Speaker 1: Ondac Fred Warner dropping into covers, doing things that no
3:38
Speaker 1: other linebacker can do. Blitzing covering just a unique skill
3:43
Speaker 1: set that he has there. So as long as this
3:45
Speaker 1: defense keeps dominating games, they are going to keep winning
3:50
Speaker 1: even when the offense struggles. Because we've seen this before
3:53
Speaker 1: with dominating defenses in Super Bowl runs the Ravens oh
3:56
Speaker 1: seven with the Giants, when our defense just took control
3:58
Speaker 1: of games. The forts. We've been saying this all year.
4:01
Speaker 1: Damiko Ryan's is dialing up all the right all the
4:04
Speaker 1: right calls, win a ton of talent and winning games,
4:08
Speaker 1: and that formula will go well into Philly, possibly the
4:10
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. Uh, that's just what they're doing there is
4:13
Speaker 1: just just special. Andrew. Yeah, we have all week to
4:16
Speaker 1: break that one down the Sunday NFC Championship game in Philadelphia.
4:19
Speaker 1: The forty Niners have not won a dozen in a row,
4:22
Speaker 1: and including last week's game, they have now won fourteen games.
4:27
Speaker 1: The Cowboys, if you include last week, won thirteen games.
4:31
Speaker 1: It is not as if their season was a failure. However,
4:36
Speaker 1: some questions loom large today. Frankly, the turnovers do settles
4:43
Speaker 1: the scores With games like that and I'm so disappointed
4:48
Speaker 1: for our fans and this felt good, This felt good today,
4:52
Speaker 1: felt good with the team. Samatico ahead something to say that, yeah,
4:59
Speaker 1: I really want to get into digital of but that's
5:00
Speaker 1: obviously wasn't the plan, you know, so um yeah, it's um,
5:06
Speaker 1: it's obviously a gadget player or whatever. It's a it's
5:09
Speaker 1: a last play situation called we practice. So just disappointed.
5:14
Speaker 1: As I said, I mean guys that that played off defense,
5:17
Speaker 1: who gave us an opportunity to win this game, who
5:19
Speaker 1: played there, who played hard against a really really good offense,
5:22
Speaker 1: really good team, and um, for us to only put
5:24
Speaker 1: up the points that we did, that that's unacceptable and
5:26
Speaker 1: it starts with me, and um, I've got to be better.
5:30
Speaker 1: I mean, that's no other way to sure your pot. Look,
5:34
Speaker 1: Dak was brutally honest. He said everything that I think
5:37
Speaker 1: James Slater everybody saw, and Mike McCarthy there before that
5:40
Speaker 1: talking about that circus play with Zeke at center that
5:43
Speaker 1: obviously failed and failed miserably there at the end. It
5:46
Speaker 1: is not all Dack's fault, certainly, but the two picks
5:50
Speaker 1: early and the confounding play late that will linger into
5:53
Speaker 1: the off season. Yeah, when you consider a last year's
5:58
Speaker 1: playoff exit, lingered, if that one was a problem for
6:02
Speaker 1: you and that one hurt, this one's gonna leave a
6:03
Speaker 1: little bit of a scar, true, particularly because you felt
6:06
Speaker 1: like there were points in this game that the way
6:08
Speaker 1: this defense is playing, the Cowboys had a chance to
6:11
Speaker 1: win this game. But two issues that we've been talking
6:14
Speaker 1: about in recent weeks started to rear their heads again.
6:16
Speaker 1: We're talking the Dak Prescott turnovers and the kicker, Brett Marred.
6:20
Speaker 1: I gotta say, Brett marr is probably one of the
6:21
Speaker 1: most professional guys I've ever interviewed, and that's saying a
6:24
Speaker 1: lot over the last couple of years. But they didn't
6:27
Speaker 1: travel with another kicker. He talked about how Deebo, Samuel
6:30
Speaker 1: and some of the forty niners it's sort of intimidated
6:32
Speaker 1: him a little bit. Ahead of the game. I asked
6:34
Speaker 1: him if you respect that. He said, didn't really have
6:37
Speaker 1: much to say about it, but he said he felt
6:39
Speaker 1: good when he actually got some of those kicks through
6:41
Speaker 1: the field goals and through the uprights. But the extra
6:43
Speaker 1: point thing, I think kind of made the team go
6:45
Speaker 1: a little off. Ballots, you sort of and then when
6:47
Speaker 1: you got the pick, you sort of felt like, Ah,
6:49
Speaker 1: they're sort of getting back into the rhythm that we
6:52
Speaker 1: saw against Washington and some of their struggles. But I
6:55
Speaker 1: think the bigger questions that loom for this team in
6:57
Speaker 1: the off season are a couple of things. What's his
6:59
Speaker 1: team gonna look like if dan Quinn goes and takes
7:01
Speaker 1: another job. J Ron Curson, those guys were so visibly
7:04
Speaker 1: up that sobbing in fact in the locker room getting
7:07
Speaker 1: consoled by other safeties guys with their heads hanging down
7:10
Speaker 1: because so many people in this locker room thought this
7:12
Speaker 1: group was special, that they truly had a chance. And
7:15
Speaker 1: then I wonder what are they gonna do at the
7:16
Speaker 1: wide receiver position that was an issue throughout the year.
7:19
Speaker 1: And then when you look at the game last night,
7:21
Speaker 1: they didn't really feel like they had any receiving threats
7:23
Speaker 1: outside of Ceedee land Uh. And so we heard from
7:27
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones last night talking about his confidence in Dak
7:30
Speaker 1: and his confidence in Mike McCarthy. But I am curious
7:32
Speaker 1: to see if there's gonna be any changes moving forward.
7:36
Speaker 1: There are always changes to rosters, but I think this
7:38
Speaker 1: team is gonna look very different if dan Quinn doesn't return.
7:42
Speaker 1: Definitely a lot of questions, Jane, but just more specifically
7:44
Speaker 1: about yesterday and why they lost the game. Look, all season,
7:47
Speaker 1: we've been talking about how talented Dallas is, how explosive
7:50
Speaker 1: they are on both sides of the ball, but the
7:53
Speaker 1: turnovers and the the attention to detail that it is
7:55
Speaker 1: not there, the inconsistencies, and you saw that rear its
7:59
Speaker 1: ugly head again yesterday. That Dak interceptions were brutal, the
8:03
Speaker 1: kickers in situation, the last as play, but also the
8:06
Speaker 1: Dalton Schultz non catch where he doesn't get his foot
8:09
Speaker 1: down Trevon Digs with that Kittle catch, You're closing his
8:14
Speaker 1: eyes and not hitting Kittle, and then a couple of
8:16
Speaker 1: plays later dropping an interception. You just can't have those
8:19
Speaker 1: plays in playoff games. You have to make those critical plays,
8:23
Speaker 1: and Dallas just had too many of those non plays, mistakes,
8:28
Speaker 1: inconsistencies in that game to win. The defense played good
8:31
Speaker 1: enough to win, but then all other facets they just
8:34
Speaker 1: did not come through. From the coaching on down. We've
8:37
Speaker 1: been talking about that for two years with Dallas. Who's
8:40
Speaker 1: the blame for that? Is that the coaching is that
8:42
Speaker 1: the players is that the organization's fault. But yes, where
8:45
Speaker 1: do you go from here? Because Doc has shown once
8:47
Speaker 1: again not to come up big in a big game.
8:49
Speaker 1: A lot of questions there. Obviously he's not going anywhere.
8:52
Speaker 1: And dan Quinn led defense really won the game for
8:54
Speaker 1: them yesterday but didn't come through. So where do they
8:57
Speaker 1: go in the future. So, as Jane said, a lot
8:59
Speaker 1: of questions there, but specifically yesterday while they lost andrew
9:02
Speaker 1: too many mistakes. Well, here's where they're not going the
9:05
Speaker 1: NFC Championship Game for the twenty seven consecutive year. Jerry
9:13
Speaker 1: Jones made a point of the off season, says, he's
9:15
Speaker 1: eighty years old, you know, wants to see another Super
9:18
Speaker 1: Bowl and this year it's not gonna happen yet again.
9:22
Speaker 1: Mark Ross Chains latter a lot more. We were on
9:24
Speaker 1: pack here on the Dallas Cowboys in their off season
9:26
Speaker 1: future coming up shortly the b TAB. Let's look at
9:27
Speaker 1: the a f C, the fact that it's going to
9:29
Speaker 1: be the Chiefs and the Bengals in the a f
9:31
Speaker 1: C Championship Game coming up in Kansas City, not in Atlanta.
9:34
Speaker 1: On Sunday. I and rappap Woar, Tom Pelacera Holid you
9:37
Speaker 1: both our NFL Network insiders Patrick Mahomes and somehow on
9:44
Speaker 1: a high ankle sprain came back and played played well,
9:49
Speaker 1: and that second half. It played that second half, he's
9:52
Speaker 1: really going to play in the a f C Championship
9:55
Speaker 1: game with a high ankle spring in the words of
9:58
Speaker 1: Andy readers talking to reporters and just said this a
10:01
Speaker 1: couple of seconds ago, He's gonna play. Now, he's going
10:04
Speaker 1: through his treatment, He's going through his rehab. Reid described
10:07
Speaker 1: him as doing well, but clearly he's in a lot
10:10
Speaker 1: of pain, and we saw him in a lot of
10:11
Speaker 1: pain out there on the field. Was not right, was
10:14
Speaker 1: not his mobile, did not want to go get X rays.
10:17
Speaker 1: That scene is awesome, just him trying to refuse to
10:20
Speaker 1: go get X rays because if they never read the thing,
10:22
Speaker 1: then they can't tell whether or not it's broken, so
10:24
Speaker 1: he can keep playing. Turn out X rays were negative.
10:26
Speaker 1: Is a high ankle sprain, and you know generally these
10:29
Speaker 1: things are four to six week injuries. By Andy Reid
10:32
Speaker 1: calling it a tweak, maybe it leads you to believe
10:34
Speaker 1: that this is a little more of the minor variety,
10:37
Speaker 1: a mild high ankle sprain. Either way, it's a f
10:40
Speaker 1: C title game. Mahomes is adamant about playing, so yeah,
10:43
Speaker 1: I would expect him to be limited this week, very
10:46
Speaker 1: sore and very much on the field. Yeah, he basically
10:48
Speaker 1: played that second half on one foot. He was hopping
10:51
Speaker 1: around out there, and he still made enough plays for
10:54
Speaker 1: them to win. Assuming he does play and no one's
10:57
Speaker 1: lying here, it's gonna be a very different look to
10:59
Speaker 1: that offense. You would have to think tom let's stubble
11:01
Speaker 1: back to the Cowboys here if we can't. It struck
11:03
Speaker 1: me last night. So Millard of last season, right, they
11:06
Speaker 1: had a Marii Cooper, they let him go big price
11:09
Speaker 1: tag because they wanted to resign. Michael Gallup coming off
11:12
Speaker 1: an injury here, Ezekiel Ellie, big price tag, his future
11:15
Speaker 1: up in there. Now. Tony Pollard, who you would think
11:17
Speaker 1: they'd want to resign, is coming up on a pretty
11:20
Speaker 1: significant injury. That's right, Andrew. Tony Pollard suffered a high
11:25
Speaker 1: ankle sprain and a broken leg on an ugly play
11:29
Speaker 1: in the second quarter of that game last night. His
11:32
Speaker 1: foot got trapped underneath a defender, and that play in
11:35
Speaker 1: Pollard's absence also really changed the complexion of the game.
11:38
Speaker 1: At the time, it was six to six, the Cowboys
11:41
Speaker 1: were driving. On the next play, Dak Prescott throws an interception.
11:44
Speaker 1: They did not score another touchdown the rest of the
11:47
Speaker 1: game and obviously lost to the forty Niners. In terms
11:50
Speaker 1: of the big picture, with Tony Pollard, you saw again
11:52
Speaker 1: last night how important he is to that team. A
11:56
Speaker 1: three month recovery would put him right around the start
11:58
Speaker 1: of the off season programs in the middle of April
12:00
Speaker 1: before he's ready to do something. That of course makes
12:03
Speaker 1: it a challenge for him to pass the physical at
12:05
Speaker 1: the start of free agency, but it's also hard to
12:07
Speaker 1: imagine the Cowboys are going to let it get there.
12:09
Speaker 1: They had no problem resigning Michael Gallup when he was
12:12
Speaker 1: coming off a significant injury to a multi year contract.
12:14
Speaker 1: I would anticipate the Cowboys were gonna try to do
12:16
Speaker 1: the same thing with Tony Pollard. If that doesn't get done,
12:19
Speaker 1: the franchise tag also a strong option. Andrew okay for
12:22
Speaker 1: those trying to wrap their head around the off season.
12:23
Speaker 1: So far, as Doug Peterson said, signing off today and
12:26
Speaker 1: the podium will see you in April. It's before April
12:29
Speaker 1: free agency in the new league year, the second week
12:32
Speaker 1: of March. By which point, and you'd assume the Denver
12:36
Speaker 1: Broncos would have ANUE head coach, saying with the Carolina Panthers,
12:39
Speaker 1: Sean Payton still in play for both of those jobs,
12:42
Speaker 1: what's the latest. Yeah, I think if the Broncos don't
12:45
Speaker 1: have a head coach maybe at some point this week
12:48
Speaker 1: or everyone else, me and Tom are both gonna lose
12:50
Speaker 1: our collective brain. Um. So yeah, so let's get into
12:52
Speaker 1: what is happening. Sean Payton, the former coach of these Saints,
12:56
Speaker 1: is meeting with the Carolina Panthers an owner Dave Tepper.
12:59
Speaker 1: That is going to be this morning. Obviously, was supposed
13:01
Speaker 1: to be a New York City on Friday, was postponed
13:04
Speaker 1: because of the tragic a Charlotte FC soccer player. So
13:07
Speaker 1: that is going to happen, and that would be the
13:09
Speaker 1: third interview for Sean Payton of a team in need
13:13
Speaker 1: of head coach, the Houston Texans. The Denver Broncos also
13:16
Speaker 1: spoke to him. And as far as those Broncos, you
13:18
Speaker 1: know they are expected to set up second interviews. Owner
13:21
Speaker 1: Greg Penner is kind of willing that list now narrowing it,
13:25
Speaker 1: figuring out who they want to bring in wouldn't be
13:27
Speaker 1: a surprise if they brought in Sean Payton, but it
13:29
Speaker 1: does not sound like anything is firm and final and set,
13:33
Speaker 1: so until it is will wait word of that. Another
13:37
Speaker 1: head coaching interview news ian the Cardinals today are interviewing
13:42
Speaker 1: Steelers assistant coach Brian Flores for their head coaching job.
13:46
Speaker 1: Cardinals actually gave Floras his very first head coaching interview
13:50
Speaker 1: five years ago. They did not hire him, they hired
13:53
Speaker 1: Steve Wilks instead. Wilkes lasted one season. Flora's got the
13:57
Speaker 1: job the following year with Miami, got fired after three years,
14:00
Speaker 1: and then sued everyone, including the Cardinals. Wilkes eventually joined
14:03
Speaker 1: that lawsuit, which alleged racial discrimination in hiring practices. But
14:08
Speaker 1: Flora's also does have a relationship with the Cardinals new
14:11
Speaker 1: general manager Monty austin Ford, going back to their days
14:14
Speaker 1: in New England, and Flora's did have some success in
14:17
Speaker 1: those three seasons in Miami. Did not make the playoffs,
14:19
Speaker 1: but they have a winning record two out of those
14:21
Speaker 1: last three years. And for those keeping track at home,
14:24
Speaker 1: there are five open head coaching jobs and if you
14:27
Speaker 1: include offensive coordinator, with those five, basically half the league
14:31
Speaker 1: currently needs an offensive coordinator. So if your kid is
14:34
Speaker 1: at home playing Madden right now and you think they're
14:36
Speaker 1: pretty good, you might want to throw their name in
14:38
Speaker 1: on this as well. Tom Pella, Sero, Ian Rappaford, we
14:40
Speaker 1: thank you both. Coming up next. That guy pretty good
14:43
Speaker 1: yesterday as well. In the snow. Don't forget about the
14:47
Speaker 1: Bengals if you have, they know that you've forgotten about them,
14:51
Speaker 1: and they're using it. That story next. Nothing hard to
15:01
Speaker 1: put into words how cool it was to see this
15:04
Speaker 1: you today, to see tomorrow Hamlet and his family and
15:08
Speaker 1: his little brother demere everyone there in the stands, even
15:13
Speaker 1: through the snow, and the snow was coming down the
15:16
Speaker 1: entire game. It warned your heart to see that scene.
15:20
Speaker 1: We thought we would get a great game like we
15:22
Speaker 1: thought we would have had week seventeen. That didn't happen
15:26
Speaker 1: because Joe Burrow and the Bengals blew the Bills out
15:30
Speaker 1: of their own building. This drive six place seventy nine
15:33
Speaker 1: yards Jamar Chase at easy touchdown. This drive ten place
15:37
Speaker 1: sixty seven yards. Peyton Hurst is also open. It's fourteen
15:42
Speaker 1: to nothing. Zach Taylor's team eventually goes up seventeen to seven.
15:46
Speaker 1: All right, Bills get a field go right out of
15:47
Speaker 1: the gate. Third quarter at seventeen to ten. Maybe they
15:50
Speaker 1: make this close, but they can't get off the field
15:52
Speaker 1: on third doubt, Hayden Hurst leaps over to fender point
15:56
Speaker 1: that way. That's the first out of the five plays. Later,
15:59
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon, upon further review, does get into the end
16:03
Speaker 1: zone and the Bills are up. Rather the Bengals are
16:06
Speaker 1: up on the Bills ten von Miller said today when
16:09
Speaker 1: they were down fourteen to nothing, they could have been
16:11
Speaker 1: wearing snow shoes. They would not have come back, but
16:14
Speaker 1: they had a shot. They're gonna make it interesting here
16:16
Speaker 1: twenty seven a town on fourth down, tropic Dermott rather
16:19
Speaker 1: than taking the field goal you neat three scores, decides
16:23
Speaker 1: to throw and it didn't work. Nope, Eli Apple of
16:27
Speaker 1: all people says, I'm not gonna happen, and then Stefon
16:31
Speaker 1: Digg says something to Josh Allen. Interesting, they get the
16:36
Speaker 1: ball back and it would work. Cam Taylor Brett, have
16:41
Speaker 1: yourself a day, have yourself a rookie season. The Bengals
16:45
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs, Part two in the a f C
16:49
Speaker 1: Championship Game. For everyone talking about a neutral a f
16:55
Speaker 1: C championship game, not even thinking about you. Guys, how
16:58
Speaker 1: much did that motivate you coming into this? You better
17:01
Speaker 1: send those refunds any way, shape or for him. You
17:06
Speaker 1: just walk on the field, take hill business and the
17:08
Speaker 1: whole world knows that. Now. I love you guys, all right.
17:11
Speaker 1: We talked to you last night. They're the best home player.
17:24
Speaker 1: I love it. On the road in Kansas City, nowhere else.
17:26
Speaker 1: We'd rather be nowhere else. Besides, you're like, let's be
17:29
Speaker 1: ready to tell anything tight already? Who on the road
17:51
Speaker 1: in Kansas City where they went in one last year
17:54
Speaker 1: on their way to l A. Bridget Condon and Buffalo.
17:57
Speaker 1: Mark Ross back with me as well. The Bengals Bridget
18:00
Speaker 1: are gonna be underdogs at Arrowhead coming up on Sunday,
18:04
Speaker 1: but they were underdogs yesterday as well. Yeah, they do
18:09
Speaker 1: not care. Andrew, let me take you inside what it
18:11
Speaker 1: was like right over there in that stadium when they
18:13
Speaker 1: won last night. Cam Taylor Britte, we just saw his
18:15
Speaker 1: interception walked over to one of the corners in Harmer
18:18
Speaker 1: him Mark Stadium. All Bengals fans fled. They started who
18:22
Speaker 1: day Chance filling the stadium. Then in the tunnel, a
18:25
Speaker 1: lot of various players running up into the locker room
18:28
Speaker 1: screaming you better give them their refunds in regard to
18:31
Speaker 1: the a f C neutral site game that people pre
18:34
Speaker 1: purchased tickets for if it had been between the Chiefs
18:37
Speaker 1: and the Bills. I was talking to Jamar Chase in
18:39
Speaker 1: the locker room last night. He told me it was disrespectful.
18:42
Speaker 1: He said he feels like they've done a lot to
18:44
Speaker 1: turn the organization around, and people still aren't giving them
18:47
Speaker 1: their props. And he said, once we saw that they
18:49
Speaker 1: were disrespecting us, we had no other choice than to
18:52
Speaker 1: go out there and prove them wrong. This team, remember,
18:55
Speaker 1: went to the Super Bowl last year, lost, then started
18:58
Speaker 1: the season oh and two. A lot of people were
19:00
Speaker 1: wondering if that super Bowl run was just a fluke
19:02
Speaker 1: and if this Bengals team was any good. Well, and
19:04
Speaker 1: talk the players last night in the locker room. None
19:07
Speaker 1: of them ever doubted themselves. They're not shocked to be
19:10
Speaker 1: back in the a f C title game, and they
19:12
Speaker 1: did it last night with three backup lineman. When asked
19:16
Speaker 1: about that, running back Joe Mixon said, they're dogs d
19:20
Speaker 1: A W G S dogs. I love it, love it.
19:26
Speaker 1: I have no idea how how people keep sleeping on
19:30
Speaker 1: this team. I mean, as you meant there in the
19:31
Speaker 1: Super Bowl last year. They've got Joe Burrow maybe the
19:34
Speaker 1: second best quarterback, first best quarterback in the league. They
19:37
Speaker 1: got the best collection of young, skilled talent on offense.
19:41
Speaker 1: They overcome the offensive line issues. Their defense is playing
19:44
Speaker 1: just as good as any other defense in football, with
19:46
Speaker 1: a lot of multiple looks and a lot of talent there.
19:50
Speaker 1: I have no idea what the Bengals have to show
19:52
Speaker 1: people they want in the Buffalo and just completely dominated
19:55
Speaker 1: that game on both sides of the ball. Joe Burrow
19:58
Speaker 1: was a fishing. That guy is a machine. Jamaar Chase
20:00
Speaker 1: can take over when it whenever he wants. Oh, let's
20:03
Speaker 1: throw Joe Mixing at you and just run right downhill
20:06
Speaker 1: on you and finish the game off the defense. Just
20:09
Speaker 1: hold Josh Allen at ten points at the interception at
20:11
Speaker 1: the end there to close it out. So this Bengals
20:13
Speaker 1: team next week, it's underdogs again. I think they should
20:16
Speaker 1: be favored, especially with the question of Patrick Mahomes health
20:20
Speaker 1: going in there. I think this Bengals team going back
20:22
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl Andrew Look, I think some people
20:24
Speaker 1: could have seen the Eagles blowing out the Giants. I
20:26
Speaker 1: thought the Giants might play well, might give him an issue.
20:29
Speaker 1: It didn't happen. I don't know that anyone saw this
20:31
Speaker 1: being a blowout. It was a one sided game. And
20:34
Speaker 1: now for the Buffalo side of things here, they make
20:37
Speaker 1: the playoffs five out of six years, but only once
20:40
Speaker 1: in those five did they even make it to the
20:42
Speaker 1: conference championship game. Proud of our guys, how we handled
20:47
Speaker 1: um situations throughout the year. Um, you know, we could
20:52
Speaker 1: have made a lot of excuses throughout throughout the year.
20:54
Speaker 1: What was going on going on? But guys continue to fight. Um, no,
21:00
Speaker 1: we we we wanted to win this one. We want
21:03
Speaker 1: to win them all. Uh, those guys played better today.
21:06
Speaker 1: Again disappointment. You play to win, our goals to a
21:11
Speaker 1: super Bowl, World championship, and we didn't accomplish that. So
21:15
Speaker 1: everything that happened decision is kind of non void in
21:17
Speaker 1: our minds, and um, it sucks. It was an emotional
21:22
Speaker 1: roller coaster of the season on so many levels. Here
21:25
Speaker 1: for the people in that building in Buffalo, how is
21:28
Speaker 1: this one resonating? Though? After a really bridget that game
21:31
Speaker 1: wasn't that close? Yeah, Andrew. I was just inside the
21:35
Speaker 1: locker room talking with players the morning after the loss,
21:38
Speaker 1: and the biggest things they're saying is they're shocked and
21:40
Speaker 1: they're numb. A lot of talk was made last night
21:43
Speaker 1: about Stefon Diggs and how he handled the loss. He
21:45
Speaker 1: reportedly was in the locker room left before coaches even
21:49
Speaker 1: got there last night. One of the players went out
21:52
Speaker 1: and got him, brought him back in there briefly, but
21:54
Speaker 1: he was gone before media even have the chance to
21:56
Speaker 1: enter the locker room last night. He also wasn't in
21:59
Speaker 1: there today that I saw while I was in the
22:01
Speaker 1: locker room. Remember, he was held to just four receptions
22:04
Speaker 1: for thirty five rds yesterday in the loss. That is
22:06
Speaker 1: his second fewest yards receiving this entire season. But one
22:11
Speaker 1: of his teammates, Isaiah McKenzie, was shedding some light onto
22:14
Speaker 1: how he may be feeling. He said he spoke with
22:16
Speaker 1: him last night and Diggs is frustrated, saying that he
22:18
Speaker 1: often looks at him and says, why am I not
22:20
Speaker 1: getting the ball? And mackenzie says, I don't know. You're
22:23
Speaker 1: one of the best receivers in the game. He agrees
22:25
Speaker 1: with him that he should be getting the ball more.
22:27
Speaker 1: He also said that Diggs is a fiery player and
22:30
Speaker 1: sometimes he goes overboard, but sometimes it's relevant, and he
22:33
Speaker 1: said he was asking a lot of questions that we
22:36
Speaker 1: heard a lot of different players asking about how why
22:39
Speaker 1: every year are we in this spot and what do
22:42
Speaker 1: we need to do to get over this hunt? Mark, Yeah,
22:46
Speaker 1: a lot of questions are in Buffalo, starting with Josh
22:49
Speaker 1: Allen and much like Dac with the turnovers, and we
22:51
Speaker 1: kind of excused it with Josh, the turnovers this year
22:54
Speaker 1: are serious problem where he took a step back it
22:57
Speaker 1: came to get them at the end there, but also
22:59
Speaker 1: the organization so close last year, what do we do?
23:02
Speaker 1: They built the team to beat the Chiefs and now
23:04
Speaker 1: here comes the Bengals. This is why you have to
23:06
Speaker 1: build your team not just for want to beat one
23:09
Speaker 1: specific team, but to be the best you can be.
23:11
Speaker 1: Here comes the Bengals with a completely different style than
23:14
Speaker 1: a Chiefs and more physical and pounded them on both
23:16
Speaker 1: sides of the ball, and the Bills just are not
23:19
Speaker 1: built for that sort of game. So now you got
23:21
Speaker 1: to go into another offseason and reflect to build the
23:23
Speaker 1: team next year. What do we do we build it
23:26
Speaker 1: to beat the Bengals. Were build it to beat the Chiefs. No,
23:27
Speaker 1: just build your team and get better, get the best
23:30
Speaker 1: players available to make a complete team to try to
23:33
Speaker 1: handle all different styles. Andrew Oh quote Von Miller again,
23:35
Speaker 1: thought he was really insightful on the podium within the
23:37
Speaker 1: last hour, said we were down four teen. We could
23:39
Speaker 1: have had snowshoes on. We weren't going to come back
23:42
Speaker 1: and win that game. We couldn't run the ball. We
23:43
Speaker 1: couldn't sustain drives, and that is huge. Got to run
23:47
Speaker 1: the ball. But we say that every year with this
23:50
Speaker 1: team that made some moves. Didn't see those moves payoff. Yesterday,
23:53
Speaker 1: Thank you Bridget, Thank you Mark. Buffalo is heading home
23:56
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, is moving on. Twelve months ago, we're sitting
24:07
Speaker 1: here talking about a four and thirteen New York Giants
24:10
Speaker 1: team that needed a new coach in a new GM. Today,
24:14
Speaker 1: we're sitting here talking about a team that made the
24:16
Speaker 1: playoffs one a road game but was blown out in
24:20
Speaker 1: the divisional round in Philadelphia. Daniel Jones and say Kwon
24:24
Speaker 1: Barkley are now free agents. I think Daniel played well
24:28
Speaker 1: enough this year. You know, we'd like to have him back,
24:30
Speaker 1: and you know, again, we we have some difficult offseason
24:33
Speaker 1: decisions to make and how we're gonna go about those.
24:36
Speaker 1: So I look forward to getting work on that here.
24:38
Speaker 1: You know, by the end of the week, there's there's
24:39
Speaker 1: several options that we've gotta go through the entire roster.
24:42
Speaker 1: We have a lot of u f A s um
24:44
Speaker 1: We have guys that you know, are good players that
24:47
Speaker 1: have you know, contracts on the horizon. So that's all
24:49
Speaker 1: part of the planning that that will go through. And
24:51
Speaker 1: again we just gotta you know, talk about how we
24:53
Speaker 1: want to divvy it up and prioritize uh different areas
24:56
Speaker 1: and if we need to open up money, like won't
24:58
Speaker 1: rule that out. Three hundred and sixties seven days ago.
25:03
Speaker 1: Stacy Dale's Mark Ross the science higher Joe Shane. It
25:06
Speaker 1: feels good to sit here talking about these issues. They
25:09
Speaker 1: want a playoff game, but you know, now the off
25:11
Speaker 1: season work begins, Stacy. Yeah, And I listened to that
25:15
Speaker 1: press conference, guys, uh with Joe Shane and Brian Dable.
25:19
Speaker 1: Listen to building blocks are in place. The foundation is set,
25:21
Speaker 1: and what they established culturally is massive. Because these players
25:26
Speaker 1: fell in love with Brian Dable in his first season
25:29
Speaker 1: as their head coach UH and I got a text
25:31
Speaker 1: from one higher ranking official with the team last night
25:34
Speaker 1: because I was at that game with the Eagles and
25:35
Speaker 1: Giants and we got our butts kicked. So when you
25:37
Speaker 1: go into the off season, despite having been to the
25:40
Speaker 1: playoffs for the first time as the New York Giants
25:43
Speaker 1: did UH since two thousand sixteen, their first playoff victory
25:46
Speaker 1: against Minnesota since two thousand eleven, You've got a lot
25:49
Speaker 1: of work to do to build this roster surrounding the
25:53
Speaker 1: quarterback that you do want back, which is Daniel Jones.
25:55
Speaker 1: And what a jump he made you. You can use
25:59
Speaker 1: the words quarterback whisper all you want, but that's what
26:03
Speaker 1: Brian Dable is. Best completion for nage mark of Daniel
26:06
Speaker 1: Jones's career, best passer rating of his career, and he
26:09
Speaker 1: didn't turn the ball over nine giveaways, including one against
26:12
Speaker 1: the Eagles. Are really nice transition and evolution for him
26:16
Speaker 1: under Brian Dable this season, who is still a candidate
26:18
Speaker 1: for Coach of the Year. Yeah, what a remarkable turnaround
26:22
Speaker 1: has been for the Giants with Brian Dable and head
26:24
Speaker 1: coach Joe Shane putting the team together and specifically with
26:27
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones and say Kwon Barkley, You really just look
26:30
Speaker 1: at the positives if you're building that team, and not
26:33
Speaker 1: the negatives of what we saw the last game. And
26:35
Speaker 1: for a lot of stretches of the season, you have
26:37
Speaker 1: to say, this is our guy. These are our guys,
26:39
Speaker 1: and now what do we do to build around around them?
26:42
Speaker 1: And even if you want to move on from Daniel Jones,
26:45
Speaker 1: where are you gonna find your other quarterback in the
26:47
Speaker 1: draft of free agency? That it is the equivalent of
26:49
Speaker 1: the positive production that he's given you that year. So
26:52
Speaker 1: that's always the other side that people don't look at.
26:54
Speaker 1: Andrew and Shane said all the right things today about
26:57
Speaker 1: quarterback and running back, said he wanted both Jones and
26:59
Speaker 1: Barkley fat There is a business side to it, however,
27:03
Speaker 1: and he didn't want to even go there. I went
27:05
Speaker 1: asked about the franchise tax. Listen, there's the Dallas angle,
27:12
Speaker 1: there's the Buffalo angle. Then you can look at, say
27:14
Speaker 1: the Jacksonville Jaguars and say, yes, you're lost in Kansas City,
27:17
Speaker 1: but you battled and this was a season to remember.
27:22
Speaker 1: You guys were nine and eight, you won the division.
27:25
Speaker 1: You're the first team to ever make the playoffs after
27:27
Speaker 1: consecutive fourteen lost seasons. For Trevor, it's it's everything. There's continuity,
27:36
Speaker 1: there's consistency. He knows the guys he's gonna be throwing
27:39
Speaker 1: the ball too, he knows the coaching staff who's gonna
27:41
Speaker 1: be coaching him. And um, that's that's uh, that that's
27:46
Speaker 1: a big that's big for us. And and from year
27:48
Speaker 1: one to year two and and um those are the
27:52
Speaker 1: you know, the jumps that teams make is usually year one,
27:55
Speaker 1: year two, possibly into year three. Um, but for our quarterback,
28:01
Speaker 1: you know who had a great year this year, he'll
28:04
Speaker 1: only get better just having that that consistency around him. Look,
28:09
Speaker 1: James Palmer, they picked first last year, they picked first
28:12
Speaker 1: year before they're gonna pick two on April. I think
28:16
Speaker 1: that tells the story. It really does, Andrew, and let's
28:19
Speaker 1: look at the story in its entirety. When Doug Peterson
28:22
Speaker 1: first arrived in Jacksonville on his very first day in
28:25
Speaker 1: the facility, you know who was waiting for him outside
28:27
Speaker 1: his office. It was Trevor Lawrence, waiting for a new start,
28:30
Speaker 1: waiting for someone to lead him into his second year.
28:34
Speaker 1: And that's what Doug Peterson did. With the quarterback and
28:36
Speaker 1: did with that entire locker room. I had a chance
28:38
Speaker 1: to speak with ownership this weekend, and Eric static with
28:41
Speaker 1: the job that Doug Peterson and the rest of the
28:43
Speaker 1: staff I have to point out did this season in
28:46
Speaker 1: terms of bringing a lot of trust and a lot
28:47
Speaker 1: of belief back into that group. And it was interesting
28:50
Speaker 1: because the last meeting that Doug Peterson had with individual
28:54
Speaker 1: players was with Trayvon Walker, their number one overall picked
28:56
Speaker 1: from a year ago. How he wants to become a
28:58
Speaker 1: better pass rusher on the outside on the inside. And
29:01
Speaker 1: when I spoke with ownership, they really brought up the
29:03
Speaker 1: defensive line in there in hortons of backgroup moving forward.
29:06
Speaker 1: There was a correlation they brought up between the two
29:09
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen Eagles that Doug Peterson led to a Super
29:12
Speaker 1: Bowl victory and that the defensive line andrew of that group,
29:15
Speaker 1: how deep and talented they were, was a big reason
29:18
Speaker 1: why they won that Super Bowl. They like that group
29:20
Speaker 1: on that side. And also lastly, Doug Peterson brought up
29:23
Speaker 1: the weapons returning the same ones around Trevor Lawrence. They'd
29:27
Speaker 1: like to bring back tight end Evan Ingram, who was
29:29
Speaker 1: a free agent. He was their go to receiver down
29:32
Speaker 1: the stretch. They're gonna try to bring him back this offseason.
29:35
Speaker 1: Try to keep those skill guys around. Trevor Blong Yep,
29:37
Speaker 1: he was a weapon. Former first round pick of the Giants.
29:41
Speaker 1: Bucky Brooks, So, by the way, has his mock draft
29:43
Speaker 1: one play oh out with Jaguars pick in twenty four,
29:46
Speaker 1: Thank you James. He has them going corner. The Jaguars
29:50
Speaker 1: are not on this top ten for Pucky's initial one
29:54
Speaker 1: point oh that tells the story of the season. Bucky
29:56
Speaker 1: has Will Anderson going one and as Crimson time teammate
30:01
Speaker 1: Rice Young going to like at all the quarterbacks. M
30:05
Speaker 1: h NFL Now is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 1: partnership with i Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
30:16
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
30:20
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