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Speaker 1: that was cute to be Around the NFL Podcast Wolves.
Speaker 1: That's time and welcome to another edition of the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I'm joined
Speaker 1: in a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: and Greg wild Card. Weekend is in the books, and
Speaker 1: as often the case, when we assume we something something
Speaker 1: something ass I don't remember the full what what is
Speaker 1: the same and me there it is because a lot
Speaker 1: of unexpected things happen, uh today and wild Card or
Speaker 1: this weekend, wild Card Sunday is Saturday and Sunday games.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to all of them. Um. In terms
Speaker 1: of like a big picture takeaway, Mark Sessler, Hey you
Speaker 1: doing by buddy dog. Mark would see no team had
Speaker 1: more than twenty four points on wild Card weekend, So
Speaker 1: there was no in the year of offense, there was
Speaker 1: not a single team that said, I'm gonna heat things up.
Speaker 1: We what about it? In a year of offense, defense
Speaker 1: is adjusted late in the season, making us wrong about
Speaker 1: everything we said. And it's funny you say that, West,
Speaker 1: because but the best defense has all got knocked out
Speaker 1: on Sunday, the Ravens and Bears, that best defenses in
Speaker 1: the NFL wiped away in eight hours. So football dot
Speaker 1: dot dot, it's unpredictable. I blame the weather, the elements.
Speaker 1: Elements sometimes can be rough, colder weather. Also also this
Speaker 1: weekend for the hero it was windy, rainy, a lock apocalypse,
Speaker 1: which we're gonna get into and not for everybody, though,
Speaker 1: try it West, try it lock o lips almost lolockalypse.
Speaker 1: But what's what we're gonna do. We're gonna go through
Speaker 1: the games and we're gonna go and reverse connor Rod
Speaker 1: chronological over um. So let's get it going, starting with
Speaker 1: what happened at Soldier Field. This is the season. This
Speaker 1: is it right here. It's sack placed kick and it
Speaker 1: is so fun no good, it has no card of
Speaker 1: the Eagles. The Eagles were heading New Orleans and who
Speaker 1: knows where Cody parks oh oh, Narril reaves with the
Speaker 1: dagger with Mike Quick on the call, w I p yes,
Speaker 1: Cody Parky's forty three yard field goal, and they didn't
Speaker 1: say it on the radio broadcast, so I'll explain it
Speaker 1: to the audience. Struck the left upright, then clanged against
Speaker 1: the crossbar before falling to the end zone, a crushing
Speaker 1: missed by party that allowed the Eagles to escape Soldier
Speaker 1: Field with a sixteen fifteen win. This was the best
Speaker 1: game of wild Card Weekend. The six seed Eagles will
Speaker 1: face the top seed Saints at the Superdome in next
Speaker 1: week's divisional round. Chris Westling the Eagles. They're the defending
Speaker 1: chair for a reason. They got talent, resiliency, and yes,
Speaker 1: a little bit of luck. You need that too. Kickers
Speaker 1: create legacies that the way we view Mitch Drabinsky is
Speaker 1: gonna be different after Cody Parky's miss, and the story
Speaker 1: book of Nick foles career keeps getting another chapter written
Speaker 1: because of that miss. I don't think we'd be talking
Speaker 1: about the Eagles Nick Foles quite the same without that miss.
Speaker 1: But you're right, they are the Super Bowl champions. You
Speaker 1: never underestimate their heart and Fols played great down the stretch,
Speaker 1: and and their defense is better than they were say
Speaker 1: a month or two ago. I think you give them
Speaker 1: a lot of credit. And in their past protection I
Speaker 1: thought was really good. I mean, you're right, there were
Speaker 1: um these two teams. I think one thing you can
Speaker 1: take away from they were very evenly matched. There wasn't
Speaker 1: a lot separating them. Like Trabinsky, Falls played his best
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. The offense has kind
Speaker 1: of turned it up in the fourth quarter. But getting
Speaker 1: the ball down five points with four or forty six
Speaker 1: to go and needing to score a touchdown on the
Speaker 1: best defense in the league, and delivering that touchdown which
Speaker 1: included great plays not just by Falls. How about Zach
Speaker 1: Ertz jumping up in a in a crowd and picking
Speaker 1: that out of the sky. How about also, Jeffrey just
Speaker 1: kind of owning this entire game. How about Nick Foles
Speaker 1: on the fourth down play season on the line, changing
Speaker 1: his arm angle and making a tricky throw that golden
Speaker 1: take Goddard forcing a miss tackle on third down. Right,
Speaker 1: That's what I mean. So it takes it takes so
Speaker 1: many different players to make epic drive like that, and
Speaker 1: Foles ultimately did did play his best down the stretch.
Speaker 1: You gotta give him credit. And we always talk about
Speaker 1: Nick Foles and Nick Foles and Nick Foles, but it's
Speaker 1: the Eagles defense that dominated this stretches of this game
Speaker 1: as well. I mean, they're playing as well on defense
Speaker 1: as they have all year. And it's funny that even
Speaker 1: one play can make a trade that looks sort of
Speaker 1: lost for the Eagles, the Golden Tate touchdown suddenly because
Speaker 1: it's all about what you just did. Like Golden Tate's touchdown,
Speaker 1: everyone says, no, Howie Roseman won that trade. I mean
Speaker 1: online he kind of did, because they just won another
Speaker 1: playoff game because of it. That was to me that
Speaker 1: the story of the game was, you know, I I
Speaker 1: had the feeling that the Bears weren't going to score
Speaker 1: a lot of points, but you also knew that Chicago's
Speaker 1: defense was gonna come to play in this game with
Speaker 1: the home field advantage and the fact that the week
Speaker 1: after week had been showing it. So that's what surprised
Speaker 1: me the most about the game is that once they
Speaker 1: finally got over the hump Chicago on offense and they
Speaker 1: they scored the touchdown to take the fifteen to ten
Speaker 1: uh lead. The fact that the defense couldn't close the
Speaker 1: game out, that to me is the biggest surprise of
Speaker 1: this game. And and of course Cody Parkey could have
Speaker 1: wiped all that away if he hits a forty three
Speaker 1: yard or in fact, he did hit a forty three yarder,
Speaker 1: but he was iced by Doug Peterson. Uh. And we
Speaker 1: we don't have to talk about it anymore. That is it.
Speaker 1: That's it. You always iced the kicker. We don't have
Speaker 1: to have this discussion anymore. It's been proven Chris Westling
Speaker 1: right there, first time in since two thousand four in
Speaker 1: a playoff game, by the way that it worked. And
Speaker 1: you remember that game that Danny it was probably Doug
Speaker 1: Bryan belonging something. Greg hates icing but if you asked me,
Speaker 1: if I'm coaching against the guy who's missed ten kicks
Speaker 1: this year, I'm definitely icing that guy and making him
Speaker 1: think about it and getting back to my point. Because Parky,
Speaker 1: by the way, that is six times he hit the
Speaker 1: upright or a crossbar four and once here, including four
Speaker 1: and one boos when he left the field. That happened
Speaker 1: to see this, You know we're deafening from that from
Speaker 1: the big kicker is terrible. But to me, that is
Speaker 1: ultimately the biggest surprise that the Bears didn't get off
Speaker 1: the field and win that game. And that defensive line
Speaker 1: led by Khalil Mack, who was pretty quiet in this game,
Speaker 1: had one sack in the whole game, quiet, and they
Speaker 1: and they just did not get the job done. He was,
Speaker 1: he was a force in the run game, Cleo mac
Speaker 1: was he owned Darren Sprouls in this game, but very
Speaker 1: quiet as a pass rusher, and Jason Peters played well.
Speaker 1: I mean, next Gen Stats points out that Foles had
Speaker 1: his quickest release of any game all year tonight, and
Speaker 1: I think it attempted to counteract what they knew would
Speaker 1: be a really ferocious pass rush with getting the ball
Speaker 1: at it did not work perfectly. Folds through a bad pick.
Speaker 1: He threw a terrible pick in the end zone as well. One.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was not great Nick Foles game until
Speaker 1: the end, and he delivered as he has every time.
Speaker 1: I think similar to the games he's put together other
Speaker 1: than the Texans game where he just was awesome. I
Speaker 1: think this was kind of what you've gotten from Foals
Speaker 1: over the last month, which is a couple uh eron throws.
Speaker 1: He also missed the third and nine that that killed
Speaker 1: the drive in the second half that looked like it
Speaker 1: might be big, a really terrible interception. He's been intercepted
Speaker 1: now five times in the last four games, and some
Speaker 1: of them have been pretty ghastly, but some big time
Speaker 1: money throws. But to West's point, the rest of the team,
Speaker 1: the protection, I think the play Colleen, maybe he's Doug
Speaker 1: Peterson's more comfortable with Foles, who has been with him
Speaker 1: the whole time, and certainly the defense getting more production
Speaker 1: out of Rosale Douglas and Avonte Maddock and Cravon LeBlanc
Speaker 1: and Trey Sullivan and all these guys that you never
Speaker 1: heard of about six weeks ago who have played well
Speaker 1: against some limited passing games. We'll see if it continues
Speaker 1: next week, but the secondary has played pretty well. If
Speaker 1: you throw short arm jump balls, you're gonna throw your
Speaker 1: fair share of interceptions too. I mean that's just the
Speaker 1: way he plays with that kind of shooters confidence. I'm
Speaker 1: throwing it up and letting somebody make a play. I
Speaker 1: was the other thing about the Eagles attack, and they
Speaker 1: converted on the fourth and goal the two yard past eight,
Speaker 1: and that was major major onions ended up being the
Speaker 1: margin of victory. But the on first and second down,
Speaker 1: I was surprised how often we saw Darren Sprowle's touch
Speaker 1: the ball in this game. Do they not have a
Speaker 1: thumper near the goal? In the theory? Adams had one
Speaker 1: kerry and that was its having such a huge part
Speaker 1: in the game plan. But ultimately, I mean the two
Speaker 1: teams combined for a hundred and seven yards and rushing.
Speaker 1: The Eagles had forty two yards rushing. I think it
Speaker 1: was a disappointment probably for both teams. Of either one
Speaker 1: could have gotten a ground game going, they would feel better.
Speaker 1: But this game to me was so similar from Rabisky,
Speaker 1: who ends up with good stats. Uh, and it certainly
Speaker 1: had two or three interceptible balls and missed some throws,
Speaker 1: whereas ultimately if they kicked that ball, you're right West,
Speaker 1: we're talking about that. He made a lot of really
Speaker 1: good throws down the stretch. It's just a fact. In
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter they scored ten points and they should
Speaker 1: have scored thirteen points, and he didn't play a good game.
Speaker 1: This is kind of the typical Mitchell Drabinsky game. He'll
Speaker 1: show you enough to get excited. He'll have a few
Speaker 1: head scratchers, but he had some beauties, including what should
Speaker 1: have set up the game winner. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: a beautiful throw to set up the money because Collinsworth
Speaker 1: thought Drabinsky played well and Mark Sessler could not have
Speaker 1: been more annoyed. But well, all right, so hold on.
Speaker 1: So some of that came before what was a beautiful
Speaker 1: drive where he made two or three elegant throws. I
Speaker 1: get it. It's just that I feel sometimes with Mitch
Speaker 1: Robinsky he's treated with kid gloves, where it's like we
Speaker 1: point out a few things that he does well. Overall,
Speaker 1: this was a roller coaster ride. He's not a quarterback
Speaker 1: you feel confident in. And too many of their drives
Speaker 1: were utterly blown up and unwatchable. And it's not just Trabisky.
Speaker 1: They played a great defense in the Eagles, but I
Speaker 1: mean he he's lucky he didn't come out of this
Speaker 1: with a couple turnovers of his own right. They lost,
Speaker 1: They lost the game, and I lost my lock. Despite
Speaker 1: winning the turnover battle two to nothing, I lost. I
Speaker 1: lost mine as well, and that ended what was a
Speaker 1: historic streak by you. Mark, you had ten locks in
Speaker 1: a row, which I'm sure that made you a little
Speaker 1: more angry at It's my fault and I'll tell you
Speaker 1: one the winning locks in general, see feels basically lucky.
Speaker 1: But one thing that I when I enjoy doing, it's
Speaker 1: when I enjoy picking a team that I truly believe in.
Speaker 1: And I picked against a team with the d NA
Speaker 1: like the Eagles, that I can get behind for what
Speaker 1: I thought would be a nice, little easy defensive victory.
Speaker 1: I found them. It was a pain to watch them
Speaker 1: say I'm sorry. I know that the team of the
Speaker 1: A T. L. They ain't my team today they drove
Speaker 1: me nuts. And you know what the better team is
Speaker 1: going on in my book. I'm not saying that they're
Speaker 1: better in all their parts, but I would much rather
Speaker 1: see this journey continue for Nick Foles and the Eagles
Speaker 1: than Mitch Drabinsky go up and throw it produced nine
Speaker 1: points against the SAT for me of the week. When
Speaker 1: you look at the box scores of wild card weekends,
Speaker 1: Mitch Risky through for three the yards um, which you
Speaker 1: didn't you wouldn't think he would even add up to
Speaker 1: that many yards. And the other part of his game,
Speaker 1: which maybe we'll learn more in the upcoming days or
Speaker 1: even as soon as tonight when we hear some of
Speaker 1: the sound bites, is I wonder if that he pulled
Speaker 1: up lame in the first half. And then you look
Speaker 1: at his running stats three rushes for nine yards. That's
Speaker 1: a big part of his game. His billy just scrambled,
Speaker 1: get out of the pocket, make guys miss, and once
Speaker 1: he hurt his leg and he went into the tent.
Speaker 1: You you didn't see Mitchell Trobsky move anymore. Twice on scrambles.
Speaker 1: He was stop shy of the sticks on third down.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if he's healthy if he goes
Speaker 1: for that, but you'd like to see him in a
Speaker 1: playoff game throw caution to the win with his body
Speaker 1: a little bit right there, like in a game like this,
Speaker 1: where I really do think these teams were so even
Speaker 1: despite you know, the turnover battle, you know, going to
Speaker 1: the to the Bears. You know, like the Adrian Amoss penalty.
Speaker 1: One of the two touchdown drives by the Eagles was
Speaker 1: entirely penalties. I mean, it was an unforced error by
Speaker 1: the Bears defense. That drive ended up being I think
Speaker 1: fifty three yards out of I believe there was the
Speaker 1: fifteen yard helmet and helmet and then a past interference,
Speaker 1: which was a good call. I just mean, I don't know,
Speaker 1: there's just so many. It's tough. And you're right, Daniel,
Speaker 1: You're always on this corner for party, because that is
Speaker 1: how the game's gonna be remembered. And there were every
Speaker 1: play and that's why the playoffs are so fun, that
Speaker 1: every play feels like it can change the game. And
Speaker 1: speaking of party, before we move on, I guess, and
Speaker 1: this is the part. If you are a Bears fan
Speaker 1: and you're listening, and God bless you if you are,
Speaker 1: because this cannot be easy, and we empathize with you.
Speaker 1: You could fast forward the next thirty seconds or so
Speaker 1: because we're gonna play the Chicago Bears radio call from
Speaker 1: Jeff Johnny at w BBM. Parkey lines it up, Oh god,
Speaker 1: all on one knee, gives him a look, expenses right
Speaker 1: arm scale, sends it back place been made kick part
Speaker 1: Parky toty three and then hit the part. It is
Speaker 1: no good how the crush bar and the Eagles are
Speaker 1: celebrated here at Soldier Field. I don't even know how
Speaker 1: to respond to that. The crowds sound well, they've waited
Speaker 1: forever for the home playoff game. That will stick to
Speaker 1: the ribs of Chicago fans for a long time. We
Speaker 1: donated through the whole thing without mentioning Allen Robinson, who
Speaker 1: I thought but probably the best player on the field
Speaker 1: and his double moves on. Avonte Maddox worked throughout the game.
Speaker 1: He's been playing really well and I think not great
Speaker 1: numbers this year, but they have to look forward to
Speaker 1: him next. They have things to build around, including their
Speaker 1: head coach. I watched Matt n Aggy's postgame press commerce
Speaker 1: I think he should be coach of the Year. I
Speaker 1: think he did a great job in this game, including
Speaker 1: with the play calls, staying aggressive late in the game
Speaker 1: after he really wasn't happening for them, and yet he
Speaker 1: stayed so aggressive the way he handled that press comers,
Speaker 1: and I think what he said to the team, he
Speaker 1: just he strikes me as a leader and a mature
Speaker 1: guy that players are going to stand behind, and he's
Speaker 1: bringing that offensive acumen. I think they they've got the
Speaker 1: right the right coach. All right, Let's uh continue to
Speaker 1: go back words in time with the early kickoff game.
Speaker 1: This one on Sunday took place in Baltimore. Let's go there.
Speaker 1: Shotgun snap, looking middle of the field, under pressure, ball
Speaker 1: is stripped, turning a woe sue diving for it. There
Speaker 1: is a scrum. It looks like the Chargers may have it.
Speaker 1: We'll see charger ball, charger ball. The Bolts are gonna
Speaker 1: win in Baltimore. That is the voice of the The
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast, Matt Bunny Smith with the call for kf I.
Speaker 1: The Chargers Gabe Lamar Jackson fits all day, making the
Speaker 1: game's final play decisive play, a strip sack recovery by
Speaker 1: l a a fitting way to wrap up a win
Speaker 1: over the Ravens in Baltimore. The Chargers went up next
Speaker 1: for the Bolts a divisional round matchup against the Patriots
Speaker 1: in Foxborough. Phil Rivers was pumped after the game, Rivers
Speaker 1: and Wilson talking it out. We're gonna fly back home
Speaker 1: and then we're gonna fly back out here for another
Speaker 1: ten am West Coast gig. We really don't care. What's
Speaker 1: the same sad An place, how we've gone all year long,
Speaker 1: and we'll be there next Sunday. And that was Melvin
Speaker 1: Ingram who had a monster game Mark Sessler for fifty
Speaker 1: five minutes. The Chargers made Lamar Jackson looked like an
Speaker 1: a a f clipboard holder. It was the story of
Speaker 1: this game, wasn't it. I think Melvin Ingram and we
Speaker 1: just talked about Allen Robinson being the best player in
Speaker 1: the field in the prior game, Melvin Ingram was the
Speaker 1: best football player we saw all day today. In my opinion.
Speaker 1: He in a game where the Chargers the narrative coming
Speaker 1: in was how physically dominated they were and how would
Speaker 1: they respond not only from that angle but strategically. And
Speaker 1: it came out after the game and we saw this
Speaker 1: right away that they were using six and seven defensive
Speaker 1: backs up at the line all over the place to
Speaker 1: handle Baltimore's tangle of runners with Lamar Jackson the rest
Speaker 1: of them. They out of fifty nine snaps to use
Speaker 1: seven defensive backs on fifty eight, and it was by
Speaker 1: Gus Bradley, who was jettisoned as Jacksonville's coach. He's back
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles as their defensive coordinator. An excellent game
Speaker 1: plan that really, up until the very end, the floor
Speaker 1: never fell out on any level. They put such a
Speaker 1: clamp on Lamar Jackson, and they basically also asked Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson to play a mistake free game, which he is
Speaker 1: not able to do. With their first eight snaps, there
Speaker 1: were three fumbles by the Ravens. Lamar Jackson was lucky
Speaker 1: not to lose two of them right away, and then
Speaker 1: Kenneth Dixon lost on the second possession, a game changing
Speaker 1: fumble that set up a field goal. The Chargers had
Speaker 1: to deal with essentially settled for field goals over and
Speaker 1: over because of Baltimore's defense. But then Baltimore's defense, it's
Speaker 1: too much to ask them to do this all game long, too,
Speaker 1: and finally gave up points and they built a twenty
Speaker 1: three to three lead, and then the Ravens hung on
Speaker 1: came back a little bit, But this to me was
Speaker 1: the one of the more incredible coaching efforts by the
Speaker 1: Chargers defensive staff that we've seen all year's counter in
Speaker 1: two motive. Right, you're facing the greatest running team that
Speaker 1: we've seen in years. Let's get way lighter. Let's put
Speaker 1: seven defensive backs on the field. It doesn't sort of
Speaker 1: make sense, but they know their players. They know that
Speaker 1: the Ravens running attack, you know, is at its best
Speaker 1: going to the outside. They have ballers, I mean, der
Speaker 1: when James was everywhere where. Adrian Phillips had a monster
Speaker 1: game at safety. And that kind of strategy counts on
Speaker 1: Ingram and Bosa and the guys up front to create
Speaker 1: pressure on their own and Ingram got it done. And
Speaker 1: how about Uchenno Nuosu kind of the forgotten draft pick
Speaker 1: on that team ends up making the game ceiling play,
Speaker 1: the second round pick that they had behind Derwin James.
Speaker 1: It's it's the forgotten unit in this game. Was the
Speaker 1: Chargers defense coming in and they're the ones that the
Speaker 1: Ravens in the first half had sixty nine yards, just
Speaker 1: eleven through the air, two turnovers, zero points, not a
Speaker 1: single play in enemy territory, and had twelve minutes of possession.
Speaker 1: That is anti Ravens from what we the last six
Speaker 1: weeks You, Greg had it right. Um, you said in
Speaker 1: the lead up to this game that it could benefit
Speaker 1: uh the Chargers to have played Baltimore so recently they
Speaker 1: got beat handily three weeks ago. I was skeptical of
Speaker 1: that because I thought it would carry more weight. But
Speaker 1: what what ended up working out West is what we're
Speaker 1: hearing about the game plan. They studied that tape and
Speaker 1: they said, Lamar Jackson, we know how to make this
Speaker 1: guy miserable, and that could flip the entire game on
Speaker 1: its ear. And that's what they pulled off. They their
Speaker 1: defense had the best game of the season for them,
Speaker 1: and Velvin Ingram had his best game of the season.
Speaker 1: Durwin James has been good all year. Adrian Phillips has
Speaker 1: been good all year. Um. That play that Durwin James
Speaker 1: made in the open field on Lamar Jackson to force
Speaker 1: the fourth down and then instead of going for the
Speaker 1: fourth down, the Ravens attempted the field goal was fifty
Speaker 1: yard field goal. By the way, to me, that was
Speaker 1: right up there, like one of the two most important
Speaker 1: plays of the game right there, and I think the
Speaker 1: difference it was field position. Philip Rivers didn't do any
Speaker 1: more than Lamar Jackson did, but he didn't give the
Speaker 1: ball to his defense and say here, defend only fifteen yards. Well,
Speaker 1: Jackson's got a fumbling problem. He led the league in
Speaker 1: fumbles despite starting only seven games, and he fumbled a
Speaker 1: few times and a lot of times it's been unforced
Speaker 1: errors on these problem. Right. Well, that the accuracy to
Speaker 1: the outside certainly isn't there. But I love the fact
Speaker 1: that in that moment hard Bob blinked on the fourth
Speaker 1: and one. So this is the greatest running team we've seen,
Speaker 1: and in that moment fourth and one the Ravens have
Speaker 1: gone for every single time and I know justin Tucker's
Speaker 1: the best, and it was to make it a one
Speaker 1: score game. It was totally understandable why he did it,
Speaker 1: but it was sort of a moment that he blinked
Speaker 1: and he was saying, we don't trust ourselves to get
Speaker 1: a yard against you guys, which was given the charges
Speaker 1: all the credit they deserve, and kind of saying, hey,
Speaker 1: you're you're beating us. I think that also is that
Speaker 1: the game that Lamar Jackson was playing under center was discombobulated.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were completely out of sorts word for it.
Speaker 1: They had three first downs and negative two yards passing
Speaker 1: in the first fifty minutes of the game, and you
Speaker 1: factor all that in and that's why it became a
Speaker 1: major subplot both on Twitter amongst the football and also
Speaker 1: in that stadium, M and T Bank Stadium, which was
Speaker 1: there were booze raining down and chance of Joe Flacco,
Speaker 1: the idea should Flacco enter this game and give them
Speaker 1: a shot to to juice the UH offense. Let's hear
Speaker 1: what John Harbor had to say about that possibility after
Speaker 1: the game. We were just talking about possibly all those possibilities.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna probably get into all that Peter in
Speaker 1: terms of what was said or not said, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna assure you we were considering, you know, putting Joe
Speaker 1: in the game and all that kind of stuff. That
Speaker 1: was part of the conversation. UH. I certainly thought about it,
Speaker 1: certainly talked about it with everybody, and I can tell
Speaker 1: you this, it was. It was everybody was on the
Speaker 1: same page with what we did, everybody including Joe. So
Speaker 1: midway through the fourth quarter and Wes, you just hit
Speaker 1: on it before Jackson was three for ten fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: three for ten for twenty five yards and interception at
Speaker 1: two fumbles, a quarterback rating zero and two touchdown passes
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. Does that justify sticking
Speaker 1: with him. I don't think. I don't think so. I
Speaker 1: think I think that was lipstick on a pig, greg
Speaker 1: just because you could say, uh, now, the fact that
Speaker 1: they had the ball with seconds, with a chance to
Speaker 1: score at the end of the game, with no time outs,
Speaker 1: I don't think that was some great opportunity for the team.
Speaker 1: I thought, if they got I thought you should keep
Speaker 1: him in obviously through the first half, and then give
Speaker 1: him a look in the as the second. As the
Speaker 1: second half begins. After that first or second possession, I
Speaker 1: had to make a move if I'm the head coach.
Speaker 1: I thought John Harball blew this. And I know a
Speaker 1: lot of people who think they know so much about
Speaker 1: football will say, oh, well, Joe Flacco stinks. There's nothing
Speaker 1: he could have done. Well, everybody thinks they know so
Speaker 1: much on their keyboards. But it's like, how about you
Speaker 1: give him a shot, because crazy stuff happens in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Flacco could have gotten hot. It could have been Johnny
Speaker 1: United's going in for Earl Morrow and Super Bowl three
Speaker 1: and get a team back in the game. Will never
Speaker 1: know because at the end of the day, Harbor obviously
Speaker 1: turned the page on this Ravens franchise and said Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco and he said as much after the game. I
Speaker 1: wish him, well, he's a great guy. We're just going
Speaker 1: to have a market said this is over and said
Speaker 1: that is how he played this game, that Joe Flacco
Speaker 1: was already essentially off the team. I didn't like how
Speaker 1: he played this. Didn't it make you think if the
Speaker 1: Ravens don't release that statement a week ago saying that
Speaker 1: John Harball's back for two thousand nineteen, Harball might play
Speaker 1: this thing differently. It certainly seemed like he was looking
Speaker 1: forward to next year when he stayed with Lament Jacks. Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting too because they asked him about whether
Speaker 1: he thought there was any chance, uh that he wouldn't
Speaker 1: be back, and he he had an interesting non answer
Speaker 1: to that. And I don't know if that he's just like, ang, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, of course he's gonna say that he wants
Speaker 1: to be back. But his quote quote of the Bible,
Speaker 1: I believe his quote was there's a Bible verse that
Speaker 1: says make no oath, no one can say what tomorrow
Speaker 1: is going to bring other than God willing, We'll see
Speaker 1: what God has in store. I have every expectation, every
Speaker 1: plan to be here. I think this might be just,
Speaker 1: you know, maneuvering to get a contract extension. Pro Football
Speaker 1: Tech has report it very strongly that the Broncos and
Speaker 1: Dolphins are both interested in Harboston. That's a whole other story.
Speaker 1: I don't know if he would have changed his decision
Speaker 1: based on that. I was just saying, I guess, when
Speaker 1: what have you? Made the change at halftime? I guess
Speaker 1: would have been the time to do it, because he
Speaker 1: did get to fourth quarter types probably one point, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I got. I got just saying I would say, after
Speaker 1: the first fruitless possession, or even tell you in the
Speaker 1: third quarter, get him in there, because at a certain point,
Speaker 1: what what is the point? And he did make it
Speaker 1: a close, he made it interesting, but by that point
Speaker 1: it was just desperate straits. Can I just count you
Speaker 1: real quick? I was not in favor of making the switch,
Speaker 1: just because I think the allure to Lamar Jackson is
Speaker 1: you're going to get the mistakes, You're not gonna be
Speaker 1: able to count on necessarily steady passing effort, but he's
Speaker 1: going to bring explosiveness and it much more so than
Speaker 1: Joe Flacco. And the one thing that was happening was
Speaker 1: l A was getting heat on Lamar Jackson. They were
Speaker 1: getting heat on the backfield, and that is not something
Speaker 1: that I would have trusted Joe Flacco. But Alter, just
Speaker 1: just to counterpoint, go on, allow me to counterpoint that
Speaker 1: we heard that exact same. I would say, guesswork about
Speaker 1: Tyrod Taylor and Baker and Mayfield in the game against
Speaker 1: the Jets. Oh no, you can't put Baker Mayfield in
Speaker 1: because Tyrod's under pressure the whole game. As soon as
Speaker 1: you put the other quarterback into different he gets rid
Speaker 1: of the ball faster. They start lining up on defense differently.
Speaker 1: The pass rush isn't there. I don't think you can
Speaker 1: say that's possible, But I just don't really see Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco that way, and everything's different. I agree West, it
Speaker 1: could have given them a different look. But I think
Speaker 1: ultimately to Mark's point, the Chargers defensive line was winning
Speaker 1: the battle consistently, whether it was in the running game
Speaker 1: or the passing game. Well, then it also stack a
Speaker 1: lot more people in the defensive line when you don't
Speaker 1: have to worry about the throw and beyond. And when
Speaker 1: if if Gus Edwards and Kenneth Dixon are are running
Speaker 1: fourteen for thirty six, it's like, I don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna win this game. In less, Philip Rivers has a meltdown.
Speaker 1: And it's not like the Chargers offense played well. I
Speaker 1: mean the Ravens defense didn't. We were frustrating. I also
Speaker 1: have one more aside related to the Flacco situation. At
Speaker 1: one point, Tracy Wilson of CBS reported that Jimmy Smith
Speaker 1: chastise some Ravens fans behind the bench for channing for Flacco,
Speaker 1: and he told them not to be fair weather fans.
Speaker 1: And I that is another thing I was seen popping
Speaker 1: up on Twitter. It's like calling a fan fair weather
Speaker 1: because they think they need to make a switch a
Speaker 1: quarterback in a one and done elimination. It doesn't make
Speaker 1: you a bad fan. If you leave the stadium at halftime,
Speaker 1: you're a fair weather fan. So that got on my
Speaker 1: radar to this idea that you have to protect Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson's dignity or or you know, get Joe Flacco out
Speaker 1: of the mix. Totally. I just had an issue with
Speaker 1: how the whole thing. I do agree with West though,
Speaker 1: that the that the whole element of Hardball's contract and
Speaker 1: the fact that you're dealing with a rookie quarterback who
Speaker 1: has had a great story up till now, and the
Speaker 1: minute he gets troubled Waters the only thing is you
Speaker 1: have to deal with whatever happens now, the same way
Speaker 1: with the Patriots last year in the Super Bowl. You
Speaker 1: have to deal with this storyline for the rest of
Speaker 1: the off season, and you have to wonder if that
Speaker 1: factored in. I I just Emma, it is fun to
Speaker 1: know that the Chargers team is moving on. Chargers Chargers
Speaker 1: aren't going to You were a huge Ravens fan about
Speaker 1: nine hours ago, but outside of that, I was rooting
Speaker 1: on the Chargers the time. Are you kidding me? You
Speaker 1: were watching both both. I enjoy like watching teams. We
Speaker 1: don't need to like not not, but I love this
Speaker 1: Chargers team. The fact that Ingram's the heartbeat of this team.
Speaker 1: He had a monster game. Antonio Gates made a huge
Speaker 1: play in this game, which I think Chargers fans had
Speaker 1: to just like that. Was delightful to have him and
Speaker 1: make one of the key plays of the game, and
Speaker 1: how about the Chargers special teams ends up being maybe
Speaker 1: the key of the game. You know, they had a
Speaker 1: pun block in a kickblock, but Desmond King and then
Speaker 1: the in the field goal kicker nothing. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: call him Penn Badgley. I was about to call him
Speaker 1: Penn and I was like, he doesn't gradually he is
Speaker 1: the money badger and he set a franchise record with
Speaker 1: five field goals scores fifteen points in this game. And yeah,
Speaker 1: because Charges fans are gonna get mad at us for
Speaker 1: focusing on the Ravens. The Ravens, it's a on soap
Speaker 1: opera angle to it. But the Chargers. And I'll say
Speaker 1: this Greg because you, as you may know, I do
Speaker 1: not like the Patriots after back to back years where
Speaker 1: they just got tomato cans when they beat up the Titans,
Speaker 1: the Tytoons in the Texan thirty the last two years
Speaker 1: in the Division round. This is a battle tested, gritty,
Speaker 1: tough Philip Rivers led Chargers team going up to Foxborough
Speaker 1: and you're gonna see the stat over and over again
Speaker 1: that they have not lost a game this year. When
Speaker 1: they got on a plane that includes a trip to London,
Speaker 1: there nine and oh, I believe in games only road
Speaker 1: game they losses against the radio, I'll see them. So
Speaker 1: this is including four playoff teams Seattle, Kansas City, Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: and then today with a competent Creaker so totally new
Speaker 1: DNA totally and the and the Patriots. They're undefeated at home.
Speaker 1: So this is a great division round game. You want
Speaker 1: to get to the FC title game this year, Greg,
Speaker 1: you gotta have to earn it. Bro here's another STA
Speaker 1: can lose at both my teams one of This would
Speaker 1: be the oldest combined matchup for quarterbacks in a playoff game.
Speaker 1: How about that for old dudes out there. We got
Speaker 1: bang on this one. I did, m hmm here you
Speaker 1: gonna here, you gonna let's move on um certain long
Speaker 1: Prescott runching up the middle fifteen ten time all they
Speaker 1: spotted him short, they spotted in a four. Well, they've
Speaker 1: moved in to the one. It is a first and goal.
Speaker 1: Watching that, Judge steinlines the sham god k r l
Speaker 1: D with the call. Dak Prescott shot through an opening
Speaker 1: a third and long. I took it to the goal line.
Speaker 1: It was a game changing play for the Cowboys and
Speaker 1: over the Seahawks. At Jarro World. The fourth seed Cowboys
Speaker 1: move on to face the Rams the number two seed
Speaker 1: Rams here in l A next weekend. Greg the Seahawks
Speaker 1: had a game plan that worked all year well until
Speaker 1: they got to Dallas. Right, everyone is killing Brian Shot
Speaker 1: and Timer for this game plan, and they should and
Speaker 1: we'll get well, I'm sure to talk about that, but
Speaker 1: that it's been. It's been basically the same game plan
Speaker 1: all year. This isn't a new thing, and so I
Speaker 1: think the Seahawks fans that are upset about that have
Speaker 1: to recognize that they lost to a team that very
Speaker 1: much one in the similar way that the Seahawks have
Speaker 1: won a lot of playoff games under Pete Carroll. They
Speaker 1: had the superior defense, They had the superior defensive playmakers
Speaker 1: in Jalen Smith and Layton Vanderish and DeMarcus Lawrence stopping
Speaker 1: the run, and they were the team that even though
Speaker 1: they were they were a little too conservative on offense,
Speaker 1: their quarterback is the one that was rushing for key
Speaker 1: first downs, just like Russell Wilson did that didn't need
Speaker 1: to do a heck of a lot except hit like
Speaker 1: one red zone throw, which he did to Michael Gallup.
Speaker 1: And they watched their running game pop off a few
Speaker 1: big ones to close it out in a game that
Speaker 1: the opponent eventually think, gosh, we should have won that.
Speaker 1: It's like, that's how the Seahawks have won a lot
Speaker 1: of games this century. And all credit to the to
Speaker 1: the Cowboys who had the best group in this game,
Speaker 1: and that was the Cowboys defense. I thought Wes diagnosed
Speaker 1: this many many days ahead, not just on our Thursday show,
Speaker 1: that the strength of the Cowboys would be their linebacking corps,
Speaker 1: and it would be the fact that their defense is
Speaker 1: very well coached. And when you if you want to
Speaker 1: blame Brian Schottenheimer for the fact that Seattle had six
Speaker 1: three and ounce, there's a huge reason that that happened.
Speaker 1: It's the opponent they were playing. Now, you can look
Speaker 1: at Schottenheimer's decision to do things like throw a little
Speaker 1: rinky dink screen on third and long in a massive
Speaker 1: situation and say, come on, we've seen that from you before,
Speaker 1: and we thought you had broken out of that cycle.
Speaker 1: But this had all to do with Dallas dominating on
Speaker 1: defense in a way that gives them a chance to
Speaker 1: play with anyone next week. Some of that's in Brian
Speaker 1: Schottenheimer recovery still from his years. It gets I could
Speaker 1: tell you what was getting on my radar and brought
Speaker 1: back a lot of memories of the Rex Ryan years.
Speaker 1: Was running on first down, yes, over and over and
Speaker 1: over again. It wasn't working. It was not working on
Speaker 1: Saturday night, and he never deviated out of that. It
Speaker 1: seemed so every time you got the second and third down,
Speaker 1: its third and seven, and it was just like, sometimes,
Speaker 1: I know what the game plan has worked all year.
Speaker 1: They led the world and rushing and all that, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't working, and Shandon Haier showed no flexibility. I
Speaker 1: don't think any Seahawks fans will fault the game plan.
Speaker 1: It's like, you don't follow enough plan that you created
Speaker 1: during the week in the script that you wrote. Okay,
Speaker 1: I get it, you're obviously gonna run. The fault is
Speaker 1: why did you not switch away from that at any
Speaker 1: point in the game. Yeah, in the second half to
Speaker 1: your point, then they had six runs in one pass
Speaker 1: on first down, and that's after it wasn't working until
Speaker 1: that last drive. Wilson at twenty seven throws for eight
Speaker 1: point three yards per tend and and they're running their
Speaker 1: runs average two point eight yards per tempt. So it's
Speaker 1: just like it's it's kind of simple math. And they
Speaker 1: had a bunch of plus twenty players. In the passing game,
Speaker 1: you Lockett made a couple of big catches, Baldwin made
Speaker 1: one great catch, and you're thinking, like, hey, is this
Speaker 1: gonna ring any alarm bells that when you allow these
Speaker 1: great players Wilson lock it in Baldwin to try for
Speaker 1: something that you can you can make some plays. They
Speaker 1: had the same number of first downs as the Ravens did.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys had twice as many first downs as the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: They just didn't move the ball. It's very typical of that.
Speaker 1: This was a typical Cowboys game for this season where
Speaker 1: it felt like they should have been leading by more
Speaker 1: and they really were. I mean, I heard a lot
Speaker 1: of people saying like, we really need one good game
Speaker 1: this week, and it's been a dude, and it's been
Speaker 1: a snoozer. I thought this was a really good game.
Speaker 1: Four lead changes, and and and it was totally up
Speaker 1: in the air until the third and four. It wasn't
Speaker 1: a classic Dana, but it was third and fourteen when
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott in the red zone picked up that first down.
Speaker 1: At that point, you were looking at Russell Wilson in
Speaker 1: a game that had four lead changes, getting the ball
Speaker 1: to go, try to win the games like it didn't
Speaker 1: have like a stint coming from it. Yeah, and also
Speaker 1: you know this thing when these things happen to some
Speaker 1: type of colors. I locked up the Seahawks, but I
Speaker 1: got something looking more from the factor that you know,
Speaker 1: I thought this game was gonna come down to the
Speaker 1: last minute. It said it was. It was a close game.
Speaker 1: But the Cowboys, to their credit, there's nothing kind of
Speaker 1: sexy about this Cowboys team. But unless you love linebacker play. Okay,
Speaker 1: if you if you're a type of fan that loves
Speaker 1: linebacker play, and that's good. Uh, this is a there's
Speaker 1: millions of you watch. I'm just saying like, if that,
Speaker 1: if you're seeing the field like that, it's an erotic team.
Speaker 1: But I'm just saying, like from a standpoint of what
Speaker 1: most fans are right when you go when you go
Speaker 1: home West on Sunday nights, I know you like the
Speaker 1: fire up game, pass you locked that door when you
Speaker 1: watch the Cowboys linebacker I've already watched, I've already rewatched
Speaker 1: this game and I did not lock the door. Were
Speaker 1: you wearing pants? Yes, wasn't like the first place, the
Speaker 1: first third time, the first third down of the game,
Speaker 1: to your point shorts watching job at best, I mean
Speaker 1: you should you could have lit a candle before that
Speaker 1: first third down of the game. They take Layton Vaderesh
Speaker 1: off the field, it's just Jalen Smith at middle linebacker,
Speaker 1: and there's Russell Wilson kind of run into the edge
Speaker 1: like looking for someone open, and Jalen Smith is just
Speaker 1: running and mirroring him. And I don't know if any
Speaker 1: other linebacker in the league will be would have been
Speaker 1: able to do that as well as he didn't just
Speaker 1: swat down Russell Wilson's past like like he was like
Speaker 1: a point guard shooting the ball. It's kind of amazing.
Speaker 1: And they made plays like that the whole night the
Speaker 1: one and I often will not sit like I'll just
Speaker 1: watch the game and not try to predict what's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: But in my mind, I I vow to you that
Speaker 1: when Sebastian Janikowski was lining up for that fifty two
Speaker 1: yard field goal before they're asking that all I saw
Speaker 1: because because for weeks I've been telling you I feel
Speaker 1: like Sea Bass is ready to say I'm out and like,
Speaker 1: but he goes attempts that kick and it's just like
Speaker 1: any totally out of shape dad trying to do something
Speaker 1: they probably should not have attempted the last fifteen years, right,
Speaker 1: and he was just wincing in pain. That was a
Speaker 1: factory They did not have that. Yeah, when they lost
Speaker 1: the kicker and it things the way it worked out,
Speaker 1: they ended up getting to two point conversions and so
Speaker 1: it doesn't look that bad, and they didn't have any
Speaker 1: like obvious field goal situations. They might have. They might
Speaker 1: have gotten an extra touchdown out of it because playing
Speaker 1: four down Terra, you could spin it that way. And
Speaker 1: it's true it worked out ending up like helping them
Speaker 1: on a weird way, but in reality it was a
Speaker 1: crushing situation. And I will say at the onside kick,
Speaker 1: which maybe is a rule they have to revisit because
Speaker 1: they change the rule and there's no drama on side
Speaker 1: kicks anymore. Nobody recovers them. But then they have the
Speaker 1: drop kicking punter. Everybody loves Michael Dixon kept down the
Speaker 1: game like Wayne Tollison bat into fourteen for the Yankees,
Speaker 1: like just pop up the short he was trying to
Speaker 1: hit like a soft pitching wedge, and he hit like
Speaker 1: a five iron like and that was what he was
Speaker 1: going for, like a flop wedge, and it just didn't
Speaker 1: work to kind of a game. Experiences watching this from home.
Speaker 1: Um one, I apologize to Seahawks fans because I tweeted
Speaker 1: like forty minutes before Janikowski blew his hamstring Sea best
Speaker 1: ruling field goals in two thousand nineteen. Go figure, and
Speaker 1: then he blews hamstring, So I take accountability. The other
Speaker 1: thing is I was I had to do some grilling outside, uh,
Speaker 1: some chicken and some steak. Got to do some work
Speaker 1: helping out the wife prepare some meals. So I paused
Speaker 1: the game, which I'll do occasionally, like on Thursday nights
Speaker 1: and stuff. I don't like to do it for playoff
Speaker 1: games typically, but I did it in this case and
Speaker 1: just doing some husband work. And it's a good story.
Speaker 1: So what happens. What happens. I get a text, all right,
Speaker 1: I get a text from my father in law, Oh
Speaker 1: that was ugly. And then I get a text from
Speaker 1: my dad and it's like, oh that was an ugly injury.
Speaker 1: It was a legitimately bizarre, unsettling feeling. Then to then
Speaker 1: hit play and just wonder who just got injured? How
Speaker 1: bad was the injury? What happened? Uh So when we
Speaker 1: see Alan Hearns's leg flopping the wrong direction, uh it
Speaker 1: was not a great feeling, and Alan Hearn's probably a
Speaker 1: much worse feeling. I had my children in the room
Speaker 1: for that, and they and they've never seen an injury
Speaker 1: like that on television or in real life. It was
Speaker 1: not easy to explain off. But at that point that
Speaker 1: was I thought it was concise. Didn't want to take
Speaker 1: up too much of anyone's time with that. Didn't delve
Speaker 1: into what I cooker rate for dinner at that point.
Speaker 1: But Cold Beasley was also banged up. They overcame that
Speaker 1: did well. You can get through this whole recap without
Speaker 1: mentioning the best player on the fields. Not over j right,
Speaker 1: Ezekiel Elliott, oh z. He gives Zeke some love West
Speaker 1: team every week, and he carried the team in this game.
Speaker 1: And Chris Carson probably has some numbers that make people
Speaker 1: argue sometimes he's just as good as Zekiel. No no no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no no no. They're in totally different classes that
Speaker 1: the forty four yard run in that drive in general
Speaker 1: at the end of the first half, that Elliott basically
Speaker 1: set up Dack to throw it to Gallop. That to
Speaker 1: me was the key sequence of the game, and it
Speaker 1: was pretty talent like immediately after both Seahawks touchdowns, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys responded with the touchdown, which I think is telling
Speaker 1: like and and even though Zeke wasn't piling up huge
Speaker 1: yards the whole game, this the Seahawks kept having these
Speaker 1: negative a ton of negative runs that would give them
Speaker 1: six second and thirteen second and fourteen that the Cowboys
Speaker 1: were the better offensive line, the better running game. Alright,
Speaker 1: and yeah Cowboys sexy maybe in some sectors, but you
Speaker 1: want to kind of write them off and say they
Speaker 1: can't beat the Rams next week. But no one's gonna
Speaker 1: make it ugly it up, ugly it up in l
Speaker 1: A and Web have a have a game, and gonna
Speaker 1: be a lot of Cowboys fans in that stadium. By
Speaker 1: the way, no doubt, listen, Rams fans, this is your stadium,
Speaker 1: this is your city, protected so many of your tickets.
Speaker 1: Cowboys play with a different energy level in their own
Speaker 1: building like most teams. But I think when you're a
Speaker 1: defense team. That really meant my daughter and wife are
Speaker 1: had down the old seam. Your daughter has become quite
Speaker 1: the football fans. What was what was the voice inflection
Speaker 1: you did there during Colisseum You just sort of it's
Speaker 1: like you were grunting air. That was that was family
Speaker 1: story as well. Thank you. I'm just saying that his
Speaker 1: film set the Cowboys maybe to bring the noise. All right,
Speaker 1: there you go. That takes us through three of the
Speaker 1: four games, and you'll notice we are over three on
Speaker 1: locks over four now actually so we none of us lock.
Speaker 1: We all got banged except for one person, Ricky Hollywood
Speaker 1: the Eagles. So you and Shookar now leading the competition. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: is going to kill you. You know, well this is joking.
Speaker 1: I don't mean this. I know this got a lot
Speaker 1: of serious responses on Twitter. Not to mention Mark. It's like, no,
Speaker 1: I'm just joking. People are tired of um by Erica.
Speaker 1: You said you're two and oh right, yeah, well if
Speaker 1: you count my pick for Mark's um Miami the Dolphins
Speaker 1: that time, if you count that he took that. Though
Speaker 1: you can't both have it, you could share it. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: we saw him one and a half. I guess for
Speaker 1: I thought you the way we worked at you picked it,
Speaker 1: and in good faith I stuck with it despite it
Speaker 1: being brock oswellers, starting as I believed in your powers
Speaker 1: and I was corrected, and she just picked the biggest
Speaker 1: underdog of the weekend. You gott it. We're gonna ride
Speaker 1: you through the playoffs, all right, all right, hey, by
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Speaker 1: running back office to the left of Luck. Here's mac
Speaker 1: answers back to casting firestrough pylon one side. It is
Speaker 1: cute for the touchdown. My dog troll him. Oh you
Speaker 1: know that voice. That's Mikey Tariko On Westwood One. Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck led the Indianapolis Cults on three first half scoring drives,
Speaker 1: all the offense they would need, and seven win over
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans at un RG Stadium. The sixth seed
Speaker 1: Cults advanced to the division playoffs. They will meet the
Speaker 1: top seeded Chiefs at Arrowhead giddy up, as Cosmo Cramer
Speaker 1: would say, West nineties. Luck is the big story around
Speaker 1: the Surgeon Colts this season, but Indie's defense deserves a
Speaker 1: huge nod for what they're able to do to Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson and company shut them down and this defense, Um,
Speaker 1: Greg and I were talking about this earlier today. They
Speaker 1: haven't really played anyone this year. They don't play top
Speaker 1: ten offenses because they haven't been on the schedule. But
Speaker 1: statistically over the past ten to eleven weeks, they are
Speaker 1: the lowest uh they allow the fewest points. So their
Speaker 1: defense is for real. I don't know that they're dominant,
Speaker 1: but they're moving on. And I thought one of the
Speaker 1: big factors in this game, maybe the biggest factor, was
Speaker 1: that Marx who do you trust to pick? Frank Reich
Speaker 1: put on a play calling clinic in the first half,
Speaker 1: Like I just thought everyone was wide open all the time.
Speaker 1: He was feeling it. That's the thing I hear a
Speaker 1: lot of, like, you know, Andrew Luck's throwing to nobody's
Speaker 1: and that's true, but he's throwing a wide open nobody's
Speaker 1: you know are guys you don't know, And that's partly
Speaker 1: right to to go from the first drive, where I
Speaker 1: thought the key play of the game was maybe the
Speaker 1: first third and twelve where they protect they get absolutely
Speaker 1: no pressure on on Andrew Luck and he connects to
Speaker 1: t Y Hilton and they move on and they end
Speaker 1: up extending the drive off of J. J. Watt penalty,
Speaker 1: which was another big one. To go from that drive,
Speaker 1: which was all throws, and then run it six or
Speaker 1: seven straight times on the second drive in a ton
Speaker 1: of different creative runs. It's like the Texans had no
Speaker 1: idea what was coming next. This was one of those
Speaker 1: playoff games. You know, if you go through the Bears
Speaker 1: Eagles experience, win or lose. It was a playoff experience
Speaker 1: and it drained everything from you. And there's a lot
Speaker 1: to remember. This is one of those games where if
Speaker 1: you're a Texans fan, you've you had this nice winning
Speaker 1: streak during the year, you've got a franchise quarterback, finally
Speaker 1: you believe in Bill O'Brien, and then bang, you've been
Speaker 1: hitting the side ahead and your season's over. It was
Speaker 1: over by halftime. I hated this game. I kind of
Speaker 1: loved it. Well, no, I loved it. I hated the
Speaker 1: game that Houston played what I'm saying they were. They
Speaker 1: opened up with a punt, an interception, a punt, downs, punt, hunt, punt,
Speaker 1: they call like a third and twenty run on the
Speaker 1: first or second series. And I'm thinking this guy's coaching,
Speaker 1: Like Marvin Lewis, I think they were uninspired on defense. Uh,
Speaker 1: they were not unable to ever have any um make
Speaker 1: any noise on defense with all those talented players. Thought
Speaker 1: Honey Badger looked bad in multiple spots in this game.
Speaker 1: We didn't hear what made some impact plays, but Watton
Speaker 1: Clowney weren't able to take the game over. And then
Speaker 1: on offense, Deshaun Watson was the only guy could run
Speaker 1: the ball in this game and that was that was
Speaker 1: laid bear seventy and Deshaun Watson missed so many throws, uh,
Speaker 1: including a shot to the tight end in the first
Speaker 1: half that could I think Ryan Griffin was had had
Speaker 1: a shot to get him back in the game. He
Speaker 1: was a liability at times in this game. They just
Speaker 1: didn't show up. It was very much we talked about
Speaker 1: text of this, how they've essentially say that the Bengals
Speaker 1: and this was such a Cincinnati asked a Saturday playoff performance.
Speaker 1: It was it felt like that kind of like like
Speaker 1: I thought, this was gonna be a great game. It's
Speaker 1: these two young quarterbacks, and it felt like it felt
Speaker 1: closer to Brian Hoyer versus you know, a thirty to
Speaker 1: nothing lost against the Chiefs than than it should have.
Speaker 1: That's not supposed to happen anyhow, big game from Pierre
Speaker 1: to Seer, who's a free agent coming up, probably made
Speaker 1: a lot of money shutting down DeAndre Hopkins, who um
Speaker 1: played injured for much much of the game, but the
Speaker 1: year shut him down early even before he was injured.
Speaker 1: And I thought, t Y Hilton, he's having his like
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald playoff run over the past two months, playing
Speaker 1: through an ankle injury and averaging about a hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty I believe yards per week. And he had a
Speaker 1: badass opening drive. He was incredible. He even set the
Speaker 1: pick on the Brons TD he It felt like every
Speaker 1: one of his catches was a key third down conversion,
Speaker 1: like a third like it's because it almost was. I
Speaker 1: mean four of his five catches were third and long,
Speaker 1: just like great catches to keep a drive going. Marlon
Speaker 1: mack Quentin and Elsie. These are all Chris ballor draft picks.
Speaker 1: The one thing about t Y Hilton, I know that
Speaker 1: t Y Hilton made the opening comment about the Texans
Speaker 1: stadium as his home stadium. And then in reverse though
Speaker 1: the Texans, who are a few years removed from rolling
Speaker 1: into was it Foxboro wearing their letterman jackets like, guys
Speaker 1: like why you then set up this whole infamous like
Speaker 1: back and forth where you called t Y Hilton the
Speaker 1: clown and here comes t Y Hilton has owned your
Speaker 1: team statistically the last couple of times he's played you
Speaker 1: and his clown clown mass You knew right then that
Speaker 1: there was something the Texans to that got on my radarchus.
Speaker 1: The Texans just needed to not create dramas that we're
Speaker 1: going to motivate the team well. And it was Graeme
Speaker 1: Jackson who had an awful game trying to cover t
Speaker 1: Y Hilton. And this is the game because he's had
Speaker 1: a great he's had a great year, but he's a
Speaker 1: free agent and this game is gonna cause some tough
Speaker 1: questions by the Texans because you're right, Watson played his
Speaker 1: worst game in a long time. But what group on
Speaker 1: the Texans after this game is gonna look back and say, well,
Speaker 1: we did our job. I don't think there was one
Speaker 1: single group. And the offensive line actually tected Watson fairly well,
Speaker 1: that wasn't the problem for once inexperience at wide receiver.
Speaker 1: Show like they have a lot of issues for a
Speaker 1: team that won a lot of games, that their secondary
Speaker 1: needs to be totally rebuilt. Jackson and an Honey Badger,
Speaker 1: who are the best two guys in the secondary, are
Speaker 1: free agents. The offensive line needs to be rebuilt, and
Speaker 1: they're so thin at receiver, and they don't really have
Speaker 1: a running back that they trust, which which was obvious
Speaker 1: when they only ran about what seven eight times in
Speaker 1: this game. I think that Frank Reich that his beard
Speaker 1: there are magical powers attached to it. I'm not kidding
Speaker 1: about that. And it helps when DeAndre Hopkins is playing
Speaker 1: through a shoulder injury too. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Uh. Angel
Speaker 1: Luck is a badass. Yes, I mean the same thing
Speaker 1: we're talking about on the NFC side of the NFC side.
Speaker 1: I think the Chiefs are probably gonna be the favorite.
Speaker 1: They will be the favorite, uh next week. But Luck
Speaker 1: is a guy who is playing with such confidence, and
Speaker 1: he inspired such confidence in his teammates, and they're a
Speaker 1: well coached team. They will not be an easy out
Speaker 1: next week. This team is flying West wheel are in. Okay,
Speaker 1: you're locking them up, aren't you? Next week against the
Speaker 1: Chiefs in arrow the Chiefs in Arrowhead, that is that
Speaker 1: is a tough, tough as shootout there. That is a
Speaker 1: great home field venue. But the Chiefs have a weakness.
Speaker 1: Their secondary has been deplorable. Oh year, what's the Colt's weakness?
Speaker 1: Right now? They've won ten of eleven. But I don't
Speaker 1: think they have I think a pass rush. If I
Speaker 1: don't think they have a great natural pass rush, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's fair. They don't have an edge rusher, but like
Speaker 1: they find guys who make plays. I mean Kenny Moore
Speaker 1: Blitz seeing Marcus Hunt had a great takedown of Watson
Speaker 1: on on one scramble. Like they play such great team
Speaker 1: defense that you know, Mark's team had to go talk
Speaker 1: to Matt eber Flus on Sunday and say, what's going on, Fluce,
Speaker 1: would you like to maybe coach exactly? Uh So, there
Speaker 1: you go. That is the recap of wild Card weekend.
Speaker 1: We will be back on Tuesday with our Twitter show
Speaker 1: at one thirty Pacific four thirty Eastern, a different time
Speaker 1: elsewhere in the world. That's up to you to figure
Speaker 1: out based on the context clues. And we will have
Speaker 1: our next podcast on Wednesday, and then another one on Thursday,
Speaker 1: which will act as our divisional playoff show, and then
Speaker 1: of course we meet back here one week from today
Speaker 1: to recap all the action. That's what we do. That's
Speaker 1: the circle of life here at the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: Anything else, Greg, Now, I mean, I'm excited. It's a big,
Speaker 1: big time year. It's shirt is s Stan has the
Speaker 1: signing off four Quiet Storm, that mail Man, the Old Boston,
Speaker 1: Ricky Hollywood behind the Glass, Locking it Up Bill Tuesday,