Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast had enough to hosting audio show.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition Around the NFL Podcast. Like
Speaker 1: my name is Dan Hands as time joined in the
Speaker 1: room filled with heroes Mark Sessler, Chris Westling and Greg
Speaker 1: rosa Thal. What is up, boys? The most wonderful time
Speaker 1: of the year, Divisional weekend is upon us. Oh, we
Speaker 1: got some good games coming up. Mark, and you're wearing
Speaker 1: your red and green shirt because it is the holiday
Speaker 1: still for the NFL and their fans. You look quick
Speaker 1: here about about green. Green is about the eighth most
Speaker 1: predominant color in this definitely a red. If you have
Speaker 1: a red flannel, at a very red flannel and the
Speaker 1: green is trim, immediately you're thinking Christmas gift. That's how Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's um questionable purchase. I bought it myself. It's
Speaker 1: actually I like it. What you dressed the Christmas tree
Speaker 1: with it, you put at the bottom underneath the tree.
Speaker 1: That's how I saw it. So absolutely what it is
Speaker 1: somewhere between that and what the guy's wearing on the
Speaker 1: brawny paper towels. I mean, I don't have a fashionist
Speaker 1: girlfriend like you west buying me like new petticoats everywhere.
Speaker 1: I gotta take a picture of both you guys in fact,
Speaker 1: because West, oh don't don't do it now, don't function,
Speaker 1: I mean it must. You must have spent thirty minutes
Speaker 1: perfectly rolling up the petticoat petticoat sleeves. West looks like
Speaker 1: the guy that got the issue of g Q and
Speaker 1: the same. These are the new tips for l a
Speaker 1: winter or it's the John. Share the black thermal underneath,
Speaker 1: and then where your petticoat on top, and then roll
Speaker 1: it up, show the thermal at your wrists, but then
Speaker 1: have the petticoat. I don't like the way it buttons
Speaker 1: at the bottom. It's all bunched up. For what it
Speaker 1: is West, which is jealousy. You are reaching your peak
Speaker 1: as a fashion I also like and viril Man just
Speaker 1: about to married. Where all past their prime exactly, no doubt.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah he is. That's not what we're saying. No,
Speaker 1: not at all. But you did roll the sleeves for
Speaker 1: luck not. I knew this was coming, so I really
Speaker 1: I was like, is it worth it? Is it really
Speaker 1: worth it to roll up these sleeves. It's yeah, because
Speaker 1: it's uncomfortable, But he made a brave She made a
Speaker 1: brave choice to wear that when you knew that you're
Speaker 1: going to get some friendly fire from us. But also
Speaker 1: the well manicured salt and pepper beard that perfectly counters
Speaker 1: the petticoats shapes. It's like when you're with your partner
Speaker 1: and if your your physical appearance changes, your partner sees
Speaker 1: you every day, doesn't notice it as easily as somebody
Speaker 1: that you know sees you for the first time in
Speaker 1: six months or a year. West the transformation the butterfly
Speaker 1: since Lakisha entered his life, how he dresses and presents
Speaker 1: himself has been remarkable utterly. You were tough to look
Speaker 1: at before. Now it's great, all right. Um anyway, so
Speaker 1: west Wind's best dressed. My shirt got totally panned late
Speaker 1: and never wear this again. I complimented you before the
Speaker 1: show even started. I don't want to hear this. Um
Speaker 1: a lot to get to today. We're gonna spend through
Speaker 1: all four of the divisional playoff games for Quirkers, as
Speaker 1: they say overseas. But before we get to that, we're
Speaker 1: gonna do um some news, including big news coming out
Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh right before we came upstairs. But let's start
Speaker 1: where we left off yesterday on the coaches carousel. Oh boy,
Speaker 1: that's sound you. Here is the New York Jets hopping
Speaker 1: off the carousel. Adam Gates is the choice of the
Speaker 1: New York Football Jets as their new head coach to
Speaker 1: replace Todd Bowles. Gaese, of course, spent the last three
Speaker 1: years in Miami, fired or got himself fired, depending on
Speaker 1: who you're listening to. An exit meeting with Steven Ross
Speaker 1: apparently went sideways, and the Jets come down with with
Speaker 1: gaze and obviously a ton of people who are hitting
Speaker 1: me up on Twitter? What do you think about this? Uh?
Speaker 1: You know, making fun of the move, And I get it.
Speaker 1: I can understand both sides of it, and that certainly
Speaker 1: is not a popular move with most Jets fans. I
Speaker 1: don't love it, don't hate it. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: This was always gonna be a muddy result because who
Speaker 1: else was out there? You know, Um, Jim Harbow wasn't
Speaker 1: an option. Bruce Arians wasn't an option for the Jets.
Speaker 1: So Mike McCarthy is that who he wanted? Matt Rule?
Speaker 1: Who the hell even knows who Matt Rule is really?
Speaker 1: And most Jets fans and Jets fans are very different
Speaker 1: than me in that they are eternally pessimistic. I think
Speaker 1: it's PTSD for decades of abuse. But I tend to
Speaker 1: have an optimistic viewpoint on the franchise. I know I
Speaker 1: shouldn't be, because there's a lot of evidence that the
Speaker 1: Jets will always uh mess things up when given the opportunity.
Speaker 1: But I look at Gaye. I never had an issue
Speaker 1: with Gaye, and we we met, we made we met
Speaker 1: him at the owners meetings, and um there was that.
Speaker 1: One of the most memorable parts of that conversation that
Speaker 1: we had with any of the coaches was when we
Speaker 1: asked what was the identity of the Dolphins in two
Speaker 1: thousand eighteen? And what did he say? Was that's a
Speaker 1: good question, Well, he said, he paused. He struggled to
Speaker 1: answer the question because he had just had his team
Speaker 1: stripped of uh some major playmakers, including Jarvis Landry and
Speaker 1: Dominican Sue. So I don't think he was in a
Speaker 1: great set up with that organization. I don't think Miami's
Speaker 1: the most um functional operation. The biggest mistake I think
Speaker 1: he made there is that he did believe in Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannehill and stayed with Tannehill during his three years there
Speaker 1: despite all the injuries. So yes, is it a perfect
Speaker 1: home run higher for the Jets? No, not in my opinion.
Speaker 1: But is it a laughable higher one that should be
Speaker 1: viewed and scorned? I don't think so either. I look
Speaker 1: at it with some optimism. They hired a guy with
Speaker 1: experience that coaches offense, that has um a pedigree. This
Speaker 1: guy was Sean McVeigh three years ago. I know it's
Speaker 1: not three years ago anymore, but this is a guy
Speaker 1: I think has a chance. And the Jets simply don't
Speaker 1: do this. They don't hire offensive minded head coaches. They
Speaker 1: haven't done and done it in almost twenty five years.
Speaker 1: I'm open minded about this. I think you should be.
Speaker 1: I think he showed, he showed enough, and he has
Speaker 1: enough people that believe in him. My concern would more
Speaker 1: just be about how they got to this point. That
Speaker 1: the report that Matt Rule was the number one choice
Speaker 1: and that they wanted to basically have him hire Todd
Speaker 1: Monkin as his offensive coordinator, and he refused, and he
Speaker 1: had a certain staff that he wanted. Then I start
Speaker 1: to worry about what is the process going through this?
Speaker 1: Because that seems awfully modeled. Adam Gates not. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't think it matters that Adam Gates knows he
Speaker 1: wasn't the first choice, but that just it just makes
Speaker 1: you wonder, like how the Jets learned from their mistakes
Speaker 1: of the past, because that it's a messy way to
Speaker 1: get to this. And I do wonder about Gaze, just
Speaker 1: because I think he's combustible and interesting. How he's gonna
Speaker 1: handle the New York media, because we've talked about on
Speaker 1: this show, just his his postgame press conferences, especially when
Speaker 1: they lose. He can be alive wire. He's an resting guy,
Speaker 1: and I think it's gonna be entertaining as as a
Speaker 1: kind of as a fan that's not a Jets fan.
Speaker 1: But we'll see how he handles it. Eye with you,
Speaker 1: Dan that I like, I can separate Adam Gaze, who
Speaker 1: is still growing as a football coach, from elements of
Speaker 1: Adam Gaze that I think is in a second job.
Speaker 1: These coaches really fine ways to grow. I mean, you
Speaker 1: have to grow to keep the job. And there were
Speaker 1: stuff that happened in Miami with Jarvis Landry, with a
Speaker 1: fleet of other players where by the time he left.
Speaker 1: The players did not seem sad to see him go.
Speaker 1: But that reminds me a whole lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of other first time coaches, and including Bill Belichick when
Speaker 1: he left Cleveland and his stock. It's all this stock
Speaker 1: up stock down where right now Adam Gaze's stock is down.
Speaker 1: So when Adam Gaze gets hired, it's very easy on
Speaker 1: Twitter to see everyone just ripping the concept to the
Speaker 1: Jets hiring him, you know, weeks after he was taken
Speaker 1: down in Miami. This is like to me a football
Speaker 1: coach with like a lot of growth ahead of him,
Speaker 1: and I like the idea of pairing him with Sam Donald.
Speaker 1: The one thing that bugs me is I cannot believe
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to hear Starn screaming Omaha week after week.
Speaker 1: I need that out of the lexicon. Other than that,
Speaker 1: I like this, Maybe he'll filter that out. That bothers
Speaker 1: me up. I thought I was never a big Tannehill fan.
Speaker 1: I thought the closest he ever became to convince me
Speaker 1: he has a chance to be a franchise quarterback was
Speaker 1: under Adam Gates before he tore his a c O.
Speaker 1: And to me, that boat's pretty well for Sam Donald.
Speaker 1: I think in case his previous stops, he's been good
Speaker 1: with quarterbacks too. I think it would be good for Donald.
Speaker 1: The bigger concern I'd have is he never showed any
Speaker 1: ability to solve the problems on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball. I mean, they they were one of the
Speaker 1: worst defenses in the league two out of the three
Speaker 1: years he was there. One of the other years they
Speaker 1: were just sub mediocre. If you look at their point
Speaker 1: deferential all three years they were so by some measures,
Speaker 1: they were one of the worst teams in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And I and I do think a lot of that
Speaker 1: is the front office and a lot of the kind
Speaker 1: of institutional problems that dolfins that. But you know, news flash,
Speaker 1: the Jets have had those two. Can't you overcome that?
Speaker 1: Hire the right defensive coordinator, great, but he hasn't in
Speaker 1: the mix. I don't know. And Adam Gaze, the Jets
Speaker 1: have a ton of cap space, improve the personnel on
Speaker 1: the defensive side, get a good defensive coordinator, and I'm
Speaker 1: okay with that. I trust that they will improve. And
Speaker 1: to your first point, yes, did it seem a little
Speaker 1: muddled the process? Sure? But does that matter ultimately? If
Speaker 1: you end up with a guy who does can do
Speaker 1: the job right. But the process in New York for
Speaker 1: twenty years has been muddled and ultimately unsuccessful. And I
Speaker 1: think there's been a constant throughout that process, and that's
Speaker 1: ownership and that you know, it's changed somewhat, but it's
Speaker 1: all too mentally the same same group. So we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens with Adam Gaze, who is now with the Jets,
Speaker 1: and then we are just now down to the Dolphins
Speaker 1: and the Bengals, who I believe are on the hunt
Speaker 1: for a head coach. When we get some reports that
Speaker 1: we will get them to you. Let's top off the
Speaker 1: carousel and talk about some big news in the a
Speaker 1: f C North uh. This from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Speaker 1: Steelers president Art Rooney the second said, it is quote
Speaker 1: hard to envision Antonio Brown being with the Steelers by
Speaker 1: training camp. Here is a quote from Rooney. There's not
Speaker 1: much we can do right now. We have time to
Speaker 1: make a decision. We'll look at the options. We're not
Speaker 1: going to release him. That's not on the table, but
Speaker 1: I will say all other options are on the table.
Speaker 1: Of course, Antonio Brown skipped out on practices team meetings
Speaker 1: leading up to the week seventeen Do or Die game
Speaker 1: at Hinz Field, and was ultimately deactivated Chris Westling. This
Speaker 1: certainly seems like a clear sign that the Steelers are
Speaker 1: serious about perhaps moving on from the Antonio Brown era.
Speaker 1: That quote grabbed my attention immediately, and if you look
Speaker 1: at the context, there's some follow up here. Um Art
Speaker 1: Rooney also said, there's no sense closing the door on
Speaker 1: anything today. There's still snow on the ground. We don't
Speaker 1: have to make these decisions. So I think some of
Speaker 1: that sounds like it's emotional. It's it's only a you know,
Speaker 1: a week or so after this happened, and it's still fresh,
Speaker 1: and it sounds like he's had it. Like he's had
Speaker 1: it with Antonio Brown for now. Maybe that softens over
Speaker 1: the next few months, or maybe they trade him, But
Speaker 1: it does sound like to me they don't want him around.
Speaker 1: They don't really save much cap room by getting rid
Speaker 1: of him. But I think it's just a for sales sign.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think he's telling teams to come calling.
Speaker 1: And I've been really surprised by the conventional wisdom that
Speaker 1: thinks Antonio Brown somehow isn't that tradeable because of this contract.
Speaker 1: I think that's nonsense. I think he's a first ballot
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, is still playing at a really high level.
Speaker 1: And if a Mari Cooper can get a first round pick,
Speaker 1: I have no reason to believe that Antonio Brown couldn't.
Speaker 1: And this is the time of the year, you know,
Speaker 1: to be fair, that the teams are careful about trading
Speaker 1: those picks. They suddenly start valuing more because that's the
Speaker 1: next thing on the table. But why wouldn't you trade
Speaker 1: free until here's here's a very good reason. He's a dufas.
Speaker 1: He can tear a locker room apart, and he'll put
Speaker 1: himself above the team at any moment, moment, including Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: when the playoff spots on the line and a lot
Speaker 1: of teams doesn't out. I guarantee you a lot of
Speaker 1: teams are just gonna be like, no, we don't want
Speaker 1: that type. He may be untradeable to twenty two teams
Speaker 1: and vastly tradeable to other teams with a different coach
Speaker 1: and a different culture in the locker room. Antonio Brown,
Speaker 1: from what it sounds like, if anything, was enabled to
Speaker 1: act the way he was at times two, that's not
Speaker 1: going to be true in other locker rooms. Should learn
Speaker 1: from the Cowboys and the Rams. I mean, their veteran
Speaker 1: trades have worked out quite well. All right now, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: So we'll try. We're gonna keep tracking that one. By
Speaker 1: the way, for what it's worth, that is a major
Speaker 1: offseason storyline. For what it's worth. Ed Bouschett, who was
Speaker 1: one of the most reliable reporters in the league and
Speaker 1: not prone to hyperbole, tweeted goodbye Antonio Brown when he
Speaker 1: was retweeting, UM basically the story. Yeah, so to me that,
Speaker 1: like he usually has a good sense, I'm sat in
Speaker 1: a message. I do remember once there was source ownership
Speaker 1: sources that said they wanted to trade Ben Roethlisberger too
Speaker 1: after his second uh off field incident. That ended up
Speaker 1: being almost like a soft threat. I don't think that
Speaker 1: that it went went away. Quit that went away, all right,
Speaker 1: And let's get to the games now of Divisional round
Speaker 1: weekend Yahoo UM and by the way, stream every NFL
Speaker 1: playoff game live on your mobile or tablet through the
Speaker 1: NFL or Yahoo Sports app. Yeah, the technology, Mark, can
Speaker 1: you can you imagine when you were a young man
Speaker 1: in the nineties that you would be able to watch
Speaker 1: an NFL playoff game on your phone if you so desired.
Speaker 1: I didn't have an active imagination at that age, so
Speaker 1: I could not have grasped the concept of any of this.
Speaker 1: I think about that almost every day still, things like
Speaker 1: being able to watch footballing, like the things we do
Speaker 1: for a living. When Mark and I were like twenty,
Speaker 1: you couldn't even imagine it. I mean, we mean we
Speaker 1: could that we could be doing it Saturday on the
Speaker 1: way to the Rams game. Yeah, I mean it's it's true.
Speaker 1: When you guys, I still feel young, so I'm not
Speaker 1: concerned about the age when you guys were in the backyard,
Speaker 1: you know, banging those rocks together to to start the
Speaker 1: fire and you know take it down those I liked it.
Speaker 1: I like that you suggest that we're we're operating like caveman.
Speaker 1: We have you know, defined backyards the sleeves. I think not. Alright, Um,
Speaker 1: let's get into the games, will start, We'll go and order.
Speaker 1: So Saturday, four thirty five Eastern kickoff at Arrowheads Stadium.
Speaker 1: It is the number six seed Indianapolis Colts, coming off
Speaker 1: a thorough undressing of the Texans. Uh In Houston now
Speaker 1: travel to k C to face the Chiefs. They have
Speaker 1: the number one seed. They earned it with a twelve
Speaker 1: and four ray gular season, one of the more explosive
Speaker 1: offenses we've seen in years. And Mark Sessler, that's what
Speaker 1: it's going to be about, right. This is a a
Speaker 1: Chief's offense that is going to absolutely score a lot
Speaker 1: of points, but a Cults offense that could potentially do
Speaker 1: the same. I haven't a somewhat of an emergency update,
Speaker 1: an emergency medical alert. Everyone has caught cults fever. West
Speaker 1: contracted at first when he was bitten by an unruly
Speaker 1: male mayor not male mayor a horse in the middle
Speaker 1: of the night out in a meadow. A horse. That's
Speaker 1: even better, a horse bit him on the buttocks, right
Speaker 1: on the butt and the mailman ever since must have
Speaker 1: been busy on the Hollywood club scene, because the entire
Speaker 1: footwell football world has contracted this virus, cults fever. The
Speaker 1: symptoms are as follows, intense feelings of love for Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck and unexplainable longing to touch Frank Reich's snowy, flowing beard.
Speaker 1: You've got that urgent and crush on no Namer Pierre
Speaker 1: de Sire who kept DeAndre Hopkins at bay and now
Speaker 1: matches wits with Tyreek Hill and the saucy Chiefs offense.
Speaker 1: What was the mailman doing on the nightclub scene after
Speaker 1: he was bit on the buttocks by a mayor to
Speaker 1: spread this virus with such power to the point where
Speaker 1: the nation is almost turned on the Chiefs, mothers and
Speaker 1: children and toddlers predicting an upset at Arrowhead, despite the
Speaker 1: fact that Patrick Mahomes is a roaming god, despite the
Speaker 1: fact Chris Jones, justin Houston and d Ford operate as
Speaker 1: total nightmares for a Chiefs team that has quietly allowed
Speaker 1: only eighteen points per game at home verse thirty something
Speaker 1: on the road. Can the Chiefs put an end to
Speaker 1: this virus that started when West was bitten on the
Speaker 1: butt cheek? This has been an emergency medical alert. Wow, West,
Speaker 1: how is your buttocks? My buttocks is fine and dandy. Wow.
Speaker 1: That is Uh. There's no doubt about it, West, that
Speaker 1: you caught the Cults viaver after that bite. Uh. My
Speaker 1: question to you, as the most loyal of all Cults
Speaker 1: fans is do you actually believe that they're gonna go
Speaker 1: into Casey and win a football game. Do you believe him?
Speaker 1: I believe in them. I do believe that because I
Speaker 1: believe they're the better football team. O. WHOA, I believe
Speaker 1: tell us why I trust. I trust Andrew Luck more
Speaker 1: than any quarterback, and I know that. You know Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes is the m v P. I trust Frank Clark
Speaker 1: Frank Wright more than any play caller right now, and
Speaker 1: I know Andy Reid is one of the best of
Speaker 1: all time. I trust the Colts offensive line more than
Speaker 1: the Chief's offensive line. I trust their defense more than
Speaker 1: the Chiefs defense, which Mark mentioned the nightmares of Chris Jones,
Speaker 1: d Ford and Justin Houston, and that's fair. But the
Speaker 1: rest of that defense is a dream land that you
Speaker 1: can just cruise right through. And they are thirty first
Speaker 1: and run defense um since Week thirteen. The Chiefs don't
Speaker 1: stop anybody in the ground, and they really don't stop
Speaker 1: anybody in the secondary either. Their secondary is terrible. So
Speaker 1: to me, there are more holes on the Chiefs defense,
Speaker 1: and there are more reasons to be optimistic. If you're
Speaker 1: a Quotes fan, it's not even crazy to say that
Speaker 1: you think they're the better team. These are the two
Speaker 1: best teams in the league according to the Football Tiders
Speaker 1: way to d v o A. They still have the
Speaker 1: Chiefs number one. They have the Colts number two. That
Speaker 1: waits kind of the end of the season. Even more so,
Speaker 1: I mean, this is as good a matchup as it gets.
Speaker 1: And you're right in terms of the matchup and the
Speaker 1: Colts running game, I think is so important. They are
Speaker 1: so cohesive and so tough to prepare for. I think
Speaker 1: for opposing defenses that even a really good run defense
Speaker 1: like the Texans, which was one of the best in
Speaker 1: the league, had had a problems with the creativity that
Speaker 1: Frank Reich and and they're running with last week, Like
Speaker 1: watching them, they're going seven offensive linemen. So often they're
Speaker 1: going six offensive linemen and a blocking tight end or two.
Speaker 1: They use their tight ends so creatively. They are pulled,
Speaker 1: pulled like someone is pulling in some direct in on
Speaker 1: every play and it's so creative and it's kind of
Speaker 1: dizzy and for defenses, and and they're also nasty, as
Speaker 1: we heard about from Shawn O'Hara on our Twitter show
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, that I do think that that's a key
Speaker 1: to this game. That the Colts, like the Ravens before them,
Speaker 1: like the Chargers a little bit when you go to
Speaker 1: Kansas City. I do think you want to limit the possessions.
Speaker 1: And I think the Colts have the offensive line to
Speaker 1: just kind of scramble up their brain because d ford
Speaker 1: And and Chris Jones, it's not like they're known for
Speaker 1: their their run stopping. They're known for getting after the quarter.
Speaker 1: I mean, on the counter side of the Chiefs have
Speaker 1: scored under thirty points three times all year, and how
Speaker 1: in the Colts defense is a bigger challenge. I think
Speaker 1: this is the biggest home field challenge around outside of
Speaker 1: outside of New Orleans. And I know that Andy Reid
Speaker 1: has not won a playoff game at home. It's been
Speaker 1: an absolute nightmare. But are we discounting the fact that,
Speaker 1: like this is a completely different Chief's offense than all
Speaker 1: those teams that crumbled in January. Now, I think I
Speaker 1: think Cults are gonna get wiped out in terms of
Speaker 1: their defense. I think both defenses could get wiped out.
Speaker 1: I think this happens a lot this time of year
Speaker 1: because the teams that get these buys disappear for a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks and maybe sometimes Week seventeen doesn't matter much,
Speaker 1: and then the teams that are surging and they take
Speaker 1: care of business in the wild card, and sometimes you
Speaker 1: maybe underestimate the ability of that team sitting on the by.
Speaker 1: I think the Chiefs are gonna come out of fire.
Speaker 1: I I the last time these two teams play. We
Speaker 1: all know two thousand four four the second biggest comeback
Speaker 1: in NFL history. Andrew Luck became a superstar uh that day.
Speaker 1: Uh the game was in Indianapolis. Alex Smith was the
Speaker 1: quarterback of the Chiefs. Very different time. But I think
Speaker 1: we're gonna see scoring uh near that level. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna say if they're gonna combine for ninety points, but
Speaker 1: I think this is a double thirty burger at the
Speaker 1: very least, and it's gonna be a lot of fun
Speaker 1: to watch. One thing to keep an eye on. Dan
Speaker 1: Orlowski had a really cool video on Twitter this week
Speaker 1: about what the Cool Quotes defense did to scramble Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson's brain last week. Basically, they came out showing man
Speaker 1: demand and and ever Watson would put a guy in
Speaker 1: motion to check to see if the Colts defense was
Speaker 1: gonna follow that man in motion. It told him they
Speaker 1: were playing man to man defense and then when the
Speaker 1: Colts linebackers and safety's dropped, they're all looking at the
Speaker 1: corner quarterback plan zone and that you know, you got
Speaker 1: another young quarterback this week. Maybe that works against him too.
Speaker 1: It's true that you would think tempo could help, you know,
Speaker 1: mitigate that a little bit, and you would just think
Speaker 1: the matchups are different. And I'm curious how much they're
Speaker 1: gonna use Damian Williams, who ran really well at the
Speaker 1: end of the season. It's not just possibly the two
Speaker 1: best teams in the league. I think this might be
Speaker 1: the two best quarterbacks playing this week, and Drew Brees
Speaker 1: would be right there in that mix. But the way
Speaker 1: Luck is playing now is just he's like there's no
Speaker 1: negative plays, Like if you're just okay, that's a plus one.
Speaker 1: Like there's there's so few negative plays out of Luck
Speaker 1: right now. He's so like comfortable, and and he gets
Speaker 1: to his second reads so quickly. When they take away
Speaker 1: what he wants, he just starts buying time. There's no
Speaker 1: one better right now at buying time in the pocket.
Speaker 1: And his offensive line gets a lot of credit, but
Speaker 1: he is the reason, uh that he doesn't get sacked
Speaker 1: a lot of these times. There was a play last week,
Speaker 1: the huge throw to Hilton on the first drive. Luck
Speaker 1: what be Costanzo inside pretty clean on that play and
Speaker 1: he ended up hitting Luck. They hit it for thirty
Speaker 1: eight yards. There was another play that stands out where
Speaker 1: Braden Smith and Glewinski both didn't touch the two Texans
Speaker 1: defenders on a play and Luck ended up making both
Speaker 1: of them miss and throwing for eight yards and like
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks just aren't making. I do think a fast
Speaker 1: start is necessary for Indianapolis, and it's the way they did.
Speaker 1: Went out last week and they thrashed the Texans right
Speaker 1: out of the gate. They were seven for seven on
Speaker 1: third downs before they even punted, and they were able
Speaker 1: to settle into their offense and lean on the ground
Speaker 1: game just as much as the pass. They need to
Speaker 1: be balanced. They need to be able to do that. Again,
Speaker 1: you can't get into a hole against the Chiefs. I
Speaker 1: I also think with the Colts, it's like we've talked
Speaker 1: about a little bit on the Twitter show. I don't
Speaker 1: want to repeat too much, but they haven't played a
Speaker 1: top ten offense this whole time, this whole time, and
Speaker 1: the Chiefs of fair criticism right, and it's not even
Speaker 1: the it's not the Chiefs, it's not the Cults fall.
Speaker 1: But they are a great team defense. Chiefs have played
Speaker 1: powerhouses in the cool tim they are. They are a
Speaker 1: great team defense that rallies to the ball and they
Speaker 1: play together. But they don't have guys that beat you
Speaker 1: one on one up front. They don't really have pure
Speaker 1: pass rushers. They get their pass rushed by blitzing and
Speaker 1: by stunts and and all of that. And this isn't
Speaker 1: just any old offense. This is one of the best
Speaker 1: offenses that we've seen this decade. And so to match
Speaker 1: up just one on one, who is to you know?
Speaker 1: They just don't have the players I think to match
Speaker 1: up with Kelsey and Tyree. I mean, the Colts may
Speaker 1: not have played great offenses, but it is in the
Speaker 1: NFL tough to have a season where you've given up
Speaker 1: in various games nine, five, ten, six, zero, and seventeen points. No,
Speaker 1: no doubt, no doubt. Let's pick this game. I am
Speaker 1: I've been going back and forth in my mind for
Speaker 1: the past thirty seven seconds, so by a little more
Speaker 1: time by going to Mark than West than myself. I
Speaker 1: really want to lock up the Chiefs, but I'm a
Speaker 1: little too freaked and it would get my weekend off
Speaker 1: to a bad start if I lost that. So I'm
Speaker 1: staying away from that. But I do think Kansas City
Speaker 1: is going to win the same way they've won a
Speaker 1: lot of these other games. Give up a lot of points,
Speaker 1: score a lot of I don't want you at the
Speaker 1: Rams game in a bad food because well, I may
Speaker 1: be locking that game up so well at least yeah,
Speaker 1: we won't know till the end. There. It's it's it's
Speaker 1: real storm for us that we have to deal with.
Speaker 1: Very nervous about the weekend. Mark whatever happens, Marx Locks
Speaker 1: gotta win this weekend. Go ahead, West, I promise I'm
Speaker 1: not overlooking the Chiefs. I have a ton of respect
Speaker 1: for them, and um, I don't think this team is
Speaker 1: the same as previous teams and you can just say, oh,
Speaker 1: they're they're snake bitten in the playoffs. It's just that
Speaker 1: I believe in the Colts and I have believed in
Speaker 1: them for three months and I'm gonna back my horse.
Speaker 1: I like it, West, I love it. In fact, um yeah,
Speaker 1: I was thinking Colts all week. I think there was
Speaker 1: some type of sky Sports exercise we had to do
Speaker 1: where we had to make picks. I think I took
Speaker 1: the Colts in this game, but you know, at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, I don't. I think this is
Speaker 1: a special year in Casey, obviously, and I believe that
Speaker 1: this is the year of Andy. And do I see
Speaker 1: Andy Reid getting knocked out in the first round again.
Speaker 1: It would be so bitterly disupporting or in his first
Speaker 1: playoff game of this um season. So I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a great game. I think the Cults are
Speaker 1: absolutely gonna show up and ball out. But at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, forty to thirty seven Chiefs fans
Speaker 1: are so nervous. I mean, the Colts took him out
Speaker 1: in two thousand three, that was my first year covering football,
Speaker 1: and it reminds me so much of this year, where
Speaker 1: the Chiefs had a historic offense that got off to
Speaker 1: a nine and oh head start and they kind of
Speaker 1: were quiet down the stretch. The Cults are beating them
Speaker 1: in the playoffs so many times, They've had so much heartbreak,
Speaker 1: But I think the Cults it's almost like the Cults
Speaker 1: are feeling themselves a little too much. Something got on
Speaker 1: my radar last last week in the cults in the
Speaker 1: colts locker room. Let's take a listen to this. It
Speaker 1: is from the owner that got he take heats, taking
Speaker 1: your title. Please, there is only one rainmaker in this house,
Speaker 1: and this is gonna be raining down points in Kansas City.
Speaker 1: We're raining on the over and we're locking up the chiefs.
Speaker 1: It's a double rainmaker lock bananza. Here comes the rain
Speaker 1: a little Missy people people, I mean rain maker is
Speaker 1: that it's Missy Elliott. But I guess the sample that's
Speaker 1: the remake of the People's version is one of the
Speaker 1: greatest breakup songs in history. Everybody needs to listen to
Speaker 1: that song. It's truly sublime. Check yourself. One rainmaker in
Speaker 1: the NFL. You're gonna find it well. You gotta you
Speaker 1: gotta say that. It's understandable that Mr Ursa thought maybe
Speaker 1: the title was open because you've just been so dreadful
Speaker 1: that someone I thought maybe he picked up the baton
Speaker 1: thinking you had gotten that. You can say dreadful, you
Speaker 1: can say whatever you want. All the little rain drops
Speaker 1: out there that are along this ride for me, we're
Speaker 1: riding high. It's about where are you? You have rain drops?
Speaker 1: You have a backup group called the rain drop. Now
Speaker 1: these are all these are all the followers who just
Speaker 1: love dancing in the rain and watching their bank account.
Speaker 1: It's a long term gambit here. It's a mindset. It's
Speaker 1: it's not about should do We should let the audience
Speaker 1: know that while we enjoy this bit, do not take
Speaker 1: it too seriously. History instructs us that you would be
Speaker 1: in great financial danger if you followed along with right.
Speaker 1: That was that was that we need that disclaimer. That
Speaker 1: was true before, but now we're really feeling it. The
Speaker 1: points in this game you were saying that you think
Speaker 1: I'd bang it over all day over. That was all
Speaker 1: cute before, but now it's really a storm is coming.
Speaker 1: Colt feel much better now that Greg has guaranteed. Let's
Speaker 1: move on. The Dallas Cowboys another wild Card weekend winner.
Speaker 1: They beat the Seahawks UH. Their reward head to the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Will be there UH to face
Speaker 1: the Rams, who earned that first seed with thirteen wins
Speaker 1: in the regular season. Chris Westling, here is a great
Speaker 1: battle the Cowboys defense that is peaking against the Rams offense.
Speaker 1: That the numbers are all there, but do you trust
Speaker 1: them right now? In this moment in time. That is
Speaker 1: a good question, because every sign points to the Rams
Speaker 1: being seven seven and one. At home, they average thirty
Speaker 1: seven points per game in their own building. Every time
Speaker 1: we look at the Cowboys, we think they just don't
Speaker 1: have the firepower to keep up. And then every time
Speaker 1: we see the Cowboys play, our eyes tell us Jalen Smith,
Speaker 1: Layton Vander Esch, and DeMarcus Lawrence are one of the
Speaker 1: best defensive trios we've seen ever in the front seven.
Speaker 1: The way they're playing the past six weeks is like
Speaker 1: they're all, are you playing like defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year candidates? And it's rare to see three guys on
Speaker 1: one defense doing that. And they keep upsetting teams and
Speaker 1: shutting down teams because you don't expect them to be
Speaker 1: as good as they are. And that's how you can
Speaker 1: get into the mind of Jared Goff and maybe even
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh if you take away they're a ground game.
Speaker 1: No one gets into Seanan mcveigh's mind. Man, it's perfect,
Speaker 1: it's beautiful. Take it back fair enough, But what's happened
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks with the Rams outside of
Speaker 1: you know, some of the mop up work they had
Speaker 1: at the end of the year. They've not been They've
Speaker 1: been less than ideal. This is the Jared Goff's end
Speaker 1: to the season has been lackluster. And I think that
Speaker 1: if you can take out Todd Gurley, or at least
Speaker 1: reduce him in ways that we've seen a few teams do,
Speaker 1: you can get this Rams team is not invincible right now,
Speaker 1: far from it. This is the game I think where
Speaker 1: has the highest percentage chance of an upset, even more
Speaker 1: than the Colts. They they are gonna be a really
Speaker 1: tough team to run against. And you do here as
Speaker 1: great as mcveigh's passing attack acumen is in golf step
Speaker 1: forward this year that most defense is coming to play
Speaker 1: in the Rams intending to stop Todd Gurley first, that's
Speaker 1: number one. And you've got the players to do it
Speaker 1: in in Uh, Jalen Smith, in DeMarcus Lawrence and Late
Speaker 1: and Vanderesh And yet I just don't I think they
Speaker 1: can be a little more versatile than the Cowboys offense
Speaker 1: can be. If you are going to stop Todd Gurley,
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh and Jared Goff do find other ways to
Speaker 1: get you. There are a timing offense and so you
Speaker 1: do want to see what happens If the Cowboys are
Speaker 1: able to disrupt their timing, that's gonna be a problem.
Speaker 1: But the Cowboys offense, I just can't see like running
Speaker 1: away and hiding from them. I guess one thing, Todd Gurley. Yes,
Speaker 1: everything runs through Todd Gurley on the Rams offense, and
Speaker 1: he will be playing. He hasn't played in three weeks.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say that he is back. He has
Speaker 1: not played, yes, since December sixteen, so we'll be a
Speaker 1: little shy of a month. But when he gets on
Speaker 1: the field, the fact that he's limited in practice, should
Speaker 1: we put anything into that wouldn't wouldn't you think this
Speaker 1: amount of time he'd be okay to go? Is this
Speaker 1: guy not close to healthy even after all that break.
Speaker 1: I know the Rams have no reason to tell us
Speaker 1: and let the public know how bad this injury is,
Speaker 1: but his ability to be Todd Gurley is going to
Speaker 1: be a major part of this game. Is this man healthy?
Speaker 1: I think it's a fair question, and the answer is
Speaker 1: we won't know until the first drive of the game.
Speaker 1: And and last week was a reminder that I love
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley, but I would take Zeke Elliott if I
Speaker 1: just needed one one guy between the two of them,
Speaker 1: I would take this. I know you you debated over
Speaker 1: that decision for your no. I just think that's great,
Speaker 1: and next week you'll change your mind, and then week
Speaker 1: after that you'll change it back. These two guys are
Speaker 1: that good, that both that good. I've always, I guess
Speaker 1: I always probably would have put Zeke ahead, and so
Speaker 1: nothing has changed that. And and certainly this season, Gurley
Speaker 1: finished off the season slow. I just wonder if is
Speaker 1: Dad gonna give them chances that the keep keep to
Speaker 1: leave and Marcus Peters combination has overall been a disappointment
Speaker 1: for the Rams, but they are healthy or now their
Speaker 1: past defense has really improved, right, the run defense is
Speaker 1: still a joke. And I don't think they finished the
Speaker 1: season as as as badly as as a lot of
Speaker 1: people think. I think Golf played to kind of solid
Speaker 1: games that I know was against division foes that aren't
Speaker 1: great teams, and he missed. You give him so much
Speaker 1: more benefit, doubt than you give Dak, who has thoroughly
Speaker 1: outplayed Jared Goff for the past five weeks. I would
Speaker 1: disagree that that he Dax says when I was talking
Speaker 1: about negative plays that Andrew luck doak Is has so
Speaker 1: many negative plays, so many and you're not even counting
Speaker 1: the ones that Jared Goff has. I mean, I just
Speaker 1: don't understand how you can watch them both play and
Speaker 1: say golf's fine, but when when Dak has outplayed him,
Speaker 1: I ranked like it was a silly exercise, But this
Speaker 1: week I had to rank the quarterbacks, and like trustworthiness,
Speaker 1: these are my two least trustworthy quarterbacks going into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: The difference is one has a really exciting young mind
Speaker 1: as a head coach and the other one has kind
Speaker 1: of a very old school stagy one that I don't
Speaker 1: think it's going to help him out that much. I
Speaker 1: don't think they've been the same since Cooper Cup went out,
Speaker 1: And I do like the matchup of Ezekiel Elliott verse
Speaker 1: a Rams run defense that is not a great run
Speaker 1: defense at any level in the Cowboys last week, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't. You can't run away from the Rams, but
Speaker 1: if they can get into their flow, they had the
Speaker 1: ball for thirty five minutes last week. That the difference
Speaker 1: of I think part of the reason we're hard on
Speaker 1: the I'm hard on the Cowboys that is we saw
Speaker 1: how good they were in two thousand and sixteen, and
Speaker 1: it's like, maybe that just set an unfair expectation. I mean,
Speaker 1: Dac and Zeke were leading one of the you know,
Speaker 1: most efficient offenses we've ever seen, and now they're an
Speaker 1: offense at best is in the top twenty of the league.
Speaker 1: If that it's not a special offensive line anymore, that's
Speaker 1: part of the problem. It's a it's an average offensive
Speaker 1: line because three of the five spots are are averager worse,
Speaker 1: and two of them playing next to each other, and
Speaker 1: Joe Looney and it would probably Connor Williams across from
Speaker 1: Arian Don't right, And you're gonna have to deal with
Speaker 1: Aaron Donald and Sue and and that's part of the
Speaker 1: thing that made the Cowboys special and that. Don't you
Speaker 1: think that Prescott's coming off two of the best games
Speaker 1: he's played. No, I don't think he played that well
Speaker 1: last week. I agree with you, Mark. I don't know
Speaker 1: what Greg has He had. He had three or four
Speaker 1: interceptible passes, he takes a lot of sacks on his own,
Speaker 1: and when he misses throws, you can pick four. But
Speaker 1: he also gets touchdowns from running like that counts to
Speaker 1: absolutely and that's been I'm not saying compared to great
Speaker 1: other quarterbacks, just four Dak. The Dak Prescott experience I have.
Speaker 1: Last two games were two of his best week. Seventeen
Speaker 1: was one of his best games of the year. I
Speaker 1: thought last week was about his average game, it could.
Speaker 1: The thing that worries you is like a third and
Speaker 1: two throw and a couple of the throws in the
Speaker 1: red zone where he's not close. I mean they those
Speaker 1: are Freeman's where it's ten ft over the guys that
Speaker 1: and you're thinking, what's going on. Well, he's not a
Speaker 1: perfect quarterback and it will never be as precise as
Speaker 1: some of these other supersides. But the one thing, yeah,
Speaker 1: that year guy I don't want to be I don't
Speaker 1: want to be that guy. It's like, hey, it's not
Speaker 1: all about the numbers and and all that, but I
Speaker 1: like Prescott because you know what, sometimes Prescott balls out
Speaker 1: and makes big plays in big spots like n His
Speaker 1: numbers across the numbers are good, across the board are
Speaker 1: way better than golf last five weeks. My point is
Speaker 1: you point out some mis throws last week, I'll point
Speaker 1: out the third and fourteen scramble to the goal line
Speaker 1: that essentially won that game. He's playing with a lot
Speaker 1: of confidence. Um, and I like I like Prescott as
Speaker 1: a player. I don't think he's a superstar. But my point,
Speaker 1: my feeling on this game, gentleman, is this has been
Speaker 1: a nice season for the Cowboys and a nice bounce
Speaker 1: back season and a season is of growth, and they
Speaker 1: have eleven wins and they're in the Divisional round. But
Speaker 1: I think it ends here. I think this is the
Speaker 1: Rams game. I believe that the Rams are a team
Speaker 1: that is going to make a hard charge for the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. I've thought this the entire season that they
Speaker 1: are super Bowl favorite. So I don't see them in
Speaker 1: their building with the extra rest against an inferior team
Speaker 1: as such as the Cowboys have done uh good things
Speaker 1: this year, I'm gonna lock up the Rams. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get behind the team, uh former team of a t
Speaker 1: L in this game. I'm not gonna say the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are pushed over and they're peaking at the right time.
Speaker 1: But the last time they played a real team on
Speaker 1: the road, they got shut out by the Colts on
Speaker 1: the road. And I think the Rams are gonna have
Speaker 1: their way in their building. We're gonna be there together.
Speaker 1: Let's double down that lock. Oh. I can feel it already.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be celebrating after winning our locks on Saturday
Speaker 1: nights somewhere in this city. Very nice. You also nicely
Speaker 1: boxed me in. I can't can't gain on you know, smart.
Speaker 1: I mean, i'd have to box someone and there's only
Speaker 1: four games. I like that too. I mean, if if
Speaker 1: I was gonna go double Rainmaker, it's like, I think
Speaker 1: they'll they'll cover this thing too. But I don't want
Speaker 1: your head to explode. I I think they're just a
Speaker 1: better team or Jim Mercy's head. I just just think
Speaker 1: they're better. I think they're a better teams. Making a sweep,
Speaker 1: you're locking them up to No, I'm not locking them up,
Speaker 1: but making a sweep and picking the picking the rams.
Speaker 1: I love the Cowboys defense. I don't trust this team
Speaker 1: on the road against a more talented opponent. There, you
Speaker 1: go show us something golf too, because I am a
Speaker 1: little worried. It's a big it's a big game for golf.
Speaker 1: It's early in his career. He's twenty four years old,
Speaker 1: but he's a guy who's kind of taken these steps
Speaker 1: right on, right on schedule. Now is the schedule to
Speaker 1: go win this game and play a solid playoff. I'm
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Speaker 1: Lows is the new home of Craftsman. All right, now
Speaker 1: for our halftime, little halftime break and uh I know
Speaker 1: that Greg's true passion is football, but his real passion
Speaker 1: that's number two. Number one is gambling, and one above
Speaker 1: it is women's tennis. I mean I love men's tennis too.
Speaker 1: By the way, probably is women's tennis. W t A
Speaker 1: stands for what Greg, the Women's Tennis Association. Here we go.
Speaker 1: I have sources inside the w t A that sent me.
Speaker 1: I don't know why because it is of literally zero
Speaker 1: um effect to this show or our life in any way.
Speaker 1: But a diary entry from a yet unranked female tennis
Speaker 1: player named Nina Penkova. Ag let's dive into it. The
Speaker 1: date of the centry is January second up there for
Speaker 1: tennis to be unranked. Well, she's she's she's taken. You'll
Speaker 1: see she's she's getting serious January two and it reads
Speaker 1: as follows, dear Diary today. I woke this morning at
Speaker 1: five two am. My breakfast consisted of oatmeal, pete yogurt,
Speaker 1: three egg whites and a slow released protein shake. I
Speaker 1: logged a two hour practice with my coach Boris Hemmler
Speaker 1: before leaving or Australia in the Sydney International. I received
Speaker 1: another text from Philip. It read Nina, why won't you respond,
Speaker 1: You've been a total ghost since getting knocked out of
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Open. What about all those things you said
Speaker 1: in Rome? This is like a new entry. January four,
Speaker 1: We're in Sydney. I ate four egg whites and practice
Speaker 1: for three plus hours with Boris. The analysts say I'm
Speaker 1: nothing more than a baseline player bull. I'm here to
Speaker 1: set the w T t A on fire from the
Speaker 1: inside out. Philip texted me again with this, Nina, Is
Speaker 1: this some sort of power play? Don't you recall when
Speaker 1: we camped along the Baltic Sea what you said to me.
Speaker 1: I'm outside of beer tavern and rugan, but no intoxican
Speaker 1: can lift the darkness. January seven, two th nineteen, Dear Diary,
Speaker 1: my match with Ivana Saddles is two hours away. I
Speaker 1: just date a medium sized bowl of brown rice and
Speaker 1: broccoli with an olive oil topping. My ground stroke is transformed.
Speaker 1: After my backhand session with Boris. I glanced at myself
Speaker 1: in the full length locker room mirror. I only achieved it.
Speaker 1: My calves glow like metal. I appear carved out of
Speaker 1: precious stone. I am mentally prepared to splinter Ivana Saddles
Speaker 1: into a thousand pieces. This from Philip. I was kicked
Speaker 1: out of a bar in Brussels for causing a ruckus.
Speaker 1: I've been drunk and lost and wandering through distant Europe
Speaker 1: for three months like a roth child on the run.
Speaker 1: But nothing from you, Nina, What the dear diary. I
Speaker 1: have blocked Philip and will never again allow a man
Speaker 1: to pull me off course. Ivana Saddles is ninety minutes
Speaker 1: away from her nuclear winner. Rugone is Germany's largest island
Speaker 1: by area, located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea.
Speaker 1: Very good, he's a rich man. Yeah, I'm smart. I
Speaker 1: wanted to see where it goes from here. I wonder
Speaker 1: how she got into that tournament, being unranked and all
Speaker 1: very fair questions, tournament wild card or something. They just
Speaker 1: saw her potential. Those calves could get her and it
Speaker 1: could be a lack of knowledge on the person who
Speaker 1: put that together. Y um. Cycling back to our last
Speaker 1: game the post, Malone as someone who believes in uh
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott this week doesn't yeh and his new hit
Speaker 1: titled Wow he has lyrics that said made another hit
Speaker 1: because I got bored now yep, always going for it.
Speaker 1: Never punt fourth down, last call, heir, hail Mary Prescott
Speaker 1: touchdown A I ouch, so West, maybe you want to
Speaker 1: reconsider your pick. Post Malone, the goofy looking guy. He's
Speaker 1: pretty goo if you're looking. I mean with that, with
Speaker 1: that flow that Tim Posty was, he's been. He's better
Speaker 1: watch out major bars like prim alone over there. Moving
Speaker 1: on to Sunday, the number five Seed Chargers travel to
Speaker 1: Foxboro to face the Pats Sunday one oh five Eastern kickoff.
Speaker 1: Ain't no cupcakes to be found for Greg Rosenthal this weekend.
Speaker 1: His pants are filling up with p and M. Here
Speaker 1: we go, philip rivers, like they're sealed off at the bottom. Yes,
Speaker 1: he has like my son Harrison. There's like a blue
Speaker 1: band that to make sure a ceilant. It's like you
Speaker 1: put him to bed, you get him in the morning
Speaker 1: and like that type and that's used as a grenade.
Speaker 1: That's Greg right now, somewhat toxic to the leg area.
Speaker 1: What did you use use cloth diapers? Or did you
Speaker 1: use cloth diapers? I'm saying if Greg as an adult
Speaker 1: had his pants filled up with paper industry, No, no,
Speaker 1: I would not have used cloth diapers. I don't even
Speaker 1: get that that route, like a truck has to come
Speaker 1: pick it up and then bring them back. That's the
Speaker 1: whole thing that the Chargers here. They are wins this year,
Speaker 1: including a tremendous, really and deeply impressive performance at Baltimore
Speaker 1: where they got a ton of praise and they deserved
Speaker 1: every every bit of it, especially on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. Uh. And now here are the Patriots
Speaker 1: looking to keep the Dyning Steel alive pressure on New
Speaker 1: England And uh, we'll start here, Chris Wesley, the Chargers.
Speaker 1: Love the Chargers. We're all rooting for the Chargers. They're
Speaker 1: an underdog. Uh. They've averaged eighteen and a half points
Speaker 1: since that great Week fifteen game at Arrowhead, the famous
Speaker 1: two point conversion at the end of the game. Since
Speaker 1: that game, their offense has not been cooking. Melvin Gordon's hurt,
Speaker 1: and that's a big deal. The Pats are gonna score
Speaker 1: points in their building. Is filling company up for the challenge?
Speaker 1: That is a fair question. And I think we have
Speaker 1: all underestimated their defense, including me. Uh, they are a
Speaker 1: better defensive team than everyone thought, and we've all overrated
Speaker 1: their offense. And everybody this week keeps calling them a complete,
Speaker 1: well rounded team, which is just untrue. They're not. This
Speaker 1: slump is now five games. That's a major portion of
Speaker 1: your football schedule when you only play sixteen in a
Speaker 1: regular season. They are averaging two two yards over the
Speaker 1: last five weeks. That would rank thirty one in the
Speaker 1: NFL across a full season. Only Arizona Cardinals were worse
Speaker 1: than that. No One is talking about their offensive line
Speaker 1: getting worked over. They're starting running backs starting to run
Speaker 1: like Jermaine Gresham in the open field because he's playing
Speaker 1: through two mcl injuries. They can't run the ball, and
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers hasn't been good. And they're facing a secondary
Speaker 1: where Stethon Gilmore had an all Pro season and j. C. Jackson,
Speaker 1: their undrafted rookie is their new Malcolm Butler. This guy
Speaker 1: leads the NFL on opposing passer raiding undrafted rookie. The
Speaker 1: secondary is really freaking good. It's a good secondary in
Speaker 1: some ways. They the Patriots have a similar but much
Speaker 1: worse defensive set up to Dnps and the Ravens who
Speaker 1: just went against the Chargers last week. Of course, the
Speaker 1: Patriots former coordinator Dnps like a really veteran secondary that
Speaker 1: you can start getting a little wacky upfront because you
Speaker 1: trust the guys in the back. The Patriots have done
Speaker 1: actually a lot of similar things to what the Ravens
Speaker 1: did against the Chargers very effectively two times, which is
Speaker 1: that um miba type defense where you have a ton
Speaker 1: of people at the line of scrimmage you don't know
Speaker 1: who's gonna rush. They've had a lot of success with that.
Speaker 1: Since their bye week, they've definitely been a better defense.
Speaker 1: I actually think the fact that the Chargers played the
Speaker 1: Ravens those two times. Greg Bard wrote about this, but
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this as well, that that they've
Speaker 1: kind of seen that and they've seen a better version
Speaker 1: of it than the Patriots can do, because the Patriots
Speaker 1: have kind of cooked up and you haven't seen this
Speaker 1: in a long time in New England, like these really
Speaker 1: creative schemes on defense that have confused opposing quarterbacks, and
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers is coming off. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 1: if i'd go five games back, because they did have
Speaker 1: that game in Kansas City where ultimately they put up
Speaker 1: over four hundred yards, but the last three games, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's thrown for a hundred and sixty yards or less
Speaker 1: all three games. It's kind of crazy. I know it's
Speaker 1: a two games against the Ravens and one against the Broncos,
Speaker 1: but that's still pretty troubling. I do think that there
Speaker 1: is one of the more interesting historical nuggets attached to
Speaker 1: this game of any of these games, that the Chargers
Speaker 1: are the eighth team since the merger to win at
Speaker 1: least nine games outside their home stadium. One of those
Speaker 1: was in London. The previous seven teams all won the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and and I think it translates to this
Speaker 1: Chargers team is specifically because these studies on West Coast
Speaker 1: teams having to travel east and play at one PM
Speaker 1: is typically disastrous. It's pretty it's pretty bad, and it's
Speaker 1: it's tips. You can kind of almost predict doom for
Speaker 1: certain teams based on that. But this Chargers team is
Speaker 1: completely different, and they I think, with with what is
Speaker 1: going on in general, with the Chargers experience playing on
Speaker 1: the road is a different than it would be for
Speaker 1: another team. In Philip Rivers is absolutely feeling himself and
Speaker 1: there isn't a quarterback in the league right now that
Speaker 1: is burning brighter to get to a Super Bowl for
Speaker 1: the first time. Every other quarterback in this playoff field
Speaker 1: over the age of thirty has won one. He has
Speaker 1: known they's got a play like it. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think he's I think he's done a really good job
Speaker 1: all season kind of balancing, like the good Philip and
Speaker 1: the bad Philip shoulder, like how aggressive am I gonna be?
Speaker 1: And then he got a little crazy. He got a
Speaker 1: little wacky the last few weeks of the season. Six
Speaker 1: interceptions and three weeks, and I thought last week he
Speaker 1: went too far the other way. There were a couple
Speaker 1: of times when you watched the coaches film last week
Speaker 1: that he had one on one down the field and
Speaker 1: he did not pull the trigger, which is not like
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers. He had a lot of checkdowns on third
Speaker 1: down that were short of the sticks, like he was
Speaker 1: not aggressive and and that sort of made sense against
Speaker 1: the Ravens because they didn't need that much. But I
Speaker 1: do think you can go over the top of that.
Speaker 1: This Patriots defense, the secondary is good, but it's not
Speaker 1: a fast defense at all. And I think if the
Speaker 1: Chargers are good at anything, they should be sending Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen Deep and Tyrelle Williams Deep and Mike Williams Deep
Speaker 1: and Travis Benjamin Deep and see what happens, and let
Speaker 1: Philip just get a little crazy, get a little wild.
Speaker 1: So badly want the Patriots out of my life. I
Speaker 1: want I could feel it in my bones. It will
Speaker 1: happen eventually, So I want it now. I not no
Speaker 1: longer like next year or the year after. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're not the Bowl it. I want this to be
Speaker 1: the end of the Tom Brady era starting on Sunday.
Speaker 1: And I think is absolutely in play. I think the
Speaker 1: Patriots are hyper vulnerable, and I think the Chargers have
Speaker 1: a ton of confidence. And I think Phil Rivers he
Speaker 1: still remembers the last time he played a big playoff
Speaker 1: game in New England on a torn a c L
Speaker 1: and the should have, would have, could have? What if
Speaker 1: I was healthy? Well, now he's healthy. This is a
Speaker 1: He's a Hall of Fame player with the biggest stage
Speaker 1: of his life here right now. And I think Phil
Speaker 1: Rivers gonna play well. And I think the Chargers are
Speaker 1: gonna do it. I think they're gonna say goodbye to
Speaker 1: the Patriots. It's over. I I I I am a
Speaker 1: little worried more than anything about the offensive line trying
Speaker 1: to protect Brady against Ingram and Bosa when they played
Speaker 1: last those hot feet when they played last year, that
Speaker 1: was one of the highest percentage of pressure that Brady
Speaker 1: had all season. And you know what he did. He
Speaker 1: reacted like the m v P he was in two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen. I don't know if they get that sort
Speaker 1: of pressure, especially against Trent Brown, the left tackle for
Speaker 1: the Patriots, is a bit of a concern if they
Speaker 1: get that sort of pressure this year, is he gonna
Speaker 1: be able to react like he did in that regular
Speaker 1: season game a year ago where they kind of played
Speaker 1: keep away on the charge year. Remember what the sound
Speaker 1: when the pressure gets on Tom? Now do you remember
Speaker 1: the sound? It's just disrespectful? Still the number it happened
Speaker 1: to Peyton Remember Peyton Manning near the end when he
Speaker 1: did those little slides when he was about to get sacked.
Speaker 1: Same time. The difference is Peyton man who was one
Speaker 1: of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league this year. Pff.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady is the number five. He had a lot
Speaker 1: of good Yeah, nobody believes that Tom Brady was the
Speaker 1: fifth best. Had him I had him his ninth or tenth,
Speaker 1: I agree, I wouldn't have a very good, but still
Speaker 1: very He don't like that pressure anymore at all. The
Speaker 1: weird thing, though, is I think what's been lost is
Speaker 1: his struggles. To me, that's part of it. But he's
Speaker 1: just missed guys that are open. I think McDaniels it
Speaker 1: has been getting guys that are open and and Brady
Speaker 1: hasn't seen him, which is just so un brady like
Speaker 1: that he's been his eyes are down here, a little nervous.
Speaker 1: That might be it that made a good week's seventeen.
Speaker 1: I didn't. It has been very could be a big
Speaker 1: factor in this last week that he He really was
Speaker 1: a huge reason they were able to knock off the Ravens.
Speaker 1: He had a forty two yarder punt return that's set
Speaker 1: up a field goal in the seventy two yarder as well.
Speaker 1: It's like, if you can get a couple of those,
Speaker 1: they're specially scored twelve points. Absolutely their offense only scored
Speaker 1: about eleven points for them in terms of actually advancing
Speaker 1: the ball. I do think though this is a different
Speaker 1: Patriots team then what Dan Dan hands then then like stylistically,
Speaker 1: I think that's a good thing. I think they're a
Speaker 1: little more early two thousands. I think it's gonna be snowing,
Speaker 1: and if it's not snowing, it's gonna be like twenty
Speaker 1: five degrees. And I think you're gonna see a lot
Speaker 1: of six offensive lineman. You're gonna see a lot of
Speaker 1: Duane Allen. You're gonna see a lot of James Devilon
Speaker 1: and Sony Michelle and James White, and a lot of running.
Speaker 1: And I think that's kind of what they do at
Speaker 1: their best. And I the last time that that No,
Speaker 1: they're They're not. I mean it's a twenty I'm saying
Speaker 1: they want to play like a twenty four to twenties
Speaker 1: style a game. They are not high flying team, but
Speaker 1: I think that physical kind of brand of football will
Speaker 1: play well there in Fox howd up the Caravan? I
Speaker 1: have like a feeling that if they if they lose
Speaker 1: this game the Patriots, and if it's an ugly affair
Speaker 1: for Tom Brady, that it is the end of Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm talking about. And you know, would really
Speaker 1: helped Tom Brady for this is Dee though. What would
Speaker 1: have really helped Brady as if Grant hadn't retired, that
Speaker 1: would have really helped him in this game. Well, we'll
Speaker 1: see that. That's funny the Chargers did. The Darters didn't
Speaker 1: play any linebackers last week, and it's partly because their
Speaker 1: linebackers are terrible. It's like they're gonna have to play
Speaker 1: linebackers probably this week, or the Patriots are gonna they're
Speaker 1: very good. As the Patriots are loading up the caravan,
Speaker 1: they're gonna ski, They're gonna load What does that mean
Speaker 1: in this all? Get all the trucks ready. We're going
Speaker 1: right down the middle of your deef. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: You're gonna play seven defensive backs. Come on now, we're
Speaker 1: gonna bring Devlin like you said, we're gonna bring Dwayne Allen.
Speaker 1: We're gonna bring an extra offensive lineman, and we're gonna
Speaker 1: run it down your throat. You think us Bradley is
Speaker 1: gonna have the same attack he happens. Not exactly, No,
Speaker 1: But I do think the Patriots are gonna load up
Speaker 1: and they're gonna turn They're gonna try to turn the
Speaker 1: Chargers defense into what they used to do to the
Speaker 1: Colts and run all over. Brady is more game plan
Speaker 1: dependent than I think he was early in his career.
Speaker 1: That they need the right plan for everything to work swimmingly.
Speaker 1: But he's been pretty damn good this year. When the
Speaker 1: big playing this game, a real big play, and there
Speaker 1: will be no whistle to blow it dead, it will stay.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, I know all three of you guys
Speaker 1: are picking the Chargers, right am, I right? I'm not West.
Speaker 1: Oh really. Earlier in the week, I thought he got
Speaker 1: the pail in his hand. He's about to head up
Speaker 1: the hill, both hands, walking up, carrying the water. I'm
Speaker 1: locking up the page eight No at home, Patriots, I'm
Speaker 1: locking them up. Ricky. You you seem to be on
Speaker 1: the same page as Mr Wesley Rivers is zero to
Speaker 1: seven verse Brady. Brady is in the playoffs. Patriots have experience,
Speaker 1: are well rested, more conditioned for the cold weathers. Bet
Speaker 1: are coached. Okay, Gronk and White are going to be
Speaker 1: more utilized. They've been saving Gronk. He looked. You said
Speaker 1: he retired, but he didn't. You watch is going to
Speaker 1: have a good game, and I'm locking them up to
Speaker 1: with my buddy West. Yeah, I wouldn't ignore that she's
Speaker 1: on a hot streak. There is something nice. It's then
Speaker 1: I check into a lockoff. Or is that would you
Speaker 1: have an issue with that bar? What if I checked
Speaker 1: into the Chargers? Go for it. I could care less
Speaker 1: what you I'm moving. I'm locking off the charges. Let's
Speaker 1: lock off a lot of trouble. I love it. It's
Speaker 1: a lock off. Baby. Oh, I'm gonna be in such
Speaker 1: a bad mood when the Patriots win. I know, I'm
Speaker 1: so annoyed that. I'm so annoyed that this the first
Speaker 1: thing I did when the playoffs schedule was released that
Speaker 1: night during our podcast a week seventeen, I raced to
Speaker 1: see when the Patriots lazy please be Saturday, so I'm
Speaker 1: not sitting across from this Ghoulansas. That's fair, I do.
Speaker 1: I do as a Patriots homer. I do kind of
Speaker 1: like that this is the year where everyone's a little
Speaker 1: off them, because that's usually when they've done that's usually
Speaker 1: when they've done their best work. And same with Brady.
Speaker 1: Everybody's off Tom Brady. And you know this guy, he's
Speaker 1: like a Jordan type. He's pathological. He's probably using that
Speaker 1: for for good for him at least. All right, let's
Speaker 1: move on. Last game. No, that's a that's a good one.
Speaker 1: That was gonna be a lot of drama. I'm showing
Speaker 1: up to work at New England Sky Sports. You pick
Speaker 1: the paths to I do. I think they're gonna handle
Speaker 1: handle their business and then get whacked next week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I can kind of see that too. The Eagles, Uh,
Speaker 1: here they are. They're all alive. They have won four
Speaker 1: straight games, including uh, Cody Parkey missing that field goal.
Speaker 1: It was tipped. You gotta put that out there. Poor
Speaker 1: Cody Parky got killed and answered all the questions in
Speaker 1: the locker room. Uh. And then we learned that, um,
Speaker 1: who was it? Lyle not are an old intern? Trayvon Hester,
Speaker 1: Treyvon Hester, excuse me, had the blocks field goal. I
Speaker 1: don't know where that came from, Spencer Lisle maybe Um anyway, Uh,
Speaker 1: the Eagles move on because party does not convert. But
Speaker 1: the another spirited effort, especially on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball, gets them to the Superdome to face the Saints,
Speaker 1: the number one seed in the NFC. Mark Greg and
Speaker 1: I know Greg that you you were a Saint Sky.
Speaker 1: You love Nola, you love the dirty South rap game.
Speaker 1: I don't care about the Saints really at this point.
Speaker 1: I mean, like at one point never year, you're trying
Speaker 1: to act like you're not a Saints fan. I I
Speaker 1: would rather have the Chargers would be the team, which
Speaker 1: is kind of a nice like falling points. I would
Speaker 1: love to see the Chargers move on and the Rams
Speaker 1: would be the next team. You can only have so
Speaker 1: many teams that love I mean not. If the Patriots
Speaker 1: can't win, the Chargers would absolutely be the team. It's
Speaker 1: not like it's a secret that's been I've been wanting
Speaker 1: Philip Evers to do it for a long time. I
Speaker 1: would be happy for them. Um, I'll set you up
Speaker 1: this way. The Saints kind of like the Rams. Are
Speaker 1: they peaking? Are they on the other side of the peak? Now?
Speaker 1: Two of the last three games they scored twelve points
Speaker 1: in a win and fourteen points in a loss. Are
Speaker 1: you a little worried about the Saints offense getting going
Speaker 1: uh and taking care of business at home here? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I don't think they're the same offense, or they haven't
Speaker 1: been since the first twelve weeks of the season. And
Speaker 1: part of that is because they were counting on Drew
Speaker 1: Brees to make these ridiculous throws. Because of the way
Speaker 1: the season ended, it's almost been slept on. What an
Speaker 1: incredible season Breeze had and it's one of those where
Speaker 1: the numbers because of his volume, don't speak to how
Speaker 1: many plays he made on his own. To me, he
Speaker 1: was even ahead of Mahomes through eleven twelve weeks of
Speaker 1: the season. They were counting on him to fitballs into
Speaker 1: windows that weren't there, two receivers that weren't really open,
Speaker 1: and that kind of fell apart the last four or
Speaker 1: five weeks. You're right, they were outgained four their last
Speaker 1: six games. They didn't top three seventy yards for a
Speaker 1: long time. But as good as this Eagles defense has
Speaker 1: been playing like this is a heat check for them,
Speaker 1: like Cravon Lebronc and Tray Sullivan and the linebackers who
Speaker 1: played really well in Chicago, how good really is this
Speaker 1: Eagles defense and how much of it has just been
Speaker 1: playing against They did a good job against the Rams,
Speaker 1: but how much of it has been playing against Houston
Speaker 1: and Chicago. It is a whole different story to have
Speaker 1: to play against this Saints team, which you would think
Speaker 1: would kind of figure out how to get a little
Speaker 1: more multiple, get guys open, and get Teddy get involved.
Speaker 1: I think the Saints a big part of their problem
Speaker 1: was the offensive line and they're healthy, now that should
Speaker 1: go a long way. I just think that their offense
Speaker 1: has too much talent to be healthy and not play well.
Speaker 1: And if they're healthy, I expect him to. But also,
Speaker 1: UM have shown no ability whatsoever to read the Eagles,
Speaker 1: a team that has bedeviled and mystified me and I
Speaker 1: have no clue what they're about. So don't listen to
Speaker 1: anything I said. You made a big statement as you
Speaker 1: were walking out of the news room yesterday because we
Speaker 1: were just that's how he likes to leave the news
Speaker 1: room most We were talking about Nick Foles, and then
Speaker 1: just as you're walking away, you were just like, I
Speaker 1: got a man, I'm just taking the l on that one.
Speaker 1: I I. He's just better than I thought. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: beat me. He's just developed into a much better quarterback
Speaker 1: than I thought he was. There is this amazing stat
Speaker 1: about Nick Foles out there that his completion percentage on
Speaker 1: throws of fifteen plus yards big throws. Essentially he's a
Speaker 1: late year quarterback because they were the worst in the
Speaker 1: NFL through Week two, during that early starting stretch, and
Speaker 1: from weeks fifteen to seventeen, and that's fifteen attempts in
Speaker 1: both sample sizes. He is the best, and he's prone
Speaker 1: to errors, and he threw a terrible pick um last
Speaker 1: week against the Bears and threw two overall. But I
Speaker 1: don't think it kind of got a little bit lost
Speaker 1: because of the Parky theatrics, uh and all that. But
Speaker 1: with the that Bears defense, which we love, it was
Speaker 1: a great defense. Um Vic Fagio did a great job
Speaker 1: with that group. The fact that he could do that
Speaker 1: twelve place sixty yard drive down fifteen ten late in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter on the road, that that um crowd,
Speaker 1: their buttons were so tight for that entire game until
Speaker 1: they finally took the lead, and that place was confident
Speaker 1: and going nuts, and Nick Folds gave no f's and
Speaker 1: he just took his team down the field. He is
Speaker 1: a special guy in the big moment, and that's why
Speaker 1: there's no way I would ever lock up the Saints
Speaker 1: in this game. I'll probably pick the Saints just because
Speaker 1: I think it's a superior team. But if Nick Foles
Speaker 1: does it again, can't be shocked. Too many times We've
Speaker 1: seen it now over the past twelve months. They're also
Speaker 1: when they that Week eleven seven blowout means literally nothing
Speaker 1: to me at this point, I cannot think of I
Speaker 1: cannot think of a result that has less to do
Speaker 1: with the two teams involved than these two teams. And
Speaker 1: that was right after they traded for Golden Tate and
Speaker 1: they really that trade until recently has looked like a
Speaker 1: bum trade. But in the year, in the weeks where
Speaker 1: they barely use Golden Tate, they were doing a lot
Speaker 1: of two tight end sets where it was Dallas Goddard
Speaker 1: zach Ertz I think the best tight end duo in
Speaker 1: the league, no question about it, and that helped open
Speaker 1: up the ground game. Then a couple of weeks after
Speaker 1: that loss to the Saints, they got Darren Sprawls back.
Speaker 1: He's been a huge help for them. And in the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks you have Golden Tate starting to
Speaker 1: play a little bit more, and last week he made
Speaker 1: a big difference at the most critical time. They are
Speaker 1: Jordan Hicks, it was back. Tim Joern again is back.
Speaker 1: They're just a little deeper, and then they kind of
Speaker 1: settled down in their secondary. I think Vanti Madox gave
Speaker 1: up a big play last week on a double move.
Speaker 1: You know you're you're gonna test, gave up quite a few,
Speaker 1: quite a few plays against Allen Robinson. You're gonna test.
Speaker 1: You gotta test these guys. Rasul Douglas has been playing well,
Speaker 1: but you got to test these guys. And and to me,
Speaker 1: the Saints running game is kind of the bell weather
Speaker 1: for that offense. When they're running game is going, then
Speaker 1: they look like the two thousand seventeen Saints are the
Speaker 1: one we saw early in the year. And this is
Speaker 1: a tough defense to run against. Though this is not
Speaker 1: an easy defense to run against. Are you gonna have
Speaker 1: any conversations with your friend mark Ingram Mark Sessler ahead
Speaker 1: of this game about whether it's strategy or just general
Speaker 1: well wishing. I'll send him a text. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: not something that is happening often, and it's certainly it's
Speaker 1: your boy Mark with a K. Yeah, it's mostly very
Speaker 1: much a one sided um relate. I mean not that
Speaker 1: that you know, there's ill feelings. But he's not texting
Speaker 1: me being like, hey man, hope you enjoy watching the game,
Speaker 1: have a good podcast. We're just like, so, it's like
Speaker 1: you've had like seven unsent. You know, he hasn't sent
Speaker 1: one back to you. Now he'll respond, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm assuming he has my name in his phone versus
Speaker 1: just like another well wisher where he's just you know,
Speaker 1: how how annoyed would you be if if your name
Speaker 1: was saved in the phone, but it was saved M
Speaker 1: A r K. That would concern me because that seemed
Speaker 1: to be his whole bit, was that he was Differentia,
Speaker 1: probably because that would be the one connection you had,
Speaker 1: was that he was He took the time to address
Speaker 1: you like that in a personal manner, and if that
Speaker 1: was wiped away in his address book, I'd be a
Speaker 1: little bit you've taken out there. Yeah. I don't like
Speaker 1: to think about that. I mean, there's too many other
Speaker 1: things in my mind that are problematic. I'm up typically
Speaker 1: from like one untill five am every night, so I
Speaker 1: kind of view that to be like a healthy thing
Speaker 1: in my life, a good thing in my life. I
Speaker 1: don't want to add that to the dark Lake I
Speaker 1: whatever it's happening, dark Lake. Oh, I don't like that.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying you had a good we had memories together.
Speaker 1: Why did they let the Rams win on Saturday Night?
Speaker 1: We ask you this, we love you, and we praise you.
Speaker 1: I feel confident they will. I I not I cannot
Speaker 1: switch to the Saints because if I lost twice in
Speaker 1: a row with the Eagles being the victor, then there
Speaker 1: would be major introspection happening about my strategy in the
Speaker 1: dark lake. I don't want to take the canoe out there, right,
Speaker 1: So I don't want the lock to like ruin our
Speaker 1: enjoyment of these fine football games. It doesn't seem to
Speaker 1: ruin yours well now, I mean I don't update on
Speaker 1: the standing. By the way, Mark, you're thirteen and five.
Speaker 1: Your magic number is two. I believe West twelve and
Speaker 1: six the Zeus or eleven and seven and Reg you're
Speaker 1: taking the l really hurt your great Troy Aikman comparison
Speaker 1: in when he went nuts. H. He's never been in
Speaker 1: the studio show and he's not picking the game. If
Speaker 1: you wanted to go Bill Kauer, that could have worked.
Speaker 1: But yeah, he he made a big comeback. H. It's
Speaker 1: still happening. I probably needed to win out and Mark
Speaker 1: needs to lose out. Um, potentially, that's where you're at.
Speaker 1: Better get this one right? Who did they pick out?
Speaker 1: The have the Chiefs? All right, let's pick this game.
Speaker 1: I think the Saints are gonna win. Uh. I would.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give it like a twenty six to twenty
Speaker 1: three type deal. I don't feel that confident about this game.
Speaker 1: Saints defense is so much faster in that dome, their
Speaker 1: offense is so much better. Breezes passer raining is thirty
Speaker 1: five points better at home. I just think in that building,
Speaker 1: you I don't see the Eagles doing it. But then again,
Speaker 1: I'm wrong about the Eagles every single time I pick
Speaker 1: against him. So Breeze and Payton have never lost the
Speaker 1: playoff game at home, so it would be These games
Speaker 1: are all so fun because you could kind of talk
Speaker 1: yourself into either side pretty easily. But right now where
Speaker 1: I am in this moment, when I'm talking in words
Speaker 1: are coming out of my mouth. I think the Eagles
Speaker 1: have had an amazing, fun run and it's over. It
Speaker 1: ends here, and I think the Saints might get hot
Speaker 1: and get spicy and win this game by a couple
Speaker 1: of touchdowns. I'll take the Eagles just because no one
Speaker 1: else did. It's good. That's what I did last week,
Speaker 1: just because I thought somebody in the room should take
Speaker 1: the Eagles at worked out and now you're playing indoors
Speaker 1: like this is the Eagles offense I mean the throws
Speaker 1: that Folds were make was making versus pressure, and how
Speaker 1: he knows when the blitz is coming, and how he's
Speaker 1: getting rid of the ball so quickly, and their offensive
Speaker 1: line is playing really well. I don't think the Saints
Speaker 1: are gonna get much pressure on Folds. And just like
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, I think I think indoors helps
Speaker 1: the the Eagles as well in that offense. And I
Speaker 1: think this is another one where it's just gonna be
Speaker 1: points flying up and down, up and down. I'm not
Speaker 1: trusting either of these defense It's gonna be great. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. So there we go. There's a the
Speaker 1: divisional round. Uh. Pretty. You will recap all these games
Speaker 1: on Sunday night. Like we said, we'll be at the
Speaker 1: Rams game. We might talk to a player, we might
Speaker 1: who knows what happens at the Rams game, but we'll
Speaker 1: be there to watch it. But the actual podcast will
Speaker 1: be going up as it always does, late Sunday night
Speaker 1: early Monday, depending on where you are. That's it. Well,
Speaker 1: by the way. One other note, if you're one of
Speaker 1: those people that just cannot get enough of the mailman
Speaker 1: in your life, and in this case, the paramore They
Speaker 1: both appeared on on the broadcast. The recent edition of
Speaker 1: the broadcast Eric's podcast along with Emma. Yeah, we had
Speaker 1: Western Lakisha. It was really really fun. They were so great.
Speaker 1: That's it. It's my turn. I think next, right, I
Speaker 1: think so, you're the last one. Streets are talking about
Speaker 1: this episode. Twitter is blowing up. This is the must listen.
Speaker 1: Check it out the broadcast on on Apple, Apple podcast
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your favorite podcast podcast. While we're
Speaker 1: plugging another podcast, we we talked about our trip to
Speaker 1: the Wesleyan's manner on on Christmas Day on the UHL,
Speaker 1: Nick and Rosenthal a little cross promotion. I like it,
Speaker 1: very quick talking about it. Yeah, a quick, quick story.
Speaker 1: But yeah, well for throwing out, plugs off throw out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the throwback podcast with Dan Hansens and Bob What did
Speaker 1: you talk? What did you did you talk about? Wes
Speaker 1: or Gregory? Didn't related to the show. It's just two
Speaker 1: guys in a garage, best friends, hanging out talking about
Speaker 1: the music. They like. I'm getting a little drunk. You
Speaker 1: texted me when I was in Nashville and you asked
Speaker 1: me if I remembered it, But you did ask me
Speaker 1: to do a justin Timberlake album with You You want
Speaker 1: to Do at Home? At Home? Yeah, all right, You're
Speaker 1: gonna do JT future Sex Love Sounds come on soon
Speaker 1: on the Throwback Pot and Mark Heating Life podcast. What's
Speaker 1: the status That one is not happening right now, but
Speaker 1: there is another one in the works, you know. Meantime,
Speaker 1: I'll just sit here and eat up airtime promoting all
Speaker 1: of your ridiculous side projects. What a manufactured joke. This
Speaker 1: is Dan Hands is signing off for please very angry,
Speaker 1: not at all the quiets, all right for all of
Speaker 1: you the mail man. Look how well dressed that man
Speaker 1: is now the old Boss and Ricky Hollowey behind the
Speaker 1: glass till Sunday night. M hm.