Speaker 1: What's up, guys? Loose Cannon here for a special announcement
Speaker 1: before today's show. Want to hang with the heroes in
Speaker 1: Atlanta over Super Bowl Week. We want to see you.
Speaker 1: Check out our Twitter pages for the link to get
Speaker 1: into the live show The City Winery in Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 1: Can't wait to hang with you Thursday, January thirty one.
Speaker 1: Doors at six starts at eight pm. Get your tickets.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to the show. Be Around with
Speaker 1: the NFL podcast. It's lose on one, titos and soda.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined in
Speaker 1: a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Westling, and
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal. What is up? Boys? Hey? Dan? Divisional Round
Speaker 1: the Football in the books and yes, a bit of
Speaker 1: an underwhelming weekend given the way the games looked on
Speaker 1: paper entering the weekend. But uh, Mark, last year we
Speaker 1: had the Minneapolis Miracle. This weekend we had the double
Speaker 1: forty you shootout with the Jags and the and the Steelers.
Speaker 1: We even had that great it was a low scoring game.
Speaker 1: Who was it? Uh? It was Philadelphia beating Atlanta in
Speaker 1: that tense defensive effort. We didn't have that much drama,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, heading at the
Speaker 1: championship weekend, we got a double one two seed showdown,
Speaker 1: which is something to look forward to. I always felt
Speaker 1: growing Mark Hello, always felt growing up that when you
Speaker 1: had the bad divisional round there were a lot of
Speaker 1: seasons where that was because better teams were taken care
Speaker 1: of business, and we have home teams winning the way
Speaker 1: they should handily. That leads to better, better title game weekend.
Speaker 1: Which is even though everyone everyone gushes over wild card
Speaker 1: weekend and gushes over the divisional weekend, if the a
Speaker 1: f C and NFC title games suck, that's a big letdown.
Speaker 1: I would rather that those two games be the most
Speaker 1: memorable of all. Well, you got the Saints and number
Speaker 1: one seed, best team in the league in the regular season,
Speaker 1: being down fourteen nothing at home. That was certainly a
Speaker 1: good game. But it is somehow fitty that like in
Speaker 1: the year where going into the playoffs, the conventional wisdom was, well,
Speaker 1: this is a year that any team could win, that
Speaker 1: the old wild card weekend team feels like it's time
Speaker 1: for them to make it through all these twelve teams
Speaker 1: or even that all the home teams win pretty easy
Speaker 1: and in a year where like the defenses were coming
Speaker 1: back to kind of taking over in December, that the
Speaker 1: highest scoring teams, all four of them in the regular season,
Speaker 1: are the last four teams sitting. Do we have to
Speaker 1: readjust the uh Mike Francessa kinnard about Thanksgiving as the
Speaker 1: start of the season. We thought we had to read
Speaker 1: on all these teams for the first months, and then
Speaker 1: December comes, they all kind of hit their slumps and
Speaker 1: we disregard this resets again. Yeah, well, now the Francessa
Speaker 1: the season starts in Jary, I mean his season, it
Speaker 1: feels like hasn't been starting for a while. Had to
Speaker 1: get the I mean, there's dropping a bomb on the
Speaker 1: long time broad there's like in entire Twitter account devoted
Speaker 1: to just saying like pointing out the insane things that
Speaker 1: he says every week. I mean, you could be better
Speaker 1: than them, Greg, that could have that was your this
Speaker 1: was your stage and you just decided there accounts to
Speaker 1: you and stuff that you say. You're not that far
Speaker 1: away from the same thing, whether there are what is
Speaker 1: it what was the old Batman or the Batman line?
Speaker 1: It's Uh, either you either die a hero or live
Speaker 1: long enough to become the villain. That's where Mike is
Speaker 1: as to where the Patriots are, all right, They've been
Speaker 1: the villain for a long time, and you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: That was the one thing that hasn't changed from one
Speaker 1: year to another. The worst game of the week involved
Speaker 1: the Patriots blowing out and overwhelmed the opponent in New England.
Speaker 1: But you got player schedule less, you're from Massachusetts. Let's
Speaker 1: get to the games, and like we did last week,
Speaker 1: we'll go in a reverse order, starting with the late
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, which was played in a raucous you
Speaker 1: pronounced that raucus h raucous Superdome. Snap gets off before
Speaker 1: a two minute warning. Things in the pocket throne intercepting
Speaker 1: Mark Shawn Lattimore, Yes, Mark Shawn Lattimore with the second
Speaker 1: interception of the game, returns it to the thirty four
Speaker 1: and better than any time this season. Saints don't take
Speaker 1: a photograph. Zach Stree with the call for w w L.
Speaker 1: With Nick Foles and the Eagles driving and the game
Speaker 1: hanging the balance, Marsha Lattimore picked off b me In
Speaker 1: on a pass that went right through the hands of
Speaker 1: al Sean Jeffrey Bless his heart. It was the deciding
Speaker 1: play in the Saints win over the Eagles. The Saints
Speaker 1: will host the Rams next week for the right to
Speaker 1: represent the NFC in Super Bowl fifty three. Greg Rose
Speaker 1: withtal This game could not have started any worse for
Speaker 1: the Saints, falling down fourteen nothing, but their defense took
Speaker 1: control of the game season it really and then the
Speaker 1: offense did enough. This is the this is the first defense,
Speaker 1: the only defense of the Sean Payton air era that
Speaker 1: would have allowed their offense to come back in this game.
Speaker 1: The fact that they allowed under a hundred yards in
Speaker 1: the last three quarters, that a game so one sided
Speaker 1: in the first quarter when you look at the final
Speaker 1: stats in this game ends up being totally one side
Speaker 1: of the other way. And the Saints weren't perfect on
Speaker 1: offense even in the final three quarters. They had a
Speaker 1: few mistakes here and there, but their defense was so
Speaker 1: solid they kept coming and I just think after this game,
Speaker 1: you can you can almost picture if the Saints are
Speaker 1: to win the Super Bowl. You know, you can just
Speaker 1: picture those those postgame press conference saying, like, you know,
Speaker 1: that first quarter of the Eagles game like that you're
Speaker 1: the second quarter, Like that's where we learned what we
Speaker 1: were made of to be down fourteen nothing against the
Speaker 1: defending champions and for every side of the ball, defense, offense,
Speaker 1: to just stand up and get it done. Like that's
Speaker 1: something you can build on his head. You've been doing
Speaker 1: this too long. We're already worried about what they're gonna
Speaker 1: say at the rise. Doesn't you know what I mean though?
Speaker 1: Like it is a gut I mean, it's a cliche,
Speaker 1: but it is a gut check game. It is like
Speaker 1: kind of a championship impressive level performance to be able
Speaker 1: to bounce back from a situation like that. I'm with you.
Speaker 1: And in between two Marshawn Lattimore picks that really changed
Speaker 1: this game, the Eagles went to sleep with four five
Speaker 1: straight punts on five straight possessions. And you know there
Speaker 1: was reason I thought to come into this game a
Speaker 1: little concerned about the Saints defense. After UH, it was
Speaker 1: none other than Kyle Allen, the backup Panther's quarterback who
Speaker 1: downstairs in the newsroom, Greg searching for his name, called
Speaker 1: him Johnny Appleseed took the Saints apart. UH. In Week
Speaker 1: seventeen just in a mysterious way. And then you got
Speaker 1: the first two drives from the Eagles and you thought
Speaker 1: their magic is continuing. The Saints are in hot water here.
Speaker 1: But then it's almost like the Eagles were a tank
Speaker 1: of gas that just ran out and they went completely
Speaker 1: to bed after that second touchdown Folds, the interception was huge.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of big plays, but you're
Speaker 1: up fourteen nothing, you're at midfield and Falls has thrown
Speaker 1: about one of these a week where it's like he's
Speaker 1: feeling himself and he's just going for it, and he
Speaker 1: threw kind of an unforced interception, and that to me,
Speaker 1: they were going in for a three score lead potentially
Speaker 1: helped change the game. That was a turning point in
Speaker 1: the game. Another turning point in the game. There were
Speaker 1: two calls this weekend that I absolutely loved from an
Speaker 1: onion standpoint, and we'll get to the other one later.
Speaker 1: It happened last night at the Colisseum here in l A.
Speaker 1: But the call for me was fourteen nothing. Uh, and
Speaker 1: the Saints are desperate to get something going there at
Speaker 1: their own thirty yard line at a fourth and one
Speaker 1: and Peyton. You know, Sean Payton is guy that's not
Speaker 1: afraid to do anything. He can get wacky. On third
Speaker 1: and one, it's a penalty a hold on Ryan Ramcheck
Speaker 1: and they decline it. Uh, the Eagles do because they say, oh,
Speaker 1: they're gonna punt it away, and and Sean Payton right,
Speaker 1: and I I thought that it was the right move
Speaker 1: to decline it. But then you also remember who the
Speaker 1: opposing head coaches, and Sean Payton, no hesitation, called for
Speaker 1: the fake, got the conversion, and then they scored their
Speaker 1: first touchdown and it was the first of twenty straight
Speaker 1: points to win the game. I loved that call in
Speaker 1: that spot, but it was undeniably risky. If they do
Speaker 1: not convert that they are down fourteen points with Nick
Speaker 1: Foles coming on the field first and ten from the
Speaker 1: third well and that and that following up on that punt,
Speaker 1: that fake punt which Dan called in the newsroom before
Speaker 1: it happened, was the touchdown pass that went to Kirkwood
Speaker 1: was was also on fourth down they didn't Again, it's
Speaker 1: the ultra aggressiveness, the trust in the offense. These are
Speaker 1: two great coaches, and Sean Payton never took the foot
Speaker 1: off the gas after that series. It brought the crowd
Speaker 1: back in and you know, that first play of the game,
Speaker 1: the interception by Kravon LeBlanc, took the crowd out of
Speaker 1: it Defer stadium. And then it wasn't until the middle
Speaker 1: of the second quarter where you started to see some
Speaker 1: false starts, wasted time outs by the Eagles. Um you
Speaker 1: started seeing the mistakes because the noise was a factor.
Speaker 1: And then come in at a halftime that twelve minute
Speaker 1: eight team play drive in which we saw Taysom Hill
Speaker 1: come in and throw the best deep ball of the game,
Speaker 1: hitting Alvin Kamara and stride, only to have it nullified
Speaker 1: by by penalty. And then you know, if there's one
Speaker 1: thing Drew Brees did really well in this game, it
Speaker 1: was picking up second in twenties heard and crazy. You know,
Speaker 1: these long downs that he had to pick up because
Speaker 1: he he really was jittery to start and made some
Speaker 1: mistakes and his deep ball wasn't great today either. There
Speaker 1: were some Ducks touchdown eighteen plays ninety two yards is
Speaker 1: what West, but it was actually a hundred and twelve
Speaker 1: yards because they overcame two first and twenty. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that was a major, major um um drive by
Speaker 1: a team that I think the Saints are the best
Speaker 1: team in the NFC, but when you followed up behind
Speaker 1: fourteen nothing, the game could go sideways. I think there's
Speaker 1: a lot that you learned about New Orleans today and
Speaker 1: it informs me going forward about who I picked to
Speaker 1: win next week and the two weeks after that, because
Speaker 1: I think this was like you were saying, I don't
Speaker 1: know who said it now, but when they owe on
Speaker 1: the riser, you were obsessed with the riser, Greg, this
Speaker 1: will be a memorable, memorable moment in their season. I
Speaker 1: think that will remember. Yeah, that memorable because they're a
Speaker 1: complete team. I mean they it's not all Breeze and
Speaker 1: Breeze and Michael Thomas. He didn't even play that well.
Speaker 1: He didn't. He hit a lot of key throws and
Speaker 1: he kind of ultimately if you just watch Thomas played
Speaker 1: huge play, right, you think he carried the quarterback, not
Speaker 1: the other way around. I think that's totally fair to
Speaker 1: to put twelve catches a hundred and seventy one yards.
Speaker 1: He doesn't fit the mold of what you think of
Speaker 1: as the top you know, two or three receiver in
Speaker 1: the NFL. You know, he's not t O or Randy
Speaker 1: Moss or or Antonio Brown. He's maybe more like a
Speaker 1: mid career Larry Fitzgerald. But he is a right he
Speaker 1: But I don't even think he has that that the
Speaker 1: same vertical ability as Hopkins. But what he can do
Speaker 1: is put his team on his back. He's done in
Speaker 1: a quite a bit. And what helps us when he
Speaker 1: will score three touchdowns in the Super Bowl and suddenly
Speaker 1: everyone's you know, wife, mother, son, father, uncle will know
Speaker 1: who he is. And he's relatively anonymous for how powerful
Speaker 1: and amazing of an athlete he is. With all that said,
Speaker 1: the same, you know got some breaks. You know, Fulls
Speaker 1: that that first of all, the Jeffrey drop, you know
Speaker 1: they're going in right there, they have a chance to
Speaker 1: take the lead, and that was basically just a mistake
Speaker 1: by Jeffrey dropping. It turns into an interception. Fulls missed
Speaker 1: throws in this game, more throws than he has uh
Speaker 1: in any start that he's made down the stretch, not
Speaker 1: just the the interception, but a few third downs where
Speaker 1: he just missed the throw where they picked up the
Speaker 1: blitz pretty well. And it's gonna happen. He's not a
Speaker 1: He's not a perfect human or a perfect quarterback, but
Speaker 1: he's played closer to one lately and he missed him.
Speaker 1: This is what And he did miss throws. But what
Speaker 1: really bumms me out about the game and and why
Speaker 1: ultimately I don't I think this could have been a
Speaker 1: more exciting game, even though it was much better than
Speaker 1: the other three games this weekend, is I wanted to
Speaker 1: see how this was really gonna play out, and instead
Speaker 1: Alshean Jeffrey was a very nice wide receiver. I mean,
Speaker 1: any team would love to have all Shan Jeffrey. They
Speaker 1: wouldn't be in this position without the way he's played
Speaker 1: absolutely last yeah, yeah, absolutely, but that law, that is
Speaker 1: a drop that will stick with him and he'll regret.
Speaker 1: You know, he'll live with that for the rest of
Speaker 1: his career because that was he put it right on
Speaker 1: the right on his hands and shot through the hands
Speaker 1: and write to Lattimore, whose right place, right time? I'd
Speaker 1: love to know where that happened exactly on the field,
Speaker 1: but we're talking first and tens. Yeah, and we'll never know.
Speaker 1: I would have loved to see Nick Foles one last
Speaker 1: chance defending the title, but the Eagles didn't execute in
Speaker 1: this state. I was confident what's above your head right there.
Speaker 1: Look up, Oh a lock. Mark's closing in on the title.
Speaker 1: What is above his head? I don't see that either.
Speaker 1: I don't get the ref. I don't know. I was
Speaker 1: just like, he's gonna look up and there's the lock.
Speaker 1: We'll put that in there in post. It sounds like
Speaker 1: it was there. There was some There was some nervous moments,
Speaker 1: by the way, very nervous moments, because Mark switched out
Speaker 1: of his RAMS lock. Uh. He showed up at l
Speaker 1: A Live and approximately seven thirty am before the Rams
Speaker 1: game and saw Cowboys fans milling around and it was raining,
Speaker 1: and he jumped off the RAMS pick and then uh
Speaker 1: had to live with the drama that lasted fourteen now,
Speaker 1: thing that he took a walk at one point he
Speaker 1: came back and your your Saints didn't let you down,
Speaker 1: and we're all thankful for it. I had this bizarre,
Speaker 1: like semi awake dream that the Saints and Cowboys were
Speaker 1: gonna be in the NFC title games. So I got
Speaker 1: jittery about the Rams switched to the Saints, which felt
Speaker 1: maybe almost too safe, And after watching the Rams coast
Speaker 1: over the Cowboys, I thought that was a lost opportunity.
Speaker 1: Big time. I could sense that in the press box
Speaker 1: with you too, that you were living with that. I
Speaker 1: guess I could send sense it during a penalty called
Speaker 1: on the Saints in the fourth courter. I believe when
Speaker 1: you get like, come on with this BS, always with
Speaker 1: this BS. I've seen it's Hyah doesn't speak. I shouldn't
Speaker 1: put value on what I often kill. You guys are
Speaker 1: playing parlor games. This is less important than any someone's
Speaker 1: fantasy team. So this is no game for you. I
Speaker 1: don't know why gods were with you. The injuries kept
Speaker 1: hitting the like every other minute, a new Eagle got injured,
Speaker 1: and then Jeffreys dropping it. It was it was on
Speaker 1: your side. Have you given any thought to your strategy
Speaker 1: going forward in the luck game? Because you can try
Speaker 1: to you can try to block me out from like
Speaker 1: the Saints at home next week. Well, we have time
Speaker 1: to talk about. But there's a lot of strategy to
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox suffered a foot injury. He was in and
Speaker 1: out of the lineup. Uh, they lost a key part
Speaker 1: of their offensive line. Peters was out at Jason Peters
Speaker 1: Books suffered a serious injury. So it just seemed like
Speaker 1: the magic was starting to wear off. For Philly. But
Speaker 1: then uh, you had the missed field goal uh by Lutz,
Speaker 1: and you thought, oh, maybe this is their last shot,
Speaker 1: maybe that maybe they still have the magic. But ultimately
Speaker 1: the defense of the title comes to an end for
Speaker 1: the Eagles. But it was a great run. Nick Foles
Speaker 1: will probably in all likelihood move on from the Eagles,
Speaker 1: but he is, even with the loss today and the
Speaker 1: interception that sealed the deal, a legend in that town.
Speaker 1: What what was your take? And then I agree, And
Speaker 1: it was tough. That was a tough one to explain
Speaker 1: to my seven year old daughter, widen Falls won't be
Speaker 1: on the team next year, Like that's a concept that's
Speaker 1: really tough to for her to figure out. Well, I
Speaker 1: want to know your take down that. Please don't tell
Speaker 1: me you try to talk contract with your seven a
Speaker 1: little bit. She was asking because she was saying, to
Speaker 1: see guaranteed to play the rest of the playoffs, And
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, pretty much, and she she was saying, like,
Speaker 1: so he'll be their quarterback next year, right, they'll keep
Speaker 1: him right because he's playing so well. And then I
Speaker 1: was trying to she's using the word guarantee. I liked that.
Speaker 1: What I wanted to ask Dan what he thought of
Speaker 1: the Saints turning their locker room going next level with
Speaker 1: their celebrations by turning it into kind of a nightclub
Speaker 1: doing a Strobe light and and they were playing Meek
Speaker 1: Mill too, so they were really trying to stick it
Speaker 1: in the well. We were in the locker room last
Speaker 1: year after the Super Bowl. Dreams and Nightmares was the
Speaker 1: signature song of the Eagle Super Bowl run. So the
Speaker 1: Saints thrown salt on the wound. They're playing that song.
Speaker 1: They also got the case with the Super Bowl trophy
Speaker 1: and two under grand and rings Sean Payton maybe going
Speaker 1: crazy are taking side eats with a Strobe Like I
Speaker 1: have some characters on that team. I'm not surprised they're
Speaker 1: in the right city for that too. Uh So, Anyway,
Speaker 1: there you go. The Saints move on. Any final thoughts
Speaker 1: or shall we head to the early game on Sunday?
Speaker 1: I don't really want to now you want to put
Speaker 1: this off As long as total pro I've been dealing
Speaker 1: with for years and years, I can handle a divisional
Speaker 1: playoff game to Foxborough. Michelle behind devil encounter handoff Michelle
Speaker 1: heng we right to the five to the play line, touchdown.
Speaker 1: Patriots Quota run two very workman like, executed perfectly type
Speaker 1: drives to start the football game for the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: Bob Soci Scott Zolac, Patriots Radio Network. Yes, they started
Speaker 1: fast and never let up. Sony Sony Michelle ran for
Speaker 1: a hundred twenty nine yards, three scores, and the Pats
Speaker 1: rolled over the Chargers. New England will face the Chiefs
Speaker 1: and next week's a f C title game. It is
Speaker 1: New England's eighth straight trip to the championship game in
Speaker 1: the a f C and thirdte overall in the Brady
Speaker 1: Belichick era. Um which is I even have to say
Speaker 1: impress vaguely mark. The final score doesn't tell the story here.
Speaker 1: The Patriots played a nearly perfect game in the Chargers.
Speaker 1: They just pulled a total no show. It was the
Speaker 1: recipe for another January blowout at Foxboro. I know there's
Speaker 1: a lot of uh Patriots hate out there, and at
Speaker 1: this point almost it's gonna take for all of this
Speaker 1: in New England to finally wash away. Maybe it's years
Speaker 1: from now to appreciate some of these Patriots games, but
Speaker 1: they became the first team since the two thousand and
Speaker 1: three cults in the playoffs who knocked off at Jake
Speaker 1: Plumber led Broncos team to open a game with four
Speaker 1: straight touchdowns and their first drive. This was another one
Speaker 1: of these games, and it reminds me of the Colts
Speaker 1: Texans game from a week ago, where we were sitting
Speaker 1: around and you knew this thing was curtains. Ten minutes
Speaker 1: and total curtains. They opened with a fourteen play masterful
Speaker 1: drive that was their longest of the open longest opening
Speaker 1: drive in the Bill Belichick era, seven minutes and eleven
Speaker 1: seconds total domination. That showed you what was to come.
Speaker 1: It was James White with little screens, sometimes from a
Speaker 1: wide receiver position. Fifteen catches on the day he had
Speaker 1: six in the first couple of minutes of the game.
Speaker 1: You could say you could tell right away that Sony
Speaker 1: Michelle was blocked well. The Chargers were dominated on both
Speaker 1: sides of the line. They could not get to Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: and Tom Brady for the second game in a row,
Speaker 1: played a very clean, very intriguing game that leaves leaves
Speaker 1: me concerned about Kansas City next week if they cannot
Speaker 1: get to Brady. Isn't it the story of the Patriots?
Speaker 1: Every playoff run the years where they get knocked out
Speaker 1: is when the opponent shows up and can rush Brady.
Speaker 1: And we thought all we had here was a great
Speaker 1: recipe for us being most of America that wants to
Speaker 1: see the Patriots go away with Ingram, with Bosa, and
Speaker 1: we just we didn't see any pressure on Tom Brady
Speaker 1: for the majority or all of this game. They were
Speaker 1: raced And I one thing on and if the crowd
Speaker 1: played a huge element in the in that Saints game,
Speaker 1: I think that the Chargers looked cold, they looked unhappy,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't long into the game that you were
Speaker 1: starting to get those long sideline shots of Philip Rivers
Speaker 1: just standing there watching Tom Brady drop kick Father time
Speaker 1: into another dimension. It's another week. We're gonna have to
Speaker 1: wait to write him off, Tom Brady, he looked great today. Well.
Speaker 1: Claiming a player is washed up is always tricky business
Speaker 1: because you just don't have any knowledge or data to
Speaker 1: back that up. All you're going on is by what
Speaker 1: you see. And when Ian Rappaport reports that Brady had
Speaker 1: been playing through an m c L sprain or tear,
Speaker 1: that would explain maybe why he didn't want to take
Speaker 1: a hit why he wasn't doing well with pressure in
Speaker 1: the pocket, But it doesn't explain why all of his
Speaker 1: throws were losing momentum. At the end of that I
Speaker 1: was gonna I was gonna say not to to be
Speaker 1: you know, the guy that always shoots down Brady or whatever.
Speaker 1: But did he I mean, did he play a tremendous
Speaker 1: game today or did he would say, execute what was
Speaker 1: laid out in front of him, because executed at a
Speaker 1: very high level. Executed, and that's what that's what he's
Speaker 1: always done. Rights the stuff. It wasn't the highest level
Speaker 1: of challenge. The Chargers did not show up today, right,
Speaker 1: But that's like him and McDaniels as a combination, winning
Speaker 1: before the snap at identifying the matchups, kind of looking receivers.
Speaker 1: That's been his game all along. I mean, that was
Speaker 1: his game in the Super Bowl last year when he
Speaker 1: threw for five hundred plus yards too and played great.
Speaker 1: That's that's kind of who he was. And and McDaniels
Speaker 1: deserves a lot of credit along with Brady for really
Speaker 1: just putting it on Gus Bradley. I mean, talk about
Speaker 1: a fall from bas. Gus Bradley was getting so much
Speaker 1: love last week, and this is just his own defense
Speaker 1: where they kind of knew what was coming. The first
Speaker 1: couple of third downs of the game, they were just
Speaker 1: wide open. I thought that was like a great sign
Speaker 1: that he was getting these easy third down throws. And
Speaker 1: that the thing that the Patriots and Brady and McDaniels,
Speaker 1: I'll do well as they mix it up so well
Speaker 1: drive to drive, So one drive was really pass heavy.
Speaker 1: Then they went with the power and and the the
Speaker 1: dime defense was suddenly out for the Chargers again, and
Speaker 1: they ran it down their throats with Gronk and with
Speaker 1: Dwayne Allen, with James del Devlin, and then they mix
Speaker 1: it up again, and they were never the same. Sometimes
Speaker 1: they were using tempo, sometimes they're not. They're never the
Speaker 1: same thing. Forget about halftime adjustments. They're making adjustments every
Speaker 1: other drive. And you're right. It made it look the
Speaker 1: two A f C games whereas one sided as you
Speaker 1: would expect like the Raiders to be if they were
Speaker 1: a road team playing the Chiefs or the Patriot. One
Speaker 1: of my biggest takeaways was how incredibly out coached the
Speaker 1: Charges were, which should be a total surprise. Bill belichicks
Speaker 1: on one side and he has a bye week to prepare,
Speaker 1: but they You just could tell from the minute this
Speaker 1: game started that the Patriots had a game plan and
Speaker 1: they executed and the Chargers had no answer. It's twenty
Speaker 1: three first downs when the Chargers had twenty three total plays,
Speaker 1: and and and the one thing that the Patriots are
Speaker 1: so flexible, you essentially cannot count on Gronk taking over
Speaker 1: the game as a pass catcher. I get that now
Speaker 1: he's the greatest blocker on Earth. That's fine, but you
Speaker 1: also don't have Josh Gordon. And they did not really
Speaker 1: miss either today in the sense that they find a
Speaker 1: way to flexibly re jigger their offense, where on the
Speaker 1: Chargers side, Melvin Gordon is obviously not healthy and wound
Speaker 1: up with about fifteen yards on the ground. They came
Speaker 1: up with no alternative solution on offense to mystify the Patriots, none. Well,
Speaker 1: the Patriots were very physical and creative on defense. To
Speaker 1: Brian Flores, has been like that since the bye week,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was really telling. This game out
Speaker 1: on think came out of nowhere for the Patriots in
Speaker 1: the sense that when they beat the Bills in Week sixteen,
Speaker 1: all Belichick was as happy as he was all season,
Speaker 1: and all he talked about was all we talked about
Speaker 1: all week was being more physical than the other team,
Speaker 1: which seems like kind of a coaching cliche. But they
Speaker 1: did it against the Bills, they did it against the Jets,
Speaker 1: they did it against the Charges. Were on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball. They really dominated pretty well. Up front.
Speaker 1: They quite dominate against the Bills on on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: They certainly did that today where the defense is trusting
Speaker 1: the secondary for the most part, they're getting very creative
Speaker 1: with what they're doing up front, and they've causing all
Speaker 1: sorts of problems for that Chargers offensive line. Well, it
Speaker 1: didn't come out of left field in the sense that
Speaker 1: the Chargers have been a bad offense for months. They've
Speaker 1: been a bad, bad offense for two months, and the
Speaker 1: talk about them being a complete team was just never true.
Speaker 1: Edelman looks different than he did earlier in the season.
Speaker 1: I think he's healthier. I think the bye week certainly
Speaker 1: must have helped Tom Brady. The injury supposedly dates back
Speaker 1: to Week eleven in that when they tried to run
Speaker 1: that Philly special that he tripped himself up on. And
Speaker 1: I think the week off what helped him. All what
Speaker 1: did they run? I mean it occurred trying to correct
Speaker 1: it was the Philly Ordinary. Yes, well, but that comes
Speaker 1: on a day when there was a helmet catch in
Speaker 1: the Saints game, and Emmanuel Sands was on NFL Network
Speaker 1: the whole promo about a helmet catch he made at
Speaker 1: one point, so you know, helmet ordinary sit on that.
Speaker 1: That was West's lock, by the way, which where oh yeah,
Speaker 1: and and and unfortunately I rooted for it. I would
Speaker 1: have never made this lock if I was really in
Speaker 1: hardcore contention for the lock off. I decided to follow
Speaker 1: my heart and uh and just go all in. But
Speaker 1: I felt pretty strongly that the Patriots had a real chance,
Speaker 1: uh not only to win this game. I always thought
Speaker 1: they were going to get back to the title game.
Speaker 1: Do I think I'm gonna get to the super Bowl?
Speaker 1: It could. You have to admit, though, in a season
Speaker 1: where you know, there's been a couple of times this
Speaker 1: season where you're like, yeah, we know they might get back,
Speaker 1: but these aren't the same old Patriots. You have to
Speaker 1: admit that this is different. That here on Divisional Round weekend,
Speaker 1: they are breaking new ground. They are putting up as
Speaker 1: good even if this is all there is. Like a
Speaker 1: divisional round home playoff win is not something to be
Speaker 1: taken for granted, some teams don't. It was so for
Speaker 1: a decade, and they looked just any good, just any
Speaker 1: This was as good a half at least as they've
Speaker 1: had statistically or anything else since they be put doors
Speaker 1: off Tim Tebow in two thousand and eleven. That was
Speaker 1: the only half that was anywhere similar to that. The
Speaker 1: demise of the Patriots against defense. The demise of the
Speaker 1: Patriots was always overblown this season. Like I I've said
Speaker 1: this on this podcast, that people have really even Patriots fans.
Speaker 1: You've heard Patriots fans go nuts this year about how
Speaker 1: this your feels different, something's wrong. But this team has
Speaker 1: never been that bad. Tom Brady has never been that bad,
Speaker 1: so this shouldn't be a shocking. There was more evidence,
Speaker 1: but then the evidence vanished so much of the season
Speaker 1: they were maybe the fifth best team in the league
Speaker 1: instead of the second or third, or fifth or sixth.
Speaker 1: I I did see though, your your negative energy in
Speaker 1: this game, Dan kind of turned towards Philip Rivers, which
Speaker 1: I thought was unfair. Well let's just let's be well,
Speaker 1: let's be fair because teflon Phil never gets any heat.
Speaker 1: And you'll notice we've done an attire uh yeah, without
Speaker 1: even mentioning his name. Because whenever things go wrong for
Speaker 1: the Charges, that's never on Phil Rivers. When things go
Speaker 1: bad for the Johans, for instance, it's all one. But
Speaker 1: that's I mean, it is what it is. I'm not
Speaker 1: here to uh to get into that conversation, but I
Speaker 1: will tell you, oh and seven against Tom Brady in
Speaker 1: his career. Uh, he is now thirty seven years old.
Speaker 1: He's not getting closer to the super Bowl. In fact,
Speaker 1: he's taking seven teams of the playoffs and never got
Speaker 1: into a super Bowl game. Once. You could say he's
Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer. Fine, he's putting up great stats
Speaker 1: and he's had a fine career, but that's the way
Speaker 1: the sport is west. You get judged by what you
Speaker 1: do in January, your super Bowl glories, and Phil Rivers
Speaker 1: just does not have it. It's a huge, gaping black
Speaker 1: mark on his resume. To me, that's fine. Um, I'm
Speaker 1: never gonna choose like a handful of playoff games over
Speaker 1: fifteen years and two and twenty games of excellence. Well,
Speaker 1: that's fine, but I'm gonna judge. That's not what you
Speaker 1: have to do, though, but you you can't ignore fame criteria,
Speaker 1: and I'll use mom. I'm saying Phil Rivers is a
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, but you cannot ignore that he just
Speaker 1: hasn't gotten it done. It reminds me a little bit
Speaker 1: of San Marino, who did get to a super Bowl
Speaker 1: right away and then never got back, and growing up
Speaker 1: always hearing about Dan Rito being the best quarterback, even
Speaker 1: over many thought over Joe Montana. For me, as a fan,
Speaker 1: I would much rather have the quarterback that won multiple
Speaker 1: Super Bowls. I get that, I get the whole quarterback
Speaker 1: wins thing, please and but but this came up to
Speaker 1: an example about it. This was a good example because
Speaker 1: and Rivers didn't play well at the end of the season,
Speaker 1: so there's not much to defense. Although I don't think
Speaker 1: this game the first half was really on him. He
Speaker 1: was fine in the first half and then he just
Speaker 1: started throwing up prayers. This game was typical a lot
Speaker 1: of the Chargers era though, absolutely no running game, absolutely
Speaker 1: no help from the defense, absolutely no offensive line. And
Speaker 1: you can say that's teflon Phil, that's making an excuse
Speaker 1: for him, but it just is true. If you watch,
Speaker 1: if you put if you switch teams, Tom Brady would
Speaker 1: have no chance to win this game. That's just I'm
Speaker 1: not even a Phil Rivers fan, Like I don't care
Speaker 1: if he gets in the Hall of Fame or not,
Speaker 1: but I just think you don't ignore what a guy
Speaker 1: has done over fifteen years. Well, I'm saying you don't
Speaker 1: ignore anything. You look at the entire picture and this
Speaker 1: and I today is the team didn't show up to play.
Speaker 1: If the offensive line didn't show up, the defense certainly
Speaker 1: didn't show up. That coaches, but the coaches did not
Speaker 1: were not competitive with the Patriots coaches. So I don't
Speaker 1: put this loss on Phil. But I'm just facts are facts.
Speaker 1: He's fifteen years into a career and he has not
Speaker 1: won the big Game or even gotten to the game yet.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be the nice little pull quote that they
Speaker 1: use when they advertise our show three hours and now
Speaker 1: on Twitter. And you're gonna have like all of a
Speaker 1: bunch of people coming after You're about to say like
Speaker 1: all of Chargers Nation, and then you were like, well,
Speaker 1: I just said lots of people. There are lots of people.
Speaker 1: Get off that topic. Mark, Well, I was gonna say
Speaker 1: like we all know about the a f C championship
Speaker 1: games for Brady, but I saw a stat today that
Speaker 1: really blew me away. The Patriots have been favored in
Speaker 1: their last sixty nine games that Tom Brady has started,
Speaker 1: and now they're they might not be favored going into
Speaker 1: Kansas City. They're not, no way. So you're the first
Speaker 1: time second line actually in vague three points. I'd be
Speaker 1: surprised if they were. No, they're not. Uh, And that
Speaker 1: was weren't they underdocks in Jacksonville this year? But you
Speaker 1: tell us? According to the sources on Twitter, Let's move
Speaker 1: on to Saturday, starting with the night game here in
Speaker 1: l A center, first left, give to Anderson and he
Speaker 1: puts it in the pace, puts down c J. Anderson
Speaker 1: powers through the left side and with seven sixteen to go,
Speaker 1: it's twenty nine Rams with the league. There is West's
Speaker 1: neighbor JB. Long with the call for KSPN C Janniss
Speaker 1: one yard plunge on fourth down served as a statement
Speaker 1: of intent for the Rams, who bullied the Cowboys at
Speaker 1: the point of attack in a thirty to two conquest
Speaker 1: at the Coliseum. It is the first playoff victory in
Speaker 1: for the Rams in fourteen years, and it sends them
Speaker 1: to the Superdome to meet the Saints the title game
Speaker 1: West a week ago. The Dallas de completely STYMI and
Speaker 1: Seattle on the ground. How could the Rams bulldoze them?
Speaker 1: For two seventy three. We saw a lot of dominant
Speaker 1: offensive line play this weekend. The Patriots, certainly the Chiefs
Speaker 1: bullied the Colts um and this game might have been
Speaker 1: the most impressive of any of the offensive lines. And
Speaker 1: if you, I think, if you look, you'll see that um.
Speaker 1: The Rams coaching staff had picked up some tendencies on
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and that played out too. But it really
Speaker 1: was just blowing those guys off the ball that this
Speaker 1: was the worst game Jalen Smith and Layton Vanderesh played
Speaker 1: and mixing and Sean Lee, I'm not sure helped very much. Well,
Speaker 1: that's a lot of the play calling though, too, And
Speaker 1: I think that gets lost in Sean McVeigh. You know,
Speaker 1: his reputation is that he comes They ultimately come from
Speaker 1: the Shanahan tree, and the running game is so crucial,
Speaker 1: and you can be creative in the running game, and
Speaker 1: they were incredibly creative with everything that they did pre
Speaker 1: snap and it's it's kind of more of a finesse
Speaker 1: and timing offensive line. You don't want to call any
Speaker 1: offensive line finesse, but it's like they are moving in
Speaker 1: Unison and they were at their best, just like they
Speaker 1: were the last couple of weeks of the season behind c. J. Anderson.
Speaker 1: They they found a little something with C. J. Anderson
Speaker 1: in the power running game. I think they're better run
Speaker 1: blocking than they are passed. You had a good observation, Greg,
Speaker 1: we went to this game last night. Uh, Greg, myself
Speaker 1: and Mark and you were rewatching the game this morning. Uh.
Speaker 1: This was an absolute beat down and it kind of
Speaker 1: some people might not notice that they had the ball
Speaker 1: nine times, they punted once, and they didn't have a turnover.
Speaker 1: I mean they they went up and down the field.
Speaker 1: To only have the ball nine times is very low
Speaker 1: in a game. And to score or have a scoring
Speaker 1: attempt they had one missfield goal every single time you
Speaker 1: had the ball is amazing. And I give a lot
Speaker 1: of credit to McVeigh for the fourth and one that
Speaker 1: he took early in the game, not the one at
Speaker 1: the end which wins it, which is also kind of amazing.
Speaker 1: And Sean McVeigh just showing who he is, but fourth
Speaker 1: and one on his side of the field to go
Speaker 1: for it, kind of understanding we are better than you.
Speaker 1: This is what we're good and even though it kind
Speaker 1: of it's supposed to be a strength for you, we're
Speaker 1: gonna run you. A great development for football fans, who
Speaker 1: I think in many ways lead the way because of
Speaker 1: the way they played Madden and other things where it's
Speaker 1: like it's a video game. Of course I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: for it on fourth down, but coaches were late, too
Speaker 1: late to that, and we're in a season now where
Speaker 1: you're basically shamed if you aren't going for some of
Speaker 1: these fourth and short situations. And McVeigh is someone who
Speaker 1: led the way on this. Let's hear. Let's hear from
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh on the fourth and goal rush, which was
Speaker 1: the other big onion hanger for me because they kicked
Speaker 1: the field goal there in control of that game, but
Speaker 1: if they miss it, all of a sudden, the doors
Speaker 1: wide open for Dallas. Here's McVeigh on his reasoning why
Speaker 1: talk about going to talk about they talk about Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think, really, when you when you think
Speaker 1: about what our team is, we always talk about attacking
Speaker 1: success and never fear and failure, and we wanted to
Speaker 1: come out here and play fearless tonight. So McVeigh never
Speaker 1: doubted it. But but that to me just shows the
Speaker 1: confidence that they had in their offensive line in this game.
Speaker 1: And if good for guys like Andrew Whitworth, who was
Speaker 1: ow and seven in the playoffs and his career stuck
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati, finally wins a game. He's like hugging his
Speaker 1: his family on the field, and he was a major star.
Speaker 1: The offensive line was the star of this game for
Speaker 1: the Rent, and the line was getting dinged in recent
Speaker 1: weeks for not being its normal self. It was It
Speaker 1: is cool when you're at these games because you see
Speaker 1: things obviously you never would otherwise. And Whitworth running off
Speaker 1: the field with his two boys in Whitworth jerseys in
Speaker 1: front of him and one one cameraman around them like
Speaker 1: bumped shut shout his butt, like got like went into space,
Speaker 1: like moved his butt together. Sorry, this is the cameraman,
Speaker 1: like thrusted his butt in there and knocked Whitworth's little
Speaker 1: boy down and like the other boy kept running. But
Speaker 1: Whitworth like reached down and just picked up his son
Speaker 1: and just ran into the locker room without skipping a beat,
Speaker 1: totally happy. We talked to head with it. He actually
Speaker 1: said to his son and he was like, come on,
Speaker 1: you gotta watch out. It's like watch out for these guys.
Speaker 1: And we talked to Kara Henderson, who is the life
Speaker 1: of Rams general manager Less Sneed after the game, and
Speaker 1: she was joyous because it was a year ago that
Speaker 1: West and Dan and I were there where you could
Speaker 1: see on her face after they lost to the Falcons,
Speaker 1: what a left obviously, what a massive letdown that was
Speaker 1: after that Ram season. She was in fine form last night,
Speaker 1: totally happy, and she brought up Andrew Whitworth over and
Speaker 1: over because she's very close to the whole family, that
Speaker 1: this may be the last time that he has a
Speaker 1: chance to go to the playoffs after such a long
Speaker 1: career in Cincinnati where that was not an option. So
Speaker 1: I never got credit in Cincinnati when he played at
Speaker 1: an all pro level for a lot of years. And
Speaker 1: another guy who played at an all pro level but
Speaker 1: really got criticized this year was in Dominican Sue, who
Speaker 1: I thought really controlled Zeke Elliott in that kind of
Speaker 1: scrimmage that this I know, it wasn't like a great
Speaker 1: game in being there, it certainly felt like the Rams
Speaker 1: had control of it. There were a number of moments
Speaker 1: where the Cowboys could have gotten back into it and
Speaker 1: they couldn't make that one play, and one of those
Speaker 1: was certainly the fourth down that Zeke got stopped at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the fourth quarter. I mean that is
Speaker 1: a massive play in that game. It's twenty three to fifteen,
Speaker 1: and you think about that whole sequence. Donald breaks through
Speaker 1: to get a four yard loss on the first down
Speaker 1: on a running plate that the Cowboys ran ten times
Speaker 1: on first down for fifteen yards. I mean, they don't
Speaker 1: have a strong offensive line in the interior anymore. They
Speaker 1: have Zack Martin, but there's two other guys that are
Speaker 1: just getting killed by Donald and Sue and Brocker's. Then
Speaker 1: the Cowboys do a good job basically setting up a
Speaker 1: fourth and a foot and they get blasted again. You
Speaker 1: can't get a yard with Zeke Elliott, like you don't
Speaker 1: deserve to win. Do you think the Rams defense is
Speaker 1: sort of fixed now or was this match up specific?
Speaker 1: I think they're fine, kind of like all four defenses
Speaker 1: left there just are fine. I think the Saints are
Speaker 1: probably the best, are the best one closest thing to
Speaker 1: a difference maker, where it's it's they're okay and they're
Speaker 1: trying to make their plays, but all of them to
Speaker 1: me our offense led team. I do think they matched
Speaker 1: up well with Dallas. I'm not sure you're gonna see
Speaker 1: you know this same situation a dance your question now.
Speaker 1: C J. Anderson twenty three one three, two touchdowns. He
Speaker 1: not only had making guys missed. It's not just the
Speaker 1: offensive line. He's making some guys. But if the Raiders
Speaker 1: kept him on his roster, on the roster all yearning,
Speaker 1: he never even got to go they go to the
Speaker 1: that would have been the great tragedy. He's like a
Speaker 1: bowling ball at this stage of his career. I was
Speaker 1: marveling at at the shape of his body in person.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's like he's he just goes right through
Speaker 1: the hole, doesn't nothing, There's nothing cute about it. But
Speaker 1: he outtouched Odd Gurley in this game. And I wonder
Speaker 1: if that's a product of Girl's knee injury being more
Speaker 1: serious than anybody knows, or if they just loved what
Speaker 1: Anderson brings so much that they couldn't take him out
Speaker 1: of the attack. But It's amazing to see what he's
Speaker 1: brought to this team. McVeigh said that girlies was a
Speaker 1: conditioning issue. Then after a month really away, he wasn't
Speaker 1: in football shape. But I still think, like to Dan's point,
Speaker 1: you're you're not pulling out C. G Anderson and like
Speaker 1: sticking him on the bench from now on, right, and
Speaker 1: what he he did physically look different than he has
Speaker 1: every time. Erica asked, also, like, what is up with
Speaker 1: this guy? He looks like he's just massive, And I
Speaker 1: t H I C C he is. I mean, he
Speaker 1: has a chance to be a start. You know, he
Speaker 1: has a chance to be a two time Super Bowl
Speaker 1: champion here. I mean, this is a guy who was
Speaker 1: a key starting running back on a on a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl winner. Why would John Gruden need that? I understand,
Speaker 1: And but the game could change in New Orleans. But
Speaker 1: I thought even though golf I saw some derogatory stuff
Speaker 1: about Golfing, I thought he was the game manager in
Speaker 1: the best way possible in this game. He was calling
Speaker 1: a lot of those runs at the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: when he saw what he liked, or at least he
Speaker 1: was relaying what McVeigh wanted to do and he did
Speaker 1: hit a number of key passes. There was a third
Speaker 1: and four to Robert Woods early in the game that
Speaker 1: kept a drive going that was not an easy throw.
Speaker 1: There was a third and four to Cooks, which is
Speaker 1: a beautiful I think you called it Dan a double
Speaker 1: turkey hole shot. I don't even it was like it
Speaker 1: was like a turkey whole supreme because he put it
Speaker 1: between the safety and cornerback and over a linebacker and
Speaker 1: nothing close to a mistake really out of him. I thought,
Speaker 1: like when he hits the guys in stride, I sometimes
Speaker 1: think like, oh, that's why those West Coast offense coaches,
Speaker 1: like those West Coast quarterbacks, like there were guys who
Speaker 1: wanted golf, and there were guys that like went And
Speaker 1: when you see some of those pretty golf throws where
Speaker 1: he just hits them perfectly and stride, just like kind
Speaker 1: of they coach you to do it, You're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I get why people loved. The One very l a
Speaker 1: thing to this game was where we were, which was,
Speaker 1: if you know, the Colosseum, under the Olympic Torch, on
Speaker 1: the big white area at the end of the one
Speaker 1: end zone. We were essentially far from the field, but
Speaker 1: overlooking a tent that housed Lebron James, a Lakers player
Speaker 1: but also a Cowboys fan who came out to cheers
Speaker 1: from both sides the field is the l A side
Speaker 1: can cheer on Lebron James, and then you got French
Speaker 1: Montana rolling and at halftime, but they also had I
Speaker 1: thought a very mixed crowd here. It's well, yeah, the
Speaker 1: l A sports fan experiences is so funny. It's someone
Speaker 1: who grew up on the East Coast. At one point
Speaker 1: in the game, it was like a Key West. You
Speaker 1: would have loved it. It was a he um, some
Speaker 1: type of third down, maybe third and six, the game
Speaker 1: hanging the balance. It's you know, late third quarter, early
Speaker 1: fourth and in between the play, like five seconds before
Speaker 1: the snap, the p A guy comes up. They put
Speaker 1: Lebron on the jumbo tron. Was like, everybody, the King
Speaker 1: is in the house and the guys like I was like,
Speaker 1: what about the game? But it's such a it was
Speaker 1: such a l a moment, and not in even in
Speaker 1: a bad way, because it is fun that Lebron James
Speaker 1: is in the house. But you wouldn't see that happening
Speaker 1: at the Medal Lands or maybe Fox Born because they
Speaker 1: got bon Jovis singing next to Robert Kraft. Now, what's
Speaker 1: going on over there? But it's it's just a it
Speaker 1: was a funny, weird scene. I sat with my wife
Speaker 1: and daughter who went to the game, and they sat
Speaker 1: in the crowd and I kind of went to check
Speaker 1: them out of their seats, and no one kicked me out,
Speaker 1: So I stayed there for a quarter and a half
Speaker 1: and it was wow. In Lebron's box was you know,
Speaker 1: on their end zone side of the field, and there
Speaker 1: was a lot of Cowboys fans and they were they
Speaker 1: were loose. I mean they were they were getting I
Speaker 1: felt like the Cowboys maybe it was fifty fifty, but
Speaker 1: the Cowboys fans were loud and loose. But the one
Speaker 1: thing that the Cowboys fans and the Rams fans could
Speaker 1: have agree about was Lebron and they were let's go,
Speaker 1: Lakers chance, And I was like, what is going on
Speaker 1: that there's let's go. It was during like the time
Speaker 1: the time outs, but I was just like, give me
Speaker 1: a break. That the Cowboys fans and the Rams fans
Speaker 1: could they could also agree about Stephen A. Smith, who
Speaker 1: got the loudest booze of anyone I don't anything game related.
Speaker 1: They put him on the screen and even he just
Speaker 1: got destroyed. That's an accomplishment for for a guy who's
Speaker 1: just like a media figure to be booed lustily by
Speaker 1: eighty thousand people. He's never even told that is you
Speaker 1: in fifteen years. He's like, I'll take it sweating from
Speaker 1: his boards. Um I, I we don't know, because we
Speaker 1: don't watch those programs. But apparently Stephen A. Smith, I
Speaker 1: believe makes a living like killing the Cowboys. So that
Speaker 1: might have been Cowboys fans going off on him. That
Speaker 1: a little context that were missed, I think, But who
Speaker 1: cares ultimately any other thoughts on this game? All right,
Speaker 1: I'll take your silence as a sign. Let us move
Speaker 1: on to the first game Saturday. From Arrowhead, first down,
Speaker 1: They're gonna bring it on an end around Tyreek Hill
Speaker 1: gets a block, thirty five, thirty chefs, twenty five, twenty
Speaker 1: ten five snow shoes touchsdown Kansas City. That Cheetah can
Speaker 1: run in the snow a thirty six yard in the
Speaker 1: round in the Chiefs two touchdowns on their first two possessions.
Speaker 1: I enjoy. Let's put that in the top calls of
Speaker 1: the year um group Mitch halt Is with a call
Speaker 1: for Chiefs Radio Network. Tyreek Hill had one of four
Speaker 1: rushing touchdowns with the Chiefs, who jumps on top of
Speaker 1: the Colts early and cruised to a thirty one thirteen
Speaker 1: win at wintry Arrowhead. The Chiefs returned to the n
Speaker 1: f C title game for the first time in twenty
Speaker 1: five years. When who was their quarterback They'll face the Pats.
Speaker 1: We saw four d thirty three total yards and a
Speaker 1: whole humpday for the Chief's offense, But west the real
Speaker 1: story here had to be their defense. Who gave Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck nothing from the opening whistle. This looked like an
Speaker 1: indoor team that had no footing, that had no confidence
Speaker 1: in its ability to move in the elements on a
Speaker 1: slippery turf. UH in those elements, and they continued to
Speaker 1: melt down at every level of their offense and defense
Speaker 1: the rest of the way, from Andrew Luck throwing ducks
Speaker 1: to the right side of their offensive line getting worked over,
Speaker 1: to no running game, to Eric Ebron dropping the third
Speaker 1: down pass on the opening thing, UH, false starts, holding
Speaker 1: penalties any time they did something right. Then on defense,
Speaker 1: you're without the league hooker and Mike Mitchell at safety.
Speaker 1: You're playing J. J. Wilcox, who had been cut by
Speaker 1: the Cowboys out of football, and he's getting lost in
Speaker 1: coverage on all kinds of plays. It was to me
Speaker 1: just a comp I don't want to throw out the
Speaker 1: fact that the Chiefs were more talented, because you could
Speaker 1: see that the Colts had no answer for the Tyreek
Speaker 1: Hill Travis Kelsey conundrum that every defense faces and the Colts.
Speaker 1: You look at the Colts offense and they've got a
Speaker 1: injured t Y Hilton is basically their only weapon. So
Speaker 1: to me, the all the offensive talent disparity was a
Speaker 1: big issue in this game. Guys weren't open and just
Speaker 1: the way the game started, you said it. Ebron drops
Speaker 1: the first third down. The next couple of drives for
Speaker 1: the Colts were tipped passes from Lock, a ton of
Speaker 1: tip passes there. There was another one right the fourth one,
Speaker 1: Ebron didn't get to the sticks on a stick route
Speaker 1: and so he catches it one yard short. And by
Speaker 1: then you know, because the Chiefs are who they are,
Speaker 1: and Andy Reid and the Chiefs do such a good job.
Speaker 1: Very often in the first fifteen plays, they're already down
Speaker 1: three scores and in a game where they got a
Speaker 1: punt block touchdown, the Colts did to not be competitive
Speaker 1: is kind of amazing. And they scored six points in
Speaker 1: off and that blocked punt which resulted in a touchdown
Speaker 1: had them trailing only seventeen to seven, and it turned seven.
Speaker 1: And the killer moment in this game, I think when
Speaker 1: they were psychologically broken, if it hadn't already happened, was
Speaker 1: inside the two minute warning. Andrew Luck in the offense
Speaker 1: looked like they were finally getting going. They marched down
Speaker 1: the field with some big pass plays and then of
Speaker 1: all people, Adam vine Terry missing a twenty three yard
Speaker 1: field goal attempt right before the half, which would have
Speaker 1: made and you have something to cling to and for
Speaker 1: him to enough they score a touchdown in the second half,
Speaker 1: and thinking if he just hits that chip shot, then
Speaker 1: give me this is a one score game, and then
Speaker 1: of course he misses the extra point on top of it.
Speaker 1: By the way, Vinetari is one guy, you know, Frank
Speaker 1: Reich looks amazing with the white beard. Vitetieri doesn't need that.
Speaker 1: Everyone's always thinking the background, mind, is this guy too
Speaker 1: old at this point to be on the stage and
Speaker 1: then with that white beard, he looks like he should
Speaker 1: be in some like rec league or something. He's like
Speaker 1: Ken Stab. He's got a lot of thinking to do
Speaker 1: and at least maybe some shaving at the very least.
Speaker 1: It reminded me of early Chiefs games this season, though
Speaker 1: where my homes didn't. He was on point early, but
Speaker 1: he didn't have to do that much in the first
Speaker 1: couple of drives. I mean, he had some of those
Speaker 1: third and sixes where he threw it across his body.
Speaker 1: But like the first driver too, it was the play calling,
Speaker 1: it was Kelsey, it was Hill, it was coasting, and
Speaker 1: they ran to win. I mean, I don't really think
Speaker 1: the Colts were ever in this game. I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't know what they could have done, whether Vinitary's kick
Speaker 1: or anything, whether it would have mattered, because the Chiefs
Speaker 1: immediately went into running mode and they were pretty effective
Speaker 1: doing that, getting time off the clock. With Damian Williams,
Speaker 1: he is he is like the A F C. C. J. Anderson.
Speaker 1: He is good. And they signed him to a low
Speaker 1: cost two year extension about two weeks into this little run,
Speaker 1: and like that, that looks like a bargain because he
Speaker 1: might be the he might be their starter next year,
Speaker 1: and if he's not, he's gonna be part of when
Speaker 1: you have the Chiefs. You know, there were a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks where they're trying to cobble together their backfield
Speaker 1: and figure out how to handle this situation. When you
Speaker 1: get that from Williams, then suddenly it opens everything up.
Speaker 1: And I love this tweet from Evan Silva about what
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey did his matches. Sixteen yards for a first down,
Speaker 1: fourteen yards for a first down, sixteen yards for a
Speaker 1: first down, ten yards for a first down, thirty yards
Speaker 1: for a first down, seven for a first down, big fish,
Speaker 1: and so much of that is what Tyreek Hill was
Speaker 1: doing before the snap to get the defense in a
Speaker 1: bit of a chaos. And then you're sort of at
Speaker 1: the snap, you're Darius Leondar and you're like, do I
Speaker 1: go where Tyreek Hill is? Where do I go? Where
Speaker 1: it kills is? I think was given them a little
Speaker 1: bit of heat on the telecast that Leonard was maybe
Speaker 1: prone to getting confused in those type of zone reads.
Speaker 1: He's he's a rookie, and he and the linebackers had
Speaker 1: to do some so much because there's no pass rush.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is what I think happens when you
Speaker 1: go into Kansas City with a team with no pass rush,
Speaker 1: which I think is one reason why the patriotsn't Really
Speaker 1: any team is going to be scared of the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: but the Patriots especially who don't have a one in
Speaker 1: one pass rusher. I mean, the Colts defensive line got
Speaker 1: housed and then they're trying to do all these schemes
Speaker 1: and stunts and that opens up the running game. I
Speaker 1: was impressed though, by how Mahomes played in terms of
Speaker 1: like he was getting them to come offsides. He's doing
Speaker 1: the hard count, he's doing kind he's doing the like
Speaker 1: next level stuff where he's looking off. He just seemed
Speaker 1: very calm and ready, like this was just another game.
Speaker 1: That's pretty impressive for a three year old. M v
Speaker 1: P think it's amazing because we were at the owners
Speaker 1: meetings and we all were kind of taken by Andy Reid,
Speaker 1: and I think for this room a little bit that
Speaker 1: there was you know, there were the boring Chiefs teams
Speaker 1: that would go ten and six and you can count
Speaker 1: on them getting whacked in January religiously, and we felt
Speaker 1: a little bit something different about any read when we
Speaker 1: met him in person, and the fact that you're gonna
Speaker 1: get Andy Reid versus Bill Belichick and Reid's got that
Speaker 1: playoff win monkey office back now. I love it. You
Speaker 1: know what it's like when they say, like never meet
Speaker 1: your heroes in our situations, like never meet the people
Speaker 1: that you kill on the podcast that it's harder. Really,
Speaker 1: we're pretty probly and read on this podcast well that
Speaker 1: that there was a there was a shift though after
Speaker 1: that there was. They put up twenty four points before
Speaker 1: the Colts had a first down. That's one of my
Speaker 1: favorite out of the weekend. I mean that you wouldn't
Speaker 1: expect that. Damn, it's embarrassing. I'm just kind of I
Speaker 1: was kind of stunned by the cults but the better.
Speaker 1: But the Colts have a lot to cling to going
Speaker 1: into next year. One game doesn't define your season, and
Speaker 1: this performance is not representative of who the Colts were
Speaker 1: in two thousand eighteen. I don't think it's representative of
Speaker 1: what they would be if they played indian in Indianapolis
Speaker 1: instead of Kansas City. But I think it does illustrate
Speaker 1: for the Colts that they need more talents, specifically at
Speaker 1: the offensive skill positions and at past run well, you
Speaker 1: West and you were on the Cults from day one,
Speaker 1: really even when they were one in five. You saw
Speaker 1: there's a team that could put it together. And you
Speaker 1: said on Thursday's preview that this is a more talented
Speaker 1: team you thought at this stage. Were you surprised that
Speaker 1: they came out and looked like a dome team being exposed,
Speaker 1: because I didn't see that in their d n A
Speaker 1: that they would look this overwhelmed in that setting. Shocked,
Speaker 1: and from what I saw, especially from their defense early on,
Speaker 1: it wasn't mental as much as physical. They simply couldn't
Speaker 1: get footing on that turf well, and they were slow
Speaker 1: to react. And they were playing the Chiefs, who are
Speaker 1: the best offense in the league, and they hadn't played
Speaker 1: anyone you really remotely close to that all season other Thans.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying that the Colts would have won
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis. I'm saying they would have looked more like
Speaker 1: the Colts have looked all year had they played in Indianapo.
Speaker 1: I do think the Chiefs, and we talked about a
Speaker 1: little bit, is that when you go away on the
Speaker 1: by and we can become and It's not a cults note.
Speaker 1: It's just about in general by teams when you go
Speaker 1: away for a while and you didn't finish the season
Speaker 1: at your peak dominance. It's not that we're overlooking them,
Speaker 1: but they're just not what we're what we're most recently
Speaker 1: impressed by. And then the Chiefs come in and say,
Speaker 1: excuse me, we are right here and we're we are
Speaker 1: now hosting the a f C title game. Don't forget it.
Speaker 1: That's a major monkey off their back because we know
Speaker 1: that they blew what was at a seventeen point lead
Speaker 1: in the playoffs last year, whatever it was, it was
Speaker 1: a hugely. They let that game against the Titoons of
Speaker 1: all teams get away from them. Now they are able
Speaker 1: to get this win. They're catching the Patriots are they're
Speaker 1: hot at the right time. But now you're gonna have
Speaker 1: a Chiefs team in their building getting that monkey up
Speaker 1: there back. Can we win this? Can we carry this
Speaker 1: into the playoffs? I don't want to jinx it because
Speaker 1: the digital playoffs were set up to be amazing, but
Speaker 1: Patriots against the Chiefs and you read against Belichick, Mahomes
Speaker 1: against Brady, this is gonna well, I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: Gronk against Kelsey, but you know, maybe gronkles show up
Speaker 1: that one catchy had today. He was targeted once today.
Speaker 1: Pretty well, I mean, this is my lock the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: You've had a nice workman like a lock performance. That's
Speaker 1: the way to do it. There was. It was a
Speaker 1: low drama. You don't have to worry about this all weekend.
Speaker 1: You got it out of the way by around you know,
Speaker 1: two pm. But I will say it wasn't all daisies
Speaker 1: for Greg in this realm of making selections, because he
Speaker 1: had a teaser of sorts. Uh with with with the
Speaker 1: rain and once again the rainmaker lets down all his
Speaker 1: rain drops. I'm so hungry. I wish I could buy
Speaker 1: some food that some of the people that have U
Speaker 1: I mean, I know, making your advice. Yeah, it's been
Speaker 1: a tough weekend. It's been a tough week and and
Speaker 1: he said he had he needed this Patriots loss so
Speaker 1: badly that he needs to hold on to something. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it's very typical by the way that I somehow got
Speaker 1: this pick wrong in a week where I went forward
Speaker 1: against the spread in my in my other pool, I
Speaker 1: still somehow went they somehow got Greg. What is your
Speaker 1: overall record right now in this exercised this hobby do
Speaker 1: not know? Like I don't. Yeah, I like you. You're
Speaker 1: saying it was to get the lock out of the
Speaker 1: weekend earlier. Here's here's my argument against you. Whenever you
Speaker 1: listen to these radio shows, for these gabuns are given
Speaker 1: all their like spread stuff. It's like I win eight
Speaker 1: and one. Like they're always locked on their records. So
Speaker 1: when you say you have no idea what you record,
Speaker 1: it feels to the person in taking your investment advice
Speaker 1: as a little bit a little bit shadowy. Yes, I
Speaker 1: would like to know what is if I'm going to
Speaker 1: invest my money. I don't think they was Cam. Was
Speaker 1: Cam channeling the chocolate rain guy? Was that what that was?
Speaker 1: The YouTube guy? Yeah? Yeah, he was? Oh man, oh man.
Speaker 1: That speaks to Greg's charisma that the bit can continue
Speaker 1: even though he keeps it, does no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: He wins either way. It's nothing too to be ashamed of.
Speaker 1: You know, you've got something cooking here. But does the
Speaker 1: rainmaker come back at this point you're about oh and
Speaker 1: six in the last month or so, in the last
Speaker 1: few Yeah, I have to continue. Yeah, it was getting
Speaker 1: I generally as as you guys have made fun of
Speaker 1: me over the point, I generally am sick of bits
Speaker 1: after about four times. Anyways, I like the self loathing
Speaker 1: came on pretty strong about week sixteen, so I think
Speaker 1: your your wish will probably be granted the ship. Uh
Speaker 1: good news for our listeners though that are been hit
Speaker 1: hard financially. Um any other thoughts about this game? All right?
Speaker 1: It wasn't a good game, and we hope for better
Speaker 1: games coming up this week because we only got three
Speaker 1: games left West. What do you got? I have a thought, yes,
Speaker 1: that everyone's gonna be riding high on the Patriots and
Speaker 1: you can never underestimate their coaching staff, and I might
Speaker 1: end up picking them in this game. But to me,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are clearly the more talented team, and the
Speaker 1: Patriots were clearly a much better team at home than
Speaker 1: on the road this year and this year or not
Speaker 1: do at home. The pasts and the talent on the
Speaker 1: Chiefs defense is not to be trifled with. I mean
Speaker 1: D four dominated this game. Chris Jones made a huge difference.
Speaker 1: I mean D four was unblocked every other play, right,
Speaker 1: but he also he also killed Brandon Smith in the
Speaker 1: We were hearing a lot about the Colts offensive line.
Speaker 1: He destroyed Brandon Smith in the passing. My point is,
Speaker 1: I think the Chiefs are the best team in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I thought it all year. I thought their defense isn't
Speaker 1: nearly as bad as people thought. I think if I
Speaker 1: had to Chad, but not really. I think I think
Speaker 1: they've made a lot of plays and that there's a
Speaker 1: decent amount of potential and that within what they do
Speaker 1: as a team, they're not so bad. And more importantly,
Speaker 1: they found a couple of answers late in the seven
Speaker 1: char Various Ward. Their cornerback has played pretty lights out
Speaker 1: for two or three weeks. He didn't see the field
Speaker 1: early in the scene. Jordan Lucas at safety has also
Speaker 1: played pretty well, so kind of like the Patriots, I
Speaker 1: think they figured some things out, and I do think
Speaker 1: they're They can't be the next team to allow Brady
Speaker 1: to go sixty minutes untouched. Plenty of time to talk
Speaker 1: about this. We got a whole week to preview a
Speaker 1: f C NFC title games. Ricky, were you ever was
Speaker 1: it ever in doubt the Pats in your lock because
Speaker 1: obviously worked out well for you. Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: always believed, but I feel like everyone else, he just
Speaker 1: hates us. Nobody believes God, that would be a good
Speaker 1: game or a good team. And we played him early
Speaker 1: this year. You know, I know, you know everyone thinks
Speaker 1: we suck and you know I can't win any games.
Speaker 1: So we'll see it'll be fun. Oh please, you stick
Speaker 1: that in your pipe and smoke. And no one's buying
Speaker 1: the where the Patriots the better if anyone's buying it.
Speaker 1: I remember Rodney Harrison when they were going for their
Speaker 1: third Super Bowl. If they believe it, no one believes
Speaker 1: in us except for the people in this room. Well, um,
Speaker 1: didn't we say at the end of our whatever, didn't
Speaker 1: they say? Didn't we say in this room at the
Speaker 1: end of a preview of charge back to where we
Speaker 1: all thought it was gonna be a really good game
Speaker 1: and that the Chargers presented a ton of problems, didn't
Speaker 1: we say in this room they often do their best
Speaker 1: when they're a little right. That's true, when when there's
Speaker 1: a little bit of doubt. So whether you think it's manufactured,
Speaker 1: I said that, that's where I said he's got the
Speaker 1: Jordan's gene, that he's pathological. He's gonna seed off it,
Speaker 1: but don't try to sell us that the football cognis
Speaker 1: SENTI and fans around the universe are discounting the Patriots
Speaker 1: having a chance. They have an absolutely Maybe maybe it's
Speaker 1: less about like the point spread. I've seen people point
Speaker 1: out that it's less about the point spread and more
Speaker 1: just that they know everyone is rooting against them. I
Speaker 1: think that's that just people don't like them, whether they
Speaker 1: respect and or not. The newsroom was even fired up
Speaker 1: and that game got away when it was just like,
Speaker 1: get out of our lives and they're not going anyway.
Speaker 1: Only time in the playoffs so far that the newsroom
Speaker 1: had like a stand innovation for any moment was the
Speaker 1: first Chargers touchdown. Like everyone the newsroom exploded, just that
Speaker 1: it was seven to seven. Dave Shot, who works on
Speaker 1: the network side, is an insufferable New England sports fan.
Speaker 1: Uh we like giving it to Dave Shot whenever things
Speaker 1: go against the Patriots or the bruins of the Red Sox.
Speaker 1: So that was a great moment. But ultimately, as it
Speaker 1: always works out, your buddy Shot Greg and you end
Speaker 1: up with the big old eating grin on your face
Speaker 1: and you walk out of the building headheld high. Insufferable. Uh,
Speaker 1: New England sports fan is redundant. Yeah, maybe it is
Speaker 1: all right. You don't have to worry about shot listening
Speaker 1: to this. All right, we'll be back uh while we
Speaker 1: have a Twitter Twitter show on Tuesday which employed you
Speaker 1: to check out or whatever. And then on Wednesday, um, uh,
Speaker 1: we'll be back on the podcast. We'll have Ian Rappaport
Speaker 1: on the show on Wednesday and Thursday will preview the
Speaker 1: championship Sunday, and then we'll be right back here, um
Speaker 1: one week from today recapping and talking about who's in
Speaker 1: the super Bowl. How about that We're already here, mark
Speaker 1: three games left. We're almost home. I am having the
Speaker 1: time of my life. How is it found? Like a
Speaker 1: Hartack clip? That? Please? That is that had? That's a
Speaker 1: nice turnaround, by the way, because like seventy two hours
Speaker 1: ago you said that you were like drifting in a
Speaker 1: dark lake. Talk to me tomorrow. Thank you, Saints, Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you Saints. This is Dan hands As signing off
Speaker 1: four Quiet Storm, The mail Man, The Old Boss, and
Speaker 1: Rocky Hollywood Behind the Glass stil Tuesday,