WEBVTT - Conference Championship Preview: Chiefs will be explosive against Bengals, Rams risks paying off? Mental hurdle against 49ers 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:07.200 Championship weekend has arrived, and we've got an a f 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:11.240 C and an NFC Championship title preview for you here 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.440 on Te Petz Babo Shusan here with Scott Pioli and 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.599 dan Orlovsky. As we have enjoyed crawling inside the game, 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:19.759 behind the xs and ohs and trying to give you 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:22.760 a different view of football that you get on other podcasts. 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:24.680 We've done it all season long, and guys, we have 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:28.160 now reached the final four, and we had an epic 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.000 group of games to talk about last week, and you know, 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:35.000 on paper, at least, I would think these two games 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.680 have a chance to be almost, if not every bit 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.279 as compelling as some of the football we saw this 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.720 past week. We're gonna start with the a f C game, 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.440 and that is Bengals Chiefs. We saw the Josh Allen 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.760 Patrick Mahomes duel. We talked a lot about Joe Burrow 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.760 last week and how incredible he has been in the 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:56.400 face of almost constant pressure. Now we get Joe Burrow 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.240 and Patrick Mahomes in this matchup, and I'm wonder ring 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:03.880 is there's something schematic that jumps out to you, guys, 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.720 outside of just the two big names. Obviously, these two 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:08.640 guys are gonna go out there and make plays. But 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:11.920 is there a schematic advantage that one of these teams 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:15.040 has over the other that people may not be talking about, 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:17.160 because a lot of times it is in that right. 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.040 The devil can be in the details. In a matchup 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.320 like this, we've got two quarterbacks that are so immensely talented, 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:24.360 one team might have to beat the other in the 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:26.959 chess match. Is there a chess match move out there 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:28.920 that we're not thinking about. Well, I think that for 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:33.440 Kansas City's offense, you know, playing against Cincinnati's defense, you've 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:37.480 got opportunities to be very explosive on the perimeter um 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.120 specifically the way that we saw Tyreek play from this 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:42.840 last weekend. You are going to get a lot of 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.680 single higher coverage. That's who Cincinnati is, and it's gonna 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:47.360 be very similar on the other side of the football, 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.920 that's who Cincinnati is. So I think, you know, Kansas 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.360 City has the chance to take some shots down field. Now, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.640 I also think that Cincinnati defensively has some schematic advantages 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.320 with getting angle protections by the tackles of Kansas City's 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:06.240 offense versus Cincinnati's defensive ends. You know, Hubbard and Hendrickson 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.600 are really good players. Obviously Tree Hendrickson is very very good. 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:11.959 And the last time these two teams played would happen 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:15.560 really in the second half, Bob was Cincinnati to actually 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.000 flipped a little bit and decided, Okay, we're playing two 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:20.160 man and we're just what we're gonna do is pre snap, 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.359 get trade one on one and trade beat the doors 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:26.239 off of Orlando Brown in protection. He did, he did, 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:29.280 so they had protection, but you know, simulated pressure and 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.000 got one on one. So I think that's a little 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:34.919 bit of a schematic vantage for Cincinnati defensively is how 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.880 often they could do that? Um, And that's gonna come 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.040 down to, you know, their their their corners, Eli Apple 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:46.000 and I don't know, I don't know the correct pronunciation Ousier. 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.200 I believe winning their one on yeah, yeah, winning their 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:51.280 one on one battle sometimes, I get I was cautious 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:53.440 with names winning their one on ones on the outside. 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:58.519 And then I'd say, for for Cincinnati's offense, good luck 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.600 Ken City defensive. I mean just you know, the sim 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:03.920 the more you could spread him and shred him, I 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.239 think is better for Cincinnati. You know, hey, Jamar is 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.959 gonna be on this side, and you know, um, Tyler 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.919 Boyd's gonna be in the slot opposite him, and then 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.760 Tee on the other side. And you know, I think 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:17.840 we saw a little bit that you know, Mike Hughes 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.440 the corner first Kansas City is is a good player, 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.000 but you can get after him. You feel like if 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.240 you've got a good guy, and so you know how 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:27.520 much of those guys schematically gonna match up and say, hey, 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.120 you know Spags. You guys know Steve Pagnell Defense Cornell 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:34.560 and he's single high, come after you and play single high. Okay, Um, 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.160 you know, like I get it, that's who you are. 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.240 But you do that. It's night night. So I think 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.640 there's some stuff that they can go after for sure. Yeah, 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.760 And I'm gonna stick with where you're at right now. Dan. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:47.480 And to me, the the big concern is we talked 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:49.440 about it on Tuesday, or I certainly talked about it 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.320 on Tuesday, was protecting Joe Burrow regardless of the scheme. 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.440 The mismatch, I think physically between the players, right, and 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.680 not just the XS and o's, it's the Jimmy's and 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:05.040 the joe os and Chris Jones Frank Clark, Melvin Ingram 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.720 are lining up and they know that they're gonna go. 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.320 I bet you their goal this week is to get 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:13.840 more than the nine sacks that the Tennessee Titans had 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.359 last week. They're saying, okay, we're going double digits that 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:20.760 I can see Spags right now. Steve Spagnell, defensive coordin 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:25.000 Spags right now is making that a point um and 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.440 they are going to be coming after him. And I'm concerned. 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:30.960 You know, we talked about this bright future. This is 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.719 where I get concerned about the future of some of 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:37.919 our NFL superstars. And I worry about Joe Burrow. You know, 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.040 they made the right decision in getting j Barr Chase, 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.320 but they still haven't fixed the protection enough. They've done 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:47.360 some things to allow him to get the ball off, 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:51.479 but he's still getting beat up. And you know, I 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.960 think another key player this week. I talked about Jones, Clark, 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:59.760 and Ingram, but the chief secondary where is Tarron Matthew 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:02.840 gon be this weekend? You know, coming out of concussion protocol, 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.640 we don't know where he's going to be. So I 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:09.400 say all that to to say what the Bengals I 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:11.760 think need to focus on a little bit. Is the 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.599 use again of Joe Mixon getting the ball in his 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.560 hands short sideways, you know, getting him in space. But 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.920 to me, one of the unsung heroes of their team 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.200 this year and that has helped save Joe Burrow is 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.560 c j Uzama, the tight end. And you know, he 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:31.919 had forty nine catches this year in the regular season, 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:36.159 and it was more than half of those catches were 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.159 either first down for first downs or touchdowns. He was 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.000 a key player this past weekend. He had some key 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.320 catches they didn't have, you know, the first downs of 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.719 the touchdowns, but he was used. Well. He has become, 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:51.800 for Joe Burrow, a very very important part. Now, do 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.000 they need to get deep and get down field, Yeah, 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.440 they do, But before they can figure this out, they're 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:58.479 gonna have to make use of some of the short 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.120 and underneath stuff and the intermediate stuff. In my opinion, Yeah, Well, 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:05.120 Joe Burrow actually had this to say after the win, 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:08.880 heading into this past week, heading into this matchup with 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.520 the Chiefs, and he has every confidence in the world 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:14.520 that his team can go out there and pull this off. 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.400 And we're really really good team. We're here to we're 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.560 here to make noise, and no teams are gonna have 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.320 to pay attention to us. We're, like I said, a 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:23.320 really good team with really good players and coaches, and 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.800 we're coming forward. All so, he obviously has confidence that 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.080 his team collectively can go out there and get this done. 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.200 But you guys mentioned the pass rush, so you you 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.760 talk about that chess move. If I were to counter, 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.280 is there anything from Zach Taylor standpoint? Do do you 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.080 alter anything? Is there? Does there ever come a time 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:44.200 in this postseason where you say, we have all these weapons, 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.919 and I want all these weapons on the field because 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:50.839 that's when we're at our best. Or does there ever 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:52.280 come a time where you say, you know what, I 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.280 cannot continue to have my quarterback get pounded and hit 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.080 like this and expect to survive all the way through. 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.359 What is the altar the goal of winning the Super Bowl? 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:03.800 Do you have to take a weapon off the field 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.240 just to have extra protection out there once in a 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.120 while for him thinking you might be able to go 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.920 win a matchup, but I might have to have an 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.480 extra tight end on the field, an extra offensive lineman 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.360 on the field, just to make sure that my quarterback 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:19.720 doesn't continue to take this pounding Nope, Nope, that's how 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.400 you're built. You got and and you're really ship sailed. Yeah. Yeah, 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:25.520 you're three weeks away from the end going, you're really 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:27.840 one week away from a solid break here. You know, 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:29.760 you get some time. Not like I have any idea 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:31.760 what two weeks off with the super Bowl is, but 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.280 you know there, time is on your side. I think 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.600 it's more of this, Bob, It's more a conversation you 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:42.360 have with Joe, you know, if of constantly reiterating to him, Hey, budd, like, 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:44.080 there's gonna be moments where I need you to be 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:46.960 smart here. I need you to understand that. You know, 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.320 we talked about him kind of holding onto the football 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:51.320 because he's not trying to be careless with it. There's 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.120 gonna be some moments where you go, specifically early on 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.160 in the game, don't take that shot. Let's not take 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:00.360 any unnecessary shots. You know, there's there's moments, you know, 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.440 to see that the saying there's a season for everything, 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:04.920 there's a moment for everything as well. So I think 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.760 it's more just controlling the conversation with Joe. Listen, there 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.240 are times where you gotta stand in there and you 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:12.960 gotta make it and you gotta take it. You just 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.160 gotta make that throw, and you're just gonna get beat up. 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.119 And I think there's games that quarterbacks go into knowing 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.840 that that that is a reality. Um, but I don't 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.440 believe that this is a game somewhat like that, Bob. 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.680 And my reason for saying that is this, you know, 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.320 you always are ready for whatever defense is going to 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:31.920 do to you. But if if you're going into this 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.320 game just as what is transpired, you know, the first 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.400 time these teams played in who they are, you're thinking, 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:39.080 all right, we're gonna get just a lot of one 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.840 on ones. We're gonna get a lot of single coverage. 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.080 So everybody at listening understands, like when when it's single coverage, 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.760 it becomes I'm ten years old at recess, where's my guy? 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:52.680 And who you know? Like my guy better than your guy? 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.040 Where's the kid who is better than everybody? I'm just 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.720 gonna throw him the ball and he was grabbing an 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.160 extra lunch at at recess. I mean that's just how 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.079 I rolled. And even Joe has said it right like, hey, 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:05.120 Jamar is down there, So you know that's not a 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.600 situation where you're thinking, I gotta hold onto the football 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.719 here long and its zone coverage and I figure out 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:12.400 to move people and um so, but I think it's 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.560 more you've gotta be who you are, and you've got 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:16.680 to threaten the defense and play on the offensive, and 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:20.880 it's just controlling that conversation with Joe Burrow. Yeah, and 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:23.719 and you know to that point or if there's a 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:26.040 I don't think it's a personnel tweak that you make. 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:29.800 But maybe, as we talked about on Tuesday, getting him 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.599 outside of that rigid pocket where he doesn't have a 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.240 chance to throw the ball away is maybe get him 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.880 on the edges. I'm not saying sprint or roll or 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:41.800 boot maybe a little bit of that, but something to 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:45.720 get him in position where he can throw it away. Dan, Yeah, 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.360 I like that. Well, let's let's spin this around then 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.280 to the Chiefs, because what we have seen, I think 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.800 a couple of questions that we've had during this season 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.640 about their offense have been answered a bit. Patrick Mahomes 0:09:57.679 --> 0:09:59.520 still seems to me like he's running for his life 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.680 lot more than he has certainly in years past, but 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.480 he also seems to now have the supporting cast guys 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:11.760 outside of Kelsey and Hill playing more of a role 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.800 in being more productive than they were middle of the season, right, mean, 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:16.960 it wasn't that the big question when that offense was 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.000 sputtering and we were wondering, are the Chiefs that are 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:23.520 gonna become the Chiefs again? It was Hardman and Pringle 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.720 and Robinson and Edwards Hilaire. Are these guys gonna show 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:28.200 up or the rest of this year is it just 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.160 gonna be whatever Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelsey can give 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.840 Patrick Mahomes. Is he getting enough out of the secondary 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:37.880 skill guys and running for his life enough that this 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.400 can still be the Chiefs offense that we've known, or 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:45.040 at some point are they potentially going to uh to 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.480 fall short here? You know, because of some of those 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.120 questions we asked during the year. Bob here, here's what 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:53.040 I'll put It wasn't just the players that he that 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:58.400 were that were absent or weren't making things happen. I 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:01.920 just feel at the beginning of the the season he was sloppy. 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:04.080 We talked about that at the beginning of the year, 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.400 and he was sloppy with his throws. Again, I don't 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.640 want to say he was smelling himself, but it was 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.680 almost like those great plays. Even some of those throws 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:17.360 he made the last two weeks, um, they were and 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:19.559 this is not the right way, but they were more 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.280 sound than they were at the beginning of the year. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:24.520 They were sloppier at the beginning of the year. They're 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:29.720 almost um a caricature of when he made those plays. 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.040 He's far less careless with the ball than he was 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:34.640 at the beginning of the year. You look at those 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:36.720 first seven games when they started out three and four, 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:41.080 they had seventeen turnovers. They hadn't had seventeen turnovers in 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:46.439 full seasons in twenty nineteen. They were turning the ball 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:50.560 over at historical rate. And that's what the problem was. 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.600 It was it's part it was, yes, Bob, it's it's 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.240 what you were saying. In addition to that, it was 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:01.320 the quarterbacks carelessness. And part of it I he He 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.280 didn't seem as dialed in early in the season as 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.120 he is now. And this is one of the things 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.439 that the Chiefs have to be careful about moving forward. 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.120 They are so darn good, they're so talented as a team, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:16.240 they're so well coached, it gets to some people, it 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:18.880 gets boring. And that's what it almost looked to me. 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.000 Like they were a team that was a little bored 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.320 because they felt like, Okay, when we kick in an overdrive, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.000 we can go and they weren't able to do that 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.200 at the beginning of the season. They are on right now. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:32.640 And again, Tyreek Hill, for a player who has his explosiveness, 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.280 you know, you don't generally see that improve over the season. 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.760 It's improving Kelsey, he's showing up. So again to me, 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.120 it goes back to one thing, and that was turnovers 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:46.280 and carelessness at the beginning of the year. That's different. Now. Yeah, 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.080 I can't reiterate my agreement with that enough. I think 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.400 that this past weekend was Patrick's best game in the 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.400 pocket when it came to those mechanics, when it came 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:58.520 to his feet, when it came to the timing of plays, 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.200 and then outside of the part get his decision making. 0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:04.240 That goes back to what we did not see in October, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.640 which was he was mechanically so spread out and mechanically 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:12.599 so off balance and mechanically trying to throw everything outrageously 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.360 um off platform when it wasn't needed. And then when 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.560 he was outside the pocket, he was he was making 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.360 poor decisions with the football and you know, he is 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.360 very much so, and I would imagine focused on that 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.440 and clean that up. And you know, Bob, I actually 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:28.440 think their offensive line has done a pretty nice job. 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.440 I really do. I think their tackles are still you 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.440 can get after him, you know, obviously this weekend I 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.120 just talked about with Hendrickson and and Hubbard, But I 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.920 think their interior three are pretty darn good. And um, 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:42.760 I look at Patrick. Whenever I watched Patrick play, I 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.080 just watch how deep he gets with his drops, and 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.520 that tells me if he's trusting that group or not. 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.080 And he hasn't been, you know, really getting past that 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:54.280 ten yard nine and a half ten yard marker, and 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.880 that's telling me that he thinks that those guys are 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.920 doing a good job in protection. And so um, there's 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:04.080 I think that, Um, you know that's gonna be Another 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:08.760 huge part for this game is Cincinnati's rush. And I 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.280 said this this past week, and I don't think Buffalo 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:13.880 did a good job with it. It's not just keeping 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.120 him in the pocket. You can't keep him in the 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.280 pocket and give him somewhere to get to in the pocket. 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.960 And it's not just making him move off a spot. 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.080 It's making him move off the spot and not giving 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.080 him a place to go. And that's the challenge you 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.600 know he had. He had seventy yards rushing against the Bills. 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:33.600 That's a career high and I think if Cincinnati wants 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.560 to win, that's got to be another focus point for them. Yeah, 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.200 and watching him even when it appears he doesn't have 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:41.240 a place to go, all of a sudden, he comes 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:43.080 up with an arm angle where you're like, wow, like 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:44.480 you did have a place to go, didn't. It was 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.520 like Ozzie Smith, uh, you know, turning a double play 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.720 yes and and then playing quarterback. It's it's just amazing 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.520 to watch. It's gonna be a fascinating matchup burrowing Mahomes. 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:59.080 It's another young you know, entering, if not dead, in 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.680 the prime of their career, your marquee, a f C 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:05.680 quarterback matchup. Can't wait to watch it. Very interesting game. 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:07.560 The late game as well. We're gonna talk about that 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:11.920 when we come back. Niners Rams, Jimmy g and the 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.320 Niners against Matthew Stafford and the Rams. Can the Rams 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.880 finally get past that Niners hurdle they have a chance 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:19.960 to get to the Super Bowl, And we'll talk about 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:26.440 the NFC Championship game in a moment on taps. We 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.880 are back on tape. It's Bobo shoes it Scott boldly, 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.240 dan Orlovsky, let's move to the NFC Championship game. And 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.720 to me, Scott, the fascinating thing here is the Rams 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:40.360 have an opportunity to make what they've done payoff. Right. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:42.680 It's It's funny because when and I live in this 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.200 Jets world where we always seem to be looking forward 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.520 to the draft. Who's coming next in the draft. We've 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.040 got these great draft choices, and yes, you do have 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.120 to build the core of your team through the draft. 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:56.160 I get that, but they're always also are these moments 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:59.680 at times, it seems for championship teams were general managers 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.160 sitting in your chair have to sit there and say, 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.640 all right, have we done everything we can do to 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.600 build this young core? What's missing? Now we've got a 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.160 chance to swing for the fences. Right now we have 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.640 a chance to say, like, what's the goal here? Was 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.760 the goal to just constantly build for the future, constantly 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:20.880 to look down the road, or is the goal to 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.720 get to the point where, hey, we've got a team 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:27.240 that actually is good enough to go do this Let's 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:29.600 throw a bunch of first round draft choices out there 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.560 and get rid of the quarterback we had and Jared 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:34.720 Goff who got us to a super Bowl but we 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.360 weren't able to win it. Let's go get the guy 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.800 that we think ken win it for us. Let's roll 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.960 the dice and give up a bunch of resources to 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.040 get von Miller. And they've done that right, and now 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:46.920 the Rams have a chance to make that pay off. 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:49.520 That that has to be the ultimate you know, as 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:51.480 a general manager sitting up there in the press box, 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.680 going I've done all I can to put the team together. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:55.880 Now we're just gonna go see if they could do it. 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:58.520 But the Rams have a chance to now have these 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.280 decisions pay off and actually swing for the fences and 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.520 hit a home run. Yeah. This this I would love 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.840 to have a whole half hour show on this because 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.280 I was asked, did they get what they wanted out 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:12.520 of Matthew Stafford? Was this trade worth it? And to me, yes, 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:16.480 this weekend was worth it. But what they're looking for 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:18.600 is not a win. As you mentioned, you know they've 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.440 been to the super Bowl with Jared Goff. What they 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.119 need to do they they need the whole Angelotta for 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.000 all that they've done with this football team and the 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.000 capital that they've given up in terms of cash, cap 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:33.760 room and draft picks. This isn't about getting to the 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.800 NFC championship game. This isn't about one super you know, 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:39.880 getting to the Super Bowl. It's about winning the Super Bowl. 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.320 Because truly, in my opinion, with all that they've given 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.800 up for the future, they need to win the Super Bowl. 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:50.520 And that's not to put pressure on Matthew or anybody else, 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:52.959 but again, they've been here before. And it's not just 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:57.359 the Matthew Stafford trade in a vacuum, right we we 0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:59.600 can't look at it that it was. It's Von Miller, 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.120 it's Jalen Rams, it's all the stuff that they've done. 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.080 That was it seven years without a first round pick. 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:05.880 And I understand you can be wrong with the first 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:10.400 round pick, but you need picks for opportunity to be right. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.560 And one thing we've learned in the NFL is you 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:18.200 can't consistently build a team through free agency exclusively. At 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:21.040 some point in time, you're going to have to draft 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:24.240 well and draft good players in order to keep your 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.720 salary cap in bounce because at some point in time, 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.360 you know, the bill comes due, and you know this 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:34.400 idea and this concept of your one player away, I've 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.520 always struggled with it because very early in my NFL career, 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:39.600 a quick story here, you know, I was with the 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:44.640 Cleveland Browns when we um went to the playoffs and 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:47.880 we lost three times that year the Pittsburgh Steelers. And 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:51.919 in the playoff game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, we 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:54.440 started this game and Vinny Testoverty was our quarterback. He 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:57.480 was having a good year, and we had two drops 0:18:58.280 --> 0:19:01.639 check three drops on three pass place and it was 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:06.040 Michael Jackson was one of the receivers, and Derrick Alexander. 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.520 And after, you know, we lost the playoff game. It 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:11.240 was the week after we had beat the Patriots in 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.359 the wild card round, and the talk was, gosh, we 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:17.480 need an elite receiver and we're one player away. In 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.520 this belief was that we were one player away. And 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:21.800 what did we do in the offseason. We went out 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.719 and made Andre rise and the highest paid wide receiver 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.800 in National Football League history. And I think sometimes what 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.760 happens is when you have that mentality of that you 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:36.800 are one anything away from anything in life and in business, 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:42.120 you you have to rethink how you've built the whole thing. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.840 And I you know, to me, this wasn't just about 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.480 Matthew Stafford. It wasn't just about von Miller. It's this 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:53.040 accumulation things. And again I have to reiterate they have 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:57.080 given up significant capital to get there, and at some 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.160 point time the bill is gonna come do There's only 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.800 so much that you can kick things down the road 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.320 in terms of cap room, cap space and cash availability 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:09.080 and or quite honestly, there's this whole other thing of 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:13.280 managing expectations. You can't keep tricking your fans into believing that, oh, 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:15.280