Speaker 1: We are less than twenty four hours away from kickoff,
Speaker 1: and our guys Brian Bowdier and Adam Rank will be
Speaker 1: here to tell you who could be the game changers
Speaker 1: on wild card weekend. Bill Belichick remains the head coach
Speaker 1: at the University of North Carolina for now, but the
Speaker 1: possibility of an NFL return Lingers. One of his former players,
Speaker 1: joins us with some interesting thoughts on his former coach,
Speaker 1: who once traded him away. Meanwhile, more bad news for
Speaker 1: de Shawn Watson, who tore's achilles again and that was
Speaker 1: in jeopardy of missing the entire twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2: So what does that mean for the.
Speaker 1: Browns plans to add a quarterback, perhaps with the number
Speaker 1: two overall pick. We will tell you the latest from Cleveland,
Speaker 1: and yes we're talking about playoffs. Welcome inside with the
Speaker 1: insiders alongside Mike Garafolo. I am Tom Pelisero. We are
Speaker 1: thirty days away from Super Bowl fifty nine. We are
Speaker 1: just one day away from the start of the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Fourteen teams still alive, two guys in plaid shirts, and
Speaker 1: we've only got one hour to talk about every bit
Speaker 1: of it.
Speaker 2: Let's start out in court Phiadelphia Ware.
Speaker 1: Yes, the Eagles will have Jalen Hurts back in the lineup.
Speaker 1: He officially has cleared the concussion protocol off the injury report.
Speaker 1: Of course, missed the tail end of the regular season.
Speaker 1: That gave him extra time to get through all these steps.
Speaker 1: Final clearance by an independent neurologist has come. Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: is gonna be out there good to go Sunday against
Speaker 1: the Packers, and he's gonna have some help Mike.
Speaker 3: He is.
Speaker 4: Although Aj Brown and Devonte Smith both this practice this week.
Speaker 4: Aj Brown on Thursday, DeVante Smith on Friday. The knee
Speaker 4: for aj Brown something that he's been managing, going to
Speaker 4: have to continue to manage, obviously as long as the
Speaker 4: Eagles are alive here.
Speaker 2: As for Smith, the backslash rest, well, I.
Speaker 4: Mean yeah, they're resting him because he's got the back
Speaker 4: and also give him a little rest. He's got a
Speaker 4: back issue. But he is expected to play after not
Speaker 4: practicing on Friday. So we'll see how both of those
Speaker 4: two receivers fair. We'll see how Jordan Love Bears as well.
Speaker 4: After that little funny bone incident on Sunday, practice fully
Speaker 4: for the second straight day.
Speaker 2: He was limited the day before that.
Speaker 4: But full practice is expected to go against the Eagles,
Speaker 4: Matt Lafleur indicating that Love had a good practice on Friday,
Speaker 4: so the expectation is that he's a full go, ready
Speaker 4: to go, ready to rock.
Speaker 1: Some others not so lucky for wild card weekend. Big
Speaker 1: loss for the Ravens wide receivers. A Flowers out because
Speaker 1: of that knee injury. Minor sanding is he's got at
Speaker 1: least a chance if they win, to be back for
Speaker 1: the divisional playoff week. You see several Chargers on that list.
Speaker 1: Josh Palmer out once again because of the heel, JK. Dobbins,
Speaker 1: Quinin Johnson both listed as questionable. I get the sense
Speaker 1: both those guys more than likely we'll go. We'll find
Speaker 1: out for sure prior to kickoff on Saturday against the Texans. Also,
Speaker 1: Kate Gotten questionable for the Buck So is Atrooin Winfield
Speaker 1: Junior their safety. But it does sound like a cord
Speaker 1: to Todd Bowles he.
Speaker 2: Is going to be good to go.
Speaker 1: The Browns, of course, have been eliminated for almost as
Speaker 1: long as Deshaun Watson has been off the field once again,
Speaker 1: first tore his achilles tend and back on October twentieth
Speaker 1: at surgery. Five days later, now earlier today, the Browns
Speaker 1: announcing Watson retore his achilles tendon after complaining of discomfort
Speaker 1: in his ankle after rolling it down in Miami. They
Speaker 1: did additional exams after his end of year physical discovered
Speaker 1: the retear doctor Robert Anderson, one of the leading specials
Speaker 1: in the country.
Speaker 2: Repaired it.
Speaker 1: But this is, Mike, the continuation of a unbelievable in
Speaker 1: many senses several years for Deshaun Watson, a guy the
Speaker 1: Browns gave up so much for, and now not only
Speaker 1: has he not played up to the money and the
Speaker 1: draft picks they gave up. What possibly twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: is going to end up being a wash as well.
Speaker 4: Well, we're coming up on the home stretch here, I guess,
Speaker 4: well the last year wud be the home stretch. This
Speaker 4: is the far turn. Maybe I don't know. Ian's not here,
Speaker 4: he's our horse racing guy. The point is we're coming
Speaker 4: toward the end of this contract here, and if he
Speaker 4: doesn't play, yeah, that would leave one more season for
Speaker 4: him on the field for which he is under contract.
Speaker 2: And this opens up a couple of things.
Speaker 4: One we already knew from a potential veterans standpoint and
Speaker 4: free agency that the Browns were going to add some
Speaker 4: competition in the room for Deshaun Watson. This only seemingly
Speaker 4: further cements it. And then you've got the fact that
Speaker 4: they're holding the second pick in the draft here with
Speaker 4: the Titans at number one, who could use some quarterback
Speaker 4: help as well. It's looking like quarterback quarterback. And then
Speaker 4: with the Giants at three, potentially quarterback quarterback quarterback in
Speaker 4: the draft here coming up here, and maybe they, you know,
Speaker 4: one of these teams says, you know what, we're not
Speaker 4: enamored with these quarterbacks. You can come up to our
Speaker 4: spot if you want to trade up to ensure yourself
Speaker 4: on we'll see.
Speaker 2: But this just opens it up.
Speaker 4: If you're behind the Browns and the draft order, like
Speaker 4: the Giants, and you need a quarterback, this doesn't help
Speaker 4: you in that regard because you would think that the
Speaker 4: Browns are going to start looking at more long term
Speaker 4: solution other than Deshaun Watson has not played up to
Speaker 4: that contract and now as a major health issue heading
Speaker 4: into twenty five the Sean.
Speaker 1: Watson has played a grand total of nineteen games in
Speaker 1: a Browns uniform since being acquired. For all those draft
Speaker 1: picks getting the fully guaranteed contracts still do forty six
Speaker 1: million fully guaranteed in twenty twenty five, another forty six
Speaker 1: million fully guaranteed in twenty twenty six. Lebrowns do have
Speaker 1: an insurance policy on most of that money for twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five, so potentially some cash and cap relief if
Speaker 1: this goes the direction that it seems like it most
Speaker 1: likely will. We also have questions about another non playoff team,
Speaker 1: and that is the Dallas Cowboys, who are very quickly
Speaker 1: coming up on the deadline at which Mike McCarthy's contract
Speaker 1: would expire and he would be able to join another team.
Speaker 1: As I reported this morning, they spent several days discussing
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty four season and the future. At this point,
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy are both open to moving
Speaker 1: forward together and the expectation was here over these next
Speaker 1: couple of days that they are going to open up
Speaker 1: talks on a contract extension and see if they can
Speaker 1: get a deal done to keep him in Dallas. If not,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are going to have to look for a replacement,
Speaker 1: and you have to say based on what McCarthy has
Speaker 1: done in the regular season. There's a lot of reasons
Speaker 1: that makes sense for Jerry Jones to want to see
Speaker 1: this through. Dak Prescott played the best football that he
Speaker 1: has Mike last year in his first year with Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy calling the place. Twenty twenty four was a mess
Speaker 1: for a variety of different reasons here, but you understand
Speaker 1: why Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 2: Also, if it does come to next Tuesday and they don't.
Speaker 1: Have the contract done, he is going to have interest
Speaker 1: elsewhere because there just aren't many candidates.
Speaker 2: With a track record like he has.
Speaker 4: If you're the Cowboys and you want to get this,
Speaker 4: like why would you even wait until then? That gives
Speaker 4: your guy that you're negotiating with that much more leverage, Like,
Speaker 4: if you want to get this done, it's enough time
Speaker 4: to get it done. Coaching contracts are relatively simple. It's
Speaker 4: just a matter of agreeing on the number here. So look,
Speaker 4: they've spoken highly about Mike McCarthy. Everybody has players, coaches, personnel.
Speaker 4: They blocked the Bear's request to talk to him, which
Speaker 4: they can do up until that Tuesday date, tom that
Speaker 4: you're talking about, and they haven't interviewed anybody else themselves,
Speaker 4: which they could conceivably do as well. So yeah, I
Speaker 4: would think at this point that everything's pointing toward Mike
Speaker 4: McCarthy returning, uh, and these sides trying to get this
Speaker 4: done over the next couple of days. It's just a
Speaker 4: matter of, as we say often, you know these deadlines.
Speaker 4: You got to take it up to that deadline for
Speaker 4: both sides to feel like they've maximized their leverage on
Speaker 4: this one. But again, if I'm the Cowboys, I try
Speaker 4: to get this thing done well before Tuesday.
Speaker 2: When it comes to money matters.
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones has shown that he has no problem waiting
Speaker 1: until the last possible second, But there's reasons for everybody
Speaker 1: to have urgency. The whole coaching staff also has their
Speaker 1: contracts up. Mike McCarthy at some point is going to
Speaker 1: need to put together a staff to try to move
Speaker 1: forward here.
Speaker 2: So a lot of.
Speaker 5: Movies were up the other days from what I saw it,
Speaker 5: If yeah, sorry, if if Jerry has to get a
Speaker 5: new coach. He's also missing on opportunities to interview the
Speaker 5: guys who were on buys this week, So stay tuned
Speaker 5: for the latest odd of Dallas at this point. In
Speaker 5: other news around the NFL, the Vikings and Rams game,
Speaker 5: as we told you last night on The Insiders, officially
Speaker 5: moved to Glendale, Arizona. In light of the wildfires that
Speaker 5: continue to rage throughout southern California. Amidst a variety of
Speaker 5: different statements and contributions from different NFL clubs, the NFL
Speaker 5: announced that the NFL Family is providing five million dollars
Speaker 5: to support communities affected by the wildfires in the Greater
Speaker 5: LA region, led by individual contributions from clubs and ownership
Speaker 5: crews from the Chargers, Rams, Vikings, Texans, and NFL Foundation.
Speaker 5: These funds will deliver vital resources to local organizations supporting
Speaker 5: those affected by the wildfires. The NFL also said in
Speaker 5: a statement, we are all heartbroken by the devastation and
Speaker 5: destruction from the raging wildfires across the Greater Los Angeles region.
Speaker 5: Families affected by these fires urgently need support. Help the
Speaker 5: American Red Cross respond to and help people recover from
Speaker 5: these disasters. You can donate today to support relief efforts
Speaker 5: by going to Redcross dot org slash NFL. Coming up
Speaker 5: on The Insiders, Love Hurts Part two. If you didn't
Speaker 5: get all those puns out of your system before the
Speaker 5: Friday night opener in Brazil.
Speaker 1: Guess what, we're running it back. Who's got the edge
Speaker 1: in this game? Will be breaking all of that down, Mike.
Speaker 4: Indeed, we will, and we will be talking about the
Speaker 4: rate the Steelers and the Ravens coming up this weekend.
Speaker 4: Saquon Barkley as well wild Card game changers and wreckers
Speaker 4: coming up later on the program. Here on The Insiders
Speaker 4: with Adam Rank and Brian Baldinger.
Speaker 1: Actually it's next Jaden Daniels postseason bound in year one
Speaker 1: for him, part of an exciting wild Card weekend six pack.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilisero, now joined by
Speaker 1: our guys Brian Baldinger and Adam Rank. Baldy, let's talk
Speaker 1: game changers. Who's a game.
Speaker 2: Changer here for these wildcard games?
Speaker 3: Tom?
Speaker 6: When I got this assignment, I said it to myself,
Speaker 6: I'm not going to overthink this. I'm not going to
Speaker 6: try to get cute. I'm not going to try to
Speaker 6: outdo Rank over here. I'm just gonna give it to
Speaker 6: you straight. Like I think Saquon Barkley, I think it's
Speaker 6: good enough to know that he's a game changer, right.
Speaker 6: I mean, I was there in Sam Paulo for that
Speaker 6: first game when he went twenty four carries for one
Speaker 6: oh nine. He scored three touchdowns, including a passing touchdowns.
Speaker 6: Little weed to know that that would be the first
Speaker 6: of eleven one hundred plus yard rushing days for Saquon.
Speaker 6: I don't know just the timing and the rhythm that
Speaker 6: Jalen Hurts will be in the passing game this week
Speaker 6: after missing so much time, But I know this, I
Speaker 6: know the rhythm that Saquan has with his offensive line
Speaker 6: is pretty darn good, and I think it's going to
Speaker 6: be good on Sunday afternoon against the Packers.
Speaker 7: I love that pick, Baldy, Listen, I'm like you. I
Speaker 7: thought about Saquon Barkley. I was thinking about my fantasy team.
Speaker 7: Saquon Barkley was on a number of my championship teams.
Speaker 7: And another guy who was big for me this year
Speaker 7: was Ladd mccaukey of the La Charges. Now, obviously the
Speaker 7: Chargers traded away Keenan Allen to the Bears. They allowed
Speaker 7: Mike Williams to leave in free agency, and Ladd has
Speaker 7: done a tremendous job in his rookie season. He's had
Speaker 7: at least fifty receiving yards in each of the last
Speaker 7: ten games this year, the longest streak by a rookie
Speaker 7: not drafted in the first round ever. Obviously, Milik Naghbors
Speaker 7: also did it, but he was a first rounder. Slot
Speaker 7: receivers have traditionally flourished in Greg Roman's offense, and Ladd
Speaker 7: has done just that. And he's got a pretty good
Speaker 7: matchup this week against the Houston Texas. Now, the Texans
Speaker 7: have allowed just a fifty seven percent completion percentage the
Speaker 7: slot receivers this season. They've created nine interceptions to slot receivers. However,
Speaker 7: they've allowed fourteen touchdowns to slot receivers this year. An
Speaker 7: important note if you're looking for a guy who could
Speaker 7: score a touchdown at any moment, so.
Speaker 1: To speak, Paudy, I know you love you love one
Speaker 1: thing more than game changers. That's game wreckerds. Give me
Speaker 1: one of those four wild card weekend.
Speaker 8: Well, and this one I did think a great deal
Speaker 8: about it.
Speaker 6: You know, von Miller is going to start his fourteenth
Speaker 6: playoff game in his illustrious career, and we've seen him
Speaker 6: wreck super Bowl games. In many of playoff games and
Speaker 6: while he's sort of flown under the radar, he does
Speaker 6: have six sacks this year. And I just was around
Speaker 6: him a lot this offseason at the Sack Summit up
Speaker 6: a training camp.
Speaker 8: Like he knows how to close out a game.
Speaker 2: He is an official closer.
Speaker 8: We've seen him to do that in two Super Bowl games.
Speaker 6: I think he's living for this moment, and I think
Speaker 6: he wants to put Denver to sleep, put them away,
Speaker 6: and move on to these playoffs. I'm looking for von
Speaker 6: Miller to come up and play big, especially in the
Speaker 6: biggest moments of this game.
Speaker 7: I think we're at pretty simpatico on this one because
Speaker 7: I love that pick. And you know what it's funny
Speaker 7: is I was at Super Bowl forty eight, I was
Speaker 7: at Super Bowl fifty. The biggest difference for the Broncos
Speaker 7: in those two games was the defense, which is why
Speaker 7: right now I'm looking at the Broncos defense and I'm
Speaker 7: gonna look at Zach Allen. Now, obviously they've got some
Speaker 7: great players. They have three three first team All pros
Speaker 7: on this team, five all together, Patrick Sartin, Nick Bonito.
Speaker 7: But Zach Allen led the NFL with forty quarterback hits
Speaker 7: this year the most sense Nick Bosa in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 7: He is an elite company. The only other guys who've
Speaker 7: had forty hits on a quarterback were of course Bosa,
Speaker 7: JJ Watt who did it four times, TJ Watt, and
Speaker 7: of course Aaron Donald. Zack also had a career high
Speaker 7: eight and a half sacks fifteen tackles for loss. He
Speaker 7: also led all defensive tackles with sixty seven pressures on
Speaker 7: a quarterback according to our next Gen stats and listen,
Speaker 7: the Broncos were the only team that had three different
Speaker 7: guys get twenty pressures on the quarterback. Defense travels in
Speaker 7: the playoffs. So if you're upset minded, I look at
Speaker 7: this Broncos defense, and I'm picking the Broncos to up
Speaker 7: set the Bills in this one.
Speaker 6: Of course, the nickname four Ustill love the Jack Allen
Speaker 6: is baby Jon baby jj w I mean, he's been
Speaker 6: living with that for a long time.
Speaker 8: He seems okay with that.
Speaker 1: He's he looks That's what I'm about to say, physically,
Speaker 1: like the huge elbow brace. Obviously, the number like he's
Speaker 1: actually looks like it's some type of a play action
Speaker 1: type of a Jamaldi rank enjoy these games this weekend.
Speaker 8: Mike.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the game start on Tomorrow at four thirty pm
Speaker 4: Eastern on CBS eight pm Prime Video Thursday on a Saturday,
Speaker 4: basically with our Prime video folks.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: The Texans at home in more ways than one, their
Speaker 4: home in Houston and also right in that four thirty
Speaker 4: slot that they're so used to playing on Wildcard Weekend
Speaker 4: over the years. You get the Lions at one o'clock
Speaker 4: on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys after that, and you get the
Speaker 4: Texans in the first game on Saturday for Wildcard Weekend.
Speaker 2: That's how that's how it goes, and you get Jeffrey
Speaker 2: Kadia coming in on the end.
Speaker 4: I here to provide some insight here on the Saturday
Speaker 4: slate of games. We're going to start with that first
Speaker 4: one and talk about Jim Harball. You know, I'm talking
Speaker 4: to people about this coach hiring cycle this year, and
Speaker 4: they're like, there's no Jim Harball. There's no guy that's
Speaker 4: going to come in and you know for sure you
Speaker 4: are going to be a playoff contender immediately, if not
Speaker 4: in the playoffs. We've seen the impact of Jim Harball.
Speaker 4: What kind of impact has he had on the Chargers
Speaker 4: overall this season.
Speaker 9: I've seen this movie before, Mike. I saw it at Michigan.
Speaker 9: It's my alma mater. I saw it if the Sam
Speaker 9: Francisco forty nine Ers when he was there. He has
Speaker 9: a way of coming in and connecting with his players
Speaker 9: immediately and getting them to buy in. That's the best
Speaker 9: thing the Chargers have going for them going into this
Speaker 9: playoff game with the Texans. They really believe in what
Speaker 9: Jim Harbaugh is preaching and they've seen the results of it.
Speaker 9: Limiting turnovers, taking care of the football, limiting penalties, running
Speaker 9: the football, playing great defense.
Speaker 10: That's the formula and it travels well in the postseason.
Speaker 9: So I really like their chances of doing big things
Speaker 9: in this postseason. On the flip side of this, the
Speaker 9: Houston Texans are a team that does not want to
Speaker 9: see the Chargers right now because they've been limping into
Speaker 9: the postseason, scoring nineteen points against the Chiefs and the
Speaker 9: Ravens in their last two wingless games, and really had
Speaker 9: a hard time protecting CJ. Shroud all season long, fifty
Speaker 9: four sacks given up.
Speaker 10: That's fourth in the NFL.
Speaker 9: He's without Tank Dell Stefan dis I just don't see
Speaker 9: how the Texans end up winning this game against the
Speaker 9: Chargers team that's really riding high right now.
Speaker 4: All right, Jeffrey Jdia making his call on that game.
Speaker 4: So let's slip to the next game on Saturday night.
Speaker 4: Steelers Ravens, two teams that obviously know a bunch about
Speaker 4: each other. Steelers got to get some stuff together here,
Speaker 4: particularly at the quarterback position, if they're going to have
Speaker 4: a shot in this game. Your thought on this matchup
Speaker 4: of two AFC North rivals, You.
Speaker 9: Know, I was really high on Russell Wilson and what
Speaker 9: he brought to that team when he got into the
Speaker 9: starting lineup, and you saw the immediate impact.
Speaker 10: But man, the last five games, this team has really
Speaker 10: gone south.
Speaker 9: They've only scored fifty seven points in their last four games,
Speaker 9: lost the Ravens, the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Bengals, and
Speaker 9: Russell Wilson. I mean, you thought when George Pickens came
Speaker 9: back in the lineup things were going to get better
Speaker 9: after he had that hamstring injury, and it's gotten worse.
Speaker 9: So I don't really know again how they're going to
Speaker 9: be able to deal with what they've got to go
Speaker 9: up against, what their Baltimore Ravens. Even with the success
Speaker 9: they've had against Baltimore and for Baltimore, you look at
Speaker 9: what they're doing.
Speaker 10: They're in a great position right now with where their
Speaker 10: defenses come around.
Speaker 9: Justin Ticker's not Justin Tucker's not missing kicks anymore, but
Speaker 9: Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 10: It's the heck of a road.
Speaker 9: He's gonna have to go through a team that's had
Speaker 9: his number in the Steelers, and then he's gonna have
Speaker 9: to deal with probably Josh Allen and then Patrick Mahoons
Speaker 9: if he gets that part of the ASC Championship game.
Speaker 9: He is two and four in the playoffs. We all
Speaker 9: know the stats. He's an MVP cann for a reason.
Speaker 9: But I'll tell you what, this is gonna be a
Speaker 9: harder road as he's ever had in the postseason.
Speaker 2: I think you call them Justin Ticker? Is that what
Speaker 2: you call them?
Speaker 8: Tucker back?
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, It's okay.
Speaker 4: There have been worse slip ups when it comes to
Speaker 4: Justin Tucker. On this very program, John pellis, Oh, are
Speaker 4: you listening. We'll get to him after the break. Jeffrey
Speaker 4: to the excellent breakdown of both games on Saturday now
Speaker 4: let's get ready for those games. I think Tom's texting
Speaker 4: me right now. We've got the Broncos and the Bills
Speaker 4: coming up on Sunday. Our camera Wolf is gonna come
Speaker 4: in to join us after the Insiders to break it
Speaker 4: all down.
Speaker 8: Okay, Phil, Smkia stand up, super Bowl and.
Speaker 10: Nothing in all the way switching the playoffs up?
Speaker 2: Playoff ready?
Speaker 10: You don't need to ask the hand.
Speaker 2: See she has clutched movie. So you're playing the Josh shalling.
Speaker 2: You'll think he is.
Speaker 9: VP joint saying money that you'll be one one on
Speaker 9: his jersey.
Speaker 10: He's in seventeen races. Hey, he's bigger peeing. He got
Speaker 10: the Bills, will fight you get better.
Speaker 8: Believe the TDS are in the pot.
Speaker 10: We need treating in need, Oh pretty much. I want
Speaker 10: to You need the seeds us.
Speaker 8: Looking playoff tech, get up, get it blinking missed.
Speaker 11: They made the playoff Ready you play already?
Speaker 8: Who's not saying.
Speaker 10: Seracs?
Speaker 1: I am told there's one of those anthems for every
Speaker 1: team in the postseason. I'm gonna say we're gonna hear
Speaker 1: the Bills won a little bit more than the Broncos,
Speaker 1: at least leading up to this weekend's game.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pella Sero.
Speaker 1: Joined by our guy Cameron Wolf, who will be at
Speaker 1: that game in Orchard Park Camp. Josh Allen and the Bills,
Speaker 1: even though it appears based on the All Pro voting today,
Speaker 1: he's not gonna be the MVP of the league. He's
Speaker 1: certainly been the MVP of the Bills with that remodeled
Speaker 1: receiving corps. What's the key for number seventeen to take
Speaker 1: over this game?
Speaker 2: Tom?
Speaker 11: The Bills are always led by Josh Allen, but this
Speaker 11: year has felt differently. And you mentioned the All Pro vote.
Speaker 11: I've got a feeling there will be some extra motivation
Speaker 11: from Josh Allen and the Bills to prove people wrong.
Speaker 11: No All Pro vote for a team that went fourteen
Speaker 11: and three and really overcame a lot of foster turnover.
Speaker 11: And I thought it was interesting talking to Bill general
Speaker 11: manager Brandon Bean this week about the evolution of Josh
Speaker 11: Allen and he said the big thing for him was
Speaker 11: not playing hero ball in a level that he was
Speaker 11: in previous seasons. And when you look at the numbers,
Speaker 11: it really sells at home. The Bills are the first
Speaker 11: team in the Super Bowl Era to allow fewer than
Speaker 11: fifteen sacks and fewer than fifteen giveaways.
Speaker 2: They are just not making mistakes.
Speaker 10: And that's the matchup.
Speaker 11: I can't wait in this game to see how Josh
Speaker 11: Allen and that elite Bills offensive line goes against an
Speaker 11: elite Broncos defensive front. The Broncos lead the NFL in
Speaker 11: sacks by far. Van Joseph has that group playing really well.
Speaker 11: Zach Allen, Nick Benito, and that group is going to
Speaker 11: try to get out of Josh. Get that after Josh Allen.
Speaker 11: I talked to Zach Allen, the Broncos defensive tackle this week,
Speaker 11: and he said, when we beat them last year, we
Speaker 11: didn't have any sacks, but we got a lot of
Speaker 11: pressure kept Josh into the pocket. That's going to be
Speaker 11: our game plan. It's not always that first two or
Speaker 11: three seconds. It's how do we minimize his ability to
Speaker 11: make plays outside the huddle.
Speaker 2: And that'll be the Broncos' best chance to try to
Speaker 2: pull out the upset against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: On the flip side of this bow, Knicks has been
Speaker 1: one of the great stories in the NFL this season.
Speaker 1: The sixth quarterback taken in the draft he is one
Speaker 1: of just two that's going to be starting a game
Speaker 1: here as we get into the postseason. So how do
Speaker 1: the Broncos hopes play out here? For bow Knicks to
Speaker 1: do enough for them to poll will be a pretty
Speaker 1: big upset on the road.
Speaker 11: Yeah, the big thing for bow Knicks is even though
Speaker 11: he's a rookie, he doesn't play with that type of
Speaker 11: rookie spear.
Speaker 2: He has a lot of starts in college.
Speaker 11: And Zach Allen said, a lot of people around the
Speaker 11: Saints building who are now with the Broncos compare him
Speaker 11: to Drew Brees with his ability to have the poise
Speaker 11: in and outside the pocket, and they say that type
Speaker 11: of leadership is why they have confidence that their time
Speaker 11: is now. They're a young team. They feel like they're
Speaker 11: building towards many years of competing. But they don't think
Speaker 11: this is just Hey, this is our playoff run.
Speaker 2: Be happy for it.
Speaker 11: They think they can make some noise in bo Nix's
Speaker 11: playmaking ability is what they think can really call some
Speaker 11: issues from a Bill's defense that has had some up
Speaker 11: and down issues this year. And I talked to Von
Speaker 11: Miller this week about bo Nicks and he mentioned the
Speaker 11: fact that bo Nix's bab best skill set is that
Speaker 11: he doesn't have any limitations. He doesn't know what he
Speaker 11: doesn't know, and so he can throw the ball eighty
Speaker 11: yards with no fear. He can also run an RPO
Speaker 11: or run somebody over. And the unknown is what the
Speaker 11: Bills are watching this week from the Broncos. What comes
Speaker 11: out of Sean Payton's bag this week? As this team
Speaker 11: is playing loose, they're playing fun, they're playing well. This
Speaker 11: is their first playoff game since twenty fifteen, oddly enough,
Speaker 11: where von Miller won Super Bowl MVP for that team.
Speaker 11: And Patrick Sartan, who keeps a really good relation to
Speaker 11: with von Miller, told him this week, our time is now.
Speaker 11: You guys had your time in Denver. It's our time now.
Speaker 1: The Broncos had to beat the Chiefs backups last weekend
Speaker 1: just to secure that final playoff spot. Upset the Bills
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Guess what the reward is going to Kansas City.
Speaker 1: He played the starters for the Chiefs in the divisional
Speaker 1: playoff round.
Speaker 2: Cam have a lot of fun. Stay warm out there, buddy, Mike.
Speaker 4: Tom new Today the injury report, the final injury report
Speaker 4: for the Eagles Packers game, Jordan Love not on it. Well,
Speaker 4: he's on it, but it's his participation, not his game status.
Speaker 4: No game status, which means he is good to go
Speaker 4: after his second straight full day of practice with that
Speaker 4: right elbow, no funny business with that funny bone. He
Speaker 4: is going to start and play against the Eagles.
Speaker 10: So is this guy.
Speaker 4: And maybe early in the week you were concerned by
Speaker 4: the fact that he was still in the protocol. Nope,
Speaker 4: out of the protocol. Today we tried to tell you
Speaker 4: there's no rush to take a guy out of the
Speaker 4: protocol until the end of the week. So that's where
Speaker 4: we are. Jalen Hurts, just like Jordan Love, no status
Speaker 4: for this game on Sunday, which means he's good to go.
Speaker 2: Stacy Daniel's good to go. She's gonna be.
Speaker 4: There covering this game for NFL Game Day Morning for
Speaker 4: us on Sunday, Stace, let's talk about Jalen Hurts and
Speaker 4: the possibility like there's maybe a little bit of rust, right,
Speaker 4: but he's healthy.
Speaker 2: He cleared the protocol, that's the good thing. Just hasn't
Speaker 2: played in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 12: Yeah, I mean, he's got the green light.
Speaker 10: He's ready to go.
Speaker 12: I think all things look very promising. I heard Baldy's
Speaker 12: segment earlier, wondering, as you just pointed out, Mike, if
Speaker 12: there'd be that russ because the concussion happened, by the way,
Speaker 12: in the first quarter of their Week sixteen game against
Speaker 12: the Commanders in that loss, so he's had quite a
Speaker 12: bit of time, and by all counts, he is ready
Speaker 12: to go. Because the folks I've talked to, including second
Speaker 12: team All Pro Jordan my Lotta, what a season he
Speaker 12: has had at that left tackle spot for these Eagles.
Speaker 12: But he told me that the communication this week has
Speaker 12: been even better than before Jalen Hurts had the concussion.
Speaker 12: He said, he has looked fantastic in practice, and remember
Speaker 12: they've been in pads this week, Mike. The hunger and fire,
Speaker 12: he said, are very clear, and it is playoff Jalen time.
Speaker 12: He told me, I said, what does that mean? He said,
Speaker 12: he knows the stakes go up, but he keeps We've
Speaker 12: heard him say the main thing, the main thing, but
Speaker 12: he keeps things very.
Speaker 2: Basic for his team.
Speaker 12: The focus, though, is incredible, and it's certainly great when
Speaker 12: you have a running back if you're Jalen Hurts like
Speaker 12: sae Quon Barkley. I heard Baldy talk about would they
Speaker 12: be ready to go? Absolutely, they'll be ready to go.
Speaker 12: He has been nothing sure of special this season, but
Speaker 12: his communication and vision with the offensive line just so good.
Speaker 12: He is the focal point for Jeff Haffley's Packers defense.
Speaker 12: If you listen to Jeff Haffley this week, he said,
Speaker 12: you got to do it over defending him over and
Speaker 12: over and over again, so locked in, ensued, so detailed
Speaker 12: that you do it again and again and again. He's patient,
Speaker 12: he sees it. He'll make you pay for it. That's
Speaker 12: the focus for the Packers. And by the way, Mike,
Speaker 12: you know this better than anybody. This Eagles team has
Speaker 12: a massive chip on their shoulder after their exodus in
Speaker 12: the playoffs last year to Tampa. They got blown out.
Speaker 12: They remember that and they want to rectify it on
Speaker 12: Sunday at home.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, they throw the pads on now.
Speaker 4: They've rested in week eighteen, so you throw the pads
Speaker 4: on to get that feel again, to get that physicality again.
Speaker 2: And that sounds like a team that expects to run
Speaker 2: the ball, which is not a surprise.
Speaker 8: That's what they do.
Speaker 4: As for the other side and a team that does
Speaker 4: have a good running back as well. Packers and Jordan
Speaker 4: Love Love again full participate in the last two days.
Speaker 2: What do they need to do on offense against this
Speaker 2: Eagles team.
Speaker 12: Well, they've got to clean it up. And thanks for
Speaker 12: reminding us. Saquon sat out last week, so he should
Speaker 12: be really ready to go. They've got to clean it up.
Speaker 12: Jordan Love has even talked about is he's been dinged
Speaker 12: up with that throwing arm. He got hit in the elbow.
Speaker 12: It was very numb after the Bears game and that
Speaker 12: loss where they had to take him out. So but
Speaker 12: they've had back to back losses now against divisional opponents,
Speaker 12: so they know each other a little bit better than
Speaker 12: some other teams might. But the Vikings and the Bears,
Speaker 12: Jordan has talked about and acknowledged the accuracy, the footwork,
Speaker 12: the timing has to be better. They've got to get
Speaker 12: on the same page with their receivers and they certainly
Speaker 12: have to do it very quickly against the number one
Speaker 12: defense in football, Vic Fangio's group in Philly, number one
Speaker 12: total defense, number one pass defense. But by the way,
Speaker 12: they're preparing for a fully healthy Jordan Love. They know
Speaker 12: they'll try to run the ball. That's been their mo
Speaker 12: as we watch it here on the b roll today.
Speaker 12: But Fangio of the quarterback understanding he's always going to
Speaker 12: go to the quarterback first, big arm, he could throw
Speaker 12: to every part of the field. He does have movement
Speaker 12: in the pocket, and he just executes what they do
Speaker 12: so well, which Mike is the run game and it's
Speaker 12: the play pass. So defending those two things, but they
Speaker 12: are just something to handle. That Eagles defense up front,
Speaker 12: in the middle and on the back end. Really good
Speaker 12: group as they get ready to face a very hungry
Speaker 12: Packers team in the Wildcard this weekend in Philly.
Speaker 4: Thanks, one more question for you before I let you go.
Speaker 4: Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in the supernatural?
Speaker 4: Because you mightn't want to look behind you when you
Speaker 4: were talking earlier. Let's watch the replay here Gon roll it.
Speaker 4: Let's see here right on your right shoulder. Oh my goodness,
Speaker 4: what's just happened.
Speaker 12: That would be Ruby, my dog and Jim.
Speaker 10: That's not a ghost.
Speaker 12: She enters and she goes in and out of her
Speaker 12: own own volition.
Speaker 2: Mike.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like j It's like Jurassic Park where they say,
Speaker 4: we're safe unless they figure out how to open doors,
Speaker 4: and then they cut to the door and the dinosaur figures.
Speaker 2: Out open door.
Speaker 4: Stacey Dale's thank you very much. Looking forward to seeing
Speaker 4: you on the field in Philly this weekend. Thank you
Speaker 4: very much. Coming up, a guy who played quarterback for
Speaker 4: the Patriots is on the show. Next, not that guy,
Speaker 4: Matt Castle, who served as the Patriots quarterback wile that
Speaker 4: guy was hurt. He's got a new podcast going to
Speaker 4: talk about Brady Beelachick, all things Patriots and otherwise.
Speaker 1: Next, the newest NFL and iHeartRadio podcast is Lots to
Speaker 1: Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle, premiere today with
Speaker 1: Kurt Warner as the guest. Weekly show dropping every Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Wherever you get your podcasts, And what do you know,
Speaker 1: we have one of the hosts here. It's Bobby Bones. No,
Speaker 1: it's actually Matt Castle, who is with us right here
Speaker 1: on The Insiders with me, Tom Pelliicero as well as
Speaker 1: Mike Carrol Fullo.
Speaker 10: I've been on Matt.
Speaker 1: I think at least one, maybe two of Bobby's different podcasts.
Speaker 1: He's an entrepreneur, He's in a lot of different place.
Speaker 1: He has a crazy background. Tell me about this show and.
Speaker 2: What made you want to do this particular podcast.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it kind of came up out of the blue,
Speaker 8: to be honest with you.
Speaker 3: The NFL contacted me and said, Bobby Bones wants to
Speaker 3: do a podcast through iHeart Radio and everything like that.
Speaker 3: And so I sat there and I read his resume
Speaker 3: they sent his resume because I didn't know a ton
Speaker 3: about him.
Speaker 8: It was exceptional to read up on this guy.
Speaker 3: And then I got a chance to go meet him
Speaker 3: and we immediately clicked and hit it off, and so
Speaker 3: we started recording some of these podcasts.
Speaker 8: Obviously, we had Kurt Warner. That episode came out today.
Speaker 8: But it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: We've had Kurt Warner on, We've talked to guys like
Speaker 3: Jared Allen and Boomer Science, and then his connections to
Speaker 3: that entertainment world as well has been a lot of
Speaker 3: fun because we've got guys like Tim McGraw and Parker
Speaker 3: McCollum and country music come on and talk about their
Speaker 3: experiences their love for sports.
Speaker 8: So it's just fun.
Speaker 3: It's entertaining. We're talking ball, we're talking entertainment, we're talking everything.
Speaker 8: It's we've got a lot to.
Speaker 4: Say, you certainly have a lot to say about football.
Speaker 4: We want to dig in on some of that stuff.
Speaker 4: And look, just yesterday the Patriots announced that they had
Speaker 4: interviewed your former teammate Mike Vrabel for that coaching position.
Speaker 4: I think a lot of us from the jump after
Speaker 4: they fired girod Meo said, that's going to wind up
Speaker 4: being the guy. You've seen what Rabel's done over his
Speaker 4: playing career, over his coaching career. How good of a
Speaker 4: fit is this, because it seems like the perfect fit, right.
Speaker 3: It would be the perfect fit. You think about Rabel,
Speaker 3: going back to him as a player and what he
Speaker 3: was for that organization. He's in the Patriots Hall of
Speaker 3: Fame and then a lot of people though associate him
Speaker 3: with this Belichick tree, but really he's branched out. He's
Speaker 3: been under Urban Meyer at Ohio State, he was under
Speaker 3: Billy O'Brien in Houston, and when you think and talk
Speaker 3: to other players that have been around him, he's just
Speaker 3: an exceptional coach. He's a player's coach. He's been there,
Speaker 3: he understands what it takes to win. He did a
Speaker 3: great job here in Tennessee, and it's unfortunate how it
Speaker 3: ended here, but to have him come into that organization
Speaker 3: and he would be able to stabilize it, and with
Speaker 3: a young quarterback like Drake May, I think he'd do
Speaker 3: an exceptional job.
Speaker 8: And I know that the Kraft family would love to
Speaker 8: have him come home.
Speaker 1: You know, Matt, there's a lot of people who have
Speaker 1: played with Mike Rabel, played for Mike Frabel, coached with
Speaker 1: Mike Frable. There's only one guy I know of who's
Speaker 1: been traded with Mike Rabel. Two thousand and nine, You're
Speaker 1: coming off a remarkable season in New England in relief
Speaker 1: of Tom Brady. You get the call you're being traded
Speaker 1: with Rabel to the Chiefs. For a second, a pick
Speaker 1: yous take me through that sequence of events and what
Speaker 1: it was like in then one. It was a wild,
Speaker 1: wild circumstances.
Speaker 3: After the season, there was some uneasiness about Brady and
Speaker 3: the recovery going on with his knees. So then all
Speaker 3: of a sudden they franchised me. I was like, what
Speaker 3: does that mean exactly? So I was on the franchise
Speaker 3: tender there and then all of a sudden, out of
Speaker 3: the blue, I'm sitting in the parking lot. I just
Speaker 3: came out of the grocery store in California and I
Speaker 3: get a phone call from Coach Belichick and I'm wondering
Speaker 3: what this is about. Well, I got traded to Kansas City,
Speaker 3: and at first I didn't say anything about Brabell. He's like, look,
Speaker 3: you're going to Kansas City. We've made the trade. We
Speaker 3: want to thank you for everything you did. And then
Speaker 3: minutes later I get a phone call from Brabel and
Speaker 3: start to understand he's coming with me, and Brabel's my.
Speaker 8: Boy, so I was like, yes, this is going to
Speaker 8: be great.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he was excited as I was
Speaker 3: about the trade, but ended up being neighbors right there
Speaker 3: in Kansas City, lived literally two houses down from one
Speaker 3: another and still have a great relationship to this day.
Speaker 8: And I was it actually put me at ease when
Speaker 8: I went to.
Speaker 3: Kansas City and made that transition, to have not only
Speaker 3: a friend, but a guy like Brabel who's a leader,
Speaker 3: to come into that organization and help try to rebuild
Speaker 3: that place.
Speaker 4: You know, as I see this and you hear this,
Speaker 4: and you think about the juxtaposition of you playing alongside him,
Speaker 4: getting traded with him, and you see a lot of
Speaker 4: the former quarterbacks that were in the league now making
Speaker 4: their way up the coaching ranks. You ever get that itch,
Speaker 4: Do you ever ever feel like, you know what, I
Speaker 4: could be a coach in the NFL and start climbing
Speaker 4: these ranks quickly because you're.
Speaker 2: Clearly no ball.
Speaker 3: I one hundred percent would love to do it. I
Speaker 3: just believe that it's not just the time commitment during
Speaker 3: the week, but it's also the coaching profession itself is
Speaker 3: so volatile from one year to the next. And I've
Speaker 3: got five children from a freshman in high school down
Speaker 3: to a kindergartener, and I just wouldn't want to put
Speaker 3: them in that position to where, hey, honey, this year,
Speaker 3: we're in Philly.
Speaker 8: Next year we might be at the RAM, whatever it
Speaker 8: might be.
Speaker 3: And that was the difficult part for me, because as
Speaker 3: a player and somebody that loves the game and loves
Speaker 3: to not only teach the game, but also would love
Speaker 3: to coach the game, that part is always appealing to me.
Speaker 3: But then the other aspects of it and the lifestyle
Speaker 3: for your family, which they went through fourteen years of
Speaker 3: my NFL career and we moved around a lot. At
Speaker 3: the end of my career, it would be difficult to say, Hey,
Speaker 3: we're going to go back into this thing again.
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes a coach can spend fifty years in
Speaker 1: the NFL, half of those in one place, and then
Speaker 1: pop up at seventy three years old at college in
Speaker 1: North Carolina. You know, sometimes weird things happen in the
Speaker 1: coaching profession. Are are you a believer? Number one, the
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick is actually going to coach at North Carolina
Speaker 1: before an NFL team comes called Number two, that he
Speaker 1: can succeed coaching college ball.
Speaker 8: Oh, there's no doubt that he can succeed.
Speaker 3: And that's the thing about coach Belichick is he wouldn't
Speaker 3: do anything where he's just dipping his toe in the water.
Speaker 3: He's going to go there and try to be dominant.
Speaker 3: I think he's in the right division there in the ACC.
Speaker 3: He's a guy that's going to give it it's all.
Speaker 3: And it'll be interesting because just imagine as an eighteen sixteen,
Speaker 3: seventeen eighteen year old kid, Coach Belichick, the greatest coach
Speaker 3: of all time, walks into your living room. I mean,
Speaker 3: the recruiting process will work just on namesake, and he'll
Speaker 3: be able to bring guys in and develop them and
Speaker 3: put them in a position to get to ultimately where
Speaker 3: they want to be, which is the NFL, and he
Speaker 3: knows how to do that. Now, the longevity of how
Speaker 3: long he's at UNC will be interesting to me because
Speaker 3: I think that he still wants to coach, and there's
Speaker 3: going to be suitors out there in the NFL that say,
Speaker 3: need to give this guy another shot, because I mean,
Speaker 3: he's coach Belichick and he's unbelievable at what he does.
Speaker 4: I think about your podcast with Bobby Bones lots to say,
Speaker 4: and I'd say, can you get Belichick on the pot,
Speaker 4: like that'd be a great get, But the.
Speaker 2: Guy is everywhere anymore. Like he's a media darling.
Speaker 8: Year that's true. Who's the dream guest for you?
Speaker 2: Like, who's the guy we got it?
Speaker 8: Is it Tom Brady?
Speaker 4: I mean Tom does enough media himself, But who's the
Speaker 4: guy that you got to get on the lots to
Speaker 4: say podcast to hear.
Speaker 8: What he has to say?
Speaker 3: You know, it's so funny you brought up to Belichick. Sorry,
Speaker 3: because when I was covering college football this year for
Speaker 3: NBC and I'm out in Washington and so Coach Belichick.
Speaker 3: I run into him and I was like, Hey, I
Speaker 3: would love to talk to you tomorrow, maybe before the game,
Speaker 3: just talk about Steven Belichick, the fact.
Speaker 8: That he's here, You're here, this, that, and the other.
Speaker 8: He's like, anything you need.
Speaker 3: Well, the next day I started texting him just crickets, nothing,
Speaker 3: and I was like, coach, what's up man?
Speaker 8: He told me anything I need, told me.
Speaker 3: That literally yesterday, and then just to give it ghost
Speaker 3: me like, no discussion, nothing like that. But I would
Speaker 3: love to have him on and hopefully during the off
Speaker 3: season and right now we can get him on just
Speaker 3: to talk about the fact that he's made this transition,
Speaker 3: what went into it, because obviously it's a fascinating story
Speaker 3: for anybody involved in football, but also getting Brady on there. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I've talked to him throughout this year and he acts
Speaker 3: like he's the busiest guy on earth. But let's be honest,
Speaker 3: he's probably not. He's down there at the beach with
Speaker 3: his shirt off taking Instagram photos all the time.
Speaker 8: I mean say that.
Speaker 1: To shoot him forget the tex text, time to shoot
Speaker 1: a direct message on one of the various social media
Speaker 1: platforms so easy to reach now, so you check out
Speaker 1: lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle right there,
Speaker 1: I'm pointing at it right there. That's the QR right there,
Speaker 1: that's hold on the magic right about there. Yeah, Mike's
Speaker 1: gonna subscribe right now.
Speaker 2: Scribe.
Speaker 1: Everybody else can as well. Matt, thanks a lot, best
Speaker 1: luck up with the pod Man.
Speaker 8: We'll be listening. Appreciate you. I appreciate you, guys. I
Speaker 8: have a greatable one.
Speaker 1: Wild Card Weekend wraps up with the Rams and Vikings
Speaker 1: playing in Arizona. Matthew Stafford, Sam Darnold, who's got the
Speaker 1: edge with everything on the line. Our Bridge at Condon
Speaker 1: will be there the first. She'll be here with us
Speaker 1: on the Insiders next Rams and Vikings Monday night, wrapping
Speaker 1: up wild Card Weekend. That game has been relocated to Glendale, Arizona,
Speaker 1: in light of the wildfires that continue to ravage southern California.
Speaker 1: Our Bridget Condon is going to be covering that game
Speaker 1: in Arizona. Bridget, certainly, we are all thinking of everybody
Speaker 1: in that area of the country, in that state who
Speaker 1: is dealing with whether it's property loss or evacuations, or
Speaker 1: being worried about loved ones.
Speaker 3: Here.
Speaker 1: The Rams are among that group, some of their family
Speaker 1: members too, you were at the facility yesterday when the
Speaker 1: Kenneth fire broke out. How are they handling the hotality
Speaker 1: of this week with in relative terms it a very
Speaker 1: important game Monday night as well.
Speaker 13: Tom, I want to break this down for everybody who
Speaker 13: was maybe disappointed that the game got moved from so
Speaker 13: far to Arizona. I was at practice yesterday and we
Speaker 13: were interviewing Sean McVay and other than some added wind,
Speaker 13: it felt like a normal day in Woodland Hills. But
Speaker 13: then you kind of turned you see it right here,
Speaker 13: that was behind the facility, kind of off to the
Speaker 13: side of the practice field, all that smoke coming in.
Speaker 13: The RAMS players shortly after that did take the field.
Speaker 13: We were told that that was, you know, the departments
Speaker 13: putting out a fire. It was nothing new, so you
Speaker 13: thought at that point, okay. And then after practice we
Speaker 13: walked out of the front of the facility and a
Speaker 13: completely different fire had erupted. That was the kindeth fire
Speaker 13: that you just talked about, and some of the family members,
Speaker 13: staffers from the RAMS organization actually had to evacuate their home.
Speaker 13: So at that point it felt like, how are they
Speaker 13: going to play this game in Los Angeles and Kevin
Speaker 13: Demoff spoke to reporters today about the decision to move
Speaker 13: the games, saying it came down to whether or not
Speaker 13: they could adequately staff the game in terms of local
Speaker 13: public safety officials and firefighters that we know have been
Speaker 13: working around the clock. He said it actually was a
Speaker 13: conversation before that Kenneth Bier broke out talking to fire
Speaker 13: chiefs and public officials, hearing that they were going through
Speaker 13: so much. He said, you could hear it in their voices,
Speaker 13: and they just knew at that moment that the best
Speaker 13: thing for everybody would be to move the game. Of course,
Speaker 13: he's done an incredible job on social media on x
Speaker 13: trying to arrange buses. You saw that the Cronkey family
Speaker 13: is donating a million dollars, so they're trying to do
Speaker 13: everything possible. But he just, you know, he went on
Speaker 13: to say, this is bigger than football, and it's one
Speaker 13: of those things that nobody wants to be in this situation,
Speaker 13: but they felt like that was the right decision.
Speaker 1: Tom an extraordinary situation for everybody involved with it here,
Speaker 1: including the quarterback Matthew Stafford, who talked yesterday about the
Speaker 1: fact that they always play for LA and This is
Speaker 1: another example of it. They're in the playoffs for the
Speaker 1: third time in Stafford's four seasons. How was he embracing
Speaker 1: this moment under tough circumstances.
Speaker 13: He's embracing it.
Speaker 10: Tom.
Speaker 13: You talk about him being in the third playoffs in
Speaker 13: four years with the Rams, Well, when he was with
Speaker 13: the Lions, he played twelve seasons there, only made it
Speaker 13: to the playoffs three times. He talked about, you, you
Speaker 13: don't know when these playoffs are going to come, like,
Speaker 13: you have to take every opportunity you get and run
Speaker 13: with it. It was their Week eight matchup that kind
Speaker 13: of turned their season around. It's funny that we're talking
Speaker 13: about the Rams hosting a wild card game, obviously now
Speaker 13: hosting it in Arizona, because in the beginning of the
Speaker 13: season that wasn't the case. Matthew Stafford had just three
Speaker 13: touchdown passes going into that Week eight matchup against the Vikings.
Speaker 13: It was that game where he threw four touchdown passes.
Speaker 13: Things haven't gone great for him the end of the season.
Speaker 13: He had three games where he threw for less than
Speaker 13: two hundred yards. But Sean McVeigh I asked him about it.
Speaker 13: I said, how do you get that back and he said, well,
Speaker 13: Matthew Stafford, what he does best is shine in bright moments,
Speaker 13: So they're hoping that his experience can kind of spark
Speaker 13: this team. And with everything happening around the city of
Speaker 13: Los Angeles, and I know there was like something up
Speaker 13: in the locker room that you might talk about later
Speaker 13: that's motivating them as well. So a lot of things
Speaker 13: helping this team get extra fired up for Monday night.
Speaker 1: Well, there is a spice to this matchup here. You
Speaker 1: got Sean McVay against his old assistant Kevin O'Connell. They
Speaker 1: won a Super Bowl together. Here you've also got a
Speaker 1: comment made by another head coach, Dan Campbell, who was
Speaker 1: on the hot mic the handshake after week eighteen.
Speaker 2: He said, some lie lines I'll see you in two weeks.
Speaker 2: That's been printed out.
Speaker 1: It's in the RAMS locker room, and they have one
Speaker 1: more reason to want to get this w more insiders
Speaker 1: after this. Snoop Doo Douvileg set to host the NFL
Speaker 1: Honors presented by Visiligned Thursday, February sixth Mike Garafullo, your
Speaker 1: thoughts on Snoop as the Honors host?
Speaker 4: Yeah, listen if you could do as well as Nicki
Speaker 4: Glazer did at the Golden Globes.
Speaker 2: In the opening monologue, I'll be very impressed. But Snoop's
Speaker 2: got a different kind of humor? Is he sneaky?
Speaker 8: Funny?
Speaker 2: I like this one.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be a good show. You know,
Speaker 1: Kender Klamar has got the halftime show at the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: He took a shot in like the first three bars
Speaker 1: on his new album at Snoop, do we have beef
Speaker 1: in New Orleans?
Speaker 8: I know this.
Speaker 1: We've got a YouTube show Monday, and we're back on
Speaker 1: the network on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: Enjoy wild Card Weekend. Everybody see it.