Speaker 1: I'm Red Lewis in This is NFL Inside Report out
Speaker 1: on the heels of the best weekend of football we've
Speaker 1: ever seen in the NFL, with the fantastic divisional weekend matchups,
Speaker 1: all of them going down to the wire. It's feels
Speaker 1: like the NFL news cycle is trying to catch up
Speaker 1: here in the last couple of days, especially now with
Speaker 1: news that Sean Payton is stepping down as head coach
Speaker 1: of the New Orleans Saints. We are bridging that gap
Speaker 1: between the games and the news in this episode here,
Speaker 1: and to do it well, you welcome our pal Jim
Speaker 1: Trotter back here with us. Always gracious with his time
Speaker 1: and we appreciate it. Jim. Good to have you. Man.
Speaker 1: Let's start here with Sean Payton. Not necessarily surprising, but
Speaker 1: I feel like there's still a shock value considering what
Speaker 1: Sean Payton has meant to New Orleans. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: That's loutely you know. I said that earlier today on
Speaker 1: NFL Now that, um, while we can be shocked by
Speaker 1: the timing of it and the suddenness of it, I
Speaker 1: wasn't really surprised. I mean, I think for me personally,
Speaker 1: in terms of my relationship with Sean and whatnot. Assessed
Speaker 1: to change in him after the year he sat out
Speaker 1: serving that suspension, and when he came back, Um, he
Speaker 1: was much more accessible, much more personable, much more transparent,
Speaker 1: if you will, and I dare to use the word reflective. Um.
Speaker 1: Prior to that, Sean could be difficult at times, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: he came from the parcels school, the media war, sort
Speaker 1: of the enemy. We've got a lot of regrets, you know.
Speaker 1: I mentioned one of them. I wish I wish I've
Speaker 1: done I would have done a better job early on
Speaker 1: in my career with the media and and uh, and
Speaker 1: I hopefully I corrected that. And he would only let
Speaker 1: you get so close or go so far. But after
Speaker 1: you return, and particularly in the last few years, I
Speaker 1: just since, in my discuss this with him and whatnot,
Speaker 1: a different person. And look, as we get older, we
Speaker 1: all grow, and we all develop, and we all mature
Speaker 1: in our own ways. And and I even heard Sean
Speaker 1: mentioned it in his press conference today about his relationship
Speaker 1: with the media. I do appreciate your jobs, and I recognize,
Speaker 1: especially in the last two years, how difficult those have been.
Speaker 1: You know, people don't understand when all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you practice inside, and with the COVID restrictions, the relationships
Speaker 1: that many of you have with our players, with our
Speaker 1: it's hard to do those jobs um effectively as you
Speaker 1: might like. I mean, when's the last time you've been
Speaker 1: able to go into a locker room after a game?
Speaker 1: And we we kind of missed that, really, I do, honestly,
Speaker 1: and going into the presser after a game and looking
Speaker 1: at a laptop, um and so I appreciate every one
Speaker 1: of you and how he felt that over the last
Speaker 1: few years or whatever, that he had grown and had
Speaker 1: changed and had become more accessible and personal and those
Speaker 1: sorts of things so um so that that's why I
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily surprised by this, that you could tell there
Speaker 1: were things that were more important to him, if you will,
Speaker 1: then just football, or there were other things that he
Speaker 1: was thinking about besides just football. I think that's that's
Speaker 1: a great point. I'll just tell you a quick story
Speaker 1: just to kind of double down on what you're talking
Speaker 1: about in his relationship with the media evolving. I covered
Speaker 1: Sean and the Saints in two thousand and eight for
Speaker 1: about for that season. This was before They're super right
Speaker 1: before their Super Bowl season, and things weren't great, Like
Speaker 1: you know, they had had some real success early on
Speaker 1: and then had kind of had some middling years there
Speaker 1: there are seven and nine were missing the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: there are things, you know, the offense wasn't working like
Speaker 1: it like it used to. And I remember sitting there,
Speaker 1: this is my second job in television, and I had
Speaker 1: asked him, Sean, would you would you ever consider have
Speaker 1: you ever thought of, maybe, you know, letting someone else
Speaker 1: handle the play calling duties on offense? And if I could,
Speaker 1: I could not properly describe the look that he gave
Speaker 1: me with his one word answer, which was no and
Speaker 1: moved on. But I'm telling you what the best part
Speaker 1: about that whole thing is that everyone else, you know,
Speaker 1: went on asking their questions after that. And while they're
Speaker 1: asking their questions, I keep catching glances from him, like
Speaker 1: looking back, like who is this jerk who just showed
Speaker 1: up and is asking is? And then but but you
Speaker 1: know the funny part about is, you know our relationship evolved.
Speaker 1: You know it's something more positive afterwards, and you know,
Speaker 1: like I think he's done a great job. Like my
Speaker 1: dad worked for the Saints for thirty two years, and
Speaker 1: all my friends are lifelong diehard Saints fans and couldn't
Speaker 1: be more grateful for the contributions that he's made, you know,
Speaker 1: to that organization into the city really um in the
Speaker 1: last fifteen years. So I think that's a great that's
Speaker 1: a great point. But no, truthfully right, And part of
Speaker 1: what I'm writing here is I wonder how long it's
Speaker 1: going to take the Saints to build a statue of him,
Speaker 1: because yeah, for me, Um, Sean in essence helps say
Speaker 1: football in New Orleans because people forget there was a
Speaker 1: lot of discussion about moving that franchise out of New
Speaker 1: Orleans after Yeah, Antonio, Yeah, and and to Commissioner Tally
Speaker 1: boost um credit at that time, he would not allow it.
Speaker 1: But the fact that Sean, the first time head coach,
Speaker 1: comes in, takes over a team that in the previous
Speaker 1: thirteen years had appeared in the playoff once, had one,
Speaker 1: had only two winning seasons, and that first year take
Speaker 1: it to a NFC Championship game. And so you have
Speaker 1: a city that's sort of rebuilding itself, and he's doing
Speaker 1: it with a quarterback who has a reconstructed shoulder, and
Speaker 1: you start putting it all together and you create this
Speaker 1: incredible success. It's easy to say you're most proud of
Speaker 1: a super Bowl team, but I'm most proud of the
Speaker 1: culture in in the um the winning seasons. You know,
Speaker 1: I never want to be a prisoner to hyperbole, but
Speaker 1: I don't know that there will ever be another coach
Speaker 1: who has that sort of unique relationship with a city,
Speaker 1: considering everything that was going on at that time, for
Speaker 1: him to do what he did and to reestablish that
Speaker 1: bond and give hope to that city at a time,
Speaker 1: you know, really a dark period, it's unique and especial. Jim.
Speaker 1: That game, the Falcons game in the Superdome on Monday night,
Speaker 1: that I mean, that still comes up in casual conversation
Speaker 1: amongst New Orleanans and against amongst my friends when we're talking.
Speaker 1: I mean like people will look back on that game. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean with with such admiration and jubil achian it
Speaker 1: would be hard to find, be hard pressed to find
Speaker 1: another regular season game that meant as much to a
Speaker 1: single franchise as that one did to the New Orleans
Speaker 1: And Sean Peyton was a huge part of that, because
Speaker 1: if they hadn't won the two games prior, both on
Speaker 1: the road and then come if they were owing to
Speaker 1: coming in to the Super and probably has still been
Speaker 1: a big deal, but the fact that they were too
Speaker 1: and oh came in and were playing of Falcons and
Speaker 1: beat their mortal rival time in prime time time with
Speaker 1: just Steve Gleason punt. I mean, that's it was, I
Speaker 1: do just talking about it, um, and and the Saints
Speaker 1: have Sean Payton to thank for that, and and that
Speaker 1: and the whole really the whole organization would showed a
Speaker 1: lot of trust in him, you know, to hire a
Speaker 1: first time head coach for that kind of responsibility, and
Speaker 1: it felt like he really then turned that trust around
Speaker 1: and placed it in Drew Brees. You know when there
Speaker 1: was when there are a lot of questions there, Well,
Speaker 1: it's like he said today. You know, at that moment,
Speaker 1: they were not winning any jump balls. You know, when
Speaker 1: it came to when it came to players, they had
Speaker 1: to take a chance on Drew because there really wasn't
Speaker 1: anything else. I'll never get Sean told me we did this. Um,
Speaker 1: I think it was a couple of years ago. We
Speaker 1: were doing this thing as as we headed to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl about what if what if this had happened?
Speaker 1: And then what what would have happened? And one of
Speaker 1: them was what if Drew Brees had never signed with
Speaker 1: the Saints, and how it would have impacted and he
Speaker 1: had gone to the Dolphins, and how it would have
Speaker 1: affected Saban and that franchise in the Saints. I'll never forget,
Speaker 1: Sean told me. He goes. We literally had Josh McCown
Speaker 1: a plane ticket to come to New Orleans. We were
Speaker 1: about to sign Josh, and when Drew said he would come,
Speaker 1: we had to tell I can't remember if he said
Speaker 1: Josh was actually on a connection or he was just
Speaker 1: getting on the plane. It was one of the two.
Speaker 1: Josh was either making a connection or he was about
Speaker 1: to get on the plane to tell him, don't bother
Speaker 1: because Drew, yes, sorry, it was gonna be Josh McCown
Speaker 1: if it were not Drew Brees. And then ironically, Josh's
Speaker 1: brother Luke ends up being a backup to Drew Brees
Speaker 1: for a number of years. Anyone's strange, small world, you
Speaker 1: know down there, certainly in New Orleans and in the
Speaker 1: NFL in general. What's next for Sean Payton? He said,
Speaker 1: don't use the term retirement. It's gonna step away sounds
Speaker 1: like he's not gonna do much of anything this year,
Speaker 1: at least in the coaching world. And he definitely didn't
Speaker 1: shy away from the idea of TV jym No and
Speaker 1: he and he definitely didn't slam the door on returning
Speaker 1: the coaching after two So here here's what I believe
Speaker 1: not and I don't have any inside information. I have
Speaker 1: not talked to Sean since his press conference. I'm hoping
Speaker 1: too soon, but my guess is that he will take
Speaker 1: this year do something that he enjoys, and I think
Speaker 1: it will have something to do with the media. I'd
Speaker 1: like to try TV, and I've had some opportunities. I
Speaker 1: talked to Drew a little bit about it last night.
Speaker 1: I don't uh, I don't know that part of it
Speaker 1: that well, but that would be something that would interest me.
Speaker 1: And so I think the hardest part is sitting in
Speaker 1: your chair saying, wait a minute, you haven't talked with
Speaker 1: the network yet. You haven't talked with like not a word. Um.
Speaker 1: So hopefully that opportunity comes and they are paying so
Speaker 1: well or these former coaches to step into the media
Speaker 1: now that if he finds that his quality of life
Speaker 1: is enjoyable without the coaching and the compensation is equally enjoyable,
Speaker 1: and I could see him staying out do you make
Speaker 1: anything of the Cowboys connection? Still, I don't think you
Speaker 1: ever rule it out. I still have a vision for
Speaker 1: for doing things in football, and and I'll be honest
Speaker 1: with you, that might be coaching again at some point.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's this year. I think maybe in
Speaker 1: the future. But that's not where my heart is right now.
Speaker 1: Because look, one thing, one thing I know about Jerry Jones,
Speaker 1: and and this has told to me firsthand by him.
Speaker 1: So it's why I never discount anything. I remember once
Speaker 1: asking Jerry. We were sitting in his office at at
Speaker 1: the Star in Frisco, and he was talking about his
Speaker 1: desire for another Super Bowl, and he said to me,
Speaker 1: if you were to tell me, if the football gods
Speaker 1: were to tell me that, if I were to sign
Speaker 1: over this facility and a T and T stadium to them,
Speaker 1: I might just have those papers drawn up. And so
Speaker 1: that says to me that if we get to and
Speaker 1: the Cowboys haven't won that Super Bowl, aren't in a
Speaker 1: position to make it, and they have another year like
Speaker 1: they had this year where they flame out in the postseason,
Speaker 1: It would not shock me to see Jerry say, Sean, whatever, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what what number do I have to put on this
Speaker 1: check to get you to come back? Here's the plank check,
Speaker 1: you fill it out. Yeah. And so that's why I
Speaker 1: don't think you ever rule out. You never say never.
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't be shocked if that happened. And what
Speaker 1: if you could continue playing the what if game? What
Speaker 1: if the past interference call had been had been and
Speaker 1: what if the flag had been thrown and the Saints
Speaker 1: ended up in the Super Bowl and not the Rams
Speaker 1: against the New England Patriots, And what if they had
Speaker 1: won a second you would we still be talking about
Speaker 1: a Sean Payton stepping away at this point. Well, it
Speaker 1: turned out the Rams that he did acknowledge that he
Speaker 1: thought about walking away Withdrew. Yeah, he acknowledged that today,
Speaker 1: that that that the thought crossed his mind. But it
Speaker 1: was one of those things where he wasn't certain that
Speaker 1: that he was committed to that he was challenging for everyone.
Speaker 1: But man, I felt like it was time. I felt
Speaker 1: like it was time. You know, I kind of knew
Speaker 1: maybe heading into training camp this might but you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you don't share that with anyone. You think, well,
Speaker 1: let's see how the season goes, and we're working hard,
Speaker 1: and and I felt the time was right for me.
Speaker 1: I felt the time was right. And it's something that
Speaker 1: I've been thinking about, you know. You know sometimes you
Speaker 1: have those thoughts across your mind and you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: is this just my most is playing with me right now?
Speaker 1: Or is this something I really want to do? And
Speaker 1: so he wasn't certain. So he came back for this year,
Speaker 1: and he said he never told anyone about it, because
Speaker 1: you don't ever want to create that that sense of
Speaker 1: doubting anyone. You have to be all in to make
Speaker 1: that run. But he said, as this season went on
Speaker 1: and some of the things that they went through, it's
Speaker 1: just his gut told him that it was time. And
Speaker 1: so it was interesting that in essence, he listened to
Speaker 1: his gut rather than his head, you know, before the
Speaker 1: season in making this decision. Right now, it's a it's
Speaker 1: a great point. And I mean they've been at the
Speaker 1: center of some of the biggest playoff heartbreaks in recent memory,
Speaker 1: with the two losses to the Vikings, the Rams whole
Speaker 1: situation there in the championship game, and speaking of the Rams,
Speaker 1: they are back in the NFC Championship Game, getting set
Speaker 1: to take on the San Francisco forty Niners, a matchup
Speaker 1: that has not treated them well. How will this matchup
Speaker 1: be any difference? That's next year? An NFL inside report
Speaker 1: back are an unfil inside reports are Jim Trotter is
Speaker 1: once again our guest and now with us to chat
Speaker 1: NFC Championship Game. This is a matchup that we have
Speaker 1: seen before between these two teams back in nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: nine beat the Rams thirty two three and went on
Speaker 1: to win Super Bowl twenty four. They're only previous playoff meeting,
Speaker 1: but now they get it again and Jim, I I
Speaker 1: just want to start with kind of the the big
Speaker 1: picture here, um with these two franchises. First, let's start
Speaker 1: with the Rams, who have made you know, we talk
Speaker 1: about them all the time, making me all in moves.
Speaker 1: I mean, like they keep finding more chips to push
Speaker 1: to the middle when we think that they've gone all
Speaker 1: in before, but now it is they are truly all
Speaker 1: in and it feels like they're really get starting to
Speaker 1: get the payoff. Like the River Cards are starting to
Speaker 1: turn in their favor here with the way that Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford has turned it on in the postseason and Von
Speaker 1: Miller turning it on in the postseason. Back to pass,
Speaker 1: bready oft play action, hit, sacked, bumber, the ball recovered
Speaker 1: by the Rams at the yard line. Von Miller with
Speaker 1: the strip sack and the recovery the veterans. The future
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer makes a huge play here for the
Speaker 1: Rams early on the fourth. Do you feel like the
Speaker 1: philosophy is paying off? I do at this point, but
Speaker 1: I will say this to you. They cannot have picked
Speaker 1: the worst opponent. Yeah, well to bike ending in their
Speaker 1: way and it was all in their control and week
Speaker 1: A team Stafford back the throw to, launched his seat
Speaker 1: down the right side for back up, and it's picked off.
Speaker 1: It's picked off by said Francisco. Have a forty diners
Speaker 1: are going to the postseason. There's some sort of weird um.
Speaker 1: It's you could call it car mind the fact they
Speaker 1: had a chance to end their season and didn't and
Speaker 1: now they have to come back and face them again,
Speaker 1: or it's just look, I'm a northern California native and
Speaker 1: and our esteem producer Thomas Warren, we know how he
Speaker 1: feels about Southern California. Teams. He and I had our
Speaker 1: conversations about the Jas Dodgers. So for me as as
Speaker 1: as as a guy who grew up with Rams forty
Speaker 1: Niner matchups, I'm eating this up. I'm loving um, and
Speaker 1: it would it would nothing. I shouldn't say nothing, but
Speaker 1: it would give me great pleasure as as going back
Speaker 1: to my childhood days. If the forty Niners were to
Speaker 1: knock the Rams off and keep them out of the
Speaker 1: super Bowl, and the rest of them will give me
Speaker 1: grief for that, but I'd rather be transparent with it
Speaker 1: than than not UM. But no, this is to me,
Speaker 1: this is fascinating. The fact that the forty Niners have
Speaker 1: won the last six meetings, four of those have been
Speaker 1: decided by one possession games. The fact that the forty Niners,
Speaker 1: after George kill makes those comments about being physical and
Speaker 1: body bags. I'll just give you guys this because it
Speaker 1: was fun. Apparently I used a body bag quote that
Speaker 1: you know they used in their locker room this entire week,
Speaker 1: and I was saying it was for both sides of
Speaker 1: the ball. You know, whoever it is Rams or Niners,
Speaker 1: someone's leaving in a body bag and we go down
Speaker 1: seventeen zero and I had five guys chirping me in
Speaker 1: the air that you guys are putting you on a
Speaker 1: body back kill. And I was like a lot of
Speaker 1: time up on that clock, boys, and uh, hopefully I
Speaker 1: can see them again, because that was a fun body
Speaker 1: back game to go down in the home of the
Speaker 1: Rams and turn around and win that game, and ot um.
Speaker 1: You just have to wonder does that place doubt in
Speaker 1: the minds of the Rams when things get sticky or
Speaker 1: is it just sort of and I know this sounds
Speaker 1: crazy to say there could be added motivation in an
Speaker 1: NFC championship game or does that sort of does that
Speaker 1: sort of cure them, harden them for what's to come?
Speaker 1: I don't know. And that what makes it so fascinating
Speaker 1: to me, because these two teams know each other, these
Speaker 1: two coaches know each other. Um, and the fact that whatever,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, Kyle Shanahan has had Sean mcveig plast
Speaker 1: six games. Look, we had we had last week. We
Speaker 1: had Joe Berry, the defensive coordinator of the Packers, talking
Speaker 1: about playing the forty and Kyle Shanahan, We'll remember he
Speaker 1: was the linebackers coach for the Rams. Correct or X
Speaker 1: number of years before, and he was even bringing up
Speaker 1: the fact there that we didn't have much success against
Speaker 1: them when I was in l A and now enemy.
Speaker 1: So I don't know how this is gonna play alred.
Speaker 1: I just know it's gonna be fascinating. So I to me,
Speaker 1: like it feels it feels like this strange poetic justice,
Speaker 1: and like it this great opportunity for l A. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they screwed it up all year long and in Week
Speaker 1: eighteen against the forty Niners and for the last three years.
Speaker 1: But what better opportunity to slay the dragon, better opportunity
Speaker 1: to exercise the demon that has been the forty Niners
Speaker 1: then in the NFC Championship game again in your home stadium, um,
Speaker 1: when while we do expect plenty of forty Niners fans
Speaker 1: to be there, uh, but I just I feel like
Speaker 1: that's really interesting and the fact that the forty Niners
Speaker 1: are here, man, I mean, and I was I was
Speaker 1: the first one to not necessarily criticize the drafting of
Speaker 1: Trey Lance, but the drafting of a player who we
Speaker 1: didn't anticipate to be a huge part of the offensive
Speaker 1: plan when you felt like a team that could win
Speaker 1: right now, and they are, and they're here and they're
Speaker 1: doing it, you know, whether it's in spite of or
Speaker 1: because of um. But Jimmy Garoppolo has has gone through
Speaker 1: this whole season. I'll be a couple of games that
Speaker 1: he's missed due to injury. With his replacements standing on
Speaker 1: the sidelines, jim and well hasn't put up prolific passing
Speaker 1: numbers that still helped guide this team to the NFC
Speaker 1: Championship Game again and could be the only quarterback for
Speaker 1: the forty Niners since Montana to win two of them. Well,
Speaker 1: remember this too, We talked about the Rams having a
Speaker 1: chance to end the Niner season in Week eight. Team
Speaker 1: go back to earlier in the year when the Forts
Speaker 1: were three and five and they were teetering. They had
Speaker 1: lost what five of six, and they were teetering, and
Speaker 1: then they go hand the Rams their worst loss of
Speaker 1: the year, and this will feel good for the fort
Speaker 1: and the Rams will go back to the drawing board.
Speaker 1: Two tough losses as they head into there By, and
Speaker 1: the Niners a satisfying victory, they'll head to Jacksonville. So
Speaker 1: that was another opportunity for the Rams to basically, if
Speaker 1: you will, that one prematurely in the forty season, because
Speaker 1: do they come back from three and six? Probably not so.
Speaker 1: Um to your point, the thing about Jimmy. One reason
Speaker 1: I believe that Jimmy is still functioning the way that
Speaker 1: he is is the way that Kyle Shanahan has handled this.
Speaker 1: You know, we got to cant Or going into camp
Speaker 1: and he said, head, look, Jimmy's our guy. Now we're
Speaker 1: going to work both of them. And if somehow this
Speaker 1: kid turns out that he is so far ahead of
Speaker 1: where we think he is, we do what we have
Speaker 1: to do. But Jimmy is our guy. And everybody kept saying, no,
Speaker 1: this is just the forty Niners trying to drive up
Speaker 1: trade babe for Jimmy and this one and the other.
Speaker 1: And so I think that one and I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that I know Jimmy's mind, But if I were a
Speaker 1: player and I had a coach who in that situation
Speaker 1: said to me, look, we do have your replacement here,
Speaker 1: but that's down the road. You take this and you
Speaker 1: run with it, and you do what you can with
Speaker 1: it this year. Go make yourself a bunch of money.
Speaker 1: If it's not here, someplace else, whatever it is. And
Speaker 1: I think that. I believe that to support the Kyle
Speaker 1: showed for Jimmy in those moments, even during some of
Speaker 1: those struggles when they were three and five, has kind
Speaker 1: of hardened Jimmy to say, you know what, all that
Speaker 1: other bs out there exactly, I'm just going to play.
Speaker 1: And so when when people say, wells are winning because
Speaker 1: Kyle was taking the ball out of Jimmy's hands, Jimmy's like,
Speaker 1: I don't care. We did that in twenty nineteen and
Speaker 1: we always wanted to hang Super Bowl. He threw twenty
Speaker 1: seven pass attempts in ten in the player, I mean
Speaker 1: in the in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So do you think his feelings are gonna be hurt
Speaker 1: now that you're saying Kyle is taking the ball out
Speaker 1: of his hands. No, And and that's what I love
Speaker 1: about Jimmy right now. Jimmy's like, bump it, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just going out and playing and we're winning.
Speaker 1: That's all the matters. So here's the million dollar question,
Speaker 1: why will this matchup be any different than the last
Speaker 1: six one? From a RAMS perspective? What's different now? What
Speaker 1: gives them a better shot to win this game than
Speaker 1: the last six times they played the Niners. I think
Speaker 1: number one. If I were the Rams, what I would
Speaker 1: say is number one. Um, all of these pieces that
Speaker 1: we brought in, these chip if we put in the
Speaker 1: middle of the table, they now all had some time
Speaker 1: to acclimate. You know, Stafford has had a full year. O. B.
Speaker 1: J Has had X number of weeks. And this is
Speaker 1: what we talked about, that slant and go that they've
Speaker 1: been setting up all game. This is the explosive that
Speaker 1: you can get from O. B. J Odell Beckham Jr.
Speaker 1: Uh quick outruns, the cover is able to get in.
Speaker 1: This is what you need to do more of. Try
Speaker 1: to find ways to get him on those single coverages
Speaker 1: and take advantage of it. Von Miller has had X
Speaker 1: number of weeks. And then the other flip side is
Speaker 1: that the Rams are actually getting as healthy as they've
Speaker 1: been all year. Remembering that Week eight team game, Fooler
Speaker 1: went down back there in the secondary and they just
Speaker 1: they weren't right. And so now basically what I'm hearing,
Speaker 1: there may be a chance that maybe he comes back.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I thought I thought I read that
Speaker 1: he might be able to come back this week. I
Speaker 1: don't know. So I don't want to say that as
Speaker 1: if I know something, Um that would I mean, and
Speaker 1: they had to go they go get wet all, you know,
Speaker 1: off the street. Yeah. And now he's got, you know,
Speaker 1: two weeks under his belt, you know, to kind of
Speaker 1: get acclimated some because that first week you could tell
Speaker 1: he just didn't look right out there. Um but so
Speaker 1: from my standpoint, if I'm the Rams, those are the
Speaker 1: things that I hang my head on. And we've got
Speaker 1: anchors who's running so well if he holds onto the football,
Speaker 1: um so and and and I will say this. And
Speaker 1: I was one of those people when they said which
Speaker 1: quarterback do you trust the least I had said going
Speaker 1: in the playoffs it was Stafford. And he has shown
Speaker 1: me in these playoffs. You know what, He's another guy
Speaker 1: that's playing with an attitude. Incredible job by Matthew Stafford
Speaker 1: and Cooper Cup back to back clutch long throws to
Speaker 1: get them in field goal range when they had no
Speaker 1: more time outs left. Stafford came up big in the
Speaker 1: biggest game of his life, like, man, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: whatever I need to do, I'm gonna make the play eight.
Speaker 1: And he's doing it for the forty Niners, though, that
Speaker 1: elite level playmaker is Deebo Samuel. It's not the quarterback,
Speaker 1: it's it's Deebo Samuel, and he does it in our
Speaker 1: variety of ways. I'm just kind of curious, what are
Speaker 1: some of the conversations that and some of the things
Speaker 1: that you've heard from talking to people around the league
Speaker 1: about how the forty Niners use Debo. The type of
Speaker 1: player is Yeah, before I get to that, I agree
Speaker 1: with you, Deebo is that is that that that X
Speaker 1: factor that different sky. But I would also make the
Speaker 1: argument that I made this morning that while he may
Speaker 1: be the power cord, the electrical outlet that the forty
Speaker 1: nine is plugged into his George Kittle, Yes, because if
Speaker 1: you look at the numbers when he starts in plays
Speaker 1: versus when he doesn't, it's like those quarterback numbers, it
Speaker 1: goes from like a thirty eight percent uh, thirty eight
Speaker 1: win percentage to a sixty eight win percentage when he's
Speaker 1: in there. So, um, he's that security blanket. He's that
Speaker 1: playmaker for Jimmy g. You go back to even the
Speaker 1: Packer game last week has four receptions, Well, every one
Speaker 1: of those receptions goes for a first down, every one
Speaker 1: of those receptions is for double digit yards, and then
Speaker 1: you look at the yards after the catch, and then
Speaker 1: I'm not even talking about his ability in the run game,
Speaker 1: where he's helping to create opportunities for Deebo and whatnot
Speaker 1: because of his physicality at the line. So I always
Speaker 1: kind of pause on that and say, man, Deebo is
Speaker 1: all of that that we that we're hearing. But I
Speaker 1: truly believe George Kittle is like the heart and soul
Speaker 1: in terms of setting setting the environment, creating the culture
Speaker 1: that that offensive operates out of. Now, having said that,
Speaker 1: Devo Samuel, when you talk to people, coordinators, players, whatnot,
Speaker 1: they will tell you they're just aren't players like him.
Speaker 1: Debo is an absolute feast. Wow, what a great play
Speaker 1: and and and everyone thought the ball was going to
Speaker 1: the front side. They counter it back to the left
Speaker 1: and Debo breaks the tackle board from great games go
Speaker 1: right around him, and then Darius Williams has a chance,
Speaker 1: underestimates the speed of Deebo. Samuel pushes that thing inside
Speaker 1: the pylon before the right foot stepped out. Big time run.
Speaker 1: Because you know, to be a wide receiver with a
Speaker 1: running backs build and a running backs mentality. He broke
Speaker 1: three tackles, she's limping off the field. What a heroic
Speaker 1: run because he was hit at the line of scrimmage. Gods,
Speaker 1: you're curled in and closing in on him, but you
Speaker 1: couldn't take it down, not with an arm tackle. You've
Speaker 1: got to take him to the ground. He was determined
Speaker 1: to pick up that first down. For the forty niners,
Speaker 1: they just don't come along. So when people say, well,
Speaker 1: we gotta go find us a Deebo Samuel, well, it's
Speaker 1: not that easy. Even Vante Adams last week was saying,
Speaker 1: you know, he was asked, hey, you're a big guy,
Speaker 1: You've got some physicality. If they put you in the backfield,
Speaker 1: could you do this? And he said no, he said,
Speaker 1: I don't have that build and and that same mentality
Speaker 1: de Ball has. So there are no factors there, but man,
Speaker 1: he's he's he's been a revelation for him from the
Speaker 1: standpoint that when they had injuries early in the year
Speaker 1: at the running back position and Kyle needed to do
Speaker 1: something and started giving him reps there. And the thing
Speaker 1: that's so beautiful about the way this offense operates, like
Speaker 1: when you talk to coordinators who have played them, including
Speaker 1: Joe Barry again who twice a year was playing with
Speaker 1: the Rams, and he says, what happens is the thing
Speaker 1: that makes Kyle so special in this offense that typically
Speaker 1: when an offense sees a certain front, they know how
Speaker 1: to how they're going to attack it out of certain
Speaker 1: personnel packages. So if you have eleven package or twelve
Speaker 1: packed or whatever, and you see, let's say this foreman front,
Speaker 1: this is how you're going to attack it, Well, what
Speaker 1: Kyle does is he'll show you that personnel package and
Speaker 1: you'll show him that front, but he will attack it
Speaker 1: in a different way than than what you expect or
Speaker 1: what you may have seen, and so you can never
Speaker 1: get a good read on them on what exactly they're
Speaker 1: going to do. And the versatility of that of these
Speaker 1: players that Kyle has it allows him to do that.
Speaker 1: And that's that's what makes them so difficult to game
Speaker 1: plan for. Besides the physicality and all of that, is
Speaker 1: the fact that you see one package and you say
Speaker 1: if and normally with an opponent you say, if we
Speaker 1: give them this, this this front, this is how they're
Speaker 1: going to attack us. Kyle's like, no, not this time?
Speaker 1: Am I doing Once but the next series or the
Speaker 1: next play, I'm going to attack it differently, you know,
Speaker 1: and so it just makes them very hard to figure out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And the last thing I got for you, you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about coaching trees a lot, and I think
Speaker 1: a lot would be made, as it usually is when
Speaker 1: the Rams and the Niners get together. Do you see
Speaker 1: any common threads between the two coaches, especially, you know,
Speaker 1: meeting here in the NFC Championship game in McVeigh and
Speaker 1: Shanahan and their lineage and where they come from and
Speaker 1: their influences. M Well, I mean obviously with Kyle his father, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know that's huge, and and the concepts and schemes
Speaker 1: that he runs. But just the two of them together,
Speaker 1: two young guys who I think who think differently in
Speaker 1: terms of creativity and willingness to try different things, to
Speaker 1: attack things in a different way. I think that I
Speaker 1: think that they also motivate differently, Like Kyle is brutally
Speaker 1: honest with guys like meat ones mind, like you go
Speaker 1: out and you draft I in the first round and
Speaker 1: then you get him to campus, and you know what,
Speaker 1: you just ain't performing. So we're not gonna throw the
Speaker 1: ball to you and we're not gonna play you at times,
Speaker 1: and and and and he says it to you, and
Speaker 1: he says it to the media. He's just right up front.
Speaker 1: Sean is more in my opinion, when you watch him,
Speaker 1: he's more of that cheerleader is too strong a word.
Speaker 1: And I don't mean that in the derogatory matter. It's
Speaker 1: more of the positive influence or positive reinforcement if you will. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's kind of how he operates. So it's interesting to
Speaker 1: see there are two different styles, both in obviously both
Speaker 1: with great recall. Um, it feels like more of a diplomat,
Speaker 1: like just a little like approaches things a little bit
Speaker 1: more diplomatically. Um, you know. And and but look, I
Speaker 1: find it interesting that they end up, you know, meeting,
Speaker 1: you know, they meet twice a year, and then they're
Speaker 1: gonna meet here on Sunday in uh in one of
Speaker 1: the biggest games that either one of them have coached
Speaker 1: in obviously you know Sean both have been to the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl loss. But um, it's it'll be it'll be
Speaker 1: quite a fight. And Jim appreciate you getting as ready
Speaker 1: for him, man, No, you got me excited now a Sunday,
Speaker 1: I'm ready and that's gonna do it. For this episode
Speaker 1: of NFL Inside Report. Reminder to download, rate, review our
Speaker 1: show on the I Heart Radio app, on Apple podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcast We certainly appreciate it.
Speaker 1: We're back with you on Friday for a look at
Speaker 1: the a f C Championship Game as the Kansas City
Speaker 1: Chiefs get set to host the a f C Championship
Speaker 1: Game for a fourth consecutive year, and they get the
Speaker 1: upstart Cincinnati Bengals coming into town led by Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: We'll look at that matchup as we get closer to
Speaker 1: Championships Sunday. For producers Thomas Horn and Tim Paraca, I'm
Speaker 1: your host, Reret Louis. Thanks so much for being with us.
Speaker 1: We'll catch you next time. NFL Inside Report is the
Speaker 1: production of the NFL and partnership with I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more official podcasts from the NFL, visit the I
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