Speaker 1: They around the NFL podcast taking applications for Mark's next
Speaker 1: pet team.
Speaker 2: From the Chris Westling podcast studio. It's around the NFL
Speaker 2: AFC NFC Championship Game preview edition. How about that? Dan
Speaker 2: Hans is here with heroes, Mark Sessler, Rag Rosenthal. Boys,
Speaker 2: I'm looking at this. I'm looking. I'm looking and Mark,
Speaker 2: I know you got you like new things. You always
Speaker 2: like something new, sure like any like not a takedown,
Speaker 2: just the reality. No, but it's a reality. Many humans
Speaker 2: would agree. So if we get Baltimore and San Francisco
Speaker 2: at the end of this weekend, that's a rematch of
Speaker 2: Super Bowl forty seven. We get new If we get
Speaker 2: Casey at San Francisco, that's a rematch of Super Bowl
Speaker 2: fifty four. Detroit a whole new world where's somewhere else
Speaker 2: never appeared in a super Bowl. In fact, I believe
Speaker 2: this is their second NFC title game period.
Speaker 3: We also are getting a rematch of thirty eight to six,
Speaker 3: the classic Ravens beat down from Week eight Ravens Lions.
Speaker 3: If that happened, just saying from this, we don't that
Speaker 3: was tough that that does not count as as a remiss.
Speaker 2: Week eight feels so far away. But yeah, so the
Speaker 2: Lions are the nubie here now. The Chiefs are the
Speaker 2: old guard. The Chiefs are if you are somebody that
Speaker 2: don't wants something fresh. And as much as I love
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes and obviously Chiefs, Kingdom loves Patrick Mahomes, and
Speaker 2: America is growing a bit weary with the Chiefs. I
Speaker 2: feel like Mark, even if you're a Ravens hater, which
Speaker 2: you are, it might be it might behoove us if
Speaker 2: we want something new to get even though the Ravens
Speaker 2: have been in this game periodically throughout the century, to
Speaker 2: get the Chiefs out, Maybe that happens this weekend, who knows.
Speaker 4: I think the Lions are the great hope of newness.
Speaker 4: Don't try to sell me on any of the other
Speaker 4: three teams. And I like, you know, the intro talked
Speaker 4: about my pet teams or this way, and Ravens haven't
Speaker 4: even been in this week and you have a Ravens
Speaker 4: fetish and I acknowledge that, like I have a different relationship.
Speaker 2: I get it.
Speaker 3: But you're saying new for a long time. I was
Speaker 3: at the Niners Ravens Super Bowl and it felt like
Speaker 3: two days ago to me.
Speaker 2: We I we were just there. The lights, you know,
Speaker 2: the whole thing went out.
Speaker 3: We we we It feels like we've been doing this
Speaker 3: show a long time. We have never had a Ravens
Speaker 3: Conference Championship preview here.
Speaker 2: Wow, first time.
Speaker 4: But I did write the NFL dot com when the
Speaker 4: article when the electricity went.
Speaker 2: Out you did the blackout store. Yeah, it was like
Speaker 2: you write this, It's like, I don't what's happening is is?
Speaker 2: How is you know why you were the super because
Speaker 2: I wrote the Beyonce halftime show article. Right, just people
Speaker 2: getting banged left and right. We're all about to die.
Speaker 2: Who's on this one? Just off? All right? I'll never
Speaker 2: forget that. And by the way, Jim Harbaugh was the
Speaker 2: coach back then for the Niners, and he's going to
Speaker 2: be coming up in conversation a little bit later today.
Speaker 2: I'll never forget that Super Bowl because my father, with
Speaker 2: your help, went to That was the first time went
Speaker 2: to the Super Bowl. Yes, took him to the game,
Speaker 2: my dad, who I would never in any work scenario.
Speaker 2: But if you had a chance to do that with
Speaker 2: your dad, it's just something to think about. And all
Speaker 2: the first thing that seriously came to my mind when
Speaker 2: the lights went out, was oh, no, I just got
Speaker 2: my dad to Super Bowl. No, I'm gonna get him killed.
Speaker 2: That was like my first fear that we were all
Speaker 2: about to like my mom was gonna be mega pissed.
Speaker 2: That's a quality instinct.
Speaker 3: My dad's first Super Bowl as well, was it shared it?
Speaker 4: Were you frightened for your dad? I generally it was
Speaker 4: assigning articles to you and me. He was not concerned
Speaker 4: about his I wasn't.
Speaker 5: I figured, oh, this is weird, but it'll probably work out.
Speaker 2: I'm optimist. This is such a greg outlook, but it's
Speaker 2: not a big deal.
Speaker 3: It was definitely a big deal, but I was like, well,
Speaker 3: this will probably get fixed hopefully.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it did.
Speaker 3: I think it's as someone that lived in New Orleans
Speaker 3: shout out to Entergy a lot of power in New
Speaker 3: Orleans all the time, so it almost it felt for
Speaker 3: why would.
Speaker 2: You give him a shout out? Then they're the worst.
Speaker 2: They're the worst. And guess what. There will be a
Speaker 2: super Bowl in New Orleans next year, but there hasn't
Speaker 2: been one since that game, and that's a there's a
Speaker 2: reason why, because you know it's the best place for
Speaker 2: a super Bowl for to get punished and get sent
Speaker 2: to the the rubber room, as it were, just like
Speaker 2: Jerro World. By the way, all right, let's get on
Speaker 2: track here. We got a lot to get to. We
Speaker 2: have guests coming up in a little bit. James Palmer,
Speaker 2: one of our favorites with NFL Network. He is been
Speaker 2: embedded with the Chiefs covering that team and covering this
Speaker 2: AFC finale. It is the season finale of the AFC
Speaker 2: on Sunday, and he's going to join us in a
Speaker 2: little bit and on the NFC side of things, and
Speaker 2: also to break down all the news that's going on.
Speaker 2: The Great Cynthia Friedland will be in studio. So let's
Speaker 2: get to it without further ado. Game one. Oh, there's
Speaker 2: two games. How about that? There's only two games on Sunday.
Speaker 2: We're still doing clearly going way over an hour, just
Speaker 2: two games. We'll find a way, we will will balloon
Speaker 2: it out whatever we need.
Speaker 3: We've got two guests, We've got news at the back end.
Speaker 3: It's oh, it's it's gonna be Oh, it's a slam dunk.
Speaker 3: Going over an hour anyway.
Speaker 2: First game, three pm, Eastern CBS Nance Romo Wolf sent
Speaker 2: and you hear our boy mad Dog. Get after Roma,
Speaker 2: mad Dog, I would say, I think you said it. Well.
Speaker 4: When mad Dog is right, he's right when he gets
Speaker 4: onto something and he feels his passion in his heart
Speaker 4: starts to flare up.
Speaker 3: There's no one else like him. What are you talking about, though,
Speaker 3: get out so mad Dog.
Speaker 4: He went after Tony Romo, who dropped a attempted to
Speaker 4: drop a historical nugget about the and like an old
Speaker 4: Steelers moment, and Romo the old still the immaculate reception reception,
Speaker 4: but it was like the Holy Roller all this other hafen.
Speaker 2: Like, just make it clear. So he says, immaculate reception
Speaker 2: on the ball that gets tapped out of bounds by
Speaker 2: the tight end on the first play from scrimmage, which
Speaker 2: is the wrong reference because the macular reception was a
Speaker 2: totally different play with franc o'harris, which I would imagine
Speaker 2: Romo rose, but he the Raiders was the Holy road
Speaker 2: Roller when the ball was knocked forward and scored a
Speaker 2: touchdown and the rule was changed. Anyway, Russo is fired
Speaker 2: up about that.
Speaker 4: Russo goes absolutely crazy, and they're go find like female hosts,
Speaker 4: you know, stationed about seven yards behind him, just watching
Speaker 4: him up like David Letterman, like up against the King.
Speaker 2: Absolutely nuts. They're just watching him like a tail is
Speaker 2: growing out from above his butt. Just mad dog anyway.
Speaker 2: So Romo didn't get demoted though, So that's good. He's
Speaker 2: got this game. Had the Super Bowl too, got Patrick
Speaker 2: Mahomes again, Tracy Woolson, now listen to this. They also
Speaker 2: got Evan Washburn on the sideline, who you know is
Speaker 2: Patrick Bateman but well adjusted. And then Feeley this, why
Speaker 2: not Chiefs at Ravens? How about that Mahomes v. Lamar
Speaker 2: the Ravens. The line has not moved here. It's Ravens
Speaker 2: by three and a half, and that should be You
Speaker 2: could even make the case that it should be higher.
Speaker 2: Their home. They've been playing dominant football, greg Ee for months.
Speaker 2: They just came off a game against an upstar Texans
Speaker 2: team where they just seize control at the half and
Speaker 2: really flex their muscles in a lot of ways. It
Speaker 2: feels like this is their year. But man, just like
Speaker 2: just like the Bills thought this was their year. It's
Speaker 2: cool to say it's your year, but then you have
Speaker 2: to be Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs and teams aren't
Speaker 2: good at that time. There is something to that.
Speaker 3: If Mahomes is the Jordan and he kind of is that,
Speaker 3: you have to I know many teams couldn't do this.
Speaker 3: You have to get past it. Or if he's Brady,
Speaker 3: if they're the Patriots, you have to get past him.
Speaker 3: And I think of some Patriots years like six when
Speaker 3: the Colts finally got past the Patriots, or even I
Speaker 3: forget which year it was where they didn't have an
Speaker 3: offensive line and Stephen Jackson was the running back.
Speaker 2: Might have been.
Speaker 3: Fifteen where the Bronco or thirteen when the Bronco's barely
Speaker 3: got bad. Those were bad Patriots teams and then they
Speaker 3: got to the playoffs and suddenly they were great Patriots.
Speaker 2: But like gone down with Bagot.
Speaker 3: In the same way that we were talking about this
Speaker 3: Chief's offense if we were doing a podcast back then,
Speaker 3: they weren't the same Patriots all season and then it's
Speaker 3: almost like you get to the playoffs and it's like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 3: this is this is how we feel alive again. This
Speaker 3: is how we do what we do, this is how
Speaker 3: we rise up to a challenge. And offensively, I think
Speaker 3: they're going to be tested this week because I think
Speaker 3: the Ravens defense is the perfect defense to face this
Speaker 3: Chiefs group because they throw so many different looks at
Speaker 3: you before the snap, after the snap, snap, two snap.
Speaker 3: It's got to be different on second down and third down.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be different first drive to the third drive.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be different first half to the second half.
Speaker 3: And as good as Mahomes was last week, Finally, if
Speaker 3: you watch us on YouTube throwing the ball in rhythm,
Speaker 3: it didn't happen all season where he got to the
Speaker 3: back of his drop and he actually trusted mvs and
Speaker 3: made that like slot fade to start the second half,
Speaker 3: and all these great throws were actually was Mahomes delivering
Speaker 3: the ball on time. I actually don't think that's gonna
Speaker 3: be the way that they can win this game, because
Speaker 3: I don't think they're good enough to do it. I
Speaker 3: think the Ravens make you hold the ball, and it's
Speaker 3: just gonna have to come down to Patrick Mahomes holding
Speaker 3: the ball a little extra and making Patrick Mahomes magic,
Speaker 3: whether it's with his feet or then buying time and
Speaker 3: making crazy throws. I don't think they're gonna beat the
Speaker 3: Ravens just running their conventional offense. Maybe you can run
Speaker 3: the ball fairly well during the game, but I don't
Speaker 3: think what worked against the Bills is gonna work this week.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I you know, we're looking at a Ravens
Speaker 4: team that, against playoff teams from this season, has put
Speaker 4: up thirty points on offense per game allowed, just seventeen.
Speaker 4: They they're like, they're these sort of polar opposite of
Speaker 4: these like the Dolphins. We've talked about teams that like
Speaker 4: go up against winning teams and like what's special about
Speaker 4: them vanishes, Like the Ravens seem to become more embellished,
Speaker 4: more special when they go up against the best competition.
Speaker 2: And I think you're right.
Speaker 4: This is like this is a huge test of Lamar Jackson,
Speaker 4: a huge test of the in hire team to get
Speaker 4: over a Chiefs team that kind of feels like when
Speaker 4: they get challenged theoretically in the playoffs like this, like
Speaker 4: everything that we thought was a weakness of yours goes away.
Speaker 2: They became a completely different offense the last two weeks.
Speaker 4: I really do trust the Ravens, though, in this situation
Speaker 4: at home, to be the best version of themselves. And
Speaker 4: I think that's an unbeatable team right now. That is
Speaker 4: an unbeatable team. They put it on the Niners like
Speaker 4: the Texans a week ago. We're talking about a team
Speaker 4: that completely separated the Cleveland Browns defense. The Ravens made
Speaker 4: them look like a team that had barely played all season.
Speaker 4: And now you go against Patrick Mahomes, who, by the way,
Speaker 4: against the Ravens last two times he's faced them, has
Speaker 4: been nearly perfect, but he is dealing with a different
Speaker 4: group of targets and wide receivers. I think that's I
Speaker 4: do wonder if around the corner there's that game that
Speaker 4: kind of reveals what was Kansas City's weakness all along
Speaker 4: was mistakes by your wide receivers, mistakes, drops issues. Does
Speaker 4: that rear its head in this game or do they
Speaker 4: continue this journey?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's why it's kind of almost frustrating to
Speaker 2: watch the Chiefs from one perspective is because the NFL
Speaker 2: in football in general, doesn't feel like like the type
Speaker 2: of sport you could just flip the switch and turn
Speaker 2: it on in the playoffs and all their scheme, their
Speaker 2: scheming was not effective on offense all season. They were
Speaker 2: trying it, they were trying very hard. It wasn't like
Speaker 2: a long NBA season where you're you know, resting guys,
Speaker 2: or you're kind of just just trying to get through it,
Speaker 2: you know, bank your fifty six wins and then really
Speaker 2: start bowing up for the playoffs. They tried all season
Speaker 2: to get the offense right and couldn't do it. So
Speaker 2: watching them really thrive against the Bills all game long,
Speaker 2: to see Travis Kelce returning as a playmaker in the
Speaker 2: red zone, to see them find a downfield presence as
Speaker 2: unlikely as it is, and mvs that Isaiah Pachenko is
Speaker 2: playing like a star running back where she Rice obviously
Speaker 2: is an every week contributor. It's kind of wild and crazy,
Speaker 2: and that would be my concern is Baltimore fan is
Speaker 2: like all year, I thought this was a great window
Speaker 2: for us because the Chiefs are down on some level
Speaker 2: for them, but they're not now now they're kind of
Speaker 2: like the Chiefs again, So what happens with that? On
Speaker 2: the and the other point I wanted to make greg
Speaker 2: was that the two number one seeds both had scares
Speaker 2: in different ways, so that the Ravens were tied at
Speaker 2: halftime with a big special teams play going into the
Speaker 2: locker room. The Niners. We know what happened with them.
Speaker 2: They nearly get picked off survive in the final minute
Speaker 2: of that game. To me, the Niners team, I'm as
Speaker 2: I've said on the show, I'm concerned about and I'm
Speaker 2: curious what we're gonna get on Sunday. The Ravens team,
Speaker 2: I think that's the one that we're just like that
Speaker 2: battle hard in them. They've had some issues in the
Speaker 2: divisional round playoffs and the lamar Era to get over
Speaker 2: that hump. I don't have any concerns with the Ravens
Speaker 2: show up tight or not playing at a high level
Speaker 2: on Sunday because they kind of knocked off that rust
Speaker 2: and any of that type of stuff. Woul that win
Speaker 2: last week to.
Speaker 3: Make Yeah, I think that's that's fair. And now the
Speaker 3: extra rest they got, they've got really two weeks of rest.
Speaker 3: I think you could see it last week on the
Speaker 3: offensive line in particular, but before we kind of moved
Speaker 3: to the Ravens offense. Like the reason I trust this
Speaker 3: Ravens defense at least slow the Chiefs down here compared
Speaker 3: to where they've been the last couple weeks is the
Speaker 3: middle of the field. All these teams attack you at
Speaker 3: off ball linebacker and they attack your safeties and they
Speaker 3: find mismatches. And Andy Reid did a great job last week,
Speaker 3: and in Patrick Mahomes did too. Now who are they
Speaker 3: gonna be attacking this week? Who's Kelsey's matchup gonna be.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be Kyle Hamilton, It's gonna be Rokwan Smith,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be Patrick Queen. Like they watching that tape
Speaker 3: over again, just acted so fast, like they knew it
Speaker 3: was coming from the Texans offense. And they just react
Speaker 3: and they pop, and they're athletic and and I think
Speaker 3: you win right now only with Rice and Kelsey, and
Speaker 3: for the most part that's over.
Speaker 2: The middle of the field.
Speaker 3: So I think the Ravens are uniquely flexible enough to
Speaker 3: handle that. I do think for the Chiefs they have
Speaker 3: to be encouraged at least that the offensive line on
Speaker 3: the interior, especially Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith and Toney
Speaker 3: were dominant. I mean, they won them that game. They
Speaker 3: made the Bills look like their little playthings, like it
Speaker 3: was a college team they were going up against. And
Speaker 3: I know Mattabike and and Michael Pierce like they're big
Speaker 3: guys up front, and that's a tougher matchup for them.
Speaker 3: But that gives you a chance, like if you if
Speaker 3: you can play heavy like the Chiefs did last week.
Speaker 3: They had six offensive linemen, three tight ends quite a bit,
Speaker 3: two tight ends quite a bit. They just played heavy.
Speaker 3: I don't think that's a crazy way to try to
Speaker 3: play the Ravens. To try to running. It's not easy,
Speaker 3: but that to me seems easier than just going back
Speaker 3: and throwing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think you have Joe Toney in this
Speaker 2: game necessarily.
Speaker 5: That is also a big problem. Yeah, that's a big loss.
Speaker 4: That's one of the more that's one of the toughest
Speaker 4: linemen in the entire league, and he's been a foundational
Speaker 4: piece for them. I really think that when they played
Speaker 4: the Bills, part of their success was that you played
Speaker 4: a banged up Bills defense and like someone like aj
Speaker 4: Klein got completely exposed, right, and the Ravens come in
Speaker 4: with Rokwan Smith. You know, the trade last year I
Speaker 4: think was one of the best NFL trades of the
Speaker 4: last five years. It completely changed their's why we did Yeah.
Speaker 2: We need for multiple reasons. It's almost like everyone benefited.
Speaker 2: It's almost like that's why we did it.
Speaker 3: Last point focus, but as an emergency pod. We were
Speaker 3: kind of ahead of it with no we were.
Speaker 2: We absolutely were, and like, but I welcome society, and
Speaker 2: so is Patrick Queen also because he I think it
Speaker 2: changed someone's career trajectory there, because I think Queen was
Speaker 2: sort of trending down. They didn't pick up his fifth
Speaker 2: year option, right.
Speaker 3: But I probably is his last few days with the
Speaker 3: Ravens here.
Speaker 2: It might be, but the.
Speaker 4: Two of them together have been completely unstoppable, and they
Speaker 4: are the second best team in the league against tight ends.
Speaker 4: And so if you are this is different than last
Speaker 4: week when when Kelsey revived. Looking Kelsey, Now you're going
Speaker 4: against a different defense that if you can take Kelsey
Speaker 4: out of this, you are putting those Chiefs wide receivers
Speaker 4: into a situation where they've got to perform, And I
Speaker 4: just don't know if I trust that. It's like the
Speaker 4: Chiefs are not have to find a different way to win.
Speaker 4: This is a different defense than they played against Buffalo
Speaker 4: week ago.
Speaker 2: And you're on the road.
Speaker 4: I don't care about the road things so much with Mahomes,
Speaker 4: but it's like this defense has not been broken months
Speaker 4: in a row.
Speaker 3: Marlon three is also returning to practice. The Weakens would
Speaker 3: be the cornerbacks. I mean they're out there throwing Marlon Hunt,
Speaker 3: but not against this group of wide receivers. Yeah, that's
Speaker 3: all I'd say. So Marlon Humphrey, their best cornerback is returning.
Speaker 3: But yeah it's Brandon Stevens, Arthur Malett and Ronald Darby
Speaker 3: wasn't even on the team halfway to He's bounced around.
Speaker 3: So like if you could buy time in theory, that's
Speaker 3: the weakness. But Humphrey, you're returning.
Speaker 2: Would be big. That would be big. Also returning would
Speaker 2: be big. Mark Andrews so he was a full participant
Speaker 2: in practice on Wednesday. He's coming back from that gnarly
Speaker 2: ankle injury that's kept him out for a couple of
Speaker 2: months now. Very interesting to see if this is a thing,
Speaker 2: if he's gonna really have a role in the offense.
Speaker 2: I would imagine if he does play, you know, it
Speaker 2: would be a limited number of snaps. But as we know,
Speaker 2: and as we've been talking about, Isaiah likely has really
Speaker 2: stepped up in Andrew's absence and become a playmaker. So
Speaker 2: that I mean, it's just the Ravens just come at
Speaker 2: you and waves. It's such a deep roster on both
Speaker 2: sides of the ball, and I, I don't know, doesn't
Speaker 2: have a chance to get going the twenty eight days
Speaker 2: later defense, that's what I like the I want to
Speaker 2: see this this Baltimore swarming zombie like rage virus infected
Speaker 2: defense getting after the Pachenko who runs with those elbows
Speaker 2: and knees out. What was the Pacheco said? Though somebody
Speaker 2: said he runs like, oh god, I gotta remember this.
Speaker 2: He had a really good description of how he runs.
Speaker 2: I will think fights, but like he didn't like that.
Speaker 3: I like the one I saw that that he runs
Speaker 3: like he's dealing with trauma.
Speaker 2: So so you have the twenty eight days later defense
Speaker 2: against the running back who runs with trauma. And what
Speaker 2: will Kansas City's offense be able to do against this defense?
Speaker 2: Because it's a step up from Buffalo anyone else. You said,
Speaker 2: you run like you bite people. M I kind of
Speaker 2: like that to switch. By the way, what do they like?
Speaker 2: What do the zombies do? That's what they they That's
Speaker 2: what they would they would they would do that, they
Speaker 2: would bite you.
Speaker 3: The thing that was most surprising last week, though, was
Speaker 3: that the Chiefs defense got kind of worked like that
Speaker 3: looked like an old school Chiefs defense.
Speaker 2: I know they came up big and they made Buffalo work.
Speaker 3: For these touchdowns and everything, but it was one of
Speaker 3: their worst games of the season without going to place.
Speaker 3: They they got dominated for the most part for three quarters,
Speaker 3: and then they came up with some big plays. So
Speaker 3: I'm very curious, like, are they going to be a
Speaker 3: little more disciplined, because one thing I saw in that
Speaker 3: game was they kept getting past Josh Allen and then
Speaker 3: Josh Allen just kept running forward, and like, what is
Speaker 3: the worst thing that you can do against Lamar Jackson
Speaker 3: is not being disciplined with those rushlings. It happened to
Speaker 3: the Texans a couple of times. Lamar just set was
Speaker 3: so relaxed. He almost seems like too relaxed. Sometimes back
Speaker 3: there he is just chilling. He's just chilling in the pocket,
Speaker 3: and then the second East sees it open, he takes.
Speaker 3: But for the most part he's just chilling back there.
Speaker 3: He's getting great protection from this offensive line, and that's
Speaker 3: where I think you saw the two weeks help. Ronnie
Speaker 3: Stanley looked healthier. The offensive line in general seems healthier.
Speaker 3: They were dominant, and they have to really have a
Speaker 3: plan for kind of not getting like rushing Lamar getting
Speaker 3: some heat, and they had to make Chris Jones, you know,
Speaker 3: on the outside for those big plays because they weren't
Speaker 3: getting on the inside against Buffalo, but also not go
Speaker 3: past them and not.
Speaker 2: Let him run the ball.
Speaker 3: I think they almost have to kind of dare Baltimore
Speaker 3: to throw the ball deep, deep, into the outside. And
Speaker 3: if he beats you that way, and he had a
Speaker 3: number of good throws to the outside last week and
Speaker 3: deep and they worked, then maybe you just deal with
Speaker 3: it because otherwise, like they will just pick you apart offensively.
Speaker 4: I mean, I also say they survived like an incredible
Speaker 4: game by Josh Allen. So yes, Lamar Jackson's gonna have
Speaker 4: his moments and they can still survive. They haven't a
Speaker 4: left more than twenty seven points in a game all year,
Speaker 4: And like I do trust this defense more than any
Speaker 4: other Chiefs defense we've seen. And like I guess you're
Speaker 4: gonna have to allow Lamar Jackson to have his moments.
Speaker 2: But you got to just try. You got to be
Speaker 2: better than you were. I'm putting that up right now.
Speaker 2: I'm happy to be stand corrected on this one, but
Speaker 2: I'm putting the casey defense in the bucket of all
Speaker 2: these other defenses that I was told were great, and
Speaker 2: they get lit up in a huge spot. They already
Speaker 2: got beat up last week, and then the Ravens. I
Speaker 2: would not be surprised that the Ravens have their way.
Speaker 2: That said that said, there is the Mahomes component of everything.
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes, as you may have heard, Mark, played his
Speaker 2: first road game, true road game in the playoffs last
Speaker 2: week and as you can imagine, a lot of fuel
Speaker 2: to the fire to be on the road, to be
Speaker 2: an underdog and all that. This is his postgame locker
Speaker 2: room comments to his teammates after the big victory in Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Hey, they asked for it, and they got what they
Speaker 1: asked for.
Speaker 3: But he said it this day done.
Speaker 2: All right. And with that said, let's welcome in our guest,
Speaker 2: because that's of Patrick Mahomes that these guys the great ones,
Speaker 2: they're always looking for a new challenge. It's like James
Speaker 2: Palmer in his personal life. Uh. And for Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 2: right now, it is this idea of being doubted, being
Speaker 2: on the road, being viewed as the guy. Let's get
Speaker 2: them out of here so we get some fresh blood
Speaker 2: in James Palmer. Welcome to the show. How are you, buddy.
Speaker 6: I'm good, guys. I'm glad we're starting with this because
Speaker 6: I've gotten a lot of heat on the Twitters and
Speaker 6: the exes about this. Patrick Mahomes playing on the road.
Speaker 6: If you bring this up, the Chiefs Kingdom will attack you,
Speaker 6: like nobody's business.
Speaker 2: What's got the fired up.
Speaker 5: I don't just think of it as a storyline, because this.
Speaker 2: Is what I know.
Speaker 6: But this is what they say. Hey, guys. They go, well, oh,
Speaker 6: that's Super Bowl in Tampa. That wasn't a road game.
Speaker 2: Well that was a home.
Speaker 6: Game for Tampa. I was like, well, well listen, guys,
Speaker 6: that went terribly wrong, like your offense could not function.
Speaker 6: I was in that stadium. It was half full. I
Speaker 6: was in some sort of box with the girl from
Speaker 6: Pitch Perfect and the guy from Pitch Perfect was his
Speaker 6: name Adam Divine of some sort.
Speaker 2: I think, wow.
Speaker 6: And there were very few of us watching. I don't
Speaker 6: I don't understand why they were so angry.
Speaker 2: We don't need to just bringing this, but we don't
Speaker 2: need to talk about the COVID Super Bowl. James, like,
Speaker 2: the COVID Super Bowl was in the middle of a
Speaker 2: global health catastrophe. So let's just throw that out as
Speaker 2: an opinion or an example of anything.
Speaker 6: Come on, Yeah, I get the weekend Walls by himself.
Speaker 4: It was weird, Adam divine though, nice hang for you
Speaker 4: during a strange Super Bowl event.
Speaker 3: And the difference of one of the many differences, like
Speaker 3: at that point, their offensive line is falling up, and
Speaker 3: you've been covering this team all year and one reason,
Speaker 3: I don't think anyone should have been digging any dirt
Speaker 3: on them.
Speaker 2: As rough as the offense has looked.
Speaker 3: It's like, the fact is it's still Mahomes with Andy
Speaker 3: Reid and the best defense he's ever had, and their
Speaker 3: offensive line playing outstanding. And I guess that was If
Speaker 3: you have Mahomes and an offensive line, I don't care
Speaker 3: how poorly the rest of the group is playing. They
Speaker 3: got to have a chance, like, how has the vibes
Speaker 3: been this week and everything around this team in terms
Speaker 3: of this challenge, because they got to feel like this
Speaker 3: challenge against the Ravens defense is another step up from
Speaker 3: the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's great.
Speaker 6: It's a massive step up from the walking wounded they
Speaker 6: faced at that game. I was in Buffalo I mean,
Speaker 6: this group is far and away different than that Buffalo
Speaker 6: group that they figured out a way to put eleven
Speaker 6: guys on the field. I think this group is completely different.
Speaker 6: If Joe Toney can't play, and talking to people that
Speaker 6: I know that are in the know in Kansas City,
Speaker 6: it's going to be a long, long stretch for him
Speaker 6: to try to go in this game on Sunday. And
Speaker 6: I've talked to a number of people that sayd he's
Speaker 6: really the guy over the last couple of years that
Speaker 6: has made this offense go. If you remember they brought
Speaker 6: him in that big free agent contract I think it
Speaker 6: was after that game in Tampa we're talking about, and
Speaker 6: he's been that mentor to Creed Humphrey and Tray Smith,
Speaker 6: the center and the guard on the other side, to
Speaker 6: really give them that anchor of the offensive line and
Speaker 6: the way that he's kind of run that entire group.
Speaker 6: He's really the guy that.
Speaker 2: Makes it go.
Speaker 6: So I do think that interior has been a big
Speaker 6: part of some of the success that they've struggled through
Speaker 6: some of this guys. I do think they've just tried
Speaker 6: to help out their offensive line a bunch. I heard
Speaker 6: you guys talking about in a number of tight ends
Speaker 6: that they've been putting out there. You haven't heard Donovan
Speaker 6: Smith's name at the left tackle spots since he's returned
Speaker 6: from the neck injury. I think you know, the body
Speaker 6: was benefiting from getting off those legs for a couple
Speaker 6: of weeks. He's been a little bit better than he
Speaker 6: was during the season, and Wanye Morris was out there
Speaker 6: for him. But if he has time, Patrick Mahomes has time,
Speaker 6: he's gonna find ways to make plays. I think that's
Speaker 6: the part that we're always kind of of bringing up
Speaker 6: and specifically in the postseason. It's it's not just this
Speaker 6: the scrambling ability, it's he runs more on his own,
Speaker 6: like he puts the offense on his back at times.
Speaker 6: It's just gonna be and we can talk about it
Speaker 6: the matchup of Kelsey if he can get free, and
Speaker 6: then it's really him and Rashi Rice and Isaiah Pacheco
Speaker 6: that that's kind of their offense. They ran it the
Speaker 6: best they did this entire year. They think in Buffalo
Speaker 6: it's probably the best game plan Andy Reid thought Matt
Speaker 6: Nagy has had this season. But again, it's really kind
Speaker 6: of been those three guys. I'm going on here, But
Speaker 6: I do want to make this point. They feel like
Speaker 6: the offense has been better since Sky Moore and Caadarius
Speaker 6: Tony have been injured. Like, no, Lie, it's.
Speaker 2: It's just make and it makes sense.
Speaker 6: They have the receiver spots. Yeah, it's it's better for us. Yeah,
Speaker 6: they thought they were playing too many players, honestly, rotating
Speaker 6: too many receivers. Nobody was getting in a rhythm, and
Speaker 6: that kind of those two injuries happening. They feel like
Speaker 6: that's actually benefited the offense.
Speaker 4: All right, So let's go off of that, because right now,
Speaker 4: cut to Kansas City, sixty feet below the complex. You've
Speaker 4: got Andy Reid surrounded by like six boxes of Chinese
Speaker 4: food cooking up some sort of trick play.
Speaker 2: They love to do this on a weekly basis.
Speaker 4: Well, right, so, like you're talking about like two players
Speaker 4: are better not being part of the offense on some level.
Speaker 4: You got your your Kelsey's your obvious guys, what's the
Speaker 4: X factor? Like I want you to predict a guy
Speaker 4: that we're going to be talking about Sunday night that
Speaker 4: we were not expecting last week was MVS. It's like
Speaker 4: these guys have been hot and cold all year what's
Speaker 4: the trick, what's the happening, what's thee like the secret
Speaker 4: sauce individual that they're building around.
Speaker 2: James, before you answer that question, Before you answer that question,
Speaker 2: I'm curious since you brought it up, because I didn't
Speaker 2: know about this underground bunker. Yeah, the guy that delivers
Speaker 2: the Chinese food, does he get access down like an
Speaker 2: elevator shaft or is Andy have to go up to?
Speaker 7: No?
Speaker 4: No, that's a middleman, a middleman obviously, who knows you
Speaker 4: got codes? You got handprints, an intermediary little option scam.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, okay, good optical scan for Chinese food.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 6: I had to take yesterday the elevators weren't working and
Speaker 6: I had to take the Taylor Swift path, the underground
Speaker 6: path to get to uh, to get to where it
Speaker 6: needs to be. So these things are are a big,
Speaker 6: big HAPs. I'm not sure if that the delivery guy
Speaker 6: and Taylor ever have cross paths down there in the
Speaker 6: you know, the secret bunker?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 2: Have you crossed path but with Taylor through all this, James,
Speaker 2: but Taylor.
Speaker 6: Yeah, a number of times I got some free jeans
Speaker 6: because of one of my encounters with.
Speaker 2: Wow. All right, we're going to get to the X men.
Speaker 2: Let's know, ye, no, tell me about him now, Well,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 6: If if you, if you are lucky enough to get
Speaker 6: to get a primo spot to do the video of Taylor,
Speaker 6: which I've done it by accident a couple of times.
Speaker 6: I was trying to get Josh Allen and then all
Speaker 6: of a sudden she walked by, and then and then
Speaker 6: my video goes viral, and then she was wearing a
Speaker 6: pair of jeans, and the company hit me up on
Speaker 6: the GRAM and was like, hey, can we use your video?
Speaker 2: We want a profile.
Speaker 6: She's wearing our jeans, And I said, uh, sure, I
Speaker 6: guess this is the world I'm not a part of.
Speaker 2: I guess in the video.
Speaker 6: And then they said then they said, uh, what what
Speaker 6: size are you? We'll send me some cloth. And so
Speaker 6: that's that's how this world works, I guess.
Speaker 2: Yeah, moderately disappointing. So I thought maybe Taylor was the
Speaker 2: source of the jeans, but it was the Okay, it's
Speaker 2: still cool though. Sure all right now to Mark's uh.
Speaker 4: Well, no, I mean it's you know, you can go
Speaker 4: in any direction you want at this point.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, now we've we've derailed Listen, I do think
Speaker 6: I don't know if they have that player, Mark, I
Speaker 6: really don't. And when you say like a secret sauce,
Speaker 6: it might be like what teams have used against them.
Speaker 6: I mean, I thought Joe Brady had a brilliant game
Speaker 6: plan for what he was working with with the Buffalo Bills,
Speaker 6: and it was keeping Patrick Mahomes on the offense off
Speaker 6: the field. And that might be something that that the
Speaker 6: Chiefs are looking at in terms of can we control
Speaker 6: this game we're seeing we have seen and this is
Speaker 6: something in this postseason, guys, I've really been curious about.
Speaker 6: Like Patrick is obsessed with Tom, like upset break in
Speaker 6: terms of learning from him. It's a big reason why
Speaker 6: he wanted the backup quarterback that he has right now
Speaker 6: in his building because he just got done working with
Speaker 6: Tom Brady. It's just he wants to emulate his game
Speaker 6: and can he find ways like we've seen Brady do
Speaker 6: in the past in the postseason to where if something's
Speaker 6: not there, does he just not care about stats, not
Speaker 6: care about anything, and lean on something else. And we
Speaker 6: are kind of seeing that, Like he's wanted and encouraged
Speaker 6: the staff to lean into Pacheco, to lean into this defense,
Speaker 6: to play possession game, all of these different things that
Speaker 6: we just haven't heard in Kansas City over the years.
Speaker 6: They've just been something you just start going, like a
Speaker 6: possession game, like no, like run the ball, like that's
Speaker 6: not Andy, that's not Patrick. But that is the way
Speaker 6: Mahomes has been thinking in terms of other ways to
Speaker 6: find ways to win. And I think that Gene we're
Speaker 6: all kind of looking at if that's there, because we're
Speaker 6: calling him kind of the next Brady. If that's there
Speaker 6: on finding other things to lean on to just win
Speaker 6: a game. I think they've had to do that at
Speaker 6: times this season, and we'll see if they can find
Speaker 6: a formula against Baltimo.
Speaker 2: I gotta say I've seen that.
Speaker 3: I know I've seen Clyde Edwards Hilaire taken out of
Speaker 3: mothballs the last couple of weeks and have a little
Speaker 3: more juice that I can remember him seeing he's a
Speaker 3: couple of weeks away from being a free agent four
Speaker 3: years after you know, taking.
Speaker 2: Him in the first round, maybe making blitz.
Speaker 3: Maybe he'll be the surpris or maybe maybe it's on defense.
Speaker 3: I was shocked last week Samari Connor, who I wasn't
Speaker 3: familiar with a fourth round rookie showed up and he
Speaker 3: made a lot of plays for that defense as as
Speaker 3: an injury replacement.
Speaker 2: I was like, man, they did it again.
Speaker 3: They found another mid round guy in the secondary who's
Speaker 3: like this is kind of how Lagerius Sneed became a
Speaker 3: guy suddenly in the playoffs as a rookie. He was
Speaker 3: doing things. And then Jamari Connor was awesome just defensively. Uh,
Speaker 3: talking to them this week, like what have they talked
Speaker 3: about being the keys because because one thing that it
Speaker 3: struck me watching the Ravens game, they made pretty huge
Speaker 3: lineup changes that no one really was talking about. Like
Speaker 3: Justice Hill just became their starting way more touches. He's
Speaker 3: a little bit of a different offense than Gus Edwards
Speaker 3: last week.
Speaker 2: And Odell Beckham was benched.
Speaker 3: I know he started the game, but Rashad Bateman kind
Speaker 3: of became their second receiver. Nelson Aguilar is the guy
Speaker 3: in three receiver sets and Beckham only played about twenty
Speaker 3: snaps in that game to forty five for Bateman. I
Speaker 3: think they see Bateman having a little higher upside. So
Speaker 3: the Ravens actually rolled out some different stuff in their
Speaker 3: playoff game what does the Chiefs defense talked about wanting
Speaker 3: to stop.
Speaker 1: Greg?
Speaker 6: I think it really is, how can you confuse Lamar
Speaker 6: pre snap? I mean, and that's really going to be Spags' biggest,
Speaker 6: biggest goal, And it's because they have and I've talked
Speaker 6: to Trent McDuffie about this, who and this is going
Speaker 6: to be a big part of this game. I think
Speaker 6: him blitzing from that corner spot. When I talk to
Speaker 6: people in Buffalo prepping for that game, they were like,
Speaker 6: we think he's the best blitzing corner in football. That's
Speaker 6: the way the Bills went about it. And him coming
Speaker 6: from that inside, from that slot spot, bringing some extra
Speaker 6: pressure might be a part of this game plan. But
Speaker 6: the point is, talking with Trent, it's like I play
Speaker 6: three positions just and Reid plays three positions. Lagarius Sneed
Speaker 6: does that, Willie Gay does that. And if we have
Speaker 6: the ability to have these late rotations on Lamar and
Speaker 6: we can do it even after the ball is snapped
Speaker 6: to where he doesn't know who's playing where and we
Speaker 6: can get the ball out of his hands quickly, that
Speaker 6: to me seems like they're game plan and there is
Speaker 6: some similarities. I'm not gonna say Josh Allen and Lamar
Speaker 6: Jackson run the football in the same manner. But they
Speaker 6: did feel like some of the things they wanted to
Speaker 6: do to Josh Allen they can use against Laar, which
Speaker 6: is the way you rush with your lanes upfront, and
Speaker 6: if you're gonna bring pressure, you're just eliminating some of
Speaker 6: the lanes that he can run through. But if you
Speaker 6: can be disciplined upfront, which they weren't in the first
Speaker 6: half against Allen, and they made some adjustments and were
Speaker 6: in the second half, that you can make sure he
Speaker 6: doesn't get out wide and you kind of shut the
Speaker 6: pocket in from both this I'm in a tiny box,
Speaker 6: so you can't see my hands. You gottaqueeze it in
Speaker 6: from the s gets there you get a little tiny Yeah,
Speaker 6: now we've taken it wide. If you bring it in
Speaker 6: from both sides and you don't let them escape kind
Speaker 6: of out wide and you kind of force him up front,
Speaker 6: that's kind of the plan they had for Allan. I
Speaker 6: would see that being somewhat similar for Lamar as well.
Speaker 2: You saw right through that, James. Actually people don't realize it.
Speaker 2: We have the box get four percent smaller every minute
Speaker 2: it's a bit of a weird power play. We do it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: guess yes, you picked up on it. I like that.
Speaker 2: It's like Willie Wonka. Yes, you've said it all, James,
Speaker 2: and I will say one more thing before we say goodbye.
Speaker 2: You've dealt with some weather stuff the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2: It looks like we got Baltimore. It's gonna be warm,
Speaker 2: unseasonably warm, but rainy, so you're gonna get potentially out
Speaker 2: of the bitter cold, but you're gonna have to get
Speaker 2: that slicker out once more.
Speaker 6: I get the slicker out listen. In Buffalo, that was
Speaker 6: like all the talk in the postgame locker room.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like we won.
Speaker 6: It was like everybody on the Chiefs team was like,
Speaker 6: what's the temperature in Baltimore? Like that's all the guys
Speaker 6: care about that? Can we get out of the frigid temperatures?
Speaker 2: All right? Buddy, Well, thank you so much for stopping
Speaker 2: by and giving us the info, and hopefully we'll see
Speaker 2: in Vegas in a couple weeks.
Speaker 7: Guys, this is real nice.
Speaker 2: This has been a guest. That hair is going to
Speaker 2: stay perfect. James. I love that man. James Palmer Gold
Speaker 2: see you guys. Very nice love James JP one of
Speaker 2: the good guys.
Speaker 4: Quality head of hair. There's no question the hair. That's
Speaker 4: just the way it is.
Speaker 2: You know what, hair respects hair, He's got it. You're
Speaker 2: referring to yourself respecting him. Okay, let's let's make the pick.
Speaker 2: Let's pick this game. Uh, it's it's for me. It's
Speaker 2: the easier of the two games. I think this is
Speaker 2: the Ravens moment. I think I think Baltimore, like I said, uh,
Speaker 2: survived the whatever butterflies there might have been and any
Speaker 2: kind of demons from their early their past with Lamar
Speaker 2: in the playoffs by really kind of burying the Texans
Speaker 2: in the second half. And I just think their depth
Speaker 2: on both sides and the way they swarm on defense
Speaker 2: and Lamar just having the that year is what you
Speaker 2: need a team like this to take down Mahomes in
Speaker 2: the playoffs. And I think Mahomes will be back on
Speaker 2: this stage, maybe as soon as next January, but I
Speaker 2: think this year he's gonna take a back seat. In fact,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna lock up the Baltimore Ravens uh to go
Speaker 2: back to the super Bowl. How about you, guys.
Speaker 3: I'm with you. I like the Ravens to win. I
Speaker 3: like the Ravens to win by more than three and
Speaker 3: a half. I do think it'll be close, though, I mean,
Speaker 3: can you just imagine the Chiefs getting blown out? I
Speaker 3: guess I just can't do it, like because it never happens.
Speaker 3: I know that happened in the Super Bowler Bowl.
Speaker 2: Another defense.
Speaker 8: Find other great defense in Tampa Bay that got after
Speaker 8: the even like even this regular season where they were
Speaker 8: this lesser version and they lost a lot of games,
Speaker 8: like all of them were close, except for that one
Speaker 8: Broncos game.
Speaker 3: Like, I just think they will be in it. I
Speaker 3: think they will make the Ravens earn it. There is
Speaker 3: something about this Ravens that as the game goes on,
Speaker 3: they just get heavier and heavier and stronger. So I
Speaker 3: wouldn't surprise me if the Ravens are loose, like heady
Speaker 3: into the fourth quarter or something like that, that it's
Speaker 3: a tight game, but that the Ravens do pull away.
Speaker 3: Let's go low scoring game twenty four to seventeen.
Speaker 2: I think the Joe Toney injury.
Speaker 4: If you point to that Super Bowl, what was the
Speaker 4: like the core reason the Kansas City. Yeah, they were
Speaker 4: just a different team without without in that case that
Speaker 4: we sure tackles, but the two ny injury is huge.
Speaker 4: That said, I'm going to go against the grain here
Speaker 4: against you guys. I think the Kansas City Chiefs are
Speaker 4: not the better team holistically, but I think they have
Speaker 4: this something about them where they don't care where they're playing,
Speaker 4: they don't care what they're doing. You've got this obsession
Speaker 4: with Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes finds a way, whether injured, healthy,
Speaker 4: whatever the weather is, to get it done. And I
Speaker 4: think they nip the Ravens twenty seven twenty four.
Speaker 2: Hey, listen, keep picking against the Ravens. You might be
Speaker 2: right one day.
Speaker 4: I mean, I would say, if you're listening to this
Speaker 4: and I picked your team to win, you are doomed.
Speaker 2: Don't even witness the game.
Speaker 3: I like it though it's a three and a half way.
Speaker 3: I don't like it when we're on the same side.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just did. I want to go get it.
Speaker 2: What camps their respect? I like Baltimore thirty one twenty
Speaker 2: That's where I'll go with Ravens.
Speaker 5: By the way, the money line there is minus one two.
Speaker 2: All right, We're gonna take a break and when we
Speaker 2: get back. We're going to talk about the other big
Speaker 2: game this weekend and hit some big news and the
Speaker 2: coaching carousel rankings. All right, we'll be right back, all right,
Speaker 2: welcome back. Who it is Championships Sunday this weekend and
Speaker 2: we are excited to talk these two big games. Mark
Speaker 2: update on the de Giorno front anything? And have you
Speaker 2: heard from the ever since we talked about them again
Speaker 2: on the last show the Pizza Giant. Did they connect
Speaker 2: with you? No?
Speaker 4: Radio silence? I think it's you know, a bit of
Speaker 4: a psychological tug of war. Accept that, and so my
Speaker 4: move is to stay in, you know, silent and wait
Speaker 4: and see what they do.
Speaker 2: But you did hear from a shadowy league figure.
Speaker 4: As I understand, I was told that my attempt to
Speaker 4: complain about not receiving product or literally just side money
Speaker 4: from the company was out of place because per our
Speaker 4: contract us reading these ads.
Speaker 2: There's literally how we get paid. That's what I guess.
Speaker 4: I was out of place, and I apologize, not only
Speaker 4: but to okay that individual.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, not to You're not wrong, you know why?
Speaker 2: Because yes, the money is one thing, but how about
Speaker 2: a couple of thes in here? I don't think that
Speaker 2: would be so hard A couple. Uh what do they call?
Speaker 2: And they what are this? What's their specialty? Mark? What?
Speaker 2: I know they have some Well, they have a wide
Speaker 2: range of specialties. Just like I'm just asking for one
Speaker 2: Toyota grand Highlander. Like I'm not asking for like ten
Speaker 2: or or a million dollars, not a sack of money. Right,
Speaker 2: you could argue my request is even lesser. One highlander. Right,
Speaker 2: that's it anyway, It is time now for the NFC
Speaker 2: Game of the Week, presented by Draft Kings. And yes
Speaker 2: there's only one game to choose, and it is a
Speaker 2: humding on. It's the Detroit Lions. And speaking of the
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions, Michigan native Cynthia Freeland will be in in
Speaker 2: just a little bit to break down the game and
Speaker 2: where she's at headspace wise going into this. They head
Speaker 2: now the Lions to Santa Clara. They'll beg bell bottom
Speaker 2: to get the forty nine ers. Great. The spread also
Speaker 2: stayed right where it was when we talked about it
Speaker 2: last or earlier this week. It's the Niners getting seven
Speaker 2: the money line minus three forty. So the betting public
Speaker 2: seems to feel strongly that the Niners as the number
Speaker 2: one seed. We'll carry on here and beat the Lions.
Speaker 2: That's it. That's it. I like this Lions, the juice
Speaker 2: around this team. I have to say, if you go back,
Speaker 2: not even to Week one when they beat the defending
Speaker 2: champion Chiefs, if you go back, greg Ee, to Week
Speaker 2: eighteen last year when they beat the Packers and Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers and ended their season, that to me was the beginning,
Speaker 2: the true beginning of this kind of rock ride that
Speaker 2: the Lions are on now. And they survived a long season,
Speaker 2: they navigated their way through the playoffs with two electric
Speaker 2: home games, and now I just have a hard time
Speaker 2: seeing as much as I think San Francisco is the
Speaker 2: better team, Detroit going down easy at this point, not
Speaker 2: with this coach and not with what we've learned about
Speaker 2: this organization over the last year and a half.
Speaker 3: Me and I hope you're right, because it'd be one
Speaker 3: of the great football stories we've had since we started.
Speaker 2: Imagine the Lions in the super Bowl in two weeks.
Speaker 2: What a five that would be.
Speaker 3: And it wouldn't just be Hayd Detroit's back. That would
Speaker 3: be a great story. Anyways, it's this particular team and
Speaker 3: the way they do it, And I just think they
Speaker 3: have to attack San Francisco when the Lions have the ball,
Speaker 3: like that's the mismatch. They have to be special. Jared
Speaker 3: Goff made a lot of great throws last week, like
Speaker 3: he has to be even greater. They won up front
Speaker 3: last week. I thought the Packers won up front last week.
Speaker 3: They're gonna have to do that again. They're gonna have
Speaker 3: to play their best offensive game and just hope that
Speaker 3: the defense can make a few plays. But this is
Speaker 3: ultimately an offensive team. That's how they've gotten this far.
Speaker 3: That's how they're going to get further. And I think
Speaker 3: they're gonna look at the edges of San Francisco because
Speaker 3: when you watched that game from a week ago Packers
Speaker 3: against the forty nine Ers, the Packers threw a lot
Speaker 3: of different run schemes at them, kind of like the
Speaker 3: Rams do as well, and they mostly worked and they
Speaker 3: got a little away from it, and the forty nine
Speaker 3: Ers made some adjustments late in the game, but man,
Speaker 3: when they threw the ball to the outside on those
Speaker 3: pitches to Aaron Jones or they had the swings like
Speaker 3: they won basically every single time. A lot of it
Speaker 3: was to chase Young's side of the field. It was
Speaker 3: a way to kind of stay away from all that
Speaker 3: power in the middle of the forty nine ers. And
Speaker 3: I think the Lions are very well built to do that.
Speaker 3: You have Panee Sewell, who's an All Pro right tackle.
Speaker 3: You have Taylor Deck who's a great left tackle. They're
Speaker 3: very coordinated in terms of their offensive line. They will
Speaker 3: be without Jonah Jackson, which is a huge loss for them.
Speaker 3: Their their replacement last week o Ska really struggled, so
Speaker 3: that that's a big loss. But can they keep attacking,
Speaker 3: especially the run game on the outside and lean into
Speaker 3: where their best players are?
Speaker 5: And to me, that's Sewell and that's Gibbs. Can that
Speaker 5: combo just come at you over and over again.
Speaker 4: Yes, like they were built when they you know, this
Speaker 4: whole operation began. The priority was put on offensive line,
Speaker 4: and we're gonna win in a way that you.
Speaker 2: Know matches what Detroit's about.
Speaker 4: Jackson out is a big deal, Frank Ragnow is your
Speaker 4: center is dealing with an ankle injury, a toe injury,
Speaker 4: a knee injury, and a back injury. So even if
Speaker 4: he somehow the Crans get in there, he finished the
Speaker 4: game though, so he probably, but that I mean, these
Speaker 4: guys at this point you're dealing with like there's no
Speaker 4: part of your body that's not hurting. But I love
Speaker 4: what they did last week. And I know it was
Speaker 4: against the Bucks defense. It's a different situation against the Niners.
Speaker 4: But they made a statement with a fourteen play seventy
Speaker 4: five yard touchdown drive.
Speaker 2: They had two other ten play touchdown drives.
Speaker 4: They had another scoring drive that was sixty five plus
Speaker 4: yards long marches keeping the ball out of the hands
Speaker 4: of the Niners. And I think they can win by
Speaker 4: just simply doing and being who they.
Speaker 2: Are, like the way that they were built. Is a
Speaker 2: good opponent for the Niners.
Speaker 4: And to me this a little bit, this game is
Speaker 4: one where unlike the one we just talked about, it
Speaker 4: moves beyond for me, like next gen stats and all
Speaker 4: the numbers and all the compiled figures and facts like
Speaker 4: the Detroit Lions just feel like this kind of sports
Speaker 4: team that you look back on, like baseball teams from
Speaker 4: certain teams from the seventies and eighties that captured the city.
Speaker 4: We've seen that in football, We've seen it in every sport,
Speaker 4: and not to be general about it or you know,
Speaker 4: Pine the Sky, but the Lions, to me, it's like
Speaker 4: I kind of love the fact that Jared Goff is
Speaker 4: just from California, the idea that you're gonna go to
Speaker 4: the West Coast and be awed by the fact that
Speaker 4: you're playing at a different time in a in a
Speaker 4: visiting stadium, and I don't think any of them there.
Speaker 2: He did californ game, like literally it is his home.
Speaker 4: And it's like something about this Lions team feels like
Speaker 4: a team of destiny to me, and I I think
Speaker 4: that the way that we look at the Bills is
Speaker 4: the way I look at Shanahan and the Niners just
Speaker 4: a little bit.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 4: There's every reason to think that they're the better team
Speaker 4: in multiple levels, but like there is pressure on the
Speaker 4: Niners because their postseason journey has been rough and tumble.
Speaker 4: Shanahan has this deal, he's he's seven and three in
Speaker 4: the playoffs, I believe with the Niners, but they have
Speaker 4: lost in big moments and it's like there's just I
Speaker 4: think that I could see their butts getting tight if
Speaker 4: the Lions hanging around there in that third quarter, early
Speaker 4: fourth quarter, I think I.
Speaker 2: Like it, Like your passion, Mark, you think about the
Speaker 2: game too, because the Lions are this levable underdog within
Speaker 2: the context of this game right now, but it's the
Speaker 2: Niners are weird in the sense that they are this
Speaker 2: goliath right but their quarterback is I don't know if
Speaker 2: you heard this, mister irrelevant, Like, I think we're so
Speaker 2: used to it now that we're sleeping on The guy
Speaker 2: that was the last pick in the draft last year
Speaker 2: could be going to the super Bowl if he if
Speaker 2: his team has has their way on Sunday against the
Speaker 2: first overall pick. Well, yeah, there's that angle of it too,
Speaker 2: And it's just like, and I'm not going to be
Speaker 2: labor it because I hit it pretty hard last Sunday
Speaker 2: and during the week, But it is Perdy, that's the question.
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't. I don't feel like the rest
Speaker 2: of the San Francisco operation is going to crack under
Speaker 2: the pressure. And I'm not even necessarily saying it's it's
Speaker 2: pressure with Purdy, but it's just has any doubt crept
Speaker 2: into his mind. It's quarterbacking, and really any sport, especially
Speaker 2: in quarterbacking, it's so much mental and his confidence allowed
Speaker 2: him Greg to soar and become a true MVP candidate
Speaker 2: this year. But what happened on Christmas night in Baltimore,
Speaker 2: what happened in last week's game for three and a
Speaker 2: half quarters? What headspace is the QBN going into this game?
Speaker 2: Because now he's playing to go to the damn Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: It's a massive stage for a guy that was never
Speaker 2: a pristine prospect, has had his issues in recent weeks.
Speaker 2: It's a huge, huge responsibility to take a team all
Speaker 2: the way to the Bowl.
Speaker 3: Yeah, last week was concerning because he wasn't seeing the
Speaker 3: field well. To me, he's pretty consistent in who he is.
Speaker 3: He's aggressive, he's not a game manager. He's gonna go
Speaker 3: for it, and he did last week. Like rewatching it,
Speaker 3: it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered, but it
Speaker 3: was particularly bad in the in the three drives before
Speaker 3: the game winning drive. And there's another world. The Packers
Speaker 3: had the ball three times through No you know, party
Speaker 3: wouldn't have done anything different. The Packers had the ball
Speaker 3: two or three times where they could have put the
Speaker 3: game way, and they just didn't. They kept giving them chances,
Speaker 3: and then perty did step up. And I do think
Speaker 3: that's that should you know mentally, that will help. And
Speaker 3: then and then I think it's the rain. The rain
Speaker 3: was a factor too, although it was also his decision making,
Speaker 3: so you can't just put it on his throne. But look,
Speaker 3: he made the right reads in that final matchup. And
Speaker 3: as much as you don't think of the Packers as
Speaker 3: a good defense, maybe that's even a better matchup because
Speaker 3: one thing that I think has been pointed out when
Speaker 3: Trent Williams was out, and then I was reminded of
Speaker 3: it again last week. It's like this offensive line is
Speaker 3: really not that great like the Packers. I thought kind
Speaker 3: of one up front on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 3: which was really surprising. They have, but they have, but
Speaker 3: it kind of makes sense because they have talented players
Speaker 3: up front and they just won their matchups. They won
Speaker 3: it in the run game and made life hard for
Speaker 3: Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey made some plays, but in terms of
Speaker 3: the yards before contact it was extremely low. They weren't
Speaker 3: getting much push and they were putting a lot of
Speaker 3: pressure on Party and that's what you have to do.
Speaker 3: Pretty Fritz is out a little like most quarterbacks. I
Speaker 3: know his numbers are good against pressure, but this was
Speaker 3: a different sort last week, and I just don't see
Speaker 3: the Lions doing that because they're one of the worst
Speaker 3: just teams in terms of just front four getting pressure.
Speaker 3: Hutchinson is that dude, But otherwise they have to send
Speaker 3: a lot of pressure. So it's to me it's gonna
Speaker 3: be a very boomer bust defensive approach where they throw
Speaker 3: a lot of blitz.
Speaker 5: Is they throw a lot at them, They're willing to
Speaker 5: give up some big plays.
Speaker 3: They hope to make some big plays and enforce some
Speaker 3: turnovers and hopefully that'll work. And you get Burt if
Speaker 3: Debo's in the game, and maybe you don't get if
Speaker 3: Debo's not in the game, Well that's.
Speaker 4: A huge So that's so big. And what you know,
Speaker 4: like how healthy will Deebo Samuel be? That is we've
Speaker 4: they've been so different. I think last week obviously we
Speaker 4: know by now the Deebo Samuel was baked heavily into
Speaker 4: the game plan. That affected what happened against the Packers
Speaker 4: because they had to shift and use different players. If
Speaker 4: I'm the Lions, though, Aiden Hutchinson is the one guy
Speaker 4: getting sacks, the one guy really making a difference. You
Speaker 4: don't want to just station them against Trent Williams snap
Speaker 4: after snap, I tried to find a way to move
Speaker 4: them around. But this Lions team, with all their ups
Speaker 4: and downs on defense, has been good against the run though,
Speaker 4: the number two team against the run. They've held fourteen
Speaker 4: to nineteen opponents to under one hundred yards on the ground.
Speaker 4: They've gone twelve and two in those games. So if
Speaker 4: you can find a way to suppress, to nullify Christian
Speaker 4: McCaffrey to some extent, and you force brock Perty into
Speaker 4: having to make big throws. Right now, the forecast, I
Speaker 4: kind of think this matters for party just because of
Speaker 4: what we've seen this season. It is suggesting light rain.
Speaker 4: That's what they said a week ago too. But like then,
Speaker 4: you know you're dealing with an incredible nature is just
Speaker 4: erupting on you.
Speaker 2: We'll see, maybe it's sunny. We don't have the latest update.
Speaker 2: What's the weather on the weather corner? Yeah, love this
Speaker 2: weather corner. Maybe well, we're running out of time, weather,
Speaker 2: give us a little drop for weather corner in post
Speaker 2: Eric the producer. Right now looks like seventy three seventy
Speaker 2: three am clouds pm sun, only a six percent chance
Speaker 2: of precipitation. So the small brock hands probably not going
Speaker 2: to be an issue. That sounds more like borrow. It's
Speaker 2: some change.
Speaker 3: Goff has sort of famously struggled in the rain and
Speaker 3: in inclement weather.
Speaker 2: That's true too.
Speaker 3: Another small hands guy. I mean, this is this is ridiculous.
Speaker 3: That's calling him small hands guy. In the scheme of things,
Speaker 3: it's compared to like the average, it's all relative.
Speaker 2: It is all relative. Speaking of Jared Goff, we had.
Speaker 2: This is again it's being positioned as David versus Goliath
Speaker 2: on some level, but it's not quite that. The Lions
Speaker 2: have a lot of big time players. Lines had a
Speaker 2: huge year. They're in the NFC title game for a reason.
Speaker 2: This is a fun little back and forth between golf
Speaker 2: and a reporter. I think something wires get crossed a
Speaker 2: little bit here. This was enjoyable.
Speaker 4: Guy's got a lot of got a lot of really
Speaker 4: good players, obviously.
Speaker 7: Maybe oh thank you, I said thank you.
Speaker 2: Maybe that you though as the superstars, like.
Speaker 7: All right, never mind, I mean guys like same Brown
Speaker 7: was first team All Pro.
Speaker 2: So right, so.
Speaker 7: Sorry, continue, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: That's a great way to kind of have some fun. Also,
Speaker 2: by the way, show that you're loose like there's Jared.
Speaker 2: He's in a different chair of he's ready, he is
Speaker 2: ready for this game, but also pointing out, yeah, stop
Speaker 2: looking at us like we can't match up on any
Speaker 2: level to the mighty San Francisco team. We got studs
Speaker 2: on this team, including a first team All Pro at
Speaker 2: our offensive line at number one wide receiver. We're ready.
Speaker 3: You're wrong, right, And I think games i've been I
Speaker 3: think he's the second best running back in the league
Speaker 3: right now, I think And it wasn't even referring to
Speaker 3: him like so that's I would get Gibbs as a monster.
Speaker 3: Sewell is right there with Trent Williams as like the
Speaker 3: best tackles in the NFL. Sam Laporta was second team
Speaker 3: All Pro as a freaking rookie.
Speaker 5: It was a really well lang Well made point.
Speaker 3: I think by golf, because they are extremely talented, they're
Speaker 3: cohesaid that they've been together well and you mentioned it's
Speaker 3: a different golf. You're right, But he's also different on
Speaker 3: the field, like he was different in in LA. I
Speaker 3: don't think it like they should feel bad about getting
Speaker 3: rid of Jared Goff, obviously because of the results, but
Speaker 3: also because of the way he's playing. But the way
Speaker 3: he's playing now, and you give credit to Ben Johnson,
Speaker 3: but you mostly give credit to Jared Goff. He I
Speaker 3: think he makes his reads faster. I think gets to
Speaker 3: his second and third read faster. I think he buys
Speaker 3: time just a little bit better. He's obviously not going
Speaker 3: to be Lamar Jackson, but he moves a little better
Speaker 3: in the pocket. There were a couple throws last week
Speaker 3: where he's back pedaling.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 3: They're obviously better against the blitz. That's coaching and that's
Speaker 3: Jared Goff. But they're great against the blitz that used
Speaker 3: to be as bad thing. And there's more outside throws.
Speaker 3: Think of some of his most impressive throws last week.
Speaker 3: One of them was like deep into the outside to Reynolds,
Speaker 3: another one to Saint Brown, Like that was not something
Speaker 3: you saw Jared Goff doing. So he is a legitimately
Speaker 3: better quarterback. He is a top ten quarterback, eight quarterback,
Speaker 3: whatever you wanna be. Then we when we last saw
Speaker 3: him eight right now in many ways, and he has
Speaker 3: been for last year.
Speaker 2: I buzzed up against that. I would have to kind
Speaker 2: of go through it, but certainly on the fringe of
Speaker 2: the top ten, which is again looking where he was
Speaker 2: when they Los Angeles dumped him to where he is now.
Speaker 2: I want to talk to someone who knows all about
Speaker 2: this team. Oh yeah, she knows everything. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: but she is a Michigan native who has a chance
Speaker 2: to do something that's never happened in her lifetime. I mean,
Speaker 2: this person could be one hundred and forty four years
Speaker 2: old and it would have never happened in their lifetime
Speaker 2: because the lines have never been to the super Bowl.
Speaker 2: But now in her Lions T shirt, Cynthia Freeland is
Speaker 2: ready for the game of her life as a fan. Cindy,
Speaker 2: welcome back to around the NFL.
Speaker 9: Well, let's just hope I don't get the last time.
Speaker 9: I don't I don't make any headlines like the last time.
Speaker 2: Oh well, don't worry about that. I believe that was
Speaker 2: exercise from the show. How are you?
Speaker 9: I'm great. I just got back from Detroit. It was
Speaker 9: really special.
Speaker 2: We had Colleen on the show on Wednesday, and she
Speaker 2: obviously spent that game with you and said it was
Speaker 2: a very special experience to be there with someone that
Speaker 2: was It meant that much to them the game, it
Speaker 2: meant so much to me. Why did it mean so
Speaker 2: much to you as a Michigan native.
Speaker 9: Well number one, I'm the daughter of a General Motors
Speaker 9: employee for his entire career, and in no way, like
Speaker 9: the whole thing just got blown to shreds. It wasn't great.
Speaker 9: It was sad, and you know, especially my dad has
Speaker 9: a lot of pride, you know, this GM American muscle
Speaker 9: all that, and to see it take this big hit
Speaker 9: felt so like very parallel to the Lions having recently
Speaker 9: come off an OH to sixteen season. So it was
Speaker 9: kind of this like amazing parallel between this like city
Speaker 9: and like things were just bad, like it was not
Speaker 9: good for a while, and now to see like this
Speaker 9: turnaround and to have some hope hope is a terrible
Speaker 9: investment thesis, but it's pretty fun.
Speaker 2: Very Cynthia there, Wow, you were getting.
Speaker 5: So much, but you had it. You had it.
Speaker 3: You had that moment in Detroit, Like, now does it
Speaker 3: feel like it's a little no house money or now
Speaker 3: this is the biggest game of your your fan life.
Speaker 9: It feels a little like kind of as it's kind
Speaker 9: of both because I wasn't expecting to win two home games,
Speaker 9: to have two home games, let alone to win two
Speaker 9: home games but it's it feels like there's this opportunity
Speaker 9: now and it's like we're please, like Jordan Levin is
Speaker 9: a great yet like wait till because this division is
Speaker 9: gonna get better, like like let's just like like capitalize
Speaker 9: on the moment. So it does feel special. I was
Speaker 9: actually talking to some of my friends on the team
Speaker 9: that are in like the operations part, and you know,
Speaker 9: they're they didn't even already have in place, like what
Speaker 9: would happen if they went right? Like so this week
Speaker 9: they had to go, like the team had to like
Speaker 9: go to Detroit, go to Las Vegas and like pick
Speaker 9: the hotel, Like.
Speaker 2: Don't even have that. Wow, that's wild.
Speaker 9: But a lot, I mean, to be fair, a lot
Speaker 9: of teams, it's not that's not a normal thing. But
Speaker 9: like you know, I'm sure Andy Reid has like well let.
Speaker 2: Me just com through.
Speaker 9: That's okay, but like you know, some some people don't
Speaker 9: have that luxury.
Speaker 4: I want to ask you somebody because like my first
Speaker 4: growing up on the East Coast, my first kind of
Speaker 4: concept of Michigan and Detroit was that Michael Moore documentary Roger,
Speaker 4: which you said, your dad is attached to GM and
Speaker 4: it painted a very bleak picture of what was happening
Speaker 4: to that part of the country, and it always kind
Speaker 4: of colored my thought of what the Lions were and
Speaker 4: their fans, and like, this is happening now and you're
Speaker 4: you know, you're drenched in analytics and like it's how
Speaker 4: you like, it's your point of view through football. But
Speaker 4: then something about this Lions team we just talked about it.
Speaker 4: It's like there's this inevitable kind of energy around them
Speaker 4: and belief in themselves, and like you've got your your
Speaker 4: models and how you like would break down a game,
Speaker 4: but like, how do you factor in what is happening
Speaker 4: with the Lions from like a human energy front into
Speaker 4: how you analyze football.
Speaker 9: Well, there's a couple of things. Thank god, I do
Speaker 9: all of my coding blind, Like I don't know which.
Speaker 9: I mean, I can probably guess if I were to
Speaker 9: look into it, but I do it all blind because
Speaker 9: that's the only way you can do it. You have
Speaker 9: to just you name it weird things that mean nothing
Speaker 9: to you. So then that pops out and you're like,
Speaker 9: darn it, it's the Niners because they are in terms
Speaker 9: of the analytics, they are absolutely the stronger team. They
Speaker 9: should be favored, and they're they're all the things that
Speaker 9: are in there, but you look at the things that
Speaker 9: are recent trends and the fact that the Lions are
Speaker 9: able to buck the things that have been wrong for them. So,
Speaker 9: for example, this last game, instead of giving up really
Speaker 9: deep plays, actually we're pretty vulnerable to the intermediate level
Speaker 9: of the middle of their defense. So it's not to
Speaker 9: say that it's better, it's just different. And that was
Speaker 9: able to give them just enough of a push to
Speaker 9: go up ahead of the Bucks and stay there, which
Speaker 9: was kind of cool to see them addressing some of
Speaker 9: their issues. So the math does support that they're addressing
Speaker 9: some of their issues. It's it's this game is not
Speaker 9: to what my math says. It's closer than seven points,
Speaker 9: but it's not a game. It's not I can't factor
Speaker 9: in grit. I mean I literally was the most I
Speaker 9: was like the most inappropriate person. I'm fine with this.
Speaker 9: I'm happy to get in trouble for it because I
Speaker 9: stand by at the after the game was over, I
Speaker 9: went down. I just had to see a Dan Campbell
Speaker 9: presser in person, and I'm like, in a Lion shirt.
Speaker 9: I don't think you're all these like really like very
Speaker 9: like serious, really good journalists, like people. Mitch album was there,
Speaker 9: and I'm like sitting here like and I'm like, does
Speaker 9: anyone want to take a shot with me? Like like
Speaker 9: I'm like, I don't care, Like this is cool, like
Speaker 9: it's positive, it's you know, like let's just have a
Speaker 9: little fun in this room for until he walks in.
Speaker 2: So what was the album? Book? People you talk to in.
Speaker 9: These days with moriar?
Speaker 2: Multiple books?
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I like the.
Speaker 9: World on him. I was like, I'm so happy to
Speaker 9: meet you. I'm sorry, but I want to take shots
Speaker 9: with somebody. I'm like, I can't find my friends yet.
Speaker 9: So he was like, that's great. We should all be
Speaker 9: so happy because they were all trying to be serious.
Speaker 9: You know, I wasn't gonna ask any questions. I just
Speaker 9: wanted to see Dan Campbell's energy album. Sure, yeah, no, No,
Speaker 9: he was great. He was great. They were all great
Speaker 9: to me. No one was mad at me for saying that.
Speaker 9: But it probably just not what you're supposed to do in.
Speaker 2: That Mitch actually texted me is like Cynthia can comport herself.
Speaker 9: With that girl. So lack of professionalism right there.
Speaker 2: So your your study, your models say this is a
Speaker 2: close game, but but everything as much as you don't
Speaker 2: want it to be. The analytics tells that the Niners
Speaker 2: are the team that escapes and gets to Vegas.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I'm not happy about it.
Speaker 5: Like how much is the last four weeks?
Speaker 3: Because that's where I don't think it's as unique as
Speaker 3: it feels that, like the Chiefs often suddenly found itself,
Speaker 3: or that the Packers suddenly to me looked like they
Speaker 3: were they had a chance to win the Super Bowls.
Speaker 5: It feels crazy, but they could have.
Speaker 2: Won that game.
Speaker 3: They won the next game, And so how much is it?
Speaker 3: Like you you take all the numbers from the season,
Speaker 3: but then you just look at like the last three
Speaker 3: week because that is how sometimes Super Bowls are decided.
Speaker 9: So my models weight recency a little bit more so
Speaker 9: because all of the coaches tend to watch about four
Speaker 9: weeks of film heading into games, I overweight the most
Speaker 9: recent four weeks of data just a little bit, so
Speaker 9: they count as extra if you will, right, So you're
Speaker 9: looking at that My bigger problem in this matchup, there's
Speaker 9: two things that really stand out are the biggest things
Speaker 9: that the lines have to overcome. One, their O line
Speaker 9: is banged up, there's no two ways about it. They're
Speaker 9: gonna have a backup of the guard position. Yikes, yikes.
Speaker 9: And Frank Gragnew is not one hundred percent. He seems
Speaker 9: to be doing better, and he's an awesome.
Speaker 3: Guy, like against Armstead who's healthy. Finally, Hargrave ran Law
Speaker 3: played well last week against their strength.
Speaker 9: That's a problem. The other problem is Jared Goff is
Speaker 9: awesome at throwing in breaking routes.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 9: We saw Jordan Love show us kind of the formula
Speaker 9: to upset the Niners, which is outside of the numbers passes.
Speaker 9: That is not what this Lion's team. Doesn't mean they
Speaker 9: can't do it. It's just saying it's a lower probability
Speaker 9: because we haven't seen them do it as frequently, not
Speaker 9: to say they can't, just to say it's harder to
Speaker 9: imagine that happening. And then, lastly, the best area of
Speaker 9: the defense in the back is the middle third of
Speaker 9: the back, which is right where those inbreakers go. So
Speaker 9: it's just unfortunate that those things again, they could figure
Speaker 9: things out. Ben Johnson, those teams that have their grubby
Speaker 9: paws all over him.
Speaker 3: Last game, I do love that angle like that to
Speaker 3: me is one of the most intriguing things, like Ben
Speaker 3: Johnson versus Kyle Shanahan. If you were going to power
Speaker 3: rank play callers in the NFL right now, certainly McVeigh
Speaker 3: and McDaniel would be in that mix. But this might
Speaker 3: be the top two battle of the play callers against
Speaker 3: I think could be vulnerable defenses. I know the forty
Speaker 3: nine ers have a lot of stars, but to me,
Speaker 3: everything you're saying about like the Lions defens, I hear that,
Speaker 3: and it is like, I'm just like, just outscore them,
Speaker 3: just win.
Speaker 5: Thirty three to thirty could be the rout I.
Speaker 9: Actually do as a So I'm taking my analytics hat
Speaker 9: off here for a second and putting my fan hat on.
Speaker 9: And I'm actually really glad it's not the Packers, to
Speaker 9: be fair, because that Packer team coming into Detroit on Thanksgiving,
Speaker 9: that just I understand. You know, I know you your
Speaker 9: your gripes with the defensive coordator. We got it, Greg,
Speaker 9: like but but you know, like the.
Speaker 2: The only show where my.
Speaker 3: Get very annoyed with me no check out debut on Friday.
Speaker 9: But but the truth is, there's something about teams that
Speaker 9: know each other and it just makes it closer, right
Speaker 9: like your Ravens. Think about it. For the Ravens, you
Speaker 9: felt like maybe the Browns had a better chance of
Speaker 9: knocking them off than perhaps another opponent would. Right, So
Speaker 9: because of that knowledge of each other, it just and
Speaker 9: and the poetry of the stupid Packers being alliance would
Speaker 9: have been terrible.
Speaker 2: You have to worry about it. You're in the on that.
Speaker 2: How do you factor in?
Speaker 4: Because like I think one thing I love and how
Speaker 4: you could make the Niners in a close game late
Speaker 4: when they're thinking about their playoff history, uh, you know,
Speaker 4: concerned about themselves, like the Dan Campbell aggressive nature of
Speaker 4: all things, Like I love that?
Speaker 2: Do you how do you fact I want to come.
Speaker 2: I've always said I want.
Speaker 4: To come see whatever is happening like this, you know
Speaker 4: motherboard that.
Speaker 5: I just want to know what it looks like.
Speaker 4: Like how do you like enter Dan Campbell's aggressiveness into
Speaker 4: your computer system?
Speaker 9: Just like that?
Speaker 2: Actually, don't go behind the curtain.
Speaker 9: No, No, you can come and you till you want.
Speaker 9: You just have to come to my house because I
Speaker 9: can't lift all this stuff and bring it elsewhere.
Speaker 2: The incredible amount of their you've.
Speaker 9: Moved out of the boudoir, you know, it's not the
Speaker 9: the the in fact, the the like the main like
Speaker 9: house of the computer still in the boudoir, but the
Speaker 9: screens are not.
Speaker 2: It's multiple rooms now. It's going theology's turning into a
Speaker 2: robit fortress now, and I'm.
Speaker 9: Really just trying to get it as close to the
Speaker 9: router as possible and then he can plug it. It's
Speaker 9: really not that way. Actually, as we speak, it's cleaning
Speaker 9: my house. That's why I had to leave it, and
Speaker 9: that's why I came into the office exactly.
Speaker 2: It's just it's basically the entire thing is just a ruma.
Speaker 9: The good news about Dan Campbell is that he has
Speaker 9: a regular cadence to his aggressive play collar nature, which
Speaker 9: means it's not to say we can accurately predict it,
Speaker 9: but it's probably likely that they have plays on the
Speaker 9: play sheet that there are specifically for certain situations. So
Speaker 9: it's less about like he's not like we think of
Speaker 9: it as this gamble, like he's rolling it. I don't
Speaker 9: really think he's rolling the dice as much as it seems.
Speaker 9: I think they're planning this ahead of time, they're practicing it,
Speaker 9: they have.
Speaker 4: Well, they're telling the refs ahead of time, and the
Speaker 4: refs are not comprehending.
Speaker 2: Apparently, I don't want.
Speaker 9: To talk about that. But it didn't matter, it did
Speaker 9: It ended up not matter.
Speaker 2: Justice was served in the end, right, baldell. I let's
Speaker 2: let's pick the game, and Cynthia, I'm gonna save you
Speaker 2: for last, even though I know you now have to
Speaker 2: go potentially against the room, but which we shouldn't do. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but it's compelling. It's a tough setch for you. Mark
Speaker 2: get us going.
Speaker 4: I why I've kept asking these questions about the human conditions,
Speaker 4: condition versus technology, Like I have long had a Shanahan,
Speaker 4: you know, fascination, and I can't help but root for
Speaker 4: the Niners in many situations. But in this situation, not
Speaker 4: only am I picking the Lions to win in overtime
Speaker 4: thirty four to thirty one, but.
Speaker 2: I'm locking them up. You take it to the bank,
Speaker 2: and my lock.
Speaker 4: Record tells you that's that's uh. There's a lot of
Speaker 4: viability to that. I'm indued me in last place.
Speaker 2: If this doesn't go your way, you're flirting with going
Speaker 2: winless in the playoffs, So we you're due. I'll put
Speaker 2: it that way.
Speaker 4: I have chosen from what happens right in here in
Speaker 4: the center of the world, like over and over and
Speaker 4: serve you.
Speaker 3: But it's gonna serve me this time. I know this
Speaker 3: is one of these days, though, one of these days.
Speaker 3: I do think there is a path here. I think
Speaker 3: James Jamison Williams has been getting better every week. Maybe
Speaker 3: he gets some big bus like that play where Laporta
Speaker 3: is on the outside and a mon Ras on the inside.
Speaker 3: Laporte is a weak, healthier I feel like it works
Speaker 3: every single time, where laport is essentially like they know
Speaker 3: what's coming, the defenses know what coming, they can't stop it,
Speaker 3: and that they could keep up. And seven points even
Speaker 3: does feel like a little too much. But I'm going
Speaker 3: head over heart. It's a rare case where I'm rooting
Speaker 3: hard against the Lions, but I am locking up the
Speaker 3: forty nine ers because I believe that's what's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Interesting, you're rooting for the Lions. Absolutely, you're locking the Niners.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I'm rooting against my own rooting interest right now.
Speaker 5: I do believe they're the safest pick of the weekend.
Speaker 2: And I'll say the same thing. I want the Lions
Speaker 2: to win, thank you. I want people like Cynthia. I
Speaker 2: want Cynthia I appreciate, and I want Parry Sanders to
Speaker 2: be happy. And I want Marshall Mathers to be happy.
Speaker 2: I want Kirk Gibson to be happy, Alan Trammel, Bu Whittaker.
Speaker 2: I want everyone connected to Michigan sports to be happy.
Speaker 4: Leiah Coca Leya Coca. Isn't that Sue's best friend? I
Speaker 4: don't know who he's best friends with anyway. But however,
Speaker 4: what about Big Sean, Big Sean?
Speaker 2: No, he doesn't need it, Big Sean, I can't give
Speaker 2: him the love that he wants.
Speaker 5: Big Sean's been on Dan's radar that I got a.
Speaker 2: Big issue with Big Sean standing on the shoulder of
Speaker 2: giants put it that way. But that's a whole other conversation.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 9: What about Bob Seeger love seg Okay, yes, just make
Speaker 9: sure against the wind YEP that's what we're gonna have
Speaker 9: to do.
Speaker 2: What a Heartland rocker that Sieger is? That said I'm
Speaker 2: gonna pick the Niners. And as much as I do
Speaker 2: have reservations about Purdy, I'm nervous about this game. I
Speaker 2: can't go off on Purdy and then not have the
Speaker 2: same reservations about GoF who can get cooked up by
Speaker 2: a defense and start making some funky decisions himself. And
Speaker 2: because of that, I do think San Francisco is just
Speaker 2: the better team. I don't know if they cover, but
Speaker 2: I think they win. Let's go, Let's go twenty seven
Speaker 2: to twenty. You know, Campbell do some crazy shenanigans with
Speaker 2: a two point conversions, so we'll make the score weird.
Speaker 2: Twenty seven to twenty five. Niners to the Bowl.
Speaker 9: Okay, all right, So while I told you that, look,
Speaker 9: any good analytics professional will tell you the math gives
Speaker 9: a five point win to the Niners. However, sometimes, much
Speaker 9: like the Eagles at the end of the Super Bowl,
Speaker 9: you have to take the low probability play. And there
Speaker 9: is no way on God's green Earth that I am
Speaker 9: going to have any audio or video of me ever
Speaker 9: not picking my lines in this situation. God knows that
Speaker 9: we won't be back here very It's not it's not
Speaker 9: a sure thing.
Speaker 2: This is your time, this is your moment.
Speaker 9: Sypia upset Lions twenty seven twenty six.
Speaker 2: Love it. You're gonna go. You're gonna get home, and
Speaker 2: all your doors, the locks will be changed. The lights
Speaker 2: don't work.
Speaker 3: I feel like this is like the script of a
Speaker 3: romantic comedy or something. At the very end, she after years,
Speaker 3: she finally goes against the model. Right as she's like
Speaker 3: a matrimony. She found her guy. It also is coming
Speaker 3: for together.
Speaker 9: Hey, listen, you want to know the weird connections here?
Speaker 9: Are you ready?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 9: Number one, I stayed in the hotel at the Renaissance Center,
Speaker 9: which is where my dad worked. That's where GM's headquartered,
Speaker 9: right on Center this week. Number two, my first marathon
Speaker 9: was in Detroit. You know who was in town that weekend,
Speaker 9: The Tampa Bay Bucks. I ate a sausage with tailgaters
Speaker 9: before the Bucks game after my marathon. That was my
Speaker 9: very first marathon.
Speaker 2: Number two.
Speaker 9: Number three, I get my dog Gordy. How Gordy introduces
Speaker 9: me to my fiance. Gordy did so. It's all about
Speaker 9: Detroit sports. That's really all that matters.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 9: I've been to that. I went to that two thousand
Speaker 9: and four when the the upstart, the Pistons who didn't
Speaker 9: have like one star, they had like a few Rip
Speaker 9: Hamilton with the with the thing on his face, you know,
Speaker 9: the whole to and you know who they beat They
Speaker 9: beat the Lake Show exactly, and I was there. So
Speaker 9: sometimes Michigan gets the best of California.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the flashy playboys from California will tick a dirt nap. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm from a coal town.
Speaker 9: I oh, you'll get there next. What I can't imagine
Speaker 9: what's going to happen when the Jets are in this position?
Speaker 2: Yeah, weekend? Tell me? Tell me? What would I think?
Speaker 2: It would be a human victory for all of us.
Speaker 9: You're gonna cry. I mean, I'm telling you. I most certainly.
Speaker 9: I was like, is this for real?
Speaker 2: That's why I am. I'm really I'm hoping. I'm hoping
Speaker 2: Cynthias that it happens. Okay, I'm hoping it happened.
Speaker 9: I know people literally it was so funny in this
Speaker 9: bar that we're in. It's so loud, and people were
Speaker 9: walking in with Bucks jerseys on and and Michigan. This
Speaker 9: is this is who Lions fans are. For the first second,
Speaker 9: they're like, boo okay, you want to beer? Boo okay,
Speaker 9: what I want to beer? Anyone?
Speaker 1: Download the Draft King Sports Book app now and use
Speaker 1: code a t N. New Customers can bet us five
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Speaker 2: The crown is yours, Cynthia. Do you want to stick
Speaker 2: around to do a little news before we go? You
Speaker 2: know it all right? By the way, check out, let's
Speaker 2: check in on the lock standings. By the way. Oh
Speaker 2: why why should we just where we're at? Oh? The
Speaker 2: Westling brothers, they're holding tight for second place. Look at Rosenthal,
Speaker 2: she's stealing with this on a weekly basis.
Speaker 9: Does he have that smug little picture with a little
Speaker 9: crown in this show?
Speaker 2: Now that's oh god, that's how many graphics do you have.
Speaker 5: Of he's got out? He's got this PM Eastern work.
Speaker 9: He's got this smug little headugine and then it has
Speaker 9: this little tiny this has this little tiny crown that comes.
Speaker 5: And you just look like, I don't crown.
Speaker 2: I can't imagine that would be back to back back.
Speaker 2: Can we say, let's see the second half standings too
Speaker 2: while we're here? Oh wow, you created these? Well look
Speaker 2: at the trophy too. You gotta check this out. Is
Speaker 2: on the fashund That's an impressive trophy.
Speaker 4: Just to let you know, by the way, I like
Speaker 4: you're looking at my score thinking this person doesn't belong
Speaker 4: in the building, But like.
Speaker 2: Here a the standing the best doucer and Greg tied
Speaker 2: at seven and two. The second half title Wesling. Let
Speaker 2: me get through the podcast the Westling Brothers. They don't
Speaker 2: even get the right spelling on their last name anymore.
Speaker 2: They're four and five and Sesta three and six. The
Speaker 2: reverse show Himan at three and six.
Speaker 9: He's just waiting.
Speaker 4: I am ready to pounce when the time is right,
Speaker 4: which could be two seasons.
Speaker 2: Yeah pounds. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3: It's funny because someone a birdie from the NFL research
Speaker 3: department contacted me during that because you had said second
Speaker 3: half standard since week nine, and they pointed out that
Speaker 3: you were two games behind since week nine, so you
Speaker 3: you've adjusted even the cuttings.
Speaker 2: Wait what that he was actually two games behind?
Speaker 5: He is, But someone was like, like, to be fair,
Speaker 5: he had said after week and actually your two games up.
Speaker 2: Since they reached out you out of pocket.
Speaker 5: They just came not really my sources, but uh.
Speaker 9: They reached out.
Speaker 2: Told to me it wasn't really the NFL reason. This
Speaker 2: is what well, this is what you need to know.
Speaker 2: I mean, if I said week nine that I misspoke.
Speaker 5: It is at the midway, second half of that season.
Speaker 2: No, the season with the trust me, I have this
Speaker 2: all figured out, the regular season plus the playoffs twenty two. Okay,
Speaker 2: that's good.
Speaker 3: Congrats to the Bears they won the NFC North and
Speaker 3: Raiders are your AFC West champions.
Speaker 2: It's not gonna work well with Greg on this. He's
Speaker 2: not gonna You have no idea how well it's working.
Speaker 2: It's driving him. All right, let's get to the news. Uh,
Speaker 2: Cynthia a lot going on, a lot. All right, let's
Speaker 2: take a break and then we'll hit the news. D
Speaker 2: welcome back. It is the AFC NFC Championship game preview.
Speaker 2: See they're used to it, you're not. We just went
Speaker 2: through both games, picked both games, and we're excited to
Speaker 2: watch how it all unfolds. But with Cynthia Freeland still
Speaker 2: in the house, she went against the machine. Just like
Speaker 2: just like Rocky went against Drago, Casparov went against the robit,
Speaker 2: Cindy goes against her own machine picking the Lions.
Speaker 9: I sometimes you got to take the lower probability outcome, buddy,
Speaker 9: I love it.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying that Adan's not gonna be happy. That's
Speaker 2: when you get home. The machine will let you know.
Speaker 2: I picture various highly dangerous circumstances involving cutlery, and you know,
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, a meat cleaver goes flying by.
Speaker 2: I've your machine has those like in the cartoons of
Speaker 2: the metal tubes with the hands that can do things.
Speaker 4: Right the final twenty minutes of like two thousand and
Speaker 4: one Space Odyssey where like the entire operation turns against
Speaker 4: you rental apartment.
Speaker 2: So yep, they'll be careful. I'm just saying, head on
Speaker 2: a swivel. Let's get to the news, and we'll start
Speaker 2: with the big one. Obviously, Jim Harbaugh is indeed coming
Speaker 2: back to the NFL. How about that the Los Angeles Chargers,
Speaker 2: And I got to give the Charges a little bit
Speaker 2: of credit here, Cynthia, because everything I've been led to
Speaker 2: believe about the Charges is that in the end they're
Speaker 2: gonna cut a corner and they're not gonna go all
Speaker 2: in and and and they'll just continue to exist as
Speaker 2: an organization. But this to me, Cynthia, this move the're
Speaker 2: bringing Jim Harbaugh a deal for five years, according to reports,
Speaker 2: kind of completely reframes this organization. And with Justin Herbert
Speaker 2: in place maybe a bright tomorrow.
Speaker 9: Yeah, there's a few things that I really like about this.
Speaker 9: But I have to give a nice little shout out
Speaker 9: to the Chargers social because that whole like evoking like
Speaker 9: signs of like the pope, them picking new pope was
Speaker 9: really funny.
Speaker 2: So coming from the coming that.
Speaker 9: Was really good. That was really good.
Speaker 2: They're feeling themselves.
Speaker 9: As they should. Yes, I mean I feel not that
Speaker 9: it was a foregone conclusion. I think they went through
Speaker 9: the process and they did the things that they needed
Speaker 9: to do to make sure and vet that this was
Speaker 9: the right choice. But I feel like this was their
Speaker 9: goal all along and they wanted to kind of make
Speaker 9: sure they were doing the right thing. To me, this
Speaker 9: is a huge difference maker. I think Justin Herbert will
Speaker 9: now have some stability. A five year contract is hopefully
Speaker 9: a long time. I mean we don't we know that
Speaker 9: sometimes that hasn't worked out in the past, But in
Speaker 9: this case, I believe them that they're going to give
Speaker 9: him a nice long leash in order to hire the
Speaker 9: right people do what he needs to do. And I
Speaker 9: think that they probably feel like, you know, look, we
Speaker 9: know that Patrick Mahomes is still in this division, but
Speaker 9: there are some opportunities here, especially with the Raiders are
Speaker 9: still confusing. The Broncos are pretty confusing. I think that
Speaker 9: they're like, Okay, we you know, just get into the
Speaker 9: to the dance. Doesn't necessarily mean we need to always win,
Speaker 9: but get into the dance, and this gives them the
Speaker 9: best opportunity to do so.
Speaker 4: I think it's it's going to be really interesting to
Speaker 4: watch the team building side of this because we we're
Speaker 4: gonna get the Harbaugh offense, and that's their tight end
Speaker 4: room is gonna change vastly, Like they're gonna want to
Speaker 4: be big sets, heavy sets, and like their running back
Speaker 4: room is going to change. And it's like, I think
Speaker 4: what Justin Herbert has been asked to do through multiple
Speaker 4: play callers is going to change a lot. And I
Speaker 4: think that the relationship between Justin Herbert and the coaching
Speaker 4: staff for years has been a big problem here and
Speaker 4: that changes entirely now. They are two totally different personalities
Speaker 4: based on what little we know about Justin Herbert, what
Speaker 4: we do know about Jim Harbor. My question always with
Speaker 4: Harbaugh is like, cool, everyone's super excited right now.
Speaker 2: You know, when we when we started the show.
Speaker 4: Harbaugh was, you know, phasing out of the Niners, and
Speaker 4: by the time he left, people weren't that unhappy to
Speaker 4: see him go, Like it came and went, and that's fine,
Speaker 4: that's NFL coaching.
Speaker 2: But it's like, where will we be three years from now?
Speaker 2: That's all.
Speaker 4: That's my only concern with the Harball experience a little bit.
Speaker 4: But otherwise, the Chargers have an identity.
Speaker 2: The people he did. He did.
Speaker 3: The people that weren't happy to see him go, though,
Speaker 3: I think were primarily his general manager Trent Balk and
Speaker 3: his boss Jed York, like where he got into these
Speaker 3: battles with them. I don't think the players were, like
Speaker 3: maybe they they got sick of it.
Speaker 2: What he went after.
Speaker 3: But it's just hard to argue with the guy that's
Speaker 3: been successful literally everywhere that there's there's no exception to
Speaker 3: him hitting like a home run essentially in every single spot,
Speaker 3: and it's always with quarterbacks. As a justin Herbert fan,
Speaker 3: I'm really excited even if he brings in Greg Roman,
Speaker 3: and it's like, I don't love Greg Roman if he's
Speaker 3: the play caller, but maybe he'll have a different role.
Speaker 3: And then you think about, well, Greg Roman was the
Speaker 3: coordinator with Alex Smith, who's very different than Colin Kaepernick,
Speaker 3: and they turned Alex Smith's career around, like Alex Smith
Speaker 3: had that game against the Saints with Greg Roman and Harborton.
Speaker 5: So I just gotta if he brings to Joe Berry right.
Speaker 3: Give some credence. Pep Hamilton's available. Does he have a
Speaker 3: history with Joe Berry?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I'm just David Shaw's around. No, then I won't be
Speaker 3: happy a gero. Everro all of those guys have coached
Speaker 3: with Harbaugh before, and so you have to assume he
Speaker 3: is getting personnel say and or control will be involved
Speaker 3: in the GM higher, so that it's all something to watch.
Speaker 3: But in a way that even though they have Herbert,
Speaker 3: I still think Harbaugh will break through in a bigger
Speaker 3: way here in Los Angeles and it'll be really great
Speaker 3: for them just as a as an organization.
Speaker 2: The Home Run Higher, it's a no brainer. It's when
Speaker 2: we started the NFL, That's when he came in in
Speaker 2: twenty eleven, during the lockout season, we went through his
Speaker 2: whole career. He disappears now he's back. I just feel
Speaker 2: like football is a weirder, more interesting place with Jim
Speaker 2: Harbaugh back in the NFL. I'm excited. You know who
Speaker 2: else is excited? This is one of the best missives
Speaker 2: I've ever seen released in terms of the passion jumping
Speaker 2: off the page. Here's Dean Spanos, who you know, we
Speaker 2: heard a lot of passionate Spanos. Jim Harbaugh is football
Speaker 2: personified and I can think of no one better to
Speaker 2: lead the Chargers forward. The son of a coach, brother
Speaker 2: of a coach, and father of a coach, who himself
Speaker 2: was coached by names like schem, Beckler and Ditka. For
Speaker 2: the past two decades, Jim has led hundreds of men
Speaker 2: to success everywhere he's been as their coach. Stylized he
Speaker 2: I tal on there. Good job by Dean, and today
Speaker 2: Jim Harbaugh returns to the Chargers. This time is our
Speaker 2: coach who has better than us. He is excited. What
Speaker 2: am not for that? Of course the old Harba.
Speaker 3: Can I just sound am one for Michigan sports. It's
Speaker 3: kind of lost in the shuffle that most of these lines,
Speaker 3: a lot of these Lions fans are Michigan fans too,
Speaker 3: and they got a title there and they got to
Speaker 3: be very happy that Minnesota and Denver weren't interested in
Speaker 3: Jim Harbaugh over the last two years. Then it also
Speaker 3: lost the time. I think that made it work. I'm
Speaker 3: just saying, but they got their title, they got that.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 9: The one thing I will point out is if Jim Harbaugh,
Speaker 9: what we see how he's evolved as a coach over
Speaker 9: these years at Michigan, I will say it's probably even
Speaker 9: not as evident for us what he is capable of doing,
Speaker 9: because all of the time that you have to spend
Speaker 9: recruiting your guys and then keeping them and then making
Speaker 9: sure they're happy going to go in the transfer portal,
Speaker 9: and then making sure that they get paid enough for this,
Speaker 9: and I like all of that's now taken off bye bye.
Speaker 9: I would hate that would be really hard to be
Speaker 9: a head coach.
Speaker 2: Well, that job changed during his time, and he was
Speaker 2: ready to go for a couple of years, and now
Speaker 2: finally it lined up.
Speaker 9: Now actually devoting his time to coaching, we'll probably see
Speaker 9: even more of how he's evolved than we would have.
Speaker 3: Tough spot for Antonio Pierce. You got Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh,
Speaker 3: and Andy Reid twice.
Speaker 9: I love Antonio. I will, I will, I will punch
Speaker 9: anyone for I don't know. I won't actually punch anyone,
Speaker 9: but I will go to the map for him, because yes,
Speaker 9: I'll pop sham paper. No, he's he's a really great leader,
Speaker 9: really great leader. I've known him for a long time.
Speaker 9: He's like those guys will run through a wall for him.
Speaker 9: And it's not even a joke.
Speaker 2: You could tell that. I mean they changed dam invention.
Speaker 2: All right, Another big hire here. The Panthers are expected
Speaker 2: to hire Bucks offensive coordinator Dave Canalis.
Speaker 9: Callas Canalis, not like so hard with the A, but
Speaker 9: like canals Canals.
Speaker 2: Canal, it's actually Canalos. Dave. I'm gonna say, Dave, you
Speaker 2: say his last Nallie. Dave can Alice is the new
Speaker 2: head coach of the Panthers. Uh. He is formerly of
Speaker 2: the Buccaneers, the offensive coordinator. There. Rap sheet had this
Speaker 2: on Thursday, like the higher Cynthia because of it makes sense, right,
Speaker 2: He's a guy that's respected. He got Baker coached up
Speaker 2: and turned him into someone that thinks faster, plays faster,
Speaker 2: and that's what Bryce Young needs to do. Right.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I mean here's the thing. He doesn't have a
Speaker 9: long track on.
Speaker 2: Dave, just begin to make she's just begun to make
Speaker 2: her point.
Speaker 9: She did, he said one year as an OC. I
Speaker 9: don't have a huge lengthy track record for him, So
Speaker 9: there's a little bit more of unknown here. And the
Speaker 9: unknown factor he did figure out. I know that Todd
Speaker 9: Bowles like was banging his head against the while trying
Speaker 9: to figure out a run game for like several years now,
Speaker 9: and he figured out maybe it's short passes to running back,
Speaker 9: but that's still is a proxy for a run game.
Speaker 9: So he's had some things to figure out and some
Speaker 9: challenges to work through. This to me, will will really
Speaker 9: be dictated by who else he hires. Is he going
Speaker 9: to surround Bryce Young with the talent that like so
Speaker 9: you saw last year in Texas for the Texans they
Speaker 9: had Gerad Johnson, who was this you know he came
Speaker 9: from Atale eleven. He was a quarterback himself. He was
Speaker 9: there specifically to work with C. J. Stroud. You saw
Speaker 9: Bobby Slowick, he had a whole game. So it will
Speaker 9: really sure. I'm sure he could be great and he's
Speaker 9: had a just doesn't have the track record where I
Speaker 9: can feel so so wonderful about it. It will depend
Speaker 9: on the hires and who he surrounds.
Speaker 3: It's a meteoric rise. He was just a QB coach,
Speaker 3: That's what I'm saying. Yeah, Attal and even then didn't
Speaker 3: have a ton of experience doing that and did a
Speaker 3: great job with Gino. And you can see some similarities
Speaker 3: between Geno and and Baker in terms of getting the
Speaker 3: ball out quicker an offense that all made sense. It's
Speaker 3: kind of crazy though, because Bucks fans were they were
Speaker 3: unhappy with Canalis for a large part of this season,
Speaker 3: and I think maybe the expectations were too high, but
Speaker 3: I think it was like play sequencing that that's something
Speaker 3: like a lot of good plays but a lot of
Speaker 3: early down runs that just weren't working.
Speaker 2: They just stuck.
Speaker 3: They stuck with it. They stuck with it, and eventually
Speaker 3: it got to the point where it was like okay
Speaker 3: instead of just being bad. And then you go from
Speaker 3: that and they were frustrated as late as like week
Speaker 3: eighteen in that game where and I think that's unfair.
Speaker 3: They did well with the talent that they have to
Speaker 3: having a couple of big playoff games, and he certainly
Speaker 3: must have won them over in the interview room because
Speaker 3: they interviewed everyone, and his track record was less than
Speaker 3: some and they go with an in house guy's GM
Speaker 3: and Dan Morgan and Dave Canao. So it's a little
Speaker 3: different than maybe we were expecting. But the whole point
Speaker 3: was he must have convinced them he's the right guy
Speaker 3: for bright youung. That was all they really cared about,
Speaker 3: and that's what he sold them.
Speaker 4: Well, I think it like, yeah, you like you did
Speaker 4: this with Gino Smith, he did this with Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 4: two guys that were on the out career wise. I
Speaker 4: don't know this organization stands out to me other than
Speaker 4: others because it's just like, cool, you took the job.
Speaker 4: But I think other candidates would have looked a little
Speaker 4: sideways at the ownership, the whole structure there, the way
Speaker 4: that things have happened, and so what is his power structure?
Speaker 2: How much?
Speaker 4: And you know, part of it is you have to,
Speaker 4: like you said, you have to convince ownership that you
Speaker 4: can bring the right staff.
Speaker 2: I don't even know if that conversation happened. We don't know.
Speaker 3: You know, what's inddressing is he worked with Dan Morgan
Speaker 3: for seven years. I didn't eve think about that because
Speaker 3: he was a receivers coach, forever in Seattle and Dan
Speaker 3: Morgan was in Seattle in the front office, so they
Speaker 3: have a working relationship. That's what it comes down. And
Speaker 3: sometimes like just people that you've worked to.
Speaker 2: Get gress well.
Speaker 9: I will say the thing about Dan Morgan that's interesting
Speaker 9: is despite not doing TV, he has a John Lynch
Speaker 9: like personality. If I had to like say, kind of
Speaker 9: what he acts like like former player, really good communicator.
Speaker 9: I got a chance to talk to him pretty extensively,
Speaker 9: So great communicator, understands kind of what they're looking for.
Speaker 9: So in that regard, I think the communication will be great.
Speaker 9: But again, to me, this comes down to who's your OC,
Speaker 9: who's your DC, who are you, how are you, what's
Speaker 9: going on with your old line? Because that wasn't great
Speaker 9: last year, that old line, and that's going to be
Speaker 9: like even details like that they matter a ton. So
Speaker 9: and it also shows you that this year offensive coaches
Speaker 9: are are what people are looking for. High demand offensive
Speaker 9: coaches because the fact that Mike Vrabel's out there without
Speaker 9: a job and a guy with no track record getting
Speaker 9: one because he's known as an offensive mind. That shows
Speaker 9: you something, right, It gives us some information on how
Speaker 9: how that that works.
Speaker 2: What do you like?
Speaker 4: Because so he became an OC and he's calling his
Speaker 4: own place, and there's a lot of narrative around like
Speaker 4: when you have to do that for the first time
Speaker 4: in a season or in a game, or in a
Speaker 4: critical moment in a game, it's like your head is
Speaker 4: spinning and that comes to experience. Like but for him
Speaker 4: to go from where he was a couple of years
Speaker 4: ago to be now the head coach and forget all
Speaker 4: the personality business, but like, just to manage a game
Speaker 4: like that leap to me, seems there's no proof he
Speaker 4: can do that.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 2: The biggest concern is to me and Morgan might be
Speaker 2: a Lynch type and be a good leader and have
Speaker 2: a good nose for talent, and this guy might work.
Speaker 2: But the guy they're answering to, there's man if I'm Dave,
Speaker 2: no canalis Uh, first call I'm making before I take
Speaker 2: the job is like Frank Reich, like what so what
Speaker 2: am I getting into here? Like You're not do That's
Speaker 2: what I would do.
Speaker 9: I'm saying, why are you looking for negative things?
Speaker 2: I guess I got to be a realist.
Speaker 9: And I would call anyone who works for David Tepper's
Speaker 9: hedge fund and be like, how did you make so
Speaker 9: much money? Because that's gonna be what he wants to
Speaker 9: talk to me about, is whatever that translates to, because
Speaker 9: I need to figure out how to speak his language.
Speaker 9: Because this guy isn't like a lot of the other
Speaker 9: I'm just saying, is a billionaire.
Speaker 2: There's only there's only thirty two of these jobs, so
Speaker 2: we shouldn't be surprised that, you know, Canalis or anybody else.
Speaker 9: You've pert you nailed it.
Speaker 2: Is jumping is jumping toward it. I would just be
Speaker 2: very very nervous anybody that organization.
Speaker 9: Better not to know, Like maybe maybe it's better not.
Speaker 2: To waste to look at it like Frank, which.
Speaker 9: Had come off of an exit very recently, so maybe
Speaker 9: it's better not to be like, Hey, this is all
Speaker 9: new to me, this will be fun.
Speaker 2: Why not this guy's gonna ruin my life.
Speaker 9: It's not going to ruin it.
Speaker 2: It's like a little heads up by the way.
Speaker 4: You you get paid if you don't make it through
Speaker 4: a year or two any but the dream.
Speaker 2: Is to be a head coach. I would just say,
Speaker 2: if I've never been a head coach before, you never know.
Speaker 9: To get south to you, and that is a very.
Speaker 2: Entering a healthy situation.
Speaker 9: Think about it. Okay, well go get therapy. I mean
Speaker 9: we all do. We don't necessarily work at the healthiest place.
Speaker 9: I go to therapy every week, Like let's just go
Speaker 9: with that. So but but look like better help, better
Speaker 9: help ye one option one option A great A great one.
Speaker 9: Actually I really like better help. But the reality is is,
Speaker 9: you know, you're in the NFC South. People get pretty
Speaker 9: happy when you get w's. So if you you're in
Speaker 9: a thing, I hear all that.
Speaker 2: I think it's.
Speaker 3: That's really like kind of overlooked in the like it's
Speaker 3: tough for any human to not take a one thousand if.
Speaker 9: You wanted to hire as your as your general manager.
Speaker 9: Heck yeah, like I mean, but also like roll the dice,
Speaker 9: like have faith in yourself, especially in a division that's
Speaker 9: did anyone really want to win that division this year?
Speaker 9: I mean the Bucks made it far like it just
Speaker 9: felt like we were kind of like this one. No
Speaker 9: one thought that that was going to happen. So that's
Speaker 9: a good spot to be in.
Speaker 2: I hope. Listen, if you have one of the thirty
Speaker 2: two chairs, it's a good spot.
Speaker 9: If you have one of the thirty two chairs in
Speaker 9: a down division. It's even better spot some you.
Speaker 2: Know, some coaches. Quiet is for real. But yeah, some
Speaker 2: coaches I would imagine out there would passing this job
Speaker 2: for the reasons that I'm illustrating we're pointing out. Sure,
Speaker 2: but not Dave. Though not speaking of Dave, I won't
Speaker 2: say who it was, but just threw that name out there,
Speaker 2: but someone that works in the newsroom that's known to
Speaker 2: be a Panthers fan historically. One year his favorite team
Speaker 2: went to the Super Bowl. I'm not going to say
Speaker 2: who my sources, but he had a bottle of champagne
Speaker 2: and the night ended after a Carolina loss in Super
Speaker 2: Bowl fifty with him sitting alone in a hot tub
Speaker 2: with a bottle of champagne, and his girlfriend left him
Speaker 2: shortly thereafter. It's on brand all that is just to
Speaker 2: say person. That's so I won't say because I don't
Speaker 2: reveal my sources.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's also been a multiple time guest of
Speaker 3: the show, so right, listen, please show please.
Speaker 9: I didn't hear about that, though, I have to figure
Speaker 9: it out.
Speaker 5: Though he didn't mean you I mentioned left him that night.
Speaker 2: I don't recall that. Yeah, hend that time. Maybe I'm conflating.
Speaker 9: I don't want someone that's going to be with me
Speaker 9: when things are down. Let me know, fine, whatever kick
Speaker 9: me when I'm down makes it easier with this good call.
Speaker 2: Tempted In coming back, this person texted me Panthers now
Speaker 2: have a sneaky hot HC and Dave Canalis he is hot?
Speaker 2: U m dash analyis I don't I'm gonna be as
Speaker 2: with you?
Speaker 9: Wow?
Speaker 2: He is.
Speaker 4: But you know what I've noticed, like the nice now
Speaker 4: like unattractive dumpy head coaches are not being hired as
Speaker 4: head coaches anymore.
Speaker 2: That Wayne Fonx isn't getting hired anymore. They're being dismissed
Speaker 2: not to go after Wayne, but you know.
Speaker 9: You just leave him alone this way out of this.
Speaker 3: That's a good uh connection, because I believe was canallics
Speaker 3: I know is Mexican American, so he's one of the
Speaker 3: first Latino had coaches in the history of the sport.
Speaker 3: And Wayne Fonce isn't he as well?
Speaker 2: My crazy I don't know, man, We're gonna to check
Speaker 2: out the old family tree on that one. Let's move on.
Speaker 2: Vic Fangio is playing a little hot potato because he
Speaker 2: is now going from Miami, where he is out as
Speaker 2: their DC is now locked in. Is it official yet?
Speaker 5: But he's the If it's not, the reporting is yes, okay,
Speaker 5: so happening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So there you go, Fangio, who is a well
Speaker 2: known figure in this realm. Remember we were throwing flowers
Speaker 2: at the feet of the Dolphins for getting Fangio with you.
Speaker 9: Whoever gets that job, give him to someone without less experience.
Speaker 9: That's a good defense. They got a lot of pieces there.
Speaker 2: So Vic, it didn't work out Miami. But Philly's like,
Speaker 2: you got to be better than our last guy and
Speaker 2: the other guy that we booted upstairs but kept the
Speaker 2: camera on him. He humiliated the guy for a couple
Speaker 2: of months. Anyway, Fangio to Philly thoughts, it's unique that
Speaker 2: it happened this late. I want to know the backstory.
Speaker 3: My guy tells me that Vic vondiode, and I know
Speaker 3: there's all these reports that he wasn't getting along with
Speaker 3: some of the players, and I don't know if there
Speaker 3: was any conflict with the coaching stuff all that. Like,
Speaker 3: I believe all that, but I still am guessing because
Speaker 3: of the timing and everything.
Speaker 2: It's like he just.
Speaker 3: Wanted to go to Philadelphia and he got his way,
Speaker 3: and he got his way out and that and they
Speaker 3: wanted to hire him last year. They would have hired
Speaker 3: him last year if not for this whole confusing setup
Speaker 3: that they couldn't hire him because he had come in
Speaker 3: for the Super Bowl and they had to do all
Speaker 3: the interview. It was all this stuff with Jonathan gand
Speaker 3: and they lost the draft pick because of it. And
Speaker 3: so I think his family's in Pennsylvania too. He wanted
Speaker 3: to be closer to that, And I think it was
Speaker 3: just a rare case of a guy kind of forcing
Speaker 3: his way out and getting to where he wanted to go.
Speaker 2: And it's good for the Eagles.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it came so close to happening before, and that's
Speaker 4: what he wanted. And it's like you kind of look
Speaker 4: back at like the earlier week cleaning out of everyone
Speaker 4: in Philadelphia. They must have known, like this is, we've
Speaker 4: got this guy in our back pocket and he's proven.
Speaker 4: I would say, you're also walking into a situation where
Speaker 4: if things go south on Nick Sirianni, you know over
Speaker 4: the first couple of months next year, it's like, all right,
Speaker 4: we'll see how long that coaching stuff lasts.
Speaker 2: But I mean fit found you at this age, Go
Speaker 2: do what you want to do. He could be the
Speaker 2: UH interim coaching by October. You never know.
Speaker 9: When I look at this, I think Mike McDaniel's kind
Speaker 9: of reshaping and retooling. He's not the only person to
Speaker 9: exit Miami right now. So if you're not happy, don't
Speaker 9: force someone to be there. You know, like, like, it's
Speaker 9: not like he's going to be.
Speaker 2: Like he never seems happy, right Mark, You've had nice interest.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't belabored, I said.
Speaker 4: I told him that, like when the Niners went to
Speaker 4: the Super Bowl, you have these like rooms where you
Speaker 4: go in interview and they's sitting alone at a table,
Speaker 4: and I thought, well, there's no one else there. I
Speaker 4: can talk to the defensive coordinator. And I know this
Speaker 4: is not holistically who he is. But he couldn't have
Speaker 4: been grumpier or more agitated that I had sat down
Speaker 4: to visit with him and wanted me gone as quickly
Speaker 4: as a human could be gone.
Speaker 9: So I was like, ask him if it was a
Speaker 9: must win game.
Speaker 2: I well, I did not.
Speaker 4: I asked, you know, I asked pertinent question, one pertinent question.
Speaker 4: So this is not working out, and like I don't
Speaker 4: want to force the remate a journalistic decision to I
Speaker 4: mean to pursue, you know, someone else and move away
Speaker 4: from mister sunshine.
Speaker 3: Yeah, sovon Davon Holland their safety. There was a bunch
Speaker 3: of little social media posts from Dolphins players seeming to celebrate,
Speaker 3: not as much as the Bucks did, where they did
Speaker 3: like a dance that their coach got fired before the game,
Speaker 3: which I've never seen that in sports.
Speaker 2: That was amazing.
Speaker 3: Wednesday night, Uh, Javon Holland did a video where he
Speaker 3: kicked rocks and uh, which is like go kick rocks.
Speaker 2: Uh fo.
Speaker 3: But in case anyone didn't understand it his to get
Speaker 3: that guy like his dad is coaching his dad, who's
Speaker 3: a coach, Like retweeted and said everyone loves the iPhone,
Speaker 3: but no one wants the iPhone one point zero hashtag upgrade.
Speaker 2: It was like whoa they did?
Speaker 3: They were in fans hold on no fond Joe, But
Speaker 3: uh as a good coach and I think they did
Speaker 3: a good job defensively this year.
Speaker 2: Little some red flags there by the way.
Speaker 9: But but if it's not working, I think it's smart
Speaker 9: to cut ties fast, right, you know, like like let
Speaker 9: him go it seems like a win win here. He
Speaker 9: seems to be happier and more near his family paying
Speaker 9: a higher tax bracket than they're happier down there figuring
Speaker 9: out someone new, this is a really attractive job if
Speaker 9: I'm a young defensive coordinator or someone that's like maybe
Speaker 9: like on my way up that this, I'm like, somebody
Speaker 9: get me to Miami. Like that's a great that's a
Speaker 9: great job. You have really great assets on that team.
Speaker 2: Finally, in the news, here we go, what is it?
Speaker 2: Congratulations Greg for all your moral grand style grand standing
Speaker 2: when we talk about the hot butts and all pious
Speaker 2: always getting on me for celebrating guys losing their job.
Speaker 2: Joe Berry is out kind Bay. So there you go.
Speaker 2: Do do a little dance, Greggie, you got the DC canned.
Speaker 3: I'm hardly a unique on the island that they uniquely.
Speaker 9: You've you've called for everyone's head who's gotten fired this year.
Speaker 9: I've on game deview you have you're you're like.
Speaker 5: About calling for you talk about criticized, you.
Speaker 9: Talk about that standing for.
Speaker 2: For the lock of the week, his personality, you know what.
Speaker 9: His standing for. He's one hundred percent on this guy's getting.
Speaker 2: Cant wow, Greg, what's more predictions?
Speaker 9: Your predictions?
Speaker 5: You can seen this coming from for Joe Barry.
Speaker 2: That's not the way she put it. You called for
Speaker 2: heads to wow anyway, Joe Barry is out just a
Speaker 2: human man. Let's bring this. Let's bring this everybody.
Speaker 9: I want to know what gy your out standers doing there, like,
Speaker 9: like I think there's a couple of things here, Like
Speaker 9: we'll see if they can.
Speaker 2: Get I say, make him the DC.
Speaker 9: Wouldn't it be great?
Speaker 2: What I do?
Speaker 6: Uh?
Speaker 2: Cynthia, you're a gem. Good luck to you this weekend.
Speaker 2: What's your fans? You work in the game? What? Uh?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 9: I'm going to watch from home. I need my emotional
Speaker 9: support dog with me at all times, not the dog
Speaker 9: with you, and I will not have any social media
Speaker 9: on This is very nice.
Speaker 4: So you're recently engaged in and so does your partner
Speaker 4: he is he.
Speaker 9: Not a linesman, he's from New Jersey.
Speaker 4: Do you do you want him in your realm when
Speaker 4: this is happening or do you just have to do
Speaker 4: this on your own?
Speaker 2: It's a dangerous place to be. Maybe.
Speaker 9: Well he's pretty supportive about it. He's like very chill.
Speaker 9: So he's got a nicer. Yeah, he's like surfer but
Speaker 9: like also a banker. It's kind of a strange mixed
Speaker 9: surf and banker. Surfer, banker, banker, you know. And so
Speaker 9: he's kind also a crime fighter at night, yes, also,
Speaker 9: but he goes about it early, so you have to
Speaker 9: fight crime like between the hours of like five to
Speaker 9: seven because he works.
Speaker 2: Sure, a dusk crime fighter.
Speaker 9: Dusk crime fighter.
Speaker 2: That really where all the crime goes down in the
Speaker 2: big city. Yes, all right, well enjoy that. And like
Speaker 2: I said, head on swivel with the rumba coming to
Speaker 2: get me. We'll be back on Sunday. It is the
Speaker 2: big one. It is Championship Sunday. So we'll recap those
Speaker 2: games and until then, you know what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: The call