Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast is a big fan of
Speaker 1: the double Door. Welcome to another edition of the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansas, coming to
Speaker 1: you from a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: and Greg Rosendolt. What is up, boys, Hey, Dan? Nice
Speaker 1: best enjoy whatever is happening over here in January. You
Speaker 1: start digging through the closet, bring out the big green best,
Speaker 1: big green best. It's chili. People think, you know you
Speaker 1: live in in Los Angeles and uh, you know it's
Speaker 1: just hot all year round. Is it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: my my lovely wife would say, well, what's the point
Speaker 1: of living in California? Were called all the time? Our
Speaker 1: house is called your wife here. There are some there's
Speaker 1: some evidence pointing to that hate strong. It's not a
Speaker 1: huge fan. Um. We had a tragedy right before we
Speaker 1: came upstairs. We taped an hour later last Thursday back
Speaker 1: to our regular noontime Pacific which everyone on watching on
Speaker 1: YouTube knows at this point. Uh, this Thursday show every
Speaker 1: week you can catch on NFL dot com on YouTube.
Speaker 1: I poor Greg. They did nice job at the commissary
Speaker 1: at the huddle with with the Giro giro No only
Speaker 1: dumb Americans Zeki sauce cucumber to make nice pronunciation, and um,
Speaker 1: I got mine a little bit earlier, knowing the twelve
Speaker 1: o'clock start. As Mark and I stand up to head upstairs,
Speaker 1: Greg rose atal start takes takes his first giant fight
Speaker 1: into his yet ral. It's a mess, and it's it's
Speaker 1: a problematic situation because he was under the impression that
Speaker 1: we were taping an hour later. How much of the
Speaker 1: yetro were able to get down? Are you able to
Speaker 1: salvage it? Did you put it in the fridge? Did
Speaker 1: you throw it out? Where we're saying put it in
Speaker 1: the fridge? It's just sitting there on my desk, to
Speaker 1: the pleasure of the people sitting around you. I'm sure
Speaker 1: no one sits around us, So that's good. There are
Speaker 1: some shadowy League figures and the head of our news
Speaker 1: from Yeah, maybe maybe a little less a little less
Speaker 1: than half. And um, some of it got on my hands,
Speaker 1: says I was trying to like scarfet down quickly, so
Speaker 1: not ideal. Well, you got two of the best euro
Speaker 1: places in the city right down the street and you're
Speaker 1: going to the huddle. Well, there's not much time you
Speaker 1: know we had I had NFL now right before you know,
Speaker 1: we always have a wife that works in the building
Speaker 1: west and brings us lunch and then all the afternoon.
Speaker 1: Last time Bomb shot it west with the last time
Speaker 1: you walked off campus to go to go the last
Speaker 1: time I was here two days ago. I barely get
Speaker 1: a home cooked meal at home, and I see Lakisha
Speaker 1: running over these full newlywed meals, and it's like, damn,
Speaker 1: I got my wife who does the cooking in my kitchen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's fair. Well, wait till the child comes, many things
Speaker 1: will change. I'm sure in your case us nothing will
Speaker 1: change it all. Everything will stay static as it is today.
Speaker 1: I am. I have never said that in order I
Speaker 1: expect it. How exciting is it that we have reached
Speaker 1: a visional round weekend famously the best weekend of the
Speaker 1: football calendar for many, because you got rid of all
Speaker 1: the floats them jet jetsam sometimes some years jets. Some
Speaker 1: years you don't like the Mariota Titans two years ago
Speaker 1: or the Tim Tebow Broncos. But this year we got
Speaker 1: rid of Henry Titans and they're back for more. Right,
Speaker 1: But that team was not winning any more. Games after
Speaker 1: they got to the divisional round at the brock Gos Wilder, Texans.
Speaker 1: My point is, usually there's like one team that does
Speaker 1: just that has no chance to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I think all I think all eight of these teams
Speaker 1: at least are fun to watch. I will take that
Speaker 1: Tebow win over the Steelers. Well, you know, but if
Speaker 1: the worst team has Deshaun Watson as its quarterback, uh,
Speaker 1: you know you're doing all right, and the the Fav're
Speaker 1: not going to the super Bowl. That's the famous by
Speaker 1: this standards of this podcast feud between me and Titans fan.
Speaker 1: Titans fans, it came to came full circle. Put a
Speaker 1: nice little bow on it. Um a calumnist for the
Speaker 1: Tennessee and Gentry Stes reached out to me and we
Speaker 1: did an interview about my complicated relationship with the Tennessee
Speaker 1: Titans this week, which you could check out. I'm sure
Speaker 1: uh soon. Um, the Tytoons are no more button if
Speaker 1: they lay. If they lay, what did you call it
Speaker 1: kind of egg? Was it more rotten eggs than a
Speaker 1: collar a red riddled easter bunny? If Tannehill delivers another
Speaker 1: seventy five yard performance and they get blown out. Do
Speaker 1: we start to think that the Tannehill wasn't now he
Speaker 1: was fine? They want a game in Foxboro? No, they're
Speaker 1: playing the greatest regular season this is. That's a nice
Speaker 1: story that the Dan Hansas and Titans like. One could
Speaker 1: argue that Dan's had his finger on the pole to
Speaker 1: the Titans for the last year. It's a lot nicer
Speaker 1: than when the Chicago Tribune tried to ask, why do
Speaker 1: you have Ryan Pace ranked thirty second? Hey, how's that?
Speaker 1: That's not all right? So we're gonna go through the
Speaker 1: four games. Of course, we'll do another halftime of the
Speaker 1: podcast to share some takeaways from the press conferences introducing
Speaker 1: the new head coaches in New York, in Dallas, and
Speaker 1: in Charlotte. And Um, still nothing out of Cleveland, Mark,
Speaker 1: We're still waiting. I can just you have that zipped
Speaker 1: up very high, and I'm gonna zip up my little
Speaker 1: fleece just to be just the same look the same
Speaker 1: as yours. Okay, welcome to the audio portion of the podcast, Mark, Um,
Speaker 1: nothing out of out of Cleveland yet, no plumes of
Speaker 1: smoke from Jimmy Haslum's mansion. And I'm not waiting around
Speaker 1: breathlessly for for whatever they produce on that front. I mean,
Speaker 1: wait at this point, please, all right, let's get to it,
Speaker 1: and remember, we gotta make locks. This is Greg. You
Speaker 1: have a chance to really close out the sea is
Speaker 1: in here if you can somehow game ground on on Mark.
Speaker 1: Who is one game's gonna say there's three weeks left,
Speaker 1: that that's not true. If you you're one game up
Speaker 1: on Greg on Mark, two games up on me, three
Speaker 1: on West. So if you can nail this week, you're
Speaker 1: in the driver's I thought about this multiple times, and
Speaker 1: you could deliver a kill shot to me. Essentially, I
Speaker 1: think this week and at best I tie you, which
Speaker 1: is ridiculous anyone calling a tie if you lost, but
Speaker 1: you would have to lose, which I have no control
Speaker 1: over you. And we are eligible to pick any of
Speaker 1: these games, any team in any of these games. Is
Speaker 1: that correct? Just I don't want any you know, heat
Speaker 1: about it. After that's all all right, let's get to it.
Speaker 1: You have up your sleep. I'm not I don't even
Speaker 1: know who I'm locking it. All right, let's get to it.
Speaker 1: Let's start by that I don't I don't know, I
Speaker 1: do not. Sorry's start with the Minnesota Vikings coming off
Speaker 1: a tremendous upset win in New Orleans, and their prize
Speaker 1: now is the head West young men trying to big
Speaker 1: bow bottom to face the thirteen and three Niners coming
Speaker 1: off a bye. This is the Saturday four thirty five
Speaker 1: PM game. Uh, And man, here it is West because
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins had the big overtime performance. They nearly let
Speaker 1: that game get away against the Saints, but they closed
Speaker 1: it out. And doesn't it feel like the Vikings are
Speaker 1: again are gonna be feeling loose and the opposite of
Speaker 1: tight after stunning the Saints and now being an underdog
Speaker 1: once again. Sure, I think they'll be loose. And it's
Speaker 1: Cousins against his most loyal and vocal advocate, Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 1: on the opposing sideline. A couple of quarterbacks who had
Speaker 1: to prove themselves to football Twitter this year get to
Speaker 1: get the benefit of the doubt. And I think Garoppolo
Speaker 1: did it. Uh maybe a month or two earlier than Cousins.
Speaker 1: But it's to play action quarterbacks from the same sort
Speaker 1: of scheme, the same Shanahan scheme, Mike Shanahan, um. And
Speaker 1: I think you'll see a difference that Cousins likes. I
Speaker 1: guess it's not his reputation, but one of the best
Speaker 1: deep ball passers in the league, and when he's not
Speaker 1: passing deep, he tends to check down, whereas Garoppolo carves
Speaker 1: you up over the middle of the field with help
Speaker 1: from the best play caller in the business, opening large
Speaker 1: tracks of prairie Land for his receivers. Question, you said
Speaker 1: tight and also opposite of loose, So are aren't those
Speaker 1: the same thing? Down just wanted to know what I
Speaker 1: was to say. Yeah, okay, so it could have been
Speaker 1: more efficient, sure, but it's gone. It's over funny seconds
Speaker 1: of the podcast. You know. I'm thrilled to see this
Speaker 1: Vikings team. I mean, you could you could have edited
Speaker 1: out of the show and posts and the show would
Speaker 1: have been better and none of this whatever. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: now you're gonna get like funny tweets being like, oh,
Speaker 1: opposite of loose and tight? Okay, nothing is organic in
Speaker 1: this production. I'm weirdly more excited about this game, I
Speaker 1: think than any of the other four. I don't know why.
Speaker 1: I I love this for I've loved this forty Niners
Speaker 1: team all year. I think they're the most talented team
Speaker 1: in the NFC, they should be considered the favorite, and
Speaker 1: yet I think the Vikings are a very dangerous opponent
Speaker 1: for them this week because they're a veteran team who
Speaker 1: I think can transform what they do on a week
Speaker 1: to week basis. As Dan said, I think they're they're
Speaker 1: somehow better in this position as kind of the road
Speaker 1: team that's an underdog. They already suffered a terrible loss
Speaker 1: UH in Green Bay, and it's mostly just about the
Speaker 1: defense that they've been together for now five or six years.
Speaker 1: Eight of their starters have played together for five years,
Speaker 1: and you would think, okay, it's an aging defense. A
Speaker 1: lot of them aren't um in their prime. But I
Speaker 1: don't know. It's like Kendricks is in his prime, Anthony
Speaker 1: Harris has been maybe the key player and beating the
Speaker 1: Packers and Saints and back to back weeks. Daniel Hunter
Speaker 1: and Everson Griffin are playing certainly like they're in their prime.
Speaker 1: Daniel Hunter's amazing, and you look at them going to
Speaker 1: San Francisco, and I don't think if Adam Theeland is
Speaker 1: healthy and unfortunately hurt his ankle this week at practice,
Speaker 1: got stitches. Yeah, we don't know what the deal is
Speaker 1: with that. I think if you just look at these
Speaker 1: two rosters, it's not like it's some big mismatch, whether
Speaker 1: it's coaching, whether it's talent, whether it's everything that it
Speaker 1: feels like this could be the Vikings time like they've
Speaker 1: been together. This is their third playoff run together, they've
Speaker 1: won a couple of playoff games together, whereas the forty
Speaker 1: nine is the first time in this spot. They've been
Speaker 1: off a couple of weeks. And it's just it doesn't
Speaker 1: mean you just walk in and you beat the Vikings. No,
Speaker 1: you can see it because every year you get a
Speaker 1: team like this that a lot of monkeys thrown off
Speaker 1: the back in the past couple of weeks for Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins and all that nonsense, all that narrative has been
Speaker 1: flushed out, and you see a team that's healthy, they've
Speaker 1: got they were not the same when they didn't have
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook in their wide routes. When we get all
Speaker 1: that is a pretty big asterix to the i'll see,
Speaker 1: we'll see, we'll see. But I mean it's a guest
Speaker 1: that needed stitches and he's at the point where he's saying,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to do figure out a way to
Speaker 1: get out there and he was huge last week. But
Speaker 1: I also look at a nine IS team that has
Speaker 1: not been the same on defense without d Ford, and
Speaker 1: they're getting Dford back, and you know the numbers and
Speaker 1: that this splits from when he's not on the field
Speaker 1: to when he is are drastic and it changes Nick
Speaker 1: Bosa and they essentially over the last five games allowed
Speaker 1: quarterbacks to a twelve to one touchdown to pick ratio.
Speaker 1: I mean, teams were feasting on that defense, and I
Speaker 1: think it's huge to have them back. And there's something
Speaker 1: that happens when we cover these playoff games and a
Speaker 1: team like the Niners disappears from our hemisphere for fourteen
Speaker 1: to seventeen days, and then we're all delighted by the Vikings,
Speaker 1: as we should be. I mean, that was a nice,
Speaker 1: beautiful win by them, But you almost then clicking to
Speaker 1: downgrading a Niners team that has shown up in every
Speaker 1: single game they've been in this year there at home.
Speaker 1: They're the best team of the thirteen and three team
Speaker 1: for a reason. I don't view it as prime you know,
Speaker 1: trap game material for San Francisco. I mean, there's no
Speaker 1: trap games at this stage. But to your point, like
Speaker 1: you you can easily forget about how Battle test that
Speaker 1: the Niners were throughout December before they went away on
Speaker 1: thereby and they here's the thing. If you're thinking that
Speaker 1: this is a team as talented as they are, that
Speaker 1: they're just gonna run away from teams, it just hasn't
Speaker 1: been happening a while. During the that test and all
Speaker 1: those matchups, uh games that were decided by three to seven,
Speaker 1: but it was really one. It was on that that
Speaker 1: weird Falcons last play of the game, so three to one,
Speaker 1: three and then five against the Seahawks in the last
Speaker 1: play of the game. This team has been playing tight
Speaker 1: games like the Seahawks. They they've been finding a way
Speaker 1: to win games. And I can see another close game here,
Speaker 1: I really can. I think the Vikings are really well
Speaker 1: set up. The field of thing is huge. He he's
Speaker 1: practicing it. Somehow his ankle gets slashed and he gets
Speaker 1: siched because bon Digs is under the weather as we
Speaker 1: record this. He seems to be for them, he seems
Speaker 1: to be on the right path, and they don't feel
Speaker 1: like he's gonna miss the game. But God, if anybody
Speaker 1: else remembers when you when you get sick, you're not
Speaker 1: always right for a few days. One mini notation. If
Speaker 1: we you discover that Adam theland was filled by an
Speaker 1: animal of any sort, that is still sandwich terriy he
Speaker 1: did get tripped up in practices apparently, I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe you got spiced. This is right up
Speaker 1: your alley to Mark. You have such a loophole here
Speaker 1: if you want we're all animals, that's another way to
Speaker 1: look at it. I think I believe I said non human.
Speaker 1: But and I'm I am, I am falling for you know,
Speaker 1: the team that played really well last weekend, and could
Speaker 1: they play well again? Like that is what's happening to me,
Speaker 1: And I don't care, Like it's impossible to predict. It's
Speaker 1: not like I feel confident that they're gonna win this game.
Speaker 1: But I did pick them to win, and it was
Speaker 1: But you know how you are when you pick games,
Speaker 1: you talk yourself into that scenario playing out. You get
Speaker 1: really into it when you yeah, I I do. I've
Speaker 1: convinced myself I can. For some reason, I got this
Speaker 1: image of Kirk Cousins on Opening night, the you know,
Speaker 1: the media night, and just the story of like they're
Speaker 1: gonna they win this game and they went in Green
Speaker 1: Bay and then they probably get blown out in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. I just it just all felt like things
Speaker 1: that are gonna happen just because just because the guy
Speaker 1: wins one big game. Well not, it's really not because
Speaker 1: of Kirk Cousins. It really is because their team. It
Speaker 1: was their defense they embarrass the Saints. If it wasn't
Speaker 1: for the Tastom Hill play, they made the Saints look
Speaker 1: like they're little punks. I mean, they their defense could
Speaker 1: not have played better. And there was something about it
Speaker 1: where it's like their their team defense in terms of
Speaker 1: covering for each other, Kendricks in coverage, everything that they
Speaker 1: were doing. They sort of came together as one and
Speaker 1: it was like the some of their parts were greater,
Speaker 1: and their parts are great and they and there is
Speaker 1: something to me about that they've been together this long
Speaker 1: and and and who this might be their last chance
Speaker 1: and they played like their very best in the biggest
Speaker 1: spot that I could just see that happening again. And
Speaker 1: I don't think the matchups are so bad. I don't
Speaker 1: love all elements of their secondary and I could see Deebo,
Speaker 1: Samuel and Emmanuel Sanders having big days too. I mean
Speaker 1: it's you know, that's where the mismatches are they. I
Speaker 1: think they actually are a rare team that can throw
Speaker 1: some people at Kittle and use check, which is there
Speaker 1: are a lot of teams that have linebackers, and they
Speaker 1: played three safeties every kid nobody can, but they at
Speaker 1: least they play three safeties everything every single snap. I
Speaker 1: mean they have Anthony Harritt didn't make them pay for
Speaker 1: Andrew Sendejo at nickelback, which I believe Kyle Shanahan will
Speaker 1: make them pay for that. The parabolic mikes. By the way,
Speaker 1: Greg did pick it up at one point the Vikings
Speaker 1: said to the Saints, you guys are are punks. Well,
Speaker 1: I was gonna use the B word, but that's how
Speaker 1: I use real life. You're total pro bro pro bro George.
Speaker 1: I could totally see George Kittle. He's already famous football player,
Speaker 1: but maybe becoming a household name in these playoffs, especially uh,
Speaker 1: they gotta win. A couple of games start to happen.
Speaker 1: But can't you see George Kittle having a hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy five yards in this game and just completely dominating
Speaker 1: And then you know, I think, uh, in general football
Speaker 1: Twitter and how the game is covered Maybe this is
Speaker 1: just recency bias, but it seems like it's more sophisticated
Speaker 1: now and a larger number of people are aware of
Speaker 1: how important Kittle is beyond just the passing game, and
Speaker 1: that he's also the best blocking tight end since Gronk
Speaker 1: is like a two way player. He has it all
Speaker 1: going on. He's so important to the team. And you
Speaker 1: just imagine, especially all these guys, it's such a huge
Speaker 1: benefit to get a week off that even things we
Speaker 1: don't know about, they get a week to to rest
Speaker 1: and get recharged. For these guys, I think you helped
Speaker 1: the Vikings a lot. I think you're right. And now
Speaker 1: they're on a short week and now here we are Kittle.
Speaker 1: I could see him going off and that would be
Speaker 1: very bad news from Greg. You don't want to we
Speaker 1: could do a lock off here you're in. I don't
Speaker 1: feel confident in that in that at all you published
Speaker 1: you were confident enough to publish and take a close game.
Speaker 1: I mean, I would say I picked the Vikings. I mean,
Speaker 1: I all these games are close to fifty fifty. I'm
Speaker 1: happy I went three and one last week that the
Speaker 1: lock was the only one that I mean, I wasn't
Speaker 1: setting you up for that information. Well, if you gotta
Speaker 1: come at me, that's that's what comes back. I'm coming
Speaker 1: at you with an invitation. Of course that I'm invitation
Speaker 1: to some sports, I like them. I like them to
Speaker 1: keep it close, you know, more than anything. But I
Speaker 1: would worry a little bit that how much better the
Speaker 1: forty nin offense was Downstrea. I mean, the forty niners
Speaker 1: offense was better than their defense down the stretch. I
Speaker 1: don't really buy the whole d Ford factor. I mean
Speaker 1: it helps to have a next lot of things going
Speaker 1: on their secondary bank. Kawn Alexander was out back to,
Speaker 1: though Kawan a Exander might be back to. I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't think that Ford and Alexander make it did?
Speaker 1: What do you mean you don't buy it? What does
Speaker 1: that mean that it was that huge factor? I mean,
Speaker 1: number one, d Ford was terrible this year? Okay, that
Speaker 1: is that is d Ford was productive snaps again, passing
Speaker 1: down because that's his strength, because he wasn't really healthy,
Speaker 1: so he was like their sixth lineman. So I guess
Speaker 1: I'm not buying that that was like the whole reason
Speaker 1: that those twenty five snaps the game that they declined
Speaker 1: let's see if he'll be buying Itturday. Night's a really
Speaker 1: good football player, that's all he is. He is. If
Speaker 1: he had had this the year that he had this
Speaker 1: year a year ago, they wouldn't have trade for him,
Speaker 1: they wouldn't have given him that contract. Totally disagree. He's
Speaker 1: been playing really well this year, but he played four
Speaker 1: hundred snaps. I guess it's my point. You can be
Speaker 1: a designated pass rush You're just like Cam Wake who
Speaker 1: you love and only played twenty steps and still be
Speaker 1: really effective. Kwan Alexander plant in this game. It sounds
Speaker 1: like it and that and that helps him out to
Speaker 1: the Vikings offensive line, in theory, should be a weakness.
Speaker 1: They're looking a little better in terms of they look
Speaker 1: better when Dalvin Cook is out there in the running game.
Speaker 1: They've now been in this Gary Kubiak system for a year.
Speaker 1: They've pretty much played together. It's been the same five
Speaker 1: guys almost the entire year. So that's good, but the
Speaker 1: matchups are obviously not good when it's Armstead. And by
Speaker 1: the way, if you hire Kevin Stefanski, does Gary Kubiak
Speaker 1: go with you? I'd be concerned if the answer is
Speaker 1: not yes. It's a pretty fascinating UM weekend. For like
Speaker 1: the Mike Shanahan influence over these play over the league.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's maybe the most underrated in terms of
Speaker 1: influence in the NFL. You got, you got a son,
Speaker 1: you got kubiak uh and then Uh in the other game,
Speaker 1: who do we have? What about? Who am I forgetting?
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I don't know way to put
Speaker 1: everyone on the spot there and I'm just I'm just
Speaker 1: blanking on the other NFC game, it's another one of
Speaker 1: his UH protegees. Uh in Green Bay, Matt Matt lafleurs
Speaker 1: under It's all happening back to Kwan Alexander. The biggest
Speaker 1: weakness of San Francisco's defenses against the run. In fact,
Speaker 1: all but four games this season did they surrender at
Speaker 1: least a hundred yards on the ground. What did you
Speaker 1: guys think about dalblin cook Um? I thought he looked
Speaker 1: really good. I know his numbers didn't back that up necessarily.
Speaker 1: I think he was about three and a half yards
Speaker 1: to carry, but they made him a focal point of
Speaker 1: the offense. UH, and he seemed to be healthy. West.
Speaker 1: What were you seeing from Cook? I thought he looked fantastic.
Speaker 1: I thought he looked just like he did earlier in
Speaker 1: the year when he was and I saw a stat
Speaker 1: from next Gen Stats that he is basically lapping the
Speaker 1: field in plays in which he reaches fifteen or more
Speaker 1: miles and which just means he's explosive. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: truly an explosive running back. And he did it again
Speaker 1: last week according to next Gen Stats numbers eighty four
Speaker 1: yards in the first half. I want, if this is
Speaker 1: gonna go in Minnesota's way, you can't get into one
Speaker 1: of these scenarios where Dalvin Cook has eighteen yards at
Speaker 1: the break and everyone's asking what's wrong with this offense?
Speaker 1: I mean, they need to just dial that up again,
Speaker 1: and they need they need Hunter and Griffin to beat
Speaker 1: those two tackles who on paper are good. Had been
Speaker 1: a little up and down in terms of Staley, uh
Speaker 1: and McGlinchey and and make Jimmy g who By the
Speaker 1: end of the year, I felt like he had all
Speaker 1: the answers to the test, like against Seattle on third
Speaker 1: those third and longs. You know, he knows that Kyle
Speaker 1: shann often so much better than he did in September,
Speaker 1: and he had a really good uh sense of basically
Speaker 1: where every receiver was and made a lot of tough
Speaker 1: place to to win down the stretch he was. He
Speaker 1: was a top five quarterback in every major stat after
Speaker 1: the Emmanuel Sanders trade. Let's pick this game, Mark on
Speaker 1: to go San Francisco twenty seven Vikings twenty that's good.
Speaker 1: Oh ye. Never pick against the Vikings at home, but
Speaker 1: they're not nearly the same team on the road. And
Speaker 1: I know they played well in the Saint Dome last week,
Speaker 1: but I don't like them outdoors against San Francisco. Who's
Speaker 1: a better team. So forty Niners twenty seven, Vikings nineteen.
Speaker 1: I'll go Niners twenty eight, Vikings twenty four. Very good game,
Speaker 1: and as they've been doing, the Niners step up when
Speaker 1: it matters most and they move on to the NFC
Speaker 1: top I had, Yeah, I had a thirty to twenty
Speaker 1: seven for the Vikings. I think I think Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: can can do it again. There's it just feels like
Speaker 1: the forty Niners are one of those teams that were
Speaker 1: great all year and then suddenly it's like their seasons
Speaker 1: over out of nowhere. I sort of hope I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: Because they'd be a much I'm more fun. Yeah, they'd
Speaker 1: be more that'd be a more fun super Bowl team
Speaker 1: to cover. And the best Super Bowl possible I think
Speaker 1: right now would include the forty Niners. All right, let's
Speaker 1: move on to the late game on Saturday. It's an
Speaker 1: eight fifteen Eastern kickoff the Tennessee Titans. Yes, fresh off
Speaker 1: that huge win last week against the Patriots, ending the
Speaker 1: dynasty in New England. It's over. Do we want to
Speaker 1: talk about that? We've got We've got as much time
Speaker 1: as we need, moving on, close the book, one of
Speaker 1: the great runs and as you would say, can't hurt
Speaker 1: me now. And it's so nice that to have a
Speaker 1: weekend without the Patriots right now, it's kind of mind boggling.
Speaker 1: Mark and I have had every January weekend without our
Speaker 1: favorite teams for there um. All right, So the Titans,
Speaker 1: after that huge win in New England, go on the
Speaker 1: road and they get the best team in football, the
Speaker 1: fourteen and two Baltimore Ravens, the first seed in the
Speaker 1: a f c UH. They have not lost since September
Speaker 1: twenty nine, two thousand and nineteen, winning and winning and winning.
Speaker 1: What can stop the Ravens? Mark. What can stop the rave?
Speaker 1: Is it the Titans? Well, I think the recipe would
Speaker 1: need to be similar to what we saw last week,
Speaker 1: where the Titans, similar to the Vikings, kind of just
Speaker 1: feeling themselves right now, rolled right into New England and said,
Speaker 1: we don't really care about the history here at Foxboro
Speaker 1: or the fact that the greatest coach and the greatest
Speaker 1: quarterback of our time are lining up against us and
Speaker 1: now in Baltimore. You know, it's similar. You're dealing with
Speaker 1: a force that is unlike any other team in the
Speaker 1: league and you have to simply not care and go
Speaker 1: do what you are. You can't change what you are
Speaker 1: at this point, and it's not I wouldn't worry about
Speaker 1: so much on defense because Greg, you pointed out in
Speaker 1: your picks for this one that Cleveland kept Baltimore scoreless.
Speaker 1: That you're at it like checking I like I like
Speaker 1: checking out the work of my friends. That's how it works.
Speaker 1: But you mentioned a good point that Cleveland went all
Speaker 1: out to shut down Baltimore and kept them scoreless for
Speaker 1: like almost the first half of that second time they
Speaker 1: played each other, and you just then they found up
Speaker 1: scoring like thirty three points. If you just cannot keep
Speaker 1: Baltimore down. So the only antidote I would suggest would
Speaker 1: be get I don't care if Derrick Henry had two
Speaker 1: six rushing attempts last game. You do it again. You
Speaker 1: do the best you can. This is your ticket out
Speaker 1: of here, because I I look at the secondary and
Speaker 1: don't know how a j. Smith's going to suddenly have
Speaker 1: a big game against one of the better man coverage
Speaker 1: secondaries in the league, something that Tannehill is specialized against.
Speaker 1: But Marcus Peters and Jimmy Smith, good luck with that.
Speaker 1: We'll see how that works. I think the doubts that
Speaker 1: creep their way into the minds of otherwise uber confident
Speaker 1: Ravens fans late at night take the form of Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry's seventy five yard jugger not drive to close out
Speaker 1: the first half against the Patriots. He I thought he
Speaker 1: was as quick, explosive, um, big play oriented vision, everything,
Speaker 1: as impressive as any power back I've ever seen in
Speaker 1: my entire life. Last week. He was that good. And
Speaker 1: he has what Priest Holmes and Levian Bell have referred
Speaker 1: to the past as a flawless synchronicity with his offensive line,
Speaker 1: where his timing with his blockers, and the way his
Speaker 1: blockers are playing is reaching that point where it's really
Speaker 1: hard to stop, and nobody's really stopped it in two months.
Speaker 1: It's just it's one of these rushing attacks you only
Speaker 1: see come come along like once every three or four years.
Speaker 1: And if you think of that raven secondary, he had
Speaker 1: great and man coverage. I'd like to see Marcus Peters
Speaker 1: try to tackle Derrick Henry or Jimmy Smith try to
Speaker 1: tackle Derrick Henry. I the Patriots plan was to let Henry,
Speaker 1: you know, run as much as he wanted and take
Speaker 1: their chances that way. And the reason it didn't work
Speaker 1: is because J. C. Jackson and and some of their
Speaker 1: UH guys in the secondary couldn't get them to the ground.
Speaker 1: So I think Henry does his best work outside and
Speaker 1: that's what they're gonna want to do. Get him outside,
Speaker 1: get him against that secondary. Even the linebackers for Baltimore,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe aren't the greatest tacklers in the world,
Speaker 1: and hope for the best that you can break some tackles.
Speaker 1: I give credit to the Titans for because it's unorthodox
Speaker 1: in the modern edif L to give a running back
Speaker 1: back the ball almost seventy times over two weeks. But
Speaker 1: it's like, we have something special here and we're not
Speaker 1: gonna worry about running this guy into the ground because
Speaker 1: he's one of the more special physical specimens that the
Speaker 1: NFL has right now. I hope it's not a DeMarco
Speaker 1: Murray situation, but that's also the reality of the business.
Speaker 1: I would think they would want to stay in business
Speaker 1: with a twenty six year old superstar coming off a
Speaker 1: rushing title, but you never know with this position, and UM,
Speaker 1: so good on them, and I expect that to happen more.
Speaker 1: And you guys are saying Tannehill wasn't bad, and yes,
Speaker 1: I mean it wasn't like he played poorly, just didn't
Speaker 1: do much at all. I think the ticket for the
Speaker 1: Titans here, they just gotta play their best game of
Speaker 1: the season. They need to go on the road and
Speaker 1: Tannehill has to be the guy that was shredding people.
Speaker 1: He needs to make plays, and I think that Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry has to have another huge game and then they
Speaker 1: need a little help. On the other side. I think
Speaker 1: that Ravens are that good where a lot of things
Speaker 1: have to break Tennessee's way, and one of them is
Speaker 1: here are the things. If you're a Ravens fan, also
Speaker 1: you're worried about Derrick Henry. Obviously you're also maybe a
Speaker 1: it'll nervous that this will be the first action of
Speaker 1: consequence for the Ravens regulars. And twenty days when they
Speaker 1: kick off. That's three weeks. It's good. We're just saying
Speaker 1: it's great to have time off, but at what point
Speaker 1: does rust that to the equation. The mark Ingram situation
Speaker 1: is something to watch here. He practiced in full last
Speaker 1: week during the bye week, then he has what seems
Speaker 1: like a setback this week with a strange calf. He
Speaker 1: did return to practice Thursday in a limited capacity, which
Speaker 1: obviously is trending in a good direction. Uh. And then
Speaker 1: the last thing. I don't put much stock in this
Speaker 1: at all, but it's worth saying that for three and
Speaker 1: a half quarters last January and Lamar Jackson's only other
Speaker 1: playoff game, uh, he was pretty bad. And and that
Speaker 1: was against the Chargers. And that's ancient history now, But
Speaker 1: you know, maybe things linger in the mind in a
Speaker 1: in a big, huge playoff game. I still think the
Speaker 1: Ravens are going to win this game, but you could
Speaker 1: squint and find ways to make this game something that
Speaker 1: people are not expecting, which is very close. I think
Speaker 1: we would just need that. In that playoff loss last year,
Speaker 1: and when the Ravens have been you know, damaged for
Speaker 1: a half at a time or something, there's pressure on
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, he's thrown off his element a little bit,
Speaker 1: or there's been mistakes. They just haven't made many mistakes
Speaker 1: at all this year, but mark Ingram had a critical
Speaker 1: fumble in the Cleveland loss, and last year in that
Speaker 1: playoff game to Los Angeles, they were never he never
Speaker 1: really gotten in rhythm. He kind of even did in
Speaker 1: the second just weren't I mean, they just weren't remotely
Speaker 1: the same team. I mean this is the They ran
Speaker 1: for more yard, not only than any team in end
Speaker 1: of history, they ran for more than they threw the ball.
Speaker 1: I mean this, this running attack, This Ravens team is
Speaker 1: so much different. They are a track team, and I
Speaker 1: think the only way to keep up with them is
Speaker 1: the Titans are a bit of a track team too.
Speaker 1: I mean Brown, Henry John new Smith, maybe Corey Davis.
Speaker 1: Those are the guys they're gonna have to rip off
Speaker 1: some fifty yard plays and I think win a game
Speaker 1: that's in the thirties. There's no way this Titans defense
Speaker 1: that has no pass rush is gonna keep the Ravens
Speaker 1: under thirty. I think they just are gonna have to
Speaker 1: somehow win a shootout. And you never know. Because Tannehill,
Speaker 1: I think he had the top numbers in the league
Speaker 1: against the Blitz twenty pass rating against Blitz. He had
Speaker 1: some great throws against the Patriots against the Blitz, even
Speaker 1: even though its numbers weren't great, he had three of
Speaker 1: his top four throws in that game didn't count because
Speaker 1: of either drops or penalty, but he made the throw.
Speaker 1: But even like the third and nine that kind of
Speaker 1: clenched it in the in the touchdown, those were against pressure.
Speaker 1: Uh and the Ravens Blitz more than anyone else makes
Speaker 1: them a little more vulnerable to a big play. Again,
Speaker 1: We're coming up with all these reasons only because like
Speaker 1: the Ravens are so good. I mean, there's everything I
Speaker 1: like about the Titans in this game. I like two
Speaker 1: things about the Ravens. I think Jeff Fisher put it
Speaker 1: well in an interview this week. He said, when the
Speaker 1: quarterback's got legs, you're a man short on d When
Speaker 1: he's got legs like Lamar Jackson, you're two men short.
Speaker 1: You're basically playing nine on eleven when they've got Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson in the way he's played. But I do think
Speaker 1: we've talked about Derrick Henry as one thing that Titans
Speaker 1: have for them, But it's not often that you see
Speaker 1: a power back on a streak like this, with a
Speaker 1: quarterback also on a streak like this. And Tannehill, like
Speaker 1: Marcus said, like greg I said, his great numbers as
Speaker 1: good as just about anybody league versus the blitz uh
Speaker 1: and versus man demand coverage. Tannehill basically has great numbers
Speaker 1: versus everything this year. He's been that good, and they
Speaker 1: have the weapons to keep up. They Yeah, they just
Speaker 1: don't have the defense. I mean a Dorry Jackson being
Speaker 1: back last week I think helps him a lot because
Speaker 1: they had such a big drop off from him. He
Speaker 1: didn't miss practice earlier. But it sounds like he's good
Speaker 1: to go. You figure he's the guy guarding Marky's Brown.
Speaker 1: The only defenses that had a little bit of success
Speaker 1: against Baltimore made them one dimensional. They really shut down
Speaker 1: the pass. I don't think you're gonna stop the run.
Speaker 1: But but teams like the Bills and the forty nine
Speaker 1: are shut down the past. At least they have kind
Speaker 1: of a veteran coaching staff that I don't think. I
Speaker 1: you don't know what they're gonna do. They change what
Speaker 1: they're like the Patriots and the Ravens and something. They
Speaker 1: change who they are week to week. I think the
Speaker 1: Patriots offense was shocked that the Titans came out last
Speaker 1: week and they were They didn't do anything. They didn't
Speaker 1: blitz them. They just said, hey, Tom Brady, beat us.
Speaker 1: They didn't blitz I mean, they just sat back and
Speaker 1: they're like, we don't think you have the guys. We're
Speaker 1: not going to do anything. They didn't do anything exotic.
Speaker 1: They just said beat us. You guys are trash, and
Speaker 1: they're right. It's not gonna that that recipe feels less
Speaker 1: likely to succeed against That's what I mean. They're the
Speaker 1: type of team that I think them could go the
Speaker 1: total opposite way and get crazy this week. Whether that works.
Speaker 1: I'm locking up the Ravens and I have it with
Speaker 1: no shame because I I am in a want a
Speaker 1: little bit, because you already hinted earlier that I'm one
Speaker 1: game behind Greg, and like I I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: go into showdown mode next week. I'm not. I'm not gonna.
Speaker 1: I think you could look in the mirror. But it's
Speaker 1: just that was a bit of a tell when you
Speaker 1: up anybody for this exact reason that they and you
Speaker 1: already know what you're doing. You're trying to stir the pot.
Speaker 1: I could care less. I am taking them. They're gonna win,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna next week and I have to figure
Speaker 1: out what Greg doesn't You better hope the Ravens win too. Well.
Speaker 1: If they lose them, I'm out and I that's the
Speaker 1: way it goes. One thing that people sleep fun with
Speaker 1: the Ravens is how great the defense has been. Because
Speaker 1: all this all this historic stuff going on on offense,
Speaker 1: but this they finished West. You can help me out
Speaker 1: with the d v o A on this, but they
Speaker 1: finished fourth in total defense, third in scoring. They didn't
Speaker 1: get to the quarterback a ton, but they made big plays. Uh.
Speaker 1: And they have not given up more than twenty points
Speaker 1: and we're just saying this needs to be a shootout
Speaker 1: for the Titans to win. They haven't given up more
Speaker 1: than twenty points in a game since Week five. I
Speaker 1: mean they play on defense. I feel like they play outstanding,
Speaker 1: complementary ball let Their aggressiveness on defense fits perfectly with
Speaker 1: what they do on offense. It's just it's awesome. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's what That's what championships are usually made of. And
Speaker 1: and and beating them in Baltimore is going to take
Speaker 1: a heroic Uh, let's pick it. Mark. You locked up
Speaker 1: the Ravens. What's the score. I really admire what the
Speaker 1: Titans had done. But I'm gonna go thirty one twenty.
Speaker 1: I don't I think that it's going to not go
Speaker 1: the way it did last week for Tennessee on the
Speaker 1: ground West Ravens thirty eight, Titans thirty three, Ravens thirty seven,
Speaker 1: Titans twenty four. But Titans, hold your head high. You
Speaker 1: ended a dynasty. We're all proud of you. I mean
Speaker 1: it was ending this week either way. Thirty five. All right,
Speaker 1: let's's head to the tunnel for halftime and do a
Speaker 1: little bit of news. Keep pounding isn't just a slogan,
Speaker 1: it's a way of life. That's what Matt rule sounds like.
Speaker 1: I mean, I thought this, this change of coaches was
Speaker 1: maybe a chance to move on from from keep pounding.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know, Ricky, keep pounding is near, and
Speaker 1: dear to your keep pounding sons. It's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: You might not think you're gonna get there, You're gonna
Speaker 1: be tired, but you got to. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: five years old now. It was cam like chopping wood,
Speaker 1: keep chopping wood. No, it's so different. It's like when
Speaker 1: when it is quite. Yeah, it's it. It could it
Speaker 1: could inspire our sound drop. You know, it could inspire
Speaker 1: orson wells. I think taking the Panthers all the way
Speaker 1: to Pound Town. Panthers signed that rule to that seven
Speaker 1: year deal. Seven years folks, and you would be uh
Speaker 1: speaking with a little pep as well at your press conference.
Speaker 1: Any takeaways from the rule press or? I thought, he
Speaker 1: you know, it's just what is winning a press conference? Mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but he reminded me of like a preacher.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's such an amazing public don't like, he's
Speaker 1: such a good public speaker. I think everyone watching that
Speaker 1: was just understood why he's he has them offering a
Speaker 1: seven year contract, and why every team that's met with
Speaker 1: him is wanted to do it, and and everything he said.
Speaker 1: I think is what you want to hear too, if
Speaker 1: you were a player or a fan, like I don't
Speaker 1: think he's he's walking in there saying my way or
Speaker 1: the highway. Uh yeah, it should be optimistic times in Carolin,
Speaker 1: it seems like the kind of natural place to watch
Speaker 1: these pressers in our newsroom is one of cynicism, where
Speaker 1: if anyone missteps or does anything that isn't appealing to
Speaker 1: everyone in the room, it's the guy is gonna get
Speaker 1: absolutely massacred inside the NFL Network newsroom. And a lot
Speaker 1: of jokes and all that stuff, I get it, and
Speaker 1: some of them have earned that because someone get up
Speaker 1: there and they don't seem prepared and they're spitting out
Speaker 1: coach speak and mantras and philosophies. Rule hit me a
Speaker 1: totally different way. And we talked on Tuesday about how
Speaker 1: it was Temper the owner who went and really sold
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers to rule. But I could easily see
Speaker 1: why any owner would be, you know, swayed immediately by
Speaker 1: this guy. He I don't think he's just a bunch
Speaker 1: of statements. Everywhere he's gone. He's transformed the program. And
Speaker 1: does that happen in the pros totally different situation than college,
Speaker 1: but a lot to like off of the first experience
Speaker 1: of seeing him. The recent history of college coaches with
Speaker 1: no NFL coordinator or head coaching experience is hideously ugly.
Speaker 1: It's that aside. I love the press conference and I am.
Speaker 1: I think that Temper is the owner you want as
Speaker 1: a fan too. I think it's a great time to
Speaker 1: be a Panthers fan. What do you think about? Temper
Speaker 1: tried to change the game in terms of the head
Speaker 1: coach introductory press conference. He went with lock up music
Speaker 1: for both him and Matt Rule, Um, which I thought
Speaker 1: was fun for you know, for Tepper it was a
Speaker 1: magic Dragons Lightning in the thunder Matt Rule bringing Boom
Speaker 1: Boom by John Lee Hooker, one of the great blue
Speaker 1: songs that was. That was a little better, but um,
Speaker 1: when you were doing lightning in a thunder, it suddenly
Speaker 1: felt like it was like Silicon Valley and it's like
Speaker 1: that clip of Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer like rocking
Speaker 1: out on the stage. I don't know if I needed that,
Speaker 1: but that's by the way. Temper is a guy. You know,
Speaker 1: cool dad is the vibe I get off Temper, and
Speaker 1: it was like my my son's five and three, Imagine
Speaker 1: Dragons are the greatest, but they're the Beatles to my sons.
Speaker 1: They think there's never been a better band than the
Speaker 1: Imagine Dragons. And then when they did that End of
Speaker 1: Decade all those retrospectives, like the four of the six
Speaker 1: biggest modern rock songs of the decade was Imagine Dragons.
Speaker 1: So Temper probably crowdsourced this one from his people, and
Speaker 1: so we don't know, we'll connect me. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think he's that, I think he's listening. I think
Speaker 1: he likes Imagine Dragons. Oh, he loves Imagine Dragons. Um.
Speaker 1: All right. Then the press conference that really grabbed me. Yes,
Speaker 1: it was Joe Judge. He is introduced by the New
Speaker 1: York Giants and you want to talk about winning a
Speaker 1: press conference. I'm not saying the jury could be out
Speaker 1: if you think he wanted it or not. But I've
Speaker 1: never seen a guy that was more determined to win
Speaker 1: a press conference, a man that clearly put in the work.
Speaker 1: It's like West getting to the office early today and
Speaker 1: tape grinding. Uh tape dogg and uh. I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 1: It was basically a crack at dawn or West is
Speaker 1: at his desk just studying. Um, that's ever went to
Speaker 1: sleepless en. That's what I felt watching Joe Judge, who
Speaker 1: who was intense, he never broke eye contact. It was
Speaker 1: almost like if Bill Belichick could create like a protege
Speaker 1: head coach in a lab and then put it on
Speaker 1: a stage and and have it talk and move, it
Speaker 1: would be Joe Judge. So did did I think it worked?
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I certainly I understood why people
Speaker 1: were impressed by it. Let's listen to a little bit
Speaker 1: of Joe Judge, who also did the great move of
Speaker 1: because the big thing around Joe Judge, of course, it's like,
Speaker 1: who is this guy? Joe Judge? It's not about Well,
Speaker 1: maybe I can explain that a little bit better. But
Speaker 1: instead of saying who am I if by telling you
Speaker 1: what's relevant this conversation with being a coach New York Giants,
Speaker 1: what I'm about and what I'm about is an old
Speaker 1: school physical mentality. It's a tough division in cities full
Speaker 1: of tough people. People in this and they expect to
Speaker 1: see program, They expect to see a product that represents them.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna do everything in my power every day
Speaker 1: to make sure the people of this city and this
Speaker 1: area turn on the TV or sit in the stadium
Speaker 1: seats and are proud to say that we're there, New
Speaker 1: York Shiants. This dude put up. I'll go through the
Speaker 1: wall for Joe Judge. All rise, baby, you're you're, you're,
Speaker 1: Your heart was a flat. This is what you wanted
Speaker 1: out of Adam Gaze is opening. There was the opposite
Speaker 1: of the Adam Gates in fact that talking to a
Speaker 1: very respected Jets Beats Beat reporter Adam Gates, one of
Speaker 1: the things that that was a disaster about his presser
Speaker 1: wasn't just that he was looking all over the place
Speaker 1: and and just was flighty. He was unprepared. And what
Speaker 1: Gates didn't get in Gaze's big problems that he doesn't
Speaker 1: get things, is what this guy did get. And coming
Speaker 1: from Bill Belichick, you you are a prepared person. He
Speaker 1: made sure he wanted to make a good first impression,
Speaker 1: and I think he really did. I think within the building,
Speaker 1: I think with certain members of the media, the fan
Speaker 1: base I think is gonna be all about this press or.
Speaker 1: It's kind of what the Giants needed after what I
Speaker 1: got there early and shook every reporter's hand before it started.
Speaker 1: He seems very um. I could see why the people
Speaker 1: who revere Tom Coughlin liked. My favorite line of his
Speaker 1: from a tweet, Jude Judge says he's not interested in
Speaker 1: some fancy in quotes guru scheme, kind of just blowing
Speaker 1: up everything that everyone thinks they're about these days. He's
Speaker 1: just like, I'm gonna come in here and coach the giants.
Speaker 1: You know. Dan Steinberger, the Washington poach, had had one
Speaker 1: of my favorite tweets ever last week. Life is a
Speaker 1: never any succession of NFL teams adding ping pong tables
Speaker 1: with stories about how they're finally coming together as a
Speaker 1: family and enjoying each other's company, and NFL teams removing
Speaker 1: ping ping pong tables with a story about how they're
Speaker 1: finally taking football seriously. And this is sort of a
Speaker 1: coral area of that. We're done pussy footing around with this,
Speaker 1: with this fancy offense stuff. We're going defense, toughness, physicality,
Speaker 1: which marries up you can see what Dave Gentelman likes
Speaker 1: about it, so that I also go ahead, no, just
Speaker 1: gonna say. ESPN dot Com reports that Judge is expected
Speaker 1: to speak with former Brown's head coach Freddie Kitchens about
Speaker 1: being part of the team's offensive staff. They worked together
Speaker 1: for a long time in the past in some college stops.
Speaker 1: One point, Freddie Kitchens, when Judge was just uh younger
Speaker 1: on the totem pole made I've never been on an airplane.
Speaker 1: Who's switched one saying that Freddie Kitchens, it's he's gone.
Speaker 1: I know, but that feels slightly. This is what it's
Speaker 1: what Dan and Damage used to say about me. Rights.
Speaker 1: It's gotta be a reality show, Freddie Freddy in the
Speaker 1: big city like, uh so, this is Tom Square, down
Speaker 1: on his luck, coach tries to revive his career. It's
Speaker 1: a big half had about of potential. Joe Judge down
Speaker 1: on his luck, making like six million a year to
Speaker 1: do nothing right. Joe Judge had an interesting back. He
Speaker 1: he used to be a kindergarten pe coach and you
Speaker 1: could tote only imagine that that of him as a
Speaker 1: pe coach. And and if he dealt with the problems
Speaker 1: in kindergarten, he could deal with them on the football field.
Speaker 1: What I learned coaching pe okay for three days in
Speaker 1: West Point School district, the patients you have with children, Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean I had kids, you know, dancing on the
Speaker 1: window sills. I had kids, you know, peeing themselves. I
Speaker 1: had kids doing everything. I just liked hearing them. A
Speaker 1: terrible substitute kids peeing. Introductory pressing, Um, alright, coach judge,
Speaker 1: and then Mike McCarthy and anybody have a takeaway from that.
Speaker 1: I regrettably missed the Mike McCarthy introductory press conference in Dallas.
Speaker 1: I it was what you would expect, a lot of backslapping,
Speaker 1: and you could you could tell him buying into the
Speaker 1: Cowboys mystique was sort of important. Like he talked about
Speaker 1: how he told the story of how Jerry Jones finished
Speaker 1: this long speech of out the history of the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: which he basically gave it the press conference too, and
Speaker 1: then he stood up and he said, and you're the
Speaker 1: man to be the next Cowboys head coach. And then
Speaker 1: you know, Mike McCarthy, you know, gave him a hug
Speaker 1: and he said, I knew at that moment I would
Speaker 1: be telling that story for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1: Like he's you know, I think that's what Jerry wants.
Speaker 1: He wants someone who's gonna totally buy in. Doesn't mean
Speaker 1: he's gonna do a bad job of it at all.
Speaker 1: But he seemed perfectly comfortable up there, like making Suddenly,
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy is like cracking a lot of jokes about
Speaker 1: you know it's or whatever. Yeah. He also he told
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones that he diligently poured over tape of every
Speaker 1: single Cowboys game from last season. Then during the press
Speaker 1: conference oddly took that back and said that wasn't true,
Speaker 1: but he's glad. He told Jerry, yeah, that's right, he said. Yeah.
Speaker 1: They were like, oh, yes, he watched every Cowboys play,
Speaker 1: you know, as you and he was like, wow, you
Speaker 1: know you say some things when you're in interviews to
Speaker 1: get the job. Oh my god, I guess it is
Speaker 1: too late. They pen has gone to paper. Part of
Speaker 1: the Cowboys mystique is real though, Like the facilities, there
Speaker 1: are more good talking about. The history is a little
Speaker 1: richer than some other. Player ratings are higher, and there's
Speaker 1: way more eyeballs on what you're doing. There's way more
Speaker 1: people who care about your team than most franchises. And
Speaker 1: and unlike you know, rule is going with these position.
Speaker 1: Coaches are college coaches, at least as coordinator that have
Speaker 1: no experience that we don't know much about. You know,
Speaker 1: McCarthy's assembling kind of an all star calft and I
Speaker 1: think that's what he was getting, you know, hired for
Speaker 1: bones fossil uh is coming from the Rams? How about that?
Speaker 1: That's that I found to be one of the biggest news.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Joey Phillips, I think is going to
Speaker 1: do the offensive line. So he is a guy that
Speaker 1: has a lot of connecting. He's been in the league.
Speaker 1: He has yet staff ready to go and killing the
Speaker 1: Rams are losing bones and Wade Phillips. Okay, uh, Ricky,
Speaker 1: you you had to take away from the pressers to
Speaker 1: I just think we had a lot of great pressers,
Speaker 1: but I feel like this was my most favorite moment.
Speaker 1: And we're interviewing were going on in Marty Hernie, you know,
Speaker 1: so you know, Marty is going with this toughness is questions.
Speaker 1: That was cool, dad mocking funny to me. Like to
Speaker 1: hear that on the TVs and it had like no contact.
Speaker 1: You know, years ago I could have translated that for you.
Speaker 1: Marty Hernie was still technically the GM of the Panthers. Right.
Speaker 1: It's funny. I was listening back to our great Peter
Speaker 1: Schreeger conversation, and Schreeger made a point like one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why Panthers were able to seal the deal
Speaker 1: with rules like it was just one on one mano Imano,
Speaker 1: and it was it was the owner Tepper straight to
Speaker 1: rule and the Giants had a four man army that
Speaker 1: needed to work things out. That was Marty heard even
Speaker 1: like invited to any part of this process like this
Speaker 1: is worse than how he rosemen under. It's very similar.
Speaker 1: He would not be doing these little mocking voices of
Speaker 1: Hernie if Ernie was in the position of power party quit.
Speaker 1: No job's worth it. Hey, I keep your dignity, bro.
Speaker 1: I disagreed. That's five. Whatever he's making to do, whatever
Speaker 1: he's doing, it's gonna be setting up the Hernie grandchildren
Speaker 1: for years. Just keep your mouth. Tepper is doing the
Speaker 1: total CEO thing. Whenever you take over a company, you
Speaker 1: spend the first year or two making it very clear
Speaker 1: that you're the dude and no one else will challenge
Speaker 1: you on any level. And he's has some experience all
Speaker 1: these yellow toxic Martyn has never been to a southern state.
Speaker 1: Apparently like this is like the eighth person he's slashing
Speaker 1: through based on dialect. He's from New York. We know
Speaker 1: what he thinks about. That's not true. It is entirely true.
Speaker 1: So you can't see, you can't go. Dan only loves America.
Speaker 1: And now you're gonna narrow me down further. Yes, we
Speaker 1: can do that the entire continental United States. Alaska, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know about Alaska. I love Alaska,
Speaker 1: all right, I'm in Alaska to love. Did my honeymoon there?
Speaker 1: Give me all fifty All right, let's get back to it.
Speaker 1: That's what's happening. America now feeling so much better about itself. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's go with the Sunday games starting three oh five
Speaker 1: Eastern kick off the Houston Texans at the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1: So of course the Chiefs coming off the bye and
Speaker 1: they are ready to roll. They got some demons. We
Speaker 1: know that the divisional round Arrowhead Stadium. Some bad stuff
Speaker 1: has happened there in the last years. But this is
Speaker 1: a fresh start, and they get the Texans greg Um
Speaker 1: who obviously had that great comeback against the Bills. But
Speaker 1: also if you're the Chiefs, You could watch that game
Speaker 1: last Saturday and be like, oh, we got this, we
Speaker 1: got this right. If yeah, if they play that way again,
Speaker 1: if the offensive line doesn't show up. That was the
Speaker 1: takeaway I had after having a really good season overall
Speaker 1: protecting Deshaun Watson, they were a total mess. And I
Speaker 1: would say that that really continued in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: that this was a game where re watching it, it
Speaker 1: really made me appreciate everything Deshaun Watson did. I think
Speaker 1: West hit the nail on the head when he said
Speaker 1: star players kind of stepping up in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: and taking over because Watson wasn't getting a ton of help.
Speaker 1: Hopkins made plays on his own. Every time Duke Johnson
Speaker 1: touched the ball. What a great game. Look he he
Speaker 1: made a huge play, six touches, almost all of them,
Speaker 1: he made a huge play, merciless ended three drives in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter alone with big plays. And we've talked
Speaker 1: about J. J. Watt. This was the players and the
Speaker 1: takeaway I would have if I'm watching Kansas City, I'm
Speaker 1: Steve Spagnola's They could not identify where the pressure was
Speaker 1: coming from. And this is kind of an old Texans
Speaker 1: problem and whatever it is that McDermott was doing in
Speaker 1: terms of how he was sending people the offensive line, Watson,
Speaker 1: the coaching staff. I didn't know what to do. There
Speaker 1: were so many times in that game where they max
Speaker 1: protected like six seven players to block four, and there
Speaker 1: was a free rusher where two guys are Garden to
Speaker 1: another two guys are Garden two, and then up the
Speaker 1: like and then there's a free rush and you just can't, like,
Speaker 1: you just cannot win. And who is great greater at
Speaker 1: doing that than Steve Spagnolo. He's done a great job
Speaker 1: with that all year, and he's got the players, Chris Jones,
Speaker 1: Frank Clark. The last time we saw them, they were bawling.
Speaker 1: And I just think that's a mismatch that that the Texans.
Speaker 1: There's no part of their team to me that gives
Speaker 1: the Chiefs as big of a mismatch as that could be.
Speaker 1: I think it's heartwarming how much you've warmed to Steve
Speaker 1: Spagnolo and have credited him all year. It's had a
Speaker 1: good year, and I think you mentioned what they've got
Speaker 1: going up front. This is the third time now in
Speaker 1: in Honey Badger's career where we've seen him reach all
Speaker 1: pro level and sustain it for months at a time.
Speaker 1: And they've been I believe, the number one defense in
Speaker 1: the NFL since Week eleven, also the number one passer
Speaker 1: rating against since Week eleven, stingiest past defense in the league.
Speaker 1: This is a transformed defense, and I think it starts
Speaker 1: with Honey Badger, and I know they lost one Thornhill,
Speaker 1: but they've got an experienced guy and Daniel Sorenson who
Speaker 1: steps right in and they don't lose much there. That's
Speaker 1: why I throw out the Week six result largely where
Speaker 1: they put up thirty one point on Kansas City. And
Speaker 1: you know, you can look at what Seattle did and say, well,
Speaker 1: you dealt with Josh mccount. Of course, so we don't.
Speaker 1: We don't want to see what they go when they
Speaker 1: go to deal with the real opponent. But I the
Speaker 1: Texans game, to me, the Bills learned a lot, I
Speaker 1: hope as an organization because they came in with zero
Speaker 1: game plan in the second half, showed no ability. You
Speaker 1: can talk about the Texans not scheming well for certain things.
Speaker 1: I mean they faced a team that just completely fell apart,
Speaker 1: and the Chiefs are not going to do that With
Speaker 1: Andy Reid. I understand that any read in the playoffs
Speaker 1: has been a different experience. But that's not Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: and Andy Reid and there are another team. They've been
Speaker 1: gone for a bit. You can kind of forget about him.
Speaker 1: But Travis Keltzy, I mean Tyreek Hill, Patrick Mahomes, I
Speaker 1: don't see any problem with knocking out of Texas team
Speaker 1: that you know you traded for Laramy Tunsil and you
Speaker 1: know he was a penalty machine last weekend. What was
Speaker 1: going on there and getting protect either. I think he
Speaker 1: had his worst game of the season. And and that's
Speaker 1: partly why this Chief's team is different. That the Texans
Speaker 1: are different too, because of especially if will Fuller plays
Speaker 1: and and why is himself, Well, he's not gonna drop
Speaker 1: three touchdown passes again like he did in Week six, right, um,
Speaker 1: But the Chiefs kind of rarely had all their guys together.
Speaker 1: And now you've got McCole, Hardman, Damian Williams. I think
Speaker 1: adds a lot compared to what else they were rolling
Speaker 1: out there. Frank Clark wasn't really healthy for much of
Speaker 1: the year, but finnished very strong, so they're they're a
Speaker 1: healthier team than they used to be. Clark had seven sacks,
Speaker 1: eleven QB hits, nine tackles for loss, three passes knocked
Speaker 1: down in the last eight games. That's what this game
Speaker 1: comes down to for me, is after that Neil Hunter production. Yeah,
Speaker 1: after that terrible and after that terrible performance by Tunsil
Speaker 1: and the Texans. If they if they deliver that type
Speaker 1: of performance again, this game is gonna be ugly. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be one of those Bill O'Brien losses that you
Speaker 1: know Wesselby dancing in his cubicle over. But I'm telling
Speaker 1: you that that this game, this is the game team
Speaker 1: that is most likely to end up in a grizzly manner.
Speaker 1: And that's why I'm locking up the Chiefs this week.
Speaker 1: I'm also locking up the Chiefs this week. Okay, good?
Speaker 1: So am I Wow, we're all together? You're locking him up.
Speaker 1: I I adore this. I mean, I'm not exactly because
Speaker 1: there is another scenario where Shaun Watson just special strange
Speaker 1: things and everything goes weird. Absolutely. I think I think
Speaker 1: there's a route for every one of these underdog teams
Speaker 1: to win, But this one I just felt slightly better.
Speaker 1: I'm Gonta only because I need to make up ground
Speaker 1: here is this the Ryan paceball? The Ryan paceball? Yes? What?
Speaker 1: Why is it the Ryan paceball? He bypassed both of
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks to bowl? Is the right? Right? That would
Speaker 1: be the concern because Watson, I think played really well
Speaker 1: last week. You wonder if they they'll make him running
Speaker 1: a little bigger part of the game plan, like going
Speaker 1: into it. He ran more last week than he did
Speaker 1: all season. He's he's run less and less every year
Speaker 1: of his career in terms of times per game. And
Speaker 1: yet it's such a big weapon and if guys, if
Speaker 1: ever you're gonna break it out, it feels like this
Speaker 1: would be the week. He's to me so close to
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson to where you you gotta drive a stake
Speaker 1: through Russell Wilson's heart to kill him, to make him
Speaker 1: stop coming back. And Deshaun Watson is the same way.
Speaker 1: They both make pretty good decisions with the I mean
Speaker 1: great decisions with the ball in their hands. They're not
Speaker 1: just runners, they're great decisions. I mean, Dan, you know
Speaker 1: in those like the the old films about being out
Speaker 1: in the jungle and they'd be traveling through and then
Speaker 1: you'd fall under one of those traps where it's a
Speaker 1: bunch of sticks and leaves and there's just a big
Speaker 1: west and Greg just went right in that hole. You
Speaker 1: just you just saved yourself if I waited till the
Speaker 1: end of the segment and then then you would have
Speaker 1: just been stuck. Like someone throws a vine. I pulled
Speaker 1: up and there's Mark and he looks so hot, just
Speaker 1: like he's wearing like a Safari outfit and a little
Speaker 1: bit of sweat, but a little bit of dirt. But
Speaker 1: also just like I've never seen his body looks so great. Yeh,
Speaker 1: keep pounding. Um, I'm not concerned about that cartoon scenario.
Speaker 1: You it out there, don't be about it on Sunday night. Yeah,
Speaker 1: concerned about your Let me let me say the people
Speaker 1: should kind of check themselves a little bit, as like
Speaker 1: with playing the will Fuller's back so the Texans will
Speaker 1: be back with their offense. Um, because how do we
Speaker 1: know if this guy's got any if he's got more
Speaker 1: than three series? And I guess you could say the
Speaker 1: same thing last week about j J. J. J Watt
Speaker 1: a superhuman running three and J. J. Watt frankly did
Speaker 1: not you know. I think if they look at last
Speaker 1: week's game, he'll probably be stronger this week, but they
Speaker 1: struggled on some of those runs to the outside, a
Speaker 1: lot of the misdirection. He had kind of a on J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt game. As as a run defender, well, he wasn't
Speaker 1: even on the field for run players early, which is why,
Speaker 1: which is why I think they kept him off was
Speaker 1: maybe that wasn't gonna be his m O right coming
Speaker 1: right off to bed and maybe he'll be better. But
Speaker 1: if you think about they're like speed at linebacker and
Speaker 1: just the things that Kansas City can do in terms
Speaker 1: of running, whether it's hard Aman or Hill or Williams
Speaker 1: on these end a rounds. I mean, man, Andy Reid
Speaker 1: with a couple of weeks off, he just he's gonna
Speaker 1: throw a lot at you and test like the edges.
Speaker 1: It's the defense I think Watson might play right, and
Speaker 1: it's just the defense. I can't imagine for Houston to
Speaker 1: Hill against these cornerbacks. I mean, I just had visions
Speaker 1: of that Steve Smith game against the Bears where he's
Speaker 1: just going bonkers for two yards. All right, let's pick it.
Speaker 1: Mark Um Kansas City thirty two, Texans, Chiefs thirty four,
Speaker 1: Texans eighteen. I got Chiefs forty Texans ten. Has any
Speaker 1: humans ever tracked these Chiefs not locking it up? No,
Speaker 1: I did lock him up, but I had to pull
Speaker 1: out for them down two games, so I gotta go
Speaker 1: go back in that trap. I have the Chiefs thirty seven,
Speaker 1: the Texans seven. Watch out for this guy, Rashad Fenton.
Speaker 1: They suddenly played him in week seventeen last and yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a cornerback for the Chiefs and he bawled out
Speaker 1: and he might be who knows. I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 1: if he's starting this game. The final game of Divisional
Speaker 1: Round weekend is a six forty pm kickoff Eastern Seahawks
Speaker 1: at Packers. Seahawks survive the Eagles see squad last week.
Speaker 1: UH need to be better to beat the Packers, but
Speaker 1: we also don't know quite what to expect, greg from
Speaker 1: the Packers, who coming off of bye week and their
Speaker 1: last here's a here's a number of very interesting. Actually
Speaker 1: I didn't even notice this, but their last four weeks
Speaker 1: of the season twenty points, one points, twenty three points,
Speaker 1: twenty three points. They just don't score a lot of points,
Speaker 1: and that removes margin of era for any team, especially
Speaker 1: a top seed. It's unbelievable to enter a Packers playoff
Speaker 1: game where they're at a disadvantage at quarterback and think,
Speaker 1: I mean it's not arguable. I mean, who knows. Maybe
Speaker 1: Rogers play is great, but he wasn't. Would find people
Speaker 1: that would argue, but he wouldn't. He wasn't in the
Speaker 1: class of Russell Wilson throughout the season and certainly not
Speaker 1: you know in December how Rogers was playing. I mean
Speaker 1: it's probably back who was their quarterback the last time
Speaker 1: they would have had a disadvantage. Did Don mccowski ever
Speaker 1: make the playoffs? I don't think he ever did. Yes
Speaker 1: he did. I mean he didn't get the nickname magic
Speaker 1: Man for nothing. Greg And hopefully hopefully UM Seattle recognizes
Speaker 1: that and they let Russ eat, you know, let him
Speaker 1: cook Russ versus the world, bombs away, throw on early downs,
Speaker 1: don't wait till third intend. If you're Mike Patton and
Speaker 1: you saw what happened last game with the Seahawks, you're like, yeah,
Speaker 1: please run Travis Homer between the tackles against Clinic Clark.
Speaker 1: So what I'm kind of saying, same thing with Brian
Speaker 1: Schattenheimer is the same thing with Bill O'Brien in the
Speaker 1: last game week talk. You know, watch this game film,
Speaker 1: see what didn't work last week, and you know, lean
Speaker 1: on what works and do what Russell Wilson does best,
Speaker 1: which is bombing teams into oblivion, making plays with his legs,
Speaker 1: just like the Sean Wauson shouldn't be waiting until the
Speaker 1: third quarter to be using his legs to make the
Speaker 1: offense move. Uh. Schottenheimer is always a guy that's a
Speaker 1: figure that you study and say, oh, is he part
Speaker 1: of the solution or the problem? Um? But I don't
Speaker 1: think this is a game where you need a monster
Speaker 1: performance from the Seattle offense. It just doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: why not why not go for one? Well, I mean
Speaker 1: sure they'll try. I mean they also feel like a
Speaker 1: car where like running out of gas. I mean you
Speaker 1: you're you don't have your top three running backs. We
Speaker 1: don't know what's happening with Dwayne Brown. There's whispered cities
Speaker 1: might that he might play. But Pete Carroll kind of
Speaker 1: famously kind of over those situations ons he pumps up
Speaker 1: with the available. I think they had four offensive lineman
Speaker 1: miss four practice. Iggyanza will distly has been gone forever
Speaker 1: Michael Kendricks went to our I mean, this is a roster.
Speaker 1: You know, we're talking about the the Niners and the
Speaker 1: Vikings and other teams getting healthy. These guys it is.
Speaker 1: It is smoke and mirrors right now. And I couldn't
Speaker 1: have any more admiration for the Seahawks, but I could
Speaker 1: see it coming to an end. Uh in a game
Speaker 1: where it's meant to be about twenty degrees and that
Speaker 1: does not count the blustery winds. Well, that's a difference
Speaker 1: between the two quarterbacks. And and that's kind of the
Speaker 1: equalizer that Aaron Rodgers has played thirty one games below
Speaker 1: freezing and his numbers in those games are better than
Speaker 1: his career numbers. He's a better quarterback in bad weather
Speaker 1: and Russell Wilson's the worst quarterback in bad weather. In
Speaker 1: the the matchups for Seattle, like for the most part,
Speaker 1: are terrible. Um, but they did I thought stay pretty
Speaker 1: aggressive after they got in that two minute situation against
Speaker 1: Philadelphia late in the first half. I was encouraged that
Speaker 1: they kept going bombs away, not just to finish off
Speaker 1: the game on that third and ten, but like the
Speaker 1: first play after they hit Metcalf for that long touchdown.
Speaker 1: The next first down they have, they go long and
Speaker 1: those receivers lock it and metcalf, especially against these Packers cornerbacks,
Speaker 1: I don't know that that's that's your route, I think,
Speaker 1: And you're hoping that Pat and s the house and
Speaker 1: you get some some man coverage and Russell just makes
Speaker 1: you look bad by evading free rushers and goes deep. Well,
Speaker 1: there's a flip side to that, and Russell Wilson is
Speaker 1: one of the worst quarterbacks in the league versus pressure.
Speaker 1: This year he has been has been less than what
Speaker 1: he's been in years past when it comes to pressure,
Speaker 1: and part of that is because their offensive line is
Speaker 1: a little bit worse than it was last year, worse
Speaker 1: I think. And the Packers have the um they had
Speaker 1: the highest pressure rate in the NFL all year. Is
Speaker 1: it Arias Smith, Preston Smith, and Kenny Clark all bringing
Speaker 1: there was There was a lot of similar places with
Speaker 1: their offensive line to where they left in seven players.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking of one of their big play that the
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson twenty two yard run where they had seven
Speaker 1: guys into block four and they still got pressure on
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson and he had to run to kind of
Speaker 1: save the day and like the matchup the old you
Speaker 1: know truisms, like you win football in the trenches. It's
Speaker 1: like the Packers trenches, well trash the Seahawks trenches voice
Speaker 1: on both on both sides of the ball, like the
Speaker 1: defensive line Kenny Clark and and Zadarius and the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Your clowney was okay last week, um, but he goes
Speaker 1: for so many big plays that he gives up some
Speaker 1: big plays too in the running game, and that that's
Speaker 1: tough against. I know it feels I know, it feels
Speaker 1: like twenty years ago, but that first half against the
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions raise some just genuine concerns about the Packers
Speaker 1: ability to go through, you know, multiple games in the
Speaker 1: NFC and score points when they need to. I think
Speaker 1: outside of Davante Adams is just like who can you
Speaker 1: count on. Part of Aaron Rodgers struggling is and I know,
Speaker 1: you know, other other quarterbacks don't have a flurry of
Speaker 1: weapons around them either, but he's just there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of guys in the passing game that Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: can make can consistently make plays with. Here's the thing
Speaker 1: We've been very patient with you Aaron Rodgers. It is
Speaker 1: time for you to be Aaron Rodgers again. So and
Speaker 1: if you're not, let us know, be terrible in this game.
Speaker 1: Lose to the Seahawks at home in the divisional rounds,
Speaker 1: so we can officially recalibrate who you are because you
Speaker 1: look at what he's facing. This is a Seahawks team
Speaker 1: that can't stop the pass, that can't rush the quarterback.
Speaker 1: They're beat up. You're in your building. You've had two
Speaker 1: weeks to prepare, to prepare till you put up thirty points.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, will you go in a football game? Dude?
Speaker 1: Do we need to sweat out twenty to seventeen here?
Speaker 1: Can we win a game? And I'll lock up the
Speaker 1: Packers because I I'll be on the Rodgers hill for
Speaker 1: this game and I've been waiting for two years for
Speaker 1: him to get back to being Aaron Rodgers. But if
Speaker 1: he if they fail again and they put up seventeen
Speaker 1: points and they let Russell Wilson do something Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: like and get beat at home, the whole thing, you
Speaker 1: gotta take a closer look at this entire operation, starting
Speaker 1: at the QB position. He's not going anywhere he's not
Speaker 1: going anywhere, and you have disappointed Dan, which I think
Speaker 1: would be. But this idea, this idea that we've always said, well,
Speaker 1: the only problem with the Packers offense is they don't
Speaker 1: have enough weapons around him or they can't get in
Speaker 1: sinc Well, let's see Aaron Rodgers rise above it. Let
Speaker 1: me drop my corn hole theory on you. Yes, so
Speaker 1: you've gotten to the point now where you're pretty good
Speaker 1: in Cornal. You think you can hit the hole pretty
Speaker 1: much whenever you want, no matter where the other guy's
Speaker 1: bags are. After a couple of tu Yeah, so you
Speaker 1: get to the point. I think a lot of good
Speaker 1: Cornal players get to the point where they stop worrying
Speaker 1: about the other guy's bag and just go for the whole.
Speaker 1: No matter what the situation calls for. They're still going
Speaker 1: for that whole because they know they can do it.
Speaker 1: You want the challenge. That's how Aaron Rodgers plays quarterback
Speaker 1: the last few years. I'm going for the hole every time.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to take the check down, I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna take the slant. I'm going deep down the field
Speaker 1: all of these Oh, he just barely missed a throw
Speaker 1: with perfect loft, perfect trajectory, perfect timing. He wants the
Speaker 1: big ones because the guy's it's a hard throw. You're
Speaker 1: you're putting it into a keyhole every time. To extend
Speaker 1: this analogy further, let's say you and I are throwing corn,
Speaker 1: we're throwing bags. I throw first, alright, your on or
Speaker 1: your honor. I put it not in the hole, but
Speaker 1: right in front of the hole. And your famous line
Speaker 1: when that happens is what I think, son of a biscuit,
Speaker 1: you might say, uh, because that yeah, that jack's up
Speaker 1: the round because you have a blockade rogers, instead of
Speaker 1: playing a more strategic game and taking what the board gives,
Speaker 1: still going for the whole, start just trying to points.
Speaker 1: It's but there's a thing. When you are good enough
Speaker 1: to hit that whole, than you're the best. And I
Speaker 1: think when he when he thinks about how to play quarterback,
Speaker 1: it's like the best quarterback has to make the best throws,
Speaker 1: Whereas I think Brady and Breeze think the best quarterback
Speaker 1: has to make the right throws. And he could do it,
Speaker 1: but he throws the ball. He also throws the ball away.
Speaker 1: More interception, all right. But to extend the corner an alogy,
Speaker 1: so he's always going for the whole. He's going for
Speaker 1: the airmail. He's putting it over the back, taking what
Speaker 1: the board gives him. What defense is more suited or
Speaker 1: more known for kind of giving you the easier throws,
Speaker 1: but not the tough ones than the Seattle Seak. I
Speaker 1: mean when I think Pete Carroll's defense, that's what I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna make you. They're not the most talented
Speaker 1: Seahawks even, but they're gonna make you work down the
Speaker 1: field and is Rodgers is good enough, he's good enough
Speaker 1: to do. They're not a defense that gives up big
Speaker 1: plays there there. Okay, if you can go down and
Speaker 1: tend plays and beat us and do everything right, go
Speaker 1: for it. What's Every quarterback has a style they play with.
Speaker 1: What's his style? I would argue that it's that sideline
Speaker 1: throw to Jared Cook. I'm gonna make the most difficult
Speaker 1: throw and I'm the only one who can pull it off.
Speaker 1: That's as playing stuff little Bragg. I think that might
Speaker 1: be his personality. To win in cornhole, you gotta win,
Speaker 1: you gotta get twenty one. I don't want twenty one.
Speaker 1: This is where the analogy ends. I want thirty plus points.
Speaker 1: It's and I want I want thirty to fourteen and
Speaker 1: go win a ballgame and coast into a championship Sunday.
Speaker 1: Locking up, GiB, I don't know what you're doing to
Speaker 1: day with that one, but you're just con Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right for you. I mean, that was always a
Speaker 1: manufactured joke. It's not you're lacking against them, No, it
Speaker 1: has enough. It's never being on Seahawk corner to me
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that I root for them. I root for
Speaker 1: the Jets. It means they're a fun team. They're not.
Speaker 1: You read the tea leaves and properly in August and said, oh,
Speaker 1: they're not gonna be good this year. And I said, Greg,
Speaker 1: this team figures it out. I'm going on this corner
Speaker 1: while you bail. So. But I don't think it's a
Speaker 1: super Bowl team, and I just and I don't think
Speaker 1: quite frankly, the Packers are either. But I think this
Speaker 1: is a good draw for Green Bay, who might be
Speaker 1: a little vulnerable. But I think the Seattle Seahawks are
Speaker 1: the worst batterally disappointing to lose this game. If you're
Speaker 1: a Green Bay I get that they're not the same.
Speaker 1: Thirteen and three teams that you know that ers or something.
Speaker 1: But give me a break if you don't. They're talented.
Speaker 1: They you know, they've had their moments. And defense is
Speaker 1: playing great lately, right I don't know if Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: needs to have that big game. The Seahawks have given
Speaker 1: up a hundred and sixty two yards per game on
Speaker 1: the ground over the last five per I mean, they
Speaker 1: were one of the you know, we were talking about
Speaker 1: their lack of a pass rush that that's one of
Speaker 1: the worst rush defenses in the league. Even the Eagles
Speaker 1: with Josh McCown and in Boston Scott had a pretty
Speaker 1: good day running the ball against them. They have not
Speaker 1: been able to just slow down opponents. And so it's
Speaker 1: you know, Aaron Jones I think could be the one
Speaker 1: who ends up. You know, why not have that be
Speaker 1: your plan? I mean, like spend the first half trying
Speaker 1: just to maul them with the run. And by the way,
Speaker 1: Don mccowski went ten and six with Packers but did
Speaker 1: not play a playoff game, but he did play a
Speaker 1: playoff game with the Lions. For any Packers fans trying
Speaker 1: to construct a tweet, right now, delete it. Pick so
Speaker 1: Lynn Dickey was the last Packers quarterback that might have
Speaker 1: had a disadvantage in a playoff Gamelyn Dicky, Um pick
Speaker 1: the game, Mark Um, I think green Bay will win
Speaker 1: this game. I'm gonna go Seattle. Seattle wins the whole time.
Speaker 1: You are gonna pick green Bay. But now that no
Speaker 1: Seahawks corner two. And as much as you can describe
Speaker 1: it as you think it's a sham or something, I
Speaker 1: genuinely find them fun in the playoffs and would like
Speaker 1: to see them advance. That game was very fun, Josh McCown.
Speaker 1: And you know suddenly dk metcal Metcalf takes off into
Speaker 1: the sky. I'll set the Seattle West Packers Seahawks, says
Speaker 1: the guy on Seahawks coring well till August umty seventeen.
Speaker 1: That that's my my pick. Wow, give me five touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, let's go. I do have the Packers winning
Speaker 1: as well. Okay, good stuff. Uh. We we'll be back
Speaker 1: on Sunday night recapping all the games we just previewed,
Speaker 1: so make sure you checked that out. And a reminder
Speaker 1: that the Around the NFL broadcast our television program in
Speaker 1: a limited run on NFL Networked will air Friday, six
Speaker 1: pm Eastern, three pm Pacific with Rias in the early
Speaker 1: morning on Saturday. So please support it, check us out
Speaker 1: and we did. Mark was right, um what he said
Speaker 1: on our last show that we got good, good numbers.
Speaker 1: People what turned out and turned on the TV and
Speaker 1: watched our show and that was awesome to hear. So
Speaker 1: please keep supporting the show. We love you and um
Speaker 1: they do say in TV the whole thing like we
Speaker 1: got we rallied everyone to watch last week, but people
Speaker 1: in general, don't you know, they have other things to
Speaker 1: do come week two. If suddenly we were the eighth
Speaker 1: or ninth show out of eight or nine, don't existance.
Speaker 1: Well no, I mean we're going to rock the ratings,
Speaker 1: but that requires people that we're getting the game, like
Speaker 1: lead in, we just gotta roll? Is it? Is this
Speaker 1: still done with like people a little machine Nielsen rating
Speaker 1: box on top of someone's like television, TVR DVRs are
Speaker 1: part of it. Feel like we need a physical box
Speaker 1: on top. Let's works. Dan handsOn signing off for Quiet Storm,
Speaker 1: The mail Man, the Old Boss, the whole gang behind
Speaker 1: the Glass Still Sun. There s