Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio once again here
on a huge NFL playoffsday. The mic was down during
Living the Dream. Say it again, Love of the Dream.
Once again here on a huge NFL playoffs Sunday. This
is a red zone radio. Got to do a restart
there once again. We're broadcasting live from the ti rag
(00:22):
dot com studios tyre rag dot com. We're gonna have
get you there and I'm at Selection fast Reshipping free
road as a protection over ten thousand recommending installers tire
rack dot com the way tire buying should be. All right,
we get a rede We got a little redo at
the start there.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
This actually happened yesterday.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We have a microphone here in our Sherman Oaks studios
that is hanging on by a thread and told you
not to move it yesterday before. I didn't touch it.
I didn't touch it, Okay, I.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Will see this. It's just the power of his voice
that moves that much.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
It does. Rich has been on remote of me where
we've literally been blasted off the right been. There's like
five other mics in there, and you insist on using
that mic.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Because this is my mic.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Okay, so my advice is if I'm gonna use this mic,
which I always do, so I have a clear view
of Moncey, and I have a clear view of Bow,
and I have a clear view of Chris, and I
can hear Rich. I'm gonna continue to be on this mic.
I don't want to be over there where I can't
see everybody.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
So my recommendation is, somebody please reattach this microphone. All right,
let's put that aside because we have a huge Sunday
in the NFL.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
We are two hours away from kickoff.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
And what will be a frigid arena there in Philadelphia.
The Rams will take on the Eagles, and as cold
as that game is, it'll be nothing compared to the
game later on tonight when the Buffalo Bills hosting the
Baltimore Ravens. So again, a couple hours away from kickoff
of that Rams Eagles game, Rich, which gives us plenty
of time to talk about what happened yesterday in the
(01:58):
National Football again. You know, for Chris to be here today,
I give him a lot of credit. A devastating loss
for the Detroit Lions yesterday. Coming off the buy. You
think about a team that has waited since nineteen fifty
seven to play for an NFL championship. All signs were
they were on their way to this year's Super Bowl.
(02:20):
They had the home field, they had a blowout victory
over the Vikings to secure that number one seed a
couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And the problem with yesterday's game was very simple.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
You talk about stats, right and the Lions, which they
averaged what thirty three points a game? They scored thirty one.
But here's the two stats that are just mind blowing
turnovers Lions five, commanders zero, sacks, Commanders eight, Lions zero.
So when you have those kind of numbers, even with
(02:54):
the home field advantage, even with your offense for much
of the game operating at a high level, there's no
way you can win. And all those injuries that they
had on the defensive side of the football were exposed
by a young quarterback by the name of Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
So Jaden Daniels, when he was coming out of LSU
as the Heisman winner, I think the.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Lack of celebration for what he was able.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
To accomplish during his collegiate career was muffled by the
attention I'll put it that Kayleb Williams was getting and
warranted attention.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
By the way, because.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
Kayleb Williams is a very talented quarterback, there's no question
about it.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
But this happens.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
This happens because somebody is getting the majority of the
spotlight and the attention. Many don't really follow the real story,
which is Jaden Daniels was the most ready NFL prospect
of that draft.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
And I was saying it. Now.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to you know, hey,
I told you so. I knew this was gonna happen.
I did not expect Jaden Daniels to be appearing in
an NFC championship game or a waiting for his opponent
in an NFC championship game. I did not see that coming.
But did I see him among the rookies that were taken,
especially in the first round, because there were six of
(04:20):
them having the best season.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah? I did.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
And it's because when you look back at back at
his college film, all of the breadcrumbs were there. This
guy avoids sacks in the pocket.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
While keeping his eyes downfield. We saw it at LSU.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
This guy throws a beautiful deep ball even when under pressure.
We saw it at LSU. This guy has incredible versatility
in the pocket, both escaping the rush and also creating
with his legs. As an athlete, rushing the ball against defenses,
forcing defenders closer to the line of scrimmage if you're
in man, or excuse me, if you're in zone. All
(04:57):
of a sudden, a backer or a shallow safety step up.
He pops the ball over the top to a tight
end or wide receiver streaking down the field. We saw
it against LSU okay Or while he was at LSU.
I understand he was playing against inferior collegiate opponents at
that time, but we saw all these gifts on display.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
He never panicked. This guy was sensational.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
He won the Best Football Player in the Country award,
and all of the attention was on Kayleb Williams, the
presumed first overall draft pick. I said it a couple
of times, and I was wrong about this. I said
he might go number one. It might be a smoke
screen because he's the more ready or college prospect.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
He ends up going too to the Commanders. He ends
up playing for a coach.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
He almost seemed like the bride's maid to this wedding
because the Commanders really wanted Ben Johnson. Gus got the
job because or Dan Quinn got the job because Ben
said no to it, basically, and the Commanders all the
while had this burgeoning offensive roster, not much to speak of. Defensively,
they don't stop the run. They had a lot of
(06:06):
problems this season, but because they were so good offensively
and they've been great in crunch time, they've been able
to advance. I'm really impressed with Jaden Daniels. I'm really
impressed with this whole franchise. They've undergone a complete facelift,
and here they are playing in an NFC championship game.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
They are indeed, and it was and Dan Campbell, the
Alliance coach, said they deserved it.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
We did not.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
They outplayed us and again eight sacks, the zero, five
turnovers a zero just too much overcome for a very
talented Lions team. Isn't it interesting that we are crowing
about the best division in the NFL this year, the
NFC North oh and three in the playoffs. They lost
all three of their playoff games, Packers, Vikings, and Lions
(06:51):
all by double digits, right, double digits, right, So you
look at that NFC North and they were like, wow,
I mean, this is one of the great division years
that we've ever seen. And in the end they come
up with a goose egg in the postseason. So let's
let's talk about the Lions for a second here. You know,
in the aftermath of the vikings horrific loss to the Rams,
(07:13):
all of a sudden, there's all this you know, question
Mark about Sam Donald, like, you know, yeah, And remember
when he said this about Sam Donald all season long.
Remember we were talking about how the Vikings for real. The
answer was, well, they're for real if Sam Donald can
hold it together. And he was holding it together until
the last two games. He was now all of a sudden,
I have a question about Jared Goff. So Jared Goff,
(07:38):
this was the biggest game of his career, that's right,
And the pick six was ugly. I mean, he he he.
I guess he wanted to go a little bit further
with it. It was a bad situation at that point, what
was it a one point game? And he overthrows his
receiver into walking pick six.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
So we've been.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Saying that, you know, in the in the be anyone,
the trade was made where the Rams had to give
up multiple number ones just to get rid of Goff's
contract to get Matthew Stafford in an exchange that he
was just sort.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Of a placeholder in Detroit.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
They weren't convinced obviously golf was gonna be the long term,
and all of a sudden, last year they get to
the NFC Championship game. This year they get to the
number one seed. But in the end did he play.
He was outplayed badly by a rookie quarterback. So now
as you look forward for the Lions, who thought last
(08:31):
year was setting the table for the big this is
the year Lions best roster, they're gonna win a Super
Bowl and they go out in the divisional round? Are
there questions now moving forward whether or not Jared Goff
is the guy that can lead this Lions team to
the Promised Land.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Here's what I'll say.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
I think that Jared Goff is a fine quarterback for
the system he plays in. I think that Jared Goff
is is replaceable in that system. Now, I'm not saying
that it's obvious when you start going through the list,
who I mean, we have elite quarterbacks in this league.
Alan Lamar Jackson Mahomes. You know, you could even I
(09:13):
guess throw a name like, you know, those are the
three I want to really concentrate on as the elite.
But then you have this whole pile of quarterbacks that
are somewhere either between the first and second tier or
firmly in the second tier of quarterback, right.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
You know, that's when you.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Get into the the Trevor Lawrences, the Justin Herbert's, the CJ. Strouds,
the brock Parties, the the you know, like there's this
long list of, you know, quarterbacks who they're not going
to be considered the best, but very good, and then
somewhere beneath them, you get into these quarterbacks are competent,
(09:53):
but they're not going to get you into the playoffs.
Names now like Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately for the Jets, Kirk Cousins.
That is Dak Prescott. Maybe he's been injured lately. We'll
see how he recovers from that. But my point being,
there's this big group of quarterbacks who I think if
(10:13):
Detroit got their hands on, they could do the same
thing with I'm not saying Jared Goff's bad, but I'm
saying that what Jared Goff does is replaceable, Like you
know when they talk about war in baseball, like wins
above replacement, and it really just puts an assessment a
number on how invaluable a player is to his franchise. Well,
(10:39):
I think Jared Goff has a pretty good war, but
it's not better than say, fifteen other quarterbacks.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Like you could replace.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Jared Goff with about maybe I'm over exaggerating with fifteen,
but with about twelve quarterbacks in this league starting quarterbacks,
and you could get similar results.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
All right, I want to stop here right there, because
on the other side, I want to get a little
bit more into this quarterback ranking situation, not only about
a guy like Jery Goff, Matthew Stafford being in that
list Jalen Hurts, but whether or not there's another quarterback
that has passed them all. A reminder, Rapid Radios now
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(11:21):
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count down to the kickoff of Rams and Eagles.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
This is Red Zone Radio.
Speaker 5 (11:43):
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Speaker 1 (11:55):
Hi, rolling along here, we are about a minute, excuse me,
an hour four away from the kickoff of the first
game of the day between the Rams and the Eagles,
followed up by the freezesing temperatures in Orchard Park where
the Ravens will take on the Bills. Red Zone Radio
Here we are live from the Tairaq dot com studios.
(12:16):
All right, so we were talking a little bit about
quarterbacks and came in today Bo, who is decked out.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
In his Eagles gear.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
He's a little torn rich, I have to say, because
as you know, mid season he became a huge Rams fan.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
So and he admitted, well, you're admitting.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
This is not me.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Beagles lose, You're not going to.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Be all that.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
I said, La strong, baby, la strong.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
So al right, So but he threw something at me,
and it's it's a very interesting question. So as we
sit here right now, yes, at the end of this
twenty twenty four season. I think the top four quarterbacks,
there's no real argument. Do you have Patrick Mahomes at
the top period, and then you have Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
and Joe Burrow.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
They're all kind of bunched up in the number two.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Right, exactly number five, Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Is it too soon to say Jade and Daniels over
Jalen Hurts or Jaden Daniels over Matthew Stafford? Is it
too early to say Jaden Daniels now sits number five
amongst current NFL quarterbacks?
Speaker 6 (13:19):
See? What was that first name he threw out there?
I just want to make sure I heard that correctly.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Patrick Mahomes, did you say Jalen Hurts?
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 6 (13:25):
Yeah, you don't have to do.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
That, Okay, I'm just sawing that.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Well.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Jalen Hurts was the toast of the NFL two years
ago when he out played Ma Holmes in the Super Bowl,
and unfortunate FuMB will cost the Eagles the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
But I'm asking you, Rich, is.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Jaden Daniels firmly in the number five slot?
Speaker 4 (13:41):
I'm going to ask you a question, and then with
that question, your answer is going to give you my answer.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
Okay, okay. Does Matt Ryan deserve to be in the
Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
In my opinion?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
No?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Okay, And I figured you were going to answer that
question that way. Does Philip Rivers deserve to be in
the Hall.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Of Fame in my opinion?
Speaker 1 (14:04):
No?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Okay, Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
And the reason why I picked those two quarterbacks, and
the reason why I'm talking about Hall of Fame is
because you're talking about a scale of quarterback greatness with
some of these current day quarterbacks. And the reason why
I chose those names is because you could argue there
were playoff appearances, sure, but what those two quarterbacks careers
boiled down to were one really, really solid year where
(14:31):
they had a chance to win it all and they
couldn't do it. Now, wins and losses, in my opinion,
isn't a quarterback stat. We shouldn't really hang all of
the wins and losses on qbs alone, but winning is
a part of the conversation.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
When we're talking about greatness.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
The reason why Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of
all time has a lot to do with how much
he won during his time as New England's starting quarterback
and then Tampa Bay's So I get back to the
question you just asked me. One season does not make
a great quarterback Jalen Hurts. When we really close our
eyes and think about Jalen Hurts, he had that incredible
(15:11):
run to the super Bowl and he's gotten his team
back to the playoffs. Dot dot dot. We'll see what
happens this season. I'm I mean when we're talking about
Dak Prescott, I mean Dak Prescott's one of those quarterbacks
who he can get his team to the playoffs. Then
there's the dot dot dot, But what does he do
(15:31):
when he gets there?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I mean c J. Stroud.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
I remember last year, Steve, after the season he has,
you were asking the same question about c J. Stroud
and I said, could we wait for year two? So
I think you have my answer. Jayden Daniels, like I said,
I'm a big fan. I was a big fan of
him coming out of college. I thought he was the
most ready college prospect. I didn't assume it would be
this great, but I thought he was going to be
(15:54):
the most or NFL ready college quarterback and that turned
out to be true.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
But could we wait till what we see? What he
is like in year two. I mean c J.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Stroud year two a lot different than year one. Let's
let's put him on the wait and see list.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
All right, Well, I think that's fair, and obviously we'll
see next week. I mean, if if he can win
a third consecutive road playoff game, either at the Rams
or at the Eagles, and get his team to the
super Bowl, and dare I say, win the super Bowl?
Can you imagine if he got to the super Bowl
and beat Patrick Mahomes. All right, I'm getting ahead of
I'm getting ahead myself. Then we might re readdress that question.
(16:33):
All right, I want to get to the Chiefs now. Yes,
So what we saw yesterday is what we've seen all
season along from the Chiefs. That is correct, It's exactly
This Chiefs team has been consistently whatever you saw yesterday
all season long. And this is a game in which
the Texans had zero turnovers zero. I mean, they had
(16:55):
some bad penalties. They also had some controversial penalties. Could
you believe that the play where the two Texan players
collided with each other actually never touched Patrick Mahomes and
the penalty was thrown, which, by the way, was part
of the drive that resulted in the biggest touchdown of
that game for the Chiefs. That aside, let's talk about
(17:16):
why the Chiefs are who they are and Travis Kelcey.
So here's Travis Kelcey sleep walking through the entire season.
We are kidding about the fact that he really has
to be jealous of the freedom that his brother Jason has.
Jason Kelcey is making zillions, literally doing commercials all over
(17:39):
the place like he is living the life. And here's Travis,
like on the sideline saying that should be me right now?
Why am I still out here? You know, these meaningless
But once the spotlight is on, Travis Kelcey shows you
why he's on the very short list of the greatest
tight ends ever to you know, he got a gift.
(18:00):
He didn't deserve the Pro Bowl based on what he
did during the season. Only had three touchdowns the entire year,
he averaged what like eight yards at catch. I mean,
it was a very forgettable regular season. And then all
of a sudden, seven catches over one hundred yards. Can
I ask you this though, and this.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
This drives me nuts.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
So three years ago I took my boys to the
Chargers Chiefs game at SOFI Stadium. It was a Thursday
night game and Kelsey just ate up the Chargers and
I'm watching him then like they got Derwin James singled coverage.
I'm like, it's not working. Okay, he is wide open
on every play. Do something different. And remember Tyreek Hill
(18:41):
was gone. Remember when when Tyreek Hill left. You're like, Okay,
now defenses can zero in on Travis Kelsey, check them
out out, yeah, double them up, do something so and
yet teams can't do this. I'm watching this game yesterday
when he caught that touchdown pass.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
As Mahomes is going down.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
He is literally wide open in the middle of the
end and I'm thinking of myself, how do you not
account for his presence on the field. So is it
defenses that just seem to be confused and how to
guard this guy? Or is this guy so brilliant in
his route running or whatever he can do to make
(19:17):
himself invisible on the field until the ball is in
his hands.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
I want you to think about a chess board. This
will answer this question.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
I promise.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
Think about a chessboard and then understand that you have
you know the white squares, you know the black squares,
you have all the pieces in their places, and you're
allowed to move the chess pieces only certain ways.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Like the pawns.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
On your opening move they can jump two spots from
that then forward, it's only one each time. You know
the nights, they can go two forward, one to the side.
You know the rules, right, everybody knows the rules of
chess by and large. But if you don't know chess,
I just want you to understand that all the pieces,
all the different pieces, all can move only the way
(20:01):
they're supposed to. They're not allowed to break those rules.
Travis Kelcey breaks all the rules. In fact, Travis Kelcey
sometimes goes off the chessboard like the normal chessboard, like
that is the confines of the playing field. And there
are times where wait, you can't do that. You can't
circumvent me capturing your king by moving him off the chessboard.
(20:21):
Well you can when you've played together and as well
together as long as Travis Kelcey and Mahomes have, and
given the freedom to do those things by the coach.
So Andy Reid saw this special talent in Travis kelce
He obviously admired the special talent of Patrick Mahomes otherwise
the Chiefs don't trade up and draft him, and he's
(20:44):
imbued them with a tremendous amount of trust to find
ways for Travis to get open. So when your defense,
to answer your question, Steve, you're expecting offensive players to
do certain things within the confines of the game rules
like this route is supposed to come here. And the
reason why I know that route's supposed to come here
(21:05):
because there's a partner route off the same tree that's
going to the other sideline. But all of a sudden,
Travis Kelce will put himself in a part of the
field where it doesn't make sense for a tight end
to be. He'll move around in zone coverage where he'll
get wide open in the end zone.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
You'll say, why weren't they covering him? Well, here's the problem.
Speaker 4 (21:25):
When Mahomes is trying to escape the pocket and your
eyes are forward on the quarterback, defenders get lost on
Mahomes because they need to come up and make a
stop if he does decide to tucket and run. And meanwhile,
Travis Kelce is behind those defenders or a side those
defenders finding the biggest distance between them to present a
passable target for Mahomes and that's exactly why he was
(21:48):
that wide open. And they've been doing it for years
to the frustration and chagrin of these defensive coordinator Steve
It's it's backyard football. And I know that sounds like
such a slander to what they're doing, because they've made
beautiful play after beautiful play. But truly, he has given
so much freedom, he's given the allowance to break so
(22:09):
many rules.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
He's sometimes unguardable.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Well, it's remarkable and not remarkable at the same time,
for all the reasons you gave.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
I mean again, Travis Kelcey, what can you say?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
He has more career postseason receptions than any player in
the history of the National Football League. All right, let's
find out what is a trending right now. And so
Madzie and I doing our picks. She's firmly in control.
But I did get one point back yesterday. Rich Are
you ready for this? Yeah, So we make what we
(22:42):
call our predictions on the games during the postseason in
a desperate attempt for me to get back into this.
We're going against the point spreads, yeah, and then over unders.
As you know, it's sort of a catch twenty two.
If you get it right, you get a point, but
if you get it wrong, you lose a point. But
we also may what we call bold predictions. It's got
to be something like everyone agrees, Okay, that's a bold prediction.
(23:05):
And my bold prediction on this Lions game yesterday against
the Commanders was that Jared Goff would have more interceptions
than touchdown passes.
Speaker 3 (23:14):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
And that one bold prediction came, I still have a
it's like climbing Mount Everest, and I picked up one point.
Speaker 7 (23:23):
And just in case you're wondering, Rich, why this is
so complicated, it's all because of your buddy.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Yeah. Just so you know, poor producer Patrick. As you know,
I am a numbers guy, so numbers.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Are easy for me.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Patrick readily admits that just adding numbers is a challenge
for him and that I've complicated this to such a degree.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Well, really, Montsi's keeping track.
Speaker 8 (23:46):
Every track now. Once we realized that, I was like,
I'll keep track.
Speaker 7 (23:49):
But yes, you had that nice bold Uh, definitely.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
I don't think either of us expected the Commanders to win.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
I know you need them to cover. You know, the
only reason I picked the Commanders is because you picked
the Lions. I didn't feel good about the Commanders, but
I'm like, you know, I'll go for it, but then
I want with the under raz.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
I think that was over a time I halftime.
Speaker 8 (24:09):
It was almost I think forty.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Two points in the second quarter alone, most ever in
a playoff.
Speaker 8 (24:15):
Yeah, I know, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 7 (24:16):
I felt pretty comfortable with taking the over at that
point at the half, but it was it was an
insane game. Yeah, So the Divisional Round continues soon in
about ninety minutes.
Speaker 8 (24:26):
Eagles and Rams.
Speaker 7 (24:27):
It's I just read that they think there's going to
be about seven inches of snow that drops throughout the
course of the game.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yes, it is going to snow throughout this there's that
winter weather warning now in Philadelphia, so they're expecting snow
throughout the entire game.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
That's going to be a rough and fun game to watch.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
The winner is going to face Washington in the NFC
Championship Game, and then after around six thirty Eastern, it's
when the Bills are going to be hosting the Ravens
in the AFC Divisional Round. As expected, Baltimore is probably
not going to have wide receivers A Flowers available. The
winner is going to face the Chiefs in the AFC
Championship game after they took down Houston yesterday twenty three
to fourteen. A big topic of conversation has been the
(25:07):
referee and the officials and whatnot with that game. So
on Twitter, Jalen Watson, who was a cornerback for the Chiefs,
tweeted about fourteen hours ago, I miss when grown men
took their losses like a man.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
A new day in.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Age, though, Well, see the Chiefs are now the victims
as the Patriots are. For years, it had become literally
the most hated team in the NFL. I don't know,
you're a diear Chiefs fan. I get it, diear, but
I mean, but she's not. And yet she likes the
Chiefe I don't dislike them. It's like she's like, how
could you dislike Travis Kelsey or Patrick Maholmes, Andy Reid?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
How would you like dislike them?
Speaker 8 (25:48):
How do you hate Andy Reid?
Speaker 7 (25:50):
He just wants to have a cheeseburger, Like I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I think he is the most likable, really is.
Speaker 8 (25:55):
The most likable.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
I agree, and like when people are like I hate
Travis Kelsey, I'm like.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Okay, I know.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
But then they'll watch that one penalty called. Were you saying,
all right, are you just going to hand right the
Lombardi Trophy to the Chiefs?
Speaker 7 (26:06):
I agree there were some very bad calls, but they
also didn't stop the I mean, Houston could have scored
a little bit more like.
Speaker 8 (26:12):
Those calls were bad.
Speaker 7 (26:13):
But you know, I'm not disagreeing that the refereeing is
very questionable when it comes to the Chiefs.
Speaker 8 (26:20):
I don't disagree with that.
Speaker 7 (26:21):
We do have one college men's basketball game going on
right now, Number nineteen Illinois, Number twelve Michigan State. They're
actually tied out fifty four with about eleven minutes to
go in the game.
Speaker 8 (26:32):
And lastly, here the rich get richer.
Speaker 7 (26:34):
The Los Angeles Dodgers encloser Tanner Sky an agreement on
a four year, seventy two million dollar contract. The report
is is, when this is made official, the Dodgers luxury
tax payroll for twenty twenty five will exceed three hundred
and seventy five million. It's about seventy million more than
the next highest team, which is Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Well, there's a team that has also entered into that.
Everybody hates the Dodgers. I mean there are social media's boy,
like the Dodgers are ruining major League Baseball.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Yes, and it.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Really all stems from Shoho Tani essentially deferring his entire contract.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Which players can opt to do that on other teams.
It's not like it's only the Dodgers.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
It's just what it's given the Dodgers license to literally
sign everything.
Speaker 8 (27:17):
It's true, life is unfair, ain't it that?
Speaker 1 (27:19):
If again, if you're a Dodger fan, you're like, yeah, yeah, in.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
The world's smallest violin right now?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah, for real, for real exactly, So all right, mon,
it's a great stuff.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And again, we are a little.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Less than an hour and a half away from kickoff
of that Rams Eagles game, and yes, it will be
snowing throughout that entire game. So getting back to Patrick Mahomes,
Yeah again, and I've said this before, as you know,
(27:52):
I made the argument that when we talk about franchise
quarterbacks currently in the NFL, there's one. There's one. I mean,
as great as Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson and Joe
Burrell r. You have one franchise quarterback. Because my bar
is like Tom Brady level. But this is this is
a but this is a guy now who is sixteen
(28:15):
and three in the postseason, sixteen and three. This is
a team that has now gone to seven consecutive AFC
Championship games with this guy at quarterback. Okay, so when
you look at his resume, it dwarfs everybody else.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
I agree with that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Dwarfs it, just like Tom Brady's resume dwarfed everybody else.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
But back then, Steve, this is my problem. So we've
worked together for a very long time. While Tom Brady
was still playing in the NFL, you never used to
say there's only one franchise quarterback. You used to admit
that there were others, that there were other quarterbacks that
you could build a franchise around, or maybe your criteria hold.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
On, hold on, because there was that ten year gap.
Remember Brady had a ten year gap from whining his
third Super Bowl to win he is fourth Super Bowl.
I remember, Yeah, you were some people blame you for
that gap, but anyway, you know, I'll take you a
little bit there.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
You were there for three of those ten years.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
But anyway, yeah, yeah, but there is no gap right
now with Mahomes. I mean, he came out of the
box and in seven years as a starting quarterback. He
has had his team in the ASC Championship game seven
out of seven, so he hasn't had that gap yet
the way Brady had.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
I'm going to give you my franchise quarterback criteria, and
then I want you to give yours, because there's a
lot of people who are wringing their hands because they're
listening to us in cities where they truly feel like
they have their franchise quarterback and they're eager for them
to build around them.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
So here's my criteria.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
My criteria, and this obviously broadens the scope to many
more quarterbacks than just one. Is a quarterback who who
can win games where everything is going wrong, but he
can make it right right your defense didn't show up
that day, maybe your running back has fumbled the ball twice.
(30:12):
You know the team needs you to do something special,
and you deliver, and not just once in a while,
but on a consistent basis. When things are going wrong,
the team can watch a star at quarterback pull them
through it. Okay, So that's one criteria. Another criteria is durability.
You gotta be durable if you want to be a
franchise quarterback. I'm sorry if you've been hurt all the time.
(30:35):
Can your team really build around a guy who's not there?
The answer is no. So that's the reason why it's
really high on my list. So durability is important. Playmaking
ability has to be in the.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Very good to great category.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
Your ability to throw the ball down the field or
stress the line of scrimmage with your legs has to
be there. One or both of those things would be nice,
but has to be there. And then let's put into
more of a meta view. You have to be the
type of player that a team can truly consider a
cornerstone and build around you. They're not building around your limitations.
(31:13):
They're feeding the positive aspects of your game. They're not
trying to hide the things you're bad at. They're actually
trying to accentuate the positive parts of your game. That's
a franchise quarterback, and I could give you probably.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Ten of them.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
I could feel pretty secure giving you about ten names.
Maybe something less than that, maybe it's eight in the NFL. Now,
what's your criteria?
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Okay, So again, when we talk about Patrick Mahomes before
last season, there was a little asterisk do next to
his success in the postseason. That was the Chiefs had
never had a road playoff game against super.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Bowls or neutral sites. That changed last year.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
You know who he beat on the road last year,
Josh Allen and the Bills, and then Lamar Jackson the
Ravens in their home field. Right that, to me, this
is where he separated. So when you talk about what
we all agree are like the tie for second between
josh Al, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow, the only guy
(32:12):
that has to win over Patrick Mahomes in the postseason
is Joe Burrow in that inexplicable second half collapse by.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
The Chiefs in the ANFC Championship game.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
So I cannot put any of those guys in the conversation.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
When I say the name Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
I understand that.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
If I label him the franchise quarterback with the idea
that the goal of every franchise is to win championships,
I cannot put those other three guys in the same category.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
But come on, Steve, all right, and I'm really speaking
for people who are shouting at the radio at this point.
You're telling me that the only quarterback in the NFL
who you could see winning a Super Bowl, winning a
championship is Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Right until somebody CRUs me. Otherwise, there's only let's think
about it. He's lost three playoff games, two to Tom Brady,
one once he in New England, went in Tampa, and
then to Joe Burrow. Okay, So if I'm saying, all right,
here are the franchise quarterback, I cannot put any current
quarterback in the same category as Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:19):
Period. Well it's not a knock. I'm not saying they
are great quarterbacks. Lamark Jackson's gonna win a third MVP award,
Josh Allen I would take these and Joe Burrow. I
love Joe Burrow. I picked him to be the league's
MVP before the season, and had his team and made
the playoffs, he probably would have been. But that's we're talking.
When I established that there is a franchise quarterback and
(33:42):
it's Patrick Mahomes, I'm sorry nobody else is in the conversation.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
All right, Well, here's.
Speaker 4 (33:48):
What I'll say, and I apologize for the beeping. I'm
in a room with a stopwatch and I will find it.
But here's what I will say about what everything you
just said. Tom Brady, albeit retired, I mean obviously was
a franchise quarterback.
Speaker 3 (34:03):
Yes, yes, okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (34:06):
Matthew Stafford in the interim, in the time of Mahomes
has won a championship.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Is he a franchise quarterback?
Speaker 4 (34:14):
No?
Speaker 3 (34:15):
See, But so that's.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Where is Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (34:20):
Well, well, and that's kind of my point.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
If the criteria is having a quarterback talented enough to
win a Super Bowl championship, and there have been other
quarterbacks who have won, not only won super Bowl championships,
but also have won consistently over the course of their
career and have given their teams many, many bites at
that apple, so to speak, right getting to the postseason,
(34:43):
giving your team an opportunity to get there again. And
I'm not saying all of them play great in those
postseason runs or every single one of those postseason runs,
but I'm just saying.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Gave their team shot.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
They are eliminated from your criteria because their names are
not Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
It just doesn't make that much sense.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
They're outstanding quarterbacks, they're great quarterbacks, but in my definition
of franchise, there is one right now, and his name
is Patrick Mahomes. All right, on the other side, we
continue on in the conversation. We're going to start getting
ready for the games coming up today, starting with the
Rams and the Eagles, and some very eerie similarities that
(35:22):
could favor the team from LA. We'll explain. This is
Red Zone Radio, hight rolling along getting ready for the
two big games in the NFL, and then feel for
the final four will be set next Sunday. Of course,
rich you and I will be here as we get
ready for the AFC and NFC championship games. Where and when,
(35:42):
well we're not quite sure. Well we know, we know this.
We know the AFC Championship game will be in Kansas City,
but as far as the NFC Championship still to be decided.
And if you're a Rams fan, I'd be feeling pretty
good right now. And I'll explain why. Three years ago
when won the Super Bowl. By the way, it's like
(36:03):
a trivia question, what's the last team not coached by Andreury,
not quarterback by Patrick Mahomes to win the Super Bowl?
That would be the Los Angeles Rams. That year, the
Rams were the four seed. This is the twenty twenty
one season. The lowest seed was the Well, the forty
(36:24):
nine Ers that year won on the road and beat
the Dallas Cowboys. That was an upset. And then what
happened was, after getting a home win as the four seed,
the Rams go on the road against the two seed
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady and get the win.
And then the number one seed, the Packers, inexplicably at home,
(36:44):
lose to Jimmy Garoppolo in the forty nine ers. So
the next thing you know, the Rams as a four
seed were hosting the NFC Championship game against the forty
nine ers won that won the Super Bowl. Well, the
very same scenario could play out this year. If the
Rams win today in Philadelphia knocking out the two seed
on the road, the one seed is bye bye. And yes,
(37:05):
the Rams would be hosting the Washing Commanders next week
if they win today in the NFC Championship game. And
oh that's right, the same suspects are there, Sean McVay
and Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
It's hard to predict.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
A game under extreme weather conditions, and by all accounts,
that's exactly what's happening in Philadelphia today.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
And I've asked you this many times.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Rich you know, in terms of extreme weather, whether it's
extreme cold, extreme heat, extreme rain, extreme wind, extreme snow.
You say, well, snow is the least offensive. But do
you see what I'm talking about? On top of the
fact that obviously Los Angeles, with these horrific wildfires, has
been very much in the spotlight, and the Rams after
(37:49):
their devastation of the Vikings last week nine sacks in
the game, it readily admitted after the game they were
inspired in a certain representation of the city of Los
Angeles with these catastrophes happening in the city. Could it
be that the Rams, who pretty much entered the playoffs
(38:10):
as an afterthought, could indeed be a team of destiny.
Speaker 4 (38:15):
I wouldn't doubt it. I wouldn't put it past them.
I really wouldn't. Because here, here's the truth, and we're
getting way ahead of ourselves because they have to win
three games to win a championship. Here, here's the thing
about momentum. When something catches fire and I'm not using
(38:35):
this because of the recent events here, but we know
how it works.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
It spreads quick and it captivates.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
And when you're talking about emotion, especially like that, that
really is what we're seeing with the Rams, they've sort
of taken a recent tragedy that has had a great
effect on not only the players but also coaches staff.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
Of the Rams, people who live in that air.
Speaker 4 (39:00):
Yeah, obviously, and it feels like they've used that more
as fuel to motivate them than as an excuse. Having
their home field advantage shifted to Arizona didn't slow them
down at all. So I think the Rams, outside of
the Commanders, who happen to be waiting for them if
(39:20):
they win today, are the most dangerous team left in
the playoff field. It's kind of a coin flip between
them and the Commanders because it's hard to stop a
motivated team like that, and the Commanders, they've they've proven
that they are something to be messed with.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
So look out for the NFC side of this bracket.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Yeah, I mean, and let's keep in mind, of course,
and we'll have much more on this as the show progresses,
as we get closer to the kickoff of that game.
These two teams met during the regular season, they did,
and it wasn't even close.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
No, it was not. I mean, the.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Eagles absolutely obliterated the Rams in that game, ran all
over them, and the question is where running is going
to be at a premium with bad weather? Can the
Rams find a way to stop that Eagles running attack?
All right, you got much more on that, and of
course the big game coming up later between the Bills
and Ravens. This is Red Zone Radio. One hour away
(40:14):
from kickoff of that game between the Rams and Eagles.
Later the Ravens and the Bills, and by days in
the four teams heading to the conference championship games will
be set.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
This is Red Zone Radio.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
We are broadcasting live from the ti Raq dot com studios.
Ty rack dot com're gonalp get you there, an unmatched
selection fast ree shipping, free road as a protection over
ten thousand recommended installers. Tire rack dot com the way
tire buying should be. By the way, coming up here
in about oh seventeen eighteen minutes, dear friend of ours,
John Paul Morosi makes his return to the show. We'll
(40:50):
talk to JP about well, we really haven't talked to
him rich since the playoffs began in Major League Baseball
as we got into the NFL season, So we'll talk
about obviously how the Dodgers got back on top of
the baseball world and how it looks like they're hell
been on staying there for a long time with all
their off season activities. And the next Tuesday coming up here,
(41:12):
just in two days, the Baseball Hall of Fame Class
of twenty twenty five will be announced, so we'll talk
about a lot of that coming up with John Paul Morosi.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
I'm excited to talk to John Paul because obviously we've
had a couple of major signings so far this offseason,
as we are approaching a month away from pitchers and
catchers in most cities, it's really an exciting time to
be a baseball fan in certain cities, Yes, And all
of a sudden, it's becoming, at least this offseason, ever
(41:46):
more obvious that if you are a fan of certain franchises,
you're really excited for the future prospects, and if you're
a fan of other franchises, you know, it almost feels
hopeless in some way. And I want to ask him
about how baseball fixes that, whether just the mere appearances,
you know, I mean, because that's just the way I feel.
(42:08):
Maybe not everybody feels that way, and maybe it's not
even true. Maybe some of these teams that we're not
going to see coming have a major impact on the postseason.
But what the Dodgers are doing, what the Philadelphia Phillies
are doing, I mean, I congratulate them for their success
and for their commitment to winning, and all the money
that they're pouring into their franchise is not every fan
(42:28):
base gets to enjoy that though.
Speaker 2 (42:30):
No it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
And that's again when we talk about the strength of
the National Football League almost a forgotten name now it
should not be, because no single individual had a greater
impact on the NFL than Pete Roselle. So Pete Roselle,
of course with the commissioner of the NFL for many
many years, but where his greatest impact was as he
(42:51):
was out of he was like a tenth choice when
Burt Bell, who had been a long time commissioner of
the NFL, had passed away, and I expectedly they need
a replacement. Welling Temera, who was the owner of the
Giants at the time, was trumpeting a young guy named
Pete rosel He was a former PR guy turned general
manager of the Rams. But he knew marketing and he
(43:14):
also understood the strength of equalizing the playing field as
much as possible, and he was the one that established
an equal distribution of the network television funds for the NFL,
and that has changed. That was a game changer. It
allowed the Green Bays of the world to compete with
the New Yorks of the world. See that's that, and
(43:36):
that's why that kind of combetitive balance financially has enabled
franchises like the Commanders in a single season going from
four wins to twelve wins and now a ticket to
the NFC Championship Game with a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 4 (43:51):
Like like the Chargers, right, who you know they let's
put it this way, and I understand, like maybe they
didn't make enormous improvements their football team, but Lad McConkey
was taken in the second round.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
If Lad McConkey doesn't come to the.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
Chargers, they have a completely different season because he ended
up smashing rookie records for receiving. Like it's one of
those It's one of those things where the great lie
that's told to young athletes is this is a true meritocracy.
Speaker 3 (44:21):
It's not not.
Speaker 4 (44:22):
Once you leave high school and sometimes in high school,
by the way, but once you leave high school and
you go to college, all of a sudden, money starts
moving decisions, and then when you get to the NFL,
nobody's hiding it. And really in college nobody's hiding it either.
But when you get to the NFL, money's the objected. However,
they've created the best mouse trap to ensnare the most
amount of fans because they've created what I would argue
(44:45):
is the fairest product city to city, franchise to franchise
because of the salary cap and also the salary basement,
payers are getting played paid handsomely, and you are having
great parody across league because there are restrictions on how
much some of these franchises can spend. And I think that, well,
(45:06):
I hate that players are limited in how much they
can make, and I could go on to die drive
for hours and hours about that. I do think it
makes for a better sports product.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
All Right, they're showing some of the scene in Philadelphia
right now. They've shown scenes with snow falling, snow not falling.
I guess they're going back and forth right now. The
expectation is there's going to be a lot of snow
all right. Here is the stat that the Rams are
going to have to fix if they're going to have
a chance to win in Philadelphia.
Speaker 3 (45:34):
Today's here.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
So these two teams played earlier this year at Sofi Stadium.
Saquon Barkley twenty six carries two hundred fifty five yards.
Remember that was the game that suddenly catapulted him into
the conversation to possibly break Eric Dickerson single season rushing
record MVP twenty six carries two hundred and fifty five yards.
(46:03):
And I remember listening to that game thinking, I mean,
if they won, he could break that record. Remember, Adrian
Peterson holds the single game record of two hundred and
ninety six yards. No NFL running backs ever top three hundred.
You felt like Barkley could have done.
Speaker 3 (46:15):
At that day.
Speaker 1 (46:17):
So if you're the Rams, because I was doing television
over the weekend and we were getting some soundbites from
Sean McVay obviously addressing the game earlier that the Eagles
won easily thirty seven to twenty at so Far and
he says, our defense is much different than it was then.
(46:38):
Still Jalen Hurts at quarterback. You know you got aj Brown,
I mean they got weapons. You know in the passing
game with the Eagles, do you go all out and
just stack the box in an effort to slow down Barkley.
How do you exactly try to reverse what happen when
(47:01):
these two teams met earlier this year?
Speaker 4 (47:04):
Who So, when I was in New England, we had
a mission every game, and Bill Belichick made no qualms
about what a team did exceedingly well. He concentrated less
on what we did well, and he focused on what
our opponent was doing well. And I'm gonna speak for
(47:27):
both teams here because obviously both teams should be doing
a little bit of this. But when you are looking
at the Philadelphia Eagles, what is your biggest problem?
Speaker 3 (47:38):
I mean, what is your biggest threat offense? Defense? Who
is the problem? It's Sae Kwon Barkery.
Speaker 4 (47:46):
So circle his number and find a way so that
the Eagles, if they win this game, they do it,
they do it without him, Like limit his impact the
thing they want to get to the limit his impact.
Tie their hand behind their back and say, okay, now
beat us, Can you still can Jalen Hurts generate enough
(48:10):
you know downfield targets? Can you know, can can you
loosen our defense? Because our goal is to stop Saquon Barkley.
But look, we're realists. If you start throwing shots over
our head to DeVante Smith or aj Brown, or you
connect with Goddard a couple of times in the deep
middle of the field, like, yeah, maybe we're gonna have
to make adjustments. But if you can't do that, we
(48:30):
are going to smother the hell out of Saquon Barkley.
We're gonna throw a wet blanket over your plan. We're
gonna ruin your birthday party. You gotta find a way
to adjust to that, and if you can't, we will
choke you to death. That's the plan against the Eagles.
If you're smart. I think Sean McVay is a smart guy.
I think that defense has been playing better defense lately.
(48:52):
Now put the show on the other foot. What do
the Rams want to do?
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Well?
Speaker 4 (48:57):
The Rams, they they want to get the ball in
the hands of Cooper Cup and Pooka Nakua.
Speaker 3 (49:03):
There's no question about it.
Speaker 4 (49:05):
So I'm not saying you have to sacrifice the line
of scrimmage, but you better make sure those guys are
well covered. So whether you've got to commit an extra
body to Cooper on certain routes or extra body to.
Speaker 3 (49:15):
Pookin a coup on certain routes.
Speaker 4 (49:16):
You You basically, what you allow the Rams to do
is win between the twenties.
Speaker 3 (49:23):
Hey, we're gonna give you the middle of the field.
That's fine, but.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
We're gonna make it really hard on you to score
on us in the red area.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
So try to throw the Cooper cup. I dare you.
Speaker 4 (49:33):
In fact, our bed is you're gonna throw to him,
it's gonna fall in complete, or we're gonna intercept it
because we've been practicing that all week long. Okay, if
if you try to throw the Pookinakua, we're gonna cover
him up too. So you're either gonna have to find
a way to run it in every single time, or
you're gonna be settling for three points. And now again,
if they find a way to run it in every
(49:53):
single time, then the Eagles have to make an adjustment.
But you have to force a team to play left handed.
That is the only you can win against special players.
Speaker 1 (50:01):
You know, it's interesting you mentioned about Nakoua and Kupp
in that earlier game, and again a very one sided
Eagles victory. Poka Nakua nine catches one hundred and seventy
to one hundred and seventeen yards Cooper Cup at eight catches,
they're sixty sixty yards, not a lot of yards, and
did score a touchdown. So both teams were able to
get the ball in the hands of the people they wanted.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
It's just that the Eagles did it better.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
And by the way, Stafford was sacked five times in
that game for forty five yards and losses. That's a lot.
That's nine yards of sack. That's too many. So any
numbers remotely like that and it's going to be a
tough day for the Rams.
Speaker 2 (50:38):
All right, we'll have much more on that game.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
Obviously, we'll get into our preview of the huge matchup
between the Ravens and Bills. But on the other side,
we're just gonna switch gears for a moment and catch
up with our dear friend. He is our MLB insider
here at Fox Sports Radio, the great John Paul Morosi.
This is Red Zone Radio.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (50:56):
We are now forty minutes away kick Rams Eagles, and
it is expected to snow a lot in Philadelphia today
for that matchup, and as far as tonight's game is
concerned between the Bills and the Ravens, temperature expected at.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
Eleven degrees.
Speaker 1 (51:19):
And it's only going to get colder after that, so
we'll get much more into the NFL football. But joining
us right now is one of the very special people
in our world and the world many out there. He
is just the elite, the best of the best at
what he does. Of course, with the MLB network, he
knows the National Hockey League like no other. But here
(51:40):
we just call him our Fox Sports Radio MLB insider,
Our dear friend John Pabarosi JP is join us right now, JP.
Long time note talk, Happy New Year. How are you
today too?
Speaker 3 (51:52):
Well?
Speaker 9 (51:52):
My friends, send our best wishes here from Michigan to
all of you, especially those of you in California right now.
And yeah, I did hear some reports that there was
an NFL game here in Michigan last night. I wasn't
sure if that actually happened or not. I'm kind of
moving past that if there was a game here in Detroit,
But as far as I know, the only games here
(52:15):
these days are are hockey and basketball. The Pistons are
playing better, the Wings are playing better since the coaching change.
The Tigers are trying to build on their playoff appearance
last year. And I just I missed whatever might have
happened with the Lions the last couple of days.
Speaker 2 (52:28):
Yeah, very difficult day.
Speaker 3 (52:29):
Indeed.
Speaker 1 (52:31):
Know this, though, your Michigan team did beat a team
that is expected to win a national championship tomorrow, So
we'll get into.
Speaker 2 (52:38):
That a little bit later on.
Speaker 1 (52:39):
I know Rich has got a lot of questions about
the state of the game in baseball, but you know
me and my Hall of Fame obsession, all right, So
I'm going to get this out. I got one now
and I'll have one later Rich for.
Speaker 3 (52:53):
All right.
Speaker 1 (52:53):
So, the announcement for the Baseball Hall of Fame classes
coming up on Tuesday in a couple of days, and
it is expected that CC Sabbathia will be a first
ballot Hall of Famer, which is interesting to me because
his career is almost identical to Andy Pettitt's. Their war
is almost identical, their wins are almost identical, and if
(53:15):
you look at their postseason pitching numbers, Anti Pettit has
a slight edge in terms of wins and er, and
yet Anti Pettitt hasn't gotten any traction at all in
terms of the Hall of Fame. So how is it
that the baseball writers believe that Sabathia is a first
ballot Hall of Famer like usually reserved for the Randy
(53:36):
Johnson's of the world or the Greg Maddoxes of the world,
or looking into the future where the Max Scherz or
Justin Berlin or Clayton Kershaw. That Sabbathia is a first
ballot guy and anti pettit gets no attention at all.
Speaker 9 (53:50):
It's a fair question, I think in the case of Sabbathia,
if you look at his strikeout numbers and what he
was able to achieve in terms of reaching milestones in
that regard when you surpass three thousand strikeouts, that is
a massive number in the modern game, and certainly look
(54:10):
at his ability to go more than thirty five hundred innings.
I do think that is a piece of it. I
also think from Petitt standpoint, of course, the acknowledgement that
happened a long time ago, back in two thousand and
seven about using HGH to recover from an elbow injury.
I think that's for some people. While there was no suspension,
(54:30):
I think that does enter the mind of some voters.
For me, it's not reason enough to keep him out
because there was no suspension there and that's always been
my standard. If there's a suspension, as is the case
with a rod MANI Ramirez, then I do not vote
for the player, but absence that I do I always
voted for Bonds for example, and Clements for that matter,
(54:53):
So I don't have any issue with that in terms
of keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. But
it's a fair distinction to draw and the way in
which though I think with CC's case historically significant career
in time with Cleveland, Milwaukee, with the Yankees, helping him
win the World Series in nine and honestly it's interesting
(55:13):
not that this should have an impact on checking the
box next to a player, but CC has had a
very impactful post career in baseball. And for as much
as there have been questions and people have said over
the years that they would use the character clause as
an occasion to keep someone out of the Hall of Fame,
(55:34):
I think in CC's case it fairly utilizes the reason
that to put him in. And because of how important
his voice is in the game. He's in the commissioner's office,
he's around the sport a lot, and I think that
his contributions to the sport since he has been finished
as a player. I think actually add an augment his
(55:55):
playing resume in the minds of some voters.
Speaker 4 (55:58):
Hey, JP wrote, Sasaki, if I were going to give
you three paragraphs and ask you to use two of
them to describe who he is, why he is important
to baseball, why the Dodgers won this, and and and
then maybe the last paragraph to talk about his expectations.
Fill in, fill in that that worksheet and have it
(56:20):
back to do it about two minutes.
Speaker 9 (56:22):
Go wow, okay so Roki Sasaki and I appreciate it,
of course, for those bringing everybody up.
Speaker 3 (56:30):
To speed here.
Speaker 9 (56:31):
He is a Los Angeles Dodger, now joining Yoshinobu Yamamoto
and the Great show Aotani among the Dodgers Japanese superstars.
Kasaki is a younger player than the other two. He
still has some polish to do in terms of his
repertoire and his command and pitch making and start to start. However,
(56:52):
the arm strength and the stuff are undeniable, and people
in the game have been talking about his arrival for
a long time. He came over earlier than expected because
he wants to one day be considered the best ever
pitcher to come from Japan and pitch in Major League Baseball,
and after surveying the landscape rich he decided that the
Dodgers would be the best place for him to go
(57:14):
because they've had such great success in integrating players from
Japan into Major League Baseball, and so it's interesting Sosaki
is on some level a more reserved personality than Yamamoto,
and somewhat paradoxically, because of that, the best place for
him to go may well have been in the Los
(57:35):
Angeles Dodgers because he's not He's not only is he
not the biggest star in his team, he's probably not
even the biggest number one or number two Japanese star
on his own team. He's probably number three right now.
And oh, by the way, you got Freeman and Bets
and so in LA he is a star. With other
(57:57):
teams he might have been these of the pitching staff,
and I think that comfort level was one of the
main reasons why he opted to sign with the Los
Angeles Dodgers, and certainly a lot of people around in
the industry, whether it's the signing of Sasaki the more
recent signing as well of Tanner Scott for the Dodgers,
they their limit on the ability to sign players seemingly
(58:19):
knows no end, and I do think that it's causing
some level of consternation, certainly for Blue Jays fans, for
Padres fans, for Giants fans, and a great many other
fans around Major League Baseball.
Speaker 1 (58:31):
All Right, I know that Dodger fans that are listening
to this question will say boohoo, but a lot of
people are getting a little upset at just how the
Dodgers are now spending money with a luxury tax payroll
now approaching four hundred million dollars and no end in sight.
Is this good for the hole that one team like
(58:55):
the Dodgers. I mean, the Phillies are up there, the
Yankees are up there, but the Dodgers are at a
different level right now than we've ever seen. Is this
good for the whole of Major League Baseball?
Speaker 9 (59:07):
No, no, it's not. And we can talk about different
ways that, whether it's MLB's perspective or the union's perspective,
could address this in the next CBA. Do you have
to have a salary floor and a salary cap? Do
you have to make it a hard cap where there
have to be a period of time where there's more
of a gradual transition to a hard cap. Whatever it
(59:30):
may be. The simple answer, which is the one that
I gave you, is no, it's not good. The Dodgers
are on some level. Let's think about this.
Speaker 3 (59:41):
If you go back.
Speaker 9 (59:42):
Twelve thirteen years when they were going through the bankruptcy
proceeding the divorce of the the courts and everything else
that was happening there, that was a difficult time and
there were people very concerned about where the Dodgers were going.
But now, of course it's quite the opposite, and we're
seeing the full might of this particular team, and the
(01:00:05):
way that the World Series went, even against the Yankees,
that they won that series in five games, and even
with those two financial behemoths there, it did have the
feel of the hals versus have nots kind of a
World Series. Now. I would also point out we have
gone a quarter century without repeat champions in Major League Baseball,
(01:00:28):
and the Dodgers were one game away in the first
round from getting knocked out by the Padres in four games.
So it's I often have a little bit of a
cautionary tale there to say, yeah, by the end, they
appeared to be an inevitable and dominant World Series champion,
but that wasn't always the case, and they've now had
to basically sign two rotations worth of pitchers. And we'll
(01:00:52):
see how this experiment goes with are they all gonna pitch?
We're erely all going to pitch. There's a lot of
very valid questions, but the issue that you're getting at
the correct one, which is, look at the Dodgers relative
to what the even the padres. Their lack of spending
this winner amid some ownership turmoil is a concern. The
lack of spending for teams like the Pirates. The Tigers
(01:01:14):
made the postseason and really haven't had much of a
very impactful offseason. So it clearly is not the best
from from the standpoint of competitive balance, and it's going
to be up to MLB in the Union to find
the best workable solution that results in a in a
product that is more universally exciting. Because I'll say that
(01:01:34):
I'll make it a very quick point as we're moving
towards a time where MLB may want to ventralize some
of the broadcasting under the MLB umbrella and whatever that
looks like direct to consumer. If if all of your
compelling stars are on one team. Good for business, you
need you need compelling stars on all the teams to
(01:01:55):
make it a universally good product. And that has to
be addressed by ownership by MLB and yes, the Union
in the next several years.
Speaker 3 (01:02:04):
Yeah, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 4 (01:02:06):
JP, you know, I mean quickly, I would ask you
to maybe assess the biggest problems in Major League Baseball
because you just spend some time here talking about the
disparity of spending between teams.
Speaker 3 (01:02:21):
But also we know of the urgency.
Speaker 4 (01:02:23):
Problem, you know, the fact that there's one hundred and
sixty two games and it dilutes the regular season. We
know of the pace of play problem, you know, which
you know the league has taken efforts to you know,
with the pitch clock and with the runner on second
to start extras in the regular season. They've tried to
address those things. What would you say, though, is the
(01:02:44):
most urgent problem. Is it the disparity of spending or
or is it something else?
Speaker 9 (01:02:50):
I think they're tied together, Rich, I would say it's
the accessibility of the product. And then and then the
spending disparity are linked by the way because you've got teams,
and let's let's be clear about this. Look at the
teams that have been have Look at the teams. Let's
(01:03:10):
say that we're involved in the Soto sweep stakes, Okay,
Dodgers to an extent, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays. They were
basically the four big ones who were left at the end.
Speaker 4 (01:03:22):
And let's think.
Speaker 9 (01:03:23):
About what they all have in common. They all own
their own television networks, Okay, and so they are the
teams that have the wherewithal to do this. They have
been largely able to They've been able to avoid a
lot of the drama around who's going to broadcast our games?
How are they going to be available direct to consumer?
(01:03:44):
What's going on? They are able to avoid that, and
I think that having that certainty of what their future
looks like has been immeasurably important in their ability to
court and ultimately sign free agents like the Mets did
with Soto. Now think that the TV piece is inextricably
linked to the ability to compete and sign. And we
(01:04:07):
all know this. Whether you're thinking about buying a house,
or thinking about taking on.
Speaker 3 (01:04:12):
A new job, or or moving whatever.
Speaker 9 (01:04:14):
It is, uncertainty makes you reluctant to invest. And when
you've got a lot of teams that are not sure
what their media revenues look like five ten years down
the line, it makes it really hard for them to say, Okay, well,
soda will give you three quarters of a billion dollars
when you don't know what your future looks like. And
I think that's precisely where a lot of teams and
(01:04:35):
where too many teams find themselves today.
Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
All Right, I have to get in this final question
again with the Hall of Fame vote. So you've talked
openly very much that you cannot vote for the Alex
Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez. Is anyone that got busted with
pds or cheaters, they will not get in on the
Hall of Fame on your ballot. And yet Carlos Beltron
is close. It might be this year and maybe next year,
a guy that helped engineer one of the most scandalous
(01:05:00):
cheating episodes and the history of Major League Baseball in
his final season as a member of the Houston Astros.
So what is the difference in your opinion of Beltron
engineering a cheating scandal that resulted in a World Series
victory for the astros as opposed to those players that
use peds.
Speaker 9 (01:05:19):
Yeah, it's a fair question. I think that that altering
and stealing signals is obviously a concern. It is illegal
by the rules of the game. In my mind, it
is not It is not as egregious as altering your
body and altering your own physical competitive advantage. That that,
(01:05:40):
to me is a different level the ped use and
the ped suspension. I would point out that Beltron was
not suspended himself, and you have to weigh out that
transgression in the context of his overall career and say
should we should we hold that up as a disqualifying
(01:06:01):
situation that happened in the last year of his career
when he was a role player effectively on that team.
That transgression has already cost him a managerial job with
the New York Mets, so he's already I think, paid
a fairly significant penalty for that. And also you're talking
about someone who's been a Roberto Clemente Award winner, who
(01:06:22):
has opened to school in Puerto Rico and educated a
bunch of kids there. So how do I balance all that?
Do I say that because of one mistake in the
final year of his career, and obviously it was a
continuing mistake. It wasn't like a one off thing. It
was to your point, it was a well fought out,
engineered scheme. It was a big deal. It was a
big problem. But do I consider that after he's now
(01:06:44):
had to wait for multiple years in the ballot, costo
a managerial job with the Mets. I think he has
for me served enough of a punishment, especially in light
of the fact that he was never suspended in the
first place.
Speaker 1 (01:06:55):
There it is the great John Palmer us a JP.
We could go all day, obviously, but it's great to
have you back on board.
Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
We have plenty of talk.
Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
About it's going to be a busy offseason in MLB,
And indeed, if Ohio State beats Notre Dame tomorrow, you
can always say, yeah, guess what, we beat the national
champions Yeah, it's.
Speaker 9 (01:07:14):
A great point, and I'm expecting that. You know, Monday,
we've got OSU and ND and then maybe Tuesday we
have the real national championship between Northern Illinois and Michigan.
Speaker 5 (01:07:24):
Right, I mean Northern Illinois.
Speaker 9 (01:07:26):
Notre Dame in Michigan beat Ohio State. So I think
that basically that should be the the Uber Championship is
Michigan versus North Illinois.
Speaker 1 (01:07:32):
There it is from the mouth of the great one himself,
the Great John Palmer ROSSI JP all the best and
we'll talk to you down the road.
Speaker 9 (01:07:40):
Sounds great, happening to you my friends.
Speaker 1 (01:07:41):
All about thanks having to here, John Palm Morosi. All right,
let's find out what is a trending right now? As
we we did a little bonus time with JP.
Speaker 2 (01:07:49):
It's been a long time since we had to catch
up with here.
Speaker 1 (01:07:52):
You see, all Hall of Fame questions, I tell my
questions are legit.
Speaker 3 (01:07:57):
I mean, Steve, nobody would doubt that for me.
Speaker 1 (01:08:01):
Yeah, no, no, no, Carlos Beltron had a Hall of Fame career,
but it should be on his plaque. You know, helped
engineer the biggest cheating scandal that resulted in the Astros
and him right when he had World Series.
Speaker 8 (01:08:12):
Yeah, I mean why not. I would be for it
if we put that just as a disclaimer.
Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
I mean, yeah, just the bottom.
Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
Right now, I mean, how much room is on the.
Speaker 1 (01:08:19):
Plaque, Yeah, quite a bit. If you see these plaques,
there's a lot of right.
Speaker 3 (01:08:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:08:24):
It used to be like like on Babe Ruths basically
said it was you know, sault of the swat. He
hit a lot of home runs. Now all of a
sudden they have like, you know, details and everything else.
Speaker 7 (01:08:33):
Guys, Well, we're about twenty five, yeah, or so minutes
away from kickoff.
Speaker 8 (01:08:38):
That's right. Eagles hosting the Rams.
Speaker 7 (01:08:40):
Winner is going to face Washington and the NFC championship
game after they took down the number one seed, the
Lions yesterday forty five to thirty one. Then the other
division a round later today six thirty Eastern Bills hosting
the Ravens. Still we're not expected to see ze flowers
for Baltimore later today.
Speaker 8 (01:08:56):
The winner is going to face the Chiefs and the
AFC Championship.
Speaker 7 (01:08:59):
Came after they took down Houston yesterday twenty three to fourteen.
Speaker 8 (01:09:02):
We got some college hoops going on.
Speaker 7 (01:09:04):
Number twenty Michigan with the early lead over Northwestern twenty
to eighteen, seven minutes to go in the first half,
but number twelve Michigan State stays undefeated in their conference,
extend their winning streak to eleven after just beating Illinois,
Number nineteen Illinois eighty to seventy eight. I'm gonna give
you some women's College hoops right now, because USC held
on to defeat Indiana seventy three sixty six Juju Watkins
(01:09:27):
twenty two points and six rebounds.
Speaker 8 (01:09:29):
And then Yukon right now is crushing Seaton Hall.
Speaker 7 (01:09:32):
Last I checked, it was eighty four twenty six after
three quarters. But Paige Beckers has eighteen points. She has
reached two thousand points in one hundred and two games,
surpassing Maya Moore as the fastest Yukon player to reach
two thousand points in program history.
Speaker 8 (01:09:46):
So you go, Page Beckers.
Speaker 7 (01:09:48):
At the Tennis Australian Open, Novak Djokvich won his fourth
round match in straight sets. He set it to the
quarterfinals where he's gonna face Carlos Algraz once again.
Speaker 8 (01:09:57):
But he did not do his postgame in interview.
Speaker 7 (01:10:00):
Because the official broadcast of the broadcaster of the tournament,
Channel nine, one of their employees, Tony Jones, was doing
an on air appearance and he called Djokovic overrated and
it has been oh please, I'm sorry twins four yes,
time Grand Slam champion, and so Djokovic did not do
(01:10:20):
the interview after and he didn't specify his name, but
he was like, I'm gonna let you guys handle this,
but I'm not doing the interview crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:10:29):
I mean, they just like saying, you know, Michael Jordan overrate.
I mean, come on, there are certain people that have
set the bar so high exactly, but even if you
don't like them on a personal level, you have to
acknowledge what they've done exactly.
Speaker 8 (01:10:44):
I'm with you.
Speaker 7 (01:10:44):
I couldn't believe that, and I was like, yeah, I
wouldn't talk to them either.
Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
Back to you guys, all right, MONSI thank you very much.
Once again, we are live from the tire rack dot
com studios as we get ready for this game coming
up between the Ego and the Rams. So as we're
looking at this game coming up here, rich and I'm
really looking forward to this. The weather again could be
(01:11:11):
a factor in terms of the snow. You know, we
talk about obviously Sae Kwon Barklay what he did earlier
this year against the Rams at so far two hundred
and fifty five yards rushing. You know, MVP mentioned type
of season that he had. By the way, looking back,
did the Eagles do the right thing by sitting him
(01:11:32):
out that last game against the Giants. We've had a
few weeks now to think about that, but with the
Lions suddenly eliminated, now the path to the Super Bowl
goes through Philadelphia on the NFC side. So, when it's
all said and done, do you think if the Eagles
win today and again, we'll be able to host the
(01:11:54):
NFC Championship game against the division rival, the Commanders?
Speaker 2 (01:11:58):
Is this looking like maybe?
Speaker 1 (01:12:01):
Uh? And and by the way, you made a clear
you didn't think this was Siriani's decision. You thought this
was Barkley's decision. But was the right decision made?
Speaker 3 (01:12:08):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (01:12:09):
So I do I still feel firmly that if Saquon
Barkley wanted to play that game, he would have been
given that opportunity. I think it was more of a
conversation than it was a decision by Siriani. I also
think the reason why Siriani messaged it as his idea
was because that takes some of the questioning off of Saquon. So, Saquon,
(01:12:33):
why don't you want to go for the record, So Saquon,
what are you worried about getting hurt?
Speaker 3 (01:12:38):
So Saquon?
Speaker 4 (01:12:39):
So Saquon, Now all of a sudden, it's like, hey,
direct your you know, I mean, if he gets tired
of answering questions.
Speaker 3 (01:12:45):
Direct your questions to the guy who made the decision.
Speaker 4 (01:12:47):
You know, my head coach, uh decided that I wasn't
going to play, and he felt that was what was
best for the team, and I agreed with him, and
so we're moving on. And and so I think that
this was all designed to take the pressure off of
Saquon having to answer questions. But if he wanted to play,
he would have been able to play. Here's the thing
about it selfishly, independently from anything that was gonna.
Speaker 3 (01:13:11):
Happen with the Eagles.
Speaker 4 (01:13:12):
And I said this to you a couple weeks back, Steve,
I think that Sakuon will regret this decision at some
point in his life. I really do, unless this team
goes on to win a Super Bowl, and even then
he may still regret.
Speaker 3 (01:13:25):
The decision for the rest of his life.
Speaker 4 (01:13:28):
But I will say this, if the Eagles accomplish what
they couldn't a few years back against the Chiefs, if
Saquon Barkley is the obvious reason, the obvious ad in
the offseason and then did this incredible, incredibly selfless thing
in his best season as an NFL football player, and
(01:13:51):
then helps them win a Super Bowl this season.
Speaker 3 (01:13:54):
He is an automatic Hall of Famer.
Speaker 4 (01:13:56):
He I mean, like first ballot, hands down, no questions asked,
Hall of Famer, because that level of sacrifice, personal sacrifice
for team success is what will stir voters to put
him in the hollowd Halls in Kent.
Speaker 3 (01:14:13):
All right.
Speaker 1 (01:14:13):
On the other side, we're gonna give you some other
notes about this game coming up between.
Speaker 2 (01:14:17):
The Eagles and the Rams.
Speaker 1 (01:14:20):
For all the information you need, you know where to
be because you're already listening. This is Red Zone Radio,
all right, continue our countdown here to kick off between
the Eagles and the Rams.
Speaker 2 (01:14:31):
Red Zone Radio. We're live from the Tairak.
Speaker 1 (01:14:35):
Dot Com studios. By the way, the Rams twenty second
in the league in rushing defense. Bad weather for Saquon
Barklat It's a big yawn where he plays college ball,
penn State right down the road. So I mean I.
Speaker 4 (01:14:51):
Also also born and raised in Pennsylvania exactly. I mean
this the cold affects certain players. I wouldn't be worried
about Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (01:14:58):
Yeah, And honestly, I don't think it's going to have
the great effect on the Rams as well.
Speaker 2 (01:15:03):
I don't think weather is going to be the deciding factor.
Speaker 1 (01:15:05):
I mean to me again, the deciding factor is the
Rams have got to find a way where Barclay not
only had two hundred and fifty five yards rushing the
last time, he had over three hundred total yards from
scrimmage as a short list. By the way, I think
a dozen players have ever done that in the history
of the NFL. So if they don't find some way
to neutralize them, it's over them. The Rams are going
(01:15:27):
to be going home and the Eagles are going to
be hosting the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game. I
want to get Chris and bow here as we get
ready for kickoff. Right now, they're showing the teams behind
the scenes. Start with you, Chris. I know it's been
a very different day for you. We certainly were all
expecting that the Lions were going to be hosting the
NFC Championship game. Bad day at the office, to say
(01:15:51):
the least. You know, five turnovers, eight sacks to zero
and zero and that was that. But what are your
thoughts on this game right now? Getting ready to kickoff
or by the way, it's not snowing in the moment
at least, what I'm seeing, but it will be snowing
in Philadelphia. Your thoughts her Eagles, Rams.
Speaker 10 (01:16:09):
So I think so, first off, it is nice to
get back to a very familiar spot for me, which
is just paying attention to the rest of the NFL
playoffs with not having to worry about a team, which
is very familiar for me. Yes, but looking at this,
I know it's going into hostile territory, but I still
maybe it's the spirit of the moment, Maybe it's Los
(01:16:31):
Angeles and everything, Maybe it's Puka Nakua and like how
this offense has been rolling a little bit, or maybe
it's Matt Stafford who's always played up to these moments
very well. I just I feel like, and maybe it's
just Jared Verse in parts of this defense, but I
really just kind of feel myself leaning Rams in this game,
how they handled the Vikings, how they're coming in here
(01:16:53):
with a lot of just energy on their side. I
am going to go with Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (01:16:57):
Wow, going with the Rams, and again at least Matthew
Stafford making it clear that I still think he's got
something to say about being the best quarterback in the NFC.
Speaker 10 (01:17:06):
Where we're christening Jaden Daniels right now, and I think
that's right. But I think Stafford is still he's still
the king to get knocked off.
Speaker 1 (01:17:13):
Well, if he were to run the table and get
the Rams a second Super Bowl, even I would have
to admit that he would be Hall of Fame guarantee.
All right, Bo, you are decked out in your Eagles
gear right now again the Eagles blowing out the Rams
as they did earlier this year at Sofi Stadium. Is
it going to be similar in Philadelphia? Worse close? How
(01:17:35):
do you see it?
Speaker 6 (01:17:36):
I mean, the playoffs are always tougher than regular season,
so you throw that out. I don't know if it
was you Rich that mentioned yesterday, maybe it was Jared
or Brian. But as good as the Rams front four
is on defense and as young as they are, the
Eagles offensive line is littered with Pro Bowlers and all pros. Like,
it's just a severe mismatch there. And if it's snowing,
(01:17:58):
you're gonna get a heavy dose of Saquon Bark. So
I don't really know how the Rams can hold up
against that. They are more than welcome to reprove me wrong,
but it just does not feel like it's it's the
Rams day.
Speaker 4 (01:18:10):
To day, I would say this game goes this way.
Whoever has the early lead has the best chance to
win this game, because I think if it's the Philadelphia Eagles,
they can impose their will all game long and play
bullyball just like they want to. Yeah, they want to
feature Saquon Barkley in the run game. They want to.
(01:18:31):
They want to, obviously. I mean if they if he
carries it twenty seven times, they win this football game.
If he carries it thirty times, there's no debt they're going.
Speaker 3 (01:18:39):
To crush them.
Speaker 4 (01:18:40):
They want to just hand the ball to him, their
bell cow, over and over and over again. But if
the Rams get out to an early lead, what does
that do? Almost exactly, it starts to put pressure on Philadelphia, Like, hey, yeah,
we could handle as Saquon, but all of a sudden,
like we may need to start pumping the ball downfield
(01:19:03):
and getting some chunk plays here, especially if the Rams
are gonna score quickly.
Speaker 3 (01:19:07):
You know, so I think that to me. Look, I'm
leaning Rams as well.
Speaker 4 (01:19:12):
I agree with what Boja said about the mismatchup front
on the offensive line for the Philadelphia Eagles against an
undersized and very inexperienced Rams defensive front. But I'm leaning
Rams because my trust is that Sean mcvay's opening script
will allow them to get on the board early and
potentially often, and that's going to put the Philadelphia Eagles
(01:19:36):
in a bind.
Speaker 1 (01:19:37):
Yeah, if the Eagles do have to pass. Remember last
week with the nine sacks against Sam Darnald. By the way,
five of those nine sacks that I saw, rich, I
thought they were free sacks. Yeah, where Darnald just froze
instead of getting rid of the ball. So it's not
all on that offensive line. But the Rams set a
record playoff record. At least eight players had it credit
(01:19:59):
for least off a sack. So you wondered, how's life
after Aaron Donald, Well, they found a way to still
make it effective. I'm getting ready for what this is
going to be. Is going to be the Eagles, It's
going to be the Rams. We got it all cover
for you right here. This is Red Zone Radio getting
ready for two more divisional playoff games on this NFL Sunday.
(01:20:22):
This is Red Zone Radio. We're broadcasting live from the
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buying should be. All right, we're getting ready for kickoff
now between the Rams and the Eagles. Right now, the
(01:20:43):
weather conditions are this cloudy, no snow yet. Snow they
say is on the way. Once it starts, it will
not stop. Temperatures in the low thirties feels like the
mid twenties. Wind is not a major factor, so at
least for now, Rich as we get this game started
and there is no snow, you get a sense that
(01:21:06):
the Rams they have to get out quickly here, yes,
they you know, and they need to take advantage of
their greatest strength, which is Matthew Stafford throwing to Puka
Nakua and Cooper Cup. Because once the snow starts falling,
then you know, it could change the whole dynamic of
(01:21:27):
how this game is played. So it just seems imperative
that the Rams. I don't know yet who's going to
get the ball first, but if it if it is
the Rams, or even if it's the Eagles, but whenever
the Rams have the ball before the snow starts falling.
They got to take advantage, and and and and look,
you're a seven and a half point dog on the road.
(01:21:48):
Everyone's expecting Eagles to win this game. They blew you
out on your home field. It's I hate to say
have nothing to lose, because that's not true. I mean,
you have the same stake in this game that the
Eagles do. But I'm willing to take some shots early
in this game. If i'm the Rams, I agree.
Speaker 4 (01:22:05):
And I think Sean McVay, who's inarguably one of the
greatest coaches in the game right now, absolutely and an
offensive minded coach, has sat down in the lab with
his other coaches, the other voices in the room, and
his quarterback Matthew Stafford, who's been here, done it before,
and they're going to come up with the best opening
twenty plays or so that they could put together.
Speaker 2 (01:22:26):
By the way, the Eagles are receiving the opening kickoff.
Speaker 4 (01:22:29):
And it's going to be interesting to see what they do.
Speaker 3 (01:22:32):
Now.
Speaker 4 (01:22:33):
Conversely, I think the Eagles their goal is going to
be defeated to Saquon Barkley, you know, left right and
up the middle as early and as often as possible.
But if the Rams find a way to slow the
rush if they commit bodies to line of scrimmage, if
they forced Jalen Hurts to throw the football, and they
can get you know, some sort of early exit from
(01:22:55):
this drive. Forbidding the Eagles to score points, exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:22:59):
What you said is going to happen.
Speaker 4 (01:23:01):
You're gonna have the Rams aiming to get a chunk
play or two on their opening drive, get highlighting the
pass game, and get into the end zone as quickly
as possible, because if you can play with an early lead,
takes the fans out of the game a little bit.
We know Philadelphia fans, they will boo their own team
if they're struggling enough, and it doesn't matter if it's
the postseason or not.
Speaker 3 (01:23:22):
And then also get.
Speaker 4 (01:23:23):
Jalen Hurts in this Philadelphia Eagles offense chasing points. It
is paramount that you have them throwing the football instead
of handing it off to Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (01:23:32):
Well, I think a smart play by the Eagles to
start this gameplay action, so right, you know you're Jalen Hurts,
you go back fake the handoff to Saquon, roll out,
and they get a first down on the first play
by the way opening kickoff return, the returner slipped.
Speaker 2 (01:23:50):
I don't know what the.
Speaker 1 (01:23:51):
Condition of the field is, but he seemed to point
to the field. He tried to make a plant, you know,
on his return to make a move, and his feet
just went out from under him. So not quite sure
what the condition of the field is in Philadelphia right now.
So the Eagles have the ball at their own forty
yard line on this opening drive and they have come
out passing the football, and I think this is a
(01:24:13):
smart play by the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (01:24:15):
Yes, you have Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1 (01:24:17):
Yes he had a career day against the Rams earlier
this year, but this is a quarterback that led you
to the Super Bowl two years ago. This is a
quarterback that was the talk of the football world after
that Super Bowl two years ago. They need to get
more out of Jalen Hurts if they're going to reach
their ultimate destination, which is hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. They're
(01:24:39):
just not going to be able to do with Saquon Barkley.
Jalen Hurts is going to have to play at that
level that we saw two years ago.
Speaker 4 (01:24:47):
They just connected with Goddard and that was a planned
roll out bootleg pass to Goddard. They've just connected with Smith.
I'm guessing they're going to be looking for aj Brown
on this next play. They handed off to Saquon. So look,
this is my point. Get all of your stars involved quickly.
If you're the Eagles, right, you want to get Smith
a touch, You want to get Goddard to touch, get
(01:25:07):
Saqua involved. Like I said, I think they're going to
dial up Brown here early in this drive.
Speaker 3 (01:25:12):
Get touches to everybody.
Speaker 4 (01:25:14):
Tom Brady actually mentioned this on one of his broadcasts,
one of his Fox broadcasts this season. He said, getting
guys involved early keeps them engaged.
Speaker 3 (01:25:23):
So even though you have a hammer running.
Speaker 4 (01:25:26):
Back like Sakwon Barkley who's having the season of his life,
you can't abandon the passing game completely. So sprinkle in
those play actions. Maybe a couple of quick passes close
to line of scrimmage. Yeah, you may want to feature
the run, but it's important to make sure you get
the ball into your playmaker's hands.
Speaker 3 (01:25:42):
Because it is a cold day. You want to keep
them warm.
Speaker 4 (01:25:45):
You want to keep them active and involved, and if
you need them later on, you want to make sure
their hands are warmed up.
Speaker 1 (01:25:51):
By the way, Just for our listeners out there, Rich
and I are at different locations today and what I'm
watching is well ahead of what you're watching.
Speaker 2 (01:26:02):
So don't be.
Speaker 1 (01:26:02):
Alarmed if I say something and you're looking up saying
how do you know? That? I can already tell you
in advance. But right now everything is clicking for the Eagles.
They've got the ball down to the forty four yard line,
short passes. Tae Kwon has run the ball a couple
of times. Now, Jalen Hurts takes off on a big
run and he is all the way down the field.
Effect he is in the end zone. Jalen Hurts scorts
(01:26:24):
and this is amazing. I was listening to the guys
this morning talking about Jalen Hurts and who was I
think it was Jeff Schwartz and he was predicting who
would score the first touchdown of the game, and he
was talking about Jalen Hurts on a push play, like
you know, one of their notorious goal line push plays.
But Jalen Hurts takes off and he goes all the
(01:26:45):
way in the end zone after breaking one tackle. Nobody
touched him, and just like that, the Eagles six nothing lead.
Speaker 3 (01:26:53):
Yeah, listen.
Speaker 4 (01:26:55):
That is that's what's special about having a mobile quarterback
who's strong, who can and withstand these types of planned
QB running plays, and also think about the benefit of
having your quarterback carry the football.
Speaker 1 (01:27:08):
So you have, oh what you got missed extra points? Wow,
forty four yard touchdown run by the Hurts, but yes,
miss extra point.
Speaker 4 (01:27:16):
So you have the left guard and left tackle pull
around the formation, so you're adding two blockers front side.
You fake it to Saquan that freezes the backside of
the defense, and you have Jalen Hurts split the front,
the front side tackle and the tight end, and you
have a convoy of big body blockers leading the way
(01:27:37):
for you. There's nobody left because again, when the QB's
the ball carrier and you can freeze the backside support
with Saquon on the fake, give all of a sudden,
nobody's home. So it's either going to take an excellent
play by a defender to defeat a block front side
and fall into a tackle, or somebody to miss their
(01:27:58):
block for there to be a free defender front Otherwise
it's a touchdown every time. So the Rams, look, they
have a lot to think about after that drive.
Speaker 2 (01:28:06):
Absolutely. In fact, here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (01:28:08):
Sakwon Barkley two carries five yards, Okay, we neutralized him.
Jalen Hurts three for three passing twenty five yards, and
then he runs forty four yards for a touchdown. So
just talked about it at the end of the beginning
of the game. Again, if the Eagles are going to
get to where they want to be, and that's the
top of the NFL and Super Bowl champions, they're going
to have to get more out of Jalen Hurts. He's
(01:28:31):
going to have to resemble the quarterback we saw two
years ago, and at least on that opening drive, that's
exactly the Jalen Hurts we saw. So six nothing Eagles
after the miss extra point, Now the Rams are going
to get it, and I'm very anxious. We again talking
about what the Rams game plan is. Let's remember they
also have an elite running back in Kiraen Williams. I mean,
(01:28:52):
last year was a breakout season from Kyra Williams. This
guy's a touchdown machine and he has been extremely important
and the revival of the Rams offense over the last
couple of years. And so I had made a bold prediction,
you know, I told her about the bold prediction I
had with Jared Goff. My bold prediction in this game
(01:29:15):
was that Kyraen Williams would have at least twenty more
yards rushing in this game than Saquon Barkley. Well, I mean,
that's a way over the top prediction, obviously.
Speaker 4 (01:29:27):
The only way I see that happening, by the way,
is if the Rams get to a point where they're
comfortable slowing this game down, playing keep away, running the football.
This early lead for the Eagles, I mean, it makes
me very reticent that your bold prediction will work out,
because it's gonna take whatever team has the lead, has
(01:29:51):
the ability to start slowing the game clockdown, has has
the ability or i should say, the advantage of points
on the board to say, okay, we can control this
game a little bit at the line of scrimmage. So
in order for your bold prediction to come true, you
better hope that Stafford Heaves won to Cooper Cup on
(01:30:13):
play two and they get into the into the zone,
because it's it's gonna be it's gonna be a little
bit of chasing points here for Sean mcvahin company.
Speaker 2 (01:30:20):
All Right, So the Eagles.
Speaker 1 (01:30:21):
Score on their opening drive on a forty four yard
touchdown run by Jalen Hurts. Extra point is miss six
nothing Eagles. We'll see what the Rams do coming up
on the other side. We got everything covered that you
need right here on Red Zone Radio all right, once
again broadcasting live from the ti iraq dot com studios.
So after the Eagles scored on their opening drive, missed
(01:30:42):
extra points, six nothing Eagles, the Rams are marching down
the field. Key play here, Rich was a pass originally
incomplete on the field to Tyler Higbee the big tight end.
Speaker 2 (01:30:54):
Of course, his daughter's babysitted by my daughter.
Speaker 1 (01:30:57):
So he's supposed to to our family. But the replay
clearly showed he caught the ball. They did reverse the call.
Then Kyron Williams rattled off a twenty yard run, so
my play on that might be playing in. And then
they found Pooka Nakua for a play. So right now,
the Rams are looking pretty good on this opening drive,
and much like we saw with the Eagles mixing it
(01:31:18):
up nice. I think both these teams are feeling anxious
because the snow's up falling right now that you can
really pull out your full repertoire. Both these teams have
effective running games, effective passing games, and we're seated on
full display right now.
Speaker 4 (01:31:31):
Yeah, and a really nice job by Matthew Stafford on
that pass to Puka nakoua.
Speaker 3 (01:31:35):
Earlier in the drive over the middle.
Speaker 4 (01:31:38):
Looking off the zone defenders, so he could throw that
low and on the money over the middle on the.
Speaker 3 (01:31:45):
Deep drag route. Really beautifully done by Stafford.
Speaker 1 (01:31:48):
All right, so they have a third down play right
now for the Rams. They're inside the twenty laid. They're
obviously in field goal position. But when you get down
at the point, they're at the fifteen yard line right now,
they're facing a third and six, and it would be
disappointing if you're the Rams if you can't get the
(01:32:09):
ball into the end zone. Stafford's got running room up
the middle and he is going to get to the
first down.
Speaker 9 (01:32:16):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:32:17):
Yeah, big run by Matthew Stafford, inching across the first
down marker. So the Rams will have a first down
close to the eight yard line.
Speaker 3 (01:32:26):
Yeah, first and goal, So here go the Rams.
Speaker 4 (01:32:30):
A really nice job of the Eagles defense, by the way,
with their picket line defense or picket fence defense. What
happens on these crucial third downs or when you're getting
near the goal line.
Speaker 2 (01:32:41):
Hold on, hold on, just an update.
Speaker 1 (01:32:42):
They're saying that his knee was down before, so they're
gonna go for it on fourth and one we go,
they run the ball.
Speaker 2 (01:32:49):
To Kien Williams against the first down, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (01:32:51):
Yeah, it's you line up all your defenders where you
need to stop, and so the Eagles did that. But yeah,
Stafford's knee was down just a half yard and Kiren
was able to punch it forward.
Speaker 1 (01:33:03):
Yeah, so now they have a first and goal at
the five yard line. You know, we were talking to
the overrunner in this game was what forty two and
a half a really low number, and you're thinking out
with the weather and everything else. But at least on
these opening drives, both teams are moving the ball very
very effectively, doing what they want to do, both with.
Speaker 2 (01:33:24):
Their passing game and the running game.
Speaker 1 (01:33:25):
So we'll see how this plays out, but early on
offenses in control and Kyraen Williams, who was certainly had
a nose for the end zone.
Speaker 2 (01:33:33):
What a revelation.
Speaker 1 (01:33:34):
Right his rookie season he was basically hurt and then
last year, out of nowhere, he becomes a Pro Bowl
running back actually led the NFL last year in rushing
yards per game and had an equally great season this year. So,
you know, when we talk about Sean McVay and his offense,
and we saw it in the heyday when they had
Todd Gurley operating with Jared Goff, he gotta have both.
(01:33:58):
And when Todd Gurley got hurt, suddenly that ram offense
went sideways.
Speaker 2 (01:34:03):
They just you gotta have a running game.
Speaker 1 (01:34:06):
It's gonna be interesting with the upcoming draft if there's
a more of a premium on some of these elite
running backs than we've see in recent years.
Speaker 3 (01:34:13):
Yeah, it's h's it's pretty impressive.
Speaker 4 (01:34:16):
And also, Dereck Henry, I believe, was the running back
who admitted that there is a text chain amongst some
of the the NFL's top running backs and they've kept
in touch all season long, and they've talked about how
to continue increasing the value of the position. Well, the
reality of the situation is the way you increase the
value of the running back position is make it undeniable
(01:34:40):
that every team needs one of these.
Speaker 3 (01:34:42):
Guys, one of these top dogs.
Speaker 4 (01:34:44):
And so yeah, I mean, if Dereck Henry represents the
AFC side on in the Super Bowl. And if Saquon
Barkley represents the the NFC side of the Super Bowl,
I think that statement's made, don't you think, Steve?
Speaker 2 (01:34:58):
I agree with you.
Speaker 1 (01:34:59):
And now they have a touchdown Rams and it is
Tyler Higby.
Speaker 2 (01:35:04):
Tyler, I remember he'd be.
Speaker 1 (01:35:07):
Last a week, had five catches really early on. They
had a chest injury, and they thought he might have
had some kind of broken ribs. But no, and here
Tyler Higbe catches one into the end zone. I look,
I'm near and dear to the Higbee family. His wife
was at our house just the other day. So this
is this is really he's a super guy. He's a veteran.
(01:35:29):
Came back from that oh whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 3 (01:35:33):
I don't know his knees.
Speaker 1 (01:35:34):
They were down.
Speaker 3 (01:35:35):
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (01:35:36):
Are they challenging?
Speaker 3 (01:35:37):
I think the ball broke the plane. Now over the plane.
Speaker 1 (01:35:40):
Yeah, okay, so they are not challenging. The rams are
on for the extra point. So two extra point is good.
So seven six rams.
Speaker 3 (01:35:48):
So so Tyler Higbee, he was to the bunch side.
Speaker 4 (01:35:52):
They had a three by one formation. They send him
in motion and now they have twins, right, so they
have two receivers to the right, two receivers to the left.
Higbee is the slot receiver. They sent him out on
a whip route, which basically it means he was looking
like he was going to run to the front pylon
to the left, and instead he broke off that route.
Speaker 3 (01:36:12):
He cut inside.
Speaker 4 (01:36:14):
He boxed out Gardner Johnson, the corner who was covering him.
Speaker 3 (01:36:18):
A mismatch against a.
Speaker 4 (01:36:19):
Big body receiver like Higbee, and he was able to
impose his will and cross the plane for the first
score for the Rams.
Speaker 3 (01:36:26):
That is the type of stuff that Sean McVay loves.
Speaker 4 (01:36:30):
Where can we find the mismatches at the goal line? Okay,
how can we get Higbee on a little guy? Well,
you put him in motion, you put him in the slot,
you have him work against the corner, and you do
something where he's catching the ball close to the middle
of the field. Beautiful execution by Higbee, great play calling
by Sean McVay.
Speaker 2 (01:36:50):
It's an amazing story for Higbee.
Speaker 1 (01:36:51):
We saw last year what happened against Detroit where his
knee got destroyed, I mean absolutely exploded, and I saw
the rehabit guy and just you know, especially a veteran
player ru for a guy like that, But you're thinking
he's a veteran, he's played ten years. You know his
time is coming, gone, right, they're gonna move on. And
he rehabbed it, and he came on late in the year.
(01:37:13):
And to see him getting the end zone in a
playoff game, big game like this against the Eagles is great.
Here here's something I'm sure Sean McVay is excited about.
Sixty seven yard drive, thirty three yards, passing, thirty four yards, rushing,
absolute balance, perfect absolute balance.
Speaker 4 (01:37:30):
And by the way, Stafford, how about that decision making
on the third and six right he's got he sees
the pick offense defense I was talking about of the
Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 3 (01:37:39):
They've got zone coverage.
Speaker 4 (01:37:41):
Everybody at the sticks are covered up, and instead of
thinking twice about it, and he's not the most mobile
guy anymore, Matthew Stafford takes up lunches, takes off lunches
forward and he's short of the first down marker. But
still it sets up your offense to have kyn Williams
punch it through. Either you convert there or you give
the Philadelphia the Eagles the ball back in the shadows
(01:38:04):
of their own goal post, So a good decision on
fourth down going for it.
Speaker 3 (01:38:08):
I love that drive from the Rams. I love the
drive we just watched from the Eagles.
Speaker 4 (01:38:13):
I think both of these starting scripts have been really effective.
Speaker 1 (01:38:16):
All right, So now the Rams saw the Eagles. Obviously
they were very conscious of Barkley as well. They should
be after for two hundred and fifty five yards against
them last time. Yeah, and Jalen Hurts killed them on
that opening drive through the air and of course more
importantly on that forty four yard touchdown run. So I mean,
(01:38:36):
how many what adjustments can you make early in a game?
Or can you? I mean we always saw, we always
hear about halftime adjustments. What's reality as far as in
game adjustments in terms of what your game plan is,
either offensively or defensively.
Speaker 4 (01:38:51):
I'm glad you asked, because the deal is this, that's
their opening script, right, So now you're not going to
fool the Rams. You're not gonna catch them again running
Jalen Hurts on a playing QB run because you did
on your opening drive, So you know that this is
gonna be something they're going to get back to in
this game. So now you have defenders who are looking
(01:39:12):
out for that, right. So that's one adjustment you make
you make on the sideline when you're talking to your
team and you're showing them the picture, it's like, hey,
out of this formation instead of the normal play action
or instead of it being sickwa. We cannot over commit backside.
We're gonna have to keep our eyes on Jailen Hurts
front front side. So follow your pollers, right, you know,
(01:39:33):
don't get frozen by the action in the backfield. Follow
your keys. If you're a linebacker, the pollers will take
you to the play almost one hundred percent of the time.
Speaker 1 (01:39:41):
All right. So they've run Barkley short gain about three
yards there. Uh, and so this is look, we're gonna
see plenty of Barkley. And yeah, you know where Barkley
is going to be most devastating is that the Eagles
can take any lead in the second I remember in
the game early against the Rams in the second halfy
a seventy yard touchdown run and a seventy two yard touchdown.
Speaker 3 (01:40:03):
Yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (01:40:04):
The only question remaining in this game right now is
both teams are doing pretty much what they won offensively,
and there's a drop pass that's not going to help
the Eagles cause.
Speaker 3 (01:40:13):
But.
Speaker 2 (01:40:15):
Is the snow again?
Speaker 1 (01:40:18):
The weather was report was we were going to see snow,
and we're going to see snow throughout the game. Well
right now there is no snow and we got five
minutes left in the first quarter. So is this going
to be a second half situation? That's interesting because imagine
if you go to halftime like what snow? There had
many snow. Then you come out of the locker rooms,
(01:40:38):
Oh here comes and you sort of made some adjustments,
and now you have to think about, wait, is that
going to work now that the weather has turned on us.
So these are all things that will have to be answered.
The Rams that's sacked Jalen Hurts. So this RAMS team
that recorded nine sacks last week against the Vikings have
stopped the Eagles three and out as Jalen Hurts gets sacked.
Speaker 4 (01:41:04):
And it was it was a coverage sack. Yeah, it
was that ball needs to come out. And here's what happened.
So you had the Rams looking like they were gonna
bring a six man pressure and then they bailed and
they rushed five. Now the rusher who was over their
left tackle, my lotta you're gonna see that he gets beat,
(01:41:24):
but he gets beat late, right yea. Originally it looked
like he was getting beat off the snap, and then
there was too much push on the center Jurgens who
did not hold up against the blitzing linebacker linebacker the
defensive lineman rather who did come. So it's one of
those situations where Jalen Hurts didn't have a pocket to step.
Speaker 3 (01:41:43):
Up into and you got beat late off the edge.
Speaker 1 (01:41:46):
That's disastrous, all right, So the Rams will take over.
Actually a decent punt return. So the Rams take over
leading the Eagles seven to six. Let's find out what
is trending right now. So Monts, my bold prediction in
this game was that Kyra and Williams have at least
twenty more yards rushing than say, Kwon Barkley. And right
(01:42:07):
now he has twenty nine yards in Barkley as nine.
So my mask says that's twenty yards.
Speaker 7 (01:42:12):
There's literally five minutes to go on the first quarter.
Speaker 8 (01:42:14):
Steve, I know, like I just I just want to
point that out before you start.
Speaker 1 (01:42:18):
You know, it's not like I've ever gotten ahead of
my sell.
Speaker 4 (01:42:21):
Not what I mean, Monty, in our entire time working
with Steve, do you know him to over exaggerate, over embellish,
or get.
Speaker 3 (01:42:28):
Too far ahead of it.
Speaker 8 (01:42:29):
Oh, just a smitch.
Speaker 3 (01:42:31):
It's like we're talking about two different people. Of course
he does.
Speaker 2 (01:42:34):
You guys don't know me very well.
Speaker 1 (01:42:36):
You actually know me better than I know myself.
Speaker 8 (01:42:39):
Yes, that was your bold prediction. Let's chat again in
about an hour and see where.
Speaker 1 (01:42:43):
We're did I preface by saying, and that's the way
it would be with five minutes to go in the
first quarter, say.
Speaker 8 (01:42:51):
That it would have been extra bold right there.
Speaker 3 (01:42:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (01:42:55):
So the Eagles are losing by one point because they
missed the extra point on their opening which was a
Jalen Hurts forty four yard run that ended in a touchdown.
He was also three for three in that opening drive
for twenty five yards in the air.
Speaker 8 (01:43:08):
They missed the extra point.
Speaker 7 (01:43:09):
Then the Rams responded on their opening drive, Matthew Stafford
connecting with Tyler Higbee for a touchdown. So LA is
up seven to six, five minutes to go on the
first Ley has the ball, and they just sat on
the broadcast that when Matthew Stafford came off the field,
he was grimacing, and when he sat down they went
to talk to him and they handed him a heating
pad to put on his ribs.
Speaker 1 (01:43:29):
Yeah, that was apparently when he ran for that first down.
Now they show a hit that he may have taken,
so so.
Speaker 8 (01:43:37):
He Yeah, he was giving a heat path a little bit,
so something to keep an eye on.
Speaker 3 (01:43:43):
You know.
Speaker 7 (01:43:43):
If I'm the Eagles and I know we hurt him
a little bit, I'm gonna try and hurt him a
little bit more.
Speaker 8 (01:43:47):
That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 7 (01:43:48):
We still have another Divisional round game in the NFL
later today Bills and Ravens. That kickoff is at six
thirty Eastern and the winner is going to face the
Chiefs and the AFC Championship game for that one. In baseball,
closer Tenner Scott and the Dodgers are in agreement on
a four year, seventy two million dollar contract.
Speaker 8 (01:44:04):
Yes, the rich get richer. In the NBA.
Speaker 7 (01:44:06):
The first game underway, Spurs have the early lead against
the Heat. Twenty to twelve is the score late in
the first quarter. In men's college hoops, Northwestern up on
Number twenty Michigan forty eight to forty seven. Halfway through
the second half, and with five minutes to go in
the first half, Number eighteen Memphis is beating Charlotte thirty
three to sixteen. Number twelve Michigan State stayed undefeated in
(01:44:29):
their conference, extending their winning streak to eleven after defeating
Number nineteen Illinois eighty to seventy eight, and on the ice,
the Senators have edged the Devils two to one.
Speaker 1 (01:44:39):
Back to you guys, all right, Monci, thank you very
very much, Red Zone Radio.
Speaker 2 (01:44:45):
Well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (01:44:47):
Early in this game, there's no doubt that Matthew Stafford
has fallen in love with Tyler Higbee. He just keeps
throwing him the ball. He's a tall tight end, he's
a veteran tight end, and he's a mismatch. Yeah, And
the Rams and a smart quarterback that are in quarterback
like Matthew Stafford are going to take advantage unless the
Eagles have a different play.
Speaker 2 (01:45:07):
One guy that has.
Speaker 1 (01:45:08):
Yet to catch a pass for the Rams is Cooper
Cup and I would imagine, in fact, he has yet
to be even targeted in this game, So you know,
it's sort of nice to you know, know that. Oh yeah,
by the way, I haven't forgotten he's here, a guy
that won the Triple Crown three years ago in terms
of receiving.
Speaker 2 (01:45:28):
In fact, one of the greatest receiving years of all time.
Speaker 1 (01:45:31):
Offensive Player of the Year Super Bowl MVP Cooper Cup
had the dream season three years ago as the Rams
ended up as Super Bowl champions. So right now they
have a third and three, they are at their own
forty one yard line, and really it's imperative for the Eagles,
who had five sacks of Stafford last game, and they
(01:45:53):
just sacked Stafford on third down. So I was just
thinking about, well, that earlier game this year, we talked
about Saquon and his big day, but equally big was
the fact that the Eagles sacked Stafford five times for
forty five yards and losses.
Speaker 2 (01:46:08):
And there's their first sack of the game.
Speaker 4 (01:46:09):
Yeah, and the Eagles they did it rushing only four
So that does not bode well for the Rams upfront
against his defensive line. You look a Jalen Carter, a
guy who they were excited about out of Georgia, a
big threat rushing over anybody.
Speaker 3 (01:46:25):
But it was just a simple et, which means.
Speaker 4 (01:46:28):
Your end comes crashing down on the guard and he
did so successfully.
Speaker 3 (01:46:32):
And Jalen Carter is one of.
Speaker 4 (01:46:34):
These big men who can move so he looped around
got to Stafford. It was within two seconds of the
ball being snapped, So that was a perfectly executed defensive
line stunt for the sack.
Speaker 1 (01:46:46):
I want to bring Bo in here for a second.
He of course an interested party, his longtime allegiance to
the Eagles and at times sudden allegiance to the Rams.
What are you seeing so far? He's surprises for you
so far were in this game both.
Speaker 6 (01:47:00):
I was gonna mention while you guys were talking. I
don't know if he's on the broadcast, but Quiny and
Mitchell is questionable return.
Speaker 3 (01:47:05):
For the Oh yeah, he heard his shoulder, Yeah, which.
Speaker 6 (01:47:07):
Is going to open up the passing game for the
Rams if he cannot come back into the game.
Speaker 1 (01:47:12):
So yeah, So it's gonna be interesting here.
Speaker 3 (01:47:15):
You know.
Speaker 2 (01:47:16):
The weather's on the way.
Speaker 1 (01:47:17):
I feel like for both these scenes there's a sense
of urgency, like, let's get our points now.
Speaker 6 (01:47:22):
If I'm the Rams, I'm doing everything I can to
go up like a score or two before the weather.
Yes kicks in.
Speaker 3 (01:47:27):
Yes, the winter is coming.
Speaker 1 (01:47:29):
In hinter is coming. A winter warning, by the way,
so bad on the East coast. Tomorrow's inauguration day, President
Trump will have his inauguration indoors. Not unprecedented. By the way.
President Reagan's second inauguration was indoors with a horrific winter
storm back in nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 3 (01:47:48):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (01:47:48):
So yeah, the inauguration, they're going to go deep here
the eagles and it is oh wow, what happened there?
Speaker 10 (01:47:55):
That's gonna I don't know why they threw a flag.
I'm gonna imagine that's a DEPI flag uless there's a
push off. I missed what happened there because the hit
was after he tried to make Smith went up for
the catch and did not catch it. I think they're
calling a personal bowel against the RUFUS.
Speaker 4 (01:48:13):
Yeah, they're they're gonna say that Witherspoon he put a
shoulder into the helmet and he.
Speaker 3 (01:48:20):
Yeah, whether Witherspoon, it's into his helmet.
Speaker 4 (01:48:26):
Witherspoon actually he signaled, He's like, hey, I hit it
with my shoulder. It's like yeah, but here's the deal.
You get hit with a forum, you could hit with
your shoulder. You get hit with your helmet. If you're
aiming for defenseless targets helmet. Yeah, it's going to be
targeting every time. Our personal fact.
Speaker 1 (01:48:42):
Boy, things have changed. Where's the Jack Tatums of the world? Man?
When they used to dismantle those receivers.
Speaker 3 (01:48:47):
And here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (01:48:48):
Like this is this used to be part of Randy
Moss's career, of some of the great old time receivers careers,
which is when you when you run down the middle
of the field, it might be Rodney Harrison waiting to
take your head off. It might be one of it
might be you know, back in the day with the Eagles, Dawkins.
You know what I mean, Brian Dawkins, you were you
(01:49:09):
were risking health going over the middle of the field.
But those days are gone.
Speaker 3 (01:49:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:49:13):
You know, the legendary Lynn Swan, Hall of Famer, Super
Bowl MVP of the great Steeler teams back in the seventies.
He had a shortened career and some people say, well,
how's he.
Speaker 2 (01:49:23):
In the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 1 (01:49:24):
He only caught some three hundred something past this And
I'm always saying, first of all, he was dominant, Okay.
The second is the reason his career was so short
is that that guy suffered more concussions I think than
any receiver. I mean, he was targeted so many times
it's amazing. He even got nine years in the NFL,
so much different game, and I have no problem with
(01:49:45):
that and the protection of the players. So the Eagles
right now have a second and ten after that fifteen
yard personal foul penalty against the Rams, still in their
own territory.
Speaker 2 (01:49:56):
But it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (01:49:57):
The Eagles are definitely looking to throw the ball and
they should. In fact, Hurts is gonna throw the ball again,
a short pass right there, so it's not just Saquon Barkley.
Right now, Barkley has three carries for nine yards.
Speaker 4 (01:50:11):
Yeah, the game plan is, hey, we're gonna spread this
football around in the first half, and they've targeted now
Goddard a good amount toward the you know, close to
the line of scrimmage. Uh.
Speaker 3 (01:50:22):
They obviously have handed the.
Speaker 4 (01:50:23):
Ball off to Saquon Barkley, but the QB run is
going to be a part of the game. They're taking
this inexperienced rim defense and they're saying, hey, look, we're
not gonna be one trick ponies. If you came into
the game thinking you were just gonna shut down Saquon Barkley,
you got another thing coming.
Speaker 2 (01:50:37):
All right.
Speaker 1 (01:50:37):
The snow is beginning to fall, and now Barkley has
brought a one off goodbye, wow, see you lateron Barkley touchdown.
I mean he was not touched on that play, Sakuon
Barkley Brettel's off.
Speaker 2 (01:50:54):
How far was that run there?
Speaker 6 (01:50:55):
That was seventy yards?
Speaker 1 (01:50:59):
That was sixty two yard touchdown run by Barkley. So
again the first time he played the Rams, he had
touchdown runs of seventy and seventy two sixty two yard
touchdown run. So the two touchdowns for the Eagles Jalen
Hurts forty four yard touchdown. Round. Now Saquon Barkley sixty
two yard touchdown run. He was not touched.
Speaker 6 (01:51:20):
Yeah, that photo of Jared Versus trailing Saquon as he
goes into the zone is going to do numbers in
Philadelphia this week. We'll play you that.
Speaker 1 (01:51:26):
Oh yeah, this time the extra point is good. So
the Eagles lead the Rams by a score of thirteen
to seven. But it's just it's amazing sometimes when you
see a play break like that. Yeah, especially when you
have a feature back like Saquon Barkley. How it is
that a handoff literally goes untouched. Sixty two yards were touchdown?
Speaker 4 (01:51:45):
Well, and here's the way they did it. So the
Eagles are in a three by one formation. The one
to the right side was Goddard, who was on the
line of scrimmage in a three point stance as the.
Speaker 3 (01:51:56):
Tight end, and they got exactly what they wanted.
Speaker 4 (01:51:59):
So with the the Eagles, we're hoping for is to
get four defenders for their four offensive blockers to the
right side. This is the simplest play in football right now.
It's called the inside zone.
Speaker 3 (01:52:10):
So you have got heard.
Speaker 4 (01:52:11):
He kicks out that man on line of scrimmage and
then from right tackle to center, they just gather bodies
as they're going into their zone blocking responsibilities and the rams.
Speaker 3 (01:52:21):
The only person left home.
Speaker 4 (01:52:23):
Was a deep safety whose heels were at fifteen yards
beyond the line of scrimmage because this was a short
yardage play and Saquon Barkley just burned by him. He
literally waved to him on his way into the end zone.
To peydrt Man, that was a beautifully executed, very simple
run play. But when you have a special running back,
those simple run plays can turn into home run balls.
Speaker 1 (01:52:44):
Well, the Eagles had over three hundred yards rushing in
that first encounter with the Rams. The Rams right now
are holding the Eagles to just nineteen point two yards
of carry. So the Eagles have been held to just
nineteen point two yards per carry.
Speaker 3 (01:53:01):
Yikesikes.
Speaker 1 (01:53:02):
The Rams are gonna have to figure out something quick
or this game could get away from them. We'll continue
on with our coverage here this game obviously, so get
you ready for well, the game that everyone's been talking about,
the Bills and the Ravens. This is red Zone Radio
all right, rolling along here on this huge NFL Sunday
Red Zone Radio. We're live from the tire rack dot
(01:53:24):
com studios.
Speaker 2 (01:53:25):
It is definitely snowing now.
Speaker 1 (01:53:27):
So the snow has started, and they said once it starts,
it will not stop. The Rams answered back a big
forty eight yard pass to DeMarcus Robinson. By the way,
my daughter Paris also baby sits his daughter. I will
say this, Rich, you know, you and I we we
we work to provide for our families.
Speaker 3 (01:53:46):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (01:53:47):
But you want a good racket, and that's baby sitting
for NFL players kids. Holy mackerel, I'm telling you you're
talking about the tips are okay? I mean, you know
word spreads. He's he's really good and this everything else.
It's quite a deal for him. Kyrienn Williams. Now has
taken the ball down about the twenty yard line for
(01:54:09):
the Rams. So the Rams are answering right back. It
is definitely snowing. You get a sense. Now, look at
that snow. It is now coming down as promised, and
they had warned that once the snow starts, it will
not stop. It will continue on for the balance of
this game. But that was a huge pass play to
DeMarcus Robinson. Great call right for the Rams. You're like,
(01:54:31):
oh man, she just shock Barkley runs sixty two yards
for a touchdown. First play, let's go deep and DeMarcus
Robinson under duress made a phenomenal catch.
Speaker 3 (01:54:42):
Well, he won at the high point of the football.
That was an underthrown ball from Stafford.
Speaker 4 (01:54:47):
He made an amazing adjustment on it and he basically
stole an interception and turned it into a reception for
the Rams on the deep shot.
Speaker 1 (01:54:56):
All right, Cooper cup just caught his first pass of
the game. So the Rams down around the ten yard
line and the snow is now coming down.
Speaker 3 (01:55:05):
All right. It's the perfect temperature for snow.
Speaker 4 (01:55:07):
It's thirty three degrees outside it's just got I mean, it's.
Speaker 2 (01:55:11):
Gotta be thirty two to freeze.
Speaker 3 (01:55:13):
Yeah, it's gonna it's gonna stick.
Speaker 4 (01:55:15):
It's going to it's going to I mean, this is
going to look like a snow game by the third
by the start of the third quarter, it's going to
be covered.
Speaker 1 (01:55:24):
Yes, all right, So officially the Rams now have a
third and two at the twelve yard line. They're gonna
run the ball and Kyra Williams has stopped Yep, okay,
he gets stopped on that play. So what do you
do here, Rich, I mean, fourth down in two? Do
you just take the points make it a three point game?
Or do you try to go for the first down here?
(01:55:45):
I think the offense is coming out. They're gonna go
for the field goal attempt here, Yeah, which I think
is the smart play.
Speaker 3 (01:55:51):
Take the points on the road lost the rule of heaven.
Speaker 6 (01:55:54):
Yeah, I don't know. I disagree with this entirely. I
go for it, I mean.
Speaker 11 (01:55:58):
On the road in philadelp Well, I understand what they're saying,
but it just seems like, yeah, you just get a
sense that scoring is going to be at a premium
and now it's just going to come down to mistakes,
the field goal attempt is good.
Speaker 1 (01:56:14):
So now the Eagles lead the Rams bay a score
of thirteen to ten. So one weather suddenly becomes a factor.
Is you know when you make mistakes, you know, it's
not just about making big plays, it's.
Speaker 2 (01:56:27):
Like avoiding big mistakes.
Speaker 4 (01:56:28):
Yeah, here's the reason why I support the decision, and listen.
I am completely willing to have the debate and maybe
even be commenced otherwise. But you just watched Saquon Barkley
rackoff of sixty sixty plus yard touchdown rush. You drove
the field after really winning on a ball that was
(01:56:49):
supposed to be intercepted just three plays ago, and you're
facing a long two like that's a fourth and a
long two yards. So if you get stuffed, you ignite
the fans, and then the Eagles come onto the field
filled with momentum. I'm just take the points in that situation.
(01:57:10):
I know it sounds like the cowards way out, but
the snow has started to fall. That changes the dynamic
a little bit because all of a sudden the weather
has shown up. I don't mind the three points, I
don't mind the field goal there.
Speaker 1 (01:57:21):
Well, the problem for the Rams now moving forward is
forty four yard touchdown run by Jalen Hurds where he
was barely touched. Yeah, and a sixty two yard touch
around by Saquon Barkley when he wasn't touched.
Speaker 2 (01:57:34):
I mean, you can't have any more of those.
Speaker 1 (01:57:36):
Yeah, hey, you know you take those two plays away,
it's you know, that's easy. But outside of those plays,
they have thirty one total yards. They haven't really had
much else except two home run balls hit. So the
long ball's killing the Rams right now. And you got
he can't have that happen. And especially what's crazy is
(01:57:58):
that Barkley did this a couple of times against them.
Speaker 3 (01:58:00):
The first time.
Speaker 1 (01:58:01):
Yeah, you know, seventy yard touch and run, seventy two
yard touchdown run. I don't know, Rich, I mean, you
can't allow those kind of plays to happen. You gotta
you gotta let you gotta make the Eagles earn it.
If they got to grind it out, fine, give them credit,
but just getting you know, long touchdown runs like that, No,
that's gotta stop now.
Speaker 4 (01:58:22):
Yeah, I mean, like you said, without those those two runs,
the Eagles have thirty three yards and.
Speaker 3 (01:58:28):
No touchdowns either.
Speaker 4 (01:58:29):
You know, it's like it's that's that's the name of
this game so far, is the Eagles exploiting a RAMS
defense that is over committing. They're over committing to Saquon Well,
not Saquon Barkley necessarily, but in the Jalen Hurts run
they did. Saquon Barkley completely froze the backside of that defense,
(01:58:49):
even though there were two offensive linemen pulling front side.
And then on the second play they over committed to
the line of scrimmage. They had a lot of bodies
at the line of scrimmage, but they were all able
to be blocked because the Eagles have the numbers, and
so you just leave a deep safety behind the line
of scrimmage to handle anything that breaks through on a
(01:59:12):
short yard it's play.
Speaker 3 (01:59:13):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (01:59:14):
That's just not going to be good enough to stop
a guy like Sakwan Barkley. So the Eagles defensively, from
a scheme standpoint, need to adjust.
Speaker 1 (01:59:22):
Yeah, big kickoff return for the Eagles, some really sloppy.
Speaker 3 (01:59:28):
RAM forty four yard line.
Speaker 1 (01:59:30):
That was some really awful tackling by their special teams
to allow them get at least ten to twelve more yards.
It is definitely snowing now, folks, the field is turning away.
They're showing highlights from Barkley's big runs against the Rams
at are very dry Sofi Stadium earlier this year, but
(01:59:50):
that is not the case. It's a white out situation
right now in Philadelphia. So again, we've got a lot
of time left here in the first half and the
Eagle are going to see what they do on this drive. Again,
two big plays have been it for the Eagles. The
rest of it has been pretty pedestrian, and now they
give the ball to Barkley barely gets a yard.
Speaker 2 (02:00:09):
We're gonna have much.
Speaker 1 (02:00:10):
More on this game, and yes we are gonna preview
the game coming up the game. We all anticipate it's
going to be a classic Bills and Ravens. This doesn't
get any better if you're an NFL fan. It's a
playoff day. Two tremendous games going on, Eagles, Rams later
the Bills and the Ravens. This is the Red Zone Radio.
We are broadcasting live from the ti rack dot Com
(02:00:31):
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Speaker 3 (02:00:43):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:00:43):
So the Eagles have the ball. We're moving along quite easily.
Suddenly as the snow falls, they were handing the ball
off to Berkley, and then all of a sudden, Jalen
Hurts misfires, he throws a sideline pass badly overthrows, and
then another coverage sat as the Rams get their second
sack of the game. That's two sacks for eighteen yards
(02:01:04):
and losses. These quarterbacks taking these huge losses. What happened
with these quarterbacks understanding you can't take huge losses. I mean,
you got to be able to get rid of the ball.
Throw the ball away, but Jalen Hurts eats it again.
So the Eagles have punted back to the Rams, who
will start deep in their own territory.
Speaker 4 (02:01:24):
Well, look, I mean the reality of that stunt was
it happened fast. The quickest point, or I should say
the quickest route from one point to another is a
straight line. And that's basically exactly what Eagles defensive end
or I should say Rams defensive end Jared Vers did
he set up the left or the right tackle slammed
(02:01:46):
into the right guard with a looping defensive tackle around him,
so that took the tackles attention away and he was.
Speaker 3 (02:01:54):
Able to get straight to the quarterback.
Speaker 4 (02:01:56):
When it happens that quickly, you almost can't blame the
quarterback because the only thing he should do is take
the sack or try to escape where he can where
safety is. Otherwise he could throw a pick and it
could be costly.
Speaker 2 (02:02:09):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:02:09):
So the Rams did a little trickery there resulted in
a pass play to Tyler Higbee, who fumbled the ball.
Speaker 2 (02:02:17):
And I think the fumble was legit because as.
Speaker 1 (02:02:21):
He was going down, he was on top of an
Eagles player's body, so I don't think that his knee
had hit and but the Rams did recover and no,
he was not on the ground that is that was a.
Speaker 4 (02:02:35):
Yeah, So so fumble. It was a flee flicker te
screen is what we're looking at.
Speaker 2 (02:02:41):
Here, right work beautifully.
Speaker 4 (02:02:43):
Kyron Williams gets the ball. It looks like it's going
to be a straight up handoff and then all of
a sudden, he turns around, tosses it back to Stafford,
who finds Higbee out to the right side, and he's
got a blocker in front of him. Now, you're absolutely right,
because he was still on top of a.
Speaker 3 (02:02:59):
Defense under.
Speaker 4 (02:03:02):
That was absolutely a fumble and the Rams are very
lucky that one of their players dove on the ball.
Speaker 3 (02:03:09):
That's a heads up play because.
Speaker 4 (02:03:10):
Otherwise that could have been an absolute disaster for the
Rams to trail by three with six point forty remaining
in the second quarter.
Speaker 1 (02:03:18):
Yeah, and the play right after that was a near
interception that was passed, that was thrown behind DeMarcus Robinson incomplete.
Speaker 2 (02:03:26):
The snow now is well whiting out the field.
Speaker 1 (02:03:29):
It is, as advertised, a steady stream of snow right now,
and they say this will be continuing through the end
of the game. So by the time we get to
halftime right now, we got six and a half minutes
to go in the first half. I would imagine when
the teams come out for the second half, it's just
going to be a blanket of snow out there.
Speaker 4 (02:03:49):
So and by the way, DeMarcus Robinson, to your point
where Stafford almost threw that interception because it was underthrown.
The only reason why he wasn't coming out of the
break faster was because you almost slipped.
Speaker 3 (02:04:00):
At the top of his route.
Speaker 4 (02:04:02):
It looked like he was going to run the post
and then he broke it off and he ran the corner,
you know, So it was you know, it was that
was the route concept he was supposed to run. But
I mean, the field conditions are slippery out there.
Speaker 1 (02:04:13):
Yeah, right now, the Rams on a third down kiro
Wims got blown up for a loss, so the Rams
are now gonna have to punt.
Speaker 2 (02:04:19):
So again, going back to the Rams decision.
Speaker 1 (02:04:22):
To go for the field goal earlier instead of going
for it on fourth and two, I'm with you, Rich,
I mean, it is going to be tough sledding literally
the rest of the way for these teams and their offenses.
Speaker 2 (02:04:36):
My concern with Jalen.
Speaker 1 (02:04:37):
Hurts is he and I Bo, I'm gonna have to
defer to you on this and the oh wow wow Yeah,
a fumble on the punt recovered by the Eagles, so
it's getting a little treacherous. But how's Jalen Hurts throwing
the ball under these conditions?
Speaker 6 (02:04:56):
That ball has to feel like a rock at this point,
doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:04:58):
Yeah, Yeah, like.
Speaker 1 (02:05:00):
When when it gets cold, that slippery rock and that's
not good.
Speaker 4 (02:05:03):
Yeah, from the perspective of a you know, a former center.
When it's a cold game and you're trying to you know,
like wrap your hand around the ball and get the
normal traction or friction between your fingertips and the football,
it's really difficult because the cold weather it stiffens up
the leather. It makes it so that whatever gloves you're wearing,
(02:05:24):
or if you're bare handed, you're not getting the same
tactile field feel. Also, when when you're talking about sub
zero temperatures, which which there were sub zero temperatures that
kick off and they've come up a little bit as
the snow has come down, you you lose feeling to
your fingertips, you know, so you don't have as good a.
Speaker 3 (02:05:43):
Control over the football as you would normally.
Speaker 1 (02:05:45):
By the way, I'm going to make it emission, so
you know, forty years ago I was working for the Raiders,
and when you have an official NFL football in your hands, yeah,
there are very few better feelings. I mean, the grip
on that ball is insane. I mean you you you
say you've had well, I've had, I've carried I had.
You haven't had an NFL football. I mean, these are
(02:06:08):
this is different level football, and I have to admit, right,
now I would take a football home. You know, this
is still when I was in my twenties and my
buddies and I we would go because I just love
throwing a football like that.
Speaker 3 (02:06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:06:21):
I have decent sized hands, so I got you know,
I could really get a grip and just absolutely zip
that ball and then my friends you want to catch it?
Ah man, I mean the failing of the ball. But
like you said, that whole dynamic changes with weather conditions.
And you know, we talk about playing in snow, maybe
not as difficult as a driving rainstorm.
Speaker 3 (02:06:42):
You know.
Speaker 1 (02:06:42):
The worst obviously is a wind, you know, when you're
trying to you know, throw the football around. But slippery
is slippery. That's and we've already in just in the
last minute, right, we've seen a fumble.
Speaker 2 (02:06:55):
We've seen a couple of fumbles.
Speaker 3 (02:06:57):
Uh so fun and it was yeah by the Eagles.
Speaker 4 (02:07:01):
Yeah, I'll say this, Steve, like, so that's all the
physical issues with just the ball alone, and then you
broad in the aperture to include all the receivers who
are trying to run their routes. And like I mentioned,
on the DeMarcus Robinson route, he had to take like
probably six more steps than he normally would, and they
were longer plotting strides coming out of his break then
(02:07:23):
he would typically. You know, you break down quick, you
get out of that break in your route, and you
provide a target for your quarterback. So the timing's off
in the pass game, you know, unless you're running stop routes.
But then you got to trust the guy is going
to be able to stop at the top of his route,
turn around, and if and if he falls down, you're
throwing it to a defender most likely. So there's got
(02:07:43):
to be that trust there. The conditions can have an effect.
Now again, if it's extreme heat or extreme cold, if
it's rain or wind, all of those are worse than snow.
But snow still has a factor on the outcome of
a game. And so this game in the second quarter,
just the way it's being played is going to be
vastly different than the game that we played in the
(02:08:04):
first quarter.
Speaker 1 (02:08:04):
All right, So the Eagles after the punt start inside
their own ten yard line and the first play is
just a very short run up the middle by Saquon Barclay.
I mean, if you're the Eagles right now, Rich, what
are you taking some chances? You're gonna. I mean the
Rams came out and threw that big ball to help
set up that field goal to DeMarcus Robinson. Are you
(02:08:25):
gonna take some chances? You got premiere receivers. What are
you gonna do here? You got second and long and
you're deep in your own territory.
Speaker 4 (02:08:32):
I listen, deep in your own territory. Yeah, but you
still have the lead, and it's it's not a commanding lead,
but but I would say get some passes out to
the sideline, closer to the line of scrimmage because you're
dealing with the Rams pass rush that has gotten to
your quarterback twice in consecutive drives and has ruined the party.
Ah man, the Eagles. I mean this is you can't
(02:08:54):
have these unforced.
Speaker 3 (02:08:55):
Down my line.
Speaker 1 (02:08:56):
I got called for a Illiga procedure call there, So
in back second and thirteen, dangerous time for the Eagles
here because if you don't get a first down here,
now you're punning out of your own end zone.
Speaker 4 (02:09:07):
And that's also a problem because you got to remember
the kicking game is influenced by the cold football and
the ball handling too, and when you're when you're when
you're punning near your own goal line. You get into
some real dangerous.
Speaker 3 (02:09:21):
Situations, all right.
Speaker 1 (02:09:22):
So on second down, Barkley carried the ball for barely
a yard and he's pointing at the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (02:09:29):
Was he limping a little bit on that?
Speaker 3 (02:09:31):
You know what he may have been Let's see where now.
Speaker 1 (02:09:34):
No, he just seemed to be favoring the right leg
just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (02:09:38):
It looked like, now, I don't know, maybe that could
be his normal gait or maybe he was.
Speaker 1 (02:09:43):
Well, now you got third and fourteen from your own
five yard line, So this is this is where things
can get very very tricky. So third and fourteen from
your own five.
Speaker 4 (02:09:52):
You gotta get off that. You have to move the
football because you can't be punning from the endline. You
get into the safety conversation.
Speaker 1 (02:09:59):
Yeah, this is a little screenplay and that's going to
get a first down.
Speaker 2 (02:10:03):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (02:10:04):
So the Rams backed up and they get the ball
out to Saquon Barkley and on a little screenplay on
third and fourteen, he gets the first down.
Speaker 4 (02:10:14):
Let me tell you why this was such a brilliant
play called by the Eagles. Okay, so it worked, obviously,
that makes you like it a lot more But here's
the other reason. So what are you in danger of
in the end zone? If a hold is called on
your offensive lineman, it.
Speaker 3 (02:10:29):
Can be a safety.
Speaker 4 (02:10:30):
So what do you do you're near your own end zone?
Run a screen pass because the offensive linement don't have.
Speaker 3 (02:10:35):
To block for very long.
Speaker 4 (02:10:37):
They give them an initial punch at the line of
scrimmage and then welcome the rush. Then Jalen Hurts, all
he has to do is connect with Saquon over the
top of that rush, and you have got her.
Speaker 3 (02:10:46):
Leading the way from beautiful play design.
Speaker 2 (02:10:49):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:10:49):
So the Eagles now picked up another first down, I believe,
and we got two forty three to go. The clock
is running right now. Both teams have their full allotment
of three timeouts. Romani in this first half of the
Eagles would love to get themselves into scoring position and
add to this three point lead.
Speaker 2 (02:11:07):
But short passes.
Speaker 1 (02:11:09):
Right now, last couple of plays have worked beautifully for
the Eagles.
Speaker 4 (02:11:13):
Stevens, That's exactly what I said when we started this drive.
Speaker 3 (02:11:16):
I said the Eagles have to keep the ball close to.
Speaker 4 (02:11:18):
The line of scrimmage. The rush is getting home and
they're doing a perfect job of it. The screen pass
to Barkley the little flare route to game. Well there,
just keep the ball close to the line of scrimmage in
the pass game, limit the rush, and get the Rams
a little bit worried. It was a nice run play
by game Will too. I'll tell you what as a
secondary punch to Barkley. He's impressed me all season long.
Speaker 1 (02:11:40):
Well again, it just seems like the Rams are allowing
them to get yardage here.
Speaker 2 (02:11:46):
I the Rams seem to.
Speaker 1 (02:11:48):
Have lost a little bit of their aggression. Will continue
on coverage of this game. We've had to the two
minute warning. Eagles up thirteen to ten over the Rams.
Also get you caught up on the big matchup later
between the Bill and Ravens. This is Red Zone Radio
all right. Once again we are broadcasting from the ti
raq dot Com studios. Time out on the field right now.
(02:12:09):
We got thirty seconds to go in the first half.
Eagles leading the Rams thirteen to ten. It's been a
grind of a drive for the Eagles to get into
Rams territory. Remember this drive started inside their own ten
yard line. They're now at the thirty two yard line
of the Rams, where a second and eight the snow
(02:12:30):
continues to fall and right now, that looks like we
got a.
Speaker 2 (02:12:35):
Sack a fumble.
Speaker 1 (02:12:36):
There's a fumble on the field and it is recovered
by the Eagles, but a huge loss on second and eight.
So Jalen Hurts gets stripped of the ball on the sack,
recovered by the Eagles, and all of a sudden they're
out of field goal range.
Speaker 3 (02:12:49):
Yeah. I hate that the Eagles keep doing this. I
hate it.
Speaker 4 (02:12:53):
I think the script. Stick to the script that's working.
The screen game, the short pass game, the run game
is effective with both Saquon and Jalen Hurts. Get the
ball into Gamewell's hands close to line of scrimmage, get
the ball into in the passing game, into Saquon's hands
at the line of scrimmage, or Goddard, let's stop like
running these twins formations in deep routes. First and foremost,
(02:13:17):
your offensive line is struggling to block the pass rush
of the rams. So Jalen Hurts is sacked for a
third time, and this time they almost coughed up the football.
And secondarily, aj Brown just missed on the deep shot.
I mean, these receivers are having a hard time hold
onto football and so his Hurts, so stick to the
short game. I don't understand what Nick Sirianni's doing. I
(02:13:38):
think it's going to ruin this this game for them
that they're currently leading right now.
Speaker 1 (02:13:43):
Al right, so there's three seconds left and that's third
and twenty one. So they let the clock running down
to three seconds for a hail Mary's what they're gonna do.
So the fumble took them out of field goal range,
So now on third and twenty one, they're going to
run a hail mary play.
Speaker 2 (02:14:01):
You mentioned a J. Brown.
Speaker 1 (02:14:02):
He had what looked like a potential touchdown, but he
lost control of the ball and by the time he
got control of the ball, he was out of bounce.
Speaker 2 (02:14:10):
So that was the end of that play.
Speaker 1 (02:14:12):
So the Eagles interesting allow the clock to run down
to set up a hail mary is basically what they're
doing right now.
Speaker 6 (02:14:23):
You asked me earlier how I felt about Jaellen Hurts
having to throw the ball in this game. I don't
feel good about Jalen Hurts throwing the ball when the
weather's perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:14:30):
I know you well, we'll see what they do on
this hail mary play. It is the snow is coming down.
I mean, when they get out for that second half. Man,
that field is going to be absolutely blanketed with snow,
all right, So we'll have one more play here and
then we get to halftime. We're going to start digging
(02:14:51):
in on that matchup between the Bills and the Ravens.
So here we go. One more play here in the
first half, and again under the these conditions, anything could happen.
Speaker 3 (02:15:01):
I'm anything.
Speaker 1 (02:15:02):
It's equally slippery for a defender as it is for
a receiver.
Speaker 3 (02:15:05):
So I get it, I get it. I understand.
Speaker 4 (02:15:08):
Everybody gets a little greedy, and everybody wants a situation
where they take a chunk out of the defense and
maybe put.
Speaker 2 (02:15:15):
The Well, there's no Hail Mary because he got sacked again.
Speaker 4 (02:15:18):
So they cannot hold up against this Rams rush.
Speaker 1 (02:15:21):
So that is halftime. Jalen hurds four sacks, forty one
yards and losses on those four seat sacks. Yeah, listen,
that's a net twenty five yards passing a halftime for
the Eagles.
Speaker 3 (02:15:31):
And by the way, Jalen Hurts did the right thing,
you know what I mean. Don't try to.
Speaker 4 (02:15:34):
Heave it downfield or play hero ball here. The half
is about to tick off the clock, you know, you're
leading by three, so take the sack.
Speaker 3 (02:15:42):
I get it.
Speaker 4 (02:15:43):
But this offensive line is struggling up front to block
the Rams for longer than a couple of seconds. Right,
They're having a very effective pass rush up front. The
downfield pass game is not working. You just tried to
connect with aj Brown, as you perfectly stated, Steve, it
took him so long to collect that football, even though
it was almost all the way down to the one
(02:16:03):
yard line.
Speaker 3 (02:16:04):
He couldn't.
Speaker 4 (02:16:05):
And so you waste it down throwing deep down the field.
It's it's not worth it, especially when the run game
and the short pass game has been so effective for
the Eagles all game long.
Speaker 1 (02:16:15):
Well, Chris was one of those defenders of the idea
of the Rams taking that field goal, and he said,
it's gonna be a while before we see anymore scoring
in this game.
Speaker 2 (02:16:23):
And we haven't seen any.
Speaker 1 (02:16:24):
Scoring Chris in this game since then.
Speaker 9 (02:16:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (02:16:27):
Yeah, points and by the way it's coming down, points
are gonna be a premium. I think of the second
half is it always feels like when we get one
of these games where we think like it might be
a foot race, sometimes it just turns into this kind of.
Speaker 1 (02:16:39):
But but here Here's the thing, and I've heard many
players talk about this, these conditions favor offense in this sense,
is that they know where they're going. In other words,
you know, the receiver knows where he's going. You got,
you know, a defense backing up and reacting to it.
One misstep and a guy could be off to the race.
Speaker 10 (02:17:00):
Yeah, it does feel like, you know, especially I think
we saw it in the what was it the Cleveland
Steelers game earlier this year, a little bit of slip
and slide from the defenders. You kind of get this,
and I believe there was quite a bit of you know,
it's it turns into turnover city. But also at the
same time, scoring opportunities just open up across the field.
Speaker 1 (02:17:19):
Halftime stats Matthew Stafford ten to fifteen, hundred and twenty
six yards and a score, no picks, Very steady numbers there.
He was stacked once Jalen Hurts nine to twelve, not bad,
but just sixty six yards and again four sacks, forty
one yards and losses. But how about this Eagles one
hundred and seventy one yards rushing at halftime, Well, one
hundred and seventy one yards rush yet halftime that's my pay.
(02:17:41):
Eleven carries ninety four yards. Jalen hurts five carries sixty seven.
Speaker 3 (02:17:45):
That's my point.
Speaker 4 (02:17:46):
And that's the whole story here, Steve, is the fact
that I don't know if it's Nick Sirianni is so
worried about maybe the NFC Championship game against the Commanders
that he needs to make sure that he's keeping his
receivers engaged.
Speaker 3 (02:18:03):
I mean, like, why not do what works. One of
my favorite things about playing in New England was some
games Tom.
Speaker 4 (02:18:10):
Brady would throw the football fifty times and sometimes he
would throw it twenty and guess what, we won a
lot of football games. It's because whatever the game ask
you for. If it was a weather game, we're gonna
throw the ball close line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (02:18:24):
We're gonna run the game.
Speaker 4 (02:18:25):
We're gonna we're gonna major in the screen game and
the draw game. You know, those delayed handoffs because if
the pass rush is invited upfield, you can sneak some
rushes underneath. All those things work in weather, all these
deep passes, especially with Jared Verse backing the ball to
talk that he did this week, having a field day
in the backfield against your offensive line, What are you doing?
(02:18:48):
It's like Nick Sirianni isn't watching the same game the rest.
Speaker 3 (02:18:51):
Of us are watching.
Speaker 4 (02:18:53):
Give the ball to Saquon Barkley. He almost broke the
single season rushing record. Throw it out to him in
the flats. Let Al Hurts run the football. What are
we doing? If I walked into the locker room as
an offensive line with the offensive lineman with the Eagles,
I would give my offensive coordinator an earful I would say,
what are we doing? We're throwing the football like it's
(02:19:14):
early September in Miami. Could we please play football the
way the weather is dictating it. This is a ridiculous
game plan for Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (02:19:24):
You mentioned Jared Verse.
Speaker 1 (02:19:25):
What a rookie season, right, made the Pro Bowl as
a rookie, which is very rare. Two sacks by the way,
in the first half for him out of Florida State.
Began his college career at Albany. That's where he started
his college career, and it up at Florida State and
now first unbelievable. All right, let's start on this game
coming up here between the Bills and the Ravens, much
(02:19:47):
like this game between the Eagles and the Rams. This
is a rematch, and just like the game earlier between
the Rams and the Eagles that was one sided, it
was even more one sided the match up between the
Ravens and Bills. Remember this was when the Ravens start
off with a couple of unlikely losses.
Speaker 2 (02:20:03):
They were stumbling around.
Speaker 1 (02:20:05):
They had a home game against the Bills, who were
looking like dynamite early, and the Bills got annihilated thirty
five to ten in a game where Derek Henry had
one hundred and ninety nine yards. Remember we were like, wow,
Derek Henry's back. He had an eighty seven yard touchdown
run that It's a long time ago, but it was
this season.
Speaker 2 (02:20:25):
It was I think a lot of people are just
curious rich.
Speaker 1 (02:20:28):
You know, when you get lose to a team, okay,
but when you get annihilated, especially when you think you're
pretty good. I'm sure the Bills go into that game like,
all right, Ravens are struggling a little bit, we're playing
some good football, and then you get.
Speaker 2 (02:20:41):
Blown out psychologically.
Speaker 1 (02:20:44):
Is that something that can stay with you all these
months later or is that long forgotten?
Speaker 3 (02:20:51):
It's long forgotten.
Speaker 4 (02:20:52):
And here's why, even though you're going to watch plays
from that game because from a personnel stand point, you know,
you want to view you know, how you played against
their exact players. From the standpoint of scheme, you know,
sometimes there's carryover from earlier in the season all throughout
(02:21:12):
the season.
Speaker 3 (02:21:13):
But Steve, you know this as well as I do.
Speaker 4 (02:21:15):
So much changes in just a month in the NFL,
let alone months. You know, you have injuries, you have
evolutions of playbooks, you have plays that have sort of
just been scrap heaped, you have other plays that have
been added to the game plan. The the nothing is
stagnant in the NFL, So you can only think about
(02:21:36):
what's happened in the past so much because it doesn't
really help inform you. And by the way that that
pendulum swings both ways, same thing for the Ravens. You
know you're gonna turn on that game film of the
Buffalo Building you say, oh, wow, we're world beaters.
Speaker 3 (02:21:49):
We beat the Bills by But yeah, it doesn't matter
right now. So so you you glean.
Speaker 4 (02:21:53):
What you can from the film in terms of personnel
and matchups. If there's any holdover play the gameplay that
you can you can sort of latch onto tenancies things
like that. Sure you can look at that, but in
terms of the score of that game, all that's been
deleted because the postseason is a brand new season and
(02:22:13):
that was so many months ago.
Speaker 1 (02:22:14):
All right, let's find out what is trending right now.
All right, So my bull prediction is the loser. Okay,
that's that's hello, Kyroon Williams.
Speaker 8 (02:22:24):
Second half the.
Speaker 1 (02:22:24):
Kira Williams runs for one hundred and fifty yards in
the second half of is you never know.
Speaker 3 (02:22:28):
You never know.
Speaker 8 (02:22:29):
I'm going to break off a tackle and then run.
Speaker 1 (02:22:32):
I know my prognostication skills are weak, but I'm gonna
predict he doesn't have one hundred si years.
Speaker 8 (02:22:37):
Yeah, no's that's probably a safe bet. But it's all right,
it's all good. We'll see what happens in the second half.
Now that it is snowing in Philadelphia, Eagles are on
top thirteen to ten. Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 7 (02:22:49):
He has five carries and sixty seven yards and a
touchdown on the ground. He's nine of twelve for sixty
six yards in the air. Saquon Barkley, though eleven carries
ninety four yards and a touchdown on the laid Matthew
Stafford in the air ten of fifteen, one hundred and
twenty six cards and a touchdown Kyron Williams nine carries
for forty six yards.
Speaker 8 (02:23:08):
Still to come.
Speaker 7 (02:23:09):
You guys have trying to break it down the Eagles,
excuse me, the Ravens and the Bills. Kick off is
at six thirty Eastern time. There is a video of
Zay Flowers circulating that he's running, but he's running straight,
no like lateral, no pushing off, none of that.
Speaker 8 (02:23:23):
So we'll see. It's not expected that he's gonna play.
Speaker 7 (02:23:26):
But there is a video of video circulating that Zay
Flowers is out there running and warming up in the
NBA one game going on the heat or on top
of the Spurs sixty four to fifty two, halfway through
the third quarter. In the men's college hoops in overtime,
Number twenty Michigan beating Northwestern seventy six to seventy three
with about sixteen seconds to go. Northwestern has the ball,
(02:23:46):
so we'll see how this one ends. Number eighteen Memphis
is beating Charlotte fifty nine to forty three with about
ten minutes to go in the second half. And number
twelve Michigan State has extended their winning streak to eleven
after beating number nineteen Illinois eighty to seven D eight
and Yes, the Australian Open continues Novak Djokovic when it's
fourth round match in straight sets.
Speaker 8 (02:24:05):
He is headed to the quarterfinals where he will face
Carlos al Karaz.
Speaker 9 (02:24:09):
Oh.
Speaker 7 (02:24:09):
Last thing here that I'll tell you just something they
said on the broadcast with Sakon Barkley. They had to
wrap his left wrist, so he came out of the game.
Speaker 8 (02:24:18):
Had they tackled him. He was holding his hand.
Speaker 7 (02:24:20):
They took off his glove, they wrapped it all up
and put his glove back on on his left wrist.
Speaker 8 (02:24:25):
It's just something to keep an eye on.
Speaker 1 (02:24:27):
Yeah, well he seems pretty indestructible to me.
Speaker 8 (02:24:30):
Oh yeah, wellh Gary's.
Speaker 1 (02:24:32):
Ninety four yards by the way, moncie, I'm gonna ask
everybody this. So I'm watching the broadcast here they're showing
Tony Dungee and Jason Garrett on the sideline talking and
Dungee has headgear of when it's that cold, and I'm
watching Jason Garretty as nothing covering his ears.
Speaker 11 (02:24:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:24:48):
I don't know about you, but when I'm in really
cold weather, My ears go quick the first thing, like,
it gets painful.
Speaker 2 (02:24:56):
Yeah, painful.
Speaker 1 (02:24:57):
And I'm literally in pain watching Jason Garrett with his
ears exposed in that cold weather in Philadelphia.
Speaker 8 (02:25:05):
Yeah, but you know, he's probably like power through. Probably
he probably can't feel him anymore. There probably feels like
just yes, they start aching, I know aching.
Speaker 7 (02:25:13):
I mean Sean McVay looked like he was just wearing
a light little jacket, I know, And I was like,
he has to have like electric heaters under that jacket.
Speaker 8 (02:25:21):
It looked like just like a zip up. I was like,
how are you not freezing?
Speaker 1 (02:25:25):
I don't know, Rich, did your ears get cold? I
don't know why my ears are so sensitive, but when
my ears get exposed to really cold weather, it doesn't
take it a lot for them to not like pain,
like they're hur team.
Speaker 3 (02:25:38):
Yeah, yeah, I'll say this.
Speaker 4 (02:25:41):
My ears in snow games cold games were literally the
last thing I was thinking about. I was, you know
what it was for offensive linemen. I'm sure every old
lineman will be nodding in agreement to this statement. It's
your fingertips. It doesn't matter if you're wearing gloves, it
doesn't matter if you're not. It doesn't matter what you
do on the sideline. Your fingers feel like shattering glass.
(02:26:04):
Every time you lunch and you hit a face mask,
a freezing gold face mask, or the side of someone's
helmet or the chest place so the plate of their
shoulder pads. It feels like your fingers are breaking every
time you make contact with hard plastic or.
Speaker 1 (02:26:18):
How long does it? I mean when when you finish
a game like this, I mean I want to tie.
Speaker 2 (02:26:23):
Like really cold weather, and obviously tonight.
Speaker 1 (02:26:25):
Is really gonna be cold. Yeah, I mean we're talking
sub ten degree weather at Orchard Park. Do you go
in a hot shower after the gate? How does that work?
Speaker 4 (02:26:36):
Well, you get in a hot shower immediately, and your
body will light on fire.
Speaker 2 (02:26:43):
I was gonna say, right, So think of.
Speaker 3 (02:26:45):
It this way.
Speaker 4 (02:26:45):
Like imagine if you took your hand for three hours
and you left it in an ice bath, right, Okay,
and then the first thing you did is you turned
on like one hundred and two degree one hundred and
four degree shower and you put that hand in that shower.
All of those nerves would be so deadened and numb
as they wake up, it feels like a million needles
(02:27:09):
poking at them. It's not good for you. So what
you do This sounds counterintuitive, but after a game like that,
like in Orchard Park later on tonight between Baltimore and Buffalo,
you go into the shower and you turn it on
cold because even though the water temp is going to
be like, I don't know, say forty five to fifty degrees,
(02:27:30):
it'll be tap cold, it's still going to be so
much warmer than the temperature you're coming out of that
it's going to feel like you're in a warm shower.
Speaker 3 (02:27:39):
And then you gradually, I'm not even.
Speaker 4 (02:27:41):
Kidding, this is whateverthing makes sense, You gradually increase the
temperature of the shower until your.
Speaker 3 (02:27:46):
Nerves stop barking. But it takes you hours to feel
better after that.
Speaker 1 (02:27:52):
Hey, don't forget after Our shower podcast is going episode.
If you missed any of today's show, check out the podcast.
Just search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcast,
and then follow rate and review the podcast. Again. Just
search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcasts, and
you'll see the show posted.
Speaker 2 (02:28:07):
Right after we get off the air.
Speaker 1 (02:28:08):
We were talking about Derreck Henry going off for one
hundred and ninety nine yards against the Bills earlier this year.
Here's an interesting set about Derrick Henry. So he's had
eight playoff games in his career, and he's had at
least one hundred and fifty yards rushing in four of
those eight games, one fifty. In fact, the only other
(02:28:29):
running back who's ever had four to one hundred and
fifty yard postseason rushing days is Terrell Davis, Which is
why Terrell Davis, in a very shortened career, was able
to still, i think rightfully so earn his place in
the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. So, you know,
(02:28:50):
we look when we look at this game between the
Ravens and Bills, and by the way, both these teams
have just had so many bitter disappointments. Remember both these
teams had home games against Mahomes and the Chiefs and
they both lost, and it was like that was their year, right,
the Chiefs are going to have to hit the road,
and they go to Buffalo and they win. They go
(02:29:11):
to Baltimore and what you and I agree was one
of the worst offensive game plans for a team in
NFL playoff history. I don't know what the Ravens were thinking,
you know, having Lamar Jackson in a one score game,
throw with the ball what forty times? It was crazy.
He didn't make any sense at all.
Speaker 3 (02:29:28):
But you know.
Speaker 1 (02:29:30):
There's a feeling by many as the Chiefs now will
sit at home waiting for the winner of this game,
that not only the battle between these two really good
football teams is going to be fierce enough, but then
you add the weather elements of what they're going to
have to battle through. Whichever team survives this game, what
(02:29:54):
kind of condition are they going to be in when
they head to Kansas City next week?
Speaker 4 (02:30:00):
Man, I'll say this, whoever survives this game is going
to be war beaten.
Speaker 3 (02:30:08):
Oh there's no question.
Speaker 4 (02:30:10):
I mean, you're you're going to You're going to have
to survive this game.
Speaker 3 (02:30:14):
I mean that's the truth.
Speaker 4 (02:30:16):
So whatever version of the Baltimore Ravens or the Buffalo
Bills the Chiefs are getting to see at home in
Kansas City for the AFC Championship game is probably going
to be one that's that's been through an emotional victory
and extreme temperatures and all the things that we've already
talked about about that. So it's look, the Chiefs are
(02:30:39):
in a favorable position again, I.
Speaker 3 (02:30:41):
Mean they hardly are.
Speaker 1 (02:30:42):
Steve, you really are, I mean, because like I said,
like you say, I one hundred percent agree. Whoever survives
this game between the Ravens and Bills tona evil, I mean,
is going to be messed up, all right. Second half
is underway. Rams try a deep ball to Cooper Cup
on the sidelines and it wasn't even close. That was
not a close call. So the Rams try to come
(02:31:04):
out throwing the ball. Let's see what they try to
do now. They hand the ball off to Kyra Williams
gets very little up the middle. By the way, that
game later on between the Ravens and Bills, with such
severe weather conditions could come down to a kicking game.
And the bad news is, you know Tyler Bass and
obviously Justin Tucker, who's one of the greatest kickers in
(02:31:24):
the history of the NFL, NEI that one of them
had a good year.
Speaker 3 (02:31:28):
Tucker.
Speaker 1 (02:31:28):
Tucker really struggled and Bass miss five extra points this year.
When so when you have two struggling kickers and then
you tack on really bad weather conditions and then it
comes down to decision time late in the game, you
go for the field goal. Here, what are we're going
to do that could be a big play in this game.
(02:31:48):
All right, third down for the Rams and it's going
to come up short of the first down. So Rams
opening drive of the second half and they are going
to have to punt the ball away. And you just
get a sense with the rest of this game between
the Rams and the Eagles, rich again avoid the big mistake.
Speaker 4 (02:32:05):
Yeah, And to be perfectly honest with you, I'm I'm
liking the way the Eagles are playing defense. They're giving
the Rams enough room in the in the past game,
you know, to They're keeping everything in front of them.
And the only thing I would clean up is, look, yeah,
two home run shots that you gave up to Saquon
(02:32:26):
Barkley and to Jalen Hurts. You cannot over commit now
too many bodies to line of scrimmage because if you
do that and you get sucked up close within that
five yard box, all takes is one broken tackle and
either one of those two players can beat.
Speaker 3 (02:32:40):
You, especially Saquon.
Speaker 4 (02:32:42):
So you got to play the line of scrimmage a
little bit more honest than they've been. But I like,
I like overall the way excuse me, yeah, the way
the the the Eagles are playing defense against the Rams.
They're keeping Cup and Puka Nuku in front of them.
I got confused. They're talking about the Eagles offense, but
I like that. And then conversely, outside of the big plays,
(02:33:04):
I just explained it though. I like what the Rams
are doing. They just have to be more buttoned up.
When Hurtz has the football in his hand and it's
a playing qb run or Sakwan Barkley has an opportunity
to break one tackle, because he'll break one tackle and.
Speaker 3 (02:33:18):
Make you pay all the way downfield.
Speaker 1 (02:33:20):
Yeah, right now in a three point game, do not
take any unnecessary chances.
Speaker 3 (02:33:24):
Just don't do that.
Speaker 1 (02:33:27):
There's plenty of time as we just start the second half.
So the Eagles get the ball back inside their own
twenty yard line, and we're going to see very slow
progressing offenses from this point on. I will continue on
with our coverage of this Rams Eagles game and our
predictions for the game coming up between the Ravens and Bills.
This is Red Zone Radio all right, once again coming
(02:33:48):
down the stretch here on our version of Red Zone
Radio live from the tyrag doc on Studios. So the
Rams interesting dynamic to open this second half they're just
throwing the ball down the field, and they had an
incomplete pass to Pooka Akua, but just completed a big
pass to Cooper cop Well.
Speaker 4 (02:34:06):
What they're doing is they're trying to exploit the obvious
hole in the Eagles defense. With Kenny Mitchell out, all
of a sudden, you have the defensive Rookie of the
Year candidate that's helped anchor the back half of this
defense off the field with a shoulder in.
Speaker 1 (02:34:22):
Oh Kyron Williams has just broken a big one. He's
inside the ten yard line. Kyron Williams breaks one off
for the Rams. They're inside the ten and so.
Speaker 4 (02:34:32):
And by the way, this was so well blocked up
front by the Rams. You had bodies on bodies, Kyron
Williams just following blockers as I mean, the Rams offensive line,
their tight ends and even a couple of their receivers
just had the Eagles on skis right there. This is
what you should do. If you are going to pump
one downfield, then get started on running the football right
(02:34:55):
at the heart of the defense because it's going to
loosen up the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 3 (02:34:59):
So I like the idea of it.
Speaker 2 (02:35:02):
Oh No, fumble by the Rams.
Speaker 3 (02:35:05):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (02:35:06):
Geez, So it was gonna be a great handoff that
Kyron Williams and the ball never even got in his hands. Look,
and he fumbled the ball for a big loss there.
Speaker 4 (02:35:16):
Wow, I'll tell you Karen Williams and Matthew Stafford, the
biggest problem there was at Wow, the.
Speaker 2 (02:35:22):
Ball slipped out of his hands.
Speaker 1 (02:35:24):
It looked like it slipped out of Stafford's hands as
he was looking at it slipped out of his hand.
Speaker 3 (02:35:30):
Yep, yep. The biggest problem is right there.
Speaker 1 (02:35:33):
You see it just squirt it out of his hands
before he actually made the handoff.
Speaker 3 (02:35:38):
You got it.
Speaker 4 (02:35:38):
You got to carry out the the You have to
finish the handoff before you try to carry out the fake, right.
You know, this is one of the things they say
you can't do too much. You got to you gotta
keep the main thing, the main thing. The main thing
is handing that football.
Speaker 3 (02:35:51):
Off all right.
Speaker 1 (02:35:52):
By the way, you want to thank Monsi for all
her help today, bo Chris unbelieable are supporting crew. As
you know, is Apps the best. There's the reason the
show is as good as it is.
Speaker 3 (02:36:03):
Yeah, there's no doubt.
Speaker 1 (02:36:05):
It ain't us, No, no, no, no, it's in spite of us,
is how we like to say that. All right, third
and goal for the Rams right now, But what an
impressive opening drive for the Rams in the second half,
trailing thirteen to ten. They've been able to get the
ball down the field obviously and very much in field
goal position. But right now a third and goal from
their thirteen from the thirteen yard line, and you just
(02:36:28):
don't want any kind of mistake here, Stafford rolling, he's
trying to find an opening. He gets sacked, So that's
better than trying to force a play. Take the three points,
tie this game up. Of course, kicks in this weather
are anything but a sure thing. First of all, you
have to snap the ball, as you said, as a center,
just gripping the ball can be a challenge under these conditions.
(02:36:51):
And then the holder's got to have a clean hold,
and then your plant foot's got a hold.
Speaker 2 (02:36:56):
There's a lot that goes.
Speaker 1 (02:36:57):
Into any kind of kickah under slippery conditions.
Speaker 4 (02:37:01):
You gotta credit your offense on two big plays, the
pass the thirty yard ball to Cooper Cup and then
Kyraen Williams, and really credit to the offensive line for
getting bodies on bodies and.
Speaker 3 (02:37:12):
Getting you inside the twenty yard line.
Speaker 2 (02:37:14):
The kick is good, so we have a tie game.
Speaker 3 (02:37:17):
Yep, yep, yep.
Speaker 4 (02:37:17):
It sets yet for that, and in a game where
all of a sudden points are going to be few
and far between and hard to come up with, that's
exactly what you hope for.
Speaker 1 (02:37:27):
All right. So yeah, it was a thirty yard pass
play and then a thirty yard run. Those two plays
where all the Rams needed to get into a field
goal position. So we got seven thirty seven to go
in the third quarter. Eagles and Rams are tied, all right,
So let's talk about the game coming up between the
Ravens and the Bills again. The temperature will get into
single digits as that game progresses. It is going to
(02:37:51):
be cold. I mean, the difference from what we see
in temperature wise in this game in Philadelphia, there's a
big difference between thirty degrees and.
Speaker 3 (02:38:01):
Ten Oh my gosh, is there every I mean?
Speaker 1 (02:38:03):
I mean, and so ten degrees suddenly makes it a
different game. How do you see this, rich, how do
you see it breaking down? Give us a score?
Speaker 3 (02:38:10):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:38:10):
So, so people will often say like, well, how cold
is cold?
Speaker 3 (02:38:15):
I mean?
Speaker 4 (02:38:15):
How different is it playing in you know, twenty degree
weather versus you know, ten degree weather. I always say this,
I say, get in the hottest possible hot tub you
could possibly get into. Right, I don't know what your
temperature threshold is. Let's say it's one hundred and four degrees,
one hundred five degrees, then crank it up to one
hundred and seven, crank it up to crank it up
(02:38:36):
to one hundred and twenty. Tell me if you're comfortable
in that hot tub. I mean a harsh fever is
one to oh three. Yeah, you know that's only five
degrees hotter than your body temperature.
Speaker 3 (02:38:47):
Normally, is right? You know what I mean?
Speaker 4 (02:38:49):
Like like, we worry about degrees because every degree matters.
Speaker 3 (02:38:54):
So that's what I employ you.
Speaker 4 (02:38:56):
To realize how cold that is for three hours of exposure.
And that's if the game doesn't go to overtime. To
answer your question, though, Steve, how I see this one
working out? I bounce back and forth, and I'm sure
you have to. Buffalo's hosting Baltimore. I feel like Lamar
is going to make that one or two mistakes that
have been trademark in his postseason career, and we're going
(02:39:20):
to watch him win his third straight MVP. But we're
gonna say to ourselves, but he can't seem to keep
it all together in the postseason.
Speaker 3 (02:39:27):
That's the way I see this going.
Speaker 1 (02:39:28):
Buffalo has not lost a home game this year, and
they're a slight underdog in this game.
Speaker 3 (02:39:34):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (02:39:35):
Yeah, think about that. They're eight and zero at home,
and yet they're like a one point dog at home.
Speaker 3 (02:39:41):
That's insulted, and.
Speaker 1 (02:39:42):
It's like, I'm sorry, why are they a one point
dog at home when they have a loss at home
the entire year? And I do think that earlier blowout
loss at Baltimore is going to play into this, So
I agree with you. In my picks against Monci, I
actually have the Ravens, but that's because she picked the Bills,
so I had to take the Ravens. But in my
(02:40:03):
own pick right here, I'm just trying to get the
visual who's walking off a winner and I see the
Buffalo Bills, and I think it's gonna be a touchdown game,
low scoring, maybe seventeen ten, something along those lines, But
I say the Bills as well, don't go anywhere. Much
more coming up here on Fox Sports Radio