January 11, 2019 • 37 mins
Doug previews the divisional round of the NFL playoffs by wondering if history will repeat itself. He defends Rams head coach Sean McVay from recent criticism and tells you why he’s the right coach even if they lose at home in the playoffs for the second year in a row. Doug also talks to 3x Super Bowl Champion and NFL on FOX analyst Mark Schlereth about the divisional match ups and which new head coaches will work.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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What's this weekend about? I think this weekend's about, uh, Doug,
It's about football? Like, yeah, it's about who will play
(01:05):
for the a C and NFC Championship technically correct. I
think it's about will history repeat itself? Right? Like? Are
our thoughts about teams become embedded, one in terms of
recent history, but also over time. And if you look
at all of these matchups, all of them, there is
(01:28):
some sort of historical implication. There's some sort of historical
reference where you can go, yeah, like I've seen this before,
I know exactly how it ends. Right. Like in in
the eighties, if there was an action movie, they almost
always ended the same, right, millions or hundreds of thousands
(01:53):
of bullets flying, and yet somehow the hero made it through.
And and it's what made surprise endings surprise endings like, wow,
I didn't see that happening. One of my favorite movies
is the movie Fallen. Do you remember the movie Fallen?
(02:15):
No Ramos ramas your sineaphile, You don't remember Kirk got
Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas Fallen, No Um Fallen was Denzel Washington,
John Goodman, Donald Sutherland. John Lesgau was lit in it. Yeah,
he's like he takes over bodies, right, Does he take
(02:37):
over bodies of people? Yes? Yes, yes, although I don't
think les Gau was in a dude this is then.
It was it was like there's like an evil spirit, right,
basically like the devil gets passed from the body to body.
You know the movie, you got the actors a little script.
Don't worry. Ramos is entire equilibrium is thrown off. His
(02:57):
wife's pregnant with their third and he's trying to figure
out how do I do it? How I do it?
And when I'm saying not the immaculate conception, but like,
look at john I mean he doesn't doesn't look like
a guy that's still but he's Johnny still got them anyway.
One of my favorite parts of the movie Fallen is
(03:21):
that there's a surprise ending where good doesn't necessarily reign
supreme right, or the movie seven, Movie seven, What's in
the Box? What's in the Box? But it's because so
many times good wins out in movies, because history tells us,
(03:45):
you know, the end of the day, how many times
are you gonna see Rocky? Hey, I don't rock Will
pulls this one out right. It's what makes Empire strikes
Back such a great movie, because here is a franchise
movie where good doesn't win at the end of the movie.
(04:09):
And if I'm spoiling, Empire strikes Back for you, you've
been stuck under a rock for thirty five years. And
that's where we are this weekend. This isn't good versus evil.
It's the Patriots are at home in the playoffs against
the Chargers, right, come on, man, Like you ask anybody
on the street. They were like, well, the Patriots are
(04:30):
gonna win that game. Why because I got seventeen years
of data, eighteen years of data that tell me what's
gonna happen in this game. No matter how much I
think of Philip Rivers and how tough he is, he's
played this game in the a f C Championship before.
Granted Ladinian Thomason didn't play because of a knee injury.
(04:53):
I've seen the Patriots play the Chargers when Terrence Ko
got an interception at Qualcom and instead of staying down,
he tried to run it and he fumbled. And I
have fourteen and two Charger team lost at home to
the Patriots. I've seen it before. I know how it ends.
The Kansas City Chiefs. I think the Kansas City Chiefs,
(05:17):
and I'm done a complete one eighty from picking the
game on Calherd yesterday. The Kansi Chiefs just have way
too many dudes, way too much talent, and they've lost
second half leads in the playoffs, even last year to Tennessee,
previously to the Colts. I feel like they're gonna run
it up on the Colts. But I've seen this before
(05:37):
and it's history. I've seen and Andrew luck led Indianapolis
Colts team that wasn't as good as the Kansas City
Chiefs beat the Kansa City Chiefs after trailing by the
way they show by thirty one points. I've seen it.
I know what it ends. That always ends. Heck, I
saw the Rams last year lose to it is to
(06:00):
a team that matched up well with Todd Gurley. That
take away took away Todd Gurley. I've seen it. I've seen.
I've seen the Saints beat the Eagles this year. I've
seen the Saints be nearly unbeatable at home for years,
even with crummy teams. Of course, when they go to
the super Bowl, they're awesome at home. And so I
(06:21):
guess the question heading into this weekend is will history
repeat itself? All right? Brady Belichick at home playoffs, it's
a wrap cold weather. They're so good, they're so good
(06:42):
that we assume they have to have cheated right. Like,
one of the things that Spygate and deflate Gate play
into is there's no way anybody could be this good
this long, when the truth is they've been this good
this long. And you may say yourself, god La, but
you're just you're blind to it. I'm not a Patriot fan.
(07:04):
I'm really not, not not close. I also realized that
the whole Spygate thing was simply look for for fifty years,
you've had assistance up in the booth or on the
sideline trying to read the signs and make the correlating
what's the correlating offense correlating defense? Right, That's why they
have signs. That's why they don't hold up a sign
(07:24):
that says what they're gonna do. You gotta you know,
people been trying to steal signs for years. All they're
accused of doing is filming instead of doing it with
their eyes genius. And then deflate Gate thing like, what
(07:45):
does that come from? It comes from the remember the
week before they played the Baltimore Ravens and used uh
and use some formations that confused the Baltimore Ravens. And
then Tom Brady is like, hey, maybe should read the
rule book. And if you remember, the Colts were coached
by Chuck Bcgonal, a former Raven assistant who just happens
(08:08):
to go to the league and happens to mention, hey, something,
check out the footballs. Like here's how there's there's nothing
to the Deflatekate thing. It's a joke. Do you remember this?
Remember the NFL was gonna do a year long investigation
on the inflation rate of the footballs and deflation rate
over the games. How you noticed that there's never been
an announcement of the findings in that because they didn't
(08:31):
find nothing, because they probably did nothing wrong. They're so good.
This is like I I told this to my my wife,
and I just think I said this on air two
days ago. My mother in law once asked my wife
if I was doing steroids. I was like, that's the
greatest compliment anybody has ever given me. Like, what do
you mean? It's like, well, if you think that in
(08:52):
order to get big, I had to cheat, then that
means I must be looking pretty big if you had.
If the Patriots to be this good had to cheat
and they didn't cheat, that must be there pretty good.
So I am fascinated by this weekend. Fascinating because we
(09:16):
do study history, because if you don't study, your deemed repeated.
But history does have a tendency to repeating itself. That's
why we use the expression history repeats itself. Isn't it
like Napoleon attacked Europe and Russia, and when they attacked Russia,
it was he was in the winter. Never fight a
war on two fronts, and Napoleon was little. And you
(09:37):
know what, Hitler did the exact same thing. She repeats itself.
The Patriots looked, look outmatched, outmanned. Tom Brady looks old.
They don't have the talent at wide receiver. Rob Gronkowski
can't run anymore. But somehow they'll find a way into
that damn Super Bowl. Annoying the a lot of everybody
(10:00):
outside of New England, right, I'm sure at some point
it comes to an end. I just until it does,
I'm left with the old cliche history repeats itself. I
think Kansas City is far more talented than the Colts.
I don't think the Colts have actually beaten anybody who's
any good. I don't think the Texans are any good.
(10:21):
I don't nobody actually think the Texans are all that good.
They have some good players, but great players is not
making a great teammate. The most talented teams in the
a f C are the Chiefs are, the Chargers are?
The Patriots are? The Steelers are even the Ravens? Tell
(10:42):
me who those teams? The Colts are beaten, Like I
just I don't think it's close. Whereas the where's the Chiefs?
And granted they haven't beaten them all, but we saw
the shootout with the Rams, We've seen them split with
the with the Chargers had a huge lead, we saw
them lose to the Patriots. You've seen him play the Stealers.
Like I think, we're judging their records and even their
(11:03):
stats against completely different levels of competition. But trying to
rid yourself of history, especially when it's recent history, is
really hard. And that's the challenge for the Rams. That's
the challenge for the Chargers, that's the challenge for the Chiefs.
That's the challenge for the Eagles. Heck, Eagles are trying
(11:24):
to repeat his champions will repeazas champions. Right. That's why
branding really is important, because it means you're establishing a
positive reputation, and reputations are built over time and consistent success,
and once you get it, it's hard to shake. Will
(11:45):
history repeat itself? As the cliche says, let me a
fascinating weekend. That's what this weekend to me is about. Yeah,
we're gonna decide who places the st champion tip. Yeah,
we'll find out, like if the Chargers can win in
Pittsburgh and can it's the city in Baltimore and in
New England, Like, tell me there's a better tell me
there's a better run in football. I don't know of
(12:06):
it in Seattle. I think of the place they won. Okay,
they want in Kansas City, they want in Pittsburgh, they
won in Baltimore, they want in Seattle. That's unbelieved. That's
that's remarkable. Right. Foxboro is like the last uh mountain
to climb. It may be the highest mountain. It actually
(12:26):
might not be that high mountain. It might be one
of like, man that Foxboro. Let's step out and then
you get you like you know, there's another mountain. I'll
tell you. I actually I'll tell you what what what
New England is? Can I give you a quick there's
a quick geography lesson really quick. John Middle Cops is
gonna join us a second. This is a really good one.
So I want you to remember that. Um, do you
(12:48):
know what the highest peak on the Eastern Seaboard is?
Anybody you want to take guess? Ramos music? Fire, Okay, fire,
you wanna take a guess? What was the question? What's
(13:08):
the what's what's the highest? What's the highest peak on
the Eastern Seaboard? Oh? Gosh, it was highest peak in
the United States? Is it Mount McKinley. Uh, It's Mount Whitney,
isn't it. I believe the highest summit in the world
is Mount Everest. Right, the highest peak is uh, well,
(13:32):
in the contiguous United States? Right is I think Mount Whitney. Right,
it's Mount Whitney and Sierra Nevada's it's at fourteen. All
the rest I believe are in Alaska, Like Denali is
in Alaska. That's at So when I tell you that
the highest peak in New England is Mount Washington, how
(13:55):
high do you think it is? Huh? Eight feet? It's
like so you think, and you can you can hike it.
Go in the summer you can hike it. Um, and
it's really fastening. You can actually drive up. There's a
trail where you drive up it, and it's there's five
different like I don't know what it's called environments or whatever,
(14:15):
where you get to the top and it's like tundra,
like frozen tundra. But it's also the coldest and windiest
spot in the United States. Which why isn't Mount Whitney
colder and windier? Right, It's because you've got everything coming
down from Canada and like this is like this peak
(14:36):
that basically is the one peak in between all these
winds coming off of Canada and the and the Atlantic Ocean.
So it's about not just topography but location wise that
at which looks like I can walk that today, and
you can in the summer. You're gonna walk right up it,
no problem, White Mountains of New Hampshire. But when you
get to the top, you're like, damn, this is really hard, cold, challenging, freezing.
(15:00):
It gets the minus seventy degrees. They've clocked winds there
and over two miles an hour. There's a building at
the top. It's actually chained to the mountain. That's what
the Patriots are like. It doesn't look like much. Tom
Brady's in his forties. Rob Gronkowski can't run there's no
real special playmakers on defense, on the defensive front. But
(15:21):
you gotta go into New England. The weather is gonna
be bad. They always something happens with the headsets. The
footballs might be inflated, might be deflated. They might have
your signals. I don't know. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug dot Leap Show weekdays in noon
eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app, Fix the Quarterback, Fix your Team.
(15:42):
That's why all these McVeigh clones are getting hired. But
there's there are some that believe, many people in the
media believe, and a lot of fans that it deal legitimizes,
delegitimizes Sean McVeigh if they don't win a playoff game
this year? Is that fair? Right? Is that? Is that?
(16:10):
Is that a fair? Uh? Statement? Again, I don't know.
I don't believe it's actually fair or right or accurate
at all. Because the league speaks, and even though the
league is a copycat league, and we've reached this kind
of point of almost embarrassment where if you, if you
(16:31):
bump shoulders with Sean McVeigh at any point in time,
you somehow become a possible head coaching candidate. But is
that is that fair? Yeah? I think that's what people think.
(16:53):
People think that Sean McVeigh has to win this weekend
against the Cowboys. Are it's not legitimate what he's done.
The perception, John, you are, John Ramos, you are a
Rams fan, legit, old school l A Rams fan, l
A Rams fan. Um. How are the Rams before Sean
(17:18):
McVeigh took over putrid? Okay, what level of putridity were
they talking about? The year? Well, yeah, the year in
l A. And but the year before that in St.
Louis correct, when Jeff Fisher was the year before they
were seven and nine. Okay, but here, here's here's what
he inherited. Okay, people say he inherited four and twelve,
(17:40):
and he did, and they were laughing stock of the league.
And people thought Jared Goffton couldn't play, and suddenly Jared
goff became a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. Right. But think
about this, Since two thousand and four up until last year,
that's thirteen years of football, they had not been above five,
(18:01):
not one time. The last two years they have one
to combined twenty four games. It's an average of twelve
wins last year, they want eleven this year. Is that improvement? Yes,
when you win two more games, that's better than the
year before, after winning seven more games the year before that?
What are we doing here? Look? Do I think that
(18:23):
it's ridiculous that you're like, well, like the the Arizona
Cardinals their PR department. I don't think it's the Arizona
Cardinals and their general manager really believing this, but their
PR department did say that, you know, Live Kingsbury is
friends with Sean McVeigh and was going to work with
him and observe before he got the USC head coaching job.
(18:46):
Like somehow that legitimizes him. But this is a real thing,
right there is there's a trend in the NFL for
how do I get another McVeigh? Now? One of the
things we've done a bad job in the media and
football guys have done a bad job of You think
that the only thing he does there is work with
a quarterback and call plays. That's because you're not actually
(19:08):
paying attention. How's McVeigh in the press conference phenomenal? And
you're like, what does that matter? Look, when you're in
Los Angeles and you're the youngest head coach in the
history of the league. People are gonna pay attention. You
better handle yourself well has he? He's done better than
anyone maybe else in the league. When you bring in
(19:30):
huge egos like a Keep to Leave and Dominan Sue
Marcus Peters, you better say the right things and be
able to motivate those guys to play. And he's done so.
Like mcveigh's the whole package. He has enough ego and
swag to take over a locker room, but enough intelligence
(19:53):
to know I gotta hire a big time old school
defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips and let him do his
thing right. Like the idea of McVeigh just sits in
his office and has a sippy cup because he's so
young and draws up plays and only talks with Jared
Goff is completely and utterly uneducated. The reason the league
(20:16):
is looking for the next McVeigh is he's young and
the whole package, and that's what they want to copy.
And so if you think they have to win a
football game for it to legitimize what he's done to
the Rams, that's a laughable take. Laughable. He came into
a program that hadn't had a winning season in thirteen years,
(20:41):
a matter of fact, in fourteen years, because they actually
went to the playoffs at eight and eight going back
to two thousand and four, Mike Marx's last full season,
they went eight and eight, made the playoffs, So it
had been since two thousand and three that they had
a winning season. And they won eleven games in a division,
(21:04):
in a division with Bruce Arians, in division with Pete
Carroll right, So in a like, he walked in and
everybody else was awful. Granted, Seattle was a bit of
a dumpster fire last year, but they're still five. They
were still and they whipped their ass, but they were
still a viable football team with Russell Wilson and Bruce Arians.
(21:24):
As much as that thing had fallen apart, they did
win eight games and Bruce Arians a big time coach.
You're you're talking about a super Bowl winning franchise in
the Seahawks, and the Cardinals had been to a Super
Bowl and had Larry Fitzgerald. David Johnson got hurt lied
I'm not going through like he walked into a decent
(21:46):
division with a team that hadn't won an over a decade,
and immediately changed the franchise. And then this year they're better.
They didn't level off and win the same amount of
games and played a first place play first place schedule,
and they're better better, And like, look, we can say
(22:10):
they haven't played well at the end of the year,
but who are the good teams that are still playing?
Are the Charges are good team? How the Rams do
against them? The Chiefs good team? How the Rams do
against them? Hey, like, what are we doing? Like we
we do this. I understand people are enamored by Sean
(22:31):
McVeigh because he's awesome. That's why I think some of
these Shan mc bey stuff also is people don't think
Jared Goff is also that good. They're like, man, if
you can do all this stuff with Jared Goff, what
could he do with an awesome quarterback? But I've seen
this all throughout the media where you're like, man, McVey
(22:52):
has really got to win a game two to sometimes
somehow legitimize himself like he does. They want thirteen games
this year. Be sure to catch live editions so the
Doug gott Leap Show week days at noon eastern three
pm Pacific. Three times Super Bowl Champion with the Redskins
and with the Denver Broncos. And I want to get
(23:12):
to this stink which just uh, which which just came down,
is that Gary Kubiak will not be the offensive coordinator
of the Denver Broncos. Philosophical differences is what Adam Schefter
is reporting. What's your reaction to that, Well, it just
leads me to believe um. At first, off, Hey, happy
(23:33):
New Year, It's great to be back on your program.
But it leads me to believe does that Gary couldn't
hire some of the people he wanted to hire. And
you know, the rumor around here in Denver, and I
live in Denver was part of Gary retiring as the
Broncos head coach. A lot of it had to do
with the health that was the majority of it, but
also the John Elway and he differed on opinions on
(23:56):
some of gary staff and some of his long term guys.
And Gary is a very loyal, very loyal guy, and
so my you know, my initial reaction to this is
that Gary wanted to bring along Rick Dennison, who's one
of his closest friends and Brian Perry Onny. Rick Dennison
has been a long time offensive line coach slash offensive
coordinator Brian Perry ONNY a long time tight Ends coach Um,
(24:20):
and they have been with Gary everywhere he's gone from
you know, his days here in Denver to being the
head coach of the Houston Texans to being the offensive
coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens. And I'm sure that was
part of what Gary wanted, at least I speculate that's
part of what Gary wanted. And when John said absolutely not,
then Gary said, you know what, pound sand Um. So
(24:41):
there seems to be a little bit of drama here
in Denver? Does seem so? So? So? Who who gets
a job? Then that you know that your guess is
as good as mine now because now they're gonna have
to go back into you know, do they go back
into some of the people they've been UM contacting? You know,
is it the offensive coordinator or quarter X coach or
whatever he is from UM, the Rams, the tight ends
(25:03):
coach from the Rams? You know, are you going to
go in that direction? The issue there is dug And
it's funny. You know, I spoke to two general managers
yesterday and you know, all this, Hey, let's get somebody
who's touched McVeigh. I just want somebody who's got some
McVeigh on him. You know, somebody that's young, somebody that's
an innovator. You know, I watch I call games every
(25:24):
week for Fox. I watch, you know, fifty hours of
film a week. Um, And you know it's funny. One
of the gms told me, Hey, listen, I was talking
to my head coach about this very same thing. He says, listen,
we all have the same program. Every team uses it.
I use it. I can put in any formation I want,
any personnel grouping I want. I can do anything. And
I'll get a week thirteen, give me three by one formations,
(25:46):
and I'll get all thirty two teams three by ones
that week. And so I can go through what used
to take days to kind of figure out in cold wait,
now you're doing hours. And so everybody copies the same stuff.
It's the same crap you get in the three by
one formation. Everybody runs, all goes special everybody, every single person.
Everybody runs curl flat combinations, everybody runs slant flat combinations,
(26:08):
everyone runs double slants. And you know, I mean it's
the same stuff that body runs. Somebody down the seam
and runs a big behind it. You know, it's not
like it's unique. It's not like there's new things being produced.
It really is candy. The innovators have great play action
off of their run game that matches up to their
run game. That creates you know, creates confusion, creates slow
(26:31):
play on defense, creates hesitation on the defensive side of
the ball. But it's not like you're reinventing football. I'm
telling you what. Every team and I see it every week,
runs the exact same crap. It really comes down to
how well is your play action tie up to your
running game and how good is your coach in game
making adjustments. Hey man, this is the defense we get
in a three by one or two by two formation,
(26:53):
and this is what they're playing. So we're gonna give
them the same thing we gave them in the first quarter.
But now you know what we're gonna do. We're gonna
readjust this side receiver's route and he's gonna run. You know,
he's gonna run a like a stick scene and we're
gonna get him on this because they're biting on that.
That's really where the innovation comes into. Can you create
four or five different looks out of one setting, one motion,
(27:15):
all looks the same, but it's all different. That's innovation.
But everybody runs the same crap. So I think it's
just I think again, it's the NFL going. Oh, Sean
McVeigh came in and got you know, eleven first first
rounders and a bunch of second rounders the team. The
talent level was extreme. And I'm not saying Sean McVeigh
isn't great, as he is one of the most dynamic
(27:35):
people I've ever met. But the bottom line is, you know,
you can either communicate or you can't. It doesn't matter
if you're thirty two or if you're seventy two. Wave
Philips proves it every day. So you know, I think
the NFL gets enamored with one guy and oh my god,
that's the key, And that's never the key. You know,
you just gotta be a great coach and understand people
how to relate and how to develop relationships and how
(27:57):
to communicate. That's always a Martialayer three super Bowl champion,
Fox NFL analyst joining us Doug Gotlip Show Fox Sports Radio.
All right, so what's the one higher that you think
is the best higher? Uh? You know. I mean again,
I have I mean, I'm as like anybody else out
there that's a fan. I mean, I have no clue.
(28:19):
I like the fact that that Vic Fangio gets a
chance in Denver. I like the fact that you talked
to any player that's played for the guy. You talked
to any you know, you talked to any coach who's
coached with the guy. He's all football, he's no nonsense,
he communicates, he gets a lot out of his players.
You know, I think that's great. But the bottom line is,
I don't know. I really like Freddie Kitchens. I did
(28:41):
a game in Cleveland, I I you know, I ended
up speaking and spending some time with Freddie Kitchens. I
really liked his philosophical approach. I liked his honesty. Um,
I liked what I saw in practice, his development and
his relationship with Baker Mayfield and his trust that he
put in him. So I really liked the Freddy Kitchens
higher as well. It again, you know, you don't ever
(29:01):
know until you know. I mean, there's a lot of
guys that have a great resume, like Norm Turner had
a great resume, great resume. I played from first first
year in Washington when he became the coach, and he
really struggled. You know, I think identity is important. And
one thing, one problem that you get into when you
come from like a Bill Belichick tree or somebody else's tree,
(29:22):
sometimes what you end up doing is you end up
trying to mimic that guy. And players, more than anything,
players can read whether you're authentic or not. Players understand
when you start saying, wait, this is the new England
way and we're gonna implement this, and this is the
way the Belichick did it. They all look at you like, oh, well,
you're you know, you're nothing but a uh, you know,
a clown and so at just being authentic, being real
(29:45):
and being your own man. And players respect that. And
I think that's I think that's just one of those
things We're gonna have to wait and see exactly, you know,
who who has success and who doesn't. That's the voice
of Mark Laith. He joined us in the Doug Gotli
Show on Fox Sport trailing Let's go, Let's get to
this weekend. You mentioned Seann McVeigh. They've had issues in
their offensive line. Girly hasn't been healthy either, uh, and
they're playing against the dynamic, fast Cowboys defense. Um, how
(30:10):
do you think the bands play? Yeah, you know, interestingly enough.
Here's the thing, Unlike unlike some offensive football teams, the
Rams really based and I've sat with Sean mcbathe three
different times now as a call three of their games. Um,
they base out of really a wide zone system. So
they're mostly in three wise, about ninety seven percent of
(30:32):
the time they line up in three wise. The only
time they're not three wise is if they get the
goal line, which isn't very often, and if they're kneeling
at the end of the game. So ninety seven percent
the time they're in the same basic you know, personnel grouping.
But they based everything on kind of Nickel nineteen handoff
Nickel nineteen Nickel eighteen handoff. So it's a wide zone concept.
Girly presses the front side, finds a backside them and
(30:54):
cuts back into it, and that's really what they based on.
Then all their play action everything falls off of that.
See playing the offensive side of the ball, it's really
about rhythm, and I think it's much easier for a
team that predicates itself on running the football to get
into a rhythm after a week off much faster than
it is for a team that's really mostly about throwing
(31:15):
it first and then running a second. So I still
think they'll They've cured some of their woes. You know,
they struggled up front when Gurley was injured. They had
lost Brown earlier in the season. The backup C. G.
Anderson has done come in there in the last couple
of weeks and done a phenomenal job of getting them
back on track. I think they'll get back to their formula.
I think it's gonna be a real hard thought, real
(31:36):
tight game. But here's the deal. When you watch them
on the defensive side of the ball, they're giving up
five yards to carry, and the way they're playing it is, Hey, listen,
we're so good offensively, we get ahead of teams. If
we get seven points up on you, it feels like
you're down by four teams. You start throwing the ball.
We unleash all the first rounders we have. Brockers is
the first rounder, and donald can sees the first rounder,
(31:58):
Aaron Donald's the first round. Of Flowers as the first rounder, Like,
we're gonna kill your quarterback and we're to create turnovers,
so we'll give up the yards rushing. You know, we'll
give up the five yards to carry if you can,
if you can run at twelve straight times and put
an end zone, we'll took our hats. But we think
that what we'll do is we'll get a lead on
you and then we'll unleash you know, pen the years
back and Aaron Donald, let him come atter you. And
(32:19):
I think that's you know, I think that's their philosophical
approach to plan um. And you know, obviously, if they
can score points and if they rectify some of the
issues they've had on offense, they're gonna win this game.
I think the New England Patriots are you know, look,
they're just a good football team, right They stop the run,
they run the football well, they've got a very good
quarterback ground stop the not the not the runner he
(32:42):
used to be, but he's a very good blocker for
a guy who's a good, great pass catching tight end.
And they're playing at home. They got a lot of confidence,
is kind of what they do. The It seems like,
at least on paper, Charges have more talent and they
have a Hall of Fame quarterback. But can the Chargers
overcome all of that history and the confidence of New
England and when yet another road game, Yeah, you know,
(33:05):
I think that. I think one the Charges have played
just as well, have not better on the road than
they have in that soccer stadium that they call home.
So I think that's one thing. I think. The other
thing is I do think there are more talented football team.
I think they have a very undervalued receiving core. I
think Keenan Allen is one of the better receivers in
the league, and he really sets a tone. He's a
difference maker, a tone center at the receiver position. You know,
(33:26):
if you go back to I think it was a
year ago, and all the film that I watched kind
of blends together, but I think it was last year. Um,
if memory serves, New England beat the Chargers. I think
it was in Los Angeles, and I think they beat him.
But Gus Gus Bradley, their defense coordinator, loves to run.
You know, the basic Seattle defense, which is a a
(33:46):
matchup cover three, and one of the weaknesses of that
defense is the running backs in the flat. Because if
you run your receiver off deep and a Cover three,
the corner has to go. That means your curl flat
defender has to try to get twelve yards of dead
up and then if you dump into your running back,
he's got to come up and make a tackle. And
the running backs for New England in that particular game
that they won, it was fourteen receptions for like the
(34:10):
hundred and sixty some odd yards just from the running
back position. They have to rectify that. They have to
cure that otherwise Brady will pick them apart. But I
think the Chargers are a better football team all the
way around, and I think I'm calling for the upset.
I'm calling for the Chargers to go to New England
and win. Fascinating stuff, all right, what about the Chiefs
(34:31):
and the Colts. The Colts have gotten a lot of
mileage out of out of a young defense, UM and
and Andrew Luck, but they haven't beaten really elite teams
in the NFL, and this is an elite offense. What
are your thoughts about the ability for the Colts to
go on the road and get a win. Yeah, you know,
it's interesting. I mean you look at the the Chiefs
one and eleven in their last world playoff games, owen
(34:53):
six at home, UM in the playoffs, UM in their
last six UM so you know. You you look at
the Chiefs, man, they have struggled this time of year.
They're pretty one dimensional football team. The Colts you talked
about that young defense man a lot of just base
cover two, meaning you're not going to get the big plays.
Um over the top of that defense. They're gonna be
(35:15):
very stingy that way, You're gonna have to pick them
apart underneath. Of course, Mahomes has the ability to do that.
There's no question I will tell you this though. Um,
you look at wild card weekend, it was fascinating to
me anybody any team that that physically what they asked
the other team upfront, both offensive line and defensive line
one each matchup, you control a line of scrimmage, you win.
(35:38):
The Colts on offense with you know, with their offensive
line and and uh Quinton Nelson and what they've done
up front. Man, they can actually set the tone. They
can beat you up up front. They are so good. Um,
and I think this is you know, I think Andrew
Luck obviously is playing great football. This is a fascinating
(35:58):
matchup to me, Um, actually like the Colts to go
on the road and make this close, maybe even win
this one, all right, what about the Eagles got folds
magic going into the Superdome where the Saints they're built
to play at home, and and they and look it
was a different quarterback. Eagles weren't healthy at all, but
they did whip the Eagles earlier this year. What do
(36:20):
you think of that matchup? Yeah, you know, that's that's
an interesting matchup to me too, because you know, you
look at um, you know, you look at the Eagles
offense and yeah, Nick Foles has done such a great
job of kind of managing that offense also, um, you know,
involving the wide receivers and al Sean Jeffrey more than
Carson Wentz ever did. So that's been a real plus
(36:41):
for them as a football team. Um. And you know
when they have both when they have I mean, they've
done a lead offensive line when they're healthy. Jason Peters
is a first ballot Hall of famers, one of the
best I've ever seen play. Um, Ladie Johnson is a
great player. Kelsey at the center position is a great player.
They're really They're really outstanding there. I just think I
think their defense is going to be challenged with what
(37:03):
New Orleans does. Um, with the receiving corps that they
have with Drew Brees and his ability to push the
ball down the field. It's it's a fascinating matchup. But
I'm gonna take the Saints. Um, I'm gonna say take
the Saints to end that Nick Boles magic this weekend. Yeah,
I I agree with you that. The one I'm I'm
cautious of is that the Patriots thing. I'm with you.
I think the Charge is a better football team. They
(37:25):
have won everywhere, but this is a just this completely
different type of mountain to climb. Gonna be fascinating. Great stuff,
stink enjoy the football. We always love your analysis. Uh,
regardless of the team, you give us the good stuff.
Thanks for joining us, My pleasure many all right. As
Mark Slayer three times to Bowl champions
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
from three to six pm Eastern Time that's twelve to
three Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station
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(00:21):
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What's this weekend about? I think this weekend's about, uh, Doug,
It's about football? Like, yeah, it's about who will play
(01:05):
for the a C and NFC Championship technically correct. I
think it's about will history repeat itself? Right? Like? Are
our thoughts about teams become embedded, one in terms of
recent history, but also over time. And if you look
at all of these matchups, all of them, there is
(01:28):
some sort of historical implication. There's some sort of historical
reference where you can go, yeah, like I've seen this before,
I know exactly how it ends. Right. Like in in
the eighties, if there was an action movie, they almost
always ended the same, right, millions or hundreds of thousands
(01:53):
of bullets flying, and yet somehow the hero made it through.
And and it's what made surprise endings surprise endings like, wow,
I didn't see that happening. One of my favorite movies
is the movie Fallen. Do you remember the movie Fallen?
(02:15):
No Ramos ramas your sineaphile, You don't remember Kirk got
Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas Fallen, No Um Fallen was Denzel Washington,
John Goodman, Donald Sutherland. John Lesgau was lit in it. Yeah,
he's like he takes over bodies, right, Does he take
(02:37):
over bodies of people? Yes? Yes, yes, although I don't
think les Gau was in a dude this is then.
It was it was like there's like an evil spirit, right,
basically like the devil gets passed from the body to body.
You know the movie, you got the actors a little script.
Don't worry. Ramos is entire equilibrium is thrown off. His
(02:57):
wife's pregnant with their third and he's trying to figure
out how do I do it? How I do it?
And when I'm saying not the immaculate conception, but like,
look at john I mean he doesn't doesn't look like
a guy that's still but he's Johnny still got them anyway.
One of my favorite parts of the movie Fallen is
(03:21):
that there's a surprise ending where good doesn't necessarily reign
supreme right, or the movie seven, Movie seven, What's in
the Box? What's in the Box? But it's because so
many times good wins out in movies, because history tells us,
(03:45):
you know, the end of the day, how many times
are you gonna see Rocky? Hey, I don't rock Will
pulls this one out right. It's what makes Empire strikes
Back such a great movie, because here is a franchise
movie where good doesn't win at the end of the movie.
(04:09):
And if I'm spoiling, Empire strikes Back for you, you've
been stuck under a rock for thirty five years. And
that's where we are this weekend. This isn't good versus evil.
It's the Patriots are at home in the playoffs against
the Chargers, right, come on, man, Like you ask anybody
on the street. They were like, well, the Patriots are
(04:30):
gonna win that game. Why because I got seventeen years
of data, eighteen years of data that tell me what's
gonna happen in this game. No matter how much I
think of Philip Rivers and how tough he is, he's
played this game in the a f C Championship before.
Granted Ladinian Thomason didn't play because of a knee injury.
(04:53):
I've seen the Patriots play the Chargers when Terrence Ko
got an interception at Qualcom and instead of staying down,
he tried to run it and he fumbled. And I
have fourteen and two Charger team lost at home to
the Patriots. I've seen it before. I know how it ends.
The Kansas City Chiefs. I think the Kansas City Chiefs,
(05:17):
and I'm done a complete one eighty from picking the
game on Calherd yesterday. The Kansi Chiefs just have way
too many dudes, way too much talent, and they've lost
second half leads in the playoffs, even last year to Tennessee,
previously to the Colts. I feel like they're gonna run
it up on the Colts. But I've seen this before
(05:37):
and it's history. I've seen and Andrew luck led Indianapolis
Colts team that wasn't as good as the Kansas City
Chiefs beat the Kansa City Chiefs after trailing by the
way they show by thirty one points. I've seen it.
I know what it ends. That always ends. Heck, I
saw the Rams last year lose to it is to
(06:00):
a team that matched up well with Todd Gurley. That
take away took away Todd Gurley. I've seen it. I've seen.
I've seen the Saints beat the Eagles this year. I've
seen the Saints be nearly unbeatable at home for years,
even with crummy teams. Of course, when they go to
the super Bowl, they're awesome at home. And so I
(06:21):
guess the question heading into this weekend is will history
repeat itself? All right? Brady Belichick at home playoffs, it's
a wrap cold weather. They're so good, they're so good
(06:42):
that we assume they have to have cheated right. Like,
one of the things that Spygate and deflate Gate play
into is there's no way anybody could be this good
this long, when the truth is they've been this good
this long. And you may say yourself, god La, but
you're just you're blind to it. I'm not a Patriot fan.
(07:04):
I'm really not, not not close. I also realized that
the whole Spygate thing was simply look for for fifty years,
you've had assistance up in the booth or on the
sideline trying to read the signs and make the correlating
what's the correlating offense correlating defense? Right, That's why they
have signs. That's why they don't hold up a sign
(07:24):
that says what they're gonna do. You gotta you know,
people been trying to steal signs for years. All they're
accused of doing is filming instead of doing it with
their eyes genius. And then deflate Gate thing like, what
(07:45):
does that come from? It comes from the remember the
week before they played the Baltimore Ravens and used uh
and use some formations that confused the Baltimore Ravens. And
then Tom Brady is like, hey, maybe should read the
rule book. And if you remember, the Colts were coached
by Chuck Bcgonal, a former Raven assistant who just happens
(08:08):
to go to the league and happens to mention, hey, something,
check out the footballs. Like here's how there's there's nothing
to the Deflatekate thing. It's a joke. Do you remember this?
Remember the NFL was gonna do a year long investigation
on the inflation rate of the footballs and deflation rate
over the games. How you noticed that there's never been
an announcement of the findings in that because they didn't
(08:31):
find nothing, because they probably did nothing wrong. They're so good.
This is like I I told this to my my wife,
and I just think I said this on air two
days ago. My mother in law once asked my wife
if I was doing steroids. I was like, that's the
greatest compliment anybody has ever given me. Like, what do
you mean? It's like, well, if you think that in
(08:52):
order to get big, I had to cheat, then that
means I must be looking pretty big if you had.
If the Patriots to be this good had to cheat
and they didn't cheat, that must be there pretty good.
So I am fascinated by this weekend. Fascinating because we
(09:16):
do study history, because if you don't study, your deemed repeated.
But history does have a tendency to repeating itself. That's
why we use the expression history repeats itself. Isn't it
like Napoleon attacked Europe and Russia, and when they attacked Russia,
it was he was in the winter. Never fight a
war on two fronts, and Napoleon was little. And you
(09:37):
know what, Hitler did the exact same thing. She repeats itself.
The Patriots looked, look outmatched, outmanned. Tom Brady looks old.
They don't have the talent at wide receiver. Rob Gronkowski
can't run anymore. But somehow they'll find a way into
that damn Super Bowl. Annoying the a lot of everybody
(10:00):
outside of New England, right, I'm sure at some point
it comes to an end. I just until it does,
I'm left with the old cliche history repeats itself. I
think Kansas City is far more talented than the Colts.
I don't think the Colts have actually beaten anybody who's
any good. I don't think the Texans are any good.
(10:21):
I don't nobody actually think the Texans are all that good.
They have some good players, but great players is not
making a great teammate. The most talented teams in the
a f C are the Chiefs are, the Chargers are?
The Patriots are? The Steelers are even the Ravens? Tell
(10:42):
me who those teams? The Colts are beaten, Like I
just I don't think it's close. Whereas the where's the Chiefs?
And granted they haven't beaten them all, but we saw
the shootout with the Rams, We've seen them split with
the with the Chargers had a huge lead, we saw
them lose to the Patriots. You've seen him play the Stealers.
Like I think, we're judging their records and even their
(11:03):
stats against completely different levels of competition. But trying to
rid yourself of history, especially when it's recent history, is
really hard. And that's the challenge for the Rams. That's
the challenge for the Chargers, that's the challenge for the Chiefs.
That's the challenge for the Eagles. Heck, Eagles are trying
(11:24):
to repeat his champions will repeazas champions. Right. That's why
branding really is important, because it means you're establishing a
positive reputation, and reputations are built over time and consistent success,
and once you get it, it's hard to shake. Will
(11:45):
history repeat itself? As the cliche says, let me a
fascinating weekend. That's what this weekend to me is about. Yeah,
we're gonna decide who places the st champion tip. Yeah,
we'll find out, like if the Chargers can win in
Pittsburgh and can it's the city in Baltimore and in
New England, Like, tell me there's a better tell me
there's a better run in football. I don't know of
(12:06):
it in Seattle. I think of the place they won. Okay,
they want in Kansas City, they want in Pittsburgh, they
won in Baltimore, they want in Seattle. That's unbelieved. That's
that's remarkable. Right. Foxboro is like the last uh mountain
to climb. It may be the highest mountain. It actually
(12:26):
might not be that high mountain. It might be one
of like, man that Foxboro. Let's step out and then
you get you like you know, there's another mountain. I'll
tell you. I actually I'll tell you what what what
New England is? Can I give you a quick there's
a quick geography lesson really quick. John Middle Cops is
gonna join us a second. This is a really good one.
So I want you to remember that. Um, do you
(12:48):
know what the highest peak on the Eastern Seaboard is?
Anybody you want to take guess? Ramos music? Fire, Okay, fire,
you wanna take a guess? What was the question? What's
(13:08):
the what's what's the highest? What's the highest peak on
the Eastern Seaboard? Oh? Gosh, it was highest peak in
the United States? Is it Mount McKinley. Uh, It's Mount Whitney,
isn't it. I believe the highest summit in the world
is Mount Everest. Right, the highest peak is uh, well,
(13:32):
in the contiguous United States? Right is I think Mount Whitney. Right,
it's Mount Whitney and Sierra Nevada's it's at fourteen. All
the rest I believe are in Alaska, Like Denali is
in Alaska. That's at So when I tell you that
the highest peak in New England is Mount Washington, how
(13:55):
high do you think it is? Huh? Eight feet? It's
like so you think, and you can you can hike it.
Go in the summer you can hike it. Um, and
it's really fastening. You can actually drive up. There's a
trail where you drive up it, and it's there's five
different like I don't know what it's called environments or whatever,
(14:15):
where you get to the top and it's like tundra,
like frozen tundra. But it's also the coldest and windiest
spot in the United States. Which why isn't Mount Whitney
colder and windier? Right, It's because you've got everything coming
down from Canada and like this is like this peak
(14:36):
that basically is the one peak in between all these
winds coming off of Canada and the and the Atlantic Ocean.
So it's about not just topography but location wise that
at which looks like I can walk that today, and
you can in the summer. You're gonna walk right up it,
no problem, White Mountains of New Hampshire. But when you
get to the top, you're like, damn, this is really hard, cold, challenging, freezing.
(15:00):
It gets the minus seventy degrees. They've clocked winds there
and over two miles an hour. There's a building at
the top. It's actually chained to the mountain. That's what
the Patriots are like. It doesn't look like much. Tom
Brady's in his forties. Rob Gronkowski can't run there's no
real special playmakers on defense, on the defensive front. But
(15:21):
you gotta go into New England. The weather is gonna
be bad. They always something happens with the headsets. The
footballs might be inflated, might be deflated. They might have
your signals. I don't know. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Doug dot Leap Show weekdays in noon
eastern three pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app, Fix the Quarterback, Fix your Team.
(15:42):
That's why all these McVeigh clones are getting hired. But
there's there are some that believe, many people in the
media believe, and a lot of fans that it deal legitimizes,
delegitimizes Sean McVeigh if they don't win a playoff game
this year? Is that fair? Right? Is that? Is that?
(16:10):
Is that a fair? Uh? Statement? Again, I don't know.
I don't believe it's actually fair or right or accurate
at all. Because the league speaks, and even though the
league is a copycat league, and we've reached this kind
of point of almost embarrassment where if you, if you
(16:31):
bump shoulders with Sean McVeigh at any point in time,
you somehow become a possible head coaching candidate. But is
that is that fair? Yeah? I think that's what people think.
(16:53):
People think that Sean McVeigh has to win this weekend
against the Cowboys. Are it's not legitimate what he's done.
The perception, John, you are, John Ramos, you are a
Rams fan, legit, old school l A Rams fan, l
A Rams fan. Um. How are the Rams before Sean
(17:18):
McVeigh took over putrid? Okay, what level of putridity were
they talking about? The year? Well, yeah, the year in
l A. And but the year before that in St.
Louis correct, when Jeff Fisher was the year before they
were seven and nine. Okay, but here, here's here's what
he inherited. Okay, people say he inherited four and twelve,
(17:40):
and he did, and they were laughing stock of the league.
And people thought Jared Goffton couldn't play, and suddenly Jared
goff became a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. Right. But think
about this, Since two thousand and four up until last year,
that's thirteen years of football, they had not been above five,
(18:01):
not one time. The last two years they have one
to combined twenty four games. It's an average of twelve
wins last year, they want eleven this year. Is that improvement? Yes,
when you win two more games, that's better than the
year before, after winning seven more games the year before that?
What are we doing here? Look? Do I think that
(18:23):
it's ridiculous that you're like, well, like the the Arizona
Cardinals their PR department. I don't think it's the Arizona
Cardinals and their general manager really believing this, but their
PR department did say that, you know, Live Kingsbury is
friends with Sean McVeigh and was going to work with
him and observe before he got the USC head coaching job.
(18:46):
Like somehow that legitimizes him. But this is a real thing,
right there is there's a trend in the NFL for
how do I get another McVeigh? Now? One of the
things we've done a bad job in the media and
football guys have done a bad job of You think
that the only thing he does there is work with
a quarterback and call plays. That's because you're not actually
(19:08):
paying attention. How's McVeigh in the press conference phenomenal? And
you're like, what does that matter? Look, when you're in
Los Angeles and you're the youngest head coach in the
history of the league. People are gonna pay attention. You
better handle yourself well has he? He's done better than
anyone maybe else in the league. When you bring in
(19:30):
huge egos like a Keep to Leave and Dominan Sue
Marcus Peters, you better say the right things and be
able to motivate those guys to play. And he's done so.
Like mcveigh's the whole package. He has enough ego and
swag to take over a locker room, but enough intelligence
(19:53):
to know I gotta hire a big time old school
defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips and let him do his
thing right. Like the idea of McVeigh just sits in
his office and has a sippy cup because he's so
young and draws up plays and only talks with Jared
Goff is completely and utterly uneducated. The reason the league
(20:16):
is looking for the next McVeigh is he's young and
the whole package, and that's what they want to copy.
And so if you think they have to win a
football game for it to legitimize what he's done to
the Rams, that's a laughable take. Laughable. He came into
a program that hadn't had a winning season in thirteen years,
(20:41):
a matter of fact, in fourteen years, because they actually
went to the playoffs at eight and eight going back
to two thousand and four, Mike Marx's last full season,
they went eight and eight, made the playoffs, So it
had been since two thousand and three that they had
a winning season. And they won eleven games in a division,
(21:04):
in a division with Bruce Arians, in division with Pete
Carroll right, So in a like, he walked in and
everybody else was awful. Granted, Seattle was a bit of
a dumpster fire last year, but they're still five. They
were still and they whipped their ass, but they were
still a viable football team with Russell Wilson and Bruce Arians.
(21:24):
As much as that thing had fallen apart, they did
win eight games and Bruce Arians a big time coach.
You're you're talking about a super Bowl winning franchise in
the Seahawks, and the Cardinals had been to a Super
Bowl and had Larry Fitzgerald. David Johnson got hurt lied
I'm not going through like he walked into a decent
(21:46):
division with a team that hadn't won an over a decade,
and immediately changed the franchise. And then this year they're better.
They didn't level off and win the same amount of
games and played a first place play first place schedule,
and they're better better, And like, look, we can say
(22:10):
they haven't played well at the end of the year,
but who are the good teams that are still playing?
Are the Charges are good team? How the Rams do
against them? The Chiefs good team? How the Rams do
against them? Hey, like, what are we doing? Like we
we do this. I understand people are enamored by Sean
(22:31):
McVeigh because he's awesome. That's why I think some of
these Shan mc bey stuff also is people don't think
Jared Goff is also that good. They're like, man, if
you can do all this stuff with Jared Goff, what
could he do with an awesome quarterback? But I've seen
this all throughout the media where you're like, man, McVey
(22:52):
has really got to win a game two to sometimes
somehow legitimize himself like he does. They want thirteen games
this year. Be sure to catch live editions so the
Doug gott Leap Show week days at noon eastern three
pm Pacific. Three times Super Bowl Champion with the Redskins
and with the Denver Broncos. And I want to get
(23:12):
to this stink which just uh, which which just came down,
is that Gary Kubiak will not be the offensive coordinator
of the Denver Broncos. Philosophical differences is what Adam Schefter
is reporting. What's your reaction to that, Well, it just
leads me to believe um. At first, off, Hey, happy
(23:33):
New Year, It's great to be back on your program.
But it leads me to believe does that Gary couldn't
hire some of the people he wanted to hire. And
you know, the rumor around here in Denver, and I
live in Denver was part of Gary retiring as the
Broncos head coach. A lot of it had to do
with the health that was the majority of it, but
also the John Elway and he differed on opinions on
(23:56):
some of gary staff and some of his long term guys.
And Gary is a very loyal, very loyal guy, and
so my you know, my initial reaction to this is
that Gary wanted to bring along Rick Dennison, who's one
of his closest friends and Brian Perry Onny. Rick Dennison
has been a long time offensive line coach slash offensive
coordinator Brian Perry ONNY a long time tight Ends coach Um,
(24:20):
and they have been with Gary everywhere he's gone from
you know, his days here in Denver to being the
head coach of the Houston Texans to being the offensive
coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens. And I'm sure that was
part of what Gary wanted, at least I speculate that's
part of what Gary wanted. And when John said absolutely not,
then Gary said, you know what, pound sand Um. So
(24:41):
there seems to be a little bit of drama here
in Denver? Does seem so? So? So? Who who gets
a job? Then that you know that your guess is
as good as mine now because now they're gonna have
to go back into you know, do they go back
into some of the people they've been UM contacting? You know,
is it the offensive coordinator or quarter X coach or
whatever he is from UM, the Rams, the tight ends
(25:03):
coach from the Rams? You know, are you going to
go in that direction? The issue there is dug And
it's funny. You know, I spoke to two general managers
yesterday and you know, all this, Hey, let's get somebody
who's touched McVeigh. I just want somebody who's got some
McVeigh on him. You know, somebody that's young, somebody that's
an innovator. You know, I watch I call games every
(25:24):
week for Fox. I watch, you know, fifty hours of
film a week. Um, And you know it's funny. One
of the gms told me, Hey, listen, I was talking
to my head coach about this very same thing. He says, listen,
we all have the same program. Every team uses it.
I use it. I can put in any formation I want,
any personnel grouping I want. I can do anything. And
I'll get a week thirteen, give me three by one formations,
(25:46):
and I'll get all thirty two teams three by ones
that week. And so I can go through what used
to take days to kind of figure out in cold wait,
now you're doing hours. And so everybody copies the same stuff.
It's the same crap you get in the three by
one formation. Everybody runs, all goes special everybody, every single person.
Everybody runs curl flat combinations, everybody runs slant flat combinations,
(26:08):
everyone runs double slants. And you know, I mean it's
the same stuff that body runs. Somebody down the seam
and runs a big behind it. You know, it's not
like it's unique. It's not like there's new things being produced.
It really is candy. The innovators have great play action
off of their run game that matches up to their
run game. That creates you know, creates confusion, creates slow
(26:31):
play on defense, creates hesitation on the defensive side of
the ball. But it's not like you're reinventing football. I'm
telling you what. Every team and I see it every week,
runs the exact same crap. It really comes down to
how well is your play action tie up to your
running game and how good is your coach in game
making adjustments. Hey man, this is the defense we get
in a three by one or two by two formation,
(26:53):
and this is what they're playing. So we're gonna give
them the same thing we gave them in the first quarter.
But now you know what we're gonna do. We're gonna
readjust this side receiver's route and he's gonna run. You know,
he's gonna run a like a stick scene and we're
gonna get him on this because they're biting on that.
That's really where the innovation comes into. Can you create
four or five different looks out of one setting, one motion,
(27:15):
all looks the same, but it's all different. That's innovation.
But everybody runs the same crap. So I think it's
just I think again, it's the NFL going. Oh, Sean
McVeigh came in and got you know, eleven first first
rounders and a bunch of second rounders the team. The
talent level was extreme. And I'm not saying Sean McVeigh
isn't great, as he is one of the most dynamic
(27:35):
people I've ever met. But the bottom line is, you know,
you can either communicate or you can't. It doesn't matter
if you're thirty two or if you're seventy two. Wave
Philips proves it every day. So you know, I think
the NFL gets enamored with one guy and oh my god,
that's the key, And that's never the key. You know,
you just gotta be a great coach and understand people
how to relate and how to develop relationships and how
(27:57):
to communicate. That's always a Martialayer three super Bowl champion,
Fox NFL analyst joining us Doug Gotlip Show Fox Sports Radio.
All right, so what's the one higher that you think
is the best higher? Uh? You know. I mean again,
I have I mean, I'm as like anybody else out
there that's a fan. I mean, I have no clue.
(28:19):
I like the fact that that Vic Fangio gets a
chance in Denver. I like the fact that you talked
to any player that's played for the guy. You talked
to any you know, you talked to any coach who's
coached with the guy. He's all football, he's no nonsense,
he communicates, he gets a lot out of his players.
You know, I think that's great. But the bottom line is,
I don't know. I really like Freddie Kitchens. I did
(28:41):
a game in Cleveland, I I you know, I ended
up speaking and spending some time with Freddie Kitchens. I
really liked his philosophical approach. I liked his honesty. Um,
I liked what I saw in practice, his development and
his relationship with Baker Mayfield and his trust that he
put in him. So I really liked the Freddy Kitchens
higher as well. It again, you know, you don't ever
(29:01):
know until you know. I mean, there's a lot of
guys that have a great resume, like Norm Turner had
a great resume, great resume. I played from first first
year in Washington when he became the coach, and he
really struggled. You know, I think identity is important. And
one thing, one problem that you get into when you
come from like a Bill Belichick tree or somebody else's tree,
(29:22):
sometimes what you end up doing is you end up
trying to mimic that guy. And players, more than anything,
players can read whether you're authentic or not. Players understand
when you start saying, wait, this is the new England
way and we're gonna implement this, and this is the
way the Belichick did it. They all look at you like, oh, well,
you're you know, you're nothing but a uh, you know,
a clown and so at just being authentic, being real
(29:45):
and being your own man. And players respect that. And
I think that's I think that's just one of those
things We're gonna have to wait and see exactly, you know,
who who has success and who doesn't. That's the voice
of Mark Laith. He joined us in the Doug Gotli
Show on Fox Sport trailing Let's go, Let's get to
this weekend. You mentioned Seann McVeigh. They've had issues in
their offensive line. Girly hasn't been healthy either, uh, and
they're playing against the dynamic, fast Cowboys defense. Um, how
(30:10):
do you think the bands play? Yeah, you know, interestingly enough.
Here's the thing, Unlike unlike some offensive football teams, the
Rams really based and I've sat with Sean mcbathe three
different times now as a call three of their games. Um,
they base out of really a wide zone system. So
they're mostly in three wise, about ninety seven percent of
(30:32):
the time they line up in three wise. The only
time they're not three wise is if they get the
goal line, which isn't very often, and if they're kneeling
at the end of the game. So ninety seven percent
the time they're in the same basic you know, personnel grouping.
But they based everything on kind of Nickel nineteen handoff
Nickel nineteen Nickel eighteen handoff. So it's a wide zone concept.
Girly presses the front side, finds a backside them and
(30:54):
cuts back into it, and that's really what they based on.
Then all their play action everything falls off of that.
See playing the offensive side of the ball, it's really
about rhythm, and I think it's much easier for a
team that predicates itself on running the football to get
into a rhythm after a week off much faster than
it is for a team that's really mostly about throwing
(31:15):
it first and then running a second. So I still
think they'll They've cured some of their woes. You know,
they struggled up front when Gurley was injured. They had
lost Brown earlier in the season. The backup C. G.
Anderson has done come in there in the last couple
of weeks and done a phenomenal job of getting them
back on track. I think they'll get back to their formula.
I think it's gonna be a real hard thought, real
(31:36):
tight game. But here's the deal. When you watch them
on the defensive side of the ball, they're giving up
five yards to carry, and the way they're playing it is, Hey, listen,
we're so good offensively, we get ahead of teams. If
we get seven points up on you, it feels like
you're down by four teams. You start throwing the ball.
We unleash all the first rounders we have. Brockers is
the first rounder, and donald can sees the first rounder,
(31:58):
Aaron Donald's the first round. Of Flowers as the first rounder, Like,
we're gonna kill your quarterback and we're to create turnovers,
so we'll give up the yards rushing. You know, we'll
give up the five yards to carry if you can,
if you can run at twelve straight times and put
an end zone, we'll took our hats. But we think
that what we'll do is we'll get a lead on
you and then we'll unleash you know, pen the years
back and Aaron Donald, let him come atter you. And
(32:19):
I think that's you know, I think that's their philosophical
approach to plan um. And you know, obviously, if they
can score points and if they rectify some of the
issues they've had on offense, they're gonna win this game.
I think the New England Patriots are you know, look,
they're just a good football team, right They stop the run,
they run the football well, they've got a very good
quarterback ground stop the not the not the runner he
(32:42):
used to be, but he's a very good blocker for
a guy who's a good, great pass catching tight end.
And they're playing at home. They got a lot of confidence,
is kind of what they do. The It seems like,
at least on paper, Charges have more talent and they
have a Hall of Fame quarterback. But can the Chargers
overcome all of that history and the confidence of New
England and when yet another road game, Yeah, you know,
(33:05):
I think that. I think one the Charges have played
just as well, have not better on the road than
they have in that soccer stadium that they call home.
So I think that's one thing. I think. The other
thing is I do think there are more talented football team.
I think they have a very undervalued receiving core. I
think Keenan Allen is one of the better receivers in
the league, and he really sets a tone. He's a
difference maker, a tone center at the receiver position. You know,
(33:26):
if you go back to I think it was a
year ago, and all the film that I watched kind
of blends together, but I think it was last year. Um,
if memory serves, New England beat the Chargers. I think
it was in Los Angeles, and I think they beat him.
But Gus Gus Bradley, their defense coordinator, loves to run.
You know, the basic Seattle defense, which is a a
(33:46):
matchup cover three, and one of the weaknesses of that
defense is the running backs in the flat. Because if
you run your receiver off deep and a Cover three,
the corner has to go. That means your curl flat
defender has to try to get twelve yards of dead
up and then if you dump into your running back,
he's got to come up and make a tackle. And
the running backs for New England in that particular game
that they won, it was fourteen receptions for like the
(34:10):
hundred and sixty some odd yards just from the running
back position. They have to rectify that. They have to
cure that otherwise Brady will pick them apart. But I
think the Chargers are a better football team all the
way around, and I think I'm calling for the upset.
I'm calling for the Chargers to go to New England
and win. Fascinating stuff, all right, what about the Chiefs
(34:31):
and the Colts. The Colts have gotten a lot of
mileage out of out of a young defense, UM and
and Andrew Luck, but they haven't beaten really elite teams
in the NFL, and this is an elite offense. What
are your thoughts about the ability for the Colts to
go on the road and get a win. Yeah, you know,
it's interesting. I mean you look at the the Chiefs
one and eleven in their last world playoff games, owen
(34:53):
six at home, UM in the playoffs, UM in their
last six UM so you know. You you look at
the Chiefs, man, they have struggled this time of year.
They're pretty one dimensional football team. The Colts you talked
about that young defense man a lot of just base
cover two, meaning you're not going to get the big plays.
Um over the top of that defense. They're gonna be
(35:15):
very stingy that way, You're gonna have to pick them
apart underneath. Of course, Mahomes has the ability to do that.
There's no question I will tell you this though. Um,
you look at wild card weekend, it was fascinating to
me anybody any team that that physically what they asked
the other team upfront, both offensive line and defensive line
one each matchup, you control a line of scrimmage, you win.
(35:38):
The Colts on offense with you know, with their offensive
line and and uh Quinton Nelson and what they've done
up front. Man, they can actually set the tone. They
can beat you up up front. They are so good. Um,
and I think this is you know, I think Andrew
Luck obviously is playing great football. This is a fascinating
(35:58):
matchup to me, Um, actually like the Colts to go
on the road and make this close, maybe even win
this one, all right, what about the Eagles got folds
magic going into the Superdome where the Saints they're built
to play at home, and and they and look it
was a different quarterback. Eagles weren't healthy at all, but
they did whip the Eagles earlier this year. What do
(36:20):
you think of that matchup? Yeah, you know, that's that's
an interesting matchup to me too, because you know, you
look at um, you know, you look at the Eagles
offense and yeah, Nick Foles has done such a great
job of kind of managing that offense also, um, you know,
involving the wide receivers and al Sean Jeffrey more than
Carson Wentz ever did. So that's been a real plus
(36:41):
for them as a football team. Um. And you know
when they have both when they have I mean, they've
done a lead offensive line when they're healthy. Jason Peters
is a first ballot Hall of famers, one of the
best I've ever seen play. Um, Ladie Johnson is a
great player. Kelsey at the center position is a great player.
They're really They're really outstanding there. I just think I
think their defense is going to be challenged with what
(37:03):
New Orleans does. Um, with the receiving corps that they
have with Drew Brees and his ability to push the
ball down the field. It's it's a fascinating matchup. But
I'm gonna take the Saints. Um, I'm gonna say take
the Saints to end that Nick Boles magic this weekend. Yeah,
I I agree with you that. The one I'm I'm
cautious of is that the Patriots thing. I'm with you.
I think the Charge is a better football team. They
(37:25):
have won everywhere, but this is a just this completely
different type of mountain to climb. Gonna be fascinating. Great stuff,
stink enjoy the football. We always love your analysis. Uh,
regardless of the team, you give us the good stuff.
Thanks for joining us, My pleasure many all right. As
Mark Slayer three times to Bowl champions
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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