10 Takes with Kyle Brandt: The Emotional Hangover Edition

Was it as good for you as it was for us?

• The Bills didn't prove anything
• An amazing player that deserves criticism
• Can't explain this meltdown
• How did the Rams NOT win?
• Proving an all-time rookie
• The fun run is over

Enjoy the Travis Kelce 'season'...we'll have our Super Bowl matchup next week!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Ten takes, the emotional hangover version. Was it good for you? Guys?
The best weekend of the year is over. Title gand
weekend is great, but there's only two games. It is
not the bedlam, it is not the stature of divisional weekend.
I'd love it so much, and I love not wasting
your time with only ten minutes for exactly ten takes.

(00:32):
Let's get right into it. Start the clock. Take number one.
The Buffalo Bills proved nothing in beating the Baltimore Ravens.
There is no monkey off their back, there is no
score that's settled. They're not having a parade today. They're
just going on to the title game. And if you
want to have legacy talk and scream about legacy, this

(00:54):
legacy that Josh Allen did nothing to change his legacy
in that game. And I say that as an enthusiast
of his and someone who's trying to think constructively about
these games rather than beat up on the loo users.
Nothing has been proven by the Buffalo Bills or Josh Allen.
He has beaten Lamar in the playoffs before, he has
been past the division round before. All he did was
beat the Ravens, who at this stage are a speed

(01:16):
bump in the playoffs for teams going to do really
substantial things later in the run. Everything about Allen and
the Bills is next week at Arrowhead. It's not about
a home game over the Ravens. And now it's wow,
he really separated himself from the pack. He won MVP.
I don't even know if he's gonna win VP. It's
out of the question. It had nothing to do with
it last night. It is all about next week because

(01:37):
if they go to Arrowhead and lose thirty one to
twenty three, there is no one who supports the Bills,
cheers for the Bills, or plays for the Bills that's
going to say, ah, that sucked. We lost to the
Chiefs for the fourth straight time of the playoffs. But hey,
you know, we beat Lamar in the division round. Nothing,
they prove nothing. It is all to gain next week.
Holy crap, take number two. Lamar Jackson deserves to take criticism.

(02:00):
I don't look to beat up on guys. In fact,
I like Lamar so much as a person, and he's
given me so much enjoyment over his career as a spectator.
I don't look to get out my pickacs and start
whacking it at him, but of course he deserves some.
He is not a choker, he is not a clown.
He is not a fraud. But he is someone who
does not play his best football in the playoffs. That
is a fact. That's not my opinion. He is now

(02:22):
three and five in the playoffs. He has stats that
don't look good he's got. When you look at his
total touchdowns versus total turnovers in the playoffs, it's not great.
It's not good. It's not even average. It's bad. And
this is a guy who doesn't turn the ball over.
He said after the game, he was so mad at
himself in this really bleeped out, profanity laid and emotional
press conference, which I totally respect. He said, I threw

(02:43):
a BS interception in the entire season of eighteen games
before this, he's thrown four interceptions. He doesn't throw BS interceptions,
and then you get to the playoffs and he does.
It doesn't mean he is never going to get to
the title game or the Super Bowl, but at this
point I doubt it because we have not seen this
for a year or two, and it's some young player

(03:03):
final in their footing. He's many years in now he's
as far in as Josh Allen, and he does not
play his best in the playoffs. That is not my opinion,
that is a fact. Take number three. Mark Andrews had
the strangest meltdown you could ever see on that stage.
You know about to drop at the end on the
two point conversion. You also know about the fumble. You
might know about the other drop he had in the game,

(03:25):
after which immediately Lamar fumbled. It's not that a guy
came up short in the playoffs and was clearly in
his head and couldn't make plays he would normally make
in a sleep. Instead, a guy of that stature did it.
Mark Andrews is a dude. Mark Andrews has been around.
Mark Andrews has been to Pro Bowls. We know him.
He's been on your fantasy teams. You've won fantasy seasons
with him. You know him, you totally respect him. He's

(03:46):
just one of these tough as hell Ravens who plays
tight end. Never says squat same draft class as Lamar.
He's been through everything with Lamar. I've seen guys drop
a punt in the playoffs or miss three kicks. I
just didn't think that guy of that experience, with that
much credit behind him, that many skins on the would
mess up. And I think he dropped the two point
conversion because of the fumble. I think he had already

(04:09):
had a drop and then he had the fumble of
the season. And I think he was in his head
and I think he was rattling, and I think he
was human and a catch that I think it was.
Romo said he makes nine hundred ninety nine times out
of a thousand he drops. There's no reason he should
drop that. Lamar just put it right in his hands,
nice and soft, nice and supple. He was wide open
and he dropped it. Anybody is susceptible to that. Anybody

(04:31):
is vulnerable to Holy crap. I'm in my head and
I just messed up the season. I better make a
play to make up for it. And then you can't
make the play. I'm not surprised if somebody did that.
I'm very surprised was Mark Andrews. And I don't feel
bad saying this when we're supposed to just crush everybody
for choking. I feel terrible for Mark Andrews, terrible. I
totally respect him, and as a human being, I thought
it was heart wrenching watching that take Number four. Though

(04:54):
here's a take that did not give the Bills the win.
It did not cost the Ravens the win. What I
wouldn't mean by that I've made this mistake this morning.
It's easy to get caught up and say, oh, man,
if Andrews catches that, then they go to overtime, and
who knows, Baltimore played better in the second half, they'd
probably win. Don't let that become what history looks back

(05:15):
in as the Mark Andrews drop and I'll tell you why.
If he catches that and ties the game, there is
a lot of time left, a lot. It's only bout
a minute and a half I think it was. Plus the
Bills have timeouts. Josh gets the ball back with plenty
of time timeouts, and Tyler Bass, who had his game
last night, all they need to do is get him
in field goal range, which they probably would have done.

(05:38):
So I made the mistake early and good morning football
got called out immediately by Bills fans. That was not
the end of the game. That wasn't a walk off
that would have sent them to overtime. In fact, most
likely I would say the Ravens still would have lost
if Andrews dropped that, So don't make that mistake like
I did take number five Philadelphia Eagles. That is why

(05:59):
when a few weeks ago everyone in the world was
having a switchblade fight about Saquon Barkley and Dickerson. Should
you play in week eighteen? You sit his butt down
so he can destroy teams in the playoffs? Yes, just
sit him down. Of course, the record was right there.
You did not need to win the game. Putting him
in that game to get the record would not be
in the best interest of winning a super Bowl, or

(06:21):
winning the divisional like they did over the weekend, or
winning the wild card. Since Saquon had two weeks off,
he has been absolutely nuclear in the playoffs. Now, would
he have still busted all those runs last night against
the Rams if they hadn't rested him? And I don't know,
I don't know. I know he might have sprained his
ankle in Week eighteen, And could it be that for
two weeks off after a grueling, grueling sixteen games for Saquon,

(06:43):
he got his head right, he got his legs right,
He's in the jacuzzi, he's relaxing, and so he is
ready to unleash hell on the playoffs. They made the
right move, they made the smart move, and yesterday we
saw all the reasons why take number six. I can't
believe the Rams didn't win that game. I really can't.
It would have been the ultimate kicking the groin rug
pull ever instead of Lincoln Financial, so Saquon runs the

(07:04):
It felt like a three hundred yard touchdown where he's
hitting himself in the helmet and looking on the JumboTron,
and even the Venerable Mike Turrico on the call says,
and he might have run himself into the title game somehow.
Then the Rams instantly score in like thirty seconds. There
was the easiest touchdown ever. Get the ball back, and
Stafford's cruising down the field like they're gonna win this game.
I think they were down six. All they needed to

(07:26):
do was score, maybe five. All they needed to do
was score. And not only are the Rams winning, they're
advancing to the title game, which they are hosting. The
NFC title game would have been it so fi against
the Commanders. But what happened. They were cruising right down
the field. The Eagles defense completely exhausted, the defensive line
completely gassed, they had a false start penalty which stopped

(07:46):
the no huddle, which moved them back. And never mind
the five yard penalty. The Eagles were allowed to sub
on defense and get fresh guys in there, and that
let them catch their breath, take a standing eight count,
and then after that short completion, Jalen Carter sacked Jalen Carter. Pressure.
It's over. That was so critical. I thought the Rams
were gonna win it. I think McVeigh was already preparing
his victory speech. I think Stafford was gonna be an

(08:07):
all timer. The false start penalty blew it for them completely.
I thought they had that thing. Take number seven. Jaden
Daniels is an all time great rookie. He is the
all time great rookie. The stat that I saw and
bear with me with the stats and only don't like him.
This is amazing. If there is a formula, guys, there
is a way you win with a rookie quarterback in

(08:28):
the playoffs. It's well established over many years. You have
a dominant defense and the rookie quarterback makes it two
or three plays and stays the hell out of the way.
That's how you do it. Not with him. He doesn't
do that he's leading the defense. There's the list of
rookies who have started a title game, and it's guys
you know, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, Brock Purdy, Sean King,

(08:48):
Ben Roethlisberger. If you look at the defenses on those teams,
all of them are first, first, third, first third, first,
top three defenses in all of them. Jane Daniels defense
is eighteenth, eighteenth, and he is starting a title game.
It's a huge disparity in the support those other guys
got and that he got. He is doing greatest rookie

(09:09):
of all time stuff, groat stuff, and I'm blind picking them.
I did it before the Rams and Eagles happened. I
don't care. I picked the Commanders to win the title
game and I still think that they will take number eight.
Lions are going to find out how good Dan Campbell
is now because they lost. They couldn't out score the Commanders.
They ran out of bodies on defense. Their offensive coordinator
is definitely gonna be gone, their defensive coordinator is probably

(09:30):
going to be gone, and now it's going to be
Dan Mann trying to retool, restaff and go back to work.
There's questions about Jared goff. The fun run is over.
Now everybody sees them coming. They're not the darling anymore.
This is a really, really going to be interesting watching
Dan Campbell over the next year. Take number nine, It's
Kelsey season. Oh my god. Kelsey used to be known
as this all time great tight end who's just a
fantastic football player. And then something changed and he became

(09:53):
an international celebrity, who's an US weekly and stuff, and
days like this weekend you have to remind yourself, and
he reminds you that he is still one of the
greatest football players of all time. He completely dominated the Texans.
He looks slow, he looks kind of sluggish. It doesn't matter.
He's always open. He always gets it done. It was incredible.
Take number ten. Youth basketball. I've said this before, I'll
say it again. Is the hardest youth sport to coach.

(10:16):
I've done baseball, I've done flag football, I've done others.
I have never been more exhausted than after a basketball game.
It's constant screaming, go there, go there, stand there, get it,
pass it, shoot it, get it, shoot it, pass it.
For an hour straight. I was coaching eight year old
girls up who again exhausted. Baseball, easy, flag, football, walk
in the park, basketball so hard. I went overtime and

(10:40):
I got a lot more to say about coaching youth basketball.
I felt like I had done an iron man. Those
people collapsing at the end of the home stretch where
their legs are just seizing up and they're cramping and
falling down. That was me in the final two minutes
of one hour of just yelling, encouraging and emoting at
these wonderful little third graders, and we lost. That's it, guys,
It's always a win. When you click, I appreciate it.

(11:02):
Ten takes in ten minutes, Like subscribe review it helps me.
Thank you very much. I appreciate you. We'll see you
next week when we know the super Bowl matchup. Let's
go