2023 Divisional Round Recap

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
They Around the NFL podcast eight s Breeze Inch Football
from the Chris Wesley podcast studio. It's Around the NFL,
the flagship show, Divisional Round weekend edition, Pound for Pound,
the last weekend up football of the year, and the

(00:22):
Drama for Drama. It was excellent this weekend, living up
to the hype. We're down to four here. Dan hansis
with Greg Rosenthal Mark Sessler. Sunday, January twenty eighth, Kansas
City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens three pm kickoff, CBS, six

(00:43):
thirty pm Eastern Time on Fox. Lions at Niners from
the Big Bell Bottom. The winners of those games play
in Super Bowl fifty eight, two weeks from that day.
Mark three games left.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yeah, And I think like that announcement alone by you
is a very crystallized irritant to four fan bases who
did not survive this weekend. But I really don't know
if any of them can be put above what Buffalo's
fan base has been through. We sat down and watched
this game together for hours, and I don't know sometimes

(01:21):
if there are football gods or whatever is sitting up
there controlling all of this. The puppet masters, man, they
have a sixth sense of humor.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
It's the it's the beautiful part of doing this show
that we will get to all four games, that every
winner loser, like you all get your due. And yet
it's hard not to just feel overwhelmed by the enormity
of this Bill's Chiefs game. It's right before we tape
and it's Josh Allen, it's Patrick Mahomes. It's a game
we've been building up to for four years, and in
some ways it was so different and then the ending
being so similar. The only difference is we got a

(01:50):
Bills fan with tears, you know, covering himself up. Eric
didn't want to now that I wasn't talking Eric instead
of like Chiefs fans with happy tears.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
Guy and the telecasts. Yes, but Eric's probably crying as well,
although he's a very strong man.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah, I thought the Sunday games are you know, the
everyone is and rightfully so has been focused on Detroit,
the city of Detroit, the rise of the program under
Dan Campbell and how it's galvanized that whole area, and
how they're so easy to root for. I think from
a personal standpoint, it did have like, as we're starting

(02:26):
the show a little bit of a hangover because I've
always felt a bit of a kinship with the Bills
and their fans in the AFC East, and this feeling
that when is it going to be your turn to
get over the hump? And there are so many moments
in the game you're about to talk to talk about
where it felt like this was different than other Bills teams,
and yet it was.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
It's distinctly different than the other games too, because I
think if you're a Texans fan or a Packers fan,
there's a little bit of house money going on there
and there's hope for the future. It's like you're surprised
almost to be here on some level. Tampa Bay. Similar
one back to Tampa Bay to go deep into the playoffs.
The Bills came in with immense expectations, immense pressure, and

(03:06):
the carpet was rolled out for them to finally do
it this time around, to host the Chiefs in Buffalo,
and the fate could not be more cruel, and I think,
and I don't know, I feel like there's a weight
to all of it. I feel exhausted and.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Look at the crowd, people literally emotional to the state
of tiers and that is the power of sport, the
power of the NFL, and the hole it has on
Western New York and really everywhere.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
So let's get into it.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
The problem for the Bills is that to get over
the hump, they had to beat the Chiefs.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
And that's the team that they have.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Patrick Mahomes, that's a problem all right too.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Orchard Park Chiefs twenty seven Bills twenty four.

Speaker 5 (03:56):
In the game, on fourth down and nine for the Buffalo,
place went down.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
Bessest kick and the kick is.

Speaker 5 (04:03):
Good, God, a little prophecy. Tyler Bass has struggled and
he just misses the kick, and the Chiefs will take
over at the point of the miskick their own thirty
four yard line is Tyler Bass misses this wide to
the right.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
He missed. He skanked one wide to the left against
pet It and you just wonder on the over correction.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
The Chiefs catch a break on a missfield goal by Buffalo.

Speaker 4 (04:31):
Mitch Holt is rolling. Oh wow, little worse.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Worse, you guess you know what wdaf with the call.
I guess the cheeses are supposed to neatly move to
the side. This year bad year by their standards. Couldn't
get anything right. But then they flip a switch, as
the true great teams do, and they will drive you
crazy if you're sick of watching the Kansas City Chiefs,

(04:58):
but they don't care, just like the dynasty before him,
the Patriots, they didn't care either, as the Chiefs get
that the benefit obviously of a missed field goal there
by Tyler Bass the one that will live in infamy,
of course, not quite at the level of wide right
in January ninety one, but wide right in January of

(05:19):
twenty four is something that will stick with us and
She and Bill's Mafia Forever.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
Final score twenty seven to twenty four.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
The Chiefs advance to the AFC Championship Game for the sixth.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
Sixth consecutive year.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Does anybody understand how difficult it is to get to
the AFC title game, To get to a conference championship
game six years in a row. I don't even care
if you don't win them all, just getting there. It's
so difficult. So the Chiefs use a big play offense
that has gone all season GREGI. They average nine yards
per play in this game, and the defense tightens up

(05:57):
in the back end of this game to take one
and rip the Hearts out of Buffalo.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
I felt like these teams switched bodies all season, were
wasted our time apparently talking about how this Chiefs offense
they're never gonna get it together. And today they have
eight plays over twenty yards. They're moving the ball up
and down the field. I know they got fortunate with
that missfield goal, but let's be real, they were probably
the more consistent team. They had some breaks really go

(06:21):
against them later in this game. I know we'll get
to and I keep thinking about how all day Steve
Spagnolo was just daring Josh Allen to just stay patient,
stay patient, keep moving the ball up the field, keep
calling those runs, keep taking the checkdowns. No big plays
for the Bills. They literally did not have a throw
over fifteen yards in the game. He only had two
that went over ten yards in the air that were

(06:44):
completed in nutcutting time, and Alan tried some deep shots that,
through no fault of his own, weren't completed. You had
the sixty plus yarder through the air to dig Diggs
didn't make it. You had the Sherfield catches it, he
couldn't get. But in the final drive for the Bills
before they kicked that field goal first down that they

(07:06):
try to stick with the run burn a little more
clock cook is stopped. They ran the ball great in
the first half, Chiefs defense stepped up stopped the run
in the second half for the most part.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
Next two plays. An Tony Roma pointed it out.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
On second down, Allen has crossers short routes open, and
instead of going for Diggs over the middle, he holds it.
I can't kill the decision because he's got Shakir for
the game winning touchdown. But Chris Jones pushes Dowkins into
Allen's plant leg, he can't extend it, doesn't get there.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
Third down, he holds the ball.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
That was just a bad decision, trying to make a
bigger play, doesn't get it. And in the end, Josh
Allen is who Josh Allen is, and he went big
game hunting. I think he played great today, But Patrick
Mahomes played better, and the Chiefs defense and the end
play better. And they're just a great organization who is
playing their best when it absolutely matters. And that's what

(08:03):
dynasties do. And they are a dynasty.

Speaker 4 (08:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
I mean both teams combine for scores on nine of
the first eleven drives. Then it turns into an a
Blazon dogfight where that drives up a little bit and
it comes down to moments because if you knew in
this game that the Bills would have a Chiefs fumble
go through the end zone and you'd have a chance
to take a possession away from Kansas City, It's that

(08:26):
kind of game, and they do nothing with it. They
fizzle out and punt right away on the previous possession,
they go for a fake punt tomorrow Hamlon of all people,
unable to convert done on downs, missfield goal comes two
possessions later. Their final three possessions in a key, close,
tight affair result in zero points. They couldn't take advantage

(08:49):
of the little opportunities and a big play offense that
we've been used to to your point, Greg, zero plays
over twenty yards, not even like.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
A Josh Allen big run or anything.

Speaker 3 (08:58):
And I feel guys twenty seven for sevend they were
still like a good offense for most of the day
until the fourth quarter anyway, were not.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
But I think it's like you have to look at
you know, we don't know what will happen with Stephan Diggs,
but like Stephan Diggs is not a primary number one
guy in this offense today the way that you would
have hoped.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
They needed him. They absolutely did. And you can't be
what you're not.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
And maybe Stephan Diggs got old fast, I don't know,
or maybe he's just not in a good headspace, or
maybe it's just the way sports work sometimes and it's
not your day and it's not your season. But there's
something wrong with Diggs and we had documented it on
Thursday Show when you looked at his numbers that he
just hadn't been an explosive player.

Speaker 4 (09:33):
And yeah, that deep.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Shot I say on Digs just while we're there, like,
I think what is wrong with him in part is
Ljarious Snead in these two matchups nineteen targets forty five yards.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
Which is Man and pala Jariosneaed.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
That's all cool, but this goes back to two and
a half months and he was perfect. That bro was there,
He had him beat. He dropped it into his hands.
Alan and Digs not make the catch. And I'm not
saying they win the game if they because they end
up getting into Kansas City territory anyway on that drive.

Speaker 4 (10:07):
But you know, coming back to this idea.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
I feel like in the second half I felt it
watching the game, and I feel like you could feel
it in the in the building, and you could feel
just watching the way the players are the enormity of
the moment. It felt like it felt like in Eric again,
I Love You Body. I felt like we're watching a
game where it was a sliding doors moment in Bill's history,

(10:31):
like this was gonna be the half or the couple
of possessions that will be remembered forever when they get
past Mahomes and then beat the Ravens and go finally
win a Super Bowl. And they had it in front
of them after the horrendous Mikole Hardman turnover. Upon review,
they survived the botched fake punt, and then they get

(10:52):
the ball back again and they can't they can't move
the ball, and then for that drive to stall and
then you leave it up to the kicker on a
in January in Buffalo on a cold and windy day.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
And that's what Patrick Mahomes was saying after the game
about his defense and a little pep talk that he
thought he should have given a little earlier.

Speaker 6 (11:14):
I went over to the defense and I told him,
I'll say, y'all shut it down and we'll win this
football game. We'll go to the Nancy Championship game. And
they did going to that fourth quarter, and I told
him next time, I'll try to tell him earlier.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
And to the credit to the credit of the Chiefs,
because the Bills kind of Greek tragedy side of it
is easy to kind of get wrapped up into. But
to the credit to the Chiefs, like the Patriots before him,
they they're that team that finds a way, especially this
time of year.

Speaker 4 (11:44):
And they did it again.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well they did it the same way they've done it
for five years, but they weren't supposed to this year.
But I'm just saying, like it was so crazy to
think going into the third quarter they were trailing in
this game and their offense at that point was averaging
nine yards per play and they hadn't been stopped. I'm
not counting it as a stop when they ran one

(12:06):
play before halftime. The Chiefs had literally scored every time
they had the ball. They were averaging nine point three
yards per play, and they entered the fourth quarter trailiing.
That's what happened in the Dick for meal days. That
was the stuff that happened early in this Mahomes run,
when you had Brady and Gronk going up and down
the field in the first half. Their defense actually didn't
show up very well today and it didn't matter because

(12:27):
Mahomes and this offense were cooking. Kelsey making big plays
the first play of the second half, Mahomes with a
dot to MVS. Then later in the second half where
Mahomes evades the pass rush there was no Bills pass
rush today, steps up another one down the field to MVS.
They ran the ball really well, like this was a
peak Chiefs offensive performance that certainly makes you think, like, hmm,

(12:51):
wonder if they have one or two more of these
in them?

Speaker 4 (12:54):
That's all they need.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Yeah, it was two weeks in.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
A row now where they've answered questions on that side
of the.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Ball, and I, you know, I think Kelsey this whole
season has not felt to me obviously like peak Kelsey,
but he showed up today in a big way and
crossed the barrier.

Speaker 4 (13:07):
They've got the most.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
You know, Mahomes and Kelsey now the most quarterback target
touchdowns and playoff history that passed Brady and Gronk. It
looks like it, that feels like it. That's who the
Chiefs are, and there is just something inevitable about Mahomes.
There wasn't a moment in this game where you felt
any doubt coming from him. And this whole thing that
he's on the road, I think he enjoyed being on them.

(13:29):
I think he enjoyed being in this environment, and they
took that challenge on. Chris Jones was going at the
Bills fans before the game, and that's a lot. You
know that you're watching Bills fans shedding tears at the
end of this affair, and I think it's like it is.
It is the inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs that
they're going to find a way in any environment, any situation,
to show up when it matters most, and the doubts

(13:50):
about their offense flutter away at this point.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
Here's an annoying thing again about like this job, what
we do for a living. We're supposed to be paid
off this time of year now, because we watched all
the Chiefs tape all year and we how many times
did we say, Man, if they haven't figured it out
by now, it's just not gonna happen.

Speaker 4 (14:07):
And the way they were able to just they started it.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
Last week and they had some red zone issues, but
really did I think they were over four hundred yards
Greg as you pointed out earlier last week in their
win this week, was it looked vintage and then it's
just like weird stuff goes on again. I struggle to
hate the Chiefs, even though they're a team at this
point everyone should get sick of. And I think there's
a little bit of that pushback that kind of began
this year with some Chiefs fatigue. I think Taylor Swift's

(14:31):
involvement with the team indirectly has has led to that.
But I can't because they are just not an unlikable squad.
But the things that do get me mad because it
shouldn't be that way, because it isn't like this for
any other team MVS. Shouldn't all of a sudden be
like making incredibly play incredible plays downfield like he's making

(14:53):
in this game. The guy could not catch a cold
for basically his whole career and now is making big
time plays. You're seeing play it now. Isaiah. I like
Isaiah Bacheko. He runs like Peak, like Roger Craig, now
like that. I mean, this team, their ability to find
ways to get it done with obviously Mahomes at the
center of it.

Speaker 4 (15:11):
It's commendable and yes, annoying.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
It's their O line two Today Ed Oliver didn't have
a pressure I think for the first time in two years. Wow,
he was He had a one on one matchup with
Joe Toney most of the day. Daikwon Jones didn't get
after Von Miller is a total no show, you know,
one of the most regrettable contracts, unfortunately for them because
of the injury, and he couldn't come back and he
just couldn't get after him. And then you look at

(15:34):
the box score and it's Mahomes seventeen for twenty three, two,
fifteen and two. And yet I think of this as
like one of his best games ever. I know he
missed those two throws it in the red zone where
back to back play is essentially where they were trying
to go in. But other than that, just the decision making,
everything's on point. It's fun to watch greatness, but you're right,
there is something about this team when it when it

(15:55):
really comes to it, like the defense did make those plays.
Suddenly they have five tackles for losses. Suddenly they're in
the Bill's backfield for all these negative gains. Ceh Clyde
Edwards Hilaire like a draft bust, couldn't literally couldn't get
on the field all season a first round pick, and
suddenly he's popping up for like a big twenty eight yarder.
And there is just something about this team that now

(16:19):
that we're here, even though I wanted this Bill's team
to win, you do look at all the injuries that
they were taking advantage. The linebacker position for Buffalo certainly
thin at the playmaker Shakira was going in and out,
the tight ends were getting hurt, and you do think,
like this Chiefs team is a little healthier. They're peeking
and it does set up we'll get into it during
the week, but it does set up a beautiful matchup

(16:40):
next week.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, because this was a game where it's like you
start to look back at the bodies that are lost
for Buffalo, Like Matt Malana was missed in this game.

Speaker 4 (16:48):
AJ Klein was picked on a lot in this one.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
And if I knew going in that the Chiefs would
have the ball for twenty two plus minutes in the
Bills thirty seven plus. I would have thought that's what
Buffalo wants. Yeah, keeping the ball out of mahomes hands,
and they must be going on long scoring drivers, they
must be converting. And instead it's like the Chiefs did
so much with so little time, and it's like nine

(17:13):
point three yards per pass for the Chiefs four point
six or sorry, four point eight for the Bills. Big
plays versus no big plays. Now we're about to throw
to some Josh Allen sound.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
I just want to to Bills fans if you're listening,
and by the way, great people just tough, tough as
nails if you're listening to the show, so they know
it can't be easy. But even if Bess pipes that one,
he'll tie the game. But the Buffalo's inability to really
finish off that drive, they were a lot of trouble anyway,

(17:46):
because that would have been with one forty seven to play.
You're sending Mahomes back on the field with two timeouts.
So the offense's inability to execute in the fourth quarter,
and this is a game, by the way, that had
five lead changes by the first minute of the four
fourth quarter. But their inability to score and execute they
were shut out in the fourth quarter. Really is what
haunt will haunt them throughout this offseason. Here's here's Josh

(18:09):
Allen on another year of what if sucks.

Speaker 7 (18:15):
Losing sucks, losing them, losing anybody at home sucks.

Speaker 4 (18:24):
Yeah, that about accurately sums it up. It's such a bummer.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
They had Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer take the podium
together and they talked about how they came in at
twenty seventeen and it just hurts for the guys like
them that came in together and are still there, the
ones that kind of change this entire culture, where like
even making the playoffs, they're sending Andy Dalton, you know,

(18:51):
thousands and tens of thousands of dollars in charity money
just because they got Tyrod Taylor into the playoffs to
lose a wild gargament. That's how much it meant. That's
how much they needed that culture to be changed. And
here at so many of those guys, including Milano and
those two have been there throughout and it did feel
a little bit. And Poyer and Hyde every year you're
not sure if they're gonna come back. Poyer, by the way,
had that heroic punch out on Hardman on the goal

(19:13):
line like that would have been a defining play for him.
I think he's thirty five years old, and you just
don't know how many of those guys will be back
next year. I don't know if Stefan Diggs will be back,
and I think they knew the enormity. You feel that
every year, and I'm sure it hurts McDermott because he
did such a good job I think coaching up this
defense throughout the back half of the year, really scheming

(19:34):
things up, and he just lost today, like scheme players everything,
Andy Reid and Mahomes put it on McDermott and his
defense in a big spot can and he's gonna say,
you can't. You can't change the defensive play caller. He
already changed the offensive play caller. Unless they give Bills
fans on Twitter their wish at least something that I saw,
and they're like bringing Bill Belichick.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
That is not happening.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Back in August, we did the urgency meter had the
Bills on top, and you push back pretty hard on it, Greg.
But I saw this season as they were at the
top of the urgency meter, and I thought this the
window of this particular Bills team, this Josh Allen led team,
but with some of the players on the defense you mentioned,
with Stefan Diggs as the alpha dog of the offense,

(20:18):
like it was gonna be telling what happens after this year.
And I really do think we're gonna probably see a
different Bills team. I think McDermott's obviously gonna be back,
Allen's not going anywhere, Malone will be healthy again. But
at a certain point, I mean, how many times you're
gonna keep running into this wall in the AFC playoffs
before you have to make substantial chances changes around the
quarterback and coach. We'll see, well, Alix, they have a

(20:41):
fascinating offseason because how do you approach from where they're
at right now?

Speaker 2 (20:45):
They absolutely do, and I think it starts with you know,
like last offseason there was drama laced around Steph on Diggs.
I think it's start. We're right back there again to
find out his future. But the desperation to win to
get past this step showed when they fired offensive coordinator
mid season, like this team would do anything to get
it right, and your back where you started from. A

(21:05):
bunch of guys are probably not going to be back,
and then you're hoping next year that your quarterback stays healthy,
that the division doesn't change too much, that you can
be this Bills team and add weapons. But it's like
the journey back to get to this place is only
more pressure laid and more impossible to get to. And
I think you see the difference between a Chiefs team
that's like, who cares what we've been for the past
four months, We're going to be something different now.

Speaker 4 (21:28):
And they knew it.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
It's like Mahomes that in that comment saying I'm going
to go tell the defense you do it.

Speaker 4 (21:33):
I'll get us to the AFC Championship. Do your part.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
The Bills are wondering how do we get past this
and it's another season ending with a massive question.

Speaker 3 (21:42):
Well, they know more than anyone, the Bills, how tough
it is to get here. They had to win what
six straight games to get to this point, and you
were feeling like they were that team, and they did
make a lot of changes. They turned into kind of
a heavy personnel run the ball. Well they ran it
for one to eighty two today, like don't get it
like lost. I think in the few plays like Josh
Allen played out standing in this game.

Speaker 4 (22:03):
The reason this game is a classic.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
It's gonna be, you know, a game of the week tomorrow,
but to me, it's the game of the year. So
far as Mahomes and Allen were brought their a games,
Allan was not letting them lose there for three quarters.
And I know there's a couple of plays at the end,
but if his receivers made place for him, kind of
like we've been wanting the Chiefs receivers to make plays
for Mahomes for a lot of the game, like.

Speaker 4 (22:23):
He'd be the hero.

Speaker 3 (22:24):
So it was two of the very best and unfortunately
for Bills Field, like a familiar finish, except for the
snowballs being thrown at Mahomes as he like gleefully ran
off the field.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
That was a great image, Jason Kelcey with his shirt off,
bellowing from the luxury suite, upstaging even Taylor Swift.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Exiting this sweet moment down into the stands amongst right.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
He was slightly for some reason, I wouldn't do that
in Baltimore. I don't know. I guess Jason Kelsey can
do whatever he wants anywhere else. Was hammered.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah, let's not get that twisted. And I'm not judging
the man. I think he's early into retirement now. They
said a great time, but he was, he was, he
was sauce.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
But like when he gave his speech apparently when they
won the Super Bowl at the parade. Yeah, he was
asked I think Sheilkipedia like tweeted this out, Like he
was asked how many beers he had in his system
at that point, and he said twenty and then like
on a scale of one to ten, how drunk crew was,
Like it was like a five out of ten.

Speaker 4 (23:19):
So who knows what was going on today.

Speaker 1 (23:21):
He's one of those heroic like wade bogs, like beer drinkers,
like you could do forty beers from Seattle to Boston
on a flight. Yeah, the the me Cole fumble, the
guy is drunk when Alan fumbles near midfield and somehow
it doesn't get scooped up and they recover.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
Oh, the Allen roll out.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
I think it was a twenty six percent completion probability
to Shakir to put them ahead.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
Oh yeah, like ridiculous, there's so many I hears Eric,
I'm stunned.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
I can't believe this was right the day, right, Eric,
I can't believe this wasn't the game, the Buffalo game
that you remember forever that.

Speaker 4 (23:58):
I'm sorry, buddy, No, I.

Speaker 8 (23:59):
Mean you become Kallis as it callous to it as
a Bills fan. I mean, I actually was telling people
today I felt like a little confident and I've told
them like, that's probably not good because Buffalo's going to
Buffalo and yeah, yeah, I mean the I don't know,
it all comes crashing down so quickly and in a
moment like that, I mean all game. I'm talking around.

(24:19):
You were watching this game, and Bass watched one last week.
He had one blocked. And even his little extra points,
they're kind of a little dicey, they're a little and like, dude,
he's tucking them in and they they go for it
and they get there was a nice drive and it's like,
well you kick it. I'm like, yeah, you gotta kick it.
Tie the game, and like, do you trust your kicker?
I'm like, hell no.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
But I had a bad feeling about that kick. Yeah
you said it.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
You actually said it seconds before he missed, and I thought,
that's it's too evil.

Speaker 4 (24:46):
It was just and it was as soon it was
off the foot, Yeah, it was. It was.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
They have their season online earlier that drive with a
fourth down call, they convert that. Alan had a nice
another down on that and then like it all comes
crashing down, and then the second it's over, you get
a slack from like me, like, hey, can we get
some postgame sound? Yeah, Alan really pouring his Howard out.

Speaker 8 (25:10):
That's a nature of the business, you guys, I'm a professional.

Speaker 4 (25:12):
You're pro due.

Speaker 1 (25:13):
But they also could have gotten by the way, even
after the miss. If you get a stop, maybe a
miracle a reverse thirteen seconds can happen.

Speaker 4 (25:21):
But I mean give the Chiefs credit.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
They really were the better team ultimately, and they proved
it by ice in the game there with two runs
I mean ensuing drive and.

Speaker 4 (25:30):
That was it.

Speaker 8 (25:30):
The first drive, guys, is like a third and seventeen,
a fourth and one conversion, overturned fumble, overturned fumble. It's
like it's a minute and a half in and I'm like,
my nerves already through the roof, and I'm like, this
is gonna be well those days and something's gonna go
horrible the worst.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
It's it's also tough, like when your team keeps losing
to the same team of the playoffs, and like, yeah,
you know, Big Funk knows that with the Packers and
the Niners, and it's like, you've got this situation. It's
like it's it's it's this resounding, repeating note over and over.

Speaker 4 (25:57):
That's an evil note.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
I know, I know that basketball is completely different than
football tirely, but it does make me think of when
we're talking about what do the.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
Bills need to do? Ball is completely different than as.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
A Knicks fan in the early nineties could not get
past Jordan, couldn't do it, and then it was like,
is there something wrong with the Knicks? Well, Jordan basketball,
Michael Jordan's the problem. They had incredible teams in ninety one,
ninety two, ninety three, and they just couldn't get him.
And you know that's maybe that's the maybe that's the pain.

(26:31):
You don't want Josh Allen to be remembered as the
guy that just happened to play at the same time
as Brady straight into Mahomes and you'll just end up
always being the bridesmaid. But it's hard not to think
that way. He's still got a lot of years, but
it's it's been.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, we end up Mahomes Jordan debate, like in twenty
eighteen or twenty nineteen. When Mahomes is making that run,
it's like he is the best football player I've ever
seen and at no point has that even dipped like
a little bit. And he just proves it again and again.

Speaker 4 (26:58):
It's crazy. All right, Uh, let's uh, let's move.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Let's move to the other AFC game it was played
on Saturday was the number one seed Ravens against the
upstart Texans, a game that was a dead heat at halftime,
and then the Ravens showed who was who.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
It's Lamar, kill him holding itself, runs to the left,
hat to.

Speaker 4 (27:21):
The parn Glamar in touchdown.

Speaker 5 (27:24):
Ravens were get out a championship game in Botidar because
that hate the barn.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
Lamar just ran through the tunnel. Here in the locker room.

Speaker 2 (27:35):
He went, bo Jackson, He's still up the tunnel.

Speaker 4 (27:39):
And I was getting ready to say there's no way
they can run this boot again. And they did it.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Oh, you can do it when you're the Ravens who
just punished and do what they want. And good job
Jerry Sandusky and Rod Woodson w b A L. Because
of course old fogies, No, that's Jackson running up the
tunnel against the Seahawks in eighty seven. On Monday Night Football,
Lamar with a nice tribute in a thirty four to

(28:09):
ten win over the Texans. Like I said, this game
was ten ten at the half mark Sessler, but then
the Ravens came out flawlessly execute a go ahead touchdown
drive and they just never look back. In fact, they
never gave up a touchdown on defense. The only score
for the Houston was a punt return for the first half.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
I thought this game was a perfect portrait of how
complete the Ravens have become. If it was a situation
where early in the year they were warming up on
offense and learning the system, this was an absolute exclamation
point of how dominant they can be. And like I
honestly think they played a team that's going to be

(28:54):
around for many years to come in the Texans with CJ.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
Stroud. CJ.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Stroud faced more pressure in this game than he has
in any other game of his career, and it looked
like it. And I just mentioned that the Bills, in
a losing effort, had the ball for thirty seven plus minutes.
The Ravens had it for seven plus minutes in this
because they were able to run the ball for two
hundred and twenty nine yards, because Lamar Jackson was magical
on the ground, because he was nearly flawless through the air,

(29:19):
because their defense absolutely choked the life out of the
Houston Texans and made what looked like a special passing
game under Bobby Slowick and CJ.

Speaker 4 (29:28):
Stroud a week ago.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
Looked completely lost at sea for the entirety of the
second half, because yes, it was ten ten big special
teams played for the Texans, and Lamar Jackson talked about
going into the locker room at halftime and refusing to
tell the public what he said because it was filled
with too much language that a.

Speaker 4 (29:45):
Sailor would speak.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
And I mean, I think that says a lot about
Lamar Jackson versus him a couple of years ago. And Greg,
it was way back in like week four or five
that you talked about the Ravens as a Super Bowl team,
and I thought this was maybe Greg being a little
hyper about his lam army and all that business. But
they look completely impressive from every angle and they absolutely

(30:08):
proved I thought against the Texans that it really doesn't
matter who they play, They're gonna be who they are.

Speaker 3 (30:13):
I would love to hear that halftime speech. And it's funny.
This game actually did remind me of that. The game
in London we saw a little bit in the sense
that there's a lot of Ravens games like this where
it's like, not that impressive for a while, and just
steadily they just smother you. Just every little aspect of
the team smothers you, and then sudden you look up
at the end of the game and you're like, actually,
that was never really a game they took over. And

(30:36):
part of it is they just have answers. They have
answers with personnel like Flowers running some big boy routes there,
likely turning into a great red zone threat. Obviously, Lamar
has almost a perfect game sixteen for twenty two for
one fifty two and then one hundred yards on the ground,
just like no mistakes.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
But it was one of the best all around games
from a quarterback you've ever seen.

Speaker 4 (30:56):
The play right.

Speaker 3 (30:58):
It kind of reminded him Mahomes game today because if
you just look at the box scords, like it wouldn't
seem that crazy other than the one hundred yards rushing.
But I also think they have answered defensively. Like Monkin
knew that the Blitz was giving them trouble in the
first half, they just knew exactly what to do to
it in the second half. Those adjustments Lamar made him,
Monkin made him, and I don't think that was gonna
happen with Greg Roman there and McDonald being their defensive coordinator.

(31:20):
I don't think it would have been as complete with
Don Martindale there. So they did a really good job.
Just personnel coaches. Everything right now is humming.

Speaker 1 (31:28):
Yes, So when you have Lamar playing at this level
and playing this confident and the running game humming the
way it.

Speaker 4 (31:33):
Is, they're going to be very difficult to beat.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
It's my big takeaway from the games was the defense,
and you know how I think it was. I got
to give credit to Mark. You're a cinophile who who
directed twenty eight days later. Well, Danny Boyle, Oh, Jenny,
but I wish you would have known that off the
top of your head.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
I do too.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
I love open questions on a show that thousands of
people are listening to.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
Danny Boyle directed a movie in two thousand and two,
call twenty eight days later, a classic zombie apocalypse film
with a twist. All of a sudden, the zombies, who
you remember throughout pop culture history being kind of slow, lumbering,
kind of unstoppable, but easily you could run past them
and run around them. You could bunk them on the
head of the two by four. These zombies were fast,

(32:21):
and they come at you in waves and gangs, and
they're horrifying the zombies, and it starts started a whole
new way of looking at them in that genre. That's
how I look at this Ravens defense, the way they
swarm with speed and power, and even if the first
guy misses the tackle, the second guy's coming right behind him,
If he dodges out of that guy, the third guy
wallops him.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
And you saw that over and over and over.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Houston could not get a clean look, could not get
into the open field, could not make a play, and yeah,
they just suffocated their offense, an offense that was kicking ass.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Going into this, I would note that Danny Boyle did
train spotting as well, and that film those zombies run
hair when the Ravens do not appear to be have
heroin in their bloodstream, Thank you.

Speaker 4 (33:05):
That's my comment. I love that one too.

Speaker 3 (33:07):
There is there is something about like, I don't know
what's in the water there in Baltimore, what Mike Donald's doing,
because yeah, they have guys like Arthur Mallett.

Speaker 4 (33:15):
I'm sorry one second, were there zombies and trainspoting now?
But no, I'm saying they were.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
They were all on at Arrow, you know, like right
right lost zombies, Yeah, a different type of zone.

Speaker 4 (33:24):
I felt you go ahead, thank you, great movie.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Great literal zombies, yes, and twenty eight days later, literal zombies.

Speaker 4 (33:32):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
They they the drug right, that metaphoric but the slow
lumbering zombies.

Speaker 4 (33:39):
But in Baltimore, it's.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Like, oh ahead, you give a little bit of that
zombie juice to Mallet, you give a little bit to Clowney,
and instead of like getting you know, trashed and quitting
on your team at the end of the season, it's
like zombies.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
Is there a quick twitch monster?

Speaker 3 (33:53):
Cloudy's at your lap all game. Matdam Bka had a
great game. He just kept winning that matchup over and
over and over. That was against Shackson for the most part,
and I'm with you. They just kept throwing so many
different looks. Actually, a halftime that the Texans had a
more yards on offense than the Ravens because they had
that one decent drive that they ended up settling for
a field goal. But for the most part, it was

(34:16):
just good night. And then eventually, like the play calling,
I really was impressed that that that call we heard
with Lamar where they kind of do the end around
but they have Ronnie Stanley pulling and it's like a misdirection.
They ran that twice just to perfection the likely touchdown
on an RPO. I mean, that was It's been such
a huge contributor. That was a beautiful play call too,

(34:38):
that like what can you do there? Everyone is out
there blocking on the edge. Lamar probably could have run
it in, but instead he throws it to Likely, who
makes these great catches. They might get Andrews back and
and Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
Chiefs will be a very because because Likely is a
legitimate yes player.

Speaker 4 (34:55):
No, you can use use both.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
You know, let's listen to John Harbaugh, who has the
a man that's going to be named MVP in a
couple of weeks and maybe be playing in the Super
Bowl a couple days after that.

Speaker 9 (35:05):
I thought Lamar was gonna play great, but he's played
great all year, you know, and just now it's it's
more important than ever. He's been locked in from day one.
That's his term, and we've all kind of ran with that,
and I think he's he's he's directed this whole thing.
But like he said, we got we got more work
to do.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
It is a lesson, I think, to the entire league
because it looks more mystifying than ever that we spent
the majority of the offseason wondering if the Ravens wanted
to keep Lamar Jackson, if they if they were planning to,
or if they thought maybe they would free themselves, and
no other team in the league, including the Atlanta Falcons,
most noticeably, like really pursued Lamar Jackson.

Speaker 1 (35:44):
He was sort of a man that like, we've covering
some bonkers offseasons, crazy that one will forever stand out,
and I feel like, you know, even in the moment
and on this show, if you go back, we were
all a little puzzled, especially some of the teams that
were choosing to make statements and let it you know
that they weren't interested. Teams that had quarterbacks like Desmond Ritter.
I mean, like, no, we're not interested in that business.

(36:05):
But this is now turned into the kind of worst
case scenario for all those teams because it's almost now
gonna be if this team ends up going all the
way that's legendary, like the where that was in summer.
But also the Ravens kind of catch a break too
unless they were playing you know, chess when everyone else
was playing checkers. Like if another team had the good
sense to go hard after Lamar, you would have lost

(36:26):
this guy that's about to get you to the super
Bowl potentially, right.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
I keep I've seen tweets from like Adam Schefter where
it was like where they make it out like, oh,
the Ravens were never gonna let them let him go.
It's like, well, what if they just front loaded it upright,
poison pilled the massive armor and they were willing to
give up two first round picks?

Speaker 4 (36:43):
Are you sure about that?

Speaker 3 (36:44):
And more to the point, whether they fully guaranteed it
And it's a conversation for another day, But to me,
there is a level of quarterback and I would put
Lamar Jackson at this level where it's like, just guarantee
the contract if it's like four years. Josh, Josh Allen
and Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow and Lamar and c. J.

Speaker 4 (37:03):
Strout.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
Of these guys, they're going to get to those four
or five years. They will be on the team for
those four years to just guarantee them the money.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Anyways, it's not that big of a It's a brutal sports,
that's what I get it.

Speaker 4 (37:12):
Higher level of danger that.

Speaker 1 (37:13):
There's the sports they're sort of like there are that
sort of a catastrophic injury near one of the contracts.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
I just mean, there are catastrophic injuries in basketball and
baseball all the time too, and they survive giving out
massive Like I'm just saying a four year contract for
a quarterback.

Speaker 4 (37:31):
If someone had done that, they could have had them.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
There is one thing about the Ravens that I thought
stands with me going into next week's game, that there
was a lot of talk about a the fact that
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have crumbled in the playoffs
no matter what the regular season looked like, and they
had this extra rest and would they come out flat
And they did come out flat, Like their final three
drives in the first half, three punts were for negative

(37:53):
seven net yards. And it's like psychologically is that when
the Ravens can be broken by a young team with
nothing to lose and to come out three straight touchdowns
in a field goal, It's like cool.

Speaker 4 (38:03):
I think this Ravens team is different.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
And you probably had a great Troy had it pegged.
He said before the kickoff the start the third quarter.
This is a very important drive, right, you gotta go
and get a touchdown and kind of shut down that
energy as it were, and I think they absolutely did.
Here's Demiko O Ryans, who obviously did a tremendous job
as a rookie head coach, and he does have a
right future with this team.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
Only the future has to wait until September for them.
Think our team learns that we know we're right there
at halftime, answer right.

Speaker 10 (38:36):
So they know they were toe to toe was a
really good team. And I hope our team just understands
that moving forward right at all calls, you gotta finish right,
and you want to continue to move forward, continue to
play in big games, It'll always be about executing and finishing.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
I see why you want to stand with that man
and lock up a game and a team coach by
that man.

Speaker 4 (38:57):
Yeah, well he's only a few years removed from being
on a team. So but it was a mistake.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
It I don't think so ultimately, because I was doing
it a for the show and B to you know
that that was.

Speaker 4 (39:07):
A mistake in the sense that, yeah, locked up a team.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
Though well, I you know, if I lose, that clearly
is a mistake.

Speaker 4 (39:12):
So they were also like ten point underdogs.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
It was it was, perhaps from a logical standpoint, misguided.
I understand where you're coming from.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
And I conversely locked the other team. I understand that,
but that's why I did what I did. And the
second half standings are just tightening up. Greg he's getting
a little noivous. We'll see how he did in his
lock a little bit later.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
Erase nobody outside of yourself, Ryan's they're gonna be great
for a while.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Like they have their premium positions really well covered. If
you think about like lermy tons of left tackle all
pro TJ stroud Enough said, maybe the most valuable contract
in the league, if you think about it, because he's
got three more years on this rookie deal and he's
already this good and I thought he played pretty well.
I know, it sounds crazy. They only scored three points

(39:59):
He did not have a bad game Sunday. He actually
made your Saturday. He made a lot of throws against pressure.
He had virtually no chance. But I was curious.

Speaker 4 (40:06):
I went to check the PFF scar but I was like,
I bet it's not that bad. And it's not. It
wasn't it's not good, but it's just like a solid
Well he doesn't turn the ball over, right.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Get banked l back right, Get Derek Henry maybe in
the backfield next year.

Speaker 4 (40:17):
Right.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
Okay, So you got the receivers, you got Stingley who
came on like a house on fire. You have a
lot of the premium positions. Grenard is a free agent,
but we'll see maybe the franchise tagment and will Anderson
at the edge, like a lot of the big time positions.

Speaker 4 (40:33):
They're set for a while.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
And then he showed he took all these guys that
were after thoughts elsewhere, Desmond King, Cashman Barnett, Christian Harris,
who was the second year player who stunk as a rookie.

Speaker 4 (40:43):
It's like he made all those guys better.

Speaker 3 (40:45):
I mean they usually I pushed back on the like, well,
there's gonna be set up for the future. I pushed
back on the Jags last year, I wasn't just sure
like this team is the team in the AFC.

Speaker 4 (40:55):
The only problem though, I think you've got a great
head coach.

Speaker 2 (40:58):
But when you're defensive minded and like Bobby Slowick's taking
interviews left and right, it's like you don't want to
have CJ. Stroud's offensive coordinator switching every year or two
over the course of this rookie contract.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
And let's see, just checking the Deshaun Watson trade, they
do have the twenty third overall pick from the Cleveland Browns,
so they get a first round pick. They sent a
first round pick to Arizona to get Will Anderson. Yeah,
Will Anderson, there you go, Thank you, Greg and Yes.
Chiefs at Ravens Mahomes b Lamar next.

Speaker 4 (41:30):
Sunday, a new one.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
That's a new one for the playoffs, and a playoff
set is that has been very difficult to pick because
the matchups have all felt pretty even up.

Speaker 2 (41:39):
And that's as loud as Baltimore has been crowd wise
in a long time, and they quietly have not like
you have to go back to like twenty twelve when
they got to a AFC title game.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
Well, this is literally the Ravens first ever home AFC
Championship game, which I was surprised you.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
Right, first since nineteen seventy when they were the Baltimore
Cults at Live without the r ave Ns Ravens chap.
That's a little that's ip that came from Flushing Queens
in the early seventies.

Speaker 4 (42:08):
Just fyi, it's fair comment.

Speaker 3 (42:11):
Remember they were doing play like a raven when Rex
Ryan was there or something like that.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
That was bar Well, all right, let's take a break
and then we'll hit the other two games. Right, Welcome
back to around the NFL, the divisional recap, the flagship program.

Speaker 4 (42:36):
So yeah, that is the AFC.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Now let's turn to the other side of things, the NFC,
and it's time now for the Sunday Drive presented by
the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. Yes, the San Francisco
forty nine Ers. It feels like it's been a month
since we've seen them on the field. It's been about
three weeks since they had their full squad out there competing,
and they got another upstart even the Packers, who were

(43:01):
upset minded, but unlike the Houston Texans, they were up
for the challenge.

Speaker 4 (43:07):
The Niners who it was tight first and ten Green Bay.

Speaker 5 (43:12):
They have two timeouts left on the shotgun deep trop
Prussia gets chased out to us like we'll throw on
the run back us in our set before drake ring
ball running back the other way, secure the ball the
run back the other way.

Speaker 4 (43:28):
They're trying to strip it right, a big play Dray
comes down. Green Bay has two time outs left, but
the forty nine Ers have the football.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
Oh my good gun, goodness, good call there by Greg
Pope can br if Dre fumbles that ball and it
gets recovered by the Packers and then the Packers going
to win. I mean that would have been one of
the more devastating stay down kid.

Speaker 4 (43:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:56):
Anyway, it all worked out, uh for the line backer
and also for his team, the San Francisco forty nine Ers,
who benefited from another missed field goal attempt, this time
by Andrews Carlson of the Packers, who's miss kept it
a four point game late instead of a seven point
game in terms of a lead for the visiting Packers,

(44:19):
and then San Francisco and Brock Purty, who struggled for
most of the night in rainy conditions at the Big
Bell Bottom leads the team on a big drive down
the field, a big boy drive ending with a Christian
McCaffrey touchdown. That is the difference after that, Jordan leve
In t we heard final score twenty four to twenty one,
and the Niners are back in the NFC title game
for the.

Speaker 4 (44:39):
Third straight year. Can they get over the hump with
Kyle Shannan, We will see, Mark Geez.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
That is a game that the Niners were very fortunate
to escape and survive. But they did and now they
will be playing for the super Bowl at home next week.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
I just want to hit it from like one angle,
and it's like the brock Party side of things, because
it kind of felt like anyone, whether you're for or
against Brock Party in terms of the scope of who
he is, the MVP race and everything else. It kind
of had something for everyone because it was the game
that kind of could tell you, this isn't an MVP
level quarterback and like, look at it's raining again like

(45:21):
it was when he played the Browns, and you're getting
this other version of Brock Party who's imperfect with the
game on the line in this critical moment. But then
you also got that final touchdown drive where I thought
brock Purty like in a rough and tumble outing show
that in the end he really is capable. And like,
I think, this Niners team, you know, I wondered what

(45:42):
would happen to them after the rest that they've had
and they've been so dominant and so unstoppable. This was
just like a B minus version of their offense for
eighty five percent of it, and they still found a
way to.

Speaker 4 (45:53):
Get it done.

Speaker 1 (45:53):
Here's party on the Niners winning a game that under
Shanahan they have struggled to win, coming back from behind
in the fourth quarter.

Speaker 11 (46:01):
I mean, I think it is important. We were all like,
all right, this is it, you know, this is our season,
and so for us to capitalize like that was huge
for all of us and then obviously for myself as
a quarterback, Like it's good for confidence and all that.
But we have too many good players man on this team,
so many players that are difference makers, and we got
a great defense, and so for us to not find

(46:22):
a way just wasn't It's not right. So for us
to finally have a game like this and pull through
at the end was huge for all of us.

Speaker 3 (46:30):
So well, it's so huge obviously to just keep this
season going. I think to win a Super Bowl sometimes
you got to survive a bad game, and this was it.
I mean, they should have lost this game. They were
fortunate to win. They made the plays to win, but
there were many times it could have gone against them.
And if you wanted to be a skeptic of this

(46:50):
team and look through a certain lens, anytime they were
kind of pushed this year, they crumbled a little bit.
And even like the three game losing streak, like they start,
they crumbled and they couldn't stop the bleeding. During that
three game Loons well every oh well, Deebo Samuel and
Trent Williams were out. It's like, look at every other
team in the league. Look at the Bills, look at
look at so many look at the Dolphins with all

(47:11):
these injury issues, and they found ways to win. And
then in that Ravens game too, they let it snowball
on them. So I think to stand up in a
spot where they really looked like they were about to
lose and have both sides of the ball step up
after a pretty shaky game from both sides of the
ball in the last eight minutes and them to play
their best ball in the last eight minutes was huge

(47:32):
because the Packers Dan had the ball first and ten
seven point fifty one to go up four at the
forty nine ers twenty four yard line at that point
in the game. Did you think the forty nine Ers
had much of a chance to win that game?

Speaker 4 (47:49):
No, And I'm mad.

Speaker 1 (47:51):
This is what we do for a living, and I
felt like I kind of nailed the game. I thought
the Packers would come in and take that momentum from Dallas.
I thought the defense had a chance to uh because
they were stiffer against Dallas.

Speaker 4 (48:03):
They did.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
They played well against San Francisco on defense for the
most part in this game, and then they put They
were able to put points on the board and then
put pressure on Purdy and Purdy was making mistakes. But
here's the problem. They did all that, but they got
turned away in the red zone a couple of times.
They had to turnover and downs on fourth in less
than a yard. They dropped the spot on that.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
Yeah, questionable, but an unreal play by Drake green Law
to stip absolutely chops.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Purdy did throw the ball for grabs a couple of times.
They didn't catch it, so that they had and this
is why. This is why, also because I don't necessarily
believe in the uh the future is bright, you know,
plenty more years, because you just you never know. And
the Packers on balance, it was a successful season and
it was quote unquote house money game here against the Niners.

(48:54):
But when you have that team on the ropes like
they did, when you kind of outplayed the mighty to
get brought down by failure to execute in the red zone,
turnover and near the red zone missed field goal, that
makes the loss hurt because it's not like a better
team got you on that particular night. You were in

(49:15):
position and you just failed in the stuff that you
should be able to handle and execute and you didn't.
And Matt Lafleur after the game, you know, you know
he was hurting because it was right there in front
of him.

Speaker 12 (49:27):
I felt like we had plenty of opportunities to kind
of put the game out of reach and unfortunately just
didn't do enough. And it's never one play, and it's
because I know, I'm sure a lot of it's going
to come down to the miss field goal, but there
were plenty of opportunities. You go back in the first
half and have three red zone opportunities and have six points.

(49:53):
You know, there was just there's a lot of plays
out there that it just if one play goes different,
probably have a different result right now, and.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
Then to kind of put a punctuation on the mark,
they're still in good shape. They have a chance push
this game to overtime or even win it. And for Love,
who had been impeccable for two months, and everybody was
saying it, not just me, but the Brett to go
Brett far, to roll right, kind of throw a desperation
pass late and over the middle that's picked off. He

(50:23):
didn't have to do that his first down. He did it,
and at the worst time he looked like a kid again.
So these uncharacteristic mistakes that they had not been making
during this rise is kind of what got them, not
so much the Niners.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
No, it was a tough It was a tough throw
across the body. You're right, he didn't have to do
that at all.

Speaker 4 (50:42):
Ridiculous And if you look at the game, because he was.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Throwing outside the numbers, he was twelve for seventeen for
one hundred and sixty one yards and two touchdowns. Pretty
flawless and the kind of Jordan Love you've expected, but
throwing between the numbers, he was nine for sixteen for
thirty three yards with two picks, including that game ender.
And so it's an unceremonious way for a really incredible
season to end for Jordan Love. And you're right because
it's like, you know, we've got big funk back there,

(51:07):
like a Packers fans like suddenly gotta be feeling incredibly
a hope about the future compared to where you were
a couple months ago. But you also are thinking, wait
a minute, we had we pulled this out. We're a
team that knows we could beat the Lions. So it's
like it is a lost opportunity in the idea that
you're just gonna march back here to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Speaker 4 (51:25):
Example, you don't know that the floor will never ever
get over this loss.

Speaker 1 (51:29):
I don't know the man personally, but this is this
is head coach nightmare fuel these type of the same teams.

Speaker 3 (51:35):
That was one of the tougher press conferences I've watched.
He was so devastated and he has that cap pulled
down low over his eyes, and the way the light
was hitting was just shadow and it was just like
he was not trying to put on a poker face.
He was so sad about it because he he knows
it was right there. Love played a pretty flawless game

(51:56):
until the end, and then there was just a couple throws.
The interception on tip pass, he just he just missed
the throw. Who is that to the to the tight
end over the middle on the first interception, so that
was some bad luck on it too. It was like
a tipped up and he got punished for it on
a day where your guys Darnel Savage drops a pick
six right into his bread basket. Another pretty drop later

(52:18):
and they took advantage. And then there was another play
on the third down when they they could have run
more clock out where he just him and Aaron Jones
weren't on the same page on like a check down.
He was hitting all the hard throws, but he didn't
hit the easy ones. But even then, there was that
first down with the Packers I mentioned like seven point
fifty one left and and that's where the forty nine
ers stepped up. Warner makes a nice tackle in the

(52:39):
open field for a no gain. Bosa gets a quick
pressure on Love and then Carlson, who's been missing a
ton of kicks, misses that kick and he's a rookie
like all these other rookies, misses it in a big spot,
and then you give the forty nine ers the ball back,
and at that point I'm like, oh, man, are they
gonna win this game? I don't know.

Speaker 4 (52:57):
Their offense really hasn't done anything for a while. And
it wasn't like.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
Dot after dot by Purdy. But the third and five
play to Ayuk was a very low percentage play where
it had it took a perfect throw and maybe an
even better catch.

Speaker 4 (53:14):
Both were perfect.

Speaker 3 (53:15):
Ayuk and Purdy were so good on that play, and
then after that, Perdy just made all the right decisions.
He made the right reads on like a I think
it was one check down to the left side where
they made a big play, and then he made the
nice scramble and they ran the ball well, and it's
like they just finally calmed down in the biggest spot

(53:35):
and you got to give it to him. But you
do wonder like Diebo Samuel first head injury and comes
back in the game, then shoulder injury leaves, and it's
the kind of thing that you know they're talking about
us could could be a multiple week thing.

Speaker 2 (53:47):
We don't know exactly where it sits. But it is
weird because they have so many weapons. But when Deebo's
not been on the field for them, it has been
a it's smarked a big change.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
Well it hurts when you lose him, like right off
the bat, and who is doing this game now? They
you know, Olsen said, how they they had basically had
information DVA was going to be a huge part of
the game the whole game. Were like trying to give
Juwan Jennings these ender rounds and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (54:10):
By the way, while Carlson misses this kick and ass
is missing his kick, come on, guys, Robbie Gould just
out there the whole time. Then just like finally shrugged
his shoulders and was like, I guess must not be interesting.
Literally never missed the kick in the postseason extra pointer
field goal.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
And I mean Olsen said, they asked Lafleur about Carlson
and what his thing with Carlson was, and he's like, well,
every time he takes a kick, you know, I pray
before it. It was like, maybe they don't tell them
that or tell them that, And off the record, and then,
b you can't be going to the NFC Divisional round
game with that attitude.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
That was that was tough, and look, they would have
tied it up. It's not like they would have won
the game.

Speaker 3 (54:51):
And the way that game was going at the end,
I feel like the Packers had their chances to put
it away and then they started looking like the really
young team.

Speaker 4 (54:58):
They probably would have lost it anyways, But man.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
This might betray who I'll be pulling for in the
NFC title game. But I don't need to see brock
Purty against the Ravens defense again.

Speaker 4 (55:10):
If that's how this thing breaks down. I don't trust
your guy.

Speaker 1 (55:13):
Mark, Well, then you have to trust Jared Goff. I know,
and that's and that's and that's fair. And we'll see
how that game goes. We're gonna get to the lines
in a minute. But yeah, I thought he was very
shaky in this game. And we'll see if it was
the weather or or just a rough night. And and
I do you gotta give him credit. They let him
on the drive at the end, and he let him
on the drive. But man, I thought the Niners were

(55:36):
so fortunate and I don't And one thing we disagree
with on Greg you were saying earlier today, like this
is the game, Like sometimes teams need to survive a
game like that and then they can get back to
being dominant. I'm not quite there with the Niners. I'm
curious what version we get next Sunday, and we're gonna
find out.

Speaker 3 (55:54):
I just think the body of work their offense has
shown in defense, and Steve Wilks I think ended up
coaching a pretty good game by by the end of
this game. I wouldn't surprise me. I'm pulling for the Lions,
but it would not surprise me if if the forty
nine ers recapture their form, because I do think the
weather was a big part of it.

Speaker 4 (56:14):
He has small hands.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
Yeah, I don't know if it's not always a small
hands thing, but I mean he was he was really
bad in this game. He was worse in this game
than he was in the Ravens game which lost him
the MVP, and he threw the four picks. I don't
even think it's a question like he was legit bad.
I was curious.

Speaker 4 (56:27):
I checked the p would say it's a question.

Speaker 3 (56:29):
He was pretty bad in that game too, but that
game won this game with a drive at the end
of regular game. He was his normal self except for
like two or three bad decisions game this game, like
his normal throws were bad. Everything was bad. Decisions were bad.
He wasn't seeing the field like I checked the PFF score.
I was curious, like and it was you know, it

(56:49):
was like a fifty eight. The only score that was
worse this year was that Browns game. Also in the Ring, well, I.

Speaker 2 (56:54):
Think he's I think that to me, the takeaway is
Inclint Weather effects Brock, Party were or may not have
any of.

Speaker 4 (57:01):
Us to be nice next week in San Francisco.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
By the way, but Dan, when you say the overall
body of work of Party, but also just the Niners
offense in general, I feel like you're a little down
on them when there's a lot of evidence to suggest.

Speaker 4 (57:13):
They weren't explosive in this game. It was kind of
shocking how they could.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
I just don't think that that predicts who they're gonna be,
you know, against Detroit next week. But no, Deebo, Samuel
matters a lot for this offense.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
If he went, If if Brock went out there next
Sunday and went twenty seven for thirty two, I wouldn't
be stunned, right, But does he have a stink a
stink bomb in him?

Speaker 4 (57:33):
Still, I can't rule that out of either.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
That's I'd be concerned as a nine ers sense because
I've gotten to the point now and I've seen my
share of bad quarterbacks where and he's certainly not one
of them. But when he drops back in that ball
is heading towards the second level of defense, you kinda
hold your breath and be like, oh.

Speaker 4 (57:50):
Where is this one going?

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Like is he not to the level of Jimmy g though,
But okay, but this I don't I you know, I'm
just I'm like, I could continue to defend brock perty
I heat a bad game. I'm in the middle on it,
like I have. I don't like his story is great.

Speaker 1 (58:08):
I keep I'm taking the story out of it right
talking about as I.

Speaker 3 (58:12):
Just look at him as like a second year quarterback
even if he wasn't like a late round pick and
where he's at and stuff, And maybe I'm biased. He's
no Tom Brady, but it's like people think back to
this Tom Brady that like never existed, Like Tom Brady
had games worse than like like he like the Super
Bowl He literally didn't do anything until until the final court.
But he didn't make he didn't make the big mistats

(58:33):
like Brady. No, I'm not even saying he is. My
point is like, you can have a second year quarterback
that you're carrying along in some certain games, but you
can do that when you're supposed to be this monstar team.

Speaker 4 (58:46):
And I do give their defense.

Speaker 3 (58:47):
I know the Packers struggled in the red zone, but
there's because there's an opposing defense there in the red zone.
And I thought their defense kept them in this game
with those red zone stops and Greenlaw to me, in
some ways, is defining forty nine er and he gets overlooked.
He kind of reminds me of Navara Bowman with the
old forty nine Ers. He hit Tucker Craft so hard

(59:08):
in the eye that like you know, Craft had to
come out of it. He just blasted Tucker Craft. One
play later he blast Jordan Love to get a fourth
down stop. Then he gets two interceptions in the second half.
He's just like a beast like Bosa showed up at
the very end of the game. Warner was great in
this game. I just they've guys got so many guys
that I just feel like usually they'll developed, they'll find

(59:30):
a way to overwhelm you.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
Absolute studs in the middle of the defense. It's just
a it's it's the cottage industry. I'll probably be in
I'm probably being too hard on brock I Mark, I apologize,
I am being too hard on don't have to apologize.

Speaker 2 (59:42):
If you look at yesterday's.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
Game, yeah maybe maybe uh maybe Sam Donald's coming running
out of the tunnel in the third quarter.

Speaker 4 (59:49):
I mean that is that is Oh my.

Speaker 3 (59:51):
God, is that Sam's If if that's your angle, then
this is I think you understand what this is. All
I knew it wasn't gonna happen my angle, well, the
idea that Sam Donald is gonna come out and oh
my god.

Speaker 4 (01:00:04):
That Sam Donald's music.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
Okay, so he had so it was like eighth team
when when they couldn't score, uh when I think it
was another three and out in the third quarter, and
then they they were set up with a short field
and then they had to settle for the field goal
and then they punted again the next drive. I actually,
for a second thought, isn't that crazy to go to
Sam Tarno right now? I actually didn't think they'd do it,

(01:00:27):
but he was struggling so bad at that point in
the game that I was just like, man, maybe.

Speaker 4 (01:00:32):
It's so destabilizing.

Speaker 2 (01:00:33):
Though it doesn't have abilizing like coaching.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
It wouldn't have been a It would be a bit
of a flip of the panic switch right to go
to Donald at this point, but they like him and
party's gotta play.

Speaker 4 (01:00:46):
Had throw to Kittle, you know, it was just yeah,
he did have to throw to Kittle. The you know,
all comes out of his hand right now. We sure
where it's going. Is it going to the right team?
I think we're I think we're if it's over, if
it's dry.

Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
But yes, he he he got a he got a
Hall pass because he That would that would have been
the conversation all off season if the Packers had just
caught those interceptions and he got a break.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
And it's gonna be sun swept and fifty eight degrees
next week with little wind, and you're gonna be right
back where you want them to be. And you know,
you two are unbelievably unannoying to hang out with most
of the time.

Speaker 4 (01:01:23):
That's good.

Speaker 3 (01:01:23):
That is from the past, uh Randy, I know your
most successors I know, Randy, that was heartbreaking. It is
crazy how many and I know, like Jets and Browns
fans don't want to hear about it. But I think
it's it's true that being a fan like of a
team like the Packers, but the Packers specifically the Bills
now are joining this territory and losing this many heartbreaking plan.

Speaker 4 (01:01:44):
Get the violins out.

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
Why can't this both be true? All right, mister Patriots man,
please educate me on No, no, no, I'm not.

Speaker 3 (01:01:51):
I'm not talking about the Patriots because the Patriots got
six titles that the Packers from. If you're doing a
ranking of the most painful losses in pack fans who
are masochistic, we're doing this last night since twenty seven,
two thousand and seven, this maybe isn't even in the
top ten, which is which is crazy, and it's a it's.

Speaker 4 (01:02:12):
You got the you got the.

Speaker 3 (01:02:13):
NFC Championship that nothing will top that twenty fourteen, you
had the one again San Francisco in twenty twenty one
where they couldn't score it. They had losing to ELI
immediately after going having a one lost.

Speaker 4 (01:02:23):
Team that was rough. They had far of loving losing
to ELI.

Speaker 13 (01:02:27):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
In overtime. Uh, they lost to the Cardinals twice. In overtime.
They lost to the Kaepernick two different times.

Speaker 11 (01:02:34):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (01:02:35):
There's a couple more NFC Championship games under Kyle Shanahan
I haven't even mentioned before we even get to this one.

Speaker 4 (01:02:40):
It is it is crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
I have a great idea. Yes, you could actually follow
the model of my favorite team. Just don't make the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:02:48):
It's just saying on that like utter void, like a
black holes, we don't have to compare. I'm just saying
it is paid got to be painful.

Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
If I have, if one more person tweets me, uh,
it's time to put the Packers on the pain ranking.

Speaker 4 (01:03:02):
No, shut up, all right. I do want to hear
from Randy though, big funk.

Speaker 13 (01:03:06):
I just want to jump in and chime in about
how Eric and I bonded through our sorrow before the
game started. Because it seemed like every network was running
compilations of first losses for the Packers and the Bills.
You know, it's like we can't escape it, and the
Boogeyman won this round again. I feel it's tough.

Speaker 4 (01:03:26):
It's tough. It's it's tough.

Speaker 13 (01:03:28):
I get where you're coming from though, because the Packers
have it nice sort of. I guess I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:03:34):
That sort of.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
You definitely have a nice you have another young superstar quarterback.

Speaker 4 (01:03:38):
But what does it matter. I think through all this
then you will come back and say, you know what,
you had a point. Yeah, all those years I think
you look at it.

Speaker 13 (01:03:47):
Sure, but at the end of the year, it's like
the Jets and the Packers, they're both in Kane kun right.

Speaker 1 (01:03:50):
Now, right, but there is I think Greg, you're kind
of double talking here with your points here because you
were just saying a couple of shows ago, you got
to enjoy the experience, had a really fun ride this year.

Speaker 4 (01:04:03):
Look from Thanksgiving until five minutes to play, and it
opens the door for the future.

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
Like they like, there were questions whether they even had
a quarterback and you do have right now.

Speaker 4 (01:04:13):
That's very wrong. That's what other teams do. Set up great.

Speaker 3 (01:04:15):
I just mean in that day, in the moment, it
doesn't ease that pain. And that's a particular type of
pain that unfortunately I have.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
I have other fan base, Like I said, I mean,
Yankee man, I understand that side of it too. Yeah,
I'm almost uniquely qualified to tell you that both are suck.
But there's nothing worse than just being a laughing stock
and never even no doubt getting a chance it gets.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
They're two different, they're quite different, but it is very.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
I totally empathize. And that's how we open the show
with Bill's fans who deserve a chip. They still waiting
And this felt like a special year and it wasn't.
And for Packers fans, even though this was this was
a prototypical house money game for a Green Bay to
have a kind of a win almost in your back
pocket and let it get away.

Speaker 4 (01:04:58):
You just you don't want to do that in the
laos because you just never ever know. All right.

Speaker 1 (01:05:04):
That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go
places learn more at toyota dot com. Slash Grand Highlander.
All right, let's finish it up the other NFC game.
Back to Detroit. Yes, the place was hopping once again.

Speaker 4 (01:05:19):
Mayfield takes him straight to the line. With a minute forty,
Baker leans in.

Speaker 5 (01:05:24):
There's the Snaplets comes Mayfield back loadscross.

Speaker 4 (01:05:26):
Pick on the Lions. The Lions by the Lions.

Speaker 5 (01:05:30):
Derek Bark, Bark, Dirk Barks, Betty one thirty three to go.

Speaker 4 (01:05:38):
The Laurians are going to San France.

Speaker 3 (01:05:40):
Let's go.

Speaker 4 (01:05:41):
Derek Barnes with the interception. Oh baby, stand up fort Field.
Look at this? Whoo look at this? Wait? Am I?

Speaker 1 (01:05:52):
Do I have the timing wrong? Or are we in
a simulation? Was the Detroit game before the Packer game?

Speaker 4 (01:06:01):
No? It was today? Oh my god, it was. It
was the earlier game today. That was today.

Speaker 2 (01:06:07):
That feels like forty seven years right on Sky Sports
at halftime.

Speaker 4 (01:06:11):
Don't I don't remember that? I am. I am with
you on that. It does feel like it happened weeks ago.
I've been infected with the rage zombie virus. You're right,
that was that. I thought, like Dan's already booking the
San Francisco trip. No, he was right.

Speaker 1 (01:06:23):
Dan Miller with the call with Lomas Brown. Lomas one
of my favorite tropes. He's just the color guy screaming
yes because a great moment happened w x YT for
the team, and that was the interception of Baker Mayfield,
the decisive play in a thirty one to twenty three
win for the Lions over the Bucks. Greg you locked

(01:06:46):
the former team of around the NFL and in another game,
where the underdog came to play.

Speaker 4 (01:06:53):
This is a game. I believe he's seventeen seventeen in
the second half.

Speaker 1 (01:06:57):
Detroit, like Baltimore now at the same level, but took
control in crunch time when other teams might wilt.

Speaker 4 (01:07:06):
They said, no, no, no, no, no, one's beating us
in our building, not in this spot. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:10):
I've been taking these last two weeks that the Lions
defense has been opportunistic and really contributed to those wins.

Speaker 4 (01:07:17):
And you heard it there.

Speaker 3 (01:07:18):
They got just enough stops and got the interception at
the end. But I also think how when it was
ten ten going into the second half and the Lions
don't get anything done on their first drive. After that,
the lines that we know take over and get touchdowns
on back to back to back drives. And there was
a third and fifteen in there to a mon Ra

(01:07:38):
Saint Brown that just says so much about the Lions.

Speaker 4 (01:07:40):
They protected up perfectly.

Speaker 3 (01:07:42):
Tampa could not get home today with their four man
pass rush, and the blitz really wasn't that effective either.
And they just have a laser on Zion McCollum, who
just came into the game, and the Lions are so
good at that Ben Johnson is always attacking weaknesses. Like
a new guy comes in, it's fresh meet. Third and fifteen.
There's no way we're running the ball here to like

(01:08:03):
set up a closer field goal or make a shorter
fourth down.

Speaker 4 (01:08:06):
No, we're going for it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:07):
Ragnow, who was in and out of this game, was
an animal, protects it up. They hit it a mon
rob breaks a tackle to get the first down on
that play, and it was just really bold play calling
like that. Throughout their running game wasn't working, so they
called the third and one kind of fake where they
get it to right. What is that guy's ny Brock
right down the sideline the same plane against the Jets,

(01:08:29):
Like everything they touched. They went for a fourth and
goal as part of that touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.

Speaker 4 (01:08:34):
It started it off.

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
They go for it like being bold, and then their
players executing it and just playing smart. They they looked
like the Lions we've seen all year today.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
Yeah, they keep being they keep emphasizing who they've been
and how they got here, and they're not changing from that.
They Dan Campbell refuses to shift identities, dialing up Craig
Reynolds on that fourth and goal a surprise character in
that situation. You're right that incredible sixteen yard to aman
Ron Saint Brown on third and fifteen, Goff, you know
if we're gonna praise rock Perty on that final drive,

(01:09:06):
go from the fourth quarter hit his first eleven passes
for one hundred and thirty one yards and a touchdown
on those two long touchdown drives.

Speaker 4 (01:09:12):
So it's like GoF was money when it mattered most.

Speaker 2 (01:09:15):
And you know, this defense gave up four hundred and
eight yards to a Buccaneers team that did not quit.
But it really was going to come down to a
big mistake. For as good as Baker Mayfield has been
in these two games in this stretch, and the best
version of himself, like that is the other side of
Baker Mayfield, that mistake occurs and it's snuffed out what
could have been a pretty spicy final couple of minutes

(01:09:36):
because the Bucks, I give him credit, like they're not
a great team, but they fought really hard in this game,
and it's like some they believe in Baker Mayfield. But
the Lions, same with Goff, and Goff talked about just
feeling a calm throughout the fourth quarter, and I think
this version who Jared goff is right now, and the
way he operated in the final minutes says so much
about this line's offense.

Speaker 1 (01:09:56):
Yeah, they it went from seventeen to seventeen to thirty
one sevent team in a blink. And to Mayfield and
Tampa Bay's credit, they go right down the field, they
get the touchdown, they fail on the two point conversion
and then get the stop and you're thinking, hmmm, this
could be interesting.

Speaker 4 (01:10:13):
But Baker, yeah, makes that big mistake.

Speaker 1 (01:10:16):
Here's Baker after the game, obviously you saw it in
the highlight or immediately after the play happened, hanging his head.
He knew he had a chance to do something special
and they could not get it done.

Speaker 4 (01:10:26):
It sucks.

Speaker 14 (01:10:26):
I feel like my heart just got ripped out. But
it's Football is a complex game, but it's also simple.
It comes down to taking care of the ball and
in two minute drives like that, when you know you're
gonna have four downs to use. Just a bad mistake
by me. And it sucks because I know what type
of group we've had all year that we fought to

(01:10:47):
get to this point. We fought to be in that game.
We weren't supposed to be here. By any measures, but
we believed in each other and we fought for it,
and so, yeah, this one's gonna weigh on.

Speaker 4 (01:10:55):
Me for a while.

Speaker 1 (01:10:56):
Yeah, And I thought it was interesting and I think
they said it during the telecast that these are both players,
Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff number one overall picks, and
they had apparently spoken. This is a couple of weeks
back before this lot of this matchup was set in
the stone, they had a conversation Mayfield and GoF and
they talked about how when you're a number one overall pick,

(01:11:17):
you're kind of at the top of the mountain and
you have to find a new chip on your shoulder.
And for these guys, both their original teams, the Browns
and Rams, essentially quit on them and now here they
are resurrecting their careers. And here's GoF one win from
getting back to the Super Bowls. Listening to Jared Goff,
it's a credit to all the guys in there. We've

(01:11:37):
said this a million times about how it's the same group.
It's not like we've you know, added a ton, It's
a lot of the same guys. And Brad and Dan
have been very intentional about bringing in those type of
guys who can handle moments like today and moments like
last week and ups and downs of a season. And
I think it's all been intentionally done by them, and
we're not here by accident.

Speaker 3 (01:11:59):
Now, GoF avoided the negative plays today, and when he
mentions that with Brad Holmes, it really is insane to
think about how many of the draft picks. All the
focus has been on this year's rookie class, but when
Derek Brown made that play, I mean Derek Barnes made
that play, it reminded me of all three of these classes,
because they've done a really good job developing players. Derek

(01:12:20):
Barnes is not like a household name, but if you
think back to Week one, who is making all those
huge run stops and just stuffing the Chiefs and big
plays play after play, it's Derek Barnes and guys like
Melafanu who they've developed slowly and has eventually turned into
this great part of this three safety tandem with Cardner
Johnson and Panee Sewell and Saint Brown our draft picks,

(01:12:43):
and Hutchinson had another nice game, and just throughout it's
all these homegrown players, and I think you get a
sort of cohesion between the coaching staff and the players
that is pretty rare and maybe can kind of carry
them through a great game like this, which was weird
mid third order mark, the Bucks were averaging seven point
three yards per play and the Lions were averaging three

(01:13:05):
point seven. It was it was kind of a strange
game where the Lions were being opportunistic. But I wasn't
watching it and thinking, Ooh, the Lions are a much
better team here. I thought they were in trouble and
they and they kind of stabilized and played their best
at the end.

Speaker 2 (01:13:17):
Well, they're learning, I think, you know, it's like the
Detroit Journeys. They're learning how to win games like this
and to kind of work your way out of not
your best performance. You know, the Niners did it, but
the Niners have playoff experience. They kind of know they
they know how to do it. I think it's really impressive,
and I you know, it's like they remind me of
the Rams Rad Holmes coming from Rams World, like Jamiir

(01:13:37):
Gibbs someone that they were kind of like why on
Earth of the Lions picking this running back this high
in the draft? Watching Jamier Gibbs like he has commit
a complete difference maker, just the speed alone and what
he did today in key moments. It's like every one
of the players you mentioned, all these rookies, second year,
third year guys, they've hit on them over and over,
and it the emphasis is that Jared Goff, who they

(01:13:59):
were pretty playingly honest about from the beginning.

Speaker 4 (01:14:02):
We believe in him, We'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 (01:14:03):
They didn't just chase quickly another rookie quarterback to supplant
him with, and they've made the best version of Jared
Goff come alive because of that belief. I think Jared
Goff had his confidence cracked like an egg coming out
of that Rams experience. And it's like there is something
to the mentality of an athlete to say, we believe
in you, go do it, and now here you are
is Detroit Lions fans.

Speaker 4 (01:14:23):
Yeah, everyone thought they had Jared Goff nail.

Speaker 1 (01:14:27):
Like this was a guy from you know, northern California,
a number one draft pick who really wasn't deserving of it.
He was a bust and then oh he was Actually
he had some good years, but he was propped up
by Sean mcvay's brilliant offense at the time, and then
he was shipped off to Detroit to be a starter
for maybe a year before he became a back with
the rest of his career. No, because, like Dan Campbell said, like,

(01:14:50):
you're good enough for Detroit, and the fact that Brad
Holmes and Dan Campbell and that organization saw in GoF
not a bridge guy, but a guy that could be
a major part of this operation moving forward. Nobody else
saw that. And the building the roster the way they have,
people didn't see that. You think back to the opening
press conference, and in fact, I think we have some

(01:15:11):
sound from Campbell on that the opening press conference where
it's infamous. I'll tell you how infamous it is, the
the biting the kneecaps press conference, which remember the lines
were a laughing stock of the time before that season started.
This is two years ago. Colleen and I did the
first Hard Knocks podcast series and we noticed that it

(01:15:35):
wasn't in the first episode. You're like, oh, of course
that's gonna be in the episode. They're going to play
off that. Then we were told, no, don't talk about
it either. The Lions and the and and Campbell were
sensitive that that was being taken and put in a
different way to get how he was known. He was
like a cartoon character, the way he looked, the way
he talked, the way he was saying, and everyone like
Jared Goff and so many of these other guys, we

(01:15:57):
underestimated the Lions. Here's a here's Campbell talking about the
beginning of his tenure and how that has changed.

Speaker 4 (01:16:04):
Now.

Speaker 10 (01:16:05):
Man that first presco and press has got to kill legends.

Speaker 4 (01:16:09):
He caps all that. Initially though, there was kind of like,
what what did the Lions higher with this guy?

Speaker 10 (01:16:14):
Do you hear that then?

Speaker 12 (01:16:15):
And what do you bet?

Speaker 7 (01:16:16):
You're probably one of them?

Speaker 1 (01:16:21):
To each his own talk about that last little great line.
You know, it's been sticking in his car for a
long time, but they're getting the last laugh.

Speaker 4 (01:16:30):
Now, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:16:31):
I that it's also Campbell sticking it to the whole
like people were saying back that you, it's probably you.

Speaker 4 (01:16:37):
He is definitely someone. I bet that everybody was kept.

Speaker 1 (01:16:41):
We had our fun with the Lions at that time,
and Campbell, who you know, didn't have a big resume.
But we're saying Mark, like damn if they and this
is't do not tell the Lions, you do tell Dan
Campbell that they're playing with house money in San Francisco.
This team, this team believes that they can win a
Super Bowl and if if they ever did it sas dog,

(01:17:02):
if they ever even just made the Super but if
they won it, He's Mike Ditka. He is a national
celebrity of the highest order when you talk about sports
figures in America like this, he's become a star and
seize the moment because I'll name another one.

Speaker 4 (01:17:20):
Remember Rex Ryan. Yep, he became a star overnight.

Speaker 1 (01:17:23):
And again you think because they went to the Jets
in nine and ten, they went to the AFC Championship
Game two years in a row, you think it's just
gonna go on forever. Maybe this is the moment for
the Detroit Lions right now. And even but I will
say this, even if things do not go well next
week in San Francisco, you can't take away what happened
these two weeks, these two home games, and the wins,

(01:17:43):
and the crowd and the feel around it that is
this is for Lions fans. This will be a season
that will be viewed warmly no matter what happens.

Speaker 2 (01:17:50):
Yeah, because before you had Ditka's nineteen eighty five Bears.
You had the eighty four Bears that learned how to
do what the eighty five Bears did, and I think
you're talking so you mentioned that in the screening room,
and I love the DNA the comparison between Ditka Campbell
and Rex Ryan because Rex Ryan came in and said,
I don't care what we've been, We're gonna be something

(01:18:10):
different now, and it resonated we're.

Speaker 1 (01:18:12):
Not gonna kiss Belichick's exactly. I don't care what, I
don't care what the order was here before.

Speaker 4 (01:18:17):
It's a new order.

Speaker 2 (01:18:18):
And Ditka took it to Bears team that was lost
at sea for a long time did the same thing.
And who's been more lost at sea than the Lions.
And it's a lot to do with Dan Campbell's just
willing this team to do it his own way, and
he was doubted because of his personality out of the gate,
but they believe in him with every fiber of.

Speaker 3 (01:18:35):
Their being and his ability to hit on on big
decisions like Aaron Glenn, I thought had a really good
day today. And I know they were giving up a
lot of yards, but if you think of why the
bucks drives kept stopping, it's because they kept finding the
free rusher to get to Baker Mayfield, who ended up
taking a few sacks. I thought Baker actually played quite
well in this game the until that interception. The first

(01:18:56):
interception came off and drop Evans finishes with one. Baker
throws for three forty nine. He had the fourth and
fifteen play to keep their season live. He had the
play where he almost was sacked and then he's rolling
out and make you know, one of the best plays
any quarterback made all weekend. And yet I think the
coaching for the Lions is just better, and I compare

(01:19:17):
it to the Bucks, where Bowles has been bolder this season.
He's kind of gotten some pop in Tampa of like, oh,
it's a new Todd Bowles, but today there.

Speaker 4 (01:19:26):
Is electric Todd Bowls. It's just a couple spots.

Speaker 3 (01:19:29):
There was a there was a fourth and one at
his own thirty five in the first half, and I
know it's your own thirty five. But the way that
game was going, they were running the ball really well.
Rashade White ran for six point one yards per Carrie
Edmunds went four point eight and he punts there. Uh,
there was the they kicked the fifty yard field goal,
which I'm not going to kill him, but it was
a fourth and five. Who's their kicker. He's been great

(01:19:51):
all year. I literally think that was his first miskick
all year. That wasn't a block. Chase McLoughlin's been kind
of under the radar, A is like having a great season.

Speaker 4 (01:19:58):
He's been the top five my kicker.

Speaker 3 (01:20:00):
And then at the very end, they're down a touchdown
and I know it's transgressive, but it was fourth and
four I think at their own thirty or so, and
that's just a no thought punt there. But the way
that game was going, I was like, man, the Lions
are just going to go down the field and score
a touchdown here?

Speaker 4 (01:20:14):
Isn't that crazy to go for that fourth and before?

Speaker 3 (01:20:16):
He didn't even think about it, and they did go
down and score the touch Inside thought he was not
that bold in some big spots.

Speaker 4 (01:20:22):
That's kind of bulls. I mean, that's part of it.

Speaker 1 (01:20:24):
But they and they have a big decision to make
with Baker, who really outperformed this contract and had a
nice year overall for that.

Speaker 4 (01:20:33):
Team, and we're going to see what happens next.

Speaker 1 (01:20:36):
I think we got to give the last word to
Dan Campbell, who gave us some thoughts on this Lions
team and this moment in the city in which they play.

Speaker 7 (01:20:48):
Well, I think it's important, right, I mean, you can't.
I don't know if it's you know, it's not the
first thing you think of if you go to LA
or just in general. Right, you got to sign, you
got the beach, you got plenty of other things is
going on, and here, man, that's fire man. It's harsh winners, right,
Auto industry, blue collar things aren't always easy. And I

(01:21:11):
just think that's you know, that's what we were about,
and that that was you know, you want something in
the city can be proud of.

Speaker 12 (01:21:20):
Though.

Speaker 7 (01:21:20):
You can look at those guys and say, man, I
can back that guy. I can back that team. You know,
I can resonate with those group of guys.

Speaker 4 (01:21:27):
I feel attacked.

Speaker 1 (01:21:28):
Stopped on Southern California with the sun every week for
me is just a war right in my home. It's
just a battle to my wife and I just to
survive and grind through with the two maniac boys and
the pressures, the traffic being on an internationally known podcast.
Don't give me that look, Rosen, I'm with you. Give
me that face I'm.

Speaker 3 (01:21:48):
Giving you Dave Campbell that look oh like oh La
with their beaches.

Speaker 4 (01:21:53):
Hey, when we drove to uh Walker's.

Speaker 3 (01:21:56):
Basketball game, we had to park uneath indoors because it
was rainy outside. Usually we park on the street, but
we wanted to get it, you know, under under the roof.
We parked inside.

Speaker 1 (01:22:08):
And when I took when I took my dog Captain
to the beach on Friday, right around sunset, and that
my boys brought a frisbee, there was a sign outside
that beach that said no dog's allowed even in the
off season.

Speaker 2 (01:22:22):
Yeah, and I'd say like if you uh, you know,
if there are times if you were to buy an
ice cream cone, you've got to get into an inside
area so that the sun and the warmth don't melt
it prematurely while you're trying to eat it.

Speaker 4 (01:22:33):
Thank you so waiting for your apology.

Speaker 3 (01:22:35):
Go to the beach this morning, because on the West Coast,
another nice thing. It's like, oh, a nice noon start
for the NFL.

Speaker 1 (01:22:40):
We'll get out I think den kimbro Point without having
to retort. But that is very nice and we will
see what the Lions do. I would love I mean,
I did have about third quarter of Bill's chiefs. I
started to openly daydream about the idea of us being

(01:23:00):
in Vegas and fans from Detroit and Buffalo pouring into
the city on Friday afternoon and what that scene would be.
We lost the Bills unfortunately today. But and I'm not
necessarily rooting for uh no, I am. I am rooting
for the Lines. How can you not root for the Lions?
I mean so, I think a lot of people across
the country are gonna be pulling for the Lions. But

(01:23:20):
look their opponent, the forty nine Ers. They're they're they're shinier,
they're sexier, they're they're Californian too, And uh, they've been
trying to get over this hump for years as well.
They haven't not won the Super Bowl since what nineteen ninety.

Speaker 2 (01:23:35):
I guess five patty cake around the Packers and the
impossible nature of what their fans have been through, like
Niners fans have been through a lot too.

Speaker 4 (01:23:42):
I'm not yet Super Bowl. Uh that would that would be?

Speaker 3 (01:23:45):
That would have been a brood a lot for the
forty nine if you want to guess the uh spread, Yeah,
those teams hang on.

Speaker 4 (01:23:51):
Let me think about pack Gotta get this right, all right?
So we got Niners Lions.

Speaker 1 (01:23:56):
I like, I'm gonna say they're gonna put the Niners.
They're gonna install them at four and a half.

Speaker 4 (01:24:01):
I'd say five and a half. Seven.

Speaker 3 (01:24:05):
Wow, okay, interesting, I mean they were nine and a
half against the Packers.

Speaker 1 (01:24:09):
I just thought it would be some more respect. And
then the other game Baltimore Kansasity. That's a tough one.
I'm gonna say right now, Baltimore minus three Baltimore three
and a half. Three and a half is right on
the number. There you go, Mark, you've got a future
in this? About that, Mark, I do not have your
future rainment, not in this.

Speaker 2 (01:24:28):
Uh not when we're not not being employed by this company.

Speaker 4 (01:24:33):
All right. So there you go.

Speaker 1 (01:24:34):
That is the breakdown of Divisional Round weekend. There are
only three games left in this season. Oh one more thing,
Big Funk pointed out. Shot me a little note that
there is a photo and this is for people watching
on YouTube of Eric the our producer, who really a
great effort watching this game upstairs.

Speaker 4 (01:24:57):
In basically hiding under a desk at this point. What
is going on?

Speaker 1 (01:25:01):
You're behind a preschool basketball hoop that plastic you know,
the taike one, and you're sitting against the window sill
but kind of tucked away like yeah, like almost like
a raccoon that's been hit by a car and is
like under a bush.

Speaker 8 (01:25:15):
The basketball that comes with that child playpin basketball hoop
went across the office when we missed the field goal.

Speaker 1 (01:25:24):
Okay, heaved, And I just again to circle back on that.
I totally get the frustration of the teams and fan
base that can't get over the hump that is.

Speaker 4 (01:25:36):
Because it is with the Bills. It's super Bowl or
bust and everything else feels like but if you think
about it at the bottom of the hill, it does.
It does suck to lose like that. Yeah, there, you're
gonna go with this screct but there you go.

Speaker 3 (01:25:51):
But like most people have to wait for the podcast
to be recorded and then edit and all this stuff.

Speaker 4 (01:25:59):
You get to listen to it live for free right off,
it's right, and then he has to kind of listen
back to it edit. Yeah, this is the perk. This
is the job. Guy. Hint yourself, all.

Speaker 1 (01:26:10):
Right, that's it. We're gonna be back on Tuesday. I'm
gonna tease it again. Colleen Wolf will rejoin US on Tuesday,
UH finny Box hour and.

Speaker 4 (01:26:23):
Yep, three games left, Three games left. Heed the call.

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Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}1. The Podium

2. In The Village

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2023 Divisional Round Recap

1. The Podium