NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo provide injury updates on Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Jordan Love ahead of Wild Card Weekend. They also discuss the reports that Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones are expected to begin contract talks and that Browns quarterback DeShaun Watson could miss 2025 season after suffering another torn Achilles. Plus, Brian Baldinger and Adam Rank reveal the wildcard game changers and game wreckers, Cameron Wolfe previews the Broncos-Bills matchup, Stacey Dales reports on Packers-Eagles, and Bridget Condon talks Chargers-Texans. Finally, former NFL QB Matt Cassell joins show to share his new Podcast ‘’Lots to Say’’ with Bobby Bones.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We are less than twenty four hours away from kickoff,
and our guys Brian Bowdier and Adam Rank will be
here to tell you who could be the game changers
on wild card weekend. Bill Belichick remains the head coach
at the University of North Carolina for now, but the
possibility of an NFL return Lingers. One of his former players,
(00:29):
joins us with some interesting thoughts on his former coach,
who once traded him away. Meanwhile, more bad news for
de Shawn Watson, who tore's achilles again and that was
in jeopardy of missing the entire twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So what does that mean for the.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Browns plans to add a quarterback, perhaps with the number
two overall pick. We will tell you the latest from Cleveland,
and yes we're talking about playoffs. Welcome inside with the
insiders alongside Mike Garafolo. I am Tom Pelisero. We are
thirty days away from Super Bowl fifty nine. We are
(01:06):
just one day away from the start of the playoffs.
Fourteen teams still alive, two guys in plaid shirts, and
we've only got one hour to talk about every bit
of it.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Let's start out in court Phiadelphia Ware.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yes, the Eagles will have Jalen Hurts back in the lineup.
He officially has cleared the concussion protocol off the injury report.
Of course, missed the tail end of the regular season.
That gave him extra time to get through all these steps.
Final clearance by an independent neurologist has come. Jalen Hurts
is gonna be out there good to go Sunday against
(01:40):
the Packers, and he's gonna have some help Mike.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
He is.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Although Aj Brown and Devonte Smith both this practice this week.
Aj Brown on Thursday, DeVante Smith on Friday. The knee
for aj Brown something that he's been managing, going to
have to continue to manage, obviously as long as the
Eagles are alive here.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
As for Smith, the backslash rest, well, I.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Mean yeah, they're resting him because he's got the back
and also give him a little rest. He's got a
back issue. But he is expected to play after not
practicing on Friday. So we'll see how both of those
two receivers fair. We'll see how Jordan Love Bears as well.
After that little funny bone incident on Sunday, practice fully
for the second straight day.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
He was limited the day before that.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
But full practice is expected to go against the Eagles,
Matt Lafleur indicating that Love had a good practice on Friday,
so the expectation is that he's a full go, ready
to go, ready to rock.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Some others not so lucky for wild card weekend. Big
loss for the Ravens wide receivers. A Flowers out because
of that knee injury. Minor sanding is he's got at
least a chance if they win, to be back for
the divisional playoff week. You see several Chargers on that list.
Josh Palmer out once again because of the heel, JK. Dobbins,
Quinin Johnson both listed as questionable. I get the sense
both those guys more than likely we'll go. We'll find
(02:55):
out for sure prior to kickoff on Saturday against the Texans. Also,
Kate Gotten questionable for the Buck So is Atrooin Winfield
Junior their safety. But it does sound like a cord
to Todd Bowles he.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Is going to be good to go.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
The Browns, of course, have been eliminated for almost as
long as Deshaun Watson has been off the field once again,
first tore his achilles tend and back on October twentieth
at surgery. Five days later, now earlier today, the Browns
announcing Watson retore his achilles tendon after complaining of discomfort
in his ankle after rolling it down in Miami. They
(03:30):
did additional exams after his end of year physical discovered
the retear doctor Robert Anderson, one of the leading specials
in the country.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Repaired it.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
But this is, Mike, the continuation of a unbelievable in
many senses several years for Deshaun Watson, a guy the
Browns gave up so much for, and now not only
has he not played up to the money and the
draft picks they gave up. What possibly twenty twenty five
is going to end up being a wash as well.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Well, we're coming up on the home stretch here, I guess,
well the last year wud be the home stretch. This
is the far turn. Maybe I don't know. Ian's not here,
he's our horse racing guy. The point is we're coming
toward the end of this contract here, and if he
doesn't play, yeah, that would leave one more season for
him on the field for which he is under contract.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And this opens up a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
One we already knew from a potential veterans standpoint and
free agency that the Browns were going to add some
competition in the room for Deshaun Watson. This only seemingly
further cements it. And then you've got the fact that
they're holding the second pick in the draft here with
the Titans at number one, who could use some quarterback
help as well. It's looking like quarterback quarterback. And then
with the Giants at three, potentially quarterback quarterback quarterback in
(04:39):
the draft here coming up here, and maybe they, you know,
one of these teams says, you know what, we're not
enamored with these quarterbacks. You can come up to our
spot if you want to trade up to ensure yourself
on we'll see.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
But this just opens it up.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
If you're behind the Browns and the draft order, like
the Giants, and you need a quarterback, this doesn't help
you in that regard because you would think that the
Browns are going to start looking at more long term
solution other than Deshaun Watson has not played up to
that contract and now as a major health issue heading
into twenty five the Sean.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Watson has played a grand total of nineteen games in
a Browns uniform since being acquired. For all those draft
picks getting the fully guaranteed contracts still do forty six
million fully guaranteed in twenty twenty five, another forty six
million fully guaranteed in twenty twenty six. Lebrowns do have
an insurance policy on most of that money for twenty
twenty five, so potentially some cash and cap relief if
(05:29):
this goes the direction that it seems like it most
likely will. We also have questions about another non playoff team,
and that is the Dallas Cowboys, who are very quickly
coming up on the deadline at which Mike McCarthy's contract
would expire and he would be able to join another team.
As I reported this morning, they spent several days discussing
the twenty twenty four season and the future. At this point,
(05:52):
Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy are both open to moving
forward together and the expectation was here over these next
couple of days that they are going to open up
talks on a contract extension and see if they can
get a deal done to keep him in Dallas. If not,
the Cowboys are going to have to look for a replacement,
and you have to say based on what McCarthy has
(06:13):
done in the regular season. There's a lot of reasons
that makes sense for Jerry Jones to want to see
this through. Dak Prescott played the best football that he
has Mike last year in his first year with Mike
McCarthy calling the place. Twenty twenty four was a mess
for a variety of different reasons here, but you understand
why Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Also, if it does come to next Tuesday and they don't.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Have the contract done, he is going to have interest
elsewhere because there just aren't many candidates.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
With a track record like he has.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
If you're the Cowboys and you want to get this,
like why would you even wait until then? That gives
your guy that you're negotiating with that much more leverage, Like,
if you want to get this done, it's enough time
to get it done. Coaching contracts are relatively simple. It's
just a matter of agreeing on the number here. So look,
they've spoken highly about Mike McCarthy. Everybody has players, coaches, personnel.
(07:03):
They blocked the Bear's request to talk to him, which
they can do up until that Tuesday date, tom that
you're talking about, and they haven't interviewed anybody else themselves,
which they could conceivably do as well. So yeah, I
would think at this point that everything's pointing toward Mike
McCarthy returning, uh, and these sides trying to get this
(07:23):
done over the next couple of days. It's just a
matter of, as we say often, you know these deadlines.
You got to take it up to that deadline for
both sides to feel like they've maximized their leverage on
this one. But again, if I'm the Cowboys, I try
to get this thing done well before Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
When it comes to money matters.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Jerry Jones has shown that he has no problem waiting
until the last possible second, But there's reasons for everybody
to have urgency. The whole coaching staff also has their
contracts up. Mike McCarthy at some point is going to
need to put together a staff to try to move
forward here.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
So a lot of.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Movies were up the other days from what I saw it,
If yeah, sorry, if if Jerry has to get a
new coach. He's also missing on opportunities to interview the
guys who were on buys this week, So stay tuned
for the latest odd of Dallas at this point. In
other news around the NFL, the Vikings and Rams game,
as we told you last night on The Insiders, officially
(08:16):
moved to Glendale, Arizona. In light of the wildfires that
continue to rage throughout southern California. Amidst a variety of
different statements and contributions from different NFL clubs, the NFL
announced that the NFL Family is providing five million dollars
to support communities affected by the wildfires in the Greater
LA region, led by individual contributions from clubs and ownership
(08:39):
crews from the Chargers, Rams, Vikings, Texans, and NFL Foundation.
These funds will deliver vital resources to local organizations supporting
those affected by the wildfires. The NFL also said in
a statement, we are all heartbroken by the devastation and
destruction from the raging wildfires across the Greater Los Angeles region.
Families affected by these fires urgently need support. Help the
(09:02):
American Red Cross respond to and help people recover from
these disasters. You can donate today to support relief efforts
by going to Redcross dot org slash NFL. Coming up
on The Insiders, Love Hurts Part two. If you didn't
get all those puns out of your system before the
Friday night opener in Brazil.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Guess what, we're running it back. Who's got the edge
in this game? Will be breaking all of that down, Mike.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Indeed, we will, and we will be talking about the
rate the Steelers and the Ravens coming up this weekend.
Saquon Barkley as well wild Card game changers and wreckers
coming up later on the program. Here on The Insiders
with Adam Rank and Brian Baldinger.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Actually it's next Jaden Daniels postseason bound in year one
for him, part of an exciting wild Card weekend six pack.
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilisero, now joined by
our guys Brian Baldinger and Adam Rank. Baldy, let's talk
game changers. Who's a game.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Changer here for these wildcard games?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Tom?
Speaker 6 (10:11):
When I got this assignment, I said it to myself,
I'm not going to overthink this. I'm not going to
try to get cute. I'm not going to try to
outdo Rank over here. I'm just gonna give it to
you straight. Like I think Saquon Barkley, I think it's
good enough to know that he's a game changer, right.
I mean, I was there in Sam Paulo for that
first game when he went twenty four carries for one
oh nine. He scored three touchdowns, including a passing touchdowns.
(10:35):
Little weed to know that that would be the first
of eleven one hundred plus yard rushing days for Saquon.
I don't know just the timing and the rhythm that
Jalen Hurts will be in the passing game this week
after missing so much time, But I know this, I
know the rhythm that Saquan has with his offensive line
is pretty darn good, and I think it's going to
be good on Sunday afternoon against the Packers.
Speaker 7 (10:58):
I love that pick, Baldy, Listen, I'm like you. I
thought about Saquon Barkley. I was thinking about my fantasy team.
Saquon Barkley was on a number of my championship teams.
And another guy who was big for me this year
was Ladd mccaukey of the La Charges. Now, obviously the
Chargers traded away Keenan Allen to the Bears. They allowed
Mike Williams to leave in free agency, and Ladd has
(11:20):
done a tremendous job in his rookie season. He's had
at least fifty receiving yards in each of the last
ten games this year, the longest streak by a rookie
not drafted in the first round ever. Obviously, Milik Naghbors
also did it, but he was a first rounder. Slot
receivers have traditionally flourished in Greg Roman's offense, and Ladd
has done just that. And he's got a pretty good
(11:40):
matchup this week against the Houston Texas. Now, the Texans
have allowed just a fifty seven percent completion percentage the
slot receivers this season. They've created nine interceptions to slot receivers. However,
they've allowed fourteen touchdowns to slot receivers this year. An
important note if you're looking for a guy who could
score a touchdown at any moment, so.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
To speak, Paudy, I know you love you love one
thing more than game changers. That's game wreckerds. Give me
one of those four wild card weekend.
Speaker 8 (12:10):
Well, and this one I did think a great deal
about it.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
You know, von Miller is going to start his fourteenth
playoff game in his illustrious career, and we've seen him
wreck super Bowl games. In many of playoff games and
while he's sort of flown under the radar, he does
have six sacks this year. And I just was around
him a lot this offseason at the Sack Summit up
a training camp.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
Like he knows how to close out a game.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
He is an official closer.
Speaker 8 (12:36):
We've seen him to do that in two Super Bowl games.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I think he's living for this moment, and I think
he wants to put Denver to sleep, put them away,
and move on to these playoffs. I'm looking for von
Miller to come up and play big, especially in the
biggest moments of this game.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
I think we're at pretty simpatico on this one because
I love that pick. And you know what it's funny
is I was at Super Bowl forty eight, I was
at Super Bowl fifty. The biggest difference for the Broncos
in those two games was the defense, which is why
right now I'm looking at the Broncos defense and I'm
gonna look at Zach Allen. Now, obviously they've got some
great players. They have three three first team All pros
on this team, five all together, Patrick Sartin, Nick Bonito.
(13:17):
But Zach Allen led the NFL with forty quarterback hits
this year the most sense Nick Bosa in twenty twenty two.
He is an elite company. The only other guys who've
had forty hits on a quarterback were of course Bosa,
JJ Watt who did it four times, TJ Watt, and
of course Aaron Donald. Zack also had a career high
eight and a half sacks fifteen tackles for loss. He
(13:38):
also led all defensive tackles with sixty seven pressures on
a quarterback according to our next Gen stats and listen,
the Broncos were the only team that had three different
guys get twenty pressures on the quarterback. Defense travels in
the playoffs. So if you're upset minded, I look at
this Broncos defense, and I'm picking the Broncos to up
(14:00):
set the Bills in this one.
Speaker 6 (14:01):
Of course, the nickname four Ustill love the Jack Allen
is baby Jon baby jj w I mean, he's been
living with that for a long time.
Speaker 8 (14:09):
He seems okay with that.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
He's he looks That's what I'm about to say, physically,
like the huge elbow brace. Obviously, the number like he's
actually looks like it's some type of a play action
type of a Jamaldi rank enjoy these games this weekend.
Speaker 8 (14:26):
Mike.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Yeah, the game start on Tomorrow at four thirty pm
Eastern on CBS eight pm Prime Video Thursday on a Saturday,
basically with our Prime video folks.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
The Texans at home in more ways than one, their
home in Houston and also right in that four thirty
slot that they're so used to playing on Wildcard Weekend
over the years. You get the Lions at one o'clock
on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys after that, and you get the
Texans in the first game on Saturday for Wildcard Weekend.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's how that's how it goes, and you get Jeffrey
Kadia coming in on the end.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
I here to provide some insight here on the Saturday
slate of games. We're going to start with that first
one and talk about Jim Harball. You know, I'm talking
to people about this coach hiring cycle this year, and
they're like, there's no Jim Harball. There's no guy that's
going to come in and you know for sure you
are going to be a playoff contender immediately, if not
in the playoffs. We've seen the impact of Jim Harball.
(15:20):
What kind of impact has he had on the Chargers
overall this season.
Speaker 9 (15:24):
I've seen this movie before, Mike. I saw it at Michigan.
It's my alma mater. I saw it if the Sam
Francisco forty nine Ers when he was there. He has
a way of coming in and connecting with his players
immediately and getting them to buy in. That's the best
thing the Chargers have going for them going into this
playoff game with the Texans. They really believe in what
Jim Harbaugh is preaching and they've seen the results of it.
(15:44):
Limiting turnovers, taking care of the football, limiting penalties, running
the football, playing great defense.
Speaker 10 (15:51):
That's the formula and it travels well in the postseason.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
So I really like their chances of doing big things
in this postseason. On the flip side of this, the
Houston Texans are a team that does not want to
see the Chargers right now because they've been limping into
the postseason, scoring nineteen points against the Chiefs and the
Ravens in their last two wingless games, and really had
a hard time protecting CJ. Shroud all season long, fifty
four sacks given up.
Speaker 10 (16:15):
That's fourth in the NFL.
Speaker 9 (16:16):
He's without Tank Dell Stefan dis I just don't see
how the Texans end up winning this game against the
Chargers team that's really riding high right now.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
All right, Jeffrey Jdia making his call on that game.
So let's slip to the next game on Saturday night.
Steelers Ravens, two teams that obviously know a bunch about
each other. Steelers got to get some stuff together here,
particularly at the quarterback position, if they're going to have
a shot in this game. Your thought on this matchup
of two AFC North rivals, You.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
Know, I was really high on Russell Wilson and what
he brought to that team when he got into the
starting lineup, and you saw the immediate impact.
Speaker 10 (16:49):
But man, the last five games, this team has really
gone south.
Speaker 9 (16:53):
They've only scored fifty seven points in their last four games,
lost the Ravens, the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Bengals, and
Russell Wilson. I mean, you thought when George Pickens came
back in the lineup things were going to get better
after he had that hamstring injury, and it's gotten worse.
So I don't really know again how they're going to
be able to deal with what they've got to go
up against, what their Baltimore Ravens. Even with the success
(17:15):
they've had against Baltimore and for Baltimore, you look at
what they're doing.
Speaker 10 (17:19):
They're in a great position right now with where their
defenses come around.
Speaker 9 (17:22):
Justin Ticker's not Justin Tucker's not missing kicks anymore, but
Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 10 (17:27):
It's the heck of a road.
Speaker 9 (17:28):
He's gonna have to go through a team that's had
his number in the Steelers, and then he's gonna have
to deal with probably Josh Allen and then Patrick Mahoons
if he gets that part of the ASC Championship game.
He is two and four in the playoffs. We all
know the stats. He's an MVP cann for a reason.
But I'll tell you what, this is gonna be a
harder road as he's ever had in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I think you call them Justin Ticker? Is that what
you call them?
Speaker 8 (17:49):
Tucker back?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, It's okay.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
There have been worse slip ups when it comes to
Justin Tucker. On this very program, John pellis, Oh, are
you listening. We'll get to him after the break. Jeffrey
to the excellent breakdown of both games on Saturday now
let's get ready for those games. I think Tom's texting
me right now. We've got the Broncos and the Bills
(18:14):
coming up on Sunday. Our camera Wolf is gonna come
in to join us after the Insiders to break it
all down.
Speaker 8 (18:30):
Okay, Phil, Smkia stand up, super Bowl and.
Speaker 10 (18:33):
Nothing in all the way switching the playoffs up?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Playoff ready?
Speaker 10 (18:36):
You don't need to ask the hand.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
See she has clutched movie. So you're playing the Josh shalling.
You'll think he is.
Speaker 9 (18:42):
VP joint saying money that you'll be one one on
his jersey.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
He's in seventeen races. Hey, he's bigger peeing. He got
the Bills, will fight you get better.
Speaker 8 (18:49):
Believe the TDS are in the pot.
Speaker 10 (18:52):
We need treating in need, Oh pretty much. I want
to You need the seeds us.
Speaker 8 (18:56):
Looking playoff tech, get up, get it blinking missed.
Speaker 11 (18:59):
They made the playoff Ready you play already?
Speaker 8 (19:01):
Who's not saying.
Speaker 10 (19:03):
Seracs?
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I am told there's one of those anthems for every
team in the postseason. I'm gonna say we're gonna hear
the Bills won a little bit more than the Broncos,
at least leading up to this weekend's game.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pella Sero.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Joined by our guy Cameron Wolf, who will be at
that game in Orchard Park Camp. Josh Allen and the Bills,
even though it appears based on the All Pro voting today,
he's not gonna be the MVP of the league. He's
certainly been the MVP of the Bills with that remodeled
receiving corps. What's the key for number seventeen to take
over this game?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Tom?
Speaker 11 (19:44):
The Bills are always led by Josh Allen, but this
year has felt differently. And you mentioned the All Pro vote.
I've got a feeling there will be some extra motivation
from Josh Allen and the Bills to prove people wrong.
No All Pro vote for a team that went fourteen
and three and really overcame a lot of foster turnover.
And I thought it was interesting talking to Bill general
manager Brandon Bean this week about the evolution of Josh
(20:06):
Allen and he said the big thing for him was
not playing hero ball in a level that he was
in previous seasons. And when you look at the numbers,
it really sells at home. The Bills are the first
team in the Super Bowl Era to allow fewer than
fifteen sacks and fewer than fifteen giveaways.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
They are just not making mistakes.
Speaker 10 (20:24):
And that's the matchup.
Speaker 11 (20:25):
I can't wait in this game to see how Josh
Allen and that elite Bills offensive line goes against an
elite Broncos defensive front. The Broncos lead the NFL in
sacks by far. Van Joseph has that group playing really well.
Zach Allen, Nick Benito, and that group is going to
try to get out of Josh. Get that after Josh Allen.
I talked to Zach Allen, the Broncos defensive tackle this week,
(20:47):
and he said, when we beat them last year, we
didn't have any sacks, but we got a lot of
pressure kept Josh into the pocket. That's going to be
our game plan. It's not always that first two or
three seconds. It's how do we minimize his ability to
make plays outside the huddle.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
And that'll be the Broncos' best chance to try to
pull out the upset against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
On the flip side of this bow, Knicks has been
one of the great stories in the NFL this season.
The sixth quarterback taken in the draft he is one
of just two that's going to be starting a game
here as we get into the postseason. So how do
the Broncos hopes play out here? For bow Knicks to
do enough for them to poll will be a pretty
big upset on the road.
Speaker 11 (21:27):
Yeah, the big thing for bow Knicks is even though
he's a rookie, he doesn't play with that type of
rookie spear.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
He has a lot of starts in college.
Speaker 11 (21:36):
And Zach Allen said, a lot of people around the
Saints building who are now with the Broncos compare him
to Drew Brees with his ability to have the poise
in and outside the pocket, and they say that type
of leadership is why they have confidence that their time
is now. They're a young team. They feel like they're
building towards many years of competing. But they don't think
(21:57):
this is just Hey, this is our playoff run.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Be happy for it.
Speaker 11 (22:00):
They think they can make some noise in bo Nix's
playmaking ability is what they think can really call some
issues from a Bill's defense that has had some up
and down issues this year. And I talked to Von
Miller this week about bo Nicks and he mentioned the
fact that bo Nix's bab best skill set is that
he doesn't have any limitations. He doesn't know what he
doesn't know, and so he can throw the ball eighty
(22:21):
yards with no fear. He can also run an RPO
or run somebody over. And the unknown is what the
Bills are watching this week from the Broncos. What comes
out of Sean Payton's bag this week? As this team
is playing loose, they're playing fun, they're playing well. This
is their first playoff game since twenty fifteen, oddly enough,
where von Miller won Super Bowl MVP for that team.
And Patrick Sartan, who keeps a really good relation to
(22:43):
with von Miller, told him this week, our time is now.
You guys had your time in Denver. It's our time now.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
The Broncos had to beat the Chiefs backups last weekend
just to secure that final playoff spot. Upset the Bills
on Sunday. Guess what the reward is going to Kansas City.
He played the starters for the Chiefs in the divisional
playoff round.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Cam have a lot of fun. Stay warm out there, buddy, Mike.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Tom new Today the injury report, the final injury report
for the Eagles Packers game, Jordan Love not on it. Well,
he's on it, but it's his participation, not his game status.
No game status, which means he is good to go
after his second straight full day of practice with that
right elbow, no funny business with that funny bone. He
is going to start and play against the Eagles.
Speaker 10 (23:27):
So is this guy.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
And maybe early in the week you were concerned by
the fact that he was still in the protocol. Nope,
out of the protocol. Today we tried to tell you
there's no rush to take a guy out of the
protocol until the end of the week. So that's where
we are. Jalen Hurts, just like Jordan Love, no status
for this game on Sunday, which means he's good to go.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Stacy Daniel's good to go. She's gonna be.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
There covering this game for NFL Game Day Morning for
us on Sunday, Stace, let's talk about Jalen Hurts and
the possibility like there's maybe a little bit of rust, right,
but he's healthy.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
He cleared the protocol, that's the good thing. Just hasn't
played in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 12 (24:00):
Yeah, I mean, he's got the green light.
Speaker 10 (24:02):
He's ready to go.
Speaker 12 (24:03):
I think all things look very promising. I heard Baldy's
segment earlier, wondering, as you just pointed out, Mike, if
there'd be that russ because the concussion happened, by the way,
in the first quarter of their Week sixteen game against
the Commanders in that loss, so he's had quite a
bit of time, and by all counts, he is ready
to go. Because the folks I've talked to, including second
team All Pro Jordan my Lotta, what a season he
(24:25):
has had at that left tackle spot for these Eagles.
But he told me that the communication this week has
been even better than before Jalen Hurts had the concussion.
He said, he has looked fantastic in practice, and remember
they've been in pads this week, Mike. The hunger and fire,
he said, are very clear, and it is playoff Jalen time.
He told me, I said, what does that mean? He said,
(24:47):
he knows the stakes go up, but he keeps We've
heard him say the main thing, the main thing, but
he keeps things very.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Basic for his team.
Speaker 12 (24:53):
The focus, though, is incredible, and it's certainly great when
you have a running back if you're Jalen Hurts like
sae Quon Barkley. I heard Baldy talk about would they
be ready to go? Absolutely, they'll be ready to go.
He has been nothing sure of special this season, but
his communication and vision with the offensive line just so good.
He is the focal point for Jeff Haffley's Packers defense.
(25:14):
If you listen to Jeff Haffley this week, he said,
you got to do it over defending him over and
over and over again, so locked in, ensued, so detailed
that you do it again and again and again. He's patient,
he sees it. He'll make you pay for it. That's
the focus for the Packers. And by the way, Mike,
you know this better than anybody. This Eagles team has
a massive chip on their shoulder after their exodus in
(25:37):
the playoffs last year to Tampa. They got blown out.
They remember that and they want to rectify it on
Sunday at home.
Speaker 8 (25:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Well, they throw the pads on now.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
They've rested in week eighteen, so you throw the pads
on to get that feel again, to get that physicality again.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
And that sounds like a team that expects to run
the ball, which is not a surprise.
Speaker 8 (25:54):
That's what they do.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
As for the other side and a team that does
have a good running back as well. Packers and Jordan
Love Love again full participate in the last two days.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
What do they need to do on offense against this
Eagles team.
Speaker 12 (26:06):
Well, they've got to clean it up. And thanks for
reminding us. Saquon sat out last week, so he should
be really ready to go. They've got to clean it up.
Jordan Love has even talked about is he's been dinged
up with that throwing arm. He got hit in the elbow.
It was very numb after the Bears game and that
loss where they had to take him out. So but
they've had back to back losses now against divisional opponents,
(26:27):
so they know each other a little bit better than
some other teams might. But the Vikings and the Bears,
Jordan has talked about and acknowledged the accuracy, the footwork,
the timing has to be better. They've got to get
on the same page with their receivers and they certainly
have to do it very quickly against the number one
defense in football, Vic Fangio's group in Philly, number one
total defense, number one pass defense. But by the way,
(26:49):
they're preparing for a fully healthy Jordan Love. They know
they'll try to run the ball. That's been their mo
as we watch it here on the b roll today.
But Fangio of the quarterback understanding he's always going to
go to the quarterback first, big arm, he could throw
to every part of the field. He does have movement
in the pocket, and he just executes what they do
so well, which Mike is the run game and it's
(27:10):
the play pass. So defending those two things, but they
are just something to handle. That Eagles defense up front,
in the middle and on the back end. Really good
group as they get ready to face a very hungry
Packers team in the Wildcard this weekend in Philly.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Thanks, one more question for you before I let you go.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in the supernatural?
Because you mightn't want to look behind you when you
were talking earlier. Let's watch the replay here Gon roll it.
Let's see here right on your right shoulder. Oh my goodness,
what's just happened.
Speaker 12 (27:47):
That would be Ruby, my dog and Jim.
Speaker 10 (27:50):
That's not a ghost.
Speaker 12 (27:51):
She enters and she goes in and out of her
own own volition.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Mike.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Yeah, like j It's like Jurassic Park where they say,
we're safe unless they figure out how to open doors,
and then they cut to the door and the dinosaur figures.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Out open door.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Stacey Dale's thank you very much. Looking forward to seeing
you on the field in Philly this weekend. Thank you
very much. Coming up, a guy who played quarterback for
the Patriots is on the show. Next, not that guy,
Matt Castle, who served as the Patriots quarterback wile that
guy was hurt. He's got a new podcast going to
talk about Brady Beelachick, all things Patriots and otherwise.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Next, the newest NFL and iHeartRadio podcast is Lots to
Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle, premiere today with
Kurt Warner as the guest. Weekly show dropping every Wednesday.
Wherever you get your podcasts, And what do you know,
we have one of the hosts here. It's Bobby Bones. No,
it's actually Matt Castle, who is with us right here
(28:47):
on The Insiders with me, Tom Pelliicero as well as
Mike Carrol Fullo.
Speaker 10 (28:51):
I've been on Matt.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
I think at least one, maybe two of Bobby's different podcasts.
He's an entrepreneur, He's in a lot of different place.
He has a crazy background. Tell me about this show and.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
What made you want to do this particular podcast.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
Yeah, it kind of came up out of the blue,
to be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
The NFL contacted me and said, Bobby Bones wants to
do a podcast through iHeart Radio and everything like that.
And so I sat there and I read his resume
they sent his resume because I didn't know a ton
about him.
Speaker 8 (29:18):
It was exceptional to read up on this guy.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
And then I got a chance to go meet him
and we immediately clicked and hit it off, and so
we started recording some of these podcasts.
Speaker 8 (29:28):
Obviously, we had Kurt Warner. That episode came out today.
But it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
We've had Kurt Warner on, We've talked to guys like
Jared Allen and Boomer Science, and then his connections to
that entertainment world as well has been a lot of
fun because we've got guys like Tim McGraw and Parker
McCollum and country music come on and talk about their
experiences their love for sports.
Speaker 8 (29:49):
So it's just fun.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's entertaining. We're talking ball, we're talking entertainment, we're talking everything.
Speaker 8 (29:54):
It's we've got a lot to.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Say, you certainly have a lot to say about football.
We want to dig in on some of that stuff.
And look, just yesterday the Patriots announced that they had
interviewed your former teammate Mike Vrabel for that coaching position.
I think a lot of us from the jump after
they fired girod Meo said, that's going to wind up
being the guy. You've seen what Rabel's done over his
(30:18):
playing career, over his coaching career. How good of a
fit is this, because it seems like the perfect fit, right.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
It would be the perfect fit. You think about Rabel,
going back to him as a player and what he
was for that organization. He's in the Patriots Hall of
Fame and then a lot of people though associate him
with this Belichick tree, but really he's branched out. He's
been under Urban Meyer at Ohio State, he was under
Billy O'Brien in Houston, and when you think and talk
to other players that have been around him, he's just
(30:46):
an exceptional coach. He's a player's coach. He's been there,
he understands what it takes to win. He did a
great job here in Tennessee, and it's unfortunate how it
ended here, but to have him come into that organization
and he would be able to stabilize it, and with
a young quarterback like Drake May, I think he'd do
an exceptional job.
Speaker 8 (31:03):
And I know that the Kraft family would love to
have him come home.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
You know, Matt, there's a lot of people who have
played with Mike Rabel, played for Mike Frabel, coached with
Mike Frable. There's only one guy I know of who's
been traded with Mike Rabel. Two thousand and nine, You're
coming off a remarkable season in New England in relief
of Tom Brady. You get the call you're being traded
with Rabel to the Chiefs. For a second, a pick
(31:29):
yous take me through that sequence of events and what
it was like in then one. It was a wild,
wild circumstances.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
After the season, there was some uneasiness about Brady and
the recovery going on with his knees. So then all
of a sudden they franchised me. I was like, what
does that mean exactly? So I was on the franchise
tender there and then all of a sudden, out of
the blue, I'm sitting in the parking lot. I just
came out of the grocery store in California and I
get a phone call from Coach Belichick and I'm wondering
what this is about. Well, I got traded to Kansas City,
(31:59):
and at first I didn't say anything about Brabell. He's like, look,
you're going to Kansas City. We've made the trade. We
want to thank you for everything you did. And then
minutes later I get a phone call from Brabel and
start to understand he's coming with me, and Brabel's my.
Speaker 8 (32:11):
Boy, so I was like, yes, this is going to
be great.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
I don't know if he was excited as I was
about the trade, but ended up being neighbors right there
in Kansas City, lived literally two houses down from one
another and still have a great relationship to this day.
Speaker 8 (32:27):
And I was it actually put me at ease when
I went to.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
Kansas City and made that transition, to have not only
a friend, but a guy like Brabel who's a leader,
to come into that organization and help try to rebuild
that place.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
You know, as I see this and you hear this,
and you think about the juxtaposition of you playing alongside him,
getting traded with him, and you see a lot of
the former quarterbacks that were in the league now making
their way up the coaching ranks. You ever get that itch,
Do you ever ever feel like, you know what, I
could be a coach in the NFL and start climbing
these ranks quickly because you're.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Clearly no ball.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I one hundred percent would love to do it. I
just believe that it's not just the time commitment during
the week, but it's also the coaching profession itself is
so volatile from one year to the next. And I've
got five children from a freshman in high school down
to a kindergartener, and I just wouldn't want to put
(33:20):
them in that position to where, hey, honey, this year,
we're in Philly.
Speaker 8 (33:24):
Next year we might be at the RAM, whatever it
might be.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
And that was the difficult part for me, because as
a player and somebody that loves the game and loves
to not only teach the game, but also would love
to coach the game, that part is always appealing to me.
But then the other aspects of it and the lifestyle
for your family, which they went through fourteen years of
my NFL career and we moved around a lot. At
the end of my career, it would be difficult to say, Hey,
(33:49):
we're going to go back into this thing again.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
You know, sometimes a coach can spend fifty years in
the NFL, half of those in one place, and then
pop up at seventy three years old at college in
North Carolina. You know, sometimes weird things happen in the
coaching profession. Are are you a believer? Number one, the
Bill Belichick is actually going to coach at North Carolina
before an NFL team comes called Number two, that he
can succeed coaching college ball.
Speaker 8 (34:13):
Oh, there's no doubt that he can succeed.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
And that's the thing about coach Belichick is he wouldn't
do anything where he's just dipping his toe in the water.
He's going to go there and try to be dominant.
I think he's in the right division there in the ACC.
He's a guy that's going to give it it's all.
And it'll be interesting because just imagine as an eighteen sixteen,
seventeen eighteen year old kid, Coach Belichick, the greatest coach
(34:37):
of all time, walks into your living room. I mean,
the recruiting process will work just on namesake, and he'll
be able to bring guys in and develop them and
put them in a position to get to ultimately where
they want to be, which is the NFL, and he
knows how to do that. Now, the longevity of how
long he's at UNC will be interesting to me because
I think that he still wants to coach, and there's
going to be suitors out there in the NFL that say,
(35:00):
need to give this guy another shot, because I mean,
he's coach Belichick and he's unbelievable at what he does.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I think about your podcast with Bobby Bones lots to say,
and I'd say, can you get Belichick on the pot,
like that'd be a great get, But the.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Guy is everywhere anymore. Like he's a media darling.
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Year that's true. Who's the dream guest for you?
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Like, who's the guy we got it?
Speaker 8 (35:25):
Is it Tom Brady?
Speaker 4 (35:26):
I mean Tom does enough media himself, But who's the
guy that you got to get on the lots to
say podcast to hear.
Speaker 8 (35:31):
What he has to say?
Speaker 3 (35:33):
You know, it's so funny you brought up to Belichick. Sorry,
because when I was covering college football this year for
NBC and I'm out in Washington and so Coach Belichick.
I run into him and I was like, Hey, I
would love to talk to you tomorrow, maybe before the game,
just talk about Steven Belichick, the fact.
Speaker 8 (35:49):
That he's here, You're here, this, that, and the other.
He's like, anything you need.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Well, the next day I started texting him just crickets, nothing,
and I was like, coach, what's up man?
Speaker 8 (35:58):
He told me anything I need, told me.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
That literally yesterday, and then just to give it ghost
me like, no discussion, nothing like that. But I would
love to have him on and hopefully during the off
season and right now we can get him on just
to talk about the fact that he's made this transition,
what went into it, because obviously it's a fascinating story
for anybody involved in football, but also getting Brady on there. Yeah,
(36:22):
I've talked to him throughout this year and he acts
like he's the busiest guy on earth. But let's be honest,
he's probably not. He's down there at the beach with
his shirt off taking Instagram photos all the time.
Speaker 8 (36:31):
I mean say that.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
To shoot him forget the tex text, time to shoot
a direct message on one of the various social media
platforms so easy to reach now, so you check out
lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle right there,
I'm pointing at it right there. That's the QR right there,
that's hold on the magic right about there. Yeah, Mike's
gonna subscribe right now.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Scribe.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Everybody else can as well. Matt, thanks a lot, best
luck up with the pod Man.
Speaker 8 (37:00):
We'll be listening. Appreciate you. I appreciate you, guys. I
have a greatable one.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Wild Card Weekend wraps up with the Rams and Vikings
playing in Arizona. Matthew Stafford, Sam Darnold, who's got the
edge with everything on the line. Our Bridge at Condon
will be there the first. She'll be here with us
on the Insiders next Rams and Vikings Monday night, wrapping
(37:27):
up wild Card Weekend. That game has been relocated to Glendale, Arizona,
in light of the wildfires that continue to ravage southern California.
Our Bridget Condon is going to be covering that game
in Arizona. Bridget, certainly, we are all thinking of everybody
in that area of the country, in that state who
is dealing with whether it's property loss or evacuations, or
(37:51):
being worried about loved ones.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
Here.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
The Rams are among that group, some of their family
members too, you were at the facility yesterday when the
Kenneth fire broke out. How are they handling the hotality
of this week with in relative terms it a very
important game Monday night as well.
Speaker 13 (38:05):
Tom, I want to break this down for everybody who
was maybe disappointed that the game got moved from so
far to Arizona. I was at practice yesterday and we
were interviewing Sean McVay and other than some added wind,
it felt like a normal day in Woodland Hills. But
then you kind of turned you see it right here,
that was behind the facility, kind of off to the
side of the practice field, all that smoke coming in.
(38:26):
The RAMS players shortly after that did take the field.
We were told that that was, you know, the departments
putting out a fire. It was nothing new, so you
thought at that point, okay. And then after practice we
walked out of the front of the facility and a
completely different fire had erupted. That was the kindeth fire
that you just talked about, and some of the family members,
(38:47):
staffers from the RAMS organization actually had to evacuate their home.
So at that point it felt like, how are they
going to play this game in Los Angeles and Kevin
Demoff spoke to reporters today about the decision to move
the games, saying it came down to whether or not
they could adequately staff the game in terms of local
public safety officials and firefighters that we know have been
(39:07):
working around the clock. He said it actually was a
conversation before that Kenneth Bier broke out talking to fire
chiefs and public officials, hearing that they were going through
so much. He said, you could hear it in their voices,
and they just knew at that moment that the best
thing for everybody would be to move the game. Of course,
he's done an incredible job on social media on x
(39:28):
trying to arrange buses. You saw that the Cronkey family
is donating a million dollars, so they're trying to do
everything possible. But he just, you know, he went on
to say, this is bigger than football, and it's one
of those things that nobody wants to be in this situation,
but they felt like that was the right decision.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Tom an extraordinary situation for everybody involved with it here,
including the quarterback Matthew Stafford, who talked yesterday about the
fact that they always play for LA and This is
another example of it. They're in the playoffs for the
third time in Stafford's four seasons. How was he embracing
this moment under tough circumstances.
Speaker 13 (40:02):
He's embracing it.
Speaker 10 (40:03):
Tom.
Speaker 13 (40:03):
You talk about him being in the third playoffs in
four years with the Rams, Well, when he was with
the Lions, he played twelve seasons there, only made it
to the playoffs three times. He talked about, you, you
don't know when these playoffs are going to come, like,
you have to take every opportunity you get and run
with it. It was their Week eight matchup that kind
of turned their season around. It's funny that we're talking
(40:24):
about the Rams hosting a wild card game, obviously now
hosting it in Arizona, because in the beginning of the
season that wasn't the case. Matthew Stafford had just three
touchdown passes going into that Week eight matchup against the Vikings.
It was that game where he threw four touchdown passes.
Things haven't gone great for him the end of the season.
(40:44):
He had three games where he threw for less than
two hundred yards. But Sean McVeigh I asked him about it.
I said, how do you get that back and he said, well,
Matthew Stafford, what he does best is shine in bright moments,
So they're hoping that his experience can kind of spark
this team. And with everything happening around the city of
Los Angeles, and I know there was like something up
in the locker room that you might talk about later
(41:05):
that's motivating them as well. So a lot of things
helping this team get extra fired up for Monday night.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Well, there is a spice to this matchup here. You
got Sean McVay against his old assistant Kevin O'Connell. They
won a Super Bowl together. Here you've also got a
comment made by another head coach, Dan Campbell, who was
on the hot mic the handshake after week eighteen.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
He said, some lie lines I'll see you in two weeks.
That's been printed out.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
It's in the RAMS locker room, and they have one
more reason to want to get this w more insiders
after this. Snoop Doo Douvileg set to host the NFL
Honors presented by Visiligned Thursday, February sixth Mike Garafullo, your
thoughts on Snoop as the Honors host?
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Yeah, listen if you could do as well as Nicki
Glazer did at the Golden Globes.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
In the opening monologue, I'll be very impressed. But Snoop's
got a different kind of humor? Is he sneaky?
Speaker 8 (42:00):
Funny?
Speaker 2 (42:01):
I like this one.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
I think it's gonna be a good show. You know,
Kender Klamar has got the halftime show at the super Bowl.
He took a shot in like the first three bars
on his new album at Snoop, do we have beef
in New Orleans?
Speaker 8 (42:14):
I know this.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
We've got a YouTube show Monday, and we're back on
the network on Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Enjoy wild Card Weekend. Everybody see it.
We are less than twenty four hours away from kickoff,
and our guys Brian Bowdier and Adam Rank will be
here to tell you who could be the game changers
on wild card weekend. Bill Belichick remains the head coach
at the University of North Carolina for now, but the
possibility of an NFL return Lingers. One of his former players,
(00:29):
joins us with some interesting thoughts on his former coach,
who once traded him away. Meanwhile, more bad news for
de Shawn Watson, who tore's achilles again and that was
in jeopardy of missing the entire twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So what does that mean for the.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Browns plans to add a quarterback, perhaps with the number
two overall pick. We will tell you the latest from Cleveland,
and yes we're talking about playoffs. Welcome inside with the
insiders alongside Mike Garafolo. I am Tom Pelisero. We are
thirty days away from Super Bowl fifty nine. We are
(01:06):
just one day away from the start of the playoffs.
Fourteen teams still alive, two guys in plaid shirts, and
we've only got one hour to talk about every bit
of it.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Let's start out in court Phiadelphia Ware.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yes, the Eagles will have Jalen Hurts back in the lineup.
He officially has cleared the concussion protocol off the injury report.
Of course, missed the tail end of the regular season.
That gave him extra time to get through all these steps.
Final clearance by an independent neurologist has come. Jalen Hurts
is gonna be out there good to go Sunday against
(01:40):
the Packers, and he's gonna have some help Mike.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
He is.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Although Aj Brown and Devonte Smith both this practice this week.
Aj Brown on Thursday, DeVante Smith on Friday. The knee
for aj Brown something that he's been managing, going to
have to continue to manage, obviously as long as the
Eagles are alive here.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
As for Smith, the backslash rest, well, I.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
Mean yeah, they're resting him because he's got the back
and also give him a little rest. He's got a
back issue. But he is expected to play after not
practicing on Friday. So we'll see how both of those
two receivers fair. We'll see how Jordan Love Bears as well.
After that little funny bone incident on Sunday, practice fully
for the second straight day.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
He was limited the day before that.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
But full practice is expected to go against the Eagles,
Matt Lafleur indicating that Love had a good practice on Friday,
so the expectation is that he's a full go, ready
to go, ready to rock.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Some others not so lucky for wild card weekend. Big
loss for the Ravens wide receivers. A Flowers out because
of that knee injury. Minor sanding is he's got at
least a chance if they win, to be back for
the divisional playoff week. You see several Chargers on that list.
Josh Palmer out once again because of the heel, JK. Dobbins,
Quinin Johnson both listed as questionable. I get the sense
both those guys more than likely we'll go. We'll find
(02:55):
out for sure prior to kickoff on Saturday against the Texans. Also,
Kate Gotten questionable for the Buck So is Atrooin Winfield
Junior their safety. But it does sound like a cord
to Todd Bowles he.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Is going to be good to go.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
The Browns, of course, have been eliminated for almost as
long as Deshaun Watson has been off the field once again,
first tore his achilles tend and back on October twentieth
at surgery. Five days later, now earlier today, the Browns
announcing Watson retore his achilles tendon after complaining of discomfort
in his ankle after rolling it down in Miami. They
(03:30):
did additional exams after his end of year physical discovered
the retear doctor Robert Anderson, one of the leading specials
in the country.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Repaired it.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
But this is, Mike, the continuation of a unbelievable in
many senses several years for Deshaun Watson, a guy the
Browns gave up so much for, and now not only
has he not played up to the money and the
draft picks they gave up. What possibly twenty twenty five
is going to end up being a wash as well.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Well, we're coming up on the home stretch here, I guess,
well the last year wud be the home stretch. This
is the far turn. Maybe I don't know. Ian's not here,
he's our horse racing guy. The point is we're coming
toward the end of this contract here, and if he
doesn't play, yeah, that would leave one more season for
him on the field for which he is under contract.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And this opens up a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
One we already knew from a potential veterans standpoint and
free agency that the Browns were going to add some
competition in the room for Deshaun Watson. This only seemingly
further cements it. And then you've got the fact that
they're holding the second pick in the draft here with
the Titans at number one, who could use some quarterback
help as well. It's looking like quarterback quarterback. And then
with the Giants at three, potentially quarterback quarterback quarterback in
(04:39):
the draft here coming up here, and maybe they, you know,
one of these teams says, you know what, we're not
enamored with these quarterbacks. You can come up to our
spot if you want to trade up to ensure yourself
on we'll see.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
But this just opens it up.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
If you're behind the Browns and the draft order, like
the Giants, and you need a quarterback, this doesn't help
you in that regard because you would think that the
Browns are going to start looking at more long term
solution other than Deshaun Watson has not played up to
that contract and now as a major health issue heading
into twenty five the Sean.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Watson has played a grand total of nineteen games in
a Browns uniform since being acquired. For all those draft
picks getting the fully guaranteed contracts still do forty six
million fully guaranteed in twenty twenty five, another forty six
million fully guaranteed in twenty twenty six. Lebrowns do have
an insurance policy on most of that money for twenty
twenty five, so potentially some cash and cap relief if
(05:29):
this goes the direction that it seems like it most
likely will. We also have questions about another non playoff team,
and that is the Dallas Cowboys, who are very quickly
coming up on the deadline at which Mike McCarthy's contract
would expire and he would be able to join another team.
As I reported this morning, they spent several days discussing
the twenty twenty four season and the future. At this point,
(05:52):
Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy are both open to moving
forward together and the expectation was here over these next
couple of days that they are going to open up
talks on a contract extension and see if they can
get a deal done to keep him in Dallas. If not,
the Cowboys are going to have to look for a replacement,
and you have to say based on what McCarthy has
(06:13):
done in the regular season. There's a lot of reasons
that makes sense for Jerry Jones to want to see
this through. Dak Prescott played the best football that he
has Mike last year in his first year with Mike
McCarthy calling the place. Twenty twenty four was a mess
for a variety of different reasons here, but you understand
why Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Also, if it does come to next Tuesday and they don't.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Have the contract done, he is going to have interest
elsewhere because there just aren't many candidates.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
With a track record like he has.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
If you're the Cowboys and you want to get this,
like why would you even wait until then? That gives
your guy that you're negotiating with that much more leverage, Like,
if you want to get this done, it's enough time
to get it done. Coaching contracts are relatively simple. It's
just a matter of agreeing on the number here. So look,
they've spoken highly about Mike McCarthy. Everybody has players, coaches, personnel.
(07:03):
They blocked the Bear's request to talk to him, which
they can do up until that Tuesday date, tom that
you're talking about, and they haven't interviewed anybody else themselves,
which they could conceivably do as well. So yeah, I
would think at this point that everything's pointing toward Mike
McCarthy returning, uh, and these sides trying to get this
(07:23):
done over the next couple of days. It's just a
matter of, as we say often, you know these deadlines.
You got to take it up to that deadline for
both sides to feel like they've maximized their leverage on
this one. But again, if I'm the Cowboys, I try
to get this thing done well before Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
When it comes to money matters.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Jerry Jones has shown that he has no problem waiting
until the last possible second, But there's reasons for everybody
to have urgency. The whole coaching staff also has their
contracts up. Mike McCarthy at some point is going to
need to put together a staff to try to move
forward here.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
So a lot of.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Movies were up the other days from what I saw it,
If yeah, sorry, if if Jerry has to get a
new coach. He's also missing on opportunities to interview the
guys who were on buys this week, So stay tuned
for the latest odd of Dallas at this point. In
other news around the NFL, the Vikings and Rams game,
as we told you last night on The Insiders, officially
(08:16):
moved to Glendale, Arizona. In light of the wildfires that
continue to rage throughout southern California. Amidst a variety of
different statements and contributions from different NFL clubs, the NFL
announced that the NFL Family is providing five million dollars
to support communities affected by the wildfires in the Greater
LA region, led by individual contributions from clubs and ownership
(08:39):
crews from the Chargers, Rams, Vikings, Texans, and NFL Foundation.
These funds will deliver vital resources to local organizations supporting
those affected by the wildfires. The NFL also said in
a statement, we are all heartbroken by the devastation and
destruction from the raging wildfires across the Greater Los Angeles region.
Families affected by these fires urgently need support. Help the
(09:02):
American Red Cross respond to and help people recover from
these disasters. You can donate today to support relief efforts
by going to Redcross dot org slash NFL. Coming up
on The Insiders, Love Hurts Part two. If you didn't
get all those puns out of your system before the
Friday night opener in Brazil.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Guess what, we're running it back. Who's got the edge
in this game? Will be breaking all of that down, Mike.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Indeed, we will, and we will be talking about the
rate the Steelers and the Ravens coming up this weekend.
Saquon Barkley as well wild Card game changers and wreckers
coming up later on the program. Here on The Insiders
with Adam Rank and Brian Baldinger.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Actually it's next Jaden Daniels postseason bound in year one
for him, part of an exciting wild Card weekend six pack.
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilisero, now joined by
our guys Brian Baldinger and Adam Rank. Baldy, let's talk
game changers. Who's a game.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Changer here for these wildcard games?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Tom?
Speaker 6 (10:11):
When I got this assignment, I said it to myself,
I'm not going to overthink this. I'm not going to
try to get cute. I'm not going to try to
outdo Rank over here. I'm just gonna give it to
you straight. Like I think Saquon Barkley, I think it's
good enough to know that he's a game changer, right.
I mean, I was there in Sam Paulo for that
first game when he went twenty four carries for one
oh nine. He scored three touchdowns, including a passing touchdowns.
(10:35):
Little weed to know that that would be the first
of eleven one hundred plus yard rushing days for Saquon.
I don't know just the timing and the rhythm that
Jalen Hurts will be in the passing game this week
after missing so much time, But I know this, I
know the rhythm that Saquan has with his offensive line
is pretty darn good, and I think it's going to
be good on Sunday afternoon against the Packers.
Speaker 7 (10:58):
I love that pick, Baldy, Listen, I'm like you. I
thought about Saquon Barkley. I was thinking about my fantasy team.
Saquon Barkley was on a number of my championship teams.
And another guy who was big for me this year
was Ladd mccaukey of the La Charges. Now, obviously the
Chargers traded away Keenan Allen to the Bears. They allowed
Mike Williams to leave in free agency, and Ladd has
(11:20):
done a tremendous job in his rookie season. He's had
at least fifty receiving yards in each of the last
ten games this year, the longest streak by a rookie
not drafted in the first round ever. Obviously, Milik Naghbors
also did it, but he was a first rounder. Slot
receivers have traditionally flourished in Greg Roman's offense, and Ladd
has done just that. And he's got a pretty good
(11:40):
matchup this week against the Houston Texas. Now, the Texans
have allowed just a fifty seven percent completion percentage the
slot receivers this season. They've created nine interceptions to slot receivers. However,
they've allowed fourteen touchdowns to slot receivers this year. An
important note if you're looking for a guy who could
score a touchdown at any moment, so.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
To speak, Paudy, I know you love you love one
thing more than game changers. That's game wreckerds. Give me
one of those four wild card weekend.
Speaker 8 (12:10):
Well, and this one I did think a great deal
about it.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
You know, von Miller is going to start his fourteenth
playoff game in his illustrious career, and we've seen him
wreck super Bowl games. In many of playoff games and
while he's sort of flown under the radar, he does
have six sacks this year. And I just was around
him a lot this offseason at the Sack Summit up
a training camp.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
Like he knows how to close out a game.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
He is an official closer.
Speaker 8 (12:36):
We've seen him to do that in two Super Bowl games.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
I think he's living for this moment, and I think
he wants to put Denver to sleep, put them away,
and move on to these playoffs. I'm looking for von
Miller to come up and play big, especially in the
biggest moments of this game.
Speaker 7 (12:53):
I think we're at pretty simpatico on this one because
I love that pick. And you know what it's funny
is I was at Super Bowl forty eight, I was
at Super Bowl fifty. The biggest difference for the Broncos
in those two games was the defense, which is why
right now I'm looking at the Broncos defense and I'm
gonna look at Zach Allen. Now, obviously they've got some
great players. They have three three first team All pros
on this team, five all together, Patrick Sartin, Nick Bonito.
(13:17):
But Zach Allen led the NFL with forty quarterback hits
this year the most sense Nick Bosa in twenty twenty two.
He is an elite company. The only other guys who've
had forty hits on a quarterback were of course Bosa,
JJ Watt who did it four times, TJ Watt, and
of course Aaron Donald. Zack also had a career high
eight and a half sacks fifteen tackles for loss. He
(13:38):
also led all defensive tackles with sixty seven pressures on
a quarterback according to our next Gen stats and listen,
the Broncos were the only team that had three different
guys get twenty pressures on the quarterback. Defense travels in
the playoffs. So if you're upset minded, I look at
this Broncos defense, and I'm picking the Broncos to up
(14:00):
set the Bills in this one.
Speaker 6 (14:01):
Of course, the nickname four Ustill love the Jack Allen
is baby Jon baby jj w I mean, he's been
living with that for a long time.
Speaker 8 (14:09):
He seems okay with that.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
He's he looks That's what I'm about to say, physically,
like the huge elbow brace. Obviously, the number like he's
actually looks like it's some type of a play action
type of a Jamaldi rank enjoy these games this weekend.
Speaker 8 (14:26):
Mike.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Yeah, the game start on Tomorrow at four thirty pm
Eastern on CBS eight pm Prime Video Thursday on a Saturday,
basically with our Prime video folks.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
The Texans at home in more ways than one, their
home in Houston and also right in that four thirty
slot that they're so used to playing on Wildcard Weekend
over the years. You get the Lions at one o'clock
on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys after that, and you get the
Texans in the first game on Saturday for Wildcard Weekend.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
That's how that's how it goes, and you get Jeffrey
Kadia coming in on the end.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
I here to provide some insight here on the Saturday
slate of games. We're going to start with that first
one and talk about Jim Harball. You know, I'm talking
to people about this coach hiring cycle this year, and
they're like, there's no Jim Harball. There's no guy that's
going to come in and you know for sure you
are going to be a playoff contender immediately, if not
in the playoffs. We've seen the impact of Jim Harball.
(15:20):
What kind of impact has he had on the Chargers
overall this season.
Speaker 9 (15:24):
I've seen this movie before, Mike. I saw it at Michigan.
It's my alma mater. I saw it if the Sam
Francisco forty nine Ers when he was there. He has
a way of coming in and connecting with his players
immediately and getting them to buy in. That's the best
thing the Chargers have going for them going into this
playoff game with the Texans. They really believe in what
Jim Harbaugh is preaching and they've seen the results of it.
(15:44):
Limiting turnovers, taking care of the football, limiting penalties, running
the football, playing great defense.
Speaker 10 (15:51):
That's the formula and it travels well in the postseason.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
So I really like their chances of doing big things
in this postseason. On the flip side of this, the
Houston Texans are a team that does not want to
see the Chargers right now because they've been limping into
the postseason, scoring nineteen points against the Chiefs and the
Ravens in their last two wingless games, and really had
a hard time protecting CJ. Shroud all season long, fifty
four sacks given up.
Speaker 10 (16:15):
That's fourth in the NFL.
Speaker 9 (16:16):
He's without Tank Dell Stefan dis I just don't see
how the Texans end up winning this game against the
Chargers team that's really riding high right now.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
All right, Jeffrey Jdia making his call on that game.
So let's slip to the next game on Saturday night.
Steelers Ravens, two teams that obviously know a bunch about
each other. Steelers got to get some stuff together here,
particularly at the quarterback position, if they're going to have
a shot in this game. Your thought on this matchup
of two AFC North rivals, You.
Speaker 9 (16:43):
Know, I was really high on Russell Wilson and what
he brought to that team when he got into the
starting lineup, and you saw the immediate impact.
Speaker 10 (16:49):
But man, the last five games, this team has really
gone south.
Speaker 9 (16:53):
They've only scored fifty seven points in their last four games,
lost the Ravens, the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Bengals, and
Russell Wilson. I mean, you thought when George Pickens came
back in the lineup things were going to get better
after he had that hamstring injury, and it's gotten worse.
So I don't really know again how they're going to
be able to deal with what they've got to go
up against, what their Baltimore Ravens. Even with the success
(17:15):
they've had against Baltimore and for Baltimore, you look at
what they're doing.
Speaker 10 (17:19):
They're in a great position right now with where their
defenses come around.
Speaker 9 (17:22):
Justin Ticker's not Justin Tucker's not missing kicks anymore, but
Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 10 (17:27):
It's the heck of a road.
Speaker 9 (17:28):
He's gonna have to go through a team that's had
his number in the Steelers, and then he's gonna have
to deal with probably Josh Allen and then Patrick Mahoons
if he gets that part of the ASC Championship game.
He is two and four in the playoffs. We all
know the stats. He's an MVP cann for a reason.
But I'll tell you what, this is gonna be a
harder road as he's ever had in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I think you call them Justin Ticker? Is that what
you call them?
Speaker 8 (17:49):
Tucker back?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, It's okay.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
There have been worse slip ups when it comes to
Justin Tucker. On this very program, John pellis, Oh, are
you listening. We'll get to him after the break. Jeffrey
to the excellent breakdown of both games on Saturday now
let's get ready for those games. I think Tom's texting
me right now. We've got the Broncos and the Bills
(18:14):
coming up on Sunday. Our camera Wolf is gonna come
in to join us after the Insiders to break it
all down.
Speaker 8 (18:30):
Okay, Phil, Smkia stand up, super Bowl and.
Speaker 10 (18:33):
Nothing in all the way switching the playoffs up?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Playoff ready?
Speaker 10 (18:36):
You don't need to ask the hand.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
See she has clutched movie. So you're playing the Josh shalling.
You'll think he is.
Speaker 9 (18:42):
VP joint saying money that you'll be one one on
his jersey.
Speaker 10 (18:46):
He's in seventeen races. Hey, he's bigger peeing. He got
the Bills, will fight you get better.
Speaker 8 (18:49):
Believe the TDS are in the pot.
Speaker 10 (18:52):
We need treating in need, Oh pretty much. I want
to You need the seeds us.
Speaker 8 (18:56):
Looking playoff tech, get up, get it blinking missed.
Speaker 11 (18:59):
They made the playoff Ready you play already?
Speaker 8 (19:01):
Who's not saying.
Speaker 10 (19:03):
Seracs?
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I am told there's one of those anthems for every
team in the postseason. I'm gonna say we're gonna hear
the Bills won a little bit more than the Broncos,
at least leading up to this weekend's game.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pella Sero.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Joined by our guy Cameron Wolf, who will be at
that game in Orchard Park Camp. Josh Allen and the Bills,
even though it appears based on the All Pro voting today,
he's not gonna be the MVP of the league. He's
certainly been the MVP of the Bills with that remodeled
receiving corps. What's the key for number seventeen to take
over this game?
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Tom?
Speaker 11 (19:44):
The Bills are always led by Josh Allen, but this
year has felt differently. And you mentioned the All Pro vote.
I've got a feeling there will be some extra motivation
from Josh Allen and the Bills to prove people wrong.
No All Pro vote for a team that went fourteen
and three and really overcame a lot of foster turnover.
And I thought it was interesting talking to Bill general
manager Brandon Bean this week about the evolution of Josh
(20:06):
Allen and he said the big thing for him was
not playing hero ball in a level that he was
in previous seasons. And when you look at the numbers,
it really sells at home. The Bills are the first
team in the Super Bowl Era to allow fewer than
fifteen sacks and fewer than fifteen giveaways.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
They are just not making mistakes.
Speaker 10 (20:24):
And that's the matchup.
Speaker 11 (20:25):
I can't wait in this game to see how Josh
Allen and that elite Bills offensive line goes against an
elite Broncos defensive front. The Broncos lead the NFL in
sacks by far. Van Joseph has that group playing really well.
Zach Allen, Nick Benito, and that group is going to
try to get out of Josh. Get that after Josh Allen.
I talked to Zach Allen, the Broncos defensive tackle this week,
(20:47):
and he said, when we beat them last year, we
didn't have any sacks, but we got a lot of
pressure kept Josh into the pocket. That's going to be
our game plan. It's not always that first two or
three seconds. It's how do we minimize his ability to
make plays outside the huddle.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
And that'll be the Broncos' best chance to try to
pull out the upset against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
On the flip side of this bow, Knicks has been
one of the great stories in the NFL this season.
The sixth quarterback taken in the draft he is one
of just two that's going to be starting a game
here as we get into the postseason. So how do
the Broncos hopes play out here? For bow Knicks to
do enough for them to poll will be a pretty
big upset on the road.
Speaker 11 (21:27):
Yeah, the big thing for bow Knicks is even though
he's a rookie, he doesn't play with that type of
rookie spear.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
He has a lot of starts in college.
Speaker 11 (21:36):
And Zach Allen said, a lot of people around the
Saints building who are now with the Broncos compare him
to Drew Brees with his ability to have the poise
in and outside the pocket, and they say that type
of leadership is why they have confidence that their time
is now. They're a young team. They feel like they're
building towards many years of competing. But they don't think
(21:57):
this is just Hey, this is our playoff run.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Be happy for it.
Speaker 11 (22:00):
They think they can make some noise in bo Nix's
playmaking ability is what they think can really call some
issues from a Bill's defense that has had some up
and down issues this year. And I talked to Von
Miller this week about bo Nicks and he mentioned the
fact that bo Nix's bab best skill set is that
he doesn't have any limitations. He doesn't know what he
doesn't know, and so he can throw the ball eighty
(22:21):
yards with no fear. He can also run an RPO
or run somebody over. And the unknown is what the
Bills are watching this week from the Broncos. What comes
out of Sean Payton's bag this week? As this team
is playing loose, they're playing fun, they're playing well. This
is their first playoff game since twenty fifteen, oddly enough,
where von Miller won Super Bowl MVP for that team.
And Patrick Sartan, who keeps a really good relation to
(22:43):
with von Miller, told him this week, our time is now.
You guys had your time in Denver. It's our time now.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
The Broncos had to beat the Chiefs backups last weekend
just to secure that final playoff spot. Upset the Bills
on Sunday. Guess what the reward is going to Kansas City.
He played the starters for the Chiefs in the divisional
playoff round.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Cam have a lot of fun. Stay warm out there, buddy, Mike.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Tom new Today the injury report, the final injury report
for the Eagles Packers game, Jordan Love not on it. Well,
he's on it, but it's his participation, not his game status.
No game status, which means he is good to go
after his second straight full day of practice with that
right elbow, no funny business with that funny bone. He
is going to start and play against the Eagles.
Speaker 10 (23:27):
So is this guy.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
And maybe early in the week you were concerned by
the fact that he was still in the protocol. Nope,
out of the protocol. Today we tried to tell you
there's no rush to take a guy out of the
protocol until the end of the week. So that's where
we are. Jalen Hurts, just like Jordan Love, no status
for this game on Sunday, which means he's good to go.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Stacy Daniel's good to go. She's gonna be.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
There covering this game for NFL Game Day Morning for
us on Sunday, Stace, let's talk about Jalen Hurts and
the possibility like there's maybe a little bit of rust, right,
but he's healthy.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
He cleared the protocol, that's the good thing. Just hasn't
played in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 12 (24:00):
Yeah, I mean, he's got the green light.
Speaker 10 (24:02):
He's ready to go.
Speaker 12 (24:03):
I think all things look very promising. I heard Baldy's
segment earlier, wondering, as you just pointed out, Mike, if
there'd be that russ because the concussion happened, by the way,
in the first quarter of their Week sixteen game against
the Commanders in that loss, so he's had quite a
bit of time, and by all counts, he is ready
to go. Because the folks I've talked to, including second
team All Pro Jordan my Lotta, what a season he
(24:25):
has had at that left tackle spot for these Eagles.
But he told me that the communication this week has
been even better than before Jalen Hurts had the concussion.
He said, he has looked fantastic in practice, and remember
they've been in pads this week, Mike. The hunger and fire,
he said, are very clear, and it is playoff Jalen time.
He told me, I said, what does that mean? He said,
(24:47):
he knows the stakes go up, but he keeps We've
heard him say the main thing, the main thing, but
he keeps things very.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Basic for his team.
Speaker 12 (24:53):
The focus, though, is incredible, and it's certainly great when
you have a running back if you're Jalen Hurts like
sae Quon Barkley. I heard Baldy talk about would they
be ready to go? Absolutely, they'll be ready to go.
He has been nothing sure of special this season, but
his communication and vision with the offensive line just so good.
He is the focal point for Jeff Haffley's Packers defense.
(25:14):
If you listen to Jeff Haffley this week, he said,
you got to do it over defending him over and
over and over again, so locked in, ensued, so detailed
that you do it again and again and again. He's patient,
he sees it. He'll make you pay for it. That's
the focus for the Packers. And by the way, Mike,
you know this better than anybody. This Eagles team has
a massive chip on their shoulder after their exodus in
(25:37):
the playoffs last year to Tampa. They got blown out.
They remember that and they want to rectify it on
Sunday at home.
Speaker 8 (25:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Well, they throw the pads on now.
Speaker 4 (25:45):
They've rested in week eighteen, so you throw the pads
on to get that feel again, to get that physicality again.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
And that sounds like a team that expects to run
the ball, which is not a surprise.
Speaker 8 (25:54):
That's what they do.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
As for the other side and a team that does
have a good running back as well. Packers and Jordan
Love Love again full participate in the last two days.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
What do they need to do on offense against this
Eagles team.
Speaker 12 (26:06):
Well, they've got to clean it up. And thanks for
reminding us. Saquon sat out last week, so he should
be really ready to go. They've got to clean it up.
Jordan Love has even talked about is he's been dinged
up with that throwing arm. He got hit in the elbow.
It was very numb after the Bears game and that
loss where they had to take him out. So but
they've had back to back losses now against divisional opponents,
(26:27):
so they know each other a little bit better than
some other teams might. But the Vikings and the Bears,
Jordan has talked about and acknowledged the accuracy, the footwork,
the timing has to be better. They've got to get
on the same page with their receivers and they certainly
have to do it very quickly against the number one
defense in football, Vic Fangio's group in Philly, number one
total defense, number one pass defense. But by the way,
(26:49):
they're preparing for a fully healthy Jordan Love. They know
they'll try to run the ball. That's been their mo
as we watch it here on the b roll today.
But Fangio of the quarterback understanding he's always going to
go to the quarterback first, big arm, he could throw
to every part of the field. He does have movement
in the pocket, and he just executes what they do
so well, which Mike is the run game and it's
(27:10):
the play pass. So defending those two things, but they
are just something to handle. That Eagles defense up front,
in the middle and on the back end. Really good
group as they get ready to face a very hungry
Packers team in the Wildcard this weekend in Philly.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Thanks, one more question for you before I let you go.
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in the supernatural?
Because you mightn't want to look behind you when you
were talking earlier. Let's watch the replay here Gon roll it.
Let's see here right on your right shoulder. Oh my goodness,
what's just happened.
Speaker 12 (27:47):
That would be Ruby, my dog and Jim.
Speaker 10 (27:50):
That's not a ghost.
Speaker 12 (27:51):
She enters and she goes in and out of her
own own volition.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Mike.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
Yeah, like j It's like Jurassic Park where they say,
we're safe unless they figure out how to open doors,
and then they cut to the door and the dinosaur figures.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Out open door.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
Stacey Dale's thank you very much. Looking forward to seeing
you on the field in Philly this weekend. Thank you
very much. Coming up, a guy who played quarterback for
the Patriots is on the show. Next, not that guy,
Matt Castle, who served as the Patriots quarterback wile that
guy was hurt. He's got a new podcast going to
talk about Brady Beelachick, all things Patriots and otherwise.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Next, the newest NFL and iHeartRadio podcast is Lots to
Say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle, premiere today with
Kurt Warner as the guest. Weekly show dropping every Wednesday.
Wherever you get your podcasts, And what do you know,
we have one of the hosts here. It's Bobby Bones. No,
it's actually Matt Castle, who is with us right here
(28:47):
on The Insiders with me, Tom Pelliicero as well as
Mike Carrol Fullo.
Speaker 10 (28:51):
I've been on Matt.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
I think at least one, maybe two of Bobby's different podcasts.
He's an entrepreneur, He's in a lot of different place.
He has a crazy background. Tell me about this show and.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
What made you want to do this particular podcast.
Speaker 8 (29:04):
Yeah, it kind of came up out of the blue,
to be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
The NFL contacted me and said, Bobby Bones wants to
do a podcast through iHeart Radio and everything like that.
And so I sat there and I read his resume
they sent his resume because I didn't know a ton
about him.
Speaker 8 (29:18):
It was exceptional to read up on this guy.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
And then I got a chance to go meet him
and we immediately clicked and hit it off, and so
we started recording some of these podcasts.
Speaker 8 (29:28):
Obviously, we had Kurt Warner. That episode came out today.
But it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
We've had Kurt Warner on, We've talked to guys like
Jared Allen and Boomer Science, and then his connections to
that entertainment world as well has been a lot of
fun because we've got guys like Tim McGraw and Parker
McCollum and country music come on and talk about their
experiences their love for sports.
Speaker 8 (29:49):
So it's just fun.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's entertaining. We're talking ball, we're talking entertainment, we're talking everything.
Speaker 8 (29:54):
It's we've got a lot to.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Say, you certainly have a lot to say about football.
We want to dig in on some of that stuff.
And look, just yesterday the Patriots announced that they had
interviewed your former teammate Mike Vrabel for that coaching position.
I think a lot of us from the jump after
they fired girod Meo said, that's going to wind up
being the guy. You've seen what Rabel's done over his
(30:18):
playing career, over his coaching career. How good of a
fit is this, because it seems like the perfect fit, right.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
It would be the perfect fit. You think about Rabel,
going back to him as a player and what he
was for that organization. He's in the Patriots Hall of
Fame and then a lot of people though associate him
with this Belichick tree, but really he's branched out. He's
been under Urban Meyer at Ohio State, he was under
Billy O'Brien in Houston, and when you think and talk
to other players that have been around him, he's just
(30:46):
an exceptional coach. He's a player's coach. He's been there,
he understands what it takes to win. He did a
great job here in Tennessee, and it's unfortunate how it
ended here, but to have him come into that organization
and he would be able to stabilize it, and with
a young quarterback like Drake May, I think he'd do
an exceptional job.
Speaker 8 (31:03):
And I know that the Kraft family would love to
have him come home.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
You know, Matt, there's a lot of people who have
played with Mike Rabel, played for Mike Frabel, coached with
Mike Frable. There's only one guy I know of who's
been traded with Mike Rabel. Two thousand and nine, You're
coming off a remarkable season in New England in relief
of Tom Brady. You get the call you're being traded
with Rabel to the Chiefs. For a second, a pick
(31:29):
yous take me through that sequence of events and what
it was like in then one. It was a wild,
wild circumstances.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
After the season, there was some uneasiness about Brady and
the recovery going on with his knees. So then all
of a sudden they franchised me. I was like, what
does that mean exactly? So I was on the franchise
tender there and then all of a sudden, out of
the blue, I'm sitting in the parking lot. I just
came out of the grocery store in California and I
get a phone call from Coach Belichick and I'm wondering
what this is about. Well, I got traded to Kansas City,
(31:59):
and at first I didn't say anything about Brabell. He's like, look,
you're going to Kansas City. We've made the trade. We
want to thank you for everything you did. And then
minutes later I get a phone call from Brabel and
start to understand he's coming with me, and Brabel's my.
Speaker 8 (32:11):
Boy, so I was like, yes, this is going to
be great.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
I don't know if he was excited as I was
about the trade, but ended up being neighbors right there
in Kansas City, lived literally two houses down from one
another and still have a great relationship to this day.
Speaker 8 (32:27):
And I was it actually put me at ease when
I went to.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
Kansas City and made that transition, to have not only
a friend, but a guy like Brabel who's a leader,
to come into that organization and help try to rebuild
that place.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
You know, as I see this and you hear this,
and you think about the juxtaposition of you playing alongside him,
getting traded with him, and you see a lot of
the former quarterbacks that were in the league now making
their way up the coaching ranks. You ever get that itch,
Do you ever ever feel like, you know what, I
could be a coach in the NFL and start climbing
these ranks quickly because you're.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Clearly no ball.
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I one hundred percent would love to do it. I
just believe that it's not just the time commitment during
the week, but it's also the coaching profession itself is
so volatile from one year to the next. And I've
got five children from a freshman in high school down
to a kindergartener, and I just wouldn't want to put
(33:20):
them in that position to where, hey, honey, this year,
we're in Philly.
Speaker 8 (33:24):
Next year we might be at the RAM, whatever it
might be.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
And that was the difficult part for me, because as
a player and somebody that loves the game and loves
to not only teach the game, but also would love
to coach the game, that part is always appealing to me.
But then the other aspects of it and the lifestyle
for your family, which they went through fourteen years of
my NFL career and we moved around a lot. At
the end of my career, it would be difficult to say, Hey,
(33:49):
we're going to go back into this thing again.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
You know, sometimes a coach can spend fifty years in
the NFL, half of those in one place, and then
pop up at seventy three years old at college in
North Carolina. You know, sometimes weird things happen in the
coaching profession. Are are you a believer? Number one, the
Bill Belichick is actually going to coach at North Carolina
before an NFL team comes called Number two, that he
can succeed coaching college ball.
Speaker 8 (34:13):
Oh, there's no doubt that he can succeed.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
And that's the thing about coach Belichick is he wouldn't
do anything where he's just dipping his toe in the water.
He's going to go there and try to be dominant.
I think he's in the right division there in the ACC.
He's a guy that's going to give it it's all.
And it'll be interesting because just imagine as an eighteen sixteen,
seventeen eighteen year old kid, Coach Belichick, the greatest coach
(34:37):
of all time, walks into your living room. I mean,
the recruiting process will work just on namesake, and he'll
be able to bring guys in and develop them and
put them in a position to get to ultimately where
they want to be, which is the NFL, and he
knows how to do that. Now, the longevity of how
long he's at UNC will be interesting to me because
I think that he still wants to coach, and there's
going to be suitors out there in the NFL that say,
(35:00):
need to give this guy another shot, because I mean,
he's coach Belichick and he's unbelievable at what he does.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
I think about your podcast with Bobby Bones lots to say,
and I'd say, can you get Belichick on the pot,
like that'd be a great get, But the.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Guy is everywhere anymore. Like he's a media darling.
Speaker 8 (35:18):
Year that's true. Who's the dream guest for you?
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Like, who's the guy we got it?
Speaker 8 (35:25):
Is it Tom Brady?
Speaker 4 (35:26):
I mean Tom does enough media himself, But who's the
guy that you got to get on the lots to
say podcast to hear.
Speaker 8 (35:31):
What he has to say?
Speaker 3 (35:33):
You know, it's so funny you brought up to Belichick. Sorry,
because when I was covering college football this year for
NBC and I'm out in Washington and so Coach Belichick.
I run into him and I was like, Hey, I
would love to talk to you tomorrow, maybe before the game,
just talk about Steven Belichick, the fact.
Speaker 8 (35:49):
That he's here, You're here, this, that, and the other.
He's like, anything you need.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Well, the next day I started texting him just crickets, nothing,
and I was like, coach, what's up man?
Speaker 8 (35:58):
He told me anything I need, told me.
Speaker 3 (36:00):
That literally yesterday, and then just to give it ghost
me like, no discussion, nothing like that. But I would
love to have him on and hopefully during the off
season and right now we can get him on just
to talk about the fact that he's made this transition,
what went into it, because obviously it's a fascinating story
for anybody involved in football, but also getting Brady on there. Yeah,
(36:22):
I've talked to him throughout this year and he acts
like he's the busiest guy on earth. But let's be honest,
he's probably not. He's down there at the beach with
his shirt off taking Instagram photos all the time.
Speaker 8 (36:31):
I mean say that.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
To shoot him forget the tex text, time to shoot
a direct message on one of the various social media
platforms so easy to reach now, so you check out
lots to say with Bobby Bones and Matt Castle right there,
I'm pointing at it right there. That's the QR right there,
that's hold on the magic right about there. Yeah, Mike's
gonna subscribe right now.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Scribe.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Everybody else can as well. Matt, thanks a lot, best
luck up with the pod Man.
Speaker 8 (37:00):
We'll be listening. Appreciate you. I appreciate you, guys. I
have a greatable one.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
Wild Card Weekend wraps up with the Rams and Vikings
playing in Arizona. Matthew Stafford, Sam Darnold, who's got the
edge with everything on the line. Our Bridge at Condon
will be there the first. She'll be here with us
on the Insiders next Rams and Vikings Monday night, wrapping
(37:27):
up wild Card Weekend. That game has been relocated to Glendale, Arizona,
in light of the wildfires that continue to ravage southern California.
Our Bridget Condon is going to be covering that game
in Arizona. Bridget, certainly, we are all thinking of everybody
in that area of the country, in that state who
is dealing with whether it's property loss or evacuations, or
(37:51):
being worried about loved ones.
Speaker 3 (37:52):
Here.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
The Rams are among that group, some of their family
members too, you were at the facility yesterday when the
Kenneth fire broke out. How are they handling the hotality
of this week with in relative terms it a very
important game Monday night as well.
Speaker 13 (38:05):
Tom, I want to break this down for everybody who
was maybe disappointed that the game got moved from so
far to Arizona. I was at practice yesterday and we
were interviewing Sean McVay and other than some added wind,
it felt like a normal day in Woodland Hills. But
then you kind of turned you see it right here,
that was behind the facility, kind of off to the
side of the practice field, all that smoke coming in.
(38:26):
The RAMS players shortly after that did take the field.
We were told that that was, you know, the departments
putting out a fire. It was nothing new, so you
thought at that point, okay. And then after practice we
walked out of the front of the facility and a
completely different fire had erupted. That was the kindeth fire
that you just talked about, and some of the family members,
(38:47):
staffers from the RAMS organization actually had to evacuate their home.
So at that point it felt like, how are they
going to play this game in Los Angeles and Kevin
Demoff spoke to reporters today about the decision to move
the games, saying it came down to whether or not
they could adequately staff the game in terms of local
public safety officials and firefighters that we know have been
(39:07):
working around the clock. He said it actually was a
conversation before that Kenneth Bier broke out talking to fire
chiefs and public officials, hearing that they were going through
so much. He said, you could hear it in their voices,
and they just knew at that moment that the best
thing for everybody would be to move the game. Of course,
he's done an incredible job on social media on x
(39:28):
trying to arrange buses. You saw that the Cronkey family
is donating a million dollars, so they're trying to do
everything possible. But he just, you know, he went on
to say, this is bigger than football, and it's one
of those things that nobody wants to be in this situation,
but they felt like that was the right decision.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
Tom an extraordinary situation for everybody involved with it here,
including the quarterback Matthew Stafford, who talked yesterday about the
fact that they always play for LA and This is
another example of it. They're in the playoffs for the
third time in Stafford's four seasons. How was he embracing
this moment under tough circumstances.
Speaker 13 (40:02):
He's embracing it.
Speaker 10 (40:03):
Tom.
Speaker 13 (40:03):
You talk about him being in the third playoffs in
four years with the Rams, Well, when he was with
the Lions, he played twelve seasons there, only made it
to the playoffs three times. He talked about, you, you
don't know when these playoffs are going to come, like,
you have to take every opportunity you get and run
with it. It was their Week eight matchup that kind
of turned their season around. It's funny that we're talking
(40:24):
about the Rams hosting a wild card game, obviously now
hosting it in Arizona, because in the beginning of the
season that wasn't the case. Matthew Stafford had just three
touchdown passes going into that Week eight matchup against the Vikings.
It was that game where he threw four touchdown passes.
Things haven't gone great for him the end of the season.
(40:44):
He had three games where he threw for less than
two hundred yards. But Sean McVeigh I asked him about it.
I said, how do you get that back and he said, well,
Matthew Stafford, what he does best is shine in bright moments,
So they're hoping that his experience can kind of spark
this team. And with everything happening around the city of
Los Angeles, and I know there was like something up
in the locker room that you might talk about later
(41:05):
that's motivating them as well. So a lot of things
helping this team get extra fired up for Monday night.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Well, there is a spice to this matchup here. You
got Sean McVay against his old assistant Kevin O'Connell. They
won a Super Bowl together. Here you've also got a
comment made by another head coach, Dan Campbell, who was
on the hot mic the handshake after week eighteen.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
He said, some lie lines I'll see you in two weeks.
That's been printed out.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
It's in the RAMS locker room, and they have one
more reason to want to get this w more insiders
after this. Snoop Doo Douvileg set to host the NFL
Honors presented by Visiligned Thursday, February sixth Mike Garafullo, your
thoughts on Snoop as the Honors host?
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Yeah, listen if you could do as well as Nicki
Glazer did at the Golden Globes.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
In the opening monologue, I'll be very impressed. But Snoop's
got a different kind of humor? Is he sneaky?
Speaker 8 (42:00):
Funny?
Speaker 2 (42:01):
I like this one.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
I think it's gonna be a good show. You know,
Kender Klamar has got the halftime show at the super Bowl.
He took a shot in like the first three bars
on his new album at Snoop, do we have beef
in New Orleans?
Speaker 8 (42:14):
I know this.
Speaker 1 (42:15):
We've got a YouTube show Monday, and we're back on
the network on Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Enjoy wild Card Weekend. Everybody see it.
Hosts And Creators
Daniel Jeremiah
Bucky Brooks
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