January 24, 2025 • 40 mins
NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Mike Garafolo, and Judy Battista discuss the biggest news from around the NFL including, the Raiders hiring Pete Carroll as their new head coach, the Jaguars hiring Liam Coen as their new head coach, and the Texans moving on from offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Plus, the Insiders get you set for Championship Sunday with analysis and discussion from Brian Baldinger, Adan Rank, Stacey Dales, Steve Wyche, Sara Walsh, and Cameron Wolfe.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Loosen up that John pop in eight sticks a gump.
Pete Carroll is back in the NFL. We've got the
scoop on why the Raiders chose to hire a seventy
three year old Super.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Bowl winner, and Weather perhaps.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
His old quarterback in Seattle might want to join them.
The Jaguars also have their new head coach, and there
is no turning back this time.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What can do all expect?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
With Liam Cohen now drawing up for Trevor Lawrence, our
guy Baldy will break down the fit. After a wild
few days in Florida, the four teams are still alive
for this season, and only two can advance to Super
Bowl fifty nine. Conference Championship weekend is almost here, and
we've got reporters and analysts across the country to tell
(00:51):
you who's got the edge. I'm as excited as Bob
Costas in basketball. Welcome inside with the insiders alongside you,
Batistep and Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I am Tom Peliicero.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It is our last show before Conference Championship weekend. It's
our last show from the home studios for quite a while,
because come Monday, we'll be headed down to Mobile, Alabama
for Senior Bowl week. I'm already here in a VAT shirt,
absolutely ready to roll.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
You know what else I'm.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Ready for to talk about the return of a legend
to the sideline. Pete Carroll is back as the Raiders
head coach. He will be the oldest coach in NFL
history by the time September rolls around.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
This was something that was in the works for the
past couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Pete Carroll have been putting together staff, making a lot
of phone calls. The Raiders wanted to pump the brakes
a little bit after Ben Johnson decided to go to
Chicago instead. They hired their general manager, John Spytech. He
then became a part of the process, and then they
moved swiftly last night into this morning getting a deal
in place with Pete Carroll. Did I imagine he's pretty
(01:59):
old by l head coach standards. He is very old,
the oldest that will have ever been. You see Romeo
Crenell currently holds that title, ahead of the likes of
George Hallis and Marv Leafy. You had been on the
job for a long time before they coach their final game.
Pete Carroll seventy three years old and three hundred and
fifty one days by September, when he's on the sideline,
(02:23):
will be the oldest ever come week one. All of
which brings me to this question, Judy, you know who's
running the search out there in Las Vegas. It is
Tom Brady among others in that building. Those two have
squared off even on a Super Bowl stage. What do
you make of this match out there in Vegas?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Well, first of all, I think we have to dispense
of the oldest coach thing because Pete Carroll is the
youngest seventy three year old you will ever see. He
doesn't act seventy three, he doesn't look seventy three, he
does not have the energy level of a seventy three
year old. So put that aside, he is the ultimate
culture guy. And more than anything that they need at
(03:03):
the Raiders, more than they need clarity on the quarterback
or roster improvements, they need a culture reset. They have
needed a culture reset for years. It has been upheaval
and turnover and chaos. They've only been to the playoffs
twice since two thousand and two. They need the entire
building to be reset. And that's the kind of thing
(03:26):
that Pete Carroll can do right. He's not just an
x AS and OS guy. He comes in with an
entire vision for an organization, for a program, and that's
what they need. And he Look, you're not hiring somebody
who is seventy three years old to be there for
fifteen years. But if he can sort of change the
feeling in the building, get them on the right path,
(03:47):
then he will have accomplished what Tom Brady and Mark
Davis need him to accomplish, and that is just changing
the trajectory of this franchise. Pete Carroll can do that.
He's spent eighteen years at a head coach in the
NFL and he only missed the playoffs six times. They
would more than take that in Las Vegas right now.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
The year that they ran him out of there in Seattle,
I mean was twenty three. He went nine to eight
and that was considered a down year for the Seahawks.
They did have that one seven win season as well. Yeah,
I mean it's pretty solid right there. Incredible what you're
seeing in the AFC West now with regard to the
(04:28):
skins on the wall for these guys, super Bowl appearances,
super Bowl titles, Yes, I was going to.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Call for it.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I want to see more Pete.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
The cutaway shots alone are why I'm excited to see
Pete Carroll back in the NFL. We'll talk about Russell
Wilson potentially joining him. Didn't end on the best note
between these two guys, so I don't know if they
would truly revisit it. I mean, at the very least,
I think Russ would use it as leverage in his
negotiations with the Steelers, which he says are underway. And
(04:56):
I know that there's a thought for the Steelers and
Mike Commlin to retain Russell Wilson at least in some capacity.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
But we're not talking about Russell Wilson necessarily just yet.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
We're talking about Pete Carroll, and we're talking about him
and this ownership group. Tom Brady being a part of
this new ownership group that was really impressed with Pete
Carroll and the fact that this is a guy that
can come bring energy and you know, it's Vegas, so
you got to bring a little bit of starpower, a
little bit of recognition. He certainly has that, and he
certainly brings that as well. Just got to figure out
(05:26):
the quarterback position and the roster across the board, there's
not a lot of talent on this night. We said
that when Antonio Pierce got let go, not sure what
anybody could have done with that roster. So even Pete
Carroll's not going to get that roster over five hundred.
They've got to improve in that area. John Spytech recently
hired a general manager. He's gonna be charged with that.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Spytech and Tom Brady were old teammates in Michigan. They
also were together with the Buccaneers who had a sixty
eight year old coach and Bruce Arians who guided them
to a Super Bowl. Now they also had, you know,
the greatest quarterback who has ever lived, at least in
his generation here, so that's helped. But point being not
as surprise when you're thinking about culture and getting somebody
(06:05):
in who's going to galvanize a building, that they're willing
to look past some of those other things and say
Pete Carroll is a guy who can do that. As
they undertake what is a big time turnover with that roster,
the Jaguars roster much closer to being competitive, and they
are now optimistic that they've found a guy who is
going to get the most out of it. Liam Cohen,
(06:27):
after a dramatic couple of days in which he agreed
to a new deal with the Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator,
told the Jaguars he was out on the search. Than
the Jags fired Trent Bulky called back and said how
about now? And then Liam Cohen headed to Jacksonville, went
in the building and agreed to terms. He is now
locked in as their head coach. As you saw in
(06:47):
a statement announcement from Shad Cohn, he sent in part
to repeat my message earlier this week, I am deeply
committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville. I also
believe in being judged my actions not words. That's why
I took swift and decisive action this week to hire
Liam Cohen as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He says he is pumped. We're pumped at Brian Baldinger
(07:10):
here with us to talk about this. Balding we're talking
about Pete, but also focusing on Liam Cohen here. You
know where he comes from from an offensive perspective. You
know the talent on that roster. What are the Jaguars
going to look like now with Cohen calling the shots.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Well, I mean, if you just look at what Tampa
just accomplished this year.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
And I remember talking to the general manager, Jason Light
a couple of times during the season. They went from
being the thirty second ranked rushing football team in the
NFL in twenty twenty three to the number four ranked.
Speaker 7 (07:38):
Now.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
They drafted a center, and they drafted a good rookie
running back in Bucky Irby. But Jason said a big
part of the turnaround was the scheme that Liam Cohen installed.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Now he has a college background at Kentucky.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
You know he's coached three He will now coach three
number one picks at quarterback from Stafford to Baker coming
off a year where one of only ten quarterbacks in
the history of NFL to throw for forty touchdowns and
over forty five hundred yards. And who needs help right now?
Speaker 5 (08:09):
It's Trevor. Lawrence needs a lot of help.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
I feel like he compare it with Trevor, and I
think he can help repair Trevor the way we've seen
Baker get repaired from where he came. And then I
think the running game needed a lot of work. They
tried to do it they didn't get it done. I
feel like they commitment to the run game, how they
run the ball with scheme. I think all those things
(08:31):
I think Jacksonville can look forward to with Liam call
and I think it's a good hire just based on
what he has been able to accomplish both with the
Rams and certainly with Tampa a year ago.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
As for Pete Carroll, I remember talking to Pete.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
Yeah, there's so many different memories of sitting down talking
to Pete before games off season out there in Seattle.
One thing, you know that he loves his competition. Competition Wednesday.
That's a real thing. Go out there and compete for
your job. I like that as I think the Raiders
could use that. And then the other thing that he
always said, he said he did this when he was
(09:06):
at USC, he did it at Seattle, he did it
his first year with the Patriots, is that I believe
in playing young players and if they're the right people
and the right mindset, they might make mistakes early in the.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
Season, but they're gonna help us win games late in
the year.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
And I think you can point to a lot of players,
whether it's Bobby Wagner starting his rookie year becoming a
Hall of Fame type player under Pete Carroll. You can
point to a lot of different players that have been
drafted by John Schneider helped by Pete Carroll. I'll bet
that Pete spend a lot of time this year looking
at the college game, looking at some of these kids
that are coming out of the draft. It won't surprise
(09:44):
me to see the Raiders come up with the draft
where a lot of rookies end up playing this first
year with the Raiders as they try to rebuild that franchise.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
Right now, you're.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Gonna be a young roster, but potentially a very veteran
staff too. Because my understanding has Pete's been in touch
with a lot of his assistant coaches that he had
through the years in Seattle. A lot of those guys
are available right now. You're gonna see some familiar names,
I believe headed to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Baldy stick around.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
We're going to talk about the NFC Championship game with
you in just a little bit. Liam Cohen had one
interview in this cycle. He is now a head coach.
Bobby Slowech had five interviews last year, won this year,
and he's now out of a job, a somewhat surprising move,
the one that had been rumored for months. Slowick is
out as the Texans offensive coordinator, despite the Texans winning
(10:30):
a second consecutive AFC South title, going into the playoffs
and having the Chiefs on the ropes. Here, Judy again,
when you have the type of dip they did through
the middle portion of the season, the quarterback CJ. Stroud
seemed to regress a little bit, you know, something might
have to change, and obviously they came to the very
difficult conclusion that change had to involve Bobby Slower.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I mean, this just shows you how quickly the NFL
can turn. He was a hot head coaching candidate last
year on the back of CJ. Stroud's tremendous rookie season,
and now he is out of a job because CJ.
Stroud and the offense regressed dramatically.
Speaker 8 (11:11):
C J.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Stroud underperformed in basically every category his rookie season. The
offensive line was not good. He was sacked fifty two times.
It never got better during the season. He looked indecisive,
he was making mental mistakes. Certainly, it's not all Bobbley's
Slowak's fault. They had big injuries to their wide receivers.
(11:33):
But when your star quarterback, the future of your franchise
at quarterback goes backwards as dramatically as c J. Stroud did.
Something has to change, and it's going to be somebody
like the offensive coordinator. I'm sure he will get other opportunities,
but I mean, this season, you knew coming out of it,
and after the season ended, Dimiko Ryans was very tepid
(11:56):
in his remarks about Bobby Sloweck, so you knew something
was coming.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah, this sounded like it was an extremely tough decision
for Demico Ryans to make. He and Bobby Slowick very close.
I have known each other for quite some time, but just
decided that this needed to be the move that the
team was going to make. I think it's really important
to look where they go now with regard to the
comfort that CJ. Stroud is going to have with the
new offensive coordinator. That's going to be an enormous part
(12:21):
of this moving forward. Rod Johnson, their quarterbacks coach, is
going to be an internal candidate. But when you look
to the external candidates, might be some guys that have
some history with c J. Stroud or maybe with the
systems that he is comfortable in and folks that know c. J.
Stroud or have a connection to other coaches. That's what
I think you're going to see a lot of in
this coaching search when it comes to the Houston Texans
(12:44):
and their offensive coordinator and making sure that this new
OC is aligned with c J.
Speaker 7 (12:48):
Stroud.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
And when you make moves like this, it does up
the anteam moving forward here. It sends a pretty clear
message intended or not that get into the playoffs. Even
winning a playoff game, that's not good enough. We need
to sum how managed to push this thing forward, and
the OC hire is going to be a.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Big piece of it.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
They did, as I said, almost knock off the Chiefs.
But here we are once again. Patrick Mahomes is still
playing quarterbacks. So the Chiefs are in yet another conference
championship game, and once again it's a matchup of these guys,
Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. We will talk about the
latest installment of this rivalry in just a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Coming up first, though.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Jalen Hurts is off the injury report, but is he
truly one hundred percent with that left knee injury.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
We'll have Steve Whites and.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Stacy Dale's to be covering that game, but first they'll
be here to talk about it with Baldy and so
much more stick around.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
It's the insiders.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Brace yourselves, Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Did you see what I did there? Yeah? That bottom
line there.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Jalen Hurts anticipates wearing a knee brace, onsid they're gonna
hear from him in just the second but a full
participant one once again. Limited Wednesday, full Thursday, full Friday.
No game status does not mean he's one hundred percent.
We believe he's going to be affected. How much he'll
be affected, we'll see. Here's Jalen talking to the media today.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
When to see how it would progress?
Speaker 8 (14:13):
How did it?
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Progress? Has been progressive? All right? My coach coach said, are.
Speaker 6 (14:19):
You going to wear a brace of any kind on
game day?
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Anticipate?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So I expected a non answer there.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Good for Jalen to give us some information right there.
Stacey Tails, Steve Weiss, Brian Baldinger. I'm just gonna get
out of the way in this segment with this star
power that we've got to my camera left. Stacy going
to start with you on this one on the health
of Jalen Hurts and what we can expect from him
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Well, you heard him right there.
Speaker 9 (14:47):
Jalen Hurts, you guys was never going to not a
chance in hell miss this football game, especially since he
missed basically the most the entirety of their Week sixteen
loss to the Commander's got that concussion in the first quarter.
I will wear the brace, as he just told us
on the left leg. I talked to somebody within the
team here today. I saw you guys concerned. Nope, that's
the answer that I got. Jalen Hurts, we know is
(15:09):
incredibly tough. No designation there. And what's really exciting is
add in Saquon Barkley, who the Eagles believe internally fellas
is as fresh now and is powerful. Now think about that,
then he was at the beginning of the season, and
he is running like it a single postseason record currently
one hundred and sixty two rush yards on the ground
for mister Barkley. But I say all that, and then
(15:31):
I think about JD five on the other side, and
that's the quarterback of the Commanders. Steve will be on them.
Jayden Daniels. I did speak with Nickel, cornerback Cooper Dejean
this week, and listen, they all believe he's playing like
a veteran quarterback. He's not shy downfield, and that is
a concern because of his ability to strike downfield with
(15:52):
those legs, and so, as I discussed with Dejene, obviously,
plaster coverage and being disruptive in this game are going
to be huge, and on the back end with that
plaster coverage and the rush.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
But two musts.
Speaker 9 (16:04):
We must do these couple things to win. Pretty simple.
Be incredibly gap sound up front in your rush lanes
to contain him, and then you got to tackle right
As we saw with the Detroit Lions, these guys kind
of picked them apart really offensively, and so I expect Vic, Fangio, Baldy,
(16:27):
Mike and Steve to keep things in front and try
to win those trenches against JD five in company on Sunday.
It's going to be a fantastic third matchup.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
You know, Stacey, It's interesting.
Speaker 6 (16:38):
I was there a week sixteen in Washington with James
Daniels through five touchdown passes.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
He'd only thrown more than.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Five touchdown passes once in his life as young player
at Arizona State and the winner was with ten seconds
to go to Jamison Crowder and Vic Fangio was in
his own defense and he just lasered the ball with
anticipation location to Crowder to win the game. Now, what's
happened in this league and we're gonna see it throughout
this postseason, is the way that guys are rushing right now.
(17:08):
With these quarterbacks that can take off, it's almost like
cage rushing, like they're taking these you know, Jalen Carter
and these guys coming after them like they want to
rush and keep the guys in front of them and
so that Jayden doesn't have the lanes to run through.
It's really changing the way guys rush. It's not like
quick escapes that were used to seeing from you know,
(17:29):
the likes of Aaron Donald some of these guys.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
I think it's changing it.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
And so I think they're going to try and keep
Jayde and Daniels in front of him as much as
they possibly can and kind of not mush rush. They
still want to get to them, but they don't want
to give them those quick escapes if things aren't there
in the past game. So there's a lot there for
this defense to look at I didn't see a lot
of plastering receivers.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I saw a lot of zone coverage. In fact, I saw.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
Quinnon Mitchell in that game Week sixteen give up his
first touchdown pass of a season to Terry McLaurin. So
I think they got to get much tighter in their coverage,
whether in man or in zone right now against Shade
because he's just playing too well.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Right now, Steve's trying to figure out the formula here
for the Commanders to score an upset here. The Eagles
are probably going to be able to run on them.
The run defense hasn't been thatsed out. Obviously, we know
what the Eagles do, but how about like a taste
of their own medicine. I just feel like Washington's running game,
and Stacey alluded to it, you're gonna have to be
a big part of this.
Speaker 10 (18:26):
It really is.
Speaker 11 (18:26):
I mean, look at these two teams. You know, we're
talking about running and rushing and things like this. Washington
is speaking with people there. They want to try to
run the ball.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now.
Speaker 11 (18:35):
They're coming off a one hundred and eighty two yard
rushing game against Detroit. They're not expecting to hit that
against this Eagles defensive front running back Brian Robinson told
me the way that they attack the box in the
run game is probably the most difficult that they'll face
and that they have faced all season. But that said,
they have to be efficient. That means no negative runs
and they've got to keep at it. Think about it, guys,
(18:57):
in the two games that they played this year, which
they split Washington, averaged twenty six carries per game. You
wouldn't think about that just because they wasn't highly successful,
or at least to the memory, but they did average
more than one hundred rushing yards in each of those games.
The first game it was Brian Robinson gaining the yards.
The second game it was Jayden Daniels. So Robinson said,
(19:17):
whoever is carrying the ball, they've got to protect it
for one, and they've just got to be efficient. That's
the buzzword they talked about because that run game, Stacy
in Baldy, it gets them off those rush lanes like
you're talking about on Jayden and Daniels, and that's what
they feel they need to do to hit some big
plays against this defense.
Speaker 6 (19:37):
So Steve, you know, if they want to do that
and accomplish what you're talking about with Brian Robinson and
Austin Eckler, and you know they're gonna have to do
with the backup right guard.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
And I don't know if it's Trent Scott right now,
but whoever's.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
The right guard on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, they're going
against Jalen Carter. And in that first game, you know,
the last game, Jalen Carr punched the ball out of
Brian Robinson's hands and Nolan Smith recovered it. It was
a significant play in the game. But Jami Encarter plays
nearly every snap. Whoever's playing right guard has to deal
with the beast, maybe the best defensive tackle in football
(20:10):
right now, the way that he's playing, the way that
he changed the game against the Rams.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
A week ago.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
So that's a big matchup to watch as they try to,
you know, establish some inside zone in some running lanes
right now, a guy that narrowly never comes off the field.
They rotate the other tackle, Jordan Davis, you know, Milton Williams,
different guys over there, But Jalen lines up, plays nearly
every snap.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Yeah, and I would advise the commanders Dalon Carter's hard
enough when you are blocking him.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Don't not block him.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
The last two plays against the Rams, they slid the
right side and then the center looked like you, that's
the guy you want to start with there, Get some
hands on him. Looking forward to Stacey Dale's and Steve
Weish on Sunday, NFL Game Day Morning, providing you covers
in the NFC Championship game ahead of this one.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Baldy, you're coming back later in the show.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
So coming up next, we flip it to the AFC
and get you ready for that Conference championship.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Bills Chiefs Sunday night. Cannot wait for that AFC Championship game.
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pelisaro, now joined by
Sarah Walsh, Camwolf and Adam Rank. Sarah, I'm going to
start with you here, this Chiefs defense going up against
the Bill's offense. What's the biggest thing that they've got
to be worried about in this matchup?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 12 (21:25):
A week ago, this Chiefs defense sacks c J. Stroud
eight times, but if you look over on the Bills
side of things, the Ravens were only able to get.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
To Josh Allen once.
Speaker 12 (21:34):
This is a Bills offense that takes care of its quarterback,
they take care of the football. So the Chiefs know
this is a much steeper challenge to try to get
to this guy. When they faced him in week eleven,
they never sacked him once. And not only are they
very good at protecting him, but they're really good at
doing all sorts of things that really can confuse a defense.
And Chief safety Justin Reid talked this week about the
fact that they have to have eye discipline, they have
(21:57):
to have eye control, and he said what he means
by that is they've got tight ends in the backfield,
they've got wide receivers in the backfield, they got running
backs lining up is wide receivers, and he said that
they cannot get caught up in the trash and the
things that they're wanting you to see that they're not
going to use, but that can trick you into making
a bad read or taking a bad step. And you know,
their defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo, who said, yeah, we have
(22:19):
been stressing this idea of having eye control, because again,
this is a Bills team that is not going to
make a lot of mistakes, and it is really tough
to force this team into making mistakes. Buffalo has just
eight giveaways on the season, that is the fewest in
a season since nineteen fifty. This is a Chiefs team,
and a Chiefs defense especially that knows it has its
(22:41):
work cut out for them.
Speaker 13 (22:42):
Rank Yeah, I'm curious how they're going to approach it
because we've seen over the course of the season that
anytime that teams try to blitz Josh Allen, he has
been very successful. His passer rating is well into the
one twenties when he's being blitzed. But in Week eleven,
the Chiefs styled up the it's about thirty eight percent
of the time and they had a little bit of
(23:03):
a success. Josh Allen did throw a touchdown while blitz However,
he did throw an interception. His passer rating was in
the sixties. So for me, the Chiefs have to be patient. Understand,
the Bills are gonna move the football. It's not allowing
the big plays. It's going to be a great chess
match between these two teams on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Flip side of this matchup cam the Bills defense has
to try to slow down Patrick Mahomes and playoff Travis Kelcey.
I feel like he's a different guy over these last
couple of years. Here when the lights come on, when
the calendar switches to January, something turns on.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
How do they stop him? Pretty hard?
Speaker 10 (23:40):
That's what Bobby babb Is, the Bills defensive coidinator, said
about stopping Travis Kelcey and Patrick Mahomes. The reality is
the Bills actually have had some success stopping Travis Kelcey.
In the week eleven game, they hold him in just
two catches for eight yards. They play a lot of
too deep coverage. They bracketed him with their linebackers and
their cornerback, tearing John and their safety and trying to
(24:02):
limit those big plays down the field. But as you mentioned,
playoff Travis Kelsey is a different animal and they have
a big difference in this game. Taylor Rap, their starting safety,
has been ruled out with a hip injury, and so
enter rookie Cole Bishop. That's a name that fans are
going to want to get to know. The spotlight is
going to be on him a lot. Rap was the veteran,
experienced guy, a good communicator. He actually intercepted Patrick Mahomes
(24:25):
on his first deep pass in their first matchup. Bishop
hasn't played must this year and I talked to Bill
general manager Brandon Bean about Bishop. They had an idea
that Rap was going to be out. They said, Bishop
we drafted in the second round. We have high hopes
for him. The reality is he's not his experience, so
we'll have to live with him maybe being fooled from
time to time. But he has some athleticism that maybe
is more than the usual safety and they think that'll
(24:48):
benefit them. One key thing is looking at those guys
around him. You're Matt Mulono's, your Tarren Johnson's. How do
they supplement that? Because I guarantee you Patrick Mahomes, Travis
Kelce are trying to take advantage of Col Bishop. We're
going to be talking here on Monday about Cole Bishop
either having a great game or having a bad game,
and that's going to be a key part of it.
One thing that was interesting to learn this week is
(25:09):
Micah Hyde, their practice squad safety, has been spending a
lot of time with Cole Bishop, trying to catch him
up on things he needs to know to prep him
for this game. He certainly faced Travis Kelce quite a bit,
but Cole Bisha will be out there on his own
on Sunday.
Speaker 13 (25:23):
Well, Kerem, you talk about it, you talk about playoff
Kelsey and how different he is. Yes, they did a
great job against him in Week eleven, but once you
get into the postseason, Travis Kelce has five touchdowns in
three career playoff games against the Buffalo Bills. And what
it comes down to is the matchups. Can you get
Travis Kelce matched up against the linebacker or against one
(25:44):
of the guys in the secondary.
Speaker 7 (25:45):
That is going to be the big thing.
Speaker 13 (25:46):
It's the chess pieces, it's moving him around trying to
exploit those matchups.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
And so wherever you have Travis Kelce, you.
Speaker 13 (25:53):
Got to be mindful who's lined up against him and
take advantage of it. And for the Bills, you know what,
I hate to do it, but I think you got
to take a page out of Taylor Swiss, Taylor Swift's playbook,
go a little fearless against them.
Speaker 7 (26:06):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I did that.
Speaker 7 (26:08):
Yeah, you had to go there.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
You had to go there, didn't you.
Speaker 12 (26:10):
Okay, So I think it's pretty well understood how respected
both of these sides are. Travis Kelce talked for the
first time this week, and he said, when it comes
to Josh Allen.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
He said, Josh Allen is.
Speaker 12 (26:21):
Who I dreamed about being in the NFL, And he said,
but I didn't have the arm talent, so they kicked
me over to tight end. That has worked out pretty
well for him. It's a Hall of Fame career that
he's working on there. Everyone knows that he's going to
end up in Canton. And then not that this game
needs to be hyped up anymore, because it feels like
when this season kicked off Week one, we all knew
in some shape or form, it was going to come
(26:43):
down to these two teams. Travis Kelce said today, this
is one of the biggest challenges we have ever had.
And when you think about that statement, given how many
Super Bowls this team has played in, how many great
games this chiefs I mean there, this is a franchise
that is a dynasty. Now to think about him saying
today that this is one of the biggest challenges they've
ever had. If that doesn't hype you up for Sunday night,
(27:06):
nothing else will.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Tom, Sarah Cam thank you very much, Stay warm in
Kansas City ranks, stick around because coming up after this,
you and Baldi have more on this game and the
NFC Championship game. Who are the game changers and the
game wreckers? Ranked and Baldi have the answer right after
this on the Insiders.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I'm hyped to be talking to Baldy and Adam about
Conference championship weekend. I want to hear your game changers
and game wreckers, guys. Let's start on the NFC side
and I'll start with Baldi. Give me a game changer
for that game.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
You know, Judy, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 6 (27:53):
AJ Brown. I don't believe he's going to be any
reading any books on the sideline. I saw him week
sixteen against this Commander team Marshaun Lattimore. I think he
had three holding calls against him. He's scored a touchdown
right here. That throw is from Kenny Pickett. In that game,
they didn't have much of an answer for A. J.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
Brown. And I know he hasn't had an exciting postseason
so far.
Speaker 6 (28:14):
I know he's battling a knee, but I just feel
like this is a game where AJ Brown can really
be fed and he can change the game. He had
a chance to do it last week against the Rams,
had a chance right at the pylon, just couldn't get
a handle on the ball, but he usually comes up
with those catches. I feel like AJ Brown has been
blocking at an elite level. I just think it's time
(28:35):
for him to be fed at an elite level because
he is a true game changer at that position. It's
easy to just say, well, I'm gonna take Saint Quon Barkley.
I think that's a given. I just think AJ Brown
is ready for this moment at him and that's where
I'm going to go with the game changer right now
for the Eagles.
Speaker 13 (28:53):
Well, I love that pick, and I think that despite
the fact that he doesn't get a lot of targets,
you still have to keep an eye on him because
he has as the ability to make the huge plays.
And on the other side, for Washington, I look at
a former Eagle, Zach Ertz, and obviously, if you want
to go into the narratives going up against his former team,
he's also had some big catches against this Eagles team
(29:14):
as well. He got that catch right there that we're
watching right on the screen. What I really like out
of him. He's been a reliable target for Jade and
Daniels this season, and last time these two teams met,
they ran a lot his zone, and you wonder Bick
Bangeo if he's gonna switch it up, if he wants
to play a little bit of man, that kind of feeds.
Speaker 7 (29:34):
Into the game for zach Ertz.
Speaker 13 (29:36):
Zach Ertz has seven touchdowns against man defense this season.
Speaker 7 (29:40):
He is a matchup nightmare for a lot of teams.
Speaker 13 (29:42):
So I feel like if the Commanders need a big
play outside of Jaydon Daniels, zach Ertz is somebody they've
consistency consistently looked for.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
All Right, Paldy, let's go with a game wrecord who
you got.
Speaker 6 (29:54):
You know, Zach Bonn has been the Eagles best defensive player,
no Shaye to Allen Carter, but yeah, any guy never
comes off the field in that first matchup Judy back
in week eleven, I mean he's stuffed Jayde Daniels at
fourth and two, changed the whole course of the game
in the fourth quarter. He just knows where the ball
is going. He's filled up the stat sheet all year long.
(30:17):
I think he'll continue to do that. If Jade Daniels
wants to run, he's going to be met by Zach
Bawn at some point. His ability to take I don't
know if he was a geometry major at Wisconsin, but
he constantly takes great angles to the football.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
I'm going to go with Zach Bond like that guy.
Speaker 6 (30:35):
If he's not a candidate, a high candidate for defensive
Player of the Year, then teams have not been watching
number fifty three for the Eagles.
Speaker 7 (30:41):
And yeah, they absolutely should be.
Speaker 13 (30:44):
And I agree with you, he's one to watch, even
though a lot of people will spend their time looking
at Jalen Carter, who I'm going to be talking about
here for a moment, because when you watch that game
against the La Rams, Carter was amazing. He got two
sacks on Matthew Stafford, part of five total that the
Eagles had against the Rams. However, this game is gonna
be a little bit different. I don't think I'm telling
(31:04):
tails out of school if I'm saying that Jayden Daniels
a little bit more mobile than Matthew Stafford, which means
Jalen Carter's got to kind of tailor his game towards
the quarterback.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
And Brian, you talked about this a moment.
Speaker 13 (31:16):
Ago earlier on in the show, is like, you just
can't run up the field and expect to get to
the quarterback. You got to play a different style of
football where it's more contained than anything else. Don't let
Jaydon Daniels go out there and make a big play
on you. However, I think that Jalen Carter could do that,
and these two guys can absolutely be game wreckers for
(31:38):
the Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
Adam.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
If Jalen Carter was in a steel cage match with
a bear, I feel sorry for the bear, and so
he's my feeling about trying to block this feast.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
And they're gonna have a backup guarden there.
Speaker 6 (31:52):
I probably Trent Scott, who played pretty good in Detroit
last week. But anybody that has that assignment that is
a long, hard day. He's going to make plays and
it's just you know, how many of those does he
wreck your offense the way that he did against the
Rams punching the ball out of Kyron Williams last week's
hands sack and Matt Stafford on third and four when
(32:14):
they're going in to score the winning touchdown, hitting Stafford
in fourth and eleven, so he couldn't complete a pass
on the outside. I mean, he wrecked the game and
he finished the game for the Eagles last week, all.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Right, let's switch over to the AFC Conference Championship game.
Give me a game changer, Baldy.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I looked Judy.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
I mean Adam just said in the last segment, and
I was listing carefully at him. Travis Kelsey does have
five touchdown catches in his three postseason games against this
Bill's defense, largely playing against much of the same defense,
different players. We'll see a different safety for Taylor at
We talked about that a little bit on this show,
but I mean we saw what Kelsey did last week.
(32:54):
He basically put the game on ice a week ago.
He knows the moment, he knows that there's gonna be
a certain friend of hits up up in a booth
waiting to cheer him on. I think there's some motivation there,
you know. For Travis Kelcey, there's a connection that we
have tried to explain. We've tried to figure out how
it happens between him and Mahomes, but it keeps happening,
(33:14):
and I think it will find a way to happen
again this Sunday evening.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
In Kansas City. Travis Kelcey is my game changer right now.
Speaker 7 (33:24):
Well, I talked about him in the last block as
you said, Bryan, so I couldn't go back to back
with him.
Speaker 13 (33:28):
But I want to talk about Xavier Worthy because the
Chiefs have done a really good job of the ways
they've used him over the last number of weeks. Now,
whenever you get a player with his speed, early on
in the season, the idea was to get him the
ball deep. His average depth of target was somewhere around
twelve point eight in the early part of the season. However,
they put in a slight wrinkle, as you're seeing right there.
(33:51):
They now get him the ball near the line of scrimmage.
Instead of relying on Xavier Worthy to just run deep,
they're just giving them the ball quickly and letting them
go out there and do his thing.
Speaker 7 (34:01):
And that's one of the.
Speaker 13 (34:02):
Mastter pieces of this Kansas City Chiefs offense. It's like
Travis Kelcey doesn't necessarily run as much as he just
runs the open spots and finds a way to get open. Similarly,
Xavier Worthy's just catching the ball near the line of
scrimmage and taking it for chunk plays.
Speaker 7 (34:18):
That's why this offense is so hard to stop.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
All right, let's put a bow on this game wreckers
for the AFC Championship Game, Baldi, Judy.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
I've watched Chris Jones take games over in big moments
year after year, and one of the reasons why they've
you know, are going for a three p is because
of the guy that goes by stone cold Jones. He
just he can line up anywhere and look, I have
as much respect for this Buffalo Bills offensive line left
to right. Aaron Promer coaches him. He's a great coach.
(34:48):
But Chris Jones understands the magnitude of these moments.
Speaker 7 (34:52):
He just does.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
And when the game is in the biggest moment, Chris
Jones just finds a way to win. And it could
be at end, it could be on a he done,
he could be dropping into coverage the way Steve Spagnola
has used him before. But he understands that this is
his momenting. It's not about how many sacks during the
season quarterback kids. He gets some of those, he saves
a lot of it for this postseason.
Speaker 5 (35:14):
This is a big game.
Speaker 6 (35:15):
He understands that Josh Allen is going to meet stone
called Jones at some point in this game. Sunday night.
Speaker 13 (35:22):
I love that pick, Baldy, but I just noticed we
keep talking about the Chiefs, and it doesn't see it
doesn't feel like we're giving the Bills a chance. So
allow me to take an opportunity to talk about one
of the staling of the Bills defense, and I'm going
to say at Oliver is somebody who can absolutely be
a game wrecker. As a matter of fact, in Week eleven,
when these two teams combined are collided, I should say
at Oliver had a really nice game. He had four
(35:45):
quarterback pressures in that contest and was a pest in
that one.
Speaker 7 (35:49):
And even last week.
Speaker 13 (35:50):
Against the Baltimore Ravens, he still managed three quarterback pressures
against Lamar Jackson. So when we're talking about all the
game changers on Kansas City side of the football, who
can get to the quarterback? Who can disrupt it? Now
everybody knows Von Miller, but Ed Oliver to me, is
the key to all of this. And if he can
get pressure on the quarterback, that gives the Bills the
best chance to succeed.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
You know, Ed is a cowboy. You know he rides horses,
he trains horses.
Speaker 6 (36:16):
I mean, he just gets that lasso out there, Adam,
He's gonna get that lasso out there.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
He wants to last. So you know, Patrick mahomes in
the worst way.
Speaker 6 (36:24):
He's slippery like an eel. You can't you can't actually
get your grips into the guy. He's always on your edge.
He's a full day. Now I've got a bad pick
and all out.
Speaker 13 (36:35):
When I get Baldy's seal of approval, then I know
I'm like Anthony Michael Hall at the end of The
Breakfast Club when he's proud of himself for writing that essay.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
That's all I feel, all right, Cowboys Eels, It's all
coming up in conference championship weekend, guys, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
First Super Bowl halftime show for Kendrick Lamar, first season
for Commanders quarterback Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Both working out pretty well so far.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Jayden Daniels in the NFC title Game, set to go
into Philadelphia this week and take on the Eagles, a
task that he does not take lately.
Speaker 8 (37:14):
No matter if it's a home or away game, I'll
treat it the same. It's allaly good to have. Like
a Everybody tried to write like an underdog story, but
for us, it's just originally out there and playing confident
like No, we can compete against these guys and that's
a very good team. So it's nothing like I take
a little extra motivation. I'm already motivated to go into
the game, regardless if it was Week two or you know,
(37:36):
the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Josh Allen not his first Rodeo set to face the
Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Again, that means Travis
Kelsey's had a few times, both in the regular season
and playoffs over the years to take a look at
a guy that well reminds him a little bit of himself.
Speaker 14 (37:54):
Gosha's who I used to dream about being like in
the NFL, big athletic quarterback, big on being able to.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Be a dual thread guy. Yeah, I just I never
had the arm talent that Josh had, so they kicked
me over the tight end.
Speaker 14 (38:08):
And you know his ability to do everything, you know,
obviously he's you could tell he's really took the bull
by the horns and really been their leader up front
and and channeled that. You know, guys come in and
out of the building, and he's the main piece in
there making that thing go weekend, week out.
Speaker 7 (38:25):
And I got so much respect for that guy Across.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Two more teams off the list of teams with a
head coaching vacancy thanks to the Jaguars Green of Turns
with Liam Cohen and the Raiders doing the same, with
Pete Carroll still awaiting the Cowboys and Saints' decisions. But
as for Pete, he was out of the NFL last
year following a party you know the ways was really
a dismissal from Seattle. He took out a new job
(38:51):
a week ago and apparently he's keeping it. Pete Carroll,
who was back on campus a USC, where, of course,
he coached the Trojans, will continue, according to the La Times,
teaching his class at USC game is life despite being
hired by the Las Vegas Raiders. All of which brings
me to an important question. Welcome back to the Insiders.
(39:11):
Tom Pella, Sero, Judy Batista, Mike Garafalo. Mike, what is
your side job that you're currently hiding from us while
also doing your job on this show?
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Yeah, I got nothing for you.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
I think about bartending all the time, though I do
want to hear other people's problems, and I'm pretty good
making some drinks here and there, so I may do that,
not right now. We're too busy right now. But maybe
it may Insiders go right to the bar and just
start mixing.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
I think I might. You did that, didn't you get one?
Speaker 14 (39:41):
That is?
Speaker 2 (39:42):
That is correct? For one day? I was awesome at
it too.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Would you log into Pete's class, Judy? Would would you
show up to Pete's class?
Speaker 10 (39:51):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Yes, as a matter of fact, can we do it now?
Speaker 2 (39:54):
Absolutely? I would do that.
Speaker 8 (39:56):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
I feel like online classes would have been a problem
in my day, might have helped. Like, if you can
be lazy enough to show up to class in person,
you can definitely lazy enough to not open a laptop.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Hey, we got Senior Bowl next week.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
We'll be a mobile for the insiders life practicing in
Eastern every day. We'll see him
Loosen up that John pop in eight sticks a gump.
Pete Carroll is back in the NFL. We've got the
scoop on why the Raiders chose to hire a seventy
three year old Super.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Bowl winner, and Weather perhaps.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
His old quarterback in Seattle might want to join them.
The Jaguars also have their new head coach, and there
is no turning back this time.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What can do all expect?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
With Liam Cohen now drawing up for Trevor Lawrence, our
guy Baldy will break down the fit. After a wild
few days in Florida, the four teams are still alive
for this season, and only two can advance to Super
Bowl fifty nine. Conference Championship weekend is almost here, and
we've got reporters and analysts across the country to tell
(00:51):
you who's got the edge. I'm as excited as Bob
Costas in basketball. Welcome inside with the insiders alongside you,
Batistep and Mike Garafalo.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I am Tom Peliicero.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It is our last show before Conference Championship weekend. It's
our last show from the home studios for quite a while,
because come Monday, we'll be headed down to Mobile, Alabama
for Senior Bowl week. I'm already here in a VAT shirt,
absolutely ready to roll.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
You know what else I'm.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Ready for to talk about the return of a legend
to the sideline. Pete Carroll is back as the Raiders
head coach. He will be the oldest coach in NFL
history by the time September rolls around.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
This was something that was in the works for the
past couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Pete Carroll have been putting together staff, making a lot
of phone calls. The Raiders wanted to pump the brakes
a little bit after Ben Johnson decided to go to
Chicago instead. They hired their general manager, John Spytech. He
then became a part of the process, and then they
moved swiftly last night into this morning getting a deal
in place with Pete Carroll. Did I imagine he's pretty
(01:59):
old by l head coach standards. He is very old,
the oldest that will have ever been. You see Romeo
Crenell currently holds that title, ahead of the likes of
George Hallis and Marv Leafy. You had been on the
job for a long time before they coach their final game.
Pete Carroll seventy three years old and three hundred and
fifty one days by September, when he's on the sideline,
(02:23):
will be the oldest ever come week one. All of
which brings me to this question, Judy, you know who's
running the search out there in Las Vegas. It is
Tom Brady among others in that building. Those two have
squared off even on a Super Bowl stage. What do
you make of this match out there in Vegas?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Well, first of all, I think we have to dispense
of the oldest coach thing because Pete Carroll is the
youngest seventy three year old you will ever see. He
doesn't act seventy three, he doesn't look seventy three, he
does not have the energy level of a seventy three
year old. So put that aside, he is the ultimate
culture guy. And more than anything that they need at
(03:03):
the Raiders, more than they need clarity on the quarterback
or roster improvements, they need a culture reset. They have
needed a culture reset for years. It has been upheaval
and turnover and chaos. They've only been to the playoffs
twice since two thousand and two. They need the entire
building to be reset. And that's the kind of thing
(03:26):
that Pete Carroll can do right. He's not just an
x AS and OS guy. He comes in with an
entire vision for an organization, for a program, and that's
what they need. And he Look, you're not hiring somebody
who is seventy three years old to be there for
fifteen years. But if he can sort of change the
feeling in the building, get them on the right path,
(03:47):
then he will have accomplished what Tom Brady and Mark
Davis need him to accomplish, and that is just changing
the trajectory of this franchise. Pete Carroll can do that.
He's spent eighteen years at a head coach in the
NFL and he only missed the playoffs six times. They
would more than take that in Las Vegas right now.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
The year that they ran him out of there in Seattle,
I mean was twenty three. He went nine to eight
and that was considered a down year for the Seahawks.
They did have that one seven win season as well. Yeah,
I mean it's pretty solid right there. Incredible what you're
seeing in the AFC West now with regard to the
(04:28):
skins on the wall for these guys, super Bowl appearances,
super Bowl titles, Yes, I was going to.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Call for it.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
I want to see more Pete.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
The cutaway shots alone are why I'm excited to see
Pete Carroll back in the NFL. We'll talk about Russell
Wilson potentially joining him. Didn't end on the best note
between these two guys, so I don't know if they
would truly revisit it. I mean, at the very least,
I think Russ would use it as leverage in his
negotiations with the Steelers, which he says are underway. And
(04:56):
I know that there's a thought for the Steelers and
Mike Commlin to retain Russell Wilson at least in some capacity.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
But we're not talking about Russell Wilson necessarily just yet.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
We're talking about Pete Carroll, and we're talking about him
and this ownership group. Tom Brady being a part of
this new ownership group that was really impressed with Pete
Carroll and the fact that this is a guy that
can come bring energy and you know, it's Vegas, so
you got to bring a little bit of starpower, a
little bit of recognition. He certainly has that, and he
certainly brings that as well. Just got to figure out
(05:26):
the quarterback position and the roster across the board, there's
not a lot of talent on this night. We said
that when Antonio Pierce got let go, not sure what
anybody could have done with that roster. So even Pete
Carroll's not going to get that roster over five hundred.
They've got to improve in that area. John Spytech recently
hired a general manager. He's gonna be charged with that.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Spytech and Tom Brady were old teammates in Michigan. They
also were together with the Buccaneers who had a sixty
eight year old coach and Bruce Arians who guided them
to a Super Bowl. Now they also had, you know,
the greatest quarterback who has ever lived, at least in
his generation here, so that's helped. But point being not
as surprise when you're thinking about culture and getting somebody
(06:05):
in who's going to galvanize a building, that they're willing
to look past some of those other things and say
Pete Carroll is a guy who can do that. As
they undertake what is a big time turnover with that roster,
the Jaguars roster much closer to being competitive, and they
are now optimistic that they've found a guy who is
going to get the most out of it. Liam Cohen,
(06:27):
after a dramatic couple of days in which he agreed
to a new deal with the Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator,
told the Jaguars he was out on the search. Than
the Jags fired Trent Bulky called back and said how
about now? And then Liam Cohen headed to Jacksonville, went
in the building and agreed to terms. He is now
locked in as their head coach. As you saw in
(06:47):
a statement announcement from Shad Cohn, he sent in part
to repeat my message earlier this week, I am deeply
committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville. I also
believe in being judged my actions not words. That's why
I took swift and decisive action this week to hire
Liam Cohen as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He says he is pumped. We're pumped at Brian Baldinger
(07:10):
here with us to talk about this. Balding we're talking
about Pete, but also focusing on Liam Cohen here. You
know where he comes from from an offensive perspective. You
know the talent on that roster. What are the Jaguars
going to look like now with Cohen calling the shots.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Well, I mean, if you just look at what Tampa
just accomplished this year.
Speaker 6 (07:26):
And I remember talking to the general manager, Jason Light
a couple of times during the season. They went from
being the thirty second ranked rushing football team in the
NFL in twenty twenty three to the number four ranked.
Speaker 7 (07:38):
Now.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
They drafted a center, and they drafted a good rookie
running back in Bucky Irby. But Jason said a big
part of the turnaround was the scheme that Liam Cohen installed.
Speaker 5 (07:48):
Now he has a college background at Kentucky.
Speaker 6 (07:51):
You know he's coached three He will now coach three
number one picks at quarterback from Stafford to Baker coming
off a year where one of only ten quarterbacks in
the history of NFL to throw for forty touchdowns and
over forty five hundred yards. And who needs help right now?
Speaker 5 (08:09):
It's Trevor. Lawrence needs a lot of help.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
I feel like he compare it with Trevor, and I
think he can help repair Trevor the way we've seen
Baker get repaired from where he came. And then I
think the running game needed a lot of work. They
tried to do it they didn't get it done. I
feel like they commitment to the run game, how they
run the ball with scheme. I think all those things
(08:31):
I think Jacksonville can look forward to with Liam call
and I think it's a good hire just based on
what he has been able to accomplish both with the
Rams and certainly with Tampa a year ago.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
As for Pete Carroll, I remember talking to Pete.
Speaker 6 (08:45):
Yeah, there's so many different memories of sitting down talking
to Pete before games off season out there in Seattle.
One thing, you know that he loves his competition. Competition Wednesday.
That's a real thing. Go out there and compete for
your job. I like that as I think the Raiders
could use that. And then the other thing that he
always said, he said he did this when he was
(09:06):
at USC, he did it at Seattle, he did it
his first year with the Patriots, is that I believe
in playing young players and if they're the right people
and the right mindset, they might make mistakes early in the.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
Season, but they're gonna help us win games late in
the year.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
And I think you can point to a lot of players,
whether it's Bobby Wagner starting his rookie year becoming a
Hall of Fame type player under Pete Carroll. You can
point to a lot of different players that have been
drafted by John Schneider helped by Pete Carroll. I'll bet
that Pete spend a lot of time this year looking
at the college game, looking at some of these kids
that are coming out of the draft. It won't surprise
(09:44):
me to see the Raiders come up with the draft
where a lot of rookies end up playing this first
year with the Raiders as they try to rebuild that franchise.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
Right now, you're.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Gonna be a young roster, but potentially a very veteran
staff too. Because my understanding has Pete's been in touch
with a lot of his assistant coaches that he had
through the years in Seattle. A lot of those guys
are available right now. You're gonna see some familiar names,
I believe headed to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Baldy stick around.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
We're going to talk about the NFC Championship game with
you in just a little bit. Liam Cohen had one
interview in this cycle. He is now a head coach.
Bobby Slowech had five interviews last year, won this year,
and he's now out of a job, a somewhat surprising move,
the one that had been rumored for months. Slowick is
out as the Texans offensive coordinator, despite the Texans winning
(10:30):
a second consecutive AFC South title, going into the playoffs
and having the Chiefs on the ropes. Here, Judy again,
when you have the type of dip they did through
the middle portion of the season, the quarterback CJ. Stroud
seemed to regress a little bit, you know, something might
have to change, and obviously they came to the very
difficult conclusion that change had to involve Bobby Slower.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
I mean, this just shows you how quickly the NFL
can turn. He was a hot head coaching candidate last
year on the back of CJ. Stroud's tremendous rookie season,
and now he is out of a job because CJ.
Stroud and the offense regressed dramatically.
Speaker 8 (11:11):
C J.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Stroud underperformed in basically every category his rookie season. The
offensive line was not good. He was sacked fifty two times.
It never got better during the season. He looked indecisive,
he was making mental mistakes. Certainly, it's not all Bobbley's
Slowak's fault. They had big injuries to their wide receivers.
(11:33):
But when your star quarterback, the future of your franchise
at quarterback goes backwards as dramatically as c J. Stroud did.
Something has to change, and it's going to be somebody
like the offensive coordinator. I'm sure he will get other opportunities,
but I mean, this season, you knew coming out of it,
and after the season ended, Dimiko Ryans was very tepid
(11:56):
in his remarks about Bobby Sloweck, so you knew something
was coming.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
Yeah, this sounded like it was an extremely tough decision
for Demico Ryans to make. He and Bobby Slowick very close.
I have known each other for quite some time, but just
decided that this needed to be the move that the
team was going to make. I think it's really important
to look where they go now with regard to the
comfort that CJ. Stroud is going to have with the
new offensive coordinator. That's going to be an enormous part
(12:21):
of this moving forward. Rod Johnson, their quarterbacks coach, is
going to be an internal candidate. But when you look
to the external candidates, might be some guys that have
some history with c J. Stroud or maybe with the
systems that he is comfortable in and folks that know c. J.
Stroud or have a connection to other coaches. That's what
I think you're going to see a lot of in
this coaching search when it comes to the Houston Texans
(12:44):
and their offensive coordinator and making sure that this new
OC is aligned with c J.
Speaker 7 (12:48):
Stroud.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
And when you make moves like this, it does up
the anteam moving forward here. It sends a pretty clear
message intended or not that get into the playoffs. Even
winning a playoff game, that's not good enough. We need
to sum how managed to push this thing forward, and
the OC hire is going to be a.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Big piece of it.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
They did, as I said, almost knock off the Chiefs.
But here we are once again. Patrick Mahomes is still
playing quarterbacks. So the Chiefs are in yet another conference
championship game, and once again it's a matchup of these guys,
Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. We will talk about the
latest installment of this rivalry in just a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Coming up first, though.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Jalen Hurts is off the injury report, but is he
truly one hundred percent with that left knee injury.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
We'll have Steve Whites and.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Stacy Dale's to be covering that game, but first they'll
be here to talk about it with Baldy and so
much more stick around.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
It's the insiders.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Brace yourselves, Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Did you see what I did there? Yeah? That bottom
line there.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Jalen Hurts anticipates wearing a knee brace, onsid they're gonna
hear from him in just the second but a full
participant one once again. Limited Wednesday, full Thursday, full Friday.
No game status does not mean he's one hundred percent.
We believe he's going to be affected. How much he'll
be affected, we'll see. Here's Jalen talking to the media today.
Speaker 5 (14:12):
When to see how it would progress?
Speaker 8 (14:13):
How did it?
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Progress? Has been progressive? All right? My coach coach said, are.
Speaker 6 (14:19):
You going to wear a brace of any kind on
game day?
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Anticipate?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So I expected a non answer there.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Good for Jalen to give us some information right there.
Stacey Tails, Steve Weiss, Brian Baldinger. I'm just gonna get
out of the way in this segment with this star
power that we've got to my camera left. Stacy going
to start with you on this one on the health
of Jalen Hurts and what we can expect from him
on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Well, you heard him right there.
Speaker 9 (14:47):
Jalen Hurts, you guys was never going to not a
chance in hell miss this football game, especially since he
missed basically the most the entirety of their Week sixteen
loss to the Commander's got that concussion in the first quarter.
I will wear the brace, as he just told us
on the left leg. I talked to somebody within the
team here today. I saw you guys concerned. Nope, that's
the answer that I got. Jalen Hurts, we know is
(15:09):
incredibly tough. No designation there. And what's really exciting is
add in Saquon Barkley, who the Eagles believe internally fellas
is as fresh now and is powerful. Now think about that,
then he was at the beginning of the season, and
he is running like it a single postseason record currently
one hundred and sixty two rush yards on the ground
for mister Barkley. But I say all that, and then
(15:31):
I think about JD five on the other side, and
that's the quarterback of the Commanders. Steve will be on them.
Jayden Daniels. I did speak with Nickel, cornerback Cooper Dejean
this week, and listen, they all believe he's playing like
a veteran quarterback. He's not shy downfield, and that is
a concern because of his ability to strike downfield with
(15:52):
those legs, and so, as I discussed with Dejene, obviously,
plaster coverage and being disruptive in this game are going
to be huge, and on the back end with that
plaster coverage and the rush.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
But two musts.
Speaker 9 (16:04):
We must do these couple things to win. Pretty simple.
Be incredibly gap sound up front in your rush lanes
to contain him, and then you got to tackle right
As we saw with the Detroit Lions, these guys kind
of picked them apart really offensively, and so I expect Vic, Fangio, Baldy,
(16:27):
Mike and Steve to keep things in front and try
to win those trenches against JD five in company on Sunday.
It's going to be a fantastic third matchup.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
You know, Stacey, It's interesting.
Speaker 6 (16:38):
I was there a week sixteen in Washington with James
Daniels through five touchdown passes.
Speaker 5 (16:43):
He'd only thrown more than.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Five touchdown passes once in his life as young player
at Arizona State and the winner was with ten seconds
to go to Jamison Crowder and Vic Fangio was in
his own defense and he just lasered the ball with
anticipation location to Crowder to win the game. Now, what's
happened in this league and we're gonna see it throughout
this postseason, is the way that guys are rushing right now.
(17:08):
With these quarterbacks that can take off, it's almost like
cage rushing, like they're taking these you know, Jalen Carter
and these guys coming after them like they want to
rush and keep the guys in front of them and
so that Jayden doesn't have the lanes to run through.
It's really changing the way guys rush. It's not like
quick escapes that were used to seeing from you know,
(17:29):
the likes of Aaron Donald some of these guys.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
I think it's changing it.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
And so I think they're going to try and keep
Jayde and Daniels in front of him as much as
they possibly can and kind of not mush rush. They
still want to get to them, but they don't want
to give them those quick escapes if things aren't there
in the past game. So there's a lot there for
this defense to look at I didn't see a lot
of plastering receivers.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
I saw a lot of zone coverage. In fact, I saw.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
Quinnon Mitchell in that game Week sixteen give up his
first touchdown pass of a season to Terry McLaurin. So
I think they got to get much tighter in their coverage,
whether in man or in zone right now against Shade
because he's just playing too well.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Right now, Steve's trying to figure out the formula here
for the Commanders to score an upset here. The Eagles
are probably going to be able to run on them.
The run defense hasn't been thatsed out. Obviously, we know
what the Eagles do, but how about like a taste
of their own medicine. I just feel like Washington's running game,
and Stacey alluded to it, you're gonna have to be
a big part of this.
Speaker 10 (18:26):
It really is.
Speaker 11 (18:26):
I mean, look at these two teams. You know, we're
talking about running and rushing and things like this. Washington
is speaking with people there. They want to try to
run the ball.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now.
Speaker 11 (18:35):
They're coming off a one hundred and eighty two yard
rushing game against Detroit. They're not expecting to hit that
against this Eagles defensive front running back Brian Robinson told
me the way that they attack the box in the
run game is probably the most difficult that they'll face
and that they have faced all season. But that said,
they have to be efficient. That means no negative runs
and they've got to keep at it. Think about it, guys,
(18:57):
in the two games that they played this year, which
they split Washington, averaged twenty six carries per game. You
wouldn't think about that just because they wasn't highly successful,
or at least to the memory, but they did average
more than one hundred rushing yards in each of those games.
The first game it was Brian Robinson gaining the yards.
The second game it was Jayden Daniels. So Robinson said,
(19:17):
whoever is carrying the ball, they've got to protect it
for one, and they've just got to be efficient. That's
the buzzword they talked about because that run game, Stacy
in Baldy, it gets them off those rush lanes like
you're talking about on Jayden and Daniels, and that's what
they feel they need to do to hit some big
plays against this defense.
Speaker 6 (19:37):
So Steve, you know, if they want to do that
and accomplish what you're talking about with Brian Robinson and
Austin Eckler, and you know they're gonna have to do
with the backup right guard.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
And I don't know if it's Trent Scott right now,
but whoever's.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
The right guard on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, they're going
against Jalen Carter. And in that first game, you know,
the last game, Jalen Carr punched the ball out of
Brian Robinson's hands and Nolan Smith recovered it. It was
a significant play in the game. But Jami Encarter plays
nearly every snap. Whoever's playing right guard has to deal
with the beast, maybe the best defensive tackle in football
(20:10):
right now, the way that he's playing, the way that
he changed the game against the Rams.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
A week ago.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
So that's a big matchup to watch as they try to,
you know, establish some inside zone in some running lanes
right now, a guy that narrowly never comes off the field.
They rotate the other tackle, Jordan Davis, you know, Milton Williams,
different guys over there, But Jalen lines up, plays nearly
every snap.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Yeah, and I would advise the commanders Dalon Carter's hard
enough when you are blocking him.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Don't not block him.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
The last two plays against the Rams, they slid the
right side and then the center looked like you, that's
the guy you want to start with there, Get some
hands on him. Looking forward to Stacey Dale's and Steve
Weish on Sunday, NFL Game Day Morning, providing you covers
in the NFC Championship game ahead of this one.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Baldy, you're coming back later in the show.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
So coming up next, we flip it to the AFC
and get you ready for that Conference championship.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Bills Chiefs Sunday night. Cannot wait for that AFC Championship game.
Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pelisaro, now joined by
Sarah Walsh, Camwolf and Adam Rank. Sarah, I'm going to
start with you here, this Chiefs defense going up against
the Bill's offense. What's the biggest thing that they've got
to be worried about in this matchup?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 12 (21:25):
A week ago, this Chiefs defense sacks c J. Stroud
eight times, but if you look over on the Bills
side of things, the Ravens were only able to get.
Speaker 5 (21:33):
To Josh Allen once.
Speaker 12 (21:34):
This is a Bills offense that takes care of its quarterback,
they take care of the football. So the Chiefs know
this is a much steeper challenge to try to get
to this guy. When they faced him in week eleven,
they never sacked him once. And not only are they
very good at protecting him, but they're really good at
doing all sorts of things that really can confuse a defense.
And Chief safety Justin Reid talked this week about the
fact that they have to have eye discipline, they have
(21:57):
to have eye control, and he said what he means
by that is they've got tight ends in the backfield,
they've got wide receivers in the backfield, they got running
backs lining up is wide receivers, and he said that
they cannot get caught up in the trash and the
things that they're wanting you to see that they're not
going to use, but that can trick you into making
a bad read or taking a bad step. And you know,
their defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo, who said, yeah, we have
(22:19):
been stressing this idea of having eye control, because again,
this is a Bills team that is not going to
make a lot of mistakes, and it is really tough
to force this team into making mistakes. Buffalo has just
eight giveaways on the season, that is the fewest in
a season since nineteen fifty. This is a Chiefs team,
and a Chiefs defense especially that knows it has its
(22:41):
work cut out for them.
Speaker 13 (22:42):
Rank Yeah, I'm curious how they're going to approach it
because we've seen over the course of the season that
anytime that teams try to blitz Josh Allen, he has
been very successful. His passer rating is well into the
one twenties when he's being blitzed. But in Week eleven,
the Chiefs styled up the it's about thirty eight percent
of the time and they had a little bit of
(23:03):
a success. Josh Allen did throw a touchdown while blitz However,
he did throw an interception. His passer rating was in
the sixties. So for me, the Chiefs have to be patient. Understand,
the Bills are gonna move the football. It's not allowing
the big plays. It's going to be a great chess
match between these two teams on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Flip side of this matchup cam the Bills defense has
to try to slow down Patrick Mahomes and playoff Travis Kelcey.
I feel like he's a different guy over these last
couple of years. Here when the lights come on, when
the calendar switches to January, something turns on.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
How do they stop him? Pretty hard?
Speaker 10 (23:40):
That's what Bobby babb Is, the Bills defensive coidinator, said
about stopping Travis Kelcey and Patrick Mahomes. The reality is
the Bills actually have had some success stopping Travis Kelcey.
In the week eleven game, they hold him in just
two catches for eight yards. They play a lot of
too deep coverage. They bracketed him with their linebackers and
their cornerback, tearing John and their safety and trying to
(24:02):
limit those big plays down the field. But as you mentioned,
playoff Travis Kelsey is a different animal and they have
a big difference in this game. Taylor Rap, their starting safety,
has been ruled out with a hip injury, and so
enter rookie Cole Bishop. That's a name that fans are
going to want to get to know. The spotlight is
going to be on him a lot. Rap was the veteran,
experienced guy, a good communicator. He actually intercepted Patrick Mahomes
(24:25):
on his first deep pass in their first matchup. Bishop
hasn't played must this year and I talked to Bill
general manager Brandon Bean about Bishop. They had an idea
that Rap was going to be out. They said, Bishop
we drafted in the second round. We have high hopes
for him. The reality is he's not his experience, so
we'll have to live with him maybe being fooled from
time to time. But he has some athleticism that maybe
is more than the usual safety and they think that'll
(24:48):
benefit them. One key thing is looking at those guys
around him. You're Matt Mulono's, your Tarren Johnson's. How do
they supplement that? Because I guarantee you Patrick Mahomes, Travis
Kelce are trying to take advantage of Col Bishop. We're
going to be talking here on Monday about Cole Bishop
either having a great game or having a bad game,
and that's going to be a key part of it.
One thing that was interesting to learn this week is
(25:09):
Micah Hyde, their practice squad safety, has been spending a
lot of time with Cole Bishop, trying to catch him
up on things he needs to know to prep him
for this game. He certainly faced Travis Kelce quite a bit,
but Cole Bisha will be out there on his own
on Sunday.
Speaker 13 (25:23):
Well, Kerem, you talk about it, you talk about playoff
Kelsey and how different he is. Yes, they did a
great job against him in Week eleven, but once you
get into the postseason, Travis Kelce has five touchdowns in
three career playoff games against the Buffalo Bills. And what
it comes down to is the matchups. Can you get
Travis Kelce matched up against the linebacker or against one
(25:44):
of the guys in the secondary.
Speaker 7 (25:45):
That is going to be the big thing.
Speaker 13 (25:46):
It's the chess pieces, it's moving him around trying to
exploit those matchups.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
And so wherever you have Travis Kelce, you.
Speaker 13 (25:53):
Got to be mindful who's lined up against him and
take advantage of it. And for the Bills, you know what,
I hate to do it, but I think you got
to take a page out of Taylor Swiss, Taylor Swift's playbook,
go a little fearless against them.
Speaker 7 (26:06):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I did that.
Speaker 7 (26:08):
Yeah, you had to go there.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
You had to go there, didn't you.
Speaker 12 (26:10):
Okay, So I think it's pretty well understood how respected
both of these sides are. Travis Kelce talked for the
first time this week, and he said, when it comes
to Josh Allen.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
He said, Josh Allen is.
Speaker 12 (26:21):
Who I dreamed about being in the NFL, And he said,
but I didn't have the arm talent, so they kicked
me over to tight end. That has worked out pretty
well for him. It's a Hall of Fame career that
he's working on there. Everyone knows that he's going to
end up in Canton. And then not that this game
needs to be hyped up anymore, because it feels like
when this season kicked off Week one, we all knew
in some shape or form, it was going to come
(26:43):
down to these two teams. Travis Kelce said today, this
is one of the biggest challenges we have ever had.
And when you think about that statement, given how many
Super Bowls this team has played in, how many great
games this chiefs I mean there, this is a franchise
that is a dynasty. Now to think about him saying
today that this is one of the biggest challenges they've
ever had. If that doesn't hype you up for Sunday night,
(27:06):
nothing else will.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Tom, Sarah Cam thank you very much, Stay warm in
Kansas City ranks, stick around because coming up after this,
you and Baldi have more on this game and the
NFC Championship game. Who are the game changers and the
game wreckers? Ranked and Baldi have the answer right after
this on the Insiders.
Speaker 3 (27:36):
I'm hyped to be talking to Baldy and Adam about
Conference championship weekend. I want to hear your game changers
and game wreckers, guys. Let's start on the NFC side
and I'll start with Baldi. Give me a game changer
for that game.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
You know, Judy, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 6 (27:53):
AJ Brown. I don't believe he's going to be any
reading any books on the sideline. I saw him week
sixteen against this Commander team Marshaun Lattimore. I think he
had three holding calls against him. He's scored a touchdown
right here. That throw is from Kenny Pickett. In that game,
they didn't have much of an answer for A. J.
Speaker 5 (28:09):
Brown. And I know he hasn't had an exciting postseason
so far.
Speaker 6 (28:14):
I know he's battling a knee, but I just feel
like this is a game where AJ Brown can really
be fed and he can change the game. He had
a chance to do it last week against the Rams,
had a chance right at the pylon, just couldn't get
a handle on the ball, but he usually comes up
with those catches. I feel like AJ Brown has been
blocking at an elite level. I just think it's time
(28:35):
for him to be fed at an elite level because
he is a true game changer at that position. It's
easy to just say, well, I'm gonna take Saint Quon Barkley.
I think that's a given. I just think AJ Brown
is ready for this moment at him and that's where
I'm going to go with the game changer right now
for the Eagles.
Speaker 13 (28:53):
Well, I love that pick, and I think that despite
the fact that he doesn't get a lot of targets,
you still have to keep an eye on him because
he has as the ability to make the huge plays.
And on the other side, for Washington, I look at
a former Eagle, Zach Ertz, and obviously, if you want
to go into the narratives going up against his former team,
he's also had some big catches against this Eagles team
(29:14):
as well. He got that catch right there that we're
watching right on the screen. What I really like out
of him. He's been a reliable target for Jade and
Daniels this season, and last time these two teams met,
they ran a lot his zone, and you wonder Bick
Bangeo if he's gonna switch it up, if he wants
to play a little bit of man, that kind of feeds.
Speaker 7 (29:34):
Into the game for zach Ertz.
Speaker 13 (29:36):
Zach Ertz has seven touchdowns against man defense this season.
Speaker 7 (29:40):
He is a matchup nightmare for a lot of teams.
Speaker 13 (29:42):
So I feel like if the Commanders need a big
play outside of Jaydon Daniels, zach Ertz is somebody they've
consistency consistently looked for.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
All Right, Paldy, let's go with a game wrecord who
you got.
Speaker 6 (29:54):
You know, Zach Bonn has been the Eagles best defensive player,
no Shaye to Allen Carter, but yeah, any guy never
comes off the field in that first matchup Judy back
in week eleven, I mean he's stuffed Jayde Daniels at
fourth and two, changed the whole course of the game
in the fourth quarter. He just knows where the ball
is going. He's filled up the stat sheet all year long.
(30:17):
I think he'll continue to do that. If Jade Daniels
wants to run, he's going to be met by Zach
Bawn at some point. His ability to take I don't
know if he was a geometry major at Wisconsin, but
he constantly takes great angles to the football.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
I'm going to go with Zach Bond like that guy.
Speaker 6 (30:35):
If he's not a candidate, a high candidate for defensive
Player of the Year, then teams have not been watching
number fifty three for the Eagles.
Speaker 7 (30:41):
And yeah, they absolutely should be.
Speaker 13 (30:44):
And I agree with you, he's one to watch, even
though a lot of people will spend their time looking
at Jalen Carter, who I'm going to be talking about
here for a moment, because when you watch that game
against the La Rams, Carter was amazing. He got two
sacks on Matthew Stafford, part of five total that the
Eagles had against the Rams. However, this game is gonna
be a little bit different. I don't think I'm telling
(31:04):
tails out of school if I'm saying that Jayden Daniels
a little bit more mobile than Matthew Stafford, which means
Jalen Carter's got to kind of tailor his game towards
the quarterback.
Speaker 7 (31:14):
And Brian, you talked about this a moment.
Speaker 13 (31:16):
Ago earlier on in the show, is like, you just
can't run up the field and expect to get to
the quarterback. You got to play a different style of
football where it's more contained than anything else. Don't let
Jaydon Daniels go out there and make a big play
on you. However, I think that Jalen Carter could do that,
and these two guys can absolutely be game wreckers for
(31:38):
the Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
Adam.
Speaker 6 (31:40):
If Jalen Carter was in a steel cage match with
a bear, I feel sorry for the bear, and so
he's my feeling about trying to block this feast.
Speaker 5 (31:50):
And they're gonna have a backup guarden there.
Speaker 6 (31:52):
I probably Trent Scott, who played pretty good in Detroit
last week. But anybody that has that assignment that is
a long, hard day. He's going to make plays and
it's just you know, how many of those does he
wreck your offense the way that he did against the
Rams punching the ball out of Kyron Williams last week's
hands sack and Matt Stafford on third and four when
(32:14):
they're going in to score the winning touchdown, hitting Stafford
in fourth and eleven, so he couldn't complete a pass
on the outside. I mean, he wrecked the game and
he finished the game for the Eagles last week, all.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Right, let's switch over to the AFC Conference Championship game.
Give me a game changer, Baldy.
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I looked Judy.
Speaker 6 (32:33):
I mean Adam just said in the last segment, and
I was listing carefully at him. Travis Kelsey does have
five touchdown catches in his three postseason games against this
Bill's defense, largely playing against much of the same defense,
different players. We'll see a different safety for Taylor at
We talked about that a little bit on this show,
but I mean we saw what Kelsey did last week.
(32:54):
He basically put the game on ice a week ago.
He knows the moment, he knows that there's gonna be
a certain friend of hits up up in a booth
waiting to cheer him on. I think there's some motivation there,
you know. For Travis Kelcey, there's a connection that we
have tried to explain. We've tried to figure out how
it happens between him and Mahomes, but it keeps happening,
(33:14):
and I think it will find a way to happen
again this Sunday evening.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
In Kansas City. Travis Kelcey is my game changer right now.
Speaker 7 (33:24):
Well, I talked about him in the last block as
you said, Bryan, so I couldn't go back to back
with him.
Speaker 13 (33:28):
But I want to talk about Xavier Worthy because the
Chiefs have done a really good job of the ways
they've used him over the last number of weeks. Now,
whenever you get a player with his speed, early on
in the season, the idea was to get him the
ball deep. His average depth of target was somewhere around
twelve point eight in the early part of the season. However,
they put in a slight wrinkle, as you're seeing right there.
(33:51):
They now get him the ball near the line of scrimmage.
Instead of relying on Xavier Worthy to just run deep,
they're just giving them the ball quickly and letting them
go out there and do his thing.
Speaker 7 (34:01):
And that's one of the.
Speaker 13 (34:02):
Mastter pieces of this Kansas City Chiefs offense. It's like
Travis Kelcey doesn't necessarily run as much as he just
runs the open spots and finds a way to get open. Similarly,
Xavier Worthy's just catching the ball near the line of
scrimmage and taking it for chunk plays.
Speaker 7 (34:18):
That's why this offense is so hard to stop.
Speaker 3 (34:21):
All right, let's put a bow on this game wreckers
for the AFC Championship Game, Baldi, Judy.
Speaker 6 (34:27):
I've watched Chris Jones take games over in big moments
year after year, and one of the reasons why they've
you know, are going for a three p is because
of the guy that goes by stone cold Jones. He
just he can line up anywhere and look, I have
as much respect for this Buffalo Bills offensive line left
to right. Aaron Promer coaches him. He's a great coach.
(34:48):
But Chris Jones understands the magnitude of these moments.
Speaker 7 (34:52):
He just does.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
And when the game is in the biggest moment, Chris
Jones just finds a way to win. And it could
be at end, it could be on a he done,
he could be dropping into coverage the way Steve Spagnola
has used him before. But he understands that this is
his momenting. It's not about how many sacks during the
season quarterback kids. He gets some of those, he saves
a lot of it for this postseason.
Speaker 5 (35:14):
This is a big game.
Speaker 6 (35:15):
He understands that Josh Allen is going to meet stone
called Jones at some point in this game. Sunday night.
Speaker 13 (35:22):
I love that pick, Baldy, but I just noticed we
keep talking about the Chiefs, and it doesn't see it
doesn't feel like we're giving the Bills a chance. So
allow me to take an opportunity to talk about one
of the staling of the Bills defense, and I'm going
to say at Oliver is somebody who can absolutely be
a game wrecker. As a matter of fact, in Week eleven,
when these two teams combined are collided, I should say
at Oliver had a really nice game. He had four
(35:45):
quarterback pressures in that contest and was a pest in
that one.
Speaker 7 (35:49):
And even last week.
Speaker 13 (35:50):
Against the Baltimore Ravens, he still managed three quarterback pressures
against Lamar Jackson. So when we're talking about all the
game changers on Kansas City side of the football, who
can get to the quarterback? Who can disrupt it? Now
everybody knows Von Miller, but Ed Oliver to me, is
the key to all of this. And if he can
get pressure on the quarterback, that gives the Bills the
best chance to succeed.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
You know, Ed is a cowboy. You know he rides horses,
he trains horses.
Speaker 6 (36:16):
I mean, he just gets that lasso out there, Adam,
He's gonna get that lasso out there.
Speaker 5 (36:20):
He wants to last. So you know, Patrick mahomes in
the worst way.
Speaker 6 (36:24):
He's slippery like an eel. You can't you can't actually
get your grips into the guy. He's always on your edge.
He's a full day. Now I've got a bad pick
and all out.
Speaker 13 (36:35):
When I get Baldy's seal of approval, then I know
I'm like Anthony Michael Hall at the end of The
Breakfast Club when he's proud of himself for writing that essay.
Speaker 3 (36:43):
That's all I feel, all right, Cowboys Eels, It's all
coming up in conference championship weekend, guys, thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
First Super Bowl halftime show for Kendrick Lamar, first season
for Commanders quarterback Jaden Daniels.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Both working out pretty well so far.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Jayden Daniels in the NFC title Game, set to go
into Philadelphia this week and take on the Eagles, a
task that he does not take lately.
Speaker 8 (37:14):
No matter if it's a home or away game, I'll
treat it the same. It's allaly good to have. Like
a Everybody tried to write like an underdog story, but
for us, it's just originally out there and playing confident
like No, we can compete against these guys and that's
a very good team. So it's nothing like I take
a little extra motivation. I'm already motivated to go into
the game, regardless if it was Week two or you know,
(37:36):
the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Josh Allen not his first Rodeo set to face the
Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Again, that means Travis
Kelsey's had a few times, both in the regular season
and playoffs over the years to take a look at
a guy that well reminds him a little bit of himself.
Speaker 14 (37:54):
Gosha's who I used to dream about being like in
the NFL, big athletic quarterback, big on being able to.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Be a dual thread guy. Yeah, I just I never
had the arm talent that Josh had, so they kicked
me over the tight end.
Speaker 14 (38:08):
And you know his ability to do everything, you know,
obviously he's you could tell he's really took the bull
by the horns and really been their leader up front
and and channeled that. You know, guys come in and
out of the building, and he's the main piece in
there making that thing go weekend, week out.
Speaker 7 (38:25):
And I got so much respect for that guy Across.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Two more teams off the list of teams with a
head coaching vacancy thanks to the Jaguars Green of Turns
with Liam Cohen and the Raiders doing the same, with
Pete Carroll still awaiting the Cowboys and Saints' decisions. But
as for Pete, he was out of the NFL last
year following a party you know the ways was really
a dismissal from Seattle. He took out a new job
(38:51):
a week ago and apparently he's keeping it. Pete Carroll,
who was back on campus a USC, where, of course,
he coached the Trojans, will continue, according to the La Times,
teaching his class at USC game is life despite being
hired by the Las Vegas Raiders. All of which brings
me to an important question. Welcome back to the Insiders.
(39:11):
Tom Pella, Sero, Judy Batista, Mike Garafalo. Mike, what is
your side job that you're currently hiding from us while
also doing your job on this show?
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Yeah, I got nothing for you.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
I think about bartending all the time, though I do
want to hear other people's problems, and I'm pretty good
making some drinks here and there, so I may do that,
not right now. We're too busy right now. But maybe
it may Insiders go right to the bar and just
start mixing.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
I think I might. You did that, didn't you get one?
Speaker 14 (39:41):
That is?
Speaker 2 (39:42):
That is correct? For one day? I was awesome at
it too.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Would you log into Pete's class, Judy? Would would you
show up to Pete's class?
Speaker 10 (39:51):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (39:52):
Yes, as a matter of fact, can we do it now?
Speaker 2 (39:54):
Absolutely? I would do that.
Speaker 8 (39:56):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
I feel like online classes would have been a problem
in my day, might have helped. Like, if you can
be lazy enough to show up to class in person,
you can definitely lazy enough to not open a laptop.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Hey, we got Senior Bowl next week.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
We'll be a mobile for the insiders life practicing in
Eastern every day. We'll see him
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