January 22, 2026 • 47 mins
Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks are back with a new episode, reacting to a wild Divisional Round weekend that reshaped the NFL landscape. They open the show by breaking down the Bills’ decision to move on from Sean McDermott after another postseason exit (0:25), debating organizational philosophy, championship windows and whether consistent contention is enough in today’s NFL. Then, they recap the Divisional Round slate, diving into Bills–Broncos (15:03), Rams–Bears (18:45), Seahawks–49ers (26:38), and Texans - Patriots (34:05), highlighting quarterback play, roster construction and what separates teams still standing from those heading into the offseason with questions. Finally, the guys wrap the show with a quick preview of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between Miami and Indiana! (42:11)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What's up, everybody? Welcome to move the sticks, DJ and
Buck with you as we react to a crazy weekend
of Divisional round football. We know our finalists. Now we've
got the final four, Buck, But just as soon as
we're getting ready to get talking about that, this is
the coaching cycle that never ends, man, No, it never ends.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
The Buffalo Bills move on from Sean McDermott following the
loss in the Divisional round and DJ, I think the
thing about this and maybe why it troubled me so
is I tweeted this out like one.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I'm sitting here looking at Sean mcdermot's record, right, and.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I just think about how hard it is to get
consistently into the tournament. And I'm like eight nine seasons,
eight playoff appearances, ninety eight and fifty regular season record,
five af East titles, and up until this year.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
They owned the AFC East.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And the reason it resonates with me is because when
I was in Buffalo playing Marv Levy when they went
to four straight Super Bowl they talked about, we want
to dominate the division, because if you dominate the division
it guarantees you a lottery ticket to the tournament. And
so when we think about the tournament, I'm like, man,
the Buffalo Bills have always been in the tournament in
(01:25):
his era, and people talked about, yeah, but you know,
like they got to the championship game. It was around
they hadn't gone to the Super Bowl, And I tweeted this.
It reminded me of the debate that we've had where
we talked about in baseball in the nineties and two thousands,
would you rather be the Atlanta Braves or the Florida Marlins.
The Atlanta Braves won a million division titles, they won
(01:47):
one World Series. The Florida Marlin sucked for most of
two decades, but they won two. So would you rather
win to and then go to anonymity and then come
back and win another one?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Or would you rather always being the conversation?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And I feel like that's where we're training to International
Football League, where owners are like, yeah, I don't care
about being good all the time. I just want to
win it and then I'll deal with it after I
win it. And I just think that's a faulty strategy
to take because I think it's so hard to just
say able to gets.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Lightning in the bottle, We're gonna win it, and then
I'm good. I just don't get this realistic. It's a
great analogy. I had always used the Utah Jazz as
an analogy. Oh that's a great one. That's a great year.
But couldn't get couldn't get over the hump to finish it.
And I don't know what the equivalent to that would be.
I don't know if that's like the MAVs or somebody
or some other kind of one off. You know, it's
(02:38):
a Milwaukee Bucks. Yeah, yeah, they got one. They got
their one. Yeah. I guess it comes from a place of,
you know, just because of my fandom, which I only
really am a fan of one team of professional sports
because everything else is kind of work related. But I'm
a baseball fan, a Patre fan, and I'm like, man,
I've been to the playoffs for the last six years.
(02:58):
But I would if you when we could only go
once and get a ring, I would have been like,
oh yeah, I would. I just want that one experience.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
And I would say this, I know you well enough
to know that, no, because here's what we know. Once
you start winning, want to win again. It becomes an obsession.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
It would be like the Cubs people when the Cubs
finally won one and they're like, oh, I can Dad
go to heaven because it comes and finally one. But
you know what, surely there after they fired Joe Madden
because they want to win again. Like that's not when
when we say that, that's not true. We want to win,
and we want to win at a high level. And
I appreciate that, but I also think you have to
(03:36):
be in it. And I know your heart has been
broken a few times with the Padres, but this is
much better than not going to the playoffs at all, right,
Like you at least want to be in the conversation.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I think, I think though this is I think this
going back to the Bills, it was a window, you know,
for them, and it was the Tom Brady dynasty for
twenty years where they ran things and then Tom Brady
exits and not to take shots, but you've got the
Jets and the Dolphins in this division, like this is
(04:09):
not a this is not a Jugger not division. And
now the Patriots are out of the mix. So now
you got sole ownership of this division for that period
of years, with an MVP quarterback, right, and you never
got over You never got to a super Bowl, you know,
much less won a super Bowl. And I think now
it isn't just that, it's that oh great, Now now
(04:30):
the Patriots are back, Yeah, and we're back. They got
a quarterback now and they're back, and we missed our window.
That's what it feels like. And guess what, the Jets
and the Dolphins still stink.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And your analogy might be even better than mine because
the Utah Jazz is exactly who it feels like. Because
Buffalo did all the right things, but Pat Mahomes was
the stopping point.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
The Kansas City Chiefs prevented them from realizing their potential
because they get passed the Chiefs. You say, okay, they
maybe win a super Bowl because the Chiefs were the
team what three.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Out of five super Bowl six?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And I also think that dynasty on the heels of
the Patriots dynasty as owners kind of warped into thinking
how the league operates. Right, So the Patriots go to
eight or nine under Tom Brady, Right, they go to
however many they go, they lose some, they win five
(05:27):
or six or whatever they won. Then the chief come
right after that they go to five, they win three.
So there's an expectation that this league is dynastic in
terms of how you dominate at the top. I just
think it's it's very hard to operate like that. And
I think as a team builder, you would like to
build a team that's always, that's always in the hunt.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
We're always there and in the mix. But don't you
also see it from the standpoint of Okay, you've had
this roadblock which has been the Chiefs, and now the
Chiefs are mortal. So now the nicest house, the nicest
house on the street is up for sale, and you're
seeing the Ravens, You're seeing the bills, these teams saying, well,
(06:12):
hold up, this is this is our time, this is available,
it's open, this is We've talked about this a f
C field. Is nothing in this AFC field that scares anybody.
So you're sitting there thinking, oh, we got this is
our We got to go, man, we gotta we gotta
make our change. We got to take our shot because
right now there is no king in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So then my my thing was say, all right, do
your actions match your goals When it comes to the
way you built the team. And I would say, of
all those Buffalo teams that we've seen during that window,
this was the weakest Buffalo team that I've seen during
that time when I when I when I look at
what they have, they have three blue chip players Dion Dawkins,
(06:50):
James Cook, and Josh All. There's no one else on
their roster that we would universally celebrate as a high end,
elite player. And so if that's the case where we're
looking at the window and saying, like, hey, man, twenty
twenty five is the year that we can go run
through the regular season and do it. Did they make
a major move to upgrade, did they make a trade, did.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
They you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Did they put the pieces in place to push their
chips all in to say they're going to do it?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Or do they build up to this crescendo? Because one
thing I.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Can say about how we and the Eagles I felt
like that year, say Kwon Barkley, like they pushed the
chips in, like hey, we're going for it or whatever.
And I can't say that Buffalo did the same thing.
We knew they didn't have a number one receiver, they
didn't go make a move to go and acquire a receiver.
They didn't get George Pickens or somebody they might have
been in the conversation, but they didn't land a marquee
(07:42):
guy that pushed them over the top. So I understand
the frustration. But then I would say, yeah, but your
team doesn't match what your desires are. So how can
we really all the way be mad about what it is?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
They have a roster full and outside of those guys,
you mention of good players that are high floor, you know,
steady eddies. But and we've talked about this, I know
you've thrown a number on it in terms of just
the number of blue chippers that you need to have,
like elite players, Like they don't have that collection of
elite players because guess what the teams that we've talked
(08:18):
about that have been on these runs, it was crunch time,
and it was a combination of Kelsey at a time,
it was Tyreek Hill, was Chris Jones to close out games.
It was Patrick Mahomes there every single time like they
had and then and then even look into like Trent
McDuffie's the top McDuffie five.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Corner in the league. The linebackers were playing an elite level.
So when we talked about that, like, that is what
it is is playing at that level. I think when
we've gone through and we did the exercise where it
was three defensive playmakers on each side, it was lineman
as a quarterback or whatever, it ended up being twelve.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
So I've taken part of what you said.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Part of what I learned in Carolina when they would
use the old Bill Pollion thing where you got to
have eight to twelve and all of that marries, you.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Know, in terms of.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I think sometimes we do a disservice in the media
because we talk so much about the quarterback that we've
created this policy that a quarterback can lift any roster
to championship heights, and that's simply not true. The quarterback
is the biggest piece, the most essential piece that you
must have. But man, the teams that win Super Bowls
(09:24):
are really really good teams. Like that's what it is.
And the feedback people are like, well, why are the
Patriots there? Like why are the Broncos there? And I say,
you can make the case for the Broncos their defense
and some of the players. I say, with the Patriots,
here's what I would say as not only being universally elite,
but it's being elite within that system. When I talked
about the Patriots, Caleban Chasing, who I saw closely with
(09:49):
the Jaguars, was not an elite player there dj this
year for the Patriots, he is playing at.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
An elite level at the rates which he's rushing the past.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Now we can talk about system and or whatever, but
we talked about eighty five percent of the league are
system players. You got to put them in the right
system so they can maximize their talent. The Patriots have
taken a collection of older players, younger players, veterans free agency,
Milton Williams, Roberts Plane, I saw Carton Davis, Christian Gonzales
(10:19):
is home grown.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
They have Harold Landry and some other guys that are
playing really well within their system.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
So however we couch it, man, They're a.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Really good team. And whatever the schedule is, the schedule is.
The quarterback is playing really well. Stefan Diggs is still
a dude in his role. They have enough where you
can say, okay, I can see eight to ten guys
that can push them over the top. It has to
look like they have to play at that level, regardless
of whether we say talent wise there, but they have
to play at in the level during the course of
(10:50):
that season.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, I think you've seen Marcus Jones is one of
those playmakers, you know, unbelievable. Yeah, he's as a returner.
And to go back to that, I was looking it
up while you were talking. So when we broke this down,
it was a championship foundation quarterback. Three offensive playmakers could
be a combination of any of the still guys. Three
(11:12):
quality offensive linemen then fill in with them. Two pass
rushers could come from inside, outside or combination either way.
And then three defensive playmakers, either at the linebacker secondary level.
And it's interesting when you kind of use that and
kind of run some of these teams through it that
are still left. It is pretty interesting to see, you know,
where they are with these spots.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I mean, like you start to begin to talk about
the players and whatever and is I don't know if
you ever played spades, but like with the Patriots, so it's.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Almost like, Okay, I got two in impossible.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
So I may not say that Marcus Jones is dead,
but if you give me Marcus Jones and Roberts mullane.
That makes one, you know what I mean. Like so
like you cobble it together, you're like, okay, like I
can begin to picture this thing.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
You got to hell, you got a couple of jacks.
You got a couple of jacks. I might be able
to maybe I might be able to get it. Yes,
So they've been able to do those things.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
And I think when you talk about the final four,
the Patriots, we can talk about the Broncos, and the
Broncos have a tough hill to climb without starting quarterback,
but you can talk about their defense, how they rush
to pass or pass or ten some of the other
guys that they have, Like you can make that case.
We talk about the Rams. We love what it looks
like in the NFC because the Rams and the Seahawks
(12:24):
like they're built to last. But those theories hold true.
And as a team builder, as you're putting it together,
I think you always have to view your team like that,
and you always have to draft week drafts, loaded drafts
or not. That still has to be point of mind.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Man. We got to get elite players in the building.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And just because this class is this, I still don't
change my migrading scale to match them. They got to
come up to me or I punt into the next
season or whatever it is that we're doing. But it
has to be that ideal. And that's what I'm want
the listeners and viewers to understand. Man, Well we're putting
this together, this championship puzzle. Man, we got to be
tough graders, and you always got to look at it
(13:08):
from what traditionally historically plays at that at that level
in those games, and you got.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
To build your team as such. Last thing that we'll
take a great comeback talk about some of these games. Man.
The thing that I feel worse about for McDermott is
all the success they got a new building they're going
into next year. It's almost like the promised Land, Like
he doesn't get he doesn't get to go in, you know,
like they kind of got this thing all the way
to this point and you're hoping new building all the
excitement that comes with that, like can we make a
(13:36):
championship push here? And he's gonna have to go somewhere else.
I gotta believe he's you know, he's got to be
a legit candidate for some of these opens. A million
I will see this.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I will say this though, like DJ and I told
you how not destruct, But how disappointed I was when
the Jacks lost to the Bills and I was walking
off the field, and I don't know why I had
the epiphany or the realization in that moment just how
daunting the challenge is to be a Super Bowl champion.
And I have to say, man, I felt like he
did some of his best coaching, particularly in the postseason,
(14:07):
with his defense, because let's be honest, man, they should
have knocked out Denver Broncos like they should. Like the
turnovers and stuff, they should not. They had a great
game plan, they had bow Nicks flustered, They did enough
things defensively to be able to get the dub. They
just didn't play well enough on offense, and unfortunately for them,
their stars let them down. The quarterback and the running
(14:29):
like putting the ball on the ground and turn it
over and those things and all that has to work,
because I said, like, man, you.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Gotta have talent, you got to have execution, you gotta
have a little luck, you gotta have happen to play
your best on those days.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
And when you don't play well, you have to have
a way to get bailed out like the Rams. As
Sean McVay said, I didn't coach my best today. The
team bailed him out. Sometimes it works like that, no doubt.
We'll take a quick break.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
We'll finish up with our thoughts on that Denver Buffalo game,
and then we'll get to those other three games we
saw over the weekend right after this, All right, buck,
let's let's kind of finish the thought there. Give hey,
give Denver credit. Bo Nicks look that I hate to
see that injury at the very end of the game.
(15:13):
He's out for the rest of the playoffs. But he
made you know, he ran around, made some plays with
his legs, which he does. I had tweeted out during
the game. He plays a very highly caffeinated brand of football,
Like it is just this busy it is jumpy and busy.
But he made some big throws. Hit that that dagger
with a big times throw. You know, he's he's impressive.
It was. It was interesting going back through my draft
(15:34):
stuff on him. And and if you remember I had
talked about him with Jalen Hurts. Yeah, like, hey, you
can nitpick him when his best is required. Good. You know,
he's he's been good, and then there's just a toughness
and a grittiness and a winner factor with him, and
you're seeing that in the postseason. I think he's thrown
it better than Jalen Hurts, more consistently than Jalen Hurts
(15:55):
has in his career.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
It's so funny, man, He's become one of my favorite
players out of that class. And I think it is
because of the struggles that we witnessed at Auburn before
he got the orient and it also is a part
of the thing that we have beginning to started to
look at when it comes to quarterbacks, the experience and
our experience matters. And I do remember, you know, it's
funny because that class we always have to rank top five,
(16:18):
but always remember, hey Bo's on this line somewhere, like
I put six in there, Like hey editor, you just
got to know he's right here on the bubble of
what it is and to see him and to see
how it works. I mean, they talk about it as
much as we talk about Kata Williams closing our games
in the fourth quarter. Kayla Williams has seven game winning
(16:38):
drives fourth quarter comebacks. Ole Nicks also has seven game
winning like he is at his best, and I look,
I want to see how they explore this. The one
thing that has happened for the Broncos. The way that
he plays best works counter to the way they play
defensive best. They're at their best when he is going tempo.
(16:59):
When they tempo, their offense has a better rhythm, to
a better performance, better production. However, they can't do that
because what that does is that compromised the defensive effort.
But in those late stages when it's go time, you
notice how quick they play because that's his sweet spot.
And I'm gonna say maybe I underestimated his athleticism, his
(17:22):
ability to elude in the vacant and get on the Hey.
That is a superpower that he has, and Sean Payton
leans into that. It's unfortunate that he broke his ankle
and they won't have him because I don't know what
this offense looks like without him as the centerpiece. Sean
is a great game planner, play designer in those things.
(17:47):
I don't know how they tweak this thing with Jarson.
I don't know if their run game is strong enough
to allow him to slowly acclimate to the championship level
that he's going to play in in this EBSC champions game,
Like you know what I mean, It's different a regular
season fill in to whatever, Like this is not even
a nick posting. Nick Bose had a couple of regular
season games then the playoffs. We're saying, hey man, we're
(18:09):
gonna drop you in the championship game and we need
to play.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Great right away. Yeah. No, it's gonna be a big challenge.
I do still of mis talented though, go back to
when he was coming out and what we talked about
just from a skill set standpoint, and I would be
leary if and we'll get into the previous of these
games later, but I'd be leary if I was New
England to come in with a heavy, heavy blitz approach
because Sean Payton, if one thing he is, he is
a screen master. And you will have everyone in the playbook.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Everyone everyone, and he's up the way up down the
field to see if you're guys that are exposed in coverage,
if they can defend.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
No question. Now looking forward to that, All right, let's
get to the Rams Chicago Wild game. Crazy throw by Caleb,
but forced this thing into overtime. Rams ended up holding
on back and forth affair. I don't know what I'll
get your take on this one. I know Collinsworth was
banging on DJ Moore for stopping on the crossing route
that Caleb picked. But I was talking to another buddy
of ours, who you know, has played the position in
(19:05):
the NFL, and I always like to get their opinion
on some of this stuff, and he was like he
knew he was dead in that play. He can say, like,
you got to run it out, but like that ball
is not supposed to go to him, and he kind
of he kind of knew that. So it was kind
of a he thought it was a little unfair and
that with bad decision by Caleb versus DJ Moore catching
some strays for not running through that, It's just to me,
(19:26):
I think it would have made more sense for Chicago.
And we get to the rams in a second. But
where you were, you don't need like fifteen yards. And
this is where Look, we've tried to make Caleb play
from the pocket and we're gonna, you know, do it
not now we need fifteen yards. Get him on the perimeter,
get in his ear before the play. Hey, if you
see any daylight, go go take it. Go get it.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, Like you know, it's funny, right, So I think
two things gonna be true. One, it was a bad
read and a bad throw by Caleb. Two, it wasn't
the greatest effort from DJ more regardless of whether you
do it like like, it still wasn't the greatest thing.
So both things can be true. But I do believe
you're right. And I'll say this, I think pro guys
(20:07):
are a lot like high school guys. Sometimes you got
to give him that last nugget to around to, like, hey,
look at where we're at. Situation.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yeah, fifteen yards from the field goal.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
If you don't like it, throw it out of bounds
or whatever, Like, hey, all we needed three points. We
can win this thing. But like, don't be a hero
and you're right, hey, look if it opens up, take it.
Because here's what I saw from Caleb, and it was funny.
I've seen him play a ton this year, but DJ
there was a run where he took off in the
middle and he pulls through a tackle and it reminded
(20:36):
me of the Oklahoma Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Well he was running. I was like, man, I forgot
like he is fast and he is strong, and I.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Had a buddy who coached against him when he was
in high school because I was like, man, how is heasy?
He said, Buck, I'm telling you, man, whenever this thing
is backed up and he's in a corner, he always
responds the right way. And in that game DJ I
felt like you could feel him in these late moments
in the postseason. You can see the Boogeyman that he
(21:05):
is going to be in these moments because he has.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Some I don't care in his game that I'm gonna
make these throws.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I'm gonna make these plays and do it and you're
gonna have to live with some of the turnovers that
comes with that kind of mentality.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
But he's wired the right way. I just you know,
it's unfortunate for them.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
They did all that stuff to work and they needed
to finish it, and they had an opportunity to finish it.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
And look, it's on.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
The quarterbacks, on the coaches, on everybody to get it done.
But they were that far from finishing. And Ben Johnson's
perspective afterwards when he said, I can't think about next
year because no matter what we all think, you don't
have momentum going into next season. You got to start
it all over and some of the magic carpet ride
that you had this year is not going to exist
(21:52):
next year. So how do you figure out how to
improve the team and improve him? But you got to
like what we've seen from here and you want under.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Ben John Yeah. No. To me, just watching him in
terms of the strength and the athleticism and the explosiveness
both as a runner and a thrower kind of gave
me like old school stay and stay in the city
of Chicago, like Derek Rose when he was kind of
coming on the scene there and you're like, oh my gosh,
this guy's got a little different bounce to him than
everybody else that's out there on the floor. Man.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, in DJ, I'll say this because eventually we're gonna
have these long conversations about like the draft and quarterback
prospects or whatever. But man, I'm telling you, and the
playoffs continues to bear fruit your franchise quarterback. If you
look the elast, you better have some superpowers and it
can't just all be processing. You better have some other
stuff to get me out of a gym. If I'm
(22:41):
a play caller, because I can't call the perfect play
the entire.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Game, I just I cannot do it.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
And so whether we talked about Caleb, we talked about Drake,
we talk about the people that we're seeing in this tournament.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
You have to have some of that stuff in your
game on the rams. Look, give them credit. I don't
Ben Shawn and said after the game he didn't call
his best game. I thought they should have committed to
the run game a little more than they did early.
They were getting six and seven yards with both those backs.
They felt like they were kind of chewing up some yards.
And the other thing, I would just say, look, the
(23:14):
defense played great, especially for long stretch there in the
second half. They were just getting turnover three and outs
and playing really, really consistent. I think the front wasn't
just a dominant front. I thought the secondary played much
better than they have over the last month, which was
a good sign for them. They're going to need that
going into Seattle. But the other thing is man like
(23:34):
Pooka Nakua. I don't know if I think I'm trying
to think of can you think of other players who
you would say? And I guess Jared Verse would be
in the conversation, but I think I would I could
make a strong argument. Pooka Naku is the toughest player
on their football team. And you know what I love
about what they do When.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
It's nut cutting time, he gets the book fly sweep
sight adjustment, which we don't really see a lot our league,
and I wanted to point that out.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
They played cover.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Zero against him. They bring the pressure off the thing.
He does a slight adjustment. Date throw it to him
at four yards and he gets the additional four just
by being a tough guy. Uh. We We've talked about
this the last couple of years about how toughness has
to be a core ingred of whomever you bring in
as a prospect, but as a wide receiver him elected none, No, no,
(24:23):
I'm running through you.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I'm not sliding war. I mean so much of honey.
He blocks like hines, like the whole physical Yeah, like
everything it is. It is essential. It is a big
part of who they are.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
And I will say this because a couple of years
ago I thought Davonte Adams was beginning to slip, and
he does have some slippage in his game when it
comes around running, but that he made that cass that
he made on the boundary.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Handoue coordination, body controlling those things. What I love about
the postseason. We are seeing some people at their best
when it comes to some of the plays that they make.
That was an unbelievable catch, and you're right, Sean McVeigh
didn't have his best game because I felt like they
needed to stick to the run. They could have punched
the run in a little bit to control of the game,
(25:13):
and there was a segment in there where they kind
of got pass happy.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
I just know this.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Going to Seattle, they better be balanced because up there
with the twelves, you do not want to get into
one of these games where it's just.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Throw, throw, throw, throw throw.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Because Mike McDonald and the Seahawks, they are finding ways
to unlock the codes and the job that he did,
and we'll get to this game, the job that he
did against the Niners. If I'm a team that is
playing calshit and I am studying those three games because
the whole the Niners took twenty six points in a
three game spare oh, I'm looking at all of this
(25:49):
stuff that they did to try and figure out how
we can put I playing together to get up the
cause I've never seen anybody dismant.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
They were hurt. I ain't never seen anybody dismount of
the niner. The other dominance man gave up one drive,
one drive, and then that was the wrap. Yeah, I mean,
wait and get to that game forty one to six.
The other thing. As we're starting in this game here
in Seattle, San Francisco, I'm glad we're going to get
ram Seattle. It felt like those are the two best teams.
(26:17):
I wanted to see that matchup. I love did a
little tweet showing clever Lang because it's got a version
Dockey three vibe to it. Predict. What's your prediction for
the fight? Pain, Yes, that's what it's going to be.
It's going to be a war. I cannot wait for
that game. And I was thinking from a Seattle standpoint,
if you're a Seattle fan, you get a chance to
(26:39):
to get through both of your division rivals, with the
ultimate payoff being a chance to avenge a Super Bowl
loss to the Patriots, Like all that's on the table there,
Like that would I mean, I don't know if there'd
be a sweeter ride than that one, if they were
able to pull that whole thing off. Yeah, the Redemption Tour.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, because like they I'll see this, they gave away
a Super Bowl to the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
When the balls on the one yard line, they can
handle the beast mode, they do it.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
The interception in is going to prevent a lot of
dudes from getting gold jackets because they didn't get that
second one done.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
That's it, man.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
And looking at the job that Mike McDonald has done,
and you will know a little bit more because you
have people that were close to the ground to him
in Baltimore. I'll say this, DJ like his command and
his ability as a young coach. Now I do know
Leslie Fraser pretty well, and Leslie has done a really
good job in his role as kind of like the
advisor confidant of whatevery. But he said, Mike McDonald has
(27:29):
the goods.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
He is right. They got it, man. And you know,
it's funny listening.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
To Brock where Brock talked about how they had to
have some removal of players to fully be who they needed.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
To be Mob Mob. Yeah. So, and it's so it's
funny because we didn't get the chance to follow up.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
But like when Brock talked about the Marcus Lawrence right,
and it's funny because this also came out when Michael
Parsons went the green Back environment and culture is everything,
expectations everything.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Oh man, I can't believe he's running to the ball.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Well, I am sure that there was a conversation when
he got to Seattle, Hey, bro run to the ball,
where maybe that didn't exist in his previous place, but
in Seattle, they're like.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Hey mean, we spaked everybody to run to the ball.
Get to the ball.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
People don't understand the value of coaching and how sometimes
in the league everybody doesn't get coached. But it certainly
appears when I look at the Seahawks, they getting coached,
and they're getting coached hard.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I also I also think, you know, I think that
DeMarcus played hard, has played hard now. I think he
wanted to go someplace where what he believed in was emphasized,
and I believe that that's from a cultural standpoint. I
think he went up there and found some like minded
guys and said, Okay, this is where I belong, this
is where I fit, and those guys want to come
there and be a part of that.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
And look, that can be a big part of it,
because you know, when it's not right. You can look
around it lots and be like, oh, we we don't
have a chance. These dudes don't really everyone's not all
the way bought in.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
But even though he wasn't at a big school, he
was at Boise and that culture at boisos the way
it was supposed to work. He knows what it looks like.
And I believe that DJ. They know, like, particularly if
you come from winning programs.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Is one of the reasons why we talked about scouting
guys and getting guys from championship caliber programs that have
won at a high level. They understand how the program
is supposed to operate when you're winning and successful.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
He knows and they do it.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
And look that that mentality mob that they talked about
mission over bs, Yeah, like just just being able to
understand that and to have a selfless team. And I'm
gonna say this, we talked about toughness. I don't care
what anyone says. And we don't know the severity of
(29:43):
Sam Donald's injury, but an oblique but you know how
we used to talk about the quarterback has to have
a mentality.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Of not over my dead body.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, man, I don't care how I feel I'm playing
in this game and I'm gonna figure out a way
to get it done whether it hurts or not. Give
Sam Donald credit. And luckily for them, they didn't really
have to use him extensively, so he was able to
get through it. But franchise quarterback has to show up,
and I give him a ton of credit for showing up,
regardless of the severity of the injury. To me, that matters,
(30:14):
and I think it matters to his teammates because that
toughness has to be shown from your franchise quarterback in
some moments.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, tough loss for them though with Zach Sharbon and
he has done for the rest of the playoffs. He
had been a great one two punch there with Kenneth Walker.
But I mean, look, this is a team that's very physical.
They're physical on the line of scrimmage on both sides.
They're going to want to try and run the ball
against the Rams. But I mean this game will require
more of Sam Donald than the last one did. He's
going to have to make throws, which he didn't and
(30:44):
when they were able to beat the Rams at home
a few weeks back, he's going to need to play
the same way and I'm saying, does he still going
have to vanquish some demons?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Because there's a feeling that I get from the Rams
that they feel like they know Sam and that they
can make the old Sam come up. And so even
though he proved on that Thursday night game to hey,
I can take care of this, I can lead us back,
He's still gonna have to overcome that. But let me
also shout out because we know a friend of the program,
John Snyder Miss he's in trade cool for Shi shit
(31:17):
like DJ. You know how we talked about what we
were talking about Buffalo, about Hey, pushing your chips in
and when you know it's there and being able to
look down the road and say, hey, what do we need?
What do we need to get us over the top.
And I will say this because they did it before.
And this is where experience matters. You remember when they
made the move for Percy Harvin the first iteration, we
(31:39):
just needed the Hey man, we might just need like
another playmaker. Where were we playing? I don't know, but
I know he can give us something. In the third phase.
Shat has given them that. He also has given them
something a little bit when he comes in. It makes plays,
but that kickoff return to start the game, the energy
that was created right away, that's why you make those trades.
(32:02):
You make that trade because you're like, man, I just
need something in our pocket, just something just to give
us a little Give him credit, man, he has always
been daring, but your move the Pete Carroll thing, and
now this is really his team where he's putting it together.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
I look the draft that they just had, what they've
done to develop, the way they've kind of built this
pass off to Snyder. Man, I can't say enough good
things about what he's doing.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
So I know that obviously John had the Super Bowl,
two appearances in the win there in Seattle. But if
we take this conversation back rewind a little bit, can
you see maybe the Buffalo blueprint is actually Seattle of
Pete had his run. Great job, thanks for everything you've done.
But right now we need to take We're going to
(32:49):
just pivot a little bit and get some new juice,
some new energy, and see if we can then make
a deeper push. And it's obviously worked so far for Seattle. Yeah,
so now everything is the next higher.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
So the next higher matters, and I would say, like
everyone will talk about the Josh Allen thing in terms
of it mattering.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
It's not only what you do offensively. I think the
biggest thing is Sean McDermott was so heavily impactful on
their defense. That defensive coordinator has to be a star
because he has to take what they have and elevate
them to the next level.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And so that higher everyone's going to talk about offensively,
but that higher the person that takes over the defense
that inheritence with Greg Russau and all those guys at Panessa,
how can you get those guys to elevate their respective games.
To me, that's really really important. But you're right, they
elevated after Pete. Now Buffalo didn't fall off like Pete
(33:44):
in the.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
It elevated. Mike McDonald and Snyder have their imprint.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
So yeah, this is an opportunity going back to Buffalo
for Brandon Bean to put his thumb all the way
on and say, now, this is what it should look like,
this is what I wanted to look like, and we're
going to be able to find a way to get
it done.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Let's get to the last game here, New England Houston.
We've been talking the winning side of a lot of
these games, and I think in this one, I think
the bigger story coming out of this game was on
the losing side more so than anyone wasn't on the
New England side of things.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
So let me ask you, just because I didn't even
have a chance to see your tweets or whatever in
this game at at time, would you play Davis Milton again?
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Yeah? I've been in games and this is a time.
Not trying to compare anything I've ever been through to
what these guys have been through, but I have been
on teams in college where they've come in and either
I was a starter or the number two, and they've
ended happened both ways. They kind of in and say, hey,
you're going to give you one series here in the
second half, but you got to get it going. You
better get this thing gone or we're going to have
to make a change. And I've been on the backup side,
(34:45):
was like, hey, we're gonna give him, We're going to
give him a little bit here, but the leash is
very short. You better be ready to go. Yeah, So, Non,
what's what's interesting about it?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Like I was, I was looking at the discourse and
I was I was saying this the entire time, like, man,
he is crushing their chances.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
And I was saying, like, man, four interceptions put in
the thing a twenty eight passer ray. That is terrible.
And it was again, it wasn't good the week before
buck nah like and so dj I saw like five interceptions,
five pombals.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Now two of those were lost, but that's a lot
of turnovers. And it wasn't just how bad it was,
it was his body language and the way.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
That, yeah, that's a bigger thing that he looked.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
He slumped shoulders, he looked like it was a little
big for him. And so my first thing was like hey, OC, like, hey,
let's take some let's take some of this off of him,
let's run, let's run the football a little bit or whatever.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
And everyone's like, yeah, but they can't run it whatever.
I said, Yeah, but you can't just keep throwing it.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
You can't throw it twenty six times when he doesn't
have no clue in the first half. And then I've
seen Davis Mills because the second game where the Jaguars
played the Texans, Davis Mills started and he was finding
he got hot the last.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Quarter and a half. But I wondered in that game.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
I was like, man, I don't know, but I understand
it and everything is on the line, and so I
was like, man, if you make this move, you have
to be certain because.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
It's hard to go back. It's hard to go back
after you make you pull it in.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
And so I understood why Dimiko's like, now I gotta
stand in front. I gotta stand Tinto's down in this
because if I do this, it creates an even bigger
issue in the off season.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
But DJ is close. I mean, I was like, I
was like, like, cause my dad, my Dad's texted me like,
hey man, how much longer.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
I was like, I don't know, me because as bad
as it was, I kept saying, they're only eleven points down.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
They're still in the game. Yeah, they got a drive.
They didn't finish it, but they had a drive coming
out in the third quarter. But to me, even more
so than the fumbles and the and the poorly thrown interceptions,
there were some balls where it was like, dude, he
got a guy in the flat, he's dirting the ball
like wormburn. I'm like, what is going on here? Man?
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Like Steve Sacks, Yeah, yep, yeah, the yips So now DJ,
here's the bigger question, right.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
So not paying and I can cut you off there
if you're gonna ask that question that that's getting kicked
down the road. So now you have two.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Sub part years coming off of offenseve Rookie of the Year,
things great twenty year, Yeah, twenty twenty four to twenty
twenty five, it's been bad. So you got rid of
the coordinator after twenty twenty four. You got a new
coordinator this year, and the results have been the same,
if not worse. At some point we got to look
around and be like, hey man, what's what's going on?
So you got to fit your option. You can pick
that up whatever, But at no point can you talk
(37:41):
about like the three hundred million dollars decision.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I just can't do that. Like you, we got an
elephant in the room, man, look at Kyler Murray and
look at Tua like the I don't know man, Like
that didn't work out well when they signed the check
with I hope this works. I just don't. I don't.
I don't think man, I don't think you can do it.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Yeah, I'm not gonna go this war and say, oh,
you got to have a quarterback competition, But I think
the best way to get them compete is like, hey,
but here's what we're gonna We're gonna pick up a
fifty option and then we're gonna see and even if
it costs us more money, we'll gladly write the check.
If you make us have to write the check. We're
not going to write the check now until you, like
you just have too much evidence a bad ball right
(38:22):
now to lock in and say hey, I'm signing up
for this.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
It feels interesting compared to like the Sam Darnold with
the Jets decision, the Daniel Jones with the Giants decision,
where I think with both of those guys, you saw good,
but it was like the and the Jets happened to
be positioned a high end a draft. Now obviously it
didn't work out. It took Zach Wilson and he bombed,
(38:46):
and in hindsight, I think it probably like a do
over on that one. Daniel Jones, they kind of tried
to split the baby and did kind of again contract,
you know, like a couple of years, not too much risk,
but they committed to them. So let's mentioned the decision
that they have to make here. Man, I think that
that's not like you could try and say, okay, we'll
do it maybe a little shorter term one. I don't
(39:08):
even know if you'd feel great about that coming off
these two performances. I think you kind of just have
to ride this thing out. Now.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
It takes onions to do that. It takes being able
to stand firm and be like, hey man, here's what
we're doing. And you may have some hurt feelings in
those things.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Now. The thing that we don't.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Know is how that that room, that that meeting room,
and how that locker room has been operated in terms
of like hard conversations, tough love in those things. So
a lot of it would depend on how they get
down when it comes to coaches and players and having
those at that true discourse. But look, I just don't
think you can you can marry yourself to that based
(39:47):
on what we saw in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
But even bigger than that dj the last.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Two years, because the last two years matter more than
the postseason. That's just recent seed doing it, but the
last two years of not being great, and so we
need to get to the bottom of why hasn't it
been good since the rookie season. That's what the conversation
has to be because the two years in the postseason
(40:11):
it hasn't been good enough. But you don't regress like that,
you don't have a great rookie year, then come back
to the pack like the way that he is.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
The other thing I would just add, as we kind
of finished this thing up here, I was, let me
ask you this question about a couple of these games.
If if Buffalo and Denver was played in Buffalo, did
Buffalo win? I think so. If New England Houston has
(40:41):
played in Houston, does Houston win? Yah had better chance
of winning. Yet I think the homefield matters a lot.
I mean in Seattle, I mean, I look, I don't
think Sam. We just saw that the game was a
lot more competitive, at least in San Francisco than it
wasn't Seattle. I think Seattle wins both places, and I
think the Rams won close. I think the Rams probably
would have beat Chicago pretty handily it home if they're
at warm Weather with Stafford playing indoor like that would
(41:03):
have been so that That's my whole point is that
this is a great example of yeah, hey, those games
in the middle of the season, they matter. Home field
advantage matters.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
And I think you have to bring that that urgency
to your your people. You have to tell them like, hey,
this is why it matters in those things. Even though
the Jags lost the wildcard round at home, I can
tell you, man, it it matters. Man, there is something
about it. And also, did we see all these games
are three point games? Yeah, the one score games. And
(41:34):
if I have my dress, I want to be at home.
I want to be in the comfy companies of my
own spot where I know the lead of the land,
I can prep in my I know exactly what I'm
dealing with.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
And that's yeah, you want home.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
And I think now more than ever, going all in
for the number one seed matters.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
But also I can't get number one. I got to
get number two.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
I gotta have the opportunity to play multiple games at
home to get myself the best shot of going to
the championship game.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Yeah, I think I'm trending in that direction as well.
Before we get out of here, Buck, we do have
the National Championship game tonight. Miami and Indiana. Who do
you like and why.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Indiana has been so great? Like their execution is flawless.
They had been able to kind of dominate and do whatever.
But you know who they've been. They've been Tiger Woods,
playing from ahead the entire time. What I would like
to see from an evaluation standpoint, I would just like
to see a little adversity. I would like to see,
because we're gonna talk about mendoz or whatever. I would
like to see him have to overcome something to do it,
(42:39):
not just for them winning the title, but a better evaluation.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
DJ.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
This is crazy because I heard this on the podcast,
but I didn't notice in ten of the fifteen games
of these played.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Fewer the nineteen pass attempts. Like that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
Like what we're talking about if you were in the
nineteen even the remarkable run in the postseason, DJ, we're
talking about averaging one hundred and eighty something pass yards
with those eight touchdowns. I want to see from an
evaluation standpoint, how does he play.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
When it's on him over the course of a game.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Just from that. But this game, Indiana is the favorite,
they should do it. I think it's a narrow path
of victory from Miami. But I will say this, the
people that are sleeping on my Miami upfront, their front
can give them problems if they can control the game
early and if they're able to use their offense as
their defense to kind of make it where they shrink
the game and impose their will. But it's a narrow
(43:35):
path to big from Miami. I don't think this can
be a shootout. It has to be a regular affair,
a grinded out of affair where they can win in
the forward.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Carson back point. Now, I think the Miami offensive line
is going to be bigger to me. I think that's
the difference. You've seen Indiana go up against some good
defensive lines, but like the big games they've played, Ohio
State's offensive line underwhelming, Oregon's offensive line I think, a
little overrated, Alabama's offensive line not up to Alabama standards.
This will be the best offensive line that they've seen,
and they're big, and if they can run the ball
(44:04):
and move it that way too, clock like, you can
get to a formula where Miami wins. I think obviously
Indiana is the favorite because they're, you know, make case,
the more complete all the way through twenty two starters,
maybe the most complete, more mature team. But they've got
defensive line clear, those edge rushers at Miami, and to me,
the offensive line controls that game. That's the way they
win it. If they win.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
Their physicality also stands out, like this has to be
they have to make it a violent, physical game, and
they've done that. Never remember, I don't think people are
respecting their path enough. The teams that they've knocked off
along the way really good teams that have kind of
prepared them for the battle. So if they can impose,
they will, much like I saw them do against Texas
and m and those things.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Yeah, they can get effort. Yeah. If you look, they
both played very close games Ohio State, so I think
it's an evenly matched game. So I'm looking forward to
It should be a lot of fun. I don't really
have a call in terms of who I think wins
that I think, you know, there's more paths for Indiana
to win, but I do think there's away from Amy
to get this thing done. And I know it'll be
more Indiana fans there potentially than Miami fans because how
(45:06):
excited they are. But it is in their home stadium.
You talk about familiarity, Miami should be right at home. Yeah,
familiarity is everything in execution.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
I will say this any of its execution is outstanding,
the way that they play, and they don't beat themselves.
I think there are a lot of lessons that other
college programs are going to learn. I think people that
kind of cracked the code a little bit on how
they're a two by two team. They're very static and
it reminds me a lot of the Indianapolis Colts and
how we're going to be simple because we now know
(45:33):
all the answers to all of the problems. The more
variables we have i change information, the more difficult it
is to prepare.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
I do think there's something too. There's simplistic approach and
the high execution that they're able to play with no doubt. Man,
I'm looking forward to this one. Should be a fun
one tonight. I'll also say Buck, I'm getting close to
filing a mock draft here, getting close to filing my
top fifty. I have been jamming on players. I'm getting excited.
I didn't start you start talking about some of these
(46:02):
guys that we've been watching here. So that's coming up
soon as we get into the real deep part of
the offseason here. Yeah, that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
It's a it's a goal each day to get x
amount of players done, to look at all the stuff
to get the top guys in. Now we've got to
mix in some of the All Star Game. I got
the East West coming up next week. You got a
single Bowl coming up, and so that kind of takes
us on a little bit of a detour. But yeah,
talking about these top guys and getting ready for it.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
I feel great about it because gonna be upun process.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
Uh, the quarterbacks may not be the headliners that we
like to talk about or whatever, but I still think
it's a good draft and you write off so you
tweet about it every year.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Wide receivers, God dang man, every year. I mean it's
and you don't even know, like who a lot of mars.
You go through it and you watch tape, I'm like,
he's like he's a starter. Like it's a second that's
a second round player right there, wa next guy. I
mean it's a little different size, but it's a second
round type player.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
A million of them, right, Like like where are all
the kids baskets like Casey except you know, like like
pass ketches, pass catchers go lower that are out there
and look, men, this one to talk about. Yeah, we'll
get into it, all right. That's going to do it
for us to hope you guys enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
We do have a got a forties and free agency
thing coming up here with Rosenthal, so we're kind of
going through the off season stuff, talking about your little
primer about salary cap space, free agency stuff, some draft stuff,
so Buck, we got you know, we're at Rosenthal in
on the game here a little bit on the off
season stuff. But it's been fun. It's been fun. He's
got to put out his free agency list, so that's
(47:33):
always good conversation. All right, We'll see you next time
right here on Movi The Sticks
And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
What's up, everybody? Welcome to move the sticks, DJ and
Buck with you as we react to a crazy weekend
of Divisional round football. We know our finalists. Now we've
got the final four, Buck, But just as soon as
we're getting ready to get talking about that, this is
the coaching cycle that never ends, man, No, it never ends.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
The Buffalo Bills move on from Sean McDermott following the
loss in the Divisional round and DJ, I think the
thing about this and maybe why it troubled me so
is I tweeted this out like one.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I'm sitting here looking at Sean mcdermot's record, right, and.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I just think about how hard it is to get
consistently into the tournament. And I'm like eight nine seasons,
eight playoff appearances, ninety eight and fifty regular season record,
five af East titles, and up until this year.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
They owned the AFC East.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
And the reason it resonates with me is because when
I was in Buffalo playing Marv Levy when they went
to four straight Super Bowl they talked about, we want
to dominate the division, because if you dominate the division
it guarantees you a lottery ticket to the tournament. And
so when we think about the tournament, I'm like, man,
the Buffalo Bills have always been in the tournament in
(01:25):
his era, and people talked about, yeah, but you know,
like they got to the championship game. It was around
they hadn't gone to the Super Bowl, And I tweeted this.
It reminded me of the debate that we've had where
we talked about in baseball in the nineties and two thousands,
would you rather be the Atlanta Braves or the Florida Marlins.
The Atlanta Braves won a million division titles, they won
(01:47):
one World Series. The Florida Marlin sucked for most of
two decades, but they won two. So would you rather
win to and then go to anonymity and then come
back and win another one?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Or would you rather always being the conversation?
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And I feel like that's where we're training to International
Football League, where owners are like, yeah, I don't care
about being good all the time. I just want to
win it and then I'll deal with it after I
win it. And I just think that's a faulty strategy
to take because I think it's so hard to just
say able to gets.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Lightning in the bottle, We're gonna win it, and then
I'm good. I just don't get this realistic. It's a
great analogy. I had always used the Utah Jazz as
an analogy. Oh that's a great one. That's a great year.
But couldn't get couldn't get over the hump to finish it.
And I don't know what the equivalent to that would be.
I don't know if that's like the MAVs or somebody
or some other kind of one off. You know, it's
(02:38):
a Milwaukee Bucks. Yeah, yeah, they got one. They got
their one. Yeah. I guess it comes from a place of,
you know, just because of my fandom, which I only
really am a fan of one team of professional sports
because everything else is kind of work related. But I'm
a baseball fan, a Patre fan, and I'm like, man,
I've been to the playoffs for the last six years.
(02:58):
But I would if you when we could only go
once and get a ring, I would have been like,
oh yeah, I would. I just want that one experience.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
And I would say this, I know you well enough
to know that, no, because here's what we know. Once
you start winning, want to win again. It becomes an obsession.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
It would be like the Cubs people when the Cubs
finally won one and they're like, oh, I can Dad
go to heaven because it comes and finally one. But
you know what, surely there after they fired Joe Madden
because they want to win again. Like that's not when
when we say that, that's not true. We want to win,
and we want to win at a high level. And
I appreciate that, but I also think you have to
(03:36):
be in it. And I know your heart has been
broken a few times with the Padres, but this is
much better than not going to the playoffs at all, right,
Like you at least want to be in the conversation.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I think, I think though this is I think this
going back to the Bills, it was a window, you know,
for them, and it was the Tom Brady dynasty for
twenty years where they ran things and then Tom Brady
exits and not to take shots, but you've got the
Jets and the Dolphins in this division, like this is
(04:09):
not a this is not a Jugger not division. And
now the Patriots are out of the mix. So now
you got sole ownership of this division for that period
of years, with an MVP quarterback, right, and you never
got over You never got to a super Bowl, you know,
much less won a super Bowl. And I think now
it isn't just that, it's that oh great, Now now
(04:30):
the Patriots are back, Yeah, and we're back. They got
a quarterback now and they're back, and we missed our window.
That's what it feels like. And guess what, the Jets
and the Dolphins still stink.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And your analogy might be even better than mine because
the Utah Jazz is exactly who it feels like. Because
Buffalo did all the right things, but Pat Mahomes was
the stopping point.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
The Kansas City Chiefs prevented them from realizing their potential
because they get passed the Chiefs. You say, okay, they
maybe win a super Bowl because the Chiefs were the
team what three.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Out of five super Bowl six?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
And I also think that dynasty on the heels of
the Patriots dynasty as owners kind of warped into thinking
how the league operates. Right, So the Patriots go to
eight or nine under Tom Brady, Right, they go to
however many they go, they lose some, they win five
(05:27):
or six or whatever they won. Then the chief come
right after that they go to five, they win three.
So there's an expectation that this league is dynastic in
terms of how you dominate at the top. I just
think it's it's very hard to operate like that. And
I think as a team builder, you would like to
build a team that's always, that's always in the hunt.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
We're always there and in the mix. But don't you
also see it from the standpoint of Okay, you've had
this roadblock which has been the Chiefs, and now the
Chiefs are mortal. So now the nicest house, the nicest
house on the street is up for sale, and you're
seeing the Ravens, You're seeing the bills, these teams saying, well,
(06:12):
hold up, this is this is our time, this is available,
it's open, this is We've talked about this a f
C field. Is nothing in this AFC field that scares anybody.
So you're sitting there thinking, oh, we got this is
our We got to go, man, we gotta we gotta
make our change. We got to take our shot because
right now there is no king in the AFC.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
So then my my thing was say, all right, do
your actions match your goals When it comes to the
way you built the team. And I would say, of
all those Buffalo teams that we've seen during that window,
this was the weakest Buffalo team that I've seen during
that time when I when I when I look at
what they have, they have three blue chip players Dion Dawkins,
(06:50):
James Cook, and Josh All. There's no one else on
their roster that we would universally celebrate as a high end,
elite player. And so if that's the case where we're
looking at the window and saying, like, hey, man, twenty
twenty five is the year that we can go run
through the regular season and do it. Did they make
a major move to upgrade, did they make a trade, did.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
They you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Did they put the pieces in place to push their
chips all in to say they're going to do it?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Or do they build up to this crescendo? Because one
thing I.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Can say about how we and the Eagles I felt
like that year, say Kwon Barkley, like they pushed the
chips in, like hey, we're going for it or whatever.
And I can't say that Buffalo did the same thing.
We knew they didn't have a number one receiver, they
didn't go make a move to go and acquire a receiver.
They didn't get George Pickens or somebody they might have
been in the conversation, but they didn't land a marquee
(07:42):
guy that pushed them over the top. So I understand
the frustration. But then I would say, yeah, but your
team doesn't match what your desires are. So how can
we really all the way be mad about what it is?
Speaker 2 (07:56):
They have a roster full and outside of those guys,
you mention of good players that are high floor, you know,
steady eddies. But and we've talked about this, I know
you've thrown a number on it in terms of just
the number of blue chippers that you need to have,
like elite players, Like they don't have that collection of
elite players because guess what the teams that we've talked
(08:18):
about that have been on these runs, it was crunch time,
and it was a combination of Kelsey at a time,
it was Tyreek Hill, was Chris Jones to close out games.
It was Patrick Mahomes there every single time like they
had and then and then even look into like Trent
McDuffie's the top McDuffie five.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Corner in the league. The linebackers were playing an elite level.
So when we talked about that, like, that is what
it is is playing at that level. I think when
we've gone through and we did the exercise where it
was three defensive playmakers on each side, it was lineman
as a quarterback or whatever, it ended up being twelve.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
So I've taken part of what you said.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Part of what I learned in Carolina when they would
use the old Bill Pollion thing where you got to
have eight to twelve and all of that marries, you.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Know, in terms of.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
I think sometimes we do a disservice in the media
because we talk so much about the quarterback that we've
created this policy that a quarterback can lift any roster
to championship heights, and that's simply not true. The quarterback
is the biggest piece, the most essential piece that you
must have. But man, the teams that win Super Bowls
(09:24):
are really really good teams. Like that's what it is.
And the feedback people are like, well, why are the
Patriots there? Like why are the Broncos there? And I say,
you can make the case for the Broncos their defense
and some of the players. I say, with the Patriots,
here's what I would say as not only being universally elite,
but it's being elite within that system. When I talked
about the Patriots, Caleban Chasing, who I saw closely with
(09:49):
the Jaguars, was not an elite player there dj this
year for the Patriots, he is playing at.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
An elite level at the rates which he's rushing the past.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Now we can talk about system and or whatever, but
we talked about eighty five percent of the league are
system players. You got to put them in the right
system so they can maximize their talent. The Patriots have
taken a collection of older players, younger players, veterans free agency,
Milton Williams, Roberts Plane, I saw Carton Davis, Christian Gonzales
(10:19):
is home grown.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
They have Harold Landry and some other guys that are
playing really well within their system.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
So however we couch it, man, They're a.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Really good team. And whatever the schedule is, the schedule is.
The quarterback is playing really well. Stefan Diggs is still
a dude in his role. They have enough where you
can say, okay, I can see eight to ten guys
that can push them over the top. It has to
look like they have to play at that level, regardless
of whether we say talent wise there, but they have
to play at in the level during the course of
(10:50):
that season.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, I think you've seen Marcus Jones is one of
those playmakers, you know, unbelievable. Yeah, he's as a returner.
And to go back to that, I was looking it
up while you were talking. So when we broke this down,
it was a championship foundation quarterback. Three offensive playmakers could
be a combination of any of the still guys. Three
(11:12):
quality offensive linemen then fill in with them. Two pass
rushers could come from inside, outside or combination either way.
And then three defensive playmakers, either at the linebacker secondary level.
And it's interesting when you kind of use that and
kind of run some of these teams through it that
are still left. It is pretty interesting to see, you know,
where they are with these spots.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
I mean, like you start to begin to talk about
the players and whatever and is I don't know if
you ever played spades, but like with the Patriots, so it's.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Almost like, Okay, I got two in impossible.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
So I may not say that Marcus Jones is dead,
but if you give me Marcus Jones and Roberts mullane.
That makes one, you know what I mean. Like so
like you cobble it together, you're like, okay, like I
can begin to picture this thing.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
You got to hell, you got a couple of jacks.
You got a couple of jacks. I might be able
to maybe I might be able to get it. Yes,
So they've been able to do those things.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
And I think when you talk about the final four,
the Patriots, we can talk about the Broncos, and the
Broncos have a tough hill to climb without starting quarterback,
but you can talk about their defense, how they rush
to pass or pass or ten some of the other
guys that they have, Like you can make that case.
We talk about the Rams. We love what it looks
like in the NFC because the Rams and the Seahawks
(12:24):
like they're built to last. But those theories hold true.
And as a team builder, as you're putting it together,
I think you always have to view your team like that,
and you always have to draft week drafts, loaded drafts
or not. That still has to be point of mind.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Man. We got to get elite players in the building.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And just because this class is this, I still don't
change my migrading scale to match them. They got to
come up to me or I punt into the next
season or whatever it is that we're doing. But it
has to be that ideal. And that's what I'm want
the listeners and viewers to understand. Man, Well we're putting
this together, this championship puzzle. Man, we got to be
tough graders, and you always got to look at it
(13:08):
from what traditionally historically plays at that at that level
in those games, and you got.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
To build your team as such. Last thing that we'll
take a great comeback talk about some of these games. Man.
The thing that I feel worse about for McDermott is
all the success they got a new building they're going
into next year. It's almost like the promised Land, Like
he doesn't get he doesn't get to go in, you know,
like they kind of got this thing all the way
to this point and you're hoping new building all the
excitement that comes with that, like can we make a
(13:36):
championship push here? And he's gonna have to go somewhere else.
I gotta believe he's you know, he's got to be
a legit candidate for some of these opens. A million
I will see this.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I will say this though, like DJ and I told
you how not destruct, But how disappointed I was when
the Jacks lost to the Bills and I was walking
off the field, and I don't know why I had
the epiphany or the realization in that moment just how
daunting the challenge is to be a Super Bowl champion.
And I have to say, man, I felt like he
did some of his best coaching, particularly in the postseason,
(14:07):
with his defense, because let's be honest, man, they should
have knocked out Denver Broncos like they should. Like the
turnovers and stuff, they should not. They had a great
game plan, they had bow Nicks flustered, They did enough
things defensively to be able to get the dub. They
just didn't play well enough on offense, and unfortunately for them,
their stars let them down. The quarterback and the running
(14:29):
like putting the ball on the ground and turn it
over and those things and all that has to work,
because I said, like, man, you.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Gotta have talent, you got to have execution, you gotta
have a little luck, you gotta have happen to play
your best on those days.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
And when you don't play well, you have to have
a way to get bailed out like the Rams. As
Sean McVay said, I didn't coach my best today. The
team bailed him out. Sometimes it works like that, no doubt.
We'll take a quick break.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
We'll finish up with our thoughts on that Denver Buffalo game,
and then we'll get to those other three games we
saw over the weekend right after this, All right, buck,
let's let's kind of finish the thought there. Give hey,
give Denver credit. Bo Nicks look that I hate to
see that injury at the very end of the game.
(15:13):
He's out for the rest of the playoffs. But he
made you know, he ran around, made some plays with
his legs, which he does. I had tweeted out during
the game. He plays a very highly caffeinated brand of football,
Like it is just this busy it is jumpy and busy.
But he made some big throws. Hit that that dagger
with a big times throw. You know, he's he's impressive.
It was. It was interesting going back through my draft
(15:34):
stuff on him. And and if you remember I had
talked about him with Jalen Hurts. Yeah, like, hey, you
can nitpick him when his best is required. Good. You know,
he's he's been good, and then there's just a toughness
and a grittiness and a winner factor with him, and
you're seeing that in the postseason. I think he's thrown
it better than Jalen Hurts, more consistently than Jalen Hurts
(15:55):
has in his career.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
It's so funny, man, He's become one of my favorite
players out of that class. And I think it is
because of the struggles that we witnessed at Auburn before
he got the orient and it also is a part
of the thing that we have beginning to started to
look at when it comes to quarterbacks, the experience and
our experience matters. And I do remember, you know, it's
funny because that class we always have to rank top five,
(16:18):
but always remember, hey Bo's on this line somewhere, like
I put six in there, Like hey editor, you just
got to know he's right here on the bubble of
what it is and to see him and to see
how it works. I mean, they talk about it as
much as we talk about Kata Williams closing our games
in the fourth quarter. Kayla Williams has seven game winning
(16:38):
drives fourth quarter comebacks. Ole Nicks also has seven game
winning like he is at his best, and I look,
I want to see how they explore this. The one
thing that has happened for the Broncos. The way that
he plays best works counter to the way they play
defensive best. They're at their best when he is going tempo.
(16:59):
When they tempo, their offense has a better rhythm, to
a better performance, better production. However, they can't do that
because what that does is that compromised the defensive effort.
But in those late stages when it's go time, you
notice how quick they play because that's his sweet spot.
And I'm gonna say maybe I underestimated his athleticism, his
(17:22):
ability to elude in the vacant and get on the Hey.
That is a superpower that he has, and Sean Payton
leans into that. It's unfortunate that he broke his ankle
and they won't have him because I don't know what
this offense looks like without him as the centerpiece. Sean
is a great game planner, play designer in those things.
(17:47):
I don't know how they tweak this thing with Jarson.
I don't know if their run game is strong enough
to allow him to slowly acclimate to the championship level
that he's going to play in in this EBSC champions game,
Like you know what I mean, It's different a regular
season fill in to whatever, Like this is not even
a nick posting. Nick Bose had a couple of regular
season games then the playoffs. We're saying, hey man, we're
(18:09):
gonna drop you in the championship game and we need
to play.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Great right away. Yeah. No, it's gonna be a big challenge.
I do still of mis talented though, go back to
when he was coming out and what we talked about
just from a skill set standpoint, and I would be
leary if and we'll get into the previous of these
games later, but I'd be leary if I was New
England to come in with a heavy, heavy blitz approach
because Sean Payton, if one thing he is, he is
a screen master. And you will have everyone in the playbook.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Everyone everyone, and he's up the way up down the
field to see if you're guys that are exposed in coverage,
if they can defend.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
No question. Now looking forward to that, All right, let's
get to the Rams Chicago Wild game. Crazy throw by Caleb,
but forced this thing into overtime. Rams ended up holding
on back and forth affair. I don't know what I'll
get your take on this one. I know Collinsworth was
banging on DJ Moore for stopping on the crossing route
that Caleb picked. But I was talking to another buddy
of ours, who you know, has played the position in
(19:05):
the NFL, and I always like to get their opinion
on some of this stuff, and he was like he
knew he was dead in that play. He can say, like,
you got to run it out, but like that ball
is not supposed to go to him, and he kind
of he kind of knew that. So it was kind
of a he thought it was a little unfair and
that with bad decision by Caleb versus DJ Moore catching
some strays for not running through that, It's just to me,
(19:26):
I think it would have made more sense for Chicago.
And we get to the rams in a second. But
where you were, you don't need like fifteen yards. And
this is where Look, we've tried to make Caleb play
from the pocket and we're gonna, you know, do it
not now we need fifteen yards. Get him on the perimeter,
get in his ear before the play. Hey, if you
see any daylight, go go take it. Go get it.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, Like you know, it's funny, right, So I think
two things gonna be true. One, it was a bad
read and a bad throw by Caleb. Two, it wasn't
the greatest effort from DJ more regardless of whether you
do it like like, it still wasn't the greatest thing.
So both things can be true. But I do believe
you're right. And I'll say this, I think pro guys
(20:07):
are a lot like high school guys. Sometimes you got
to give him that last nugget to around to, like, hey,
look at where we're at. Situation.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yeah, fifteen yards from the field goal.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
If you don't like it, throw it out of bounds
or whatever, Like, hey, all we needed three points. We
can win this thing. But like, don't be a hero
and you're right, hey, look if it opens up, take it.
Because here's what I saw from Caleb, and it was funny.
I've seen him play a ton this year, but DJ
there was a run where he took off in the
middle and he pulls through a tackle and it reminded
(20:36):
me of the Oklahoma Caleb Williams.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Well he was running. I was like, man, I forgot
like he is fast and he is strong, and I.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Had a buddy who coached against him when he was
in high school because I was like, man, how is heasy?
He said, Buck, I'm telling you, man, whenever this thing
is backed up and he's in a corner, he always
responds the right way. And in that game DJ I
felt like you could feel him in these late moments
in the postseason. You can see the Boogeyman that he
(21:05):
is going to be in these moments because he has.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Some I don't care in his game that I'm gonna
make these throws.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I'm gonna make these plays and do it and you're
gonna have to live with some of the turnovers that
comes with that kind of mentality.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
But he's wired the right way. I just you know,
it's unfortunate for them.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
They did all that stuff to work and they needed
to finish it, and they had an opportunity to finish it.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
And look, it's on.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
The quarterbacks, on the coaches, on everybody to get it done.
But they were that far from finishing. And Ben Johnson's
perspective afterwards when he said, I can't think about next
year because no matter what we all think, you don't
have momentum going into next season. You got to start
it all over and some of the magic carpet ride
that you had this year is not going to exist
(21:52):
next year. So how do you figure out how to
improve the team and improve him? But you got to
like what we've seen from here and you want under.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Ben John Yeah. No. To me, just watching him in
terms of the strength and the athleticism and the explosiveness
both as a runner and a thrower kind of gave
me like old school stay and stay in the city
of Chicago, like Derek Rose when he was kind of
coming on the scene there and you're like, oh my gosh,
this guy's got a little different bounce to him than
everybody else that's out there on the floor. Man.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, in DJ, I'll say this because eventually we're gonna
have these long conversations about like the draft and quarterback
prospects or whatever. But man, I'm telling you, and the
playoffs continues to bear fruit your franchise quarterback. If you
look the elast, you better have some superpowers and it
can't just all be processing. You better have some other
stuff to get me out of a gym. If I'm
(22:41):
a play caller, because I can't call the perfect play
the entire.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Game, I just I cannot do it.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
And so whether we talked about Caleb, we talked about Drake,
we talk about the people that we're seeing in this tournament.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
You have to have some of that stuff in your
game on the rams. Look, give them credit. I don't
Ben Shawn and said after the game he didn't call
his best game. I thought they should have committed to
the run game a little more than they did early.
They were getting six and seven yards with both those backs.
They felt like they were kind of chewing up some yards.
And the other thing, I would just say, look, the
(23:14):
defense played great, especially for long stretch there in the
second half. They were just getting turnover three and outs
and playing really, really consistent. I think the front wasn't
just a dominant front. I thought the secondary played much
better than they have over the last month, which was
a good sign for them. They're going to need that
going into Seattle. But the other thing is man like
(23:34):
Pooka Nakua. I don't know if I think I'm trying
to think of can you think of other players who
you would say? And I guess Jared Verse would be
in the conversation, but I think I would I could
make a strong argument. Pooka Naku is the toughest player
on their football team. And you know what I love
about what they do When.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
It's nut cutting time, he gets the book fly sweep
sight adjustment, which we don't really see a lot our league,
and I wanted to point that out.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
They played cover.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Zero against him. They bring the pressure off the thing.
He does a slight adjustment. Date throw it to him
at four yards and he gets the additional four just
by being a tough guy. Uh. We We've talked about
this the last couple of years about how toughness has
to be a core ingred of whomever you bring in
as a prospect, but as a wide receiver him elected none, No, no,
(24:23):
I'm running through you.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
I'm not sliding war. I mean so much of honey.
He blocks like hines, like the whole physical Yeah, like
everything it is. It is essential. It is a big
part of who they are.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
And I will say this because a couple of years
ago I thought Davonte Adams was beginning to slip, and
he does have some slippage in his game when it
comes around running, but that he made that cass that
he made on the boundary.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Handoue coordination, body controlling those things. What I love about
the postseason. We are seeing some people at their best
when it comes to some of the plays that they make.
That was an unbelievable catch, and you're right, Sean McVeigh
didn't have his best game because I felt like they
needed to stick to the run. They could have punched
the run in a little bit to control of the game,
(25:13):
and there was a segment in there where they kind
of got pass happy.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
I just know this.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Going to Seattle, they better be balanced because up there
with the twelves, you do not want to get into
one of these games where it's just.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Throw, throw, throw, throw throw.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
Because Mike McDonald and the Seahawks, they are finding ways
to unlock the codes and the job that he did,
and we'll get to this game, the job that he
did against the Niners. If I'm a team that is
playing calshit and I am studying those three games because
the whole the Niners took twenty six points in a
three game spare oh, I'm looking at all of this
(25:49):
stuff that they did to try and figure out how
we can put I playing together to get up the
cause I've never seen anybody dismant.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
They were hurt. I ain't never seen anybody dismount of
the niner. The other dominance man gave up one drive,
one drive, and then that was the wrap. Yeah, I mean,
wait and get to that game forty one to six.
The other thing. As we're starting in this game here
in Seattle, San Francisco, I'm glad we're going to get
ram Seattle. It felt like those are the two best teams.
(26:17):
I wanted to see that matchup. I love did a
little tweet showing clever Lang because it's got a version
Dockey three vibe to it. Predict. What's your prediction for
the fight? Pain, Yes, that's what it's going to be.
It's going to be a war. I cannot wait for
that game. And I was thinking from a Seattle standpoint,
if you're a Seattle fan, you get a chance to
(26:39):
to get through both of your division rivals, with the
ultimate payoff being a chance to avenge a Super Bowl
loss to the Patriots, Like all that's on the table there,
Like that would I mean, I don't know if there'd
be a sweeter ride than that one, if they were
able to pull that whole thing off. Yeah, the Redemption Tour.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Yeah, because like they I'll see this, they gave away
a Super Bowl to the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
When the balls on the one yard line, they can
handle the beast mode, they do it.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
The interception in is going to prevent a lot of
dudes from getting gold jackets because they didn't get that
second one done.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
That's it, man.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
And looking at the job that Mike McDonald has done,
and you will know a little bit more because you
have people that were close to the ground to him
in Baltimore. I'll say this, DJ like his command and
his ability as a young coach. Now I do know
Leslie Fraser pretty well, and Leslie has done a really
good job in his role as kind of like the
advisor confidant of whatevery. But he said, Mike McDonald has
(27:29):
the goods.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
He is right. They got it, man. And you know,
it's funny listening.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
To Brock where Brock talked about how they had to
have some removal of players to fully be who they needed.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
To be Mob Mob. Yeah. So, and it's so it's
funny because we didn't get the chance to follow up.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
But like when Brock talked about the Marcus Lawrence right,
and it's funny because this also came out when Michael
Parsons went the green Back environment and culture is everything,
expectations everything.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Oh man, I can't believe he's running to the ball.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Well, I am sure that there was a conversation when
he got to Seattle, Hey, bro run to the ball,
where maybe that didn't exist in his previous place, but
in Seattle, they're like.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
Hey mean, we spaked everybody to run to the ball.
Get to the ball.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
People don't understand the value of coaching and how sometimes
in the league everybody doesn't get coached. But it certainly
appears when I look at the Seahawks, they getting coached,
and they're getting coached hard.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
I also I also think, you know, I think that
DeMarcus played hard, has played hard now. I think he
wanted to go someplace where what he believed in was emphasized,
and I believe that that's from a cultural standpoint. I
think he went up there and found some like minded
guys and said, Okay, this is where I belong, this
is where I fit, and those guys want to come
there and be a part of that.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
And look, that can be a big part of it,
because you know, when it's not right. You can look
around it lots and be like, oh, we we don't
have a chance. These dudes don't really everyone's not all
the way bought in.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
But even though he wasn't at a big school, he
was at Boise and that culture at boisos the way
it was supposed to work. He knows what it looks like.
And I believe that DJ. They know, like, particularly if
you come from winning programs.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Is one of the reasons why we talked about scouting
guys and getting guys from championship caliber programs that have
won at a high level. They understand how the program
is supposed to operate when you're winning and successful.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
He knows and they do it.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
And look that that mentality mob that they talked about
mission over bs, Yeah, like just just being able to
understand that and to have a selfless team. And I'm
gonna say this, we talked about toughness. I don't care
what anyone says. And we don't know the severity of
(29:43):
Sam Donald's injury, but an oblique but you know how
we used to talk about the quarterback has to have
a mentality.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Of not over my dead body.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Yeah, man, I don't care how I feel I'm playing
in this game and I'm gonna figure out a way
to get it done whether it hurts or not. Give
Sam Donald credit. And luckily for them, they didn't really
have to use him extensively, so he was able to
get through it. But franchise quarterback has to show up,
and I give him a ton of credit for showing up,
regardless of the severity of the injury. To me, that matters,
(30:14):
and I think it matters to his teammates because that
toughness has to be shown from your franchise quarterback in
some moments.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, tough loss for them though with Zach Sharbon and
he has done for the rest of the playoffs. He
had been a great one two punch there with Kenneth Walker.
But I mean, look, this is a team that's very physical.
They're physical on the line of scrimmage on both sides.
They're going to want to try and run the ball
against the Rams. But I mean this game will require
more of Sam Donald than the last one did. He's
going to have to make throws, which he didn't and
(30:44):
when they were able to beat the Rams at home
a few weeks back, he's going to need to play
the same way and I'm saying, does he still going
have to vanquish some demons?
Speaker 1 (30:51):
Because there's a feeling that I get from the Rams
that they feel like they know Sam and that they
can make the old Sam come up. And so even
though he proved on that Thursday night game to hey,
I can take care of this, I can lead us back,
He's still gonna have to overcome that. But let me
also shout out because we know a friend of the program,
John Snyder Miss he's in trade cool for Shi shit
(31:17):
like DJ. You know how we talked about what we
were talking about Buffalo, about Hey, pushing your chips in
and when you know it's there and being able to
look down the road and say, hey, what do we need?
What do we need to get us over the top.
And I will say this because they did it before.
And this is where experience matters. You remember when they
made the move for Percy Harvin the first iteration, we
(31:39):
just needed the Hey man, we might just need like
another playmaker. Where were we playing? I don't know, but
I know he can give us something. In the third phase.
Shat has given them that. He also has given them
something a little bit when he comes in. It makes plays,
but that kickoff return to start the game, the energy
that was created right away, that's why you make those trades.
(32:02):
You make that trade because you're like, man, I just
need something in our pocket, just something just to give
us a little Give him credit, man, he has always
been daring, but your move the Pete Carroll thing, and
now this is really his team where he's putting it together.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Man.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
I look the draft that they just had, what they've
done to develop, the way they've kind of built this
pass off to Snyder. Man, I can't say enough good
things about what he's doing.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
So I know that obviously John had the Super Bowl,
two appearances in the win there in Seattle. But if
we take this conversation back rewind a little bit, can
you see maybe the Buffalo blueprint is actually Seattle of
Pete had his run. Great job, thanks for everything you've done.
But right now we need to take We're going to
(32:49):
just pivot a little bit and get some new juice,
some new energy, and see if we can then make
a deeper push. And it's obviously worked so far for Seattle. Yeah,
so now everything is the next higher.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
So the next higher matters, and I would say, like
everyone will talk about the Josh Allen thing in terms
of it mattering.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
It's not only what you do offensively. I think the
biggest thing is Sean McDermott was so heavily impactful on
their defense. That defensive coordinator has to be a star
because he has to take what they have and elevate
them to the next level.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
And so that higher everyone's going to talk about offensively,
but that higher the person that takes over the defense
that inheritence with Greg Russau and all those guys at Panessa,
how can you get those guys to elevate their respective games.
To me, that's really really important. But you're right, they
elevated after Pete. Now Buffalo didn't fall off like Pete
(33:44):
in the.
Speaker 2 (33:46):
It elevated. Mike McDonald and Snyder have their imprint.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
So yeah, this is an opportunity going back to Buffalo
for Brandon Bean to put his thumb all the way
on and say, now, this is what it should look like,
this is what I wanted to look like, and we're
going to be able to find a way to get
it done.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Let's get to the last game here, New England Houston.
We've been talking the winning side of a lot of
these games, and I think in this one, I think
the bigger story coming out of this game was on
the losing side more so than anyone wasn't on the
New England side of things.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
So let me ask you, just because I didn't even
have a chance to see your tweets or whatever in
this game at at time, would you play Davis Milton again?
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Yeah? I've been in games and this is a time.
Not trying to compare anything I've ever been through to
what these guys have been through, but I have been
on teams in college where they've come in and either
I was a starter or the number two, and they've
ended happened both ways. They kind of in and say, hey,
you're going to give you one series here in the
second half, but you got to get it going. You
better get this thing gone or we're going to have
to make a change. And I've been on the backup side,
(34:45):
was like, hey, we're gonna give him, We're going to
give him a little bit here, but the leash is
very short. You better be ready to go. Yeah, So, Non,
what's what's interesting about it?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Like I was, I was looking at the discourse and
I was I was saying this the entire time, like, man,
he is crushing their chances.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
And I was saying, like, man, four interceptions put in
the thing a twenty eight passer ray. That is terrible.
And it was again, it wasn't good the week before
buck nah like and so dj I saw like five interceptions,
five pombals.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Now two of those were lost, but that's a lot
of turnovers. And it wasn't just how bad it was,
it was his body language and the way.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
That, yeah, that's a bigger thing that he looked.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
He slumped shoulders, he looked like it was a little
big for him. And so my first thing was like hey, OC, like, hey,
let's take some let's take some of this off of him,
let's run, let's run the football a little bit or whatever.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
And everyone's like, yeah, but they can't run it whatever.
I said, Yeah, but you can't just keep throwing it.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
You can't throw it twenty six times when he doesn't
have no clue in the first half. And then I've
seen Davis Mills because the second game where the Jaguars
played the Texans, Davis Mills started and he was finding
he got hot the last.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Quarter and a half. But I wondered in that game.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
I was like, man, I don't know, but I understand
it and everything is on the line, and so I
was like, man, if you make this move, you have
to be certain because.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
It's hard to go back. It's hard to go back
after you make you pull it in.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
And so I understood why Dimiko's like, now I gotta
stand in front. I gotta stand Tinto's down in this
because if I do this, it creates an even bigger
issue in the off season.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
But DJ is close. I mean, I was like, I
was like, like, cause my dad, my Dad's texted me like,
hey man, how much longer.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
I was like, I don't know, me because as bad
as it was, I kept saying, they're only eleven points down.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
They're still in the game. Yeah, they got a drive.
They didn't finish it, but they had a drive coming
out in the third quarter. But to me, even more
so than the fumbles and the and the poorly thrown interceptions,
there were some balls where it was like, dude, he
got a guy in the flat, he's dirting the ball
like wormburn. I'm like, what is going on here? Man?
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Like Steve Sacks, Yeah, yep, yeah, the yips So now DJ,
here's the bigger question, right.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
So not paying and I can cut you off there
if you're gonna ask that question that that's getting kicked
down the road. So now you have two.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
Sub part years coming off of offenseve Rookie of the Year,
things great twenty year, Yeah, twenty twenty four to twenty
twenty five, it's been bad. So you got rid of
the coordinator after twenty twenty four. You got a new
coordinator this year, and the results have been the same,
if not worse. At some point we got to look
around and be like, hey man, what's what's going on?
So you got to fit your option. You can pick
that up whatever, But at no point can you talk
(37:41):
about like the three hundred million dollars decision.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
I just can't do that. Like you, we got an
elephant in the room, man, look at Kyler Murray and
look at Tua like the I don't know man, Like
that didn't work out well when they signed the check
with I hope this works. I just don't. I don't.
I don't think man, I don't think you can do it.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Yeah, I'm not gonna go this war and say, oh,
you got to have a quarterback competition, But I think
the best way to get them compete is like, hey,
but here's what we're gonna We're gonna pick up a
fifty option and then we're gonna see and even if
it costs us more money, we'll gladly write the check.
If you make us have to write the check. We're
not going to write the check now until you, like
you just have too much evidence a bad ball right
(38:22):
now to lock in and say hey, I'm signing up
for this.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
It feels interesting compared to like the Sam Darnold with
the Jets decision, the Daniel Jones with the Giants decision,
where I think with both of those guys, you saw good,
but it was like the and the Jets happened to
be positioned a high end a draft. Now obviously it
didn't work out. It took Zach Wilson and he bombed,
(38:46):
and in hindsight, I think it probably like a do
over on that one. Daniel Jones, they kind of tried
to split the baby and did kind of again contract,
you know, like a couple of years, not too much risk,
but they committed to them. So let's mentioned the decision
that they have to make here. Man, I think that
that's not like you could try and say, okay, we'll
do it maybe a little shorter term one. I don't
(39:08):
even know if you'd feel great about that coming off
these two performances. I think you kind of just have
to ride this thing out. Now.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
It takes onions to do that. It takes being able
to stand firm and be like, hey man, here's what
we're doing. And you may have some hurt feelings in
those things.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
Now. The thing that we don't.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Know is how that that room, that that meeting room,
and how that locker room has been operated in terms
of like hard conversations, tough love in those things. So
a lot of it would depend on how they get
down when it comes to coaches and players and having
those at that true discourse. But look, I just don't
think you can you can marry yourself to that based
(39:47):
on what we saw in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
But even bigger than that dj the last.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Two years, because the last two years matter more than
the postseason. That's just recent seed doing it, but the
last two years of not being great, and so we
need to get to the bottom of why hasn't it
been good since the rookie season. That's what the conversation
has to be because the two years in the postseason
(40:11):
it hasn't been good enough. But you don't regress like that,
you don't have a great rookie year, then come back
to the pack like the way that he is.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
The other thing I would just add, as we kind
of finished this thing up here, I was, let me
ask you this question about a couple of these games.
If if Buffalo and Denver was played in Buffalo, did
Buffalo win? I think so. If New England Houston has
(40:41):
played in Houston, does Houston win? Yah had better chance
of winning. Yet I think the homefield matters a lot.
I mean in Seattle, I mean, I look, I don't
think Sam. We just saw that the game was a
lot more competitive, at least in San Francisco than it
wasn't Seattle. I think Seattle wins both places, and I
think the Rams won close. I think the Rams probably
would have beat Chicago pretty handily it home if they're
at warm Weather with Stafford playing indoor like that would
(41:03):
have been so that That's my whole point is that
this is a great example of yeah, hey, those games
in the middle of the season, they matter. Home field
advantage matters.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
And I think you have to bring that that urgency
to your your people. You have to tell them like, hey,
this is why it matters in those things. Even though
the Jags lost the wildcard round at home, I can
tell you, man, it it matters. Man, there is something
about it. And also, did we see all these games
are three point games? Yeah, the one score games. And
(41:34):
if I have my dress, I want to be at home.
I want to be in the comfy companies of my
own spot where I know the lead of the land,
I can prep in my I know exactly what I'm
dealing with.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
And that's yeah, you want home.
Speaker 1 (41:47):
And I think now more than ever, going all in
for the number one seed matters.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
But also I can't get number one. I got to
get number two.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
I gotta have the opportunity to play multiple games at
home to get myself the best shot of going to
the championship game.
Speaker 2 (42:04):
Yeah, I think I'm trending in that direction as well.
Before we get out of here, Buck, we do have
the National Championship game tonight. Miami and Indiana. Who do
you like and why.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Indiana has been so great? Like their execution is flawless.
They had been able to kind of dominate and do whatever.
But you know who they've been. They've been Tiger Woods,
playing from ahead the entire time. What I would like
to see from an evaluation standpoint, I would just like
to see a little adversity. I would like to see,
because we're gonna talk about mendoz or whatever. I would
like to see him have to overcome something to do it,
(42:39):
not just for them winning the title, but a better evaluation.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
DJ.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
This is crazy because I heard this on the podcast,
but I didn't notice in ten of the fifteen games
of these played.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Fewer the nineteen pass attempts. Like that's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
Like what we're talking about if you were in the
nineteen even the remarkable run in the postseason, DJ, we're
talking about averaging one hundred and eighty something pass yards
with those eight touchdowns. I want to see from an
evaluation standpoint, how does he play.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
When it's on him over the course of a game.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Just from that. But this game, Indiana is the favorite,
they should do it. I think it's a narrow path
of victory from Miami. But I will say this, the
people that are sleeping on my Miami upfront, their front
can give them problems if they can control the game
early and if they're able to use their offense as
their defense to kind of make it where they shrink
the game and impose their will. But it's a narrow
(43:35):
path to big from Miami. I don't think this can
be a shootout. It has to be a regular affair,
a grinded out of affair where they can win in
the forward.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
Carson back point. Now, I think the Miami offensive line
is going to be bigger to me. I think that's
the difference. You've seen Indiana go up against some good
defensive lines, but like the big games they've played, Ohio
State's offensive line underwhelming, Oregon's offensive line I think, a
little overrated, Alabama's offensive line not up to Alabama standards.
This will be the best offensive line that they've seen,
and they're big, and if they can run the ball
(44:04):
and move it that way too, clock like, you can
get to a formula where Miami wins. I think obviously
Indiana is the favorite because they're, you know, make case,
the more complete all the way through twenty two starters,
maybe the most complete, more mature team. But they've got
defensive line clear, those edge rushers at Miami, and to me,
the offensive line controls that game. That's the way they
win it. If they win.
Speaker 1 (44:25):
Their physicality also stands out, like this has to be
they have to make it a violent, physical game, and
they've done that. Never remember, I don't think people are
respecting their path enough. The teams that they've knocked off
along the way really good teams that have kind of
prepared them for the battle. So if they can impose,
they will, much like I saw them do against Texas
and m and those things.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
Yeah, they can get effort. Yeah. If you look, they
both played very close games Ohio State, so I think
it's an evenly matched game. So I'm looking forward to
It should be a lot of fun. I don't really
have a call in terms of who I think wins
that I think, you know, there's more paths for Indiana
to win, but I do think there's away from Amy
to get this thing done. And I know it'll be
more Indiana fans there potentially than Miami fans because how
(45:06):
excited they are. But it is in their home stadium.
You talk about familiarity, Miami should be right at home. Yeah,
familiarity is everything in execution.
Speaker 1 (45:12):
I will say this any of its execution is outstanding,
the way that they play, and they don't beat themselves.
I think there are a lot of lessons that other
college programs are going to learn. I think people that
kind of cracked the code a little bit on how
they're a two by two team. They're very static and
it reminds me a lot of the Indianapolis Colts and
how we're going to be simple because we now know
(45:33):
all the answers to all of the problems. The more
variables we have i change information, the more difficult it
is to prepare.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
I do think there's something too. There's simplistic approach and
the high execution that they're able to play with no doubt. Man,
I'm looking forward to this one. Should be a fun
one tonight. I'll also say Buck, I'm getting close to
filing a mock draft here, getting close to filing my
top fifty. I have been jamming on players. I'm getting excited.
I didn't start you start talking about some of these
(46:02):
guys that we've been watching here. So that's coming up
soon as we get into the real deep part of
the offseason here. Yeah, that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
It's a it's a goal each day to get x
amount of players done, to look at all the stuff
to get the top guys in. Now we've got to
mix in some of the All Star Game. I got
the East West coming up next week. You got a
single Bowl coming up, and so that kind of takes
us on a little bit of a detour. But yeah,
talking about these top guys and getting ready for it.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
I feel great about it because gonna be upun process.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
Uh, the quarterbacks may not be the headliners that we
like to talk about or whatever, but I still think
it's a good draft and you write off so you
tweet about it every year.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Wide receivers, God dang man, every year. I mean it's
and you don't even know, like who a lot of mars.
You go through it and you watch tape, I'm like,
he's like he's a starter. Like it's a second that's
a second round player right there, wa next guy. I
mean it's a little different size, but it's a second
round type player.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
A million of them, right, Like like where are all
the kids baskets like Casey except you know, like like
pass ketches, pass catchers go lower that are out there
and look, men, this one to talk about. Yeah, we'll
get into it, all right. That's going to do it
for us to hope you guys enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (47:11):
We do have a got a forties and free agency
thing coming up here with Rosenthal, so we're kind of
going through the off season stuff, talking about your little
primer about salary cap space, free agency stuff, some draft stuff,
so Buck, we got you know, we're at Rosenthal in
on the game here a little bit on the off
season stuff. But it's been fun. It's been fun. He's
got to put out his free agency list, so that's
(47:33):
always good conversation. All right, We'll see you next time
right here on Movi The Sticks
Host
Bob Wischusen
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