January 3, 2018 • 59 mins
Welcome to the NFL’s best season, the postseason! The guys dive deep on each of the weekend’s Wild Card games with the guru himself (12:50). Greg shares his thoughts on which Wild Card Weekend game intrigues him most (14:11), the Jaguars’ impressive defense (21:51) and which team playing on Wild Card Weekend is most likely to make a run at the Super Bowl (47:41). Also joining the party: Emmy-winning NFL Films Producer Paul Monusky, showrunner of Wild Card Championship Chase, airing this Saturday at 2:00 pm ET on ABC (3:01).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today on the NFL Films Podcast. It's the NFL's best season,
the postseason. We have wild Card questions and we want
wild Card answers. We'll sort them out with help from
Paul Monusky, the showrunner of wild Card Championship Chase, and
Greg co Sell, the guru of NFL Films. It's the
(00:25):
Talking wild Card Playoffs edition of the NFL Films Podcast.
I'm Paul, I'm Keith. Welcome aboard everyone. That song Returned
to Win might be the greatest modern era composition by
(00:46):
an NFL Films composer. There's an air of majesty that
fills the room when Returned to Wind comes on. Let's
get your fired up. Wait to do anything like what
Irregardless of what we're gonna do now, I would be
fired up. We have a saying here, it's time to
break out the Robodo. No one else in the world
would know what that means. What does that mean, Paul,
(01:08):
it's a little geeky. We really wanted we could, all right, Yeah,
we'll tell him so. Around this time of year, when
the big games come out, we'll be in a meeting
heading into a weekend and we'll be talking about how
are we gonna how are we gonna make sure we
we portray the drama of this weekend's games, And somebody
will notably say, well, I think we need to break
out the Roboto. It's kind of like the moment and
(01:29):
then like a movie, like when they turn to like
to the cop and say let's go get them, and
like it triggers and then like the action sequence starts.
Break out the Roboto means you you have the license
to use the Dave Roboto are in house composer Dave
Roboto full orchestral guns blazing cinematic score to tell your
(01:52):
story of your game that week. The biggest, most over
the top piece of music you could possibly imagine, and
by over the top of me the epic arm wrestling movie,
not like the hyperbolic like sensational cheesiness. Yeah, no, you
know the big moment, And I wouldn't go arm wrestling movie.
I would go, you know, the the guys walking through
(02:15):
the mountains and Lord of the Rings. You know, over
the John John Williams, I just met over the Top
as a compliment. That was the name of the movie.
I know the name of the movie. I know the
name of the movie, but I think it does Dave
Roboto at Disservice to even to even imply that he
said over the top, I don't want to. I don't
want to cheapen him, so I wanted to, like, did
(02:36):
you cheap and cheat? All right over the top? Check
the transcript who used the phrase. And I would further
clarify that when Paul says we, what he's talking about
is us, the producers at NFL Films, who this time
of year are hard at work on many end of
season productions that that will that will pepper your television's
(03:02):
and your devices all through the month of January and
into February with recap shows, highlight shows, end of season specials,
um and shows like the one Paul is producing this week,
Paul Monusky, uh and Paul, what is this show is? So?
This is this is called the wild Card Championship Chase,
and it's it's a very interesting show for what we
(03:25):
do because it's only going to air the Saturday of
wild Card Weekend. It's basically an hour show that is
going to preview the entire wild Card Weekend all eight games, um,
all eight teams, excuse me, in all four games. And
that's it. It's gonna air on Saturday, UM on the
sixth at eleven o'clock on ESPN two, and then at
two o'clock on ABC it's gonna re air and then
(03:47):
you start your wild card games. That's a good window. Wait,
that's a good window. Two pm this Saturday on ABC
means you are leading into the pregame show of the
first playoff game. That's a good that's prime real estate
Paul's and then that one of the great thing about
our show. I mean, we have a narrator. We have
a great narrator. Who's the narrator j K. Simmons. Oh,
(04:10):
that's a good one him. He's never on television, Mr
Whiplash himself, j K. Simmons. And then that's it. There's
no talking heads, there's no This is not an ordinary,
this is not a preview show. This is not a
talking heads driven This is the NFL films red Meat right. Yes,
this is great music, this is great shots, this is
(04:33):
great insight. And what we're just trying to push on
this show is that we want to teach you something
and we want to entertain. What about sound? Are we
gonna have sound? There's gonna be there's gonna be some
fires and the funding about these year end shows, even
for me. I mean, this is the job, my job
every week, but I feel like we get to this
time of year and there's sort of guys or teams
or things I've kind of heard about. I know they're happening,
(04:54):
but I stop and go, wait, how did that happen? Like?
Why are why are we talking about this guy? Why
did this become a story? When did the Aguars go
from being the team I laughed at last year with
their two tone helmets to the one that sort of
punched everybody in the face, not just in September but
all year year long. So that's what these year and
shows are about. And that's what today's show is going
to be about. And and for the first segment, with
(05:14):
Paul's help, we're going to come up with some of
those wise right now, what are we thinking about as
the fans? We are going to have a production meeting
for the next ten minutes to figure out what we
should talk about with the guru. Well, listen to me.
The real cool dichotomy of this year's playoffs is the
a f C and the NFC, the number one and
(05:36):
two seeds. So you have in the a f C,
you have these number one and two seeds that are waiting.
Is Tom Brady, you know, Mr super Bowl and Ben Roethlisberger,
who has also won multiple Super Bowls. And then every
other quarterback in the a f C has never won
a Super Bowl and three of them have never been
to the playoffs. Then in the NFC, the number one
and two seeds, and I would I would just interject,
(05:56):
not only have they not, I would say, I'm kind
of looking at my list here. These are guys who
probably may have the stigma attached to them, fairly or not. Well,
they can't win super Bowls anyway. They're not Brady, they're
not Roethlisberger, they're not even uh, they're not even quote
unquote Matt Ryan. These are guys you can't win a
super Bowl. But so you know what's the business can't
(06:16):
win a super Bowl, it's can't win a game. Like
Tyronn Taylor was bench this year, Blake Bortles was called
to be benched this year. I mean, Mary Ode is good,
but he's he's been hurt. So those just those three
guys and Alex Smith's presumptive replacement was drafted this year,
Alex Smith, who they almost pulled a flutie, Doug Johnson.
Ladies and gentlemen, you're a f C playoff quarterbacks. But but,
(06:38):
but that's an important question because you hear a lot um,
I can't see this guy hoisting Lombardi. You have heard
that a lot about case Keenum over the last couple
of months. I can't. I just can't see case Keenum
winning the Super Bowl. Bl Well, why not? That's the
flip side is the NFC the number one and two
seeds are both backups, and then everybody else in the
(06:59):
playoffs besides Jared Goff, are guys that have either won
super Bowls or lost Super Bowls. So it's it's cool.
So this January, potentially we'll go a long way to
answering the question do you need Hall of Fame quarterback
to get all the way through January and all the
way through the first weekend of February. And there's a
couple of guys to me that what's interesting thing is
(07:20):
people forget, maybe because they've won the Super Bowl, really
the remarkable careers they had, and it sounds a little
silly to say, but the Super Bowl is just that
missing piece and then their whole the whole perception of
them changes. And as my two examples, really for me,
the biggest ones are Matt Ryan, who already mentioned. You
look at his stats, you look at his longevity, look
at the amount of games he's played, the touch on
he's thrown one a lot, one, a lot of games
(07:42):
one one, a bunch of playoff games too, but hasn't
won the Super Bowl. And Andy Reid is my other guy. Yeah,
I don't know that any read people regard as the
quality of the coach that he has been over the
last almost what twenty years between Philadelphia and Kansas City,
won a lot of games, been in a lot of games,
and and but for not having that trophy on his shelf,
(08:03):
people don't maybe understand what he's accomplished. Hall of Fame
resume missing one piece. Yeah, well that's a big piece. Yes, um,
just to hit on your Matt Ryan. So one of
the segments in our show is going to be about
these guys that can they are they championship quarterbacks And
it's Cam Newton and it's Alex Smith and it's Matt Ryan.
(08:24):
How many times do you guys think Matt Ryan through
for more than two touchdown passes this year in a game.
He won the m v P last year, how many
times did he throw for more than two touchdown passes
in a game. I'm gonna go with zero. Yeah, I
think you want us to figure low, So I'm gonna
say one zero. This year. He wins the m v
(08:45):
P last year, and then this year he never throws
from more than two touchdowns. They were missing a little
something all here, weren't they. And they refused to throw
to Julio Julio Jones in the red zone. Julio Jones
in the red zone had three red zone targets all year.
I'm seeking really rooting for a Super Bowl rematch. Oh well,
that's the and and the the dream starts this weekend. And
(09:06):
it wasn't until about week or I didn't even entertained
that thing exactly right. It wasn't util about week twelve.
That really would have some juice. Well, he would have
some juice. The way they get into that game, the
way they lost that Super Bowl last year, they were
immediately consigned to the dustbin of Super Bowl Also rans
who were gonna fall apart right that they can't recover? Yeah, nobody,
(09:26):
nobody could possibly recover from that. Then they then they
have a slow arguably kind of a slow September and
it and it becomes clear pretty quickly that the division
is going to be really difficult. So I almost feel
like it was never discussed. And then they played that
game against the Saints late in the season. They were
the great red on Red and they won that game,
(09:46):
and for some reason, it popped in my head, like,
wait a minute, what if this is the the collision
that we didn't see coming and it happens, and it'd
be pretty good based only and we saw some of
those redemption stories and other sports the last couple years
between Alabama Clemson Warriors, as if the Falcons can come
back and try and slay the dragon that will otherwise
haunt them for the rest of their lives, be a
(10:06):
pretty big game for us. I mean if they had
the lead in the fourth quarter of a rematch Super Bowl,
and that would be the longest quarter ever if you
were a support of the Falcons or Falcons players, like
how many times did you look at the clock? Alright,
so we've got some good so quarterbacks obviously um Alex
Smith and Andy Reid in Kansas, City of Great interest
(10:28):
this weekend Um the falcons Um, I would like to know.
I would like to ask the question, who what player
could kind of make his legend this month, like the Allah,
Larry Fitzgerald and O eight or Von Miller two years ago,
just dominate because it's a little bit wide open. Aside
(10:51):
from Brady Roethlisberger and some big and breeze and a
couple of big quarterbacks in the NFC, there's not the
Titanic teams looming over the field. Old there could be
a player who runs rough shot and just carries his
team to the super Bowl. Here. Do you have a
prohibitive sort of favorite you? Who is it? Aaron Donald?
(11:12):
It's good. I just love the fact that you pose
that question because our main title song for wild Card
Championship Chase is a song called Legend by a band
called The Score. So that whole theme of who's it
to us? It's wide open this week and they're gonna
be guys that really take the reins. I always think
(11:32):
about Steve Smith in two thousand three, destroyed the destroyed
the playoffs or Larry Bowl to the super Bowl. So
and it could be offense or defense. I really like
Aaron Donald to me, a guy like Luke Keikley is
a guy that could sort of pick up the Panthers
and take them, despite any of their shortcomings on offense,
(11:55):
take them to the super Bowl. I think it's interesting
that we both think about defensive play, but we have
a couple of genuinely dominant defenses here that aren't getting
a lot of hype. The Jacksonville defense, by all appearances,
is legitimately dominant defense. That's my question for Greg. For Greg,
why why the Jaguars? Right? Well, yeah, we mentioned Clay's Campbell.
(12:18):
They've got jail and Ramsey is is is on its
way to to possibly being the best corner in football
for the next decade. And they signed around from the
Texas six picks. Right, I got a few quick hitters.
Best team in the trenches both sides of the vault,
because I think none of us, like we got a
(12:40):
chance to bring in the guy who watches more tape
than anyone in America. Let's find out. Let's ask, Let's
ask the questions that that are not going to get
answered anywhere else. You can hear about quarterbacks anywhere. Best
teams in the trenches. One injury that could catch up
to a team that we're not talking about. This is
the time to get some answers. I think are auction
meeting is over. Let's bring in the man, Let's bring
(13:03):
in the guru. Harry comes, Greg co Sell, producer Talent
and the Matchup show on ESPN, which heads into it's
prime season this month. You hard at it this week, Greg,
(13:27):
I imagine you've been watching a little bit of tape,
you know, because I really like these playoff weeks because
you can really find focus. Um, And that's what makes
the playoffs so much fun, is because you have now
we have eight teams, obviously, and you can really look
hard at eight teams. And it's whereas during the regular season,
I try to watch as many games as I possibly can.
(13:50):
Now I'm still watching some games from week seventeen, obviously
because the number of the mattered. But you're really looking
more at what you've done all season and find focusing
on particular things because you have a really good feel
for what teams, tactics and schemes are. What are you
most excited to see this weekend, the first weekend of
the playoffs. What has got you really really fired up? Um? Well,
(14:15):
there's gotta be like, we got four games, you know,
there's gotta be one that you're kind of really Greg's
a fan too, folks, He's not just a Maine. If
you could watch, if you could only watch one of
these four games. I am really intrigued by Atlanta and
the Rams, just because I know Atlanta has been ideally
a disappointment for some coming off being in the Super
(14:37):
Bowl a year ago. Uh. But the thing about Atlanta
is they have a lot of talented players, and so
in a game where you have talented players, it always
makes it potentially interesting. I imagine most people are viewing
the Rams is the favorite. They're playing in l A.
But you know, I'm really anxious to see how Wade
(15:00):
Phillips decides to match up to Julio Jones. I think
that's gonna be really fascinating. We actually went back and
took a look last year because Atlanta played in Denver
last year when Wade was the decoordinator in Denver and
obviously had three really good corners. They don't have three
really good corners with the Rams. And he didn't do
(15:20):
anything special at all. He whoever who had him, whether
it was to leave, whether it was Harris or whether
it was Robi they matched up because they played a
lot of man. I don't think that will happen this week.
I think they could travel Truemaine Johnson within the entire game,
because I don't think they're going to leave one of
their other two corners if it's Nickel, I don't think
they're going to leave one of those guys matched man
(15:40):
to man on Julio Jones, is Tremaine Johnson on Julio
John's matchup they can they can win. Well, it's a
matchup they'll live with because Trumaine Johnson is six to
ten and he's considered a quality corner and he is
uh and the size is critical because the problem for
them is they to our Troy Hill at the other
(16:01):
outside corner, and he's about five nine, five ten, and
their nickel slot corner is Nickel Roby, who's also about
five nine. So it'll be Truemaine Johnson Trueman Johnson. And
we were talking about this before you came. You know,
these these players that that most people don't know about,
um who who could rise up and make a big difference.
(16:23):
Trumaine Johnson is a good player. I mean I think
I think serious football fans would would probably corner. Yeah,
but he's a talented guy. He is big. But this
is a chance, on this stage for him to alter
the football America's perception of him. Well, and he doesn't
have Let's here's the name, a cornerback name Ricky Manning Jr.
(16:44):
He wasn't the best quarterback in football, but that playoffs
he was a great three places against the Eagles two
thousand three, and he had one against one. Didn't he
have one against the Rams the week before? He might have,
but he definitely had three against the Eagles. So to
your point, cause this is a this is the time
of year where guys emerge and sometimes they stay on
that stage. Sometimes they just have this another guy in
(17:06):
the Rams defense. We gotta ask Greg about that you
were talking about before. Aaron Donald a guy that again
over the year, he's been good enough long enough that
he's more than just a guy that football geeks. No,
but I still don't think the average football fan, the
mainstream sort of understands and appreciates what Aaron Donald is
both to his team and on the league levels. He
(17:27):
a guy that can sort of maybe take over these
playoffs and emerge and pop pop into that next stratosphere. Sure,
I mean to me, he already is there, but he
hasn't had the opportunity, you know, in the playoffs yet obviously. Uh.
You know it's funny when Wade Phillips came into the
Rams to become their decoordinator, there was a lot of
talk about, oh, this isn't good for Aaron Donald because
Wade's a three four guy. But the thing about way
(17:49):
it is, his three four is really a four three.
It's just that he has three guys with their hand
on the ground and four guys standing up. But it's
a four three in terms of gap concepts. So when
they're in their base defense, Aaron Donald is really a
weak side defensive tackle, three technique defensive tackle who plays
in the gap just like he would in a four three.
(18:09):
So it's the same thing, and therefore he's he's able
to do what he's done in his first couple of
years because the defense is is very similar. Just wanting
to ask you, I know you do a lot of
stuff with the draft and draft prep, right college guys.
So in this wild Card Chase show that was going
to air on Saturday, one of our segments is about
rookie running backs this year, and it's the first time
(18:31):
in NFL history that four rookie running backs had over
a thousand yards total yards and four of these even
have big roles on playoff teams. And who are the four?
Paul we're talking about Christian McCaffrey for the Panthers. Well,
he didn't get a thousand yard you're talking about using
yards yards from so then it's Kamara, McCaffrey, four Nett
(18:51):
and Hunt and Hunt. But four guys. So these four guys,
did you expect not? I am he's not. Did you
expect these four guys coming in this year to have
this sort of impact on playoff teams? For Net for sure,
because of who drafted him and why he was drafted,
(19:12):
assuming health, I knew for Net would carry two fifty
times give or take, if not more. Um McCaffrey, yes,
because also of where he was drafted. He was not
drafted with the eighth pick to play tense snaps a game,
so I didn't expect him to gain a thousand yards rushing.
But McCaffrey, I remember being on on the floor of
(19:34):
the dome in Indianapolis at the combine and watching him
run routes, and he ran routes just so beautifully with
such precision, and I thought, this guy'll will play a lot,
and I didn't know how many catches or yards, but
I knew he'd be a significant part of the passing game,
and that's where he gained most of his yards in
the passing game. Camarrow was a guy I loved on tape.
(19:55):
I thought tomorrow to me, Kamara and Dalvin Cook were very,
very similar. The difference being Cook was a volume runner
in college and Camarrow was not. But Kamara is bigger
than Dalvin Cook and actually is stronger in his lower body.
So Kamara I loved him coming out, and when he
got drafted by the Saints, I thought that was a
(20:17):
a great spot. I didn't expect him to gain as
many yards rushing, but I knew he'd be really important
to them as a receiver. And then Kareem Hunt nothing
I really liked on tape, but I could never have
predicted him being a true feature foundation back as a rookie,
so he would be the surprise in terms of the yardage.
But I liked the player a lot. Do you think
(20:39):
this changes anything in the NFL as far as like
in the last couple of years, people were going away
from you know, how important to back is to your
offense to seeing these four guys now that major role
in the playoff team. That's a great conversation and there's
probably no right or wrong answer. Um. I think it's
always easy to say about backs that you can plug
anybody in, and there's always examples of that. It's just
(21:02):
like when people say you can get a great player
in the fifth round, because great players have come in
the fifth round. But you know, I'm not necessarily a
believer that you can plug any back in. There's certain
kinds of backs. Um, can you plug a lot of
backs in if you're if you have a running game
that's a little bit more by committee. Yeah, I don't
(21:23):
think that there's twenty five Ezekiel Elliott's. I don't think
that there's you know, Adrian Peterson's. Um, we'll see how
Leonard four Nett goes. I don't think there's twenty five
Leonard four nets either. Kareem Hunt. You know, I'm not
gonna say there's twenty five of those guys. You know,
we'll see, you know, the book would be out on
that for me. But I'm not a believer that you
(21:45):
can just plug anybody in and have a great running game.
So you mentioned for Net being drafted into a system
that helped you envision how he might have success. Let's
talk a little bit about the system and the philosophy
that's at work at Jacksonville this year that helped them
have the season that they did. Because the question I
asked and it is, you know, by my own admission,
a thirty ft ignorance driven question. Well, come on, Paul,
(22:07):
give yourself one. Why why the Jaguars? Greg? Why a
were they so good this year? It's just I mean,
this was a team that, yeah, Gus Bradley was a
defensive coach that was there the last couple of years
but didn't gain enough traction to keep his job. In
one year, they've come in and essentially become arguably the
best I think they gave up The only team that
gave up fewer points than them were the Vikings this year,
the number two scoring defense in the NFL. Why were
(22:29):
the Jaguars so effective? You know, it's a try it
and true profile to make the playoffs. Whether you can
go deep in the playoffs with that is questionable, But
there's no question that that profile of run the ball,
play really good defense, ideally not have your quarterback turn
it over, I mean boordles for many the narrative has
(22:52):
been already written. So no matter what you say, people
are gonna say he stinks. But he didn't turn it
over a lot this year for the most part. Uh.
I think he had two games where he threw two
or three picks in each of those games, but I
think overall he only threw twelve or thirteen. So it's
it's again, it's cliche, but true, run the ball, play
good defense, don't have your quarterback loose games. You can
(23:14):
make the playoffs, particularly in division that was a relatively
weak division this year. So that's a try it in
true profile. Well, two questions to spin off of that.
One we'll get to in a second with quarterbacks. The
other the Jaguars defense. Is it good enough to make
one of those defense driven runs all the way to
(23:34):
the Super Bowl the way the Broncos did two years
ago with an aging, aging and mostly ineffective Peyton Manning
on paper? Yes, because they're really good at all three
levels of their defense. So yes, whether it happens well
remains to be seen, but they can rush the quarterback
their linebackers into particularly let's talk nickel because teams play
(23:58):
in their nickel package an awful lot meaning an extra
defensive meaning five defensive acts, and they're a nickel team.
They don't play dime with six. So they have Miles
Jack and Telvin Smith, two great, great athletes with sideline
to sideline speed and range. So in today's NFL those
kinds of linebackers are important. They have two corners and
(24:19):
Jalen Ramsey and A J. Booyer who can play man
to man and and are good at it. And again
they're not man to man defense, no one is, but
they play man and a lot of zone concepts end
up being man outside the numbers anyway, So they can
line up and they can play man coverage. And in
Ramsey they have a corner if they feel it's necessary,
(24:41):
depending on the nature of the opponent, they can make
him a matchup corner and he can line up and
travel with any number one if they feel they need
to do that. Is Ramsey the kind of player who
has a chance to be one of these eight years
in a row all Pro Patrick Peterson types. He is,
(25:02):
He's he's that kind of guy, and their safeties are
probably not big names. Tayshaun Gibson and Bariy Church people
all no Church because he spent time in Dallas. But
Tashaun Gibson came from Cleveland and was a really good
free safety in Cleveland. But his role has expanded dramatically
in Jacksonville. He now plays much more in the box.
(25:22):
He matches up to tight ends man to man. So
they have a really good secondary and they have a
pass rusher who a lot of people probably don't know
about name in Goquay, yannikin Goquay, who came from the
University of Maryland, who's Monosky's pumping his fist. I was
silently fast. I was gonna say he came from the university.
(25:44):
Why didn't you mention him in our productions? Tag he's
a church. He's so far in the weeds he can't
even he's a really good pass rusher. And uh, they
bring Calais Campbell inside when they go to their their
past Nickel and he's still a real the good pass
rusher inside. And now they have Marcel Darius who's a
(26:04):
really good player. So no, all three levels of their
defense can be potentially dominant, particularly in their nickel. So Keith,
I asked a simple question. It's really a simple answer.
They're really good players on the Jaguars. I thought you
were going to ask Darius or Darius. Well they It's
funny because they that you say that is they don't
blitz a lot, because I don't have to know. They're
(26:24):
not a high percentage what's team. But when they do blitz,
they're really good at it. I think they only blitz
something like six of quarterback dropbacks. What's average? Like, what's normal? Like?
What's normal probably in the NFL is almost but I
believe thirty percent of their sacks come off blitz. So
(26:44):
they only blitz sixteen percent of quarterback drop backs, but
about thirty percent of their sacks come from blitz. And
you mentioned the Broncos tea from two years ago, Mileke Jackson,
who's on that Oh yeah, he's also on the Jaguars. Yeah,
I almost forgot about him. And he's a very good
player too. All right, So the other end of the
spectrum with that team, which was are you already mentioned
as Blake Bortles, who is one of many quarterbacks in
(27:07):
this postseason who have never proven themselves or come close
to proving themselves on a stage like this. We only
have one quarterback playing this weekend who has won a
Super Bowl, Drew Brees, and only one other has been
to a Super Bowl. No to Ryan and Newton. All right,
I forgot about all right, So we have the NFC
South quarterbacks essentially, and then we have five other guys who, well,
(27:31):
Alex Smith has been to a championship game and very
close to the Super Bowl. With let's talk about Alex
Smith for a moment. Let's do. Paul and I had
this conversation a couple of days ago and it was
kind of a fascinating conversation. Opened my eyes. Yeah, Alex Smith,
since two thousand and eleven when he really became a
full time staughter Okay that was in San Francisco, has
(27:53):
won his starts. That's pretty good, don't you think. But
I thought, you're a guy who doesn't pull a lot
of stock in what we're just starting the conversation, said,
you interrupt the professor, and then the first two minutes
of the class you probably did. You probably did up here,
(28:13):
we're just starting the conversation proceeds. So here's a guy
that's when six of his starts. Now, we constantly hear
how important the quarterback is. It's a quarterback league, right,
so we hear automatically when certain guys win their automatically
they're winners. That's what we hear. No one has really
ever said that about Alex Smith. Would you say that's fair?
No one really thinks about him like that. No, they
(28:36):
wanted him to not even start the first game of
the season. This correct. He's a game manager right now.
A lot of people forget about a playoff game he
had a number of years ago, I forget what year,
but they lost forty four to the Indianapolis Colts in
Indianapolis when he threw for close to four yards for
touchdowns and no turnovers. The defense yeah hugely to Andrew Luck,
(29:00):
very early in Andrew Luxe career. And again, I'm not
sitting here telling you Alex Smith is Tom Brady. That's
not the point. But I always find it interesting when
people it's almost as if you want to have it
both ways. They talk about the quarterback winning games, but
yet when Alex Smith wins games, it's because of everybody else,
not because of Alex Smith. It's just an odd it's
(29:23):
it's an odd and conversation more than likely after this
see quarterback correct for the second he'll start somewhere in
the league. For the second time, his replacement was drafted
while he was in charge of a playoff team. That
has happened with Colin Kaepernick, and he likewise had performed
brilliantly in a playoff game against the Saints when he
(29:44):
was with the playoff that's right, and a game they
won when he hit a touchdown to Vernon Davis with
less than a minute or so to go. To Alex
Smith has been a good playoff quarterback, that's correct. The
albatross of and we talked about this Greg the the
high draft pick. And then he went a few years
(30:05):
and he was on a poor team in San Francisco.
So within the first four years he didn't win a
super Bowl. And so again to Greg's point, the story
got written about Alex Smith and really, and this is
the power of the playoffs. The only thing that can
undo that is a super Bowl win. And he's getting
he'd have to get to a super Bowl. And again,
whether he does or not, who can answer that getting
to a super Bowl isn't even it because if you
(30:26):
can get to a super Bowl and then fall flat
on your face there and and it's even it's like
he didn't even worse. He would have to win a
Super Bowl Flacco style right for for for him to
vault to a different national There are people who put
Cam Newton in that category. You just not that he
fell flat on his face, but he didn't on the
(30:46):
one page. He's another fascinating conversation. Kim Newton is a
guy has been to a Super Bowl. He's obviously a
big physical talent. He's now VP. He was an m
v P. He was an m v P. Uh this year.
He's coming here, by the way, he's coming off a
year a year ago when he had his worst year
in the league following his his best year of the
Super Bowl season this year. He ended this season in
(31:09):
seven of his last nine games he did not throw
for two yards passing. And yet he's reached a level
in terms of general conversation where he's viewed as a great,
great player. When you say that's true with mostly like
a dominant force but maybe sometimes inconsistent at the highest
(31:32):
level quarterbacks stuff. But they've made a conscious decision, which
is very rare in the NFL, and they've made it
for a reason, I'm sure, but they've made a decision
to have their offense very much run through him by
design in the run game. Okay, he's not a scrambler
per se. He can do that on occasion, but they
(31:54):
by design feature him tremendously in the run game where
he you know, obviously doesn't carry it every time, but
he carries it a lot by design, whether it's all
zone reed concepts, whether it's off speed option, whether it's
quarterback draw, quarterback power, quarterback sweep. He is a foundation
part of their run game. Do they do that to
(32:15):
offset weaknesses or to highlight strengths? Well, that's I've always
believed that you can that. Coaches tell you what they
feel about their players by how they utilize them. So
why do they do this? And why does he not
throw a lot of passes for the most part, because
(32:35):
he's not the most accurate passer, because he's not a
consistent week to week proposition as a passer, right, And
the value proposition is it's better you have a better
chance to succeed with him doing X, which is run
then throw, which is why. And for the most part
they have a good defense. Uh. Their defense at times
has some poor performances, but for the most part, it's
(32:57):
a it's a higher level defense as the president. So
McCaffrey impacted uh Newton's passing passing game at all. His
numbers aren't any better. I mean, McCaffrey's caught more balls. Now,
then you get into the discussion, and it's a valid one. Uh.
You could have the same discussion theoretically about Blake Bortles,
but they don't have much in the way of white
(33:18):
outs right now. They don't have that true number one
outside the numbers receiver. Devin Funches is a big guy.
He can make some tough catches, but he's not really
a true outside the numbers guy. That's a curious decision
middle of the season to trade Kevin Ben. Yeah, and
I'm sure there's a lot more to that than we
know about UM, but yeah, they they obviously made that trade,
(33:42):
and uh, Funches kind of became their de facto number one,
even though he doesn't really fit that role. There were
a team that plays a lot with multiple tight ends. Certainly,
losing Greg Olsen this year for much of the season
has been a big factor because he's kind of Newton's guy.
But uh, he had He had Greg Olson last year
and he didn't do particularly well throwing the football. Another
(34:06):
quarterback that of the team we have not yet mentioned.
I don't think we've mentioned this team today at all.
Marcus Mariota. That's a fascinating conversation because they're a team
with Mike Malarkey that plays a certain way, a way
that for the most part, would not be viewed as
(34:29):
the most popular way to play in the league. They
line up a lot with two and even three tight ends.
They run the football. Uh. The problem is they've run
it poorly all season long, particularly out of multiple tight
end sets. Uh. I would argue based on film study. You,
(34:51):
let's put it this way. You could easily make the
argument based on film study that they're playing to their
weaknesses because they're line other than Taylor Lwan is not
an athletic offensive line. There are two backs, and now
Murray has hurt. We'll see if he returns. Murray and
Henry are not very good at this point. Murray probably
(35:14):
at the end of his career. Henry is not this guy.
They're not very good confined space runners. They can't create
yards in confined space. So to me, there that's not
the strength of their offense. That now becomes a philosophy thing.
To me, the strength, arguably would be a quarterback who
is a consensus topic. Everybody would have taken Mariota there.
(35:37):
They didn't reach for Mariota who who's a clearly more
comfortable in the spread, clearly more comfortable with multiple wide
receivers on the field, which I think is the strength
of their offense. A really good receiving tight end in
Delaney Walker who can line up anywhere. They've done a
little more of this in recent weeks, but that's not
(35:59):
been there philosophical foundation. But they have good players, like
there are some guys on that team that nobody knows about.
Like they have their defense, by the way, their fifth
in the league in sacks. A lot of people are
probably not aware of that there. They blitz a lot,
they play a ton of man coverage. They have Darrell Casey,
They've got a rackpo who's a good player. A guy
who has had a great year who's been in the
(36:20):
legal long time. And when I say a great year,
he's had a great year is Wesley Woodyard. He's had
a really really good since he's a linebacker. He came
out of Kentucky maybe twelve years ago. The first part
of his career he played only in nickel in Denver
and was really good at it, and many, including myself,
thought that that's what he was, a nickel player because
(36:42):
he might weigh two five pounds. And then he came
to Tennessee and the last number of years he's been
more of a full time guy, and this year he's
had his best year. He's been an impactful linebacker. I
smell the magic of Dick Lebow. So what who would
be the making linebackers for decades? The biggest upset to
(37:05):
you this weekend would be would be what you know?
I might say Tennessee only because they've so struggled to score,
and I, unless I'm wrong, and we know Kansas City
has had times some some games where they have not
put up a lot of points. Um. I did look
at the long range forecast in Kansas City for Saturday
(37:27):
supposed to be seven's our only potential weather game, and
I was happy to see that because I'm not a
big fan of weather games. Wow. You know, but anyway,
so you think Tennessee Buffalo has got a better chance
to be Jacksonville and Tennessee does to be Kansas City,
I would I would say yes only because I think
(37:49):
Jacksonville right now, over these last two three games, their
offense has really really struggled in that game could be
one of those low scoring games we're in the third
and fourth quarter. One player, two plays could be the
difference Buffalo without potentially it's best player. And that's that's
clearly an issue. And who know, you know they're saying
(38:12):
now he could play. That could just be that the
chatter leading up to games. You know, who knows. It's
a shame. He's one of those guys that could speak.
He could have been one of those emergence guys. To me,
a guy that I don't know he is so good
has broken through again. I mean that's the threshold for me.
It's like that's a legit. Well, let's put it this way.
I think if he doesn't play, I don't really see
(38:35):
that changing their approach dramatically. Well, I mean like a
third of their offense or yeah, I'm talking about philosophical approach.
I'm not talking about production approach. I mean it could
change their production approach, But Paul, I don't think that
all of a sudden, because of what they have at
quarterback and a receiver, they're gonna say, you know what,
we're gonna drop back forty five times today. But I
(38:55):
don't think they're going to do that. They have to
grit their teeth and try and run the ball with
different personality. Well, here's what I think you're gonna see.
If he doesn't play, I think you'll see because it's
the playoffs and theoretically there's only three or four games.
I mean, look, they're thinking super Bowl like every team
they're in the playoffs. I think Tyrod Taylor will be
(39:15):
a much bigger part of their running game this week.
By design, there'll be more read option, they'll be more
you know, because hey, there's there's at most four games.
You know, he's not built to do that for sixteen games,
but with four games. I remember years ago, and I
forget what I think he was with Tampa was a
work done late and to see obviously is a runner,
(39:37):
not a quarterback, but he was a smaller guy, and
late in the season they just committed to literally giving
him the ball like times for six weeks in a row.
And you could do that for six weeks in a row.
You probably couldn't do it for sixteen weeks, almost like
pitching staff in October. Right, you can use Clayton Kershaw
differently in October than you're gonna use them. That's a
(40:00):
you're making me think, you know. And the reason I
also say that about Taylor is because to me, Jacksonville
is a fast flow, reactive defense. You you have speed,
you have range, you have guys that run hard. So
what you want to do is you want to put
them in conflict. You want to really have to make
them play against their instincts. You want to have to
(40:21):
make them use their eyes to sort of see and
digest rather than just go and a lot of options stuff.
That's what it does. It causes stress and conflict, particularly
for second level defenders. So I think that you're gonna
see Taylor if McCoy is either limited or can't go
at all. I think Taylor will be a bigger part
(40:42):
of their run game, which is amazing considering that Taylor
last year they benched him so we wouldn't get hurt, right,
so they wouldn't have to pay him, and then this
year they benched him for Nathan Peterman in one game
that Nathan Peterman through five in half and in first half.
So here's Tyrod Taylor, the guy that they don't want
a see's their best chance to to win a playoff game.
(41:03):
Well it's you know, Look, it's funny how that stuff
works out. But I mean, I think everybody in the
league knows what Tyrod Taylor is and what he isn't.
And believe me, Sean mcdermot's been coaching a long time.
He's got it. He's a defensive coach and a damn
good one, and he's understands I'm sure exactly what Tyrode is.
But you know what, you gotta dance with the girl
(41:24):
who brings it brings up a bigger quarterback question that
we were we were discussing before you got here, which
this January may shed some light on. Do you do
you need that Hall of Fame type quarterback to get
all the way through this tournament? Do you need Brady
Ben or one of these NFC South guys or can
(41:47):
it We've seen it done very rarely through NFL history,
but maybe this is one of those years where we
could see a team sneak through with a quarterback who
doesn't have that pedigree. Well, I think most people would
probably feel at this point because that the a f
C will go through New England or Pittsburgh, I would
(42:09):
think more. I mean, which doesn't mean it will. There
would be it would be a shot, but I think
it was not. So Therefore, if we're if we're taking
that as somewhat of a given, then it won't be
true on the f C side because you have two
Hall of fame quarterbacks. On the NFC side, with Carson
Wentz getting hurt, the whole Philly thing is is very
(42:31):
much up in the air right now. So is it
possible that you know, I guess if you look at
the a f C playoff teams, you've got Drew Brees
will be a Hall of famer. NFC excuse me, you
have Matt Ryan, who, by the way, in his first
ten years just has more passing yards than any quarterback
(42:51):
in the history of the game, and their first cross
Peyton man and and Matt Ryan obviously lost the Super
Bowl last year. But I don't think Matt Ryan is
thought of that way. Would you agree? He's on a trajectory,
but but he has not thought of that way, right
And and again that's where you get into the super Bowl.
And I'm not saying that that doesn't matter, but I
think Matt Ryan has been a pretty darn good player
(43:13):
and he's care amazing because if he had won that
game last year, he would be thought of very differently
than he is right now. Changes everything, no question, got
everything else, no question. But I mean, I guess if
Matt Ryan were to get there, or Drew Brees were
to get there, we probably would say that, Hey, really
pretty darn good quarterbacks got there. The issue is, you
know the other guys, well, Cam has been there. I
(43:35):
don't know if that team is good enough, but you know,
you hit it right on the head with someone like
Cam is there's a wildcut factor with someone like Cam.
I mean, there's he's he's a dangerous if not consistent,
he's dangerous. Yeah, we've talked about this over the years.
You and I have that all right, Cam, when you
put on the tape, doesn't excite you as a pat
(43:55):
downfield passing quarterback the way the way a classic pocket
quarterback passer does. He just doesn't. He misses too many throats.
He's not as crisp in the downfill passing game. However,
he can be a completely dominant force on any in
any given game, and anyfore he can be in an
odd way, almost a non factor. See, I would argue
(44:17):
that that that in a way he frustrates someone like
you who studies the take. You're trying to to to
to draw conclusions for from things you are, from the
evidence you're seeing, and someone like Cam comes in and
he's basically a tornado. He can bust everything that everyone
thought to be true because he can just be so
physically dominant, which is why he wins a game, which
(44:39):
is why in different ways, I'm going to be very
anxious to see a lot of the college quarterbacks coming
out this year. You know, I'm sure a lot of
people saw the Baker Mayfield play, and I've seen them
all year. And you know, another guy that where does
he fit into this kind of equation, because he's not
going to be for one of a better term right now,
(45:00):
traditional or conventional um the way we've often thought of
the quarterback position. You know, I think we've discussed that
maybe ten fifteen years ago, Baker Mayfield might be a
sixth round after thought, because no one would view that
kind of quarterback is having value in the NFL, but
that's clearly not going to be the case this year.
He's likely to be a first round pick and could
(45:22):
be a top fifteen pick or a top ten pick.
But so Cam. In an odd way, they're totally different players, obviously,
but in an odd way, Kim is very much the
same because he's hard to evaluate in a sort of
traditional conventional way because he just misses too many throws
from the pocket. Well, you talked to enough coaches, Greg,
I mean, isn't it fair to say that there are
some coaches who would would rather have a more consistent,
(45:44):
yes quarterback who maybe he's even a little bit less
talented or dynamic because he knows what he can. Coach
wants to know what he's gonna get when a guy's
out there on the fields, want to be surprised for
the most part. For the most part, yes, I mean,
I think coaches work the amount of time they do
because they want execution to occur, not because they want randomness.
(46:05):
But on the other hand, I've also talked to a
bunch of people, both coaches and front office people who
love guys. I mean, I talked to people about Pat
Mahomes a little different because Mahomes is a ridiculously good
thrower of the football, but he's also a random, second
reaction improvisational player, and a lot of them love that
about him. They say, you have to be able to
(46:26):
do that now in the game now. But Aaron Rodgers
is Yes, Aaron Rodgers, I've always kind of described him
as a jazz musician kind of player because there's so
much improvisation to him. Sometimes you watch him and I
feel like he's playing with us intentionally, like he's not
going to throw the ball when it's there from the
pocket because he just doesn't feel like it. You know,
(46:46):
Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz. One question for you, if
you were had to put any sort of odds that
Pat Mahomes would make an appearance this weekend, Well, not
gonna start. He's not gonna start. But you think, you know,
Andy's collar gets a little bit tight and they're down
by I mean, if all of a sudden, it's the
(47:08):
third quarter and they scored six points this year, six
Titans in the middle of the third quarters, Andy looking
at Pat Mahomes. Good questions. I'm shocked by this question, Like, well,
the reason I don't I wouldn't be shocked is because
my guess is no inside information that once you trade
up to draft Pat Mahomes, you've already made an organizational
(47:31):
decision that he's your staughter next year. Right or wrong.
People can debate this, but I think they've made that
organizational decision, and I think therefore it wouldn't surprise. Well,
how did he look last week? He looked pretty good.
I watched his tape. I thought it looked pretty good.
What would happen if Alex Smith won the Super Bowl? Here?
That's that's above my pay grade. Guys, all right, couple
(47:54):
more quick hitters. Which of these eight teams has that
we're going to see this weekend has the best chance
of oysting Lombardi? So we're taking out Pittsburgh and New
England and start playing this weekend. Taking out the Eagles,
who are obviously diministrated. I think the most complete team
(48:15):
throughout the season of the of the Gang of Eight,
as it were, has been the Saints. Uh. They have
Hall of Fame quarterback, They've got a two headed monster
run game, and Kamara is just tremendous in the past game.
They have a defense that's far better than people think
their Their third down defense has been really, really good
(48:37):
and most people view that as the money down. I
think their second or third in the league and third
down sacks. They have a number of defensive players no
one knows about. I mean, people know about Cameron Jordan.
He's a really good player. Uh Lattimore has become a
guy they use as a matchup shutdown corner. Had a
great matchup two weeks ago with Julio Um. Julio had
big numbers, but they weren't all against Lattimore because of scheme.
(49:00):
But he had a really good matchup they use. They've
used Lattimore in that way and he's done a pretty
darn good job. Hard to do as a rookie corner. Yeah.
Uh So, I would argue that they're the most complete team.
Uh So, they're the team from this the gang of
eight that I would look at as having the best
shot other quick hitters. Is there one unit in the
(49:23):
trenches that could one of them? Like, we don't look
at the trenches, We don't look at our offensive lines
and defensive lines, but you know, you can have a
team like the Giants with their front four that beat
the Patriots. Is there a unit in the trenches that
could bullets way into the super Bowl. Well, we obviously
talked about Jacksonville, but let's say the Rams, because I
(49:44):
don't think that the Falcons old line is really good
by any means. I think it's probably average at best
by NFL standards. And while I really like their skill
position players in Atlanta, I think that their old line
could have a very difficult time in this game, and
that could shut down their offense to some degree. They've
been very inconsistent running the ball this year, and you
(50:07):
know that with that group. You know about Donald, but
they've got Quinn, who is ridiculous, and Brocker's who you know,
I remember interviewing Michael Brocker's a few years ago at
a draft, one of the few drafts I attended, and
he is a huge, huge man, and so he's really
good too. And you know, Ogletree is a stud. So
I mean, I think that's that's one unit matchup in
(50:29):
the trenches that that will be interesting to see this week.
And they just placed their starting guard on injured reserve
just today, Levitra, so they'll have a So it'll be
Ben Garland, the guy. Uh uh, he's a military guy.
I forget which school the Air Force. I believe that
was the coolest step that I saw this week, well,
the second coolest, but the second coolest ass all this
week was that Wade Phillips has had eight jobs and
(50:53):
in every job he's been to they made the playoffs
in his first season. I saw that too. That's pretty unbelievable. Now,
bonus points if you can name all eight? Is there
are there any other injuries that we're not talking about
and aren't maybe aren't even aware of that could play
(51:14):
a major role this weekend and beyond. Well, I don't
know if he's ready this week and then this Yeah,
I don't know if it's possible to check, you know,
right now, But Kurt Coleman has not played the last
couple of weeks Panthers safety, and he's a really savvy,
smart aware player, and when he doesn't play, the drop
off is pretty significant. See That's what I'm talking about.
(51:36):
So I don't know if that's the con injury I'm
talking about. I don't know if he's if he's okay.
You know, he might have been kept out this week
just as a precaution or maybe I don't know what
the extent of his injury is you've given up. He
has missed the last two games, so you've had a
greater body of work to study when there's a divisional
rematch in the playoffs. The Panthers and Saints have played. Yeah,
(51:57):
we've gone through those two games. Pretty Drew is throwing
four touchdown pass they beat him twice, and Cam played
terrible against the Saints. Right, Yeah, so let's put up
thirty both times. I believe they did. So what, how
is this going to be any different? Well, and you
went back through it, you said, both these games, what what?
What are you seeing new for the first time as
you are you're going back through those two games. Well,
(52:20):
one of the things that's really interesting when you watch
the Panthers defense. I don't think any defense in the
NFL plays out of their base, meaning their four three
with three linebacker Shack Thompson, Luke Kickley, Thomas Davis versus
three wide receivers as much as the Panthers, because they
really feel that Shack Thompson is almost a hybrid linebacker
(52:42):
safety and they line him up detached, you know, over
the slot. I mean, but no team does what the
Panthers do in terms of playing with all three linebackers
against three wide receivers. As much as the Panthers is
great dropping into coverage against I tell the guy who,
to me is ridiculously impressive, it is Thomas Davis. Guys
(53:04):
at three a c l s. He's in his early thirties,
probably getting closer to his mid thirties, you know, and
he is still a really really good player. Mhm. So
but yeah, that's that's the kind of tactical stuff that
we look for for the Matchup show. You know, whether
we make that a film piece, I don't know yet,
but I mean, it's it's just an interesting thing that
(53:25):
in this era where everybody is lining up in what
they call sub packages five defensive back, six defensive backs,
some teams even seven at times, that the Panthers stay
with three linebackers versus three wide receivers. So while we're
there this week and throughout the postseason, you can find Matchup.
Is it Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings? What are we doing?
I feel terrible here because the times have all changed.
(53:49):
It's all Saturday morning now because we only do one
show for the four games, so obviously we can't air
Sunday morning. So there's three airings Saturday morning, and I
just don't remember all the time because it just changed
for this week. Alright, folks, set your dv arts when
you wake up Saturday mornings, it'll be it'll be there
just for you know, NFL matchup and you can find
(54:10):
it and then you can set it. And that's Greg,
that's sal Pal and that is Lewis. Alright, bring it
to you. Follow Greg on Twitter at Greg Cosell and
tune in next week to the NFL Films Podcast when
we'll have Greg here. Well, we'll we'll hold your feet
to the fire, Greg, and see if what you told
us about wild Card weekend came true, and we'll get
(54:30):
You're not gonna ask me to pick the games already, no, no, no, no, no,
I would hope you. We have not done any game pick.
This has been a high level stuff the whole way.
If the presidents are absence of Kurt Coleman plays a
big role this weekend, we're gonna we're gonna bring that
up and and and applaud you. This podcast will catch fire.
I guarantee you. No one else is talking about well,
(54:51):
like I said, he could be playing. I haven't checked
that yet because we're doing this early in the week.
But he's he's a pretty good player. We'll talk to Vision,
We'll talk Case Keenum and uh Carson Wentz and Nick
Foles and those other two guys in New England and
Pittsburgh next week as well. Our plan is to do
this with Greg throughout the month. I'm looking forward to
talking Case Keenum. Yes, that should be interesting. Next next,
(55:12):
the plot only thickens from here, fellas. All right, Paul Monosky, Um,
we can watch the show Saturday at eleven am on
ESPN two and two o'clock on ABC Prime Realist, Prime Realistate.
I just had to want the best stat I heard
this week because he mentioned Tyrod Taylor, who is the
Virginia Tech all time leader in quarterback rushing touchdowns. First,
(55:36):
I know it's great. I'm not gonna say it's so great.
Do you know it? Well, it's obviously not gonna be
Michael Vick. It's not Tyrod Taylor, and it's not Michael Vick.
It is a head coach who just give it away. Well,
what are we gonna do? Sit here? And Bruce Arians
(55:58):
which I knew that because I read his book this
past summer. That is the best stat that I saw
this week. A greatest day, be a he'll be missed,
Maybe we'll have Maybe he'll join us at NFL Films
next year. You know, get him on the podcast too.
He's he's he's a great guy. Yeah, he's awesome. All right, uh,
PAULI anything else? I can't wait for these games, cause
(56:19):
a lot to watch. January football is here. Let's enjoy it.
Hopefully we get one game as good as that Rose
Bowl was. Well, I'm just happy that this week, now
that we know what the weather, it will likely be
in case that weather will likely not be a factor. Okay,
let's pick that bone. What is your problem with cold
weather games? Because I like to see the athletes perform
(56:40):
at their highest possible level. But part of the competition
is the in our sport is the weather, the venue,
the weather, dealing with those unexpected levels of adversity. I
don't like it, Paul. So you want a dome, your dome, guy? Yeah,
I don't like it, all right, have it? He wants
to see, he wants I'm struggling with going out just
to my car for for three minutes at the end
(57:01):
of you know when it's at nine o'clock tonight. I
couldn't agree more. I mean, but it's not me out
there playing well, so Greg wants a clinical environment. I
went on the Dave Damashek podcast last week and and
almost bakes basically got an argument with Maurice Jones Drew
about the Ice Bowl, and he was making the same
argument football should not be played in those elements, and
I said, yes, it should, and then went on to
(57:22):
promise that I would play against him in Minnesota on
February three, Saturday before the Super Bowl, which I now
would like to publicly, um, stop playing any football and
it's ridiculous out here. I'd love to do that. Yeah,
I think today it's by the way, I think it's
minus sixteen in Minneapolis today. Yeah. I not have been
(57:44):
checking every day. It's hard. Have you It's hard. You're
even sicker than I am. It's disgusting. Any Pittsburgh references
between Cause and Dave Damask on the Dame there were one,
there were one or two? Yeah, all right? Hit it.
Thanks to our engineer Steve Moseley, to our producer Rich Owens,
(58:06):
to Paulmannusky, the show runner of Wild Card Championship Chase
and to Greg Costell, the senior producer and star of
NFL Matchup on ESPN. Follow NFL Films on Twitter, on Instagram,
on Facebook, on our YouTube channel, on all your favorite
social media platforms, and you will see our shows everywhere
(58:29):
this month all your favorite networks from the home of
America's football movies in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. I'm Paul.
Enjoy the wild card games, folks. Take care. M
Today on the NFL Films Podcast. It's the NFL's best season,
the postseason. We have wild Card questions and we want
wild Card answers. We'll sort them out with help from
Paul Monusky, the showrunner of wild Card Championship Chase, and
Greg co Sell, the guru of NFL Films. It's the
(00:25):
Talking wild Card Playoffs edition of the NFL Films Podcast.
I'm Paul, I'm Keith. Welcome aboard everyone. That song Returned
to Win might be the greatest modern era composition by
(00:46):
an NFL Films composer. There's an air of majesty that
fills the room when Returned to Wind comes on. Let's
get your fired up. Wait to do anything like what
Irregardless of what we're gonna do now, I would be
fired up. We have a saying here, it's time to
break out the Robodo. No one else in the world
would know what that means. What does that mean, Paul,
(01:08):
it's a little geeky. We really wanted we could, all right, Yeah,
we'll tell him so. Around this time of year, when
the big games come out, we'll be in a meeting
heading into a weekend and we'll be talking about how
are we gonna how are we gonna make sure we
we portray the drama of this weekend's games, And somebody
will notably say, well, I think we need to break
out the Roboto. It's kind of like the moment and
(01:29):
then like a movie, like when they turn to like
to the cop and say let's go get them, and
like it triggers and then like the action sequence starts.
Break out the Roboto means you you have the license
to use the Dave Roboto are in house composer Dave
Roboto full orchestral guns blazing cinematic score to tell your
(01:52):
story of your game that week. The biggest, most over
the top piece of music you could possibly imagine, and
by over the top of me the epic arm wrestling movie,
not like the hyperbolic like sensational cheesiness. Yeah, no, you
know the big moment, And I wouldn't go arm wrestling movie.
I would go, you know, the the guys walking through
(02:15):
the mountains and Lord of the Rings. You know, over
the John John Williams, I just met over the Top
as a compliment. That was the name of the movie.
I know the name of the movie. I know the
name of the movie, but I think it does Dave
Roboto at Disservice to even to even imply that he
said over the top, I don't want to. I don't
want to cheapen him, so I wanted to, like, did
(02:36):
you cheap and cheat? All right over the top? Check
the transcript who used the phrase. And I would further
clarify that when Paul says we, what he's talking about
is us, the producers at NFL Films, who this time
of year are hard at work on many end of
season productions that that will that will pepper your television's
(03:02):
and your devices all through the month of January and
into February with recap shows, highlight shows, end of season specials,
um and shows like the one Paul is producing this week,
Paul Monusky, uh and Paul, what is this show is? So?
This is this is called the wild Card Championship Chase,
and it's it's a very interesting show for what we
(03:25):
do because it's only going to air the Saturday of
wild Card Weekend. It's basically an hour show that is
going to preview the entire wild Card Weekend all eight games, um,
all eight teams, excuse me, in all four games. And
that's it. It's gonna air on Saturday, UM on the
sixth at eleven o'clock on ESPN two, and then at
two o'clock on ABC it's gonna re air and then
(03:47):
you start your wild card games. That's a good window. Wait,
that's a good window. Two pm this Saturday on ABC
means you are leading into the pregame show of the
first playoff game. That's a good that's prime real estate
Paul's and then that one of the great thing about
our show. I mean, we have a narrator. We have
a great narrator. Who's the narrator j K. Simmons. Oh,
(04:10):
that's a good one him. He's never on television, Mr
Whiplash himself, j K. Simmons. And then that's it. There's
no talking heads, there's no This is not an ordinary,
this is not a preview show. This is not a
talking heads driven This is the NFL films red Meat right. Yes,
this is great music, this is great shots, this is
(04:33):
great insight. And what we're just trying to push on
this show is that we want to teach you something
and we want to entertain. What about sound? Are we
gonna have sound? There's gonna be there's gonna be some
fires and the funding about these year end shows, even
for me. I mean, this is the job, my job
every week, but I feel like we get to this
time of year and there's sort of guys or teams
or things I've kind of heard about. I know they're happening,
(04:54):
but I stop and go, wait, how did that happen? Like?
Why are why are we talking about this guy? Why
did this become a story? When did the Aguars go
from being the team I laughed at last year with
their two tone helmets to the one that sort of
punched everybody in the face, not just in September but
all year year long. So that's what these year and
shows are about. And that's what today's show is going
to be about. And and for the first segment, with
(05:14):
Paul's help, we're going to come up with some of
those wise right now, what are we thinking about as
the fans? We are going to have a production meeting
for the next ten minutes to figure out what we
should talk about with the guru. Well, listen to me.
The real cool dichotomy of this year's playoffs is the
a f C and the NFC, the number one and
(05:36):
two seeds. So you have in the a f C,
you have these number one and two seeds that are waiting.
Is Tom Brady, you know, Mr super Bowl and Ben Roethlisberger,
who has also won multiple Super Bowls. And then every
other quarterback in the a f C has never won
a Super Bowl and three of them have never been
to the playoffs. Then in the NFC, the number one
and two seeds, and I would I would just interject,
(05:56):
not only have they not, I would say, I'm kind
of looking at my list here. These are guys who
probably may have the stigma attached to them, fairly or not. Well,
they can't win super Bowls anyway. They're not Brady, they're
not Roethlisberger, they're not even uh, they're not even quote
unquote Matt Ryan. These are guys you can't win a
super Bowl. But so you know what's the business can't
(06:16):
win a super Bowl, it's can't win a game. Like
Tyronn Taylor was bench this year, Blake Bortles was called
to be benched this year. I mean, Mary Ode is good,
but he's he's been hurt. So those just those three
guys and Alex Smith's presumptive replacement was drafted this year,
Alex Smith, who they almost pulled a flutie, Doug Johnson.
Ladies and gentlemen, you're a f C playoff quarterbacks. But but,
(06:38):
but that's an important question because you hear a lot um,
I can't see this guy hoisting Lombardi. You have heard
that a lot about case Keenum over the last couple
of months. I can't. I just can't see case Keenum
winning the Super Bowl. Bl Well, why not? That's the
flip side is the NFC the number one and two
seeds are both backups, and then everybody else in the
(06:59):
playoffs besides Jared Goff, are guys that have either won
super Bowls or lost Super Bowls. So it's it's cool.
So this January, potentially we'll go a long way to
answering the question do you need Hall of Fame quarterback
to get all the way through January and all the
way through the first weekend of February. And there's a
couple of guys to me that what's interesting thing is
(07:20):
people forget, maybe because they've won the Super Bowl, really
the remarkable careers they had, and it sounds a little
silly to say, but the Super Bowl is just that
missing piece and then their whole the whole perception of
them changes. And as my two examples, really for me,
the biggest ones are Matt Ryan, who already mentioned. You
look at his stats, you look at his longevity, look
at the amount of games he's played, the touch on
he's thrown one a lot, one, a lot of games
(07:42):
one one, a bunch of playoff games too, but hasn't
won the Super Bowl. And Andy Reid is my other guy. Yeah,
I don't know that any read people regard as the
quality of the coach that he has been over the
last almost what twenty years between Philadelphia and Kansas City,
won a lot of games, been in a lot of games,
and and but for not having that trophy on his shelf,
(08:03):
people don't maybe understand what he's accomplished. Hall of Fame
resume missing one piece. Yeah, well that's a big piece. Yes, um,
just to hit on your Matt Ryan. So one of
the segments in our show is going to be about
these guys that can they are they championship quarterbacks And
it's Cam Newton and it's Alex Smith and it's Matt Ryan.
(08:24):
How many times do you guys think Matt Ryan through
for more than two touchdown passes this year in a game.
He won the m v P last year, how many
times did he throw for more than two touchdown passes
in a game. I'm gonna go with zero. Yeah, I
think you want us to figure low, So I'm gonna
say one zero. This year. He wins the m v
(08:45):
P last year, and then this year he never throws
from more than two touchdowns. They were missing a little
something all here, weren't they. And they refused to throw
to Julio Julio Jones in the red zone. Julio Jones
in the red zone had three red zone targets all year.
I'm seeking really rooting for a Super Bowl rematch. Oh well,
that's the and and the the dream starts this weekend. And
(09:06):
it wasn't until about week or I didn't even entertained
that thing exactly right. It wasn't util about week twelve.
That really would have some juice. Well, he would have
some juice. The way they get into that game, the
way they lost that Super Bowl last year, they were
immediately consigned to the dustbin of Super Bowl Also rans
who were gonna fall apart right that they can't recover? Yeah, nobody,
(09:26):
nobody could possibly recover from that. Then they then they
have a slow arguably kind of a slow September and
it and it becomes clear pretty quickly that the division
is going to be really difficult. So I almost feel
like it was never discussed. And then they played that
game against the Saints late in the season. They were
the great red on Red and they won that game,
(09:46):
and for some reason, it popped in my head, like,
wait a minute, what if this is the the collision
that we didn't see coming and it happens, and it'd
be pretty good based only and we saw some of
those redemption stories and other sports the last couple years
between Alabama Clemson Warriors, as if the Falcons can come
back and try and slay the dragon that will otherwise
haunt them for the rest of their lives, be a
(10:06):
pretty big game for us. I mean if they had
the lead in the fourth quarter of a rematch Super Bowl,
and that would be the longest quarter ever if you
were a support of the Falcons or Falcons players, like
how many times did you look at the clock? Alright,
so we've got some good so quarterbacks obviously um Alex
Smith and Andy Reid in Kansas, City of Great interest
(10:28):
this weekend Um the falcons Um, I would like to know.
I would like to ask the question, who what player
could kind of make his legend this month, like the Allah,
Larry Fitzgerald and O eight or Von Miller two years ago,
just dominate because it's a little bit wide open. Aside
(10:51):
from Brady Roethlisberger and some big and breeze and a
couple of big quarterbacks in the NFC, there's not the
Titanic teams looming over the field. Old there could be
a player who runs rough shot and just carries his
team to the super Bowl. Here. Do you have a
prohibitive sort of favorite you? Who is it? Aaron Donald?
(11:12):
It's good. I just love the fact that you pose
that question because our main title song for wild Card
Championship Chase is a song called Legend by a band
called The Score. So that whole theme of who's it
to us? It's wide open this week and they're gonna
be guys that really take the reins. I always think
(11:32):
about Steve Smith in two thousand three, destroyed the destroyed
the playoffs or Larry Bowl to the super Bowl. So
and it could be offense or defense. I really like
Aaron Donald to me, a guy like Luke Keikley is
a guy that could sort of pick up the Panthers
and take them, despite any of their shortcomings on offense,
(11:55):
take them to the super Bowl. I think it's interesting
that we both think about defensive play, but we have
a couple of genuinely dominant defenses here that aren't getting
a lot of hype. The Jacksonville defense, by all appearances,
is legitimately dominant defense. That's my question for Greg. For Greg,
why why the Jaguars? Right? Well, yeah, we mentioned Clay's Campbell.
(12:18):
They've got jail and Ramsey is is is on its
way to to possibly being the best corner in football
for the next decade. And they signed around from the
Texas six picks. Right, I got a few quick hitters.
Best team in the trenches both sides of the vault,
because I think none of us, like we got a
(12:40):
chance to bring in the guy who watches more tape
than anyone in America. Let's find out. Let's ask, Let's
ask the questions that that are not going to get
answered anywhere else. You can hear about quarterbacks anywhere. Best
teams in the trenches. One injury that could catch up
to a team that we're not talking about. This is
the time to get some answers. I think are auction
meeting is over. Let's bring in the man, Let's bring
(13:03):
in the guru. Harry comes, Greg co Sell, producer Talent
and the Matchup show on ESPN, which heads into it's
prime season this month. You hard at it this week, Greg,
(13:27):
I imagine you've been watching a little bit of tape,
you know, because I really like these playoff weeks because
you can really find focus. Um, And that's what makes
the playoffs so much fun, is because you have now
we have eight teams, obviously, and you can really look
hard at eight teams. And it's whereas during the regular season,
I try to watch as many games as I possibly can.
(13:50):
Now I'm still watching some games from week seventeen, obviously
because the number of the mattered. But you're really looking
more at what you've done all season and find focusing
on particular things because you have a really good feel
for what teams, tactics and schemes are. What are you
most excited to see this weekend, the first weekend of
the playoffs. What has got you really really fired up? Um? Well,
(14:15):
there's gotta be like, we got four games, you know,
there's gotta be one that you're kind of really Greg's
a fan too, folks, He's not just a Maine. If
you could watch, if you could only watch one of
these four games. I am really intrigued by Atlanta and
the Rams, just because I know Atlanta has been ideally
a disappointment for some coming off being in the Super
(14:37):
Bowl a year ago. Uh. But the thing about Atlanta
is they have a lot of talented players, and so
in a game where you have talented players, it always
makes it potentially interesting. I imagine most people are viewing
the Rams is the favorite. They're playing in l A.
But you know, I'm really anxious to see how Wade
(15:00):
Phillips decides to match up to Julio Jones. I think
that's gonna be really fascinating. We actually went back and
took a look last year because Atlanta played in Denver
last year when Wade was the decoordinator in Denver and
obviously had three really good corners. They don't have three
really good corners with the Rams. And he didn't do
(15:20):
anything special at all. He whoever who had him, whether
it was to leave, whether it was Harris or whether
it was Robi they matched up because they played a
lot of man. I don't think that will happen this week.
I think they could travel Truemaine Johnson within the entire game,
because I don't think they're going to leave one of
their other two corners if it's Nickel, I don't think
they're going to leave one of those guys matched man
(15:40):
to man on Julio Jones, is Tremaine Johnson on Julio
John's matchup they can they can win. Well, it's a
matchup they'll live with because Trumaine Johnson is six to
ten and he's considered a quality corner and he is
uh and the size is critical because the problem for
them is they to our Troy Hill at the other
(16:01):
outside corner, and he's about five nine, five ten, and
their nickel slot corner is Nickel Roby, who's also about
five nine. So it'll be Truemaine Johnson Trueman Johnson. And
we were talking about this before you came. You know,
these these players that that most people don't know about,
um who who could rise up and make a big difference.
(16:23):
Trumaine Johnson is a good player. I mean I think
I think serious football fans would would probably corner. Yeah,
but he's a talented guy. He is big. But this
is a chance, on this stage for him to alter
the football America's perception of him. Well, and he doesn't
have Let's here's the name, a cornerback name Ricky Manning Jr.
(16:44):
He wasn't the best quarterback in football, but that playoffs
he was a great three places against the Eagles two
thousand three, and he had one against one. Didn't he
have one against the Rams the week before? He might have,
but he definitely had three against the Eagles. So to
your point, cause this is a this is the time
of year where guys emerge and sometimes they stay on
that stage. Sometimes they just have this another guy in
(17:06):
the Rams defense. We gotta ask Greg about that you
were talking about before. Aaron Donald a guy that again
over the year, he's been good enough long enough that
he's more than just a guy that football geeks. No,
but I still don't think the average football fan, the
mainstream sort of understands and appreciates what Aaron Donald is
both to his team and on the league levels. He
(17:27):
a guy that can sort of maybe take over these
playoffs and emerge and pop pop into that next stratosphere. Sure,
I mean to me, he already is there, but he
hasn't had the opportunity, you know, in the playoffs yet obviously. Uh.
You know it's funny when Wade Phillips came into the
Rams to become their decoordinator, there was a lot of
talk about, oh, this isn't good for Aaron Donald because
Wade's a three four guy. But the thing about way
(17:49):
it is, his three four is really a four three.
It's just that he has three guys with their hand
on the ground and four guys standing up. But it's
a four three in terms of gap concepts. So when
they're in their base defense, Aaron Donald is really a
weak side defensive tackle, three technique defensive tackle who plays
in the gap just like he would in a four three.
(18:09):
So it's the same thing, and therefore he's he's able
to do what he's done in his first couple of
years because the defense is is very similar. Just wanting
to ask you, I know you do a lot of
stuff with the draft and draft prep, right college guys.
So in this wild Card Chase show that was going
to air on Saturday, one of our segments is about
rookie running backs this year, and it's the first time
(18:31):
in NFL history that four rookie running backs had over
a thousand yards total yards and four of these even
have big roles on playoff teams. And who are the four?
Paul we're talking about Christian McCaffrey for the Panthers. Well,
he didn't get a thousand yard you're talking about using
yards yards from so then it's Kamara, McCaffrey, four Nett
(18:51):
and Hunt and Hunt. But four guys. So these four guys,
did you expect not? I am he's not. Did you
expect these four guys coming in this year to have
this sort of impact on playoff teams? For Net for sure,
because of who drafted him and why he was drafted,
(19:12):
assuming health, I knew for Net would carry two fifty
times give or take, if not more. Um McCaffrey, yes,
because also of where he was drafted. He was not
drafted with the eighth pick to play tense snaps a game,
so I didn't expect him to gain a thousand yards rushing.
But McCaffrey, I remember being on on the floor of
(19:34):
the dome in Indianapolis at the combine and watching him
run routes, and he ran routes just so beautifully with
such precision, and I thought, this guy'll will play a lot,
and I didn't know how many catches or yards, but
I knew he'd be a significant part of the passing game,
and that's where he gained most of his yards in
the passing game. Camarrow was a guy I loved on tape.
(19:55):
I thought tomorrow to me, Kamara and Dalvin Cook were very,
very similar. The difference being Cook was a volume runner
in college and Camarrow was not. But Kamara is bigger
than Dalvin Cook and actually is stronger in his lower body.
So Kamara I loved him coming out, and when he
got drafted by the Saints, I thought that was a
(20:17):
a great spot. I didn't expect him to gain as
many yards rushing, but I knew he'd be really important
to them as a receiver. And then Kareem Hunt nothing
I really liked on tape, but I could never have
predicted him being a true feature foundation back as a rookie,
so he would be the surprise in terms of the yardage.
But I liked the player a lot. Do you think
(20:39):
this changes anything in the NFL as far as like
in the last couple of years, people were going away
from you know, how important to back is to your
offense to seeing these four guys now that major role
in the playoff team. That's a great conversation and there's
probably no right or wrong answer. Um. I think it's
always easy to say about backs that you can plug
anybody in, and there's always examples of that. It's just
(21:02):
like when people say you can get a great player
in the fifth round, because great players have come in
the fifth round. But you know, I'm not necessarily a
believer that you can plug any back in. There's certain
kinds of backs. Um, can you plug a lot of
backs in if you're if you have a running game
that's a little bit more by committee. Yeah, I don't
(21:23):
think that there's twenty five Ezekiel Elliott's. I don't think
that there's you know, Adrian Peterson's. Um, we'll see how
Leonard four Nett goes. I don't think there's twenty five
Leonard four nets either. Kareem Hunt. You know, I'm not
gonna say there's twenty five of those guys. You know,
we'll see, you know, the book would be out on
that for me. But I'm not a believer that you
(21:45):
can just plug anybody in and have a great running game.
So you mentioned for Net being drafted into a system
that helped you envision how he might have success. Let's
talk a little bit about the system and the philosophy
that's at work at Jacksonville this year that helped them
have the season that they did. Because the question I
asked and it is, you know, by my own admission,
a thirty ft ignorance driven question. Well, come on, Paul,
(22:07):
give yourself one. Why why the Jaguars? Greg? Why a
were they so good this year? It's just I mean,
this was a team that, yeah, Gus Bradley was a
defensive coach that was there the last couple of years
but didn't gain enough traction to keep his job. In
one year, they've come in and essentially become arguably the
best I think they gave up The only team that
gave up fewer points than them were the Vikings this year,
the number two scoring defense in the NFL. Why were
(22:29):
the Jaguars so effective? You know, it's a try it
and true profile to make the playoffs. Whether you can
go deep in the playoffs with that is questionable, But
there's no question that that profile of run the ball,
play really good defense, ideally not have your quarterback turn
it over, I mean boordles for many the narrative has
(22:52):
been already written. So no matter what you say, people
are gonna say he stinks. But he didn't turn it
over a lot this year for the most part. Uh.
I think he had two games where he threw two
or three picks in each of those games, but I
think overall he only threw twelve or thirteen. So it's
it's again, it's cliche, but true, run the ball, play
good defense, don't have your quarterback loose games. You can
(23:14):
make the playoffs, particularly in division that was a relatively
weak division this year. So that's a try it in
true profile. Well, two questions to spin off of that.
One we'll get to in a second with quarterbacks. The
other the Jaguars defense. Is it good enough to make
one of those defense driven runs all the way to
(23:34):
the Super Bowl the way the Broncos did two years
ago with an aging, aging and mostly ineffective Peyton Manning
on paper? Yes, because they're really good at all three
levels of their defense. So yes, whether it happens well
remains to be seen, but they can rush the quarterback
their linebackers into particularly let's talk nickel because teams play
(23:58):
in their nickel package an awful lot meaning an extra
defensive meaning five defensive acts, and they're a nickel team.
They don't play dime with six. So they have Miles
Jack and Telvin Smith, two great, great athletes with sideline
to sideline speed and range. So in today's NFL those
kinds of linebackers are important. They have two corners and
(24:19):
Jalen Ramsey and A J. Booyer who can play man
to man and and are good at it. And again
they're not man to man defense, no one is, but
they play man and a lot of zone concepts end
up being man outside the numbers anyway, So they can
line up and they can play man coverage. And in
Ramsey they have a corner if they feel it's necessary,
(24:41):
depending on the nature of the opponent, they can make
him a matchup corner and he can line up and
travel with any number one if they feel they need
to do that. Is Ramsey the kind of player who
has a chance to be one of these eight years
in a row all Pro Patrick Peterson types. He is,
(25:02):
He's he's that kind of guy, and their safeties are
probably not big names. Tayshaun Gibson and Bariy Church people
all no Church because he spent time in Dallas. But
Tashaun Gibson came from Cleveland and was a really good
free safety in Cleveland. But his role has expanded dramatically
in Jacksonville. He now plays much more in the box.
(25:22):
He matches up to tight ends man to man. So
they have a really good secondary and they have a
pass rusher who a lot of people probably don't know
about name in Goquay, yannikin Goquay, who came from the
University of Maryland, who's Monosky's pumping his fist. I was
silently fast. I was gonna say he came from the university.
(25:44):
Why didn't you mention him in our productions? Tag he's
a church. He's so far in the weeds he can't
even he's a really good pass rusher. And uh, they
bring Calais Campbell inside when they go to their their
past Nickel and he's still a real the good pass
rusher inside. And now they have Marcel Darius who's a
(26:04):
really good player. So no, all three levels of their
defense can be potentially dominant, particularly in their nickel. So Keith,
I asked a simple question. It's really a simple answer.
They're really good players on the Jaguars. I thought you
were going to ask Darius or Darius. Well they It's
funny because they that you say that is they don't
blitz a lot, because I don't have to know. They're
(26:24):
not a high percentage what's team. But when they do blitz,
they're really good at it. I think they only blitz
something like six of quarterback dropbacks. What's average? Like, what's normal? Like?
What's normal probably in the NFL is almost but I
believe thirty percent of their sacks come off blitz. So
(26:44):
they only blitz sixteen percent of quarterback drop backs, but
about thirty percent of their sacks come from blitz. And
you mentioned the Broncos tea from two years ago, Mileke Jackson,
who's on that Oh yeah, he's also on the Jaguars. Yeah,
I almost forgot about him. And he's a very good
player too. All right, So the other end of the
spectrum with that team, which was are you already mentioned
as Blake Bortles, who is one of many quarterbacks in
(27:07):
this postseason who have never proven themselves or come close
to proving themselves on a stage like this. We only
have one quarterback playing this weekend who has won a
Super Bowl, Drew Brees, and only one other has been
to a Super Bowl. No to Ryan and Newton. All right,
I forgot about all right, So we have the NFC
South quarterbacks essentially, and then we have five other guys who, well,
(27:31):
Alex Smith has been to a championship game and very
close to the Super Bowl. With let's talk about Alex
Smith for a moment. Let's do. Paul and I had
this conversation a couple of days ago and it was
kind of a fascinating conversation. Opened my eyes. Yeah, Alex Smith,
since two thousand and eleven when he really became a
full time staughter Okay that was in San Francisco, has
(27:53):
won his starts. That's pretty good, don't you think. But
I thought, you're a guy who doesn't pull a lot
of stock in what we're just starting the conversation, said,
you interrupt the professor, and then the first two minutes
of the class you probably did. You probably did up here,
(28:13):
we're just starting the conversation proceeds. So here's a guy
that's when six of his starts. Now, we constantly hear
how important the quarterback is. It's a quarterback league, right,
so we hear automatically when certain guys win their automatically
they're winners. That's what we hear. No one has really
ever said that about Alex Smith. Would you say that's fair?
No one really thinks about him like that. No, they
(28:36):
wanted him to not even start the first game of
the season. This correct. He's a game manager right now.
A lot of people forget about a playoff game he
had a number of years ago, I forget what year,
but they lost forty four to the Indianapolis Colts in
Indianapolis when he threw for close to four yards for
touchdowns and no turnovers. The defense yeah hugely to Andrew Luck,
(29:00):
very early in Andrew Luxe career. And again, I'm not
sitting here telling you Alex Smith is Tom Brady. That's
not the point. But I always find it interesting when
people it's almost as if you want to have it
both ways. They talk about the quarterback winning games, but
yet when Alex Smith wins games, it's because of everybody else,
not because of Alex Smith. It's just an odd it's
(29:23):
it's an odd and conversation more than likely after this
see quarterback correct for the second he'll start somewhere in
the league. For the second time, his replacement was drafted
while he was in charge of a playoff team. That
has happened with Colin Kaepernick, and he likewise had performed
brilliantly in a playoff game against the Saints when he
(29:44):
was with the playoff that's right, and a game they
won when he hit a touchdown to Vernon Davis with
less than a minute or so to go. To Alex
Smith has been a good playoff quarterback, that's correct. The
albatross of and we talked about this Greg the the
high draft pick. And then he went a few years
(30:05):
and he was on a poor team in San Francisco.
So within the first four years he didn't win a
super Bowl. And so again to Greg's point, the story
got written about Alex Smith and really, and this is
the power of the playoffs. The only thing that can
undo that is a super Bowl win. And he's getting
he'd have to get to a super Bowl. And again,
whether he does or not, who can answer that getting
to a super Bowl isn't even it because if you
(30:26):
can get to a super Bowl and then fall flat
on your face there and and it's even it's like
he didn't even worse. He would have to win a
Super Bowl Flacco style right for for for him to
vault to a different national There are people who put
Cam Newton in that category. You just not that he
fell flat on his face, but he didn't on the
(30:46):
one page. He's another fascinating conversation. Kim Newton is a
guy has been to a Super Bowl. He's obviously a
big physical talent. He's now VP. He was an m
v P. He was an m v P. Uh this year.
He's coming here, by the way, he's coming off a
year a year ago when he had his worst year
in the league following his his best year of the
Super Bowl season this year. He ended this season in
(31:09):
seven of his last nine games he did not throw
for two yards passing. And yet he's reached a level
in terms of general conversation where he's viewed as a great,
great player. When you say that's true with mostly like
a dominant force but maybe sometimes inconsistent at the highest
(31:32):
level quarterbacks stuff. But they've made a conscious decision, which
is very rare in the NFL, and they've made it
for a reason, I'm sure, but they've made a decision
to have their offense very much run through him by
design in the run game. Okay, he's not a scrambler
per se. He can do that on occasion, but they
(31:54):
by design feature him tremendously in the run game where
he you know, obviously doesn't carry it every time, but
he carries it a lot by design, whether it's all
zone reed concepts, whether it's off speed option, whether it's
quarterback draw, quarterback power, quarterback sweep. He is a foundation
part of their run game. Do they do that to
(32:15):
offset weaknesses or to highlight strengths? Well, that's I've always
believed that you can that. Coaches tell you what they
feel about their players by how they utilize them. So
why do they do this? And why does he not
throw a lot of passes for the most part, because
(32:35):
he's not the most accurate passer, because he's not a
consistent week to week proposition as a passer, right, And
the value proposition is it's better you have a better
chance to succeed with him doing X, which is run
then throw, which is why. And for the most part
they have a good defense. Uh. Their defense at times
has some poor performances, but for the most part, it's
(32:57):
a it's a higher level defense as the president. So
McCaffrey impacted uh Newton's passing passing game at all. His
numbers aren't any better. I mean, McCaffrey's caught more balls. Now,
then you get into the discussion, and it's a valid one. Uh.
You could have the same discussion theoretically about Blake Bortles,
but they don't have much in the way of white
(33:18):
outs right now. They don't have that true number one
outside the numbers receiver. Devin Funches is a big guy.
He can make some tough catches, but he's not really
a true outside the numbers guy. That's a curious decision
middle of the season to trade Kevin Ben. Yeah, and
I'm sure there's a lot more to that than we
know about UM, but yeah, they they obviously made that trade,
(33:42):
and uh, Funches kind of became their de facto number one,
even though he doesn't really fit that role. There were
a team that plays a lot with multiple tight ends. Certainly,
losing Greg Olsen this year for much of the season
has been a big factor because he's kind of Newton's guy.
But uh, he had He had Greg Olson last year
and he didn't do particularly well throwing the football. Another
(34:06):
quarterback that of the team we have not yet mentioned.
I don't think we've mentioned this team today at all.
Marcus Mariota. That's a fascinating conversation because they're a team
with Mike Malarkey that plays a certain way, a way
that for the most part, would not be viewed as
(34:29):
the most popular way to play in the league. They
line up a lot with two and even three tight ends.
They run the football. Uh. The problem is they've run
it poorly all season long, particularly out of multiple tight
end sets. Uh. I would argue based on film study. You,
(34:51):
let's put it this way. You could easily make the
argument based on film study that they're playing to their
weaknesses because they're line other than Taylor Lwan is not
an athletic offensive line. There are two backs, and now
Murray has hurt. We'll see if he returns. Murray and
Henry are not very good at this point. Murray probably
(35:14):
at the end of his career. Henry is not this guy.
They're not very good confined space runners. They can't create
yards in confined space. So to me, there that's not
the strength of their offense. That now becomes a philosophy thing.
To me, the strength, arguably would be a quarterback who
is a consensus topic. Everybody would have taken Mariota there.
(35:37):
They didn't reach for Mariota who who's a clearly more
comfortable in the spread, clearly more comfortable with multiple wide
receivers on the field, which I think is the strength
of their offense. A really good receiving tight end in
Delaney Walker who can line up anywhere. They've done a
little more of this in recent weeks, but that's not
(35:59):
been there philosophical foundation. But they have good players, like
there are some guys on that team that nobody knows about.
Like they have their defense, by the way, their fifth
in the league in sacks. A lot of people are
probably not aware of that there. They blitz a lot,
they play a ton of man coverage. They have Darrell Casey,
They've got a rackpo who's a good player. A guy
who has had a great year who's been in the
(36:20):
legal long time. And when I say a great year,
he's had a great year is Wesley Woodyard. He's had
a really really good since he's a linebacker. He came
out of Kentucky maybe twelve years ago. The first part
of his career he played only in nickel in Denver
and was really good at it, and many, including myself,
thought that that's what he was, a nickel player because
(36:42):
he might weigh two five pounds. And then he came
to Tennessee and the last number of years he's been
more of a full time guy, and this year he's
had his best year. He's been an impactful linebacker. I
smell the magic of Dick Lebow. So what who would
be the making linebackers for decades? The biggest upset to
(37:05):
you this weekend would be would be what you know?
I might say Tennessee only because they've so struggled to score,
and I, unless I'm wrong, and we know Kansas City
has had times some some games where they have not
put up a lot of points. Um. I did look
at the long range forecast in Kansas City for Saturday
(37:27):
supposed to be seven's our only potential weather game, and
I was happy to see that because I'm not a
big fan of weather games. Wow. You know, but anyway,
so you think Tennessee Buffalo has got a better chance
to be Jacksonville and Tennessee does to be Kansas City,
I would I would say yes only because I think
(37:49):
Jacksonville right now, over these last two three games, their
offense has really really struggled in that game could be
one of those low scoring games we're in the third
and fourth quarter. One player, two plays could be the
difference Buffalo without potentially it's best player. And that's that's
clearly an issue. And who know, you know they're saying
(38:12):
now he could play. That could just be that the
chatter leading up to games. You know, who knows. It's
a shame. He's one of those guys that could speak.
He could have been one of those emergence guys. To me,
a guy that I don't know he is so good
has broken through again. I mean that's the threshold for me.
It's like that's a legit. Well, let's put it this way.
I think if he doesn't play, I don't really see
(38:35):
that changing their approach dramatically. Well, I mean like a
third of their offense or yeah, I'm talking about philosophical approach.
I'm not talking about production approach. I mean it could
change their production approach, But Paul, I don't think that
all of a sudden, because of what they have at
quarterback and a receiver, they're gonna say, you know what,
we're gonna drop back forty five times today. But I
(38:55):
don't think they're going to do that. They have to
grit their teeth and try and run the ball with
different personality. Well, here's what I think you're gonna see.
If he doesn't play, I think you'll see because it's
the playoffs and theoretically there's only three or four games.
I mean, look, they're thinking super Bowl like every team
they're in the playoffs. I think Tyrod Taylor will be
(39:15):
a much bigger part of their running game this week.
By design, there'll be more read option, they'll be more
you know, because hey, there's there's at most four games.
You know, he's not built to do that for sixteen games,
but with four games. I remember years ago, and I
forget what I think he was with Tampa was a
work done late and to see obviously is a runner,
(39:37):
not a quarterback, but he was a smaller guy, and
late in the season they just committed to literally giving
him the ball like times for six weeks in a row.
And you could do that for six weeks in a row.
You probably couldn't do it for sixteen weeks, almost like
pitching staff in October. Right, you can use Clayton Kershaw
differently in October than you're gonna use them. That's a
(40:00):
you're making me think, you know. And the reason I
also say that about Taylor is because to me, Jacksonville
is a fast flow, reactive defense. You you have speed,
you have range, you have guys that run hard. So
what you want to do is you want to put
them in conflict. You want to really have to make
them play against their instincts. You want to have to
(40:21):
make them use their eyes to sort of see and
digest rather than just go and a lot of options stuff.
That's what it does. It causes stress and conflict, particularly
for second level defenders. So I think that you're gonna
see Taylor if McCoy is either limited or can't go
at all. I think Taylor will be a bigger part
(40:42):
of their run game, which is amazing considering that Taylor
last year they benched him so we wouldn't get hurt, right,
so they wouldn't have to pay him, and then this
year they benched him for Nathan Peterman in one game
that Nathan Peterman through five in half and in first half.
So here's Tyrod Taylor, the guy that they don't want
a see's their best chance to to win a playoff game.
(41:03):
Well it's you know, Look, it's funny how that stuff
works out. But I mean, I think everybody in the
league knows what Tyrod Taylor is and what he isn't.
And believe me, Sean mcdermot's been coaching a long time.
He's got it. He's a defensive coach and a damn
good one, and he's understands I'm sure exactly what Tyrode is.
But you know what, you gotta dance with the girl
(41:24):
who brings it brings up a bigger quarterback question that
we were we were discussing before you got here, which
this January may shed some light on. Do you do
you need that Hall of Fame type quarterback to get
all the way through this tournament? Do you need Brady
Ben or one of these NFC South guys or can
(41:47):
it We've seen it done very rarely through NFL history,
but maybe this is one of those years where we
could see a team sneak through with a quarterback who
doesn't have that pedigree. Well, I think most people would
probably feel at this point because that the a f
C will go through New England or Pittsburgh, I would
(42:09):
think more. I mean, which doesn't mean it will. There
would be it would be a shot, but I think
it was not. So Therefore, if we're if we're taking
that as somewhat of a given, then it won't be
true on the f C side because you have two
Hall of fame quarterbacks. On the NFC side, with Carson
Wentz getting hurt, the whole Philly thing is is very
(42:31):
much up in the air right now. So is it
possible that you know, I guess if you look at
the a f C playoff teams, you've got Drew Brees
will be a Hall of famer. NFC excuse me, you
have Matt Ryan, who, by the way, in his first
ten years just has more passing yards than any quarterback
(42:51):
in the history of the game, and their first cross
Peyton man and and Matt Ryan obviously lost the Super
Bowl last year. But I don't think Matt Ryan is
thought of that way. Would you agree? He's on a trajectory,
but but he has not thought of that way, right
And and again that's where you get into the super Bowl.
And I'm not saying that that doesn't matter, but I
think Matt Ryan has been a pretty darn good player
(43:13):
and he's care amazing because if he had won that
game last year, he would be thought of very differently
than he is right now. Changes everything, no question, got
everything else, no question. But I mean, I guess if
Matt Ryan were to get there, or Drew Brees were
to get there, we probably would say that, Hey, really
pretty darn good quarterbacks got there. The issue is, you
know the other guys, well, Cam has been there. I
(43:35):
don't know if that team is good enough, but you know,
you hit it right on the head with someone like
Cam is there's a wildcut factor with someone like Cam.
I mean, there's he's he's a dangerous if not consistent,
he's dangerous. Yeah, we've talked about this over the years.
You and I have that all right, Cam, when you
put on the tape, doesn't excite you as a pat
(43:55):
downfield passing quarterback the way the way a classic pocket
quarterback passer does. He just doesn't. He misses too many throats.
He's not as crisp in the downfill passing game. However,
he can be a completely dominant force on any in
any given game, and anyfore he can be in an
odd way, almost a non factor. See, I would argue
(44:17):
that that that in a way he frustrates someone like
you who studies the take. You're trying to to to
to draw conclusions for from things you are, from the
evidence you're seeing, and someone like Cam comes in and
he's basically a tornado. He can bust everything that everyone
thought to be true because he can just be so
physically dominant, which is why he wins a game, which
(44:39):
is why in different ways, I'm going to be very
anxious to see a lot of the college quarterbacks coming
out this year. You know, I'm sure a lot of
people saw the Baker Mayfield play, and I've seen them
all year. And you know, another guy that where does
he fit into this kind of equation, because he's not
going to be for one of a better term right now,
(45:00):
traditional or conventional um the way we've often thought of
the quarterback position. You know, I think we've discussed that
maybe ten fifteen years ago, Baker Mayfield might be a
sixth round after thought, because no one would view that
kind of quarterback is having value in the NFL, but
that's clearly not going to be the case this year.
He's likely to be a first round pick and could
(45:22):
be a top fifteen pick or a top ten pick.
But so Cam. In an odd way, they're totally different players, obviously,
but in an odd way, Kim is very much the
same because he's hard to evaluate in a sort of
traditional conventional way because he just misses too many throws
from the pocket. Well, you talked to enough coaches, Greg,
I mean, isn't it fair to say that there are
some coaches who would would rather have a more consistent,
(45:44):
yes quarterback who maybe he's even a little bit less
talented or dynamic because he knows what he can. Coach
wants to know what he's gonna get when a guy's
out there on the fields, want to be surprised for
the most part. For the most part, yes, I mean,
I think coaches work the amount of time they do
because they want execution to occur, not because they want randomness.
(46:05):
But on the other hand, I've also talked to a
bunch of people, both coaches and front office people who
love guys. I mean, I talked to people about Pat
Mahomes a little different because Mahomes is a ridiculously good
thrower of the football, but he's also a random, second
reaction improvisational player, and a lot of them love that
about him. They say, you have to be able to
(46:26):
do that now in the game now. But Aaron Rodgers
is Yes, Aaron Rodgers, I've always kind of described him
as a jazz musician kind of player because there's so
much improvisation to him. Sometimes you watch him and I
feel like he's playing with us intentionally, like he's not
going to throw the ball when it's there from the
pocket because he just doesn't feel like it. You know,
(46:46):
Aaron Rodgers and Carson Wentz. One question for you, if
you were had to put any sort of odds that
Pat Mahomes would make an appearance this weekend, Well, not
gonna start. He's not gonna start. But you think, you know,
Andy's collar gets a little bit tight and they're down
by I mean, if all of a sudden, it's the
(47:08):
third quarter and they scored six points this year, six
Titans in the middle of the third quarters, Andy looking
at Pat Mahomes. Good questions. I'm shocked by this question, Like, well,
the reason I don't I wouldn't be shocked is because
my guess is no inside information that once you trade
up to draft Pat Mahomes, you've already made an organizational
(47:31):
decision that he's your staughter next year. Right or wrong.
People can debate this, but I think they've made that
organizational decision, and I think therefore it wouldn't surprise. Well,
how did he look last week? He looked pretty good.
I watched his tape. I thought it looked pretty good.
What would happen if Alex Smith won the Super Bowl? Here?
That's that's above my pay grade. Guys, all right, couple
(47:54):
more quick hitters. Which of these eight teams has that
we're going to see this weekend has the best chance
of oysting Lombardi? So we're taking out Pittsburgh and New
England and start playing this weekend. Taking out the Eagles,
who are obviously diministrated. I think the most complete team
(48:15):
throughout the season of the of the Gang of Eight,
as it were, has been the Saints. Uh. They have
Hall of Fame quarterback, They've got a two headed monster
run game, and Kamara is just tremendous in the past game.
They have a defense that's far better than people think
their Their third down defense has been really, really good
(48:37):
and most people view that as the money down. I
think their second or third in the league and third
down sacks. They have a number of defensive players no
one knows about. I mean, people know about Cameron Jordan.
He's a really good player. Uh Lattimore has become a
guy they use as a matchup shutdown corner. Had a
great matchup two weeks ago with Julio Um. Julio had
big numbers, but they weren't all against Lattimore because of scheme.
(49:00):
But he had a really good matchup they use. They've
used Lattimore in that way and he's done a pretty
darn good job. Hard to do as a rookie corner. Yeah.
Uh So, I would argue that they're the most complete team.
Uh So, they're the team from this the gang of
eight that I would look at as having the best
shot other quick hitters. Is there one unit in the
(49:23):
trenches that could one of them? Like, we don't look
at the trenches, We don't look at our offensive lines
and defensive lines, but you know, you can have a
team like the Giants with their front four that beat
the Patriots. Is there a unit in the trenches that
could bullets way into the super Bowl. Well, we obviously
talked about Jacksonville, but let's say the Rams, because I
(49:44):
don't think that the Falcons old line is really good
by any means. I think it's probably average at best
by NFL standards. And while I really like their skill
position players in Atlanta, I think that their old line
could have a very difficult time in this game, and
that could shut down their offense to some degree. They've
been very inconsistent running the ball this year, and you
(50:07):
know that with that group. You know about Donald, but
they've got Quinn, who is ridiculous, and Brocker's who you know,
I remember interviewing Michael Brocker's a few years ago at
a draft, one of the few drafts I attended, and
he is a huge, huge man, and so he's really
good too. And you know, Ogletree is a stud. So
I mean, I think that's that's one unit matchup in
(50:29):
the trenches that that will be interesting to see this week.
And they just placed their starting guard on injured reserve
just today, Levitra, so they'll have a So it'll be
Ben Garland, the guy. Uh uh, he's a military guy.
I forget which school the Air Force. I believe that
was the coolest step that I saw this week, well,
the second coolest, but the second coolest ass all this
week was that Wade Phillips has had eight jobs and
(50:53):
in every job he's been to they made the playoffs
in his first season. I saw that too. That's pretty unbelievable. Now,
bonus points if you can name all eight? Is there
are there any other injuries that we're not talking about
and aren't maybe aren't even aware of that could play
(51:14):
a major role this weekend and beyond. Well, I don't
know if he's ready this week and then this Yeah,
I don't know if it's possible to check, you know,
right now, But Kurt Coleman has not played the last
couple of weeks Panthers safety, and he's a really savvy,
smart aware player, and when he doesn't play, the drop
off is pretty significant. See That's what I'm talking about.
(51:36):
So I don't know if that's the con injury I'm
talking about. I don't know if he's if he's okay.
You know, he might have been kept out this week
just as a precaution or maybe I don't know what
the extent of his injury is you've given up. He
has missed the last two games, so you've had a
greater body of work to study when there's a divisional
rematch in the playoffs. The Panthers and Saints have played. Yeah,
(51:57):
we've gone through those two games. Pretty Drew is throwing
four touchdown pass they beat him twice, and Cam played
terrible against the Saints. Right, Yeah, so let's put up
thirty both times. I believe they did. So what, how
is this going to be any different? Well, and you
went back through it, you said, both these games, what what?
What are you seeing new for the first time as
you are you're going back through those two games. Well,
(52:20):
one of the things that's really interesting when you watch
the Panthers defense. I don't think any defense in the
NFL plays out of their base, meaning their four three
with three linebacker Shack Thompson, Luke Kickley, Thomas Davis versus
three wide receivers as much as the Panthers, because they
really feel that Shack Thompson is almost a hybrid linebacker
(52:42):
safety and they line him up detached, you know, over
the slot. I mean, but no team does what the
Panthers do in terms of playing with all three linebackers
against three wide receivers. As much as the Panthers is
great dropping into coverage against I tell the guy who,
to me is ridiculously impressive, it is Thomas Davis. Guys
(53:04):
at three a c l s. He's in his early thirties,
probably getting closer to his mid thirties, you know, and
he is still a really really good player. Mhm. So
but yeah, that's that's the kind of tactical stuff that
we look for for the Matchup show. You know, whether
we make that a film piece, I don't know yet,
but I mean, it's it's just an interesting thing that
(53:25):
in this era where everybody is lining up in what
they call sub packages five defensive back, six defensive backs,
some teams even seven at times, that the Panthers stay
with three linebackers versus three wide receivers. So while we're
there this week and throughout the postseason, you can find Matchup.
Is it Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings? What are we doing?
I feel terrible here because the times have all changed.
(53:49):
It's all Saturday morning now because we only do one
show for the four games, so obviously we can't air
Sunday morning. So there's three airings Saturday morning, and I
just don't remember all the time because it just changed
for this week. Alright, folks, set your dv arts when
you wake up Saturday mornings, it'll be it'll be there
just for you know, NFL matchup and you can find
(54:10):
it and then you can set it. And that's Greg,
that's sal Pal and that is Lewis. Alright, bring it
to you. Follow Greg on Twitter at Greg Cosell and
tune in next week to the NFL Films Podcast when
we'll have Greg here. Well, we'll we'll hold your feet
to the fire, Greg, and see if what you told
us about wild Card weekend came true, and we'll get
(54:30):
You're not gonna ask me to pick the games already, no, no, no, no, no,
I would hope you. We have not done any game pick.
This has been a high level stuff the whole way.
If the presidents are absence of Kurt Coleman plays a
big role this weekend, we're gonna we're gonna bring that
up and and and applaud you. This podcast will catch fire.
I guarantee you. No one else is talking about well,
(54:51):
like I said, he could be playing. I haven't checked
that yet because we're doing this early in the week.
But he's he's a pretty good player. We'll talk to Vision,
We'll talk Case Keenum and uh Carson Wentz and Nick
Foles and those other two guys in New England and
Pittsburgh next week as well. Our plan is to do
this with Greg throughout the month. I'm looking forward to
talking Case Keenum. Yes, that should be interesting. Next next,
(55:12):
the plot only thickens from here, fellas. All right, Paul Monosky, Um,
we can watch the show Saturday at eleven am on
ESPN two and two o'clock on ABC Prime Realist, Prime Realistate.
I just had to want the best stat I heard
this week because he mentioned Tyrod Taylor, who is the
Virginia Tech all time leader in quarterback rushing touchdowns. First,
(55:36):
I know it's great. I'm not gonna say it's so great.
Do you know it? Well, it's obviously not gonna be
Michael Vick. It's not Tyrod Taylor, and it's not Michael Vick.
It is a head coach who just give it away. Well,
what are we gonna do? Sit here? And Bruce Arians
(55:58):
which I knew that because I read his book this
past summer. That is the best stat that I saw
this week. A greatest day, be a he'll be missed,
Maybe we'll have Maybe he'll join us at NFL Films
next year. You know, get him on the podcast too.
He's he's he's a great guy. Yeah, he's awesome. All right, uh,
PAULI anything else? I can't wait for these games, cause
(56:19):
a lot to watch. January football is here. Let's enjoy it.
Hopefully we get one game as good as that Rose
Bowl was. Well, I'm just happy that this week, now
that we know what the weather, it will likely be
in case that weather will likely not be a factor. Okay,
let's pick that bone. What is your problem with cold
weather games? Because I like to see the athletes perform
(56:40):
at their highest possible level. But part of the competition
is the in our sport is the weather, the venue,
the weather, dealing with those unexpected levels of adversity. I
don't like it, Paul. So you want a dome, your dome, guy? Yeah,
I don't like it, all right, have it? He wants
to see, he wants I'm struggling with going out just
to my car for for three minutes at the end
(57:01):
of you know when it's at nine o'clock tonight. I
couldn't agree more. I mean, but it's not me out
there playing well, so Greg wants a clinical environment. I
went on the Dave Damashek podcast last week and and
almost bakes basically got an argument with Maurice Jones Drew
about the Ice Bowl, and he was making the same
argument football should not be played in those elements, and
I said, yes, it should, and then went on to
(57:22):
promise that I would play against him in Minnesota on
February three, Saturday before the Super Bowl, which I now
would like to publicly, um, stop playing any football and
it's ridiculous out here. I'd love to do that. Yeah,
I think today it's by the way, I think it's
minus sixteen in Minneapolis today. Yeah. I not have been
(57:44):
checking every day. It's hard. Have you It's hard. You're
even sicker than I am. It's disgusting. Any Pittsburgh references
between Cause and Dave Damask on the Dame there were one,
there were one or two? Yeah, all right? Hit it.
Thanks to our engineer Steve Moseley, to our producer Rich Owens,
(58:06):
to Paulmannusky, the show runner of Wild Card Championship Chase
and to Greg Costell, the senior producer and star of
NFL Matchup on ESPN. Follow NFL Films on Twitter, on Instagram,
on Facebook, on our YouTube channel, on all your favorite
social media platforms, and you will see our shows everywhere
(58:29):
this month all your favorite networks from the home of
America's football movies in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. I'm Paul.
Enjoy the wild card games, folks. Take care. M
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