Divisional Round Recap, Conference Championship Preview

Cecil and Joe recap the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs and preview the Conference Championship Games!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the thirdand the Don Football Show. I'm Joe
with Mia cecil As always here torecap the division round of the NFL playoffs
and preview the conference championships, aswell as to get this other NFL news
that's going on right now. Cecil, How you doing. I'm doing all
right. You know a lot ofbetter games this last weekend, so that's,
you know, always great. Alot of those results didn't turn out

(00:23):
the way we necessarily want it,but you know that's that's okay, That's
that's football. I'm excited. It'schampionship week, absolutely, and with that
comes some news. We'll start withthe news, the biggest news being Jim
Harbaugh leaves Michigan to take the Chargersjob. It seems like the Chargers really
wanted them. They actually borderline andkidnapped him and just made him stay for

(00:44):
a second interview, brought his wifein, and they hired him bay from
Michigan. At Michigan obviously won theNational Championship, and now his job is
kind of complete there, at leastin his mind, he's won in that
NFL challenge ever since the forty nineErs let him go all those years ago,
so cease. What do you thinkabout the Chargers hiring Jim Harbaugh.
I like it a lot, youknow. I think it's good for Jim
Harbaugh. I think there's a lotof weird things happening in the college landscape

(01:07):
between and IL money and transfer portal, so it makes sense for him to
leave for the Chargers. I thinkit's a great, you know, hiring
as well. I think he's areally good coach. I think he kind
of got jettison in San Francisco forreally no reason other than Trent Balky and
all the other idiots that were runthe team before John Lynchkin got there,

(01:30):
basically just didn't agree with what JimHarbaugh was doing, even though he got
them to a super Bowl with youknow, Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick.
So yeah, to think about thatin real time, how much he did
without a quarterback, which is youknow, kind of seems either forty nine
or way at this point under collegeanon as well. But Jim Harbaugh is

(01:52):
a really good football coach. He'sa great football coach. It's interesting.
I'm excited to kind of see whathe does with the Chargers. I'm really
hoping that Jim Harbaugh is able toovercome the Chargers charging That's always been kind
of the big problem with the organizationas a whole. No matter what seems
to people try to do, theyalways seem to fumble the bag in the

(02:13):
last possible second. But you know, Justin Herbert's a great on quarterback.
They have some weapons. You know, Rashaun Slater is good. They've got
some good offensive line pieces. They'vegot some people on defense as well.
It's just the question of, youknow, are they gonna put it all
together? How quick are we talking? Because the biggest thing with this Chargers

(02:34):
team we look at is there area lot of aging vets on this team
as well, which has been ahuge thing. So I think it can
be get good, good higher.I think he can do very well.
But I'll be interested to see howthis team gets constructed and you know,
how quickly are they going to compete, because obviously the expectation is they're coming
for the Chiefs in the West.But the reality is a lot of guys

(02:55):
not on that roster getting paid alot of money and they're getting a little
older, and really Justin Herbert's kindof the young core, so to speak,
and everyone else is kind of alot older. Yeah, with you
on that, I give this gradean A for him, I would give
it an A plus, but Ijust you know, I don't know how
the players will respond to He's moreof a disciplinarian coach that usually works.

(03:20):
But that's the only thing to say. I would say. I think he
ran out of favor at the endof his time with the forty nine ers.
Probably shouldn't have been fired, mindyou, but just you know,
that type of coach. He definitelytook this job partially because of his want
to be in the NFL again,partially because the NCAA was going to come
down and put some sanctions on Michigan. So good out a dodge while you
can. I will say though,too. You know, Michigan isn't this

(03:43):
program that recruits at the level ofOhio State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson.
Over the last several years. Hefor the first seven years of his
time at Michigan, he did hisjob. He won the games he should
have won. He did what heshould have done. These last two years,
he's taken it above and beyond.He's out kicked his coverage in terms
of what talent he's out of theroster, and I don't really care that

(04:04):
they were sneaking and cheating on thesidelines or whatever. It's kind of a
funny story, but at the endof the day, I don't think it
mattered that much. He did afantastic job with that Michigan team, and
honestly, I'm excited to see notjust how they do in the NFC wess
Seas, but we got the NFLDraft coming up. I think he might
be taking a lot of his playersfrom Michigan in this NFL draft throughout the
draft, so that'll be interesting tosee how many he gets of those.

(04:26):
The other coaching news we had,I mean, we had draw Mayo a
couple weeks ago. That was anatural progression. But we also had Antonio
Pierce being the interim coach for theRaiders getting elevated to full time head coach.
Seece. We talked about this kindof during the season. It happened,
and we kind of said, like, hey, the players want this.
The last time an interim coach camein did a very good job.
They let him walk. Probably theright call for the Raiders. Oh absolutely.

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There were reports of Max Crosby basicallysaying, if you don't give Antonio
Pierce the head coaching job, I'mgetting a demand of trade. You know,
that's a pretty big vote of confidence. That shows you a lot that
when the one was pretty much youronly one of your only stars on the
team early at this point, especiallyon defense, just goes I want this

(05:11):
guy here, and I'm willing toput my name to it as well.
So I mean, I mean theturnaround is unprecedented, really, I mean,
he really got them playing like acompletely different team down the stretch.
You know, here's talked about MarvinLewis is going to be part of that
staff as well. I don't thinkthat's horrible. Obviously, with all head
coaches, it's about, you know, what is the staff they're gonna build

(05:32):
around him. It'll be interesting tosee. But there's one thing we know
about him is that he is amotivator. He's not some guy who's gonna,
you know, you know, basicallybe like it's my way, it's
over the highway, this is mysystem that's all running. He's not a
system guy. He's a motivator.He's a guy that's about executing and being
aggressive, which makes sense. Sinis the guy from the defensive side of

(05:55):
the ball. So I think it'sa good hire for them. I don't
think they should have passed up onanything else. I don't think, you
know, putting Jim Harball there,it would have been a good idea.
I think building on the culture inthe metal of you had the m last
season to see if you could makethis real. And we'll see what the
coaching staff he builds brings with himas well, because that's just as important,
especially for a first time at coach. Yeah, the important thing is

(06:19):
he has the locker room. Asyou said, Max Crosby wants him there,
All the players seemingly want him there. And now they can build this
team, whether that's you know,drafting a quarterback, trading for a quarterback,
you know, getting this team toa level where they can't compete in
the AFC West. And it makesthe AFC West a lot more fun since
we got Sean Payton, Jim Harball, Andy Reid, you know, Antonio
Pierce. Now it'll be a fun, fun division. Heading onto the future.

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The last bit of coaching news,we'll get to the Tennessee Titans higher
Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to betheir head coach. A lot of this
stems from what he did with JoeBurrow over the last several years, and
what he did I think this yearis kind of the bigger thing. What
he did with Jake Browning really puthim as one of the top offensive coordinators
on the market for a head coachingjob, because Jake Browning went from a
guy who no one wanted and aguy that undrafted to a guy who could

(07:05):
be getting a backup job or fightingfor a starting job if given the opportunity
if the contract situation with the Bengalsdoesn't work out. So he gets that
job for from Tennessee. And Ithink his task now is working with little
Levis, So I like that higheras well. I think the three for
three on hires this year for fourfor four. Yeah, I mean I'm
not as high on it as likeyou know, Harball or the Antonio Pierce.

(07:28):
I'm going to give it a solidB B plus range. You know,
here's the big thing. It's kindof weird because we're getting this weird
part of the league now where alot of the head coaches are also the
play callers. So it's kind ofweird sometimes to separate who's doing what?
Whose genius is it for this orthat? You know obviously and the history

(07:48):
of the NFL. You know,it's a coaching staff, right There's entire
room of guys that are putting thisgame plan together at all times. You
know, Ryan Camallen was a bigpart of that. We out, you
know, big part of install,a big part of you know, plays
are gonna run, you know,passing game, all that stuff. I
mean, he he did a lotfor the offense and it showed the reality

(08:11):
is he's never called plays, Sothat's kind of a question for me at
times. And two, you know, I think you know, some of
these coordinators. I think he dida really good job with Jake Browning towards
the end of the season. WhatI do like about him as well is
that he'll you know, use thetalent around him to maximize kind of what
you're gonna get on the field.Like he's not just gonna go We're doing

(08:33):
it this way because that's the system. I like running. You can see
he's open with Joe Burrow. Youknow, he likes running on empty.
They're gonna throw more of those conceptsin there. But Jake Browning was in
there to help his young quarterback.He went more with a heavy run scheme,
you know, a lot of screens. So he's an adaptable guy,
which I think is helpful as well, and he could be very helpful for
the Titans as they progress, becausethis isn't gonna be a one year rebuild.

(08:56):
My only really concerns are, youknow, it's different when you're the
one having to make all the decisions. You're the one playing. You know,
gonna be Krobi calling the plays.You're also the head coach and again
Sincinnati, there's one thing we know, there's already a lot of criticism about
the head coach also trying to coldplays. So we'll see how that plays

(09:16):
out. And it's not gonna bea short rebuild, you know. This
is something that hopefully Titan's ownership iscommitted to. And is it really that
much better than Mike Frabel? Idon't really know. Yeah, I think
that the bad part of this isgetting rid of Mike Vrabel. The good
I think for Brian Callahan is justthat he had that success with the Bengals.
I would say that I think it'sa good idea that the Bengals upgraded

(09:37):
or promoted Dan Pitcher from quarterbacks coachoff it's a coordinator that will keep some
continuity for Joe Burrow heading into nextseason. But for the Titans, yeah,
I think it's it's gonna be muchle graded on the future in terms
of can you do better than Vrabel? And Rabel was not given a great
roster, so we'll see what hedoes in the future. Here those are
the coaching changes right now. We'vestill got some openings, you know,

(10:00):
Hawks, the Commanders, a coupleother ones out there. But let's let's
move on seats to our recap withthe divisional round, because we had some,
as you said, good games.First off was probably the worst of
them. We have the Texans atthe Ravens. Ravens defend their home turf
thirty four to ten, get thisbig win. Lamar Jackson does it with
his legs and his arm over onehundred yards rushing and passing two rushing touchdowns

(10:22):
in this one. For me,sees this is one where the Wheels just
so offer the Texans. They alreadyoutkicked their coverage all year long, performing
above expectations, and this is onethey should not be upset about it.
You know, it's just a nicebuilding block for this young team, and
you could be seeing the Texans inthe playoffs a lot over the next several
years. All Right, I meanI feel bad because you know, no

(10:43):
one, essecially in your team wantsto go, oh yeah, you know,
you had a really good season.Look about how bad you were supposed
to be. Like you know,it's you know, it's you know,
glass half fool, you know,being optimistic, you know. But the
reality here is the Texans did doa really good job considering everything we thought
about them, and it's a lotand a good thing to build up for

(11:05):
next year. CJ. Stroud isthe real deal. Will Anderson's the real
deal. They got a lot ofyoung guys who stepped up and started contributing
early. You know. So thisteam is probably you know, it's used
in baseball a lot of times,but you know they're they showed up a
year or two earlier than the rebuildand expected, so back in that's gonna
be a dividends for him. Andright now, I mean, if I'm

(11:26):
looking at the AOC South, it'sgonna be a much more competitive vision than
it's been. But right now,I'd pick the Texans to be winners of
the AFC South right now before thisoffseason starts. Because I am the most
confident CJ. Stroud of any ofthe other quarterbacks. So you know,
it's you can talk about maybe that'sa little bit of a knock on how
Trevor Lawrence played down the stretch,but the reality is they played really well.

(11:50):
They're forced to be reckoned with theira team that should be considered to
be, you know, a potentialplayoff team next year as well. But
I mean the Ravens Lamar just kindof went off the second half. That's
kind of how what happened. Hejust really poured it on for the last
two quarters, you know, rushing, you know, this touchdown, he

(12:11):
wanted it. It showed you know, maybe they showed off a little bit
slow in the first half, butby the end he dominated absolutely. And
a lot of advanced stats will tellyou this Ravens team is playing about as
good as anyone can and now theyare favored to win the Super Bowl by
a lot of advanced metrics. Andit all shows up here too. I
think it's you know, Lamar Jacksonin the playoffs, you're able to use

(12:33):
your legs, but he's also usinghis arm when he needs to. He
didn't have the most passing yards inthis game by any stretch, but when
he had to make throws, hedid make throws. Good signs heading into
this week for Baltimore as they're gonnabe hosting that AFC Championship game. The
other game on Saturday Stace, wehad the Packers and forty nine Ers.
The Packers get off to a nicestart in the rain, Aaron Jones is
doing really good for them. Atthe end of the game, Jordan Love

(12:56):
makes some mistakes that lets the fortynine Ers creep back in. Brock Purdy,
who started off off the game reallypoorly, ends up making some key
throws. There was I think areally key throw. I think it was
a third down that he threw toJuwan Jennings that just layered over at defender's
hand to help pick up for herfirst down. And the forty nine Ers
score ten to fourth quarter points tocome back and win this one. This

(13:16):
was you know, Deebo Samuel gothurt early in this game and did not
return. He's questionable for the NFCChampionship this Sunday, which I think really
threw a wrench into this forty nineErs offense. I think you know,
when he's been down, they've struggledin the past as well, So they
get the win. It's not somethingthey're probably too thrilled about. But given
the weather, given the debo injury, you're just happy to be playing an

(13:39):
NFC championship game. No, absolutely, Again, I mean the Packers played
really well and I mean surprised alot of people in these two games.
They demolished the Cowboys and the Imean they went toe to tobin forty nine
Ers for most that game. JordanLove made a final mistake, which again
I mean he's a young quarterback andagain a lot of pressure was put on
him to, you know, playwell in this game. And you know,

(14:03):
it's a hell of a team togo against the forty nine ers.
You know, really good defense,you know, playmakers all over the place.
You know the pressure do you knowat the beginning of the game,
all the pressure was on the fortyniners, but by the second half,
all the pressure was on the GreenBay Packers to pull it home because everybody
in the stadium was just sitting therewaiting for the forty nine ers to wake
up, and they finally did youknow, Jordan Love makes a key mistake

(14:28):
they capitalize. But other than that, I mean, nobody on the forty
nine ers offense really had that greatof a day. You know, Chris
McCaffrey ends up with two touchdowns,but it really just came together in those
key moments down the stretch, andthat that was what was huge and the
difference maker for them. Rock Partyreally did not look comfortable with the rain.
He just you know, he didn'tknow what to do. Defensive players

(14:50):
didn't know what to do. Itwas weird that the forty nine ers team
looked so unprepared as their own homestadium. Considering they have el then what
should kind of be able to testor know the conditions. But I guess
I haven't been that many rainy gamesin San Francisco either this year, so
I mean, I guess it's kindof new to them as well. But

(15:11):
yeah, Rock Party struggled the times. But you know, the idea that
he came up with a key gamewinning drive is huge, and I think
that plays a lot to Rock Partyis maybe more than just you know,
game manager. I remember going tobe like, oh, Rock Party is
one of the best quarterbacks in theleague. But he has flashes and he
can you know, it's just atestament to what he can do and that

(15:31):
you can't just discredit this kid orgo. You know, forty nine ers
are down because that has been thetrend. The forty nine Ers are down
by I think what five points orsomething to start the fourth quarter. Shanahan
had not like won a game basically, so I mean they brought that trend
here. I mean, obviously theyscored a field goal like in the first

(15:52):
two seconds in the fourth quarter,so that's kind of a you know,
I don't know if he really countis the end of the stat because reality
is like that could have just beenthe third quarter. But nonetheless, it
shows that this team's different than someof the other forty nine ers teams.
They do need to figure out somethings on defense, especially when it comes
to you know, perimeter receivers they'rehaving a lot of trouble with at times.

(16:15):
And then you know, the run, you know, run defense needs
to show back up because in thisgame they kind of got mauled, and
I think the forty nine Ers facethe test that they're just not used to
because the Packers are I wouldn't saythey're great on offense. The thing is
with Aaron Jones, they're officially balancedenough that it's hard to really prepare.
You know, most teams are gonna, you know, tip their hand one

(16:37):
way or another. You know,the Bengals with Joe Burrow are gonna usually
lean pass. I think what theystruggle with. And you can see this
in the Bengals four Narres game weboth watched in detail when the team was
kind of running, like when theforty nine ers can't figure out what they're
gonna run a lot more. Andthis is true of any defense. It's
hard to really prepare for both.Right, you can't run the rush the

(17:00):
passer, and then next thing youknow, it's a run play. The
offensive linemen are gonna have a hugeadvantage on you, just like every defensive
lineman loves the pass rush because thereality is all the pressure and all the
difficulty and technique is on the offensivelineman. Then what's run blocking. It's
the exact opposite. You just gota bunch of giant men running it.

(17:21):
You're trying to push you over.That's all it is. And you know
it's not like, oh they gotto protect this guy, that other guy
is also running right at you,so it's a different thing. Every offensive
lineman in the world will say Ilove run blocking because I can go out
there and actually hit someone or justwaiting for somebody like you know, and
a Nick Moosa to just come acrossthe line and just beat the hell out

(17:45):
of me. I can you know, you get a couple of punches in
yourself. So Cory and Ires pullit out in this one. Yeah,
Packers have to be feeling really goodwith Jordan Loves played for the most part,
and also, like you said,Aaron Jones just really help this team
down the stretch without him the differentteam. They also fire defensive coordinator Joe
Berry that has a lot of Packersfans rejoicing for some of his schematic choices.

(18:07):
We'll say, because they do havetalent on that defense, So they
look good heading into the offseason.Not that you're ever happy to lose,
but they look good and the fortynine ers see you mentioned brock Party,
like, you know, not necessarilybeing a game manager. Like a lot
of times, I think when youhave a lot of talent around you,
you're kind of thrust into that role. Because I don't want Brock Party throwing
the ball fifty yards downfield. Iwant him to get it into the playmaker's

(18:29):
hands. I want the forty nineers to run the ball because they have
the talent to do so with ChristianMcCaffrey and Trent Williams. So that's I
mean, I think he's almost putin a box based on what you would
do, Like if you're playing avideo game and you're in a tight game
like all these NFL games are,You're not going to try to turn the
ball over. You're not gonna pushit downfield that they're fifty yards in a
three point game when there's ten minutesleft. So one of those things to
kind of think about if maybe it'snot just like you know, he is

(18:52):
a game manager because of what heis. I think it's just what he
has to do in this system.And then I also say, yes,
I'm still very concerned about forg nineersand injuries. That's been my whole thing
all year, when even when Ipicked the Seahawks preseason to win the NFC
West, it's just when injury changesthings. It looked like Deebo got hurt
in this one. The offense couldn'tadjust. The weather made some changes,
so we'll see if Deebo can playin this NFC Championship game this weekend.

(19:15):
Moving on to Sunday, we havethe Lions beating the Buccketeers thirty one to
twenty three, and see, sowe've lived very great lives. I'm not
sure I ever expected the Detroit Lionsto be in the NFC Championship game,
but here they are after that thirtyone to twenty three win. Jared Goff
plays well. That offensive line's beenprotecting him. Jamior Gibbs nine carries seventy
four yards in a touchdown. They'vegot that little smash and dash thing going

(19:36):
on with Gibbs and Montgomery. Atthe end of the day, the Bucks
were still dropping passes. Baker Mayfieldhad a couple too many turnovers. But
again, I just you know,before I let you get into to get
to what you want to say,sees here, I just got to say,
Baker Mayfield. I would take thatguy for four million dollars on my
NFL team any day of the week. That was a heck of an effort.
And he's definitely gonna be back forthe Buccaneers next year. Oh absolutely,

(19:56):
Baker Mayfield is Honestly, you couldargue that's one of the I mean
probably the most you know, besidesRock Party and Rock Perty is the most
valuable siding because he's the cheapest,you know, the ratio here, it's
like param activity is the highest youknow, grossing you know, movie per
like budget to actual profitability. It'sgonna be the same thing with Rock Party.

(20:18):
But Baker Mayfield's pretty damn close too. I mean, talk about a
low budget and just maximum results.You know, the Bucks and I'll give
their GM that, I'll give BrettBeach that. I mean, the reality
is he found a diamond the rough. He decided I need some I can't
pay anybody anymore. I'm gonna rollwith dice on a guy who could get

(20:38):
me that level. It could crashand burn. You know, we sat
here at the beginning of the seasonand they went, you know, Baker
Mayfield could be the Baker Mayfield We'veseen thousands of times where you know,
he forces the ball down field.You know, he throws the pall like
forty times, and you're just like, what is going on in this game?
And we saw some of those gamesin the Bucks. It wasn't perfect,

(20:59):
but the reality is for four milliondollars. Who cares? Man?
I mean, if you buy it, if you went to Walmart and bought
a pair of blue jeans the lastyear, three years, that's a hell
of a pair of blue jeans,you know. And he's that blue collar
kind of guy. So hats offthe Baker Mayfield. You know, there's
still a lot of questions with hisBucks team. One isn't going to be

(21:22):
the quarterback next year. They needto fix some things on defense, but
even they got better as the seasonwent on. Some young pass rushers came
in as well. But let's talkabout the Lions here. We talked about
the Lions all year and we wentI mean, they could get lucky,
you know, we could. Theycould be kind of a dark horse team.
Things have to fall the right wayfor him, though. It's going

(21:44):
to depend on the matchups and it'sgonna be harder. We have to go
on the road. They haven't hadto do that luckily. You know.
The honestly, Rams game was amore difficult matchup than the Buccaneers GAMEI was
honestly, I think most people willthink the same thing. I think the
Rams were more dangerous team in thisplayoff than I think the Buccaneers or Eagles
were ever going to be that theywere going to face after winning that game.

(22:07):
So I mean a lot of thingschanged. The Cowboys blew it,
and here we go with the fortynine ers, you know, with the
ticket to the NFC Championship game.But this isn't gonna be an easy game
for him. We'll preview it heresoon. But everything that could go and
bounce Detroit's way so far, thisyou know, postseason has after everything,

(22:27):
with the debacle, the two pointconversion against Dallas, it all worked out
perfectly for him. They didn't haveto play the Green Bay Packers either,
and I think, honestly they're reallyhappy about that because they had gotten a
two point conversion, they would havebeen in Dallas the spot most likely,
it looks like, and that's aGreen Bay Packer in game one and next
thing you know, you're you're kindof pretty much where you are now.

(22:49):
But I'd much rather played the twoteams they played than Green Bay after what
I saw in the last two weeks. So hats off to Dan Campbell and
that team. You know, thegame hasn't been as strong because they've been
playing much better defenses. I'm onrossaying Brown though, has come alive and
has been really true, looks likea top five wide receiver in the NFL

(23:10):
right now. Sam Reporter continues tomake key catch after key catch. They
got offensive weapons all over and allthe key positions. They've got a great
offensive line. Jared Goff is keepingit together for the most part. There's
some times where I swear to God, I don't know if he's actually part
statue, but that man will notmove and I just I can't. And

(23:34):
it's the biggest knock on golf.And the number one reason why he'll never
be a top ten quarterback to meis just because I just cannot deal with
the just panic in his eyes whena play is not going just the way
he wanted it to. It's,you know, maybe I'm spoiled by the
modern NFL because there are a lotmore guys like that ten years ago,
where you know their pocket passers andonce things go wrong, that's it.

(23:59):
So I can't knock him too much. But it's just it comes up and
bites him way too often. Andthis might be a game that this this
bites him in. But I mean, I'm hyped us here the Detroit Lions
are in an NFC championship game.I don't know when. The last time
that happened was probably in the fiftieswhen they lost won their last championship.
So at top of them, Godbless you know. I hope they pull

(24:22):
it off. But it's a hellof a story regardless of what happens the
rest of the road, you know. See's one more point about this for
the Lions awesome head coaching hire.A couple of years ago, a lot
of people weren't happy with the DanCampbell higher. We were hyped up about
it from the start with like thebiting the kneecaps thing, and just like,
man, that guy makes you wantto run through a brick wall.

(24:42):
And you had mentioned that like sometimeshiring guys who are just play callers isn't
the best thing. That's because yourjob isn't to be a play caller.
Dan Campbell's doing a fantastic job keepinghis team motivated, making sure that they
believe in themselves, making sure theyknow he believes in them, and making
game time decisions. Some times maybeover aggressively, but making game time decisions,

(25:03):
and that's your job. You're moreof a manager. You're not supposed
to be in the thick of everysingle play call, and he's doing a
very good job. So while wesee success when these guys are extraordinary,
whether it's Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahanor Mike McDaniel, that's not necessarily their
job. That's not historically how itgoes. And it's refreshing to see,
you know, the Lions get rewardedfor not like going to hire the next

(25:23):
big offensive coordinator or next best defensivecoordinator and just getting a guy who will
manage the team, make sure everyone'son the same page and have a united
effort to go win this thing.Not saying they're going to win the whole
thing, but even so, Ithink any Lions fan a couple of years
ago would take the Dan Campbell erafrom where he started to where he is
now. So really good story forthem, and props to them for getting

(25:44):
that coach that can't get you towant to want to run through a brick
wall. The AFC Division Round lastgame of the of the of the weekend,
we had the Chiefs and the Bills. Patrick Mahomes had to play a
road playoff game. Now seeks wehad a little bit of a two story
thing going on here. What washappening in the stands, what was happening
on the field. This was agreat football game. On the field,
we had the Chiefs winning twenty sevento twenty four, back and forth,

(26:07):
back and forth. Comes down tofourth quarter, the Chiefs are able to
score. The Bills set up fora field goal to tie it, and
they do wide bright which has tobe heartbreaking for Bills fans. In this
game, Patrick Mahomes does okay,nothing extraordinary. Travis Kelcey two touchdowns in
front of Taylor Swift and his brotherJason kelce Aziampa Chaco ran the ball.

(26:30):
Well. We mentioned that if theChiefs commit to the run, they're a
much harder team to defend these years, this year, I should say,
over past years. So they getto win. It's a very tough and
emotional game and tough for Bills fans. And then in the crowd you have
Jason kelce you know, jumping intothe stands from the box to go,
chug beers with fans, to gobring little girls to meet Taylor Swift.

(26:52):
That's why everyone loves Jason Kelcey.Hall of Famer for sure. You know,
the reports are that maybe he's notretiring now, so we'll see what
happens with that funny story behind itis his wife, who everyone's seen from
the documentaries and everything, was tellinghim, hey, this is the first
time we're meeting Taylor Swift. Canyou try to keep it? Can you
try to keep it casual or whatever? And he just goes, Oh,
I'm jumping out of this box andhanging out with fans. And he goes
and chucks the beers with him.So awesome for Jason Kelsey, Awesome for

(27:15):
content. I know people are likesick of ceiling Taylor Swift on the sidelines
or whatever. I like seeing allof them on the sidelines and something else
besides just you know, announcers fillingthe time with some some bs. But
when Jason Kelsey gets on there,takes his shirt off and chugs some beers,
That's that's how you should enjoy footballgame in Buffalo one hundred percent.
It's just like Ryan Fitzpatrick two yearsago, you know, sitting there partying

(27:37):
with a fan, you know,shirtless in the ten Dearie Weather. I
think it's good And again, youknow, this will kind of close the
book on the Taylor Swift talk realquick. But I don't have a problem
with him showing her. I haveproblem with that it being more than once,
you know, I'd love to getas many Taylor Swift and Jason Kelsey
shirtless clips to the box I can. I think it's a win win for

(28:00):
everybody. Everybody, you know,it's like a fun family dynamic. I'd
love to watch that sitcom they allsign up for. I think it'd be
an appointment viewing. And yeah,I mean I love Jason Kelcey. It's
weird because I kind of hate TravisKelsey so much and this game kind of
like renewed, So I kind oflike this game because one, if you're

(28:22):
a Bills fan, I feel reallybad for you. That's a heartbreaker.
You just got your heart ripped out, basically a third playoffs in a row.
Your life is hard. And I'ma Bengals fan, and it's like,
I've never experienced anything quite like this. I mean, I've had a
lot of playoff losses, but I'venever had a team this complete just lose

(28:45):
and lose and just in the mostpainful ways possible, over and over again.
Pretty much the same teams you know, the Chiefs, especially the Bengals
two twice in the last two years, have been some rough games for him.
So I don't know. I don'tknow what the answer is if you're
the Buffalo Bills. I mean,is it is it? You know,

(29:06):
is Sean McDermott the answer. Idon't know. I really don't at this
point. I mean, doesn't looklike he's really getting them. They've regressed
in pretty much every way. Thatwasn't a great overall year for the Bills.
They struggled, They were up anddown, you know, I know
Josh Allen was heard at times.They had some injuries all over the field,
but the product was not great andthat that kind of goes with him.

(29:30):
He was kind of calling the plays. By end of the year,
Wesley Frasier isn't there anymore, andit kind of had a weird crossroads as
a team because they again, JoshAllen is amazing, top three quarterback in
the NFL. He can do everything, but at the same time, he
is probably the one person on earththat can take over a game and also

(29:52):
just infinitely lose a game because andit popped up in the most subtle way
in this game possible right, Theynot some iron interceptions here or there,
maybe not some you know, theturnover games, multiple turnovers in one game
to see it throughout the season.But that one play late in the fourth
quarter where Stevan Diggs is just runningright across the field and you know,

(30:15):
Josh Allen sees him ignores him becausehe wants to go for the kill shot
touchdown. That's kind of further ofthe end zone and that guy is kind
of more wide, is kind ofopen, but not as open as to
Von Diggs, and you know peopleare crashing in on him fast. Instead
of taking the easy, you know, ten yards complete the ball, he
tries to go for it all andit doesn't work. And that's kind of

(30:37):
the that's the Josh Allen problem ishe wants, you know, sometimes he
wants to put on the cape,as Tony Renwald loves to say. But
you don't need to do that everytime just because you can throw the ball
sixty yards and you want to bethe hero and you want to go this
awesome thirty yard bomb touchdown on theboard. That's not what makes you a

(30:59):
whole quarterback. The reality is sometimesyou take that Tom Brady is the King
of checkdowns man like, he throwsthe ball ten yards, he throws it
to the open receiver over over andover. He made Wes Welker Julian Edelman
into you know, household names byliterally doing the same thing over and over
for years. And if you dothat, you will have success because give

(31:22):
what the defense gives you, takethe situation to advance. I know you
want the touchdown. I know youwant to take the lead. You know
you want to put the you know, demon of the Kansas State Chiefs behind
you. But get closer, getcloser field range, give you another set
of downs and make it happen.Don't put yourself in the third and long
and then, you know, leavingit up to everything else. So obviously

(31:45):
could have, should have would ayou know everything coming back into perspective,
he obviously would want that pass back. But you just got to know that
in the moment too, because inthe moment is where those things are made.
And then the moment is where JoshAllen continues to hurt himself and hurt
his legacy because when will they getto a super Bowl? It's really a
question, It's a real question.It's a sad one because I don't really

(32:08):
know where you fix this team besidestrying again with another coach, And the
reality is, is that really gonnamake it different? You know, they
have Stefan Digson's like disappeared from theteam. I mean, sure, they
created Jay. You know, JamesCook has been great for him. You
know that running game has been ahuge success, but at the cost of

(32:30):
basically the things that made their offensereally good in the past. I know
Gave Davis was hurting this game,but Gave Davis isn't a great number two
Receiverie, It don't concave. That'sgreat, but it just seems like some
of the stuff that's made this Billsteam really good over the last couple of
years faded down the stretch of thisseason. Josh Allen's amazing, but the

(32:50):
reality is they're not having him getthe ball to other people. They're not
having other playmakers. It's just himout there. Sometimes it feels like Josh
Allen's punching the ball in the endzone and the Chiefs can't do anything about
it. That's great, I'm gladthat you have Josh Allen there. The
reality is, why is Josh Allenyour quarterback? Who could literally get hit

(33:12):
and get hurt at any moment byone of the gigantic Chiefs defenders out there,
the one always punching the ball tothe end zone. Why is there
no other game plan? Why?I mean, at some point, man
like, it's just got to beJosh Allen doesn't have to do everything,
because it's definitely That's part of thereason these things keep happening to Josh Allen
is because he has to feel like, I'm the one who has to make

(33:35):
the big play. But don't makea big play. We're not going to
get there, and it's you know, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. It's
like a Greek tragedy in Buffalo everyyear, and I hope it changes,
but I don't really have a roadmapto what can be more successful, because
you know, it's the sad thingis some teams get so close to getting
over the hump, and sometimes youdon't have it. You know, you

(33:59):
think you want it, you thinkeverything makes sense on paper, but you
just you can't get there. Andat what point do you keep just going
and doing the same thing over andover and hoping it's a different result with
you on that cease I also say, I'm kind of with you on the
part where you said I don't knowwhere when the Buffalo Bills will get to
the super Bowl. It's not justlike, hey, Joe Burroke was back

(34:19):
next year, but you have theTexans up and coming. You know,
the Jaguars could rebound. Jim Harbaugh'sin LA now. But also with your
own team, like Matt Mulano gothurt this year, Trey White got hurt.
That defense, you know, hadsome injuries, they're aging. Von
Miller's aging. You know, didn'thave a great year at all this year.
Like what's what's the next step isbringing in a new coach going to

(34:39):
get more out of this roster.Joe Brady did a good job as offensive
coordinator, but still has to kindof get some tendencies out of Josh Allen
to take what the defense is givingthem. And also he has to evolve
as a play caller as well.So it's it's a situation they got to
figure out here soon, and Ithink that's something they can focus on for
the Chiefs, though, I meanit's Patrick Mahomes and everyone else. I

(35:01):
mean, I Bengals fans here don'tlike Patrick Mahomes personally, but man,
that guy what to start to acareer stats wise, wins wise, you
know, getting to Super Bowls,getting to AFC championships. This is not
by accident by any means, andit's one of those things where we're gonna
look back at in ten years andbe like kind of trying to remember these

(35:21):
performances. This one not maybe asmuch because it was only two hundred fifteen
yards and two touchdowns, but justhard to knock off in dynasty, hard
to knock off quarterbacks like this.It was the same way with Tom Brady
all those years. If you knockedhim out of the playoffs, you better
have some pride when you did it. And hopefully we get some teams to
challenge them down the road, likethe Bengals. Maybe they can do it
again, but as currently constructed,the Bills just cannot beat the Chiefs no

(35:42):
matter what they try. All right, So let's get to our picks for
the conference championship games, cecil.These are both on Sunday three and six
thirty, Starting at us off atthree is the Chiefs and Ravens AFC Championship
Game. Baltimore is hosting this one. They are favored by three and a
half. That has moved from threeearlier in the week. Not supposed to
be any bad weather, forty ninedegrees and pretty nice. Yeah, I'm

(36:06):
gonna go Ravens to winning cover here. I think they are the more complete
roster. I think they have afull offense full of weapons. Mark Andrews
is probably gonna be back in thisgame, too, which is gonna be
a huge uplift I think for thatpassing attack, but as already honestly gotten
better and better since the time hegot hurt. So I mean there's a

(36:28):
lot of key things there. Thedefense is one of the best in the
NFL. And I think, youknow, Pat Mahomes, the Chiefs offense
has been playing a lot better.It turned it on the playoffs. I'll
give them that, but it's stillnot great. Like you said, two
hundred and fifteen yards, I thinkthe checko is the key to this game
for the Chiefs. If they wantto have a chance, checko's got to
get going, and they got tobe committed to that, because if they're

(36:50):
just trying to throw Pat Mahomes backthere vintage style and hope he can score,
you know, thirty points, it'snot gonna happen because those receivers were
a little more liable last week.But it's not going to continue, and
the Ravens are not going to givePat Mahomes a time to do what he
needs to do in the pocket.So I just you know, it's Pat
Mahomes. Maybe he turns it on. It's a possibility. It's the playoffs,

(37:13):
right, so anything can really happen. All these teams are good,
and you know, playoff legends aremade in these kind of environments where you
know, some guy just plays outof his mind. Pat Mahomes has the
ability to do that well. Fromwhat I'm looking at and when I'm looking
at as a complete team here,Lamar can do as well as Pat Mahomes
can in this game, and consideringthe weapons and the team around him,

(37:36):
and I just think the Ravens canwin this game by a touchdown. Yeah,
I think the same thing. Ipicked the Ravens to win and cover
on the GameHouse dot Com when itwas to three, but I think even
three and a half, I'm takingthat the same thing basically, But I
think the defense is the difference here. Kind of like you said, they've
got playmakers on all three levels.I'm not sure who their best player on

(37:57):
defense is. They got good linebackers. Kyle Hamilton. You know, the
offense has is maybe not as manystars as you would think, but they
have Lamar and that that's the onlystar you need if that's what you're gonna
do. So I think his developmenthas been great. I'm a big fan
of Todd Munkin and his offense thatstemmed from Georgia. You know, he
leaves Georgia, they don't win theNational championship, not saying that's the only
reason, but then he goes tothe Baltimore and the offense looks rejuvenated.

(38:20):
And I'm just gonna say, youknow, for for a team that is
a division rival, Cease, Ihave loved the Ravens drafts a couple last
couple of years. I just keepon looking up and down this roster of
how many guys that I just lovedand like I believed in. So I'm
gonna keep that belief in them.Kyle Hamilton, Tyrol Linderbaum, justin Mattabuque,
we have who I think it isa Flowers. Last year, I
just guys that I was higher thanconsensus on and they've proven to be good.

(38:45):
I don't think they'd let me downnow. So because this is maybe
self fulfilling or self I guess selfloving on my part that I'm going to
take the Ravens because I like theseguys, but I'll take them. You
know, Ravens win and cover.Chiefs, as you said, have not
played up to their standard all yearlong. Can Patrier mahomes up the switch?
Absolutely? But I think the keyis, like you said, Pachaco,
getting the running game going. Don'tthink it's gonna be as easy to

(39:06):
do against the Ravens. So let'sgo to the NFC Championship game seas.
We have the Detroit Lions at theSan Francisco forty nine Ers. The forty
nine Ers are favored by seven,and it is gonna be sixty nine degrees
and no rain for this NFC Championshipgame. Must be nice. Sounds beautiful.
I'm gonna pick the forty nine ersto win, but at seven,

(39:27):
I'm gonna take the Lions to cover. Right now, if you're betting at
seven and a half, come mom, Let's let's be smart people. But
here's why, I don't know whatTebo Samuel's health is like that worries me.
This is a team that is builton running the ball in the forty
nine ers. I mean, soare the Lions, but the forty nine

(39:47):
ers are predicated on getting that groundgame going. And there's one thing the
Lions have proven is that they're verygood against the run. Now, obviously
it's a different animal with Trent Williamsand Christ McCaffrey in the backfield. It's
gonna be a physical game, oneof the most physical football games you'll see
in a while, and I loveit. You're gonna talk about the ultimate

(40:09):
kind of if you want to picka storyline. Here, we're talking about
a guy who's all about just gritand just you know, motivating, and
he's running through walls, and yougot a guy who's wants to be physical
and believes in his scheme and believesin you know, his process basically,
So we got the perfect, youknow, mind versus heart kind of game

(40:30):
here, guru versus ultimate motivator.So I'm hyped to see how it happens.
Forty nine Ers are more talented teamoverall. I think there could be
times where you know, the line'ssecondary is very vulnerable and Brock Party can
have a decent game. And again, Deebo Samuels is going to be a

(40:50):
big, you know, component ofthis. If he's not there, I
definitely think the Lions can cover.If he's there, you know, it's
gonna be a different ballgame, andit's gonna be you know, a touchdown
probably, So if you're gonna giveme a touchdown for the Lions, I
think they've you know, silenced alot of doubters. I think they've done
a good job all postseason of youknow, establishing how they want to play

(41:13):
and making it their game. They'renot gonna get as much of a chance
in this one, so I don'tsee a road to victory as much.
But again, it's a championship game. A lot of things can happen.
That's what makes football exciting. Theseguys are gonna be amped up, and
honestly, everybody in that locker room, you're the Detroit Lions is gonna go.

(41:34):
You know, we've been putting doubters, you know, to bed all
year long. People never believed inus. If you believe in this organization
ever, and we're one game awayfrom the super Bowl, we don't have
to worry about anything else. We'rejust all we gotta do is execute for
sixty minutes and we're in a superBowl. That's all they need to think
about. Forty nine Ers are sittingthere going All the pressure in the world

(41:55):
is on us. We haven't beenplaying as well as we thought we were
supposed to do. A lot ofquestion marks about us. All the pressures
on the San Francisco forty nine Ers. Their team that's blown it and not
made the Super Bowl a couple oftimes. They've been so close so many
times at this point, they haven'tmade it back return since the time they
played the Chiefs. So yeah,I think four and Arrows pull it out.

(42:17):
But ultimately, I think it's goingto be a closer game than some
of the pundits are putting it outto be, and I'm excited for it.
I think it's gonna be a goodgame. But the forty nine Ers
will emerge toward us same pick fora lot of the same reasons. So
forty nine ers to win. Butthe Lions with the points, you know
that Debo injury affects that offense alot, and I that's why I'm taking

(42:38):
the lines with the points there.I do think that this is a game
of kind of like like you said, different coaches, but they want to
do the same thing. They bothwant to run the ball. And what's
interesting is both secondaries have struggled,so it might make more sense to the
kind of unleash and throw the ballif if teams are going to try to
stack the box, that's gonna bekey here. I do think the ending

(43:00):
the end of my like spiel hereis that I think the San Francisco forty
nine ers, like you said,have more talent, and I think they
get to win because I like thelines offensive line to protect Jared Goff.
But I think one or two keyplays when you have Nick Bosa now Chase
Young coming after him, where ChaseYoung hasn't been maybe the best after being
a second round or second overall pick, But like I think having those two

(43:22):
guys, that defense, that thatthose linebackers, it's just the more talent
there and maybe throw Jared Goff offhis game a little bit. So forty
nine ers to win. Lines withthe points for me, cease any final
thoughts for the week. Now,I'm excited. You know, we'll see
what comes on here. You know, it's very rare. I'm gonna say

(43:42):
it's very rare for two to oneseats to make the super Bowl. It
doesn't happen very often. It's justlike the final foards, you know,
it doesn't happen. So who's gonnabe the one that cracks? And the
pressures all on them. I'm justlooking forward to an exciting weekend. I
mean, we got the logo conspiracytheory here. The color of the logo
always has the teams in it thelast three years, So see if that
holds up. I'll run everyone.We'll be back next week. We're gonna

(44:07):
do the show next week to recapthe conference championships and then preview the super
Bowl. Then we'll take a weekoff before the super Bowl, and then
we'll come back afterwards to recap thesuper Bowl and everything else and wrap up
the season for now. Thanks forlistening. We'll see everyone next time.
See guys,