January 18, 2018 • 39 mins
Doug analyzes the Patriots path to the Super Bowl and compares it to the Warriors when they won the Championship in 2015. He also discusses LeBron James' comments about the Cavaliers season so far and why it has been so difficult. And Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph joins the show to share what it was like on the final play against the Saints and what he expects from the Eagles defense in the NFC Championship game.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America. Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio coming to you today from the soggy,
wet city of Eugene, Oregon. Um My, thanks to the
folks in Boise who hosted me yesterday, got a chance
(00:21):
to broadcast the Boise State come from behind win over
Utah State. Tonight I will have the Beavers taking on
the Bruins u c l A Oregon State. Uh. That
game will tip at eight West Coast time, eight West
Coast time on Fox Sports One. But before we get
to talk about any hoop or even any NBA hoop,
we gotta talk some football. We got a bunch coming
(00:43):
up for you. We got man, we got a good show.
This is a well produced show. The talent in front
of the microphone that might not be good, but behind
the microphone is excellent. Kyle Rudolph from the Minnesota Vikings
will join us. We'll try and figure out why exactly
the Saints were covering him. Six the artist from the
line of scrimmage on that last and on the Minnesota miracle.
(01:04):
R J. Belli joined us. Next hour, we'll get his
leans as of Thursday on Championships Sunday. So we got
a bunch of things to get to, got some Carmelo Anthony,
got some lebron to talk about, and um, um an
interesting comment on Dak Prescott to react to. But I
was looking at I was thinking about this Tom Brady injury,
(01:27):
and um, obviously your expect you know, it does pop up,
as you know, if he doesn't play well, if he
doesn't throw well, is it an excuse or is it
an explanation? And then I was I was talking to
some NFL people this morning because I was driving in
from the airport, and I was like, what do you
think about this weekend? You're like, just I can't see it,
(01:51):
Like what can't you see? I can't see Jacksonville competing
with New England. And then you go back and look
and you're like, man, has there ever in your life
been an easier pathway to a Super Bowl than what
the Patriots have in front of them. Think about that
(02:12):
for a second. Like the Titans should not have been
in the playoffs. The Titans gave up more points than
they scored this season. The Titans and the Jaguars, by
the way, came out of the division in which was
skewed because of injury, right, Like, I I understand you
are what your record says you are. That's we all
(02:32):
fall into the Bill Parcels said it. And Bill Parcels
is one of the great coaches of all the time,
so he knows more than you do. But are you
really right? Like, yes, the Jaguars made the playoffs and
the Chargers didn't. But I watched the game. Borders through
two interceptions in the waning minute of minutes of that
game at home, and they still Chargers found a way
(02:52):
to lose the game. And you know, both teams benefited
from the fact that Houston was decimated by injury. Remember
it's the Houston team that lost not just J. J. Watt,
but also Whitney Merciless and Deshaun Watson. I mean, and
Brian Cushing was suspended this year. I mean, you talked
about three of of there maybe four best defensive players
(03:18):
and their quarterback all gone for the season. Oh yeah,
and by the way, they're in division with the Colts.
The Colts have arguably the worst talent in the National
Football League and they didn't have their quarterback all season long.
That was their division and the Colts, and that the
Titans still needed a miracle to backdoor their way in
(03:39):
to the playoffs. Um, and and look, this has happened before.
So if you're a Patriot fan, you can't sit there
and go like, well, you're picking on us. No, I'm not.
I'm not. When when Kentucky won the national title in
two thousand and ten, there was three teams that were
better than everybody else in college basketball. Syracuse was won
(04:02):
before the n s A tournament, fab Melo was suspended,
and they never made it to the final four. Not
only was Syracuse a really good team that year, but
Syracuse played their two three zone, which would have been
a great matchup for a Kentucky team that struggled to score.
This is the Kentucky team with Anthony Davis. North Carolina,
by my estimation, was the best team in the country
(04:24):
that year. They after losing to Kentucky by two at
Kentucky early in the year and losing a couple of
games in a c C play, they went out and
started just throttling people left and right. Remember Kendall Marshall
was their point guard. He got hurt in the Craighton
game and of course they summarily lost in the Elite
eight to Kansas. The point is that Kentucky benefited from
(04:49):
a relatively easy path to in Final four into a
national championship. No one who athletically could compete with them.
Plus they were really good. I mean, so a young
team didn't get exposed playing gainst the two toughest matchups
on their way to a title. This happened a couple
of years ago with the Golden State Warriors, right like,
look the Warriors remember when they won their first title.
(05:12):
Every team they played on the path to their first
title had a major injury. Drew Holiday was out for
the Pelicans when they played New Orleans in the first round.
Mike Conley got hurt and didn't play a couple of
games for the Grizzlies. Um, they never played the Clippers,
They never played the Spurs. This is going back. Was
it three seasons ago when the Clippers and the Spurs
(05:34):
with the two and they battled a seven game series?
The Clippers won in seven and then the Clippers lost
when uh, when Chris Paul got hurt. So then they
played the Rockets and the Rockets didn't have Patrick Beverley.
Then they played the Calves in the finals and Kyrie
Irving got hurt and Kevin Love never even played because
(05:55):
he got hurt against the Boston Celtics. Like this hasn't
happened before. And the interesting thing about history is not
only does it repeat itself, as it is with the
New England Patriots, but we don't. The further we get
from it, the fewer times will actually admit to the
fact that, Hey, health is a huge determining factor into
(06:19):
who wins and who loses, and health a lot of
it is about luck. I've never understood this. You know, before,
when you go into a game, fans always wish your
good luck. Your mom says good luck, when you shake hands,
when you tap up people before again like, hey, good luck.
But when somebody wins, or somebody plays against the team
(06:40):
that has had some bad luck and has had some injuries,
nobody ever wants to give credit for luck, right. They
want to be told like, you're the best, you're the greatest,
you won the whole thing, and and maybe that is true,
but it's also luck is also a factor. It's also
a major factor. I mean, think of how lucky the
(07:00):
Patriots are that Pittsburgh you know, didn't get the Jesse
James touchdown, didn't beat them at home. Otherwise they would
have matched up with Jacksonville in the second round and
they would have had to go to Pittsburgh to win
the a f C Championship. And now you can say
that skill and I'll go and you'll say, you know, okay,
(07:23):
But I would also point out that, you know, look,
here's another luck factor. You're in the a f C East.
The Jets are not really competitive at your level this year.
The Dolphins lost Ryan tanney Hill before the season actually began,
so they put a band aid on that thing with
Jay Cutler. They did beat you this year down there,
but it's not as if the Dolphins were a great opponent.
(07:46):
And you know, Buffalo is fine with Tyrod Taylor. Can't
really beat you. So your your records a little bit
artifulish artificially inflated because your division is not strong, and
there's an injury to one of the quarterbacks in your division,
and and you know there's two other kind of quasi
backup starters at the the Jets and the and the Bills. Anyway,
(08:08):
like among the things that you should mention this year,
if the new England Patriots are to win a sixth
Super Bowl in the Tom Brady, Bill Belichick era. It's
this is probably the luckiest season they've ever had, the
most fortunate draw they've ever had, and by my estimation,
that's just me. You're allowed to It's still you're still
(08:30):
allowed to be amazed by the consistency of success and
by be impressed by, uh, the diversity of game plan,
by the immense amount of skill, despite the in spite
of the age of Tom Brady, like all of these things,
you are allowed to say and to thank you. You're
well within your bounds. But at some point you gotta
(08:53):
tip tipic half to luck and realize that Marcus Mariotta
with a coach who was fired after the game, right,
you took on the Tennessee Titans, whose coach was there
was such a lack of belief in the head coach
just in spite of the fact they went to the
playoffs and they won a playoff game, they fired him
after the game. And the Jacksonville Jaguars with Blake Bortles,
(09:17):
forget about their lack of playoff experience. Blake Portles is
their quarterback. That's all you really need to know, and
you can tell me that Blake Bortles was great last week. Like, Okay,
first of all, Blake Bortles doesn't have his top two
wide receivers from the start of the year, but not
just that, Like, here's the cementing case for why Blake
Bortles is, I know, is not well regarding the league.
(09:37):
If we were to start over, right, if we were
to start over and say, hey, every team can draft
a quarterback, Blake Bortles would not go in the top
twenty maybe not go in the top twenty five of
a of a redraft of current starting quarterbacks in the
National Football League. I I honestly believe that, and so
(10:00):
I do think it's fair to say that they're they're
at least fortunate. And the truth be told, that pretty
lucky with the draw that they've gotten doesn't guarantee that
they will get there. The injury could be real, the
offensive line could break down. But year which the worst
thing that's happened to the Patriots was, you know, they
(10:22):
lost their number one receiving threat from last year, Julian Edelman.
The rest of things been pretty lucky. Ramos, where do
you think Blake Bortles would go if we had a redraft,
like maybe third round. No, no, no no, I'm not not
(10:43):
in terms of quarterback. Like again, every team gets to
start over, gets to pick a new quarterback, right, and
we just and and you come around to like how
many quarterbacks would be taken in the NFL before you
would take Blake Bortles and you can have this is
when you can have anybody. It has nothing to do
with contracts or anything else like that. Probably like late
(11:06):
like twenties. Yeah, yeah, music, you think that's fair, that's
a fair number. Yeah, definitely. I think the with Blake
Bortles when he was drafted, he was drafted so high
because of what a lot of quarterbacks are taken on potential,
and I think to this point in his career he
(11:27):
hasn't quite lived up to what that potential is. I mean,
this is hasn't quite That's a that's an understatement. I mean, yeah,
I look for the fact that he was the number
three overall pick and now he's in the a f
C Championship Game. You could look at that as a reason,
but anyone who actually watches the games would know that
they're not there because of him, rather in spite of him.
(11:48):
I mean, here's here's all you need to do, right, Okay,
so go through, go through the NFC. Right, you wouldn't
take him ahead of Winz. You wouldn't take him ahead
of Deck. And I don't love Dac, but you wouldn't
take him ahead of Deck. Right, wouldn't TAKEI mad of Cousins.
You wouldn't take him ahead of Eli. Um. I wouldn't
take him ahead of any of the three quarterbacks. Maybe
maybe ahead of Teddy Bridgewater, who I wasn't really impressed by,
(12:09):
and he's coming up the knee. And I know that
Bradford can't stay healthy, but Bradford you would absolute take
ahead of them. You wouldn'take him at Stafford. You wouldn't
take ahead of of of Aaron Rodgers. Um. I don't
think you would take him ahead of Mitchell Trobisky, but
that's still that's up for at least debate. Um, none
of the quarterbacks in the NFC you take him ahead of,
And the Cardinals don't currently have a quarterback, so you
(12:31):
wouldn't take him ahead of Golf. You wouldn't take him
ahead of Russell Wilson. You wouldn't takehim ahead of Jimy
Garoppolo go to the a f C. You wouldn't take
him out of Rivers. You wouldn't take him out of
Alex Smith. You wouldn't take Hi ahead of Derek Carr.
You wouldn't take him ahead of Andrew Luck or of
Marcus Mariota. You wouldn't take him ahead of Andy Dalton
or Joe Flacco or Ben Roethlisberger. And you wouldn't take
(12:53):
him out of Tom Brady. I think you would maybe
take him ahead of Tyrod Taylor. I so he's mid twenties.
A mid twenties quarterback comes to your home park in
the a f C Championship game after you had an
absolute cake walk last week and they had a brawl,
they had a war. It doesn't get any lucky or
(13:15):
any fortunate any more fortunate for UH an aging team
and a really good one in the New England Patriots.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Gottlieb
Show weekdays at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Kyle
Rudolph of the Minnesota Vikings, who joins us on The
Doug gottlib Show here on Fox Sports Radio. UM did
(13:38):
you think it was over. I didn't think it was
gonna end on that play necessarily. Um, but I didn't
think it was over. I thought we had a good
chance to get a nice fifty chunk and you have
a chance to kick a field goal. Okay, so let's
let's go back through the series of plays. Uh, talking
(14:00):
about inauspicious beginnings the fall start. You're like, oh my god,
really on this we need every yard and we get
a we get a false start. What happened? The center
was the only one to not snap the stop the ball.
What the hell happened? Uh? Yeah, we tried to get
a get a free play. Essentially, you know, kind of
be able to take a shot. And you know, sometimes
(14:22):
you know, you just you get so locked into the
moment that that you forget, uh forget a snap count.
But um, yeah, not the way you want to start
that drive ideally. Okay. Wait, wait, So so the center
was right and everybody else's all because because every other um,
I believe both guards moved. So the center was right,
(14:42):
all right? All right, so the center got a right
good thanks for clearing it up, all right? So then
first down, Now here's what I'm wondering. You guys, I'm
sure you practice how long it takes to line up
and spike a football? Right? So first play pretty good.
I think the first place is a pretty good completion.
You call a time out, right, and then there's seventeen
seconds left, How much time does it take? Like, because
(15:08):
they were playing and they're playing on the boundaries and
out and there was no one over the middle of
the field. They were almost daring you to throw in
the middle of the field. How long does it take
you to catch a football? You know, take a knee,
and then everyone line up to spike a football. How
long does that that that take? If it's twenty yards
down the football field. Um, you know, with seventeen seconds left,
you'd still have a chance to do that. Um. You know,
(15:31):
most of the time, the safe ground is about twelve seconds. Um.
Anytime you get less than that, it would be really
tough to complete a ball in bounds, getting enough yards
and and getting up on the line and spiking it. So, um,
you know, we still had had enough time. Uh, you
know we had I think that was the play that
(15:52):
you know, case through the ball and complete the jarius
on the sideline, which was actually the same player that
we then came directly back to and he gets stuff
on on and the rest of history, the rest of
his history. Um, what I'm wondering about. It was ten
seconds ago they were you were just wanting to take
a slant right like your six yards from the line
of scrimmage, and they dedicated to someone covering you. Can
(16:14):
you figure out why? Um No, I'm not really sure
because on the previous play, you know, like I said,
we ran the exact same play, and the ball should
have actually gone to meet on that one, and uh
probably would have got about ten to twelve yards there
and got out of bound. Um. So I mean, I'm
assuming just because we ran it before and I was
(16:37):
left open on that one. Then the corner jumped me.
And when the corner jumped me, I knew we had
one on ones with Stefan and Jerius down the sideline.
So that's where I was. I was, like I said,
I was confident that we could get a chunk to
get a field goal. Um, but I didn't necessarily think
the play was gonna end in a touchdown, all right. Um?
(16:58):
So like, look, you you run your route, did you
see what happened or did you react to the sound no,
I saw so you know, once once I ran to
the flat and in that corner jumped me. Obviously, I
knew the ball wasn't coming to me, and you know,
as I turned, I watched Case throw it, so followed
the ball. Uh saw Digsy jump up and make the catch.
And my immediate thought was, as the defender was diving
(17:22):
at his legs, just please don't get tackled inbounds. And then, uh,
you know, once I saw him keep his balance, you know,
the thought process immediately goes to get out of bounds.
And then he turned and ran down the sideline. It
was like, oh my god, he's gonna score. I mean,
how did he How did he know? I mean, right
afterwards he's like, well, they ran into each other, but
(17:44):
he almost in one motion somehow stayed in bounds and
and had the wherewithal to know he wasn't gonna get tackled.
I almost wonder if it was a mistake at first
to start taking the ball to the house when he
could have just stepped out of bounds. Yeah, it was,
I mean, have the wherewithal too. I mean, it was
an unbelievable play to begin with, to go up there
(18:05):
and and absorbed the contact and keep his balance. You know,
not a lot of guys can do that, you know,
when you're going out of making a contested catch. You know,
it's just kind of human nature when you're taking that
contact to go to the ground so to be able
to keep his feet turn and then you know, obviously
the middlefield safety came over and was the one that
(18:25):
missed the tackle, so he knew that there was no
one else left, and you know, he turned and ran
for a touchdown. Um the camera caught up with with
with Case and it focused on it. And it's funny.
I'm sitting there with my kids and we're all going crazy.
Watched the game on TV and I my wife was
had just left the room and I go, oh my god,
oh my god, oh my and she and then he
(18:46):
shows Case and Case said, oh my god, do you
remember what you said when you saw it? Yeah? I mean,
like I said, I was, just as I'm going through
the you know, a array of thoughts from please catch it,
get out of bounds to oh my god, he's gonna
score and then just I ran down the sideline like
everyone else, uh and chased them into the end zone. Alright,
(19:09):
So how how Kyle Rudolph joining us on the Doug
Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports, trading the as you know, like, look,
it's one thing to be through, to go through a
brutally physical playoff game. Those are played at such a
higher level than any other football game. But then when
you compare the ring, when you when you um add
on the range of emotions, right, you're up seventeen nothing,
(19:31):
things are going well, then you're down. Then you kick
a fifty three yard field goal, and then they kick
field goal and or they score a touchdown on fourth down,
and then I mean, and then all of a sudden
it feels like you're done. And then with ten seconds
ago you get this miracle. Um. Your level of exhaustion
when the buzz kind of wore off, as opposed to
the normal level of exhaustion you feel on a Sunday night,
(19:54):
Monday morning, well, you know, we came in Monday and
treated it like any other Monday, mostly to just get
in and get back into a normal routine. And you know,
realizing that, you know, we if we continue to look
at what happened in the past and look at what
happened on Sunday night, then you know, we'll stumble on
what's directly in front of us, and that's an opportunity
(20:15):
to play Philly in the NFC Championship game. And so,
you know, I gives them a lot of credit for
bringing us in Monday morning and you know, making things
as normal as possible. So we were able to you know,
go back and you know, we watched the entire tape
and and treated it like any other regular Sunday night game.
And I think that was really big in terms of
allowing everyone on our team to to move past what
(20:37):
had happened the night before. When you saw the tape,
what do you guys most need to clean up? Because
it was seventeen nothing, but it wasn't perfect football, especially
early in the second half. Did you guys get tight
or is there something you need to clean up? Well?
I mean you that was the biggest thing that we
went back on Monday and the dress was you know,
what was the reason why we were in that situation
(20:57):
to begin with? Uh, you know, with the ball ten
seconds left, having to score to take the lead. Um,
you know you go back and look at the second
half and um, you know, a bad interception, a block
to kick, Um, you know, we we didn't stop him
in the red zone. I think they scored touchdowns almost
every time they got down there. Um, you know, offensively,
(21:20):
we didn't do anything there until the last couple of
minutes of the fourth quarter when we finally started doing
with the ball. So uh, in order for us to
accomplish our ultimate goal, you know, we can't play like
we did in the second half. All right, I can't,
you know, I'm I'm sure they wouldn't. Lets No one
would let you pick apart the negatives of the Eagle defense,
but it is a very good defense. What are the strengths.
What is the best part of what the Eagles do
(21:42):
that's allowed them to get to this point, have home
field advantage throughout Well, they have you know, incredible team
speed on defense, and you know it starts up front
for them with their rush. You know, Brandon Grhant, Fletcher Cox,
you know long those guys all are are playing at
a high level and getting after the quarterback. Uh. And
(22:02):
then you go to the you know, linebackers and in
the back end, and you know, those guys really feed
off of that rush, and um, you know, it'll be
really important for us to protect the quarterback, but also
to run the ball. Um. You know, you you go
back and look at the course of their year. UM
they've been I think they maybe number one against the rush. UM,
(22:23):
So it'll be it'll be important for us to possess
the ball, rush to football and then, like I said
just before, we can't turn it over. I believe their
tenant oh when they forced two or more turnovers, So
we'll have to protect the football. K Rudolph of the
Minnesota Vikings joining us UM. I saw on social media
that you guys, finally you opened the cow Rudolph end
(22:44):
Zone at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. This
has been a labor of love for you to to
open it and coincide with the success of the team
and the possibility, I know you don't want to get
of playing a home game for for the Super Bowl.
What's that experience been like of finally seeing this project
come to fruition. It's been awesome, you know, going back
(23:07):
two years ago when we kind of came up with
the idea and uh, the amount of time and preparation
and you know, quite honestly dreaming that has gone into
this project to finally open it earlier this fall, and
you know, have it available and have the kids in there, especially,
like you said, kind of gearing up around Minneapolis. Having
(23:30):
the super Bowl here this year has been really special
and it's been a true blessing for not only me
with my family, to to be able to provide that
to the patients and families at University of Minnesota Masonic
Children's Hospital. Last thing, have you allowed yourself that vision?
You know? Because I can remember when I was played
college basketball. I remember the night before we played in
(23:51):
the lead eight that I had like these dreams of
like cutting down the net going to the final four,
and we didn't win, and and then you like you
kick yourself, like, man, did I let my self think
about something instead of thinking about the game or relaxing whatever.
How do you handle do you allow yourself the vision
of playing in the super Bowl? Well? I think you know,
thirty two teams have that vision to begin the year.
(24:14):
And if you don't, you know, I'm not sure why
you're wating this in this business. So, um, you know
it's been a vision all year long. Um. Now you
you sit here in your one game away and you
know we you have to just try to do your
best to treat this like it's any other game. You know, yeah,
maybe January one, but you know, if you can treat
(24:35):
it like it's a December one, November twenty one game. Uh,
just whatever you've done, you can every week to give
yourself here to this point. Uh, continue to do that. Well,
it's been amazing to watch. It was an incredible moment
which I can just tell you. I'm not a minista.
I'm a Look, we're a fan of yours. But I
had no book, but everyone I know was watching this
game and had the exact same reaction. Oh my god,
(24:56):
Oh my god, oh my god. And uh, it's you
were part of part of history. We'll see if you
guys can complete that task and get to that home
game Srouper Bowl. Kyle Safe travels to Philly and thanks
for joining us, man, Thanks thanks for having me. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app. What Lebron
(25:17):
James maybe going through is the run that back syndrome.
I don't know if I haven't, I haven't told you
guys about this before. This is the run that back syndrome.
Um ramos. I know you don't play pick up basketball
music you have and I know you've done this with
volleyball as well. When you go and play on a
Saturday or Sunday and you may have like a really
(25:37):
good group and you play and then kind of everybody
knows when it's about over. Somebody's gotta go do something
with your kid. Somebody's gotta go do something with their girl.
I gotta run down to the d m V. I
gotta go get to I gotta go do this. I
gotta thing with a guy. You know, Like guys start
to all right, we done, and what will happen is
one or two of the guys will start unlacing their shoes,
(25:57):
taking it up, changing shirts of the sweaty shirt, and
they'll be like five or six guys that still have
juice in the tank and they still want to play.
Maybe a couple of guys that came late. You got
eight guys, nine guys, and you're the one guy. You
get your laces off, You've already texted your wife that
you're coming home, you know whatever. You need me to
pick something up on the way home. Blah blah blah, blah,
(26:19):
and the guy's like, hey, dude, do you want to
run that one back? Just one more? One more? Do
you want to run one more? And when in inevitably happens,
when just when you're even playing in that game is
you're you have just regret, right, like you might have
hit the game winning shot and you're like, it's good,
I'm done, game over, take off my shoes. The whole
time you're sitting there going, man, I wish I didn't
(26:39):
play in this game because I'm just kind of done
you mentally, you checked out, and oftentimes somebody gets hurt.
Coming back for one more run sounds like a good idea.
More is more, but less is more. And I almost
feel like Lebron Kyrie knew it was over and understood
kind of this thing had run its course, and they
weren't that this version wasn't gonna beat the Warriors. He
(27:02):
saw the handwriting on the wall, and he bailed out early.
And then Lebron sitting there going like, man, I'm probably
going somewhere else next year. Let's try let's do one
more run. Just all right, We'll play one more game,
and inevitably somebody gets hurt or doesn't it's not as
fun as it had been previously. That same challenge isn't
the same, isn't as enjoyable. Be sure to catch live
(27:24):
editions of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at three
pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app Let's Get the Stink Marks Layer.
At three time Super Bowl champion Stake, we were talking
about the Patriots and how let's just be honest, this
is an easy, easy run in terms of who they play, right,
You play the Titans, who fired their coach, allowed more
points than they scored from a Super Week division. And
(27:47):
then you get the Jaguars, who are quarterbacked by Blake
Portles talented team but have never been this far and
you would much rather play them than play the Pittsburgh
Steelers in any of your three Super Bowl runs? Was one? Uh?
What were your games easier because of a little bit
of luck? Um? You know, I don't know about I mean,
(28:08):
I don't know about a little bit of luck. I mean,
you know, I always I always find it fascinating, Dug
you when people say, oh, I want to play the best,
I want the team at their best, and I want
to no man, I want to play the worst team.
I want to you know, I want every guy on
their team to be sick, um injured, not feel well,
and you know I want to whip their ask. So
I mean that's that to me is like, hey, I'm
(28:29):
not gonna apologize for you guys not being very good
or your quarterback not be being very good. Their defense
is legit. We know that all three levels of Jacksonville's
defense is legit. Uh you know, so for me, I
mean that that to me is fine, that's what you're playing.
But you know, in this great I had somebody asked
me today, you know, are we gonna get the Blake
portals of of you know, the Bills game or the
(28:52):
one of the Steelers game. I I'm like, do you
know he completed fifty one percent of his passes against
the Bills and a whopping fifty three percent of his
passes agains the Steelers. I mean, it wasn't like the
guy was great. Um, he just didn't screw it up,
you know. So um yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna apologize
or they shouldn't have to apologize for for you know,
(29:12):
playing not good teams. And by the way, at the
beginning of the season. Remember the first five games of
the season, We're like, this is the worst defense that
the Patriots have ever had. Their coaching staff is a
better job than any other coaching staff in football about
developing guys during the course of the season. That's what
sets him apart. That's what makes him great. You know what,
when I was talking to an NFL GM before before
(29:34):
the show, stak Mark slayre joining us Fox uh NFL
on Fox Analysts, analyzes games. You see him in Fox
Sports one across all of our plus course hours, host
his own radio show in Denver, and he's a three
time Super Bowl champ. Don't believe me. Step to him
on Twitter and he'll smack you down with all three
of his rings. Um saying. I was talking to a
GM before the show, and I was like, how the
(29:55):
Patriots do it? And he's like, look, they don't make
the they just don't make mistakes, or they don't make
the amount of mistakes that other teams make. How is
that possible? How is it coached to where these guys
might not have the athletic talent of some other teams,
but they make fewer mistakes. Yeah, Well, I think one
(30:17):
Um they've had consistency in theme and system. So when
you're there for a while, you know it's always the
same thing that's being preached. So everybody knows, you know,
what their assignments are, they know the job, they understand
what's required. So I think that consistency plays a big
role in that. Um. The other thing, Doug is, you know,
(30:40):
and I've talked to a lot of people that have
been involved with the Patriots, that played there, that coaches there, um,
or that just understand that kind of philosophy. And this
is a great business principle, is that you know, a
lot of businesses and a lot of teams get caught
up on what you can't do, you know, so they
look a guy and say, well, he's not he doesn't
(31:01):
have an elite speed, or he's not you know, elite
level quickness, or he doesn't have elite level strength, or
whatever the case may be. And build Belichick's philosophies. Don't
tell me about what he can't do, tell me what
he can do. And in taking what he can do,
can he be elite in these seven or eight plays,
in these situations where we need him? And if he
(31:23):
can be an elite in these seven eight situations. Well, thing,
then we got ourselves a player that we can plug
in and we can be very successful in using in
those positions. So I think that's what they do better
than anybody else. Let's focus on what a dude can't do,
let's focus on what a guy can do, and let's
(31:44):
use him in those situations to benefit us to the
football team. And I think that's you know, where they
are are just way above everybody else, um, when it
comes to understanding the game and putting players in positions
to have success us the style like, look, we kind
of know. The crazy thing about Brady is everybody seems
(32:07):
to know how you beat Brady, and yet so few
teams were able to do it right. And again this
is more layman, whereas you have you know, you've forgotten
more about the National Football League than I'll ever know.
But the layman says, all right, well, you have to
rush for and you have to get him off the
spot with with with four, and then you have to
(32:28):
be super physical because it's timing routes. And if you're
gonna be a man and man you gotta have a
depth of athletes. And then oh yeah, by the way,
in big spots. You have to find somebody who covers
eight seven. That's what the layman says, Um, in terms
of a real professional analysis, Is that an accurate depiction
of what you have to do to slow this offense? Well, yeah,
(32:48):
you've got to do all those things. And then on
top of that, does you have to be multiple? So
then you have to say, Okay, we've done that, and
we did it for two drives. Now scrap all that,
and let's give him something totally different than what we
just showed him in the last two drives. And let's
continuously change and make sure that we're showing him different coverages,
(33:14):
we're doing in a different way throughout this whole thing.
And and now in doing that, we have to make
sure that we don't make mistakes, and we're forcing him
into mistakes because oftentimes what happens when you're that multiple,
your back end, your linebackers, they're the ones that screw up,
(33:34):
and he recognizes it and he takes advantage of it.
And and that's why it's so incredibly difficult, Um, and
to beat them. You know, the theories are all great, right,
It's like Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan until
they get punched in the face. Um, and that's playing
Tom Brady and and the Patriots. You know, he said
it a couple of years ago. He's like, why would
I not want to play them forty five? You know,
(33:55):
I got all the answers to the test right now.
So that's that's how they are. That's how they operate.
And their coaches do a phenomenal job of game planning
and putting guys in positions um to be effective, and
and and they just they're just better than everybody else
at this point. How big an issue is the hand?
He didn't practice today? You hurt the hand yesterday. It's
(34:17):
not supposed to be broken. I mean my guests would
be hitted on somebody's helmet throwing a football, right, I
mean that that hurts. Right, they say jammed his thumb,
and you know it's like it's it's Is it a
big deal? Is a big deal not to practice? Yeah?
You know, I think timing and everything else that it
does tend to make it a big deal. Um, I
(34:38):
think that. You know I always called those injuries Doug, like,
you got a button, and what do you like to
do with a button? You know, you walk by a button.
What do you see a button on the counter? What
do you wanna do? You want to push that damn thing? Right?
And when you're hurt. We always used to joke around said, oh,
somebody's got a button, because it's amazing. You don't ever
notice your hands, like your your hands take a beating,
(35:00):
but you don't notice him until you've got like a
fractured finger or something. And then every time, I mean
every no matter what, it's gonna get hit, it's gonna
get and and then all of a sudden you start
to realize, damn, I didn't realize I used my hands
this much. Man, this this thing is killing me. And
so when you have that quote unquote button, man, that
thing is gonna get touched multiple times. Not only is
(35:21):
it gonna get touched, but if I know you have
an injury, um, you know what, I'm gonna test him. Well,
I'm gonna try to hit you. I'm gonna try to
hit that that particular spot. So that's just that's part
and parcel of this game. And um, and i'd be surprised,
you know, people run by him. Maybe you don't get
a hit on him, but maybe you take a swat
at that hand like you're trying to uh deflect the
(35:43):
past and see if you can't hit that thumb. So
you know that's just the NFL, the way, the way
the whole game operates. Yeah, sweep the leg like, yeah,
assuming assuming he's healthy. Um, how how shock would you
be if Blake Bortles led the Jaguars to win. I
(36:06):
would be completely shocked. Um. And that's exactly you know,
that's exactly what it's gonna take. They have a theory,
there are a system or a philosophy, which is we're
gonna make you play lest handed, We're gonna take away
what you do well. And you think about it. Um,
you know, look at the difference between the Bills game
and between the Steelers game. In the Steelers game, um
(36:29):
like twenty carries somewhere around there for um four net
and you know, over a hundred yards, and it opened
up the play action and Blake Borders was able to
make a few really good throws, had one deep throw,
but you know, we only had two or fourteen yards
passing fifty three uh completion percentage. But those things were
(36:51):
open for them, and they got some chunk plays in
the passing game. In the Bills game. You know, he
didn't have any yards per se had twenty one carries.
I think he only average about two and a half
yards to carry, and that play action wasn't open and um,
and he had abysmal game and he's still completed only
I mean it was only you know, a percentage or
too higher. But but I think that's exactly where this
(37:14):
game plan goes. Um, and they did it does They
did it to Tennessee. If you watched Tennessee, they said
that basically, we're gonna we're gonna walk up, We're gonna
mug up our linebackers and and you know, we're gonna
drop one out, but we creates five one on ones.
We're gonna give up any any kind of exciting pass
rush moves. We're gonna press the pocket, We're gonna bull
(37:35):
rush you guys. We're muggos. Linebackers up, one's gonna drop,
one's gonna sit and spy uh Marcus Mariota, and we're
not gonna let you beat us on third down, run
on the football and creating plays. And they end up
getting eight sacks. They kept Marcus Mariota at bay and um,
the next thing you know, it's they give up a
courtesy touchdown on the end, they beat you thirty four team.
(37:56):
I mean, that's that's what New England does to you. Um, okay,
let's let's go to uh let's go to Minnesota Philadelphia
game kind of quickly, two backup quarterbacks, a ton of
emotional energy expense by the Vikings, two very good defenses.
Who do you like and why you know? I'm gonna
go with Minnesota. I just think their defense is such
(38:19):
an elite defense at all three levels. And um, you know,
nobody runs the ball. It's not so much yards per carry,
but it's attempts. Nobody runs it better than Minnesota when
it comes to attempts. And I just look at that.
You make enough plays in the passing game, your receivers
are gonna bail out case Keen. And when he makes
a bad throw, he's great with the layer throws and um,
(38:43):
you know in some of the double moves with his receivers.
I just think there are more talented football team top
to bottom, and I think Case Keenum has just been better, um,
you know than Nick Foles and so, um, we'll see
exactly how it plays out. I will give a I'll
give it tip of the cap to Doug Peterson because
Nick Foles was really bad the first couple of drives
(39:05):
against Atlanta and they went to a run pass option
kind of scenario where he had a one receiver route off,
you know, a fake run, and Nick Foles actually played
really well completed at the end of the game his passes.
So um, I'll tip my hat to Doug Peterson for
putting that that whole thing together. But I think Minnesota
is a little bit better football team. That's three time
(39:28):
Super Bowl champion in Fox, NFL analyst Mark Slaret stink
great stuff. Thanks so much for joining us anytime, Doug.
Take carey, buddy,
This is the best of the Doug Gottlieb Show on
Fox Sports Radio. Boom, What Up America. Doug Gottlieb Show,
Fox Sports Radio coming to you today from the soggy,
wet city of Eugene, Oregon. Um My, thanks to the
folks in Boise who hosted me yesterday, got a chance
(00:21):
to broadcast the Boise State come from behind win over
Utah State. Tonight I will have the Beavers taking on
the Bruins u c l A Oregon State. Uh. That
game will tip at eight West Coast time, eight West
Coast time on Fox Sports One. But before we get
to talk about any hoop or even any NBA hoop,
we gotta talk some football. We got a bunch coming
(00:43):
up for you. We got man, we got a good show.
This is a well produced show. The talent in front
of the microphone that might not be good, but behind
the microphone is excellent. Kyle Rudolph from the Minnesota Vikings
will join us. We'll try and figure out why exactly
the Saints were covering him. Six the artist from the
line of scrimmage on that last and on the Minnesota miracle.
(01:04):
R J. Belli joined us. Next hour, we'll get his
leans as of Thursday on Championships Sunday. So we got
a bunch of things to get to, got some Carmelo Anthony,
got some lebron to talk about, and um, um an
interesting comment on Dak Prescott to react to. But I
was looking at I was thinking about this Tom Brady injury,
(01:27):
and um, obviously your expect you know, it does pop up,
as you know, if he doesn't play well, if he
doesn't throw well, is it an excuse or is it
an explanation? And then I was I was talking to
some NFL people this morning because I was driving in
from the airport, and I was like, what do you
think about this weekend? You're like, just I can't see it,
(01:51):
Like what can't you see? I can't see Jacksonville competing
with New England. And then you go back and look
and you're like, man, has there ever in your life
been an easier pathway to a Super Bowl than what
the Patriots have in front of them. Think about that
(02:12):
for a second. Like the Titans should not have been
in the playoffs. The Titans gave up more points than
they scored this season. The Titans and the Jaguars, by
the way, came out of the division in which was
skewed because of injury, right, Like, I I understand you
are what your record says you are. That's we all
(02:32):
fall into the Bill Parcels said it. And Bill Parcels
is one of the great coaches of all the time,
so he knows more than you do. But are you
really right? Like, yes, the Jaguars made the playoffs and
the Chargers didn't. But I watched the game. Borders through
two interceptions in the waning minute of minutes of that
game at home, and they still Chargers found a way
(02:52):
to lose the game. And you know, both teams benefited
from the fact that Houston was decimated by injury. Remember
it's the Houston team that lost not just J. J. Watt,
but also Whitney Merciless and Deshaun Watson. I mean, and
Brian Cushing was suspended this year. I mean, you talked
about three of of there maybe four best defensive players
(03:18):
and their quarterback all gone for the season. Oh yeah,
and by the way, they're in division with the Colts.
The Colts have arguably the worst talent in the National
Football League and they didn't have their quarterback all season long.
That was their division and the Colts, and that the
Titans still needed a miracle to backdoor their way in
(03:39):
to the playoffs. Um, and and look, this has happened before.
So if you're a Patriot fan, you can't sit there
and go like, well, you're picking on us. No, I'm not.
I'm not. When when Kentucky won the national title in
two thousand and ten, there was three teams that were
better than everybody else in college basketball. Syracuse was won
(04:02):
before the n s A tournament, fab Melo was suspended,
and they never made it to the final four. Not
only was Syracuse a really good team that year, but
Syracuse played their two three zone, which would have been
a great matchup for a Kentucky team that struggled to score.
This is the Kentucky team with Anthony Davis. North Carolina,
by my estimation, was the best team in the country
(04:24):
that year. They after losing to Kentucky by two at
Kentucky early in the year and losing a couple of
games in a c C play, they went out and
started just throttling people left and right. Remember Kendall Marshall
was their point guard. He got hurt in the Craighton
game and of course they summarily lost in the Elite
eight to Kansas. The point is that Kentucky benefited from
(04:49):
a relatively easy path to in Final four into a
national championship. No one who athletically could compete with them.
Plus they were really good. I mean, so a young
team didn't get exposed playing gainst the two toughest matchups
on their way to a title. This happened a couple
of years ago with the Golden State Warriors, right like,
look the Warriors remember when they won their first title.
(05:12):
Every team they played on the path to their first
title had a major injury. Drew Holiday was out for
the Pelicans when they played New Orleans in the first round.
Mike Conley got hurt and didn't play a couple of
games for the Grizzlies. Um, they never played the Clippers,
They never played the Spurs. This is going back. Was
it three seasons ago when the Clippers and the Spurs
(05:34):
with the two and they battled a seven game series?
The Clippers won in seven and then the Clippers lost
when uh, when Chris Paul got hurt. So then they
played the Rockets and the Rockets didn't have Patrick Beverley.
Then they played the Calves in the finals and Kyrie
Irving got hurt and Kevin Love never even played because
(05:55):
he got hurt against the Boston Celtics. Like this hasn't
happened before. And the interesting thing about history is not
only does it repeat itself, as it is with the
New England Patriots, but we don't. The further we get
from it, the fewer times will actually admit to the
fact that, Hey, health is a huge determining factor into
(06:19):
who wins and who loses, and health a lot of
it is about luck. I've never understood this. You know, before,
when you go into a game, fans always wish your
good luck. Your mom says good luck, when you shake hands,
when you tap up people before again like, hey, good luck.
But when somebody wins, or somebody plays against the team
(06:40):
that has had some bad luck and has had some injuries,
nobody ever wants to give credit for luck, right. They
want to be told like, you're the best, you're the greatest,
you won the whole thing, and and maybe that is true,
but it's also luck is also a factor. It's also
a major factor. I mean, think of how lucky the
(07:00):
Patriots are that Pittsburgh you know, didn't get the Jesse
James touchdown, didn't beat them at home. Otherwise they would
have matched up with Jacksonville in the second round and
they would have had to go to Pittsburgh to win
the a f C Championship. And now you can say
that skill and I'll go and you'll say, you know, okay,
(07:23):
But I would also point out that, you know, look,
here's another luck factor. You're in the a f C East.
The Jets are not really competitive at your level this year.
The Dolphins lost Ryan tanney Hill before the season actually began,
so they put a band aid on that thing with
Jay Cutler. They did beat you this year down there,
but it's not as if the Dolphins were a great opponent.
(07:46):
And you know, Buffalo is fine with Tyrod Taylor. Can't
really beat you. So your your records a little bit
artifulish artificially inflated because your division is not strong, and
there's an injury to one of the quarterbacks in your division,
and and you know there's two other kind of quasi
backup starters at the the Jets and the and the Bills. Anyway,
(08:08):
like among the things that you should mention this year,
if the new England Patriots are to win a sixth
Super Bowl in the Tom Brady, Bill Belichick era. It's
this is probably the luckiest season they've ever had, the
most fortunate draw they've ever had, and by my estimation,
that's just me. You're allowed to It's still you're still
(08:30):
allowed to be amazed by the consistency of success and
by be impressed by, uh, the diversity of game plan,
by the immense amount of skill, despite the in spite
of the age of Tom Brady, like all of these things,
you are allowed to say and to thank you. You're
well within your bounds. But at some point you gotta
(08:53):
tip tipic half to luck and realize that Marcus Mariotta
with a coach who was fired after the game, right,
you took on the Tennessee Titans, whose coach was there
was such a lack of belief in the head coach
just in spite of the fact they went to the
playoffs and they won a playoff game, they fired him
after the game. And the Jacksonville Jaguars with Blake Bortles,
(09:17):
forget about their lack of playoff experience. Blake Portles is
their quarterback. That's all you really need to know, and
you can tell me that Blake Bortles was great last week. Like, Okay,
first of all, Blake Bortles doesn't have his top two
wide receivers from the start of the year, but not
just that, Like, here's the cementing case for why Blake
Bortles is, I know, is not well regarding the league.
(09:37):
If we were to start over, right, if we were
to start over and say, hey, every team can draft
a quarterback, Blake Bortles would not go in the top
twenty maybe not go in the top twenty five of
a of a redraft of current starting quarterbacks in the
National Football League. I I honestly believe that, and so
(10:00):
I do think it's fair to say that they're they're
at least fortunate. And the truth be told, that pretty
lucky with the draw that they've gotten doesn't guarantee that
they will get there. The injury could be real, the
offensive line could break down. But year which the worst
thing that's happened to the Patriots was, you know, they
(10:22):
lost their number one receiving threat from last year, Julian Edelman.
The rest of things been pretty lucky. Ramos, where do
you think Blake Bortles would go if we had a redraft,
like maybe third round. No, no, no no, I'm not not
(10:43):
in terms of quarterback. Like again, every team gets to
start over, gets to pick a new quarterback, right, and
we just and and you come around to like how
many quarterbacks would be taken in the NFL before you
would take Blake Bortles and you can have this is
when you can have anybody. It has nothing to do
with contracts or anything else like that. Probably like late
(11:06):
like twenties. Yeah, yeah, music, you think that's fair, that's
a fair number. Yeah, definitely. I think the with Blake
Bortles when he was drafted, he was drafted so high
because of what a lot of quarterbacks are taken on potential,
and I think to this point in his career he
(11:27):
hasn't quite lived up to what that potential is. I mean,
this is hasn't quite That's a that's an understatement. I mean, yeah,
I look for the fact that he was the number
three overall pick and now he's in the a f
C Championship Game. You could look at that as a reason,
but anyone who actually watches the games would know that
they're not there because of him, rather in spite of him.
(11:48):
I mean, here's here's all you need to do, right, Okay,
so go through, go through the NFC. Right, you wouldn't
take him ahead of Winz. You wouldn't take him ahead
of Deck. And I don't love Dac, but you wouldn't
take him ahead of Deck. Right, wouldn't TAKEI mad of Cousins.
You wouldn't take him ahead of Eli. Um. I wouldn't
take him ahead of any of the three quarterbacks. Maybe
maybe ahead of Teddy Bridgewater, who I wasn't really impressed by,
(12:09):
and he's coming up the knee. And I know that
Bradford can't stay healthy, but Bradford you would absolute take
ahead of them. You wouldn'take him at Stafford. You wouldn't
take ahead of of of Aaron Rodgers. Um. I don't
think you would take him ahead of Mitchell Trobisky, but
that's still that's up for at least debate. Um, none
of the quarterbacks in the NFC you take him ahead of,
And the Cardinals don't currently have a quarterback, so you
(12:31):
wouldn't take him ahead of Golf. You wouldn't take him
ahead of Russell Wilson. You wouldn't takehim ahead of Jimy
Garoppolo go to the a f C. You wouldn't take
him out of Rivers. You wouldn't take him out of
Alex Smith. You wouldn't take Hi ahead of Derek Carr.
You wouldn't take him ahead of Andrew Luck or of
Marcus Mariota. You wouldn't take him ahead of Andy Dalton
or Joe Flacco or Ben Roethlisberger. And you wouldn't take
(12:53):
him out of Tom Brady. I think you would maybe
take him ahead of Tyrod Taylor. I so he's mid twenties.
A mid twenties quarterback comes to your home park in
the a f C Championship game after you had an
absolute cake walk last week and they had a brawl,
they had a war. It doesn't get any lucky or
(13:15):
any fortunate any more fortunate for UH an aging team
and a really good one in the New England Patriots.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Doug Gottlieb
Show weekdays at three p m. Eastern noon Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app. Kyle
Rudolph of the Minnesota Vikings, who joins us on The
Doug gottlib Show here on Fox Sports Radio. UM did
(13:38):
you think it was over. I didn't think it was
gonna end on that play necessarily. Um, but I didn't
think it was over. I thought we had a good
chance to get a nice fifty chunk and you have
a chance to kick a field goal. Okay, so let's
let's go back through the series of plays. Uh, talking
(14:00):
about inauspicious beginnings the fall start. You're like, oh my god,
really on this we need every yard and we get
a we get a false start. What happened? The center
was the only one to not snap the stop the ball.
What the hell happened? Uh? Yeah, we tried to get
a get a free play. Essentially, you know, kind of
be able to take a shot. And you know, sometimes
(14:22):
you know, you just you get so locked into the
moment that that you forget, uh forget a snap count.
But um, yeah, not the way you want to start
that drive ideally. Okay. Wait, wait, So so the center
was right and everybody else's all because because every other um,
I believe both guards moved. So the center was right,
(14:42):
all right? All right, so the center got a right
good thanks for clearing it up, all right? So then
first down, Now here's what I'm wondering. You guys, I'm
sure you practice how long it takes to line up
and spike a football? Right? So first play pretty good.
I think the first place is a pretty good completion.
You call a time out, right, and then there's seventeen
seconds left, How much time does it take? Like, because
(15:08):
they were playing and they're playing on the boundaries and
out and there was no one over the middle of
the field. They were almost daring you to throw in
the middle of the field. How long does it take
you to catch a football? You know, take a knee,
and then everyone line up to spike a football. How
long does that that that take? If it's twenty yards
down the football field. Um, you know, with seventeen seconds left,
you'd still have a chance to do that. Um. You know,
(15:31):
most of the time, the safe ground is about twelve seconds. Um.
Anytime you get less than that, it would be really
tough to complete a ball in bounds, getting enough yards
and and getting up on the line and spiking it. So, um,
you know, we still had had enough time. Uh, you
know we had I think that was the play that
(15:52):
you know, case through the ball and complete the jarius
on the sideline, which was actually the same player that
we then came directly back to and he gets stuff
on on and the rest of history, the rest of
his history. Um, what I'm wondering about. It was ten
seconds ago they were you were just wanting to take
a slant right like your six yards from the line
of scrimmage, and they dedicated to someone covering you. Can
(16:14):
you figure out why? Um No, I'm not really sure
because on the previous play, you know, like I said,
we ran the exact same play, and the ball should
have actually gone to meet on that one, and uh
probably would have got about ten to twelve yards there
and got out of bound. Um. So I mean, I'm
assuming just because we ran it before and I was
(16:37):
left open on that one. Then the corner jumped me.
And when the corner jumped me, I knew we had
one on ones with Stefan and Jerius down the sideline.
So that's where I was. I was, like I said,
I was confident that we could get a chunk to
get a field goal. Um, but I didn't necessarily think
the play was gonna end in a touchdown, all right. Um?
(16:58):
So like, look, you you run your route, did you
see what happened or did you react to the sound no,
I saw so you know, once once I ran to
the flat and in that corner jumped me. Obviously, I
knew the ball wasn't coming to me, and you know,
as I turned, I watched Case throw it, so followed
the ball. Uh saw Digsy jump up and make the catch.
And my immediate thought was, as the defender was diving
(17:22):
at his legs, just please don't get tackled inbounds. And then, uh,
you know, once I saw him keep his balance, you know,
the thought process immediately goes to get out of bounds.
And then he turned and ran down the sideline. It
was like, oh my god, he's gonna score. I mean,
how did he How did he know? I mean, right
afterwards he's like, well, they ran into each other, but
(17:44):
he almost in one motion somehow stayed in bounds and
and had the wherewithal to know he wasn't gonna get tackled.
I almost wonder if it was a mistake at first
to start taking the ball to the house when he
could have just stepped out of bounds. Yeah, it was,
I mean, have the wherewithal too. I mean, it was
an unbelievable play to begin with, to go up there
(18:05):
and and absorbed the contact and keep his balance. You know,
not a lot of guys can do that, you know,
when you're going out of making a contested catch. You know,
it's just kind of human nature when you're taking that
contact to go to the ground so to be able
to keep his feet turn and then you know, obviously
the middlefield safety came over and was the one that
(18:25):
missed the tackle, so he knew that there was no
one else left, and you know, he turned and ran
for a touchdown. Um the camera caught up with with
with Case and it focused on it. And it's funny.
I'm sitting there with my kids and we're all going crazy.
Watched the game on TV and I my wife was
had just left the room and I go, oh my god,
oh my god, oh my and she and then he
(18:46):
shows Case and Case said, oh my god, do you
remember what you said when you saw it? Yeah? I mean,
like I said, I was, just as I'm going through
the you know, a array of thoughts from please catch it,
get out of bounds to oh my god, he's gonna
score and then just I ran down the sideline like
everyone else, uh and chased them into the end zone. Alright,
(19:09):
So how how Kyle Rudolph joining us on the Doug
Gottlieb Show here on Fox Sports, trading the as you know, like, look,
it's one thing to be through, to go through a
brutally physical playoff game. Those are played at such a
higher level than any other football game. But then when
you compare the ring, when you when you um add
on the range of emotions, right, you're up seventeen nothing,
(19:31):
things are going well, then you're down. Then you kick
a fifty three yard field goal, and then they kick
field goal and or they score a touchdown on fourth down,
and then I mean, and then all of a sudden
it feels like you're done. And then with ten seconds
ago you get this miracle. Um. Your level of exhaustion
when the buzz kind of wore off, as opposed to
the normal level of exhaustion you feel on a Sunday night,
(19:54):
Monday morning, well, you know, we came in Monday and
treated it like any other Monday, mostly to just get
in and get back into a normal routine. And you know,
realizing that, you know, we if we continue to look
at what happened in the past and look at what
happened on Sunday night, then you know, we'll stumble on
what's directly in front of us, and that's an opportunity
(20:15):
to play Philly in the NFC Championship game. And so,
you know, I gives them a lot of credit for
bringing us in Monday morning and you know, making things
as normal as possible. So we were able to you know,
go back and you know, we watched the entire tape
and and treated it like any other regular Sunday night game.
And I think that was really big in terms of
allowing everyone on our team to to move past what
(20:37):
had happened the night before. When you saw the tape,
what do you guys most need to clean up? Because
it was seventeen nothing, but it wasn't perfect football, especially
early in the second half. Did you guys get tight
or is there something you need to clean up? Well?
I mean you that was the biggest thing that we
went back on Monday and the dress was you know,
what was the reason why we were in that situation
(20:57):
to begin with? Uh, you know, with the ball ten
seconds left, having to score to take the lead. Um,
you know you go back and look at the second
half and um, you know, a bad interception, a block
to kick, Um, you know, we we didn't stop him
in the red zone. I think they scored touchdowns almost
every time they got down there. Um, you know, offensively,
(21:20):
we didn't do anything there until the last couple of
minutes of the fourth quarter when we finally started doing
with the ball. So uh, in order for us to
accomplish our ultimate goal, you know, we can't play like
we did in the second half. All right, I can't,
you know, I'm I'm sure they wouldn't. Lets No one
would let you pick apart the negatives of the Eagle defense,
but it is a very good defense. What are the strengths.
What is the best part of what the Eagles do
(21:42):
that's allowed them to get to this point, have home
field advantage throughout Well, they have you know, incredible team
speed on defense, and you know it starts up front
for them with their rush. You know, Brandon Grhant, Fletcher Cox,
you know long those guys all are are playing at
a high level and getting after the quarterback. Uh. And
(22:02):
then you go to the you know, linebackers and in
the back end, and you know, those guys really feed
off of that rush, and um, you know, it'll be
really important for us to protect the quarterback, but also
to run the ball. Um. You know, you you go
back and look at the course of their year. UM
they've been I think they maybe number one against the rush. UM,
(22:23):
So it'll be it'll be important for us to possess
the ball, rush to football and then, like I said
just before, we can't turn it over. I believe their
tenant oh when they forced two or more turnovers, So
we'll have to protect the football. K Rudolph of the
Minnesota Vikings joining us UM. I saw on social media
that you guys, finally you opened the cow Rudolph end
(22:44):
Zone at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. This
has been a labor of love for you to to
open it and coincide with the success of the team
and the possibility, I know you don't want to get
of playing a home game for for the Super Bowl.
What's that experience been like of finally seeing this project
come to fruition. It's been awesome, you know, going back
(23:07):
two years ago when we kind of came up with
the idea and uh, the amount of time and preparation
and you know, quite honestly dreaming that has gone into
this project to finally open it earlier this fall, and
you know, have it available and have the kids in there, especially,
like you said, kind of gearing up around Minneapolis. Having
(23:30):
the super Bowl here this year has been really special
and it's been a true blessing for not only me
with my family, to to be able to provide that
to the patients and families at University of Minnesota Masonic
Children's Hospital. Last thing, have you allowed yourself that vision?
You know? Because I can remember when I was played
college basketball. I remember the night before we played in
(23:51):
the lead eight that I had like these dreams of
like cutting down the net going to the final four,
and we didn't win, and and then you like you
kick yourself, like, man, did I let my self think
about something instead of thinking about the game or relaxing whatever.
How do you handle do you allow yourself the vision
of playing in the super Bowl? Well? I think you know,
thirty two teams have that vision to begin the year.
(24:14):
And if you don't, you know, I'm not sure why
you're wating this in this business. So, um, you know
it's been a vision all year long. Um. Now you
you sit here in your one game away and you
know we you have to just try to do your
best to treat this like it's any other game. You know, yeah,
maybe January one, but you know, if you can treat
(24:35):
it like it's a December one, November twenty one game. Uh,
just whatever you've done, you can every week to give
yourself here to this point. Uh, continue to do that. Well,
it's been amazing to watch. It was an incredible moment
which I can just tell you. I'm not a minista.
I'm a Look, we're a fan of yours. But I
had no book, but everyone I know was watching this
game and had the exact same reaction. Oh my god,
(24:56):
Oh my god, oh my god. And uh, it's you
were part of part of history. We'll see if you
guys can complete that task and get to that home
game Srouper Bowl. Kyle Safe travels to Philly and thanks
for joining us, man, Thanks thanks for having me. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports radio dot
com and within the I Heart Radio app. What Lebron
(25:17):
James maybe going through is the run that back syndrome.
I don't know if I haven't, I haven't told you
guys about this before. This is the run that back syndrome.
Um ramos. I know you don't play pick up basketball
music you have and I know you've done this with
volleyball as well. When you go and play on a
Saturday or Sunday and you may have like a really
(25:37):
good group and you play and then kind of everybody
knows when it's about over. Somebody's gotta go do something
with your kid. Somebody's gotta go do something with their girl.
I gotta run down to the d m V. I
gotta go get to I gotta go do this. I
gotta thing with a guy. You know, Like guys start
to all right, we done, and what will happen is
one or two of the guys will start unlacing their shoes,
(25:57):
taking it up, changing shirts of the sweaty shirt, and
they'll be like five or six guys that still have
juice in the tank and they still want to play.
Maybe a couple of guys that came late. You got
eight guys, nine guys, and you're the one guy. You
get your laces off, You've already texted your wife that
you're coming home, you know whatever. You need me to
pick something up on the way home. Blah blah blah, blah,
(26:19):
and the guy's like, hey, dude, do you want to
run that one back? Just one more? One more? Do
you want to run one more? And when in inevitably happens,
when just when you're even playing in that game is
you're you have just regret, right, like you might have
hit the game winning shot and you're like, it's good,
I'm done, game over, take off my shoes. The whole
time you're sitting there going, man, I wish I didn't
(26:39):
play in this game because I'm just kind of done
you mentally, you checked out, and oftentimes somebody gets hurt.
Coming back for one more run sounds like a good idea.
More is more, but less is more. And I almost
feel like Lebron Kyrie knew it was over and understood
kind of this thing had run its course, and they
weren't that this version wasn't gonna beat the Warriors. He
(27:02):
saw the handwriting on the wall, and he bailed out early.
And then Lebron sitting there going like, man, I'm probably
going somewhere else next year. Let's try let's do one
more run. Just all right, We'll play one more game,
and inevitably somebody gets hurt or doesn't it's not as
fun as it had been previously. That same challenge isn't
the same, isn't as enjoyable. Be sure to catch live
(27:24):
editions of The Doug gott Leap Show weekdays at three
pm Eastern noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
I Heart Radio app Let's Get the Stink Marks Layer.
At three time Super Bowl champion Stake, we were talking
about the Patriots and how let's just be honest, this
is an easy, easy run in terms of who they play, right,
You play the Titans, who fired their coach, allowed more
points than they scored from a Super Week division. And
(27:47):
then you get the Jaguars, who are quarterbacked by Blake
Portles talented team but have never been this far and
you would much rather play them than play the Pittsburgh
Steelers in any of your three Super Bowl runs? Was one? Uh?
What were your games easier because of a little bit
of luck? Um? You know, I don't know about I mean,
(28:08):
I don't know about a little bit of luck. I mean,
you know, I always I always find it fascinating, Dug
you when people say, oh, I want to play the best,
I want the team at their best, and I want
to no man, I want to play the worst team.
I want to you know, I want every guy on
their team to be sick, um injured, not feel well,
and you know I want to whip their ask. So
I mean that's that to me is like, hey, I'm
(28:29):
not gonna apologize for you guys not being very good
or your quarterback not be being very good. Their defense
is legit. We know that all three levels of Jacksonville's
defense is legit. Uh you know, so for me, I
mean that that to me is fine, that's what you're playing.
But you know, in this great I had somebody asked
me today, you know, are we gonna get the Blake
portals of of you know, the Bills game or the
(28:52):
one of the Steelers game. I I'm like, do you
know he completed fifty one percent of his passes against
the Bills and a whopping fifty three percent of his
passes agains the Steelers. I mean, it wasn't like the
guy was great. Um, he just didn't screw it up,
you know. So um yeah, yeah, I'm not gonna apologize
or they shouldn't have to apologize for for you know,
(29:12):
playing not good teams. And by the way, at the
beginning of the season. Remember the first five games of
the season, We're like, this is the worst defense that
the Patriots have ever had. Their coaching staff is a
better job than any other coaching staff in football about
developing guys during the course of the season. That's what
sets him apart. That's what makes him great. You know what,
when I was talking to an NFL GM before before
(29:34):
the show, stak Mark slayre joining us Fox uh NFL
on Fox Analysts, analyzes games. You see him in Fox
Sports one across all of our plus course hours, host
his own radio show in Denver, and he's a three
time Super Bowl champ. Don't believe me. Step to him
on Twitter and he'll smack you down with all three
of his rings. Um saying. I was talking to a
GM before the show, and I was like, how the
(29:55):
Patriots do it? And he's like, look, they don't make
the they just don't make mistakes, or they don't make
the amount of mistakes that other teams make. How is
that possible? How is it coached to where these guys
might not have the athletic talent of some other teams,
but they make fewer mistakes. Yeah, Well, I think one
(30:17):
Um they've had consistency in theme and system. So when
you're there for a while, you know it's always the
same thing that's being preached. So everybody knows, you know,
what their assignments are, they know the job, they understand
what's required. So I think that consistency plays a big
role in that. Um. The other thing, Doug is, you know,
(30:40):
and I've talked to a lot of people that have
been involved with the Patriots, that played there, that coaches there, um,
or that just understand that kind of philosophy. And this
is a great business principle, is that you know, a
lot of businesses and a lot of teams get caught
up on what you can't do, you know, so they
look a guy and say, well, he's not he doesn't
(31:01):
have an elite speed, or he's not you know, elite
level quickness, or he doesn't have elite level strength, or
whatever the case may be. And build Belichick's philosophies. Don't
tell me about what he can't do, tell me what
he can do. And in taking what he can do,
can he be elite in these seven or eight plays,
in these situations where we need him? And if he
(31:23):
can be an elite in these seven eight situations. Well, thing,
then we got ourselves a player that we can plug
in and we can be very successful in using in
those positions. So I think that's what they do better
than anybody else. Let's focus on what a dude can't do,
let's focus on what a guy can do, and let's
(31:44):
use him in those situations to benefit us to the
football team. And I think that's you know, where they
are are just way above everybody else, um, when it
comes to understanding the game and putting players in positions
to have success us the style like, look, we kind
of know. The crazy thing about Brady is everybody seems
(32:07):
to know how you beat Brady, and yet so few
teams were able to do it right. And again this
is more layman, whereas you have you know, you've forgotten
more about the National Football League than I'll ever know.
But the layman says, all right, well, you have to
rush for and you have to get him off the
spot with with with four, and then you have to
(32:28):
be super physical because it's timing routes. And if you're
gonna be a man and man you gotta have a
depth of athletes. And then oh yeah, by the way,
in big spots. You have to find somebody who covers
eight seven. That's what the layman says, Um, in terms
of a real professional analysis, Is that an accurate depiction
of what you have to do to slow this offense? Well, yeah,
(32:48):
you've got to do all those things. And then on
top of that, does you have to be multiple? So
then you have to say, Okay, we've done that, and
we did it for two drives. Now scrap all that,
and let's give him something totally different than what we
just showed him in the last two drives. And let's
continuously change and make sure that we're showing him different coverages,
(33:14):
we're doing in a different way throughout this whole thing.
And and now in doing that, we have to make
sure that we don't make mistakes, and we're forcing him
into mistakes because oftentimes what happens when you're that multiple,
your back end, your linebackers, they're the ones that screw up,
(33:34):
and he recognizes it and he takes advantage of it.
And and that's why it's so incredibly difficult, Um, and
to beat them. You know, the theories are all great, right,
It's like Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan until
they get punched in the face. Um, and that's playing
Tom Brady and and the Patriots. You know, he said
it a couple of years ago. He's like, why would
I not want to play them forty five? You know,
(33:55):
I got all the answers to the test right now.
So that's that's how they are. That's how they operate.
And their coaches do a phenomenal job of game planning
and putting guys in positions um to be effective, and
and and they just they're just better than everybody else
at this point. How big an issue is the hand?
He didn't practice today? You hurt the hand yesterday. It's
(34:17):
not supposed to be broken. I mean my guests would
be hitted on somebody's helmet throwing a football, right, I
mean that that hurts. Right, they say jammed his thumb,
and you know it's like it's it's Is it a
big deal? Is a big deal not to practice? Yeah?
You know, I think timing and everything else that it
does tend to make it a big deal. Um, I
(34:38):
think that. You know I always called those injuries Doug, like,
you got a button, and what do you like to
do with a button? You know, you walk by a button.
What do you see a button on the counter? What
do you wanna do? You want to push that damn thing? Right?
And when you're hurt. We always used to joke around said, oh,
somebody's got a button, because it's amazing. You don't ever
notice your hands, like your your hands take a beating,
(35:00):
but you don't notice him until you've got like a
fractured finger or something. And then every time, I mean
every no matter what, it's gonna get hit, it's gonna
get and and then all of a sudden you start
to realize, damn, I didn't realize I used my hands
this much. Man, this this thing is killing me. And
so when you have that quote unquote button, man, that
thing is gonna get touched multiple times. Not only is
(35:21):
it gonna get touched, but if I know you have
an injury, um, you know what, I'm gonna test him. Well,
I'm gonna try to hit you. I'm gonna try to
hit that that particular spot. So that's just that's part
and parcel of this game. And um, and i'd be surprised,
you know, people run by him. Maybe you don't get
a hit on him, but maybe you take a swat
at that hand like you're trying to uh deflect the
(35:43):
past and see if you can't hit that thumb. So
you know that's just the NFL, the way, the way
the whole game operates. Yeah, sweep the leg like, yeah,
assuming assuming he's healthy. Um, how how shock would you
be if Blake Bortles led the Jaguars to win. I
(36:06):
would be completely shocked. Um. And that's exactly you know,
that's exactly what it's gonna take. They have a theory,
there are a system or a philosophy, which is we're
gonna make you play lest handed, We're gonna take away
what you do well. And you think about it. Um,
you know, look at the difference between the Bills game
and between the Steelers game. In the Steelers game, um
(36:29):
like twenty carries somewhere around there for um four net
and you know, over a hundred yards, and it opened
up the play action and Blake Borders was able to
make a few really good throws, had one deep throw,
but you know, we only had two or fourteen yards
passing fifty three uh completion percentage. But those things were
(36:51):
open for them, and they got some chunk plays in
the passing game. In the Bills game. You know, he
didn't have any yards per se had twenty one carries.
I think he only average about two and a half
yards to carry, and that play action wasn't open and um,
and he had abysmal game and he's still completed only
I mean it was only you know, a percentage or
too higher. But but I think that's exactly where this
(37:14):
game plan goes. Um, and they did it does They
did it to Tennessee. If you watched Tennessee, they said
that basically, we're gonna we're gonna walk up, We're gonna
mug up our linebackers and and you know, we're gonna
drop one out, but we creates five one on ones.
We're gonna give up any any kind of exciting pass
rush moves. We're gonna press the pocket, We're gonna bull
(37:35):
rush you guys. We're muggos. Linebackers up, one's gonna drop,
one's gonna sit and spy uh Marcus Mariota, and we're
not gonna let you beat us on third down, run
on the football and creating plays. And they end up
getting eight sacks. They kept Marcus Mariota at bay and um,
the next thing you know, it's they give up a
courtesy touchdown on the end, they beat you thirty four team.
(37:56):
I mean, that's that's what New England does to you. Um, okay,
let's let's go to uh let's go to Minnesota Philadelphia
game kind of quickly, two backup quarterbacks, a ton of
emotional energy expense by the Vikings, two very good defenses.
Who do you like and why you know? I'm gonna
go with Minnesota. I just think their defense is such
(38:19):
an elite defense at all three levels. And um, you know,
nobody runs the ball. It's not so much yards per carry,
but it's attempts. Nobody runs it better than Minnesota when
it comes to attempts. And I just look at that.
You make enough plays in the passing game, your receivers
are gonna bail out case Keen. And when he makes
a bad throw, he's great with the layer throws and um,
(38:43):
you know in some of the double moves with his receivers.
I just think there are more talented football team top
to bottom, and I think Case Keenum has just been better, um,
you know than Nick Foles and so, um, we'll see
exactly how it plays out. I will give a I'll
give it tip of the cap to Doug Peterson because
Nick Foles was really bad the first couple of drives
(39:05):
against Atlanta and they went to a run pass option
kind of scenario where he had a one receiver route off,
you know, a fake run, and Nick Foles actually played
really well completed at the end of the game his passes.
So um, I'll tip my hat to Doug Peterson for
putting that that whole thing together. But I think Minnesota
is a little bit better football team. That's three time
(39:28):
Super Bowl champion in Fox, NFL analyst Mark Slaret stink
great stuff. Thanks so much for joining us anytime, Doug.
Take carey, buddy,
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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