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January 21, 2026 12 mins

Mike Florio of PFT joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about the Seahawks in the NFC Championship and his pick for the game against the Rams, the ending of the Bills Broncos game, coaching changes across the league, and interest in Curt Cignetti.

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for a weekly conversation with Pro Football Talks
Mike Florio, brought to you by Simply Seattle. Tired of
buying and repping the same old Seattle sports gear everyone
else has. For the best Storm, Seahawks, Mariners, Kraken, Rainiers, Sounders,
and not to mention, the largest Sonics collection in the world,
check out simply Seattle dot com Now with Mike Florio,

(00:21):
Here's SOFTI and dickt Buttholds.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
All right, boys and girls, here we go. Mike Florio
with us every Wednesday, courtesy of our friends at simply
Seattle dot com. Getting ready for the game on Sunday.
Needs some Seahawk gear? Use Coke KJR fifteen always for
fifteen percent off everything at simply Seattle dot com. He
is a genuine butthole here he is the king of
all NFL media baby, the heavyweight champion of the NFL

(00:45):
Press Corps, Pro Football Talk dot Com, PFT Live, NFL
and NBC. Our friend, Mike Florio, how are you man?

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Hello? Butttholest Butthols that license on the victory by the
Seahawks resounding forty one to six win, never in doubt, incredible, YEP.
The soccer hook slide on the opening kick return, extra
excitement and entertainment. Well done.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, thank you because the role that Dick and I
played was one that most people don't recognize, and we
appreciate you recognizing that.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Here are congratulations to the folks who are listening, because
it's a happy Tony Hawks are back, Baby, Ye're back.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, before we talk about the game Sunday with the Rams,
get your thoughts on the AFC game, all that stuff,
let's talk about the Sean McDermott firing, the press conference
that accompanied that with the owner and the general manager,
which is being panned by everybody. What do you make
of the overall situation in Buffalo?

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Man, Yeah, I didn't think they could make the situation
more awkward than it was on Monday, when out of
the blue came the statement from Bill's owner Terry Pegula
that Sean McDermott had done an admiral job in his
nine seasons as coach. I mean, you have a typo
five words in the most important press release when you

(02:00):
send out maybe two a year. So that was the
sign that this was going to be a rough week.
And the press conference today was all over the place.
It was way too long. You always hear pr people
cut it off after a certain period of time. Two more,
I mean, you say two more. They asked two more,
and then it's over. They get up and leave. They
just kept going and going and going. It felt like
they were so desperate to get people to see it

(02:22):
their way. They were willing to sit there as long
as it took until people would agree with them. And
I credit the folks who cover the bills. A lot
of times you'll see a press conference where there's a
lot of softballs, there's excessive concern with access and having
a good relationship with the team. Those folks asked the
right questions. They served as the liaisons of the fans

(02:44):
who have forked over thousands of dollars each for PSLs
for this new stadium, and they demanded answers, and they
wanted to understand why Sean McDermott took the fall and
not Brandon Bean and how you tread that needle if
you even can, And they tried. I don't think they succeeded,
but they tried.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
I don't think it was a very good look by
Sean McDermott to whine about the officiating to the media
after the game. But was it the right call or
the wrong call? Because we've seen similar calls go the
opposite direction.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
I seem to recall twenty years ago a certain on
the brink of the Hall of Fame head coach doing
some very loud complaining about officiating in Super Bowl forty.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but coaches in those moments when they
feel like their team has gotten screwed, and these games
come down often to just a play here, a play there.

(03:34):
A bad call for you, is a good call for
the other team. Bounce of the oblong football August of wins.
And I think that McDermott's point now, the fact that
he talks so much about it, he addressed in this
press conference. Then he called one of the reporters that
cover the Bills from the team playing with more. The
ultimate complaint was why did we have to rush this?

(03:56):
Why did we not slow it down? And I think
the rules is written they got that call right that
it wasn't a catch, it was an interception because Brandon
Cook didn't survive the ground as they say, he went down,
hit the ground, ball came out, got intercepted. But here's
the problem with the NFL rule in that regard. Back
on December seven, Steelers Ravens, there was a ball tip

(04:17):
to the line of scrimmage. Aaron Rodgers caught it as
he was going to the ground, hit the ground, ball
came out, it was intercepted by the Ravens. On replay review,
they ever turned into a catch, and the VP of
Instant Replay Mark Butterworth did a pool report after the
game and explained it in a way that if you
apply it to Brandon Cooks, that to catch, you got
your two feet down, you're going to the ground, your

(04:38):
knee hits, you're down by contact plays over. So I
think all those fans should demand some sort of explanation
as to which standard is the standard and did they
apply the right standard to Brandon Cooks. And I think
Sean McDermott also since then. You know, anybody's ever been
in a situation where something bad is gonna happen, whether
you're gonna get fired from your job, whether you're gonna
get your ass kicked out of school, whether you're gonna

(04:59):
drestkick out of the house, we're getting broken out, you know,
we're breaking up whatever. Maybe you sense it's coming. I
think McDermott. One of the reasons why he said what
he said and spoke about it at length. I think
he knew that that play wasn't just keeping the Bills
from THEFC Championship. That play was ending his employment with
the team.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Mike Florida's with us. Mike, hope you got a pen nearby.
I got a three part question here, prob but I
know you can handle it. Number one, do you think
the Bills will reach out to Mike Tomlin about their vacancy?
Number two? Is there a fit for McDermott of these
six available jobs now that he's on the market. Number three,
do you think Kubiak Clint Kubiak will get one of

(05:39):
these open jobs?

Speaker 3 (05:41):
Well? As to Mike Tomlin, he's definitely not coaching in
twenty twenty six. I chased that town and confirmed it
over and over again this past weekend. Maybe next year,
but some would say there's no guarantee he's coming back
anytime soon. Jay Glazer, who knows Tomlin really well, has
said that that you know, it may not be just
a year, so we'll see, but he's not going to

(06:01):
be coaching the Buffalo Bills barring a dramatic change of
heart McDermott I think should be in play for some
of these other jobs. I think both the Dolphins and
the Titans should have pressed pause before they made their
hires after Sean McDermott became available with gods to playoffs
seven street seasons. And you can say, well because he
had Josh Allen. Well, maybe there were some other reasons
for it as well. The question becomes if you want
to rebound and take a job of a bad team

(06:23):
like the Cardinals, the Browns or the Raiders. Are you
ready to do that? Or you want to take a
year off and gather yourself and pick a good spot
for twenty twenty seven. Because he gets two years a
buyout from the Bills, he doesn't have to work this year.
He can take a year and really plan his next move.
And as the Kubiak, right now, the trend is to
hire coaches who have head coaching experience. The four jobs

(06:44):
that have been builled so far this year all guys
who have been head coaches, either at the NFL or
college level, and I think that there may not be
many who have never been head coaches before because teams
recognize your rolling the dice on guys who have never
been head coaches before. It's a different skill set to
run the whole team, to speak to the offense and
the defense, to be the CEO of the organization. It's

(07:05):
not just x's and o's. So it remains TBD. And
I think from Kubak standpoint, he may have to ask himself,
do I want to take one of the bad jobs
or do I want to wait another year and make
my star rise a little bit higher in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 4 (07:20):
What's the interest level amongst gms and owners in Kurt Signetti, Well,
I ran.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
This up the flag pole a few weeks ago. Give
Hif there's a fifteen million dollar buyout and he's in
position to make like thirteen or fourteen million a year
now in Indiana, when he redes his contract, there's an
automatic trigger that puts him back to the table and
is going to put him among the highest state coaches.
Or he can avoid the contract without a buyout. You
have to be ready to make a commitment and you

(07:48):
better be convicted. And he's sixty four, And some people
say it louder than they should, but there are decision
makers who regard it as a young man's game. Now.
I'm very sensitive to the Age Discrimination and Employment Act,
especially since I'm sixty now, but I've always been aware
of it. If you're over the age of forty, can't
be discriminate eight against based on age. But the reality

(08:10):
is SIG ninety sixty four. And how much time are
we really going to get if we make this investment.
How long is he going to coach? And he's never
coached at the NFL level, and he said last week,
I'm not an NFL guy. If he aspired to be
an NFL head coach, he would have spent at least
one year at some point in his career as an
assistant with an NFL team, just to see what it's like,
to see if it's something he would want to do.
So I don't think he's leaving, but I think it'd

(08:32):
be malpractice not to at least make a phone call.
Given what he did in Indiana. It's one of the
great times I've ever seen, no doubt.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Well, Mike Florio's with us, and Mike, if I ask
you who's going to win this week, and you might
say I have made my predictions, yet that comes later.
Come on, give us a break. Throw us a bone.
We pay you a zillion dollars to do this show
every week. We need to know we're in the game.
We're in the game. We should get special considerations because
we're playing in the game. On Sunday, who wins this weekend?

Speaker 3 (08:58):
I checked my most recent and check that I received.
I did not see zillions. Oh maybe there was an error. Said,
you know the decimal point. Why I can go back
and change the decimal point if you'd like me to,
And then I'll tell you who I think is gonna win. Look,
I'll make my final decision tomorrow morning, and I haven't
really thought it through yet. And I'm not just pandering
here because well, clearly, I think the Rams are gonna win.

(09:22):
I think the Rams are gonna win, and I think
the Broncos could win. I think this plays out perfectly
for the Denver Broncos to have Jared Stidham playing and
everyone picking against them five and a half point underdogs.
Sean Payton can use that to poking product guys and
get them pissed off and feel disrespected. I mean, it's

(09:42):
not like bone, Nick's Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.
He's bon Nicks. He's unproven, largely speaking, grand scheme of things.
This isn't like plucking out Drew Brees and popping in
Luke McCown for crying out loud. So I don't know
there's a huge drop off. Stident has been in that
offense a year longer than bon Nick, So I think
the Bronco could win. Patriots are oher and four all
time in Denver in the postseed and including oh and

(10:04):
three and the Brady Belichick era with all those great
teams they had oh and three. So I'm leaning Broncos rams,
but I'll make my final decision in the morning. Why
are you not I put have lied and said Seahawks, yeah,
just to kiss, but a kiss. But you want me
to know what I think? Five hundred and any one
yards offense. When they played last time and up sixteen

(10:26):
points and they stepped in a pothole. They won't step
in a pottle this time if they can build another
lead like the one they.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Are I appreciate the answer absolutely.

Speaker 3 (10:33):
I'm glad.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
Why are you not concerned with the fatigue factor? Three
straight road games, a couple of them on way out east,
and they've defended one hundred and forty five defensive plays
in the last two weeks to the Seahawks sixty.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
I don't know. I'm not saying I'm not concerned. I
just when when your legacy is on the line, when
a Super Bowl both is on, he's a professional athlete,
Like they're going to be tired because they played an
extra game. I don't think that's how it works. They're
going to show up and they're gonna be ready to
go and made the best team win. I'd like to
see Seattle win. I've got two nephews who are huge

(11:06):
Seahawks fans, so and actually I wouldn't like them to
win because then they're gonna they're gonna be hitting Uncle
Mike up for tickets to the Super Bowl. So maybe
it's better for me if the Rams win. But I
just think that the Rams are overall, over the course
of the full season, the slightly better team. Yeah, and
Matthew Stafford, Sam Donald. I mean, Donald's had a great year,

(11:27):
but Stafford's had a spectacular year, and they appreciate the moment.
They know how to go out and make the big
plays and look they to pull that win out in
Chicago when it felt like all the momentum was pointing
against the Rams. There was a shot of Stafford after
the Rams went three and out to start overtime where
I wish the camera would have lingered on him because
look on his face was called, crap, this is over.

(11:47):
We're just done, and it's amazing they won that game.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Well, not only will your nephews be hitting you up
for tickets if the Seahawks win, but so will me
and Dick by the way too. So can you connect
the can you help us out if they man?

Speaker 3 (11:58):
My nephews already get my tickets? Gotcha?

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Well, if you hear of anybody else, letting your guys
in Seattle know all right, Mike, great stuff, man, we'll
talk in a week. See you bout Mike Florio with
us on the radio show. Man, he's picking the Rams,
He's picking the Ram Who the hell does he think?
He is going on to Seattle radio saying something like that, Well,
does he have a point? Is he right? Come back

(12:21):
and talk about next on ninety three three kJ RFM.
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