Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:15] Speaker B: You are listening to the NFL student section podcast. My name is Alex Brown alongside Evan Cisneros, Tenor Thompson, and Connor Rouse. And wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we appreciate you finding us today at Fellas. It's been a while. It has been a while since we've been back together talking football. How are you guys doing?
[00:00:34] Speaker C: Fantastic. Thanksgiving break. Wow. That's probably the last time we met, right?
[00:00:38] Speaker B: It was after week 10.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: Yes. After Christmas break, I believe, but close enough.
[00:00:42] Speaker C: Okay. Anyways, right before Christmas break, I had a long Christmas. I mean, bad football that I watched, but overall, good. Good experience. I got to see a lot of good family.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I had a. Traveled a lot over. Christmas is a good time. I'm very happy to be back. I actually got to witness some pretty good football for my football team, which is pretty cool. I have a stat that I'll bring up here in just a second after we all introduce ourselves.
[00:01:05] Speaker D: But, yeah, I'm doing great, you know, my Eagles.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: Great, huh?
[00:01:10] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:01:11] Speaker C: No other word.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Not swell?
[00:01:12] Speaker D: Well, I mean, I wouldn't say swell.
[00:01:14] Speaker A: But Is it a new arrow for you? No more swell?
[00:01:16] Speaker D: It might be, you know, the new semester.
[00:01:17] Speaker C: It's kind of graduating.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: He's graduating New Year, new Year, new me. There you go.
[00:01:22] Speaker D: But, you know, it's been a great break. You know, had a good time spending time with the family and also watching my team win. So it's very great.
[00:01:31] Speaker B: More than I.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Did your team win, Alex?
[00:01:33] Speaker B: They did not win over break. They have. They haven't won since November.
[00:01:39] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:01:39] Speaker B: No, no, it was the first. It was. We played the Bengals. It was the last time we won. I think it was the first weekend in December. We have not won since.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: I mean, can you even say, especially referencing that Ravens game, can you even say, like, just lost, or is there a different word that she would use? I know you'll. You'll have a lot of information that we want to get to later.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: How about Alex? Just embarrassed.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Embarrassed.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: It was embarrassing.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: That was a good one.
[00:02:00] Speaker D: Your. Your Last win was December 8th against the Cleveland Browns.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: Cleveland Browns. At least we beat Cleveland once. I believe we lost to them at that point. But to put in perspective, when we last talked, I think it was November 18th, I believe, was our last episode that we recorded before we went on the Thanksgiving break. And we've had five coaches fired since then across the NFL, one hired in the NFL as looking at Mike Vrabel in New England. And a lot. A lot has changed.
[00:02:29] Speaker D: The Steelers were also 8 and 2.
[00:02:31] Speaker B: Then the Steelers were 8 and 2. I thought they were going to. I had them as my two seed.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: If you look back at the predictions, every single one of us picked up the Steelers to win the AFC North.
[00:02:39] Speaker D: And I do remember, I think it was after one of the Steelers wins where Alex said the best team in Pennsylvania, the Bulls team in Penn.
[00:02:49] Speaker B: I did say that. I did say that.
[00:02:51] Speaker D: So I just wanted to bring that up and I said, no, don't get too hasty now.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: But I don't remember you saying that at the time.
[00:02:56] Speaker D: I did say, no, don't say that.
[00:02:58] Speaker C: Best team in West Pennsylvania. West Pennsylvania.
[00:03:01] Speaker D: I might say.
I'm joking. I'm joking.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: But if we're looking at the afc, our predictions that we made before we left, Tanner and Connor got all the teams that would be in the playoffs in the afc, in the playoffs. So they correctly predicted all the teams. Not necessarily in the right order, obviously with the Steelers winning the AFC north, the Ravens ended up taking that. But they had the Ravens as a wild card team. Evan and I, we had. Evan had the Dolphins making the playoff.
[00:03:31] Speaker C: One game off and I had the.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: Colts making it over the Broncos. And what a terrible end of the season that was. By the.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: You're facing those Colts, man, that stuck all season long.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: I should just let them go. I should just let them go. But I would say this, I thought the Texans did take a step back even in that game against the Chargers last weekend over wildcard weekend. That offense was not great.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: No, it really wasn't.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: We went from Bobby Slovic, their offensive coordinator, being a potential head coaching candidate last year, to maybe, hopefully this guy keeps his job.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: He will. I really hope he keeps his job. But now, I mean, that's. Again, the offense didn't really produce that much. Obviously they have a lot to worry about with poor O line play, injuries to two of their three best receivers. But man, that defense is just suffocating. Exactly. In a stat that I've talked about before. Chaos rate, men. I believe the Texans lead chaos rate in almost every category from secondary to pass rush. And it's just obvious, man. I mean, when you're watching that game, I didn't necessarily walk away thinking like, oh my gosh, the Texans just completely, methodically, geez, dismantled the Chargers. I just thought, man, they just got some crazy things to happen and it's just felt like the Chargers couldn't get a rhythm after that. But and the pass rush especially, you would have thought with the talented edge rushers over at Houston and the talented tackles over at LA that like, oh, that's a pretty good matchup. Maybe LA can hold it down. But those stunts, man, LA just could not stop a stunt all night.
[00:04:58] Speaker D: I think the one key factor, in my opinion, that really stopped Houston Texans from becoming a better team than they actually were were mostly the injuries, in my opinion. I mean, you lose Stefan Diggs, you.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Also wide receiving core, their whole wide.
[00:05:13] Speaker D: Receiving core all dismantled. And I mean in that game you could tell because the first half or first quarter, you would say they couldn't get anything going. I mean, C.J. stroud turned the ball over what, two times?
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:24] Speaker D: And the Charters were only able to score six points off of that. And I feel like once you can, like when I watch a game and there's a team dominating another team on one side of the ball and they get the ball in their own, the opponent's territory multiple times a game in the first quarter or so and you only get six points from it, you know, it's going to be a hard day for the rest of the rest of the game. And that's what happened with the Chargers. I mean, Herbert looked bad.
[00:05:52] Speaker C: Bad.
[00:05:53] Speaker D: And Evan, I know you're going to try to take a victory lap over this, but it's one thing where, you know Herbert has amazing talent. You can't argue that he has an insane arm and stuff like that. But you play two playoff games and the two playoff games you play in, you blow a 27 point lead because you can't convert a first down or a third down in the second half. And then your second playoff game, you already go for one. The second game you turn the ball over four times, including what, a pick six maybe? Was it two or one pick six?
[00:06:23] Speaker A: One pick six. But it was a very close pick six, I think.
[00:06:26] Speaker D: And so, I mean, you're looking at the playoff resume for Justin Herbert and I understand, I mean, you had lad McConkey and that's it.
[00:06:33] Speaker C: As your one touchdown was a lad McConkey play through and through.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yeah, it was an elite, I would say it was a pretty elite throw. Also a phenomenal play from lad McConkey.
[00:06:43] Speaker D: It was an elite throw, yes. But it was also like he ran the balls 60 yards just off that pitch alone. So I feel like, yes, it was a great throw, but that whole play was lad McConkey making a play and taking it to the house. So I think the Chargers main focus is just trying to get skill position, skill positions to help Herbert out. But until then, I don't think Herbert will have any playoff success.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:06] Speaker C: I am so over the if man.
Just narrative. They always say his defense, his receiving core, he's got. Okay, he doesn't have the Dolphins level receivers, he doesn't have Texans level receivers.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: But he's got far from both of those. Far from both.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: But he's got one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. He's got a good defense. One of his biggest fallbacks in years prior was, oh, he can't play both sides of the ball. He's not going to score as much as the defense. Look how much the defense always scores because he's given the ball. The other team gets the ball because he goes three and out. A lot of times he has bad. Like, he's got a great arm talent, but he's got so many bad throws. And in these two playoff games, he's got eight combined takeaways from his defense and seven turnovers from himself. Seven picks.
[00:08:00] Speaker D: From what I hear, that's a plus one turnover differential.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Yeah, man.
[00:08:03] Speaker D: I would take that in the positive.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: That's.
Yeah, if you have that. If you have a plus one, you should be winning. Now you have that plus eight.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Now the dog you just spoke about, the wide receiver course, the Dolphins wide receiver core. Is it going to look different next year?
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Get Tyreek out of here.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: You're done with him.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: I'm done with him.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: Because he said he wants out, basically, right? Yeah, clearly.
[00:08:26] Speaker A: I think he said he wants out.
[00:08:27] Speaker D: He did say that, but then they had a meeting. Yeah, he had a meeting with his agent and then also with the team and he said he was committed to the Dolphins, so I've heard that before.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Drew Rosenhaus, agent, shout out.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Drew Rosenhau.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: He had Antonio Brown.
[00:08:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Client, too. Oh, my gosh, the headaches I'm sure he gave him when he went to the Raiders practice and he froze his foot off.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:08:46] Speaker B: When he's in the cryo cryogenic chamber. Yeah. Antonio Brown. What a head case that Antonio Brown.
[00:08:52] Speaker C: Post Raiders had two good games his entire career. I would say three, including the Super Bowl. Super bowl was really good.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, I forgot.
[00:09:00] Speaker C: But his first game with the Patriots cooked the Dolphins. I want to say like 30 fantasy points if I'm just off the top of my head. And then he played with the Bucks the year after and just completely decimated us. He must have had our number or something. And even in that playoff game, the.
[00:09:15] Speaker D: Really hard to not have the Dolphins number.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: Well, okay, I'll take that.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: Flores was there. That was a Good defense.
[00:09:23] Speaker D: That was a really good.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: That was a great defense.
[00:09:24] Speaker C: That was during the Flores years, too.
[00:09:26] Speaker A: Then anything else wasn't good, man, our.
[00:09:28] Speaker C: Safeties were really good. We had such. We had Byron Jones. I don't want to get too sentimental, but anyways, back to the playoffs this year.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:09:36] Speaker C: Whenever the Texans got that lead and their defense was obviously wreaking havoc, once they had that comfortable lead and just could run it out. What a game by Joe Mixon to run. I want to say seven. I don't know if this was the Ravens games or the Texan game. I. I think they ran 17 times in a row and they just kept on pushing it and there was nothing the defense could do about it.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: Five to seven yards every play, especially towards the end of the game. Right. And especially when a team has to get a stop on the ground. You know, that's your best chance to play good run defense. And you just kept thrashing.
[00:10:08] Speaker D: I know you were speaking about the Texans, but we also saw that in the Raven Steelers game, right?
[00:10:12] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:10:12] Speaker D: The Ravens ran. They had 13 plays on one drive, all running. And Derrick Henry ran 13 of those 13 plays and scored a touchdown.
[00:10:21] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Roll Tide, man.
[00:10:22] Speaker D: Roll Tide.
[00:10:24] Speaker B: I mean, you want to talk about being demoralized as a defense.
I'm not going to talk about myself. Demoralized as a defense.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: You had somebody run it down your throat every single play for a whole drive and you couldn't stop them.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:40] Speaker B: They could not stop Derrick Henry. I mean, he's one guy and we stopped him earlier this year. We did beat the Ravens, as hard as that is to believe after watching that game. We did beat the Ravens.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: And obviously Justin Tucker in that game, he missed two field. That would have changed things, but we beat them. And to lose in that fashion in the playoffs, losing your last five and the season, it was. It was a sight that I never want to see again. As a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[00:11:08] Speaker D: I don't want to toot my own horn, but I remember after that Steelers win against the Ravens, I said, hey, you can't win against good teams consistently if you can't score a touchdown, only kick five field goals. It's true. And I mean, we saw how it played out, so.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: But this is an institutional problem.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: I was just going to say a couple words.
[00:11:28] Speaker A: Did it take as long as you.
[00:11:29] Speaker C: Want, Alex, But a little eulogy on the Tomlin era.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: Thank you for Mike Tomlin. He's. Evan Teed me up there. Well, Mike Tomlin has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers for 18 years.
He has won a Super Bowl. Made it to another super bowl, lost that one to the Packers. Since the Super Bowl, 45 against the Packers. He has won three playoff games.
[00:11:53] Speaker C: How many years has that been?
[00:11:55] Speaker B: It's been like third. It's been 14 years.
[00:11:57] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:11:58] Speaker B: 13 years. Pardon me. 13 years. I mean, that's. That is incredible.
[00:12:02] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Who. What coach keeps his job after not winning a playoff game since the 2016, 2017 season?
[00:12:10] Speaker D: Garrett.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: I know.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: Coach of the year. Clap it up.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: But this is not the Cowboys. No, this is the Pittsburgh Steelers, a franchise that we would talk about a decade ago as the preeminent franchise in the NFL. By far and away the most Super Bowls close to the Cowboys and 49ers. But the Patriots in the last decade superseded, of course, the Steelers. And now the Steelers are a 20th overall pick team consistently.
[00:12:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:38] Speaker B: Mike Tomlin has systematically changed the Pittsburgh Steelers from the standard being championships to the standard being average.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: He is a little above average, technically.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: A little.
[00:12:51] Speaker C: We make the give a 9 and 8. 9 and 8 every year. I'll take it.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: I'm done with 9 and 8. I'm done with 9 and eight. I'm done with 10 and seven. I. I'm tired of hearing that. He's never had a losing season. I don't care. Have a winning. You know what a winning season is to me?
[00:13:04] Speaker C: Super Bowl.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Super Bowl. A winning season to me is championships. Make it to the AFC championship every once in a while and he's the last six playoff games the Steelers had, they've lost. And they've had a point in that game where they're down by 20 points.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Oh, my God.
[00:13:19] Speaker B: So he's a defensive coach. He's a defensive coach. He doesn't spend anything on the offense. And the offensive coordinator. We have the lowest. One of the lowest paid offenses in the league. Lowest paid. Two years ago, our highest paid player was Chris Boswell, our kicker, and he's. It's insane.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Unbelievable.
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Your highest paid player two years ago? Two years ago.
[00:13:40] Speaker C: Just on the scoring side or like.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: On the offensive side. He was our highest paid player two years ago. That's absurd. It's insane what our front office has done to hamstring our offense. And at this point, I'm.
He's been a great coach. It seems like he's a great guy. Yeah, from all accounts, he's. He seems like he's a great guy. He should be removed as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[00:14:03] Speaker D: And I know that sounds crazy, but I also. I kind of agree with it.
[00:14:07] Speaker B: You empathize with me.
[00:14:08] Speaker D: It. It's ran its course. You look at, you know, certain coaching positions like, you know, Andy Reid with the Eagles. He was the coach for the Eagles for a long period of time. You know, he brought us to super bowl, he brought us to multiple playoff wins. He had us in probably one of the most influential periods of the 2000s, just with, you know, Michael Vick, Deshaun Jackson, oh yeah, Lashawn McCoy, all that kind of stuff. But there just got to a point near the end of it where it was we can't keep doing the same thing over and over again. And we need to either be bad enough to get a good draft pick and restart our franchise or just win some playoff games that he just wasn't able to do in the past few seasons as the Eagles coach. So you just had to let him go. And I mean you look at him now and he's multi time super bowl champion, the Kansas City Chiefs. But there just comes to a point where you need a different voice in the locker room and you need a different. Just pass.
[00:14:58] Speaker C: And I can empathize on that restoring the culture part because man, as a Dolphins fan, we haven't. I've been alive 19 years, I've never seen a playoff win. We've been to the playoffs. The first time I watched my team go to the playoffs was 2016. Obviously they went in 2008, but I mean they won.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: Dolphins have won a playoff game since 2000.
[00:15:16] Speaker C: 2000.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Oh my.
[00:15:18] Speaker C: I was born in 2005. This is ridiculous.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: You're born in 2000.
Wow.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: But I can attest to a winning team, a winning culture. The Hurricanes have been one of the like preeminent franchises in college football. It was so frustrating year to year, going eight and I mean eight and four, nine, three, whatever. And you're supposed to be the head of at some point get something that can just.
Yeah, you don't want to be above average. You don't want to be just riding the wave. You want to be the wave, especially.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: As a blue blood of college would be the wave. That's tough.
[00:15:56] Speaker C: I like that be the Hurricane even.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: I think to the Steelers a little bit. I. One of the things that I thought was strange about it is the problems with this team weren't necessarily difficult to analyze. You know what I mean? It was somewhat, it was somewhat apparent especially I mean we all know the problems were mainly on the offensive side of the ball. The defense deteriorated a little bit as the season gone on. As I mean Most defenses do. It's a long season, but when the offense can't target the middle of the field, like we've talked about before, and you rely solely on the inside run with a pretty. With somewhat minimal creativity, it feels like when you watch most of these, which is kind of strange because as much as I don't necessarily like Arthur Smith as a coordinator, he creativity wasn't necessarily a problem of his in the run game. But I feel like there's been a huge lack of that this year, and they can't quite figure out who's the best running back day in and day out for the team. And again, you can't rely on shots down the sideline and interior run because that's just. I mean, that was a recipe of the Seahawks not long ago, and that was what kind of led to Pete Carroll leaving and Russell Wilson leaving. It was just. That got old. There was clips of DK Metcalf talking about, oh, I can tell you what we do right now. We run, run, run, deep shot, third, three and out. Let's go back to the sidelines. And that's kind of what happened in Pittsburgh this year.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: It sure is. And they've wasted the TJ White years. TJ Watts never won a playoff game. We wasted AB Ben and Le'Veon Bell. We never really got anything that materialized out of that. We, as far as we made. We made it to the AFC Championship. We lost to the Patriots, and we got blown out in that game. Just embarrassed. Antonio Brown was hurt, though, for it. But we're at a point now at the Pittsburgh Steelers where it is typical to be the 20th overall pick to lose in the playoffs and to be stuck in that mushy middle. I think we're. We're coming to a point now that we need not only a new voice. I think we need.
We need to start fresh. I think we need to trade some of our guys. And I think I would listen to calls for a while. I would listen to. I would definitely want to listen to calls for Minka and Pickens. Pickens. I. I would like to keep them.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Who are the. Who are the guys you. Who are the young guys you want to keep?
[00:18:11] Speaker B: I would like to keep Pickens. I would like. I think our. I think we are. Our offense. We do have some decent guys. Naji Harris.
[00:18:16] Speaker C: I like Warren a lot.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Warren is good. Najee Harris will not play another game for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:18:22] Speaker B: And defensively, we're getting old. Cameron Hayward's old. He had an all pro season wasted that again, it's, it's just about waste. It's about waste. The two biggest questions that people say when I say we should fire Mike Tomlin, they. People ask Steelers fans this all the time. Who would you replace him with and what would you do if there were 20 other teams that would want him immediately? First of all, I don't care about 20 other teams wanting him immediately. I don't want him right now.
If they want him, go take him. Yeah. And who would I replace him with? I'd replace him with somebody that is going to keep the players accountable. He's a players coach. I don't think he necessarily keeps him accountable. He never kept Ab accountable. It doesn't keep George Pickens accountable even when he has an attitude.
I would say we need, I would like a Aaron Glenn type head coach. I think, I think he doesn't mess around. I think he's an excellent leader. Excellent leader. And I think he would not only inspire the group, but I think he could lead a rebuild of sorts for the Pittsburgh Steelers moving forward.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: So would you not want to consider an offensive minded guy for the team knowing where the roster is, where it's.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: At, not based on who's available. And I think that's the only one of the reasons that we, we're not going to move on from Tomlin this offseason because I don't think it's a tremendous list of coaches that are available.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Unless you could get your hands on Ben Johnson.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: But that's Ben Johnson. You know, I would love this. He wouldn't. I don't think he would. He has no reason to leave where he's at. But I would love Marcus Freeman as Pittsburgh Steelers. He has no reason to leave South Bend, but he would be fantastic.
[00:19:52] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: And so. But Mike Tomlin will be back. He'll be back. It'll be the same thing next year. We'll probably overachieve in the regular season. Maybe we'll get 11 wins, maybe 12. I'm not sure who our quarterback's going to be. Russell Wilson will not be back and we'll see what happens. We'll lose in the playoffs again, will be the 20th overall pick and we'll be sitting here next year talking about how the Steelers lost in the first round. But that's, that's, that's the Steelers talk right there. But we'll be right back after this break and we're going to talk a little bit about the NFC and we'll talk about Connors Eagles as we look towards the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
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And we are back with the wild card round wrapping up last weekend in the NFL. We have been making picks ever since our last podcast and now that we're in the playoffs now those picks mean a little bit more as we're we're increasing the value of each of your successful picks as we enter this postseason. And right now Connor has the lead 62 as he's had all year basically.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: Yes, I think literally the entire year.
[00:21:41] Speaker C: And he's the scorekeeper. Something might be a little fishy but.
[00:21:44] Speaker D: As the person who is in last.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: By multiple weeks, we can't confirm or deny either side. That's all I'll say.
[00:21:51] Speaker C: We can confirm that I've win one in five.
[00:21:54] Speaker D: So first place is me with 62, second place is Alex with 54, third place is Tanner with 52 and last place is Evan with 50 and Evan has made some strides of catching back up to the to the pack.
[00:22:09] Speaker C: So if you've heard some disturbance in the room it is all three of my co hosts shivering in their boots. They know I'm catching up.
[00:22:15] Speaker D: I am 12 points ahead of you.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: I'm terrified.
[00:22:19] Speaker D: And so with this week we're doing each you know, pick that is correct. It's triple the points. So it's going to be a fun week.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: It sure will be.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: I'm very excited. It's I think I kind of like all of these matchups that I see. Maybe except Texans Chiefs. But I mean we know the Texans are capable of getting a little weird for the sake of a playoff game.
[00:22:39] Speaker D: The thing that that is super interesting is three of these four matchups are all rematches from something that happens that has happened in the regular season.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Makes sense.
[00:22:48] Speaker D: The only game that has that did not happen there in the regular season was a Washington and Lions game.
[00:22:53] Speaker A: So gotcha.
[00:22:54] Speaker D: Those will be opponents meeting for the first time. But other than that each team has film on each other which.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: Oh yeah.
[00:22:59] Speaker D: Which it's going to be interesting this way it plays out now.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: How do you feel about your Eagles this week?
[00:23:04] Speaker D: I am extremely confident in my Eagles. Looking back at it when we first met in LA in a dome, I will say it was a one score game for basically the entire first half and then you know, first play from scrimmage in the second half it's a Saquon Barkley 75 yard touchdown. And since then it just kept going. And I would like to say with, with that game, I think the Rams were missing. Haven't Stein one of the offensive linemen for the Rams? And yeah, that might be a key, you know, piece missing because the Rams offensive line got absolutely manhandled by our defense. But the Eagles were also without Dallas Goddard. They were also without Devontae Smith and they were also out. I think it was a lineman. I might be mistaken but I want to look back at it. But there were injuries on both sides and you could say the more influential injuries or people that were missing were on the Eagle side. And so looking back at it, you can, you know, take that kind of things. You could say the Rams are hot. They've won 10 of their last 12 games. Guess what? The Eagles have won 12 of the last 13. So it doesn't matter about these kind of things. And I just think you're going into the Eagles atmosphere at home where it's going to be snow. And I mean I don't know if y'all know what the stats with Matthew Stafford is in a snow game. He has played in nine snow games. He is 1 in 8 in those games with 11 interceptions in a 53 completion percentage with a 76 QBR.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: That is rough.
[00:24:34] Speaker D: And if you're going to say he's going to do that against the top defense in the NFL, it's going to be difficult. And you, you know, look back at other things. The Rams, they have a really good young offensive line. You can say the Eagles have the best mean the Rams have a really good young defensive line.
[00:24:50] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:24:51] Speaker D: The Eagles have arguably the best offensive line. I mean each guy on there is. I would still 6 foot 5 and 330 plus pounds.
[00:24:59] Speaker A: I would take the Lions still probably as a unit offensive line wise. I think they've proved that pretty consistently. Don't wrong. I think combination of offensive line and running back slash quarterback I would argue is the best having you know, 2,000 yard rusher Saquon Barkley back there and he is capable of. They're both capable of making each other look better. I sorry, this is kind of a long line. I know you just to poke one hole in your point but I think personally I would still take the Lions.
[00:25:29] Speaker D: I think it's. I think they're really close together. Yeah but I just think they don't have any beef up front. I mean we saw it the last time Saquon Barkley ran for 255 yards. I think that possibly could happen again. And I don't think Jalen Hurts is going to have as big of a.
I mean. Okay, let me rephrase this. Looking back at last week, you could say Jalen Hurts looked very rusty. I mean, he's coming back for the first time in two or three weeks, you know, from a concussion. But if you look at the game plan, the game plan wasn't meant really for him to succeed on every third down. It was a run play. No matter if it was 3rd and 3 or 3rd and 13, they were all run plays to Saquon Barkley. So looking back at it, I think the game plan will be different. I mean, AJ Brown has dominated the Rams. Or was it a Meek Witherspoon? Is it.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: I don't think it's a Meek with. No, it's something close though.
[00:26:18] Speaker D: I know you're right though. The Rams top cornerback has been dominated consistently when it was either with the Steelers.
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:24] Speaker D: Or with the Rams. It's. It's been a lopsided game with AJ Brown on their corner. So I think people. Akello, thank you. I think it's going to be a really good game in the first half. I just think it's going to be the same kind of thing where second half, you'll see it kind of just open up.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean that's kind of. That's kind of been the identity of the Eagles all year is just that. I mean, with a strong run game, part of that is going to be that you tire that team out and things are going to open up as the second half goes. But.
[00:26:54] Speaker B: So I take it you're picking the Eagles?
[00:26:56] Speaker D: I am.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: I think he's pretty confident and I.
[00:26:57] Speaker D: Will say I think the physicality is going to be a huge part because looking back at the packers, nothing was dirty, nothing was anything like that. But you see everybody drop down. I don't think anybody can handle the Eagles physicality on the NFC side other than the Lions. And I just think being in the cold 30 degree weather, 20 degree weather with the snow and just getting hit as hard as they do can consistently like that happened. I think it's going to be a huge factor.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm. I've questioned the Eagles a lot this year. I'm finally not going to do it. I'm going to take the Eagles.
[00:27:28] Speaker C: I think the Rams are a good team that will lose to good teams and the Philadelphia Eagles are a better team than the Rams. So I take them pretty decisively.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: I like the Eagles too, and I like the under for the first half, 22 and a half. I think it's going to go under that, especially with the weather.
[00:27:41] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: Let's look at the other NFC game for a moment here. I want to hear your picks on this one. This is an interesting matchup. You have a lot of pressure on Jared Goff and the Lions after having a great season. Then you have this upstart rising offensive rookie of the year in Jalen Daniels. And what do you got in this one?
[00:27:59] Speaker D: I'm going to go in a Lions, I'm going to say shootout because looking back at the Lions and how they've handled scrambling quarterbacks, they consistently struggle against that. And I know they got Alex Anzalone back, but I think Jayden Daniels is going to have a good day. Not a great day. I think he'll throw an interception or two because I mean, a rookie going in, I think he's going to get blitzed a lot. Yeah, but the Lions have struggled and I think they're going to come in with a game plan, but I don't think they'll be able to efficiently stop the ground game with the two running back sets and then also have Jaden Daniels who can run the ball.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: Yeah, I like what you said, Alex, about it. I mean, one team has a lot to lose. One team has almost nothing to lose. They weren't supposed to be this good this year. They've got a good future. But I think again, this Lions window is closing. I think the team kind of knows that. I think it's a very well coached team from a disciplined personality perspective. And I think I have to take the Lions in this one.
[00:28:55] Speaker C: I'm taking the Lions too. I like, I love what the commanders did, but they're still a young team. They've got time to build upon it. The Lions have all the pieces they need right now. They're going to. I think they win pretty easily. Not pretty easily.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: I think there's no way the Lions aren't prepared to win this game. So I definitely think the Lions are going to win.
[00:29:11] Speaker C: Especially David Montgomery, supposed to be out for the season. He's playing this game.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: That's big. That's big. Looking at the AFC for a moment here, Evan, let's look at the Ravens. Bills, who do you got in that one?
[00:29:21] Speaker C: I. I've said the Bills are the best team in the NFL for week two. I want to say the Ravens have been putting on a show. Oh my gosh. Watching just Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, These people are other, otherworldly.
[00:29:37] Speaker A: This game with the MVP conversations in the background is going to be, is going to be something.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: But that rushing attack from Baltimore, I've said they're a team that can get punched in the mouth and get down on themselves and I don't want to say quit, but they get down and they get out. They aren't really going to come back from behind. A lot of times I haven't seen it personally. I do think they also have the power to just ram into someone and not stop. I think they do that. I think it's a close game, but I think the Ravens just run all over the Bills.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: So you have Ravens and Chiefs?
[00:30:11] Speaker C: I do have Chiefs.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: So do we all have the Chiefs? Can we.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: I think we can all.
[00:30:15] Speaker D: I think the Chiefs are going to handle the Texans quite easily.
[00:30:18] Speaker A: Yeah. 100.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: So we're going to see a rematch of the divisional round of last year. Yes, of course. For Evan's take there. Yeah, it'll be Ravens and Chiefs once more.
[00:30:28] Speaker C: And if that were to happen, I'm taking the Ravens again.
[00:30:30] Speaker B: Wow. There you have it. You have it here. Have it here.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: First pick.
[00:30:35] Speaker B: That's a leave the room type thing. Yeah, that is the mic.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Literally dropping the mic. That's awesome, man. But yeah, I, I feel a pretty similar way about, about that. Excuse me. What was the game we were just talking about?
[00:30:50] Speaker D: The Tails game. Yeah, he, he, he had to go, so he.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Of course, yes, he dropped the mic.
[00:30:56] Speaker B: Folks, Evan literally left the room after that pick. I mean, that was, it was on.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: It was honestly pretty cool to see in person. I, I, but, but yeah, man, I just. If this is probably going to be the hardest game to pick on this whole sheet, it's probably gonna be the best game. And for those same reasons, it's just both teams that are on fire with two of the world's best quarterbacks or the two best quarterbacks in the world right now. I think pretty confidently and I don't know, man, I, I think I am gonna go Ravens here. I just think they are harder to stop.
As a entire team, there's just so much you have to worry about. I mean, we saw, I mean, and it seems like they're going to do things to get it done. You know what I mean? Like, we saw Lamar keep it on a read option like five times in a row against the Steelers and it's because it was there and it's because they have to respect Derek Henry so much and also vice versa at some certain points of the game, you have to respect the Lamar option. But I think I'm going to go Ravens in this one.
[00:31:52] Speaker D: I'm actually going to go Bills. Last time they met, the Ravens handled the Bills quite easily. But that was without Amari Cooper because he wasn't there yet.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: 35 to 10 in that game.
[00:32:01] Speaker D: Yes. That was also without Matt Milano, who was also.
[00:32:04] Speaker A: Josh Allen was probably concussed in that game. Probably remember correctly.
[00:32:08] Speaker D: And so I don't think the Bills are the Steelers. I don't.
[00:32:11] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I would. I know the Bills are the Steelers.
[00:32:15] Speaker D: But I just think, you know, Josh Allen and the Bills looked quite good against the Broncos. And I know the Broncos aren't like a world class team, but I mean, just being able to take care of business and they're going to be at home. And it's also supposed to be a snow game, if I'm not mistaken.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:32:33] Speaker D: And I don't know Lamar. You can look back at Lamar's playoff games and you can be like, oh, he's underperformed. Zay Flowers is not going to be there.
[00:32:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
Or you can look at that Steelers game and see pure execution.
[00:32:46] Speaker D: You could. And I'm not saying anything like that, but again, the Bills are the Bills. And at home in Buffalo, it's a hard place to play.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: It sure is.
[00:32:57] Speaker D: And I just, I don't, I mean, I don't want to say I don't see the Ravens doing it because they could easily walk in there and just, you know, play their game and Derek Henry could run through them like they did in earlier this season. Yeah, I think it's hard to beat a team twice. And I think, you know, adding a player like Matt Milano, who wasn't there, adding Mari Cooper, who wasn't there, I just, I see the Bills coming out on top.
[00:33:18] Speaker B: I think everything has been going right for the Bills. Everything has been going right for Josh Allen in particular. Like, he's engaged this year. He's had a very impressive season and this is a big matchup for both of these two quarterbacks, especially with the MVP conversation that's heated up here in the last month when Lamar Jackson has really come into his own.
I, I, I was thinking about it as you guys were talking because I hadn't quite finalized a pick prior to us discussing this. I'm going to go with the Ravens. I'm gonna go with the Ravens. I just think the, at some point, something's got to give for Baltimore. Lamar Jackson has had, it, has had an exceptional season.
[00:33:58] Speaker A: I mean, literally, I Was about as good as you can.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: He is an unbelievable quarterback. Unbelievable. I think he has to be the mvp.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: No doubt.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: I think he has to be.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: No doubt.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: And I. I just think that everything that Baltimore has done this year has been with intent and. And with reason. That reason is that they feel like this is the team that's going to take them to the super bowl, that they're going to beat the Chiefs, that they're going to beat the Bills, that they can reach that mountaintop.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: And the defense, man, has improved significantly. The problem earlier in the year, but it's become a strength.
[00:34:30] Speaker B: I love the energy they have in the locker room. They've had a lot of moments this year that are galvanizing to a team. And when you look at a championship season, you need some luck. You also need some moments. You need some moments. Moments that can bring a team together, and they've certainly had those. And I'm going to take the Ravens in this game. I'm going to say not. Not too convincingly, but I think it might come down to the wire.
[00:34:51] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Maybe one of the final drives. But I. I feel like Baltimore is going to get this win. I think Baltimore is going to go to the super bowl this year.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: I really do think so, too. It would have been. I can't remember what the specifics are of how these matchups happen, but my ideal situation would have been Ravens and Bills in the AFC Championship because that's what these two teams decided at the end of the day.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: But think about this, though. The first game of the year was Ravens and Chiefs.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:15] Speaker B: You remember how that game and a heck of Isaiah likely had a toenail out of bounds and then that was it for the Ravens. Imagine that. Repeat of a matchup at Arrowhead next weekend. That would be something. And I think it all sets up because I like to think it doesn't always work out this way when I pick games. But I'd like to look for the storyline.
[00:35:36] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Find the. Find the theatrical.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: Find the story.
And most of the time I think that puts you in the right place. I think we're going to see Ravens and Chiefs and we're going to see this time a Ravens win in Arrowhead. And I think that'll be a great way to end the year.
[00:35:51] Speaker D: When I think of storyline. Yeah, I mean, I can't help but think about Josh Allen goes and scores a touchdown with 13 seconds left.
[00:35:59] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:35:59] Speaker D: And Patrick Mahomes was able to get in field goal range in those 13 seconds and have a master class of an overtime.
[00:36:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:06] Speaker D: And I can't help to think the Bills just come out. I don't say dominate the Ravens because I don't think it'll be.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: I don't think anyone's going to dominate anyone.
[00:36:15] Speaker D: It's not going to be a domination factor. But I could see the Bills being able to make it a two score game late in the game. Make it like a 10 point game.
[00:36:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:26] Speaker D: When B beat the Ravens going into arrowhead, Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes once again have that game. Bills come out on top and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. That's what I can see happening I think.
[00:36:40] Speaker A: And also just talking about the storylines and this is probably pretty lazy analysis but there's so many narratives just about the Chiefs and in a very similar way to the dynasty that the Patriots had of the luck aspect and everything like that, of just people thinking that, you know, people saying online the league is trying to get them to win more championships and everything like that. This almost feels like a culmination of that. The Chiefs are coming off of a back to back, potentially the first team to ever three peat this year and there it's going to be against two and again the two best quarterbacks in the league right now. And obviously it's hard. Mahomes has been the best quarterback in the league for years. He hasn't had that same season.
[00:37:21] Speaker B: Nope.
[00:37:21] Speaker A: But you almost, you gotta wonder, I mean Patrick Mahomes and Tom is nearing, obviously there's work to be done but nearing Tom Brady levels of a playoff performer.
And that has not given yet. That is not given remotely like you were talking about Matt Stafford's record in the snow. Mahomes is, he's almost perfect in these divisional and championship games and it's going to all culminate to that. And I think this is going to year where it gives where your Lamar, your Josh Allen gets the Chiefs in the AFC championship round. If it's not then social media is going to be a firestorm. I don't envy the executives of the NFL.
[00:38:02] Speaker D: We're going to see John Harbaugh hand the ball to Derek Henry five times.
[00:38:05] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:38:06] Speaker D: Just like last year.
[00:38:07] Speaker A: Five times. But yeah, that's again if the Ravens keep that identity, man, they can win out the rest of this year and go home the Super Bowl. Absolutely.
[00:38:16] Speaker B: What a path we have left to go here in the NFL season. We have the divisional round this weekend. We'll be back talking about the setup for the AFC NFC championship games next weekend and we got the Super Bowl In a couple weeks after that. It's all coming together. It's all coming together.
[00:38:32] Speaker A: You know what's after that draft season.
[00:38:35] Speaker B: Baby, that's mock drafts. We'll be talking about free agency. You're going to want to stick with us after the NFL season's over because that's when the conversation really gets good. We're not talking about analysis anymore. We're talking about predictions. We're talking about building teams, changing coaches. We're going to talk about the coaches a lot, too, moving forward. And we've only had one head coach hired. Still about six openings left.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: Yeah. A lot to get done.
[00:38:58] Speaker D: And there's going to be. I feel like there's going to be a lot more openings after the whole season.
[00:39:01] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:39:02] Speaker B: Quick thoughts. Deion Sanders. To. To a Dallas.
[00:39:06] Speaker D: I think it's a Jerry move.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: It's. It's the definition of a Jerry move.
[00:39:10] Speaker D: You do it just to get the clicks.
[00:39:12] Speaker B: Chances. It happens.
[00:39:14] Speaker D: I think there's a good chance.
[00:39:16] Speaker A: 65%.
[00:39:17] Speaker D: I think I'll go 45%.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Do you think the Cowboys draft Shador Sanders and no one from Dak Prescott if that happens?
[00:39:25] Speaker D: No.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: If they, if they take Dak or if they can't be his dad and.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: Be their NFL head coach, I don't think you can be.
[00:39:32] Speaker A: Jerry wants to sell tickets, man.
[00:39:33] Speaker D: That's true.
[00:39:34] Speaker A: I'm just saying.
[00:39:34] Speaker D: I will say one thing that I will have to give credit for about Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts is you look at the Cowboys. They fire Kellen Morris, an offensive coordinator, because he's not getting the job done. Yeah, he goes to the LA Chargers. He, you know, not the best year, but you can't really do much with Brandon Saylor as your head coach. Yes, you come to the Eagles for one year as an offensive coordinator, and now the Cowboys are reaching out to you and making them your top candidate after firing you for your oc. I just feel like it shows a lot. It's either Jerry Jones is just, you know, old and needs to get out of there, which is definitely also true. It's definitely the case. But I think, you know, shows a lot.
[00:40:13] Speaker A: Yeah, 100%. I would agree.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: And we have a lot to discuss in the weeks ahead, but for now, that's where we'll leave it. The NFL Divisional round is this week, and we'll be back recapping those games next week and bringing you our analysis of the upcoming AFC and NFC Championship games. But until then, we say so long and have a great week. Enjoy the football wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
