Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: WVUA FM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: And we are back. You are listening to the student section, NFL on WVUA 90.7, where you can actually find us on tune in and live 360 apps, also on Apple and Spotify. Just to throw that out there for the casual fans who didn't know. But let me ask you guys.
Well, first of all, I'm sorry, I'm just such in a rush trying to get this all situated. But I'm your host, Jalen Brooks, and I'm with my co host, as always, Tanner Thompson.
Oh, my bad. Tanner, are you not on?
[00:00:40] Speaker A: I don't think, guys.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Oh, my fault.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: I think Jalen just wanted to be mean to me at the top of the show, that's all.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: No, I just didn't know what you were pointing. You were pointing to, so I was a little confused. I was like, what's happening?
[00:00:50] Speaker A: No worries, man.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: How are you doing?
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Oh, I'm great, man. My mic's on. I can talk now.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: There we go. I'm not freaking.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: That was my only.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: No, you're all good. Connor, how are you doing?
[00:01:01] Speaker C: I haven't said it in a while, so I will say I'm doing quite swell after the Eagles new hires, but just a little disappointed how this championship weekend turned.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, the game that I would predict to be like the best playoff game ever kind of let us down just a little bit. But before we continue, last but not least, Evan Cicaneros. How are you doing, bud?
[00:01:22] Speaker D: Fantastic.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: How about you?
[00:01:23] Speaker B: I'm doing good. I'm doing good. We're all hanging in there and kind of just anxious to go over these games that we just saw this past weekend. We have a whole lot to talk about and we might as well just go ahead and start with the Chiefs. The Chiefs beat the Ravens with a final score, 17 to ten. So you already know that the Chiefs are sending the Ravens home for a cruel summer. The Chiefs are going on for their fourth Super bowl visit.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: And five, this guy, this guy.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: And Patrick Mahomes now moves to four and two in the AFC championship, the two losses only coming to Tom Brady and Joe Burrow. So, first of all, before we get into this game, let's just go ahead and talk about it just a little bit. I know Mahomes. He started off hot going down that first drive, I want to say 86 yards down the field where he seemed to be connecting with Travis. Kelsey automatically coming away with that first touchdown. Kelsey, coming into the matchup, trailed Jerry Rice for all time receptions in the NFL. Playoffs, and by no surprise, he got it.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: He got it in like the first half, didn't he?
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. He trailed him by six, too. Six receptions for a tight end and.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: A half is 145 for Kelsey, and Rice had 151. So, yeah, I think by the end of the first quarter he got it, which is pretty.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: I am normally real quick. I am normally a confident Gronk is the best tight end of all time.
I guess. I don't know what now, I don't want to give that, but I think that Travis Kelsey is definitely starting to make me.
[00:02:48] Speaker C: I think he's getting into the conversation more as like, okay, you can actually justify Travis Kelsey being there. I think Gronk's still there with the rings and everything, and he even blocked it when he had to. Travis Kelsey is, I would say, probably the best receiving tight end.
[00:03:05] Speaker A: No doubt. He's no doubt the best receiving tight end. He plays the position slightly differently, but.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: That'S a conversation for another day, especially at this point. It's hard to argue that he's not. Definitely not in that conversation.
Just to go back real quick, Jerry Rice only needed 31 playoff games to set this record. Kelsey only needed 21. So that just goes to, could show you how impressive he can actually break the all time touchdown, I think, in the Super bowl.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Really.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: He's not that far behind on that either. So, I mean, I could be mistaken. I'm going to double check and come back to you on that, but he's right there on the all time touchdown.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: I would not be surprised at, I.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: Mean, but just to keep going.
Kelsey was dominant. He fought for his right to party.
I tried to go to the same tent, but I fell right there. But let's go ahead and dive into this a little bit. They tried everything to stop him. Kyle Hamilton, that was a matchup. We were looking at the safety. Rookie out of Notre Dame, right?
[00:04:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Second year, I got a Notre Dame absolute beast, man. Yeah, he was great.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: Great day.
[00:04:07] Speaker A: I mean, kind of. I'll get into it a little bit. What I noticed the Chiefs did offensively, they had Travis Kelsey in the slot for a lot of this game, for so much of this game. And I think they did that because the Ravens, their defensive, what makes that defense great is their ability to rotate post snap and to just absolutely confuse every quarterback they face. And unfortunately, they had to face Patrick Mahomes on Sunday. But that's what makes them a great team. They know how to make a quarter, they know where the quarterback is going to look, and they know how to be coordinated. In that effort to make sure guys don't slip through the cracks. That's a big theme of teams that do practice that post snap movement stuff, but they are super coordinated and they usually get that done really well. But by having Travis Kelsey in the slot all day, it kind of made them have Kyle Hamilton on them no matter what. They couldn't position Kyle Hamilton in different spots. If Travis Kelsey is in the slot, you have to have somebody over him. And that's what Kyle Hamilton did. And Kyle Hamilton had some good reps, especially when they were in, man. But Travis Kelsey is Travis Kelsey. What you mentioned earlier, that back shoulder, low back shoulder touchdown to Kelsey to get that first touchdown, that was unbelievable throw, unbelievable catch. That's just the greatest playoff duo of all time working together.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Would you put them above Tom?
[00:05:34] Speaker C: Greatest playoff duo?
[00:05:35] Speaker A: I would.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: You would?
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: That's my official take.
That's a hot topic we can talk about.
[00:05:44] Speaker C: Bold take. I will say.
[00:05:46] Speaker A: I think you can make the argument that, like Gronk and Brady, maybe they have the numbers and maybe they have the. I guess they definitely have the rings. But in my opinion, I'm emphasizing the duo aspect, and I don't think that any quarterback and I don't think any two players in NFL history have worked together successfully.
And by producing off of each other, if that makes sense, like Kelsey builds Mahomes out of spots and Mahomes helps Kelsey out know, giving him time to just do whatever he wants because can't cover everybody with the plays lasting 6 seconds, which Mahomes tends to be really good at.
[00:06:26] Speaker B: Great examples like when Travis Kelsey was scrambling, then he'd have that diving catch.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:06:31] Speaker B: Getting hit.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: That was like a ten second play or something ridiculous, but that, and they always know where the other one is supposed to be. And Kelsey, former quarterback. I'm going back and watching some of this game almost every time that everyone talks about with Kelsey, his ability to find the soft spot in the zone.
But when you go back and actually watch it, there was multiple times he was literally equidistant from three zone defenders. He was equidistant from all of them in literally the perfect hole in the zone. And it's not like he can have his head on a swivel the whole time and be able to tell where. See exactly where everyone is. It's just instinct. He looks at where the safety rotates, he looks at what the linebacker does, and he decides, all right, I'm going to head here and sit down ten yards up, and Mahomes always knows where he's going to go. And I think for that reason is why I have these guys as my best duo of all time because of the actual duo aspect and how they play well off of each mean.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I can see what you're saying. I just think you can't really just dismiss the rings.
We were just talking about Gronk probably what the best tight end as of right now with Tom Brady, who is probably the goat.
I'm not going to make a decision as of right now, but I would still confidently say Tom and Gronk would.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Mean, dude, Kelsey having the playoff numbers that we already know he has.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: I know we're talking about Brady and Gronk, but what about Rice and Montana? Are we forgetting them?
[00:08:04] Speaker A: That's not still that. I think I would still go back to my previous point of know, duo aspect and the chemistry that Mahomes and but you know, obviously that's still a good take and that would probably be the three. But for Travis Kelsey, a tight end to have the most receptions in playoff history, that says a lot for the duo aspect in the playoffs. And that's just as a counter to your rings argument. If he's having those numbers in the playoffs, I think that speaks more to their duo specifically. He was maybe part of the more dominant team over however many years it was, and I would give you that. But in terms of the duo that just dominates every time they set foot on a postseason football field, it has to be Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: No. And speaking to your point, I think we even just saw that even not going to just on the plays they make on the field, but how they're dominating mentally. I mean, first of all, let's talk about the bad blood they had know Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey going over by Justin Tucker messing with the kickoff stuff, a little pregame, right? I know with some other players on the teams that got into it as well, I think it was their cornerback, but also just on the field. Later, a little bit later, we saw time and time again that Kelsey and Pat Mahomes were just kind of getting the Ravens to beat themselves, forcing penalties, I know a big one being Kelsey forcing that 15 yard penalty right before the half, getting the Chiefs that last second field goal. You could just see that the Chiefs were obviously a team that had been there before and coming in with a team that we had just such high expectations on for the Ravens.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Tell me, Tanner, as someone who picked the Ravens to go to the Super bowl, right. Not to bring that up and like.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: I was that close, man, I was that close.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: Yeah, you were very close.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: I had it preseason, but we missed it by one, man.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Just one. I mean, it's like when you have your parlay and you just miss it by one way.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: But just as someone who had the Ravens going all the way, tell me what disappointed you the most about their performance.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: I think that, again, I think from a just observer standpoint, as somebody who for this take, you don't really have to know that much football to take away the fact what you said earlier, that the Chiefs just looked like they have been there before because they have a million times. I think that was obvious for the whole game, and I think that was probably one of the bigger mental things going into the game for the Ravens. I thought at times that the Ravens tried to set a precedent of physicality because that's kind of what that team is. They have a lot of great players in Roquan Smith, Patrick Queen, Kyle Hamilton, but there were times where I felt like they were trying to prioritize physicality and like a big hit over getting the stop that they needed and they abandoned the run game early, which I'm not going to.
It's the Chiefs honest. Again, I cannot boost this Chiefs defense enough. I think this is a incredible defense with some aspects of it being personnel, but a lot of it being Steve Spagnolo. Amazing job done, killing it, unbelievable job.
The way they stop the run. And even when they don't always, they honestly usually don't have the box matchup that you would be looking for from offense or a hack count. They call it just matching up all of your blockers to all the defenders. But the way they do that is because they have such versatile defenders in Trent McDuffie, in Drew Tranquil and Nick Bolton, you have these in Justin Reed, you have these guys that can make plays across the field. And what they do is just switch those assignments post snap, kind of like I said the Ravens did earlier. But what the Chiefs do a lot is they will switch their snap looks to cover, and I honestly don't get how he does it, but Steve Spagnola knows exactly where the quarterback's going to look. He knows exactly what the offensive line is going to do when somebody fakes coming down and things like that. But the amount of times that they just had a free rusher and it was just enough to just confuse Lamar, and that's what modern defenses do well. But I don't think I've seen one do the specific rotations as well as the Chiefs.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: I think the Chiefs did a fantastic job. I was a little nervous at mean, you know, obviously they stopped the Ravens on that first drive, and I was like, okay, let's see what Lamar is going to do. And then Lamar responds with that beautiful.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: Unbelievable. That play was 50 year old bomb. One of my favorite Lamar plays I've ever watched.
[00:12:34] Speaker B: I was so excited. I was like, there you go. But ultimately, hindsight, after that play, I.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: Thought this was going to be one of the greatest games we've ever seen.
[00:12:41] Speaker B: I thought my take was going to looking pretty good. Greatest games all time.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: I think one thing that we were missing was like, what, two plays before that? It was at fourth and one. And you have Lamar take off for what? 30 yards? Yeah, that set up the play. And then I get to, what, second and long? And he dodges a sack, he ducks under, right, and he just throws a dime to zay flowers. And zay flowers. He didn't have a great. I mean, yeah, he didn't have a great game. That fumble on the goal line cost him that taunting penalty, which some might argue, really, is it like Travis Kelsey kind of does the same thing?
[00:13:14] Speaker A: I think the only thing about that taunting penalty was the directness of it to the other player. What we see Travis Kelsey do all game is him celebrating is know, pointing his hand forward, getting know screaming and know angry himself. But I think what he's good at is not directing it at somebody else. And I think that's maybe what refs look for when they make that call. And with Zay flowers, he pushed Lujerius knee down to the ground and then.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: Stood over him and looking at him. Trevor Kelsey will look away from.
[00:13:39] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
[00:13:40] Speaker B: Laugh, like really loud in your face. You know, he's laughing at you.
[00:13:44] Speaker C: You're talking about pushing him to the ground. I mean, I saw at the end of the play, Legerius need was holding his leg.
Yeah, he was just trying to get him off him. I think the thing that got it was the ball. He just kind of threw the ball near his head, so I think that's what did it.
[00:13:58] Speaker B: But kind of like the Chauncey garner to Baker, just like toss it back at him.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: And the shout out Lagerius need for that play 10 seconds later. That was unbelievable.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: And that's what I was going to mention. Like we said, like I said, I was a little worried at first, but in that second half, the Chiefs defense really started to show through. And I think it really comes down to that play of the game with Jerry Snead.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Did I say that name correctly?
Okay, thank you. Appreciate it. But he made probably the play of the night.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: Just save the Chiefs Super bowl chances.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: There's some statistic about turning the ball over in the end zone or the red zone and how much it drastically changes your chances to win a game. I don't know what it is specifically, but I know it's pretty drastic. And to do that twice in a game, it's really hard to win football games, especially when the other guy going down the field is Patrick Mahomes, who, in my opinion, has very few weaknesses and only plays better in the playoffs. You have to have those moments, and if you have multiple in the red zone, end zone, that's what kills games.
[00:14:58] Speaker B: Yeah, it's going to be hard to beat. Especially unfortunately for Lamar. I think you're referring to his interception.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: Like that one as well.
[00:15:05] Speaker C: Triple coverage. I couldn't stop laughing when Isaiah likely.
[00:15:09] Speaker A: Put his hand up through the mailbox up, man, that was crazy.
[00:15:11] Speaker C: I'm open into triple coverage. Yeah, I don't know.
It was tough to see it was from Isaiah likely just because he had.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Mean having such a great.
[00:15:22] Speaker C: He's been balling his entire season. It was just that one play, the I'm open, I'm open and looks at.
[00:15:27] Speaker A: Him and honestly, I mean, I don't know. I didn't go back and look at that specific look that the Chiefs gave them. But again, that kind of goes back to what I was saying about those postnap rotations, man, the Chiefs literally do whatever they want at points of the season. Actually, while playing the Dolphins, they start out a look in too high and then they start to rotate down. Like one safety comes down, the other one starts to drift back. And I think they do that because the Dolphins throw in breakers like almost no one else in football. They love their inbreakers. So when they do that, when you're playing cover one and you're in, man, the corners, they have to give them inside leverage because they want to feed somebody inside. And so he thought he was going to have that. But then literally before, when the snap happens, the safety who came down to play this low mid zone bolts up field and now it's cover two, man. Again, all the corners are playing inside leverage. Even their assignments change. And all the guys who are playing other receivers, like looking at the play, there's a certain man alignment. Everyone's standing over somebody, but when the ball is snapped, the guys who are covering are all inside of or the next inside man of all the receivers and then all of a.
If. I don't know if you guys remember, but that's the play that Tua floated up a ball across the middle, went too high, went to the next safety. Exactly. And it's just because he got frazzled, didn't know what to do. The look was changed entirely in 2 seconds. Tried to get it out and missed it. And again, I can't emphasize enough how well the Chiefs do that to opposing quarterbacks. It's unbelievable.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: I know when we're talking about the Chiefs, we've shouted out Drew Tranquil, who had a great game, Lagerius, need Justin Reed. All these guys are everywhere. But one thing I really want to highlight is that Chiefs defense just made life so miserable for the offensive line. George Carloftus was everywhere before Charles Amenahu. He got that strip sack. Yeah, he tore his ACL. So we're just wishing for a speedy recovery. But I mean, Chris Jones, they were just everywhere. Lamar Jackson didn't have a lot of time. They contained them pretty well, if I did quickly remember correctly.
[00:17:31] Speaker A: And I think they were able to commit to that because how early the Ravens abandoned the run game.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: That's one thing with the Ravens is you build like your pride is your running game. With the quarterback and the running backs, you have Dalvin Cook, which, did he get a snap? I don't think so. Gus Edwards, who has been great, Justice Hill has been great. So I just don't really get why you would deviate from the run just like that. I mean, besides, Lamar had eight carries, the rest of the running backs had eight, save flowers had two, and then Gus and Justice both had three carries.
[00:18:04] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:18:05] Speaker C: Which shouldn't happen in a playoff game.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: You would think an a allows them to commit to the pass. Like, again, you know, I don't want to talk way too overly about the Chiefs defense because I already have. But for the sake of the run defense, what they do different, a lot of teams is they have. A lot of teams have moved to smaller, more athletic guys on the defensive line recently. But the Chiefs are still rolling. Know Chris Jones, Derek Naughty and those great guys on the edge and George Carloftus.
But in the run game, they don't try to beat the offensive line. They just stay there. They stay there and they occupy gaps and they let everybody else crash down and go make a play. And that's why you see the safeties making plays all the time for the Chiefs and McDuffie and things like that.
Again, it's just an entirely different brand of defense the Ravens didn't face, and I think that may have been why.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: It'S going to be interesting, especially to see if they can get Lujerius. Need to stay in Kansas City, right? We'll see what happens there. But, Evan, as someone who picked the Chiefs to win, just real quick, your thoughts on the game before we head to break?
[00:19:01] Speaker D: I think, well, not to toot my own horn, but I've called it since about week five that the Ravens were not built for this moment.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: I have a contest to that, but we'll get to it later. Please continue.
[00:19:13] Speaker D: I think you could see it in Lamar. He kind of went away from his game, and don't get me wrong, he's a great player. Top three quarterback for sure, but he doesn't need to just be a passer. And it seemed like a lot of those times when he's getting all that pressure around him, he wants to stay and sit in the pocket when they're giving him lanes and if he plays his game, he could just run it. But I think he gets frazzled and he starts to doubt himself. And I think it comes down to a maturity thing, and I hope he can grow from it because I love Lamar, but, oh, they did not play ravens football last.
[00:19:52] Speaker B: You're a Ravens. If you're a Ravens fan, that was hard to watch, and I'm sorry for that. You had to go through experience all through that. But the Chiefs do it once again. They have no problem just being the antihero. And let's hope the Ravens aren't in a blank space. But when we come back from break, you are listening. We are going to talk about the Lions and we're going to talk about the 49 ers. You're listening to the student section, NFL on WVUA 90.7, available on tune in live 365 apps, Apple podcasts, and, of course, Spotify. Tanner, I made sure to turn on your mic this time, so you should. Don't. Yeah, I got. You can't have a repeat of last.
[00:20:55] Speaker A: Glad I can participate this.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: It's unacceptable.
[00:20:57] Speaker A: That's my job.
[00:20:58] Speaker B: I apologize. But we are back, continuing our conversation about the recap of this past weekend in the NFL divisional rounds, championship rounds. Excuse me, I'm sorry. And now it's time. If you're a Lions fan, hang in with me here. Don't lose yourself. As we talk about the Lions versus the 49 ers.
Tanner caught it.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: I'm telling you, it's just a slightly different word that just doesn't quite make sense, that's all.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: You have to think about. As you can see, I came prepared.
[00:21:27] Speaker C: Yes, we can tell.
[00:21:29] Speaker B: All right, so let's go ahead and talk about this game. First of all, let's just go ahead and mention, Connor, why don't you lead us off? You've had that narrative about Kyle Shanahan not being able to get to the big game or win the big game. Well, this might be the year. Is there anything that you saw out of this game that changes your mind or persuades you that this might be the 49 ers year?
[00:21:51] Speaker C: I don't think they'll win the Super bowl just because they've been dominated by the run each and every week at the playoffs so far.
I know it's not all Kyle Shanahan for the defense and stuff, and it's Steve Wilkes and all that kind of stuff, but you just look at the d line, Chase young, I've heard reports considered benching him. I don't know if that's true. Just because the lack of effort.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that viral clip is pathetic.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: Yeah. Now we all know why Chase Young. We know why Chase Young went for a third round pick and Montez sweat went for a second.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: Seems too high. Still.
[00:22:22] Speaker C: It does. Because week in and week out, we can see Chase Young just getting either abused or just taking plays off. But it worries me because the 49 ers, congrats. You make it the Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan is what, three and 40 now? And entering the.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: Yeah, something like that.
[00:22:42] Speaker C: Yeah. Behind five plus points going into the second half or something like that. So it's still not a great record, but, I mean, he did it back to back weeks against the.
I mean, you really shouldn't be down by that much against the packers and the Lions, who had a great season, can't knock them for anything but their defense. Still. Cam Sutton has been able to tackle all season. CJ Gardner Johnson has been talking a lot, but I don't want to say he didn't really have that great of a game. That Christian McCaffrey stiff arm was bad.
It was a bad look for waving goodbye to the 49 ers fans after the first half.
[00:23:19] Speaker A: That was tough, man.
[00:23:22] Speaker C: The defense hasn't been great all season and the 49 ers are still struggling to beat these teams, who they should easily beat with four or five All Pros on the offense.
Three to four, was it? They should have like three to four All Pros on defense with Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Churtavius Ward.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Right.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Green law is hufunga. I feel like he's a pro. Blower this year.
[00:23:45] Speaker C: Hufonga towards aco.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:23:47] Speaker C: Like midway through the season, so bad.
[00:23:49] Speaker A: Take on my just.
[00:23:51] Speaker C: I think they should definitely be doing more than they are right now, so that's how I feel on.
I think we'll get to the preview later on, but this will be a tough coaching gig against Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes coming up.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: Yeah. So, Tanner, as someone know, I think we were all here kind of rooting for the Lions because one's the.
[00:24:16] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:24:16] Speaker B: It's the Lions story. It's like, who doesn't want to root for a team who's had so much history not getting there. Right, but unfortunately, that it's against the 49 ers in a mastermind and coaching mastermind in Kyle Shanahan. But give me your thoughts on that game. I know Lions fans are a little bit disappointed, but they've got to be kind of optimistic. I don't think any of us had the Lions going this far.
[00:24:38] Speaker C: I would definitely be optimistic if they're keeping Ben Johnson now.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a huge.
[00:24:42] Speaker C: That's huge.
[00:24:43] Speaker A: Absolutely. I think good for the Lions and good for Ben Johnson that he is staying. I was a little bit worried that their lack of personnel on defense was going to catch up to them, mainly in the secondary and especially against a team like the 49 ers that has a guy like Brandon Ayuk who's a really good wide out, Debo Samuel, who's just the ultimate utility on the football field, and then you have the best receiving back in the league, best back, running back, which has been my take for a long time, for the record, but obviously looks better now than has in the past.
But, yeah, when you have to deal with all those things, sometimes you really need personnel. There's a phrase I hear a lot. It's not always x to O's. A lot of times it's Jimmy's and Joe's. And that is what I felt watching this at points.
And also, I mean, good for the Niners to stick to their offense for the second half. They waited for their opportunities and they capitalized great on Brock Purdy orchestrating a really good comeback.
[00:25:44] Speaker C: I will say, I will give Brock Purdy a lot of props because he looked horrendous in that first half, but he got his nerves together and he pulled out a great second half to come back. Not even in the second half, just the third quarter in general.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: Right.
[00:25:57] Speaker C: He came back from, what? Down 17?
[00:26:00] Speaker A: Right. And, I mean, it's really surprising that it sucks for the Lions to lose the lead they had, especially when the Lions are a phenomenal running team. And the Niners, they never really faced a great run that often over the course of the year. And when they did, they were kind of middle of the pack, I think. I don't think they were exceptional at it. So when you get down twenty four seven, you have to think that everything is going in the lion's favor, not only because of the deficit, but because being able to run the ball in that scenario is a huge advantage. That means you are generally not turning the ball over and running the clock down. And that's the recipe to winning football games once you gain a lead. And it's obviously a bad course of events for the Lions. Couldn't get things together way and the Ravens just stepped up, man, it's kind of hard to. The Ravens, excuse me, Niners. Jesus.
[00:26:53] Speaker C: I will say the thinking about your bet.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Yeah, still sad about it.
[00:26:57] Speaker C: I think the thing that changed the momentum of the game was that Brock Purdy deep shot to Brandon Ayuk. That.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, who was it?
[00:27:04] Speaker C: Sutton? I can't remember who the deep.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: I don't think it was Sutton.
[00:27:06] Speaker C: It just hit off his helmet and Brandon iuke made an incredible catch. Right at that point, I was like, okay, everything's going to go to the 49 ers way now and it's just a matter of time until they come back into this game.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: I saw that retro bowl, commented on that play, which I think is awesome, because if you've ever played Retro bowl. I have never played Retro bowl. Wow.
[00:27:25] Speaker C: I played it a little bit, but I haven't been great.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: It's not like the slide. It looks like an arcade game, but it's a football game. You like magic team and stuff. Free sponsor, I guess, for Retro bowl.
[00:27:35] Speaker B: Oh, the app game?
[00:27:36] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:27:37] Speaker B: Okay. Yes, I have that.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Downloaded the other retro Bowl.
[00:27:41] Speaker B: I didn't know what you were talking. I didn't know it was like an old arcade game.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Is there another retro bowl that I'm familiar with?
[00:27:45] Speaker B: Well, I didn't know I was thinking of like you were talking about an old arcade.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: I knew what you were talking about.
[00:27:51] Speaker B: But it's funny because I do have that.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. But you get it. You see it now. Hearing that and seeing that they comment on, it's like, wow, where have you seen this before? I think it's really funny because that's a retro bowl commonplace. But again, when things like that go your way for a football team, that's the kind of stuff that gets the players going. One, it's converting what could have been an interception to a 50 yard play. That alone, that's what completely flips momentum, which is a big thing people are talking about leaving this game.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Now, let me ask you this. There's a lot of narratives about two things. One, Brock Purdy, obviously, of course, right? Because that narrative has been around since he's been entered the league, it seems like, and I get it because he is a 7th round pick and it doesn't seem like he's faced like had the toughest road to get to the Super bowl. But I think he's definitely changed the narrative a little bit now that he's going to the Super bowl for the second time. I mean, not the second time, but back to the NFC championship now has won also. So basically, let me get towards the question, is it more of Brock Purdy? Did Brock Purdy show you something or was it Dan Campbell and his coaching decisions?
[00:28:55] Speaker C: I definitely think Brock Purdy showed something. I've never been a huge Brock purdy fan just because I think he gets thrown into conversations with Josh Allen's, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson's, all these top quarterbacks when I think he is a game manager. But there are definitely times where he can make elite throws. I mean, he used his legs a lot in second half.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: He extended plays a lot.
[00:29:14] Speaker C: So he had a great second half, I will say. But also at the same time, Dan Campbell, if you kick those two field goals, this is a completely different game because then they have to be a little bit more aggressive, which if we look in their resume, they haven't been great when they're down because they get too aggressive and sometimes Brock Purdy sales one or I'm just saying I think it's a complete different game if Dan Campbell kicks the ball. But I will give my flowers to Brock Purdy.
[00:29:42] Speaker A: I would have to agree. I mean, Brock Purdy, I've definitely called him a game manager before and maybe I still believe that to an extent. But man, I felt like watching him in the second half. I've kind of felt like because in the Shanahan offense, if you know anything about it, it's generally that it needs to be run his way and no other way. There's not really room for improvisation. Things need to happen in a very specific order. The timing has to be right. All that, but it kind of felt like that. That still went well at times, but Brock Purdy did what he had to do to push the offense down the field and kind of wasn't afraid to abandon things that maybe weren't in the specific plan for that drive. And I think that may have been the difference. You could see that he chucked the ball over earlier. Sometimes when he saw that backers had dropped back and they were 15 yards downfield, he tucked the ball early and he went and got ten yards. And I think that's maybe that aggressiveness is maybe what Brock Purdy fans were waiting to see. I guess I probably shouldn't. Brock Purdy fans are very supportive of Brock Purdy.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: But I think it's probably what I was waiting to see more accurately.
[00:30:51] Speaker C: One thing that does interest me is when the 49 ers do have to end up paying their star talent. Like I know they already paid Debo, I think. Didn't they give Christian McCaffrey an extension when they traded for him? I believe they did. Has George Kittle been paid yet?
[00:31:06] Speaker B: Think so.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: I'm not sure.
[00:31:07] Speaker C: I'm pretty sure George good has been. I'm not quite sure if he's gotten. I think his contract might be coming up in the next few years. Brandon Ayuk hasn't gotten paid yet. Still waiting for Fred Warner pay. Pay raise. Nick Bosa just got paid. I want to see what happens when they either have to pay some of these guys or they go somewhere else. And if Brock Purdy can still continue to do it without these four to five all pros on the offensive side of the ball.
[00:31:30] Speaker D: And to your point, Kittle did just sign a five year extension. Well, that was in 2021, so it's coming up in two years.
[00:31:37] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:38] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. So he is getting ready to come back up and renegotiate to your point, Connor. Now, Tanner, you were making the point about the 49 ers offense, and we spent the first half talking a little bit about the Chiefs defense. Now, looking at this matchup, Chiefs versus 49 ers, our Super bowl matchup rematch of 2020, by the way, where the Chiefs ended up winning with a final score 31 to 20 over the 49 ers. I think the 49 ers had a chance to come back and win it. But bear with me. Garoppolo overthrew that pass to Emmanuel Sanders, if I'm not mistaken.
[00:32:17] Speaker C: I can't remember if that was.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: All I remember is against the packers.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: Or if that was against the Chiefs. I know Jimmy Garoppolo had a costly turnover that game, and I think it was.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: I want to say it was to Emmanuel Sanderson was picked off, but I'll go back and revisit that. Or, Evan, if you don't mind searching that up being our little producer.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: I appreciate our little producer. Wow. That's crazy. Wow.
[00:32:37] Speaker C: Evan, thank you for everything you did.
[00:32:39] Speaker A: Thank you so much.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I do appreciate it.
[00:32:40] Speaker A: You guys made it weird.
[00:32:41] Speaker B: But anyway, going back to the conversation at hand, now that Kyle Shannon is going back to his third super bowl, is this the year that he finally gets it done? And Tanner, since you kind of gave us your opinions on both sides of the ball, where do you start from here?
[00:32:55] Speaker A: I think that the matchup of Kyle Shanahan and Steve Spagnolo is going to be just a complete chess match start to finish. That being said, I don't even know close to the amount of football these guys do. So it's hard for me to make a prediction on who's going to out coach the other because again, these guys are genuine geniuses at what they do. I wholeheartedly believe that. I think Spagh should be considered, is starting to, and probably should be soon considered as one of the better defensive coordinators of all time.
But yeah, I think that degree adds kind of a randomness to it because you don't really know. Someone could just have one specific game plan that just completely works and just kills the other team and you never saw it coming. Kind of like the Ravens and the Chiefs to where they just got it and it worked.
[00:33:51] Speaker B: It's.
[00:33:52] Speaker A: I'm kind of dancing around because I don't want to make a prediction because I honestly have no idea. But if spags can find the niners in the right looks to where, again, he could take advantage of those postnap rotations and confuse Brock Purdy, especially in an offense that is somewhat, I don't want to say rigid, but again, it's defined by a very clear plan. Everyone's doing exactly what they are supposed to do. And then you have the Chiefs, who, they have great play calls, but then Mahomes extends the play by 6 seconds and Travis Kelsey runs an entirely different route he's not supposed to, but also gets open by five yards.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: Or Rishi Rice, who's been coming off.
[00:34:30] Speaker A: And Rasheed Rice has been. He's absolutely played well this year. And again, it's a tough call, but I think that, again, I said it earlier, in my opinion, the best playoff duo of all give. That's going to give Steve Wilkes nightmares, for one. I don't know what he's going to do about that. Obviously he has Fred Warner, but the Ravens had Kyle Hamilton and I don't be. I'd be scared if on both sides, honestly, there's no other way to get around it.
[00:34:59] Speaker C: I agree with you. I think as of right now, it's really early into everything going on.
[00:35:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. I'm not going to make a prediction until next week. I refuse to.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: Yeah, that's fine.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: We don't have to, right?
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I kind of thought about it.
[00:35:12] Speaker C: I was like, wait, since I'm not going to be here next week, though, yikes. I will make my prediction now. And this, of course, we can all.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Just not going to be at our pre Super bowl show.
[00:35:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that's kind of.
[00:35:24] Speaker C: I have to go to a. So I'm sorry. Oh, out in Arizona, but that's kind of fun.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: I will say, sitting in a room talking about the Super bowl when it.
[00:35:35] Speaker C: Comes to this, the Chiefs game and the Chiefs and 49 ers, I will say it's definitely, like Tanner said, it's going to be a very big chess game between the DC and OC for both respective teams.
I don't want to say it because I do think this is going to be a great game, but I think the Chiefs will, I don't want to say have their way, but I think Pacheco is definitely going to do some damage to that 49 ers run defense because absolutely. We look at Aaron Jones, who isn't the best when going through contact.
[00:36:10] Speaker A: He had a pretty good season.
[00:36:11] Speaker C: I'm saying yards after contact, he isn't the top guy like Pacheco will run through multiple players. David Montgomery is closer to Pacheco than Aaron Jones and he had a great game. Jamir Gibbs was also amazing throughout that game.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: Sorry not to cut you off Pro Bowl, Bama.
[00:36:30] Speaker C: Jamir Gibbs, Pro Bowl. I just think Pacheco will give the 49 ers interior defensive line nightmares.
I think Travis Kelsey and Patrick Holmes, to your credit, will also give Steve Wilkes a lot of nightmares. And I just think what Spagnola can do on the defense side of the ball, it's not going to stop Debo Samuel, Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, all those kind of guys. But I do think it'll do what they did to Lamar and just confuse him. Probably go away from their usual game plan and it's going to be fun. But I will say, since I'm not going to be here next week, chiefs in a close one.
[00:37:06] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:37:07] Speaker D: Building on that with getting away from the game plan, I pulled up the clip and they were down eleven with 1 minute and Debo Samuel had a kind of open cut. Garoppolo tried to lock the ball and that's just not who he is. Threw a pick to Kendall Fuller to ice the game in Super bowl.
[00:37:25] Speaker B: Whatever it was, I'm not a big.
[00:37:26] Speaker A: Fan of Jimmy Garoppolo leading game winning drives. I never really have. I don't think it works. And I think there's a reason that Aidan O'Connell is the starting Raiders quarterback.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: Yeah. It's a fourth round pick, I might add.
[00:37:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:38] Speaker B: Rookie. Yeah. But when we come back, we're going to finish up and we're going to talk about changes around the league. Some interesting things to go off there. Bill Belichick, I thought he was headed to Atlanta, but it turns out not anymore. So we'll have more on that when we come back. You are listening to the student section on NFL 90.7 to Capstone. Also available once again, might I add, on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and now on tune in and live 365 apps. So just like to throw that out there for the third and final time.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: Good to know.
[00:38:36] Speaker B: No one told me to say that. I was definitely told to say that.
[00:38:39] Speaker A: You're promoting your own show, man. It's okay.
[00:38:41] Speaker C: Why would you like.
[00:38:43] Speaker A: You're hosting the show right now.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: I know. That's what I'm saying. I'm just messing around.
All right, but going back to our conversation about the NFL, let's go ahead and talk about Bill Belichick a little. Last week. We talked know. Well, I kind of just kind of thought it was a done deal. By the way the rumors were sounding. I kind of said that the Bill Belichick was headed over to Atlanta, but instead they decided to go in a different direction, hiring Raheem Morris, the new coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
[00:39:11] Speaker C: Who was the interim?
[00:39:12] Speaker A: Old interim.
[00:39:13] Speaker C: The old interim during what, 2020?
[00:39:15] Speaker A: Listen, as a Panthers fan, this is awesome because I know every Atlanta fan has just recognized the past three years were just a waste of time. There's no other way to put it. You had the interim guy and now here he is after a few years of going other places and they just have that same guy again.
[00:39:32] Speaker B: It's kind of like, I guess it's not like that.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: But the Raiders gave up immediately on that.
[00:39:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought about it, but I was just trying to say in terms of the Raiders, because they had the coach, I always thought they should have gone with Rich. I can't say his last name. Biziaga.
[00:39:48] Speaker A: Yeah, something like that.
I think it's posace.
[00:39:51] Speaker B: Yeah, but, you know, they had him and then they let him go and then obviously that was a mess and then they hired another interim coach, which is kind of like I thought, why not just go with rich? But seems to be the case here. But it turns out from rumors, you know, how much we got to put in believing those, especially now that I'm here saying, let's not believe those. But Bill apparently wanted more control.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: That makes sense.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: Arthur Blank wanted him from the jump, but apparently other personnel, front office personnel, just didn't want Bill Belichick. They didn't want him full control over the team like he did with the Patriots and. Yeah, exactly.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: Arthur Smith listened to his staff.
[00:40:32] Speaker B: Well, not Arthur Smith, but Arthur blank. Yeah.
[00:40:34] Speaker A: Arthur. Excuse me. Arthur Blank.
[00:40:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is surprising, especially, I know a lot of Atlanta fans were kind of upset about not getting built, but, I mean, I don't think they should be too upset because Mike Tomlin, he was on the pivot not too long ago, and this is the quote he had on Raheem Morris.
I know that some of the guys being denied are in the top 32. Raheem Morris is one of the best coaches I know and have been around, and they don't have a head job, and he doesn't have a head job. I don't have any problem saying it, and I've never had any problem saying it, so.
[00:41:05] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:41:05] Speaker B: Big like words from Mike Tomlin.
[00:41:08] Speaker C: Since we're talking about the Falcons and the Steelers today, Arthur Smith just signed as coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
[00:41:14] Speaker B: Speaking of the Steelers, he sure did.
[00:41:16] Speaker C: Steelers fans be prepared for nausea Harris to sit 75% of the snaps and have Jalen Warren run every time, even though that was already this season.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: I honestly don't think it's a bad hire for the Steelers.
[00:41:26] Speaker C: Oh, I don't think so, either.
[00:41:27] Speaker A: I think it's honestly a good hire. Obviously, he's not going to make those decisions of choosing who's going to get the consistent playing time. Obviously, a lot of that will be if Mike Tomlin sees that somebody's not getting the ball enough, he's going to go tell Arthur Smith. And something tells me that Arthur Smith is going to listen.
But again, Arthur Smith has designed great run games where he's been.
[00:41:46] Speaker C: No.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: Yeah, he has.
[00:41:47] Speaker C: Without a doubt. I mean, Atlanta always had a great run game with Tyler Algier and, I guess Bijean this year. I mean, before they had Derek Henry. No matter who your offensive coordinator is, you have Derek Henry. You're going to have one of the best running game running teams in the whole NFL.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:42:03] Speaker C: I just think if they can get a quarterback and maybe some receiver help besides Deontay Johnson and George Pickens, who can separate from the ball, they can actually have a sufficient offense.
[00:42:14] Speaker B: Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see, especially know how Pickens has been this know season. So things do struggle offensively. It's gonna be curious to see where things go from there, especially with Mike Tomlin. He's coming back for this season, but who knows how much longer he has because rumors are saying that he's thinking about retirement. But let's go back to another candidate we were talking about earlier, Ben Johnson. We mentioned him coming back to the Detroit Lions. Is anybody a little shocked by that?
[00:42:42] Speaker C: I am very shocked because I thought he was going to go to Washington. I thought it was close to a done deal, but I think it's great for Detroit just keeping the offensive core together with.
[00:42:54] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:42:55] Speaker C: But Washington now has to pivot. And is there any ideas you guys have for their next head coach?
[00:43:02] Speaker B: It's probably going to be, my opinion would probably be.
[00:43:07] Speaker C: I keep forgetting Vrabel still out there.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: Or if you're willing to give Belichick all control. Like, that was the top rumor that we heard. First rumor we heard when rumors were saying that he might step away.
[00:43:17] Speaker A: Right.
[00:43:17] Speaker B: So I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up going to the commanders. But I really do think the commanders, I think they're definitely going to get. I don't know. It's really weird because I'm hearing a lot of different stuff and, you know, like I said, just said about the rumors, but Caleb Williams is another name being floated out there.
I know they're not getting the.
My bad. I completely just messed up. I thought for some reason, I thought the commanders had the number one favorite.
[00:43:40] Speaker A: What pick do they have?
[00:43:41] Speaker B: But they have the second overall pick.
[00:43:43] Speaker A: Okay. That's what I thought.
[00:43:43] Speaker B: But I was just saying, a lot of people are saying, I think it's just the new ownership and a lot of people are scared of how that's going to be about with Josh Harris. Yeah. And also magic Johnson, just to throw that out.
[00:43:56] Speaker C: Don't forget magic.
[00:43:57] Speaker A: Shout out him.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: Yeah, you can't forget his.
[00:43:59] Speaker C: No. The thing with Magic Johnson is I love it because I think the day after the game, he tweets, like the most basic thing, like the most basic recap rate analysis. The game's over. It's been 24 hours, man. Patrick Holmes is a great quarterback. He led the game winning drive to beat our Washington commanders. The game happened 24 hours ago.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: That's funny.
[00:44:21] Speaker C: So I love tuning into magic Johnson Twitter.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: I mean, there's nothing beats Magic Johnson. Showtime every time. But let's keep going on down these candidates. Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slovic as well.
[00:44:34] Speaker C: As Gerard Johnson, quarterback coach for the.
Both got a. They both resigned and got a raise.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: Good for them. So good for the Texans. They're both keeping huge pieces for what we saw for their offense, and you saw how good they were this season, beating expectations. And now they get keeping both.
Now they're keeping two other most important pieces of that offense going on to Andy Reid. I thought there was rumors of him retiring. Apparently there's rumors of him not retiring, and that wouldn't be surprising if the Chiefs win it all. Tanner, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm doubting you.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Thank you.
I think if you're a head coach and you've got somebody who will likely be the greatest quarterback of all time on your football team, and especially if you're an offensive guy, I think it's going to delay your retirement a pretty good amount because I think it's one of those things you might as well.
[00:45:29] Speaker C: What else do you have to lose?
[00:45:30] Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:45:32] Speaker C: Like you said, they're probably going to have the greatest quarterback of all time when it's all said and done because Patrick Mahomes is, what, still, like 25, 27?
[00:45:40] Speaker B: He's, like, up there now. Lamar is 28.
[00:45:43] Speaker C: Jeez.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: Lamar's 28. Are you sure about that?
[00:45:46] Speaker B: I'm positive. No, really not.
[00:45:49] Speaker A: Mahomes is 28.
[00:45:50] Speaker C: 28. Okay.
[00:45:51] Speaker B: Lamar, 28. I think he is.
[00:45:53] Speaker C: I thought Lamar was, like 20 March, 20, 727.
[00:45:57] Speaker A: Not that you're still. Yeah.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: But going on to the place that Andy Reid used to coach, Philadelphia, Nick Siriana. Nick Siriani. No surprise there. He's staying. But big changes at the coordinator's position. Kellen Moore's coming over from the Chargers, and Vic Fangio is coming over for the Dolphins.
I'm sorry I had you muted there. Evan, do you want to go ahead, Nick, awful.
[00:46:20] Speaker D: I'm so glad he's gone.
[00:46:22] Speaker B: We're going to get into that a little bit. A little bit more, because I do have a comment on that hire you're referring to Vic Fangio, obviously being the Dolphins fan, but Kyle Scott, also the former DB coach here at the University of Alabama, he's now being hired.
[00:46:34] Speaker C: Carl Scott.
[00:46:35] Speaker B: Carl Scott. I'm sorry. Autocorrect.
[00:46:38] Speaker A: Fix my note. Jeez, Connor.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: Well, I mean, might as well get it right. I'm sorry. I'm doing terrible.
[00:46:44] Speaker C: I forgive you. I forgive you, Jaylen.
[00:46:46] Speaker B: But what a hire of bringing in Callum Moore from the Chargers. The Eagles were 32nd in motion rate this season alone and the Chargers were six with 68%.
I think this is a great hire offensively.
[00:46:58] Speaker C: I do as well.
[00:46:59] Speaker B: I think if you're an Eagles fan, you've got to be really happy with this move.
[00:47:04] Speaker C: Yes, I'm very happy. The only thing that worries me is Kelly Moore has sometimes gone away from the run game as of what, the last few years. But I think getting in the training camp with Jeff Stoutland, who is the run game coordinator, I think them getting to know each other and just deciding what we're going to do in the next season, I think that will be big. And I honestly think he's going to maximize AJ Brown and I mean, didn't target the middle of the field at all last season. So seeing some of the route trees Keenan Allen was running last year, I'm excited about this hire.
[00:47:40] Speaker B: Yeah, it's going to be a fantastic hire. And like you said, if he forgets to run the ball, I promise you there will be Philly fans waiting outside to remind him to run the ball. Vic Fangio coming over for the Dolphins. Like we just talked about a little bit of an interesting situation there. He was kind know Connor, you know this as a Eagles fan. He was kind of an assistant, someone, an advisor during that year. They went to the Super bowl when Jonathan Gannon wasn't blessing at all. They brought in Vic Fangio and he's been on the sideline. A lot of people thought they were going to bring him the year following, but it turns out they went with Sean Desai because Vic Fiangio got an offer to go to Miami. But now this is where things get interesting.
It was a mutual agreement to part ways. It's not like he was fired. Apparently like the Evans referring to a lot of the Miami players apparently weren't very happy with Vic Fangio and the way he ran the defense. And apparently on Vic Fiangio's side, he's saying a lot of the young players on that team defensively are just all about that Miami lifestyle. So Vic Fiangio, who has family in Pennsylvania, finds himself with the Philadelphia Eagles finally. So let me get your opinion, Evan, starting with the Dolphins fan, what's your opinion on that move and what do you think about all this?
[00:48:51] Speaker D: Being on Dolphins twitter, I've definitely seen both sides be talked about being a Dolphins fan. Watching this defense the whole year, there were ups and downs, but there were sometimes I could just tell they weren't playing Dolphins football. And by that I mean the past five or six years Dolphins defense has been takeaways and blitzes cover zero playing man, matching your best Xavier Howard in the past. Jalen Ramsey now matching the best corner on the best receiver and just letting the guys play. And that would result in sometimes blowouts, but also it would keep games close when it mattered.
With Vic Fangio, it was frustrating because we had a decent defense. We kept Buffalo down to 21, but there were just some boneheaded things like in the playoff game, they kept on throwing these stupid blitzes at Patrick Mahomes and none of them worked because he would just wait it out and then throw under the coverage. So I'm glad he's gone. But on the personal side of it, you could definitely tell the Dolphins players didn't respect him like they did to the other coaches like Anthony Campanelli. And I think that does go to he just kind of alienated himself. He's an older guy. He does have that family in Pennsylvania. There's been a lot of sources saying Miami wasn't his first choice. He wanted to go to Philadelphia anyways, so it didn't seem like he wanted to be there. Seemed like he could have given some of the players hard times or not, just been uncooperative. And we definitely saw that with Cam Smith. Great college tape. He got maybe five minutes of playing time the entire season. So I think it's good for the younger players on the see, I know Vic Vanjio has the potential in the mind to be a good quarterback, but with what Miami's going for, he definitely wasn't right for us.
[00:50:43] Speaker C: I definitely know what you're talking about. I've seen the same things about the disconnect between Van Gio and the players, and I don't know what that was for, but I think one thing that will help with the Eagles is the position coaches. He's bringing mean Carl Scott.
He had four Pro bowlers at his time as a DB coach with the Seattle Seahawks. He was also the former DB coach for Alabama who he coached up guys like Patrick Sirtame, Trayvon Diggs, Brian Branch, Xavier McKinney. He's a free Xavier McKinney. And I think he will bring great success with this DB room who needs it badly because last season was very hard to watch as a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. But then also going down to the defensive line coach that they're bringing in from Seattle, what's his name?
[00:51:32] Speaker B: It's like Clint Hugh or something like. Something like that.
[00:51:34] Speaker A: I do not know.
[00:51:35] Speaker C: I think it's hurt. Yeah, that's what it is.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: It's a good defensive line coach name.
[00:51:40] Speaker C: I mean, first of all, he's huge. Have you seen his pictures?
[00:51:42] Speaker A: No.
[00:51:43] Speaker C: He is like Hulk.
[00:51:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:45] Speaker A: Good to know.
[00:51:45] Speaker B: Imagine like a ripped milk dud ripped kind of just because he's like in.
[00:51:52] Speaker C: That's an interesting.
[00:51:55] Speaker A: I know Connor's not going to comment.
[00:51:56] Speaker C: On that, but what I was going to say is he was under Vic Vanjio's defensive Bears defense during the mid two thousand and ten. S like two thousand and fourteen to two thousand and sixteen.
[00:52:08] Speaker A: That was when Fancio really started that cover six, which everyone fell in love with.
[00:52:11] Speaker C: Yeah, that's when he started going, started getting all the praise with the coverages. But then also that d line was insane. That was with Cleo Mac, Akeem Hicks. They had probably the best defense for a couple years under Vic Bangio and his coaching the D line. So I think the coaches he's bringing in will definitely elevate the defense in the next season.
[00:52:30] Speaker B: I know we're both excited being the Eagles fans that we are. And I know Evan, I know you're kind of down. I mean, you should be. I mean, like the Dolphins just got done interviewing Leslie Fraser. He was the old Bills defensive coordinator. There's a name that I think deserves a lot more respect. I know you.
[00:52:45] Speaker C: Brady to the Dolphins.
[00:52:51] Speaker A: I think they just named Joe Brady the official OC. Right?
[00:52:54] Speaker B: Right. Yeah, for the Bills. But before we go to break, or I mean end our show, I'm sorry, we're not going to any more breaks. But before I end our show quickly, just to talk about the Panthers, Panthers are hiring new general manager Dan Morgan, staying in house, and hiring head coach Dave Scanner.
Yeah, I wrote it like how I wrote it on my notes. I didn't knew I was going to mess it up.
[00:53:19] Speaker A: It's okay.
[00:53:19] Speaker B: But I think that's important to know because that's the one who we spoke a lot about last week, saying, like, he's been very impressive. His resume, working with Gino Smith, helping him win comeback player of the year, now reviving Baker Mayfield's career. I know it was a little risky because it was his first year being the offensive coordinator.
[00:53:35] Speaker A: We also signed him for six years.
[00:53:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:53:38] Speaker A: Hey, that's come if I'm back here next year and talking about, oh, I hope we get Ben Johnson, someone help me.
That's my only take that will truly be down the drain.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: Hopefully he is your guy. And I hope you guys, I do think you guys have found your guy, but I'll just say mean, I think Tepper's fully committed. I mean, that's one thing.
When he wants something, he's going to spend any amount of money to go.
[00:54:03] Speaker A: I've got a lot of stuff to say about David Tepper that I'll save for next week.
[00:54:06] Speaker B: Well, with that being said, you were listening to the student section. Nf thank you for being with us this evening. Y'all have a good night.
Tuscaloosa.
