Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This episode of the Point after is brought to you by Selligrate. Selligrate is a brand I co own selling fun and unique gifts. Our specialty is Scratch off posters. Alright listeners, you already know that during the Point After I'm always sharing thought provoking insights and hilarious jokes. But you might not know what else I'm doing during every show. Drinking a craft beer. Beer is great mk. Nothing more fun than chatting football with my buddies while sipping on a tasty brew. But I'm not your basic beer drinker either. I'm an avid explorer of all beer styles which is why I created the 100 essential beer style scratch off poster. This beautiful poster provides you with a bucket list of all the most important beer styles in existence and challenges you to try them all. It's not all about IPAs and lagers. Have you tried a Lambic yet? You need to. Have you tried a barley wine or a Goza? If not, you're missing out. Get your beer style Scratch off poster today for yourself or the beer aficionado in your life. It makes a great gift and will take you on an incredible journey through the world of fine beer. Get 15% off any order on Celebrate Shop while also supporting this show. When you use code pat, that's P A t at checkout on C E L E G R E A T Shop.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Welcome to the Point after show with.
[00:01:20] Speaker C: Kyle Maurer, Marshall heslav and Ian DeWitt. This is the show where the guys attempt to pick the winners of the weekly NFL games along with some healthy debate about current topics.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Let's go. Hey Kyle, would you. If our pod got sponsored by like a Coors Light or Bud Light, would you give up all IPA beers?
[00:01:38] Speaker A: What?
For the right price.
[00:01:43] Speaker C: Bud Light is doing it. It's going to be a lot of money.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: They have the budget to buy you off. My price is within their range.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: I just want to ask.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: That's if. What if they're sitting there saying Anheuser Busch is sitting there saying what's really important to us is the Kyle stops drinking. Drinking hoppy beers. They have enough money to make it happen. Okay, I'm just saying that I'm just.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Definitely for a future sponsor.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I was just asking and I love those and I'm cracking one at this very moment. So until then. Anheuser Busch Two Hearted. I'm hitting this Two Hearted 200's classic bells.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Guys, I got a good question of the day. I found this online and I wanted to see what your answer would be.
So who survives in this 50 hawks 10 crocodiles, three brown bears. I didn't say black bears. Okay, 15 wolves, one hunter with a rifle.
Seven buffalo.
10,000 rats.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: 10,000.
[00:02:42] Speaker B: Five gorillas or four lions.
[00:02:45] Speaker C: Question.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: None of them are on Detroit and have injury problems.
[00:02:49] Speaker C: No, that's not what I was going to ask.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Go ahead, hit me with it.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Question.
[00:02:52] Speaker C: Are they all fighting each other?
[00:02:55] Speaker A: Are they like in a coliseum or something together in a ring, or are.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: We doing like 50, like, are we doing like a playoff bracket here? 50 Hawks vs.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: I'm calling it Gladiator. Everyone's in the coliseum.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: I have my answer.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: Go ahead.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: I'm curious. If you've got it, then you go first.
[00:03:12] Speaker C: 10, 000 rats. Wow.
[00:03:13] Speaker A: Leaning that way myself.
[00:03:15] Speaker C: That's a lot of rats. And rats are in a pack. They can be very dangerous, actually.
[00:03:21] Speaker A: 10,000. Yeah, literally a thousand rats for like every other. For the cr. Each crocodile.
[00:03:28] Speaker C: Not only is that a lot of rats, that's a lot of disease. So if they don't actually kill them outright, they will literally.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: Are you serious?
[00:03:40] Speaker C: Slowly. No. Do I look like I'm. I'm totally serious. Well, how do you think the bubonic plague got spread?
The bubonic plague got spread by the rats eating all them snacks. That's all I got.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: I'm sticking with the rats.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Stick to your day job as well. All right. Well, that was. Kyle, do you have it?
[00:04:00] Speaker C: Absolutely rude.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Thank you. Any answer for you here, Kyle, off the top of your head?
[00:04:06] Speaker A: You know, my inclination is going to be five gorillas. We're talking. We're talking like silverbacks males.
[00:04:13] Speaker C: They're pretty intense.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: They can be very territorial.
[00:04:16] Speaker C: If I took the rats out, I.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: Was pure muscle, you know, like, the gorillas are the kind of things that I feel like that hunter could even get a few rounds and they would. That the gorilla would still be charging, oh, 100% and ripping limbs off. You know, that kind of thing.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: I would take six hippotamuses. They're not on here.
My. Do you want my funny answer or the real answer? I'm gonna give you both. Funny answer. I'm taking the hunter with a rifle because it's Chuck Norris. Thank you.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: Didn't tell us that.
[00:04:49] Speaker C: Yeah. If I knew this answer, but the.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Real answer that I would pick, I'm picking 50 hawks. Yeah, I was actually, because I think the hawks will outlast everyone except for the rats.
And hawks can kill rats. It's literally their job.
[00:05:06] Speaker C: So the hawks was interesting. I was. That was up there for me, because they could gouge out eyes pretty effectively.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:05:15] Speaker C: Outright. I don't know if they could kill one gorilla, but they could definitely, you know, cause them some problems, poke out their eyes that the Hawks could win the long game.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: Can I ask one other question that's not on our question of the day and you're not prepared for. Yeah.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: What's the best compliment you've ever been given?
[00:05:34] Speaker C: Best?
[00:05:35] Speaker B: Because I asked. Because I was just in Polly's at our local grocery store establishment buying Sour Patch Kids Sour Patch Children. I haven't called it that before for some students at school, and a guy walked in who I went to high school with, and I noticed him. He thought he noticed me. And I said, jordan, how's it going, man? He goes, huh. Marshall, you know, I didn't recognize you bald, but you look great. I mean, you have a good head for being bald in your beard. Looks phenomenal. Anybody that can stroke my ego in terms of the bald and beard combo, I'm in. My heart open.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: Hello.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Interesting. Wow.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: When I did lose a bunch of weight recently, I did, like, when people said that I look skinny, I was like, that was amazing.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Okay.
[00:06:31] Speaker B: Gain most of it back. Go ahead, Kyle.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: That's nice.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: That's compliment, I'm sure.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: Again, you put us on the spot here, and it's a deep question. I feel like if I had time to think about it, I'd probably come up with something that really reflects, like, the. The things that matter to me, because, again, it's. It's what? Compliments are meaningful to you. Says a lot about the type of person that you are and what you value.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: Wow. Now I'm a superficial idiot, really?
[00:06:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: I see how that's how you're gonna do this.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: I see how that came across.
[00:07:02] Speaker C: Wow, this is really early in the pod to get feisty with each other.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm done with you.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: That's what podcasts are for, right?
[00:07:09] Speaker C: I don't know. Sometimes we got feisty and it was stressful.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: Yeah, it could be. So don't take offense.
[00:07:14] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: Just kidding. Only get one. A pod. Get it out quick.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: The things that came to mind were not even compliments. They were actions.
Like when someone took an action based on something I did and that made me feel complimented because they wouldn't have taken that action had they not thought highly of me or what I was doing. You know, like, I. Back in the day, I put a conference together, and here in a small town and some big important people in my industry, you know, like, without even knowing the details like bought their plane tickets to come and show up and agreed to do whatever I requested of that. And that I took as an enormous compliment because, you know, given the circumstances and the status of like me and my town, I thought you guys are putting an enormous faith in me or another one.
Performing on stage. The first time I performed original songs and saw someone in the audience singing the words along to my.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: That I wrote, like I wrote this and you're saying. And when I saw somebody just singing like the verse, not even the catchy hooky chorus, you know, like just seeing the. All the words to a song that I wrote, they don't have to compliment me. Like, you wouldn't do that if you didn't like it.
[00:08:39] Speaker C: It's true.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Can I add one in for me?
[00:08:41] Speaker C: That's a good one.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Can I add one in? Because now I feel like I gotta give an actual answer of. I like when I, when I asked students like, who are their people?
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: And they're like, oh, you're one of them for sure. And that's like one of the go to's. And I like being right. I like the idea of being known as wise. It's like a life goal. O unachievable, I think, to be wise. But like, I would love people to know me as that one day.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: I kind of think of you as a wise guy.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: Oh, no. A wise ass, but not a wise guy.
What do you.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: One that I.
[00:09:12] Speaker B: We're deep in this. Ten minutes in one that I thought.
[00:09:15] Speaker C: Of was when I. It's kind of like a two fold because it was kind of on both ends where when I was teaching seniors, they asked me to do the commencement speech. Oh, for graduation.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:09:31] Speaker C: Which is always. That's voted on. And that's always like kind of like a very humbling kind of experience to like, these kids, like, think highly of you enough to like want to hear what you have to say to them on their day that they're gonna graduate high school. That's just like pretty, you know, that's like a big deal. And then, and then after I gave the commencement speech, just like all the parents then coming up and like, oh my God, that was so beautiful. And just like that entire summer when I was going out or I would see people, they would constantly be bringing it up.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:10:11] Speaker C: So it feels.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: That's a good one.
[00:10:12] Speaker C: It like feels as someone who loves.
[00:10:15] Speaker A: Public speaking, like a commencement speech is like, that's, that's, that would be. That's. I mean, I couldn't put it on my bucket list because I could never.
[00:10:23] Speaker C: That was.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: I could never get that.
[00:10:25] Speaker C: Probably top top five in terms of like the most nervous I've ever been.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:10:33] Speaker C: Before.
[00:10:34] Speaker B: Once before the Lions playoffs last year.
[00:10:36] Speaker C: Dude, you have. No joke.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: 1, 2, 3, and 4. Are all the drives against San Francisco going. This.
[00:10:45] Speaker A: I can.
[00:10:46] Speaker C: Oh, gosh. You. Yeah. You're not.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: That's a good answer, though, Ian. I'm glad I put you guys on the spot. Thank you for showing up and getting a good spot there. We're gonna go right into our mailbag. All right. We got some great questions, takes from our people. We're gonna go right into the Sam Darnold conversation.
[00:11:03] Speaker A: Why not?
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Hard to ignore.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: We have. We have talked.
We're gonna go to hear from our listeners first and I'm gonna get. I'm gonna give you my take first, then we're gonna go from there.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Sounds good.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: Jamie Hessel and Justin Matson both write in separately about this. Jamie Hasla writes, and I think the Sam Darnold discussion is interesting. Has 14 wins earned him anything? Justin Matson, our local Vikings correspondent, who. I forget. We forgot he was at the game. He was at the game for Detroit.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Oh, my.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: So I texted him and I didn't get a response for a while and all of a sudden he's like, he sent me a picture of him and at the. But remember he said he was going to be at the bus. That was a lion's bus. And here he is in his gear of just Viking stuff surrounded by the Lions bus.
[00:11:53] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:11:54] Speaker B: Pretty cool.
[00:11:54] Speaker C: So cool.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: So Justin Matson writes in bridge. Quarterback Sam Darnold did a fine job of being a bridge, but I'm not signing up for another year of young Kirk Cousins.
I hate that I fell in love for a franchise like this. Every year I feel like Michael Scott on the office listening to the demo version of Goodbye, My Lover. I'll be ready to get hurt again come August. I texted Justin after the game and his simple reply to me is, we are ready for jj.
[00:12:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: It's such an interesting thing.
I just don't know. One, it was record breaking, actually, to go 14 and three and then lose in the wild card. No one has ever done that before, which is just kind of like a rough, rough spot.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: What a badge of honor.
[00:12:48] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know about that. It was when they lost to the Lions, there was a part of me that was like, okay, that looked like Aaron Glenn dialed up a good game plan against them and it looked like they Were like Darnold was having an off day. It looked like kind of a combination of both.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: It was a perfect storm.
[00:13:05] Speaker C: It was kind of a perfect storm of the Vikings looking like they weren't playing their best ball and the Lions defense actually showing up.
But not like I. I was pretty hopeful that they would turn it around against the Rams. And then they just. It was bad. It was bad for the first play. It was so bad. They got sacked on the first play after the Rams touchdown and then it was just downhill and I just.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:31] Speaker C: I just don't know if I've ever seen a collapse that epic.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I've heard a lot of the rhetoric about this game. Pretty much what you're saying. And I kind of have a different take on it. I think that there were two plays in this that going the other way. This is a different game. It could be a 28 point swing.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: Are you talking about the Rams game?
[00:13:52] Speaker B: The Rams had an incomplete pass. That was definitely not an incomplete pass. That would have went for a scoop and score for the Vikings.
[00:13:58] Speaker C: Oh, that was a fumble.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Okay. So clear as day.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: Were you watching the Manning cast and Bill Belichick's comment on that? Like you guys, there's no. There's no rules that help the defense in this league.
[00:14:09] Speaker C: And it was a lot of the rhetoric online was even just like while that is technically a pass because his arm was moving forward, it was like it's so against the spirit of the rule. You shouldn't count it.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:14:23] Speaker C: And at the very least it should have been intentional grounding at the bare minimum.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: At the minimum. And. And then I think the other scoop it score. You know, you turn one play.
I'm picking one play and saying that it was a blowout when it was 10 to 9 at that first incomplete. That wasn't incomplete.
[00:14:42] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:42] Speaker B: So while it did look like it was a one side, it was 10 to 9. So I. I understand Justin's frustration being the young Kirk Cousins. I think that that's a funny little tidbit for us to hold on to. Myself is selfish to talk about how I don't like her cousins.
But for. That's a great compliment for Sam Darnold because he's going to be getting paid like it. He might have cost himself close to $100 million.
[00:15:09] Speaker C: Oh yeah.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: But.
[00:15:10] Speaker C: But he'll get paid still.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Do you think he. If you give me immediate yes or no. On the count of three, will he be resigned and be the starting quarterback week one for the Minnesota Vikings next year? One, two, three. No.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Four no's or four nos including Justin.
So.
[00:15:31] Speaker C: But I do think he will be signed somewhere else.
There's teams that are.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Oh, we're not there. There's seven or eight that right now that would take Sam Darnold, the same Darnold that played this year the exact.
[00:15:44] Speaker C: Same way like the Minnesota does. Just like on a flyer like we got nothing to lose. We'll give you a cheap deal. I, I bet he'll get a very similar deal, maybe a little bit more.
[00:15:53] Speaker B: I think he could get Daniel Jones money.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I can see it. Yeah. So I mean there's nothing I wouldn't believe at this point in this league teams get, I don't get desperate and teams over invest in players and look at just the upside and he's now got a lot of tape that is in his favor. You know he let a little time pass. Right now we just got a bad taste in our mouth because he finished with his worst which about as bad a showing as you could. That's, that's a bad thing to do. And it probably, it probably did cost him in the tens of millions that game.
For the, for the rest he's going to have the.
[00:16:30] Speaker C: His. Yeah, he's going to have to go to another teammate probably on a one year prove it deal.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Again, lots of, lots of free agents are coming off the team for Minnesota this upcoming year. So lots of big decisions.
[00:16:41] Speaker C: Lot of defensive guys too, which was supposed to be their better side of the ball.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: And honestly for the talent that they had, I thought that their defense played well, especially under their defensive coordinator named Brian.
[00:16:55] Speaker C: Oh, Brian Flores.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: There we go. Little pop quiz for you there. No, it's all right. It's okay. Our next question is for Kyle. It's from Tim DeWitt. It's his specialty.
Rookie quarterback looked good. How was their defense? What did you think of the commanders? Jane Daniels, outstanding yesterday. Yes, outstanding. He was one of the few. Not yesterday, two days ago, but he looked outstanding.
Not just the way that he threw or ran. I was enthralled with his pocket presence. I heard at school, I was talking with a couple guys talking about his pocket presence reminds them of like a current Lamar, which is kind of, I mean watching the game, he's stepping up, he's making moves up, back down, left, right where it's a one game sample size but there were a lot of moves in there that looked like it. And you and I joked together that there are a few times a game where we just see a Lamar play that's Only a Lamar play.
[00:17:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Five years from now, are we going to say that? I don't know.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:18:00] Speaker B: I don't know. Kyle, he's a rookie quarterback. The floor is yours. You hate rookie quarterbacks. Go ahead.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: I, like, I'm excited about this.
You know, I've been. I've been. My. My argument has been kind of rearranged and jostled and, And. And misconstrued, I think, slightly. But he has become a bit of an exception to the rule in his relevance, because in the past, I've railed a little bit against the. The discourse around rookie quarterbacks and a lot of those.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: You're talking about C.J. stroud?
[00:18:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I was just about to. My immediate thought was, like, C.J. straw is literally the Jaden Daniels of last year.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: This is 50 of our years as a podcast.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. It's pretty special. And they've both had. They've both had excellent rookie seasons. That doesn't mean that they're, like, in contention parties.
[00:18:51] Speaker C: Yeah, like, Stroud regressed pretty hard this year. He's actually picking up a little bit. He was actually pretty good against the Chargers, but I think he's a great.
[00:19:00] Speaker A: Quarterback, and I think he's going to have a long, successful career. And I feel the same about Jayden Daniels, and I'm actually. I want to watch good players play. And, And I think that seeing a phenom like, like Jayn Daniels come into the league with incredible promise and especially infusing life into a franchise that has had not much to root for or get excited about and what feels like decades, that's really cool. Suddenly this. This commander's team is. Is worthy of watching. And I want to watch good football. That's the thing. So this is. This is somebody who's. If he's got even more upside than this ahead of him, which, you know, odds are suggest that that's going to be the case as he continues to mature, as the roster around him gets better, as he builds even greater chemistry with the pieces around him and his offensive coordinator, provided Cliff doesn't take a head coaching job, apparently back on the interviewing circuit.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: Oh, is he? I thought I heard he wasn't going to do anything.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: I don't know. Because technically, hearing Sarkeesian might leave Texas, so maybe Sark might leave Texas and maybe Cliff might become the head coach of Texas.
[00:20:05] Speaker C: Cliff has still got Arizona money coming.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: He's still being paid by getting fired as a head coach after a short tenure.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: You know what's better? Getting Fired and not working.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: What about that double. You're. I'm talking that double salary.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do a stint with the Panthers, you could get. You could even get the triple salary.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: Was there anything that stood out to you in the game, Ian? In that game, particularly with the Commanders.
[00:20:32] Speaker C: His scramble so they didn't punt a single time.
They had a couple turnover on downs. Technically, you wouldn't count that as anything. They don't even count it as a turnover. Although I think it. I would like that to get counted as a turnover on somebody. I don't know how they would do it.
[00:20:51] Speaker B: Turn over on Dan Quinn.
[00:20:52] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:20:53] Speaker C: But so his ability to move around the pocket is definitely impressive. And it does. Like, as a Lions fan, like, that has always been kind of a Achilles heel of them a little bit.
[00:21:07] Speaker B: Justin Fields. Every year you take the over on rushing yards against the Lions, they have.
[00:21:12] Speaker C: Struggled against quarterbacks like this, which is why it does make me a little nervous.
But I watched the Commanders and I watched the Jaden Daniels show, and he throws it to scary Terry occasionally. Zach Ertz. And I'm like, that's about what you got.
[00:21:32] Speaker B: And he has 80% of their receiving touchdowns this year, Terry. Yeah.
[00:21:37] Speaker C: That tells you a lot right there. Scary to think that tells you a lot right there. And their running game is fine.
[00:21:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:21:45] Speaker C: What I like about this team is Dan Quinn. Oh, I love what he has been able to do with this team, especially in one year. To like, with a rookie quarterback, that's kind of unheard of. I know Koc Kevin O'Connell is like the. The favorite to win coach of the year because voting would have happened before that Lions game, I think, or like right after. I'm not really sure.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: Right around that timeline.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: Definitely before the Rams game. I don't know if he would have won it after that, but he would have already probably been voted for. But Dan Quinn has a really good case of, like, taking a franchise. As you said, this was their first win since 2005. This was the third longest playoff drought in the NFL that they just killed.
[00:22:32] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:22:33] Speaker C: And I, I love. I love it just like you. I love, like, watching a team like this because I can, like, feel for that.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:42] Speaker C: Finally have some success.
[00:22:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:44] Speaker B: Daniel Snider has to be pissed.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Oh, isn't that. Isn't that just like the cherry on top?
[00:22:50] Speaker C: That's the best.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Isn't that great? Like, as soon as he's gone, this team means something again.
[00:22:55] Speaker B: That's all I could think about. In the game. That's, like, all I could think about was how he was rooting against them when they were driving.
[00:23:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:03] Speaker C: But I've watched some of, like, the interviews with Dan Quinn, especially over the last, like, 24 hours, and I just, like, I just think he's, like, a cool dude. I think the way he talks about his team and, like, how he chooses to prepare them. There was a whole article that was out there that was about former NFL coaches that got fired and then were either rehired or were looking to get rehired and just kind of like lessons learned. And he had a whole section in there. It was fascinating. Did you know he lived in. He lives in Hawaii, by the way.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: What?
[00:23:40] Speaker B: That backwards hat gives a vibe about Hawaii.
[00:23:42] Speaker C: I didn't know that.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:44] Speaker C: But he talked a lot about how, like, the reflection process that he went through, especially when he was with the Cowboys for a little bit there, like, what that looked like. And I, I just like reading that. I had a lot more respect for him as a coach. Yeah, that's a good.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: That's a good thought to bring. I'm going to pivot to our. Our next game that we're going to talk about the Eagles and the Packers.
As our. Well, former Packer fan, I want to hear your take here first, Kyle, Eric G. Nunzio and Tim DeWitt right in here. Eric G. Nunzio writes in is Jordan Love Dak with a better coach, or how would Dak and Love do if they switch teams?
[00:24:24] Speaker C: Let's just start there because that's specifically Packers. So let's just start there with the second question. No, like that whole first question from Eric G. I didn't know if you were about to read.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: No, go for it. G's got a good point there. I think.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: No, I think that they're very different quarterbacks. I think they have different strengths and different skill sets. And I think that, gee, you're probably. There's like a tone that this is meant as a shot against Dak, but I, I think that is a. Is an excellent quarterback.
[00:24:54] Speaker C: I agree.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: And I think he's underrated a little bit. Yeah, I think he's been.
I think that the Cowboys have been kind of poorly managed, and I think that when the circumstances are right, Dak is an all pro quarterback. And.
And I don't really think that the offense has been well designed in recent years, but for the most part, he's been a consistent winner, high performer. I think one of the more reliable, better quarterbacks in the league since he's since he came in as a. As a standout rookie.
And so I think that that's a great compliment to Jordan Love to be getting compared to Dak. I don't. I don't really. He would. I wouldn't think of them. If I was trying to think of a Jordan Love comparison, Dak wouldn't come to mind because I think they have very different play styles. Play under very different circumstances.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: I think G's trying to get at that he's a choker in the playoffs.
[00:25:47] Speaker A: Okay. Pretty small sample size. Jordan Love had a fantastic performance against the Cowboys last year.
[00:25:54] Speaker C: Upset he didn't choke last year.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: One of them has to if they're playing each other.
[00:25:59] Speaker C: That's true.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: I think he performed great against the Cowboys and great against the Niners, but they were outmatched against the team.
[00:26:07] Speaker C: I know the scoreline was 10 to 22. I actually thought the packers put up a pretty good fight against the Eagles. That game was.
Honestly, I. I watched a majority of the game.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:19] Speaker C: It was because I. I was curious because I actually wanted the Packers.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Because you're previewing.
[00:26:23] Speaker C: I am previewing. I was like watching.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: I know the game. Jamie's really interested in the Buffalo Ravens game.
[00:26:29] Speaker C: Oh, God.
[00:26:30] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:26:31] Speaker C: So I. I was very much watching this game and I. Honestly, the packers, they lost a lot of people to injuries. They were literally down their three starting receivers. This game was 10 to 22 at the final. But it was. It was. That scoreline is further apart than what was actually shown. I actually thought the packers put up a pretty good fight. They were having a really hard time scoring. But how are you going to score when you don't have anyone to throw to?
[00:26:57] Speaker A: It's true. And the Eagles, they have a fantastic defense. And the Eagles are one of the healthier teams in the playoffs right now. They bas. They have their. Their whole roster.
[00:27:05] Speaker C: So, like the number one defense.
[00:27:07] Speaker A: Yes. So I'm not too depressed about the result in that game. It's kind of on par with what I expected.
[00:27:15] Speaker C: It was expected, I think, for most people.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:17] Speaker C: Because the, The. The packers basically kind of limped into that game anyways. Pretty poor performance against the Packer or the Bears.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: They kind of exceeded my expectations in the regular season. I thought they were very spicy, competitive team. I think that they've got some really special talent. I think in many ways that their defense outperformed expectations. I think there was some growth on the offensive side. Josh Jacobs was. Was really a great acquisition that.
[00:27:45] Speaker C: That particular game.
If, if that. If the Eagles did Not get basically free seven points in the first 30 seconds of that game because of that fumbled kickoff return.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: Right.
[00:27:58] Speaker C: I, I actually think that game might have been significantly closer because the Eagles had a really hard time moving the ball.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:28:06] Speaker C: Because they shut down Saquon and they forced Jaylen Herz to try to do anything in which he. He couldn't.
[00:28:12] Speaker A: And for reasons which are hard to describe, Eagles passing game is really disappointing.
[00:28:17] Speaker C: So this is actually something my Tim DeWitt.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Pause on that for just a sec. Just to compare the two, like in terms of stats and specifics. Like Dak Prescott 2 and 5 in the playoffs and has 14 touchdowns to seven picks in the seven games that he played. So there was a pick every game. Throws north at 250 yards passing. Jordan Love, 1 and 2, has five touchdowns and five interceptions in the three games that he plays. So a lot of. And I went and looked back at some of these DAC games. A lot of these are running the score, running up the stats, passing a ton because they are down by a ton. I mean they had a couple big blowout games where he's passing the entire second half.
[00:29:03] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: So take that into account while we're talking about it and let's transition to what Tim DeWitt was saying. Right.
[00:29:08] Speaker C: So when it came to the Eagles, he just said the Eagles look pretty one dimensional on offense. Do we think they're beatable? I definitely would agree with the one dimensional portion. They. And I think that's actually been true of them pretty much all year.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: Right.
[00:29:24] Speaker C: That offense has run through Saquon. Yeah. They got two really good receivers though in Smith and A.J. brown, but A.J. brown's too busy reading a book on the sidelines apparently.
I actually thought, that's so funny, that drama.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: I know.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: And then he's doing it. Been doing it all year now. Like, oh, it just happened. Let's go back and look the film. Okay. You're right.
[00:29:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I just, I just.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: You're right. When Kenny, when that Tanner McKee threw the touchdown and then you kicked it in the stands, you were going to the sideline to read your book. You're right. You're right. A.J. brown, that's what you were doing.
[00:29:59] Speaker C: So they, I would definitely agree that they do feel like they are a run heavy team. But when you got a guy like Saquon and you got the one of the best O lines in the league at 10 tends, it clearly tends to work for them.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm not sure how to explain away the regression in their passing game because a couple Years ago it was excellent. Yeah. And. And now not a lot has changed. But they. That it just looks like such a struggle so consistently so. I honestly don't know what to make of that. But yes, Mr. Duet, the. The Eagles are beatable. Every team is beatable. You know, we could. We could say that. But Eagles definitely look like for as healthy as they are, as talented as that roster is, as much as their. As strong as their win streak has been, it's. Anybody watching them play can see that this is a team that can be taken down. Yeah. And there are teams alive in the playoffs right now with exactly the talent and strength to do that.
[00:31:02] Speaker C: Philly LA game.
That is not. I know everyone's hyping up Buffalo Ravens for very obvious reasons, but that LA Philly game, that could be pretty good. That's the other game.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: I think all four of these games are going to be good. I don't think there's going to be a game in here that's going to be bad.
[00:31:22] Speaker C: That's right.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Which is good because wild card weekend disappointed.
[00:31:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:31:25] Speaker A: So there was one good game this weekend.
[00:31:27] Speaker B: I think we're the few people that think that because everyone watched College Football Playoff and said these bullocks are awful. And then they watched the NFL and they said this game. This is great. Give me more. That's all. I heard that these games were great. Every game was like that was a great game. They.
[00:31:42] Speaker C: There was only awful. There was. I.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: That's what I just said.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: I. I'm not saying I'm disagreeing with you. I'm saying popular media of what is out there today is this was great football. All of the games.
[00:31:55] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't hear that.
[00:31:56] Speaker A: I didn't hear that.
[00:31:57] Speaker C: I actually did not hear that.
[00:31:58] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. It may be.
[00:32:00] Speaker C: Maybe. Maybe some people are but the like Pittsburgh awful.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Right.
[00:32:06] Speaker C: 06 in the last. Their last six playoff appearances.
[00:32:10] Speaker B: Broads.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: They are. They haven't won a playoff game since 2016.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: They're a directionless team.
[00:32:16] Speaker C: This team has a problem and I don't actually. So here's. Here's where I kind of land on the Pittsburgh Steelers one.
I'm very happy with myself calling this at the beginning of the year, by the way, that this was how this was going to go.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:32:33] Speaker C: But.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:32:34] Speaker C: That being said, I just want to pat myself on the back, but I will say I don't.
[00:32:40] Speaker B: Can you tell the people that are new to our pod what you predicted instead of just saying you got it right and then moving.
[00:32:45] Speaker C: So at the beginning of our off Season pod. I had said that either Harbaugh on the Ravens or Mike Tomlin was going to be either fired or traded or something. Because I said what's going to happen inevitably with the Steelers is they're going to get to the playoffs and they're going to lose. And this is going to be the same thing over and over and over again, which is basically. Which is exactly what happened with the Steelers.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: But he hasn't been fired.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: But he hasn't been fired. And they have already said that they're probably not going to, which is what they did last year.
[00:33:15] Speaker B: He has he.
[00:33:17] Speaker C: Technically, I said he probably could be. The way the sequence played out. I know what you're trying to do, you're trying to challenge the whole thing.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: But, yeah, I'm hearing it talked about in sports media.
[00:33:26] Speaker C: Right. It's a lot. And the noise.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: I'll call that a. I'll call that a win.
[00:33:29] Speaker C: The noise. The noise has gone up on Tomlin every single year that this keeps happening.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:33:37] Speaker C: And it's. At some point you have to do something. You have to do something. You got to take a flyer here. And this is going to be. I need you to bear with me here for a second because I'm going to make.
[00:33:48] Speaker B: I won't interrupt anything.
[00:33:49] Speaker C: I'm going to make a comparison here that's going to sound outrageous because it kind of is outrageous.
This scenario of having a coach but you're in limbo feels very similar to two other teams that had the same experience before. I think of Marvin Lewis with the Bengals, okay, And I think of the Jim Caldwell Lions, okay, where they were both of those teams and the Steelers are now in this category. To me, they are good enough to find themselves with meaningful football down the stretch. They are good enough to occasionally get into the playoffs, but they are never good enough to do anything other than that. And so then there's always a debate. And it happened with Jim Caldwell and it happened with Marvin Lewis, and it's happening with Mike Tomlin is that all three of them have this narrative that starts, like, what are you going to do? Like, you're going to fire him? And with the Lions, with Jim Caldwell, it was like, we can't fire Jim Caldwell. He's your winningest head coach that you've ever had. Like, what are you going to do? Like, Lions, you don't deserve anything better than what? Like, just be happy you're in the playoffs. Like, why can't you be happy? And the Lions took a flyer and said, no, we want something new. We want. We want to be better than this. We're tired of being stuck in the middle. Yeah, they fired him. We all know what happened afterwards. But. But. But we know where that led.
[00:35:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:35:22] Speaker C: We know that while Patricia was terrible, it got us to where we are today because of Dan Campbell. Right.
Two pieces air. So I know I don't necessarily think Mike Tomlin is a bad coach, but I do think both sides need a fresh start.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:35:43] Speaker C: And the reason why I think a trade would behoove the Steelers is because we talk about, you know, like, oh, the Lion. Like, people should look to the Lions as, like, look at what they did. Look at how they rebuilt their team. Look at what good.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: Their formula.
[00:36:01] Speaker C: Look at their formula. You want to know what started that formula? The Stafford trade. They literally traded away the. The face of the franchise for the past however many years he was with like 12 years, he was Detroit Lions football. They traded him away. And what did they get with it? A whole bunch of draft capital that they turned into Sam Laporta, they turned into JMO Williams, they turned into Penne Sewell, they turned it into all of these great guys that have built this super bowl contending team.
[00:36:34] Speaker A: Right.
[00:36:35] Speaker C: If the Steelers want a refresh, they need to do something dramatic, and I think that would be. There are teams out there that would love Mike Tomlin. That I think would be good for both of them.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:50] Speaker C: I just think if I'm a Steelers fan because I've been in this situation, I want something new. I don't care if it's worse, because I just want to. I want. I would rather the team risk it than just say, well, we're fine with this.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:04] Speaker C: Because that's awful.
[00:37:06] Speaker A: Go. Take.
[00:37:07] Speaker B: I like the take. I don't see it happening. I just don't see them trading. I like the take. I like the idea. I don't see it happening.
[00:37:15] Speaker A: I got a question for you guys.
The teams in the playoffs, talk to the fans. Think about the fans of these franchises, who should feel the worst and who should feel the best about their future.
Especially with an eye on the teams that are eliminated.
[00:37:33] Speaker C: Are we talking about the current eight teams left?
[00:37:36] Speaker A: Include the ones, any of the playoff teams, the teams that made the playoffs.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: Let's make it spicy and do the eight. Let's make it spicy. It doesn't be harder to do that.
[00:37:45] Speaker C: The eight teams are going to feel.
[00:37:47] Speaker A: Pretty comfortable, but it's more interesting to talk about the eliminated ones, who should feel good about their future and who should feel bad. About their future.
[00:37:54] Speaker C: I still think. Well, I think Denver should feel pretty good.
[00:37:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:37:59] Speaker B: House money. They shouldn't have made the playoffs. No one thought they were going to have seven wins.
[00:38:03] Speaker C: Bo Nicks looked great. Their defense looks good. I think if Bo Nicks gets some.
[00:38:07] Speaker B: Weapons, their coach shouldn't be fired. Now apparently, apparently he still knows football.
[00:38:13] Speaker C: Yeah, I, I think the Broncos, I think exceeded expectations by country mile.
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:38:18] Speaker C: And so like Bronco country. Let's ride like, come on, let's do it.
[00:38:23] Speaker A: Who should feel bad Then we talked.
[00:38:24] Speaker B: About the Steelers, the Chargers.
[00:38:26] Speaker A: Chargers should feel bad.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: Herbert looked awful. Herbert turned into what you guys have called TUA all year the last two years.
He looked like a shell of himself. He looked like what it looked like before they hired Jim Harbaugh.
[00:38:44] Speaker C: Three interceptions on the year to then four interceptions in just one game. Crazy bad time to have a bad.
[00:38:51] Speaker A: So why should you feel bad like you've got your coach. You. You're saying you don't have your quarterback. You're saying they shouldn't.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: You had your coach. You have your quarterback and you still didn't. You were awful.
[00:39:02] Speaker C: Your. Your quarterback choked.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:39:05] Speaker C: I mean I. A lot of that.
[00:39:06] Speaker A: So what do you do with that?
[00:39:07] Speaker B: He's just feel get a good tight end that's going to become his new best friend because he can't keep throwing to just lad McConkey.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:39:15] Speaker C: Who do you.
Who do you think should feel good? Mark Kyle.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Broncos are good. A good one right now. I feel pretty optimistic as a Packers fan. I think it's still a young team with a lot more upside in the future.
[00:39:35] Speaker C: Commanders obviously should feel.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: Commanders should feel great. They should feel real good. Yes. You guys should be ecstatic.
[00:39:41] Speaker B: They're probably number two on my list.
[00:39:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:45] Speaker C: Who should feel. So we know that the Chargers should feel bad. Who do you think should be? Who. Who do you think is feeling pretty bad?
[00:39:52] Speaker A: Steelers, maybe Vikings.
[00:39:55] Speaker C: Vikings are losing a lot.
You don't. You don't really know what you're getting with J.J. mcCarthy just yet.
Vikings are a good candidate to feel pretty bad.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: The best team and it's not close to me. It's the Lions. They had a buy.
[00:40:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: They should feel the best.
[00:40:10] Speaker C: You know who's going to feel awful?
Either Buffalo or the Ravens. One of them is going to feel terrible.
[00:40:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:40:17] Speaker C: Both of these teams feel like they deserve to be in the Super Bowl.
[00:40:21] Speaker B: I haven't scrolled down. If that's not our must watch game of the week, I'm walking out of the park.
[00:40:24] Speaker C: I didn't put a must watch because when you're in the playoffs, they're all must watch.
[00:40:27] Speaker B: That's true. Everything's prime time.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: Right?
[00:40:29] Speaker B: Can't pick it.
[00:40:29] Speaker C: You're right.
[00:40:30] Speaker B: Good job. Pick ones. That's a trick. Okay. Anything else on our biggest news that we need to hit on here that you guys thought that needed to be discussed? We kind of hit every game on here.
[00:40:41] Speaker C: The only other thing, I didn't put it on here. McCarthy's out. Only reason I worth Only reason worth mentioning because good for us, for all predicting that one, by the way. The only reason it's worth mentioning is because the way it happened, how he didn't get outright fired or not technically fired. Just told we're not going to reunion. Your contract.
[00:41:04] Speaker B: Hey, don't come back tomorrow.
[00:41:05] Speaker C: They like hung on for that two week period. I think it was before. They just kind of were like, yep.
[00:41:11] Speaker B: Hey, you can't go higher for the interview for the Bears. Also don't come back.
[00:41:15] Speaker A: That's very unusual. The cow usually happens.
[00:41:19] Speaker B: Just crap show the Cowboys.
[00:41:22] Speaker C: I don't know what Jerry Jones is thinking, whether he thinks I was a. A dig on McCarthy. Like you just wasted a week where every other team that needs a head coach interviewed and you didn't. You did not interview. Now you're behind.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: Yep, Exactly. I mean, McCarthy's got the best agent apparently in the world, and I'm sure he'll be fine. And somehow there's going to be teams.
[00:41:47] Speaker C: McCarthy will be fine. Someone will hire him, whether it's a. A coordinator or an actual head coaching position, which is, I still think, very likely for him.
[00:41:55] Speaker A: I still think very likely, too. But it is weird how this played out. It's extremely unusual that just like a coaching contract expires and nothing and that's it.
[00:42:06] Speaker C: And you don't get news of it until the day of.
[00:42:09] Speaker B: That's bizarre.
[00:42:11] Speaker A: I don't. I've ever even heard.
[00:42:12] Speaker C: Did you guys see what Troy Aikman had to say about the whole thing?
[00:42:15] Speaker B: Yeah, that he's. That it's not a coveted job for anybody because people can't coach the way they want to coach with Jerry Jones as the owner, which everyone knows and no one has said. Yeah, which. Good. Good on Troy Hickman for saying Troy.
[00:42:28] Speaker C: Has turncoat on that team. Pretty hard.
[00:42:31] Speaker B: Did you see who's the favorite to be the coach as of right now on DraftKings +100.
[00:42:37] Speaker C: I saw that Deion Sanders was talking.
[00:42:40] Speaker B: Deion Sanders +100 to be the head coach.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: Come on. I don't believe that.
[00:42:46] Speaker B: Trade Dak to Tennessee for the number one overall pick.
[00:42:48] Speaker C: Here's a scenario. Here's a scenario.
What if.
[00:42:53] Speaker A: What if $60 million guy.
[00:42:56] Speaker C: What if the Cowboys buy out Belichick's 10 million contract with UNC? Take him.
[00:43:02] Speaker B: I just don't think he wants to coach under Jerry.
[00:43:05] Speaker C: I. There was rumors that he was open to the possibility.
I don't think Belichick's gonna leave at this point.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: A lot of rumors.
[00:43:13] Speaker B: I like a good rumor.
[00:43:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:43:14] Speaker B: Let's go on to our weekly segment. Ian, kick us off.
[00:43:18] Speaker C: All right. I figured I did something I've never done this week.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:43:25] Speaker C: I watched WWE Raw.
[00:43:27] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:43:30] Speaker C: I've never. I've never watched wwe. I've, like, obviously, I know about it. I know the clips. I know. I like the main.
[00:43:37] Speaker B: It's a safe place.
[00:43:39] Speaker C: I feel like you've already told us.
[00:43:41] Speaker B: You've told us that you like the new listeners.
I like wrestling. All right, let's go on to our next segment. Go ahead, Ian.
[00:43:50] Speaker C: So I. I saw that it was on Netflix, and the only reason I watched it was because Pat McAfee was going to be the announcer. Really? Yeah. It's 100 was why I watched it, so.
But I gotta. I was immediately enamored when all the lights went dark and there was like, no noise for like 10, 10 seconds.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:44:18] Speaker C: And then all of a sudden.
Can you smell?
[00:44:22] Speaker A: And it just.
[00:44:24] Speaker C: The place went.
[00:44:25] Speaker B: Nice cooking.
[00:44:26] Speaker C: And I was just like, watching this, and the lights everywhere. And he steps out and stands there, and I was like, that was kind of sweet.
I was immediately like, all right, I'm gonna watch this. I'm gonna watch this for a little bit. And I watched it and I actually thought it was kind of funny. It's clearly staged and all that stuff, but it was kind of fun. It was kind of fun.
[00:44:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:50] Speaker C: And I was. I'm like, I might watch podcast, you guys. Oh, my gosh. So this weekly segment, guys, it's playoff mania.
We're in the playoffs.
[00:45:01] Speaker B: You're in for two minutes of pain with me. Spidey, the Bone Saw.
[00:45:10] Speaker C: That's all I got.
[00:45:11] Speaker A: What are you guys talking about?
[00:45:12] Speaker B: Spider man movie. Spider Man.
[00:45:14] Speaker C: The original. Oh, yeah, the original.
[00:45:16] Speaker B: Okay, Toby.
[00:45:17] Speaker C: So I. I kind of know a little bit about wrestling terminology. I've learned some new things in watching some of this, and I'm gonna. Going to go through. And there's, like, different seg. Like, questions I'm going to ask you based on wrestling things. For example, heels, which is the villains and the baby faces, which is the heroes of the storylines.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:41] Speaker C: Who are the Villains and the heroes of the playoffs?
[00:45:46] Speaker A: Chiefs of the Heels.
[00:45:47] Speaker B: Oh, that's not even close.
[00:45:49] Speaker C: Not even close. So who's your baby face?
[00:45:52] Speaker A: Lions.
[00:45:53] Speaker C: Lions.
[00:45:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: I don't know. Something about Jameis being anywhere near a microphone still makes me want to make him the face.
[00:46:02] Speaker A: He's not in the playoffs.
[00:46:04] Speaker B: No, but he.
He didn't. Let me finish my sentence.
[00:46:07] Speaker A: Okay, okay.
[00:46:08] Speaker B: Him speaking is similar to Jared Goff playing in the playoffs. But if I had to pick some. You didn't let me finish. Let me finish. If I had to pick somebody who is playing in the playoffs right now, my face is Lamar Jackson.
[00:46:26] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:46:27] Speaker C: I would say, yeah.
[00:46:28] Speaker B: Personally, I think in the world he is the heel. I think in common media, he is the heel and Josh Allen is the face. But to me, as you all know, Josh Allen is the heel.
[00:46:40] Speaker A: To me.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: Okay, okay, okay. I do think people, like fall in love and gush over Josh Allen.
[00:46:46] Speaker C: Very much so.
[00:46:46] Speaker A: And respect Lamar.
[00:46:49] Speaker C: I. Lamar had a lot of gushing early though, too. I. I think we're kind of looking at this through like rose tinted glasses a little bit because of the current narrative around Josh Allen and Lamar. Lamar, his rookie season and then his first full season, he was gushed a lot.
[00:47:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:08] Speaker C: People loved him.
[00:47:09] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:47:10] Speaker C: For good reasons. That was his unanimous MVP win that first full season. He was electric, so that's good. Obviously, we all knew who the Villains were.
This one's interesting. Like a steel cage match, but not like, you know, like you're locked in with someone and who's with a tough matchup. I'm talking about which player team will be locked into a tough game or situation. And this could be whether they're going to a very hostile environment. It could be they have injuries that they are trying to overcome. It could be a potential weather that they might have to deal with. Who's in a steel cage match this week?
[00:47:46] Speaker B: I think if we're talking about environments, the Lions proved it last year against the Rams. That's a hard place to win at when they're playing well.
But if I had to say the toughest game, it's Baltimore and Buffalo for sure. That is going to. I'm. I'm drooling, drooling at the chance to watch that.
[00:48:06] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. That's must see tv. This is one of the most anticipated matchups we've had in years. I just. I can't wait. I really can't wait for that one. I think I think I'm gonna agree with you. Like, I feel like home field advantage these playoffs is big. We, the Lions might have been in the super bowl last year if the championship round had been played in Ford Field instead of in San Francisco.
So that is a hostile environment. I think Arrowhead is. Is a tough place to go and win in January.
[00:48:37] Speaker C: They have.
There was a list that came out that was voted by players of, like, the top 10 hardest places to play right now. Arrowhead was number one. Minnesota was pretty. Was pretty far up there.
Actually, Seattle made the list, but a lot of the comments from the players were, when Seattle's good, Seattle's hard to play in. Yeah, they've said in recent years they haven't been nearly as good, so it's a little easier.
Which was. Yeah, Ford Field did crack the top 10.
[00:49:14] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:49:15] Speaker C: People kind of commented that the atmosphere there is quite electric when they have to play there.
[00:49:22] Speaker B: I think it runs on gas.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:49:28] Speaker C: And then Philly. Philly Stadium. What is that? Lincoln.
[00:49:32] Speaker A: Lincoln Financial Lincoln. Right.
[00:49:34] Speaker C: Yeah, they are. That was also up there in terms of a very hostile environment just because.
[00:49:39] Speaker B: People don't want to be around people from Philadelphia.
[00:49:41] Speaker C: Did you see that video?
[00:49:42] Speaker B: It's awful.
[00:49:43] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. There's Philly fan. For those of you who don't know, Philly fan was just.
I don't actually know if he was drunk, but he was going on a tirade to a Packers fan saying some pretty. Pretty unkosher things.
[00:49:59] Speaker B: Mean.
[00:49:59] Speaker C: Yeah, they were pretty mean. Just because the packers didn't get a touchdown and Josh Jacobs got tackled at the one.
[00:50:06] Speaker B: That's why.
[00:50:07] Speaker C: That's why this Philly fan decided that he was going to trash a woman and say some pretty derogatory things towards her.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:50:15] Speaker C: It came out later. This man has a daughter and is married and all these things. So it's like you are connected to female people in your life, and this is how you choose to treat a stranger like this is awful.
[00:50:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:32] Speaker C: Big Dom. Big Dom found him.
[00:50:34] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:50:35] Speaker C: I love how, by the way, Big Dom is like, you know, the face of the Philly. Philly franchise right now. Oh. And he's not even a player.
[00:50:45] Speaker B: He's amazing. He's an institution.
All right, give us our next one. One of my favorites, the one I've been waiting for this whole time.
[00:50:52] Speaker C: The finishing moves.
Which player or team is the ultimate finisher or has the best finisher?
[00:51:01] Speaker B: Marshall, Derek, Henry. Stiff arm. Ooh, that's a great.
[00:51:07] Speaker C: That is a good one.
[00:51:08] Speaker B: Finish him.
[00:51:09] Speaker A: Throw him down.
[00:51:10] Speaker C: He was not the only one this past weekend that had some good stiff arms.
[00:51:14] Speaker B: Yeah, Dallas Goddard, he said he slowed down to give them another stiff arm. Goddard said that on the side of this, I slowed down to give him some more.
[00:51:24] Speaker C: He was doing it like multiple times.
[00:51:27] Speaker B: He's running into the end zone, pushing the guy and he's slowing and then does it again. Yeah, it's amazing. It's between that and Toyota thon ending.
[00:51:37] Speaker C: Oh, yeah.
[00:51:38] Speaker B: Ouch. Jordan Love, what about you, Kyle?
[00:51:42] Speaker A: Which team. Which player or team is the ultimate finisher? Gosh, I don't know. That's a.
I don't know. I. I think that we've seen great finishes from Jane Daniels, who seems to be finishing strong quite consistently this season. Some of the. I mean, it's just like he's had.
[00:52:07] Speaker C: Like six crazy endings to some of those games.
[00:52:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:52:11] Speaker A: Yeah. I've had the privilege of getting to watch some of his games this season.
[00:52:14] Speaker B: And like his last five games ended on the final play.
[00:52:19] Speaker A: When it comes down to the wire, like he still steps up and performs the same. Could be true. Same could be said of for several AFC quarterbacks right now who don't shy under the lights. And we've seen some great playoff performances, especially from a couple of them. But I think his, his, his performance should definitely be lauded.
[00:52:39] Speaker C: I think this is when I think of like the ultimate finishers. When Tom Brady was in his heyday, I remember if there was like a minute left, I always was like, you're done. This goal. This dude's got ice in his veins. He's. He. I used to call Tom Brady the soul stealer because he would go down when you thought you won. He would crush your dreams and steal your soul and he would drive down and get whatever needed to be done done. Patrick Mahomes is the exact same way. Exact same way. He's done it in 13 seconds.
I don't know if there is a better quarterback. He hasn't had a statistical great season this year or last year. The dude still knows how to finish a drive at the absolute most clutch moments. He is so clutch.
[00:53:35] Speaker A: Totally.
[00:53:36] Speaker C: I don't think there's anyone more clutch.
[00:53:37] Speaker A: I don't think.
[00:53:38] Speaker C: I just don't. So I. I'd have to give it to him.
[00:53:41] Speaker B: How about our next category on here, Ian?
[00:53:43] Speaker C: The tag team champions. So I didn't know, by the way that this was even a thing in wrestling.
[00:53:49] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:53:49] Speaker C: Tag teaming.
[00:53:50] Speaker B: I'm kind of Undertaker and Kane.
[00:53:52] Speaker C: This is amazing.
[00:53:53] Speaker B: I'm gonna destruction.
That's their nickname. Yeah.
[00:53:57] Speaker C: I picked up. Okay, so tag team, pick the best duo in the remaining teams. Now, this does not necessarily have to be a quarterback wide receiver duo, but if you want to go that route, you can. I also like the idea of taking the O line running back route, which is what I'm going to pick with the Eagles.
[00:54:14] Speaker A: Oh, geez.
[00:54:15] Speaker C: I think they have probably either one or two big. If I had to pick between the. Out of all the remaining teams, who has the best online? It's either the Lions or the Eagles. Their O lines are amazing.
And the Eagles, you could put them either at one or two, and then they got arguably one of the best running backs in the league in Saquon Barkley.
I, I. That's a crazy duo. I love it.
[00:54:42] Speaker A: That's a great duo. I mean, I want to go with just Gibbs and Penne Sewell as an incredible duo. I mean, you just not the other.
[00:54:50] Speaker C: They're getting Sonic and Knuckles. They're getting reunited this weekend.
[00:54:53] Speaker A: Oh, Montgomery's back.
[00:54:55] Speaker C: Full practice. Full practice. He is expected to play.
[00:54:58] Speaker A: How about a quarterback running back duo? How about what Baltimore's got lining up behind the line right there?
[00:55:04] Speaker C: That's a good one.
[00:55:05] Speaker A: I mean, could you ask for more?
[00:55:07] Speaker B: Honestly, that's my answer. It's Lamar and Derrick Henry. There was a play, and I don't know if you guys caught it. There was a play that they had that involved Derrick Henry for the first time all year, being the Wildcat quarterback. Lamar in the slot motioned across the field to the right, and Derrick Henry went left with the ball every. Both linebackers went to the right with Lamar because he's such a threat.
[00:55:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:55:39] Speaker B: And Derrick Henry takes off for 27 yards. It's the first time they've ran Wildcat all year with him in the backfield. And that's what happened. Now Buffalo will spend five hours working on Wildcat.
[00:55:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:55:52] Speaker C: Is there any.
[00:55:53] Speaker B: And there will be one play, I will guarantee. You ready for it? I will guarantee it.
Where he gets it in the slot. Lamar on a handoff and it's a throw.
[00:56:04] Speaker C: Is there any team that doesn't have a duo? I think I have one. One team. I can think. I. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, two teams.
[00:56:11] Speaker B: Texans.
[00:56:12] Speaker C: Yeah, Texans. Texans are kind of weak. There's another team.
[00:56:17] Speaker B: Nico and C.J. stroud. Maybe you could give that to.
[00:56:20] Speaker A: You're gonna. You're trying to say that KC doesn't have a duo.
[00:56:22] Speaker C: No, they do. They do.
[00:56:24] Speaker A: Okay, then I'd say you're saying Buffalo doesn't Have a duo.
[00:56:27] Speaker C: I don't think Buffalo has a duo. I think they have. I think they have Alan. They have Josh Allen.
[00:56:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:56:33] Speaker B: What are their two tight ends named? Kincaid. And Kincaid, by the way, is such.
[00:56:37] Speaker C: A sweet last name.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: By the way, have you ever frowned saying Kincaid?
[00:56:43] Speaker C: It's just.
[00:56:43] Speaker B: I think it's impossible.
[00:56:45] Speaker C: Is a wrestling name.
[00:56:46] Speaker B: That's a good name. You're right.
[00:56:48] Speaker C: What is his first name?
[00:56:49] Speaker A: Dalton.
[00:56:49] Speaker B: Dalton.
[00:56:51] Speaker C: Great.
[00:56:52] Speaker B: No, it's pretty good.
[00:56:52] Speaker C: Dalton's okay.
[00:56:53] Speaker B: It's good.
[00:56:53] Speaker C: Dalton Kincaid.
[00:56:55] Speaker B: Dalton is like. He works on, like, Yellowstone.
[00:57:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
[00:57:01] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:57:01] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:57:02] Speaker B: Thanks for going along with me.
[00:57:04] Speaker C: But the buffalo would be the only one where I would really say, like, I don't know if they have, like a really.
[00:57:08] Speaker B: It's a handicap match is what you're saying. Yeah, it's the big show.
[00:57:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:12] Speaker C: Well.
[00:57:13] Speaker B: All right, next one.
[00:57:15] Speaker C: Last one. This isn't even. You mean you can give me your thoughts on this? This isn't even, like a question. This is just the Royal Rumble.
In the right corner we got.
[00:57:32] Speaker B: Okay, just give us our two people.
[00:57:34] Speaker C: Now, in the right corner, we have @13.3 sitting on 3,731 passing yards, a completion percentage of 63.6, 40 total touchdowns, only 6 ints, and a QB rating of 101. We have Josh Allen.
And in the other corner, sitting at 12 and 5 passing yards of 4172, completion percentage of 66.7, 45 total touchdowns, only 4 ints, and the best quarterback rating in the playoffs, 119.6, Lamar Jackson.
[00:58:36] Speaker B: Somebody get that man of water.
[00:58:37] Speaker C: The winner will be 2000 2025, undisputed MVP.
That's how they should decide the MVP. Okay, whoever wins this game, that's your MVP.
[00:58:51] Speaker B: I like it. I honestly don't want to give any commentary and just want that to be what the segment was right there. That was so good.
[00:58:57] Speaker A: That's good. I like your take, too. That should. That should be the deciding factor. Because the funny thing is this is how sad it is how often the NFL honors happens and somebody's up there just like accepting some award when it's really like, this is this.
[00:59:11] Speaker B: This sucks.
[00:59:13] Speaker A: I've just been eliminated.
[00:59:14] Speaker C: Sam Darnold is gonna go up there, win comeback player of the year, and everyone's gonna be like, yeah, what about those last two games, bruh? Like, yeah, how are you gonna talk about that?
[00:59:25] Speaker A: Same thing's probably gonna happen. One of these guys is going to win MVP and then go to NFL honors and be up on that stage.
[00:59:30] Speaker C: And it's like, Kevin O'Connell's gonna win.
Kevin O'Connor's gonna win coach of the Year, and he's gonna be like, yep, okay, thanks.
[00:59:37] Speaker A: Isn't it. It's kind of the worst, actually.
[00:59:39] Speaker C: When was the last time won the Super Bowl?
[00:59:44] Speaker A: It doesn't happen often, actually. It's surprisingly rare.
[00:59:48] Speaker C: That's why I love this right now, by the way. That's why whoever wins the mvp, I hope they have to play the lines because we're going to have to beat them.
[00:59:56] Speaker A: Right?
[00:59:56] Speaker C: You know?
[00:59:59] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:00:00] Speaker B: I like that idea. And I. I like. I wish I would have been in the four interceptions, none of which were his fault. All four of them were his fault. And number one, like, I. I'm excited about it.
Instead of doing our picks, what we all have, I don't want to go through our picks and have everyone. Do you want to. Ian, is that something that you're really.
[01:00:22] Speaker C: I mean, we could just say them.
[01:00:24] Speaker B: All right, let's go through it. Let's go through it.
[01:00:26] Speaker C: Okay.
Why don't we just do. Why don't we just do. Houston, Casey, Washington, Detroit. We're all picking the same things here, right?
[01:00:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:00:36] Speaker C: Casey in Detroit for both Rams. Philly, who you guys got? I got Philly.
[01:00:43] Speaker B: Kyle's got Philly.
[01:00:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I think I got Philly.
[01:00:45] Speaker B: Yeah. And I got the Rams.
[01:00:46] Speaker C: Yeah. Either way, good game here. And then the only game that really matters, Baltimore. Buffalo. I'm taking. I'm taking Buffalo.
[01:00:54] Speaker B: I wish I was surprised.
[01:00:55] Speaker A: Who are you taking, Marshall?
[01:00:56] Speaker B: I'm taking Baltimore.
[01:00:58] Speaker A: Okay.
[01:00:58] Speaker B: I wish you were surprised, Ian.
[01:01:00] Speaker C: I know. I. I debate. I. I'm not even convinced I'm sold on picking Buffalo just yet. I might waffle on that one a little bit, but trying to put it out there, I've waffled on it multiple times.
[01:01:10] Speaker B: I like you being different, though.
[01:01:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:01:13] Speaker B: Anything else we need in our pod today?
[01:01:14] Speaker C: Only reason why I chose Buffalo was to be different.
[01:01:18] Speaker B: To be different.
[01:01:19] Speaker C: To be different.
[01:01:23] Speaker B: Different.
Thank you. Anything else you guys got for our pod today, guys?
[01:01:30] Speaker A: Oh, man.
[01:01:31] Speaker C: I'm Gooch.
[01:01:36] Speaker B: I want to thank you for listening to the show today, for getting your subscriber button hit, for reviewing our game and reviewing our pod of the games. And then here we are. We're talking to you, you're listening to us. We're having a fun time. We appreciate you sending this to your friends, your family. I want to tell you guys what happened yesterday. I had a friend of mine at work bopping me on my bald head and said, go, buckeyes. Notre Dame plays a Buckeye on Monday. We're not recording this podcast on Monday because that game's happening. We wouldn't do it because we do it on Tuesdays anyways, but we definitely wouldn't on Monday because of Notre Dame. You know what I did? I wrapped his chair in duct tape. 8 rolls.
8 rolls of duct tape.
There's a lot of duct tape.
I hope he learned his lesson. If he didn't, I have seven crickets that I'm going to hide in his classroom tomorrow. I hope you're listening, Andrew. And if you are, click it. Click it.
