Ohio State Wins the Natty, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders Upset Detroit, Dan Campbell Coaching Tree Begins

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome back, everybody. We have a very long pod for you. We have a couple pods actually coming out. We're sprinkling the recording throughout the week. Crazy travel schedules, fires down in la, this and that. Anyways, I won't hold you up any further. We cover the divisional round on this one. Now we know who's in the conference championships for the NFL. We do an update with some coaching hires as well. We covered the national championship. Jason. Jason's teams didn't make it, but it's okay. So we'll talk about that. And I think that's about it. So don't go away. Let's get to it. All right, let's recap. Ohio State, newly minted champions, big win this past Monday. We're finally getting around to it. Final score, 34, 23. How do we get there? It was pretty much a pretty good game in the first quarter, would you guys say? Pretty close. Even the match. Nor Dame opened up with an impressive drive. Unfortunately, it seemed like they kind of ran their quarterback out of gas, like really quickly. There was reports that he was storing up right after that first drive. Yeah, like about what, like four or five, you know, quarterback draws or the option to keep it. [00:01:27] Speaker B: Nine total characters, nine total. [00:01:29] Speaker A: Took some big hits. I know he converted on two of them. There was one on a fourth and three, and then he also kept it for the touchdown. Say team plays the longest in BCS playoff history. Things are looking good. Jason's probably pretty stoked at this point. Ohio State, right, responds surprisingly. They had a pretty even attack. Pass and run. And Jeremiah Smith gets the touchdown. Eight yards out. Seven, seven. Ohio State gets the ball back again. Defense steps up and Notre Dame has a three. Now I believe Judkins had like this crazy stiff arm and he had a nine yard rushing touchdown. It was pretty epic. 76 yards in six minutes. All these drives in the first half were like milk in the clock. So you're thinking like, all right, this is like a. This is a really good heavyweight match, you know, down a touchdown, not a big deal. Well, it was a big deal because Ohio State didn't let up pretty much after that. Jenkins had a really big 70 yard burst. I believe that was after the half. Ohio State rather is up 28 7. And now Jason's probably like, what the hell is going on? This is probably throwing his Notre Dame hat T shirt. I don't know what you do, man. I got. I gotta see you upset one of these days. But first quarter, great fourth quarter, five minutes of that. It was action packed. As well. Nordame had some fight, thank God. And because I had the game hitting 50 points, I believe we, we made good on that. Ohio State, you know what kind of started that run for Notre Dame as I believe they fumbled. It was right after the announcer said Ohio State doesn't fumble. Only five fumbles lost all year long. Right on cue. It's like, it's like a jinx. And it always happens on tv. [00:03:17] Speaker B: See, they know the script. They're just giving you that tease and then, bam, there it is. [00:03:22] Speaker A: You knew it was going to happen. I'm like, oh, man, I hate when they do that. It's going to happen now. Bam. Fumbled. Notre Dame recovers. Jason got blood pumping through his veins. He's excited. There's a chance. Are you saying there's a chance? There's a chance. Evans had a really great catch. Just dodging some defenders for this big 29 yard catch to convert on like a third and long and then can't remember what happened. It was like a really big, what, 30 yard touchdown pass on the left side. Do you go for two? They go for two, they convert on this really cool trick play. We got ourselves a game. 31, 23. You know, Ohio State got really concerted. It almost looked like the play calling from the Michigan game. And I'm thinking like, dude, do they want to lose this game? Do they want to lose it? Because they're giving Notre Dame a chance to come back in it, but we end it 34, 23. Would you say it's an ass whooping or just like a, a complete performance or a dominant performance from Ohio State peaking at the right time, in the right place in the right year, and giving Ryan Day at least another six weeks before his fans want to fire him if he doesn't beat Michigan again. [00:04:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, Ohio State, I mean, Ryan Day, I mean, great win for him, obviously. I mean, I believe I saw something. You know, police had been outside his family home since that loss to Michigan or right afterwards. So give credit to them for. [00:04:58] Speaker A: Are you being serious or are you not? [00:05:00] Speaker B: No, that is. That is serious. [00:05:02] Speaker A: Really? [00:05:03] Speaker B: Yeah, from what I, from what I heard, yeah, like crazy is he had some kind of security or police outside his home for, I don't know, a few weeks or maybe still after that loss to Michigan. So, yeah, definitely serious thing. I mean, you know, it was. I think they brought it up, or at least Herb street did before the Tennessee game, that there were some fans, true or not, that would rather them beat Michigan than win an actual national title. Which is crazy, but I do believe that's true. [00:05:34] Speaker A: I believe that's true. [00:05:35] Speaker B: What percentage? I don't know, but 60, 40, I don't think it's that high. But I mean, I'm sure now that Ryan Day's won that title, something they haven't won since 2014 is definitely going to be a big monkey off their back. But yeah, or Ohio State. Rome said it just regrouped from the Michigan loss and they were peaking at the right time. I mean, we came in to this game, all of us in agreeance at Ohio State for the last two, three weeks had been the best team in the playoff. Doesn't come as surprise that they won. Not surprised how they won. I mean, we know Notre Dame was going to fight and that's what Notre Dame did. That's what they've been about all season. They came back, made it a game, you know, they get, they get that stop there and Jeremiah Smith doesn't get that big third down conversion. Who knows? All the momentum's their way. Even Ohio State admitted after the game, like, hey, we're a little nervous, like they had the momentum. But yeah, big win, big one for Iowa State for sure. [00:06:32] Speaker A: Things look kind of shaky too. When Freeman decided to kick, you know, go for the field goal, they kick it, It's a gimme 20 yards out. Doink. I'm like, what the hell is going on, Jason, how did you feel at that moment in time? Or give us your breakdown, man. It's your team. How do you feel? You feel happy? It's a good season. [00:06:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess we're long into the podcast and I haven't said a word yet. So, yeah, I. If you would have said at the beginning of the season to any Notre Dame fan that you're going to make the national championship game and you're going to lose, would you accept that? And I think pretty pretty much everyone at the game of the season would have accept that. And now if you would have said after the Northern Illinois loss, this is going to be. And I think anyone would have taken that result too after losing to Northern Illinois. And you know, that was basically Notre Dame's resume the entire year is like, yeah, they're good, but they lost to Northern Illinois and then the heck of a run in the playoffs and who they beat to get, to get here. We all talked about it in the, in the kind of in the final Four and in the preview, like Ohio State just had the horses just at every level. It is a. Notre Dame needed to be almost absolute Perfect. The first. You talk about my, my highs throughout the game room. So I texted you guys to the first quarter, like, this is exactly how Notre Dame could win this game. Like it was pretty much the entire first quarter just on ice. Like, what was it, 18 plays, Aaron, or something in that first drive? [00:07:59] Speaker B: 18 in plays? [00:08:00] Speaker C: Yeah, just 18 plays, Melkin, the entire clock and you know, putting up a touchdown, up seven, nothing. Okay, this is exactly, you know, how Notre Dame is going to need to do this. Hey, we're going to slow the game down and, but, but still score the points. But that was, that was really the entire, that was the, the high of the entire first half. And then it was just an onslaught from Ohio State and the defense just didn't have the answers because anytime, hey, it was going to be third and short or it was going to be an easy second down conversion. And Ohio State was just having their way against different parts of the Notre Dame defense, which hadn't been in any really game this year. And we talked about it were some of the key matchups. I talked about the, the Ohio State running backs versus the linebackers of Notre Dame. And when these guys were getting past the D line to that second level, that's where these yards just became easy. And you know, that was setting up the play action where it was just easy completions in the mid range. Like, it didn't look like Notre Dame could stop Ohio State at all. And they didn't for the entire first. So you know when you're, when you're ending the half down 21 7. But at that point, I'm like, man, this game is just this game's loss. I don't, I don't know how it could be. Ohio State's getting the ball to start the second half. You know, they end up scoring. Notre Dame turns it over on downs, you know, going up 31 7, like pretty much you're kind of like, okay, it's over. Notre Dame gave the life once they scored the touchdown. I'm like, all right, all right. Well, it's respectable at least because, you know, I was around a bunch of Notre Dame fans watching this game, and we're like, all right, well, we got to keep it respectable because the last national championship versus Alabama, that was the big joke is they got blown out. It wasn't respectful. Now you're talking about program building and you don't want to be embarrassed on national TV. So, hey, you're down 3115. Great. The Ohio State fumble you're talking about. Okay, that Was when I was like, oh man, there's like a chance here at this point he score a touchdown here. It could be like a one possession game and then just deflated when M cheater misses the field goal. And a bunch of the people I'm around and text him like, why is Marcus Freeman going, you know, for the field goal? Why isn't he going for it at this point in the game? I think I got why he was kicking the field goal. Because it, it was fourth and goal and it wasn't a close fourth and goal either. There was, it was a long play. So hey, get me points. Which you know, puts on the board. There was still some time left, but missing the field goal, getting no points out of that. Ohio State then punting and Notre Dame getting the chance to score. You're still feeling it and you have. [00:10:32] Speaker A: First punt like six minutes. Yeah. Left in the. And in the game they finally punt. [00:10:37] Speaker C: Yeah. So you're thinking, you know, starting the half, Ohio State scores a touchdown, their first drive, then get a field goal. Then they fumble and punt and you're like, man, we're there now, now we just need, you know, a stop at that point and it just wasn't happening. And Jeremiah Smith just, you felt it was going to happen at a certain point. Like we're just cramming the line of scrimmage and Howard's able just to throw it up and just go one on one and make and that it's going to be crazy. That guy has another two years of college in front of him. But you know, that's really was kind of the difference of the game. And Notre, Notre Dame's offense, you know, for the second and third quarter for the most part was just non existent. I think when they got start getting going, Riley Leonard, you know, made some throws here and there, but it just was too little too late. You can't put yourself in that deficit and just the overall like obviously a disappointment. But again you go at the start of the season, you say, hey, Notre Dame is going to go to the national championship game. They're going to win, you know, multiple games in this playoff to get rid of that. I think you see that as a successful season and this is a launching pad for potentially Notre Dame down the road, you know, as, as, as a team that could be a national contender, you know, get the top recruits. But Ohio State, man, they just sense that Michigan loss and we talked through all of it like they just been really, just unstoppable and they just really plowed through really Everyone on their way and thinking about that team. [00:12:11] Speaker A: So I was thinking, like, imagine, man, like, I was really happy Michigan beat Ohio State, but it kind of screwed my Texas team because if they don't beat Ohio State, Ohio State plays in the, in the conference championship. Who knows what happens? Injuries, they can be a little more tired. They definitely don't go on like this run because it's that adversity of losing to Michigan, like, like feeling like about yourself. And then, you know, Texas a championship, there's a good chance that happens. Crazy how everything panned out. [00:12:44] Speaker B: Well, Rome, you don't have to wait too long as they open the season next year. [00:12:48] Speaker A: Yeah, Game one is it. [00:12:50] Speaker C: Yep. [00:12:51] Speaker A: That sucks. That's a really shitty opener right there. [00:12:54] Speaker B: It's a lot of big openers to start the year. Four, four marquee matchups to start one next year. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Oh, man, it's going to be disappointment already. One thing I didn't like about the Notre Dame in the fourth quarter, it just felt like when they were trying to pull out that hole after that missed field goal, one of the drives, it just seemed like they were just taking so much time, just milking the clock. The clock was just ticking, talking. I think it was like six and a half minutes left. And they waste like three minutes on one of those drives, like three minute plus. And it just remind me of the Minnesota Vikings so how it kind of looked like they were just mailing it in. I know Notre Dame wasn't, but it looked like they were kind of like uneasy about what the play calling was or what to do and oh no, I kind of like it. Bet them in the ass a little bit. [00:13:37] Speaker C: Yeah, that was the missed field goal drive because I think that drive was over five minutes. But at that point in the game, they really hadn't done that. They scored the second touchdown and that was probably the most momentum they probably went through. So they could have gone no huddle, but like it was. It was rough for them just gaining any yards down the field. And like the passing game, you know, it was not Notre Dame strength, it was the running game. We didn't see a ton or if any from an explosive plays from the running backs. It was Riley Leonard, you know, you mentioned it earlier, Rome, it was great game. It was. It was him trying to do it with his legs at a lot of points. And Ohio State was wiser to that. They were still gaining yards, but it wasn't explosive. It was. It was a rough 5 yards that took every, you know, every inch, ounce of energy out of Riley Leonard. So yeah, I, I could agree with you on that. But I think they weren't doing much to that point. But it was a lot of time. And then when it kind of just ended on we're going to attempt a field goal and miss it really kind of. It really just took the sails out of. [00:14:35] Speaker A: Everything is like square. It just stopped rotating. It was like a video game. Boink. I thought it was fake. I thought it was like A.I. couldn't believe it. I'm not even Notre Dame fan. I just couldn't believe. I'm like, what the hell is going on? [00:14:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, go ahead. [00:14:52] Speaker C: No, I'll say. The people I was around and texting me, I mentioned earlier like before it even was getting kicked to like, why is he kicking this ball? Why is it like it was, it was already a bad vibe around where I was at of why he was even going decided to kick the field goal and not trying to score at that point. But like I said earlier, like, man, like they would think it was, they were like the nine yard line or something like that. Like it wasn't, it wasn't an easily makeable like 4th and Gold. They're going to really push the envelope. So it was, it was an in between call but just, it didn't feel good just from the decision. And then. [00:15:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I remember someone asked me, I was watching with that. It was actually a couple of Notre Dame fans there and they're like, like, do you go for it or kick the field? Going like this is kind of tricky. It's like a weird point of the game. I say kick the field goal, it's easy. But you're, you're, you're right there. You better go for broke. You're already down two scores. I think it was like, you know what, 16 points or what it was. [00:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah, they were stuck in the middle because nine minutes ago in the game. Yeah, like Jason mentioned, they're at the nine yard line. Ohio State has the best red zone defense in the nation. They've been dominant in this playoff. Yeah, I mean it took Notre Dame what, six plays just to get it in. Touchdown. The first drive inside the 10. So I get it. I mean they already ran three plays from the 10 and only got one yard. So Freeman doing the numbers. Are you going to get a touchdown when they got eight guys dropped in coverage? Likely no. Take the three points. You're still going to need two touchdowns regardless. Now you don't need the two point conversions. They miss it and then obviously Ohio State takes the Gets another first down, takes about three, four minutes off, pundits away. And then Notre Dame does what they do. But I mean Jason, when we talked about key factors to win the game, time of possession was one thing Jason mentioned. Notre Dame lost that, yeah, turnovers, they got the one, but wasn't, you know, a significant impact in the game. And then big plays that I mentioned. Ohio State had multiple big plays. Notre Dame finally got big plays late. I said they needed about six plays over 20 yards. They got four of them on those two touchdown drives late to get back in the game. But by then it was too little too late. So I mean that really, I mean if Notre Dame, I mean the first drive was any indication how the rest of the game would have went, it would look like it was be a low scoring under. Rome said you'd like 35, 28 or something, which I thought was pretty crazy. And then after that first drive, I'm like, man, this game's going on the under total easy. I mean ten minute, ten minute drive. Then Ohio State, six minute drive. But Ohio State first four drives, all touchdowns. Pretty similar to what they did against Tennessee and Oregon. Yeah, Texas, obviously they struggled to score points, but overall it was a pretty good game. I think Notre Dame definitely was competitive even though it was 31 7. Didn't feel like they were getting whipped. Like, you know, you asked was it an ass whipping or not? I don't think it was. I mean Ohio State backers are real happy because they almost got backdoored on that. Minus eight, eight and a half, nine, whatever it closed at. So yeah, Ohio State backers were real happy to come out on top for sure. That would have been a bad beat the end of the year. [00:17:54] Speaker A: Yeah, you mentioned keys to win the game. We're talking about like running the ball and controlling the clock for Nora James. That's what Ohio State did. They use the receivers, but not as much as we thought they did. They ran the ball with their two headed monster and, and I thought it was a little too conservative at the end, but give credit where it's due, man. They, they built the shit of that clock all game. It was fun. And it wasn't and it was fun. It was a good championship. It was one that man, like honestly we would have never got obviously without the playoffs. So it's kind of fun. And with, with the whole new playoff setup, honestly, like what four teams could have realistically won this thing, you know, it was great. You know, I could definitely see Pence. Penn State was really close to Even making it this far too, you know. [00:18:42] Speaker B: So Penn State, Texas, you got six teams. [00:18:45] Speaker A: Really six teams. Oregon, I mean Georgia, Georgia. [00:18:49] Speaker B: Obviously losing back was big. I mean if he's healthy, did they get by Notre Dame? We'll never know. But that would have been a really, really good game. Still was. [00:18:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:58] Speaker B: And then you know, Oregon, you know, I believe Jason and your guys is both preseason picked to win the national title. If they don't play Ohio State, they're likely going to win at least one, maybe two playoff games. [00:19:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:11] Speaker B: So just bad luck of the draw for them really. [00:19:14] Speaker A: Last time Ohio State won the natty was when they expanded to a four playoff team format in 2014 and they're the first team to win it in the 12th team format and 20, 24, 25. So hey, first year luck for them. [00:19:30] Speaker C: First year luck. But I before I had technical difficulties just talking about the future for them. When you look at the players they got coming back, I mean this is a loaded young team with talent. I guess getting past Michigan is going to be their only thing. You know, way too early preview right now. But this is going to be a really dangerous team. And you're thinking about next year in the Big Ten. You know, they're going to be probably be preseason favorites. They're going to have this big game to start the season. I think lessons learned as you look at the first playoff. All of the teams that got the buy unsuccessful kind of in that. In that first one. So what are, you know, what are those teams going to take away next year that potentially get that first round by and how things shake out and to play out for the long playoff because it was, it was a long arduous thing. I think Notre Dame going into it obviously had the injuries. There were much more piling up. Ohio State was a little bit of a fresher team. I think they had the edge regardless. But I mean there was a lot of things for Notre Dame that were. They were continuously overcoming through every round where they were losing. You know, some key guys or guys were, were busted up. You know, things people were at 100%. So I think there's a lot to take away from this first season with the playoff. But at the same time like yeah, Ohio State's going to be back. Everything okay? Not in San Francisco room. [00:20:55] Speaker B: As soon as Jason mentioned Notre Dame banged up. [00:20:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:00] Speaker A: You know, there's a part of me that I'm kind of ready to kind of just go on the outskirts of the city now. I think I'm ready. [00:21:12] Speaker C: I think overall if you look at the 20, 24, 2025 college football season, like, you know, I kind of talked about, for me personally, it was like one of the most engaging seasons to date in a long time because, man, there was, there was this drama all season where you really, the people complaining about the playoff is like, oh, like, you know, Notre Dame lost Illinois or Northern Illinois. That's a disqualifier. Ohio State losing to Michigan, that's a disqualifier like we thought it was. Yeah, these teams wouldn't have won the national, but they get proven like, hey, you could have, you could have a loss during the regular season, still make it, go on a run. And, you know, besides, you know, Oregon, there really wasn't a team, there wasn't a team without a blemish on their record. But then they get in the playoffs and hey, they, they get, they go against an Ohio State team that they got to prove it again, you know, for a second time and, you know, just got, got destroyed. So I think there's, there's merit, so there's a lot of value in the regular season. You know, do you have, do you have to go undefeated? No, you don't have to. You can bounce back and get there, but there, there is something to the resumes you're putting up throughout the year that could make your path a little easier, a little harder when it came to this playoff and set yourself up right, to be able to win the national championship. So I, I, I still like the expanse of the playoff. Everyone complained after the first round of the College Football Playoff. I was making the jokes to you guys. The NFL playoff, there was all blowouts. First weekend the same way, too. But no one's talking about the committee for the NFL based on that. So it'll, it'll even out. And I think some things will, you know, be different. You know, the, the top to bottom of the competitive of the conference a little be different. But, man, even you think about that, like, Arizona State game where everyone was kind of clouding them and they made that exciting where they could have taken it to the next level. So there's just really, there was just some really great stuff in that playoff. And you know, I even thinking back to that first round as much as the blowouts were, Notre Dame, Indiana kicking that off, the atmosphere and everything about that game in December and South Bend night game, like, there, there's just some really cool things about all the positives you can take away of this first playoff season. [00:23:13] Speaker A: Yeah, big thing. Big Ten wins the championship back to back first time that's happened for them. And I, I think the SEC was doing that for a while. So you gotta imagine they probably have what, maybe four or five teams that can compete for a championship for the next few years. Big 12 has a few guys that can make some noise. We'll see how the SEC does. You imagine that ACC is going to rebound as well. A few things I would change about the playoff. I would like to just see them get like the top four teams, you know, the bye week, shrink the postseason down a little bit. So it's not as many, you know, off weeks from the end of the regular season to the beginning. I think Joel Klatt had a pretty good argument on it and he's been vocal on X and it makes a lot of sense, actually kind of condense it a little bit and have less interference with NFL playoffs. And then if you want to do like the NFL where you give the division winners a home field even if they don't have the better record, give whoever's on the top four who won their conference the home field at least for like the first round. Right. I think that'd be kind of, kind of cool to see. [00:24:20] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean there's a couple things. I mean, I think overall this, there was a, it was a success the first year of the expanded 12 team playoff. There's a lot of tweaking that, you know, I think they already had a phone conversation all the school presidents and boards and conference. [00:24:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:35] Speaker B: See they're going to meet again and I believe big changes probably are coming around 2026 because that's when the SEC and the Big Ten basically take control and ownership of the College Football Playoff they gain the majority. So they're going to set the rules. That's where you might see expansion from 12 to 14 to 16, where likely you get, you know, six to eight teams from those two conferences combined in. I agree. I mean receding one through four. The best teams I would like to see not only just the first round, but that's the quarterfinal rounds. The host team, the better seed team, host playoff games. As you mentioned, as far as moving scheduling up and stuff. It mean, I think Rome we talked about it, you got mid term finals and stuff for kids. They don't want to play so many games as well because of, you know, safety, academics, injury and stuff. But Ohio State I think benefited a lot from not playing in that Big Ten title game. That gave him an extra week to regroup. Texas had a battle. Georgia and then go through Clemson and Then Arizona State. So for them doing what they had to do, that was great. And like Jason mentioned, the expanded playoff, you don't have to go perfect. And that's why next year we get four great games to open the season. Texas, Ohio State, arguably going to be 1 and 2 preseason poll, LSU, Clemson, Miami versus Jason's Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida State. These are huge games to start the season. No one's worried about losing the game because hey, you've got room to develop as the season goes on. Like you saw with Notre Dame losing to Northern Illinois. But hey, they beat a good Louisville team, they beat a good Georgia Tech team. Those teams proved to be good and benefited him. And they're running the playoff too. [00:26:20] Speaker C: Yeah, I hated that argument. It was like round one of the playoffs. It was, you know, all the SEC homers about like, oh, we're just not going to schedule any difficult out of conference games because you know, you just got to go undefeated. I'm like, well the SEC teams for the most part don't schedule any aggressive out of conference teams or you know, Miami every year schedules a big out of conference game. You know, to their credit there's a couple other, you know, non SEC schools that are like that. I guess Alabama went and played Wisconsin, but hey, you were really going out and scheduling the cream of the crop of another like power five conference. So yeah, I mean I college football just much better and in this playoff era if you're going to go out and play some of these big games and stuff, to me that's just a much better resume builder if hey, you know, Notre Dame and Miami go out and play and hey, that turns into like an impressive loss. And whether you're looking at, hey, it's 1, 2, 3 loss teams that you're looking at in that, you know, 10 to 14 ranking in the college football playoffs. But you went out and actually played competitive outside games. Like to me that sticks more into where the resume we're at. You know, Texas, to their credit, them versus Michigan, you know, should have been a bigger deal on their resume. It just didn't turn out that way. But you know that that's the type of games you want to see in college football. Like we don't need to schedule like Eastern Alabama or you know, what other university of a Division 2 and 3 just to get a warm up game. [00:27:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I think they should take away the scheduling away from the athletic directors and have that more of like a centralized thing over like a committee of some sort. Just like any other sports league where it's already programmed. You have to face so many conference. A few from like, maybe one year you. You face more from the ACC. Maybe the next year you face more the Big 12. I don't know, kind of like a rotating thing, much like the NFL. [00:28:08] Speaker B: I think we could get there. The problem is, if you actually look at these teams, most of these schedules are already like five, 10 years in advance. A lot of these games, about three. [00:28:17] Speaker A: Or four at least. Yeah, that's. [00:28:19] Speaker B: That's the big thing, too. I mean, I know looking at Florida State schedule, they've got Bama home and away. They've got Georgia home and away over the next four years. You know, Texas got Ohio State. I'm. I'm guessing Ohio State's probably going to do a return trip back to Austin sometime in the next few years. So a lot of these games are already scheduled. And then, you know, you do get those games that the SEC basically leaves open for, you know, Eastern Washington or Colgate or somebody to slip in there and get beat 60 to nothing late November before, you know, rivalry week. [00:28:51] Speaker C: Yeah, the, the tough part with that, Roman, especially with these teams within the conference that they get whatever conference games the conference is dictating to them, but it's always going to be unbalanced, especially with them getting rid of divisions and stuff like that. That's how you, you look at Indiana schedule and like, okay, great. You only played, you know, one team, really, in their, like, top echelon throughout the season and then didn't have to play in the conference championship game, like every season, potentially. You could have one of those teams in a big conference that basically misses almost all of the tough teams within their conference and goes 11 and 1. Like the feasibility Texas. [00:29:28] Speaker B: Just, just say we're talking about Texas. [00:29:30] Speaker A: I mean. [00:29:30] Speaker B: Yeah, all right. It's all right. It was true. [00:29:33] Speaker C: It was true there. I mean, Indiana, like a lot, A lot of those teams you can, you can talk through. [00:29:37] Speaker A: So, I mean, Indiana was still pretty good. [00:29:39] Speaker C: The Indiana was still good. And you, you give them a lot of credit in their first year in that. It's just, it'll. It will be challenging because these schedules are so imbalanced. And that's where you're really looking at kind of the resumes. A lot of people talk about. The ranking to start the season is always like the worst part because it gives you these preconceived notions on where, you know. Yeah, because it's like, you know. [00:30:02] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:30:03] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, it's, it's a perfect or you Know, whoever you start number one, if you're giving Georgia number one to start the season or you're giving Texas number one to start the season. And like, hey, they're not that impressive, but they just hang in the top five or top two because, oh, they were, they were preseason ranked and it doesn't allow the teams to go up. Like, I don't think they ever get rid of it because I think it's something easy to sell on TV where number one faces number five in week two or something like that. But that's always like a pre, preconceived notion on preseason rankings when, hey, we really don't know what these teams for the most part are going to look like at the end of the season because I, I'd really like you to Compare the top 25 to start the season versus kind of what that playoff looked like. And it wasn't anywhere really close to how these teams are ranked. [00:30:41] Speaker A: Let's end it here where they finally released the final AP rankings, which I totally forgot they did that because it's been like a few weeks. So they put Ohio State one, obviously unanimous consensus, Notre Dame two. Oregon number three. That was kind of like a shock to me. In the season if you get like blown out like that the way they did, you're dropping three or four spots. I would actually have Texas number three. You can argue Oregon drops down to number four or put Penn State there four or five. Then the rest. I would put Arizona at six versus Georgia, Georgia at seven and then the rest, you know, Bo State, Tennessee, Indiana. I really don't have any evidence about any of that. Thoughts on the final poll? [00:31:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I don't have an issue with the final poll. I mean, Oregon, you want to swap them? Texas, that's fine. But they did beat the national champion Ohio State in the regular season. Only lost one game. I think the top four is fine. I think I'm good with that. And Georgia's there. Penn State, Boise State sustain ahead of both a Big Ten in the SEC school. But I don't really have a big problem with the final top 10, top 4, top 5. I mean, the 1 and 2, that's kind of what we you wanted. And yeah, Iowa State was one and Notre Dame two. [00:32:14] Speaker A: Great. Any final thoughts on the championship game? I don't want to open Pentor's box to you guys. [00:32:22] Speaker C: No, I, I again, I said in the Final Four week, Ohio State, Ohio State was the best out of that Final Four State. Ohio State was the best out of the final Four. It pained me not to pick Notre Dame. I think both of you guys looked at me sideways when I didn't pick Notre Dame. It hurt with every answer being. I was going for a little reverse jinx. I'm not gonna lie. Really thought Notre Dame was going to cover. They were looking good to cover there, you know, towards the end. But Ohio State with a nice little field goal to end that backdoor cover. But, I mean, impressive year for Notre Dame again. I think if you say you're gonna, you know, get into the playoff, make a run, go to the national title, it's great. And Ohio State, you know, at the end of that Michigan loss, where they were, you know, where they are going to be able to make this run and sets himself up nicely for the next part of the regular season, so. But you start a new college season next year, you're going to have different players, different breakouts, and I think it'll be an entirely different. Entirely different look to what we're looking at from a playoff a year from now. [00:33:16] Speaker A: Good stuff. Ohio State national champs. Ryan Day. Chip Kelly, national champ for the first time in his long, storied collegiate career. Collegiate. Collegiate. [00:33:28] Speaker B: College. [00:33:29] Speaker A: Collegiate. There you go. Collegiate career. Good stuff, guys, let's recap the divisional round in the NFL. We're a few days out. Lots of things have happened. Coaching hires, etc. Etc. We know Jason's excited to talk, that we'll get him his two cents or his two minutes to say what he got to say, but the meantime. [00:33:57] Speaker C: Two minutes, man. I got a whole, like, 30 minutes lined up. What are you talking about? [00:34:00] Speaker B: Better get those quarters ready, Jason, because of all you guys. 2 cents. You're getting like 30 seconds based off Rome's running the show. [00:34:08] Speaker C: I don't know. We should have got the overreaction Monday. Rome promise where I can just start talking straight. 30 minutes on Ben Johnson. [00:34:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Maybe it's a good thing we waited. I don't know. Well, we know who's in the Carver's Championship now. Chiefs, Bills. Eagles. Commanders in a big shock. Roy's due for a few upsets, and there was definitely going to be one in this round as well. I was kind of hoping it was going to be the Texans, and I thought that. I thought they played great. I thought they had a great chance to do it. Let's start there. They lose 23 to 14 with very suspicious safety to end the game. So spreads are covered. Not a fan of it, but CJ Stroud, Pretty decent game. Mixing bald Collins as well. Kelsey. They brought the old 1981 Ferrari out of the shed. All original OEM, original tires look slow. Changed the oil and God damn, he was so fast. Not really fast. He was in slow motion. Every time he caught the ball, it looked like he was running in slow motion for a good 10, 20 yards. He ended up with a 110 plus and a touchdown. Seven catches. Mahomes getting the ref calls that they get. If you guys want to talk about that, we can. But I thought this was a great game. It was pretty tightly contested, a little funky in the first half actually. Just seemed like it was like a little slow moving. Not a lot of points being scored. Houston answers with a 13 yard run touchdown. They missed the extra kick. These extra kicks, man, end up adding up towards the end of the game. Kicking you in the ass, where you have to go for two, etc. Etc. Changes the way you manage the game. Kelsey gets a big catch in the fourth quarter. They extend the lead 20 to 12. It should be 20 to 13. I think there was a missed field goal in there as well. That could have. [00:36:15] Speaker B: Blocked field goal. [00:36:16] Speaker A: Yeah, block field goal. That could have made that deficit a little shorter. And then we have a couple scores in the fourth, including that safety that gave us the final result. 23:14. There was a few, I thought a few, like the pat roughing the passer or, or whatever it was. I was okay with one. I just. 15 yards is a lot, man. And they were like on like third and short or whatever it was, or third and long. It just extended scoring drives and. And it really changed the game. And without those things, I know Houston could have did some things better. They got more yardage, more passing yards, more rushing. They definitely dominated. They got more yards per play. You would have thought if you're looking at the stats, they win the game. All right. And they did have like some costly self inflicted wounds. It seems like Casey just always pulls out these victories and they look good doing it. Aaron, since you said that they weren't going to win a game this postseason, let's start with you. What are your thoughts on the game and especially those, those roughing the passer calls? [00:37:29] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to not say anything about the referees. I don't want to get fined here by the NFL. So I'm just going to be quiet on that front. Let the tape speak for itself. Yeah, I mean, Ro, you said it. I mean all the stats favor the Texans time of possession, first down, rushing, passing, total yardage. They got 124 more total yards. So the Discrepancy, really, in the game. Sacks. Casey got eight. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:01] Speaker B: Imagine how many drives are getting shut down. I mean, basically a sack is kind of almost the same as a turnover. It ends drives and usually forces you to punt. And then penalties. This is where the Chiefs are so good. They don't get penalized. Four penalties for 29 yards. [00:38:17] Speaker A: Wow. [00:38:17] Speaker B: Texans double the penalties over three times the yards. Pretty much. Those are the little things that Chiefs do. Good. And then like you said, Travis Kelsey, he comes out and he's almost playing like rope a dope. He comes out, looks slow, and then boom, he puts his foot in the ground and he gets separation and he's really good at it. And he knows where to find soft spots in man to man and zone. And once he puts his foot in his ground, he like explodes on you and he's just like, whoa, this guy's a lot quicker than I thought. And then he makes big catches. I mean, the Chiefs have been doing it all year where, like you said, we look at the box score and I think they changed jerseys with the Texans because I would have thought the Texans were the Chiefs and won the game like you mentioned, but they didn't. This is what they are. I mean, you look at probably the box score for half the wins for the Chiefs this year, would have thought they lost the game, but they keep finding ways to win, man, they just do. [00:39:12] Speaker A: Yeah, great. Point of the time, possession one stat. I remember they were talking about, I think Texas was the first team to lose a playoff game where they outran, got like more yards, more passing, et cetera, and no turnovers. First time that that's happened where you actually lose even in time. Possession penalties were big, the sacks were big. They killed it on third down efficiency 10 of 17. You think like, man, they should be going on to the next round. [00:39:43] Speaker C: Aaron nailed it. I think the only thing you're missing there, you talked about the block field goal, but there was a missed field goal too. So you know KAMI Fairbairn going 2 for 4 versus Harrison, but you're going 3 for 3. You know, those are those things in the playoffs that come, you know, that come to vice you when you're not putting points in the board and just take some wild swings and momentum in the game where the Chiefs are just so good, you got to be perfect to beat them because, hey, Bucker's going to make the kicks. You know, they're going to convert it. Kelsey's always going to, you know, rope a dope. Aaron. It's a Great analogy. You know, it's, it just looks like he's running in slow motion, but he's going to box you out, get the ball and then it's going to turn into a massive play that gets him down into the red zone. So yeah, it just, it's the way the Chiefs have been all year. Rome's Adam not in the top five or below the top five or whatever. [00:40:26] Speaker A: It's five to. [00:40:28] Speaker C: Okay, well, I mean they just look every week like, hey, this team should be beatable every single time. But they're going to come down to it. Yeah, you could, you could talk about the refs, I guess I won't get fined with Aaron and two. But that became the defining stuff. Commentary on the game, on social media and everything across that because hey, there were some pretty game changing penalties in these moments that are like, I, I just don't know if that's a call that anyone but Mahomes is getting right now. And it's, it's, it's hilarious. You can use the old, you know, Harvey Dent dark blot, dark Nightline where. [00:41:00] Speaker A: You know, I know you're going. [00:41:02] Speaker C: Exactly. So I mean, you either die a hero or live long enough become the villain because this was the team that everyone loved taking down the Patriots dynasty five, six years ago. And now, you know, America does not want the Chiefs to win because it is just, we're tired of Taylor Swift, we're tired of Mahomes getting the calls we don't like the Kelsey's are over stuff like America now just hates this team and they win games in like a fashion where they were just blowing people out. They're exciting. The offense was up and down the field and now it's just these like slug fests of just like, you know, up and down the field. They're don't, not really, you know, doing anything from a yardage perspective. It's a lot of defense, it's kicking, they're not aesthetically pleasing. It's just like this is a, this is a different team that started the Chiefs dynasty and it's just a team to hate and root against now. [00:41:53] Speaker A: Any other thoughts on this game aside, it's a missed opportunity from the Texans. All right, that's it, guys. Huh? [00:42:04] Speaker B: I mean, I mean you're, you're the Chiefs guy here, Rome. I mean, I'm sure you got some stuff to say about it. [00:42:10] Speaker A: No, you know, just, I got nothing else, man. [00:42:17] Speaker B: Caitlin Clark to the list of now. [00:42:19] Speaker A: I was going to talk about that. Actually. I was a little disappointed that shows in the box because I'm a big Caitlin Clark fan and there's somebody else in the box too. I'm just like, it is what it is. Let's jump to the other side. Rams and Eagles. I was watching this with quite a lot of Rams fans. They were not happy that I was kind of cheering on the Eagles. I don't really like cheering for the Eagles. My friends that are Eagles fans, they are pretty obnoxious. I think they might be like one of the worst fans be friends with besides Cowboy fans. They all happen to be all in the same division. Bears might be joining that group too soon. You know, we will see if we're getting a pre from Jason. They might be climbing up those rankings really fast. But those actually. [00:43:06] Speaker C: I'm going to be so unbearable next year. R just so unbearable. [00:43:10] Speaker A: I was actually surprised how close this game was. Saquon Barkley had a fucking game. 200 plus yards, two touchdowns, 20 plus carries. Jalen Hurts pedestrian again, but he did have like that nasty hit. Whereas what was the left leg or the right leg? His knee had the weird twist. He didn't look the same after that. When he was getting pressure, he could not move in or around the pocket. He actually took a couple sacks in the second half of the game that he typically does not take. I know that was really big for the Rams defense. Stafford, he comes in clutch. Man, this guy's really seasoned, especially in the second half. Brought them to life. Gave everyone a good scare, especially on that final drive. But the Eagles were able to do enough early, especially early in the in the fourth quarter to win. Williams had a great game. Puka had a great game. It was a snow game. I love football. Snow games, man, that's like the epitome of like a football game for me. It's great. It kind of. You're kind of forced to go in between the trenches every catch. You know, it's like bouncing in and out of the hands. Like that thing's a rock when it's that cold. I can't believe the field goal kicking converted in this game. Like I was just like my foot hurt just watching. What's his name on the Eagles? I think same thing with the Rams. He had a pretty good size, you know, field go. I forgot what quarter was, but funk game all around. Did you guys feel nervous about the Eagles losing it? How'd you feel about the Rams? Any of the takeaways? [00:44:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I was very, very surprised. We talked in the preview, you know, it being snow, you know, potential and it was a lot. And it was, it was like an ice snow too. So it wasn't even like a convenient, soft, fluffy stone. That was probably one of the more inconvenient types of weather you could get. Agree with you, Rome aesthetically and stuff. This is, this is where football's at. I had some people texting me as like, all games should be played inside, blah, blah, blah. Like, no, this is, this is January football. Like, where it's at. Not perfect conditions, you know, need to adjust your team and where it's at. And I think the deciding stuff probably was the weather. I mean, this, maybe this was an indicator of Notre Dame playing the national championship, but, you know, Kyron Williams had a pretty good game, but his fumble was really like the turning point in that game for the Rams, because at that point it's like, man, they just, you know, I don't want to say they look cold or anything like that, but the weather was becoming a factor. I know Kyron Williams has had some fumble problems throughout the season, as is, I think last, the week prior, I think he had two that hit the ground, but the Rams recovered them. At this point, that was a crucial fumble where they were only down one, really put Philly in the driver's seat, getting a pretty easy field goal right after that. And then there was another fumble shortly after that with Stafford. So, I mean, that was like a big turning point where you felt like the weather was starting to come and play in favor the Eagles. And I think before that, like, the Rams were there and you'd be like, man, this, this team in la, you know, maybe there's some momentum behind LA with the fires and everything like that, there's going to be a little bit of team at Destiny. But at the end, Saquon being the difference maker, where he's at, you know, I, the Eagles for me had been, you know, we said top two in the NFC the entire year. So not surprised they're getting to this point, but I think it was a little shaky. I think the Rams, you know, Rams got better the entire year. You know, we look at that first month and we mentioned the season preview. You know, they were a week or two away from trading some of some key players and stuff, but they really stepped up. The defense got, you know, really good throughout the end of the year, and they held steady early in this game and kept it competitive. [00:46:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, weather definitely played a big part in this game. I, I, I think there's no snow and the weather's, you know, just cold. But no snow. I think the Rams probably pull this one out. I mean, Jason said it. Those two turnovers, Kyren Williams and Stafford I believe was back to back possessions, really, really turned the game. And then Saquon breaking the big run like he's been doing all season. [00:47:16] Speaker A: So beautiful. [00:47:17] Speaker B: That was big. And then Rome. You talked about it in the previous game. Throughout special teams. Elliott, who's making big kicks, then misses the extra point. The Rams, late in the game, they're driving. Not only chance to tie, but win. [00:47:31] Speaker A: Because the extra point. [00:47:32] Speaker B: Kick the extra point. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:47:35] Speaker B: I mean, it was a crazy game, definitely. I mean, Philly was calling timeouts to basically clear snow so Elliot could kick those 45 yard field goals and he was making them. I mean, like you. I was like, oh, geez, I don't know if you kick it here like Sirianni's usually. [00:47:50] Speaker A: I thought he was crazy. I thought he was crazy going for it that far out. [00:47:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I did too, considering he was missing extra points from 33 yards out. So. And he missed two in that game. He missed one in the first drive. So critically. Yeah, but yeah, turnovers were the big difference. I mean, time of the possession was about the same. Rams got a few 50 more yards, but yeah, weather was big. And then Jalen Carter coming up. Huge, huge. He had this, he had that strip there of Kyron Williams. He punched it out. Then the late sack on Stafford Field. These defense came through, man. And if you're an Eagles fan, you were nervous there, man, because that thigh line catch, the puka for 40 yards. I mean, my dad was texting me, he's like, hey, man, I think the Rams are going to pull this one out. He said he liked the Rams all day. I said, nah, they're going to get blown out. And here they kept, kept fighting and fighting. Like Jason said, you know, maybe, you know, the spirit of LA behind him, all the wildfires, but that was a hell of a game. It was a really good game. I didn't think it was going to be that entertaining and that close, to be honest. [00:48:51] Speaker A: That was really great. When you look at all the stats, man, these teams are pretty much even. Rams dominated in the air by a big margin, 290 to 60, whereas the Eagles dominated on the ground 280 to 111. Same yards per play, same amount of first downs, third down efficiency, fourth downs, total plays, sacks, punts, penalties. The fumbles were the big difference. Two fumbles, time possession. It was, man, I'm really impressed by the Rams fan. Did not even see Them making the playoffs and they were knocking on another conference championship. [00:49:31] Speaker C: It speaks to Sean McVay, to be honest with you. And, you know, he got a lot of praise, you know, as this young prodigy. And what he did and finally winning the super bowl, the team was totally up against the cap, you know, post super bowl win. And really, you know, that's the judgment of, I think, great coaches. And I know Rome's not always, you know, happy about his guy Tomlin, but if you look at like, Tomlin and, you know, John Harbaugh and Belichick over the years, like, you know, yeah, it's great to win the Super Bowls and stuff like that, but the real success is like, in a league that is incentivized for parity, where teams are always getting better. The teams that are able to go through these transitional periods in their franchise when they lose guys and guys get old and go through and they don't bottom out and turn into, you know, what the Bears and Raiders and Jaguars and, you know, all these other bad teams, like, you know, they have one good blip season, then go down. You know, this speaks to what, you know, great coaching can do, is identifying new talent, you know, getting better with the team and that just, you know, this team was nowhere. And I think they were just coached up, you know, top to bottom to do better. And that speaks to really how great McVay is. [00:50:40] Speaker A: I would say a lot of people still thought this team was pretty loaded with talent. [00:50:45] Speaker B: So, I mean, they overcame injuries. But, you know, we mentioned it early in the year, why I didn't like the Rams. I mean, their whole offensive line was out basically the first month. Cooper got hurt, Puka got hurt. They were 1 in 4 and then finished the year 9 and 3. Impressive with basically throwing throw away the last game. I mean, they didn't play anybody against Seattle, so really finished 9 and 2. One of those losses being against these Eagles when Saquon rushed for 255 there at SoFi. So outside of the Eagles game, they lost another Monday nighter against Miami. That was a shocker in which, you know, the Dolphins had gotten hot with two and went on to win like four in a row. But yeah, the Rams, we'll see what Stafford does. I think Stafford's probably going to come back and play next year, but we'll see. Probably they'll probably front load is all that money up front. But like Jason said, I mean, what McVeigh and the Rams did, they went all in, gave up capital draft picks, everything to win a Super bowl, they cashed in and then they had a bad year and then McVay's got those guys regrouped and they're competitive again and they're young on defense. They're only going to get better. You saw what Verse was doing, dominating versus really great. They got to get better at linebacker, but their D line depth is good, their secondary is good. And given that conference in division, the Rams with McVay and if they have a quarterback, Stafford or whoever they get, they're always going to be players most definitely. [00:52:08] Speaker A: Let's jump to the upset of the century. I wouldn't go that far, but it was a pretty big upset. Commanders pull off a very convincing win. 45:31 against the Detroit Lions. My number one team all throughout the year in the power rankings. I believe for the majority of the year, best team in the NFL in my opinion. I would probably still put the Ravens at possibly the second best top to bottom. [00:52:45] Speaker B: But. [00:52:48] Speaker A: A lot of things happened here. Second quarter was amazing. It was really amazing. At the point where I kind of got scared. I'm thinking like, oh no, this is going to be one of those games was when Detroit was driving the ball down the field. They're pretty close to scoring. I believe their second touchdown. Golf gets sacked. Fumble. It's. It kind of changed the whole vibe of everything. And Washington comes back and has a really impressive long drive. They go up, it's a shootout from there on out, back and forth, back and forth. Jamison Williams with this phenomenal 61 yard run in the second quarter. I think that was probably my favorite play besides Sam Laporta's amazing catch sneaking out in the back of the end zone on the right hand side. This little sidewinder from Goff, Zach hurts. I always forget that he is on Washington's team and he just looks great, man. I, I really loved him on Philly and he did an impre impressive job. But that fumble though, for me kind of just. It just felt bigger. Bigger than what it was like Washington was, it was, was here to play. And Jayden Daniels once again a phenomenal game. Everyone's saying best rookie ever. Definitely a playoff performance. Almost 300 yards, two touchdowns. They made very little if any mistakes in this game. Read the defense is right. Even when he was about to get sacked. Stepped out, stutter, stepped, let his guys slightly get open. Even some of the deep throws where they said, you know, like that's like the best option, man, they were like right on the money where like the defenders were all over the wide receivers and they just. The ball landed right in the right spot, the right time, and they just kept on converting. Brian Robinson, he was money. Two touchdowns, Gibbs was money. A few things. Obviously. Goff's turnovers were costly, man. Some balls sailed uncharacteristically above some of the wide receivers. I really didn't think he saw one of the defenders on. I can't remember. I think it was midfield and any threw on the left hand side. There was like three defenders around and it sailed over and interception, it was bad. But I thought know nine times out of ten he makes that. Some of the play calling I got, in my opinion, I'm kind when I was watching the game and I watched this game again because I just want to make sure, you know, you got your guy, Jason. But I wonder if he was halfway thinking about the Bears job already and didn't put enough study into this game. [00:55:44] Speaker C: You're spending too much time on Lions Twitter. [00:55:47] Speaker A: No, not at all. Some of the play calling was a little weird. And. [00:55:55] Speaker B: You'Re talking about the wide receiver pass. I thought the play calling was fine. Man. They got over 500 yards of total offense. Don't put this loss on Ben Johnson. Just tell him. I'm gonna, don't do it. Don't. [00:56:05] Speaker A: I'm gonna put a considerable battle in it on Ben Johnson. [00:56:08] Speaker C: I mean they scored, they scored 31 points and they gave up 45. But you're gonna put it on the offensive coordinator. And if you watch any of the Lions games throughout the year, those type of plays are a staple of the Lions playbook. Now the execution was very poor on the, the wide receiver reverse kind of screen. Like that ball shouldn't have been thrown. But it wasn't just that. [00:56:30] Speaker A: It was also, you know, they got Montgomery back. Jir Gibbs was unstoppable. I thought they could have ran the ball a little bit more, been more creative on that side. Yeah, they were still prolific in the air. It's just, you know, it was just lacking in, in the second half. [00:56:49] Speaker C: I don't disagree on the running game. As if you're. Chris says anything about little lines in on offense. Yeah, I think Jir Gibbs should have got the ball a lot more because I think that was a dynamic portion of the offense, especially where Goff was playing. And you know, I texted my, you know, friends and stuff throughout the game. Like when golf was the Rams quarterback. I have a friend who's a Rams fan and we always give him a hard time when he. Goff would blow up for the Rams and it'd be like, hey, golf's gonna golf. And he, and he's. At certain point, you know, this is what. When he got, you know, basically pushed aside out of. Out of la. These are the defining moments of Jared Goff. A lot of time that, that kind of define where things are at. He's going to have a game where these turnovers are going to matter. And out of anything in this game, Goff having three interceptions, I think in the fumble. So like four turnovers, like that was a massive portion of the reason that the commander is able to take so much control. And whether play calling or not, you know, you can't have that many turnovers in a game where not always the turnover margin always matters. But in this game it was just so severe where, you know, the, the commanders couldn't be stopped. Almost offensively we were wait, Aaron. And I've been calling for this. The Lions defense being too beat up all year. I think it finally caught up to him. And if the offense is turning the ball over, you're really not going to have a chance. And you're playing catch up. [00:58:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, Rome, I, I think you're stretching a bit with the Ben Johnson. I mean, I put this loss on Jared Goff. He doesn't fumble the ball there. They get points. They're getting a field goal touchdown on that drive. He throws a pick six you mentioned. He throws it over the wide receiver into three guys. He has Sam Laporter wide open in the flat. They drew that play up. You know, even Tom Brady's like, look, dude, you got eight yards to your tight end. You're getting greedy. No reason to do it. He throws another interception in the end zone when he has Williams open. But he throws on the line drive instead over the defender, an ex Michigan guy, rookie, undercuts it, intercepts it. Golf had a bad game and he's had some bad games in the past. This season we mentioned coming in to Texans five interceptions. They were able to overcome that. They weren't able to overcome this one. Daniels. And then they just couldn't stop them. The defense, like Jason said, we've been saying they've been banged up all year. They just couldn't get a three out. I don't even think they ever got a three and out in this game. Did Washington even punt? I mean, I, I can't remember if they punted. [00:59:04] Speaker A: So I don't think so one or twice. [00:59:07] Speaker B: I think, I think the only time Washington didn't do anything is when they took a knee to go into the half. [00:59:14] Speaker C: Now, they punted to start the second quarter, okay? And they had a. And they had a turnover on downs. [00:59:19] Speaker B: Okay. But, you know, if anything, I. And I. I put the loss more so on golf and I put it on Aaron Glenn. They lost one of their starting corners on what, the third play of the game. He broke his arm. [00:59:31] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:31] Speaker B: And they continue to stay and continue to stay with an aggressive game plan. When you play against Washington, I said, if you play against these quarterbacks can run. If you play man to man, you have no eyes on the quarterback. So the quarterback can run, he can extend plays, get out of the pocket and throw, or he can just run the ball and pick up first downs. You got to play a lot more conservative approach. I thought Detroit, I get it. This is who they are. They stuck to their guns and they went out that way. But I really, you know, Ben Johnson, the reverse for Williams, 61 yard run. They ran some kind of like. I can't even think of the play now where they threw it back to the quarterback. He threw it back to the running back. That was a creative play. [01:00:11] Speaker A: That was kind of cool. Yeah, that was pretty cool. [01:00:13] Speaker B: So, I mean, like Jason said, this is what Ben Johnson does. He comes up with two or three trick plays. I did see some guys on Twitter saying, hey, I'm glad, you know, I believe it was your boy Nick Wright saying, I'm glad Ben Shots got all the trick plays out of his book because now he doesn't have to worry about calling him the rest of the season. [01:00:30] Speaker A: So Nick, right? We'll get to Nick, right? One day. We'll get to Nick right? One day. Just watches Mahomes Mountain earlier today and kind of irked me. Yeah, yeah. You know, fair criticism. Glenn, same thing. Yeah, they were still pretty aggressive and Daniels ate them up. Daniels, man, really impressive dude. Really impressive. Two big victories in the playoffs to kind of start off his very, very young career. Has as many playoff wins as Dak Prescott. He's only five months in. Dak going to year 10. Is that what it is? It's hard to win in the NFL. I know Goff is going to get his criticisms. I feel like we're pretty hard on him. You know, you can say this about Jackson. Are we going to, like, say saying the same thing about him or, you know, every other quarterback? Aaron Rodgers, I don't think he's gotten his fair criticism for, like, you know, only having one super bowl and having, like, a lot of, you know, duds. And then in the playoffs, I think God has Been pretty good, but bad time to have a bad game, that's for sure. Still high scoring Commanders ended both halves. Man on fire. 28 points in the second quarter, 14 in the fourth to kind of shut things out. I'm trying to remember what. At what point did we know it was over? I thought once it got down to 10 points in the fourth quarter, I think it was like 38.28. I thought it was a little insurmountable. At that point. It just kind of felt like Detroit had nothing left. They. They were out. Out for the counter. [01:02:16] Speaker C: Yeah, I think you're probably talking. I think it was Golf's second interception when they were only down 38. 28 at that point, throws the interception. Washington goes down and score. They're up 45, 28. And now we're just. [01:02:28] Speaker A: That was it. What was the time stamp in that? [01:02:34] Speaker C: Oh, sorry. That wasn't Golf. That was actually. That was actually the trick play interception. That was it. So that was. Yeah, so that was. [01:02:42] Speaker A: He could have threw it out of bounds. They didn't practice out of that trick play. [01:02:47] Speaker B: Well, I mean, here's the thing with. [01:02:48] Speaker A: Trick out of bounds. [01:02:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, would have been a loss of a lot of yards. I mean, here's the thing. I mean, these guys, when they run these plays in practice, they look all great and good, so they want to run it in the game and throw it. And it was just a terrible, terrible chance. It had no chance. It didn't. I mean, obviously they don't get the interception there. Detroit maybe goes down, gets another field goal touchdown. Who knows? [01:03:12] Speaker A: Who knows? Punch. [01:03:16] Speaker B: That one hurt. That one hurt. [01:03:18] Speaker A: I mean, I think I was texting you guys. I was surprised, but I wasn't surprised. I'm still surprised, although. I'm not surprised. Thoughts on the commanders? [01:03:33] Speaker C: I mean, you look at. Out of these final four teams, you know, this is probably one of the main. The main teams making the playoffs that no one at the preseason would have thought they would have been here. They would have got better. But making the jump they've been at, you know, I. I will say I've been wrong about them pretty much the entire year. And you talked about Jaden Daniels. Yeah. I mean, this is the best rookie quarterback performance really ever. I think you had. I think your boy Ben Roethlisberger make it to the AFC Championship game or something his rookie year. But that, that was on the defense. It's nothing like what Jaden Daniels is. [01:04:04] Speaker A: Like offense by any means. No. [01:04:07] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, Jaden's really Carrying the team. I think the other thing is kind of, I don't know, other media outlets brought it up, but like for Cliff Kingsbury, you know, the difference between, you know, the commanders hiring him and the Bears, not for Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams and what Kingsbury has been able to do to kind of tailor this offense around Jaden and play to his strengths and utilize the weapons they have, you know, it's been super impressive throughout the entire season for the, you know, high scoring team. You know, the defense was okay but kind of shaky. Like, you know, they gave up a lot of points this year in Washington for, you know, Dan Quinn and, you know, defense being his specialty. So, I mean, it's been an impressive run. I think this was, this wasn't a victory that I definitely expected because the Lions felt like they were ready to go to the NFC championship game. It was going to be a Lions Eagles kind of showdown where they were pretty much the whole year, I think consensus one and two teams in the nfc. So I think where you're sitting at from a regular season standpoint, this is probably the commanders of the shocking team to wind up in this final four. [01:05:16] Speaker B: Definitely. Man, I mean, I didn't see the commanders getting here. I mean, I'm not shocked. Like you said. Rome shocked but not shocked that they won. More so shocked in the fashion that. [01:05:26] Speaker A: They did, I think by the 14 points. [01:05:27] Speaker B: Yeah, that's like, I mean, we, we talked about it. We kind of looked at each other when we're going over the lines the week before, I'm like, why are they a 10 point underdog? I mean, we all kind of sat here and we're like, it feels like a five, six point, you know, should be spread. We all like the over knew it was going to be a shootout. That's what we got. But I just mean I was looking at him like, man, 10 points. I mean, I think Jason looked it up. I said, I don't think the commanders have lost a game all season by double figures. And you know, like we said, they're playing with house money. They got nothing to lose. Right. I mean, sometimes when you're Detroit and you go from being the hunter to the hunted, it's a different mindset, it's a different feel. And they beat up on a Minnesota team that's not looking that great. The last week of the season, this defense, weeks 12 through 17, was given up almost 34 points a game. They look great against Sam Darnold and whatnot, but Darnold is nothing close to Jaden Daniels, like you guys said, he's the best rookie NFL quarterback probably never to come in unanimous Rookie of the Year. I don't think there's going to be any doubt about that. And he's got a chance to get his team to the super bowl against, you know, division rival. So it's, it's going to be exciting to see how this one finishes up. [01:06:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't really like the quick recency bias on, you know, everyone in sports is so guilty about like, ah, it's like the greatest rookie performance ever. You know, we were just saying that about Stroud last year. Yeah, he had a pretty good run himself. Mark Sanchez had a pretty good run when he was the Jets. That was pretty exciting. I still remember that. [01:06:59] Speaker C: I mean it's an overreaction, but I, but I struggle to say who, who's been better. Yeah, leading, leading the team. That's, that's where it's at. Like Stroud was great in the regular season, but then it came against the Ravens in the playoffs last year and it was, it was a no go. Like they dominated, you know, that Texas team. But we're. [01:07:14] Speaker A: Well then to let them run the, the offense the way they let them even, you know, change the play calling. Right, right then and there. Did you guys see the story that came out about how he trains. [01:07:25] Speaker C: Just all the different things that he does with the, the virtual reality stuff or whatever like that? [01:07:31] Speaker A: Yeah, I, I watched like this 10 minute clip deals on X. I got sucked into this world of virtual reality. How they would basically load up all the plays that started in LSU and they would run it at one and a half speeds up to two times the speed of what a normal gameplay would be. So you're still going through the motions mentally, but you have to react a lot quicker. So by the time you see it in game action, it's half the speed than once you saw it in virtual reality. But you already saw those type of coverages, you already kind of saw those play so it's easier to identify those things. I'm a fucking firm believer that this is the difference between Jaden Daniels and everyone else. And he was adamant whoever drafted him had to continue that VR training because that's what changed him from whatever it was him at asu. Whether her Edwards fumbled that bag or not and what it became at lsu. Pretty crazy. [01:08:25] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean that's a lot of creativity. That makes a lot of sense. Right. If you can speed the brain up and you get used to doing something than what it is. I Mean, if you actually watch Jaden Daniels play, and that's really the big difference between him and Caleb Williams, is the ability to process. Yeah, if you told me from an athletic standpoint and arm talent, I'd say they're equal or not better. Caleb, arm talent wise, Caleb definitely has. But the ability to process and recoverages and get from point A to B to C, Jaden's right now, much better. Well, Caleb could be the next step for Caleb and his progression. And, you know, maybe Jason doesn't want to hear it, you know, Brian Kelly, next Notre Dame coach. But give him a lot of credit, what he did with Jaden Daniels there at lsu. Guy knows how to develop talent, I'll say that for sure. [01:09:07] Speaker A: All right, are we done with that game? Should we talk about the final one? [01:09:10] Speaker C: Go for the main event. [01:09:11] Speaker A: All right. So my Bills. Josh Allen. [01:09:17] Speaker B: Wait, your Bills know how many teams you got? Dude, he went from Bengals to Steelers. Now Bills. Yeah, man, you're worth a calling. Coward, bro. [01:09:24] Speaker A: Hey, man, go yourself. [01:09:25] Speaker B: Dude, I like. [01:09:26] Speaker A: I like the Bills. [01:09:27] Speaker C: Why is it a shocker to you every college game? Every. Every college game we talked about was his team, whether it's Nebraska or Michigan or Texas. [01:09:35] Speaker B: I was hoping he left that at college, man, but now he's brought it over to the NFL. Look, he just jumped off the lines, and now the Bills. All right, I like it, dude. I like it. Bills to my team, too. Let's go. [01:09:43] Speaker A: I have not stopped talking about the Bills all year. I love them. Anyways, before you guys talk shit on me here, 27, 25. Really exciting game as well. Not as much snow, I think it was supposed to be a blizzard after the game. We got, like, a little bit of remnants, but it was still pretty icy. A few things, man, if you would have told me that Josh Allen only threw the ball for 127 yards, no touchdowns. James Cook just gets barely over 60 yards as well. On the floor, on the floor, on the ground. And they hold Derek Henry under 100 yards for the game. I would have thought that Buffalo definitely loses, but I watched highlights on this game again, and the way Buffalo's defense stepped up for this game, man, was really impressive. Go ahead, Aaron, you want to say something? [01:10:43] Speaker B: No, man, I'm just pointing at. There's three turnovers, man. Three turnovers in the game. That's all you got to know, man. [01:10:51] Speaker A: Three turnovers. I'll let you guys talk about the turnovers a little bit more. I thought they could have ran the ball more with Derrick Henry. Felt like they didn't really take advantage of that as much. Bill's defense were swarming though. They were not giving Lamar a lot of time. And even when Lamar did have a lot of time, he looked great. Lamar is definitely, you know, top three, top four quarterback in the NFL. No doubt about that. Possibly MVP again. He looked, there's parts in this game that he looked great. Wasn't his best game, but still, you know, I'm not gonna dock this loss on him. A couple big drops. [01:11:31] Speaker B: Mark Andrews. [01:11:32] Speaker A: Mark Andrews, man, I remember that play that they were running where he's you know, peeling out on the right hand side right around the goal line. It was the same thing that they ran against Pittsburgh. And he dropped the same pass and he dropped it on this one. That's a hard turn to make. And in the cold, with the snow, icy conditions, I wasn't a big fan of that play. It worked in our favor though. Bills, when they were up by, what was it, 11 points, it was 2110 in the half. I thought like this, this game, this game's ours, dude. Didn't count the Ravens out by any means. They definitely came back and made it competitive. But even Bills only got two field goals after the half. Looks like they were just kind of burning the clock, controlling it. I know it was a two point game, but it still felt like the Bills kind of, I feel like a 35, 25 game to me. Thoughts on the game? [01:12:33] Speaker C: Yeah, at the turnover aspect of it when you think about with Lamar and like those are the things that just can't happen. We just talked about it with Goff and especially go to a game like this, you know, I don't know how to describe this type of game but like this is like the CBS game, man. You have these teams playing in the Snow at that 3:30 time slot on a Sunday, man. This is, this is the CBS of CBS games. And you know, just a certain vibe and the way things were going with the game. Just like it felt like even though it was close, everything was kind of going like the Bill's way. And yeah, like you said, like I wouldn't have realized the stats on Josh Allen or Cook or any of that unless you wouldn't have said it. But you know, I don't want to say weather was the ultimate determining factor. Like it kind of was with the Eagles Rams game. But you know, when you talk about Andrew's, Andrew's drop and a couple other things with that with the Ravens team, like it just wasn't crisp and the execution just Wasn't there for a team that had been good all year. But we talked about it in the preview, like, whatever team lost this game, it was going to be a huge disappointment to whichever quarterback that, you know, on. On the losing effort, because we're expecting one of these guys to make this leap past Mahomes and go to the Super Bowl. And so it was going to be an unsatisfying end to either one of these team seasons, especially for Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. And unfortunately, Lamar, now this just carries him forward because he has the turnovers in the game. You know, they lose and he still can't get this kind of monkey off his back for, you know, make it doing what he does in the regular season, in the playoffs. [01:14:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, Lamar. I mean, Lamar had a good game, but just costly mistakes. I mean, multiple turnovers. He threw what, four interceptions all season, rose two in this game, are one in this game, and then has the fumble. Multiple turnovers. This is, I think, the third or fourth time he's done this in his playoff career. And the Ravens have lost all those games. I mean, you look at the stat line, you look at everything, and it's turnovers. Like I said, the Ravens didn't punt this whole game, guys. He didn't punt. They didn't miss an extra point. He didn't miss a field goal. We talked about Tucker all year. He was money in this game. [01:14:42] Speaker A: He was. [01:14:42] Speaker B: And yet they have three turnovers and the Bills score, I believe, 10 points off. All those turnovers. That was the big difference in the game. You mentioned Derrick Henry. You know, they kind of kept his carries down, but they even had Justice Hill come in. I mean, he got 50 yards rushing. I mean, I'm looking at the stats right now. They got 176 yards rushing on the ground. [01:15:04] Speaker A: Baltimore, they did. [01:15:04] Speaker B: They did the average. That's probably about what the average on the season, between 175 and 200. So if you look at the numbers, Baltimore did everything they did all year except one thing. Turn the ball over a lot. They never do that. And that's kind of been their playoff MO Is like, hey, this team is the most talented team in the NFL up there. One, two. You know, they should have beaten Buffalo. I mean, Buffalo didn't really do anything against them. I mean, six points in the second half. Mark Andrews doesn't fumble when they're getting ready to go down and score again. I mean, that was a killer because then Buffalo got the ball and got a field goal. And then obviously the two Point conversion drop, you know, between. Yeah, between Mark Andrews and Jared Goff. I don't know who had a worse weekend, but it hurts if you're a Ravens fan because you're always like right there. I mean, you go back to the AFC championship game last year. Zayn Flowers is literally half a yard away and they're probably going to beat the Chiefs. Let's just be real. They have the momentum. We're going to probably beat the Chiefs and go to the super bowl and likely win because they already crushed the 49ers that year. So it's tough, man. It's tough if you're a Ravens fan. [01:16:12] Speaker A: For sure they did have Zay Flowers, so that definitely hurts. But yeah, if you look stats overall, Ravens dominated every category overall yardage, yards per play. They still got big plays. It was still a fun, exciting game. Bills clamped down when they needed to. They bend, but they didn't break. [01:16:33] Speaker C: Aaron, I ask you this. I was kind of, I want to think about Mark Andrews in this game between the fumble, the miss catch for the two point conversion. This guy is like, I don't know, is he like the leading receiver or touchdown person in like Ravens franchise history, but is there a moment here where Isaiah likely is just going to take over and they're going to be wishing him farewell? [01:16:54] Speaker B: Well, I think likely he's kind of already taken over. Likely had a touchdown this game, right? He caught that touchdown that led to the two point conversion play. [01:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah, it was a nice play. [01:17:03] Speaker B: Well, I think we talked about Mark Andrews like the first six weeks or half of the season wasn't doing anything. Like he wasn't involved in the offense at all. People that drafted him on those fantasy teams were like, dude, like did I draft the wrong tight end? Because oh, there you go. Because likely he was killing it from week one. [01:17:19] Speaker C: They had Andrews playing like left tackle at the start of the season. [01:17:23] Speaker B: So if you're asking me where I think Andrew's going, I think he's going back to left tackle and then he's going to be because he also dropped another big play in that game or in the first half that would have continued to drive on a third down where it just went right through his hands. I mean Mark Edrew had a great career. He's had some injuries the last few years, but Isaiah likely's is the future there. But the Ravens have always liked two, three tight end sets ever since Lamar's got there. They like to go big because, I mean, similar to what you see with Buffalo and even Detroit, you Can have that extra tight end and you can do the play action pass game and get, you can get big plays in the passing game in Rome. Like you said, not having Zay Flowers and still generate the offense they did, that's pretty impressive. But we're going to have to wait till next year to see if Baltimore can make that leap. I just, I just don't trust them in big games. That's my thing with them. [01:18:10] Speaker A: Tough loss, but I think it was a loss that I think Jackson can at least live with. Like, you know, it's not going to tarnishes reputation. I think too, too much. I, I think he still did pretty well. Wasn't a no show. I think still, I don't know. I'm happy the Bills won. [01:18:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean the fumble, that was just a weird play. Maybe because it was cold and just the ball was hard, but I'm not. [01:18:33] Speaker A: Gonna put that on him. [01:18:34] Speaker B: I agree with you. I mean not to punt the ball, lead him back. I mean that play to likely, that was, that was kind of, you know, he sat in the pocket for what, 10 seconds. Just feel like 10 seconds, great protection. That's something where his game is developed and why I think he's probably a three time mvp because Lamar in the past would force a throw or just take off running. He's become a great pocket passer which is something I never thought we'd see out of Lamar and that makes him more dangerous going forward. [01:19:02] Speaker A: Phenomenal. [01:19:03] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, it's really, it's really hard to. You know, I already mentioned about the lose. The loser of this game was going to get roasted regardless. But with Lamar driving them down the field, putting them in a position to win that game. Made the right throw in the two point conversion to tie the game. Like honestly, even if Andrews catches that ball, I think Buffalo still had time on the clock to be able to get into a position to kick the field goal anyway. So like was it, was it going to mean like as much even if Andrews caught that ball? I don't know. But I mean Lamar being able to orchestrate that comeback is what makes him, you know, the MVP and where he's at. It's just unfortunate circumstances and yeah, a turnover here, turnover there. These big moments like this is just, you know, you're waiting for him to kind of grab the reins from Mahomes and now maybe it's going to be Josh Allen's ability to do that here. But you know, it's, it's just rough for a guy that you know is so Talented, like Aaron said, has only gotten better in the league where he's, I mean, he's almost near unstoppable between what he can do in the pocket and his ability to run. [01:19:59] Speaker A: Yeah. I believe there's a missed field goal too, right. For the Bills in this game. Was it Mr. Blocked? [01:20:05] Speaker B: I don't think the Bills had any missed field goals. I think both kickers are pretty money in this game. I mean, Tucker was. I mean, like Jason just said, it would have been a minute 33 left on the clock. I think Buffalo had all three timeouts, so they would have had a chance to go down and get a field goal and. But if this had game had gotten overtime, given how Baltimore just dominated the second half, I think Buffalo would have been in trouble. But, yeah, we'll never know. [01:20:31] Speaker A: Yeah, fun playoffs, man. All, all four games are great. They're fun, exciting in their own way. Something to take away. I'm pretty content with who's in the final four. You got commanders against the Eagles. We can talk about that spread probably on another night. We'll talk about those games. But I like the Commander's chance as well. That's gonna be fun. I'm guessing a shootout or. It's gonna be snowing in Philly. Are we gonna get some cold weather? Early outlook? [01:21:12] Speaker C: Great question. Let's look it up. What it is in Philly right now? [01:21:15] Speaker B: I don't think it's gonna be as cold as it was as last weekend. [01:21:18] Speaker A: That's too bad, man. [01:21:19] Speaker C: Sunday. Yeah, it's getting warmer. Leading up to Sunday, it'll be a high of 39, low at 25. No, no snow in the forecast. [01:21:28] Speaker A: Still cold as hell, but definitely doable. A lot more doable. And then Bills and Chiefs, probably about. [01:21:34] Speaker B: The same weather, I'd imagine. Yeah. [01:21:37] Speaker C: Kansas city, high of 33. No precipitation either, so I like Alan's chances there, too. [01:21:46] Speaker A: It's gonna be fun. A couple games on Sunday. [01:21:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we'll get in some previews. But I, I agree with you, Rome. I'm not claiming the Bills as my team in this, but I, I, if I have a rooting interest. I mean, I think the fans of Buffalo are amazing and, you know, they probably richly deserve the run they can get out of this team. And Josh Allen's just been awesome. You know, I think if you're asking America, like, it's probably 49 states versus one against the Chiefs. If you're doing a, doing an electoral old Sports Nation pick on who's picking this, the AFC championship stuff, I Think America is behind the pills on this one? [01:22:22] Speaker A: Well, probably 48 states. Is it Kansas City? Because it rides between two states, right? You got Missouri. [01:22:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:22:29] Speaker A: Kansas. [01:22:30] Speaker C: Yeah, between Kansas and Missouri. [01:22:32] Speaker A: So, yeah, kind of weird. No good stuff, guys. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back and talk about the new big men on campus. And Soldier Field. [01:22:48] Speaker C: Foreign. [01:22:55] Speaker A: Is ecstatic, as is every other Chicago Bears fan, with the hiring of Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator, former offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, that's had a record breaking numbers in Detroit this past season. Really impressive offense and depends on what side of the Twitter universe you're on, you're either really happy as well or you're not happy, you know, because allegedly he had a full staff already lined up before even taking that second interview Monday and accepting the job hours later. Lots of things coming out about him being hired, you know, his personality, no one really knows about him. Looked kind of weird, you know. You know, like that video when he's walking to the offices. Whatever, man. Let's get into it. Jason, congratulations. You got your man. You've been talking about all year. We have many clips, hundreds of clips of you talking Ben Johnson or nothing. You got your offensive coordinator guy, offense guy for Caleb Williams, where they go. [01:24:00] Speaker C: From here to the super bowl, obviously. No, yeah, I talked about it all year at ad nauseam, because a year ago when we were going, you know, not deciding to part with Eber Floose, this was the hottest guy in the market. And he pulls his hat out of the ring and wants to return back to Detroit. Had some unfinished business, didn't get any farther with it, but, you know, but. But felt he needed another year in Detroit. There's some unfinished business. But he even talked about his press conference today that, you know, he needed to like, sit back, reflect and learn some things on. Like his approach would be as like a play calling, like head coach. And I think he got a lot of answers within himself and like, what he would want. I think he was. You don't get that very often with only 32 of these type of jobs in the league where a guy really pulls himself out of the. Out of the. Out of the ring of getting a head coach. Usually people just want that next promotion they're going to go. And he was very reflective and very specific and picky about which job you want for the Bears in my lifetime, Aaron and I were talking about this before. This is probably their best hire ever. People have brought up Dame Dave Wanstead back in the early 90s or you're talking Mike Ditka, you know, just Bears lore from a head coaching perspective. But the last, you know, three decades of Bears coaching hires have all been various levels of disappointment. Like Lovey Smith, most successful coaches probably in, you know, the recent, the recent history, like a successful run against the packers took the Bears to the Super Bowl. Like that was probably the best team of the last 30 years that the Bears have had. But uninspiring head coaching hires, if you talk for the George McCaskey era, which is around that 2011 time when they fired Lovey Smith after a 10 and six season. So over, you know, whether it was, you know, John Fox and Eber Floose and, and Nagy and all these guys, you know, it just, they were never getting the guy. It was always these weird, you know, they're hiring a CFL head coach or a retread NFL head coach or the offensive coordinator that doesn't even call the plays in Kansas City, or a defensive coordinator that was potentially going to get fired. But of course they hired him as the head coach of the Bears. Like Ben Johnson was the hottest free agent on the market. I think everyone in Chicago was holding their breath because do the Bears have what it takes to get the deal done? You know, many signs to me pointed that this was their guy. I think the tipping point, I mean, may or may have talked about the podcast was like when it leaked out that the Bears had reached out to the Steelers about Tomlin, I was like, okay, Tomlin's a very expensive head coach. All right? Money's not going to be an issue. They're, they're going to, they're going to pay for Ben Johnson if that's what you require. Because this guy was, you know, Ben was apparently asking for a lot and you invested everything in the number one overall pick with Caleb Williams. This is a quarterback driven league. Ben Johnson talked about it in his press conference today. Like the way the quarterback plays is the biggest determining factor in winning ball games, even more so than the turnover battle is. It was Ben Johnson's quote in these games. So you got the guy that's going to be able to turn it around. And the Bears went out. This was the guy that Ryan polls wanted. You know, great to see in the press conference that polls and Ben Johnson are kind of locked, you know, lockstep with each other because that was a lot of the rumors I got. Ben Johnson didn't want Ryan poles or this and that. It seems like the right fit you mentioned. What did you say? It's the, it was Awkward. Ben Johnson running, walking around. I mean, to me, the guy addressed, you know, the staff. And in the press conference today, he had all the attributes of the leader of men's stuff that they wanted. The players seem uber excited about it. You had Caleb Williams, you had DJ Moore, who was allegedly on a family vacation and came off that vacation to come to this press conference today. Cole Comet was there, like the leadership and the core that the Bears had was excited about this move. If you look at Juwan Brisker, he's very active on Twitter. He was psyched about the hire and everything about it. So Amon Ron St. Brown and I think his brother have a podcast they had Caleb Williams on about a week ago, and they were kind of talking about. Talking about Ben on that and what, you know, what he would potentially be for the Bears. And Caleb was basically kind of more or less alluding that this is the guy he wanted to. And you could tell the relationship Ben Johnson had with Amon Rod that he, He. He's a player's guy and he gets it and the players like him. So there's a ton of leadership capability there that I think that's what the Bears need, but also the offensive innovation. And to me, he nailed the press conference today. The Bears are the king of the off season, so that might be saying much, but, you know, he was. Ben Johnson talked through this stuff, like, hey, he's got a very specific scheme within Detroit. But he said, hey, I'm not having my scheme match the player or, I'm not having the players fit into my scheme. I'm going to make whatever scheme we decide to go with match what Caleb Williams and what the weapons around Caleb does well. And to me, that's, hey, that's the maturity and knowing of a head coach of what, what he has, what he has to work with, and he'll build something around of it. I think it's the start of something special within Chicago. You know, I can go overreaction right now, but, hey, the Lions, they're only getting worse. They're going to lose both their coordinators. The Vikings overachieved all year. The packers now say the packers got a young team. They got a great head coach, too. But I think this puts the. The Bears into another conversation. The staff, I think, will be key. You talked about Ben Johnson already had some stuff in the fire. Hey, Dennis Allen, if he's really the Bears defensive coordinator, cool. He's bringing a guy in who has head coaching experience, is one of the best defensive play callers in the league great that you're locked to step on what the defensive side of the ball is going to be. And then there's other rumblings on who potentially Ben Johnson's offensive coordinator, offensive line coach is going to be. So I think there's a very specific plan for what this team has to offer, and I think based on what is said, Ben Johnson and Ryan polls will have that collaboration and know exactly what they need to do in the off season to make this team better. [01:29:58] Speaker B: Yeah, man, it's a lot to digest there, but no, I think I. I think it's a great hire for the Bears. [01:30:04] Speaker C: Did I go longer than two minutes? That was it. Longer than two minutes. Okay. [01:30:07] Speaker B: All right, let's see where the timer's at right now. [01:30:10] Speaker C: Cut me off about five plus. [01:30:12] Speaker A: All right, five plus. [01:30:14] Speaker B: Decent. Decent amount of time. No, man, I think Jason said it best. I mean, this was a great hire. I think for the Bears right now. Ben Johnson's the guy they need to bring him in. I like what they're doing with the staff. Dennis Allen, D.C. likely. They're likely bringing over the. The interim coach that was the special teams coordinator there for the Saints, too. He's likely going to take over. So whoever they bring in as offensive coordinator, I mean, Ben Johnson's going to be, you know, calling the plays, I'm assuming, and they're going to have the same. Like Jason said, he's going to make an offense work with what players and personnel they have, not just pin in the system and scheme. And I think that's a good leadership and coach. Quality of a good, you know, offensive coordinator, head coach. You know, for Ben Johnson, what side of the pendulum is he going to go? Is he going to land on the McVeigh tree where he just, you know, is one of these young guys, offensive coordinator, tears it up or is he going to end up like an Adam Gase where like he was the hot name, failed to do anything and just kind of ran himself out of the league? I think Ben Johnson's a smart guy. Obviously, he knows what he's doing. He knows how to run offenses. The Bears need somebody like this. I'm excited for where they're at. You know, we talked about the teams already in there. Caleb Williams, where is he going to be as a quarterback potentially? He may be the best quarterback in that division. You know, you got the packers, their team out floor. He's probably the best coach. But, you know, maybe. Maybe the worst head of coach in that division now is Dan Campbell. Let's just Be honest. We're going to find out how that works out. But he may have the worst quarterback going forward, too, in that division. So that's a real tough division, depending on what J.J. mcCarthy becomes. So the Lions window, it's closing rapidly with Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn out the door as quick as, you know, the commanders whip their ass on Sunday. You guys are Rome. We just slapped you so hard. You look like you got knocked out. So we'll give you a 10 count to get up, bro. [01:32:14] Speaker A: You guys are high as hell. I. I think the. I think the Lions are going to be fine. I think they're going to retool just fine. Campbell has, obviously, he's building something special there. So I think you guys are full of shit. But great hire. We'll see how it goes. Tough division to turn around in. It's not the best division in football. We know that because that goes to the NFC east with two of their teams in the conference championship. But I think. Let's do some early predictions here. Bears had five wins this year, right? Five and 12. [01:32:52] Speaker C: Yep. [01:32:53] Speaker A: You did have them winning more than 10 games this past year. I said they'd be lucky if they got to eight. No, I. I think I had them at nine. I think you had them at 11. What, was that it. [01:33:05] Speaker C: Yeah, something like that. [01:33:06] Speaker A: Something like that. What do you think they do next year? Way too early predictions right now. What is the ranking of the division since you guys are so down? The Detroit Lions. What's that. What's that going to look like? And we're both marking this. This could be a cold take. Is this a cold take for. [01:33:25] Speaker C: It could be. It's tough because it's. What are these teams going to be doing in the off season? And the pieces are at. So, I mean, if you're. You're talking about projecting out, like, hey, the Vikings, they're going to regress. You know, tough to duplicate what they did this season for Lions, like you said, they're building something special. They are. And they're going to get pieces in the defense back. But, you know, when teams lose both their coordinators, that's a, That's a. That's a big deal. Like, and they had a. You know, what they did in the regular season. There's a little regression there. The packers, they were pretty hurt all year, so the packers potentially could be better. I think the Bears are better. So, I mean, now you got. You're talking about two of the top teams regressing, two of the third and fourth teams getting better. Hey. Or is this whole division going to be around like 9 and 10 wins if some of these like splits within the division are a lot tighter? So I don't know you all. What do you want me to say, Rome? The Bears are going to win 10 games next year. Okay. Yeah. That I would probably put them down for winning 10 games. But it really does depend what they get in free agency. Like, you know, there is it. Trey Smith from Kansas City is potentially saying he's going to be a free agent. One of the, one of the big guards or something from Kansas City is going to be out there and like that. The Bears Twitter is already going crazy about that. The Bears got to address the offensive line. They already know that. So they're going to be some investment there. There's a ton of talk on the pairing in the backfield from a running back perspective. If you have, you know, do you need a, you know, you need a Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery thing? So you got a Swift. Do they. You know, Genti's getting a lot of pub as the Bears taken him, you know, early in the draft. I think that's probably be a mistake. I think they need the line help better. But, you know, what are the teams doing the draft in the off season? I think will be, you know, the biggest, the biggest red flags. But I'll, I'll tell you, Rome, I, I think, I think it'd be. I think you'll see Packers, Bears, you know, in some order. 1, 2 in the division, if that's what you want me to say. [01:35:13] Speaker A: Packers number one. [01:35:16] Speaker C: I think the packers have the leg up right now. Yes. But I'll say that. I say the Bears be second. I think the Vikings are last next year. [01:35:24] Speaker A: Here, I'll write this down. Packers 1, bears 2. [01:35:30] Speaker C: Lions 3. [01:35:31] Speaker A: Lions 3. [01:35:32] Speaker C: Vikings. [01:35:37] Speaker B: I mean, that pecking order is pretty much what I've got. I think Green Bay. Yeah, I mean Green Bay, like Jason said, they were banged up. They've got, they've got the best coach in the division that's I think improving right now. We'll see what Ben Johnson becomes. The Vikings, they're going to take a step back. They're not going to win 14 games, especially if they come back with. My guess is they're going to move off to Arnold, but we'll see. [01:36:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:36:02] Speaker B: J.J. mcCarthy comes in. [01:36:03] Speaker A: It sound like they're moving off based on the way they were talking right. [01:36:06] Speaker B: After the game when they were playing the Rams. They mentioned six of their seven defensive backs are all free agents this year. So let's see who they bring back in that group to replace or keep to add to Brian Flores's defense. The Lions, they're not going to win 15 games. They just lost both coordinators. That's gonna be tough to replace. They just lost their main D line coach who now is going to the Patriots as their defensive coordinator. [01:36:29] Speaker A: That's a lot of good. [01:36:30] Speaker B: That's a lot of good coaches to lose. So I mean, even if they go from 15 wins to say 11 or. [01:36:36] Speaker A: 12, that's what I have, Matt. [01:36:38] Speaker B: We'll see. If I had to rank the division, I'd say one Packers. I give a slight edge to The Lions at 2 bears 3, Vikings 4. But I think the Lions and Bears, depending on how things play out, might be interchangeable. [01:36:52] Speaker A: So you got the Vikings last as well? [01:36:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:37:03] Speaker A: I still have Lions first. I got them probably like at a 11 to 12 win rate. I got packers number two. [01:37:12] Speaker B: I gotta remember this is at like 1am and late January. So late January. This is a way. [01:37:20] Speaker A: But the other two, though, he just. [01:37:22] Speaker C: He just wants something to hold us accountable to and if we're actually right, this will never hear the light of day. We're never gonna hear about this again. [01:37:29] Speaker B: Those notes would be lost. So gone. [01:37:31] Speaker A: I got it right here in black ink. [01:37:33] Speaker B: Yeah. You got the legal pad or what? [01:37:36] Speaker A: Yeah, of course. [01:37:36] Speaker B: There you go, man. I'm glad. [01:37:38] Speaker A: I've always done. But. But I use white legal pads. [01:37:44] Speaker C: The yellow. [01:37:46] Speaker A: I can't read on the yellow legal pads. They just hurt my ears. My ears, my eyes. It is 1am but the yellow. [01:37:53] Speaker C: The yellow legal pads were. Eric gives his top college games of the week was. They're basically just free money that he's given out to. To all the listeners and. [01:38:03] Speaker A: But outside of like Lions 1, Packers 2. I don't know which way. It depends on what happens with the Vikings potentially nine win team. We know with McCarthy more than likely, you know, if they keep everybody else in place, I mean it's potentially a. [01:38:21] Speaker B: Team over.500 in that division. I think next year bears should be. [01:38:24] Speaker A: Above.500 next time or at least. You know. [01:38:29] Speaker B: I agree with Jason. They definitely that first round pick or whatever they do. Trey Smith would be a nice pickup addition from Kansas City at guard. They need to improve the offensive line. I think the running backs are fine. Just get a more creative play caller in an offensive line to go with it. And I think Swift and those guys would be okay. [01:38:45] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, let's talk about some other hires. Glenn going to the Jets I think it's pretty nice. He was pretty legendary as a player during his time in the 90s there. I think he's the second jets player to ever coach that team or turn into a coach people are kind of liking. It's a good fit. It's going to make a difference. Like it really does matter though who he hires as his coordinators. How do you guys like that fit? [01:39:19] Speaker C: I mean they had, they had a roster and the defensively under Salah, like they were great. That was one of the biggest criticisms. How early they fired Salah that they had some, they had some pieces there from a defense. The question around this, and I criticized the Bears for this in the past, like, okay, they hired the coach but they don't have a gm so how's that going to work as far as, okay, now we got a, the owners. [01:39:41] Speaker A: You know, got a higher season. [01:39:44] Speaker C: Yeah. So they got, they hired this guy's boss. What's going to be alignment between those two? You know, Eric Glenn has did a great job in Detroit. I mean, just like Ben Johnson, but on the defensive side of the ball, like he had a lot to overcome this year from an injury standpoint on that defense. And you know, when, when every week, you know, myself or Aaron were calling for, hey, this is going to be the week they're, they're just not going to have the horses like that ending against Minnesota where that defense just put a clamp down. I'm Minnesota. And Sam Darnold still hasn't recovered from, you know, what happened in that game. So I mean he's done a great job. I mean for the jets, the, the unappealing part about the jets job is okay, what's your quarterback situation like? You know, probably not bringing Rodgers back is my assumption. And then, you know, what, what are you going to be doing going forward from a quarterback, you know, quarterback driven league? They don't have an answer that, that'll be the biggest, you know, off season question after they hire this GM is what are they going to do to solve that problem? Like there's, there's options I potentially out there. But I don't know if you're bringing Sam Darnold back for another short with the jets and you're not bringing Rogers back like so. And then, you know, there is, yeah. [01:40:57] Speaker A: Wilson ends up there. I like this weird inkling about it. [01:41:02] Speaker C: Could be because I think Rogers is going to your Steelers. So. But I mean I think it's a good hire. I think, you know, Glenn was rumoring this job in the Saints job, which he played for both of those teams. Yeah. And I, I mean are they under really similar circumstances? I mean, I guess kind of the Saints have more of a quarterback answer with, with Carr. [01:41:24] Speaker A: But do they. [01:41:24] Speaker C: It's not, it's not. Yeah, same thing as do they. It's not, it's not like a long term stuff. So I think that it's a little bit of a rebuilding project that I don't know the, the foundation and directionally where they want to go. And I think whatever GM that the jets do hire, you know, that'll be the assessment and sitting down with Aaron Glenn of like, hey, what are the, the great pieces they have on defense? You know they got some good pieces on offense too. Like the, the cupboard is not particularly bare there. But not having the quarterback figured out, you know, that's just really been where the jets the entire almost Salah era was like hey, we got this really good defense, we got some pieces on offense, but we just have, we don't have the right guy at quarterback to really move the needle to be, you know, something better than a 500 team. [01:42:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm really curious who he hires as his OC and who else he brings along because the jets are still a loaded roster. If they can just tighten up a few things here and there, that's definitely a 10 win team playoff contention. But you know, we've been saying about that about the jets for a while. [01:42:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:42:21] Speaker A: Oh, go ahead. [01:42:22] Speaker C: No, I was gonna say the last thing about the, the jets from the general manager. I think they've only conducted one in person interview and it was a former all that was in there too. So you know, someone's probably familiar with Glenn and something there. So it could be, you know, a fit for somebody he already knows is getting in that GM job. [01:42:40] Speaker A: Possibly. [01:42:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I think you have to probably bring in somebody he's familiar with as a gm. You don't want that tension in the room. You bring in somebody that has kind of a different vision. [01:42:51] Speaker A: Oh, definitely not. [01:42:52] Speaker B: I'm happy for Aaron Glenn that he got a job. I mean I think he was either going to get the job here with the jets or the Saints. The Saints were setting up a second in in person interview but that got snowed so the judge just jumped on and took them. [01:43:05] Speaker A: What makes the Jets a bad job is their owner. [01:43:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean there's a lot of bad owners in this league. [01:43:11] Speaker A: So I don't know man. [01:43:13] Speaker C: They got some good young kids like 13 year, 15 year olds running a franchise over there, you know. [01:43:18] Speaker B: Yeah. So, I mean, obviously Aaron Glenn's coaching Madden rating was on the chart, looking up, trending up. [01:43:24] Speaker A: For me, I think it's going to. [01:43:25] Speaker B: Be important who his coordinators are. I'm hearing Steve Wilkes, the ex Cardinal 49er defensive coordinator, possibly joining the staff, maybe taking over the defense there. Who's going to run the offense? Who's going to run the quarterback? They've got talent there for the Jets. For me, again, you go from Robert Sala, defensive guy, to Aaron Glenn, a defensive guy. [01:43:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:43:46] Speaker B: Personally, I, I think Solid is a better coach than Glenn. I think his defenses over time have been better than Aaron Glenn's. We'll see how that. [01:43:53] Speaker A: Oh, Saul is great on defense. [01:43:55] Speaker B: So, you know, they don't have a quarterback, so they didn't need to hire an office of guys, per se. Right now, depending on what they do. Russell Wilson, I. I like that. To the Jets Rome, I think you should write that down because if that. You're right on that. You'll be highlighting that every day for the next year. So put that on your notes. [01:44:13] Speaker A: But what do you guys think about the variable stuff so far? I'm kind of liking the moves he's making with the patsy. [01:44:20] Speaker B: I agree. I like it. McDaniels and a young guy for D.C. yeah, they need some fresh blood in New England, so I like it. [01:44:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I think, I think it fits the culture, what they're trying to build there. I think this was the right move that Gerard Mayo was not for them. They got the quarterback in place there in New England, so I think they have something to build upon and variable get, you know, find the right pieces of kind of what he does, man, like watching him. For those Titans games, it wasn't always the most aesthetically pleasing football to watch, but they won a lot of football games and I think that's, you know, where. How you turn this Patriots team that's been dormant for a couple years since Brady left into, you know, something that's more competitive within that division. And I mean, you got. You got a strong Bills team, but then you got a Jets team in turmoil. You got a Dolphins team that doesn't know their identity or whatever's going on over there. So there is an opening for the Patriots right now to. To. To make a mark in the AFC East. [01:45:22] Speaker A: The way early, too early predictions. Dolphins drown. McDonald's is out after next year. Pat's going to be on the up. You imagine they might double up their. [01:45:31] Speaker B: Win percentage three games this year. [01:45:33] Speaker A: They'll get to at least six, seven. [01:45:34] Speaker B: I think six or sevens are real possibility chaps. You gotta get some talent on the offense. But yeah, yeah. [01:45:42] Speaker A: Jets will see they always have the talent to be a 10, 11 win team. But they're putting it all together. Coaching does matter. NFL and yeah, Dolphins are in trouble, man. That window might have closed. Any other hirings or. We're still kind of waiting, huh? [01:46:00] Speaker C: Yeah, I think you had. I mean, we talked to the Jags. Aaron and I were chatting over text day that they had fired GM Trent Balky, which was just crazy to me. And Aaron and I were just both agreeing on this. Like this was rumored a couple weeks ago. I think we brought up. It was the Pen Johnson conversation whether if he didn't vibe with Bulky, like and the owner was talking about firing the GM so he can make way of the head coach. Like, if you're gonna make this move, you should have done it so you at least could have landed potentially the right head coach. And Aaron mentioned, I think Liam Cohen pulling his hat out of the ring for that and not liking what is. And like, I think this is kind of spot on what you've seen from the Jags ownership, you know, through, you know, them hiring Urban Meyer and the mess that was, you know, getting into Doug. Doug Peterson and that not working out. And now you're. You're keeping the gm, but at the start of the coaching shirts, but now firing him. And he's been kind of like, you know, for almost two, three weeks now. It's been like this teeter totter, whether he's going to keep a job. Like, you're not setting yourself up for success to get the, like the right candidate in there. And this is a pretty crucial time for them with, with Trevor Lawrence. They just signed him to a, you know, a pretty significant contract. You got some good pieces. You know, Brian Thomas was a great draft pick last year and there's some other good parts about that team. This was a playoff team over a year ago that was, you know, kind of right on the. The expectations to take their next step. And it was a big step off a cliff. But it just doesn't seem like overall from an ownership standpoint with Shad Khan and what they're doing over there, that this is a pretty huge mistake in this kind of coaching search when there's a. There's a lot of good candidates still out there. I mean, you know, Mike McCarthy still floating out there, who is. Who was hot on a lot of people's table too. And I don't Even know where the Jags are going at this moment? [01:47:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, the Jacksonville, I mean, who knows where direction they go? I mean, Trent Bulkey, you know, there's been bad vibes about him ever since he got rid of Harbaugh in the 49ers 10 years ago. [01:47:58] Speaker A: That's where you stop working for them. [01:48:00] Speaker B: Four years into that tenure, three, you know, NFC championships, the Super bowl appearance, fourth year, they go 500. Harbaugh didn't like them, Trink got rid of them. The 49ers went downhill. Luckily, they got lynch and Kyle Shanahan in there. [01:48:12] Speaker A: Essentially. It took like what, six, seven years? Yeah, eight years, so. [01:48:17] Speaker B: And then he kind of basically fell into the scouting department of the Jaguars and assistant and then just kind of moved his way up. Selected Trevor Lawrence, passed on Aiden Hutchinson when they had a chance to draft him. [01:48:30] Speaker A: Yeah. So it's crazy, you know, just what? A couple years ago, they're pulling off a big victory in the wild card over the Chargers. Things are looking up. And then they have a complete meltdown. What, last year or the year before, missed the playoffs. [01:48:46] Speaker B: Then this year, Last year or not this? Yeah, last year they're 8 and 3, did not make the playoffs. They had what, 97 chance to make the playoffs. [01:48:56] Speaker A: Bad. [01:48:58] Speaker B: I mean, like Jason said, there's a lot of talent there. I mean, they've got the tight end, they got running backs, they're O line, D line. They're all young, they're talented. And that division's. It's winnable. I mean, it's kind of like rotates division winners quite often. So we'll see who gets the coaching job there. Like we said. Liam Cohen pulling out. I think it's a name I was said to keep an eye on. I don't know if he was going to get hired this cycle or not, but if Joe Brady happens to get the Bills to the Super Bowl, I think he likely gets a head coaching gig. If he gets that far. Maybe if they. Even if they don't. But he will be on somebody's radar getting a job this time next year, I believe for sure. Who? Joe Brady, OC for the Bills? [01:49:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I hope not. [01:49:42] Speaker C: I mean, he's. He's gotten a lot of praise. I mean, what he did, you know, down in lsu, you know, that was pretty much the greatest offensive college football history. I mean, they had some of the best players in college football history. Loaded team, but I mean, you know, done a great job with Josh Allen. I think, you know, it's. It's funny listening to interviews of these current teams. I talked about Amon Rod talking about Ben Johnson, but there was. There was stuff out there with Josh Allen talking about Joe Brady, basically saying, like, yeah, I go around telling everyone this guy's trash. He did nothing, nothing to help us out or anything like that. So I think you could tell, like, the respect a lot of those players have. I'm. I'm very curious on the Raiders if. If Joe Brady's an option for them, too, because, you know, they were, you know, Tom Brady allegedly was, you know, talking up Ben Johnson, you know, into the intro or right after this game or whatever, to try to get him to go, you know, to the. To the Raiders. So is Joe Brady an opportunity there? I know that Liam Cohen basically said he's going back to the Bucs, but I was kind of surprised that he wasn't going to be in consideration for the Raiders job given, you know, his connection with Tampa and Brady's connection with Tampa and everything over there, too. So I, I think the Raiders, The Raiders opening is pretty interesting on what they're trying to do over there. [01:50:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I think when you were in freeze mode there, we talked about it. Since the Raiders just hired an executive to be the GM there from Tampa, I think Liam Cohen's the name gets back in the mix. I know he signed the extension, got a raise. You know, what they're going to do, too, at quarterback. But the Raiders seem to be putting things together, and Brady kind of run into more kind of Patriots kind of organization, more. More organized. So I think the Raiders are going to be interesting to see who they hire. [01:51:18] Speaker A: Congrats, Jason. Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears. We'll see how many more dominoes fall as the next week progresses. We'll be back.