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Goal Line: Playoff SZN
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The Fig God breaks down the end of the regular season in the NFL and everything else happening in the world of football.
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Transcript
Introduction & Reflections
00:00:12
Speaker
What is up, Goal Line listeners? I am back for another week of exciting football talk, and I'm really ready to get into it with you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed last week. It it was fun um having a couple of my friends on and just kind of doing the roundtable. it was ah It was a nice little change of pace, but I'm ready to get back into the groove of it and just do my own thing this week. and This was a good weekend of college football, so there's a lot to talk about. um A lot happened, and Yeah, there's there's no reason to waste any time. um I want to wish you guys all a happy new year. I hope you guys all had a great holiday season and um your year is starting off great. But ah other than that, that's really all I got. Let's ah let's talk some college football.
Game Highlights & Analysis
00:01:05
Speaker
All right, let's start with my Huskers. um as thought and As I said last week on the show, I thought they would get killed by Utah, and they did. um Just they're not a good enough team. I mean, they're that's all there is to it.
00:01:20
Speaker
It got worse as the season went on. um i'm not going to dwell on it too much because, again, it was just a bowl game. um But just, yeah, got a lot of work to do.
00:01:31
Speaker
um Let's get into the important games, though. ah Thursday night, or no, Wednesday night. Yeah, Wednesday night, Miami beat Ohio State, which in my mind was the was the biggest shock of this season.
00:01:45
Speaker
of this college football season. I just, I did not think Ohio state would lose. Um, and it's not even that I didn't think Miami was good. I just thought Ohio state was the best team and yeah, they went out Wednesday night and looked awful offensively. And I mean, it's a lot of what Miami did. Miami's playing really good football right now and they deserve to be where they are. And there's a reason they are where they are. So, um, yeah, it was a great win for Miami. Um,
00:02:12
Speaker
Yeah, just surprising. um Oregon shut down Texas Tech. I kind of figured Oregon was going to win this game. i did not think they would control um Texas Tech's offense the way they did. it just – Texas Tech could never get it going in this game. And um their defense played decent. I mean, Texas Tech's defense didn't play horrible. Like, they were just on the field too much. um but great season for Texas Tech. Oregon moves on, and yeah.
00:02:42
Speaker
ah Indiana just absolutely steamrolled Alabama. um Can't doubt this team anymore. I mean, everybody keeps doubting them, myself included, and they just keep winning. So, mean, Cignetti's right. They just – he keeps winning. yeah.
00:02:59
Speaker
uh yeah this was surprising to me i just did not see indiana steamrolling alabama i just i just did not have that on my um card of things that thought i was gonna see last week and then the night game which was by far the most exciting game old miss beats georgia did not see this coming either uh I thought Ohio State and Georgia were the two best teams, and, um yeah, they both lost. So – um
00:03:30
Speaker
Another season ends disappointing for Georgia, which is crazy. It's just as much talent as they have, and to lose again, it's it's kind of crazy. But not to take away from Ole Miss, what they're doing is absolutely incredible. I love what they're doing. I love that they're just kind of shoving it in Lane Kiffin's face. um I'm rooting for this team. i I truly do hope they they keep it going. They got a tough one this week, but we'll kind of see what they do here.
00:04:00
Speaker
I do want to hit on the bye week because now the teams that have had the bye are now one in seven through two years. um I think there's something to be said about continuing playing relatively soon I mean two weeks after championship games the the first round was going on so the teams that hadn't played in a month looked like they hadn't played in a month outside of Indiana like it's just it's kind of crazy but it's almost like you don't really want the bye week which I think eventually they'll get rid of it anyway because we'll we'll get it up to 16 teams but um yeah through through two seasons the bye week is not the place to be
00:04:40
Speaker
let's preview this week's games we got thursday and friday night the two semi-final games we've got uh miami and old miss is gonna be a good one um it's really tough to doubt miami right now the way they're playing they're they definitely got it rolling um i'm gonna go with miami i would like to see old miss win but Miami just has it rolling defensively right now, so I'm going to stick with them.
00:05:10
Speaker
ah The other game, obviously, Indiana-Oregon. I'm going Indiana. I just i can't keep doubting this team because every week they prove me wrong, and they're just they're playing on another level right now. I do think this going to a close game, and it'll be a really good game, but, um yeah, I don't know. I just i can't keep doubting Indiana, so I'll go with the Hoosiers to win this one.
00:05:34
Speaker
Uh, that's really it for college football talk.
Falcons' Season Review & Changes
00:05:36
Speaker
I am very excited to talk about football, the NFL football with this week. So let's get right into that.
00:05:53
Speaker
Okay, you know we're going start with my Falcons. let's Let's discuss the game first and then what happened later that night. um The Falcons ah beat the Saints, swept them for this season, which that's always a successful thing is when you sweep your rival. So...
00:06:08
Speaker
um it it was an ugly game i mean the the falcons did just enough to win the defense played really well in this game i thought um so they win and obviously i'm spoil the obviously saturday day game before i talk about it but um the bucks falcons and panthers all ended in a three-way tie for first place and the panthers uh ended up winning division um This is just kind of a mixed bag of a season for me. i did like the way they played the Falcons played in a lot of games this year.
00:06:42
Speaker
um i also hated the way they played in a lot of games. The Jets game is just always going to the outlier. like it just i don't understand how you lose to a team that bad. I truly feel like that was the turning point of the entire season. And when I knew the, it was just over at that point. I mean, Graham, they got eliminated a week later, but it just, that was bad. all kinds of bad.
00:07:06
Speaker
um but yeah, I mean, you end up tied for first place. You're technically going to get third because of the tie. um, Yeah, I don't know. There's a lot of guys on this team that I like and a lot of guys I want back. Obviously, you're going to have B. John back next You're have Drake Lennon back next year.
00:07:25
Speaker
Quarterback situation is fluid. We'll we'll see what they do. um Before I get into all that, let let's talk about what happened on Sunday night. So the Falcons did fire Raheem Morris. They fired Terry Fontenot, and they relieved Rich McKay of his duties.
00:07:43
Speaker
This to me was ah something I've been waiting on for a long time. Like I, I hate Rich McKay. I just, i don't, Him being as high as he was with the Falcons and doing absolutely nothing just always frustrated me. So it's good to get rid of him.
00:08:00
Speaker
Terry Fontenot had some good drafts, but he also had some misses in free agency. um I felt like his time would kind of run out. Five years, no playoffs. like that's just you can't That's not where you can be as a GM. And Arthur Blank wants his team to win. I mean, whether or not they'll actually ever win anything is – I mean, I can't predict that. I i would guess no, but um yeah, you got to get rid of him. And then you guys know my feelings on Raheem Morris that I just, I've never thought he was a good coach and they finally did fire him.
00:08:32
Speaker
I'll give him credit because Arthur Blank usually doesn't do that. And they fired him Sunday night during Sunday night football. So yeah. I will give him credit. He did it. um Like I was mentioning before, they got they have to figure out the quarterback situation, which it's all going to depend on who the GM and the coach is. So we'll kind of see where they go from there.
00:08:50
Speaker
it sounds like Matt Ryan is going to have some place in the front office, which I do like. um Matt Ryan loves the Falcons. He wants them to win. So... We'll see what happens there, but I do feel like there's there's some renewed hope here because they needed to do this. They needed to clean house. I mean, we needed to move on from what was going on right now with the Falcons, so I am happy they did this. and It's just it's one of those things. like i I don't ever want someone to lose their job, but when you're not doing it well and i have to watch this shit every week and talk about it every week, like it's just a lot for me. The the Falcons game is way heavy on me. i mean I think you guys know that. It's just...
00:09:34
Speaker
it's just a weekend week out thing for me. and um, I'm happy that you made a decision and they're going to stick with it And there's some really good head coaches out there. I'll, I'll talk about it when I get to the end of this. Cause we'll, we'll talk about, um, everyone who got fired and everything like that. but If I had to give you my top three candidates for the job right now, obviously I would say ah John Harbaugh, Clint Kubiak, and probably Kevin Stefanski. I think those three would all be good choices. um So, yeah, we'll see what they do, but it's Falcons, so I'll most likely be disappointed, and we'll be talking about it next week or the following week because I'm sure they'll hire a coach by then.
NFL Team Performances & Playoff Prospects
00:10:15
Speaker
um Titans get absolutely steamrolled by the Jaguars. the it It has nothing to do with the Titans, and Cam Ward did go out after that first touchdown. the The Titans did take a lead, and then Cam Ward went out in the game, just derailed.
00:10:29
Speaker
um Jaguars are absolutely on fire, though. i just They're playing such good football. I mean, I didn't think the Titans had a chance in this game, and they ended up getting steamrolled, so...
00:10:40
Speaker
kind of what was expected. Up and down season from the Titans. They have a high pick. They have Cam Ward. They just need to surround Cam with a lot more weapons and just kind of see what happens.
00:10:56
Speaker
um Saturday, the Bucks do beat the Panthers, as I previously mentioned. This was just a bad game. It was a rainy game.
00:11:09
Speaker
Neither team looked great, I didn't think. um Obviously, the Bucs did enough to win, but I didn't feel like either one of these teams really did anything that was monumental in this game.
00:11:21
Speaker
ah Saturday night, the Seahawks beat the 49ers, clinched the one seed. Seahawks defense just absolutely shut off the air for the 49ers. They couldn't do anything in this game.
00:11:32
Speaker
McCaffrey did nothing in this game. The the Seahawks were a really good team. Clenched the one seed. um Yeah, they're going to be really tough to beat in the playoffs. they They got a really good coaching staff, and I'm sure Kubiak probably does leave after this year. I mean, he's going to get offered a ton of jobs. so um But, yeah, they have a really good team.
00:11:55
Speaker
ah Texans keep winning. Texans tried to lose this game. They pulled their starters at halftime when the Jags were up big um and the Colts still couldn't win the game. The Colts finished the season so poorly and the fact that they're not firing anybody or everybody is kind of eye-opening to me.
00:12:13
Speaker
I mean, i think I read they're the first team that started eight and two that didn't make the playoffs. Like, it's bad. It's very, very bad. The optics of it are terrible. They made no changes.
00:12:25
Speaker
um They made that trade for Sauce, which obviously looks horrible now. Colts are in a dark place. On the flip side, the Texans are in a really good place. Their defense just plays really well. Offense scores enough. It's going to be dangerous in the playoffs.
00:12:44
Speaker
ah Giants beat the Cowboys. The Cowboys kind of just tanked this game after the first quarter. It seemed like they didn't even want to play it out. This is the problem with Week 18 is there's a lot of teams that don't care and a lot of teams that aren't trying if you're not in a playoff race. So um that was one thing about Saints-Falcons. I'm happy both those teams played it out. and um i mean, there was something on the line. There wasn't anything on the line for those two teams, but there was something on the line in the end. So I'm happy they played it out. But, yeah, Giants just destroyed the Cowboys in the second half.
00:13:14
Speaker
ah Vikings beat the Packers. Again, another team that wasn't playing anybody. The Packers um looked like absolute crap on ah offense, and the Vikings did enough.
00:13:25
Speaker
J.J. McCarthy did unfortunately break his throwing hand in this game. Man, that guy is just... He's just an injury bug. Like, he just – he keeps getting injured, and they're all just, like, freak injuries. So, I feel bad for him. But um Vikings end the season on, ah I think, a five- or six-game winning streak. Like, they played really well down the stretch. So, we'll see what they do next year. They have a really good head coach, and we'll see what JJ ends up being.
00:13:56
Speaker
ah The Browns beat the Bengals, and Miles Garrett does set the sack record. ah Good for Miles Garrett. He's just an incredible player. He just seems like the nicest guy ever.
00:14:07
Speaker
um As far as the Browns are concerned, and they do win. Obviously, they fired Stefanski. um The Bengals just... They're not good. Just not a good team. i don't i I said it before the season when they signed Higgins, Jamar Chase, and Burrow. I just thought that was a bad idea. Their defense stinks. They have nobody that can make any plays on defense. So I'm interested to see what they do moving forward because I i don't have high hopes for the Bengals right now.
00:14:37
Speaker
ah The Commanders beat the Eagles. Eagles sat their starters in this game, which I thought was extremely weird. Like, you you had something to play for, um but they decided not to play it out, and Commanders ended up beating them The Eagles had a chance to win still, but Commanders ended up winning. So, yeah.
00:14:58
Speaker
ah Patriots destroy the Dolphins, and destroy is it probably a relative term. They just absolutely thumped the Dolphins. It was bad from the start. um Patriots just beat the bad teams, and they beat them mercilessly. So, yeah, it was a good win for the Patriots. They end up as the two seed. So, yeah, we'll see what they get.
00:15:18
Speaker
ah The Rams got right against the Cardinals. I think anybody could have called this. I think this was – The writing was on the wall. Cardinals are not a good football team, and the Rams needed to win like this, and they got it.
00:15:31
Speaker
um We'll see how they look in the playoffs. I still think this is one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL. They're getting Devontae Adams back. Kind of seems like they're gonna be fully healthy for this game. of seems like they're going fully healthy for the first time all season. So I'm really interested to see what the Rams look like.
00:15:48
Speaker
Raiders beat the Chiefs in – something I could have never predicted at the beginning of the season. It was just an ugly, terrible game, tons of field goals. It just, yeah.
00:16:00
Speaker
I mean, Chiefs obviously don't have Mahomes, so it's they're obviously not going to look the same, but they just they that this team looks like a shell of themselves at the end of the season.
00:16:12
Speaker
ah The Bears lose to the Lions but clinch the two seed. The Bears go two and four in the NFC North and still win the division. I don't feel good about this team going into the playoffs. like There's just a lot of things about this team that I don't trust.
00:16:26
Speaker
um They do get the two seed, and you're not going to apologize for getting the two seed, and you're not going to apologize for winning the games you won, but i just have a not great feeling for the Bears going into the playoffs.
00:16:39
Speaker
ah The Broncos win and clinch the one seed. They beat the teams they need to beat, again, but nothing about this is impressive. It's just... I don't know. It's like the most paint-by-numbers team ever. like they're They're really good against bad teams, and i don't know. I don't know what think of the one or the two seed in the AFC. It's just two really weird teams.
00:17:04
Speaker
And then Sunday night, the last regular season game of the season, obviously, Steelers went on a Ravens-missed field goal. I feel for Lamar. I really do.
00:17:16
Speaker
I know he does not make things easy on himself a lot of times, and he does make some bad plays, but i do. I just really feel for Lamar. I don't know. Maybe firing John Harbaugh is what they need, but they just lose in the ugliest ways possible, and it's just like the most heartbreaking losses you can get.
00:17:39
Speaker
I don't know. I really thought the Ravens were good enough to win this game, and they just didn't do enough in the end. So, Ravens are going home. Steelers are going to the playoffs. Yeah.
00:17:52
Speaker
Yeah.
NFL Coach & GM Changes
00:17:53
Speaker
As I mentioned, yesterday was Black Monday. um That's the day that head coaches get fired. um So John Harbaugh, like i said, got fired today.
00:18:05
Speaker
The Giants and Titans both fired their coaches in season. Falcons fired Raheem Morris. Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon. Browns fired Kevin Stefanski. And the Raiders fired Pete Carroll.
00:18:16
Speaker
The two GM openings are the Dolphins and the Falcons.
00:18:21
Speaker
If I had to go most desirable position to least desirable, I would definitely go the Ravens as the most desirable position. that They're going to get a good coach, and he's going to be in a good spot.
00:18:34
Speaker
um wow I know the ra the Raiders have the number one pick, but this organization is such a disaster. and it's not good. that To me, that's the most, the least desirable job.
00:18:46
Speaker
um We'll see if anybody else gets fired this week, but as of right now, that's the openings and just kind of see where it goes from here. Like I said, I i hope the Falcons hire one of the three that i was talking about earlier, but we'll see. i mean, NFL is weird and,
00:19:02
Speaker
Yeah, there's a lot of interesting things that can happen on all these teams. Like the Cardinals, I'm assuming Kyler Murray does not come back next year, so we'll see where he ends up. Raiders, obviously, in the market for a new quarterback. We'll see what the Browns do at quarterback. Falcons, same thing.
00:19:19
Speaker
Titans, Giants, and Ravens are all pretty set at quarterback, I would say. um And then, yeah, GM openings, Falcons and Dolphins, like – Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how this offseason goes. And yeah,
00:19:35
Speaker
yeah it's just a crazy weekend and a crazy year of football. It just it's been a really good NFL season and I'm excited for the playoffs and I'm excited to go through the hiring process for all these teams and see you who everybody gets. Because, yeah, this is just a fun time of year.
00:19:54
Speaker
ah Let's go to, let's do some NFL playoff picks.
NFL Playoff Predictions & Speculations
00:20:02
Speaker
All right, we're starting it off Saturday at 3.30. The LA Rams travel to the 8-9 Panthers.
00:20:10
Speaker
I think this game's a massacre. I think the Rams just absolutely destroy them. There's not much for me to say about this game. And we'll see if they the NFL does look into the rule of the reseeding and things like that. Like, the Panthers should not be getting a home game.
00:20:27
Speaker
i just It is ridiculous, but they are a division winner, so... ah We have the Saturday night, we have the 9-7-1 Packers traveling to the 11-6 Bears.
00:20:39
Speaker
As of right now, the Packers are favored in this game. it is basically a pick-em, but it elicits Green Bay minus one. The Packers are just absolutely limping into the playoffs. I feel like the Bears are too. This is just going to be an ugly football game. It's just going be an NFC North game. going to be ugly. It's going to come down to the last possession and
00:21:02
Speaker
I'll say the Bears win just because it's at home. They need this win really bad. ah Sunday afternoon at noon, we have 12-5 Bills traveling to the 13-4 Jaguars.
00:21:16
Speaker
I'm going to go Bills. The Jags are absolutely on fire. so i mean The logic says to pick the Jags, but I'm going to take the Bills. i just Josh Allen has to do it this year.
00:21:29
Speaker
ah Saturday at 3.30, we have the 12-5 49ers traveling to the eleven and six Eagles. I'm going to go Eagles. i just I like the home team in this game. i feel like they're good enough to get it done. Their defense started playing well.
00:21:44
Speaker
I feel like their ah offense will do enough against a bad 49ers defense. So, yeah, I'm going to go Eagles. ah The 11-6 Chargers travel to the 14-3 Patriots. I would love to pick the Chargers here. i really would.
00:21:59
Speaker
i just i don't think they can protect Justin Herbert long enough to keep him upright. I think New England does just enough. I think the game is extremely close, but I think New England does win.
00:22:12
Speaker
um So, yeah, we'll see. And then Monday night we've got the 12-5 Texans traveling to the 10-7 Steelers. I'm going to go with the Texans. I just i think their defense does enough, and I feel like they get it done.
00:22:27
Speaker
i just i don't trust the Steelers team at all either. i i really feel like the Texans are the better team here. So we'll see what happens. and Yeah, it's going be it a good weekend of NFL action. So I'm very excited. I know you guys are excited. We do have a couple of listener mail questions.
00:22:47
Speaker
I did remember to ask for some listener mail, so. ah Sam Rosenthal asks, who is the worst offensive play cor caller in the NFL currently? I would either say Arthur Smith for the Steelers or I would go Zach Robinson for the Falcons. i Both those guys stink and I've seen it in person, both those coaches. So I think those are the two worst.
00:23:11
Speaker
Uh, Sam also asks, who is your Superbowl prediction long shot to win? What top eight draft team do you see making playoffs next year? Uh, Superbowl prediction.
00:23:27
Speaker
I'm going to say the bills get hot and they get to the Superbowl, uh, from the NFC. I'm going to go Seahawks from the NFC. I'm going to say Seahawks bills in the Superbowl.
00:23:41
Speaker
um As of right now, I'd probably say Seahawks win it, but yeah, I'll go Seahawks, Bills, and the Super Bowl. um Long shot, I mean, i guess the Bills are kind of a long shot. I guess I would go Rams, I guess, if you're, I mean, judging by the seeding, I would go Rams. Rams are they're really dangerous, so we'll see what happens.
00:24:03
Speaker
ah Top eight team that I think could make the playoffs next year. Let me look at the top eight right now. Oh, yeah, we'll go through that real quick. We'll go through the top ten of the draft. Vegas is one, Jets are two, Arizona three, Tennessee four, Giants five, Cleveland six, Washington seven, New Orleans eight, Kansas City nine, and Cincinnati ten.
00:24:28
Speaker
a Team in the top eight that I think they could go to the playoffs next year – I'll take the low-hanging fruit and go Washington. i just – Jaden Daniels will be healthy again. They'll have a top-eight draft pick, so I'll go Washington here. What is the last?
00:24:50
Speaker
Okay, last question is from Brian Vermeer. He asks, does Harbaugh take a year off or take one of the open jobs? If he takes a job, who do you think he fits best with?
00:25:02
Speaker
Honestly, i feel like Harbaugh fits best with Cleveland, but I don't know if he will take that job. I would love to see Harbaugh in Atlanta. um I will say he takes a job this this hiring season. I just – I don't feel like he's going to take a year off, but – weirder things have happened and god this is a really good coaching cycle and you got two really good coaches with John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski really do like Stefanski a lot two-time coach of the year with the Browns like he did a lot with a little I I just I really like Stefanski a lot so we'll we'll see what happens but
00:25:42
Speaker
Yeah, that's it for this week, guys. um It was a really fun week of football. Like i said, I love talking to you guys. I love doing this show. um This one's a little shorter. It is a little later tonight. So, um yeah, I just kind of went through it. But ah I hope you guys enjoy this weekend of football, college and pro. And I look forward to talking to you guys next week.
00:26:21
Speaker
Jim Bob never does.
00:26:45
Speaker
We don't want to see you waste your life away. He lights another cigarette and all he's got to say. All I want to do until they lay my body down.
00:26:55
Speaker
Stain my pills, pay my bills. Blow the rest on awesome crown. Fill this moon and crack it