Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
NFL Wildcard Recap + Divisional Round Preview + CFP National Championship Preview
31 Plays4 months ago
The Goal Post is back after a huge weekend of NFL Football:
Damien and Patrick start off the show by catching up on Wild Card weekend by quickly recapping each game: the Packers bully allegations are fully verified, the Steelers crash and burn like everyone saw coming, and the Texans upset the Chargers (like they thought they might).
The Boys then preview each of the Divisional Round games: Houston is in tough against Kansas City, the Commanders vs Lions game is going to be hectic, the Eagles are a matchup nightmare for the Rams, and Bills vs Ravens is the best matchup of the season so far. They finish by each giving out two more picks in the Goal Post Playoff Picks Battle.
To finish, the boys break down the College Football Playoff National Championship: The Buckeyes are a matchup nightmare for the Fighting Irish, but Notre Dame might just have a coaching advantage on their side.
Enjoy!
NFL Wildcard Clean-Up: 0:00-33:32
Texans vs Chiefs: 33:34 - 43:27
Commanders vs Lions: 43:28 - 51:32
Rams vs Eagles: 51:33 - 1:00:59
Ravens vs Bills : 1:01:00 - 1:12:14
NFL Divisional Picks: 1:12:15 - 1:16:51
CFP National Championship Preview: 1:16:53 - 1:32:53
Recommended
Transcript
Divisional Weekend Excitement
00:00:21
Speaker
All right, welcome back to another episode of The Goalpost. We are coming at you after Wild Card Weekend ahead of the divisional round, ahead of the College Football National Championship. Feels like we are right in the sweet spot, Patrick. Divisional Weekend is always my favorite, I think. And Wild Card Weekend was pretty good. We had some stinkers, some really good games, but just happy to be here.
Playoff Blowouts: Inevitable?
00:00:48
Speaker
Yeah, it was weird, Damien, you know, there was definitely some blowouts, but I didn't really hear anyone complaining about having to change the entire playoff format because blowouts happen in the wild card round. They'll happen in the first round of the college football playoff. It's just something you have to deal with in in the reality of every playoff format and situation is.
00:01:08
Speaker
There's not going to be more, like there's only going to be half of the teams in it that can actually have a realistic chance of winning, um, you know, the title in whichever league it is. So is what it is. You have to reward teams for having good regular seasons.
00:01:21
Speaker
and making the playoffs. And there's some you know possible Cinderella stories that we'll get to in the NFL. But yeah, it's it's the same kind of format in all of these professional leagues and you know colleges starting to become a professional league where blowouts are going to happen. So just let the playoffs play out as they are and everyone stop complaining and just enjoy the product that is put on
Instant Reactions vs. Patience
00:01:42
Speaker
the field.
00:01:42
Speaker
I think I was liking every single tweet I saw that was making fun of college football pundits like trying to be smart asses about who got left out like every tweet that was like clearly the Cincinnati Bengals were more attuned for the playoffs or more ready for the playoffs. I was just going on a spree.
00:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, you have to man because it's everyone overreacts to stuff. They don't let things play out anymore. It's always, it always has to be an instant reaction. Everyone's got to get a takeoff quickly when it's like, Hey, but let's just let some things play out. I mean, you know, obviously comment on the game, you know, teams got dominated. It happened. There were some big spreads. All the big spreads were covered by the teams that were favored by the big number. Uh, yeah, it's just something that happens in sports and it has always happened. So I think the college, um, you know,
00:02:29
Speaker
that that demographic of the college football, they kind of got their first taste of the real blowouts. But this is something that happens in every sports, whether it's, you know, seven game series that end up in sweeps or single game eliminations that end up in 20 plus 20 plus wins. Yeah, good. Well put there.
NFL and College Football Previews
00:02:46
Speaker
um We're gonna do a little quick recap of wild card weekend and then focus on the divisional round matchups in the NFL And then we're gonna do a college football national championship preview. It's next Monday ah Really really excited for that game. um But without further ado, we will start kind of in reverse order and With what we saw on Monday night, Patrick, after a 14-win season becoming the first 14-win wildcard team ever in the NFL playoffs, the Vikings saw some ghosts and go down 27-9.
Rams vs. Vikings: Defensive Strategies
00:03:22
Speaker
Both teams really on the road because the Rams were playing in Arizona as the home team due to the wildfires. Man, this this game had a lot of different things that were just ripe for takes, ripe for the narratives.
00:03:37
Speaker
And I think it starts with, like, unfortunately, I think Sam Darnold lost himself a lot of money in that in the last two weeks, really. Absolutely. um yeah It's at the same time he he earned himself a lot of money ah throughout the course of the season. But from what his peak was at that point in the season to where it is now, he probably lost.
00:03:57
Speaker
15 plus million like he still might get or no he still will get a lot more than he would have going into this season ah but yes he definitely left some money on the table and unfortunately I was at a ah you know an event this night so I wasn't able to watch the full game so i'm I'm kind of reliant on highlights and kind of analysis from other people but to me it seemed like The Rams, they just stole the blueprint from Aaron Glenn in the Lions and just blitzed the hell out of Sam Darnold, sacked him nine times in this game. And they just forced him to make quick decisions, which he just wasn't able to do. And it just really showed in this game. And it feels like the Rams, they legit just stole the game plan from the Lions. They had a scoop and score from Jared verse for 57 yard touchdown.
00:04:42
Speaker
And they just dominated defensively. And then their offense just kind of operated business as usual. And they just kind of took care of business. And it's just like you said, it was crazy at the Vikings. They're one win away from winning the NFC North, being the one seed, getting a buy to just, you know, getting crushed in the wildcard round. Yeah, that that really was what it was is ah Darnold was holding on to the ball too long and he just couldn't deal with the pressure. And the biggest thing I took away from this game was that Rams defense.
Vikings' Coaching Critique
00:05:09
Speaker
We talked about it pregame that one of the big X Factor matchups was going to be either Jared verse or brain Braden Fisk going up against kind of a banged up Vikings offensive line one that isn't really in that upper echelon like the Eagles like the Lions like the Bills or the Ravens and they just got dominated like it was it was really that scoop it or the scoop and score really turn this game around people will talk about Stafford's fumble not being a fumble or or that it was a fumble I think he very clearly flicked his wrist that got rid of the ball I think it should have been intentional grounding but that's another argument
00:05:50
Speaker
um but I thought that game didn't look great on the Vikings coaching really like we talked about coaching going into that game and that was the huge X factor for me like McVeigh and Shula out coached O'Connell and Flores in spades in that game I thought it wasn't a great look on Brian Flores either they couldn't really figure out what the Rams were doing And similar to how we predicted, like this Rams team was scrappy Vikings team coming off a bad loss. And then just the cherry on top was that Sam Darnold really couldn't make those so plays that he was, you know, for most of the season. I got a Vikings radio play call here. We got to listen to it because this is exactly like how the game went for watching Sam Darnold.
Buccaneers' Loss Analysis
00:06:46
Speaker
He's he's he's holding it too long. Throw it, man. Like that was essentially it for Vikings fans. That is an unbelievable sound bite from the from the Vikings radio crew. Yeah, Kevin O'Connell was kind of able to kind of shelter Sam Darnell throughout this entire regular season, set up perfect game plans for him that operated, you know, in his best interest. But eventually, as the season gets, you know, goes on and teams are, you know, getting a little more desperate And it gets into these playoff style match, playoff style match ups against these two tube teams. You're going to see different game plans and, you know, teams save their best stuff for last. And unfortunately the Vikings just weren't prepared for the lions best in that, lot in that week 18 matchup. And they weren't prepared for the Rams best in this wildcard round.
00:07:32
Speaker
And, you know, clear, like the the Rams saw a matchup on offense to me that, you know, they took advantage of. And that was with the tight ends. Tyler Higby, who has pretty much been non-existent this entire season, had, you know, five receptions for 58 yards, led the team in receiving. And then Davis Allen with a 13 yard touchdown. That was clearly a matchup that, you know, the Rams were keen on. and Sean McVey to your point was taking like he out coached Flores and Flores wasn't ready for that matchup and McVey took advantage. um I saw that fumble that you were talking about. I kind of see it the same way where like it was a fumble or like it was like it was forward thing. It was a forward pass.
00:08:08
Speaker
That is kind of the issue with all these refs kind of airing on the side of caution with letting these plays go on because, you know, it's then, then the Vikings are going to be like, how can you overturn it when you called it a certain way on the field? But then when you go and you review the tape and the, to me, the evidence was there that it was not a fumble. Um, but I understand why Vikings fans would be a little upset because that was a pivotal moment in the game as well. And the fact that they took it back for a touchdown kind of, you know, a race, the, the Jared verse touchdown, it was all just like, it would have canceled some things out.
00:08:38
Speaker
would have probably taken some pressure off Sam Darnold in the Vikings offense as well. But unfortunately, it did not go their way. And I mean, not much really did go the Vikings way in this game. no it did not uh and that was similar kind of towards the end of the next game we'll get to here where our buccaneers fuck Patrick it feels like we are cursing teams at this point the commanders get their first playoff win since the 05-06 season feels like we can just curse whoever we want like i do do we even pick another team now i was about to say who's next who i i mean
00:09:13
Speaker
We can go to the the AFC North, AFC East matchup if you want to go in there. We'll curse the winner of that one in the in the conference round. I think that's what we have to do. OK, good call. Yeah, we'll take we'll take a week off. We unfortunately would be, you know, doing business with the devil with the Chiefs if they get through the Texans, then it's we we just I think we both want an NFC team to win the Super Bowl. Can we agree on that? Yeah.
00:09:38
Speaker
Yeah, I don't want to see the Bills win the Super Bowl. Everybody's very warm and fuzzy. And I'm like, I still have that division. I don't want to see the Bills win. And I don't want to see the Ravens win. And I don't want to see the Chiefs win again. So I guess if a team out of the AFC has to win.
00:09:52
Speaker
I i'm not no can't say it. I don't want to curse them. I know they're big underdogs, but just in case we're on ah we're on a bad roll here, um see we'll we'll we'll wait till the next round and then we'll curse a team. yeah Yeah, I got some ideas, um but it felt like the the Bucks just lost themselves that game. like it was You could kind of just see it happening in like slow motion, especially after that fumble late in the fourth where You just knew that that game was gonna end in a walk-off field goal the way that the commanders were moving the ball to in that second half Jane Daniels is just ultimate cool common composed quarterback and it just felt like everything was lining up for that terrible terrible clock management to end both halves for dot for Todd Bowles ended up being fine in the first half because they scored a touchdown but then
00:10:38
Speaker
late in that second half, like it it you could just tell that they weren't using the timeouts correctly. And it just felt like everything was just crumbling to an inevitable end. Every week, it seems like the guys on the couch know better than the coaches on the sideline with clock management, timeouts, whatever you want to say, you know, when to use a challenge, when not to use a challenge. It's week after week now where it's the guys on the couch are somehow right. And it shouldn't be that way, Damon. We we just play Madden from time to time. It shouldn't be this easy for us to figure it out. I understand there's a lot more pressure involved when you're actually on the sideline and you have to deal with a lot more things. But to me, not knowing when to use a timeout that
00:11:17
Speaker
You're right. They got so lucky in the first half because that was, you know, that was and a horrible mistake and horrible mismanagement of time. And, you know, I don't put it on Baker Mayfield in the offense because they got to go unless it's on the coach to call the timeout. And then you can slow it all down. So the the offense was going to hurry up. They couldn't get the plan and they killed like 12 seconds when they had two timeouts in their back pocket and you could have just taken three shots to the end zone from the 12 yard line.
Commanders' Playoff Surge
00:11:41
Speaker
with two timeouts in your back pocket. They got away with it. um Onto you know the positives, Jaden Daniels, just mistake free football from a rookie. He's shown all year that the moment hasn't been too big for him. He was 268 yards, two touchdowns, 36 yards rushing, including the huge third and two run to set up the game winning field goal after getting, you know, there was contact in the backfield. Scrambles for the four yards gets the first down It's it's week after week where you go this guy has to show that he's a rookie at some point But he hasn't all season long and that's I think the biggest reason why the commanders are in the into the Divisional round and the Buccaneers are going home. Yeah, and I feel like now I
00:12:24
Speaker
Even in this matchup with the Lions, which we'll get to, he's almost going to be playing like a backup goalie who goes in for a hockey team that's down four to one. Like it's kind of ah a stress fee free scenario where it's like nobody really thinks the commanders are going to win this game. And I feel like that's where this commander's team and where Jane Daniels strives the most is when the the cards are kind of stacked against them.
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah, because I think I think it's fair to say going into the playoffs, it was all gravy for the commanders, similar to like the Broncos. It was just like you've over exceeded expectations all year long. ah Like you said, you hadn't won a playoff game since the oh five oh six season. What makes you think you're going to win one now? And it's crazy to see what a change in ownership, culture, coaching and to get like a prolific rookie quarterback.
00:13:14
Speaker
can do for a team and it instantly change things for the commanders and I mean there's no stopping now because I think they can go out. Washington has now become an attractive place to play for free agents to go and there's just so much momentum for this team to build off and like you said I mean we'll get into the preview but obviously they're they're massive underdogs and rightfully so I think to the Lions but to count out this team after what they've shown all year long and continue to prove people wrong. I just think that you shouldn't, you know, you shouldn't do that. And I think they have an absolute chance going into that game. And I mean, the doing in on a 37 yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez after everyone's going crazy about, you know, he's, he's got OCD, he's got his little ticks going on and everyone's freaking out, assuming that that means he's going to miss it.
00:13:59
Speaker
And he clutches it out with a doink and just more insult to injury for Bears fans. And man, the the commanders just keep marching on. I don't have the stat for it, but it feels like there's been more doinks this year than like any year I can remember it. Doinks in, doinks out, double doinks. Like it's it's been constant.
00:14:17
Speaker
There was two in the wildcard round. There's one in the Broncos game. Uh, this one, you know, favorable for the commanders. They'll it's tough for a team to have like a positive, uh, thought process on a joint. Whenever you hear doing, it's like, that's not good. It's never going in. Uh, but they just spend the luck of the commanders this year that of course it doinks and
Eagles vs. Packers Recap
00:14:37
Speaker
goes in. Yeah. Blood magic on that one. Um, but moving to,
00:14:42
Speaker
The bullies, the Eagles beat the Packers and the bully prophecy is complete from this season. Feels a little less sweet because of the Packers injuries. um But it's certainly the same formula that we kind of laid out. The Packers start slow, come on too late, lose the game. ah Like you fumble the opening return kickoff, kind of set the tone for that first half at least. Thought the Eagles made that way more of a game than it should have been. I think the play calling got a bit stale in the second half and it it wasn't really, you know, working and they didn't change it much. um But what a weekend for the narratives in general. I mean, we'll get
00:15:21
Speaker
to Justin Herbert and the Chargers. But Jordan love throwing up a stinker like that. Like it in comparison, we'll also get to the Texans. It made CJ Stroud have a great weekend in like these these next crowned quarterbacks and Herbert and love just kind of throwing up stinkers.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah, I go back and forth with Jordan Love in that performance because, you know, he's um obviously already gotten his contract, a lot of money, $50 million dollars a year. And he goes out there and he throws three interceptions in in a playoff game. And you're right. Like, do I go back and forth? Was it because you're missing Jayden Reed and Dobbs goes down in that game? Or was it because you You're a little careless with the football and you're making bad decisions. Moment might've been a little too big, but I i got a credit Vic Fangio and this Eagles defense. I mean, they've really stepped up. I took a while for it. I think we were kind of criticizing them in the first five weeks or so about they're giving up too many points.
00:16:17
Speaker
It's a big reason why they lost some games early in the season as well was their defense was kind of lacking. But down the stretch, once Vic Fangios, you know, it's all come to fruition. They've been dominating teams. And I think the biggest reason why they won this game was their defense because, like you said, Jalen Hurts was.
00:16:33
Speaker
average at best. ah yet He had 131 yards passing. ah He had two touchdowns, which put some makeup on his performance. But ah to me, it was the Eagles defense that really stood out in this one and and kind of gave them an opportunity to win. I wrote down and just go ugly win for the Eagles, but don't apologize for it in the playoffs. Yeah, you can't be sorry about a playoff win. I mean, considering how freshly he came off of concussion protocol to like, I think I texted you this throughout the week, like the NFL is so
NFL Concussion Protocols
00:17:02
Speaker
out of whack. if if you just compared it to like a normal person getting a concussion and people are like shocked that he's not out of protocol like i don't know 14 or 15 days later it's like yeah man he got his head banged up pretty good yeah and he and he's playing a contact sport again you know what i mean for a normal person it's like okay you got it in your your single a hockey game or you know your soccer whatever and it's like you can just take it some time off it's like this guy's job is to
00:17:27
Speaker
Probably possibly get hit in the head every single week and I think you're right. I think that was a big ah Reason as to why he looked a little tentative out there Just didn't look as confident as we're used to seeing from jail and hurts But I mean it didn't matter because you had some death players step up for the for the Eagles on offense Johan Dotson scoring the opening TD where'd he come from and And then Dallas Goddard, you just kind of a forgotten name in their offense with the 24 yard just stiff arm on his way into the end zone. It was beautiful to see the depth players on the Eagles offense step up and help win this game. Totally. And and that might be my most like controversial football opinion is like when you we've talked about this before, when you see a guy on offense commit like three things that would have been a 15 yard flag on defense, like three face masks in a row.
00:18:14
Speaker
But it's just all gravy because you're an offensive player to me like just does not make any sense to me Yeah, I guess they really like you know Hold on when you're an officer like just don't put your fingers in and like hook it in there But yeah their hands to the face doesn't exist you can just do whatever you want ah Derek Henry had one or two on the Steelers It was just like yeah, the the stiff arm is back in the NFL. I will say that Absolutely. ah But good win for the Eagles. Very, very excited for that divisional round matchup with the Rams. Bo Nicks and the Broncos, similar kind of end of the season to the Packers, just kind of pitterd out.
Broncos vs. Bills Recap
00:18:53
Speaker
um But again, like it was all gravy for the Broncos. They start off so hot with like a 43 yard bomb to smoot. And then after that, it was essentially all bills in that game.
00:19:05
Speaker
one thing from this game like Tony Romo wanted the Broncos to win that game so damn badly and it was just incessantly talking about Sean Payton and he must have said Sean Payton in that game 6000 times and I feel like he just wanted his take to be right from the week before that this was gonna be like the nightmare matchup for the Bills which I don't blame Tony everyone wants their take to be right Yeah, and I'm sure he wanted you know to call a close matchup. And he thought with like that opening touchdown, which Broncos fans will always have, just framed the scoreboard 7-0 to start the game against the Bills on the road. It was a perfect start. And I think Tony, you know he was like, this is happening. i'm I'm a prophet. Once again, like the OG days when I started to take over in the CBS booth, I'm calling the plays. I'm predicting the games now. But unfortunately, the Bills just said, nuh-uh. This is our game. yeah Then they go score on six of their first seven drives after that opening touchdown. They just suffocated them after that. And you're right. It was like Sean Payton, I thought, called a decent game. The fake punt, I thought, was a great call. They got it. But once you couldn't get any points off the fake punt, I was like, uh-oh. yeah you like You're in big trouble because that was clearly your big move. like your My trick, I'm pulling out in the back pocket. They got it. They should have double fake punted. They would have never seen it coming off the like just inside the 40. But i was I was shocked because
00:20:28
Speaker
you know, they fight fake punted just inside their own territory. They get over ah into the bill side of the field. And then it was, I believe it was just inside the 40. So it would have been a 56 yard field goal, fourth and seven. I would have just said, just go for it. Or even like you said, fake punt field goal. I didn't like punting on that play. Cause like you said, you're clearly desperate and you're playing like you were eight and a half point underdogs. But then you like, once they, it was kind of like seriously, once you punted in that spot, it was like, Oh, okay. The bills are just going to do whatever they want.
00:20:56
Speaker
Yeah, it really felt like that was the turning point in that game. I totally agree with you there, where after that, it was like, yeah, this one's clearly out of reach. And I thought that that that Peyton after that kind of had a weird end to the game. He has to take that time out because he's arguing with his coordinator. That to me was mental. And then, you know, the running game, we've talked about it a lot, like if they would have had a ah great running game in that game, like I can't help but feel like that's a different game.
00:21:27
Speaker
and they started calling a bit more conservative for Bo Nicks down the line. It all just kind of crumbled fast, but that will happen against a team that is that good. Like the Buffalo Bills are like, I don't want to talk about this. Like, like people were talking about those first round college football match ups where you take away from the team that lost rather than giving kudos to the team that won. The Bills dominated in this game and the Bills are kind of rolling in that respect.
00:21:52
Speaker
Very much agree. The Bills are a much better team than the Denver Broncos. They earned their home game if the Bills' mafia was in effect. Huge in that game. You know, Josh Allen. Like he, you know, you didn't know you didn't play in the last game. You kind of just like stopped hearing about him because the bills clinched their spots so early. They were locked into that two seed and you know, he goes up, he's got a playoff game at home and he showed out 272 yards in the air, two touchdowns, 46 yards on the ground. And what was the most, you know, impressive thing to me for Josh Allen was he was just taking third downplays and just saying, this is, this is me. I'm going to go get the first down, whether it was with quarterback sneaks, quarterback draws powers, it was just,
00:22:30
Speaker
I'm putting the ball on my hands and I'm going to go out and get this team the first downs that we need. And they just kept converting every third down. It seemed like they had, um, they got it done by committee. Once again, eight different receivers caught a pass, Curtis Samuel out of nowhere, 55 yard touchdown. So it was just the bills were doing it all on offense and just, you know, kind of like they have been all year, just no mistakes, operating business as usual. And then the defense just kind of suffocated the Broncos after that opening drive touchdown.
00:22:58
Speaker
Totally. And I loved seeing that. I thought Curtis Samuel was going to be so good when he was on the commanders of the football team. And so I love to see that. But yeah, the the bills are a well oiled machine right now.
00:23:09
Speaker
And so are the Baltimore Ravens. Like that to me is the most exciting thing about this matchup coming up on Sunday night. And we'll move now to the Steelers game is because both of these teams seem to have like kind of a perfect tune up game and are both
Steelers' Season Reflections
00:23:24
Speaker
rolling. You both have your quarterbacks playing at an MVP level, whoever you want to give it to. um But the Steelers season kind of crashes and burns so much of the same that we've seen from the Steelers like this past, I don't know, month.
00:23:38
Speaker
Month in and a bit from them. I'll hand it over to you for the for the season eulogy and the outlook because Some takes flying around Steelers nation right now Patrick. Yeah, I mean I I knew this was coming I I thought about laying the points with the Ravens I you know, I got in my head as the week went on It's like, you know division matchup Steelers match up well with the Ravens They've they've got that, you know history of outperforming them and just kind of mitigating Lamar's abilities and they find ways to win games ugly and But Baltimore adding Derek Henry is added an element to this team that the Steelers haven't been able to stop. And usually on these you know zone reads, ah read options that Lamar is so famous for, whoever was coming off the edge for the Steelers, we just, I'm taking Lamar. We'll let the running back beat us.
00:24:24
Speaker
they They switched the game plan where they said, no, we're going to sell out on the running backs. We're going to make Lamar beat us. And Lamar absolutely beat them. So did Derek Henry. They but like just ran it all over over 250 yards on the ground. It was just such an impressive performance.
00:24:39
Speaker
from the Baltimore offense in the Steelers defense, it was just like, what, what are you guys doing? Like, do you, do you even care? Terrell Austin didn't seem to change anything in the ah on defense in the entire first half, uh, 21, nothing at halftime. I knew it was over because the steel, like who, what would give any Steelers fan confidence that they could put up 21 points. And then, you know, just, and that means you would have to stop them and not give up any points in the second half, which clearly wasn't going to happen.
00:25:06
Speaker
um you know russ Russell Wilson put some style points out there with some deep balls. Where were those in the first half? Like what was the offensive game plan? It just feels like ah it's rinse and repeat. It's the same thing with the Steelers kind of year after year. And it's it's just, you could argue it's like the worst spot to be in. And I've heard that come out a lot where it's like, yeah, you know, Mike Tomlin gets his winning season. ah He goes out in the first round five straight years where he's made the playoffs and he goes one and done.
00:25:35
Speaker
Uh, yeah, it's tough. I'm not going to overreact because like I've, I've seen it before, uh, where it's like, yeah, I don't know how many better options there are for Mike Tomlin. Should you give one of these young new guys a chance? Maybe. Um, but it's one of those where like, if they fired Mike Tomlin, I wouldn't freak out about it. And you know, they're, they're going to stick with Mike Tomlin and I'm not going to overreact about it.
00:25:56
Speaker
They said there's going to be some major changes in Pittsburgh. Well, that's what Mike said. That probably just means like signing a free agent. Like there's nothing's going to change. You know what I mean? I would like Tara lost and to be fired the defense coordinator because you have the most expensive defense in the entire NFL. And it looked like it was, I don't know, whoever the worst defense in the NFL was like, it was horrible to watch in the first half.
00:26:18
Speaker
changed some things around the second half, but they you know they couldn't get that turnover that they were always reliant upon throughou throughout the entire season. um And yeah, it was just frustrating. ah Russell Wilson just lost that mojo that he had for like those three, four weeks in the middle of the season. And yeah, they were just, you knew it was coming. Those last four weeks leading up to the playoffs, and then you go up against Baltimore, who's a much superior team. ah Yeah, it was the biggest spread of the of the playoffs for a reason, and Baltimore covered it. And then yeah, we'll see. i'm I'm in the Justin Fields boat. I don't want to draft a quarterback because I think the quarterback draft is you know awful. ah and And like you said, like you're going to be drafting somewhere between 18 and 22. So it's just like, I don't know, Jalen Millrow is going to be available, and I don't want that. So give me Justin Fields, sign with a two, three-year contract, let Russ walk, and then, hey, we'll just you know eventually have to draft that quarterback of the future. ah But for now, ah I wouldn't mind
00:27:13
Speaker
Finding somewhere not mediocre either be good or you know be bad enough where we can get a nice draft pick Yeah, and it feels like to me like looking at the Steelers it itch it you almost hope it's the latter like you hope almost that next year is like a reset year and you don't do that great finally, you you know hand over the keys to Justin Fields, I agree and then you know if you do bad and you get a better draft pick like yeah let's say you miss the playoffs you go under 500 that probably leads to like eventually in the next cycle of this tomlin being fired drafting a new quarterback and then it finally feeling like there's like a new page being turned in the steelers where it feels like you know there's a couple teams in the nfl right now that are truly in purgatory and
00:28:00
Speaker
You make the playoffs, you you could be much worse off, but it does kind of seem like the Steelers have kind of hit a wall in that sense. And over the next year, you kind of got to change the bedsheets like you got to get something new in here.
00:28:14
Speaker
Yeah, and i'm like I said, I'm not advocating for Mike Tomlin to be fired, but like I said, I would fully understand it. Something has to change, um whether that is the defensive coordinator, whether you make a trade, like TJ Watts entering the last season of his contract, who knows how that's going to go. So it's all a bit of a mess in the stealer land, but um Like we said in that last game, let's not take away from, or let's not focus on the losers. Let's you know give some credit to Baltimore who got it all done without their number one receiver and Zae Flowers, who I believe, I mean, it's still, he still listed as questionable, but I believe he should be dressing against the Buffalo Bills. Don't know how much of an impact he's going to have.
00:28:53
Speaker
But for Baltimore to just go out there and just not give the Steelers anything on ah offense and then do whatever they wanted on their offensive side of the ball, it was just such a dominant performance that just sucked the life out of, I think, every Steelers fan watching. And yeah, I mean, credit to them. We got like probably the best, easily the best matchup in the divisional round between Baltimore and Buffalo coming up. Absolutely. But we'll keep that for the preview coming up. We'll move to the last game of the wild card here.
00:29:23
Speaker
where the Chargers continue to be playoff losers as well as Justin Herbert. This is one that I will give ourselves credit for. This is the one that we kind of saw and we kind of laid out how it would happen. And it's kind of what what actually happened. We saw similar something similar to this coming at least where one team looked like they had playoff experience in this game. The other team very much did not look like that. And one team fed off of the home crowd and use kind of the strengths of their team which for the Houston Texans was this defense and the defensive line for the Texans just made Justin Herbert's life absolute hell Herbert throws four interceptions including one pick six and it felt like that pick six was like the actual knife or dagger in the heart of the Chargers because it was 13-6 it happens then it was 20-6
00:30:17
Speaker
And from then on, it just seemed like that game was just completely over with. I know this was kind of a ah gravy season for the Chargers as well, where not many people saw them in the playoffs, but tough way to go out for LA.
00:30:32
Speaker
I agree where the season was a little bit gravy for the Chargers, but they kind of got gifted a first round matchup where they were the favorites on the road. Two and a half point favorites over the Houston Texans, who I think everyone thought. Similar to Pittsburgh, it was just like this team is going is just going down at the wrong time. They got nothing left to show for. it And the Chargers were winning games down the stretch. So it was two teams going in different directions, heading into the playoffs.
Chargers vs. Texans Analysis
00:30:57
Speaker
and And it was just the Texans defense. Like you said to me, I knew the Chargers were going to be in trouble. I didn't, you know, I didn't think the score was going to be what it was in the final. But when this, when the Chargers had, they had the opening drive and they go and they the Texans hold them to a field goal. Then they get the turnover and then they hold them to another field goal, where it's a game that probably should have been 14 nothing, 10 nothing at worst.
00:31:20
Speaker
was 6-0, and it was like you said, the Texans defense did enough to just keep them around CJ Stroud through probably one of the worst interceptions I've ever seen on that one ball, but he recovered, the offense finally got going, they went to their weapons, Nico Collins, Joe Mixon got them involved, and to me the biggest thing that CJ Stroud did was he used his legs, he had 46 yards rushing in this one, some he had that one massive rush that was like 25 plus yards, it was just so impressive to me where You know a lot of people probably thought you know going into this game and what he did after that interception It's like this guy's rattled. He's not gonna be able to come back
00:31:56
Speaker
But it was the opposite. He he used that as motivation. He bounced back, looked great, and now you've got a sophomore quarterback who people were getting on in the second half of the this season who's got two playoff wins. As a sophomore quarterback, he joins ah Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, Russell Wilson, and Brock Purdy as the only quarterbacks to win playoffs starts in each of their first two seasons.
00:32:18
Speaker
It's a pretty good group of guys to be around and like CJ Stroud for a down year to win a home playoff game and the division. Yeah, I think everyone would take that. Absolutely. That that was one of the things I came away with. This is like this. This puts a lot of like.
00:32:33
Speaker
Not makeup, but it's like that that is huge for your season for your confidence level. If you're CJ Stroud, similar to the commanders is like you're going into Arrowhead next week. You know, your backs against the wall. It's kind of a stress free game in that sense. um But for him to to grind out this season and get a playoff when you're right, like if his floor is winning a wild card playoff game, you're in a fucking amazing spot. And and really this Texans defense is young. It's like it's hungry.
00:33:03
Speaker
It's good. Derek Stingley Jr. is so good. He gets two interceptions in this game. Stroud bounces back. Like Joe Mixon, we we talked about him having to be relied upon. He was fantastic in this game. And then Nico Collins, like ah another young guy who, you know, gets seven receptions, 122 yards, a touchdown. Just felt like they were on another level together, Stroud and Collins.
00:33:42
Speaker
Take on the Chiefs the one seed who have been resting for the last week really two or three weeks actually ah the The Chiefs are favored by eight and a half ah they were originally three and a half point favorites back when they played in week interesting interesting matchup here speaking as a dolphins fan who had to go to arrowhead last year not a fun experience um but like i said with the commanders is kind of a stress-free game where you just got to go out there and play some ball if you're the taxons
00:34:30
Speaker
I think that's the best thing the Texans have going for them, Damien. It's like they won their playoff game. The monkeys off the back, the pressure's off. yeah No one's like looking at the Texans negatively now. it's all a good It's a good season now. It's crazy how one win can change the outlook of a quarterback and an entire team.
00:34:46
Speaker
They're going to need the three, the three big guys to keep it going here. CJ Stroud, like you said, or Nico Collins and Joe Mixon, the three phases of their offense were clicking. It took a quarter or so to get going. So you're probably not going to be able to give the chiefs a full quarter like you were the chargers. But this, like if those three come out and they're firing on offense and they can get the play action going. And CJ Stroud's able to get actual protection like he was in this game, which was shocking to see from an offensive line that has been kind of horrible the entire second half of the season. He was able to use his legs, extend plays. He had a couple throws on the run too. He had like a cross body where after he fumbled the snap, it was like, oh my God, this is going backwards. That was the play and in the Chargers game to me that kind of flipped it, that like got the offense on Houston to click. So they're going to need that to go in.
00:35:35
Speaker
The issue is you're going up against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs at home. So Mahomes and the Chiefs are 6-0 in the divisional round. ah The most wins without a loss in in any playoff round in NFL history. So this is a team that's notorious for just, you know, we get our bye or whatever, like who it is, we'll play in the wild card round, we'll get our bye. Divisional round, just we might as well add the conference AFC conference championship game on our schedule because they don't lose it. ah Like I said, the Kansas City beat them 27, 19, and we 16. That was a pretty good game. And now that if they have tank Dell, they could use that as motivation because like I said, that was the game that, you know, a very tragic injury.
00:36:15
Speaker
Um, but after an up and down season, it's just like the Texans just focus, man. It's like you got one game. The chiefs are going to get Chris Jones back. Who's going to return from a calf injury who hasn't played since week 60 since week 15. Sorry. It's asking me a huge boost for their defense and just another test for the Houston Texans ah offensive line.
00:36:34
Speaker
And like lastly, the the thing about the Chiefs is I think everyone has kind of realized that they're a bit of a defensive team this season. Since Hollywood Brown has come back, they have been operating pretty highly on offense with, you know, you got Hollywood Brown to take take over the role that basically Xavier Worthy was playing for the entire season. You got DeAndre Hopkins, who's just, you know, not what he was, but he's still a very good receiver.
00:36:57
Speaker
And then now you can have Xavier Worthy as just the gadget guy. And kind of like Tyreek Hill was in their old system, he's fast, he's speedy. It's just like, get the ball in his hands. He's going to cause a lot of problems for this Texan's defense. And they're going to have to put a lot of focus. And this defense that we kept mentioning against the Chargers is going to have to step up and play a huge game to just kind of shut everything down. But you can only do so much against the Chiefs. And we'll see if they're up for the test.
00:37:21
Speaker
Yeah, that's really their best matchup arc, like ironically in this game, which sounds crazy to talk about, you know, ah your best matchup being your defense against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
00:37:33
Speaker
um But that is like their edge in this game and it and it starts out on the line their edge rushers You got Willie Anderson jr. you Got Daniel Hunter. They've both had crazy good seasons. They were amazing against the Chargers and Kind of the the game plan for the Texans in this one is gonna be similar to that Chargers game where you got to make Patrick Mahomes life hell and it's like I It you know Sometimes teams sell out and they do that and my home still beats them But that's kind of how you have to treat this is like if my home is gonna beat us by running around and scrambling out of the pocket There really wasn't much else that we could have done in this game and you got to attack their offensive line You got to attack their tackles And that is really where like one of the edges ins for the Texans for the Chiefs you're right It's that offensive line like they managed to look really
00:38:21
Speaker
good kind of down the stretch in that game like it started out kind of rocky um but this is like another test like the the Chiefs defense has been on another level this year and you can't have CJ Stroud be eating shit like early in this game like to put it bluntly Yeah. And like I said, like they got out to a slow start against the Chargers, but their defense kept them in it, held them to fuel goals. I don't know if you're going to be able to do that against the Chiefs. That's a team that knows how to finish drives. They get in the red zone. They don't make the same mistakes that the Chargers made in that game. Like I'm going to go out on, on a limb here and say Patrick Mahomes doesn't throw four interceptions in this game. You know, I, I, even if the Texas defense plays amazing above their head, I don't see Mahomes throw on four interceptions. So that means the Texans have to get out to a quick start.
00:39:09
Speaker
They have to finish drives in the red zone and it's just don't make mistakes and try and just keep this as tight. And I think it's going to like the total is pretty low. I believe it's the lowest out of the four games. So they're, you know, they're respecting both defenses in this matchup, which means the team that like, you know, finds a way to turn field goal drives into touchdowns can convert on third downs and.
00:39:30
Speaker
I mean, i I think these teams both play it pretty safely. I don't think you're going to see a lot of going for it on fourth downs here. So it's to me, the focus is on third downs in the red zone. Who's going to change these field goal drives into touchdowns and be able to actually put points on the board? Absolutely. And if you're the Texans, you got to try and delay that for as long as possible. Like if the Chiefs get up.
00:39:50
Speaker
14 nothing in this game like you might as well write it goodbye I think that the start of this game is gonna be so huge for the Texans to just keep their head above water X factor for me we did this in the
Texans vs. Chiefs Preview
00:40:02
Speaker
last kind of playoff matchups is going to be Niko Collins against Trent McDuffie I think that that is kind of like the premiere on premiere matchup here for wide receiver in cornerback and McDuffie has been like one of the best cornerbacks you could say in the NFL over the last like year or two ah back in week 16 When McDuffie he had four primary or fourth? Matchups with him where he was the primary coverage on Collins Collins ended up with three catches for five yards on those plays So it's like and Collins finished with just 60 yards on seven catches in that game
00:40:40
Speaker
For a guy who just got 122 yards on seven receptions in that last game against the Chargers, you need Collins to have a game like that against this chief seem to really have a chance at life. And on the flip side, if he's getting locked down, puts a lot of pressure on Joe Mixon, puts a lot of pressure back on the offensive line. Feel like that's kind of a linchpin here.
00:41:02
Speaker
Yeah, and like you say, like who's going to step up if Nico Collins is locked down on the offense? Because, you know, Joe Mixon is the running game and I think he's going to be OK, but is John Metchie going to be able to step up? like Xavier Hutchinson, who's that number two receiver that is yet to emerge in this offense? Who? I know it, you know.
00:41:19
Speaker
They're actually wide receiver fours and fives because the the Texans have just gone through, you know, digs, uh, Dell. Now it's, it's how's the depth of the Houston Texans wide receiver. I'm going to step up. They just released Don Deontay Johnson after a one week thing where he didn't even look bad. I know he didn't really, you know, factor into the game, but he was like running the routes that he needed to. He looked fine out there. Kind of surprised they released them. Maybe that's more of a reflection on, you know, his, what he's bringing into the locker room. But yeah, it's, it's,
00:41:48
Speaker
Someone's got to step up on the Texans. It can't just be Nikko Collins, but they will need Nikko Collins, Joe Mixon, and CJ Shroud, the big three on offense to keep it going with the offensive line to just give CJ enough time and protect and then, you know, open some lanes for Joe Mixon because if they can't and CJ is running for his life, you're not going to convert the same pass as you were against the Chargers, against the Chiefs.
00:42:09
Speaker
Absolutely yeah like quick on Deontay Johnson man like what is it four teams he's gone to now who have desperately needed wide receiver help and four teams who have now cut him especially like I think it was like two or three weeks ago he was talking about like how different this Texans team feels and like how welcome he feels there like just something weird going on there man and it's almost like if he had stayed with Carolina shit would have been gravy like he would have been catching 90% of those balls on that Carolina team going down the stretch yeah he's a prime example of like he thinks the grass is always greener but when it's not it's like him in Pittsburgh it was probably a fine situation he kept whining and he's like dude you were like continually leading the league and dropped passes
00:42:56
Speaker
yet and Tom mu was still willing to work with you and you're going to be a part of this ah offense, then you wanted out Steelers kind of like won that trade in a way because they still have Daunte Jackson on their team plan. And you know, Deontay Johnson's not on the Panthers. He's not on an NFL roster.
00:43:11
Speaker
And I mean, could be headed to the CFL in the not too long day, maybe it could be an hour. That's what I thought. That's what I thought. I was like, how fucking sick would that be? I would take that all day. Reminds me when Martavis Bryant signed with the Argos for like two weeks and then didn't even see training camp. ah But we'll move to the next game here. ah The Washington commanders going to Detroit. Another terrifying place to play for road
Lions vs. Commanders Anticipation
00:43:36
Speaker
teams. The Lions big spread here favored by nine and a half the last time I saw it.
00:43:42
Speaker
to start this out i think this game is going to be fucking nut like i i think just like plain and simple over anything else this game is goingnna be crazy you have two coaches who seem obsessed with going for it on fourth down in dan quinn and dan campbell ah you got teams both teams that blitz a ton like two offenses that that seem to finish every fucking drive they start. I think it was like the Lions score on 51 percent of their drives and the commanders have scored on 50 percent of their drives. Like I think this game is going to be fireworks, even if if the Lions end up scoring like 50 points. Yeah, just an insane total to see in ah in a divisional round game, 55 and a half. And yeah I would not be shocked if this one goes over.
00:44:28
Speaker
um Yeah, like you said, I didn't get into it too much in the, in the recap of the commander's Buccaneers game, but Dan Campbell or Dan Quinn was doing his best Dan Campbell impression in that game. And they got lucky with that unforced turnover on that handoff, like you said, with Jalen McMillan and, uh, and Baker Mayfield without that, they might not win that game. And I was kind of getting into it a little bit with stat hole sports, which I wasn't expecting.
00:44:52
Speaker
on X. But yeah, it was just like, I don't understand why they kept going for it. I guess they didn't really trust Zango and Zalas a ton, which kinda I can understand. But to a certain degree, it's getting to the point where analytics are becoming so reckless, where it's like the the smart move is kicking the extra point or the field goal. And it's like, I saw Greg Olson was getting into it when, oh man, I gotta save that tweet. But it was it was getting to the point where it's like, if you're down 11 points or something. You might as well go for two because then you can get it to a nine. It he was basically, it's getting to the point where it's like teams are just going to go for two every single, after every single touchdown, which is going to cause chaos in the league. And I don't like it. I think extra points matter. Field goals matter.
00:45:37
Speaker
um But yeah, back to this matchup. This is the sixth time in the Super Bowl era that a rookie quarterback will face a team that had at least a share of the best record in the league. Only one of the previous five rookies have won. Can you name the rookie? I'll give you a hint. It was in 2008 from an AFC team. Rookie quarterback. 2008 AFC rookie quarterback from an AFC team.
00:46:04
Speaker
i I want to say Joe Flacco, but I don't know if he would have been a rookie. You would be correct. He beat the Tennessee Titans 13 to three in a defensive slug match. i I don't think we're going to see, I think that's going to be like the, the score after three drives in this game, 13 to three, at least like we're not going to see a ah grudge match like this, but I mean, it's It's going to be tough, tough swimming for Jayden Daniels this, and I touched on it in that, you know, recap of it. He has looked on on like you just can't mess with him. And he's not. The moment has never seemed too big for Jayden Daniels at any point in this season. And, you know, you mentioned it, the blitz, Detroit's going to bring the blitz. They blitz the Vikings like 56 percent of Sam Darnold's dropbacks.
00:46:49
Speaker
But guess what that kind of plays into Jane Daniels hands a little bit. He's got the ah the he's got a 90.3 QBR, which is third best in the NFL against the Blitz. So I think the the Lions might have to kind of change their game plan a little bit, not be as aggressive as they'd like to be because Jane Daniels, unlike Sam Darnold, has legs and he's just the moment hasn't been too big for him. I think he's going to make plays and kind of make Aaron Glenn in this.
00:47:16
Speaker
Lions defense which they've had some guys come back and Zaloni's back and like they're starting to get a little bit healthier But they're still not a hundred percent and I think Jane Daniels can kind of make them pay if they if they like stay Set on butting him the entire game Yeah, I totally agree in that like I tried to look back at that bills game ah Like to see you know it It's hard to compare back to that Buccaneers game that they beat the Lions just feels like that is like a different world than this game, but Josh Allen had 68 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns in that game like if you're kind of looking against a matchup standpoint for the commanders here having a mobile quarterback and seems to be huge against this Lions team and To me the matchup here is is is very blunt and obvious It's can the commander's defense like make it so that Detroit doesn't score on every single drive because Detroit has a good defense They got Anzaloni back against the Vikings. He made like an immediate impact. They're getting Montgomery back I think on sad on Saturday as well. So it's like
00:48:23
Speaker
to me that the real match up in this is like Jane Daniels I think I trust him now to play well under pressure to do well in this game but it's not like he can score every drive and to me I think that I could fully see the Lions scoring like on almost every drive and not having to even punt in this game Yeah. I mean, it sounds crazy being like, yeah, I can trust the rookie quarterback, but Jane Daniels has earned that ah respect. And yeah, man, I, it's going to be tough because even when you force them into fourth down territory, the command, the lions, they're probably, they're going to go for it. And it's like, you have to stop them for four downs multiple times on there and keep them out of the, out of the, sorry, out of the end zone and find ways to create turnovers on a team that aside from the one five interception game from golf,
00:49:10
Speaker
doesn't turn the ball over and hasn't all year. And now it's like, you know, if they just had Jamir Gibbs, you can kind of game plan for Jamir Gibbs. Now you're getting the, the, you know, Sonic and Knuckles combo with David, David Montgomery playing in this game is crazy. It's, it's nailed. It might sacrifice a year or two off his career, not getting this surgery and just playing in this game, but all respect to him. He wants a Superbowl. You can tell how much this Detroit lions team has bought into Dan Campbell's message and you know,
00:49:41
Speaker
Someone bit David Montgomery's kneecap off and he doesn't care because he's going to play and he's going to make an impact in this game. And like you said, it's, yeah, it's Dan, Dan Quinn went out and I heard them talking on the broadcast in this game. It's like he went out and bought, got leaders, not necessarily the best defensive players, but leaders to create a culture and like a, just like a nice locker room to be in. So is that going to be enough?
00:50:04
Speaker
to stop this offensive powerhouse that we've become familiar with with the Lions. I don't know. I want to like believe it. I want to I would to me, this is the Cinderella story of the NFL. The commanders can get another win and just continue to prove people wrong all season. I don't know. I think like you said, it's it's who's going to find a way to get a stop. And I mean, the Lions are going to find ways to get stops over the commanders. Exactly. Like that's really it is like I i trust I trust both of these offenses. Obviously, the lines have been like world beaters this year, but so have the commanders, especially when they're playing kind of with their ah foot on their neck. But I really I have less trust in this commander's defense. Again, if if Mayfield doesn't. You know, fumble that ball with McMillan on on the handoff, I don't know if he fumbled it. I don't know if it was a late snap like what happened.
00:50:55
Speaker
um But I kind of tend to believe that the Buccaneers probably win that game ah and you know, you're not gonna get That kind of chance. I don't think against the Lions like to me the Lions Aside from that weird Texans game that was on that Monday night or Sunday night whatever it was where golf threw five interceptions like This is a team that just doesn't make mistakes on offense and I think that if You're not gonna get that kind of benefit of the turnover battle I feel like they could find themselves in really deep water really fast in this game But nevertheless super super
Rams vs. Eagles Expectations
00:51:29
Speaker
excited to watch it like it just as a fan in this one um But we will move to the third matchup on to Sunday where the Rams the LA Rams go to Philadelphia and the link
00:51:41
Speaker
Gotta battle all those crazy fans, lots of that going on on the timeline right now. Uh, the Eagles are favored by six and a half points. It opened at six. It's moving towards the Eagles. This is obviously a rematch of that game in week 12, where the Eagles beat the hell out of the Rams. Like to me, like, especially cause the Rams are one of the teams involved. Like when you looked back at that week eight matchup and you were like, all right, the Rams have beaten the Vikings. They can do it before they've done it once before they can do it again.
00:52:15
Speaker
I kind of lean the opposite way in this one where it's like if the Eagles destroyed this Rams team once on the road What's to make you think that they can't do it again at home? Yeah, and it's you know, a lot of that was Saquon Barkley 255 yards in that game Like I don't know if he's gonna do that, but it's clear that their running attack Dominated the Rams defense and the Rams couldn't do anything to stop it. So he Instant reaction, dumb brain pat here goes, the Rams are going to sell out to stop the run. Well, then you got AJ Brown and Devante Smith on the outside. It's like, okay, are you going to be able to stop both the run and the pass? It feels like, yeah, the Eagles are going to just like kind of sit back a little bit, see what the Rams want to do on defense and then attack the opposite of what they're selling out to do. If they want to go and protect the, you know,
00:53:05
Speaker
double cover AJ Brown, get the two high safeties, well then Saquon's going to gas you for 200 yards again and you're going to be in for a long day. the Like I was touching on a little bit, like I said, the Eagles defense though is just, it might be the best in the NFL right now. I'm not talking over the course of the season, but right now,
00:53:21
Speaker
They have allowed 13 points or fewer in three straight games for the first time since 2017. And oh, yeah, they won the Super Bowl in 2017. So some familiarity, some similarities, sorry, to the 2017 Super Bowl winning team. ah Vic Fangio's group finished the regular season first in yards allowed per play, 4.7 and second in points allowed 17.8 points per game.
00:53:44
Speaker
So it's clear that the Rams are going to have to find ways to score on offense, which the Eagles have not let teams do all season long and is, is, you know, Jalen hurts. Like we said, wasn't perfect in that game, but it was like it first game back after missing three weeks with the concussion.
00:54:02
Speaker
He has to be better and I think he will be better in this game and it's like I said if he's just He has likes too. So if you sell out to stop Saquon Barkley, then you can get the read option going He can go for run For a hundred yards in this game. They might not even have to throw it based on that first matchup I worry the Rams, they're a hot team. They're winning games down the stretch here. They've won, you know, four of their last five games, including a nice upset win over the Vikings. I think I think looking back, we can agree that the Eagles are a better team than the Vikings. I don't think you're going to get the same, you know,
00:54:37
Speaker
Rams go down on the opening drive. They get a touchdown. They're using their tight ends. They're kind of doing whatever they want. They get the 57 yard scoop and score. I think they're you're not going to see as much that. I don't think there's going to be a ton of turnovers in this game. The the Eagles have been pretty responsible with the ball. And yeah, I think this is a game where it's like the Rams, they're going to have to find a way to keep up with the Eagles. And I don't know if the Eagles are going to let them score points.
00:54:59
Speaker
Totally and and like to go back to the start of that like you you mentioned obviously The Rams defense like you're not going up against the Vikings ah offensive line here You're going up against probably the best offensive line in football. You're not I'm gonna go ahead a limb here You're not gonna sack Jalen hurts nine times in this game. Like that is just not something that's gonna happen and the amount of time that Jalen hurts had in that game on some of those throws against the Packers where There isn't a defensive player within like five yards of him on either side of the ball. If you give him that time in this game, I tend to think that he is going to dice up this Ram secondary. You mentioned, you know, if you sell out for the run D, then you have to worry about, you know, guarding Devonta Smith and AJ Brown, who are probably going to have great games in this game. Like it it's.
00:55:49
Speaker
It's really a nightmare matchup here. It like kind of reminds me of some of the the matchups that we were talking about early in the college football playoff, where it's like if you sell out on one, then you got to defend the other. like Similar to to the teams Ohio State has been playing, if you sell out to stop the receivers,
00:56:05
Speaker
Trayvon Henderson's gonna burn you on the ground if you do the opposite Jeremiah Smith's gonna get 8,000 yards and three touchdowns So it's like to me. This is one of the biggest mismatches in this divisional round in terms of play style in terms of talent um You're right, though I don't want to count out the Rams because they have been hot and I think that's something that you can't really quantify and in playoff football is winning and playing good football, getting an upset win, rallying around like a tragedy in your hometown where you play like it's there's something about that that keeps the Rams live in this one. um But yeah, I think ultimately this is going to be a game. I'm surprised this spread isn't bigger, man.
00:56:47
Speaker
Well, you know, it might be by kickoff, because like you said, it opened at six. It's at six and a half. I mean, I'm sure it could go to seven and at the end of the day by the time this is released. Who knows? ah To me, this is this is another one where like I think people are trying to you get behind the underdog. There's definitely some external circumstances behind that.
00:57:07
Speaker
Cooper cup, where are you, bro? You have five receptions in your last four games. You were a triple crown winner not that long ago. And you were a crucial part of why the Rams won the super bowl against the Bengals. He has to find a way to step up in this game, man, because he has been invisible as of late and it's been all Pook and Akua. And then when it's just one receiver going, you can, you can game plan around one receiver, especially with the Eagles have done on defense and Vic Fangio is probably going to do that.
00:57:35
Speaker
So, Cooper Cup, Tyler Higby's gonna have to you know have another performance similar to what he did again um against the Vikings. But if Cooper cop goes out and like he had one reception against the Vikings, he had one reception, the the game before that, it's just, this is something that we're not used to seeing. And I don't know if it's because the teams are focused on stopping him. And that's why Pukinaku is seeing the the results that he has. But to me, if Cooper cop goes out there and has one or two receptions, the Eagles are not only going to win this game, they are going to cover this spread. They're going to like, it's going to be a blowout, probably double digit win because the Rams,
00:58:10
Speaker
it's it's a pretty like it's a balanced ah offense with karen williams in the backfield puka cooper cop and no now they're getting the the tight ends of the ball but if they just are you know forced into throwing the ball and playing from behind and they only have one receiver going yeah you're going to be in for a long long game and i mean They got out to a fast start. I think they're going to have to have a similar game plan to that. Like that the Vikings, your script, your first scripted drive is going to be important in this one. Same with the Eagles. Kellen Moore kind of got a lot of heat with the play calling on offense. So I think you're going to see kind of like he's going to take that personally and kind of change that. And I think the Eagles are not going to mess around in this one. They're going to come out of the gates, hot. They did come out of the gates, hot with the Packers on.
00:58:55
Speaker
Did you think that was a fumble? i I fully thought he recovered that thing in the pile and like I thought he was down. But I know it's weird. It's like somebody on the radio, I was listening to the radio at the start of that game and they were mentioning how there are no rules in an NFL pile up. So it's like that was kind of where I leaned on that. Like it's such an impossible and like unique thing in sports, like an NFL pile where you can't get cameras in there. Like you never really know what happens in a pile. And and the fact that they came out with it, I guess is enough to convince me, you know?
00:59:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, like I didn't think it was an egregious call, but I just like, I was like, I thought the Packers guy had it, but then you're at the egos. I came out with it. Her test established a rhythm in this game for the egos to get going on offense. And if, you know, the Rams are able to like stop him from that and they have to keep going in and out and like sake one can't get going. And then they're going three and out. That's how the Rams have a chance in this game. The defense has to rise up. They haven't like last week they did it well against the Vikings scoring a touchdown, creating turnovers.
00:59:56
Speaker
They're going to have to find a way to create some turnovers on a team that really hasn't turned the ball over a ton this season. Absolutely. And remember, we talked about how important hot starts were going to be against that Vikings team. It was like the Rams had gone scoreless in 11 first quarters this year. The Vikings had a really high scoring first quarter offense. And when you saw the Rams start the game that way and it was like, OK, this is exactly what we kind of talked about, where if the Rams were going to win this game, they had to have a hot start and they had to keep the Vikings off the board.
01:00:25
Speaker
it's kind of similar in this game like if if you do keep the Eagles off the board who have been a terrible first quarter offense for like I think it was like the first 10 games they didn't have a point in the first quarter that's kind of where you can get life here as a Rams fan but Yeah, this is a tough matchup. um But you're right. that The Rams defense is going to have to play out of its mind, to even give them a chance in Cooper Cup. You're going to have to come back to life. get like Give me a triple crown Cooper Cup in this game. Vintage. so we We need the vintage Cooper Cup performance in this one. Bad. I miss the old Cooper. um But moving to the best matchup of the week, maybe the best matchup of the season so far when you take into account
01:01:09
Speaker
the MVP race, how good both of these teams are, the the stakes of
Ravens vs. Bills Playoff Stakes
01:01:14
Speaker
the moment. Like it it is hard to even encapsulate how great and how sick this matchup is going into it. Sunday night football, Ravens, Bills, Ravens are favored by a point, point and a half, maybe it it keeps playing the half now, but it's like minus one or two. So I'm sure it'll go to a point. It is the Ravens are favored slightly in this one. Yeah. And it opened with the bills being favored.
01:01:38
Speaker
and I think money poured in on the Ravens. ah So it ended up switching. But man, where to even start in this matchup? Like it, it it's hard not to go back to their early game. You know, it it's week four seems like a really long time ago by now. These are two completely different teams that was obviously in Baltimore, that game, but another night game.
01:02:01
Speaker
And the Ravens easily beat the bills in that game. 35 to 10. Derek Henry takes the opening touchdown 87 yards on their first offensive play of the game. He finishes with 199 yards, like dominated in that game. Um, but to me, this is like, you almost throw out the record books for that. This is in Buffalo. Buffalo hasn't lost the game at Highmark yet.
01:02:26
Speaker
it it It is about as even I saw somebody post the ESPN predictor that they have on their website is split 50% and 50% not even like a single percentage point the other way. That is how even this game is going into it.
01:02:41
Speaker
this is what we do it for like it's it's so perfect that we got these two teams with the storylines the mvp race um you know both both of these teams have been looking for that super bowl the playoff success they've been knocking on the door and myhomes is continually just shut it in their face year after year Who's going to get the opportunity to go to the AFC championship and try and you know get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl? it's you I think you're right. like You kind of have to go back a little bit, but let's not go back to that like which the Week matchup, which was the third worst margin of loss for jaw in Josh Allen's career.
01:03:17
Speaker
These two teams have played each other once before in the playoffs, um and it was, you know, it was Allen and the Bills getting it done. ah they beat the balti They beat Baltimore 17-3 in a divisional round in 2020. Like I said, long time ago, but it's like a playoff sample size that you have to look at, especially when you see this matchup just being as 50-50 as it is, both teams feel like they could be the favorites to win the entire thing.
01:03:42
Speaker
It's tough and you know, both teams have averaged over 30 points per game this season. They're just too high flying offenses But they're almost like Baltimore still kind of known for that defense and Buffalo's defense has really stepped up The safeties have turned a huge corner from the start of the year Matt Milano is making an impact at the middle linebacker spot Russo Miller all these guys are getting after the quarterback and And it's, it's like, who's going to get out of the gates? Who's going to make the mistake? But to me, it's, you know, if we're going narratives, we're going storylines, playoff Lamar Jackson, is it, is he going to show his face here? Because the challenge for Lamar has never been the first round. He he'll eat in the wildcard round. He ate against the Steelers. The Steelers might as well have not even showed up for that game, but it's in his, in his last two playoff games,
01:04:27
Speaker
in which he followed up a victory, he's he's had a loss and he's produced a 44 quarterback rating, a 56% completion rate, and one touchdown to two interceptions in two games. That's his total number. So it's clearly he seems to you know dominate the wild card round or the You know, which when he yeah he got the by one year and they show him the AFC championship, he can get that first win. But then it's like he struggles following up in the playoffs. Is that going to play a factor in this game? I tend to kind of, you know, not believe that because the Mara seem to turn a new leaf. And this is a new Baltimore Ravens team with Derek Henry.
01:05:06
Speaker
But I think Zae Flowers is going to have to be healthy. He's going to have to find a way to play a factor in this game. And it's a can Baltimore and Lamar overcome these past narratives and and find a way to beat Buffalo in their home stadium where they haven't lost the game all season. Yeah, to me, like you mentioned it, that the reason I lean against believing that narrative is simply Derek Henry. Like it it is such a game changer to have a player like of his caliber on your offense.
01:05:34
Speaker
And taking that pressure off of Lamar like you you can't really point to another time where you had somebody like that on the Ravens that could take that much attention away from Lamar Jackson. You you mentioned it with the Steelers like they kind of made the decision like in that earlier game we're going to sell out and stop Derek Henry and then Lamar is going to beat you on the ground. So it's it's really like a double edged sword in that sense where we kind of talked about earlier in the season about how the Bills had some run game issues.
01:06:03
Speaker
they got healthier, which kind of helped plug those holes. They're a much better team against the run than they were to start the year. But that to me is like another big X factor in this game, other than Zay Flowers versus like the health chart. Like if he's in this game, this game so evenly matched that a pro bowl receiver could be the difference if he's in or out. um It's stopping Derek Henry, like it's,
01:06:25
Speaker
You can't win this game if you're the Bills if Derek Henry has 200 yards on the ground. Like I just don't see a recipe where they win that game if he is absolutely torching them.
01:06:37
Speaker
Yeah and I mean he torched the Steelers in that game so he was a factor in the playoffs and he's gonna like he's goingnna be a factor in this game. You can't completely erase Derrick Henry. You can only hope to contain him and if the Bills do contain him, they're offense like I mentioned. They average over 30 points per game. So if you can contain a Derrick Henry and even hold Baltimore like 24 points,
01:06:58
Speaker
You're in a decent position to go out and win this game, especially you're at home. You're comfortable. I don't think the weather is going to like be, a I don't think we're getting a snow game, which I think is is good. I think I'm all for snow games. I don't, we don't need them in, in like these massive, massive match-ups with everything on the line.
01:07:14
Speaker
save those for like a Cleveland, uh, Pittsburgh Thursday night meaningless game. That's, that's what the snow games are meant for. But in this game, it's, oh man, it's, it's like you got the, for like the sixth time or something since like 2000, you got the AP first team.
01:07:28
Speaker
Uh, all pro quarterback going against the second team quarterback, the MVP narratives. I kind of wish that, you know, the, umv the MVP had some playoff implications involved because it feels like whoever wins this game kind of deserves the MVP in my mind. Like I said, I don't have the smartest mind and I'm a little shortsighted sometimes, but man, it's, it's like bills. They.
01:07:51
Speaker
they let balta sorry they let denver get outside quick start if you have baltimore get outside quick start you mentioned it derek henry ripped it up of their god for eighty plus yards in that first match up you can't let that happen again because then you can take the crowd out of it if you're baltimore then it's like you're you're operating on your terms Buffalo has to put this game on their terms on their home turf and find a way to shut down or sorry contain you got to contain Derek Henry let Lamar throw the ball I think I think that's the strategy not like Lamar has been bad throwing he's been but probably his best season in his career throwing the ball
01:08:27
Speaker
But I got to feel more confident to put the ball on his hands and let him beat you with his arm. Then let Derek Henry and Lamar, because if they can get Derek Henry going, then the read option gets involved. The zone reads. It just becomes so dangerous when Derek Henry's going, because then they can do whatever they want. If you contain Derek Henry and make Lamar throw the ball, Buffalo will be in a good position to win this game. And I, I touched on anything. Josh Allen's going to continue, have to continue to put the ball on his hands and continue to get these third downs.
01:08:56
Speaker
Even these fourth and shorts just let your quarterback put the team on his back and win this game for you Absolutely. I think that that is like a huge It's Henry is an x-factor in this game like a total linchpin to see how this game is gonna go and in the other side It's Josh Allen, which is you know, we're not making we're not making huge takes here But it's sometimes it's that simple And this one it is and there's no reason to overthink a matchup like this the totals like 51 and a half They're expecting fireworks on both sides and it's gonna be if you got the two best quarterbacks in the league this season they've had the best seasons of the of all quarterbacks and it's like who's gonna be better and I think they're gonna both be at their best and
01:09:37
Speaker
The issue is to me in the ah in this game is I think Baltimore is a better roster and just better team around surrounding their quarterback. So if Josh isn't perfect, I think Buffalo might be in for a tough, you know, just a tough slot in game in this one. Yeah, I agree. I think that Buffalo needs some like explosive plays in this one in the first half. You get the crowd into it.
01:10:02
Speaker
you then make the Ravens pass defense have to kind of lean more on covering receivers and playing more of a zone and then that frees up James Cook like I think getting things going here early for the bills some splash plays some deep shots to the receivers will eventually open things up completely for the bills you got to get the home crowd on your side you've been doing it all year long And you saw how it switched in that game against Denver. Like they give up that early touchdown and then score six of their next seven drives. And it felt like the non-existent lid on that stadium was going to blow off. So yeah, this one is just, it's so even, I could see it going so many different ways based on how the best players play. Um, but if, you know, if both teams are slugging it out, it feels like it's going to be like that lions game where it's like a 48 to 42 game for whoever wins.
01:10:55
Speaker
I agreed agreed and I just I just got the had to double check for the latest injury report on Z flowers ah two days ago from John Harbaugh were in will see mode. So that's not as you know. It was the week beat when it got injured in week 18. He was listed as day to day or week to week, so I thought they were just like he was just going to miss the Steelers game, but it's clear that he's not 100% going to be playing in this one and that's going to be huge for the Ravens if he's out.
01:11:24
Speaker
Absolutely. But what a game. Make sure that you book everything off. You have a chance to just sit down quietly in front of a TV and watch this.
NFL Playoff Scheduling Praise
01:11:34
Speaker
A nice 6.30 start. they didn't sit They didn't wait for the 8.15. Everyone can get their viewing thing in. Get dinner in a little bit earlier on Sunday, and then just sit on the couch and marinate, and then you know tuck yourself into bed. Well, actually, if the game's as good as we think it is, it might take you a while to settle down after this one and go and go to bed.
01:11:52
Speaker
I love a three and a six thirty on a Sunday like that. That's just great. And and like Saturday night giving us an eight ah eight o'clock game like this is a perfect scheduling weekend from the NFL. Yeah, like you said, this is kind of why the divisional round is the best because you still have like double. You got full slate Saturday, Sunday, but it's like ideal timing for both both nights. Absolutely. But that'll do it for our game previews. We will now move into the second round of our goal post
Kicker's Rule Blunder
01:12:21
Speaker
playoff. picks me and Patrick both went one in one so I hold serve I got burned a bit on that commander's bucks game like I we go back to Dan Quinn if you would have just kicked some damn field goals I might have gotten a lot closer to that number hit on the under in the Vikings game even though that was looking dicey for a bit ah Patrick went one in one he had the Eagles and then he had the under in the Chargers Texans game which over out of nowhere in that game you got burned
01:12:51
Speaker
Justin Herbert for better and for worse, but it was like the 86 yard coupe lad mcconkey touchdown and then like, you know You're throwing picks sixes. They're taking full more turns camera. Dicker thinks you just have to bat a ball down after it's tipped a thing and gets wrecked Like come on have some man I think he thought it was like um, it was like an in income like ah when a quarterback Throws it and it's tipped up in the air and if he just hits it, it's a dead ball But it's like that ball is live man. ah That thing is ah is that is not ah ah a That is not a passing attempt. That is a loose ball. It's a fumble. You have to catch it and soak the hit. And he didn't want to soak the hit and he still got hit even after batting it down. It was just a hilarious like, do kickers understand football? It was one of those moments. I was a shacked in a full play, like to the highest degree.
NFL Game Predictions
01:13:37
Speaker
um But I'll start here. And since I'm starting, I'm not going to let it happen to me again. Patrick stole the Eagles from me last week. I'm taking Eagles six and a half.
01:13:48
Speaker
That's just it. yeah's I'm running the ball here. Yeah, this is it's tough. like These games are just tough to pick from. So if you have a feel, absolutely go for it. um I'm not going to overcomplicate my pick. We talked about it. Both teams averaging over 30 points per game. I'm taking the over in Bill's Ravens. It could be the most square pick of all time, but sometimes square square can win. And I'm just hoping for a great game on Sunday night.
01:14:15
Speaker
Yeah, I like that pick that that is one that you want to be just involved in. um And i I, I go back and forth here between a total and a spread. ah One of them is a lot less predictable than the other. So I am going to even though they have been historically bad against the spread this year. I'm going to lay the points with the Chiefs and take the Chiefs eight and a half here. I like nine as a number like you you get to 10 with a field goal and a touchdown. You're you're far in the green. So, yeah, I'm going to take the Chiefs in this game. I just I think that that offensive line for Houston, if it crumbles early and the Chiefs get up, they will they will just pound in this game.
01:14:57
Speaker
Yeah, I, I don't hate it. And you know, the chief, it feels like the Texans, like you said, they, they got their job done seasons over for them. They're like weekend hanger hat on that one win as underdogs at home. And the chiefs have a lot more to play for.
01:15:10
Speaker
I'm going to go with another total ah in your game, the Rams Eagles. I'm going to take the under in that one. It just feels like, yeah, I love what the Eagles defense has done as of late. And, you know, the Eagles did not look great on offense last week. So I'm hoping the Hertz is still kind of lingering and Kellen Moore is not calling the best plays. And I hope this game goes under 44 and a half.
01:15:31
Speaker
Yeah, I almost looked at the over in that game. Like, I don't know, I feel like it could be like a 31 to 14 and like literally just get the over in that game. You know what I mean?
01:15:43
Speaker
Could like it's it's so tough. I looked at the under in the Chiefs Texans game as well. But I just got burned by the Texans on on a low total in the last game. So I couldn't do it again. And then I almost laid the points with the Lions. Just i I I don't know. There's something about it where I think I think with a touchdown and a field goal, you're fine at nine and a half.
01:16:04
Speaker
I think you're going to see favorites take care of business in the first three games, and then it's whoever's game in the in the Sunday night finale. Absolutely. ah That'll do it for our goalpost playoff picks. ah We're going to do this, then do it again in the ah divisional or in the AFC and NFC Conference championship games. And then we'll give you, like last year, a slew of picks for the Super Bowl. I think Me and Patrick were both pretty hot in the Super Bowl last year. I don't know about you. I remember doing really well. We were definitely profitable. We had some long shot boosts, or sorry, not boosts, just like the plus plus money plays. I will be adding the boost to some of them on my own time. But yeah, we were profitable in the Super Bowl last year. So hopefully we can both run it back this year. Absolutely.
College Football National Championship Preview
01:16:52
Speaker
And we will finish off this episode
01:16:56
Speaker
with the big one the college football national championship kicking off on monday nights at 7 30 at Mercedes ben stadium in atlanta the ohio state buck eyes favored by eight points against the notre dame fighting irish the big ones finally here patrick from Ashes, from the Michigan loss. Ashes is really for both teams. ah for From the Michigan loss, from the and NIU loss, Ohio State and Notre Dame reach the National Championship. Really think before we get into the preview here, this is one of the biggest pluses of this new format where I think oh Ohio State is undoubtedly one of the two best teams in college football this year. Notre Dame, you could argue back and forth about whether you would say, you know, maybe Oregon would beat Notre Dame, maybe they wouldn't, maybe Notre Dame would win.
01:17:45
Speaker
Regardless, I think two the two of the best teams made it to the national championship this year and in other years They probably like ah there's a good chance they would have not even made the playoff yeah so Sorry, i just not I just I love that about this is that like we settled it on the field Yeah, I think the the flaw in the old college football system was if you lost one game, your season was pretty much over. No matter what else you did, you and then like you have one loss, you get to conference championship game and you lose again, your season's over. And I think it's kind of not right, especially with college students and college kids. like You're not gonna get their best effort every single game. And I think we we see that year after year after year. ah And i think I think the system is good because it's playoffs.
01:18:30
Speaker
You have time to right your wrongs, which both teams have this season. And like I said, I do think these are I think these are two of the best four or five teams. like I think these are rightful national championship teams playing this game. And, you know, going on to the game, I want to know where Lou Holtz is right now, because we're getting a rematch of last season, which was an epic game. ah Ohio State yeah gets wins the game on the like the last play of the of the of the game. Notre Dame at 10 guys on the field. Everyone was short.
01:19:00
Speaker
the Marcus Freeman big game accusations popped up in that one. I think he's put some of them to bed over the course of this playoffs. To me, this is kind of ah a bit of a mismatch where I think Notre Dame is a defensive football team. They don't turn the ball over on ah offense, but they lack firepower and they rely on the running game.
01:19:23
Speaker
Whereas Ohio State has a little bit better defense, a defense that thrives on stopping the run, which Notre Dame will look to do, and an offense that is pretty potent and can be and has shown to be throughout this entire playoffs and for most of the season. So to me, I understand why this total is where it is. But it's what Ohio State did against Texas and these these offensive drive killing penalties that they seem to take Excuse me, that they took after that opening drive, they went right down the field, looked great. And I thought we were in for another blowout. And then for basically the rest of the first half, they just kept stalling out at midfield with these offensive penalties, penalties that they shouldn't be taking and just killing drives and keeping Texas in this game where Texas had, you know, they have
01:20:09
Speaker
uh offensive fire power and defensive skill guys where it was like you can't keep a team like texas in the game and they showed you why they were in the game all the way up until you know five minutes left they were first and goal on the one yard line some questionable play calling shotgun pitch when you're on the one the guys getting the ball at the nine yard line on the short side of the field That was one of the worst play calls I think I've i've seen in a while. But yeah, it was Ohio State and Notre Dame to me. While I do think they are two of the better teams in the in the country, I think it's a bit of a mismatch. I agree, Patrick. I broke it down like three ways. It's like the Buckeyes receiving room versus Notre Dame coverage. It's Notre Dame run game against Ohio State's defense.
01:20:54
Speaker
And it's Ohio State's offensive line in their run game against Notre Dame's run defense and their defensive line really is where this game breaks down to me. I think that when you look at, we'll start with the receiving room. Uh, it's no secret how good this receiving room is like it, it, we saw Jeremiah Smith get limited to only three yards in one catch versus Texas.
01:21:18
Speaker
But that game really showed the strength of Ohio State because you have others who stepped up right in this place. Carnaltate, seven receptions, 87 yards. Ibuka, five receptions, 51 yards. Trayvon Henderson rips off a 75-yard touchdown in the first half. So it's like, if you sell out to stop the run, they'll burn you through the air. And if you sell out on covering them in man, which Notre Dame runs man coverage at one of the highest rates in the country,
01:21:46
Speaker
That is danger Tory territory against this Ohio State team I think will Howard was dicing early in that game like I thought he made the biggest throws when when he had to in that game and Against you know a team where you have to shut down an entire wide receiving room in man coverage while creating turnovers in the process which is is essentially how Notre Dame got to this game. ah That was like their blueprint on defense. It's just it it feeds into everything that Ohio State is hoping that you do, because if you sell out on their past game, then it leads right into like who I think has been almost the most impressive about this Ohio State run, which is Trayvon Henderson. Like he I thought he was the most impressive player in that Cotton Bowl. He has been on an absolute tear in this playoffs. He has 216 yards rushing over these three games.
01:22:37
Speaker
150 yards receiving five can combined touchdowns. I think he like Derek Henry in that previous game we're talking about is truly the linchpin for this game. If Henderson gets going, it becomes a matchup and a ski ah scheme nightmare for Notre Dame.
01:22:53
Speaker
Yeah. And like, say you, you know, you sell out to be like, Hey, we're going to stop Trayvon Henderson, who's kind of the speed elusive back. Then they got quench on junkins. Who's more of the downhill physical guy. And it's like, okay, you want to stop this? Well, we got to just another guy who's just as good, different style of play that can make you, you know, that will, that will make you pay if you just trying to sell out. And I think Texas kind of gave an order, Dame, the blueprint, which you were like hinting at where it's like, you're going to have to play a little bit of zone. especially on whichever side of the field, Jeremiah Smith is on. But like you say, it's like it's it's a wide receiver room that's filled with five star athletes. And these guys are going to make plays. And as long as Will Howard doesn't go into that Michigan concuss game that he was throwing, like he was throwing the ball to Michigan. I don't think they're going to turn the ball over. I don't i think it's just going to be they're going to operate and Chip Kelly's, but you know, his creative game planning and where it's just like, get the ball.
Key Players: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
01:23:47
Speaker
into the playmakers' hands and let us playmakers make plays, whereas Notre Dame doesn't have those playmakers, not even close. Like Riley Leonard and Jeremiah Love are their two focal points. Jeremiah Love, amazing game against Penn State, amazing effort, because he was not 100%. You could see the right embrace on his knee. He had the hurdle. He has the effort and the where he like sheds three tackles to kind of get that decisive touchdown and a 10-10 game to put him up, 17-10.
01:24:14
Speaker
Like Drew Aller let Notre Dame in that game with three horrible throws. Two of them were called back on you know questionable penalties at best. And then the game ceiling interception, which was one of the worst throws I've seen over the course of the season. like I don't think Chip Kelly is going to put Will Howard in a position to make mistakes like that, where it's like, yeah, we can just hand the ball off. We can throw screens. We can throw slants. yeah like You're not going to throw it over the middle of the field down in a tied game.
01:24:43
Speaker
trying to make a play like that. And Will Howard quietly has legs. You saw on that fourth downplay where he yeah i should have been a touchdown, but he stumbled, but he got the first down. So it's like there's just so many different ways this Ohio State offense can beat Notre Dame or Notre Dame. Not only are they going to have to play perfect, they're going to have to, you know, find a way to, you know, play above what they've done all season. They're going to have to find a way to get to 30 points.
01:25:09
Speaker
And I don't know if you can do that against this Ohio State defense, which is just continually flying around and making plays. It's going to be a tough matchup, but Riley Leonard is a veteran and I don't think the moment is going to be too big for him. I just think that this defense is going to swarm him and make him kind of like Sam Dardold. You're going to have to make quick decisions. We'll see if he'll be able to do that. Yeah. And I think that, you know,
01:25:32
Speaker
Notre Dame has overcome a lot of good defenses this year. Even on this run, Georgia had a good defense. Penn State had a good defense. This is still the toughest test. Like it it is how playoff systems normally work. Like you get to your toughest test usually in the championship game. Ohio State has the highest run defense grade in the entire country per PFF.
01:25:55
Speaker
Defensive line linebackers secondary they all rank within the top 20 of FPS teams in run grade defense and If you manage to get through the first two levels somehow then you got guys like Caleb down Screaming at you from the third level. So it's like Jeremiah Love had that great second, even third effort to get that touchdown. But you're right, he was clearly battling in that game. He was not fully held healthy. He gets 45 yards on 11 carries. The run game in general, I don't think looked as dangerous as it had in the past. ah Riley Leonard Leonard has been like their most productive rusher over the last two games. It's a problem in the national championship if he has to be your most productive rusher. Yeah, and like you could argue
01:26:42
Speaker
Notre Dame's offense was sparked, not by Riley Leonard. It was by Steve Angeli who came in at the end of the first half when Riley Leonard had to go on the blue tent to get checked for a concussion. Angeli led them down the field for a field goal right before the half and before that, Notre Dame showed no sign of offense. i I think I sent you the text. I'm like, it's game over at 10-0 with Penn State.
01:27:02
Speaker
because What has what does Notre Dame show me where they can score 10 points? I assume Penn State was going to continue to score a couple more. I thought that game is going to finish 20 to 10 and it was just going to be Penn State taking care of business. I would have been a little bit more worried about playing Penn State in the national championship just because, you know, the familiarity between the two markets that somebody clipped that. No, no, no. Penn State Penn State from the couch. You guys can enjoy this game just like everyone else.
01:27:29
Speaker
um But yeah, man, I like it's the Marcus Freeman factor is going to play a part in this one. The former Ohio State Buckeye under Jim Trestle. He's got like, there's no better coach. I would argue in Ohio State history than Jim Trestle, just the culture he created and the team in like, he's going to instill what Jim Trestle built in Ohio State. And he has.
01:27:51
Speaker
put it into this Notre Dame team and you can tell that they're like they took that NIU loss similar to Ohio State like you mentioned the Michigan loss and they've used it as motivation and the Notre Dame hasn't lost the game since and they've just been kind of not rolling teams but the biggest test they faced was Penn State going down to nothing they didn't budge their backup quarterback came in got the points and then they just rolled in the second half he seems to be some sort of like this, this, this halftime speech, God, like he, every time his teams come out in the second half, like, like he, it's just a different team. And so he's making the right adjustments. He's saying the right things at halftime. And it's just getting to the point where like, hopefully Ohio state, they can just take them out of the game before the half. But if they keep a Notre Dame in the game, Marcus Freeman is going to make the right adjustments. And this could be, you know, it just.
01:28:42
Speaker
It could be sketchy for Ohio State if you're going into the half down by any points or up by like three or six or seven where Notre Dame has made the correct halftime adjustments throughout the playoffs and I don't see that changing anytime now.
01:28:55
Speaker
Yeah, like Marcus Freeman completely outcoach James Franklin in the second half of that game. I think that was like a huge X factor in that game. It's really one of the things that you could argue that Notre Dame has going for it in this game is maybe a lean or an edge in the coaching department. I thought Chip Kelly had a great game against Texas for the most part, especially saving that quarterback run and using it on that fourth down was brilliant. Like you said, should have been a touchdown.
01:29:21
Speaker
Will Howard had a bit of a Daniel Jones ask moment tripping on himself, which was hilarious. But yeah, that you're right. That is really the game plan for Notre Dame is I keep it close until half and then it's one half of football that like it's really anybody's game. But it's going to be sink or swim early in this game for Notre Dame. You can't let Ohio State score touchdowns on their opening two drives like it can't be 14 nothing 14 three before you know it.
01:29:48
Speaker
and Ohio State has scored on their opening drive three straight playoff games. So yes, the Notre Dame, they're going to have to find a way to stop that scripted drive from Ohio State, which has proven to be lethal all year long. And yeah, I mean, I don't see that changing, but Notre Dame does have a good enough defense where, you know, maybe they can cause some problems for this Ohio State team, but I just think there's too many weapons The game calling from Chip Kelly is going to be good. And then on the defensive side of the ball, it's even better. Jim Knowles is the best defensive coordinator in the country. And yeah, I just, I don't know. To me, this, I think Oregon, Ohio state, my mind was the national championship. The Texas game was like, you have to get over this hump because it was like, just do Ohio state has had so many opportunities in the past in the semi final game where it's like, okay, you win this. You got a golden opportunity to win national championship. Now that they got over that hump, they're in this game.
01:30:38
Speaker
I don't see them slowing down and at any time, and if they do win this game, I need the Ryan and Day. I need it in the post game. I need him yelling at Lou Holtz. Someone asked him before this game, have you guys patched things up? One word answer, no. So there's clearly some bad blood, and I need him yelling at Lou Holtz
Post-Game Anticipation with Lou Holtz
01:30:57
Speaker
again. I need it in my blood. that make my entire college football season like that would be such a cherry on top for the fans if we got ah a Lou Holtz shout out in in the post game. um But yeah, I think that does it for this this preview here. Great game I think we'll have on our hands in this one. And the next time we might be talking to you guys, Patrick might be a national championship. So a lot on the line here, Patrick. And I will let you guys know if I am a national, you you will know if Ohio State has won the national championship.
01:31:26
Speaker
yeah hopefully the text you know the text coming in droves like they did after the michigan game for you people love to tear you when you're down but you know hopefully you get those flowers if they do win and credit to me i never said fire ryan day one of the few no one of the few i never got on this mic and said fire ryan day The only words that came out was Michigan owns Ryan Day, which I still believe is true. But Ryan Day is a fine head coach and national champion. Ryan Day has a nice ring to it. Yes, it does. That'll do it for us today on the goalpost. Huge, huge weekend of football ahead. I cannot emphasize it much more.
01:32:06
Speaker
Get on your couch, get some wings, watch some football, and we'll be back next week to recap it all for you. Until then, Patrick, I'll see ya. See ya, Damien.