The Around the NFL podcast. Taking applications for Mark's next pet team. From the Chris Wesling podcast studio, it's Around the NFL. Afc, NFC Championship Game Preview Edition. How about that? Dan Hans is here with heroes Mark Sesler, Greg Rosenthal. Boys, I'm looking at this. I'm looking, I'm looking. And Mark, I know you like new things. You always like something new.

Sure.

Like any-Not a takedown, just the reality.

No, but it's a reality. Many humans would agree.

So if we get Baltimore and San Francisco at the end of this weekend, that's a rematch of Super Bowl 47.

Not new.

If we get KC at San Francisco, that's a rematch of Super Bowl 54. Detroit, a whole new world.

Where's somewhere else?

Never appeared in a Super Bowl. In fact, I believe this is their second NFC title game, period.

We also are getting a rematch of 38 to 6, the classic Ravens beat down from week 8, Ravens, lions, if that happened. Just saying from this, that was tough.

That does not count as a rematch.

Week 8 feels so far away But yeah, so the lions are the newbie here. Now, the chiefs are the old guard. The chiefs are if you are somebody that wants something fresh. As much as I love Patrick Mahomes, and obviously, Chief's Kingdom loves Patrick Mahomes, and America is growing a bit weary with the Chiefs, I feel like, Mark, even if you're a Ravens hater. Which you are. It might behoove us if we want something new to get, even though the Ravens have been in this game periodically throughout the century, to get the Chiefs out. Maybe that happens this weekend. Who knows?

I think the lions are the great hope of newness. Don't try to sell me on any of the other three teams. You The intro talked about my pet teams.

Ravens haven't even been in this weekend for 12 years.

I know, but Greg, you have a Ravens fetish, and I acknowledge that. I have a different relationship with the Ravens.

I get it, but you're saying new. We've done this show for a long time. Omar has never been to the Super Bowl.

I was at the Niners Raven Super Bowl, and it felt like two days ago to me. We were just there. The whole thing went out.

It feels like we've been doing this show a long time. We have never had a Ravens conference Championship preview here.

This is the first time. But I did have to write the nfl. Com when the article, when the electricity went out.

You did the blackout story? Yeah.

It was like, You write this. It's like, I don't know what's happening.

You know why you were up? Because I wrote the Beyoncé Half-Time show article. Right.

Just people getting banged left and right.

We're all about to die. Who's on this one? Sesta. All right. I'll never forget that. And by the way, Jim Harbaugh was the coach back then for the Niners, and he's going to be coming up in conversation a little bit later today. I'll never forget that Super Bowl because my father, with your help, went to... That was the first time, went to the Super Bowl, took him to the game. My dad, who I would never- Will be traveling through.dismiss in any work scenario. But if you had a chance to do that with your dad, it's just something to think about. The first thing that seriously came to my mind when the lights went out was, Oh, no. I got my dad to the Super Bowl. Now I'm going to get him killed. That was my first fear that we were all about to... My mom was going to be mega pissed.

That's a quality instinct.

My dad's first Super Bowl as well.Was it?They shared it.

Were you frightened for your dad?

I general...

Greg was assigning articles to you and me. He was not concerned about his father.

I wasn't. I figured, Oh, this is weird, but it'll probably work out.I'm an optimistic guy.

That is such a Greg outlook. But it was like, it's not a big deal.

It was definitely a big deal. But I was like, well, this will probably get fixed, hopefully.

Yeah, well, it did.

I think it turned that super. As someone that lived in New Orleans, shout out to Entergy. A lot of in New Orleans all the time. So it felt for me.

Why would you give them a shout out then?

They're the worst. They're the worst.

And guess what? There will be a Super Bowl in New Orleans next year, but there hasn't been one since that game. And there's a reason why because It's the best place for a Super Bowl for it to get punished, to get sent to the rubber room, as it were, just like Jero World, by the way. All right, let's get on track here. We got a lot to get to. We have guests coming up in a little bit. James Palmer, one of our favorites with NFL Network. He has been embedded with the Chiefs, covering that team and covering this AFC finale. It is the season finale of the AFC on Sunday, and he's going to join us in a little bit. On the NFC side of things, and also to break down all the news that's going on, the great Cynthia Freeland will be in studio, so let's get to it without further ado. Game one. Oh, there's two games. How about that? There's only two games on Sunday. We're still doing clearly going way over an hour. Just two games. We'll find a way.

We'll balloon it out, whatever we need.

Well, we've got two guests. We've got news at the back end.

It's going to be a slam dunk.

It's going over an hour.

Anyway, First game, 3:00 PM Eastern, CBS, Nance, Romo, Wolfsent. You hear our boy Mad Dog get after Romo?

I thought Mad Dog. I would say, I thought you said it well, when Mad Dog is right, he's right. When he gets to something and he feels his passion in his heart starts to flare up, there's no one else like him.

What are you talking about, though? What did he get on?

Mad Dog, he went after Tony Romo, who dropped a... Attented to drop a historical nugget about the It was like an old Stealers moment, and Romo-The old still the Immaculate Reception. Immaculate Reception, but it was the Holy Roller, all this stuff.

Just make it clear. He says Immaculate Reception on the ball that gets tapped out of bounds by the tight end on the first play from scrimage, which is the wrong reference because the Immaculate Reception was a totally different play with Franco Harris.

Which I would imagine Romo knows, but he-The Raiders was the Holy Roller when the ball was knocked forward and scored a countdown and the rule was changed.

Anyway, Ruso was fired up about that.

Ruso goes absolutely crazy.Go find it. And there are a few female hosts stationed about seven yards behind him just watching him up like David Lettererman, up against the camera going absolutely nuts.

They're just watching him like a tail is growing out from above his butt. It's true, Mad Dog. Anyway, so Romo didn't get demoted, though, so that's good. He's got this game.

Got the Super Bowl, too.

Got Patrick Mahomes again.

Tracy Wolfson. Now, listen to this. They also got Evan Washburn on the sideline, who is Patrick Bateman, but well adjusted. And then Healey, guess why not? Chiefs at Ravens. How about that? Mahomes v. Lamar. The Ravens, the line has not moved here. It's Ravens by three and a half. That should be... You could even make the case that it should be higher. They're home. They've been playing dominant football, Greggy, for months. They just came off a game against an upstart Texan's team where they just seize control at the half and really flex their muscles. In a lot of ways, it feels like this is their year. But man, just like the Bills thought this was their year, it It's cool to say it's your year, but then you have to be Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs, and teams aren't good at that, too.

There is something, too, that if Mahomes is the Jordan, and he is, that you have to... I know many teams couldn't do this. You have to get past it. Or if he's braided, if they're the Patriots, you have to get past them. I think of some Patriots years, like '06, when the Colts finally got past the Patriots, or even, I forget which year it was where they didn't have an offensive line, and Steven Jackson was the running back, might have been '13 when the Broncos barely got by. Those were bad Patriots teams, and then they got to the playoffs, and suddenly they were great Patriots teams.

By the way, calm down with bad. Greg, you say this stuff all the time. It's all relative.

There were no bad Patriots teams. In the same way that we were talking about this Chief's Offense, if we were doing a podcast back then, they weren't the same Patriots all season. Then it's almost like you get to the playoffs and it's like, Oh, yeah, this is how we feel alive again. This is how we do what we do. This is how we rise up to a challenge. Offensively, I think they're going to be tested this week because I think the Ravens defense is the perfect defense to face this Chief's group because they throw so many different looks at you. Before the snap, after the snap. Snap to snap. It's going to be different on second down and third down. It's going to be different first drive to the third drive. It's going to be different first half to the second half. As good as Mahomes was last week, finally, if you watch us on YouTube, throwing the ball in rhythm. It didn't happen all season where he got to the back of his drop and he actually trusted MVS and made that slot fade to start the second half and all these great throws where it actually was Mahomes delivering the ball on time.

I actually don't think that's going to be the way that they can win this game because I don't think they're good enough to do it. I think the Ravens make you hold the ball, and it's just going to have to come down to Patrick Mahomes holding the ball a little extra and making Patrick Mahomes magic, whether it's with his feet or then buying time and making crazy throws. I don't think they're going to beat the Ravens just running their conventional offense. Maybe you can run the ball fairly well during the game, but I don't think what worked against the Bills is work this week.

Yeah. We're looking at a Ravens team that, against playoff teams from this season, has put up 30 points on offense per game, allowed just 17. They're these polar opposite of the dolphins we've talked about, teams that go up against winning teams and what's special about them vanishes. The Ravens seem to become more embellished, more special when they go up against the best competition. I think you're right. This is a huge test of Lamar Jackson, a huge test of the entire team to get over a Chief's team that feels like when they get challenged, theoretically in the playoffs like this, everything that we thought was a weakness of yours goes away. They became a completely different offense the last two weeks. I really do trust the Ravens, though, in this situation at home to be the best version of themselves. I think that's an unbeatable team right now. That is an unbeatable team. They put it on the Niners. Like the Texans a week ago, we're talking about a team that completely separated the Cleveland Browns defense. The Ravens made them look like a team that had barely played all season. Now you go against Patrick Mahomes, who, by the way, against the Ravens, last two times he's faced them, has been nearly perfect, but he is dealing with a different group of targets and wide receivers.

I do wonder I don't know if around the corner, there's that game that reveals what was Kansas City's weakness all along was mistakes by your wide receiver's mistakes, drops, issues. Does that rear its head in this game, or do they continue this journey?

Yeah, and that's why it's almost frustrating to watch the Chiefs from one perspective is because the NFL and football in general doesn't feel like the type of sport you could just flip the switch and turn it on in the playoffs. All their scheme, their scheming was not effective on offense all season. They were trying very hard. It wasn't like a long NBA season where you're resting guys or you're just trying to get through it, bank your 56 wins, and then really start bowing up for the playoffs. They tried all season to get the offense right and couldn't do it. So watching them really thrive against the Bills all game long, to see Travis Kelsey returning as a playmaker in the red zone, to see them find a downfield presence as unlikely as it is. And MVS, that Isiah Pacheco is playing like a star running back where Shee Rice, obviously, is an every week contributor. It's wild and crazy. And that would be my concern as a Baltimore fan is like, all year, I thought this was a great window for us because the Chiefs are down on some level for them, but they're not now.

Now, they're like the Chiefs again. So what happens with that? And the other point I wanted to make, Greg, was that the two number one seeds both had scared players in different ways. So the Ravens were tied at halftime with a big special team's play going into the locker room. The Niners, we know what happened with them. They nearly got picked off, survived in the final minute of that game. To me, the Niners team, as I've said on the show, I'm concerned about, and I'm curious what we're going to get on Sunday. The Ravens team, I think that's the one that battle-hard in them. They've had some issues in the divisional round, play-offs in the Lamar era. To get over that hump, I don't have any concerns that the Ravens show up tight or not playing at a high level on Sunday because they knocked off that rust and any of that type of stuff with that win last week to me.

Yeah, I think that's fair. Now the extra rest they got, they've got really two weeks of rest. I think you could see it last this week on the offensive line in particular. But before we move to the Ravens offense, the reason I trust this Ravens' defense, at least slow the Chiefs down here compared to where they've been the last couple of weeks, is the middle of the field. All these teams attack you at off-ball linebacker, and they attack your safeties, and they find mismatches. Andy Reid did a great job last week, and Patrick Mahomes did, too. Now, who are they going to be attacking this week? Who's Kelsey's matchup going to be? It's going to be Kyle Hamilton. It's going to be Roquan Smith. It's going to be Patrick Queen. They, watching that tape over again, just acted so fast. They knew it was coming from the Texans' offense, and they just react, and they pop, and they're athletic. I think you win right now only with Rice and Kelsey. For the most part, that's over the middle of the field. I think the Ravens are uniquely flexible enough to handle that. I do think for the Chiefs, they have to be encouraged, at least, that the offensive line on the interior, especially, Cree Humphrey and Trey Smith and Tunie were dominant.

I mean, they won them that game. They made the Bills look like their little play things. It was a college team they were going up against. I know Matt Abike and Michael pierce. They're big guys up front, and that's a tougher matchup for them. But that gives you a chance. If you can play heavy like the Chiefs did last week, they had six offensive linemen, three tight ends, quite a bit, two tight ends, quite a bit. They just played heavy. I I don't think that's a crazy way to try to play the Ravens, to try to run. It's not easy, but that to me seems easier than just going back and throwing it.

I don't think you have Joe Tuny in this game necessarily.

That is also a big problem.

That's a big loss. That's one of the toughest linemen in the entire league, and he's been a foundational piece for them. I really think that when they played the Bills, part of their success was that you played a banged up Bills defense, and someone like AJ Klein got completely exposed. The Ravens come in with Roquan Smith. The trade last year, I think, was one of the best NFL trades of the last five years.It completely changed their defense.That's.

Why we did an emergency pod. We did.

You got to say it.For.

Multiple reasons.It's almost like everyone benefited.

It's almost like That's why we did it. Flash point focus, but as an emergency pop. We were ahead of it with.

No, we were. We absolutely were.

You're welcome, society.

And so is Patrick McQueen also, because I think it changed someone's career trajectory there because I think McQueen was trending down.

They didn't pick up his fifth-year option.

It probably is his last few days with the Ravens here.

It might be, but the two of them together have been completely unstable, and they are the second best team in the league against tight ends. This is different than last week when a revised-looking Kelsey, now you're going against a different defense. If you can take Kelsey out of this, you are putting those Chiefs wide receivers into a situation where they've got to perform. I just don't know if I trust that. It's like The Chiefs are going to find a different way to win. This is a different defense than they played against Buffalo a week ago. You're on the road. I don't care about the road thing so much with Mahomes, but it's like this defense has not been broken months in a row.

Marlin Humphrey is also returning to practice. The weakness would be the cornerbacks. I mean, they're out there throwing Marlin Humphrey.

But not against this group of wide receiver.

That's all I'd say. Marlin Humphrey, their best cornerback, is returning. But yeah, it's Brandon Stevens, Arthur Mallet, and Ronald Darby who wasn't even on the team halfway through. He's bounced around. If you could buy time, in theory, that's the weakness, but Humphrey returning would be big.

That would be big. Also returning would be big. Mark Andrews. He was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. He's coming back from that gnarly ankle injury that's kept him out for a couple of months now. Very interesting to see if this is a thing, if he's going to really have a role in the offense. I would imagine if he does play, it would be a limited number of snaps. But as we know, and as we've been talking about, Isiah likely has really stepped up in Andrew's absence and become a playmaker. The Ravens just come at you in waves. It's such a deep roster on both sides of the ball. I don't know, does it have a chance to get going, the 28 days later defense? That's what I like. I want to see this Baltimore swarming, zombie-like, rage virus-infected defense getting after the Pacheco who runs with those elbows and knees out. What was the PachecoCosco said, though. Somebody said he runs like... Oh, God, I got to remember this. He had a really good description of how he runs. He bites.

Like he bites. He didn't like that. I like the one I saw that he runs like he's dealing with trauma.

You have the 28 days later defense against a running bag who runs with trauma. What will Kansas City's offense be able to do against this defense? Because it's a step up from Buffalo or anyone else.

He said, You run like you bite people. I like that description.

Which, by the way, what do the zombies do?

They run and bite people. Typically, that's what they would do. They would bite you.

The thing that was most surprising last week, though, was that the Chiefs defense got worked. That looked like an old-school Chiefs Defense. I know they came up big and they made Buffalo work for these touch downs and everything, but it was one of their worst games of the season without a doubt. They just got to give up big plays. They got dominated for the most part for three quarters, and then they came up with some big play. I'm very curious, are they going to be a little more disciplined? Because one thing I saw in that game was they kept getting past Josh Allen, and then Josh Allen just kept running forward. What is the worst thing that you can do against Lamar Jackson is not be disciplined with those rush lanes. It happened to the Texans a couple of times. Lamar just was so relaxed. He almost seems too relaxed sometimes back there. He is just chilling. He's just chilling in the pocket. And then the second he sees it open, he takes But for the most part, he's just chilling back there. He's getting great protection from this offensive line. And that's where I think you saw the two weeks help.

Roni Stanley looked healthier. The offensive line in general seemed healthier. They were dominant, and they have to really have a plan for rushing Lamar, getting some heat, and they had to make Chris Jones on the outside for those big plays because they weren't getting on the inside against Buffalo, but also not go past him and not let him run the ball. I think they almost have to dare Baltimore to throw the ball deep, deep into the outside. If he beats you that way, and he had a number of good throws to the outside last week and deep, and they worked, then maybe you just deal with it because otherwise, they will just pick you apart offensively.

I also say they survived an incredible game by Josh Allen. Yes. Lamar Jackson is going to have his moments, and they can still survive. They haven't He had more than 27 points in a game all year. I do trust this defense more than any other Chief's defense we've seen. I guess you're going to have to allow Lamar Jackson to have his moments, but you got to just try to find- You got to be better than you were a week.

I'm putting that Right now, I'm happy to be stand corrected on this one, but I'm putting the Casey defense in the bucket of all these other defenses that I was told were great and then get lit up in a huge spot. They already got beat up last week, and then the Ravens. I would not be surprised if the Ravens have their way. That said, there is the Mahomes component of everything. Patrick Mahomes, as you may have heard, Mark, played his first road game, true road game in the playoffs last week. As you can Can you imagine? A lot of fuel to the fire to be on the road to be an underdog and all that. This is his postgame locker room comments to his teammates after the big victory in Buffalo.

Hey, they asked for it, and they got what they asked for.

But he said it, this shit ain't done.

We come back next week ready to fucking go.

And turn it open notch.

Cheese on three, one, two, three.

All right. With that said, let's welcome in our guest because that's a Patrick Mahomes that these Guys, the great ones. They're always looking for a new challenge. It's like James Palmer in his personal life. For Patrick Mahomes right now, it is this idea of being doubted, being on the road, being viewed as the guy. Let's get them out here so we can get some fresh blood in. James Palmer, welcome to the show. How are you, buddy?

I'm good, guys. I'm glad we're starting with this because I've gotten a lot of heat on the Twitters and the X's about this Patrick Mahomes playing on the road. If you bring this up, Chief's Kingdom will attack you like nobody's business.They.

Get so angry.What's got them all fired up?

And I don't get so angry. Why? You're just sick of it as a storyline. Because he's been going a lot on the road. They're good.

I know, but this is what they say, guys. They're good. I know, but this is what they What's that, guys? They go, Well, oh, that Super Bowl in Tampa, that wasn't a road game. It was a home game for Tampa. I was like, Well, listen, guys, that went terribly wrong. Your offense could not function. I was in that stadium. It was half full. I was in some box with the girl from Pitch Perfect and the guy from Pitch Perfect. Was his name Adam Devine of some sort, I think? Wow. There were very few of us watching. I don't understand why they were so angry theory about us bringing this up. You know what?

We don't need to talk about the COVID Super Bowl, James. I don't really get it. The COVID Super Bowl was in the middle of a global health catastrophe, so let's just throw that out as an opinion or an example of anything. Come on.

Yeah, I get. You had the weekend running around in the walls by himself.

It was weird. Adam Devine, though. Nice hang for you during a strange Super Bowl event.

The difference, one of the many differences, at that point, their offensive line is falling apart, and you've been covering this team all year. One reason I don't think anyone should have been digging any dirt on them as rough as the offense has looked is the fact is it's still Mahomes with Andy Reid and the best defense he's ever had, and their offensive line playing outstanding. I guess that was if you have Mahomes and an offensive line, I don't care how poorly the rest of the group is playing, they got to have a chance. How has the vibe been this week and everything around this team in terms this challenge? Because they got to feel like this challenge against the Ravens defense is another step up from the last couple of weeks.

Yeah, and it's Greg, it's a massive step up from the walking wounded they faced at that game I was in Buffalo. I mean, this group is far and away different than that Buffalo group that they figured out a way to put 11 guys on the field. I think this group is completely different if Joe Tuni can't play. And talking to people that I know that are in the know in Kansas City, it's going to be a long, long stretch for him to try to go in this game on Sunday. I've talked to a number of people that said he's really the guy over the last couple of years that has made this offense go. If you remember, they brought him in that big free agent contract. I think it was after that game in Tampa we're talking about. And he's been that mentor to Creet Humphrey and Trey Smith, the center and the guard on the other side, to really give them that anchor of the offensive line and the way that he's run that entire group. He's really the guy that makes it go. I do think that interior has been a big part of some of the success that they've struggled through some of these guys.

I do think they've just tried to help out their offensive line a bunch. I heard you guys talking about the number of tight ends that they've been putting out there. You haven't heard Donovan Smith's name at the left tackle spot since he's returned from the neck injury. I think the body was benefiting from getting off those legs for a couple of weeks. He's been a little bit better than he was during the season, and Juan Yee Morris was out there for him. But if he has time, Patrick Mahomes has time, he's going to find ways to make plays. I think that's the part that we're always bringing up. And specifically in the postseason, it's not just this, the scrambling ability. It's he runs more on his own. He puts the offense on his back at times. It's just going to be, and we can talk about it, the matchup of Kelsey if he can get free. And then it's really him and Rashi Rice and Isiah Pacheco. That's their offense. They ran it the best they did this entire year, they think, in Buffalo. That's probably the best game plan Andy Reid thought Mad Nagui has had this season.

But again, it's really been those three guys. I'm going on here, but I do want to make this point. They feel like the offense has been better since Skymore and Kaderius Tony have been injured. No lie.

It makes sense.

They pick-At the receiver spots, it's better for us. They thought they were playing too many players, honestly. Rotating too many receivers. Nobody was getting in a rhythm. Those two injuries happening, they feel like that's actually benefited the offense.

All right, so let's go off of that because right now, cut to Kansas City, 60 feet below the complex, you've got Andy Reid surrounded by six boxes of Chinese food cooking up some trick play. They love to do this on a weekly basis. You've been there. Well, right. You're talking about two players are better not being part of the offense on some level. You got your Kelsies, your obvious guys. What's the X factor? I want you to predict a guy that we're going to be talking about Sunday night that we're not expecting. Last week was MVS. It's like these guys have been hot and cold all year. What's the trick? What's the What's happening? What's the secret sauce individual that they're building around?

James, before you answer that question, I'm curious, since you brought it up because I didn't know about this underground bunker. The guy that delivers the Chinese food, does he get access down an elevator shaft, or does Andy have to go up to get?

No, that's a middleman. A middleman, obviously, who knows? You got codes, you got handprints.

An intermediary.

A little optical scan? Yeah. Okay, good. Optical scan for Chinese food. All right, go ahead. I had to take...

Yesterday, the elevators weren't working, I had to take the Taylor Swift path, the underground path, to get to where it needs to be. So these things are big haps. Not sure if the delivery guy and Taylor ever have crossed paths down there in the secret bunker.

More importantly, have you crossed paths with Taylor through all this, James? With Taylor? Yeah.

A number of times. I got some free jeans because of one of my encounters with Taylor.

Wait, what?

Wow.

All right. We're going to get to the X-Math. No, no, no. Let's know. I want to hear about that. I want to hear about that later. No, tell me about them now. I need to hear what they do.

Well, if you are lucky enough to get a primo spot to do the video of Taylor, which I've done it by accident a couple of times, I was trying to get Josh Allen, and then all of a sudden, she walked by, and then my video goes viral. And then she was wearing a pair of jeans. And the company hit me up on the gram and was like, Hey, can we use your video? We want a profile. She's wearing our jeans. And I said, Sure? I guess this is a world I'm not a part of, I guess.

You should have held that for more.

I sent them the video, and then they said, What size are you? We'll send you some clothes.

That's getting personal.

And so that's how this world works, I guess.

I'm moderately disappointed because I thought maybe Taylor was the source of the jeans, but it was the... Okay, it's still cool, though. Sure. All right, now to Mark's question.

Well, no, I mean, you can go in any direction you want, but at this point.

Yeah, now we've derailed. Listen, I I don't know if they have that player, Mark. I really don't. When you say a secret sauce, it might be what teams have used against them. I thought Joe braided had a brilliant game plan for what he was working with the Buffalo Bills, and it was keeping Patrick Mahomes and the offense off the field. That might be something that the Chiefs are looking at in terms of, Can we control this game? We have seen, and this is something in this postseason, guys, I've really been curious about, Patrick is obsessed with Tom, obsessed with braided in terms of learning from him. It's a big reason why he wanted the backup quarterback that he has right now in his building, because he just got done working with Tom braided. It's just he wants to emulate his game. Can he find ways, like we've seen braided do in the past and the postseason, to where if something's not there, does he just not care about stats, not care about anything, and lean on something else? We are seeing that. He's wanted and encouraged the staff to lean into Pacheco, to lean into this defense, to play possession possession game.

All of these different things that we just haven't heard in Kansas City over the years, they've just been something you just start going like, Possession game? No, run the ball. That's not Andy, that's not Patrick. But that is the way Mahomes has been thinking in terms of other ways to find ways to win. I think that gene we're all looking at if that's there, because we're calling him the next braided, if that's there on finding other things to lean on to just win a game, I I think they've had to do that at times this season, and we'll see if they can find a formula against both of them.

I got to say, I've seen-I don't know what you can do. I know. I've seen Clyt Edwards-Hilaire taken out of Mothballs the last couple of weeks and have a little more juice than I can remember him seeing. He's a couple of weeks away from being a free agent. Four years after taking him in the first round. Taking up blitzes, making runs. Maybe he'll be the surprise. Or maybe it's on defense. I was shocked last week. Shamari Connor, who I wasn't familiar with, a fourth-round rookie showed up, and he made a lot of plays for that defense as an injury replacement. I was like, Man, they did it again. They found another mid-round guy in the secondary. This is how Lejarius Sneed became a guy. Suddenly in the playoffs as a rookie, he was doing things. Then Chamari Connor was awesome. Just defensively talking to them this week, what have they talked about being the keys? Because one thing that struck me watching the Ravens game, they made pretty huge lineup changes that no one really was talking about. Justice Hill just became their starting running back. Way more touches. He's a little bit of a different offense than Gus Edwards last week.

Odo Beckham was benched. I know he started the game, but Rashaad Bateman became their second receiver. Nelson Aguilar is the guy in three receiver sets, and Beckham only played about 20 snaps in that game to 45 for Bateman. I think they see Bateman having a little higher upside. The Ravens actually rolled out some different stuff in their playoff game. What does the Chief's defense talked about wanting to stop?

Greg, I think it really is, how can you confuse Lamar pre-snap? That's really going to be Spag's biggest goal. It's because they have, and I've talked to Trent McDuffy about this, and this is going to be a big part of this game. I think him blitzing from that corner spot. When I talk to people in Buffalo prepping for that game, they were like, We think he's the best blitzing corner in football. That's the way the bills went about it. Him coming from that inside, from that slot spot, bringing some extra pressure, might be a part of this game plan. But the point is, talking with Trent, it's like, I play three positions. Justin Reid plays three positions. Lejarius Sneed does that. Willie Gay does that. If we have the ability to have these late rotations on Lamar, and we can do it even after the ball is snapped to where he doesn't know who's playing where, and we can get the ball out of his hands quickly, that to me seems like their game plan. There is some similarities. I'm not going to say Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson run the football in the same manner, but they did feel like some of the things they wanted to do to Josh Allen, they can use against Lamar, which is the The way you rush with your lanes up front.

If you're going to bring pressure, you're just eliminating some of the lanes that he can run through. But if you can be disciplined up front, which they weren't in the first half against Allen, and they made some adjustments and were in the second half, that you can make sure he doesn't get out wide and you shut the pocket in from both. I'm in a tiny box, so you can't see my hands. You got to squeeze it in from the sides there. You get a little tiny. Now we've taken it wide. If you bring it in from both sides and you don't let him escape out wide, and you force him up front. That's the plan they had for Alan. I would see that being somewhat similar for Lamar as well.

You saw right through that, James. Actually, people don't realize it. We have the box get 4% smaller every minute. It's a bit of a weird power play we do with our guests. You picked up on it.

I like that. It's like Willy Wanka.

Yes. You've said it all, James. I will say one more thing before we say goodbye. You've dealt with some weather stuff the last couple of weeks. It looks like we got Baltimore. It's going to be warm, unseasonably warm, but rainy. So you're going to get potentially out of the bitter cold, but you're going to have to get that slicker out once more.

I get the slicker out. Listen, in Buffalo, that was all the talk in the postgame locker room. It wasn't like we won. It was like everybody on the Chief's team was like, What's the temperature in Baltimore? That's all the guys cared about. Can we get out of the frigid temperatures?

All right, buddy. Well, thank you so much for stopping by and giving us the info, and hopefully we'll see you in Vegas in a couple of weeks.

Guys, this is real nice. This has been a gas.

That hair is going to stay perfect. Pleasure's all on this side. Yes. Thank you, James.

We love that man. James Palmer. Gold. See you guys. See you. Bye. See you, bud. Very nice. Love James. Jp, one of the good guys.

Quality head of hair. There's no question. Hair. That's just the way it is.

You know what? Hair respects hair. He's got it.

You're referring to yourself respecting him. Okay.

We like your hair, too. Let's make the pick. Let's pick this game. For me, it's the easier of the two games. I think this is the Raven's moment. I think Baltimore, like I said, survived the whatever butterflies there might have been and any demons from their early... Their past with Lamar in the playoffs by really burying the Texans in the second half. I just think their depth on both sides and the way they sworn on defense and Lamar just having that year is what... You need a team like this to take down Mahomes in the playoffs. And I think Mahomes will be back on the stage, maybe as soon as next January. But I think this year, he's going to take a back seat. In fact, I'm going to lock up the Baltimore Ravens to go back to the Super Bowl. How about you guys?

I'm with you. I like the Ravens to win. I like the Ravens to win by more than three and a half. I do think it'll be close, though. Can you just imagine the Chiefs getting being blown out? I guess I just can't do it because it never happens. Happened in the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl.

Another great defense in Tampa Bay that got after the great home.

I know. But even this regular season where they were this lesser version and they lost a lot of games, all of them were close except for that one Broncos game. I just think they will be in it. I think they will make the Ravens earn it. There is something about this Ravens that as the game goes on, they just get heavier and heavier and stronger. I wouldn't surprise me if the Ravens are losing, heading into the fourth quarter, something like that, that it's a tight game, but that the Ravens do pull away. Let's go low-scoring game, 24-17.

I think the Joe Tuny injury, if you point to that Super Bowl, what was the core reason the Kansas City-Offensive line, cannot protect. They were just a different team. In that case, it was your tackles. But the Tuny injury is huge. That said, I'm going to go against the grain here against you guys. I think the Kansas City Chiefs are not the better team, holistically. But I think they have this something about them where they don't care where they're playing. They don't care what they're doing. You've got this obsession with Tom braided. Patrick Mahomes finds a way, whether injured, healthy, whatever the weather is, to get it done. I think they nip the Ravens 27, 24.

Hey, listen, keep picking against the Ravens. You might be right one day.

I mean, I would say if you're listening to this and I picked your team to win, you are doomed. Don't even witness the game.

I like it, though. It's a three and a half way. I don't like it when we're on the same side.

Yeah, I want to go get the champs their respect.

I like Baltimore 31-20. That's where I'll go with. All right, we're going to take a break, and when we get back, we're going to talk about the other big game this weekend and hit some big news in the coaching carousel rankings. All right, we'll be right back. All right, welcome back. It is Championship Sunday this weekend, and we are excited to talk these two big games. Mark, update on the DiGiorno front. Anything? Have you heard from them ever since we talked about them again on the last show, the Pizza Giant? Did they connect with you?

No, radio silence. I think it's a bit of a psychological tug of war, I accept that. My move is to stay in silent and wait and see what they do.

But you did hear from a shadowy league figure, as I understand.

I was told that my attempt to complain about not receiving de journo product or literally just side money from the company was out of place because per our contract, us reading these ads, that's literally how we get paid.

That's what the money is for, I guess.

I was out of place, and I apologize not only to you, DiGiorno, but to... Okay, anyone else?

That individual? Yeah.

No, not to them.

You're not wrong. You know why?

Why?

Because yes, the money is one thing. But how about a couple of DiGiornos in here?

I don't think that would be so hard.

A couple... What do they call them? What's their specialty, Mark? I know they have so many.

Well, they have a wide range of specialties.

It's like I'm just asking for one Toyota Grand Highlander. I'm not asking for 10 or a million dollars, a sack of money. Right.

You could argue my request is even lesser.

One Highlander.

Right.

That's it. Anyway, it is time now for the NFC game of the Week presented by DraftKings. Yes, there's only one game to choose, and it is a Humdinger. It's the Detroit Lions. Speaking of the Detroit Lions, Michigan native Cynthia Freeland will be in in just a little bit. To break down the game and where she's at headspace-wise going into this. They head now the Lions to Santa Clara, the big bell bottom, to get the 49ers. Great. The spread also stayed right where it was when we talked about it earlier this week. It's the Niners getting seven. The betting public seems to feel strongly that the Niners, as the number one seed, will carry on here and beat the lines. That's That's it. I like this, Lyons, the juice around this team. I have to say, if you go back, not even to week one when they beat the defending champion chiefs, if you go back, Greggie, to week 18 last year, When they beat the packers and Aaron Rodgers and ended their season, that to me was the true beginning of this rocket ride that the lines are on now, and they survived a long season.

They navigated their way through the play of two electric home games. Now, I just have a hard time seeing as much as I think San Francisco is the better team, Detroit going down easy at this point, not with this coach and not with what we've learned about this organization over the last year and a half.

I hope you're right because it'd be one of the great football stories we've had since we started.

Imagine the lions in the Super Bowl in two weeks. What a vibe that would be.

It wouldn't just be, Hey, Detroit's back. That would be a great story anyways. It's this particular team and the way they do it. I just think they have to attack San Francisco. When the lions have the ball, that's the mismatch. They have to be special. Jared Goff made a lot of great throws last week. He has to be even greater. They won up front last week. I thought the packers won up front last week. They're going to have to do that again. They're going to have to play their best offensive game and hope that the defense can make a few plays. But this is ultimately an offensive team. That's how they've gotten this far. That's how they're going to get further. I think they're going to look at the edges of San Francisco, because when you watched that game from a week ago, packers against the 49ers, the packers threw a lot of different run schemes at them, like the Rams do as well. They mostly worked, and they got a little away from it. The 49ers made some adjustments late in the game. But man, when they They threw the ball to the outside on those pitches to Aaron Jones, or they had the swings.

They won basically every single time. A lot of it was to Chase Young's side of the field. It was a way to stay away from all that power in the middle of the 49ers. I think the lines are very well-built to do that. You have Panay Sewell, who's an all-pro right tackle. You have Taylor Decker, who's a great left tackle. They're very coordinated in terms of their offensive line. They will be without Jona Jackson, which is a huge loss for them. They're a replacement last week, Ousika, really struggled. That's a big loss. But can they keep attacking, especially the run game on the outside, and lean into where their best players are? To me, that's Sewell and that's Gibbs. Can that combo just come at you over and over again?

Yes. They were built when this whole operation began, the priority was put on offensive line, and we're going to win in a way that matches what Detroit's about. Jackson out is a big deal. Frank Ragnou, your center, is dealing with an ankle injury, a toe injury, a knee injury, and a back injury. So even if he somehow gets in there-The grand slam.

He finished the game, though, so he probably played.

No, he did. But these guys, at this point, you're dealing with... There's no part of your body that's not hurting. But I love what they did last week, and I know it was against the Bucks defense. It's a different situation against the Niners, but they made a statement with a 14-play, 75-yard, countdown drive. They had two other 10-play, countdown drives. They had another scoring drive that was 65 plus yards. Long marches keeping the ball out of the hands of the Niners. I think they can win by just simply doing and being who they are. The way that they were built is a good opponent for the Niners. To me, this a little bit, this game is one where unlike the one we just talked about, it moves beyond, for me, next-gen stats and all the numbers and all the compiled figures and facts. The Detroit Lions just feel like this sports team that you look back on, like baseball teams from certain teams from the '70s and '80s that captured the city. We've seen that in football. We've seen it in every sport. And not to be general about it or pie in the sky, but the Lions, to me, it's like, I love the fact that Jared Goff is just from California.

The idea that you're going to go to the West Coast and be awed by the fact that you're playing at a different time in a visiting stadium in Cali.I don't think any of it matters.

I think he grew up up there.

He did. Yeah. Colorado, California. It's like, literally, it is his home. It's like something about this lion's team, feels like a team of destiny to me. I think that the way that we looked at the Bills is the way I look at Shana and the Niners just a little bit. There's every reason to think that they're the better team in multiple levels. There is pressure on the Niners because their postseason journey has been rough and tumble. Shana and has this D. He's seven and three in the playoff, I believe, with the Niners, but they have lost in big moments. I think I could see their butts getting tight if the Lions are hanging around there in that third quarter, early fourth quarter.

I like it. I like your passion, Mark. You think about the game, too, because the lions are this lovable underdog within the context of this game right now. But the Niners are weird in the sense that they are this Goliath, right? But their quarterback is, I don't know if you heard this, Mr. Irrelevant. I think we're so used to it now that we're sleeping on the guy that was the last pick in the draft last year could be going to the Super Bowl if his team has their way on Sunday.

Against the first overall pick.

Well, yeah, there's that angle of it, too. I'm not going to belabor it because I hit it pretty hard last Sunday and during the week, but it is purdy, that's the question. I don't feel like the rest of the San Francisco operation is going to crack under the pressure. I'm not even necessarily saying it's pressure with purdy, but it just has any doubt crept into his mind. It's quarterbacking in really any sport, but Especially in quarterbacking, it's so much mental. His confidence allowed him, Greg, to soar and become a true MVP candidate this year. But what happened on Christmas night in Baltimore, what happened in last week's game for three and a half quarters, what headspace is the QB in going into this game? Because now he's playing to go to the goddamn Super Bowl. It's a massive stage for a guy that was never a pristine prospect, has had his issues in recent weeks. It's a huge, huge It's his responsibility to take a team all the way to the bowl.

Yeah, last week was concerning because he wasn't seeing the field well. To me, he's pretty consistent in who he is. He's aggressive. He's not a game manager. He's going to go for it. And he did last week. Rewatching it, it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered, but it was particularly bad in the three drives before the game-winning drive. And there's another world. The packers had the ball three times through no... Purdy wouldn't have done anything different. The packers had the ball two or three times where they could have put the game away, and they It just didn't. They kept giving them chances, and then Purdy did step up. I do think that should mentally help them. That will help, you would imagine. Then I think it's the rain. The rain was a factor, too, although it was also his decision-making, so you can't just put it on his throwing. But look, he made the right reads in that final matchup. As much as you don't think of the packers as a good defense, maybe that's even a better matchup. Because one thing that I think has been pointed out when Trent Williams was out, and then I was reminded of it again last week, it's like, this offensive line is really not that great.

The packers, I thought, went up front on both sides of the ball, which was really surprising. But it makes sense because they have talented players up front, and they just won their matchups. They won it in the run game and made life hard for Kristen with McCafree. Mccafree made some plays, but in terms of the yards before contact, it was extremely low. They weren't getting much push, and they were putting a lot of pressure on Purdy, and that's what you have to do. Purdy fritzes out a little like most quarterbacks. I know his numbers are good against pressure, but This was a different sort last week. I just don't see the lines doing that because they're one of the worst just teams in terms of just front four getting pressure. Hutchinson is that dude, but otherwise, they have to send a lot of pressure. To me, it's going to be a very boomer bust defensive approach where they throw a lot of blitzes. They throw a lot at them. They're willing to give up some big plays. They hope to make some big plays, enforce some turnovers, and hopefully that'll work. You get burnt if Debo is in the game, and maybe you don't get burnt if Debo is not in the game.

Well, that's a huge... That's so big. How healthy will Debo Samuel be? They've been so different. I think last week, obviously, you know by now that Debo Samuel was baked heavily into their game plan that affected what happened against the packers because they had to shift and use different players. If I'm the Lions, though, Aiden Hutchinson is the one guy getting sacks, the one guy really making a difference. You don't want to just station them against Trent Williams, snap after snap. I tried to find a way to move him around, but this Lions team, with all their ups and downs on defense, has been good against the run. They're the number two against the run. They've held 14 of 19 opponents to under 100 yards on the ground. They've gone 12 and 2 in those games. If you can find a way to suppress, to nullify Christian McAfee to some extent, and you force Brock Purdy into having to make big throws. Right now, the forecast, I think this matters for Purdy, just because of what we've seen this season, it is suggesting light rain. That's what they said a week ago, too. But then you're dealing with an incredible...

Nature is just erupting on you. We'll see. Maybe it's sunny. We don't know. I have the latest update. What's the weather now?

On the weather corner. Yeah. Love this weather corner. Maybe a new segment. Weather corner?

Well, we're running out of time to do weather corners.

Give us a little drop for weather corner in post, Eric, the producer. Right now, it looks like 73. That's nice. 73 AM clouds, PM sun, only a 6% chance of precipitation. The small rock hand is probably not going to be an issue here.

That sounds more like.

Goff has famously struggled in the rain and in inclement weather. That's true, too. Another small hands guy. I mean, this is ridiculous us calling them small hands guy. In the scheme of things, it's compared to the average.

It's all relative. It is all relative. Speaking of Jared Goff, we had this It is, again, it's being positioned as David versus Goliath on some level, but it's not quite that. The lines have a lot of big-time players. The lines had a huge year. They're in the NFC title game for a reason. This is a fun little back and forth between Goff and a reporter. I think something wires get crossed a little bit here. This was enjoyable. You guys got a lot of really good players, obviously, but maybe not-Thank you. What's that? I said, Thank you. You're welcome. Maybe not viewed, though, as the superstars, maybe the 49ers, the average others. All right, never mind. I mean, guys like Saint Brown and you.

Saint Brown was first-team all pro. Right. So was Panay.

Sorry, continue. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's a great way to have some fun. By the way, show that you're loose. This is a different chair of golf. He's ready. He is ready for this game. But also pointing out, yes, stop looking at us like we can't match up on any level to the mighty San Francisco team. We got studs on this team, including a first-team All-Pro at our offensive line at number one wide receiver. We're ready to rock.

Right. I think Jamir Gibbs, I've been saying this. I think he's the second-best running back in the league right now.

I wasn't even referring to him. That's another monster. I know.

That's another monster. I know. That's another monster. So that's... I would get, Gibbs is a monster. Sewell is right there with Trent Williams as the best tackles in the NFL. Sam Laporta was second-team All-Pro as a freaking rookie. It was a really well That's the language, Greg. Well made point, I think, by Goff, because they are extremely talented. They're cohesive. They've been together a while. You mentioned it's a different Goff. You're right. But he's also different on the field. He was different in LA. I don't think they should feel bad about getting rid of Jared Goff, obviously, because of the results, but also because of the way he's playing. But the way he's playing now, and you give credit to Ben Johnson, but you mostly give credit to Jared Goff, I think he makes his reads faster. I think gets to his second and third read faster. I think he buys time just a little bit better. He's obviously not going to be Lamar Jackson, but he moves a little better in the pocket. There were a couple of throws last week where he's backpedaling. They're obviously better against the blitz. That's coaching, and that's Jared Goff, but they're great against the blitz.

That used to be his bad thing. And there's more outside throws. Think of some of his most impressive throws last week. One of them was deep into the outside to Reynolds, another one to St. Brown. That was not something you saw Jared Goff doing. He is a legitimately better quarterback. He is a top 10 quarterback, 8 quarterback, whatever you he's going to be than when we last saw him in the plate. What did you say, top eight?

Right now, in many ways, he has been for the last-For some reason, I bumped up against that.

I would have to go through it. But certainly on the fringe of the top 10, which is, again, where he was when Los Angeles dumped him to where he is now. I want to talk to someone who knows all about this team.Oh, yeah.She knows everything. But she is a Michigan native who has a chance to do something that's never happened in her lifetime. I mean, this person could be 144 years old, and it would have never happened in their lifetime because the lines have never been to the Super Bowl. But now in her lions T-shirt, Cynthia Freeland is ready for the game of her life as a fan. Cindy, welcome back to Around the NFL.

Well, let's just hope I don't get the last time. I don't make any headlines like the last time.

Well, don't worry about that. I believe that was excised from the show.

That's not going to happen.

Never. Cynthia, how are you?

Who cares? I'm great. I just got back from Detroit. It was really special.

We had Colleen on the show on Wednesday, and she obviously spent the game with you. Poor Colleen. And said it was a very A special experience to be there with someone that meant that much to them, the game.

It meant so much to me.

Why did it mean so much to you as a Michigan native?

Well, number one, I'm the daughter of a General Motors employee for his entire career. In '08, the whole thing just got blown to shreds. It wasn't great. It was sad. Especially, my dad has a lot of pride, this GM pride, American muscle, all that. To see it take this big hit felt so very parallel to the lions having recently come off an '01 '16 season. It was this amazing parallel between this city and things were just bad. It was not good for a while. It's now to see this turnaround and to have some hope. Hope is a terrible investment thesis, but it's pretty fun.

Very Cynthia term there.

Wow, you were getting so emotional that you brought us back. I know. But you had it. You had it. You had that moment in Detroit. Now, does it feel like it's a little house money, or now this is the biggest game of your fan life?

It feels a little like... To be honest with you, it's both because I wasn't expecting to win two home games, to have two home games, let alone to win two home games. But it feels like there's this opportunity now, and it's like, please, Dora Lovin is great. Yeah, wait Well, because this division is going to get better. Let's just capitalize on the moment. So it does feel special. I was actually talking to some of my friends on the team that are in the operations part, and they didn't even already have in place what would happen if they went. This week, the team had to go to Las Vegas and pick the hotel. That's wild. They didn't even have that.

Wow.

That's wild.

To be fair, a lot of teams, that's not a It's a normal thing. But I'm sure Andy Reid has like, Well, let me just jump through this. It's okay. But some people don't have that luxury.

I want to ask you something because growing up on the East Coast, my first concept of Michigan and Detroit was that Michael Moore documentary, Roger Me, which you said your dad is attached to GM. It painted a very bleak picture of what was happening to that part of the country. It always colored my thought of what the Lions were and their fans. This is happening now, and you're You're drenched in analytics, and it's your point of view through football. But then something about this Lions team we just talked about, it's like there's this inevitable energy around them and belief in themselves. You've got your models and how you would break down a game, but how do you factor in what is happening with the lions from a human energy front into how you analyze football?

Well, there's a couple of things. Thank God I do all of my coding blind. I don't know which... I mean, I can probably guess if I were to into it. But I do it all blind because that's the only way you can do it. You have to just... You name it weird things that mean nothing to you. So then it pops out and you're like, Darn it, it's the Niners. Because they are, in terms of the analytics, they are absolutely the stronger team. They should be favored, and all the things are in there. But You look at the things that are recent trends and the fact that the lions are able to buck the things that have been wrong for them. So for example, this last game, instead of giving up really deep plays, they actually were pretty vulnerable to the intermediate level of the middle of their defense. It's not to say that it's not I don't need to say that it's better. It's just different. That was able to give them just enough of a push to go up ahead of the bucks and stay there, which was cool to see them addressing some of their issues.

The map does support that they're addressing some of their issues. This game is not... My math says it's closer than seven points, but it's not a game. I can't factor in grit. I literally was the most... I was the most inappropriate person. I'm fine with this. I'm happy to get in trouble for because I stand by it. After the game was over, I went down. I just had to see a Dan Campbell presser in person, and I'm in a lion's shirt. I don't think you're supposed to. All these really very serious, really good journalists. People, Mitch Album was there, and I'm sitting there and I'm like, Does anyone want to take a shot with me? I'm like, I don't care. This is cool. It's positive. Let's just have a little fun in this room until he walks in.

What was the album book, People, You I talked to in heaven.

Tuesdays with Mori or whatever. Tuesdays with Mori.

Multiple books.

Yeah, but I like fan-rolled on him. I was like, I'm so happy to meet you. I'm sorry, but I want to take shots with somebody. I'm like, I can't find my friends yet. What did the album say? He was like, That's great. We should all be so happy because they were all trying to be serious. I wasn't going to ask any questions. I just wanted to see Dan Campbell's energy in person.

Sure.

Yeah. No, he was great. They were all great to me. No one was mad at me for saying that, but it probably just not what you're supposed to do in that scenario.

Mitch actually texted me. He's like, Cynthia, you didn't comport herself with that.

Lack of professionalism right there.

So your study, your models say this is a close game, but everything, as much as you don't want it to be, the analytics tells us that the Niners are the team that escapes and gets to Vegas.

Yeah. I'm not happy about it.

How much is the last four weeks? Because that's where I don't think it's as unique as it feels that the Chiefs often suddenly found itself or the packers suddenly, to me, looked like they had a chance to win the Super Bowl. It feels crazy, but they could have won that game. They could have won the next game. How much is it like you take all the numbers from the season, but then you just look at the last three weeks? Because that is how sometimes Super Bowl are decided?

My models weight recency a little bit more. Because all of the coaches tend to watch about four weeks of film heading into games, I overweight the most recent four weeks of data just a little bit. They count as extra, if you will. You're looking at that. My bigger problem in this matchup, there's two things that really stand out or the biggest things that the lines have to overcome. One, their O-line is banged up. There's no two ways about it. They're going to have a backup of the guard position. Yikes, yikes. Frank Ragnall is not 100%. He seems to be doing better, and he's an awesome guy.

Against Armstead, who's healthy, finally. Hargrave, in law, played well last week against their strength.

That's a problem. The other problem is Jared Goff is awesome at throwing in breaking routes. We saw Jordan Love show us the formula to upset the Niners, which is outside the numbers passes. That is not what this Lynes team... That doesn't mean they can't do it. It's just saying it's a lower probability because we haven't seen them do it as frequently. Not to say they can't, just to say it's harder to imagine that happening. Then lastly, the best area of the defense in the back is the middle third of the back, which is right where those in-breakers go. It's just unfortunate that those Again, they could figure things out. Ben Johnson, those teams that have their grubby paws all over him.

It'll be his last game.

I do love that angle. That, to me, is one of the most intriguing things, like Ben Johnson versus Kyle Shanahan. If you were going to power rank play callers in the NFL right now. Certainly, McVay and McDaniel would be in that mix. But this might be the top two. Battle of the Play Callers against, I think, could be vulnerable defenses. I know the 49ers have a lot of stars, but to me, everything you're saying the lines, even I hear that, and I'm just like, Just outscore them. Just win 33 to 30.

That could be the route. I'm taking my analytics hat off here for a second and putting my fan hat on. I'm actually really glad it's not the packers, to be fair, because that packer team coming into Detroit on Thanksgiving, I understand. I know you're griped with a defensive coordinator. We got it, Greg. But the-This isn't the only show where my host It's enjoyable.

Get very annoyed with me. No, I love it. Check out game debut on Friday.

But the truth is, there's something about teams that know each other, and it just makes it closer. Think about it for the Ravens. You felt like maybe the Browns had a better chance of knocking them off than perhaps another opponent would. Because of that knowledge of each other, and the poetry of the stupid packers beating alliance would have been terrible.

You don't have to worry about it. You're in the clear on that.

How do you factor in? Because I think one I love and how you could make the Niners in a close game late when they're thinking about their playoff history, concerned about themselves, the Dan Campbell aggressive nature of all things. I love that. How do you factor... I've always said I want to come see whatever is happening this motherboard, this game frame. You can come. I just don't know what it looks like. You can come over any time. How do you enter Dan Campbell's aggressiveness into your computer system?

Just like that, actually.

Don't go behind the curtain.

No, you can come anytime you want. You just have to come to my house because can't lift all this stuff and bring it elsewhere.

No, that makes sense. It's an incredible amount of technology. It's not in the boudoir.

You moved out of the bougeoir.

No, it's not in the... In fact, the main house of the computer is still in the bougeoir, but the screens are not.

It's multiple rooms. Now it's going- It's turning into a robit fortress now.

I love it. Taking over the house.

I'm really just trying to get it as close to the router as possible, and then it could plug in it.

It's really not that-Is it cleaning your house yet, by the way?

Actually, Exactly. As we speak, it's cleaning my house. That's why I had to leave today. That's why I came into the office today.

Just a Roomba. Exactly.

It's basically just Roomba.

The entire thing is just a Roomba.

That's it. The good news about Dan Campbell is that he has a regular cadence to his aggressive play collar nature, which means it's not to say we can accurately predict it, but it's probably likely that they have plays on the play sheet that are specifically for certain situations. It's less about like, we think of it as this Gamble I feel like he's rolling it. I don't really think he's rolling the dice as much as it seems. I think they're planning this ahead of time. They're practicing it.

They have more-Well, they're telling the refs ahead of time, and the refs are not comprehending, apparently, according to some historical issue.I.

Don't want to talk about that, but it didn't matter. It ended up not mattering.

Justice was served in the end.

Ball, don't lie. Let's pick the game. Cynthia, I'm going to save you for last, even though I know you now have to go potentially against the Roomba, which we shouldn't do.

That is compelling.It's.

A tough sitch for you. Mark, get us going.

Why I've kept asking these questions about the human condition versus technology. I have long had a Shana Khan fascination, and I can't help but root for the Niners in many situations. But in this situation, not only am I picking the lions to win in overtime 34 to 31, but I'm locking them up. You take it to the bank. My lock record tells you there's a lot of viability to that. I'm deeply in last place. If this doesn't go your way, you are flirting with going winless in the playoff.

So you're due. Put it that way.

I have chosen from what happens right in here in the center of the world, over and over. It doesn't always serve you, but it's going to serve me this time.

I know.

One of these days, though.

One of these days.

I do think there is a path here. I think Jamison Williams has been getting better every week. Maybe he gets some big plays. That play where Laporte is on the outside and Amon Ra is on the inside, Laporte is a week healthier. I feel like it works every single time where Laporte is essentially... They know what's coming. The defenses know what's coming. They can't stop it. And that they could keep up. And seven points even does feel like a little too much. But I'm going head over heart. It's a rare case where I'm rooting hard against the lions, but I am locking up the 49er because I believe that's what's going to happen.

Interesting.

You're rooting for the lions. Absolutely. I thought you said you were rooting hard against- You're locking the Niners.

Yeah, I'm rooting against my own rooting interest. Because I do believe they're the safest pick of the weekend.

And I'll say the same thing. I want the lions to win. Thank you. I want people like Cynthia. I'm taking it personally. I want Cynthia.Thank you.

I appreciate that you want them.

I want Barry Sanders to be happy, and I want Marshall Mathers to be happy. I want Kirk Gibson to be happy. Alan Trammel, Lou Whitaker. I want everyone to He was connected to Michigan sports to be happy.

Lee Iacocca.

Lee Iacocca. Isn't that Sue's best friend?

I don't know who he's best friends with.

Anyway, but however.

What about Big Sean?

Big Sean, no. He doesn't need it. Big Sean, I can't give him the That's the love that he wants.

Big Sean has been on Dan's radar.

I got a big issue with Big Sean standing on the shoulder of Giants, put it that way. But that's a whole other conversation. Yeah, it is.

What about Bob Seeger?

Love Seeger.

Yes.

Just make it true. Nightmoves. Against the Wind.

Yeah, that's what we're going to have to do.

What a Heartland rocker that Seager is. That said, I'm going to pick the Niners. As much as I do have reservations about Purdy, I'm nervous about this game. I can't go off on Purdy and then not They have the same reservations about Goff, who can get cooked up by a defense and start making some funky decisions himself. Because of that, I do think San Francisco is just the better team. I don't know if they cover, but I think they win. Let's go 27 to 20. Campbell do some crazy shenanigans with the two-point conversion, so it'll make the score weird. 27, 25, Niners to the bowl.

All right. While I told you that, look, any good analytics professional will tell you the math gives a five-point win to the Niners. However, sometimes, much like the eagles at the end of the Super Bowl, you have to take the low probability play. There is no way on God's green earth that I am going to have any audio or video of me ever not picking my lines in this situation. Absolutely. God knows that we won't be back here. It's not a sure thing to be back here.

This is your time. This is your moment, Cynthia.

Upset, lines 27, 26.

Love it. You're going to get home in all doors, the locks will be changed.

The lights don't work. I feel like this is the script of a romantic comedy or something. At the very end, after years, she finally goes against the model right as she's heading into matrimony. She found her guy. It all somehow is coming together.

Listen, you want to know the weird connections here? Are you ready? Okay. Number one, I stayed in the hotel at the Renaissance Center, which is where my dad worked. That's where GM's headquartered Renaissance Center this week. Number two, my first marathon was in Detroit. You know who was in town that weekend? The Tampa Bay Bucks. I ate a sausage with tailgaters before the Bucks game after my marathon. That was my very first marathon. Number two.

Not sure what that owns.It owns it.

Number three, I get my dog Gordie. How? Gordie. Red Wings. Who introduces me to my fiancé. Gordie did. It's all about Detroit sports. That's really all it matters.

I love it.

I've been to that. I went to that 2004 when the Upstart, the Pistons, who didn't have One Star. They had a few Rip Hamilton with the thing on his face, the whole thing. That was a tough team, too. You know who they beat? They beat The Lake Show. Hello. Exactly. I was there. Sometimes, Michigan gets the best of California.

Yeah, the flashy play boys from California will take a dirt nap. Yeah. I'm from a cold town.

You'll get there next. I can't imagine what's going to happen when the jets are in this position.

Yeah. We can.

Tell me. Tell me what would it be.

You're going to cry. I think it would be a human victory for all of us.

You're going to cry. I mean, I'm telling you, most certainly, I was like, Is this for real?

That's why I'm really hoping, Colin. I'm hoping Cynthia that it happens. Okay. I'm hoping it happened.

I know. People literally... It was so funny in this bar that we're in. It's so loud. People were walking in with Bucks jerseys on. This is who Lyons fans are. For the first second, they're like, Boo. Okay, you want a beer? Boo. Okay, how about a beer? Anyone?

Cynthia, do you want to stick around and do a little news before we go? You know it. All right. By the way, let's check in on the lock standings, by the way. Why should we? Just where we're at. The Westling Brothers, they're holding tight for second place. Look at Rosenthal this year, Cynthia.

17 and 3.

She's dealing with this on a weekly basis.

Does he have that smug little picture with a little crown in this show, too?

Oh, God. How many graphics do you have?

Game day view. Check it out. 8 PM Eastern on NFL Network Friday.

He's got this smug little headshot, and then it has this little tiny... This has this little tiny crown that comes and he just look at it.

I don't put that crown on. I can't imagine that would be true. Back to back.

Let's see the second half standings, too, while we're here.

Oh, wow. You created these.

Wow, look at the trophy, too. You got to check this out on the fast channel. That's an impressive trophy.

Just to let you know, by the way, you're looking at my score thinking this person doesn't belong in the building. But here are the standings. I know, but I do things for the best of the show.

Zuzer and Greg tied at seven and Two for the second half title.

Well, it's funny you mentioned-Let me get through the standings.

It's a podcast. The Westling Brothers, they don't even get the right spelling on their last name anymore. They're Four and Five and Sestog Three and Six. The reverse showman of Three and Six.

He's just waiting.

I am ready to pounce when the time is right, which could be two seasons. Pounce?

It's funny because someone, a birdie from the NFL research Department, contacted me during the week because you had said second half standing since week nine, and they pointed out that you were two games behind since Week 9. So you have adjusted even the cut. No, second half standing.

Wait, what?

That he was actually two games behind. You're suggesting that he's budged the numbers here? But someone was like, to be fair, he had said after week 9. Actually, you're two games up since week 9.

They reached out to you out of pocket. They just came to me.

I'm not really my sources, but- Did you ask them or did they reach out to you? It was told to me. It wasn't really the NFL reason.

Well, this is what you need to know. If I said week 9, I misspoke.It is the second half.Is.

That the midway part of that season?

No, the season with the... Trust me, I have this all figured out. The regular season plus the playoffs, 22.

Okay, that's good. Congrats to the bears. They won the NFC North, and Raiders are your AFC West champions.

See, Dan is not going to work well with Greg on this. He's not going to let him.

You have no idea how well it's working. It's driving him crazy. No, it is driving him crazy. All right, let's get to the news. Cynthia, a lot going on. A lot. All right, let's take a break Then we'll hit the news. All right, welcome back. It is the AFC-NFC Championship Game Preview. See, they're used to it. You're not. We just went through both games, picked both games, and we're excited to watch how it all unfolds. But with Cynthia Freeland still in the house, she went against the machine, just like Rocky went against Drago. Kasparov went against the robot. Now Cindy goes against her own machine, picking the lions. I do.

Sometimes you got to take the lower probability outcome, buddy. I love it.

I'm just saying that machine is not going to be happy. When you get home, the machine will let you know. I picture various highly dangerous circumstances involving cutlery, and all of a sudden, a meat cleaver goes flying by. Your machine has those in the the metal tubes with the hands that can do things, right?

The final 20 minutes of 2001's Space Odyssey where the entire operation turns against you in your own rental apartment. Exactly.

They'll be careful. I'm just saying, head on a swivel. Let's get to the news. We'll start with the big one, obviously. Jim Harbaugh is indeed coming back to the NFL. How about that? The Los Angeles Chargers. I got to give the Chargers a little bit of credit here, Cynthia, because everything I've been led to believe about the Chargers is that in the end, they're going to cut a corner, and they're not going to go all in, and they'll just continue to exist as an organization. But this, to me, Cynthia, this move to bring in Jim Harbaugh, a deal for five years, according to reports, completely reframes this organization. With Justin Herbert in place, maybe a bright tomorrow.

Yeah, there's a few things that I really like about this, but I have to give a nice little shout out to the Chargers Social because that whole evoking signs of the Pope, the picking a new Pope was really funny. The smoke coming from. The smoke coming from. That was really good.

They're feeling themselves.

As they should be. Yes. I feel not that it was a foregone It's a fun conclusion. I think they went through the process and they did the things that they needed to do to make sure and vet that this was the right choice. But I feel like this was their goal all along, and they wanted to make sure they were doing the right thing. To me, this is a huge a difference maker. I think Justin Herbert will now have some stability. A five-year contract is hopefully a long time. We know that sometimes that hasn't worked out in the past, but in this case, I believe them that they're going to give him a nice long leash in order to hire the right people, do what he needs to do. I think that they probably feel like, Look, we know that Patrick Mahomes is still in this division, but there are some opportunities here, especially with the Raiders are still confusing, the Broncos are pretty confusing. I think that they're like, Okay, just get into the dance. It doesn't necessarily mean we need to always win, but get into the dance, and this gives them the best opportunity to do so.

I think it's going to be really interesting to watch the team building side of this because we're going to get the Harba offense, and their tight-end room is going to change vastly. They're going to want to be big sets, heavy sets, and their running back room is going to change. I think what Justin Herbert has been asked to do through multiple play callers is going to change a lot. I think that the relationship between Justin Herbert and the coaching staff for years has been a big problem here, and that changes entirely. Now, they are two totally different personalities based on what little we know about Justin Herbert and what we do know about Jim Harbaugh. My question always with Harbaugh is like, cool, everyone's super excited right now. When we started the show, Harbaugh was phasing out of the Niners, and by the time he left, people weren't that unhappy to see him go. It came and went, and that's fine. That's NFL coaching. But it's like, where will we be three years from now? That's my only concern with the Harbaugh experience a little bit. But otherwise, the chargers have an identity.

He stopped wearing khakis, too. Perhaps it was that with the khaki.

He did. The people that weren't happy to see him go, though, I think were primarily his general manager, Trent Balki, and his boss, Jed York, where he got into these battles with them. I don't think the players were like... Maybe they got sick of it, what he I went after, but it's just hard to argue with a guy that's been successful literally everywhere. There's no exception to him hitting a home run, essentially, in every single spot, and it's always with quarterback. As a Justin Herbert fan, I'm really excited, even if he brings in Greg Roman. It's like, I don't love Greg Roman if he's the play collar, but maybe he'll have a different role. Then you think about, well, Greg Roman was the coordinator with Alex Smith, who's very different than Colin Kaepernick, and they turned Alex Smith's career around. Alex Smith had that game against the Saints with Greg Roman and Harba.

I just got to-What if he brings in Joe Berry?

Right. Give some credence. Pep Hamilton's available. Does he have a history with Joe Berry? I don't know. No, I'm just messing with you. David Shah's around. No, then I won't be happy. A Jero Evero. All of those guys have coached with Harba before. You have to assume he is getting personnel say and or control, will be involved in the GM hire. It's all something to watch. But in a way that even though they have Herbert, I still think Harbaugh will break through in a bigger way here in Los Angeles, and it'll be really great for them just as an organization.

It's a home run higher. It's a no-brainer. When we started the NFL, that's when he came in in 2011 during the lockout season. We went through his whole career. He disappears. Now he's back. I just feel like football is a weirder, more interesting place with Jim Harbaugh back in the NFL. I'm excited. You know who else is excited? This is one of the best missives I've ever seen released in terms of the passion jumping off the page. Here's Dean Spanos, who you haven't heard a lot of passionate Spanos. Jim Harbaugh is football personified, and I can think of no one better to lead the Chargers forward. The son of a coach, brother of a coach, and father of a coach who himself was coached by names like Schembeckler and Ditka. For the past two decades, Jim has led of men to success everywhere he's been as their coach stylized the iTAL on there. Good job, ID. Today, Jim Harbaugh returns to the Chargers, this time as our coach. Who has it better than us? He is excited. What a month for that, of course, the old Harbaugh sound bite.

What a month for Michigan sports. It's lost in the shovel that most of these lines... A lot of these lines fans are Michigan fans, too, and they got a title there, and they They're going to be very happy that Minnesota and Denver weren't interested in Jim Harbaugh over the last two years. They also lost their coach. I think that made it work. I'm just saying, but they got their title.

The one thing I will point out is if Jim Harbaugh, what we've seen, how he's evolved as a coach over these years at Michigan, I will say it's probably even not as evident for us what he is capable of doing because all of the time that you have to spend recruiting your guys and then keeping them and then making sure they're happy, they're going to go in the transfer portal and then making sure that they get paid enough for this. All of that's now taken off. Bye-bye. I would hate. That would be really hard to be a head coach.

Well, that job changed during his time there, too.

He was ready to go for a couple of years, and now finally lined up.

Now, actually devoting his time to coaching, we'll probably see even more of how he's evolved than we would have.

Tough spot for Antonio pierce. You got Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh, and Andy Reid twice.

I love Antonio pierce. I I will punch anyone for him. I don't know. I won't actually punch anyone. But I will go to the map for him because, yes, I'll pop champagne for him. No, he's a really great leader. Really great leader. I've known him for a long time. Those guys will run through a wall for him, and it's not even a joke.

You could tell that. I mean, they changed entirely.

They're looking for a Dan Campbell type reinvention. They're amazing. All right, another big hire here. The Panthers are expected to hire Bucs Offensive Coordinator Dave Canales.

Canales. Canales. Not so hard with the A, but like Canales. Canales.

Canales. Canales.

A canal.

Canalas?

It's actually Canalas.

A waterwind.

Canalas. Dave... All right. Now it's completely- Dave Canalas. I'm going to say Dave. You say his last name. Canales. Dave. Canales. Is the new head coach of the Panthers. He is formerly of the Bucaneers, the offensive coordinator there. Rapp sheet had this on Thursday. Like the higher Cynthia because it makes sense, right? He's a guy that's respected. He got Baker coached up and turned him into someone that thinks faster, plays faster. That's what Bryce Young needs to do, right? Yeah.

I mean, here's the thing. He doesn't have a long track.

She said it on Dave.

She's just beginning to make She's just begun to make her point.

He's had one year as an OC.

I don't have a huge lengthy track record for him, so there's a little bit more of unknown here and the unknown factor. He did figure out... I know that Todd Bowles was banging his head against the wall, trying to figure out a run game for several years now, and he figured out maybe it's short passes to running back, but that still is a proxy for a run game. So he's had some things to figure out and some challenges to work through. This, to me, will really be dictated by who else he hires. Is he going to surround Bryce Young with the talent that... So you saw last year for the Texans, they had Gerard Johnson, who was this... He came from Ali 11. He was a quarterback himself. He was there specifically to work with C. J. Stroud. You saw Bobby Sloak. He had a whole gameplay. So it will really... Sure, I'm sure he could be great. And he just doesn't have the track record where I can feel so wonderful about it. It will depend on the hires and who he surrounds himself.

It's a meteorite ride. He was just a QB coach. That's what I'm saying. Even then, didn't have a ton of experience doing that and did a great job with Gino. You can see some similarities between Gino and Baker in terms of getting the ball out quicker in offense that all made sense. It's crazy, though, because Bucks fans were They were unhappy with Canales for a large part of this season. I think maybe the expectations were too high, but I think it was like play sequencing. A lot of good plays, but a lot of early down runs that just weren't working. They just stuck with it, they stuck with it, they stuck with it. Eventually, it got to the point where it was like, okay, instead of just being bad. Then you go from that, and they were frustrated as late as week 18 in that game where, and I think that's unfair, they did well with the talent that they have, to having a couple of big playoff games. He certainly must have won them over in the interview room because they interviewed everyone, and his track record was less than some. They go with an in-house guy as GM and Dan Morgan and Dave Cudales.

It's a little different than maybe we were expecting. But the whole point was he must have convinced him. He's the right guy for Bryce Young. That was all they really cared about, and that's what he sold them on.

Well, I think, yeah, you did this with Gino Smith. He did this with Baker Mayfield, two guys that were on the out career-wise. I don't know. This organization stands out to me other than others because because it's just like, cool, you took the job, but I think other candidates would have looked a little sideways at the ownership, the whole structure there, the way that things have happened. What is his power structure? Part of it is, like you said, you have to convince ownership that you can bring the right staff. I don't even know if that conversation happened. We just don't know.

You know what's interesting is he worked with Dan Morgan for seven years. I didn't even think about that because he was a receiver's coach forever in Seattle, and Dan Morgan was in Seattle in the front office, so they have a working relationship. That's what it comes out with sometimes, just people that you've worked together.

Well, I will say the thing about Dan Morgan that's interesting is despite not doing TV, he has a John Lynch-like personality. If I had to say what he acts like, former player, really good communicator, I got a chance to talk to him pretty extensively. So great communicator understands what they're looking for. So in that regard, I think the communication will be great. But again, to me, this comes down to who's your Osi, who's your DC, what's going on with your O-line? Because Because that wasn't great last year, that O-line. And even details like that, they matter a ton. And it also shows you that this year, offensive coaches are what people are looking for, high demand for offensive coaches. Because the fact that Mike Vrabel's out there without a job and a guy with no track record getting one because he's known as an offensive mind, that shows you something. It gives us some information on how that works.

He became an OC, and he's calling his own place. There's a lot of narrative around when you have to do that for the first time in a season or in a game or in a critical moment in a game, it's like your head is spinning and that comes through experience. But for him to go from where he was a couple of years ago, to be now the head coach, and forget all the personality business, but just to manage a game, that leap to me seems there's no proof he can do that.

The biggest concern is, to me, and Morgan might be a Lynch type and be a good leader and have a good nose for talent, and this guy might work, but the guy they're answering to, there's, Man, if I'm Dave...

Tapper? No. Canales.

First call I'm making before I take the job is Frank Wright. What am I getting into here?

No, you're not. Am I doing No, no, no.

That's what I would do, I'm saying.

Why are you looking for negative things?

Because I got to be a realist and listen.

I would call anyone who works for David Tapper's hedge fund and be like, How did you make so much money? Because that's going to be what he wants to talk to me about is whatever that translates to because I need to figure out speak his language because this guy isn't like a lot of the other-I'm just saying, tepher be earned. This guy is a billionaire. There's only 32 of these jobs, so we shouldn't be surprised that, Canales or anybody else-Oh, you nailed it. Nice.

Good job. He's jumping toward it, I would just be very nervous. Anybody that enters that organization. You know what?

Sometimes it's better not to know. Maybe it's better not to know. Two ways to look at it. Frank Wright had come off of an exit very recently. Maybe it's better not to be like, Hey, this all new to me. This will be fun.

Why not? Roll the dice. Hey, is this guy going to ruin my life?

Just F-R-I-N. He's not going to ruin his life.

Just a little heads up.

By the way, you get paid if you don't make it through a year or two anyway.

But the dream is to be a head coach. I would I'm going to say, if I've never been a head coach before, you never know if you're going to get to see one again.

But you're in the NFC South, too.

That is a very- Am I entering a healthy situation?

Think about it. Okay, well, go get therapy. I mean, we all do. We don't necessarily work at the healthiest place. I go to therapy every week. Let's just go with that. But look like- Better help. Better help, yeah.

One option.

One option. A great one, actually. I really like better help. But the reality is, you're in the NFC South, people get pretty happy when you get Ws. So if you're in it.

I hear all that. I'd rather take that. I hear all that. Cynthia, that all makes sense.

I think it's the 1,000% raise that's really overlooked in the discussion. It's tough for any human to not take a 1,000% raise.

If you wanted to hire me as your general manager, heck yeah. But also roll the dice. Have faith in yourself, especially in a division that's... Did anyone really want to win that division this year? I mean, the Bucs made it far, but it just felt like we were like, And this one. No one thought that that was going to happen. That's a good spot to be in.

Listen, if you have one of the 32 chairs, it's a good spot.

If you have one of the 32 chairs in a down division, it's an even better spot.

But some coaches, I would imagine out there would pass in this job for the reasons that I'm illustrating or pointing out.

Sure.

But not Dave, though. Speaking of Dave, I won't say who it was. I just threw that name out there. But someone that works in the newsroom that's known to be a Panthers fan. Historically, one year, his favorite team went to the Super Bowl. I'm not going to say who my source is, but he had a bottle of champagne, and the night ended after a Carolina loss in Super Bowl 50 with him sitting alone in a hot tub with a bottle of champagne, and his girlfriend left him shortly thereafter.

It's on brand.

All that is just to say-Who is this person?

That's so bad.

I won't say because I don't reveal my sources.

I mean, he's also been a multiple-time guest of the show, so he listened the show. Greg, please.

I didn't hear about that, though. I'll have to figure it out, though.

I didn't hear about that. I didn't mean you.

I meant for our list. She left him that night. I don't recall that. Yeah, he...

You know what? It's around that time. Good. Maybe I'm conflating.

I don't want someone that's going to be with me when things are down. Let me know. Fine. Whatever. Kick me when I'm down. It makes it easier. Absolutely. Good call. He'll be tempted into coming back.

This person texted me, Panthers now have a sneaky hot H-C in Dave Canales. He is hot. M-analysis.

I'm going to be honest with you.

Wow, he is hot. You know what I've noticed? Nice jawline on him. Head coaches now, unattractive, dumpy head coaches are not being hired as head coaches anymore.

Wayne Fontz isn't getting hired anymore. No, they're being dismissed. Not to go after Wayne, but Detroit legend.

I was about to say, you just leave him alone. You leave Wayne out of this. You leave Wayne out of this.

That's a good connection because I believe Cudales, I know, is Mexican-American, so he's one of the first Latino head coaches in the history of the sport.

I don't know, man. We're going to have to check out the old family tree on that one. Let's move on. Vic Fungio is playing a little hot potato because he is now going from Miami, where he is out as their DC. He's now locked in. Is it official yet that he's the equal to DC? Miami. If it's not, the reporting is yes. Okay.

It's happening.

There you go. Fangio, who is a well-known figure in this realm. Remember, we were throwing flowers at the feet of the dolphins for getting Fongio.

I'm going to get us with you. Whoever gets that job, give them to someone with that less experience. That's a good defense. They got a lot of pieces there.

So, Vic, it didn't work out in Miami, but Philly's like, You got to be better than our last guy and the other guy that we booted upstairs, but kept the camera on him, humiliated the guy for a couple of months. Anyway, Fongio to Philly. Thoughts.

It's unique that it happened this late. I want to know the backstory. My gut tells me that Vick Fongio, and I know there's all these reports that he wasn't getting along with some of the players. I don't know if there was any conflict with the coaching staff, all that. I believe all that, but I still am guessing because of the timing and everything, it's like, he just wanted to go to Philadelphia, and he got his way, and he got his way out. He They wanted to hire him last year. They would have hired him last year, if not for this whole confusing setup that they couldn't hire him because he had come in for the Super Bowl and they had to do all the interview. It was all this stuff with Jonathan Gana. They lost a draft pick because of it. I think His family's in Pennsylvania, too. He wanted to be closer to that. I think it was just a rare case of a guy forcing his way out and getting to where he wanted to go, and it's good for the Eagles.

Yeah, it came so close to happening before, and that's what he wanted. It's like you look back at the earlier week cleaning out of everyone in Philadelphia. They must have known, We've got this guy in our back pocket, and he's proven. I would say you're also walking into a situation where if things go south on nick Siriani, over the first couple of months next year. It's like, All right, we'll see how long that coaching staff lasts. But I mean, if it finds you at this age, go do what you want to do.

He could be the interim coach by October. You never know.

When I look at this, I think Mike McDaniel is reshaping and retooling. He's not the only person to exit Miami right now. If you're not happy, don't force someone to be there. It's not like he's going to be like...

He never seems happy.

Mark, you've had nice interactions with him.

I wouldn't believe it. I said I told them that when the Niners went to the Super Bowl, you have these rooms where you go and interview, and he's sitting alone at a table. I thought, Well, there's no one else there. I can go talk to the defense coordinator. I know this is not holistically who he is, but he couldn't have been grumpier or more agitated that I had sat down to visit with him and wanted me gone as quickly as a human could be gone.

Did you ask him if it was a must-win game?

Why did not I ask? I thought I asked one pertinent question, and I said, This is not working out, and I don't want to force the relationship to either.Made.

A journalistic decision to get the hell up.I'm.

Going to pursue someone else. To move away from Mr.

Sunshine. Yeah. We're going.

Devon Holland, their safety. There was a bunch of little social media posts from Dolphins players seeming to celebrate. Not as much as Bucks did where they did a dance that their coach got fired before the game, which I've never seen that in sports. That was amazing. Yeah, that was.Fednesday night. Javan Holland did a video where he kicked Rocks, which was like, Go kick Rocks, Vic Fongio. But in case anyone didn't understand it. Got to get that guy. His dad is coaching. His dad, who's a coach, retweeted and said, Everyone loves the iPhone, but no one wants the iPhone 1.0. #upgrade. It was like, whoa. They weren't fans of Fongio, but he's a good coach. I think they did a good job defensively this year.

A little some red flags there, by the way.

But if it's not working, I think it's smart to cut ties fast. Right. Let him go. It seems like a win win here. He seems to be happier and more near his family, paying a higher tax bracket. Then they're happier down there, figuring out someone new. This is a really attractive job. If I'm a young defensive coordinator or someone that's maybe on my way up, I'm like, Somebody get me to Miami. That's a great job. You have really great assets on that team.

Finally in the news. Here we go.

What is it?

Congratulations, Greg, for all your moral grandstanding when we talk about the hotbutts and all pious, always getting on me for celebrating guys losing their job. Joe Barry is out in Green Bay. There you go. Do a little dance, Greggy. You got the DC I'm hardly a unique on the island that they-Uniquely.

This is you. They underperformed. This is you.

You've called for everyone's head who's gotten fired this year. On Game Day View, you have.

You're like-I'm not about calling for heads. You talk about that standing for the lock of the week.

Talk about his split personality.

You know what? He's standing for... He's 100% on this guy's getting panned.

Well, it's more predictions. Your predictions on that are- You could have seen this coming for Joe Barry.

That's not the way she put it. You called for heads to roll.

No.

Wow. Anyway, Joe Barry's out.

Just a human man.

Let's bring this plane in for a landing, everybody.

I want to know what Jia Alexander is doing there. I think there's a couple of things here. We'll see if they can get...

I would say I'm going to make him the DC.

Wouldn't that be great? I'm calling the play.

What I do? Cynthia, you're a gem. Good luck to you this weekend. What's your fan experience? You work in the game?

What are you doing this weekend? No, I'm going to watch from home. I need my emotional I have a support dog with me at all times.

You have the dog with you? Yeah, right.

I will not have any social media on. This is very nice.

You're recently engaged? Yeah. Does your partner... Is he not a lines fan?

He's from New Jersey.

Do you want him in your realm when this is happening, or do you just have to do this on your own? It's a dangerous place to be, maybe.

Well, he's pretty supportive about it. He's very chill. He's got a nice calming. Yeah, he's surfer, but also a banker.

It's a strange mix.Surfing banker.Surfer banker.Surfer banker.

Surfing banker. Surfing banker.

Surfing banker.

Also a crime fighter at night.

Yes. But he goes to bed early, so you have to fight crime between the hours of 5:00 to 7:00 because he works East Coast.

Sure. A dusk crime fighter.

A dusk crime fighter.

Where all the crime goes down in the big city. All right. Well, enjoy that. Thank you. Like I said, head on swivel with the Roomba.

I know. That Roomba is coming to get me.

We'll be back on Sunday. It is the big one. It is Championship Sunday. We'll recap those games. Until then, you know what you got to do. He's the cult, Canales.