DOUBLE COVERAGE PODCAST - Brian Urlacher Explains Why Aaron Rodgers Is The GOAT & Why Caleb Williams Is NFL’s Best Young QB

Episode Date: January 17, 2026

Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher joins Double Coverage (Episode 13) and goes deep on why Aaron Rodgers is the GOAT, plus why Caleb Williams is the NFL’s best young quarterback. Urlacher breaks down what makes Caleb special (“Iceman”), how Ben Johnson changed the Bears culture, and why Soldier Field has been electric. We also hit the biggest NFL storylines: Mike Tomlin stepping away, Harbaugh to the Giants, the NFL coaching carousel, and Urlacher’s honest thoughts on sports betting, point shaving, and officiating. Plus: Urlacher previews the NFL Playoffs and gives picks on matchups like Bills vs Broncos (Josh Allen), 49ers vs Seahawks, and Rams at Bears—including how brutal cold weather impacts games and quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford. If you’re a Bears fan, Packers fan, or just love NFL analysis, this episode is loaded with real locker-room perspective and playoff breakdowns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just how great was Aaron Rogers in his prime. He was gonna know exactly what we were doing every single play. You know, he was tough. His record versus us was pretty damn good. It was annoyingly, really good. And they'd be this in the 2010, the MC Championship to go to the Super Bowl. They ended up beating Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. But he is my number, like if I had to pick a guy for my quarterback, it'd be him.

Ready to bet, ready to flash. Neon is at. You see where it's at. Come tune in, we're on string with a check. You could Michael Parson get you a sack. Some of my cover, Dion, Dion, Son. Back like a Ricky. Yeah, beginner.

What's up, guys? We double coverage, and this is the out of, I'm a child. I'm a child. I'm a joke here. Welcome back to episode 13 of double coverage. Today, I'm honored and privileged to be joined by eight-time Pro Bowler, former NFL defensive player of the year, NFL Hall of Famer, and College Football Hall of Famer, Mr. Brian Erlacker.

How you doing today? Good good, man. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Nice to see you. Good to see you. I'm already liking the convos. You're telling me about your picks, you know, what you had before.

the season, this is my type of guy. Yeah, most of them are wrong. It's hard to pick, betting-wise, then it feels impossible. It's impossible. I don't know how they get those lines so damn close. I don't understand it. The over-unders are like half a point off.

I don't get it. Right now, they've been moving the lines without the public even doing it. I'm like, what's going on here? I don't understand all the public moves or lines, this, and I just know what I see a line I like. They're picking the games right now a little bit. So the public went undefeated last week, too,

which was shocking. That never happened. Well, they can't mess with the games as much in the playoffs, I guess with those lines when they're as ties as they are. Yeah, it's a little different. They can't swim like they do sometimes. You feel like they do at least. How happy are you as a Bears guy?

Unbelievable. Man, I just, I'm happy that, so I went back to Soldier Field to the first time in eight years last weekend to the game, to the Packers game. I don't think I've ever seen a game like that before. I don't remember a lot when I played like being like that, but being on the field in that atmosphere was unbelievable. And they're playing great.

Ben Johnson's done a great job. Caleb's doing a great job. on their defense is playing well enough to win. Talk to me about bringing Ben Johnson and just the invigoration that he's brought to this franchise. It was huge. I think, you know, they've hired some,

they've had, but before coaches in five year, or in 12 years or something like that, since they fired Lovie. For Lovie won 10 games and got fired, by the way. Anyway, that was 2012. Just, I mean, what did in Detroit was amazing, right? And then they've hired guys that have been coordinators, but not like the level that Ben Johnson is.

You know, he was the hot commodity when he finally hit the market last year. He's changed the whole culture. Caleb's gone this direction. I think he's going to keep going that direction as well. They still got some pieces to put in place, but he's done a great job with the culture and getting these guys ready to play.

What do you think about his mentality at the Packers? I love them. I love it, man. Our fans love the handshake. Our fans love his thing was number one goal is to beat the Packers, and Ben goes to take some other step a little further at the Packers. But when you do it, you beat him two or three games this year. Our fans are ecstatic about it.

I know the Packers fans are a little hurt because the handshake at the end of the game wasn't to their standards. Yeah, I mean, they've been beating the Bears for 10 years now. And now they're a little whiny after they get beat two in a row. Should play better.

Yeah, we got beat, yeah. 21 to 3 comeback. What was that? I mean, and then the regular season again, they're up 16 to 6 with like two and a half minutes to go in the game. The Bears had to score, get the onside kick, kick the field goal

and then throw a touchdown. Everything had to go right and they did it all. Yeah, obviously it's team effort, but it seems like Caleb has that X factor that you need. I feel like he starts playing his best ball when they get down by 10 or more. I don't understand. Not necessarily a great thing, but he just, his athletic ability, he throws the ball great, don't get me wrong, but he gets out of the thing, like situations that no one else could do in the NFL. Lamar's great, but Caleb's side-to-side movement and just, he's like a cat

back there, man, he does some crazy things and he's got a cannon. He makes all the throws. It's amazing. Yeah, Cardiac Caleb. Yeah, they called Iceman. I love it. Yep, he's a stud. He's better off platform than he is from the pocket. It's unbelievable. He makes things happen, man. When the play breaks down, that's when he's at his best, like you said. But it's fun to watch. And he's the second year in the league. He's going to get better and better.

Yeah, one thing I want to ask you, you guys were fortunate enough to have some great Chicago teams. We spoke about the Super Bowl appearance. How many Super Bowls would you have won if Caleb Williams was your quarterback? That's hard to answer. Our defense is really good. I had some good quarterbacks as well. Rex was the man. You know, we had Kyle Orton by after Rex.

And we had Jay for a couple years there. We got to AMC Championship with Jay in 2010, and that's as close as we got after we lost Rex. I would like to think at least one. I mean, but our defense is, but our money was spent on defense when I played. So we should have been really good, right? That's the way it was back in the day. You pick a side of the ball.

We had defensive head coach, so we spent our money on defense. We should have been good on defense, and we were. But, man, I would have really liked to play with Caleb. I think we would have done some really good things with our defense and him at quarterback. And the greatest special team of all time. Devin, right? That was good for six to eight touchdowns a year, you know, returns or the thing of, and with the return game, the way it is now with that weird kickoff, Devin would have crushed it. Oh, my God.

Because he'd got more opportunities. What would his value be today? Oh, my gosh. I mean, they kick out of pounds. You're looking at a 40 yard start at least 40 every time they kick off to you. Yeah, you're looking at a return specialist who's like getting a first round pick like in return if you want to trade them. Like that's unheard of. And it's worth it.

Yeah, worth it for sure. I can tell you from first hand watching this dude, he changed field position for you every single. single game. Teams were, they'd punted out of bounds. On kickoff, they'd try to find a way to get away from them because we kicked it to him, he scored. Yeah. There's no doubt. How happy were you when he got into the Hall of Fame? How incredible was that? He deserved it. You know, it's hard. Everyone says specialist, whatever. He was the best at his position of all time. There's no one even close to Devin. Return and the return game. The return game is changed. But the way he did things and he was, he was, his rookie year, I think he had seven returns for touchdowns. Just you'll never see anyone who did it the way he did it. Great guy, good teammate, made a lot of good times in Chicago. Yeah, absolutely. I was happy for him. He earned it. I think he got on his third try.

You know, it might be a little maddie. He didn't go on his first try, but they're weird about specialists. They're weird about first try. I mean, DeMarcus Ware didn't get it first try. I was like, Dwight Freeman didn't go on his first try. Yeah, they're a bit much. Jared Allen was the second or third about Hall of Famer. I just don't understand.

Oh, Antonio Gates. We had him on the show. Did he go on his first try? No, second try. And this year, Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees will probably get in his first try. But Larry Fitzgerald should be in no doubt, battle. Terrell Owens, third ballot Hallfamer. Yeah, well that's immediate. Well, that's only off-field. Well, that's right. But you're you're voting on what

they did on the field. Yeah, of course. Of course. From what I can gather. He should be a first battle of hall of fame. He was in my class. He was not happy. Yeah. I don't think Antonio Brown's gonna get in. You don't think so? I don't think they're gonna let him in. Yeah. Well, I think, well, I think, well, I think they will either. But I don't know if his numbers, I don't know what his numbers. I don't know what his numbers are. I think he's like top ten and ever like the- Is he? Yeah, there was some, a couple years there. He was probably the best receiver in the NFL. Yeah, like almost 2,000 years. Yeah. In one season? Yeah, like, I didn't know that. He was a fault. That's pretty good, yeah.

Yeah. But, you know, off the field stuff, which should not it, but it does. Yeah, it is what it is. Speaking of the Steelers, Coach Tomlin decided to step away from the Pittsburgh Steelers. What was your thoughts on that? I have a ton of respect for Coach Solomon and that franchise. I mean, they've had three head coaches in, what, 55, 60 years? Yeah.

No other franchise can say that. They do things the right way. Coach Solomon does things the right way. But I think Coach Tom was looking at. ahead. You look at what they got coming back. And what, you know, quarterback is not sure. Their defense is getting a little older. So I think he might have saw what was coming in the future. And so I thought it was a good time. But I have time respect for him.

He's just, he's a winner. The guy just wins every year. What are your thoughts on all the Steelers fans who are calling for his head constantly over these years? I don't get it. You know, I think when you get spoiled as a fan base, as you just get used to winning. And when you don't win, the head coach is the reason, right? You know, that's the reason they want. He's the easiest guy to, I guess, to pick a target at. But I don't get it. Their fan base is spoiled. I get it. You know, they used to winning every second year,

and then you don't do what you think you're going to do. You want to get mad somebody. Yeah. What do you think about the move to acquire Aaron Rogers and try to go in with him? I love it. You know, you're kind of put all your eggs in one basket with Aaron because you don't know.

Is he two years removed from the Achilles? So he's probably going to be quite a bit better. I thought he played great this year. Their defense was down. They had some injuries, but everyone has injuries. You know, they got banged up a little bit. Didn't play the way they wanted to, but I'm a huge Aaron Rogers,

I thought he played great this year. I just love how he doesn't. give people think and he says what he wants to. I like that. Yeah, I mean, just how great was Aaron Rogers in his prime. He was going to know exactly what we were doing every single play. You know, he was tough. His record versus us was pretty damn good.

It was annoyingly, really good. And they'd be this in the 2010 MC championship to go to the Super Bowl. They ended up beating Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. But he is my number, like, if I had to pick a guy for my quarterback, it'd be him. Oh, wow. Yeah, he's good. I mean, ability-wise and the way he played. From his teammate perspective, all the guys I talk to who play with him,

They love him. I'm a Cowboys fan. So are you. So I grew up with Cowboys, yeah. So that's my team. Tortured us. Man, it's so frustrating. And I love Dak.

I love, it's just so, I mean, every year I'm like, this is it, man. You know, you know, every year. We just, that every year. And this year was definitely our year. Definitely. So it wasn't. Even when we were like six and six, I was like, we're going to win the division. Philly's falling apart.

You know, we're doing good. And then we just don't play good. It's frustrating. Pickens is great, he'll be gone. CD's back, but I mean, they can only pay, I mean, Dax make a $60 million a year. It's going to be hard to pay other guys on the team. I get it.

That's just the way it goes when he has a great quarterback like Dak. Talk to me about your son who's currently at USC. Yeah, so he committed to Notre Dame, went to Notre Dame as freshman year. They went all the national championship, didn't win, obviously. And then the portal, you know, rolled around, and he jumped transferring to USC.

And he started the last four games of the year last year, and he got two more years left. He likes it. I mean, the weather is significantly better in California than it is in South Bend. So we like that. It's easier for us to get to the games. Two great schools, obviously. Noradame's great.

USC is great. So it really couldn't go wrong there. How would you describe him as a ball player? Physical. He likes contact. He plays free safety. Whatever he hits, for the most part, goes backwards. And he is not scared to put his helmet in your chest.

So I like watching play, man. Obviously, he's my son. I have a little bias. But he gets to the football. gets to football he punched the guy with the ball. Well, he's playing for USC's got to be pretty damn good, whether there's bias or not. Yeah, well, I was proud he got into Notre Dame. How about that?

You know, that's a pretty hard school to get into. So I was proud that he got in there. And then, you know, like I said, two great traditions of football at both schools. Yeah, absolutely. The NFL playoffs, this is as tight of a race as I can remember. There's no clear-cut favorite really. I mean, Seattle's been incredible. But the first game on the docket, the bills are going at Denver.

I know. What do you think about this matchup? I love Josh Allen. I'm a huge, by the injury bug has just crushed the bills this year. And they still find a way to get there. They didn't win in the division this year, but they're in the playoffs. It's hard for me to bet against them. You know, I think I'm a huge Sean Payton fan as well.

And what they've done this year has been great, but it's hard for me to bet against Josh Allen. I've been defending Josh Allen forever. I mean, the people that were blaming him for those playoff losses. They put up 35 points and lose. What else could he have done? I mean, going into this, he had the highest touchdown interception ratio in the history of the playoffs or any quarterback. I mean, you look at his QBR, is past rating, what he does rushing the ball? Yeah.

What more could he have done in any of those games? Well, the quarterback gets all the glory and they get all the blame, right? Or the head coach, you know how that goes. Yeah, I don't know why you have to defend him. I think he's unbelievable. I mean, he's another guy, by the way, who I would love to play as my quarterback. How many rings we've won with him with our quarterback? It might have been really good.

Yeah, at least three. Right? Yeah, he's unbelievable. You would think, you don't know. You never know. It's hard. Yeah, I picked them to win the AFC, you know, before it last week's up, just because of him. Yeah, I agree. He was awesome.

How incredible is he against Jacksonville? I mean, he just, he has to win the victory every week pretty much. If they're going to have a chance to win the game, he's going to have to play great because their defense is really banged up. They get some guys back, but they've just been binged up all season long. How do you think that they match up with Denver's defense, obviously a vaunted defense? And you've got to go to the altitude. How tough is that as well?

Altitude sucks. I'll tell you that much. We played in Denver in December, my fourth or fifth year. It's different. So it shouldn't matter. They're all in shape. You know, then everyone's banged up. They're a little more rested than the bills are, obviously. But I don't think there's a bad matchup for Josh Allen.

I know their defense is really good, but there's no bad matchup for Josh. You think there's gonna be any rust? You had the first seat at one point. You guys went against Seattle and went to overtime. And we lost my second year, we lost. We actually lost two, we had two buys in 2001, 2005. We lost the first game after our buy at home.

So it is different, you know, because you're kind of getting on a roller late in the season. you're playing good football. I think never won, what, eight, nine, ten years in a row there for a while. Yeah. So then you get that break. You always want the break because you want to get your guys rested up and get healthy. But there could be some, it could take a while to get going. But Sean Payton's been there before. He knows how to coach those guys, you know how to get him ready to play.

Yeah, I mean, how incredible is that acquisition to get Sean Payton? Unreal. I love Sean. He's a great coach. He's a player's coach. He's fiery. Knows his offense. I mean, Bo Nicks, who knew he'd be that good, right? First round pick playing the way. That's his guy. I mean, he just went and got him. This is my guy. Yeah, I mean, and he's played great. You know, he's gotten better and better. Both seasons he's done well. Playout with the playoffs last year as well.

They were. Yeah, they limped away in there. Two for two with both. Yeah, unbelievable, Sean Peyton. Wow. Hall of Fame. He's a really good, great coach. Yeah.

49ers, Seahawks. Seahawks been the talk of the town. I mean, they get that one seed. You got to go into Seattle, the loudest stadium ever. How loud is that place? It's loud. I mean, I don't remember it being, like, when I played it was before, they ever really got hyper with that 12-man stuff,

but now it's just, I mean, the false starts they create, and that defense. I mean, you saw them at, was it at Sam Fran the last game of the year when they played for the division? Yeah, and they gave up three points. Three points. I mean, there's like 13 guys at the football. I feel like they have two extra guys on defense, but they're going to be tough to beat at home, you know, Sam, you know, Shanahan, Purdy, who knows? And division games are weird, man. Like, that division is the hardest division to bet, if you ask me.

No, it absolutely is. I don't touch that division. Yeah, well, playoffs, it might be even tougher. Well, it's got to be tough, right? They're all scrappy. They are. You know, every game is a field goal. I feel like it's either a field goal or it's a blowout in that division.

Unless it's Arizona. They're a little different. They're not as hard to pick. No, they're a little easier to handicap. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, absolutely. I picked Seattle. I said, you got to go out there and you've got to bet on this team.

They're 30 to one win the Super Bowl. They were like, I don't know, 13th and, yeah. They were starting to playoffs. No, no, no, week three? Oh, you took them early? Yeah, yeah. That's a great bet. Yeah.

That's a really live. Yeah, I'm like, I'm looking at Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Devon Wetherspoon. I'm like, this defense is incredible. Mike McDonald. I mean, they're tough. And they run the ball. Kenneth Walker's a good running back, Charbonnet. And then Sam, you know, Sam played great again this year.

14 and 3 twice. What more can you say? I know, man. I wanted to get a playoff win so people will shut their mouths. Yeah. I like Sam's a great guy. I met a couple times these golf tournaments, so I just need him to win so everyone will shut their mouse. What do you think about Mike McDonald and what he's brought to that team?

That guy's awesome. Well, look at their defense. You know, I think their defense took the jump right away. And the culture, everyone talks about culture, you know, that's a big deal like Ben Johnson did in Chicago. I think they've created the same thing in Seattle. That fan base is just nuts. Yeah. That stadium.

And they caused an earthquake once. Yeah. I mean, the 12th man flag is going up there. They're tough. Yeah, I've got Seattle as well. I think they take care of it. I agree with you. Yeah.

I love Rock Purdy. I like Shanahan. I mean, they got nothing left. I mean, Kittle gets hurt last week. They got, he's throwing to nobody. Not nobody. I don't mean that. But the receivers are down and their defense is really banked.

So the receivers, I mean, they do step up in big moments, some of those guys. You know what I mean, even if we don't know their name, but. I feel like Ushchecks probably their best weapon now, you know? Probably. With George out, they've been banged up, man. Yeah, shout out to Ushchuk, another all pro selection. Use check, well, he's only fullback in the NFL. Yeah, he is, yeah.

He's only fullback. He's only fullback. He's like a receiver, a fullback, a tailback. He does it all. Yeah, he's been the best fullback forever, yeah. Like the easiest lock for the all decades. Was it this year they cut him or last year? Last year, yeah.

They cut him and brought him right back, thank goodness. But yeah, that dude's a stud. Awesome. Texans, Patriots. This is an interesting matchup. That defense for Texans is good. Yeah, the league's best. To Pittsburgh last year, I just, they're going into New England.

Something about playing in New England and the playoffs is different. And Brable, going to have those guys ready to play as well. Drake made a stud too. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, their defense looked incredible against the Chargers. They were causing all sorts of happen. Yeah, they were. I mean, poor Herbert was going to hit every single play.

So Strahle had me a little nervous last week the way he played. I wasn't expecting him to play like that. Three turnovers early on. Still, they end up winning the game, but he didn't play as well, I think, as he would have liked. You know, the turnovers are going to get you into playoffs. And we take away his number one receiver now. Nico's going to be out. Is he out?

Yeah. Was it a concussion? Oh, that stinks. I did not know that. Yeah, I definitely liked the Patriots in that game then with that. Yeah. I know the Texas defense is good, but they're going to find ways to move the ball in them. Yeah, and the Patriots had, like, weird success against great defenses this year.

They played against the Browns, probably the second best defense. They put up like 420 yards of offense. McDaniels is a stud. You know, I know Brable's an awesome head coach, but is it Josh McDaniels? Yeah. They'll score points and they will game plan on the guy to you and find a way to move the ball on you and score on you. Yeah, he's a genius offense record.

Yes, O.C. Yeah. And they go out, they get Trayvon Henderson in the second. Oh, that guy, he's so fast. He's so fast, man. Drake Mays playing great. Diggs is there now. They're just fine guys and plug him in.

They all. Patriot Way. Here we go again. Yeah, Brable had such a similar impact to Ben Johnson in Chicago. I mean, we flipped the conferences, but they both just shot up adrenaline. Well, were Patriots last year, four and five win team. Yeah. And they start, you got to remember week one, they lose to the Raiders.

This year? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, I didn't know that. The over, under and wins was like five and a half. I mean, we're like, they're dead in the water. They're all the Raiders. And then they just go, go off.

Yeah. Who thinks MVP, by the way? MVP? I got Matthew Stafford. I agree with you. But they said Drake Mays in the conversation. I think Matt's the MVP just to do. 46 touchdowns, eight picks.

What? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know. I said, I don't look at numbers like you do. That's unbelievable. That's freaking incredible. Yeah, he's MVP, no doubt. What did you think about D.K. Metcalfe and the guy in the stands?

I think it was overblown. I don't think he's a guy. So if you watch the whole video, all you saw was him going like this. That's all the first thing I saw. If you watch the whole video, he reached up and grabbed his hair and he, like, pulled it. Yeah, all he just grabbed him. Shouldn't have not in the first place. I get it, but I don't think it was egregious as the media made it out to be.

They voided all of his guaranteed money. I think the Steelers said they weren't going to do that. Yeah, the Steelers, luckily, they're a class franchise. I guess they're a great organization. They don't do that to their players. But you can't do. You can't interact with the fans. I know they do some they say stupid things.

I've seen it firsthand, but you just can't do that with them. Would you even have a Twitter or an Instagram today if you were playing? I mean, there's any benefit. I mean, I think it would be hard not to because I like interacting with people. Like good, bad, whatever. I like to stay on my ground sometimes. So yeah, I think I would have a good time with it, but I wouldn't let it bother me.

I wouldn't read the comments. How about that? Yeah, what about Lil Wayne sweets to Kayla Williams? Did you see that? Yeah, I saw it. Yeah, one of the things I follow, it's good. Yeah, he can apologize for it. You apologize.

You know, your team gets beat like that, you know, I guess you're told you your opinion. Yeah, I told me the Green Bay fans, man. They don't like getting beat by the bears. The more the more little Wayne type fans think better for the sport. Yeah. Bring that back. Yeah, I agree.

get the big celebrities back involved to get in the games good that's the energy we need and he's like a real diehard hardcore fan why he's from new orleans right yeah i don't maybe likes the colors i don't know no he's that song green and yellow black and yellow no he made a remix oh i can hear that one sorry i'm not current sorry about that remember they beat the steelers that year he made green and yellow i remember because we were the team that the packers beat to go to that game yeah oh you guys were great that year not good enough that was oh that should have been your year thanks yeah did you feel that way oh i mean gosh we had julius pepper it's charles lance uh j uh jay who's our um i'm trying to think yeah great we had some dues man i felt like we should have um jay got hurt in the second quarter in that game that's not why we

lost but it didn't help that we didn't have our starting quarterback yeah for okay geez and he was good for a couple games there but yeah we just didn't we didn't play well enough um the final game the big game the one that we have to talk about. Yep. Rams at Chicago. Yes. Break this game down for me, Brian. Going to be cold. I'll tell you that much. God, it's, I'm glad we got it at home. The Rams, they can score a bunch of us. Like you said, 46 touchdowns for Matt.

But it's going to be cold. I know I've seen some numbers about Matt playing in cold weather that aren't very good for them, but those are the past. Two great head coaches. We'll see, man. I'm a bear's guy, so I'm going to lean towards the Bears, especially we're getting four points. If you're betting purposes, the Bears are getting four. So I like that. They are in four. It's going to be hard to beat them at Soldier Field, though. Those fans are, like I said, I've never seen it the way it was last week.

I've never seen that stadium like that before. So I'm sure it's going to be even crazier this week. Talk to me about how this Bears defense matched up with the Rams offense. Secondary, we're good. You know, we're loaded in the secondary. We're going to have to get pressure up front. Puganakou is a monster. They run the ball good.

They protect Matt. The ball's gone fast. Sean McVagos guys open. They're paying the ass. They're paying the ass for a defense. But we lost T.J. Edwards last week, too. T.J. got hurt there in the first quarter or second quarter. So we're banged up, but everyone's banged up this time of year.

So just got a next man up and go in there and make some plays. Dan Sound has done a good job this year with our defense. You know, he puts them in good positions to make plays. But if you blitz Matt, he will make you pay. Yeah, absolutely. Pooka's unbelievable. Oh, my God. I don't know how he does it.

He catches everything. Did you see the catch he made that was out of bounds? Yeah, yeah, that was one of the best catch that I've ever seen. Or whatever game it was out of the season. The catch that was out of bounds, but he caught, I mean, the ball was in limbo for, no, I think it was, yeah, against the Falcons. Falcons, yeah. Yeah.

They lost that game. But yeah, I mean, he's a badass. And then the opposite side, they go out and get Devanti Adams. He had 14 touchdowns. Yeah. And he missed the last three games. He's good. Yeah.

I'm not sure how healthy, I don't think he's fully healthy after pulling a hamstring myself. It's hard to come back after two or three weeks and be full speed, especially at receiver. Yeah. Yeah, in the cold, right? A little tougher. It's just, your legs just feel like they're not moving in the cold, and they're all going to have to deal with it. It's supposed to be 8 degrees or something like that.

Yeah. Perfect. No one's really talking about the climate. I mean... That has to be a big factor. There's no way not to mention it. I mean, I don't know how... I didn't like going to...

So, playing Chicago all season long. I didn't like going to play in Florida in November and December because it was hot as hell. Yeah. And then not only didn't like coming to Chicago in November December because it was cold, so it's a dynamic there. You can't just get used to it in, you know, a quarter you're not going to be.

It's a process to get used to the whole game, and you're not ever going to be comfortable. It sucks. Matthew Stafford, first ballot Hall of Famer. Yes, no doubt. No, especially after he gets the MVP, sure. Yeah. Has he won it before? No.

He has been his first MVP. How many years is this for him? Like 16, 17? Yeah, a lot. He was drafted in 09. Yeah, we played against some three or four years there in Detroit. He was good. Just didn't have much around him there in Detroit.

Yeah, that's the story. A lot of these quarterbacks when they're in the wrong situation. I know. Sam? How about Sam? Sam? Baker? Baker?

I love Baker, by the way. What a beast. What a dog. Oh, man, I love that dude. But my favorite quarterbacks. That dude just plays hard. Yeah. Every game.

Love it. What's the storybook on Stafford's career if he doesn't get to the Rams? He stays in Detroit the whole time. Well, Detroit got good. So Dan comes in, you know, so maybe we would have got Dan. Oh, maybe. If he had Dan Campbell, he would have won.

You never know. Yeah. It might have changed the little trajectory. I'm not saying the head coach is the reason he lost, but they got better players around him. Jared Goss played really good there the last few years. So who knows? You know, you know, I think a rare win-win trade for both those teams. Oh, no doubt.

Yeah, you know, golf, I didn't want to leave there to go to the situation in Detroit, but it's worked out for both guys. That's for damn sure. Yeah, and you got two of the league's best coaches in McVeigh and Campbell. Yeah, I love Dan Campbell too. Yeah, oh my God, what a dog. He's a beast, man. He just tells you how it is, man. He goes to the mic, takes all the blame for everything.

Anything that goes wrong, he takes a blame for it, like a good head coach should do. I got a lot of respect for that. He's your type of guy. He is my type of guy. Yeah, I could definitely play for Dan Campbell. Yeah, you definitely pay. I feel like I could. Yeah, you could definitely fish with him. You could definitely play. Yeah, he tells you what he's thinking. I like that. There's no in between with them. I appreciate that as a player.

Yeah, if you had to put money on one team to win the Super Bowl, who would you go with? One team right now, besides the Bears. How about, can you just say besides the Bears? Besides the Bears and the Cowboys. We'll leave those two out. I'm going to go based on quarterback. It would be Josh. Josh. Yeah, it's just hard for me to, and I know he hasn't been in the big game yet, but it's hard for me to bet against them. Yeah. And if they play Seattle, it won't be in Seattle.

It'll be in the Super Bowl. So it'll be at San Fran. It'll be out of that stadium, neutral field, but Josh is a badass. He is. Yeah. What about you? Who's your pick? My pick.

Can you pick now or do you have to wait? No, no, I picked. I picked before the playoffs. I picked Rams Bills. Oh, that's a good one. Okay. Yeah. So I'm thinking, if the Bears don't make it, I'm going to Seattle bills is my pick because of Josh.

Dude, at Seattle's going to be so tough. It is going to be hard to beat them there. Yeah. I picked the Rams preseason. They were like 10th and odds behind the commanders even. So I'm just sticking with them. I got you. I'm out of the Redskins this year.

They're a tough season. Tough season. Well, Jaden got hurt if you, I mean, there's tough season. I didn't see them taking that stuff back. Tough season. I thought Kingsbury's gone. He is? Yep.

Where do you go? He hasn't gone anywhere yet. They mutually agreed to part ways, yep. Oh my gosh. I didn't know that. Yeah. That's not good. I like him.

Yeah. Basically, I like everybody, as you can tell. Yeah. You're very positive. I like that guy. Yeah. If I don't like it, might as though saying anything. Reverse skip Bayliss here, yeah.

Yeah, if I don't like it, might still talk about it. Easier that way. It's good. Yeah, if you know anything nice, they don't say it at all. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, he's a, they fired the defensive coordinator as well. They had a rough season defensively, obviously. Yeah, it's always the coordinator's fault, right?

Yeah. It's not the head coach, not the players ever. It's never the player's fault. You've got to get rid of all these coaches. It's their fault. Mm. Yes. It's always the coach.

As a player, you have that opinion. Yes. Well, we know we can play better. You know, we're making more money. I get it, so you want to keep the players and trade out the coaches because it's their fault. And you know when the guys aren't putting in the work that they're supposed to. Not the work. I know when they're not playing.

You can see when guys aren't playing their ability. The coaches see it as well. So should I get into play their ability? Do you attribute that to more like off-field stuff, maybe not in a film study? No, I just, I mean, sometimes, I'll say this. There's a lot of guys heard that you don't know that are hurt. I'll say that. players we know especially as teammates of the guys are you know who's hurt and who's

playing hurt and who's playing through injuries and most most of the guys are this late in the season they're all hurt it's just a great point it's played 17 18 games you're going to get beat up so the media doesn't know that the coaches don't the players won't talk about it but pretty much everyone's hurt this time of year unless you're a kicker or a holder absolutely you know you see guys posting from the the surgery room and it's like cleanup surgeries but guys like I didn't even know you were hurt yeah bro they're all hurt everyone's hurt Usually after a week one or two, everyone's banged up. And then you're just trying to stay healthy the rest of the season, do what you can to get as healthy.

Buy weeks are huge. I didn't realize how big they were until probably fourth, fifth, sixth year of my career. I couldn't wait for the biweeks. I would look at them on the schedules and see when they were. Obviously a great weekend of play of football coming up. But the coaching world, we spoke about Tomlin. Let's go hard about here. Yeah.

That's big news. He goes to the Giants. Five years, 100 million. The Giants fans are excited as they've been since they probably won the Super Bowl last. I mean, they are ecstatic to bring that guy in the building. I can't believe they fired him. I was pretty shocked about that. But, I mean, that's probably the best job.

I mean, you look at the quarterback, I think Jackson Darts pretty good. Their defense is young. Neighbors didn't even play this year. So you got him coming back next year. I think that's probably the best, you know, when you look at the teams that were open, the teams that he interviewed, right? Because they didn't interview him. He interviewed them.

Like, that's probably the best situation to be in. Just New York's a tough place to coach football. Yeah, but if anyone can do it's hardball. I think he's a stud. obviously he's proven what he can do over the past few years. And you're a defensive guy. I mean, they've got some studs on the defense. They do.

Tibadoe, Burns. Yeah, Dexter Lawrence. Oh, Dexter Lawrence. Yeah, they got some dudes. You know, they got all those guys up front to get a bunch of sacks. Abdul Carter. Abdul Carter, yeah. You got a little trouble shit, didn't he?

A little bit, yeah. They made up some reports. Yeah, I don't know. Media said it, so I'm not sure if it's true or not. Yeah, exactly. If I hear it from the horse's mouth, I believe it. Yeah, I think that some of it probably fabricated. He did try to take LT's number, though.

What did you think of that? I wasn't a big fan of that. You know, that's a number, I think, around the whole NFL that's pretty sacred, 56. You don't want to try to bring that one out of retirement. Maybe get a few more sacks than you can talk about it. Lauren Taylor, is he the goat? Defensively? Yeah.

Him, Reggie White. I'm trying to think of, I mean, those two stand up. Bruce Smith, I mean, 200-something sacks, if they don't have to play a long time. L-T, I'm biased towards Dick Buckus because I play for the Bears. So that's fair. The meanest dude of all time on the football field that he did and got away with would not be he'd be in. Did it? I mean, he was mean.

I love it. But every time I got a chance to meet him, I cherish those times because he was, he said what he thought all the time. There was no holding back, no political correctness. Just he said what he thought all the time. I like that about him. It's your type of guy. Yeah, it's my type of guy. Just there's no in between.

You know where you're staying all the time with him. Yeah, absolutely. There's a lot of other coaching spots available. We've got to mix and match them. I mean, if you're the Tennessee Titans, who would you go after? I mean, I don't know. It's... You got a young quarterback.

You got a lot of cap space. Yeah, I like their quarterback. Do you have a lot of guys space? They do? Yeah, they have a lot. They do. I don't know how that stuff works. I don't know who I go after.

I mean, I think it depends on if you want a guy to work with a young quarterback, right? But they had a guy like that, right? Then they fired him? Yeah, they did fire him. Yeah, so I don't know. Mike McCarthy. You went against him for a lot of years. I love Coach McCarthy.

Yeah, I didn't know. Is he in the mix? He is in the mix. Well, I liked that. That's what I'd hire. I like Mike McCarthy. And he coached for the Cowboys, too. Yeah. Did a good job there. And at Green Bay, we played against the Big Bay. But he's another old school kind of hard-nosed guy, and he works well with quarterback.

You know, I think he had Green, Brett and Aaron. Yeah. He coach him both. So he knows some pretty good quarterbacks. He was awesome in Green Bay. He was great. I know. I was surprised he left there as well.

Yeah, just how open, like, Jordan Nelson would get down the field. And what is Mike McCarthy doing? It's been a, who's the bat to call USC? That's what I'm going to go to Lincoln Riley. Yeah, yeah. It was amazing as you're watching USC play. How many times these dudes are wide open? He gets these dudes.

Yeah. Like, there's no one within 20. I'm like, how does hell you get this wide open? Against good football teams. I think good coaches have a knack for doing that. They just get their guys open. And that's what they do. Some of these other jobs, the Miami Dolphins.

You got the weather. You got the weather. Not a very desirable job, in my opinion. Who's your quarterback? I mean, I got U.S. I know that. I understand he played this season. I just chaos down there.

I'm not sure that would be a job. I mean, if you're getting a head coaching job, you don't care where you're coaching, I guess, right? Yeah. And you always think you can turn the place around. You have to have that mindset. Yeah, what do you think about the decision to fire McDaniel a little bit early for you?

How long has you been there? Three, four years? Yeah, I made the playoffs a couple times. I don't know, man. I don't know, man. I just, winning records. I feel like they kind of quit early. Early season, it was tough,

and then they got hot during the middle of season. I didn't like benching Tula. I mean, I know he was struggling, but, I mean, you pay him all this money. You might as well play him. Yeah. But then if you're not going to play him, he's not going to be a guy for the future. You want to see what you have in yours, right? Yeah.

I get that. I see both sides, but I just don't. I mean, I feel like you're just saying we're giving up. We're going to bench our guy who played $250 million. So we're going to bench him and see what we have and move on. Yeah. The Cardinals. These are a rough job, some of them.

I mean, yeah. Tyler's gone. Kyle's gone? Yeah, he's gone. I did not know that. Well, I don't know. That's not a very desirable job either either. And I live in Arizona.

Yeah, these are rough jobs. Yeah, that's tough, man. Geez, you're bringing our kind of thing down here, bro. You're going a wrong direction. Oh, yeah, that's a good job. What a job that is? You got Lamar. Any of interview for that one?

Anyone good there? I think mentor as well. Oh, yeah, go back to all. Yeah. I like him. That's a great job. I mean, you know, you have a... How great is that job?

First team, all pro quarterback. MVP guy right there that's where I want to go to yeah um defense is pretty good um yeah that's where I'd want to go that's a very desirable job yeah do you think they go with an offensive coach or a defensive coach good question um harball what's harball special team special teams guy yeah um shout to harbs i don't know man i think maybe you go with i don't know i i would go with offense and then um because their defense you know i think it's fun to work with we have a Our head coach that marries up with the quarterback, I think it's a very successful chance to be successful.

I definitely want to ask you this question. Okay. Philadelphia Eagles. I thought you were looking over there, bro. Philadelphia Eagles. They didn't fire their coach. All the blame goes to offers of the coordinator. Just the OC.

His one year there, Kevin Batulow gets asked. His fault. Everybody blames him and only him. All the players get alleviated of the blame. What are your thoughts in that situation? I mean, it helps when guys who are throwing the ball catch it. You know, when they hits them in the hands and they catch it, that definitely helps your situation. You know, when you don't take sacks, when you don't turn the ball over, it helps.

I mean, it's easy to blame one guy. You know, nobody wants to be that guy, but they definitely gave him all the blame. I don't think that was very deserved. No. But that's the business, right? I mean, they didn't want to, you can't fire Siriani. Of course not. It's not his job.

It's not his fault. But outside of this, there's some situations in that football game versus Sam Fran that if certain guys make plays, if they catch the ball, we're supposed to through or maybe do a better job of their job, they win that game. Yeah, I agree with everything you just said. No, I'm not going to name names, but if they just do a little better job of doing their job. Yeah, a little bit, yeah, a little more. I bet them that game too. I didn't need them to win by six, I just seemed to win.

Yeah, that was it. That was my miss, too, the weekend. Just needed them to win. That's it. I hit the bills, hit the bears. I was on a great role. Patriots? Yeah, I was feeling good.

I had the bears. Yeah, there was another one I had to. Oh, Carolina. Ten points? It was a lot. In a playoff game, ten points? At home? That was like, I don't know, they're giving money away that game.

What was going on? That was, that was, and they beat them three weeks before. Yeah. Or a month before it was. Yeah, too easy. There's a lot of scandals right now involving point shaving, gambling, all that sort. Was that a thing while you were playing? Did you ever get propositioned?

No. I didn't understand the spread when I played. I didn't know what the plus or minus, but I don't understand the plus or minus, but I don't understand, you know, who's a dog, who's a favorite. I had no idea. I didn't care. You know, we never got approached, and it wouldn't matter if we did. The people that can affect the games the most are the refs. That's, in my opinion, well, the quarterbacks, the kickers, and the refs, in my opinion, are the ones that can affect the game the most.

Yeah. I mean, the refs are kind of, if there was something weird happening, it would be the refs. There are so many things that come out now that they show you reasons why certain plays are made or certain calls are made. Like you're watching a game, like there was someone was favored by, I want to say, seven and a half points, and they're up by 10. I want to say it was a Raiders and somebody else and the clock's running down and the game's pretty much over and they throw a delay of game on the defense. And the team kicks a field goal to lose by seven and the line was seven and a half or eight. I don't know. I want to say it was a Raiders and maybe Seahawks. I don't know.

It was Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll to kick the field goal. Yeah. But that's not his fault. I mean, you're thinking you get an outside kick. But the clock is running out. I just remember the interview. The clock's running out either way.

There's no time on the clock and you kick a field goal. Why? Throw at the end zone. I mean, there's some things. Very questionable decision. But why did the guy throw the flag anyway? Yeah. The game's over.

I just don't. There's some things that you're like, what the hell? I can't believe eight head coaching jobs. And to me, the Pittsburgh and the Baltimore shocked me. We had Chris Carter on. He was like, I wasn't surprised with there's smoke, there's fire. You know, we've been hearing about this for a long time. Yeah, but, I mean, just, Tomlin never loses.

I know, I know they didn't go to the standards. And I don't know he stepped down, but I think it was a mutual split. The one really shocked me was Baltimore. I mean, Harbaugh is the man. And they were competitive, you know. They had injuries this year. you know, the 489 and 124 win-loss record. Most roads playoff wins ever as a head coach.

Super Bowl, obviously. Yeah, that one shocked me, but maybe it's kind of similar to Baltimore. You've been there so long and you kind of get monotonous. People get used to hearing the same voice. They don't listen anymore. Yeah. Maybe your players get that way. I don't know.

Yeah. It's an exciting time, though. Coaching Carousel, NFL playoffs. Yeah, the playoffs are always fun. Yeah. Well, especially when the Bears are in it. Well, yeah, this is very exciting. It's been a while since they've been in, so it's very exciting.

Yeah. You'll be there, right? I'm not going to this game. Oh, you're not going to this game. No, man. I went last week and froze my butt off and I tell Giddy for the first time ever at Soldier Field.

The fans are phenomenal, man. I think I took 5,000 victories before the game. But I'm not, I'm going to watch it on my couch this Sunday. Shout out to the Bears, but you're not going to get Brian Erlacker this weekend. Not this weekend. I'm not going to be there. I'm sorry, guys. They did okay without me up to this point, so I think they'll be just fine.

You're supporting at home. Yeah, I'm supporting. No worry. I'll be yelling at the TV for my couch. Double coverage. Thank you for tuning in. The legend, the Hall of Famer, Brian Erlacker. Thanks, man. Appreciate. Just like you.

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