Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Divisional Round Recap

Episode Date: January 19, 2021

Geoff and Gabe react to this past weekend's four game slate from the Chiefs narrow win to Tom Brady continuing to make history. Plus they discuss wether or not Drew Brees may have played his last game in the Superdome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

it's Tuesday January 19th we just had an awesome divisional round weekend only three football games left and we'll get you prepared for the next two coming up Tom Brady beat Drew Brees Josh Allen the Bills rolled over the Ravens and the Chiefs barely got by the Browns I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Gabe Goodwin this is Jeff Schwartz is smarter you gabe what a weekend man what a weekend of football how are you i'm good great weekend of football uh i think your background is a little bit upgraded i feel like you've uh in playoff time you've gone to like playoff level decoration behind your head here uh my wife redid the background yes um it looks good we added some stuff we took away all the mirror like my photos don't have mirrors anymore

not mirrors glass glass because the glass reflects the lights you know professional setup here got some lights in this room

yep and no we upgraded a couple weeks ago we need to do the shelving probably but that's another time another place

it does look good got my Chiefs picture up top obviously the Chiefs have advanced to the third straight AFC Championship game first time in history

three straight AFC Championship games in the same host city. By the way, in the NFC, the only coach to ever do that, Andy Reid with the Eagles as well. So Andy Reid is definitely used to playing in championship games. But I don't think we're starting with that game today, Gabe. No, we are starting with the take parade in honor of Tom Brady, because of course we are. It's hell for a few of us. And I honestly just can't get over this, Jeff. I'm just going to say it.

I don't care what the mentions look like. He is one lucky dude, man. He barely beat an XFL backup on a losing team in wildcard weekend. Then he beat Drew Brees in the Superdome because Drew Brees had the worst game of his career at the most important moment of his life. Four turnovers Tom Brady's defense comes up with for him, including at least a couple that put him right in scoring position.

He wins. And now I'm just praying along with everyone else out there who's had to endure this guy for 20 years that maybe some higher power will step in and fix things with an Aaron Rodgers win in the NFC Championship. Please tell me there's something you see in football that suggests Aaron Rodgers will win this game. Maybe it's just time to accept Tom Brady as the king.

No. The best of all time. Obviously, Tampa's win yesterday was definitely fueled by the defense. And there's many reasons to think that they're going to struggle this weekend in Green Bay. So don't you worry, Gabe. Okay. And we'll get to the gambling angle of this on Thursday's podcast.

But look, Tampa Bay had 21 points off the Four Saints turnovers. They had the three Drew Brees picks and the punch out of Jared Cook. Even going back to the Packers game, when the last time the Bucks had beaten a team with a winning record, they had 14 points off turnovers in that game as well. So 35 points off turnovers in the games where they beat winning teams, which obviously it's hugely important. The other drives, when they didn't have the ball for turnover,

they had like four punts, three field goals, and they ended the game with the ball. So not as good. We're not giving the shorter field from defense. So if that's your angle to go with, as a Tampa Bay hater, Tom Brady hater, that's one way to go. But look, man, throughout the entire year, through the first 12 weeks of the season, we said,

eh, I don't know. You know that Larry David gif? He's like, hmm. You know what I mean? Like, ah, they're going to do it. Gabe, they're in the NFC Championship game. I don't care how you get your mind around that. But Tom Brady left New England

where he dominated for 20 years, went to Tampa Bay, came in with a COVID offseason, no offseason whatsoever, brand new piece with a coach that I think that we think is good but not great. And they're back at the championship game.

I don't care any way you want to slice the game, lucky, whatever it is, they got them. He got them there. They're there slice a game, lucky, whatever, whatever it is, they got them. He got them there. They're there as a team again. Come on, man. Give us props. Okay.

Way to go. He got like all the weapons for 20 years worth of weapons arrive on his doorstep to come ring chase with him. You know, he has a defense that's way better than anyone realizes. Devin Smith's unreal. Just unreal. And it's just, it never seems to run to this guy.

So why don't other quarterbacks have much as luck? Drew Brees has a better team, better roster, than does Tom Brady. Why does he have better luck? The Saints have not won two playoff games in a postseason since 2009. They've scored between 20 and 23 points their last five playoff games in a postseason since 2009. They've scored between 20 and 23 points their last five playoff games.

So why can't Drew Brees have this look that Tom Brady has? I've said it. Tom Brady is very good at playing quarterback and all-time great at getting lucky. I'm not saying he isn't good. I have to accept that he is good. He's better at 43 than I ever would have imagined, okay? All I'm saying is it's just

weird how things go his way like the the punt touchdown that's called back on the stupidest block i've ever like that was not a call like they're just little things you know that go his way that he's won the rings he did he earned them good for him but it's just can't we just stop giving him lucky breaks can't the league just pull their shit together against this guy just once i will say looking ahead to this weekend they're gonna need all those breaks to beat the packers right now okay the packers are playing at an extremely high level look what they did the rams we talked about this heading the weekend rams the number one passing defense, number one deep passing defense. I think the Packers had the ball nine times in that game.

They scored on six of the possessions, right? Not all touchdowns, but six possessions. One possession ended with a dropped touchdown pass that Lazar dropped. One ended with a punt. So those two ended with a punt. And the ninth possession ended with the Packers running out the clock. That's just the number one passing defense in the NFL. Now, Aaron Donald, you know, didn't play his best.

He was hurt. We get that. That obviously hurt that defense. But the Packers played a methodical game. They ran the football well. They hit the play-action bomb. When they had to, Devontae Adams played well. I mean, they are dialed in right now.

So if Tampa is not ready to play, if they cannot force those turnovers, they don't really stand a chance in this game, in my opinion. Because offensively, we've seen Tampa kind of needs some things to go their way at times to get the offense rolling. And the Packers, by the way, take up a lot of time on the clock. They take a lot of time between plays. They're a methodical game. They're just kind of not ever in a rush.

And Rodgers is so locked in right now that I think Tampa's going to have to force multiple turnovers to keep this game close. I don't know if you saw the clip of Aaron Rodgers smiling before he snapped the ball on one of those plays. Like, he knew exactly what was about to happen. They're so down every now and then. Defensively, they're not great defensively. But what they do is they just do enough. You know, the bend but don't break, right?

They do enough to force enough stops to get Aaron Rodgers the ball so he can win the game for them. And that's all you need to do. And against Tampa, what they're going to have to do is this. I wrote for Fox Sports kind of my early keys to the game. One of them was Tampa's number one in the NFL at stopping the run between the tackles. And the reason why that's important is when teams try to run the football and you shut them down, it gets to third and long, right?

And third and long obviously is advantageous for the defense, for the pass rush, And especially in this game, because the Packers have a backup left tackle. If you can get them isolated on third and seven, third and eight, maybe there's some trouble. But when you run the footballs the Packers want to do, you stay ahead of the chains, you set up some play action, some movement,

you mess with the defense, and then you come back and hit them with the same formation. You ran it the first time, now boom, it's a play action pass off that, big plays happen. So there's incentives for the Packers to kind of it the first time. Now, boom, it's a play. Actually passed off that. Big plays happen. So there's incentives for the Packers to kind of get the run game moving, even though they can definitely win if Enrod had to throw the ball all game. I'm sure they don't want to do that.

So Tampa's got to force turnovers, stop the run, and then hope Tom Brady can move the ball against. Sometimes the Packers play pretty soft defense at times, especially at the end of the half. So I think it's tough for Tampa to go win this game okay I mean thanks but that didn't really make me feel any better I I want to I want to unpack a little bit more of what's working for Aaron Rodgers you sort of touched on a bit of this but I saw two touchdowns this past weekend that both of which were like why doesn't that work every time?

And I was texting with you about it and some of the other guys who helped with the show. And I don't really have an answer yet. So here's what I want to know. Play action, he went away from it for a lot of his career and now it's back. And Aaron Rodgers looks like he can do whatever the hell he wants when he uses play action. And then the one I really want to know about is the the goal line touchdown to davante adams where they they send adams in motion because it's man coverage which means like we have the best receiver in the game like running while a

cornerback is like chasing him along the the line jalen ramsey no no schlub and of course he's just like four steps ahead of the guy and gets a quick pass from Rogers and he's in for the touchdown. So how come these two very obvious things are working and defensive coordinators can't seem to stop what I can see. Um, I mean, man coverages is easy to detect. And then I don't know how you would stop that play.

I mean, if you switch, I guess you take the outside corner on number one, and as if Adam comes across, you can switch him on. But the inside guy then pretty much is free. I mean, the guy coming over can guard him, but that guy's running full speed. What if the other guy just runs right by him? I mean, like it's just hard to defend, and offenses know that.

But you also have to have a quarterback. If you watch that play, it was an RPO. Aaron Rodgers threw the ball very quickly. Most quarterbacks can't get the ball. I mean, he was almost, if you watch it, go back and watch it, guys, if you can. He was almost off balance because the back almost looked like he hit him as he threw the ball. That's how

quickly the ball got out to Devontae Adams. The play that no one can stop is what the Chiefs ended the game on with Tyreek Hill, which is that little sprint right option where he just kind of faked inside, boom, went to the flat, ball game's over. Dude, they're just, against man coverage, they're just really hard to defend. If you scheme them upright, too, you can get the offense to pick guys or clear out guys. And so it's a really good play.

But again, it's a play that you run to get a yard, right? Because, you know, it's a ball. And Rodgers threw the ball behind Adams. It wasn't the greatest pass. Chad Henney threw a great pass to Tyreek Hill. So it's a yard or two. And then you have counters off that too. So, you know, the Packers, I'm sure, have a built-in counter this weekend off that look for Tampa Bay.

All right. And then the play action, which I don't know why he ever stopped using it. Maybe that's why Mike McCarthy isn't the coach there any longer. but it's back and it doesn't seem stoppable to me. Yeah. So I detailed this again last week. Between 2016 and 2019, I think the Packers, don't quote me on numbers, I got to find them again, ran Plaxson Pass. So that's McCarthy's final three seasons and Matt LaFleur's, no, McCarthy's final two and Matt LaFleur's first two, right? This is third season with the Packers. Plaxion Pass was about 20%. That's it, maybe less, 18%.

And Rodgers just wasn't very comfortable doing it. They ran a lot from shotgun when he was with McCarthy. So Plaxion Pass just tends to be better out of, you know, under center. Tends to be better when you run the football. I get it, I get it. The analytics say that's not true, but I think it is okay i think defenders will tell you that as well and this year they're up to 30 percent and it's a dude play extra pass is my is my favorite

thing ever because his offensive lineman i get like a free block almost i go run block my guy he stops his feet and then boom the ball's gone by then and we saw you know they beat they beat little quarters look there split the safeties boom touchdown and the more they're doing that the better they've been and we've seen throughout the Tampa Bay as well Tampa Bay's a lot more passion lately they've been a lot better on offense wait go a little further with that you love it as a lineman because you run block your guy. So the reason, okay, so here's the reason why I think it's important to run the ball as a lineman to be good at play action pass.

So when you sell play action pass, especially the inside two guys, the guards, you have to sell like a run because the linebackers read through you to the quarterback. And if you go pretend like you're run blocking your guy, the linebacker step up becausebackers read through you to the quarterback and if you go pretend like you're run blocking your guy the linebackers step up because they read run through you to the quarterback even the safeties kind of read through you to the quarterback and it's a tough block sometimes you're one-on-one on an island because in pass protection you kind of

all move as a unit right if you are on the front side of a play action pass the tap if i'm the guard the tack's on an island by himself. I'm on an island by myself. There's no one helping you, right? You're just kind of in space by yourself. And if you run the ball well or run the ball a little bit, then when you go sell the run, the defender thinks you're running the football.

And so he stops his feet to play the run. He looks around to find the run. And you have to be very confident to make that block. And if you do it right you do it well it sells the entire run if you aren't confident in your run blocking and in that in that kind of footwork you're going to pop straight up and sort of kind of passively block the guy and the linebacker sees it right away and drops back into coverage and then also if you passively kind of creep out to your defender then he could probably beat you around the corner beat you inside but if you boom sell run right away they gotta stop their feet

okay and that happened that block is easier made when you when you feel confident in your technique which basically is run blocking right you run you run block for the first three steps of that block so that's why i know the analytics will say it doesn't matter that if you run the football or not but i think a lot of it's just our offensive line technique and you feel more comfortable So that's why I know the analytics will say it doesn't matter if you run the football or not. But I think a lot of it's just our offensive line technique. And you feel more comfortable in that technique if you've run the ball well that game. Okay. Mission accomplished for this segment. I'm a lot smarter than I was before this began. We skipped over. We spent our time talking about Brady, the Rodgers.

I predicted a Super Bowl run for him after they drafted Jordan love that take has lived on. Well, now let's talk about the third guy in that sort of triumvirate of all time greats that we've been able to watch for 15 years. Uh, drew breeze. We mentioned his clunker of a game. It's everyone's assuming he's going to be retired. We know he'll give it a few days, but last game with new Orleans, maybe last game ever, any thoughts on sort of, you know, seeing that sort of emotional moment of him and Tom Brady after the game with their kids on, on drew breezes, maybe who knows, you know, potential future in the league.

Is there anything left to say on drew breeze other than great career, but see you later. Did you, did you have a little soft spot for Tom Brady there? Like he looked like a real human, not like a robot. No. No, no, no. He looked like he was being cool to a guy who would be sort of able to sit at the same table as him at a wedding.

When he's dealing with other lesser quarterbacks, he forgets who their names are. So I still think that that's ridiculous. He does do that. Yeah, he's retiring. I mean, he's done. You saw the Tampa defense. It's like, this guy can't throw the ball anymore.

I mean, their most explosive play was Jameis Winston throwing a touchdown pass on a trick play. It's tough. I mean, look, I've said this before, that a lot of times your body goes before your brain does. Your brain wants to keep playing. Your brain thinks you can play, but your body just can't. It can't play anymore. I think Drew Brees at that point, Jake Glazer reported before the game

this was his last game in the Superdome, which essentially means he will be in the booth for NBC next season. I have to feel there's a bit of a feeling they kind of underperformed since the last Super Bowl. It was the only Super Bowl they've won, right? In 2009. Since then

they've won a lot of games and not a lot of playoff games, right? Again, they have yet to win two playoff games in a single postseason since 2009. And it's not like they were in the division around all the time. They were in a wild card a bunch, and they lost in the division around. The last three games, they've been home favorites and lost game at home. The last three, lost, I should say. They've been home favorites and lost, right? Rams, Vikings, and now the Bucs.

It feels like that opportunity to get more just didn't. If you look at other aging quarterbacks, even like an Aaron Rodgers, he kind of seems to still be going up. And the Packers are back in the NCAA championship game again with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. And I just feel like, you know, really not an indictment on really anybody. Maybe the whole organization, Breeze and Payton and everyone. They should have done more, but they didn't.

Well, they had to take their shot. So then we see a moment and sort of everyone assumes that this means Jameis, not your boy Taysom. Jameis now will take over next year. And if they can get the, you know, the roster right, they got some cap issues. But if they can get the roster right, they're a competitor again.

And some might think even better with Jameis. I'm not so sure about that. I have another theory on who could end up in New Orleans. But do you think Jameis can make them a better team? They're going to have a lot of moving pieces. I mean, they're like 100 men over the cap, dude. They have a lot of work to do. This was it.

I think it's time for a little mini rebuild. It was kind of all or nothing this year. We're going to have to find some ways to keep guys, but it's going to be really tough. They're not going to be the same team next year. They won't be as talented. Maybe Winston's that guy to hold you over for one year until you get to someone else.

Taysom Hill's not your regular quarterback. So is it Jameis? With the cost of what it will be, you probably will have to roll with someone like Jameis or Andy Dalton, right? Like maybe a mid-range backup type salary contract. You can't pay a quarterback. And maybe you go up and you love Trey Lance or Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, and you trade the farm for that guy, possibly.

But the way they're sitting now, it's almost mini-rebuild time. It's like time to kind of take two or three years to build that roster back up. Okay. Well, let's shift away from the NFC because if we go back to any of the, you know, the matchup in the championship game, I'm going to lose my mind talking Tom Brady and there'll be more chances later this week

for you to do that. So let's switch over to the AFC where I think you got some stuff to worry about. It is going to be a sweaty ass week for Chiefs fans. Obviously, they pull out the win barely over Baker and the Browns. But, you know, Mahomes' concussion is serious. He's in the protocol all week. You're going to be sweating, I think, till about Saturday before we really know his status.

Then you're going to sweat all game long against this bills team that really truly has emerged as the only team that we think can compete with them they held the freaking ravens to three now they got a defense they always had an offense now they got a defense admit it jeff more than ever before and you started admitting it a little bit recently you are scared of the bills uh yes and generally speaking i mean yeah she's a three-point favorites only for a reason but real quickly so pat mahomes is in the concussion protocol as of monday and it's admitted he's going through it it's a five-day protocol and he should play right obviously he bounced back up after that he ran off the field andy rita said he passed his test. There's no incentive for the Chiefs to be, like,

truthful, I guess, is maybe the wrong word. They can say whatever they want. He's in the protocol. He has to be cleared by a third party. They could say he's the sharpest ever been in his life, and then behind the scenes, the third party's like, he can't play, right? I mean, it doesn't matter what the Chiefs say.

There's just some weird arguments going around that it was a nerve pain in his neck, some nerve thing. Guys, I've been in this league, I was in this league for eight years. I've watched a lot of football. I'm sure there's, I can't say never. And Gabe, you've watched a lot of football too. How many guys have been in the concussion protocol

with nerve pain in their neck? I never heard of that. Yeah, like, so the idea that like he hurt his nerve and that made him woozy after the play concussion protocol with nerve pain in their neck. I never heard of that. Yeah. Like, so the idea that like he hurt his nerve and that, and that can made him woozy after the play. And therefore he's actually not concussed. He's not in the protocol,

but he got it guys. He is in the protocol. So it doesn't matter what you think happened. The chiefs are telling you what happened. He's in the protocol for a reason. Cause he got a concussion. A concussion could be all of one second. It doesn't matter how long it lasts.

You could pop back up. You were concussed.'s what happened he got whiplash that's what happened guys the idea he was choked out like my radio host his name is Sean O'Connell he was a UFC fighter he was in the PFL as well he won a million dollars fighting the PFL a couple years ago I texted like Sean did Pat get choked out he goes absolutely not of course he didn't get choked out this is the silliest thing i've ever seen guys use your eyes he didn't get choked out he didn't get have you ever been choked out before gabe i have have you been no okay it doesn't just happen in a split second you know like you have to the arm's gotta be all around back and you have to be in the right position he got whiplash guys He got whiplash, guys. He got whiplash, caused his brain to bounce around, got concussed. It's football.

It happens. It wasn't dirty. It wasn't malicious. It happens. I think he'll play Sunday. The line reflects that he'll play Sunday. He's got his toe he's dealing with as well. He's going to – I'm assuming he's going to play this weekend.

So here's where I stand on this game is – so are the Chiefs. I still didn't, I still did not see that kind of killer instinct to stomp on someone's throat that I wanted to see. I'll tell you the exact moment it was, okay? Obviously, Pat Mahomes was hurt at the end of the game. I'm not talking about that. Even though Chad Henley did a great job.

They're up 19-3, and look, to be fair, they got lucky, right? The Browns fumbled the ball at the back of the end zone. Chiefs go down, score three points. Could have easily been 16-10. Browns get the ball at the half. It's not. 19-3.

So you got some breaks, Chiefs. You pick off Baker Mayfield, the first driver of the second half. You start the ball inside the 20. Guess what you have to do? You have to score a touchdown and you end the game, right? It's 26-3. Game is over. It's done at that point.

Okay, you're not losing a 23-point lead at home in the playoffs. Guess what happens? Three and out, miss a field goal. Like, I've had these problems all year, guys. Against Buffalo, you can't do that. If you get the ball in the red zone, you got to score a touchdown. And obviously, at the end, incredible job by Chan Henney. And I love the play call by Andy Reid.

You know, it's the best thing that Pat Mahomes, in my opinion, did for Andy Reid outside winning the Super Bowl was he made Reid an aggressive coach. That's not what Andy Reid used to be. I played with him in 2013. My brother's been there for a while. Andy Reid was never like this. Backup quarterback, ball to 48.

He runs a sprint out. Now, Tyreek Hill ran a great route. His man coverage is a great look. One thing I want to say. Tony Romo said he was in just disbelief they ran a play. They were always running the play. I don't understand this idea that they weren't running the play. There was nothing. Chet

did not audible. He didn't change anything. That was the call to play. They were always running the play. There was nothing. Channity did not audible. He didn't change anything. That was the called play. They were always running the play. The reason why it was weird was because they reviewed the play, right? And so the play before. It's just that Channity made the spot. The Chiefs broke the huddle way too soon with the running clock. They broke the huddle with about 32 seconds left.

So they got up to the line of scrimmage. And Chad Henney goes, hey, guys. He tells the offensive line, hey, guys, we've got to wait for the clock. You can listen to the TV copy. He says that. Like, hey, guys, we've got to wait for the clock. You can listen to the TV copy. He says that. Like, hey, guys, wait for the clock. So the offensive line relaxed for a second, got back in their stance, and motioned the running back in.

It's man coverage, boom, play is on. If it's zone coverage, I don't know if they run the play. Man coverage, boom, the play is on. The right tackle signals to the running back because they have a little work. They've got to work on their block on that side. Boom, play is run. It was always going to be run. So the idea that this was like some deep fake,

the Chiefs practice, no, we're running this play. So I give them credit for that. Let's talk about Buffalo. You know, they're kind of in survive and advance mode. I know Buffalo fans aren't going to want to hear this, but your red zone defense has kind of been a little bit lucky. In the first two playoff games, the opponents have had eight red zone trips.

You've only had two touchdowns. You've had a fourth down play that was not converted, another fourth down play that wasn't converted, I mean, multiple missed field goals and a pick six. Like you kind of have lived on the edge defensively right now. Your offense has not played all that well. And defensively, you're kind of living on the edge. So if you're a Chiefs fan, you got to feel good, right?

Because that regression is going to come. The Bills are not going to be 25% on red zone defense. The regression is going to come. So the question I have for this game, to me, it comes down to the Bills offense. The Chiefs, I think they're going to score if Mahomes is in the game. Can the Bills offense kind of get back to what they were in the regular season? Because they haven't been.

And then the red zone, on the flip side, the Chiefs have the 32nd-ranked red zone defense. So can the Bills, they're going to move the ball far from the 20-20. Inside the 20, can they keep up their red zone defense? Can they score points against the Chiefs? Because if either side holds each other to a field goal two or three times, the other team's gonna win so that's my key right now um i am i haven't dived deep in the game but the bills can certainly win gabe hopefully that wasn't that wasn't rambling too much there no you gave me a lot to work with there so so here's what i want to know um obviously that you know the talk all week long is only going to be

about pat and his health and some of those conspiracy theories or wacky ideas that you addressed at the top. But I'm concerned or confused, I guess, about the Bills' offense and the fact that they, I think they ran it like 12 straight times on one touchdown drive. They ran it 24 of 25 times at one stretch in the first half. Like they basically, or excuse me, threw it. What did I just say?

Ran it? So basically the opposite of everything I just said. All they did was throw over and over and over and over again against a team with notably great cornerbacks. And yet Josh Allen,

who we've wondered about accuracy in the past, just throwing, throwing, throwing, throwing, throwing. How's that work against the Chiefs? I think you just have to score as many points as possible. Whatever way you have to do that is the way you do it. And if it's running the football, it's great.

If it's passing the football, it's great. Now, we saw the Bills obviously pass the ball a ton, open up, ran the ball better in the second half, kind of helped their offense a little bit stabilize. The thing about whatever it is, run the football against Kansas City. That's how you beat them. If you finish the drive with seven points, that's how you beat them. If you run the football and don't score touchdowns, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter. The goal is whatever the Bills have to do to score touchdowns is what they have to do. If it's running the football, sure. If it's passing the football, great. If it's passing the football, great. If it's a combination of both, be my guest. But that's what they have to do to beat the Chiefs. I know it's easy to say, just score more points. That is the exact answer.

I know that's a very John Madden thing to do, right? But if you're playing the Jets, the key to the game is not score more points, right? Against Kansas City, you have to score every single drive. Non-stop, all the the time to beat them and so if it's running the football great it's passing the ball great i i worry about the chiefs linebackers and coverage against the buffalo they're going to find some ways to to get them in space but look the bills offense has not been what they were in the regular season the first two weeks of the playoffs we'll see if they are this weekend all right let's talk about the losers a little bit because they were two teams that you've talked about a lot over the

last couple of years and i think the browns were as unlucky as you can get um but they're and the ravens lose and then you know all the excuses start coming and talking about well next year next year next year um i here's a take that I saw that I thought was perfectly stated and I want to bounce off you. This is from Mike Tannier. He says, the problem with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens is that they do things differently. Other teams and quarterbacks can lose playoff games

or not reach the playoffs for years running conventional stuff without it being a referendum on anyone's worthiness. Right? So there's plenty of guys who are just good enough to get there and then it's like, well, it they played a bad game and we don't question like the whole philosophy of what they do but with lamar whenever he loses it's like well see that's proof that the way he does it is wrong why do you think that is all right so the reason why is because they're so freaking good in the regular season and in the playoffs are they even 50 of because they're so freaking good in the regular season. And in the playoffs, are they even 50% of what they are in the regular season?

I mean, they're averaging 30 points a game. They're trash in the playoffs. What? And they scored 20 against a bad Tennessee Titans defense. And three, I mean, obviously, you know, Lamar got knocked out of the game. But you threw that terrible interception, man. Like, if you score a touchdown there, it's 10-10. It's a whole, the game is a whole different game.

So it's not that they do things differently, and that is a little part of it, right? That they run a different offense. The problem is that it works great in the regular season against the Bengals. When you're playing a playoff team in the playoffs, it doesn't work. That's the problem.

It's not, again, listen to me carefully. It's not that it's unique. It's that you suck in the playoffs. That's why. That's why. And the uniqueness of the offense contributes to why you suck in the playoffs. So hear me out on this, Gabe. People say, why can't they have a more complex passing game? Because that's a huge problem. They do not. They don't have a complex passing game. And the reason is, you don't have time to practice everything. So in practice, you only have a certain number of reps to have.

If you have that run game they have, they have to spend a lot of time practicing that run game. It takes the reps away from passing the ball and working on your passing game, which also needs a lot of work. I talked to a lineman who was playing this past weekend about practice.

Remember we talked about practice last week? I asked him about it. Yeah. And he said that, he said, guess how many times you run the football

in 50 scripted plays in practice? If you take a guess, Gabe, how many times did they run the football? 50? I don't know where you're trying to lead me, but I would have said 25.

Just split it up. No. Eight to 10 times. That's it. So teams practice the pass game most of practice. That's what they do. Because most of the time, by this time of the year, the run game is the run game.

You're running zone, you're running power. There's not much to practice. You know how to do it, you don't. But the way Baltimore has their run game, you kind of got to practice it, right? You got moving parts, you got motions, you got reads, got reads you got pulling guys you're reading this guy you're reading that guy you're reading that guy so it takes you to practice it more so you don't have time to practice the passing game they have got to invest in number one wide receiver whether that's

alan robinson like a big guy go get a third and six go get the ball for lamar jackson okay and they got to invest in a passing game coordinator, whatever that is. If it's Greg, it's not going to be Greg Roman, someone else. They got to have to thread the line between this offense they're running now and, you know, Peyton Manning's passing offense. Like somewhere in the middle, right? Hard to do. And that's the concern with Baltimore.

Again, it's not that their scheme is different. It's that they look vastly different in the playoffs. Okay. Well, I mean, that was beautifully summed up for me, and I didn't ever think about it in terms of practice time. But yeah, to be the best running team maybe ever the last couple of seasons, it's only logical that you'd have to spend time

working on that and perfecting that. And every time you spend a few minutes with that in practice, you're not working on the passing game. I mean, that just makes so much sense. I don't know how anyone would debate it. We'll get to Lamar, Baker, some of the other losers and what their future holds when we do moving the line. But bottom line, you're going to kind of reserve judgment

on what we should expect from the Chiefs until we kind of know how Pat will play. But you say he's going to play and they should be the favorite it's just gonna be close I think he's gonna play uh real quick I want to I want to wrap up the the Browns real quick because we didn't talk about them and just specifically a couple things so we saw the play the helmet to helmet balls falling at the back of the end zone I'm not debating whether or not the what the rule should be for that play i don't know i feel like the defense gets shit all the time they have one thing that benefits them fuck it like don't fumble the football obviously it was helmet to helmet i hate the targeting rule so i wouldn't have called it i i don't i don't

like that rule i i think it takes out any nuance whatsoever and then like two plays later kareem hunt just lowered his head and hit Teron Matthew in the head. Like, that's what the game ended, guys. The spirit of the rule was not for that, okay? I know it looked ugly, it looked bad. I get all that. Player safety, I get it.

And even, I think, Terry McCauley, former referee, said on Twitter, like, no one's going to see that in real time. Only in slow motion are we going to see that. So the Browns fumbled over the back end. I saw Stefanski give Peter Kent a quote basically saying, basically saying like i've said this for a while now gabe we have to do our job we told we tell our guys not to not extend the ball out unless it's fourth down or third down and it was first down shouldn't have done it i loved that answer because guess what all you can control is what you can control which is we we coached you, unless there's third or fourth down,

to not put the ball over the goal line, to not spread your arms out, because that's the reason why. He didn't listen. He did his own thing. He fumbled at the back of the end zone. All you can control is what you can control. If he didn't do that game, the ball's on the one-yard line, Browns probably score. It's a different ball game. So I love the answer from Stefanski.

That's how you know you've got a good coach, guys. He's a really good coach. Okay. Well, so then i was going to bring this up and moving the line but let's go here now uh you're talking about obviously you know the touchback rule on the fumble through the end zone i i heard an interesting idea from bill barnwell who i think credited a fan of his who said what if instead of it being a turnover you know, the defensive team takes over at their own 20, and it's basically like they were never in the red zone in the first place, you're penalized by having the ball move back to the 20 at whatever the next down is.

So it's basically like, good for you, way to get almost across the goal line, but then you fumbled it through the end zone, so now the next play starts from the 20. luck scoring from there decent idea because then it incentivizes you still want to make the play but what's your point you're not doing something idiotic without risk i don't know what the right i don't know what the right idea is because um we treat the goal line different than any other part of the field right so if a if offensive player makes the mistake of putting the ball out there it's kind of on them okay i i just think it's it's because we treat it differently than any

other yard marker on the field if all you have to do is like hover it over a section there has to be a risk to the reward that you get there. The risk would be you lose the ball entirely and it goes to, you know, the other end of the field. But what if that risk was a little bit less? So you keep it, you know. I don't know. I kind of like there being like a poison pill for the offense.

Okay. Yeah, I'm okay with it. All right. Well, let's move along to the other story going on in the NFL that probably will heat up all week now that the game's been played. But it was bubbling all weekend long on Twitter, which is Deshaun Watson, who is apparently likely done in Houston. Big air quotes there.

Listen, I'm going to go a counter to how we normally are on this show. We're usually pro player, go get what you can get, guys. I have a slightly different feeling here. I'm probably pro fan on this one. It seems kind of ridiculous to me that Deshaun is seemingly running the play that so many stars in both NBA and NFL run these days, which is make it very well known how unhappy you are

to the point where the organization has basically no choice but to trade you because you make it clear you're not going to perform there. Then they trade you, and you're supposed to get a great path to a ring in your new team. That's worked for a few guys, and we'll talk about them in a second, but it seems like what Deshaun is doing now, I get it. Houston is a mess, and Deshaun seems like a good guy,

but let's just call it what it is. This is a trend that is kind of crappy for fans, period. It is crappy for fans. I get it. But it's also crappy to have a quarterback like Deshaun Watson and just find every way to alienate him, turn away his best players, and not even listen to him. Look, you know how easy it would have been, Gabe, to be like,

you know what, Deshaun? We'll interview Eric Bien-Ami for you. We'll do it. It's over Zoom. Interview the freaking guy. Like, how hard is that to appease your star player? It's not that hard, Gabe. But they just continually do things it feels like to piss him off.

And we don't have a lot of power in the NFL. We have, like, none as players, right? It's like the one we have is just kind of be angry and get traded i don't know i think they're wasting his talent i don't think he goes anywhere um depends who they hire obviously but simple things like that like just not interviewing the guy he has to be interviewed which really is no sweat off their back to just do it i see why he's upset i see why he's upset too and let's just say the texans organization seems like it's terribly run and he probably has not been shown the right kind of respect and when former players are speaking up as often as they are i have to imagine

they're all on to something but still this keeps on happening like levy and bell pulled a similar move i'm assuming he's gone so levy and bell similar jaylen ramsey similar jamal adams similar in houston in another sport james harden i mean like it's just guys realize well this isn't where i'm gonna win that'd be so different how's it so different it seems like guys are like i can't win a here, so it's not worth being here. I mean, that's kind of what it is sometimes, right? Like, once guys get paid, they want to win rings. Now, James Harden's a little different situation, but the NBA players just have, it's the NBA,

it's the players that have a lot more power. The NFL, this just, like, never happens. I mean, how often are players actually legit, like Deshaun Watson demanding a trade? A star quarterback who's 25 years old in his fourth year demanding a trade? How often does who's 25 years old in his fourth year demanding a trade? How does this happen? Like, never.

No, but that's why we're at the beginning of something. I don't think we are. So let's say the Bills play a couple, you know, they have seasons like this for a couple years, and then they have a down year, and then, you know, a few things behind the scenes don't go the way Josh Allen wants. Can he just demand that he go be traded to a contender because they're treating him poorly like what's the definition i i again i want to sympathize with the sean who

seems like he deserves the benefit of the doubt versus ownership and management but we see but we we often see that teams go out of their way to accommodate young players. Houston's like to them the opposite, right? Remember, they traded away Dwayne Barrett. Now, they traded for Tunsell. I get that. Traded away DeAndre Hopkins. They don't even listen to their quarterback.

They told him, hey, you can have input on who we hire, and then did not give him any input. Again, okay, if you said to me, or we were doing something together, and you were going to make a decision no matter what I said, but I had concerns about, hey, can you like keep me informed?

You would just do it out of a courtesy because you're a good person and you know how the business is run. You'd just be like, okay, I'll just email Schwartz. I'll just keep him on CCM. He's kind of in the loop. But in the end, I'll make him feel like he's wanted but i'm gonna do what i want to do same as wedding planning right okay you're married as well as i am my i'm after the wedding my wife said wow

you were you were great at helping help and pick everything out you were just great i said we did everything you wanted to do i just made it seem like i helped yeah we did we you wanted to do. I just made it seem like I helped. Yeah. We did. It was your flowers, your music, your food, your cake,

your, your decor, your playlist. Everything was yours. And she's like, Oh yeah, it was. I'm like,

yeah, all I did was pretend that I was helping you. And I was, but like we did everything you wanted to do. That's kind of all the Texas had to do. Right. Was be like, all right, Deshaun. Well, we'll like, we'll massage you a little bit, but then we did everything you wanted to do. That's kind of all the Texans had to do, right? Was be like, all right, Deshaun. Well, we'll like, we'll massage your ego a little bit,

but then we're going to do what we want to do. Like it's so easy just to help them out. And they didn't do it. That's, that's the problem I see Gabe is that they could have done this so simply to just help Deshaun out and just be playing nice and couldn't do it. I get it. And they suck at the management piece. And Bill O'Brien did a bad Belichick impersonation for years. And that's part of why they're in this situation. But he did also just sign a big contract for a lot of money saying he wanted to be the quarterback

of this organization. Like I, I keep on saying this, I'm, I want to be on his side. And I believe that he's probably the better person involved than, you know, the bad people in the front office there. But man, it just, it seems crummy. It just seems like guys have this feeling now that unless you are pretty much walking your way to the finals in your sport, it's a pointless team to be on. And this is what we're seeing. I'm going to compare the AFC now to sort of the Western Conference and the nba in the last decade or so it's like listen unless you're the warriors until the lakers come along like it doesn't matter like just don't be in this conference it's not going to matter if you're the third or fourth best team that's starting to be what it feels like in the

afc and there's just guys don't want to be there um i i think this is a very specific situation like i mentioned like even like carson once won out of philly it seemed like he wanted out he didn't make public he didn't go public with it it seemed like he wanted out and philly just fired the coach and kept him instead like so this is this is more than just firing bill like there's something deeply wrong about the organization. Do you read the article that was written last week about, about Jack Easterby? The guys are,

I think that's his name is run the organization. Like almost no football background experience. You know, the is, I just, his attitude a little bit. I don't know if I'd want my team run by someone like I, I just,

it, I listen from everything I've ever read and heard the Texans aren't loaded up on good guys in their front office. I don't want to start slandering people. But like, I believe that Deshaun has a reason to be upset with these people. I just think it's strange. And I'll end this segment by saying this. There's a very good chance that Leian bell or antonio brown is going to end up in the super bowl this year okay two guys who famously just sort of like made it impossible to keep them on not one team but two and now they're role players on potential

championship teams because they just sort of made themselves too hard to have on the team and i think that's a weird precedent to be setting. And I'm not comparing to Sean Watson's character to theirs, but wow. But I don't think in the end that Sean Watson will be that way. Being traded to the Dolphins or the Jets doesn't signify you're going to win a championship. It just gets you out of one bad situation to hopefully another a better situation.

And the Texans, again, James Harden sabotaged the start of the season, right? Like he was throwing passes that were in the middle of nowhere, wasn't playing hard. Deshaun Watson didn't sabotage anything this year, right? Played his ass off. So that's why the NFL and basketball are different.

Even if they don't trade Deshaun Watson, he's pissed next year. He'll still come to work and he'll still play his ass off. He will because he's a good guy. So I don't think he gets traded in the end, actually. Well, okay. That's interesting because you're kind of on an island with that one. It seems like everyone else has leapt to the part where he's just gone. I was thinking maybe he'd end up in New Orleans

because they'll need a quarterback and they've got a million great pieces, but it seems like for cap reasons, that's probably very unlikely. I think he should get himself to the NFC if he wants out of Houston. I think that's the only chance he has to win rings in the future. If that's what this is about is being on a better franchise. There's no winning in the AFC. The NFC is about to sort of die. Like we're seeing Breeze retire.

Brady can't go much longer. Rogers only has two or three years left. That's where he's got to be in the NFC. Well, so NFC would be like who? Niners? Yeah. Niners are the team that I've heard people say that kind of makes sense. Yeah, but they don't have,

they might not have like the Jets or Dolphins have the pack. I mean, you wouldn't take them in New York? Oh, I'd love to have them in New York. Absolutely. Now we got a good coach, put a quarterback like him on that team. I think they get there pretty soon. But I don't know if that's what he wants. And they're not,

let's not call the jets some like perfectly run organization. No, but I'm the solo should, I think Joe Douglas is good and solo should be good too. I think. All right. Well, I just thought,

listen, I, I, I wish Deshaun Watson the best. I think he's a fabulous player and he seems like a good guy. I think there's a lot of goodwill for him. There were people talking about having a march in his honor. He, he tweeted guys, please don't do that. COVID don't get together on my guy. I think there's a lot of goodwill for him. There were people talking about having a march in his honor. He tweeted, guys, please don't do that.

COVID, don't get together on my behalf. I'm humbled, but that's not the right move. I think his heart's in the right place. I just think that agents and the people whispering in superstar players' ears these days are giving them the notion that if you don't like it here, make yourself a pain in the ass and you get traded to a contender.

It just seems like a strange slippery slope. That's all. I'm telling you, this doesn't happen very often though with nfl players a lot of us don't a lot of us don't have the leverage to do so either we know he's a good friend of jalen ramsey's and we know jalen ramsey did this to perfection yeah it's easier it's easier at cornerback than quarterback yeah and it didn't work out for Jalen. So let's leave it there. Let's move the line, our little betting segment. I want to talk about some other salty people with a few over-under bets.

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after 20 gigabits of usage per line. Most reliable based on RootMetrics UL's report. Results vary, non-endorsement. All right, Jeff, welcome back. Time for moving the line a little over under game. I want to know, chances Bill Belichick cried a little bit on Sunday night. 1% chance Belichick cried. I will say that over.

He might have had a quiet moment of reflection where he was upset about letting Brady go. You think there was some self-awareness, Bill Book, that Bill Belichick realized what he left him with? He went 7-9 with that really shitty roster. It's not like Belichick had – I mean, how many coaches with that team go 7-9? Probably not many.

Even though it's his roster. I mean, it was the roster he built, but his quarterback did get COVID like early in the season. Yeah, I mean, I think Bill Belichick never really looks in the rear view or in the mirror for that matter. So I doubt that he cried, but a lot of people were making that joke. And Brady certainly seems like he's getting the last laugh. I want to know any chance though,, sub-question to this,

any chance, even though you said earlier in the show you think Breeze is really done, do you think maybe he ices those ribs, maybe he spends a little time with his family? I think he's done. You don't think there's any chance he comes back and pulls a Brady? I bet he's in the booth doing Super Bowl coverage for NBC, even though they don't have the Super Bowl, I don't think.

But whatever their pregame is or whatever their Super Bowl coverage is, I bet he's doing it. Okay. I guess he got the... The image took a big hit just before the season this year. And then I think he did repair it with some...

He did repair it, yes. Some smart fixes there and hopefully learn some things. All right. So you think that's really, really it for Drew Brees? No Tom Brady lessons for him? I agree, yeah.

Okay. I saw an interesting tweet from Marlon Humphrey of the Ravens who said, Everybody different, but I would rather root for the team I lost to to win it all. So he's saying basically, Bills beat us, now I want them to win it all.

Over under 50%, players would agree with that. If it's not your rival, yes, they'd agree with it. Really? So you get beat, you say, That's the better team, now I want'd agree with it. Really? So you, you get beat and you say that it's the better team. And now you want to, you want to say, Hey man, we at least lost,

like we lost the champs. You know, we have to, this is the bar to clear next year. Yeah. But if the bills go loose, the chiefs, it's like,

shit, now we've got to beat the bills. Now we've got to be the chiefs. Right. Now we've got to beat the Packers. Like, so it kind of, if you lose to the eventual shipboard champions,

okay, we're close. We're close. But then if you lose, it's four teams down. It's like, eh, we're close. But then if you lose, it's four teams down. It's like, eh, it's not, you know, the loss is, it stings a lot more. Yeah, it's like if you get cheated on and then, you know, your girlfriend ends up marrying the other guy, you're like, all right, well, you know, I mean, that worked out.

But if she cheats on you and then like, you know, dates a million other guys and it proved it never mattered, that stings a little bit more. Right, exactly. Okay. All right. MVP voting next season for these younger guys we've hit on all three um over under one and a half in the voting for josh allen is he going to be the number one guy or later um i will say later you think so because the momentum i said it before this season jeff i told you he was gonna

get a lot of love how often how often are the mvp the mvp winners like they're not even the favorites normally right like matt rye i mean was aaron rogers a favorite this year no matter what aaron rogers a favorite this year i wouldn't think so but he had to be one of the people talked about i mean yeah i i would still say he's not so basically his mvp i would say he's not the mvp even though their their coordinator coming back brian d, is a huge win for the Bills. It appears he's coming back next year. Yeah, because we would have guessed he was going to have a lot of options this offseason. His jobs fill up, and he doesn't have one of them.

I'm surprised. All right, so Josh Allen will be in the hunt, but you don't think he'll be next year's MVP. Lamar Jackson, over under three and a half. Is he going to be a top three guy in the MVP race next year? No. No. We covered him. We'll save some time.

Now a controversial one. Baker Mayfield, five and a half. Is he sort of a top five type guy for MVP talk next year? Seem to figure it out at the end of the year. No. Really don't think so. They could improve that win total, couldn't they? You're going to have Mahomes, Allen, Wilson, you know, Rogers, Derek Henry. You're going to have all these guys ahead of Baker Mayfield.

I think what we saw from Baker Mayfield is probably like what we – that's probably, you know, 200, 250 yards a game. They run the football. That's not going to win the MVP. Okay. More likely to win an MVP or a Superbowl one day. Oh, geez. Um, I mean, if he wins the MVP, they might win the Superbowls. I would say that I would say, uh, MVP, I guess. No, see, I'm going to go the other way. I think, I think Baker, it would take a lot

for you there to happen. I think he could win a Super Bowl. Defense gets a little bit better. He's got a good coach. He does what he needs to do on offense. They could win a Super Bowl. The league shifts a little bit. Winning an MVP, you need the stats. That doesn't look like he's ever going to have in a winning team. So we'll pass on that.

All right. The NFL announced there will be major changes to the combine this offseason. There are going to be regional medical medical checks more formalized pro days zoom interviews just basically a lot of fixes uh with covid still unfortunately still in mind even this spring so um i want to know over under 30 chance this ever returns to what we would have called normal the sort of setup you were used to oh i think it's normal as soon as they can make it normal really this is yeah the medical part of this is so important it's why the combine was created you have rooms and rooms and rooms of team doctors and you spend an entire day to go over all your body give you scans they do all the

blood work and workups and and like that's why this was created the the workout part is not as important as and the meetings with the teams and i think you don't look the nfl people they like to socialize right they meet their buddies they hang out at the bars at night like that's a big part of the scene of this whole thing i think it comes back as soon as possible okay and you've always you've always liked the extra exhibition for non-Power 5 players or guys who didn't get as much attention on a national level team in Power 5 schools. It's huge. They're going to do regional pro days, I think, this year too. So there's other ways for them to get seen this year. But, um, you know, you can't kind of all be there in person. Yeah. Well also our producer Nick points out, uh, probably beyond anything else you just said,

I think the number one reason is it's good programming for NFL network in the off season. It fills up a lot of damn hours for a lot of shows. So, um, I know they'd like to have a place where they can point the cameras and talk about guys running. So they'll get back to it as soon as they can. We'll end with some offseason rule change possibilities. We sort of touched on this one earlier. Chance of the NFL fixes the end zone fumble touchback rule this offseason over under 50% since that was a big moment to see it go wrong. I will say no because there's no great fix to it.

That's the problem. Okay. I proposed one earlier, courtesy of Bill Barnwell. I don't think that's good. I don't like it. You don't like it? Well, fight with Bill Barnwell and his fans then. All right.

How about this one? I wrote a whole article on this, by the way. I can find it for SB Nation. I wrote a whole thing about it. I mean, there's just no... And I think I put down what you said. I think there's no just no great option in my opinion okay um i'm gonna bring up something uh our buddy trey wingo tweeted and get it to a rule change um so he said on sunday night mahomes won't finish the game lamar jackson didn't finish the game on Saturday. Commissioners in attendance, don't be surprised if come this offseason,

there'll be major attempts to protect quarterbacks next season. So we've added some rules in the past few years. Chances the NFL adds even more rules to protect quarterbacks. You know what they should do, though, is have a good idea, is that they just put a flag around them. And when someone gets close, they just pull a flag around them and when it gets closer just pull the flag and you're down you're down right at the spot no it's nothing i mean the mahomes injury the lamar injury they're not dirty plays it's football man it happens so you don't

think that there was some fear in the commissioner's office that of course there's fear your star quarterbacks get hurt but what are they gonna do differently on the Mahomes thing? Hey, like, just don't tackle him hard, please. Yeah. I mean, it almost looked like – what is it, Mack Wilson, was it? It almost looked like his hand was going to get torn off just because the awkwardness of where he went. And I really – I think – I know it's hard to say because my sibling plays as well.

But, man, like like parents on twitter sometimes like like my home's mom called him out so it was a dirty hit it wasn't it wasn't dirty man come on yeah i think generally speaking uh families of professional athletes unless they are media personalities and known figures themselves, are never doing their family any favors, sharing their thoughts. Because as you've mentioned, people then just assume, oh, but that's, he's sort of speaking for his brother or for his, you know, her son. And that's not the case. You're just popping off. And then it's applied to your, you know, your son and their work environment. It's not fair. Yeah. Yeah. I, again, I, I'm very, my parents are very passionate about us.

I'm glad they don't have social media either to tweet. I mean, if your dad's anything like my dad, there was never a possibility that he was going to figure that one out. So big weekend ahead, any closing thoughts on championship weekend and the Chiefs or anything else that sticks out that we didn't cover? No, it was a great weekend. Only three games left.

And I'm excited to kind of break everything down, like the matchups down further on Wednesday's show, Thursday's show, I should say. We'll have a lot of props. We'll have a lot of fun with it. We're going to make it a good time. So otherwise, man, have a great couple of days. I appreciate everyone listening.

The number's going up. Please rate, review, subscribe. Really appreciate it. And we'll talk to you guys on Thursday. Take care.