KSR - NFL Cover Zero: Super Bowl is set and Coaches getting hired

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

Matt Jones and Drew Franklin look at the Conference Championship matchups that gave us a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl. Jarrett Stidham had a tough day, but should the Broncos have taken first half points before weather came?   Matt talks about the exciting matchup between the Rams and Seahawks.  Did Sam Darnold finally silence his critics? Drew notes the coaching matchup that delivered.  What are your first thoughts on the Maye-Darnold QB matchup?  Matt wonders if either of these teams are at the start of a long run of Championship hopes. Onto the coaching hires with two new hires in the AFC North.  Mike McCarthy adds another iconic franchise to his coaching resume with the Steelers.  What changes will Jesse Minter bring to the Ravens? Matt was surprised by the Bills interviewing Philip Rivers, but wants his coaches to have more experience. We wrap up with preparations for NFL Cover Zero heading to the Super Bowl.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and IHeart podcast. Well, the championship games just finished, and it is NFL Cover Zero, Matt Jones and Drew Franklin. All three, including Billy, snowed in in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. Not as much snow as they told us we were going to get. they told us we were going to get zero snow, or excuse me, like a foot of snow. We got like six inches, I think Lexington only got like four.

So it's a little disappointing. But now I wonder what a foot would look like because you still can't move in Louisville. And there are obviously places in the country where it's even worse in Tennessee and Mississippi. So a lot of the country snowed in, iced in for these games today. Yeah, here in Lexington, we got to. the snow than ice on top. I actually went outside to shovel my driveway and it was just, there was just like a block of ice. So I just smacked it a few times and walked back in and gave up. So pretty nasty here, even though it wasn't quite what you got. And then I saw a little bit of

in Denver, too. It's pretty fun to watch that in the games today. Yeah, by the way, I am anti-shoveling. I came to that conclusion today. No, I mean, everybody immediately wants to go shovel. Now, if you can't get out for whatever reason. Then that's a different scenario. But explain to me why people always want to shovel. Why can't you just walk through it? Well, I have a very steep driveway. Like, if I were one... I understand why you have to shuffles. Yeah. I understand that. But like, people who shovel their, their sidewalk. Why don't you just walk through the snow, Billy?

Take care of your Amazon guy. Your package deliverer. Well, that's okay. That's a good argument. it. Now, you know what? I didn't even think about that. That is, that is, I don't have a shovel. So what do I? That shocks us. That's completely shocks us. I don't have a shovel. I have a, one brush. I went outside and brushed all the snow off my car, but I actually don't know if that's a good idea, because I feel like now it'll just ice up. But, yeah, I didn't think about the Amazon and the post office people. Good point. You never know when somebody's going to come ring the doorbell. Don't your neighbors come over and visit, check on you? No, you want to give them a clear path.

That's why you should do it. Because I do get packages. That's exactly why you should do it. And now I feel rude for not having thought about it. It's okay. Nobody in my neighborhood has done it. I was the only one out there. So tough times right now.

I don't even think Amazon's out in this mess with that we got. Well, I saw I have friends in Oxford, Mississippi, and it looks awful there. I mean, they got like two inches of ice, you know, the squads. which is the center circle there. Trees are everywhere. You and I've walked through that many times. All those houses, like all the trees are down. I think I saw 30,000 different places have power,

and 29,500 of them are out. I don't know if the other 500 people are all taunting them, but it looks just, it looks miserable in Oxford. They got it bad there in Mississippi. Just a little farther north, Franklin, Tennessee, outside of Nashville, got wrecked. I have friends there with trees down. everywhere. So even though we didn't get the snowmageddon, we thought we'd get in Kentucky,

there's a lot of damage all over the eastern United States, even if it wasn't what they were projecting originally. Well, we got to see some of that snow. First of all, these football games, I'm going to go on record. I hate to say this because, you know, I'm obviously a big fan of the National Football League, not as much as Billy with his NFL hat. But I can't think of a Super Bowl where I find the matchup less compelling, Drew, than this one. I kind of agree with you, even though I think they're both, you know, they deserve to be there, obviously. It's not on paper.

It's not the logos. Any of us really will count it on seeing. I wish I'd known we're all complaining about seeing the Chiefs so much to get the Chiefs out. It'd just be the Patriots again. Maybe I wouldn't have complained about being tired of the Chiefs, but it's like, oh, we finally get something different out of the AFC, but it ends up being just the team it used to be.

I mean, first of all, bring on the Chiefs. The Chiefs games were never boring. You're right. Kelsey, like, you're telling me you wouldn't want to see Chiefs versus Seahawks rather than Patriot Seahawks. Well, before the year, I was ready for, like, the Bills or Ravens to finally get a chance. Obviously, we didn't get that. And it's like, of all the teams to slide in and take the Chief's spot, when they finally get out of the way, it has to be Boston. Yeah, what's the song?

don't know what you got till it's gone. Was that Dido? No. No, that's graduation or something. Okay. No, maybe it was paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Anyway, point Bede. I want the Chiefs back.

I don't care. And I hate the Patriots because they're not even good. I mean, they have, they didn't, no one should have won today. Both teams should have been required to quit. like they should have advanced both the Seahawks and Rams the Super Bowl, Drew, and made both of these teams go away. I missed kickoff because I just didn't even realize it was 3 o'clock and it was here. That wouldn't have been the case if it had been a better matchup.

And then to be a 10-7 game, it was a letdown all the way around. And Jared Stidham comes out on fire, right? Like he proved he had two years worth of pent-up energy. But, you know, like a person who had not. eating in a long time. He wore himself out really quick. And then, you know, the game came down, in my opinion, to one play. You know, they decide to, they decide to go for it on that fourth down instead of going up 10-0, and that backfires on them. And then, you know, if you're Stidham, you cannot turn that ball over. You just can't. And they, the whole, the thing was don't lose them

the game and that intercept. I mean, I think the game was oddly over at halftime, as crazy as that sounds. Yeah, no one expected Stedham to go out there and have four touchdowns and have MVP day. It was like, just don't go out there and make a stupid mistake that we can point out when the game's over as to why we lost. And that fumble, I mean, he's backpedaling. He had plenty of time to get rid of the ball. I had time to yell, what are you doing before we even lost the ball.

And that's exactly what happened. It's the only thing you can't do right there. It's the only thing you can't do. Like the only mistake that will really hurt you right there is fumbling, and that's what he does. And then, you know, they get the kick blocked in the fourth quarter, but the wind was so bad and all of that that I'm not sure that, you know, you could count on the kickers anyway. To your point about them not being very good, they've had more three and outs than scoring drives in the playoffs, the Patriots, offense, and they're in the Super Bowl. And, you know, they've had, I think, without question, the easiest path. Now, I've seen the contrarian view out there.

It was started by Kay Adams, who I don't know, but she seems like a delight. But like she came out and said, you could argue this is the hardest path ever. The fifth hardest defense, the best defense, and the second best defense. Kay Adams, hopefully will meet her at the Super Bowl. I'm going to tell her that that made me like her about 100. the less because that's ridiculous. I mean, these offenses, you're talking about Justin Herbert who looks scared, and C.J. Stroud, and Jared Stidham were terrible.

That does not. I refuse to accept that argument. Listen, I used to watch Kay Adams at 7 a.m. every morning when she was still on NFL network. I wish she was still on Good Morning Football. I agree with you. That's a terrible take. Jared Stidham in the AFC Championship is not a tough task. Sure, that defense was awesome. I mean, the Broncos defense deserved to be in the Super Bowl. When you're playing against a guy at that point in the playoffs, one step from the Super Bowl,

a guy who hadn't thrown a pass in two years. I just can't get behind. That's a tough pass or tough road. I don't care if it is on the road in Denver. To your point about the Chiefs, nine of the last 10 Super Bowls have been either with the Patriots or the Chiefs. Nine of the last 10. I think, if I'm correct, you tell me if this is wrong, Billy. I believe that today was the first AFC championship game since, like, 1999 that did not have

my Holmes Brady or Manning. Oh, I'd have to check that. That is correct. I saw, I heard that or consumed that somewhere along the way this week. Which is, that sounds familiar. Which is an amazing statistic, if you think about it. I mean, that's 26, 27 years worth of AFC championships, and you knew you'd have one of them.

And today you came home, took your shirt off, put your feet up, and got a little hot Stidomay action. I don't know. I don't feel like that. That's quite the same thing. The broadcast even matched the QB duel. I don't know if you all noticed this, but in the second half, when it got snowy,

they tried to add digital yard markers because you couldn't see them. Well, players would disappear under the yard markers. So, like, there was a punt, and the punt returner just disappeared behind the 10-yard line. Didn't know where it was. So, I mean, they were even botching, trying to make the production. It feels like that was technology that had not been tested enough in beta mode. And I also do think, like, with Sean Payton going back to not kicking that field goal,

you know, they knew the Blizzard was coming in the second half. So I feel like it's like a NASCAR race back in the day when they would like, you know, change the tires because at the halfway point, if it rains, the change is over. And so they would like go, let's go real fast right now, don't get any gas, etc., in case it's going to rain. I feel like Sean Payton, he should have come first. around a wedge and gotten four tires there in that to kick that field goal. Definitely.

I mean, obviously now that it's 10-7, it's haunting. But in the moment, you've got to know, weather's coming, and Jared Stittam was by quarterback, and he completed a 52-yard pass and scored a touchdown. I don't know how much I'm going to have of that. I'm not saying it was luck, but I don't know if Sean Payton was thinking that there was going to be a lot more of those Stidham throws ahead, but there were not. And he should have taken those free points in what we could tell was going to be a low-scoring game right away.

Do you think this is a game for why everybody has a dome 10, 15 years from now? No. First of all, that's going to be a take. Those people should be prosecuted. If you had that game today and it wasn't Stittam May and it was Mahomes Allen, are you going to tell me the score is going to be 10 to 7? It's not because the weather. The score was 10 to 7.

It was because Drake May, he said, going to make the Super Bowl and everybody's going to be excited about him, and that's fine. He's played objectively poorly in these playoffs. He has. Now, listen, they're winning because he's played better than the quarterbacks he's gone against, and the New England defense is great. But he has been objectively bad. And then Stedham hadn't played seven games in eight years.

So I don't think you can blunt. The snow obviously affects it. But if you had great quarterbacks out there at the peak of their game, Drew, I think they would have put points up. Yeah, even before the snow came, he wasn't looking that good. If I'm not mistaken, he completed less than 50% of his passes, didn't have a touchdown. Now, I had three big runs, and he had the touchdown run. And the couple of them were great.

I mean, including the bootleg at the end. Yeah, I'm watching right now on a replay here. That was a good one. And then, yeah, so I didn't even tell his offensive line on the go-line run. He was going to take it. So he made some big plays, but as a passer, he didn't do much today. That was part of defense, and, you know, he hasn't looked great all playoffs, even though they continue to win. Your question about dons.

This is what's going to happen in 40 years when someone is doing their own version. It's cover 040, you know, hosted by probably the kid that lives next door that wouldn't stop screaming today. What's going to happen with all these domes that get built is exactly what's going to, what happened in baseball in the 70s when they built all those cookie-cutter stadiums, like Shea Stadium and River. front and there were like 15 of them across the country. They're like, oh, we want all these stadiums to be modern and look the same. And then they stunk and everybody and now pretty much all of them have been moved out of. Same thing when NASCAR. When NASCAR got popular, they decided, oh, let's make it uniform.

Let's stop having short tracks and super, let's make everything a mile and a half. And then they realized that a mile and a half tracks are the most boring tracks you can have and they basically now left all of them, including the Kentucky Speedway, sits empty because it was one of those mile and a half tracks. That's what's going to happen with these domes. The character of sports is the uniqueness of the stadium. And it's nice when there's a handful of domes. But when there are 20 domes or 25 domes, everyone is going to wish these games were outside.

And that's going to happen as Kansas City builds its dome and all of these places get their domes, everyone is going to wish that they were back outside. It's like they all have the same blueprint right now, too. I mean, the Titans that's going up right now, it looks just like some of the ones that were recently built. Like they just hired the same crew and had them come over and build the same building. I saw people on Twitter today saying, see, this is why we needed domes, but no.

I mean, I didn't love the 10-7 game, but I'm not. I'm all in on keeping the open stadiums. But why did he rush that game without the snow? It would have been the most boring. Like, it would have been even more, imagine that game inside, right? Like, that's even more boring. At least the snow gave you something to look at. And there wasn't even really snow in the first half.

It came on hard. It went from, if you took a long bathroom break, you went from clear skies in Denver to what the heck just happened. Yeah. So I hate it. I don't have to drive tomorrow because I'm snowed in. But normally on my drive to the radio show, I listen to Bill Simmons talk about the game.

If I had to do that tomorrow, I don't know. I probably would come in and just start screaming at you, Drew, and Ryan and Billy. Like, I'm glad. I'll probably just skip this episode because I don't want to hear him happy. I know. Don't you? That's mean of me, but. I know you don't like the Patriots, and you're not that impressed by Drake May,

but do you find it all sweet that he went as a fan in that same stadium in Santa Clara to watch the Panthers, and now he's going back as a player? Isn't that football romantic? No. Okay, so first of all, that means he was rich. You don't go to the Super Bowl at a game unless you got some money. So like I'm supposed to somehow think it's romantic that he went and watched the Panthers. Now, if he had watched the Patriots in that stadium, okay.

He watched a different team in the stadium. I will say when they were telling that story during the game, they presented it like, well, he's only been to one as a fan. I'm like only one as a fan. How many fans get to go? Like 1% of fans maybe get to go to a Super Bowl, if that. Yeah, I mean, that's like, and I'm sure this has happened. That's like somebody walking up the 18th and going, he only went to six masters, and one day he hoped he would be on the other.

Like, oh, okay, well, what a beautiful story. So, no, I don't care. Let me cover my master's gnome back here, as you say that. Let me cover that up. I mean, look, the masters are great, but, you know, I mean, it's not, I'm much more interested in the kid who grew up on this public municipal course and then played in the Masters. That would be much more interesting to me. I'll be very excited. I'm excited to go.

I'm excited for the pomp and the circumstance. Here's what I want to see the Super Bowl. I want to see bad buddy. I want to see Green Day, because I didn't know they still play. Oh, yeah. 60th anniversary celebration. The what anniversary? They're playing the 60th anniversary celebration before the game.

It's a big deal. It's an odd choice to pick them, right? I mean, what are they going to sing? Like, I want to be an American idiot. I saw it's Green Day and Legends from every generation of Super Bowls. So, yeah, that's a good good for them. Wait a minute. Oh, so the players are coming out.

It's some big celebration of Super Bowls. I don't know how Green Day got the pick for that of all the options, but I'm there for it. I'm ready for some duke. I want to be the minority. and they're like, here is Jeff Hostelor. And he waves at the crowd. I hope we get Jeff Hostelor singing Dookie on stage with Green Day. Well, they're going to sing the song from Seinfeld, right?

I hope you had the time of your life, which is also weird. It's weird that's what they're known for because, like, they're a punk band and they're known for like this like graduation song, which I always find sort of odd, right? Yeah. Yeah. What is the connection? Are they from San Francisco? They're like, how do they get here?

I think the connection is, let's have someone that, in theory, edgy, but like actually it's middle-aged dads that listen to them now. I was wrong. They are from San Francisco. I guess that helped them get the cake. Okay, well, then that's how they, this is for anyone that doesn't like bad bunny here, have Green Day. Yeah, all right.

By the way, I'm excited about Bad Bunny. I've been listening to Bad Bunny in preparation. Okay. It's not bad. Like, for not understanding any of the words. See, that's what I think. You have to judge it on the I don't speak Spanish scale. Does it still keep your attention in that one?

It does. Yeah. Like that one. That one keeps my attention. And so I like it. I hope he plays that one. Yeah, there's one that's very sad. And makes you go into it.

Oh, it's in Spanish? How you know it's sad? I can just tell through the emotion of this singing. So maybe you started down during the Super Bowl at one point. You would probably appreciate that compliment. This isn't the only nice thing to say about him. You can feel his emotions. Like Beethoven and Bad Bunny expressed their sadness just through melodic tones.

All right. So then the afternoon or early evening you get Seahawks Rams. It's a much more exciting game. Second half. Offense, you know, takes over. I thought Stafford played well. Sam Darnold, got to give Sam Darnold a ton of credit. I mean, he's played well.

He's had doubters. Well, first of all, he's had a doubters his whole career because he earned them. And then he played really well in Minnesota and then collapsed at the end of the year. Everybody said, see, that's what Sam Darnold actually is. He comes back, does it, and actually. you know, meets the goals this year as a one seed. I actually do think he's a great story. Yeah, definitely.

Three touchdowns today. I mean, it helps having Jackson Smith and Jigba on your team. That guy just gets open and makes plays. But Donald deserves everything that's happening for him right now. I mean, the fact that he had a great season with the Vikings, and they still threw him away for Billy's Boy, 9, J.J. McCarthy. I know they were invested in McCarthy with a draft pick, but when you just saw Donald have a good season,

And to let him walk, eat it Minnesota, and good for you, Sam Darnold. I don't love the matchup, as we said, but he deserves to be there and had a hell of a season when everybody had to give it up on him. It is true, and Jigua's great. But there's very few quarterbacks who are amazing who don't at least have one person like that. Like, you know, you think, I heard Chris Mad Dog Russo and he was ranking the 10 best quarterbacks of all time. And normally on TV, I find him impossible to watch. but he was actually interesting in this because he had a lot of historical perspective

and he was talking about how he is close to ranking Josh Allen because he's like he's the only one that's even on this list that you can say had no one great as a receiver and I think that's probably true so I think Donald, I'm not saying Donald's nowhere close to that list but it's

you know having in jigba he needs somebody like that and he is amazing the routes he ran in the second half were perfection and they were just so full I mean, they threw a few times late in the game when it's like, oh, I don't know if I would have thrown there when they were running out the clock and trying to keep the ball. A lot of running situations, some risky play calling there.

The McVeigh-McDillard matchup, I mean, we've had three great games this season, and they're both so young. It looks like they got a little fire on each side. This game did not disappoint. I thought the Rams were still going to pull it off. That Kobe Parkinson drop was horrible. That was my touch. I mean, he walks into.

the end zone if he catches that. I guess when the defender maybe blocked his vision a little bit when he came over, but it's a terrible, it's a terrible, terrible, terrible drop. And it was especially terrible because Stafford had run for a first down before that, which I bet he hasn't done since Georgia. That was the slowest run. Luckily, he only needed a yard. He even could have pitched it to Karen Williams.

I'm surprised he used his legs, and he broke a tackle in slow motion. He even used his legs a few plays later when he got a little pitch out there too. So it looked like we were about to have the MVP game-winning drive, and it just came up short, but a great game nonetheless. And there was maybe the worst taunting call in NFL history. I mean, the Rams come back to win that game. It bothered me live because I thought that was a bad call. And then I saw on the Internet a camera on him,

and you can see he won't stop. He won't stop. free tells him to stop, he stops and then he starts again. And so I think they call that, I mean, the question is, do you call it on a fourth down like that? And I can understand the argument that you shouldn't, but I actually do think Billy, he did earn it, although in real time I was like you, I thought it was terrible. No, I agree with you. I think they should have called it. But if the Rams would have came back and won that game, for them to get a first down on that fourth down, I think you

would have looked back at that penalty is maybe one of the worst of all time when it comes to like oh you know you mean worse in terms of it was bad of him to do it yeah yeah no i think that's fair drew what did you think of that call i think he earned it and then the very next play he gives up a 47-yard touchdown what a he better be glad they won because what a two-play sequence i mean they showed he was getting a fight with his own teammates afterwards i also would have fought him like dude it was fourth and 12 and then a 47 48-yard touchdown two plays apart but luckily they held on, but that could have been an awful sequence for him if they had to pull that game off. He probably, if that had, I don't know that he could have played in Seattle anymore.

You know? And I have a, that's one you know, maybe don't come back for him. The fans wouldn't let him back, which brings me to my complaint about the fans. I don't like how they keep calling him 12. Did you, I don't know if y'all watch the post game, but everything's just 12, 12. I know they call him the 12th man, but I heard 12 too many times today. It was wearing me out. Listen to how loud the 12s are.

good for the 12s. The 12s are going back to the Promise Land. It's a little much for me with their branding of the Seattle fans. Well, I think that was true 15 years ago. But I feel like I watch a lot of Seattle games now, and I don't feel like the environment seems that different than anywhere else. I remember I did think back in the Marchon Lynch, Russell Wilson, run, that they did seemingly have a much louder crowd.

But I have not felt that in recent years. So I don't know, you know, I don't know. I don't know if I buy it, Drew, to be honest. And they're a good fan base. Not even knock on them. It's like it's almost like they were paid by how many times they said the 12s are getting loud today. It was really wearing me out. Like, sure, reference them a few times, but they were wearing me out with it.

Well, I'm happy for Mike McDonald, who revealed earlier last week that he only spends about 30 minutes with his son a week. Did you see that? No, yes. I have a constrict. Hang on, I didn't hear this. What did he say? Yeah, so he spends like Thursday afternoons with his family, and then he'll carve out about 30 minutes to spend some time with his son

before he goes down in his man cave and grind more film. So he was saying earlier this week. I have a theory on this, too, about today's game. Yeah. I don't know if you all saw this, but pregame, Sean McVeigh was holding his young son on the sideline and playing with him. I don't know if he always does that. I'm not always paying attention, but it felt a little intentional

with all the Mike McDonald's stories this week about only seeing his son 30 minutes a week. Coincidentally, McVeigh is walking around holding his son at kickoff. I was watching that. My antennas were up looking at that might be a little bit of an intentional. Yeah, that feels pretty intentional. That's weird. I don't know how I missed that story. I don't know how much time you're supposed to spend with your son because I don't have a son.

And I don't think I should spend time with other people's son. so I don't really know what, but it feels like whatever, it feels like it's better to say nothing than to say 30 minutes. I feel like if you're going to, I feel like you're going to say, you either want to say, I spend a lot of time with my family or I don't get to spend as much time as I would want. I don't think you should quantify 30 minutes. All right. So now you got, we get the Super Bowl, May versus Darnel.

Sam Darno has a chance to ruin my longtime Super Bowl argument about. how you can only win the Super Bowl either with a Hall of Famer or with a guy on a rookie contract. Drake, of course, could be the guy on the rookie contract. But Sam Donald's not going to be a Hall of Famer, and he's not on a rookie contract. He's been paying a lot of money. So he's got a chance to ruin my theory. There are four-and-a-half-point favorite. Do you like the Seahawks in a couple weeks?

I like him to win. I think the Patriots are going to give him a game. It opened at three and a half. That's like the worst line ever. I hate three and a half. You just make it three. I'd probably take the Seahawks to cover. I think they're so balanced.

I mean, they don't have a star on the team. The way they've been playing, they're good offensively, good defensively. I mean, excuse me, Jackson Smith and Jigma is definitely a star. But for the most part, they're just balanced across the board. I think they're the more complete team, and they'll end up winning it. I'm going to sound like a party pooper, but I don't. don't feel like any of these teams when they win it, it's going to feel like they're actually a Super Bowl winner. I feel like when teams win the Super Bowl, it's usually a progression,

right? Like you watch a team, and for a year or two, they get to the playoffs, but don't get to the Super Bowl, and you watch them develop into a team that can get there, or, you know, they get to the Super Bowl, and don't quite get it, whatever. Both these teams come out of nowhere, really. Both these teams are basically brand new. The Patriots are brand new because they have a second year quarterback and a new coach. Seahawks are brand new, new coach, and a new quarterback. I just don't feel like either of these teams too. This is going to end up being like a title that's kind of like the Pistons in 2004 with Tayshan

and all those guys where like you'll go, that just feels weird, you know? Yeah, and you have throwaways on both sides. On one end you have a quarterback who just got told to kick rocks. And the other side, you have a coach that just got told to kick rocks. I mean, Vrable was my team, bless our hearts. Mike Vrable was run out of Nashville. Now he's in the Super Bowl. Sam Donald was running.

To the Titans fans regret that? Oh, absolutely. I mean, for him to be there in year one, just added to the list of things that look bad for the Titans, but this has to be at the top of that list now. For him to go from fired to the gym running him out of the, to in year one, he takes a four-win team to the Super Bowl. But it's just either side, you have someone that another team had and just kicked out, and now they're going to have a ring on their finger a couple weeks.

See, I don't feel like either one of these teams, like, you need to win. Because I don't feel like either one of these teams are, like, set up to have years of this. You know what I mean? Like, I don't feel like this is the start of something. You know, maybe the Patriots, but I don't, I mean, I don't think they're that good. I think they had a last-place schedule, all the other big, quarterbacks had issues. Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe they're back here next year, but that's what I think. And then I think for the Seahawks, you know, NFC's down. They have a great year. I think both these teams, like you want to win now. Obviously, you want to win anyway, but I'm not sure that we'll see. I don't think we'll see either of these teams again next year, so now's the time to pounce on it. I think the Patriots are set up.

I don't think they're going to have a dynasty like they did or anything crazy, but they're just a gritty team. That's kind of how the Titans have. had some success with Vrable. He's just a good coach. The fact that they, I know they're not anything special, but the fact that they went nine and no on the road just says a lot about him and how he's able to get him up, you know.

But I want to hate on him. Come on. I know. They'll be knocking on the door for a while, but I don't think we're like looking at the next wave of a dynasty. Like, if you think Drake May is what New England fans think he is, then yeah, this is the start of a long run. I think he's been really poor.

in these playoffs. He's just been fortunate that there have been, C.J. Stroud has one of the worst games in the history of the playoffs. And then Jared Stedom, you know, was a banker a few weeks ago. So, like, I'm not trying to hate. I clearly am hating. But, C. Jocs Patriots. Yeah. And Patriots are excited. Drake May is younger than Tom Brady was before he even took over for Bletso. So the ones that really believe he's the future, they look like they're getting an even bigger head start on this next dynasty. Can I tell you what? What does really bother me, though, is like week seven or week eight or something of the season. I was looking at Super Bowl like matchup odds. And the Seahawks at the

time, I think, were like, six and one, and maybe the Patriots were six and two or something. And I looked and I was like, these two teams right now would be the one seeds. And it was like, 60 to 1. And I thought, why is this so high? Well, I don't, maybe I should just bet this, right? Like, I don't like either of these teams. This would be a miserable finish. And now I go, you know, 20 bucks.

Like, how did I not do that? But I do think literally, even when they were both in first place, it was literally like 60 to 1 or something at one point. Yeah, I mean, all season, even though they kept winning, they had two of the best win streaks in the regular season. and it never felt like they were a real, you know, team that could get all the way to the Super Bowl. They were winning games. You'd be like, well, they won again.

I guess they're good. But it never felt like they were going to go all the way. They're like plus 1,200 to win the Super Bowl at the start of the playoffs. You know, like even though they were the two seed, I want to say that they were something like plus 1,200. They were like the seventh most likely team. So I don't know. I kind of felt like they were going to win from the beginning, and I thought they were probably going to win. next week, and I'm just going to, I'm not going to like it.

All right. So, Billy, what else do we have besides these championship games since the last time we've been on? Two new coaches were hired in the AFC North. Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator for the Chargers, is now the head coach of the Ravens. And Mike McCarthy is the new man in Pittsburgh. Okay, so let's start with Mike McCarthy. I think what's interesting about him is he will now have coached the three most iconic franchises in football, the Steelers, the Packers, and the Cowboys.

That's amazing. I mean, that would be like you only had three jobs in baseball, and it was the Red Sox Yankees and Cubs. I mean, you know, or Dodgers. I mean, it's kind of crazy that that would be the thing. And he's not exactly a legend, and yet he's the guy. It also doesn't fit what they usually do, which is hire a young guy and keep them for 20 years. And also it feels like he's just Mike Tomlin, but maybe not quite as good. So I find it an odd hire.

How about you? Yeah, for one, I'm with you on it's crazy that he gets to coach those three teams. And he's a Pittsburgh native, so he's got to be pinching himself that this is his new job. But, you know, I've talked about in the last several weeks how he was high on the Titans list, and I didn't really want him. I wanted a young guy. He's got to be in his mid-60s if I were guessing. I think I saw you, 62 maybe.

Okay, a little younger than I thought. But that's an organization that's had three coaches in like 200 years and whatever you think of him. He's probably not going to have a whole lot left. So it was just a little different than what you think of Pittsburgh. But good for him. Going home, another good job. I didn't want him, but go get him in Pittsburgh.

I only think you hire Mike McCarthy if you think you can go win the Super Bowl. Right? Like, I mean, they don't have a quarterback. To me, you get a coordinator and you let them build their career. I was surprised by it. I mean, I don't, he won't fail. But I think, like, you know, Tomlin would win nine games every year. I kind of think McCarthy's going to win eight games every year.

That's kind of how I feel like that's what it's going to be. He's like a little worse Tomlin. Now, as far as mentor, his dad was once the coordinator for our team. the Kentucky Wildcats. I know nothing about him except he's like, he's everyone's nerd, the nerd's favorite choice. So the nerd football writers are like, oh, what a hire. I mean, do you buy that? I just knew he was, you know, one of the hottest names on the board.

I get the Ravens going coordinator route defense. I just wonder what the Ravens' future really looks like with the Lamar situation and what he's and how Lamar looked this last year. I know he was hurt, had some hamstring stuff, but that did not look like, even when he was supposedly healthy and playing, that did not look like the Lamar we've all seen forever. So they're in a weird spot as he's coming in to takeover.

I guess it's exciting if you're a fan because that's a hot name, but I don't know what my team looks like. They have a lot of old dudes. Derek Henry, you know, what's he going to do? All throughout the roster, it was kind of a win now a year, and they dropped the ball big time. Yeah. And, I mean, I, okay, so they hire a defensive coordinator, but I guess who you hires your offensive coordinator is going to matter.

I mean, ultimately, you're not going to do anything over the next couple years unless Lamar does it. People seem to love this guy. I know the young coordinator thing has worked, but the young coordinator thing has worked with offensive guys. I mean, we haven't really seen the young coordinator defense thing. It's not been the way people have gone recently. So we'll see. I mean, I can't make strong statements either way since I don't know him. His dad was horrible as a coordinator.

Great nickname, not a great coordinator. Yeah. There is the, they might be looking at the Mike McDonald mold. He was defensive with Seattle. Yeah, I guess, I mean, you're coming from the Ravens too. That would be what they would do. But, I mean, we'll see. I'm going to start calling him nuclear mentor.

His name's what, Jesse? Nuclear is much better than Jesse. I feel like Jesse's a terrible name for a coach. To me, to me, it's like Mikey or, you know, you can't, or Billy. Like, if I'm going to be, if you're going to be a coach, you need to be the non-E version. You need to be Bill or Mike or Jess. Like, Jesse, I just don't think that sounds like a coach. I'm definitely going by nuclear two if I'm Jesse Miller.

I'm trying to think, has there been anyone in a position of leadership of success ever named Jesse? How about Jesse Ventura? Oh, well, now that's true. There you go. Okay, I take it back. But Jesse the Body Ventura. Successful in two different, two professions. That's right.

He both was a leadership in the locker room at WWE and in the State House of Minnesota. So, you know what? I take it back. I've got a lot of faith in Jesse Mentor's career. Jesse Jackson? That's true. Maybe we're sleeping on Jesse's.

He was never an official leader, though. He was like, he was an unofficial leader. But good job with your jessies. What about the old outlaw, Jesse James? There's more Jesse's... Unofficial leader. These are a lot of characters, but I don't know if I want to give them the keys to my franchise.

Last one. Saved by the bell, Jesse. That's all I got. Those are my four. She is excited and she's also scared. So I think that makes it a little bit hard. That's a reference bill he won't get, but that's okay. The Buffalo Bills interviewed Philip Rivers for their head coaching spot.

They have not made a decision yet at this time. This is the second weirdest flash on my screen, and I think it has to be a joke, interview in history. Nothing will ever top the Browns are interviewing Condoleezza Rice to be the headcount. Which, I remember that. Interesting story about that. That was my first day ever on ESPN radio. First day. My first day.

That story broke like the night before. And it was a Saturday morning. I was filled in for Marty and McGee. And the top story was Condoleezza Rice's interview with the Browns. Do you think that's a good idea? And I sat and I remember thinking, what do I say? Because it's a terrible idea, but she's never coached anything, I'm aware. And I was like, and I remember people were going, well, she's a good leader.

And I was, well, okay. But so anyway, this is, this one is not quite as shocking as that one, Drew, but fairly surprising. I got to tell you, I didn't really care for Philip Rivers as a player, but since he came back to play for the Colts, it had his little run there, and we all fell for the Phillip Rivers moment. I'm all in, and I hope he gets the job, and I hope he wins. He's coaching a high school team right now. To go from high school to the bills, I'm just on a...

Are you serious right now? I am. I am. I am a good decision. I'm not saying it's good. I said I'm rooting for it. It actually is pretty ridiculous. I'm with you.

The moment I saw their interview, I thought, well, this can't be real. But now that it's actually on the table and he's been interviewed, I don't know how seriously or close he is to get in the job, I'm rooting for it. He won me over in Indianapolis, a team I don't even like, and I'm all in on Philip Rivers coming back into the league. This is a horrible idea.

I don't know why people think a person that has never coached. I don't care that he's coached high school. I can show you a lot of people that have coached high school, and some of them get tased on basketball courts in Kentucky. I don't think that I don't think the fact that you coach high school just makes you have Why did Jeff Saturday

They did this with Jeff Saturday And that didn't work Like why do people think this is going to work? Get a coach, right? You don't just go like It's crazy It's like it would be as if It would be as if the CEO of Ford resides

And they go Why don't we go get Matt Kinsett Like No, just because he's can drive a car doesn't mean he can run a car company. I agree with you, but I'm also rooting for it. I'm all in on film. What are they going to go get a coordinator?

I saw they were looking at like a commander's assistant coach or a Dolphins assistant coach. Yes, that's what they're going to do. Someone that has coached. This never has worked. Wait, hear me out. Hear me out. Lidaneon, Tomlinson, offensive coordinator. Okay, fine.

If you just want to make the entire staff, people who have never coached, and then fine. Maybe we'll find out it's like Weatherman. Anyone can do it. You just, you know, hey, let's get defensive. It's like when people would argue, you know, why don't they hire stuff? Like I remember when Dion wasn't even coaching, let's make him the Cowboys coach. No, go get a job first, okay? Go get a job.

Jackson State, Colorado. That's fine. Let's not start with the Cowboys. I feel this way about Philip Rivers. This is an awful decision. And the bills are a contender. Like, don't just go pick some guy. Wait, Josh Allen could learn from a former

AFC quarterback who couldn't get over the home. Josh Allen could learn from a quarterback that he beat regularly. So you're saying Philip Rivers to Jackson State, then he can start interviewing for pro-chops. Who wasn't I was seeing the other day? There was some story about there's someone in the NFL right now the quarterback coach was like the backup of the guy he coaches. I don't know how that works either.

I don't know how you go. I was better than you. But I mean, some of that, you know, you look at all these coaches. How many of the best coaches in the NFL even were okay NFL players? I mean, horrible. Okay, horrible. But like, just look at the guys that played today. I mean, Sean McVeigh didn't play, right?

I don't think Mike McDonald played. You know, Mike Brable looks like he played, but was he good in the NFL? Oh, Vrable was very good. Yeah, Vable would be the answer. Dan Campbell played. I don't know how good he was. He was okay. I mean, so you get those guys that are okay, but a lot of Liam Cohen didn't play.

I mean, a lot of these sort of younger coordinator types didn't play. I don't get the Philp Rivers thing. I mean, Mike McDaniel was a ball boy. That was kind of like playing. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that guy looks like he played. I mean, he's much more likely to be a DJ than be a coach. All right, what else, Billy?

I got one more thing. It's not much of a news note, but Robert Kraft is back in the Super Bowl. You know, Tom Brady won a Super Bowl with the Bucks. Does this result change your opinion on Bill Belichick and what he achieved at all? I hadn't thought of that as an angle. No, I mean, I don't think that, I think that, you know, the Belichick- Brady debate, It's kind of a stupid debate to me because they're both obviously great. Like, nobody debates Bill Walsh versus Joe Montana.

They just say, hey, they're both, they were both great. So I, Brable is in the Belichick tree. I think that's a positive. So, no, I would say, Drew, Robert Kraft, I don't know how much credit to give owners for these things. I guess he deserves some credit, but it would be a far, behind for me, even Vrable and Drake May, or really

anyone involved, having been an owner of some things, you know, that would be like when I, when I, you know, with OVW, if two people, Mr. Pectacular, you know, wrestles Dustin Jackson. And when it's over, I'm like, all right, thank you.

Look what I did. Like, you know, come on. I mean, there's a role, I guess, for the owner, but it's not the main thing. Yeah, and not, I mean, Vrabel, that hire is going to be an awesome. I don't think there's any question. But also, that kind of fell on his lap. He was great with the Titans.

Titans fired him right as the Patriots have an opening. I guess he took a year off. But, I mean, that was a very easy hire for him to make, a former captain with rings all over his fingers from New Orleans, or from New England, a fan favorite who's just suddenly opened. So, yes, he made the right hire, but also hiring Mike Vrable for that Patriots opening was, pretty easy to make. It's all in his lap, really.

Well, good luck to Robert Kraft, and I hope that the Patriots lose by 30. So, all right, well, we will be back this week. We're going to, when we come back in the middle of the week, we're going to be on Super Bowl Radio Row, and we've gotten a list of 300 people that we can choose whether or not we want to interview. And we're going to go over some of them later in the week. to decide if you all think we should interview them. I mean, this show, if you've listened to a lot this year,

we've interviewed exactly no one. So, um, no, no, no, the Browns couple. And they got married, we interviewed them. Yeah, Brown Spider. That's true. We didn't, but I would say, though, we haven't interviewed a lot of people. So this will be different for us. And we're going to be on the NFL set.

And we'll talk more about that. I'm getting, you know, when they were describing it to me, it's exciting. But also, you know, you and I've never had a set. As anyone who can see your blurry camera or my book stacked background, this is going to be different for us. Yeah, but, you know, I'm confident that Billy will bring at least one of his NFL hats. You know, we're going to be dressed appropriately. I actually, right before we hopped on here,

I was looking at the weather forecast several weeks out, getting ready, really looking forward to it. The set will be very intimidating compared to what we normally have, but I cannot be more excited, even if it's not the two teams we wanted. We can't wait to get there. Yes, I agree. And I'm going to ask for former Seahawk legend Steve Largent, who a buddy of mine used to wear his jersey to Duke Law class about once a week. and he was like an immaculate dresser, except once a week he would wear a Steve Largent jersey, long after Steve Largent had retired.

And so I always thought that was sort of an odd thing. So I would like to be able to tell that to him. Well, former Seahawks are walking around. Marshawn Lynch is one of my favorite people on the planet. He'll be there. I would love a few minutes with Marshaun Lynch. They played the Patriots. And he didn't get the ball.

He's going to be everywhere. That's number one on my list of people I want to see. and former MVP, Sean Alexander, is from Kentucky. So maybe he'd like to stop by. Yes. Yeah. And the guy that the jingle we've talked about before from Sunday night football. And Mr. Cortez Kennedy will find your house like he is a former Seahawk as well.

And maybe your boy Bill Simmons will be there as sports patriots. I don't know what I would do if I met him. I think I would like to meet him, but I might boo him because he will be for the Patriots. Well, listen, thank you all very much. If you're snowed in or iced in, good luck. And stay warm. We'll see you later. This has been Cover Zero.

NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and IHeart Podcast. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.