Lineup Fantasy Football Show - Reacting to Bears vs Rams, Patriots vs Texans, Broncos vs Bills & Seahawks vs 49ers

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Our instant reaction to NFL Divisional Round Weekend is here! Mitch and Mello break down every game of this weekend's NFL Divisional slate and live react to the Bears Rams game including Caleb's miraculous buzzer beater touchdown pass to Cole Kmet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All right, welcome into the lineup football show. I'm Mitch Anderson. I'm Justin Mellow. And the NFL divisional round is in the books, or almost in the books. We're currently watching the last eight or so minutes of the Rams Bears game. We're going to be jumping into every game from this weekend, and we'll be reacting to each of them, starting with the New England Patriots game because it's fresh on our minds and we may as well talk about it right now.

But then we'll go through the Saturday slate and jump into the Bears' Rams game for our immediate reactions to that. So without further ado, drop a like if you like the content, leave a comment, and we will jump into the divisional round reaction. All right, starting with the 3 p.m. game today on Sunday, the Houston Texans head to Foxborough to play the New England Patriots. Patriots come out on top, 2816. Both of us had the pats in this one. I gave my 1713 prediction. A lot of Texans fans were not a fan of the comments I made about their offense in the clip that made the rounds last week.

But I think, and we can get into this a little bit, it wasn't a great look for either offense the whole time. And I want to give you your credit, you made the call last week that you thought there'd be multiple turnovers from both teams. And you were right in spades. Yeah, I thought there'd be multiple. I didn't quite think there would be eight total turnovers.

But yeah, just a sloppy, like, gross defensive battle. Two great defenses definitely played a role. but the offenses weren't particularly impressive either, at least consistently. I want to give in my initial thoughts of this game, I just have to give a shout out to Kishan Booty. What a catch. What that was an on, we watched the game together. Like, you were screaming, I went silent. I went nonverbal watching that.

I think that was by far to me the best play of the postseason so far. Yeah. I mean, given it was the postseason and factoring in just the magnitude of the moment, I mean, I think that might be the play of the year so far this season. Just an incredible catch beating one of the NFL's best corners, big moment. I mean, that was just absurd. To get off of the Patriots glazing for a second here, my other initial thought on the game is C.J. Stroud's getting crucified right now

on Twitter, on everything about his performance. My takeaway was like, if you're a Patriots fan, that was not what you wanted to see from Drake May either. No, I think both defenses played super well. and both quarterbacks didn't really handle that very well. I mean, Drake May did have three passing touchdowns. Didn't really feel like it, though. You know, he was fumbling the ball.

He was turning it over. Stroud probably deserves the criticism he's getting. I mean, just a horrible, horrible game, especially in the first half, those four picks. I will say, though, I think Carlton Davis played the Nico Collins role really well. The Texans offense was missing him big time. Fucking Carlton Davis down there somewhere. Yeah, 100%.

I mean, they were great throws by Stroud right to them. Really tough catches, too, for Carlton Davis on the sideline, making sure he got the feed-in. So he played that Nico Collins role really, really well. Oh, my God. We can skip over Best Moment of the game. I think it's obvious for anybody who watched that. It was originally mine was the Carlton Davis pick,

the first one that he got his knee down, like barely. But Kishon Booty took that 1,000%. Yeah. What surprised you from this game? I mean, an eight turn. overs is kind of the easy answer. Right. Like, that's just insane.

And I also say just like in general, Strauss ineptitude. I don't think he's ever been one of the elite quarterbacks in the league, even though he likes to big bro people. But I've always respected him as an above average quarterback. And I'm not saying he isn't. But, I mean, this was a horrible showing for him. Just inaccurate throws. Missing guys left and right.

Bad decisions. I know the O line hasn't really done him many favors. they're missing Nico Collins like we talked about, and then Dalton Schultz got hurt early on in the game. So, like, that doesn't help. But even though your Delta bad hand, you'd expect your franchise quarterback to make the most of it. And he, like, I mean, he was the worst player on the field today.

Just full stop. So that was pretty surprising to see. Yeah, and it was tough because you look at the Chargers game last week, and I think my takeaways from both them are like, wow, look how disruptive this Patriots defense can be when they're clicking on all cylinders. But then you also have to ask yourself, you know, how much of that was Stroud? How much of that was the fact that he was crumbling a little bit under the pressure?

And how much of that was the fact that the Patriots defense was playing above what we've seen all year? Yeah, I mean, we've talked about it multiple episodes. They're getting healthy, and I think that's a big part of it. I will say the last couple weeks, they've had good matchups from an offensive line perspective, the Chargers and the Texans having two of the worst lines in the league. That definitely helps as well. We won't get into Denver next week too much yet. but that'll be interesting to see if we see the same type of production and disruption out of the Patriotty line with a much more difficult opponent up front.

Yeah, that's going to be a really, really interesting game to preview on Thursday as we look at Denver. Obviously, the Bow Nix injury that sucks, and we're going to be approaching how we look at that offense a lot differently next week. But that defense is for real, and the Patriots are up for another big, big challenge, and Drake May is going to have to step up in a different way than he has the past two games. Yeah. My only other note, I forgot to say this. I'd like to give Woody Marks the Jalen Waddle. He'll be out of the Blue Tent in a Minute Award for this season. Yeah.

Just to the final whistle, Woody Marks had an opportunity every game to go home to the blue tent, take a few, take a breather, and then get back out there. Jalen Waddle is the perfect comparison because he's reached that territory where any time he goes to the blue tent, you're like, he's fine. He's going to be back in the extra. He's fine. He'll be back out there. He's nothing serious. It's just every game, every single game.

What did you take away from this one before we jump in in the next one? I think, unfortunately, as a Pats fan, the left side of the line, they're two rookies. That could be a problem in a very bad way. It has been in this postseason. Will Campbell has not been very good specifically in pass protection. Another tough text next week in Nick Benito. Again, we don't need to get into that too much. But that could be a problem going forward, as could Drake Mays,

awareness or lack there of in the pocket when he needs to just tuck it, take a sack, not fumble it. That's been a huge problem in this postseason. So that's something I'm sure variable will be stressing and working on this week before going into the AFC championship game. And then also we talk about the wildcard weekend being Tomlin's, you know, the week Tomlin loses every year. I think we need to start talking about the division around. That's when Ryan's and C.J. Stroud lose every single year. years in a row. It just feels like they're not ever going to get over that hump. It's crazy. When I saw that stat, I was like, wow. And it wasn't even close today in terms of

them putting it together and putting together like a solid start to finish game. Like, they looked like a mess from the start. A hundred percent, especially offensively. And even defensively, which, I mean, you cannot blame this loss on the defense at all. But late in the game needing a stop, all of a sudden, Remandre Stevenson was just churning out yards against him on the ground. Like, it felt like down 15 late. They could maybe, maybe pull off a miracle. And then the Patriots just ran the ball down their throats. And it was like, all right, this game is over.

100%. My takeaway from this game was exactly what you said. Drake May's awareness, the protection. And my other thing was just, we need to find a way the Patriots to take advantage of what the defense is doing. at one point I know it was five turnovers and seven points scored and that was off the pick six. The offense was doing nothing to help the defense. In fact, it was like the defense would make a huge play and all of a sudden Drake May fumbles, you know, two plays later and they're right back out there. So, you know, complimentary offense and defense have to figure that out.

But you almost silver lining as a Patriots fan, you're like, you're hoping they're getting this out of the way. You're hoping Drake May is learning from this stuff and it's not compounding going into next week. Yeah, that's the hope. I think Drake May has a lot of Josh Allen and him, which obviously in the grand scheme of things is a great compliment to him. But you also see the hero ball going wrong, the turnover. So that's something he needs to clean up, absolutely. You said Josh Allen derogatory.

After this one, it's easy to do. That is the perfect segue to move on to the Buffalo Bills traveling to Denver and falling just short in overtime. How often do you say the Buffalo Bills in the postseason falling just short in overtime, 33 to 30. The biggest storyline coming out of this was the Adam Schaefter tweet that came out about 30 minutes later that Bo Nix had broken his ankle. We both had the bills in this one. So we both got shocked.

I mean, I will say the guy that surprised me on Buffalo was I thought James Cook looked phenomenal. He did. And it was never a question of talent, but I think both of us were a little hesitant to recommend him in DFS or anything like that last week. But he just looked great. He did. He looked great in a really tough matchup. I mean, he's actually legitimately like a great NFL running back.

Like, I think there's a little bit of reluctance by NFL fans, myself included at certain times to put him in that top category of running backs just because he's the beneficiary of playing with Josh Allen. Right. It wasn't like this high pick coming out of, you know, college or anything like that. But he's awesome. I mean, just like the big playability, the explosiveness, the vision. he's an incredible player.

Yeah. I think it gets a bit overused. I don't want to be a prisoner of the moment, but this one did feel like one of those instant classics. I don't think it felt quite like the game, you know, three or four years ago, Chief Spills. It wasn't to that magnitude. But back and forth a fair,

you've got the upcoming QB in Bo Nix. You've got like the guy who should do it this year in the AFC, Josh Allen. And what a fucking drive by Bo Nix, man. And that passed to Marvin Mims, I just, as someone who has not been a Bo Lever down the stretch here, I watch that. And like, it hurts my soul to know that he's not going to get the chance to keep going in the conference championship after a drive like that. Yeah, it sucks. And I mean, we talked about it last week.

Like, he's been so good late in games, those fourth quarter drives when you need it yesterday was no exception. But, yeah, I mean, just total like dagger 30 minutes after the game learning about that injury. you feel bad for Bo Nix, obviously more than anyone, but also just the Broncos, their organization, their fan base. Like, that sucks. And as a football fan, even, I mean, like, as Patriots fan, sure, it's like, oh, we get Jared Sin them instead of Bo Nix. That's awesome.

But honestly, even removing, just removing that from the situation as an NFL fan, it sucks going into championship weekend with a starting quarterback out. It's just bad for the sport, just not fun for the sport. It really does feel like we're going to get one of those, you know, that illustrated one that was like Blake Bordel's, Tom Brady. Nick Foles going into the championship weekend. Case Keenum, yeah.

It does feel like that. It feels like we're reliving it. Oh, I also want to note, Mikul Hardman, first touchdown. Shout out Mikul Hardman. Shout out Mikul Hardman. Shout out Mikul Hardman. Followed by who scored Krum on the second touchdown on the game? Yep, it was their offensive lineman Frank Crum

who scored. You had Lil Jordan Humphrey scoring early on in this game. One of my notes I wrote in this game is like 99% of America has never heard of these touchdown scores. These are like the most random people scoring in a big divisional playoff game. Also, I love that though. It's the best. Playoff football. I mean, that's awesome. And we've given Bo Nicks, his flowers, rightfully so. We do have to give Sean Payton his flower steer. I think he called a phenomenal game offensively. He is one of the best play callers in the league.

I have to say, I think he has one of the most punchable faces in the NFL. And obviously, one million percent. Like just maybe I'm like my mind is like color swayed by the fact the whole Bounty Gate thing and that was a horrible situation. Yeah. But even that aside, I think just looking at him like he just has a very bunchable face and I don't want to root for him, but he is a great coach,

great offensive play caller. Yeah, it is the perfect example of like there's evidence that like you should kind of hate him and then you look at him and you kind of hate him and you're like, damn, I think I kind of hate Sean Payton. I just hate this guy. But then you're like, God damn it. That was one hell of a game and you can hate him but you got to respect him. Yeah, absolutely. So,

credit to him. What was your best moment of the game? I'm going to go with the Marvin Mims touchdown. I just like that was such a phenomenal throw in the biggest got-to-have-it moment. Yeah, that's probably the right answer. I have to bring up the crumb touchdown again. That made me make so many noises, like some of which I probably never made it for. It was just pure excitement.

Anytime you see a big man score run with the ball, that's just freaking awesome. Absolutely love that. And then also one of the biggest plays of the game, one of the most controversial plays of the game. The Jquan McMillan interception. I mean, it has to be one of the best plays of the game, although I'm sure a lot of Buffalo Bills fans would disagree with me. One thing I want to say about that, and I'm sure Bill's fans and just NFL fans in general will be ripping out their hair and screaming at me. I think I'm alone on an island. I think that was absolutely clearly an interception. I don't even think it was particularly close, which I think I'm,

like I said, on an island would that take? But the most annoying part about it is all of the screenshots I'm seeing in social media, which is like, I just need to put this out there for everyone to hear. There is no catch in NFL history that can be clearly evidenced or proven with a still screenshot. Just a single snapshot moment of time cannot prove anything, whether it's a catch or not. Also, like, we have so much access to video nowadays, like on all social media platforms and everything. The minute you're pulling out screenshots, I know you're trying to manipulate a situation because you could easily show a video if it was that clear. Bro, his knees down. He, look, he has the ball on his hand and he's knees down. Like,

ugh, it's just, the way I think about it too is if the defender weren't there and it was just branded cooks and he did exactly what he did. And then when he rolled on his back, if he had lost control without the defender there and it just kind of squirted it out onto the ground the same time that he lost control. Yeah. Vers the defender. I think everyone would say, yeah, that's not a catch. I like, I don't. Yeah, I think that's a fantastic point. I don't think people have been like, oh, that was a catching then down by contact. I think people would be like, oh, no, he didn't like retain control. That's incomplete.

But just because there's as an offender there, people go to like the simultaneous possession thing. It's like, no, he took like one step, fell to the ground and didn't maintain possession. I think that's clearly an interception. I'm sorry. I will defend you on this take. I agree with you. I don't know if I would say it wasn't even close, but I will definitely defend you on the take that I agree it was an interception. That's fair.

I think that's fair. Um, I'll go with what surprised me, the Bo Nix injury. That was like the most obvious what surprised you. But the one that surprised me was just the OT flags. Like, I just hate that. I think the second one, the second PI is like he didn't get his head turned around and he didn't play the ball. And like, I just, I don't want a game decided on something like that. That being said, like they show the replay.

I'm like, you've got to call that. The first one, though, I'm like, what are we doing? Let the boys play. It's January. We should not be throwing flags in overtime. Yeah. I hate it. And even that first one, honestly, like, I hate to be like a rough apologist. I don't even necessarily think it was a bad call. It just wasn't blatant. And I agree. Like, it's a slippery

slope because you don't want the officials calling the game different in the playoffs versus how they would in the regular season. But at the same time, like, it just sucks having games decided or at least significantly impacted by a flag. Like, that's just not a view or what you want to see. So that did kind of suck. And I think it's also just because of how awesome that game was, that you wanted it to end on some incredible catch, some incredible runs, a little Bo Nix magic, and two straight flags. It took a little air out of it.

I still think this was like one of the better games of the postseason. Oh, 100%. If not the best. So what surprised you in this one? Obviously, like the Bo Nix news, I mean, keep harbiting on it, but it's just such big news. It's so impactful. Yeah, you have to.

So impactful. And then luckily the points surprised me, which I wasn't expecting a lot of points in this one. Tremendous respect for the Broncos defense. I thought they would hold the bills in check, which in a lot of ways they did, taking the ball away. But that didn't stop James Cook and Josh Allen

from piling on the yards and getting in the end zone. So we saw a lot of points in this one. And it was a more fun game than I had expected. 100%. What did you take away from this one? I think, like, my biggest note from the bills perspective is just live by Josh Allen, die by Josh Allen.

You saw him crying in the post game. like that was heart-wrenching to see because that sucked it did suck because you can't blame him for anything like i truly think this bill's team is a six or seven win team without him he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL they wouldn't have gotten here without him they wouldn't have had a chance in this one without him he's so talented but it really is live by him die by him because like you need him to live but at the same time like he can kill you with these turnovers he puts on like sometimes he just needs to be clark ken instead of a Superman.

Yeah. Like the end of the first half, that fumble is just like inexcusable in that situation. 100%. And it really did cost them the game too. So like you can't blame him for the loss. But at the same time, like his play at least those turnover specifically really did cost them in a lot of ways. Another big takeaway is just the Broncos, they've kind of been like a lot of the top seeds this year counted out and sort of hated on as illegitimate. but the Broncos are a good team

to have this magic to them and they're going to need a lot more of it with that Bo Nix injury. They're going to need some like 2017 Nick Foles magic out of Jarrett Stidham. So we'll see. We'll see, but they're not out yet.

My biggest takeaway from this was this was before the injury I had written down Bow Nix is inevitable in the fourth quarter. I just feel like this is such a bizarre year where there's so many teams that turn it on the fourth. You know, the Texans have,

I believe, the highest fourth quarter point differential. You have the Bo Nix situation where he just explodes in the fourth. The Iceman, who right now is going to get a chance to make a fourth quarter drive, he's got about two minutes left to go in the game. So we'll speed round through the 49er Seahawks, since it might be more interesting than watching the game listening to us talk about it for two minutes. But yeah, we're going to see next week. Does this team have a fourth quarter magic? Is it Sean Payton that's helping to do this? Or was that really just Bo Nicks carrying it? Yeah. And I think this is a really good team. regardless. Obviously, Bo Nix was a huge part of that, though. So we'll see what they got next week.

Let's see it. All right. Let's move on to the final game on Saturday before we jump into the Rams Bears game, which hopefully has a fun conclusion. The San Francisco 49ers, six points, the Seattle, Kenneth Walker's 41. We each have the Seahawks going into this. I believe you said Seahawks by seven. I said Seahawks by three. Seahawks by 35. My initial thoughts, the 49ers looked overwhelmed from ticker to ticker. There wasn't a moment of that game. They didn't seem overwhelmed. And it doesn't help that Rashid Jihad is so fucking electric and just came out and like lit that stadium on fire.

It fell over so quickly. So fast. After the care of turn, you're like, I don't know, the Bears took a kick return to the house in the Super Bowl and then ended up losing. Like, it's not over yet. But then it was just like, any time you thought there might be a glimmer of hope for San Francisco. Francisco, it was just instantly like stomped on and squandered like both sides of the ball, domination by Seattle. And credit to Sam Darnold, he finally got that monkey off his back, got the playoff win, looked good.

He looked good, yeah. He looked great. I mean, he wasn't asked to do much because he didn't have to just given how well the defense was playing. But like he didn't make any mistakes. He was good. And I'm going to proactively ask you all to part in my French here. But Sam Donald is not fucking playing around. Like he is fired up.

He's looked great. We weren't even sure if he was going to play in this game with the oblique injury, like, out of nowhere. But he was good to go and he played really well. Dude, you texted me. It's like, it was a text that I never thought I would ever read was like how Sam Darnold's terrifying and the Seattle Seahawks are terrifying. Yeah, I, like I'll hand up, I'll admit it.

I didn't think of them as serious Super Bowl contender, certainly not going into this year. And then it took me a while to even take them seriously as the year went on. And now I'm just full on like, They should be the favorites to win the Super Bowl. They are so pretty good. They're just incredible. I know. I think we're going to get a Super Bowl 49 rematch.

And I'm curious to see, you know, what the spread is when that comes out. Because Seattle so far is just looking like a buzzsaw. Yeah. What surprised you in this one? I think we had the same best moment of the game, the Shaheed opening kickoff. Yeah. I think the rest of the game just wasn't interesting. No, it was over by then.

The Shaheed kickoff was the most electric. play of the game. I think what surprised me is just how dominant Seattle's defense was. I think they're one of the best events in the league and I would have said that

before the game even. But I mean, they look like, they made the San Francisco 49ers look like high school JV team. Like, they couldn't do anything. And I know it's all the injuries too for San Francisco.

Like that definitely plays a role. Which also is something I noted down. I'm not a conspiracy theorist or anything, but like they need to move the practice facility. Yeah. I'm not convinced that has anything to do with anything. But, like, it just, it's picking up momentum. Now it's getting in their heads, though, probably.

And it's too much of a coincidence because something bizarre is going on over there. They're, like, becoming the Charger. I mean, the Chargers are more of a cursed franchise, but, like, the Chargers had all these injuries every year. It feels like that's becoming the Niners. But, yeah. But the Seahawks, I mean, I don't even know if it would have mattered. Like, even if the 49ers were fully healthy, the Seahawks just looks so good.

Ken Walker is like Barry Sanders now, which, Mitch, I know you know. It just took, it just took Zach Sharbon. going down. It just took Charbonnet going down, which I hate because I have a love-hate relationship with Ken Walker that's like 95% hate. He's burned me in fantasy before and I don't want to root for him, but I have to admit like he looked incredible. I can't wait to draft Kenneth Walker in the fourth round next year and just hate myself for like four months. Yeah, no, he's a full fade for me next year. With that said, he looked great in this game. And the C-Lex have not run, that has been their one kryptonite. They have not run the ball well this year. That was not.

not the case yesterday, though. I mean, Ken Walker was unbelievable. 100%. My, uh, my takeaways from this one, there's a real world where Sam Darnold could be a Super Bowl MVP in 2026. Sammy Super Bowls. Absolutely bananas. And, uh, my other takeaway was just, it was really interesting to watch a Kenneth Walker backfield, like just Kenneth Walker as, hold on. We should, we should move on here. Um, we've got 27 seconds left, fourth and four. The Iceman has a chance right here to tie up this game in Chicago. Any last Seattle takeaways before we jump fully into this? They should be the favor next week regardless of this outcome,

but I am still very curious at this outcome here. Yeah, I have my thoughts relating directly to Seattle about these two teams watching them today, and it's not good. This is Ben Johnson loves fourth down. Not that you would ever not go for this one, but fourth and four, neat. This whole game, just so we can fill some time, so you know, see some bad podcasting here. Ben Johnson is addicted to fourth downs. I want anybody to ever love me the way that Ben Johnson loves fourth down.

Like, he looked so furious earlier on the game. I think it was Roma Dunezay dropped a ball that would have gotten them from a fourth and six to a fourth and two. I think Ben Johnson was ready to cut him like right then and there. He was like, you just gave up an opportunity for us to go for. for a fourth down. Yeah, he, I mean, it's the Dan Campbell coaching tree. Dan Campbell's the same way. And it helps when you're one of the very best offensive play callers in the league

where you have that confidence to go and get it. Looks like they're lining up for it now. Here we go. I know. I don't know if you're ahead of me or not, but. I know I'm nervous how I'm going to spoil it or vice versa. I'll bite my tongue until. You can spoil it.

Here we go, Caleb. Oh, boy. Oh, classic Caleb. He's running back. Oh, my God. Oh. Oh my goodness. Did they go over two?

Caleb Williams, they better. Caleb Williams just did what I do in Madden every single time where you just run backwards from the pressure, but instead of throwing it like nine yards short of the line of scrimmage, he actually slung it to the end zone. Sean McVeigh is in disbelief. Sean McVeigh cannot believe it. Death taxes the ice man.

Oh my God. Ice freaking cold. Oh, no, they're kicking the P.A. Oh, no, they're going to go. overtime. All right. Bonus football, Mitch. Bonus football.

All right, I think we are going to cut this right here and jump right back in in overtime when we're going towards a conclusion. Oh, hell yeah. All right. I feel like we can jump back into things a little bit here and start talking about this game. Puk and Akua just made the reception on third and six with a couple of minutes left to go here in overtime. I feel like I don't even want to talk about the first three quarters of this game.

No, classic Bears game fourth quarter and in this case overtime is like where all the meat on the bone is. 100%. It was a big time who cares snooze fest in the first half. Caleb Williams starts turning on the fourth. Rams figured it out too.

Caleb's interception here in overtime. Dude, I'm going to say something controversial and I'm probably going to get absolutely bullied for this. But is Caleb Williams just a more talented James Winston? He's definitely more talented. He's definitely more talented. More talented James

Winston is crazy work, but it's not so crazy work. Dude, he plays so reckless, and he's so fun to watch and he makes so many incredible throws like that touchdown to commit at the end of regulation, but then he throws these

picks that you're like, what the hell are you doing? My note going into this before we started recording, we started recording 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, was this just felt like the Caleb Williams experience. again where it's like bar for bar you're watching the arm talent's incredible he had that one rollout to colson loveland that lovelin didn't bring it in but it was like dumb how do you do that off of his back foot he's so unbelievably talented and then his decision making it just it bites him in the

ass and you're like what are you doing dude and i think you know if this is it for them that another offseason is going to help him rein that in a little bit and he already looked so far ahead of where he was his rookie year with decision making. And I think he's one of those guys that if you're a Chicago fan, like, the talent is so there. Oh, yeah. He's making throws that you're in the like Mahomes,

Josh Allen type, like, you need a miraculous throw. Look at the end of regulation. Like, Caleb Williams is a guy. That was one of the dumbest plays I've ever seen in my life. Dead out. Literally, incredible.

Madden dropping back like 20 yards. Stafford going for the end zone. Oh my God. Imagine if we're, We got Parkinson again. Oh, my God. It looked identical to last week against Carolina, him down the sideline. I'm thinking this one's going to end in a field goal.

Yeah, this is kind of scary hours for the Bears because even if the Rams are getting any more yardage here, this is like pretty much field goal range. I'm actually surprised the Rams were that aggressive there. Me too. It doesn't feel like they need to be. Put the ball on the ground, let corn fall in the middle of the hatches here and like. Put it to Mivas's hands. Yeah, let your boy Mivas cook. I'm going to speak right now as if the Rams have won this game,

and I'm so excited and ready to be wrong because that would be awesome. But I'm correct. Oh, he dropped it. He dropped it. Is that the rookie Terrence Ferguson? Yeah, that was Terrence Ferguson. Oh, my God. Dude, Safford wanted game there.

Yeah, let me say this. As someone who was all over Rams over Seahawks, what I have seen out of the Rams the past two weeks, I cannot in good faith be on this team and maybe after sleeping on it in a less emotional state I'll change my mind but like we'll talk about it on Thursday if you're still here,

make sure hit that subscribe button and tune in on Thursday when we do our conference championship preview but I'm gonna be taking Seattle. Here we go, Harrison Meevis for the win. 42. And the Rams will win it 20 to 17. Wow.

I had the part of me that wanted the Rams to win because that was our pick. And the part of me that wanted the Bears to win because, like, oh my God, that would have just been so awesome. But... Yeah. Immediate reaction.

Why are you taken from that? What a game. What a fourth quarter. This Bears team had so much magic to them, but it kind of felt inevitable at some point. Their roster isn't quite there yet. But, I mean, credit to Caleb as much as we rip on him. Like, he's got the magic.

Obviously, Ben Johnson does. I think there's still a year or two away from potentially being... really, really serious contenders like the Rams are. But I kind of agree, like, this is the second game in a row that the Rams kind of gave me the ick. Yeah. And the Seahawks look like unstoppable. So, yeah, I mean, my initial reaction is, Seahawks probably should be a favor next week.

But I don't know. The Rams, a lot of people think should have won the last time that game was in Seattle. It was like the crazy two-point play with the lateral and everything. So it'll be a good game. I'm doing the thing right now where I'm like, no shot. in the world I'm on the Seahawks and then like Tuesday's going to creep in and be like am I betting on Sam Darnold

over Matt Saffert and Sean McVeigh and then I'm just going to be in an absolute war in my own brain. Like it feels like I've said it so many times but it just feels like the Rams are the best team in the NFL. Like you just there's a trust factor there like they have so much talent

but it's hard to say anyone but the Seahawks have been the best team this year when you actually look at how productive they've been on both sides of the and how dominant they've been winning. Yeah, on paper, this feels like Joe Pesci and Goodfellas walking into Seattle right now, and they just don't know what's coming.

Yeah, it's got to be completely blindsided. I don't know, though. I don't know. We'll see if Donald truly got the month of the game was back. You never know. How can you not be romantic about football? I don't know. I have no idea.

Do we miss anything from this game? I know they lost, and Bears fans probably don't want to hear anything right now, but shout out their defense. They played way better than I thought they would. Shout out Dennis Allen, making Donald Stafford uncomfortable, so many different times in this game,

sending safety and corner blitzes. They played awesome, but I just don't think it was, I don't think this was their year. Yeah, I don't think it was meant to be ever. There wasn't going to be a scenario to me where they won, but like, I think most Chicago fans

are probably pretty happy with this results overall in the season. Yeah, You should be feeling very optimistic about the future of this franchise if you're a Bears fan. They are absolutely heading in the right direction. 100%. Well, that is it for a very exciting first immediate reaction episode. If you enjoyed it, make sure to hit that subscribe button.

We will be back on Thursday previewing the conference championship games. Make sure drop a like and comment what your favorite part was of the divisional round weekend. And Mello, anything left to say? Go Patriots. That's it. Go Patriots. All right. We'll catch you guys next. time.