Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - NFL Squad: NFL Divisional Playoffs, Bold Predictions, Coaching Carousel

Episode Date: January 15, 2025

In this week's NFL Squad, the crew discusses this weekend's NFL Divisional Playoffs and shares their Bold Predictions including why the Los Angeles Rams will upset the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend and the latest news surrounding various NFL head coaching vacancies.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Turbo TaxReady for stress-free taxes and the most money back, guaranteed? Head over to TurboTax.com today and get matched with your Expert—who’s ready to take your taxes off your plate, so you can focus on your day. LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelFrom the first whistle to the final drive, FanDuel makes the NFL Playoffs even more exciting!Right now, new customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get THREE HUNDRED BUCKS in BONUS BETS – if you win your first bet!Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Dallas Cowboys want back in primetime, while the best of the best take these stage in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. That's coming up on today's NFL squad. You are talking ball with the NFL squad, sponsored by game time. From the chiefs to the bills, falcons to the 49ers, and everyone else around the NFL, it's the local experts of the locked on podcast network,

bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming weekend for hard-hitting football. with our harder hitting takes. Buckle up, it's the NFL squad. Then we have a seat for you. No hurt feelings allowed. Squad up, you're part of the NFL squad.

Welcome into the NFL squad. Sit back, grab your favorite drink, and join us as we get you ready for another wild week in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. We are part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app,

create an account, use the code, on NFL to get $20 off your first purchase. And I am joined on this squad today, in this squad today, by great gentlemen, Landon McCool of Locked on Cowboys, Kevin Ostrueger, Locked on Ravens, and Mike DeBate of Locked on Patriots. And joining us outstanding men is also Ross Jackson, Locked on Saints.

Way too much crap before we hit record to get any love for me in this episode. I thought you surprised I got you to click record. Yeah. I thought you surprised you actually hit record. That's the one. Cody Roark is not here for this episode and things are already off the rails before we even got started. But we're going to talk today about obviously the divisional round of the NFL playoffs happening this weekend. But of course, there are other things happening.

Even for the teams that aren't competing in the playoffs, Landon, they are busy. They are busy trying to find coaches who could possibly compete with the likes of the Washington commanders next season. And apparently the Dallas Cowboys aren't satisfied with just getting primetime slots for no reason. and they also want to get primetime spots in their coaching department. What is up with Dion Sanders to the Dallas Cowboys Landon? Well, first of all, I'd like to point out that we beat the commanders with Mike McCart. And we've been in the past.

And we've been the bucket of years as well, by the way. All year. Catch up with modern times. Well, yeah, speaking of catching up with modern times, let's talk about prime time as the Cowboys coach. Look, we can put this to bed right away by just going ahead and mentioning that in order for the Jerry to get Dion Sanders from Colorado, somebody's going to pay Colorado $8 million to get him out of his contract.

So considering how cheap Jerry has been these last few years, I don't think Jerry was willing to pay any one coach $8 million for a total contract, period. I doubt very much that he's going to pay $8 million just to have the option to negotiate with Dion Sanders on his contract. So let's go ahead and put that out. But if you want to go down that road, it just doesn't seem like a very feasible thing anyways. The things that make Dion Sanders a viable and good college football coach are not necessarily translatable to the NFL.

And I think that he's not necessarily looking to get into the business of coaching grown men. I think the thing that he likes to do is he likes being a coach that shapes young men. Like his life was shaped when he was young by coaches. So I just don't know that he's, A, interested in doing this, B, it's feasible and see that Jerry's going to pay the money that it's going to take to get it done anyways. Yeah, listen, I mean, I like Dion, and I hope he has a lot of success with Colorado. I'm kind of in the same boat.

Like, it's not that I want to have a doubt in him. I just feel like his brand of coaching probably works better with young college players versus NFL pros. But, you know, who knows, I saw it may have been a fan, but it's still a relative opinion, especially in a platform like this one. Dallas Cowboys hired Dionne Sanders trade up to the number one pick and draft Shedore Sanders. I mean, why not trade up to draft a quarterback number one that a lot of people think is now a day two prospect?

That's exactly. Listen, Jerry got exactly what he wanted out of this story because everybody was talking about this at half time of a playoff game. They let it off with NFL this morning talking about Dion Sanders and the Dallas Cowboys, not about the playoff games that were played last night. So Jerry is a genius at getting his name in people's mouths. and clearly he, another victory for him here. Well, to be fair, there wasn't a lot to talk about during the playoff game on Monday night.

So, you know. That's fair. I would also say every quarterback needy team, that's the dream is if Dallas trades up with Dionne and takes Shudder. Because who are the quarterbacks available this off season? I mean, there's no one. And then obviously Dallas would have to find some way to move off deck if that's the case. I mean, Pittsburgh and all these other teams are dreaming of that scenario. Cleveland.

If it's not that, it's Sam Darnold, who that's a whole different conversation now as opposed to maybe three weeks ago. And Russell Wilson, you can get some danger witches and high knees with that if you want to. So I don't know what teams are looking at if you're talking about quarterbacks at this offseason. Ross Jackson of Locked on Saints. I can't say mad at you forever. So we'll let you talk about the team that you covered. They need a head coach as well. What's the latest with your anger button?

What's what? You're the one pushing the button. I need a mute button. Where is Tony reality when you need? I need a mute button. What's the latest down in the Big Easy, though? Yeah. So actually the latest here comes down to what's going on in Dallas as well.

So there you go. Jerry doing it again. But really, I mean, you know, we've looked at it here for a while now that the two favorites to become the New Orleans Saints next head coach would be Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, as well as Buffalo Bill's offensive coordinator Joe Brady, both of which have some ties here to New Orleans. Glenn more so than Joe Brady, whose ties probably run a little bit deeper with LSU, but still Louisiana ties in that case.

But when it came down to what happened on Monday, then all of a sudden the conversation changed. And now it's looking like the New Orleans Saints will definitely be interested in at least having a conversation with Mike McCarthy. I think it's fair to call him a frontrunner now, not necessarily maybe the front runner at the moment, but probably a front runner along with Glenn, along with Brady, to potentially end up as the New Orleans Saints number one option. Of course, Mike McCarthy is looking at other opportunities out there and everything,

as well, it should. But I think the Saints are going to be some big time competitors for general manager, Mickey Loomis, as well as former general manager, now senior assistant, Randy Mueller, both of which were general managers at the time when Mike McCarthy was offensive coordinator here in New Orleans many moons ago 2000 to 2004. They love Mike McCarthy. And so I could see them really going to bat to potentially bring him here to New Orleans. And instead of going with a first time head coach, going with a guy that's done it before,

going with a guy that sits with them better than 60% win percentage and kind of bring a safer approach to the new head coach position in a veteran coach that's done it. Yeah. A lot of conversations that surround coaching jobs, especially when guys are getting fired after one year, comes to how patient is a franchise going to be when it comes to hiring new. coach and Ross. The Saints are, you know, I think historically one of the more patient franchises. Do you think that is going to be the case with this next head coach? Because while, you know, again, and I'm going to trust your word there, but they're also talking about interviewing guys like Cliff Kingsbury who when you look on the surface like Derek Carr, Cliff Kingsbury, not really a fit. So it may take a couple of years, find a different quarterback to really maybe get things rolling.

Are the Saints going to be a team that whatever direction they go is going to have patience to let that coach really kind of take a hold of the roster and get things right? Yeah. And, And look, this is an organization that's proven sometimes to a fault that they will have that patience, especially with the guy that they have decided. I think you look at the fact that they're 50 to 50 to 60 million dollars over the salary cap, the fact that they have no long term quarterback, proven long term quarterback option on their roster right now. They could get one of those guys with the two young guys they have on the roster, but they don't have like a multi-year starter on a rookie contract at the moment. Like that's what I look at when I look at the criteria of like, ah, your future is solved that quarterback for right now. And they're also an aging roster with six players carrying over $140 million in dead cap that are all over the age of 32. And so with all of that taken into consideration, they, A, have proven that they will be patient and B, kind of have no choice but to be patient in terms of turning over that roster and then getting into their new era. And then Mike DeBate of Locked on Patriots, I want to ask you this. There's three other kind of frontrunner favorite type of headlines kind of going out there right now. The Las Vegas Raiders, apparently Tom Brady loves him, some Ben Johnson.

New York Jets, Aaron Glenn seems to be a popular pick there. Jacksonville, Jaguars, Robert Salo, that interview is done. Of those three jobs, three openings or three candidates, Mike, if you were picking, which one of these do you think would be the best fit for where those organizations stand today? Well, I mean, in all of the recon that I've done on Ben Johnson lately, I think his fit in any system right now that's looking to revitalize their offense is going to be very, very interesting. And look, I think it's also very interesting that Tom Brady is very interested in what Ben

Johnson has to do. Look, you look at the track record that this guy brings to the table. The last three years that he's been offensive coordinator in Detroit, that team has consistently exceeded expectation. Three years ago, before he took the reins in Detroit, you weren't talking about this team as an offensive juggernaut. Yes, they've got great players around. And the job that he's done with Jared Gough and I'm on Ross St. Brown,

and these guys that have really come up and come up big for this franchise is very much on the players. But Ben Johnson's ingenuity, his ability to be able to take players and make them play beyond their capability, in my opinion, makes him, I think, the most coveted free agent out there if he's not already. It's going to be interesting to see where he ends up. Is the Raiders necessarily the best fit for him in his offense? Yeah, I think the argument can be made, but there's something to be said about catching Tom Brady's eye, who's seen it all, done it all when it comes to offense and worked with one of the best offensive coordinators in the last couple of decades in Josh McDaniels.

I think for him to have that kind of praise for Ben is something that's really interesting to me. So I've got my sharp eye very closely on the Raiders, potentially pursuing Johnson. Sala right now, obviously, if you're looking to revamp your defense, he is the guy. I think he brings a lot of energy and a lot of experience. And I think he was given a raw deal in New York. I think he's looking to shed that type of image that's around him right now. And I believe he deserves every opportunity to do it. So it's interesting to see.

And what a difference a week makes. The team that I cover, I had no coach last week. Now all of a sudden, they've got their job figured out. All we need to do is make sure that Mike Brable understands that teams that are ahead, latent games run the football. And that's the reason why they're running the football, Mike. All we have to do is make sure he understands that Patriots got themselves a great. great guy here. Correlation versus causation.

The classic man. I face that all year here in Baltimore with Derek Kennedy and I'm like, yes, duh, this is what it means. This is not a difference. All deference to Mike Brable, though. Having the chance to get to

interact with him on Monday was truly great and having him back in New England has a lot of people excited up here. Saying the right things, looking to do the right things. I think he's bringing a level of accountability back to this franchise. Yeah, I think it's going to be a slow road for New England, but I think they're on the right back. Yeah, look, man, I'm with you.

I like Ben Johnson and the idea of him going to the Raiders. They've got a lot of cap space coming. They've got a lot of draft capital, four picks in the top 100. I think four picks in the top 80 picks, actually, and they've got no quarterback. So if Ben Johnson's got his eye on a quarterback out there that can be traded for or signed, even if it's a placeholder. The Raiders have that opportunity to go and do that. So, you know, it's going to be interesting to see if that's what happens and what works out.

And you talk about Brable. I want to ask you this, Mike. he says he's very comfortable. I think I don't know that's the exact quote, but he's very comfortable with Elliot Wolf. I know not everybody is comfortable with Elliot Wolf. What is your thought? And I know it's just starting, right?

But Elliot Wolf, Mike Vrable, how do you feel like those two guys married together? I think they're going to learn to coexist. I think there will be some input. I do believe that Mike Vrable is the guy right now in New England. He's going to be the one that's going to have final say. And I do believe that that was essentially the understanding coming in right along. If this is going to be Rable's team,

he knew that he wanted to put his own. stamp on it. I think it's very interesting bringing in Ryan Gowden from the New York Giants, a guy that he has a tremendous amount of synergy with and history with. He's going to be intricately involved in some of these decisions. So I don't see Elliot going away. I actually think he's going to stick. I think he's going to understand his role. I think he's going to play a big role in scouting when it comes to the draft. I know people in the Patriots organization are very high on the grading system that he has that he's looking to implement year after year. But when it comes to a lot of final personnel decisions, I think the buck stops

at the desk of Mike Brable, and I think that's the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future. Yeah, very interesting. Elliot Wolf, the GM of the New England Patriots, for those who don't know. While Ross and Mike and Landon have been on vacation, Kevin and I are still hard at work, so we're going to talk about some of the work that we've got coming up this weekend. Divisional Round Preview coming up next on this NFL squad episode,

part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And today's episode is brought to you in part by Fandul from the first whistle to the final drive. Fandil makes the NFL playoffs even more exciting. And right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win your first bet. That's $300 to keep the action going. The Fandual app is easy to navigate. And the variety of bets keeps every single game exciting.

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Fanduel.com to join today and get started with $300 in bonus bets. That's Fanduel.com. Make this playoff season unforgettable with Fandul and official sports blog partner on the National Football League. Continuing now with this week's NFL squad episode, we're going to dive into the divisional round playoff matchups. We're going to start on the AFC side of things. I think that's where most people think the most likely Super Bowl winner is probably

going to come from if the Detroit Lions continue to suffer from injuries, although they do have a guy coming back this week. So we'll see how that turns out. But we're going to start off, Kevin Ostrueger, locked on Ravens. You're covering the Baltimore Ravens visiting the Buffalo Bills for this illustrious network, as Aaron Freeman would say. Lamar Jackson versus Josh Allen. It's the sexiest game on Sunday, probably the sexiest game this weekend. Two MVP candidates.

How do you see this one matching up? Yeah, this to me is a thousand percent the game of the week. And one that I think a lot of people both in Baltimore and in Buffalo won it. Now, the first time around, I don't think this gets talked about enough, the first time around, Baltimore was able to run Buffalo out of their city, 35 to 10 win, but obviously we're four months removed. I mean, that was in September, you know, two different teams. The bills didn't have three key defenders.

The Ravens had some people out, and the Ravens' defense was terrible at that point in this season. Their past defense was awful. They've removed some of their not-so-friendly locker room presences from their team to put it nicely. And we just heard with Deontay Johnson, that happened again with him. And I'm sad that Chris Carter is here so he and I can have our weekly Biante Johnson bid on the squad show here. But I think the thing with Baltimore versus Buffalo is going to come down to how well Baltimore can run the ball against Buffalo's defense.

And Baltimore struggled with some physical defensive fronts this season. Pittsburgh earlier in the season, although that wasn't an issue last week. They certainly were able to run the ball on Pittsburgh. Kansas City, Philly, like those physical fronts, Buffalo's a smaller defense. They have smaller defensive line men. It's funny because when you look at the top three season, the AFC, people almost think it's like a triangle of teams that match up with each other. People think Buffalo matches up great with Kansas City.

Kansas City matches up great with Baltimore and Baltimore matches up great with Buffalo. It's like that triangle, like solving equation. So with Baltimore versus Buffalo, I agree with that. Buffalo's run defense wasn't great all season. They were 19th in the league in terms of net yards per attempt. And while they did miss some key guys at times this season, Derek Henry is, just to do. Derek Henry's a beast.

And I think, in my opinion, the way that Baltimore wins this game, time of possession is going to be huge. The Ravens hold the ball for 40 minutes against the Steelers and the bills held the ball for 41 minutes against the Broncos. What's the best way to stop a great quarterback from beating your team? Don't give them opportunities. Keep them off the field. So if you're the Ravens, you're saying, don't let Josh Allen get possessions.

If you're the bills, don't let Lamar Jackson get possessions. I think time of possession can be overblown in some aspects, but I think that honestly it might come down to it in this matchup. Yeah, and just like my screen for some reason, it can be very frosty out there in Buffalo. I'm not sure what's going on. It's going to be cold. Baltimore's got to get to Buffalo first.

We'll see what happens with that lake of fact snow. But I do want to ask you about that because weather, you know, it's always a factor when you go play the Buffalo Bills in this type of weather. So how do you think? I know the Baltimore Ravens like, you know, Baltimore's not, exactly, you know, the most tropical environment. So it's not like they've never played in the cold or the snow, but just looking at these two teams, how do you think that could play an impact?

Yeah, I think when it comes down to it, Lamar's been very vocal about the fact that he does not like cold weather. And he's a Florida guy. So like, in the Ravens are the Florida Ravens essentially. They have a bunch of guys from South Florida. And Lamar's been very like, yeah, I'm not. There was a video, I think, of him a couple weeks ago. The jacket guy was trying to take his jacket away during like TV time.

Oh, yeah. And Lamar was like, no, no, I'm every. Give me the time. I want every second of this. Like, warm me up, please. So I don't, the thing with Lamar is I think rain and wind impacts him more than cold in general. And that has been on display at times over the course of his career as well. But I think it helps Baltimore is going to be frigid and freezing when it comes to the run game, which by the way, both teams can run the ball really effectively.

James Cook is awesome. Derek Henry is awesome. But James Cook, admittedly, is not Derek Henry. And so I don't know about you guys, but if it is 29 or 18 or 15 to and you have this hulking guy, Derek Henry, running straight at you, you might want to make a business decision or two, which we did see the Steelers do many a times, and there are a much more physical defense. So the bills have talent on that defense.

I think all three levels, they have talent. I just think it's matchup. And sometimes that's what comes down to, right? Where you just don't match up well enough with a team, but if you advanced, maybe you would match up with the team and these AFC championship game better. I just don't think it's a great matchup for Buffalo's defense, but that doesn't mean. Baltimore's going to win the game. I mean, they're a clear path for both these teams. Whether I honestly think it might favor the Ravens in a lot different ways.

I think it's a stand-up move by you, Kevin, to be willing to admit that the Buffalo Bill's running back is not as good as the running back that you cover. Well, when Derek Henry is Derek Henry. And I again, we talk about Jerry Jones and his sheepness. I want to send a personal thank you to Jerry for not signing Derek Henry when he clearly. That was a big destiny. A huge problem. He was, he was busy getting ready to bring Ezekielia back for a second.

That's right. Which, what a move. What a move. And as punishment for that, Lany McCool, Texans versus Chiefs, what do the Texans have to do to stop the Chiefs three-P attempt? Well, I guess this thematically makes sense. The Chiefs used to be the Dallas Texans and the Houston Texans are the Houston Texans. So I guess I'll cover this because I'll cover the Texas team. Look, I mean, I think, you know, we're all trying to find ways to spin this to look like this isn't going to be Kansas any running rough shot over a,

a young Houston, Texas team on their way to a 3P championship. I think that there are definitely, you know, we saw the Texas kind of have some success against a very difficult defense and be able to move the ball and be physical. I thought, obviously, if they can get, you know, Nico Collins going the way that they got them going against the chargers, then they get mixing, you know, running the ball well, and they can get physical and move the ball and play keepaway.

I mean, obviously it's the traditional kind of pathway of, of playing an elite quarterback, just try to play keep away and just control the clock, control the ball. I mean, ultimately, at the end of the day, though, the thing that's different this year, maybe more than other years is maybe the Kansas City offense isn't quite as potent as it has been in the past, but the defense has got more teeth than it ever has had. And it's going to be really, really difficult to move the ball for Houston. And I think ultimately it's going to be about, you know, Patrick Mahomes making the few plays

he needs to at the end of the game to win the game and advance on. And I think, you know, this is not going to be an unfamiliar tune, you know, for folks who are watching this game. Yeah. Yeah. Potentially another game. I don't know. We'll see because Chiefs have been in some close games that they probably weren't predicted to be close in on paper. But we'll see.

This might be one of those games where I can go to bed at halftime again and be okay with knowing what the outcome is going to be. Jane Daniels and the Washington commanders are, go ahead. What was it? No, just Houston pass rush, I think, has to be a big part of the conversation too, right? Like, Dinell Hunter and Will Anderson, like two of the top, or the top tanned. of pressure getters according to an action stats. They put, they were a part of getting Justin Herbert under pressure over 52% of the time

if I remember correctly against Los Angeles chargers. And it's not to say that it's a perfect formula in terms of beating Patrick Mahomes or anything like that. But if you want to do something to him, pressures the way to do it. And those guys don't just get pressure, but they get home. And so I would say that's one piece to the equation as well for Houston's defense that

like if that starts to cook, then all of a sudden this game does become a little bit close. than maybe we think it is. That's all. Yeah, I think they have all the elements to pull this off. I just, the question is that can they do it against a guy? Yeah. One of the best of all time in the play.

Right. Yeah. That's where it becomes difficult because I absolutely agree. They have all the pieces you want to execute the game plan that you need, but it'd be difficult to pull off. And I think that's a, it's a good point, Ross, because the Chiefs have had some tackle issues this season with injuries

and guys having to like, you know, performance. And Joanne Taylor is someone who we know he likes to get a little bit of a little bit of a head start on some. He'll catch them flags, man. Yeah. Well, less than he deserves. Less than he deserves. But then when he does, he gets them three in a row.

And then all of a sudden it's like, all of a sudden it's like, all right. When it rains it, force. Yikes. All right. On the NFC side of things, Jane Daniels and his Washington commanders have the biggest spread going into the weekend against the Detroit Lions. I'm going to tell you why that's BS and totally disrespectful. Coming up next on this week's NFL squad episode, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day.

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So having access to insights like that is incredibly important. So hire smarter this year and find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. Rapping up today's or this week's episode of NFL squad, we're going to get into the NFC divisional bracket. And I'm just going to just be greedy here at first. Washington commanders facing the Detroit Lions Saturday night, myself and my good friend Marshall

Mathers will be in attendance for this game. I'm looking forward to seeing Marshall. Again, we haven't had time to sit down and watch a game since the divisional round last year when the Lions beat the Buccaneers. So, you know, basically best friends. Look, here's the thing. I'm not even going to sit here and tell you that the Washington commanders are going to beat the Detroit Lions.

Okay. But the Washington commanders have a top six scoring offense in the national football league. Their defense just held a top five scoring offense during this season to 20 points in a playoff game on the road. Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not as good as Detroit Lions. God it, Jemir Gibbs better than Bucky Irving. Amina-Ross, St. Brown.

I don't know if I would say better than Mike Evans, but certainly a different type of dynamic player, James Williams, better than Julian and all that stuff. Oh my God, I got it. Okay. However, the fact that the Washington commanders are nine and a half point underdogs when the Houston Texans are eight and a half point underdogs against Kansas City Chiefs is absolutely. That's kind of why.

I know that the chiefs are not bad like this team Kansas City Chiefs, but that is where the disrespect comes in here. Landon McCool, I will give you the opportunity to tell me while I'm wrong, why I'm wrong. Well, I think, you know, the, you know, the, you know, the, you know, Oddsmakers, no. I think that they have a good tap into this. No, look, I do think, listen, I also knew the Buccaneers were going to win by three, by the way. That's fair. That's a fair point. I do think it's a lot. I think, you know, in a playoff game in any point, like these, these two teams are not that far apart.

I do think that the Lions should be favored. And I think by, you know, a healthy amount, but it is still a playoff game. And these are, these are two teams and a division or round two. So it's not even just like, you know, a wild card where a team snuck in. These are these are these are these are battle tested teams that it is a little bit disrespectful, I would say. I would say though, you know, it's probably more about respect for Detroit, you know, and they're playing at home. It's it's going to be a very kind of one-sided affair. And I think that the odds makers are trying to, you know, express that. But I do agree that it is still a playoff game. This is a team that has earned the spot that they've made their way into, much as I hate to say that out loud.

they deserve a less a touchdown, I would say would be fair. Yeah, I was going five and a half. Like I was actually talking to some other B reporters today. Like five and a half would be like, you know what I mean? I don't think you'd flinch it five and a half. I think that'd be fair, which is pretty much touchdown. Right. But yeah, I mean, look, the lions are coming off the by.

The commanders have a short week. They just played Sunday night. They're playing Saturday night. The Detroit, I mean, Ford Field, the most electric environment I've ever been in. I can't wait actually to get back out there. and express their experience that again. So yeah, Lyons favorite,

got it, eight or nine and a half points, the biggest spread of the weekend. No, that's BS. Eagles versus Rams. Mike DeBate, we're going to let you take this one.

What are your thoughts on this exhilarating NFC matchup coming up? Wow. Wow. How do I follow that? That's a great intro. Yeah, absolutely. Look,

I actually think this one can be a pretty good matchup this weekend. And look, you've got the Rams coming in, and obviously they're playing right now with a lot of spiritual lift. They're playing for everyone in Southern California right now, who I think I speak for everyone on the panel right now. Our thoughts, our hearts are with you. Continue to stay strong in what is a horrific situation for so many people out there, wishing you all the very best. And, you know, just everything that they've been through has really been just horrific. But bottom line, I think sports can be a distraction, and it may be for people in Southern California right now this weekend. Look, the Rams have the talent on both sides of the ball to come in and make this a game,

not just make it a game, but win the game. And any time you have Matthew Stafford at quarterback, a quarterback that's seen it all, done it all, you always have the puncher's chance. So in that regard, the Rams can make this one extremely interesting, provided they do one thing. They maintain gap integrity. That's something they did not do in week 12, and boy, did they pay the price for it. If the Eagles are able to take advantage of missed opportunities and missed assignments,

then they're going to be off to the. races. We already saw that in their previous matchup. Saquan Barkley, ripping off 70-yard runs. AJ Brown being on the opposite end of Jalen Hertz and those, you know, bombs coming from 20, 30 yards, 10 yards. Those chunk plays are so important to what Philadelphia does well. Look, they had seven plays that went for 17 yards or more in that previous matchup. So obviously, if the Rams are going to keep this close, they have to be able to contain that. I don't know if they're going to be able to do it this time around. As much as I want to say that the Rams are going to be able to give everyone out in California a little bit of a lift. I just think that the Eagles have far too

much talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball and on defense, definitely, you know, you want to make sure that you're trying to contain that potent and very aggressive Eagles defense. To me, the matchup of the week in this is going to be whether or not the Rams defensive front can control the Eagles offensive line. If they can do that, this will be a tight one, and I think a very good game. If it doesn't, I like the Eagles, probably in a comfortable one this weekend. Yeah, look, I didn't mean for that to sound as disrespectful as did. I like the Rams.

I just think they're a pretty good team. I actually predicted them the win, their wild card round matchup. So I didn't mean to say that. You're a good band, David. We all know that. I mean, look, yeah, former commanders receiver, Johan Dotson, going up against former commander safety, Cam Curl. So it's probably the matchup of the weekend.

Everybody's looking for it. Nobody. And AJ Brown, to your point, fully rested after not playing basically in the wild card. round one catch for 10 yards um katherine i do want i do want to get your opinion here before ral at ross take us out of this thing what is your favorite non ravens bills matchup and why is it the commander's versus lines i actually it actually is the commander's versus lines it actually is and the reason is because i think jaden danos is electric and i think that this commander's team look detroit's special too of that offensive side of the ball and we talked about it they

have so many weapons there and, you know, it's hard to stop them. But I feel like this matchup of Jane Daniels, Terry McLaren, and that commander's offense with the Detroit defense that has faced so many injuries. It's injury after injury after injury. I think we could be in for a very high scoring game there. And I think that that will be again, Ravens and Bill's game bias aside. I think that's going to be the most electric game we see this weekend. And I mean, that's what the NFL want. The NFL doesn't want these nine to six playoff games, 10. to seven. They want Rams chiefs from all those years ago,

60 to 70. I think that we could see both teams put up anywhere from high 20s to low 30s in that game and maybe it comes down to another doink for the NFC championship. Maybe that's what happens. There's In Gonzales and, you know, he made it happen and maybe he does it again this week. In his in, baby.

I mean, look, Jane Daniels, Zengonzalez, two legendary Sun Devils just making it happen for the Washington commanders. And you know, every DMV football fan wants to see the Beltway Bowl go down to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens. Ross, that's where you come in. We need a bold prediction from you, sir, before we wrap this thing up. I'm going to give two. My first one is that the Rams are going to win comfortably over the Philadelphia Eagles.

That's my first. I think they're playing for something bigger. I think they're playing for something better. I think they're the better team. I think they're the better defense. And I think that what Philly did up against, and to a young and still very much in need of improving Jordan Love, they won't be able to do to the veteran quarterback in Matthew Stafford.

So I think that the Rams are going to walk away big winners this weekend. But my other one is that in a weekend where we watch Lamar Jackson go head to head with Josh Allen, we see Patrick Mahomes, we've got all these other quarterbacks, that it will be Jaden Daniels' name that we will be discussing on Monday after the division round the most for the most impressive performance in the divisional round weekend. Doesn't necessarily mean it's going to win. Which means I'll be booking tickets to Los Angeles. I mean, listen, obviously it's got to be earned because the NFL is not scripted.

I don't care. That's a real good way. NFC championship game in Los Angeles, hopefully could be in Los Angeles. I mean, come on. Yeah, come on. Yeah. That would be pretty cool. So we'll see how those bowl predictions,

come out if it doesn't happen and I'm I'm on vacation like Ross Jackson is currently I will I was going to say I'll be like much scruffier than I am right now but I don't know if that's why anyway thank you everybody for joining today's we'll be back here each week each of us are here every single day for you covering all the latest on your favorite NFL team so make sure you follow and subscribe so you don't miss a moment of the amazing coverage that all of these fine gentlemen are providing and the adequate coverage that I'm providing part of the all part of on podcast network your team every day