NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2016 Divisional Round recap

Episode Date: January 16, 2017

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, & Chris Wesseling – recap all the action from the 2016 Divisional Round which included a dominating performance in Atlanta as the Falcons took down the Seahawks, and a thrilling NFC showdown between the Packers and the Cowboys. Plus, NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal joins us from the road to talk about the Packers win, and how he’s feeling up on the Throne of Ease as the Patriots glide into Championship Sunday.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Oh, Sunday night. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by Irvinville of Some Heroes, Mark Sessler, and Chris Wessling. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Divisional Round Weekend, in the books.

and then there were four. That's how it works. Four teams remaining after the games of this weekend. One instant classic is starting to look like for a while there that we were going to rock an 0 for eight in the playoffs in terms of exciting games in the fourth quarter. But then a game that happened to be played in Dallas saved our bacon as football fans.

and we can't wait to talk about that game. Mark, I know you are just, you know, we're taping a little later here because of the faux ice storm in Kansas City. I know you are excited and ready to rock. I know that the minute that I received a text from Greg a couple days ago alerting really all of us to the fact that the NFL decided that an ice storm that was still two days away from hitting Kansas City would be enough to move the game, you know, up six, seven hours later.

why not right let's stay up as late as possible we're probably catching some people in london by the time this releases they're on their way to work already so we're you know let's go internationally jarring if we can with the late games yeah here's the good news um well the best news of course is the houston texans aren't in the playoffs anymore uh the the second best news is that we have a final four uh of teams that are all peaking uh in a really i mean you're always peaking if you get to the championship sunday game But here's a little status on Twitter. The final four teams combined to go 30 and two in the last eight games. And that tells you the story of teams that are ready, West, to take that Lombardi and raise it high. Only one can do it, though. For the 13th time in 14 years, the AFC will be sending one of Tom Brady, Ben Rothesberger, or Peyton Manning to the Super Bowl. This is also, I tweeted this out, and I got to. this from NFL media research. The seven millionth consecutive year, either the Steelers,

the Patriots, or both those teams are playing in the title game. I mean, he really does feel like going back to, you know, our teen years almost. It's, yeah, as much as things seem to change, they really don't on any level. All right. So we're going to talk about all four games. And yes, as I said, there was one classic in the bunch. So it would be foolhardy not to start there, you know. It would behoove us to start with what happened. In North Texas, when in 98 seconds of play, at the end of the game, there were, I counted six crazy twists of turns and events. And this was the final one that sent the Packers onto the NFC title game.

So here we are, folks. One kick away from the NFC championship game from the 41. Brett Good on the snap. Jake Shum the hole. Left task mark. 51 yard. Field goal attempts. Snap, placement, kick to the Uprice.

Hey, it is right down the middle. It is good, and the Packers are going to the NFC championship game. Wayne Larravey, WT, MJ. This is when you get excited because the local guys on the radio calls, now that they can smell NRG Stadium in Super Bowl 51 and the trips and the hotel and the booze and at the bar with their buddies and being able to put that on their resume. I called the Super Bowl.

It's personal stakes for these men. Sure. Anyway, you know, who else this game is personal for? Greg Rosenthal. NFL networks, Greg Rosenthal, in fact. Hey, is that NFL networks Greg Rosenthal? Yes, it is. And now he joins us from Texas.

What was that? I mean, listen, your appeal. I like the old one. I like the sultry voice of frags better than that. like this? Hey, is that Info Networks? Greg Rosethal? Yes, it is.

Greg, can you name that voice? Well, that's David Ealy, our desk editor. Just want to make sure you're still down on his level, still remember his voice? More importantly, why does it make you uncomfortable and you like the other ones better? Let's dig into that before we get into the game.

Well, because, uh, no, I'm not digging into that. Ah, almost got you. Almost got you. All right, here we go, Greg. You were at AT&T Stadium. In fact, you were stuck there because of a tornado watch after the game. But you were there for one of the best games, playoff games in the last 10 years, I'd say.

Green Bay Packers, 34, Dallas Cowboys, 31. You heard it, Mason Crosby's 51-yard field goal. As time expired, beat the Cowboys who had rallied back from a 15.4th quarter deficit, trading field goals in the final 90 seconds, an incredible pass from Aaron Rogers to Jared Cook to set up that final Crosby kick. And Greg, you were there. Tell me your initial thoughts about this game

and the scene in Big D today. Well, I think it was so fitting for them to win it on a play like that, don't you think? That was what to find that game was there was five or six throws like that that that's basically their offense, that Rogers, you know, waits three or four seconds, makes a throw on the run, and literally no other quarterback in the league, I think, is making that throw 35 yards on a dime, on a straight line, and Cook and Cobb and Adams, and all those guys basically talked about that, that's what they practice.

That is basically their entire offense right now, and it's unbelievable that it keeps working. It was one of the best throws you'll see, and after the game, A reporter asked Aaron Rogers if it was the best throw he's ever made. No. No, I've made better one. And I think I've made more athletic plays. But that was a combination of just a good protection and just being patient outside the pocket. And then putting the ball where I wanted to.

And a cookie made a phenomenal catch. And, Wes, I mean, that is Aaron Rogers, again, as we saw today, just better than everyone else in the world when he's on. And he still is. second time in two years I heard Troy Aikman before a game say that Aaron Rogers is playing the position at the highest level it's ever been played. And he went out and showed why he moves Troy Akeman to make those statements. It's uncanny how many different things it seems like Aaron Rogers does better than any quarterback we've ever seen. The Hail Marys, extending plays. I mean,

John Elway did it, Big Ben did it. Aaron Rogers does it at a more efficient level. And I think that throwing across his body or throwing on the run on one foot, We saw him several times in that game, tight window throws that no other quarterback makes, and he's just better at it than anyone else. Greg, I've got to ask you, we watch Aaron Rogers every week on television for the most part. You, there in person, what is it like watching the kind of performance that he put on today up there in the press box? Well, it does put the throws into different perspective that you just realize the degree of difficulty at them of them, like makes you, it just kind of takes your breath away because like that, that last throw,

for instance, I don't even know if that was the best throw he made the entire game. He had a couple others, including one to cook that was unbelievable. That's throwing, and Cook pointed out, that's throwing while running to his left across his body and you just don't see a window there. And Richard Rogers, their tight end, who caught another tight window throw earlier in the game. He said it that you just have, as a receiver, because you always, have to be ready because you don't really need a window. He's just going to throw it into it anyways.

And I think you see being live the lack of arc on some of these throws, that he flattens out the ball on such a long throw that just other guys wouldn't even try to do something like that. Flattening out the ball, but still having touch. Right. How do you go? It almost makes, it almost makes no sense. like he the thing that i'll remember more than anything in this game is on that play

the the sound from the crowd when he made that catch it was like 90,000 people had all been punched in the gut at like the exact same time and they just exhale like you could hear the entire crowd go and just to hear that it was an unbelievable thing and then as randle Cobb told Robert Klemko of Monday morning quarterback after the game in the locker room, that wasn't even a play call. That's not something that came into his helmet. He basically drew it up like it was a playground play and directed the players where to go and got the ball to cook.

And I mean, again, 28 for 43, 356, two touchdowns, one interceptions, gets, they only run the ball 17 times in the game. There's obviously no Jordy Nelson. Devante Adams gets hurt in this game. And what does he do? He keeps finding guys to make plays. Richard Rogers, who had been a silent part of this offense. He had the big touchdown catch.

Geronel Allison made some plays. Again, Randall Cobb, while not as good as his three touchdown effort, seven catches on eight targets. I mean, he's reached the point where I can't, I mean, I loved what I saw from the Falcons, and we'll get to them later. But I cannot, and I did it, and I lost in the picks this week. I can't go against Aaron Rogers. So as long as the packs are still playing, I will not pick against them.

because Rogers has hijacked this NFL season now, and I feel like we're all along for the ride. Another thing he does better. But the Cowboys had this, could have won this game. I mean, Rogers made a couple terrible throws in the second half. It should be mentioned. One of them was intercepted. The other one, which was really the worst throw of the two,

he just kind of threw it up for grabs in a penalty bailed them out. But if a penalty doesn't bail him out on that, play on Jeff Heath, what would have been a second interception, the Cowboys, it's a totally different game. And the Cowboys, you know, they had a chance to at least put it to overtime and maybe win the coin off and get a touchdown then. Like, their offense was more unstoppable than the Packers, I thought, for the last, you know, 30 to 35 minutes as crazy good as Rogers was.

And let's look at the Cowboys now, because this is, again, and this is becoming a very a normal occurrence every few years or so loaded Cowboys teams gets taken down in the divisional round playoffs still no NFC title game appearances in 20 years now for the Cowboys and they're not going this year and you know they really did kill themselves in this game I thought with some a lot of unforced errors I mean Dak Prescott he threw an interception but he played a strong game I don't think they did a smart didn't have a great day coaching and I think Jason Garrett did had a great day 22 carries for Ezekiel Elliott where he was getting five to 15 yards on almost every carry, it felt like.

And I thought that the Cowboys found a way to lose this game as much as Aaron Rogers dominated to win it. You know, they did a lot of good things. Dak went 13 of 17 for 145 yards, two touchdowns, and the two-point conversion on his last three drives. And the other drive was to set up Dan Bailey's game tying field goal. There's not much more he could have done with the game on the line. And I thought Des Bryant had one of the best games by a wide receiver all year.

He had his best game of the year. And I saw all this stuff again, every single time anything goes wrong for the Cowboys on Twitter. What about Tony Romo now? And I wonder, I wonder, Greg, what the reaction was in the stadium. But by the end of this game, Jason Garrett appropriately gushing over Dak Prescott, because what he did, five scoring drives over the six March, final six marches for the Cowboys, I don't know what more you can ask a Dallas quarterback to do down the stretch in that game. I also appreciate the restraint of Fox.

we had minimal Tony Romo cutaways. They did do a bad job. It's not his team anymore. No. But that hasn't stopped the media all season from covering it like it still is. The only thing I was disappointed in with Fox was that not enough cutaways to Jarrah's box when things were going poorly, only positive cutaways. It almost felt a little suspicious, Jerry, one of the most powerful owners in the league.

Well, like, that's the thing. You said it about the way back finished that game. They scored 28 points on five. different scoring drives in their last six possessions that thing's going to overtime if i agree with you then the one thing i think they botched was choosing to spike the ball oh that was a tough call to make 49 seconds left and that's not back that's coming in from the sideline and so that took one down away it saved time for green bay and it let nick perry quietly have one of the biggest plays in the game he was double team you know he was explaining on on a stunt uh trying to get to the

quarterback. He knew he wasn't going to get there, and he deflected a Prescott pass on third and two that forced them to kick the field goal, and that's what gave Rogers enough time to win. I mean, I think the Cowboys coached a great game. They adjusted very well to slow down Rogers after that

terrible start, but that spike was just brutal. Well, they obviously, Garrett was asked about it after the game, and he stood by and he said that's part of their kind of protocol when they're in a two-minute drill. You get that first down, even with the time, one timeout in their back pocket.

They wanted to, you know, stop the clock, keep that timeout. Because what they were trying to do there was score a touchdown. And by the way, I wish I had my lollipops, but Chris Wesley. Oh, yeah. Christopher Wessling. As the Cowboys are going down and I think they're going to score and I'm saying, ooh, I predicted 35, 31. But no, they don't get that.

And Wes at the gun not only picks the game correctly. Did you lock it up? No, I locked up a different game. Okay. You nailed the score. 3431. Marron. I also have nailed every game so far in the playoffs. Oh, you are.

Eight for eight. You're also wearing plaid again. Is there something? You've gone rogue. You've gone rogue fashion from a fashion angle. You know what? I feel like I can't be told what to do today. Oh, look at this.

Wes is flying. All right, Greg. Greg, we need to go. Any takeaways from being in the locker room? We do have to keep moving. You could save that for Tuesday show as well. And also, I kind of want to bring you back on and talk a little pats possibly um okay so why don't you just we'll stick a pin in it

right here and uh you do whatever you got to do where are you right now i i just got back uh to the hotel as you guys were calling through the rain storm and tornado warning it's dangerous out here all right you will you stay safe gregg and greg texted me privately to say that he is lying on the top of his hotel bed just that dingy top thing they put on that most people would peel down with no clothing on, just staring up at the ceiling, decompressing. That sounds like a nonsense. I would never text Mark privately about anything. That's also untrue.

Greg Rosenthal Road Trip staple, nude on the bed spread. All right. I'll see a little, we'll hear from you a little bit later, Greg. But for now, let's move on and check in on the other Sunday divisional round playoff game. It was played in Kansas City between the Steelers and the Chiefs. Ben in the gun, bunch tight left, bell to his way from his 11-yard line. Here's the snap he wants to throw it. He flushed out of the pocket, rolling right.

Throws it on the run. Yeah, first down. First down! Antonio Brown! And he gets out of bounds at the 19-yard line, needed four, got eight, and all of a sudden arrowhead isn't quite as loud. Oh, Bill Hillgrove, Twist the Knife, and WDVE. Ben Rothesberger's third and three conversion with two minutes to play was the deal breaker for the Chiefs.

The number two seed ousted from the playoffs in 1816. Steelers win on a game, one of the weirdest games you'll see in the playoffs anyway. The team that scored two touchdowns lost to the team that didn't score any touchdowns. That's because Chris Boswell hit all six of his field goal, 10, 6 times 3 equals 18. nailed it and by the way we have not seen a missed field goal in the playoffs yet 21 for 21 in the divisional round just took them the entire regular season to kind of get into form i think 33 for 33 in the whole playoffs anyway so boswell does it the steelers defense um chris wessling also does it and and on a day where Pittsburgh's offense couldn't quite find the end zone the

defense carried the day. James Harrison for the second straight game was the best defensive player on the field. Three tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a sack, and his most important play was forcing a holding penalty on Eric Fisher that negated the Chief's game-tying two-point conversion with only two and a half minutes remaining in the game. I thought Harrison was phenomenal. I think Keith Butler, this defensive coordinator for Pittsburgh, it's a little late because you got the Kyle Shanahan's and all the rest of them out there. is an assistant coach of the year candidate in my book for the way this defense has played down the stretch.

Unbelievable, if you could have told the chiefs and their fans going into today, you got this ice storm, you're playing an arrowhead, you know, you got your home colors on, everyone's fired up, and you're only going to allow field goals to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even if you said you're going to allow six and they're only going to score 18 points,

you've got to think with the way that offense has operated of late last couple months that they'd have a chance after their opening touchdown drive, their next series of drives were a punt, an interception, a punt, a fumble, and two punts before they finally punch in a field goal late in the third quarter. That is outrageous. They completely collapsed.

All their main players on offense did not show up. I mean, I feel like if you're a Chiefs fan, and even if you're someone that, for me, I kind of got in on the Chiefs late in the season, decided I thought they deserved respect. You feel a little betrayed after watching this game because it felt like the same old chiefs that have struggled in the playoffs

or years and years and years that Travis Kelsey being a dynamic guy he not only didn't show up for most of this game he got a he got a wretched penalty oh speaking of Travis Kelsey you mentioned well we'll get to that Travis we'll stick a pin in Travis Kelsey for a second but he did not perform well

and we didn't get any big plays from their speedster Tyreek Hill he doesn't do anything and Alex Smith has a terrible game. They did not play well, Alex Smith, or I was expecting him to at least show up in the playoffs and he didn't do it. Look, it was a fine season for them.

I'm done with this whole thing where we act like the Chiefs don't get enough respect and then we have to kind of go overboard and saying, oh, the Chiefs are a real good team. Stop, beat a good team in the playoffs. And people who thought this was a close game, maybe according to the scoreboard, Leveon Bell had more yards on his own than the entire Chief's offense did for three quarters of this game.

And let's stick this pin back out of Travis Kelsey. Okay. This clown complaining after the game about the refs on an obvious holding play, don't get dominated for three plus quarters. Eric Fisher hold? Yeah, give me a break. Spencer Ware scores a touchdown to pull them within 18 to 16 with less than three minutes to play. They go for two.

Alex Smith connects to the tight end for the two-point conversion, but a flag is on the field. Eric Fisher tackles James Harrison. I wrote an end around that if there was any solace for Chiefs fans, at least it was not a tickey-tack call. He tackled Harrison, but Travis Kelsey after the game thought otherwise. Be able to wear a zebra jersey ever again. He shouldn't even be able to work a foot lockers.

So not only did he get a foolish personal foul penalty, didn't make a big play really. and most of the game he's talking about the refs. He's really not the person that needed to have an outburst after this game because that now that unnecessary roughness call flagged for 15 yards. They did convert the first down on the following play. So it wasn't like it completely wiped out the drive for them. But it was the kind of play, the kind of penalty that was so egregious

and it was so uncalled for in a big spot at home. Then when he came to the sideline, Justin Houston was shouting them down. Andy Andy Reid had words with them is exactly the kind of thing that pinpoints a meltdown for a playoff team at home. Yeah. This is not the Chief's team. I mean, you're right, Wes. Like they

after this game, you can say that. This team never deserved the respect. But we're heading into the playoffs, they look great on offense in addition to being a strong defensive team. And that's not the team that showed up at home today. Your team got dominated for three and a half quarters. I don't want to hear the complaints.

If the ball bounces a little bit differently. The Steelers win by 20 or 30 points in this game. Right, right. If anything, there were periods or moments where the Steelers could have punched in a touchdown. And you know what? Everyone focuses on Pittsburgh's offense. And we like the fact that they are the team going into New England. If that they get hot on offense, you can go punch for punch with New England. But this defense is phenomenal. Pittsburgh's defense outplayed Kansas cities today. Well, they lead the NFL in Sacks since week 11, and they only allow 16 and a half points per game during their nine-game winning streak.

This is one of the best teams in the league over the second half of the season, and they're absolutely capable of winning in New England. And watch out because they have a pass rush, and again, we saw it, and we'll get to the Patriots later. Tom Brady having to deal with a pass rush can change things for the Patriots. But, yeah, I think about midway through the fourth quarter, I was thinking myself, even though I had picked the Chiefs, I was like, I do not want the Chiefs to win this game because the Steelers, even at a day when they're not finishing, are clearly the better

team here. We didn't want somehow the chiefs steal this game and then get destroyed up in Foxborough, which the way things have gone for the Patriots this year was some of the breaks they've caught on their schedule. You thought that could have happened, but instead we'll get the Steelers going up there. And I think it was a blip on the radar with their offense. I don't think there's any reason to think that they're now in a funk or something. I think they just struggle a little bit in the red zone, and that's not going to be a norm.

Right. It's a blip on the radar. But in a game where they looked rather punchless on offense, you still have 170 yards for Levi-on-Bell. You still have 100 yards for Antonio Brown. So it's really – you're not able to be able to hold both these guys down if you're in New England. You have to have to find a way to almost outscore them if they get hot. Well, on a day when you see the Cowboys offensive line get a lot of hype and the Packers' offensive line get a lot of love for giving Aaron Rogers time to throw, the Steelers had the best offensive line performance of the day.

Big Bend didn't get touched into a coverage sack in the fourth quarter and they opened up holes for Levi-on-Bell. This is a great offensive line. By the way, if I am not mistaken, and my memory is foggy about whatever happened last week in Thursday's preview show, but I believe that I locked this up over the guy we just got off the phone.

Oh, Greg. Stick a pin in that. He ducks out. Just in time to lose his lockoff. Congrats, Mark. off the Schneide. That is if my memory is correct. I believe it is. 100% correct. And you were tempted to disgrace yourself with a Patriots pick and you didn't do it and I think the football gods rewarded you. That's why I look at it. That would have worked

out equally well. So, you know, it's all a push, but I'm happy that I did it with Pittsburgh, yes. So how do we fix the Chiefs? I mean, is this their ceiling as long as Alex Smith is the quarterback? I tend to think it is. It'll help if Jeremy Maclin and Justin Houston come back healthy because they weren't playing at full strength in this game, but I just don't think that you're going to beat Tom Brady or Ben Rathesberger with Alex Smith. Like if you add playmakers, can Alex Smith make the most of them? I mean, Alex Smith is, I just think that he's overly pounded in terms of like the people just view him less than he is, but at the same time his ceiling, when you get to this point

in the NFL season, his ceiling is limiting. He doesn't use the whole field. I mean, he doesn't like to throw down 15 to 20 yards. one of the biggest plays in the game came on a downfield throw attempt. During McLean got a step on a defender, had a touch on. He put it over the wrong shoulder. McElnickland couldn't make the adjustment, and that was another opportunity that went by the boards.

And I don't know if you guys noticed, but Chris Collinsworth was subtly assassinating Alex Smith for three and a half hours in this game. You could tell Collinsworth is a guy that's like, you know, seize the field in ways that other people don't because he's really good at his job. So Alex Smith leave a ton of yardage on the field. not making plays, not seeing receivers, not making throws.

So it was a bad day for Smith who entered this game. That was another reason why I had, as it turned out, talked myself into the Chiefs, had played very well in the postseason, including a couple just stellar games, both with San Francisco and Kansas City. But this was kind of like the worst version of Alex Smith, which isn't terrible, but it's just not good enough. And the Chiefs have to figure out if this is the guy to go forward with. Fourth highest quarterback rating in the playoffs among active quarterback.

But that doesn't speak to necessarily what you're talking about, West. Can he do what Big Ben can do with the weapons around him? He needs everyone around him to be playing at absolute top level the way they did on Christmas night against the Broncos. And that they fell very far short today. It's a small enough sample size his postseason career that a couple of games can skew it. And when you're playing against the Colts defense and the Saints defense in games that he went absolutely bonkers, and to his credit, played awesome in those games.

But those weren't like shut down. playoff defense as he was facing. I will say, the Foot Locker line was kind of funny, though. The referee can't even get a job with Foot Locker. That's not a bad line. We don't have to be so serious around here. Oh, he's going to earn himself probably the lead in this week's get off my gridiron column. Oh, that is.

Have we talked about that yet? We haven't. Wes's new column on NFL.com where you just get a chance. It's kind of your version of Connor, or are you kidding me? You kind of get stuff off your chest. it allows you to kind of move forward as a man and not get bogged down by all the things that anger you. Is Or Kidding Wes?

It's like a combination of Or You Kidding Me, my podcast persona and the old man shaking his fist at the clouds. Wait, you're saying this is a persona? Yeah, that's new. This is who you actually are, I would assume. I don't think that I am in real life exactly as crotchety as I am on the podcast. So this is a character that you've been spewing out this whole time.

Mark, we... All time. Everyone in this room is a bit of a character created by Dan Hanses. Wait a second. Now you're turning it around me. You have, you've taken pride and saying, I am who I am. If you don't like it, get out the back door. It's about me.

You're saying that's all phony. You're an actor. That it's about me, drop has been taken out of context all along. One last thing, Levyon Bell, I just want to let you guys know. And maybe, Wes, this can make it into your column this week at all. He did not, he did not watch any football before the game. I wasn't nervous about it. the game. I don't watch ESVN or NFL live because I know they'll talk about the game.

I don't necessarily want to think about the game. I watch stuff like Happy Feet. You're aware of that animated feature, Mark? You have two young boys. No, they watch a slew of animated features, not that I know of happy features. This is a phenomenon, I think, in the NFL. A lot of these guys watch cartoons to turn their brains off. Phenomena? I'd call it something else, but... I'm with Bell in this one. I'd much rather watch Tom and Jerry than that other network. Is Tom and Jerry even on the air anymore? I feel like it's probably like...

It's a classic. Not allowed to be played. There's probably something... Maybe that's why I love it. Probably the distribution rights ran out on that production. All right. Let's move on now to the Saturday games, and let's head to... Oh, the Georgia Dome.

There was some locking going on there. Ryan to snap, Seahawks rush for. Matt Loo's left. Going to throw wide open, touchdown. Kevin Coleman and Atlanta. nine plays 99 yards 255 for number two yes west durham of w z gc with the call the Atlanta falcons entered this game with one of the best offenses in the league arguably the best offense in the league maybe not even arguably but then they went out and said we're just as good

in the post seasons we are in the regular season so get rid of that narrative Matt ryan through for 338 yards and three touchdowns. And the Atlanta Falcons rolled at home. 36 to 20 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Oh, I think we got a double log up top, Wes. Yeah. See, listen, I told you I was touched by a higher spirit on this game. And it played out almost exactly how I thought it would.

And Earl Thomas, we kind of talked about this in the weeks going up. That showed up again in this game as the Falcons attacked. Tevin Coleman made a juke move, or Devante Freeman, excuse me, made a juke move on Stephen Terrell, who is the backup to Earl Thomas that that man may never recover from. The Falcons, Mark, were just playing at a different level than the Seahawks, which was still, even though you knew this was not the Seahawks season necessarily, it was still a little weird to see them getting bullied in January the way they did.

Yeah, watch this game at a seaside. bar and thought that it played out, as you said, Dan, the way that I think most of us in this studio, if not all of us thought it would, that the Seattle would make plays and hang around to some degree. I thought it was a very entertaining game out of the gate. But Atlanta is just too powerful. And I think that's why we are set up for an absolutely phenomenal NFC title game, because these are two premier offenses going back to back on each other. Not a whole lot of defense to speak of. And Atlanta, they showed you yesterday. They had, I think it was like five or six guys with three, with four plus catches, they can spread the ball around in a way and just take you out.

There's no way withy or without Earl Thomas, I think. Seattle had a chance to outpower Atlanta in this game. I was fascinated by this first quarter, starting with Dan Quinn's decision to defer on the coin toss. Seattle comes down and is clinical on the opening drive, opening touchdown drive. And then what people saw, if they haven't watched the Falcons offense all year, Matt Ryan answers right back, and for the seventh consecutive game, the Falcons opened with a touchdown drive. No one's ever done that before, and it's representative of what this Falcons offense does,

while basically the country has slept on them all season, do not assume that just because Aaron Rogers is hot, that he's coming in to Atlanta and beating this team. The Falcons are for real. And that kind of drive went against some of the ways that they've scored. It was a seven-plus-minute march. normally Atlanta they can also score so quickly that you have to be able to turn around and do the same thing to them

but they showed that they could eat up the clock there as well and almost keep Seattle off the field and squelch that momentum that they had built Atlanta's just too much I don't I think that they you're looking at the MVP quarterback surrounded by weapons I don't understand how they get taken out at home Green Bay is a different story we'll see Jordan Nelson's injured Devante Adams has an ankle

that he had today and he came back in the game but that's two guys. They don't use their running game a lot. And then you see the Falcons, and they have 13 different players with touchdowns and the best backfield. And it's not just Julio Jones and Matt Ryan. Devante Freeman and Tevon Coleman are incredible.

This game, to me, turned at 10-7, Seattle with a lead, 1034 to play in the second quarter. Lana punts the ball away. Devin Hester, who had an incredible game, takes the punt back 79 yards inside Seattle's Atlanta's 10-yard line, and you're thinking, whoa, they're down 10-7. They could be down 17-7, and all of a sudden the pressure's on Atlanta, and maybe they're getting tight in this big spot.

But no, there's a hold on the play. It backs up. It turns out to be essentially an 84-yard penalty, backs up Seattle, and then this happens. Wilson under center, Rawls the single back. Two tights here to the right. Now they bring Baldwin to that. Side. Single receiver to the far side. Wilson fell down. Is it a safety? Is it a safety it is?

He came out from under center Justin Britt and fell to the ground. Well, Ben Garland is in the middle and he blows the center up. And Wilson stumbles because one of his offensive linemen steps on his foot. That offensive lineman was a backup guard. Germain Affetti had left the game with a leg injury. He came back immediately after this play. probably not a coincidence. The backup guard stepped on Wilson. He falls down. He gets touchdown for the safety. It's 10-9, free kick, back to Atlanta.

They kick a field goal to go-ahead 12-10, and they never look back. I thought that was when this game turned, and it just showed how the Falcons were not going to let this game get away. They made the play. He's got a little lucky on a hold-dum. That game turned on that, but also vindicated Dan Quinn's decision to defer

because the Falcons ran away with the game. they scored on a 99-yard touchdown drive, a field goal, then got the ball to start the second half with a touchdown drive to start the third quarter. And before you know, it is 26 to 10. And deferring and getting the ball in the second half came up big for the Falcons. Well, and that whole sequence wiped out a big play by Devin Hester who set out to the game that he's probably, that's it. It's a career for him.

See a Hall of Favor? I think he is. I think he's the best to do what he's done. That's been a newsroom debate from the minute I got there. and I agree with you. I think he's a special guy that some of the stuff he's done, we could travel decades before anyone matches it. I agree.

Especially with the way that the kicking in the return game, the rules have changed the return game. By the way, Michael Bennett. Come back to us. I knew this was going to come up. I mean, I know firsthand that this guy doesn't handle losing well. Oh, yeah. As loyal listeners are aware of.

But, you know, he went after a reporter after the game and, you know, basically, really got after the guy and then asked, what have you had to face in your life in terms of adversity? This reporter happened to be a cancer survivor. And Michael Bennett, foot, enter, mouth. And he didn't have a great game in terms of, you know, he was very, he played a little out of control at times. He also made some plays. But the Seattle defense with Michael Bennett just wasn't the same after Earl Thomas got hurt. But, Wes, one thing we talked about, and we talked about leading up to the game trying to figure out how Seattle could win this game. There's still a lot of great players on this defense.

How come they weren't able to make a bigger impact on this game? Well, I think the Falcons offense is that good. It's just they're that good. Yes, and I think they have been all year. They average 35 points per game at home, which is almost unheard of. they are suited to playing on that fast track too. And then on the other side of the ball, if you're the Seahawks and you want to get back to the point

where you're better than the Falcons, you cannot every year keep giving Tom Cable, the offensive line coach, players who wouldn't even make other rosters and ask him to turn him into starters. And that explains their poor showing on the road all year long. That has to be, yeah, they finished 3, 5, and 1 on the road. That has to be their major point of emphasis this offseason

is finding a better way to protect their franchise quarterback and also get their running game going again. I mean, I'm envious of at least they have an exact knowledge of what they need to do. Whether they can actually plug it is the difference. But they really showed again, they do not have a good offensive line. Do we, oh, sorry, do we think that Paul Richardson, what we've seen over the past two games? I mean, he again yesterday, absolutely phenomenal game. Does this carry over into next season or is this this year's sort of Jeff Janus figure that blows up?

January. Well, I mean, I'm talking about Chris Matthews in the Super Bowl, but they lost that game. I think there's a happy medium there. I think he is more skilled than Chris Matthews and Jeff Janice. He's more reliable than both of those guys. But a healthy Tyler Lockett is a better player. And he's not going to push Lockett out of the starting job opposite Baldwin. He'll play in three receiver sets. Who knows what they'll do with Germain Curse, who they love is a run blocker. I think this will be the deepest wide receiver core next year that Russell ever had. Matt Ryan against Aaron Rogers in a dome against, with two defenses, and I know the Atlanta's defense has played better in recent weeks. I think they're going to struggle

to stop Aaron Rogers. You saw in the first half of this game that Seahawks wide receivers were having their way with the Falcons cornerbacks, and they have the worst red zone defense in the NFL. It would not surprise me at all if we saw something like that Broncos Cowboys game from a couple years ago where it was 51-48. And how big was Adrian Claiborne's out for the playoffs with a bicep injury? How big a loss is that, do you think? He's been their second best pass rusher behind

Vic Beasley. So it's a pretty significant loss, but they are a faster, harder-hitting defense than we've seen in the past. They just don't play great past defense. All right. Sid, why don't we get Mr. Rosenthal back on the phone?

Greg laying potentially nude on his spread i don't know that that's mark you said in a private text conversation that's what was happening well i think it's it's funny to me that greg denies it but i'll let him gregg you there well it was not true when he first suggested but i thought i thought mark's got an idea here and uh i've been trying it out and it's fantastic all right well with that said quite a visual gregg is completely naked people just kind of focus on football as we Head to the throne of ease.

Dionne Lewis waits to our right on a kick that forces him to scramble left, fielding from the three, across the 10, right to the 15, stays left at the 20, cuts it back right at the 30. Lewis to the 35, 4. Dionne, try to get outside of the 50, outrunning the Texans down the right side of the 25, 20. Goodbye. Dionne Lewis takes it to the house. Touchdown, Patriots.

Blood force trauma. That was a party. 99. yards by number 33 and the roof just came off the roof is no roof totally surreal call i said i swear to god the color guy is just the guy that won a fan contest he's yelling go bob sosi and scott zolak of w bz with the call uh yes you heard it dion lewis had three touchdowns and that was his his kickoff return He also had a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown, I believe, the first human to ever do this in the playoffs. True.

Is that a true fact? How about that? And that was more than enough with Brock Oswald and Bob, the New England Patriots, despite looking sluggish and a little out of sync at times, ease their way to a 3416 win. And, you know, Greg, you are there. But, you know, we've got to start. Give credit where credits do. the man in the white-collared shirt, he demanded that we listened to him on Dionne Lewis,

and Dionne Lewis stepped up, Mark. Good for you! Well, apparently I was the third person to come up with that theory, so I'll sit where I sit in third place. Good job by the two of you. Greg, you have to say, and I'm not going to, I did not get sucked in when the game was strangely close at halftime.

But you have to say, that was not exactly the performance that you were hoping for or were expecting against a wretched text. Well, not a wretched team, but a wretched offense led by Brock Osweiler, who was as bad as advertised in this game. Not the best patron show. I can't believe it. Well, forget about halftime. It was a one-score game, and Osweiler got the ball with, you know, 12 minutes left in the game. It was very similar to the Cowboys Packers, and that, you know, finally that got the ball. ball, you know, with about 10 minutes left in a one-score game.

The difference is, you know, the Cowboys have a great quarterback, and the Texans have Brock Osweiler, and literally the first play after they worked so hard to get back to that point is the overthrow that got tipped, and he has an interception. And, yeah, the Patriots played bad. I mean, they sounded after the game and the scene there, like, they could not have been more disappointed, which I think almost goes too far the other way. I mean, they did just win a playoff game by 18 points. If this was a game in the middle of October, I don't think people would have really been hand-wringing.

That's what the throne of ease is. They've gotten to the point now where a playoff win isn't good enough. You must dominate and embarrass your opponent. And the fact that this game was more competitive than it should have been. And I don't think Tom Brady was as sharpest. He threw two picks in this game. Had some throws that I thought even Wes, even some of the throws downfield, and maybe I'm not seeing it right, but they kind of chucked them downfield and it worked out.

out with his receivers. I don't think your boy, Tom played that well in this game. Well, he also had some throws that were absolute beauties. I thought Julian Edelman had a fantastic game and carried that offense for stretches. So you are going to, you're going to punt on saying anything bad about Tom's game? I mean, what do you want? I thought the Texans, they kind of got to Tom Brady. It was the only way to potentially get in their head.

I got Wes here and is it, Wes, say something bad about Tom Brady. Didn't play miserable, but, I mean, his team won by 18. points and he made some beautiful throws. Well, I don't know what... All right, I'll tell you what you need to hear. Is that Jadavian Clowny got in his kitchen a couple times. He got roughed up a little bit. And again, once again, we saw in January, if you can get Tommy,

he tassel his hair a little bit and get in his face. He is not this unstoppable beauty boy. And we saw it again. Right, and you get within 18 points of beating them. But that had nothing to do with him. That had everything to do with the quarterback on the other side of the field. Brock Osweiler was absolutely horrendous in this game. And Mark, we had just talked about or I had brought it up to you

that one of the worst fan experiences as a fan of a team that always has a bad quarterback is when your bad quarterback makes a throw and then his wide receiver blows it. And when Will Fuller dropped the best throw Brock Osweiler ever had, all you could do is just shake your head and say this Texans team is not going to figure this thing out because you're not going to get another throw from Brock like that because he was, terrible all game. Yeah, Greg, were you

at any point during this game were you feeling fidgety, nervous, a little P-level rising? Oh, yeah. I was nervous because this was like a no-win this was a no-win situation. It's not a fun, it's not a fun type of game. You just want to get through it. You know, it's not a fun game when you're disappointed that they're only up

11 points in the fourth quarter. That's not how it should be. You want to get on to the games against the real game. And when you were texting with minutes to go in the game, about how dangerous the Texans were, had they had quarterback, how complete they were, how impressed you were. Was that just high-level trolling? Or was that were you just being, was that you in earnest at that point? Now you're just making.

Not at all. I will find your, I will find your text as these guys continue on. Do you know that the Patriots, well, all right, go ahead. All right, we'll give Romeo. Let me just say, Greg. Let me just say. The Patriots are one competent opposition quarterback away. from getting picked off last night.

They won by 18 points. They were not. I guess, but they, that's what, that's what's coming out of this game, but you could look at it the other way, which I will, which is that they had a bad game. It's going to give, they're going to be ornery about it, it's going to give Belichick a lot to coach up, you know, whatever bad game that they had, they kind of got it out of the way and you would expect it to play much better. They also played a team that seemed very well prepared.

paired to take some things away from you mentioned i mean they got interior pressure on him a ton they kind of they kind of made them uncomfortable throughout and and despite all that you know they still had 377 yards and what 34 points and they lost the turnover battle three to one and they and they still won i don't think that was all brock i mean they did they did move the ball at times but it took like some crazy rogers like throws like he had he had more great throws in that game than i think games that he has, but he also had some thinkers. And we also, when have we seen the Patriots play two games in a row where they are underwhelming? I think they're going to be fine next week. They'll figure this out.

You saw plays where Clowny, Merciless, and Cushing hit Brady? We saw just as many, if not more plays, where Brady had the ball back there for eight or nine seconds, just scanning the field. He had plenty of time most of that game. He, and this was, this was a bad throws were because of Michael Floyd, who the timing was just off like he thought michael floyd was going to run a route a certain way and he was that he was ahead of it and they count so much on timing and knowing what the receiver is going to do that i think they're going to they're going to take michael floyd out behind the woodshed or something get malcolm mitchell healthy i kind of i kind of got the feeling that he was going to get set to

the cornfields after that interception um i don't care i don't care what you guys say you guys are really spinning for your boy here ron rogers 18 for 38 in that game that was not that was not close Tom Brady, 18 for 38 in that game. Not close to good enough if you have the Steelers coming into your building next week. Right. And they play at their capability. Why are we assuming? Why are we assuming Tom Brady's going to have the same game next week that he has?

I'm saying he can't have this type of game again. I don't think he will. I don't. By the way, he had a bad game in his previous playoff game against the good defense. And we were just singing the praises of Pittsburgh's defense. Don't just assume Tom is going to keep coasting because now he's going to start playing some real teams and some real quarterback. Deal with it, Wessling.

I feel like we've spent four years on this show manufacturing reasons to be concerned about the Patriots. Sure, sure, sure. I mean, they do lose conference championship games. They are two and three. They also win conference championship game. No, they do, but this is their sixth straight, which is a crazy, an absolutely ridiculous stat. And I know you guys aren't going to feel bad, but it almost makes it like if they don't win a title this year, They're kind of underperforming.

If you make it to the final four, six, three years, you've got to win more than one. Not with the narrative constructing. Well, that's what we do, as we talk about games and players and where they are in history, do not try to convince us that the Patriots would be underperforming if they don't get to the Super Bowl for their entire dynasty? Like, it's just going to mean nothing, please. No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that they've gotten this far so many times that, you know, you want to go at least three and three

in these conference changes. Right, and you're not traveling to Denver this time. You're at home, and I would almost agree. If they don't take care of business here, then it is a very disappointing season for New England because 10 days ago we were talking about a team that no one could possibly stop in the AFC. One final thing on Brock Osweiler.

He was set up with a silver platter two weeks in a row as far as field position. Just given the ball on the shadow of the end zone or in the opponent's territory several times, and the performance he put up, there's no way this guy can start. Bill O'Brien lost me forever in this game. And maybe we'll find out more. Maybe I didn't see maybe something came out after the game.

Where's Tom Savage in this game? Is Tom Savage real? Because I thought he was. Maybe was Nick Cade preparing for a role. I don't know what it was. But what do they have to show? And I thought Bert Breer, who works with Peter King now and used to work here, had an interesting tweet where he thought that leaving Osweiler in there when the game had kind of gotten away and he was just playing terribly was potentially sending a sign or sending a signal maybe upstairs about this is the guy that you've left me with and this is not going to cut it going forward if you want this franchise to take the next step makes sense because I just I don't see any reason why he was still in the game about midway through the third quarter when it was very clear he was not going to give this team the spark they needed come on bill yeah

I mean, it's, I think that idea of a message upstairs is, it makes sense, except that Bill O'Brien, by all accounts, was also part of the, you know, part of the enthusiasm behind signing Brock Osweiler. He can't completely wash his hands of this. Unless he was. Well, unless it got dropped in his lap. I don't think it did, though. There are accounts that say that he was definitely part of this.

Bet him for 10 seconds before they signed pen to paper for the contract. That part I don't like. I thought it was partly that he would, he didn't want to put a. himself out there. I think if Osweiler had played in the first app like he did in the second half where he was making more clear mistakes, even though he didn't play well at all, he might have made a change. But when you put Savage in, when the game was still close, it's almost like it's putting it all on Bill O'Brien. And I don't know if he had the stones for it. I thought he and Pete Carroll, I know you guys have already done that game, I assume. You know, they coached way

too conservative for for teams that were trailing against better teams like o'brien had a couple chances to go for it on fourth down or make calls or or benched Brock and he kind of chickened out well here we go Greg you're back in the aFC title game congratulations um you know I there are whispers already that you'll be in new england for the big game next week

and I'm sure you're just pinching yourself well you guys say all these Steelers Patriots conference title appearances are boring, but correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think we've had one since, what, 2001 that they actually played each other? Am I crazy? I don't think that we're saying that New England Pittsburgh is boring. I think if anything, we're thankful that we're not getting New England, Kansas City, which, why even play that game?

Yeah, we kind of duck that potential tragedy with thanks to Eric Fisher's holding call. But all right, Greg. Your boy, Eric Fisher. Yeah, boy, number one pick, your favorite player. All right. I don't know. why is Eric Fisher I thought somebody's boy Greg was he not your boy

for a short period there I thought you were well he used to be he used to be target practice on the podcast for whatever reason I just link you and him I don't know right

I don't claim that you knew that you thought well of him did you feel a little bad for him today have you guys heard because this is going to be a story yeah have you heard the whole Antonio Brown post game

being put on Facebook live story yet no talk us through let's get some breaking news Sydney Call it for Drops for Salas. This is this why we have, that's why he's NFL Networks, Greg Rosenthal.

What do you got, Greg? Antonio Brown posted, and it's still up to Facebook Live, the 13 minutes immediately after the game where Mike Tomlin addressed the team, which included many swears from him and Ben Rothersburgers and talk about the Patriots,

but the key part was a couple different parts where Tomlin called them A-holes where he said we spotted these A-holes a game and a half and they made us play at night and we're going to get back at 4 in the morning but screw them and then someone who was probably Rothesburg or called them A-Holes too so it was a lot of fun.

So you already hear first the Steelers trashing their AFC title game opponent the New England Patriots in their locker room posted live on social media before gregg hangs up my favorite part of the video you tweeted yeah of you locking it up yeah this week which was a beautiful moment was gregg's hand gestures while you're doing it you know how excited he gets and he backs up against his chair and he does one of these yeah fist pumps it's like it that made my day when i saw the video

you gregg kind of like channeled a gospel preacher uh can we hear that actually sidney And you know what, guys? Oh, no. When you factor in something, an advantage of that magnitude. Is he going to do it? And then you say, oh, they're at home. No. And they are flying high.

In the Georgia zone. The Seahawks aren't the same anymore. In the Georgia know. I'm going to lock it up. Lock it up. There you go. I mean, that's Greg being Greg. Yeah.

You said you were touched by God, but I was feeling him within me right there. There you go. All right. Greg Rosenthal, thank you for joining us for two games. A little history there for the podcast, and we'll see you back here on Tuesday. Bye, Greg. Yes, sir.

Bye-bye. That's NFL Network's Greg Rosenthal. The question is, why is Greg so uncomfortable about the new drop? That's what I want to know why he's so uncomfortable about the new drop of fandom. Hey, is that NFL networks, Greg Rosenthal? Yes, it is. I mean, why? I'm not sure why.

I mean, I will say this. I think he was quite drawn to Alex Fergola's voice and the fact that, you know, her talents are tied to his. But I cannot comment. Yeah. I mean, that's pretty telling. Why would he feel the way he does, you know, about any other drop? I can't explain.

Here's, okay, here's the good news and bad news. Bad news first. There are only three games left in the season. The good news. They are going to be three. great games. And that's what this upcoming week will be all about talking about the AFC and NFC title games next Sunday. We'll determine who goes to the Super Bowl so that the next time you hear from us will be on Tuesday. And you know who else is excited about these

games? Who else is? Mr. Flame in a second class. Oh, he is. He is very excited, as he should Mr. F. You've got to slip that one in there, Dan. Well, you know, Sid, you got to let me know when I forget about Mr. Flame. It did cross my mind, but I didn't put pen to paper. I think she just trusted that at some point you were going to get around to our very treasured sponsor. Or new money has something cooking, a little heat towards Mr. Flame, and was like, oh, let me take a little shot out. Why are you starting up trouble right now?

Eat towards Mr. Flame between you and him, huh? Okay. That's again That tone is when Sydney is just over. Well, it's only roughly four hours later than Sydney thought she'd be getting home tonight. So I understand the attitude. Let's go home. I embrace it.

That's it. This is Dan Hansis. Certainly, at some point, we've got to go home. You know, this fake ice. Enough for the ice. Come back to us, ice. Weather. Dan Hans is signing off for the mailman, the boss, the old boss, new Sid.

Until Tuesday. This is an Ihaired Pard Pardt podcast.