NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Championship Weekend Recap: Super Bowl LX Is Set!

Episode Date: January 26, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook to recap the Championship Weekend action between the Rams and Seahawks (01:35) in the NFC and the Patriots and Broncos (33:51) in the AFC. Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, The Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. It's happening every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars for the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment. About anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture.

And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL. Looking forward to you joining me this season, the season of more on The Off The Off The Edge with Cam Joom podcast. Catch new episode. every Wednesday on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. Store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com. Welcome to NFL Daily where Super Bowl 60 is set. I'm Greg Rosenthal. For the last time on a recap show in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio this season with Patrick Claibon and our friend Nick Shook joining us. from Cleveland. Super Bowl 60. We knew it was going to be some sort of rematch unless it was Rams Broncos.

And it's very much not Rams Broncos. Patriots, Seahawks, Super Bowl 60, a rematch of Super Bowl 49. We watched these two games together, Patrick, next to each other all day. And they felt like very different football games. And we have a fun little Super Bowl to talk about for two weeks. Yeah, a little predictable in terms of at least the way that the games played out, perhaps not necessarily the results, but what a performance by both teams in Seattle tonight. And, you know, just touches away from being like the movie style ending, shook, but still still a fun or participation of them.

Yeah, we were kind of robbed of the 2013 NFC championship game results and a post game Richard Sherman interview with Aaron Andrews. But you know what? This was pretty close. and it was still for a good stretch of the second half, the exact example of why playoff football is among the most entertaining products in entertainment. It was a classic, and let's not waste any more time.

Let's go out to Seattle. Shotgun snap to Stafford. Nine seconds left. Stafford looks, fires. Ball is caught. Pooka Nakua slides out of bounds. No, clock keeps moving. Nakula on weird.

Take your helmets off. Players, they're probably. breaking the glass next door. A completion of pooping the tour. He can't get out of bounds. Confirming the rubber was down in bounds. The game is now over. Seahawks win.

Seahawks win and the Seahawks are going back to the Super Bowl. Can you believe it? I can believe it. The Seahawks. One of the two best teams in the NFL all season long. Worked so hard in that fourth quarter and overtime

against the Rams to get home fielded And that kind of felt like the difference in a 31 to 27 victory over the Rams in the NFC championship. There are so many heroes to talk about in this game and clutch performances. But I think we have to start with Steve Rabel on KIRO, not hesitating. And with a little assist from the line judge there, rolling that clock and not messing up all the calls on the radio for the rest of time. They had to check it. But yes, Pooka Nakua was inbound, and that means there was no Hail Mary attempt, and that means that Sam Darnold did it.

I have to start here, Shook, because the Seattle Seahawks won a game in which their defense gave up 27 points, in which their running game had a 16.7% success rate, and a game where they needed all of Sam Darnold's 340 plus yards passing and three touchdowns to make the Super Bowl. And they needed him to not make any big mistakes in the big moment and deliver second down conversion after second down conversion to help kill that clock. And you know what?

He did it all. And Sam Darnold is going to the Super Bowl. And they needed Kenneth Walker and they needed Cooper Cup. You know, by the way, they needed Jackson Smith and Jigba, a collective team effort that never gets there if Sam Darnold doesn't do the job. I think it was some point in the fourth quarter where I just had a realization.

He made a play, I think it was a third down conversion where I just thought in my head, oh my God, this is the best game I've seen from Sam Darnold since that Rose Bowl against Penn State way back. Like, this is peak Sam Donald. He's finally arrived to this point that so many people thought he would get to when he was coming out of USC into the draft.

And it's a beautiful sight to see that he did it on the second biggest stage possible outside of the Super Bowl to get his team to the Super Bowl to answer all the doubters who thought maybe last year was an aberration. Maybe he can't deliver in the big moments. He delivered and he delivered emphatically today. Yeah. In doing so in so many key situations where the moment in the pressure and I don't mean metaphorical pressure because all that I think is the actual impending pressure from football players as well as playing through the oblique injury. We saw the warming pad over on the sideline where he says he's fine. Clearly he's working through and playing.

through that. But the touchdown pass to J.S.N. where Braden Fiske is rummaging around right at his feet, which could have easily impacted that throw. It didn't. It goes for the touchdown. And then third and seven from their own 28 with three minutes and 20 seconds to go, he's

able to navigate the pocket, get that ball to Cooper Cup, a first down by about six inches. There was not just that throw, there was another throw on that same drive. We're in a situation, you could say, oh, you got to play it safe. No. Clint Kubiak, with this prospective employer on the broadcast,

are calling every single play that he calls, was absolutely nails on Sunday night. Yeah, that Cooper Cup third down conversion was absolutely massive. I think it was the right call. There were a lot of close calls in this game. And for the most part, they were right. Even the taunting call on Rick Woolard,

by the letter of the law is the right call, even if we believe in ethical football and that there should be no taunting calls. Like, I do get why they called that. But I think starting there at the end is key. And what I hate in these situations, Shook, is when a team doesn't read the situation of how that particular game is going. There's actually a lot of types of games where I don't think it would have been crazy for them to be more conservative on that final drive. But in this game, they had to do everything that they could to prevent the Rams from getting the ball back.

They had to know that Sam Darnold was winning, that their pass protection was winning, that their wide receivers were winning, and they had to call it aggressively. And so, yeah, they called some first down runs for Walker to stop the clock. But they also called a second down on passes on two different plays on that drive. You're near your own end zone. They get the ball to Kenneth Walker. He picks up 15 yards. He breaks a tackle. I don't know how PFF charted it, but in the game, he broke five different tackles. Two of them could have been on that particular play, and a couple of them were receiving, a couple of them running. So his individual skill set gets it done. They run it on first down the next time, and they actually call a deep shot on second down to Rashid Shaheed. And Darnold kind of has the first throw-all game where you're like, I'm not going to say he was nervous,

but it just comes out funny, and it's not on time, and you're just like, uh-oh. And that's the play before the cup play. And then again, they don't wait until third down. the next set of downs. They have them throw the ball on second down, and they get a big penalty. And if any of those had gone wrong,

everyone would be killing them for not killing the clock, but they read the game correctly. It's one of the reasons why I think Mike McDonald is such an excellent coach. He has a feel for his team, and Darnold proved him right again and again tonight. Yeah, why him and Clint Kuwiak are such a good pairing as head coach and offensive coordinator.

Because in order to really secure your trip to the Super Bowl in a game that has been this close, in a game between two teams that are so close in quality and in talent and in familiarity, you have to play a little bit aggressively. You're going to live by it and you're going to die by it and you're going to hope it's going to work out. And it did for them.

You have to keep them honest. You talked about the success rate, how low it was on the ground for the Seahawks. Well, the Rams are going to load the box and they're just going to stuff that run and you're going to be putting back to them with two minutes or so and give the Rams another chance

after they just moved down within scoring range and turned it over on downs. So how do you really lock down your trip to the Super Bowl? You get a little aggressive. You call a little play action. You let Sam Donald throw the ball. You let Sam throw it. toward a receiver, it gets held, and it draws a holding flag, and that's a first down.

But most importantly, I think in this game that will probably go overlooked, maybe not, is Kenneth Walker's 111 scrimmage yards. Because you talked about that where he broke a couple of tackles on that conversion. He ran around like four guys. I felt like Byron Young was just spending half of the evening chasing Kenneth Walker in the flats and repeatedly never catching up because Kenneth Walker has the ability to catch and run as a receiver. And he played a huge part throughout this game, and especially in putting that game away. such a great blend of run and pass with the game and the trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

And this is what makes the Seahawks, the Seahawks. We've talked about their defense all season, but it's also about their willingness to get aggressive in key spots. Because of that guy wearing number nine right there, Kenneth Walker, and of course, Sam Darnold. Yeah, you're watching, if you're catching us on YouTube, one of the jukes that Walker had earlier in the game. And yes, his production was concentrating a few different drives that were scoring drives to start the game during the middle of the game. Whenever they needed a big play, it was Kenneth Walker. I think backing it up, you know, it wasn't a great game for the Seahawks defense, Patrick, but I think when we think about how this game ended, how the Seahawks got out of here with a win,

let's not get negative necessarily on the Rams yet, because there are some things to talk about where they came up short, certainly defensively. But the Seahawks defense holding up at the very last second on that last red zone drive and stopping Stafford on the third and fourth down in the red zone feels like it was like, If not the key sequence of the game, it's right there. And it got a stab directly into my chest and the Nick Shook's chest in the anti-three-man rush in that situation where Sean McVey pointing out in the post game, you know, Stafford has the ball to Mumfield on the sideline on third down. A lot of time there was a four-man rush. But then they come back.

Sean McVeigh is calling this a accidental bust that was fortuitous for them. Because after Cairo Williams was all by himself early in the first half, with the pick play from Pooka Nakuha for the touchdown. They peel off two defenders, and this is a play where Devante Adams and Pooka Nacu are on the field. Two defenders have devoted solely to Kairn Williams in the flat, but because they're over there, it gums up the work for Devonte.

And Nick Eman Worry, one of the two people that's actually close to Matthew Stafford is going up against Alric Jackson, and the defensive back gets the pressure that gets Stafford to get rid of the ball in the back of the end zone, so he doesn't have time to see Huka may have had space to get to the sideline. And that's the stop.

All because, you know, if everybody's wrong, it's the old note about coverage. You know, as long as everybody's wrong together, then it can work out. Right. And I love that point by you on the pass rush and even worry because it does force Stafford to throw it a little early. Let's actually listen to McVeigh, who had a fascinating and brief post-game press conference. Talk about that play.

You know, that was a situation where we just kind of came up short. They kind of lucked into having two guys peel on Kyron right there. I know that can't be part of their design. So it's a fortuitous bust by them. But it was, you know, they're an excellent team. And you don't take away anything. You know, they earn the win. And, you know, their NFC champs for a reason. It's like he caught himself right in the middle of that, not wanting to sound wrong. But he's right. He was right. He's right. I'm all about coaches being honest and teaching us a little bit about ball in the biggest of spots. And he did very, you know, quietly say that there were opportunities on that third downplay, too.

Like, if you watch that not only going to Mumfield a little bit sooner, which Witherspoon breaks up, but there's also, I'm missing, a receiver coming open, going to the left side. So he had time, it's a bang, bang play. And what stands out to me is that in two different two play sequences at the end of each half. and I think about how the end of half and end of game situations is sometimes the whole game.

The first half, it's Nick Eman Worry breaking up two straight passes and then telling Stafford about it on Stafford's way to the bench. That gets the ball back from the Rams. And really, the biggest offensive mistake I think they made the entire game was giving the ball back to the Seahawks

at the end of the first half, giving them a chance to go get a touchdown, and that's exactly what happened. So it's Eam and Worry, this young athletic defensive back, winning matchups he shouldn't against Devante Adams on one of the plays, stepping up in the big spot. And then it's Devin Wetherspoon. They're all pro. After the defensive rookie of the year potentially does it at the end of the first half, they're all pro does it back to back passes defense at the end of the second half. So yeah, it wasn't the best game for the Seattle defense. But those are the types of plays that badass players make that Seahawks fans, I think, are going to be. membrane along with those great darnald touchdowns in Walker Place. Yeah, of course, the touchdown passes and everything are going to be the ones that resonate

the most with fans because they're prettier. They're easier to kind of digest. But yeah, the defense really adjusting. And it was really a great example, I think, in that gold to go situation where the Rams are really threatening. They're riding this wave of momentum and they're on this methodical drive. We've seen them do this throughout the playoffs. They did it against Chicago. They did it earlier in this game. That textbook engineered drive that's guaranteed to end in the end zone. But the Seahawks stand tall because they know where the Rams like to look on one of those plays in that goal to go situation. You got Adams isolated out left. And you got Brady pointing out that Adams is isolated out left and you know that they want to go

to him. They'd already gotten, burned him for a touchdown earlier in the half on a one-on-one ball to Adams who obviously wins with this excellent route running. And I'm watching the safety just kind of drift over to the left before the play. And I'm thinking they're bracketing him. That's going to get taken away. Stafford takes the snap immediately looks to Adams. Adams is not there. He knows he's not there. Then he starts to look through the rest of his progression. Then he panics and tries to fire it over to Mumfield. That's an example of two teams who know each other really well and adjusting accordingly. And I love that fourth down call that you pointed out, Patrick, going to a three-man rush, because I hate a three-man rush as much as you do and as much as a lot of

us do. But what I appreciate is showing seven, dropping four and muddying up the picture and getting a little bit of like McVeigh at a fortuitous break when you peel off on Kyron Williams to where Stafford has nowhere to go. Now you can kind of break down that sequence of plays and say, well, maybe Stafford gets the ball to Mumfield earlier. He puts it on the outside shoulder instead of the inside where it's able to be broken up. Maybe you can win. there. Maybe you can win if he makes a quicker decision on fourth down, but ultimately this is what football is in the playoffs. And this is why this was such a great

playoff game. It's the little things. It's the little margins. And it's how quick you can make a decision. The Seahawks prevailed in those scenarios. This game will break your heart because the Rams put up 26 first downs, 479 yards, in a game where they really only had

eight real drives. They had two, two play drives at the end of the game and at the end of the half where they basically had no chance to score. So only eight real drives. and you almost put up 500 yards on the best team in football, and yet you're thinking about the plays that didn't go your way. Speaking of which, let's go back actually to a two-play sequence, and we're going to have a couple two-play sequences to talk about in this game.

But this is the one that favored the Seahawks. And yes, how do you lose a game where you don't turn the ball over on offense? You go for almost 500 yards. you do it by making a big special teams error like the Rams have done so many times this season. Michael Dixon will punt, Xavier Smith, the deep man for the Rams. And this again, another rainmaker, high spiral. Smith falls down, ball, Seahawks. Smith backing up trying to call fair catch.

Falls down and the ball hits him. The Seahawks recover. And they are inside the 20-yard line. Here we go, Sam Darnold now. Goes under center with Walker behind him. Lightouts to both sides. Play fake. Donald looks.

Now he's going to throw back to the end zone. It's called. Touchdown. Seahawks. Jake Bobo. Regression. But he lines up left side, gets under the goal post,

and Sam just throws a rope. You know, at the time, I was like, oh, man, this Ram's secondary can't cover. And then I rewatch that play. It's like, yeah, Kobe Durant had no chance on that. play. They hung him out to dry. He had

he had the whole field to cover one guy and that's where I'm giving a little credit to the aggressiveness, the play call and maybe the lack of a pass rush there by the Rams where they blitz and aren't anywhere close to Sam Donald. Yeah, you want to find the bad spot from the Rams secondary from that play. It's Emmanuel

Forbes coming on the corner blitz. He sees Kenneth Walker step up and granted there is a size mismatch between Emmanuel Forbes and a lot of people but he stops and chops his feet and just kind of hand fights. It's a corner blitz man. Like we got to get a little more involved in this because like you said, your teammates over there trying to cover Jake Bobo,

you know, on a double move in the end zone, runs a, you know, a corner post and he gets beat where it's over and over again. Like Rams defense, whether it's the Omar Spates on skates highlight, multiple times where he's trying to get track of guys.

And I know Cooper Cup had this revenge game, but it had to be sweet for Ernest Jones to look over and see a Rams defense that needs somebody that's going to be able to make tackles. and get pressure in certain situations, and it was over and over again, the Rams secondary kind of coming up short here. You know, the numbers say,

you know, the Rams got a 35% pressure rate, which is not great. It's not disastrous, but it's not great, especially when you blitz 35% of time. Like, I don't think it was a good game for their pass rush.

Watching it, I felt like it was even worse than those numbers say. I think ultimately their pass rush and they lost Kobe Turner at one point and the game needed, to be better to help out that secondary. But ultimately, we've talked all season long,

Shook, about the lack, if they have a weakness, that Rams defense, the lack of size and the lack of depth at cornerback. And they benched, who was it early in this? Darius Williams. Darius William.

They put them on a mission one-on-one with no help on the street to eat. Right. And then they put them on the bench. Hell, while we're talking about, you can take a look at that play, because I do think it really set up that entire game that, like,

right off the best. you hit a long, you know, pass to Rashid Jihad from Darnold in the very first third down of the game. And it kind of set up a trend shook of the Seahawks hitting third and long after third and long. They end up finishing on this game, let's see, seven for 13 on third downs. And at least through the first 10 third downs, I didn't get the final number. Like their average depth was about 10 yards. And so they hit a million of these third downs. longs. I think that play to

Shaheed really set the tone and they kept having, you know, some really good throws like that one on third and log but sometimes it was just wide open, not much of a pass rush and almost too soft busted coverage where they made it too easy for Seattle to keep it going.

And a lot of these drives were on the other side, like the Rams were terrible on third down. And that's where you, you know, like, that's how games are won. Like if you give up four or five third and longs, like you're going to lose the game. Yeah, exactly. If you're trying to find an explanation in the stats for why this game turned out the way it did. You can look at the Rams 479 yards that they gained offensively, but you can also look at them going one for eight on third

down. That's the Seahawks defense rising at the occasion. You can look at Seattle going seven for 13 on third down. That's the Seahawks finding a way to get it done. And when you look at Sam Darnold's highlights, you're going to see all these throws, which is why we think, oh wow, he had such a great game, which he did. But that throw to Shehede, that's essentially a layup because Shehede just cooks Williams off the line of script. You just got to get him the ball. It's another example of taking advantage of a good matchup, one on one down the sideline with one of the fastest guys in the NFL and capitalizing and putting yourself in scoring position very early in the game. But you know what else it was too? And I'm

glad Patrick, you brought up the corner post because they feasted on the corner post against cover two in this game. It was on that play to Jake Bobo, but it had to be something they saw on film, maybe just against cover two, something specifically, because right before halftime, they have the throw to JSN for a big game. He turns around Cam Curl with a corner post and that sets up the touchdown just before half that you mentioned. How do you finish halves? How do you finish games? that was a big swing in the game right there. So it's a credit to two teams knowing each other really well, but also Clint Kubiak taking advantage of a weakness that we've all seen in the Rams,

save for the divisional round against the Bears, which has been their secondary and especially downfield. And it was a big reason why the Seahawks were able to win this game. I think that was the thing that they saw on the film, Shook. It's the Rams defensive secondary and an opportunity to make a double move and shield them off and take advantage of the size advantage that almost everyone has. The difference is, you know, where, you know, DJ Moore comes up a little bit short on an opportunity to get the inside track

to football, the Seahawks did not come up short. You're so mad at the Rams defense watching this. Well, it was, it was a, you know, and to be fair. They came up short. They came up short. To be fair, this is not, they're not playing our sister of the valley over the Seahawks of a very talented and gifted receiving court with veterans and talent and all kinds of opportunities where they could take advantage of a team like the rain.

Sam's, but you have to be able to get one. Either you get some pressure on Sam or you, you know, get the inside track to a football. They didn't do either. It wasn't a great day for Chris Shula's, you know, head coaching candidacy in general. Like, if they've done well kind of overachieving for the talent that they had in the

back seven, it all kind of collapsed tonight. And yet, they're right in this game. So much went wrong. And I don't want to get out of this game without talking about Stafford playing great, that they blew a great Stafford game. He goes for 3754 yards and three touchdowns in this game. You know, they don't get that red zone at the end. The Seahawks go four for five in

the red zone. I mean, the Rams just had to be perfect, and they weren't. They go two for three at the very end. We mentioned them going with that short, you know, drive before half, but we're picking those out because they're the only times that they didn't score. I mean, the Rams played awesome on offense. The Seahawks defense gave up four drives this season of 85 yards or more. One was against the Rams, by the way, in week 16. Two more were tonight, and they were one more yard away on that last drive from doing it again. Like they would have basically had more good drives in this game, big long drives than anyone did all season. They fall down two scores early. They survive it. They blow the end of the first half situation. They survive it. And,

And they get to the point where they do have the ball with a chance to win, in part because of that big two-play sequence that I alluded to earlier, that involved all the different Rik-Welen emotions that we've watched throughout his career. It was like his entire career in 60 seconds. Five coming after Stafford. He's rushed. He's pressured. He throws. Intercepted, no drops. Nearly picked up the 27-yard line, Kooka, the target.

Rik-Wollen, though, got mitts on it. And so the Rams will have to punt. They get nothing on third and 12. Stafford dodges the interception, gets a high five from McVeigh. And now there is a ton of pressure on this. And a first down for the Rams. Tareke Wollin just got a penalty for taunting. You're kidding.

Rieck Wollin, instead of an L.A. punts, puts Matthew Stafford back in his huddle. Matthew with a new first down and plus terror tour. Three left, Higby, right. He's away from center. Play action pass. Spins his head around, and he whistles one to the end. end zone, caught by Puka at the front left pylon. On one strike, Matthew to Puka.

He puts it in the pain and the Rams are back. One of the great parts of this game was just the emotions. You think the Cocks are going to get the ball back with, you know, a few minutes left in the third quarter up 11. And instead, two plays later, you know, Matthew Stafford to paraphrase his teammates out there snatching souls by going after. Requel. And you know Sean McVeigh, like, called up that play to go right after Reekwell. And Puka Nakua goes nine for 165 in a touchdown in this game. Like, how good is Puka and Jackson Smith

and Jigba that I haven't even mentioned? Like the two best receivers of the season deliver nine for 165 in a touchdown for Puka, 10 for 153 for JSN, just two of the best receiver scenes you ever want to see. But at, there were different moments in this game when I thought, oh, the Rams are just going to do this. There was that moment. And it was the Stafford breaking to Marcus Lawrence's tackle on a fourth down scramble where I'm like, oh, they're going to do that because that was some badass shit like that Rick Willan throw. Like everyone's saying like, oh, you got lucky with a taunting call. Cool, true.

You did. But not everyone is going to hit you with a dime for 45 yards like immediately afterwards. Yeah. And I don't know how much of it was specifically like, hey, take this because Spooka had 225 yards receiving. I do. I do think the next play, he was like, let's go after Rick Willen. Let's do this. Let's do what they don't expect.

We'll throw the ball to Pooka Nguua. I think they would have liked to have that opportunity, not necessarily just against Rieke, but against Wetherspoon, against really any coverage, as good as he's been, as good Stafford has been in this game. And I think I felt that way, too, about the Rams and their opportunity to win this game.

They just had to be able to get off the field on third down. But in terms of the Rams' offensive production, I thought it was a great Blake question. game where Blake Horm had the hot hand to the extent that we didn't even see Kiron run the ball in the second half. Especially with a team that's in the Rams that only had 238 yards running out of shotgun all season long. There were a lot of McVeigh tendency breakers in this game.

We had a couple of long shotgun runs for Blake Horm where the play calling everything was just working so well until it didn't. Right. Like I was trying to think of other, you know, reasons why the Rams lost. And you know, you can look at their success rate rushing 35%. It's not great. Yeah, but you run for five yards per carry against the Seahawks over 100 yards. Like, you'll take that every day. This is the Seahawks defense you're going against. They obviously played fantastic throwing the ball. I don't think there's that much more to know other than the defense and the special teams. Like,

let Stafford down. Stafford had to be perfect to win this game and there were opportunities. Like, he was pretty close to being perfect. There are those two drives we talked about that they'd like to have back. He was so good in this game and it's why we get mad about quarterback wins and losses. This hits me a little bit like

the Brady lost to the Eagles and the Super Bowls. Like that was one of his best performances ever and they lost the game because his defense ultimately let Matthew Stafford down today. I mean, this is why we thought that these are the two best teams in the NFL because they played like it. I mean, they played like any team that's not the Rams or not the Seahawks that falls down by 11 in Seattle, in the NFC championship game,

in a crushing turn of events in which your punt returner muffs it and they score a touchdown on the very next play. They fold. It's over. It's too loud. It's, the pressure's too high. We can't get the job done. We're shooting ourselves in the foot.

But the Rams have Matthew Stafford, who just comes out and call me fires the ball downfield and they score a touchdown in four plays covering 75 yards. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, oh, I forgot. He's a dog. And he's not letting them go down like that. And that's why it ended up being such a good game. It's just that in these types of games

where the teams are so close, that turnover legitimately swung the game in the favor of the Seahawks. That and their defense standing up at just the right time, the strength of this team, delivering in the big spot. And that's why it was such a great game.

That's why it felt like even though the Rams defense let them down, let Stafford down, I'm not surprised. Like both teams largely played true to who they were, save for the Seahawks defense getting kind of shredded by Matthew Stafford,

but it's Matthew Stafford. So I don't have any qualms or regrets about the way this game played out. I thought it was hilarious that Rick Wollin even went so far as to pull a shiasty down before talking smacks and sideline and getting the flag. I mean, that was... It all played out perfectly.

That trash talk was so long, and they had to break it into two different parts in the broadcast. Because I was like... I was like, he was trash talking for like eight seconds, but it wasn't like too crazy. I was like, ah, that was a little weak, actually. But then they showed like part two. It was like the sequel where then he actually ran at the coach

and then got in his face and yelled. And I was like, I guess you got to call that. You don't have to call that, but just don't make that a rule. There's no obligation. to call it. There's been plenty of discussions heated discussions had on sidelines that don't necessarily need to that. And to the what do I teach my kids

community, the broadcast didn't even show any of it. It would just had the punt team run out there and it would have been a kick and nothing would have ever happened. But the Seahawks overcome that. And you know, you talked about Stafford, the tight window percentage was over

a quarter. 28.6% tight window percentage against the 2025 Seattle Seahawks defense. A lot of them like including that, you know, Shook was referencing that after the drive after the Bobo touchdown where they breeze down the field, the layered ball to Parkinson. Yep. Where it's just like defenders jump. They reach. They think they have a chance.

They don't. He's just placing the ball out there. And they played such heavy man coverage in the first half. Like more than any time all season by far. The Seahawks are not a man coverage type of team. And they backed off it in the second half trying to adjust. Really none of it worked because the Rams go touchdown. touchdown, get the ball to the six yard line to start the second half.

It just was a game without a lot of possessions. Let's hear from McVeigh talking about his quarterback after this one, after a epic season. Do you expect Matthew Stafford to be back next season? Yeah. I mean, if he still wants to play, the whole kind of question is that? The answer is, yeah, you have to ask him. We've been totally present. I know that if he wants to, he's still playing at a pretty damn good clip.

I mean, he's the MVP of the league. And if he's not, you know, I mean, I got respect for everybody else. But this guy played at a level. That's just different. I appreciate you guys this year. Thank you. That's how he says goodbye. Matthew Stafford turning 38 years old in a couple weeks, right the day after the Super Bowl, I believe.

Look, Stafford being negotiated down to take less money from the Rams last off season. It's kind of funny to think back on. It would not surprise me. me at all if Stafford rightfully asked for more money and a raise, you know, going into next season and you're making eyes saying like, yeah. Like, because it's kind of, it's kind of insane to think about. They basically made him take a pay cut and we're willing to let him possibly go to the Giants or Raiders before this amazing season. But I, I feel McVeigh's pain because he starts that press conference off by saying how it's hard to fathom that they're not playing football anymore,

that they expected to be getting ready for the Super Bowl. They expected to win a championship. They were a championship level team. And I think two great teams just played today. And the Rams do not come out on top. And he knows how hard it will be to get back there next year. And that's why you got to enjoy it when you do get there. And you know who is enjoying it. Surprisingly, after the game. How about Mike McDonald? on the stage with just a little bit of sauce with Michael Strayhan. Now, coming into the season, you were an afterthought to the Rams, to the 49ers. How do they feel to go through both of those teams to earn your trip to the Super Bowl?

We did not care. It's about us. It's always been about us and what we do. And now we're going to the Super Bowl. I loved it. That was like his third answer. do you have a Mike McDonald impression from the stage? Well, it's just the way that his eyes lit up when he got the pop.

And he realized like, oh, this is cool. We do not care. It's about us. And then before that, he was like, the 12s are the greatest. And then the crowd all happened. And it was honestly like it was like Eddie Murphy at his first. We did not care. It was like Eddie Murphy at his first open mic

and just feeling that laughter and he's like, I'm going to do the rest of my life just like this. Like Mike McDonald is going to be chasing that feeling shook for the next two weeks at the very least because he could get on an even more important podium in Santa Clara. What a season from this Seahawks crew. Let's take a break.

Let's get to the AFC before we see. start talking about this matchup. The NFC absolutely delivered everything we wanted out of a conference championship. And weirdly, I think this AFC championship kind of played to type to the ugly stepbrother of conference championship. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, the Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast.

It's happening every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars from the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment. about anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture. And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL. Looking forward to you joining me this season, the season of more on the Off the Edge with Cam Join podcast. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. Store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com. That's 39.0.1. Out of the aisle. Fake by May. He's going to run it. to the left. He's being chased.

He tries to get outside. He does. He's got the first down. Running to the far side. Outlegging the chasing defender, Jonah Ellis. And Drake May and the Patriots take the hand off to Stevens and the quarterback. The naked bootleg out to the left

as a first down that should allow the Patriots to clinch it. Unbelievable. Hey, America. We're back. Oh, no. The worst nightmare has returned. When you thought the team was down, the organization is down.

Mike Brable and his staff and your 23 old quarterback, who should be the MVP, we're going to Super Bowl 60. Oh, my God. I am America. That is my worst nightmare. Because I'm a Patriots fan, and I want to enjoy it, and we got Zolak representing us on WBZ. We're not all that obnoxious, but we do have that obnoxious. being in us. It's Bob Sochi, it's Zolak, it's on WBZ, it's a 10 to 7 victory.

Hey, America. We're back. And it's a really fitting play. I love a good highlight to start the game and the discussion that is incredibly fitting because in a game where there's only so much like X's and O's to break down in what turned into a total blizzard. Drake May's legs were the difference. He had six first downs on seven non-neal down runs. They only had 12 first downs on the entire day. That was the difference. And the craziest thing is that's the first time I've watched that play

since learning shook that that was not the play call, that the offensive line had no idea he was going to do a naked bootleg. He called that himself. He didn't even tell the offensive line. And when you watch it, they're all blocking, zone blocking the other way. And he just read it. And that is a ballsy decision

by a second year quarterback who looked and quickly saw that he did not think anyone on the Broncos was going to have contained that he could get to the outside. And Garrett Bradbury, their starting center, said after the game,

he was completely confused about what happened on that play and May told him, I was going to tell you guys, but I thought that might mess it up. So I just did it. Oh my God. That is the moxie of a guy

who's been in a league. That's something that Aaron Rogers would do. That's something, I don't know, I wouldn't say Tom Brady because he was never fleet of foot, but that's somebody who's been in the league for a long time and earn that type of cash A

to make that call and not even tell anybody. I don't know if that's like, I mean, if it goes wrong, then he looks terrible, but I mean, congrats. It worked out for you. And it worked exactly as you intended

because you're right. The edge defender there goes with the zone block as he's taught to do. He's instructed to do and he loses contain and can't win the race to the... That's Drake May trust in his legs. He goes, you know what? I know I'm a superior athlete to whoever's on the edge.

And I'm going to send us to the Super Bowl myself. And I don't care if nobody else knows. I'll deal with that later, which is crazy. But I'll tell you this, as an offensive lineman, when you're told to block a certain play and you expect a ball to go in a certain direction, eventually you're like kind of looking around. Like has the running back cleared?

Did he ever get anywhere? Did he get stuffed in the backfield? I can't imagine the bewilderment of all those linemen. When they're all flowing to the right, they're waiting for something to happen behind them. And then they all look over about 25 yards to the left and the sideline. There's Drake May signaling first down, probably wondering, what the hell? We're going to the Super Bowl, and I have no idea how we just did it.

And I know it's like one play, and it seems like almost a silly point we're making. But it does kind of, I think, explain like why Drake May is cool. Because he also stiff arms Jonah Ellis on that play. There's a very real situation where Jonah Ellis drags him down. But Drake May's athleticism and despite kind of struggling in the playoffs in a lot of the just pure dropback situations for a variety of reasons. He has enough plate making to make him special, to make him one of them ones and get them over on the road in Denver against this defense.

Yeah, it is ultimately the difference in this game or quarterback is able to make plays with his feet. I wondered how conservative the Patriots were going to be. Well, once the snow fest began in the second half, it was fully constricted murder ball. It was running on third and long with like six minutes. minutes to go. And so like that that's ultimately the difference where you believe that good things could happen with the ball in the quarterback's hands for the Denver Broncos. It was the absolute opposite of that situation, save the first drive where even, it's not the worst thing in the world

of Drake. It doesn't. If Ellis is able to drag him down short of the line to gain there, because I didn't believe the Broncos were capable of gaining any substantial yardage with, with, Jared Stidham. Yeah, you know, Jared Stidham had a lot of haters coming into this game. A lot of people who thought I was getting over my skis, kind of talking up the high ceiling. I did say low floor and early in this game. Why don't we at least have one more Broncos highlight this season? Very early in this game, like it looked like the high ceiling part of it might actually come true.

Stidham under center. Stidham, rolls to his right, throws wide open touchdown. Touchdown, Cortland Sutton, Stiddy on the money. You could see it from here. Nobody covered Cortland. So I was saying wide open because he was in Denver on the board first.

That first drive, he hits Marvin Mims on third down with a beautiful throw for over 50 yards, shook, and they go into the end zone. They're driving pretty consistently in the first half of this game, and you think it's going to be okay. What did you see for Stidum after that?

Because look, they at one point had a yardage advantage of $125 to 12 until they went for it on fourth down deep in the Patriots. And after that, and that's pretty early in the game, they only had 56 yards the entire rest of the game. You know, it's funny. I'm glad we started with the mayor bootleg. to clinch the game because it started in the exact opposite fashion for both teams. That was actually the Broncos second drive,

but their first drive ended so quickly, everybody forgets about it because Stidham looked completely unsettled, May looked largely unsettled. Both teams tried to run the ball on the first two downs of each of their series, neither got anywhere. I was like, oh, I guess we're in for a defensive battle where both quarterbacks don't really know how to handle the situation. And then Stidham settled in.

I think it was that deep ball to ends. He's got the arm. We always knew he had the arm. He puts it on him perfectly. that gives him the confidence to finish that drive off. And they were rolling. They go on another drive later in the first half where they get a fourth and one and they come up short.

But they were moving the football well. And then like you said, they had 24 yards for the rest of the first half going to halftime and miss a field goal. They lost their mojo. And part of the reason they lost their mojo is because the Patriots were able to upset him and unsettle him.

They were able to pressure him. They were able to complicate the picture. And you saw a lot of jittery feet in the pocket. He never really looked comfortable after those first few possessions. And then the weather set in, and it threw everything, you know, a skew. And basically from there, it was trying to ask somebody to throw his way out of a wet paper bag.

And he doesn't understand that he's in the wet paper bag. That's basically what the Broncos offense was for the remainder of this contest. But it was a fun start. It was a fun of those games where you have to really capitalize on your early opportunities because you never know if you're going to get them. And we certainly saw that they were not going to get them when it ended. Yeah, there was a good amount of field goal scolding for Sean Payton at the, on the fourth down where they elect to throw, Coach Payton said that they had a run call.

but Mike Vrable, the master of timely timeouts, takes a time out there, causes Coach Peyton to reconsider the call that they had. He said in hindsight, it would have been better to go with the run. They played a heavy 6-1, and two guys got through on the fourth down where that was their best and last scoring opportunity.

Well, I mean, I think because of the situation, you know, Will Lutz is going to skate here. you're just like, oh, you can't make a field goal. They missed two field goals in this game. One was 57 with the impending, the impending snow coming in, pushing the kick to the right. So I'll give Lutz the 54,

I believe, Yarder. But yeah, that would have been considerably closer. I believe it would have been 38. It's well within Lutz's range. But I am acknowledging Coach Payton's honesty there. The run call probably would have been the right one. if, you know, if Bo Nix is your quarterback, you feel good about that. But getting Jared Stidham in that situation on fourth and two was...

It was rough. And Stidham ultimately in this game, like had to just not cost them the game. And he kind of did. And Sean Payton's coaching on that fourth down contributed it. Let's listen to Sean Payton talking about that second quarter play. Just to back it up, at this point in the game, it is 7-0. the Broncos are absolutely dominating yardage. They are on the Patriots 14-yard line.

They got a fourth and one. Peyton asked about it after the game. Coach, do you have regrets for not taking the field goal and going up to nothing? There's always regrets. You know, I felt like, you know, here we are fourth and one. We felt close enough that, and it's also a call you make based on, the team you're playing and what you're watching on the other side of the ball. So, yeah, they'll always be second thoughts.

That's brutal. At that point, you know, they had three straight drives where it wasn't like they were just motoring down the field. But they had multiple first downs on all those drives, three on that one. They did not have a single drive the rest of the game in eight more drives where they had more than one first down. And it's going to be a talking point for these next couple of weeks of like, well, who did the Patriots actually beat, you know, in terms of like the opposing offenses that they've faced. And they got some breaks, certainly with Nico Collins out. And, you know, the Chargers' offensive line isn't great.

And Jared Stidham, playing him is the biggest break. But they've also allowed, like, a ridiculously few amount of points. And they've had their big time players step up in big moments. Christian Barmore with a huge sack today. I thought Milton Williams had a bigger impact on this game. than Nick Benito or Zach Allen or any pass rusher. He had the most quick pressures by far in this game. And then Kristen Gonzalez, who does get beat early,

ends up making the key interception in the fourth quarter. He waits in the shotgun. Shoulder high steps. Stubble down the right side. That's how it. He has the receiver. He has the big. No, they tried to double the immediate fight on it too.

He sat. He watched his hips. More importantly, he watched the flight of the football. He timed it perfectly. Hmm. It's so funny because like it's a three point game at that point. And that's an interception to basically seal it. And it felt so like anticlimactic like you just expected it to happen. You're laughing. Yeah, because it was a beach ball. The thing was in the air forever. It was bad. The call is perfect. He waited on a floater. Like you can't even say like all love. He's fielding a punt back there. And to call it a double move like Mims is, you know, kind of just. I don't know. I don't know. what I would like to know what Jared Stidham was hoping to do with the way that.

Well, I think what he was doing was regretting that he didn't let the pass before go, which Tony Romo thought was a good, you know, turn down that ultimately Mims, you know, kind of ran into coverage on the play before, but he had a chance. Actually, it was one of the few times you saw a receiver with a little bit of space in the second half, and he didn't throw that ball. And then he kind of went to the next play and thought, well, I'm just going to throw this thing. It reminded me a lot of the Jared Goff interception to Stefan Gilmore in the Super Bowl. Not quite, you know, Goff wasn't quite as much of a lollipop, but considering that was indoors,

they were kind of similar situations and just poor efforts. We got to talk about the weather because, you know, after the game, some of the players talking about it basically just said like, yeah, you couldn't really, like Evan Ingram, I think, said after the game, like you couldn't really see where the defenders were. You couldn't see where the ball was. Like, especially when you were going in the direction that the Patriots were going in the fourth quarter and that the Broncos were going in the third. You couldn't see anything.

You couldn't do anything. He was like, I didn't know how much depth to get. You know, I didn't know, like, where we were. And you also couldn't cut confidently. So it was too much weather. I'm on the too much weather. I'd rather see football played at a higher level camp. I don't know how you stand on it.

Okay. So Midwestern guy have played in the snow, I have played in the cold, very much the throwback. No, football's a game that should be played outdoors. Today changed my mind. Because with the trip to the Super Bowl on the line, I don't need football reduced to whatever this was in the second half. The visibility was so bad,

which by the way, hat tip to the Patriots equipment staff for inadvertently choosing the snow camo uniforms this week. great foresight on your part. Just fantastic choice. Is that good though? I don't know if they could see their own teammates in the snow. Didn't matter.

They had the lead. Didn't matter. And that's the beauty of having a three point lead in a snowstorm. But yes, this is a terrible viewing experience for those of us at home just because we couldn't figure out

where they were on the field. It was so bad that Nance and Romo before the start of a drive were waiting to be fed where exactly the ball was on the field because we couldn't tell. That was after they took the lines that were superimposed on the field

off the screen that cut off Kalevon, Jason's head. They look at poor K. Chase on here. If you're watching on YouTube, he's Ichabod Crane. They took the poor man's head off. Sorry,

should continue. Yes, because technology is limited. Even in these elements, even in the year, 2026, we can only do so much. And both of these teams

could only do so much. So like, yeah, you know what? I'm fine with Bill and the domes. I just thought, like, maybe next year it's January

and the bills are back in the playoffs and they have a home game and it's snowing like hell in Western New York. And everybody's at the bills for not building a dome even though they have a canopy and they're like oh here we go another game ruined by snow it's i i actually understand the dome argument now and that's the i hate to say it because you know it's still an a fc championship game but this was a game that was between two very

very closely matched teams that felt like it was going to come down to the final few possessions every play really felt like it mattered because of the low score and just the thin margin for air and i feel like we were kind of robbed of that because the patriots go on this nine and a half minute drive to start the third quarter. They end up getting three points out of it. And then here comes old man winner coming in and just dumping snow on the field and everything goes completely off the rails for both teams. Yeah. But I guess that that's football. Yeah. Doubly robbed in this game. I think, you know, the institution of precipitation, uh, can blame Jared Stiddam that they have lost great snow fans like Nick Shirk because, you know, the watch. It's Stitties fault. He's saying

everything is Stitties fault. It is because I'm a guy who went and watched James Winston lead the Browns to a win over the Steelers in a similar snowstorm last year, and that was incredible. This was worse. My only thing on that is that the Patriots had 65 net passing yards today. You know how horrible that is? I mean, Drake May had the same amount of rushing yards as they had passing yards. Marvin Mims almost had more passing yards on that one play than the Patriots did the entire game.

So I guess I just would say, and Drake May missed. and I don't know if it was all weather because somewhere early too. He missed about five throws that were just open in this game. No one was getting anything done through the air is my overriding. It was like a Raider game.

Well, I think if the snow robbed us of the pleasure of enjoying the football game, then the final moments and overtime of the divisional round taking Bo Nix out of this. This was the Bo Nix game where you saw Drake May with that game ceiling run

on third down, the creativity that Bo Nix has in the pocket, the antithesis of that with Jared Stidham fumbling on his feet and refusing to throw the ball away and ultimately giving the Patriots points where it's, we got robbed of some great opportunities. And I really think, like, if the schedule works, because I know we folks talking about the schedule and having this, the polar vortex was going to be in Foxborough, probably would have even been worse.

It was even, it looked worse. I mean, it maybe depends on like the quality of the snow. And, you know, the way it was, you know, the wind was blowing in this game really hurt. And the fact that, you know, we just saw, like, the views early in the first quarter were pristine. The fact that changed so much also was bizarre. But yes, they're getting about a foot and a half of snow in Foxborough right now. And CBS actually showed the shot of Foxborough. And they were underneath it even in a more, like, dramatic way.

So this storm that that's hitting everywhere. Sunny's California was a problem. I'm glad you mentioned the fumble. So Stidham's fumble in the second quarter, to me, was the biggest play of the game. Before that, the Patriots weren't getting absolutely anything done on defense. And Stidham just has to get rid of that ball, dirt it, take a sack, throw it out of bounds, anything.

And I was making the case that he's an athletic quarterback, but he didn't look like, like he is a run fast and a straight line type of quarterback, but he was one of 10 today under pressure for four yards, took three sacks, had this fumble,

also had the interception under pressure, and that was early in the game when they were sending a ton of blitzes. They actually adjusted and stopped doing that and just started playing man coverage once the snow started. But basically, he just had to avoid a play like this,

and they might have won this game. You know what I mean? If they just punt this ball, if it isn't for this one particular play shook, they maybe get it. Hell, let's actually listen to what the Patriots did on the other side because it fits in with everything we're talking about. Drake May did take advantage. And the only way he really knew how in this game, which was with his legs. The ride is May. Drake points with his white hand to set the protections.

He stands in. Quarterman drawn. Five five. To watch the ball line right. Touchdown. Patriots. They'll tell you. That's the way you.

that's the way you have in that guy right there Drake May I need to stop calling for these highlights you've got him in there he split he reads man and the tie is turned

Patriots are back in his thing what it called Josh McDaniels they didn't have a chance at it I need to check like the stats in our podcast for how many people just turned it off after each one of these

calls it is really crazy to think about how their only points were from his legs, because there's that, right? There's the touchdown. There's the long run at the end of the first half to set up a field goal attempt that Borogallis missed and let you crow about a Miami kicker not being able to deliver in the cold. How long ago did you have that take, Shook?

December 1st. Okay. And then you came back and the second he missed the kick. You just texted me right back. And you did the thing where you replied to the text that you sent on December 1st. Yeah, the beauty of modern technology is that you can keyword search your text message.

And luckily, I don't text about Andy Borgallis very much. That was almost mean-spirited, but also an incredible pat on the back, because you did call it. So, okay, so he had that, setting up that field goal. He had the fourth down sneak, which was questionably, you know, not a first down, that set up the field goal in the second half,

the game, quote-unquote, winning field goal. He also had a 28-yard run, earlier on that drive. So their big chunk play on that drive was a big run too. And yeah, he had another 13-yarder mixed in. And I do think that drive after halftime that you point out, you're like, oh, it's just three points. They had the ball for 21 minutes in the second half. They went 42% in terms of their six offensive lineman package. It was Thayer Mumford. They've almost not done that all season. I know that's been popular around the league. But they have not been extra offensive lineman type of team.

And they went by far higher on that in this game than any game all season. So I do think you can give the Patriots coaching staff and team credit for their, they've been very good at adjusting and shape-shifting within a game. And that drive reminded me a lot of the fourth quarter drive against a really good Texans defense

where you burn clock and you showed you could run the ball in a big spot. And in this game, like a drive like that was the difference. Yeah. And it really speaks to how the Patriots have gotten to this point this postseason. It hasn't really been pretty in any game. There's been the explosive plays in previous weeks. But what they've done more than anything on both sides of the ball is they've taken advantage

of the moment. They've come through in the big moment. The big plays, the Drake made touchdown pass to Hunter Henry, the Drake made a touchdown pass to Kay Shan Booty, a touchdown run or a big run to set up a field goal, dominating time possession in the second half, defensively forcing a takeaway and then converting that into a touchdown. It hasn't been by a wide margin. but they've consistently come through

because I think they're a more disciplined team they're better prepared, better coached by Mike Rable and they deliver. Now, not to go all Super Bowl preview on you, but I think in the Super Bowl against the team that they're about to play, they may need more than that to contend because this is a much better opponent that they're going to be facing in the Super Bowl.

Let me give you a couple of the stats. So through the first three rounds, for any team that played three rounds, they have the fewest amount of points in the Super Bowl era, you know, to make the Super Bowl. 54 points. That's lower than the Ravens and the Giants. That's not the lowest scoring playoff team because, you know, previously like there was a Rams team, I guess, in 79 that only played two games, so their points per game were lower. But basically, in this era where you've got to play three games, they have the lowest scoring. On the flip side, though, they have allowed

the second fewest points in the first three games of the Super Bowl era, only 26 points. And you look at this list of teams, and it's like the greatest defenses of all time. It's the 2000 Ravens, and I forget who else was in the mix. I think the bucks were close on that. And ultimately, you know, you add up those points. They have a pretty big scoring margin here. What is it? 54 to 26 in three games. That's ridiculous. That could be one game. That's three games. So they're going to get a lot of questions about the manner to which they got there. I think Drake May, even though he's not going to relish this matchup, it's a very difficult defense for the fourth straight game.

I think he's going to relish being in better conditions. Yes. Because they did not handle conditions particularly well on offense in these three games. And the conditions weren't ideal in the previous rounds either. This was unique in the snow and the cold and the wind. but to be able to have a drive like the one we were just talking about where they start off with a screen pass

they have seven consecutive run plays then he scrambles they take a shot play action then they run another screen pass and they have three consecutive run plays get the sack and then the field goal but there's a couple of scrambles involved in there where you just kind of see the difference and I know we

celebrated the athleticism right because Jared Stedham is a large person who is capable of running fast but there's levels to this in terms of, you know, being aware and having the spatial awareness of where defenders are, having a plan to where you can get to where you need to go

in those situations. Because the picture is constantly changing. And Drake May is capable of doing that. Jared Stidham was not. That is fair. That is fair. And Stidham did say after the game, I should have ate that sack. The Patriots with some fun post-game sound in general. They've kind of adopted

the Warriors come out and play thing between Mike Frable screams that to them. They're 9-0 on the road. I guess that's why they're road warriors. So they got to the Super Bowl without losing a game on the road. We also have Milton Williams, who is delightful and has been a great quote at the podium and when he's one-on-one with our friend Cameron Wolf. Everybody doubted us. Everybody's talking about

we ain't this, we ain't that. They got number one, oh, all this and that. I want to hear something today. Talk that shtay. I want to hear it. I want to live Milton Williams' life. He wins the Super Bowl with the Eagles last year. He gets a bag and he's going back to the Super Bowl now and he's talking his trash the whole way there. Yeah, he did it. I mean, Cameron Wolfe had a great day.

He also had a one-on-one with Cardi B during this. And yeah, Stefan Diggs also talking about all the teams that didn't want him and thought his career was over. And his biggest play, do you know which one I'm going with here in this game? Shook? Because I didn't realize it until I saw like a different angle replay pretty late in the game. It was not one of Stefan Diggs's five receptions for 17 yards.

What an ugly game this one. It was the very first third down of the entire game. Drake May basically threw it right at Tallinnia Hufunga. Could have been an interception. Could have been going back the other way. And Hufunga didn't catch it. And that happens a lot. And I thought he just dropped it.

But when you saw it from the other angle, like, Hufunga's got it in his hands. And Stefan Diggs, you know, knocks the ball out, kind of like Pooka Nakua a few weeks back for the Rams and had a big pass defense for this Patriots team who gets it done. And I know on the road that the defense has forced eight turnovers in the playoffs,

only allowed two touchdowns. And I saw this stat, which blew my mind from a depressed, I guess, dolphins reporter, who pointed out, this is the Patriots' 10th Super Bowl appearance since the last time the dolphins won a playoff game. Oh.

Sorry to the dolphins for the... I don't know why the dolphins had to take astray, but there's... He said that and I was just like, that's crazy. Is that true? How is it possible? But it is crazy.

Everybody doubted us. Everybody did doubt. I mean, nobody doubted them in this game. Yeah, I had Patriots in this game. I had Patriots in this game. Shooki's been doing great with the picks. What about you? you. I had Patriots and Seahawks.

Look at you. Narrow margins in both. You nailed it. I have a couple things I want to point out from this weekend because despite that game being ugly, and I love a snow day. A lot of people love a snow day. But what I love more than anything is the storylines. And in Ram Seahawks, we got

storylines of revenge for Cooper Cup and Ernest Jones. Two guys the Rams didn't want anymore. They went to Seattle. They beat the Rams, stop them from going to the Super Bowl. And then the other one we just mentioned, Stefan Diggs. In his third attempt, he finally clears the conference title game bar, and he's going to the Super Bowl for the first time. Those are all fun things to track, and Lord knows we'll be tracking them

endlessly over the next two weeks. Joel Anderson from the Ringer had a tweet. He said he doesn't know if Stefan Diggs needs the two weeks of Super Bowl attention. Fair point. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with season three of your favorite podcast, the off the edge with Cam Jordan podcast. It's happening every Wednesday to hear conversations with my friends and stars from the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment. About anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture. And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL.

Looking forward to you joining me this season, the season of more on the Off the Edge with Cam Joined podcast. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. Store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com. Any other notes on this?

By the way, punting, like, you know, wins, loss that's not a punting stat because if it was Jeremy Cranshaw. Best punting game I've ever seen.

It's so good. He's a rookie. He's Australian. I mean, he is incredible. He was so much better than the Patriots punter, Bryce Berenger.

Like, that almost swung the game for them. Cranshaw, it doesn't make it happen. Eric's looking at me like, are you really doing punting talk now? We could be getting out of here. Three phases.

Three phases, baby. We're doing plenty talk. You might as well do my weather report that I texted you. Oh, I didn't see that. You give it to me. You're the weather man. It's, you know, San Francisco, Santa Clara. No dome, no canopy guys.

So there will be weather talk this year. 69 degrees and cloudy. Is that the forecast right now? That's the forecast. Two weeks out, you can get them. No snow, but San Francisco Bay Area, anybody from the area knows it can get wet and sloppy. It will get cold there. So if you happen...

Yeah. And is the field going to be in decent shape? Because I think the last super rule there was a little slippery. Well, that's the thing. It's, you get the nighttime due and that's where it gets slippery. The marine layer. It really is the worst. But also, let's not re-sod the field on Friday night.

Please. Just, just, if it doesn't look great, who cares? I don't want to see tackles out there sliding around. Right. Because it's what, a 3.30 kickoff. So the sun's going down, you know, by halftime or before. And yeah, then the moisture's in the air. It's getting into the low 50s,

and people could be slipping around, but yeah, it should be better. Before we get out of here, just some notes. Nick Foles, remember we brought up that tweet? He did about the Patriots and how backups have a good record. He deleted the tweet during this. No.

I mean, I'm not saying they should take away the Eagle Super Bowl victory, but... Take away his nickname. Mm. They should be punished in some way. I don't know you can take that one away. No. Yeah, that's true.

But the sentiment, the sentiment of it, maybe we can take it away. That's awesome. Kirk Cousins involved in the halftime. Oh. And I've got a Kirk Cousins take. He likes this. He likes this a lot. And I think he seemed fine for, he seems good at it, actually.

And so I think we're going to have Kirk Cousins as part of our life in the, in the media, moving forward. I like it. I think he's, no offense to Tom Brady. He's better than Tom Brady. Tom Brady's gotten a lot better than Tom Brady. Well, he's on the halftime. show. So that's a different, that's a different skill. I'm just saying, I'm just saying. He was a good

replacement for Matt Ryan. So then he would need, he would need that, that panache of perhaps the Steelers quarterback job over the Brown's quarterback job to spring him on to his broadcast. Or, or he could just have Matt Ryan, who he just replaced at CBS, just fire him and he just stays at CBS. You don't have to keep playing football. Keep, keep your brains. He's going to have to stop

shopping at Coles, though. I think the wardrobe department going to have to upgrade him if he's going to be on TV. I do think that Brady's improved a lot. And in general, Tom was good today. Tom was absolutely good. Chris Rose wanted to point out for you, Shook, that the Rams loss was good news for the Browns because they might be looking to hire Nate Shieldhouse.

And now those coordinators are going to be available. They might want to be talking to Chris Shula, so that there's a little bit of a browns angle for you. I think this is going to be tricky. Like, I've already seen a lot of, like, you know, like it's almost painful for the Jets to see Sam Darnold do so well. It's a reminder of the struggles that they've had. But I think most Jets fans love Sam Darnold and will probably be rooting for him.

You know, Sam Darnold's a good guy. I'm just glad they're still watching football. Right. And, oh, by the way, Mike McCarthy is the new head coach of the Steelers. Well, we'll. Congratulations. as Steelers fans? We'll spend more time.

Now it just does not feel like the show to do it. So we're going to hit McCarthy and all the big coaching news at a future show in which we'll probably make Nick Shuck and or Patrick Claibon do some work. You're not done to Chuck. And you're going to the Super Bowl. This will be our last recap show with Patrick. But it's weird to say goodbye when I'll see you on Wednesday. We'll see you on Wednesday.

All right. I guess that's it. Let's get out of here. Patriots, Seahawks, Super Bowl 60. You know who's happy about this other than the fans of both teams? Malcolm Butler. Malcolm Butler is making so much money endorsing products you've never heard of for 15-minute spots. We'll accept you, Malcolm, working on that guest list.

We'll see you next day. What's up? It's Cam Jordan. I'm back with Season 3 of your favorite podcast. The Off the Edge with Cam Jordan podcast. It's happening every Wednesday. to hear conversations with my friends and stars for the NFL, the sports world in general, and entertainment, about anything from teams and players making waves to pop culture.

And I'll take you inside my journey through my 15th season in the NFL. Looking forward to you joining me this season, the season of more on the Off the Edge with Cam Joined podcast. Catch new episodes every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. Store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com.

Guaranteed Human.