NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Divisional Round Saturday Recap

Episode Date: January 19, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic to recap Saturday's Divisional Round action. First, a look at how the Commanders upset the Lions, a recap of the game's wild second quarter (13:26), and a look ahead to what's next for the Lions (37:53). After the break, Gregg and Jourdan talk about the Chiefs win over the Texans, including the controversial calls in the game (41:04), C.J. Stroud's performance under pressure (49:00), the Chiefs coaching (55:30) and more! Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet,

we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football. football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and

NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Throw down the 10th. Snap the golf, steps up, good pocket, throws the little. The pick-off, Jeremy Chitts got it. That's it. Celebrate like it's 1991. We're going to the NFC Championship. game. This is the Motown, the home of Motown, and tonight, they'll be playing the blues, baby. Amazing job by London Fletcher and Bram Weinstein, like they did all season. At the final moment,

the commanders and their radio crew come through in the biggest way possible. The commanders win 45 to 31 in Detroit. And yes, we have a Washington commander's team led by Jaden Daniels going to the NFC championship game. I am joined by Jordan Rodrigue of the athletic. This was not the show that I expected to be doing tonight, Jordan. We'll also talk Chiefs Texans a little later in the show. But this is the show that we get.

And it's a reminder all season. long we've been saying this is jaden Daniels's season and he keeps proving it true it's it's amazing and to go into detroit and to see how unflappable he was and how like he was having so much fun you could tell in between snaps he was you know having an enjoyable time with his teammates and all of that but he was so silent on the sidelines and they would cut to him every so often with the camera angles and he is just sitting there just absorbing all of this it's like a 245 year old man in the body of a kid quarterback who's a total phenom playing football and leading the Washington commanders to history. It's incredible. It was incredible to watch. We all expected

the Lions to win. So this is just absolutely incredible to watch. Yes. And he is authoring one of the greatest rookie quarterback seasons of all time. Andrew Lux was up there. Robert Griffin, the thirds was certainly up there. I wasn't there, but Dan Marine. was supposedly up there, and by all, you know, the numbers show, it was definitely up there. But, man, this is special, and it was a full team effort. It wasn't just Jane Daniels. It was a great job coaching on both sides of the ball. I think it was fitting that the game ended there with an interception by Jared Goff,

because ultimately the Lions turned the ball over five times in this game, including four by Goff, three interceptions, that late one that didn't matter much. two killers in the first half and also a fumble in the first half. And when the game was just going absolutely bonkers in the second quarter, it was really goff. And the Lions who blink, the commander's defense that made plays and Jaden Daniels and the commander's offense showing we can beat you fast or we can beat you slow. We'll beat you any way you want to get beat. And they got beat. The number one seed is out. It's crazy, Greg, because we knew and we've talked about this watching all these injuries pile up for the lions. We've been saying that, okay, the Detroit Lions need to play at their level or at their own level that we've seen all year or above it.

They need to be efficient. They need to not make mistakes. And for so much of the year, Jared Goff has played such efficient football. And this Detroit Lions team has just been a bowling ball covered in knives rolling down a hill right in your face. Any way they wanted to win, they could win. They played with their food against a lot of these sort of hapless, me, bandering teams that they would come up against. And you knew watching these injuries pile up that they were going to need to continue to stay at that level, that confidence, sure, but also the controlled aggression, the smart decision-making and the efficiency and technically sound, mistake-free play.

And if you are that team in the playoffs when it's any given matchup against any given opponent and you're banged up like that, you cannot be Jared Goff and turn the ball over three times, the pick six and the other converted into a touchdown for 14 total first half points on the side of the commanders. That put them in a hole early and it was really hard for them to get back out. Yeah, it was. And yet I don't want to put it all on the lion's injuries. Now, Amique Robertson, who's been playing at like a Pro Bowl level level for them and was their best player in week 18, got a game ball, gets hurt on I think the first play, certainly the first couple of plays. And that did set a dangerous tone and late in the game. You saw Brian Branch go out.

At that point, they were all already trailing. But I think the commander's efficiency, the fact that they were able to run the ball, not just Jaden Daniel scrambling early in the game, you can't really just put that all on injuries. Because we've seen this front, and it's a pretty good front, like play better over this stretch. To me, the number one difference in each. one of these games today, including the Texans games, was the two quarterbacks and the two coaching staffs plan in how they were going to handle pressure. And Jaden Daniels all season long, when you sent the blitz at him, was just money, whether it was picking the right receiver to go after or scrambling. And a couple plays really stand out to me. We'll talk about the crazy

second quarter because I just want to give the commanders as much love as possible. But let's start more towards the end. They have a fourth in two late in the game as they're trying to go possibly ice it. They could kick a field goal to go up 13 and they instead decide they're going to go for it to try to go up three scores. And the lines get what they want.

They get a free rusher right at Jaden Daniels. And all season long, he has been so good, you know, beating unblocked pressures. And he waits for Terry McLaurin to do his crossing pattern similar to the touchdown he caught earlier in the game. And Daniels knows exactly what to do, waits the last second, takes a hit, hits the fourth down. They also showed total confidence the next drive on the third and five when some teams would maybe run the ball or be safe. And Cliff Kingsbury calls a play action pass and he hits a beautiful throw to John Bates, their backup tight end.

And that's that's Jane Daniels being the best guy on the field and being trusted by his coaches ultimately to make plays. in the biggest of spots and put the game away. Because these two halves were totally different. The second half to me was so mature out of this commander's offense. Yeah, we live in a world right now where we've been talking for years about the design and the play caller in the ear of the quarterback and sort of like using the quarterback as like, you know, a video game and like you throw a ball where I say to throw and like you do what I.

And I'm going to be the sort of mechanism behind this offense. And you rarely see, especially early in their careers, And you rarely see in this era of the NFL just this collaboration and this beautiful trust between, I mean, we've talked all this season about the revitalized quarterback, right? And as it turns out, this guy playing deep or calling games deep in the playoffs is Cliff Kingsbury, revitalized O.C., who's letting Jaden Daniels cook and giving him the keys to the convertible and really just saying, you know, you are empowered to do these things because you can handle it. And Jaden, Daniels has not let him down at any second or not given anyone any reason to to say that maybe he couldn't handle all of that. The poise.

I mean, like I said, I joke. I mean, he's like a couple hundred years old internally, really, like has to be. He just is so beyond what we would ever expect, not just what he's capable of doing physically, but the way that he handles a game. Like, I've been to Detroit a few times in the last calendar year in that stadium and a credit to the Detroit Lions fans. I am sad for them right now because this was supposed to be their season in so many ways. And you could see how crushed and deflated they were.

And that's another, like, compliment to Jaden Daniels. Like, he held the knife, man, to pop the balloon. And in that stadium, in that atmosphere, that's one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, to have to trust your quarterback, to have that autonomy, to maximize those late downs that Greg, I do think made a huge difference in this game. those margins that we're going to talk about in both of these games right now, maximizing every single down, including capitalizing off of defensive errors that the Lions made late in the game

when they were still within, you know, 10 points. This was a masterclass by the commanders, even when they were hemorrhaging points early on, even when that crazy six minutes happened in the middle of the game, the unflapability of the quarterback, I think, is the ethos of that team. Right. They end up going three for four on fourth down. they get stuff on what looked like a botch.

The one that failed was when they took it out of Jaden's hands. Right. It's a snap to Marcus Marriota on the first drive of the game and look like you might have had an option and maybe Brian Robinson didn't have the call. But I only point that play out, which feels like 17 hours ago. I'm exhausted by this game. They had 57 first downs combined. I mean, it is crazy. People are going to get on Ben Johnson and golf and everything.

They had 500 yards in this game. And they were, I'm definitely not getting on Ben Johnson, although that trick play at the end was curious. Too much dip on the chip. Yeah, it was. And trusting James and Williams to make a good decision in that situation maybe isn't the best idea. But at that point of the game, it's like,

it's hard to blame the offense when the defense is giving up so many issues. And it's hard to blame the offensive coordinator, when he dialed up a couple different plays. We had a comment, and if you're listening to this on Sunday, we're also doing it live on YouTube, love everyone that's in the chat. And there was a comment about that people are deflated right now because it's not just the Lions fans that were a part of this journey.

I really feel like it started on Sunday night football at the end of the 2022 season when they beat the Green Bay Packers in that game that supposedly didn't mean anything for them and really got them going, got them over 500, and then last season they get to the NFC championship. And I'm torn right now.

We were talking about it before the show because on one hand, I have felt like I've been on this ride with them. You have Lions fans in your life, Cynthia Freeland, Kevin Patrick. It's such a great football town and it would be a great story. And you just realize how hard it is

to finish off one of those stories. you need the football gods to be with you. Injuries didn't help, but having to play Jane Daniels didn't help either. But on the other hand, like, this is football, the story you didn't see coming, the rookie you didn't see coming, this guy that we're going to see for the next decade plus that's going to be such a part of our lives, God willing, like if we're doing recaps in 2035, me and you, Jordan, on NFL Daily, that's my plan, that Jane Daniels is going to be a big part of those too and like Cliff Kingsbury getting his resurgent moment. So it's so tough. You feel for

Lions fans out there and yet, man, I'm suddenly thinking about Sunday. I'm thinking about could this be a Rams home game for the NFC championship? We don't know. We don't need to get there yet. I'm in Philly. I'm in Philly right now. By the way, I'm in Philadelphia right now in the eastern time zone. Had a cheese steak. It was great. And I, it's crazy to think how much now hinges on this game tomorrow, the Rams kind of playing with house money, as the commanders are the entire way. The commanders are so far ahead of schedule right now.

And I do think there's something to be said. And you see the chiefs try to shake this off all the time. They're very good at shaking this off. We're going to talk about that when we talk about the chiefs. The Eagles had to learn how to shake this off after, you know, making the Super Bowl. The 49ers are still trying to figure out how to shake this off. how to declench, right? And I think that as cool and free and as together and as well-coached that we've seen the Detroit Lions be, when expectations and when the stakes of what your season

means, not just to you guys as players and as coaches, but to the city, when you're reminded of it, everywhere you go. And it's a positive thing, but it can also compound into pressure, into stakes, into tightening and tightening and tightening. And I'm not saying that's why they lost this game. I'm just saying there is an element to what happens when now you are a team with expectations. It's a double-edged sword. It's a huge compliment to the Lions. Next year, it'll be a huge compliment to the commanders, right? Because next year, whatever happens this year with the commanders, we're going to expect them to be better because they need to get better on defense. Man, do they? I don't know. They just need to get through two more games where they turn the ball over on

the other team five times and then they'll be Super Bowl champ. Oh, shout out to Matt Young, who says I have aura right now. I appreciate that. Let's go. Let's go. Let's Let's go back to the second quarter. So I keep mentioning it. And, yeah, the final score was 45 to 31. And the offenses went absolutely crazy on both sides. But it really was the defensive plays for the commanders that turn this game around. And yes, we got into the fourth quarter.

The score was literally only seven to three, which is hard to believe. The commanders respond with a long touchdown drive as they've been doing. Brian Robinson caps off. off that one. And then we get into what I would say, I guess you could have started it there, but really from the eight-minute stretch on in the second quarter, really to the end of that quarter, but especially through the two-minute warning, was just bananas. We're going to go through some of those plays. And let's start, and this feels so long ago, but let's start with the Goff, incredible throw on the run while he's getting hit to Sam LaPorteur for the one-handed

catch. David Montgomery checks in. Deep back in an eye formation. First and goal from the Washington two. Gough turns, fakes to Montgomery, looks, looks in trouble rolling right, he throws. Oh! Touchdown Detroit Lions! Oh! Pam Leporta just reached out with his left hand and made the grab. What a ridiculous catch by the tight end. Gough was in trouble. Being in golfed by the rush and he just threw it and Leporter made the grab. He was just thrown it away. Yes, I am glad that we got Dan Miller and Lomas Brown and WXYT.

I really appreciate how Jared Goff has gotten better at creative plays, and he showed the arm angle tonight, and he ends up with over 300 yards. And there were moments in this game when he did the things that showed how he's a better got got this season, and that was one of them. Well, yeah, I mean, if you look at the backward, the back angle of that throw, he was getting hit. So I don't, I'm not saying this is like.

like a bad thing, but it was a wobbler. So I really credit Sam Laporta for the catch. I mean, that was insane. Was he getting buried? Was that, were they burying him? They rolled him into a grave or something like that. I don't know what that celebration was. I need, I need people to translate it for me.

Like, I didn't know that Jemir Gibbs was doing the Kevin Durant celebration at first. It was a huge Commanders fan now. I'm sure Durant is going wild on Twitter now. But that play was extra cool. And we're, you know, Commander's, fans like we are going to give you so much love i just want to we want to point out this was so cool because dan skipper was a decoy and actually he was early in jared goff's progression on that play and he pulled both linebackers bobby wagner and frankie louvo who frankie louvo who had a great

game now he did have that we're going to talk about it that hit that they were recognizing could have nullified the pick six as a touchdown and all of that we'll get to that but um that on that play, Dan Skipper pulled both inside linebackers toward him and thereby sort of adjusting the math in some of the zones that Sam LaPorteur was then able to find as he was sort of doing that little scramble drill with Jared Goff who was trying to avoid pressure and then sort of just like heaving this this wobbly pass to Sam LaPorte who then catches it with his left hand lefties rule with his one hand and then pulls. I mean it was amazing. It was one of the best catches of the postseason. I mean, one of the best catches ever. I mean, I don't know. What I'm

trying to say is remember the catch i i i'm reading this book to my son called the hundred greatest football moments he loves it joe posnansky great great writer and you know the catch is of course very high up there and it's forever been known the catch dwight clark you know r ap like it's an amazing play but i used to have this bit on on our old around the NFL podcast that almost every week there's a play in the NFL that's better than like any play that happened in the 1970s or 80s. And like that play was that play. Imagine if you saw that. Imagine if you added that play to a 1977 game. Like that would have been the catch. That's how good that play was. So at that point, they're up by four. You're thinking it's going back and forth. And as someone who I'll

admit it, like I have gotten swept up in this lion's story over the last few years. I'm thinking this is the kind of game. I think the lions want to play back and forth. It's going to go way over the total. It's going to be a high-scoring game, but it's going to end up with a final score, kind of like the one we got, 45-31. But you just thought the lions are more built for that. But the way that the commanders kept responding to every lion's score, so that they were built for it. Let's go to the next drive, the throw the screen pass to Terry McLaren. Push the 10, Washington, vertical 41-yard line. Snap to Daniels, pick throw to the opposite side. Terry McCloric, got through two defenders, 50-4-40, 35-30, 30-30.

Terry. Staying on his feet. Touchdown! Touchdown, Washington! Unreal won by McCorren! Oh my God! Like I said, you live by the bliss,

you die by the bliss. The Detroit Lions down up a zero bliss and they get burned by the kid and Terry McCoran. Oh, and that was the moment you started to think maybe Aaron Glenn needs to change his approach

because I see Cliff Kingsbury getting some love after that play and it's like, that's just a regular old screen pass and they pop it for a 58-yard touchdown. That was the moment where I thought, oh, this lion's defense might be in some trouble that they cannot tackle on the perimeter and the blitzes aren't getting close to Jayden Daniels.

Yeah, Jaden Daniels is 12 of 16 for 191 yards and a touchdown took no sacks, specifically off of Blitz plays. And they kept sending them. And I get it. You have to find a way to get pressure on this kid, right? But like it just was sort of like it's just continuing to not work. And when we talk about Jada Daniels poise, that play happened less than a minute and a half after that huge Sam Leporta Jared Gough connection play that seemingly was like,

okay, here come the lions. Jada Daniels just stayed so calm. And again, against that pressure, that zero look, he executes a simple play. And everybody executes and everybody stays calm. and everybody blocks where they need to block and Terry McCorn makes this exclusive play and all of a sudden, hey, we've got a ball game. Right. They take the lead

and then what followed was to me the biggest play of the game. This is where we were going to lead our show but then Goff throws an interception right at the end and we had to get Graham Weinstein and London Fletcher really going crazy at the final whistle. But to me that the Gough

pick six is where he bled. linked in where everyone in the city of Detroit just just gulped a little bit. Goff pointing out a defender, pressure up the middle. Golf has time for us. Oh, and it's picked up. That is picked up by Juan Martin, 2520, 15, 10, 5, 5, 6. Touchdown, touchdown, Washington, Kwan Martin. And the inaccurate throw leads to the Kwan Martin.

drive down eight-mile bending corners and swerving into the end zone of the Detroit last whoa great call there they called a great game didn't they they just called that was a great call they've been you know they are

they are circling around the call of the year I don't know which one it would be but they've just been such a part of our life I think that maybe started to give some Rams fans maybe Lions fans at certain points started to get a little bit of flashbacks

where Goff maybe just was a little, I don't want to say panicked, but he had some pressure near him and he didn't react well to it and the ball sailed. And we have seen that pass from Jared Goff before in some of his worst moments. I would say, and even further before that,

I mean, that was a play that I think a lot of people have a version of that play sort of etched into their memory banks from a long time ago. And Jared Gough has come so far since then. Let's not leave that out. But I actually think that the waterfall effect that I started to go, oh, no, oh, like I had a bit of a flashback myself was when he lost the fumble. And that was an issue for him big time in the last part of his tenure in Los Angeles.

And again, Lions fans, like, yes, he played amazing all this year. And he's grown so much and he can do this. He can do this. that's why it seems so frustrating, I think, to see these types of turnovers when the ball is sailing like that. And then, you know, when he's trying to come back and make a play on the return, you know, he gets hit by Frankie Louvo and the broadcast has a discussion about it. And Mike Pereira, the rules analyst, you know, postulated that perhaps that touchdown shouldn't have actually counted because it should have been a foul. And that's where, you know, you can go back and forth about those types of. of things all the time, but certainly all elements of that moment, the pick, the reaction,

then the fact that Jared Goff has to go be evaluated for a concussion. And it was your guy. I mean, defend your guy, Frankie Louvo. I said it in the preview show. Every day. Frankie Louvo has had a hell of a season. What do you mean? What do you mean?

Every week I bring up Frankie Louvo. In all pro. Second team, all pro. Should be first. A difference maker. I mean, there were points tonight where I was like, man, they almost got to get Bobby Wagner out off the field because they're just they're just targeting Bobby Wagner a little bit and Louvo is incredible but every game there's like a Louvo cheap shot pretty much once a game

somewhere Mike Evans got it last week and he he just immediately goes to the refs like what does this guy doing multiple things multiple things can be true Greg I'm just saying I'm painting a picture of a moment that changed of all parts of a moment that changed a change the swing of a game and I agree with you I think that that I think that that entire sequence start to finish swung things in the almost like, oh, no, this is not going to be what we thought it was kind of thing. Yes, and I'm half kidding about Louvo. That happens on interception returns all the time. But it was a penalty.

They would have had to go earn that touchdown. But everything I saw out of the commanders tonight indicates to me they would have earned that touchdown. So I'm not going crazy about them missing the call. I just don't love that. Gough took a headshot there. You know, one of the commenters here asked, was Goff the same after that? They check him for a concussion. I mean, that was a hit right to his chin.

He comes out of the game. And yes, the moment I've been waiting for for years, literally we were talking about this last year, like, what if it's a situation? Not that I want Goff to get hurt, but what if it's a situation where Teddy Bridgewater comes into the NFC championship game? And he has his Drew Bloodsoe moment, you know, with the Patriots. when he threw a touchdown before Brady came back in in the Super Bowl and just has that moment and he gets his Super Bowl ring.

Well, Teddy Bridgewater did have a moment. He comes out, they're, you know, they take a penalty right away because they're not all on the same page and you're like, oh my gosh, is this how the Lions season ends? And instead, the Teddy Bridgewater drive goes perfectly well

because he doesn't have to do anything. It's on first down. Bridgewater hands, give it to Gibbs. He goes on the end around the other way. Jamo inside the 40. Jamo to the fifth. Jayne-O-Dow to the 30. That's a high.

Go, baby. Jayne Willis and Williams, K-5, end zone. Touchdown to Trump Lions, 61 yards. You can tell how late it is for me here because I started talking. No, don't even worry about it. I'm laughing. I'm laughing.

If you do check this out on YouTube eventually, we appreciate everyone that does and like and subscribe it. And you can see, James and Williams just getting after it after that touchdown. And I think our friend Andrew Hawkins had the tweet of the night when he said his homage to Philip Rivers after that touchdown. That was ridiculous.

But what play calls, if you're going to hate the trick play by Ben Johnson at the end of the game, and I know they're different, you got to at least appreciate the creativity that Ben Johnson showed, I think on this, you know, certainly in that situation. And in the first drive of the third quarter where it almost felt like they were hiding goff a little bit, I don't know, or at least not doing much drop back passing. And they're getting touchdowns out of those drives. Yeah, it was a really cool moment because Jameson Williams has been open and talked a few times with local reporters in Detroit about how big of an influence Teddy Bridgewater was on his life. He sort of took Jameson Williams under his wing. You know, James' struggles and some of his setbacks have been very public.

And he said that not only did Teddy Bridgewater basically teach him the offense in a way that really made sense to him, but also just kind of kept after him, kept him on the right track. And then part of the reason why Teddy Bridgewater came back was obviously his connection to his relationship with Dan Campbell from their time together at previous stops, but also because of Jamison Williams. And so when you talk about the idiocy, I guess, of the last call of like, okay, you're down 10 and you're going to run a cute trick play. to put the ball in Jameson Williams' hands as a quarterback, you know, in that situation, that's not great. But this play really, I think, showcased Ben Johnson at his best, which is, not only are you going to call the right play in that moment, and it's a huge gain, it ends up working because everybody is bought in and executes it really well, and it's also really creative. He's so explosive. It's crazy. But also, it was a galvanizing type of play call. When people wonder,

oh, is Ben Johnson like a leader of men, whatever that phrase means? And like, is he going to, you know, connect with his play? That type of thing gets players with you. They ride with you. Because that is one of those things that you know that detail about those people involved in that play. And you're calling that specific play, putting the ball in those two's hands in that moment, knowing that you need a galvanizing moment for your team in a crazy situation.

And I have a lot of respect for him calling that play when he did. Yeah. And it absolutely worked. It was cool to see Teddy out there. I've seen some hate sent Teddy's way that, like, he made a business. This isn't, no, that's what you want your backup quarterback to do. He's not blocking out there, but he's screaming. He kind of got, he totally got in the way.

He got in the way. So at that point, you're just thinking, okay, we need, if you're a Lions fan to have some complimentary football. It's 24 to 21. This insane stretch that we started, those four touchdowns happened in under four minutes. That's absolutely bonkers. I mean, this was the first game, Jordan, with four 40-plus-yard touchdowns in a first half since a Saints game in 2010 and only the sixth time in the history of the NFL.

That was three 40-yard touchdowns in four minutes, three of the four. Like, it happened that quickly. And the next drive is, I think, one of the moments where I was reminded, okay, even though the lines are the team that have been there before, the commanders are actually the ones who are as calm as can be, that their regular running game with Brian Robinson was working, that Jaden Daniels is just picking apart the defense. And then when he threw that beautiful pass to Diami Brown,

it was also just like excellence. And just, oh, my best is better than your best. And so that was a 39-yard play that set up a third-down touchdown to Zach Ertz where almost everyone on the 3rd, field kind of knew it was going to Zackertz, but Jane Daniels gets all the time he needs. And generally, that was only two and a half seconds, but the lines pass rush ultimately just wasn't good enough today. And Jane Daniels throws that ball before Zackertz even makes his break. And when Zacherts turns around, there's the ball, and he's in there for the touchdown

under the two-minute warning. And to me, that sequence followed up by the Gough interception to end the half. Like, I know there was a long way to go, and I thought the lines could maybe come back. But, man, that sequence was massive. Let's, to wrap up this just little segment here, let's listen to the Gough interception to end the half. George, here we go. Ten.

Goff, steps off. throws from the second of the field. Oh, he's got off. Mike Sabristel in the end zone. He's bringing it out. Five, ten, hits his own man, tries to get out of a tackle and cannot. He brought down to the 15. The rookie, the Michigan man.

Mikey Sanbrestell. rookie he he's their quarterback one and like what a draft class by adam peters what an offseason for adam peters who forced that fumble it was doris armstrong which has been one of the sneaky best free agent signings like a three for 45 people are like really Armstrong for that but he's been their most consistent edge rusher this year he's been good for them and then sanra still it wasn't a good throw by golf maybe just a half tick late and didn't lead williams enough, but I also give a ton of credit. It was just a great play by Sandra Still, who's been awesome this year.

To undercut that, though, is such a high degree of difficulty for a play that a cornerback has to make, and you have to read it perfectly. And the throw has to be a little bit off, even for you to make it work a somewhat physically high degree of difficulty play and mentally as well. You're tracking it a long distance. And so that was a big time play for the rookie off, you know, a throw that just wasn't leading the receiver, correct? and just the little margins, like I said before.

And to your point, I do think, you know, Adam Peters and, you know, there's Brandon Sazna's in there, former Lyons front office guy, you know, there are connections there as this overhaul of this top organization, top to bottom from ownership into every single level and every layer of this organization has been astounding to watch. It's like it wasn't just that Sage was burned in the building. full-on exorcism. And like, that's so cool that they can be so far ahead of schedule in this way after being so behind schedule in so many ways in every other facet. And it wasn't just that they got the quarterback. That's huge. They nailed that. But look at the

free agents, too, that they brought in. You brought up Armstrong as one of them. They had a really good draft class. They brought in Austin Echler as a leader and somebody who had a nice night to be an outlet for Jaden Daniels. They brought in Frankie Louvre. They brought in Jeremy Chin who had the game ceiling play. They brought in Bobby Wagner. You know, Frankie Louvo and Jeremy Chin coming from a despondent Panthers team that nobody thought they would be good players. And here they are.

Bobby Wagner leading the charge playing on one leg, essentially, tonight. But really has been solid for them and a mentor to Jaden Daniels all season. You know, this has just been a really cool team building effort where it's like they all bought in together and they grew together. They're very well coached on both sides of the ball. and they're deep at coaching on both sides of the ball as well. It's really an advertisement for the type of head coach like Dan Campbell, who isn't just about scheme because I think that's where Dan Quinn's magic is.

Even after that Brian Robinson touchdown in the second quarter, when he gets out there and he hugs Brian Robinson. First of all, I think Robinson had a bad play in the first quarter on that mistake by Mariotta. But I think Dan couldn't understanding that moment. There is something greater that's going on with this commander's team than just the pickups. But the pickups were also big. Like Brandon Coleman is a rookie left tackle. He's not a great left tackle, but he's a rookie who's out there and isn't killing the team that fits well enough in their scheme and is going to get better next year.

And man, they just so many good different decisions. And look, there's commanders fans out there. You know, I had one text me late in this game. James Pittman, if you're out there. you know, my, my buddy Kat, who, you know, has been a listener and a fan, came to the Super Bowl with me a couple of times. Like, when is Greg and that crew going to start picking the commanders? Like, okay, I guess, I guess wait a week.

Like, that was the moment when Goff threw that interception after that sequence. Like, I thought, oh, maybe the commanders left too much time for them. And they pick off Goff at the end of the half that, wow, the lions are in a tough way. And yet, they get a three and out, or they get the ball. back in the second half. The commanders allow the lines to go down the field in a very methodical way. It was the drive I was mentioning in the third quarter. It takes up almost half the quarter. And I really liked that Ben Johnson was purposeful giving the ball to David Montgomery and getting it to Gibbs. And there was very few dropbacks. It was like a screen pass and a couple other. And otherwise, it was

just their running game. And Gibbs was so good in this game. And maybe they got away from a little too much. And they score the touchdown to get it to within three. And then Washington just returns with like a 15 play drive. And they just showed they can beat you any sort of way. That drive, yeah, was 15 plays, 70 yards. That's capped by the Brian Robinson touchdown. And if I'm not mistaken, that's where the Lions did have the commanders on a fourth down inside the 10-yard line. And at that point in the game, Brian Branch had gone out and they get a 12 men on the field penalty. And they made the bigger mistakes tonight. And it was stuff like that.

Yeah, Dan Campbell needed to call a time out there. Had to. Bad coaching. That's the thing is like he's been so good in the margins for so many years. Even before everybody was watching this football team, right, when they were really starting to pick the pieces up and start to build something. Like, he's been so good. Aaron Glenn has made the most out of a really decimated roster all season. Now, I think you could argue a little bit.

Nothing they were doing. Pressure-wise was working, certainly not sending the Blitz after Jaden Daniels, but I don't know what you're going to do. You can't get pressure with four either. So, you know, it's a mixed bag, double-edged sword on that. But they've done such an admirable job for the past couple of years, but particularly with the way that they can win in the margins, the way that their players understand situational football,

the way that they maximize every down, not just on offense, but opponents don't maximize those downs against them in return. Now they finally met a team that does maximize every fourth down they come across. There's no reason in Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury's mind because they're ahead of schedule, because they have Jaden Daniels, because what the hell do they have to lose? They're playing with house money like five years ahead of this rebuild. And so why not? Go for it. And the Lions have not met a team with this same sort of like big Dan energy.

They have big, Greg, they have big Dan energy. They have not met another team. Yeah, they out Dan the Campbell. That's absolutely right. It's a good point. And I do think that was a couple, that was a moment where a couple of the narratives matched up, the fourth down one and them, you know, them getting that done, but also the injuries. Because I went into NGS to look at the participation on the 12 men penalty.

And two of the men on the field in the secondary, Jordan, were. by the names of Stanley Thomas Oliver and Maurice Norris, M-O-R-I-S-E, you spelled Maurice for him. I mean, they haven't, those are, I don't want to make the joke of like, oh, who are these guys? I've never heard of them. Like, they haven't played all season, those guys. Like, they literally haven't played football on the team. And you have to imagine that was part of the- That's what I said at the top.

Yeah, like it just, it contributed to them losing in the margins, was their injury. as much as they tried to make of it. Man. I know. Probably the end of the Ben Johnson era. He did have that fun pitch shovel play, which apparently was like an Antoine Randall L. play back in 2004. And Randall L is now a coach for the Lions.

He's the receivers coach. So that's pretty cool. And yet just going out there playing football, the commanders were better at it tonight. The Lions were in man coverage 60% of the time, which is just crazy. And it just, it didn't work. You couldn't do it with the players that they had on the field.

That's probably it for the Ben Johnson era. Maybe that's it for the Aaron Glenn era. I wonder if Tom Brady's in the booth, like, happy that the lion's lost because now he can hire the rate. You're rolling your eyes. Why is that? Well, don't get me started on this topic, honestly, because I just... Why not?

He deserves criticism. They tried to address it. People were like, oh, I can't believe Kevin Burkhard brought that up to him. That was choreographed, like on Tuesday of the week. That was a choreographed way to bring it up without actually bringing it up. And he didn't answer the question. Like, they brought it up to address it, and he didn't say anything. He just said, what they do on the field is the resume.

Like, he didn't even answer Burkhart's question. I'm pretty sure he didn't even mention. I think someone on social media was counting this. I don't even think he said Ben Johnson's name until, like, the third quarter when he absolutely had to. And honestly, like, listen, like, whatever. if this, none of this really matters in the grand scope of the world, there are much larger things going on. But at the same time, like, just sack up and talk about it, man. Oh, you're like, yeah, you're in this position. You're not happy to be there. You're not just, oh, my golly gosh,

like, look what I get to do and I get to be in these meetings. No, it has been reported over and over again. Like, you have an active role, and that's fine. You're Tom M.F. and Brady. He's basically the owner. He's basically the owner. Just own it, man. It's okay. People trust that you know, what you're talking about when it comes to filling a coaching and quarterback position until you prove them otherwise. You don't need to act like all this, oh, shucks like Eddie Haskell crap on the TV. Like, you don't have to do that. Anyway, okay. No. And yeah, a couple teams I think will be interested in this result in terms of being able to interview Glenn and Johnson or possibly hire him. The Raiders. Certainly the Saints, maybe the Jaguars, if they wanted to fork over the

bag and fork over Trent Valky for Ben Johnson. Who knows? I really do think, and it's unfortunate, but the timing of these losses can really affect the future, like, of these franchises. It, like Kyle Shanahan, I think his, his process to becoming a head coach got, got delayed a year, basically, by going to the Super Bowl and just think things happened this way all the time. Man, it's going to be a tough off season because, the lions, they're a little bit like the 49ers now where they're going to have some of the problems that come with winning without having actually gotten to the Super Bowl in their case or winning it in the 49ers case, but all credit to the commanders. We got another whole game

to talk about, so we should probably get to that game before we spend an hour on this one. What do you think? Well, it happened 900 years ago. It happened before Jaden Daniels was born. Jaden, Daniels, we pray to you at this point. You are our leader. We're not worthy. You are the commissioner. All right, let's take a break. We will be back on the other side with Texans chiefs. Hey, this is Matt Jones.

I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining.

And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development

to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching

strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen

to the Move the Six podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. 1203 to go in the game. Chiefs lead 13 to 12. They had third down and goal to go at the 11-and-a-half-yard line of Houston. Three receivers to the right. Mahomes, stepping up again, tries to throw.

Lake God! Touchdown! Kansas City, Travis Kelsey, owning this game. An 11-yard touchdown. Playoff Pat to playoff Kelsey. and the Chiefs lead 1912. Yes, Mitch Holtes on W-D-A-F.

If it's mid-January and you have Travis Kelsey setting his personal records for postseason yards and Mitch Holtz making calls on a divisional round game, you know football is back. The Chiefs get it done in a really entertaining game, 23 to 14. a frustrating game for the Texans

probably a frustrating game for a lot of America who at this point has started to root against the Chiefs much like they rooted against the Patriots when they were making what was it eight straight conference championship games

I can't of all the records that I would think would never get broken that one is absolutely insane Patrick Mahomes gets it done and he had to give us at least one beautiful highlight And the fact that that came after he kind of, you know, faked getting hit out of bounds made

everyone not appreciate in the moment. But that was a ridiculous throw as he was falling down. Like he has made that kind of throw just seem absolutely ordinary. It's like that, it's like that whole like just when I'm just finally starting to get a little bit annoyed with you, you pull me right back in and I adore you again. Like, you know, you can't fault it. It's just he's he's great. That's greatness. And. he knows how to try to sell things. He's going to use every tool in his bag to try to win football games.

You don't have to agree with it. I think that that was, there was a little bit of a, I thought that would have kind of sucked if they would have thrown the flag. I thought that, you know, to do that after two calls clearly went your way

that I think the entire world was like, what the hell was that? Sure, but it's also, let's calm down. But listen, I saw some lions defenders, like, floppy. Greg, please let me finish my point. Like, I, it's multiple things are true. You can hate the fact that those calls went their way and were disagreed upon pretty universally, but you can also respect the fact that that guy is going to do whatever it

takes to get extra yards, including some of that, maximizing some of the sideline runs, maximizing some of the tools that he knows are to the advantage and are not updated in a systemic structure that is more so the league enabling things and him maximizing the rules that he can take advantage of. And I think that multiple things can be true at the same. time where you can't fault him for trying to maximize and take advantage of a system and win in every little tiny margin, which the chiefs were better at than the Texans today. Like I said before, capitalizing on those little margins, including those advantages that Patrick

Mahomes has, that he knows he has, and also capitalizing on special teams and capitalizing on the fact that the Texans could not stop a drop of water from going through a paper towel up front. Yeah, my thing with the flopping and it is really annoying is that players do it all the time in every game. Like, Alex Anzolone did it when Jaden Daniels pushed him tonight. Or whoever, like, you remember, like the, I forget who it was, but there was a play where Jaden Daniels kind of got up after and they were getting each other's face and it was a line linebacker. It was either Campbell or Anzolone, like flopped down on the ground. It's like. Okay, it's the quarterback, though. There are different rules for the quarterback. You know this. Since you brought it up right

right off the bat, I think it probably is the number one talking point from fans that I've seen, at least on social after the game, is just how frustrated they are with those two calls. So if we're going to start there, I do think it's important to put those two calls in context. The first one from the first few angles, like it was not forcible blow to the head on Mahomes. and they end up getting that penalty was what the first or their second drive of the game, their second full drive. They got that first one, which was a three and out after they recovered the fumble on a long kickoff return. So some breaks there for the Chiefs, but also good special teams.

They get three free points on offense, and they kind of get three free points after this bad roughing call. The first one, it happens. It wasn't forcible blow to the helmet, but when you watched it at the right angle, like there was a little contact with the helmet and because he was getting hit hard at the time, he did naturally like bounce back and, oh, an official made a mistake in that play.

These players are the very best at what they do and they make 50 mistakes all game, every game. Like mistakes happen. Patrick Mahomes made a ton of mistakes. Jared Goff made mistakes. Like the official, it's impossible to do. So that, like when it's something that I can understand can't be easily overturned

and I think in the future they'll be able to overturned calls like that. I actually understand. I don't think that would have been overturned because I think in the moment there was contact on the helmet and he gets hit and it's all happening fast. It's a bang, bang, call and they got it wrong. But that stuff happens all the time. Why do we have no, I guess, grace for them making mistakes? It's going to happen. It happens in every sport. The next one was a terrible call where Mahomes is running around and then the two defenders, you know, clash into each other. And that was a huge call in the game. But also, you know, the Texans have ultimately like your defense has to be able to make a stop after that. It's really unfortunate. It was a,

it was a big call in the game. I don't think that's the difference in the game. But I also think that being the number one story off of those two calls when one of them to be to me was like fine. Like they got it wrong. But like I see wrong calls all the time. Why is it okay for like coaches and teams and players to make do a million wrong things? But like, of course the refs are going to. do some wrong things like it's part of the game i think what people are uh rightfully upset about over those types of things is that there are the tools to get it right but they're not being utilized because they just in some cases they wreck game flow in some cases they just can't but in other cases like replay assist would have been really helpful on that first but they did so they stopped the game

they never talked about it they stopped the game on the first one and suddenly they were just like hemming and hawing because they were didn't know what was going on and you could tell they watched the same replay as us, they did do the replay assist and they decided not to change it. And then you got one more angle later. And I don't think they would have, that one I don't think they would have changed. So I think next year at this time, that that will be a reviewable play. And the second one probably would get overturned is what I think is going to happen because of the high, because of this being in such a spotlight. But I do think like replay assist has made a huge difference this year in speeding up the game and correcting a lot of things quickly.

And I just think, like, that is not the difference they lost this game. The difference is Patrick Mahomes was perfect against pressure and their team had a plan against pressure. And C.J. Stroud and the Texans did not have a plan against pressure. Just going back to what's on the field, like, tell me if you disagree. Like, that to me was the biggest difference in the defensive coaching for the Chiefs ultimately got over with their pressure packages late in the game. And that Mahomes handled the pressure that was coming. I mean, his way late in the game. I just think more than one thing can be true about this game.

In fact, many things are true about this game. And those calls led to points. They extended drives that led to points. I think that when fans are angry about those things because they do see the results of the extension of drives that lead to points. And those things are significant in a game. Sure. The second one, it wasn't on third down or anything.

So you never know what's going to happen to just be a different game. But yes. It gives them a play. I mean, like, really, Greg, come on, man. Like, seriously. Like, let's hold multiple things in our. brain at the same time. At the same time, like the pressure that was coming at C.J. Stroud, all game. And in a lot of cases, purely unblocked pressure, there were blitzes and a lot of

those blitz, some of those blitzes were successful. But George Carloftus and his three sacks and his eight pressures, according to next gen. And next gen, as of now, and they adjust things as time goes and they rewatch and they kind of retract different things. But he wasn't doubled. He wasn't doubled. And there were certain plays where he was chipped and where they would assign like, okay, you have a tight end and you have a running back on you. Like we could see some of the ways that Spags was then rechecking his defense into a different pressure like right before the snap just because of freeing up some of his players to get that extra pressure.

And the Texans offensive line like did not have a ton of answers for that. And yes, I do think that that was if we're going to talk about the hierarchy of things of a game that had a lot of factors that were the reason that the Cheaps won, another reason and probably the biggest reason was that pressure. And I think the second biggest reason, which we'll get to in a few minutes, is the disastrous performance on special teams, which really ended up factoring in to this game as well. So those three things, I think, if we're going to rank them, I'm not going to put the calls first. Of course not, like, you know, logic and reason. But at the same time, that pressure was absolutely game-changing for C.J. Straub,

and it put him in incredibly stressful situations all game. He got banged up early on because he was trying to pick up some yards on the run. His scramble rate over the last two games has doubled since the end of the season. He's trying to pick up these plays with these legs. He's trying to avoid pressure. But he was sacked eight times. And that's just not a sustainable way to play football. No.

And the pressures weren't all equal. He got sacked eight times, which is just preposterous. You got hit 14 times in this game. When they first played, the Chiefs actually hit Mahomes, I think 12, 13, 14 times. And today it was only eight.

I mean, they got after it in parts some. They held the Chiefs to under 250 yards of offense. They outgained the Chiefs by over 100 yards and didn't have a turnover. They're actually the first team, I think in the history, of the playoffs to out gain an opponent by over 100 yards, not have a turnover and lose.

Teams were 49 and 1. And I saw some people say, well, you can divide up the numbers. And it's like, my friend Nick Wright was mentioning like, yeah, I'm sure their success rate was great and all this stuff. It's like, no, the success rates were actually about the same. Those aren't analytics. Like, they just, that's like as basic as it gets.

They out gained them by 100 and they didn't have a turnover. Usually that is a recipe to win, but they didn't because of what you're talking. about. The margins on special teams, the margins on the sacks and the pressure, and then the margins on penalties, like the penalty yardage was great. Jordan, uh, given the Greek some, what a game. Carloftus was, was absolutely awesome. But yeah, these pressures, they weren't equal. On 17 blitzes, they, they pressured Stroud on what, over 65% of those plays, 12 pressures on those plays, eight of them were unblocked. I mean, you texted me, that's a war

crime. It's true. It's absolutely true, though. A crime in 47 states. Yeah, in 40, like, it is. Like, that is the difference to me is that the Chiefs late in the second half of the game actually had a pretty good plan against pressure. Well, Holmes took some sacks, but he was nine to 14 for 14th 46 yards when he held it over two and a half seconds. And when C.J. Stroud held the ball over two and a half seconds. The play was over. And late in the game, I know I'm rambling here, but late in the game to me that- That's all right. We do that, Greg. That's okay. This is our safe space for that. Okay. 1019 left in the fourth quarter. This is still very much a game. The Texans are driving. They have the ball at the Chief's 40-yard line, and it's still very much a game.

and the chiefs blitz four straight times on the Texans. Three are quick pressures. The last three are unblocked pressures, and the last one is that horrible sequence where they go for it on fourth and ten after the play call. And to me, that was the Texans season in a nutshell. And it was also Steve Spagnolo knowing exactly where and how to blitz and how to completely break both Bobby Sloick and C.J. Stroud and set Shaq Mason and all the

offensive lineman's brains. And they just won right there. And it was basically over at that point. Yeah. I think one of the things we've seen from Andy Reid, and I want to talk about his game plan, too, because even though the chiefs only put up, what, 23 points, I don't have it in front of me. And it was a million years ago. But even though they didn't put up, like, you know, it's this crazy amount of points. I loved Andy Reid's game plan on offense. I want to talk about that in a second. I'll tell you why. But on one of the things that makes these guys so great

and makes them like these long-haul truckers of a team that just understand what it takes to get through those final dark miles, right, to their destination is the fact that they have a brilliant head coach on offense, a brilliant quarterback, but also a brilliant head coach on defense. And somebody who is going to run

that entire unit as if it is its ecosystem that totally and it complements the offense in a way but it's not like it doesn't play into what the offense like needs to support the offense. It like does its thing as its own entity and sometimes you see these teams and especially like when the Tampa 2 surge was happening and it became like a lot of that deeper shell stuff when it morphed over time from the early 2000s onward. you would see offensive coaches gravitate toward it because it would set up their offense, right? It would set up their offense. It would mitigate damage via explosive plays so that the game wasn't lopsided too quickly

so that offensive coaches could stay in their A-plus plan. Steve Spagnolo and Andy Reid don't give a crap about that. They're going for it. They're going to be who they are and they're going to be aggressive and they're going to be smart and they're going to be well-coached and fundamentally sound and they're going to know how to get in your head and stay there and eat your brain. and it's just cool. And they just do this.

And they're so experienced at doing this that at a certain point, again, when you're in the long haul truck and the giant semi, and you're on the straight line on the 10, and maybe the lights in the distance start to weave back and forth a little bit, you just put your elbow up and you just go.

And that is what Steve Spagnolo and they do redo, and they do it better than almost anyone, if not anyone in the league. All right, we got more to get to with this game. Let's just take a quick break. We'll be right back. Hey, this is Matt Jones.

I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining.

And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development

to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and, you know. share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, This podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Fiorio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. In the first half of this game and even at the beginning of the second half, the Texans offense was winning. We got a comment from Will Gavin, a regular guest of this show. saying he loves the live shows. Beans on toast. Beans on toast guy. Yeah, and beans on toast guys.

And he also asked, can someone please give Spags a job? And you need to break up this AFC trio. I know that is part of the Chief's magic is they haven't broken up Spags and Reed. You never know. Spags did get some interviews in this cycle. You never know. Matt Nagy did too, although I don't think that would really impact the Chiefs too much. They did just lose their assistant GM.

I don't think that's going to really hurt the bottom line to the, to the, Titans, Mike Borgonzi, so shout out to him. But yeah, I really thought at the end of that game that was so massive. And it took a while. Like it, let's be real. We went into the half with the Texans out gaining the Chiefs, with the Texans having a pretty good run game. Like Bobby Slowick, after 18 games, finally did establish the run. And I don't get on him for putting them in a lot of third down situations and go in run, run, pass, and it didn't always work in this game, because for the most part, it was working. Like, they did get the running game going, and you kind of have to know your personnel, and look what happened when they had got into clear

passing situations. If anything, you could criticize Sloke for passing their four straight times, like late in the game when they should be running, because when they got the ball after halftime, and they went down on what was one of their best drives of the season, a 15-play, 82-yard, 10-minute drive that ended on a mix-and-run after a really good fourth-down pickup. Like, you thought they were in it? And then the special teams kicked in. Tell me about Kaimi Fairbans game.

I mean, it's just... Yeah, I mean, you had to feel for him at a certain point because he's been pretty good all year. I think he only missed two kicks prior to this game all year. they lost seven points via two missed or excuse me a missed field goal block field goal a missed extra point they had a bad punt late in the game that gave the chief's field position in deep in texan's territory that they open right that was to make it two scores yeah they opened the game in disastrous fashion not just because the the kickoff return was a big explosive play they also got a penalty. And then you saw just how undisciplined they planned to be in that phase all

all day because Chris Boyd shoved special teams coach Frank Ross and like I get it. Emotions get high whatever. You know, I'm not going to. Wait, I have a theory for that. Like, do you think he was actually excited and like, because he made the tackle that forced the fumble and he ripped up? Do you think it was like, I'm happy shove or I'm mad at you shove? I was like, I actually think he was celebrating, but I could be wrong. I think they were fired up. It's one of those things. You saw it. Remember when everyone made like a big thing about Travis Kelsey and Andy Reid being all like Travis Kelsey pushed Andy Reid and like sometimes people like these guys are just they can't even, they're fired up. They're just too, they're out of their own heads, especially on special teams.

You're opening a game. You're in Arrowhead. Like, okay, I'm not going to read into it. I don't know. I'm sure people talked about it post game. So I'm not going to put words in anyone's mouth without having seen them myself. But in those moments, you really saw, oh, they're not on in this phase specifically. They're not quite ready for this moment, whether it was a happy push, a fired up push or a mad push. It's a push and they're not ready for the moment in that phase. And they lost in that phase all game long. And that was a huge, a huge swing in the chief's favor because I said this on social media. I was like, what do you get for the chief's team that has everything already? Well, you F up special teams in their favor. And that's really what you can give them because they've been

winning in these close games in these margins all season. And I keep saying, it's so annoying. I keep saying the word margins, but they keep doing that, and they did it again here, and they maximized that to the Texans detriment, and the Texans shot themselves in the foot on that one. So that is how you outgame the opponent by 100 yards and don't have a turnover and lose. Opening kickoff, that leads to three points. There's three right there. Fairbairn, they decide to go for it, and it was windy on that side of the field, 52-yarder in the first half. It's six to three at that point. He doesn't even come close to that field goal. Not only do you miss it, there's another three points.

I'm just going to write these down. That's three plus three. But the chiefs go right down the field. That's where Kelsey gets the 49-yard play. They cash in and score the touchdown on a short field. I'm not going to count this on my special teams total, but that was situational football right there. Fairbairn misses the extra point.

You know, it's a letdown in that moment, but it's also just a point. And the points were very valuable at that point. There's another one. And then late in the game, they're trying to kick the field goal to make it one score. And he hits a scud missile that gets blocked. But that's, you know, you've probably talked to special teams coaches who say like more, more blocked kicks than not are on the kicker and on the kicking operation. And that was another.

So just on special teams, that's 10 points right there. And then you also mentioned the bad pun. which set up the field goal that ultimately made it two scores and kind of ended the game. So that's more points there. And that came after the fourth and ten fire drill where they weren't prepared for the moment. There was just a lot of between special teams and then the situational coaching. There was also when they rushed to play right before the two-minute warning at the end of the game and took a sack.

And Steve Spagnolo kind of psyched out, C.J. Ward with what looked like a cover zero blitz. and instead they drop out. Like, all of this is just on the margins where the Texans weren't really ready and the Chiefs look like the team that's been there before. And the Chiefs, on the other side, they kept it really simple.

I mean, yeah, Patrick Mahomes is always going to make these astounding plays. He's the greatest we've ever seen do it, right? And, like, he can do these things like that touchdown pass. Like, that just, they don't make sense. They just, they baffle the brain and they scramble you up and you're like, how could anyone stop this?

How could anyone think that this would go any other way? I have it written in my notes. How could any of us have ever thought this would go any other way than this? Because of what he's capable of doing. But at the same time, I loved how simple they kept their game plan. It's like the Texans have two of the best outside corners in the entire league. They're like first and second in limiting completion percentage of passer rating among corners, who have played, who have been targeted 50 plus times

into the, and including into the playoffs. And like, that's Derek Stingley and, uh, excuse me, I keep, I always mess up his name Lasseter. Yes. And I always, I always, I always Kamari Lasseter. Camarri Lasseter. It's like I barely saw them today.

Occasionally, Derek Stingley was on, was on, uh, Kelsey, but those were the plays they didn't throw to Kelsey. Forgive me, forgive me Texans fans. It is 1234 in the morning where I currently am. Um, but they, are unbelievable. They've been great all year. And to your point, you barely see them on your screen.

Other than when Derek Steeley is making these amazing takeaways in the Chargers game, you're like, oh, yeah, they're pretty dang good. But what Andy Reid and the Chiefs did was they moved the ball toward the middle of the field, where the Texans are notoriously missing a couple of safeties that they would very much have liked to have in a game like this, one of whom is playing on the other team. And also, they used the screen game and they used some of the underneath stuff and they used some of the quick stuff that was just a little bit of misdirection here and there, maximizing the space that they did have.

And they didn't try to go outside of that plan. There was one big explosive play downfield early in the game. But at the same time, most of it was in the most of their explosive plays and even their mid-range plays happened in the middle of the field or they came off of these dynamic. screens. And that was really important because if you're going to run those screens and you're going to make sure that you force those dynamic and awesome corners to come down a little bit more. So then you can attack other voids behind them because you need those guys to tackle in space. And then if you're going to target the open areas in the middle of the field,

using Travis Kelsey, who like somehow in the creakiest looking way possible is still making, like putting up these great stat lines in must have games, right? And you're going to, to maximize those areas of the field because they're open. And it just really was a very simple, nobody was asked to go outside of themselves. There was a simple game plan and everybody executed. And it wasn't perfect. It was only 23 points.

But at the same time, between winning in those margins and then also executing a very simple game plan, I'm going to put dudes where your dudes are not. It was effective. Yeah, I mean, 23 points is a lot for getting 212 yards. 12 yards is like bottom 10, 15% of, of, you know, an average NFL game this season. But they did get the penalty yards. They got the short fields.

And yes, out of those 212 yards, Travis Kelsey had 117 on seven catches, one on the longest play of his postseason, the 49-yarder, the catch and run where he beats Kalin Bullock, who doesn't tackle there. And yeah, you mentioned the safety position. It's just such a killer for them. Jalen Petrie brought that entire secondary together. And Jimmy Ward was so valuable for them. I always mess up and say Justin Reed when I think Jimmy Ward,

because they both have been so good in that Texan's defense. And now Justin Reed's on the Chiefs. But like- They miss Jimmy Ward bad. Injuries really matter when they're clustered together. And so there's two middle of the field. slot slash safety players were you know petri was playing the slot this year and playing it really well yeah and then there's two really dynamic wide receivers stephan digs and in tank dell and that really

hurt them the offensive line is there's no excuse for that because they've poured resource after resource into that and to me that's bad coaching laramie tonsil was not like a plus player this year which is a huge problem when he's one of the the highest paid players in the league let's actually listen to the chief's sacking Stroud on the fourth in 10. There's so many failed fourth downs. It's like hard to keep track, but let's go to that one. Houston trying to snap it before the play can. Here comes a rush against Stroud on fourth down. And he's going to go down. The Chiefs not only hold. They get a sack. George Carloftus. And Jaden Hicks also there. It's not only a hold. It's a sack and a loss. And the Chiefs will

have the ball in Houston Territory, a fourth down in 10, loss of 14 yards. Oh, and the Texans were heroic in this game. They actually stood up there and forced the chiefs to punt, but that play call still mattered. I think knowing where they were in terms of how they were playing on offense, I would have, it's a rare time where I'm like, I don't think you should have gotten forward on fourth down. And it absolutely mattered because that changed the field position in a game where there wasn't a lot of offensive yards and directly led, you know, to that bad punt that we

were talking about by the Texans and basically ended the game. They were too good. Yeah, the field position on some of those, including the punt and then also the fourth down there, definitely helped the Chiefs out. Shield Capadia, who we both really like, I know, he posted on Blue Sky that of the seven real possessions the Chiefs had, they did score on five of them, two touchdowns, three field goals. So still, like, you know, it looked, it looked uglier, right? But some of that was game flow. Some of that was possession of where they started with the ball. Some of that was a couple of those. It just looked creaky at times. But I guess that, you know, they're long-haul truckers, man. We're going to expect this from them. And I know, that's one of the reasons I love

football is every game can have such a different character. And the Chiefs are so amazing at being able to play any sort of game. And the Patriots got way too much credit during their dynasty, probably just for their situational football. And the chiefs are just so good at that. Because you're right. In the end, it's not like the chief's offense had like a really low success rate or anything throughout the course of the game. It dipped later in the end. But they got done mostly what they got needed to be done. But they played to the score and they did exactly what they needed to do. And you get the sense they were almost just kind of for part of the game getting a little loose. You know what I mean?

It was like they got loose and next week they're going to play better. I have a theory. I'm not personally annoyed with the Chiefs, but I see a lot on social media, which is not really real, but you do see it. Like, people are annoyed with the Chiefs. But I have a theory about it. I think we're all a bit traumatized from like, remember in college when like everyone was on the group project?

And then, you know, the person who would do just enough, but not a lot more than was needed in that moment would still be a part of the A and like the overachievers would always be the ones that were getting mad. I just think that in my theory, the technology. the chiefs know how to do this. They know how to manage the project, right? Because they're getting just enough done and it looks weird at times,

but all of a sudden you look at the box score in the advanced statistics and some of the efficiency and you're like, actually, that wasn't that bad? Like, you actually did exactly what was asked of you and you needed to do in this game? It shouldn't work that only Travis Kelsey and Xavier Worthy had like all the catches and all the yards. By the way, Xavier Worthy made two of the best catches

he made all season in this game, a contested catch early, and then another one going away from him to set up a score on a really nice throw by Mahomes. Like, he has absolutely stepped up. Other than that, Noah Gray went three for 13. And then the combination of Kareem Hunt, DeAndre Hopkins, who didn't have a catch, Juju Smith-Schuster, who didn't have a catch, Somaget P. Ryan and Isaiah Pacheco had a total of, I think, eight targets for two yards.

And they got it done anyways. The protection after the beginning mostly held up and they will move on. It is just incredible to make seven straight AFC championship games. I know. It doesn't, it just, it's almost hard to process it. And it's, but it's really cool to watch every other team. Greg, I talk about this with you all the time. Like every other team strains and presses and clenches and gets so tight and terrible.

injured and like the chiefs haven't been immune to injuries either but like they seem to be immune to this burnout thing that all of these other teams get they just got 25 days off I wouldn't be burnt out either well I'm not talking about this season specifically I'm talking about every year I mean they play longer they play more football games on average than any other team in the NFL and they get less time really at the end of the season to recuperate and part of it I think is that Andy Reed is not losing some of these really high quality coordinators. And if it happens on the offensive side, he seems to just pick things up where he left off.

And certainly on the defensive side, spags more than than pulls his weight, if not way more than that. So I think that helps. But at the same time, I mean, especially when you have guys who are getting old and like it and problems along the offensive line

that they've had all season. And yet they just go. And it's like this unstoppable force. And at some point, they're going to meet an immovable object. And that's going to be. be chaos and fireworks coming up in the next couple weeks. And you get a break or two

like a missed an opposing kicker having a bad day. Or like a call you get a call or two that you seem to think that you seem to think like did not matter at all in this game. I think you get a call or two. I think it absolutely mattered. I just think it's just it's lower on the list of. It's not the only thing.

I'm not saying it's the only thing. It is a thing. It's certainly not the majority of the thing. People are just so tired of the quarterback thing. but it's just weird like you're going to go through the rest of your life complaining about these calls if you keep complaining about these calls because it's never it's never going to change like there will always be bad calls like there's always going to be bad throws there's there's never going to be a moment where you get to the point and they'll try to improve it I think let's go

let's go more replays I think they will expand replay review which which will be good we don't need to get back into that simply let people feel feel their feelings Greg that's what I think No, no, I am going to control their feeling. Shout out to the YouTube commenter who says my dull hoodie is sick. By the way, when I was, you know, writing down those points, it was supposed to pay off with me adding it all up on my note card here. And yes, that's just the chicken scratches of the seven missed points from Fairbaren's kicks and then the three off the opening kick, add that all up.

That's 10 points, you know? They won by nine. Of course, they took the intentional safety at the end, which was cute. And depending on where you bet on this, if you are into that sort of thing, it was either eight and a half or nine and a half. So it might have affected your day. And luckily it doesn't affect our day because I'm not allowed to do that. The Chiefs, by the way, are the first team ever to go eight straight games without a turnover.

That's a stat that I feel like is a little underrated. Like in the history of the NFL, first team ever. That wins football games. That wins football games. I was more concerned about Walker's emotional state. I know he's a big Texans fan. I felt bad for him. Why do you got to bring that up?

Well, I felt bad. How's he doing? I think the audience, the listeners should know. He took it, he took it kind of hard today, I think, right? I felt bad for him. Yeah, he left the room, put a blanket on his head, like, yelled at us, essentially, for, like, continuing to watch it. And I was like, you need to, you need to handle this better. He's like, turn the volume down, you know, with like three minutes left. I'm like, oh, they're driving, you know, on that last drive, you know.

Then he comes in for the third down, and they. take the sack and he just like runs back out. I mean he tried to control your feelings, Greg? What? Yeah. He did. He did try to control it. He was just like he wanted total silence. He was so upset. And then he was talking about becoming like a Michael Pennix, a Falcons fan. But I was like, he can't do that. It's just emotion. Stick with them. They'll get there, Walker. Stick with him. No, he will absolutely stick with CJ. It was just emotions in the moment. A lot of people were feeling that. And yet. You know, we knew it would be an arrowhead.

We have to find out if it's going to be the Bills or the Ravens joining the chiefs. Man, we could get to a lot more, but we shouldn't. We should say goodbye and let you go to sleep. I'm like, oh, we had all this other sound. We had Damiko Ryan's complaining. It doesn't matter at this point. Jordan, thank you. This is the last time I think we're going live for the year.

We will be back on Sunday, though, in the studio. Have fun covering Rams and Eagles on Sunday. Everyone check out Jordan's coverage at The Athletic. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you. Snow game, guys. It's going to be a snow game. Oh, my gosh.

I know. I am prepared. I don't know how the Rams will be in the snow, but I personally am prepared. You have a great coat, gloves. I will be sitting behind glass in like 20 layers, I'm sure, looking soft as hell. So that's fine. But I'm excited. This should be a really good one.

Yes, I am too. And we will, of course, be recapping that game from the studio. I'll be with Patrick Claibon and Nick Shook. Play the music, Eric. Let's go. Please. I need to end this thing. Yes, for Jordan Roderig of the athletic and Eric Roberts, behind the glass,

when the lions are breaking America's hearts. We love you, commanders, but the lions, you still broke our hearts. Football is, it's back. See you Sunday. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct

winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. This is an IHeart podcast.