NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Divisional Round Saturday Recap: Bills-Broncos Classic, Nix's Injury, Seattle's Dominance and Latest Coaching News!

Episode Date: January 18, 2026

One heartbreaker and one blowout. In the early window, the Denver Broncos capitalized on a handful of mistakes from Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills to advance to the AFC Championship game, while the Seattle Seahawks virtually ended the San Francisco 49ers' season on the opening kickoff. Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook join forces to recap the two Saturday games with every major highlight, stat and piece of analysis provided along the way!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 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. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we don't know where to start with that Broncos and Bill's classic. I am Greg Rosenthal in my garage talking to my friend Nick Shook.

Half of championship weekend is set. The Denver Broncos are hosting the AFC championship game, but they are going to do it without Bo Nix. The Seattle Seahawks won in the most dominant. We're the one seed, and we look like it fashion. They will be hosting the NFC championship game next week. We also are going to hit in this show where we recap both of those games in order of how good they were.

We're going to talk about the coaching hires that happened tonight. Kevin Stafansky's going to Atlanta. Green Bay has re-signed Matt LaFleur. And yes, the John Harbaugh drama is over in New York. But we are now, what, four hours removed, shook from the Broncos Bill's game. I still feel like I'm coming down from it because I'm partly coming down from what happened afterwards with the Bo Nixon. Yeah, it was one of those games where the high.

were so high, but the conclusion left you feeling a little uneasy. And then the news afterward just, it was like an absolute sucker punch that floored you, if you're a Broncos fan. There are divisional round games that you just remember forever. And even if it wasn't for the Knicks injury, this would have been one of those games. Let's not waste any more time. Let's go to Mile High. A kick of 24 yards for the win. Snap placement. Kick off. the way. The EFC championship game in an epic battle from a power field at mile high. The Broncos have climbed higher and they have found a way to win again coming from behind.

They beat the Buffalo Bills this afternoon, 33 to 30. 33 to 30. a classic back and forth, another overtime loss, unfortunately for Josh Allen, Sean McDermott in those bills. That was Dave Logan on K-O-A. You almost expected him to go a little crazier. His team is going to the AFC championship, but you mentioned it.

It was almost an underwhelming then because flags were involved to one of the best football games, you know, at this stage of a playoff, you know, scenario that I've ever seen. There's, there's so much we're going to have to get to. Chuck, I'm going to ask you, what is the first thing you think you will remember from this game, from this matchup years from that? I think it's important that we say this now because I think what happens with the Broncos next week could absolutely taint our hindsight of all of this.

But I'm going to think about that touchdown pass that Bo Nix had in the fourth quarter, that put the Broncos ahead. I mean, it was an incredible throw. It was a play that was made in a situation in which the Broncos offense was struggling against pressure for a good portion of the second half. It was an onions throw. It was exactly what you needed to see from Bo Nix, who had done that with the Broncos all year. That was the play that will resonate with me, but also deep down, the goal line creativity, the tackle eligible touchdown, the bills running corn dog, the Mikko Hardman, like that was all fantastic as well. It's just this game was so crazy, kind of got lost in the shuffle. Yeah, I was kind of curious where you'd go because there's so many ways to go.

And we'll go through it all in what the Knicks injury means and everything. But I think that's a great place to start. Let's actually listen to that Bo Knicks dime to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Bills rush five. Bow in the pocket. Hit as he froze. throws the ball fades deep corner caught. Touchdown Marvin Mims.

26-yard strike. Bo Nix to Marvin Mims, who's still down. Bo drops a dime in the far corner of the end zone. Marvin Mims, the player of the game for the Denver Broncos. Amazing to call Marvin Mims, the player of the game. There were so many to choose from, and obviously Bo Nix with the best throw there in the biggest moment. And Mims did end with 93 yards,

eight catches on this game. And that throw, I think there's so much to get to in terms of what Sean Payton and this Broncos offense did in this game. And I actually think there are some things, big picture you could pick on Sean Peyton about. But what he also did was have a great feel for different situations in what matchups to go for in this game. That play comes directly after Tredavius White gets knocked out of the game. It was one of the only plays, Dane Jackson was in the entire game.

And instead of being conservative and trying to play the clock and not score too early or set up for, you know, just moving the ball down the field, he lets Bo rip it. And Bo Nix goes three for four on throws over 20 yards in this game. And I have a couple more examples where I thought Sean Payton was really on it in terms of situations. but that was it and you have to give Bo Nix a ton of credit for playing a really great first half and then in the end at the end of the fourth quarter in overtime like so many games before

making the big place to win. I think the beauty of this game was it was fun because there was a bit of a copycat element going on offensively where the bills were finding success doing certain things that Josh Allen getting him out on the move and then the Broncos, which that has been kind of a staple for them in the Bo Nix era, which is last season and this season, but they really almost mirrored what the bills were doing.

Oh, the bills found success with that? let's do the same thing. There's a third down conversion where Bo Nix rolls out right. He's looking to throw. He ends up keeping it. He sneaks back inside, picks up the first down. And I just thought, that's similar to the whole student body right that the bills ran with Josh Allen to get a first down.

Like they're doing, they're kind of mirroring each other and following each other in this game. But it was also a great example of two coaches who really trust and believe in their quarterback to go get the job done throughout this game. And that, like, that throw that Nick's had there that we just played, this is a play that, look, in this situation, it looks like the Broncos are not going to figure out a way to get down there. They're running out of time.

They're inside a minute. They have completed some passes, but you're worried about can they finish this off? Are they going to run out of time? They're going to manage their timeouts well. And then he just drops back in a collapsing pocket and just lets it go and just drops it in there, the best throw perhaps of his whole season in the biggest spot there. And that's why it continues to stick with me where you couldn't get any more perfect than that in a huge spot, which is exactly who Bo Nix and the Broncos have been all season.

And what they were throughout the season to get to this point is what built that trust with him and Sean Payton to allow him to take those shots and it paid off for them. And yet it was so far from over there. The bills get the ball with the chance to win at the end of regulation because a minute for Josh Allen is a lot of time. But while we're talking like good situations, just while it's on my mind for Sean Payton, there was a second down, deep touchdown to little Jordan Humphrey at the end of the second. quarter. And that was another situation where it felt like they could have been setting up possibly just for a field goal at the end of the half. And then instead, he goes for the jugular and they get that touchdown. He also had a third and eight call after one of Josh Allen's interceptions.

Alan finishes this game with four turnovers. And it just stuck in my head because it was a little route to Mims that it was just the easiest throw in the world for Knicks to get. But on a third and eight after a turnover, just little plays like that. But if you had asked me the question, I'm going to put you on the spot. What do you think I would have said is going to stick with me for this game? Because I got to say, it would not have been that throw. It would have been one other play in this game. Was it about next player or Josh Allen play?

I need a hint. I need a hint. Who's the main character of the playoffs until today? Well, I mean, he was Josh Allen. It was Josh Allen. Is it the throw that he got picked off? That was the controversial ruling. Is that the one that's going to stick with you?

That, that is. And I don't think we should wait any longer before looking at that play. Let's actually listen to the call of the Jalen McMillan interception on the 50-50 ball to Brandon Cooks in overtime. Expect pressure. I think they're going to get it. Hufung is on the way. Blitz on the way. Allen in the pocket loads it up.

Deep ball down the field. The ball is intercepted. Jayquan McMillan. My goodness. Bill's sideline thought that Brandon Cook's had it. Jayquan took it away from him. Both players went airborne. That play was everything.

I don't think it's that controversial. We'll get to that. That play was like why the NFL is king to me. When he rips that throw, that's the third possession of overtime, by the way. And it comes after two really good third down conversions from Josh Allen, which kind of showed the best of Josh Allen from today. I know there's four turnovers and everyone's killing Josh Allen. He played great for the most part today.

And he made a couple big mistakes. That was not one of them. He threw a dime down the field to his receiver. But the reason why the NFL, to be his king, is he drops back to pass. It's mile high. it's the playoffs. It's third and 10. That ball's in the air

and you're thinking this play is going to decide the game. It's in the air. Brandon Cooks, an undersized receiver, bouncing around the league, he jumps in the air. While you're watching the game, he's got the ball at his hand.

For that split second, while the ball's in his hands, everyone, including you, I'm sure, and me and Bill's fans and Broncos fans are thinking the Buffalo Bills just won the game. Like, they are in field goal range. that's it, that's the play, we'll always remember.

And by the time he hits the ground, Jalen McMillan, Jekwon McMillan, who, you know, they tried to replace by drafting Jada Jada Jada Barron in the first round this year, who's had a great season, rips that ball away from Brandon Cooks while he hits the ground. And I see a comment that says like, that's a catch. Of course that's a catch. I don't think it was that controversial. You're making a face shook and maybe you want to see it differently in full speed.

He is yanking that thing away. You got to give it to someone. There's no way it touched the ground. And he, like, they both caught it for a second, but the guy who ends up with the ball gets the ball. And in that second, like the entire season, just two guys pulling for the ball is essentially decided. and I think it was like just an incredible play by Jake on Mcmillan. There's no rule that says the Bill's defense couldn't have stopped them afterwards, and they didn't.

But maybe you disagree. You seem to agree with a lot of Bill's Nation and Sean McDerm out there that that was a completion. No, I don't agree. I agree with you. I agree with you. I'm actually totally on board with you. And I think there's so many ways that you could slice this.

First off, it is a great example of why football continues to be and will always be a game of inches. It sounds cliche, but it's, It is legitimately true in this instance. And it's why it is such a popular sport because it can come down to a play like you just described. But if you're going to like break this down, because there's the side that says, well, this is 100% of catch. There's the side that it's not that it was an interception. I'm with the interception side because the way Gene's territory actually broke it down,

which is that it appeared as if cooks never fully really controlled the ball to the ground. So that in that instance, he doesn't catch it, control it, and then he's down by contact on the ground. The ball is still live. It's a loose ball, right? And I try to frame it like this. If there was no defender there and Brandon Cooks came down with the ball and as he hit the ground, the ball went flying out, it's an incomplete pass. So you're going to say, well, down by contact, whatever, but it would be an incomplete pass.

The other thing is this. The whole tie goes to the offense doesn't apply here because he never demonstrated that he had secured the ball in a catch, which would be like what? Catching a ball, two steps, football move, that third step type of thing. None of that was demonstrated here. McMillan comes away with the ball by the time he's standing. The one thing that I'm confused about is was he ruled down by contact? Because if he had possession, it wasn't until he basically ripped it off him and was standing up again.

It theoretically could have returned it. But it was an interception. It was an interception. Okay. I'm so amped up after this game. I'm like misinterpreting shook's facial expressions in the biggest moment. So that was one of nine throws that Josh Allen tried over 20 air yards. Do you want to guess how many he completed in this game?

in a game, by the way, that the bills gained 449 yards, 100 more than the Broncos. How many deep completions? Two. O for nine, tying an NGS-era record of the most attempts without hitting one down the field. Oh, yeah, because Cooks dropped another one down the sideline earlier. Cooks came so close on the final drive of regulation to making a circus catch. That wasn't a bad effort by him. In fact, it was an incredible effort, a good throw.

just was barely out of bounds. And it doesn't totally boil down to this, but you look at the non-Shakir wide receivers. So in this game, that was Cooks, that was Coleman, who does get a touchdown, and Curtis Samuel, Josh Allen throws the ball to them 14 times for a total of 36 yards. And so all that talk all season long kind of comes home to roost in a couple of spots. Like that one, look, cooks, you hate to fault them for not coming down with that.

It's a bang, bang play. But you wish it that he did. But the play just before that on the overtime drive, you know, Tony Romo was very quick to criticize McCall Hardman for the way he ran his route on a pretty open throw. And kind of big picture, the other thing I'm going to remember from this game, is just the heartbreak of the bills and the missed opportunities. Because the Broncos earned this win, no doubt, but the bills didn't punt the ball. They turned it over five times. Yeah.

They scored six times and they turned it over five times. And on top of that, for as good as Josh Allen played, if you took away the turnovers for most of the other throws, he has a throw to Dawson Knox. And if you're watching on YouTube, you can see it. he has a throw to Dawson Knox at the very end of regulation that he usually hits. Like it's the second to last play, essentially a regulation. And Matt Prater picks him up. But he has Knox coming open on third and 10 from the 32.

I couldn't believe it. And he misses that throw. He also short hops a ball to Khalil Shakir on another third down where it looked like Shakir might have had a chance. to score a touchdown, make a man miss, which he did after getting it on the hop. So it's just like a couple of those throws. Inches.

Just break your heart. And before I get your thoughts on that, let's actually listen to Josh Allen's thoughts on that after the game, another tough playoff loss for the build. It's extremely difficult. I feel like I, yeah, feel like I let my teammates down tonight.

It's my long season. I hate out-ended, and that's going to stick with me for a long time. You can't win with five turnovers. I fumbled twice through two picks. You need you shoot yourself in the foot like that. You don't deserve to win football games. Dionne Dockins, they are their great left tackle. Upon being told at the end of his interview in the locker room that, you know,

Allen said that he let the team down was speechless and just started. started crying and turned his back himself and kind of whispered like he didn't let the team down. And so there's levels of heartbreak, but this Bill's team, because of how close they've been so many times, I think it just gets exponentially a little harder. And for one of the great players of his era, man, that's tough to see. Yeah, it is. And, you know, we need the theme of this playoffs. You know, no chiefs, no Ravens, no team that's usually in your way, standing in your way.

No excuses. go get the job done. But I think that we can, in hindsight, like folks can take some time to let this process and everything else, but they can look back and reflect on this team and see this team and compare it to previous bills teams and probably agree that this was not the best bills team

of the Josh Allen era. In fact, it's arguably the worst bills team of the Josh Allen era. And the fact that they were, got to this point, a lot of it was credit to Sean McDermott getting the most out of this defense through certain stretches of these games,

you know, not necessarily in the fourth quarter against Jacksonville, but they did it on the last drive. I've got the interception that they needed. Dredavius White has a great game. And they advanced the divisional round. The defense causes problems for Denver and gives them time to climb back into this game on Sunday. It's that.

It's the heroics of Josh Allen. And ultimately, though, they're not the machine that they were when they lost close ones to Kansas City in previous years. And that's probably what makes it most painful, though, is that they got to this point with a team that was flawed. Every team in the NFL this year in the postseason is flawed in one way or another. And the bills are undoubtedly flawed. But the fashion in which they won, coming back to win against Jacksonville,

clawing their way back into this game and having so many really close, narrow opportunities to win and to put this game away, the third down pass on the receiver screen that you mentioned, that puts the game away if they score. They're moving on to the AFC championship game. And they're doing it against teams. Like they're overachieving at this point when you look at the roster and you stack them up against the teams that they've been playing.

And then to have it happen in such a familiar, painful way just makes it that much more hurtful for guys who have, have given everything to this franchise over the last five years and repeatedly encounter the same unfortunate conclusion. Yeah, it's a multiple things can be true scenario, isn't it? Because everything you're saying is right, that they were overachieving. And yet, I've seen so many times, it hasn't happened as much recently, but it's not always the team that you expect that does make it out of the way. That wasn't the best Colts team that won the Super Bowl. The Chris Chandler Falcons that got to the Super Bowl. It was literally the worst Ravens defense

of the Ed Reed era that won the Super Bowl. They stuck. Like they literally were like a bad movie. They want to shootout. Not even just in the Super Bowl, like the whole playoffs. Even that season, like they weren't playing well. Like you never know. The last Patriots team, I know the Patriots have won a lot.

But like that team was a surprise, was not one of the better teams of the Bill Belichick era. And they snuck that one out. And I think they would have been a huge underdog if they had made it to the Super Bowl. But if they get out of this game, and I know the Texans have been a tough matchup, They would have a chance here. And so that's why it hurts.

That's why you have them hitting out. We're going to give Denver all of its love. We're also going to spend a lot of time on this game compared to the second blowout. But before we move off the bills, I do want to hear from McDermott and his frustration after the game. They are, by the way, the Buffalo Bills, the first team. This is from Josh Dubot of the Associated Press. The first team to win a game in six straight playoffs without. a Super Bowl victory.

And which, you know, you can obviously understand. And they're the first team also to not even make the Super Bowl in that run. But they're the first one to even win. Because to win a playoff game in six straight seasons is so difficult. And they've done it. And they haven't even, you know, made the Super Bowl in that run. It had McDermott, very unhappy, like a lot of Bill's fans. And apparently like a lot of people in our comments right now, mad at the officials.

to not even slow it down. And that's why I had to call the time out. It's not what I wanted to do, but I had to do it in order to make sure that I understood what was going on and that they did take a look at it. And it's hard for me to, and I've had a chance to look at, it's hard for me to understand why it was ruled the way it was ruled. And if it is ruled that way, then why? Why wasn't it slowed down just to make sure that we have this right?

That would have made a lot of sense to me. I disagree because I don't think taking longer was going to change the call. I've seen a couple reporters talk about it. And actually, I hate it when people blindly say, oh, reporters are saying this. I saw Albert Breer point out how could they not at least, you know, look at the call longer? And I saw Tyler Dunn do it too. And they're getting on the NFL for this. And when I see that, what I see is that they both agree with the call.

Because they want to rip the NFL so bad. And I get it. I'll rip them for obviously bad calls. They want to rip the NFL so bad, but they kind of know, actually, like, that call was probably right. And so you just want to be mad at something. And I think even McDermott saying it that way, like, we just wish they looked at it longer. It's like they got, we got three replays in there. They did look at it.

And like they looked at it. They were overturning that call. What do you want? Yeah. They just want to complain about something. And I get it. We can talk about the DPI's on the next possession and everything. But I just think in the end it was a bang bang call, but actually they got it right.

And McDermott called time out to buy them more time to look at it. But look, we live in a world in which expedited review exists. And nobody ever complains about that when they slide in and correct something quickly, when they're looking at it in New York, you know that they're following the same protocol on a play like that, and they don't see anything that's worthy of overturning the call. So I think that you're right,

that they probably agree with the call, but it's also there's probably an element to it where it's like, ah, but I want to be 100% sure. I really want to make sure they do their due diligence. So I don't feel guilty about it. They wanted to rip the call, they would rip the call, but they're saying, why didn't they look at it again?

Anyways, the crazy thing is after that, you know, they get the ball back. And at this point, Bo Nix has done a little bit of everything in this game. Like I said, I thought a really good first half. We'll almost forget about this first half, but they only had four possessions in the first half. I thought this was going to be a time of possession complimentary football game. And it was. Both teams really held the ball in the first half.

They score 17 points, which is unreal in only four possessions. They go 50% on third down conversions. in the first half, very few mistakes, basically, on offense in the first half. And then they steal three points at the end of the half, really good first half. And then they kind of, like, do the Kevin Petulow offense for about four drives to start the second half and get nothing. And I thought McDermott's play calling where he gets more aggressive, it looked like his play calling was maybe going to win the game for them.

But because, for instance, that one hopper to Shakira, they don't get the two possessions. lead. They let the bills come all the way back from 23 to 10. They let them take a 27 to 23 lead. So that's 17 unanswered. But Bo then does get the great fourth quarter drive. Then he starts overtime and they don't do anything in the first overtime drive. But in the second overtime drive, ultimately, like they hit enough big plays. And Sean Payton gets, you know, it's a checkdown to RJ Harvey is one of the biggest plays in that drive. And then a couple pass interference calls. What did you think about that entire kind of end sequence or anything you want to go there for how that second half like flow of offense way. Yeah, it talks about like the copycat nature of this

game. I also felt the chess match was visible in real time and the Broncos had the early advantage. They get a little bit more of an advantage by forcing the Josh Allen fumble and stealing the three points. But John McDermott essentially dominated defensively in the second half from there outside of the early possession where they, you know, they get the ball, the Broncos get the ball back and convert that into points. And it was because you're right. What half. Even that was off of a Josh Allen turnover. I think that's a short field. 20-yard drive for a field goal or something. Exactly, but they still cashed that in, right? For seven yards, sorry. What the theme of the second half to me was, we are playing for our lives.

There is no reason to not dial up the aggression. It was McDermott sending pressure relentlessly, sending different looks, dropping guys back into coverage while sending blitzes from other sides. Bo trying to keep up by getting the line to slide in the proper area, but still not having much time to throw. checking it down to running backs who get blasted immediately by Matt Milano or Cole Bishop, whoever might be there to cut them down in the flat. And then the Broncos kind of accepted as the game got late, we have to go for broke. Forget trying to check it down and just getting the ball out. Let's go deep.

If they're blitz in, we're going to get man coverage. Let's trust our receivers to make a play and just throw it up there. Now, unfortunately, for those in the viewing audience who don't like the official's involvement, oftentimes when you're in one-on-one coverage and the blitz is coming and throw the ball up, passenger interference tends to get called, but it didn't get called initially. There was a ball to Cortland Sutton where it was really good hand fighting and there was contact, no flag. And you thought, I could see a flag going there, but I'm glad that they kept that in their pockets there.

Well, the Broncos keep doing it. And eventually they get the flag. And it's not necessarily, I wouldn't view it as like them trying to buy a flag or just throwing up there into a flag. I thought that the first pass interference, while questionable, you can see it going both ways. Joey Bosa also gets hit with a roughing the passer on that play. Yep. So you're still picking. Yeah.

At the worst time. Frankly, that was going to be too hard. Just disappointing playoff run for Joey Bosa where he was one of their worst players, the last couple games where they were running at him. He made some mistakes in this game and really struggled last week and hurt them in this game. And ultimately, yeah, they couldn't get that final stop. I think the first pass interference call on the overtime game winning drive was like a no brain. I can't even believe anyone's arguing about that.

The second one, the Trinavius White call, which set up it being a chip shot instead of a longer field goal. That was close. It was close. I'm on the other side of this. I'm on the other side of this because I think the first one, you could see them not throwing the flag, but I also think it was PI. The second one, Trinavis went is cooked by Marvin Mims by like a step and a half. And if Nix doesn't under throw the ball, it's a touchdown. So it's either going to be a touchdown or pass interference,

and it ends up being past interference because the ball's underthrown. And those who claim that, oh, he just underthrew it trying to draw PI, the receiver was going to catch a touchdown if he puts it on him. So either way, it's going to be a negative outcome for the bills in that instance. And yes, I think back to Super Bowl, what was it, 57, right? 57 in Arizona. I thought I was watching the greatest Super Bowl of my life. And it came down to a holding penalty that set the Chiefs up for the game-winning field goal, right?

And that was kind of a bummer for it to end in that fashion. You can say that, you know, apply that similarly to this game. But it really doesn't here because it's just kind of the game was trending in that direction where the Broncos were making the plays that the bills weren't in the biggest moment. Yeah. I mean, it's just back and forth. The RJ Harvey catch and run for 25 yards on that drive. I think it was a second down.

He picked up 15 extra on his own work. Ultimately sets them up at at midfield. And I'm thinking, okay, they're probably winning this game. And for anyone that's going conspiracy theory that the all people, offense was enacted for the last drive, that last throw to Marvin Mims was made one play after Bo Nix broke his ankle that ended his season. It's like, what are we even talking about here? I guess it's time to talk about the broken ankle.

Because I have a few more things from this game, but Sean Payton comes to the press conference after the initial press conference is already over. Credit to him for doing this and the Broncos. Let's actually listen to Sean Payton. And again, this is after the press conference is over, everyone goes back, and then they call the media back to the press conference room just a bit later. Here's what Sean Payton is. Not good news. On the second to last playing over time. Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle. He's scheduled to have surgery Tuesday of this week, which will put him out for the rest of the season. Stiddy's ready to go. Later on, Sean Payton asked about Jared Stidham. I think it might have even been going off

the podium. I'm not sure because I didn't see it. And they asked him about Stidham, and he just said, just watch. More thoughts on that in a second, but I wanted to go over the play that it happened. Like, it was them, I think it was like a, what he rolls out, right? It was a design sweep. Yeah, it was a design sweep where he's, I thought maybe I had an option to run. I mean, option to pass, but maybe it was a design just sweep for Bo Nix. And he loses a couple yards on the play.

And the thing is, they didn't show a replay on it. during the game because it didn't seem like he got hurt. Now, when you go back and watch it, you can see his foot get bent awkwardly and him limping slightly, but not crazy. He pretty much goes right back to the huddle, throws that Mims pass,

and then the next play sets up for the game-winning field goal with the kneeled down. Sean Payton kind of confused some people by saying second to last play of overtime because technically the kneel down was the second to last play of overtime, but he did clarify it. if that clip was, you know, a little longer, that it was the throw, the play on the throw, you know,

the play before the throw to. Yeah, and it's tough because when they ran the play, I thought, why did you call that there? That it just didn't make a lot of sense. It's really unfortunate that that is the result of it. They ran to the short side of the field. It was one of those plays where you send a receiver in motion before. It's a lot of eye candy and window dressing to try to get the defense moving

toward the receiver in the flat as if he's going to dump it off. And then he runs the opposite way. You're trying to catch them by a super. prize to the short side of the field and it ends up, you know, producing nothing but the worst possible outcome. And yeah, then you have the pass interference on the throat of Marvin Mims the next play. And then they set up for the, you know, the kneel down and the game winning field goal. And it's just like, man, this is how cruel life can be and sports can be that you have this great game and that the Broncos, you know, win this game in such thrilling fashion.

And then you lose your starting. Like, it just takes the wind out of your sales, which is why I'm, I'm curious. I like that Sean Payton just said, just watch. Now, I'm getting, I'm getting some Cody Kessler Hugh Jackson vibes where he's like, hey, don't worry, trust me. Just watch. Just watch. But this is the same guy that he replaced Russell Wilson with to end the season a couple of years ago when they benched Russ. So maybe he does know something. Okay, we got a comment that says, Stitty is not ready to go. That was a rah, raw stuff, obviously. Okay, a couple thoughts here. Number one, Sean Payton's been in Denver for what, three years. You know how I'm always big on like statements of intent, like first plays of the game.

How about the first day of free agency of Sean Payton's entire tenure? We knew he didn't like Russell Wilson. He was inheriting Russell Wilson. What did he do to my shock while covering it on around the NFL back then? Like what was the big Denver move on the first? first day of Sean Payton's first It was signed Jared Stidham. Signing Jared Stidham.

What? That's really what happened. That's one thing. I don't think that means, okay, he's going to be great. The reason I give him a chance in this next game, and it's obviously going to be harder

if it's Houston, but it'll be harder either way. They gave him another contract two years after that first one. He's been in that building. for three years. And so that's second contract, and they gave him a good backup quarterback contract, one of the best pure backup quarterback contracts to bring him back this year and clearly backup pro-nick. It's like, okay, I mean, Sean Payton knows quarterbacks, and I've seen Sean Payton run up an awesome record in New Orleans with quarterbacks not named Drew Breeze.

Like, this is not Bill Belichick's tenure, although Belichick had Castle in Jacoby Percette. He had some moments, Jimmy G and whatnot, but overall it's not great. Sean Payton, he won when Tassam Hills out there. He won when Teddy's out there. He won when Winston's out there. He's done it. And he's had this guy in the building three years and for what it's worth. And this is the part of the argument I care about least. He bawled out in the preseason this year for what it's worth. Like he bawled out in the preseason this year. Like he put up great numbers for three straight games in the preseason. I was like, did I remember that correctly? I think he didn't. I went and checked and like he was pretty great in this precinct.

So like they have a backup quarterback that they like. It's funny because you said, did I remember that correctly? I'm thinking about Stidham's career. I'm like, did I remember a Raiders tenure? And I looked it up and there was indeed a Raiders tenure in which he wasn't. Yeah. Yeah, that's where he got. Payton must have seen something in one of those games.

I think he had one great NFL start. He started about five games. He hasn't played for the Broncos meaningful snaps since 2013. When you're right, he came in for Russell Wilson at the end of the year. Had one really good start, I think, and one really bad. But even that was three years ago. It's funny though too, because, so I just did a QV index this past week in which I looked at eight free agent quarterbacks that teams can't afford to let go.

And all of them, almost all of them are backups because a valuable backup that you can trust is incredibly worth. Like, it's incredibly valuable. Like to have a quarterback that you know knows your system and you can trust to go in there and keep the ship afloat, it is, you pay them. You make sure that they don't leave. The Jacoby resets of the world. And giving them the second contract, like you just described.

I think that that proves that they believe in him. Now, we'll see in the results. It's going to be the E.C. championship game. If only they had Nick Foles, that's where I hesitate because I do remember some old podcast when Nick Foles took over. And we all just said, oh, their season's over. Like, and I remember even trying to make the case back there. I'm like, well, maybe they could win a playoff game.

Like, it's not that crazy. You could go out there and win a playoff game, maybe. And all Nick Foles did was outplay Tom Brady and one of Tom Brady's best. best performances in the Super Bowl. I don't think Jared Stidim's going to do that, but he has a defense that's pretty great and a great play caller. And in a one-game tournament, we'll see. We'll see.

Let's get a few other odds it ends, and then let's get on to the 49ers game. How about Nick Benito, stealing six points here? There were two turnovers that he forced back-to-back. And I think this is one of the biggest plays of the game, and one of the reasons why the Josh Allen haters will be out. They get the ball back 17 to 10 with under 20 seconds to go in the first half. And Josh Allen goes on a scramble to absolutely nowhere. Benito forces the fumble. And then on the first third down, and that's Benito showing incredible athleticism, you know, running down Josh Allen from behind on that first one. Then you go to the start of the third quarter. It's the second

offensive play and he gets a strip sack from behind where it's just one of those classic Benito sacks. They end up settling for three. They don't even get a first down. But in a game this close shook, there's Nick Benito taking out his aggression on all the all pro voters who didn't put him in. If I had a vote, get me a vote. I would have had him second team. We did our all our all pro teams and I had him second team, but he did not get the votes. But two awesome plays there. I'm glad that you described it like that. A classic Bonito. rush because so often this season, you've seen him come off the edge fly around a guy who, you know, tries to block him in vain and just blast a quarterback from his blindside and

cause something like that. I mean, it doesn't, it's not just the bills. It's the number of different opponents he's done it to this season. I think it also kind of points to the fact that like Khalil Shakir tries to block him and just barely puts a hand on him, kind of points to the fact that you're working with a thin receiving group. Also, why would you try to put Kalil Shakir in that position to block a guy who's deserving of all pro consideration, right? Congrats to him. He really broke out last year. And I think everybody's very familiar with who he is now. But this is a guy who's been a top

player and a top prospect since he was in high school. And to see him deliver on a huge stage like this game, it's just fun to watch. It's fun to see somebody, you know, come through. Yeah, and in a game where they got out gained and there were tricky margins, they had to get

big plays out of their defense. So I think their defense can be a little overrated against good quality offenses. And yet they are a big play defense. And forcing five turnovers is as big a play defense as you can get. There's a comment here that says you don't have to be a hater to think that's a horrible fumble on Josh Allen.

I think you are a hater. No, the first one. The first one, not the strip sacksack. The first one, where he's out running. Yeah, you tuck the ball away. First off, can we, can we drive into that real quick? That's what? That's true.

That's a ghastly time management situation. They don't even have any timeout. I thought you meant the blindside sack on that beneath. had. That is completely just a great defensive play. Two of the four Allen turnovers are just great defensive plays where I don't think he's really at fault. And the other two are pretty brutal, especially. I want to dive into this play because this is, I had this thought of half time right after this happened. I thought the pressure of the bill's repeated playoff failures, I think, motivated this decision and this approach. The ghost of 13 seconds influenced Sean McDermott in

their approach here because there's 16 seconds left in the clock. They have no timeouts. They're deep in their own territory. What could you possibly get out of this other than a deep shot that happens to land in the arms of Brandon Cooks and sets up a field goal? Yeah, but that's on Allen. It's on Allen. It's on the coaches for calling a play to try to push the ball down field when you had no timeouts, but it's on Allen for mismanaging it by trying to scramble nowhere near out of bounds.

Even if you pick up the first down, you're not going to have time to run another play. Just get down. Get to halftime. This is where interviews before halftime can be useful because they got McDurnet right out of that. and I'm glad Tracy Wolfson asked about it. And he said, look, they were calling a play, hoping to get a play going towards the sideline down the field. And otherwise, we got to, you know, not turn the ball over. And it's like, yeah, like that's a coaching point that Josh Allen, of course he gets it.

That like, you know, you got to either if the throw is not there, throw it out of bounds or, and he's just trying to make something happen. And it made no sense. It was brutal. the other interception, which came right after Bo Nix's interception, which wasn't even a horrible play by Nix. It was like a defensive lineman dropping into coverage. Josh Allen kind of predetermined that throw. And that's a point in the game where they're on a roll.

And I know they end up scoring another 10 straight points after that. But ultimately, now that I kind of look back at the game, like he predetermined that. He has the pump fake. he thinks it's going to work to get the safety off. It doesn't. He throws an interception. I think the game was lost more than anywhere, shook. In this scenario where the Bill's defense stopped Buffalo five straight drives,

but in those five drives, like Allen turned it over two more. And these plays. You had to be close to perfect. And they just didn't. You at least needed punts there. You know what I mean? Like the fact that in those five straight drives, they turned it over, twice in the middle of it. These plays

kind of inform why Josh, an emotional Josh after the game said he let his team down. Because in a game in which you lose by three points in overtime, you gave the other team a free three points by fumbling it just before halftime and you didn't capitalize on a great defensive

play when you threw that interception. And in the playoffs, the margin is so slim. And he knows that. He knows it's not the interception he throws an overtime that loses end the game. That's not even probably what he's thinking about. It's It's the fumble right before halftime, and it's that interception of PJ Locke because you got to cash in the immediate sudden change, the takeaway in a big spot there. And then you can't afford to give the other team three points when you end up losing by three points.

It's he giveeth and take it the way, though, because he makes so many crazy good plays. I mean, like the flip that he made, like he was under siege at various points in the game. And just even on that overtime drive alone, he was so calm, like, you know, right near the goal line. I'm thinking, like, the game could end right here, bro. And he's just so calm with pressure around him. And he ends up hitting a third and five where they only rushed to and stayed calm. He was well protected on that. And then there's another third and seven where he audibles to a screen to pick it up.

And I'm thinking, like, oh, that's all the next level, like, growth that Josh Allen has showed to hit that play. and then in the end he's not rewarded and the bills aren't rewarded for, yeah, game, I think if you can outgain the Broncos considering the talent disadvantage, they did a lot of things, right? Their offensive line, I actually think, played great. The Broncos, and we will move off this,

but it's crazy. They blitzed almost half the time shook. When they blitzed, I couldn't believe this. When they blitzed five or six rushers, they had a 20% pressure rate. like their blitz, like the offensive line was awesome. This is the unit that would have carried them to the Super Bowl.

So when you say Josh Allen doesn't have nothing, I mean, he has James Cook going for over 140 yards from scrimmage in this game. He has his offensive line mashing in the run game, and he has his offensive line protecting their ass off tonight. So it's not like they're without talent. And that's kind of the last thing is like they did do a lot of good things. And you know what that points toward?

and because look, when games like this happen, the reaction is overly reductive. You know, you're going to point to the flags. People are going to want to call for a coach's head or whatever. The Bills coaching staff did a great job. They did a great job this entire postseason, way better than I ever thought they would. I thought Joe Brady called a great game.

They did a great job of adjusting in-game to regain an advantage. And that's why it's so painful. Because you did pretty much everything right, except your quarterback, who is your superstar that you can always count on, turn the ball over too many times. and found, and those small errors really cost you the game. But it wasn't one of those instances where you're like, it's the coaching staff's fault.

No, they did a great job. And that's just why it's so painful for this team to lose again. Wow, they went 10 of 15 on third down. And the Broncos went 8 of 16. I mean, there was a lot going on. I mean, Mim steps up Sutton, who's goose egg through most of the game, ends up having a huge stretch in the fourth quarter in overtime with four big catches. late Alex Singleton forces two different fumbles.

You know, fumble luck was a little bit of the story here. Five fumbles, right, in this game. No, six fumbles in this game total. And, yeah, the bills only recovered two of the six. And then there was also a Broncos fumble that was overturned by penalty early in the game because Larry Ogun Joby was offside. So that's really like seven fumbles where like five of the times the Broncos ended up on the better side. But they made their luck.

They were the best in the biggest of spots. We've said enough of this game. But I know I've said it before, but I think that's the game of the year. You know what? Wasn't the game of the year? Come on. The biggest of stakes we've had to. Come on.

I'm a prisoner of the moment. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. Store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com. You know it wasn't the game of the year, but one of the best performances of the year happened in Seattle Day, and it was by the Seattle Seahawks defense. Let's go to Seattle.

Tees it up, looks downfield, sides forward, and we're off and running, end over end. Chehid at his own five across the 10, 15, 20, cut straight up field, has a gap. Across the 40, midfield 50, trying to keep him to get him, flagging down, Shaheed to the end zone. Holy cow! The fish open the game. Rashid Shahid, part of a ridiculously productive and effective year of player acquisition by the pitmaster himself, John Schneider. Minakimes called him that on Blue Sky.

I'm like, I'm stealing that. That's so good. Yeah, he was pitting out again, but you can sweat John Schneider. cut in your shirt because you weren't sweating out this game. Oh, my goodness. The Seahawks beat the 49ers, 41 to 6. It's rare that we open with the first play of the game, but by the time they went up two scores, I was like, I think this game's over.

I don't, I don't think they're getting up off the mat. And I'm usually not that guy. I'm always like, no, teams could come back. This one, just the way that place was rocking, and the way this defense has feasted on the 49ers. offense the last three weeks. It just, it felt over right. Yeah, it did. I mean, there's no better way. Let's let's go back in real time real quick. Okay. So we just watched this crazy game in overtime between Denver and Buffalo in which Denver wins in a game winning field goal.

And I'm not kidding you. All you got to do is flip to Fox. You'll barely catch any of Kevin Burkhart and Tom Brady because Rashid Jihad's too busy taking the kickback, the opening kickback for a touchdown in which Niners kicker Eddie Pinero desperately tries to slide tackle Shaheed and misses. and draws a tripping flag that doesn't matter. It's 7-0.0 already. Doug Baldwin was just raising the 12 flag 60 seconds earlier, and they're already up 7-0-0. And the place that's notorious for being one of the loudest in the NFL

is going crazy. And you're right. I think by the time they went up 17-0-0, it was the fashion in which they did it. They get a takeaway off of a fumble. Sam Donald rips a seed to Jackson Smith and Jigba, because who else would catch a great pass for a touchdown other than JSN in the corner of the end zone.

It's 17-0. And it's like the Niners just got. got bludgeoned. They just absolutely blindsided. And unfortunately, looked a lot like their week 18 game in which their offense had no answer for what Seattle's defense was doing. It's another example of how great of a defense Seattle owns. And it's a beautiful site in the year 2026 that two of the remaining playoff teams as of Saturday night into Sunday morning have two of the best defenses that we've seen in quite a while. Oh, I love the comment in the chat right now saying that the Seahawks defense was sick of hearing how great the Texans are and they got to match.

And I've been careful this whole season and even during the Texan celebration over the Steelers to always include the Seahawks there. Because to me, these are two of the best defenses we've seen in a long time full stop. Like I think they each, and I'd have to go through it, but they each have a case to be made for like the best defense of this decade so far. But they're both that good. and they do it in different ways. And this is from each and every level of the defense.

Just swarming Demarchus Lawrence is all over the place today. Byron Murphy, I think, has been so underrated nationally and was making plays in this game. And the thing that stands out to me more than anything was Brock Purdy's time to throw was over 4.2 seconds. It was the biggest time to throw of any game. in the next gen stats era. So that's through 2016.

And that's why it's tough to just point out one person, Shook, because you got an entire secondary just plastering these guys in their zone coverage where they just communicate and they match. You're the X's and O's guru. What is it about what they do sort of from a back-to-front method that you like best? because obviously the front is great too, and we could talk all about that. But to me, like the secondary is probably the biggest reason why he's holding onto the

ball. Yeah, it's complimentary. I think what you start with is like this kind of umbrella. Like you think about it coming from like a quarter's perspective, but like you see a lot of two looks, but they're still kind of getting that shell over the top, right? But the beauty of it is how complimentary it is, which is that you can trust that back end to play sticky coverage and you can trust the front four to get pressure without needing to send extra guys.

Not that they're afraid to do it because they like to send extra guys, but they don't have to do it. They actually blitz it. 10% tonight. They only blitzed four times tonight. And that was the big key going to this game was Brock Purdy's pretty good against the blitz, but he's not good to get here. He's pretty good when he's not being blitz and he's not good against the blitz.

But the Cawks don't really blitz, but they also generate one of the highest pressure rates organically with their front four of any of in the NFL. So maybe the blitz won't even matter. And maybe that's what tips the scales if they do decide to blitz. They didn't have to because that's how good their defense is. So they complicate the picture. They play sticky coverage and that rush consistently causes enough pressure

without sending any extra guys that there's just no windows to throw to. How many times do we see in this game where Brock Purdy sat back, sat back, couldn't find anybody. Obviously, George Kill, not part of the equation. Jake Tun just ends up playing a big part of this offense because they still need to go to their tight end. That's part of their offense. But he ends up checking it down to Christian McCaffrey repeatedly because there's nobody else

open. And when everybody else is covered, you got to find your checkdown. And that was the sign right then and there where it's like, they're never going to be able to keep up. It didn't even matter what Seattle was doing offensively. The fact that they had a 17-0-0-0-lead, it felt like enough because you just knew they weren't going to be able to keep up because nobody was ever open for them. And the Niners offense, which has been predicated by the pass in this hot stretch down the stretch,

the back end of the season, if they can't throw the football down the field, they're never getting anywhere. The in-breakers that Purdy loves to throw, they were not there for most of this game. He had nowhere to go. Yeah, they know this offense so well. I thought it was really telling when Kyle Shannon said there's not a lot of secrets between these two teams coming into the game. I think that's true. And I think that's unfortunately true for him because I think he's overmatched.

This is a defense that McDonald has spent his life building in a way in terms of, I think he's at the peak, like, schematically in the NFL right now of what he wants to do. But also he's been building for a couple seasons to this moment. He inherited a lot of really good players. They've added more good players. And it's a great combination of depth and talent. for instance, like five different pass rushers with multiple pressures. But I really think it's the back end where they essentially have six dbs on the field so

often. And it's it's these little guys coming back from injury that don't get huge headlines. But Julian Love really helps them coming back because at certain points, Nick Amin Worry was getting picked on in coverage a little bit, even though he's a bit of a jenga piece where he can take, he can guard almost anyone. But now you have Julian Love and Kobe Bryant, who's, had some injuries this year. He's back there too. And, you know, Rick Wulin doesn't even have to

play every step, but he's back there too. And suddenly you're very deep and you have an all-pro cornerback in Witherspoon. And just like, there's really no big weakness to pick on. We can't forget about Josh Job. Right. Deploy the right guy and the right matchup and then let the offense be complimentary. You mentioned that touchdown early. It was a quiet night for Jackson, Smith, and Jigba. What did he end up with? Only three catches for 19 yards. but he did get that score, and this was a great moment for Sam Darnold in his first playoff win. Walker, the single setback. Play fake to him.

Sam is going to roll left. Looking, looking. Sam throws. Back of the end zone. Is it caught in balance? It is. Touchdown. Seahawks.

The end zone, guess who? It is number 11, Jackson, Smith, in Jigma. Smooth touchdown celebration. Very well choreograph. Like, we've totally been here before. We're ready for it. That put them up 17, nothing in the first quarter. And, yeah, it felt over there.

I thought, I thought Darnold, look, he's the quarterback. So you're going to discuss him. He goes 12 for 17 for 12.24 yards. In a touchdown, you did what he need to do. There's all the pregame stuff about the oblique injury and he didn't come out until the last second. A lot of speculation is even going to play. Like, maybe he got it shot up.

Who knows? but he did what he needed to do in this game. What did you think about the performance from the office? I think you don't need much from Sam Jarnold when you can run the ball with authority, which is what they did throughout this game, just like they did in week 18. Kenny Walker goes 19 for 116 and three touchdowns.

You didn't even really need much from Charbonnet. You got Shaheed twice for 27. Like you ran as a team for 175. You don't need your quarterback to do much when your defense is playing that good of football and stopping the opposing offense everywhere, the entire game, forcing two field goals, and there wasn't a real threat from the 40-9ers offense.

Oh, if you do is play ball control. Oh, and by the way, your running attack has been excellent over the second half of the season, dominated the same team a couple of weeks ago. Why not lean on it again? It just felt like the, unfortunately for the 49ers, it became a mismatch. The matchup of these two teams that produced such a thrilling week one game was not the same by week 18. And it was not the same in this instance, you know, in the divisional round. And that's what happens sometimes.

But Seattle is a machine. And you can't stand up to a machine. when you're as banged up and just as limited as the Niners are? So Tom Brady said in the second half, if they don't turn the ball over, like I don't see this team on the base. Like if they don't turn the ball over, it is going to be really hard for this team to lose.

It's probably true. But I would just tweak it slightly, which is that if they can run the ball, the less than you have to put it in Darnal Tans. And they had a fifth. They had a, like, yeah, I guess there's a scenario where they run it great and darn old Brits is out. But I just feel like they had a 54% success rate on a night where they were playing with the lead and running the whole time. I said it all year.

When they run the ball well and it hasn't been every week, but it pretty much has been every week for the last month, they're the best team in football. Full stop in general. And we've said it on NFL daily for three months now. I think the Seahawks and the Rams have been a tier above the rest of the NFL the whole season, where one Rams went away from getting that match. Yeah, and I think that the two times they've played have been very indicative of the method of success for the Seahawks that's available. The route to a championship for the Seahawks is exactly as you described. Because let's think about the first time those two teams played.

And yes, the Rams still have to beat the Bears. And I'm not counting the bears out by any means. But since we, not many people are. I saw in good boarding football. Yeah, because they're the darling. They're the darling right now, right? But if we're putting the Rams and the Seahawks in the same tier, that's who we're comparing them to, a tier above the rest.

And in that first game, the theme that we took away from it was Sam Darnold's interceptions, doom the Seahawks. They still only lost that game by a slim margin. Then you go to the Seattle game where he has a similarly nightmarish first half, then wakes up, figures it out, and throws them back into the game, and it's a thriller. That's the formula that you don't want to follow in the playoffs, but you end up with that formula because you don't run the ball well,

because you have to throw your way back into the game because of turnovers. So again, If you can limit them and just ride Kenneth Walker, ride Charvonet, control time of possession, lean on that defense, you could win low-scoring games all the way to a Lombardi trophy. Yeah, I look at a few plays in this game that make me feel good about Darnel. And some of the stats are crazy. I kept updating it throughout the game.

They were up 24 to 6. At that point, that was the half. They had 56 net yards passing. Not bad when you could be up 24 to 6, 54 net yards passing. But you know what's even better than that? How about Sam Darnold left the game? I wrote this down somewhere. I'm trying to find it now.

Sam Darnold left the game with a 41 to 6 lead. Drew Locke played most of the fourth quarter. At the time that he left the game, they only had a 106 net yards passing. You put a 40 burger on him with 106 net yard passing. And that includes some big sacks that Darnold took. But actually, one of the like three really good throws Darnold had in this game. Look, he only had 12 completions, was after he took kind of a ghastly

classic Darnold sack where you're like, why did you just, you know, take a 12-yard sack? And then he rips a deep out to Coup. It was second in 18 or second in 22 or something. And then he rips a deep out to Cooper Cup to either pick up the first down or make a third one. I forget which, but it was an awesome throw. And I was just like, okay, like the oblique's not bothering him. And he had, that touchdown throw was great. And a couple times where he let go and through it, like it wasn't perfect, but he had enough good throws in this game that I wasn't worried. Now he has a week. Yeah, numbers can be deceiving too, because the Seahawks outside of the kick return touchdown to start the game, they had nine possessions. Nearly half of them, four of them

started in San Francisco territory. Those are extra opportunities given to you by your defense. The results of those four possessions, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, That's how you blow out a team without racking up a ton of numbers offensively. Right. That's not their fault that it was on short fields. It's a great point. And that's what great teams do. It really felt like it was over. I agree with the comment in 13 seconds in this game. What the heck? Let's hear Steve Rable. It's KIRO. We've been using their calls throughout the game. You mentioned how Ken Walker got three touchdowns. I'd like to hear how that place was sounding when they put the 40 burger on the Niners.

The handoff Walker, he's coming back to the right side. He is going to score. Touchdown. Seahawks. Ken Walker, the third, skips in around the right side. Great blocking. The Niners haven't stopped it yet. His third touchdown of the night.

Ken Walker, I think, might get a game ball by the time this is over. And knowing K-9, he'll give it to his offensive line. What a job they did. mean just huge gaps in that 49er defense. That play there, Gray's able, getting to second level on the backside and then your front side blocker gets out in front and just sits down on the remaining defender.

A beauty, just art, art in execution when it comes to the running game. But you know what, Greg, I think back because this is a classic matchup and we always think about the 2013 NFC championship game. There was that quote that Richard Sherman had after. One of the great bards of our kids, our time, Richard Sherman said, don't you talk about the best, or I'm going to shut up on you

real quick. The Seahawks did that as a team to the 49ers tonight. I felt bad for the 49ers. Look, they overachieve this season, not just because of the injuries, but because of the roster turnover. Even that touchdown to JSN, you know, who got lost in coverage there was Marcus Sigley, like, Sigley, like a fifth round rookie who was. was replacing Jeyer Brown who got hurt just last week. In this game, Christian McCaffrey gets her. Came back in, but like he wasn't healthy in the game. He had a stinger and missed a couple drives to start the second half. Like, Ton just gets her in this game. They do get D Winters back in this game, but I'm just thinking like they were just so shorthanded. So many 49ers seasons have

ended this way. But I think they were up for the fight. It was a great moment that they had last week. I think they can look at this offseason as one to push forward and have a lot of pieces in place. Unfortunately, you know, Kittles coming off at Achilles, but they're they're not far away. They're just stuck in the NFC West, which is absolutely loaded. And so they're going to have to load up and get healthy. Ricky Pearsall was supposed to play in this game. I mean, he did play in this game, but you really didn't feel his impact at all. And they're, they're, You know, there's not much good that you can say here. I didn't love that Kyle Shanahan, like, kicked a couple of times for the six points came on fourth and six and fourth and three fairly deep into Seattle's end on a day where you were trailing a lot early.

Yeah, but here's the thing. How demoralizing is it if you get down there and you don't get to any points twice? Yeah, you know, it's demoralizing losing 41 to six. Yeah, I know. You're, you're interviewed. It didn't matter. That's why I hate even bringing it up because. Yeah.

I just met like the only way that they were ever, like he kicked the field goal down 173 and 17 nothing. And I'm just thinking like they're going to need four touchdowns in this game. Like you got to get, you got to get one of them here. Man, what a team this Seattle Seahawks. Do you think they want to play the Rams or the Bears?

I would imagine they probably want to play. Well, I don't know. Familiarity. That's one one split there. They might want to play the Rams. I would think they want to play the Bears. because the Bears defense is very average if they don't get takeaways. Don't try to be heroes.

I think the Bears very clearly have bigger weaknesses on defense. The Rams and the Seahawks are so familiar with each other. The Rams are the one team that has made Seattle's defense look mortal. Actually, Tampa really did too in that one game way back in week six. But since they really got rolling even better down the stretch, it really was just that Rams game. in Seattle for three quarters where, let's be honest, Seattle stole that game, just like kind of the Rams stole the first game.

And I do have a feeling we're going to get a rubber match. But maybe the Bears fans can point out how wrong I am later Sunday night. We'll be doing that show, me, you, and Patrick. But before we get out of here, okay, because that's it for the, for the Ciar. 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. Tap in 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. Let's add down to some news. Where do we even want to start? How about the Atlanta Falcons hiring a new coach?

And yes, we appreciate everyone that is staying up late with us on the East Coast. Wherever you are, by the way, let us know. Like, we're seeing New Zealand. I saw some Australia. Certainly we saw some of our Canadian friends. Let us know where you're watching from. Please like if you're watching us live. ahead and give us a subscribe. We've been juicing up the numbers lately. We love you. And if you're

listening in your ears, too, like we could use some comments, give us some five-star reviews. We love you. We're working hard on these Saturday nights. I'm glad we're doing this as an extra this season on NFL daily. And once we turn this off, by the way, I'm not going to be watching New Zealand, but I will be watching the Australian Open very soon. Little tennis on my Saturday night to wrap things up. Let's talk about your Browns coach. Kevin Stafansky, taking the Atlanta Falcons job. I will give you the floor. Stafansky to the Falcons. What do you think? I think it represents an upgrade and it's not a surprise at all because not an upgrade necessarily over Rahim Morris as much as an offensive upgrade for a team that has desperately needed it.

Even back to the Arthur Smith days when they were rolling with Mariotta and Desmond Ritter, they have a quarterback that they believe in in Michael Penix that needs to demonstrate progress in year three. I think Kevin Cefancy marries well with him. And he also has Kirk Cousins, a guy he's very familiar with to work with. And if you're going to get anybody acclimated who's young to a Stefansky offense,

why not use the quarterback who thrived in the one year that year and a half, Stefansky was his offensive coordinator to help out with Michael Penning. So it makes a lot of sense. I also think that Bijan back there is going to thrive with Stefancy's offense in a fashion similar to what Nick Chubb enjoyed. If you're able to build a staff that includes some of the other, you know,

former standout assistants that were in Cleveland, like a Bill Callahan, for example, in the offensive line, that could really elevate this team. And it's interesting that, you know, the new president of football, Matt Ryan, follows Arthur Blanks's demands or suggestions, recommendations, that do find leadership. Kevin Savancy's a two-time coach of the year.

You know, he piloted the Browns of their most consistent stretch of success since they've been back since 99. And, yes, the bar is low for that. But the guy's proven he can coach when he has a competent roster. And the Falcons believe they have a competent roster. I'm very curious to see who he fills out his staff with, though, on the defensive side. But I think that it's a great move for them. And it's kind of a no-brainer.

I thought he was the best remaining coach available after Harbaugh went to the Giants. And congratulations to the Falcons for getting it done so quickly. Yeah, I think that timing is really interesting. I think they're trying to beat everyone to the punch. Yeah. And Stefansky would have been a strong candidate in a number of places, like Tennessee. And I think if you're going to give Arthur Blank credit for the Matt Ryan hire, Like, I think Matt Ryan helps to get this done, you know?

Stafansky and Ryan. And look, I wouldn't have known this until this happened until, like, he got this second interview. And there was some buzz building that, you know, they were close that they both grew up in the Philadelphia area, playing high school football, like nearby. They played college football near each other. I didn't really ever, I didn't even know Kevin Savansky played college football, but he was at 10. while Ryan was at BC. But I think that the key,

not only that they had a relationship going back all that way, but the key to me that was pointed out by Josh Kendall in the athletic earlier this week was, you know, Ryan's coached under or played under, who was it, Bill Musgrave, and who coached Matt Ryan,

who Kevin Zofanski also coached under. And they're, because I was like, what is, the connection here because it's always about connections. And so these are two men who actually did know each other pretty well, even though it's not like a guy who worked for each other. And obviously, he's a quarterback's guy. And so there are the connections there. There's like the familiarity. And if I'm a Falcons fan, I'm really excited. I'm shocked. I saw a lot of Falcons fans like very unhappy with this move, which I was like, I'm, I think they're just at the

point where they're unhappy with anything the Falcons do, which. Who did they want? I don't know. I don't know who they wanted. Apparently, like, the Rahim hire at the time was more popular. And Arthur Smith, who were kind of buzzy candidates at the time. And Safansky feels like a retread. But I think it's a really good hire. Rahim was a retread.

Right. That's the problem with the coaching cycle, is that fan base has fallen in love with candidates because of name recognition. And they look at Stefanski and associated him with the Browns that win 3 and 14 and 5 and 12 in the last two years. And they think, oh, we're going to get this guy who was terrible and just got fired. I'm telling you. The fit makes a ton of sense. Just give it time.

I think it'll work out. It's a good hire for them. Yeah. Just to clarify that, Stapansky was the assistant quarterback's coach in Minnesota under Bill Musgrave, who was also Ryan's quarterback's coach in the first five seasons of Matt Ryan's career. So an interesting connection there. And I believe, I think Musgrave was a consultant with the Browns in recent years as well.

Yeah. I agree with our buddy Amman here from the Philippines. The Falcons are lucky to get Spansky, too, because I just think for what they need, it'll be interesting if this does impact the Kirk Cousins decision or not. Look, they just restructured his contract in a way that made it really seem like they were going to cut him. It was a type of contract restructure that makes it easier to cut him, but it's not a guarantee that he has to get cut.

Stafansky was the quarterback's coach for Kirk Cousins for Minnesota for one season. In that season, he actually got elevated to offensive coordinator, and then he was the offensive coordinator for the next year. One more season as well. So there's a connection there that it's not crazy at all in my mind if you really believe in Michael Pennix to think of Kirk as the best you're going to do for a bridge. Yeah. Like just to tell Michael Panix.

At minimum, he's your mentor. At minimum, he's your mentor. Bridge for now, he just did that job under a different staff this year. and then he can mentor, you know, Pennix through the Stefansky offense and get him acclimated and increases his chances of success. Well, you're going to need someone to play. He's not going to be playing in week one or, you know, he's probably... Not so I'm just saying, like,

increases chances of success earlier in his tenure under Stefansky. And then in terms of the timing of it, and then we'll move on. Not only does they get ahead of everyone hiring Stefansky, and here's the key part, they get ahead of everyone for hiring the rest of the Savansky staff. Mm-hmm. And we'll see.

It's going to be competitive out there. Varying reports indicate the first one from Ian Rappaport that Jeff Ulbrook, who was there and did great work last year with Rahim Morris, is likely to stay with him. So that's huge. I mean, like, knowing you can keep Ulbrick, if you're getting Stifansky, I don't know if there's a relationship there, or just Atlanta's going to pay him enough money and he's comfortable, his family's been there for a couple years, whatever it is, that's huge. And then Diana Rossini of the athletic says, don't be surprised slash kind of expect that they're going to bring Brian Callahan,

I mean, rather Bill Callahan, not Brian Callahan, Bill Callahan, the offensive line coach from the Browns, who's done awesome work as an offensive line coach. And Tommy Reese would probably come in as the offensive coordinator under Stefansky. And suddenly you're like, okay, that's a pretty good looking staff. And believe me, Jeff Ulbrick, if he's not going to get a head coaching chance, and I don't think he's going to, like, would be almost at the very top of the defensive coordinator hire in this market where like 10 teams are looking for it. So you're beating everyone to the fun.

Yeah, it has a domino effect, too, on the remaining defensive coordinator market. If you want to tie it back to Cleveland, that, you know, Schwartz is, you know, interviewing, getting second interviews with the Browns. If he's not going to go, Fawles Defansky to Atlanta, then that's a candidate that's still going to be out there for somebody to hire as well. True. So that's really interesting. I think it's a good move for Atlanta. We'll see how it plays out. I had my concerns of like, what did Matt Ryan really do to like earn this?

But then you hear him speak and you're like, well, I believe in this man. Like, he does seem smart. I would follow you anywhere, Matt Ryan. So I'm rooting for you. And unlike Tom Brady, you're not doing it as your sixth or seven, you know, different job. Like on the side, you're doing it. So I respect that. The other news tonight, there's been a couple, but the bigger news tonight was that Matt Lafleur and Brian Gutikunz have reached agreement, according to, again, Diana Rossini and Indian Rapoport had it for long-term extensions for the Green Bay Packers.

Still waiting for details. There was some scuttlebutt behind the scenes of like, how is this deal going to work? Like, is it short? Is it long? We'll see. But either way. barring any huge last second turn, it sounds like the contractor agreed to,

Matt Lefleur will be staying in Green Bay. It's interesting because the fashion in which the Bears beat the Packers and was very reminiscent of the way the Packers lost to the Bears late in the regular season, kind of led Solace to believe that, oh, maybe this might be the end of the LaFleur era. And instead they do the opposite, and they double down on their commitment to Matt LaFleur.

And it is very Packers of them. This is not a franchise that, quickly can somebody, you know, for underperforming or failing to reach their sky high expectations. And ultimately, I do think it's the right move for right now because if you weigh the pros versus the cons, he's done a lot more good than he's done bad. It's just that they've run into some disappointing endings over the last few years. Some of it involving the fact that their quarterback hasn't stayed healthy and they were kind of turning over to being one of the youngest teams in the NFL over the last couple of years. You lose Michael Parsons. That has a big impact

in your defensive performance this year. I think it's smart to run. back as opposed to getting rid of him and making a knee-jerk decision. Okay, so I want to be clear with my wording. It's a multi-year extension, according to Tom Pelisario, with Lafleur. Multi-year could just be two, by the way. And then that would make it a three-year total. We don't know. Goudicunz is working on an extension, but he is expected back.

But that has not been reported as agreed to. Just wanted to clarify that. I, based on everything I've learned, which is all secondhand. and just based on reading all the reporting. I think there was a world where this could have ended differently and cooler heads prevailed and maybe the opportunity like for LaFleur to move on, like the timing, it just didn't make sense for anyone, for him, for the Packers, for anything.

Was there a world where some team came in with like a godfather offer of like some picks and they thought about it? Like, I think that might have been possible, but I don't think, I don't think that ever happened. And, you know, the Packers met with him and had dinner on Thursday night. Like, I think everyone just watched the situation played out. And, like, the best option for everyone once he got away from the emotion of it all was him returning. And the thing that is crazy to me is how upset Packers fans are about it. I can't believe it.

Come on, man. The entitlement. So good. Yeah. And he is really frustrating and he does have a little bit of late Ravens John Harbaugh to him that you keep losing

games in similar fashion you lose games with a lead I wouldn't say like game management is Jordan Love's biggest strength or Matt Lafleur's biggest strength with his bad combo. Not not with the way they lost that wildcard game especially but just in general I agree

but this team is not far away like and you have a great offense and a great thing going. And I listened to a podcast. He does great work. It's called Blue 52, right? It's called Blue 52, the Packers podcast. And he did a poll with his fans. And by far the big, you know, when he asked, like, who do you want as your next coach? Like, do you want LaFleur fired or not? Like, they wanted LaFleur out. You know, I couldn't believe it. And then if you go on to Twitter or Blue Sky tonight, it's the same thing. Like the people wanted Lafleur out. I think you're wrong. But actually NFL history would say

that it usually the coach doesn't get, if they're going to get their Super Bowl, they're going to get it in the first five or six years. So to be fair, it would break precedent. But it's also a greener grass situation where first off, who are you going to replace them with, who is out there that you're really targeting that you think is going to get you over the hump without, you know, wrecking a lot of the continuity that you've had. And, And also look at the coach that you want fired and look at how quickly he would get a job somewhere else. Like he could go directly to Tennessee and get whatever he wanted from the Titans and they would be thrilled to have him. You don't let guys like that go.

I know he has his drawbacks. Like you said, late stage Harbaugh in Baltimore is a good comparison. But it's not one of those things where they just grow on trees. Like if you're pretty close, maybe make some small adjustments, let him learn from some of those mistakes and hope for the best. And if you don't produce that, you know, somewhere in the middle of this extension, two years from now, you know you're running into the same problem. Then you end up with a Harbaugh or a Tomlin departure where it's like, all right, you know what?

Maybe it's just best we go our separate ways. But it's too early, I think, right now. And if you were Lafleur, who might have, who knows, had interested in like the right job. Maybe that job just wasn't out there for him either. Like, would you want to go to Tennessee? Like, no, you got Jordan Love and Micah Parsons and these young, talented skill position guys, including Tucker Craft, who are coming back that you've already coached up.

It sounds like you're probably going to lose your defensive coordinator, Jeff Hathley. It sounds like the next announcement could be him to Miami. We'll talk about that if and when it actually happens. But you have a pretty good thing going with a quarterback in his prime. And if you're a Packers fan, like keep in mind, like there was an article from Justice Mosquita this week. It was really good about how the Packers, you know,

are infamous for people. paying way less for their assistant coaches. And they have way less experience on Lafleur's staff than almost any staff on the league. And that's usually by design. So he is making up for some things that is kind of systematic with that organization and making it look good with some good offense. And oh, by the way, they were missing like four of their best seven players in that playoff game. So I think go watch, watch the interest that Malik Willis attracts this off season two.

That is a direct product of Matt LaFle. Right. He wasn't, he wasn't getting that done with Mike Ray. who's a great coach, but he was not a friend of a fan of Malik Willis back in the day. And then finally, just because I find it funny, let's just dot the eye on John Harbaugh being announced as New York Giants head coach. Where were you on Friday night, Nick Shook, if you even saw this, when you started seeing the reports that Giants reporters weren't really totally sure, actually, is John Harbaugh

actually going to be the coach, even though we all announced it and had Backpage? headlines for two straight days and talked about what a great thing it was and what he ordered at the restaurant and everything great that John Harbaugh is going to be for the Giants for two straight days. And then for like a handful of hours, it felt like it was on a knife's edge. And I don't think it was even a made-up knife-sedge. It sounds like it was pretty real knife-sage. To answer your question, stereotypically for me, I was on my way to the gym and I was at a stoplight. You know, I shouldn't be on your phone when you had a stoplight, but I was at a stoplight.

And I saw that all pop up and I was like, oh, God. all those write-ups about that restaurant are really going to age poorly if this doesn't work out. Shout out to Connor Orr, he did good work. You know, it's not his fault. And I saw, and even our, you know, our producer believes maybe the information went out public too quickly. You know, maybe it's on, like, Schefter was the first one. Well, the owners out there saying Harbaugh told me he'd be back. You got a leak there.

I put it more on the agent and the team. And maybe even it's the agent more than anything. Why did everyone have to know the play-by-play of every single part of this negotiation the whole time? I don't know. I guess the purpose was for John Harbaugh to gain as much leverage as possible, not only against other teams, but against the Giants and Joe Shane. Because the most telling thing I saw of all the texts and tweets and everything else is one from Ian O'Connor, who was on it this whole time, who was at The Athletic, who's covered the Giants for a long time. And he revealed today, I'm wondering if John Harbaugh is okay with him revealing this today. He revealed today that he sent John Harbaugh a text at 9 o'clock Eastern last night.

I think it was like 919, saying, are you still confident you're going to be coach, the next coach of the New York Giants? And John Harbaugh sent back the hands to the side. I don't know emoji. I love that. I mean. I don't know, dog. You got to come with the proper offer here. Tell them.

And you know what happened? In the end, it got reported everywhere that John Harbaugh is reporting directly to ownership and not to Joe Shane, the GM, which is a change from different setups in the Giants organization.

And to that, I say, didn't you talk about this before like when you were at the dinner? Like, what are we doing? here if we're negotiating for a week. Didn't you talk about this way before? They must have. Maybe they didn't. And maybe they just assume that they would get their way in the end. John Harbaugh did. And John Harbaugh was right. And the Giants would have been foolish to let Joe Shane get in the way of anything. Here's my very brief psychological analysis of this. I think John Harbaugh

has spent such a long time in Baltimore and was not unfairly fired, but was unceremoniously fired over the phone on his way out of the facility that he may have just been basking in the love and the ego boost of being taken to dinner and being like adored by a team that so desperately wants him to coach that he was like, oh, I'm in, I'm soaking it all up without hammering out the details. Remember, this is a guy who hasn't had to, you know, negotiate for a job in almost 20 years. Yeah, but who the giants think they're hiring? They think they're hiring a guy who's going to report to Joe Shane. Like, that's on the Giants. And maybe that's, yeah, speaks a lot about the giants and where they are right now.

Maybe that's on new ownership because, look, John Mara is involved, according to John Harbaugh, that he's going to the office and everything, but he has a cancer battle right now. His son, Chris Mara, has been really involved in this, and maybe that's part of it. And I think the quotes coming from John Harbaugh today

have been really interesting and telling, and he talked about how we're going to really be beefing up the analytics department. That was something that was really important to get in there. So he, he basically was saying that was part of the negotiation too, that he was getting all that in writing that like, we're going to pay for an entire analytics department where we didn't have anything before because we're kind of operating in like 1995. And I want to bring it up to the present

because, oh, by the way, the Ravens have been as analytics forward as basically any team for 20 years. And it's just like not talked about that much. And so that was part of it too. And it's just setting up all the things to be a successful organization, which ultimately, if you're the Giants and certainly a Giants fan, you're happy that John Harbaugh is dragging your team into the present and not reporting to Joe Shane, because let's be real. Joe Shane's not making decisions anymore.

It's John Harbaugh time. And get familiar with the idea of compensatory picks, Giants fans. Yes, yes. Football is back, baby. Look, we will be back on Sunday night. Great, staying up with you, Shook. We've been doing this all season long. And look, we got more recaps to go.

We got tomorrow. We got the championship games. We got the Super Bowl. But this is our last, like, live on YouTube. And I really appreciate everything you've given to all of our viewers and listeners this year. It's been a lot of fun. I appreciate being here. And I want you to know what I came to the realization of today, which is after tonight's games, which we're now past.

There are only five games left in this calendar year. Oh, my gosh. You're not counting the black football game? No. I'm not counting that. Games of significance. I don't know. That is crazy.

We are down to six teams. Hit that music. Five games, six teams in many shows. It's in the name. It's NFL Daily. So if you're just watching us on YouTube for the first time, appreciate everyone. Check us out daily.

We'll be back on Sunday night, recapping the two big divisional round games. Texans, Patriots, and Bears Rams. We'll see you that. 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. Tap in 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 Jordan podcast.

new episodes every Wednesday on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage. Store more and do more with your data. Try them for free at wasabi.com. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.