NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Manning vs. Brady XVII

Episode Date: January 19, 2016

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler, and Lindsay Rhodes – discuss all the latest news from around the NFL including the Titans removing “interim” from Mike Malarkey’s title to keep him on head coach, and the Philadelphia Eagles naming former Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson as their new head coach. Then, the heroes debate which quarterback would be more devastated by a loss in the AFC Championship game: Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. Finally, the heroes dive into the ATN mailbag to answer a few of your pressing postseason questions.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast is familiar with the human resources department. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by Roofeld with Heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. And that's not all. Seated immediately to my left.

She is the host of Total Access on NFL Network. That is the flagship program of NFL Network. She is Lindsay Rhodes. Ew. That for your Emmy Reel. What? It's never going away. Lindsay doesn't even get to say hello anymore, like the drop in appearance or salutations.

If you could hold your greeting, we have an old view on tape. What's up, Lindsay? Hi, how are you? Thanks for coming back on. And you're familiar with the Human Resources Department because you see them in the break room. I don't know. That was, is there something I don't know about the HR? No, that's why I liked it.

I had no backstory to that, but it just seemed good thing. Well, I mean, we've filed, we've threatened to file multiple complaints against Greg specifically. So there is some familiarity. It is a- Super shady like that. It is a money drop that perhaps paints us in an unflattering light as, you know, creepsters. Yeah, I think that's probably. Do you get that vibe for me as well?

Absolutely. she's right when you're right you're right this is the tuesday edition of the around the NFL podcast sponsored of course i mean this is big time lindsay scott trade a good friend of ours sponsoring the podcast all your you know whenever you need to make an investment you go to scott i think that that's the best way to sell a product is if you say all your you know You know what they sell. Financial stuff. A shadowy league figure has already given me a note on that.

You've got to sell a little harder. But I'm learning. I'm learning about this quote-unquote financial world. Well, but help they gave you some tools to get involved in the financial world with. Yeah, I don't have anything to invest, so I'll never need their services. But it shows what a smart investment company they are to be investing in us. You know what I'm saying? They're watching too because long-term gains.

They are. They're buying low right now, and this stock is soaring. There was a meeting where they watched one of our videos that did not have Scott Trade in the background, and there was concern, I believe, directly from Scott Trade the company, why is our name not on this video? Well, it was one of these now hits, and I had to clear it up with the sales department this morning, something I didn't even have to tell Greg about, just doing some work behind the scenes to help the department. Such a team player.

Another MVP coin coming Mark's way. If you follow the stock market at all, it's been very up and down. Some people are nervous. That's what it does. If you read between the lines, any time the stock dives downward, it's when we don't do a podcast. I was wondering when you're doing with that. And if you were doing legitimate stock analysis. I was like, please don't do that on this podcast.

So Scott Trade, thank you for sponsoring us, believing in us when no one else would. But today's show is going to be a good one. And I'm excited about today's show, not only because Lynn's is here, but also because some news to get to. The coaching searches are over. All seven vacancies have been filled. So we'll talk about the last two in Philly and in Nashville. Some other league news. Of course, championship Sunday coming up.

So over the next two shows, we will begin to really dig into that. And we will talk about Brady Manning 17. Now, Lindsay, I'm sure you're not... Whether you want us to or not. Right. What we'll try to do is bring, you know, a unique take, something different, a little nuance. Look at it from a different perspective.

Absolutely, Chris. And also, we're going to do something. We haven't done it in a while. We're going to open up the mailbag. How about that? I'm excited. So there's the show today. How are you doing, La Cid, behind the glass?

Doing great. How is everybody else? Good, good. We're fine. Couldn't be better. Excellent. It's fine. I'm a little under the weather.

I'm powering through. You've been powering through for a couple months now, I feel like. Wow. I mean, because you've been sick for a little bit. Yeah, I have been. I have been. I'm trying to shake this. How did I get seated next to him?

That is a fair question. I need a buffer. I'll be backing up. Dan makes all seating choices. I'll leave it at that. Exactly. That's where the HR stuff comes in. Hey, why don't we do some news, Sidney?

Sure thing. Malarkey, Malarkey slaying for bullsh, isn't it? Yes, sir. Well, that's that one got you. Oh, yeah, that was awesome. That was a good one. Yes. We're not ready for that.

Mike Malarkey, against all odds, has lost the interim tag and is now the Tennessee Titans head coach this after a 2-and-7 finish after replacing Ken Wisenhunt. He was introduced on Monday. He believed, I believe he made a comment that, you know, it's time for a fresh start. But a lot of criticism, guys, come in Tennessee's way. We call them the titoons because, you know, they don't necessarily deserve to be analyzed. The rest we do with the 31 other teams because they're so boring and they always seem to make bad choices.

And guess what, Lindsay, this feels like a shaky choice by Tennessee. It does seem surprising that they had a list of 155 names that they were going to take a look at. And the one they ended up with was the person who already had an office down the hall. I mean, that's how love works sometimes. So you're defending this higher? I'm not. I'm just saying it. I'm not saying it.

You were actually openly disgusted as you were watching the press conference on Monday. Just be honest about the situation. It wasn't an assignment I was itching for, but it was an overly long press conference where what got me upset was at one point, Steve Underwood, I believe, the president's CEO. It was an amazing mustache. Yeah, no. He didn't even tell him he's talking. He looks. He's very impressive looking from a certain point of view.

But at one point, the beatwriters, who I don't think this is a hard-hitting group of beatwriters for the most part and down in Tennessee. What group? Right. It's hardly a group. It's not Philadelphia. But they were coming at him saying, hold on.

You keep telling us about this search and all how thorough you were. And just as you said, Lindsay, you came back to the guy that, bottomed out as an interim coach to finish the season. How do you explain to the frustrated fans? And he was response to us, oh, I didn't even know the fans were frustrated. I don't know why they would be frustrated. It's just a completely

deep disconnect with a fan base at this point is getting no attention from the team making its decisions. Well, Mike Malarkey is not an inspiring head coach. At no point even when he's a coordinator, can you really point to this is what Mike Malarkey accomplished? This is where he was

innovative. And I was really struck when they asked him about developing quarterbacks and all he talked about was Cordell Stewart and Tommy Maddox. I'm thinking that's 15 years ago, first of all. Second of all... Neither those guys are going to the hall. No, I mean, I guess what he was saying was

they maximized Cordell's abilities one year and then they switched to Tommy Maddox. But that's the thing. I always look for coach. What are you bringing to the table? If nothing else, Chip Kelly, for instance, is bringing to the table a guy who had a top five scoring offense

with Mark Sanchez and Nick Fools. Malarkey, he's not an inspiring public figure. He's been in the building. He's been a head coach a couple times before. He is 18 and 39 as a head coach. The most noteworthy thing he ever did as a head coach was walk away from a job in Buffalo. The second most noteworthy thing he ever did was lose in week 17 as the coach of the bills against the Steelers' backups. With a playoff spot on the line, it was one of the all-time chokes of the last 20 years. You want to talk about pain rankings and painful losses. You against backups when you were trying to get to the playoffs and they lost.

And that's basically the last time Malarkey had a halfway decent season. And let's look at the most recent sample size. And this is an pile on Mike Malarkey Day, although it feels like it. It's like if you watch any of those Titans games, there were business decisions all over the field. Those guys didn't look like they were playing hard. Usually an interim coach usually doesn't keep the job, I feel like in most cases, if you looked at the numbers. And he certainly didn't look like he was going to keep the job. The way they finished, they played uninspired football.

So that made it even more stunning that it seemed like they just zeroed in. And it makes you think there's something else cooking in an unsettled ownership situation. The whole franchise is in flux that they made this. And he becomes the new Jim Tomsula of 2016 and then is sent to the wool. Well, there's a handful of teams that have a new GM that kept a coach around or went out and hired a very familiar face like Malarkey. And those to me are the prime candidates for a one and done situation. Because if it's not going well, that new handpicked GM is going to want to pick the guy

that he wants himself, that he knows, not the guy he inherited. Wasn't this the guy who held back the Falcons offense with Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Matt Ryan until they hired Dirk Cutter to kind of bring out what they could do? I mean, this is, I was trying to think what's the opposite of inspired, but fortunately the English language gives us prefixes like uninspired. West taking shots at English. I think it's interesting that they just didn't wait, too. Why did they rush to hire him instead of waiting until the playoffs were done?

and at least going through the motions of talking to somebody like Josh McDaniels or Matt Patricia and making it look like you really have covered all your bases. And McDaniels reportedly on our network was very interested in the Titans job because you have Marcus Marriota. That's the thing is you feel bad for Marriota and you feel bad for the fan base because here's an opening press conference where you should have some hope. And instead it's Mike Malarkey really just insisting it's not the same old from last year. That was one of the codes. And you're also having questions to the ownership saying that in admitting that the commissioner, Roger Goodell, has mentioned that the league is not happy with some things about their ownership structure, which is very confusing.

What, that there's 75 layers of leadership? And then you also have Ian Rappaport and them admitting during the press conference the GM was hired essentially before he had any choice to make a choice in the head coach. The ownership had decided basically if you're going to get this job, you have to take Mike Malar. as your head coach. Bad organizations do not give their fan bases hope. That's the easiest to me. If you want to spot a bad organization, do you give your fans hope? And the Titans haven't for three years. The Eagles do not have a Super Bowl title in their history, but there's hope in Philly. And it seems like Jeff Lurie runs a ship that you could get behind a little bit. And he made the decision to hire Doug Peterson, the former Chiefs offensive coordinator.

Peterson was announced in a press conference by the team or introduced in a press conference, by the team on Tuesday, and so Peterson is the guy, of course, the Philly Media, Greg, immediately seized upon some of the time management issues and the playoff loss to the Pats because they can't think of Andy Reed. They always think of Reed, obviously, in Philly. So Peterson's there, but right away, you see, he's going to have an uphill battle in that market. Right.

There's not going to be a huge honeymoon period because this is a guy who's been with the organization before, and it feels like a return to Andy Reed. and I did an article on the website, you know, ranking the coaching hirings. When I found out that Doug Peterson was the guy, the only calls he's ever made as a pro in the pros is the Chief's two-minute situations and situational football. And, Wes, we've talked about on the podcast.

They're one of the worst two-minute teams in the NFL. So that knocked him down a spot. I decided to knock him down a spot for that five-minute death march that the Chiefs had. Why not? Because it speaks to his philosophy, and he also told Jenny Vrentis of the NFL. a MMQB a few weeks ago

that Alex Smith is what he looks for exactly in a quarterback in the NFL. That's what he wants. Somebody can run the West Coast offense, dink and dunk the ball down the field. That doesn't really inspire the fan base. Yeah, but this is the total situation where

the Eagles ownership went out and tried to get the super, super, like hot person to date, but they were a wild nightmare to deal with. And so it's the bounceback where you go and get the very safe, secure, probably the next-door neighbor that you didn't realize till about a month ago, oh, wait, they're kind of amazing.

Like, I'm into that next-door neighbor. That's Doug Peterson. Brian Billick compared it to having a midlife crisis. But ironically, you believe that Doug Peterson is immediately one of the hottest NFL coaches in terms of his looks. Sure. Give me a break. That's what Mark was saying.

He was ranking him high. I'm not going to leave Mark hanging on this. I think Peterson immediately vaults into the top 10 and maybe the top five. That hair is a problem. He looks like a backup singer for George Jones and Conway Twitty about to go into E-Haw. It sounds like we're being really critical of Peterson. We have no – there's just no way to know how Peterson is going to be. Like he seemed like he has a good command of the room and that sort of thing.

He hired Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator, which I think is a huge get. Yeah, that is a good guy. He's been a good defensive coordinator, and he doesn't have – we know Doug Peterson is not going to be running a defense. So that's going to be a big help to him to have Schwartz there. A lot of talent on that defense. He spoke highly of DeMarco Murray, which was an – hit. I know he's under contract, guaranteed money next year, that they'll probably try to make it work again with Murray, or that might be the plan as of right now. And he also spoke highly of Sam Bradford, if you're looking for clues about what their team's going to look like. Here's a direct quote. I think Sam's a quality quarterback. No, no, Doug, double down. Okay, Dan. I think he's a top-notch quarterback. Look at what he did in the last half of the season. The numbers he was able to put up. He's a quarterback that would fit perfectly into the system. I'm going to bring. ring. Did I miss San Bradford having a great second half?

Well, I mean, he's the guy that is there. They're not going to, you know, burn any bridges. That doesn't, I don't mean anything like that. Chase Daniel. Chase Daniel, who tweeted a very nice thing about. He's a free agent. He knows Peterson's offense. Andy Reid brought Peterson in in 1999 because he knew Reed's offense.

I figured there might be some carry over there. That makes a lot of sense. Chase Daniel, former making the leap candidate. It's not too late to make that leap. Chase. I mean, Chase Daniel. Just republish that article. Chase Daniel wins. Chase your destiny.

If you have a week 17 game against the Chargers, Chase Daniels, it's been proven. He's unstoppable. I think he's 2 and 0 in those situations. Let's move on to the Green Bay Packers, who once again are recovering after a crushing playoff loss. This time it was that instant classic in Arizona.

The loss in overtime, 26 to 20, in the post-mortem press conference. Mike McCarthy put Eddie Lacey on blast. And, you know, people have been talking, Mark, I remember it in the early nascent days of the around the NFL blog. There was a post that we did where everyone on Twitter was freaking out because Eddie Lacey looked fat in his rookie camp workout. So people have always talked about Lacey being maybe carrying too much weight.

But this time a Packers official, namely the head coach, came out and said something. He's got a lot of work to do. his offseason last year was not good enough and he never recovered from it he cannot play at the weight he played at this year so there you go his carries were down substantially this season his production was down did not find the end zone much just wasn't the same player and when you look at all the issues that plagued that offence this year and jordan nelson was at the top but lacy regressing is something no one predicted and it killed them it was embarrassing that 61 yard run in the playoffs he didn't reach more than seven 17 miles an hour on a 61-yard run, I think he's the first player in the NFL this season to do that by next-gen stats. It's embarrassing. He should have scored on that play. You're hurting your team. Feels like we saw a couple running backs getting chased down from behind during these playoffs. But with Lacey, I really feel like if he does not show an immediate commitment change in the off-season to get his body right, that's how running backs sometimes had that big surge is when they lose that weight,

they get in shape. But if he doesn't, I would not be surprised to see him shopped. Well, this is it because if he comes to camp, Lindsay, and he is not, he's not looking good. What else do you need to know that other guy is never going to see the light? But I think he will. I think he made some comments, too, about the fact that sometimes when things come too easily for you, you kind of sit back and think that you can, like, relax a little bit in terms of your preparation, that kind of stuff. And I think that I think he understands that that's what happened to him this year. And that's why things didn't pan out this year the way they did last year for him.

So, I mean, I think Mike McCarthy is sort of stating the obvious there. I am a little bit displeased with the way that this has all gone down in the last few weeks, and it's become, like, fat shaming Eddie Lacey. It's one thing if it's analysis, but there were so many jokes making their way around Twitter about him having tweeted things about food. And if you look at the date, it's like, so that one was from 2012, and that one was from 2013. you compiled like 12. Did anyone in this room do that?

No. Okay. I'm like, I like see these smiles. It would have been me, but I did not. No, I was smiling because everybody on Twitter is an amateur comedian. But it just,

it was a lot. And I'm like, you know, he's like, he's a, he's a person. And he obviously has some, maybe some issues with food and don't, I get it. Like, it's, it's an, it's an, I like it. There is some analysis there with regards to his weight, like an offensive lineman who can't make weight,

that kind of stuff. but it's crossed the line into being mean and like an appropriate joke at his expense. So in that sense, I wish that Mike McCarthy, although he certainly didn't do anything wrong, and he wasn't, you know, piling on. But I kind of wish that he had just not even acknowledged the weight and just said he needs to do some work to, you know,

be in shape for next season or something. If comedy is obvious, it's not funny too. So it's bad humor. Well, Lacey, the weight to me is a symptom of something they're not happy with is that he doesn't take his jobs as seriously. He doesn't love football and he's come out and said that. The weight is part of that. That's why he was bent.

I think there's been talk about missing meetings, things like that. So it's one part of a bigger story. Back in the old days, everyone used to, I mean, not the old days, but I mean, the NFL used to be littered with tons of players that have weight problems. That's kind of gone away in this era. That was professional sports. Where they're ultra professionals and there's more money and everything. Training camp was to actually get in shape.

Right. When you're making $6 million. year you're expected to be in jake it's different and west i like obvious jokes by the way just me i don't think hey this guy's 30 pounds overweight let's make fun of his maybe not that that's not humor yeah uh west's humor podcast that will be coming up in the off season he breaks down all one man show maybe i can get jesselnick on that's right oh i like that co-hosted the uh rosenthal and jessonick vanity project available on it all right let's move on to other packers news Clay Matthews, who was a, I believe, an all-pro outside linebacker once upon a time,

you know, was piling up 15-plus sack seasons. They move him to the inside, and that, you know, that had decidedly mixed results. And now the plan, according to McCarthy, this also came out of his presser, is that the goal is to move him back to outside linebacker in 2016, where he is a, quote, great weapon and, quote, so destructive. Lindsay, this is a former USC product, like you, your thoughts. well a fight on and b i mean you took me there so his stats are down obviously on the inside they're going to be

i think it's a strong statement to how good a football player he is that you can move him inside and that he's still effective although statistically speaking less so than on the outside i think obviously he'd prefer to be on the outside and rushing every single time as opposed to like 10 times a game like he was this year This is one of those cases, though, the fans have a certain opinion that, why would you do this? This is stupid. And ultimately, the coach has agreed with it, that he wasn't a special player at inside linebacker. He had liabilities.

And even though they only did it out of necessity in the middle of the 2014 season, it was a little weird to go back to it and really try to coach him up on it. And they're admitting defeat, but it makes sense. It's good to admit it was a mistake. Yeah, but that was two years of his prime that you just. Right. Yeah, it's so much easier to find an inside line. or who's adequate than to stash your best pass rusher and lose that part of his game. I also want to see if they bring Julius Peppers back at his cost because he himself is

weighing retirement and that would affect, I mean, automatically that would change their defense quite a bit. Mike Neal is a free agent. I think Gion's a free agent. Perry's a free agent. They have a lot of work to do in their front. Speaking of a free agent, James Starks is also a free agent back to the Lacey thing for one second. So they got some decisions to make how much do you trust Eddie Lacey?

Moving on to a team that is still playing, the Carolina Panthers. Ron Rivera said on Monday that he's banning hoverboards from the Panthers facility. He had this to say, we don't want them running around because we don't want something crazy happening here. We're trying to limit their exposure to injury. And he said the last straw came when he caught some players, quote, drag racing in the hallway one time. can you imagine drag racing with your teammate you're having a great time and then the freaking coach turns the corner you just got banged it's a tough situation well how about banning a hoverboard because you're an adult what's going on here yeah that or you know they explode straight up well that's my favorite part of it was his quote have you seen those things on youtube blowing up which it's true up all sorts of questions in my head like you have Like Ron Rivera is sitting there, like searching YouTube. He's got to blow off some steam.

And if you, yeah, I wrote the post on this on around the NFL, and I included something, Lindsay didn't see, because she printed up the ESPN version I see next to me. Wow. That was said for my benefit. But I did include, if you put hoverboard accidents in YouTube, it brings up all these exploding toys. And it also brings up Mike Tyson nearly killing himself,

falling down in a way that even Buster Douglas would be envious of how, how hard Tyson went down. So, yeah, nobody should use it. And by the way, let's be honest here, if you know your film history, hoverboards popularized on Back to the Future, too. Sure. Those things float.

They don't touch the graph. That's not a hoverboard. Yeah, doesn't a hoverboard have to hover? Yeah. Yeah, it's a segue. It's a segue without the, you know. Let's not act like we've gotten there technologically. What a joke.

Starting to call things hoverboards when they're not. It's false advertising. Yeah. Hey, hoverboards. Come back to us. Get there first. Build it. So you're saying I should return my year-end present to the group, the hoverboard.

Well, it says something that you and Ron Rivera see the world differently, that you would let your charges ride around on a hoverboard where he would put his foot down. So that's a good thing on your part, Greg. We don't need to go to HR. Not yet. Another Ron Rivera quote. You bring one of those things in here and they short circuit. And the next thing, you know, we've got a freaking fire here.

Hey. We got a freaking fire. At least he's not a micro-manager. I love Ron Rivera. He's great. He's the riverboat gambler. If you're a real riverboat, you let all the guys on hoverboards and just have some fun. How great is that match going to be for that reason, right?

Ron Rivera and the whole gambling aspect, which we don't do in the NFL and Bruce Ariens. That's true. That's going to be a good game. No biscuit. No biscuit. I love that. I know. That's what's happening in the NFL.

Today, one last bit of news on Thursday, Lindsay. This will be news to you as well as the audience. We all went out to dinner to Cheesecake Factory compliments of Ed and Barbara. Barbara Sessler. My parents. The Sessler's. Oh, yeah. It was a great time.

Great dinner. Great parents. Their regular listeners. Well, your dad admitted he's not a regular listener, but I don't blame me. My mom listens a lot. and she referenced it to where she proved it so well they're great people she she's a football savant she's she win she used to win the football pool in the sessler household year after year by the it says a lot about my lack of abilities too but she is good but i got i had no idea

the the reference all this time even though i wrote about it during the hard knock season bang bang chicken and shrimp is on the cheesecake factory menu yeah i never knew that either i saw that recently i got it was it good Okay. They will not be your next sponsor of the Around the NFL podcast. It was good. But, yeah, Ed and Babs, great company. Well, they enjoyed meeting you guys.

It was hard to get a gauge. There were a couple times where I said something. It looked like Ed was like, what the fuck is wrong with this guy? No, no, not at all. He found you very entertaining. Are you allowed to do that? He found you very entertaining. No, Sidney doesn't like Dan right now.

Sorry, Sidney. She's going to have to beep that out. We'll get that in post. FYI, and I'm just going to butt in here with my own sidebar. Yeah, I know where you're going with this. Is it a cheesecake factory related? Michael Berger, who is the television producer of around the NFL. Friend to the show here.

He's texting me wildly as we're sitting up here because he's very angry that I'm back on. Oh, no. And really? He has not been invited. Berger does great work downstairs as a producer on the network side, and he's been on our show twice. He did a great job last time.

He was on before the last time you were. It's been made clear that he's on every two and a half years. And another, like easily two plus years. Part of the contract, we've fulfilled our end. He did an excellent job. So, yes, thank you to the Sesslers. Let's move on and talk about, yes, Peyton Brady 17. Oh, my goodness.

And this really could be. It could be the last one. It should be the last one. It'll be very depressing if Peyton Manning's trying to throw a football at age 40 concerning how he's done it at 38 and 39. so let's just savor this matchup coming up on Sunday and we will ask a question throw it out there to the group

because I think there is some nuance to this it's not going to be an obvious one I'm framing this as if I came up with a question it was Greg but I am the one asking it therefore daddy gets the credit here we go who would lose

let me get it right it's always been a little disturbing Dan calls himself daddy in front of all of us. Stay focused on the segment. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, for whom would a loss in the AFC championship game on Sunday be more devastating. Lindsay, buzzes in.

Yes. Obviously, Peyton. Obviously, Peyton. Let's hear why. White, obviously. Thank you. Is there anyone else who really is going to make an argument for Brady? Let me just show of hands real quick.

I am. Dan and I are both thinking that. Contrarian corner of it. I'm going to turn over here. It's obvious. Payton has had less success in the playoffs. This is the knock against him going into his Hall of Fame argument, which obviously is in the Hall of Fame.

But in terms of talking about the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady's already solidified the fact that he is ahead of Peyton because of his success in the postseason, whereas this is when Peyton is seen to fall apart. and this year he's clearly not his best and you don't want to go out the way that he's going out and that's exactly why there's more on Brady because the pressure is on Tom Brady because Peyton Manning knows

and the world knows that Peyton Manning is not a great quarterback at this stage of his career but the world also knows that the Broncos defense is very good so it's there's no shame in losing to the Broncos if you're Tom Brady. I disagree with that. The Peyton Manning and his teams have beaten Brady's teams a couple times in the conference championship. This would be, what, three times in a row now if that happens.

This is a much better Tom Brady. This is the one part of Tom Brady's career where it's obvious that he's much better than Peyton Manning. To lose to Peyton Manning and these Broncos, a team that has had Tom Brady's number, has had the Patriots number for the most part, he's two and six, against Denver all time. It would be the worst loss you could possibly have in the AFC. What are you doing? You're clapping.

Nice try. That was a spirited defense. Nobody believes it. Tom Brady's already the greatest quarterback in NFL history. And the way he's playing now, there's no reason to believe he can't have three or four more great years to put even more distance between himself and Joe Montana and Peyton Manning. He doesn't need this nearly as much as Peyton Manning,

who cares so much about his legacy. I could not agree more. Literally, I'm sorry to jump up again. And literally after the game, if you had a debate about which quarterback is better, and Tom Brady had just lost to Peyton Manning, Tom Brady would still win the argument because of all the success that he's had in the postseason. But that's the same argument Peyton Manning used to win when the Patriots were beating the Colts. And no one really cared because only people like the winners.

And if Peyton Manning somehow rode off in when the sunset, it doesn't matter if he's not playing that well. It is just like John Elway ending. It would be a magical ending to his career. Absolutely. If he won. He's going to ride off into the Super Bowl and lose by 30 to the Cardinals or Panthers. Yeah, but you say that every week, if he wins this game, then he'll beat the Steelers and beat the Pats.

He beat a Steelers team without its best player. If he loses, it's another postseason devastating loss for Peyton Manning, just more proof that he can't get it done when it matters. But that's not everybody knows that. That's not how this works, though, because he's no longer that Peyton Manning anymore. So if we all are in agreement that Peyton Manning is half the player that he used to be, if that, the pressure is kind of off. Because if he goes and beats Tom Brady playing at the height of his powers, man, that is not only a huge jewel on his crown as he goes into retirement. It's a killer shot to Tom Brady who had no business losing this game.

How does it kill him? He's still going to be the best quarterback of all time. Because if he does and then Manning retires, he will be the guy that beat him last. He beat him three to one in AFC title games. Right, I agree. It would be a big setback for the Brady legacy in my mind, and for Manning, it would be huge. I don't think it's a huge setback for Brady's legacy or how people view him. I'm looking at it for who would be more devastating personally to that person.

And Wes, you're like, of course he can have three or four more chances. Maybe he will. He's proved this wrong before, but he's 38 years old, and you just don't know how many chances you're going to get. This might be his last best chance. you really, you really don't know. I think maybe I'm speaking as a Patriots fan. Hold on. I'm speaking as a Patriots fan that there's no worse loss than you can have right now

than to the Peyton Manning Broncos. I agree with the sentiment. Just qualified your argument. Look, you don't know from year to year what's going to happen, but the Patriots are in the conference championship every single year. They have a really talented, they have a really talented young defensive nucleus. There's no reason to believe that they're not going to get even better. Edelman, Amandola, and Gronk aren't going anywhere.

They're going to have a better running back situation. situation next year and a solidified offensive line. They're going to be even better in 2016. Have you ever seen Under Siege 2, Dark Territory? I never even heard of it. Bad guy number two. Assumption is the mother of all F-ups. Don't assume that the Patriots are going to go back to the Super Bowl four more times.

This could be Tom Brady's last great chance. And if Peyton Manning takes them down, yeah, it would be killer. 15 years ago, you should have said you can't assume the Patriots are going to win the AFC East every year. This is it. This is it for Peyton Manning. And you can talk about Tom Brady might not get back to the Super Bowl. It was last February that we talked about after what they achieved and winning that Super Bowl, that they don't need to do anything more.

That that was the crown on top of what has been an amazing pairing between a coach and a quarterback, the best coach pairing and quarterback in the league history. So that legacy is cemented. If you're Peyton Manning and you fizzle out after this embarrassing season and you just go out quietly against the Patriots, what are you going to do? If anything, you come back next season with Bill O'Brien's Texans and play nine games before going out with some sort of an injury,

it is an embarrassing end for one of the best quarterbacks of our time. So I don't understand how we're saying that Brady, who's got another probably four years to play. Assumption. It's an assumption, but we're certainly not going to assume that Peyton Manning is going to play another four years. He's probably done after this game. So do you want to go out with a win?

Or a loss. I don't think it's, I, I'm torn on what's the answer to this question, but I don't think it's, it's a crazy thought to go with Manning. And it's just because Peyton Manning right now, you know, we talk about the Patriots playing House Money. I do think we're at the point where no one's going to think differently of Peyton Manning at this point if they lose this game. If they lose this game, it'll be what's expected to happen.

But you, you take away some of, he's not a great quarterback. You know what, try telling that to Peyton Manning. That's what I think he's the number one person that would discerful. agree with the fact that he can just do whatever there's no pressure on him if you're Peyton Manning listen to his words after each one of these games where he knows he's not the same player he feels complete he seems completely lost to me he'd say the same thing about tom brady though tom brady's in the height of his powers right now he could say his legacy is cemented after last year ask him how he'll feel if he gets beat in this game but they'll be back in the same

game in the back four years literally the anti-patent argument the only bullet in somebody making that argument's gone is that he doesn't have success in the postseason So for him to lose another game in the postseason, it's that person more ammunition. That's never an argument that's made against Tom Brady, so it doesn't sting quite the same way. Nice discredit. I'd like to see someone try to make that argument against Tom Brady.

That would be fun. The playoffs? Yeah, that he's not as good in the play. Well, someone could make the argument after this, and it would be stupid. If Peyton Manning and the Colts, I mean, the Broncos win this game, they'd be like, well, at least Peyton Manning. He's got a winning record against Tom Brady in the playoffs.

People get a little carried away with winning records, but that would be a true statement. Then he would if he somehow won this game. Then you would have had him on the head and ask him if they run on batteries. He would also have won three out of four AFC title game. So it would be pretty a big deal if he somehow did win this game. But I think obviously the Pats are the heavy favorite here. I mean, we all know that.

We'll see how it plays out. Greg shrugs his shoulder. He doesn't think he. They're three point favorites. Vegas knows more than us. Vegas knows more than us. Mark, are you believing this?

Wait, you're the same guy who said it would be like it was crazy. when I made an argument that the Packers could beat the Cardinals. Oh, that's crazy. Did they? Or it's crazy to make an argument that none of us even thought they'd be competitive. None of us thought the Vikings would be competitive. Our predictions are what we think is going to go into the game is meaningless. Vegas knows the truth.

Three points. They're not heavy favorites. That's Greg Rosenthal. That's all going to be taken off the podcast. At Greg Rosenthal. So good talk, guys. Yeah, we'll see. Here's the good thing, guys.

We get to see the game play out. That is a great bonus. That is a solid tag. Thank you. See, I can do this too, Lindsay. And lay out and wait for commercial break. And we're back. Yes, it is time now to open up the mailbag

because our listeners are awesome. And every time you put them on the spot and you say, hey, send us some questions. They flood the around the NFL handle. I mean, that type of loyalty, Lindsay, is not something you could have. Can't put a price tag on it. No, no. And if you could, it would be incredibly high.

No prices. She agrees. Yeah. You could invest on Scott Trade with all that loyalty if you could put a price tag. I'm kind of convinced that you don't really know what Scott Trade does. I know. I know it's the only vehicle that I would use if I had money to move my money around. It is by far.

If you, all right, tell me if I'm wrong, Lindsay. Honestly, if you have money and you want to make more of it, give it to the old Scott trade. That checks out. That's an analysis. Well said. Let's do the mailbag. Let's hit it up. A lot of good stuff.

We'll start with who do we want to start with? Oh, I love this one. This is from a great listener of ours. Tom at Budgie is here. I think Tom has made almost every mailbag on this, and that's a testament to his. his acumen in this particular field. If the cards go on to win the Super Bowl, what will the heroes do to commemorate the team of around the NFL?

Good question. I mean, we have to, we need to make donations to local charities, which we've got to get around to for the teams we stuck a fork in this year. But how about this? If we picked the team of ATN back in September, they win the whole damn thing. Yeah, I think at that point, they give us something.

I don't think it's about doing something to commemorate them. They should turn around and say, wait a minute, this group of seers way back when, and now Wes probably deserves the most credit because he fought the hardest for the Cardinals to get in. Maybe the Cardinals need to come back to this podcast and gifts. I don't know what form of gifts, any form. Like jiffs, like a moving. No, a gift, like a present. I thought the same thing.

I have full confidence that we know how to celebrate. oh that's the answer we'll drink right okay next question brought from not t wagner twagg 86 if you could take an unlimited paid sabbatical to write one book of your choice what would the subject be saucy we'll start with lindsay on this one oh you want me to come around to you yeah all right start with west because i know he's got seven books in his mind i think at this point it would be a book about football but ultimately if it was later in my life I'd like to write fiction

and it would be about a lot of the philosophy that I spout on this very podcast about flawed women West philosophy Oh but but in fiction So would it be like meditations from like West you know

Chris Wesleying I think I know I think Wes is I think he's doing it I think he's hinting at a memoir Please Dear Jesus Dear Jesus in heaven If you could give me one thing

a Chris Wessling memoir that if we're still doing a show I could read passages live on air. Dear Jesus, I love you, thank you. Well, the only fictional memoir I know of is a fan's notes by Fred Exley, and it's my favorite book, so maybe fictional memoir

is the way to go. Mark. I think I would write a mystery type book with like Nancy Drew as an adult where, like, having been a child detective, really waged war on her, and And she's like the laughing stock of all her 20-something friends.

And remember, her father was like a district attorney. I think it starts with him found dead and they're calling it a suicide. But she's got to save her father's honor with one final case that also allows her to move into womanhood. That requires an incredibly large magnifying glass. Well, I don't know. You've got a lot of thought into that. I'm looking forward to that book. He definitely had that planned already before.

No, I have thought about that for a long time. I mean, it's not something I just. I'd love to hear Mark's take on womanhood in general. So far, both the books touch on women at some point. Greg? I don't know. I don't think I could write a book. It probably have to be football-related.

But maybe I'll go, I'll change the question. And instead, I'll just be starting over as a tennis blogger traveling the world. I'll start the ATNFL of tennis because it wouldn't be a good enough writer to pull up. Do you have any hot takes about the scandal right now tearing apart your beloved tennis? That's a pretty, I think it's pretty minor Relative Greg's response to any scandal touching something he likes

The top players potentially throwing matches But it really wasn't, it wasn't anything new It wasn't anything new and It was like it's at the minor, minor, minor leagues basically Okay, Lindsay, you got one? I don't. You don't have to write a book by the way. I don't want to write a book.

I don't write a book. I don't write it. So much work. What about a tell-all about NFL Network? All the stuff you saw, just shred everyone. Linsie has stories. You know Linz has stories. Oral history.

There are stories up there. I'll do the oral history of the Patriots Dynasty. Stop it. You've been doing that for the last three years on this podcast. My book would be about dinosaurs. Next up, let's see. You guys are dorks. Moving on.

This is from, ooh, Stephen Moore. I like this one. At Stephen Moore 9-O-9. How does Dan make his hair look so, quote, Hollywood from Steve in Norwich, UK. that Dan chose this. This is a real person. Oh, I like this question.

It's about me. This is good because it allows me to spread the message of Redkin. Redkin for men. It is a molding paste. The work hard kind. Max control, added texture, flexible shape, no shine. I don't know if they have it in the UK,

but I swear by it. I pitch it to people. I was at a wedding last weekend or the weekend before in which I told several of my cousins about it and let them try the product. Huge Redkin fan. Apparently, Redkin is a new spot. sponsor of the show.

Yeah, you don't even sell Scott trade that hard. I said that you could get rich off Scott trade. That's good. Next, Chris Rodriguez at good luck Chris underscore. Will Jezelnik ever guest appear on the show during the off season just because? Does he even know that this show exists? Greg has taken, let's be honest, let's put all our cards on the table. Greg has gone great lengths to keep us from even seeing Jezzelnick.

Well, why are you assuming I'm the one taking? Maybe he's taking. Maybe it's Jezzlement. So, I mean, it's like, I've, you've done that show. How many have you done now? 10 or something? 12. 12.

I've still never seen the guy. I'm here every Wednesday when they take. He's met a lot of people. I've met him. Yeah. You mark? I think he'd love to be on the, I think he'd love to come on the podcast. Maybe we could do that.

Maybe that could be an off season goal of the show. It's a very talented Lindsay and a popular comedian. I'm aware. Greg's best friend in the world. All that accurate. A host of the Vanity Project. There you go. When is that on?

Tapes on Wednesdays. It goes up Wednesday nights. There you go. All right. This is from Sports Guru MUFC at Simply Money One. Which two people, let's do this one a little quicker. Which two people dead or alive would they, or you, like to go out drinking with? Mark.

Jack Kerouac and maybe Jack Kennedy. Kennedy was on my list, too. Just a little awkward. Yeah, Mark Sessler and Dan Hanses. Oh, it's not awkward at all. You're a mens. You're a Mitch. That was adorable.

Greg. Now I feel bad because I wasn't going to say it. I have no answer. I don't know. Okay. I will go with Kanye West and Mike Francesa. Oh, I like that. What are you drinking?

I don't know. That's why I'd be so exciting. Who knows what you're having? I don't know. What does Kanye drink? I don't know. $3,000 bottle of champagne, probably? $3,000.

At about $200,000 to that. Oh, yeah, I don't do those. I just think that would be interesting, you know. Next up from Manly. Where's the one that I am anticipating? Oh, you want to do that one next? Yeah. Okay.

Sorry, Lindsay. I mean, all of these like, oh, what book would you write? Let's start with like, what book would you read? Let's cut through all the BS. I'm just kidding. This from David Ealy downstairs, our editor, who would be the best current NFL player

as a bachelor contestant and who would be the worst? The floor is yours. Lindsay Rose. Okay, thank you very much. Best, Rob Grankowski. Rob Grankowski, jacuzzis on the reg. Yeah. His brothers come in and are like,

oh, we're going to decide which girl gets the one-on-one. I mean, that would be amazing television. It's hard to argue. I don't know. The only thing I would worry about is that the Patriots would clamp it and either have them edit the show or something worse. But if he's allowed to do what he wants, oh, my goodness. Yeah, you have to assume it.

They can do the show how they want. I think Cam Newton would be a good one. Cam would be great. It would drive people crazy, but I would like that, too. It would be a lot of entertainment. Didn't he just have a child? He just had a baby with his long-term girlfriend, homewrecker. Whatever.

I'm just saying if he wants to be on the show. Chosen's life. Chosen. That's something that actually happened, everybody. I have the worst one. Yeah, worst. Russell Wilson. Oh, yeah.

Oh, that's such a great call. I totally agree. He would be bad as bad as every other bad. Bachelor in the history of television. They're like, these are amazing women. Oh, my God, what a phony. Yeah. Does Tim Tebow qualify for this or since he's not playing anymore?

Because I feel like maybe he would be worse. Yeah, but here's the thing, Sid, and, you know, you're a good girl and an innocent girl. I don't want to really delve in too deep here. HR calling. Tebow is a man that practices his faith. Abstance. Absidence. That's one.

Wasn't the question who would be the worst batch? Oh, worst. I thought that we were talking about Russell Wilson. Yeah, you're right. I'm with you on that. Would Russell Wilson end every date with Gohawks? Oh, God. So many brand managers would be on set.

You know, I would, but that was good. The Gronk one's good, but the winner, it's clipboard Jesus. It's Charlie Whitehurst. Because he's dating Joel. Oh, okay, we have a. I mean, how could you? The hair, the hat, the style, the personality, he's already... Well, I want to know that he has the personality.

I know he's got, like, the long hair, and he's bad at his job, but, like... And he also, he knows how to play acoustic guitar, he's learning. Imagine the scene where he's playing glycerine, sitting by the fire. Chris Harrison's right there. It's like, man, that sounds great, jazz. And then all the girls just swooning. Wait, how about Lashon McCoy? He's already got practice inviting all-female...

parties or whatever. He is supposed to be our guest on Total Access today, so he's going to be in the building. Oh, he's a great guy. Usually it seems like I haven't really watched The Bachelor, but usually it seems like they pick the most wooden sort of plain person you can pick up so that the women who watch the show can basically project anything they want on to him. That accurate?

That's fair to say. I think also, too, if you're a nice enough guy that you're going to be a good Bachelor candidate, right? Your marriage material from a network standpoint. Then you're going to be careful not to say anything mean about anyone on television. And so there's really just nothing real about anything they're saying. Chipp Kelly. Disaster.

No, it'd be so good. He'd get rid of everybody good. That's true. That's true. Awkward. Everyone you're rooting for at home. No rose. He's got his own team building come. There would be something fun. It's like a bunch of Riley Cooper's. Like there would be something fun though about having like a middle-aged guy who's clearly

never going to be home and be a terrible husband, be the bachelor. Like, who wants to be a coach's wife? You will never see your husband. If you have kids, they will never see him. But there'd be plenty of people who would love to be part of the life, and who knows, I'm sure there'd be people that would go on

the show. Yeah. Next up, this is from Manly Jay Panda. Do you have any interest in learning how to correctly pronounce the Italian words you use? Magnifico People often think that's Italian That's just a made-up

phrase entirely Or are they thinking of Wes? Cognizente? Cognizente. That sounds right to me. That's an English word. What was this person's name? Michael Panda?

I don't know. Manly J. Panda, I believe. So the answer, I guess, is no. This is... Come at us, manly. Yeah, accuracy is not what Dan's usually looking for in his impression. It's not just me. I think he was saying the whole group. Maybe it was me.

Will, at W.B. underscore 2-222, which fan base have you guys blocked the most on Twitter? I don't block a ton of people. There's more a question for Wes. All-time Seahawks by far because they are a sheep mentality herd who brings out their army of social media clowns to defend it. You cannot mention another young quarterback without bringing up Russell Wilson because they think everything's about their team.

This year, Panthers by far, because of the bandwagonist fan base on Earth, and they have a really big inferiority competition. And I'm tired of him. It's about me. All right, don't take that line down, Panthers fans. You came in second overall. So try to catch up. Exactly.

Good answer. Victor Triumph at VT. Triumph, something like that. Greg, what will the salty New England fans blame when they lose against Manning in the AFC Championship for the third time, the throne of chaos? Oh, no. Listen to that, Lindsay.

Oh, no. Uh-oh. That is a lot of death and carnage. That's like a plane crash and like a shark attack happening at the same time. They won't be blaming anyone a couple weeks later when Manning gets blasted. They'll feel like maybe we dodged the bullet, just like in 2013. It's like a circus on fire. Can't take another Super Bowl loss.

Next up, this is a good question, football question. Jackson Smith at Damson, 29. and most likely team to go from first place in their division to last and out of the playoffs. Quickly pulling up the final standings of the NFL season. So first out of the playoffs, Patriots, Bengals, Texans, Broncos, Redskins, Vikings, Panthers, and Cardinals. Most likely to go in last place, I will, it's going to get the Kiss and Cousins upset, but I'll say the Redskins. I'll say the Redskins. I will say the Texans because they may not even have any of their quarterbacks for next season on the roster,

and that division is an absolute nightmare. I'll give the Redskins a slight edge because the Titans are still alive in the AFC South to come into last place. All right. It's fair. Very true. Let's see. She got that one. A couple more.

Oh, here's a good question. when will Chris Wessling this is from Stephen Moore also yep about your hair big job by Moore today Stephen big day for you when will Wes get a nice girl and settle down from Steve Norwich UK Wes what is going on in your love life I had a really nice date last night she well this girl is delightful first of all we've been chatting you have a podcast that you're talking about it on yeah she might okay with that She might. So she knew everything's been going great. She tells me when she looks fantastic.

She's wearing a black and white dress, high-heeled boots. And I'm dressed like I'm still living on an island of 2,000 people, you know, ball cap, just a regular old shirt. All right. So she tells me, well, everything's going so well. So even if we, even if one of us pukes on the other, like, you're still getting a second date out of this. And I was like, oh, great. Wow. So you have to test her out.

She invited you to vomit on her? I didn't take it as an invitation. That's love. I didn't follow through on it. Yeah. So. Wait, hold on. We just glossed over what Dan said.

Yeah. Is it love? Wow. I think it's premature to see. Do you want to know what love is? I do want to know what love is. It's premature for all that, but this is the, she's like a dual threat date. So she looks so fantastic.

We got to test out her throwing arm because this is what you do with women. She's got like a Kaepernick S delivery and strength. Mark, you hear this? Like scattered shot accuracy. West is a. Typical date maneuver for you? Yeah, yeah. Let's go to a local high school and see you.

No, no, no, no. We might have been doing illegal activities with the throwing arm because I like to at the end of dates. Wait a second. You got to break a few rules. I just did the Bruce Ariens double tape. Yeah, that was. Well, we might have been, you know, you got to break a few rules, see if they like to have fun as much as you do. And, you know, at the end of the night, you can't just abide by society's rules.

With the throwing. Because you want to have, you want to have. What does that mean? I miss something. I don't, I'm not, I'm not, don't have a cohort. You broke some laws? Well, maybe. Maybe.

We can talk off air on that. Don't want us to have to go to the human. One last thing, and I don't know if this is something for on air or off, so we can cut it if you want. But are you concerned about some of the geographical issues right now for you? Lindsay, I believe you're from Orange County originally. Uh-huh. So is this woman. Is that something?

Well, I think it's something that can be overcome. You know. I don't know. Did you drive to her on this date or vice versa? But I'm supposed to drive down there or make my way now. If that is your biggest obstacle to hop over, you're going to be, you're going to figure that out. That's not a huge issue. I think it's important when you are looking for a prospect to find someone who can like pull off a heist with you.

And, you know, she showed those qualities. I like getting the update on Wes's love life, but I don't like the presumption in the question as if settling down is somehow the only answer and a happy, happy answer. It's like people ask, like, people that don't have kids. Oh, when are you going to have kids? It's like, maybe I don't want to have kids. Shut the F up. It's like, there's a lot of different options. You know, Greg always has to go cynical.

Greg has kids. I'm just saying, I think I would find it annoying if that's presumed. I do want to have kids with the right woman, but, you know, that hadn't come along. And she might be it. That's what I just learned. Well, like I said, she's a dual threat date and a delight. So what's not to like about that? We can't wait to meet you, Lady of Mystery.

Yeah. Or she's staring. staring at her at her phone right now playing this podcast slack john amazed that this is all coming up and she she'll never call you back it can go either way really you got to take chances in life i like i'd like to swing for the fences and uh finally this from uh geez i'm gonna look lindsie's a professional broadcaster lindsay lindsay's a person's name i'm we don't read names you're professional do it wandelet o nine how about a hay to a new NFL fan from South Africa, still trying to learn the game and listening to ATN podcast is helping a great deal. Heya. Hey, yeah.

Hey, yeah. Hey, yeah. There you go. That is. Let's close up the mailbag now. It's closed. Thank God that you closed it up. Great sound of safety.

It got a workout at the same time. Yeah, it was good. What do we learn today? Lindsay Rhodes. Doesn't read, but watches the bachelor. Loves The Bachelor, hates fat shaming. I know. That was sensitive, Lindsay, huh?

It was. We liked it. I liked it. And as always, entertaining company. The Around the NFL podcast is here. NFL Total Access is on NFL Network Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. Yes, sir. And you'll be heading, I assume, as the face of TA to San Francisco next week.

We are headed to San Francisco. Monday of Super Bowl week. Is that next? Two weeks. Two weeks from now. So make sure you check out Lindsay and, of course, at at Lindsay Rhodes. There are Hubba Hubba just thrown down there? I don't know where it came from.

Who dropped that? Sneaks in every once in a while. Ship this entire broadcast to human resources. They'll have a lot to sort through. So there we go. San Francisco Hubba. We will be back on Thursday. We'll dig in in earnest to the two matchups on Sunday.

so make sure you check that out. Until then, this is Dan Hansis. Signing off for Quiet Storm, The Mailman, Lins, the boss, and La Cid behind the glass. Del Thursday. Hey, what's up? This is Nate Berlinson.

I'm at Real Mike Bob. This is the R&B podcast. And on today's show, we got a guest. We got Deionn Buchanan, and we're previewing the championship matchups. That's right. Hey, check us out on NFL.com. iTunes and on YouTube. And write a review.

Come on. See you later. This is an IHeart podcast.