NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Sexiest Super Bowl matchups

Episode Date: January 11, 2017

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling, & Gregg Rosenthal – discuss all the latest news from around the NFL including the Jaguars promoting Doug Marrone to head coach, and an update on Jordy Nelson’s status as the Packers prepare for a huge matchup against the Cowboys in the Divisional round of the playoffs. Then, the heroes debate which potential Super Bowl matchup they think is the sexiest before diving into some listener questions from the old ATN Mailbag.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. Still follows TD on Twitter. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Wes, shot out of a man cannon today. Just a basic hoodie. That's this, Mark, you're the expert. This is the same as Maroon Thunder, only gray, right, in terms of the brand? That one is the genuine article, Man Cannon hoodie. This is, I wouldn't call it, I would call it Fringe Man Cannon. Okay, I'm going to take a picture right now and send it out to them. I like that Wes's masculinity and wardrobe is now kind of our, we used to mix it up.

Now that's just our go-to, let's talk about that. Because I think I love Wes's reaction to it. He's uncomfortable, but there's a part of him that's like, yeah, you guys are right. I fail to see the connection between masculinity and the change in my wardrobe. I thought my plaid shirts were masculine. They were very masculine. It was never about masculinity. They were country.

It was more of the idea of Chris Wessling. And I thought that Gonzo put it well, actually, at the bar over the weekend. We were talking about something, probably Brock Osweiler. In fact, I think it was. and Gonzo said, listen, Wes is a black and white guy. That's not even true. A very nuanced, complex fellow.

And the fact that you're wearing a gray man-cadden sweater right now, it says a lot. Gonzo, by the way, Colleen, Connie Fox's husband, John Gonzalez. How you've kind of transformed in your relationship with your paramour, and I think these man-canons, they speak so much for that transformation. You're like a butterfly. It's a metamorphosis? It's a metamorphosis.

You think you're a lot different now than you were before you met paramour, right? No. I think I'm the same person. I noticed another metamorphosis. What? Up until now, new money, or I would say in the past, Sydney, very delighted to kind of work with us and the whole experience. I noticed a genuine exhaustion with the four of us staring the lead up to the show today. We were all chatting away, kind of getting warmed up, just sort of.

I remember she's got places to go, things to spend her lute on. Kind of, would you say this is accurate? Kind of over it. A little over it. I mean, listen, it is now $2.25. If you take a look at your rundown, what time does it say we were supposed to start? I like this. What is this affectation you're speaking with right now?

You sound like Roz from Frazier. I know. We were supposed to begin it, too. You are correct. All right. Thank you, Mark. So we should apologize. Sorry, said we will be more punctual going forward.

forward and you know what let's start talking about today's show because it's going to be a good one it's going to be a pretty solid show I think uh because uh we have a lot to get to the head coach posting has been filled how about that how about how about that intern label peeled off for the second time in as many years uh so we'll be talking about that uh some other updates including a star wide receiver out of green bay as we head towards the divisional round uh speaking of the divisional round, Mark, you, good sir, wrote a banger. And, you know, help me out with this. It's sexiest Super Bowl matchups.

Now, does that mean we're picking the Super Bowl matchups that we'd most want to have sex with? Well, no. It's the, what I, you know, I sent it in. Walk me through this. Right, sure. I mean, in theory, it's the ones we'd want to see the most. Oh, so, like, the rosters with the highest, like,

collection of sexy players. Well, that's a whole different type of assignment, not one that I did. I mean, I send it in. When you send these things, you write it, and you put in an email, you send it to the editors. And I just shot that as the title. It's kind of a, honestly, kind of a joke. And then I saw it tweeted out by the NFL, and a lot of people very upset with the idea that that was the title that I came up with. No editor is going to turn down a chance to put sexy in a headline title.

Yeah, it's sexy. Well, you're right. The sexy opportunity. So it's not about being intimate with the teams. It's not about, no. It's not that type of experience. Okay, good. As far as I know.

We will close the show by, we haven't done this in a while. We're going to open up the mailbag and see what the listeners have to say. So a nice little show. But before we do any of that, first I want to share our sponsor, of course, exclusive sponsor of the around the NFL podcast, Mr. Flame and his economics class in the Hague, the Netherlands. Mr. F. Literally. I mean, if you want to know how to crunch them numbers. and know, more importantly, why the numbers get crunched and how.

I think that's what happens in that class. Or learn how to, you know, maybe just learn how to sponsor a global podcast. It's become much more than numbers. Absolutely. It's been about loyalty. A true gentleman. And some other things. Okay.

Let's get into the news. New money. Playoffs? Don't talk about it. Playoffs? You kidding me? Uh, yes, it is playoff time, but let's start by talking about a team that has not sniffed the playoffs in a very long time. The Jacksonville Jaguar has just finished up a four-year run with the, Mark, why is your leg up on the table?

It's resting it. If it makes, if it's because you have some type of issue and you need to put it up? I do. I'm just going to put it up there and rest it for a minute. All right. I'm going to have to take my second picture of the podcast. say we're not on camera, so who cares? I got two photos to tweet out after the show now. Anyway, the Jaguars, they stink under Gus Bradley. Two games before the season ended, what they do?

They fire Gus and they promote Doug Morone, our old friend, Doug, to interim coach. And what do we learn on Monday? Force me, because I'm close to the edge. I'm trying not to move my head. You know what I'm saying? What is this? Doug, we're trying to do some stuff here. The Jaguars, that was Doug Maroon.

That is Doug Maroon from his Buffalo Bills days. Oh, right? Is that right or was whizzy with the Jacksonville? I forgot about that. His offensive line coached, it was a Jaguars tweet that was sent out over the summer, surprisingly. Anyway, Morone, who finished the 2016 season as the interim coach, has accepted the team's full-time head coaching job. A source informed of the situation told our own rap sheet, the team later made the announcement official. And here's where it gets a little.

little, there's a little more intrigue. So yeah, a little surprising that Doug's involved in a full-time capacity. But here's where I find it even more interesting. The team also hired Tom Coughlin, their first head coach and, of course, the former Giants coach, two-time Super Bowl winner. As the team's executive vice president, they also extended general manager Dave Caldwell's contract. All three deals run through the 2019 season. Greg, it sets up an interesting dynamic in Jacksonville, doesn't it? It's very strange. Imagine for interviewing for a job, getting the job, like Doug Marone just did, and then finding out. Hey, man, here I am.

On your scene, I can give you what you want. You've got to come home with me. Doug, we're trying to do a podcast. Go ahead, Greg. I mean, that's the best thing Doug Maron's done in the last few years. You get the job, and then you find out, oh, who's my new boss going to be? Oh, it's not someone I interviewed with. Oh, wait.

It's the guy that was interviewing for the exact same job as me and wanted it. Not only is he my boss, he's my boss's boss. Tom Coughlin, Tom Coughlin's a couple, you know, rungs up the old ladder. He's an EVP. So it's a strange situation, but I'm sure Doug, who quit on the bills essentially two years ago, is pretty happy to get it back in the big chair only two years after that. Mark, is it fair to say that Doug was playing chess this whole time? I think he was.

I mean, I actually re-read an ESPN profile from 2015 in which he talked in depth about how hard it was after he walked out on that job, the vitriol that came from Western New York and trying to reboot his career at Jacksonville. Think about all the tough responses he had to the mass text that he told his players that he was quitting with. I mean, that must have been tough.

He was not a popular guy after this happened. And he's never explained why. Hustling, Hustle and Hustle. Where are you going? Just calm down, Dougie. But he never explained it, but now he ends up back in a big chair mark. I have to assume that the Jaguars, before they sealed all this up, had words with everyone involved that if you're Tom Coughlin

or if you're Doug Morone or if you're David Caldwell, we are all going to agree that we can work together because the Doug Marone departure in Buffalo had whispers attached to it for over a year where he was not getting along with Doug. Whaley. And that's gone on in Buffalo. So that makes me wonder if Doug Marone was not just the, it's easy to look at him in the way he

exited Buffalo and say, bad on you, but that's not a, that organization has its own issues. It's funny because Joe Banner who wanted, he was interested in hiring Doug Marone when they hired Rob Chisd's a New York City thing. It ain't nothing about race or culture. It's New York City. I'm sure some people

will. I mean, come on. Take him to task on that. Rap's not about culture. I mean, he's Syracuse guy. I don't know if he's in New York City. He's from the Bronx. He's from the Bronx. But Joe Banner tweeted out yesterday. He said, fantastic head coach hired by the Jags. He will do a great job. Has been my top head coach since we interviewed him my first year in Cleveland. They couldn't get him because Buffalo took him away.

I think that some people inside the NFL circles think very differently about Doug Marone than the media do or certainly Buffalo Bills fans do. I think unquestionably they played different in the final two games than they did the rest of the 2016 season, and Doug Barone deserves some credit for that. Blake Bortles played with more confidence. He was more decisive. The play calling was a little bit different, and the defense played better, too. Well, he got credit.

He got better than credit. He got three-year contract. It really sounded based on- I'm saying from us, he deserves some credit. Sure. It really sounded from Ian Rappaport, our NFL Network Insider, that he got the job based on those two games. That's wild.

That they loved what they saw. They loved the direction. They loved his leadership. That's a little surprising, isn't it? I mean, to end of December games. A week ago, we did not predict this course for them, but they're taking, it's on a safe route, but I think they really wanted Tom Coughlin to be part of this somehow.

And Doug's going to take the job. Doug, there's only 32 of these. I think he learned a lesson a little bit about how fleeting this stuff can be. It's got some good things going for it. And it's not a bad job, but you know what else? It's a little to me tricky when Tommy Coughlin like we said upstairs openly campaigned for that

for that job and if they have another tough year who's to say Tom Cougham won't say I think I'm the man to take this team finally in the right direction after another four and one is or won his own hire you know I I looked at this and I think Bill Parcells has been noted as a Doug Morone backer

whisper that he he believed Doug Maron was going to be a great head coach too and so it all kind of makes sense they're in the same tree I looked at this as kind of a double down on the Blake Bortles era, that Doug Marone, it sounds like, really sold them on his ability that he believes in Blake Bortals, that he can turn Blake Bordles around. You have Caldwell, who's been given a long rope here to build this team up for four years. He believes in Bordles.

And the contract, only being three years, it kind of seems like to me it's like Marone and Caldwell, they're Bordles guys. And they got to get the Bordles thing working. And if it doesn't work, then maybe Tom Coughlin gets to choose a different coach in a a year or two. Himself, potentially. Would you equate this with the dolphins, if they had done this, extended old muscles Dan Campbell, after he put a hurting on the Houston Texans last year?

No, because Morone has, he has experience and I think more respect in terms of an ability. It does remind me of the dolphins hiring Bill Parcells upstairs. They were nine and seven in Buffalo in 2014. I mean, he certainly has experience. Only would excuse it for the bills in 12 years. So more coaching news, this time in Cleveland. The Browns have fired defensive coordinator Ray Horton after one season. Rapsheet reported over the weekend to replace Horton.

The Browns announced Sunday that they have hired former Rams defensive coordinator Greg with 2G's Williams. This mark is a move that some people will find surprising. It means a change in their defensive front. Williams obviously comes with his own baggage. end for a team that has preached continuity, there seem to be a lot of changes going on underneath head coach. Yeah, there are. I mean, I guess I want to be more surprised by changes

when you have a coaching staff that presided over a 1 and 15 team. I mean, it's people want to want to leave that situation, number one, and some are going to be asked to leave. And I, you know, with Doug with Greg Williams, there's obviously the Bountygate history, but I read an interesting article. from Matt Bowen, who's now a writer, but a former NFL player who played for Williams in Washington. He talked about what it's like playing for Williams beyond the whole Bounty Gate thing.

And he just had one paragraph that I'll read. He said, within five minutes during his first meeting with Williams, he said, I knew this was the guy I wanted to play for. He commanded that meeting room, spoke with supreme confidence, and let us know right away that things were going to change at Redskins Park. And look, I think every time someone comes in, you want to look at all the positives. Cleveland needed to make a change and they had to pick from the guys that were available. I don't know what else to say about Greg Williams. Did they need to make a change?

I think if you look at Cleveland's defense, it got worse as the season went on. And I don't have a problem with them making a switch. I guess my question would be the fact that sometimes because they left them with very little talent going into the season. And then of course when you have no talent, it's going to be hard to win games. And then you're making heads roll

when you didn't have a lot of weaponry to go into the season. So it surprises me that they're making these changes on both sides of the ball. Yeah. I mean, I think it's ripe for critique and it's being critiqued. I do think, if anything, that Greg Williams, his defense is at least, it seems like it would be a welcome change for Cleveland to have any sort of bite on defense, which they've not had since I've worked here and since you've worked here. Yeah. You might not know the answer to this question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. How often have the Browns vacillated between four three and three-four Many times.

I mean, I would say... It's a recipe for failure. It is. It is. So when you talk about it being critiqued, 100%. I would also say that the way that their roster is built right now, that I wouldn't say they're a distinctly talented 3-4-team or a 4-3 team. So they are fluid.

I could see the thinking that Greg Williams is a good coach to have on a team without a lot of great talent because he'll be so aggressive and, you know, he's all about forcing turnovers. His teams tend to give up big plays, but maybe you can win a little bit with scheme when you don't have the most talented players in the world. It's worth noting for all the talent with the Rams the last few years, I mean, they weren't really a great defense. They were a disaster down the stretch this season. Middle of the road in terms of points and yards in general every year. In New Orleans, he certainly had his success, but he's kind of a boom or bust type of coach. And maybe that's not bad for a team that doesn't have a lot of play.

Any of these guys that are getting hired, there's a reason that they were available. It's funny how these guys get passed around. Sure. They go through so many stops. One thing I, there's also a lack of kind of in-game discipline on the Jeff Fisher, Greg Williams defense. Aaron Donald getting kicked out of games, Ogletree hitting people after the play. The way they treated Odell Beckham a couple of years ago, there's all kinds of discipline issues, stuff going on after the whistle too well if you were if you were doing a pool which would be extremely strange wrong of which defensive coordinators would most likely be caught in a scandal for their players being dirty i think greg williams would have been basically at the top of the list

has to be and he was i mean i'm saying even before before bounty gate happened and and he was so i don't think it was a surprise yep and one other change on the other side of the ball in cleveland pep hamilton who came over this past season as an associate head coach of the offense is joining Jim Harbaugh in Michigan. So Hugh has some work to do on both sides of the ball. Moving on another move, Bill Musgrave was the offensive coordinator of a Raiders offense that put a lot of points on the board this year, but that doesn't mean he's coming back.

Rapsheet reports that Musgrave is, quote, not expected to return to Oakland in 2017. Musgrave's offense finished six in the NFL in total yards and seventh and points, but they're going in-house, Greg, and in-house means the quarterback's coach, I believe. Yeah, that's the rumor. Expectation and just, you know, reading the quick articles about this, it really sounds like they were maybe worried that the quarterback's coach was going to leave.

Todd Downing is his name for another coordinator job, so this is their way of keeping him. Because otherwise it's a little strange. Carr is going to have his third offensive coordinator now in four years, But if you're just promoting from within, you're not changing the system. That makes a little more sense to me. I feel like the one thing that we've learned from hard knocks, well, not the one thing, but one thing we have learned is that the quarterback room,

the quarterback coach has so much day-to-day interaction with his quarterbacks that if this is the guy that Derek Carr feels attached at the hip to, that you don't want to lose him. You want to keep that guy that Derek Carr under, you know, the growth he had this year that he feels the most comfortable with. Speaking of Derek Carr, it's been. five days since I learned that Derek Carr, that Raider Star, blocked me on Twitter.

I thank everyone the outpouring of support. Tweet's at Derek Carr to change his mind for what was really completely unfair. I'm not saying, I didn't ask for this. But I'm thanking the people that did trying to get him to change his mind. But yes, five days and counting, Derek Carr blocking him.

I'm kind of with Greg, it feels like if you're Derek Carr and you're studyingly getting you know, hundreds of tweets regarding an NFL, you know, media figure and why you blocked him, that it's not going to necessarily heal the relationship. Or he opens up the books, if you know what I'm saying, and says, what did I really do this for? And was that the right decision? I think it can't help.

That's the way I look at it. This needs a 1982-style evening news graphic America held hostage day seven or whatever. I want to know, before we move on, what did Bill Musgrave do? to Jack Del Rio for him to torture this guy like a little cat playing with a ball of yarn. He hired him in Jacksonville as his offensive coordinator. After two years, fired him there. Then he's like, okay, 20 years later or whatever, 15 years later, it's all good. Let's hire you again, buddy.

That's not going to happen again. And then two years later, fire him again. Who does that? He does that. But Carr has proven to have an itchy trigger figure. I mean, maybe Derek Carr blocked him out of his life. Yeah, I mean, you guy does unfair things. We know that.

You know when you were a kid? You could have a center at all of us. Like you were a kid and you'd have friends sleep over and it was a cool thing because you could stay up late. But then like around like 10 in the morning the next day you're like, and I'm ready for this friend to leave. Like he's a good friend, but it's time for him to get out of my house. Maybe that's how the Del Rio Musgrave relationship.

Sure, like midway through this season. He was like, oh yeah, this guy just annoys me. That's why I fired. That's why. All right. Where were we? Derek Gargum, Bill Musgrave, Fired. Next up, Jordy Nelson.

We're probably not going to see Jordy this weekend in Dallas. Coach Mike McCarthy told reporters on Monday that the star wide out had a shot to suit up for the divisional round matchup on Sunday. But that would take a quote, incredible effort, according to rap sheets who cited sources to report that Nelson suffered at least two fractured ribs after taking a vicious shot from Giants quarterback Leon Hall in the first half of Green Bay's win over the Giants in the wild card playoffs. Chris Wessling, we all know Aaron Rogers is playing incredibly right now and as whoever's in the lineup, they're putting up points. But as the opponents get tougher and tougher, is this going to show itself as being a major problem? The way Aaron Rogers is playing, I think they'll be fine. I really do. I think that Geronimo Allison has played well when he's played. Randall Cobb is coming off his best game in two years. Devante Adams has played

well except for a few drops. But I think Aaron Rogers can still take apart the Cowboys defense without Jordy Nuss. I think it's a huge problem because I think their offense has to play at such a high level to keep up with their defense, which this week and maybe next week has brutal matchups where they're not going to be able to keep up on the field. And like last year we put everything on, oh, they're struggling because Jordy's gone. That was too much. I think this week it's almost too much the other way that it's not going to be a big factor.

He's still easily one of their two best receivers. Him and Adams are easily the best two, and there's a drop to Allison, and that hurts going against a good Cowboy Secondary. PFF had the Cowboy Secondary is the number one group in the league, and they're deep. I don't know if I agree with that, but it's a deep secondary. So losing Nelson to me is a big-time factor.

Come on. By the way, if you want to hear... They're talk about Aaron Rogers said he might play with a Kevlar vest. if you want to hear the story of the invention of the football flackjacket, NFL.com slash love you blue. It's in there. There you go. Wow.

One of Wes's long forums that you could see only on NFL.com. By the way, if Randall Cobb is going to be Randall Cobb again, they're going to be fun. Right. Because he was such a great player. And he disappeared. And then all of a sudden he showed up again. That would definitely compensate for the loss of five. Him and Adams had like 250 yards and four touchdowns last week.

I get it, but I just mean they have to be a plus-plus-plus to beat a team like the Cowboys. It's been A-plus-plus for eight weeks. But they're loot. I don't think you just take away a guy who's your best receiver, and it's like, oh, that's nothing. They're fine. Yeah. Like when the Cowboys had Des Bryant taken away and they were a better team during that stretch?

They beat the Packers for one. Right. Did you guys see what Aaron Rogers said like seven weeks ago? He said that the Packers can run the table. Really? The breaking news. I think we could run the table I want a list of all the things that he said

or other people have said that never happened because I could go back I think the week before he said something vaguely similar to that and then they lost one more time and then he said that it's like the most Greg angle on this story you could possibly come up

it's true finally in the news a little nugget here this weekend this past weekends four wild card games had a total margin a victory of 76 points. That 19 point differential

average is the highest of any wildcard weekend since 1981 and makes this opening round the most lobsided since expanding to four teams in 1990. That's per NFL research. I mean, that's a full 35 years ago. Break it down.

One decade, two decades, three decades. That's between three and four decades. We've talked about all year, the haves and the have-nots. That's as long as long. as Eli Manning's been playing for the Giants. He's been on the team a very long time. Let's, well, that's what's happening in the news.

That's a good nug. Yeah. You like to get out on a nug. Speaking of nugs, I got a sexy nug in front of me. It's a banger from the great Mark Sessler. It's titled Super Bowl 51, colon, ranking the sexiest potential matchups. And I like this, Mark. I like this.

There are eight teams remaining in the playoffs. So you look at all these teams. Take me, I'm trying to walk myself through your thought process. Tell me if I go astray, you just put me back on the path. Okay. So there's eight teams. Yeah. Okay.

There's any number of permutations for these teams remaining, right? There's a finite number. There's a finite number. And you said, well, let's break it down. But the one thing you couldn't do, you couldn't have the Cowboys and the Packers in the Super Bowl. why same conference It's not how the Super Bowl works Yeah well plus yeah they're playing this week

Yeah I mean it really boiled down to As many of these assignments do I was asked to do it by an editor And I did it So let's talk about it And I think I think everyone will agree With your number one choice Well I don't know if that's I know Greg won't agree

But the Dallas Cowboys Vers the Pittsburgh Steel versus the Pittsburgh Steelers And Mark explain to the audience and maybe the younger kids out there, why this is such a special match-up? Well, okay. I think number one, obviously,

if you care about football history, which is probably, you know, a fraction of the audience at this point. It's like 2% of the audience and they're all working in the media. Sure. And that's would be the group of people that would think it's some sort of harking back

to their two Super Bowl clashes in the 70s for people that are still kind of old. Troy Aitman's Cowboys beat Neil O'Don. Steelers in 1995. But for me, the reason that I put this number one is because when we see Dallas at the height of its powers and when we see the Steelers at the height of theirs and you look back to what happened in week 10, arguably the game of the year, and you look at Levion Bell and

Ezekiel Elliott, I don't know what's not to like about this matchup. It's just the, to me, the most complete option for a Super Bowl out there, in my opinion. Got to tell you, I was skeptical going into this, but your explanation swayed me. Oh, you've done it again, Mark. You've impressed Wes with a point you've made. Always great. Always great. You did it again.

It's one of Dan's favorite things. It should be its own segment. Sidney, can we work on that for the offseason, an entire episode where it's just Wes saying, what a great point you just made, Mark? I've done it like six times ever. I'm not sure Sidney's still here. So that's a nice matchup. I think so.

That's why I put it number one. But to you, it's a nice matchup. but one that's very close. And Greg, you tell me you agree with this one. I feel like this one would be your number one. The Green Bay Packers against the New England Patriots. Oh, man. My number one would be what's number three on the list.

Oh, what is that? Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots. And I bet, you know, I'm a company, man. I'm born the same day as Roger Goodell. I bet this is what old, I'm born the same day as Chris Wesleyan, too, of course. Wow. All three of us, Power Trio, NFL. You guys, like, something feels slightly suspicious.

About the three of you all being born on the Sunday. Thanks a lot, one way. What does that even mean? One way. You only care about yourself? I was talking about Goodell. The whole point was the league. The league.

They would sell of it. They would love a little Cowboys Patriots. And I'm with you. The Steelers Cowboys would be maybe the most exciting Super Bowl matchup we've had in years. Seahawks Patriots was pretty good two years ago. But Cowboys Patriots, the Patriots chance to win. win a fifth Super Bowl against this Cowboys team. I mean, it just feels like a little bit of everything.

That's a great match. Can I just say something, though? And you're not going to like this. In fact, let's head over to the throne of sleaze. Because I don't think a lot of people have even thought about this yet. But I thought about this the other day. Went down to my lab. You know my lab.

Findings. It's in a knot hole in a tree. Boo Randley? Yeah. And it's a large knot hole. It's one of those giant trees in the forest in a different part of the world. You basically, like, kick the Keebler elves out of there. Yeah, hollowed it out with my woodwork.

Anyway, if the Green Bay Packers go on to the Super Bowl, I'm dead serious about this grade. And Aaron Rogers continues what's turning into a legendary run. I got to tell you. And I don't know if anybody agrees with it, but I certainly would hold some stock with me. if they end up in a Packers Patriot Super Bowl, Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady,

best quarterback ever is going to be a discussion. And if Aaron Rogers beats Tom Brady in that game, you know this Peyton Manning thing where you think you've vanquished Peyton and Tom's the number one quarterback ever by a large margin? Aaron. Aaron's your great threat now for your precious title,

best quarterback ever, especially if he gets to the Super Bowl against your boy and beats him. And that's why that's my favorite. one because it hurts the Patriots and the people that love them. He just constructed a narrative that won't even catch on. He would need to continue that legendary run for like five or six years. That's the thing.

Why do we have to do the greatest of all time right in the middle of his career? He is so early. At this point in Tom Brady's career, he still had how many Super Bowl chances and how many MVP, you know, you don't know what the rest of them are. He had won three Super Bowls by now, Tom Brady. He won three Super Bowls before Ann Raher just played, literally. I mean, in his career. All right, he's old, yeah.

What do you want for me? My point is, it's too early. That thing doesn't, that doesn't bother me. The chance to win a fifth Super Bowl. You've got to get bigger picture, Greg. Bigger picture. Well, the bigger picture, you're not as concerned about greatest quarterback of all time. Like, that's always going to be debated.

How about greatest team of all time? That's what would hurt if you make it to the Super Bowl and you have a chance to win the fifth. I mean, that kind of puts it on like, there's no argument. I don't think, in terms of who had the best sustained excellence, dynasty, whatever you want. I would agree. There's never, it's the hardest time now to keep doing what they're doing. So bar none. Okay.

That's fine. By the way, it goes, that would hurt. It goes the other way, Dan. No matter who you're playing. Brady won one more in any of these scenarios. Everything that you wish to happen to Brady and the Patriots is utterly mute. It's, it doesn't, you don't understand. Nobody understands what an AFC's team is in a fan base.

There's nothing else. Well, I'm not on a magic carper ride either. There's nothing. I'm just saying in terms of the Patriots, them winning another Super Bowl, that's not going to make it any worse for you. No, you're right. It won't make any worse for you, but it will make it much better for the Patriots. It's already the horses out of the barn that they've ruined a significant portion of my life as a football fan.

So it's not like this one's going to change anything. But just remember that I said this. If Aaron Rogers is in the Super Bowl and he beats the pads, that's going to become a big talking point. That's all. Well, talking points are useless. You know what was a talking. You're useless. Talking point before Super Bowl.

about this. 48, was it? Is Peyton Manning the greatest of all time before the Seahawks dropped a bomb on him? I mean, that seems like ancient history was only a few years ago. Tom took the title and now everyone recognizes them as such as the greatest. I'm just saying, watch out. You better hope that the Cowboys don't lay an egg

when you're in Big D this weekend. I want the Patriots in the Super Bowl. No. Really? I like great football, and the Patriots are the best football team this year. Also, you'd be down with the. The Steelers. So you like watching the rally.

The Steelers have won eight in the row. They're also a great football team. And anytime they take the field, they have a chance to have the three best players on the field. That's another reason. But Tom Brady, I wish I could still watch Johnny Unitas, you know? I wish I could dial up some film and watch Brett Farr. I still have the opportunity to watch Tom Brady in his prime. And who knows how many.

He might only have six more years, Dan. I think six more months more like it. I think I wouldn't have a problem with the Patriots being in the Super Bowl again as long as they lost. As long as they lost. Well, yeah. Them losing in the super, there's nothing more fun than that. So that's my hope.

Because I obviously would want to see. Well, that's right. But I want to see the chiefs in the Super Bowl? I don't know about that. It's a throne of ease type of problem, but there is no worse scenario than losing another Super Bowl. You would rather have them losing. Get out the trumpets and flutes.

Like last year in the championship game or whatever. That is the worst. They come the cherubs with the grapes. I think the commissioner could envision some worse scenarios for your team. Well, you have number four on your list. To spend them again? You have number four on your list, Mark, the Atlanta Falcons against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And this is where we start to get in a different zone because this is for the people that love a good football game and watching a team that isn't quite as much on the radar.

But this would be in terms from a national like broader perspective, not what the NFL is looking. Oh, no question about that. And I veered away from talking about who we want to have sex with, which games we want to have sex with. This one may be a six out of ten in terms of attracted. I think that's fair. But if you look at what the Falcons are right now, they could provide one of the great Super Bowl offenses we've ever seen. So you find them sexy.

I do. I find the set out. Yeah. Just so do I. Very hot. These top four matchups you throw out there, I mean, they're all offense crazy. I mean, these are all. Well, what else is there at this point?

We just got off a show. Number five, yeah. Well, we got off a show where we just acknowledged that essentially this number one defense and throw me your best defense. They keep getting a wallop. So get them out of the way. Here are the Seattle Seahawks against the Patriots at number five. I believe this should be higher only because, again,

you have to kind of spin forward for this. So if the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl, that tells us that they've won three consecutive playoff games and they're feeling good, looking like the Seahawks we know, and then you get to build up to the two weeks of the big rematch of arguably the best Super Bowl ever. I would put this in the top three, maybe two. This is purely selfish where I put them again.

at the top of this thing, I said all these people, this is my opinion. I feel like it was five days ago that I was covering the Patriot Seahawks Super Bowl. And I don't need to go back with the same exact storylines. I've got to have 15 articles about, oh, will they throw from the one-yardland? I don't want a deal. I want fresh new storylines. That was a fun press box, though. Yes, it was.

Well, we had a great time at that game. Well, if you have. Oh, that was. Yeah, I forgot about Dan. You got moved down to the middle of the, that was nothing. That was the best thing that could have happened because that was the love. lowest moment of the around the NFL podcast and and well west is excusable you're not really latched on to a team and you were just getting excited about the game uh mark what jumping around

to the patriot i hugging listen west and and gregg after yeah uh touchdowns by julian edel i am not like oh i just watched one of the greatest moments in football history well you know let me go hug a call it was genuinely it was i don't remember any hugs there were hugs it was a great game. It was a great game, but I am a much bigger Tom Brady fan than I think you would care to hear about. I like Tom Brady a lot. And I, you know, I, I didn't want his career to go out with two Giants losses and then a third loss. What a setback for Tom personally, if he would have lost a second. Okay. You'd never recover from it. Bonus game. Bonus game. Green Bay Packers against Kansas City Chiefs. Okay. Well, here's why. It would be literally 50,

50 years after Super Bowl 1 in a rematch of Super Bowl 1. And I think that would be an interesting match. It was a classic Super Bowl 1. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I think the Chiefs... No, yeah, I was being too bad.

And we're going to think differently... And it was a blowout. If the Chiefs knock off... Wasn't even called the Super Bowl. The Steelers, and then they knock off New England, then we can believe in the fact that they can topple two good offenses. I don't think that's going to happen. I like the high school age listener who responded to Mark

and included me in a tweet. and said he hopes this matchup happens so I can regale the listeners with stories of Super Bowl 1. As if I was there covering the game or something. What would be the one that would lead to the biggest collective

like pants pooping of sadness from the league office? What is the matter? Oh, it's got to be Houston, Atlanta. Yes. Or more realistically, Chiefs Atlanta. Yeah. I mean, Houston.

That would be a rematch of a great game. Right. I think it'd be a good game, but it wouldn't, considering. You got Dallas in the mix and then Pittsburgh, New England in the mix. Houston playing in Houston for the Super Bowl would be the only good thing about Houston in the Super Bowl. The Cowboys, as great as this rest of the NFC field is, and I don't know, I'd have to go back, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better divisional round in one conference than this year.

I'm loving this divisional round. It's crazy. And yet as good as it is, Dallas is such far and away the story of the year to me and the best thing going. And if they can make it, that's the thing. There you go. You could read Mark's full article at NFL.com slash sess. Well, which is a phony vanity URL because it simply takes you to, if I've written four articles since then, good luck finding it.

Well, this is the third one down. I mean, it's asking a lot from the reader. People don't have that kind of. What about NFL.com slash sexiest? Well, they said, you know what, this one doesn't need a vanity URL. That's what I'm saying. That was their editorial decision. NFL.com slash sex games.

That might go to a calendar or something. I mean, you can lobby for that. All right, there you go. Before we leave you all today, it's time to hit up the old ATN mailbag. Do we have any type of music for that? I can make some up. Yeah, let's see what you got.

It's time for the around the NFL mailbag. You ready? You could even hit me delivering it. I could say something very quick. You can have Doug Maron and sing us. Yeah, that's good. Well, she looks for that. We need to thank Daniel Clark,

long-time listener who sent us a care package of amazing food items, which, you know, Dan, I know you took some. Yeah, for sure. What did you take some? Some apple chips. Apple chips home for your wife who just had a child. Yeah. Great thing to give to a wife.

A few weeks ago, yeah. Kids two months old now. All right. Well, just is closer than if we talk to your. year from now. All right. Time for the Around the NFL mailbag delivered by Chris Wesley. Not exactly delivered by Wes, but he'll be involved with the process.

Yeah, metaphorically. Greg, do you want to get us going? Oh, wow. Starting with me. All right. Do you want to work up to that? No, no. This is good.

This wasn't prepared. We had a listener. That's what I'm trying to find who asked his Twitter account, Young Work Visa. If each hero were a rapper, who would they be? And so I've tried to think about it. Now, this is kind of your purview, because I'm a fan of some hip-hop. I know this side of the table, not as much, but some... I'm a fan of hip-hop.

Like what? I didn't know this. This is the news. I'm a fan of all genres that are done well. Hip-hop's done well. Back off, Doug Marone. Yeah, I like hip-hop. I like it.

I like it. I like it makes me. Push-up. Close to the edge. I'm trying not to move my head. It's Wes in uniform. I'm sorry, I don't know how I got back in here. Anyway.

I'm a fan of lots of genres, too. Just throwing that out there. I am too. I don't like the woman singer song. I don't like this whole piece. Okay. You know, give me a break. Wes was the easiest one to come up with if each year were a rapper.

He's Dr. Dre. I mean, he's kind of the little cantankerous, you know, kind of a he's got to come at you with some strong opinions he's not going to take any any guff he's kind of the old

the old man on the block wow I really came out smelling like roses on this one they forgot it's about me would be his song Mark this is an odd one you know

oh god no no the first one that came to mind is this guy Danny Brown because he's just from he's from left field he's from you know he jumps on the

He sits outside the 7-Eleven down the street. This new run the Jewel's album, he comes on the track, and you're like, who is this guy? You can't believe it. Like, it's from another planet. He's blowing your hair off. You know what I mean? I'll have to listen to him. You don't know where he's, young thug was another one that came to me.

Oh, I mean, I feel, I feel very aligned to young thug. Danny Brown or a young thug, okay? Yeah. I'm going to write these names down. Dan, Dan was the hardest to come up with, but I think the easiest answer is he's Kanye. Oh, there we go. you know well is that good that might be better are you an awful human being he's versatile very talented a leader you know dan loves him some some dan it all sort of it all sort of works yeah i hope it ends

better for me i don't want to be in a psych ward it's very successful i'd be rich but what about you no i didn't think of one for me yeah think of yourself well come up come on you you know inside we're gonna come back to one maybe yeah maybe i'd like to be little wayne you know i was actually gonna say little guy i come up with one for new money. I mean, new money just needs to be new money. We just have to create someone. You know, past this prime, has had substance abuse issues. It all works for me.

Good, good one. Good one, Greg. Nicely done. Let's move on. Kind of going through this in real time. Okay. Have heard a lot about this from, oh, At Singh for the day. Christopher Wachan. Heard a lot about Murray and Henry, Thunder and which two running backs would combine to make the best

legal backfield. What does that mean? I don't know. I think lethal, maybe he said? Most lethal backfield. Let's hope that's what it is. Wes. I think you take Levi-on-Bell and David Johnson. Why wouldn't you? If you can have any two, why not just combine the best two?

Zeke Elliott. Sure, throw them in there too. And Zach Zner? I don't think Zener quite a... Yeah, you maybe have a guy who's a little more of a receiver type, but those two... Yeah, those two. I think Zeke and Bell, that's where I'd go. Or Zeke and John.

That's some sort of combo. Okay, this one from M underscore Bo at M. Bo 80. For a house to qualify as a beach house, what is the maximum distance in minutes that can separate the house from the beach?

You can't measure it by minutes. Here's how you measure a beach house. Can you see the ocean from the house? That's a beach house. So do you live at a beach house? That's a good question. I can see the ocean if I walk out onto my patio. Wait a minute. Caviot. There are

plenty of roads right near my house, which are, they're up on a hill, and they're at least a 12-minute drive from the beach if you go in 40 miles an hour, but you can see the ocean in the beach from there. You got me there. I think you have to be able to hear the Seagulls. And I was in Miami when my new beach house. Which this one did not. Well, I was a couple minutes from the beach. She's hearing other things. I think you, all right. I think Wes is a beach house because you can hear the ocean probably from your house. I think so. I think it's as someone that has experience on the Jersey Shore, I consider one of the hallmarks of a beach house

are people parking on your street and taking their stuff and walking down to the beach. You've got to be close enough to the beach where people would be parking in your neighborhood and making the walk. That is great. Or if you are at your house having some people over for drinks and cornhole like you do West,

that you could walk to the beach in sandals without it being a task. Yeah. You know, this lady that lives six, seven minutes in like rough and tumble Jacksonville, you got to probably catch a bus to get you to the beach. That's not a beach house. One time we had a party and we lost a person.

Remember that? Yes, I do. Get to be found. Let's see. Let's see. Where is Tammy? Let's see. Oh, here's a good one. Dan, we were trying to kill time there for you.

Here's a good one. Mark, I'll ask you this one. Callum Leslie at Callum Leslie 92. What's been your least favorite narrative or hot take this season? Boatgate a late runner, Callum. says, but what's your least favorite? The entire AFC. Is that a narrative?

A narrative? Well, it umbrellas everything that I'm fed up with. The least favorite narrative. Oh, I'll tell you what it is. It's the fact that every single minute I turn on the television after the month of October. It's what to do with Tony Romo. Will Tony Romo play again? Is Tony Romo beating treated fairly enough?

Did Tony Romo's speech have an impact on the locker room? him. Is Tony Romo going to play in the playoffs? Is Tony Romo the better starter? Is Tony Romo the guy that needs to be on the field? Why is Tony Romo not playing? I mean, enough with it already every network around. I totally agree with you. I think that is, to me, the far and away, the most tired narrative. If there was a commercial that was the equivalent of that, it would be the Jennifer Garner, Capital One commercial, where she brings her dad on. Yeah. And she's like, my dad loves my current.

commercials and now here's my dad. He's like, can I do the catchphrase? It's like, what's in your wild? Oh, dad. It's like, what? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? Well, it, it, wave farewell to that potential sponsor.

It. Come at me, MasterCard. They will. They have power. I think it's Capital One, so they've really done their job there and hooking you. That concept came back to Hunter because they were trying, she was trying to humanize herself and her dad. and ultimately, it backfired in a big spot.

In a big spot. Here's a good question, Mark. At Jose Got the Tacos. Hi, Jose Got the Tacos. James Somerville. Is Cessler ever going to write a book? He seems to enjoy coming up with long, drawn-out scenarios for bits. Bits.

That's like how that ended. Bits. Would need to clone myself. Don't have enough time. or a solid idea at this point. Two things that would be requisite. Okay, if you had the time, would it be something you would like to do?

I would like to. That doesn't mean you can do it. I mean, how many people try to do something like that? I think multiple people in this room would like to. All right. Wes, this one's for you. From Simon Campbell at DJ Death Star. Good name.

Not good enough for whistles, I guess. Would you rather spend a week with J. J. Watt in his cabin or a week with OBJ and Bieber on the boat, Wes. Oh, my God. I have to answer? Yes. Yeah. They got a pick.

You don't actually have to do it. Probably not an invite that's coming you with. Unlikely. Nor would I accept. All right, Wes. You've got to pick one, bro. I would think, can I just say I'm studying to answer me? immediately.

I felt like Watt in the cabin, at least there's some Wes aesthetic involved, and he's got the cornhole outside, and he's going to have some beers in a fire pit and some music probably, and maybe you'd even learn that he's not such a bad guy, he just tries too hard. Whereas the other scene sounds like a total nightmare for Chris Wesleying, club music, loud, phony people, bottle service, all the hallmarks of the things that you loathe. All right, you sway me. I mean, I'm a person who loves to be by the water.

Did I make a good point? But it's not a boat. Did I make a good point, too, Chris? Dan, you really raised a number of good... A series of good... You hear that Derek Carr? An ascending series of excellent points. I like how Dan's strategy with Derek Carr

was to guarantee he never unblocked him ever again. Well, you know what? Do I have to do it? You have one week, Derek Carr. If you do not unblock me in one week, I declare vengeance. Seven days, baby. You got the time to figure it out.

You know what the key was? What? You used the phrase club music, and I was like, yeah, that's anything with Beaver, O'Dell Beckham, and Club music. But it's on a boat. I would take the Beckham and Beaver scenario in a second. Yeah, you'd have, if nothing else, it would be a, you'd be on a boat,

and it would be like you could report back your findings. It would be an interesting thing. Well, what if you find out you don't like J.J. Watt, and then you're alone with him in a cabin for seven. I like the group thing. There's going to be other people. There's going to be fantastic talents and young people all over the place. Much greater chance.

What? Musicians, like all sorts. It would be great. Much greater chance that Justin Bieber annoys the absolute crap out of me. Most likely. Watt, the worst case scenario with Watt, honestly, is he tries so hard to impress you by how great he is and kind of humble bragging and things that it drives you mad and you're in the middle of the woods. Then you turn into Jack Nicholson and the Shining.

Right. And then he blocks you on Twitter. Judging by what I've seen on video, I could spend the. entire weekend trying to remake his cornhole for him because he needs it. All right, let's do a couple more. Sounds like a rom-com. Cuddled up together by the roaring fire.

All right. Reading books to each other, Wes and J.J. Watt. Much more in common than they realized. Contrary to what you would expect, he would actually be the one sitting on my lap. Here's one for you, Wes. Julian Cantor at the Barryman. Can Wes please unblock me? Nah.

I don't know. I mean, what did you do to deserve it? Julian Cantor, Barryman, whatever? I don't know. State your case to someone else and have him and pass it along to me. All right. Last one. Aaron Williams at Aaron C. Will.

Why does Greg hate the Falcons? Also, why is his name spelled with a stutter? What does that mean? An extra G? Yeah. I guess so. Well, the extra G means it's not Gregory. It just ends the name.

There's no Gregory involved. There's that. Me and Greg Williams and Greg Doyle representing. I don't hate the Falcons. What does that mean? I love the Falcons. I think that's your hip-hop name, Extra G. 60% G is my rap name.

I've always wanted. I don't think you hate the Falcons. No, not at all. I like watching them. All right. Good stuff, good mailback. Nice mailback, solid mailbag. We will be back.

When will we be back? We'll be back on Thursday with another episode of the round of the end of a podcast in which we break down each of the four playoff games coming up this weekend. It is the best weekend of the year, divisional weekend where you get, and we got a good one this year. There's only one fraud in there. So you're going to have three really good games,

hopefully and then one extra buy week on the throne of ease. But we're getting now to some real fun football. So we'll be breaking down all of those games. So make sure you check in. Also leave comments and star ratings on iTunes. That supports the show. And we believe that support could help the show with bigger dreams we have about what we can do with the show in 2017 and beyond.

That's it. This is Dan Hanzas. Signing off. Four. Quiet Storm. The Man Cannon. The old boss. A new money behind the glass till Thursday.

This is an IHeart podcast.