NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Six biggest mysteries of the divisional round

Episode Date: January 13, 2016

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, and Marc Sessler – discuss all the latest news from around the NFL including Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict receiving a 3-game suspension for violating the NFL’s player-safety rules, and former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin meeting with the 49ers. Then, the heroes discuss some of the greatest mysteries surrounding the divisional round of the playoffs, and how they could affect the final 8 teams in the running for Super Bowl 50. Finally, the heroes hit the phone lines to answer a few listener 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 are saving their best work for the theology podcast. 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 some heroes. Chris Wessling on my left. Greg Rosenthal on my right. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Great to have you back, Dan. Back in the chair. Yeah, you're the maestro. Listen, I, thanks guys for welcoming me back. And, you know, I'm in the Dominican Republic for this wedding. And, you know, my Twitter's getting blown up. And everybody, like, tell me, oh, you better watch out. Colleen's good.

You know, you might have lost your gigs. Like, of course I know Colleen's good. Colleen is talented. You're the one who put her up to this. I, yeah. I mean, I don't know if it was my idea or your idea, Greg, but I was fully on board with Colleen hosting. She's a better host than me.

So you put her in the host chair. away we go it's not doesn't need to be a competition she's part of the team you're the host now that's it i don't know why there's always a reaction of our twitter followers uh to try to create some sort of controversy they do this with the jesslinick podcast too they were saying there was a lot of hot butts talk uh in terms of dan you know because that that's your yeah your uh mo that's corner and that brings me to my second point which is you know why was everybody trying to cause trouble exactly yeah why can't just be calling great job Coming after the old Zeus are on social media Because Colleen did a nice job They're fomenting dissent And I don't like it That's like when

Whenever we do a mailbag Guaranteed at least five questions Like who would win in a fight between the four of you It's always like What can we do to get them to hate each other Yeah Just wait till we're actually successful And we're making some money

Then we will hate each other There would never be a fight between the four of us The real heat You have to get rich first The only real heat, there's two. There's scientists heat sometimes. You know, we forget about it right after we leave the room. That's all football.

And then TD and Mark. That was legit. That was real. Those guys hated each other. That was legitimate. Welcome to another. Yeah, so thank you, Colleen, for helping out. And there will be plenty of Colleen to come, whether I'm here or not, throughout the rest of the.

Like Thursday. She's booked. There you go. Book for Thursday and throughout the offseason and the rest of the playoffs. So that is good news. This is the Around the NFL podcast and other news presented by Scott trade. And I don't know who the Scott trade is, but this dude finally stepped up, Greg. It's exciting.

Dan has been looking for a sponsor, just calling out companies names randomly. Mattis. An old Scott trade was out there listing. And they're saying, Scott was like, man, I'm going to get in on this around the NFL podcast. thank you mr trade yeah he's got to come in when when the getting's good we're the number one podcast around on uh nfl media it's on nfl network more now and scott trade saying this is the time to jump in buy low stake stake stake his claim on us right yeah so you know have a move apple reboc Nike home depot dix sears dicks you know you missed out scott

trades the place to go for all your needs in that field financial financial field uh big show today big show home run i'm back uh big show today uh to talk about everything the fallout of wild card weekend uh so we will dig into some news coming out of those uh games some of them pretty wild obviously um i was able to watch uh most of them uh from the dominican republic They air on non-HD television in the resort I was staying at, but I did get to catch up once I got home Sunday night, so I can talk with you guys about that game with some semblance of knowledge, not at a scientist level, but I'll do my best.

We'll also start looking ahead to the divisional round. And I think, I don't know if it's something you've said, Greg, but I certainly agree with who's ever sentiment it is. Best weekend of the year, divisional round playoffs. You got all these, like you get rid of kind of the bum playoff teams, and now you've got a nice stable of stud teams going at it for the chance to play in the final game in February. There's always some classics. Think back to last year.

You had Packers Cowboys, which is a good game marred by a bad call. You had Ravens Patriots, which one of the best games going. And then you always have like one big upset. And last year, that was the Broncos going down. If any season ever needed it, it's this season. Because it's been a lot of bad football. It was not a great wildcar weekend. So, yeah, they'll make up for it.

I would be a little nervous, Greg, about that one big upset occurring, you know, off the mass pike up there in New England. Shocker. You know, I mean, just listen. This is alive in the future looking at Gillette Stadium, you know, in their little shopping mall where a football field is. That's agony. They would, if the Patriots really lost, it would just be silence. Everyone would be out by the middle of the fourth quarter. Ooh, shot fire against your own fan base.

So, yes, six mysteries of the divisional round. We'll talk about. Wes wrote a really good piece on the around the NFL page. So we'll dig into that and talk about some of the mysteries that lie ahead this weekend. And we're going to try something. I am almost certain, even though it was my idea, I'm almost certain it was a bad one. Listener phone calls. We put it out there.

Sydney, who's just awesome work behind the glass. I'm sure Sydney likes it better when Colleen's hosting because she's not getting bombarded with requests, 41 minutes before the show starts, as I did today. But Sydney rounded up some great listeners who wanted to either ask a question or make a comment, and we'll try this out. It most likely will go terribly, either logistically or just the conversation, but we'll give it a shot. That's the Around the NFL podcast for Tuesdays presented by Scott Trade. So let's get to it.

And we'll start by going behind the glass and formally saying hello. to Sydney. Hey, guys. How's it going? Hi. Did you miss me? I did miss you. I will say it was nice to have another girl around because I'm severely outnumbered.

Girl power. Yeah. It's tough being in the sports media landscape as you are. And you're a rising star. Thank you. Not even joking around. Sydney is awesome at what she does. And she does.

She reps for the ladies. That's a little slang. That's a lot of pressure, but I'll like it. Let's do some news. Sure. Oh, I think he'd need a Grammy Award for that one. Who is that? That was Pac-Man Jones.

Oh, Adam Jones. Saying Antonio Brown deserved a Grammy Award for his acting performance. So he called Joey Porter Jerry Porter. Which was hilarious. And he said that Antonio Brown needs a Grammy. A Grammy. And Antonio Brown had a great response on Twitter. He had some sort of picture of him singing at a microphone.

That is. awesome i would just like to say once an idiot oh he's an idiot because he had literally a 75 chance of getting it right because he said he could have said oscar which would have been fine that's not even the part i'm talking about acted like he's faking a concussion he like split second time he could have said emmy that would have been right would have been right could have said tony sure that would have been right could have said golden globe so he had an 80% chance and yet he said Grammy. No narrative of mine has crashed more than the Adam Jones rejuvenation season that he had this year ending in spectacular. That wasn't even a narrative. He had a good season.

Well, let's talk about, we'll start with talking about his teammate, Vante's Berfic, who, of course, had the hit on Antonio Brown over the middle that, and we'll talk about Adam Jones as well. He referred to it as some type of acting job. But the truth of the matter is that Antonio, O'Brown was, you know, diagnosed with a concussion on the play, and it was Berfix, you know, not the first time he's been labeled a dirty player. And the NFL announced Monday that they were fed up with it. They said that he had been suspended without pay for the first three games of the 2016 regular season for, quote, repeated violations of safety-related playing rules.

Let's start there. He's going to appeal it. In fact, he has appealed it. do you think that was fair to do that is perfect the guy that needed this type of discipline he got off easy really what are you talking about this guy is a threat to the health of every other player on the field including his teammates he's out of control he's over the line and if Marvin lewis isn't going to stop him the NFL needs to that's like a that was a good like Mike Francesa rant there no this guy is a dirty dirty player who needs to be punished

put this heat on NFL network i like it west uh i don't know though i don't this isn't good enough uh no i'm just saying i didn't know he felt so if you're counting it up about it he'd knocked the three best dealers players out of games this year all three of them laveon bell Antonio brown and big ben he got fined it also flew under the radar when they announced this he got fine for a hit on max williams the ravens tight end in the season finale and they announced that yesterday too he the panthers called for his suspension last year because he got caught twisting ankles after the whistle on cam newton and gregg olson this is what he does it's his MO and look he's a throwback to the 50s when that stuff was encouraged and allowed and TV wasn't out there and the sport wasn't popular because america knew that it was too violent and there had to be restrictions the NFL has restrictions now he has to play under the rules you've convinced me at first i thought that was a good so yeah at first i thought you know three games is a lot what's the precedent aren't there other dirty players and dirty plays happening all the time he hasn't even been suspended one game so i'm thinking back to brandon

merriweather who got one game remember and then he got two and that was eliminated upon yeah maryweller is a certified headhunter right like perfect but perfect does dirty stuff after the whistle continually that that's totally fair and there was a vine out there of him doing it on big ben's shoulder injury hit so that's all fair and they definitely referred to his history that it was a repeat offender and that's why he got it it's amazing though if you think about it if jeremy hill doesn't fumble that ball so many things are different i guess that's obvious but perfect would have been the hero they had the game on nflb network yesterday while we were at work and i'm watching the game perfect had an incredible game kept by an incredible interception that would have been one of the plays of the Entry for the Bengals. I mean, he peeled off one guy in a zone, kind of tricked Landry Jones, then comes back. An amazingly athletic play intercepts the ball.

And if Jeremy Hill just holds on to the ball or the Bengals get the first round there, Perfect is an absolute hero. He's playing this week. He's certainly playing the next three games of next season, and it all turned around. And he probably heard someone this week, too. Right. He's a phenomenal player. He had a great game that game.

He had a great game in the regular season finale. He was coming into his own recapturing the form he had when he was their best. defensive player before his knee injury, it's just a shame that he can't get under control. And Adam Jones, as we were just talking about, this is what he had to say to the Dan Patrick show on Monday morning about the hit that concussed Antonio Brown and left his availability and some doubt for a divisional round weekend. Here's the quote, nah, Antonio Brown was not hurt. I know he was faking it.

Go back and look at the play. If you go back in slow motion, yes, go on Adam. You tell me, Yvante has hit him in the head. or if his shoulder pads barely touched him. I don't know. What are you talking about, bro? He's an idiot. A doctor.

It's an idiot. The doctor's not lying. I think he'd need a Grammy Award for that one. That's insane. I mean, that's more. And Bengals fans are, of course, believing Pac-Man Jones on this. Antonio Brown is faking. Well, you know, Bengals fans have been brainwashed.

And I hope they start thinking for themselves. Please. His eyes were rolling into the back of his head. The camera showed it. I mean, not that we even need. He's a hell of an actor. even to defend the reality of the situation, which is that, by the way, Antonio Brown's not expected to even play this week.

So if it's all an acting job, the Steelers are doing some strange things for it. It's crazy. And I think it's going to cost Adam Jones money. It's not that big of a deal. But I don't think the Bengals are going to re-sign them now. Even though he had a great season for them, he's a free agent. And I got to think they'll just be like, he's 35 years old. It's just time to move on.

You know, we got more out of Adam Jones. than you would have ever expected. And if they don't re-sign them, how many teams out there are going to really want to dive into the Adam Jones experience at 35 years old? I was thinking about the end of his career. I was thinking about that after the game and just like, you know, how, you know, in the playoffs,

it changes everything. The stage is so big. It's how you're remembered. It really can define a career. And when you do something like he did in this game, and it's really how he's going to be remembered, despite all the good things he's done, Cincinnati as a player, I think he could have a hard mark.

And I could see the Bengals be like, we don't want you here anymore after what you did in the biggest game of the year. He's in trouble. Marvin Lewis, he's already started on his off-season program that you have to have more poise. This is an area of emphasis because it has to be for that team. And why would you re-sign Pac-Man Jones if that's your priority? All right. And we'll look over to the Steelers now. And Ben Routhisberger spoke to a Pittsburgh area.

radio station KDCA in Pittsburgh about his shoulder injury and, you know, Ben likes to explain to the media and the fans what is wrong with him exactly. You could read into that however you like, but he did disclose on Tuesday that in addition to the sprained AC joint, which Ian and Albert Breer both reported earlier this week, he also does have torn ligaments in that throwing shoulder and admitted and acknowledged that he has not even touched the football since that fourth quarter drive to beat Cincinnati. So he made it sound like he was unsure about whether he'll play on Sunday. He was unsure.

Mike Tomlin, Mike Tomlin sounds confident that Ben is playing. Because you got to build up the biggest drama possible because it's big Ben's move and he's been using it for 10 years. It's always been funny to me, the dichotomy between the tough, physically toughest quarterback in the NFL and the need to tell everyone how banged up you are. and to drag as much drama out of it as possible. Greg, are you noticing a lot of fire? I love it.

I love it. You are fired up, Mr. Wesleyan. It's about me. West of this came. Give him the MVP. I mean, the afterglow is right now like my, like a child, like my child Ellis, after Christmas. So it's not just about Christmas.

It's about the day after Christmas playing with those toys. The next day playing with those toys. And Westvis, you should. He got Castle Grey Skull. Exactly. He was here on Sunday night, and if you go back and listen, Dan, just go to the Bengals Steelers segment. That was, it was a great conversation, and West was just riding high because it was the greatest West of us he ever could have had. It was a West of his miracle.

I am still riding high, and this might carry me through 2016. This is going to be my year, Dan. I don't even remember what we were talking about. Oh, yeah, Ben Rothersburg. Yeah, so what I guess you guys. You guys sound confident that this is all part of the Ben act, the Ben play that he goes through. I'll buy you a sandwich if he doesn't play.

Well, that's fine, but is he going to be the Ben Rathesberger that we love to watch throwing deep balls down the field? If he doesn't have Antonio Brown, that first hurts. And if he's not throwing the deep ball, that takes away his biggest asset. Let's not forget, the Steelers season was on the line, and they put Landry Jones out there for that under two. minute two drives in a row right but big ben sitting there in the helmet the first drive that's true he did come out there the PR director by the way reported through their twitter that ben is coming back

on the field he's going to give it a go but it didn't happen and then 138 to go they go with landry jones on that's that was the thing i couldn't figure out or whatever it was i feel magnificent it was amazing that if it not for the hill fumble again landry jones would have taken that last thing and we never would have known that ben could have played so i got to think it's pretty banged up and he can't throw the ball. I'm not trying to dismiss the amount of pain he's in. But he's always, like he could have said springing the AC joint. He's throwing in the torn ligaments just so you know.

And you appreciate how tough he is once he comes out and leads the Steelers to an upset. I'm just wondering. And so he's going to be out there. We don't know if the Angel Williams is going to be out there. And I don't know if old Jerry Porter is going to be out there or Joey Porter. Because they might suspend. Maybe they'll suspend Joey Porter. For all the, you know, grief that Adam Jones took,

he had a right to be upset because they were annoyed by Porter going into the game and I think that he seems like kind of an idiot too I mean he totally he's an agitator do you remember I can't remember who had the pick six earlier William Gay William Gay and he's crawling

on the field that exaggerated celebration and he's Andrew Whitworth he you know he came out and said that he before a game this season he was like at midfield mother effing everyone on the field he shouldn't have been on the field

during that moment of the game in the wild. Like, he could easily gotten the flag and ruin their season. Paul Gunther, the defensive coordinator. What did he call? He called Porter a clown, basically. An embarrassment. An embarrassment.

He didn't not mince words at all. You don't really hear that too often. An embarrassment to the coaching profession. Wow. Let us now move over. We are out of now. I think we're out of hot butt season. No.

There's one sizzling. Oh, in Detroit? I don't remember. A sizzling posterior? I don't really like, I just remembered. I don't really like these images, this. Just imagine the heat rising up under the buttocks and you're just not comfortable because your butt, it's super hot, you got a hot butt, and you might get fired.

You're talking about Jim Caldwell? Jim Caldwell, it's very hot right now. Oh, can't smell good. New general manager, you know, has his press conference hired from the Patriots in Detroit. They ask him about it and he goes with the, oh, I have a lot of respect for Jim Caldwell. Goodbye. Oh, no. See you.

It just sounded like it's a massive. matter of time. And can you really see a guy from the Patriots organization thinking, okay, let's keep Caldwell. Let's keep the guy from the Colts. I don't know. It just doesn't seem to mesh. It's not their stuff. Jim Caldwell is not a Patriots kind of guy. So he stays in that job until the Patriots are knocked out of the playoffs and they get Josh McDaniels? No, I think he's fired this week. I think we could we could get a three or four graph shorty up, you know, get it ready. because I think the odds right now, and I'm not on a limb here, Ian Rappaport, our NFL Media Insider, said he's on thin ice. He thinks he's going to go.

You know what that respect gets Jim Caldwell? He gets a sit-down privately where the owner tells him he's fired as opposed to being leaked to, like, an insider like rap sheet first. There's the respect. I could be wrong. I'm just guessing here, but it just seems like a weird marriage that a Patriots GM guy is going to keep Caldwell's. You're allowed to deduce? Speaking of weird marriages, the San Francisco 49ers are set to meet with Tom Coughlin, the former Giants coach, who was not kidding when he said he wanted to continue his career,

despite being 69 years old. He is meeting with the Niners on Tuesday. According to Rapsheet, Coughlin had met with the Eagles on Monday, and that would just be bizarre if Tom Coughlin was on the sideline with the Eagles during one of those NFC East rival tilts with the Giants. don't think big blue fans would like to see that. It'd be awesome is what it'd be. I hope that's what happens.

49ers just seems weird. Is Cofflin really going to be able to win there quickly? That's a strange situation. Eagles sounds great. I mean, our friend Colleen Wolf's husband, John Gonzalez, I'm just thinking of his tweet when they were talking about the Cofflin interview. It just said, please, please, please, please, please. Because this is exactly what the Eagles media wants.

It's a great story. Root for the story, having Cofflin there. He's a good coach. I like to see good coaches still doing the job. Also that Eagles beat writer that draws all the cartoon stick figures would probably have a lot of phone time. Oh, Jimmy Kemsky. Oh, Kempstow, yeah.

He would have fun. And another coaching news, Terrell Pryor would like the Browns to hire Hugh Jackson. Hey, Terrell, you know, just to be happy about a roster spot. Spipe down a little bit. He knows he's going to be back in Cleveland? Terrell Pryor, who I think is a wide receiver, maybe is a third-string quarterback. I have this to say, every day when I woke up in Oakland during their time to in Oakland I was like man I got to get to work I wasn't even playing in 2011 when he was

head coach and you don't always you don't always feel a part of things but Hugh made it fun every single time he would be a great choice I can tell you that the Browns are obviously it seems like they're very hot for Hugh and I'll throw out a hashtag hot for Hugh hot for Hugh I will throw this out there because there is a report also out there I believe from Rap Sheet that you know the Giants want to meet with Hugh as well. If you're Hugh Jackson, why would you ever take the Brown's job if you had a chance to get the Giants job? It just wouldn't make sense to me.

I know it's getting a job. It's hard, but I would play it out a little bit if I was Hugh and not dive into that Cleveland job. If I had a chance to get one of the best coach jobs in the league, in my opinion. Maybe he's trying to enter the Ohio Sports History Hall of Fame. That's right. Cessler did make the point last week, the Browns have the most potential to be a hero and have a football life about you because

the man that turns around, the Browns will be a hero. But there's a reason why it hasn't happened. You're right, the job isn't as good. But Hugh Jackson, Tom Coughlin, I think, you know, they're the big names in this coaching search, but there is no hot coaching commodity. There's no guy that's like, we've got to get him signed now. They've all been out there now for a week plus. They've all had multiple interviews.

Mike Silver, who's very close with Hugh Jackson, says no one's offered Hugh Jackson a job. It's not that he's choosing. It's not that he's leveraging. No one's giving him an offer. And that makes a lot of sense because I think if the Browns really wanted Hugh Jackson, they'd offer him the job. And he'd probably take it because you don't know what you're going to get in New York. It's the same reason why Rex took the bill's job last year because it was there.

I think he would take the first job that he got. So I think we've got a game of musical chairs here where none of the coaches and none of the landing spots are all that attractive. So they're all leaving their options open, like the dating world for over 30-year-olds in the Tinder era. Wow, I like that. Well, the Eagles and Giants are fine jobs, but I think in their mind, they just want to be thorough and they want to take their time.

They're in no hurry because none of these, they can live without any of these games. Well, since West cracked open the door, what's going on in your dating life right now, Chris? I've got to, well, I don't really want to say it out. I don't want to say there's something good going on, but I don't want to say. something good go i don't want to jinx it i'm going to write that down today is january 12th by the way january 12th the anniversary of super bowl 3 the last time the jets made the super bowl a victory over the baltimore coltsin let me tell you something guys joe guaranteed it wow you know what it's also the anniversary of now that we're on the topic what my son's birth one year ago oh oh walker rose

it's all way to make it through a year good job oh that is great i love and i did not realize that he was born on the Jets Super Bowl day. Maybe he'll foreshadowing that he will break the Jets long slide. Or break my heart and be a Jets fan. You never know. He'll break his own heart if he does that. Where were we? Any other?

Oh, Rob Ryan, by the way. Did we talk about this on Sunday? No. Okay, he's on Rex Ryan's staff. He's hired as an assistant coach. And that seems like a weird move destined for failure. Well, you could make the point that they both, you know, who's going to try harder than the Ryan brothers?

They both have so much to prove this year. You said it well, I think, Dan. It seems like there'll be a memorable, it'll be great memories for them, and you can understand it personally. And yet it just seems like a recipe for disaster. In 20 years, they'll be on a lake drinking beer together, talking about their 2016.

Well, there's something to that. If you and your brother were both, you know, big-time coaches in the league, who knows? I mean, this might be Rex Ryan's last head coach. They're just like me. Of course they want to do that kind of stuff. I worry about Rob Ryan's presence, day-to-day presence, how it will affect Rex Ryan's body. Potential weight game.

Rob's plugged in. Like, he has a good time and likes to eat. Now Rex and Rob will be together. Will Rex be able to stick to his diet with Rob there who could be a bad influence? These are the things I'm tracking more than anything. What's the science on the stapling thing? Isn't it that you can't really become? Yeah, you're not hungry.

You're not hungry enough. You can't fill it up. Yeah, but Rob Ryan is a force of nature. You're right. I saw him at a chick filet in the Indianapolis airport last February. And that guy, even when he orders fast food, it's like fun and boisterous. I could see Rex getting sucked back into that world. Rob's out here.

Stay strong with. I've seen Rob around Santa Monica. It'd be great. We should have them in on the podcast. Oh, that would be like. Now that I would like. Finally in the news, I'm in on that, totally. Big news.

Big, big news here. The headline with the source here at TMZ.com, but you could also see it on Instagram. And if you watched the Golden Globes, was it? Oh, no. It was the NCAA championship game, a little sideline during Alabama Clemson. And here's the headline from TMZ. I, uh, Jewel, I'm dating a hot NFL quarterback. And that quarterback, ladies and gentlemen, is no other than friend.

Well, we've never met him, but he has no idea. He doesn't know who we are. He is clipboard Jesus, Charlie Whitehurst. My goodness. How did this not happen sooner? It makes so much sense. Well, the crumbs were there for us for years and years. Uh, Jewel laid them out.

Now, Glycerine, which is the theme song with Charlie Whitehurst. According to you. According to me, but he has a guitar and he's learning how to play it. Released in 1996, right? Jules' album went nuts, 1996. And this song you're listening to right now, listen to this line. Dark eyes, careless hair.

Fashionably sensitive, but too cool to care. Well, when was that written, though? Like the 90s. But she was like 19 years old. Jewel is. She's about 40. Jewel is, Wes, you and I. I had an immense crush on her.

We've talked about Jewel on this podcast. Why does it matter how old she is? No, no. My point was when she wrote those lyrics, what was Charlie Whitehurst doing? You know, he was like in high school. It was in the stars, is what I'm saying. It was in the cosmos all along. and the crumbs of this moment were laid out there for us to follow,

but it would have been hard to follow. It's an amazing development. Now, if you saw a headline on TMZ, take the Jewel aspect because I think we all agreed, Jule and Charlie Whitehurst are meant to be together. What is her, what's her first thought? You were meant for me. Maybe that's about him.

Her first single was Who Will Save Your Soul, but yeah. I try. But if you saw Jewel, or you just saw like Pop Star, basically, I'm dating a hot NFL quarterback. How many quarterbacks, if you were just blind guessing, would you have to guess before you got to Charlie Whitehurst? I don't know.

How many were named sexiest man of Nashville? Yeah, exactly. I would be in the... Really? Okay. Like the 10th guy. I don't think like hot NFL quarterback. I would have gone Drew Stanton.

The hot thing doesn't throw me off. The NFL quarterback thing throws me off more. Right. Exactly, a little bit. Like, because people don't think of Charlie Whiteer when you think of NFL quarterback. Superbacks immediately. It's great, though. This probably won't work out, let's be honest.

It's tough for celebrities, and clipboard Jesus is a huge one in Jewel to stay together. But if this begins to push Charlie down the road that I'm hoping, the Jesse Palmer Road where he's on The Bachelor, this will all come together. Or maybe he'll fall in love with Jewel and they'll be together forever. That'd be great too. We're happy for Charlie.

It's one of the biggest stories of the year. If these two kids can't make it, what kind of hope does that give the rest of us? True. And one last note, I didn't want to miss it. Bill Belichick showed up at his press conference on Tuesday with a Shiner, a black guy. And Greg, I want to ask you, P-scale, how nervous does this make you that he has Bill Belichick, the hooded one, the man that is impenetrable, now showing signs of wear and tear physically ahead of the playoffs. It makes me feel great. He's in fighting mood.

That's when he's at his best. Whoever gave him this Shiner is going to pay. The chiefs are going to pay for whoever gave Bill Belichick this Shiner. He's already dead. Right, exactly. I like it. He's feisty. I want a feisty, angry Belichick.

Did anybody have the onions to ask what happened? Yeah, they asked him. He said, you know, he didn't think they had to disclose the reason on the injury report or some crack like that. You didn't say the other guy? He didn't say anything. Bill lighten up. That is like that. That was a joke.

What happened? Well, he wouldn't say that. All right. Let's get. What are the possibilities for getting a blackout? He was either in a fight. Right. He fell.

Or he murdered someone. Horsing around with his kids, grandkids or whatever? He doesn't horse around. I don't know. There's not a lot of options of what he could have done. What if he was fixing something on his boat and a pulley came and hit him in the face? He says, I think all. Five rings?

He just says, I think all. live i don't think we need to uh list coaches on the injury report i'm sure if we're required to we'll do it blow hard just tell us what happened i'm gonna get to the bottom i'm loving this uh dan convinces himself to pick against the patriots in the playoffs again oh it's almost like it works it's almost like gregg and the bangles i said on network gregg that uh a network hit that we taped today that you're a little worried that this is going to be like that game against the Ravens in 2009. That's a terrible comparison.

That Patriots team was dog. That was the worst. I can't even say it. So is this one. No, this is a good Patriots team. They have a good defense. They have Tom Brady. They've got Grank.

It's not perfect right now, but it's a good team. And I don't buy this. By the way, everyone should be watching around the NFL. We should plug that too. It's on two to four every day during the playoffs with host Andrew Sicilian. Two to four Pacific time. That's right. Four to six.

Six. No, well, we'll get it right. Five to seven. Not that easy. Five to seven East Coast. I blew it. I'm seeing how tough it is for the day. Five to seven Eastern every day.

And we're doing a couple hits per day. Yes, we're doing that. So check it out, DVR it, watch it live if you're unemployed. These are all things you can do. Andrew does an awesome job. Another guy is a better host than me, technically speaking. That guy's a pro. And we got to get Andrew back on the show because he,

a friend of the show, Andrew Siciliano, and a mensch. at Andrew Siciliano. And that's what's happening. All right. Now let's look ahead, guys, to the divisional round. Wes, you wrote a very nice piece. I enjoyed it, read the whole thing cover to cover.

Six biggest mysteries of the divisional round, which you could find at NFL.com slash all these mysteries. Got to dig in, find out what are the answers. Is that a vanity URL that's active right now? Well, that would seem counterproductive. You want it to be simple, something you can send out on Twitter. I don't know what that nonsense was.

Let me try it again. NFL.com slash Wes figured it out. All these mysteries no longer need to be sleuth. I think like NFL.com slash super sleuth. That would be. See, that's more along the lines of what we're thinking, Dan. In the words of TD, either way.

Either way. All right. Let's start with us. Go down the list. Wes, you did a great job of this. Which Peyton Manning will we see? And that one, that makes a little. lot of sense because you're wondering if it will be let's say and listen now we're going back

all the way to the beginning of last season to set this up but early 2014 Peyton Manning when he was still one of the most productive passers in the league or midpoint 2014 and on all the way through this season will we see that guy who can't throw a ball he can't get going he's always hurt which one will we see answer that mystery west this one's fascinating to me because he was the biggest off-season mystery, I thought, which Peyton Manning, what were you going to see? And now we go into the playoffs, and he's still the biggest mystery because the range of outcomes is so huge. Could he be early 2014 or 2013 Peyton Manning? Or could he be the liability of the first two months of the season?

Or could he be the guy who's completely broken against the Chiefs and has to get yanked from the game? I feel like any of these things are possible. I got to admit, I'm nervous that Peyton Manning is going to be. be Peyton Man. As a Patriots fan, that's the worst possible outcome is having to go to Denver. First of all, Denver, winning that game. I'm rooting for the Steel. I don't think that's, I don't think that's going to Denver and then Peyton Manning playing really well. That'd be a really painful, like, it would just be terrible to lose to Peyton Manning. And he's, he's supported by a great defense now. So I don't think we're going to see pre-Cubiac Manning. But if he's just good with that

defense and they take care of business, if they, if they come out of the AFC, that'd be a painful loss for the Patriot. I know I'm a bigger fan of Peyton. Manning than others in this room. But I got to say, isn't it more fun that he's in the mix right now? It just adds a whole level of drama. I agree. The playoffs that we needed. So we'll see what happens there.

Good mystery, West. Next up, how beat up are the Steelers? That is a big mystery because we don't know how serious Ben's injury is. He's telling us exact type of injuries that he's dealing with. But we don't know if that's going to keep him out of action, DeAngelo Williams. We don't know if he'll get back. It's not looking good. Antonio Brown, we don't know if he's going to play after he got concussed whether or not Adam Jones believes it.

So you put those big three potentially out of the game, you know, the Steelers don't have a shot. This is such a mystery that from the time I wrote this yesterday afternoon to this morning, the whole tenor of the Steelers part changed that I wrote that optimism was the order of the day that the Pittsburgh Post Gazette said that, you know, Antonio Brown is expected to be fine for this weekend. Really? They also said Big Ben is likely to play. They sources told them. Deeply embedded. Since then reports have come out saying Antonio Brown is unlikely to play. And Big Ben has come out and said, look, I have, in addition to a sprained D.C.

joint, I've got torn ligaments in my throwing shoulder. It's a good test of the old concussion protocol. Now, if Antonio Brown plays, I don't think that necessarily means the concussion protocol is a sham or anything like that. We just don't know. But if he does not play because of the concussion, I think that does show on some level that that the protocol and the concussion and all that. That's the type of thing that maybe would not have happened as recently as two years ago. Because Antonio Brown's the best receiver in football.

I mean, I think he's the best receiver in football. He's been as valuable as any receiver. His loss is just massive. AJ Green last year in the playoffs, wasn't he unable to get cleared? That's true. I kept him out. So, yeah, progress is being made. Maybe Brown becomes the next guy.

You want to see him playing in that game. But if his head's not right, he can't. third mystery the new england patriots of october when they were 40 burger hanging world beaters or december when they were bums gregg they couldn't they could barely beat anybody can't can't do anything on offense and uh you know we're looking very human which version of the patch shows up i think the best they can hope for is like an early november version because this is a lousy running game they're not getting doing dion lewis or blunt back the two guys that they don't know right now are Volmer and Chandler Jones,

who really hasn't been hurt earlier in the year. It sounds like they're getting Edelman, High Tower back. That's good, Amandola. We'll see if it's Edelman. I think you'll see a good Patriots team. It's a good defense. I'm not worried about this defense. From everything I've read out of New England,

Edelman looks fantastic in practice. His cutting as well as he ever has. So big for them. I don't worry about that part of the passing game whatsoever. Anna Mandola's healthy now. Gronk's healthy. but I really do worry about the offensive line. Volmer's huge.

That's the big question. It's a weird thing, but it's just a cascading effect. It's not like Volmer's an all pro, but when he's out of there, then both their tackle positions are just lousy. And when he's in there, they're okay at right tack. You know, everything is just a little better.

The wrong defense to be lousy at tackle. In other Patriots news, Julian Edelman said he'll be taking down his carport in Providence next month. Danny Amindola. Danny Mendole. Oh, excuse, wait. Because his neighbors are awful.

Was it Amindola or Edelman? Hey, they're all the same to Dan. I'm accusing my whites. It was Amandola, and he has awful human beings as neighbors. It's like your nine-year-old self grew up to be a person who complains about a carport. Way to go. What was the problem with their carport? It was an eyesore in the neighborhood for rich people who have nothing better to do with their lives than complain about other people.

Next? Go ahead. No, nothing. Please move on. Why? Were you going to bring us something about Martha's Vineyard or something? Did you know he used to drive a strawberry truck? Next mystery is the...

It's also a pizza delivery man. Is that every man enough for you? Dishwasher. In Beverly Hills. I was a pizza guy in Western Massachusetts. Okay. A lot of people are pizza guys. Is the Packers Offensive Renaissance a one game mirage?

Now this is one of my favorite mysteries here because this team, this is why the NFL doesn't make any sense. and I'm glad I'm super glad that I'm not some type of addict living outside Vegas because who would have thought the Packers would all of a sudden put it together after we saw months of tape saying it's not going to happen and they're down nine nothing on the road and it seems like everything's going wrong and then they return to form and yet now they have a matchup against the Cardinals team West that completely they embarrassed them shut down that offense made Rogers look like a subpar quarterback will that momentum carry over great mystery well I think you look at this matchup and you shouldn't expect the same result as the last time. The Packers are more confident right now and their offensive line is much better and healthier than it was in that game. But I fully believe James Jones cannot physically get away from Patrick Peterson. Patrick Peterson is going to dominate that matchup and shut him down. Devante Adams reportedly unlikely to play through a knee injury.

So what does that leave you in the passing game? Randall Cobb, Jared Eberderas, a flyer on Jeff Janice? Yeah, one thing you saw in that, and we'll talk about it Thursday when we preview the game, but one thing you saw, they're so confident in their guys winning one-on-one that they sent a lot of crazy, crazy blitzes at them. They got exotic. I mean, they can do whatever they want up front sending extra guys. If you're confident, you can just lock them down.

So there you go. Those are four mysteries of division run. We want to see the other two. You'll have to check it out on NFL.com slash a tease around the NFL. professional that's how you do it and now let's let's move on now and uh like i said i have some misgivings right now about this experiment but i did it felt like a good time for us to touch base with our listenership our loyal listenership across the globe and uh you know just it's good to to talk you talk to you don't have to be a psychotherapist to know that it's good

to talk so sydney uh did the work she uh we sent out a tweet called out for people who want to calling to the show today, and we have some callers on the line. Who do we got first, Sidney? Yeah. First up, we have Nathan in Sacramento, so he's on the line right now. All right. Nathan and Sacramento, the capital of California, for those that are not in the know. What's up, Nathan?

How's it going, Heroes? What's up? How things going up there in Sacramento? It's actually, it's a nicer kind of day. I'm excited. I'm on the way to an eye doctor appointment right now. Ah. You got nice pipes.

You should be on the podcast. I've heard that a few times. It's pretty cool. Thank you very much. Maybe you'll do better than me, too, just like Colleen. Wait, you weren't one of the people that tweeted at me, did you? What was that? You weren't one of the people that tweeted at me about how Colleen was going to replace me, were you?

I did not. No, I'm loyalty, Dan. I love you, Nathan. Do you have, what do you got? You got a question? You got a comment? What do you got? Yeah, no, no, I've got a question.

So I was going to say we've already witnessed A.J. McCarran try his best at holding down a playoff team didn't really work out and now Big Ben's hurt. 2015's kind of been the year for the backup and in some cases the backups backup. For any of the remaining playoff teams, you know, if their key players went down, who's understudy

would you guys trust to potentially carry him to the Super Bowl? That's good question. Wes. Well, we have to go through these. Good, Tavares Jackson, Derek Anderson. Well, this is Sports Talk Radio now. You've got to think quick on your feet, Wes. Got Tulzin, Brock Osweiler. Well, the easy answer

Osweiler because he's got the best defense and he's already been playing but it's the wrong answer. Jimmy G. Well, hold it. Chase Daniel. Oh, you good, Dave, Daniel. Former Making the Leap candidate? No, I wouldn't it be, I would go Garapolo.

I like, uh, he's still hanging the torch for Garapolo. He's never played a game. He's supported by a great coaching staff, a good defense, Grunkowski. I would give him the best chance. But, uh, Chase Daniel would be fun that. Wouldn't what a story it would be.

It would be such a fitting moment in Alex Smith's career that the Chiefs made it to the Super Bowl with Chase Daniel. He always just feels like he gets the worst luck in terms of just getting blamed for everything. I'll never forget the first Super Bowl that we got to cover at NFL.com. Mark and I were sitting watching. Actually, it was the second Super Bowl we covered, but Colin Kaepernick had supplanted Alex Smith as a starter, and that was a major story.

And Alex Smith had to sit there for the entirety of Super Bowl. week answering questions why he got bench benched why he wasn't good enough i don't want to see that happen to no i don't either yeah no uh nathan not their year yeah nathan did you have who do you think buddy uh yeah the easy answer probably would have been uh oswald for me too just because we've seen you know what he's when he's been able to kind of do especially when when bane went down but uh i was just curious about the other ones yeah daniels looks like it could be you know that'd be just a hilarious story to not larry jones yes all right well thank Thank you.

Good luck with your eye appointment. I hope you have continued vision. Oh, yeah, 2020. All right. Later, man. Thank you. Brock Osler, by the way, he must hate Peyton Manning. Secretly, like he must completely rag on him to his parents and stuff.

You can imagine. Why? For that time where he didn't let him on the field and then now, yeah. Oh, this whole thing. I would think that behind the scenes, he's very frustrated. You don't think Peyton Manning's nice to Brock Oswald? Probably. They probably get along.

I don't think this is a Bledso Brady situation where Bledsoe is. was sneaky undercutting. So it was just... Barb Rogers. He was just all about going to Everclear concerts. And, you know... All right, who do we got next? We got Sidney behind the glass on the phones.

Who's next, Sidney? Next up, we have Paul. And he's from Great Yarmouth, England. Is that right, Paul? Wow. I live in Great Yarmouth. I'm originally from Liverpool, but yeah. There you go.

How inferior does all the people that just live in Yarmouth feel when they hang around big guys like you? Well, he should feel inferior, obviously, given the title, right? Paul is calling in... Is this Mainsy? It is. Okay. It is, Chris.

How do you know these things? I've spoken with... You know everyone in England? He, I do. I'm connected. He and our friend Neil Dutton actually likes stale bread. Of course. They are buddies.

Do you guys host a podcast together? We do, yeah. There you go. MDF. We do. Yeah, give it a proper place. plug it's the MDDF so main and dutch discuss football there you go I've been on that podcast so do you have a question or a comment Paul I have a question for Chris which we probably

discussed before but Jay Gruden's a head coach of the Washington professional football team the Redskirts yes they they got to the playoffs this year they they have a quarterback who's very similar to Andy Dalton so I'm thinking Do I start wondering whether I'm going to be having a celebratory party every wild card weekend? And what should I call it? I find this question insulting. Why? It implies that my breakup with the Bengals was just some lark that I just stumbled upon someday.

No, you should stay. Your team's doing well. You're in the playoffs. You've got something to build around. Stay with them. In your defense, though, the Redskins, they had their Super Bowl success. But since Dan Snyder's taken over the team, since really, you know, the late 90s, this is an embarrassing franchise, one of the worst franchises in the league.

They do make the playoffs every once in a while, but they quickly lose. There's nothing memorable. There's a lot of heartache for these Wisconsin teams. Do they have a general manager? They seem to have a good one. Do they have a scouting staff? Then I don't want to hear it. Well, I think what Paul is getting at is he has some concerns in terms of abilities

that we could be three years from now talking about. the Cousins scale. Well, that's fair. That's a fair question. Well, you know what the twist would be? I don't know what you would call it. Paul Stavis. I don't know what you would call it.

Mainsy time? But I think it's Minesy time. The Redskins version is a little different. It actually occurs every few years, and it's only against the Seahawks. Oh, yeah. It's a first round loss against the Seahawks every three or four years whenever you get a new coach, something like that. Except for the year, it's against the Packers.

How about this, Paul? Just be thankful you don't have John Beck anymore. I take offense to that. Thank you very, very much. All right. Thanks, Manzi. Later, Manzi. Cheers, guys.

Thank you. Thanks. All right. Let's take one more call. All right. Maybe two. What else? Who else you got?

I think I have Terry on the line. Terry, can you hear us? Hey, guys. Whoa, Terry. Terry from where? Terry's calling in from Atlanta. Oh, ooh, this is a good thing to start off with. settle a debate Terry the proper slang expression when describing the city of

Atlanta Georgia is what Atlanta no T no second T what about A town A town oh yeah I remember this debate um I don't really hear anybody calling at that you're talking about uh have you ever met usher nobody in Georgia's calling it A-Town. Oh, yeah. I mean, every time that song comes on at a wedding, people go nuts. But in casual conversation, people aren't saying, hey, you know, hanging out at A-town. It doesn't happen. All right. Fair enough. What do you got for us, Terry? So I'm a big fan of the show, but, Dan, while you were away, I thought Colleen Wolf killed the hosting duties. So I just want to know, where's the old Zucer on the P-scale?

Wow. I'm going to take the hosting. Coming right out of. Well, you just guaranteed you'll never be on the show again. Hang up on Terry. Well, as I said at the top of the show, as you'll hear when you listen back, my P scale is somewhat low only because I value people that are loyal and are loyal to the cause of the around the NFL podcast.

And I don't think anybody's going to betray me anytime soon, but I will have my radar up for betrayal. but always is and i know and coline i i know for a fact although i didn't listen i know for a fact that she is a professional and was going to do a good job what i didn't know is that i was going to have so much you know thrown my way oh wow there we go good was that is terry are you still there no i'm still here i knew this is going to go poorly Sydney is crashing back there You're doing your best

You're doing your best Ever since we made fun of John Beck Sidney's just totally out of it Yeah I shut down So to answer your question P scale Whereas one would be Not even a trickle

10 would be I got to go put on some adult diapers Because I peed my pants Because I'm so nervous That Colleen's going to steal my job I'm going to put it at a third I don't think Kalina has it. Fair enough.

She doesn't have it in her to want to steal your job. Something Machiavellian? No, she's not a Machiavellian character. We'll see about that. I don't know. I can see it in the eyes a little bit. She's your friend. She is.

We are friends. So there's your answer, Terry. Just don't give up on me, Dad. Oh, I never doubt the old Zucer. I just thought I'd ask. Thanks, Terry. Have a nice day in ATTA. All right, that's Terry.

and finally. All right, turns out you, I mean, I'm sure there is a way to do two calls at once. But if there is, I'm unaware of it. So we're going to get our last caller on the line. Okay. See, she's doing a great job behind the last city. But this, I kind of had a feeling this was going to go off the trail, off the tracks. Kind of has a little bit.

We haven't had a producer yet who has mastered the phone call. Well, it's easy for us to take shots. We have no idea what's going on, you know. Listen, I don't know how to use a landline. I'm a millennial. Fair point. I'm surprised they still make landlines. So Terry questioned me about Colleen,

which I found offensive, but also he had to ask the question, as good caller does. Elephant in the room. Yeah, Paul is nervous about the cousin's scale, becoming a thing that's real. But I would say that means the Redskins are getting in the playoffs every year, so I'd be excited like that.

I like the sound of Mainsy time. Mainsstivist. Mainsy. time all good ones um coline uh excuse me sydney do we now have our final caller on the line uh i believe we do our last caller is connor from new jersey carner from new jersey uh what do you got for us kana yeah hey dave uh listen i love the damage check show and i'm really happy to be on uh first time long time uh i have a question that a comment and i'll take my answer off the air all right let's hear it all right well you know seems to me you guys are leaving out some good

candidates as far as head coaches that you talk about i mean you know there's this lombardi guy and i don't know if you guys know this but his grandfather was vince lombardy and uh you know he's obviously got the heart of a champion uh so i don't understand why you guys aren't talking about it didn't have a great season in detroit this year i believe you're referring to Joe Lombardi, who was fired, and then his team immediately turned around. Yeah, well, my next point was for you, Greg Rosenblum. What I wanted to say was, you're always picking on my Giants, and I'm wondering, what a question did you play for?

Anyway, I'll hang up and listen. I think the question was it might have gotten cut off there. What team did you play for, and he'll hang up and listen? The Minichag Regional High School Tennis Team, that was really the last team. I guess unless you wanted to count the Zog Sports dodge ball team championship we had when I was 23. A little embarrassing. After a couple weeks, I decided to quit. Connor from New Jersey, and that voice sounded familiar, by the way, but hitting all the tropes of a caller to a northeast regional, potentially WFAN type show.

So I'll give my best Francesa. Hey, Connor, come back to us. geez okay well done by Connor so there we go there's the phone calls let's check in with Sydney now you're right after that you were running around you probably burnt over

3,000 calories going between multiple phones dial tone and there was Skype happening there was a lot going on behind the glass Europe was involved at one point you did your best and I enjoy well done I enjoyed it maybe we'll do that again that was kind of a disaster but all the callers

were good people I think it was fun. You could edit out the bat, the other stuff. No, we should leave it in. It's important that people see. In fact, it kind of shows that, Sydney, the good work that she does and how hard it is to run the show behind the glass. It ain't all rainbows and unicorns back here, guys.

Whoa. All right. So we will be, guys, that's it for the show. We will be back on Thursday with another show where we really dig into the preview of the division around playoff games. Like I said, the best week of the year to watch football. I can't wait. It's going to be fun.

It's going to be fun. Nice tribute to David Bowie. Oh, the great David Bowie passed away this week. So, yeah. So check us back on Thursday. This is Dan Hansis signing off for the mailman, the boss, and La Cid, behind the glass. Till Thursday. You really made the great.

And the papers want to know who shirts you wear. What's up? This is R&B. I'm Nick Burleson. At Real Mike Rob. Check us out. We're going to talk about the divisional playoffs. All of that.

All of that. All of that. We're going to break down everything you need to know coming up for the rest of the playoffs. Check us out on iTunes. It's R&B. This is an I-heart podcast.