NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Super Bowl LVI Recap

Episode Date: February 14, 2022

From the Chris Wesseling Podcast studio - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal recap an emotional Super Bowl Sunday between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. OBJ went out with a knee injury, and Joe Burrow was sacked 7 times. However, nothing could stop the magic that was this Sunday. The Super Bowl LVI Pepsi Halftime Show with Dr. Dre rocked the house down and Marc thinks golf is played by kicking balls. The Wesseling brothers are recorded briefly at SOFI Stadium after the Bengals loss. 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. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Less than he are to gain on fourth down with 43 seconds remaining. Rams creepy. They rush full. Harold to throw for it. He's sick.

He's hit. He's sack. He throws it away. He flings it away on fourth down. Aaron Donald got there. Donald takes his helmet off in celebration. He flips burrow to the turf and forces the incompletion on fourth and one. He signals to his ring finger on his left hand.

And you can build that man's statue out, SoFi Stadium right now. The greatest of all time on defense does it in the biggest moment of Super Bowl 56. Matthew Stafford under center. Here's the snap. Here's the need. The Bengals will not call the time out. The sidelines empty. Rings for the Rams.

A Lombardi trophy for Los Angeles. 2320 is the final on their home field here at SoFi Stadium in Super Bowl 56. The Los Angeles Rams are world champions. From the Chris Wessling. Podcast studio. It's around the NFL. Super Bowl 56 edition, and you just heard it there. Aaron Donald makes the biggest play of his life on fourth and one near midfield after Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup went down the field and put the Rams ahead late in the fourth quarter. That big drive combined with that big stop led to Los Angeles.

23, Cincinnati, 20. The Bengals come up painfully short in a very, very fun and exciting and tension-filled Super Bowl. Dan Hans is here with Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, Ricky Hollywood, behind the glass. Yes, we're back in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio, which is so nice and so fitting

on what was a really special day. Even though the Bengals didn't get the win, still very special day and great to be back in the studio with you guys. It was a beautiful day to be in a stadium for a Super Bowl again to be in this studio again on our way out. We saw all the Wesleyan brothers and Lakeisha and all of the emotion and we'll hear from them later. And just as a corny fan of football, Mark's always making fun of me for just carrying that water, carrying that NFL water. I did have a little bit of Keisha's outlook on this game, which is that I just wanted it wanted to be great.

I had emotions on both sides. My daughter's at the stadium rooting for the Rams, everything with the Bengals. I just wanted it to be great. And I think we got that. We got a game with a little bit of everything that you could sink your teeth into. But more than anything,

we got all-time great players putting a stamp on a Super Bowl fourth quarter in a way that will never be forgotten. gotten the Cooper Cup drive and Aaron Donald's sack that I just found it very satisfying like I would have found a different Bengals type of ending at the end satisfying too but for Cup to have the cup drive and hoist that Super Bowl MVP for Aaron Donald the greatest defensive player of my lifetime at least that I've seen play to finish it off that way with a couple of sacks von Miller have a couple of sacks it was like greatness rising to the top at the end and

And yay, football wins there, Mark. I know that doesn't, you know. I don't know why I'm being. I'm making it very bizarre, like, straw man that Greg is constructed here. I mean, I couldn't agree with you more, to be honest. Like, this Rams team is the perfect fit for the way that we feel about Los Angeles. They're star heavy, and, you know, they made bold moves in the middle of the year. They were all about this season being a crowning mountaintop moment.

And it's a high risk, high reward thing, because if it doesn't go well, there's going to be a lot of fingers pointed the way that they've kind of mortgaged the future for today. But today is a golden moment for the Rams because of their star players. And Aaron Donald ended that Niners game a couple weeks ago. He ended it tonight. He had, you know, at one point, you know, they had been held to, I think it was one sack, the Rams in the first half. Then they suddenly exploded in that third quarter. Joe Burrell's been sacked 19 times in four playoff games.

That's the most in 20 years for any quarterback in the postseason. The next highest is 12. And so kind of what we thought might happen against this Rams pass rush did happen. And it unspooled the Bengals who at one point in the second half had four drives that went for a total of 11 yards. Were the Rams perfect? No, could they run the ball? No, they could not. When they lost Odell Beckham, another guy who contributed big time early, their yards per play in this game went from 6.6 to 3.6.

But as Matthew Stafford and this offense and the Rams team in general and Sean McVeigh have done, they worked their way out of some dark corners and it didn't need to be perfect by other one of these teams. Stafford Cup got it done at the end and then Donald did his thing. That's the Rams. I thought, and you're right, this has been everything that was built up to this moment, the famous tweet, we're putting all our chips to the center of the table.

We're going and we're getting Von Miller. We're getting Odell. We went and got Stafford. We were aggressive and we're going for this. We don't have a first round pick for another 17 to 18 years, but it doesn't matter because flags fly forever and now they have it. And I think I'll remember so much about the lead up to this game

this entire playoff and then being in that building and seeing how the game was slipping away from the Rams. You know, they're up 13.3 early. They give up a touchdown on a trick play sandwich is for you, Mark. And all of a sudden, things start to get away to the point you're thinking, uh-oh, this is a Cincinnati Bengals, Destiny season, the 75-yard T. Higgins touchdown right on the other side of the third quarter. I was in a restroom at the time. That was great. And, you know, Jalen, it looked like Jalen Ramsey got

messed with his face mask. It easily been an offensive pass interference. And then the offense goes cold. But because Aaron Donald and that defense tightened up and shut, absolutely shut down the Cincinnati offense, after that touchdown 12 seconds into the third quarter, Cincinnati kicked one field goal on a short field on an eight play 11 yard drive after an interception that was not Matthew Stafford's fault other than that they shut the game down and then it became about three guys Stafford not to reduce it to this but really Stafford and cup on that 15 play 79 yard drive making the big plays and then Aaron Donald coming on the field and doing what he's done his whole career and saying I'm taking this thing home right so Donald gets that glory moment

And it's the biggest play that you can possibly have, a fourth and short, essentially with the Super Bowl on the line, beats the guard clean, ends the game, just like he did in the NFC championship. It's so fitting. But the defensive line in general just kept winning over and over. I mean, the numbers they are putting up are just outrageous, eight sacks, seven sacks, rather, and 11 quarterbacks hits in a Super Bowl is just silly. And yet the Bengals defense was just as game. I mean, there was a six possession stretch there in the second half that totaled six yards from both teams combined. Three and out for the Rams, three in a row, four in a row basically at one point, and then the same on the other side for the Bengals. So the Bengals' defense kept giving the ball back to Joe Burrow with a chance to basically put the game away, including in the fourth quarter.

And I just go back to that cup drive. in that touchdown drive, he converted five first downs. The entire season was on the line, fourth and one from their own 30. I've been picking on Sean McVeigh all year for not being aggressive, not going for fourth downs, and he goes for it on his own 30 in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl down four that took incredible confidence in his defense. and it took belief in cup. Let's get it to Cup on the biggest play of the game. They are ready for that call.

They get it to Cup. He ends up getting a 22-yard play later that drive. He has two other catches other than those five first downs. He draws three penalties in the red zone to that result in first down. So not even plays that he made catches on. He's the key factor. And then what really sticks out to me is that play that he caught and he got wasted in the head.

And they call the penalty for the hit to the head. but there was also a holding. If he doesn't hold on to that, and that was an incredible catch, they're at first and goal on the 14-yard line, and it is a very different final sequence. But because Cup made all those plays, but play after play after play,

they end up scoring the touchdown. Let's listen to after that, all that plays out and the penalties play on, Eli Apple, who, by the way, had a really good game until that last drive is in coverage with the Bengals holding on to a lead, and this is what happened. Stafford from under center, steps back,

throws the favor. back shoulder. Cooper Cups got it. Cooper Cup brings it in. Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown! L.A! J.B. Long, of course, with the call, Mark. Did a great job tonight based on the eight seconds that I've listened to from him. Now it's time for you to have that offseason hang out with J.V. Long, right? Oh, it's going to be even more sweet. When we're in the park listening to a yacht rock band sitting on the blankets with our families, we could reminisce on a championship season for his Rams. It was, so I thought that was, to me, when I think about that drive, and Stafford, I thought, even though the box score, it's a strange game, really, for Stafford because he throws two interceptions and one, to me, I know you disagree, Greg, to me was a quasi arm punt where he got flushed out of the pocket on third and 14 through midfield and just threw the ball into the end zone.

The second one was a, as Chris Russo had said, a terrible drop by Ben Swarnack, who really. I don't know how many times he needs to get the ball at this point in this offense. So he throws three touchdowns, two interceptions. It's hard to really put on him. And yet, yes, there was that long stretch after O'Dell Beckham goes out of the game, which was a huge subplot. In fact, Mark, I thought when Beckham, who is dominating early in this game, goes out with a knee injury, and we hope it's not an ACL,

but it certainly seems like a serious knee injury, their offense went in the tank. And it looked to me like that was going to be the story, that the Rams were going to win, they were going to put up 30 plus, Beckham goes out, and they just didn't have enough ammo, and yet they find a way.

Well, they were so one-dimensional. All eight of their first downs in the first half were through the air. I mean, this is a team that probably produced one of the worst rushing performances we've ever seen in a Super Bowl, 1.9 yards per carry. I think Cam Acres,

you can make a case at one of the worst post seasons ever. When you know, statistically, he averaged about two yards of carry on probably over 50 carries with those two fumbles. Yeah, it was rough. I mean, it was rough, But no one, I mean, no one was reliable tonight. And, you know, five different people had rushing attempts and no one, no one was able to do it.

I think it was really clear that O'Dell Beckham was going to be a huge part of the plan tonight. And I think when he went down, it took them some time to figure out, what do we do now? Because we know you don't have Robert Woods. They don't have Tyler Higbee, which I think mattered a lot in this game in terms of his relationship with Stafford and what they would have done with Tyler Higby once O'Dell Beckham went out. And that only makes Cooper Cups performance, especially on that final drive. all the more impressive, all the more Super Bowl-ish and Super Bowl MVP-ish. I mean, his 33 catches in the postseason are the most by any wide receiver ever, and he's been that guy all year long, and on the final drive,

and also the chemistry that he had with Matthew Stafford this whole season, but in this postseason was the differentiator because, you know, we've talked about Joe Burrow all for two weeks straight, and frankly, Joe Burrow has not had the best couple of games for himself. And tonight, the Bengals offense, I look at Zach Taylor and just say, I don't know what's special about Zach Taylor, but their play calling got wicked tight during this game when they went into a funk.

Why are we not running the ball a little bit more? I think they were struggling. I mean, I felt like everything was hard for the Bengals' offense the whole game because they were overmatched. If you think about how they scored their points, Higgins gets away with a clear penalty, big play for a touchdown. There's seven of them. Their last big play of the game, really.

Chase gets free for a 40. six-yarder. When Burrow threw that pass, I thought that's either going to get picked off or I don't know what he's doing. And he trusts Chase so much that Chase makes an incredible play on the ball against Ramsey. And I love that Burrow keeps giving his guy's chances because that was their best chance. Even if T. Higgins, you should have made that call. That's sort of what happens sometimes when you throw it up deep to your guy. You get a break on a non-call. Everything else was very difficult. Like, they could not protect.

They could not run the ball for the most part. Mixon had a couple of runs in the second half, but I have a hard time saying that they didn't run it enough when they were running quite a bit on first and second down, and they were in a lot of second and eight, second and nines. They were overmatched. I mean, it was the defensive line holding the four for the Rams until the offense for the Rams could finally make a play.

You can make a case. and Nixon had five catches for one yard in this game. So I would almost want to watch the game again. But I remember one of the things we talked about entering this game was Los Angeles, which on balance defensively did not have a great year. They took a step back. And one of the things they were vulnerable against was the screen game. Maybe there are some opportunities with Mixon getting him the ball in space

that alleviates some of the issues with the pass rush as well. I didn't think either coach put on a clinic offensively in the second half. But I think, I think Zach Taylor was aggressive, to be fair. He went for the fourth down in the first half. He went for the fourth down in the second half, which I thought was a really gutsy call and ended up leading to points. In the third quarter. I'm not here killing Zach Taylor necessarily,

but like they had 10 of 13 drives that went for under 26 yards. And I thought that they did a terrible job in the second half. When they had a chance to, you know, one touchdown drive would have changed everything. It was constant like one and a half, two-minute marches, if you want to call it a march. I mean, they were off the field so quickly, and they allowed the Rams to get into a position to have that glorious final march.

T. Higgins was a big-time player in this game. The play that we're talking about, almost a clear pass interference. I did check in. We were way up in the 500 section, but I had an ear in and listening to Collinsworth, who was going nuts about that. But he ends up with two touchdowns.

Chase, they mostly keep in check. Now, he has a big completion on the final drive that gets them near midfield that seems to really set them up. And it's like when you think about it, let's talk about that drive. Yeah, when you think about it, yes, you fall behind 2320 in dramatic fashion that you give up that drive. But you're still in good shape because you got you got Joe Burrow and you got Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and you got Jalen Ramsey who's been beat for two touchdowns already and he have Evan McPherson waiting in the wing. So you just need a field goal because of a bad job on a snap earlier by the Rams led to a botched extra point.

It's a three point game. So the drive goes five plays, 26 yards. So you have a Jamar Chase out of bounds, 17 yards on a short pass left. Ramsey making a terrible angle. They did not have a good game in general. And that one was a mental error in a big spot. And then burrow to Tyler Boyd who had a big drop himself in the third quarter for nine yards. So that sets him up second and one at the L.A.

49. From that point, it's an incomplete pass to chase. Now it's third in one. They target P. Ryan or give it to P. Ryan on the right tackle to get a yard. And Aaron Donald says no. He rips him back. And P. Ryan is a 250 pound guy. This guy's a bowling ball. And then, of course, they call a timeout. And then there it is Aaron Donald with the hurry and the knockdown to force the incompletion game over. Another pass to P. Ryan. I know Bengals fans are going to replay those last. three plays, especially the last two for the rest of time. Giving the ball to Somaget-P-Rine on third and one when you have Joe Mixon on the sidelines is a tough one. It's just tough because Joe Mixon is one of the best pure runners in the NFL. He's certainly one of the best pure power runners. I understand why P. Rine's in the game.

They like them in the two-minute situation. They like them in the passing game a little more. They were trying to catch the Rams in a formation that was really set up to stop the pass, considering it was third and one, and they're trying to trust their offensive line to get a yard, but they couldn't get that yard all game, and it wasn't just Donald.

Gaines and Aishon Robinson, certainly Vaughn Miller, but especially Gaines and Aishon Robinson in the middle of that line, were stuffing them throughout. They could not get short-yarded situations if you think about how they gave the ball over to the Rams on that first drive of the game,

so you can't pick up a yard, and then you have your season on the line, and what do you do? I don't have a problem with them putting the ball in Joe Burrow's hand, but it's ultimately a failure of your team that you can't run the ball for a yard. And that when you do go fourth and one with Joe Burrow, that you can't protect them for even a second and a half. I know it's against Aaron.

It's second and one in midfield and they never got another yard this season. Burrow kind of threw the first one away, I think, almost because he knew he had a couple plays. He gave up on that play quick, but that was another play where, again, you, like, couldn't protect. So there's a lot of different ways you can shake up. the globe and the blame, but the fact is, like, they couldn't block anyone for, you know, I know they did a little bit in the first half, but not really. They couldn't block anyone for 60 minutes. They made it to the Super Bowl, and they got very close to winning the Super Bowl, and at no point

could they block anyone. Right, because, you know, the nine sacks in the Tennessee game, that would have ended their season, except the turnovers by the defense and a terrible game by Ryan Tannhill. Tonight, Matthew Stafford did not fall into those depths. And in the seven sacks, especially the pass rush in the third quarter into the fourth, I think turned Cincinnati into a disorganized mess to some degree. And we can't say we're not going to blame Zach Taylor, but then also point out everything we just pointed out.

I've been killing them all throughout. It just felt like they were overmacked in this game. I think it's just you're out of options when you cannot protect your quarterback. When Joe Burrell's running for his life, I mean, there was just too much of that going on. And to me, it was just like you cannot have a one-person team. I mean, they were aggressive. They took some deep shots, but that was essentially like the only big plays they had in this game. I do like, though, when you think about how the second half go,

because everything you're saying about the Bengals offense is true, Mark, and yet I kind of felt that about the Rams the second OBJ went out. I mean, everything was difficult for them. They couldn't block in particular. They certainly couldn't run all game. And you were at a point where you're lining up Daryl Henderson on the outside as a wide receiver, basically every key passing down. you are throwing the ball to Squarnik way too much.

You're counting on Bryce Hopkins. It's like I was there at the preseason game against the Chargers. There was no one that had a future with the Los Angeles Rams for the 2012 season that was on the field that night, except for Bryce Hopkins was like the key player in that preseason game. And that's who you're throwing it to. Van Jefferson was a disappointment throughout this playoff run. He had single coverage throughout.

He could not make a play. He was wide open on that last drive. should have caught the game-winning touchdown and Stafford airmailed him. Stafford missed them. And so both offenses from this McVeigh tree couldn't run the ball and we're having to try to come up with solutions. And not to go on a too long of a rain here, but that's why I like on that drive. Matthew Stafford, Sean McVeigh went to what they do best and they tried to do it all game, but they didn't give up.

And that was tempo. They played so fast on that drive. And you could have questioned it too because they like took the play before the two-minute warning and it gave the Bengals more time. They were really rushing down the field, but that's what they do best. They were trying to really test the Bengals' defensive communication, and that's what won them the game. Their ability to play fast.

They were snapping the ball with about 25 seconds left on the play clock throughout that drive. And it wasn't clean. It wasn't like fast moving, but when the plays worked, they got a couple going in a row. And I think that's really a hallmark of McVeigh. And I love that they kept doing kind of, if you're going to go down, go down doing what you do best. I thought maybe it took a little too long for him to get. to that conclusion because I'm watching the game and the way you're down a little bit on Zach Taylor.

I'm down on Sean McVeigh, who they, it was almost like I tweeted. He just won a Super Bowl. There's no beat down. Whoever lost there would have been bullet points. You can win the Super Bowl and not have the greatest game as a head coach. And I think with that he really, he was desperate to get the running game going.

I think especially after Beckham went out because he knew if you take Beckham out and you take Higby out and Van Jefferson has not been held. healthy. He's barely on the field. They almost like were running out of options of how to move the football. But, you know, all those plays, especially the early down runs, which I just hate. I hate when I see Taylor do it. And I hate when I see McVeigh do it, put them in a lot of second and third in longs. And it was when they finally said, this isn't going to work and really turned it over to Stafford on that last drive. You saw what happened. I wonder if maybe they would have gotten away from that sooner. Maybe they would have had more luck in the second half scoring. Ultimately, they scored enough. But Acres, I will say this for all, and I came after Acres pretty hard earlier, that it's one of the worst post seasons ever. And statistically, by the way, it is.

If you look at yards per carry, that eight-yard run that set up first and goal, that was huge too, because that, you know, that they needed just anything from their running game to keep the opposing defense honest. He did it. And then Cincinnati, which was not a penalized,

a team that was heavily penalized, got penalized on three consecutive plays setting up the first and goal. which led to the touchdown. I just, I look at the Rams early in this game, though, before O'Dell went out, and I thought that they were creative.

I thought that they came up with some good concepts and some, they looked really in sync. Odell going out was so bad for them. Like I said, it went from 6.6 to 3.6 yards per play. I mean, it seemed, they, they were hitting a lot of first reads. Like, as the kids would say,

Sean McVeigh was in his bag. That second touchdown drive, like he was calling the wheel route to Henderson. He's getting cup wide open. He, like, everything is flowing and fast. And you're right. the Odell Beckham was pretty much, injury was the moment it changed. That's the thing, like, I don't, I hear you with McVeigh, you know, post-Odell,

but like I chalked that up to losing key people, key players, and going into the game without Higby, you can't say that with the Bengals. But it's not, here's the thing, the Rams offense, and especially after losing these players, but even before losing O'Dowd, they're not a dominant offense. They're a really good offense and a really good defense. I would say the defense was better on balance over the course of the playoffs. Their pass rush was the true.

special unit, like, as a group throughout these playoffs that carried them through all four of these games. But even with Odellon, it's like they punted quickly on their first drive. They go three and out on their third drive. They've been an opportunistic and I think resourceful offense where they've made key drives when they've absolutely needed to, but they haven't been perfect. The offensive line was certainly out of sorts today. A lot of communication problems like Sam Hubbard and Hendrickson and Reader were also making massive plays in the second half. And it sort of seems perfect. Wasn't this like an imperfect season?

Like we've got two four seeds. These aren't like hugely dominant teams. I don't know if we had hugely dominant teams in the NFL this year. I enjoyed that. There was eight or nine teams, I think, if you shook up this playoff tournament and Kip played it over and over that maybe had a chance to win it. And it was an imperfect game won by the team that showed again and again that in the last five minutes we're going to be the best. Right.

And it's the kind of game where, you know, not that I'm going to sit around and do this because, you know, reality has given us a result, but you're like, hmm, I wonder what Mahomes and the chiefs could have done today. Would it be different? I mean, it's like the Bengals were this great story, but there's no, there's no argument that they were the best team in the AFC. They just were a wonderful narrative. I'm glad they, I'm glad they didn't. And the Bengals, if they, they never get blown out. So I knew I was getting a good game with the Bengals either way.

And it was, I have to say, like when they fall behind early and then when the Rams botch the extra point and it keeps, at 10 points, I'm thinking. Johnny Hecker. I'm thinking, we're talking over. Walker's got the six on the back of his jersey that he owns. It was actually for his age at the time. But, yeah.

He might not be around too much longer. Johnny is not, well, he's not the same guy used to be. Might not be the only one. We'll get to that. But, yeah, after that happens, again, you're thinking to yourself, hmm, is the Cincinnati mojo starting to come around again? Because instead of an 11-point game, it's 10.

And then when, and this isn't anything you celebrate, when Beckham goes, I'm like, wow, that was quite a break because this guy was lighting him up and the Rams offense was humming. And then you get the team. They went into halftime feeling good. The fact they were down 1310, I think they felt good the way they got out of that first half and stopped the ramp. But you're about to say how they came out of halftime. Right. Then I go, I go to the bathroom and made the mistake because usually if like Maroon 5 was playing and we'll get to the halftime show, I'm going to use the restroom then. But what I did was I watched the entire.

our halftime show, just like everybody else. The loudest that stadium was tonight, other than the Aaron Donald play, was halftime. Great hip-hop performance there by the... Good crowd, though, in general. It was a great, great atmosphere. Both fans were 6,5-35 Bengals fans. I think Nick Wesleyan thought it was more like 53-47 Bengals.

Felt like the Bengals at the top and the Rams at the bottom and middle. And, yeah, I think it was like 60-40. So I'm in the lavatory waiting on the line There's a bunch of drunk bozos in there. And then you hear like a sound, like what was that? And nobody in the restroom knows what it is. And what it is is T. Higgins changing the game.

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

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

Coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game, the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy. Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies.

Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Joe Mixing in the backfield. He had 40 rushing yards in the first half.

They fake to him. Burrow now scrambling. Fires deep down field for Higgins. Oh, baby. Pushes over his defender, catches the ball, runs it into the end zone. There's no penalty flag.

No. A 75-yard touchdown. Burrow to Higgins as he knocked over James and ran it into the end zone to give the Bengals the lead. So Ramsey was interfered with it doesn't, the flag is we called. So my point being you have the missed extra point.

Beckham goes out that play. I get back from the bathroom. Not only is, are they winning, they have the ball in the red zone again because I had missed the interception too. And it just felt like everything was this was just the first two plays of the second half. Literally the first two.

It was 22 seconds of time. Right. And it was the coronation that started to feel like of this dream season for Cincinnati. But really from that point when Donald pushes out Burdo violently for one yard loss, that was his first sack. That began the chain reaction of sacks.

Donald gets him again. on the third down, they get a McPherson field goal. That's their last points of the game. And really things went downhill from there. And it's just kind of a reminder. You brought up Mahomes that you just can't predict the sport. It's one of the reasons why it's the greatest product in this country in terms of sports and maybe the world. Like you think you know things, just like Patrick Mahomes melting down in the AFC title game in the Chiefs offense.

But from that point, Cincinnati, the storybook came to an end because everything after that was a Rams rising. Well, that felt like the opportunity for Cincinnati to just completely take over the game. And to my frustration, again, with this offense today, that drive was eight plays for 11 yards. You mentioned it. Aaron Donald, I mean, who ended the game also ended that drive to force the field goal. Had they scored a touchdown there? Because it's not, it's reality. If you look at all of Cincinnati's drives, they've been a field goal offense in the postseason.

Way too often. To the point where it's like, yes, we love Joe Burrow, but like part of his job is to complete these drives. and we love their kicker too, but you don't want to see the kicker seven times in the game. You want to see them once or you want to see them on a point after touchdown. Yeah, to your point, just to hammer that home. It's 1310 at halftime in 12 seconds at 17, 13. The next play is the interception on the Swarneck.

Am I saying that right? Swarneck, yeah. Swarneck drop. And then they stall in the red zone and it goes from 1310 to 2013. But you're right. If it's 2413, the way the Rams offense is playing, you know, they could get a little tight butts and who knows what happens. That's the one thing with the Rams,

which they get, like had they changed the game psychologically Cincinnati with a touchdown right there, I think you start to get into McVeigh's mind and that didn't happen because they made the stop. He didn't, in they being Donald. And that is like the part of it that I did

find very satisfying here with Donald because it's not just when he made the plays. I mean, not just the plays that he made, it's when he made those plays. That sack that he got to end that drive when it felt like the roof is caving in on the Rams was a third and three play, a very makeable, it wasn't like this obvious passing situation where they're an empty or anything. And that's where you need your great players to stop the bleeding.

And Donald just pushes the guard back into Burrow. Burrow has no chance. That was a thing. For the most part, I would only put one of these sacks on Burrow off the top of my head, maybe two. It was guys winning quickly. And that was the absolute moment of the game where they needed Aaron Donald to step up. And Aaron Donald, the greatest defensive player I've ever seen, that's when he sluts up.

Like, he could have gotten the MVP, absolutely. I don't know where this ended, but one quick stat to your point. In the first half, Burrow had 2.35 seconds to throw. That's the lowest of any game in his career. And somehow the Bengals finish this game with a higher DVO than the Rams. So it's like these were two imperfect teams clashing this evening. The true great ones, like the all-timers, they rise up. And they do, they truly do, people say, oh, they put the team on his back because a guy hit a couple of threes or had a long run or something.

It's like, no, the one, the games where you see it, you can actually see a player decide, no, I need to take this into my own hands. Like a classic game for that, for me to use the NBA as an analogy here, was LeBron in game seven against the Warriors when he just went mad. He had a great playoff. But that game where he pinned the block against the backboard and he, I, and he was just, he was a. guy that was a man possessed and wasn't going to let his team lose. And Donald, and I brought it up on the show, but it is to me one of the great moments of the season when he gathered the team on the sideline down 10 points against the 49ers in the NFC title game and then one out and single-handedly took that game over. And then he did the same thing in this game. And if you're a

Bengals fan and you rewatch this game or you're reading about it afterwards and sorry, guys, that was a tough way to lose. But like when Donald pushed Burrow out of bounds on that after the interception and the Bengals players were not happy that he gave him an extra push. To that point, Donald had done a lot in terms of the stuffing the box sheet. And they got in Donald's face and got him really fired up. I think I thought that was a bad idea because Donald then goes and gets another sack and then he makes the big plays at the end of the game as well. Just an unbelievable performance by an all-time great. Let's hear from Aaron Donald. I won this so bad.

I dreamed this, man. I dreamed this. And it's like, it's surreal. Look at this. Look at this, man. It's, it's, it's amazing. It's amazing, man. It feels great.

What did you see on that last play that enabled you to do what you did and make that stop? Strange, strange. You know, one last play, to be world champs. Giving everything you got, I found the way to get to him.

How does this measure up to what you thought it might be like, Aaron? It's the best feeling in the world. world, man. God is great. God is great. I just, I'm lost the world. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. I'm just, it's a blessing. This is a blessing. I really love the LeBron comparison you made because for two weeks, we've been hearing from the Rams players everywhere. We're doing this for Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald talking about it being like a moment of destiny for him. And we knew that this was a strength on weakness that probably could tilt the whole

contest. It's exactly what happened. Sometimes, you know, you project it, and it's what everyone thought could happen to Cincinnati, and they've been victimized four games in a row in the playoffs with their protection. And tonight, they felt they met a force too big for them. And, you know, the way that Donald hearing his voice right there, it's interesting to combine that with the report from Rodney Harrison that maybe Aaron Donald... Rodney Harrison, of all people. Right, that he would, that Aaron Donald is pondering or would consider potentially walking away from football after this moment. It's crazy.

Just because it came out of nowhere, it's such a random source Rodney Harrison that actually makes me put more into it. It's like Rodney Harrison. But then that's kind of like counteracted by the fact that it's Rodney Harrison. No, I think it's like, I don't know what their relationship is,

but for him to just throw out there that there's a strong possibility Aaron Donald could walk away from the game and retire, he's not making that up out of thin air and he's already been proven right because Aaron Donald has all of his kids on the podium. You know, it's after the Super Bowl. That's not the craziest thing that had happened.

But I've never seen that with Aaron Donald. I've never seen all his kids up there. And he's asked about it. And he just said, give me a couple days to talk about it. So before this Sunday, before I woke up today, there was no thought that Aaron Donald could possibly be retiring. And just with Aaron Donald's answer, he indicated that he's either not sure or he doesn't want to talk about it right now.

because if he's not considering retiring, you just say it there. It didn't come out of nowhere. And then this is also something that popped up. Sean McBay had some introspective thoughts about maybe needing some time with his family. You know, if I had a guess, I'd say neither walk away, but I didn't think Tom Brady was leaving either. You don't know. Like Donald, that was, that's an indelible moment. J.B. Long did a great job with the call after he makes that stop to basically win the Super Bowl,

pointing at his watch or where a wristwatch. would be and then pointing at the ring, it's time for him to have the ring. And it's just like, he's a, he's had a, obviously an incredible, an amazing career. And sometimes I feel like the football cognizante. Don't cut this part out. Has kind of gone out of their way to be like, make sure you pay attention to this guy, like people that know football heads. Like, this guy is just special.

Sometimes the position he plays doesn't allow you to see it the way you can. see a wide receiver be special. So for him to now have the ring, he enters this pantheon, like Todd Sperry, who runs our news division and was sitting next to me at the game, he asked me when Stafford, after he goes on that drive, Stafford enter a Hall of Fame conversation. And I said, well, maybe he needs another three or four years of being a big time player. But this takes you a long way in terms of getting a bust in Canton. But for Donald, I think now you start to have that conversation about where he fits in the greatest

ever defensively. Yeah, and there were reports that the Rams are interested in an extension for Stafford, so he's likely going to be around. But let's just say, and it shows how quickly things change, if Aaron Donald walked away, Von Miller's probably not back. Odell Beckham is probably not. I'm just, you know, he's coming off a knee injury, he's a free agent. If anything, I might actually make it a little easier for the Rams to bring him back because

he wants to. Yeah, but O'Dell was saying he would take a pay cut. I don't know. Listen, even if O'Dell takes a pay cut, he might have just blown. out his knee for the second time. That's what I'm saying. You want to do that in Los Angeles. It just emphasizes that this was a win, not just in general now, but this year team.

And we don't know what will happen with McVeigh. And if you're the Bengals, it's like you came really close. It's a really great story. But the shine of this great story starts to diminish because the reality is you look at the chiefs, you look at other teams. It is so hard to get back and the window starts to shut. And by the way, they aren't a roster that screams like five-year dynasty run beyond the belief in their quarterback to begin with.

So it's fleeting. It's just so very fair. That's why you got to cash in. There's also a report out there that ESPN wants to potentially offer Sean McVey Monday night football. Our guy, Ian Rappaport, did report that Sean McVey wants to be staying with the Rams. He's not thinking about that in the short term. He was talking about it more as his family situation when maybe he would be ready to have kids. That would be something he would consider that it wasn't going to be in the next couple of years.

but it is crazy because I've actually thought the whole All-in thing was overblown by a lot. Because they're really set up contract-wise with almost all of these guys for the next two or three years. And I think what's the Ram's secret sauce is how good they are at finding guys in the middle of the draft or unrestricted free agency

or undrafted free agents and making them into contributors and filling out the roster. If you look, they can have a very similar roster in the next year or two. But that changes totally if Aaron Donald is very, retiring.

Right. Or if Sean McVeigh is leaving. But what is if Sean McVeigh leaving to spend time with family, he's not even married and has no kids yet. Am I? Well, I guess, yeah. Maybe he wants to start. Well, that's fine.

But I would just say in general in life, you are going to continue to work and continue to pursue goals while having children. Can I ask you a question, Mark? Yes. Maybe. I never know what that will be entailed. I mean, he's going to ask it regardless. I'm going to ask you a question.

That's true. Because last night. on the eve of the Super Bowl, you tweeted, I'm over all of it. How are you doing right now? I was in a bit of a mood last night, but I thought this was honestly a great day. Like, I had this was also. When I saw that on the eve of the Super Bowl, I was a little concerned. It was not really, it was not work related.

And I felt that. I felt that. I felt the, like, it was like a darkness coming over my bedroom, actually, in Santa Monica. I just, I like having that power of it. You do. You could just because we're like in. Ghostbusters where you see, like, the spirits starting to come out.

Wouldn't you describe my attitude today as affable or, you know, plugged in to some degree? There was a Cessler intensity. I don't know. Was there? I don't know. Yeah, it's okay, though. I actually thought I was.

You were a professional all the way through. I was, like, incredibly chilled out before the game. I was just sort of sat in that little wooden seat, and I didn't feel worried about anything. You did book it out of the stadium immediately after the game. Well, you know, there were things happening with my body sometimes that, you know, kept me out of a couple weeks early in the season that was,

sitting in the same seat for that I did sit next to Nick Shook which is a great I haven't seen him in a while the pipe incredible to sit next to it a football game you weren't feeling so good because the pipe takes up space with those no no no you know what you know what takes of space it's when people move a certain way in their seat or if they like have 4,000 objects like he was like are you all right like do you have enough spaces like I'm good and your courtesy alone makes me just think more highly of Nick Shook in general so it's crazy because we keep doing these you know there's these big takeaways from all this and that's is how it goes. There's like a winner, there's a loser. It's like, for the most part, it's like we're talking positive Rams, a little bit negative for the Bengals, and that's how it's going to go for the rest of the time. There's

so much randomness and there's so many plays in this game that if it's a little different, the whole game's different. I felt like the entire fourth quarter was chock full of those plays that if just a little thing is different, then maybe the Bengals are the Super Bowl champs. One of them

was the Tyler Boyd drop that you That was in the fourth quarter. It was the last play of their drive before they punted it before the Rams' game-winning touchdown drive. Now, where we were and looking at the replays, I'm not sure he would have picked up the first step. I think it's fourth and two. I think it's fourth and two, fourth and one, around midfield. And that was a sliding doors moment in this game because of the way that Zach Taylor was approaching this game and where they were in the game,

I kind of think he would have gone for it on fourth and two. So that was like a huge or fourth and one. Maybe Tyler Boyd even breaks a tackle and he gets the first time. That was one. Another one was actually a running play earlier in the fourth quarter, too, where Joe Mixon finally has some space. They call the outside zone. He gets to the outside.

There's only one guy there, and it's Darius Williams. The worst tackling player in the Rams secondary. He kind of does the three. I'm going to throw my shoulder and not even look at what's going on and hope I tackle him. And I think Nixon kind of stumbled a little bit in that spot. Like that's a play where they would expect Mixon to break that tackle. And that play could have gone for a long time. And Nixon immediately afterwards was kicking himself because he knew that was an opportunity.

And yet that was a tackle. Ultimately, Darius Williams deserves credit. They end up forcing the punt. And it's like all these little plays, if it's just like a little bit, different. Who knows how this thing. Well, and it's like the coaches are going to be, you know, flying home and watching the tape tonight. It's going to be one of those games where it's a horror show.

It's going to be a snuff film to some degree. It's painful to watch all these little moments because these were two imperfect teams. And you're right, whoever lost, we would be pointing to a lot of little Rams moments saying Right. But the defensive coaches, I don't think, are feeling. I think both defensive coaches are feeling pretty good about what they did. But largely because these two, like, young geniuses, like,

did not suggest geniuses as offensive coaches. Like Ernest Jones had a monster game for the Rams. They decided to start him over Troy Reeder, who we've seen throughout these playoffs and has been a huge letdown. Ernest Jones, who was a rookie this year, was another guy playing in that preseason game back in August, see the preseason count sometimes.

Mid-round pick was injured earlier in the playoffs. He had multiple open field tackles. He had a sack. He had, he busted up a play in the first drive to force them to punt. And sometimes in the Super Bowl, that's like what it takes is like the Aishon Robinson's and the Ernest Jones and the Darius Williams and the Taylor wraps. And really that Rams defense for the most part, making everything difficult because there's another scenario where the Bengals wouldn't even have scored 20 points. They were a little lucky to get to 20. If the Bengals had pulled this out, you could also talk about the fact that I think they had like nine or 10 tackles for losses as well.

I mean, it's just the simple thing as the Rams win. And so we're going to shine the light a little more positively on the defensive staff point, Greg, I just want you underline it a little bit. Who do you think had a better game? Assistant defensive line coach Marcus Dixon of the Rams or for the Bengals. How about Jordan Kovacs, defensive quality control coach for the Bengals?

I mean, I'm going more top level. I do think we should give Raheim Morris a shout out. Why don't we answer that question? Dickson or Kovacs. Let's stick to the... Let's go here first and then you can move on the tree. Everyone knows Kovacs doesn't really show... I was hoping you were going to say that.

I think Kovacs, though, the more that you know about them, There was a big future there. Rahim Morsa did have a great playoff right. I mean, the whole idea was like their defense was going to be tough to maintain how great their defense was a year ago. And if you look at this four-game playoff stretch, they were as good or better than that number one Rams defense from a year ago. And they did it when it mattered.

Like, okay, in the regular season, they weren't as great. Who cares? You just brought in Von Miller and they absolutely rolled. So did my guy. And Rumo, though. And you got it tonight with Jalen Ramsey getting beat twice. nine I get one of the face masks things bothers me I like that they can't review review that but that that was a big issue I mean that changed the game right there

uh Chris Russo is right bang the under on this game I was right about that I wasn't right about anything else but I was feeling I picked 1916 I'm pretty sure that was the under you bang the under you bang the under you bang the under as well so that's good my my final score was 2321 and mark dog did unfortunately I had the Bengals uh winning let's take a break and We'll hit a bunch of other stuff as we continue. Our recap is Super Bowl 56. A bunch of other stuff? Hey, this is Matt Jones.

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

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. All right, we're going to get to sandwich props in a minute. we're going to settle up some other business. But before that, the Wessling brothers were in town.

Five of them, in fact. The city was lousy with Wesslings. I met them over at the El Segundo Brewing Company, some drinks on Saturday night. And then after the game, you know, after Cincinnati's football team, very nearly won the Super Bowl but lost in excruciating fashion, I'm happy to report that the Wessling Brothers, were in good spirits overall.

Stephanie, Nick's wife, was really the biggest fan of the bunch, to be honest with you. And she was a good sport about it, too. And we did some on-site reporting with Ricky Hollywood that you can listen to at the end of the show. But I think overall, the Wesleyan Brothers really soaked it in and had a great time. So that was cool.

It was crazy to walk down from our seats. And we were leaving the stadium, Dan. and we weren't exactly sure where the Wesleyan Brothers were, and we just run into them. Of course we did, because that's just the way this whole run is gone. It's also like 37 of them, so the numbers. Right, but the stadium is like 16 city blocks wide,

and we happen to pop out right where they were. It's a unique encounter. Keisha is there. There's an NFL films crew that was following Keisha and the Wesleyan Brothers. They were also at Keesha's house a week ago when we were celebrating Wes and I'm really excited to see that but it was just I don't know it's like you're feeling so many different emotions at once but to see them all there like it just felt right you know they were they were all in good spirits um felt so wrong for Chris not to be in that mix and

Dan you said it to me before the start of the game just just like you just wish Chris could be here to see it and it was kind of like when the Reds were winning early in the season i was like okay reds you got now you actually picked now to have a good season and and it was different because the bengals and we've talked about a lot west had a different relationship with it but it it's cliche but all being together and like seeing us there and like seeing us all in that one spot at the super bowl and the bengals and all the wessling brothers and kisha and you just think about how this this great friend of ours chris brought us all together exactly that's what that's what i was just about to say that like we we've had a lot of fun because it is a fun way to remember west

is to think what west would where he'd be at headspace wise about this game but i think the most important thing is that chris is the reason why um lekeesh is so close to us and why the brothers were at this game uh with the help from a lot of people at the NFL which we really are thankful to everyone uh match schneider and the whole crew who made sure all the westlings had a ticket and we're able to get in the building. Like they're all in that building celebrating Chris and celebrating the hometown team. And even though it didn't come out the way you wanted it to come out,

it was still like this special way to celebrate someone we all loved. And I mean, we saw the pre-Lakisha Chris Wesleyan. And we saw the post-Lakisha Chris Wesleyan. And I don't really know if I've had a friend that went through a more visual but also internal transformation because of one encounter. And so I wonder, I mean, yes, there is the Bengals mystery side to what Chris would have thought, but I think he ultimately would have just wanted Lakeisha to be as happy as possible, too, and she got her Rams victory.

I mean, that would have been she was super dug into the Rams on such an emotional level that, like, maybe this is how Chris would want it to go. And I just have to say, like, Lakeisha, who, you know, we have so much respect for her and how she's gone through this and come out of it and, and, and, there and a great mother to link like this whole week has been highly stressful for her and there's NFL films falling around and she's wearing the half uh the half ram's jersey half bangles jersey and i give her a big hug when i saw her and congratulated her on the rams winning it's almost like that was almost secondary to her and it was her hometown team st louis style winning the super bowl

tonight you just again you can't make any of this up and we'll never forget uh this whole run because coming on the nearly year anniversary of losing West, for it to, like, play out this way, still hard to believe. Yeah, she's, she was happy, I think, with the Rams winning. And she also, and I feel this way, too, you almost don't want it to end, you know, like this week. Because this week has been special. And I think about it because the Super Bowl is always going to be associated with West now for us.

Absolutely. Because we did that show after West died on Super Bowl Sunday. It's always going to have his, you know, the day he died is always going to happen the week before. And so it's always going to be associated. But I think it's sad, but it's also beautiful, too. Like, it's a yearly celebration that we're going to have of him and of football. And I thought the same thing, Dan, in terms of how the game ended. And I talked to Nick a little about that.

Like, I think he would have wanted Keisha to be as happy as possible if he was here. You know what I mean? Right. Right. And when those three plays went sideways, I sort of thought, like, he would have been like, oh, there's a Bengals. Like, that's the Bengals for you. And he had so much love for Keisha, of course. And she's such a pure fan that, like, that that's like how he would have wanted to end. And he was one of those smart football people who was always pounded on the table about Donald's greatness. So Donald, I just, I think it kind of worked out in a lot of ways in a beautiful way that the Bengals didn't win, but everybody was. together, and then Lakeisha got, she got the ship there. So that is, that's awesome.

All right. Let's see. Let's get to the sandwich props. Always a difficult game. The victory, winning is always about cashing in on others' failures. It's like, they say like, what's the toughest sport? Oh, golf is the most difficult sport. Please.

No, no, no, no. It's barely a sport. Where 30% success rate and getting on base. Oh, it's hard to walk around in like a white eyes on. and, like, kick a ball around a green lawn? Wait, soccer now? No, golf. I mean, I mean, I get that it's difficult.

Do you think people kick in golf? I don't imagine you've watched a lot. I'm just saying, like, it's like, I'm not going to die on that hill. Ricky, did you see how mad mark was when he mentioned golf there? It was, like, super weird, like the I-Zod reference and then kicking a ball. It's like, have you ever played a sport? I didn't nail the kicking thing, but I think the clothing part is on point. Some people say, you know, tennis, it's a one.

on one you there's no coaches out there you're all by yourself a mental that that's one of the toughest sports out there the i'll say cornhole yeah the most difficult especially if you're drunk that is accurate uh but i would say uh go get my lunch you turd is up there as well we'll start with mark sessler higgins sample and boy out to the right in a cluster the bengals toss it to the right nixon throws into the back of the end zone it is caught by t higgins touchdown Bengals, Joe Mixin, floating one into the back, right corner of the end zone, and T. Higgins pulls it in for the Bengals touchdown. A non-quarterback completes a meaningful pass.

Now, I don't know if Nick Fortier got this one right. It's, according to Nick, I'm the only one who took you up on it. Did you not take? Because I remember specifically saying on one of the wagers, I wasn't taking you up on it, just I didn't want to. and apparently Nick's got this wrong. It's just a matter of which one I didn't take you up on. No, I think that was mine, a Sony Michelle.

You're like, I have a weird feeling. I'm just not going to do that with you. Oh, yeah, that's right. We could also just, you could just check the tape. That would be one simple way to solve that. All right, we're going to stop down and Mark's going to check the tape. No, I can not be bothered. But, I mean, I just, you know.

Wait, did you just say the Sony Michelle thing? Yeah. So that's what you're right. Thank you, Ricky. So Mark has a non-cube-b. He finishes with two yards on two carries, by the way. Not exactly the same performance. It wasn't what I was looking for.

As 100 plus against Sean McPhase-Rams. But, Greg, Greg did not take you up on that. But you collected a sandwich on me. Well, Greg. No, I did. Sony Michelle, me and Mark took you. Well, whoa, slow down, slow down. We're not there yet.

Wrong person. We're not there. Oh. Greg, Greg talked about other players throwing passes as not unusual or important. I said that's how often so czar. I took you on just because that's the way the game is played. The second half starts with an on-side kick. That did not happen.

That went effing sad. It was a touchback and then the big T. Higgins play. They should have tried an on-sides kick. Things would have maybe been different. Greg Rosenthal, so you're five and two there, Mark. That's a nice job by you. Greg Rosenthal, four and three. Jamar Chase delivers a key memorable block.

I think that's the worst Super Bowl prop we've ever had. Just in terms of like, you failed, but also like, what are we even doing? Here's the thing. You guys, I agree that it was weird, but for it to be a memorable block, it would have like the odds of that happening were very small uh so if nothing else like it was uh it was an onion hanger but you were trying to not even give me credit for that where's the juice like what's fun about it you know unless he's like laying a dude out i just sort of saw it in my mind and i just wanted to go with it i saw like higgins running down and then chase like delivers this thing

you got to go with your vision you got to go with your vision your second one was looking really good at half time but then things went sideways for the Cincinnati offensive line Joe burrow was sacked less than three times. He was sacked seven times. He said it was just gone for the under. And 19 times in the playoffs. Once again, like proving that Kansas City game was so bizarre, things got so strange in that game where he was able to get away and scramble and

sacked once, but he was sacked nine times by the Tennessee tickle monsters in the divisional playoffs and then seven times by the Rams in the Super Bowl, including six in the second half. So there that is. All right. The old Zusser three and five. I had Cooper Cup and Jamar Chase each have 100 yards receiving. One gets there by halftime.

I don't think either got there. Both were close to 100. Both had an impact to the game. Cup especially, he's Super Bowl MVP, but neither eclipsed the century mark or got there at halftime. So I lost two there. And then the halftime show. I had still Dre opening.

I thought the Scott Storch, the keyboard that instantly, iconic keyboard riff would start the show that actually closed so it was like right church wrong pew situation good sensibility though that it was a something they'd want to emphasize right and I do like it was like Dr. Joe's like hey in this house set

that we're doing for halftime get me a big white grand piano so I'm going to show them I can play piano it was a great closer in the end I was wishing I thought that would be the opener but it was a great closer I love that they started with a Snoop verse. Right.

And I love how they ended it with drinks. Right. So we open with next episode. No Nate Dogg, of course. But you get a little Snoop to start things off. Turn it up my headphones. Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dog!

And you can't, like, this is not trying to oversell it. The auxiliary, we were in the 500s in this auxiliary press. area. It was shaking during the halftime set. People were just way into it smelled a little bit like a certain wacky tobacco. Right. I mean it could have been wafting around the stadium.

You know, unfortunately. And then my other prediction was that they closed with California Love. They went from next episode into California Love and they actually closed with what did they close with? What'd they close with? What they closed with? I thought they closed with still Dre. Still Dre. They closed with.

Can I say something? Yes. I don't, did we need, like it was cool that 50 cent did the whole, you know, in the club music video coming down from the ceiling thing. But I didn't need it. Can I tell you something? I think not to man-spread in this one and man-explain it. Mansplane. Mansplend-spread.

I think if you are a fan of that era of hip-hop or you were kind of super plugged in when he's, hit that was like one of the biggest songs ever and dray the show was ultimately about dray and dray found 50s and that was the the image of him dropping down everyone that followed hip hop

hip hop in the early 2000s was like oh that was him from the music video like right you know shredded doing his sit-ups or whatever he was doing in the gym yeah in the gym so I was I got it I liked it actually I was in you gotta have a little bit of a surprise I guess I didn't I'm with you

I didn't need it, but it also felt like every song was perfectly chosen. I mean, it really was crazy. We live in California and, you know, Weedsley. Rosenol sets the table in the conversation. I'm just saying, it was like, how SoCal can you get? You know, it was a moment. These two guys from, you know, from Englewood and they're here at SoFi Stadium that the weeds, for us to be at a Super Bowl,

You walk everywhere in SoCal, and I think it's a beautiful smell. You just walk around the street. There's weed in the air pretty much everywhere you go. Everywhere Greg goes. That's true. For everything happening, for that to happen in the Super Bowl stadium and Dre and Snoop and then Kendrick, it's like, it felt like the good guys won. It felt like a nice, this is as SoCal as you could possibly get. We've been to 10 Super Bowls.

I think it was the best halftime show. I think there's recancy bias. of a little bit. The only thing that I would say that I easily had as my favorite was Beyonce before this. And I still think Beyonce is my favorite. But this wasn't...

Mark, you were in the bathroom for like 30 minutes after Shakira and J-Lo in Miami. Is that true? I have no idea what you're talking about. I like Beyonce one a lot. I thought that was excellent. Yes, New Orleans, Beyonce was excellent.

I liked Gaga a lot too. She was good. And this one I thought was excellent. This was like the most joyous. But I'm with you. I think Brune 5 you have to really go with is number one. I don't think we work together, but I really go back to that black-eyed peace performance. We weren't together, but I was in the building for that.

We're up with people. It was like, wait, this is the Super Bowl? What is happening? All right. And then finally, Greg. So that cost me saying. Oh, yeah. And Greg.

You did me. We got Erica. That's it. No, we didn't do it. Oh, we did Greg. Yeah. Erica, you said Sony Michelle scores a touchdown. I felt good about that one.

What did he have? What did he finish with? Like two yards. Okay. He could have had a one-yard touchdown in another scenario. He did not. Any other kind of big picture thoughts about the game, boys? What you said before about Joe Burrow and the Bengals, you got to take advantage when you do get there.

There was a feeling, I think, with this Bengals team. And James Palmer was talking about it when I saw him in the press box today that, like, they couldn't have possibly been looser this morning throughout the week. They couldn't have possibly been more confident. They couldn't have possibly acted more like this was their destiny and that they couldn't possibly be more confident that they're going to be back here year after year.

That if they didn't get it, he said something to the effect that, well, if they don't get it done here, they almost feel like they don't mind because this, they're going to make this a regular habit. Now, they have proven to us this season, when you doubt Joe Burrow, when you doubt these Bengals, they can have a way of surprising you, even if it doesn't make any sense. But this was an incredible opportunity, an incredibly winnable game that their defense really set up for them.

And it's going to be, you can say whatever you want about coming back. It's going to be a painful couple of months. I think they'll learn that, you know, you can say whatever you want, want about we think there's going to be a lot of these moments again for the bengals but all last off season for the super bowl loser the chiefs it was they're going to dedicate all their resources to fix that line to make sure what happened against the bucks and tom brady did not happen this season and the bengals going with a as laser focus to like you cannot put joe burrow in that situation next year they've tried to put resources but like for all the good job that their front office is done in general

that's one area that remains a disaster and so you already know what your number one job is because there's a lot of other things to like about the fact that your core talent is all on their rookie contracts. They are right now the odds on favorite to win the AFC North again with those other teams haven't been weakened, if anything else. And if you're the Rams, you're playing with House Money at this point because you're the team that did pull out an imperfect game by both squads. And that's why I think with the all-in thing, Greg, I think ultimately. It is all in. Yeah, if McVeigh and Donald are gone, then it's very different team. if, yeah, even if the core comes back and they don't get to the mountaintop again or maybe the

people retire and the team goes under completely, they have the rings. They did it. This was successful. Less need who's a guy that's been there for a long time and there was some down years where he could have gotten swept out and he didn't. And now he's got a ring with this team. I think that is, it is a reminder that there is more than one way to build a team and they showed it And it absolutely worked. And for Cincinnati, yeah, everyone, everyone kind of has the same take with his team, which is we're still in great shape. Let's go and pour a lot of resources into the offensive line.

And we'll get right back here. But that's not how it works. The AFC looks, not a home run. Looks stacked. The AFC North looks stacked. You got the bills. Who knows the Patriots coming up. Like, you've got that entire AFC West Division, it's pretty brutal.

I do like that the Rams did it a different way by trading all these. picks and they're coaching up these mid-round picks like Ernest Jones that they give to me it's like Odo Beckham was one thing in Stafford those weren't those weren't ballsy trades those were you know O'Do Beckham was a no-brainer signing Stafford was a smart trade I don't think they went crazy you know I think that they were these were aggressive moves they were aggressive much Vaughn Miller was kind of a crazy trade to give up two quality picks for two months of Vaughn Miller was an intense trade. Who was hurt.

That was as all in as you get. And then he delivers two sacks, three quarterback hits tonight. He's the first player ever to have two sacks in a Super Bowl for two different teams because he had a couple, of course, getting the Super Bowl MVP a couple of years ago. It was incredible. It was incredible vision. And to keep less need with Sean McVeigh and make that partnership work, even though McVeigh is sort of in the lead, It's an interesting setup that Sneed's there first.

He works well with McVeigh. The ownership wanted to bring Sneed from St. Louis to here. Everything worked out well. And then here they are. You almost can't write at that SoFi Stadium and they win the Super Bowl. I feel like Mark was dreading this sort of thing happening. Almost that like the NFL preordained it and like we were going to be the Rams little like employees. But in the end you didn't end up that way.

I'm getting to the point that, like, in the end, I don't think you minded because even if that felt strange that, like, we're essentially at work right now, we just walked across the street. Right. Now that now, if you want to project it as a goal or something that they envisioned, it's happened. I think the bigger thing that's happening is it's not, I don't really have strong personal feelings about what happened to the Rams tonight. If anything, we kind of know them as well as any team and some of the people. And, like, I'm kind of cool with it and good for them. My thing is more that. You probably could do without Odell forcing them.

But even that, it's like, like, how much mental space am I spending on O'Dell Beckham? Literally none at this point. Good. I know, but it's like. I mean, not as much as... It doesn't bother me really as much as you seem to think it does. Baker with his, like, bitchy Instagram story. That was a tough one.

Isn't it nice to just walk over from the Super Bowl, though? Like, we just watched the Super Bowl, and then we walked over to the Chris Wesleying podcast studio, and it took us five minutes. It's fine. We also drove, drove, like, 300 miles this week, so I don't... It's a trade-off, but I would just say this. It's the second year in a row where the home team wins in their stadium. I don't care about that. It's the second year in a row where a veteran quarterback of high value decided to go from

or was able to go from Team A to Team B and win the Super Bowl in year one with Team B. And I don't think that trend is going away. I simply don't. I think you've got other veteran quarterbacks looking at what's happened to Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford and said, these guys change their storylines and their destinies. And O'Dell. And I know it ends with O'Dell suffering a bad knee injury. He comes to the sideline.

But he's got a ring. He's crying after the game, but he, you know, he tweets out, it's all God's plan. He's got a ring now. But that is part of what the league is now. It's why Kyler Murray, and we don't want to get ahead of that story. But that's why Kyler Murray might be saying, hmm, I could do whatever I want. I'm a star in this league. And I think it's a major kind of thread now to follow.

in the NFL because things are changing. And we'll just continue to see. I think players kind of pick where they want to go the way the NBA is turned into that. Like these teams kind of finding themselves and maybe there's some back channel chatter. And then they say, let's go for it together. Now, that is with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVeigh,

that is now the stuff of legend for the Rams, the meeting in Cabo. There will be more meetings in Cabo across the league, I think, going forward, even if it's not actually in Cabo. because it works. It seems like we need a quarterback, we need this. Okay, I can come to your town and become the star and get a ring.

Okay, let's do that. And football players don't have the mentality of, well, that's just the NBA. They're thinking, no, it's just us too. We're actually a 10 times bigger sport than the NBA. Baseball's like a minor child-sized dwarf compared to us. No, would you argue that football is? That literally has nothing to do with anything we're talking about right now. Your ranking of what's popular.

It's a minor child side of war. I am saying that like football players should be as empowered as any athlete on the planet because the NFL is king. There's no other sport where someone else should be able. But what was that about baseball being? But it's tricky. I'm saying that football, 40 years ago, football was in the mix with these other sports. It's completely changed.

Football is the king's sport and their stars should have as much say leverage and power as any athlete on the planet, not just NBA, not just baseball, not just fill in the blank. There are different dynamics. I think the Kyler, the Kyler Murray one is an interesting one to watch and we'll get into it throughout the offseason so we don't need to hear. But you could hear the little sparrows from either the front office, most likely, or the coaching stuff, starting to try to drag Kyler through the mud as potentially there's a power struggle here

and both sides don't want to look like the bad guy. Russ could be up for grabs. DeShon Watson's legal situation is still uncertain, but he could be up for grabs. later this offseason. Aaron Rogers is maybe returning. Sounds more likely than not, but we don't know at this point.

Like, there's a lot of these quarterbacks hanging out there right now. All right. We'll keep us busy, you know. You ready for that, Mark? We'll do a podcast tomorrow, just a quarterback, like, emergency. You too will.

What's that? There is a new champion for the locks. competition of 2022. Dan, are you ready to announce your retirement? Go on Aaron Donald. I need to get Jack and Harrison up here. I tried to retire from this. You guys wouldn't let me. I would like, Greg, could you hand it over to me in a symbolic? Yeah. I mean. Sean Kelly can get in here, snap a photo of the transfer of a lock trophy. It was one of very nearly one of the great collapses of all time. But, um, I'm humbled.

Yeah, let's make sure we're you. I'm humbled and, Mark, you had an incredible comeback. But at the end of the day, the trophy is with me for the first time as a solo venture. And it means a lot. So I want to thank everybody. And I'm not sure what the future holds. I want to go home. I want to talk to my family about this.

and see where we are, but. We'll go spend more time with them, maybe walk away from the sport in general as everyone else seems to be doing right now. Maybe, maybe, baby. But we're taking it home. I'm getting vibes from that episode where Mark wasn't happy with the lack of, I think,

humility that you were showing on one episode. You know what? It came down to the end. You vicariously, we have, you know, we win or lose through what other men do in tight pants and pads. And that's what's happened tonight. I couldn't be more excited for you.

I'm sure. I'm sure. It was, it's nice to have it. It's going to be right behind me over my right shoulder at my home. And then I know, Greg, you're hungry to come back for it next year because it was a humbling season for you,

no doubt, to go from back-to-back champion to also right. I'm sort of an all-or-nothing guy, you know. I tried to retire the Lock Trophy period, the format in general, but it sounds like I'll never get rid of it. It's an odd battle that you're fighting on that front. I don't think it's going away. All right.

Any other thoughts, boys? This is obviously a still a surreal thing. One year later without Chris, wish he was with us right now. And you mentioned, it always gets me. I don't know what it is. the uh when they do america the beautiful and goes into the national anthem and then the jets go over and then you look down and you saw all the orange and you saw Cincinnati everywhere and

it's like oh man i wish he was here to see this i don't even care what we're really where he would come down on i just wish he was there um with us i want to do mention one thing i want to get uh if you did not happen to check out um john gonzalez colline's husband's uh s i weekly podcast, which he launched last month, and it's, you know, a really good journalistic program that covers a lot of different things. And last week he had us on the show with Lakeisha, and we had a really, you know, great group conversation. So if you guys want to check that out, just talking about everything that's happened in the last year, I highly recommend that. Any other thoughts, guys? I mean, when I think of West, you know, and I think we, it's so clear at this

point that we interacted with Wes in our own unique ways, but now, starting tomorrow was the time that Wes and I used to hang out a lot. It was the beginning of the off season, and it, like, football will never be the same for me. And like, I, like, I think that I kind of admire, uh, I think Greg specifically, like, you seem to be galvanized to kind of do this season for Wes and to find love of football through him. And I certainly found my love of football growing by hanging out with West in general. I don't know if I can call this season. I'm not sure it did that for me in the same way.

And it's just that I think I'm still processing like a lot of what happened this year. It's been dark. It's been rough personally, but majorly because of that. And so I just miss him now, like hanging out with him and all the stuff that we would do when he'd start to get deep into his other interests in life. And there's really no one else that can duplicate that in a friendship way. yeah days like today you wake up to bengals rams super bowl you just sort of like feel him you you think about him you feel his presence in days like today where you're just like so alive to

the excitement of the of the moment you know that's live like to quote damage like that's living and that's what that was what west was all about it you wish he was here but you also love that like he feels part of this it you know not to be too much of a downer but it's like the next week or two that's like that's harder you know because I love that he's part of this I love when we were in London that he was sort of part of that and it's like you want those moments those special days where he it almost feels like he's part of it to last forever and they don't but the best you can do is is make sure you are really living in those days well said and it was another really special year for our show and so thankful of the audience who went through the loss

as well in their own way and had to make a decision whether they wanted to stay with us and continue to listen to the show. And so many of you did stay with the show. And you saw us kind of try to process Wes's loss and figure out how to even do a show when Chris isn't around who's such an integral part of what we did. So thank you to everyone who did that. And we hope to be around for a long time with you guys doing this show. It's just a real honor to be able to have the audience. We saw, you know, so many people this week in L.A. coming up to us, big podcast fans, whether it's here or visiting from different parts of the world. And we do not take that for granted. So thank you to everybody for the support of this show. Still hard to

believe that this is our we're going to go into our 10th season of the around the NFL podcast starting in September which it's changed all of our lives and it's like I don't know what happens next to the show things you know this is going to be an interesting year for us but I could tell you that we love doing it and we're not going anywhere it's crazy you think that those first episodes where we had to basically sneak around we had to leave people on the desk that It was this side thing that we almost had to be ashamed of that her bosses didn't want to do. And now here we are in the great man, Chris Wesleyan's podcast studio across the street. Right.

It was pitched as, well, if there's four of you, two of you can go up and do a show maybe at the same time. And we never followed that rule specifically and where it came from and who it came from. And I think that we've inside this corporation not followed a lot of rules. And I'm proud of that. Living well or podcasting well is the best revenge. and that's certainly case with us so yes from the chris wesling podcast studio and we're going to of course

throw to our conversation now with all the Wesleying brothers and let's just take them off we got Larry he's the stoic one oh what he's the sardonic stoic stoic is a compliment

I mean in many we have nick called princess by his brothers so that's doesn't quite match stoic but we got nick the bad boy we got Nick the bad boy We got Phil

The Quiet Beetle In some ways, but not really It's got opinions A lot of heart We got Eddie Eddie Haven't had too much time with Eddie Definitely, he's the quiet one

He's the quiet one Plotting in the background Right It was great to see him out here I was a pleasant surprise And of course Tim Tim Wesley

The Wild Guard The Wild card That's an easy one And Stephanie Nick's wife. It was, yeah, great to see everybody. So here's the conversation we had with them and what's been a really special week for the Wesslings

and what's been a wild year. Thank you to everybody for listening. And we're going to take a little bit of a break. We're going to take the rest of this week off and be back with you at some point next week. So until then, you know what you've got to do. Heat the call. I feel okay.

I think it was a just end. It was a good game. A little disappointed for my brothers, huge Bengals fans. But, you know, it was a good game, and I'm happy for Lakeisha that the Rams won. And, hey, the Bengals will be back. Plenty to cheer for over the next decade. My wife, extremely upset right now. Season ticket holder does not like the fact that the Bengals lost.

The rest of us, happy to be here. A little disappointed, but we'll be all right. And we also think the Bengals will be back. This was a very, very, very amazing experience. to bring myself to being back as a Rams fan and just in this moment like I'm in the building Rams house we won the Super Bowl and that like a lot of people don't get a chase to experience this moment and it's just like I don't take it for granted like this is such a wonderful experience if Chris is looking down on us now he's probably thinking exactly what

you said on the other hand this is a different bangles team and he knows it he would love Joe Burrow Jamar Chase he'd love the whole deal except for Mike Brown Who's house? Grails' house. taking down college prospects and NFL rookies. To evaluate team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers,

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

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