NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Vikings Fire Adofo-Mensah, Cardinals Hire Mike LaFleur, Rams extend McVay and Snead & More

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

On the last Monday before Super Bowl LX, organizational structures continue to shift around the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings parted ways with GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the Arizona Cardinals hired former Rams OC Mike LaFleur as their new head coach, and the Seattle Seahawks are "closing in" on hiring current Seattle Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak as their next HC. Gregg Rosenthal, Patrick Claybon and Ollie Connolly join forces to provide analysis of every major football headline you need to know heading into Super Bowl week!!NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we have made it to the final week of the 2025 season, even though it's February of 2026. Very confusing. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with my friend in his NFL Network polo. Well, I can't, Greg. Oh, stop it.

It's Patrick Claibon. And yeah, it's fitting because at some point, you were out on the road in July. in the beautiful sun wearing that polo. And here we are still in the beautiful sun in Los Angeles and we're ready to crown a champion. Yes, shout out to our neighborly star, 93 million miles away, providing us with all the energy that we use

to enjoy this beautiful game and spin it with spectacular people, Greg. I mean, Patrick's energy is next level. It's almost unsettling because I'm not used to it. But I think Fantasy Live's done. We didn't do a game debut last week. He's just ready to go. And that's why I've, you know,

passed on even mentioning the guy in the other box if you're watching on YouTube. It's Ali Connolly. He's from Manchester. We wanted to get all the most important members of the NFL Daily family in on this Super Bowl week. So we got Ali joining us from Manchester to talk a little coaching news

and some surprises that could swing the Super Bowl later. How are you doing, Ollie? I'm doing good trying to match the energy that Patrick is putting out there. It's infectious. Yeah, it's not really. Ali's natural state. I don't think.

But I think we can get there. Actually, it was kind of your state when you came up with an electric third act idea for whiplash right before the show where you suggested, what was it that Miles Teller do? You have to beat the greatness into people, Greg. That is the theory of the case.

That is often how NFL coaches operate. You've got to beat the greatness into people and do not let the talent fight back. Okay. So in this case, though, you wanted Miles Teller to fight back and start beating the hell out of Jake that doesn't actually happen in the moment.

No, unfortunately, he does not take a drumstick to JK's head and then have a happy ending to the movie. Okay, it's a larger conversation about, you know, stick, carrot, what works. I like to think of NFL Daily as a great vibes place. So there's no stick here. And what we're going to do is do one of the things people have been getting after me and saying, we've really liked the news coaching update show. They've given us a lot to talk about. But you were really diving into everything that's happening.

And so much has happened, even since Thursday when Ali and I last tape that we're going to hit a couple head coach hirings. We got a GM firing. There's a lot of coordinators. And that's going to be most of the show, a couple other items and news. And we'll just have a little talk about Super Bowl 60, which is obviously coming up later in this week to end the show. But let's start with Clint Kubiak because Clint Kubiak is expected to be the next Raiders head coach. We got to do this weird wording thing, Patrick, that the Raiders are zeroing in on Clint Kubiak for their head coaching vacancy. It's very similar to a Super Bowl media night.

I remember well when I spent almost all of it interviewing Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan before what turned out to be a fateful night in his coaching career. Talk around what it would be like if he actually did get the 49ers head coach. job and the types of moves he would make if that was the case. And we have a similar situation with a guy who was once, you know, working for Kyle, right? At some point, I think they've been on the same staff, certainly, and was once on that Washington staff underneath him as an offensive coordinator way back in the day. The Raiders hire him.

It's really interesting that Clint Kubiak chose this job by if you just pull the reports kind of together in this like read between the lines not too subtly. I think he had the choice between Arizona and Las Vegas. Why don't we start with, do you think Clint made the right choice before we get to whether the Raiders made the right choice? Well, I think as we, you know, kind of were able to allude to ahead of this game with Tom Brady up in the booth calling the NFC championship game and Clint Kubiak having the opportunity to not just interview for the job, but to interview with Tom Brady before

he interviewed with the job where it's kind of collectively. I guess interviewing for the job the entire time. I think evaluating the state of the Raiders was something that Kubiak was able to get a lot of insight to because Tom Brady instrumental through that process where the circumstances in Arizona have been kind of nebulous for a considerable amount of time that, oddly enough, considering the way that the teams look, it seems like the right decision to make. I think so. I think it comes down to how much you believe in Fernando Mendoza.

just considering the coaches that you have to go against, oh, they're pretty great in the AFC West, too. The Raiders make more sense to me. What do you think of, Ali, and I don't know how deep you've gone into the college tape, but of the marriage just off the bat of Mendoza and Kubiak and what he could do offensively? Yeah, I think the thing I've admired about Kubiak this season

is he's taking kind of the best-of-greatest-hits version of his dad's offense infused some of the Shaw McVeigh stuff and then really using JSN and kind of pushing the bounds of what you can do with like a single standalone great player. So I think looking at someone like Brock Bowers and saying it's probably not going to look like a one to one, just pick up the offense from one spot

and drop into a new spot with Fernando Mendoza I think will be completely centered around. How do I maximize Brock Bowers? How does that make everyone's life easier? And Mendoza to me is a really like point and shoot Jared Gough-ish type quarterback and he'd be just a great decision maker and can he move a little bit with his feet,

which is really where he's at. And so I think for Quebec, it was I either get Fernando Mendoza and Tom Brady, which is a guy he really respects and trusts, or I go into a kind of bleak, unsure situation in Arizona with a GM who might be out in a season and dealing with this kind of strange Kyla Murray situation and how that has a knock on effect for the cap and the quarterback. Yeah, you go with what you know. And sometimes it's the devil you know over what you know.

I just appreciate that you and Ali have cut through all of the circumstances and, yeah, the zeroing in. and yeah, we got draft prep. It will be Bernada Mendoza and it will be clicking. I just love that we're there. I appreciate it because it's honest. It's true. The Mendoza part, I guess you never know.

But I thought it was interesting where I saw a few things about this hire that, you know, first of all, like, well, will Mike McDonald be able to replicate like the elite offense that Clint Kubiak has helped to generate? And I was thinking, like, has it been an elite offense? it's kind of been an up and down season. I don't think the personnel overall would indicate it should be an elite offense. So I think ultimately they finished what, 10th, I think, in efficiency, according to the DVOA. That sounds about right in the top eight or nine. Like those are really great often.

I think he did well, but he's been a guy that bounced around. I misspoke. He, of course, was on Calas-Shanehan's staff with the 49ers just a couple years ago as the passing game coordinator. He was not back with that Sean McVeigh. Shanahan group that Mike LaFleur, who will talk about in a second was on in Washington back in the day that also had Mike McDaniel and Rahim Morris and just like many of the main... The tree! Right, the main coaches that we've been talking about for a while. But one thing I also thought was as, well, Clint gets to, you know, handpick his quarterback.

And I'm like, well, not really. Like the whole world just kind of decides Fernando Mendoza is your number one pick. and that's just what they're going to do. It is weird how that kind of, it doesn't feel like Clint Kubiak's handpicking. It was like, that's just going to be his guy, and he's going to make it work. And like, if it was another draft,

I don't know if he would necessarily be the number one overall pick. Maybe he would be. Maybe he wouldn't be. And so it's just fascinating to me that after all this Brady talk, that this is where we end up with the guy that he just announced doing like his best work in the NFC championship. I think he handpicked him in the sense that he could have turned the job down or taking the Arizona job. So he must feel pretty good about if I'm going to take

a swing, I may as well take a swing with this guy and of all the people to evaluate quarterbacks. We've seen great players mis-evaluate quarterbacks all the time. But the reason why I just solidify Mendoza there is just the way he talks about the sport, the detail, how obsessive he is about it. I just, you can picture him and Tom Brady just immediately being like a brain connection where Brady's not going to let that slide. And they don't really have any other option. I mean, what are you going to do, dig into a free agent class that has Malik Willis or try to make trade for two. I mean, the only option you can do is go first round four. There's only one guy who will have a sure fire first round grade.

And I'm also thinking back to the circumstances where Clint Kubiak didn't necessarily have the quarterback of everybody's dream, you know, to start this season, the early season. Remember the super explosive early season, New Orleans Saints, where Derek Carr was lighten up the night and then, you know, that's one of the most talked about two weeks stretches in recent NFL history. But it was fascinating. But he was able to coax that level of production out of an offense that would really crater later on in the season and survive those

circumstances. So I think there's cause to believe that, as you mentioned, and Ollie pointed out, he can take what's available and not necessarily be like, this is my system, this is how we operate, this is how we are going to play football to evaluate the talent, utilize that unique talent uniquely, and give some hope because they do have unique talent on this roster. And I think it could work. You know, they have a left tackle in Colton Miller. That's a nice piece to start with. You obviously have Brock Bowers. You have Max Crosby.

You have some high level players. You have maybe the worst roster in the NFL, like spots 30 to 53, you know, or 20 to 53, like especially on defense. It's rough. And it's a come up. And one thing I thought about with Clint Kubiak and Michael Flore, who we'll talk about now, is they were the ninth and ten picks in what everyone was kind of saying was a thinner coaching crop.

And so guys got a chance that maybe. wouldn't have gotten a chance in other years. And Clint Kubiak filled that profile of like, okay, you know the name. He's in the system, blah, blah, blah. That's all true. And they're in the Super Bowl. But like 10 years ago,

he was a wide receivers coach for Kansas City. He has bounced around every year. You know, talk about different quarterbacks that have a different coordinator every year. Like Clint Kubiak has a different job every year. He was the coordinator with Defansky in Minnesota. Then he was with Hackett, I think, in Denver. Am I right?

for a year. They all got blown out of the water. Then he's with Shanahan. Then he was with New Orleans, with Dennis Allen, and that doesn't work. And then this year with Seattle. So he has bounced around and is a relatively young guy, 38 years old, born a couple days before me. So he's got a big one coming up, 39. And I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued. But I don't think it was their first choice. And I really don't think Michael Fleur was Arizona's first choice. And it's got to be. be a little bit of a weird feeling to know if you're Mike LaFleur that, yeah, not only were you not the first or second choice, it doesn't, it doesn't feel like in Arizona that even at the last second, they were kind of checking with Clint Kubiak and they had a two-day meeting with Michael

Fleur. They don't give him the job then. Then reportedly they talked to Kubiak again, but, or wait for Kubiak, it doesn't happen. And in the end, they take the job. It is fascinating, Ollie for him to take this job knowing he is going to have to go up against his mentor here, one of his mentors, Sean McVeigh and another one of his mentors, Kyle Shanahan, in the same division, obviously as the NFC champions, Seattle Seahawks each and every time and just kind of feel like, yeah, I can do this. I can come up with the plan that gets Arizona out of the basement. What do you think of what he's going to bring to the table

and his chances of doing that? I think it's a pretty poor hire. I'm confused why he decided to take it. It felt like it was the only job available. And so you take the only job available. You're the last guy upstanding for the last job available. And so you jump with whoever's left at the bar. We've seen this move with him before.

We saw Imbrun one half of the building with the jets. It was an unmitigated disaster. The thought process behind what they did was a complete disaster. It was diabolical. Nothing made any sense. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? I mean, you have to sit down, Mike LaFleurorne and say,

explain to us the thought process behind these different play concepts, play styles, why you're using motion in certain ways. None of it makes any appropriate sense to the way football is played. Just none of it. Motioning guys into free open access defenders effectively. All the time, constantly. Just the way you're utilizing concepts from other people

don't make any sense in the game plan or to attack the opponent. just fundamental areas of football. And that was him running one side of the building with Robert Seller. Hands off, offense entirely yours. Do what you want throughout the week. Build the game plan. I don't understand why a guy with that level of thought versus would then move on to more responsibility,

having to run an entire building and be successful at that. I could be really wrong. Everyone's always wrong about coaching hires. But everything that happened when he was running one off of the building was as brutal as I've seen a coach do. This is a case where criticism for just, well, he was in the mix. McVeigh tree, like, let's hire him.

Like, it's on point. I mean, you ask why he got the job with more responsible. Just because he's working with Sean McVay and he's been in that system. And, you know, he was ahead of Clint Kubiak in terms of kind of being up next because he had that same job Clint Kubiak did under Kyle Shanahan for four years, passing game coordinator, which is a title you give to, you know, give him a little more money, maybe try to prevent him from leaving, but he did end up leaving for the Jets play calling job. it doesn't go well. And you're basically looking for someone to replicate the success.

You see with the Rams and you think, okay, now he's older. He's not old, but he's 38 as well. And he's now spent three years in a successful building. What has he taken from that Jets experience that he's going to, you know, bring to the Cardinals. And how did he convince them that, you know, he was going to be the right man for the job if maybe he was just the guy that was available? Well, I think we've seen from Arizona,

that the convincing part may be the easier part than actually being able to execute what it is you would like to accomplish. I think you do get some experience in terms of actually calling the plays, and that's one part where you felt like that's why LaFleur got out of the tree. He left the comfort of the tree to be able to get that portion of experience on the resume that says, I have called plays because Mike or Sean are not going to let you call the plays, and then he winds up back under Sean McVeigh where he's not calling the play. And so, you know, as Ali points out, when you have the capacity to call the place and you're doing things that don't necessarily make sense from a fundamental level, a lot of that could be credited perhaps to the Jets organization and not necessarily setting its coaches up to be successful, where I don't know if Arizona as an organization does you believe that those issues are going to be fixed. So where does that leave us?

And I see Ollie's, you know, questioning of Lefleur taking the job, there are only so many of these jobs. You do need to take them when they become available and you can get a chance, especially at a place where the power structure may be more amenable to your thought process because of a lack of success that they've had. Like, yes. You can get a good portion of control there if you're able to do something. That's true.

But I think it's Matiasen Ford's franchise right now. they kind of gave him the keys. And for instance, if there was a scenario where Michael Flore thought, I don't actually think we're going to do better than Kyler Murray. I kind of would like to see what I could do with him. That's the safest option to have another administration be able to say it's Kyler's fault. That's the safest option for it.

But I bring that up to raise the point. Don't you think, Ali, like, even if he wanted to, I don't think he's going to have that decision-making power because I I think I would have to imagine the front office and ownership kind of are presenting the job as like, okay, we're moving on from Kyler. What do you want to do at quarterback? Yeah, I would presume maybe there was a conversation of, well, we'll explore the idea he could return if there's not a great offer out there or we can't wiggle out of the contract in some

way. I just, even the, it's easy to just throw it on the jets and say, yeah, the talent was poor. And I'm not judging by the output. I'm judging by what he was in control of and the decision-making, process and him just going back to McVeigh and then getting the shine of being in the orbit of that. Well, McVeigh's not coming with him. He's competing against all those guys in a loaded division. What added advantage does he give to you?

He's not a great decision maker. He's not built sustainably elite offenses on his own back. He's not a play-calling savant. So I just find it completely befuddling that he's got to get more power, more responsibility. And somehow, that's going to get you anywhere close to the top of that division. Jordan would be a great person to talk to here because she's covered him so closely. I don't think it's a, I'm out of school here where she thinks highly of him. I think he's a sharp guy.

He's an impressive guy. He's the type of guy that Sean McVeigh looks at and been like, hey, when he is available, I want to make him my number two. That goes a long way. He does have knowledge of this division. Maybe he's like a little crazy to be able to take on this, to think, okay, I can take on this job. That shows me a little bit of confidence. Maybe he thinks he has some knowledge of the rest of this division too. And Mike McDonald, like, there's so much cross-pollination

too, and you can sell yourself on that. I don't think you can overlook like the life change money. I mean, that's like, people always say, like, you're always like, why would you take on this job? Yeah, like, how many people do you know wouldn't take a 500% raise for, or maybe even more than that for the next five years and change your family's life financially? When there's zero guarantee you're ever going to get that opportunity again. I don't, most people are just going to take it. A raise where you can call every single one of your boys and be like, hey, you want to come work with me?

Right. You can raise the village off this one chance. And if it's three years and you get fired, they have to buy you out. Cool. Right. Let's do it. Right. I mean, it's not ideal.

And like maybe a Hall of Fame, you know, coaching career, it does not make. But I also think, like, if I was Michael Fleur in this weird world, like, yeah, you just you bet on yourself, you hope for the best because like bird in the hand. Let's kind of just big picture look at, look, they hired Lafleur. The Clint Kubiak thing is in wait, but we basically know the 10 jobs that have been filled around the league. Couple defensive coaches, mostly offense. You have John Harbaugh, who's kind of straddling the line there as more of the CEO type of coach. a lot of young coaches, certainly.

Robert Sala is the only person of color to get a job, but there are no black head coaches hired in this cycle. And, you know, you look at the league now, and there's three black head coaches total with Todd Bowles, Aaron Glenn, and Domeco Ryan's two on the hottest of seats, Aaron Glenn especially, but Todd Bulls do it. He's got to win now. and I think there's frustration with a lot of the coaches in the league,

a lot of the people covering the league, and certainly myself too, that this keeps happening. And you look back at like recent cycles and it does kind of go in, like different trends depending on like the time of year. But I think what's been consistent is like we always come back to this trend. And so that, you know, there are a lot of black defensive coordinators right now,

at least compared to how many there have been historically. There's very few offensive coordinators. I think only two right now. We're going to get to one who got an elevation in a second. But it's hard not to notice when you take a step back, Patrick, of what this coaching cycle was like in general. Yeah, and I think whenever there's only 32 or something, the sample size is really going to shift dramatically

depending on small numbers and subsets. And obviously, Mike Tomlin having his position for, as long as he did and no longer being there, changes the way things look. I think, because I know that there's always a lot of discussion about Rooney Rule and applications. There's a general societal discussion, right, with regards to hiring practices and opportunities and who gets them, that I think the NFL through the discussion of the Rooney Rule is able to facilitate.

I know where, you know, globally, where there's been substantial discussion with regards to diversity, equity, and inclusion that has dramatically shifted over the few years and I think a lot of people got in, made their money and decided, you know, a certain aspect was no longer going to be supported by certain people and they have made their money and gone to a grift elsewhere. But I do think, you know, it's important to have them, the discussions, right, with regards to who's getting hired, what's the decision process like? We've got multiple, we've got a son and a brother being hired, brother, not in that capacity, that that we're currently discussing.

And, you know, the 49ers are back with another head coach as the defensive coordinator. Where you're able to get, you're able to get quality guys with a lot of experience back in certain positions because of the way that they're viewed as black coaches. And, you know, they're still not necessarily going back to Limbaugh on countdown days, but the capacity for black coaches to have discussions about offense, you know, You don't necessarily get tabbed as the offensive genius in a lot of places. And there's so many different factors that go into it. But we can do better than three.

And like, look, Steve Weiss was on Twitter, you know, commenting. And everyone's comments like, you got to hire the best person for the job. And of course, Steve's response is like, yeah. That's the point. Like we, we, we, everyone, everyone knows that. I think it gets to something that. It's a good point, Patrick, about, like, that the NFL has tried to systematically, like, address the topic in a way that it's bigger than that. To me, it's never been about the Rooney Rule.

Like, the Rooney Rule does what it does. It's going to, like, help or not. But it's not really about, it's not really about the rule. Yeah, the global problem is not, you can go to a credit union, right, and get a better rate on a car loan, but it's not necessarily solving the relationship between labor and capital. like there's fundamental global issues at play that generally need to be addressed as a league with regards to hiring and interviewing that's not going to be fixed but it does allow us the capacity

to at least have the conversation so one of the one of the changes in terms of the black head coaches just in terms of numbers is Rahe Morris losing his job in Atlanta he lands in san francisco and he is the new defensive coordinator he was on that Washington staff back in the day, which is a crazy one to look back on. And now he is working under Kyle Shanahan again.

And I believe he was on the offensive staff for him back in the day. So he was working under Kyle Shanahan. I always remember this one night, Jeff Darlington took me to Hooters as like a young, young reporter at the Combine who didn't know anyone. And I was like, really? Tell me more about Jeff Darlington and Greg Rosenthal out in the town.

I mean, you know, he was a young guy at NFL network. Yeah, y'all both were. So as I, we knew each other when I was at PFT. PFT was a good spot to meet people because everyone kind of wanted to be mentioned on PFT. It was like, you know, especially at the time. But even now, it's like a little power broker seat. You know what I mean? And even just as Mike's, you know, assistant.

A small organization of outsiders, great. Yeah. You know, you met people. Anyways, I always remember going to Hooters during that combine and me. meeting the entire Shanahan coaching staff because he was boys with all of them. And they all showed up at the Hooters and we're just, you know, having some wings and in beer. And like that was pretty much the next decade of coaches in the NFL was that exact group,

Ali, including Rahim Morris. All having a good time. What a setup. What a setup. Everyone was fine. It was like a 7 to 8 p.m. You know, actually get some food in our bellies before going out type of situation. It wasn't anything too crazy.

Just there for the wings. I understand. Can I just say it on what Patrick is talking about? Please. The thing that is disappointing when you reflect on the cycle as a whole is if you take the league by its own criteria, just in this cycle, they massively tilt towards previous head coaching experience,

whether the NFL or college. And then when you look at the defensive guys they hire, you mention that some of the great black coaches in the league right now who are on the defensive side are in that genius vein, right? It's Brian Flores, it's guys like there. And yet it's more in the vein of rah-rah coaches they hire on the defensive side who have those kind of CEO capabilities of the defensive guys who were hired. Jesse Minter would be the one exception.

And so it is frustrating to say that Vance Joseph, Brian Flores, guys who have a real schematic advantage right now and that might cycle out in two or three years because that's the way defensive football works are just completely shut out and overlooked at a time when they really would inject something freshen you into a franchise and give you a real chance to actually win some football games, rather than just kind of set the temp or big top picture of what the franchise would look like with this hope they would be there for 10, 15 years.

It's a great point that those two guys specifically are providing a schematic advantage that's been proven that some of the offensive coaches that were hired, certainly have been proven and would be logical hires. Brian Flores doesn't benefit from that, although he did get paid.

We'll get on to him in just a second after the break. And yeah, Rahim Morris, to San Francisco. Not that I thought they were really and in a different tier to Seattle in L.A., but this hire, to me, just makes this division a total bloodbath.

Good luck, Mike. Right. Just, I think it could be an upgrade from Sala. Who knows? Either way, though, you're replacing Sala, Ali, with a different type of coordinator, but one where you can see the work a little more on screen and I think could take advantage if they have any shortcomings

and they're going to get healthier on defense back to being right at the top of the Super Bowl contender list next year. I think what it will do is allow Rahim to be able to push Kyle Shanahan more into the modern influx of defensive style where it's not just the four down and rush and drop into deep coverage. Every time Shannon has maybe veered away from that slightly, whether it's Steve Wilkes or Nick Sorenson,

it's a really short leash before they return exactly to what Robert Salon ran before those guys were in town. Then he brought Robert Salah back. So this is kind of threading the needle to me where maybe there can be a smidge of evolution with re-eem coming in, whether it's more of the blitz stuff on late downs, maybe it's changing the structure on early downs,

which I think is probably more essential for them. But they're close enough aligned. They speak the same language where if they do want to default back to just some of the Robert Salaf football, they're close enough where it won't be this kind of friction and tension as it was when Wilkes was there. Yeah, I can already feel like the off-season and conversations in my mind bubbling of just these three teams and going after each other.

And as much as I've thought the Rams and the Seahawks were the best two teams in the NFL this year, if you add Nick Bosa and Fred Warner and get a little healthier and make some good off season moves, the 49ers with Rahim Morris are right there. I can hear everyone in the back, like looking at this long rundown and thinking, for the last 40 minutes, there has been an in-and-out truck delivering free. Wait, really?

Fresh hamburgers, cheeseburgers, animal style, fries, that's it. Maybe they have the shake. You get the fries well done in the truck? I would think you can get whatever you can order in the truck. And we're just honking, and we've barely made it through this rundown.

We've got to take a break. We're going to speed it up, And we're going to talk of what the heck is going on in Minnesota right on. I think Claibon's energy is contagious today. Because you guys didn't even mention how during that first segment, my pen flew about 15 feet across the room. Total pros. I didn't want to put you on blast.

Because my hands are flying around as they do. I thought you were angry at the pin. Chris Bobona has already cut it as a social clip and sends it to me. I don't know if it's going to be a social club, but he just thought it was funny flying across the room. Let's talk about the Vikings in a second, but let's give a little love to the Rams we were just talking about. It's time for delivering results presented by Uber Eats when football makes you hungry. Order Uber Eats. Sean McVeigh and Les Need got new contracts on Monday.

And, you know, if you can't make it to the Super Bowl, the next best thing is celebrating financial freedom. financial security. I mean, they had their financial freedom, but just extend those contracts out. You never know what could happen. Sean McVeigh actually spoke to the media on Monday, and he talked a little bit about Michael Fleur leaving in Arizona and what could be next at Offensive Coordinator.

Really happy for Mike, you know, awesome opportunity. And shoot, we'll get to see him twice a year now. So happy for him. I did think that this was something that could occur, you know. So we've got great candidates in-house. You know, you obviously just based on the rules and I think what is the appropriate thing, you know, you're going to do an extensive search

to really just dive into, you know, what's going to be the best way to bring in new people that help us continue to build and grow towards where we want to be able to go. Congratulations to Mike LaFleur and for the anti-RAMS discussion on NFL Daily contingency. That is Rams discussion about Mike LaFleur from Sean McVeigh.

What a anti-RAMs discussion is it? So subtract 45 seconds from your overall tally. congratulations to Les and Sean. Is that a thing? It's still a thing? Well, it'll be sure. Eric's not. I wanted to just put it out there because, you know, Nate Sheelhaus will be elevated,

very likely to offensive coordinator. And you're going to hear in the feed 40s in free agents on Tuesday. I talked with Daniel Jeremiah. And I think Sheelhaus, he alluded to really impress some teams and some people out there with his interview. So I think he could be a very hot head coaching candidate next year. But it is great. It is wild to think about less need and how close.

It sounded like he was to losing his job when the Jeff Fisher era went sideways. But he ends up staying with McVay. And here he is a decade later. Winning lots of game. That was delivering results presented by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now.

The Vikings have fired Kressi Adofa Menta. Not a shocking move in terms of the decision. The timing was weird because, you know, he's just at the Senior Bowl. It's three weeks after the season. What changed from two weeks ago to last week to make them, you know, want to get rid of Kressia dofamenta? I don't know. I mean, you would like to think it's not Sam Darnold making the NFC championship game. either way, I really put this on ownership, Ollie,

because the same thing happened with the last coach GM regime. And a lot's been written about this, and we'll get into it. I find this topic really fascinating, them firing him, and there's been a million really well-reported articles out there, and we can get into some of them. But a lot of them haven't really mentioned the fact that Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer also hated each other's guts by all accounts, and it was total drama

and the wulfs who have done a great job building a new stadium, and they score high on the NFLPA thing and everything. They're living in New Jersey. It's pretty well known that, like, they're almost never there. And so I think you can look kind of globally of like, you just let the same thing happen again

where you're talked about and written about as one of the more dysfunctional, you know, relationships in terms of coach GM and how you put those two guys together. And you just did the same thing again. So maybe he deserved to get fired. And I think his record isn't great. But I do think you kind of got to look to the top

of like why this even all happened in the first place. Yeah, the timing is just bizarre. It feels like they did this two-week order of going through the franchise and where they think things went wrong this season. And everyone just kind of pointed, upstairs and said it was Quessie. And so they decided to throw him under the bus while he was at the senior ball. And that could be fair. I think the track record has been really poor. I think the

free agent additions were significant misfires. And I thought they were pretty solid going into last offseason. The draft record has been an absolute mess. And then he's made poor calls with the three biggest calls he's made a quarterback. And when you have that many big misses, unless you have a good feel throughout the building and people like you and it feels like things are going in the right direction, then there's only going to be one decision. Yeah, I would push back a little. The Free agent pickups in his tenure have been good to great. I mean, the Blake Cashman year Van Ginkle. Now, how much credit does he get for that?

How much is Flores is? Like, it's all murky. There's been reporting that Flores and him didn't get along. That, like, Flores, like, one of the reservations he had in taking the job, I believe this was from ESPN or Matthew Collier, was, which is Purple Insider. I was that Flores, who has talked about the great relationship he has with Kevin O'Connell and loving to live in Minnesota, had an issue with Quessie and how that was all run. The only thing I'd push back on, the draft record is horrible.

The trades he's made in general have been bad, including some of the draft picks like Dallas Turner. The free agency was pretty good. I think you've got to put the quarterbacks more on O'Connell, ultimately. I just can't really buy a world where J.J. McCarthy, isn't his pick on some level. And so it does feel a little untoward that all this after the fact burying of Questi,

just like fire him and maybe you don't need to bury him. Yeah, and I don't want to lump, you know, my criticism of the global conversations where there's a lot of in-league circles. And the word around this, I would just like some quotes regarding this, this sort of rift from somebody so I can get a little context into what was what was the particular issue between Cuescy and whoever it is in Minnesota be it Kevin O'Connell I think that that's where

a lot of things you know were implied and I also I'd like to push back a little bit on Dallas Turner because I think his versatility is a guy who can rush and drop okay provide something that Brian Flores was able to utilize successfully but the general overall idea that, hey, he missed on Sam Darnold, collectively the planet Earth might have missed on Sam Donald, if that were the case. I sincerely doubt there was a circumstance where after the way that the 2024 season ended, Quessie Adolph O'Menzell was the only person in the Twin Cities that was like, hey, maybe this whole Sam Darnold thing isn't viable long term. I feel like that was a belief held by more than just Quessie. and if that's the idea that, well, he was wrong there, so he's got to go, then there's more people that need to go.

It's been a lot of covering your ass types of reporting. But when you look at the overall record, the draft picks have not really panned out. You're right, Dallas Turner's getting better. Donovan Jackson could be good. Their guard that they drafted this year, Jordan Addison's been a solid pick. So the top picks were fine. The 2022 draft where he traded down a few times and then took Lewis Seen. And JMO's being pretty successful in Detroit.

Kyle Hamilton was another guy. They passed on for, you know, Lewis Seen. Andrew Booth was the pick, Ed Ingram. Like there were some trades around. If you kind of look and Arefassan did maybe the best job of anyone at Wide Left, go support people who are writing great content out there. He did a great kind of culmination of all of the mistakes that he's made. And probably the thing that stuck out to me the most was how unpopular

Questi is in the analytics community around the league where they don't think he really, you know, A, like made the types of decisions that made any sense. Because if you look at like the draft value charts, like he's given up in trades to move around the board, the equivalent of a number one overall draft pick plus if you add up all of his moves over the years. And a lot of his, you know, decisions were just kind of confounding. And, and there was, you know, talk among a lot of people in these articles that like it was a sometimes he didn't build relationships where just people in the building did not like the way

that he maybe did things. And so it's a lot to talk about like a GM of like this mediocre team, but I do think it was kind of like a fascinating window into covering your ass and quarterbacks and coaches and Kevin O'Connell who maybe never really liked this marriage either.

And for a team that's won a lot of games, Ali, over the last couple of years. Yeah, even the stuff about the paternity leave and who that came from, they won 14 games after the, the offseason in which he took some return to leave. So it didn't seem to impact them all that much there. I think the defense on the quarterback stuff is the most defensible stuff.

The Donald one is tricky. He was in the building. It is your job to make the big boy call whether you persist with the first round pick at quarterback or you bring back Sam Donald. The Daniel Jones one, I think you get to complete pass on. Daniel Jones wanted a path to be a viable starter. That to me is on O'Connell to either make a decision or convince Daniel Jones as a chance he has that viable path.

They put the money on the table to keep. Daniel Jones there. He just chose to go with the Colts, and it was clearly the right decision for Daniel Jones at that time. I think the three-agent misfires are more in that 2024 class where it's not guys who are on the fringe of other rosters and Brian Flores turns them into superstars. It's spending the big money on the two interior offensive linemen. Ryan Kelly has the health concerns. Will Fry's didn't play very well on the defensive side to bring in two interior defensive tackles. None of them play as well as the undrafted guy, Jalen Redmond, who's coached by Brian Flores.

So I just felt like the big moves were misfires. And then a lot of the moves on the margins were so beyond like the pale of league standard. It wasn't as though many of them were defensible. Yeah. And I look, he loses this job. You got Andrew Barry, who we worked with kind of, you know, holding up the quote unquote analytics flag in Cleveland. It's not great.

It's not great for, for instance, my guy, Alec Hallaby in Philadelphia, who, essentially has been the number two to Howie Roseman for a while, but certainly the last handful of years, has been basically out of like the analytics portion of the building for a long time. And it's just like a flat out evaluator. But guys like him can't get

jobs or, you know, because ultimately the people in these interviews just see, oh, if you've got like a good education and you at any point worked in analytics, it's just sort of an automatic cross-off for you know, guys that are in these ownership meetings, like a Troy Aikman, frankly, or like a, or like a, or like in minute, you know,

like the second I saw Troy Aikman was in the Dolph, I was like, okay, you know that they're not going in that direction. And it's similar like in Atlanta. Like when Matt, it's Matt Ryan, like Matt Ryan's not making those sort of hires. And so Quessie turns out to be like an imperfect guy. The paternity leave thing, just even the conversation around it has just been, I don't even, it's not why he was fired. And like the thing that drives me a little crazy is like, no one even that has any reason of why he was fired or anything. It was just guys have to pretend that they're working hard, like, during the office. Like, I know it was during training camp and, like, it's a different work culture than other

work cultures, but I also think there's a lot of, like, just BS of just, like, pretending to work hard. Like, he was still at his house working during this entire time during training camp. He was just, it just annoys people in league circles. And I do think, you know, with regards to those league circles, they do exist. Some of them are a little more inclusive than others. And when you have access to the agent insider complex, you're able to get certain narratives distributed out to people a little bit more. And perhaps people are a little more reluctant who offer these vague criticisms of you when there could be consequences for that.

Where I don't necessarily think, you know, when Quessie gets fired and there's this overarching, well, guys, if you had been paying attention to, to the league circles, you would have known this is coming, right? When you hear that, it makes me think that Quessie didn't have access to those circles. And so I would just, it's a long-winded way for me to say, and I'm very long-winded today, and my apologies. Me too. To you guys. I would just like some quotes. If somebody did something that other people didn't like, I would just like the specifics

of that story. Don't tell me that, in general, vague people that you won't tell me about didn't like person X for reasons that you're not going to tell me, tell me. What's the point of all this access that we're celebrating these hypothetical people for if you're not going to use us to provide me with the actual information with regards to what we're talking? Because you've got to keep the access. To do what, Greg?

Right. It doesn't. What's the point of the access if we're not going to tell anybody what the hell's going on? I'm sorry. No, I get really frustrated with it, too. The last thing on the paternity leave stuff was the part. that annoyed me was kind of circling back after the fact and saying, to be clear, it wasn't the Vikings who supported him throughout the entire process and did not hold it against him

in any way. This was a storyline outside the building, not inside it. And I just don't believe that. I mean, yeah, it was a storyline outside the building, but I know how reporting works. And I also have seen Kevin O'Connell at a podium, unprompted, bring up the fact that J.J. McCarthy chose not to be at that Thursday practice, and that's when the whole season went wrong. And I really do draw a line between those two things because Kevin O'Connell brought it up at the postseason press conference that J.J. McCarthy missed that practice. And that was the one practice that happened all season. And he's trying to have it both ways. And I think it's tough. Things go against you for the first time in your career. I think he's a very good coach. and he seems like a good guy.

But it seems clear now. Like J.J. McCarthy is no longer his guy. J.J. McCarthy at one point was his guy. And just all of it's a stew that I find fascinating. We've got to move on. Talk about long-winded. Let's talk about just kind of the influx of these young guys getting hired around the league.

Declan Doyle is Lamar Jackson's new offensive coordinator. I believe the same age. Yep, 29. 29. Anthony Weaver. Not really a young guy, but let's just package these items together. Sorry, Tony.

He's my age. He's fine. You know, just like Michael Fleur, by the way, a guest of NFL Daily. So Michael Lefleur got that NFL Daily bump after doing our interview and training camp. If any coaches are out there listening, that's what can happen to you.

Anthony Weaver is back in Baltimore. Now he's the defensive coordinator under Jesse Minter. That's a fun staff. The Eagles have found. fired Sean Mannion as offensive coordinator just a couple years after he was in the league. He's coming from Green Bay where he was the quarterback's coach. Josh Grisard, who was just running the Bucks offense, is going to be the past game coordinator there. So they're combining a couple of young minds.

And then I'll include the bills hiring Jim Leonard here as a defensive coordinator. He's in his 40s, but young in terms of coaches hasn't been a coach for that long, was just with Denver. of intriguing names there, Ali. What partnership stands out to you most that you're looking forward to out of that group? It has to be Declan Doyle and Lamar Jackson. This is the guy you're entrusting the kind of final members of the prime to Lamar Jackson. He's now in the documentary. Is John Elway right? Is he going to get one? Is he not going to get one? That's how his career is going to go down the rest of the way. And the guy we're entrusting that to is the 29-year-old guy who's been coaching the league, what, four years at this point? I am fascinated by Declin Doyle.

I think the pedigree is outstanding. He's an excellent communicator. It is an awful lot of pressure, I think, to button a first time play call, but the first time, Ed coach to say, go and be the guy who helps Lamar get over the top.

He was with Sean Payton in New Orleans, and then he was, he stayed there, and he was with Dennis Allen in New Orleans. And then he ends up going to the Broncos as a tight ends coach for a couple of years. So he is from that tree. then like Ben Johnson, who worked under Sean Payton.

He goes and works under Ben Johnson as a coordinator. But yeah, a guy who was in college, not that long ago. Like, he was a student assistant in 2018 when Brady was getting his last Patriot Super Bowl. That makes me feel old. And now he's an offensive coordinator with your guy. You excited? That is a fun combo, though. Doyle, Minter, and Anthony Weaver.

I like all three of them. Yes, a brain trust. I would have liked some play calling experience. You know, you come up in the tree where these guys are not going to let go of play calling abilities. But you get a chance to see two of the best that do it. One of the best that's ever done it, in my opinion, call plays and go through that without the, you know, worried about being the administrator and being the entire head coach of a team, which is an offensive coach, he'll have an opportunity to do if he's successful. Just snap the ball to eight, lock it up, and have people get open. It'll be, it really makes them, they're always kind of the team I'm looking forward to most or very often in week one or two.

What are they going to do next? But especially this staff, I'm really going to be curious to watch them in September this year. Same thing with Philadelphia. Surprising higher to kind of entrust Ali, Sean Mannion, who doesn't have a lot of experience as a coach to be a first-time play caller. they're going back to that after, you know, struggling when they hired Brian Johnson a few years back. Obviously, this year, last year didn't go well with the first time play caller. And now you have Sean Mannion with the help of Josh Gazzard, like a couple different voices. But it does make me kind of excited, too, that they're like trying to think of someone who will maybe present some new ideas to the Philadelphia offense.

I admire them bringing in multiple fall guys as they go through someone else wrap everything a lot of season getting the inbuilt insurance policy of Josh Grisard if things go wrong by weekie we throw someone else overboard we promote someone else in the middle of the season I like them trying something a little different

manning from the floor camp that would be fascinated to see that work with that Eagles talent but it is telling to me that they were going down their list and they kept getting knocked back and kept getting knocked back until they ultimately settled onshore Mania. I think it tells you a little bit about what the rest of the league circles.

Patrick So loves things about the situation and maybe the problems over there in Philadelphia. Yeah, Mike McDaniel. I mean, the coordinators who had their choice of jobs, at least according to the reporting, didn't want it. And that was Mike McDaniel and Brian Daibel specifically. Davel would have been, I don't know if I believe the Daible reporting. That would have been a wild combination, but would have been fun. Yeah, fist fights.

Look. The way they run that Oregon. organization. I mean, the next fall guy might be Nick Siriani. Now, it depends on the level of the fall. I mean, they did win a lot of games this year. They, they weren't a disaster. But if things went really wrong, I think they might just, who knows, or it could be Jalen Hertz. Well, I've seen, I've seen the Hertz criticism as though he has, is Rogers level in terms of dictating, you know, how, how the offense is going to be structured. We got there quick. Well, I think, I think you're structuring it around his strength.

but I take it back. I actually think Jalen Hertz might be the next fall guy. Man, we're going to break down all these coordinators in more depth throughout the off season. Without. Over Siriani? Well, I'm just saying it wouldn't shock me. They've done it before.

It wouldn't shock me if they draft the quarterback this year, right? At least as another option. For Nick Siriani? It just wouldn't surprise me, like a second round pick. Maybe not. Get rid of them both. But I just don't sense that Jeffrey Lurie. and Howie Roseman are just looking at their NFL team

as like a lifetime appointment. I think they're always willing to make changes. Jim Harbaugh, or John Harbaugh, rather, was expecting to hire Todd Monkin, so they didn't get him. And now Brian Callahan and Cliff Kingsbury are reportedly in the mix for the offensive coordinator job. We just talked about the Eagles.

There was a report initially from Jimmy Kempski, but backed up by our Mike Garifolo, that Garofolo, that Vic Bangeo's future was potentially. potentially fluid in Philadelphia, but it was maybe more fluid a few weeks ago, and it's trending towards Vic Fangio coming back. But that could be part of the whole Jim Schwartz situation in Cleveland, where Jim Schwartz wanted to get out of Cleveland, but they have his contractual rights and as these jobs get filled up, and we hear a report that Brian Flores is making $6 million a year from the Vikings. I mean, can Jim Schwartz say, okay, I want more than what he's

making in Minnesota. Cleveland has paid over the years. I bet they'd be willing to do that. Maybe cooler heads prevail and he ends up in Cleveland. A couple other moves, Tanner Engstrom, who is the Jets offensive coordinator, is now on Kevin Stefanski's staff. We got a move, though. I did think it's interesting to see the report that Jody Allen could be selling the Seahawks after the Super Bowl. Maybe something we talk about a little bit during the week. Not a huge shock if you think about it. It's always been this weird in-between. She's the sister, right, of the Microsoft founder, of course, and Paul Allen.

And, you know, it's kind of been this weird in-between. And it's believed that they could be selling the theme after the Super Bowl. That's new. The salary cap is going up by more than $20 million. We found out about that. And then it was announced on Monday. The Saints are going to Paris, Ali. are you trying to get on with the talk sport

see if they'll increase the budget although I don't know what budget they're paying you and get you to Paris next year has to be done. Me and the block party guys rolling around Paris is I think content for everyone around. I would love to go watch an NFL game in Paris. There was a report that it's Brown Saints

But the NFL has not announced that, and we are the NFL. So we are not announcing that. And we're not even confirming it. Because I have to say, over the last few years, there have been more than a few incorrect reports about these games overseas and who will be playing in them. They always get the home team right. But sometimes there's a change. I know the Brazil change, for instance, the game was reported differently.

It wasn't the chiefs initially. And then it turned out to be the chiefs. So should we go as, zeroing in? I'm not even going to go zeroing in because with this type of reporting, I want it straight from the source. So I'm not trusting.

Which is what I would prefer from all reports. Yeah, I would believe that the Browns are in the mix or something, but that there's something behind it, but who knows. There will be games in Melbourne. Melbourne. What accent is Melbourne? Well, that's how they say. I tried to say it like they say it.

They don't really say that. Melbourne? Like us Americans, but I made it. I made a mess of it. It's going to be in Rio. We're going to go to Munich. We're in Madrid. And then there's three games in London. So that is a total of eight.

I think that's the total of it for 2026. Big number. It's a big number. So we take one more break and come back and do a few surprises that we think swing. Back on NFL Daily. You know, when you're building this show out on Friday, you got big eyes, you know, big stomach of like, oh. I'm not going to get Patrick's thoughts on Super Bowl 60 the rest of the week on NFL daily.

I'll get them on NFL network. People should check out game debut when it goes up. Our season finale. We've got one more, Greg. Might be the series finale. We'll find out. I've been doing that for six or seven years. I mean, at some point we'll find out.

I hope it's not, but it's been a thin slice of heaven, as Damashek would say. Our picks champion this year, Patrick Claibon. Not in the post season. Taking out well. Not when it mattered. That's a small sample size. I think the real wins happen in the regular season. And you took down an entire computer model in Cynthia and me by quite a big margin.

So congratulations to Patrick. But I wanted to get your takes. And I wanted to hear a few surprises. Just things you're keeping an eye on for Super Bowl 60. Same thing with Ali. You know, it feels like it's the end of the season. it's a big culmination, but I'm actually thinking about next week and, like, I kind of need you guys on the show next week, too. So we're not going anywhere.

NFL Daily is going to be around. But for the rest of this week, in terms of talking Super Bowl, we're not going to have your take. So I'm going to get at least one surprise for each of you of, like, one thing you're keeping an eye on for this Super Bowl. Well, I'm keeping an eye on. Greg, you know that one of my favorite things in the world is being right. I was wrong. I was very critical of my friend Greg Rosenthal when he pointed out the change. with regards to the Seahawks rushing attack around week nine,

where I thought that this was make-believe. It was the result of scheduling. They are the 24th-ranked rushing efficiency team, and now they're going into a Super Bowl against the number three rushing efficiency defense, where I legitimately believe that Kenneth Walker, the third, could be the Super Bowl MVP. And I think that is my surprise that I am leaning on here, where I think the Seahawks rushing attack, as you pointed out, was getting better.

Losing Zach Sharpernay does hurt. I'm not saying that minus Charbonnet equals plus more Walker, and that's plus good. I just think they're running the ball better. They need to, considering the way that the offense has been going, and it's working out there. They had a corridor of games. It was against the commanders who they blew out, and they finished out that game well. But it was more against the Cardinals that got me excited. Yeah.

There was a second half of that game of a drive where they just kept hand. The Cardinals knew they were running. I think they ran it like 13 straight times. And I said, that's the moment they're running a tab. really came to life. Now, if you look at the entire breadth of the second half, it was a little up and down. How do you think they are looking, Ali, on film running the ball lately with Walker? Because it is a different attack too with Walker, but I guess those are two different questions, kind of the Walker of it all, but also how they're blocking it up. Yeah, the blocking it up isn't

as impressed as Walker as he turns a lot of pretty poor opportunities into great opportunities. season. I think that is the key for the Patriots is you can allow some churn. You just cannot allow the huge explosive play that tilts the game and gets Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP. The 30, 40-yard shot play. And the Seahawks, as they've changed the kind of run scheme there, has been putting more and more bigger bodies on the field, whereas 12 personnel, 13 personnel, two backs. The Patriots have been excellent down the close of the season, facing those specific looks. They actually struggle more, and it's a bit spread out, and they can't have big bodies on the field themselves. When they can just go mass on mass,

the Patriots been able to find a real advantage there. So that is one of the key battles I think I'll look for is, can Kenneth Walker just make a big guy miss and find some daylight and hit an explosive run? Or can the Patriots at least keep it neutral when it's kind of big on big in the trenches? Yeah, because I think the Patriots defense really has turned a corner in the playoffs. The weather has been a factor and the opposition has been a factor, but they have dominated this postseason in just a way that they have.

before. And I do think when you look, they're a very sound, really well-coached, fundamental defense, really good at tackling, preventing yards after contact, after the catch. What worries me much when I watch them is like guys scrambling on them or guys just like making one-on-one plays against them because maybe not the fastest most athletic defense at every position, certainly linebacker. And so that's where Kenneth Walker, to me, he's a boomer bus player. I think they miss Sharbonne, because I do think he kind of does what the assignment is more often, but more importantly, I think he's just an asset on passing downs. He's just a little more consistent for them. So it's better to have two guys than one, but I think you're absolutely right.

Walker could be the Super Bowl MVP. Why don't you give me a surprise, Ollie? Surprise, I guess, will just be the Seahawks offensive line in general ties into Patrick's point about the run game and Kenneth Walker. I think Anthony Bradford is shockingly like the pivot player of the Super Bowl. He is one of the strangest players to watch in the NFL the right guard where for 90% of the game he's effectively throwing up on himself

snap to snap. Torpedoes his own center forgets the blocking assignment, takes his own players out, and then 10% of the reps are playing at a true Hall of Fame level in which he will completely explode the point of attack and clear the biggest chasm you've seen on film all week.

So no one has a wider variance from between their best plays and their worst players and Patriots will hunt and try and attack that guy. That is the entire style of their defense is a really small crop of blitz packages, but it's just dressed up slightly differently each time and they just attack the weakling relentlessly. And so I think they're going to try and put the game in the hands up. It's Milton Williams one-on-one with Anthony Bradford or just attacking him with different bodies. So I'm not, I'm not grinding the film all season long like Ali. I'm usually doing the condensed games here and there, special assignments. I finally got to

that Seahawks' NFC championship game later in the week last week. And he had one of the worst games I've ever seen an offensive linemen have in a big spot. And you're right, there were a couple, like, fun snaps and everything where, you know, he is, you can see why people would get excited about him. But he was a problem for them. And so was Sundell, their center, who's come back from an injury. And that showed up on the San Francisco tape, I thought, too, where, you know, he got beat clean by CJ West for a sack or at least a pressure a couple times against San Francisco.

And then you think about where is the strength of the Patriots team, Barmore, and Milton Williams. And you think, okay, well, there's one advantage in a game where maybe Seattle has a lot of them. I don't know why I keep calling it surprises. I think what I asked you guys was kind of just like, just something that the average person isn't thinking about that could swing it. Maybe that's surprise. Maybe it's not. Anthony Bradford is a good answer.

Do you have one more, Patrick? I don't necessarily think it would be a surprise. The Seahawks have one of the better punters in the NFL. Okay. No, that's good. It has been consistent. And I know that, you know, field position, ah, field position, man football,

time of possession. Like what we saw in that AFC championship game, there could be a severe punting mismatch here. They could really, really make things rough for the Patriots. A lot probably hurts Bill Belichick watching the Patriots and everything going on with them now. in terms of just FOMO, but he must be aghast at the punter disadvantaged.

He would never have allowed such a thing, Ollie, that's a good, it's a good call. Yeah, I mean, I wanted, like, just some, like, left of center ideas, and you're right that. That's where I index. No, no, I think that's, I think that's a good one. Why don't you wrap us up, Ollie, with something else that cut your eye?

I just think that peaked is going to have to have three or four trick plays, something that steals a possession, whether it's a fake pun, some kind of double pass, and I think they're going to have to uncork them early and fairly often. You're just not going to be able to get explosive players on the Seahawks defense truly by design. Maybe you can spring one or two, but they limit explosives so much force you to take the checkdown

and rally and tackle better than anyone in the NFL. They want you to drive down the field, you know, long extended drives and just given the rickettiness of the Patriots protection, I just don't know if Drake, Make and hold up for that for 6, 7, 8 series. so you're going to have to try and steal possessions where you can with a fake pun or a couple of trick plays there or there. Well, you don't have to ask Josh McDaniels.

No, he knows exactly what historical Patriot trick plays. He's going to run. There's going to be Julian Edelman to James White, so I guess it's going to be K. Sean Booty throwing a ball to Trayvian. Okay, okay. And then, you know, perhaps it's either that or it's the other Edelman postseason play

where, you know, Josh just goes back through his moments in postseason history. How about some, you know, they like the flea flick they certainly like the direct snap to the running backs on the goal line, which why don't you bring it back right after you just used it in the AFC championship and everyone got mad at you? That would be a Patriots move. Only because it didn't work. I don't even think that's a trick play because they do that enough that it just,

it's a good play. I think they've got to find one of the Vrable events we always hear about, as he goes to the rulebook like no one else. He sits on the competition committee like no one else. Remember the Michael Oman, Hsuie, the Ravens stuff where they had the eligible linemen, the fake tie 10 stuff against the Ravens in an AFC divisional They've got to find something that causes real controversy after the game that we didn't know the rule, but Braves and McDaniel did.

What if Mike's been sitting on the absolute most game-breaking rule violation that's not a violation for years? And it gets unveiled this time, Greg. I think it would be very fitting. I think it would be excellent. I've been thinking about that last Seahawks Patriots Super Bowl, like a lot lately. And that was fitting, like in the, that. That was coming, you know, that week was a lot about deflategate, right? And just, and just the controversy.

And so let's restart it again. Let's play the hits. Let's play like Shane Vareen at right tackle or whatever. Was he the one I was trying to, I was Heming and Hawn trying to figure out, was it Shane Verene who they were like playing as an offensive lineman to the point where John Harbaugh essentially lost his mind and lost the playoff game because of it? That is right. Yeah, they would have Michael Oman-Nahuy on the line.

as a left tackle, but the running back would report as tackle eligible, stood away from the formation. Absolutely bonkers way to find the floor in the rulebook. If anyone can find it, I think it will be frames. Shout out to Shane Verene, who I co-hosted a Super Bowl between the Eagles and the Chiefs with a few years ago on Talk Sport, where Ali gets it done year after year was outstanding doing the London games. Ali, we won't talk to you. I don't believe on the show before the Super Bowl. So enjoy it, my friend.

Everyone check out Ollie on the Read Optional podcast. And yeah, we'll be talking to you next week. Same thing with Patrick. Check us out on NFL Network with Game Day View. And check out NFL Daily in the feed shortly. We've got 40s and free agents. That's a weekly show. That's coming up. Cynthia Freeland and I will also get our final picks. It really bothered me last year we never picked the Super Bowl. Like we couldn't get the right time for her on Radio Row. So we're going to tape it before we go. That'll be coming up too. And then off to San Francisco.

We'll see you there. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.