Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - REACTION: 49ers, Patriots and Bills advance

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

Matthew Coller and Manny Hill break down the Bills win against the Jaguars, 49ers win over the Eagles and Patriots victory vs. the Chargers. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to a Purple Insider After Dark here, presented by Fandul as myself, Matthew Collar, and Mani Hill. React to what we have just seen three games on the day. I know, I'm exhausted for sitting on the couch and watching football all day long. The Buffalo Bills beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in dramatic fashion. And then also lots of drama. San Francisco beats the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to play Sam Darry. Arnold and the Seattle Seahawks. And then the late game, which if you missed it, was not really worth watching whatsoever,

as the Los Angeles Chargers did not fly to New England and lost that game to the New England Patriots. So we can go anywhere you guys want to go. We'll talk about it, what the impact is for the Vikings. And if you have thoughts about the Vikings as well, these matchups that are coming up, we'll take a look at the early lines that we have on Fandul and go for. from there. Good evening, Manny. Thank you for joining me late night. So I'm going to do this again, probably tomorrow. I'm actually going to be hosting on WCCO radio, but it'll time out nicely for me to come home, watch the end of the game, jump on here and react to that one as well. I'm having, I'm having

a good time doing this. So what did you think today? I mean, quite a dramatic day at the start and a whimper at the finish. Yeah, really the whole weekend, save for this pretty bad Patriots Chargers game that we just watched, has been nothing short of outstanding. You know, the two games yesterday were great. And today was the Bill's Jaguars game was just, I think was probably the best game of the weekend. Although I don't think you could go wrong with any of the closer games that we, that we've seen. But it's just been great.

It's just been a joy. You and I've been kind of texting each other throughout the weekend. having sort of immediate reactions to some of the things that we're seeing. And really four of the five games that we've seen this weekend have just seen so many wild moments and just impactful moments. Narrative building moments for some of these players and coaches. It's been, it's been a joy. I've been loving it. So why don't we start out with what we just saw and the Los Angeles Chargers complete no show against the New England Patriots?

I'm not going to lie. manny there were a couple moments where I thought had only the Vikings gotten to the number three overall draft pick with Drake May because as much as it was a tough game for him and their offensive line did not hold up that grade and he was pressured pretty consistently. There's a couple drops in there. Still, Drake May made all the plays that a great playoff quarterback makes. He had a huge run. The absolute dime that he dropped while avoiding pressure.

and shuffling to the left. If you were wondering if Drake May was just the product of a very easy schedule, which I don't think was really the case. I mean, I think his numbers were boosted by that. You get to play Miami a couple times. You get to play the Jets a couple times and so forth. But when they went toe to toe with the Buffalo Bills, they beat them once and then had a lead on them the second time.

So I've never thought that what Drake May was doing was anything short of fantastic. But this Chargers defense is very, very nasty. and they've got a really good defensive line. We saw what they did when they played against the Minnesota Vikings, what that defensive line and what the talent on that defense can do. And May just kept going. He took hits in this game. They had a couple of big runs,

but weren't running consistently, like dominating the game on the ground and so forth. And he just kept fighting and gets to the end, makes that dagger throw over a guy, a beautiful touch pass. He is everything. that the New England Patriots could have dreamed of as a franchise quarterback. And now here he is in year two.

What's frustrating, Manny, is that other teams are making the thing happen that we talk about so much for all those Kirkiers where it's Bo Nix is the number one seed on the rookie quarterback contract. The New England Patriots sure spent a lot of money this offseason to bring in Diggs and Milton Williams and all those other guys to build up this team to be at this point. And Caleb Williams, of course, with the Chicago Bears doing it last night and beating the Green Bay Packers. So there are some moments of watching this game where I went,

what could have been for the Minnesota Vikings? But it was a heck of a performance by Drake May. It really was. And I think it just kind of showed that it showed why he was taken as high as he was and why there were so many people that were so high on him. going into the 2024 draft is because you can see the plays that he that he makes. You can see the playmaking ability that he has, the athleticism to be able to run and make big plays with his legs,

the armed talent that he has, the toughness that I think he plays with. I mean, you've mentioned the pressure that he was under all night tonight, and he was still able to make enough plays to put his team in a position to win a game. And obviously the Patriots defense did a great job against, the, against the chargers as well, and that help matters. But I think when you have a quarterback that can maybe statistically not have his best

performance because of some surrounding circumstances to hang in there and to be able to make enough plays and will his team to victory, those are the little intangible things that we talk about. And then it doesn't hurt to have all the physical skills that he has as well. And he certainly does. I mean, the mobility and even that throw to the left, which is a. touch pass, by the way. Yeah. You mean,

quarterbacks can do that. Have seen quite a bit of those in the playoffs here. But as he glides to the left, I mean, everything that's there for the athletic part of it, the armed talent, the footwork that is talked about so much when people talk about footwork

with, you know, someone like Drake May, his offense at North Carolina was kind of just drop back, find somebody or scramble, and you can see how much he's advanced. And the that I keep coming back to with the 2024 draft class is just how many more passes all these guys have gotten to throw than J.J. McCarthy. He is still not thrown his 250th NFL pass. And Drake May now has an extra playoff game to go along with an entire season of play,

a half a season last year, an entire off season where he was healthy to get ready to improve and then everything that they were able to put around him and not to, mention that he is a better prospect than J.J. McCarthy ever was. And that's the gap of being drafted number three overall versus number 10 overall is that the NFL has spoken. Like he was the better prospect. And then he gets those things as well. And I was adding it up. Caleb Williams is thrown about 1,300 passes since he left college. And J.J. McCarthy is thrown 250. And Bo Nix has thrown like 13 or 1,400 passes. I think it is like 1,300 passes or at least dropbacks.

And here's McCarthy who hasn't dropped back to pass 300 times. You can't ignore that part of it because what I kept going back to is watching the game is it could have been you. It just could have been and should have been and you wanted it to be. But instead, you had to play competitive rebuild. I just can't help myself that the 2023 season was the perfect time. to try to get Drake May and they did not do it. They could have traded Kirk in the off season. They like go of everybody else.

Even after he tore his Achilles, there was a chance if you lost every other game, but you had to do it. And now there's another 2024 quarterback with a playoff win, but a good for them, they did it the right way, right? Like, oh, tanking so bad. I would never lose a game on purpose.

But here's the New England Patriots who end up getting this guy and then building a round and we can't ignore the incredible job that Mike Vrable did in rebuilding this team and coaching this team after they were just completely unsurious last year. But yet, Manny, what always seems to be more interesting to talk about coming out of a game like this is not the team that won. It's the team that lost. And I think that that's actually the case for all three of these games, is that the more interesting, and maybe even last night too, when you look at the Green Bay Packers, which I want to get your opinion on here as well.

But the team that lost, the Los Angeles Chargers, in jest, I have said this to you. I've said this to other guests. Every time it comes up, I've called him Justin Kirkbert because he always puts up these big numbers and he has a lot of good seasons. But when things go wrong, he does not elevate the rest of the team beyond their problems in the way that, you know, I don't know. Brock Purdy did today in San Francisco, where they had all sorts of problems and found a way to win on the road.

And Justin Herbert couldn't get them in the end zone. In fact, he's been in the end zone one time in two playoff appearances with the Los Angeles Chargers since Jim Harbaugh got there. And I mean, at some point, it does filter back to the quarterback. But at the same time, it's not just him playing out there by himself. He's got two backup tackles. They couldn't really run the football. I think that their weapons are good. He needed to find a way to do something and there was really just nothing.

He was under pressure and could not make anything happen in this game. Do we think it's fair, Manny, to start saying about Justin Herbert that there is a ceiling on what he can be? I think if we're talking about, you know, maybe from a mental standpoint of playing that position, probably. the thing that makes it so frustrating with him is that he's got all of the physical tools that you want from a franchise quarterback. He's got the size, he's got the arm strength, he's got the athletic ability to get out and run

if he needs to. He has all the physical tools that we, that we're praising Drake May for having, but Drake May just seems to have, there's just something up here of that Drake May seems to have that can kind of handle adversity a little bit better. And Justin

Herbert just, you know, so far in three playoff appearances overall, two with Jim Harbaugh the last two seasons, I mean, it's just hard to really wonder if it's ever really going to come together for him in a postseason.

I mean, you know, a few years ago, he's got this big lead in a playoff game in Jacksonville and just everything starts to kind of fall apart. And at that time, it was like, okay, well, Brandon Staley, maybe he's just not a very good coach. And he's the reason why, you change him out and go to Jim Harbaugh and everything.

You know, Jim Harbaugh is won a national championship in. He took the 49ers to a Super Bowl a decade ago. You get Jim Harbaugh in and this is going to work out for Justin Herbert. Well, now you've gotten two playoff seasons under Jim Harbaugh, and it's still kind of the same thing. And honestly, it's been kind of worse than what that first playoff appearance was like because now this has just been complete,

two straight years of just no-shows, complete no-shows, not necessarily a meltdown of blowing a big lead like a few years ago. So I don't know. I mean, at some point when you, when it seems like you're trying to provide that franchise quarterback with everything possible and nothing is really changing, you do kind of have to wonder like,

where is this really going to go? Now, obviously, you know, they've got them signed to this big contract. So they've got to try and see this out. And he's still relatively young. So they've got to try and see this out and see if something can come together over the next couple of years. But yeah, you can't, you can't help but to just wonder, like, where is this really going to go?

How much potential of the Chargers going on a Super Bowl run with this guy at the helm are going to see? And that's the hard part about Justin Herbert, because when we look at quarterbacks who have been similar to him, usually the idea for the franchise is you just keep swinging and eventually they'll break through. And sometimes if you move on from that guy too early, he ends up breaking through somewhere else. So what is it about Justin Herbert that is that limitation? And you know, you could say the same thing about Kirk, who always hovered around a top 10 quarter. quarterback. I think Herbert is clearly more physically gifted than Kirk Cousins, but I don't think that their production, when you look at them like side by side, would look all that different.

And you would expect, well, okay, this is a guy because of his height, because of his arm strength, and so forth, that could elevate a team when they're having problems, that could elevate a team when they have a matchup that's maybe not that grade or when they have to go on the road or whatever it might be. And he just hasn't been able to do that. there's the other part that is just some bad breaks. I mean, this is not just elevate bad tackles. This is like their seventh string tackle that's playing. This isn't just, this is like two T.J.

Clemmings playing in the same game for Justin Herbert. And it feels like Sam Bradford in 2016, where there's only so much the guy can do when Omerian Hampton isn't making an impact and your two superstar tackles are both out, one of them out, Rishon Slater, before the season even starts. and then Joe Alt tried to give it a go and then reaggraved his injury and then he ends up out for the year. They have other guys going out and so forth. They have a very good defense, but it's not like 2000 Ravens type of defense. It's just good and not astoundingly good. So how much

can one guy do? But also when you look at his weapons, I mean, they're pretty good. Quentin Johnston has come along. Ladd McConkey's a good wide receiver. They've developed a Ronde Gadsden into a good player and Keenan Allen dropped one that hit him right in the hands tonight. But Keenan Allen was at the top of the list for targets and he still has something in the tank. And yet you can't consistently move the football. And I think part of it is that he is not a difference maker at all with his legs. Just because you are fast doesn't mean you are anything more than a pocket quarterback. And I think that there can be a skittish nature to him when things start to come apart, which would happen at times with Kirk Cousins, where the aggressiveness

disappears. That's what I thought would happen when things were going wrong with Kirk when he was getting pressured, is he would stop pushing the ball down the field to Adam Thielen and Stefan Diggs. And that's where, you know, digs in that 2019 playoff game. That's what today reminded me of was, yeah, your offensive lines getting beaten by the 49ers, but you're not being aggressive at all. You're just, you know, underneath stuff, underneath stuff.

underneath stuff and not pushing the ball down the field really at all, I think is what Justin Herbert has done when these games kind of go this way, which leaves you with, like, is this guy really good enough? And then there's another example too, Manny. And I know that there's mitigating factors here of injuries with Tua, but it's a little similar in that, you know, Tua had a couple of seasons that were really good. And one season that was really great.

And that was their chance. And they went to Kansas City and they froze to death. and they lost the game and they missed their window. And I wonder about that with this team and Jim Harbaugh, because you don't necessarily hire Jim Harbaugh to be your coach for 15 years. You hire him to be your coach to win right now with your franchise quarterback. And I'm not saying that they should tear it apart. Their team is too good.

They're going to be back. I have no doubt that they're going to get more bites at the Apple. But it kind of does feel like, Manny, that they had built for these two years, when Harbaugh got there and now they have nothing to show for it. Yeah, it's kind of like, you know, it's, it's kind of to use a little bit of a basketball analogy. It's kind of like you make the change at coach at the right time when it feels like you've gotten really stagnant and we're just not going to get over the hump with this coach.

We need to get somebody in who's got a proven track record of winning at a high level. and he's going to be able to take this team over the hump. And I think that was the idea of bringing Jim Harbaugh in is that, okay, Brandon Staley got us to the playoffs, you know, but, you know, it just, it was never really going to be more than 9 and 8, 10, and 7, and being one and done in the postseason. And so you get a guy who just won a national championship,

who had coached in a Super Bowl with the 49ers. And it's like, well, this guy has a track record of being able to get teams over the hump. Because that's kind of what Jim Harbourn did in San Francisco, where that was a team that was talented, but they were just middling or just not performing up to their ability. And then he gets there and they go to the NFC championship game in his first year. And then they're in the Super Bowl in his second year.

And the other thing with Jim Harbaugh, too, that makes this really, you know, interesting is, Harbaugh has a bit of a history of being successful, but he also has a history of kind of wearing out his welcome a little bit. And so now you have to wonder like, all right, they're two years into this. They haven't gone anywhere outside of just being one and done both years. How long before the, you know,

how long before Jim Harbaugh starts to wear out his welcome a little bit? And then at that point, are you ready to kind of tear this thing down and start over? how many more years of this do they really have of, you know, how many more opportunities, how many more bites at the apple are they going to get at this? Is it like next year and that's it? If it's two years from now and that's it. And then if you still haven't gone anywhere, then what do you do? Because then things might really go left with a guy like Jim Harbaugh.

And now you're probably blowing things up at that time. So next year, I think, is going to be really fascinating to see how things go. they can kind of bounce back, you know, and I think what's really disappointing for them is this was an opportunity this year with Kansas City kind of falling off this year. This was a real opportunity for them to kind of step forward and potentially go on a run. We talked about how Josh Allen's going to have this shot. You get the team that's been dominating your division for the last seven, eight years, and they have a down year, that's your window.

That's your chance to really take advantage of that. Now, the Broncos appear to have taken advantage of that. We'll see what happens with them next week against Buffalo. But the Chargers seem to have had this opportunity now. And you got to wonder if they're going to be able to take advantage of it. I mean, next year, they could make a pretty good case that most of this roster will come back, that they're not supremely old, their weapons will return and their tackles will come back. But let's just say it to say, Manny.

if the Los Angeles Chargers of Los Angeles called you up and you were Quasi at Flemensa and Kevin O'Connell and they said, all right, we're going to make Justin Herbert available. He's always banged up. Well, I mean, internally, they're not saying that to you on the phone, but he's always banged up. He can't come through in these playoff games and his contract is kind of out of this world. And we just think that I, Jim Harbaugh, a crazy person, would rather have J.J. McCarthy.

Let's make a trade. say it before we move on to the other games because I saw, you know, everybody's talking about like, oh, well, now the Herbert's fail. Could he be on the block? So what, what is the, what is the offer? Like, what would you be offering to the Los Angeles Chargers for Justin Herbert? Not as much as you would have to offer for Joe Burrow, but it would cost probably at least two first round picks and maybe a player. That's kind of what I'm thinking of. Burrow. I think it would take three in a player and an impact player. I feel like you can get Justin Herbert for probably two

and, you know, a sort of mid-ish impact player on your roster and you could probably get it done. But what will make it tricky is the contract, you know, and I don't have the numbers in front of me. Maybe you do, but like that could maybe complicate things when you already have a roster that's kind of expensive right now. And you can, you know, you got some flexibility. you can restructure some guys and maybe cut some guys and free up some space and try and make it work.

But it would be a challenge. And then the baggage of what he has not accomplished yet is going to be coming with him. And all of the narrative question marks that are surrounding him are going to come with him as well. And then at that point, you see the physical talent, but then you kind of wonder, well, why are the Chargers ready to move on from him at 27 years old with the big contract? And he's been to the playoffs a few times, but he hasn't really been able to get over that hump. Why are the Chargers all of a sudden so quickly ready to get rid of him? So it would be interesting.

But I think with the talent and the age, it's still going to cost you a little bit to bring him in. The contract makes it pretty much a non-starter, but you could do a hundred things and just barely make it work and then maybe restructure his contract. There's always ways if you want it bad enough. And the only reason I would say that there is just a tiny, tiny shred of reality in a question like that is that one, Jim Harbaugh, I mean, this is a guy who had multiple members of his coaching staff be arrested after he left. Like, there is no level of crazy that you would completely write off. And you can offer them something that no one else can, which is a lightly used quarterback who is on his rookie contract that nobody is more familiar with than Jim Harbaugh. So you could do that two firsts and Jonathan Grenard because they're short on edge rushing.

They traded for Adafi O'Way earlier this year. I mean, he made a play tonight, but hasn't really turned. out to be, you know, superstar pass rush or anything, you can offer them stuff like that and take a shot at it. And I think with Herbert, for me, I would have to say yes to it just because of the baseline that this guy provides for you. And then if you can do the rest. Now, the Chargers have not been able to do the rest. They don't have Justin Jefferson. They don't have Christian Darrasaw coming back healthy. They don't have Brian O'Neill. They don't, right? So they, you know, don't have, I think, as much on the team. I would have to do it just because.

that level of quarterback is something the Minnesota Vikings have not had that talent at quarterback, except for very briefly with like, oh, I don't know, you know, Sam Darnold. But just for the record, thought we'd put that down in case that happens. I would have to say, yes, even though it would be an absurd chips into the middle of the table. But when we go through those other options, Kyler Murray, Mack Jones, like this one better. Speaking of Mack Jones, he had nothing to do with the San Francisco 49ers win, but they did win. And one of the things I enjoy,

I just want to say for the record also with Herber, I think if you keep taking swings at it, he will win in the playoffs eventually because guys that good usually do. And one of the things that drives me a little bit nuts, manny, is when quarterbacks who do win in the playoffs, when they don't get any credit for it. Well, that was Brock Purdy in 2003. Oh, all he's got to do is exist out there and that team is so good.

Well, that is not the case for this playoff victory for, Brock Purdy. He played his butt off. He threw a couple of interceptions. He has to be aggressive in a game like that. But the way that he played versus that defense that has a great secondary, a phenomenal pass rush, maybe the best defensive tackle rushing the passer in the entire NFL in Jalen Carter. He made plays. He came through clutch. They lose George Kittle. They replace him with Kyle Eusecheck, which, you know, tell me you weren't getting emotional, watching a fullback, run over people and make plays like Tom Rathman out there. It was an incredible performance.

And then the story of this day, Eric Kendricks, who looked like it was 2019 again, making plays left and right, pass break up at the end of the game against Jalen Hertz. This was one of the best coaching jobs that you will ever see in the NFL by Kyle Shanahan this year to get them there and then to get a win in Philadelphia. I you know aside from the Vikings I try not to be too much of like a fan per se of like other teams and and everything but I do like to root for stories and I do like to root for success for people who are extremely great at what they do and they've just had some things kind of not go their way and dude Kyle

Seanahan is just such a phenomenal coach. He is just one guy that I would just, I hope, and I would love to see him win a Super Bowl as a head coach. This guy is so freaking good. And all the adversity that this team has faced over the course of the year, losing guys, defense being decimated by injuries, then you get all these narrative conversations about, well, how good is Brock at Purdy actually? I mean, this guy was played really well in a Super Bowl two years ago, and people are still questioning rather or not,

Brock Purdy is good enough to take this team to win a championship. And for him to kind of overcome two pretty bad interceptions and to just kind of keep a level head and stay poised and make the right throws when it counted the most, that's a credit to Brock Purdy, but it's also a huge credit to Kyle Shanahan for having that, you know, relationship with Brock Purdy and believing in him and sticking with him, despite all these outside conversations about how good Brock Purdy actually is.

That, it was really, really impressive. And then you lose George Kittle, who's, in addition to what he does on the field, he's one of the locker room glue guys, one of the leaders on this team that's been here, been with the team for so long. You lose him to a devastating injury and you just still hold it together. It doesn't, it doesn't affect you. And you still go into a really difficult place to win games in the postseason with that crowd. And you mentioned how good the Eagles defense is.

I was just blown away by them being able to put it together. And my guy, Juan Jennings, Tennessee Vaugh, Rocky Top, baby, trick play, just like they did in the Super Bowl. A couple of years ago, touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. It was awesome. It was a really, really terrific game. And apparently, everybody else knew this other than me that Joanne Jennings was once a five star quarterback prospect in college. I was not aware of that until I saw somebody tweeted out and then everyone

else went, oh, obviously. Okay, sorry. I didn't know that Joanne Jennings was a five star quarterback, but he certainly looked like one on that play. As he was running with the ball, I was like, wait, is he going to, what, is he going to throw it? And then the catch, it can't, I mean, as we talk about Brock Purdy and how good he was in this game. And I think he has proven this year to be a franchise quarterback who deserve to get paid. And he is Drew Breeze-esque. He's not Drew Breeze exactly, but he is very much like that, the undersized guy who throws with great anticipation, but also, and this was Breeze early in his career, not late in his career, but has enough playmaking, enough moxie, not always even scrambling, but just moving in the pocket

and the way that he can find an extra second or two to make a play. And then never gets rattled. Like you see him on the sideline after an interception just never, ever loses focus. And I, I felt like that was huge. I mean, that place is insane. That building. And there were people cheer. And when George Kittle got hurt, they always do that. They cheer when the other team gets injured players. And so it could be very intimidating. And that didn't bother him at all. But we can't, like, ignore in this game the greatness of Christian McCaffrey. And it should go down as one of the best trades that any team has ever made. And we are very familiar with the ways of trading a lot for a running back and having

that not exactly work out the way that you would expect. When they made this trade, I was shocked. Like, they're giving up how much for a running back who's been injured and so forth. And you just see, he made a catch on a jump ball today that if a wide receiver made it, we'd be like, wow, lost him. and then even the throw from Jennings is not perfect that he just sticks his hands out. He said after the game, he couldn't even really see the ball. Like he just sort of stuck his hands out and then it landed in his hands and he makes the catch.

That weapon that they have is a separator for them. And it has been over the last couple years, whenever Christian McCaffrey's been healthy, they have been a great team. And this was a huge game for him. They now open up. But here's the other storyline here is that the Rams were going to play the Seahawks if Philadelphia won the game. But because San Francisco wins the game, now they will have to travel from Philly back to

not San Francisco, Santa Clara, which is basically San Jose, but that's whatever. And then they will have to go from there up to Seattle. I once saw the Vikings do this going to New Orleans, upsetting New Orleans, coming back to Minnesota, then flying to San Francisco. It is not an easy thing to do, no matter how. well coached your team is and now without George Kittle. So they're opening up as seven and a half point underdogs on Fandul to, yeah,

to Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks. And the Seahawks just kind of beat their face in a couple of weeks ago. It's not going to be an easy matchup. But when you go to the Super Bowl, we know this, manny. You probably have to get a little bit of scheduling help.

And this reminds me a little bit of the giants beating the Vikings and then going to Philadelphia. and then they, you know, they weren't able to do a whole lot. If Kyle Shanahan can even get a competitive game in Seattle, it would be impressive. The history of this winning an emotional fashion, pulling off that wildcard weekend upset, it usually doesn't go that great for the team that pulled it off the following week as the Seahawks have been just sort of sitting at home and watching the games. Yeah, and I think with how talented Seattle's defense is,

and that place is, you know, we've talked almost at nauseam about how tough it is to play at Lumenfield for opposing teams. And the 49ers are to team historically. A lot of those players, they've played a lot of games there over the last few years. If you've been a member of the Niners, the last handful of years, you've played a lot of games in Seattle. So you're at least familiar with that crowd and what it's like in that environment. But this is also the best Seahawks team since they were going to the Super Bowl with the Legion of Boom. I mean, so, and it's the same, if you look at that team, they're built very much the same way as those Legion of Boom Seattle teams were. And the difference now is that they have a legitimate stud number one wide receiver this time around,

which they didn't really have at that time in the Russell Wilson days. So it's going to be a really, really tough matchup. now look the Niners went in there first week of the season week one and they won there but I think the Seahawks are a much different team now than what they were back then everything they were still just trying to maybe figure out who they were Sam Darnold was still kind of getting acclimated to everything playing on that team but now it's like they finish the season strong the Sam Darnold narrative stuff is still kind of out there but it's But I think him going on the road in San Francisco and winning the way that they did maybe took a little bit of that away.

And they're just playing really confident right now. They're feeling really good. They got a week off to kind of rest and heal the bodies a little bit. I seven was a seven and a half is the line for Van Duo? Yeah. I would probably still lean towards the Niners to cover that and keep it kind of close. But boy, I think when you just look at the way Seattle is playing right now and how confident they are, I think it's going to be a really tough ask for the nighters to go in there and try to win.

Well, and just the way that playoff games have been played, we haven't seen too many blowouts. But the physical and emotional strain to go all the way across the country to Philadelphia and barely survive them and then go back across the country and then face a rested team. We even saw the impact of a rested team last year versus the Vikings with the Los Angeles. with the Los Angeles Rams and how much different that was. So that's going to be very difficult. This now sets up for a Rams and Chicago Bears matchup, which we'll get to in just a second.

But that one is pretty fascinating. It feels like there's a collision course between the Seattle Seahawks and the Los Angeles Rams here. But we'll see what you think in a second. But we have to go to the other side. And let me just add that I couldn't be happier for Eric Hendricks. I mean, truly one of the classiest people you will ever run into everything you think about Eric Hendricks, in my experience, about him in the community,

the type of person he is, the type of leader is all 100% authentic with him. And for him to make that play at the end, when he wasn't even on the team six weeks ago, is incredible. And also, hey, Robert Sala once again should be in consideration for head coaching jobs because this guy has done an amazing job to play the way they did. but Manning, we got to go to the other side. And the thing that's on fire is once again very interesting because at the end of the game, there is a face-to-face confrontation with A.J. Brown and Nick Siriani.

AJ Brown will no longer be a Philadelphia Eagle after this game. And I just, when I look at Philly and the way they play without Lane Johnson in there and the amount of money that Jalen Hertz is still owed, and the drama that sort of ensued there and some of the past rushing that they haven't been able to get really together from the outsides. The interior is good,

but the edge rushing was just not that impressive. It feels like Philly is suddenly vulnerable here to a potential, not fall off as in disappearance, but maybe a slide back to not exactly owning the NFC East the way they have in recent years. Yeah, it comes. kind of now, I mean, we know Howie Roseman is one of the best front office executives in the entire league. He's done such a great job for so many years orchestrating two Super Bowl

championship teams, three teams that have gone to the Super Bowl. It kind of feels like after they won that Super Bowl here against the Patriots, they kind of had a little bit bit of a falloff for a couple of years and then they had to kind of retool things made some changes at quarterback not really saying they're going to make a change from jalen hurts necessarily but it does kind of feel like there needs to be a little bit of a retooling with the eagles you don't want to blow it up there's there's too much talent and too much young talent i think to just blow this thing up and start all over but there might have to be some tweaking you mentioned a j brown it just kind of feels like maybe that just relationship overall has just kind of really frayed and it's probably best for

both parties to just move on. Hey, AJ, it's, it's been great. We want a championship with you. Appreciate all the production, but it's just not working and it's time to move on. You still have Devante Smith. You still have, you know, Dallas Goddard and some of these other guys that that can still contribute to you offensively. But I think it's going to take some retooling. I don't know. It's hard to say this because they just won the Super Bowl last year, but Nick Siriani, I don't, I don't know. I mean, there's probably some question marks there. This is, this is going to be interesting to see how Howard Roseman kind of retools this thing this offseason, the approach that they take, if there's some significant moves that they, that they decide to make.

It's going to be really fascinating to watch. And, you know, look, we've, we've been talking about the rumors about maybe Brian Flores might be interested in becoming the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, what kind of impact is that going to make on them? That could turn things around in the NFC East. And I think a team like Washington is going to be looking to try and bounce back as well. They're going to try and make some moves a year removed from being in the NFC championship game. So this is going to be an important offseason for the Eagles if they want to maintain control

of that division. And if John Harbaugh goes to the New York Giants, they will suddenly have legitimacy. and you can guarantee they're going to be much closer to 500 team, if not better, once they have some real organization there and somebody who's won before. So this was, and we can't discount this part of the Philadelphia Eagles run here over the last few years, is that the rest of the teams in the division, now Washington was pretty good last year, but really during the regular season, they were just okay and then had, you know, a great playoff game.

But, I mean, overall, those teams have kind of handed Philadelphia this run. And that might not last as long as it has so far. And with just the salary cap situation, if you look, I mean, they've really pushed a lot of money down the road that eventually that bill is going to come do. And the thing is about A.J. Brown is he had a bad drop today. He's been an elite receiver in previous years. They also, what are you going to do at O.C.? And maybe if there's a reason to fire Nick Sariani, it's that it was clear that it was not working with their offensive coordinator. And I'm reminded of Ed Donatel.

I'm also reminded of the time that John Harbaugh fired their OC and hired Jim Caldwell and went and won the Super Bowl. Like sometimes that's necessary. And yet they just rode it out and wrote it out and kept saying, we'll get it together. We'll get it together. And they were not able to do that. And now I think that there's going to be some serious changes there. But start the bidding for where A.J. Brown ends up next year because there's no way after it was as tense as it was that you could keep going with that. Okay, let's go to the early game.

And then we'll talk about the matchup with the Rams and the Bears and I want to get to Matt LaFlor in that situation with you as well. But the early game, Mani, it's pretty simple to me. This is Josh Allen's time. He played as great as you could play. This was John Elway out there. I mean, he completed what? 75% of his passes.

He ran two touchdowns. He suffered a hand injury, a lay. leg injury. He's dealing with a foot injury. I mean, he got beat. That Jaguars team is nasty. And he got beat up. And they did not run the football all that effectively, which they had done all year long. The big question was, can you really just put it in the air for him? And when they needed it the most, he found Brandon Cook's deep and put the dagger in him with an 11-yard, uh, cuby sneak. And then maybe a little bit, Now, I saw people debating it about, hey, do you just get into the end zone or do you kneel down first, then try to get in? I can see an argument either way.

I think you've got to make sure you get the lead. So wasting it down, if something happens, if you fumble and then you pick it up or you lose, I don't know, you commit a penalty. Then you've wasted it down and moved yourself back. I don't, I didn't love that argument. Like, just get the lead and then go play defense and hope that Cam Little can't kick it from 70 yards or something. but this side of it, I think that the bills are a flawed NFL team with the greatest player on earth right now, left playing. And it feels like now they're going to go out to Denver.

And if you look at this one, this, I think this line, man, he shows how good the bills are. They are favored by a point in a half at Denver. So Denver has been sitting at home, has home field advantage, one of the toughest places to play. This is a Josh Allen line on fan. to a one and a half point favorites because they got the best quarterback on earth and the Denver Broncos don't and it really showed today against a great defense. A nasty defense like you said, a physical defense that really likes to beat people up. But who better than a 6-5, 240-pound athletic freak to combat, to combat that and go against

that. And you mentioned the running game. I mean, James Cook had probably. the quietest rushing title in NFL history. You know, I remember looking up towards the end of the season being like, oh my God, James Cook's leading the league in rushing? Like, you know, that's crazy. And, you know, the Jaguars defense was really good against the run this year.

And so I was kind of concerned for Buffalo going into this game because I thought, well, if Jacksonville shuts down James Cook, that's, he's really been the best offensive weapon that Buffalo has had outside of Josh Allen because the receiving core is not great. I thought if the Jaguars were able to shut down James Cook, then it was going to be really hard for Josh Allen because then at that point, all of the pressure is on him to make everything happen.

And you know what? All the pressure was on him to make everything happen. And damn it, he made everything happen in this game. I mean, you mentioned the touchdown run. The throw to Brandon Cook's ridiculous. I mean, he's got a guy in his face. He's kind of backpedaling. This shows you how strong his arm is.

He just kind of whips it up there. And it lands right into Brandon Cook's breadbasket. It's just one of the craziest plays I've ever seen. And then the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the key sneak to get down to the one that we initially thought was a touchdown. Um, it's just nuts. This guy is, is, is outerworldly, and we might be looking at a situation where it's just one guy carrying a team. to the Super Bowl. And, you know, depending on who they get,

if they get there and depending on who they get matched up out of the NFC, Seattle, the Rams, whoever, it's going to be a really, really compelling matchup. So I'm kind of rooting for it because I think when you see, when you can see a quarterback just become kind of Superman, become a superhuman force, kind of like what Cam Newton did in 2015 with the Panthers, where he was kind of everything that they had.

They had some weapons, but it wasn't like he just had this great array of just great wide receivers to throw to all over the place. I mean, it was throwing to Ted Ginn for goodness sakes. But, you know, this kind of feels like the same thing where it's just one guy putting a team on his shoulders and just dragging them to the promised land. And if there's a guy in the league that can do it, it's number 17 in Buffalo. Yeah, similarly, the tight end was the best receiving option that Cam Newton had. See, I've been thinking about a Payton Manning comp, which, of course, running ability is a little bit different for Josh Allen than Peyton Manning. But remember all the tragedies and the playoffs that Peyton Manning had.

There was the one in Miami where they missed the field goals. They got blown out by the Jets. There was a bunch of them. And then eventually things went his way and it clicked. And that version of things going his way is no Burrow, no Mahomes, and no Lamar Jackson. And it's Bo Nix. And it might be Drake May, possibly, or it might be the Houston Texans, which they had a lot of trouble with the last time they faced them. But this is not like going to Kansas City and playing against Patrick Mahomes on the road, going to play C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans or going to play, I mean, Drake May is a rising star, but it's not Patrick Mahomes at his absolute best.

So it's a different story for what the potential path here could be. But they do have to go to Denver. and I think the advantage is, and what we saw from Jacksonville, if there's a criticism to be had there, a great season for Jacksonville, Liam Cohen did a phenomenal job. I think everybody agrees with that. It's that they got COC disease in the middle of the game and forgot to keep running the football. And then when they sort of attempted to circle back to it, it was almost too late, like the bills had made their adjustment. They were pounding their face in. Then they got away from it. they made some mistakes with some interceptions and with just some three and outs and unsuccessful drives trying to lean too much on their quarterback. And then they were like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we forgot to run.

Let's go back and run again. And it really didn't get going. Still, overall, a good game played by Trevor Lawrence, maybe similar feeling to Justin Herbert in his career where you just feel like there should be another level to him. he didn't play great from the start of this game. With Lawrence, he's always been a bit of an enigma for me, man, because he has these stretches where he's just great. But it really feels like sometimes he just decides where he's going with the football

and just throws it as hard as he possibly can into that general area. And that's what he's doing. And even the drop at the end that turns into the interception, it's a good play. I couldn't quite tell how much Trey White got his hand in there, but he doesn't make the catch. it's sort of that McCarthy thing we talk about where the ball is going so fast. He throws it so hard that if it doesn't stick in the guy's chest like a spear,

that, you know, they do drop passes and you see these deflections that turn into interceptions. But, I mean, overall, they played a really good game. They had the lead at the end. Liam Cohen, I think coached overall a pretty good game, even though I thought he did get away from the run a little bit there. The Jaguars are probably the one team from today. where the loss, you're not talking about peril, you're not talking about blow it up,

you're not talking about big changes. That team's going to run it back, and they're probably going to be pretty good again. But I think the only thing that this does is just leave a little bit of that question about Trevor Lawrence of, is there another level to him, or did they kind of just work the offense,

maybe get some bad teams down the stretch? They destroyed the New York Jets when they had already stopped trying, you know, things like that. They did have a win in Denver. So I'm not saying it was a fraud season. It was a good team. It was a good season. But he always just leaves that little bit to be desired.

Yeah. And he's another one of those guys like what we talked about with Justin Herbert, where you could just see the physical tools. You know they're there. He's a terrific athlete. He's big. He's got the strong arm. But it just feels like there's just something up here that's just not quite where it needs to be

in terms of just being able to handle the big moments and be able to make the right play at the right time. And you mentioned kind of the fastball that he's throwing in. It's that understanding that Trevor, you don't have to do everything. You're not in a situation that Josh Allen is in where you literally have to do everything. You've got some good, talented players around you.

And sometimes the easy play is the right play. You don't have to be super, man. And yeah, it kind of felt like, like you said, going away from the running game and putting it all on Trevor Lawrence's shoulders was just kind of a lot to ask of somebody like him, um, who's granted, physically talented, but really hasn't shown the ability to just kind of handle the kind of, that kind of weight on his shoulders yet. Um, and so you do kind of wonder about that. But what they, what they've done on defense has just been really phenomenal, just how big and physical and, you know, the way they take the football away too at times. They've done a lot of that this year. They've got something

going. I think Liam Cohen's a really good coach. I think, you know, Doug Peterson getting there a few years ago, I think hooked them out of the abyss that Urban Meyer had essentially left them in and that kind of served us. You kind of. you know, I think Doug kind of served his purpose of just getting them out of that, whatever that was with Urban Myers of the disaster. But I don't think he was ever really going to get them to this point of where they were like really serious and a really good strong roster. Now I think they've got a head coach that can do that.

It's, you know, and look, Liam Cohen was the first year head coach. And I think what they what they did this year getting to the playoffs, like you said, it's very like, very much like COC. and I think you just have to, for him, you have to hope that he's maybe learned from some things that may have cost them this game and cost them this opportunity and that they're better for it again next year. So I want to wrap up on the Bears and the Rams matchup, but first, let me get a take from you about Matt LaFleur. So for me, Manny, Matt LaFleur is a very good NFL coach who has a shocking number of collapses. and he doesn't kick, he doesn't punt, just like that one playoff game that they lost to San Francisco, where the blocked punt happened. And then that's how the Rams, right, the Rams got to play at home, I think after that.

And that was how that helped them go to the Super Bowl as the number four seed. But then this happens. They missed some kicks. That ends up costing them. They're without Michael Parsons. So there wasn't anybody to chase around Caleb Williams. I mean, Van Ness and Gary, like, those guys are not Michael Parsons when it comes to the speed and their ability to track a quarterback like that. And he was able to get out and make plays time and time again because they didn't have Michael Parsons.

And when they needed easy button completions, they didn't have Tucker Kraft. And if you just go, well, you know, okay, people are missing, you know, players and stuff. But you lost by what four points? Like, that's certainly a difference when you're talking about the best defensive player on Earth, not named Miles Garrett. that's a pretty big deal. He's consistently put them in a position to be in the playoffs, but he has not put them in a position to lead the playoffs, to have the home playoff game to,

you know, he's three and six now in the playoffs. And there are connections that Adam Schaefter pointed out to John Harbaugh with the Green Bay Packers. Do you think that they will fire Matt LaFleur and do you think they should fire Matt LaFleur? Oh, that's, I'm on the fact, because I've been thinking about this all day since the game last night, really.

And because all the, you know, there's been rumors about him potentially being fired if they didn't win this game last night. And I, it feels like they're going to make a change. It feels like they're going to make a change. Should they make a change? I don't, I think if you, you can get somebody like a John, like a John Harbaugh, and I don't know how much of, if they were make, if they were to make the change, if he would actually be in the mix or not, I don't know,

feels like he should be. I think if you can get somebody like a John Harbaugh, I think it would make some sense to move on from Matt LaFleur. The thing that you don't want to do is make a change just to make a change, because you are in a pretty good spot. you've been able to put together a good team. I think if you're a Packers fan, you're probably wondering how things would have gone

if Micah Parsons hadn't got hurt. And if he's able to come back next year, you know, at full strength and your defense is at full strength, you know, what sort of team are you able to put together? How many more wins are you able to have? Can you reclaim, you know, can you get back into competing for this division with the Bears? because it doesn't seem like the bears are going anywhere.

They seem like they're going to be a force to be reckoned with, especially with Caleb's emergence. So I don't know if it would make sense to make a change just for the sake of making a change because you just feel like, oh, we got to do something different. But I think if you feel like you can make a serious upgraded head coach, I think you would have to do it. It feels like to me that they're going to change head coaches

and then the next guy gets healthy Tucker Kraft and healthy Michael Parsons and healthy offensive line. And that's the guy that ends up having the success. And that's often how things work, right? Like this goes for, you see this in hockey all the time where a hockey coach will be fired and then a team will go on a hot run. Usually it's just regression. Like their goalie didn't play very well.

And then he sort of bounced back. And then like, look, the new coach has all the answers. It'll probably look that way. at the same time, there is something to blowing this many games in the playoffs. There has to be. He is kind of the Marty Schottenheimer a little bit of like all these chances. But he had, it's not like he didn't have his shots. I mean, they got him, you know, Aaron Rogers to start out.

And then another quarterback to inherit and grow and develop at his pace, which is, I mean, what a dream to be able to do that. You know, if the Vikings maybe had done that, we'd be having. a different conversation about J.J. McCarthy, right? But they were able to do that with Jordan Love. And in his first year, they're in a playoff game. They're leading San Francisco. They've got a chance to go to the NFC championship and they let it slip. And I mentioned that game in San Francisco and they let it slip. And there's there's just so many of these where you go, yeah, that is a bunch of random stuff. But my goodness, how many years in a row of that before you decide, well,

how about we bring in a Super Bowl coach? If he's on the market, dude, what? Like, you're going to have LaFleur and Kevin Stifansky and like just a run and John a Harbour like all these coaches. Maybe Mike Tomlin. Maybe Mike McDaniel, who I think is an excellent coach. He might end up in Detroit like all these guys who are very qualified, landing in different spots.

And I think that that hurts the chances of Brian Flores getting a head coaching job. He's still only interviewed for one position, but where I think it might actually increase his chances is somebody hiring him as a DC. I mean, whoever goes to Baltimore, I mean, they may have been interviewing him for a head coaching job, but they also might be like, are you interested, free agent in dropping in? Oh, yeah, we're going to hire Matt LaFlor, or we're going to hire, you know, Kevin Stefansky. And they're going to take over Lamar Jackson. Would you like to run the defense? like that that thing's not over just because he gets a head coaching job and my understanding is the contract officially runs out in a couple of days here this week so then if they don't have something done

this week then that would mean that he will become a free agent i still think there's a good chance he stays but if you're him you could listen uh in a couple days once uh that contract runs out so the bears are going to host the los angeles rams now i felt like all year long that the Rams were pretty bulletproof and they just kept messing up like messing up on special teams where you lose a game to the Eagles because you get a kick blocked right is that didn't that happen and then really they lost that Seattle game because of special teams they gave up a punt return for touchdown they miss a lay field goal they keep sam darnald around he ends up winning the game at the end but matt stafford hurt his hand in this game and it clearly had an

impact. Now, x-rays were negative, but it had an impact on how he threw the football. They have not run the ball extremely well. They're going into Soldier Field after already being on the road. That's not that easy. But it still feels to me, Mani, let me get you the line here. The Rams are three and a half point favorites at Soldier Field on Fandul. I think that that's right that they should be favored. But the whole season long, I would have told you, like, that's the best team in the NFC.

They've been my Super Bowl pick this entire time, Bill's Rams, Bill's Rams, but the way Chicago is pulling stuff out of their rear end at the end of every single game, I mean, they've beaten some really good teams now. Yeah, it's,

well, first off with the Rams, it's so interesting because I thought they were going to kick the crap out of the Panthers yesterday. I really did because I kind of felt like, all right, I know the Rams lost to them earlier, but this is the playoffs. this is a Super Bowl winning head coach and a Super Bowl winning quarterback,

you know, they're going to learn from, you know, maybe some of the mistakes they've made the first time around against the Panthers. And they're going to go in and take care of business and kind of obliterate them. But I don't know. It was like something with the Panthers just kind of they just really push the Rams to a level that kind of makes, if you're a Rams fan, you're kind of uncomfortable in that game because you're like, are we really going to lose to this eight and nine division winner again like and our season is done just like that um so i i don't know i mean this this thing with matthew stafford and and and the finger is going to be

really really interesting to watch and how he's able to sort of handle the football being able to throw the football who knows what the temperature and the weather is going to be like at soldier field that could have an impact on a team that is, granted, very good on defense, but really kind of built with what they're able to do offensively with their passing attack. And if they're in a position where they can't really rely on Matthew Stafford to deliver the football down the field the way he normally wants to, and they have to kind of lean on Kyron Williams and try and lean on Blake Corum, well, those guys kind of struggled against Carolina yesterday.

And if you're not able to establish a run game and then you're telling Matthew Stafford, all right, Matthew, you got to throw us to victory again. You kind of wonder against a team like the Bears if they're going to be able to handle that in potentially adverse weather conditions too. So that's going to be fascinating to watch. I still kind of lean Rams in this one because I think they're still, even though they might be a little bit banged up with Stafford, they're still, I think, the better overall team.

but it's it's going to be fun it's i mean that that soldier field crowd they were rocking last night they're going to be rocking again for this matchup um i can't wait it's going to be fascinating it's so funny because when you said yesterday i was like no way that game was yesterday that game was weeks ago manny uh that's what it feels like but this matchup it's the d line of the rams chasing around the guy who now is very very difficult to sack that is you know know, happy Gilmore, happy learn how to put. Like, that's what, we saw all this stuff from Caleb Williams last year, but he took 68 sacks. So it's like you're not going to be able to consistently succeed.

And then happy, learn how to put. He learned how to stop getting sacked and has been a different player. That's secondary of the Rams, very vulnerable in that game against Carolina. They could not cover Tedero and McMillan. They could not cover Jalen Coker. And now the weapons are even better. and Colston Loveland, I'll just keep saying, I'll keep saying it, mani on draft night. I was like, really a tight end?

Don't you have a tight end? And not only that, not only that, not even the guy that people had is the number one tight end of the board. Everybody was looking at Tyler Warren. It was like, well, if you're going to take a tight end, why didn't you take Tyler Warren? It's like, who's this Colston Loveland guy? And Tyler Warren's really good.

But they, yeah, they ended up, you know, kind of bucking the draft boards there and going with Loveland. And he has become a monster. Burden is a great contributor. We know DJ Moore is fantastic. They might be hard to cover, and I think he can scoot away from the pass rush of the Rams that's been so dangerous. But they rebuilt this offensive line for this purpose. So they can be a little scary offensively.

It's who's going to cover Pooka and Nakua, how, and they will not be able to pressure Matthew Stafford. Carolina couldn't do it. They won't be able to do it. And the one thing that does drive me crazy, watch the Bears, just like with Ejuro Everett, where they just played back and kind of let the Rams do whatever they wanted at the end of the game. They do that with the Bears. It feels like every time I watch them in a clutch situation, they're just playing back, playing back, playing back.

And it's, you know, it cost them against San Francisco. And it's almost cost them in other times. And I've seen, I really trust Anthony Barr's opinions on Twitter. And he's been sharing them a little more. And he's like, who's going to be the next DC of the Chicago Bears is what he said the other night. because he just can't stand watching them play defense. They really just, they don't send extra pressure, but that's when the Panthers had some success in the middle of the game.

So that matchup, I think is fantastic at Soldier Field, the atmosphere, the cold. It's, it's very much a Stafford legacy playoffs. I mean, you go to a second Super Bowl. He was already, I think, a Hall of Famer after the first one and the numbers he's put up and so forth. You go to another one. And Matt Liner declared him.

top five quarterback of all time if he goes to another Super Bowl. I don't think that that is. Not sure about that. Not quite. No, I don't think so. But certainly he will move himself up into a different echelon if he is able to do that. So for the rest of the week, we're going to have a press conference at some point this week, the end of the year press conference. Right after we have that, myself and Dane Mizatani will do a podcast breaking down.

everything that was said by the Vikings brass. Any breaking news will be here ready for emergency podcasts and lots of guests and everything else. We'll go forward from there. So tomorrow night, the plan is to do something similar, at least for myself. Mani, maybe you should go to bed because I think it's a workday tomorrow. But I'm going to be hosting on WCCO radio until 9 o'clock. But then the plan is to come home and then react to the playoff game.

So, yeah, no. football, lots going on there. I appreciate your time and the adjustment of your schedule, Manny. And we will talk to you later on this week. Thanks, ma'am. You got it. Football. Football.