The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - AFC and NFC Championships: Time to Cheer for The Team We All Hate

Episode Date: January 23, 2026

The AFC and NFC championships are here! And Football AmericaI! is here to provide a deep dive on each game. Can Jarrett Stidham rally the Denver Broncos past the evil New England Patriots? (Actually, are they still evil? And would it be a better Super Bowl if they win?) Will the 12th Man in Seattle and a stout defense be enough for the Seahawks against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams? (What about Soup's beloved Sam Darnold? Will he be at an MVP level on the biggest stage of his career so far?) We brought the best mind of NFL predictions, Nick Kostos, on to discuss the ins and outs of an entertaining weekend of football. So sit back as National Champion Dave Dameshek and The Super Fuentes Brothers guide your dreams, harness your desires, and maybe make you some cash on this episode of Football America! (Photo via AP) AUDIO Football America! is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/football-america/id1831757512 Follow us: Dave Dameshek: https://x.com/dameshek Nick Kostos: https://x.com/TheKostos Host: Dave Dameshek Guests: Nick Kostos Team: Gino Fuentes, Mike Fuentes Director: Danny Benitez Senior Producers: Gino Fuentes, Mike Fuentes Executive Producer: Soup Campbell Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans. Well, I've resisted pointing this out for as long as possible, but I guess it's time to just pull the Band-Aid off. It gives me no pleasure to be the one to tell you, but there won't be an NFL game played on Monday night. Not next Thursday night and not next Saturday either. The weekend after that, there will be a corporate event in Santa Clara, California, featuring a bunch of middle managers more concerned with the quality of the wet bar than the final score. matter of mournful fact after this Sunday's two big games we're staring at seven long months and lots and lots of baseball before our beloved pigskin returns i'm sorry fellas who is who is dame damme check take it easy tim kurchin i'm just saying and it isn't all bad of course beyond baseball march madness is just coming into view on the horizon and right after that we'll get those four days in augusta

There's also the overlapping NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs. They're always fun. And of course, above all else, there's the 365-day calendar the NFL has successfully constructed around itself. Before you know it, free agency will be here. And before that, there could be some huge names on the move once they emerge from their darkness retreats or otherwise. Draft season is already underway.

Does it ever really end? Plus schedule release, minicamp and training camp will provide some intrigue till September finally arrives. Yeah, I know I'm rationalizing, but what the hell else can I do? I'd love to make like a bear and hibernate till kickoff, but I think, at least I hope my kids would miss me. Besides, this is the deal we've made with football, which works on the exact opposite schedule of those hibernating bears hiding from winter.

Warm weather's where it's at in a lot of ways, but as mentioned above, it lacks the most important thing, football. Only when the temperatures dipped as our spiritual sunshine spiral back in the weather. to our lives. For now though, we wait and contemplate and maybe find some reasons for optimism where our favorite team is concerned. The NFL's a copycat league after all, so maybe we can extract some lessons from the last 20-ish weeks. Even better, we can recklessly speculate about what might happen come autumn of 26. No one's going to remember any of our predictions by then unless those predictions come true, in which case, out-demand-boundless praise. One thing for sure,

especially after last weekend's divisional round lunacy. And if the Indiana Hoosiers can beat Ohio State and Alabama and Oregon times two and Miami with a Pittsburgh curmudgeon and a Cuban dork as the two leading men, your team, no matter who your team is, has a shot. Well, except for the Browns and the Jets. But everyone else besides Purdue. Let's start the show. My fellow football Americans, it's your old pal Dave.

a minute. I mean national champion, Dave Damashek. I'll thank you to use my formal name going forward. Very excited for those two title games upcoming on Sunday. So excited. In fact, we've got our old pal Nick Costos from you better you bet helping or coming along here just a second to help us get right for that one. He has to go early though. So we only have so much time with him in the meantime. It is episode 45, which players wore that number best in NFL history? Certainly it's Kenny Easley, the late great Kenny Easley, the assassin, right behind him just because it's fun to say.

Chris Fulamato Malfala. Number 45, the Pittsburgh Steelers, fullback in baseball, the guy who wore it best in all sports, Pedro Martinez, after all. Yes, Gino Fuentes. How about Bob Gibson? Oh, man, major omission.

Great catch by you, Gino. And in basketball. I got basketball, too. Michael Jordan, not his best times as a basketball player, but still the greatest. I got another one in baseball. I got another one in baseball too. Also Michael Jordan.

How about that? Is that right? I forgot what number. Yeah, he wore 45 for the Barons in like a few games. I went and saw him play in Wrigley Field once against the Cubs. You'll be surprised to learn. Either way, like I say, the Indiana Hoosiers are the national champions. It was a great time in Miami for me.

I'm now back here in Los Angeles. Good to catch up with Gino and Mike Fuentes and Dan Lebitard. and sit in. What a thrill that was for me, a career thrill. I mean, professionally, sitting next to Dan Lebitard riding shotgun with him, the face of the you among media members at least. I mean, that's how I know who Dan Lebitard is from 25, 30 years ago. So to get to sit there and watch that game with him in real time and everybody else who was a part of that live broadcast with the Lebitard network, great, great time doing that and the whole visit down there. Great people down there. Shout out to Cynthia and Kristen and everybody else who's a part of the gang. I will say this too. As society's

greatest empath, I feel bad for Keynes fans. I don't know if winning would have meant more to them than it has to Indiana Hoosiers faithful, but the pain of losing is clearly much worse for Kane's fans than it would have been for Hoosiers fans. As I said repeatedly, there was no I don't believe for a second that's true Dave you keep saying there's no precedent

no that's no it doesn't matter what would have been the downside like oh well we we lost in the national championship game we've never been here exactly yeah because this might be the last time like you don't have faith that you're going to repeat this every year there's no way you can be like oh well next year I'll be right back in the same spot there's no way you think that

so you have to think this could be our only chance I have to win it team of destiny to go all this way beat Ohio State beat the fucking pants off Oregon and then show him be like ah we're lost the national title. It's all like mayonnaise and rainbows or whatever you do. I would have been indifferent about it. But you guys are so, I've listened to you,

Mike Ryan probably the personification now of the most passionate Kane's fans. And he's just destroyed on a level that I don't think anybody that me and my friends would have been. Because as I keep saying, this was such a Cinderella ridiculous story. You know, it's like Balboa. You ever see Rocky? Dave, listen. He loses the fight, but he wins in the end.

He wins the respect. And that would have been, you know, we all would have been, Adrienne, at the end of that. We had the moral victory already. I see you as a man of logic. And there's just no way this is true. This is like the most playing result thing you've ever done. Now, for Miami, on the Miami side, we haven't been there in 25 years. That's a lifetime for most people.

There are people in that stadium that probably weren't even alive. 18, even okay. Well, 25 cents Miami won their last one. So there's that. We weren't even supposed to be in the tournament and then rip off three big wins. So yes, it hurts it hurts a little bit because it's the same thing. It's like, this might just be a fluke. You know, you don't know.

I know. Right. But you should. But again, at the end of that game, if you're a Miami fan, you point at we missed a field goal that hit the upright. And they had a block punt for a touchdown. And that's the margin of victory. I think the takeaway is and will be in an enduring way, not just because of the iconic image of Mendoza diving into the end. zone. But it is throughout the game, what a nails performance it was out of that kid. The statistics

don't add up necessarily to the Heisman trophy type performances that he threw out there over the course of the season. But man, fourth and five to go for it in that spot. And I appreciate the balls, even though I kind of question the wisdom of going for it in that spot. I'm ultimately happy they did. But as he takes that ball on the QB draw and gets back to basically the line of scrimmage, he has to make a hard cut to his right in tight quarters to make the first down. Otherwise, he would have gotten stopped down and then I don't know how the game plays out. Instead, he gets the first down and then the cherry on top is he houses the ball while taking more shots. And don't forget how that game started with him catching one under the chin from a Kane's helmet,

clearly a late hit that they didn't flag. He can do the bloody mouth. He's a blocker. Right there, he's a blocker. It's not a late hit. The ball's running off the other way. He's a blocker. He took a hit.

Anyway. Okay, the bigger point is, the bigger point is that was an all-time, tough performance from a dork who talks about Jesus and all of that. Don't let that mask the fact that that was a hard-ass performance from that guy. I found out today that Fernando Mendoza's only social media is a LinkedIn page. Which he updates regularly. But the thing for Mendoza, it came down to three plays for me for him. Well, three things he did.

The back shoulder throw on fourth and five, that they have already mentioned that kept that play going. Obviously, the touchdown and the fact they didn't turn the ball over. Those are the three big things. You were Beck, we were Becker. That's it. Yeah, that's fine. I mean, how about those catches by Charlie Becker?

No, no, great. Great. But, I mean, he... Guys, just on behalf of America, like, no one cares anymore. Like, we've moved on to professional football. Why do we let this guy talk? Why do we let the sky talk? No one, no one wants to chat about college football.

Soup the Oregon Ducks fan wants to move on. It's done. The LinkedIn. Let's move along. Bradley, I don't know if you knew this. Oregon didn't play on Monday night. Did you know that? That's crazy.

I don't know if you know this either, but Fernando Mendoza is probably going to be the first overall pick. So it is relevant as we go into the trail. And Bain is going to be probably the second pick. Yeah, I feel bad. I feel bad for Mendoza. So that game and its stars are relevant as we look ahead past the four teams still standing in pro football.

Speaking of those teams, though, all right, I'll take your notes, soup, before we get the Costos here. Let's talk as fans before we get Costos's professional analysis on these two games. Who should we actually, Gino asked me this yesterday before I headed out of the office. By the way, I have to say very quickly, the food that they put out at Lebitard, I would be 30 pounds heavier than I am currently. I am 30 pounds heavier than what I got. out every, every morning before the show, there's a big, glorious spread of breakfast food. And then you get out of there a couple hours later and lunch has arrived. And it's a, it might be Greek food. It might be burgers with delicious fries. Whatever it is, you can almost, you can almost

guarantee it's going to be delicious. Oh, would I be fat if I were down there on the, on the regular? Okay. Here's the question, Gino. Here's the question Gino asked. either way. Who should we be rooting for in the Patriots and Broncos title game? And the obvious answer is for anyone who's been hurt by the Patriots over the last 20-something years, especially AFC fans, know what I'm talking about. The Patriots were a scourge. And then, you know, obviously for the Seahawks and otherwise, and Falcons fans. So in the short term, do we want to see the Patriots suffer, which would then put us in the spot to suffer in the Super Bowl, because Jared Stidham starting in Super Bowl 60, feels awfully underwhelming. Gino, how say you?

Well, that was my point. I mean, my, just like you said, my first reaction was like, I would love to watch the Patriots lose to a backup quarterback. Then I started thinking about it. But last year's Super Bowl sucked. I don't want this year's Super Bowl to suck. So I guess I have to root for Drake May. And that's my logic there. Mike, any thoughts? I, you know, the Patriots thing, unless you're from New England, it's very frustrating to see them only be down bad like two or three years before they come back

and now they're in the Super Bowl again. I think they've been incredibly lucky and it's very frustrating. And I hope Jared Stidham finds a way to just absolutely ball out and just find a way to get there. And I really don't care if the Super Bowl ends up being bad because of it because I don't want the Patriots in there. I don't want them to feel any kind of happiness at all ever.

Wow. Short attention span. Dave says that Mike is right. I kind of want to see Jared Stidham do it. It would be a fun story for the fortnight between the title games and the Super Bowl. By the way, we're heading up to Santa Clara. By the way, interesting stack. A week from, I don't remember when we'll be up there that week for the Super Bowl or portion of the Super Bowl week.

Yes, Gina. Interesting stat. Jake Stiddle, the only backup quarterback in the NFL not to throw a pass over the last two years. Wow, that's weird. Jared is his name for the record. Also, which team, I guess Mike just answered this question from his perspective, which team winning at all would bum you out the most, Gina? Which team winning at all would bump me out?

You know, it's funny, as much as I want Jarrett Stidham to win, it would also bum me out of you on the Super Bowl. I only wanted to win this week. After that, it's fine. Then, you know. Well, then it blows up all assumptions. Every conversation we have even worse than Joe Flacco did, whatever, 12, 13 years ago. You have to have a high-end,

QB, you know, all that guy. If Jared Stidim does it, now we're lawless, right? We're without any boundaries of what makes sense. Well, no, but then you'll get those people that come out and be like, see, you don't need a high-end quarterback to win the Super Bowl. And I'm like, yes,

every, there's like one or two teams every 10 years that all the stars align perfectly with all these underpaid defensive guys, those teams quickly fall apart because now all those guys, guess what, they want to get paid. I mean, Foles did it. Ha Stettler did it. Caleb Hainley. Caleb Haney almost did it.

It's not without any precedent, but it's a lot harder than the Super Bowl, the big QB going and winning the Super Bowl. That happens way more often. Gino just made the point. It's not like nobody had seen Nick Foles. He had before he got that one. What was it seven touchdown passes in the game?

That happened before he won that Super Bowl. He had some moments. There's zero moments for Jared Stidham, other than there was a stretch there. There were a few minutes where Belichick thought, maybe Stidham is the long-term replacement for Tom Brady. That was a laughable choice. What we need is Stidham just to find a way to be?

Who is that to be? What was that guy that played for Green Bay and then I'm going to Seattle? One game. Oh, Matt Flynn. Matt Flynn. Yeah, just channel Matt Flynn. One game. That's all I need for you is just to get the Patriot.

Fuck out of here. In a big spot. Okay. Before we get to those four teams, one more thing. The coaching carousel is spinning and fast. And first thing, Mike McDaniel, has a job soup campbell might have something for us on that in a little while in the meantime i thought that press conference on thir press conference on wednesday with terry pagula basically throwing not just

shon mcdermott but his second round draft pick keon coleman under the bus was bizarre stuff take a quick listen if you didn't hear that boy oh boy pagula you get that you have josh allen who alone makes that a very attractive job. But human beings are on the other side of this. I know there are only 32 head coaching jobs available, but you just unnecessarily put a stink on the Buffalo Bills gig. I mean, there are other teams out there that you have to raise an eyebrow out. We know that you really have to be kind of desperate to be a head coach to take the New York Jets job, to take the Brown's job. I kind of feel like Pagula has now entered the bills into that. This is what's going to happen if I don't play well, for you. I don't know if I want to be a part of that. How say you? I mean, if you're a coach and you believe

you have any kind of ability, you have to take that job, right? If it comes to, if it falls to you, you have Josh Allen. I mean, it's pretty sweet. And the funniest name floated so far this week is Bill Belichick for the bills. Who would have to cancel for you to hire Bill Belichick at this point? All right. You know what? Good times. Let's get to our guy, Costos, and then and then yaps some more. and get the Fuentes boys' picks. Plus we have the pick six presented by Draf King, so stick around. Here comes our guy Costos. In sports championships aren't one alone, the one with the right people around you.

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Bonus awarded as non-withdrawable pick-6 credits that expire in 14 days. Terms at pick-6.draftkings.com slash promos. Limited time offer. All right, I said it's the last significant weekend of pro football. I get the Super Bowl matters too, but we'll have some time to get into all that. We have to go big. And so we have tracked down the undisputed king of wager taintainment. Now a big star bigger than ever.

Happy as I'll get out for this fella. Nobody deserves it more from you better you bet. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon on the East Coast. It's Nick Costos. What's the poop fella? Oh, it's awesome to be with you, my friend. John Harbaugh, the coach of my favorite football team championship Sunday coming up. What a time to be alive. You're excited about this, huh?

Well, I'd like for Todd Munkin to officially be named the offensive coordinator. I saw this morning that Willie Taggert was requested to interview to be the Giants OC. I would not be as excited about that as I would be about Todd Munkin. I don't think Munkin will get a head coaching job, so I think it will be Monkin coordinating the offense for the Giants. Let's revisit this conversation if it's someone other than Todd Monkin calling the plays for my team. But I mean, yeah, like my team has sucked for a decade. Now we have a Super Bowl winning coach.

Of course I'm excited about John Harbaugh. You know, listen, I'm not trying to play glass half full. You're enjoying this. You have six months before we get any evidence of whether you're right or I'm right. But I do not necessarily think John Harbaugh works in any pro football environment. He is more, as I keep saying, he presents more as sort of a foreman, an overseer of all things. He's not in the weeds type as he's been presented. The cop for him is Andy Reed.

People say, look, he just, things got stale in the old spot. So he went somewhere new and look how well it worked out. He's not like a, he's not a hardcore X and O type of that. No, Reed's a schematic genius. But that's why I'm saying, like, you know, if Harbaugh brings over Monk in and I'm just making this up, right? And I've been told this by a couple people. I'm not reporting anything that Anthony Weaver is on the short list, who was the Dolphins defensive coordinator last year.

And I know, like Mike, Mike Fuentes, people down there. You guys know that the dolphins trade Jalen Phillips last year. The defense gets better after they trade Jalen Phillips. I thought Anthony Weaver did an awesome job coordinating the Dolphid. That sounds crazy. He had nothing to work with, and the defense was not an embarrassment. If it's Harbaugh, Monkin, Weaver, oh yeah. like we're cooking here because you have an offensive schematic advantage and defensive

schematic advantage. If it's guys other than that, we can have a conversation then. And I'm willing to have an open mind here. And I'm willing to become pessimistic, Dave, if the hires are not to my liking, offense and defense for John Harbaugh. Oh, look at you. I like it for now, though. I'll take this ray of sunshine in place of the usual curmudgeon that we get in Nick

Costos. By the way, the hair looks dynamite. You're all set for the big Sunday games. Wait till I get a haircut about an hour from. now in real time. I'm going to look even back. Wait a second. That's why we have to go early with costos is because you're getting a haircut? Well, not just a haircut.

I get paid by another place to do some stuff that I get paid by someone else to do stuff. So we have a lot going on here that I'm working into the next like three hours of my life. All right. Listen, I want to get you on what you think's going to happen in these title games, obviously, but while we're into this ongoing coaching cycle. The latest is that the Ravens at minimum should. This is what Baltimore advocates are now encouraging of ownership. They should talk to Sean McDermott.

What do you think about this? I mean, McDermott is now being presented as some sort of sacrificial lamb. It feels like for all the ills of this team, I think he kind of deserves it. How say you? Yeah, I think he absolutely deserved to get fired, which doesn't mean he's not a great coach in the same way like John Harbaugh needed to go from Baltimore. you can certainly make the case that Mike Tomlin should have been fired by the Steelers, even though he gracefully stepped away. Yeah, of course, Sean McDermott deserved to lose his job.

And I actually, with the Bill's press conference, you can have your issues with it. I had no problem with the rationale given by the bill's owner saying, this is why I fired Sean McDermott. And we've talked about the check. And by the way, like, I've actually been on the right side of this for years, and people have disagreed with me. But at the end of the day, you can't argue with history and you can't argue with facts, right? In the history of the league, we have never seen a coach quarterback pairing be together as long as Harbaugh and Lamar or McDermott and Allen, not reach a Super Bowl and get to the Super Bowl.

So I think this was Steve Bishadhi in Baltimore and Terry Begoula and Buffalo accurately assessing their team and saying, we haven't gotten there yet. We're probably not going to. We need to do something different. Now I do think. Of course, this is right. And I want you to have your moment. But also, you share that space with one Dave Damashek, who has been saying the exact same thing. You do not alone get credit for that.

I've been pushing that same thing. Let's talk about the teams that are still in this mix. It's the New England Patriots. It's the Denver Broncos. Home team Broncos plus four and a half, obviously. We should, it's a big bummer. We should be talking about the sequel to the classic Brady v. Peyton series. It should be now updated, Bo v. Drake.

Instead, we've got Nix's understudy. The total on this game, 42 and a half. half at the time of this recording. I give the floor to you, Nick Costos, after I tell you, final score, Patriots 26, Bronco 17. How say you? All right. So a little lean for you towards my math is right. That's 43. A slight lean for you towards the over on the game and the Patriots to cover the spread. And just to throw this out there, you know, the Brady-Payton series, the 06 AFC championship game, which is Asante Samuel pick six, Patriots up 213. Colts come back to win 3834 on the Marlon Jackson interception and the closing most.

moments. True story about my betting career. So earlier that day, I placed a large bet on the New Orleans Saints to beat the Bears in the NFC championship game and had no money left and ended up betting like $20 on Colts minus three and a half and won that bet at the death 3834. That was about, that was literally the anniversary of that game. I think my name. What a day that must have been for you. A roller coaster. And by the way, you must have been nine years old when you were making those bets. That's pretty far in the rear view. I was born in 83. I was 23. And what I remember is. when Reggie Bush scored that long touchdown and turned around as he was about to score to like wave at Brian Erlacker and some resulted into the end zone.

I'm thinking, motherfuckett. I'm rich. I won this bet. And then the Bears avalanche them. Avalanche them from there. So the 06 title game is the one that people will always talk about with Brady and Manning. Honestly, like the 15 AFC championship game with Patriots 3 and a half on the road at Denver, which is Broncos up 20 to 12 at the end of the game. Brady with two insane strikes to Rob Grunkowski. Oh, I think the other way, I think Grankowski's catch. Unbelievable. Is not the touchdown catch, the deep ball. Yes, correct.

Is one of the great tight end catches you'll ever see in your life that he held on to that ball's crazy. And he is in my lifetime watching the NFL for 36 years. He's the best tight end that I've ever seen. Like, no doubt obvious first ballot Hall of Famer. That was maybe his best moment, even if they didn't win that game. but that AFC championship game was spectacular. So now, you know, we can harken back, right, to young Nick Costos on December 15th, 1990,

which was my mom's birthday, is how I always remember it. Giants against the Bills. And in that game, Jim Kelly gets hurt for Buffalo, little known. In fact, Frank Reich has to come in and finish the game. But in that game, Phil Sims has lost for the season for the New York football giants. Enter Jeff Hosteller, who leads the Giants to wins coming down the stretch. A win in Chicago in the divisional round. going to candlestick and upsetting the two-time reigning Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers,

Dave Damishik, there will be no three-peat and then beating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 25, January 27th, 1991 by the score of 20 to 19. I watch that in Bloomington, Indiana, many years before the Indiana Hoosiers became the national champions. I don't know if I mentioned that, but yeah. They won in that month, by the way, was their last bowl win prior to the Rose Bowl in the Cotton Bowl, right? Copper Bowl. Yes, the Copper Bowl is as opposed to the Cotton Bowl. Be bailout. And we can go back in time to Carson Wentz tearing his ACL in L.A.

December 2017, here comes Nick Foles down the stretch to lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl. And if you're a Broncos fan, you're thinking to yourself, man, can we channel Hostel? Can we channel Nick Foles? And you may be hardened to hear that Sean Payton earlier this week, channeling his old boss Bill Parcells, saying to the Broncos what Bill Parcell said to the Giants on the eve of championship Sunday in January of 1991, which is, if we lose this game, it won't be because of Jeff Hostelner. It will be because, quote, one of you motherfucked made a stupid mistake.

And Sean Peyton saying the same thing to his team this week. And I think you will get a good Jared Stidham game here. And I think Sean Payton's going to have Jared Stiddlem, let it rip. And remember this about Jared Stidham, right? This is not your average run of the mill, curtain jerkin, jerkin, Jebrony backup quarterback. On the first day of free agency in the Sean Payton regime in Denver, they sought out Jared Stidham and signed him to that deal. Peyton clearly likes and respects and has faith in Jared Stedham.

Do I think that gets the Broncos over the finish line to win? Probably not. But, Shaq, if I'm betting this game, Broncos plus the points. And I like the over in the game as well. I'm with you. Over 42 and a half, Denver keeps it closer than expected in the AFC championship game. I love it very quickly. We've gone through the historical comps from Caleb Haney all the way back to Champagne.

Well, Haney came in mid-game for Jake. No, I know, but Champagne, Tony Easton starts Super Bowl 20 against the Bears and then as quickly jerked out as they did throughout that season and put in neck roll Steve Grogan to try and come back. Spoiler alert, he did not bring the Patriots back. Honestly, I'm still pissed at the late great Don Schuller for that. Like, how do you not beat the Patriots and give us a rematch of that Monday Night Football game in 85? One of the three or four biggest inflection moments in the Super Bowl era. Let's do a deep dive on that once the offseason is here. We'll have a lot of real estate to cover.

Then I will say very quickly, as you kind of hint at, the curse is supposed to, Drake May and company now are supposed to win this game. That's added pressure on the sophomore kid and everybody else there. And the other thing is applying some simple, you know, chess match kind of logic here. You know Vrable's going to load up to try and dare Stidham to do something. So you know Sean Payton probably early on tries a deep shot to get over. I'm going to be looking for that early in the game there.

ultimately, I think we're on the same side that the Patriots wind up going to the Super Bowl. Let's go to the NFC side. Rams, Hawks, home team, laying just two and a half. This number surprises me a wee bit, 46.5 is the total. How say you, Nick Costos? Who's going to the Super Bowl? I think this is the Super Bowl. I think the winner of this.

I think the winner of this gamble in Super Bowl 60. I think I think these are the two best teams. It doesn't mean we don't always see. the best team win. Fair. But I do think that the winner of this game will win the Super Bowl. And here's where I keep coming back, right? I think the Seahawks, on average right now, are a little better than the Rams.

And that's how we get to Seattle being a two and a half point favor, right? A ton of home field. Top to bottom, that's probably accurate. So I think it's fair. And I said this on Monday on my show following the Rams win last Sunday night against the Bears at Soldier Field. If the Rams, and by the way, Sean McDermott, if you want to do better in your your next coaching stop. Watch what Sean McVeigh said in his press conference after that win, where the Rams win

the game. And McVeigh gets up there and says, I didn't do a good enough job. The bills lose the day before. And all McDermott can do is bitch and moaned about the officiating and say, I'm standing up for Buffalo. I hate that shit. Like, I hate, I hate excuses. That was desperate martyr stuff.

That's all. He knew where he was. It's so lame. I hate, I hate excuse makers, just like in general in life. Anyway, when I said was, if the Rams play in coach like they did against Carolina and the Wildcard rounds, divisional round against the Bears, they're going to get molly-wopped by the Seahawks. Like, they're going to get blitched by C. Games not going to be close. But I don't think McVeigh called a great game in Chicago.

It's a terrible game. And also, and this is, you know, I think, let's say you want to say you being Dave or you being like the listener of viewer. National champion Dave Damashach. If you want to say Andy reads the best coach in the league, right? Let's say you want to make that case. McVeigh's second, third, if Shanahan's seconds. So I'm not saying that McVeigh's not a great coach. Like he is.

And if the Rams would never fire him, but if they did, you would have teams correctly falling all over themselves to try and hire him. But with that being said, he has these brain fart moments in games with game management where he's like a gambler going on tilt. where you lose a huge hand to blackjack where like the dealer throws like nine cards down and ends up getting 21 when you've got 20 and then he goes to the roulette table

and puts it all on black and it ends up being red. He goes on tilt. We saw this at the end of the game last week with this timeout management and maybe the most inexplicable coaching decision last weekend which is Ben Johnson calls a brutal timeout, 207 to play. You hand the Rams an opportunity to throw the ball

and end the game and he runs it. What are you thinking doing that here? So McVey's not without his warts, even though I think he's a great coach. But if the Rams play an A-plus game, like Stafford's A-plus, defense plays well, the coaching is good, the Rams are better than Seattle. I'll default to that with a ton of respect for Mike McDonald and what he's done, where, you know, like he wins a couple games here. And he kind of vaults himself into the conversation a little bit here, one of the best defensive coaches of all time with the Super Bowl win here. So he's great. Darnold's played pretty well. They're stacked from top to bottom. I think if you get the A plus Rams game, the Rams will win.

They've been so below average by their standard the first two weeks. I have to imagine you get a little different here. Give me the Rams to go into Seattle and win the NFC championship. It's very strange to me that you like Maurice Jones drew last week and a number of people keep saying, if the Rams put out their best effort, well, yeah, that's true for most pro football teams. but okay, I'll allow it. But their best is actually good enough to beat the Seahawks and most teams aren't. Okay, okay, I take your point.

Two X factors, can the Rams get to Darnold? The front seven of the Rams has been quiet because they've been banged up for the last two months. They are fully healthy. I think that's a big difference. The other one is the game up in Seattle last month that everybody is pointed at, Devante Adams didn't play in it. He was pretty much a non-factor. And you had the Charbonnet tube.

There's so much weird stuff that happened in that game. The Hawks have the. the curse esposed on him. Absolutely. Sam Darnold got his first playoff win. That doesn't mean that the stink is off of him of showing up in big spots. Let's see if he does that. Rams win it. 2827.

And let me put a little cherry on top of that 24-hour period. The next morning on Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will announce Rams defensive coordinator. Chris Shula, as their new head coach, and he'll announce he's bringing Nate Shieldhouse with him to the banks to the three rivers. Oh, it's going to be great for everybody aside from Seattle. fans. Nick Costos, everybody's going to be great so long as they're tuning in to Costos. You better, you bet Monday through Friday, like I say, over the moon for you. Glad that you're getting more and more attention as you roll on. Nobody deserves it more. Thanks for the time, Pally. Let's

have that conversation like we talked about come the off season. I love talking about 1985 Super Bowl 20. How Marino and Company blew it in the Orange Bowl against Grogan's neck roll and the rest of it. Two things before I bid you adieu. one, the Steelers should hire a defensive coordinator, but it should be Brian Flores, not Chrisula. Too late. And if, if the Broncos win on Sunday, not impossible, right? I think, Shaq, that you and I need to have a conversation sometime soon. If they win the Super Bowl and Peyton wins with the backup quarterback and becomes the first coach

to win with two different teams, we need to have a conversation about where Sean Payton ranks in the all-time NFL coaching hierarchy. that will be an interesting one for us to have if and when we get there. Until then, wishing you and your listeners and viewers, minimal sweats, winning bets. The absolute very best of luck. Look at him. He's got a catchphrase and everything as he goes off into the night to get a haircut. Mike Fuentes.

Like Marcus Allen. He cares about Mike Fuentes. What do I? As long as Mike Fuentes likes what I have to say, I'm right as rain. I don't care what Damashik has to say. He has a loser mentality. I'm a loser mentality. I'm a national champion.

I take a back seat to nobody. Me and Fernando. and Jesus, the three of us together are unbeatable. I think we've proven as much. All right. Hey, Costos, you're the best, pali. Thanks for having me, guys. Fuentes, I love you.

Love you too, bro. See you later. Enjoy your haircut. Yeah, yeah, it'll be pretty good. I got one yesterday. I feel like a new man. I get one once a week. It's a non-negotiable for me. Once a week.

Yeah, you got to keep the sides tight. And I did that when I was off air. I'm just very vain. I'll talk to you guys later. Later. What's kind of old, weird man? That's like old man behavior, You're getting a haircut every week going into the barbershop, maybe gets a straight raise a

shade. I don't go to a barbershop. I go to a salon. I'll talk to you later. Bye. Hey, listen, I don't want to be a curmudgeon about it, Mike Fuentes. You and Nicostos. I love, love.

Good for the both of you. All right. Let's get your picks very quickly here. We have to do the pick six as well and some other stuff. So Mike Fuentes, I start with you. Who's playing in Super Bowl 60? Who's playing in Super Bowl 60? I'm going to say the L.A. Rams only because I like Matt Stafford more.

I think you'll find a way to pair up an NFC championship with the MVP that he's going to win. And now comes, I don't want to say the Patriots. I'm not going to say the Patriots. But I'm going to say the Patriots. It's going to be the L.A. Rams and the New England Patriots, I know. But Jared Stidham, Matt Flynn. I'm going to DM Stidham. I'm going to say, check out these highlights.

And it's just that one Matt Flynn game, that one game. If that happens, obviously, that would be the third time these two teams have tangled in the Super Bowl, and that would be noteworthy. Gino, how say you? Okay, I think the Patriots are going to come out on top. And it's going to be really close. It's going to be closer than a lot of people think it's going to be, but I don't think the Stidham story is going to happen here. So I'm going to say 21-20. And to be fair, New England defense, when healthy, sneaky good.

Yeah. And then on the other side, Dan had a great stat for this earlier today. The number one defense against the number one offense and the number one. and the number one defense is at home, the number one defense tends to come out on top in that situation. So I'm going to make it, let's go 28, 24 Seahawks. Dan is right. Historically, defense does beat offense. As I said earlier, I think the big X factor is can the Rams front seven apply pressure to Darnold? I have not seen a ton of evidence of him being able to survive that or at least thrive if the opponent's defense is doing that to him. All right, let's get to individual performances.

It's time for the NFC title game edition of Pick 6, presented as ever by our pals over there at Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. And I've got some touchdown scores for you to start with only two games to choose from here. So limited, we are Kenneth Walker is going to get into the end zone. And Kyrn Williams is going to get into the end zone on either side of the NFC title game, Kyron Williams. Here's another one for you. over 55 and a half rush yards.

He didn't get to that number in only three games, neither of them versus Seattle. So it's a relatively safe play. Jared Stidham, I think, is going to have to rely on his legs a little bit. He'll go over 12.5 rush yards. Sam Darnold's going to go over five and a half rush yards. And Ramandre Stevenson under four and a half receptions, I think that's my first under of the pick six all season long. He only had five receptions twice all season,

so I think that's a fairly safe play. How say you Fuentes, boys? Okay, well, first of all, I like some of the stuff you're doing here. Kenneth Walker, he's the only man left standing in the backfield for Seattle. So odds are if there's a rushing touchdown, he's going in. I think they've been saving Kiron Williams

most of the season for right now, right? So he's probably going to be the number one running back and Korn will pick up the scratch. And hot lately, yeah. And so I like those. I like some of the other picks you had here, but I am going to take out this Ramandre Stevenson under 4.5 receptions thing, just because I don't like rooting for unders.

I'm going to go, trivia on Henderson here. Rush yards plus receiving yards, 44.5. That seems like one screen pass goes to the house, and that's it. When it comes, you know, another thing about Kyron Williams real fast, I think he might be like one of the best all-around running backs in the game is pass protection is really good too. So I'm going to make, you guys are making all these sexy picks. You're saying Kenneth Walker, Kieran Williams,

Jared Stidham with his legs. Sam Darnold over five and a half rushing yards to find sexy in the 21st century. So what I'm going to do instead, I was talking to Gino about this before we started. Although Jared Stidham is playing quarterback, Broncos defense still very good. And because of that, I'm going to pick over seven and a half kicking points. Andy Boragalas, the U, the Venezuelan, the Cubans had their moment. Now it's time for this Venezuelan over seven and a half kicking points. That's two field goals and two touchdowns for you guys that are adding that up.

or three field goals. I'm going to take over seven and a half points from the New England kicker. Man, that's not fun at all. We only have one more game to do the pick six, four, and then I don't want to get down in the dumps. Let's just get excited about this. Now, you may recall earlier, Soup Campbell banned us from college football talk, so stop invoking the U. and has no place here. But speaking of Sue Campbell, he's back now. It's time for an updated edition of. We've played it before. Two of the great philosophers of the millennium are, of course, Matthew McConaughey, the guy who does the car commercials and former Miami Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel. As you know, Mike McDaniel now is the OC. I guess it's been reported. There's a chance

McDaniel could still leave the Chargers if he wants to, but it sounds like he prefers being the OC for the Chargers over being the head coach of the Browns, which says everything you need to know about how the Cleveland Browns are regarded in pro football. But we have to update it to include his new Chargers gig. So now let's play. We used to play McDee or McC. Now we have to do McDee or McC, the OC for LACC or the LACC, H, Jim H, who happens to be a little philosopher himself.

Take it away, Sue Campbell. Yeah, gentlemen, I'm going to read you two quotes by Mike McDaniel. One by Matthew McConaughey. you have to pick the Matthew McConaughey quotes. Can I have some music, please? Twin games, you have to win the game. Not lose them. Number two.

Yeah, losses are tough. But who really cares? Number three, we're going to make mistakes. Own them. Make amends and move on. Which one is the McConaughey? Only one of those is McConaughey? Yes.

Can you use the second one in a sentence? The second one is a sentence. Oh, it is a sentence. The second one is a sentence. Oh, okay. Can you use it in a paragraph? Okay. All right, this is wasting time.

I'm going to say number three. Number three is McConaughey. Mainly because I've seen a lot of McDaniel press conferences, and I'm pretty sure I remember that first one really good. The first one I remember. The first one you remember. So it's between two and three. and I'm going to say the third one sounds like it's in the movie We Are Marshall.

So I'm going to go with number three. I'm going to go with number two because this should be a winner and a loser here. I too am going to ride along with Mike Flentes here and say number three. That one makes some sense to me. I could even see him saying that not in character, saying that the people about like, he's one of those guys who talks about the craft of acting and taking some chances out there. and that's why he got in, that's why he started acting in the first place,

generous actors and all of that. And so you take some chances, and they're not all going to work out. How say you, soup? The answer is number three. All right. Not the worst loss of my life. Gina, what a loser.

Now, gentlemen, MacConnor. Round two is harder. Okay. Round two is harder. I'm going to read you two Matthew McConaughey's and one Mike McDaniel. And you have to pick out the Mike McDaniel.

I want this music. for just to walk around as I go through the world. This is delightful. It's not about win or lose. It's not about winner lose. It is about do you accept the challenge when you did that? You already won. Good morning or great morning?

False choice. Great. Because we're another day closer to death. Might as well stop right there. It would be pretty dark for head coach to be. saying to his football team. If we stay in process and within the joy

of the doing, we will never choke at the finish line. Which one is the McDaniel? Okay, so me and Gino, me and Gino both know, so we're going to let you go first. Yeah, so we're going to let you go first and then me and Gino will make our unanimous pick

because we've heard that, we knew it right away. So you go, Dave, and then we'll go. Well, I don't know that you could say anything much worse than what Terry Pagula said about his head coach and the wide receiver he drafted or his team drafted on purpose and now acting like there's no one in the organization had anything to do with it. We don't even know how he got here. I hope I'm going to do one based on my wish and I wish that Mike McDaniel said that to a gathered audience of Miami

Dolvin's football players were a day closer to death. I'm going to and number two. Well, Dave, I'm happy to inform you. That is a correct answer. He actually said that. But he actually said that. But he did not say it to players. He said it to the gathered Miami Dolphins beat writer press score.

They were all there. Even bad. He just admitted that he basically wanted to die one morning. I don't remember. I was after some loss there. I don't remember. You are correct. He said, David said.

He looked like, like, did you see McCrone over there in Europe with the, with the shades on at his press conference, McDaniels like that. That's his peer group. Oh, enjoy him, Chargers. Whoa. Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen. The third one, round three is the hardest, though. Round three is the hardest.

I'm going to read you one McDaniel, one McConnorahe, and one Harbaugh. You have to pick the Harbaugh. Are you ready? I'm attacking them with an enthusiasm. unknown to mankind. Number two, I take a vitamin every day. It's called a steak.

Number three, if worms had machine guns, then birds would be scared of them. Which one? Can you repeat the... Can you repeat the first one? I'm attacking them with an enthusiasm, unknown,

to mankind. Gina. I think he's messing with us. I think they're all John Hubble. Well, none of them are John. Might be his weird brother, Jim. Jim. Jim.

Might be like Jake Stiddam's brother. I'm going to go ahead and pick the Earthworm one just because it's absolutely insane. And it's surprised that anybody would ever even think of that. So I'll go with, what is it, Earthworms, have machine guns, the birds will be scared? I'm going to start using that. I'm going to start using that.

I'd like to believe that Jim Harbaugh would say that. I'm going to go with number three. Ladies and gentlemen, one of you is correct, and that person is. Mr. Gino Fuentes. Yeah, they all sound like a psycho. They also sound like the ramblings of a Vietnam vet from underneath a bridge somewhere and like in a rural Texas. You son of a bitch, you cheated.

I knew it. You cheated worse than that the hurricane kid who put. Kane kid who put his helmet under the chin of Fernando Mendoza, but no matter. It was a clean watch. It was a lot. It was a clean watch. The Indiana Hoosiers are the champions of college football. By the next time we speak, we will know who is going to Super Bowl 60 with a chance

to reign over pro football all off season long. Just try to focus in. They say, I'm sure McDaniel or Jim Harbaugh or McConaughey or all three of them would tell you, live in the moment. Don't live life in the rear view mirror. Don't be looking too far ahead. Right now is all that matters. For football fans, I know Seahawks fans and Broncos fans and Patriots fans and Patriots fans and Rams fans are all caught up in their nerves and best wishes to all of you. I hope all your teams win and get the play in Super Bowl 60. But for all the rest of us, this is it. We only have one Sunday left. I get it. Super Bowl, but that's a different bag entirely. Let's enjoy our last Sunday of football before we go out into the desert with Kirkjin and his baseball. We'll talk to you on the other side of those title games to get right for Super Bowl 60.

Until then, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.