The Fumblerooski Podcast - Fell For it Again -Ep 418 The Fumblerooski Podcast

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

On today’s episode, another wild weekend sees 2 OT games and a shocking turn of events. Broncos win in OT over the Bills, a little controversy and wild injury news; Bo Nix out for the playoffs. How does this affect the Broncos chances of making a Super Bowl? Sean McDermott out as head coach of the Bills, but is he really to blame for the loss, or should it be towards Josh Allen? The Seahawks blew out the 49ers, the injuries finally caught up to San Francisco. The Patriots win ugly vs the Texans, Stroud throws 4 INTs and the Texans have 5 TOs total. Is it finally time to say CJ Stroud is a bad quarterback? The Rams take down the Bears in OT to head to the NFC Championship, and Kevin Stefanski is hired by the Falcons. Chris Costich, CJ Medeiros, and Justin Tucker talk all this and more!

Boy, another amazing weekend of football. I love football. You love football. And we got a good one in store for you. Broncos outlasting the bills and overtime of Bo Nix out for the playoffs. And within the same hour, Kevin Stafansky gets hired by the Atlanta Falcons. And just today, Sean McDermott fired by the Buffalo Bills. Seahawks and Rams will face off in the NFC championship and the New England Patriots.

are 14 and 3, and then heading back to the AFC championship for the first time since 2018. This is the Fulm-Beriski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome to the Fulmleroski podcast by Power 8018.

Radio and Secret Weptain Consulting. We got C.J. Maderos. We got Justin Tucker. Unfortunately, no Adam right today. But we still got a really good show in store for you today. A lot to talk about. A lot to talk about. We'll start with probably the calmest news of the weekend.

Kevin Stefanski hired by the Atlanta Falcons. Don't worry. We'll get really, really, really in depth for the playoffs. for the playoffs stuff, but just want to touch on this real quick. So Stafansky hired by the Atlanta Falcons. This is now the second coaching hire we've had this offseason, correct? Yeah. Since the regular season ended?

Yes. And with John Harbaugh. And so John Harbaugh also, news out of that, that is official. That is now official tennis to paper on that. But in terms of the Falcons, another solid hire here. You bring in a pretty solid, a good head coach

that knows how to utilize weapons. And I expect that Drake London, Bejohn, and if they bring back Kyle Pitts, all going to have some breakout seasons. And who knows? Maybe whoever's at quarterback,

whether it be Pennix or Cousins, ends up, you know, Cousins. Maybe he gets a bounce back year or Pennix has his breakout out season. I think the future is looking very high, especially after this hire. What say you fellas, Tuck, let's start with you. First things first, congratulations to Kevin Stasvansky.

I think this is a good hire for the Atlanta Falcons. They have the weapons. I think the only thing they need to do is fix their quarterback position because they have everything else. They have the running back. They had the receivers and Darnel Mooning and Drake London. They had the defense on all levels. They have all the talent on the defensive level to be good. I think it's just a matter of can they be consistent enough to put points on the board and stop others from putting points on the board. I think they're good enough on defense to do that. The question is, will Kevin Stefansky have enough time to fix the offense? I don't think this is just a season thing. I think it'll take more time. But I think if you give him

enough time. I think he'll do a better job here than he did in Cleveland. So I'm okay with the hire for now. I do have questions going into it, but I'm happy for him. I think he did a decent job in Cleveland, but we'll see. CJ? I think I like the hire and I think it's, to be frank, very well deserved. You know, I'm going to be really honest here. I've been pretty vocal that I think he got a raw deal in Cleveland, especially now that it came out afterwards, that he, look, I know he said the whole thing about Baker needing to be an adult. What the record show?

He did not want to Sean Watson. He never signed off on it. He would have rather stuck with Baker. And he's falling on the sword for Andrew Barry and Jimmy Haslam's buffoonery. I think he's a good coach. I think he's a very good offensive mind. dragging the Cleveland Browns to 11 wins to two 11 wins seasons and winning coach the year twice with the Browns,

that's no small feat. And it began to the AFC championship. Huh? And almost. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right. Because other than that weird Chad Hedy magic that one year, who could forget?

And also, hey, Joe Flacco. Joe Flacco. Yes, come back with the year. Oh, God. So, and now he's going to the NFC South, which, as you know, there are no rules in that division. It's just, it's like the Walmart version of the Thunderdome. Anything can happen. It's not going to be good.

It's going to be ugly, but that's just NFC South football. And he's got some really good toys to play with as well, you know. You got Bejohn, Drake London, Darnall Mooney, Kyle Pitts. He's a free agent this offseason, but I do expect he'll get tagged. a young defense that should be coming along. If you have a first round pick this year, that sucks. Going to be armed with a new GM as well after that bungler font note who gave her cousins that deal on top of drafting Pennix is going to be out.

So yeah, I think Atlanta just raised their floor quite a bit. The only thing that concerns me, of course, is, what's, oh yeah, the quarterback. What's going on there? Pennix went from having one bad knee to now two. bad knees because he tore his ACL and his good one. And Kirk Cousins, that contract's still an albatross. It really is. So I just, I don't know.

Like where can you go from here? I don't know. Maybe Pennix comes back. Maybe he can revive cousins the way he did with Flacco. I don't know, but I do think with this head coaching hire, with an offensive minded coach with that offense, I really do think that they're going to be, I'm not going to say it's going to happen, but I think they're a threat.

I do think they are a threat to win the NFC step. I agree with that. And you can say that, sorry. What are they going to do with Cal Pitts? Because Drake London is also still coming up, right? And Cal Pitts is there. No, he's unrestricted this year. Drake London is the class of 22.

So he's got another year. He's got another year? Okay. So do you think they will franchise like Talpitz? Probably, yeah. I think like he's slowly improving over the years. Like if you look at his stats, he does have. Oh, sorry, sorry, Chris, I just want to point out, since you mentioned Drake London,

it is worth noting that last April they did pick up London's fifth year option. So they pushed that back still. Okay. Okay. So that would mean he has another two years then, or am I getting the math wrong right now? Yeah, because it was 22 and 23, 24, and then 25, and then 26. Yeah, sorry, I got the math wrong. Yeah, we got to count the year 22 because that was his first season. So he's got another year. He still has another year. Pitz, I think they just might have picked up Pitz's option because he was 21, 22, 23, 25. or 25. So unless they picked up his fifth year option, because they didn't tag him before. He's supposed to become unrestricted this season. I mean, this. Yeah. So they could probably

tag him, which I once again, I expect they will. Yeah. I think that with Pitz, you kind of just hope he like full on like, because as I was saying, he's been slowly, I guess, progressing upwards every year. Like he's gotten he's gotten one more touchdown every single season that he's been in the league. So something's there. I think Stapansky's going to be able to unlock him if he can. But if you're the Falcons, I mean, what, this is the second good hire you've had now. I mean, you hired Matt Ryan to be the president of football, which great move, bring back a franchise guy to be a part of the organization. But now the Falcons still need to find a GM. But,

shit. I mean, why not just have Matt Ryan be the president of football and make the football decisions? Not a bad idea. Not a bad idea. Anything else we want to touch on in regards to the Falcons themselves? That was pretty much it.

I was not having the first round? No. Yeah, that's the other thing. Stikansky is definitely in a weird spot with not having a first round pick, which go into the Rams. All right. We'll step aside for a quick break. Once we, when we come back, we will get into the NFL divisional round. This is the Flambertsky podcast.

It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fulmbroseki podcast by Power 8018 Radio in Secretary. weapon consulting. Get into some more playoff football.

The Broncos get the win against the bills in overtime. But big news here, Bo Nicks out for the playoffs with a broken ankle. Boy, what a shot to the gut if you're Denver. So now the backup quarterback, the starter for the AFC championship, will be Jared Stiddam.

Obviously, we'll talk about the Patriots later, but Patriots winning in their game, so it'll be the Broncos and the Patriots. And because of this news, the Patriots are now five and a half-point favorites at home or on the road in Denver for this game. But we'll do all of our preview stuff for Friday. Maybe we'll talk a little bit later on the show

once we actually talk about the Patriots. But in terms of the Broncos, I mean, this was a classic Broncos game where it had you on the edge of your seat down on the wire. If you're the Bills, this was a classic Bills game. Classic Bills playoff game for that matter. Josh Allen's turning the ball over. They're putting up 30 plus. Well, they put up 30, period.

And it was a game where, you know, the Bills didn't play their best in the first half. But when the second half came around, they battled back. made it a ball game, took the lead at one point, and the defense sold. Voila. But I think which side we want to start on? We want to start on the Broncos and losing side of the bills. I think the calm is just the Broncos side. All right.

Yeah. So the Broncos win. I mean, I'm a little interested about the defense, considering that they let up 30 and at home in the, playoffs, you know, this is supposed to be one of the best defenses in the league. Josh Allen or not, you're not supposed to be letting up 30. Credit to Bo Nix, though, I mean, brought up that stat where he's 1 and 8 against winning teams that put up 17 plus points.

Here are the bills. They put up 30. Bo Nix gets the win. But this definitely throws a wrench and everything. It definitely, like, credit is. to Sean Payton during the press conference, the second press conference, I should say. He did a very good job of staying calm,

reassuring everyone, and showing a lot of confidence in Jared Stidham, the backup for next week, saying he's ready to go, this and that. So this is one of the more interesting, one of the more shocking situations, I would say. What was you guys' thoughts where the news initially broke? because that was one of the wildest turns, I think I've ever seen.

And in a matter of what, like 45, half an hour? Like, it was insane. I was watching the 49ers get belted by the Seattle Seahawks. And then all of a sudden I saw the news, which alluded me at the time, forgive me. But I saw the news and I was like, oh, no, no, not Bo Nix. when did this happen? And apparently it happened on that stupid-ass run play they tried to do, which was ridiculous in hindsight. Yeah, that was weird. That was weird. They tried to run, they ran it to the right the first time, and then they tried to do it against the left, and I was like, that's not going to work.

And so then they explained it, and I was like, oh, no, who's going to be the backup? And then they said Jared Stedham's going to be the backup. I was like, Jared Steadom? And it wasn't exactly. the best of feeling because there's a reason he's to back up. But Jared Stidham has the opportunity to do one of the funniest things in NFL history, send the team that drafted him home. And I was like, oh, this actually might be something. All of a sudden, he might start playing like Aaron Rogers. He might start playing like Brady.

Oh, my. Oh, this might be something. Stop. We could, I see potential here. This could be something here. It's funny you say that. So he has one career win and four starts, and that being against at the time,

the NFL's best defense in the league, San Francisco 49ers, when he was playing on the Raiders. But other than that, my only real memory of Jared Stidham playing football is when he was a backup behind Brady, and I think the only pass he threw was a pick six in Garbo time. Yeah.

One of the many games that the paths were. point built to the Jets. Yeah, and Jamal Adams got that, right? I forget. There was like the first pick like he got or something like that, I remember. And I was like, really? This fucking. Of course it would be Jamal Adams, too.

No, I think his first pick was against Detroit, if I'm not mistaken. But whatever. The point is, Jared, I think Jared Stidham will do his best. I'm not sure if it will be enough. I'll be, you have me on that. that, but I think the Broncos defense can keep it close. And in the first half, at least, I'm not sure about the second half. If Jared Stedham can't get the ball moving, it's going to be rough.

CJ, your thoughts in regards to Jared Stadham? When I saw the report, I thought it was a prank. I thought someone was pulling my leg. because if you guys know JPA football on the top football news pages on X, on on Instagram, on wherever you get your football news, I saw it. I'm like, no way. Come on. You're yanking my chain here. You're pulling my leg. Stop it. And I'm like, well, it is JPA. I was pondering. And then I see Adam Schaefter tweeted. And I'm like, well, what?

Was he hacked? Is this causing a ripple effect? Then I see the statement from the Broncos and I say, uh-oh. I just, here's the thing. I'm a Pat's fan, obviously. You know, we have a history with Denver. Not a very friendly one. But even for me, that was a punch in the gut. I was floored, flabbergasted even, if you can believe it. I was just sad for them. Imagine that. This is Denver's first postseason win since they won the Super Bowl in the year 2016. Well, it was a 2015-16 season because, you know, it spills over.

It was Super Bowl 50. Yeah, Super Bowl 50. Yep, that's right. First playoff win and only their second playoff appearance since then. And, you know, after a hard-fought victory against the Bills, who many had, had, you know, they were putting Denver on upset alert. And some betting, some sports books even, I think of the Bills' favorites. I mean, some did, some didn't.

But imagine this, like you're happy, you're basking the goal, your victory event. Surprise, your starting quarterback just broke his ankle. And even if you beat New England and go to the Super Bowl, he's not coming back. Like his season is over. That, that's, I feel so bad for Denver. I really do.

That's awful. And as for Stidham, well, you know, I think he's solid. I think he can go in and be a game manager. But for Denver, you're really going to be hoping that the home field advantage is going to be enough. Because I don't, because like you said,

Josh Allen or not, I don't know how that defense, got gashed again and again and again. And even though he's not here, Adam said that this was, this defense had been losing a lot of its steam coming into the playoffs. And they were getting into close games or they were giving up scores. They absolutely shouldn't. Even though they were winning, these were still shootouts.

So I don't know. I just, that's just horrible for Denver because they played a good game. they they fought hard they beat buffalo and just that once again i noticed that before that's just awful yeah that's all you can say is just what horrible luck either that or even though he's not new orleans anymore either that or god is still angry at sean payton for bounty gate i don't know maybe maybe so um in moving away from the quarterback situation in terms of the broncos I feel like I'd be worried about the defense, especially after this performance. Granted, granted, they also still committed or forced five turnovers against Buffalo,

which is great. But you also couple that into the fact that they also never forced Buffalo to punt either. So I feel like you also have to sort of take that into a fact as well. So is there any worry about the Broncos defense for you guys? Yes and no. I think from the standpoint of it was a bit worrisome, but Josh Allen does tend to make stupid plays happen almost out of nowhere. So I kind of take it with a grain of salt.

But I was a little bit worried with the Broncos secondary. But after a while, I was like, they're getting beat here. They're getting beat there. And it's not really looking good. And then the running attack came on alive in the second half when James Cook rushed for over on, like rushed for over on hundred and twenty-four yards for the game. So I was like, uh. So, oh, no, I think over time they just got warred down by the Bronx, by the bills, the offensive line. But overall, I think it's going to be a little bit different when they go up against the Patriots.

But I'm a little worried, but not too worried about the Broncos defense. I still think it's a very good unit, one of the better units in the league, in fact. But even, like I said, even though Josh Allen, like 30 points, good Lord. And you can't do that against New England. Like, you can't. You know, like, if the offense doesn't have Bo Nix, like, you cannot have that performance again. And they were up, too. they were up 23 to 10 and then proceeded to give up 17 unanswered.

So let's not sit here and, you know, pretend that everything's uncudorri. I think, I think this is a unit that can and probably will bounce back, but the past few weeks have not been the most convincing. Yeah. And like, I'm saying this in the fact that, like, yeah, Drake Man. hasn't played great in the playoffs either. But he's still the only quarterback this season that has put up three touchdowns against the Houston Texans, too. So and putting up 21 points against that Texans defense.

So we'll see how that kind of goes. We'll do our full preview on that game for Friday. Moving on to the Bills. Here we do. Happened again. It happened again. And this time it hurts that much more because, you know, no Mahomes, no Lamar, no Joe Burrow in the playoffs. Now no McDermott.

Yeah. Well, Sean McDermott, Monday morning, getting fired as a result of the loss to the Denver Broncos. Well, I want to touch on the actual game itself first before we went to that. this was basically what the bills are, a team that relies on Josh Allen to make all of its plays. And it came back to bite him again. I'm not hearing that. Well, Josh Allen also decided to throw the game away a couple times, too.

Four turnovers from your quarterback, five turnovers in general, as a team is never going to win you a ball game. It will never win you. The fact that this game went to overtime is insane to me. Absolutely insane. And not like Josh Allen still had a wild playoff game. He still put up 350 total yards. He still put up touchdowns.

But at the end of the day, he had two fumbles, one of them lost. two interceptions, one of them in overtime, a bunch of miss throws as well down the stretch that probably would have won you the game. You also think about that fumble at the end of the first half as well, which ends up leading to the Broncos getting three points. That's your decider right there. That's your game.

Yes. That's your game right there. I don't even know where to begin. Let's start there. Let's start right there because for the life of me, I don't know what Josh Allen was doing right there. It's 11 seconds left and just go into halftime. If you just go in to halftime, you get the ball back. I know what eventually happened was another fumble, which I'm not sure whether to blame on Josh Allen or the left tackle. But at the same time, why would you put yourself in a position where you could not afford to be greedy, aggressive, and turn the ball over.

It's 11 seconds left. If you don't get out of bounds, it's the end of the half. Why would you even try to take that risk? I don't, why would you even try that? And who was he? I'm not sure. For some reason, every time I look at the play, I feel like Josh Allen's trying to throw the ball back as if that's going to work.

I'm like, what is he doing? That's not all. He threw two interceptions. him completely was his fault. The other one was the receiver's fault because he couldn't survive the ground, which, by the way, I don't care what Bill's Twitter says. That is an interception. He did not survive the ground. There's a reason the Calvin Johnson rule exists. If he does not survive the ground, it is very much an interception like that. I don't know why you guys are arguing the play. Get over it. And that's one of the reason, that's not the only reason why they lost.

They had multiple opportunities to win this game and they couldn't capitalize. I, I don't get how they can say that they were robbed out of these games. Josh Allen once again does not get past the divisional round and moves on to the AFC championship game. This was the year for the Buffalo Bills. Everybody knew it was the year for the Buffalo Bills to do it. But unfortunately, they just can't seem to get the job done, which is what we will talk about later. But as far as this game, I'm not even sure I can play in Doug McDermott or Sean

germit for this game they should not have lost this game they should not have had five turnovers if he doesn't turn over the ball they win this game and i think pretty handedly but for some reason josh allen two interceptions two fumble losses james cook turned the ball over as well but he is far but he was also one of the reasons they were still in this game all in all as much as we want to say oh my god josh allen is the reason they were in this game he's also the reason why they lost this game. It's just like, can y'all just give this man a little responsibility here? Let's not coddle him.

It is what it is. Because the other thing, too, Tuck, you take away those turnovers. We're looking at one of the best team offensive performances we've ever seen in playoffs. Because the bills just mentioned it. They didn't put a single time. They went 10 for 15 on third down and hit on each of the fourth downs that they had to convert on. Like this was going to be one of the greatest team offensive performances we had ever seen since the Bills in that wildcard game against the Patriots. But Josh Allen had four turnovers.

C.J. Well, well, well, you know something, Bill's, you're not winning the Super Bowl this year. But I do have something special for you. It's called the Fell for it Again Award. You really thought this was going to be your year when you are known perennial chokers? Nah, nah, you fell for it again. And look, Chuck and I have our differences, but I'm a full agreement here. You live by Josh Allen, but especially in the playoffs, you die by him too.

And look, I know I'm tired of all these Bills fans. like, oh, Josh Allen deserves so much better. He's being screwed out there. No, no. Josh Allen is the reason you lost this game. He kept you in it, but he also kept you from winning. That stupid, weird-ass lateral, what was going through his head, two horrible interceptions, and I believe another lost fumble as well.

He routinely put you behind the eight ball. He's the reason you came back. back, but he's also the reason you were down. Like, he's, that this game was the true definition for Josh Allen, at least, of a double-edged sword. He helped you, but he hurt you. If he does not make those boneheaded mistakes, odds are you win. And he is, you know how I like to call Justin Herbert if man?

Well, if Herbert's if man, then Josh Allen is. when man. Because it's like, oh, well, well, well, when the chiefs were out of the playoffs, when they finally get a better playoff selection, when, when the coach is fired, all I hear is just when, when, no, no, no, no, no, no, be something. Don't, don't be, don't wish for it to happen. Do it. Like, that's what he is. He's literally just when man. and we are seeing Justin Herbert levels of just coddling. Once again, this game will go down as another hypothetical win for Josh Allen. And much like with I said with Justin Herbert, I don't deal with hypotheticals.

I mean, and tuck, this is something I've noticed too, and I've seen a lot of Ravens fans saying it. When Lamar Jackson throws an incompletion, the media's up his ass, and Josh Allen has like a three or four turnover game. game and the media is saying, well, it's everyone's fault but his. They do the same thing with Justin Herbert as well. Like, you can't stop coddling him. Josh Allen is the reason you lost. Like, that is just how it is.

I will not accept any other truth. And also, let's break it down here. I can already hear the Bills fans drunk off their blue cheese and Buffalo sauce saying, But the ref ball, this is ref ball. Brandon Cooks caught it. No, he did not. No, he didn't. And do you know how I know?

Look at his body language after the play. He didn't throw up his hands. He didn't start yelling at the ref. He didn't try to disagree with the ruling anyway. He was just glum. He hung his head and he sauntered over to the sideline. That was a guy who knew it's a pick. And don't give me anything he said in the press conference.

He knew then and there that, or postgame, he knew then and there it wasn't. And for those of you arguing, oh, for example, Adam, you know, our friend and co-host, tried to say, oh, but it's down by contact because he didn't lose the ball until he hit the ground. Hey, Adam, I want to say this. And to anyone else, because I've seen his argument a lot, do you know what important part of the catches surviving the ground. If you, if the ball gets jostled while you hit the ground, it's not a catch. And if it gets jostled like while you're on your back, then it's still a live ball. You have to survive the ground. This has been established again and again and again. And look, I know I like to say it's blank year and we don't know what a catch is, but it was close.

I'll grant you that. But still, consider this. All right. I'm going to put this to bed once and for all. Brandon Cooks made the catch while falling, meaning that under the rules, because I looked into this and wrote it down, meaning that the usual condition of two feet in a football move is not possible, you know, because he made it well falling. So the requirement for a complete catch is to have and maintain control the football through an extended period of the fall and after making contact with the ground. And yes, it was obvious the ball was caught by him in the air.

You cannot have possession in the air. But once he and the defender, who also had his hands on the ball, hit the ground, he did not have possession. He did not survive the ground. So therefore, down by contact is not. applicable here. And the ball never touched the ground, so the play was still live, which is why it was ruled an interception. Your issue is not with the call. Your issue is not with the ruling. Your issue is actually with the rule itself. That's really what it is. When I hear these people complain, you're more upset about the rule because the call itself was correct. So there. And also, also,

hear a lot of Bill's fans complaining about the two pass interference calls at the end. Am I the only one thinks those were valid. Look, the first one maybe you could argue was a little weak. I personally don't think so. You can't just grab his arm and hold him back. But let's just say that was ticky tack. There were two fouls on the play. He was a very blatant roughing the passer by Joey Bosa. Like a whole two seconds after the play was over, he goes and just shoves bow next to the ground. Like, Joey, what were you going to accomplish by doing that? Like, what was the end game? I don't know. Especially when you figure the part two where it's like you get the roughing the passer call. That's like 15 an automatic first spot.

And then you get the PI, which is a spot ballot. It's really only what, a five-yard difference at that point on that play specifically. Yeah, yeah, that's right. And the second one, I'm sorry, if you are going to debate to me the legitimacy of the second pass interference call. We can't have a conversation. Either A, need to just give up being an NFL fan and start watching soccer, or B, get your eyes checked. Tredavius White hugged the receiver, and he tried to pin his arm. And you all know it's even funnier.

You know why the Broncos also got that close to field goal range? Because Tredavius White decided to go scream at the ref, take his helmet off, and slam it on the ground in front of said ref, moving the Broncos even closer. Like, Bill's, I'm sorry. This is on you. This is on you. And are we, and I guess we're going to move into the McDermott being fired because I want to open with that because this segues into what I was saying. I want to do a quick throwback for you guys. When the Kansas City Chiefs were eliminated, do you remember what I said?

Do you remember what I said by any chance? I said, and I'm paraphrasing here, I said, hey Bill's fans and Bill's organization, I'm speaking directly to you. The Chiefs are officially gone from your path, but the downside is they're also gone from your excuses. It's now or it's never. If you don't win it this year, now that your boogeyman's gone, you never will. At least not with Sean McDermott.

I had that caveat. And I said if I were the owner, Terry Pagula, or they're equally bumbling GM Brandon Bean, who I also don't like. We'll get to him in a bit. I'm sitting McDermott down and saying, listen, man, you're coaching for your job. Anything less than hoisting a Lombardi trophy and your ass better start updating your LinkedIn profile. And I said it in some people, I think Chris, this was off camera.

I think on the tech said, well, if they go to the Super Bowl and don't win, I think they should keep them. And I said, nope, nope, this is your. this should be your year. You were granted, honestly, I'm just going to say it, a pretty easy in terms of experience slate. Denver, even when they were healthy, was still considered a fluky one seed. Everybody thinks the Patriots aren't legit. The Jags were just a very weird team. Like, they were good, but, you know, they were also incredibly raw, much like New England. The Steelers. Come on. The Aaron Rock.

Rogers Steelers, like, you know, Mr. 9 and 8, 10, and 7 only to lose in the wild card. And you have the Texans who are half a team. Like the offense can occasionally show up, but that defense is scary. I'll give him that. So you had all that and you still didn't win. Like, no, no, no, no. There is no doubt in my mind, Sean McDermott needed to go. I called it.

I said if he didn't win the Super Bowl, this was going to happen. And yeah, yeah, it all came to fruition. Do I, I'm just saying, that's just, that literally happened. I don't even know if I can blame Sean McDermott for this. I know we like to blame him for things, but his defense did pretty well all things considered the way Josh Allen kept putting them behind the eight ball here with the turnovers. They did pretty well all things considered when they only gave up what six points due to turnovers.

Yeah, I understand, but the culprit is those flags at the end. That's discipline and discipline starts with coaching. Fair enough. I'll say this, though. I know we already talked about the flag, so I'm not going to get into that. Josh Allen had the best offensive line in the NFL. He had an all-pro type of running back in James Cook to batheed a wall. He had quality enough receivers like Shakir. He had a quality enough defense to get the job done. And he had one of the easier paths in the AFC considering how the game against the game. Jags in the game against the Broncos could have unfolded and how we see the Patriots. There was no reason why he couldn't have gone far. I'm sick and tired of hearing the excuses for Josh Allen when people like Mahomes and Lamar don't get those same excuses. He is not treated the same way that these other quarterbacks are being treated.

And because of that, Shaw McDermott is getting most of the blame for what happened yesterday when a lot of that blame should be going to that quarterback. I'll say it once. I'll say it again. Josh Allen is amazing. Josh Allen is phenomenal. He's also the reason they were able to stay in the game. But the reason they lost this game more than anybody else is Josh Allen. He will win you a lot of games. But when you need them the most, when he plays like that, he will lose you a lot of games as well. That's why you have to be careful with him. Josh Allen is a great quarterback, but that game on Sunday was on, I'm sorry, Saturday was his fault mostly. That's how I feel. And this is the result. I think in general for Sean McDermott, the ring was on the wall,

and I sent this tweet to the chat earlier, and you guys thought I was talking about the fucking Patriots. I sent that more in general to Sean McDermott. 36 coaches have won the Super Bowl of the 32 that were hired after the start of the Super Bowl era. I'm just going to give you guys a quick breakdown. of what year on the job they won their first title. First year, four times.

Second year, eight times. Third year, four times. Fourth year, seven times. Fifth year, five times. After that, six, seventh, eighth, one time each. Fourteenth, one time. So, in general, majority of the time, once you hit your fifth year, it's now or never.

after that, the chances of you winning your first title with said team are very, very, very slim. And that's where Rashan McDermott was. He was in his ninth season, had made it to a few AFC championships, but couldn't even make it to the Super Bowl. You got to cut a guy loose at some point, and regardless of success or not, you got him cut him loose. And that's the thing. And Brandon Bean, too, also just getting hired to being president of football operations too, along with being GM. But I think when you look at Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott, these two guys that changed the culture of Buffalo into what we're seeing now, a team that's been competitive for the last since 2020, or really since 2019, actually, 2018, 2019. So the job that they've done is great.

You were never going to get there at the very least with McDermott. I don't even really know with Bean, but, I mean, they must see something in there, even though he refuses to get actual good receivers too. Bean is a weird case, at least with the receivers, because honest to God, it's not really for a lack of trying. He just swings and misses like Diggs. Oh, yeah. You know, Diggs got frustrated with the team's constant failings and, you know, their unwillingness to make a change.

You know, they try to swing on Keon Coleman and that has not worked out at all. But I'm sorry, Bill's fans, you got to obscure me for this, but Khalil Shakir is not a wide receiver one. He's a very high-end number two, but he's not a number one. Like, you can't convince me he is. put a gun to my head and I'm not going to say it. Khalil Shakir is not a wide receiver. One, I don't know why they put all that money towards Josh Palmer of all wide receivers, but I guess they did.

I mean, King Cades and Knox are probably the best tight end duo in the league, I would think. Could be. Unless Mark Andrews and Isaiah likely, which, I mean, they're also good, but. But either way, I don't know why Bean, for all of his nonsense, got a promotion. Like, the fact that he ascended, like, they must really think this wasn't his fault, you know? Yeah. I just, I don't agree. I think Bean should have gone too.

And most Bill's fans apparently feel the same way. And as far as Brandon Bean goes, one last thing I'll say now that the bills are looking at the offseason. Oh, Buffalo, it's not going to be real pretty for you. Sorry. You see, for those of you who don't know, the Buffalo bills are deep in the dregs of Capel. They are in the red. They are. They're in the red. and depending on where you look on the low side,

they're going to be negative $3 million, but according to over the cap, they're negative 11. So there's definitely going to have to be some maneuvering. And Adam brought up, and I think Chris, you said so too, like, oh, what if they trade for A.J. Brown? With what money?

I don't think I ever said that. Or maybe it should say, maybe it might have been. And I've seen that too, a lot of Bill's fans and say, oh, Brandon Bean, go get A.J. Brown. once again, with what money you don't have any. So you need to make improvements and you're in the red cap-wise. And you gave that bungler, Brandon, being a promotion.

Don't know why. Yeah. All right. Let's move away from this game. Let's get into the other Saturday game. Seahawks in the 49ers. Seahawks winning handedly, handedly in this one. It was over, it was over from the word go.

41 to 6. As soon as Rashid, Shehid took that kickoff back for six, it was over. It was over. Pretty sure the crowd, I think I saw that the crowd hit 128 decibels on that kickoff return as well. So place was rocking. I mean, Brock Birdie, he did what he could, but goodness. This was a team that was beaten. and battered.

And they were playing with house money, and the house money finally ran dry. I think that's really the easiest way you can really describe this game. Something that we didn't bring up from Thursday, and I'll put blame on myself because I saw the update, and I just never said anything about it

for some reason when we actually previewed this game. And it was Sam Donald just randomly being thrown on the injury report for an oblique injury. which he ended up saying that it's, but he's still going to end up playing. And it didn't seem like it affected him that much. Granted, they didn't need him that much anyways,

because defense was nails. The run game was insane again. Kenneth Walker, 19 carries 116 yards, three touchdowns. They had 175 total on the ground. They only threw the ball 17 times. Like this was so bad, such a bad ass whipping that, Brock Purdy ended up getting matched for Mac Jones, who, to his credit, lowered his shoulder on a play.

He lowered his shoulder and gave a freaking pop. Got to love it. Got to love it. But I would assume the same things for you guys. This is pretty standard. We saw this coming. I had my worries once George Kittle went down, but as soon as that kickoff return happened, I was like, well, this is going to be pretty rough. but to their credit, they did get a few stops on Seattle.

I was like, all right, it's 17.3 and here they come. And then the next thing you know, it's 276, I'm like, they're not coming back. They're not wanting this. And then it just got worse and worse from there. I was like, oh, my Lord, they're really trying to score them out of the building. And then 41 to 6. What was it? 41 to 6?

Yeah. Yep. I was like, yep, time for the bench more bench players to come in. And I'll be damned. Drew Locke actually got some actual playoff minutes, even though we all thought he might be starting. How do we go from, oh, my God, Sam Donald, oblique injury. He won't Drew Life monthly starting to, oh, damn, they're getting their ass beat.

Put Drew Locke in. I don't know how that happens, but congratulations to Seattle. They did what they were supposed to do. Put belt to ass when it comes to the 49ers. And Brock Hardy did not look like he had any time in the pocket back there. He was running for his life. Apparently, from the pocket, he ran for over 400 yards, which is pretty impressive, just from the pocket, just running back and forth from the pocket. That's terrible.

That's... He got in the cardio, man. That's just insane. He got his cardio last night, and he did try, but just there wasn't a lot there. And they weren't... And the defense just couldn't stop that offense, especially Kenneth Walker with those three touchdowns over 100 yards rushing. I was like, the moment I saw... Sharvonego down, I was like, damn.

But then I was like, Kenneth Walker's still going to get those touches now. Oh, yeah. I think if you're Seattle, you're really not. I mean, you hate to see Charbonnet go down, of course. He's still a very good back. But, I mean, when you have Kenneth Walker

as your other back, who's really your RV won, like, you can't go wrong. I bet you fantasy owners were upset about that. Oh, so now you guys give him the ball but any way uh congrats to the congrats to the seattle seahawks the 49ers they did a hell of a job just to get here considering what they were dealing with fall season and now they're going to have to go back

to the drawing board and make some decisions more specifically what they're going to do about how they're going to help george kettle recover how they're going to help fred warner recover and what they're just going to do overall i think they might need a little bit more old line help but outside of that they might even lose their DC now. Robert's getting head coaching opportunity, so you don't you never know. But congrats to them.

They almost were the number one C, but they couldn't pull it off. Shout out to them, but we'll see what happens from here. See, Jay. Honestly, I, yeah, first, congrats to Seattle. They absolutely

dog-walked the 49ers. stuff. They were expected to do, you know, they're at home, playing with the house money. They gave them belt, you know, as soon as Rashid Shehhee got that touchdown, it's like, well, man, that's a ball game. Sorry. If they never scored again on that game, they still would have won. But this is one of those games where y'all might call me a little crazy for this, but I really don't care. I don't really have anything bad to say about the Niners. I don't. They were just really, I'm going to say it. They were just too injured.

That's really all it is. They were just too injured to really compete. The magic ran out. Like they, well, I know we said, oh, yeah, they're playing the house money. They're fighting through. But when George Kittle went down, I said to myself, yep, that, that's a wrap. Like, it's over. It's over.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. And like, at some point, like, it's, just gonna come crashing down and it did they could lose that game by a hundred and i still wouldn't have blamed them they're just too injured they were the most injured team in the league i think they've got like what 15 players that ended up on season ending i r or at some point and they i know they had like at least 20 who were on i are at some point in the year And that doesn't count with the players that are just out-out, like Brandon Ayyuk, who's, who knows what the hell is going on there. So, yeah, just really tough break.

You know, the injury's caught up with them. That's really where it starts and ends. But there's one more piece of this injury puzzle. For the better part of almost a decade now, the 49. have been one of year in and year out, one of the most injured teams in the league. Hold up, Chris. I'm going to get there. I already know. Are you going to talk about the electromagnet? The substation, yes, I am. Okay. And every year, year in and year out, they have the most players on IR, the most of their salary cap getting eaten up by IR. They can't stay healthy.

And I'm like, all right, something's got to give here. Like, and it gets to a point. When this is again and again and again, it stops becoming bad luck and starts becoming a trend. This is no longer bad luck. Something is wrong. And lo and behold, ladies and gentlemen, we found our answer. And I'll admit it I was wrong. I just thought their strength and conditioning coordinator need to be given the heave ho. Uh-huh.

But no, no, no, no, no. Oh, no. It's so much more interesting. So they moved to Levi Stadium in San Clara, California. circa 2013, 2014. And then the injuries started piling up. They're the most injured team in the league, like I said, every year by a country mile. And it's really just, like I said, it's just awful.

And the reason we just found this out because NFL players, and I think even a team are talking to their agents, about the 49ers practice facility, which, you know, for those you don't know, Levi Stadium in Santa Clara where the Niners play is going to host Super Bowl 60. So the 49ers practice facility is right next to an electrical substation that is almost the size of their practice field.

And there have been numerous studies done in the late 90s and early 2000. Studies to still hold up today, I might as far as scientific validity, that show that low-frequency electromagnetic fields, like the ones that are generated by that substation, degrade collagen. They negatively impact muscle. Cartilage is affected as well. They weaken the tendons and they cause soft tissue damage. Even though it's technically safe as far as the energy regulators are concerned, there are at least, I think there are a few case studies that have proven this.

This is a scientific fact. And when you realize that the 49ers have prolonged exposure to this and practice right next to it, all of a sudden, everything makes sense. and if you don't believe me, I got some news for you. Oh, by the way, Zach Charbonnet is undergoing knee surgery and we'll be out the rest of the playoffs. Oh. I had the NFL app and it just came up. Anyway, back to the Niners. Sorry, that was just a truth new right there, but sorry.

So the 49ers over the past decade are statistically the most injured team in the NFL. They moved Levi Stadium in 2014. They are top five in adjusted games lost for 10 of 11 seasons. They have seven to eight Achilles or Patela ruptures in a year total. Meanwhile, the average team is two to three. Since then, they've had 40, over 40 major hamstring and calf chairs or calf tears. and they have high ankle systemosis injuries every year. No other franchise is even coming close.

The next close franchise, I don't even think has half of that. Niners, get rid of that substation. Jed York, you're the owner. You've got an ungodly amount of money. Dude, do something. Like, we just cracked the case as to why I're always injured. And if he doesn't move that, then I got a question how badly they want to win. I think the other problem is that like there's also other science that

is suggesting that it's not true. So I think that's like, I think there's still like, I believe in the theory. I myself do truly believe in the theory. Chris, let me tackle this real quick. Paul of skeptics, how is that not true? How is it not true? The timelines line up. The numbers line up.

We have multiple case studies and multiple like, knows is to prove this. Like, literally, do you think this is just a coincidence? They move stadiums and then just magically became injured. This stuff predates Shanahan. So, like, I don't know what it is. How is it not that? When there's actual, like, scientific proof that low-grade electromagnetic fields cause this much tissue damage, are we really just going to sit here and say, yeah, this isn't true to anyone who tries to I'm actually it's not true. Just honestly, I don't have a comment.

Just shut up. Shut up. That's all. Reading the article from USA today right now. UC Davis Radiology Professor Gerald Bushburg, who was also a 49ers fan as well. These so-called mechanisms have not been established. Many of the experiments are contradictory. Many of the experiments have exposures that either don't relate specifically to.

to 50 or 60 hertz magnetic fields or at much, much higher levels than what would be experienced at a practice level. And that he also said that conspiracy for Frank DeVoct, professor of epidemiology and public health at Bristol Medical School in England, he said that the conspiracy theory is nonsense. Nonsense. Okay. So based on what they're saying, this is a coincidence. So it's just a big happy coincidence, which I'm sorry, I don't believe in coincidences. And my only comeback, look, I'm not a scientist, but this is a question that I genuinely would like to ask these scientists in good faith.

You mentioned, oh, that the frequency doesn't happen at a high enough rate to cause this. My question is, what about when it happens this long, when you've got over a decade of prolonged exposure to this. Would that not make up for the lack of frequency? I'm not playing with no more. I just, this is a question that I ask in good faith. I'll go a step further

and be like, what other, like, is there any other team in the league that has like, not the situation of bad injuries, but the situation of, hey, we have an electromagnetic substation like right across the street or somewhere near the practice facility. And

like, obviously the 4-9ers or one, but how many other teams have this going on, which I would assume is not many. I don't believe. 49ers may just be the only team that has an electromagnetic substation right next door. Huh. I think they actually might be. I just. Chuck, you have anything you want to say about this?

Nothing in particular. I'm trying to see if there's any other teams that have it, but it might just be the 49. All right. If that's the case, then there are too many. I know how they say correlations, not causation, but there's just too many coincidences. And once again, I just don't believe in coincidences. Yeah, it's only the 49ers. All right. Well, there you have it.

I love good conspiracy theory. We're at it. All right. We'll step aside for a quick break. When we come back, we'll get into the Sunday playoff matchups. This is the Fulmariski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the staff sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws.

Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome to the Fulmariski podcast by Power 88, Dean Radio, and Secret Weapon Consulting. Get into the Sunday games, the Patriots heading back to the AFC Championship.

for the first time since 2018 and beat the Texans 28 to 16. You could make the case that this was potentially for the AFC championship because of the Broncos injury news with Bo Nicks. You could see it that way. You could not, I'm not going to see it that way right now because anything can happen in football. So I'm not taking that way. I don't want to take it that way. But the stakes for this game definitely rose a little bit higher.

Your chances of the Super Bowl just a little bit higher with that news. Well, I feel like the sloppiness of the game we kind of expected. The weather wasn't great. It was a mix of rain and snow. So the ball was wet for the first three quarters of this game. And, well, you could tell. You could notice it pretty. immediately.

Drake May didn't like you couldn't tell with Drake May immediately. You could tell with C.J. Stroud very immediately with the first through passes that he threw that this was going to be a problem for me. I think the funniest part

about it right before the game is Troy Aikman. I think right before C.J. Stroud's first snap. Maybe it was Drake May as one of the two. He was like, yeah, if it was raining, I was fucked. Yeah, it's true.

It's true. It's not actually like a story how he didn't want to go to, I think like Green Bay or something, because he said outright, I'm a warm weather quarterback, like, during the draft process or something like that. Probably. I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, he said that, like, if it came down to it, he would much rather, like, be playing in the snow because it's easier to, like, the snow doesn't impact your grip on football as much as rain does, which I very much agree with that. I would much, if I were to choose, I would much rather play in the snow because I could still rip a football better than I can if it was wet. But, yeah, CJ Stroud, four interceptions in the first half.

I was keeping count. He should have had 11 in this game. I thought he was going to get benched in that halftime at one point. It was, this was terrible. Five total turnovers for the Texans. The defense, like this was the, pinnacle of your defense keeping you in this game because the Patriots probably could have been up 42 to 10 a half time if it wasn't for the turnovers that the Patriots had themselves. Drake May kept having his fumbling problem.

Patriots, the O line couldn't really keep him clean. I think that too, that it's a little bit of both that. I think that Drake May was being too casual in the pocket for how big of a pass. rush the Texans have, especially for how easily like Will Anderson was getting into the backfield sometimes. Now, still, the O-line has to keep you clean, but I feel like you just can't be that casual and have to be a little bit more aware of your surroundings in the pocket when that's going on. That's kind of how I see that all together. all together is a great win for the Patriots. But thoughts from you guys.

We'll start with CJ, since we'll see. No, no, no, no, no. Give it to tuck. Are we starting with the Texans first? Are we starting with the Patriots? Well, let's start with the Patriots first. By the way, by the way, I just want to say, in reference what we were talking about earlier, I looked it up.

And yes, it is true. Ahead of the 89 NFL draft, Troy Aikman, actively expressed a preference for playing in warm weather cities. was rooting for Green Bay to win their final games that they wouldn't get the number and overall pick because he didn't want to play in the cold. Packers Vice President Tom Bratz acknowledged in a blater that Aikman did prefer to play a warm weather, but Aikman never said he just outright wouldn't play. So there's that.

Fair enough. Yes. Doc, your thoughts on Pats? from an outsider perspective. First things. First, congratulations on the New England Patriots. They came into Foxboro and got the job done. They looked good while, the defense looked good while doing it.

The offense had its moments. But overall, a decent job by the Patriots, Greg May. Let's just get into Drake May right now. He'll have moments where he'll throw dots, which, quite frankly, I'm surprised that we're, caught, especially the one to digs and booty and booty. I'm surprised they were able to make those catches considering the weather and that one hand snagged by booty.

That was tough considering everything going on. On Stingley, going to the ground, one-handed. Maybe the catch of the playoffs depending on how everything else goes. Yeah, that was ridiculous. That was ridiculous. But all in all, Drake May got the job done. However, I'm not sure he deserved to get the job done. If C.J. Strout wasn't as as he was yesterday, we would be having a different

conversation about Drake May. That man had, what, four fumbles? Or like three? I'm pretty sure he had four fumbles, too, lost. And he lost it twice, okay. Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter had had their way with that O-line. I don't understand why you kept leaving Will Campbell one-on-one. Don't get that, but, oh, no, Drake May did what he had to do together. get the job done, but he was looking very shaky in that first half. He had me nervous as hell. He was keeping C.J. Strout in this game as much as C.J. Strat was keeping the Texans out of this game. But then he turned it on in the second half. He looked like Drake made that we knew of this season and got the job done. I need more of that if he's going to beat the Broncos. If he plays like this

against the Broncos, you guys actually might lose. But if he plays like he did in the second half, I think you guys will be okay. I think the Patriots had more than enough things going for them to not only win the EFC championship game, but potentially won the Super Bowl. But we'll see. Hopefully injuries won't be too big of a thing. Knock on wood.

But it looks good for the Patriots. They had a decent win. They pulled it out in the end. Congrats. Yeah. Look, like Drake, I said it before we start up the pod, too. Like, Drake May is the only quarterback this season that's put up three touchdown passes

against the Texans. Like, that has to account for something. Like, you could say he had a bad game, but he's the only quarterback that's done that this year. Yeah. So starting off with the Tex, right, who were we starting with you? That O line, they got some rookies up front and you can tell. because the thing is, it's not like Drake Me's in the pocket and he's taking the sack, you know, like how kind of how Corbats like kind of turtle and then just brace for the hit.

Nah, he was getting hit while he was throwing. He cocked his arm back to throw and they just poke the ball out, which I'm sorry, that's offensive line. And you could blame the fumbles all you want, but that's such, it's such a weak and lazy way to look at it. Like if he was just kind of turtling in the pocket and bracing for the hit and still fumbling, I'd be concerned. But the fact that he's getting hit, it happened to the Chargers game, he's getting popped while he's throwing. That's not awareness. That's the line. And yeah, the one where he scrambled and fumbled, even though he secured the ball, that was just bad.

I think that was more so just a punch out. But yeah, he kind of has a fumbling problem, but there's really no quarterback who gets hit mid. throw and doesn't fumble. That's just the cold hard truth. But as for May, that was weird. That stressed me out. And the interception he threw, that was a Hail Mary to end the half, which I'm sorry, if you're a box score watcher, you're going to huff and puff about it.

But that's like missing a three point shot, like from half court. You know what I mean? The interception really, because it didn't change anything. I was just going to half. That was a Hail Mary anyway. So May himself, though, the only quarterback to throw three touchdowns on that Houston defense, he got to say one thing about May, he is a really short memory. He does not. I thought he was going to start playing scared because, let's be real, he was having to play Houston's game, Houston's way.

But he stood in there and he delivered the hits, especially because Houston completely snuffed out New England's running game. Stevenson and Henderson, maybe not so much at the end, were just stuffed up until the fourth quarter because that's when their defense decided, no, we're just not going to stop the run anymore. Even Henderson, who I think was going into negative yards in the fourth quarter, still had finished like over 20 because he ripped off a few at the end. But they had Drake May delivering some clutch strikes to Mario Douglas, Defon Diggs, Kisham Booty.

Like, even Josh Allen. couldn't do that. Even some of the other good quarterbacks they played, like Trevor Lawrence didn't do that. Like, you know, so you got to give him his flowers. And that defense, though, what an absolute unit. And a lot of people, you know, I just want to get ahead of this real quick.

The Patriots haters that keep moving the goalposts, you're pathetic. You're just pathetic losers. Like, that's just how it is. You aren't pathetic and unlovable. and just reconsider your life choices. Because here's what happened. All we hear is Cupcake Schedule.

Patriots aren't prepared to beat a real team. The Chargers are going to upset them. Then they beat the Chargers. And it's like, okay, what's up now? The fact that they won a playoff game single-handedly kills a soft-schedual narrative. That narrative's dead. If not, it's going into retirement. Then it's like, oh, but even though we've predicted the Chargers to win,

Uh, it's Herbert. Yeah, Herbert's not good, even though we were gassing them up. Uh, you'll be lucky to score 10 on the Houston defense. Yeah, how's three passing touchdown sound, you douche? Oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, C.J. Stroud sold. Yeah, that's it. Let me get ahead of this right now. He stole.

He did so. He did so. No, he didn't. That's such a loser mentality or such a loser. It's like, he's sold. No. DJ Stroud didn't make mistakes. the Patriots defense forced him to make mistakes.

No. No, yes. No. Stop being a hair. I know you're pissed at the patcher back. I know you're pissed that they beat the Ravens. But shut up. I'm not pissed about that.

Are you telling me that PICSix C.J. Strout did was entirely. He was get. He rolled out of the pocket and made an ill-advised throw with Klamas on laying him out. That is his fault. You don't force that. He forced it. There's a player inches from you and he's just like, I'm just going to jump it up into the air.

Like, no, no, no, no, no. The Patriots defense forced him into making mistakes. That was the thing. Both those Carlton Davis interceptions, that was just pure ball right there. I'm sorry, Patriots defense had him scared. It's not that he sold the Patriots defense shut his ass down. And any argument to the contrary and you just have a truth deficit. I'm going to jump in.

I see both. I think the Patriots defense did make a lot of great plays, but it was pretty apparent that C.J. Stroud was throwing some fucking lollipops on Sunday as well. And you could say the Patriots forced those lollipops. That's for sure. I mean, like the interception where Chase on is obliterating C.J. Stroud, he should not be throwing that ball, period. At all.

But when you think about that play in general, I think Joe Buck did a great. great job at describing how that play played out. Millen Williams forces that play to happen. If Milton Williams doesn't drive that right tackle into the pulling tight end, that play doesn't happen. But, like, I think that, like, the Patriots did a great job. Like, I said it on Friday. This is going, in terms of the defense,

is going to be an exact replica of what happened in the second half against the Chargers. Except we ended up seeing it for a full, pretty much a full 60 minutes. And that was the Patriots defense got to C.J. Stroud almost every single time. Well, and the Chargers line was holding like every play. Like Milton Williams, they had him in a chokehold multiple times. You have Harold Landry getting like grabbed by like, like literally like grabbed by the back of the fucking collar. And they still couldn't stop it. Like in C.J. Stroud just like making some real illivized throws that the paths were literally forcing him into.

Like they put him. I'm in a box. I'll go a step further. Like the Patriots defense allowed barely two yards per carry in terms of the rushing game for the Texans. I have Woody Marks. Like I think he's really underrated. I really do.

I think he's a great running. The patch just completely erased him. And maybe it's because Strouds a dome quarterback. But this whole reason of he sold and the Pat's got lucky, that's loser. talk. That's a loser mentality. That's really all that is. If you're just going to say, oh, they got lucky as they sold, then you're just a disgusting, like,

worthless human being. Yeah. Also, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. That was more so all the haters, not you. You're my favorite Ravens fan, and that's not even a joke. Like, you genuinely are. I think that... I know, I'm sorry, buddy. I really

am. It was more so directed at like, because I've been seeing people that once again, let's be honest, can we admit, though, one thing, that everybody who's been bitching about New England's soft schedule have been caught, like, in 4K moving the goalposts? It used to be, oh, Houston's going to put belt to them. Oh, yeah. ESPN football live. All five of their people, like Mina Kimes, that weirdo Dan Orlovsky, you know, Mr. Ryan,

the end zone, they all picked Houston to win. and now that New England won, it's, oh, well, actually, like, no, no, no, you were wrong. And the fact that New England has made it to the AFC championship game kills the soft schedule narrative. So they did beat good teams. Like, stop being, stop being just this weird, unlovable amalgamation of low IQ talking points. Like, it's so annoying ESPN, do better. Like, I get you hate Drake May, but, like, for the love of. God, just shut up.

The asterisk is gone. The soft schedule argument is dead because they've literally won two playoff games. A lot of them are the charges winning. So like, what are you going to say now? No, if New England wins the Super Bowl, they're probably, which I don't think they will, to be perfectly frank, but if they do, then imagine the just endless barrage of excuses that we're going to have to deal with. Yeah. And, uh, I'm sorry, but there was a, one more. I'm trying to cut the Patriots talk off and get it on to the Texans. I'm sorry. Oh, I was going to talk about the Texans. But yeah, no, no, no, right. Once again, Tuck, I really am sorry, bro. I am. It's fine.

Um, I was going to say one last thing, but now it. You can't, you can. I can't remember what I was going to say. You were going to talk about the Dan Orlowski stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah. The, the thing that I, that pissed me off from that was, um, like, everyone's like, not one of you, like, Marcus Spears in the. right is like not one of you pick the Patriots you could have picked the Patriots you fat fuck anyways um to the Texans now C.J. Stroud isn't a good quarterback. I think I'm at that point now. Like I've like we're two years off removed now from that rookie season and he hasn't progressed. He hasn't come close to progressing. Like he looked he looked like you was seeing.

fucking ghost on Sunday. Like, he's not a good quarterback. That's all it is. You can say it's the O line. You could say that Texans were being a battered. He's just not a good quarterback. I do not know what's happened to C.J. Straub, but

if I'm Demiq O'Ryan's, I need to get to the bottom of this soon because we can get past the wildcard round, but we just can't get past the divisional round, no matter what we do. We've gotten him better weapons, but we still can't get him past the division round.

The O-line is always going to be a work in progress, but they still have enough of a defense to get them past the division around. And C.J. Stroud just can't seem to get it done. And he's been regressing year by year. His rookie season is his best year. I know it's one of the all-time great rookie seasons. I know he looked like a young Drew Brees, but he's regressed ever since. I don't know what happened. I don't know how this has gotten to this point, but this needs to be fixed now or else they're going to have to look for another quarterback.

This is ridiculous. I don't understand how the, what the hell he was seeing half the time. And that play that turned into a pick six was so egregious. I don't even know where to start. I understand that Milton Williams made a tremendous play. But CJ Strout shouldn't have thrown the ball at all in that place. in that position. It shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have been even something to talk about, but he did, and it became a pick, and then it turned into a

pick six. That is, I'm still bewildered at what he was throwing at in order for that to happen. I don't, C.J. Strout, I can't even say one, though, it's like, oh, my God, the people. I know they forced the interceptions, but it's not, like, C.J. Strout was, like, throwing into absolutely places where he should not be throwing the ball. He's making mistakes left, right, and center. I know he's getting pressured. I know he doesn't have a lot of time. But some of these throws he could have made. I'm like, what has happened to C.J. Strout? I know he liked to joke around with Jalen Hurts that he's not a top 10 quarterback. I would rather have Jalen Hurts than C.J. Strout right now. I'm not even sure C.J. Strout right now is a top 15 quarterback right now. And here's the thing they have to

worry about now. Now that it's the end of the third year, they have to ask themselves if they're going to pick up the fifth year option for CJ Straub. Because I know they're going to for Will Anderson Jr. because he proved himself this year, being a first team all pro pro bowler, and helping that defense. He did a lot for that defense in that game. And unfortunately, his quarterback that he was drafted with did not show up. So it is what it is. But they're going to have to make a lot of decisions when it comes to it. Are you going to pay? up CJ Stroud's fifth-year option, or are you just going to let him sit and ride? Because if he does not figure this out, I don't know why you would even pick up the fifth-year option.

It's weird to me that he's just been playing so ass as of late and that there was an actual point in time within the game that Davis Mills being the quarterback was an actual discussion. I mean, if I'm C.J. Strout, get off the damn podcast with Michael Parsons and get your shit together. this is not acceptable. Oh, my, I've never seen a quarterback regress this much before. If I was to equate it to something, he looks like the NFL's version of Ben Simmons. And I do not understand how this came to be. He's going from All Star to Ben's player so fast it's making my head spin. I know C.J. Strow can be great, but right now, he is looking average to ass.

at best. And I need him to fix that in order to be the person we all know he can be. I don't know what happened. Hopefully they can get him a new OC that actually blends in with him. But if this doesn't work out, I'm Dimeco Ryans. I'm the GM, Nick Casario. I'm looking for another quarterback, which is a shame because we know how C.J. Stroud is when he actually is what it is. C.J. Can I ask you guys a question? Is it like time that we seriously consider my C.J. Straub theory?

What's the theory? I don't know if you were there when I said this. You might not have been. That it's not that he's bad, but I think NFL defenses have just kind of figured him out and he hasn't been able to evolve since. Because that happens every so often. Quarterbacks that flash early, usually in their first year, sometimes they're second, but usually in their first.

They're like these, we call them tease players. You know, like they tease you for one year. Then when the league draws a beat on them, it's wraps. It's over. Has that happened to C.J. Stroud? I genuinely think it might be as simple as the league kind of figured them out. Also, the elements didn't help. And he has a warm weather court.

He's a dome quarterback going up to Foxborough, so that's going to suck. I mean, how much my bone quarterback is he, though? He played out of Ohio State. Yeah, but he's pretty far removed from that. But still, like, and if that's the case, why are the elements affecting that bad? Yeah. No, you're right. You're right at the same time.

Like, I can't be saying you also went to Ohio State after he throws four minutes. Yeah. No, I, dude, I get it. I do. And like I said, the Pat's defense put him in a box. Like, Pat's defense bullied him, pressured him on like 27 snaps, shut him down at every turn. And forced four picks. They got whatever, they almost anything they wanted on him.

But I don't know about Stratt anymore. I was so high on him coming out, but silly me, the curse of the Ohio State quarterback genuinely might be real. God help us all. but I just I'm still so confused at how this happened. They just hit this wall in the divisional round where they always win in the wild card. But like Tuck said, and you were right about this. And the divisional round, all of a sudden, it's just, I have forgotten how to throw a football. And for those of you keeping track at home, he played horribly against Pittsburgh, too.

He had like, what, seven turnovers over two games? Yes. Yeah. So he's just lucky that the Pittsburgh offense couldn't do anything against the Houston defense. Now that they were trotting out old man Aaron Rogers, but now Houston defense is still lights out, but you're going from ancient Aaron Rogers to Drake May, who's probably going to be runner up for MVP. And yeah, the defense guy, I think they wanted a lot of what they wanted on May,

but May still, especially like when it mattered, he delivered, especially that clutch shot to booty. C.J. Stroud just really couldn't match that. And yeah, he was pressured a lot. He was making ill-advised throws. The New England defense did a lot of complex coverage disguises. But if you're a quarterback, you know, especially one that was taken second overall, why aren't you dissecting that? I just, I am so shocked to see the statistical decline of C.J. Stroud.

In fact, I was looking at it yesterday. I was so curious because I want it now. call me a box score watcher, call me whatever. I really wanted to see how his stats compared. And it's ghastly. So his rookie year, he had a completion percentage of 63.9%. He went 9 and 6 over 15 games. He had 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 5 picks.

I would like to inform you that those are career highs for yards and touchdowns. His second season, he went 10 and 7. He had 3,727 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 picks. Then this season, he went 9 and 5 because, you know, he missed three games, had a 64.5% completion percentage, or by the way, second year was 63.2, I forgot to mention. 64.5% completion percentage. So career high there, but 3,041 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 10.0.1 eight picks. I'm sorry, that's not the stat line. Two to one touchdown interception ratio is good, but that's just not the stat line of a top 10 quarterback. And I saw a comment on Instagram. I don't remember the username, but I agreed. You know, we like to rip on Jalen Hertz, like you guys said,

but I saw somebody say, DJ Stroud is the quarterback that everybody thinks Jalen Hertz is. And honestly, I kind of agree. I don't know what it's going to take for C.J. Stroud to recapture that magic he had his rookie year. Because I don't think Domeco Ryans is the head, is the problem. I don't think that Casario is the head problem. I know some people say Stroud doesn't have enough in the way of weapons. But sure, you're missing Miko Collins for that game, but it was a two-score game. So at best, maybe you get another touchdown.

But still, they spent two draft picks of wide receivers in Higgins and Noel. Xavier Hutchinson, I think, is good. You have Dalton Schultz for most of the season. Joe Mixa didn't play, but Woody Marks, what a find for a rookie. He's been. Titus Howard's been on the up and up. They got Jake Andrews for the offensive line. Ed Ingram's a really unsung piece there.

Trent Brown's a good run blocker. Trading Laramie Tunsell was stupid, but still, it's not like, It's not like someone like, say, Cam Ward on the Titans, you know? Also, once again, I want to reiterate, his career high in completion percentage is 64.5%. Like, that's his ceiling. And his career high in passing touchdowns is 23. That's just, that's not good. No.

Not good. Not good. All right. Let's get into the 630 matchup, which. Boy, was this a game? Yes. The weather, I mean, seeing the snowfall in Chicago, the snow on the ground, this was prime NFL playoffs right here. The Rams get the job done, winning in overtime, 20 to 17.

What the hell? Who's calling me right now? Is it Adam? No, it was my girlfriend, actually. Oh. So, Adam. I forgot that my phone is connected to my laptop because I got a MacBook for Christmas my birthday.

So the freaking call went right to it. Yeah. Anyways, yeah, so the Rams, this was kind of typical. Like, you know, I kind of was, this was a little bit against what I said, right? If the Rams aren't ahead by more than two scores in this game, the Bears would win. and Caleb Williams with the season on the line, fourth down, runs backwards, 35 freaking yards,

and just step back, Hail Mary, and Colchmets just right there waiting for it, to put right in the bread basket. I mean, cardiac bears to a T. Honestly, in this game, I think anyone could have been deserving of winning, both defense is really good.

Both offices weren't great, but, you know, the quarterbacks made plays when they needed to make plays at the end of the day. But the difference here, Caleb Williams with three interceptions, one of them being in overtime. And you could say that the last interception, you could potentially put that on DJ more,

potentially. But either way, three interceptions, especially a game that goes to a game, that goes to overtime. You get, you know, you give Matt Stafford a second chance to win the game. More likely than not, he's going to take that chance and run with it. If you're the Rams, you know, it's a great win on the road in the weather. You can't get much better than that.

The Rams are who we thought they were a very good football team. And shout out to the defense, you know, they actually stepped up today. Shout out to the defense. Besides giving up the last touchdown throw from Caleb Williams to Senate to overtime, but, you know. But if you're the Bears, this is heartbreaking, yeah, but I think this is probably the first time in 20 years that you, outside of, you know, the Super Bowl, that they lost the Colts in with Rex Grossman. I think outside of that, this is probably the most excited you are about the future coming up. they've been in 20 or 30 years. And they probably couldn't have said that,

like, as high of a standard in terms of the Jay Cutler years, the Rex Grossman years, the fucking Mitch Trubisky years. I think the bear, like, Bears fans have a lot to be happy about. Thoughts from you, Phil's. CJ, you want to go first? On the Bears, yeah. Uh, well, I mean, what can you really say in regards to the Rams? What can you really say in regards to the Rams?

Well, in regards to the Rams, like that was, hey, a bit of a rough game from Stafford. But hey, he braved the elements. He went into a hostile environment and won, you know, harkened back to the Lions days, you know, where you would just go in a soldier field and pull out victories. So, hey, you know, props to that. And just the, the, the, clutch up at the end was just nuts. That's really it.

Rams did as well as he could have done. The bears. I know we love to fawn over the cardiac bears and say, oh, Caleb Williams is the ice man. He's always got a trick up his sleeve. But I've always said it was less skill and more luck. This has been a lot of luck. And I know there's that saying about how sometimes it's better to be lucky than good,

but you were playing with fire with all these slow starts, with all these careless mistakes and all these comebacks, and you finally got burned. The luck ran out. You live by the miracle and you die by it too. Caleb Williams, you know, we had that blind heave at the end, you know, to co-commett where he's like, ah, someone's down there somewhere and he got it. tried to do it again and intercepted in overtime.

That was that that was that was brutal. I remember seeing that. I'm like, oh my God, another bear's miracle, another luckout. And no hope. No, no such luck. The cardiac bears went into cardiac arrest and their hopes died on the field. But you have hope. I will say that.

You have hope for the future. You should be back, God willing. And I think they will because I think he will. Caleb Williams is legit. But there's an important lesson that the bears, I think, have to take from this season. Comebacks are nice. But like I said, you can only play with fire, or shall we say, dance through the raindrops for so long. And it finally came back to bite him.

That's really where the story starts and ends. There's no, like, super egregious ref ball. There's no, like, oh, well, if only, no. Now you play with fire, you got burned. And I think the bears need to learn how to put the games away. Because, yeah, cardiac bears is cool and it's thrilling and you can never count them out. But the slow starts have to stop. That's not sustainable.

All these comebacks, it's just not sustainable. And they learn that the hard way. What do you guys think? That's not me. that sound. It was talking. I'm curious what he's trying to research right now. I was trying to see what Matthew Stanford's record was in the divisional round,

then it's one and two. But you guys, but you get what I'm saying, though, right? About how you can only play with fire for so long before. Oh, yeah. No. That's just what happened.

Like I said, you live by the miracle, but you die by it too. Yeah. And you can only... I just want to say, though, Chris, like I said, I want to reiterate this,

for the love of God bears, learn to put the game away. Look, it's important to have that clutch gene, but sometimes you just have to put it away. Sometimes you have to go into the fourth quarter knowing that the game is over. You can't have these slow starts. Sorry, Chris. Yeah.

No, it's no. You have to stop. You can't keep putting yourself in that situation. It's not even putting the game away. It's just playing a full 60 minutes and not being a fourth quarter team. That's really it. Like, anything else that we want to touch on from this one? This one.

Even though that was a Mickey-ass throw, that might be one of the greatest throes I've ever seen. 100%. No, that's going to go down in history as one of the greatest plays, but unfortunately, it's not going to fucking matter. It's not going to matter. That's really actually sad, though. It is. That really is.

But like I said, if you are a Bears fan, you look at this game, you're like, you know what? This sucks. That was heartbreaking. But boy, the future's bright right now. Yeah, they're actually a Super Bowl contender next year if they can figure it out on who they're going to draft. 100%. 100%. That's the thing.

They, like, polls has made some good draft choices. He's also made some bad draft choices. He's also made some good choices general, bad choices general. So see how this one plays. We'll see. So that is all scheduled content that we have for you today. Anything else that we want to touch on before we wrap up the show? No.

Oh, wait. Actually, there's one thing. One, I want to apologize to talk again. I am sorry. But two, granted, the episode's coming out tomorrow, meaning Tuesday. So you're going to be seeing this on Tuesday, odds are. But college football national championships tonight. Oh, yeah.

Miami. Miami's not winning Indiana. Yes, we are. I want Indiana to win personally. I like Miami. Miami's bringing it home. Look, I hope it's a good game, but Indiana is a fucking free train. There's no shot Miami has any chance in this game.

Unless that pass rush gets to Mendoza. Dude, that line's nasty. But I will say one thing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe. obviously Mendoza is going in the first round. We can all agree on that. He's going first overall unless his knee like explodes or something like that, which knock on what it doesn't. This would, I believe, be Indiana's first player taken in the first round in this millennium in the 2000s.

I don't think they've had one ever. Because one time I got bored and I looked at like everyone taking the first round since 2000, and I don't think Indiana has had a first round pick. I'm searching. I'm sorry. Chris is looking and I understand. Thomas Lewis in 1994. They might have like one maybe, but I'll look at it right now.

Indiana, I don't think has had one. That's before 2000. Historically, they've had, yeah, this would be the first one in this millennium. You would be correct. This would be the, uh, seems this would be the third key one if we're looking at the AI overview. But they've had a, they had first round picks back in like the early, early, days of the NFL and college football. Most specifically, George Talia Farrow in 1945, though not directly picked first overall, but as a territorial pick.

But 45, World War II was still happening then. Yes. Well, Indiana, congrats. You know, you're back. They're back. First of many possible first rounders, you never know. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these guys from Indiana end up getting drafted. especially the ones that are coming from the portal

and the potential pickups they're getting from high schools. They might actually become a dynasty sooner or later. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Signetti's not to be played with. Nope. No, he's a good coach. I might actually want to put it. That's someone I actually wouldn't want to play for.

No. That'll do it for us today. Thank you for tuning into another Tuesday episode of the Fumble Ruski podcast. New episode coming out on Friday at 8 a.m. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, and we also have all our episodes available on Spotify, speaker, Apple Podcast, I Heart Radio, Google Podcast, and so much more.

Be sure to follow our Instagram, Fulmary Ruski underscore podcast, keep up with the pod, and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, I'm C.J. Medeiros, Justin Tucker, I'm Chris Kostitch. We'll see you on Friday for the championship weekend preview. This is Fulmary Rewski podcast.

Over now.