The Ringer NFL Show - 'GM Street': Friday Focus: Trouble in Patriots Paradise (Ep. 213)

Episode Date: January 5, 2018

The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier discuss the reports of a rift within the Patriots organization, the genesis of the Jimmy Garoppolo trade, and what's next for the Patriots' dynasty. Then, they run through the wild-card weekend games and point out things to watch out for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to GM Street, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. It is Friday. And usually we do our Saturday sit downs, but today there's a bit of breaking news coming out of the New England Patriots camp. Three big figureheads, three big. I wouldn't say egos, but now they're being described as egos. There was a big feature today at ESPN.com written by Seth Wickersham, basically describing trouble in paradise with the Patriots. I am Tate Fraser, and I am joined by Michael Lombardi. We're going to try to figure this thing out.

Lombardi, how you doing? I'm doing great, Tate Fraser. How are you, man? It's always good to talk to you. I'm sorry, I'm not with you there in Los Angeles, but I came to see my grandson, Leo, and, you know, it's just kind of nice to get out of LA a little bit and, you know, see a little new baby, so it's two for me, so I'm two for two.

Well, you're choosing family, which is the thing that Tom Brady always used to do. That was what Brady was famous for, for always choosing football or family. There was no in between. But now we've got the TB12 brand. We've got a New York Times best-selling book. We've got some questions and problems about his trainer. we've mentioned some of these things, you know, in passing on the podcast as we've covered the NFL this season. But now apparently it's become a larger-than-life situation with the Patriots, which Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady,

these three big figureheads of the Patriots and figuring out who's going to last longer than the rest, basically, and see who's going to be the last man standing. Just generally speaking, when you hear this story and you see it get reported, are you shocked by it? Well, look, I think you have to understand that winning always is the heart. artist thing. I mean, Pat Wright was about winning about the, you know, the disease of me without I think that, you know, obviously you win two Super Bowls and a lot. They went 10 years between Super Bowls, right? So there was always trying to climb that mountain and trying to get back to where they are. Now they've won two of the last three. And, you know, people, and Tom is at a point

in his age where, you know, he's older. People are waiting for the end. Is Belichette's time going to keep playing until he's 50 because of the way Garapolo is played in San Francisco. and the ending of the, you know, of Tom being at his age, and there's no sustainable movement within New England as who's going to be the next quarterback. So I think there lies the genesis of the store, you know, whether it's some of the details and the reporting seems to be accurate, but it has to be from people that are in the building

because when you look at it, I mean, they know about emails, they know about other things. So somebody in that building is telling somebody what's going on. And we had, even in their piece of Wickersham put, He says that, you know, they reached out to the Patriots for comment. They said that the story was very convoluted. Some of the details were not accurate, but they also didn't specify what details and what situations were not accurate.

One thing that we did see as a viewing audience was the Tom Brady situation with Josh McDaniels against the Buffalo Bills. I think that was December 3rd when that happened. Brady just basically snapped on the sideline and, you know, he missed Brandon Cooks on this past. He turns to Josh McDaniels. He yells the expletive FU. Everyone freaks out.

over it. They're like, you know, what's going on with Brady? What's going on with McDaniels? What's going on with the Patriots? But basically the way it gets tied up is he's a competitive guy and this is who Tom Brady is and we all move on. But now we're saying that situation was basically boiled over and bubbling over throughout this entire season. And it comes down to his trainer, a guy that had, you know, Guerrero, a guy that had been boxed out by Belichick and the Patriots before from being in the building. He's a guy that, you know, he has some weird, you know, ideas for how to handle the body and a diet. Just that situation alone with Brady. What have you heard there and what have you seen

there and what do you think about that situation? Well, you know, first of all, I think the reaction to Josh on the side of the basketball game, we've seen that before with Bill O'Brien in the Redskin games a few years ago where Billy O'Brien was yelling at him and he got on it. I think it Tom, you know, you become 40 years old and you've got five

Super Bowl. Sometimes being yelled at isn't always an easy thing to take. And I think he probably was reactionary to it. Came out later and said to him, you know, he apologized, and he's been very supportive of McDaniels as he tries to get a head coaching job. But, you know, I mean, that's the way they coach in New England. Look, they're going to coach hard.

They don't change how they do things. Everybody's accountable. Everybody has to sustain the rap. And once you lose the way they are, you can't do your job if one guy is allowed to skate and one guy is not allowed to skate. And so that is the pillar of what they believe in. And so once you lose that, they've lost their program. And so they're never going to change who they are, how they coach.

That's what they do. And I think that Tom probably, and I don't want to speak for Tom, but I think that there are times where there's frustration that runs into effect because he does feel like, you know, maybe I did make a mistake, but, you know, I've won five Super Bowl, so let me have one or two mistakes. And I think that when you chase excellence like they do in New England, you know, mistakes can't be tolerated. So the Colanlo thing to me, Tate Fraser, is seeing him, he was on the team playing, he's coming around. And since I've left, I don't know what has transpired or what has caught, not in the building of what he's thinking. kind of thing. So that's the one that I don't really have a handle on. I really do it as an asset. Well, you talk about the program and the Patriots program and basically it's a very selfless, you know, way to look at football and it's a way to put the Patriots first and then

your second. It's sort of like what Indiana basketball is. We don't have the names on the back of our jersey. We're going to be, you know, it's about the program. It's not about the people involved. But when you have a Tom Brady who is, you know, a Michael Jordaness, you know, a football player, a Joe Montana type talent at quarterback, sometimes if you go above the program and He never really has done that, but now he's writing this book. He's got his own TB12 diet program. It's sort of like he's deviated from the plan of, you know, I take less money and I let these Patriots win, and I'm fine to be home with my family.

And that's sort of the angle I think they're taken with this whole situation. And I'm not sure if that's actually what the case is, but that's just sort of how it feels from the outside looking in at this point. Yeah, you know, it does. And I think that what you have to do is when you read these, you know, Seth has done a lot of work. a lot of reporting. I'm sure he's got a lot of sources within the column, but he also has a lot of Patriot sources, and you've got to try to figure out who that could be, and what goes on. I mean, this is going to come to an end at some point. I mean, Brady can't play that he's 50. Belichick always said he doesn't want to coach, like, you know, until he's 77. So, you know,

things are going to go their separate way. The only thing I will say, when they traded Guapalas, you know, the Patriots have always believed in sustainability. There's two kind of organizations. They're solution-based, which makes decisions based on the day of the timing. And then there's sustainable organizations. Decision to see how it affects them today, tomorrow, and then down the road, a sustainable organizational person. And for him to make a decision to trade Garoppolo, really with the understanding that perhaps they can't sustain this past, say, let's next year, that's what causes some concern.

Now, can they replace Garoppolo with a draft? I'm sure they can. Can they develop another quarterback? You know, I had to the fine to comment on it. They make their statement. And that's because they don't want to have to address this come Monday when they have a press conference. I mean, they're going to refer back, which is what they should do and get out of the way, and they can focus on whomever they have to play.

And we talked about the Jimmy G. Trade when it happened. It seemed very unlike Bill Belichick to – I mean, what do the Patriots do? They get rid of guys before they are over the hump. They get ahead of it, basically. That's what they've always done. And so for them to let Tom Brady ride this thing out. And granted, they should have. He just won a Super Bowl for him.

Why would they not let him ride it out? but making that Garoppolo trade. When it happened, you know, you said on the podcast, you know, this is very, I'm sure this isn't necessarily Bill Belichick's decision. I think he loved Jimmy. He loved, you know, what they groomed with him and obviously saw the talent there. So Jimmy goes and wins five straight with the 49ers. He's watching those games and he's thinking to himself and probably kicking himself to think,

well, I had this thing all set up. You know, Tom maybe could take us to the Super Bowl this year, walk away from the game. But now, you know, I lost our guy and now I'd have to restart the whole program again. I mean, that's probably frustrating for a guy that's been there for 17. years and know that he has to start from Ground Zero again. Yeah, you ever watch Shark Tank? Yes, of course.

You know, what I love about watching Shark Tank is Mark Cuban has this unique ability to define what the person in front of them is really ultimately trying to do. Sometimes it's not always as clear as I'm selling, you know, something for the bottom of a tree, right? You know, like, you know, sometimes it's marketing. And I think this whole story really comes down to people trying to get a grasp of, why Jimmy was traded. And I think that's not mentioned really enough is the fact that what made this so difficult, and I was one of the biggest guys that would say they would never trade Jimmy,

because that's what I truly believe, because I saw sustainability in Jimmy, was the fact that Don Yee represents Tom Brady, and he also represents Jimmy. And so to get a deal done with Don Yee was going to be prohibitive, because Don Yee knows that Tom Brady is his guy, right? So he can't really let that slip. He's got to be able to keep that, cultivate that, and life is going to go on, and earning power is going to happen for Tom Brady well beyond whenever he decides to stop playing.

So that's the fly in the ointment. To me, this whole essence of this whole stop, when you boil it down, is trying to get a nail on why they traded Jimmy C. And I think all the other stuff, whether it's Alex Guerrero, who gets yelled at, the Patriot. I think the essence of the story is trying to figure out why they did it and why they did make that decision and how people have reacted to it. And let's talk about the cause and effect about the timing of this story.

So this story comes out and we're about to hit the playoffs. I mean, this is prime time. And we've seen the Patriots. I mean, they sometimes used to feed off, you know, I mean, this is headlines. You throw up there and you feed off this sort of stuff. I mean, that's what Belichick has always done. It's what Brady's always done. They feed off these sort of things, these negative media stories.

And, you know, Deflict Gates, a great example. They bounce back from that. They won a Super Bowl. Does this do something in that locker room where it pulls guys apart? Are you think it's going to galvanize the Patriots as we've seen them do for the past 17 years? You know, I think the one thing you have to do as a leader is you can't ignore problems that come out, right? So you have to be able to look at them and deal with them. And I'm sure Bill, and I'm going to speak for Bill here, but I'm sure Bill's going to go in front of the team whenever they get back together,

whether it's Sunday afternoon or Monday morning, and just say, hey, there's the article. Look, you know, we're focused on Jacksonville. we're focused on trying to get the best thing. If anybody asked you about the article, let's focus on Jacksonville. Let's put it away because they can only control. I mean, they are true stella in that building. Nobody wants to really believe it because nobody understands the stoicism value that's brought to the table. But the understanding in that building is to focus on what they can control and what they can't.

And they can't control people's reactions to the ESPN article. They can't. They can't do that. So they can only control who they play and how they play the next week. And I think that's what really ultimately will generate and will drive their interest. And I think those done a remarkable job coaching this team because there's been a lot of injuries. There's been a lot of conversations about the G&G, all those things, and that they've been able to pull together and find a way to win games without a team that I would say on take this defense probably.

It will struggle come playoff time, you and I four, and I think that'll be a problem. Plus the fact that you add that he's got two coaches, Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels, that are up for head coach and jobs and problems. And that's the whole thing. I mean, it feels like we're reaching the end of this dynasty. And this entire run, we've had three, you know, we've had Kraft, we've had Brady, we've had Belichick. And I think right now everyone's trying to figure out who's going to outlast the longest.

And obviously, Kraft is probably the primo pick there because he owns a team. And, you know, it is Robert Kraft. We all understand that. Well, there's still one other guy in this whole. There's Jonathan Kraft that's still in this. And he wasn't mentioned in the piece. His name wasn't. but he is going to run the Patriot franchise

when Robert Kraft decides to step away or there's something unfortunately were happening to him. And when that transfer of power happens, that's what the dual organization will look like. And, I mean, do we have any inkling as to how he felt? I mean, I think the crazy thing is it feels like from reading the stories

and just sort of circling and sort of figuring out what's going on up there. I mean, it seemed like Kraft and Brady were on the same side of the situation where Tom Brady's our quarterback, we're sticking with Brady, we don't need to have a fall guy. or a backup guy like Jimmy G. We can get rid of him. And Belichick was more in the, I'm thinking five years down the line, not this year, not

next year. And I want to have a franchise quarterback like Jimmy G. And that's where the Rift starts, you know. So I just don't know if Jonathan Kraft, is he in the camp of let's let Tom Brady do this diet plan and play quarterback until he's 60 years old? Or is he in the camp of, you know, I wish we would have kept Jimmy G. It just seems like that's where it is. The divide is between do we let Brady run this diet plan out for the.

next five to ten years, see how long he can play football, or do we have an actual plan in place because that's not very feasible? But we know it's not fair. I mean, he might think he can, but the reality of it is it's going to be hard because like anything, you know, you take hit, your eye level starts to come down, you don't make the throws up the field that you used to make. I mean, it's just human nature. Your reflexes, they stop you from flying pain because your reflexes as you get older, tend to slow

down. And I think that's, you know, that's the case here. And look, they don't have a viable solution to quarterback. It's not Brian Hoyer. As much as I like Brian Hoyer as a person, he's not going to lead the Patriots to any Super Bowl. So they're going to have to find somebody when Belichick leaves or when Brady retires. There's going to have to be a passing of a torch to the next quarterback. Everybody, I think, in the building thought that was going to be Jimmy.

But I think the reality of it is, is now that Jimmy's not there. They're going to have to find another way to get to another Jimmy. Whether they can do that or not, I don't know. They have some other needs. They need to fix on defense. You know, I mean, when this off-season. when Jimmy was available in March and April, when they could have traded Jimmy for the most valuable,

they didn't do it. And I think that lies another part into the story. If you trade Jimmy in the off season, then why would you trade them two days before the deadline? You know, why didn't you trade them then? And I think that adds more intrigued, more, you know, you get more into the whole conspiracy theorist of the situation because of that. And those theories are basically this, right?

I mean, Tom Brady, if you're Bill Belichick, you stand strong in that situation. You say, we're not going to trade Jimmy G. And then you're going to let Tom Brady go out there at 40 years old and let him show his signs of age. Those reflexes slowing down. It's basically like letting Harrison Ford fly planes around, you know? It's like we're going to see him and know that it's about time.

We bring him down from the sky and let him walk around again. Yeah. Somebody needs to take the license. Yeah. I mean, look, let's face it. I mean, Tom Brady's won five football for the team. I mean, he's one of the greatest players who's ever played the game. Can't dis swallow.

I mean, when Joe Gibbs had, you know, whether it was Mark Griffin, he went to Doug Williams or Stan Humphrey, I mean, those guys are good players, but they weren't of the magnitude of this, you know, Joe Seisman. And so Gibbs kept making changes at the quarterback position rather easily because those guys didn't have legendary status this year. And replacing legends are always difficult. It would have been the same thing in Miami, but Danny Marino tears as Achilles, and so the injury keeps them away. Usually transitions from older players to retirement are caused more by. by injury, then a player just saying, I want to retire. The Barry Sanders situation is unique.

You can play, and they stop the game. 14, when we drafted Jimmy, I don't think anybody thought, going into the 2018 season of Tom Brady at age 41 would still be look it up. You just don't have any history behind it. So when you don't have any history behind it, then a player can play at that level, it's so you draft a quarterback. You spend three years.

It was true, ends up not being true because you got, you get, and so now they trade them at a time when it was the least amount of value. That's the other thing. I think if they were to trade a Jimmy, one or the two, which I'm not sure anybody was going to pay for it, too tape, trade, or you know, here's the reality. Most people think, you know I talked about this on this podcast numerous times. Most people didn't see Jimmy the way I saw Jimmy.

Most people thought I was shilling for Belichick trying to get the draft way out, you know, tell everybody, you know how I thought of Ben or from Mitchell Tribusky for an unknown quality. They'll pay for them. And, you know, I mean, obviously that causes a rift if you have, you know, someone in the summertime when his value is, quote, unquote, higher than it would be at the trade deadline. and they do hold them out for this whole thing. I mean, if that was the decision that was made by one of these parties,

whether it's Kraft, Belichick, whoever it may be, I mean, are they kicking themselves when they had to trade them two days before the deadline? And is that hangover, you know, causes sort of rift to even, you know, reignite itself at this point? I think, like I said, I think on, you know, Mark, I think you've got to boil down, really the genesis of the story is I think people are upset that they made. I think it's the, they know they made a bad decision in the sense that this is the only decision they could make because of the situation.

They couldn't franchise them. Don, he represents both parties. I mean, they were going to go from Aaron. They were going to go from Brett Barb to Aaron Rogers, and now they're going to go from Brett Farv to whomever. And I think that causes the risk, and that causes the struggle. You know, whenever you're in an organization, do you think everybody gets along and it's harmonious all the time? Absolutely not.

You know, there's things that happen in organizations that, you know, can make people conflicted and make people upset or, you know, and so you your way through it. And they've had 17 years of working the way through problem. This is one of those where for the first time it appears, you know, that they didn't do the right thing for the longevity of the franchise. They did the right thing for the short term of the franchise, not the longevity. Absolutely. And yeah, you mentioned the Rogers-Farve thing. That was my last thing I was going to bring up because, I mean, this is sort of like if, you know, Brett Farve in 2008 went to Ted Thompson and the Packers and said, I want to come back. And they said, yeah, we want you to come back, too.

and he never goes to the Vikings, and who knows, Aaron Rogers may have gotten traded, and we have a whole different, you know, timeline to this whole thing. And I think that's sort of what happened in New England. Right, and the thing you're missing there is there's no owner there, right? Yeah, exactly. So you have nobody that you have to, you don't have to, there's no, you know, there's no owner involved in trying to understand the dynamics of everything. And I think that, their lives, a different situation.

They did a clinical decision, and it worked out for them. And thankfully that Aaron Rogers turned out to be a great player, because if it didn't, you know, Ted's retired, this year, but it would have been a lot sooner before when 10 would have retired. I'd not work out so well. Absolutely. Absolutely. Is there anything else you want to bring up about this Patriot story? I mean, I know it's a hot topic. A lot of people are talking

about it. We're obviously going to get a lot of stories heading into the playoffs. But I mean, from what I can tell, it seems like this is something that we sort of saw when the Jimmy G trade happened because of how irregular it was for the program there. And now this is all stemming from that situation. Right. You know, and I think, look,

it's in my book. It's talking about sustainable values and situational values, and I think that Patriots forced themselves in a corner, because I don't think they really intended on trading them last March. I know they didn't want to trade him last March because they would have if they wanted to, right? And so they didn't trade him,

and now that they did, and it's how he's playing. I mean, this story wouldn't be a story if Grappler wasn't playing to the level and he's playing, but it's so obvious that he's so good, right? But like it was obvious to me, and we would talk about it, that he's so good that people are like, God, they just traded a franchise quarterback for a high

second round pick. I think bearer-wise the story. And I think people are trying to get to come down. You know, to me do that. And that otherwise, you have had this month success, selfless all the time, especially when you have five seatbelt tropes on your mouth. Exactly. Exactly. And it's a situation

there where obviously all eyes are going to be in New England at this point. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out. Quickly, before we get out of here, I just want to do the quote-unquote Saturday sit down the thing that we always do, even though this will be going up on Friday. We got Wildcar Weeking

coming up. We're going to go up on Friday now. We're going to go up on Friday on Saturday and Sunday, so we're going to go up on Friday, I hope. At least get people a chance to listen to this before the games start out, right? Exactly. We're going to call it. Now it would be the Friday sit down. Quickly. The Friday focus, yeah. The Friday focus, there you go. Way to go, Lombardy. You're producing yourself at this point. I'm a word smith. You are. Hey, Pras. We got first game, we got Titans Chiefs, Tennessee going to Kansas City, going to Arrowhead. DeMarco Murray is now officially out for this game, that will hurt the run game. Derek Henry came out and said he played soft in their last game and expects to play,

I guess, hard in this game, more physical in this game against the Chiefs. Chiefs run defense, we'll see what they're up to. This is nine and a half point spread. A lot of people are thinking the Chiefs will win this one pretty handily. When you look at this game, Lombardi, what's the main focus? You know, I think the focus has got to be that the Tennessee Titans have to find Malio that's got to make plays in this game. And you're not going to make plays against Marcus Peters.

You're going to have to go the other side. and Decker and their receivers, especially Galante Walker is going to have to make plays in the middle of the field. They're going to have to make plays with their passing game. They're going to have to secure the edges, make plays in a passing game, and then feature Henry in the running game, if you think you're going to go on the road in Kansas City with an extremely loud crowd noise and try to establish the run

and think you're going to hold back Kansas City's offense, you're going to make a mistake. Last year we saw the fourth row team, the four home teams won convincing way. I mean, it was the four teams won that played at home. because they're the better teams, clearly. And I think Kansas City's the better team. For Tennessee to win the game, I think Mario's got to have a really good day.

They've got to be able to handle, you know, he's got to make plays in the passing game, and he's going to be able to feature his arm and then feature his legs. And they don't just score enough points. I mean, that's the problem. I mean, Kansas City can score. And Kansas City's defense, actually, you know, as much as I think they're not very good, which they're not. I mean, but when they play against teams, I mean, they've had moments where they've held,

They've held one, two, three, four. They've held like seven teams under 20 points or 20 or less. So I think they can do enough here, and I don't think Tennessee's explosive enough to really feel like they could do anything. I like Kansas City strongly here. Yeah, and we're going to see if Mario, he came out and said he's 100% healthy, so he basically implied that he will be running the ball more because he said that's a weapon that he has,

so we'll see what that looks like on Saturday. And the first game, that game is at 435 Eastern, 135 Pacific. The second game on Saturday, we have the Atlanta Falcons, coming out to Los Angeles in the Coliseum to take on the Rams. Shaw McVeigh, Jared Goff, all these guys that watch all their press conferences this week, they're basically saying they've had a lot of big games this season. This is just another big game. Any calls for concern with those young guys in their first playoff game?

You know, look, I think it's kind of an overrated thing, to be honest, if you take Frasier, I'm not sure it really matters as much. But I think what matters more than anything is them to have a good plan. And I think when you look at Sean McVeigh and you watch him against Seattle Seedawks, the first game they didn't play as well. They went up there, the second game, they really played well. You know, he has an understanding of how to attack this Carol-style of defense that they run in Atlanta. So I favor that there.

My biggest concern of I'm a Falcon fan is Wade Phillips versus Steve Sarkeesian. Playoffs are about more about the coaching matchups, the chess matchup within the coaching ranks, than they are about playoff experience. I mean, guys, look, you play the Alabama-George game Monday night. You know, some of these kids that are playing, I mean, type girl he's played in a ton of games in his career. I mean, this is no different than playing, going into Jacksonville and playing in Florida when he was in Georgia.

I mean, they're big games, right? These are guys that played at big schools. They've played big games. So I think that playoff experience tends to be a little bit overrated. I know Belichick used to tell the team all the time, look, Lawrence Taylor had no playoff experience until his first game where he had two strips, two sacks and two strip fumbles, you know, and basically took the game over. It's not how you play. It isn't about your experience.

So I kind of remove that a little bit, And I think that Sarah, I'm handling the defensive structure of what the Rams are going to do to them and how they're going to attack its protection. And I think that's going to be the difference in the game. I think Atlanta struggles offensively when they have to play against a really good defense that understands how to attack them. And I don't think Stark has answers to how to change them. And I think their lives, the problem.

I like the Rams, really, because I think they'll be more on offense. I think McBae knows how to attack the defense. I think Phillips knows how to attack the offense. and I think they're really good in the kicking game, and I think that will be the difference. Absolutely. I would say this. The Rams, I mean, and everything I've seen pregame for this game,

they seem very cool, calm and composed and ready to go, which is what you want to see from a young team, especially from McVeigh. He's been great talking about the whole situation and going against the Falcons. He basically said we're playing the NFC champions in my mind, and that's how we're looking at it. We're the underdogs in this game.

So that's probably the best way to view it. Next up, we got the first game on Sunday. We've got the Buffalo Bills going down to Jacksonville. That game is at 1005. Pacific Time 105 East. Eastern, Buffalo bills and the Tyrod and Tyra Taylor taking on this Jaguars defense, which looks you know unstoppable right now. What do you see for this game?

I think this game's all about the first quarter, Trey Frazier. I think it's all about who gets the lead. I think if Buffalo can get the lead early in the game and can play a pace and style that they need, if Tyra-Taylor has to play from behind, it's over, okay? It's over. Tell Cousin Sal to double down at half-time. It's over, all right? To me, they've got to play a certain style, a certain way for them, and it has to be with

the lead. Meanwhile, Jacksonville is another team. They've got to play with the lead. So the first quarter to me is really important. And I think what's the kind of happen is Jacksonville be in the bigger, more physical team. Buffalo is not a physical team. They want to play a seven-man front. They want to play cover two in the back, and they want to handle their passing game.

Can they stop this Jacksonville run game? Can they stop it to where they get control of it and handle the play action? Because Bordles, it's easy. When you run play action like they do in Jacksonville and like Garrett Gough does quite a bit in Los Angeles, is it separates the defense. It makes it easy for the quarterback to read where to throw the ball. And I think barrels, they're going to have to commit to the run game, which has to make him better.

I think this is a really hard matchup for the bill. I don't think they have enough explosiveness on offense. Jacksonville won't turn the ball over unless Bortles is forced to throw drop back passes, which I don't think they will. I like Jacksonville to play really well here. I think their defense can dominate the defensive front. will make Buffalo struggle without McCoy perhaps being 100%.

Buffalo is really not a talented team enough to be able to beat Jacksonville Jaguars on them. Yep, and we're going to see if Doug Maroon can handle his old team. That's pretty much been the biggest storyline in that game heading into it. Final game of the Wildcar Weekend. We have the Carolina Panthers going down to New Orleans. The game is at 140 Pacific, 440 Eastern. This is the first time that the NFC South teams

face each other in the playoffs since the division was created in 2002. Panthers are obviously down to O and 2 in the series, taking on the Saints again. In this game, is there anything to point out? I mean, most people are taking the Saints in this one. Three times in a row, right? We played Pittsburgh when I was in Cleveland in 94. We lost them three times in a row. They beat us.

They're just for a better team. And I think, you know, my question to you is, as a Panther fan, are we going to see Good Cam or Bad Camp? I think we're going to see Cam run a lot, if I had to guess. I think if we see Good Cam, and Cam wants to be able to take over the game, and he wants to give it an effort, I think this is the one row team that can win here, right? I think the other three home teams are pretty well locked.

I think this is the one road team that could come in and play well. I just don't know what Cam we're going to see. I do think this note, Treyfraiser. I think Drew Brees has got to play better than he has been player. I think his arm is going to have to make some throws. Because I think one thing about playoff time, people say, well, you win in the playoff because you can run the ball. I think that's a total hogwash.

You win in the playoffs when you can get the lead and play from the front. And the only way to do that is to really throw the football. And I'm sure that these teams know each other so well. I think this will be the best game of the weekend. I don't know which way to go. I'm going to go New Orleans here because I think they've beaten them so many times. They understand how to play them. But I also think that if Cam decides he's going to play to a way that he can be conducive to playing,

I think it favors them. But they've got to figure out to run an offense with McCaffrey in the game and not just run in place from McCaffrey. And because they can do it with Camara, they can't do it with McCaffrey, which why Camaro ends up being a better play. to me that's the difference in the game. Yeah, and I think my biggest thing to watch out for in this game is using McCaffrey more as a decoy and Greg Olson as the number one guy.

He's supposed to be 100% healthy, so we'll see how that looks. And when Cam has Olson, he at least has a safety blanket, and he hasn't had that all year. So that's one thing to watch out for. Any final thoughts going into Wildcar Weekend? You just said that you think the Panthers are the best chance to get a steal on the road. But other than that, anything to look out for? You know, I think it's really going to be interesting to see where we are with Mario. I think if Tennessee gets beaten this game, I think it's going to be really hard for, you know, Mike Malarkey to keep his job.

I think there's a lot of dissension going on in Tennessee about the play of the quarterback. And if Marriota doesn't play to the level that people think he could, that job could open up even after a playoff performance. So I think that's something to look out for. I think Buffalo is a great story. Unfortunately, I just don't think they have enough arsenal on their team to be able to beat Jackson. And then that's going to be interesting to see how Blake Bortles handles the pressure, handles the game, and how much they take Blake Bortles out of the game. because as much as they want to talk about how much they love Blake and what he's doing,

I think they're concerned about him cost him of chance because it is an accuracy and his inability to put the boss a lot of games. Yep, we've got many more Blake Portles' facts on the way. This has been another edition of GM Street. We're going to call it the Friday Focus. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Mike Lombardi. And we'll see you Saturday night.

Sunday night, after all the games, we're going to review them, right, Peyfras. Exactly, Sunday night. We'll be back again. So please tune in, and we'll see you then.