The Ringer NFL Show - 'GM Street': Wild-Card Weekend Rapid Reactions (Ep. 215)

Episode Date: January 8, 2018

The Ringer's Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier connect to discuss the first four games of the 2017-18 NFL playoffs, including the Saints' tough win over the Carolina Panthers (1:00), the Titans' startling win over the Chiefs (11:20), the Rams falling short against the Falcons (20:20), and a lackluster Bills-Jaguars matchup (25:00). Then they try to guess the narrative for the week (30:30) and examine some teams' coaching situations for next season (32:45) before handing out some awards (36:50). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to GMTree, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. It is Wild Card Weekend. It just wrapped up. We've had four great games happen. We had some upsets on Saturday. We had chalk games on Sunday. I am joined by Mr. Michael Lombardi on the phone right now. Lombardi, how are you doing?

I'm a good, Tate, Frazier. I'm a little still stunned from Tennessee beating Kansas City. I'm not going to lie. I mean, you know, I mean, I'm just not going to lie. And then, you know, this morning on Sunday morning, I mean, was there, you know, Blake Bordels was performing? for, you know, that running game. I mean, you know, that's playoff football.

Wow. But that one, the tight one just blew me. But I'm doing good. I'm coming back tomorrow. I'll be back in the studio on Tuesday with you and get right back at it again. Maybe you can make another appearance on No Bull. Really, No Bull had a great week this week, and I think a lot of it was because of Tate Frasian. I don't know about that. I don't think it's a bump that I have going, but I will say that I miss you while you were in Waco. I'm sure you had a wacky Waco Wildcard weekend.

That was all the all the alliteration I have left for the day. Let's just start from the top, though. from the most recent game. We had the Panthers going into New Orleans to take on the Saints, a game that we both talked about. It's tough to be a team three times, but it's easier when Drew breezes your quarterback and you put up 30 points

every single time. The Panthers make a valiant effort to come back. First off, let's just do first thoughts about this game, and then we'll go into the final drive for the Panthers. You know, I actually, you know, I kept saying on Friday sit down and we go see Good Cam, bad cam. We got good cam and the Saints

want. So for me, you know, the Saints had a chance at the end of the game there, driving down the field. I just thought that the New Orleans Saints made the difference in the game. Those four-point plays, although they got the 57-yarder, look, that he can still throw the ball effectively, and they have enough skill players. I thought they used Kamara Moore as a decoy today than he did as an actual weapon. I thought they went into the game. He only had eight third downs of the game. They only converted two third downs. He played Canadian football the entire game from getting into what they want. So, I mean, my hats off to the Saints. I mean, they held on

at the two, I thought they should have thrown the ball there because I didn't think they wanted to get Cam the ball back because Cam was playing pretty good at that point. Yeah, and let's talk about, you talked about the Cat and Mouse game that was going on between Drew Breeze and Luke Keekly. Drew Breeze won that today, and Drew Breeze did a lot of things to get Keekley off

balance, to get Michael Thomas open and on some big throws. I mean, probably the biggest play he had was when he got outside contained and made that long pass on third down to Michael Thomas, and they end up scoring the touchdown. Camero scores the touchdown. to give them the two touchdown lead to give him a 12-point lead at that point.

I just want to talk about Breeze himself. I mean, he didn't have to do anything spectacular, but, I mean, the long touchdown passed to Ted Ginn, sort of took the air out of the ball for the Panthers after they don't score that touchdown and miss that field goal. They come down, score touchdown, get up 7 to 0. It just seemed like the Saints kept rolling. The Panthers, they kept fighting back,

kept clawing back to get into this game. They have a chance there at the end. A tough call, you know, with the intentional grounding with Cam Newton that basically got him to third and 23, which, you know, he throws a deep pass to Funchis. Funches doesn't quite get his head turned around. The ball drops, and then fourth and 23, they just take the sack and then game over. But I just tried to say Drew Breeze and Luke Keekly, I mean,

Luke Keekly, nine times out of ten is going to win a battle against a quarterback because he's basically a quarterback himself. But Drew Breeze won that today, and I think that was the difference in the game. Yeah, and I think this happened over the weekend, right? Ingram is not going to beat us. Ingram average 2-4 carry. Kamar average 2-3. The long carry of the day was seven yards by income.

I think the offensive line for the Saints, and they did that by being very aggressive on first and second down, throwing the ball, and getting those easy throws. I mean, that, to me, was the game in Breeze was great. So, you know, they played a ballplay defense. Oh, my God, just shut up, please. It's not. It's about having the ability to play left-handed and still being able to be effective, and obviously the Saints were.

And what is? I'm with you, though, Tate Frazier. I'm with you. I didn't think it was grounding. I didn't. I didn't think Fox gave us a real good view of the tackle box. No, they had a tough time all day. I mean, with them missing flags being thrown in the field,

I mean, I'm just talking about, you know, with Buck and Aikman, them trying to call the game what was going on. I mean, they didn't even show that they had Berson. I mean, Cam was trying to argue that he had Berson down there and they had a receiver in the territory, and that's what Rivera was arguing too. But once they made the call, you know, they didn't really listen to Cam or anyone from the sideline for the Panthers,

and then it was over. I want to talk about an even bigger place. and we're going to go back before the Panthers even had the ball. The Saints are, they have third and two. You mentioned that before. They run the ball again. Julius Pepper's gets in there, makes a stop, forces the fourth and two. Drew Breeze hurries to the line, tries to draw them off sides.

Then he takes a timeout before the two minute, as the two minute warning hits. We get a timeout for the Saints. Then the offense, Sean Payton sends the offense back on the field, and they throw the ball. Drew Breeze throws an interception or what looked like an interception, and then it gets, you know, swat it out. a fumble goes out of bounds. They don't review it under two minutes. Was there anything there because that ended up being about 25 yards? Obviously, I mean, since I don't know if they were, I didn't think it was a catch.

I didn't think he committed, like, I thought the ball was bobbing in his arms. They didn't get the tent for Dean Sanitoro's brother, Tony, on the side line there, who was an alternate official. He's the one that got the 10-second runoff. He came on the field and said it. He's a good back judge in the league. And so I didn't think it was a catch. I mean, obviously, Adams, the veteran player, he should have known better. But, I mean, sometimes your instincts take over in those situations. But the whole management of that sequence there by the saint, I think was play-by-play. I don't think it was the right thing to do.

I think when they got the ball, I think Sean the way he was calling that game point. I think he should have kept the gas to the pedal, get gas down and gone full force. He got fortunate and won the game. But that third and two call, I thought he should have thrown it. I thought he should have tried to be more aggressive. because, look, he's completing passes at 72% completely. You know, Breeze is remarkable, right? Yeah.

I mean, that back shoulder throw, he throws down the field to Thomas on the third and five, on the third and eight before, and they get the first down. I mean, it's remarkable, you know, and so I would have put the ball in Breeze's hand. He was the hot player. They got away with it. And I don't know if Adams was a catch-take-Fraser. I really don't think it was. Yeah, I just, I feel like that's going to get overlooked in this whole thing.

And, yeah, Michael Thomas, you just got to give your hat to that guy. I mean, in two years, I think he's a kid. He was the most all-time, 192 catches. I think he ended up with another catch of 193 catches in his first two seasons. He's unstoppable. I mean, I watch these games as a Panthers fan. And the person I'm number one scared of, obviously there's Camara, obviously there's Ingram. But when you see Michael Thomas on a slant or Michael Thomas going out for any route and Drew Brees has time to make the pass,

I mean, it's pretty much an unstoppable combination at this point. Yeah. There's a big win for the Saints. My son Matthew hasn't been his fantasy league, and he's like, dead. But keep letting Beckham just keep letting him make all the talking about. And he don't say nothing. This guy just keeps winning me money. It's true.

I mean, the guy just keeps making plays, and I think he gives them. And Gins are really unsung here. I mean, Randy Mueller got a lot of crap for drafting again the ninth pick overall in Miami, and he wasn't ready to be the ninth pick overall. And he's kind of bounced off the defense, and he's over, and now he's doing it. And he gives them, he looks like he's going to fumble the ball at any time, and he does all the time. He hates the matchups. and Ingram, look, Ingram's problem in dual sense.

The other thing I would say to you take a free to the receiver next year, I think that's his role. I think some plays great, but I think for me, for the Panthers to be the best offense next year, they should just make him a slot receiver, utilize him like they did today. 16 yards, that ain't going to get it done. Yeah, and he had the great play that gets him back in the game, the long catch on the option route, takes it in for a touchdown. That was a big play. I mean, you just said it, you know, six touches rushing for 16 yards,

six touches receiving for 101 yards. I mean, that's the difference right there in that game. I will say this. I mean, Cam Newton, there was a lot of, you know, fodder going to this game. You know, what could Cam do? He had this poor performance against the Falcons. He was there all night. He took some big shots.

I mean, a lot of people were trying to call for the concussion protocol. I think what happened was the visor when he took that big hit. I think it poked him in the eye. It got hit and popped out and poked him in the eye. And he went to the blue tent, did the protocol, came back in the game, almost let him on a touchdown drive. I mean, when you just look at that game, 349 yards, 24 for 40, two, touchdowns, no picks, no turnovers for Cam Newton. That's about the best you can get from him.

I thought he was great. Their problems in Carolina are the same problems. I mean, their offensive line is good enough. I mean, let's be raw. I mean, they're not good. Cam makes them get away with it, and they've did a good job. But, I mean, look, they've got some issues. And also the other thing I think that they missed the old Charles Johnson on defense.

I know they talked about he wasn't really ready to play. They were a defensive lineman short. They didn't get enough pressure because when you're getting first downs with two, downs, it's a lot harder. So, you know, and create, they've got to get another receiver that we can play inside. To me, I think that's where they have to define the roles. And then I think they need to take it off. And the Saints, I mean, next week they're going to go to the Vikings, and they look at a

scary team right now. And after the game, Cameron Jordan's interview basically said, look, the Panthers, that team has made the Super Bowl. We understand we wanted it more than they did, and because we want to have our shot to make our run for Drew Brees. And it looks like they're going to have a shot. Let's go over to the first game. yesterday. The Titans taking on the Kansas City Chiefs and the Andy Reed Bowl, Andy Reed in the

first half and the Kansas Chiefs offense in the first half. They take a 21 to three lead. All signs are pointing to the Kansas City Chiefs are going to go to the second round. They're going to make some noise in the playoffs what most people thought they would see in this wildcard game. But there was always the second half and the Titans come back. Marcus Marriota is probably the first person I've ever seen throw a pass, catch a pass, score a touchdown in all one sequence. And they end up winning this game, 22 to 21. An incredulous effort for the Titans.

John Gruden reminded us when they won that he's been saying for a month, we should remember the Titans. I don't know if that's true. But I will say this. I mean, the Tennessee Titans. The Titans have great, they have great skill players. I mean, I don't know. If he was coaching the Titans, now, I don't know if it's going to happen because he said all

the broadcast. He wasn't sure it was going to happen in Oakland. So I don't know. And then 10 minutes after the broadcast, it announced he's the head coach of the Raiders. So a lot happened between the time he left the stage that when he got into his car. It was amazing how that got done. It was crazy how he kept pushing it off

as if it was an up-in-the-air scenario. Even, you know, Sean in the booth with him is like, you know, we don't know if this is your last game. It may be your last game. It may be your last game. It was obviously his last game. And you got a good one, 22, 21. You know, I think this.

I always, when I watch games, I always, and I'm going to need at least 30. or, you know, we're going to have this off thinking that, and at halftime you think that. And when Andy Reid went at a half time, we've got to find out and really squeeze them to death because if we keep them around, you know, they didn't put – Of course, they didn't get first downs. They gained less than, you know, 50 yards or 60 yards in the second half, third down. I mean, it was really bad, but I think they got away from the running.

And I think what – I don't think they talked about this on the broadcast, Dave Fraser's, I look like Andy Reid took over the play calling for me. I mean, I look like – I thought he was really calling the game. I felt the same way. I saw him with his piece of paper, his big menu again. It looked like he was calling the plays, too. I would just say if you just looked at the stats, I mean, you look at Alex Smith.

He's 2433, 264, two touchdowns, no interceptions. I mean, Tyree Kill had some big drops in this game. I think he had three or four drops. I really heard Alex Smith a few times. Kelsey goes out. I mean, that was probably the biggest story in this game. When Kelsey goes down, it changes everything. Yeah, Kelsey's a wide receiver.

Let's just make this really clear. Kelsey's a wide receiver. You can call him a tight end all you want. He's a wide receiver, and he's a really good wide receiver. Because when they lose him, they can't replace him with Demetrius Harris. Like, he's not that kind of guy. He may catch a guy, may catch a ball here and there. I mean, they had 12, they had 21 plays in the second half.

I mean, here they're drives in the second half. They go three plays, eight yards, four plays minus two, kick up, miss a field goal, five plays 21 yards, nine plays 34. yards. The best drive was the last drive and they lost it on down. I think he made a huge mistake here. They never brought it up in the broadcast, but he's got the ball at that part of the field, right, and he's got three timeouts left. He only needs a field goal because Marlarky for some people, you don't chase points, right? So now Malarkey's chasing points once he didn't go for two. If he, when you only need a field goal, and you should be able to play field position.

So if he punts them back, pins them back with his special teams, which are good, and now he gets a chance to where he only needs to play on a short field to win the game. Now, people say, yeah, Lombardy, you're full of crap, they got the first down and won the game anyway. With the same play, they've always run. I knew that play was coming. I don't know how the cheeks didn't. Yeah, it was a back-and-forth game. I mean, also the big story in this one came when, you know, Jeff Triplett in this game, a longtime NFL referee. I mean, he announced his retirement today

after this wild eventful game that went back and forth. Is there any thoughts about that? I mean, obviously, the officiating is going to be a big story line. Yeah, I mean, he misses the call in the pocket when Mario clearly fumbles. He blew the whistle there. I think, you know, look,

that game, there's two things that I think people misconstru about that game. They think that Alex Smith lost the game, no. And they think that Jeff Triplett would cost the game. That's a big no. I thought they're in a bill game. They're going to play Tyree Kill. there to do it with the football.

And he was the reason why they've kind of reckoned. You know, look, triplet retiring, you know, I mean, it was a fumble by Henry that they got picked up by Derek Johnson for the tuck. I mean, that wasn't a fumble. That was pretty clear. You know, the one in the pocket he called, you know, so I don't see how you can blame him for that game. But I think that Andy got very conservative

with Andy at times in the playoffs. And unfortunately, for chief fans, I mean, you have a good record. And then you have a bad end to the season. And I think this will happen to, I think there'll be a revamping of it. defense. I'm not sure Bob Sutton. Rumor has it. Bob Sutton's not going to come back from the coaching circles. I think there's going to be a lot of changes on that Kansas staff defensively. And oh, by the way, did you see DeRelle Revis not even try to tackle out there?

It was unbelievable. It's sort of like I saw Captain Munterlin into the game in the Saints on that Michael Thomas catch. It's like when Darrell Revis and Captain Munterlin are these old veteran guys and they're in these big moments in the playoffs. I mean, you maybe want to reevaluate your situation at those positions. point. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. And we should before... I think Kansas, I think Kansas City is just tired of the Rex Ryan type of defense. I think Kansas City knows they need to be a little bit more diversify whether they can play some zone. They don't have enough corners to do it. Marcus Peters is great, but everything else, they need Eric Berry back. But, I mean, that's for

another time. I think it's, I think they'll make a change defensively and try to become a different team. And I mean, we saw Marcus Peters. I mean, the good and the bad with Marcus Peters, you get this fumble recovery, it goes back for the touchdown. Everyone in Arrowhead is celebrating the fact that this may have happened. We get the replay review we see is obviously down. Derek Henry is obviously down. Then Marcus Peters gets a personal foul penalty for acting out in response to that.

So there's the good and the bad with Peters always, which is not the best thing to see. We should point out Derek Henry had an amazing game in this game. 23 carries, 156 yards, a touchdown as well. He was involved in the passing game quite a bit. Delaney Walker played well for the Titans. If you're a Titans fan, you just got to be happy. I mean, if you're Mike Malarkey, all things came together.

This was a game. We thought we might see Mike Malarkly own the lamb after this game, and they put it together and get a win. Look, let's face it. I mean, somebody in the Tennessee front office, somebody in Tennessee leaked out that Mike Malarkey was going to get fired after the game. I mean, that was pretty clear. And so that's the reason why the owner of the Tennessee Titans has to come out today

and release a statement that he's our coach for next year. I mean, this kind of has blown up in Tennessee's face. Whoever, I don't know who it was, but it was leaked that he was going to get fired. they lost the game, and at 21 to 3, it seemed like a pretty good idea. And I think this, I mean, Tennessee won the game. They're going to go off to the underdogs going and they're going to go away because you bring a Malarkey back.

Marquis going to have to ask themselves some hard questions. How do I fix this problem with my quarterback? Do I get another offensive coordinator? How can I make this thing? The point, the old line, Kate Frazier, were always one injury away from having a good team, and they were. That injury to DeMarcoe Marcos gave them a chance to put Henry. The chiefs are not a good defense.

I've said it all year. They're not good on defense. I thought they would win the game handling it because I don't think Tennessee's any good. I just didn't realize that they were just going to go no-show in a second half. Yeah, it was the Andy Reid formula to a T. Five straight home playoff losses for the Kansas City Chiefs. That's tough when you think about the atmosphere and arrowhead that that's a reality. Let's go to the next game on Saturday night, the second game of the day.

The Atlanta Falcons came out to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in a big game. We got Sean McVeigh taken on Matt Ryan. we're going to see if this Rams' offense could hold up in the playoffs. Lombardi, I went out in Los Angeles to watch this game. Bars were packed. You were there, T. Fraser? No, no, I didn't go to the game. I was just out in L.A. watching the game.

Bars were packed, lines everywhere. The people wearing Rams jerseys. I saw girly jerseys. I saw Robert Woods jerseys. I saw Sammy Watkins jerseys. And, you know, by the end of the third quarter, I started to see a lot less of those as time went by. Because the Atlanta Falcons came in, and they basically just showed that they were

the veteran team and the Rams look young for the first time in a while. Yeah, you know, I think what Atlanta said, Atlanta said this, we're going to not let them run screens. We're going to not let them have any play action tackle like crazy because they're really good yards after the catch. And we're going to make this game go really quicker, faster than Derek Goff can play.

And, you know, and they did all those things, and it looked like, to me, I don't know what it looked like to you when you were drinking at the bar, but it looked like to me the Falcons had a face. I mean, Gurley's still rushed for 100 yards, but I mean, golf's sitting there. He's struggling when he had time to throw the ball,

he looked like he could make some throws, and he did make some great throws. But for the most part, I mean, they just didn't look like the same explosive offense. It looked like the Falcons really had the better plan on how to do it. And I think Michael Brockers going out of the game for the Rams hurt them. The Rams got tired on defense. You know, because this Falcon team wasn't really blocking them very well.

I thought early in the game, I thought the Rams just were behind in the game. I didn't think they lost control of the game. And then in the second half when Atlanta, decided to run the football on them and try to control the game that way. I thought they got the – look, the average three-two a carry. I mean, I think the Rams played good enough defense to win the game. Matt Ryan made enough throw people. They didn't turn the ball over.

The Rams special teams turned the ball over. You know, it was one of those. I don't know if the game was maybe on, and I thought maybe they could overcome golf's inability to make certain plays. To me, it's going to be an interesting. The Rams is going to be fascinating next year when the schedule gets harder for them. and they play some better teams during the year and how teams handle McVey's offense. Because what Atlanta did to him, to me, they were running their plays. They had a good handle on them.

Well, we talked about this on the Saturday sit-down or the Friday focus, depending on what you want to call it, this past week. We had mentioned this even before earlier in the season with McVeigh phoning in those calls and basically putting the checks in for Goff, you know, as predetermined checks for Goff to have at the line. It felt like the Falcons and Dion Jones and some of these guys on that defense, they were picking up on everything he was putting down. They had obviously watched a lot of tape on this Rams team,

and you could see it when they had the second break with the slant for Cup, which is basically his safety blanket. You know, Dion Jones is reading those routes 24-7. I think it sort of hurt golf a little bit. Yeah, it did. To me, they just never got in a rhythm. Of course, they could never get in a rhythm because they couldn't convert third downs. They only had the ball 22 minutes.

They really couldn't get going. I know they gained 361 yards, but everything they do is off-playoff. action, those two-man routes. They throw the ball up the field, and Gough looked like a little Bordelsish in the first, I mean, the first seven throws, he looked bad. I mean, he didn't have control the ball. The game might have been a little bit big for him, and he kind of got used to it. He just didn't look very good in that game. I take my hat off to Atlanta. I didn't think they could come out there and win. I thought the Rams were the better team, but I'm kind of soul to become this pass-happy team. They control the pace. They kept running. Even though I thought

the Rams did a good job on defense, I thought the Falcons hung tough. They were mentally tough. the game and it was a great win for them. Now they're on to Philadelphia, which they're now, which is remarkable, the Falcons of the six-seed are two and a half-point favorite. I don't want to give anything away for Cousin Sal and Bill tomorrow against the lines, but they're a two and a half-point favorite going into Philly. And it's not really shocking because, I mean, it comes down to the fact that they are the reigning NFC champions. And they're playing like they did last year.

Yeah, exactly. Like the Saints are playing good right now. The Saints play left-handed. I think to a degree, Atlanta played a little left-handed in this game and played well. To me, that's what I'm always looking for, is can you play left-handed and win? And, you know, Kansas City, I don't know what they were traveling. And they won the game. Let's talk about that game quickly before we move on to guest narratives. Can we just say this?

Can we just say this, take praise? After the game, I kept saying to my son Matthew, I'm watching the game with him. Like, Portos looks like he actually thinks he played good today. Like, he's on the sideline laughing during the game and the build. are in the four two minute drive coming down the field what was over there laughing like he's like it's almost like I hit throw an interception nobody can be mad at me

did he watch himself play here's my Blake Bortle's fact of the day he rushed for 88 yards which is more than he threw for which was 87 yards Blake Bortals was the leading rusher how do you win a game thrown for 87 yards I know I mean I know this sounds ridiculous but when you got first and goal to two

at like 240 to go and you let Tyraulte throw that stupid fade that never gets to Kelvin Benjamin because you want to you want a brother-in-law your buddy, right? Yep. Like, if you run the ball there, even if you don't get in the end of the clock's going to go down to the two-minute warning, you're going to keep them from getting those three points

at the end of the half. I mean, it was horrible. You know, your whole personality is run first, past second, and you've got first and goal at the one and a half, and you throw a fade because the guy wants to be a hero. See, to me, that's the definition of not being mentally tough. When you're trying to do something

that's good for you, that ain't good for the And to me, that's the real problem. A guy like Benjamin does that. Like, to me, that would just piss the hell out of me off. Well, that's a lot of people were calling for Benjamin in the Carolina game late, but that's the thing. You know, it's give and take with those sorts of deals. He looks so big.

Yeah. Take Frasier, he looks like a big tight end. I mean, like, I don't know if he, can he get away from anybody? He doesn't go, like he can run a lick. Mm-hmm. And then you got Nick O'Leary, you already have a tight end, so you don't need Calvin Benjamin to be that big guy. You already got over here.

Can I ask you this question? Yes. I mean, how many times we've going to run? to see the angle route on a two-minute drive from Buffalo. Can we get another play for this? Like, I mean, they hit it one time with McCoy, and it can, you know, to me, I love the Buffalo story, and Buffalo hung tough. They're in there.

Bordals try to follow two interceptions. They couldn't catch them. Yep. And, you know, I mean, look, Buffalo wasn't really a great playoff team. It's a great story, not a great playoff team, but neither is Jacksonville. I mean, at some point, Bortals was going to have to play in the game. And how about this? He's saying the weather.

It was windy. People were making excuses for him for the win. What do you think it's going to be like? I think it's going to be a little windy. Yeah. A little snowy? It's going to be some temperatures he's going to have to deal with, I'm sure. Yeah, I did think it was crazy that the Jaguar's response was as if they blew out the Buffalo

bills. The bills had a chance. I mean, Ty Taylor, Tyraight Taylor. You know, I felt bad for him taking that late hit, and Peterman had to come in and then through the interception and, you know, sealed the game. I thought it was going to be, we're going to have Bill Murray, clicking the flowers off and Stripes in Caddyshack at the Masters, you know, Cuderman? He's going to come in there at first down.

I mean, I didn't think he was going to make it on that first down coming around the court. Let's get there, get there, get there. And he fumbled it. He fumbled it, and luckily he recovered it, and then he comes back down and throws a pick. We should say, I mean, Jalen Ramsey, probably one of the best corners in the NFL. I mean, Xavier Rhodes is up there, obviously, too, left in the playoffs. But, I mean, he gets in front of that ball

and then catches his own tip for the interception to seal the game. If you're a Jaguars fan, you should be celebrating Telvin Smith, Jalen Ramsey, Darius, all those guys. I mean, Blake Bortles. I mean, I don't think we need any celebrations. Can you imagine CBS interview Blake Bordel's out to the game? Like, really? Are you seriously?

I'm going to go to him? I mean, you know, how about I love the best shot of all is when the own Tony Kahn, they went to Tony Kahn up in the box. Coughlin's writing notes and David Caldwell's sitting next to Kahn, and I'm thinking at myself, what do you think Caldwell's telling the con? You know, it was a good idea where you put $19 million, you know, valuable? And all I kept thinking about Dave Fraser is this. How good would Jackson will be if they're drafted the show on it?

I know Fournett's a great player. I'm not arguing that. But if you put a legitimate quarterback on that team, how good would they be? Yeah, it would be something scary. I mean, especially when you see Westbrook and some of these other receivers kind of show signs. Oh, yeah. I mean, we can't underestimate and if you didn't watch the game. And Blake Bortles in this first half, Tony Romo was trying to be nice in the booth,

but Blake Bortals was blatantly missing people that were just wide open. I mean, these were checkdown throws. These were screen passes. He was missing people by five yards. throwing it over their heads. I mean, it looked like someone that had never thrown a football was out there trying to give the ball to people. It was quite a sight.

It was great. And Romo was getting his digs in without really digging. He's like, well, see what happens when you throw a check down accurately when they take some of you? Quick break to get a word from our sponsor. Well, it's not really a sponsor. It's a podcast, and it's called Bachelor Party. January means three things. Cold weather, the NFL playoffs, and The Bachelor.

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Spotify, Art 19, SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcast. Now let's keep talking about football. All right, let's, uh, let's, uh, let's, uh, Let's talk about the narratives of the week. I mean, I'm guessing your narrative will not be Blake Borrell's as an elite quarterback, but you never know. This is one of our favorite segments. We just try to guess what some of the big storylines would be. First up, guess the narratives.

What do you got, Lombardy? Well, I think this. I think it's going to be, you know, is the Patriots' demise and all this stuff and are on the way down? And my number one narrative of the week is how insults of the Eagles are that they're the underdog and they're going to be the rallying cry this week for them to upset the Falcons. I think that's going to be, they're going to use that as a rallying call. Yep, those are two good ones. I'm sort of in the same camp as that.

I mean, I think the prevailing narrative for me is going to be that the Atlanta Falcons are the team to beat in the NFC. And that's going to be going into Philadelphia. Obviously, against the number one seed, Nick Foles has been talking about how he's ready to roll with the Seagulls team. So that'll be fun. Also, I think a lot of people, we're joking about Blake Burrell's, but I think a lot of people are going to convince themselves that the Jackson Mo Jaguars will beat the Steelers in Hinesfield. And I think that's something to watch as well.

If they can do that, they're better than I am. But look, I think this, I think we don't know what the weather's going to be like in either place, right? So it's going to be, you know, we've got a game in Philadelphia. We've got a game in New England. We've got a game in Pittsburgh, and we've got a game indoors. So that one doesn't count. I think the winner of the New Orleans, Minnesota game might be the representative of the Super Bowl. not saying Atlanta can't do it or Philadelphia can't do it.

I don't think Philly can beat Atlanta. But I think those two teams are right there. Philly won two-sie. I mean, Philly at it for that showdown. And I think that's going to be pretty clear. I think that's what we're going to get for a championship weekend. But we still have a lot of time to talk about it. Yeah, a lot more time.

I will say I agree with you on that Saints-Vikings thing. I think Saints are a team of destiny, but the Vikings have the home field advantage. And if they do win, I think they have a real good chance of making it into the Super Bowl. Should we do some awards before we get out of here? I think we definitely should do something. We should talk about some coaches, too. Like these coaches, like we didn't even talk about our man.

Now, John Gruden, did he take the Raider job? I don't know. Didn't he do that? It's been reported now, what, for like a week that he has taken the job? I mean, he's been named the head coach. He's accepted the job. I won't believe it until I finally see him go to a press conference and say that he is the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

The press conference, they've already announced the press conference before he went to the post it, what started doing the game. They already announced the press conference on Tuesday, and yet he would tell Sean McDowdy he didn't have it. So, you know, so that job's filled, okay? And so my sources tell me as the Detroit job, the key is the favorite there. Shockingly that Detroit didn't interview Josh McDaniels, which to me tells you everything you need to know right there, that defensive staff in place, Jim Bob Cooter, I would think they keep their defense staff, they want to get a new head coach, kind of keep some of the things they're doing.

I think that one there. I think Chicago and Indianapolis, they both interviewed Josh McDaniels. I think that's a direction that probably they would both go. I think Indy's still doing more interviews now as we speak. But, you know, I don't think like Braybill has a chance at, say, Detroit, they think he's a little time away. And then the giant job is going to be the fascinating one, because the Giants talk to them.

They feel like, yeah, they understand what their problems are. They're probably more retro 1980s typeings, but yet they really don't want to change. just all the things we've talked about. So I think that hire is going to be interesting. I don't think it'll be a patriot type guy at that place. I think it'll be somebody else. McDaniels is the big name, though, right?

With the Giants? That's what I've seen. Yeah, they did. I don't see that. I wouldn't think that would. I mean, as I said all along, I don't think, I don't think Josh is going to take a job at a place where,

you know, he doesn't really know the GM has old. I think that's what I'm talking about in the 80s type of thing. I think the Giants have this mentality that the DM is going to, to be pick the players, the coach, coaches the players. Well, that worked back then. Now it has to be a collaboration of both people. You know, they've got to work together to come up with the consensus. And I think that I think that I'm not speaking for Josh,

but I think that's the only way that that could happen. And if that does, then, you know, I would be surprised if he went in that direction to go work for a team that just had such a strong decision-making the way they've set their structure up. And maybe the Johnson will have to be willing to change. I don't know that. Well, you never know. there could be a big fish coming back on the market.

I'm still in the camps that I won't build Belichick to go back to the Giants. I know you're not going to sign on for that. That one is the worst. I mean, that had to be the worst rumor I have ever. I mean, did you see what I tweeted out, Tad Frazier? I tweeted out that that was like, he's a better chance of landing on Mars. And that was great.

You know, the one thing about Twitter, there's always somebody that has an answer for anything. Like, well, there's already been seven landings on Mars. I didn't even know that. Did you know that, pay Frazier? I think there's a bunch of rovers. We've had no humans on Mars, though, so it doesn't count. So I guess, yeah, I didn't even know that.

Like, I had no idea that that was even possible. It is. So, anyway. SpaceX, anything is possible. But I will say this. I put it out there as a complete joke and take a picture of Lawrence Taylor and Bill Belichick with Lawrence Taylor dumping the Gatorade on him and just said, I want this to happen. And then it came up in like two or three news reports. Folks, I'm just kidding.

This is for fun. These are not real reports. I do not think Bill Belichick is going back to the Giants. I can't believe people actually wrote it. and believed it. Like, I can't even believe it. Like, I don't even understand how people could write that.

First of all, you think for one second, crap's going to let the... Let me just walk out of them. Please. I mean, what are we talking about here? I mean, really, seriously. Anything for the storyline,

anything for the drama, I would say. Yeah, don't let the facts get the way of the story, right? Exactly. Let the story happen. We'll figure out the facts later. Speaking of facts, let's lock down some awards. These are all facts that we're going to throw out there.

First up, and I don't even know if this is applicable for Wildcard Weekend, but we're going to put it out there anyway. First up, time to go on the lamb. Is there anyone that needs to go on the lamb this week for you, Lombardy? Like, look, at some point, like, don't do any interviews. You know, with that game, okay? You know, like, just stay low-key.

You know, don't know. But, you know, I think Buffalo did a nice job this year. They should be proud of their football team. Everybody thought they were going to tank. They made the playoff. You know, they've had a lot of uncertainty. And, you know, obviously, Jerry Richardson is now just, he is going to go on the lamb because he's going to sell his stuff.

team. But other than that, I would be low-key. I think the thing now is let your play speak for yourself. You don't need press conference. Just let your play speak for yourself. And there's some really good teams. I mean, Atlanta's playing really good. New Orleans is playing really good.

Let them speak for yourself. Yeah. So go on the lamb if you're trying to do your own media press store. Just go on the lamb. We don't need that. Next up, we got the Fred Palermo Award this week for the best game plan. What do you think about that? Who wins Fred Palermo?

I thought, you know, I thought the Saints, I know, I know that, The Saints had beaten them twice. I thought the Saints game plan was really good today. To only be an eight-third downs against a really good defense, I thought was remarkable. I mean, you could say Tennessee, but I don't think Tennessee really changed their game plan. I mean, when you throw a pass to yourself and you catch it because Revis knocked the back of it, you know, I mean, I don't really know what I think Dick LeBow did a great job. It blitzed a lot. You know, I kind of took them out their game a little bit adjusted when Kelsey went out, so you could certainly say that.

I don't know if you could say it was a good game plan in the Buffalo game at all. you know, the Buffalo Jackson game, both teams kind of just tried to do it. They both showed up. That was good. Yeah, I thought Sean did a really good job, and I think Atlanta deserves it as well. I think Sean and Atlanta, both those teams did a good job. I think the South three teams from the South was really good. Three teams, two teams from the South in the S?

You realize we have five teams from the South in the playoffs, and we still have four remaining? Think about that, right? Yep. We still have New Orleans and Atlanta, and we still have Jackson. in Tennessee, and both those... Now, we know the NFC South is really good, but we think the AFC South is bad, and they still have two teams remaining in the playoffs.

Yep, so good for South. Yeah, they're here to stay. Next up, we've got the KGB Award. Who's the team that's most shocked and surprised? I would guess it would be the Kansas City Chiefs, but also, I mean, they've seen this script before. Yeah, I mean, it has to be. I mean, they didn't make the adjustments in the second half.

I mean, look, I said this early in the pod. Look, when you go in a half-time, you're up 21-3, you got to, look, we've got to score. This game is zero to zero. We've got to score. We've got to start fast again, and we've got to come back out, and they just couldn't do it. And I think they really got duped in that game. They got to got lulled.

They've got to have a lead. That's a tough loss to get over. I can tell you that right now. That's going to be a hard one for Clark Hunt, and it's the title organization to swallow. Yeah, definitely. I mean, five straight home losses in the playoffs is really hard to swallow for anyone. Next up, can't tell my courage for my desperation. I'm fighting.

I don't know what this is going to be. What do you have for this one, Lombardi? I think the team, you know, I would say it's got to be Blake Bordle. I'm not sure he's courageous. I just thought he was desperate, you know, and I was running out of the play. So I just thought he was desperate, and he did it, and he made the plays he had to make, you know. And so give him credit, take your out of. He won a playoff game.

I'm going to have to eat a, this week on No Bull. I'm going to have to eat a tofu meatball because he's in the playoffs. I mean, if he beats New England, oh, my God. I mean, if he beats Pittsburgh, oh, my God. I have no idea with Joel Solomon will have a store for me that. Yeah, he's drawing up devious plans as we speak, I'm sure. Exactly.

Yeah. Last one, you're probably going to just have to read off a lot of Blake Bortle's stats. Like, Blake Bortle's is one more playoff games than Deshawn Watson. You know, all types of stuff. I'd be shocked that Blake Bortle's that would have Golden Globe tonight. I mean, I'm sure he's probably there. Disaster artist, he won. That was him.

Oh, that's the best. That's good. Final one. If you don't know, now you know, heading in to pass the wildcar weekend first round. We're going to go to see the top seats this weekend. If you don't know, now you know, what do we know, Lombardi? comfortable going out there and winning.

I think that Dan Quinn deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team together. So I think you can tell they're for real. I think you tell the Saints are for real. I don't know much more than that. That's about what I know. Yep, and I agree with that. I think if I were to pick a team right now to watch out for it, it would be the New Orleans Saints.

They seem like they're a team on a mission. They've been about it all year. They got a great running backs, two great running backs, and an unbelievable receiver that I think, well, I think Michael Thomas's, you know, his notoriety is going to climb up in upper echelon as his playoff run continues, especially if they play like they did today against the Minnesota Vikings.

So that's something to keep an eye on. Lombardi, before we come back, we're going to be back on Tuesday, per usual show will go off on Wednesday. Is there anything else you have one final thought before we get out of here? We'll get back on it again, looking forward to it. Perfect. I'm studying some college hoops so I can know what the heck's going on. so I can be on one shining moment.

Yeah, we're going to have you on the podcast for sure. We'll try to figure out what's going on with Hofstra basketball, if we can get it back. No, I just found out Fultz's back practice, and he did five-on-five today. A miracle. Every time I fear it's a miracle, I think I'm back in Shawshank. It's a miracle. It is a miracle.

It is a miracle. That's a disaster. I saw it. All right, Tate Frasier, I got to go. You just ruined my night. Thanks a lot. This has been another edition of GM Street, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. I am Tate Frazier and I am

graced by the presence of the great Mike Lombardi, Lombardi, I can't wait to have you back. I'll see you Tuesday, Tate. Bye-bye.