The Ringer NFL Show - Lombardi’s Divisional-Round Reactions | GM Street (Ep. 384)

Episode Date: January 15, 2019

The Saints survive, New England dominates, the Cowboys lose to the Rams, and the Chiefs eliminate the Colts. Plus, the Jets introduce Adam Gase. Hosts: Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Liz Kelly and welcome to the Ringer podcast network. True Detective is back and The Ringer's Chris Ryan and Jason Concepcion are our guides as we navigate the twisting pathways of season three's plots, themes, and characters on the flat circle, a true detective after show. Follow Jason and Chris as they chase down leads, explore each episode's cultural context, and discuss true crime cases that mirror the ones in the show. Join the guys live every Sunday night after True Detective on the ringer's YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook pages. Welcome to GMTree, part of the Winger Podcast Network. It is Tuesday, January 15th, and we just wrapped up the divisional weekend, and I am joined on the line by the great Michael Lombardi. Lombardi, how you doing?

Hey, Frasier, I'm doing awesome. I am doing so good. Life is good, and I'm happy to hear that. There are unfortunately some teams that lost this weekend, so things are not going as great. We've got a lot of fallout that we're going to talk about. We're obviously going to talk about the Clapper, we're talking about Jerry Jones a little bit at the end of this podcast. But before we get into all the rumor mill that's going around,

after the teams that have been eliminated. We're going to talk about, obviously, the games and how it all played out. And we're going to start with the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Magic, the Philly Magic was continuing to go on in this game. Started out pretty hot. Eagles get up 14 to zero in this game. Nick Foles seems to be rolling, to say the least. The Saints battleback, your boy, Tassam Hill, with the big fourth down on the punt.

Also had a big pass that was taken away, but we just saw a lot of big plays from the Saints, a lot of Sean Payton decided to. go for it when he can. You know, basically throwing it back in Doug Peterson's face, a guy not afraid to go for it on fourth down as well. But when you look at this game, Eagles come out hot, Saints respond, Saints end up getting a nice win.

And obviously, the Alshon Jeffrey play will talk about a little bit later. But first off, what were your thoughts in this game, Lombardia? What you saw from the Saints and obviously the end of the Philly run and the Philly Magic? Well, you know, I kept thinking of Matt Nagy during the game. I'm like, Matt, you did this to everybody. You let these bastards in, you know, like, here they are. And they got the, they're very, they're resilient.

a champion for a reason. They fight their ass off and they're not going to go away. And so when they got up 14 and nothing and Drew Brees couldn't throw a completion, I'm thinking, shit, this reminded me of the 2014 game when we got behind Baltimore 14 and nothing quickly. And knowing that Baltimore was a good defense in Philly, you know, the key to beating Philly was you had to control the football, you had to force their offense to not be on the field, and you had to wear their defense down.

and the only way you do that is through time of possession, through converting third downs, through staying on the field. And so when A's got up 14-0, I'm thinking, man, you know, Sean did all that preparation to get ready for the playoffs, and it's just all going to fall apart for them in a matter of seconds. And so, you know, they end up a third and eight,

and the game really is in balance here. It's third and eight, three-five-yard line, and Breeze gets sacked, fumbled. If Ramcheck doesn't recover that ball, I mean, that's the play that they ruled. I don't know how the fuck they ruled it. I mean, they ruled it as possession and then turnover again. I mean, it had to be all the worst calls of all time, right?

Just say, yeah, they felt Bray and Graham picked up the ball for the Eagles and started to run with the ball. But, you know, in reality, when we saw it, even in slow motion, he barely had the ball in his hands before it slipped back out. And then, you know, from Breed's part from there, you know, they get the punt, their Eagles get the interception. And then, you know, you go back and they start that drive and they get that, you know, they get that fourth and one. and they convert it, that's, you know, that's just, you know, that's really the where the, from that point on, and they've got, that was when they got their third down, the Saints of the game, and, you know, basically with 12 minutes to go in the second quarter, they got their third, they got their third first down, you know, they controlled the football game throughout,

had the ball 10 minutes or more in each quarter. I thought it was a really a tribute to the Saints mental toughness, their resiliency, and it proves again that they can play any style in win. They could play right-handed or left-handed, and I think that's why they're a dangerous team. And they're a dangerous team, too, we saw early, because they took a shot. So when this game came out, Drew Brees runs on the field, it looks like the Saints thought that they were going to run this thing back against this Eagle secondary, just like they did in week 11. They take the deep ball shot to tag in. Drew Brie's underthrows it just by a tad, and LaBlock made it's a great play, and it kind of sets the tone in this game from the start, and you

could tell that the Saints, they were reeling a bit because the Eagles, Nick Foles, comes down, he throws that beautiful pass where he just throws it into open space. Jordan Matthews runs underneath it like Hank Aaron and makes a beautiful catch. From the start, it just seemed like Philadelphia had everything rolling. The Saints needed something. They need some sort of momentum. And even when they called that fourth down play for Tassum Hill and they get it, you saw the reaction from the sideline.

It seemed like it was a sire relief from the Saints and from Sean Payton and from Drew Breeze and everyone in that building for the most part because Camara was not able to get anything really going early on, didn't even have a touch on the first two drives in the game. which was something to keep an eye on. Foles, meanwhile, starts the game 8 for 9, 113 yards, and a touchdown that Matthews touchdown I just mentioned. And the interior line with Fletcher Cox and Michael Bidden and all those guys were getting after Drew Brees and getting up the middle and making him, like you said, play left-handed, which is not the way the Saints really wanted to play this game, especially after what they were able to do with Week 11.

But let's talk about as we get into the second half, as the Saints start to make that run. And the guy to really point to, and a guy that we have talked about on this point, podcast about what he is able to do talent-wise. And that is Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas, 12 catches in this game, 16 targets, 171 yards and a touchdown. And he had more yards than the entire Eagles offense at one point since the first quarter. I mean, I think they showed that stat where he had 100 yards receiving. The Eagles offense had 100 yards in total itself. So you can just talk about what Michael Thomas, I mean, he goes by the moniker, can't guard, Mike. And he showed on this day that when Michael Thomas and Drew Brees had that

rapport going and, you know, he's kind of just throwing him open. they're a tough team to be because Michael Thomas is by far one of the best receivers in the game and he showed it in this divisional game against the Eagles of course. Ted Ginn helps them too. You know, Ted Ginn opens up a yard all season. And they couldn't really keep anybody on the field. And this time of the year, it's really better than him. And then they get Kamar going.

Gary said that of the Cowboys, which we still think he needs to go to Pearl Vision Center. But the reality here is it's remarkable. Yeah, and it took a while for him to kind of get involved in the game a little bit, Alvin, in this one. But over time, and Mark Ingram, the same sort of way. I mean, he had that 36-yard run in the fourth quarter that kind of sealed it. But it was, they wore him down as the game went on. And you could sort of see the writing on the wall with that Eagles defensive line. I mean, Fletcher Cox goes down at one point in this game.

And you could just see how much they miss him on the interior. And the Saints were able to get some things going. But you mentioned Breeze. And I think the two passes to point out were obviously the LeBlanc pick early in the game. They take the first deep shot, he underthrows it a bit. And then when Taysom Hill is wide open, he underthrows him. on that deep ball. So you see those two moments and you point out to the fact that, you know,

being in a dome, he has the, everything is in his favor in a dome. You don't have to deal with the conditions. You don't have to deal with cold weather, all that sort of stuff. So if he's struggling with those sorts of things, then, you know, obviously it means a lot to be playing at home. So that was something to keep an eye on. I do want to talk to you about just Nick Foles

and just the way he handled himself as a quarterback leading this team again. He goes and does, I mean, what Drew Brees usually does, which is, you know, in the QB sneak, stretching the ball up. up getting the touchdown, and he just seemed cool, calm, composed the entire game. And then, I mean, despite the fact that, you know, he throws two picks, the second pick goes through the hands of Alshan Jeffrey on a hurry-up play. And that's what I want to ask you about.

Why did they rush to the line to get a playoff before the two-minute warning there late in that game, down six as they're driving to potentially go down and take the lead to win the game? You know, Tafracian, that one I don't understand. Like, to me, a couple things, I think, in the fourth quarter drive. And I think, you know, Sean Payton was in one of those delicate situations. When he got it at first in 10 at the Eagle 33, and you know, you know they're in field goal range. Right there, it's a 50-yarder. So his objective here at this point is we've got to get three plays where we can get, you know, eight yards.

I'm not even worried about getting a first down. I'm worried about getting their timeouts taken away, and I'm worried about getting a first down. Because we know this. Everybody who listens to this podcast knows missed field goals or turnovers. So if we miss this field goal, you know, that's not going to be really good. just because we're in field goal range doesn't mean we're going to win this game. We've got to be in makeable field goal range to win this game. And so, you know, the first and ten call, Kamara left tackle barely gets a yard, second

and nine. He tries to throw a pass. It's just one yard. They get nothing going. They call a timeout. And then this is where I think we got screwed by Fox because it's third and eight. And the Eagles call their second time out, which is fine. and they wanted to stop the clock at 308.

But then the 25 second clock was going fast. And what happened in the formation was what I saw from my living room watching the game was the Saints looked like they were going to run the ball and they were in a check with me run situation. And the play clock kept pouring down that Breeze didn't really have time to check the play and he ran a shitty play into an overloaded front, which is typically not what Breeze does. And so now all of a sudden they went back to fourth and 11.

and you're like, oh my gosh. And so like, oh, shit, the fourth and 11, what are you going to do here? And naturally, they kick the field goal and they missed. And now I'm thinking, okay, it's the Eagle Magic. You know, this is it. They're going to win. Then they get the rough of the passer call. But I think that's a situation in the game.

If you're a coach listening to this podcast, I think that's one of the real delicate that you don't practice that enough. You're trying to manage timeouts, but you're in field goal range. but let's be real honest. You're not in makeable field goal range, and you need those three to win to ensure yourself it's an on-site kick game, but if you fucking miss,

you run the risk of losing the game. And then the Eagles get the ball back, and they get the penalty on Davenport for Roughen the Pastor, and they're in perfect shape at 227 to go, 225 to go, dead ball, right? They run the ball, which is the right thing to do. Just start the ball moving. Smallwood gets no yard.

at all, right? And, or Sproles, I think it was. Sproles gets no yards at all. And so let the clock go to the two-minute warning. Like, what are we in a rush for? And I was actually looking at my phone and reading tweets at that time, figuring they were never going to snap the ball. And they go ahead and snap the ball and it gets interception.

And Millie's like, they got a ball got picked up. I'm like, what the heck this happened? Like, how did this happen? Like, to me, sometimes teams play fast. and sometimes teams play stupidly. And I think that was trying to play fast stupidly. Do you think it's one of those things, too, where it is a, you know, we're going to zig when they think we're going to zag where, you know,

Sean Payton and the Saints defense, maybe they're a little bit tired, maybe they are, you know, we're nipping on the heels, we're making a drive here. So if you do hurry up, maybe you throw them off a little bit, maybe you make that defense, you know, have to make a call quickly. Because, I mean, Alshan was open. It was a quick pass. It was a hot route. and, you know, Nick Foles delivered it right on the money.

But like you said, when you're rushing and you're hurrying up, I mean, maybe it just throws you off. I don't know if it was a predetermined decision going into it or if it was something that maybe Nick Foles and the sideline decided to do just to get ahead of the two-minute warning because they were worried about time. But regardless of, you know, what the decision, what the motivation behind the decision was, it goes through the hands of Jeffrey. And ironically enough, it does feel like every time the Saints make some sort of run, you know, Tracy Porter, you point to, there's some sort of interception where, you know, it just sort of works out where, you know, things may not be what they seem to be. And Nick Foles makes a pass and it goes through the hands of Jeffrey and steals the game for the Saints. Latimore runs and celebrates, does, I don't know what they call up, but basically the Lambo Leap version in New Orleans to celebrate the win, which was good to see if you were a New Orleans Saints fan. The one play I want to bring up to you, which I think a lot of people have kind of wiped away.

And I play that kind of set the tone that I think that was the turn other than the fake punt. That was the Nelson Aguilar play where I don't know if you remember this, but he runs it. He's running a seam route and Nick Foles has pressure coming on the blitz. And he throws it right on the money, but Aguilar hadn't turned his head around, so it goes right by him. Yeah, he got rid of it too soon. He didn't hold the ball. He needed to take the hit. You make him hold that ball a little longer than he wants than anybody.

Absolutely. I mean, that's just a fact. Yep. It's guaranteed. Callant $10 million. That game. Yeah, and I want to point out because that was kind of the big narrative coming. out of this game. What's going to happen with Nick Foles? What's the next move for the Philadelphia

Eagles? Will they keep Foles? Will they continue to roll it with Wins? Is there a chance they could tag? Could they franchise tag Foles and then try to trade him? I mean, could they make that decision together? I know he is so close with, you know, that Philadelphia team and has such a rapport with everyone there. Is there something where, you know, he can work with the team to get value back for himself and then they can maybe trade him to a landing spot he preferably wants to go to? Is that possible? You know, I think once he opts out contract, boys, I don't believe the Eagles can then franchise it. Okay.

Once it becomes void, then it becomes a free agent. The ability to create leaderships five games. So on their team, over, you know. Yeah, and people start pointing fingers and saying, you know, who should be the guy, who, you know, who deserves to be the guy based on, you know, postseason runs and obviously what we saw at the end of the season for the Eagles. But after the game, Carson Wentz, you know, had some nice things to say, basically, it was like, we are brothers, you know, Nick Foles and I, we both get along very well.

We know that we're both going to be successful, whatever our next venture is. And Nick Foles came out, and, you know, this is a guy that contemplated, you know, retiring at one point. And he said, I want to lead a team. I want to be a leader. And that goes back to what you were talking about as far as the locker room. The Eagles said their locker room was so great with Nick Foles because, you know, people kind of rally behind him. He sort of, he embodies the underdog thing where going into every game, people are like, well, Nick Foles, you know, he's a liability. But instead, he continued to be the one that kept the wheels churning for that team.

We'll see what happens with the Foles. We'll keep an eye on that. And obviously, the $2 million thing is sort of the big talking point where he would pay back his $2 million to then figure out where he wants to go after. This is definitely Carson Wins's team. You can just tell by the way the rest of the team handled it, everyone expects and suspects that he will be the guy moving forward. So it is what it is in Philadelphia. The magic is done for now. But Carson Wins will hopefully be healthy and ready for the next season.

And the Saints move on. And we will move on to the next game to talk about. go to the AFC for this one. We got the New England Patriots taking on the Los Angeles Chargers. This is something that Phil Rivers will probably want to forget. But for the most part, Tom Brady, very excited. It said after the game that everyone thinks that they suck. But regardless, they're going to continue to come out and keep playing the way that they are.

Finishes this one, Brady 34 for 44, 34, 34, 3433 yards. And a touchdown. Chargers were pretty much out of this game from the jump. We saw, you know, we talked a lot about Rob Grankowski not being able to get separation as a receiver. but Lombardi, he proved the value that he has as a blocker in the run game, what he was able to open up holes for Stoney Michelle in this game, really set the tone. And this was power going up against speed,

and the Patriots power won this game pretty much from the jump. Yeah, I mean, look, when Belichick took the plan from the front, and I think when you look at the landscape of the divisional round, you know, the Chiefs are up 24 to 7 at the half. The Rams are up 20 to 7 at the half. The Patriots are up 35 to 7 at the half. the only game that was closest to half of the Eagle Stank game, which ended up being the best game.

But the Patriots made it very clear. They wanted the Chargers to play from behind. And I think that anybody who thought that the Chargers' offensive line was any good, learned that it's not. Because we said on GM Street on Friday that Belichick was going to put flowers over his right guard, which he did. He put him home in Schoenfeld and their right tackle, Tevi. Both guys got exposed.

Rivers got hit way too much. And if you're Tom Telesco or you're Anthony Lennon, you're flying back home after you've watched this tape, basically what Belichick did to you was tell you all the problems with your team. He basically said, here's where you suck and here's what you need to fix. And if you guys want to go home and say you have a great year, we really feel good about where we are and not make any changes, you're going to get your ass to speed again next year. Or if you want to go back and say, you know what, we really suck at right guard. We're not very good at right tackle.

Our left tackles on borrow time. We've got to fix this offensive line, and we've got to fix. We've got to change some scheme because I think the other thing that was pretty clear in this game was Josh McDaniels just out-coach Gus Bradley. The one thing about the Chargers, the scheme that they run, and I talked about it on GM Street. I talked about betting across America, the show I do on weekends, was that they don't adjust. This is who we are. They're proud of it.

This is what we do. We do our thing. You know, they wear it as a signature on their chest. This is who we are. you know, in the playoffs, it's about adjustment. If you don't adjust, you ain't going to win. And that's what the Chargers quit doing. And that's why, to me, and, you know,

because I do that betting show, I mean, everybody was betting the charges. Take Frazier, it's unbelievable. I'm like, you're giving your hard-owned money to Anthony Lynn. I mean, seriously. Like, what have they done to deserve you? I know they were seven and one on the road, but we're talking about a second road trip. We're talking about, you know, I don't know. I didn't get it.

But to me, they kicked their ass for a half, and that's all they needed. And, you know, boasted it, really want to play. Ingram couldn't play. They got rid of football. They beat her if they beat them up and they warmed down. And if you just started right from this game, right from the jump, I mean, they score on their first four possessions, the Patriots, too, this first time they've ever done that in Patriots history to open a game. So they go four touchdowns on first four possessions.

So that's, you know, they're up 28 to 7. We're about midway through the first quarter or through the second quarter. They have about 20 first downs at this point. they ended up converting 30 first downs in the game, seven to 14 on third down. Brady was pretty much picking him apart, doing exactly what you would expect them to do against a zone. Like you said,

they were not making any sort of adjustment at all in Tom Brady. If you just let him sit back there and pick you apart, he's going to go vintage Tom, and that's what he did in this game. And it was pretty much, despite the final score being 41 to 28 and Phil Rivers, you know, making some plays in garbage time,

it was pretty much over. As soon as I said, as soon as you were in that second quarter, I felt like it was well out of reach for most of the Chargers fans in the world who were hoping they could bring something and draw up some sort of comeback. But was there anything else in this game that really stood out to you? Because I know Tom Brady, like I said, I mentioned after the game. He said that everyone thinks that they suck. But they really showed that they can outwill and they had the physical power.

And, you know, that seemed like something that we pointed to as a problem with them when they had to go against speed. but it did not seem that way in this game. They completely overpowered the chargers throughout. Yeah, and I thought as a coach, if you're watching that game, I think it's a great lesson on Canadian football. I thought what McDaniels did was play Canadian football, yet controlled the clock. You know, I preach about playing CFL football,

get first downs and two downs, stay out of a third down. They were in 14 third downs in the game. They converted to seven of them. Most of them in the second half, they didn't. They kind of messed around. But for the most part, they got bored. But for the most part, they played Canadian football and control the clock.

And they had the ball 38 minutes and 20 seconds. Phillip Rivers only had it 21 minutes. You know, he could only run 63 plays. He was trying desperately to do it. So there's a way. Like this is the recipe, this game plan recipe will be the same one. Well, it'll be different how they do it, but it'll be the same one. Control the ball.

Stay out of third down or stay out of situations that you can't really manage on the road and play Canadian football. And I think they showed you what you're talking about. talking about. This was pace and tempo combined. It's really a valuable lesson as a coach to understand it. People think all the time you want to play fast. That means you don't have the ball. I mean, that's the chiefs. They play fast. The fat guy at the buffet line, they got to eat. But the Patriots play deliberately fast, and I think there's a difference. Yeah, and I have to point out, too, me, the Patriots have struggled against the run this year,

but in this game, they look like a totally different defense against the run. I mean, they limited Melvin Gordian gets just 15 yards on nine carries. He wasn't able to really, you know, make much of a difference in the passing game, if at all. I mean, I think you only had two targets in this game. So, I mean, what was the difference just from what was Flores doing in this game? Obviously, Brian Flores is a guy now being talked about as the Dolphins head coaching candidate. But what was Flores able to do with this defense that make them look so distinctly different from what we saw, you know, let's just say week 15. I mean, they just looked totally in tune with one another and knew what was going on.

And they had all the gaps protected and everything hold up. So it was just wild to see that defense play at such a high level. Yeah, I mean, I think they had a good read on it. You score and you get behind, you know, the pressure becomes on the offense. We've got to get first downs. And, you know, running the ball doesn't always necessarily get you back into it. You know, and if you get stuffed, and they did a great job of setting the edge and took away the runs that Gordon wanted to run. So, look, I think Brian Ford is going to be a great coach for Miami.

I think it'll be a good hire. And I think this is a good indication of the things that they're able to do with lesser players than they typically have had, but they did it really well. Trey Flowers, the good player over the guards, and they'll find the matchups. I mean, that's the one thing the Patriots do. They tell you who you are and what they think of you by what they do with their personnel. And if you're not ready for it, you're going to be in trouble. And one last thing on this. I mean, I know Brady and Belichick, they're now, you know, buying into the underdog

role a little bit because, you know, people have continued to dismiss this team. But do you think this is one of those situations where it's a rumor situation where, you know, everything might be falling apart, you know, all over, but you do have all these talented people and they're going to make this one great last run together because it does feel like the stars are aligning a little bit, especially when you see the BPI and all these other projectors saying that the Patriots are the least likely team to make the Super Bowl at this point, despite what we know about Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, because it does seem, despite all the noise around this, they are all together. And it's almost a rallying call at this point that, you know, nobody believes in us, you know. Yeah, no. I mean, it's a powerful message that he's going to sell. You know that. And I think that either game with Kevin Costa, you know, the guy goes out there and Billy Chappell pitches the no-hitter in his last game at Yankee Stadium.

I mean, this is it. I mean, you know, whatever you got left, don't leave what they're going to do. And look, this round will be tough because the Chiefs can match him point for point. But the Chief's defense could also give up point for point as well. So I would never rule them out. You know, last time they went to Kansas. City in 2014, the franchise was declared dead on arrival to Methodist Hospital, and the Chief blew us out on Monday night TV, and everybody said it was over. And here it is, 2019, five years

later, and their eight consecutive conference championship game, you know, I mean, it's really remarkable. I mean, eight consecutive conference. Think about it for eight, that's better than the badger's 56th game history. It really is, especially when you think about the turnover that we see every single year in the NFL. It honestly makes no sense at all that they continue to do this and Brady and Belichick especially those two guys continue to keep it rolling McDaniels had a great game plan in that one

we're going to take a quick break here we're going to come back we're going to do the other two games from the weekend talk about the Rams, Cowboys and obviously hit on the Chiefs and the Colts and then we're going to wrap this thing up and talk about a few things around the league a few storylines talk about Adam Gase and his introduction to the New York Jets

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Hotel Tonight.com or download the Hotel Tonight app now. Back to GM Street. All right, and we're back. The final two games, the divisional weekend, obviously, the first two we talked about were the big headlines, you know, the two games that kind of, you know, caught a lot of attention, a lot of people stirring and talking. But obviously, being out in Los Angeles, I saw a lot of Cowboys fans here. I saw a lot of Rams fans very excited about how everything played out.

Rams won that one 30 to 22. C.J. Anderson was the underdog hero. in this game. It was the one that really showed that they have another little they have more juice in the backfield outside of Todd Gurley when you look at that Rams team and what they're able to do. Jared Goff was pretty inconsistent in this game

but made some nice throws but a little up and down on this one but was able to find a way to win. Jerry's team falls out of favor that lose this one by eight points and it did seem like the Rams kind of had control of this one throughout but just from the own set looking at this game Lombardi, what was your big takeaway from the Rams

and the Cowboys? You know, I I mean, everybody wants the next Sean McVeigh, and I thought that Aaron Cromer, the offensive line coach, did an incredible job of coaching this run game, of taking, you know, away the ability of the Rams to stunt and move and their movement. And I thought he'd feel that. But the Rams ran about 10 plays.

I mean, and the Rams basically didn't even let Jared Goff have to do anything. You know? And I thought that the Rams' offensive line dominated. I think they did exactly what they had to do in the game. And you've got to give credit to the line. I mean, everybody wants, everybody wants to hire the next Sean McBain. Here's the guy who's the line coach. He's been a head coach.

He was the interim coach in New Orleans. And he will be the huge difference, I think, in this game as we face the game. He knows the Saints. He understands Sean McBet. He understands Sean Payton. And I think he knows what's going to happen with the Superdome and handle in the crowd, those all that. I thought Cromer did an incredible job with the game.

I really do. I thought it was really, really well done. So that was my take on it. I thought that they were very, you know, they managed the game. They didn't let the game get away from them. And, you know, the Clapper, you know, just, you know, runs the same freaking fourth down play that he ran earlier in the game. Like, how do you do that?

How do you do that? And Elliot converted the first two, so, and he obviously is the back that you rely on. You get 20 carries in this game for 47 yards and a touchdown. The third time that you're talking about, I mean, the Rams put literally, I think every player they had in the box, just begging. the Cowboys to try to do something different or at least maybe a play action or something like that, but they ran Elliott right into the teeth of that defense, and obviously the Rams get the big stop there. So a lot of people were pointing to that as a problem, and that is why the Scott Linehan talk

has become ever-growing as we move into the news week where people continue to talk about the headlines. I want to ask you about the two quarterbacks in this game because I think both of them showed some signs of maybe some trepidation about moving. forward with them. Gough, obviously, I mentioned struggling in this game. I mean, you can tell that he misses the security blanket of a Cooper Cup on his side. And Dak Prescott had some really bad incompletions.

I mean, some that we saw, you know, earlier in the season in week three, I remember that Panthers game, he under threw a lot of balls. But when you talk about extensions that are coming up for those guys, I mean, both of them are obviously going to get him just because of the success of the team, but they did struggle in this game. And they did not inspire much

hope if you were buying into the stock of those two quarterbacks, right? Well, I mean, yeah, I think I think, I think they need to go and watch Mississippi State tape. And I think if I'm Dallas, I think I've got to bring somebody in to help me, you know, find a way to get DAC where I can utilize the skill as a runner and utilize the skill on the move and, you know, and do that. And I think the Rams are all in on Jared Goff. I think the Rams see Jared Goff.

And we're going to find out about Jack Off this weekend. Crowd Noise. If the Saints put any pressure on them, see how he handles it. It's a big game. I think this is a big game for golf, whether you're going to extend them or not, because you're going to find out can McBakey protected him? He did.

He's done a great job so far, but when he's gotten hit on the road but Chicago or somewhere else, it was a problem. So I think this is going to be a big game. But no one, the Rams are going to pay golf. I don't doubt that one bit.

I think they're definitely going to because the alternative is where are we going, where are we going to get it got? For me, if you have Sean McBay, I would pay him. We've talked about that. The Cowboys, you know,

DAC is the hard part for me to understand because Dak, I don't think they give Dak enough of a chance to be successful. I think they're too predictable offensively, and I know that Jerry said that if the Clapper lost his job, there'd be five teams lined up to hire them.

You know, look, he also said that the Cowboys offense was similar to the Rams Prohibition Center. You know, do I think five teams with hire Jason Garrett as the head coach? Wow. Wow. Maybe I could see a GM who would basically want to hire

Jason to just do it, but I really want to know. And this is going to be one of my pet thieves of soft scenes. I want to actually know what Garrett does door in the game. I'll never see him talking into headset. I never see him talk. I mean, maybe Cousin's Tao, you can ask him. I never see him talking in the headset. I never see him direct in traffic.

I never see him actually doing anything, but just stand there and watch in the game and yell maybe at the officials, but I never see him covering his mouth to talk to him in a hand or suggest. So, like, I'm actually, what do you get when you hire Jason Garrett, and I'm sure Jerry's going to pay him eight or nine, but I really want to know what you get.

I really want to know. Well, here's what you get, LaBardi. We might as well talk about it now. You're going to get premature proclamations about a staff that's not going to change, even though you're not sure if the staff is going to change because the owner, Jerry Jones, also says he's not sure if the staff's going to change.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, the clapper himself went out to the world and said they would not be making significant changes on the coaching staff in regards to the offensive coordinator, Scott Linnehan, who we brought up, a little bit earlier in this, talking about, you know, the problems with that. He says, you know, no significant changes would come. And then we have the executive vice president, son of Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones.

He comes out and he said it's a little too early to speculate on such matters. So he kind of, you know, pulls him back a little bit. And then Jason Garrett goes back to the podium after making those comments. And then having Stephen Jones walking back, he goes back to the podium, says that he had no idea what his answer was earlier that morning. made it clear that it's not his team, so he has no idea what he said. He said it's Jerry Jones's team. He ultimately has the final say. And Jerry Jones went on 105.3 FM, the fan down in Dallas. And I'll give you some quotes here. He said, I sound a bit irritated, and I understand that. I like the direction that we're going in. Anybody that tells you there's going to be a change out there, they don't know because I don't know this morning.

And I'm the last say. We do know that Jerry will have the last say there. He talked about, like you said, that, you know, the Clapper would have, you know, five other teams that would hire him in a heartbeat. but he never said Scott Linehan's name in this whole back and forth about what's going to happen with this team. So that has not inspired much hope for what's going to happen on the offensive side of the football. But overall, it does seem like Jerry is tinkering with the idea of making some big changes on the offensive side of the football, depending on what opens up to him. And, you know, Jason Garrett's just going to go ahead and nod his head and do whatever Jerry tells him to do, for usual, right? There you go.

you know, and, you know, to get somebody that'll do that, I think it's probably worse stuff at night. Yeah, it's not a bad deal. You can run everything, it's not a bad deal. And, you know, a lot of people after this one were pointing out about Jason Garrett smiling, being a good sport. So maybe they pulled him in for sports and Chip Lombardi. That's all we can say.

It's good to have good sports and sports. Yeah, well, I think that, I think that, you know, after the game, a lot of people are talking about how gracious he was. And, I mean, maybe that's just his personality. You know, maybe he is just really that way. I mean, for me, there's such a, you know, when you lose the finality of it all, it's hard. It's hard to be gracious and giving and understanding, especially the way you lose. I'm not sure that the Cowboys, from a chess standpoint, played their best game.

I think the Rams did. I think if McBey was coaching the Cowboys and the Clapper was coaching the Rams, I ask you, T-Frasier, who wins that game? I would say Detown Dallas. I think they're going to take that one home. And that's sort of what you're dealing with, but we do have the contract. I think he's just happy he got the contract extension. He did enough to earn that.

So let him ride off into the sunset into the offseason and get ready to meet his new offensive coordinator come June. So the final game of the week we have, we have the Kansas Chiefs taking on the Indianapolis Colts. It was a game that just sort of kind of went by the wayside. I mean, the Chiefs outplayed the Colts pretty much from the jump in this game. Andrew Luck struggled a little bit with some accuracy in this game. Pat Mahomes made some great throws for usual. And then the Chief's defense just played at a very, very high level, despite missing Eric Berry. But it is one of those things where the Chiefs dominated.

They looked like the team that we thought they were as the number one seed. And they came out, and Damien Williams was a real big spark for this team in the running game with Spencer Wareout. So just looking at the Chiefs, did they kind of live up to the billing of who we thought they were? I was shocked by the Chiefs. you know, I mean, going into that game, could you have ever thought that the Colts would not convert a third down in the game? I mean, it's really remarkable. Like, how could this even happen? And yet they didn't.

And so, I just, I mean, that game was hard. I think there has to be a conversation about, A, Andrew Luck playing in bad weather. And again, Andrew Luck, you know, Jared Dolf gets criticized for being in bad weather not playing well. I think it's time to have that Andrew Luck conversation as well because when you look at him and you saw him throw that. football. I mean, even the announcer said the first thing they said when they were watching the pre-game warm-up, they said, hey, I just don't think Andrew

blew the ball very effectively in pre-game warm-law. I forget who it was, who said it. Oh, it was the NBC crew. I think Christopher Sims said it. You know, and so when you look at him over his career, and you watch him play and temperature

less than 40 degrees, he has played five games in under 40 degrees, 6 point one yards per attempt, nine touchdowns, two interceptions, you know, 84.4.4 quarterback rating really can't make any point. I mean, to me, those are pedestrian-like numbers considering the fact that typically he's above seven yards per attempt. So there's a full yard short of when he plays in Colorado. To me, I think that's the conversation. If I'm the Colts and I'm Chris Ballard and I've seen Andrew Luck now play in Kansas City, we've got to avoid going there. We're going to

have to win. We've got to be the number one seed to give us the best chance because I'm not sure luck to handle this weather. And it proved on. I mean, Evron can't catch the cold. We know that. And I don't know if the cold practiced in the cold. I know this. The Chargers, from my understanding, they had about a 20-minute walkthrough on Saturday, outside, and that's what they thought we'll get them used to the cold.

Good luck. Dome teams and teams on the West Coast that are traveling to these cold weather places, it does not seem to fare well when you talk about the impact of the weather. And you talk about just moments that kind of set the tone in a game. I mean, on the opening drive of this one, Eric Ebron drops that third down pass, unfortunately, for Colts fans. And from there, that kind of set the tone of the day because that had been the secret to success for them for the past few weeks. So how they, when they had been making this long run is, you know, obviously the third down conversions, Eric E. Bron had been playing at a very high level.

Inman had been playing really well. And as you look around, it just didn't seem like luck was able to find anything. And then D. Ford, the big strip sack on him on luck in this game. So just little moments like that. And when you talk about just the pressure to hold a football and what it takes, the strength to hold a football in the cold weather, how much more it takes on your hand and you're a guy like Andrew Luck who's coming back from the shoulder stuff and working through it this year. Some of that may come into play. I'm not sure. But that was given out as possibly a reason why he was struggling a little bit in the cold weather.

But Patrick McHolmes was not struggling in the Chiefs win this one pretty easily, 31-13. No doubt. I mean, it was a walk-a-walk. It was easy. I thought Travis Kelsey just went way up. I thought Travis Kelsey was outstanding in the game. I think his ability to catch the ball in cold weather was remarkable. I think he's going to continue to be a factor.

And I think that factor is going to show itself up this Sunday where it's supposed to be Arctic-like, sub-arctic-like temperature. So, you know, but he, to me, is that he's as great as Hill is, and I think Hill is certainly great. I think Kelsey and Hill, that combination, it really makes them densely. And I think that's going to be Belichick's cast number. one is can we get Kelsey handled and can we handle him and can we stop him when he's going to make a play. The guy caught the ball in bad weather like I've never seen. He earned his McDonald's

commercial. I'll say that. He has been playing pretty well for this team pretty consistently for quite some time. Obviously he knows how what it takes when a Super Bowl is brother Jason goes and wins the Super Bowl last year. We get that. But Sammy Watkins is the one that I feel like Bill Belichick will point to and say make Sammy Watkins beat us, right? I mean, he has that fumble in the second half. I feel like that is the person, that is the player that he's like Pat Mahomes, you can throw it to Sammy Watkins. Yes, exactly. We'll take our luck with him. We will do the preview of all the championship games that are coming up this weekend on Friday.

One more thing before we get out of here, Lombardy, I want to talk about quickly the Adam Gase announcement that he will be the head coach of the New York Jets. And this was, you know, there was some raised eyebrows a little bit that came out of here. Some fans weren't so excited about this. But CEO Chris Johnson comes out. He said, I get it. Part of it is I have to earn their trust. We just had a couple of down years. I have to earn their trust again.

I think they will see. If not right now, they will see pretty soon that it is a very great hire. For people that didn't see this, Adam Gase, he was all over Twitter. There was a taco video that went out with him staring at an imaginary taco. He was moving his eyes all over the place. But we talked about the reputation of Adam Gase and how the league has viewed him over the years. And people really have bought into what he's been able to do as far as building out quarterbacks. We saw it with Cutler.

We saw it with obviously Peyton Manning was the big calling card for him. But just looking at the higher, looking at the Jets, looking at his familiarity with the AFC East, what were your first takeaways just bringing Gays into that building and what he'll be able to do for a guy like Sam Darnold? Well, I think that's going to be the key, right? And there was a lot of talk that was going to hire Greg Williams' defensive coordinator.

Now, Greg Williams, you remember, Greg Williams and Adam Gase's father-in-law, Joe Vitt, were together at the Saints. Joe Vitt was the interim head coach who got suspended. who then they named Aaron Cromer became the coach. And then, so there's a lot of stuff going on there. So whether he hires him or not, that hasn't been announced. I'm sure Greg Williams is checking his mailbox frequently to discuss all the situations.

My sense of it is, is if he can get Sam Donald and the offense turn around, I think, you know, the second time around, I think it's always going to be better as a coach. And I think they got to improve the offense. The Miami offense struggled last year. But when they had Albert Wilson in there, I think he was really effective. So they're going to have to get some skill players. I mean, the reality of the New York Jets are, they're not very talented offensively.

They're going to have to improve their offensive line. And Gates just got his work cut out for them. Even though Miami wasn't a great deal, you know, I just think to me it's going to take a lot more. It's going to take a really good draft. They got $100 million to spend it off season before they actually can figure out what they're doing. Can I also point out because this was a report that came out that Matt Ruhle, coach of the Baylor Bears was a guy that they wanted to bring in to New York to take over the Jets. But apparently there was a disagreement, and this was refuted by Johnson.

But there was a report that Jets management did not want rule to have the rights to hire his coordinators. He was just going to come in as the head coach, and then they would fill it out. So what is that process like? Does this happen a lot with organizations if you bring in a young guy like a Matt Rule who, you know, you can kind of tell him what to do? Is that something that usually occurs? And then you elect other guys like a great guy. Greg Williams to come in to be or Vance Joseph or whoever may be to be the defensive

coordinator or bring in an offensive coordinator with a bigger name? Does that happen often? Well, I think it does because the staff and we talk about culture, but nobody talks about the culture of the staff, right? And when you're trying to piece together staff, you don't always necessarily create culture because who's doing the hiring, right? So if you're Matt Rule and you're at Baller University, you hire everybody. Everybody who works in football works for that rule. And then Matt Rule's got a six-year contract that I'm sure at a really good number that's fully guaranteed. Why would he leave that job to come work for the Jets and then have Mike McKegan tell him who to hire? I mean, that's just not going to work, right?

Either you want him, either you're buying that rule or you're not. Either you're doing that or you're not. Either you believe that he can put it because why would you think he could put together, why would you think he couldn't put together a good staff? Like why? Like, really? I mean, we learned this in Cleveland in 91. We went through it, and that's why Belichick has so many people there that are on the staff,

that are young because he's training them. I mean, look, everybody who works at Alabama complains about how hard it is to work at Alabama. Well, the reason it's so hard to work at Alabama is most of the people that come into Alabama have never been around the program before, so they never work their way through the program. And so it's all far into them, and it's difficult, and it's challenging, you know, whereas Belichick takes the other course. He takes the place where he's going to develop coaches. from within. So that's all they know. That's all they're used to. And, you know, that's the way to do it.

Whereas the Jets, they want to hear, well, you're going to hire this guy. And that rules like, look, I got a really good job. I don't need to become the head coach of New York Jets. When somebody wants to tell me, they want me and they trust my judgment on everything I do, that I'll be willing to listen. And I think, to me, it's just ridiculous. Like, you know, and sometimes, I mean, we've seen it often. I mean, look at Frank Wright. I mean, he gets a job because Josh McDaniel turns it down. You know, it ends up being a really good hire for him. So sometimes the guy you think you get is supposed to be a great coach.

Perhaps he's not even. Yeah, there's no such thing as a second choice. Sometimes it's just how it always works out. And this is my favorite quote from the whole thing about Adam Gaysman moving forward with the Jets. This is from the CEO Johnson. Again, he said to paraphrase Wayne Gretzky, which is always a good way to start a sentence, he's coaching to where football is going. And so Lombardi, before I have to ask you, where is full.

ball going. I don't know. I think what he's saying is he's coaching it offensively through the quarterback. Is he going to the NHM? Yeah, maybe and maybe the spread attack. I have no idea. But, you know, look, these press conference, they say they're not there to win the press conference and then they say something like that. You're like, well, why are you saying that if you're out there? Like, let's just say, you know what? Give him a chance to see what he can do and go from there. Let's just see what he can do. And one last note I have, and I forgot to bring him up, But Darius Leonard, the rookie linebacker for the Colts, had a great game in that Kansas City game. It was sort of overshadowed.

It had 14 tackles. Also had a fumble recovery in that one. And then after the game, Colts GM came out and they were asking him about sort of the situation moving forward with the team. And he said there's a difference in the NFL from being good and being great. And they're trying to be great. And right now, you know, they understand that they are just at that good level. And I think that's a good way to view it just coming from a GM perspective. I mean, we may be set.

We may have the right pieces, but we want to be something more. than that. We want to be a championship contender. And that was what it came out of the Colts camp after they lost that game to the Chiefs. No doubt. And I mean, that's the challenge. I mean, if you're the Cleveland Browns, you've got to forget about last year. And you've got to start from scratch. And you've got to build on that. And if you're the Indianapolis Colts, you've got to forget last year and start from there. It's the teams that go back. It's like climbing the mountain.

You can't start at the middle of the mountain. You've got to go all the way back. And the teams that do that have a chance to win. If not, you know, they're going to be wondering what happened to their season, much like whether it's the Steelers, really much like Jacksonville. And Freddie Kitchens came out, and he said, 7-8-1's not good enough for us in Cleveland, and we're trying to win the Lombardi Trophy. So if you're a Cleveland-Browns fan, that is good to hear.

Probably not so good to hear if you're Huey headlines, but we'll leave it at that. Where is Huey? Hughie hasn't landed yet, has he? No, but where in the world is Huey headlines? Please let us know, please find him, please write a story. Please share it with us here on GM Street.

We are always ready to hear stories about the great Hugh Jackson. But regardless, Lombardi, we got a great divisional weekend wrapped up. We got the championship games coming up. We're going to be back on Friday. We're going to give you a full preview. Lombardi will give you his picks for those games. Any last thoughts before we get out of here?

I think the Gary Kubiak hire for the Minnesota Vikings is a really good hire. I think Gary coming in, I think that's the perfect guy for what they want to do. He can run some play. It's perfect for Kirk Cousins. Install that offense. And I think with Stefanski, if they teach him that, run that zone scheme, I think it would be really good. I think that's a really good hire.

I think right now there's a lot of stuff going on here in terms of hiring and firing between these assistants. And I think that's a really good one. I think that scheme fits him perfectly. And how about my man Nathaniel Hackett? He goes from coach and Blake Bordels to coach in Aaron Rodgers. You talk about hitting a lottery ticket? Holy shit, right? That's a career bill.

In five years, he could be the Jets head coach at this rate. You know, go coach. Hey, he called, hey, look. Nathaniel Hackett calls three first downs in a row. He thought it would be a head coach next year. week. That's all it's going to take. You get three first downs called in a row. You're a head coaching candidate.

That's all it takes. That's all it takes these days. We will keep an eye as the chess pieces move around the NFL with all the different coaching hires and fall out from certain situations as teams get eliminated. But again, we will be back on Friday. This has been another edition of GM Street part of the Ringer podcast network. We appreciate everyone sticking with us and listening as we move through the playoffs. And we will see you soon. See you on Friday.

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