The Ringer NFL Show - Predicting the Divisional Round NFL Headlines

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

Sheil and The Ringer’s own Austin Gayle get together to analyze the biggest matchups from the NFL divisional round slate to determine what story lines will have the media buzzing on Monday morning. (00:00) Predicting the divisional round headlines (1:27) Bills-Broncos (7:19) 49ers-Seahawks (12:36) Texans-Patriots (17:48) Rams-Bears (26:50) The Ringer 107 The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.rg-help.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Sheil Kapadia Guest: Austin Gayle Producer: Chris Sutton Video Editor: Stefano Sanchez Engineer: Donald LoBianco Social: Kiera Givens and Brian Waters Production Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Shield Capadia. It is divisional round weekend. We are going on the record with predictions. Saturday. We got Bills at Broncos and 49ers at Seahawks. And then Sunday, Texans at Patriots, Rams at Bears. My guest today is the Ringer's Austin Gale.

We will predict headlines and storylines for all four games. And then I will finish the show with my Ringer 107 picks. All right. Let's take a break. We come back. with Austin. The Ringer NFL show is presented by Fanduel. Fan Duel's got it all.

Same game parlay's quick bets for jumping in live and your way so you can build the bet that fits your play. Plus, don't miss out on the NFL playoffs all month long. Download the Fandul app or head to fandul.com slash ringer NFL to get started. 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming, gambling problem. Call 1-800 gambler or visit RG-Halt.com. Call 1-88-7-8-8-7-9-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.

All right, we are back here with Austin Gail. We are predicting headlines for the divisional round Austin. Let's start. Bills at Broncos. As of this recording, we got a little line flip here where bills were favored by one and a half. Now it's Broncos by one and a half. You are the guest. You get us started.

What do you got for this game? I went for a movie title theme with a lot of my headlines. I also, I think one of them's not technically a movie title, but it could have been. This first one, Cowboys versus Alien. There was a movie that came out a while ago, Cowboys versus Aliens. I don't know if anyone saw that, but I do think that this is a bunch of rough and rowdy cowboys, the healthier team. It seems that, like, I think on paper, both sides of the ball is healthier, more talented. And I think there is like a coaching advantage I do give to Sean Payton, especially coming off of the by week.

they're at home against what feels like one guy left, right? There's Josh Allen who put the cape on last week and you can kind of feel like he can take over games. And as someone who is backing the Jaguars, we went on this podcast. I talked about how I think the Jaguars could win this game, especially at home. I really felt like I was on the wrong side as soon as it was one possession and he had the ball. And I'm like, okay, this isn't going to go well. Like they get the ball back with four minutes left against Jacksonville. And I'm like, damn, they're going to lose this.

I think Jacksonville is going to lose this one because Josh Allen at the end of the day, even though a ton of receivers are hurt, the offense has struggled to run the ball all day, he is the guy that can eventually just figure it out and find it. And for me, this Broncos team should win. And I actually agree with the line flip going to the Broncos because they're the healthier team, like I said, and I think they're just better positioned across the board

to beat up on a very beat-up Bills team. The alien could prove me wrong again, but I am backing the Broncos in this spot. I love that. It's much more creative than mine. Yours are going to be much more creative than mine. Mine's boring, but you know what? we are on the same page. I just have battered Allen finds away,

keeps Buffalo's Super Bowl hopes alive. And I had the exact same analysis as you. I looked at it. And I'm breaking down the splits. I'm looking at it that the Broncos play all this man coverage. And guess what the bills struggle with? Man coverage. And the bills want to run the ball.

We know that. That's their kind of identity this year. It's not a Josh Allen put the cape on every week. It's if we can run the ball with James Cook, that's what we want to do. And guess what defense is great against the run? It's the Broncos. And I just, I'm going matchup by matchup.

Well-rested. Bronco, Bill, bills lost two wide receivers in that game last week, Austin. Terrell Shavers and Gabe Davis are both out for this game. They've just been cycling in different guys week in and week out. And I looked at all that stuff on paper. And then I did what you did. And I said, you know what? I picked the bills to win the Super Bowl before the season.

I picked them to win the Super Bowl before the playoffs. They still have Josh Allen who in that game last week. It was just a reminder that. In these playoffs, there's Josh Allen and there's everyone else as far as I'm concerned just in terms of who can actually take a game over. So I like the bills here as well, but man, I don't feel good about it. If you're a Broncos fan and you should feel good about this matchup. If you have the team that you think you have that Sean Payton has said that you have,

they really should win this game on paper. I think the difference for me and why I like I'm ultimately siding with the Broncos and going against him kind of overcoming this, even though I know that's completely possible is I think that we overreesome. is I think that we overrated the Jacksonville defense going into that Bill's game last week. It was a very turnover dependent defense closer to the Chicago Bears in terms of how much they've been relying on turning the ball over to create havoc plays on defense. And you felt that in the secondary. Like, as much as we talked about how, like, I think Jacksonville can stop the run.

I think they did a good job. I think Denver is right there with them. And I think they're just better on the back end in terms of just like sound and creating pressure up front. I think they have a better pass rush than what the Jacksonville Jaguars had. And I think you're going to feel that in this game too. And I think their secondary is just ultimately more talented with Patrick Stanton being their main corner. but also more disciplined. And offensively, I think this is, I want to ask you,

like, how much better is Bo Nix now than he was last year or at the start of this season than when they played last year? And how much better has he gotten, I think, over the course of the season? He is better if we're doing trust rankings. He's not going to be at the top for me, you know. But I love that you brought up last year's playoff game because I remember watching that game being like, Sean Payton doesn't trust him at all.

Like he's not letting it, you know, they had the big play early, I remember. And then after that, I'm like, man, they're just trying to hide Bo Nix here and you can't win this way. So I do think that's a little bit different this year. But still, it has been up and down. You know, statistically, just I think he's, what, 13th in EPA per pass play. He's been middle of the pack. They want to hit the screens. They want to hit the deep shots.

And this Bill's defense, it's not a great defense. But there's a big difference between Bill's run defense and Bill's past defense. Like, you can run on the bill. Basically, every team has a big day running the full. football against the bills. But we saw last week at times, Trevor Lawrence made his place in the second half. But Trudevius White showed up in that game.

And they are kind of sound on the back end with their coverages, even if they're not the most talented group. So I'm not like, I would be surprised if we're coming out of this game going, Bo Nix just lit up the Bills defense. I don't think that's going to happen. I think they're going to go into this saying, can we run the football on the bills like every team does?

And maybe that'll be the key on whether they win this game or not. I think for me with Knicks, you still see these instances where he gets panicky in the pocket, runs from a clean pocket out and like kind of into pressure. And I think the biggest thing with him, I think since entering the league has been his inaccuracy downfield. And a lot of that I think has to do with setting his feet. You go back and watch that last year's game or even the last few games. There are times where he's just like missing checkdowns. He's missing guys downfield because his feet aren't set or whatever.

I think there's less of that. Yeah, on one hand, Broncos fans are probably like, we don't love this draw. We have to great. We've got the one seat. and now we have to face Josh Allen. But on the other hand, I'm with you. If you're just looking at like roster spots two through 53, the Broncos are the better team, the more rested team.

Let's see if they can get it done here at home against the bills. All right. Next game, we got 49ers at Seahawks. A rematch of the game we watched a couple weeks ago. Seahawks are seven point favorites here at home. 49ers pulled off the upset last week in Philadelphia. Can they do it again, Austin? What do you got?

My headline here, restless in Seattle. And everyone's talking about the rest edge in this game. And the Niners actually have a very, under Kyle Shanhan had a very good against the spread record when they're coming in on short rest. But there's this extension of Seattle's coming off the first round by. They're at home. San Francisco just went on the road and played like their Super Bowl

against the Eagles on, I think it was Sunday last week. So now they're going Sunday to Saturday, even less rest. They have as banged up, as an injury report, if not more so than the Buffalo Bills. And I think watching back that Philadelphia Eagles game last week with the Niners, it was very clear that they threw out all the stops to try and win this game. The Joanne Jennings touchdown is Christian McCaffrey. Like a lot of this stuff I felt like against a very good Eagles defense

was stuff that it's going to be hard to recreate again against arguably an as good defense with the Seattle Seahawks. And we saw this game, what, two, three weeks ago whenever it was in week 18. And even though that game was a little bit close for a while, it really did feel like the Seahawks offensively and defensively shut down the San Francisco 49ers, kind of suffocated them in that game. It's the simple form of analysis is that, like you said, two. weeks ago in a game that was a huge game. I mean, just the one seat on the line where if you want to pull out all the stops, that's the game against the Seahawks. The 49ers couldn't do anything. I mean, that was a fifth percentile game offensively for an offense that had been playing

really, really well. And now they don't have George Kittle in this game and the Seahawks are better rested in this game. So it's just, I'm like, can Shanahan do it again? Because I'm with you. You watch that game. And that was the, that was the kitchen sink game for the four. 49ers. And I don't know that you could have back-to-back kitchen sink games. I don't know that it's ever happened in the NFL where you're able to do that twice in a row against Fangio and then against Mike McDonald, two of the better defenses in the NFL. So I just think they're going to have a really hard time here. We've gone this far about talking about this game. And we haven't even mentioned Sam Donald. Is this just a game where Sam Donald's not going to have to do a lot and we're not really going to learn a lot about him? And the Seahawks can still win by like two touchdowns? For Seattle, if you had to like write out, what's the biggest weakness of the Seattle team? I think the easy answer, and probably everyone's answer is like, oh, well, Sam Darnel, you never know, in these big spots. Does he throw picks?

Does he go into Bozo mode? When you watch back that Niners game, that Niners Seattle game from a few weeks ago, week 18, they were able to run the ball so successfully with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet that they never really asked Sam Donald to kind of put the game on his back. And I think this is going to be another case of that where, like, Mike McDonald doesn't want Sam Darnold to have to go win the game. He doesn't. I don't think any coach coaching Sam Darnel really wants to put him in that position.

They want to run the ball successfully, which they should be able to do. against a very banged-up Niners defense. And they want to put Sam Darnold throwing the ball to J.S.N. When he's wide open or running off play action. I think this is where, like, if you are a Niners fan, you're praying for a Sam Darnold disaster, a two, three, four turnover game that gives you a chance. Yeah, the Darnold relationship with Seahawks fans is so interesting.

I wonder what's being said on the group chats. And I feel like you send out a text and you're like, all right, you know, like you're real confident. But then internally, you're still going to have that doubt. But I'm with you. that it gets exposed in this game. Because even in that game two weeks ago, they were like, we're going to hide Sam Darnold.

He's not going to have to. We're not relying on him to win or lose this game for us. And he did make some plays. He can hit on those explosive plays. He's done that all season long. But I don't think he's going to be under a lot of pressure just in terms of that 49ers pass rush. And I think the Seahawks are going to be in a spot where like you said,

they're going to be able to run the ball. They're going to be able to get stops defensively. It just feels like it would take an all-time Shanahan game. or an all-time Purney game or an all-time McCaffrey game or something weird on special teams or Sam Darnall just having a meltdown. Those are the avenues, I think, where the Seahawks lose this game and the 49ers win this game, but I don't think that those are the most likely outcomes here. So, yeah, I'm with you with Seattle, although it's, you never know.

Maybe the 49ers can keep it a little bit closer than we're thinking here. All right, let's take a break. We come back. We get to the Sunday games. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by Fandul. The divisional round is where the NFL's best takes center stage and with everything on the line, Fandul is turning on playoff mode

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Patriots are three-point favorites in this game. You and I have a streak, Austin. We've just somehow discussed the Houston Texans on every podcast we've done together all season long. I don't know why. I don't know. It's the timing. Something weird happens where every time you're on,

the Texans are in the news. So now we get a little temperature check, how you're feeling about this Houston team. they finally get over the hump and reach the AFC championship? What do you got here? I've got another flip-flop here because I remember last week on this pod. I was doubting the Patriots. I said maybe next year.

And after that, and I said this on the pot, if they beat the Chargers, I think a lot of people will really quickly say, oh my God, the offensive line's terrible. They've got to fire Greg Roman, like just an easy matchup for the paths and like, blah, blah, blah. That was an impressive win for me. I thought that the defense had a phenomenal game plan. You saw after the game that Chargers players were going up to Patriots linebacker, Robbie Spillane and were like,

we had no idea what defense you're running. Meanwhile, me and you sitting on the couch, like, they're blitzing again, they're blitzing again. And like still, like, chargers were completely lost. I thought that was an impressive defensive game plan for the paths. And then offensively, yeah, it was like a shaky Drake May game. Like the biggest pass fan's going to tell you, like, that was not

his best performance. But I still feel like in the second half specifically, stepped up huge, that dime to the tight end in the corner to like really separate them. I still feel like, as a scrambler too, like you're going to see him unlock that in the playoffs, kind of similar to where Mahomes is, right? Where Mahomes gets to the playoffs,

you start scrambling a little bit more. I think you're going to fill that with Drake May as well. I think his over under for rushing in this game is like in the 30s and I think it could even be an over. I'm on the Patriots this week

and my title is Stroud of Darkness. And, you know, we talked about two quarterbacks Boe Knicks and Sam Donald. In both games, I'm kind of coming out. Like, those guys have been bozos

in big spots previously. We're like, when you're talking about the weaknesses of the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, you're kind of, everyone kind of in the back of their head or even in their stomach.

is like, well, Sam Darnold could lose this for us or Bo Nix could lose this for us. I don't think we're, is Stroud one of those guys? Right? It's always hard to figure out who are the, when the lights are brightest and everything's on them, they need to figure it out, who are those quarterbacks and kind of shrink.

I feel like going to that Steelers game, Stroud was trying to lose that game. Like actively trying to lose that game. Some of those like bad snaps, I felt like were handleable by him. He was keeping his eye off the ball. I think he was not protecting the football when under pressure.

I don't know if I have faith in C.J. Stroud, being the guy on the other side of the ball, that captains them over the hump against a very good Patriots team in Foxborough and it's going to be cold, it's going to be gross. Yeah, this is such a tough one. I'm with you. Stroud at halftime of that game last week,

I was like, this is the worst quarterback performance we've seen all weekend. Terrible. It's from Srowd. I mean, what is happening here? The fumbled snaps and then fumbling after he recovers the snaps and then that interception in the red zone and then even turnovers aside,

inaccuracies in the first half. I mean, they were mentioning that over and over again on the broadcast. Now, he did settle down a bit, and he does, he's such a Jekyll and Hyde quarterback. I mean, there are throws he makes in that gate where I'm like, that is beautiful, like the ball placement to Christian Kirk there on the right side. So I really don't know what to expect from him. So this is one where you just have to decide who do you trust here, you know? It's a three point line.

And I'm kind of with you where I'm saying Texans back to square one after offensive struggles in New England. because I just can't trust them after what I watched last week. And it's not just last week. To be clear, this isn't recency bias. They have not had a good offense all season long. You look at it statistically. They're mediocre to below average in most categories. And while I don't think this is a great Patriots defense,

I just look at it and go, I don't trust the Texans offense on the road to make enough plays here. Nico Collins, we don't know if they're going to have him. Patriots, we don't know if they're going to have Christian Gonzalez. So there are some big, big injuries to keep an eye on. So I'm with you on Stroud. On the other side of the ball, you mentioned May. And I think a huge aspect of this game is how many explosive plays can the Patriots produce?

Because I think down to down, I don't know that there's an offense in the NFL that I'm like, oh, they're just going to go up and down the field on the Texans. Texans are too good. They cover too well. They're too physical up front. They've got two great pass rushers. It's not going to happen. But, you know, the one place where they're a little vulnerable,

14th in explosive play rate allowed. So that's the one area where they're middle of the pack. And who's the best offense in the NFL at producing explosive plays? It's the New England Patriots, which is, by the way, a credit to Drake May with the receivers he's working with here. So I think that's a big, big deal. I don't think this has to be one where Drake May is all. Drake May completed 65, 70% of his passes.

I think it's going to be one where did he get those like three, four explosive plays downfield? maybe it's still a low-scoring game, but the Patriots still win that way. All right. We'll see what happens in a fun game. Really fun game. That Texan's defense, man,

I will watch them any game they play in, watching them fly around. For sure. It's a lot of fun, especially against a great quarterback. It's always fun. And they've passed those tests over the years with D'emico Ryan.

So they could win an ugly game where we have questions about Stroud, but their defense just dominates. That's in play as well. All right. Last game, Rams at Bears. Bears, three and a half point underdogs at home.

Rams, I think, are second in Super Bowl odds to the Seahawks, Austin. Does the Bears season this journey of Ben Johnson in the locker room speeches and the shirt off and bleep the Packers and less? Does it end here or do the Bears stay alive? Before we get into the game, because I feel like you and I don't talk enough, like, what's your take on the reaction to Ben Johnson saying F the Packers? and then there's like people now saying like this is Bush League and we shouldn't have coaches using the F word. I vehemently disagree and maybe that's because I swear too much or whatever. But like we need rivalries in the NFL. We need hatred in the NFL.

And I think anything that breeds that is better for the game. And this isn't even manufactured. Like he's just leaning into it. He's like the handshake at the end. He is a great villain. I love him. More of it, please. And listen, what people don't, coaches.

have huge egos NFL coaches. And they all will the press conference say, we respect that guy and he does a great job. And then you know what? In private, they're always thinking, I don't get enough respect. That guy gets too much respect. He has this quarterback.

Look at what I'm doing here. This is what they will whisper to reporters on the side where you'll see. So that's weird that reporter's saying that. That's how it happens. And I think there's some of that here, especially with the offensive, you know, the young offensive wonder boys

were just like, I'm the scheme lord here in the league. Now, it's my league now. I think that's part of it as well. It depends what coaching tree you came from, all those things. And so I love it. I think Ben Johnson has been a fantastic story. Listen, there was a time last week where in my notes, I wrote down like, Ben Johnson's getting exposed.

What a flop, you know? But you know what? It was still a second half to be played there. So I love it. I have to be honest. I'm rooting for the bears here. I'm rooting for the bears. I want to tell you this.

Before you give me your headline, who do you think neutral fans right now? What is the Super Bowl they are rooting for? Because I think you're right in the NFC. I'm kind of rooting for the Bears too. I think most people are like, this is a fun story. Let's get the Bears all the way.

So I think it's the Bears in the NFC. I don't know if you agree or disagree with that. But what do you think the neutral fans are saying we would love to see this Super Bowl? I think Josh Allen and the Bills. I think Bill's Rams or Bills Bears. I think that's Bears. That's it.

It's Bill's Bears. It's a great Super Bowl. I'm signing up for that right now. I think when Jacksonville was in the mix, you're like, definitely not it. I don't think people want Nixon the Super Bowl from the AFC.

I think Patriots Rams, Patriots Bears would be interesting too, but there's not enough, if you're a neutral fan of the NFL, you still have this hatred for the Patriots because they've been dumped with all of this success. My dad taught me from a very young age as a Raiders fan that the Patriots suck

and you're supposed to hate Tom Brady, and I still feel like there's a little piece of me. It's too soon for them. It's too soon. Even though it's different. Even if like you like Drake May and Vrabel, it's too soon for them to feel success again if you're a neutral fan.

I hate that I like Drake May and Mike Vrable. Like I want to hate them. I want to hate this team. I don't want them. Josh McDaniels, I want to hate this team. But like you just can't. They're too good.

I still dislike Josh McDaniels. Anyway, my headline here, Star Wars, a new Pope. People forget the Pope is a Chicago Bears fan. Explain the Pope thing to me because I tweeted something last week about the Bears and about 100 Bears fans responded with just the picture of the Pope.

The Pope is American, which I think is the first time in a really long time. I don't really pay attention to the conclave, but like the first time in a long time, he's American. And he's also a big Chicago Bears fan. He's from Chicago. And I think there's been some divinity, some divine light with this Bears team. And you felt that last week when they came back and won improbable against the Green Bay Packers. Now, some of that is Matt LaFleur completely shitting his pants with the timeout usage down the stretch

and all that stuff. But like, I do think that this has got some team of destiny to it. They're thinking that this could be like one of the coldest games on record for Chicago, if not like the NFL. Like that's some of the, now weather is kind of bullshit to be reading on like Wednesday, but like you never know what it's really going to be. But like if this is sub 30 degrees,

you're giving me 15 to 25 mile an hour gusts at night in the cold. And they're saying maybe snow. That that has to tip the scales at least slightly toward the bears with like how the Rams want to play and just them coming from L.A. And the passing game and all of that. Add in, I think that, the Chicago Bears that the Chicago Bears

offensively and you can say like they're coming back in these games and they shouldn't be winning these games there is something to just like no matter what the score is they feel like they can win and a lot of that is Ben Johnson and the culture that he's built but another piece of that is like Caleb Williams can do things that only Josh Allen and Patrick

Mahomes can do like full stop like he can his mobility from like week one this season or week two the season I remember texting my friends and being like this guy can move he has legit speed can get out of the pocket quickly. His feet are a legit weapon. Then you factor in the arm talent. I think he's still trying to get on the same page with his receivers.

The offense has been complicated from week one. I think it's only going to get better as him and Ben Johnson get together. But one of the best rushing offense is in the NFL, a superstar at quarterback, I think a superstar at coach. Yes, the Rams defense, specifically the front seven is good. And maybe they'll have some success stopping the run. But I think they can really beat up on these corners. These corners have been a weakness every single week for the Rams.

And then offensively, all I need is a little pebble in the offense, like cold, wind, snow and all of a sudden, you felt that, like, the Bears in the first half of that Green Bay Packers game, the defense looked like it wasn't even on the field. Like, they were just running up and down. And the Bears defense, you can kind of already start writing the gamer being like, Bears defense is a huge letdown. This is why they lost. They need to fix the defense, blah, blah. How they stepped up in the second half and now going against this Rams team where like they're going to need to have a similar performance, I think, to stay in this game with the cold,

with the weather. I don't know. I think I'm just backing the Pope and the Bears in this one. I love that. I was thinking, what if you thought I was just asking you to explain like the Pope's role in like society? I don't know that at all. Explain the Pope. Yeah, no, I think you took the question the way I was meaning it. Last year we disagreed, I think, on every game. And this week, I think we agree.

Oh, you're on the Bears too? I'm on the Bears. Bears' magical ride continues with upset whim over Rams. And it might be a little of what you're saying, where it's just we're falling for the team of destiny. But I'm with you in that, even when things aren't going well for them, it feels like the next possession is going to be good.

You know, it feels, all right, that didn't work. All right, next possession. Like, they figure it out eventually, offensively, and I feel like that goes back to last year. They had games like this where they didn't finish at the end, but where they would look bad for two and a half quarters or three quarters, and then all of a sudden they're going up and down the field. And Caleb Williams isn't as consistent as those top guys you mentioned,

but I'm with you in just terms of like the highlight reel of the 1% plays. He just does stuff that other quarterback. cannot do. If they were on the road in L.A., I don't think I'm siding with the Bears. It's in Chicago, in the cold. I think you have this advantage. And if our predictions are true,

Seattle wins is a big favorite over the Niners at home. And the Bears win this game. I don't think I'm picking the Bears to go win in Seattle and go to the Super Bowl. I think the Bears would need to stay at home to get a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Yeah, listen, the analytical part of my brain

says the Rams should go up and down the field on this bear's defense. And if they don't turn the foot, even in the cold, I know you're saying that's in favor of the Bears, but this Rams team can run the football as well as anyone in the NFL. Like I think that, you know, they would be fine playing in those conditions. Stafford played in those conditions last year in the playoffs in Philadelphia,

and he was fine. So on paper, I see it for the Rams. But you know what? I'm with you. I feel like something has been happening with Chicago. And I know it's been a little fluky and they're doing it at the end of these games. And they're relying on turnovers on defense. But in a one game sample, maybe they do some of those things,

again there. Also the Rams, I'm probably some recency bias with how they played last week where I was like, I don't know, it's been a month kind of since that Seattle game that they lost. They haven't looked like the same team over the last month.

Now, maybe if you zoom out, you say, she'll give me a break. They're in the divisional round and they're going to be just fine. Look at the bigger picture. But that is something I can't get out of my head either. So this is going to be a fun one.

The special teams rinkled too, right? I mean, the Rams have been a disaster on special teams like pretty much the last like two or three years and you're going to be outside in Chicago trying to get this done. The special team's like, I don't know if it's like a blocked punt like we saw last week, but I do think it's going to show up. We're like, oh,

no, he kicked it out of bounds in a bad spot. Now the Bears are starting on the 40 or a missed kick, a missed PAT, that kind of stuff, that kind of voodoo that plays into the Pope's hands. I also like that Ben Johnson knows what type of team he has and he's going to be aggressive and he's not going to be like, oh, my defense is going to shut down Matthew

Stafford and Sean McVeigh. We saw that last week. It didn't always work out, but I like that he's going into the game thinking that way. I think this is going to be the best game. His name is Austin. Gail Austin, thank you so much for joining me, my friend. All right, I'll be right back with the Ringer 107. All right, today's Ringer 107 is brought to you by Fandulul.

The Ringer NFL show has somehow clawed its way to first place in this contest, above 500 for the first time all year, but the margin is slim. So we got to hit on some of these picks. The rules are we pick all four games against the spread. this week. So if you listen to the pod, you probably know which way I'm leaning, but let's confirm it here. Bills at Broncos, I am taking Buffalo plus one and a half. I outlined it earlier. They were my Super Bowl pick. It's a tough matchup, but I do think Josh Allen is capable of just putting on that Superman cape in the fourth quarter if it's a close game. So I'm going with Buffalo

plus one and a half. Next game, 49ers at Seahawks. I went back and forth a million times on this pick. I think it's the hardest game of the four to decide on. Ultimately, I went 49ers plus seven. I don't feel great about it, but I thought, you know what? Shanahan and Purdy saw that defense two weeks ago. Can they at least come up with some answers in this game to keep it close? I think Seattle's going to be pretty conservative offensively with Sam Darnold. So maybe it's a low scoring game and the Niners keep it close. Third game, Texans of Patriots, give me New England minus three. I think Drake May got some of those jitters out last week. I don't think they need to rack up a bunch

of yards. I just think they need to hit on some explosives and I don't trust that Houston offense as we discussed. So I've got Patriots minus three in that game. And then finally, Rams at Bears. Taking Bears plus three and a half after Austin told me about the Pope. I'm not going against the Pope here. Are you nuts?

I just think they'll find a way the scores and points move the football. It's possible their defense gets lit up. Totally understand that. But I'm thinking, Home Dog. Very good coach, talented playmaker at quarterback, that's a formula that makes me confident they can at least keep it close. All right, today's Ringer 107 was brought to you by Fandul. Odds subject to change. Thanks to everyone for listening. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing Stefano Sanchez on

video care, Givins on social and additional production supervision by Connor and Evans and our Juno Ram Gopal. We will be back Saturday night after the first two playoff games. Can't wait for that. Talk to you then on the Ring. your NFL show. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler or visit RG dash help.com. Call 1-888-787-7-7 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit MD gambling

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