The Ringer NFL Show - Things Learned At Radio Row. Plus Robert Woods, Jerod Mayo, and Carson Palmer.

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

Kevin, Nora, and Ben open up with early assessments from Radio Row at the Super Bowl. Then they speak with Patriots ILB coach Jerod Mayo on coaching against these teams, the Rooney Rule and Brian Flores. Next, former Bengals QB Carson Palmer joins to speak about Joe Burrow and the Bengals franchise and makes his Super Bowl prediction. They finish by speaking with Rams WR Robert Woods on Cooper Kupp, Eric Weddle, and Sean McVay’s coaching.  Host: Kevin Clark, Ben Solak, Nora Princiotti  Guests: Robert Woods, Jerrod Mayo, Carson Palmer Associate Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Derek Thompson, long-time writer with the Atlantic Magazine on tech, culture, and politics. There is a lot of noise out there, and my goal is to cut through the headlines, loud tweets, and hot takes in my new podcast, plain English. I'll talk to some of the smartest people I know to give you clear viewpoints and memorable takeaways. Plain English starts November 16th. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It is the ringer-n-en-fell show, part of their own podcast. Now, I'm Kevin Clark. We're here at Radio Row, and we got the two most famous guests walking around.

Nora Prince Idi, Nora, hello. Hello, Kevin. Face to face. Face to face. And Ben Solac. Hi, Ben. Hey, Ken. Face to face. What's been the highlight, Ben?

It's my line. We've done five minutes of in-person podcasting over the past two years. We've already forgotten each other. Speak for yourself. No, Ben, they're just ripping off your lines. Okay. I don't know how to be novel anymore. Okay.

She can do it. Ben, this is your first Super Bowl. What is the weirdest thing you see on Radio Row? Oh, man. There's a lot of outlets here. I feel poorly for this that I just don't know at all. Like I've never heard of ever. And they're the ones.

Yeah, and they're the ones that have the most extravagant setups. And I'm always like, oh, very big signs and backdrops for insert name of media company here that I won't say. And then, like, you know, you turn and you're like, oh, there's like, you know, guys I actually read just walking around sitting at a table writing articles. It's very funny. It's backwards. Like Danny Kelly. Danny Kelly. He's about three tables over, just cranking out content.

Absolutely. Got to feed the machine. We're going to do something very simple. We're going to have three interviews with three incredibly insightful people. We've already recorded those. We can tell you, we guarantee they're insightful. Girard Mayo, inside linebackers coach for the Patriots, obviously a long-time linebacker for the Patriots. He joins us to talk about the game, talked about the Patriots, talk about modern defenses,

has been had some great questions about this matchup. Then Carson Palmer. longtime NFL quarterback and former Bengal gives his take on I mean it's kind of on fire it's kind of on fire gives his take on everything the Bengals franchise have the Bengals franchise compared to the Cardinals franchise

this is six I haven't heard that interview at all actually I'm very excited to hear he had a lot to say Carson Palmer ready to go Wednesday Super Bowl week I'll just say that a chiropractor comes up in a way that I did not anticipate oh so you anticipated a chiropractor coming up just not in the way that it did

I also quote a rest of development and he just keeps building on it at one point about the Bengals and their lack of infrastructure. So it was a journey. He was amazing. Oh, we can't wait to get to that. And then Robert Woods, Rams receiver is hurt, obviously. Bob Trees. Big coup to get him on the pod just a couple of days before his team he still plays for, plays in the Super Bowl.

Really interesting insight as well. I will say it's much easier to interrupt Kevin's intros when we're in person. The interjections feel a lot easier. I never have trouble with it. Ben kept wanting to call Robert Woods Bobby Trees to a bit. False. I kept wanting to not accidentally do that. And I succeeded. But in my head, Mr. Treats.

In my head, every time I looked at him, I was like, Bobby Treats, baby. Please, Bobby. Mr. Trees is my father. So what we're going to do... Bob Forrest. We're just going to pop for us. We're just going to chop it up here for a couple of minutes before we get to the interviews. And I just talk about things we've learned over the past couple of days. The players have talked

three times at this point. They're going to get here on Friday in person to do media. Both teams are here, obviously. But Friday's the first time. They're just going to be sitting around talking to media in person. It's all been on Zoom. There's just been a ton of players around. Obviously, that's kind of the ecosystem of the Super Bowl,

is that I just saw Marvin Humphrey just walking around. That's kind of what happens. Playmaker, Michael Irvin, is doing Playmaker things all over Radio Row. So there's just a lot of, I guess, unironically, I don't mean this as like, I'm not being sarcastic. There is a lot of buzz. Like, people were talking, right? And so, I don't know.

Let's just start here. Nora, over the past three days, what are some things you've learned about this? game, about this league, about this extremely large convention center? Every current or former NFL player who I've spoken to about the Super Bowl or just heard talking about the Super Bowl sort of in the mix here the last couple days thinks the Rams are going to win. By a lot.

By like a good margin. And as do I. But I think, you know, players notice players, right? Like they see the star power on the ram side. And I think it just convinces. It seems like it's gotten all of them thinking in the same way about the Rams being able to just overwhelm the Bengals. And I think there's something to it. It's made me feel more secure in my own pick, Kevin.

I kind of feel like it's making my Bengals pick the ultimate Zach. Yeah. I love it disagree because I think a lot of the media members I've talked to are beginning to succumb to Bengals in this capability. Bengals inevitability. Do you think I started that? Probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was Clark process on the Bengals process.

It was months of laying the groundwork of the Clark process. Nora makes a good point. I think that players look at these rosters and they say, you know, a guy like OBJ is a luxury for this team, right? And they're just like, okay, that makes sense. Whereas the Bengals, and also, we're going to get to this with Carson Palmer, there's still a feeling among players if the Bengals are the Bengals. That's their franchise. There's still the Bengals. There's a reputation there.

some would say. And we will, I mean, players know that more than anybody. And again, Carson Palmer has some wonderful details for you later on this. But I just feel like coming in this week, I predicted that everybody, every player I saw would pick the Rams and everybody is pretty much. Yeah. I think what stands out to me in terms of like talking with people is especially in Super Bowl Week, in Radio Row, media everywhere.

Everybody wants to hit the high notes. Everybody wants to hit the major themes. Everybody wants to have the big takeaways. what are we learning from this Super Bowl run? And I think this year there's kind of an acknowledgement that it's like, you know, there are some things, right? Like, oh, the Rams built with stars. Cool.

You know what I mean? Like, you wrote a piece about, like, the Bengals proving, hey, a turnaround doesn't need to take more than two years. You can hit quarterback and go. And, like, that's the right way to go about it. But in general, you're not getting, you know, the, all, like, you know, two elite quarterbacks. Stafford and Borough are really good.

They've played at high levels. Not really being treated that way. You know what I mean? Oh, like, you know, developing schemes. both of these schemes are just, we got to let our quarterbacks work, we got to let our stars go. So there's kind of a, I don't think it's a vacuum so much, but I think in a lot of Super Bowls, you look at it,

you say, like, the dawn of this era or this, this fulcrum of the NFL league, and I don't really think that's the case this year. We're still asking that on Monday. So team-building-wise, what can you learn? I don't think you learn anything from either of these teams. Right. Because they both did what they had to do for the setup of that. The Rams, by the way, had to become popular in Los Angeles.

Right? Like they couldn't just sit there and do like a bangle style process and lose a bunch. We raise an admission accomplished flag on that bad boy? On the Rams. Becoming popular. No, it's not past time. They're doing it now. They're continuing.

I walked into Target the other day. There was Rams stuff there. People seemed excited. I don't know. That's my barometer. How much team gear is there at Target? You recently told me that that's the only place you buy clothes. So if you had to buy clothes this week, you'd buy a Rambe at Target.

That is correct. Yes. That'd be you. Um, okay, but it's, again, like, so the Bengals, yeah, the Bengals showed that rebuild should take two years, or at least it should be a proof of concept after, you know, middle of the second year, basically. But there's also, on the flip side, nothing to learn from the Bengals, because Burrow and Chase, the once-in-generation college duo became a once-in-generation pro duel. Yeah, the lesson is draft up.

Yeah. Well, the lesson is, if there was anything, is when you draft a guy who wants to change the culture, let him, let turn, turn, turn, If you wants it, turn your franchise over to your superstar quarterback. I don't think Trevor Lawrence wants to run the Jaguars. I do think Joe Burrow wants to run the Bengals. And that's the difference. And so you have to know, Trevor Lawrence needs all the support he can get. He needs probably less Trent Balke in his life.

There's a lot he needs. Don't we all. But I think that there's, you just have to figure out what your superstar is good at. And if the answer is he takes over everything, okay, let him do that. And that's what I think the Bengals have done well. And that's why, you know, despite their franchise's flaws, that they're here. So, Ben, can we repeat a little conversation that we had last night.

We were all hanging out after getting off Radio Row. And I asked Ben sort of true or false because I think part of what we're getting out here is just the mismatch between the Bengals' offensive line and the Rams defensive line is about as lopsided of a matchup as you are going to get in a Super Bowl context. And I'd ask Ben, we were just chopping it up, and I was curious what he thought about kind of true or false, the Bengals, who we've often criticized for early down runs, should pepper in a little bit of that to keep L.A. and five-man friends.

And I thought Ben had a really interesting answer about basically, like, they're going to do it no matter what. No need to take the horse to water when the horse is already at the pond and is drinking. The horse has a straw. And he's just going to town on the water. Right. The Rams from the day that Rahim Morris took over the job wanted to be in five down fronts. They want to be in five men on the line, one backer, two backers.

and then live in nickel and live in dime personnel behind it. They wanted to be that from week one. Then they got Vaughn Miller. They still wanted to be in that. Next gen stats has them in a five down front at 52% of the time. It's fourth highest in the league. And that's on all downs, first down, second down, third down. If they're giving you five-man fronts as the Bengals, you feel great.

Because they can get pressure with a four-man front. They could do it really quick. They have the guys that they're going to get it done on both sides of line at adjun at the interior. So if they're putting a whole extra body on the line, the diminishing returns of that fifth body in terms of pressure are enormous. There's no value add because they're going to get pressure with four. All you did was just take a dude out of coverage. Now Burrow, when he's reading pre-snap, trying to get to the right throw under two seconds, balls out quick. Instead of worrying about seven dudes, has to worry about

six. Now, that's assuming all five cub. The Rams are going to drop Troy Reeder. They're going to drop Bon Miller going to drop Leonard Floyd. But again, if... That's not the number one thing. Yeah. If you're looking at the way Joe Burroughs played, and you're like, oh, no, they're going to drop an outside linebacker who's a pass rusher. We think Burroughs going to make that guy wrong enough that that doesn't really bother us. Hmm. I think that there are... I think that one thing we need to address real quick is the Zach Taylor situation.

Because people are coming at me, and they're saying there's no way I can pick the bank with to win a Super Bowl and still say that Zach Taylor and say... I don't know. Let's unpack this for a second. Where would you rank Zach Taylor? The bottom half of the league, right? Yes. Okay. But not like 30 seconds.

He's not an active detriment to his team. I think he's a subpar coach which means he's like the 18th best coach. Yeah, and you put it very well when you said, like what do we learn from the Bengals, if anything? It's all right. You have the guy, give him the reins, give him the steering wheel.

And you and I've talked about this, normally at this point a couple weeks ago, and it really turned the light bulb on for me, where it was a lot of coaches who are, quote, unquote, better than Zach Taylor would have got Delta Joe Burrow and then said, we got to run my offense. And I got to help this guy develop.

You know, if I get him in my system and I do X, Y, and Z for him, then he's going to develop and I'll help Joe Burrow become this guy. It takes humility. It takes an understanding of what you have and the way for it best to develop in Joe Burrow to say, I'm not, I'm going to make this an offense where the quarterback is in charge, where it's predicated on this guy kind of being elite.

And I'm not going to say, oh, my Sean McVeigh offense where I help the quarterback, and I'm able to decide where the player routes are going to go and kind of be that guy behind the joysticks. It takes humility to let go of those controls. And I think that's to Taylor's credit. Now, with that said, there have been a lot of games for the best. angles this season where you wish the coach had a better impact on the scheme and had a had a more diverse and dynamic way of running the football or marrying the player to him to the running game and I'm worried we're going to get one of those games as well anything else where we get to the interviews

good to see you guys good to be in the mix I'm having fun you're in the mix yeah all right it's good to you guys too I'm really happy to be here man let's get to drad mayo all right drad mayo long time patriot current Patriots inside linebackers coach he's here with helman's mayo drad what's going on man just chilling, just trying to take it all in as far as, you know, the pickups and drop-offs with the kids and just having a good time. That's great. That's great. You'll be out in L.A. later this week. I'm sure you're looking forward to some of that weather. I want to start here. Just big picture. How do you see this game going on Sunday? Yeah, you know, I'm most interested in seeing the Rams defensive line versus the Bengals offensive line. And if you think about it, they've had, they've had their struggles throughout the year at the same time. I can see Zach Taylor dialing up, you know, a lot of quick passing. That's what they do anyway, quick passing game, horizontal spacing game.

But that only goes so far. Now, if the Rams get the lead in the game, it's going to be very hard to stick to that script as far as horizontal passing in, you know, with the occasional shot here and there. And so if they get the lead, if they go up a ton, and now you've got those guys up front, whether Von Miller or Aaron Donno or any of those guys up front, just pass rushing, it's going to be a hard time. Now, from the other side of the spectrum, you know, the Bengals, if they can control the clock, right? They have the better running.

Joe Nixon's a beast, right? He's very underrated. I think he's a beast. The quarterback is a beast can obviously improvise. And they have some big play weapons on the outside. So if those guys are able to go out there and control the ball, they'll do a good job and they'll have a chance. Yeah, I want to ask you about that Bengals defense because they got here beating the chiefs and they did it by just drop an eight into coverage. They did it on like 45% of those second half snaps,

which is really familiar to a 2020 Patriots game plan against that Patrick Mahomes offense. So I'm curious. I want to know why does this work? Why does dropping eight into coverage feel like the right thing to do against this Chiefs Mahomes pass happy offense? Yeah, I would say, you know, anytime you can have an extra person in coverage is always going to be good, right,

to fill those windows wherever you use them, whether it's a zone or man-to-man with multiple doubles across. the board. That's always good. And if you can keep the quarterback in the pocket, that's the other challenge, right? Now trying to keep the quarterback in the pocket with three guys. But you're giving them a little extra time, but at the same time, you're taking away a lot of space in the back end. Those guys want to make big plays. And you know, you talked about the chiefs. They have a lot of big play weapons, you know, Nico Harmon, Tyree Kiel, Kelsey, all those guys. It takes time for those guys to get down the field. And when they're down the field,

there's someone there waiting for them because we have all the underneath zones taken care of. So that's definitely something that we enjoy doing. But you have to mix it in. You can't just run three-man coverage all day, if not just going to run the ball down your throat. So I'm curious, this Rams offense has, like, invited some of this a little bit more because they've become much pass happier, right? They become more Matt Stafford, you know,

passing out of the gone, straight dropback pass and all of that. You obviously, you weren't yet on staff the last time the Rams were here and they ran into that Patriots defense and had a long day. how much have you seen this Rams offense change over those last few years, and especially with the change from Jared Gough at quarterback to Matt Stafford, what do they do differently now? Yeah, I would say, you know, I did watch that game. Yeah, I wasn't on that team, but, you know, everything was predicated on the run game

and move the pocket plates back then, right? So whether it was the stretch run game, stretch run game, and then they moved the pocket. Then we played them last year. It was more of the building of formations. So the formations were being built, you know, pre-snack. and post snap. And then after that, you know, now what you're seeing, a guy like Matt Stafford who has tremendous skill set,

has a great arm, has mobility in the pocket to do a bunch of different things. You're starting to see empty, right? You're starting to see a little bit of drop-back fasting game. But you also haven't lost the stretch run game. You haven't lost the boots and all that stuff. So the offense has definitely evolved for the better. So in some previous interviews, Gerard,

you've talked about having imposter syndrome. And you've had very insightful comments about that and just kind of the general mental approach that you've taken to both your playing career starting in college. And I'm curious how you think you're approaching the coaching position, given all of your experiences in college, pro high school, and what you brought to it. Yeah, and just so everyone knows, you know, I've dealt with imposter syndrome, which is feeling like you don't belong for a long time. So I was a four-star recruit in high school. All right. I went to Tennessee. I get to Tennessee.

I don't think I belong because these guys are bigger, faster, stronger. And that motivated me to get bigger, faster, stronger. I get to the NFL, first round draft pick. Ah, I don't belong here. They just won 18 games a year before. I got to get bigger, faster, stronger, end up being rookie of the year, second year captain on. And then I go into corporate America for three years, same thing, right?

And so I go into corporate America, and there are a bunch of people in there that don't look like me. They're 20 years, my senior, and it's like, I don't belong. And so I believe in fully immersion. I joined the board of a hospital. I was reading everything about health care, the health care system. And it really just motivated me and drove me to be the person that I am today. And now, coming full circle, coming back as a coach,

I do have a little bit of a little more natural credibility, but at the same time, imposter syndrome, because these coaches have still been coaching a long time. What I bring is just a diversity of thought. You know, I'm not really, I haven't been raised here like 100%. I've been raised in other systems. And when I say other systems, I'm also talking about in corporate America. So being able to build that rapport, being able to teach and communicate with guys

who are younger, older, black, white, male, female, those are really the skills that I think I bring to the table. How did working in corporate America change your perspective? A lot of guys go right from the locker room to the coaching room if they're going to go on that path. You took a detour into corporate America. How did that change your approach when you got back to an NFL facility, Gerard? You know, the thing I love most about football and about sports is that instant feedback.

In corporate America, you could be doing something, and you don't know you're going the wrong way until your mid-year review. And that was so frustrating to me. It's like, no, I want to know if I take the wrong step this way, I get smacked in the side of the head. And so that's the best way that's the best way to learn. That's kind of how I look at. Obviously, you mentioned the diversity of thought. There's obviously diversity questions right now in the NFL. And, you know, you interviewed for a head coaching job this offseason.

If you're talking to Roger Goodell tomorrow, what advice are you giving him on how to help the diversity in the NFL because obviously things have to get better? Yeah, you know, I think the Rooney rule was a good thought. poor implementation in my opinion. I would say if you want to start, I think it's two ways. The top of the funnel and the bottom of the funnel.

I think at the top of the funnel is ownership. There are no black owners in the NFL. I don't even know if we have a black minority owner in the NFL. But I think it starts right there. The bottom of the funnel, and I can only speak here in New England, where we have this minority program where we bring coaches in,

let them stay with us for a year. And then most of the time, these guys latch on, and now they're climbing in the ranks as well. This year it's Ross Douglas. Last year it was Ross Douglas, and now he's an integral part in everything that we do. Now what I will say is what you're seeing, if Roger Goodell is right here,

if you want to pat him on the back, if you had to find something this year, you had Minnesota, Chicago, and now the Steelers interview on Morocco Brown, but you're having minorities in these roles, which hopefully matriculates down into the coaching cycle. On the topic of coaching diversity, Gerard, you obviously played under Brian Flores

when he was a coach in New England. You coached against him when he was there in Miami, and you were in New England. And he spoke this past week, and he's spoken a lot about the fact that he's experienced interviews as a black head coaching candidate as owners just checking a box on the Rooney Roll, not really taking those interviews seriously. So you've had your head coaching interviews,

and I'm curious what your experience has been in those interviews, and if they've been what you wanted them to be when you showed up to that room showed up in the building? Yeah, none of the interviews worked the way I wanted them to go because I didn't get a job. Right. Fair point. But in all seriousness, I think there are two schools of, I think there are two different groups here.

I think there are the younger group where I've only been coaching three years. I'm going into my fourth year and I've had three head coaching interviews. Now, by any measure, that's an accomplishment in itself. Whether they had their guy or not, for me, it was a learning experience. If I was if I was shorthanded or not, I don't know. It was a learning experience for me, trying to learn as much. And they didn't even know this, but I was interviewing them as well. They're interviewing me.

I'm interviewing you. So I was asking questions as well. Now, if you look at it on the other end of the spectrum, where you have the Leslie Frazier's of the world, the Eric, the enemies of the world, the Brian Floress of the world, you know, the older, the coaches, the Jim Carwells of the world. I can see where that frustration sets in, right? These guys are frustrated. They're seeing, you know, coaches get jobs. with lesser credentials than they have. And it is frustrating.

I'm not personally, I'm not at that point yet. Now, do I support everything that those guys are talking about? Absolutely. We've known that hiring practices, we've known that the hiring practices have to change. Not only in the NFL, hiring practices have to change in the tech world as well, right? I'm an investor in a bunch of companies. It has to change there as well. It has to change in corporate America as well.

oftentimes I was the only black person in the room. And I'm not saying that to brag. I'm saying that to say, like, how do we change this, right? How do we get out of this echo chamber of everyone just thinking the same? And realistically, people hire people that look like that. They hire people that think like that. Right? And that's usually what it is.

And some of these guys have had long-term relationships with these GM. They went to high school together. They went to college together. And we don't really have that, right? We don't really have that as a whole. Because most of our friends, and I'm talking about black men, they're not going off to be GM somewhere for the most part, right? That has to be a perfect marriage.

Wow. Well said. Thank you for that, Trad. What is the best thing? Obviously, I don't want to give any state secrets away. Coach Belichick does not like giving away state secrets. But what is the most, you know, he's probably the best defensive thinker in the history of football, Coach Belichick.

What is one thing he taught you about defense that you never in a million years would have thought about? That's a good question. That's a good question. I think about a lot. One thing I will say, one thing that I've taken away from Bill is just his overall, his overall way of preparing for games, right? It's not only about the players,

it's also, you know, looking at the teams that play similarly to us and really seeing how they attack those teams. One thing I'll say about Bill as well is that he's also evolved as a coach. How he communicates with the players is a lot. different than how he communicated with me as a player. Right. And so, like, the way he's evolved has been fascinating, but just his overall preparation, which I do think about preparation, but he takes it to that next level, which makes him a special guy.

Last thing before we asked what you're doing with Helmans, Tom Brady just retired, obviously. Give us a Tom Brady store where you knew he was special. I mean, obviously, you hear stories about getting there. And obviously, Tom Brady won two rules before he got there. But when was the moment where you were just like, this, okay, this is just another level? Yeah, it was early in my career. And I think it was my rookie year. We were flying back from the West Coast.

And we had just beat the Chargers or the Raiders or someone. And we had just beat him pretty handily. And we're flying back east. And he's already looking at the next game on his computer. And I was like, we haven't even celebrated. Well, everyone else is like celebrating the victory. Like he has his headphones in. And he's just moving on, just moving on.

And he had that ability to move on when lose or draw. You know, I know he seems emotional on. field, but this guy, I mean, he could change the page like the best of them. Amazing. Tell us what we were doing with Helmans. Yeah, well, Helmand is a natural partnership, right? Mayo and Mayo are really trying to tackle food waste. So I had to channel my inner Terry Tate, the office linebacker, tackle a few people around food waste.

It was a great time, you know, Pete Davis and his mom, Amy, was there. It was a great time, you know, easy shoot. But I also learned a lot. I learned about the amount of food that we. waste here in America, 40% of the food that we consume, we waste it. And then 40% of that happens in our household, not even including what's going on in restaurants and stores. So definitely trying to tackle that. Drod Mayo. He's here with Helmand's Mayo. Thank you so much for coming in the ring our NFL show. I appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

I'm right here with Carson Palmer, former NFL player. He's here with level select CBD. What's going on, Carson? Not much. Glad to be here. Yeah, I'm excited. I want to start here. The Bengals is playing the Super Bowl. You're going to get this question, times over the next couple of days. What do we not know about the Bengals franchise? You've been inside of it, but the turnaround that Burrough has done in less than two years because you blew out as ACL. How significant is that knowing what you know about the Bengals franchise where it's just a little bit different. They have six scouts. It's just a different franchise and 31 other places. What don't I know about the Bengals franchise? Well, I think, you know, their lack of success

with the current structure of ownership, there's been plenty of stories. I mean, I don't know that there's anything that it's very cut and dry. They don't have a big scouting department. They don't do anything in free agency as far as like big splash or big signings. They don't make big moves on draft day to go after players they know they want. They kind of sit and wait and hope that somebody good falls to them in the draft. They don't spend a bunch of money in free agency.

they don't fire coaches ever. So, I mean, I don't know that there's anything that it's pretty simple. It's pretty cut and dry. I think everybody knows what it is. It's a tight pocketbook that has not had a lot of success and is okay with not having a ton of success. They're not an organization that's willing to do to make drastic decisions, to make drastic signings, to make big moves on draft day. They just kind of sit and wait in the wings and hope for opportunity like this. I don't think they built this roster to go to the Super Bowl this year.

I don't think they, I don't think anybody thought they would be in the Super Bowl with the roster they have this year. Things just worked out. I mean, things kind of fell in their lap. They found a way to win certain. I mean, they went, they went 10 and 7. I mean, they won the AFC North, but the AFC North lost Lamar Jackson. The Pittsburgh Steelers were down.

The Cleveland Browns were a mess. It just kind of was one of those years that, that they surprised a lot of people. And I just don't think there's much to be discovered. It is what it is. It's just they've been doing the same thing for 40 years. It just hasn't worked until now. Yeah.

How much of that do you think just comes down to Burrow as the accelerator to open that window maybe sooner than they would have predicted? All of it. I mean, it's what he's done with the offensive line they have and the guy's protecting him. find you know he's been cool he's been calm he's been collect even when he's been getting beat up and sacked like in the aFC championship game he's sacked nine times he just has a level-headedness about him that i think everybody on that in that locker room sees and they feel and it rubs off on them there's just something magic about there's just

there's no reason they should have been you know they should have gotten past the number one seed in the afc on the road there's no way they should have gone into patrick mahog in Arrowhead and won that game, but they just found a way to do it. There's something magic about this group. When you talk about Burrow, part of the stories, he blew his ACL out, or his knee out last November, he has the training camp. He says basically he's seeing ghosts for all of training camp. He said he told me he had trouble even kind of differentiating between offensive and defensive

players because his vision wasn't sharp. You had that rehabilitation. I remember that Mike Silver story over a decade ago about how ruling your comeback. was when you're coming back from a knee injury like that, especially you guys were in similar situations where there's high expectations, the franchise, you know, all that. What is that journey like when you're trying to get back to playing elite quarterback when you brought your name? It's tough.

You know, I think what I was saying earlier about the roster not quite being ready for a Super Bowl, I don't think they thought Joe was ready to have this kind of. I mean, Joe kind of could win the MVP. He should be in that discussion. if he's not. But I don't think they expected him to have this kind of success. I don't think they expected him to not be seeing any goes to really be able to transfer his weight into throws and move in the pocket.

I mean, back to last week in Arrowhead, you know, he's dead right sacked by Chris Jones. And Chris Jones doesn't miss that sack. He finds a way to pivot his body and rotate his knee and he was grabbed up top and he spun out of it. that didn't look like a guy coming off an ACL. And I've been in that spot. And I know what that's like. And you start thinking, as soon as you get hit in the back of the head, you're like,

I got to protect my knee. There's none of that going through his head. And so, you know, I think that's the biggest thing. It's just the knee's strong. If you're cleared to play and you've been through all the protocols and multiple doctor visits and surgeon checked in on it, physical therapy, like there's a lot that goes into deciding, are we going to put this guy in the field?

And so his knee is strong, but it's a mental hurdle to get over. And it takes a couple years, it took me a couple years. I know the first year back, it was always in the back of my mind. I didn't want to go through that again. How do I protect it? How do I pick it up? How do I not get my leg planted in the ground and have somebody hit? You're not seeing that, Joe.

You're not seeing that thought process ever play out. You're just seeing him go out there like he's 100% and the knee's 100%. And it was never an issue. And that's, that is, that is mental toughness. That is mental strength that Joe has. And everybody's now, the world's starting to see it after, you know, he's, he's come back the way he has. I want to ask about Matthew Stafford because you guys had slightly similar path.

There were some comparisons when the trade was made last year to you going to Arizona where play for a franchise for a long time. You are, you know, obviously a great quarterback on a franchise that didn't do a whole lot of winning. And then later in your career, you go to a place. place, perfect fit, teams all in, all that stuff. You obviously have that in Arizona. When you're going from, you know, obviously the pit stop in Oakland, but when you're going from a place that's not winning to a place that's winning,

and you're already joining a winning culture and you're joining great players, what is the transition like and what do you think Stafford has done in this first year in Los Angeles? Yeah, I think it's probably pretty similar to how I felt. When I got out of the Bengals organization, and went to the Cardinals organization and saw, I'll never forget, I walked in the first time I walked in the room and there was like three chiropractors, acupuncturist, massage therapist. There was all kinds of recovery. And, you know, I felt like it was coming from prehistoric times where there was like two trainers and you weren't allowed to see a chiropractor. You weren't like, they didn't believe in any of this voodoo that now is their science.

Medicine. The jury still out on science. It's your classic doctors. The jury's still out on. medicine and science, no doubt. But I'll never, and then, and you know, there's a general manager and there was a scouting department. There's all these guys watching film on college.

Like, I just, I remember walking in being like, oh, that's what the NFL looks like. And it blew me away. And it was so refreshing. And I think that's the best word to describe it. It's just refreshing. Like, oh, man, this is exciting. The whole organization is that all they're talking about is winning the Super Bowl and they're so focused on how do we get to the playoffs?

How do we win the NFC West? how do we do this, how do we do that? There was such a gravitational pull that everybody was in the right direction. And there wasn't any negative connotation towards anything that I was coming from. There was so much negative, well, we don't do this right, and we don't do this right, and all those things that come up. So it was just a really refreshing experience. And I'm sure Stafford went through the same thing going from Detroit to L.A.

where they're doing whatever it takes when a Super Bowl. And I think that's what I felt when I went to Arizona. And it was like, these guys, they're willing to do whatever it takes to get a Super Bowl. And the Rams have proven that. I mean, they drafted the quarterback number one, swapped them out for two ones and a four, and brought in somebody else. And Odell Beckham Jr. and Alvonne Miller and Jaylon, I mean, they are pursuing on a daily basis, a Super Bowl championship.

And I don't think it was that way in Detroit. I can't speak for Matt. But I think for him to come into that kind of atmosphere is a refreshing atmosphere to join. Last year on this podcast, you came on. We had a tight 15-minute window, something like that. Minute 14 and 30, you mentioned skiing, okay? Nora is the biggest ski fan in the world, and she's been winning a year to talk to you about skiing.

Noah Prenziotti, you have the floor. Let's go. He, like, threw himself because I think we were on Zoom. Yeah, and he just saw my eyes go. And she was like, I got to talk to him about skiing. I was like, I'm sorry. So now is your opportunity to ask skiing. What are you getting out there this winter at all?

I've skied a ton. I've skied, I brought my son with me. He's a ski racer. So he does slalom, giant slalom downhill. He's 13 years old. He skis and does backflips and all kinds of stuff in the air. He skis 80 miles an hour. Full racing suit.

So I'm leaving from here to go to his race in Park City Super Bowl weekend, unfortunately. But I'll still get to see the game, obviously. But yeah, I'll be skiing this weekend. That's awesome. Me too. I'm very jealous. Speaking of skiing, something that's, that helps me ski is level select CBD.

It's something I use on my knees. I've had multiple surgeries, operations, all kinds of issues. And if you want to ski and you are serious about skiing, you know the knee pain and the knee soreness and the aches that come with a long day in the hill. Cavs, everything. That is why level select CBD is the best. You lube up your knees. I do it as I'm getting to the hill before I put my boots on.

I put it on my knees to get them warm. And then before I go to bed at night, after my legs are tired from a long day on the hill, I put more level select CBD on. And that's why I'm here. I'm glad you guys gave me that opportunity to bring it up. But I love talking skiing. I can talk skiing all that. Good. Amazing.

I want to try that. How do you see this game going on Sunday? You know, my heart is in Cincinnati, and I want that fan base to experience this. I wasn't able to provide that. This team is so close. That fan base is so deserving. They've been waiting. Well, they haven't won one ever.

So they've been waiting forever for this. I just don't know if they have the firepower. I mean, you look at that, you look at that Rams roster. And there are pro bowlers all over the place. There's guys that you could probably start fitting for a gold jacket right now. From Andrew Whitworth to Aaron Donald, maybe OBJ. I mean, Jalen Ramsey, Von Miller. I mean, there is so much star power and firepower over there.

I just don't know if the Bengals have enough to get it done. I want the Bengals to win. I just don't think they have enough star power because when it comes down to these big games, Aaron Donald's a game changer. Von Miller won the Super Bowl MVP by changing the game. That game was close and then sack, fumble touchdown, boom.

They have that. The Bengals don't have that kind of roster, but I just see this Rams team being unbeatable right now. Carson Palmer is here with level select, nor is taking it on the slopes. Thank you so much, man. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Robert Woods, Rams receiver, NFL star, one of the most important receivers to his offense in football. He's here on behalf of SoFi. Almost everybody who talked to this week, the first question is a prediction. I don't need to ask you that. I don't think so. I think you know where I'm swinging. But what kind of game is this going to be? You never know.

You never know. But from my experience, our past Super Bowl experience and what I've been telling our guys, expect a chess match. It's going to be one of those games where you, you know, you shouldn't look at the scoreboard at all. It's one of those. You just keep your head down, keep working. Make sure you do every single assignment to your best ability.

You get to the sideline, you review over the iPad, you get back out there and do it again, give your all. And after that whole 60 minutes, then you look at the clock, and it should be in your favor. Yeah, that defense that the Patriots put out there, right? They had six guys on the line, they're running quarters. Yeah, it's a lot. then Sean started to change the offense.

And over the last three, four years before Matt, after Matt, with you in the building, they've made a lot of changes. So I'm curious, the inside look in terms of how has McBae grown this offense? How has that experimentation gone, the new things? Is it talking with you guys, bringing different dudes into the building? How has he gone through this process of saying, the Patriots put a blueprint out here and I need new solutions?

Very, very interesting to say that he prepared very well, like over, over, over, over prepare that past game because in a way, he did, but in a way this Super Bowl, he has to, because I was saying that Super Bowl, obviously you get two weeks to prepare. We're studying New England. We're studying them very well. It gets to the point where you watch every single tape and you're like, I know these guys, I know that I know their identity.

And then they get to Super Bowl Sunday. So I'm asking about. And then it's like, okay, now that's what they do. It's like, okay, now what? And I think this year he's prepared for it all. I know you say not over-prepared and knowing your opponent, but he knows his opponent when he knows us well.

But I think the preparation is being ready for anything and being able to execute against any defense, anything they try to pull up on offense. But really, being honed in and ready for anything that comes. Yeah, that defense that the Patriots put out there, right? They had six guys on the line. Yeah, it's a lot. then Sean started to change the offense.

And over the last three, four years before Matt, after Matt, with you in the building, they've made a lot of changes. So I'm curious, the inside luck in terms of how has McVeigh grown this offense? How has that experimentation gone, the new things? Is it talking with you guys, bringing different dudes into the building? How has he gone through this process of saying, the page has put a blueprint out here and I need new solutions?

So, yeah, so the offensive changes because of his guru being able to know the offense and create mismatches up front on defensive end. on the line and the receiving group. And with that, we were explosive offense coming out with Jared, our first playoff run. I remember we came out hot the year after we came out hot again. And then the Patriots came out with that defense and kind of put out the blueprint, like you said.

And then that following year, that was the defense that we start to face a lot more. And just having to prepare for it. McVeigh, being a genius, trying to execute and thrive. against that defense. And now we get to the point where we're in Super Bowl again, can expect anything. And I'm sure we're going through it all, expecting anything. But I think his creative genius is going to thrive and be ready to be creative. I'd like to ask this question when you're around someone who knows one side of the ball so well.

And it's interesting because I had to keep to leave on a show a couple weeks ago. And he had said that, he had said that Sean goes in the defensive meetings. And it seems like he, you know, if you just closed your eyes, know Sean McVey, you could say, oh, this is the DC, because he knows so much about it. But obviously, he knows the offensive side of the ball so well. And despite his young age, he's one of the best offensive thinkers in football. We know that. Can you take me through something that he's taught you about the offensive side of the ball,

that if you'd never met Sean McVeigh, you would have never even thought of it a million years? Yeah, I would say really more so creating the mismatch. Obviously, you know that this guy is bigger, this guy may be faster. but McVeigh will create a disadvantage for that guy and it's almost like for the bigger, stronger guys, he will, I don't want to spill any beans or anything, but he wants to, he wants to,

yeah, he wants to, you know, you want to get that big guy running. You want to get his momentum going one way and being able to counteract that. And I think that's really the biggest thing is being able to be creative not only with the players that you have, but schematically as well. Yeah. And one of those mismatches, one of those things that happens is all of a sudden Sean McVeigh is asking number two Robert Woods, like dig a safety out of the box, the block, right?

So I'm curious kind of, firstly, what was it like when Sean started to kind of tell you and the coach started to tell you like, hey, you're going to start having to hit some people. What was that like for you? Yeah. So it starts off, you know, he comes into the meeting room and he say, hey, Robert, you know, I thought this great idea. Remember when you ran this route from this position right next to the end. This time I'm going to have you block the D.N. This 290-pound guy. Yeah, I mean, like, and these guys are pretty, I would say, coming to kind of the most athletic guys. They're the biggest, the strongest, and really,

really agile in their movements. But he's asking us to block these guys. And when you watch it, it kind of seems effortlessly how me and Cooper and all the guys are able to win on these blocks and it's really just a schematic get these guys get these guys running and want to and Eric Yarbrough, our receiver coach, working these drills and getting players who want to do

these jobs. What makes, I know you against you've been rehabbing with Cooper Cup? Yeah, yeah. Obviously you've been around him for his entire, almost entire evolution of how he's become one of the most dangerous weapons in football probably. Super Cup. Yeah, Super Cup. Behind

you know, he and Devante Adams or some some way to rank them, but they're near the top. What makes him special? And that's a big, broad question. It's a cliche question, but, like, what just start there? What do I not understand about Cooper Cup? He does it all. I would say you see a lot of receivers who get open well, catch the ball well.

There's receivers who are very fast, deep threats. And really, this year specifically, you got to see a real showcase of Cooper, whether it was blocking, whether it was a jet sweep, whether it was a five-yard option route, making guys fall, or whether it's a deep 60-yard or outrunning guys. And I think really you got to see his whole showcase of being a receiver, being smart, studying your opponent, really. Just all the work that he puts in throughout the week, it doesn't just show up on Sunday. and I like I like seeing him on Sunday because he makes it look easy but it's all from the preparation and work that he's put in years and years.

You had a big turnover in the receiver room this year when you brought in Odell, right? Yes. And then obviously as well when you had your injury in the middle of the season. And now there's a new role for Odell, there's a new role for Van, there's a adjusting role for Cooper Cup. Oh, and this quarterback's new. He's only been here for nine weeks. I'm kind of curious for you watching the team,

working with the receivers. When did you really feel like this passing offense? clicked. When did you, you were watching it in the film room, you were talking with the guys, you were like, oh, we've got it now. We're good. The day we signed, that's a great answer. I got my staff. We're good. You got Stafford. I mean, you know this quarterback can make all the throws. You've seen what he's done in Detroit. And it was really just how fast can we get the chemistry. Yeah, yeah. So as soon as we signed them, we're all in a group in a group text, hey, when can we get to work? When are you coming out here?

being able to get with him as fast as we could, being able to throw all the guys, whether it was flying in, all the guys were able to get it done. But probably the first pass chemistry. Obviously, we had some hiccups in the year, but that's a part of football. And it's really just him being a gunslinger,

taking chances, and that's what you want as a receiver. Did that first pass sting a little bit when it landed? A little heat on that? Now, it was actually, it was like catching a loaf of bread. Oh, yeah. He's got that light touch. A nice little soft touch, fitting a hand. Right in front, being able to run with it.

And I think that's what you went from a quarterback who can make all the throws, whether it was short, soft, fire it in there when needed. No looker. That's one of the biggest thing I would say, you're running your route, you're finding work, and you're, oh, the quarterback's not looking at me, but the ball's coming. Yeah. And I'm always being ready for a quarterback of his stature. Knowing what you know about the Bengals and knowing Joe Burroughs to get guys out in their routes,

obviously the offensive line isn't very good on defense, Ray Hendrickson. I mean, there's some talent all over across the board. When you're talking about the Rams locker room, and obviously you've been in it, you know all those guys. Who's the most important RAM that is not a star to this game? We have guys that aren't stars on our team. He's got it. He's good. He's good.

He's like, no. Is Eric Weddo a star? I mean, that's a great answer. I would say Eric Weddle coming and joining our forces late in the year is a huge impact. Because it's communication. We always talk about a big emphasis in our success is communication, verbal and nonverbal. He's able to get our guys in the right position, being able to make the place. He has to experience.

Even if he can't get there as fast as he used to, he's going to be in the best position and get guys there. I think he's going to have a huge impact in the Super Bowl. And he already had a huge impact that's far, especially the NFC championship game. You're thinking about asking coach next year, like, hey, Weddell came in late. He looked great, real fresh.

I'm coming off injury. Maybe give me like 15, 16 weeks off. And then maybe I'll start playing a little late in the season. Sound good? Yeah, man, seeing Weddell come back off the couch. I'm like, what kind of workouts were you involved in? That was my question. How was he ready to play an NFL game

like four days notice? Man, he came in ready, which was really, really big for us, and that was inspiring. I was joking with a couple people around here. I've seen the tight end for the Bengals throw off his knee brace. Really inspirational for me this Sunday I was thinking about getting ready

to just run out there. Yeah, we're going to get out there. But it's super fun to just see the guys go out there and live there best experience, football experience this coming Sunday. Awesome. Tell us what you're doing, SoFi. Partnering with SoFi, obviously, the best stadium in the whole NFL.

But really just seeing the stadium itself is beautiful. It's a beautiful stadium, beautiful atmosphere. And I would say the app is like that as well. They make it really easy and compatible for the users, make it a personal experience, being able to do your daily task. banking on there, saving on there, being able to get involved in the cryptocurrency that's going on. They make it easy on their platform.

And that's what I'm here. Just being able to put the word out on SOFI, the group. And, of course, you'll see a lot of SOFi this Sunday. And this week, of course. Robert Woods. Thank you so much for me on the Ringar NFL show. All right.

Thank you to Nora, Ben, Gerard Mayo, Carson Palmer, and Bobby Trees, Robert Woods. This has been the Ringer NFL show on the Ringer Podcast Network. next up on this feed, Nora and Mallory. Friday comes the preview show with the Young Guns. And then we have some slow news days coming up. Let's go through the list.

Justin Herbert, Joe Montana, Russell Wilson, Sean Payton, Travis Kelsey, Darious Rucker. Anybody else? Richie? That's it. See ya this weekend.