The Ringer NFL Show - Tom Brady Retires, the Niners' Luck Runs Out, and the New AFC North Kings

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

Jason, James, and Ryan start the pod by sharing their reactions to Tom Brady's official retirement announcement. They then dissect and analyze the Rams' gutsy win over the 49ers for the NFC championship (21:34) and the Bengals' upset victory over the Chiefs in the AFC championship game (31:03). They wrap everything up by touching on the breaking coach and GM news around the NFL. (43:11) Hosts: Jason Goff, James Jones, Ryan Shazier Production Assistant: Chris Sutton Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's help everybody. I'm JJ John T. Stramski. And I'm Jason Gawford. If you haven't heard, the ringer has gone local. I'm bringing the fire. I'm bringing the rain from the big apple with my show, New York, New York. And I'm reping Shy Town with my new show The Full Go on All Things Chicago. We've got episodes three nights a week with all the reaction to the local teams and guests. Plus bonus episodes around all the big games and storylines. So whether you're uptown, downtown, downtown, in the burbs, or a transplant. Make sure you follow New York, New York, and the full go on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.

Welcome in to this week's edition of the NFL Ringer show, the Tuesday edition, I should say. James Jones, Ryan Shazier, Jason Gough with you. And let's start with the news and we can get to the games. The great Tom Brady has officially announced his retirement after 22 NFL seasons. He had this to say on Instagram. I've always believed the sport of football is an all-in proposition. If a 100% competitive commitment isn't there, You won't succeed in success is what I love so much about our game.

There is a physical, mental, and emotional challenge every single day that has allowed me to maximize my highest potential. And I've tried my very best these past 22 years. There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life. This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes, I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career. And now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention. Before we get to what isn't in there, what is in there, James, Ryan, you guys are competed against Tom Brady.

I got to be honest with you, I feel like this is a little understated for an all-time great retirement, to be honest with you, right? We weren't around when Babe Ruth retired, right? When Wayne Gretti retired, it was a big to do in the NHL. When Mario Lemieux retired, same thing with Michael Jordan, both times. We've seen it, right? When the greats and arguably the greatest of a game step away, this seems a little understated.

And maybe because the news broke a couple of days before and maybe that kind of squashed all the feelings that maybe we would have had if we didn't hear it a couple of days and then hear it from him. But how are you guys, as people who played in the NFL, guys who love the sport of football, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, if not the greatest quarterback of all time, putting it up. honest with you, man, we've, we've all been blessed to be able to sit here and watch Tom Brady, man, and just the longevity of him going out there, man, the product that he's put on the

football field, man. We've all been truly blessed, man, just the games that he's been a part of, man, and that's brought excitement to our game. And to be honest with you, just to touch on the, just to touch on the message that he put out, I think that's Tom Brady. You know what I mean? Tom Brady's never been a r-rah guy. I'm going to put out this awesome video. And, you know, get everybody to praise me and all. He's never really been like that. You know what I'm saying? Even when you hear his teammates talk about him and the guys that talk about them,

they always talk about how great a teammate Tom Brady is, how humble he is and all that. It was always about team. It was always about winning. It wasn't about MVP's. It wasn't about none of that. It was all about like he always says. You know what my favorite ring is? The next one.

You know what I'm saying? It was all about winning that next championship, man, and better in his teammates. So, I mean, just being able to compete against Tom, man, and obviously I wasn't on the defensive side of the ball, but seeing him out there, you know what I mean, and being on the other side of the ball, offense trying to keep up with him and score points, man, and make sure that, you know, he can't go down here

and win the game. I mean, it was a pleasure to compete against him, man. Like you said, I mean, I always say that Tom Brady's not the greatest talent that we've ever seen, most accomplished we've ever seen. But you got to give credit to where credit do, man. This dude has seven Super Bowls, 15 Pro Bowls, three-time MVP. You know what I'm saying? Five-time MVP in the Super Bowl.

I mean, it's big time, man. He is the goat. He's the greatest quarterback, you know, to ever do it in this game, man. And kudos to Tom Brady. And to be honest with you, I like it the way he did it, man. You know what I mean? No, no, no. And I want to make sure, too.

I wasn't saying that it was understated from hit. you expect that? Like in terms of the general tenor around it. Everybody, like, what in the world is going on? It kind of seems like it's under the radar. Like, hey, but I kind of feel like everybody's just like, man, that's Tom. Like, you know, Tom, man, girl. Congrats, Tom, you know what I'm saying?

But, you know, now if it was somebody else, you know, Diyadh, Sanders or something, we all know Diyan. And maybe the conversation is like that, too, because it has been a feta complete for a while now that this is the greatest to have. ever do it. To me, I think it kind of got, like you said, not watered down, but not as big, because to me, it kind of started off kind of crazy because for somebody to be the greatest quarterback to ever do it, right? And I understand that, like, we're media, you know,

Adam Schaeffner's media, Ian Robert Ports media, and then, like, you always want to get the story out first. But to me, I feel like, like, they put the story out, but he didn't even make the, like, he made the decision. but like I feel like a story like that allow this man to say it himself allow this man to put out his own information because he's the greatest of all time because when the information dropped

it was just Adam Schaeffner said Tom Brady retired no no context behind it. Yeah sources close to Tom Brady are telling me that his retirement's coming up yep. Yeah right so like but basically like it didn't come from the horse's mouth or anything

you know so basically I think like it kind of made, like obviously he put out the story that he wanted to put out but I think it kind of threw him off guard when it coming out like that too because I feel like he probably would have had a press conference or something

or he would have did something differently but the fact that already everybody a week prior is saying oh Tom Brady retired it kind of like man all right I might have already made a decision but now you know like I might as well just you know wrap it up

you know what I'm saying and to me I feel like somebody that great. Sometimes we have to do better as a community to allow the great ones to put out their own message, put out their own story. Because then we can actually see their true emotion, see how they truly feel. But like you said, James, Tom isn't a guy that's rah-rah. He isn't a guy that's, you know, all about me. But in that situation, that's like in that situation, he can talk about himself. In that situation, he can say, hey, thank you everybody for the career I've had.

He could have had a press conference and talked about it, but I feel like they kind of took that away from him when that message came out last week. He mentioned in his Instagram message, I've done a lot of reflecting the past week and have asked myself difficult questions, and I am so proud of what we have achieved. My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors and fans deserve 100% of me, but right now it's best I leave the field of played

to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes. To my Bucs teammates, the past two years, I love you guys, and I've loved going to battle with you. You have dug so deep to challenge yourself and it inspired me to wake up every day and give you my best. I'm always here for you guys and want to see you continue to push yourself to be your best. I couldn't be happier with what we accomplished together. And then he talks to all the Bucks fans.

He talks to the city of Tampa. He talks to the Glazer family, to Jason Light, to his head coach Bruce Ariens, to all of his Bucks coaches, the Bucks staff. He mentions Alex Guerrero, who everybody knows is linked to TB12 in his situation, says to Alex Guerrero, thank you. I could never have made every Sunday without you. It's that simple. your dedication to your craft and our friendship and brotherhood are immeasurable we have an unbreakable bond

and i love you uh he goes on to talk to his parents and then the paragraph that i thought i think this encapsulates everything he says and lastly to my wife jazelle and my children jack benny and vivie you are my inspiration our family is my greatest achievement i always came off the feel and home to the most loving and supportive wife who has done everything for our family to allow me to focus on my career. Her selflessness allowed me to reach new heights professionally, and I'm beyond words, what you mean to me and our family. Teamo Amor de Menya, Vita, with the heart side. So, people have speculated that it's been a while now that Giselle Bunchin has wanted Tom to hang them up. You know, she doesn't like to see him get hit, what wife would like to see their husband

get hit, you know, especially you guys can speak to having football wives and what they must go through when you guys are out there on the field. So the family component is very important here. And you could tell that at some point, the family's going to be pulling you in one direction. Kids are growing up and saying, hey, come live with me. Come be a part of my life a little bit more.

So when you have those pulls, I can dig it, man. I can dig family, Trump, and everything. A lot of consternation is going on on social media and on these debate shows. He did not mention the Patriots. He did not mention Bill Belichick. and I will give my two cents on this, and you guys as players can obviously give us more depth of knowledge

because of your experience. We got to take it sometimes that dudes be hurt, and it's okay to be hurt. And the fact that his 22-year career, he spent 20 of them with the New England Patriots, and he did not mention them, and it's not a bad thing either to say somebody might be hurt. The omission of your 20 years in Boston,

in New England with Bill Belichick, with, you know, the owner, that thing didn't end the way he liked it to end. He probably would have wanted to end his career in New England. So everybody's like, oh, it's wild that he didn't mention it, or, you know, how could he not mention the Patriots? How could he not mention Bill Belichick? Obviously, there's still something there. It is definitely something there.

I think, you know, it could have been a combination of a few things. as you know people said before Bill Belichick he did things and treated everybody the same way and that's something that could have you know bother Tom I've been with you 20 years you can treat me a little different

you know that could have been something that bothered him he probably didn't like the fact that you know like you said he didn't finish his career there and you know sometimes when somebody is salty it doesn't matter who you are that is stinging a little bit and the Jimmy Garoppolo situation

and we went back and for for a couple of years with that like why are they keeping him you know, why did they draft him? Bill Belichick likes him more, like all that stuff as well, right? Yeah, yeah. So when you're one of the greatest players to ever play, and he was one of the greatest players

are the greatest player when he was at the Patriots. And you're getting treated like that, or you don't feel respected in a certain way, you know, that can really cause you to be salty or have some type of feelings. And some people hold grudges for their whole life. You know, and it's only been two years for Tom. So, you know, he might just say,

hey, you know, the best thing for me is just to focus on the now and not focus on the past. And I think that's what he did. He just, like you said, he's not about me. So he was like, I'm not about to make this about me or made this about them. I'm just going to appreciate the guys that I was most recent with and just thank everybody for their support. I don't see nothing wrong with it. Obviously, people are going to say, man, you've been there for 20 years and you, they have

the right. Nobody has the right. You're not obligated to nobody. You know, he played the game. He loved. But in the day, he was there for 20 years. But like you said, if you feel in some type of way or you don't like the way something went, you don't have to mention them, especially in your retirement and how you and your career.

Now, you could call me crazy, but something big is coming for New England. I truly believe that. Like for him not to mention anybody, you know what I'm saying? Like we just talked about Tom how much he loves his teammates or for him to not mention Edelman, from him to not mention Willie McGinnis from the old team, Teddy, whoever, for him to not mention nothing about New England, coaches, it ain't even got to be Bill Belichick. I know he was extremely close with coordinators and whatever. Everybody loved him out there.

You know what I'm saying? So for me, when I first heard this, I took it as they broke the story already, Adam Schaeffman. So Tom's like, okay, I am done. And I came to that realization. Let me put out a little something. My last two years was in Tampa. Let me put out a little something. I truly believe that a heartfelt video to the city of New England,

to his teammates in New England, his 20 years there is coming. You know what I mean? Because, Ryan, I'm sure I don't know you. You went to Ohio State and all that. You probably was big time in high school and all that type of time. Something like that. But. we could have had it out with coaches,

but we love our teammates. You know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, you could say, man, F. Bill Belichick, me and him fell out, me and him ain't this, me and him ain't that, but the Grankowski's, the Edelman, the Willie McGinnis, the Teddy Bruskees, all the teammates that you're going to thank somebody in New England.

You know what I'm saying? I played most of my years with the Packers, but I'm going to thank my team. from Oakland. You know what I'm saying? It's just going to happen like that. You know what I'm saying? So I truly believe that this was just something simple.

You know what I'm saying? Let all y'all know that I'm out, even though it's been, you know, chirps in the air because these dudes tweeted it. But I think a video is coming for the city and the teammates and the guys in New England. I do. And I think it's only right.

And I think it's only Tom Brady liked. for him to do something like that. Because his 20 years of New England, it's too much to write all that in his Instagram stuff. I got something. That's just my two-suit. So that goes back to what I was talking about before. You know, he possibly could have had something already.

Tom probably was like, I'm probably going to retire, you know, and it's, you know, February 1st right now. He probably is going to retire, you know, late February after the Super Bowl, all this, and probably had something planned out. And that could have been in it. That could, and, you know, both of the teams could have been part of it.

But the fact that, like we said, it's been out so early, it took all that away from him. And then, like you said, he was just like, man, let me put something out right now. The time is very calculated, though, fellas. The dude has been around too long, 22 years to be exact. He knows exactly what not mentioning those, that team and that part of his life, that major part of his life is going to look like. So in not mentioning them, that might be the statement too, right? But my thing is, is lately, Tom Brady's been a character.

Yeah, he's been acting totally different. Remember, since he's been in Florida, he's been acting totally different. I truly can see, like, him coming on a video, like New England, y'all thought I forgot about y'all. You know, it's 20 years. You can't really write 20 years in a little Instagram post. Two years. Thank you, Bruce. Thank you, teammates.

You know what I'm saying? Something special coming from New England. And if it's not, then Tom Brady said, hell, what all y'all are New England? And that's the only thing I was leaving room for is if that's the case, that's fine too. Yeah. Like for me, you know, like, listen, I've talked to you guys over these last, you know, this last 19, 20 weeks or so, been around NFL players before. Like, I feel like NFL players, they're the last gladiators, right?

And you are beholden to nobody but your body and your family, right? Because when it's time for your ass to get cut, you get cut and nobody's, you know, all the sob stories ain't going to feed your family right so whatever NFL players go through I don't understand a tenth of it so when a guy of this magnitude with this kind of cashet with this kind of gravity not just in the NFL but in sports and in pop culture is out of here and says all he put a nine page Instagram together this is a this is a statement this is a calculated statement, hey, you know what? They jumped the gun on me, but here it go. I didn't want to do it this way, but here it is. Shout out to Adam Schefter and Ian Rappaport for doing what I've seen

them do to other dudes for the last 20 years. They got me. All right, now it's time for me to say my goodbyes and my thank yous. For him to not even mention them, I know James and the way James is smiling and bobbing around, I feel like James already know about this damn video and he's trying to play court. That's how I feel. But to not say something, I think is, and like I said, well within his right, I got no problem with it. If you don't want to acknowledge, hey, every relationship can't go, all right? I'm at this point in my career. That relationship hasn't come with me. I got no problem with it, but it definitely is curious that he would go about it this way. Because there's no way in hell Ryan Shazia would not mention the Pittsburgh

Steelers. You know why? Because him and the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know why? Because him and the Pittsburgh didn't end in a bad manner. There's no way in hell. You wouldn't mention the Packers. And I don't even know the end-in-working of how you ended up with how you ended with the Packers. But like you said, you still got guys there. You still got people there that you went to war with.

And that's, like I said, that's my only reason why I'm thinking of videos coming because of his teammates. Okay. You know what I'm saying? That's the only reason why. If he would have mentioned his teammates in this letter from New England. Yeah, because no ground. There ain't nothing coming for you, New England.

If he mentioned his teammates already. You know what I'm saying? Like I don't care about coaches and all that. You know what I'm saying? I don't care about the mentioning Belichick, Josh McDaniels and all that. But I feel like 20 years with those teammates that you battle with, man. And a lot of them was there with you, 10 plus years and all that. The McCordy's the audit.

They was there with you. You know what I'm saying? And you might be right. Like the fact that looking at it again, the fact that there's no Rob Grancowski mentioned. No, and like I said, that's just dudes that's coming off the top of my head. It's plenty of dudes, man. Lawyer Malloy. The lawyer, Meloy is down there.

The lawyer Malloy is the Harrison. Slate. Yeah, all that, you know what I'm saying? His old teammates when he first started starting, you know what I'm saying? All the guys that didn't get the proper amount of credit while they were winning Super Bowl. Yeah, the Kevin Small and all that. I'm not saying you got to say their names, you know, in there. But, I mean, that's your teammates.

You're going to mention something about them. That's the only reason why I think something is coming for New England. know, he got Ian Rapoport in his back pocket, so he already know, you already know. Hey, if I knew 100% of video was coming, I'd be like Adam Schaeffner and Ian Rapleport right now, I'm tweeting it out. Hey, hey, and that's the thing. When Ryan went on his run about, you know, letting dudes do their thing. I'm sitting there like, let me tell you something, Ryan. If your boss knows that you have the Tom Brady News and you didn't say something about it,

your ass is going to be working at Comedy Central or something, boy. No, no, I understand that. I understand that. No, I know. But to me, right? So, like, but this is like, this is like, oh, somebody coming to, somebody coming to you, Jason, like, hey, Ryan's retiring. Right. And then, and then, and then, and then, and get this from you.

It's like, oh, Tom, retiring. It's like, all right, bro, like, I know that you were a reliable source, but it's like, yo, like, that's not enough, to me, that's not enough information. You know, just to be like, oh, Tom's, like, he just said, Tom's retiring. Yeah, your history and relationship with. with the source matters. I understand what you're saying. I understand what you're saying. You know what I'm saying?

He said Tom retired and just moved on. It's like, whoa, hold up, bro. It's the next piece of, Hey, hey, Rye, I'm going to teach you. What they teach these dudes in journalism school, one, never be a part of the story. Because Adam Schaefter got killed these last couple of days with Tom Brady not saying anything.

And also the leaks of Tom Brady has made no final decision. People was out here moonwalking on Adam Schaefter. And all he had to do was, was wait for the news to happen and look at everybody who was talking about him. So it was a reliable source. So he was still right, though. Yeah, no, no, yeah.

And sometimes you just got to sit in the cut and wait for it to all to blow over. But congrats to a marvelous career in America's pastime. Let's face it, football has been that for three decades or so now, and it's not going to stop anytime soon. And the evolution of the game, like we've seen Tom Brady live through two different football lives where when he came into the league there was more of an emphasis on running the football and all that other stuff now you're airing it out throwing it 45 50 times a game and that's part of a game playing so watching him evolve and watching him transcend such a huge sport it's a national

pastime you know Super Bowl is an American holiday for Christ's sake so shout out to him shout out to his career I hope he uh hope he enjoys his time with his family and whatever his second and third act of his life is It's time for us to get to these games, and I don't know about y'all, but whew, Jimmy Garapolo, ladies and gentlemen. I'm going to start with this Rams 49ers game. I don't know if a game can end in a more predictable fashion than that Rams 49ers game ended.

When the 49ers got the ball, I looked at my lady and said, ain't no way in hell the 49ers about to win this game. And what do you know? Jimmy Garablo got spun around, did an underhand toss on third and 13, trying not to give up more sack yardage, gave away the game. Jekwaski Tart drops the ball. Matt Stafford tried his hardest to throw that thing away too. The 49ers Rams game, and then we'll get to what happened with Joe B

and Patty Mahomes, who kind of went AWOL in the second half of that game too. Yo, Rams, I got to give it to both of y'all. Both of y'all was on the Rams early. He was on the Packers. He was on the Packers. Man, I'm still hot. The Niners beat the Packers. But, you know, that's the podcast, too.

I just got to make sure you remember. But, yes, we were saying that the Rams all season long, you know, they had a chance. You know what I'm saying? But taking, during that game, I knew taking the field that the Rams was the better team, period. Niners playing really good football. They playing really good football Friday there. But I felt like the Rams was the best team in that game. And as the game was going on, they was trying to give it up.

The Rams was trying to give it up. The Niners was up in that thing by 10 points. They was trying to give it up. And then when I seen Joquosky Tart, what was his name? Tzikwasky. Yeah, you got it right. You will never forget it. When I seen him drop that ball, I said they luck ran out.

You know, because I tell people all the time and they think I'm crazy, I'm like, listen, when we won a Super Bowl, we was lucky on so many different occasions. That skill, hard work, all that. They ain't come to place just lucky. You know what I'm saying? And you need to be lucky every now and then to win a Super Bowl. You know, when you go on a Super Bowl,

you look back on plays, like, how in the world did that happen? David Tyrone. You know what I'm saying? If we could look back at Tom Brady 7 and every Super Bowl, we're like, boy, if that didn't happen, Tom got one ring. You know what I'm saying? But that's football. So when I seen that, I said, the Rams about to win this game.

I said, that was it right there. The Niners' luck has ran out. You know what I'm saying? And they went down there and scored. You know what I'm saying? And when Jimmy G trotted out there, yes. I said, this is not the right defense to be trotting out there against. You know what I'm saying?

You got four dudes up there that could get at the pass or they could sit in coverage. I mean, Jalen Ramsey should have ended the game, the possession before with his pick. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, when I say that, I'm like, yeah, it's over. I knew Jimmy G. wasn't going down there and scoring on his defense. But I thought Jimmy G should have took the sack. Of course he should have.

And you got a chance. You got a chance, you got a chance, fourth and 20, whatever it may be. You know, I'm saying? Fourth and 25. Hey, hey. Fourth and 25. Yeah, fourth of 25, Ryan. We know y'all all backed up there sitting down their way, throwing underneath.

But, hey, at least you got a chance. This boy tried to shot, put it backwards. No, first of all, his dude dropped it, though. He dropped it. I mean, it was high. though, you know what I'm saying? And they're like, hey, your job is the catch. This is the one thing that I've learned playing,

and I even tell my little young quarterbacks right now, I said, I always tell, I said, you got to throw the ball perfect to a running back. Running backs ain't making no great catches like that, man. I mean, you got a time of saying walking through that door. You got a couple different, you got a couple exceptions with the, you know, Alva Cameras and all that.

Lay beyond back in his day. Yeah, the regular running back, and that ball got to be right there, got to be perfect. They're not going up here. I know they can't see me, but they ain't going up there getting them. You know what I mean? Take the sack, man, and live and find another day, man, trying to come up with something, jump ball,

Debo Samuel's screen or something, and he made 32 people remiss and break tackle something. But when Tart dropped that pick, I said it's over for the Niners, man. It's just that's the type of stuff that changes the game right there, man. I'm saying? Like, just the momentum and all that was on the niner side. That's this type of tough that changes the game. Man, kudos to the ramps because if I was a GM, I would have did it like the ramps.

Hell with all these draft picks. Give me Vaughn, give me OBJ, give me Matthew Stafford. Oh, you got to win it because ain't no young people walking through that door for the next four years. Yeah, I'm happy that it worked out for them, and they got a chance to go get this thing done, man. But Dr. Burrow will bring some problems. And we'll talk about the match up. Ryan, what did you think? 49ers couldn't run the football against that Rams team.

I think Matt Breedah not being on the 49th's team hurt them. I know he hasn't been there for the year. But Elijah Mitchell and Debo Samuel, you know, having a wide receiver back there, running back finally caught up to him. What were they averaging like less than three yards of carry? If you're asking Jimmy Garoppolo to just go straight dropback, you're going to have some issues. No, I agree.

You know, they had one of the best running games this year. And I know that Matt Breeder not there, but, you know, they had one of the best running teams with Debo and Elijah Mitchell all year. You know, so with them, they just stepped into the Lions den, and the thing is, the Rams played them twice this year. Lost to them six straight times. And they was like, the one common denominator is we can't turn the ball over and we got to stop them from the ball. And they made sure to do that.

And that's how they was able to win this game. you know, Matt Stafford throwing moon balls, they dropping them, you know. And the thing is, the Rams was, there was missing plays as well. The Rams was missing plays as well. But when it all mattered, the guys that the Rams, the superstars stepped up. The best receiver in the league this season stepped up. You know, Odell Beckham, everybody was throwing shade on him. He stepped up.

You know what I'm saying? Like, Odell had over a hundred, Cooper Cup had 140, you know, And they had two receivers were over 100 yards. Then they had their backup tight-in come in. He's playing well. So when you have other guys stepping up,

when you have other guys stepping up and allowing them to play at a higher level and then your superstars are stepping up as well, it's hard to be the team that's doing something like that, especially when your superstars aren't. Like as the Rams made sure, Debo's not beating us. I'm going to tell you what changed the game, though.

And I don't know if I came on the podcast and I talked about this with the Packers. But, man, I don't know. I know I was telling my family and all the people coming up to me, Packers lost and all that. And I'm like, man, the only thing I really was disappointed is I didn't see nobody getting in nobody face. It was kind of just going through the motion, you know what I mean?

Like, hey, we're playing bad art. Somebody will make a play will snap out of it. You know what I'm saying? I ain't seen nobody grab nobody by the collar. Wake up, let's go. When I seen Aaron Dahmer, rally them boys up, say, all y'all get up. This is time.

All right. And I seen him on him. And he even looked at Jaylor Rev. He said, five. Get off here. And he told that he was in there and that other. I don't know exactly what he was saying, you know, but I know it was a lot of, you know, we better come on, man. Know these dudes that won six in a row. It ain't going to be seven. We right here, we're at home. It's Super Bowl. It's time to go. Y'all wake your mother up and let's go, man. You know what I'm saying? And I felt like after that, the energy of their team totally changed, especially on the defense. They was. hunting. They was hunting. Von and them boys was coming. You know what I'm saying? And just that little bit of your leader stepping up and just, bro, it's time to go, man. You know what I'm saying? We got 10 minutes left in this game and we down 10. You know what I'm saying? Wake up. And then the offense score, they down three. And once the defense went out there, like I said, man, the mindset of the defense, the energy of the defense went up. It was, it was crazy, man. But yes, the leaders, like you said, Ryan, the leaders of the team stepped up and wheeled that team to victory.

And the newest acquisitions did, like you said, too, right? I mean, Odell Beckham Jr. look like Odell Beckham Jr. I heard her Bommani talking about it on his pod about how we're going to look at this Brown's iteration of Odell's career the same way we should look. Well, we did with Randy Moss in Oakland where everybody said that Randy was done. You know, it's not a good fit. He might be, you know, he can't get open anymore. All of a sudden he goes to New England and catches, what, 18, 17, touchdown, pat, 21, something like that, something crazy when Tom set the record at the time. So, Odell Beckham Jr. can still play, right?

And he showed that Vaughn Miller had the best pass rush win rate last week in the championship week of any player in the NFL, including Nick Bosa, including some of those boys, you know, that played for the Bengals and the Chiefs. So the money players came to play in the money time, you know, Matt Stafford just did. did enough, right? And now he's going, somebody's legacy is getting ready to be rewritten or written for the first time. And speaking of that, we transitioned to Cincinnati versus Kansas City. Now, that Chief's defense that we talked about throughout the season showed up a little bit in that second half.

But more importantly, y'all, a bad game can happen at the worst time. And Patrick Mahomes had a bad football game in the second half. and there was some inexcusable throws. There was some young boy throws out there that you don't expect out of him. Joe Burrow did exactly what Joe Burroughs done all season long. He's giving him a little bit of a sliver, and he going to come through that thing, swagged out in the end. And that's exactly what he did.

Jamar Chase, outside of his one touchdown, didn't really go crazy, so I think the Chiefs did enough to try to hold that down. But shout out to the Bengals defense, too. Bengals defense, Bow, Bow, Day, next said it stops right here, much like Aaron Donald did. The boy scored three points in the second half. That's one of the highest scoring offenses in the league in the last four years. That's Andy Reed.

That's Patrick Mahomes. That's Tyree Kill and Travis Kelsey. So first time in 30 some odd years, yeah, that's cool. But this ain't the same Bengals. And I've been saying it since like week 12, week 13. If it was a different name on the can, we'd be buying this brand a little bit differently, right? Because it's the Bengals, we're moving in a different kind of way. If this was any other team besides the Cincinnati Bengals, I think that three and a half point,

spread, which I last saw, would be closer to a pick-em. But since it's the Bengals, they don't have a lot of experience. Obviously, the Rams and Les Needing, Sean McVeigh are the names. The Bengals are not going to get a look. But I thoroughly enjoy what they did in Kansas City on the road for a team that's never won before. Well, we all barring it now. But what I will say is that drive before the end of the first half, where the Kansas City

Chiefs threw the ball to Tyreek Hill. in bounds and didn't come out of there with no points. Number one, you stupid because you know the ball's either thrown out of bounds or in the dirt. You know you got nine seconds left, whatever it may be seven seconds left. You're going to take two shots, but the ball has to be in the dirt, in the ground. You throw it to Tyree Kill, you get no points. So you know what that did? Last time these two teams met, Jojo Burrow came out of halftime, down 11.

This time they played, Jojo Burrow came out of halftime down 11. So you already know that they went to the locker room in the Cincinnati locker room, and they said, we've been here before. Last time we came out of this locker room, down 11, we won this damn ball game. Nothing changes.

Same dudes is in this locker room. Nothing changes. And they came out, they had no answer for the Cincinnati Bengals offense. And the Cincinnati Bengals defense, they made it tough on the receivers on the outside, every catch was contested. Hey, we battling for this ball.

And the pass rush was getting there, making Patrick Mahomes get the ball out of his hands fast, making them rush throws. And they created some turnovers, man. And Jojo Burrow. Yo man. Jojo Burrow, future MVP of this league. Oh, easy.

Easy. Easy? Yeah, it's going to happen. Hey, man, that AFC Pro Bowl quarterback conversation is a tough one. Yeah. Easy MVP, huh? It's going to happen multiple times for Jojo Burrow to type of- Josh, Lamar, Patrick.

Jojo Burrow is going to be MVP of our league. Justin Herbert. Right. Easy. All right. I like it. And it's the Jojo Burrow effect, man. And I spoke on this on the pod before.

When Jojo Burrow has the ball in his hands, I feel like it's Aaron Rogers. I just don't think he's going to make a mistake. For him to scramble. Game on the line. line. Chris Jones got your neck. Get out of that. Then you pick your toes up. He can't knock you down. But just the plays he made to extend plays to get his team first downs to extend the drive. Joe Burrow, man. I mean, he played lights out. And he played lights out as rookie season before he got hurt. You know what I'm saying? With no protection. You know what I mean? He's been playing lights

out this year with no protection. You know what I'm saying? They're going to get him some protection. He has the weapons on the outside. Jojo Burrow is a problem, man. And he let it be known twice against one of the MVP in our national football league, Patrick Mahomes, twice this season. He came back from double digits on Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs twice.

You know what I'm saying? Put some respect on Jojo Burrow name, man. To be honest with you, he willed that team, man. Yeah. Like Chris Jones, get that sack on third down. out in the game over. You know what I'm saying? Like he willed that team to victory, man. And that's credit to Joe Joe Burrow, man,

and the Cincinnati Bengals. But the reason why I'm a true believer and you spoke on it, Jay, is because of the defense. The rush to passers, and the defense has excellent players in the back end to play. You know what I'm saying?

A two young safeties, man, is phenomenal. And they play hard, man. That defense is an upgrade this season, man. And that's why they've been in the last. lot of games and been able to create these comebacks as well. Ryan, what do you think about the new kings of the AFC North, the Cincinnati Bengals? Yeah, like you said, same can, but just different brand.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, after they smoked us twice this season, I knew that it was pretty good. You know, I said, I said that it was the best team in the AFC one time in this podcast before. But, you know, then they fell off like two games in a row or something. Then, you know, we started jumping back around. All I have to say is if Matt Stafford is throwing moonballs versus Cincinnati, they're going to lose. That ain't going to happen. They're not going to win.

And the thing that kind of made me, you know, surprised me with this game is the whole season, and his whole career, Pat, he has not been disciplined or punished for, like, some of the, like, errant or aggressive. crazy throws. And then it bit them this game. It bit them. You know, like, normally, you know, he know everybody, like his teammates so well, they have so much chemistry. You know, he's doing sidearm throws.

You know, he got guys that he know if I give them the ball, they're going to make something happen. Yesterday, the first half, you know, he was doing a little shimmy and all that. Cincinnati was like, hold up, bro. Let me, let's slow this thing down. Let's slow this thing down, put some pressure on these receivers, and make you actually send this pocket and make good throws. And it was really tough for him.

It was really tough for him. And I remember me and TJ, we went to eat last week. And I was like, man, because I was asking him, I was like, man, is Pat that good? I was like, is he that good. Like, he's like, yeah, he's like, he's the truth. He's the truth. He's like, but the biggest thing about, he's like the biggest thing about the chiefs. And teams should figure it out.

If you man their receivers, it make him like, slow down a little bit. But people are so scared of Tyreek that they get in zone. And he was like, all they do is zone beaters all game. Because can you trust your jam against a dude running a 4-1-8? You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he's like, if you run a man versus him and putting pressure on him, he's like, Mahomes is just like every other quarterback in the league. But he was like once you, he was like, but once you sit in zone, you're like, Tom Brady, if you sit in zone,

Tom Brady going to pick you apart. Aaron Robbins is going to pick you apart. Mahomes been in the league five years. he's been in the AFC championship four years crazy and the thing is the four years he's been in the AMC championship his whole his team been the same every single player

except for probably the running back in the O line everybody else they switch Sammy Watkins out for McCole Hartman and stuff like that but he's like man I know these guys so basically like you get his own here here here and it's easy for him when you start manning up that's when things get

difficult and that's in the Cincinnati Bengals punish them for, you know, him making those errand throws. He was manning them up, contesting catches. It didn't actually making him run around and throwing a run. And he's great at that. But throwing on the run, when somebody riding your face is a lot harder than throwing on the running zone.

And we all know, too, when you up, hey. It's a different ball game. It's a different ball game. It's house money. You ready to make all these little throws. You're throwing it behind your back and all that type stuff. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

Shoot. But when you're down, and like they always say, pressure bus pipes, man. When you're down, you're like, I got to force it up in here. Joe Grover on the other side. He got a touchdown. He's cooking over there. I'm trying to make a play.

Just like they say the Tom Brady effect, man, when you know Tom over there. It's crazy because I heard Kyle Shanahan, not to bring it back to Tom and then, but Cal Shannan. He said when they was in the Super Bowl and everybody's like, why he didn't run it and all that. You know what I'm saying? Kyle said, Tom Brady got to me. me. He said, I'm in my head. We're up in the game. I know I should hand it off.

We need more points now. But we need more points because Tom on the other side, he said, so I'm thinking in my head, I got the baddest man in the planet right now. His name is Julio Jones at the time. And that was Matt Ryan's MVP too. So he said, I'm going to go to Julio. He said, if anybody is on the head said with me, that's not a bad idea. You know what I'm saying? Like that ain't bad.

He said at the snap of the ball, they rode to Julio, took that away immediately. And Kyle was like, oh, you know what I'm saying? Like, man, we, like we're in trouble. I should have ran the ball. But he said, I'm thinking in my head, Tom, on the other side. I got to get something going scores a point. They got three points in the second half of that game. Joe Burrow and the offense had it going.

That defense wasn't about to stop him. So you see Patrick Mahomes coming out there trying to make the big play. and force some balls in there knowing that you shouldn't be throwing these passes like that. You know what I'm saying? But he's trying to make a play knowing that Jojo going to score. Just the same thing happened last week with him and Josh Allen. Josh Allen, too. I got to go score Pat on the other side, got it cooking.

Vice versa. Josh got it on the other. He got it cooking. You know what I'm saying? So I just think it was some pressure throws to where Pat was forcing stuff. And they got their hands on some passes, intercepted, man. And there it is there, man. Cincinnati in the damn Super Bowl.

That's crazy. That's crazy. I grew up a, well, kind of a Cincinnati Bengals fan because after Bears games, it would be the, no, listen, boomer Assisian was my favorite quarterback as a kid, which, you know, then I got a chance to interview him and that went another way. But, but no, man, he was, the reason why is because here in Chicago, the NBC game was usually the AFC game and it was a Midwestern, um, locational, you know, geographical pick. So it was usually the Cincinnati Bengals. So watching Cincinnati do, you know, well, watching Joe Montana do to Cincinnati what he did way back then and thinking, damn, that's the last time.

This franchise has been in the big game. Like, 1988 is a long, long time ago. And Joe, all right, that's enough, right. And Joe Burrough, Joe Burrough stepping to the podium and saying, the week before, yo, by the way, this is the standard. This is what we should get used to. So let's not act like we didn't believe in this. You can say it all you want, but to do it, yeah, you know, definite credit to Joe Burrow.

Looking forward to this Super Bowl. We get a chance to preview it from Super Bowl in L.A. You know, we're going to be hanging out in L.A. We'll see, yeah. We might be on a Zoom, and James Jones might be, you know, running the town like he usually is. But looking forward to next week's show. Before we get up out of here, we got a whole bunch of new head coaches, a whole bunch of GM hirings. want to start with the Raiders, Josh McDaniels, and of course Dave Ziegler is now the general manager.

James, you're close to that situation. You monitor the Raiders and their movements. Hell of a season in terms of turning it around after the John Grun situation, after Harrison Ruggs. Harry Ruggs, I should say, just a tough year overall for them to rebound and for Derek Carr to do what he did, especially in the playoff stretch where seemingly the last three weeks of the same. season was playoff, you know, you win or you're out kind of vibes. How do you feel about Josh McDaniels now being the Raiders coach? I really don't know how I feel about that, man, to be honest with you.

You know, I'm just visualizing the Josh McDaniels in Denver. Yeah. So it was tough. Yeah, I really don't know how to feel. The only positive thing about it is he don't got Tim Tebow. He has Derek Carr. You know what I'm saying? He has a really good young defense.

But the thing that, I am excited about is they brought two guys from the same organization. You know what I mean? So I feel like I truly believe that's what was the problem with Gruden and Mayak. I don't think Gruden wanted a lot of input from people. You know what I'm saying? It was, I want this guy. I don't care if the scout saying he's sorry. You know what I'm saying? So I think that's a really good thing, you know, having two guys. I don't care what organization they came from, the Bears, the Panthers, whatever. But it's two guys that have worked with each other that kind of got the same vision.

You know what I'm saying? That I think is going to bring in the right guys that they feel both fits the Raiders. You know what I'm saying? Because that's what you need. You know what I mean? You need a whole organization on the same page. And I think that's what you're going to get with these two dudes right here. And I don't know what it is, but I feel like I like the mindset that McDaniel brings.

You know what I'm saying? And Josh McDaniels kind of has, if you just watched him and see how he competes and all that, he has a nasty, grimy mindset. You know what I'm saying? That's the Raiders. You know what I'm saying? I was ready to say Oakland because we grind me out there in Oakland, you know what I'm saying? That's the Raiders way.

You know what I'm saying? We nasty. We up in your face is grimy. So I think he's going to get back to that. I think you'll see, you know, a much better Raiders team. I think you'll see a Raiders team. That's really disciplined. That's really grimy.

me. But the best thing out of it all, I think you got two dudes that really know how to work together. And I think it's going to be a good fit for the Raiders in the long run. All right. The Bears, Justin Fields, Ohio State guy. You know, you watched last year. I watched last year. Seemingly, Matt Nagy couldn't put him in the best position to kind of develop his talent and more importantly to keep his job. They hire the defensive coordinator from the Indianapolis Colts, Matt Iber Fluse. They hire a 36-year-old general manager and Ryan Poles, who's got offensive line background, went to Boston College, was an undrafted free agent for the Chicago Bears back in the day. But once again, he's 36.

Matt Iber Fluse has never done the job before. And Luke Getsy, who is the offensive coordinator now for the Bears, used to be the passing coordinator and the quarterback's coach for Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers. So they've tabbed a few guys who have never done this gig before. And they are now going forward with Justin Fields being the most important entity in that. building. So how you're feeling about the Bears head coaching search and how it ended on a defensive coordinator? So I never really get mad when teams hire a defensive-minded head coach because to me, and like we've been seeing it, we've been seeing it even in this Super Bowl. I know we talked about Jojo Burrell. I know we talked about Matt Stafford, but if their

defense and step up, like the way those two defenses stepped up in the second half, they wouldn't be in the Super Bowl. You know, and to me, you know, the coach, the last few years, their defense has been pretty solid. And the Bears, you have all the pieces that have a really good defense. So it's already a good defense. It's just you guys have pieces hurting things like that. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

Honestly, I understand what they're doing with Luke as the offensive coordinator because he was with Aaron. So they're basically saying, he was with Aaron. He understands what Aaron was doing. He possibly can help Justin when it comes to, you know, growing and, you know, developing as a quarterback. So I understand what they're coming from,

but to me personally, I would have went with somebody that has experience at calling plays more than, you know, Lou Geese has because, you know, the one calling players over there is really LaFloor. You know, so that's all I'm saying. I understand where they're coming from when it comes to that. But I don't have any concerns when it comes to the GM.

I think the GM's going to get everything all right. But I think when it comes to defense, I think you'll be solid and I understand where they're coming from. for trying to help develop Justin. So I don't think it's a bad hire. I just want to touch all because I've been in there with Luke. You know, I played with Luke. Luke was on the staff when I was with the Packers.

And boy, was Aaron Rogers fighting for this boy to be OC. You know what I'm saying? He was fighting for Luke to be OC. You know what I mean? So when I seen this hire, I'm like, ooh, that is excellent for Justin Fields. Number one, Coach Luke played the position. You know what I mean?

and Coach Luke played quarterback. You know, me and Coach Luke was in an all-star game together. He played a quarterback. He threw me a touchdown at an all-star game. But number two, he listens to his players, especially his quarterback. You know what I'm saying? So this is going to be one of them situations, and I think Bears fans is going to be extremely excited because I promise you, we are going to see what we've been begging to see,

stuff that fits Justin Fields. It ain't just going to be Luke coming in their offensive coordinator. This is my offense. I promise you it's going to be stuff that fits Justin Fields. And if it's not, Justin's going to have that open book with Coach Luke to say, I want to do this a little bit more. I want to try this a little bit more. I don't like this.

I don't like that. And I think it's going to be a really good relationship. I know Aaron Rogers did not like losing Luke. Like I said, Luke is one of them guys that I know he ain't truly. called the game, but he's ready. He's ready to do it. And I think you're going to see a better, much better, Justin Fields. And I think you're going to see an offense that fits him this year with Coach Luke there.

All right. Brian Daybull is the New York Giants' newest head coach. They got to figure out who their quarterback is and then get the quarterback situation correctly. Any thoughts on that as we wrap this thing on up? I mean, I love to hire. You know what I mean? You're getting an offensive mind over there who's.

who's been with Josh Allen, who knows what it's supposed to look like on the offensive side of the ball, and he has the pieces to be that type offense. You know what I'm saying? You look at the receivers. You got Kenny Ghaladay. You got Sterling Shepard in there. You obviously got Sequin Barkley in the backfield that's going to be better off of his year two coming off of ACL.

You beef up this offensive line. You be able to protect the right quarterback. I don't think Daniel Jones is that right quarterback to get you to that next level. Is he the quarterback that you could put some pieces around and he can win you eight games? Absolutely. But that's not the goal. I truly believe it's not a quarterback in the draft, but I will love to see them go after guys like Jimmy Garapolo.

You know, maybe a Deshaun Watson, something, but get you a veteran guy in there that can come in there and move the ball. And I think you're talking to Sean Watson, you're talking to Jimmy Garapolo with the Giants, upgrades, some get some free agents on the defense. I think you're looking at a much improved team with what he brings on the offensive side of the ball, man. So we'll see. I think it's a really good hire for the Giants, though, but it's all about the players on the field

and you got to get that quarterback situation fixed. And Nathaniel Hackett is now the head coach for the Denver Broncos. As you just mentioned, Luke Getsy is now the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Does this mean that Aaron Rogers is going to be playing a mile high? game here soon. They can't see me shaking my head on the pod. No. No. No. No. No. No. 12 going to be in Green Bay, man. They're going to find a way to work it out. I see it coming. I ain't talked to 12, but I just see it happening, man. The communication over there has been good.

I think the relationships over there is much better. I think Aaron Rogers finished his career as a Packer, man, and, you know, tries to go win another Super Bowl. Who y'all going to hire as a GM, Ryan? Oh, he's talking about it still is. I think we're going to bring somebody from in-house. Honestly, I don't think we're going to bring anybody from out of the house. We have two guys that's kind of primed for the position. And I think that a few, one of them was even getting an interview for other GM positions. So I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, Omar Khan or Brandon Hunt becomes one of our GMs. They kind of been like priming them up for a while. Honestly, sometimes I think teams are, they hire too quick a little bit. I understand that you're

trying to get pieces in place. But sometimes I think teams hire too quick because, look, there is pieces on both of these Super Bowl teams that could possibly are. The last four teams, there's pieces that could obviously be on other teams right now. And some teams are rushing to get a piece. And like, for instance, I think Bellamy, he can definitely be, I mean, being in he could definitely be a head coach somewhere. But, you know, teams out here rushing to get a coach. And now, you know, we don't know what's going to happen with him.

As we are taping here on Tuesday, early morning, mid-afternoon, Brian Flores is interviewing with the New Orleans Saints and Patrick Graham. I'm the defensive coordinator is the Minnesota Vikings. So of course, all of this will be changing. And by the way, congratulations to Kwayzea Adolfo Mensa, the newest GM of the Minnesota Vikings. So that about sums it up. Looking forward to next week when we can get our picks out there.

Hopefully we will all be in L.A. Having a good time during the Super Bowl week for Ryan Shazir and James Jodes and our terrific production staff, Chris Sutton and Arjuna Ramgapal. I'm Jason Gough, thanking you for listening to the Ringer NFL feed. Next up on the Ringer NFL show is the Wednesday show with Kevin Clark. We'll be back next Tuesday. Check out the full go with me, Jason Gough, every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday,

not on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. You will be sure to hear that little bit about Luke Getsy from James Jones on the next podcast because I like to repurpose sound and that was some great sound. As I mentioned, Chris Sutton and Arjuna Ramgapal have been spinning a dials and making sure that we are coming through wherever you're listening to this podcast. So for James, Ryan, Arjuna, and Chris, I'm Jason.

Thank you so much for hanging out with us. As always, take care of each other and be safe.