2021 Championship Weekend Recap

Championship Sunday is in the books. And yes, somehow, some way, the football gods, whoever is out there, deemed it necessary that this year would be the one where the Cincinnati Bengals come out of nowhere in advance to the Super Bowl to face none other than the Los Angeles Rams. The Bangles, Mark Chris Westling's boyhood team, the man that he had such a difficult relationship with, ending with a divorce and a dossier, and now he's no longer with us,

and we're wondering how west would feel. And then Lakisha, his loyal wife, that amazing woman who was a die hard Rams fan. Those two teams are playing for the Lombardi Trophy two weeks from tonight. I cannot think of anything that has happened during our podcast that comes anywhere close to these events. I've been watching football since. This is the most interesting development I can remember in my entire life. I'm a Browns fan, who is you know? And and a lot of people in Cleveland Bengals fans

wouldn't be rooting for the Browns. Forget all that this is from somewhere completely different, um, a totally different realm. And just watching Lakisha's um reactions today on Twitter, on social media, and just to have it capped with the Rams win as well. I mean, this is one of the most improbable sporting conclusions to UH, to pre Super Bowl, any and any sport. I'm dumbfounded. I'm still processing the ring to be clear. It's like it's the Lakisha Wesseling

Super Bowl. You know, the Westling Brothers. They they got the Bengals, They got no ties for the Rams. Lakisha travels with the Rams, diehard St. Louis Rams fans moves out here at the same time that they do, UH

and lives and dies by them. But I don't know if she was rooting any harder at the stadium for that Rams game than she was um at her house where we watched the Bengals pull that game off and it's just like sports, Yes, sports are they're they're stupid sort of, but it's hard not to think of like Wes's um talk where he would be like, you have to you have to resign yourself about the what the ultimate meaninglessness is of like watching sports and watching which

way an oblong ball bounces, and yet like it creates moments like that, Like that was an overwhelming moment. And it almost took a little while during that NFC Championship game to like get cranking back up because you're just you're just feeling a lot. You're feeling a lot watching that thing go through and and it's it's great to see Keisha, especially living that moment. Oh, it's so great. And yeah, like we you know, knew West so so well.

So when everyone is celebrating the fact that Cincinnati's on this improbable run, um, you wonder how West belt. But Lakisha has obviously the way she she sees it as like that is West like still with us and connected to her and connected to us them going on this incredible run. So you know, yeah, and we'll get into the game, but I do since we're talking this now, like she brought out the sage I feel like she

saged the Bengals. You know, you talk about speaking something into com into existence, which Kisha believes in that too, but she saged this into existion. She brought out the sage at fourteen three was not looking good at that moment for the Bengals. At various points when it also wasn't looking good in the second half, she would she brought it out the stage, and that stage was just cranking um towards towards the end of the century. I'm

way into her, which like qualities. I mean, if the city of Cincinnati there's a lot of homes and mansions, I think you just give her a mansion at this point. I mean, she ushered this long lost team into the Super Bowl. Right. Tony really had this had this tweet last week the host of uh around the Horn and it was at the two minute warning of the Bill's

Chiefs game. But I was thinking about as they were lining up for that kick in the Bengals game, and he just tweeted out while they were at the commercial break, like let's all live in this moment forever. And that was like like that sports to me is like there was that one moment in that in that Bengals game where you're just you don't know what's going to happen next, and everything that you've watched all season has led of this and you're just like totally pure being existence And

when you got kicked fierce it on your side. He comes through and delivers unbelievable and you know we'll get into it, like I had a chance to lock up the lock title and I'm in an all time fade. But I'll tell you what, Like, how could I be rooting against Cincinnati during that comeback? I wasn't. It was like, Okay, I'd be cool if I have the trophy, but this

is even better. And then for the Rams to win too, It's it's a really I think it's a really in what's been a tremendously difficult couple of years um behind the scenes for our show, just doing the show, uh in general has been a challenge of times, and just finding our footing for this to be the outcome of the first full season after we lost West. I don't it just you know, you can't. You can't make it up. It's it's the stuff of movies. And we get one

more game to determine a champion. So we're gonna go through um. Both games will start with what happened at Arrowhead Field, and just from a pure game there is all this stuff that's all personal to us, but just from a pure game standpoint, that was one of the more mystifying games I can remember about how things can change in an instant. Um. So let's let's get into it. Let's head to Arrowhead Field and break down the a

f C Championship game snapped. The Mahomes rolls the shoulder, now in trouble, now moving to his left, back to his right while he gives him a block to try to keep him alive. Now he fires light for the end dot right side Kelsey on the touchdown CHANCEA City'll Burrow back to throw short pass caught by p Ryan. P Ryan down to the thirty side, fun touchdown. Bengals shotguns snap to Burrow, throws it into the end zone

for Chase. He leaves, He's got it. Cincinnati placement is down, Butker's kick is good and we are going to overturn. And now the Bengals will turn to the rookie kicker. Avin mc years four years ago. He was a senior in high school and tiny Fort Payne, Alabama. Now the Bengal Super Bowl chances rest on his right foot to kick his up good Coffin knows it is no fluke. It is a fact. The Cincinnati Bengals are headed to

Super Bowl fifty six. Oh, Ricky, you went supersized on us and I love it now and the bong goes Dan Horne, Dave Lapham, k c k Y, w c k y. Also those bitch holtess on Chief's radio. Unbelievable, best Bungo game ever? Who day. Evan McPherson fearless kicked the thirty one yard field goal two left it overtime after the Cincinnati Bengals wiped up the biggest deaf sit in Championship game history on the road at Arrowhead, Cincinnati.

By the way, three and oh all time and an f C Championship games advanced to Super Bowl where they will attempt to win their first Lombardi Trophy, sending the Chiefs home in stunning, stunning fashion and to the point that I was making just minutes ago, Greg, this game obviously turns in a way no one can imagine. Kansas City comes out of the gate like they you know, We're just picked up where they left off against the Bills,

going up and down the field. They get ahead twenty one three, they give up touchdown, but they marched in the final minute of the half, and then Patrick Mahomes begins what for me turned into about a ninety minute meltdown, which I could have never predicted. One of the more

surprising things. Like we talked about last sweak the um, the nature of the game, the Chiefs Bills game, I thought it was the best game of the a CNRA, one of the more mystifying things I could ever remember is what happened to Mahomes from that final pass of the first half short of the goal line, tackled. They go into the half with zero points. Leads to the momentum building for Cincinnati. They get back into the game

and obviously come back to win it. But the Chiefs and the Mahomes meltdown on offense after being unstoppable early in the game. How do you make sense of it? I'm glad you started there in the last two plays of the first half. First thing goal Cincinnati one yard line, nine seconds left for the Chiefs. At that point that they're up, we can get into the Bengals drive before

that later, which was an important drive. He he has an incompletion left at that point, there's five seconds left, and they decided to run another play, which I think makes sense. You can easily get get another play and if not, you get three and Mahomes fritz out and he he said after the game he knew the situation, although he did try to make a time out. It almost felt like that Tom Brady moment where he thought there was an extra down and he didn't know the

time out situation, and he just wasn't cool. He wasn't in the moment. He he fritz out and he throws it to Hill in the flat, and that is just an incredible mistake. But it's still twenty one to ten and you're getting the ball in the second half. But they didn't. The Chiefs never returned in the In the eight drives starting at the end of that, you know, in the second half they went for eighty three yards.

It's just it's just hard to believe. In the seven drives in the second half and overtime they go for eighty three yards. They have more than one first down one time, he throws two interceptions, they have three points. It's like that. It's just hard to believe that they went three and out four separate times, including an overtime. Uh and you had one first down and the other onese And they asked Andy Reid, what, what did you notice that the Bengals did differently in the second half?

Defensively said they played a little bit more man coverage, but they didn't make any major adjustments. I thought it was the rare example of Patrick Mahomes with the events you just described it unfolded before the half, that got into his head. I thought that he was pressing in

the second half too. It was interesting as I was watching the raw feed and Romo was sort of screaming at the production team, get me, get me a clip of what Mahomes eyes and what his face were doing after that meltdown before the half, because he wanted to see if he could notice of visual difference. And I

think that this was Mahomes kind of crumbling. I mean, Tyreek Hill vanished in the second half, and the Bengals are this team that's been on this journey for week after week that if you let them back in because their offense has not been closing drives, they're imperfect too. This just became their game and it's just one of the more peculiar things we've seen because the Chiefs have been on such a hot role obviously, but it harks back to the quizzical performance on their offense earlier on

in the year. We kind of got both Chiefs teams today. Yeah, and if you look at the splits of going back to the week seventeen Chiefs Bangles game, Mahomes and the offense disappeared in that game as well, But this was different, and I think, well, that's one of the great things

about sports and the more mystifying things about sports. I keep on using that words because that's the only thing that I could the word that best describes how I I'm trying to make sense of that, because Mahomes was really at his very best, the best we've ever seen him throughout that Bills game, throughout the first you know, two quarters of this game, and he was on tilt.

And like, if you ask me who in the league do I have to never worry about going on tilt in a big spot, Brady is gonna be number one, but my Homes would have been number two. And you have to give credit to lou and a Rumo and the Banal staff, because obviously there were adjustments that were made.

But I'm just wondering how you process that because even even look greg like we can get into that the final series of regulation, right, I think if you can kind of combine those two series, that really tells you and you're you're figuring, Okay, they nearly gave this away, but they're whittling the clock down, they're gonna they're gonna execute here, score the touchdown with seconds left or whatever,

and get out of there with the win. But the plays taking the sacks and then the last sack that led to the fumble, Like, man, he just took a fourteen yard sack or whatever it was and fumbled in the biggest moment of the season. It's like, this is Patrick Mahomes. I I still can't believe it. I can't

believe it. That was a great play by Sam Himberd and it could have been the play that Bengals fans remembered for the rest of their lives if if the ball bounces a little different in the Bengals fall on that. But you're right, they had first and goal at the five yard line with a minute thirty to go there, trailing by three at that time. At that point, they were on the only decent drive that they had in all of the second half or overtime. Uh and they were trying to get the Bengals to get rid of

their time out. So they run it on first down, which I think totally made sense. See it, see if you can get in. If not, you forced the Bengals to take their time out. Now there's one left. And and I do wonder if the talk with Mahomes on the sideline was like, don't throw it in completion, you know, do not let do not stop the clock here. You know, if you have to take a sack, you take it. And it was really a story in the second half.

I thought, Okay, maybe they didn't adjust too much. I thought I read some and saw something that they played a little more man coverage. If you ever want um like the vindication of just rushing three, this was it, because this second half of this game, it was a whole lot of Russian three, dropping it into coverage and tackling better. The Bengals did playing coverage better. But then you get to the spot, yeah, where he takes a

sack to back of five yards. Again that's Hubbard. I mean, so those are two massive plays by Hubbard in a row. They take the time out again and right he just was kind of running around lost. You have to give credit, but a lot of it I think was just like the situation being too much like trying to figure out what the situational football of it all was instead of

just going and trying to score a touchdown. But that's what's so atypical about it, because this offense has been together for years at the highest mountaintops of the NFL, and for them suddenly to enter into a state of confusion is to your point, it's just totally mystifying. There is I mean, sometimes things just happen and there isn't all a logical explanation for it in the NFL, and

this is one of those times. For me. It's something where we need like someone who's who gets the all twenty two and watches because I'm just curious, like what Mahomes was looking at in a lot of these plays. He held the ball so long for all the second half, So you have to give a lot of credit to the Bengal secondary, but it also was he being too cautious like we'll have and then you go after that meltdown in the red zone and Buckering bailed you out.

It wasn't a hard kick, but it went from being either a touchdown to you know, twenty yard field goal to now he's kicking from forty five. Uh, and he splits the uprights. Buckers a great kicker. You go to overtime, they win the coin toss after all the talk that we've heard all week about how overtime is not fair. And he nearly throws a pick six that Eli Apple dropped.

That I mean that talk about another play that would have He throws another one up for grabs, trying to force it to Tyreek Hill, who went invisible in the second half of this game, gets intercepted, and that is and the Bengals are an incredible story and I can't wait to watch him, and I hope they win the Super Bowl. Um, but I'll always remember Mahomes and the

offense short circuiting. That's to me the thing that that is the thing that's great about sports but also will drive you crazy because you think you have things figured out and then something like this happens. The moment can get anyone, and I think it got my homes well.

And I also think about Kansas City's defense after the Von Bell interception, where it was like, you know, you're you have a chance to squelched the Bengals as well, and Joe Mixon, who is not you know, necessarily thrived on the ground, and the playoffs at all ran through them over and over and over, and it's just like they seemed to me, they seemed like ghosts. At the

end of this game. The Chiefs like, yeah, they they they won the coin toss and and they go crazy and the Chiefs twitter account says like we won the coin toss and there, no, I didn't what was that, Ricky. It was right when the coin toss happened and he called heads and it was tails. Josh Allen tweeted pain period, but like and like they were they won the coin toss and there was like, oh my god, here we go again. And I was thinking, they've just had eight

straight drives where they haven't had a touchdown. They just had seven where where they had three points, and especially that the end sequence. I mean this, I think the Bengals defense has to get a lot of credit. Hendrickson was getting some pressure on him. He was in and out with with injury. Is Hubbard, like I said, played well, but this has been a veteran defense A. Woozier was one of the biggest free agent signings of the offseason.

Von Bell Jesse Bates is the one who ends up breaking up the pass in overtime that turns into the interception that that Bell gets. He's an all pro type of player. Uh and even Eli apple Um, I'm I was happy for him because my immediate thought when he dropped that pass was if Chris was here, if West was here, he would be talking about the play he talked about more than any other as a Bengals fan, the Lewis Bill of play, dropping the pass in the in the end zone. But this time it didn't come

back to bite well. And in that game that's Super Bowl, Montana throws the game winning touchdown right after, So it's like you're looking at the lost opportunity by the by the Bengals. This time around, they did it. I mean, I think I just I spent most of this game thinking that since he's offense too lacked the aggressiveness to come into this thing and just have put it all out there and for much of the game until like the second half really got cooking. They seemed real tight.

I mean, at one point deep into the second quarter, Burrow had twenty eight yards and five straight in completions, which was not typical Joe Burrow business. He was at one point, yeah, go ahead, all right, boys, hold it right there, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

And we're back now. It was six, and you know, he turned it on with the rest of the Bengals and now he's the you know, the hero of this team and the guy that is wearing a diamond chain and saying, I wait, I make way too much money for my diamonds not to be real. I mean, this man is feeling himself. He was after the game, he talked about being an Ohio kid now taking the Bengals to the super Bowl. That's something I'm really proud of being front Ohio, being a quarterback of the Bengals two

and a half hours from my hometown. This was something I've always wanted playing the Super Bowl. And I couldn't be with a better group of guys. And we did see um Mike Brown also on the riser and uh, you know, we're talking about or we're texting about, like you know where whereas West coming down when he's watched ing, Uh, this situation and the Western Brothers we were texting with them. Uh and Greg, I thought you was summed it up well that he would have been feeling the moment until

that happened, maybe exactly Brown. That's funny, Like does Mike Brown get credit for anything here or is it like the whole angle and like it's all a lot of it is just good fortune bad fortune. They had the worst record when Joe Burrow showed up as the number one overall pick Like how much is connected directly to just looking into that and then you know, you do a nice job building around him and things come together

faster than normal. But as an organization like we had um Paul Daynard from the Athletic and he he explained some changes they were making behind the scenes to try to get more up to the times. And certainly it seems like they whatever they did has worked because they seem very set up now moving forward with I mean, if anything with Mike Brown, he's been he's given say

power and influenced other people. And when if you go back even to that team, you could look and say that the best roster in the a f C. It's like the well. I think some of the stuff that West wrote that massive and collected that massive folder about was the fact that they were zigging in the wrong way when everyonelts was sagging. He had no scouting department,

they didn't spend money in free agency. All that's changed, and I just I we don't know what West would think, but the one thing I'm sure of is that Joe Burrow changes everything for the Bengals historically going forward for the next fifteen plus years, and he I would struggle to think he wouldn't be totally enamored with the club that we've watched over the last couple of absolutely reminding me of when West was really into Duke Tobin. I don't know if you remember he wrote a whole piece

about Duke Tobin. He actually went and asked Duke Tobin questions at the combine, which West was loath to do. And I think that's a really good point that Mike Brown has changed the style of their ownership in that I think he's let guys like Duke Tobin be a real GM even though he doesn't have the title. I don't believe be a real g M. His daughter Katie Blackburn, who who's actually has a lot of respect, you know, within the NFL and the organization kind kind of run

the organization her way. Um And and you saw so many of those players step up today, and you saw their drafting step up. I mean not just Jamaar Chase, but I want to go through sort of how they come back, came back at some point. But one one catch that really stands out to me is the Higgins catch in overtime. His his arms are getting raked on

that play. They weren't calling anything in this game. Defensive backs could maim the opposing receivers and they did to Higgins right on a potential touchdown in the first half, which which the Bengals were not happy with. And Higgins who had six for one oh three. I thought that was a theme today, Higgins and oh b j the wide receiver to showing man, if you have two guys

on the outside, it is so tough to stop. And this was a Higgins day, and that catching overtime was very difficult and really was the key play in the in that winning drive before Mixing got a couple of big runs. Where do you go from here? If you're the Chiefs, that's something that's a tough loss. That is that's one that will stick to the ribs. Just like we talked about the Packers loss last week. Um, they now you know, they had that game in their back

pocket one three and that's that's unbelievable. The tweets and the like. Just the feeling of that game, Like, don't you think the Chiefs felt like they were going to the Super Bowl that they there wasn't I think they think everybody felt out right right, It just seemed like, Okay, this is this was one what we talked about it on the Network show, like this felt like a close game.

The Bengals could steal it potentially, but also there was a there was a possibility this was like game just because the way Kansas City looked they could run the Bengals out of that building and and it didn't work out that way obviously. Um, any other thoughts about the

comeback or anything. The one thing that happened early to Kansas City and they got into that, you know, the time issue at the end of the first half was when Andy Reid challenge to play he got they got the challenge, but he took a time out beforehand, and its stripped them of an early time out that ended up costing them. I mean, you know, it's like Andy Reid used to get tagged with this time management thing

all the time. He's escaped a lot of that because he has one of the best quarterbacks we've ever watched. But to your point about the where we thought the Chiefs would be at this point compared to where they were, it reminds me a lot of the two thousand and ten Packers, where you have Aaron Rodgers the sky's limit. They never get back there to win and they never win another title. And it just shows you how elusive it is. Because now Kansas City goes into an offseason

having swallowed an evil pill. Well, there's some scarring on this team. Now you had the Super Bowl last year where Mahomes got abused and physically wrecked, and then you have this game which is something to to collapse, historic collapse, biggest um blown lead ever in the Championship Sunday. There is just this level of invincibility that Mahomes had in those initial seasons that now they don't quite feel that way.

Now a team's gone again into Arrowhead in the a f C title game, and and now you have Burrow and the Bengals saying, listen, this is not your conference anymore. This is this is our time. And it snuck up on everybody because look where where everyone was picking Cincinnati

before the season. Look where they were at the beginning of the season on my power rankings, Like this was a team that was not ready or supposed to be making this jump, and yet they had Look where they were when I, you know, like you know, I backed off this little bit pronounced that they were going to take over the conference back in like November. It's like,

you know, I would. I would to see the nfl dot Com mid season predictions, and no one at the entire NFL dot Com media group, out of thirty people had the Bengals in the playoffs at mid season. Not one person had them even as a wild card team then,

which it actually is disrespect. They probably were five and four that I think it was coming off their two games losing, so it's a weird timing um, but not one person even had them in the playoffs at that point that the Mahomes Stark speak on it, yeah, oh yeah, you didn't didnes. What's what's happening? You didn't even have him in the playoffs? Well? No, I mean I would say I my my directive would be, there's probably fifty five people that make those predictions fire, all of them

start over with an entirely new collection of individuals. You do feel for for Andy Reid who has man he has taken some tough losses over the years, especially in

the conference championship weekend. And look, not everything is about the Patriots, but I do think these sort of games do remind you how just brewed, how impossible it is for what they accomplished, Like how tough that will be to repeat, even when you have Patrick Mahomes because they have hosted four straight a FC championships, Like that is so Patriots, Like that's like this other level that even ahead of where the Packers are at, of like can

you get the one or two seed every year? Like that's like the highest almost level you could reach, and the Chiefs are even above that, but even on another level above that, you have to actually like finish each one of these games out and get through the gauntlet that it's like, man, that's tough to do year after year twenty one to three, with two eighteen left in the second quarter in the Bengals got the ball and you mentioned how they weren't aggressive all day, and that

was driving me crazy. They weren't throwing on first down, they were running a ton. They they had a play action pass on the first play of that drive for a big gainer up the field. I can't remember who was too either boyd or a tight end got that drive going and ended up scoring later. And then they did settle in and get a little more aggressive. But the thing that to me was just in the comeback most important about Burrow was he wasn't going down like

he only got sacked one time in this game. And his legs and he said this after the game in an interview with Ross Tucker. Actually, I was listening to on the way in that that some people, you know, dismissed my legs, like they don't think I can run, And they ended up spying me a little bit towards

the end of that game. And that really was a difference in some of these field goal drives, especially the play I mean, this is when you start to feel like the football gods are operating on a different level here when he evaded Chris Jones twice on that one play that I mean, they showed Chris Jones up close after and you could just see he knew that that thing had slipped away. Can I read one absurd tweet that came out of Kansas City after this? Um k NBC,

I'm assuming that's a television station. This was their tweet after the Chiefs melted um in all caps, against all odds, Colin, we were never supposed to be here, We were never meant to make it this far, but against all odds we did. What a season. Thank you for the incredible ride. We will always be Chief's Kingdom. Wait a minute, excuse me, but every single sentient human being above Toddler level assumed that they would be here to look at it this way.

And it's a news organization saying that it's just utterly bizarre. That tweet makes more sense if you imagine an idiot wrote it. Well, that's that's that's not who I insitions got into this thing of like everyone discounted us and everyone gave up on us, and like why why is that the thing that that gets you going? And like fires you because that's true, some people did, but like

not many. I when I went back to look at that mid season think, for instance, everyone still had them winning the division and had many more people than not had them going to the Super We just simply saying we expect them to be nearly perfect, and they played a nearly perfect first half up until he h it was. It was a ludicrous sweep and I'm glad it went viral. Boys, would you like to step behind the velvet ropes because I think there's one other figure we need to discuss

in the non Justin Tucker category. I can't remember ever seeing a kicker or more locked in than the rookie fifth rounder Evan McPherson. He went four for four again today. He went four for four. Last week, he went four for four the week before that. He is twelve for

twelve in the play offs. Every week has had a fifty yard or massive fifty yard bomb in this game as well, and that is he is a legitimate Again, don't sleep on this weapon two weeks from Sunday across the street, because he is not that I ever get behind Jay Pheeley's analysis on CBS Delcast, but he made a point that carries across anything else. He has no battle scars on him. He doesn't know anything but success, and you could tell that's just blowing through him. He's

been unbelievable for that. I was like, he kicked the fifty two it was a fifty two yard or to take the lead in the fourth, and I had no no worry at all, forget the thirty one yard or to win it, like of course that one's going in no concern at all. It changes how they play offense, because that was part of the comeback, was picking up three points in a couple in a handful of spots. They only had one touchdown actually during the during the

second half, and that's why the Borough Brady thing. And I did feel like earlier this week they're gonna win this game somehow. I don't know how they're gonna win this game. And in the Bury Burrow Brady thing there it's maybe forced, but there are little things that I think winning plays, not just like the running and stuff like, but avoiding the sacks and making the smart decisions at the smart moments, and like that's where the luck is. That's well, if you want to call it luck, that's

where the like I just you. You look at you look into the face, into the visage, and like it's like he's so he's so unflappable. I mean it's like you're the same way that Tony Romo has had run out of um verbal concepts to describe mahomes and it's you know, all the stuff he does. You're gonna get there with Burrow. I mean, they have Burrow and the

new Justin Tucker. Who would have you would have bet houses in the opposite direction that the entire division would be looking up at the Bengals forever and that's where they are, right. Yeah, I do have a couple of I know you do. I know you do, Greg. But this this Tony Romo telecast coming off last week where I sang his praises and I thought he had an excellent Bills Chiefs game. He was not at his best in this game and he had his biggest flub to

me since he's been doing uh television. Um when it was the last possession of regulation and the Chiefs are knocking on the door. It's first and goal from the nine, and he begins to tell the audience, this is our conduit, this is our expert, our former player he's telling the audience, audience should Cincinnati, even though they have a three point lead, let the Chiefs score a touchdown so they will have enough time to get the ball back. It's like, bro,

this game, you're winning this game. You don't want to give up a touchdown to go behind, so you have forty seven seconds. That was I couldn't believe he was saying that. It's almost like he didn't know the score. That was an insane thing for Romo to say. In a normal game, you know, you knew where he was going, like if it was U the first Bengals Chiefs game and it was just all often back and forth. But that's even then. You can't think that way because there's

there's Malcolm Butler. There's like too many times of doing exactly what the Bengals did. And then he was there was a red challenge flag or and he was thinking that they should challenge an illegal procedure like lining up the wrong way, which you can't challenge either. Well he got he got caught not knowing the nuance on that one, Like you you can't challenge it was a bad game. He was thinking like the worst possible scenario was giving up a touchdown with twenty seconds left or whatever it

was gonna be, which which would have been? But you know, the best possible scenario is Sam Harvard forces a fumble on Patrick Mahomes, which is exactly what happened, and you gotta give your guy. Yeah, you can't even you can't even float that as a theory. When Cincinnati has like seven consecutive stops on defense basically before that drive, you can't be like, give up the touchdown to fall behind in the a f C title game in the last

forty one seconds, right, they were owned. I mean the the drives were sixteen yards, seventeen yards, seven yards negative, two yards of four yards and then they had the three down over stunning. It is crazy. Um. I do just want to remind you that despite it looking dry on camera today, the rain was out in Cincinnati. We're out a day in two heater. The rainmaker forget plus seven. I should have gone money line and locked it up like Mark Sessler. But it all works out anyways. They

want it, they want it. Does it get you a little uncomfortable? Mark? When Greg gets this giddy sometimes like energy, It's Gregg's materialism that gets on my radar. Just justice. By the way, the rainmakers coming back out, Grab that early Bengals plus four line for the Super Bowl because we're riving the Bengals to the end, Are you kidding? Make that line might change and and letty, I have

an announcement to make. I'm gonna call my own press conference. Um, I am in the midst of a collapse in the locks competition. Listen, I have no I have no regrets about my strategy here in the playoffs. The strategy was get behind the best quarterbacks and the superior teams. And I thought that I was doing that, and yet Aaron Rodgers and the Packers let me down, and then Patrick Mahomes in the Chiefs let me down. And I will tell you this, Mark, and this is a show of

respect to not just you, but the game. We will not have a tie. We will not have a tie. And I think, given the nature of my picks here, I'm going to seed you know the prediction. I want you to pick the team you want to win the Super Bowl or think they will. I will go the other way and we will find out who wins the title. If I'm gonna collapse, I want to collapse into a tie. I want either somehow survive like the Rams did last weekend in Tampa or going down in infamy. And I

think it's a great sign. And I think I know who Mark Sessler's picking, and maybe, just for Luck's sake, we should keep it that way because you've gone against the Bengals Dan all three weeks here, so just for the luck of it, well, I have wherever remark goes, I have to go there, admirable, thank you that I'm like waiting for the kicker, like I'm waiting for him to be like psych Well, I think the kicker was that that entire speech was to set up Dan as

a highly noble figure. I mean, I will I'm only in this position because I had a four game skid prior to your skids. So it's forced us crazy. Now you want to fully root for the Bengals in the super Bowl, you know, well, but Greg like that that we're saving that for later in the week. That's how

you built drama. You built drama degree. But a lot of people are coming at you Dan also, and it's like, listen, we we've been doing this thing for years and it's like we're not like at each other's throats over this, like it's it's going to go down in proper fashion. We tied one other five weeks ago one Sunday show. There was one right there. I had been annoyed, but I was annoyed with my own epic failure. I'm feeling pretty good one Sunday night. Well there's I mean, there's

a lot to be said to take this thing. But listen, the Packers. They got me mad lad because that was a gag job. The Cincinnati Bengals coming back an arrowhead. I could live with that. I'll take that out. And by the way, my other pick for this this weekend was the Niners. So again, it doesn't matter right now.

And I'm like when I'm on a cold streak as you were, uh in December and to that point, like I like, I wrote down something to myself that I stopped asking for anything from the NFL and it started to give me a lot of great things. And like that's to me. I think something is happening here that we have no control over. I mean, we have no control over anything, but I'm along for the ride. That's why I'm I've decided I've tried to keep in control and playing is from ahead is the favorite to try

to stay in control. I'm throwing my hands up and I said, do what you must, shove me, control, control and then me shape me. If you did, you must. If you didn't, um, you know, lose this lock. If the Bengals hadn't come from behind, though, we would not have gotten Chris Rose on NFL Network with a pretty cool moment tonight. They're picking it out dirt down. It was there. This was less awesome Chris Rose. We got to know Chris Uh this season on Sunday nights watching

Sunday Night Football with him in the Big Theater. He's a really good guy and Uh and he's a brown span And so I think you're like everyone is just no matter who you are, who you were, who the Bengals were to you in the past, your heart needs to not even exist. There must be something dark and um lost inside of you if you can't kind of feel this Bengals team. And I do think it's one of those Super Bowls. And the Rams are cool too, but we're like people are gonna be like, We'm pretty

sure who were into in this game? Here? Hearing that was there was something there's something about hearing that I was kind of like te and West at London that like hit me more than even anything watching at at Keisha's and everything. Something about hearing like on NFL Network him saying like this one's for West. It's just like it's bigger than just just West and the podcast and the Bengals. It's awesome and all the messages from everyone today has been awesome, very cool. Yes, and uh yeah,

so many people feel the same way we do. That just something strange as in the air and as difficult as this is um been without West, this has been a nice little thing that we we've been able to enjoy together. All right, Let's take a break and talk about the game that produced the NFC champion and yes, the Cincinnati Bengals opponent in Super Bowl fifty six. Yeah, the Bengals called the Super Bowl. Let's take a break. Second.

At thirteen forty, Niners go empty. Garoppolo looks right, throws debox on the screen block from jettings break cit Taco debo Sam your twenty fifteen ten five debo diving for the ends right up there, touchdown, Send friend Cisco to this out along the shockun I guess the four man ross clean platform head west side, Cooper Cup in the end zone. He's a cheat code. Touchdown, Cooper Cup, touchdown, away, hold down. The kick is on the way and it

is breakdown in the middle. Came from thirty for a twenty to seventeen lead, was six remains, sat back to Garoppolo, pocket frumbling, he spins out. He's hit, He's wrapped up. He flipped it forward. It's deep. Hits intercepted, It's intercepted. It's intercepted. Eric Donald's got fresh ed on Garoffolo and Travin Howard twitches the NFC Championship game. Hey how about that? My buddy, my picnic pal J B Long with the

call of his life. KSPN also heard Greg Pappa, k n b r up and the Bay Area and the Los Angeles Rams down seventeen seven and the fourth quarter,

the place going nuts, everybody in red. It felt like, and it seemed like once again that the Los Angeles Rams and their coach Sean McVeigh, we're going to get done in by Kyle Shanahan and those Niners would beat him six times in a row and now had a double digit fourth quarter lead, and yet the Rams get a big touchdown from Cooper cup who's been doing it all year, one of the greatest wide receiver seasons of all time. Then they get the big stop on defense.

They are able to take control of the game, take the lead, and close it out with Yes, Aaron Donald

and friends getting it done. Twenty seventeen, the final. The Rams are back in the Super Bowl for the second time and what is it three years with McVeigh four for for the second time in four years, and this one Mark had to be so sweet, and you could tell on Sean Nikpai's face to not only knock off Kyle Shanahan not only to get back to the Super Bowl, but all those demons Jordan Rodrigue talked about with us from the Athletic last week, all those demons exercise in

a big spot at SOFI Stadium. Yeah, and it wipes away everything the Niners did to them before. It's like this was the one that mattered. It was mattered five times more than those six losses. And you could see the look on Sean mcveigh's face. I mean, this was pressure. This was pressure on the entire team, and they overcame a lot. They overcame, you know, the Matthew Stafford mistake. They overcame the fact that I thought the defensive line, the strength of the team did very little for much

of this game. But where was von Miller for so much of it? That Aaron Donald's name was called at the most optimal time at the end to cause that interception. There's a lot to get into with this game, too. But the drive that I that I felt maybe told me the Niners are slipping away because we know that Jimmy g he is a journey I mean, and you you have to sign up for Yeah, I think I

agree with you. Well yeah, but it's just like I feel like it's weeks in a row where you're watching and throw passes that were um, you know, I want to call him but desperate, um bordering on high risk. And he got away with a lot of that stuff and today he did not at the end. And somebody and we've been we had been calling for it for weeks that at some point it's gonna haunt him in a way that they're not going to be able to

unhaunt themselves, and it happened today. The drive though for me seventeen seventeen, there's six plus left total melt job by Jimmy g in the offense. They took twenty three seconds off the clock when it would have been the patented time for Shanahan to get the ground game going, just to not even give Matthew Stafford in the Rams a chance back in and they did. I mean, they just they let this game away in the Rams. You know,

you get a performance by Odell Beckham. It's like everything and you know, at this point this is not news, but all these moves they made. It was a year ago today that the Stafford trade was announced. To have known back then, a lot of people doubted that deal, that the Rams mortgage their future, that a year later they'd be here. It's like, and we all we had I certainly had fun with it when they had the

tweet we're all in. After the moves that they made, and then they were a little they were a little bit, you know, on and off for a stretch there during the regular season, and it looked like, man, are they not only gonna never have any premium draft picks, but they're gonna go all in and they're gonna fall short.

And yet here they are a nut like the Bengals, another four seed greg that got hot found themselves all of a sudden hosting the NFC Championship game and then executing in a way that San Francisco had executed against them and all those prior losses. Yeah, maybe they're better

off playing from behind. I mean, sent seven entering the fourth quarter and you go touchdown field goal, field goal, and your defensive line in Aaron Donald and Von Miller in that group that had been quiet throughout the game, peasted three straight drives. So it's like, you don't need to we don't need to hear anything about this team's toughness.

I don't think toughness was ever you know, the right word for it, because they they also have one, you know, been in some difficult spots this year in in one tight games, not always again to the top competition. But it was seventeen seven Stafford gets the ball back and it was just like bet and it was they went right down the field and it it was placed to Odell. It was it was third and six is to two. Cup. Really the whole game, I thought the difference was the quarterbacks.

And I know Stafford until the end, his numbers weren't too flashy. And people are going to bring up that to Quiskey tart drop interception, and we can talk about that, but it's like Stafford played great in this game, and yeah, he'll give the other team a couple of chances and he'll make a couple of mistakes. But the reason they put up twenty in this game was all Stafford. Again.

They weren't really running the ball again, they didn't really protect Most of his completions were excellent throws, like most of their points came from throws into tight windows. The touchdown the cup was awesome. The out route to cup earlier, that drive was was amazing. He had another one to Odell. It's just like Jimmy g is not making those throws, Jared Goffs not making those throws. Maybe there's seven or eight guys in the NFL that are making those throws,

and Matthew Stafford is one of them. And I know it's not like a great home crowd here. It was definitely split. But that drive you mentioned where the forty Niners started turtling up like that was after the Rams just scored ten straight points and and the Rams fans were loud when when the forty Niners were on offense, and it was vice versa, and it felt like that

was making an impact. And the forty niners were feeling at that point, and certainly Aaron Donald was feeling that the one thing, I mean, had they lost the RAMS, there would be it would be a really really rough couple of weeks for them, because I also found them to be and they got to clean this up, disorganized, pre snapped. These time outs they call when you know there when you're gonna trying to avoid like a delay of games scenario. It's just like, this should not be

happening to this RAMS team under Sean McVeigh. They took a terrible challenge at one point that I don't know who's in Sean mcveigh's here. It went south, but it's like, how are those dec They had no timeouts for the last six fifty on the clock, which Terry Bradshaw mentioned when Terry Bradshaw was asking the question. First, the first thing he said to McVeigh was about the time outs and he got the facts wrong. He said, you only had one time out with seven minutes to go. No,

it's even worse than that. They had no timeouts with seven minutes to go, And I thought that when he burned his final time out UM on a challenge of a fumble UM on a play it was fourth down and they had their punt team on the field San Francisco. He challenges it trying to get the ball back in midfield. It was a terrible challenge, Like Mark saying, desperate was he just desperately felt desperation, especially when you realize the

payoff is because you're getting the ball back anyway. Like maybe it's like thirty or forty yards fuel difference maybe, but the the opportunity cost here is like or you lose the challenge and you have no time outs and you end up watching Jimmy g kneeling on the football for two minutes to end the game, Like it was that much. Now the thing that I'll i'll I'll think

about two things. Uh, if I'm a nine fan and I'm dying, And by the way, we could talk about how the Rams did an I should have the fans filling up building. We're across the street in the newsroom. After the game was over, I went to the glass and looked out and it was all forty Niners fans just filing out. Now, maybe Rams fans are there watching, But I'm telling you, Greg, let's not. Let's not carrying the water here. Tens of thousands of San Francisco fans

were in that building. Sounds like at best it was half and half, but it was probably more forty fans. But it's just wild. So that had for all the things that had to feel so good for McVeigh and the Rams. That was a tough situation to build up to this week about how there was gonna be all these forty Niners fans there. You sent all of them out of your building in a sour mood. Uh. And my other thing I think about is Kyle Shanahan at midfield.

He put his offense back on the field after that lost challenge by McVeigh, and I'm thinking, man, that would have been an incredible kill shot, uh, to send McVeigh into the offseason. If you would have after he blows his last time out on a bad challenge and puts himself in a terrible situation for the rest of the game, if you then would have gave it to Deebo Samuel on fourth and two and converted a first down, then we could be talking on a totally different outcome right now.

And he didn't do it. I thought that was conservative. It was a sloppy game and in many ways for both teams. So whoever lost is gonna go have a lot to think about. And if you're the Niners, it was a rough one. But to dance point on that fourth down it they hit that deep throaw to Odell Beckham another great throw. Uh. Two plays later they were back at the exact same yard line that Kyle Shannon. And it gets back to what I've been talking about

on the show. Both of these guys have this weird inherent conservatism streak in them in terms of fourth downs. Even even McVeigh kind of played for the field goals on their last two field goal drives and and it worked and that's great, But there is something about them that's like a hell. They're progressive in terms of their view on offense and scheme, but in terms of like the tactician of like a game day, how I handle

my team, they are a little conservative. Surprisingly. So can we hear sorry for cutting you off there, Mark, I'm gonna tee you up on this one, Mark, because yeah, the other thing that's gonna stick to uh Niners fans, of course, Uh Jaquisky, Jack Whiskey, Tart the safety. There's nine to play in the game and the Niners, I believe at this point, are holding onto a three point lead, and Stafford drops back to pass and throws a balloon

into the middle of the field. I would like to hear the Niners call of this, because this was another huge UH moment in the game. Stafford back, it's hit as he froze deep down field for fair Jefferson and the Boss should have been intercepted. It was dropped. Jakoski Chart had the interception on the forty thirty two yard lightly dropped the ball and he is sick. The ball is under thrown in part flat out dropped and it couldn't have hit him any better than it did right

in the neck. Great call there, Yeah, it was seventeen seventeen at the time. UH. And after that play, immediately after of this drop, it should be Niners ball with a chance to take back control of the game. He hits Beckham Stafford for twenty nine yards and then a penalty onward for necessary roughness. It becomes a forty five yard play. It leads to what ends up being the deciding points. Yeah, I think if you're a quarterback and

you go. You know, Kevin Patra, our friend who wrote up the game, called it a yolo ball for Stafford. You know, you only live once, which I think we weird spot for a yolo ball. I think we also banned the phrase yolo. It's gone. Okay, it was gone from culture, and now you just brought it back in a big spot. So we gotta yeah, we gotta work back. Well, I referenced someone who brought it back. That's that's what

I did. But this is the thing, like I you know, I know, it's like the one, the one thing about the NFL right now, like every Jimmy g is getting destroyed on Twitter and all this stuff. Like there's just a part of me that's like I feel bad for Jimmy Gay. I feel bad for Tart. I mean, who tweeted out after no excuses. I deserve all the criticism, my way, the opportunity to dream of I came up short. I let my brothers down. I mean, first of all,

you're taking accountability. But secondly, I mean, yeah, he's gonna think about that every moment of every day. It's one of those Well, here's the well that play you mean specifically, or the drop tarts dropped interception. It's like that would have ended this and we'd be talking about Matthew Stafford's two killer mistakes in this game, versus saying Matthew, but

that was that was there. There never from that point on their season slipped away because they gave up the drive and then Garoppolo then takes the hit and throws the ball up for grabs. That stuff you can always do that though, Like Jalen Ramsey had two potential pick sixes in the second half that he dropped, which like he would be living with that for the rest of it.

He's such a competitor. I would imagine it's killing him right now that he did not make the big plays in the big moments when he when he could, but he had his defensive guys around him to step up. I really do think that's what makes this Rams team unique special, you know, potentially a championship team is this defense really is is great and I know it didn't feel like they were getting after Jimmy g that that

much this game. They stuffed the run. I mean that that fourth down that they didn't go for Dan it was because Eric Weddle came up on a run blitz fit and stuffed them. And then the next down it was Gains and a Sean Robinson who stuffed them. And you look at Elijah Mitchell on the day eleven for twenty. This dude has been killing everyone all year. This running game is what got you. But give it, give it to Deebo and see what happened. But Deebo even seven

for six. Like here's the statute point I wrote this down UH San Francisco UH and their first five playoff games with Kyle Shanahan averaged a hundred and seventy seven h point four rushing yards per game. That's five yards to carry average today and yards carry right and and like we I did the sky Sports hit going into the fourth quarter and Bald Bald is just talking about this is where like what's happening. Aaron Donald hasn't made

a play all game. It's seventeen to seven at that point, Like Aaron Donald needs to be the one who makes the play if he's going to be on the sideline trying to fire everyone up and change. And he did. He had he had two QB hits in that in that fourth quarter and it's like everyone's gonna kill Jimmy

g for throwing that pass. If he doesn't throw the pass, he's taken the sack, and it's fourth and game over, fourth and twenty and and if the guy doesn't drop it or it hits the ground, it's fourth and ten and they're gonna win the next down anyways, because all over them at that point. And then and they they stepped up. We we talked about quarterbacks stepping up in the fourth quarter, Like those dudes stepped up. Let's hear

from Aaron Donald. He our boy Steve Wish interviewing Aaron Donald on the field, and I think Von Miller crashes into the interview. Know that thing. I always wanted to be part of that thing. You win a big game, Well we kind of did with West and Company when we won the Shield titles. We were interviewed by Kwang Lamb on the desk, and I believe there was a that moment maybe West was being interviewed and I just like went over West shoulders, like we did it. Man.

He's like, oh man, you're a real star. It's like, no, you are, bro. I think that moment might have happened. It was I think that, you know there was you kind of create You're you're sort of the person that showed us how to do that. Thanks Mark and Greg. You've got a trophy too. When we went back to back the Shield. Yeah, I was the general manager, do we not? I was Leo del Becco. Now they would have had to win a title. You know. I was a big free agent signing, and big sign we needed.

Didn't get stale in the club. Let's hear Aaron Donald after the game with Steve wash what about the way the deep end held up. You go into the fourth quarter down seventeen and seven and you shut them out to give your offense enough time to rally. We brought I brought the guys that we talked. We got two much in the line to lose way too much on the left. Hey bye, bowled up, guys, start flying, roll

and make big places we needed to. And also, lastly, the pressure you got on Garoppolo that led to the stack to seal the deal. What about that blunk? Just just being relentless, That's that's amazing passion. I love a great job by Why should a big spot there? And there was a great moment in the game. This is seventeen seven. Donald is one of the great players in

the history of the sport. Um in his prime. He's been too near the mountaintop once, he's been to the super He's been part of some disappointing RAMS teams through the years, and you see him pulling those guys together on the sideline and giving them that exact message, and he just explained to why clearly. He's like, guys, we cannot let them move the ball again. We are better

than this team. We need to win this game. And literally, from that moment when Fox caught that on the sideline, their defense never gave up another yard in that game. And they were like Donald, that happens sometimes. And you can see these players, you know, with all their bluster, and it's like the other teammates are kind of like, alright with no because they were like there, it was

a moment of total sobriety. They were nodding along with him and never it changed them entire and the Rams in general have are an advertisement on team building because it's like, go get these stars, give them a little bit of time. They're gonna peak at the right moment and you're gonna have so many Odell Beckham disgruntled wide receivers and other players midway through next year, saying, get me out of this trash city and take me somewhere special.

Let's talk Odell after the break. Let's talk Odell because he he really did. He profiled as an important guy in this game because the Rams need that, they need that secondary receiver. They lose Tyler Higbee to injury earlier in this game, so then Beckham becomes an essential figure. Cup is gonna do what Cup does. Eleven uh for one,

two and two touchdowns on four teen targets. He is brilliant, he is, and he had a drop he even those numbers could even be bigger, but he made every other play in this game and is such a money player, one of the best wide receivers in the sport. But Beckham first one yard games since weeks six of two thousand nineteen with the Browns, and we had been waiting

for Beckham to have this type of game. He didn't find the end zone, but he was nine for one thirteen and every time Stafford look for him on eleven targets, Beckham was there, ready to play and made the big plays that frankly so as someone who's been vocally critical of Beckham, and I still hate the way he kind of got his way out of town in Cleveland, but you have to give it up to him because he's now really proved himself Mark a guy that for all

the ups and downs of his career when the spotlight was bright here with l A, he really has answered the call absolutely. Like I don't like the exit either, but that's secondary and that's in the deep distance at this point. To me, it's like he is. He was looking out I think for how he'd be remembered as a player, and we do think of him differently now.

And I mean it took a little bit of time, but it's also Matthew Stafford's first season in this offense too, And I just I I give the Rams a lot of credit for honestly going for it and not in fullhardy fashion, and like the way that it's working for them. It's because someone like less Sneed chose to think totally differently about building a team than other teams do. I mean, Odell has found money, he got his way out of the Browns, but it's not like they had to trade

for him, but they did. They did call him up though, and explain how they'd use them, Like it wasn't just about money or just where he's like, they made it clear to him that that was the landing spot and they were right, and then Robert Woods blows his knee out right, they did a great did a great job. They did a great job getting him, building a program

to get him to the point. But it's sort of been lost in the shuffle, Like he's getting paid, you know, the same as like Will Fuller gets paid for eight games, Like he's just getting a half a season at at four million, four and a half million dollars. I mean, that is incredible. Now he's getting he keeps getting more bonuses as they win, and it was tied to winning, which is brilliant too. But it's like every team's got a weakness and all year it was like, how are

the forty niners overcoming these cornerbacks? Like how are they do doing it? Like it just doesn't make sense, like Damiko Ryan's and the past rush are just overcoming at all. And I think today was the day where where it hurt them because you just can't cover two guys on the outside. They had to leave O'Dell Beckham by himself while Cooper Cup was getting doubled inside and Odell beat

him over and over. Whereas the Rams weaknesses in theory, I don't think showed up as much some of their linebacker play where they try to get cheap Troy Reader had a tough day, but like they lose their two starting safeties during that collapse, and they bring in Nick Scott and Wettle, and those two dudes have been awesome. And I think that's why I get on McVeigh for

some of the things he doesn't do as well. I get the feeling, like Belichick, he is about as good a tactician in terms of like practicing and building up their skill sets and fundamentals, and like getting guys into the right positions and knowing the roles and having a vision for those roles, and getting his coaching staff to

all coach up the way he wants it to. Because they can lose guys they have so any like random guys that just most NFL teams don't have it, like minimum salaries, that just come up and play at a very high level, and like the coach to get a lot of credit. And I thought he did a very Shanahan type thing that I sent a message early and

I love this. When they had an eighteen play drive that started on their own three yard line, ninety seven yards, they go over ten plus minutes and basically that's exactly what the Niners did. Added the gate to l A in that week ten smashing when when when Stafford threw two picks to open the game and everything felt lost for Los Angeles. People came out of that asking about their identity as they went into their bye week, and I think Sean McVeigh was embarrassed by that, and he's

in a totally different place. Now. The Rams had eleven third down conversions eight team. I mean, that's and the Niners pass rush was working too. That's quarterback play. I like, I don't want to hear about the tart thing. And I know Stafford through behind Cup and it was a bad interception in the end zone early for set. First of all, they you know, square neck dropped the fifty

yard touchdown, Cup dropped the potential touchdown. But that eleven for eighteen, like that was Stafford and that was like there weren't a lot of bubble screens on those. In fact, a lot of the seven third down, they didn't pick up We're because Sean McVeigh was like late in the game, like throwing passes that had no chance to go to it and wanted to be conservative like Stafford was money on the money downs. He was so good that this

playoff run. This is interesting that square neck was only on the field because the Rams went no huddle after a third down conversion. He had come in for Odell to block and then he finds himself all all alone in the end zone and that was one of those would have been a great catch. But oh that was It was one of those plays. Watch it again, Mark, because it was like one of those plays where it hits the guy's hands and explodes off his hands like he was a guard. I was like, oh no, I

felt bad for him. But obviously that was not his moment to shine, right. It was Stafford overcame it. But he wasn't perfect, right, so you can't like I'm not but he had first interception was he was off the market again. But even like the throws to get he wasn't perfect at all, but he was significantly better then every quarterback he's gone against, and like and just the

the quality of the throws. I guess you can't underrate because he's doing things that that other guys can't do, Guys other than O'Dell and Cup, other than Kendall Blanton, who had a great game at at tight end had nine targets for seven yards. So like it was all Odell and Cup, you may have to do it again because it's you don't have Tyler Higbey necessarily for this game. We don't know what's going on with it with his but I kicker club scenario I would be concerned with.

If you're the rams about mac A. I just does not seem reliable to me on any level that he missed the net with his first attempt. He did, you know, he to his even though they weren't difficult kicks per se. Hitting those two in the fourth quarter helped put him into the championship game. He's listen. I feel good about where the power ranks are UM going into the Super Bowl. Very clearly the Bengals have the edge. There a lot of mystery around that. That's a big edge for Cincinnati.

It is great. The Stafford story is, it's a great story. UM knowing everything about him and where he came from, Detroit and now either he's gonna win a super Bowl or the Bengals are gonna shock the world and go from last place to super Bowl champions. I think it. Things are really there are a lot of great storylines. This is a great storyline super Bowl, which is a nice thing for our show. And it's fresh. I mean this Rams team winning would be fresh. And this has

been a long build. I mean, they've they were a top I think they were third and winds in the NFL since McVeigh has gotten there, behind the Chiefs and the Pats. So it's like they've they've been knocking on the door and now they're trying to get through. And nothing tops the Bengals, though, come on, you can't by the way, you can't get Trey Lance in there for one of these short yardage plays. I know this is they're gonna get September literally, Lands need see a doctor. Lance.

Thing drives me crazy because the last couple of weeks in these games where you scored six offensive points last week and this week, you couldn't have used just could no more than we do. Greg and I don't talk short yardage. Short yardage, It's okay short I understand what you're saying. But I remember sharing this quote that I read somewhere that Shanahan didn't like mixing and matching the QBS. He thought it messed with the flow of the office.

There was something about this. I don't think anybody could have predicted this is how the Niners first season with the number three overall pick would play out. Where he's in the mix for six or seven weeks, he has a spots injury, start, gets hurt himself, disappears, and then is no longer part of the team. Most about the flow. I just I think he's probably you probably also don't care that Leonardo DiCaprio was in the crowd, which that was essentially all I was focused on for much of

the second half. Yeah, I mean that was a big moment for you, I think for I think for anyone with you into you're a little worried that he was not going to do the show because he was just gonna leave and stock Leo. He's like he had never been that he hadn't didn't wasn't aware that he did occur to me that he was like literally four football fields away from my my desk seat right before we started taping. I ran into Scott Hanson of Red Zone Fame, and Scott he told me a corker Leo DiCaprio story

he had. Now I can't share details of it because I don't want to betray Scott's confidence, because I think we might have a growing friendship. Now, Um, it's in play. I think if you're the listener, let your imagination sore. It was that juicy of But he told me a winding tale of Hansen and DiCaprio in a big spot, in DiCaprio being on the wrong side of history, in

a big spot, maybe, well he goes there sometimes. If you see me right side of history now, lifelong Rams fan, I mean he was living and dying with the Van Jefferson drops and everything. He's just like he's he's not he's not he's not technically big enough a football fan for Greg, so he's not allowed in them. If you see me um in Los Angeles this week, listeners, Uh, and I'm maybe sitting I'm saddled up at a bar somewhere, and you want to come up to me like I

would like to hear the Scott Hansen story. Um about Leonardo DiCaprio I will tell you that story privately. Well, it should make Hanson feel very comfortable. I won't I won't broadcast it. But off the holiday at the tavern, Well, I think we're all we're all breathless at the concept of that. So all right, any other thoughts on the NFC Championship game, Greg, This is a moment for you now.

I know you have a lot on your mind. There's any other thoughts, we're all but just button up, Just to button up the Jimmy Garoppolo that was, in all likelihood his final game with the forty Niners. Um, I believe there was a stat entering the game. He was thirty five and fifteen as a starter entering this game. So we're about to you know, the rubber is about to meet the road, and you're gonna learn more about Garoppolo. I think wherever he ends up next, because I don't

think that accurately tells you who he is as a quarterback. However, I do think even if his value took a hit during this playoff run, there's gonna be a team that looks at that record and looks at, um the success the forty Niners had when he was involved and will say he's r QB one. Just you'd have to, like if you're a front office, also note that he's in the offense that is going to maximize every quarterback that's ever in an understanding. And oh there's a major buyer.

Beware here. I'm just saying, I think there's a team out there and it's not a it's not a market flush with options for veteran quarterbacks that's gonna identify him. Whether I don't know Indianapolis, someone's trading for him, forget like him getting cut on that contract. Someone's looking at that contract and saying, yes, please bring him to Carolina or Pittsburgh or New Orleans or somewhere. And what happens

it's after that we'll see. And I have my deaths personally, but I think he is a starting quarterback Week one. But it will not be for thet Now, is it Trey Lance? It has to be right. If it's not Trey Lance, there's something going on that we have not been privy. I don't know if anything has to be with the quarterback market in the NFL. At this point, this didn't feel as much like a Jimmy g game, though, like a referendum on that he's not the whole three stretch.

I know they won two of the games, even yeah, even even the even the Week eight team game, and just that everything has to be to the middle of the field. I mean, there's just like nothing to the outside. I do feel bad for Nick Bosa and that whole group up front, And that's part of the reason why I'm honking about Stafford so much. As they were amazing Bosa beast Did Armstead beast? Did they? They had I think ten quarterback hits. They were all over Stafford, which

is which is why I was so impressed. He's not gonna this would not be something he would share. Kyle Shanahan, Kyle shanhon But I wonder if he thinks about it. Yeah, we had a ten point lead in the fourth quarter of then if seat time game, by the way, I think they had in the Super Bowl as well, and

that that got away. But I wonder fourth quarter. He also was the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcon That's not a certain scenario, but I wonder if he would ever think to himself when he puts his head to pillow man, if I wanted to put the kid in I don't know great Lance ever seemed ready for I don't know this. He never really got the chair. It's instructed to me that they rode this Jimmy g like roller coaster. He did, and they were about to go

to him though. Remember remember he was hurt at the moment that they lost that Colts game in the rain, and it felt like that was He wavered and said, I'm not sure if Jimmy's gonna start next week. But then Tree Lance wasn't even healthy enough to play. It was a it was a weird sliding doors. I was like, who's gonna say sliding doors, sliding doors? Give us a sliding doors siren, Rickey, here's the real sliding doors. And I know I'll sound like a Homer here and everything

would be different. So who knows. But if you told me that the forty Nars would be in the super Bowl if they had drafted Mac Jones, I would I would buy that little Mac Jones had a really Kylen wanted Initially, um, speaking of mac Jones and Patriots, Homer's Yes, Tom Brady maybe retired. We that we felt like this show was a show that should be dedicated to the two games that determined the Super Bowl combatants and it

turned into the Westling Bowl. Um. But yes, Tuesday's episode of the Round the NFL podcast, we will be diving deep on Brady. Hopefully we'll have some resolution on his status. But it certainly feels like now with the reporting, uh that he will be retiring after twenty two years, I will owe you guys, Sangwiches. I'm still surprised and I'm still not totally sold. I know everything is pointing to and rap Sheet even said rap She came out and said, oh f y, I he's still gonna retire. He's just

now I'm paraphrasing, he's pissed at Schefter. He doesn't want Adam Schefter on a Saturday morning telling the world that he's quitting the most successful Arlington. You gotta put Darlington's name and Jeff Darlington put some respect on his name. Um, but he is going to retire still. He just didn't like the timing. He wants to announce it in this little TV Times, uh newspaper thing that he puts out there.

There is an interesting discussion had about how this whole thing is played out in his his uh, his dad and his agent pushing back so hard. But we can have that discussion. We will talk about that Tuesday. We also talked about how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have the number one overall pick in the I don't know. You know what, if you're a Bucks fan, it was totally worth it, right for right back into the darkness,

but a quick trip out of the darkness. I wonder if I wonder if we see Todd Bowles, you know, head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I read, I don't know if I want. I read Bruce arians apparently is telling all his coaching staff to go ahead and interview and take jobs, even if there's no promotion involved. Just go ahead. I told you he was not into this. Well, I don't know how I agree with you. All Right, you're gonna take sure. I will take credit for it.

Take takes, never expire. We can also talk about, you know, Josh McDaniels is the Raiders coach. How about Brian Dable. Is this we can also talk about. So we're gonna hit all these big league storylines, of course, and then uh we we do like to do a show during the ramp up to the Super Bowl where we don't use the word or the words super Bowl. I don't know if that's Tuesday show, but at some point we might want to challenge ourselves because we got Thursday. Perhaps.

I think that's often the time we have two weeks ramping up to the final game of the season. If you don't count the Pro Bowl, no, I do, personally. I know that's when you're gonna be ponying up at this bar telling anything about Scott Hansen's story that was told you bellied up at the bar, spilling house secrets West by the way. We would not watch a second of any Pro Bowl. So that's what I'm gonna do. Not watch a second of it. Sorry, NFL. I know it's,

you know, touted as this high, high level event. Greg is not saying a word. He won't speak again instant. You know. For kids, I've decided about something totally different. Kids. My kids actually are really into the Pro Bowl. They look for They have been talking about it and looking forward to it, and they think it's a bigger deal than basically every game except we think about it. If you're a kid, the ideas every all the best players on every team are now playing in a game against

each other. I mean it sounds great, except that every best player giving we get it. We're all on the same page. I will, I will, but the kids don't get it. I'll get in line and start. Do you think the kids are watching? Like the blocking schemes and the effort of the tackling. Mark, you could say to your kids, this is not a quality product. I'm going to teach you to watch a quality product. But that's Mark.

Is that guy on Twitter like arguing against no one, like a take, like he's arguing against someone that you know you're gonna You're gonna chastise your children for watching poor quality football when they just want to see a lot of great stuff comes out of it. To the personalities you get to see, Like you know, when they're throwing I didn't realize I ran rough shot into three company men. I okay, it's like I like, you know,

please company people, Mark be obedient. Alright, alright, the Pro bowls marvelous product and it will be treated as such on this program. Mark. Well, let's preview it on Thursday for minutes and that'd be quick. Well, it sounds like a dare. Let's do it. Then, if you guys actually feel this way, we have some time to fill. Now there aren't many games left, in fact, just the one in two weeks from tonight. I'll have a WiFi issue that day, we'll be there. We'll be there by the way,

We'll be at the super Bowl. Can't wait. Um and uh, that is gonna be a great week. We're gonna be down at the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown. There's a whole like Big Ricky is a big set set up. I Heart Radio is is putting a bit. You know how you used to go to Radio Row and you see like the big serious XM sets or what was the big NBC this I hearts that blows up. We want, I want you have to be credited because previously I think there is no you can't come into the well.

COVID is different, but like you can't come into the row area with our credential. But there is a part where yes, fans they roped off like animals essentially, but they yeah, they were within eyeshot of some of the activity within distant eye shot. In fact, there were a lot of fans watching West eat a softball pants that one time. That's true. There was there was a horde

of individuals. One of our memorable Radio Row moments. They weren't maybe necessarily podcast fans, They were just watching the general goings on and we're like, there's a man over there eating a giant um hot dog with pieces of pants on it, So you know, that's our podcast in a nutshell. I always remember that well. West. The wager

was if the Raiders win ten games. It was the Dennis Allen led Raiders that were a disaster, and he was they got out they won a couple at some point hated that team or he didn't think they were any good at all, but they this path that actually got them to the number of wins misremembering maybe a little of this, but whatever it was, it screwed West. And West was so confident that the team would fail

um that he said I'll eat my softball pants. I think it was they wouldn't win six because they at some point, we're getting great, like they won fourteen games, and uh he did. We went after I think it was the New York Super Bowl and we found there was a hot dog stand with the largest hot dog in the world. Bought that sucker for bucks expense. That nailed it, and then we cut up the and there was like, West, this is the only thing you need to do. West, you must bring the softball pants. Make

sure that this is pre Lukisha. It's like West. The one thing you need to do is when you get on the plane, have the softball pants. Reminded him fourteen times. Pants my pants, and he had to like run out and buy pants. And it was a whole thing. But he did take a bite of that hot dog with a chopped up There was even some zipper in there. Yeah, there's a zip last ate more of the pants than

he needed to write. Well, you know, he was a man of his words, sou So we're you know, thinking about West now, We're gonna be thinking about him forever. But now we have his his childhood team, his complicated team, the Bengals against the Rams, Lakisha's team. So that is the super Bowl and we will be here to take you guys to the finish line. Anything else before we say goodbye. Don't open it back up too late. I did. I threw it out one last time. I want like

a Jawan Jennings break. No, not not looking for it now, all right, let's good, let's go. Good stuff. Wow, Bengals Rams. It's crazy. Emotions are total chicken will today the call s S S