Unsolved Mysteries of the NFL Postseason (and beyond)

They Around the NFL podcast can still play the guitar? Hell yeah, we can.

Sixteen hundred episodes in eleven years in We're like Slash coming out of the Church in the November Rain video.

I am forty three from the Chris Wesley podcast studio.

It's around the NFL.

Dan hands us here with Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler and you heard it. I've been teasing this really since the Use Your Illusions double album Colleen would be on the show again, and she has yes returned fresh from Detroit.

You guys, I missed you. There were a couple of people on Twitter that were like, Dan really needs you to return this week.

So it's true.

I needed you, I missed you, we all missed you, and now.

Not being around, I miss you, guys.

I feel like my energy, my orbit, all of it is off when I'm not with you, guys. I don't see you at least once a week week, So now all is right.

It becomes clear on Tuesdays that Mark and I are not enough. We are not enough.

That is nice.

And there was a moment and I know he really meant it because it was off air too, where he just like this this show just needs a shot at Colleen, A just really needs some Colleen.

I got shots. Let's go.

You were in Detroit, yeah, speaking of shots, and because.

I remember being down of the field after the Super Bowl when the Eagles won, and we'll get maybe get to the Eagles later. Well however, and seeing like Connie at like the thirty yard line and bumping into it.

You were in tears. Cut to five years later, tears of joy.

Right, you're watching the game with diehard Lions fan Cynthia Freeland and Michigan native.

That must have been nice.

Oh my god.

Cynthia is truly such a Lions fan, so it was so much fun to be there with her because there were so many of her friends and family that were coming through the bar that we were doing live shots from. But then we made it in the stadium just in time, right before they started the game, for like the end of the pregame ceremony, and you guys were watching like the whole stadium the way they had the wristbands and it was lighting up. But it was just really cool.

You have a like a knack for being president at these ground swell fan events that like Flores, I know, they hire you to bring you there, right, the Jets, Cleveland, other teams, Oh my gosh, critical mass moments.

It was I just I really miss traveling for these games. So it's been really fun because the only two games that I've been to this year have been Lions games, and I had never been to a Lions game before. I had never been to Detroit before this year, and in the span of like five weeks, I've been to two games at this point.

And the fans that I talked to in.

The bar beforehand, they were so funny because they were like, we've just like never been here before. Literally, we don't know how to act, we don't know what to do, and so they would just randomly start yelling like playoffs. Like it was almost like a ter Brett's type of reaction in the most endearing possible way. And I met this dad who he was like, I didn't even know I was coming to the game, and my daughter surprised me with tickets when I got off the plane last night.

I love that.

I need to get Dan Campbell crying really to feed my soul, I think.

Dan Campbell, I will I will keep this to thirty seconds. But I woke up in the middle of the night from a like an insane dream where I could tell something like crazy it happened. And then I started, you know, you start to remember it. And I had been in my childhood house with a bunch of male like like bro friends. I didn't know any of them in real life, but then my neighbors down the hill, this is like

I love dream I love dream stories.

Dream stories are the worst.

But it was football related and it left me another hour and a half trying to figure out what was happening.

I love that Dan is visiting you in your dreams.

He was large too.

It was like the real sized person, the real size Dan Campbell Mark.

How are you, buddy?

Are you ready for a big W at your next watch party? Well?

I haven't really thought about that, but I do want a W. You got any.

Tips, whether you're cheering on your favorite team or hosting a movie night? Does yourno knows planning a winning watch party on a budget isn't easy.

I will thank you for that advice.

Man, I get the anxiety, you know, and I know my cess dog he loves hosting hangs with all his work friends.

Everything needs to be just right.

You need the perfect setting, the perfect squad, the perfect eats, and the perfect plan to keep everyone pumped all night long.

That's what you always say, man, perfect eats, perfect squad. That's your whole thing, keeping everybody pumped up.

I like to just wing it at parties, you know, No, you need to draw up the perfect plan.

Luckily, you're a game time mastermind, and you know the grabbing Adjorno Classic crust pizza is one call that brings home a w with half a pound of cheese, sauce and other toppings at an incredible price.

It's your game day MVP most Valuable Pizza.

Thank you for all the sports metaphors. It helps a regular guy like me. So I guess I'll just make the call and have it sent to the house. It's not delivery, it's djorna.

A yes, well, thanks Mario.

It's a good info.

I now understand the text that I read during that as opposed to before I suddenly have a gun to my head.

Well, it's funny putting together a masterful bit like that and send that straight to the web.

Uh A rifle time.

As I'm listening to it over and over again, I'm like this, this isn't angry read this man is angry as he's reading it. And maybe that's why people are really connecting with it, because it's so unusual for someone to read an ad about pizza, like from a grocery store and be furious as they do it.

I wonder if that's why the journal has not gotten back to me. As I thought.

They'm like, I'd never actually heard it. I think one mistake we make is because we wrapped the show and like we've got our coats on and like my cars started out in the parking lot, it is now we need you to read an ad, and so I'm like, knock it out, baby, it's like Thursday after. I think, if we just do it, maybe before the show, you're gonna be a part.

Of you doing that show.

You need me, that's fine, and you're gonna get I'll be pleasant and everything.

But I've learned actually because I'm not gonna I don't want to sound like that on the next ad spot that.

I have pizza. You didn't have the journo before you had the reads.

I always need to They got.

More pop in and they just got a whole five minute bit on the show for free that that that this was not like a live read.

Are you ready for a big w at your next watch party?

I would say this, I don't know who we're reading these ads for, but we don't see the product or payment for it, so we just simply we do it out of the kindness of our hearts. I know Greg is looking at Dan like don't say that. Don't not talk. You know, I get it, but like we've never I've not received any dijournal pizza.

Let you cook. I'm done. All right, let's uh, let's do some news night.

There are seventy thousand plus who are screaming against him.

Well, that's how many fans I play in front of normally at my house.

Pretend like they're all there, but there's zero. But right now.

Tony Romo, ladies and gentlemen didn't know what word was coming next as they were tumbling from his mouth.

Sometimes you just start talking and you figure out where the journey's going to.

I don't know who does.

That, but like how many people watch that game? In Romo's defense, I guess we've all been there. But when you're doing that, in addition to the panic of weight, one am I saying?

How do I land this?

Knowing that there's what like fifty million people? What problematic is.

It's difficult landing the plane when there's a lot of turbulence like that, It's really rough.

Let's get to the news.

The Titans have a new head coach. They plan to hire Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. The pel Rays reported on Monday night. He had a second interview with the team on Monday.

Then he's staying.

He had interview scheduled with the Falcons and Panthers for their vacant head coaching gigs, but they decide, or he decides, I don't need to go anywhere else.

I like this spot.

So Callahan mark who had success in Cincinnati, and I think it probably helped him the way the season went on after they lost Burrow, that they remained competitive on offense. He ends up getting a gig, and that's what happens with successful organizations, they lose their coordinators.

Well, we're obviously like getting deeper and deeper to the trend of just younger coaches being made head coaches.

He's thirty nine.

He has already worked with Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow. Obviously you can throw Derek Carran there if you want. But he's like a he's a lifer, Like he's the son of Bill Callahan. It's like he's been around head coaching and around the NFL since like his earliest days. And so I think he's a little bit anonymous just because he's not the guy who was the obvious play caller. He wasn't in Cincinnati, but he's been around football forever.

Work with it.

That alone would make him worth it. Brian Callahan. If you could bring his dad, Bill Callahan, the best offensive line coach in the entire NFL. He's with the Browns.

He so you could fire him and show him that, Dad, you're not under my thumb anymore. Great power play, familial.

That would be amazing. I don't reaction too. What why would the I guess, why would the Browns let Bill Callahan do that unless they just wanted to be nice and let him work with.

Or you could you could make him like, you know, assistant, but they.

Did that even last year. I think they gave him a big raise. I would guess he's, you know, if not the highest paid offensive line coach in the league. Close people love Brian Callahan. I'm sort of over even guessing which of these coaches are going to be good or not when they get hired, because it's just the

And for Levis it's going to be his fourth offense in four different seasons. But Callahan's offense it's going to have obviously some similar concepts as Zach Taylor in Cincinnati, and Taylor worked with Levis's former offensive coordinator from Kentucky, Liam Cohne for a season with the Rams, so there might be some overlap there. But the Titans always had eyes for Callahan. This was like the first candidate that

So bringing him in to try and develop will levis.

I mean, the Titans have never had offensive continuity under Mike Rabel. Was four different offensive coordinators during that time, so I'm wondering if not only will he bring over his ad from Cleveland, but also will they end up hiring Alex van Pelt, the offensive coordinator who was let go by Kevin Stefanski at the end of the season. Because Van Pelt previously worked in Cincinnati as the quarterbacks coach for two seasons. I went down such a rabbit hole. I spent way too much time on this one.

That's why we missed you.

He worked directly with Callahan, so they're probably gonna share some similar concepts. I came up with a little list of potential offensive coordinators that he could hire, including now you're scaring me, Liam Cohen, who is the offensive coordinator at Kentucky. So then maybe they end up keeping their quarterbacks coach who is in place now in Tennessee.

Like that seemed to get blamed quite a bit for the twenty twenty two rams ze.

Fair, that's fair. Was it his fault? Who knows. We'll find out.

Also Studsville, Eric Studsville.

I like Studsville former interim head coach of the Denver Bronco.

Let's not objectify the coaches.

Conny Well Studsville, Studsville. The co O sees he was he was the p offensive coordinator and keeping keep going okay, So he's survived multiple coaching regimes in Miami. He's been the running backs coach, go on game coordinator, the PO offensive coordinator, and Callahan and Studsville spent six seasons together

So that wow, that Tony.

You can leave now because that's an incredible amount of heavy lifting.

I have nothing else to offer you guys.

Right out of time on the rest, we got to move on.

But I just I will just throw out there. It's not a Desmond Riitter situation. But you know they have the seventh overall pick. We're definitely all in on will Evis. We're just all in.

I don't think you should be. I think you should.

I know he had some pretty nice moments, but just see.

What falls to at seven, because you know you can do a lot.

Which is tricky obviously, because if you you take a quarterback he was the thirty third overall pick last year. If you take another quarterback, you're not only kind of punting on that, you're also passing up a chance to add a major piece around him on the offensive line or as a playmaker. So I get why you probably are going to be in on Levis, but not a perfect prospect, never was.

I agree with being in on him from not in terms of not drafting another young guy. Add a veteran to the mix that is going to be a decent back.

That's a good plan too. I just have a plan, have a backup.

Plan, and then this is the year for that, This is the year for them.

In other by the way, you know, I have a tremendously close relationship with my father Mark.

Yes it's evident, humble brag, but the idea we.

All know that. Why are you just singling out marks.

But it's like, hey, guys who don't really get that along with your dad, I'm going to make you feel bad in that.

I'm just pointing out, like if I was appointed to the top of the company and had a chance to just be like dad, you know, every generation, like you know, we build, and that would be my opportunity to say, Dad, we've got to let you go, that's all. And and imagine being at IBM Mark during your dad's time there, getting promoted to all the being able to call your dad and be like, Dad, you can't tell me what to do anymore.

In fact, to get the your office.

You're gone.

I don't feel a box like this. I don't like that, you.

Know, feels like something you personally might need to unpackle more.

You can have to turn it on me.

I'm just saying this is an opportunity that young Callahan has. I wouldn't do it to my father. I'm just saying he might want to if they don't have to read.

We don't know like what that relationship is. And to the point of the people that he works with six or seven years, maybe you know, maybe Brian Canna Hitler Callahan just burns people out right, maybe the father burns everyone.

Out, you know, right, and now it's our rank relationships with our dads.

Okay, So Colleen, you are unbelievable. Race for the top seed.

I won't do that. We don't need to unpacked it.

But you're just like you don't even know, you don't even inquire about it.

I think it'll take like.

Until the ninth month of therapy for for dance therapists to be like, why is it your greatest wish to fire your own at father? What is this really about?

Tis, I'm bringing my dad to the Super Bowl.

You'll be able to hang out with them there, and we're gonna go to the Red carpet honors together.

It's gonna be great. We love that you gonna bring your dad.

I've done it four times. Right, Let's who's brought their dad to the Super Bowl?

I have as well?

Yeah I have not, but there were extenuating circumstances around some of that.

So let's take on that. No, let's move absolutely not right.

The Chargers Uh and Jim Harbaugh are now in striking distance of getting a deal. You know who that's from, Mike g Mike Garafolo and you know you could trust it, So uh, the Los Angeles Chargers. After saying by to Brand and Staley, they decide it is time.

To get see you think data side, it's always it's Harbaugh, who's had some crazy stories over the years.

Also, striking distance is interesting.

Right, it's sometimes he's been at the finish. So I'm gonna give this like an eight ninety percent chance, all right, well, because Mike ge is implicitly putting that ten percent in that report.

So Jim Harball, who's had great success everywhere he's gone from college to the pros, back to college, and now coming back to the Pros, it looks like gets a beautiful.

Canvas to work on.

Maybe not the perfect Charges roster, but certainly not a bad one either. And most importantly, he comes back to the NFL with a quarterback that, if he hasn't quite reached superstar status yet, obviously has that potential With Justin Herbert. I think everyone that likes Herbert and is frustrated by the arc of his career so far has to be happy about this news, especially Bolts fans.

AFC West. The head coaches are going to be wild if that happens. You're gonna have Jim harribaal Sean Payton, Andy Reid, and then Antonio Pierce, which is a wild card because you just don't know his track record. But still those other three head coaches in one division makes those division games so much more fun.

I also, I'm hesitant here to get too deep into what it all means, and I'm a little worried about this. Aaron Wilson Report, who does good work for the Houston Chronicle or was there now he covers the Texans for another outlet. He said Greg Roman would be the offensive coordinator, which is like Greg Roman, I don't need.

More Gregan of Greg Rosenthal never been a Greg Roman.

No, he's a very interesting coordinator who you sort of can't write the history of the last twenty years in the NFL without him, because he led to that Colin Kaepernick offense was totally different than anything we'd ever seen. And he did a great job with Alex Smith too initially and it could not have crashed and burned harder. And then the same thing happened with Lamar Jackson, where it's very one dimensional. Just just like imagining that. I guess, I'm I guess I have a.

Little bit of skulls partition, and because it comes from a very it's speeding at a high rate before that.

Look, he was the OC of that twenty nineteen That's.

What I'm saying. And they never sort of developed or had answers. They weren't like a complete offense. But we'll see if this happens. Because Jim Harbaugh is different than other people, and he supposedly he was really close to getting that Viking's job in twenty twenty two and then the wolfs and at some point I think couldn't stand being in the same room with Jim Harbor and all the demands he was making, and it blew up in his face and he didn't end up getting that job.

Well there is one thing though, because the Chargers are a special team and a strange situation eternally because they're in Los Angeles as the undercard always and their stadiums are filled with the enemy fan base game after game, and Harbball changes that a lot. I think Harball would juice up the Chargers in a way that you know, Brandon Staley never could, anyone from the past never could. And he had to work with Alex Smith out of the gate in San Francisco and turned him into a

So tell you what this off.

But I'm not theoried about Brendon Rouhman right now at this point. Wet'll see what happens.

Kind of fun to imagine Harv with Justin Herbert.

There's all these like old Greg Roman headlines that I just pulled up from twenty thirteen. Why is his play calling holding back the Niners? And I'm sure we could go and find multiple other things with Greg Roman. But the fact that Jim Harball is going to be back in the NFL, it's like, I'll believe it when it actually happened, but.

It will be spicy, it will be It's great.

It's great for the NFL, it's great for this podcast, it's great for the Chargers, at least in the short term. I think great news for Raiders fans that did not want Antonio Pierce to be only an interim coach because they decide to rip that interim label off and it will be Antonio Pierce who will be the full time head coach. Rap Sheet and Mike g reported this on Friday for sources. The team later announced it. Pierce took

Mark, Yeah.

I mean you're allowed to. You put those words and do it the way you do it.

Mark Pierce is hiring comes after coach Raiders to five wins in those final nine games, and that a long sess dog with his a very vocal, fiery style and the players latching on to him and him being essentially the antithesis of what McDaniels was.

I think all that kind of came together and got him this job.

I don't think it's just bells and whistles in terms of how the players responded to him. I mean they were a different defense down the stretch.

I think it matters.

I think we're seeing this all over the place, like these coaches need to relate to these players in a different way.

Meetings need to happen differently.

And there was this drum beat with Josh McDaniels of like, why is he not getting along with this important guy and this important guy And there's all these like behind the scenes whispers that this is just not working. So this is like when you have one relationship and you just go to another, and you go to someone completely different. Antonio Pierce couldn't be any more different. Than Josh McDaniels.

We still gotta find out who the GM is. Don't know that there's a reporting that Marvin Lewis will be involved in the staff kind of in a over helping Pierce out. He apparently actually was getting help from peer. He might have been on the staff last year and we didn't really know after Pierce came aboard like a costume Yeah no, and like, uh, you know, advisory role in Tom Kaughlin helping in case he says he knows what he doesn't know and needs some help maybe filling

He's all the strings.

I just I'm wondering about the offense, the philosophy there, if they do end up going with like a McVeigh guy, if it is going to still be like a run first like with a bunch of play action type concepts, and if he does end up hiring an OC like from McVeigh or Shanahan going forward. But I think three out of their five offensive line starters are free agents, and Josh Jacobs too, so they have they really got to hire a GM because they have a lot of questions that they need.

To they might keep Champ Kelly who is there too, and they are letting go of the previous offensive staff which did a better job.

Keep an eye on Tom Telesciler's reporting that like if you're Mark Davis wants like because you're got a rookie head coach like a GM with experience, and he's someone they've talked to.

And so I mean Tom.

Telesco I thood he did a good job with the with the Chargers in the terms of like stock and also the Chargers we didn't mention before like the second biggest cap red space issue right now of any team that league. So the Chargers, Yes, so you know he left them in some in a bit of a fix too.

Yes, I think the Mark Davis and company have dreams of this being the next Dan Campbell higher man.

There's a lot of work.

That needs to be done, and you know, the charge still in the same division as the Chiefs. It's good luck to Antonio Pierce and the Raiders on to Philadelphia.

Connie.

It looks like Nick Sirianni will survive the epic flame out to twenty twenty three, but he is cleaning house along the staff.

So Sewan decide the DC. He gone.

After being booted upstairs, Matt Patricia, he gone.

He decides to pursue other opportunities. Uh, they got rid of the OC. Now who's the O c Ryan Johns, Ryan Johnson. So it's it's that move, Connie, where they decide, what are we gonna do.

We're gonna fire the coach.

Oh, we're just going to clean house under the coach and give him one more shot.

And that's where they're going with it.

What a weird Do you agree with that?

Not?

I mean no, I think that the team pretty much like quit on the coaching staff, whatever the main issue was, because it really reminded me of that Chargers Raiders game the night before Brandon Staley was fired, when the Chargers defense completely gave up. And that's what it looked like watching the Eagles trying to tackle like no one was even trying.

And I know that Siani's.

Record exactly, his record with the team is good, and he was just at the Super Bowl last year, and you have players doing the Max Crosby thing, like Fletcher Cox coming out and standing by their man and really like kind of pleading to Jeffrey Loriie for him to stay I think, but watching Jeffrey Loriie at that last game against the Bucks, like I thought for sure that Sirianni was going to be gone.

That was it.

So I'm kind of surprised that he's sticking around, but it seems like he's sticking around on an extremely short leash. I don't know what happened between, like where the friction was with Jalen Hurts and the offensive staff as well, because it wasn't just the defense. The offense too was just not doing what it was supposed to be doing.

I have a theory what I've been working happen this What if it's just all inexplicable like football results, Like literally no one knows why did that all happen. There actually isn't a reason other than maybe they didn't adjust enough offensively, and that that's a big thing. Like there everyone who's into the ex's and is like they just ran back the same offense as they did a year ago. But to be fair, like the offense was kind of

Save them for the next segment.

I was thinking about that, but that is a mystery, one.

Of the great mystery. And I think, yeah, I think the no one because no one's talking.

Answer and them keeping Siriani, maybe they at least don't know the answers. So they were just like got I think they like Nick.

They could blame it on the new coordinators, sure, like that's a huge difference, but still it's.

The easy move. That's the move when you don't want to go. It's a half measure, is what it feels like to me. And what happens when they start two and six next year, Not saying they will, but then you lose another whole season for a coach that you already saw last year. They already told you they don't want to play for him, So it's a it's a

With this head coach.

And I have to look at the cap space and I have to look at the free agents for next year too. I don't know what type of shape they're even in.

But you have a lot of big decisions to make, because.

It seemed like last year they did and they just made it work and it looked like it was going to be good, and Mark, it just wasn't.

I don't like teams that have their third o C in third DC in three seasons, Like for a team that a year ago where like they're so consistent, their front office is so forward thinking, it seems like.

Whatever, and they lost the first two because they went to the Super Bowl. No I mean, but it's still transition.

It's still transition, and it's like I kind of feel like when Doug Peterson refused to make staff changes before his exit, that it doesn't feel like this serious coaches don't want to fire their own guys, their own assistance, even even with the deciding what I'm saying, like they're loyal to the dudes for the most part, Like you don't.

You know what they're getting fired.

But but I'm saying, I think it was LORI probably saying you're here on you're obviously on the eleventh the eleventh hour here Syriani, but like you've got a clean house, and I think you could lose the rest of your staff by doing that. The players already have issues, Like it's a chaotic swirl for the Eagles in this offseason.

They can look a lot different.

Well changed, Big Dom, So that might be.

That's the Big Dom did come back for the playoffs and that was maybe their worst game, I mean better. Yeah, he was back on the sidling.

For the play well, the trigger it just postseason, it was just society didn't well at least I killed that theory.

You can't all offseason guy back.

On the the moment he put hands on that player is really when it began.

That's fair.

You know that could be that could be a seventy year curse calling. You just know, you never know what those things right.

Don't get to get that juju off of me.

Rouse. You know who's interviewing for the Eagles defensive coordat to drop among other people? Who Ron RIVERA Wow, I'm just like, wow, this guy loves ball. He doesn't need the money, but he loves.

Let's spin the coaches carousel, by the way, let's wrap this up. The Jaguars. Jaguarars hire former felt Oh, this is a good transition to.

Our next segment.

They hire former Falcons D c. Ryan Nielsen, so he's there, gonna run the show there. Shane Waldron lands with the Bears. He's their new OC, so he's got I have a lot of eyes on him. So there's two more. And then in the front office ranks. The carousel spins as well. Dan Morgan hired by the Panthers as their GM. He was previously the assistant GM under the previous dude Scott Scott Fitter, who was fired after the Panthers went two and fifteen.

I do have a statement.

This is not temper Be talking, but this is an episode of temper be a release in a statement.

Okay, okay, now that works all right here.

Dan has a thorough knowledge of our football personnel and a clearer vision to take us where we all want to go. We know he will attack this opportunity with the same intensity he did as a Panthers player.

He was a linebacker or something, give me or something. He was like one of the sorry, oh my god, hey, if someone said that about C. J. Moseley, I say, like, you stick it to me. You had stick it to get stick it to me. Those concussions though he had. He was kind of a poster boy for too many concussions and it ruined his career.

Great, well, that's the guy I want running my football team.

I'm surprised that they stayed in house considering are you yes, because it's like things, because they interviewed because nobody wants to.

Think Tepper's like, I want someone who's gonna follow my orders. I mean also, I mean Bear Morgan rose up through the ranks to become like the director of pro personal with the Seahawks during their big run. He was with the bills, So I mean, he's not being pulled out of nowhere. But I am not that surprised. It didn't surprise me that Tepper couldn't go get a powerful, experienced candidate from outside of the building when he needs people simply to follow his order.

Yeah, they did like seven or eight interviews. They've had so many second interviews with head coaches that it's almost not worth listening. We'll see who they end up high. I want Ron Rivera going back there. That seems perfect. He could handle it. He dealt with Snyder, He's already been in the building. He knows where the bathrooms are. The Waldron news to me, is the biggest here. Nielsen did a great job I think for the Falcons overall with the town. Yeah, that's a nice high for them.

And then when he was with Golf, Golf had two of his best seasons as a passer when Waldron was the Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in twenty eighteen twenty nineteen. So it's like, who's he going to be calling plays for. We don't know if it's Justin Fields or Caleb Williams, but they hired someone who's going to maximize the talent on that roster, and they need someone who's going to create a little bit more of a balanced.

They didn't want to wait. They didn't wait because this coaching process is taken forever for all these teams, It's never taken this long, and so they snapped up someone quick that I think would have been in all of these interviews. Once head coaching guys got hired, and he took it because he's like coaching the number one over I'll pick that's how I get a head coaching job next year.

I think they took rise.

They brought in Cliff Kingsbury in a bit of trickery just to get some Williams information. Lift thought he's getting flown into town for a steak lunch and it's like, we're just gonna pick your brain and then send you back home.

Doesn't seem nice.

I'm sure he got just a theory.

I don't. It's not a report.

It's a cutthroat situation. Just like you calling the old man into the office. You got a little vacation editing in a cardboard box.

Take a seat.

I feel like, based on Cliff's house, he doesn't need steak dinners to be paid for. He's good. He's talking to the Steelers about their oc job. According to Peter King, any other.

Cliff Kingsbury news, you're good, all right, that's what's happening in the news.

All right, what is that?

Hey?

What is this award that we're trying to win what one of the shadowy League figures sent a text like, hey, idiots, like try to win this award, like plug it on the show.

This is this is why we we know we've made it. It only matters so much to us. It is the sports podcast awards that college hosted. It's a UK property. That's right, we're nominated for Best American Football Podcast and.

We've got to win that award.

Listen, we don't ask for much from the listeners, but where is that? Can you tell us Eric where they can go vote for for around the NFL.

Let's bring home a trophy.

Who are we up? In a while Europe?

It looks like it's on sports podcastgroup dot com Okay, and then it's yeah, it's under the Best American Football Podcasts.

Just vote for us, that's all. Let's let's take a chip.

I'll throw it up on all the all the socials. I g so make it nice and USIA.

We're going against eisen Overreaction Monday, which I guess is a separate thing from his shows in the Mix Uh Shannon Sharpen and Ocho Sinco or in Mix hr Huddle. If you're if you had moultiple votes. I would you know, I would hurt huddles. You know that those are friends of ours. God blessed football with Stu Goatts who took some shots at you, Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinbold inside the huddle, We're going again. Friends with the most one on the FONT, Matt Coombs pff NFL, the fantasy footballers

Dan's gonna have to talk to you.

There are a ton of options in every one of these categories, but there's obviously only one number one.

If we can't win the the Overseas Best American Football.

Podcasts, I'm voting right now.

Well you know what I'm you know I'm doing. I'm pulling the Max Crosby. If we don't win that award, I quit, Okay.

I will? I will also quit.

Well what about what if you learned that these awards have been this is the third year when we haven't yet. This is our first time being nominate first nominations, So what's going on? We did not win the awards previously. Assuming this category, you're gonna quit if we don't win. No, No, that was a nice Plan's gonna he's setting it up.

Well done, Greg, What we're gonna lose the award and then Mark and I will quit and then over your show.

I don't want anyone to quit.

I think well done. I think it's all very strategic.

It's all good strategicy.

All right, let's uh no, let's win. Mark and I are out if we don't win.

Did you guys vote?

I just voted, and this.

Isn't This isn't like I'm not even gonna vote because I don't want it.

Yeah, yeah, don's in the hands of the listeners.

That's glorious.

All right.

Yes, it's like when you lose by two votes. That's gonna suck.

We're gone.

In fact, you know what, we're gonna do the move. We're gonna do the election move from a few years ago. We're leaving the country as well. Yep, we're going to Canada or some other country. But yes, I mean, if we're leaving, we're starting over. It may not be Canada.

Let's go to Mexico.

Now.

I'm going with you guys.

For some reason.

All right, Colleen's out too, Is that what you want.

All right, let's take a break and uh then we're gonna dig into some scary territory.

This program is about unsolved mysteries. Whenever possible, the actual family members and police officials have participated in recreating the events. What you were about to see is not a news broadcast.

Whenever you heard the voice over, it was like, get out the blanket, make sure the back door's locked.

I hated it, hated it.

It is time now to explore some unsolved mysteries of the NFL playoffs and beyond. And you know what, Mark, you're a big conspiracy guy. Some mysteries don't want to be solved, you know, and then they take on a whole life of their own. So maybe that that's how this ends. And it's always because you always wanted at the end of the EPP of with Stack and Company, you want to update and then want that wanted closure.

Visceral reaction to that when that happens.

So there's a frustration because we won't have any update at the end of this episode, not that we know of, but we're gonna put it out there.

What what needs to be solved, what's out there?

What is out there?

What was your favorite type of unsolved mystery episode.

I I like the paranormal ghost lady on the Lake type stuff, so.

I got I hated that.

Yeah, I hate it if.

You go and because you know, now there's like the channel that has like it's unsolved mysteries NonStop, warmly common fast channel.

They they do.

There's a big problem with with unsolved mysteries in general is that they have to go recreate with like typically low level actors, right, and it's it's a lot of them become unwatchable.

But my favorite plot line.

I made it more watchable for me. But teach there on.

You, well, yeah it was variable. I mean I to me even as a child, for some reason, I always liked the guy that was living like multi to pull lives in different states back before the internet where it's like.

Well I'm just saying like it's it's.

It is incredible micro managing skills. Like it was always some business guy that wasn't accountable to anyone, like able to have like situation in Iowa, situation somewhere in like northern California, flipping back between because all the rest like ghost stories and murders and it's like cool, like That one to me was like, weren't.

You so mad when the Internet came in and made the world smaller?

We can't do it, can't do any That guy doesn't exist anymore.

What happens when a family member is on Unsolved Mysteries?

M did that happen for you?

We've talked about a show.

He was on.

The On the show, John's grandfather disappeared in Vegas in the eighties and his family was interviewed on Unsolved Mysteries because they still it's still cold case. They never found his body. They found his far at the airport at mccaren and his name was not on any of the flight manifest and the we actually got the police reports from Vegas and it reads like a who done it?

Screen? I thought John was working on like an eight part podcast about this.

Well, we'll see.

I would.

I would listen the hell out of that.

Oh yeah, sometimes I just like, yeah, his his nineteen eighty eight Cadillac was found at the airport, but no evidence of him taking a flight.

I like to think he's he's somewhere in Mexico right now. Yeah, the brighter end of the rainbow there. You know.

The worst episodes were I haven't seen my sister in fifty years since we were split up at the orphanage.

Don't care.

Yeah, and then they reunited just like mass night, raging Hay for you.

Not for me.

I saw one where it was like talking about someone spontaneously combusted and just like I like that and I it shook me for my entire life. But I was like, at some point, am I just going to like light on fire and die?

It's possible.

I didn't know until Unsolved Mysteries.

All right, here we go, let's get into it. Greg, it's time to unpack some Unsolved mysteries. Did you have anything to share? Do you ever have a family member on Unsolved Mysteries? I have not, nor have I. Have you ever watched the show?

We have not.

I was sort of sensing Greg sitting back there a little bit.

But that's fair.

You don't have any connection to Robert Stack.

I have not seen it.

He's being honest.

No one watched more TV than me from ages seven to twelve. I challenge you, all.

All right, that's okay. Though you don't need to know it. We've talked about it enough on the show for you to be aware of a program. By now anyway, So I'll start. Are we about in Atlanta to Galaxy brain? Our way out of having Bill Belichick.

As the head coach? Is that where we're at.

The Athletic reported on Tuesday morning that Mike Vrabel is expected to interview for the vacant head coaching vacancy. When that happens, he will be the fourteenth person to do so this I love this. On Sunday Sunday.

Scored two touchdowns of interviews.

On Sunday with the extra points.

On Sunday they knocked out two in one day.

They got Texans OC Bobby Slowick, Detroit OC Ben Johnson.

These guys had like playoff games. Do you think they were? Like? How efficient could that have been?

At?

What kind of interview could that have been?

Those take a long time too, Yeah.

Like those guys weren't able to prepare for those interviews. What's the point? I don't get it anyway, Rooney rule they are all over that as well. They've interviewed six minority candidates. The only guy so far of that group to get a second interview will be Raheem Morris and

It's not for show.

They're they're really wrestling with the decision, or they've outright passed on Belichick.

They're According to the Coaching Tracker on NFL dot Com, people should check that out, there's been eight second interviews or scheduled or completed eight second interviews.

When does it become too much?

By the way, f YI, well, I think I think we're already there.

At what point do you when by analysis? When does that set in?

I think I think the mystery here is, does does anyone really want Belichick? Because the reporting around Belichick from the outside sounds like the reporting that you would get if there actually wasn't much interest in Bill Belichick, and that his agent is using his connections to make it sound like Bill Belichick has a lot of interest. Oh, the Falcons are after him so hard. He's their number one pick. All this is happening. Okay, well look look

What if he doesn't want it. What if he is the one who is lukewarm on coming back. What if he wants to do as Sean and type year and just do take.

You twice with his job though, Well, but to your point, maybe he's like on the fence though, right they maybe even they did want it, but he doesn't want to be reporting to Rich McKay, you know, like and that's the setup there or whatever the setup's gonna be, right, Like.

Belichick I think is probably very driven to get that Don Shula, Mark Beaton, I mean from one angle, but from another angle, like they really certain like they characterize it not as an interview with Arthur Blank. They talked, and I think a lot of it is Belichick saying, look it, I don't care who anyone is, like I've been I'm the greatest coach around. Maybe not in those words obviously, but like here's how I structure my front office.

Here's how how I've been doing things.

I've been doing it for twenty plus years, and the results speak for themselves. Like if you're gonna pick up put up blockades and make me at my age change and do things in a Falcon's way when the Falcons have nothing to show for it, like this doesn't fit for me. I could see it where he is peacefully saying I could wait a year or I don't have I'm not gonna jump into the wrong situation.

We don't know what the Falcons presented to him, and the ra.

Went after Tom Brady a few years back, and then the Bucks got him and there wasn't a huge mark for tom Brady Otherwise. I think this is that same thing all over again, but with a head coach like take a chance on Bill like being more motivated than ever and getting the greatest, most successful coach in NFL history. I think it would be a huge mistake by the NFL on the level of the Lamar Jackson situation if you let this hiring cycle go by and everyone is like, nah, that he's not going to.

Be for us.

Yeah, but Lamar Jackson wasn't coming off of two awful seasons.

Well, they weren't high level seasons by his stand.

No, they they were bad. He did a he got hurt both years and missed the end of the season. Oh Lamar, I mean Lamar was playing well. My point is Bill Belichick did a bad job at what his job was the last two seasons, and it is a what have you done for me to.

Say that about Tom Brady.

It's all relative, but he was a guy that appeared to be in decline the last couple of.

Years there even there, like those guys are playing at a level that's much higher than the average performer. I would say it's fair to point out Belichick did not coach and run that organization in an average way the last two seats. That's between the Patricia year and But.

This is my point.

My point is if people are going to look at how the end of the Patriots run when after Tom Brady left, I think you're overthinking it.

When you have an opportunity to.

Give him a fresh start and listen, go hire some thirty seven year old offensive coordinator that's never been a coach, be the Raiders and hire a guy in Antonio Pierce that was an interim coach that was coaching.

High school the year before. That's all cool if you want to do that.

But like the idea of fair talking yourself out of Belichick, I just I think it's a possibility of a huge I.

Think when you've rooted for a team where you've never had a Bell Belichick or anything close to him as a coach, your mind's going to like, why not take a shot?

Points you made earlier in news, it's not even a trend anymore.

It's the way it is.

Everyone wants to get the young guy now and you want it's like you want him to almost be the face of the organization. I think that's one of the reasons. Like my team, Robert Salace still is a job. They like the way he looks, they like the way he presents himself. In Belichick, it's a quarterback like a sev seventy two year old frumpy guy that's grumpy with the media and all that. Like maybe he's that's part of his problem now too. He doesn't look the part the NFL has changed.

Well, and like what is his plan? Because there was reporting from Washington Post other from being grumpy, that his staff could include Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia and Joe Judges.

Oh my god.

But that's I think that's I think that's a little concerning. Absolutely is yes, I can't deny that. All right, God, Connie, Okay, give us an unsolved mystery of the NFL.

Okay, So, this is a team that has given up four hundred yards in three games, three straight games. Defensively, they've given up seventy four plays of twenty plus yards this season, which is the third worst entire league. They've had six different quarterbacks throw for over three hundred passing yards against them, and only the Jags defense.

Was worse this season.

But the Lions are still in and their defense is just such a mystery to me because their run defense is incredible. They've only allowed one one hundred yard rusher this entire season, and it was a quarterback.

It was justin fields.

The most a running back had against them in a game sixty nine yards. That was ty Chandler in Week eighteen, ty Chandler. Their run defense is awesome. Aaron Glenn is getting all sorts of head coaching interviews. The players absolutely love him. They just do one thing really well and then everything else. They're just kind of mediocre in or bad in. They're bottom ten in sacks they're the middle of the pack, and total yards bottom ten and points allowed middle of the pack and takeaways.

How are they doing it?

Is this working Lion's magic?

Baby?

That's what I don't understand.

I think offense being more important than defense is how in the end, like you gotta be you got to make some plays on defense, be opportunistic, situationally like look at the forty nine The forty nine Ers defense played terrible against the Packers until they didn't in the fourth quarter and they made a couple of plays, but like before that, they're kind of getting run over, even the Bills, I mean the Chiefs defense, like that was their worst

Yeah, Like the this last game, as an example, they forced Baker into two interceptions. One stop the opening drive led to points, the second one Mark ended the game. So they're opportunistic and their pass rush has gotten better. Hutchinson's been on a tear the last couple of weeks, so I guess it's maybe the numbers don't tell the full story of where the defense is right now in this moment under Aaron Glenn.

Or they just have that magical.

Thing, or maybe they do and we're gonna they'll have I'll tell you what, Marky. They're gonna be tested in a big way at the Big Bell Bottom on Sunday.

Yeah, And I think you know, it comes down to the end. And they gave up twenty points to the Cowboys, twenty to the Vikings, and that started, you know, their playoff run after that, twenty three to the Rams, twenty three to the Bucks. They've generated some turnovers aiden Hutchinson's been playing you getting the best version of him neither.

We understand it.

We're still a team that's being built, and like a lot of their their draft picks hit so hard. I think that's why they've leveled up and won one extra playoff game. Then maybe they would have and it's like next year, this offseason put you amp up the defense to some degree, but they're surviving. But they're not giving up forty five points a game here and having to win shootouts at the end of the season here like

And they come up with some big plays, like yes, they gave up a ton of yards last two weeks, but like you think of the stops, the negative plays they forced the Rams into to get him out of field goal range last week. So many times the Bucks get across midfield and then Baker you know, gets fooled by by a Blitz scheme that Glenn cooks up. So

Uh, Greggy an Unsolved mystery Debating between two sof always tough, you know, but this team doesn't get a lot.

But that's what the showrunners of Unsolved Mysteries how to do, Greg, So you do ununderstand how the production.

And they came to stack with the rundown. Get this out of my face, rearrange.

Smashes a bottle against the wall like whiskey.

Is what does Jason Light see this Buccaneers team being mystery because I think he's sneaking down a good job with this team, drafting, keeping it together. They've really hit on their drafts better than almost any team in the league over the last six or seven years. E've been pretty good. Mike Evans is a free agent. He is going to cost an incredible amount and you could franchise tag him. That would be that would cost a lot on your gap. Levonte David is a free agent, Baker

Yeah, I think like Baker worked partially because it wasn't quite to the level of Tom Brady landing there. But this was a better roster than people, I mean the

And it's a nice story.

But I think the teams have to be really, really careful of nice stories. And I'll give you another Browns example when they went ten and six back in the day with Romeo Crenell and Derek Anderson and and as that season came crashing to a halt and they missed the playoffs, you could kind of see through it and it was like, well in what they did was because

So I think, if you're the bit you have, you're the bucks.

You have to be self scout and say we were in a terrible division inside wrapped inside a conference that was gonna make it easy to go through a trapdoor into the playoffs. But don't deceive yourself. Bigger might deserve to stick around, but don't annoint him as the starter yet. I'd say look in the draft like a competition, but also give him credit for what even.

Mike Evans, as great as he is, is gonna be thirty one next year and is probably gonna like, does he even fit better on a team that can just give him sixty million dollars over two years to try to go win a Super Bowl, you know what I mean? Versus having to pay that much money in.

This is off topic. Is Mike Evans a Hall of Famer?

I think he's probably right there now because it's been so so many years.

What Eleven Stry he feels like one of those guys that's gonna be slowly like he'll be a semi finalist for five years and then at the end of his thing, it'll be like he'll get into the room and he'll be like on the border and one of those guys will have to wait forever because he doesn't have it's so tough too, doesn't have those all things.

I think you mentioned the Browns is an example that year. Jets said the same thing with Ryan Fitzpatrick after he had a great season out of nowhere.

A good season out of nowhere.

It's very easy for these middling teams that are maybe a coup ball bounced the right way and you win a playoff game to talk yourselves into, oh, let's bring this the core of this team back, and then it's like, well, this team actually isn't that good and they won a bad division, and this is a lot of the core players from the Super Bowl team from three years ago that continue to get older, and you could make the same You can make a case, which is weird because

But they are in a weird space where they could go two ways.

Imagine if Antoine Winfield hadn't done that play against Carolina where he knocked the ball out at the half hour eighteen and the you know, the Bucks didn't score an offensive touchdown in that game, and like that the season had ended.

There.

Mike Evans has my vote, Colleen. Yeah, not in the Superstar club, but the Hall of Fame. Weird occupies a very weird, unsolved mystery of his own.

In my opinion, it might serve.

A little bit of Reggie Wayne, but not He didn't get the as many like primetime games and stuff like that, but occupied a similar space. Yeah, Andre Johnson, he's in the Hall of Fame, right, I mean, Andrew Johnson to me is another level above.

But yes, and then Tom Brady aside, like the quarterbacks that he's been with, Mike Evans has been kind of quarterback proof.

That's a big argument for him.

I thought, absolutely he would have better numbers if he had had a better quarterback Mark.

Mark, you are a lot to choose from.

No Mark told us he had twenty seven different.

Twenty three of them were you know.

The brain I want to know.

I think the Eagles collapse.

When something like that happens, you kind of forget about the second biggest collapse sometimes. Right, It's like Eagles became such a big story and they were part of.

Our flash point.

But what about down in Miami a team that I am absolutely was torn to pieces by most winning teams in general, but the Ravens exposed them in every possible way. I think that launched Lamar Jackson and ended the MVP

These guys all sound like they're going to get murdered with.

This is a character. If I am convinced that you've made.

Up man Ginkle, I think he's you know, through two coaching staffs, he's been a difference maker for all Right, They've got three, three or four offensive linemen, uh who are free agents.

They already were really short at wide receiver.

As soon as they lost Wattle, it looked like they were exposed at that position. They have to start over at that position. Essentially all the backup guys are gone too.

Over.

Well, I'm saying, just beyond your two stars. You lose one star and they don't they're not the same.

Team, and the other star needs to get paid soon.

That's right. You've got problems.

I mean, I am just sort of saying also that you are in this place where you can look at Tua and I understand that he's one of these guys.

It's like the people that are pro Toua.

You can paint any picture you want, but I can't repaint the picture of what happened to him down the stretch and in that playoff game. And it's like, I just feel like he's a quarterback. And I have my own thoughts on Tua where he's like very capable, accurate, there are good things about him. It's not not to put him in one box. But do you trust him in the biggest NFL moments that your team's going to encounter.

Oh this is Allie.

I'm just wondering if, like, do.

You just sit there with Tua, Because I would say one thing about Mike McDaniel He's gone as far as he can to build up the confidence.

Publicly of Tua.

He has been his supporter verb belief from wire to wire. I'm just saying that someone like Kirk Cousins other options in the world. If you're Mike McDaniel and you feel like an inflection point of like, we can't just repeat this same season where you walk into the playoffs and get waxed and cold weather, how do you change things?

What is Mike McDaniel's next move.

There a lot of questions. Y, I appreciate how that was good.

I want that entire thing on Instagram.

Well, welcome to the fish fry. I've been here for a while and you're the seats.

Right next to me.

I also appreciate having you not have to take every bullet from that fan base, like they've got to have open eyes.

And it's not just.

They had they did not have open eyes, and and they their offense went into a funk last year too that people looked away on and just said, oh, well, two it was hurt and all this stuff. I got to see if that offense is functional when it's not Super Bowl September in Miami, And yeah, there's there's a lot of work to be done there to see them as a real content I don't need to add anything else because I was saying it all year.

It was the same questions that we had about this team, and they showed us the answer in the most important and biggest game possible. We weren't sure how they would play against good teams, and we definitely weren't sure how they would play against good teams on the road, and then that's exactly what happened, And that was the concern all season long, and it came to fruition.

I think defensively, there's a lot to be excited about, and they can keep most of their people. Year two of vic Vango that was really showing dividends before the injuries struck. But everything you said is really well positioned, Mark, because I think they're in a very difficult spot where they have a lot of challenges to keep this team together and very difficult decisions to make, and yet they have these high expectations and yet they haven't really achieved

And I like McDaniel. We all like McDaniel, right, some of us love him, some of.

Us are adore him. He's what work there.

I think they can avoid it falling apart, but I think in terms of their roster, they have as many questions as anyone.

Ugly ending to the season for sure.

All right, I think that's good.

I think we're good, right, Yeah, Colleen, Yes, Dan, are.

You attending Super Bowl fifty eight? I am?

Are you still going up in that fighter jet?

Oh my god, the Thunderbirds? Yes, I am.

I can, like, is it you and one other pilot?

Yeah?

So you're not like playing gun or I'm not saying that you'd be shooting and gut like, you're not like you don't play a role.

You're just a passenger.

I'm just a passenger.

But there's like five hours of training and like medical assessments I have to go through first.

And yeah, I mean, if I are you trained to be the passenger?

If I have to eject. I have to eject. Okay, so I cannot wait.

I've been falling down some YouTube wormholes.

Lately, about the Thunderbirds, just about everything.

My algorithm's out of control lately.

I was watching watch the twenty six minute video by the mechanics of the Titanic sinking, and then that spit me into some different lanes, and then it spit me to here's a world ninety six year old World War Two pilot.

Guy.

You know, guy can barely walk, you know, he's ancient. They load him up in the old fighter jet and after showing a whole real montage of you know, able bodied young people passing out due.

To the G four, I know, I'm really worried about it.

And then Gramps is up there and he no, no effect. No Gramps, the veteran who's been in, who had been many battles. And then all I could think was calling him into the office and being like, Gramps, I'm taking your wings.

You're fired.

Get the Jesus.

Wow, because that gives you a chance to really get one over on him.

You were like, you've got some lineage issues, but I it is making for good listening.

Have you ever been a boss of like people that you could particularly fire.

Not yet, but I'm looking forward.

To hoping that doesn't happen though.

But it's a lot of family stuff that that I think, you know, especially like a grandfather if you could, if you can, I respect.

You, but it's sort of like a Godfather fantasy for you, where you're like al Pacino in the bathroom finding.

That I respect you.

But ego, So, yeah, I'm worried about passing out.

I think you will, I guess, is what I'm going to say. I know you've you've flown before. Oh, I've flown before many times, right, uh huh, but you've never gone I did.

I did my ground school for my pilot's license, I got my not not all the hours I needed for my private didn't solo, but I've been up there, and yeah, I've never pulled g's before. But when I was talking into the pilot Jeez, I said that I was worried about passing out and or throwing up. Really don't want to do either one of those things, and she was like, oh,

You dropped down?

What if the man is sixty percent g oh, oh my god.

I was sitting on that for ten minutes.

So yes, I'll be at Super Bowl.

I'll make it to Sunday as long as now it goes okay on two.

Not only you know, is everyone counting on you, including your war veteran father.

That's right, who's who?

Flow? He flew missions?

Yeah, he was stationed at a missile silo.

Now all good women of humanity are counting on you too to keep up the reputation.

Of G Force.

It's a lot of pressure, but I'm ready to handle it.

I like that you harbored, like spontaneous USh and fears, but also jump into this assignment.

I'll jump out of planes. Let's go.

Good stuff. Thank you everybody for listening.

We will be back on Thursday.

Title Game, Thursday preview.

That's a big one. You got to pick up some guests for that.

Spicy m Thank you.

Connor Heed.

The car