Dan Orlovsky Breaking Down Super Wild Card Weekend, Notre Dame Advances, Picks And Preview + Fyre Fest Of The Week

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We're still saying it. We're going to talk about every game, Saturday and Sunday preview.
We also have an instant classic Notre Dame-Penn State that we're going to recap at the top of the show. We've got a good friend Dan Orlovsky on the show to break down the matchups for the Super Wild Card Week and then we have fire fest to finish us off and we're ever had one of those days when it's just too cold to keep working nah neither has ariot ariot work jackets and boots are packed with all the cold stopping waterproof protection you need to get the job done under any conditions so you can take any job out there and always deliver.
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Okay, let's go. Welcome to Part of My Take presented by DraftKings.
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Today is Friday, January 10th. And wake up the echoes, PFT, because the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in the college football national championship.

What's that sound, Big Cat?

It's the Echoes?

Yes, it's the Echoes, but also there's a second sound.

What's the sound?

It's Lou Holtz putting in his biting teeth.

Ah.

Licking his lips.

And it was an instant classic.

Yep.

Like, such a great game.

I thought it was going to be a snoozer.

First half was neither offense really did anything. Penn State went into halftime up 10-3.
Whatever Marcus Freeman did at halftime, he deserves all the credit because that game was won in the third quarter and how Notre Dame came out and they took it right to Penn State, took the lead. Obviously, Penn State came back.
They traded some drives.

And the big story, as much as I would like to do the narrative

that James Franklin can't win a big game,

Drew Aller was horrific.

I agree, but I disagree on one point.

I think the game was won in the late second quarter.

Oh.

When Anjali came in.

Steve Anjali.

Anjali.

Anjali did get him a quick three.

Anjali got in, and the whole vibe changed. It's true.
Entire vibe flipped. Max got taken out by an Italian sub, people were saying.
Oh, man. And it was, I mean, listen, that game, back and forth, Riley Leonard made a huge mistake.
Penn State takes the lead, and then Drew Aller makes, like, Drew Aller threw three interceptions today and only one of them counted because the other two phantom, well, the first one actually was a real hold, but the second one was just, it was such a bad throw. They shouldn't have thrown a flag because it had no impact on the play.
It's a bad throw. It's a bad call too.
Yeah, it's a bad call. I mean, I get that he didn't turn his head around.
Yeah. And then the fans had a little University of Texas moment.
Yeah. You know how mad you have to be to make an Irish guy throw his beer? Seriously.
Like pretty fucking- Give up on it? That's a bad call. Yeah.
That's a really bad call. And so, but yeah, he came back and he had some really bad interceptions.
Really bad interceptions. The last one was just- 40 seconds left.
Why? You can't, the one thing you can't do in that situation is make a throw like that and he was so bad that even the last lateral uh of the game he overthrew and threw out of bounds but i like drew aller was was horrific and and by the way do we have a a little uh do to do with brandon walker because i think on this show on wednesday he said drew aller doesn't turn the ball over and that's why Penn State's going to win the game. That's our college football expert.
We apologize on behalf of our college football expert who's embarrassed us one day into being our college football expert. And he didn't show his face here to be on this show to take responsibility for that mistake either.
It's crazy. He's ducking it.
Yeah. Very, very bad interception at the end.
They got they got the ball back and it's like okay you have a chance but the one thing that you can't do is turn the ball over and try to push too hard because then they're going to be in field goal range and that's exactly what he goes out and he does i actually think a big impact on this game was when tyler warren got taken out you remember that on the sidelines from the concussion so they kept him out for a little bit and he looked like he was very concussed just from what you saw on the clip and then he comes back on the field he didn't look like the same guy when he came back right he didn't and and uh he told the team doctor they're trying to do the concussion test that's a hip violation yeah like good point get back in there son yeah play ball and then he goes back in he seemed like he was out of sorts around the line of scrimmage. He didn't look right.
He wasn't running fast. He wasn't making heads-up plays.
I think that there was – that to me, when you take Tyler Warren away from Penn State, then you take away all the threat of their physical passing. Because their wide receivers can't catch a ball.
No, they can't catch a ball. They can't get open.
I mean, yeah, Tyler Warren is so much fun to watch because he is like if you need three yards he's going to get you seven yeah he's after contact but so Marcus Freeman was incredible I thought he coached a great game I thought that play uh at the end of the game where they had third in whatever it was five and the conservative thing would be to just run the ball again with Riley Leonard and they ran they rolled out Riley Leonard and hit that perfect pass to Faison I believe who ended up getting like 15 yards uh and Riley Leonard he wasn't great but he made big plays at big moments like he made that throw he made a couple big runs alluded a couple big time sacks that would have been like you know very detrimental and it I don't know like I Marcus Freeman I'm a believer like he last. Last game when he pants Kirby smart, this game how they came out of halftime because I think we all agree like halftime, it looked like Penn State was going to win this game easily because they were just bullying Notre Dame on both lines.
Well, it took them a second to figure out the fact that they could get their line and shoving people over. Right, and they were in the backfield when they were on defense, and they were just running the ball down Notre Dame's throat.
And then Notre Dame came out, shot out of a cannon. Oh, we got to mention Jeremiah Love, one of the best second effort, third effort touchdown runs.
Three dudes hanging up. Maybe even four or five.
That was a great run. Also, Penn State's running backs, all of them, had some great runs, too.
It was a really good football game. It came down to the quarterback.
And now it makes sense that Drew Aller is staying in school. I think people scratch their head.
They're like, that doesn't make any sense. He would be a first-round pick.
He's got some things to work on. Who said he would be a first-round pick? I think there were people that were saying, in this quarterback class especially.

I've heard people say he's consensus the best NFL prospect remaining.

Yeah, it's like Christian Hackenberg.

Yeah, hey, second-round pick, right?

Cannon arm, cannon arm.

So we should talk to Max.

Oh, by the way, I wanted to mention Colin Coward.

So I said this to you right before we started. He tweeted, you see Riley Leonard.
I see Josh Allen. That sounds racist.
I was like, okay. The only explanation for that is that he's a virulent racist.
The running style, I guess. But like, I don't know.
There's literally nothing about it. I think it's bowling people over, running the football.
I guess, maybe, yeah. And maybe I guess if you gave...
But Josh is a little, he's way more elusive. Yeah, he is, but I think that might be the only thing, but he sees Josh Allen.
So, Max, I muted Colin Coward a long time ago. I actually blocked him.
Fake soup guy. yes.
That was a bad one. Yeah, no.
Drew Aller just can't play like that. The defense made enough plays to keep you in that game.
You get that sack when Notre Dame is driving to kick the field goal to take the lead. And that play was so long developing, and there was nothing there.
Just throw the ball out of bounds. You don't need to be a hero.
There's 20 seconds left. The chances of you going down and actually winning that game are so slim.
Just take the sack. But that's just like a college quarterback who doesn't know what he's doing yet.
Like, he's still a dumb kid. Yeah.
Like, I felt so. PDS was unbelievable.
Like, that pick that he had in the third or fourth quarter. It was the fourth quarter when Riley Leonard just didn't see him.
Notre Dame looked like they were taking control of the game. We put together a nice drive, tie it up.
I don't know. I'm all over the place.
It's disappointing, but I don't know. That last kick was kind of weird too, wasn't it? That last kick was crazy.
It was going right the whole time, and then right before the up rate, it just came back left. It was very, very strange.
Like Mason Crosby type. Yeah, he's been bad this year.
He was injured, but he's been nails in the playoffs. I think he's 7 for 8 now in the playoffs.
Listen, I don't know if they can beat Texas or Ohio State, but okay, you're shaking your head, Max. Notre Dame's just coached really well.
And they've, like, I don't know. Riley Leonard did make some mistakes tonight, but if he doesn't throw any interceptions, like, they're a team that can just kind of hang around.
I think they're good. Yeah.
I mean, it's going to be, they're going to be like eight and a half point underdogs probably to Ohio state. If Ohio state, I don't know that they can hang around.
We'll see. We'll see.
I just give a lot of credit to, to Notre Dame tonight. Marcus Freeman has, I think he's coached an incredible playoffs.
James Frank. They, they, they went up 10, nothing and took their foot off the gas.
Yeah. They were dominating the game.
And then I don't know what it was that first drive in this in the third quarter it was the first drive to start the second half notre dame just went right down the field and it was like all the juice they needed was in that and then they got a three and out and then penn state went three and out yeah yeah and it was just like this game has just flipped on its head whatever marcus freeman just decided to adjust or do at halftime it worked because they came out a completely different. I think Penn State had seven plays in the third.
They went three and out. Then Tyler Warren got like a 20-yard catch, and then they were fourth down on the next three plays.
Yeah, and now James Franklin, I mean, we're not doing the narrative, but should we? He can't win the big one because they – Although, is it not the big think this was a big one but hold on it's not his fault they went from underdogs to favorites right before kickoff yeah that was weird that was weird well that's drew aller being on a yacht uh which was a fake rumor that was put out there we think we had notre dame flu yeah we had notre dame flu we also had penn state having diarrhea. Drew Aller on a yacht.
I don't know if any of those were true, but I would say, Big Cat, it is a fact that this was a big one. Yeah, it was a big one.
Did he win it? No, they didn't beat anyone good this year. It's not his fault, but it is a fact.
Yeah. I mean, they didn't beat anyone on their level in terms of like.
Illinois beat South Carolina. That's true.
If they beat South Carolina, would you say that? Illinois should have been in the playoffs. Yeah.
But you know that they didn't. But I don't play.
This was their second big test, or their third, because they played Oregon, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, and they lost all three. It would be nice to have wide receivers.
Penn State's wide receivers are atrocious. In the modern era of football, you typically want a wide receiver to catch the ball.
Zero catches. And like, I'm not going to go back and watch the film, but if you were to go back and watch the film, I don't think there were any missed wide open wide receivers.
No. No.
Like, every time that they did that little replay where you can look out on the field,

he had nothing. think there were any missed wide open wide receivers.
No. Like they, every time that they did that little replay where you can

look out on the field, he had nothing

out there except for Tyler Warren. Yeah.

Nobody's rooting for Notre Dame right now

in IU.

No, I'm just sad you're not going to watch the film.

Yeah, I'm not going to watch

the film. Why not?

You got to get better. I don't even know how to watch

film. Hank, what are your thoughts on tonight's game? Hank, do you know how to watch film? Yeah.
Tell me how to watch a film. If you got to get better know how to watch film Hank what are your thoughts Hank do you know how to watch film yeah tell me how to watch a film if I wanted to go back and watch y'all 22 tell me how I would do ask Gruden Google yep film PSU film I'll look into that okay I'm gonna google that right now and just see Hank seriously though what are your thoughts on the game? I had Penn State.
They choked at the end. They choked at the end.
That was an absolute choke job. There's no world where that shouldn't have gone to overtime.
Did you listen to our college football expert? Is that why you took Penn State? Yeah. Oh, no.
And Jack Mack. He's ruining us.
Brandon Walker. That I should have known right then.
My parlay wasn't that bad. No, I know.
And if it went to overtime, all we needed was a Tyler Warren touchdown and touchdown. Drew Aller.
If we go to overtime and it goes to two, three, four overtimes, he's going to get one. Drew Aller.
So I was mentally in overtime already. I don't know.
When you look up PSU football film, the first thing that comes up is Paterno, the film.

Oh, no.

Have you seen that film?

I don't think I've watched that one. You should watch that one.

Not great.

No.

You watched it?

I actually did, yeah.

Wait, the Pacino.

Yeah, Pacino one?

Jeff D. Lowe's in it.

Is he?

Yeah, he's in the opening scene.

He's in the front row.

They use footage from a game.

It actually wasn't terrible.

I'll watch anything with Pacino.

Alright, so two other

things. Not college

football related. Do you guys Ohio

State tomorrow night? Are you betting Ohio State?

I think I'm going to take Ohio State.

I like

strictly it's going to be Ohio State,

but I think the Texas Notre Dame championship is more fun for vibes.

Why is that?

I don't know.

It just is.

I never really liked Ohio State as a non-college football fan,

but Ohio State's just never been my favorite.

Is it the Scarlet?

Texas.

I think it's the gray more than anything.

Is it Scarlet and the gray?

Yeah, mostly the gray.

I feel like they're always really good. They're never really fun.
But this team's more fun. Cardell was fun.
Yeah. But it went 59-0 against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game.
Yeah. Was that the one we were at? No.
The one we were at, Wisconsin only lost by like seven. So two other things.
One is we already taped our preview uh we obviously didn't know because they reported it later in the day but uh the game in la is being moved to uh arizona obviously we hope everyone's okay that oh actually we didn't talk about that game so we'll talk about that game on sunday yeah but we do hope everybody's yeah we do hope everyone's game but yeah that's uh i don't know it's gonna be weird i don't know if there's enough i mean there's gotta be it's the first game first playoff game that has changed location since like the 1930s oh shit there was a game it was uh i forget who was playing against boston at the time because boston had a football team but then they moved that game to the polo groundsounds. Favorite stadium.
Because there weren't enough tickets sold. Polo Grounds is such a fun stadium just to look at.
Yeah. They should have played that game in St.
Louis. Oh, they should have.
That would have rocked. For the Rams fans? That would have rocked.
Yep. You're right.
They should have played that game in St. Louis.
Fuck. That would have been cool.
Yeah, that is weird. You think a bunch of people from L.A.
are going to be able to go to that game. They're probably all just worried about their homes and figuring out what to do.
Yeah, I don't know. And there's probably a decent amount of Vikings fans down in Arizona, maybe for the winter.
I don't know. Yeah, or retirees.
Yeah, right. So weird, weird setup.
The other one was a stat that came from ZanB21, and we should have seen this because it should have been in the preview. But since 2017, Sean Payton is 30-12 against bald head coaches.
It's a pretty big sample size. He's going up against Sean McDermott on Sunday.
That makes me very nervous because I love the Bills in that game. Yeah, so you read him off earlier.
A number of those were Dan Quinn games. A lot of them were Dan Quinn games.
Was there a Caldwell in there? There was a Caldwell. So ZanB21 only showed.
Basically everyone was like, this is bullshit. He's like, you don't think I did my work? So he showed 2017 through 2019.
There was a Caldwell. There was a Sean McDermott.
There was a Todd Bowles. There was four Dan Quinn wins.
You also mentioned Mike Tomlin. I don't think Mike Tomlin is bald.
I don't think that he was bald. He's definitely thinning, but I don't think he was bald at the time uh he's pretty bald he might i think he shaved his head recently but if you go back like two years ago okay i think mike tomlin had hair but mike tomlin 2017 can you even find that my coach's photo 2017 uh yeah you're right he had a little more hair there if this is correct so maybe zan Zan B21, maybe we shouldn't trust this stat.
I don't know. I like the stat, though.
It's a great stat. I appreciate the legwork that he did.
It's the kind of stat you need. Okay.
Let's kick it to ourselves for more football talk. We're going to preview every game for Saturday, Sunday.
Max, are you okay? Birds now. Birds.
Yeah, birds. Birds.
Birds. Birds.
I'm a Penn State fan, but I'm... This isn't Eagles.
This isn't Eagles. Connor Griffin.
I feel bad for Connor Griffin. He's devastated.
That was one that I felt bad. I feel bad for Connor Griffin.
I feel bad for my older brother. Yeah.
That's basically how... Jeff D.
Lowe. Jeff D.
Lowe. I feel bad for Jeff D.
Lowe. I feel bad for myself a little bit, but I feel more bad for them.
What's that like, feeling bad for yourself? Do you feel bad for yourself? You feel bad for yourself because you rooted for the same team as them is what you feel bad for. Hank's calling you a loser.
I am a loser. If you weren't rooting for Penn State, then Connor Griffin and Jeff D'Lo might have won that game.
Yeah. Yeah.
But if I had to lose this game to win on Sunday, I will take that trade. That's fucked up.
Is that what the trade is, though? That's not how it works. It could be.
You don't know that. That is true.
If you're such a loser that your mere presence made other people lose a game, then do you think rooting for your own team is going to be better? You can't help it. You guys are going to win.

I don't know what you want me to say.

You shouldn't laugh like that.

Drew Aller is going to be your next quarterback.

I'm in.

No, memes just kept saying he wants Tyler Warren to be his next quarterback.

I mean, he's the next Josh Allen, according to Howard.

No, that's Riley Leonard.

Riley Leonard.

Oh, fuck.

Yeah.

I could actually imagine Riley Leonard running a Browns offense better than DTR. Oh, well, anyone could.
Yeah, I think Tyler Warren could run a better offense than DTR. That's a low bar.
All right, let's kick it to ourselves for some weekend preview, then Dan Orlovsky talking more football. When your home system or appliance breaks down, American Home Shield will help fix or replace the covered item, no matter its age.
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Fuck that. I'm going to call it super wildcard weekend.
Insane. I'm going to do it.
Do it. Stop me.
It's the biggest wildcard weekend of them all. Do it.
How do I say it? It's super wildcard weekend. Thank you.
We're not going to let them take the super out of wildcard weekend. Yeah.
What is it? Just the bowl now? That's good. Listen, they take the super out of wildcard weekend.
The next thing is going to happen. It's going to be just the bowl.
It's a slippery slope. Freedom of speech, Roger.
Yeah. So that news, that was also brought to you by our good friend, Mike Florio, which I love that he was on the beat for that.
He was like, the NFL is slowly taking away the super word in wildcard weekend without anyone knowing. Wait, did they slowly take it away or have they taken it away? All right, I'm pulling it up.
Super wildcard is no more. This is from Florio.
Wildcard weekend is no longer super in name, at least. After noticing on Tuesday the conspicuous absence of name that emerged when the nfl added two more playoff bursts and created a six game opening round we asked the league if super has been sixth super debuted during the 2020 season playoffs when the nfl introduced a new wild card format in the addition of a team from each conference making the playoffs the first change since 1990 the league said via email i just love that florio emailed the league about this super was used the last four seasons to help differentiate from the previous 30 years of the saturday sunday schedule and the further drive awareness of the three days of wildcard games it served its purpose as fans have responded well while it has been retired there's no doubt the wildcard games will continue to be super this is the best story ever okay i mean florio just saying hey where the fuck is the super i gotta email the league that's it that's a eagle eye that he had right there he noticed yes floor is the king of noticing shit like that i what do you think the nfl is taking it away because they're going to move the word super to something else that they're planning on innovating yeah and that must be using yeah like the 18 game season is that going to be the super season yeah because you can't have the mega season mega how about mega wild card weekend i'm in for mega wild card weekend let's get mega with it do you think they're ever going to go to eight teams i hope not actually that would be kind of fun when they put the team in london and they put the team in Brazil, then I think we might go to...
Yeah. Yeah.
More football, more better. Should we say real quick before we get into the games, it is Super Wild Card Weekend.
We still say that on this show. Do we want to do a real quick updated...
What teams do you think can win the Super Bowl this year? Okay. I have five teams, and it might look stupid.
I think they all can, Big Cat. They all can, technically.
I have five teams, and it might look really dumb when one of those teams is not in it and the other one wins. But my five teams are the Philadelphia Eagles, the Detroit Lions, the Baltimore Ravens, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Buffalo Bills.
Okay. I got the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, the Baltimore Ravens, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Detroit Lions.
That's five. The Washington Commanders.
You got to. And the Dallas Cowboys.
Okay. Because Mic Michael Parsons just said that they've got the best team and going into next season,

they should be Super Bowl champions.

It just didn't show on paper this season.

Just need it.

No scoreboards.

They're the winners.

Also, an update from Dallas.

Apparently, so the Cowboys blocked the interview with Mike McCarthy to the Bears.

And then it was a report that Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy spent significant time together Tuesday and Wednesday. They're getting shit done.
That's great. It's a power meeting.
That's awesome. Are you happy that they blocked Mike? I am happy they blocked Mike.
Like, thank you to Dallas, right? Yes, thank you, Dallas. It's also just kind of fucked up what they're doing where they're putting him in limbo, and if they don't resign him, he might miss his window to get another job.
Yeah. At this point, you have to resign.

If you put Mike McCarthy in limbo, buddy, that floor is going to get broken.

Yeah.

So I think what's going to happen is they're going to resign him.

I don't think that they would deny him an opportunity to look for a job and then say,

yeah, sorry, we're actually not going to resign you because Dion just agreed to come to town.

So good luck out there, Mike.

I agree.

Have fun.

Go get him, Mike.

Speaking of Dion, I know that he's been connected to the Raiders at some points.

The Raiders also reached out to Hank's good friend, Bill Belichick.

Tom Brady sent out an olive branch to Bill to see if Bill would be interested in joining

the Raiders.

I don't know if Bill's responded.

He is, I guess, busy on the recruiting trail right now.

I saw a couple pictures of him meeting with recruits. So he is actually like going boots on the ground, meeting with prospects.
But Hank, how would you feel if Tom Brady and Bill got back together one last ride, but it was for the Raiders? I'd be happy. I'd be happy to see it.
I was saying it to you yesterday, PFT. It's like parents getting divorced.
I'm grown up. It's no longer my childhood, but I would like to see them come together and bring that joy and love to another fan base.
That wouldn't bother me. That's very big of you to say that.
I think it's actually a fucked up move for the Raiders to do this, like embarrassing for the Raiders to do this, to have the two guys who are responsible for your saddest moment, your most heartbreaking moment, the tuck rule, that you're still angry about. Now you're like, hey, can you just come fix us? Yeah.
After you broke us? Yeah. Yeah, we need your help.
Also, if you look at the Raiders coaches, they've had like 16 coaches in the last 30 years. I think it was 12 and 20.
It's insane. Yeah, so i think they're averaging one and a half years per coach yeah which is absolutely nuts not a way to do it no but yeah that would be fun no i obviously be fucked for college football if belichick was just like yeah you know what i'm going back to the nfl but as fans of storylines which we are would be incredible it would be incredible maybe you can coach both yeah saturdays and sundays yeah feeder system um okay let's get some games i'm excited for these games i'm excited this is this is i know i have a bunch of top weekends but in sports like well super wild card weekend is is very high up there especially because we have college football playoffs too.
This is a weekend I look forward to all year.

Yeah.

When you say that Feast Week

is your favorite week.

It's one of.

I have like seven favorite sports weeks.

You got Feast Week.

Hand up.

Feast Week feels like the outlier.

The others are

Conference Championship Week.

Yep.

First weekend of March Madness.

Yep.

Second weekend of March Madness,

but really first weekend.

The Masters.

Kentucky Derby.

Kentucky Derby.

And usually when there's a big fight and there's the NBA and NHL playoffs. Yep.
Super wild card weekend. Divisional first weekend.
The Masters. Kentucky Derby.
And usually when there's a big fight

and there's the NBA and NHL playoffs.

Yeah.

Super wildcard weekend, divisional round weekend,

conference championship weekend.

I'm usually more of a fan of divisional round weekend,

but for some reason this year, the Super really,

it got to me.

Yeah.

It is Super.

And then just throw in a random October weekend

when the slate is just insane

and it's like five awesome college football matchups and five awesome NFL matchups. Yeah.
No, I'm very excited for this weekend. The game should be awesome.
And yeah, this is just an exciting time to be alive. It is.
All right. So first game up, Chargers at Texans.
I updated my lines last night. Let me make sure they're all good.
Chargers at Texans, I believe. Sorry, this is bad.
Chargers at Texans. I think the Texans are three point.
Yes. So three point underdogs at home over under is 42 and a half.
This is a tough game for me because I, the Chargers should win this game. The Texans offense is not good.
It has proven to be not good all year. They are 31st in early down success rate.
But the Houston defense is very good. And we also have a fun matchup.
Lad McConkie is going up against his former teammate, Kamari Lasseter. And I thinkd has said that he is the toughest cornerback he ever played in practice at Georgia.
But I'm believing in the Chargers. I'm just a little hesitant because I do think Houston's defense is that good and they can keep him in this game and muck it up.
So is it going to be against Lasseter or is it going to be against Stingley? It depends on where he goes. I mean, if he's in the slot, it's going to be Lasseter.
Yeah. I was thinking this game is, you know what it is? It's strength for strength.
Yeah. All around.
Because you've got good cornerbacks against Ladd, and then you've got some other wide receivers who are going to have to step up. I actually like Josh Palmer in this game a lot.
But then you have the two defensive ends for Houston. You've got Hunter and Will Anderson going up against Alton Slater.ton slater yep strength on strength the anchors strength on strength game uh and then there's just a lot of stuff a lot of cool shit to keep your eye on in this game the texans uh according to sports info solutions 25th in the league with a 0.22 epa per play when opponents are targeting the middle of the field but they are first in the nfl with negative 0.11 epa per play when opponents target the middle of the field, but they are first in the NFL with negative .11 EPA per play when opponents target the perimeter of the field, which would seem to say it will be a tough day for Ladd to eat.
Yeah. The Ladd's not going to eat on Sunday.
Yeah. It's kind of why I like Josh Ballmer.
On the reverse side, the Chargers do play a lot of too high safety, and when Stroud goes up it he's 8 touchdowns 7 interception and his passer rating is 31st in the NFL against that type of defense we also have Jim Harbaugh knowing Nico Collins which is the only weapon the Texans have recruited him played for him here's another one I had Houston vs top 10 DVOA defenses because the Chargers ranked 9th DVOA. Minnesota, the second DVOA defense, they lost 34-7.
Baltimore, the sixth, they lost 31-2. Detroit, the fifth, they lost 26-23.
And Green Bay, the seventh, they lost 24-22. So they are 0-4 against those top 10 DVOA defenses.
And like I said, the Chargers are a top 10 DVOA defense. Everything we just have said is just like you should just take the under.
I was just going to say, did we become an analytics podcast? A little bit there. We touched on it.
All right. How about this? Let's just get anti-analytics.
I have a dumb analytics stat for you. Okay.
Yeah. It's just looking at game logs.
J.K. Dobbins, when he's hurt or he left the game against Baltimore, the Chargers are two and three.
When he's healthy, they're 9-3. Okay, I like that.
Yeah, it's just dumb analytics. I literally just looked at the game logs like, oh, he didn't play there.
They lost. Okay, here's my dumb analytics.
Jim Harbaugh hates losing. I think he hates losing more than D'Amico Ryan hates losing.
Jim Harbaugh also claims that he remembers the day he was born. Yeah, yeah.
I remember, wasn't this a thing, a story that we heard like over the summertime? But then Justin Herbert brought it up at a press conference. He's like, when I knew that I liked Jim was when he told me that he remembers being born.
Yeah. He's putting his head down, hitting daylight.
Yeah. Maybe he hit the sea gap if it was sliced open.
But there's a fun thing in this game that we always do every year. It's the MVP game.
This is the slime time game on Nickelodeon. We got to give the MVP to Harbaugh if they win.
Is that a possibility? He would love it. He would.
He would. Yeah.
He would earnestly accept that with just so much like love in his heart. Yeah.
He'd be like, this is what happens when you dedicate yourself. You put your mind to it and you fight with a ferocity that no one's ever seen yeah it would be good for kids yeah it would be good for america and america's children if they could see jim harbaugh win the nvp yeah yeah um he'd probably have it presented to him by spongebob it would be incredible a fucking dream come true tarbott would be starstrom he would be like okay first i'm gonna to move my championship trophy from college football to the side.
And the MVP goes right there because SpongeBob gave it to me. So where's everyone thinking in this game? I do think the Chargers win.
I'm a little nervous about three just because it does feel like it's going to be a low scoring knockdown drag out fight. Yeah.
There's a pattern for me this weekend. And that is, there are lot of teams that it it seems like every single analyst out there is picking the chargers yeah that makes me think what if the texans just play like they played last year right that's stupid because we've been waiting for the texans to do that that browns game is kind of a similar spot i think the i think the chart i think the texans might have been underdogs in that game i can't remember but But that was, yeah, they kicked the shit out of the Browns.
And I think we thought last year this might be the last time we see the Texans in this time slot. Right.
But the Texans also, you kind of are what you are. They have not been a good offense this year.
So last year they were a lot better of an offense. I also, we should say, I mean, the fires in L.A.
are horrific. Really, really really sad hope everyone who's an awl is safe and and okay i wonder if there is is there a human element because like the you're living in a city if you're a charger and it's burning down right now yeah you're wondering if your house is okay while you're yeah i don't know just something to throw in there i i just more hope that everyone's okay and and and all anyone who listens is doing okay Yeah, agreed with that.
I do like the Chargers, though. I can't know.
Just something to throw in there. I just more hope that everyone's okay and anyone who listens is doing okay.

Yeah, agreed with that.

I do like the Chargers, though.

I can't talk myself into the Texans.

I will talk myself into one of these other teams, but I'm not doing it for the Texans.

Max, we've got to win this game, and then we can cash out our future if we want.

Yeah, the cash out, that's what I was just looking at.

It's not great.

It's even right now or a little less, right?

It's a little bit less. Right now, the Chargers are 30 to 1.
But this was the plan. Chargers win one playoff game.
I'm holding for the Chiefs. Okay.
If the Chargers play the Chiefs, divisional opponent, I'm holding for the Chiefs. They got a chance.
Okay. Next game, Saturday night, Steelers at Ravens.
Ravens minus 9.5 over under 43.5. I'm very interested to see if Zay Flowers plays.
That's a big one because I don't – there's nothing that tells me the Steelers can win this game unless the Ravens have their number one receiver gone. So Zay Flowers has a 24% target rate, so a quarter of the targets.
And he also has a quarter of the team's total receiving yards. If he doesn't play, maybe it's a Tomlin muck it up.
If he plays, where's the Steelers' offense coming from? They've looked so bad. It's non-existent.
What about this? Tomlin surprises the world starts Justin Fields. probably not any better no probably not but i do think that uh if zay flowers doesn't play then that plays obviously into the hands of the steelers who are very very good against the run but the ravens are different against the run they're also the ravens defense is since making the change yeah and since moving kyle ham Hamilton back to more of a free safety role or playing him deep, the Ravens defense is number one in every category.
Yeah, so we're going to talk more about it with Dan Orlovsky because he breaks it down what they changed. But since week 11, when they made the change, they have the top pass defense in the NFL.
So that's pretty crazy. They were 30th weeks 1 through 10.
I think top pass defense, maybe top scoring defense since making that change. They're just an all-around sound team.
And part of me – so if I was going to make the case for the Steelers, it's Zay Flowers being out. It's Justin Tucker being a little shaky.
This has got to first time in the ravens uh justin tucker history that the other team has the edge and kicking chris boswell has had a better year than justin tucker and then the ravens are uh second in the league in penalties 132 penalties this year and you've we've seen it they've had games where they've been right there and that like little you know thing will happen it's like not fully sound not buttoned up so that would be my case for the Steelers but I feel like that's not a very strong case and the Ravens are going to win I think that there's a path for the Steelers though and this is me the path let's close our eyes this is me talking myself into the Steelers. They play very, very hard against the Ravens.

Okay, I'm closing my eyes. This is not a good first-round matchup for the Ravens.

How cold is it?

Let's set it for me.

Okay, here's the second.

It's night game.

Night game.

It is 27 degrees in Baltimore.

Windy.

The flag's on top of the goalpost.

Swirling.

Okay.

Like Acrechure Stadium.

TJ Watt, what's his hair? TJ Watt has a fresh bully cut. Okay.
He looks healthy. Okay.
Justin Fields is coming in not just on third and short. Okay.
He's coming in on second down sometimes. I don't know why I still have my eyes closed.
Okay. Lamar may be wearing a little too many undergarments.
Yeah. Like a little too, hey, Lam're like you didn't need all those layers yeah mike tomlin has uh two hats on putting a hat on a hat two wool caps on and the opening kickoff returned by the ravens mike tomlin steps onto the field and lays that out sets the tone it's pittsburgh football that's it.
What's the weather, Max? Cold game. Too quick for me.
Also, Russie, like, George Pickens has to do something. Yep.
And. 25, 28 degrees.
Oh, kind of nailed that degree. It doesn't look like.
Well, that's today. Oh, that's today.
All right. Give us Saturday.
41 and sunny. Oh, fuck.
Wait, wait, wait. It's a night game.
It's a night game. Max, you dummy.
That's Sunday. Oh, that's Sunday.
It's going to be 31 degrees at 730. Okay.
Okay. It's pretty close.
Yeah, that was. Probably in dip.
Not a lot of wind, but we can manufacture wind. Yeah, we've seeded clouds.
We just have one side of the stadium fart at the same time. Yeah.
So there's some bulletin board material going around. Okay.
Have you seen the... We got to get Jerry on this case, actually, because it involves cologne.
Oh. So Lamar Jackson has his own...
Willie? Yeah. Oh.
Lamar Jackson has his own cologne. Okay.
It's for men and women, so whatever that is, unisex cologne. How does that work? I don't know.
They passed it around the locker room in Baltimore. And you can hear guys in the background talking about the cologne that's being passed around.
They're asking, how does it smell? How does it smell? And one guy says, soft. It smells soft, just like George Pickens.
Oh. That's been going viral.
And you know that George just, he needs something like this to lock himself back in now it did come out later i should say they weren't talking about the cologne it was somebody in the background talking about another thing related to george pickens they're looking at a picture of a guy okay and they're like yeah the profile looks kind of they were just saying this guy looks like george pickens but it doesn't matter because the clip already went out there so don't pass do not correct nobody correct. Nobody show George Pickens the community notes.
Right. If you're a Steelers.
Right. I also George Pickens might be the one guy that you would want to talk shit to because he probably is now just like, all I have to do.
All I want to do is fight. Yeah.
You know, you can get him out of his game very easily. This could be art of war shit from Harbaugh.
Yeah. I'm excited for this game, though.
I hope it's a close game. I don't want...
This is the one game that I'm very nervous could be a blowout. Just because the Steelers...
I mean, the Steelers... I think it's happened twice that a team has made the playoffs on a four-game losing streak.
Both teams lost. And so, I don't...
Their offense sucks. Their offense sucks.
They can't do anything. Their their defense got a little bit better their defense is pretty good i mean they held the they held the bengals out of the end zone for 57 minutes of that game yeah so there there is a path here if they can some if tj can get a couple turnovers from lamar bully cut bully cut then it could happen potentially but it's it's unlikely there was also a of, I think it was a hard knocks, of Cam Hayward and Russell Wilson after the last game.
Russell going up to him on the field after the game being like, okay, we just got to win four in a row now. That's on us.
We got to win four. And Cam Hayward's just like, yeah.
Yeah, just like completely. Oh, no.
Can you pull up the video? I would like to listen to this video again. Hey, let's win the last four, all right? Look at me.
We can do it. You know what I'm saying? Don't doubt now.
You feel me? Let's go win the last four. Oh, no.
Yeah, Cam's just like, it's like a. Russ's leadership is starting to maybe wear a little thin.
It's like a fly buzzing around a horse's eye. Yeah.
The horse is just like, get the fuck away from me, dude. And Cam really wants to just be like, hey, dude, how about just throw over the middle of the field? Yeah.
Yeah, we just shut down Joe Burrow. Yeah.
We held him to 19 points. Can you please just try to win this game? Please do something.
I do think that Justin might get on the field a little bit more. It would be cool.
Add an element. Yeah.

Okay.

Sunday.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.

We have the Broncos at the Bills.

Bills minus 8.5.

Over-unders 46.5.

Very funny. When reporters asked Josh Allen what Joe Brady has brought to the offense this year,

he said, because they were asking about him interviewing for head coaching jobs,

he said nothing team should stay away from him. i think i love the over in this game i love it okay love it love it love it i think that i mean the weakness of the bills is their defense has not been great uh they've had games where they've looked good but they they just have not like they they were that rams game that lions game uh i know they won the lions game but if if you ask any Bills fan, that's the concern is their defense has not been up to snuff for the back half of the year.
And Josh Allen has been playing out of his mind. And I think that he will not be stopped either.
So I like the over. I think the Bills are going to do everything they can to not let Bo Nix hit any deep shots.
Yeah. And make Bo Nix, If you're going to score against us, you have to take your offense down the field.
Yeah. I'm going to need seven completions out of you on this drive and bait him with stuff underneath.
Yeah. That, to me, is the Bills' game plan.
Because Denver's going to try to run the ball. They're not that good at it, but they're going to try to do it.
The Bills' rush defense is pretty good. And then if you can make Bo Nixx play if you can make one mistake uh then i think the bills are definitely going to win if bonex plays a mistake free game they have a shot we got a shot so this is uh one of the there's three of these qb's making their first playoff start versus qb's who have playoff experience uh the qb's making their first playoff start in that situation are 34% against the spread since 2002.
So not great track record. You got to think.
I think one of the three quarterbacks that are making their first playoff start this year, Jaden Daniels, Bo Nix, Sam Donald, one of those three is going to win the game. I think the other two might be in trouble.
I don't know how to pick those. It's kind of like a whack-a-mole which one's going to show up and the other two, but statistically speaking, a guy making his first playoff start versus a guy who's played in the playoffs before, it's a disadvantage for the guy making his first playoff start.
It's also a disadvantage to be playing against Josh Allen in the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. Correct.
All true. As good as they are right now.
All true. All true.
Yeah, I love Buffalo. Is Von Miller maybe a revenge game here? Ooh.
He said it's a full circle moment. I don't know what that means.
Full circle. What is that button on PlayStation? He went full circle? The spin move? Spin move.
Spin move. So look for Von Miller's spin move.
That's what he means. How is this a full circle moment? Von Miller? Yeah, he's just full circle.

They beat the Bills to go in the playoffs when they won.

He's just playing the Broncos?

He's playing against the Broncos.

Yeah, I know, but full circle.

Wouldn't full circle be if the Bills were playing against Texas A&M?

If the Broncos beat the Bills in their original run.

Yeah, right.

Then it would be full circle.

Full circle moment is just playing against a team that you used to play on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Full circle moment.

I don't think it's full circle.

I don't know.

I don't know what shape it is.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I like the Bills.

I like the Bills as well.

I mean, we know what they didn't.

All right.

Packers and Eagles.

Eagles minus four and a half over under 44 and a half.

Max, do we have any reports? At the time of this taping. We're taping this at 1045.
By the time that you listen, Jalen Hurts will be out of concussion protocol. Let's go.
But wait, Max. Let's go.
Max, you told me several times this week that when he woke up on Thursday morning, he'd be out of concussion protocol. He is.
They just haven't reported it yet. He's awake right now.
He doesn't have symptoms. How do you know? I know.
You don't know. Me and my guy, we, I know.
You don't know. He doesn't have symptoms.
He's good to go. You said when he opens his eyes on Thursday, he's going to be out.
Correct. Because all he needs to do is wake up without symptoms.
And I know that he woke up without symptoms. They just haven't reported to the media that they woke up.
Nick Sirianni is trying to keep everyone guessing. Why would he give up information earlier than he has to give out information? I think he does have to give out information today, though.
Today, yeah. So by the time that the listeners are listening to this, he will be out of protocol.
I actually agree with you. I think he's going to be fine.
Yeah, I think he's going to be fine too. And I like the Eagles in this game.
Here's the problem. Here's the thing, Max, that we can't have happen.
The Eagles cannot start slow. The Eagles are...
They always start slow. I know.
They're 21st, but especially in this game, they're 21st in first quarter scoring, and the Packers are fourth in first quarter scoring.

That's not good.

You don't want to be down and have the Packers be able to lean on Josh Jacobs and have them be able to control this game.

And there is a little – here's my biggest concern.

Jordan Love is not – I mean, I think last year he was ascending at the end.

This year the Packers are probably a better team overall,

but they weren't playing better towards the end of the season. Like last year they were playing well towards the end uh this year the packers are probably a better team overall but they didn't they weren't playing better towards the end of the season like last year they were playing well towards the end of the season uh that game against the cowboys was crazy he played perfect football game that was his first playoff start i'm worried that like that guy's gonna show up they're the only seven seed to win a playoff game yeah the other seven seeds are one in seven all time so okay that team is the only one that's done it before.
That's what I've been saying all week. What's your biggest worry? It's nothing really about what I've seen on the field the past couple weeks.
It's really just the vibe of the Green Bay Packers as a seven seed coming off of last year. But the Eagles are better than the Packers in almost every category of the game, but it's still the Green

Bay Packers.

They still have a really good coach, and they've done it before, and they're not scared.

That's what I'm scared of, is that we're not playing a 7C that is scared of the big guns.

Yeah.

So let's do a guy off real quick.

Is there anybody at the same position on the Packers who's better than on the Eagles?

Quarterback.

I would take Jalen Hurts.

Running back.

I would take Shaquan Barkley.

Left and right tackles.

I would take our guys.

Yeah, no, you guys have a better kicker.

But yeah, you guys have better wide receivers. Better cornerbacks.
Yeah. What about coach? Great.
Best winning percentage in the NFL. You didn't answer the question.
No, I didn't. No, not coach.
I also think Vic Fangio is going to have a little bit. I mean, I think he already has an edge because Christian Watson being out is a big deal.
I know that he's – Packers are like, well, he has stones for hands. But he's a field stretcher.
He is the guy who can get open deep, and you have to worry about his speed at all times. That definitely changes the dynamic of what the Packers can do and what the Eagles can do in terms of defending the Packers.
Even if you go back to that week one game, the Eagles still won that game. Jair Alexander was playing in that game.
A.J. Brown torched him.
But then Jaden Reed torched Avante Maddox, but Avante Maddox is no longer our nickel corner. Cooper DeGene is now our nickel corner, who's been one of the best in the league since he's come in.
So the Eagles won that game, and they're in a better spot now than they were week one. So everything points that the Eagles should take care of business, but it's the Green Bay Packers, and they beat the shit out of the Cowboys week one last year.
It's the only thing I'm scared of. Okay.
It makes sense. So not afraid.
No, I'm – what? You're not afraid. I just – At all.
I just explained to you why I'm afraid. But you're not afraid.
I mean, I'm confident, but there's still worry. Yeah.
I'm not going to go in here and say we're on to week two. We're on to divisional round.
Super divisional round? Yeah, we're on to the super divisional round. I'm going to give Sirianni a compliment.
That was a good decision that he made last week. Yeah.
Got your guys a little mini bye. Yeah.
He created his own bye. Yeah.
Had to. Because if you're not going to get the one seed, you need that little small little break for yourself to get a little bit more fresh for Super Wild Cubs.
Assuming Jalen Hurts is healthy, week one, all 11 starters on offense and defense will be playing in this game for the Eagles. Okay.
And I just hope he's, because that's the slow start and the fact that he's missed, what, two weeks now? Three weeks? Two weeks? Two and a half. Just got to find a way to start fast.
I'm worried about the start. Have to find a way to scheme something up and get in a rhythm early, because that's where I'm going to start getting nervous.
If the Eagles come out and they're like three and out and the Packers go down the field and now you're playing a different game because the Eagles are an incredible team to play from ahead. We saw it in that Steelers game when they had the fucking whatever it was, 13 minute drive down the field to end the game.
Counterpoint, though, they've been playing from behind all year.

True.

So even if they do start off playing from behind,

they can—

It's just playing from behind in the playoffs

is definitely a different feeling.

It's different in the playoffs.

It's different in the playoffs.

But if—like the Eagles have found a way this year

to start to play from behind in every game

and still win by two scores in almost every game.

Right.

I think with the Packers,

that would be the one way that you could go about it, though, if you could just start handing the ball to Josh Jacobs. We started behind in that game.
I'm pretty sure. Did you guys see that you added another Georgia Bulldog? I think there's 11 total playing in this game.
Who is it? Athens North. Louis Seen, the former first-round pick who was cut by the Vikings.
I think he was on the Bills practice squad, and he got added to the Eagles' active roster. So it's a significant amount of Georgia Bulldogs.
I love that. Let's go win a football game, Max.
Let's go win a football game. Max, can you give me a quick breakdown of the Howard Eskin stuff? Oh, shit.
That was my... Fuck.
Whoa. He gave me a homework assignment that I failed on.
Because I saw a headline, and it said Howard Eskin, the reporter in Philly, got banned from the facility and then gave himself his own press credential and tried to sneak in like he was still on the job. That's the horny guy who posted the picture of his daughter, I think.
But there's some other horny stuff in here, too. Yeah, I think horniness is...
I've not done my homework. I hand up a professor.
I did not do my homework. All right, so we need it for Sunday night show.
Yeah. Okay.
That sounds like you're not going to do it then either. Yeah, it sounds like it.
I have to put it right. How about this? How about by the end of class? I can get it by the end of class for sure.
Okay, by the end of class. Okay.
I have it on my desk. Okay.
Yeah, I like the Packers. I mean, sorry.
I like the Eagles. I think the Eagles are going to win.
There might be something to that. I already bet the Eagles.
That was a Freudian slip right there, Max. I like the Eagles.
They're going to win this game. Just don't start slow.
I'm not promising they're not going to start slow, but you're more worried about starting slow than I am. Okay.
I would like very much for the Packers to win this game. Very much.
I would like very much for the Commanders to lose their game as well. I'm aware nice all right let's talk about that game commanders at box box minus three over under 50 and a half uh what are we thinking PFT how we feeling I told you I had a path right yeah I told you I had this whole thing figured out from doing a deep dive into the all 22 um I think Jaden is going to run the fuck out of the football and I think Austin Knackler is going to run the fuck out of the football and i think austin eckler is going to run the fuck out of the football i think that todd bowles is going to if he tries to blitz jayden the way that he did in week one it's not going to end up well for him because jayden will take off on him he's a different quarterback fun fact no team has ever beaten jayden daniels twice in the same year ever that is a fun fact right i think it's just three teams this year wait they had the opportunity to do it he didn't play in an sec championship he did not play no when they lost uh it was alabama and georgia okay and yeah so no teams ever beat him twice in the same year that's awesome which is pretty good uh dan quinn has never gone one and done in the playoffs.
Okay. I think he's 2-0 in that.
The Bucs were 0-4 in primetime this year as well. This is a Sunday night game.
Okay. So they haven't won a primetime game.
That Cowboys game was bad. It was very bad.
Now, counterpoint, if you're a Bucs fan listening to this, you can say, hey, we beat you when you were the Redskins in the playoffs. We beat you when you were the the football team in the playoffs and now we're going to be the only team to have beaten you when you're all three of those okay perhaps we haven't won a playoff game since 2006 which was against the tampa bay buccaneers okay and chris sims okay uh but i think i think the way that todd bowles is going to attack this is going to be start off blitzing get damaged a little bit by Jaden's legs, and then he's going to drop back more into more of like a rush four, take his foot off the gas a little bit blitzing, and then expect Jaden to be looking like he was in week one passing the ball.
But Jaden is a lot better. Now, this is a different Jaden Daniels than we saw in week one.
So I think there's a path to it. Now, the downside to all this is that our defense is still not very good.
Our defense is, I would say, medium bad, which is- Medium bad's not good. Which is also, it's not good, but it's also a significant upgrade on what the Bucs saw in week one.
True. When we were bad, bad, bad.
True. Maybe worse than the league bad.
True. I think I said after that, if our defense can just get medium, then we'll be a decent team.
Our defense is like medium, bad. With an opportunity to escalate to medium.
Yep. I think there's going to be a lot of points either way.
I do too. I think that it's going to be a shootout.
Which would be awesome. Weird stuff happens with the commanders at the end of games.
We've won a lot of games, some against bad teams, that we shouldn't have won. But for some reason, Jaden at the end of games we've won a lot of games some against bad teams that we shouldn't have won but for some reason jayden at the end just figures shit out yes he's a big figure shit out guy and he doesn't get too excited he doesn't get too emotional besides happy yeah uh so i i like our chances i think that we have a very good chance of beating the bucks yeah i i do too i think.
I think the Bucs are not – like the Bucs defense has not looked great. They also have a lot of injuries.
And I don't know. I think it actually helps that Jaden Daniels has played them before, like you said.
Like it's – like, you know, the unfamiliarity of playoffs, a lot of pressure. It's like, but we've been to Tampa.
We've played them. That was the first game of the season.
I would be a little worried about the run game for the box i feel like bucky's gonna have a huge day yep probably gonna ladder his overs i would agree with that we're gonna have a very hard time stopping bucky irving and rashad white uh mike evans i don't know what to expect i like i like latimore's chances more than i would like benjamin st juice chances yes latimore or against Mike Evans. So uh yeah if you look at todd bowles he's got like two ways of playing defense he will blitz quarterbacks that he does not respect and then he will take away the deep ball against quarterbacks that he does that's what he did to talk to patrick mahomes the super bowl yep where he just did he just stopped blitzing right.
So I think he's going to try to blitz and then realize this isn't working, and then Jaden's going to have his way. Okay.
I think you guys are going to be in this game. I'm rooting for you to get a playoff win.
I've told you. I've been honest.
If you won a Super Bowl this year, I'd be like, that's fucking bullshit. I would like you to win this game, especially because it's against Stephen Shea.
Yes. And that would be very nice for you to win against Stephen Shea I will probably do a friendship bet on the commanders uh and ride with you because I want you to just rub it in his face I appreciate that yeah and so so the the path becomes here's what I'm also worried about if we do somehow happen to win this game I'm gonna the next week I'm gonna treat like we just won the Super Bowl oh you have to because in in all likelihood we're then going to have to play against the Lions right In which case, I'm going to treat it like we just won the Super Bowl.
Oh, you have to. Because in all likelihood, we're then going to have to play against the Lions.

Right.

In which case, I think the Lions are going to score 70 points if they play the Commanders.

That would not be a great matchup for you.

It would be a terrible matchup for us, which is why I'm rooting so hard for the Packers.

Yes.

But yeah, this is going to be fun.

We're in the playoffs.

Let's go.

I'm fucking.

Let's go.

I'm above the moon.

The fact that I get a playoff. Above the moon.
Above the moon that i get a playoff above the moon yeah damn uh okay uh that's it we'll do the monday night game on sunday yep hey by the way we had 12 wins this season you bet us to not make the playoffs 12 wins 12 wins a lot of wins yeah it was a bad bet you you guys good team i i have the super bowl future i'm hoping for this path to come through wait you said on monday that we were not a good team no it's actually sunday yeah sunday he turned to me during the game he said the commanders are not a good team yeah you just said you're a good team well you made the playoffs you got 12 wins there's i'm not gonna i'm not like you're not I don't know. We made the playoffs.
You got 12 wins. I'm not going to.
I'm not. Like, you're not.

I don't know.

Well, we made the playoffs the week before that.

We beat the Falcons.

Listen, I'm rooting for the commanders.

I don't think they're, like, that good of a team.

But the numbers stayed otherwise.

The wins stayed otherwise.

You guys made the playoffs.

Like, I'm just a hater.

I don't.

I'm definitely hating.

Yeah.

And you guys

basically lost to the bears you basically lost to the saints like you barely beat the cowboys it sounds like a those are bad teams you have to fight to be bad teams basically lose i don't care like you guys are gonna get smoked in the playoffs but i almost lost to kenny pickett i hank hank you basically dunked yeah exactly i actually did basically dunk pretty close no uh I mean, it was pretty close.

At no point.

I have no problem admitting that I was wrong. And for the sake of this podcast, I want Commander's Eagles.
And the best case scenario out of that, I guess I have the Eagles future. But I want the Eagles to make a run for the sake of the show.
I don't care if that makes me look wrong. Do I think it's going to happen if you gave me, you know, true serum? No.
But at this point, I'll take my licks and say I was wrong and somehow hope the commanders, you know, make a run. No, that's fine.
Well, the reality is the NFL was very bad this year. There were a lot of bad teams.
And we beat a lot of bad teams. And we beat a lot of bad teams.
And you barely beat a lot of bad teams. a narrow margin.
But we also narrowly lost to several good teams. You are what your record says you are.
Exactly. 12-win team.
12-5. I'll take the number 12 next to the win column.
Looks pretty good. I did put in a future on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Ohio State parlayed with... Ohio State to win the national championship parlayed with the Eagles.
I think it's 13-1. Eagles Super Bowl.
All right. So I'm with Maxie.
Me too, and I'm just waiting for a catch up. I think the Eagles are the best team in the NFC.
I've said it for months now. That's a fact.
I think the Eagles are walking on a minefield to get to the Super Bowl. Why? There's just a lot of good teams in the NFC.
I think the AFCs. Packers is tough.
The Lions are tough. The Vikings are tough.
The Rams. He's not going to say commanders.
No. That's fine.
You said the Packers, too. He just named.
Everything. He just named.
Commanders and Bucks. Not tough.
Yeah, he named 4-5-6. Am I wrong, though? 4-5-7.
Am I wrong? No, listen. Skip six.
Hank's not wrong. All those teams have a better chance against them.
I think, all right. In my dream matchup, I had the Buccaneers.
In the Buccaneers' dream matchup, they had the Commanders. Here's what I was saying in PFT's defense.
Because he's not trying to be cocky about it. But I think what the Commanders are is they're not a finished product, they're not a great team, but the way Jaden Daniels has played this year gives you a chance in any game.
Any game. That's really what it comes down to is you've got a guy that is so dynamic that if he is hitting his long balls, if he's running when he needs to run, he's a match-up, match-up problem.
I would say even if he doesn't hit the long balls and he's running well and hitting you know zach urts and zaccheus and and some of the other receivers on like intermediate stuff he's still going to keep you right games right and if he hits the long balls that's when we win that's that's if he's connecting on long balls and running well at the same time i think we win the game no doubt about it but you But, you know, anything can happen. Anything can happen.

Anything can happen.

Tampa Bay is 0-4 in primetime.

Beams, you got anything on the playoffs?

I'm all in on Steve Spagnuolo right now.

Oh!

Okay.

Second chance.

You guys are interviewing a ton of Italians.

So many Italians.

Yeah.

I like that.

Lead the league in Italians.

Do you think the Rizler is in on any of these interviews?

I saw somebody say we interviewed Mike Francesa for the GM job. Oh.
Eagles definitely lead the league in Italians, by the way. Yeah, but the Jets are trying to get more.
They are. They have been trying to copycat league the Eagles for a while now.
Yeah. Just because they got Joe Douglas.
Should we have an Italian off? We might have to. Might have to have an Italian off.
I mean, Big Dom counts as like 10 Italians. Yeah, that's true.
He's the Don. He's the starting five for Italians.

We have Eagles.

There's just Eagles hats that have the Italian flag on the side of it for the whole coaching staff.

That is true.

Must be Italian to coach the Eagles.

My brother.

That is your terrible tell.

My brother has asked me so many times.

He's like, can you get me that Eagles Italian hag flag?

Because you can't buy it.

Only the coaches get it.

You got to get it for him.

Yeah. You got to get it for memes.
Are you rooting for Max? You're rooting for pain. Yeah, be honest.
What are you? I don't want anybody to win. I want everybody to lose.
But if you're rooting for maximum for the podcast listeners, we need to spread out the losses. Like if you guys both lost this weekend, it would kind of suck.
You know? Eagles are going to lose in the Super Bowl in horrific... No, they'll probably lose in the NFC Championship in horrific fashion.
Okay. No confidence.
Loser talk. You say that, and then you just don't look at me.
Loser talk. Loser.
Speak like a winner. I'm the captain now.
I am a loser. In what way you're like, oh, this is shocking.
Max is acting like a loser. Max, you're acting like a loser right now.
Yeah, I am a loser. Do you want to win? Did you beat Hank in the Super Bowl? So then act like a winner.
Not on this show. Yeah, this is bad.
You're sitting in a bad tone. All right.
We have a same game parlay for the people. We actually have two of them.
So DraftKings this weekend. Hey, it's Rhea from Chicks in the Office.
It's officially mini-skort season, and Abercrombie has the ones to go out in. Their Scarlet Mini is a classic.
it's one of those skirts that fits the outfit vibe for

any plans and i'm excited to style their new sienna skirt it's a little more flirty and it's perfect for date night make plans to go out in abercrombie shop their newest arrivals in store and online okay what is your guys pick well let's do ours first because it's uh the first game uh Max and I are doing the Packers-Eagles game,

and we have a plus 575 parlay for the people. It's Eagles money line, Devontae Smith 70 yards receiving, Devontae Smith touchdown, and Saquon Barkley 80-plus yards rushing.
Okay, what's that payout? It pays 575. Okay, Hank and I teamed up on this one.
Hank's a winner max is a loser so teamed up with hank we got terry mclaurin anytime touchdown terry mclaurin 60 plus receiving yards jaden daniels 40 plus rushing yards and baker mayfield over 18 and a half rushing yards double dipping with terry double dipping with terry and quarterbacks i might just bet on every quarterbacks over for rushing yards in the playoffs because they start to run more yes so all that parlayed together is plus 750 seems like a winner i like that all terry does is catch touchdowns bet for bet i'm bet your parlay you got mine gone so go to trafficking sportsbook they got everything It's a great weekend of football. Okay, let's talk some more football.

We got our good friend Dan Orlovsky on the show

breaking down the wild card, super wild card weekend matchups.

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And now here is Dan Orlovsky.

Okay, we now welcome on our good friend, Dan Orlovsky Okay we now welcome on our good friend Dan Orlovsky you can see him on ESPN he's calling games now doing a great job calling games he was calling that Ravens-Browns game the other night it is playoff time though we want to talk to Dan about some playoffs we want to break down these games Dan I'm excited which matchup has you the most excited out of the six this weekend? Because I figured I'll follow your lead and we'll start there. Yeah, I really do think it's Buffalo Denver because one, I think it's the game that most makes me feel like a real upset could actually happen.
I don't think that the Vikings beating the Rams would be like a quote unquote upset. upset and I think that you know for Buffalo and Denver obviously Josh has had an outstanding season and so it's elevated the expectations and he falls into that category like hey you gotta win a Super Bowl man you can only get so many opportunities this quickly in your career till we start to have the worry of like are you ever going to get there and or win one?

I also think that it's a really favorable matchup

or interesting matchup for the underdog for Denver.

I think Denver's got a guy that could be the defensive player of the year

in Sertan, and he's as close to a thing to Darrell Revis

that I've seen when it comes to,

hey, you go by yourself and shut down the field.

And, you know, without getting too deep into the weeds of like the X's and O's, like schematically, that's a huge part of this game. Because Buffalo gets into some unique formations where they try to kind of overload one side of the field.
And Sertan takes that away. And so and then Sean Payton.
I remember Sean Payton went up there last year with Russell Wilson and beat him. And he's so well, such a good coach.
And he understands how to attack these defenses and get them into certain situations that are favorable to them. And so it would be a massive upset.
But I honestly don't think I would be surprised. Yes, but I wouldn't walk away going, oh, my gosh, I did not foresee this at all.
So if that does happen, we're big roadmap guys roadmap guys give us the roadmap of how it happens how can the Broncos outscore the bills yeah I think one number one it starts defensively for Denver I just talked about Sertan so like what Buffalo does and every team in the playoffs does this is they get into these four by one formation so they take one person and put them on one side of the formation and take four guys and put them on the other side side. And it's very simple.
Like the quarterback, he says, if I like the one-on-one matchup, great, I'm going to throw that. If not, I'm going to throw something to the field that's easy.
It's like a little flat route or an RPO. And we have numbers advantages because defenses are usually trying to be like symmetrical.
You don't want to vacate one side of the field. Well, Sir Tan can go there by himself.
So you Buffalo don't have the numbers advantage to that four person side. And so that might stunt their offense a little bit.
And then I think the second thing is Denver led the NFL in sacks and, you know, they got dudes who are unbelievably big and talented. You know, Jonathan Cooper is fantastic.
Zach Allen on the inside and Benito's the one for me because when you're playing against Buffalo and you're playing man coverage, which Denver loves to do, Josh is going to be a runner. Benito's big enough.
He's fast enough. He's athletic enough.
He's physical enough to kind of, that's what he's done with Patrick. He's a little bit of a spy.
So I think defensively they match up well against Buffalo. And then, you know, if you were going to ask me how to attack Buffalo, you're trying to get Buffalo into where Taron Johnson, who's an unbelievable nickel, has to defend the run.
He plays every play. So, like, you can get 320-pound offensive linemen blocking him if you formation the right way, and Sean Payton absolutely will.
And I just think that's beneficial for Denver to kind of control the game, run the ball. They are heavy RPOs, and they've been hurt a little bit by quarterback run.
Bo Nix, really athletic. So that's the way I see it.
They'll get into beefy, beefy dudes on the field and run the football. So the only question I have in this week, we could maybe use this to jump to the Jaden Daniels Commanders-Bucks game is, obviously a rookie quarterback, first playoff start, especially on the road, not the best record overall.
What is that? Is that just simply like, this is just a different level of football that they are not, you can't prepare yourself, there's just no way you could have a great, fantastic rookie year like Bo Nix and Jaden Daniels did and then you get in that playoff environment and it's just a totally different ball game that yes and also the playoffs become so game plan specific you know the regular season is so week to week to week to week and you only get you know you have all this evidence now and it you become so game plan specific because you know it's win or go home. And so you're a little bit less kind of like this is what we do.
And you're a little bit more of we're going to take away what you want to do. And that's the focus point.
And it has all your attention. And, you know, guys are just more hyper focused in the playoffs because you know that it's again, it's win or go home.
And so I think that's a big part of it as well is a lot of teams that go in with rookie quarterbacks, it's not, you know, they don't have the plethora of a wide open playbook more often than not. There's things that they do well and they live in them because that allows the quarterbacks to not play poorly and kind of to play to a quote unquote strength.
And defense has just become so so much more focused on all right they really love to do these three things in this formation or these two things in this formation so we're going to take that away and then force them to kind of play to that c game or d game that's a huge part of it yeah so um one dude that i feel like america should know more or at least discuss more on the Broncos is Quinn Miners.

Because that guy is a beast, and he just looks like a dude.

You talk about getting your beefy boys going?

Yep.

I feel like that – is he the leader of that offense?

I mean, obviously, Bo Nix, a lot's been put on his shoulders as a rookie.

But I feel like they get some of their attitude from that strength on the inside. There's no question.
him and Bowles. Garrett Bowles has become, again, a high-end left tackle.
The Quinn Miners versus Ed Oliver matchup is going to be awesome to watch because those two dudes are outstanding. When they play their best, their units usually play their best.
That's the thing. We fall in love with the past game, and Bo Nix and Sutton have been really good um they you know I don't want to sit here and pretend that Denver's Philadelphia are running the football but Sean Payton wants to run the football and then what happens is like you just become obsessed and stop at the run and they'll get a perimeter screen to go 50 for a touchdown but Miners he's a stud he's a monster at guard yeah Miners versus Oliver that's's the most country matchup that you could possibly get, except one is the country of Canada, basically.
Dan, you called that Ravens game last week, and you mentioned something on the broadcast, and I think that people who have been watching the Ravens all year have seen it as well, but they have adjusted their defense, their secondary specifically, and been playing really good ball down the stretch. What has happened? And do you think that that is what was needed to, like, they're now a very bona fide, like, they're going to win the Super Bowl.
They're one of the best top two, top three teams in the playoffs. Yeah, Kyle Hamilton saved their season.
So there's the butterfly effect to it. So they were really bad on defense because the secondary was just blown coverages, missed assignments, poor communication, ball going over their head.
And so their best player on defense was closer to line of scrimmage. They had Kyle down there, the line of scrimmage, a little bit like what the Rams have done in the past with like a Jalen Ramsey and whatnot, which makes sense.
The Chargers do it with Derwin. But what they did was they say, okay, the worst part of our defense is the secondary.
Let's take our best player and move him back there. So once they move Kyle back to the secondary, two things happen.
One, he communicates at such a high level. He gets everybody in the right positions.
And we often say that and don't think it's meaningful. It's enormous because in an era in football, offensively, where teams are constantly changing with shifts and motions, you know, those guys''s not like the defense calls hey cover two ready break and it just stays that way no matter what and so everybody's kind of rules change once offensive shifts and so Kyle goes back there and he he is the quarterback of the defense he gets everybody in the right places and everybody on the same page and then what happens happens is Roquan Smith, their linebacker, no longer has to bear that responsibility.

So then his focus is solely on the front seven and the backers in the rush and getting those guys because their rules change as well. So like getting those guys into the right alignment

and right set. So that's the trickle down effect of Kyle going back there.
I think the second part

of that is twofold. It allows Marlon Humphrey to go inside because Marlon is an all-pro nickel.
He struggled on the outside. As a nickel on the inside, he's as good as anybody in the league.
And then really, Nate Wiggins, their first-round pick from Clemson, has really played good football. And down there, when you talk to Roquan and ask him about Nate Wiggins, the first thing out of his mouth is Nate thinks he's the best corner in football.
You know, and you just imagine down there in Baltimore with that kind of defensive, like, swag and moxie and mindset. So Kyle going back there has been huge.
Van Nooy's been phenomenal for them. So I agree that that defense is plenty capable of going to the Super Bowl.
Yeah, when you get Marlon Humphrey on the inside, you also let him play more run support. 100%.
He's there to impact the run game a little bit, and I feel like that's a big difference too for that team because if you look at what happened, was it after the Bengals game? Yeah, they got to get up like 45 points. Jamar Chase had like 200 plus yards.
After that game, they've been one of the best defenses in football across the board. And it's as simple as just moving Kyle back and then the following adjustments that happened because of that wave.
So on the offensive side of the ball, Trey Flowers, or Zay Flowers, excuse me. I feel like Zay's injury, that adds the one little ding into the Ravens' offense that could make me believe that Pittsburgh might be able to beat him like in a weird world uh just because he's that much of an impact on offense do you think that he's going to play this weekend I hope he does because I agree it's a huge it's a huge injury you know calling that game once Zay went down and Cleveland's good um defensively once Zay went down the pass game wasn't nearly what it was with Zay on the field,

naturally, right? And so I have no idea if he's going to play because, you know, we haven't gotten

a ton of information, at least to my knowledge of kind of what the injury is. I know he's day-to-day,

and so if he doesn't play, that really hampers their pass game just because he does so much

for their pass game, both down the field and the intermediate routes and kind of winning one-on-one um I do think Bateman's good enough to kind of fill that void a little bit I do believe that Tylan Wallace can step in and handle some of the role their tight ends are really good I it's interesting because like the way to attack Pittsburgh defensively Cleveland actually exposed this like six or seven weeks ago it You spread them out sideline to sideline, and you try to minimize Queen and Cam Hayward and TJ a little bit because you don't want to play those guys in a small space. You want to play them sideline to sideline.
We'll see if he plays. If he doesn't, I do think the game's closer than I would have if he plays.
Yeah. What about the Texans and the Chargers?

That game, I just can't

get to it with the Texans

in the way they've looked offensively this

year. Even when they had all their guys,

it was never clean.

I can't think of one game where I was

like, man, the Texans looked awesome.

Their defense is great, but

are they going to get enough offense against

a good Chargers defense? What is the fix when you're watching the tape? You're like, if they could do this or this, they might have a little more success. Yeah, one, the fix is it going to be in 2025? There is no fix right now.
And then two, I honestly believe the Chargers would be a team that I would sit here and go, like, that's a dangerous team in the long run out of the AFC.

I do think the AFC is that three-team race in my gut.

But I think so.

Here's the thing for the Chargers before I touch on Houston.

Like they just there's no they don't have negative plays on offense.

They're always like moving the ball forward.

They're so efficient and like there's never oh second and 12 or third and eight.

And so like they control the game in that regard. Obviously the defense is phenomenal and their disguise is crazy.
I'll go back to Houston. And I remember the first game of the year against Indy and watching it and going on TV the next day and being like, Houston better figure out their pass protection because CJ was running for his life.
And it never got fixed this year. Their interior of their offensive line has been the weakest,

we get part of their football team all season long,

obviously Nico missing time, but then, you know,

Steph and tank down, not being there.

I just don't see how this offensive line can hold up against the chargers defensive line.

That's going to send crazy type of stunts and,

and pick games and pressures against them.

So I fully expect the chargers to win that game. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, they signed an impact free agent, Ezekiel Elliott.
Who knows what that guy's going to be able to do? Give him the ball. Accomplished so much.
Shout out Jerry. Yeah.
Shout out Jerry. Give the ball this year.
Yeah. All right.
So, yeah, that makes sense. If you go to Sunday now, obviously Jalen Hurts, whether or not he plays.
He looks like he's probably going to play. I think Max reported he was going to play and everything would be fine.
The Eagles look right now like they are one of the most, I'd say maybe second best roster in the NFL, depending on how you look at the Chiefs. But they have a shitload of talent.
And going into this game, it feels like things have been clicking very well for the Eagles this season. The Packers, on the other hand, the injury concerns, like Christian Watson, obviously, and then we don't know how healthy love is.
Should the Eagles be worried? I don't think Philadelphia has to get worried if Jalen Hurts practices today. If Jalen Hurts practices today, I do think that Philly is, I agree, I think Philly is the most talented roster top to bottom in the NFL I would say along with Baltimore as long as he's there today and he's able to kind of sharpen over the next three days I think Jalen's proven enough that he's he's one of those guys that can figure out a way to get plenty capable to go play good enough football I do think the the interesting no Jair Alexander's a big deal I thought Jair was one of those corners that could try to play A.J.
one-on-one. They don't have that guy anymore, so they're going to have to play a little bit more zone defense.
Playing zone defense against Philly's offense is a problem just because obviously the run game. I think a huge key in the game is Edren Cooper.
He's a freaking problem at linebacker. He's athletic and slippery enough.
So the best way to kind of hope if you're Green Bay defensively is that he has an all-world game, has a bunch of tackles for loss. But I think Philly's just so good.
And without Watson trying to stretch them vertically, I don't think there's a ton of fear in Philadelphia's defense going against Green Bay's offense that feels a little bit sideline to sideline now without Watson.

Dues, so speaking of quarterbacks, Jordan Love, I think he's good.

I obviously hate the Packers.

He does throw off his back foot a lot.

All the time.

So what's said in practice?

Is that something you're trying to coach out of him?

Is that something you're saying, like, dude, you've got to stop doing this?

Because sometimes they're incredible plays,

but sometimes it looks like he's just doing it

when he could easily plant and go forward.

Yeah, I mean, I've won. That's way more of an off season thing than it is in season.
You very rarely can you fix that. I think you can get it a little bit better.
I'll never forget being around a coach that one time, you know, kind of made the comment of, you never want to take a guy's stinger away. And I thought that was like an all-encompassing thing of like, you never want to take a quarterback, like a quarterback that's really aggressive, or he wants to push the ball, or he thinks he can make all these throws.
You know, Stafford was the guy that they were referencing. You know, we had coaches that were constantly trying, because Matthew used to do it too, and they were constantly trying to get Matthew to be this mechanically flawless guy, Drew Brees type of player.
And it would frustrate Matthew to a point where Matthew would almost, I don't want to say shell up, but it would make him be a lesser player in my opinion. And I think you got to walk that fine line with Jordan.
Yes, you want him to become mechanically as sound as possible, but I think that's a little bit more of one offseason and two as he gets older in his career um I right now I still believe that he's such a physically talented guy that you really want him to I'm not saying be sloppy but you really want his kind of natural athletic instincts to be the focal point of his past game yeah yeah that does make sense and i when you're talking about matthew stafford i thinking about jared goff and what he's done in detroit after stafford went to la that is the the best example of a win-win trade of all time i think i don't think it could have worked out any better for either franchise and i still think that the lions are probably the team to beat in the nfc what do you think? Would you put it like if you were to pick your winner out of the NFC right now? Are you going with the Eagles or the Lions? I think I'm going with Detroit. You know, my wife is going to be pissed off about that.
I think them getting home field matters a ton. I'm going to text her right now, Dan.
Hopefully you don't't um real quick we were supposed to have dan on yesterday and i wake up at like seven in the morning and i have a text from a number i don't see and it says hey it's it's orlovsky uh my phone broke i'm texting you from my wife's number and i was like oh okay and then we just texted on like i texted your wife's number for like two and forth communicating, so I'll delete the number, don't worry. Yeah, thank God you didn't FaceTime her.
She's an Eagles fan, isn't she? Yeah. I'm gonna tell her.
She's an Eagles fan, right? She is a maniac, dude. Maniac.
Yeah, so I'm gonna have to text her. Yeah, I asked her the other day, I'm like, hey, Sunday, Eagles play 4.30 in Philly, you wanna go? And she was like, I'd rather wait and just go to Detroit when they go there.
I'm like hey Sunday Eagles play 4 30 in Philly you want to go and she was like I'd rather wait and just go to Detroit when they go there I'm like okay you're already okay you're already booking it so um okay so why Detroit I think that she thinks oh why do I like Detroit I getting healthy you know Anzalone getting healthy uh matters a ton I was so impressed with the way that they played on the defense side of the football I think think Detroit all comes down to, can they get like two takeaways a game? If they get two takeaways a game, and you can say that about everybody, but that's not really reality. Cause I think they're going to have to score 30 plus to beat anybody.
And, um, because the defense is still beat up. And so I'm banking on Detroit.
I think it's, they're as well coached as anybody. I think they understand, like, hey, we got to win two games.
And, you know, I do believe that they match up well versus Philadelphia as long as one of those corners is going to have to play out of his head, kind of like he did the other night against Minnesota. Like Robertson or if Carlton Davis comes back or Terry and Arnold, like one of those cats versus AJ is going to have to play out of his head.
Yeah. Yeah.
So with Tampa Bay, Washington, I'm obviously commanders fan. So I'm going to be biased in how I perceive your answer.
And I will put you on the enemy's list. If I don't think that you answered fairly in week one, we saw the commanders and the box, and that was a very different team.
I think probably for both teams, but especially for the Commanders. And Todd Bowles did his thing where he just blitzes the hell out of you.
And he put Jaden under a lot of pressure. Jaden's grown a lot as a quarterback since then.
Are we going to see more of that Todd Bowles signature, send pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, force him to make quick decisions and see what happens from there?

Are we going to see the Todd Bowles where he takes his foot off that gas and ends up playing deep coverage to take away the deep ball from Jaden?

I think that you'll get a little bit more of that softer, deep coverage protection.

Well, one, in that first game, Washington did not run as much no huddle as they have throughout this season. And that kind of mitigates trying to get to all those pressures.
I think, too, you've got to be worried about Blitz and Daniels right now, because if you leave McLaurin one on one versus the corners, in my opinion, advantage Washington. I don't think Tampa Bay can run with McLaurin on the outside.
and two you know kind of what happened in week one if you don't get home he's gone you know he's gonna get 80 to 100 on you and so I don't love the matchup for Tampa Bay honestly I think they play way too soft on the outside I think Jaden's gonna have opportunity to create a ton of easy completions I would be very aggressive down the field with McLaurin if I were them I don't think either of these corners can cover them on a consistent basis. So I don't think that Todd comes after them that much early on, and they try to just see if they can play really, really good red zone defense.
Okay. I like that, and I agree with you because I've been watching the tape, Dan.
So I'm thinking – and what you saw in week one was Jaden, when he did get pressured, since it was all, you know, the game speed was new to him, his first NFL game, he would either try to take off, or there were times when he would try to just like drop back in the pocket a little bit. Yeah.
Because he didn't have the confidence necessarily to just go forward, step up in the pocket and take off. So he'd try to escape the pressure by like backpedaling.
Boom, he gets hit. They got a couple sacks that way.
I feel like this is a very different team. And then on the defensive side of the ball for the Commanders, I love, if he plays, I love the Marshawn-Lattimore matchup against Mike Evans.
Historically, that's been a very good matchup for Lattimore. Yeah, Lattimore's had the opportunity to have some success against it.
I know people keep saying that, but I don't know, the one time we saw Lattimore was versus AJ, and AJ had his way versus him both in success and penalty, so I know he's fresh off the injury. We'll see how healthy he is.
I don't feel the same way about that Marshawn-Lattimore kind of performance that as it did three or four or five years ago in New Orleans. So I think this game's high scoring.
I really do. I think this game could sniff both teams getting close to 30.
I think Washington's going to struggle to stop Bucky Irving and Rashad White, you know, and, you know, I think that this is the team, this is the game where both defenses are reeling a little bit versus offenses that are hot, man. Yeah, I actually think in a weird way that this matchup, it's a good matchup for both teams.
It's going to be a fun game. Yeah.
How do you – I think the Bucs are going to be able to run the ball. I agree, yes.
Yeah, and that's going to open up a lot. I think Bucky Irving is going to have a big day.
He's so good. He's so good.
He's so good, and that's been the difference, that's been the difference, you know, coming down the stretch. He became just a real dude.
Yeah, it reminds me of like Brian Westbrook years ago for the Eagles. You know, it's like he's big enough where he can make any kind of run.
But then when he gets the ball in space, it's like he's shifty but low to the ground and strong and tough. He's a really big time player.
We'll get back to Dan Orlovsky in a second. The playoffs are here and every game counts.
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And visit jdpower.com slash awards for more award details. And now here is Dan Orlovsky.
All right, so Monday Night Football will be on ESPN, so we'll see our friends Joe and Troy. Sam Darnold, I saw the clip.
You said you thought he missed five touchdown passes on Sunday night. Yeah.
Is this a, hey, the Lions had an incredible game plan. They did something that the Vikings weren't expecting.
That's an anomaly. That's one game.
Or is this, hey, this is a big problem. And Sam Darnold, as great as he's been this year, like you have a little bit of doubt going into the playoffs.
Yeah, I think it's a little bit more of a tip of the hat to Detroit. I really thought Detroit's game plan was awesome.
That doesn't mean that Sam didn't miss those throws. But I do think, you know, just from a quarterback's perspective, when you get some of those defenses that you don't want to expect or to necessarily have clarity of what you're looking at, you can start to kind of chase stuff.
And whether it's getting your eyes off the guy too soon or, or you know you're anticipating one thing and then it's another thing so what you might be anticipating and doing something with your eyes to try to move a guy isn't exactly that and so you're quote unquote doing the wrong thing um so I think it's a little bit more of a tip of the hat to Detroit I'm not overly concerned about it um the thing that I'm honestly like more concerned about in the game when it comes to this matchup, Minnesota offense, and the Rams defensive line is awesome. And part of the reason that I think Sam played that way, and I thought the Lions defensive line kicked the crap out of the Vikings offensive line.
And so, you know, with a young, violent, physical, nasty defensive line with the Rams, with Verse and Fisk and Turner, like that's a little bit more has my attention rather than do i think sam darnold's going to play poorly again so i fully expect sam to bounce back it's a different defensive structure way more zone than man than obviously detroit run so i think he plays a lot better but i'll have my eyes more on their offensive line i i got a question about this game as well. Can you explain just how good Puka Nakua is and how does he get open all the time? And I know that you can't just leave Cooper Cup is a worry, but Puka is, it just feels like every time they need a big pass, he's there and he's open.
What the hell do you do if you're a defense? Yeah. I mean, he reminds me so much of TJ Hushmanzada.
You remember TJ back in the day with Chad? Like, we would be playing against them, and you would obviously have your attention to Chad, rightfully so, but TJ would just get open all the time, and you would be like, what the fudge route was that? You know, like, that's not even a route, a route dude you know and he just has this great ability to understand like I do think he's crazy strong um he has this really good understanding of like how to use his body and his strength to lean into guys to get him to kind of be where he wants you to be and then he has a really good feel for space I think he's crazy smart like if you ever watch him I remember last year when he was starting to break out I thought one of the things he did as good as anybody in the league what if he gets to the top of his routes he's always starting to peek to where the defense is and like gauging okay where is the corner where's the safety where's the backer so he kind of knows how to get out of the cut and is he going full speed? Is he going slow? Is he going deep? Is he going high? And so he's got a great kind of feel for that stuff. I also think, you know, I talked about this a little bit this year, like the Rams do and Sean do with him better than anybody double motions, you know, where they motion twice before the ball gets snapped.
They'll set the formation and they'll motion him over and he'll get set and then they'll motion him again. And so, you know, they did a really good job of kind of creating some leverage for him or getting him into some soft spots and he takes advantage of it.
And Stafford and him have gotten just countless reps together. So he's a problem.
He's a problem to stop. It's just crazy to watch.
It is. He's so fun to watch, especially without the ball, too.
Yeah. I just love it.
They should do it all 22, except it's all one. Just follow him.
I like that. The where's Waldo of Puka.
Yeah. Yeah.
So what about the Rams offense, though? Because since that Bills game, the Rams offense hasn't looked great. Yeah.
Are you concerned at all with your boy? I am. He hasn't played well in the last three or four weeks.
You know, he had that unbelievable game, specifically on the third down where he was just off the charts. And so, you know, since then, I think that they fought a little bit of an offensive identity as well.
You know, sometimes I'm like, you know, I love their keeper game where they bootleg him, and I love their play-action game. And then sometimes it's like, well, how come you're not running it and then i

live in the world of i love when they stack puka and cooper on the same side but then like well

you're getting a little bit too predictable with that and so i think that they fought a little bit

of exactly who they want to be i also know that there's such a good run game you know that you

it's a challenge and it's a battle of like hey it's almost like baltimore as well like we're

really good running the football and we want to run the football but we don't want to become so obvious and predictable where teams just they get paid as well defensively so like they just tee off on us and so i think they've battled that a little bit i don't believe that matthew's thrown the ball incredibly well over the last three weeks so uh i think like if you were going to ask me the one thing that has to happen in that game for the Rams to win, I really believe Matthew's going to have to throw the ball better than he has the last three weeks. I feel differently than when they went on their Super Bowl run.
You know, when they're on that Super Bowl run, I remember the last three, four weeks of the season, I was like, they're going to win it. You know, like he's just playing too well or too good.
I kind of feel the opposite i'm like he's he's got to be the person that plays better for them to win yeah all right yeah uh big cat and i were big fans um at least at times on the simpsons broadcast i love the simpsons huge fan grew up watching it um the only thing that we had i think we were saying that the uh the play was too live game. The live game.
And I know that they do that because it's like a whole animated thing. But that must have been a lot of fun to participate in on your part.
What was your prep like for the Simpsons game? Yeah, it was cool. Football prep-wise, you know, it wasn't nearly what it is, you know, when you're calling an actual game.
Just because we knew, one, the game didn't really have any playoff implications or you know kind of you know the results of it mattering a ton so we leaned into a little bit more of the let's live in the moment and the animation of it and the simpsons part of it so football wise not a ton simpsons wise a lot you know the writers helped us out a lot you know they gave us a ton of kind of notes just to refresh our memories because I'm a nineties kid. So I grew up in many ways watching the Simpsons.
I have a son who's autistic. So anything that has to do with animation is like his superpower wheelhouse.
Part of it is because he thinks that they're actually real, no matter if it's a still shot and animation. So, you know, when he found out it, he was the most into it person on the planet.
And so he was constantly drawing. He wanted to watch it a ton.
So we started allowing him to watch it a little bit. And so I would watch it with him, just trying to refresh my memory with some of the episodes.
And so the writers were great. Catching up on a ton of episodes, kind of trying to make sure that I was up to date with some of the jokes some of the one-liners some of the kind of the personalities of it uh so it was cool it was really cool to be a part of the technology is nuts did they have any any prep with you on what they would do if there was like a fight on the field or if like somebody got injured and it's like no it's like ralph wiggum that's.
Yeah, no, they didn't. I think that they were prepared.
They had so many elements built in, you know, some of like the cutaways of Mo and, you know, obviously the jokes and whatnot. They had so many elements built in that my thought would, that they would like go to that.
The only thing that they really had us kind of pay attention to in that regard was um like when they brought somebody in the game we more often knew hey that person's going to impact this place somehow so right you know if lisa comes in at running back it's like whoa i would give the ball to lisa here so like that was the only thing that they kind of hinted to us it's embarrassing it took me like two quarters to pick up on that and i was like well everyone's operating on the slot right now Touchdown! He's like, yeah. We knew what he wased to us.
It's embarrassing. It took me like two quarters to pick up on that.
Yeah, yeah. Ralph Wiggum's operating on the slot right now.
You called the touchdown. It's like, yeah.
We knew it was up there. All right, Dan, I got one last question for you.
By the way, also congrats on one of the best clips ever with Shannon Sharp the other day. Yes.
You had that locked and loaded. For people who missed it.
Did you see how kind of like that came out or how it came to be on Pat's show when um I hit up Hembo I was like it just during the commercial break at get up I was like I wonder if and I texted Hembo who's the stats guy and he's so good at ESPN has this ever happened he just texted back 1992 Sterling Sharp and when Shannon started talking I was like there's no fudging way that you're going here right now so yeah so for people who missed it shannon was like when was the last time a guy won the triple crown didn't make the playoffs and dan was just like your brother 1992 he was like like it completely got him it was just a great moment yeah yeah i had there's been you know the internet when when it's not on your side it sucks but when it's on your side it's it's awesome uh and so the internet had a field day with that one in a good way for me yeah yeah it was very funny the look on your face afterwards is priceless i'm such a prick i'm such a prick yeah you got no but you you know you nailed it yeah and you got you got to take a victory lap sometimes yeah because i have plenty of moments when the opposite happens so yeah all right so my last question last question, Roback question, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE, 20% off your first purchase. Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts, Roback.com, promo code TAKE.
I want to do, so I won't make you pick against the spread, but can you give us what you think is going to be your winner for all six games, wildcard weekend, and then give us your Super Bowl. Yep.
So I think game one is Houstonston uh chargers i believe i'm taking the chargers in that game i think game two is going to be baltimore whether zay flowers plays or not i feel confident saying baltimore wins that game i don't think pittsburgh's offense is good enough uh the third game is uh tampa bay and washington i'm gonna take washington i think jayden daniel sniffs 80 completion in that game here we go i just don't think tampa bay's defense is good enough on the perimeter hold up with them um good pick dan uh thank you uh again number four philly um philly green bay i think the watson injury is huge for their offense i think philadelphia comes out the only thing that gives me reservation is the one thing that philly's done a lot of times this year, a little bit less in the second half of the season, is start slow. Jalen not practicing for a long time.
If they start slow, it does give me... If I was Green Bay, I would just bombs away early on in that game, see if I could grab a lead and control the game.
But I am taking Philly. And then a Monday night football, fudge, dude.
I'm going to go.

This is the toughest one for me. I'm going to go Minnesota on the road.
I don't think that Sam Darnold plays two bad games in a row. Great game, but I'll go Minnesota on the road.
And then I think the NFC title game is Detroit, Philly. I think the AFC title game is Kansas City, Baltimore.
and I'm going to pick I'm going to pick Kansas City

and Detroit in the Super Bowl. And I'm going to say Kansas City does it.
That would be one of those maps where, like, what is the country rooting for? And it's just one circle in the middle for Kansas City. Are you picking Kansas City because you're just afraid of not picking Kansas City? Or do you actually believe that they're good enough? I'm afraid of not picking Mahomes.
No, I don't really. You've done this long enough where you realize people hate you no matter what type of stuff.
Facts. I think that that's a different group when it's win or go home.
I really do. And I do think they're a better team this year than they were last year.
And so I just think for some reason 15 finds a way, and they're plenty good enough it's not like you know he's dragging a team to the super bowl they're they're a really good team and they got healthy in the secondary which is going to be huge secondary for sure watson coming back is huge bills broncos did we do that one bills bills broncos i did not do i'm taking the bills although again that that game has my attention okay and then obviously the Ravens over the Bills yeah I think the Ravens over the Bills I just dude there's something about Baltimore after I've been around both teams this year obviously I think they're both really good there's something about Baltimore where Todd Monk and their play caller said to me as long as we stay ahead of the schedule, we're unstoppable.

Like that's their philosophy.

And I just think that they're in a unique place where like they can line up and say, hey, here it comes.

Stop.

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

They've run it down their throat.

That's what happened in the first time they played this season.

Yep.

All right.

Well, Dan, thank you as always, man.

We love having you on.

Love talking ball.

We appreciate it.

And I'm happy you got your phone back. Thanks, boys.
Always good to be with you guys. Enjoy the weekend.
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The Steelers and the Ravens, this is going to be a great game at night. Good matchup.
Can't wait to watch it. These two teams, they're going to play each other tough.
I don't know what's going to happen, but you know that the Steelers, this is a Tomlin game. He's a little bit disrespected right now.
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Fire Fest of the week. Henry, you're up.
A couple of Fire Fest. Brandon Walker cucked me out of my chair.
You have a cuck chair? I like the Vanny Woodhead chair. No, I had the Vanny Woodhead chair in here, but I got outvoted.
So back to the couch. We should actually have Brandon sit in that chair and watch.
And then I posted a jumpsuit picture from my condo, and people just, you know, it's the internet, but they were just roasting my interior design. no said it looked like i lived in a timeshare in florida oh no old woman's home why do you have to why are the christmas trees up i i like the christmas tree aesthetic yep i'm keeping them up till after the super bowl yeah that's that's when winter ends for me i don't i don't care people get mad i'll take them down after christmas yep super bowl is the end of winter as far as i'm concerned that's the end of our season uh go on a golf trip the week after super bowl and then when we come back that's that's the sign of spring to me and that's when i will take down my christmas tree i'll probably keep posting my christmas tree just to piss people off but it's winter it's still winter it's christmas tree season yep i agree i love keeping the christmas up.
So people are saying you got to take your Christmas tree down. People said I got to take my Christmas tree down.
They said, which I guess I was reading like, oh, it looks like you have a timeshare home. It looks like a vacation in Florida.
That's the vibe. I'm that's the vibe I want.
Yeah. Yeah.
I don't want to. Who doesn't want to live where it's vacation all the time? Yeah.
You have a minimalistic vibe going in your place. Get some Jimmy Buffett stuff.
You know what you don't need but it's one of those things and i i i get in my head because it's just people and i shouldn't because it's random people on the internet that i shouldn't let it bother me but it kind of did but it's like why and you realize you know you can't anything you post people are gonna get mad about anything you say people are mad about but i've never i i love where i live i like the vibe i have but now then i get i start second guessing myself yeah so the christmas tree stays up christmas tree you don't need to decorate your house you have the water right with the water that that covers all the interior design yes you don't want to try to take away from the water no the water is is uh what is it zen yeah yeah yeah peace tranquil even Marie Kondo went up to your apartment, would she say throw away the water? Throw away Lake Michigan? No. No, she wouldn't.
And the trees bring me joy, so I'm going to keep them up. Love it.
I like it. Yeah.
Do you. Yeah.
Do you. Fuck them.
Absolutely. Fuck them.
Fuck the haters. PFT or Firefest? My Firefest of the week.
I'm also on jumpsuits. Oh.
Oh, okay. I am too, so can we mix in some non-jumpsumpsuits if you're in there? If you're comfortable doing that.
I don't know. I started posting these videos every day.
Now I'm like, I don't know how to stop. What if people just send us more jumpsuits? Yeah.
That'd be cool. That would be cool.
I got more jumpsuits. Well, it's Jamie January, but yeah.
It's called One Piece. You look like the Easter Bunny the other day.
Jamie January. I was the coziest boy on earth i was really cozy every okay so the fire fest was wearing that the cozy jumpsuits which i got a lot of feedback on um positive many of much of it positive some was negative uh but he looks cute i did look cute i looked i like i said i was so cozy the problem with wearing such a cozy jumpsuit slash pajamas is that everybody comes up to you and touches you.
I got touched by so many dudes in Postful Sports last week. I think it was Jersey Jerry sat down next to me on the couch.
He was just like, squeeze. Give me an arm a squeeze.
I was like, oh, hey, what's up, Jerry? Didn't see you there. But yeah, I still have some jumpsuits, but my fire fest is that none of them are as cozy

as the ones I was wearing this week,

which were all one pieces.

And also Hank got me sick.

Yeah, PFT feels sick.

Yeah, now I feel sick.

It's my bad.

It's okay.

It's okay.

You know what?

Did you know if we-

Getting a flu shot, by the way,

New Year's resolution got a physical,

so we're halfway down.

Also got a flu shot.

Didn't know that getting a flu shot makes you sicker.

Well, no, you get a little bit of the flu.

Yeah, I didn't know that.

I was like, I got a flu shot.

I feel like, shit.

They're like, yeah, that's the point.

They inject you with the flu.

So you were already sick with the flu.

Then you went to the doctor and you're like, hey, can I have a flu shot to take a little

late?

I was getting my physical and I had to get a prescription refill.

They're like, do you want a flu shot?

And it's like, how do you say no to that? Yeah, they just hand them out. Yeah.
So I said yes, and then, yeah, I got sicker afterwards. Yeah, we've done a pretty good job.
Me and Big Cat have done it. I should rephrase that.
You and I, Big Cat, have done a very good job of not getting too sick on show days. Don't say this now.
Don't say this. Don't say this now.
Because I had that one day when Heisman Saturday. Yeah.
I could not hold anything down. I was puking like 15 times.
It happened on a Saturday. I was able to get back on a Sunday, and I felt like shit, but we show up to your job.
There have been so many times where Thursday night I drive home, and I'm like, oh, I feel sick. My body just knows.
Yeah. You're off the clock for a day and a half.
Yeah. It's okay to get sick now, but yeah, Hank got me sick this it's okay hank i'll fight through it okay uh all right my fire fest uh i got a big one uh people who have probably watched surviving barstool it has not been a fun week for me but there's one thing i want to kind of address because i've obviously seen it in the comment section i owe it to the awl so i think a lot of people knew this but i'm just gonna say it let's just fucking do it because i don't know why i don't know why i've been living in shame like i don't know why i'm ashamed of this but yeah i i was i was born and raised in newton massachusetts uh i so growing up i have family in chicago uh i would come here once a year michael jordan was my favorite athlete.
I kind of rooted for both.

I did root for the Patriots.

I moved away in 2003 for high school or for college.

Never moved back.

Long time ago.

Long time ago.

Wasn't like a diehard Patriots fan,

but I rooted for them.

I moved to Chicago right after college.

And I love the city of Chicago. I loved it.
I loved it when i was a kid when i would come visit um and my uncle would take me to games and stuff i i loved it i always loved it so it's kind of like a this is the city that you know it's the other city like my my uncle was uh loose i think he might have lied to me when i was a kid like loosely friends with phil jackson that's such an uncle move yeah and i was just like that fucking awesome dude because they they used to uh practice right by where they live um so i always loved the city of chicago uh kind of just moved yeah moved out in 2003 have not lived in massachusetts since then um still you know rooted for the Patriots a little bit uh rooted i never was really hockey um and then i you know when i moved to chicago i started falling in love with you know the city of chicago and uh the teams and everything and so it was a slow gradual thing where i started writing about it uh dave hired me and he i remember asking him right away I was like should i just say this and he was like no just just do your job just blog and go ahead no i was gonna say i'll let you finish there is context i think and this is so long ago like when i started yeah the 2012 2013 barstool was writing city-based there was a chicago person that was the chicago writer before you he was not from chicago and either the fans basically like ran him out of town i forgot about that part and we have other writers who there was a writer from philly who was from philly he all he did was live in brooklyn and people found out he lived in brooklyn they kind of ran him out of town so there was like there was definitely and and like you said you asked Dave about it and I think there was definitely like uh you you know you you want people to identify with you and Chicago right and I was ashamed that I'm so stupid the the writers like we had you know Kay Marco like is from he I always thought he's from New York because he wrote for Barcelona New York then i found out he wasn't from new york and i was like wait what because yeah that was like how it was supposed not supposed to come across you're not lying but like there was there is a lot of context with that that i think people have never understood especially with the mo and like the neil like all that stuff like there was a lot of that where it's like that was a big thing back in the day. But I don't know why for so long I've let it bother me and like been ashamed of it.
It's such a stupid, trivial thing when it comes to like, you know, listen, I'm sure there'll be some people who are like, fuck this. I hate them.
I'm not listening to PMT anymore. Fuck big cat.
I get it. I would say to you, yes, I used to, you know, I have a complicated, like, Chicago teams are always kind of my second teams.
I rooted for the Patriots. I moved away in 2003.
So basically all the winning happened after I moved probably was probably a curse. I was going to say, would you say that that would be a good choice to make if you were just trying to like?

No, I wish I didn't make that choice.

I wish I had just been like, you know, but I fell in love with the city of Chicago and the teams.

And I listen, this is why I moved back here.

This is why I'm raising my kids here.

I just, you know, and my fandom of the Chicago teams is genuine.

I've been doing this for 14, 15 years now. You think someone would subject themselves 13 years to 14 to the Bears over the course of the last like 15 years? So if people didn't care about the Bears.
Yeah. I mean, well, my other fire fesses, I did get my tattoo.
Thanks. Tyreek Stevenson finally got my tattoo, paid that bet.
So thanks a lot for not paying attention. But so I listen i've been uh i i have i think i've talked about on the show i i've i started seeing a therapist a few months ago that was not that's not because of this that was because of the pressure of having an office where everyone gives you their problems and i never give anyone my problems i never tell anyone my problems um but i i it's something that i shouldn't be ashamed of it's something i should just embrace uh i had a great childhood i like i i don't know why i i just it's part of the context hank said it's part of like i just don't want people to to hate me and that's another fucked up like i actually have talked to my therapist about this being a people pleaser you can't do do that.
But I should just stop. Like, stop being ashamed.
That's the story. Rip the Band-Aid.
Rip the Band-Aid. My teams are the teams for the rest of my life now.
And I don't know, you know, I actually, my uncle, I was looking at it because I was just like, last night, I was just kind of, you know, I wasn't feeling great'm feeling great wouldn't feel awesome so my uncle passed away in 2018 uh kind of tragically it was cancer very quickly i looked it up because i was just like going through like kind of memory lane and it was actually 2019 um and my last text to him is uh the bears are the bears again an unbelievable defense and a maddening quarterback time is circle. I'm starting to think Trubisky will never be the guy, which is so damn frustrating.
Um, so like it was, it was just funny. I was laughing about that.
Cause I was like, shit, like, but he, you know, he was part of why I always would, you know, have a second team like, Oh yeah. You know, Jordan and everything.
So everyone, when they're growing up, like I was, I was, I was born in LA. I mean, when I was three, but like when I was growing up, I was like, Oh, I was born in LA.
The Dodgers are my second team. Like, that's just like a thing.
And I still rooted for the Patriots when they were, you know, like when I was like 18, 19, 20, a little bit out of, out of college. But then I slowly was like, I I'm, I'm going to be a bear.
Like I want to be in Chicago. This is the city I want to be in for the rest of my life.
I love the city to death. I want to rep this city.
So yeah, that's it. And then also the weirdest thing, I get this all the time.
Yeah, I was in a couple of plays in high school. I did play sports growing up.
I just sucked after. So when I was 12 years old, 13 years old, I tore every ligament and tendon in my ankle playing basketball, travel basketball, like whatever the AU equivalent is.
And I just was never good at anything after that. Like, I just sucked.
I mean, I think people understand I did play like Little League soccer, basketball, all that stuff. When you see me playing sports when we do competitions, I don't look like a guy who never played a sport.
Also, I don't think that a in a play is anything to be ashamed no i mean listen i've we're being totally honest i was a way to try to get chicks okay i like didn't work that well wasn't really fucking a lot in high school guy in theater yeah i was a theater guy yeah i mean but you know people will pick it and i my problem is i let it i never just said it so then i let it me and I'm done by letting it bother me. I have a fucking awesome life.
I, this show is the best thing in the world. I love it so, so much.
Someone asked me the other day, PFD on Twitter. They're like, how long are you going to do this show? I was like, dude, I'll do this show for as long as people will listen.
Like I, I, and I truly mean that. And I know that it's, it sounds cor sounds corny and shit but like i will do this show with these people for till we're 60 70 if everyone wants to do it because i love it that much and letting something like this bother me just it it affects other parts of my life that i shouldn't let it affect makes me not as good of a co-worker boss father husband all that shit so i'm done with it so that's it and uh if people are gonna hate me i can't do anything about it i don't think anybody's gonna hate you i know but i think i think that the the and obviously it's like it's it's something that has been like in the back of your mind for a while but i think the the the fear your fear of the percentage of people that are going to be like, fuck Big Adam.
I know. This show is like minuscule.
I know.

It's zero point. the fear your fear of the percentage of people that are going to be like fuck big at i know the show is like minuscule i know it's 0.001 and it's like those type of people like listening to the show who gives a fuck like yeah no they that feared yeah consumes that's but that's also not no one's listening it's going to be like i know slamming their fist against their their steering wheel being like ah and i appreciate everyone who's had my back my back.
Everyone in this room, everyone in the booth. You told me also I have talked about it before, but I've never said that.
I used to root for I used to have kind of a complicated I root for both teams kind of thing and not like I wasn't a full Bears fan when I was nine years old and then I was like, you know what? I'm going to be a Bears fan. I'm staying the rest of my life in Chicago.
Obviously, we went to New York for seven years. But we came back.
And my kids are going to be here. They're going to be raised in Chicago, which I'm happy about.
So, yeah. And I think a lot of people, yeah.
I mean, there's multiple times I've said it. But there's just say I should have just said it.
I should have just said it 10 years ago. You told me in 2016 when we first started the show.
Yeah. And after having been around you for eight years and seen you probably more than anybody else, I can fully say that you are a diehard Chicago sports fan.
Like, that's why it wasn't a big deal. It's like, okay.
Yeah. A lot of us were born in different.
Hand up. I used to root for Duke basketball when I was a kid.
Hank knows that until I read Coach K's book. I did root for the Braves.
I did root for the Braves a little bit. Terry Pendleton, shout out.
Yeah, so did I. That's just because.
They were on everywhere. They were on everywhere.
And I root for the Cubs because I was. I was going to run with that.
I was. Well, yeah, he is.
I was on the Cubs Little League team and then they, I could watch Cubs games too. So I would watch Cubs games and Braves games.
But yeah go ahead sorry no I was gonna say I yeah TBS watching Braves every day in the summertime WGN watching Chicago I didn't have a baseball team yeah closest with the Baltimore Orioles which I kind of like but yeah listen people people change a little bit yeah I know it's just I'm in my own head you guys know me well enough that I my probably one of the faults I have is I do care. Like not sound like Michael Scott.
I care too much, but I do. I do a little bit where it's like Hank tells me all the time.
He's like, dude, like Hank will text me. Like, dude, you have an awesome life.
You have a beautiful family. You make an incredible living.
Like, why do you care? It's like, I don't know. I just still care still care because I want people to like the show that we do.
And I've always been like, oh, fuck. They're going to stop liking me.
People, I mean, you're not that good of an actor. No.
Like, you watch what you do after a Bears loss. It's not.
Yeah. Who could possibly think that you're faking that you're faking that? Right.
I put my emotions and everything into it. And it's like, yeah.
And I get triggered when you guys say we should get Mike McCarthy. That's real.
I wish it wasn't. And yeah, I probably should have just stuck with Boston teams.
My life would have been a lot better. But yeah, we just had to say it.
That's where it's like the context of the old boy. That just wouldn't.
It's it's not a thing yeah no i know i know but i i feel good that i'm even saying right now so uh you know that's it i just hope that you know people still like me they will they will i got a tattoo tyree stevenson also just uh i was never obviously a credible athlete i don't think anyone in this room actually hank peaked when he was well i was incredible i athlete. Max was incredible.
I was an incredible athlete. 13-year-old.
My worst. Memes was All-American.
14 home runs. That's a good point.
Memes, All-American. My baseball highlight was when I was 11 in the City Series I pitched.
I was the third pitcher on our team, and they started the game with me, and our first pitcher only had three innings that they could pitch. And I pitched one hit, shut out three innings, and my coach pulled me for the number one pitcher, and we lost.
I've never lived that one down. I've been so upset ever since.
I had unlimited innings. I was the third ace.
You were taking state. Third ace.
It's also got to be said that the the two like two biggest podcasters joe rogan big cat yeah yeah same time yeah yeah that's true although yeah i don't he doesn't really oh i didn't know much i don't know if he talks about it john krasinski oh yeah that's true how old is joe he's much older than me okay 10 years older yeah older. But is that? Yeah, that is funny.

I didn't even connect that.

But yeah, all right.

That was my fire press.

And yeah, I got a tattoo.

So I finally paid my bet.

It's a Grateful Dead lightning bolt.

I think I'm already ready for another one, PFT.

Yeah, we're kind of low-key addicted to getting tats.

Commanders and Bears. I hope part of hoping that we do this show forever is that we get 25 years down the line

and we both have full sleeves.

And it's just like, all right, that was 2028.

Yep.

I'll see you next time. of hoping that we do this show forever uh is that we get you know 25 years down the line and we both have full sleeves and it's just like all right that was 20 uh 28 yep that was 20 you know that's how they used to write down history like way back in medieval times is like a giant tapestry our bodies are going to be tapestries of losing important battles yeah and so that'll be nice to see yeah um all right well thank you everyone to all the fans i really do love love all of you and everyone who's had my back.
Should we finish with numbers? 40. 5.
11. You want 3? 8.
8's gonna hit. I'll do 3.
Do people not have accents? My parents are not from Boston. So that's why I've never had an accent.
My parents are both from Massachusetts. Everyone I know that has accents is because their parents have accents.
Yeah, my parents are from... Even being from Massachusetts didn't really have an accent, so I didn't.
Yeah, so neither of my parents are from Boston. But when I did the Dixie tour, it was down south, I would wait on thick.
The Boston? I'm from Massachusetts.

From Boston.

From Boston.

Did it help you with the ladies?

No.

Pug, what was your number?

Not at all.

You thought you were

coming in there

like speaking.

But it was something.

Yeah, it was like,

you know,

a little something.

You needed anything.

Can I take 99?

96.

Whoa.

Close, Pug.

Close. Love you guys Thank you.
Thank you.