The Around the NFL podcast. Eats, breathes, and shoots football. From the Chris Wesley podcast studio, It's Around the NFL, The Flagship Show. Divisional round, Weekend Edition. Pound for pound, the best weekend of football of the year. And the drama, the drama was excellent this weekend. Living up to the hype. We're down One to four here. Dan hands us with Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sesler. Sunday, January 28th, Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens. 3:00 PM, kickoff, CBS 6:30 PM Eastern Time on Fox. Lions at Niners. From the big Bell Bottom, the winners of those games play in Super Bowl 58, two weeks from that day. Mark, three games left.

Yeah, and I think that announcement alone by you is a very crystallized irritant to four fan bases who did not survive this weekend. But I really don't know if any of them can be put above what Buffalo's fan base has been through. We sat down and watched this game together for hours, and I don't know. Sometimes, if there are football gods or whatever sitting up there controlling all of this, the puppet masters, man, they have a sick sense of humor.

It's the beautiful part of doing this show that we will get to all four games, that every winner, loser, you all get your due. And yet it's hard not to just feel overwhelmed by the enormity of this Bill's Chief's game. It's right before we tape, and it's Josh Allen, it's Patrick Mahomes. It's a game we've been building up to for four years, and in some ways it was so different. And then the ending being so similar. The only difference is we got a Bill's fan with tears, covering himself up.

Eric didn't want to share that.

No, I wasn't talking Eric. Instead of like, Chief's fans with happy tears. The guy on the telecast.

But Eric's probably crying as well, although he's a very strong man. I thought the Sunday games are... Everyone is, and rightfully so, has been focused on Detroit, the city of Detroit, the rise of the program under Dan Campbell and how it's galvanized, that whole area, and how they're so easy to root for. I think from a personal standpoint, it did have, as we're starting the show, a little bit of a hangover because I've always felt a bit a kinship with the Bills and their fans in the AFC East, and this feeling that when is it going to be your turn to get over the hub? There are so many moments in the game we're about to talk about where it felt like this was different than other Bills' teams, and yet it was not.

It's distinctly different than the other games, too, because I think if you're a Texans fan or a packers fan, there's a little bit of house money going on there, and there's hope for the future. It's like you're surprised almost to be here on some level. Tampa Bay, similar. No one expected Tampa Bay to go deep into the playoffs. The Bills came in with immense expectations, immense pressure, and the carpet was rolled out for them to finally do it this time around to host the Chiefs in Buffalo. The fate could not be more cruel. I don't know. I feel like there's a weight to all of it. I feel exhausted.

I mean, look at the crowd. People literally emotional to a state of tears. That is the power of sport, the power of the NFL, and the hold it has on Western New York, and really everywhere. So let's get into it. The problem for the Bills is that to get over the pump, they had to beat the Chiefs. That's the team that... They have Patrick Mahomes. That's a problem. All right, to Orchard Park.

Chiefs 27, Bills 24, 147 to go.

No, no, no, no. In the game on fourth down and nine for Buffalo. Placement down, Bess's kick is up, and the kick is no good. A little prophecy. Tyler Bess has struggled, and he just misses the kick, and the Chiefs will take over at the point of the miss kick. Their own 34-yard line as Tyler Bass misses this wide to the right. He missed. He skanked one wide to the left against Pittsburgh.

You just wonder on the overcorrection, the Chiefs catch a break on a miss field goal by Buffalo.

Oh, Mitch Holtes rolling in the blood.Oh, wow.

A little...

Of course. Because you know what? Wdaf with the call. You guess the cheese were supposed to neatly move to the side this year. Bad year by their standards. Couldn't get anything right. But then they flip a switch, as the true great teams do. It will drive you crazy if you're sick of watching the Kansas City Chiefs, but they don't care. Just like the The dynasty before them, the Patriots, they didn't care either. As the Chiefs get the benefit, obviously, of a missed field goal there by Tyler Bass, the one that will live in infamy, of course, not quite at the level of wide right in January '91, but Wideright in January of '24 is something that will stick with us and builds Mafia forever. Final score, 27 to 24. The Chiefs advance to the AFC Championship Game for the sixth consecutive year. Does anybody understand how difficult it is to get to the AFC title game, to get to a conference Championship game six years in a row? I don't even care if you don't win them all just getting there. It's so difficult. The Chiefs use a big play offense that was gone all season, Greggy.

They average nine yards per play in this game, and the defense tightens up in the back end of this game to take one and rip the hearts out of Buffalo.

I felt like these teams switched bodies. All season, we wasted our time, apparently, talking about how this Chief's offense, they're never going to get it together. And today, they have eight plays over 20 yards. They're moving the ball up and down the field. I know they got I'm unfortunate with that miss field goal, but let's be real. They were probably the more consistent team. They had some breaks. Really go against them later in this game, I know we'll get to. And I keep thinking about how all day, Steve Spagnolo was just daring Josh Allen to just Stay patient. Stay patient. Keep moving the ball up the field. Keep calling those runs. Keep taking the check downs, no big plays for the Bills. They literally did not have a throw over 15 yards in the game. He only had two that went over 10 yards in the air that were completed in nut cutting time. Alan tried some deep shots that, through no fault of his own, weren't completed. You had the 60 plus yarder through the air to Diggs. Diggs didn't make it. You had the Surefield catch that he couldn't get. But in the final drive for the Bills, before they kick that field goal, first down, they try to stick with the run, burn a little more clock.

Cook is stopped. They ran the ball great in the first half. Chief's defense stepped up, stopped the run in the second half for the most part. Next two plays, and Tony Romo pointed it out on second down, Allen has crossers, short routes, open. And instead of going for Diggs over the middle, he holds it. I can't kill the decision because he's got Shaquire for the game-winning countdown. But Chris Jones pushes Dawkins into Allen's plant leg. He can't extend. It doesn't get there. Third down, he holds the ball. That was just a bad decision. Trying to make a bigger play. Doesn't get it. In the end, Josh Allen is who Josh Allen is, and he went big game hunting. I think he played great today, but Patrick Mahomes played better, and the Chief's defense in the end played better. They're just a great organization who is playing their best when it absolutely matters, and that's what dynasties do, and they are a dynasty. Yeah.

I mean, both teams combine for scores on nine of the first 11 drives. Then it turns into an emblaison dogfight, where that dries up a little bit, and it comes down to moments. Because if you knew in this game that the Bills would have a chief's fumble go through the end zone, and you'd have a chance to take a possession away from Kansas City, it's that game, and they do nothing with it. They fizzle and punt right away. On the previous possession, they go for a fake punt. Demar Hamlin, of all people, unable to convert, done on downs. Miss Field goal comes two possessions later. Their final three possessions in a key, close, tight affair result in zero points. They couldn't take advantage of the little opportunities. And a big play offense that we've been used to, to your point, Greg, zero plays over 20 yards. Not even like a Josh Allen big run or anything.

And I feel guys-They had 27 first times. They were still a good offense for most of the day until the fourth quarter, and then they were not.

They were, but I think it's like you have to look at... We don't know what will happen with Stefan Diggs, but Stefan Diggs is not a primary number one guy in this offense today the way that you would have hoped for.

Oh, they needed him.

They He mostly did.

You can't be what you're not. Maybe Stefan Diggs got old fast. I don't know. Or maybe he's just not in a good head space, or maybe it's just the way sports work sometimes. It's not your day and it's not your season. But there was something wrong with Diggs, and we documented it on Thursday's show when you looked at his numbers that he just hadn't been an explosive player. Yeah, that deep shot.

Can I say on Diggs just while we're there? I think what is wrong with him in part is Lejarius Sneed. In these two matchups, 19 targets, 45 yards. Which is all great, Greggy.

Pay that man, Lejarius Sneed. Pay Lejarius Sneed. That's all cool. But this goes back two and a half months.

That throw by Allen was perfect.

The throw was there. He had him beat. He dropped it into his hands, Allen, and Diggs They could not make the catch. I'm not saying they win the game because they end up getting into Kansas City territory anyway on that drive. But going back to this idea, I feel like in the second half, I felt it watching the game, and I feel like you could feel it in the building, and you could feel it just watching the way the players were, the enormity of the moment. It felt like... Eric, again, I love you, buddy. I felt like we're watching a game where it was a sliding doors moment in Bill's history. This was going to be the half or the couple of possessions that will be remembered forever when they get past Mahomes and then beat the Ravens and go finally win a Super Bowl, and they had it in front of them. After the horrendous Nicole Hardman turnover upon review. They survived the botched fake punt, and then they get the ball back again, and they can't move the ball. Then for that drive to stall, and then you leave it up to the kicker on in January in Buffalo on a cold and windy day.

Unbelievable. That's what Patrick Mahomes was saying after the game about his defense and a little pep talk that he thought he should have given a little earlier. I went over to the defense and I told him, I said, You all shut it down and we'll win this football game. We'll go to the ANC Championship game. And they did.

And they're going to that fourth quarter.

I told him next time, I'll try to tell him earlier. And to the credit of the Chiefs, because the Bills Greek tragedy side of it is easy to get wrapped up into. But to the credit to the Chiefs, like the Patriots before them, they're that team that finds a way, especially this time of year, and they did it again.

Well, they did it the same way they've done it for five years. But they weren't supposed to this year. I'm just saying it was so crazy to think going into the third quarter, they were trailing in this game, and their offense at that point was averaging nine yards per play, and they hadn't been stopped. I'm not counting it as a stop when they ran one play before halftime. The Chiefs had literally scored every time they had the ball. They were averaging 9.3 yards per play, and they entered the fourth quarter trailing. That's what happened in the Dick for Meal days. That was the stuff that happened early in this Mahomes run when you had braided and Grohn going up and down the field in the first half. Their defense actually didn't show up very well today, and it didn't matter because Mahomes and this offense were cooking second. Kelsey making big plays. The first play of the second half, Mahomes with a dot to MVS. Then later in the second half, where Mahomes evades the pass rush. There was no Bill's pass rush today. Steps up another one down the field to MVS. They ran the ball really well.

This was a peak Chief's offensive performance that certainly makes you think, I wonder if they have one or two more of these in them. That's all they need.

It's two weeks in a row now where they've answered questions on that side of the ball. I think, Kelsey, this This whole season has not felt to me, obviously, like peak Kelsey, but he showed up today in a big way and crossed the barrier. They've got the most... Mahomes and Kelsey, now the most quarterback, target, touch downs in playoff history. They passed braided and Gronk. It looks like it. That feels like it. That's who the Chiefs are. And there is just something inevitable about Mahomes. There wasn't a moment in this game where you felt any doubt coming from him. And this whole thing that he's on the road, I think he enjoyed being on the road. Oh, he loved that. I think he enjoyed in this environment, and they took that challenge on. Chris Jones was going at the Bills fans before the game. And that's a lot... You're watching Bills fans shedding tears at the end of this affair. I think it's like it is the inevitability of the Kansas City Chiefs that They're going to find a way in any environment, any situation, to show up when it matters most, and the doubts about their offense flutter away at this point.

Here's the annoying thing, again, about this job, what we do for a living. We're supposed to be paid off this time of year now because we watched all the Chiefs tape all year, and how many times did we say, Man, if they haven't figured it out by now, it's just not going to happen. The way they were able to just... They started it last week, and they had some red zone issues, but really did. I think they were over 400 yards, Greg, as you pointed out earlier. Last week in their win, this week, it looked vintage. Then it's just like weird stuff goes on. Again, I struggle to hate the Chiefs, even though they're a team at this point everyone should get sick of. I think there's a little bit of that pushback that began this year with some Chiefs fatigue. I think Taylor, Swift's involvement with the team indirectly has led to that. But I can't because they are just not an unlikable squad. But the things that do get me mad because it shouldn't be that way because it isn't like this for any other team. Mvs shouldn't all of a sudden be making incredible plays downfield like he's making in this game.

The guy could not catch a cold for basically his whole career and now is making big-time plays. You're seeing play now. Izea Pacheco. I like Izea Pacheco. He runs like peak, like Roger Craig now. I mean, this team, their ability to find ways to get it done with, obviously, Mahomes at the center of it, it's commendable and, yes, annoying.

It's their O-line, too. Today, Ed Oliver didn't have a pressure, I think, for the first time in two years. He had a one-on-one matchup with Joe Tuni most of the day. Daquan Jones didn't get after it. Von Miller is a total no-show. One of the most regrettable contracts, unfortunately for them because of the injury, and he couldn't come back, and they just couldn't get after him. Then you look at the box score, and it's Mahomes 17 for 23, 2:15, and 2. Yet I think of this as one of his best games ever. I know he missed those two throws in the red zone where back-to-back play is essentially where they were trying to go in. But other than that, just the decision-making, everything's on point. It's fun to watch greatness, but you're right. There is something about this team when it really comes to it. The defense did make those plays. Suddenly, they have five tackles for losses. Suddenly, they're in the Bills' backfield for all these negative gains. Ceh, Clyde Edwards-Hilaire, a draft bust. Literally couldn't get on the field all season, a first-run pick, and suddenly, he's popping up for a big 28 Yarder.

There is just something about this team that now that we're here, even though I wanted this Bill's team to win, you do look at all the injuries that they were taking advantage, the linebacker position for Buffalo, certainly thin at the playmaker. Shaqir was going in and out. The tight ends were getting hurt. You do think this Chief's team is a little healthier. They're peaking, and it does set up, we'll get into it during the week, but it does set up a beautiful matchup next week.

Yeah, because this was a game where it's like you start to look back at the bodies that are lost for Buffalo. Matt Milana was missed in this game. Aj Klein was picked on a lot in this one. If I knew going in that the Chiefs would have the ball for 22 plus minutes in the Bills 37 plus, I would have thought That's what Buffalo wants. They're keeping the ball out of Mahomes' hands, and they must be going on long scoring drives. They must be converting. Instead, it's like the Chiefs did so much with so little time. It's like 9.3 yards per pass for the Chiefs, 4.8 for the Bills. Big plays versus no big plays.

Now, we're about to throw to some Josh Allen sound. I just want to Bills fans, if you're listening, and by the way, Great people. Just tough as nails if you're listening to the show. Because I know it can't be easy. But even if Bess pipes that one, he'll tie the game. But the Buffalo's inability to really finish off that drive They were a lot of trouble anyway, because that would have been with 147 to play, you're sending Mahomes back on the field with two timeouts. So the offense's inability to execute in the fourth quarter, and this is a game, by the way, that had five lead changes by the first minute of the fourth quarter, but their inability to score and execute, they were shut out in the fourth quarter, really is what will haunt them throughout this offseason. Here's Josh Allen on another year of what if.

Sucks. Losing sucks. Losing them, losing anybody at home sucks.

Yeah. That about accurately sums it up.

It's such a bummer. They had Micah Hyde and Jordan Poeyer take the podium together, and they talked about how they came in in 2017. It just hurts for the guys like them that came in together and are still there, the ones that change this entire culture, where even making the playoffs, they're sending Andy Dalton tens of thousands of dollars in charity money just because they got Tyrod Taylor into the playoffs to lose a wild card game. That's how much it meant. That's how much they needed that culture to be changing. Here, so many of those guys, including Milano and those two, have been there throughout, and it did feel a little bit... And Poeyer and Hyde, every year, you're not sure if they're going to come back. Poeyer, by the way, had that heroic punch out on Hardman on the goal line. That would have been a defining play for him. I think he's 35 years old, and you just don't know how many of those guys will be back next year. I don't know if Stefan Diggs will be back. I think they knew the enormity. You feel that every year. I'm sure it hurts McDermott because he did such a good job, I think, coaching up this defense throughout the back half of the year, really scheming things up.

He just lost today. Scheme, players, everything. Andy Reid and Mahomes put it on McDermott and his defense in a big spot. He's going to say, You can't change the defensive plate collar. He already changed the offensive plate collar. Unless they give Bills fans on Twitter their wish, at least some that I saw, and they're like, Bring in Bill Belichick.

That's not happening. Back in August, we did the urgency meter. Had the Bills on top. You pushed back pretty hard on it, Greg. But I saw this season as they were at the top of the urgency meter, and I thought the window of this particular Bills team, this Josh Allen-led team, but with some of the players on the defense you mentioned, with Stefan Diggs as the alpha dog of the offense, it was going to be telling what happens after this year. I really do think we're going to probably see a different Bills team. I think McDermott is obviously going to be back. Allen is not going anywhere. Milano will be healthy again. But at a certain point, I mean, how many times you're going to keep running into this wall in the AFC playoffs before you have to make substantial changes around the quarterback and coach? We'll see. They have a fascinating offseason because how do you approach from where they're at right now?

They absolutely do. I think it starts with... Last offseason, there was drama laced around Stefan Diggs. I think we're right back there again to find out his future. But the desperation to win, to get past this step, showed when they fired their offensive coordinator midseason. This team would do anything to get it right. You're back where you started from. A bunch of guys are probably not going to be back. Then you're hoping next year that your quarterback stays healthy, that the division doesn't change too much, that you can be this Bills team and add weapons. But it's like, the journey back to get to this place is only more pressure-laid and more impossible to get to. I think you see the difference between a Chief's team that's like, Who cares what we've been for the past four months? We're going to be something different now. And they knew it. It's like, Mahomes, in that comment saying, I'm going to go tell the defense, you do it, I'll get us to the AFC Championship. Do your part. The Bills are wondering, how do we get past this? It's another season ending with a massive question.

Well, they know more than anyone, the Bills, how tough it is to get here. They had to win, what, six straight games to get to this point, and you were feeling like they were that team. They did make a lot of changes. They turned into a heavy personnel, run the ball well. They ran it for 182 today. Don't get it lost, I think, in the final few plays. Josh Allen played outstanding in this game. The reason this game is a classic, it's going to be a game of the week tomorrow. But to me, it's the game of the year so far is Mahomes and Allen brought their A-games. Allen was not letting them lose there for three quarters. I know there's a couple of plays at the end, but if his receiver's made place for him, like we've been wanting the Chief's receiver's to make place for Mahomes for a lot of the game, he'd be the hero. It was two of the very best, and unfortunately for Billsfield. A familiar finish, except for the snowballs being thrown at Mahomes as he gleefully ran off the field. Exactly.

That was a great image. Jason Kelsi with his shirt off, bellowing from the luxury suite, upstaging even Taylor Swift.Exiting.

The suite.It's a great moment. Down into the stands amongst those friends. He was slightly...

For some reason, I wouldn't do that in Baltimore. I don't know. I guess Jason Kelsi can do whatever he wants anywhere.

Kelsi was hammered. Yeah. Let's not get that twisted. I'm not judging the man. I think he's early into He's in retirement now. They said that- Having a great time, but he was- He was sauced.

When he gave his speech, apparently, when they won the Super Bowl at the parade, he was asked, I think Schilkepedia, like, tweeted this out. He was asked how many beers he had in his system at that point He said 20. Then on a scale of 1-10, how drunk he was. It was like a 5 out of 10. So who knows what was going on today?

He's one of those heroic Wade Boggs beer drinkers. He could do 40 beers from Seattle to Boston on a flight. The music He call fumble. The guy is drunk. When Allen fumbles near midfield and somehow it doesn't get scooped up and they recover. The Allen roll out, I think it was a 26% completion probability to Shaqir to put them ahead. Oh, yeah.

That was ridiculous.

They were so weak. I earmuffs Eric. I'm stunned. I can't believe this wasn't the day. Eric, I can't believe this wasn't the game, the Buffalo game that you remember forever. I'm sorry, buddy.

No, I mean, you become calloused as it, calloused to it as a Bills fan. I actually was telling people today, I felt a little confident, and I've told them that's probably not good because Buffalo is going to Buffalo. I don't know. It all He was crashing down so quickly. In a moment like that, I mean, all game, I'm talking to Randy, we're watching this game, and Bass botched one last week. He had one blocked. Even his little extra points, they're a little... They're a little? They're a little. I'm like, Dude, he's tucking them in, and They go for it. There was a nice drive, and it's like, Well, you kick it? I'm like, Yeah, you got to kick it. Tie the game. Do you trust your kicker? I'm like, Hell, no.

I had a bad feeling about that kick.

You actually said it seconds before he missed, and I thought that's too improbable.

That's too evil.

It was just... As soon as it was off the foot.

Yeah, it was never close. They had their season on the line earlier, that drive with a fourth down call. They convert that. Alan had another third down on that. Then it all comes crashing down. Then the second it's over, you get a slack from me. Hey, can we get some postgame sound? We're going to want Alan really pouring his heart out. That's the nature of the business, you guys. I'm a professional. You're a pro, dude.

They also could have gotten By the way, even after the miss, if you get a stop, maybe a miracle, a reverse 13 seconds can happen. But I mean, give the Chiefs credit, they really were the better team, ultimately, and they proved it by ice in the game there with two runs ensuing drive, and that was it. That first drive, guys, was like a third and 17, a fourth and one conversion, overturn, a overturn.

It was a minute and a half in, and my nerves already through the roof, and I'm like, This is going to be one of those days, and something's going to go horrible.

Sports are the worst.

It's also tough when your team keeps losing to the same team in the playoffs. Big Funk knows that with the packers and the Niners, and it's like, you've got this situation. It's this resounding, repeating note over and over that's an evil note.

I know that Basketball is completely different than football. Entirely. But it does make me think of when we're talking about what do the bills need to do?

Football is completely different than basketball.

As a Knicks fan in the early '90s, could not get past Jordan. Couldn't do it. Then it was like, Is there something wrong with the Knicks? Well, Michael Jordan. Jordan needs to go play baseball. Michael Jordan is the problem. They had incredible teams in '91, '92, '93, and they just couldn't get them. Maybe that's Maybe that's the pain. You don't want Josh Allen to be remembered as the guy that just happened to play at the same time as braided straight into Mahomes, and you'll just end up always being the bridesmaid. But it's hard not to think that way. He's still got a lot of years, but it's We had the Mahomes-Jorgan debate in 2019 when Mahomes is making that run.

It's like, he is the best football player I've ever seen. At no point has that even dipped a little bit, and he just proves it again and again.

It's crazy. All All right, let's move. Let's move to the other AFC game. It was played on Saturday. It was the number one seed, Ravens against the Upstart Texans, a game that was a dead heat at halftime, and then the Ravens showed who was who. Lamar. Holded himself, runs to the left. He's to the five. Lamar is in. Touchdown, Ravens. We're going to have a championship game in Baltimore because that haze in the barn.

Lamar just ran through the tunnel. Went to the locker room. He went Bo Jackson. He still up the tunnel.

I was getting ready to say, there's no way they can run this boot again.

And they did it.

Oh, you can do it when you're the Ravens who just punish people. Do what they want. And good job, Jerry Sandusky and Rod Woodson, WBAL, because of course, old foggies. No, that's Bo Jackson running up the tunnel against the Seahawks in 87 on Monday Night Football. Lamar with a nice tribute in a 34-10 win over the Texans. Like I said, this game was 10-10 at the half, Mark Sesler. But then the Ravens came out, flawlessly execute a go-ahead, TD drive, and they just never looked back. In fact, they never gave up a TD on defense. The only score for Houston was a return in the first half.

I thought this game was a perfect portrait of how complete the Ravens have become. If it was a situation where early in the year, they were warming up on offense and learning the system, this was an absolute exclamation point of how dominant they can be. I honestly think they played a team that's going to be around for many years to come in the Texans with C. J. Stroud. C. J. Stroud faced more pressure in this game than he has in any other game of his career, and it looked like it. I just mentioned that the Bills, in a losing effort, had the ball for 37 plus minutes. The Ravens had it for 37 plus minutes in this because they were able to run the ball for 229 yards, because Lamar Jackson was magical on the ground, because he was nearly flawless through the air, because their defense absolutely choked the life out of the Houston Texans and made what looked like a special passing game under Bobby Sloick and C. J. Stroud a week ago, looked completely He lost at sea for the entirety of the second half. Because, yes, it was 10-10, big special teams play for the Texans.

And Lamar Jackson talked about going into the locker room at halftime and refusing to tell the public what he said because it was filled with too much language that a sailor would speak. I would love to see that. I think that says a lot about Lamar Jackson versus him a couple of years ago. And, Greg, it was way back in week four or five that you talked about the Ravens as a Super Bowl team. And I thought this was maybe Greg being a little hyperbolic about his Lamarmy and all that business, but they look completely impressive from every angle. They absolutely proved, I thought, against the Texans, that it really doesn't matter who they play. They're going to be who they are.

I would love to hear that halftime speech. It's funny. This game actually did remind me of the game in London we saw a little bit in the sense that there's a lot of Ravens games like this where it's not that impressive for a while, and just steadily, they just smother you. Just every little aspect of the team smothers to you. Then suddenly, you look up at the end of the game and you're like, Actually, that was never really a game they took over. Part of it is they just have answers. They have answers with personnel, like flowers, running some big boy routes there, likely turning into a great red zone threat. Obviously, Lamar has almost a perfect game, 16 for 22 for 152, and then 100 yards on the ground, just like no mistakes.

That was one of the best all-around games for a quarterback you'll ever see in the play.

Right. It reminded him a home's game today because if you just looked at the box score, it wouldn't seem that crazy other than the 100 yards rushing. But I also think they have answers defensively. Manken knew that the blitz was giving them trouble in the first half. They just knew exactly what to do to it in the second half, those adjustments. Lamar made them, Manken made him. I don't think that was going to happen with Greg Roman there and McDonald being their defensive coordinator. I don't think it would have been as complete with Don Martindale there. They did a really good job. Just personnel coaches everything right now is humming.

Yes. When you have Lamar playing at this level and playing this confident and the running game humming the way it is, they're going to be very difficult to beat. My big takeaway from the game was the defense. You know how I think it was? I got to give credit to Mark, you're a cinophile. Who directed 28 Days Later? Danny Boyle. But I wish you would have known that off the top of your head.

I do, too. I love open questions on a show that thousands of people are listening to.

Danny Boyle directed a movie in 2002 28 days later. A classic zombie Apocalypse film with a twist. All of a sudden, the zombies who you remember throughout pop culture history being slow, lumbaring, unstoppable, but easily You could run past them or run around them. You could bonk them on the head of the two by four. These zombies were fast, and they come at you in waves and gangs, and they're horrifying the zombies. It started a whole new way of looking at them in that genre. That's how I look at this Raven's defense, the way they sworn with speed and power. Even if the first guy misses the tackle, the second guy is coming right behind him. If he dodges out of that guy, the third guy wallops him. You saw that over and over and over. Houston could not get a clean look, could not get into the open field, could not make a play. Yeah, they just suffocated their offense, an offense that was kicking ass going into this.

I would note that Danny Boyle did Train Spotting as well. In that film, those zombies were on heroine. The Ravens do not appear to have heroine in their bloodstream.Thank you.That's my comment.

I love that one, too.

There is something about, I don't know what's in the water there in Baltimore, what Mike McDonald is doing. Because they have guys like Arthur Millet.

I'm sorry, one second. Were there zombies in Train Spot?

No, I'm just saying they were all on hero.Lost.

In society.I thought zombies.A.

Different type of zombie.I.

Felt you.Go ahead, Greg.Thank you, Greg. Great movie.

I'm going to talk literal zombies.

Yes. 28 days later, literal zombies, yes.

The drug.

Metaphorical zombies.

That almost turns you into... But the slow lumbering zombies.

But in Baltimore, it's like, you give a little bit of that zombie juice to Millet, you give a little bit to Clowny, and instead of getting trashed and quitting on your team at the end of the season, it's like zombies.

They're quick Twitch Monsters.

Clowny's in your lap all game. Matt Abike, I thought, had a great game. He just kept winning that matchup over and over and over. That was against Shaq Mason for the most part. I'm with you. They just kept throwing so many different looks. Actually, at halftime, the Texans had more yards on offense than the Ravens because they had that one decent drive that they ended up settling for a field goal. But for the most part, it was just good night. Then eventually, the play calling, I really was impressed. That call we heard with Lamar where they do the end around, but they have Roni Stanley polling, and it's like a misdirection. They ran twice just to perfection. The likely shutdown on an RPO. I mean, that was a-He's been such a huge contributor. That was a beautiful play call, too. What can you do there? Everyone is out there blocking on the edge. Lamar probably could have run it in, but instead, he throws it to Likely, who makes these great catches. They might get Andrews back, and Chiefs will be a very tough test for them.

Don't ice Likely because Andrews back. Because Likely is a legitimate player on the team.

No, you can use both.

Let's listen to John Harbaugh, who has the a man that's going to be named MVP in a couple of weeks and maybe be playing in the Super Bowl a couple of days after that.

I thought Lamar was going to play great, but he's played great all year. Just now, it's more important than ever. He's been locked in from day one. That's his term, and we've all ran with that. I think he's directed this whole thing. But like he said, we got more work to do.

It is a lesson, I think, to the entire league because it looks more mystifying than ever that we spent the majority of the offseason wondering if the Ravens wanted to keep Lamar Jackson, if they were planning to, or if they thought maybe they would free themselves, and no other team in the league, including the Atlanta Falcons, most noticeably, really pursued Lamar Jackson. He was a man that slinked back.

We've covered some bonkers offseason stories. That's crazy. That one will forever stand out. I feel like even in the moment, and on this show, if you go back, we were all a little puzzled, especially some of the teams that were choosing to make statements and let it be known that they weren't interested. Teams that had quarterbacks like Desmond Ritter being like, No, we're not interested in that business. But this has now turned into the worst-case scenario for all those teams because it's almost now going to be if this team ends up going all the way, that's legendary. The where that was in summer. But also the Ravens catch a break, too. Unless they were playing chess when everyone else was playing checkers, if another team had the good sense to go hard after Lamar, you would have lost this guy that's about to get you to the Super Bowl, potentially.

Right. I've I've seen tweets from Adam Schefter where they make it out like, Oh, the Ravens were never going to let him go. It's like, Well, what if they just front loaded a massive offer and they were willing to give up two first-round picks? Are you sure about that? More to the point, whether they fully guaranteed it. It's a conversation for another day. But to me, there is a level of quarterback, and I would put Lamar Jackson at this level where it's like, Just guarantee the contract if it's four years. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow and Lamar and C. J. Strata, these guys, they're going to get to those four or five years. They will be on the team for those four years. So just guarantee them the money anyways. It's not that big of a deal.

It's a brutal sport. That's what there is, a higher level of danger than other sports.

They're massive.

Not a catastrophic injury in year one of the contracts.

I just mean there are catastrophic injuries in basketball and baseball all the time, too, and they survive giving out massive... I'm just saying a four-year contract for a quarterback. If someone had done that, they could have had him.

There is one thing about the Ravens that I thought stands with me going into next week's game, that there was a lot of talk about, A, the fact that Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have crumbled in the playoffs no matter what the regular season looked like, and they had this extra rest, and where they come out flat, and they did come out flat. Their final three drives in the first half, three punts, were for negative seven net yards. It's like, psychologically, is that when the Ravens can be broken by a young team with nothing to lose? To They come out three straight touch downs in a field goal, it's like, cool, I think this Ravens team is different.

Troy had it pegged. He said before the kickoff to start the third quarter, this is a very important drive. You got to go and get a shutdown and shut down that energy, as it were. I think they absolutely did. Here's D'Amico, Ryan, who obviously did a tremendous job as a rookie head coach, and he does have a bright future with this team. Only the future has to wait until September for them.

I think our team learns that we know we're right there at halftime.

So they know they're toe to toe with a really good team.

And I hope our team just understands that moving forward, at all costs, you got to finish. If you want to continue to move forward, continue to play in big games, it'll always be about executing and finishing.

I see why you want to stand with that man and lock up a game and a team coach by that man. Yeah.

Well, he's only a few years removed from being on a team.

But it was a mistake.

I don't think so, ultimately, because I was doing it A, for the show, and B, to...

That was a mistake in the sense that locked up a team that way.

Well, if I lose, that clearly is a mistake.

They were also 10 the underdog.

It was perhaps, from a logical standpoint, misguided. I understand where you're coming from.

I, conversely, locked the other team.

I understand that, but that's why I did what I did.

And the second half standings are just tightening up. Greg is getting a little nervous. We'll see how he did in his lock a little bit later.

Erase nobody outside of yourself is following.

Ryan, they're going to be great for a while. They have their premium positions really well covered, if you think about Laramie Tunzel, left tackle, all pro. T. J. Stroud, enough said. Maybe the most valuable contract in the league, if you think about it, because he's got three more years on this rookie deal, and he's already this good. I thought he played pretty well. I know it sounds crazy. He only scored three points. He did not have a a bad game Sunday or Saturday. He made a lot of throws against pressure. He had virtually no chance. But I was curious. I went to check the PFF score. I bet it's not that bad. It's not good, but it's just a solid-Well, he doesn't turn the ball over.

Right.

Get Tankdell back. Right. Get Derrick Henry maybe in the backfield next year. Right.

Okay, so you got the receiver. You got Stingley who came on a house on fire. You have a lot of the premium positions. Grunard is a free agent, but we'll see. Maybe they'll franchise I still like him, and Will Anderson at the Edge. A lot of the big-time positions, they're set for a while. Then he showed, he took all these guys that were afterthoughts elsewhere, Desmond King, Cashman, Barnett, Christian Harris, who was a second-year player who stunk as a rookie. He made all those guys better. I mean, they... Usually, I push back on the like, Well, they're going to be set up for the future. I pushed back on with the Jags last year. I wasn't so sure. This team is the team in the AFC.

The only problem, though, I think you've got a great head coach, but when you're defensive-minded Bobby Sloïc is taking interviews left and right. It's like, you don't want to have C. J. Stroud's offensive coordinator switching every year or two over the course of this rookie contract.

Let's see. Just checking the Deshaun Watson trade. They do have the 23rd overall pick from the Cleveland Browns, so they get a first-round pick. They sent a first-round pick to Arizona.To.

Get Will Anderson.Yeah.

Will Anderson. There you go. Thank you, Greg. Yes, Chiefs at Ravens, Mahomes v. Lamar. Next Sunday.

It's a new one. I don't know who I picked for the play. That's a new one for the play.

In a playoff set that has been very difficult to pick because the matchups have all felt pretty even.

That's as loud as Baltimore has been crowd-wise in a long time. They quietly have not... You have to go back to 2012 when they got to a AFC title game.

This is literally the Ravens' first ever home AFC Championship game, which I was surprised to hear.

First since 1970 when they were the Baltimore Colts. I could live without the R-A-V-E-N-S Ravens chant. That's IP that came from flushing Queens in the early '70s, just FYI.

It's fair comment.

Remember they were doing play like a Raven when Rex Ryan was there? Or something like that? That was like an coordinator. That was barred IP as well.

All right, let's take a break, and then we'll hit the other two games. All right, welcome back Around the NFL, the divisional recap, the flagship program. So, yeah, that is the AFC. Now, let's turn to the other side of things, the NFC. It's time now for the Sunday Drive presented by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. Yes, the San Francisco 49ers. It feels like it's been a month since we've seen them on the field. It's been about three weeks since they had their full squad out there competing, and they got another upstart team, the packers, who were upset-minded. But unlike the Houston Texans, they were up for the challenge, the Niners. It was tight. First and 10, Green Bay.

They have two timeouts left. Love out of the shot gun. Deep drop. Kusher gets chased out to his right, will throw on the runback. No.

It is intercepted. He farmed it. Go down, Dre Greenlaw.

Running back the other way. Secure the ball. He'll run back the other way.

They're trying to strip it from him. Dre, what are you doing, bro? Big play, Dre. Goes down. Green Bay has two timeouts left, but the 49ers have the football. Oh, my goodness. Good call there by Greg Papa, KNBR. If Dre fumbles that ball and it gets recovered by the packers. And then the packers go on to win. I mean, that would have been one of the more devastating... Stay down, kid.

Yeah.

Anyway, it all worked out for the linebacker and also for his team, the San Francisco 49ers, who benefited from another missed field goal attempt, this time by Andrews Carlson of the packers, who's missed, kept it a four-point game late instead of a seven-point game in terms of a lead for the visiting packers. And then San Francisco and Brock Purdy, who struggled for most of the night in rainy conditions at the big Bell Bottom, leads the team on a big drive down the field, a big boy drive, ending with A Christian McCafree TD. That is the difference. After that Jordan love I&T. We heard final score 24-21, and the Niners are back in the NFC title game for the third straight year. Can they get over the hub with Kyle Shana? We will see. Mark, jeez, that is a game that the Niners were very fortunate to escape and survive, but they did, and now they will be playing for the Super Bowl at home next week.

I just want to hit it from one angle, and it's the Brock Purdy side of things because it felt like anyone, whether you're for or against Brock Purdy in terms of the scope of who he is, the MVP race and everything else, it had something for everyone because it was the game that could tell you, this isn't an MVP-level quarterback. And look at it, it's raining again like it was when he played the Browns, and you're getting this other version of Brock Purdy who's imperfect with the game on the line in this critical moment. But then you also got that final a breakdown drive where I thought Brock Purdy, in a rough and tumble outing, showed that in the end, he really is capable. I think this Niners team, I wondered what would happen to them after the rest that they've had, and they've been so dominant and so unstoppable. This was just like a B minus version of their offense for 85% of it, and they still found a way to get it done.

Here's Purdy on the Niners winning a game that under Shanaher, they have struggled to win coming from behind in the fourth quarter?

I think it is important.

We were all like, All right, this is it.

This is our season. For us to capitalize like that was huge for all of us. Then obviously for myself as a quarterback, it's good for confidence and all that. But we have too many good players, man, on this team. So many players that are difference makers, and we got a great defense. For us to not find a way, it's not right. For us to finally have a game like this and pull through at the end was huge for all of It's so huge, obviously, to just keep this season going. I think to win a Super Bowl, sometimes you got to survive a bad game, and this was it. I mean, they should have lost this game. They were fortunate to win. They made the plays to win, but there were many times it could have gone against them. If you wanted to be a skeptic of this team and look through a certain lens, any time they were pushed this year, they crumbled a little bit. Even the three-game losing streak, they crumbled and they couldn't stop the bleeding during that three-game lose. They were like, Oh, well, Debo Samuel and Trent Williams were out.

It's like, look at every other team in the league. Look at the Bills. Look at the Dolphins with all these injury issues, and they found ways to win. Then in That Ravens game, too, they let it snowball on them. I think to stand up in a spot where they really looked like they were about to lose and have both sides of the ball step up after a pretty shaky game from both sides of the ball in the last eight minutes and them to play their best in the last eight minutes was huge because the packers, Dan had the ball, first and 10, 7:51 to go, up four at the 49ers' 24-yard line. At that point in the game, did you think the 49ers had much of a chance to win that game?

No. I'm mad. This is what we do for a living. I felt like I nailed the game. I thought the packers would come in and take that momentum from Dallas. I thought the defense They had a chance to... Because they were stiffer against Dallas. They did. They played well against San Francisco on defense for the most part in this game. Then they were able to put points on the board and then put pressure on Purdy, and Purdy was making mistakes. But here's the problem. They did all that, but they got turned away in the red zone a couple of times. They had a turnover in downs on fourth and less than a yard.They.

Dropped the purdy.Questionable spot on that. Yeah, questionable for sure. But also an unreal play by Dre Greenlaw to stick love in the chops. Absolutely.

Chops. Purdy did throw the ball for grabs a couple of times. They didn't catch it. They had, and this is why also, because I don't necessarily believe in the, The future is bright, plenty more years because you never know. The packers, on balance, it was a successful season, and it was house money game here against the Niners. But when you have that team on the ropes like they did, when you outplayed the mighty Niners to get brought down by failure to execute in the red zone, turnover near the red zone, missed field goal, that makes the loss hurt because it's not like a better team got you on that particular night. You were in position and you just failed on the stuff that you should be able to handle and execute, and you didn't. And Matt Lafleur, after the game, you know he was hurting because it was right there in front of him. I felt like we had plenty of opportunity opportunities to put the game out of reach, and unfortunately, just didn't do enough. And it's never one play because I know I'm sure a lot of it's going to come down to the miss field goal.

But there There are plenty of opportunities.

You go back in the first half and have three red zone opportunities and have six points.

There's a lot of plays out there that if one play goes different, we'll probably have a different result right now.

Then to put a punctuation on it, Mark, they're still in good shape. They have a chance to push this game to overtime or even win it. For Love, who had been impeccable for two months to, and everybody was saying it, not just me, but to go Brett Farr, to roll right, throw a desperation pass late and over the middle that's picked off. He didn't have to do that.

His first down.

He did it, and at the worst time, he looked like a kid again So these uncharacteristic mistakes that they had not been making during this rise is what got them. Not so much the Niners.

No, it was a tough throw across the body. You're right, he didn't have to do that at all.

It was ridiculous.

If you look at the game, because he was throwing outside the numbers, he was 12 for 17 for 161 yards and two touch downs. Pretty flawless in the Jordan love you've expected. But throwing between the numbers, he was nine for 16 for 33 yards with two picks, including that game ender. So It's an unceremonious way for a really incredible season to end for Jordan love. You're right, because it's like, we've got big funk back there. It's like a packer's fans suddenly got to be feeling incredibly of hope about the future compared to where you were a couple of months ago. But you also are thinking, wait a minute. Had we pulled this out, we're a team that knows we could beat the lions. It's like it is a lost opportunity. The idea that you're just going to march back here to the Jacksonville Jaguars example, we don't know that.

Lafleur will never, ever get over this loss. I I don't know the man personally, but this is head coach nightmare fuel these type of-To the same team.

That was one of the tougher press conferences I've watched. He was so devastated, and he has the cap pulled down low over his eyes, and The way the light was hitting was just shadow, and it was just like, he was not trying to put on a poker face. He was so sad about it because he knows it was right there. Love played a pretty flawless game until the end, and then there was just a couple of throws. The interception on the tip pass, he just missed the throw. Who was that to? To the tight end over the middle on the first interception. That was some bad luck, too. It was like it tipped up and you got punished for it on a day where your guys, Darnell Savage, drops a pick six right into his bread basket. Another pretty drop later, and they took advantage. Then there was another play on the third down when they could have run more clock out where him and Aaron Jones weren't on the same page on a check down. He was hitting all the hard throws, but he didn't hit the easy But even then, there was that first down with the packer, as I mentioned, like 7:51 left, and that's where the 49ers stepped up.

Warner makes a nice tackle in the open field for a no gain. Bosa gets a quick pressure on Love. And then Carlson, who's been missing a ton of kicks, misses that kick, and he's a rookie, like all these other rookies, misses it in a big spot. And then you give the 49ers the ball back. And at that point, I'm like, Oh, man, are they going to win this game? I don't know. Their offense really hasn't done anything for a while. Trial, and it wasn't after dot by purdy, but the third and five play to Ayuk was a very low percentage play where it took a perfect throw and maybe an even better catch. Both were perfect. Ayuk and Purdie were so good on that play. Ayuk is on fire. Then after that, Purdie just made all the right decisions. He made the right reads on, I think it was one check down to the left side where they made a big play, and then he made the nice scramble, and they ran the ball well, and it's like they just finally calm down in the biggest spot, and you got to give it to them.

But you do wonder, like Debo Samuel, first head injury and comes back in the game, then shoulder injury leaves, and it's the thing that they're We're talking about it could be a multiple week thing. We don't know exactly where it sits, but it is weird because they have so many weapons. But when Debo has not been on the field for them, it's marked a big change.

It hurts when you lose them right off the bat. Who is doing this game Olson said how they had basically had information Divo was going to be a huge part of the game. You changed the whole game. They were trying to give Juan Jennings these enter rounds and stuff like that.

By the way, while Carlson misses this kick and As is missing his kick. Come on, guys. Robbie Gould just was out there the whole time and just finally shrugged his shoulders and was like, I guess I retire.

Gould must not be interested in participating.

Who literally never missed a kick in the postseason. Extra pointer field goal.

I mean, Olson said they asked La about Carlson and what his thing with Carlson was. He was like, Well, every time he takes a kick, I pray before it. I was like, Maybe A, don't tell them that, or tell them that off the record. Then B, you can't be going to the NFC divisional round came with that attitude. That was tough. Look, they would have tied it up. It's not like they would have won the game. The way that game was going at the end, I feel like the packers had their chances to put it away, and then they started looking like the really young team. They probably would have lost anyways, but man.

This might be Trey who I'll be polling for in the NFC title game, but I don't need to see Brock Purdy against the Ravens defense again, if that's how this thing breaks down. I don't trust your guy, Mark.

Well, then you have to trust Jared Goff.

I know, and that's fair, and we'll see how that game goes. We're going to get to the lines in a minute. But yeah, I thought he was very shaky in this game, and we'll see if it was the weather or just a rough night. You got to give him credit. They let them on the drive at the end, and they let them on the drive. But, man, I thought the Niners were so fortunate. One thing we disagree with on, Greg, you were saying earlier today, this is the game. Sometimes teams need to survive a game like that, and then they can get back to being dominant. I'm not quite there with the Niners. I'm curious what version we get next Sunday, and we're going to find out.

I just think the body of work their offense has shown in defense. Steve Wilkes, I think, ended up coaching a pretty good game by the end of this game. It wouldn't surprise me. I'm pulling for the lines, but it would not surprise me if the 49ers recapture their form because I do think the weather was a big part of it. He has small hands. I don't know. It's not always a small hands thing, but he was really bad in this game. He was worse in this game than he was in the Ravens game, which lost him the MVP, and he threw the four picks. I don't even think it's a question. He was legit bad. I was curious. I checked the BFS.

I would say it's a question.

He was pretty bad in that game, too. But that game-He won this game with a drive at the end of regulation. That game was his normal self, except for two or three bad decisions, bad throws.

He could have thrown six interceptions in that game.

This game, his normal throws were bad. Everything was bad. Decisions were bad. He wasn't seeing the field. I checked the PFS score, I was curious. It was like a 58. The only score that was worse this year was that Brown's game also in the rain.

I think to me, the takeaway is inclement weather affects Brock Purdy where it may not have any effect on their quarterbacks.

It's supposed to be nice next week in San Francisco, by the way.

But Dan, when you say the overall body of work of Purdy, but also just the Niners offense in general, I feel like you're a little down on them. There's a lot of evidence to suggest.

They weren't explosive in this game. It was shocking how they couldn't get a big put.

I just don't think that that predicts who they're going to be against Detroit next week. But no, Debo Samuel matters a lot for this offense.

If he went... If Brock went out there next Sunday and went 27 for 32, I wouldn't be stunned. But does he have a stink bomb in him still? I can't rule that out either. I'd be concerned as a Niners fan because I've gotten to the point now, and I've seen my share of bad quarterbacks, where, and he's certainly not one of them, but when he drops back and that ball is heading towards the second level of defense, you hold your breath and be like, Where's this one going? Is he...

Not to the level of Jimmy G, though, but okay.

But this...

I I guess.

I could continue to defend Brock pretty bad. He had a bad game.

I'm in the middle on it. His story is great.

I'm taking the story out of it.

I'm just talking about the guy on the field. I just look at him as a second-year quarterback. Even Even if he wasn't a late round pick and where he's at and stuff, and maybe I'm biased, he's no Tom braided. But it's like, people think back to this Tom braided that never existed. Tom braided had games worse. The Super Bowl, he literally He didn't do anything until the final quarter, but he didn't make the big mistakes. That's not Tom braided. No, I'm not even saying he is. My point is you can have a second-year quarterback that you're carrying along in some certain games, but you can do that when you're supposed to be this Monster team. I do give their defense... I know the packers struggled in the red zone, but because there's an opposing defense there in the red zone. I thought their defense kept them in this game with those red zone stops. Greenlaw, to me, in some ways, is a defining 49er, and he gets overlooked. He reminds me of Navara Bowman with the old 49ers. He hit Tucker Kraft so hard in the eye that Kraft had to come out of… He just blasted Tucker Kraft.

One play later, he blasted Jordan Love to get a fourth down stop. Then he gets two interceptions in the second half. He's just like a beast. Bosa showed up at the very end of the game. Warner was great in this game. They've got so many guys that I just feel like, eventually, they'll find a way to overwhelm you.

Absolute studs in the middle of the defense. It's a cottage industry. I'm probably being too hard on Brock. Mark, I apologize. I am being too hard on him.

Don't have to apologize.

If you're looking at yesterday's game, yes.

Maybe Sam Darnold is coming running out of the tunnel in the third quarter.

Well, I mean, that is...

Oh, my God. Is that Sam Darnold's music?

If that's your angle, then I think we understand where this is all coming from.

I knew it wasn't going to happen.

Not my angle.

Well, the idea that Sam Darnold is going to come out and...

Oh, my God. That's Sam Darnold's music.

Okay, so he...

It was like eighth team.

When they couldn't score, I think it was another three and out in the third quarter, and then they were set up with a short field, and then they had to settle for the field goal, and then they punted again the next drive. I actually, for a second thought, Is it that crazy to go to Sam Darnold right now? I actually didn't think they'd do it, but he was struggling so bad at that point in the game that I was just like, Man, maybe the commission.

It's so destabilizing, though. It's such a destabilizing coaching.

It wouldn't have been-It wouldn't have been a decision.

It would be a bit of a flip of the panic switch to go to Arnold at this point. But they like him, and Purdy's got to play.

Had that throw to Kittle. It was just, yeah, he did have that throw to Kittle.

That ball comes out of his hand right now. Are we sure where it's going? Is it going to the right team?

I think we're overreacting.

If it's dry. But yes, he He got a hall pass because that would have been the conversation all offseason if the packers had just caught those interceptions, and he got a break.

Mark, who is your hall pass?

It is going to be sun-sweept in 58 degrees next week with little wind, and you're going to be right back where you want them to be. You two are unbelievably unannoying to hang out with most of the time. That's a good one. That is from the past.

Randy, I know you're-The host of Sesler past. I know, Randy, that It's heartbreaking. It is crazy how many... I know Jets and Browns fans don't want to hear about it, but I think it's true that being a fan of a team like the packers, but the packers, specifically, the Bills now are joining this territory, and losing this many heartbreaking play-up-Get the violins out. The tiniest one possible. Why can't this both be true?

All right, Mr. Patriots fan, please educate me on how I should feel.

No, I'm not talking about the Patriots because the Patriots got six titles. The packers, if you're doing a ranking of the most painful losses in packers fans who are masochistic were doing this last night since 2007. This maybe isn't even in the top 10, which is crazy, and it's a heartbreak. You got the NFC Championship. Nothing will top that, 2014. You had the one against San Francisco in 2021 where they couldn't score. They had losing to Eli immediately after having a one-loss team. That was rough. They had far losing to Eli in overtime. They lost to the Cardinals twice in overtime. They lost to the Kaepernick two different times. There's a couple more NFC Championship games under Kyle Shanahan I haven't even mentioned before we even get to this one. It is crazy.

I have a great idea. You could actually follow the model of my favorite team, just don't make the play off for 13 straight years.

I know. It's just saying on that-It's just like an utter void, like a black hole. We don't have to compare. I'm just saying it is got to be painful.

If one more person tweets me, It's time to put the packers on the pain rankings. No, shut up. All right. I do want to hear from Randy, though. Big funk. I just wanted to jump in and chime in about how Eric and I bonded through our sorrow before the game started because it seemed like every network was running compilations of worst losses for the packers and the bills. It's like we can't escape it. The Boogie man won this round.

I feel it's tough.

It's tough. I get where you're coming from, because the packers have it nice, I guess. I don't know. Not, you definitely have it nice. You have another young superstar quarterback.

But what does it matter? I just think, though, if you went through all this, then you will come back and say, You know what? You had a point with me all those years ago. I think it depends on how you look at it. Sure.

But at the end of the year, it's like the Jets and the packers, they're both in Cancun right now. Right. But there is, I think, Greg, you're double talking here with your points here because you were just saying a couple of shows ago, you got to enjoy the experience. Absolutely. The packers had a really fun ride this year. Look from Thanksgiving until five minutes of play.

And it opens the door for the future. There were questions whether they even had a quarterback. You do have one. Don't get me wrong. That's what other teams set up. I set up great.

I just mean in that day, in the moment, it doesn't ease that pain. And that's a particular type of pain that unfortunately, the Jets don't even know. But I know that, too.

I have other fan bases. Like I said, I'm a Yankee fan. I understand that side of it, too. I'm almost uniquely qualified to tell you that Both are suck, but there's nothing worse than just being a laughing stock and never even getting a chance. No question. They're two different.

They're quite different.

But it is very... I totally empathize, and that's how we open the show, with Bills fans who deserve a chip. They're still waiting, and this felt like a special year, and it wasn't. For Packers fans, even though this was a prototypical house money game for Green Bay, to have a win almost in your back pocket and let it get away. You just don't want to do that in the play house because you just never, ever know. All right. That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Learn more at Toyota. Com/grandhighlander. All right, let's finish it up. The other NFC game, back to Detroit. Yes, the place was hopping once again.

Mayfield takes him straight to the line with a minute 40.

Baker leans in.

There's the snap. Blitz comes. Mayfield back, loads, throws, pick up by the lions, intercepted by the lions, intercepted by the lights.

Derek Barnes. Derrick Barnes. Derrick Barnes. Derrick Barnes. Oh, baby. 133 to go.

The Lions are going to San Francisco. Derrick Barnes with the interception.

Oh, baby. Stand up, Fordfield. Look at this.

Look at this.

Wait, do I have the timing wrong? Or are we in a simulation? Was the Detroit game before the packer game?

No. No, it was today.

Oh, my God.

It was the earlier game today. That was today? That feels like 47 years.

We were on Sky Sports at halftime. I don't remember that.

I am with you on that. It does feel like it happened weeks ago.

I've been infected with the rage zombie virus. You're right. That was it. I thought like, Dan's already booking the San Francisco trip. No, he was right. Dan Miller with the call with Lomas Brown. Lomas, one of my favorite tropes. He's just the color guy screaming yes, because a great moment happened, WXYT for the team. And that was the interception of Baker Mayfield, the decisive play in a 31-23 win for the Lions over the Bucks. Greggy, You locked the former team of around the NFL. And in another game where the underdog came to play, this is a game I believe is 17-17 in the second half, Detroit, like Baltimore, not Not at the same level, but took control in crunch time. When other teams might wilt, they said, No, no, no, no, no. No one's beating us in our building, not in this spot.

I've been taking these last two weeks that the Lion's defense has been opportunistic and really contributed to those wins, and you heard it there, they got just enough stops and got the interception at the end. But I also think how when it was 10-10 going into the second half and the lines don't get anything done on their first drive, after that, the that we know take over and get touch downs on back-to-back-to-back drives. And there was a third in 15 in there to Amman Ra, St. Brown, that just says so much about the lines. They protected up perfectly. Tampa could not get home today with their four-man pass rush, and the blitz really wasn't that effective either. And they just have a laser on Zion McCollum, who just came into the game, and the lions are so good at that. Ben Johnson is always attacking weaknesses. A new guy comes in, it's fresh meat, third and 15. There's no way we're running the ball here to set up a closer field goal or make a shorter fourth down. No, we're going for it. Ragnar, who was in and out of this game, was an animal, protects it up.

They hit it. Amonra breaks a tackle to get the first down on that play. It was just really bold play calling like that throughout. Their running game wasn't working, so they called the third and one fake where they get it to right. What does that guy's name? Brock right down the sideline, the same play that he used against the Jets. Every Everything they touch, they went for a fourth and goal as part of that. Touchdown, touch down, touch down. It started it off. They go for it like being bold, and then their players executing it and just playing smart. They looked like the lines we've seen all year today.

Yeah, they keep being They keep emphasizing who they've been and how they got here, and they're not changing from that. Dan Campbell refuses to shift identities. Dialing up Craig Reynolds on that fourth and goal, a surprise character in that situation. You're right. That incredible 16-yard to Ammon Ron St. Brown on third and 15. Goff, if we're going to praise Brock Purdy on that final drive, Goff in the fourth quarter hit his first 11 passes for 131 yards in a countdown on those two long countdown drives. It's like Goff was money when it mattered most. This defense gave up 408 yards to a Bucaneers team that did not quit, but it really was going to come down to a big mistake. For as good as Baker Mayfield has been in these two games in this stretch and the best version of himself, that is the other side of Baker Mayfield. That mistake occurs, and it snuffed out what could have been a pretty spicy final couple of minutes because the Bucs, I give them credit, they're not a great team, but they fought really hard in this game. It's like they believe in Baker Mayfield, but the Lions, same with Goff, and Goff talked about just feeling a calm throughout the fourth quarter.

I think this version, who Jared Goff is right now and the way he operated in the final minutes, says so much about this lines offense.

Yeah, it went from 17:17 to 31:17. In a blink. To Mayfield and Tampa Bay's credit, they go right down the field, they get the shutdown, they fail on the two-point conversion, and then get the stop. You're thinking, Hmm, this could be interesting. But Baker, yeah, makes that big mistake. Here's Baker after the game. Obviously, you saw it in the highlight or immediately after the play happened, hanging his head. He knew he had a chance to do something special, and they could not get it done.

It sucks. I feel like my heart just got ripped out.

But football The ball is a complex game, but it's also simple.

It comes down to taking care of the ball.

And in two-minute drives like that, when you know you're going to have four downs to use, just a bad mistake by me.

And it sucks because I know what type of group we've had all year that we fought to get to this point. We fought to be in that game. We weren't supposed to be here by any measures, but we believed in each other and we fought for it. And so, yeah, this one's going to weigh on me for a while.

Yeah, and I thought it was interesting, and I think they said it during the telecast, that these are both players, Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff, number one overall picks. They had apparently spoken. This was a couple of weeks back before this matchup was set in stone. They had a conversation, Mayfield and Goff, and they talked about how when you're a number one overall pick, you're at the top of the mountain and you have to find a new chip on your shoulder. For these guys, both their original teams, the Browns and Rams, essentially quit on them. Now here they are, resurrecting their careers. Here's Goff, one win from getting back to the Super Bowl. Let's listen to Jared Goff. It's a credit to all the guys in there. We've said this a million times about how it's the same group. It's not like we've added a ton. It's a lot of the same guys, and Brad and Dan have been very intentional about bringing in those type of guys who can handle moments like today and moments like last week and ups and downs of a season. I think it's all been intentionally done by them, and we're not here by accident.

Now, Goff He avoided the negative plays today. When he mentions that with Brad Holmes, it really is insane to think about how many of the draft picks. All the focus has been on this year's rookie class, but when Derek Burns made that play, it reminded me of all three of these classes because they've done a really good job developing players. Derek Burns is not a household name, but if you think back to week one, who is making all those huge run stops and just stuffing the Chiefs and big plays, play after play, it's Derek Barnes and guys like Melafon, who they've developed slowly and has eventually turned into this great part of this three safety tandem with Cardner Johnson and Panay Sewell and Saint Brown, our draft pick. And Hutchinson had another nice game. And just throughout, it's all these homegrown players. And I think you get a cohesion between the coaching staff and the players that is pretty rare and maybe can carry them through. A game like this, which was weird. Mid third quarter, Mark, the Bucks were averaging 7.3 yards for play, and the Lynes were averaging 3.7. It was a strange game where the Lynes were being opportunistic, but I wasn't watching it and thinking, Oh, the Lynes are a much better team here.

I thought they were in trouble. And they stabilized and played their best at the end.

Well, they're learning. I think it's like the Detroit journey is they're learning how to win games like this. To work your way out of not your best performance, the Niners did it, but the Niners have playoff experience. They know how to do it. I think it's really impressive. They remind me of the Rams, Brad Holmes coming from Rams World. Like, Jameer Gibbs, someone that they were like, Why on earth are the lions picking this running back this high in the draft? Watching Jameer Gibbs, he has been a complete difference maker. Just the speed alone and what he did today in key moments. Every one of the players you mentioned, all these rookies, second year, third year guys, they've hit on them over and over. The emphasis is that Jared Goff, who they were pretty plainly honest about from the beginning. We believe in them. We'll see what happens. They didn't just chase quickly another rookie quarterback to supplant him with. They've made the best version of Jared Goff come alive because of that belief. I think Jared Goff had his confidence cracked like an egg Coming out of that Rams experience. It's like there is something to the mentality of an athlete to say, We believe in you.

Go do it. Now here you are as Detroit Lynes fans.

Everyone thought they had Jared Goff nailed. This was a guy from Northern California, a number one draft pick who really wasn't deserving of it. He was a bust. Then, oh, he was actually... He had some good years, but he was propped up by Sean McVay's brilliant offense at the time. Then he was shipped off to Detroit to be a starter for maybe a year before he became a back of the rest of his career. No, because like Dan Campbell said, you're good enough for Detroit. The fact that Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell and that organization saw InGoff, not a Bridge guy, but a guy that could be a major part of this operation moving forward, nobody else saw that. Building the roster the way they have, people didn't see that. You think back to the opening press conference. In fact, I think we have some sound from Campbell on that. The opening press conference, it's infamous. I'll tell you how infamous it is, the Biting the kneecaps press conference, which remember, the lines were laughing stock at the time. Before that season started, this is two years ago, Colleen and I did the first Hard Knocks podcast series, and we noticed that it wasn't in the first episode.

We're like, Oh, of course that's going to be in the episode. They're going to play off that. Then we were told, No, don't talk about it either. The lions and Campbell were sensitive that that was being taken and put in a different way.

That's how he was known.

He was like a cartoon character, the way he looked, the way he talked, the way he was saying. Everyone, like Jared Goff and so many of these other guys, we underestimated the lions. Here's Here's Campbell talking about the beginning of his tenure and how that has changed now. Dan, that first press conference has become legend, recap, all that.

Initially, though, there was a lot of like, what did the lions hire with this guy? I mean, here that then and what you hear that then? You're probably one of them.

To each his own. Talk about a-That last little-great line. You know it, it's been sticking in his crop for a long time, but they're getting the last lap now.

That's awesome. It's also Campbell sticking it to the whole people were saying back then. It was probably you. He is definitely someone I bet that-Not everybody was, though.

Kept crack. We had our fun with the lines at that time, and Campbell, who didn't have a big resume. But we were saying, Mark, damn, if they... Do not tell the lines. Do not tell Dan Campbell that they're playing with house money in San Francisco. No, they're not. This team believes that they can win a Super Bowl, and if If they ever did it, Sestog, if they ever even just made the Super Bowl, but if they won it, he's Mike Dicke. He is a national celebrity of the highest order when you talk about sports figures in America. He's become a star and seize the moment, because I'll name another one. Remember, Rex Ryan? Yeah. He became a star overnight. Again, you think, because they went to the Jets in '09 and '10, they went to the AFC Championship Game two years in a row. You think it's just It's going to go on forever. Maybe this is the moment for the Detroit Lions right now. But I will say this, even if things do not go well next week in San Francisco, you can't take away what happened these two weeks, these two home games, and the wins, and the crowd, and the feel around it.

For Lions fans, this will be a season that will be viewed warmly no matter what happens.

Yeah, because before you had Ditka's 1985 bears, you had the '84 bears that learned how to do what the '85 bears did. I think you're talking, you mentioned that in the screening room, and I love the DNA, the comparison between Ditka, Campbell, and Rex Ryan, because Rex Ryan came in and said, I don't care what we've been. We're going to be something different now. It resonated.

We're not going to kiss Belichick's raise.

Exactly.

I don't care what the order was here before. It's a new order. Ditka took a bears team that was lost at sea for a long time, did the same thing. And who's been more lost at sea than the lions? And it's a lot to do with Dan Campbell's just willing this team to do it his own way. And he was doubted because of his personality out of the gate, but they believe in him with every fiber of their being.

And his ability to hit on big decisions. Aaron Glenn, I thought, had a really good day today. I know they were giving up a lot of yards, but if you think of why the Bucs drives kept stopping, it's because they kept finding the free rusher to get to Baker Mayfield, who ended up taking a few sacs. I thought Baker actually played quite well in this game until that interception. The first interception came off a drop. Evans finishes with 147. Baker throws for 349. He had the fourth and 15 play to keep their season alive. He had the play where he almost was sacked, and then he's rolling out and makes one of the best plays any quarterback made all weekend. And yet, I think the Coaching for the Lions is just better. And I compare it to the Bucks where Boles has been bolder this season. He's gotten some pop in Tampa of like, Oh, it's a new Todd Boles. But today there was-He's electric, that Todd Boles. It's just a couple of spots. There It was a fourth and 1 at his own 35 in the first half, and I know it's your own 35, but the way that game was going, they were running the ball really well.

Rashaad White ran for 6.1 yards per carry. Edmonds went 4.8, and he punced there. They kicked the 50-yard field goal, which I'm not going to kill him, but it was a fourth and 5. Who's their kicker? He's been great all year. I literally think that was his first miss kick all year that wasn't a block. Chase McGloughlin has been under the radar as having a great season.

He's in the top five of my kickerThank you.

Then at the very end, they're down a touch that, and I know it's transgressive, but it was fourth and four, I think at their own 30 or so. That's just a no thought punt there. But the way that game was going, I was like, Man, the lines are just going to go down the field and score a touch down here. Is it that He was easy to go for that fourth and four? He didn't even think about it, and they did go down and score the touch on side. Thought he was not that bold in some big spots.

That's bold. I mean, that's part of it. They have a big decision to make with Baker, who really outperformed his contract and had a nice year overall for that team. We're going to see what happens next. I think we got to give the last word to Dan Campbell, who gave us some thoughts on this Lyons team and this moment in the city in which they play.

Well, I think it's important, right? I don't know if it's... It's not the first thing you think of if you go to LA or just in general, right? You got the sun, you got the beach, you got plenty of other things things going on in here, man.

That's fire.

It's harsh winters, right? Auto industry, blue collar. Things aren't always easy. I just think that's what we're about. You want something the city can be proud of. You can look at those guys and say, Man, I can back that guy. I can back that team. I can resonate with those group of guys.

I feel attacked. I live in Los Angeles.

And then it dropped on Southern California.

With the sun. Every week for me is just a war. In my home, it's just a battle to my wife and I just to survive and grind through with the two maniac boys and the pressures. The traffic being-of being on an internationally known podcast. Don't give me that look Rosen Thaw.

No, I'm with you.

Don't give me that Rusty Greg face.

I'm giving you dead Campbell that look. Oh, LA with their beaches. When we drove to Walker's basketball game Thursday, we had to park under indoors because it was raining outside. Usually, we park on the street, but we wanted to get it under the roof. That's we parked inside. When I took...

Perfect example, Greg. When I took my dog Captain to the beach on Friday, right around sunset, and My boys brought a frisby, there was a sign outside that beach that said no dogs allowed, even in the offseason.

Yeah, and I'd say, there are times if you were to buy an ice cream cone, you've got to get into an inside area so that the sun and the warmth don't melt it prematurely while you're trying to eat it.Thank you.

So Dan, we're waiting for your apologies.I.

Did literally go to the beach this morning because on the West Coast, another nice thing, it's like, Oh, a nice noon start for the NFL. We'll get out.

I think Dan Campbell is proving his point without having to retort. But that is very nice. And we will see what the lines do. I did have about third quarter of Bill's Chiefs. I started to openly daydream about the idea of us being in Vegas and fans from Detroit and Buffalo pouring into the city on Friday afternoon and what that scene would be. We lost the bills, unfortunately, today. I'm not necessarily rooting for... No, I am. I am rooting for the lines. How can you not root for the lines? I think a lot of people across the country are going to be pulling for the lines. But look, their opponent, the 49ers, they're shinier, they're sexier, they're Californian, too. They've been trying to get over this hub for years as well. They haven't not won the Super Bowl since, what, 1990?

We're going to guess five.

We had a Patty cake around the packers and the impossible nature of what their fans have been through. Niners fans have been through a lot, too.

We've been tough Super Bowl also. That That would have been a brutal loss for the 49. Do you want to guess the spread of those games?

Hang on. Let me think about it. Got to get this right.

All right, so we got-Niners, Lions.

I'm going to say they're going to put the Niners, they're going to install them I'd say 4.5. I'd say 5.5.7.Wow.Okay. Interesting.

I mean, they were nine and a half against the packers.

I just thought it would be some more respect. Then the other game, Baltimore, Kansas City. That's a tough one. I'm going to say right now, Baltimore minus 3.

Baltimore, three and a half.

Three and a half is right on the number. There you go, Mark. There you go, Mark. You got a future in this. How about that, Mark?

I do not have a future.

Future Rainmaker.

Not in this, not when not being employed by this company.

All right, so there you go. That is the breakdown of Divisional Round Weekend. There are only three games left in this season. Oh, one more thing. Big Funk pointed out, shot me a little note, that there is a photo, and this is for people watching on YouTube, of Eric, our producer, who really a great effort watching this game upstairs.

I'm basically hiding under a desk at this point. What is going on?

You're behind a preschool basketball hoop, that plastic, the tight one, and you're sitting against the windowsill but tucked away, almost like a raccoon that's been hit by a car and is under a bush. The basketball that comes with that child play pin basketball hoop went across the office when we missed the field goal.

It was heaved.

Just again, to circle back on that, I I totally get the frustration of the teams and fan base that can't get over the hub. That is because it is with the bills, it's Super Bowl or Bust, and everything else feels like...

But if you think about it, Eric, It does suck to lose like that. Where are you going to go with this, Greg? There we go. But most people have to wait for the podcast to be recorded and then edit it and all this stuff. You get to listen it live for free right off the bat.

Then he has to listen back to it for the edit.

This is the perk.

This is the perk of the job, guys.

Pinch yourself. All right, that's it.

We're going to be back on Tuesday. I'm going to tease it again. Colleen Wolf will rejoin us on Tuesday. We'll see. Tiny Box hour. And, yes, three games left. Three games left. He the call..