Fox Football Sunday: Mike Harmon, Bucky Brooks, & Andy Furman talk College Football Championship, NFL Wild Card Playoffs, and So Much More!

Published Jan 12, 2025, 3:18 PM

On this week’s episode of Fox Football SundayMike HarmonBucky Brooks, and Andy Furman deliver in-depth analysis of NFL Wild Card Weekend, breaking down the AFC matchups and previewing the NFC games. The trio debates whether it might be time for Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin to move on and takes a close look at the highly anticipated College Football Championship matchup between Ohio State and Notre Dame. Don’t miss all this and more on this week’s show!

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Greetings and welcome in another beautiful Fox Football Sunday. Honored to be back in the chair with you this morning. Hi, I'm Mike Garbin alongside my guys Andy Furman, broadcast legend, and I got Bucky Books on his road to doing just the same. You read him NFL dot com, Foxsports dot Com, part of the Jaguars broadcast squad. We'll get to the Jaguars as part of our overarching world this morning. Andy, you find him at Andy Furman FSR. Find me over at Swollen Dome. So much swirling as we get towards day four of our playoff action, four out of five, going back to the college games of earlier this week. Obviously a lot of chaos here in Southern California with one of the games being moved, and that's the Monday nighter as the Vik and Rams will take the field there in Arizona State Farm. Look, I know all of the the jokes being made about insurance companies and everything as related to Southern California. We'll let you guys fight that out in the social media spheres. Our job here is to talk about the games themselves and maybe settle some stuff from bottom barrel bedding.

Yeah, you know what, I'm so sorry you brought that up, because now I feel like a real piece of garbage because I just googled Croatia. There are twenty five lakes in Croatia and forty seven in Japan. Okay, but that's that's not the only waterways in the place. Okay, We've got to talk about indoor workout places like gyms that have pools.

So I still may be in the running, but still.

I lost out in the waterways with lakes Japan forty seven and Croatia twenty down, I'm down the dumps.

You like, Hey, de Pansan Island, I was just gonna.

Go into the I'm gonna send you to Rikers Island if you don't start.

Wow, look at that.

The threats Bucky already won.

Yeah, here we go. Just square miles of coachline. I just did a quick search on that. Oh great, So thirty six hundred and twenty six square miles for Croatia coachline eighteen thousand and four eighty six for Japan.

Uh So that's twenty percent.

I've I got the sweet.

Yeah, I'm not American, but how.

Many gyms, how many indoor water facilities, pools to work out.

I think it's your turn to look some of this up.

I'm gonna do that. But you look, they're not going to practice water pull in the ocean. Okay, let's be honest about that.

All it was was you made a generalization about the availability of water to the people of Croatia.

I wish there was availability of water in Los Angeles.

That's as we as we all do handy right now. Certainly A uh, that was a good just space and very apt, very appropriate. We should get you an interview.

With the assistant fight achieve that too.

Get that to Gavin Newsom and everybody else in the politicos. Yeah, it's certainly the last several days. I will say this, Fellas Bucky. I hope everybody in your in your world is doing okay. I would say this for me, it's been endearing talking with Mark and Shay.

Shay. Obviously he's been without power for several days, so finally.

Getting that, finally got a good text tonight.

In the overnight, right, so we get a little positivity there. For me, it's brought out some family, extended family and and old friends. Of years gone by who may be aware of the works here at Fox Sports Radio kind of reaching out to say hello. So so that's been a good thing. Some people I haven't heard from in some time checking in on us. Jason Smith and I On Friday night, we were the last live show before there was a stretch because the fires had gotten close.

There was something with my serious XCENT Radio.

I turned the radio one late in in the morning, early hours of the morning. I'm hearing Ben Mallie saying, Merry Christmas?

Is it?

What?

What's going on?

Yeah?

So, you know contingency plan where suddenly it became the You know, there is a short time during the holidays where they go to a best of, right as we celebrate the Christmas holidays. How come this show doesn't have a best of? It's a good question that I'll leave.

I'll make one.

I'll leave that with the powers that be. And now you see, now, now you guys are going into pay structure or whatever.

I didn't do about the pay bring up the money?

Why we don't? Can you see how sideways this all went really fast?

Do you think there's problems with professional athletes.

With teams with money, like with say Kwam Barkley situation, all that stuff with money?

Are you kidding with? With T Higgins, I got a problem with I'm.

Gonna I'm gonna get a fine from my arm media all.

He's getting called into the offices over things you're saying because he's he's got the executive producer title.

Chase and we've got.

Yeah, I don't know.

He's a high, high leverage performer, just like Jamar Chase. I think we get a touchdown a week out of Shae. I mean he gave you bottom barrel betting. He spanned the globe for you. I'd like to see you got a question about Croatia and Japan.

I mean this guy leaves no stone unturned for you.

Multi ye, no cut contract?

How about that? See?

Now there there's something. Get that letter writing campaign going, Get me one of those while you're at it, like one too, exactly, Shae and Mark making us sound so pretty as we are this morning, blessed to be with you, part of the Tended family. You know, there's always those sobering moments, you know, certainly with all the news footage as we've been here in the studio, fellas, uh, you know we've got four large screens for us here, and you know, we had the news on throughout the week and keeping an eye on the you know, whether we were going to get any uh kind of precipitation, but certainly containment uh and grids and and politicians and local folks, so being able to provide a little bit of levity in the midst of that. And obviously there's weather events all over the place. We're talking about, you know, Dallas and this, you know, the Southwest and and and going down towards the Carolinas having all sorts of weather events as well.

Uh.

And we talk about preparedness and and allocation of resources and all of that and and and rolling through. But certainly our job to try to bring it back into the world of sports, give people a release from their day to day and that's certainly every day here at Fox Sports Radio.

Whatever you're going through in your.

Professional and personal lives, maybe a couple of minutes of refuge and us just yelling at each other about stuff that in the end is a great thing to pacify us. To give us a little bit of relief. Doesn't mean we're not living and dying with every play, Don't get me wrong. Certainly watch that over the two college football playoff games in the social media sphere, and certainly the high drama of both those games. Drew Aller in the Thursday game in those final moments, and then certainly Friday Quinn viewers feeling it not only the heat because he didn't get a pass off, but play calling for Sarkesian and I still think the right tackle getting a little bit of a free pass and all of that protects as well. But we might as well begin begin in the NFL, right that's where a lot of our mindset is.

Bucky and I.

Maybe we revisit college and Andy will do that maybe as the hour goes on here, but I gotta go to that that Chargers game against Houston. Everybody looking at the Chargers as the big breakthrough, and then suddenly we're wringing our hands about Justin Herbert.

Not that we get too deep.

Into officiating, but I had a couple of questions. You know, we always look at intentional grounding, and maybe you.

Had a situation where CJ.

Stroud got away with one that eventually becomes a big possession for the Texans. Likewise, you had an interception by Derwin James that gets overturned that I'm not quite so sure was conclusive and should have been two monster plays in terms of how this game plays out. Doesn't excuse anything from Justin Herbert who was terrible and not being able to get out of their own way or take care of business early on right, big possessions and you walk away with field goals, leaving the door open. But for the Chargers, a lot of expectations with Harball coming in and performed well during the regular season. But Houston a squad that was all but left for dead, suddenly their defense rises up and takes them down. Andy as as you roll through Harbaugh isms all over the place, because we're attacking this day with relentless enthusiasm, there's no question about it. But for the Chargers, a bit of a disappointment going on the road as favorites.

You know, I want to mention one thing you mentioned about the officiating. I mean, I have noticed also a lot of grabbing the face mask, kind of grabbing the helmet and twisting the head and officials missing those calls. Yeah, and I understand it's such a tough call and sometimes you're at the wrong angle and all they've missed a lot of them this year, and even yesterday they missed a couple too. So you know, you just guys turning a guy's head. You got to be able to see that. Maybe they need more officials. I don't know. I remember when the NBA had a problem, they edited a third official. Maybe they hit another official. I don't know, but I do know this. I mean I think people were shocked. I thought the Bucky about this. He was somewhat surprised that the Charges lost and lost the way they did. This guy justin Herbert had three interceptions all year long. He had four yesterday.

Yeah, I mean, look, Will Disley should get credit for one of them. Like unfortunately they all go on the quarterback. But Herbert did sail a couple. I mean the first one going across his body and going across the field. Yeah, my arm strength is going to get it there. Well, sometimes it does a great undercut by the defender there. And then we watched as Stingley and the other defenders making big plays starting to press. Certainly didn't have the element of the run game that is so much the harball ism Bucky as JK. Dobbins was a non factor.

In this one.

Yeah, no factor, and you know, the charts have been so good all year at just really not making the big mistakes, allowing the other team to implode in winning games that way, and on the bigger stage where they're playing a playoff game and an opponent that had been there the year before, it looked like the Chargers were the inexperienced playoff team where they just needed to settle down and calm down and take advantage of things that were there. They didn't early, and then they allowed a player to to kind of flip the momentum. C J. Stroud gets hot, makes a play, Joe Mixing gets to go in, and then the pass rush is heating up, and it was an avalanche of just good plays and bad plays and everything where you look up and you're like, man, this game is thirty and twelve. What happened? I never saw that in looking and breaking down the game before beforehand, I never thought that it would be a Texans blowout that we would be discussing at the end of this one.

Yeah, I mean I was excuse me, I want to say this. I mean they've talked about Lamar Jackson. He gets on the big stage, he can't get a win. Let's talk about Justin Herbert for a second. He still hasn't got his first playoff win.

I mean, it's.

Unbelievable how certain people, certain athletes, you know, get into the center stage. I guess because the team is a lot better. Baltonmore than than San Diego. La was the charge of the time. But still in all it's not fair. I mean, Lamar Jackson's going to get his third MVP this year, there's no doubt about that. And then Justin Herbert, you know, they built him up so big. What has he done. I mean they competed to Joe Burrow. I think Joe Burrow leaves him in the dust. I really do. And last night didn't do anything to help his cause.

No, I didn't. I'm with you. I can't. I can't fight it. I can't say anything about it. I will say, yeah, it didn't didn't help his cause. Regardless of whether those interceptions were all on him or not. He gets he's responsible for it.

In the school, it says deception, that's it.

Yeah, it says. So he has to play better. He knows he has to perform better in the postseason. They can help him by making sure he has enough firepower on the perimeter to be able to get some of those things done. But yeah, no, I mean it's what what can we say about Justin Herban Nothing. He has to play better, it has to perform, but he has to and learn it.

Yeah, I mean he had the big lead that they built against the Jaguars a couple of years ago and they let that go to hell. And then obviously, look, if we want to do the apples to apples, and I'd like to see Justin Herbert throwing balls to Jamar Chase and T Higgins as opposed to Quinn Johnston if we're going to do that, But you can only play with what you have, right, You're going to have to make a play.

Yeah, you can play what you have. But I will say this, their team is more balanced down than it happened in the past.

Certainly mccoggy Doggy's a beast rights on every level.

Now, now I could unveil this, Okay, pull back the curtain, but now you know you want to be a critical guy. After the fat I'll tell you who have they beaten this year?

To charge?

Just think about they beat Vegas terrible, they beat Carolina terrible, They beat Denver, a playoff team. Not bad, Okay, they beat New Orleans bad, Cleveland really bad. They beat Tennessee real bad. They beat the Bengals terrible, they beat Atlanta not all right, I'll give.

Him a break there.

They beat Denver again, they beat New England terrible, and they beat the Vegas.

Are you going to Herb Street and trying to argue Alabama into these playoffs?

No, I'm just arguing that maybe they weren't that good defensively. They were, Okay, they yielded what's like seventeen points against who's on the schedule, and okay, but that's the problem that there's no one on the schedule, but they weren't challenged.

They weren't challenged.

The year to year it's going to be different, right in this case, they were the top scoring defense in the National Football League, given up fewer than eighteen points per game. And the place where I think it fell apart for me, Bucky, was the assumption that offensively, their line with Slater back in after missing the finale and alt and that offensive line would have an answer for the Houston defense and what they were able to bring the bear. I actually look at the trenches on both sides, right, because we didn't see the same level of pressure on Stroud. His escapability certainly played out huge in this game, a couple of huge runs. But I give all credit to Matt Burke and Damiko Ryans for coming up with a scheme to get after that Chargers offensive line and keep Herbert off balance. How many times was he hit? How many times did they get after his arm and effect plays early? It didn't show up in the score sheet early, but I'm sure as hell did late.

But he held off to the ball too, that's his you know, he didn't get rid of the ball quickly quick enough.

Think about that. They don't. They don't say that as well.

But that's but that's the general thing out all these quarterbacks, right, I mean, is you know, when we go into the sack column, well, how much he's got a pretty.

Bad offensive line. But but he gets rid of the ball rather quickly. Otherwise he'd have a lot more sacks.

No, But that that's that's the thing, right that, that's what elevates him over so many of these quarterbacks.

And you know, I do like that.

Cincinnati is now the focal point of a conversation about the Chargers.

And the Houston Texans were talking.

About the quarterbacks.

We're talking about comparing quarterbacks as it we're doing. You know, if you want to, if you want to assist that, I want to put this to rest. Also, how how some idiots out there saying that the Kansas City Chiefs threw the game against Denver last because they were afraid to play the Bengals.

Are you kidding me? I mean really, I mean, stop it already.

I just didn't want to play a game. They took a week off.

Right, and you know what, it was Cincinnati in that situation, they would have the rest of their thoughts too, right.

And any another team that everybody was crying about getting in or not, whether that was part of the discussion or not, it's like, you know what, win games, right, right? They didn't win enough. They didn't bother to play the month of September. They lost to New England.

Are you listening to Alabama?

Exactly?

Yeah?

Right, you got to take care of your business early because those dams count late. Northwest, you want to go after Northwestern like I they might.

Get set for relegation before this is all over.

Andy, Although they have made some moves in the in the off season, after having that that press conference saying we spent no nil, suddenly a bunch of guys showed up. I can't believe they all came for free.

Have you put any not to be personal? Have you shipped in a little bit for the nil?

There?

You know what I actually give you a different part of you or the university. I also have a lot of questions if I could get audiences with the folks there at Northwestern about some decisions policy wise they've made. But again, the program is not made for that those discussions right now, Schill and some of the folks up top of some of the way they've handled things the last couple of years. You could go and google some of the Northwestern policies if you want to go down that road.

From the football side of things.

Look, I like the mini stadium and I'm curious to see what they do with with Braun and company going forward. But you know, the idea that you're going to compete in the new look Big ten is you know you're wishing and open for that one year once at a blue moon, and that the schedule guds are on your.

Show about that, I honestly believe that most of these schools don't think they can compete with the biggies in those conferences, but they're so happy to collect the check. Really, I mean, you know, you might be better of being a big fish in a little pond. And I have an example of the University of Cincinnati when they were dominating the AAC, the American Athletic Conference. They were winning a year in a year out. Now they're in the Big Ten. You know they're not going to be that strong. I mean they're already zero and three in basketball. They got beat by Kansas yesterday. You can't it's just very difficult to do that. But they're very happy to collect the check because there's a big paycheck, big pay day. That's what it's in, right, Isn't that what it's all about?

Buck? I mean, checks are checks are always good and accumulate. We feel better about them. But yeah, say what you're saying.

And but I mean, being part of the conference, right, you get your cut. You know, with Cincinnati being part of the Big twelve, they're going to get whatever runs off of there, and certainly in participation for the college football playoffs, and that it's one of those big fights with no what do.

I still call it the Big ten? I don't know why.

That's all right? Look, the Big ten is at eighteen teams.

They're not changing it, right, right, Like I've already sat on the domain big twenty dot com, right on the number one G twenty dot com, waiting for them to eventually get there.

But it's that kind of thing, right, You're trying to get your cash.

And that was you know the part of the stuff with Notre Dame when they say, hey, look we got we're getting this per round and now we get twenty million dollars. We don't have to split or give a half a share to a new participant, right, where where as an independent you make a big bet, you make the big plays and it works, right. James Franklin was crying about that while he was trying to son Marcus Freeman and guests who walked away with the bag? There Marcus Freeman and then he celebrated his thirty ninth birthday the next day. Here you go, right, I mean he tried to sun him at all those press conferences leading up to that game.

How old are you like all of that stuff?

Like, I don't know that I've cheered that much, like and look, I love the Big Ten. I'm proud graduate of Northwestern and and being part of that conference. I was part of my sales pitch to the admissions guy because I saw what a big football fan he was. Was that back then Northwestern wasn't considered an actual member of the Big Ten. They were kind of there right So to say, hey, I ain't got up talking about them, uh in that regard was exciting. But James Franklin, that was embarrassing that whole week leading up, Like, I've never rooted against a coach for the way he talked down to a program and talked down to a fellow coach as he did in all those pressers.

See Andy, I told you that's what it is. That's why people go against James frank It's just just an athletic arrogance. But like, we love a heel he is, yeah, I.

Mean he's the guy and.

Wwe that that would be talking before you know it, like the chair comes out of nowhere.

Wow, here's the problem with James Franklin. Though, I don't think he's intentionally being the heel.

No, No, it's just his personality.

I think that's just who he is and that's fine. Yeah, and that's fine.

Just doesn't he just doesn't know. He just has a little bit of debt of dead in him. It drives people crazy and doesn't. And then you have Marcus Freeman, who was on the complete other side of it. Right, Like, we went from a time where everyone hated Notre Dame because Notre Dame was basically the college version of the Dallas Cowboys. But he's so likable and lovable that he is transforming what we think about Notre Dame.

You know, think about how we got the job. I mean, Brian Kelly left. I don't think there was a great search committee out there. He just just boom, here's the job that he opens up his career losing to Marshall and right away they wanted his head.

Think about that, right.

Tough couple of years, absolutely, and what he meant to the players in that program.

You go back to those.

Videos, and let's face it, Brian Kelly is not a likable guy for many. Many they go back to his origin stories is unbelievable.

The way he left Cincinnati, well, oh my god.

Yeah, and I think I think, I mean, all those coaches always leave funny Tommy Tullbyville ducking out of it clean. I mean, it's it's always whatever, but the irony of it all when it comes to Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame to go to LSU because it gives him supposedly a better opportunity of international title, and then Marcus Freeman has stayed. And I would say this, like, this team still embraces all the things that we talk about when it comes to academics or whatever, but they still have a little bit of an They have more of an edge to them than they've had, and that has been the big difference to know that. Now we'll see what it looks like when they take on the juggernaut in Ohio State in terms of the talent level and all of that. But they certainly have blown through the competition to kind of put respect back on Notre Dame's name as a national power.

Okay, now I've read a lot of material right now saying that it's great for college football that Notre Dame is won, and going through the fund, I think college football has been pretty good, steed, pretty healthy. It's great that Notre Dame's dad, but I don't think Notre Dame is the savior of college football.

Right.

No, But it's like like Bucky reference to Cowboys when they're relevant. Look, we're going to talk about the Cowboys whenever we're going to talk about Notre Dame whatever, But when they're actually winning, it injects a little extra juice to things.

A little juice, a little brilliant like when the Yankees played the Dodgers in the series.

Right when when those big names are involved. Because look, hate watching is a real thing. And while you may not hate Notre Dame, the this this iteration with Marcus Freeman and company, there's still the residual.

Stuff that that's why people listen to us show.

It's hate listening.

Now, that's why we're in. We're adored globally.

Andy Furman FSR at Bucky Brooks at Swollen Home.

Tell us just how much one way or another? Right now, as.

We roll on live from the tire rac dot com studios tirac dot com, we help you get there an unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, pre road hazard protection, over ten thousand recommended installers tireract dot com. The way tire buying should be. You know, ten thousand recommended installers. That's about half as much square mileage.

Of coast yard coastline for Japan. See what we did full circle.

As we go back through, we'll continue college football and the National Football League as we await more playoff action and also the coaching hiring cycle, all the fun that you've come to expect here on a Fox Football Sunday. Thanks for being part of the extended family. We'll continue with that next year on Fox.

You're listening to Fox Sports Radio Radio. Hey, welcome back in Fox Football Sunday.

Fox Sports or Radio Mike Carmen alongside Andy Furman, Bucky Brooks. Hey, shortly after the show, Shay's gonna get the podcast up. If you missed Hanny if today's show, be sure to check it out. Fox Sports Weekends, Fox Football Sunday, Brooks, Furman, Harmon, search Fox Sports Radio wherever you get your podcast. Be sure to follow, rate and review it. Search Fox Sports Radio where you get your podcasts, and you'll see the show posted right after we get off the air. You know what, I wanted to bring one thing back though, guys, because we did have a special Saturday, a couple of playoff games here on a huge wild card weekend. A three Day Extravaganza. Three games later on today, one Monday night. This was really the turning point. This was the big moment in that Chargers Texans game. Let's hear it.

But speaking of clean, that's dirty? Is that dirty bubble?

No, Harball is gonna have to take a shower.

Careful call down, you gentle, No, there you go.

The alternate broadcast was the SpongeBob broadcast. Nate Burlison alongside SpongeBob and Patrick Starr and Jim Harbaugh got kidnapped right after that the first interception from Justin Herbert, and it all went south for the Chargers after that moment.

Did you watch the SpongeBob version.

I'm gonna be honest, for a good chunk of it, I did. I went back and watched the regular broadcast later on. But yeah, you know, I I enjoy those. I got to embrace my inner child as we've If we've learned anything this week here in Southern California, Andy Furman is we got to keep that childlike wonder and hope alive.

Oh, I'm with you.

So wherever we get those, we do. Yeah.

I was upset the game was on the time that it was on because the three Stooges are usually on the other channel that time.

I'm safely so you got to have a multi screen experience going on there, Andy Furman, Yes, multitasking. All right, let's go to that other game, because this wraps into a much larger issue as we watch the Ravens literally run all over the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I don't usually agree with Kirk krb Street about much in the way of football analysis and overarching things about you know, collegiate and professional sports, but calling out the effort or lack thereof by the Steelers might have been the most appropriate thing that we'll be said about these playoffs in any way, shape or form. As we watched the Ravens run for either two hundred and ninety nine yards or nice and rounded up to three hundred if you got there, you watched Lamar Jackson have his way, Derrick Henry running wild. Some great quotes from Lamar Jackson in the post game comparing Derrick Henry running to Lightning McQueen speeding by you in the movie Cars. So all of that to say for the Steelers, the latest iteration Russell Wilson with some Okay, he gets some stats at the end. George Pickens finishes with five catches, a couple of big plays in the second half. But when it mattered, he was, you know, was wearing a cloak of invisibility. If we're gonna go down the movie route, he's part of the Harry Potter universe or John Cena. You can't see him. You choose your own adventure as that goes. But even when they scored the fourteen points, never in doubt. Baltimore comes right back, Henry rips off another big run, even without Zay Flowers. It didn't matter. They were able to do whatever they wanted. So it begs the quot question. Now for the Steelers, you know you're not going to out and out fire Mike Tomlin. You extended him. But Bucky, I'll start with you. Do you consider trading.

Him for who? Like I'm so much.

No, no, no, But but again it becomes a to be b two c MO.

So my thing is, and I mentioned this to Andy early, whatever you feel about Mike Tomlin, you should feel the same way about Kyle Shanahan. So if you're perpetually disappointed with your team not getting to the winner circle, then you should feel the same way in San Francisco with Mike Tomlin. What you have and I don't think any of us. I think Vegas had the over under on their wins at eight and a half. I don't know if anyone had picked them to win the division going into it. I think what fans need to have as a realistic view on how good the team really is, you know, I would say that the team is what we saw last night. Baltimore was a superior team, and Baltimore was supposed to be a team that competed for the super What you have, though, is you have the way they finish and the fact that they haven't won a playoff game since twenty eighteen, so six straight playoff losses that hangs over the head of the franchise. What I would hate to do, if I'm a Stilless fan, is to look for more and end up with less and so you can move on from him because there is there appears to be like a ceiling, as everyone says. They're kind of like the Atlanta Braids in the nineties where they win the division but they can't win the World Series. But would you rather be in the tournament with an opportunity to win it? Or would you rather bottom out and then occasionally win it like the Miami Marlins or the Florida Marlins. That's what you have to determine, because I don't know who's going to be the better coach, the automatic upgrade over what Mike Tomlin is in Pittsburgh. That doesn't guarantee him a lifetime Achievement award where he should be there. I just think that if you're going to move, you have to be able to demonstrate, hey, we got a better coach for you than Mike Tomlin. And so I'm just waiting to see who that person could possibly be.

I want to go back and comment on what you said, mister Harmon about Kurbhurbstreet's comments about effort Okay.

Good, bitter and different.

I'm going to run this by Bucky Brooks. When an ex athlete and Kirk Kurbstreet was an athlete because he played for Ohio State quarterback, does it mean more coming from him? Or if a fool like me says that and an athlete hears that, does he take it in a worse manner Because I never played the game. You're an athlete and you hear the comments from the effort factor from a Kirk Herbstreet then you hear it from me.

Does it make a difference.

I don't know, but I'll say this, I had my own things when it comes to like quarterbacks in commentary, particularly when it comes to like defense and physicality in those things, like it's find that Kirkharbstreet did it, I didn't feel like that is really what showed up in terms of like the lack of effort or whatever. I feel like Baltimore is a team that when you have the combined force of Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson and they decided to be who they are where they've ran the football. I mean, it's like being a boxer in a ring where the guy's just welling away at your solar flexus. At some point you're gonna wear down. Yeah, And if they keep deciding that, hey man, we're just gonna keep throwing these body blows and body blows and body blows, at some point, you wear down, particularly when your offense doesn't hold onto the ball. So I wouldn't say it's necessarily effort. I would say it's a team that is discouraged because you're looking up and you're like, man, there's no chance. We don't have it.

The Ravens two seventy four, Tinder, seventy more rushing guys on the Steelers, And if you watch that screen on the TV last night, it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive front had their tongues hanging out.

They were dying nobody.

They're on the field forever right right, and your offense is going three and out, or when you do have a potential to stop things, he puns on fourth and one, Like, at some point, you got to try to give these guys a little bit of a break. You got to think that you can get that yard and keep them on the sidelines, and if nothing else, keep Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry on the sidelines just a little bit longer to give yourself a puncher's chance.

And that's really all it is.

And Bucky, you know, for the Tomlin discussion, I'm not saying there's anybody better out there. I'm just wondering if for him, how does he go into Omar Khan, how does he go to the roonies and be like, all right, I can coach up what's out there. It's and I don't know, it's just some level what Belichick was doing, except he got to pick all the groceries. Not that Tomlin has no say in any of this, but philosophically it's the Yeah, I can coach him up and I can get us to the dance, but you're not giving me a team that's getting me over the top.

I'll go on step further. Even if there was anybody better out there, I don't think there is.

He's not getting fired. He's the man, and that organization doesn't fire coaches.

No, it's it. I mean, look my lifetime, there's right, and.

I'll say this, I think what they Okay, So here's my estimation of what I think they tried to do, and then we've got to go to a break. They've tried to do an ongoing rebuild on the fly, so they've been winning while they're flipping the roster in terms of like the offensive line. They haven't got a quarterback. Kenny Picker was supposed to be that guy until he got up out of there, you know. So they have the pieces in place, but until they get that next Ben Roethlisberger, their corners spin their wheels into AFC because the common denominated with all the teams that are doing it in the AFC. They all have superhero quarterbacks and until the Pittsburgh still is get their version, this is kind of where that ceiling is. And there's not a version that's going to come in the draft this year. There's not a free agent that you can bring over to give them that. They're kind of stuck in this quarterback purgatory until someone shows up with magical skills.

I already gave you the Sophie's choice Rogers or Russell Wilson. That was last week's thing is torture your souls. He's Bucky Brooks. That's Andy Furman at Bucky Brooks at Andy Furman FSR. Find me over at Swollen Dome. As we roll on, We've got four games to run through right quick. I know you guys did a little of this earlier. We'll take a different spin on it as we go forward. It's Fox Football Sunday on Fox Sports Radio.

Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live.

Hey, welcome back in It's Fox Football Sunday.

Fox Sports Radio Live from the tyrerac dot com studios. Blessed to be with you here this morning alongside my squad, my guys, Andy Furman at Andy Furman FSR. See what he's got popping on the radio and in the written format. Bucky Brooks Foxsports dot Com, NFL dot Com work with the Jaguar. They've got some decisions of their own this week. We've got six teams with hundreds of interviews. It would seem the list keeps getting longer. You guys get a call from either the Bearers or the Jets yet.

No, But I appreciate the throwness of the searches.

Yeah, there's there's something to be said for it and leaving no stone unturned. Hey, Andy over there in Cincinnati, you excited about the possibility of Matt Eberflu showing up as your defensive cordet.

How could they do that?

I mean, are you kidding they but not having a defensive coordinator?

Really?

I mean, how do you do that? What he's done in Chicago? I mean, why would you take a guy who's a failure? I don't understand that. I mean, and you know, little Anarrumo was just a scapegoat. There's no doubt in my mind. And when I had the news conference to Cincinnati, they point blank ass Zach Taylor.

What do you think? He said, Well, well, I had discussion with the upper management. No, you didn't.

You did because you hired the guy you hired. You've been with Lou for six years. They told you to fire Lou.

You know you.

You didn't want to fire Lou.

But believe me, I know that, and that hurt me because I know Lou when he coached high school football in Staten Island.

It's a good man. He's a good coach.

Had the one man ban of Hendrickson, you know, after they got rid of Allen Williams last year and brought in Montes sweat Iberflues. Did coach that defense up. So you got that going for you. You can't say the same for this year. Which one of these is not like the other. Later on today and into tomorrow, we've got four more playoff games. Fellas, only one team in these playoffs out of these eight squads we're going to watch today and tomorrow has a turnover differential in the negative space, and that's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at minus five. As Washington comes a calling looking for an upset out of these four games, is that the one that we find ourselves in, or do you guys have one you want to disagree with and find elsewhere?

Andy, I think the closest one would be that game. But I think the Packers could take the Eagles.

I really do.

All right, Bucky, you got one on upset.

No, I have commanders, the commanders on this is the one where we can really crown Jaydon Daniels as one of those upper echelon quarterbacks elite. Even this is an opportunity for him to do it. We saw him get beat the first week. Now he has an opportunity to make it right.

Opportunity perhaps also for Cliff Kingsbury to find himself back into the head coaching spheres.

Maybe possibly, I don't know.

Chaos dozens ensue, but we're looking forward to these games a little bit later on, you know, some myth making perhaps in the possibilities at Andy furmant FSRS where you find him. Andy, A blessing to be with you as always. Here you go at Bucky Brooks, my guy will continue. We've got another hour breaking down everything National Football League and the college football playoffs. We'll do it next here on Fox. Hey, welcome in another hour Fox Football Sunday. Here a beautiful wild Card Sunday, the fourth of five days of playoff activity, owing back to Thursdays college football playoffs Notre Dame and Penn State all the way through your weekend Tomorrow night, rams and vikings from State Farms Stadium there in Arizona.

We've got you covered all the way through.

Welcome in to another al Mike Harman alongside me, my guy, Bucky Brooks five years in the league, a scout, an analyst, a coach, a media head.

What else do we want to call you?

Yeah, it all qualifies. I'm really excited to Mike, I'm I'm excited because we got to we're getting to the end of the football journey right that we always embark on every year around August we talk about college football, and this has been the extended postseason, first on twelve team playoffs. So we have Notre Dame in Ohio State, which is exciting to brand names, duking it out to be the to win the Natty, and then the NFL playoffs continue to amaze. Say a lot of things about the NFL. They expanded it doing the weekend. The way they're doing it Saturday, Sunday and Monday for games doesn't matter. Man. I just look and I see all of these people clamoring for games. I love it. I love where we're at in the football landscape.

Well, every play heightened, every coaching decision magnified to the bidder end. Not that we don't do it during the regular season, buck yham In, you and I whenever we get together on a Sunday, whether.

It's the college grid as we go through it.

With Andy Furman, our guy at Andy Furman FSR, if you want to check in with Andy.

As the day goes on.

But in certainly for the NFL, like every stone that we lift and look under as we're doing with some of these squads now in the coaching carousel, trying to figure out what's good, what's great, what's elite. Are you trying to emulate what say Campbell and company have done in Detroit? Are you trying to build a program with longevity? And whether you like where they're at in the process or not. We look at say the the Tomlin Steelers, or go to the Harbaugh Ravens. Right they met for the thirty eighth time and the in last night's wild card game. So all of that to say, you know, we're all trying to figure out the landscape. If you're a fan of a team looking for a coach, you're watching who's being brought in and looking back at their histories and going how, what, why? And you know, for the Raiders, how much does Tom Brady's thumb on the scale impact things? So, you know, it just gives us so many different levels of intrigue, And as we talked about a little bit last hour, Bucky, just that diversion from everything else, right for a couple hours, you escape. You hear a lot of the people here in Los Angeles right now, dem Off and his his squad, you know, for the Rams doing a great job of trying to get season ticket holders buses and amenities to get them out to Arizona, give them a little respite, a little bit of refuge, but also for that three hours to get away from the reality of what's going on here and in other spots here in the country.

Same thing.

You know, on a micro level, you know, people dealing with their own individual lives and trials, and you know, sports always is that great unifier and great relief.

Yeah, sports are a great relief and this is a very very difficult time obviously in LA with all the wildfires and those that are impacted, because you have so much of the city that has been impacted. And even though on the national scene they portray it as if it's just the affluent areas and the celebrities are the ones that are losing their homes, when you really break down the demographics, you talk about a working class of people that have had their lives basically turned upside down with fires. And to see the first responders doing everything that they can to ensure that those people not only hey can save their lives, but are able to say, salvage some of what once existed. And it still won't bring it all the way back, but you hope for that, and so your heartbreaks for those people. And then what you hope is that over the next six, eight ten hours they're able to have a little bit of joy injecting into their life and watching these games and watching teams put on for them and their favorite players in those things who have LA ties. And then on Monday night when the Rams play, you hope that the Rams are able to represent the city properly in those things. But yeah, like it's a tough moment, and so if we are able to provide a bit of a distraction and some cover for the people that have been directly impacted, that's what you hope for.

And that's the goal here at Fox Sports Radio, on the iHeartRadio apps, here as XM Channel eighty three, all our four hundred plus affiliates nationwide. However you're listening, we appreciate you being part of the extended family. As we come to you from the tirac dot com studios. Tyrac dot com will help you get there an unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free road hazard protection, over ten thousand recommended installers, tirerac dot com the way tire buying should be.

As we get to the business of.

The NFL, we talked with Andy last hour going through the two games from Saturday. Neither really a shock, I guess the Chargers and the way things fell apart after some early advantages right the field goal but not being able to capitalize and punch the ball into the end zone. You have the early turnover that they get again push back and what the Houston defense was able to do over the course of the night and CJ. Stroud, who'd gone through an uneven year, Bucky missing Nicocollins for a stretch and obviously the off defensive line play, whether he was holding the ball too long but missing Digs who they acquired and missing Tank Dell being able to cobble it together, and Joe Mixon after a fumble being able to run a bit rough shot in that final Stanza making a statement in a division that they win by default.

But for STJ.

Stroud, he was taking a lot of incoming his second year, some unevenness with he and Bobby Slowick, who was a hot commodity a year ago, again owing to that coaching cycle kind of situation, but they survive in advance. And now for the Chargers, a lot of questions. But you know, like we were asking in terms of coaching and when you make your decisions and where they are in the pantheon. Is it as simple as hey, Herbert needs another guy? Is there more to look at with him?

Man? I think if you're the Charges, what you want to do is you're gonna take a realistic look and that get caught up in the red in those things, but you have an ideal, a standard that you want to get to and play to. And any of us can look at the roster and say, right now, as president constructed, they're missing some pieces. The fact that they win eleven and six with that roster was a bit of a surprise. But we all believe that Harvard would orchestrate a quick turnaround because he's a culture transformer. Like what he does is he comes to the locker room, he changes everything, and if you did a deep dive on some of the things that he did, he has kind of wreathed the little life into this franchise. Now they have to stack on top of it, right. They need more playmakers on the perimeter. They need the ability to deliver explosive plays in the passing game. So at some point they got to figure out that on the perimeter, whether it's a tight end or wide receiver or whatever. They need to continue to flip their roster on defense, young pass rushers to eventually replace Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. But the foundation is there. The offensive line is young, talented, be there for a minute. Harbaugh is energetic and feisty, and he'll continue to challenge Justin Herbert to be at his best at all times, while supporting and advocating him at every turn. Whatever he stands in front of a microphone, Yeah, just to be fun, but he knows where he's at and he knows how he has to continue to help this team advance in the midst of a rebuild.

And certainly the consistent messaging coming out of the locker room player to player about Herbert will get Isaac Lohenkrohn's thoughts on this as he joins us a little bit later on and for what's trending as he's part of the broadcast team there, and I'm sure he's got a few tweets that he selected from his postgame show that are sitting in the offing Bucky. As you know, we get some gems there, but it's a division that is on the come. When we talk about what Denver has and an opportunity today against Buffalo there eight and a half point underdogs on the road. A tough task, no question about it, but a defense vance. Joseph's rallied around and bow knicks despite a run game where oftentimes he is the only run game is certainly in the last four weeks it's been on his wheels a bit, but we know the rookie stats five and seventeen all time in road playoff games, oh to five the last decade. But for Bo Nixon Company and for Sean Payton, an opportunity here against the Buffalo squad that has had its struggles defensively. You know, you've seen some breaks in the armor a little bit over the year, but an offense that scores thirty one points a game, so you know the what is it the irresistible force and the immovable object or whatever you want to go to there. With Josh Allen twenty eight and six on the year at another twelve rushing touchdowns, it would appear that MVP talk is done after the AP votes were released, that Lamar Jackson will win his third. But for our and a guy who we come into the year saying, well, he doesn't really have a lot of the weaponry, much like we were talking about with Justin Herbert. Yet they've got a big opportunity and big expectations here as Denver comes calling.

Yeah, big expectations. And here's the trick when it comes to Buffalo Bills. Are they built for the regular season? Are they built for the postseason? Building for the regular season. They're resting guys, they have those guys run, they work out, They play well when everything is right. If you are looking at the team and trying to figure out are they built to last? That's what you want to see. How are they constructed to play playoff football? Because playoff football comes down to having a stellar defense, being able to control a line of scrimmage where you can run the ball when you need to and stop it when you have to, and then being able to create splash plays on defense, turnovers, tackles for loss, those things, and then home run plays on offense. Are they built to do that? And if you're not built to do that, then you have to make sure that you stay in your lane and don't get outside your box. Last night, the part that I would say is probably being if I'm a Ravens fan, I'm most proud of, I'm most proud of the Baltimore Ravens staying true to their identity, not deviating, not trying to throw the ball all over the yard, lining up with what I would call a simple Simon game plan. We're running the ball. We can do it a million different ways, but we're running the ball because our two best players touch the ball nearly on every play, Derrick Henry Lamar Jackson, and it works for them. And when the Ravens stay true to that formula, they're hard to be And everybody has a formula that works for them, like the Ravens work last night. Is can you stay disciplined and stubborn enough to follow down that path or if you get behind by a little bit, you begin to deviate from the things that you truly believe in.

Yeah, we look at the last few games when you go to Lamar Jackson for the the year, was eight or more carries in all but one game, the thirty one to two win over Houston. But he still rushed four times for eighty seven yards of a score in that one, that forty eight yard touchdown run. But in yesterday's win over Pittsburgh fifteen carries.

And I think there's a lot to be said.

You know, Josh Allen didn't have huge rushing attempts game to game, but when it became winning time and the calendar flipped to December, and you saw some of those matchups, like say against Kansas City, where all right, it's time to you know, put the cape on or call my own number, much like we saw with Lamar Jackson yesterday. All Right, let's just stay to the identity. Let's not get cute and give them an opportunity. Not that he's been inefficient with the ball, neither he nor Allen for that point this year.

But why put things.

In harm's way when you're dominating a line of scrimmage?

Yeah, I mean, you know, it is so crazy that it's as simple as that for the Baltimore Ravens right now. The thing that kind of messes that up is as you get deeper into the postseason, it requires a little more sure. But it is very similar to Mike when when we're playing golf, right and you're playing someone that you know you should beat. Your handicap is better. You understand the game. They don't know. So all you have to do is just I just need to win the day. So what do I need to do? You know what, Let's put the driver, Let's put the driver away, Let's bring the three to three wood out, and let's just kind of keep it in play, and as long as we keep it in play and don't have any egregious errors, we're gonna win. It's Tiger Woods on a Sunday with a three shot lead back in the day in his prime, it's over. You know, if Tiger had had a lead going in, he was going to play safe and he wasn't going to give you a chance to creep back in. That's what the Baltimore Ravens did and that's what they need to continue to do because when you look at the way that they can run the ball and the way that they're playing defense, they don't have to really feature outside themselves. The game will come to them and they'll be in it. Just got to see if they can stick to the script.

At Bucky Brooks where you find them on Twitter, you read them foxsports dot com, NFL dot com, get the links from Bucky's Twitter account at Big Play Football in the Insta world, you find me over at Swollen.

Dome and coming up nex.

We'll go back into the coaching box for a minute, not from the hiring perspective, but just a we first guessed it on air, but you're a coach, you're a guy that's been around the game a while. I want to know what Sarkesian was thinking in his goal line execution or lack thereof. We'll get that from Bucky As we continue here, It's Fox Football Sunday on Fox Sports Radio. Hey, welcome back in It's Fox Football Sunday. Here Fox Sports Radio Mike Carmen alongside Bucky Brooks live Fromthetire Act dot Com Studios, ready for another big Wild Card Sunday.

Two games already in the books.

Texans and the Ravens advance and leaving the Steelers and the Chargers to examine the rosters and everything for the off season, joining.

All those other squads. So only a few more games remain.

We're gonna celebrate each one of them to the fullest, and we'll circle back into the college football world in a moment. But football fans keep it locked. Coming up thirty five minutes from now, Fox Sports Radio. Every Sunday morning, beginning ten am Eastern, seven o'clock Pacific, it's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM, Brian No, Jeff Schwartz, and professional better Bill Krackenberger. Have you covered three hours before kickoff? Every Sunday morning, listen to Countdown to Kickoff, presented by bet MGM. Right here Fox Sports Radio, the iHeart Radio app. We've got the bills and the Broncos. Get the day started later on this morning, early afternoon Eastern time. The guys will have you covered prop bets and parlays, and then looking back at the good, the bad, the ugly of the last few days of playoff action. That's where I want to go next with you, Bucky, as a coach, I know you watch it with a different lens as a scout, as a former player, as a coach and analyst, and going back to the college game, with the opportunity to tie things up at the doorstep a drive by Texas late in that game against Ohio State on a second in goal inside the two, the idea that you would go and make a toss sweep call to Wizner to the short side of the field, stack defenders, top match recruits all and what we've seen Ohio State's defense do. That leads to a seven yard loss and now you're at third and eight. Now you're running out a shotgun and it sets up eventually the Sawyer hit scoop and score play. But I saw the call live, you know, as Smith and I are on air here at Fox Sports Radio, and look, my hair is starting to thin out a bit. I think I lost a little bit more tearing it out as I watched that play develop, Can you try to read the mind because he says in the post, Hey, if we'd blocked it effectively, like against two against two, that couldn't have worked in practice, let alone thinking you're gonna be able to get that to work against Ohio State.

Well, I think a couple of things in play, right, So they had a few different opportunities down in the type red area, So the field is really condensed, right, You're talking about less than fifteen yards of space. They get down there on a PI call, they try and hit an RPO, they get another PI call, So two times they try to throw it, they can't get into there. They didn't run it right up the good trying to go strength on strength in Ohio State. It is like, no, that's not happening. So the normal response to that is when you're trying to run inside and they're blitzing, you try and run like a rocket toss or a sweep to get outside. But I'm gonna tell you, man, the play that Caleb Downs made to shoot the gap to get there, it really changed everything because you go from being at the one or two yard line to now you backed up at the eight yard line. It changes all the play calls and those things. And so I'm sure Sark would love to have that back. He would love to break it down and say, man, if we had just blocked it right or whatever, but you don't get that chance, and now you're backed up, you're stuck. You got to put the ball in Quinn yours hands. And let's be honest on the game. That was the game winning play, the game clinching play. Saw Your executes one. He has a great get off. Two there's a quick little sort of dip maneuver to get up under the right tackle, and look, there's nothing Quinn yours could do. I mean, guys on this front side, he can feel him, but he's trying to keep his eyes down the field and so he just makes a great play. Sometimes the other guys win. I am sure though Sark would love to just look at that call. She'd be like, guys, why did I just have a better call on second down to set us up for success on third and partitionarly fourth down? Yeah, that's unfortunately, it's just you know, sometimes the other guy wins.

Yeah, the Sawyer play, I mean, right tackle doesn't even really get out of his stance, and he's by him and up on yours just that fast, and the ball takes i mean the perfect bounce right back up into his arms and off he goes to the race his final forty yards. He's looking around like, is nobody gonna make a play on me? Just a curiosity in that regard because the air was out of the balloon. But you know, just from an evaluation of all, right, strength on strength, I got five guys that are probably gonna play in the league in front of yours, right, I got arch Manning on the side again, not arguing that you're gonna go completely cute see and trick playish you know, pop pass or whatever it might be. But you know, to try to think you're gonna win on the edge to your point, right, perfect play by the defender to get the seven yard laws versus just a one or two. But you know all of it, you know, guessing, second, guessing, blush of you know fourteen would swing there.

Yeah, I mean there are a lot of things that play right. So like early in the game when they ran Archie Manning, Archie ran, he went, he went around the corner and he got hammered and put the ball on the ground. Now they said it was he he was down by contacting those things, But not only did it put the ball on the ground, he looked like he got up woozy.

A little bit.

You know something.

You wonder both guys had added one of those plays, right, yeah, earlier.

Yeah, So then you're like, man, can I can I trust the young guy to toade it in a critical situation? And normally in those situations you always think, hey, man, put that ball in the hands of my best player, and let's ride or die with my best player making a play. And you know, they ranted off sweep and then they eventually put it in yours hands. And it's debatable whether he is their best player, but he certainly has been more consistent than arch arch Manning had been in those moments and looks start stark roll with him. It didn't roll, It didn't look the dice didn't roll out his way. But I understand why he went through those sequences. He just probably wanted better results, better as execution.

As they say, they get paid to play the game too, and legitimately we can say that in the college world now too. To that end, we'll do a deep dive on it next Sunday. But Flirt first, Blush is going to take a monster game by Jeremiah Love to drive them a puncher's chance.

I don't think so. I think this game. You know. The one thing that Notre Dame has been able to do with every team is they've been able to force them to play on their terms. And the trick with Ohio State is Ohio State is what we call a big play team. Right. They're not a team that is going to nickel and diamond down the field. They're not gonna have fifteen plays at four yards of clip to drive the link to the field. What they want to do is they want to hit you with a home run, play to the running back, to the wide receivers and those things. Notre Dame is more of the grinded out, slow the game down. We're gonna play half court basketball and make you play a game that's in the forties. Notre Dame has that ability to do it. The thing that they have to do is how they're gonna stop Jamaine Smith. Jeremiah Smith. That's the number one thing. You cannot allow him to get loose. Texas did a really good job limited his touches, didn't give up the big plays, and they were able to hang around and stay in the game. Notre Dame has to figure out a way to do that while staying within their own scheme. They like to play a little more man de man than some where they continue to do that or whether they change it up. The good thing is Notre Dame saw Ohio State last year and Ohio State had Marvin Harrison junior, and they limit his stuff. I think this would be a game that comes down to the end to be a fourth quarter afare.

We'll see as it plays, but we'll get back into that more in depth next week. Give it a week to go and see if Notre Dame can get a couple of those guys healthy that are on the injury report as well. As we continue here, we'll go back into the coaching carousel as related to the NFL six openings, and seemingly one of those might be filled. But as the dance card is filling up, a name pops back up that we theorize, but maybe with.

A little more concrete style. As we get into the new.

Week, we'll talk about that in a minute, but first let's kick it over to Isaac Low and Gron. Our guy had Isaac Low and Gron as he mixed his wounds following a tough departure by the Chargers.

Scott Scott, Scotch, I love Scotch.

Watch you go down down into my belly. Oh hey, come on?

Actually done guard game on Saturday night?

Yeah, all right, so I guess I'll start with raven Steelers and then we can cover what we got to cover. Yeah, let's go all right, all right, so I'll pretend I'm on the East coast here. Derrick Henry one hundred and eighty six yards two touchdowns in the Ravens twenty eight to fourteen win over the Steelers on Saturday Night. Ravens ran for two ninety nine as a team, including eighty one by Lamar Jackson either twenty eight to fourteen victory passing Jackson sixty to twenty one for one seventy five two touchdown passes, no interceptions. The Ravens now on a five game winning streak. The Steelers closed the season on a five game losing streak.

Ah Yes.

Earlier on Saturday, the Houston Texans over the Los Angeles Chargers thirty two to twelve. They intercepted Justin Herbert four times. He'd been intercepted just three times all season long. Joe Mixed of Houston ran for one six at a touchdown. Nicocollins seven catches for one hundred and twenty two yards at a touchdown. Chargers rookie Lad McConkie nine catches for an NFL rookie playoff record one hundred and ninety seven yards, including an eighty six yard touchdown reception. It all losing cause. Today's action kicks off at one pm Eastern from Buffalo as the two seed Bills host the seven seeded Denver Broncos. All right, let me have a fellas, questions, comments, whatever I can help you with as I try to laugh through my tears.

You want to go first? Here, Bucky.

They're lining up and taking turns like the passengers in the aisle on the movie Airplane to smack me.

Well, it's more he's remotely eyes and say you and me, So I gotta go.

I know, I just wanted to make an airplane referend good man.

I just wondered, like, how do you feel about it all? Like now? Trying to be reflective, right, So I don't know what your goals were, what your expectations were to start the season, but they teased you. They get you to the postseason, you kind of get the matchup that you wanted right to play the Texans because they felt like the vulnerable team. But now that it's all played out, how do you feel about your one of the Jim Harboy experience.

You know, I'm glad you put it that way because I think that our guys, our colleagues on the charge of radio broadcast, Matt mney Smith and Daniel Jeremiah, were able to sort of big picture it very clearly, very soon after the game, when I was still, you know, throwing things and kicking the wall, which I actually don't recommend, but you know, the more I think of it, when I thought about the preseason and preseason predictions by people who you know, I actually respect, the preseason predictions topped out at best at ten and seven. Most of the high side was nine and eight. So to go eleven and six, and to establish your identity instead of franchise record for fewest turnovers and literally have the second fewest turnovers in NFL history, and to have the defense go from twenty fourth and scoring defense to first, and to go from passing defense from thirtieth to seventh. I mean that is absolutely significant to have Lad McConkie said, franchise rookie receiving.

Records is significant.

But as you know, the problem is, it got washed away with what happened yesterday, and I didn't think that, you know, nationally, Oh yeah, it's going to be a relatively easy win for the Chargers. I thought the Chargers would win on paper, but I thought it would be a brutally difficult game because of the big playability for the Texans defense.

And it turned out to be the case.

And then some But a couple of things that stood out to me from a Chargers standpoint yesterday. I mentioned Lad McConkie nine catches on fourteen targets. The rest of the receiving core combined five catches on eighteen targets.

Can you believe that?

And also the bottom line this year for the Chargers, when they run the ball effectively and JK. Dobbins runs the ball effectively, they win. When they don't, they lose.

And JK.

Dobbins ran the ball extremely effectively on the opening drive first three carries eighteen yards the rest of the game six carries.

For a net of eight yards.

So it wasn't just justin Herbert, although he'll certainly get a lot of blame. Lowest completion percentage of his career four interceptions. Previous high for interceptions was two.

But even so, it was.

Totally across the board offense, defense, and even special teams that Texans beat them decisively.

No, that's it as early opportunities, right, you talk about the early effectiveness of Dobbins, those first possessions. To have to settle for field goals right, to get that turnover right away and not really be able to capitalize goes away, and for Herbert it's unfortunate, but it goes into that fairness like we were talking about last hour bucket, like we're going to talk about coaches and whether they should be on the move one way or another, whether it's Tomlin or Shanahan. Herbert, you know, everybody wants to put him in the big boy category and elevate him that here's a spot in a spotlight game, right, which normally the Chargers don't get a lot of these. So when you have had the rhetoric fantasy wise or whatever the case may be to try to propel them into that spot. And while not all interceptions are created the same as you get away from the game, what's everybody gonna do, They're gonna put those fours up.

Yeah, I mean, you know, it's unfortunate because I would say there are a few different things that were in play in terms of the interceptions and what we saw from him in that game. We talked about lab McConkie being the only legitimate threat that you have the perimeter, so you snuff everybody else out. You let him have a day, but no one else could get open. Then when you look at really you break down the anatomy of those interceptions. Man, two of them went through the hands of intended targets. Right, you know, Justin Herbert doesn't have anything. If we want to get nitpicky, we say, hey, you got to put the ball on the right shoulder and this and that, etc. But that's sometimes that's just the way the game goes. It is unfortunate because for Justin Herbert there's been this conversation and narrative about him being the elite, but you don't have anything to show for it, right, you don't have postseason wins, You don't have a high level of success outside of what they call empty calorie stats. And on this stage where everyone could gather around the TV and finally take a look at the big bad wolf that we've been talking about, it didn't go the way that we wanted. So now he has to sit with that for another year until he can change that, and he won't be able to change it until the postseason. He can't change it with his regular season success.

CJ.

Stroud now has two playoff wins in two years, and Justin Herbert ish to two and five years. And one other thing to point out, and you alluded to it because I think it played in some of the interceptions.

Guys.

Justin Herbert sacked four times but took nine quarterback hits in the game, and there were also four other times when the Texans hit his arm as he was passing and going back a mixture of watching it live and kind of scanning through the video of the game. They did that exclusive or almost exclusively with just a four man rush. By my count, they only blitzed him twice all day. Yet they were able to get almost overwhelming pressure with just a four man rush.

And that was the impressive thing coming out of it to me, Isaac. We talked about it a little last hour, Bucky Ui and Andy. Just the offensive line was where I thought the Chargers could win the line of scrimmage and give Herbert some time to work, and that was clearly not the case because you needed it again owing to you've got Mconkey. Disleey had a pretty nice season but failed at every turn yesterday in including the gaping hole between his hands. It was like you were throwing it at a carnival, trying to win a prize through the receiver's hands.

And it was That's a great point.

It's surprising on both counts because Disley was signed up to be their number two tight end and more of a blocking tight end than a receiving receiving tight end, and Hayden Hurst wound up, you know, not filling that role, and he winds up will Disley having by far the best season of his career in terms of catches and receiving yards.

But yeah, you go back to the offensive line and that had been such a.

Strength for this team, and one of their strengths was communicating with each other, coordinating the blocking, and that part of it was stunning. To me because again doing a cursory look at the video, Yeah, I give credit to the Texans four man pass rush, but there were multiple examples of surprising miscommunication by the Chargers offensive line in coordinating their blocking that resulted in those sacks and those pressures.

Thanks.

Yeah, No, I'll say this one of the things that maybe we didn't talk enough about is the Texans investment in their pass rush in the offseason. They had well Nderson, Yeah, but daneil Hunter coming over giving them two legitimate threats on thataline. They also have guys that they rotate in Derrick Burnette and some other guys that are legitimate rushers. That was the thing to be able to rush for and drop with seven maximum coverage while still getting the benefit of maximum pressure with four. That's the key to the game. And so when Jim Harbaugh talks about this team is really they go by the way the offensive line goes because the offensive line gap whooped at the Lina Scrimmers that ultimately gave them no chance to win in this game.

Send your condolences at Isaac loewen Kron in the Twitter verse. Find me over at Swollen Dome. Find Bucky at Bucky Brooks. As we continue, we'll go back into the coaching search. Six teams, one potentially done. But who's going to fill those other seats? We'll try to prognosticate here next on Fox Sports Radio, Hey, welcome back in It's Fox Football Sunday, Fox Sports A Radio, Mike Carbon alongside Bucky Brooks. Thanks for being with us, being part of the extended family. Thanks to Chris Burfett, our technical producer. Thanks to Share executive producer of course, Isaac over on the updates at Isaac loewen Kron where you find him at Chris Burffett prior to Detroit as they get ready for their playoff game a.

Week from today.

But we finish up here Bucky as we roll on looking at the coaching trees that are trying to be planted here and all the interviews, and I kind of chuckle when I see the laundry list for the Bears and Jets in particularly seemingly anybody that has ever coached a game or may want to coach a game is getting a look. See have you talked to either of these teams yet?

I have not, but you are right, is a very extensive and exhaustive process that those teams are going through. And I understand because a lot of it is a fact finding mission. Right. It's not only about like interviewing the person for the job. It's about knowing how other teams conduct their business, like how do you run practices, what are you thinking about? What is the culture like within the walls? All those things. So you take all of those things and you put them in a notebook, and when you do start making decisions, you kind of share that stuff. How can we be better as an organization? Those things? But at some point we need to trim the fat and we need to get to it. And so hopefully over the next few days, when we talk about some of these teams, the Bears and the Jets in particular, man cut through the chase. Let's get to it. Let's see who is going to be Because the team that is quick the quickest to hire their head coach, they have the opportunity to get the best coaching staff because all of the assistant coaches that are out there that have been dismissed, they're just waiting for opportunities and they're not going to turn down the first thing smoking that comes across their desks because no one wants to be caught without a job. That's why you want to be on the front end of the hiring cycle, not the back end, so you can get the assistant coaches in place.

The old run of musical chairs, no question about it, and it begs the questions right on a Rumoh, I know our guy, Andy Furman's ears perk up. He'll be a hot commodity. Some reports already that New England's deep into contract talks with Vrabel, and maybe McDaniels comes back into the fold in that process.

You know, the thing about the Rabel situation is interesting because I would wonder. I think Rabel certainly had to play with Jeri Mayo, right, they had to play together, right, So it's not only are you stepping in the shoes of a legend and Bill Belichick, but you basically have just curbed your teammate to take that job. It's just such a weird dynamic when you just think about everything that's going on with the Patriots and for all of the stuff that they hated with Belichick, they're basically getting that program all over again, right with just a different leader. It's going to be the same program. Though in terms of like how they go about it, it's just kind of funny if you're gonna do all that one Niki Belichick the originator.

Yeah, so Vrabel and Mayo would have played together in two thousand and eight, that was Mayo's rookie year in the NFL, and then Rabel went to Kansas City for his final two years. But yeah, certainly when you talk about the style stylistically much the same. To that point, he's surprised, you know, given some of the reports about maybe Brady reaching out or other teams that there wasn't more Belichick, even though he's started there and building in North Carolina. Man, he did leave the Jets with a note on a napkin.

Aft for a day.

No, I'm not surprised because I felt like they read the tea leaves before they made the move to go to North Carolina. Okay, like they looked and look, it's probably not gonna happen for you. So if you're gonna get a job, you better take this one because there may not be one for you, and that's why they took the deal. So I just felt like it was all speculation, a lot of talk. But I can't I can't see him leaving Coles to go right back to the pros when he wasn't a sought after prospect.

Pearson telasco let go in Vegas. Is it Ben Johnson's job or is there something to the Dion speculation there as well?

I can't imagine Dion being there. Like, I understand, like and I love my kids, man, but you can't coach your kids forever and ever. No. I mean, you know, I'm saying, at some point, you gotta you gotta let it move on. So yeah, I mean I think they're they just wanted to clear a deck so they could do a full reset. But this is a hard one man. I can't imagine unless Ben Johnson is really in play at hard reset.

Yeah, it's curious, right.

And then Jacksonville, we had that awkward zoom call with Sead Cohn and Trent Balke talking about yeah, he's here, but hey, if someone can convince me as the world turns Bucky at Bucky Brooks, thanks for the conversation.

Count Down to kick off for sented by bad MGM. Next on Fox