I Want Your FlexI WANT YOUR FLEX - Divisional Round Madness, Championship Weekend Preview & More!
It's Fox Sports Radio's official fantasy football podcast! Dan Beyer and Mike Harmon open the show breaking down the ins and outs of the Bills vs. Ravens game, debating how much blame falls on Lamar Jackson for the Baltimore loss. Then, they get into the rest of the weekend's Divisional Round matchups... The guys talk about the refs' impact on the Chiefs' win over the Texans, Jayden Daniels sending the Lions packing, and Saquon Barkley once again going nuclear. Later, the guys look ahead to Championship Weekend, previewing both matchups and making their picks for each. Plus, Mike's Bears hired Ben Johnson as their new head coach -- the guys discuss!
Hosts: Mike Harmon, Dan Beyer
Producer: Ian Roddy
#fsrweekends #jss #douggottliebshow
Ladies, and you want experience during your football season, Well, buckle up, sweet cheeks. What we've got all the experience in the world. This is I want your flex with Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon. Mike and Dan break down everything you need to set your lineups, from position rankings to starts and sits. The guys help you make those hard decisions. And now let's get your flex. Ond here's Dan Bayer and Mike Harmon down.
To the final four of the National Football League. He is Mike Carmon. Hit him up at Swollen Dome. Also have Mike Harmon on Blue Sky. You can find me on Exit. Dan Byer on Fox. Have Dan Byer on Blue Sky. The show's executive producers Ian Roddy, Remember he is now on both the Blue Sky, Ian Dash, Roddy on ex at Ian Roddy underscore.
Did they get it all correct? Ian?
That's right?
All right? I wanted to make sure I couldn't remember where.
The underscore actually was on X, but I know that the dash is in the middle on Blue Sky.
Yeah, it's like a little tail.
Well when it had to be perfect there, Dan, because you know, coming off a national title the Monday Night into Tuesday morning is yours.
It's it's a great time. I was very excited. I don't know if you guys ever realized this, but when you do senior pictures, you could pick a couple of different outfits. I'll send you guys this on the secret group text that we have because I've sent it to a couple of buddies joking that that's how I was going to show up to work on Tuesday. But I had senior picture with Ohio state starter jacket in it from nineteen ninety four, So the good old starter jackets that are so popular. I'll have to send this one along to you guys. Hopefully you'll get a kick.
Out of it.
Sweet victory.
This thing better not see the light of day.
It was still hanging on the wall at my aunt's house when I went back last summer. I stopped by and I'm like, wow, she still has this up on her wall, and so I had to grab a picture and it just it just paid off tonight for some laughs.
For people I got highacked.
Please know, I'll tell you what.
There's a crappy there's a crappy mustache that I you know, five whiskers underneath the nose, that's what it is.
And I had thumb surgery.
To day for the senior picture and I was posing with a mini basketball, but they couldn't put it in a cast yet because I had senior pictures. They didn't want it a cast. So I had my thumb wrapped for like forty eight hours. We unwrapped it for senior pictures, and.
Then the next day I went and got brilliant my thumb thumb wrapped up.
So that's my story of my senior pictures with my Ohio State starter jacket and mini basketball.
I like the necklace. I mean it's a full look.
Really is this is?
This is again, Mike, to age ourselves. This is six years before Ian was born.
Oh yeah, no, I know.
I get that.
I get that. We we get that constant reminder just looking at him across the glass.
My goodness, my goodness.
Oh, if I can turn back time, long line, I'd wear the I'd wear the fish nets that Share did the beads.
It was not the full beaded necklace, but it was a necklace with some beads.
No, it's a good look. Not quite Taylor Swift full on beads, but yeah.
Yeah, hopefully nobody ever sees this picture.
But so that's good. Mike's got his head coaching.
Ben Johnson, Yeah, I'm super happy the buck guys won a national championship and we've got our final four. As I mentioned, Mike, I guess we start working from the end backwards because Ravens Bill sure seems to be the topic of conversation that everybody wants to have. I feel feel bad for Mark Andrews, but I don't feel bad bad for Mark Andrews. It's the way the cookie crumbles. It stinks, it happens. It wouldn't have won the game, by the way, there still would have been a minute left of football to play. I know it ended their season. I'm not necessarily heartbroken for Mark Andrews feel bad for him. Stinks that a guy doesn't make a play, but we've had that a lot throughout the history.
Of the NFL, the life of it.
If nothing else, between all these games, between the National title game, that Baltimore Buffalo game, all of these should be in a clip that someone does to present to the committee for Charles Tillman going into the Hall of Fame. It's all I can say about that. The Peat ut punch alive and well, but from Mark Andrews. Look, unfortunately had a bad day. He had a bad day at the office, right. Dalton Schultz will get back to that game. Eventually had a terrible day as a blocker. All of these things happen, and in live and in living color, you're a spotlight game. If it's a regular ten am Sunday, Week eight in the NFL, it's bad. It's not to this level. I mean, he didn't meet with the press after the game on Monday. He didn't show up to face the music stalking to my guys that you know I'm on with in Baltimore. He wasn't even he was at the back end of the metal stand in terms of topics, so you can guess where all of that went to. As for the clock, yeah, it's it's tough that you know, because I heard the you know, minute and a half, two timeouts, Josh Allen, I get all that, But my percentage of stopping them, I've given up six points in the second half, and seven of the points I gave up in the first half were off of what a Lamar Jackson fumble where we gave up a short field right the defense had done their job and made Josh Allen. Yeah, he had two rushing touchdowns, and I get it, those don't go away, but they've done a good job. So my percentage chance of me stopping them and either getting the ball back, uh, you know after converting the two point conversion is higher than the alternative. He drops it and you know it's the game is over, right, So folks are like, well, you know they still had this, and it was like, right, but what are you going to get the on side kick? And then you're still going to drive down and score. You've got Justin Tucker. We trusted Justin Tucker from any distance. No, So you know, I just saw a lot of attempts to give him absolution. It's like, no, he's got to catch the ball.
You're paid to catch passes at.
Ta Lamar was like pumping at him like he was. He was like, dude, I am throwing that.
I think that threw him off. I thought the pump things.
Like he lost his concentration.
I think he lost his spacing on the field.
Yeah.
I think he was worried he was going to go out of bounds.
And I also think that he didn't want to catch the football be short of the goal line because he was backing in. Sure, this is the only thing that I can guess, So all that stuff is in your head and you're not thinking about just securing the football in that play.
Yeah, that was my guess.
No, And I think you're probably right right. There's a lot going on. You're trying to look where the pylon is, look at where the out of bounds, wondering if you're getting going to get hit as the balls go riving. I mean, there's a million things. You're paid to catch footballs. You are a guy. In the second half of the season, we talked about it a lot from the fantasy angle of what a monster he was after a slow start, some injuries and just wasn't a factor in the red zone. We saw more of likely and then Andrews comes on for a monster second half and he's got two of the biggest plays in the game, gets stripped and then this one again. It doesn't win it. You know, to your point, right, they've got a minute and a half, they've got timeouts, you've got Josh Allen, you've got Tyler Bass, You've got all of those things. But you at least have a puncher's chance that your defense can get the stop and force overtime. Instead, it's one time there's an on side kick. That success rate was what four percent on the year or less, right, and then you still either have to move the ball twenty five yards or hope that suddenly Justin Tucker reverts to his old form.
My thought, my point is this is I think they are just bigger plays in NFL history. Sure, heck, I actually think that the Lee Evans drop or the knocked out of his hand against the Patriots is maybe worse than this because that was an AFC Championship game. It's tough for me to sit there, and I know Mark Andrews wanted to make that catch. I saw Jackie Smith photos from the Super Bowl from the Cowboys, and it's not the same thing. It's just not This is a divisional playoff game that was in a super Bowl for the Dallas Cowboys, and that's like, that's kind of where I'm coming from before it where like, yeah, it stinks. And I was jokingly that I sent you guys the picture of me in high school. We were zero to nine in high school football my junior season. But to this day, I am still ticked about not picking off a pass that I could have taken back.
Ninety nine yards.
Sure, like we were awful, like we stunk, But I have no athletic career in anything, and that still bothers me. So I get why this would bother Mark Andrews. I just didn't think it was. I just think bleep happens in these sort of situations. And he didn't catch the ball. And I don't know if it's one we're gonna remember, Mike. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But to me, it just doesn't rise to that level.
Yeah, it's it's look, it's the immediacy and in the let's turn out what we can as fast as we can on social media, it's going to be let's rank it across the history. I think where it gets exacerbated is when we have this larger Lamar Jackson narrative. When you've got a team twelve and five, Derrick Henry comes over, still a lot of questions about how he only has the number of touches he does just just me asking questions, or how Lamar Jackson in a I Gotta have a game only has six carries, Like all of those things I have many questions about the process, but the ultimate point is there's no guarantee that everything plays right again because for the most part, they were a healthy team, right Ronnie Stanley finally stayed healthy. Every year it's been the offensive line looks like coming into the year, we're gonna be okay. Oh no, Stanley's down for either the whole season or a giant chunk that. No, you finally got him to play up to the guy we expected him to be. And he's there at the end, and your offensive lines there blocking for Derrick Henry, Isaiah likely rises up, Andrews is playing well, Yeah, you miss his A Flowers and I get it. It's thousand yard receivers going to the Pro Bowl.
Whatever.
We've talked about him, how many weeks, Like do I trust him because some weeks was a three seventy, some weeks was one for twelve, right, and it all aggregates to a thout was in yard season and a decent reception total whatever else. But it's one guy. Move on, right, You're still you know, basically a pickham in this game. But it's the larger point of you're not guaranteed to get back. I always bring it up. But I think of those Bengals fans, right, Lounadrum is going to work for Indianapoils now that that's been blown up. What that formation was that they had on both sides of the ball where things were clicking. That Super Bowl appearance against the Rams seems like a lifetime ago. And for Lamar Jackson in company, this play again, while it wouldn't have sealed it, it sealed it.
Yeah, No, for sure, there was. There was no game afterwards, even with the slippery conditions.
Right, It's it's one heel down and done.
Yeah, yeah, I get that.
It's it's a little bit like it's also kind of I'm the guy that looks at Buckner and says, well, it was game six.
Right, No exactly? Or the Cubs and the noisy Lou Barton play right, Mark Pryor jumping up and down like a child. Gonzalez who was a nine to ninety five shortstop boots and routine ground ball, everything that, And there was a game seven, yes, but nobody remembers it because they're pivotal, you know, the giant moments, and for at least the city of Baltimore. It's another really great season in this guy's prime that goes to the wayside on the.
Buffalo side of things, just to move the conversation along. I think they can beat Kansas City playing like they did. And it sounds crazy when Josh Allen only has one hundred and twenty seven yards and James Cook only has sixty seven yards on the ground, but that's the type of game that Kansas City is now playing. And I don't know if Buffalo's off defense will be able to hold up against Kansas City's offense. But if you do have a two headed monster of Cook and Allen, sprinkle with a little Ty Johnson and Ray Davis in there, I do think it's the type of game Buffalo can win on Sunday.
Oh, I think it's a rock fight. I think it's great. It's Butcker versus Bass that's probably not far off.
Oh yeah, right.
I mean I hate to do that when it's Mahomes and Allen and they're the headliners. But in the end, doesn't it feel like a field goal game?
It feels something like sixteen thirteen.
Right right that we're in a low scoring, contentious game, which great because I mean Buffalo's defense got healthy right down the stretch. And into this game. You saw guys flying around, which wasn't there early in the season. Right, they were feeling their way out offensively. Was that exciting football to watch? No, but that was the complaint about the Chiefs all year long, that it wasn't exciting. It isn't a thrilling squad making plays. Now, if Travis Kelsey's going to be able to dance around like he did in the secondary this last week, could be a long day. But yeah, I'm with you. I think it's a low scoring slugfest. But the fact that you've got four viable runner slash receivers out of the backfield absolutely huge.
Much more playable game as well.
I'm just looking at the forecast high of thirty five now it's a later kickoff because it's the second game of the day, lows of around twenty four.
So that's workable, that's playable. That they should be able to compare what they need to do. Yeah, you're exactly their idea.
And it's toasty compared to what we saw with the Dolphins and Chiefs last year, which was played in an outdoor freezer.
Well, we were getting reports of guys at getting fingers ampuda.
Yeah, after that.
Remember Andy Reid's mustache, Yeah, frozen with his snot and stuff.
We will not have that.
Thanks for that, though, I don't have to look at that this year.
We want to have that on Sunday.
The chief side of things, though, this playoff Travis Kelsey thing is a real thing.
Though. What is that?
Fifteen games in a row of five and seventy at a minimum.
Eight targets, seven catches, one hundred and seventeen yards and a touchdown.
That forty nine yard sprint looked like it was slow motion, like an old video game you're playing.
Yeah, and most notably Xavier Worthy he had the second most targets with six, and then nobody got more than three after that.
Yeah, that's the crazy thing, right. You got Kelsey with seven catches, Worthy had his five, Noah Grey with three, Kareem Hunt with one, and everybody else had a goose egg and you walk away with a win. I mean, the defense for Houston was amazing. The calls, I don't know. The first one I'm watching it live, I don't know. I thought it was a penalty, but whatever.
I'm just I'm just sick because of talking about it, because I just feel that it's an easy topic. Sure talk about it, of course, to have an opinion on one way or have an opinion on the others.
The only thing that I would just say to it.
Is stars getting calls is older than time, right, It's what made the NBA. It's what happens in Major League Baseball with strike zones. When you're a hitter, it's smaller, you're that bitcher. It's a little bit bigger than everybody else's like, those things end up happening. I get the frustration, but Patrick Mahomes is arguably your biggest star in the National Football League and he's just going to get those calls. Do I think he should do the little slow up thing out of bounce. No, I think somebody should light him up. And it's not meant to be malicious, but at some point you're gonna have to learn a lesson. And if you're going to get called for fifteen yards anyway, that's right, you might as well do it.
What it was like the shove in the National title game. Not to tie that in, but when the defensive end came off the line and we've been frustrated all day.
Right, great job by the Ohio.
State offensive line and he got close enough to how to shove him. It's like, if you're gonna go and you're gonna get the fifteen yards, go and drill him, yes, right, take the extra step and work through his ribs and instead of shoving his shoulder bad.
And I want to be clear and saying it's not in intent to hurt CRT's just the point of Patrick Mahomes won't do the tiptoe thing on the sidelines if he knows guys are gonna light him up, So you gotta light him up. And if you get fifteen yards, it's maybe not the worst thing because then he doesn't do it again. But you may have gotten fifteen yards anyway if you even touched him, if he went out about it.
It's it.
And to that point, Dan, we know that football is a game of inches. So like, if you can get Mahomes to hesitate for even half a second more to tuck it and run, that's probably gonna play in your favor.
Do you guys remember that fake Kenny Pickett sliding college?
Sure?
Yeah, yeah, Like that's.
That's the most egregious one that we've seen. So if anybody is listening to this and you want to see the worst one, Just search Kenny Picket fake slide and you'll see it. They'll make you mad watching it, like you truly will.
But yeah, I mean there's so many things that get missed that are egregious turning game. I mean, how many times have we watch games as a group here in this I mean you're on with Carrie Rhodes on Sunday afternoons, Dan, how many times you see an egregious head twisting face mask that goes away?
Yep?
Uncalled. Like there's a lot of a lot of issues with officiating and allowing quarterbacks to kind of slide, not slide the little Major League Baseball pop up slide they do like right at the last second when the guy's already changing his body to go and engage. Like there's just so much to it, And I know we want got to protect our quarterbacks, but you know, play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. How you like that Mahomes Taylor swift right back at you.
He's Mike Carmon, I'm Dan Byer. That's Ian Roddy, our executive producer. This is I want your flax. Chiefs and bills should be a dandy maybe we'll pick some winners. At the end of the episode, we talked about the AFC, we'll jump over to the NFC, where it was heartbreak Hotel for the Lions and oh what could have been for the Rams in a crazy, crazy game in Philadelphia. We'll dive into that and look ahead to the championship games next year.
On I Want Your Flex.
Now, let's look at the National Football Conference in the divisional playoffs.
He is Mike Carmen, I'm Dan Pyre.
That's Ian Roddy, the game of the weekend that I was most looking forward to. Mike and I are on the opposite ends of this, even though we had no dogs in the fight. He wanted Washington to win. I wanted Detroit to win, and I felt bad with the Lions lost. But what a show by Washington and for the Lions. I guess all good things must come to an end. It's just now is it the end?
End?
With coaches leaving and whatnot? But a tough one of your alliance fan from Saturday Night?
Yeah, I mean you scored thirty one and it's not even close to enough. No right and Jared Goff turnovers. We'll get into Ben Johnson, the head coach of Chicago quick video that I posted through our social media team thanks to Elijah earlier today and the immediate reaction to that. But you know, all during our run, it's been the attempt the football gods. Eventually it's going to come back on you. And obviously the Lions folks want to go to the injuries, and I get it. You lose a guy to a broken arm early in the game. You were ten point favorites at home. You have been a Jugger, not with all the injuries. I don't care how many times you want to show me Aiden Hutchinson on the sideline. He hasn't played in forever. And you've still been toying with most teams like a cat with a ball of yarn almost every week, in addition to calling your trick plays. But the moment they called the pass play to Jameson Williams down ten, you run two plays, move twenty two yards, like what are we doing? Because as soon as he got the ball you knew he was throwing it. At no point did he ever think about tucking the ball or throwing it out of bounds. Damn it, he was going to complete that pass and it goes the other way. Come back, Washington scores another touchdown. Now you get a seventeen point deficit.
It's just it's a different psyche when you're up fourteen doing that as opposed to being from behind. And I can't, Mike, I can't remember what the score was even at the time of it. But there is a feeling of I got to make something happen. But you just wonder in that desperate situation of why is that the play called. It's like on fourth and short and you run a fake punt and the punter throws the ball. Not Notre Dame. They have their backup quarterback in totally fine with that. But you're saying, if it's fourth and short, you're going to throw the ball, why wouldn't I want my quarterback to throw it instead of having the punter do it. And I think that's the exact case here. I think the lines just felt they were out of bullets. David, you mentioned Aiden Hutchinson being hurt and the hope of a comeback. David Montgomery did come back and was just not the same. No, he wasn't not even close. And that's no excuse for Detroit. But their defense I think was when you play offense like that, you can't have a stout defense like they're just going to give up points because they're going to be on the field. And when you're playing a track meet, whether you're running the ball, you know, grounded pound, however it is, it's not like they're dominating clock and having it for forty two minutes a game. The defense is still on the field and they're going to give up points, and they gave up a lot of them, no matter if they were shorthanded or not.
Washington clearly took advantage.
Absolutely. Yeah, at that point, you know it's thirty eight to twenty eight, you've already given up thirty one plus the interception return. You know, Golf at Home does not get the call getting obliterated in the post interception fracas, but you get that touchdown. But either way, you've given up thirty one already. But you throw the deep ball. Sandra was still, you know, form Michigan guy actually was on our show after all of that last year, so you know, friend of the show, I guess we call him. But Gibbs was fantastic. Get the ball in his hands. Jamison Williams, you can only like, if you're gonna call that play, you can only throw it if you need to. To your point, yeah, you're getting bludgeoned. You're trying to, you know, pull out all the stops. It is who you are, right, so you feed into your identity. But unfortunately, you know to your point, being up fourteen and demoralizing another team with another play like that, it's much different than you're chasing ten. And now you're also taking the ball out of Golf's hands. And the question on him is all the time been is he a guy that can battle back? And there's a lot of metrics that show no, he's not that guy. So you took a ball out of his hand and let your wide receiver throw it, So at that point you might as well have just thrown the damn towel.
I just I get the love for Jaden Daniels and he deserves his flowers for what he had. But I said it on Sunday, I just I feel like it's such a rush to judgment and I feel like we were in the same spot with CJ. Stroud a year ago. Sure, and when I said this, I don't get tons of feedback on it, but I did get a little bit on social media of people thinking that I'm being critical of Jade Daniels and my guy was sticking up for Caleb Williams. That's not my point, and I think Jayden Daniels has been great. But when people are rushing to cash in their tickets on Jayden Daniels, they're not counting for maybe problems on the offensive line, or injuries to the wide receivers, or just if Cliff Kingsberry leaves, somebody new comes in, maybe they don't mesh as well. All of those are factors that can come in. There's no taking away what he's done this season and how great it has been for the Commanders, But I just I feel like it's this immediate fast track right away when if you just look at CJ. Stroud, their line played like crap this year. They lost Stefon Diggs, they lost Tank Dell, and look kind of what happened to c J.
Stroud.
Not that he was absolved of all issues, but this is what happens in an NFL career. There are ups and downs. Not everyone is just straight up the whole way, sure, And that's why I just caution about Jayden Daniels.
Yeah, I mean, look again, it's the microwave thing, just like the Mark Andrews play, and comparing it to the worst possible scenarios and heartbreaking moments of big games past, you know, for CJ. Strout look on our grid out there in our hallway by our producer, a lot that you do every year. Dan, I had Houston missing the playoffs. I didn't trust the offensive line. Thought there'd be a regression and foolishly the division would get better.
Sure, and that's the chance.
But me I thought they'd actually get it right and be you know, somewhat functional. Instead, it all went to hell and then add another injury for Tag Dell. He's gonna end up being one of those poor guys we talk about. Is boy, what a career it could have been, you know at this point with the injuries that he's had significant, but you know, Terry mclaurin's all of that for Jaden Daniels, the ability to run. I think we want to immediately make the comparisons to what Alan and Jackson had been doing. Say, I do Alan Jackson way down yonder by the Chattahoochie. But it's just that idea of we want the next great thing and so it's the microwave effect. I was laughing. You know the trading card world, right, Panini has their prism set that comes out, and for a while, the Panini silver was what you wanted. The numbered cards. Nobody cared number ninety nine forty nine what those are good collectible h In the last couple of years they've been you know, people will go, wait a minute, let's get the numbered ones instead of the silver. There's more of those this year. Everybody's back on the Jade and Daniel silver that came out. It's like tripled in value in like the last two weeks based on his play. I want that card. So everybody going nuts and wanting on board. And yeah, who's to say that there's not a regret or Cliff Kingsbury to your point, that he doesn't suddenly get a job and a second head coaching shot somewhere else, especially now that Ben Johnson's not going to Las Vegas.
Yeah, I think it's it's realistic. It's not a finalist for the Jaguars job. It doesn't appear today.
They're gonna talk to Robert Sala again.
Mike.
I wouldn't I wouldn't out I Cliff Kingsbury ends up in Dallas POSIB You know, h just a Texas guy who knows how that search is going.
There could be crazy a thing.
But that's your point, is that, yeah, you're not running it back, just like Detroit. On the other side, Bensen's gone, the Glenn could leave.
We've Mike, we talked about the schedule in all the games that they probably should have lost, right but ended up winning all of those games.
Next year, aren't going to go your way?
Oh yeah, Washington, what it was a five game streak coming into this week, right of last possession games.
And that's go ahead.
I'm just gonna say when he was when he was coming into the league, Jayden, he was a big concern with him was his size and how skinny he is. And it's not like that's really changed. It's just the fact that he's managed to stay healthy for a year. But but who's to say that he doesn't take a big hit and you know that kind of changes things for him.
Well, remember he had those couple of weeks where he was the tender rid right, so he couldn't get the ball to the end zone right against the Bears.
Exactly.
Yeah, it's it's so is he if he takes a really big hit, is that going to you know, rattle him a little more.
I don't know.
It's just stuff to consider, just to play unto that point that it might not be exactly as perfect as it was this year.
That's all it is. And at the we're all in agreement. It's just we also all in agreement that this stuff doesn't sell and so people take it as a negative and it's not meant to be a negative. And maybe maybe there's another time we could bring this up as they're on the verge of maybe you know, one went away from going to the super Bowl, and what is a winnable game? Sure, I just wonder if they're winning the regular season comes back to haunt them on Sunday because of the simple fact of the egos had that game one they didn't because of DeVante Smith's drop allows Washington to continue the Cinderella story and now I think puts a chip on the eagles shoulder.
I think there's something to it. The curiosity to me, and I don't know how much you guys covered at Sunday or even today with everything going on or in the Monday, I should say now that it's Tuesday as you're listening to this globally wherever you are, thank you. But Dan Jalen Hirsch refuse to hunt in his on field interview talk about his health. I finished the game. How are you feeling? You know, very sore? Obviously, the questions of whether he's got some ligament issues going on.
Whatever.
He's on the field with Saquon Barkley, they're doing the I Love you more, No, I love you more.
Oh.
I wanted us to get to this threshold in terms of rushing yardage. Reporter, Hey, how you feeling? What do we got? It's like I was able to finish the games. Like, that's not the answering you give.
She's like, how are you feeling. He's like, yeah, that's crazy. Anyway, It's like.
I'm fine, we won the game. I can't wait to celebrate with our teammates. But how are you feeling? I finished the game?
And he comes back from a concussion right at the end of the regular season, so there's just the questions of rustiness after that, aside from all the other ailments that you could be facing. I don't know if they need his arm to beat Washington, if Saquon's gonna do this.
Yeah, No, I'd run the ball. I didn't give gain well five or sent in touches right speed speed to the outside and try to get him uncorked a little bit.
Yeah, I don't.
I don't think I'd passed the ball more than fifteen times if I didn't have to.
I Sam Cosby's uh now likely there's done for the season. He's not going to be available. And you see the game that Jalen Carter just had. He was the he was the star of the last Drive and he's played great in this two years with Philadelphia. I just think it's going to be tough for the Commanders, and they have every opportunity to prove me wrong.
Again.
It's a winnable game for them in terms of they've already beaten the Eagles this season, and I think just the way that they're playing right now, it's a winnable game. But man, I feel that Philly's going to have that chip on their shoulder, especially too, because of the way they almost gave away the Rams game.
That's just it, right, Yeah, like that was that was That was kind of a mess. I don't know.
I've complained about how I don't like bad weather affecting good games, but it was so bad it was actually funky, and I enjoyed that. I wanted the Eagles, Mike, I don't know if you know this to punt from the Rams thirty one yard line, because I felt like you couldn't get a field goal right in the scenario, like as it was playing out in the end, they didn't have to, but I figured, I think fifteen yards of field position is pretty significant when the Rams don't even know if they can hold onto the ball.
No, that was the funness of that game.
No, and that's it as long as it's close late and we got a little bit of potential chaos and as Stafford got the ball back. I mean, like ball security is so huge. My daughter now has digital handwarmers. I haven't seen these, like I've always seen the pop heard of them. Oh yeah, now you can charge them up. Yeah yeah, no, it's a whole other thing. So I mean, but you needed those for every one of your Rams receivers because it like it was like a medicine ball hit in their hands or if they took it into the body. I got it again, like taking a twenty pound medicine ball to the chest. So yeah, I mean the thrilling end of the game, but stop Saquon Barkley. That's can you do it? I don't think Washington can do it minus six.
By the way, I did sweet this and nobody cared, nobody did anything with it, which is totally fine. But I said, I think and I said this to you because he in producers our Sunday show now that I do with Carry Rhodes, with Saquon sitting out week eighteen, for Saquon not wanting to break the record, saying now, let's give some other guys carries earlier in the season. For all of these things that he didn't do, he probably should have just taken a knee at the one on his long run, Mike, because the thing the Eagles need to the most was to take.
Time to take time off.
They didn't need to add points because then they missed the extra point, and then it's the thirteen point game. And we saw then what happened with four minutes left and the Rams were twenty yards away from possibly pulling quite the upset in Philadelphia.
Seventy eight yard run extra point from Elliot no good, and I'll kick king comes into play in all of these things.
Right.
We talked about Baltimore in the missed two point conversions. Here opened the door. Let's say it was four thirty six remaining. Rams get the ball back in two minutes. They went down the field, got the stop. I like that field position.
Yeah, do you know me?
I love the field position game. I wish we could bring back coffin corner punts, but I may be going a bridge too far there. I think those were out of style before Ian was even born.
Uh, he is Mike Carmen. I'm Dan Byer. That is Ian Roddy, our executive producer. Mike's gonna weigh in on his bears hiring Ben Johnson. It will also lead to the question is this hit for the Lions. As crazy as that may be, we do have to have that discussion and an NFL story that popped up that intrigued all of our interests, plus our picks for the conference championship game. It's all coming up next here, and I want your flex. It is I want your flex. I'm Dan Byer. That's Mike Harmon Ian Roddy hanging out as well. The big news of Monday is that the biggest fish has been hooked by Mike Harmon's Chicago Bears. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson had his representation confirmed that he's going to be the next head coach of the Bears, taking over for Matt Eberfluss. Before we get to the Bears angle on this, does the loss of Ben Johnson to you might signify the end of this Lions run?
Yeah, I think there's something to it.
Right.
You saw the tearful Dan Campbell. Now, obviously he's a guy that has always worn his emotions on his sleeve, but I think there's a recognition of that. Like we saw that a little bit in the Baltimore locker room, a couple of veteran defensive players decaying, hey, look, we don't know who's coming back. And now for the Lions, a lot of their offense has been predicated on this guy's ingenuity. Doesn't mean that it won't necessarily work. You still have great interier offensive line, a good defensive line, all those skill position players. Eventually got to pay the piper on all those guys. But short term, you've got good personnel. But Golf's your trigger man, and I like him, don't love him. Right, I'm like everybody else like he's he's good in spots and with the creativity it took that offense. I mean they scored thirty three points a game. Who's coming in that's going to keep that thing? Nobody moving right, And if Glenlee came.
Back, I don't think they're doing the same thing.
No, that you're I think you're one hundred percent right, Like I think there's there's still going to be a change, but him departing philosophy, how you utilize these players and put them in the proper positions and utilized each of their talents. I mean, you got Jamison Williams. There were a couple times during the course of the year you thought you were going to kind of lose him to where he was going to become a malecontent because he wasn't seeing the ball. And instead he's the guy you're giving the ball to in the biggest spot down ten, as we discussed in an earlier segment.
So I wonder with the Lions, and I do think Listen, they were the number one seed of the NFC. It's tough to follow that up. You're gonna get eight nudgetson back next year. There's hopefully gonna be improvement for them on their defensive side of the ball. I think they transition Mike more into that run team. They are like they automatically are, just that it's instead of the fireworks with the running game, maybe more of it's it's more of a ground and pound, especially if Hank Fraley ends up having more of a of a role with the Lions. He's interviewed for some offensive coordinating positions. But if you lose Ben Johnson, maybe that's the route that they go. They're just it's gonna be tough to repeat what they just went through. They have an offensive line and that is the most important thing. So I think they're going to fall off the map, but you just can't expect them to reach the heights that they have the last two years. Yeah, and this year was like gravy considering Ben Johnson could have been a head coach last season, just didn't like any of the jobs out there and decided to return.
Now, obviously the defense, you're not gonna get hit in theory, the injury bug and football gods move on to somewhere some other squad and their locker room, because you know, we're talking I guess I'd look at when the Packers won the Super Bowl. They had that graphic that had to be two slides long with the number of guys that were on IR. That's kind of where we got here with the Lions and defense. And again you play Who's Up and you were still heavily favored and you lost. But I mean this one leaves a hangover because you can just lose. You got punched in the mouth repeatedly.
In this one.
And for this squad going forward, I mean, are you gonna lose a bunch of guys from the front office too, to some of your positional coaches. I mean, there there's a lot that goes into it, and that's you know, not to bleed too deep into the Bears. But that's one of the big questions I have about Ben Johnson is how much he leaned on those guys for messaging and to be the like, how many shots of Antoine Randall l and the other position coaches did you get of them talking up while he was off doing you know, wizardry stuff like sure, and a head coach has to be that hands on guy like That's that was the biggest criticism of the last two guys the Bears had as a head coach was that that that wasn't their thing, Like he could be their buddy, but he wasn't a guy to you know, really set a tone in a locker room. You didn't have that question with Dan Campbell because he said it and everybody else followed or you or you were going to be in trouble pretty fast, and so you know those culture setters and whatever. So you got Campbell. So I don't fear that it drops off off the map. But in theory the division, I mean, look at you had three teams. They've flamed out terribly spectatularly in the playoffs, but Green Bay isn't going away. They're still young. Jordan Love needs to cut down on turnovers and everything else. But that's a conversation for another time. In theory, the Bears were going to be better regardless of who they install as their coach. And then Minnesota, they won't repeat the wins, but they'll be a tough out.
And we don't know if Brian Flores is going to return to Minnesota, of course, could have a huge effect on Obviously, their quarterback situation.
Is one to watch.
But I will say this, you did land the big fish of the coaching off season, Mike being able to land Ben Johnson. I know Vrabel was out there, but I don't know how much he was really out there out there considering it seemed this.
New England thing was inevitable. Works, yeah, exactly for a while.
So I would say, if you are a Bears fan, you're obviously excited because he did land the big fish in the pond. But as we have discussed on this program, sometimes that's not even doesn't translate to the season. As we see dan Quinn having the success that he had, and it felt like when the Commanders hired him last year, it was just like, all right, we'll settle for dan Quinn. And now that I went away from the Super Bowl, but.
Think about it, when he got hired, the last tape we had of anything dan Quinn related was a one P fifty eight point three put up by Jordan Love forty eight points and forty eight points and an embarrassing effort by a Dallas defense. And then he goes and becomes a head coach and all of a sudden, all the Ducks are and Arold Cliff Kingsbury's found is whatever there was no second half swoon, right. They scuffled a little bit offensively when Daniels was dealing with the ribs, but otherwise you watched an offense which was Diami Brown becomes a guy we're gonna be talking about as an WR two coming into next year for fantasy purposes. By the way, that catch when you know he had the John Cena you can't see me from Arnold's hand in his face, It's one of my favorite catch. I really hope there's a trading card that comes out that catches that, or at least an eight by ten. I can buy it at an autograph show down the road. But yeah, the Bears land the bell of the ball, right, so they gave everybody what they wanted. I really was convinced that Mike McCarthy was gonna end up being the guy showed that he could perform in Dallas. Obviously, you faced him all those years, and the McCaskey family, Hallis family would know that for years. The addition of the Eddie George interview over the weekend was one of those eyebrow raiser But in the background, Dan, it's like, all right, you got information from every walk of the college and pro football world by including him, yes, right, and maybe a few little little insights. Maybe you got a couple of names of guys that Eddie George battled against for Tennessee State. That's suddenly on day three in the draft, you got a guy who talked him up and gave you some insights, and you know, all of these guys maybe just along the way. I think there were eighteen official interviews plus Rabel what it was all said down and.
I told you my thoughts. I thought there should have been five.
No, but that's the thing, right, is trying to piece that out of you know, does it mean you're not you don't know what you're doing, or you're passing time seeing if you can get some insights. And then Ben Johnson's unexpectedly available this week.
I think I think the lesson the lesson with Ben Johnson in what Bears fans should realize. And I know this doesn't work, Mike, because it's all about wins and losses, but let's just make sure that he fixes whatever is going on with Caleb Williams and hopefully the Bears can fix their line dealing with it, because as we talked about, I think it was on the last podcast, or maybe it was the one before Dan Quinns went away from the Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh took the Chargers to the playoffs. Mike McDonald won ten games of the Seahawks debut. But the best coaching job this of the first year coaches of this past season may have been Dave Canalis because he appeared to have saved Bryce Young's career. And if Ben Jonson could do that with Caleb Williams and the Bears, then it's a home run.
Higher.
Well that's it there. Look there there was a lot to like Williams, you know, full game in concerning how horrible they were as an offense in the first quarter of games. And this is where you know, you take it with a grain of salt, right. We used to laugh about Blake Bortles, not just because you know, the good Place made fun of it all the time, but also he was great when you were down and you knew the Jaguars were't going to be any good, so I was like, all right, he's gonna put up And that was I think some of the fear because there were a lot of graphics that were pretty easy to put up. Of look at Kayleb Williams in the fourth quarter of games, like, yeah, they were down seventeen going into the fourth quarter, or they're down fourteen or whatever the metric would be. It's like, yeah, you're playing against a much different defense and in the first quarter they're not generating points. Maybe he makes a play with his legs, maybe he makes spectacular throat, because there were plenty of those. But now it's about continuity and timing and getting him to play on time. That's the big challenge for Ben Johnson. Can you invoke that. You've got a lot of work to do.
Right.
It's exciting because you gave everybody they want now, fans and pundits in Chicago and I guess nationally have to shut up. Right, You landed your guy, and he also told pretty boy Tom Brady to go away by signing with your parents.
There's already one to oh on the season.
How about that you won the off season by getting this guy. But remember, you know the guy that's picking the groceries also, and this is where you get the Poles versus warn thing. You know, Poles also was the guy that signed Nate Davis to a three year deal and in the middle of this season while everything was up in turmoil, quietly cut him where they eschewed the drafting of an offensive lineman to go get another receiver. It's like, you still don't have enough. I mean, Caleb Williams that what did he have? Sixty eight sacks and they're saying he avoided another fifty. So even if you put a lot of that, we could put the majority on Caleb Williams holding the ball too long. Still an awful lot of offensive line problems that add to your running back situation Rashawn Johnson, you know, in goal line situation. I mean, remember when they called the lineman to carry the ball, but DeAndre Swift likes to bounce to the outside, so there's no calling plays between the tackles for him. There's a lot of personnel questions you got and who are your coordinators? Again owing to the fact this guy's never been a head coach before, so Dennis Allen's name has been out there. I know they interviewed Ron Rivera. Maybe as a coordinator it works, but you're gonna need some veteran staff, and not that you want to emulate what they've gotten Detroit altogether, but that seemed to be working pretty well, and if he just wants to be the mad genius calling plays and working with Caleb Williams, then it can work. But there's still a lot of infrastructure that that's gonna have to happen before you know you can put them to the promised Land and realize, you know, those great returns because it's it's a heavy, heavy task in that division to try to climb up.
All right, it is come to that point of the podcast where it is prediction time.
Paint James will have you for my prediction pain. Two games on Sunday.
NFC gets the first crack at it Washington Philadelphia AFC the second game of the day Kansas City home to Buffalo.
Mike.
I'm gonna let Ian Roddy give us I like this first go. You can follow Ian and then I'll follow you Ian. Who plays who? In Super Bowl fifty nine.
So the ideal what I want to have happened would be Commanders versus Bills. But I think the exact opposite is what I actually expect to happen. I think it's going to be Chiefs Eagles because a I cannot bet against Mahomes.
I did it last year. I did it the year before.
I'm not doing it again. I really I've learned. So I'm betting Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC and then in the NFC. I really do think it's the Eagles, and I think it's evenly matched. But it really does come down to what you said, Dan, how the Commanders came away with a close one in the regular season. I just really think the Eagles are going to remember that and they're going to be back for blood. So Eagles Chiefs in the Super Bowl, and yeah, not looking forward to that one.
But that's what I got, Mike, super Bowl fifty nine. I forgot you and I both stuck with our picks from the preseason. You change my mind? Last week I would have went one to one either way. I lost the Lions from my Super Bowl pick? How did yours fare? Who was your super Bowl pick?
Well? I had a big four and oh weekend in the Pros.
There you go, and then lost my ass.
In the National Title Game. Okay, sorry, buddy, that happens. I'll take the forward one. And for a while it looked like I was at least going to win with the with the spread, but that did happen. Yeah, that got me too. I had Philadelphia and Buffalo all right, Okay, so that's where I shall stay. You know, we already talked about it in terms of sloppiness. Forty seven and a half is the total on this game, which seems a bit high. Actually they're both forty seven and a half Philly minus six forty seven and a half tickets get in get the said Philadelphia five hundred and forty dollars. Why because they're right in the same geographic location. So it's a nice little days drive. You don't have to get a hotel, you don't have to get a flight, drive on up Kansas City, Buffalow seventy nine. But yeah, I gotta stick and dance with who wrung me. And so long as Sakuon Barkley is getting ready to just have people jump on his back and run through, I can't go against that. And for Philadelphia, I also think that defensive line is going to cause Jade Daniels a lot of problems.
We both you both like the Eagles.
I said that I felt that they have a chip on their shoulder and will win on Sunday as well, So I will stick to that.
So the question is do I do Ian or do I do Mike? That came off very weird. Pause.
We'll choose a different way of phrasing it. Do I side with Ian? Do I side with Mike? It's late, you'll forgive me. I'm a little loose.
That was pretty good though. I mean, you're you're coming down from the u fouria of a national titles. It has a lot of adrenaline. That's a lot of sweat equity.
Yeah.
Yeah, the team of cheered Force and so A seven is national champions and I'm losing my mind. The question is do I go with my heart or do I go with my head? And that's the true dilemma. And I am going to go with my heart. So that means I'm going with Mike Harmon. I want the Bills to go to the super Bowl. I think Kansas City wins the game, but I'm going to go with the Bills Eagle super Bowl matchup. So Ian, you're on the island yourself. I'll be hanging out with Mike with that Bill's Eagle super Bowl.
Hey, that's all right, I'll hang out here alone.
I just want to see us prep for the super Bowl and have the greatness that is Marv Levy out there doing interviews ninety.
Nine years young. Oh, that would be amazing.
Maybe a tribute to all those Bills teams because you know, it's always a reminder and it goes to all walks of life. Not to get all deep and philosophical, but we we do every once in a while as like might not always win, but damn it, you're in the fight. I mean, all those TEA teams that came up just short, Like I've got a card that actually commemorates the wide right from a two thousand and eight set. They did all the big moments in NFL history, and there's actually a painting from behind the perspective of Norwich, but all of those to go back to those like how improbable that run is and you could say it up against what the Chiefs have done that it's like it's such a different NFL, such a different way of constructing teams. And maybe Jim Kelly and Andre Reid and Thurman Thomas and those guys get a little bit of shine because of this run, and they sure as hell would during Super Bowl week and Dan in New Orleans you might actually get thrown through a table so I mean all of that, it has to happen.
That actually could happen, that actually might happen, or it won't. I don't know anybody that's gonna lift me to be able to throw me through a table. I'll have to jump of challenge. Car Let's get challenge by somewhat.
I was gonna say, don't say that too loudly, guys from Buffly, like I want in.
All I'm gonna say is this because I thought about this the other day, because I thought about Jim Kelly, and I thought about Therman Thomas, and I thought about all those guys. Who's the bill during the span of the non playoff seasons that I think of the most, And it's Fred Jackson.
Oh we all love Fred Jackson, Yes.
Fred Jackson, Like it's like the Buffalo bill guy. So in addition to all those guys, I'd like to see it happen for Fred Jackson. But ultimately I just don't want to see a rematch of Super Bowl fifty seven. So if we could just get anything but Ian's pick Chiefs Eagles, I guess that would be him.
I'm rooting against it too. I'm just surellowing my brain.
Here yeah, I got you.
I feel that I also would get vindicated for a lot of arguments on Fox Sports Radio advocating for the eventual greatness of Josh Allen.
Sure. Yes, Mike's been on the train for a long long.
Time, many many battles of he's just a running back.
I ended up on the Josh Allen train through Fantasy football, and then George Reister was against him and I had to stick up for him.
He's one of the guys that tried to fight me at every turn.
I was, all of a sudden, I'm on the passenger train of Josh, of the Josh Allen fan Club, so I was along for the ride.
Although I do hope that the Josh Allen the Runner is available and ready to go against the Chiefs.
He's gonna need to be. It's gonna be a huge, vital part of Sunday.
So fun, so exciting.
So coming up on our.
Next podcast, we're gonna leave our fun story, the Saga of Byron Young for maybe another time. Could be one of our top five stories. Maybe we'll do a countdown at the end of the season from this past year that we found out because there will be further episodes coming up. We'll have a recap of conference championship week next week, and then we'll get into Super Bowl stuff and have a few more episodes for you as we get into February. So for Mike Carmen and O ex Acular producer Ian Roddy, I'm Dan Byer. Enjoy the games on Sunday, enjoin us next time when we talk Super Bowl fifty nine.
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