NFL Daily with Gregg RosenthalRams' Win for Los Angeles, Darnold's Disaster and McCarthy Moves on From Cowboys
Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to recap the Rams eliminating the Vikings from the playoffs on Monday Night Football. The show starts with talk about how the Rams rallied around the city of Los Angeles (02:12), followed by a look at how Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold played (08:30), a discussion about Darnold's future (16:50), and a salute to the Rams defense (28:20). Things are wrapped up with Gregg and Nick reacting to Mike McCarthy no longer being the head coach of the Cowboys (34:20).
Note: time codes approximate.
From the thirty nine of LA Third Down and eight Rams on defense protecting a touchdown, leave Donald against the rush. What's coming?
Please hit scoop, scoop up, Jennifers, tell the right sideline with lockers turn.
Five tunning time.
The defensive rookie of the year with a scoop stretch store on wild Card weekend and it's a Callum winnerspoon to Jarrett Loose.
Are our friends JB Log and MJB with the great call of the great Jared Verse. No one was catching him. I mean, what was his forty time? My god gets into the end zone for a scoop and score on a night when the Rams defense had Sam Donald seeing ghosts. The Rams win twenty seven to nine to cap wild Card Weekend in a crazy game in Glendale, Arizona. I'm here back in Los Angeles. It's not as smoky as it was a couple of nights ago, Nick shook, And for that we have a lot of thanks to give and a lot of Rams fans around the Southland, around Los Angeles, and the ones who got up early this morning to take all those buses that were going from Sofi to bring them to Glendale are happy tonight because it was over after that touchdown. It was a party for this Rams defense.
What a night, Yeah, one to night, indeed one night for less sneed it drafted Jared Verse, Braden Fisk making a play, that defensive front that he rebuilt after the departure of Aaron Donald coming through in a defense that just played phenomenally and absolutely shut down the explosive Vikings and really made quite a statement with this win. That Verse fumble recovery in return for a touchdown, It made it what seventeen to three. It felt like the final blow right then and there, like they were never going to recover from that. That was how good of a game they played defensively, and what a resounding win for these Rams.
Yeah, it was another rough one for Sam Donald and we'll get into that, but the defensive performance was amazing and the way the Rams offense came out to start this game and set the tone with a touchdown drive just like they did against the Vikings the first time route in so far, and then get another score to go up two scores, ten to nothing in the blink of an eye. And Sam Donald wasn't really ready for it, wasn't ready for that moment, and before we get into the whys of it all, I do think about everything that's happened this week here and we've chronicled it on NFL Daily some and I think about this Rams team, who, one year after the pandemic, when people are just getting back to normal and you're just getting used to sofis even being a thing that fans can go to, they win a Super Bowl title and kind of stamp themselves, you know, this city's football team in a way that I don't think they had been since they had returned from Saint Louis. And fast forward to now, but both them and the Chargers are in the playoffs this year, but they get affected, their practice gets affected. Last week they go to Glendale and it's this season where they were one and four and they make it to the playoffs, and you don't know how many more years Stafford and McVay are going to have together. And this is actually their first win since that Super Bowl title. And I do think about NFL seasons. Not everyone can win the Super Bowl, and it's going to be disappointing whenever this Rams season ends for them unless they win it. And yet sometimes I do think one win can make it all worth it. And maybe that can be a regular season win, but usually it's a playoff win. And even if the road ends in Philadelphia, I really do think this is a win in that Rams fans will treasure and remember forever, and Stafford will as well when they're thinking about it in twenty years, even if they don't go on that, Hey, we got another one a few years after that Super Bowl and it was that week and when we faced a lot of challenges, and we faced challenges that season, and it kind of showed what they were all about as this next generation of like Rams young players.
You know, go on, Yeah, they're gonna be sitting around the Thanksgiving table or just the dinner table, or maybe a reunion of old teammates years from now, and think back to you remember that time we had to go out to Glendale because you know, there were wildfires around and we couldn't practice and we couldn't play in our home stadium when we had earned the right to host a playoff game. Remember how the Cardinals organization bent over backward to make sure that it felt as close to home as it could be. They got the same color paint to paint the field that we would use and everything else. Remember all those fans who came out to Arizona to support us, and then we went out and played inspired football. That was the thing that really stood out to me from the opening drive. The Rams played with the purpose that exceeded the playoffs. This was about more than just when a playoff game that was a home game away from home. This is about playing for the entire city, in the entire Los Angeles area, and they represented them so well. And there's no way, considering all that has happened that people won't look back on this five, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now. I mean I still hear about the games from the eighties in Cleveland with the Browns, right, nothing like this. It was nothing like this.
This is gonna be we Well, those are pretty great. Those are pretty great times.
Too, and a mid tragedy.
No, Yes, Rams fans are hopeful that they don't go in such a dry spell that those kind of games stand out as much. But yeah, this one won't be forgotten. And I'm glad you mentioned the energy. That's really a smart way to think about it. Because the Vikings are coming off a disappointing loss. They had to play last week Sunday Night football. Rams got to rest their starters, and the Rams came out and just yanked this thing from them right away. First drive of the game, Vikings blitzed. Guess guess what their blitz percentage was on the first drive of the game.
It was one hundred percent.
It was one hundred percent every single play. Hey, And you know how many times they pressured Matthew Stafford one one time and I just thought Stafford and McVeigh the combination. It's like they knew what was coming, and he got rid of the ball so quickly. Puko with a huge gainer on the first play. Basically every play was successful. Tyler Higbee had a bunch of them and it was easy. And then you think about the first defensive drive, first play on defense Byron Young, tackle for loss, next play Byron Young sack I believe him and Kobe Turner. And then the third down play actually stands out to me where Donald just dumps it off to pick up like seven or eight yards on a third and fifteen and literally five guys tackled the ball carrier at the same time, and you're like, oh man, this team is swarming and the second half. The offense didn't need to do much, and they didn't do much, but it didn't matter because the defense kept it going the whole time.
Yeah, it was a phenomenal defensive game plan from the beginning. You know, there was a comparison between Manon's own coverage and Darnaldon struggled significantly against man coverage. He didn't know where to go. The picture was complicated to him. He was hesitant, and they feasted on it. And what really stood out to me in the way that they got after him was the number of different guys that got involved. Eight different rams contributed to either at least a half sack, if not more. Over the course of this game, a number of different guys getting pressures, and two of those sacks came from defensive backs. The one on the strip sack that led to the Jared Verse fumble recovery in return for a touchdown, that was a Kello Witherspoon coming off the edge and he just realized, oh wait, Darnold's holding onto the ball. I'm here, forget my assignment. Maybe this tight end leaking out. I'm going after him, and he capitalized. They were playing with their hair on Fire. They were playing with intent that again exceeded the limitations or the expectations of a playoff football game. That's just what was so impressive about this game.
Yeah, let's listen to that first touchdown to Kyron Williams from Stafford from a.
Loaded set with the coup of the only receiver they'll play fait boot out to the left side, Matthew flicked his hip. Fire's middle play.
Tail back Carmen.
Williams, touchdown Laane seven plays, seventy yards. The Rams strike first on this wild card Monday.
Yeah, that was such a great play call because the initial read as he's rolling out is taken away. But they have Kyra and Williams, who's become a great player in the passing game open and Stafford still looking yanky. He can still flip those hips and he was sharp as hell in the first half. He was fine in the second. They just they played pretty conservative. But he ends up nineteen for twenty seven two hundred and what did he end up with nine yards and a couple of touchdowns? You know, passer rating over one eleven. What did you think in general? I guess of Stafford and the offensive performance one section and you could talk about this. To me, that stood out was the last two minute drive after they got the ball late in the first step. We can say that it ended at seventeen three, and yet it really felt over after that drive.
Yeah, Stafford came into this game with only one passing touchdown since week fifteen. That was after a run where he posted a ten to zero touchdown interception ratio over the previously Believe it was the last three or four games people were worried about him. He was averaging one hundred and fifty three passing yards per game over those last three games. Coming into Monday night, he looked like the guy we expected to see two years ago, not the guy that we expect to see after the last three weeks. He was sharp, he was dialed. He was completely in sync with Sean mcvay's game plan. They executed that nearly flawlessly, that opening drive. But you're right, that last two minute drive was the one that really stood out to me too, because of how he played with so much conviction. Even the touchdown pass that he throws, he drops back, plants his foot boom bullet to his tight end, tight end runs it in for a touchdown. Made it look easy because this is a guy who's been there before and he still trusts his physical tools and when the play design is working for him and he understands where to go, Like even on that Kiraen Williams throw the flow is to the left, and yet he finds a way to throw it back toward the inside where Hiren finds the soft spot in the zone to score the touchdown. They were just completely in sync throughout that entire first half, and I thought that reminded me that, Hey, a lot of people are ready to close the curtain on the Matt stafford era in Los Angeles. Not so fast. Okay, it's still ball, and he played really well in this first half.
I know it would be really hard to replace him, and we'll see because he has these highs and sometimes the game does come down to the quarterbacks. And the difference tonight was so stark, and I think the end of the first half sequence really spells that out. Koc decides to go for it on fourth and two at the fifty with a couple minutes left to go. Actually it was one thirty two left to go in the first half. Now earlier in the first half, he decided to take a field goal on a fourth and two inside the red zone. I didn't hate that decision at the time, because it just didn't feel like that Vikings were executing well enough to have confidence that they're going to make the fourth and two, that Donald would take a sack or something. But he decides to roll the dice a little bit at the fifty, kind of call his shot right there where if we don't pick this up, we're gonna go down three scores. But let's show some confidence in Donald. And what does he do. He holds onto the ball for like six seconds and he takes an eleven yard sack and then Stafford gets the ball. It takes a few plays to get going, but he hits Pooka on a play that probably ended with what about thirty five seconds to go, And I'm thinking they're going to take a time out there, and they don't, and they decide not to. And it was really a veteran move. First of all, they had enough time to run a handful of plays left. But more than anything, with the way Flores runs defense, they're a good hurry up offense and they can mix in tempo really well, and they did that tonight. Especially earlier in the game, and they hurry up up on the ball and they snap it quick like before ESPN gets out of their replay, basically, and he's got a wide open Davis Allen that their rookie tight or second year tight end over the middle. Shout out to Jordan Rodrieg cashing inner Davis Allen stock at the last moment. Good job by her, he gets the touchdo it. And that's veteran game management versus Sam Darnold, who who had no game management tonight.
Yeah, and I actually thought that signs of this being a potential outcome showed up in that Lions game. I don't think that Lions game was an anomaly, and just like a one off, you could kind of find clues that this could be an issue for them. My biggest issue with them in that game was the fact that when they had a down and distant situation where you needed to get five to eight yards, you treat a third and relatively long with two plays because you know you're going to go for it on fourth down. They're not running anything short for him, and that has been my big issue with their offense for a lot of this season. Is now Sam has stepped up in a lot of these moments and ripped a pass down the scene, you know, through three defenders for a big first down in some of these games they've won. Last week, I saw him not able to do that because they're playing better defenses, because the pressure is on. And the same thing was true again in that scenario which leads to them. It's fourth and June. You take such a long sack, you give the Rams great field position and they capitalize. And that was a big concerning sign for me with them in this going into this game, and unfortunately for the Vikings, it proved to carry over and be true again.
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. I think it's more that Darnold doesn't take the options or make the quick deal. Yeah, that could be very true too to get to the check down. But I think you're absolutely right that they don't build in enough for him. Jordan Rodrigu, who I just mentioned, is that the game and said the exact same thing that they need to build in more short stuff for Sam and it's not there. But the sacks that he took, and he took nine of them, took me a long time to get to this added up to the most sackyards in a game eighty two in the history of the NFL playoffs. Oh, it's the most sack yardage in any game in the NFL for a decade. Cam Newton took more sack yardage in a game in a November game a decade ago. But the most sackyards ever here are the sack yards because like a lot of times, you take like a three four yard sack, you get up ten seven, twelve, eight, seven, eleven, thirteen, eight nine to close out the game there, and those are massive sacks. One of those double digit sack numbers came in the second half when they had a third and eight in field goal range in theory, but really they needed to just get touchdowns. They were down I think three scores at the time went nineteen points or something, and he took I think that thirteen yard sack, and they decided to punt on fourth and twenty one, which to me was a surrender punt. I know, you don't want to punt there, but the game is over if you punt it. So the fourth quarter was very strange to me. But I think koc was so exasperated by Donald taking the sack there after he held it for like six seconds. The Rams only had five quick pressures all night. None of their defenders had more than one quick pressure. So more of these sacks than not were on the delayed blitzes, which they did a great job doing. That confused them and Donald just holding onto the ball and freezing a little bit. Let's listen to Kevin O'Connell talking about Donald after the game.
The other phase of it for Sam is acknowledging the things that made him a winning quarterback this year and the consistency at the times he had it throughout the year and what that meant for our team. Because I think that can stay with him moving forward, is as he goes back to work, proud of him, proud of you know, really everybody in that locker room, but Sam and the journey him and I went on this year will always, you know, be a you know something that's a special place in my heart. For sure.
That's a good way to say spin it, but that's a wistful tone at the end of what's a disappointing finish in a season that had so much promise, and you talk about that third and eight. I just went and looked at the tape real quick because I thought about this in real time when it happened. He's so locked on a Jalen Naylor to going across the field looking for the deep play. Again, he's got CJ. Ham open about six yards away from the line to gain with a little bit of room to run when he breaks the pocket, like, just dump it off once it's right there for you take the gain, you can get a fourth and short. But again, that typified the entire night for him hunting the big play. Hesitant pays the price.
Yeah, they had three point three I think adjusted yards for dropback, which is one of the lowest totals in any playoff game for years. I actually did a stat This is going to be a next Greg's stats. I don't know if this is official.
Can you count as ngs? That's still okay.
So he officially went nine for seventeen I believe, for eighty four yards when under pressure when he did throw the ball. So that's an average about a little under five yards per throw, which is which is not good. We had an interception in there, a couple close ones, but then he took those nine sacks for all the passing yard you know, all the negative yards. So eighty four minus eighty two. That's that's a total of two yards. Divide that by the total plays there, his passes in his sacks, that's twenty six plays. They averaged point oh seven yards per play when Sam Donald was pressured. That's pretty good. That's a pretty good debut of next Greg's stats. Point oh seven yards per play when Sam Donald was pressure. They're not bringing him back. He's talking wistfully because Sam Donald's done in that town.
He goes, he's definitely gone. Hey, my middle name, by the way, is Gregory. So we're gonna stick with the next Greg starts.
Really, you never knew that? How did I not know that? Now you learn something new.
Ngs are my initials, so we'll just stick with it.
Yeah, Now I'm not Gregory. That's what the the third G sixty percent G that closes that.
That's just stops at greg just like my name stops it.
It just stops it right there. And I'm I'm joking around, and you know, I've been a darnold doubter until I you know, I had to be convinced that just by his excellent play, and he did play excellent for most of this season, But I do think the way these two games played out in the biggest of spots for him to completely revert back and have two of the worst games by any quarterback all season, you know it, at least by like a competent quarterback. These were two of the worst games and certainly in the biggest of spots for them to be this bad in this spot, They're not going to give him the franchise tag. I guess. I just assume they would if he maintains his level of play, and I think if he had even normal bad games, they still would thought about it. But I don't think they're gonna do it now. I actually do think there's a chance he returns to Minnesota, if only because a two year, let's say, thirty million dollar contract from Minnesota to be a one B basically a backup plus until JJ is healthy, might be the best offer he gets. I just don't know. Maybe he will get a better offer elsewhere, and maybe he's comfortable with that. He's going to have a really difficult decision. But he cost himself a lot of money.
Obviously. These last two games were damning evidence in the case against paying him, you know, paying him relatively significantly. He's not getting a Daniel Jones contract, and even that contract, as we know now, was bad. All right, So this is a guy in Sam Darnold who notoriously held over the ball a long time to significant success this season. Right, So, he averaged three point zero eight seconds per drop back this season. It was the third longest time to throw on average in the NFL, behind Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts, two very different quarterbacks from him. Right. Yeah, you guess off the top of your head what his average time to throw was tonight.
It had to be. Well does that count sacks? I don't even know, or is it before you fifty draw gus, I'll just guess four, just to give a big fan three.
Point two to one, which is still significantly higher than three point oh eight. That would have been the longest I believe in the league.
Yeah. But here's the thing. If you counted the sack numbers, which you don't, because it's average time to throw, I mean, wake up, Greg, It's literally in the title of.
That stat so new of course that doesn't count.
But I don't know how I ended up. But our friend Bill Smith at our research department pointed out with the six first half sacks, which broke a record in terms of first half playoff sacks, no surprise, none were under three point two seconds none, and four of the six were over four seconds. And I can think in my head at least of two of the sacks in the second half that were over four seconds too, so that that's just holding it forever. And you could hear the frustration dripping in Troy Aikman's voice that these really were more on the quarterback. Yes, they lost Brian O'Neil about halfway through this game, but there was one play where he took the sack and Troy Aikman was like, he's got a clean pocket in front of him, just step up, and that's it. It's it's the not being aware of pressure, and it's maybe the reason why I have always been so down on Donald, maybe even more than the numbers would say, because that's my number one trait is your feel versus pressure. And it's probably why I've overrated a couple of quarterbacks over the years because to me, I think that just that's what I want in a quarterback and he doesn't have that, and we don't need to spend the whole podcast on Sam Donald. We'll talk about him in the offseason, but you do feel for him. He made it to QB Island, but I don't know, Man, we might have to call an emergency meeting or something here.
Yeah, I think he's getting voted off if that's the complicated process allows for that to happen. I actually caught a brief glimpse of the Manning cast during this game, because I'm like, what did Eli and Peyton think about Dartnold's performance so far? They were just groaning. He threw a ball too. I think it was Addison who came back to the ball and made a catch between two defenders, and Eli was just like, wait till they show the receiver. When he gets rid of the ball, he's not open at all, and somehow he makes the play. Like they were just absolutely dismade at the performance, understandably so rough rough ending to what was a nice year for him.
Yeah, that's the thing too. The last couple of weeks he let his mental issues get in the way of the throws that he made, even when there wasn't any pressure, Like he dirted a couple screen passes. ESPN actually tracks a stat espan stats and info of off target passes and his Lions game, he set his season high and it was one of the highest by like any quarterback all season, and this game was the second highest. So it wasn't just that he was, you know, taking these sacks. He was missing some throws that were there. Man, Okay, enough about Donald that's a downer. There's a lot of fun in this game. One of the fun things was actually Paul Allen's call of one of the biggest plays in this game. It was early, it was ten to three Rams, and for a second it looked like it was ten to ten because there was a sack fumble touchdown for the Vikings. We're actually going to take a quick break. But on the other side of the break, we'll start with that call by Paul Allen, who who did obviously did not love how it all finished up.
First and ten from Matthews Stafford, the former Georgia pulldolf to pass.
He dropped, picked up.
Cash cash, buddy, that's the playoffs. That's a twenty three yard tupid before how the.
Brams offense is staying on the field.
I don't know if they're gonna rule this.
An incomplete or ain't no, incomplete.
No, No, that's a bumble. They're rolling on the field.
Is a humble recovered by the defense cuts down?
Yeah, there we go. That was a complete breakdown on their offense. So number seventeen was in the area.
Therefore it is a complete pass. How's not to pass?
He didn't even hit.
His least off the game off the fourteen fourteen players.
Wow, wow, oh man. For the last time this season, Paul Allen and Pete burstas on k FA and that was a huge play. I guess a heads up play by Matthew Stafford, even though his head was down. I mean from the from the original angle, you thought, no way was that a pass. But then when you saw the replay, I actually think it was the right call, but just not a smart move by Stafford. It shouldn't have been an intentional grounding, so it wasn't the right call. They should have called intentional grounding, but it was not a fumble.
Yeah. When I saw the replay from the front side, I was like, yeah, that's you shouldn't look go the ball there. It wasn't until his arm extended from behind that you saw that he was trying to get rid of the football. But now it saves them the sack yardage, right, but ultimately take the sack, no reason to do that. But luckily for the Rams they lucked out and got the call in their favor. Yes, uh oh, clip by the way, can we clip the.
Are you kidding me?
Because that was just great?
That that was amazing. That's the funny thing is if you look at the like the box score of this game, because the Rams didn't do much in the second half, like they only hit two third downs all game. For instance, the Vikings were much better on third down success rate. For the two teams running, we're both mediocre. They were like slightly below average. It wasn't like a great running game for the Rams. Kukuanakua gets forty four yards on nine targets five catches. Cooper Cup has one catch. Tyler Higbye unfortunately left this game with a chest injury and had to go to the hospital and they say he's in stable condition, which is worrisome. So I don't know if that was a breathing problem for him, but Sean McVay did say that they it looks like he's going to be okay, which is really good news. So it is one of those games you kind of have to watch because even Darnold's stat line, if you don't see the stacks to really understand the story, and maybe that does speak to the point that there was something a little more going on. It's one of the reasons why we love football right shook, not just because you can get inspired, It just that if you watch that game, you understood it in a way that you can't from looking at the numbers. And a lot of it was from the energy of the game and shout out to those fans that showed up there for both teams. Everyone there from ESPN said it was an incredible atmosphere. It was like a college atmosphere. You have the fans behind the team they support, like a college game, and they were really loud, and I'm sure they weren't showing a nationally, but the local news was all over this story and they had like, I don't know how many buses it was, but it was a ton of buses. They showed the lines of people that were there at sofar taking the buses, all in rams gear that the staffords and the rams paid for. And they left before dawn, like it was dark out at that point, and so they showed up in big ways. And the Vikings, who travel so well and had such a great season, you feel for them. They showed up big time two for what was ultimately a funeral, but a cool like a memorable atmosphere, making the best of a bad situation.
There.
Yeah, a lot of details that will not show up in the Pro Football Reference box score that we googled into fifteen years from now, like people like me like to do, but those who watched it will remember who access the replay, which you can find on NFL Plus look.
At too and.
Revel in the uniqueness of this game, which win in the technically the home team's favor as they advanced to Philadelphia.
Yeah, and good job by look the Rams back seven. Anytime you hold an opponent in single digits, which I believe they've now done, is that for a month straight? Like when was last time the Rams defense gave up a big point total? They're starters. The forty nine ers they beat twelve to six, the Bills game, the Jets they beat nineteen to nine, the Cardinals they beat thirteen to nine, and then this game they win twenty seven to nine. That's incredible. I know the backups you know, gave up thirty to the Seahawks, but I'm not counting that game. So it was the Bills game, and that's amazing Chris Shula getting it done with those delayed pressures. The secondary with guys you haven't heard about. Kobe Durant had a sack, kill a Weatherspoon has played well. There's been injuries, and yes that that four man front versus special once O'Neil went out, especially versus just he had a good time with their backup and so it was a real team victory for the Rams. Let's actually listen after the game to Kobe Turner. Uh, this is two people and you won't hear Bridget here, but two people that have been a big part of NFL Daily. Bridget Condon, a regular guest interviewing Kobe Turner, who got the NFL Daily bump as a guest back in training camp.
We had the city on our back this week and I'm glad we were able to go out and pick up a dub. You know, McBath has been talking to us all week about the fact that we're built for this. Everything that we've gone through from the season up till now has prepared us for this exact moment prepared us to go take victory like we just stand. And so the next journey is on the way. You know, we head up to Pillion. We're excited for that too as well. But we're built for this man. All the trials, all the tribulations, all the ups and downs. We've weathered the storm. You figure out the true testament of team how they react in a storm. And we started in a storm and now we're up here. So I'm just excited to keep going with these.
Guys right spitting bars. We started in the storm. Eric Roberts behind the glass, doing a great job all week all season, tells me there was thirty buses. I was gonna say it seemed like they were lined up so that that was a big crew that that took took the ride, and that's a six hour bus ride, and I think they got They must have got there very early because they were I don't know why they were get there that early, but I guess you got to make sure.
Somebody who has moved to LA, back to Ohio, to LA and back to Ohio and done the drive across the country four times. Usually when you get to Arizona, you're like, all right, now, here's the home stretch, but it's still pretty long. You stuck out near Barstow at night, You're like, where am I? They rode those buses as the sun was rising to come watch this team play for them.
Yeah, it's badass. And Sean McVay gonna be proud after the game. This is, like I mentioned, first win since the Super Bowl, which I think he's gonna feel really good. They obviously made the playoffs last year and lost a really close game to a good team. The Lion's nothing to be ashamed of there, but big to get a playoff win in four of his eight seasons Shook. He has won a playoff game. In six of his eight seasons they've made the playoffs. He very evenly distributes everything. In two of those seasons he went to the super Bowl. In one of those seasons he won the super Bowl. It's like he's almost mathematically doing what you would expect every time he makes the playoffs. Like he's done every little bit of it. And a lot of love for KOC and Dan Campbell and all these coaches and McVeagh didn't get a lot of love for Coach of the Year this year. But there aren't many guys you would rather want, I think running your organization.
Which of us had him on the top five of the latter was good?
Ye?
Me?
Good job? Was it me? I'm glad neither of us. Did you have Kevin O'Connell first after week We did after week seventeen, so you were stuck in maybe, Yeah, it was.
It was a weird spot at the time. Look, this RAMS team started one to four. They're now ten and three in the last third. All those games have come after their buye. That's a hell of the job by showing.
And one of them they didn't try to win, so yeah, and they almost did win with Jimmy Garoppolo, So.
Yeah, there is.
And you know what, I had this theory that they wanted this matchup, they wanted the Vikings. It was just the theory I had because they were trying to lose that game when they could have tried to play against the Commanders and it's a familiar opponent. They got it done. A lot, you know, to worry about for the to think about for the Vikings. I'm going to talk about the Vikings a little more on our next show. Ali Connelly's going to join me, and we're going to kind of spin around a lot of the coaching situations, the GM situations, just the other teams that aren't in the playoffs. And I do want to talk about the Vikings because I think there's some interesting things going on with their front office and Darnold and kind of what's going to happen next for them. Obviously, koc has nothing to worry about, one of the best coaches in the league, even if at disappointing ending. They are the first team, by the way, since the champion Patriots, I think, in fourteen to only lose to two teams in a season. They only lost to the Rams in the Lions this season. They went oh to four against the Lions in the Rams this season. They're also the first team that won fourteen games in a season to end with back to back losses, and those back to back losses were by a combined forty points. They weren't close. It's just a weird, a weird way to end. But I don't think it eliminates everything, but it maybe simplifies how they view their team that maybe they still are a little further away than the record showed.
Yeah, I feel like they overachieved this year considering where we thought they were when we analyzed their roster going into the season. We also didn't think Tam Donald was going to have this type of season. Nobody did. We thought J. J. McCarthy was going to be the quarterback of this team, and he wasn't. But I am curious. I don't know if Minnesota's is as tough on their coaches as some other markets. Looking at you, Pittsburgh with Kevin O'Connell, because he's now zero to two in playoff games, in which come.
On, they will because there's a crazy, you know, segment of the fan base that gets mad at the coach after every playoff loss. But give me a break. I mean, I agree, I'm curious with what he got out of this team. All right, let's switch gears before we go for the night. We often do a big news rundown. We're not going to do that today. But we did get one big item that I do want to talk about that I don't want to save for our next show, and that's Mike McCarthy no longer being the coach of the Dallas Cowboys. How would you word it, Nick Shook, Because one thing you can't say about Jerry Jones is that he fires his coaches. He doesn't do that. He just lets their contract run out and then lets them twist in the wind. So, if you're writing the article, how do you even phrase this? Conscious uncoupling?
Conscious uncoupling is a great way to do it.
Sorry I stole your answer.
It's better than mine. I would just say parted ways like the Patriots did with Bill Belichick, coming on from a coach by letting his contract expire. It's common in other industries, not so much in the coaching industry. It is gets questionable though, that they would deny the Bears a chance to interview him if they wanted to part with him. But then again, the Cowboys do things a little bit differently. And now all the intrigue builds because they are the Cowboys. Who are they going to hire. We've already heard some names floated out there, including one guy who once played for them. It's going to be very fascinating to see how they proceed after deciding, you know what, wasn't as good as we wanted it to be, and we're just gonna let that contract expire and go for greener pastors. We'll see if they find one.
Yeah, you know you're referring to Dion Sanders. Ian Rappaport did indicate among other insiders across the country that Dion Sanders is a possibility that they probably will talk. Someone dug up an old Michael Irvin tweet from November where he said he hung out with Dion I believe on Saturday night after hanging out with Jerry Jones on Friday night, and that he's praying for something that we can guess what, and that he's praying essentially for those two men to come together, and basically said he is trying to make that happen. So if Michael Irvin is brokering like head coaching hirings in the year twenty twenty five, that would be amazing. And I don't doubt that Jerry Jones would milk this story to get as much attention as possible. And I don't doubt he would do it because it would be so box office. But I don't know if he would want to really hand over the keys to someone who has more juice than he does, and he seems a little indecisive. I watched a really good segment with Ian and Tom Pelsaro and Jane Slater, and there was a lot in there that I'd like to get to. But of one of the things that Jane said was people around Jerry Jones said he really was kind of indecisive over the last week. And that seems obvious because if you read the statement that Jerry Jones made, he said that he spoke with Mike over a number of days and spent considerable time discussing the road, for they were thorough and received an appropriate amount of time prior to reaching the point of contract negotiations. It became mutually clear it would be better to each of us and head it in a different direction. So they spoke for multiple days. It appeared there was mutual interest in potentially continuing the partnership, and then according to our insiders, maybe they never really negotiated. But before they even got to that point, the agent was involved and it was clear that Jerry Jones was not going to give him a long contract and that Mike McCarthy only wanted to do it if it was a long contract, that it was going to probably be like one or two years or you know, that would have been the negotiation, and that that was a non starter for McCarthy, and on some level, it was almost McCarthy walking away from being like, no, I'm not putting up with your bs. That's it. Just like mismanagement. This is all it's all bad. If you're a Cowboys fan, you gotta be so sick of it.
It's been a rough twelve months of mismanagement for the Cowboys, started with that offseason in which they said they were all in and then did very little of anything. They placed high expectations on a team that lacked weapons offensively, and I thought it was very telling Mike McCarthy's tone after their Week eighteen loss to the Commanders in the final seconds of that game that when asked about his job status and his security and the way he felt about it, he just like stood his ground and was like, I'm a winner. I've won, I won a championship in this building. It's almost as if he took that same approach into those talks and then got the response that you just described and said, to hell with this, I'm gonna go find something better for me or not coach at all, because I'm not dealing with this anymore, just like.
You said, which is crazy because you know it sounds like he wants to coach, but that this has worn on him. And this is what I got out of that conversation, so I'm paraphrasing our insiders it's not my information, but that he was getting really tired of this situation with the Cowboys. It's pretty rare to be on a last year year contract as a coach and all the things that comes with it and not necessarily having all the power to really even run his offense or bring in the players that he wants. And that's just how it works if you're the Cowboys coach, and that maybe he's made enough money so if another coaching job doesn't come around this year, or even a head coaching job ever again, that it's enough for him and it's tough for the coaches under him, but they didn't want to be living in that uncertainty either. Just while we're on McCarthy, quickly, he was the Saints' offensive coordinator and people forget this for at least four years to start this century in Mickey Loomis was there with the Saints at the time, and all three of those insiders pointed out that they have a close relationship and that there really could be a connection there, and Loomis could see McCarthy kind of as a guy that helps him out if his job is at all you know, you know, hey, I can still get a winning coach like this to come on board. And McCarthy might look at it as a situation where he'd have a lot of power relatively for a head coach, and it's just something to keep an eye on. He also is going to interview with the Chicago Bears, so he has two interviews. He's a wanted man, Mike McCarthy.
You got to think about situation and you think about motivation, and if he wants to go to a place where he is familiar with the person in charge of personnel, then it's the Saints and a place where he feels like he can have considerable power over roster decisions and everything else. It's New Orleans Saints. But he would also be walking into a team that doesn't have a long term answer quarterback and lacks weapons outside, especially if they lose a guy like they did in Chris Olave this season. So what would you rather choose? That or a young team with a young quarterback and with some weapons at receiver of varying ages, but in need of serious direction and a GM that you would have to get to know in Ryan Poles, there are two very different situations. But if he wants to coach again, we'll see. Man, I mean, you'd rather have a quarterback. You'd rather have a quarterback to mold of course it's Kayla Williams. The difference with that job is they've interviewed everyone. If they're interviewing like iOS state head coach, like he might not really have much reason to believe that he would be a favorite or one of the favorites. In Chicago, maybe he would be, but there's not any particular reason, whereas in New Orleans he might walk in as the favorite to get that job if they could figure it out.
Who knows. But this cowboy situation means they missed an opportunity to interview Mike Rabel for instance, or Ben Johnson or any you know, anyone you know that had the so I guess that would have been Spegnola wouldn't wouldn't have been that many different people. But like, there are costs, and if you end up hiring your coach really late in the cycle, you have a harder time filling out that staff I think it's one of the reasons why Vrabel wanted to get going quickly. I have some thoughts on his press conference too, but we'll save those. We'll save those for Monday. Yeah, for Tuesdays show that will come out actually Wednesday morning with Ali Connolly. We don't want this to get too ill. Get tonight of celebration. Nick. I guess that's enough about the Cowboys, but just just weird, weird times for the Dallas Cowboys. What a night, What a weird week. It's been a tough week. My kids are going back to school though tomorrow. How about that.
That's awesome, a return to normalcy and a great podcast. Look forward to tomorrow for those of you who has in the NFL daily, because no thoughts on the Patriots are as valuable as Greg Rosenthal when he comes away from a Mike Rabel introductory presser, I.
Promise, no, no, no, it was fine. It seemed a little tired, but it's fine.
You've seen some things we have.
We all have, including Sean McVay putting it to Brian Flores early in that first half, and that offensive line was beliguered and injured, getting healthy and getting it done. It was in a full team effort. Obviously that defense flying around. And yes, they made my wife and my daughter, who are rams Vans, very happy tonight. And yes, it's been a long week. We're keeping an eye out on this wind event that is starting apparently is going to pick up in the morning. That the fires are mostly out near us, the smoke cloud is basically gone, but everyone's keeping an eye on this wind event for the next thirty six hours or so. And so we're crossing our fingers and hope everything doesn't get worse here and we can keep getting better and the Red Cross has helped us to do that. And yes, we've been heartbroken by this struction from these wildfires across the entire LA region. So families affected by these fires, they do urgently need support. You can help the American Red Cross respond to and help people recover from these disasters. Donate today to support relief efforts by going to Redcross dot org. Slash NFL Nick this is our last Monday Night of the year. I'm glad we had this playoff game to go out in style. It would have been sad if the last Monday Night game of the year that we did was Packers thirty four Saint zero.
Was that the one the last year we did that a few weeks ago.
That was rough? Doesn't that feel like another lifetime ago? This week has aged me. I'm really excited them going back to school actually is going to feel like a real return to some to some sense of normalcy like last Tuesday when this all started. Feels like like two months ago. And so the wildcard weekend not a lot of close games. Hopefully we get better games. Divisional Round weekend the best weekend of the year, and you'll be helping us out Sunday night, right, Nick, better.
You know it, you know it. I'll be there, lock stock and barrel, Baby, We've got a lot of playoff games.
To get to. Okay, that's it for tonight's show. Thanks Eric, thank you to Nick. And yeah, when the Rams are back in the super Bowl mix, you know football is back. We'll see you Wednesday morning.
