NFL Week 17 Reaction: Coach Of The Year Debate, Playoff Predictions & Momentum Vs. Analytics Talk

Summary

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Bussin' With The Boys: NFL Week 17 Reaction

Episode Date: December 29, 2025

Hosts: Will Compton & Taylor Lewan

Guest: Greg Olson

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Overview

This episode dives into the closing moments of the NFL regular season, with in-depth talk on:

• The new Michigan football coaching hire
• The intricacies of playoff momentum vs. analytics
• Debates on Coach of the Year
• Playoff predictions and the importance (and myth) of momentum
• Personal NFL experiences and locker room culture

Will Compton, Taylor Lewan, and Greg Olson analyze coaching moves, playoff scenarios, and share candid stories about life in the NFL, all with the show’s trademark humor and laid-back camaraderie.

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Main Topics & Key Discussions

1. Michigan Football Hire: Kyle Whittingham (03:56–12:17)

• Will Compton expresses cautious optimism about Michigan hiring Kyle Whittingham as head coach, praising his leadership and integrity:

  “We got a leader of men with integrity... If we could just keep this roster intact, which is a big if...” (05:58)

• Taylor Rapp highlights the cultural merging between Michigan and Utah fans.
• Greg Olson and Will Compton discuss Whittingham’s loyalty and why he stayed at Utah so long.
• The hosts reflect on Michigan’s recent program reputation and the need for stability and humility.

Notable Quote:

"You will become us. We will not become you." — Kyle Whittingham, as recited by Will Compton (04:13)

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2. College Nostalgia, Uniforms & Equipment Memories (12:18–23:57)

• The group shares memories of Miami football and nostalgia around old school gear, especially iconic helmets.
• Greg Olson reminisces about his time at Miami:

  "All those legendary Miami games, those Hall of Fame players, all had the white helmet with the U on the side. That was the helmet." (17:33)

• Fun banter about crop tops, equipment discomfort, and football body image.

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3. Momentum vs. Analytics: The Ongoing Debate (24:03–44:48)

• The crew unpacks the controversial decision for the Bills (and others) to go for 2-point conversions, analyzing it from both an "analytics" and "momentum" standpoint.
• Greg Olson questions if emotional "momentum" is overrated compared to solid statistical analysis:

  "We have programmed the anti-analytics, anti-2 crowd to believe PATs are always made and two-point plays are always failures… and it's just obviously not true." (33:39)

• Will, Taylor, and Greg debate analytics-driven decisions, drawing on their in-game experiences.
• Taylor Rapp raises self-scouting questions about a team’s own 2-point conversion success rate versus general models.
• The group collectively mocks social media "hot takes" that only react to results.

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4. NFL War Stories: Sacks, Records, and Role Conflicts (45:40–59:53)

• Discussion on whether teams try to prevent opposing players (like Myles Garrett) from setting records against them.
• Greg Olson compares it to high school basketball's "nobody dunks on us" mentality:

  “We could lose by 50. You cannot let anyone dunk.” (46:37)

• Debates on the role of tight ends and linemen in protecting QBs against top pass rushers.
• Tactical chats—how to chip block, line up on the line, and manage the psychology (and ego) of elite defensive ends.

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5. Playoff Predictions & Coach of the Year Debate (63:17–83:34)

Coach of the Year Race (66:06, 71:22)

• Major candidates discussed: Kyle Shanahan, Mike Vrabel, Liam Cohen, Ben Johnson, Mike McDonald.
• Shanahan, despite injuries and expectations, is the betting favorite:

  "Maybe we don’t appreciate because we just assume the 49ers should always be good, but... they've had some really interesting roster situations.” — Greg Olson (69:57)

• The crew discusses how market size, media narratives, and name recognition affect Coach of the Year voting.

Playoff Matchups & Dark Horses (81:13–88:48)

• The AFC is “wide open”—hosts can make a case for nearly every team.
• Greg touts the Houston Texans as a “sneaky” postseason team due to their dominant defense (82:08).
• Patriots and Jaguars are seen as well-coached but lacking roster stars.
• The importance (or myth) of “momentum” heading into the playoffs is hotly (and playfully) debated.

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6. The Momentum Rabbit Hole (86:07–112:24)

• Debate: What is momentum? Does it matter?
  • Will and Taylor: "Momentum is real, but impossible to measure."
  • Greg: skeptical, sees it as an emotional narrative more than a real factor.
  • Legendary banter about momentum “sweet spots,” losing and gaining momentum, and how coaches and teams sell these narratives (especially to the media).
• Greg shares the 2015 Panthers’ 14-0 run as an example of a team with "all the momentum" that didn’t win it all:

  "Were we good because we had vibes? Or were we just good? Then did we lose the momentum or just play shitty?" (107:50)

• Discussion ends with some of the best banter of the episode on whether Greg will mention "momentum" in his next broadcast.

Notable Quotes:

"Momentum can be held in the hand, but it can't be owned just off one play..." — Will Compton (97:33)

"That's my point. If the momentum was so high, why did we lose the Super Bowl?" — Greg Olson (108:40)

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7. Year-End Reflection & Resolutions (112:28–End)

• Greg Olson’s New Year’s Resolution: “Get back in shape, but not heroically—just healthy, 41-year-old dad baseline.” (112:32)
• Lighthearted, relatable banter about middle-age fitness, body image, and “dad bod goals.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Will Compton (on Michigan’s new coach):
  “We got a leader of men with integrity.” (05:58)
• Greg Olson (analytics skepticism):
  “We have programmed the anti-analytics, anti-two crowd… and it’s just obviously not true.” (33:03)
• Taylor Rapp (on momentum):
  "You're always going to hear about momentum from me after the result happens." (86:46)
• Greg Olson (on Super Bowl loss):
  "Did we lose momentum or just play shitty?" (108:40)
• Greg Olson (on coach decision-making):
  "If these are emotional decisions and you value that as a person, the conversation should end." (36:42)

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Key Timestamps

• Michigan coaching discussion: 03:56–12:17
• Old football gear nostalgia/locker room stories: 12:18–23:57
• Momentum vs Analytics debate: 24:03–44:48
• Sack record and anti-record strategy: 45:40–59:53
• Coach of the Year pool & playoff preview: 63:17–83:34
• Momentum deep dive and play-calling challenges: 86:07–112:24
• Resolutions and Year-End Reflection: 112:28–End

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Tone & Style

Casual, hilarious, and self-deprecating. The hosts balance their deep NFL knowledge with a willingness to poke fun at themselves and each other. The episode is heavy on insightful football talk, but never takes itself too seriously—a perfect “boys on the bus” vibe for NFL diehards and casual fans alike.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode of Bussin’ With The Boys is a can’t-miss look at the playoff mindset, the real (and overblown) role of momentum, and the NFL’s coaching landscape—punctuated by brilliant banter and authentic player perspective. Whether you believe in analytics, vibes, or both, you’ll walk away laughing, learning, and questioning just how much “momentum” matters in football and in life.

Transcript

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[Greg Olson]

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[Will Compton]

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[Will Compton]

See mint mobile.com Ladies and gentlemen, welcome into the NFL Football Recap. We will talk a little bit about Michigan football. Obviously a lot of things happened over the weekend. Very exciting on my part. Cautiously, cautiously optimistic. If you are watching or listening to the show, please do us a favor. Subscribe, leave a comment if you're watching on YouTube, but subscribing helps our show so much it doesn't hurt you at all. And it just keeps you up to date on everything that's going on with Busting with the Boys. This show, Bust with the Boys presented by the One, the only FanDuel sportsbook. And I got four words for you guys. It's not over yet. We've got a whole week of regular season football to get through, plus a few weeks of postseason play. And of course, we're capping off week 17 with tonight's Rams vs Falcons game. One thing we want to let you guys know about, if you haven't seen it already, fanduels drive, same game parlay. Picture this. I want you to close your eyes. Unless you're on the road right now, you're going to. We're going to use. We're going to envision all of it. You see my hand going down over my face? That's what we're envisioning. Picture this. You see the ramps. They have a little bit of momentum, right? Stafford, he's slinking it. Puka, Nakua, he catches everything. You think to yourself, hey, I got a thought. There's no way they don't score a touchdown on this drive. You crack open the FanDuel sportswear gap, you can cook up a parlay that breaks down the drive exactly as you see it. Because why? We're manifesting right now, we're manifesting Stafford's passing yards, Puka's receiving yards, and the Rams to score. And FanDuel's giving all customers a live profit boost token. By the way, you can stop. You can open your eyes now. You can open your eyes now. I apologize. Fando's giving all customers live profit boost token to use on the game so you can boost the payout and make the winnings even bigger. Just head to fanduel.combussin to get started. Fanduel, play your game. Hey, Michigan's got a football coach. We got a ball coach, huh? Got ourselves a ball Coach. Kyle Whittingham, 21 seasons at Utah. Over three decades at Utah. Honestly, spent most of his life in Utah. He played football at byu, did a little bit over there, was under Urban Meyer, and then took the head coaching job when Urban Meyer, I believe, went to Florida. Correct.

[Greg Olson]

Is that.

[Will Compton]

Am I correct in saying that? So a lot of success there. Comes over, hat in hand, does his press conference. He has one statement that just absolutely fires me up. Really? Did you watch the press conference? The Michigan press conference? I didn't think you would, but it's okay because I'm going to tell you everything you need to hear.

[Taylor Rapp]

Go back and check it out.

[Will Compton]

He says, you will become us. We will not become you. And that's referring to the culture of Michigan. He said all the right things, in my opinion. And then you start to break down. What's this man about to bring. Because you really start to realize that Kyle Whittingham, what he is, he's a boss, he's a CEO type of individual that is going to be the name, the face, the culture of your franchise. But he's going to allow the coaches who he brings in with great hires to coach these guys. And then game management, culture, attitude, toughness, the whole thing comes from. From winning. I believe he's worked out for more than like 6,000 days in a row or something like that. He's got some weird stat in that. In that way. But start to read a couple of things. Jason Beck, the OC at Utah, that's his front runner for who's going to be his OC at Michigan, scored 41.5 points per game last year. They were the number two offense in all of all of college football, number five, rush defense. And those two stats might be flipped. It might be two for rushing, five in total. So that gets you pretty fired up. You watch Utah's offense. I've watched like four games over the weekend just to re. Watch the play calling, all those things. Very creative, very exciting. They love to run the ball, but they're very creative in their past game as well, which is awesome for a quarterback that I hope I pray to God stays at Michigan. Then they got this D.C. who's going to be the D.C. j. Hill. Who's J. Hill? That's the D.C. for BYU. You're probably wondering what spicy. How are we going to have. How are we going to have a BYU whose sworn enemy is Utah? How is the DC from him from BYU gonna go with a guy from Utah to Michigan? J. Hill at Weber State, went over to Utah for a few years and apparently has a great relationship with Kyle Whittingham. So all that to be said, boys, cautiously optimistic. If we could just keep this roster intact, which is a big if, right? And I think it starts at the top with that quarterback. He stays. I think the rest of them stay. We go spend a buttload of money. We get to middle of January, I might be calling for a national championship. I might. But right now, I'm cautiously optimistic right now because the more I read in this cat, the more I'm like, we got a leader of men with integrity. You know what I'm saying? Greggy, can you hear me?

[Greg Olson]

Greg, he's here. One quick note to selfishly insert Baylor in here. Utah beat Baylor by completing their first pass of the game with five minutes.

[Will Compton]

Left in the fourth quarter.

[Greg Olson]

Put up 57 on us. They didn't have to throw the ball. They're big, ugly.

[Taylor Rapp]

Tough outing Baylor that day.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, Baylor being Baylor. But I'm very excited for Michigan. I think Whittingham's going to be a great fit, and I think all the, all the talent that he'll be able to bring in with the Michigan M.

[Will Compton]

As well as just like, all the.

[Greg Olson]

Prowess and all of his experience be dangerous.

[Will Compton]

Can I say one more thing?

[Greg Olson]

Yes, sir.

[Will Compton]

You go over Twitter, you go in the search bar, you type in Michigan football, you see a lot of opinions being made. You see some USC fan bases that are like, oh, shit, Kyle Whittingham is now in the Big Ten. Like, Utah was owning the Pac 12 for a couple of years, and they figured out USC and Oregon and Washington, all these big schools. And USC was kind of happy to get away from Kyle Woodham. Allegedly. I will also say this. Utah fans, maybe the nicest group of people. They've been incredible. But I've been watching, like, the banter.

[Taylor Rapp]

The culture, I've been in the back.

[Will Compton]

I've been in the shadows a little bit, just kind of watching. And it seems like Utah fans and Michigan fans, like, at first want to do this, but then they realize, like, hey, I think, I think we're okay here. I think we're really, hey, Utah fans are really happy for Michigan fans. Michigan fans are very, like, now we're like fans of Utah for some reason. So it seems like we got some harmony taking place between Utah and the University of Michigan. Greg, do you care to comment?

[Greg Olson]

I just can't escape all you Michigan guys. I had to do Portnoy this morning and listen to him talk about how the block M is you, is how you just get to select what coach you want and you have your pick of the litter. And I guess he forgot that literally, if this guy didn't just leave Utah because he didn't want to be part of private equity recruiting, who would be the coach?

[Will Compton]

No, you're right. Listen, I, I, there's a. Don't.

[Greg Olson]

He's a great coach. I'm not debating all that.

[Will Compton]

No doubt. I, we're, we're talking about Dave Portnoy.

[Greg Olson]

The attitude, I can't escape you Michigan guys. But I will say it was not looking good when it all went down. And there was a lot of questions of who you were going to get. And there was rumors about Caitlin DeBoer and Dillingham and all these guys. And then they're renewing and renewing and taking themselves off the board. And I don't think it could have worked. Considering how bad the situation was. I don't think it could have worked out any better for Michigan to get him.

[Will Compton]

I, hey, I agree with that. And let me just say Dave and his attitude about Michigan, I can understand that attitude. I kind of had it a little bit these last couple years. I've realized I need to fall back a little bit and just be a true fan of Michigan and just hope for the best. Because this whole like, you know, blue chip organization, which they are, top five program, which they are. But the Michigan man, the all the things, the arrogance that kind of comes with it. We've talked about it quite a bit.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, you've changed it up over there.

[Will Compton]

It's time to, it's time to settle in and just realize like, other than 21 to 23, since when I got there, it's not been great. Like 09 to now, it's not been like, oh, this is the greatest program in the entire world. We need to get back to that. And I think Kyle Whittingham is the guy that gets us back to that. You know what I'm saying?

[Greg Olson]

All right. He's. I mean, I, I don't know a ton about him. Obviously I know how good he was and how successful he was at Utah. Do you any idea why he was at Utah so long? Like, why didn't he go to.

[Taylor Rapp]

I was curious about that too, because he did.

[Greg Olson]

Why wasn't he going to Alabama? Why wasn't he going to Michigan years ago? Like.

[Taylor Rapp]

Right.

[Greg Olson]

And again, he could have just been super loyal. And again, I don't know a ton about him.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. My understanding is he's won a million games.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. Winning 10, 11 games and having that.

[Greg Olson]

Kind of culture at Utah is not easy.

[Taylor Rapp]

Is not. Yeah, it's not easy. I think Michigan did find somebody.

[Greg Olson]

I think it's a home run and I think from a stabilizing factor, you can just hear it when he talks. You can hear it when he commands the room. I think for everything, both football and non football going on at Michigan over the last couple of years, I think he checks a lot of boxes. Besides just, hey, he's won a lot of games in the past. I do think he's going to bring a leadership and a presence to the program that they need right now.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, no, I agree with that. I know that there was a lot of transition taking place as far as conferences go. Like when he got in there, the Mountain west and they go to the pack 12. And so there was like a lot of changing taking place. But I know at one point he was offered the Florida job. He was offered a multitude of other jobs. When Rich Rodriguez was like the hot new name at West Virginia back when I was in high school and ended up taking the Michigan job, I know people were kind of clamoring for Kyle Whittingham as well. And then when Rich Rod left, if it wasn't when Brady Hoc was the next coach, Kyle Whittingham's kind of name kind of did come up. And then when Brady Hoch left, it seemed like it was Harbaugh or bust. And even when Harbaugh left, I believe Whittingham was a name that also came up again. But they also. They clearly hired internally with Ron Moore, which ended up not being the move. Yeah, ended up not being the move there.

[Taylor Rapp]

I. I mean, I feel like it's as he writes, as he, like, you know, as they move, change the chapter, turn the page and everything else. Like, say Whittingham is going to have success at Michigan, I feel like it'll. It'll be in the spots where you even. Even the years where you won the Natty or those times where all that staff and everything was together and how everything went down. I feel like it's just going to be weird to look back and want to prop those years up.

[Will Compton]

If you're Michigan, it'll be interesting to see how, like, that's just my own.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's just my own observation, listening to winning ham come in and just seeing some of the tweets that were written about him because he. He does seem like a good. A good head football.

[Will Compton]

I saw Notre Dame, a Notre Dame alum kind of got on and was like, this is what you're getting with winning ham. Integrity, character. You're never going to have a scandal. This is a guy that does it the right way. It's clearly the attitude and the care, like the. The man we need at the helm after these past kind of three, four years of like, you know, the brand, kind of getting hurt from Michigan myself, being like, hey, listen, I. I understand that. I'm understanding why people dislike Michigan so much now. There's a piece of me that loves people hating Michigan.

[Taylor Rapp]

I think. I think it'll continue to be that way because of fans like odp. Oh, Dave.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

And that's because of watching Dave. I'm smiling and laughing at his tweets and also like, God, I hate this dude. He goes about me.

[Will Compton]

Dave does go a crazy way about Michigan. I love. I love it. But I'M also, I'm a realist enough to be like, yeah, in 20 years from now all about me. Yeah, we won the national championship in 23. I'll be very proud of that. I think we had one of the best rosters ever. But you can't really ignore all the, the things that were also taking place now as far as the allegations of cheating, I'll fight that to the end. It seems like the NCAA bent the knee on that was just, just a fine. Let me ask you this, Greg. Let's get off of Michigan for a second. Your school play against the Ohio State, I think it's like ten and a half point dogs right now. There's something Miami's getting whooped that I agree. But I want to know, I mean Homer, I want to hear what you have to say about Carson Beck, them running the ball. It being 3, 0 at the end of half or. Yeah, 30 at the end of half against A and M. Yeah, that's not.

[Greg Olson]

Going to cut it.

[Will Compton]

That is not going to cut it.

[Greg Olson]

That offensive output is not going to cut it. As you guys know, I am a fan of the forward pass. I do think the forward pass is a, is a big, is a big asset if you're trying to score some points. Obviously I'm biased. Obviously I'm a huge Miami game Miami guy. This is a Miami house. My wife and I like, our whole family is Miami people. Mario Cristobal is one of my favorite people in the world. He's a friend. He coached me, recruited me. I met Mario, he was a GA at Miami. So my rising sophomore year, the summer between my freshman and sophomore year, my dad brought me. I had an older brother. My older, I still have an older brother. My older brother was, was being recruited. So we went down and Butch Davis was the coach. Mario Cristobal was the offensive GA and like assistant tight ends coach. So I was 15 years old, met him down there, developed a relationship. He then went with Shiano to Rutgers. I'm from Jersey. They recruited the shit out of Rucker out of New Jersey when they were at Rutgers. So I've known Mario, he came back my last two years and coach with me. So my point saying this is we go way back. I love him. He was the guy for the job. I always said if he couldn't bring Miami back, nobody could. So like we are riding with Miami always, weirdly speaking, my second favorite team. If they're not playing Miami, I do cheer for Ohio State. I've gotten to know Ryan Day really well and become friendly with him and have spent some time up at Ohio State the last couple off seasons. So we're riding with Miami. If they weren't playing Ohio State, we'd ride with Ohio State. But we are Miami through and through. Could they do it? Yes. They're going to have to play much better on offense, especially in the passing game.

[Taylor Rapp]

So it's a win win for. It's a win win for Greg.

[Will Compton]

The Olson household doesn't care about the outcome of this game.

[Taylor Rapp]

The Olsen household might. Miami Olsen household might. But I know Greg internally like no.

[Greg Olson]

We want, we want Miami to win.

[Will Compton]

Doesn't it sounds like but if you.

[Taylor Rapp]

Lose, you're going to be happy for coach Day.

[Greg Olson]

No, I want to see. I have yearned for. So my, my junior and senior year in high school, Miami played in back to back national championships. So like I, my whole recruiting process, my whole kind of going through that whole world was like Miami was the program.

[Taylor Rapp]

This is early 2000s, right?

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. So this was like 2001. 2002.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Those seasons might have been 2000, 2001 or whatever the years of the national title. So we, my junior year we beat Nebraska and then my senior year we lost in overtime to Ohio State and I ended up going to Notre Dame with my older brother but then transferred shortly thereafter to Miami. So like we are Miami people. Met my wife there are my brother and sister in law went there and my younger brother went there. Like we are Miami people. So we are riding with them.

[Taylor Rapp]

But you, you yearn for those, for those moments.

[Greg Olson]

I want to see Miami back on top again. Right. We've been saying the U is back for 15 years.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

It'd be nice to actually be able to say and have it be true.

[Taylor Rapp]

I'm with you too because anytime like a, anytime like a documentary comes out or anything about Miami, something about the full white, like the white face mask, the, the orange and green like I remember my first like game on PlayStation was one of those years when Miami's coming off a national championship and the first game that I played was a Miami, Florida State game where you could see the glare off the helmet for the first time in a video game and you thought it was the most realistic thing you'd ever seen in your life. So I'm with you. There is a, there's that, that fantasy of the, the Miami logo and everything coming back. I just don't think that have enough to, to take down Ohio State.

[Will Compton]

Especially because Ohio State's coming up.

[Greg Olson]

Why they play the game boys?

[Taylor Rapp]

Why they Play the game, baby.

[Greg Olson]

They play the game. Coming up, I had this argument with my kid. You brought up the white helmets. My. The other day, we were getting ready to watch the A and M game, and my. My oldest son, he's like, man, I hope they go all black in the black helmets. And I'm sitting there, and I'm just like, how dare you? Yeah, the Miami white helmet. Especially when we went all white. White helmet, white cleats, white top like that is just an iconic.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, the Miami white helmet with the. The running back face mask, the little two bar on the side.

[Greg Olson]

All those legendary Miami games, those national title games, those hall of fame players. Yeah, they all had the white helmet with the U on the side. Like that was the helmet.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, man.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, I still got mine right here. Hold on.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, show it off, man. With the dark visor.

[Will Compton]

Boy, he's got two Emmys in the back, but he can't display his helmet.

[Taylor Rapp]

What you ask, Mitch?

[Will Compton]

Hey, that is the one.

[Taylor Rapp]

The running back three bar.

[Greg Olson]

You want. Hey, Will, you want to see this guy lined up over the top of you on third and seven when, you know, you got me, man coverage. And I'm just.

[Taylor Rapp]

You're just gonna do. Yeah, you're gonna do something on the sticks. You're probably gonna try and lean into my body, stand me inside, go up.

[Greg Olson]

Thick in here and hook it up around.

[Taylor Rapp]

Around the sticks.

[Will Compton]

Look at that.

[Greg Olson]

You boys. A lot of scuff on this.

[Taylor Rapp]

A lot of scuff.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, a lot of scuff. How's this side look? I can't see.

[Will Compton]

Not so bad. Not. Not as. Not as scuffed.

[Greg Olson]

I'm a left side hitter.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

It's a helmet that's seen, you know, several. Sea gas.

[Greg Olson]

Can I show you the best part of this? Can I show you the best part of this? Do you remember when our helmets look like that on the inside?

[Will Compton]

Dude, that's.

[Greg Olson]

How did we all not die?

[Will Compton]

No. Yes.

[Taylor Rapp]

I think we slowly are. They're just, you know, science got to continue to go.

[Will Compton]

That's all human beings. That's all human beings. We're fine. We're gonna be.

[Greg Olson]

My high school helmet. I don't. I really don't know how we didn't die.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, bro. How hard it is on the inside.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And you really got, like. If it got cold out and you'd put it on, it's like, I need 15 minutes. Sometimes I'll just leave my helmet on for the entirety of the practice and do the water bottle. I wouldn't take it off just so it would better.

[Taylor Rapp]

That running back three helmet, the Miami helmet.

[Will Compton]

That is that extra two inches at the bottom of the face mask.

[Taylor Rapp]

Look at all them decals. You get the decals for all the stickers.

[Greg Olson]

Killing people.

[Will Compton]

Those are just bodies.

[Taylor Rapp]

You know, his dad. His dad was the head coach, so he probably made up a bunch of stickers for him.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Oh, that is brutal. You the blue lining boys. I love our show. I love our show right now. Just showing off. The old house boys made me wear that face. Look at all these scratches.

[Will Compton]

Most of the scratches on the crown down to here.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, it's a brutal face mask, bro. The one. The one in Miami was the. The one. Especially as a backer if you got that three bar one.

[Greg Olson]

My first year playing at Miami, my red shirt freshman year, I wore that face mask. I have pictures of myself playing in college with the two bar Dion, but down to here, so bad.

[Taylor Rapp]

Gotta protect my neck. Gotta protect my throat.

[Will Compton]

How much did the players kill you for that before? You're like, all right, I gotta change this face mask.

[Greg Olson]

No, I think. I think at the. I. I think we all thought it was cool. I don't know. I don't know. I. I really look back and I'm like, questionable decisions, no doubt.

[Will Compton]

You. You see, like, even like in the 90s, like, the giant shoulder pads and the cowboy color. When my junior of high school, I had the butterfly collar.

[Greg Olson]

So back.

[Will Compton]

I had no neck issues. I just wanted to look bigger. I was just trying to get after it.

[Greg Olson]

Back then.

[Will Compton]

No, no, none.

[Greg Olson]

My shoulder pads in high school were this big.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

It was about. It was about the height.

[Greg Olson]

My arms were, like, super skinny, sticking out the bottom. And back then, I don't know about you guys, but when I played our. Well, like later in my. In my high school, but, like, early on, our sleeves were, like, loose, you know?

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

So we would twist them and then tape them. And then you, like, rolled the tape up to make them tight. That was before they had, like, elastic.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

So we had like these. I still have skinny arms, but like these little skinny arms sticking out the bottom of these huge shoulder pads.

[Taylor Rapp]

Look. Looking like straws coming out of a.

[Will Compton]

No doubt. It is the funniest look in the world to just see giant shoulder pads and little sticks coming out of there.

[Taylor Rapp]

I mean, think about you. You think of an image of a Miami player. It's like Ray Lewis when he had those massive pads. The jersey was like, up to his above, his belly button, massive helmet on.

[Greg Olson]

I never got into the crop that was never my body type.

[Taylor Rapp]

Never could.

[Will Compton]

I would always look at some of my other offensive lineman brother and when they would go crop top and I'm like the confidence on these guys to just let that thing hang out. I wish I was that secure in my body at the time because I, I think the crop top look goes hard. Goes hard.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. If you look like some of those.

[Will Compton]

Guys, I kind of, I think with the big boys doing it too, I don't mind. I'm like, hey, the. Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

So I was like in the middle, right? Like, I wasn't like so big that you just like lean into it. It's like, that guy's awesome.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

But then obviously I wasn't like washboard ab. So I was kind of like dad bod.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, bro. Once the compression shorts got on me and it squeezed the muffin top a little bit to where it seemed like it was oozing out like an ice cream cone. Like we're guys that seen like, oh, they got some athletic ability or an athletic build. But if you get seen with that hanging over, you're kind of like, ah, you're not leaning in.

[Will Compton]

What's going on here?

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, dude.

[Will Compton]

I would spend even in the. Legally, I would get my compression, like shorts and I would put my feet in it with the waistband and I would pull it just to try to combat that. The exact thing you're talking about.

[Taylor Rapp]

Sometimes I would put my compressions over my. And I'm like, I can't get, I can't get caught.

[Greg Olson]

You were like, you were.

[Will Compton]

That he was going to leave me.

[Greg Olson]

Or.

[Taylor Rapp]

Kind of a couple practices and then I'm just like, I can't get caught doing this, man. The boys are gonna clown my ass, dude.

[Will Compton]

But in a game, though, in a game you put it up a little higher so it does just the jersey when it squeezes in. Like I'm gonna make just form fit you all the way down.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Because catching that angle, dude. Yeah, you can't cut on that angle. It's a tough, It's a tough go.

[Greg Olson]

Especially like in December maybe in like August training camp. You're like, I'm pretty good. Like, yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Greg Olson]

Like, I would see pictures of myself in August right before training camp and.

[Taylor Rapp]

I was like, that's a. That's a good looking.

[Greg Olson]

That's pretty good.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

December, you're just like eating pizza, holding.

[Taylor Rapp]

On for dear life pie holiday food.

[Will Compton]

You're already thinking about this off season. I'm gonna do X, Y and Z. I'm gonna be the most Exact.

[Greg Olson]

Dude ever get back in great shape? It's the divisional round of the playoffs.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, dude, no. It's before Christmas. You're just like, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna get it done. That is. That's every.

[Greg Olson]

That's.

[Will Compton]

We're talking every white guy. Every white guy that plays football because you come in.

[Greg Olson]

It wasn't you. You're lying.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. You have this regimen about you. You're like, I am. This is me the entire year. I'm not gonna waver on this. And then week four hits, you're like it, dude, pizza. Had a bad game. Pizza, sushi, Chinese food with the boy on Mondays.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. There's a comfort, there's a mental comfort to all of that.

[Taylor Rapp]

God, yeah. You're trying to hit some New Year's.

[Greg Olson]

Well, anyway, that was the end of the year. That reminiscing just made my day. So what else you guys got?

[Will Compton]

Dude, let's talk about our tweets, though.

[Greg Olson]

My tweet, so, dude, I land, check Twitter.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

My mentions. I'm getting killed. And I finally scroll up to the source of it all, and both of you separately tweet me. Will sends me about momentum. You're asking me about going for two. Tail. I was sitting on the plane, taxing, dying, laughing.

[Will Compton]

And you know what's crazy too is it's literally coming down like, this is the perfect scenario for us to talk about tomorrow. And I'm thinking, the Bills are going to get this. They should go for two. I hope McDermott does go for two. And then obviously what happened, happened. If they just would have kicked the PAT after the first touchdown, it would have been a moot point. But after the game, all them are kind of discussing, should you have gone for two? Should you not have? And everybody who was like, yes, you should have gone for two. All brought up momentum as their key point.

[Greg Olson]

Of course. Because they don't know what else to say.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Because analytics can't measure momentum.

[Greg Olson]

And by the way, had more momentum after the back to back touchdown drives.

[Will Compton]

No doubt.

[Greg Olson]

If they would have only gotten more momentum, they would have made the two point.

[Taylor Rapp]

And if they kick the extra point.

[Greg Olson]

It would have gotten blocked again.

[Taylor Rapp]

Well, analytically, analytically, you sit back and you look at like here, here's where you know. And by the way, I'm with you on the going for two. I was just grinning ear to earth knowing that this game was going to come down to, I wonder if the Bills are going to go for two. I had my tweet Ready to go. And I just held on. I'm like, I got to make sure the Bills don't get the two point conversion.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

For this to work now you're learning. Yeah, yeah. You're learning.

[Greg Olson]

You have to make sure your criticism comes after you know, the result. Yeah, exactly.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I shoot that, I shoot that out there. But I'm also thinking in my head like, okay, here's a good analytical question as well. Like if you're self scouting yourself, because you're right, the one touch up before that extra point gets blocked. So it's like, okay, well we're just, we're going to have to go for two because the extra point got blocked. But we're also going to go for two because that's what our game plan, our strategy was going to be anyways try to win in regulation. But my question would be when do also analytics within your own season come into play? Because yeah, they got their extra point blocked, but what's their percentage on making an extra point to go into OT versus You are before this two failed two point conversion. You're one for six at going for two throughout this year as the Buffalo Bills. So they missed this one. They're now one for seven on going for two. So analytically in general, universally it's like, hey, everything screams go for two. But if you're the Bills, you haven't been successful at all. Really. You've been successful one time out of six up until that point of going for two. And then you look at the, if you look at the example last week, which it's like, why didn't the Bears go for two? They end up kicking the extra point, going to overtime and winning OT Bills, it felt like they did. Bringing up the word momentum, had all the momentum because Philadelphia had what, 12 yards passing in the second half.

[Will Compton]

I think they had 12 yards total.

[Taylor Rapp]

12 yards total in the second half. Like Philly wasn't doing anything offensively and they were up 13, nothing going to that fourth quarter. And Josh Allen was Josh Allen. Buffalo was becoming Buffalo. Their offense was becoming that offense. So why not kick that extra point going OT like in my head knowing like confidence level wise, like bro, we are, we're taking over this team because they're not moving the ball at all.

[Greg Olson]

Yes, my confidence. Your confidence was so high. Your momentum was very high. You had just scored back to back touchdowns. Why did your off. The defense was reeling, the defense was tired. I've heard all these things for the whole year. Then it's even more Reason. If that's the mentality, then it's even more reason to say, keep my offense on the field. They couldn't stop us. Put the offense back on the field and let's win the game with my hobbled quarterback who's banged up his foot. Do I want to play a whole overtime period and they talk about, well, just make the extra point and go to overtime. Badgley was 2025 on the year and extra points. He's.

[Taylor Rapp]

But again, 1 for 6 on 2 point conversion. So I'm also.

[Greg Olson]

You want to take. Who are you going to bet that's going to go above their odds? Badger, your third kicker of the year or Josh Allen, your third kicker of the year? Okay, well that's for an extra point. I would go.

[Will Compton]

So are you arguing? Are you arguing just to argue?

[Taylor Rapp]

Like I am arguing just to argue because I do want to know like, at what point are you self scouting enough to be like, all right, I get that you're rolling the dice going this direction with going for two, but again, you have failed to convert two point conversion. You know, five out of the six times that you've already done it now six out of the seven.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. And that's a valid argument and obviously that's something that each team has to take into consideration as they look at their own two point plays, their play calls, their strategy. So that's certainly a fair and valid argument. I think where the, where the argument universally. I'm not saying your argument, I'm just saying the universal argument on all of this is everyone just assumes you make the extra point and I just watched you miss an extra point.

[Taylor Rapp]

Blah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Greg Olson]

So like there's always this assumption that if you go for two, you're gonna miss and it's so stupid. All you had to do was line up in the driving rain and just make a simple extra point that. Oh yeah, on your first touchdown I watched get blocked. So like there's this assumption that what happened on the previous two point play matters, but what happened on the previous point after try is somehow irrelevant. I ask you this question the night before. Texans Chargers. Dicker, the kicker has had an amazing season.

[Taylor Rapp]

Amazing.

[Greg Olson]

So they are down 10. They go down and they score. The chargers are down 10, they go down and score a touchdown. So we're watching this game at our hotel in Indy because that game was a big factor in how meaningful our game was yesterday. Yeah, the, the Colts needed the Chargers to come back and win for the Colts to still be playing for something against Jacksonville yesterday So selfishly, we're like, we'd love.

[Taylor Rapp]

Right.

[Greg Olson]

This game to mean something to Indy. So we're watching intently. I say all of that. Long story short, they score a touchdown, so now it's a four point game.

[Taylor Rapp]

Okay, how much time's left?

[Greg Olson]

It's a good question.

[Taylor Rapp]

Is it like under.

[Greg Olson]

It's, it's, it's minutes to go into third.

[Taylor Rapp]

Okay, okay, okay, that's, that's good enough.

[Will Compton]

Okay, hold on. He's gotta know.

[Taylor Rapp]

He's got now, you know, great.

[Will Compton]

He's just, he's a detailed, oriented guy.

[Greg Olson]

Well, it matters. It's a great question.

[Will Compton]

Like that right there. It's enough. And you're like, yeah, it's not.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's, that's, that's a conversation right there with my wife. That's all I need to know. Right? I need to know exactly.

[Greg Olson]

Three, 3:37.

[Taylor Rapp]

Okay.

[Will Compton]

All right. So lots of time. How many timeouts?

[Greg Olson]

I think they had all of them.

[Will Compton]

Okay. So all the time in the world.

[Taylor Rapp]

Analytically, this is a time where you score and go for two. Correct.

[Greg Olson]

I'm ask. Okay. So I'm just painting this scenario. Okay, that's, this is a very. So you talk about like where these teams are on the cutting edge. Nobody's quite ready. Like the down by 14 thing, you're starting to see more teams after the first touchdown. Not everybody, but a lot of teams are going for two. The first time to try to make it six. The 15. One we talked about fourth down. This was the fourth down conversation like five years ago. So there's phases to all of this. I don't know if teams are ready to like regularly adopt down 10, go for two to make a field goal, win it. But let's just talk about what happened. So they try to just take the foregone conclusion of making this extra point. The sun is blaring on my face right now. I'm gonna shut the blinds. Hold on. So they, they take the day, just take the points, make it a three point. It's a field goal game, right? That's what everyone's saying. Make it a field goal game. Don't make it a touchdown game. He misses the extra point. So they now are down four and they need a touchdown to win. No longer a field goal could tie. If they would have went for two and failed, they still would have been down four. What is the difference at the end of the game for Harbaugh, the press conference, Dicker, the kicker needs to be better. He's been awesome all year and he Missed the kick, you go for two. The question is, coach, you are the now it didn't matter, they never got the ball back. But if Justin Herbert got that ball down four, that conversation. If you need a touchdown and you get goal to go and you come up short, it's like if only you were down three, you would have kicked the field goal and tied the game. Well, you missed the extra point. But now the coach doesn't have to justify. The coach just says my kicker stinks. I'm a great coach.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, that's fair. You've really gotten me on the down 14 late. You score the first touchdown, you go for two. I'm understanding that level of aggression but 10 points I'm not, I'm not seeing where it's go for two in the situation. Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

So that's so yeah, I guess this is where that phase is still that gap started in close because I'm looking.

[Will Compton]

At it like you clearly just kick the extra point.

[Taylor Rapp]

I'm starting to naturally feel like when you're down 10, that's what I was asking the time, if you're within like what, six, seven minutes. I'm starting to. Yeah. See if you're around that time frame, I am now starting to naturally think if you're down 10 and you score, you now go for two. So I'm starting to get into the, that you know, new world where you know Greg and they're, they're teaching you all these, this analytical side of football on what you would do. So yeah, hearing that, I'm thinking, oh damn, that's a bad. Yeah, that's a bad move on the coaching side to not go for two in that situation.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. And I'm not saying that it's a no brainer. I'm not saying that if it was me that I feel so strongly that I would do it every time. I'm not suggesting that. All I'm suggesting is we have programmed the, the anti analytics, the anti2 crowd has built their argument from point after tries are 100% successful all of the time and two point plays are failures. Like we have completely taken both ends of the extremes where no one ever misses a pat and everyone always fails a two point play and it's just obviously not true.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, it's obviously not true but still I feel like the percentages are way different. I think we talked about two point conversions being what, 50% close. They're like in the mid-40s, say the mid-40s. Point after try is I got to believe in the 80s.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. Oh, of course. Oh, I bet you it's higher. I bet you.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah. I'm just being conservative. So some guy on the Internet right now is all like, actually, it's this, you know.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

So.

[Taylor Rapp]

He'S battling an imaginary hater.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. Just in case, you know, this is called covering. It's like Will holding his tweet back for a couple extra minutes. You got to do that.

[Greg Olson]

Two point tries are hard. That's why you typically want multiple cracks at them.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Right. So, like, it just. That's the whole idea. Again, the down 14, the down 15, you want multiple cracks. You want multiple opportunities to get them. Because going one for one is hard. Going one for one is less than a coin flip.

[Will Compton]

How many two point plays when you were playing? Did you guys practice one, maybe two?

[Greg Olson]

We on our call sheet, probably inside the five. Those were probably your inside the five. We probably had five total.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

And there's five or six couple passes. There's one which I guess was like a separate. Like that was like Jumbo. 23 big bodies and everyone had like a million different tight end play actions and fake. We did a ton of it with Cam. Our goal line stuff was actually really good. Obviously he was a huge factor in that because he was such a threat, whether he was in gun, whether he's under center. So, like our goal line stuff was pretty extensive just because of him. But yeah, teams have way more now than they used to.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Let me ask you this, Greg. What would the conversation. So. So if we're talking about the extremes on the analytics side of, like, you're not wrong trying to kick the extra point, but you know, that one right there, you miss yada, yada, yada. What would be your conversation with coach Harbaugh or a head coach on what their thinking is or what they should challenge themselves to interrogate about themselves on why you don't go for two in that situation.

[Greg Olson]

Like if I was trying to convince them why.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Taylor Rapp]

Like if you're sitting there and you're in a room with these head coaches on thinking about this, this level of thinking with the two point conversion. Because a lot of it does come back to this presser, like, hey, what is. What are we avoiding by not trying to go for two here? You know what I'm saying?

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, yeah. I think the first. The first thing I would try to just present is how much of your decision making is affected on your desire or lack thereof of answering these questions. Like, how much does that matter to you? How much does public perception, how much does criticism, how much does the fallback matter? And I think it's a fair, I don't blame coaches who do value it. I think there are certain coaches that have built up more credits and more stock that those post game press conferences are a non factor. Right. Their job's not on the line, they're not under constant heat. It's, it's a very different experience in different markets for different coaches based on market size, media, how much they've won or lost. Right. Like certain coaches are Teflon. You're not going to get up there and question decisions made by you know, I mean I guess we saw Andy Reid get questioned this year but that seems kind of stupid. So I do think there are varying degrees of your ability to stand at the podium and say nothing any of you say matter, my job is safe and I'll do it again. Right. It's the Dan Campbell effect. So you first got to just decide how much is your decision making being influenced by any of those emotions. If these are emotional decisions and you value that as a person, the conversation should end. Right. There's no convincing anyone that what emotions they've they feel aren't real. I'm never going to convince anyone otherwise. Right. If that's just how you feel, you might be wrong. But I'm never going to win that bat. An emotional battle is never going to be one if that's not the limiting factor. And they are open minded to just talking about okay, what, what does improve our chances. It comes down to trying to win the game when you get an opportunity in regulation. Now regular season, postseason has changed, overtime has changed a little bit. So the odds are a little bit more in your favor with both team getting a possession. But by and large I would try to operate as often as possible. If I get an opportunity to win the game in regulation, I'm going to do it. And those would probably be like my two main north stars. And then there's a lot of nuance in situation and strengths of your team and quarterback style and offensive play caller like then there's a lot of like team nuance that each team has to make their own decision based. But like those two guiding principles would be where I would start personally.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, the thing I love about this conversation is that you're exactly the last thing you said is like it's not like a black and white type of thing. It depends on what personnel you have, what quarterback and that that's what makes it so much more fun to look into and see like hey, what Coach is willing to slap their balls on the table and be like, this is what. This is what we're going to do.

[Ad Voice]

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[Greg Olson]

All.

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[Taylor Rapp]

Hey everyone.

[Greg Olson]

Ed Helms here. And hi, I'm Kal Penn and we're the hosts of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Jenny Garth, host of the iHeart podcast. I choose me to discuss the new Audible adaptation of the timeless Jane Austen.

[Will Compton]

Classic Pride and Prejudice.

[Greg Olson]

This is not a trick question. There's no wrong answer.

[Taylor Rapp]

What role would I play?

[Greg Olson]

You know what? I can see you as Mr. Darcy.

[Will Compton]

You got a little Colin Firth.

[Taylor Rapp]

Okay, that's really sweet, I appreciate that, but are you sure I'm not the dad?

[Will Compton]

I'm not Mr. Bennett here.

[Greg Olson]

Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart.

[Taylor Rapp]

Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or.

[Will Compton]

Wherever you get your podcasts week in and week out, regardless of circumstance. While you were talking I was thinking about the 15 points being down 15. You go for. You go for two on the first touchdown. You don't get it the second time you, you have to. You never mind. You know what, I've worked through it in my head. You have to go for two the second one to even die. So never mind. I'm back. I'm back.

[Greg Olson]

Let me again not to rehash all of that because if you don't get.

[Taylor Rapp]

The first one you're down nine.

[Greg Olson]

Right.

[Taylor Rapp]

So. So that's where him trying to wrap. Wrap our heads around going for 2 down 15 is where I'm kind of. That's where I get a little bit more resistant.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Again it comes, it comes down to take the emotion out of it. From a practical standpoint. Would you rather be down nine with three and a half minutes or would you rather be down two with 15 seconds?

[Will Compton]

No. Yeah, I understand that.

[Greg Olson]

That's it. From a non emotional. Not the how hard I'm going to play on defense. And the defense is so more motivated down eight that they are nine and momentum baby. Guys on the sideline are slapping each other on the backs. Like eliminate all of that.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Just from a practical sense the argument against what the Phil, what Philly did and what everyone came after me for supporting was they assumed that you missed the first one and you're down nine and you're an idiot be down eight and it's a one score game and take it to overtime. Yeah but the reason I'm down nine is because I failed on the two point conversion. So why would being down eight, why should I assume I get the two point conversion defense have it both ways.

[Taylor Rapp]

Defense will be a little bit more retired, a little bit more defeated. Like fuck they're probably going to get this one.

[Will Compton]

My bad question started this conversation. I apologize.

[Greg Olson]

It's emotion and that's why I said if Emotion's going to run it, you're never going to win the battle. And that's okay. I'm not saying those feelings aren't real. I'm just saying they're not impactful. And if they are impactful, you should fire your defense. You should cut everyone. If Will Compton is not going to run through his a gap on a run blitz hard down nine that he would down eight then he shouldn't be your Mike backer.

[Taylor Rapp]

The reason I'm laughing is I right before he started to go your feelings like it's fair to feel what you say, but they're not impactful. Before he started to say that, I feel a switch flipped in my mind to where he's now talking to his wife. I'm thinking, I wonder how this would go. Like, I'm not saying your feelings are wrong.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah. This is not impactful to this situation. I gotta drop that on Taylor one day just to see how it goes. Hit your boys up. Don't do it. It's not. It's not the move. All right. We end up interrupt this episode to bring you Rose Sparks. Rose Sparks are a 2 in 1 prescription treatment for guys who need a secret weapon against softness. Roast Sparks come. Rose Sparks can give you bigger, thicker, longer erections because they get fuller after Rose Sparks dissolve. They work in about 15 minutes on average if prescribed. New sexual health patients get $15 off their first order of Sparks on a recurring plan. Do me a favor. Connect with the provider at Ro Co Bussin to find out if Prescription Row Sparks are right for you. That's Ro co Bussin for 15 off your first order. Let's get back to the episode with Greg Olson. Did you. Did you get a chance to check out the Steelers and the Browns?

[Greg Olson]

I didn't. That game was going on right when my game was going.

[Taylor Rapp]

You lost to the Browns, bro.

[Will Compton]

You don't need. You don't really need to know the game. But Miles Garrett, obviously one sack away from holding the record from a solo standpoint. After the game, he said, they were worried about keeping me away from Aaron Rodgers. More worried about that than getting the win. That's what. That's why we came back to bite them. Have you ever been in a situation where, like, in your. In your career where someone was chasing a record and what the. If there was a meeting room about that? Because it seemed like with the Steelers and I think there was, like, conversations taking place, like, if he beats you, whatever, grab his face mask, do not let him get it. And then in the game in the fourth quarter, they had multiple three and outs. But there are a few times that Miles Garrett's like, basically getting there and Rogers like this and just dumps it off to the side like they were. They seem very obvious. They're more worried about Miles than they were. Hey, let's go try to win this game.

[Greg Olson]

You know, it kind of reminds me. I don't know. Did you guys play high school basketball?

[Will Compton]

No.

[Taylor Rapp]

No. One year in eighth grade. Fourth.

[Greg Olson]

So high school basketball. We, you know, we were like a average. You know, we were fine, but we would Go play some of these teams that were real good and they were just better than us. So this is what kind of reminds me, like, before the game, like, you and your buddies, you'd sit there and you'd be like, we could lose by 50. You cannot let anyone dunk. Like, we're Fallon guys. We're flipping them upside down, we're sending them into the wall. Intentional fouls, text, whatever it takes. Nobody dunks. That's kind of like what this reminds me of, right?

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Greg Olson]

You said we could concede the game. We're not going to give up. We're going to throw the ball in the ground. We're going to spike it. Do not let Miles Garrett live in infamy that this, that Aaron Rodgers is Brett Favre. Right. Where he's the quarterback we see sacked, you know, when Strahan breaks the record. So, like, that's where my mind goes on all this. Whether that's real or not, I don't know. I guess you'd have to ask Rogers and those guys, but I don't blame them. Like, I didn't want teams to break records against us. You know, those years that you were losing, if you played a divisional arrival or somebody that you could knock out of the playoffs and you were already out, you're like, well, if I'm going to be home, I'm going to ruin their season. So I just think that's kind of the NFL. I don't know if anyone in the NFL wants to see in their moment in their game, their team get, like, better one upped. So if that was their mindset and they didn't want them to break the record, then I have no problems with it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Like, I, I got. There's. There's part of me that thinks. And again, I'm just assuming, but Aaron's playing is like, he's trying to play to win. But in the back of Aaron's mind, he's like, this is not another thing where I'm going to follow suit.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Ad Voice]

Far.

[Taylor Rapp]

I'm not going to take over Brett Favre.

[Will Compton]

Oh, you think, you think history was in the back of his mind?

[Taylor Rapp]

I, I, as a competitor, like, why wouldn't he think about that? You know what I'm saying?

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Like, all the things where he's kind of like, he's been the next Brett Favre at Green Bay, like, going and playing for different teams.

[Will Compton]

Like, the same, the same. Different team.

[Taylor Rapp]

Same, different team. Yeah. All of these things and just the relationship they seem to have had with everything that's come out. I'm just sure, like as a competitor that that was a thousand percent probably in his mind to some extent. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not going to be. I'm not taking over Brett Favre's clip for like giving up the record set.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

It's so surprising to me. Like, we had Dion Dawkins on last week. He was gonna. He was playing the Browns and in that game, it's like, hey, he's coming. Like, you don't make sure you're not the guy and it ends up not being the guy. Now the Steelers game is happened. That was only one game left for him to get this. I just keep picturing in my head like it's the fourth quarter, there's a couple of minutes left. And who. I don't know who the Browns playing.

[Taylor Rapp]

I think it's the Bengals. So it's a game that means nothing.

[Will Compton]

Game means nothing.

[Taylor Rapp]

Everybody right now this week is planning for, hey, where are we going? In the office, right?

[Will Compton]

And so does Joe Burrow. He'll probably get sacked anyway based on the way his, his career has gone and getting sacked. But does Joe Burrow bend the knee and kind of give Miles Garrett one to take home the all time record? Because Miles, when he, when he was getting close, there's like three, four games and it was like he had like 25 taped to his wrist. He's thinking beyond the stack record. Like, he's like, I'm going to handle this, no problem. Now there's got to be a level of like, I might never get here again. I might never get to the opportunity where I can break the record.

[Taylor Rapp]

Absolutely.

[Will Compton]

Panic is starting to set in probably on his camp. Like, I've got to get this fucking record now. And if I don't, like, I'll probably never sniff this again.

[Taylor Rapp]

And the Bengals, like, even though you say Joe B. Is he going to be like, I don't think that division rival. To me, if you're the Bengals, you're. There is no goal for this game. The entire goal should be Miles Garrett is not getting this record on us.

[Will Compton]

But Joe, Joey B. Is kind of got that. You can see his press conferences with the Bengals. He's a. I don't, you know, he doesn't seem like he's happy. He's saying very vague things.

[Taylor Rapp]

You say he's just gonna get.

[Will Compton]

I could see Joe pulling Aaron Rodgers, which. Not Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, where Brett was like, it was kind of known that like Brett kind of gave it.

[Taylor Rapp]

To my Play action fell down.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, play action fell down. Let him have it. Like, could we see Joe Burrow be like, let me get this guy one or two, you know, set the tone. Who's gonna set it all? Set it for the boy. Because this is true history that we're looking at here. It's like, yo, it's crazy.

[Taylor Rapp]

I like thinking that this game now has true meaning.

[Greg Olson]

True meaning because it's a great game for Miles Garrett to try to break it, right? Because the offensive lines poor. You know, historically, the last couple years, they've been poor, and they're going to throw the shit out of the ball.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, right.

[Greg Olson]

So you're going to get a ton of pass attempts. You're going to get a ton of passing downs. If for whatever reason they don't give up a sack to Miles Garrett, then we have to look back on the last couple years and be like, what? How come you with the game meant nothing. You guys protected the shit out of Joe Burrow the last three years. We've seen him just get his lock knocked off. What's going on here? Like, all of a sudden, you guys needed this rec record to, like, motivate yourselves.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's a good point. Hey, but, Greg, if you're. If you're a tight end on the Bengals, like, what would be your goal going into the game? Like, are you. Are you somebody that would, as a tight end, be like, hey, coach, like, chip, I'll block all game. We're not letting Miles Garrett get this sack.

[Greg Olson]

I mean, I did my fair share of chips. I had my fair share of, like, I didn't see me coming. Ear hole shot. I didn't love that. Like, I didn't love the idea of, like, ear holing a guy who wasn't looking at me. I mean, I did it. It wasn't something I got great pride out of. I didn't feel like, oh, I'm a badass, because I just ear hold this guy who didn't see me. I want to run down the field. Like, my life, my whole career was, like, running down the field far. Like, I watch a lot of these offenses now far. Like, it's naked flat. It's naked drag. It's naked over, and I'm looking at myself like, oh, my God. I would have caught 3, 000 balls in these offenses. Like, we were vertical. We were going downfield. We were middle benders. We were deep overs. We were 22 inside numbers of the hash and two yards inside the hash. Like, I couldn't afford to ship Anyone, unless you just ran a flat or a check. And I had no interest in any of that. Like, I wanted downfield ball in the air. Air yards. That was just my game. So I would add a hard time playing in an offense with a whole game. I just edged and chipped. We did it. But it was not something that I wanted to make a living doing because it just really, it cuts down on the types of routes you can run.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah. You, you.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. I'm wondering if you're ready to just sacrifice running routes.

[Will Compton]

So that way he's talking about making a.

[Greg Olson]

Trying to hit 80 catches for a.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, yeah, that's true. Like, are you worried about Miles record?

[Greg Olson]

I mean, what about my incentive about 80 catches? I get 250 grand. Do we care about that?

[Will Compton]

Greg, if you spent your, if you spent your life worrying about check chipping people and not moving the ball down the field, you're standing up to close your blinds when the sun's in your face.

[Greg Olson]

Correct. Instead of just hitting a button.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, exactly. Like that's.

[Greg Olson]

Is it a little bit better now?

[Will Compton]

It is a lot better.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. You see, here's what I will say though, and Taylor, you'll appreciate this and every tackle I ever played with, like even we got like new guys like Michael or Came and Khalil's brother Matt came. So we had a couple like tackles join us in our run in Carolina and they all love this. So pat on the back to me. I played 90% of the game in a two point stance, but attached to the tackle we had kind of form an 11 personnel like in passing situations. But I would. My rule was I never let the, the defensive end ever line up outside of me. So I was never going to take my split my distance from you. If I was lined up on the left side and I was trying to gauge my distance from you as the left tackle, I would, I would say I'm always going to capture the defensive end. I didn't want to stand so close to you. I'm three yards, two yards from you. And then Miles Garrett's a wide nine technique outside me. I go run my route and you sit. Miles Garrett is like six yards from you, running at your face.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, it's terrifying.

[Greg Olson]

That's terrifying. But how often do you see tight ends, they come up, they set their feet and then the defensive end picks where he needs to go. Yeah, I would come real wide out of the huddle, wait for the defensive end to pick his landmark on you, and then I would reduce my split and I'LL never forget I was playing in Detroit one year. Kyle Vanden Bosch, remember him?

[Will Compton]

Oh, yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Oh, yeah.

[Greg Olson]

He'd wear those Nebraska boy lens like contact lenses and where like, he didn't have a pupil. Like, this guy was a maniac. And I'm messing with him in my split. I'm not letting him take these, like, wide ghost nine splits on pass downs. And he's losing his. And he's trying to move and I just keep moving with him, just trying to capture him on the tackle. And he looks at me and he me and screams in my face about moving my split. I almost my pants. He was like a demon. I was like, dude, you're scary as and you'll probably kill me on the next run play, but I am not gonna let you line up on our left tackle. Nine yards off of his ankle.

[Will Compton]

That is welcome. That is big time. And you should absolutely pat yourself on the back for that.

[Taylor Rapp]

There's the left tackle needs to be sent in. Did he send you a Christmas gift this year?

[Greg Olson]

Every year.

[Taylor Rapp]

Every year.

[Will Compton]

I love it, dude. I love it because we would. We would go through. We would play like, big time, big time guys like do Suggs or Miller or whoever. And if I, hey, we're going to chip. We would go through indie periods of like, hey, these are how the tackles like to get, like, to get chipped. And there was nothing worse to me than when the Titan would line up tight to me and then the defensive end would line up in a wide nine on the outside of him. And the chip would be, oh, he beat me off the ball, let me push him in the back so he gets a more of a jump start. And I literally, I would just tell you guys, I'm like, bro, if I don't need you to do much, just get in front of him for a second and bring him to me. That's all I want you to do. Bring him.

[Greg Olson]

You got to contain him. You got to capture him and push.

[Will Compton]

Him in, funnel him in. But when you are behind him and you're pushing his ass so he gets farther up the field, I'm in panic mode now. Now I'm in. I have to get the hell out of whatever situation I am. I don't know where I am as far as pocket integrity or nothing. And it's just. It's absolute hell. It's the worst feeling in the world.

[Greg Olson]

When the tight end aligns outside of him. I could chip them. Yeah, I could, like, crack him on some sort of, like, pin and pull outside run play. What I really liked about it, the twice a game that they asked me to pass protect, I liked being on the outside and I would just power jump the shit out of them. Outside in and I would just ear hole them, snatch them at the line of scrimmage. I didn't want to set as a. I didn't want to set as a nine technique myself. If you didn't want to do it, I sure didn't want to do. Just made the light the game so much easier when there was the tight end and the tackle and the defensive end lined up in between them. That the idea. I just don't know why more people don't do it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And I don't understand tight ends past setting it one. It always, always looks terrible. They don't know what they're doing exactly. Get on them right away. I'll come help you in a minute because you know, it's like play action. I'm going to go, I'm going to go into the B gap, I'm going to check my linebacker and the first thing I'm doing is going to check. You just lose outside. I'll meet you between him and the quarterback.

[Greg Olson]

Dude, I would, I mean I'm sure it happened a handful of times over the years but like if I got trapped on a pass set, we used to call it Randy Louie where like the tight end had the end, the line would slide away and then the back was like my help but like if the backs guy came then I was one on one. If I had that guy outside of me and I knew it was like a traditional kick set wide punch. I was like, all right man, like this is going to be a fucking battle.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

But if I had that guy inside, it didn't matter who he was. If I knew I could block him down from the outside and then just wrestle him. Even if he knocked me back, he had to knock me back from the line of scrimmage. I was fine.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, that's die a slow death. Like you understand the process. You understand. I love her all talking about our fears, you blocking one on one, me getting a wide nines ass pushed. You playing man coverage. It's all hell.

[Taylor Rapp]

Anytime a back motions out of the backfield, we can't check.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

To rat or replace with the safety blitzing to where I could take the blitz and he can go cover the bag. Yeah. I was in a mental health.

[Greg Olson]

Have a segment where we each get to air our like worst nightmare that we had to like hide for 20 years when we played. You Weren't allowed to admit any of these things suck. We decided, dude, I'm good at everything, right? Nothing I can't do. And now we have like a free. It's like a free get out of jail card. You get like one segment a Monday where you can admit all the shit you weren't good at and that you were scared to death of doing.

[Will Compton]

Exactly, dude. Because it's so funny how like that the plays we're talking about probably happened two or three times a game. But we would spend most of the game thinking, when are these two or.

[Taylor Rapp]

Three times most of going to happen.

[Will Compton]

Most of the week?

[Taylor Rapp]

What situation could this?

[Will Compton]

And it's like, yeah, I feel good about this, this and this, but if this comes up, I swear to God. And then you'd be like, the second quarter being like, when's it gonna happen? When you're in the middle, you just finished a play, you're like, I hope it's not this next play coming up.

[Greg Olson]

You know, it's like a third down. You're like, it's third and six. You're looking at the sideline. You're like, like, don't call it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, don't.

[Greg Olson]

Don't send me on a route. I'm doing good down the field.

[Will Compton]

I would tell my coaches, I'd be like, hey, listen, I don't care about like a lot of chips. I just need one early in the game. I need one, like legit chip them early in the game. That way he's thinking about it. Anytime the tight end would come in and then give me one, around the third quarter, give me two and I'm. I'm happy because it makes them think. And that's all I need is for them just to think a little bit. Then I'll be all right. But it was a terrifying career.

[Greg Olson]

At the end of my career, when you know you're old and you just say whatever the fuck you want to say and you don't care anymore. Yeah, we would be in like install meeting on third down and if there was like more than one play where the tight end had to stay in. And remember, like back early in our careers there was, we used to call it like Mustang protection, where like the tight end and the running back would stand next to the quarterback and it was like full seven man protection. And anyway, like that or when you had to block the dn, if they had more than like one or two of those, it'd be like, hey, anybody have any questions? I'm like, I got a question. And like all right. What Olson? I'd be like, so this 25 million dollar and end that all that week. I've heard we got a chip and we got an engine. We got to give body presence to our 15 million dollar tackles. I'm gonna block him on third and eight by myself while they all slide to nobody. I just want to make sure I have the protection understood correctly because for the last four days I've been beat down my face about chip edge. Don't get wide with your split running backs give body presence. But now on third, Nate, it's like, don't worry, Olson's got Von Miller and everyone else. You just go slide and just do this whole slide thing where nobody touches anyone. That's what we're going to call on 3rd and 8th. And everyone would laugh, but I was like, I'm not even joking. This is so stupid.

[Taylor Rapp]

Right, right. You're not joking. Yes. I feel you there. Like when I would have to eventually soil the DN because they wouldn't want to bam in the red zone. And I'll just back. So just again, we just, we want to get this clear. What we're worried about in the red zone inside, let's say the 15. We're worried about this choice route from Darren Sprols. You're telling me I can't bam when I know this option routes coming because he's going to be in an obvious chow alignment. I can't bam the end. You want me to cover him one on one? I just want to be clear because I've asked if I could bam all week and nobody's really told me anything.

[Greg Olson]

What the does bam mean?

[Taylor Rapp]

Bam is when the end will come out and and hit or bam like he'll like. Yeah, so. So yeah, yeah, he'll push it. So defensive chip. Yeah. The deep. Yeah, basically.

[Greg Olson]

Okay, I hadn't heard that.

[Taylor Rapp]

So that way the running back, once they get hit, they have to just get in their route ASAP versus you.

[Greg Olson]

Got to let them tailback get a free release one on one in space. And then when he scores, you'll get coached up about where your alignment was and where your leverage was. And well, you got to close the.

[Taylor Rapp]

Distance, stay inside out. You got to get your hands on them at some point. It's Darren fucking Sprouls. But the ends are getting mad because the ends, you got to take them out of their pass rush because like you want me to bam Sprouls when you expect to cover them like it's Darren Sprouls. I would love if I could just get a little some kind of chip on this, man.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Before we run. They're highly targeted. Their favorite route, which is a choice route in the red zone.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. Meanwhile, the, the offensive quality control guys stood up there on Wednesday on scout team and said, hey guys, Darren Sprolls, we got us. I could have told you it was a touchdown four days ago.

[Will Compton]

Exactly. I just imagine Will and the defensive end coming up to Will and be like, yo, what are you making me? Bam. He's like, bro, trust me, I'd rather not be in that play. Yeah, I'd rather not be in.

[Taylor Rapp]

It'd be tripping.

[Will Compton]

Unfortunately, I'm in. So I need you, I need you to bam.

[Taylor Rapp]

It'd be Trent Murphy and Ryan Carrick.

[Greg Olson]

But I'd rather get a fucking calf cramp and come out of the game. I'm not thrilled about it either.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, dude. Yeah, that's, that's, I'm glad we, we got to work through that.

[Greg Olson]

What else we got?

[Taylor Rapp]

We got a playoff game with your Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[Greg Olson]

Wow.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's a game that means something. Winning in. Both of you guys lost over the weekend. I do like the Panthers this week. Like if I'm leaning on anything, it's going to be the defense of the Panthers.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, it's a winning in there. Is this like weird, not a weird scenario, but there is this like far fetched scenario that if somehow the Falcons beat the Rams tonight, then even if Tampa beats Carolina next week, if the Falcons also win and they play New Orleans, that it would be a three way tie and then Carolina, even if they lost, they would be an 8 and 9 winner.

[Taylor Rapp]

So they'd still get in.

[Greg Olson]

So they'd still get in. So that's if the Falcons beat the Rams. Let's assume that the Falcon that the Falcons don't beat the Rams tonight.

[Will Compton]

Good.

[Greg Olson]

Assume it's a winning in the way Carolina is very weird. Like one week good, one week off. They've kind of won, lost one loss. They kind of bounced back and forth weekly over the last like eight weeks. Tampa Bay is really struggling. They just cannot find their way this back half the season after starting so strong. They have just not been nearly as effective, not nearly as efficient, especially on offense. So yeah, I mean I'd like to see Carolina make the playoffs. I think that'd be really cool. We haven't been since 2017, so it's been a while. So I think it's fascinating that after all this it's going to come down to one game, week 18, most likely winner take all. But yeah, I think Carolina's got a great shot. They seem to bounce back. They seem to lose after they win and win after they lose. So from a pattern standpoint, week 18 looks good.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I love. I love the pattern talk. My kids are all about patterns right now. I. I think you're right. Like the run game, the Panthers. I think Bryce has actually looked better this year. He said he makes some really good throws and it's like the inconsistency, but at the same time, you look at Tampa Bay and just riddled with injuries. Something's wrong with Baker. It feels like he looks like a guy that's just like willing himself to play every single week when he needs to be on a stretcher or getting some rehab. So, yeah, I like the Panthers as well. I like the Panthers. I think it doesn't really matter. I think both, whichever team goes in the playoffs, it's a very short playoff run. But making the playoffs still says a lot about your franchise.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, you get into the.

[Will Compton]

You get into the dance.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, you get the dance.

[Will Compton]

Anything can happen.

[Taylor Rapp]

How do you see the. How do you see the one seeds taken out? Because I want to get to where we're talking who we think could. Could make the run to the Super Bowl. Big games next week. You'll have what, Seattle and the Niners, which you'll have. Which has massive implications.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. The winner of that game has the 1 seed.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Which is wild. The 49ers.

[Taylor Rapp]

49Ers. Which is kind of been in the shadows all year, winning and taking care of this.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. But you got. You got to love that about them, man. Like Shanahan. Incredible. But who you. Who you got in that game?

[Greg Olson]

I think Shanahan. I said this yesterday in our game. We had Indianapolis, in Jacksonville, we were talking about the job Liam Cohen's done. And, you know, they got one Pro Bowler and it's the long snapper, and what a job he's done. They won their 12th game and all that. And I made the comment that it's probably the most packed coach of the year candidacy pool, candidate pool in years. I mean, you start talking about, like the one year turnarounds, Ben Johnson, Vrabel and. And Liam Cohen. Then you start talking about the job Mike McDonald's done in his second year in Seattle. Getting that right back on track. Arguably the best team in the league.

[Ad Voice]

What a matchup we got, y'.

[Greg Olson]

All.

[Ad Voice]

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[Will Compton]

Hey, audiobook lovers. This week on the podcast I'm sitting.

[Greg Olson]

Down with musician, producer and walking encyclopedia Questlove.

[Will Compton]

We're talking about Mark Ronson's memoir, Night how to be a DJ in 90s New York City.

[Greg Olson]

All right, like we talked about before.

[Will Compton]

Mark Ronson found sanctuary in the DJ booth.

[Greg Olson]

What's a tool or piece of equipment in the studio or on stage that.

[Will Compton]

Gives you the most control?

[Greg Olson]

So I have two microphones on stage. We have the microphone that you hear as the audience. Then we have a second microphone in which we communicate with each other. I feel like that second microphone kind of saved all of our friendships. No band likes each other after 20 years or 25 years. Like the Beatles broke up in seven and a half years and we're going on 35. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts, You know, give or take. And then. And then with Shanahan you know, a guy, a guy that we've seen playing Super Bowls, a guy that's name has been in the mix of, you know, one of the top coaches in the league for a long time. So maybe we don't appreciate because we just assume the 49ers should always be good. But I mean, you look at what that team has gone through, right? They lost Brock Purdy. For stretches of game, they lose Fred Warner. Done. Bosa. Done.

[Taylor Rapp]

Kittle.

[Greg Olson]

Kittle. I want to say last night was Kittle's like fourth or fifth missed game they've played without chunks. You know, IUK just disappeared off the face of the earth. Like they have had some really interesting roster situations and now here they are in a Week 18 win and not only win your division, but get the first round buy as the 1 seed and play and have home field advantage through the super bowl potentially. So Shanahan's in that mix. I think it's remarkable. That game last night was incredible, scoring 40 plus. I just, I worry defensively in the playoffs. We've talked about that on here a lot. I think defense matters a lot more come postseason than it does in the regular season. The, the teams that make the playoffs are disproportionately offensively driven. There's a few anomalies, you know, Texans. In the past, there's been some teams that have been wrote on their defense, but it's mostly good teams that can score points. So now it's like, okay, who can actually stop somebody? Like, who can actually play competent defense, run game. Some of the things that don't have as big of an impact over the course of a long season do matter in a one and done scenario in the playoffs. So I'd still go with Seattle because I think Seattle's defense is as good, if not better than any. I think offensively they're still hit or miss. They're still not exactly sure. They got to get that pass game back to what it was. But. But San Francisco's offense is probably the best offense of the last three or four weeks in the league. The defense scares me.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, Brock Purdy has been playing girl in the zero pass rushed by the defense. Right now on Fandom Sportsbook, Kyle Shanahan is plus 130. He's the favorite right now.

[Taylor Rapp]

He's the favorite.

[Will Compton]

He's the favorite for coach of the year, followed by Mike.

[Greg Olson]

So you would have to bet 130 to win 100?

[Will Compton]

No, if you bet a hundred, you'll win 130. So yeah, so it's plus odds. These are futures bets. Usually they're always going to sit in the plus. So Shanahan's plus 130, Mike Vrabel is next at 140 plus 140. Then as a big drop off of Mike McDonald at plus 500. And then Liam Cohen is at 1500 from there, which I thought Liam would be a little higher than that.

[Taylor Rapp]

That it's. Dude, it's honestly just because of the market that they're in. Like, it's the Jacksonville Jaguars. Like, nobody braves one coach of the.

[Will Compton]

Year in 21 or something like that with the, with the Titans and they're.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, probably in wrestling. Vera one Coach of the year, Ron Rivera won coach of the year twice with us. And yeah, we're a small market.

[Will Compton]

It's interesting. I mean, Liam Coleman, dude, it is betting odds.

[Greg Olson]

Let me ask you this because again, I, I'm not overly familiar with how the whole thing works. So, like, is there an element to that where name recognition. So for these odds makers, the Shanahan's of the world are going to just get more bets placed on them because there's more name recognition as opposed to Liam Cohen. So by. They got to reduce the odds of a guy like Shanahan because he's going to get so much action. Is that part of it?

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, it's like. I want to say Vegas, they just, they just, they understand the pulse of what's going to happen or what's going on at this current moment. So, for example, like the moment Fernando Mendoza. So it was very close between Diego Pavi and Fernando Mendoza. And this is just one example of like a futures bet. They were both neck and neck going into.

[Will Compton]

Diego was a favorite over.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's right. Yeah. Diego was a favorite over Mendoza. And the talk that week was if Fernando Mendoza has a good game against Ohio State, like a good quarterback, he got stats, got touchdowns, all this stuff. Like Fernando Mendoza could edge out and could beat Diego Pavia. Well, Fernando Mendoza only threw what, one touchdown.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Had a big third down yards. Yeah. Big third down late in the game, but nothing. That's like he should have ran away with this. But the moment that game ended, Fernando Mendoza became -3,000 in the sports book to win the Heisman. So it's like they ultimately knew who was going to win a Heisman immediately after that game concluded.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

You know what I mean? To where you could argue, you could talk about the Diego all you wanted, but he wasn't even close once that game ended.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Taylor Rapp]

As far as the Sports, the sports book and the markets and the betting odds and everything else. So what fanduel is saying, this is. Shanahan's become a real favorite. They don't know who's going to win out of Rabel and Shanahan. That's why they're only 10 off. Who. Who was third on the list?

[Will Compton]

Mike McDonald, but he was plus 500.

[Taylor Rapp]

Mike McDonald plus 500. And then Liam Cohen at plus 1500 is just in. In the world of us arguing or debating about it, it seems bizarre because Liam Cohen has just as good of a resume, if not better than everybody else. Like, I know there's a lot of great candidates, like even Ben Johnson, he wasn't even in the. The top four. He's probably sitting at. He's probably sitting at fifth in the odds. And I get that they just lost in Shanahan. That kind of edges him out there. But as far as how close the race could be, it seems like it's going to come down to Vrabel or Shanahan. If Shanahan wins this next week against getting the 1 seed over Seattle, it seems like Shanahan's gonna get it. If the Niners lose in Vrabel, they beat. Who do they play?

[Will Compton]

The.

[Taylor Rapp]

The Dolphins.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, I have that game. I got Patriots. Dolphins.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. So Patriots, Dolphins. If Patriots win and Niners lose, like variable, it seems like he's going to be the likely one to win coach of the year. That's how the odds, that's how the markets kind of have it set up.

[Will Compton]

The next two after that was Ben Johnson at + 2000 and then Sean Payton at + 6000.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

So.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

So right now it's a two man race. It's two man race.

[Greg Olson]

I think they're taking into account all the momentum that Jacksonville has, though.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Won seven games in a row.

[Taylor Rapp]

Dude, I'm with you. That, that. Yeah, I know that. I know you're joking. But to me that's why it's also so bizarre because what Cohen, Trevor Lawrence, he's been playing really well. Like what Jacksonville's done this year compared to what they go last year. 4 and 13.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. Yep.

[Taylor Rapp]

4 and 13. To where they're now. Now they're only a four loss team. What they've done. It seems wild that it's. The gap is so far with Liam.

[Greg Olson]

Cohen being in this coach on their whole roster.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And that's crazy you brought up as a long snapper because I know the Patriots had three or four Pro Bowlers. I mean, Drake may Was one of.

[Greg Olson]

Them is the quarterback.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. One of his corp who is a serious.

[Greg Olson]

Arguably the MVP of the league.

[Will Compton]

Arguably mvp. But he was an MVP caliber quarterback at the beginning of the year in August and September. The the conversation revolving around Drake May was one more year and he's going to be a guy in this league. And then all of a sudden after they started with a 1 and 2 early in the year it became like, oh, Drake May is the guy. Which would tell you that a lot of coaching took place. Guys if you look at their roster and I'm not very familiar with Jaguar's roster but the Patriots roster isn't a roster. It's like Ravens, Eagles, like even the Bengals like they're not a roster that you're like, you can really hang on be like this is a contending team yet I think who the Broncos play because if the Broncos lose and they.

[Taylor Rapp]

Win, Broncos play the Chargers.

[Will Compton]

So Broncos lose to the Chargers and the Patriots beat the beat Miami. They have the one seed.

[Greg Olson]

Right.

[Will Compton]

So that's you look at be like oh, I can see why Vrabel should be. It should be a coach of the year guy. I think Liam Combs should be in that 150, 160 range. If he's a third, put him at plus 160 because those guys do have a hell of a resume to say I should be coach of the year year, those three especially. I would throw Ben Johnson in there as well. It's incredible. What I mean Caleb Williams is a similar conversation too. Like this year it's like he's always bad habits, they're kind of masking him and stuff like that. But the kid is just, he truly has gotten better every single week. So it's, it's going to be awesome to see.

[Greg Olson]

And then again I'm not taking anything away from Variable because I think sure, yeah I do think there is an element also for some of those guys where they're calling the plays, they're coaching the quarterback, they're like. And again I'm not saying Variable is not doing a ton because he obviously has won in multiple spots. Again, I'm not making this an anti variable thing at all. But like last night when you're watching San Francisco fight that game out, you're watching Ben Johnson and Kyle Shanahan duel it out where the only reason San Francisco one is they scored 40 plus games, 40 plus points in regulation.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, it is impressive.

[Greg Olson]

Like that was two high level head coaches who were also calling the plays who are also coaching the quarterback who Were also like, that's. There's a. That's a big, huge impact. I mean, that's why those coaches are the ones. Everybody's trying to go find the advantage New England's going to have. And this was the brilliant. I give a lot of credit to Rabel for how he did this is. If you're not going to call the offensive plays as a head coach, the next best option is to hire a formally fired offensive head coach. That likely is not going to be stolen away from you anytime soon. Like, I don't know if Josh. For as good of a job as Josh McDaniels has done with Drake may. You don't ever hear his name as the next head coach. You hear Clint Kubiak and you hear all these. Because we've seen Josh Daniels be a head coach now, maybe in his next time he would do a great job. Who knows? But, like, there's an advantage to hire former fired head coaches as your coordinator on the other side of the ball because you're not fearful you're going to lose them.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

So that's the next best scenario if that play caller is not your head coach, a La Shanahan, McVeigh, Ben Johnson, etc. So it's a good setup what New England has.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

The Shanahan thing is so interesting to me because it reminds me of like, what I'm assuming it was like when people were watching Michael Jordan or Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, like these great, consistent players that were so amazing. LeBron James as well, where it's like they're doing incredible things, but eventually the public's like, okay, he does incredible things and kind of like take away from how. How successful they've been. And it's like, oh, that's just them. So you don't hold the weight of them being successful as much as you would. Vrabel, who comes into here first year at the Patriots, Ben Johnson. It's like, oh, Kyle Shanahan. Yeah, he's good. He's had a great year. A lot of injuries, but people aren't really realizing what he's done for the franchise.

[Taylor Rapp]

Right. I think they're slowly starting to come about it. Now him. Now him be becoming the favorite. It's almost like, yeah, if they win, like, he'll get it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

And he should stop voting. Remind me when this, like, when do all these awards. So it playoffs count?

[Will Compton]

The playoffs, they say do not count, but I think the voting ends after the divisional round.

[Taylor Rapp]

You might be right.

[Will Compton]

It's sometime in the Playoffs before the super bowl that the vote happens.

[Taylor Rapp]

So playoffs. So playoffs can become a mass effect, a massive factor. Yeah, it'll be. I'm. I'm excited to see what the Patriots do in the playoffs because again if you go by strength of schedule, they have the statistically the worst strength of schedule.

[Will Compton]

Who's this?

[Taylor Rapp]

The Patriots?

[Will Compton]

Yeah. That'll be interesting to see them in the playoffs as well.

[Greg Olson]

I have them for the first time this week so I'm actually just to like dive in. Drake is a study that watch them because I've only seen them from afar. I've seen highlights, I've watched clips, but I haven't actually spent any time watching them. So I got them Miami, I got Patriots, Miami and Foxborough this weekend. So I'm actually curious if my opinions of them change better or worse at the end of the week than where I am now before. I haven't really had a chance to dive in yet.

[Taylor Rapp]

I think they'll, I think they'll come out better. Like Drake May is such a baller. Everybody knows what Drake May's been doing but just offensively the, the, the vibe and feel like again we've played for these variable teams like when they have, when the culture's hitting whenever, when all the vibes are going in their win games. Like you just see the gel going on in New England. Their defense is salty. I think you'll have a lot of fun like diving into the weeds of the Patriots.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, the buy in's incredible.

[Taylor Rapp]

I think they can. Where, where, where it stands for me right now like before week 18 happens. Because week 18 obviously has a lot of implications. But let's say everybody handles their business and are slotted where they are currently slotted. Me, I see the super bowl being Seattle and New England is what I would call.

[Will Compton]

I would love that Super Bowl, Seattle.

[Taylor Rapp]

And New New England.

[Will Compton]

I would absolutely love it. Let's talk. I mean we know we gotta get you out of here. Let's talk playoffs real quick. If I said to you Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills and I left out Steelers and Ravens there because we'll find that out next week. Of those teams I just named who you got, who do you think has got the best? Because I feel like people are really on the nfc, but the afc, dude, like, like I have, I have no idea who's going to come out of that.

[Greg Olson]

I really don't. I mean I think we've been saying this every Monday morning for the last two months. Like the afc. I could make a really strong argument for every single one of those teams why they could win the whole thing and why they couldn't. I'll tell you who I think is sneaky. And I'm not saying this is my number one, but I might be. I think the Houston Texans are a sneaky postseason team.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Because defense is so now is so much more important. I've said this a thousand times, but like defenses can carry you a lot more in the postseason than they can regular season. They got off to a fast start. Those explosive plays on Saturday night against, against the Chargers, like that's what they need to be. Get Stroud pushing the ball downfield, hard play action stuff, throw it over the top of your head. So I think they're just good enough on offense to be just like middle of the road, hang in there, make the plays that are there. And I think they could be dominant, like suffocatingly dominant on, on defense. And we've seen, we've seen that formula work. Now I could make an argument for the Patriots. I do think at some point in the playoffs, like overall roster does start matter. Like when you start looking at like premier players, star players. I'm not sure where Jacksonville and New England are quite yet. You know, they're very early in this rebuild, quote unquote. So I do think they have some work to do there of just getting prominent players at impactful positions. But I think that AFC man is just so up in the air. I think LA and Seattle are the two clear cut over a long period of time. I think they're the two best teams now, whether they win or lose, who knows. But I think they're the two best teams in the NFC with. And then I, you know, we can debate the rest. But afc, I think it goes like five or six teams deep.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And one team he didn't even mention was the Broncos and they're the one seed.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

But that, that to me, that, that whole team is what does Bo Nicks do?

[Taylor Rapp]

So the way this would work out currently where it sits, because we don't know what's going to happen with the AFC north, we don't know what's going to happen with the NFC South. But where the bracket sits right now is Houston would play Pittsburgh. Houston's going to play whoever comes out of the north. And then Houston would have to go to Denver. I think Houston matches up really well against ever because that defense would be, would be nasty. That would be a big time showdown. Yeah, that'd be a Big time showdown in Denver. Houston versus Denver. Where I would lean is Houston because I agree with you, Greg, on that. That team just being like a sneaky, dominant team because their defense is so nasty and violent and they got the guys that can rush the passer, they have the secondary, they got backers who can fly around the football field. And then coming out on the bottom side, it would be. You'd have Jacksonville and the Chargers facing off. I would. I would take Jacksonville in that game. You got Buffalo and the Patriots. I would be taking the Patriots. And then I think Jacksonville coming to New England. That's where New England wins. And then you would have whoever the winner is out of. Out of Denver and Houston, which. Who knows. Who knows who's going to win that game. I just. Dude, it's going to be hard for me to bet against Drake. Bet against Drake May and just the focus of that. That everybody's going to be focused.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

But again, being in those, being in those positions, like with Vrabel, just knowing how he talks about the game and everything else, to me, it'd be hard to get off what Drake May can do.

[Will Compton]

And the run game is coming alive too. The run game's coming alive. Drake Mays doing the best deep ball since what Russell Wilson in his second year when they won the Super Bowl. Like that's kind of what it's.

[Taylor Rapp]

And New England being in a spot too to where if they, if they were to take down the Chargers or Jacksonville in Foxborough, they'll be set up to where if it's Houston coming out of it, they'll have to get through Denver. Like that'll be a very physical game. Who. The winner who comes out of that toward New England will be just positioned well. Especially if Houston wins, they'll be hosting that AFC championship. That's what you want.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, that's what you want. The only thing I disagree with is I kind of lean Denver over Houston.

[Taylor Rapp]

Because that's going to be an awesome game.

[Will Compton]

That's going to be awesome game. But I just think, I mean their offensive lines give up the least amount of sacks this year.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

And that's where it's like best on best. Let's see what we got here. But if you can slow those guys down even a little bit that you put yourself in a much more advantageous situation, I think.

[Greg Olson]

How many games in a row has Houston won like 7?

[Will Compton]

8.

[Greg Olson]

7 or 8?

[Taylor Rapp]

8 games in a row, I believe.

[Greg Olson]

And Jacksonville's one yesterday was their sixth in a row.

[Will Compton]

Here we go again.

[Taylor Rapp]

6 yeah, it's one of those. One of those.

[Greg Olson]

So again, I ask which team enters the playoffs with the most juice and the most momentum and the most energy and feeling the best they haven't lost in months.

[Taylor Rapp]

But if you talk about New England, too, like they've really only had one bad half of football. Buffalo came back.

[Will Compton]

Yes.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. They lost the momentum and that's all their momentum.

[Will Compton]

Well, the halftime, always. Halftime always resets momentum. It resets, goes back to.

[Greg Olson]

We haven't even talked about the Buff momentum checklist. So I know, like when it stops, starts when it ends, when it resets.

[Taylor Rapp]

I'll send you those lists.

[Will Compton]

There's a point system as well. As far as like three and outs, touchdowns, field goals. Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

You're always going to hear about momentum from me after the result happens.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. Which is. Which is smart. Which is smart because, you know, I would imagine that the team going in. The Texans. So the Texans play the Chargers this weekend.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yes.

[Greg Olson]

So let's.

[Will Compton]

They just play.

[Taylor Rapp]

Broncos play the Chargers.

[Greg Olson]

I'm sorry. They play the.

[Taylor Rapp]

Jacksonville plays.

[Greg Olson]

Oh, Jacksonville.

[Taylor Rapp]

Jacksonville plays the Titans.

[Will Compton]

Sneaky.

[Greg Olson]

Who does the Texans play?

[Taylor Rapp]

Texans play the Colts.

[Greg Olson]

Okay. So we don't know what's going to go on with the Colts. Does Philip Rivers play? Do they start Riley Leonard? Who knows? The Colts have lost all their momentum.

[Will Compton]

All of it gone.

[Greg Olson]

All of it.

[Will Compton]

People are saying it's Sauce Gardner's fault. That's what people are saying.

[Greg Olson]

They. And he's one in seven. One and seven. That's a tough season.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

So let's just say Houston keeps all their momentum and gets their, like, ninth win in a row. Tell me when their momentum ends. If they lose in the playoffs, when.

[Will Compton]

The clock hits zero.

[Greg Olson]

Got it.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. When they lose in the playoffs.

[Will Compton]

That makes sense.

[Greg Olson]

So they have all the momentum until they lose it. Is that fair?

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Correct.

[Will Compton]

I think there's something to be said about winning a lot of like winning your last six or seven games. Damn it. I didn't. I didn't mean to do that. They're winning those last games and rolling in the playoffs with momentum. That is a thing.

[Greg Olson]

I heard you say they were going to lose.

[Taylor Rapp]

I'm just saying it's going to be a battle in Denver. I like the way Houston matches up against Denver and them coming out of that game. The road that. The streak that they've been on. Houston Texans are the team where you labeled. You don't want to play them in the playoffs.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Like, they are that team. I just, in my brain, if I'm trying to predict everything right now before we get into week 18, where the bracket sits. Like they would just then after going out to Denver, they would then have to go to Foxborough and win in the AFC championship against a quarterback like Drake May. So that's where I would see they have all the momentum. Two teams got all the momentum.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Taylor Rapp]

Somebody's got to lose the momentum.

[Greg Olson]

Both get. Wait. Time out, Time out. This is gonna be. We both can have momentum at the same time.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Dude. Momentum is a fickle thing.

[Greg Olson]

This is crazy.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. They got all.

[Greg Olson]

I wish I knew all of this.

[Taylor Rapp]

And then if Seattle wins against the Niners, I think it's gonna be hard for Seattle to lose that at home at all in the playoffs.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, well, they'd have a ton of momentum, too.

[Taylor Rapp]

Ton of momentum. But if they lose to the Niners, they lose a lot of momentum now they become like a wild card team.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, but.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, that would be crazy if they lost it. But, like, I guess. When did they lose? It would be a fun thing to dive into.

[Taylor Rapp]

Like.

[Will Compton]

Right.

[Taylor Rapp]

Just depends.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's why you play the game. That's why you play the game.

[Greg Olson]

I'm fascinated by it. I think it's super interesting to look at it that way. And I'm going to lean more into it, I think, on my broadcasts.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, yeah. Houston's got to be the team that has too much momentum.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. We need an under over on grade.

[Greg Olson]

You have too much that you actually like, overdose.

[Will Compton]

Oh, yeah.

[Greg Olson]

The other way.

[Will Compton]

Oh, yeah, that. Yep. That's called getting cocky.

[Taylor Rapp]

It's called getting hit in the mouth.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah. It's called getting cocky.

[Greg Olson]

So we have different names, like up the threshold.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, there is that. There is definitely a sweet spot of momentum. There's a sweet spot. You got to have half.

[Greg Olson]

Does everyone have a different sweet spot?

[Will Compton]

Oh, absolutely.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

That's all based on the head coach.

[Greg Olson]

Got it.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. So. So a guy like Vrabel, now can.

[Greg Olson]

That head coach lose his. Like. So when did. Yeah, so Vrabel had no momentum last year, got fired, couldn't win it. But then he got. When did he get it back?

[Will Compton]

He went.

[Taylor Rapp]

He had to go. He had to go. He had to go live in the darkness. He had to go sit with Raz Al Ghul.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

For a year. And then he came back out of the shadows.

[Will Compton]

That's the thing about Braves, man. He can hold so much momentum. When you get too much momentum, you gotta truly reset. That's why he had to go to Cleveland for a Year.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. Vrabel's got the juice right now, too. He just randomly shot Taylor and I a text. Merry Christmas. Yeah, Merry Christmas. Love, dad.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, I looked at. Just smile and showed my wife. She goes. He really. He really does treat you like that all the time. Well, yeah, this is. This is my life of rapes.

[Greg Olson]

This might be my favorite five minute segment.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. But, dude.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah, I think I just find it fascinating and. And Twitter. Twitter really has been educating me a lot on, like, all of my shortcomings, my football takes because I don't put enough stock into. And again, I would. I would give it more credibility if someone could tell me when it stops and starts.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Listen, what game do you cover this week?

[Greg Olson]

Patriots. So tons of momentum.

[Taylor Rapp]

Tons of momentum. I'll watch that game.

[Greg Olson]

Dolphins. Dolphins had no momentum. Fired their gm, got momentum back, lost the momentum. Bench Tua Next game, no momentum. Quinyers are. Yeah, Quinyers no momentum. Last week, beat Tampa, who was playing for the division, got their momentum back.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Greg Olson]

And now they go to the Patriots. So two teams with really interesting momentum.

[Will Compton]

You know what he doesn't know. He doesn't know about backup quarterback, momentum or interim head coach.

[Taylor Rapp]

But Quinn did lose the first time you went out there.

[Greg Olson]

Well, they got.

[Taylor Rapp]

They just had. They had to. They just had to pull Quinn aside and say, hey, man, take. Don't, don't. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Just go find some juice. Yeah. Go crank it this week.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Don't take this game so serious out there and sling it.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Greg Olson]

Dolphins got momentum back. When the report came out that the coach wasn't going to get fired, do you think that built their momentum back up?

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of guys got some juice from that. I'll tell you what, Greg, I'll watch the game with you on certain live.

[Greg Olson]

Tweet, the momentum shifts.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

And I'll also text you. Just make sure you just check your phone so I can just be like, hey, it's time. It's time to talk momentum.

[Greg Olson]

Can we get on a group chat and we can talk momentum tonight through the game, the Monday night game.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yes. We got you. Yeah, we got you. We'll let you know when.

[Will Compton]

Just call. Call us between your commercial breaks and we'll let you know exactly where it's at.

[Greg Olson]

Hey, guys. All right. Welcome back here to snowy Foxborough Gillette Stadium, 14 7. Hey, guys. Joe, I just need to jump in. I just heard from the bus and boys, this momentum has completely flipped. There was no juice in the building. And now after that last three and out, New England has all the momentum.

[Will Compton]

Here's what Fox needs to do is they need to have meters. Yeah, meters of momentum of just like little like thermostats and you just slowly they gain, they lose traction and we can come up with a whole point system of momentum.

[Greg Olson]

How many times a game, in an average game like last night, how many times do you think momentum flipped in that game?

[Will Compton]

Great question. Early in the game, momentum was stagnant because both teams were scoring back to.

[Greg Olson]

Back like you think. The first play of the game. Pick six. Who had all the momentum?

[Taylor Rapp]

Niners.

[Will Compton]

Niners gave up the picks.

[Taylor Rapp]

Oh, yeah, my fault. Bears. Yeah, yeah. Niners threw the picks.

[Greg Olson]

I was like, wow. You just really. That, that was.

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[Will Compton]

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[Taylor Rapp]

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[Will Compton]

Hey audiobook lovers. This week on the podcast, I'm sitting.

[Greg Olson]

Down with musician, producer and Walking encyclopedia Questlove.

[Will Compton]

We're talking about Mark Ronson's memoir, Night how to be a DJ in 90s New York City.

[Greg Olson]

All right, like we talked about before.

[Will Compton]

Mark Ronson found sanctuary in the DJ booth.

[Greg Olson]

What's a tool or piece of equipment in the studio or on stage that.

[Will Compton]

Gives you the most control?

[Greg Olson]

So I have two microphones on stage. We have the microphone that you hear as the audience. Then we have a second microphone in which we communicate with each other.

[Ad Voice]

Other.

[Greg Olson]

I feel like that second microphone kind of saved all of our friendships. No, no band likes each other after 20 years or 25 years. Like, the Beatles broke up in seven and a half years. And we're going on 35. Listen to earsay the Audible and iheart audiobook club on the iheartradio app or wherever you get your podcast.

[Will Compton]

That was about to.

[Greg Olson]

Am I missing something? Where he threw the pick and then convinced himself that was the best thing for him. I thought maybe you had, like, something.

[Will Compton]

Now, hold on. There's something to that. Like, what's your quarterback's biggest fear? Throwing a pick six. Right.

[Taylor Rapp]

Get out.

[Will Compton]

Worst fear happens right away. You can't be affected. Now that's when you start to gain the momentum. Well, yeah, Live.

[Taylor Rapp]

Next to fear.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, next to it.

[Taylor Rapp]

Throw a big.

[Greg Olson]

Okay, so he threw the pick six, Chicago on the road, all the momentum.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

That's a defense that thrives off takeaways. Best takeaway team in the league, Dennis Allen. So they get it. First play of the game, pick six, and then they proceeded to give up 42.

[Will Compton]

Right. Well, there's a lot of things that happen. So momentum can be. Can be held in the hand, but it can't be owned just off of one plot. It's all about what happens the next series. I love that we're thinking through this right now. Yeah, yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Got a little stagnant. Realized, hey, our momentum isn't going to be defensively. This game is going to be offensively. Get the gun. We're in the shootout.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. And, Greg, can I ask you a question, please? What? When did you stop believing in momentum?

[Greg Olson]

Because I'm leaning into this as a joke.

[Will Compton]

No, no, no, no. But you. You also. You're also not a momentum guy.

[Taylor Rapp]

Greg's anti momentum. You're anti momentum.

[Will Compton]

What was it? What was it? What was the phrase? Your emotions. I understand you have emotions. However, they're not valid.

[Taylor Rapp]

They're not impactful.

[Will Compton]

They're not impactful.

[Greg Olson]

Let me be very clear. I'm going to give you my official stance on all this because right now I'm like over, we're having fun with the conversation.

[Will Compton]

We're having fun.

[Greg Olson]

There is no question in my playing career that there were games. I went into the game feeling better, worse, more confident, less confident. Like the game plan didn't, like the game plan, felt great about where my hands were. Like I felt like I could really catch. And there were other games where I was like, I don't know, like there's something about this catch here that I just, it's not, it's not hitting me right and I'm really overthinking it and I, I experience all of those ranges of emotions and all I'm saying is it had zero in output, had zero difference in the outcome of the game. Games where I went in and I'm like, I'm going to catch a hundred, I'm feeling good. I just had back to back hundred yard games. I'm feeling really good. I'd have two catches for 17 yards and I had two drops. We lost. I dropped the last third down. I probably should have caught it. I had, I was the goat, the bad goat all week long. Olson blew the game. And that next game you go in, you're like, I hope I get an early pass, I hope I get my going and you get 150. Like I, I don't know, like you.

[Taylor Rapp]

Get your momentum back.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, you got it back.

[Greg Olson]

I guess my momentum came and went is my point. So like, do I think emo, do I think this is an emotional game? Absolutely. Do I think teams and coaches should coach emotion? I mean you guys have seen my videos of coaching the kids. Like I am a passionate, competitive, emotional person. Like that's my personality. And I think football is played with emotion and football is played with energy. I'm not debating any of that is not a factor. It is, I'm just saying when it comes to decision making and trends and what we should do on the field from a decision making standpoint, I think we just put so much credibility into emotion and momentum and it's really just a replacement of. We don't really know why we're seeing what we're seeing. So we've just made up this non measurable, you can't quantify it. It's the only explanation why a team could go touchdown, touchdown, pick six, fumble, touchdown, touchdown, miss the two point conversion, get the onside kick. Like it's the only thing that explains the highs and lows of sport and we don't know what else to call it.

[Will Compton]

Momentum Momentum.

[Greg Olson]

That's what I think.

[Taylor Rapp]

Oh, so.

[Will Compton]

So he didn't answer the question.

[Taylor Rapp]

He's. Look, Greg's gonna become a moment.

[Greg Olson]

I didn't answer the question.

[Will Compton]

I want to know when you stop believing momentum.

[Greg Olson]

I think I. I think I. I'm not gonna say stopped believing. That's like saying, I don't believe in Santa. I still believe that there's a magic, the idea.

[Taylor Rapp]

He doesn't. Hey, Polar Express. He doesn't hear the bell anymore.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Taylor Rapp]

He doesn't believe in the momentum.

[Will Compton]

Good. Recent.

[Taylor Rapp]

Doesn't believe in the spirit.

[Greg Olson]

I started reevaluating trends in football probably after I was done. And I've gotten into this world now where I have to now get in front of millions of people every Sunday.

[Will Compton]

Nice.

[Greg Olson]

And I have to. Based on an hour of conversations with these coaches, which are varying degrees of information that they provide. And I have to be able to get up there and figure out, okay, how do I best present this game to an audience that might be die hard fans and this might be the first time they've ever watched either one of these teams. Right. So you've got to. You've got to split that baby and talk to the diehards. But you also can't assume everybody knows what they know because they might just put the TV on this weekend for the first time to watch Drake May. So we need to introduce Drake May and Mike Vrabel and all these guys to the world every single week. But we have to do that where I'm not in the building, I'm not in meetings, I'm not in the locker room. I don't know the juice. I don't know who's feeling good. I don't know that Taylor's ankle sore. I don't know that Wildo want to guard Darren Sprouls in the goal. Like, I don't know about any of this. So I have to look at the game through black and white trends. Okay. How are they in offensive efficiency? How are they in defensive efficiency? What coverages do they love on early downs? Okay. What does this team do on the early down run game? How do those match? What is there? And you got to start breaking the gown down the game through more of like an analytical perspective. Because when I put on the film, I don't know if the left tackle was supposed to have helped by the left guard on a full slide protection when he got beat in the B gap and gave up a sack. I think he should have, but I don't know what the protection really was. I wasn't in the meeting like I was when I was a player. So I think the only way for me to fairly evaluate these teams and present the matchup is a more analytical approach, because it's really all we have path. And as I've dove more into these trends and then I stand up there in the booth and I watch these games unfold more often than not. What that data, what those analytics, what those reports laid out throughout the course of the week, more times than not, is exactly how the game goes. It's exactly how the team plays. Early downs or the coverage or the blitz rate or whatever it is, like it typically holds pretty strong. I can't measure how hard you're playing. I'm assuming everyone's playing hard. So for me, it's not a factor. That is how I've now approached the game the last five years. And as I've approached it more like that, my understanding of the game and what I say actually happening on the field has gone up.

[Will Compton]

I love the way you just broke the whole, whole thing down.

[Taylor Rapp]

Who do you. Who do you call games with?

[Greg Olson]

Joe Davis.

[Taylor Rapp]

Joe Davis. I gotta tell you something, Joe. I gotta tell you something, Joe. New England losing that game a Couple weeks ago vs. The Buffalo Bills was the best thing to happen to this team because it has reignited and re sparked this momentum this team has going into the playoffs.

[Will Compton]

Love it.

[Taylor Rapp]

You hear what I'm saying?

[Will Compton]

Open.

[Greg Olson]

Would you guys. Your pants. Our pants.

[Taylor Rapp]

No, no, no, no. It's got to happen. It's got to happen in the game when the Patriots score. And then we'll be in the group chat. I'll say, say the line. And then I tell you what, Joe.

[Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

I love you. Say it back.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

What do you think Twitter would do? What do you think the Internet, how my mentions would be a dumpster fire.

[Will Compton]

No, no.

[Greg Olson]

If I said the word momentum, how much would people love to on me?

[Will Compton]

I think people that don't see this will, but the ones that do will love you forever for it.

[Taylor Rapp]

It'll be a turning point to where Greg now believes in momentum, in momentum. In the spirit of the playoffs.

[Will Compton]

Right. Just before 2026. He believes we reignited.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Greg's love for the game and the passion of momentum.

[Greg Olson]

2000. It's my last story.

[Will Compton]

You're leaving after this?

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's been. We've had him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Compton]

He gotta go.

[Greg Olson]

I'm gonna go do it. Hey, I gotta go sauna. I eaten. Guys. I don't even want to weigh in.

[Will Compton]

Hey, 20, 26.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Give us your story.

[Greg Olson]

Give us your story. Bad week. A lot of late night cocktails. I've really gotten into espresso martinis. We talked about that.

[Taylor Rapp]

Hey, coffee.

[Greg Olson]

Separate conversation.

[Will Compton]

Crazy.

[Greg Olson]

Anyway, 2015, we win our first 14 games. We're 14 and 0 on Christmas morning, we're 14 and 0. That weekend. We play the Atlanta. We play the Atlanta Falcons, who we had just two weeks prior. So in week 13, our 13th win, whatever week it was, in 13th win, we beat the Atlanta Falcons, like 30 something to nothing. Week 14, we win Christmas week, our 15th game. So it's week 16, we go to Atlanta. We had just beat them by 30. We were 14. And, oh, we had all the momentum. We're dabbing. We're fighting people in Tennessee in the end zone. I mean, we are. Right?

[Will Compton]

Your.

[Greg Olson]

Your fans are sending letters to the Charlotte observer because Cam's dabbing it like we. You talk about emotion and high energy and vibes, and you couldn't be a more vibe team than we were in 2015. We lose to Atlanta.

[Taylor Rapp]

Oh, got too much.

[Greg Olson]

We lose the cocky. Yeah, cocky, cocky. We too much momentum.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Greg Olson]

We lose to Atlanta. In Atlanta, week 17, we come home, a lot of debate about whether or not we should play the starters. We locked up the one seed. We play. We beat the Tampa Bay Bucks at home to finish the regular season 15 and 1. Bye week. We have all the momentum. Long story short, we beat Seattle. We were up 30 to nothing at halftime. Apparently, we left the momentum in the locker room. We had to recover an onside kick to win the game. We then beat the doors off of Arizona. We scored like 45. We were the number one offense in the league. We scored 30 plus against Seattle. We scored 40 plus against the Cardinals. We scored 10 points in the Super Bowl. So a year that was momentum and energy and vibes and good feelings and locker room. And we scored 10 points in the super bowl and lost.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Really brings you back.

[Greg Olson]

My point is, like, along the ride, were we good because we were good or were we good because we had vibes? Were we good because we had momentum? I just think we were good. And I think we won a lot of games that were close, and we blew a lot of people out because we were good. And cam was the MVP and we had 10 Pro Bowlers. So, like, was it momentum or were we just good? And then all of a sudden, did we lose the momentum or do we just play shitty? Like, I look back on the super bowl and I'm like, we played shitty. We didn't block Von Miller. I ran the first third down too short. I was a yard short, caught the ball, and we punted. Like, did we lose the momentum? I just think we played like shit and we lost. So, like, that's my point. Like, I look at that year and I go, if the momentum was so high, why do we lose the Super Bowl?

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, man.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, fair enough. Makes you really reevaluate.

[Greg Olson]

I should have ran deeper. On the first third down of the game, I ran a backside. I was so worried about edging. I had like a back. I had like a backside dig. I was late in the. I was late in the progression. I'll never forget it my rest of my life. That's why I have so many espresso martinis. And I gave, like, a quick little edge, but I probably. I got out fast enough that I could have gotten my depth, but they were playing like quarters and the safeties were real tight. I let them dictate and it was like third and nine. I ran like a seven, roll to eight, something like that. Caught it, got hit short. Nowadays you probably go for it. We punted and we fell behind by multiple scores, and we just never got going.

[Taylor Rapp]

So you didn't edge it up.

[Greg Olson]

And I'm already just run a shitty route.

[Taylor Rapp]

You didn't edge enough to keep it going.

[Will Compton]

Gotta edge enough. You gotta get lost.

[Taylor Rapp]

So anytime I get close to edging, there's no way I can keep the edge.

[Will Compton]

Same. I always lose the edge every time I'm close to the edge.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Every single. I get to the edge and I just jump off the edge.

[Will Compton]

I always say to myself, while I'm on the edge, I'm like, do I? This is right. Shut down the edge. And it's always like, finish.

[Greg Olson]

Well, now that I know once speaks.

[Taylor Rapp]

Of, oh, it's already. It's gone.

[Greg Olson]

Well, now that I know that once I have the momentum, I don't want to get too far to the edge of momentum, because you told me that's cockiness. Yep. But then I also have to evaluate in real time where my sweet spot of momentum is, because it's different for everybody. And then the last piece I've learned today was even though momentum is the number one factor of success, there's no way to hold on to it at any moment. You have to hand it back.

[Taylor Rapp]

Well, you got to recalibrate. You can't fucking drink your own Kool Aid. Right. You know what I mean? You can't think you're already Dead. Like there's ways to recapture the momentum, which I would ask you, when you lost the Falcons in week 15, was there a sense in the locker room like, hey, this is. Once you beat the brakes off the next team, you're like, hey, this loss is the best thing to happen to us.

[Will Compton]

Can't just suit up on a Sunday.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. We're about to go into playoff. Playoff mode. We are.

[Greg Olson]

We remembered that we're the Carolina momentum recheck.

[Will Compton]

Well, I was just going to say, if you guys don't lose the Falcons, you're probably bumped out in your first game. Divisional fair play out. Because then you don't have a momentum check. You got to have it just like the Patriots did.

[Greg Olson]

We scored 30 in the first half.

[Will Compton]

Right. But we already talked about the half resets momentum.

[Greg Olson]

So we scored 30 in the first half against Seattle in the divisional round because three weeks. Weeks, two weeks earlier, we lost in Atlanta.

[Will Compton]

Exactly.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. You're starting to get it.

[Taylor Rapp]

You're starting to come along.

[Greg Olson]

I'm starting to get it.

[Will Compton]

Because you remember, you go in half and you're like, oh, boys. Hey, remember three weeks ago, you might not say it out loud, but subconsciously in the back of the brain, that's where it's at.

[Taylor Rapp]

And then you thought to yourself, we're gonna beat the Broncos because Peyton Maine's got, like, a broken neck and this one will be easy.

[Will Compton]

He can't throw the ball more than 15 yards, which cocky. So.

[Greg Olson]

Yeah. Well, that's a great point. So what I'm hearing is I need to do a better job connecting two completely irrelevant, separate. Separate moments. Tying them together. How do we tie them together? Momentum.

[Will Compton]

Yeah. Yeah. I didn't like the way you said irrelevant because it felt like you were demeaning the conversation.

[Taylor Rapp]

You know why he's saying irrelevant? Factors that are extreme on both ends.

[Greg Olson]

I'm saying that he's telling us. No, I'm saying when he was thinking, maybe we're getting to do with each other.

[Taylor Rapp]

We're getting over our skis right now, Greg. Instead of standing up in the team meeting and be like, hey, don't smell your own. Yeah, we could lose this game if we walk in here with this attitude. He chose to stay seated.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Taylor Rapp]

You know what I mean?

[Will Compton]

Yep. Yep. Just marinating in all his momentum, which only turns into cocky.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. And he's like, no, you know what? We thought we were going to beat the. Out of the Broncos. We got humbled.

[Greg Olson]

Says, this is. This is eye opening.

[Will Compton]

Hey, before we get you out of Here, Greg, give me one New Year's resolution.

[Greg Olson]

I gotta get back. I'm getting back in shape.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, Every year we talk about it. Six months, I think six years. Every year I'm busting with the boys. Let's get jacked.

[Greg Olson]

But no, I'm not gonna get jacked. I'm like, sorry. I hope you guys get jacked. I'd be so proud if you get jacked. Here's how I look at it. I. For 14 years, I busted my ass. Like, I took my training very seriously. What I ate and my training, and I was super diligent and I was never drinking jacked. So I have no, like, false notions now unless I got on, like, the sauce or something.

[Taylor Rapp]

I was gonna say, now you can get on steroids.

[Greg Olson]

I g start doing, like, peptide, which I think is like, the craze. I gotta, like, look into it a.

[Taylor Rapp]

Little bit more, bro.

[Greg Olson]

So if I do come back jacked, I'm here on the record. If one day you see me and you're like, holy Olsen's yolked, I 100% took some sort of assisted substance peptide. I'm not saying juice, but, like, am I micro dosing some peptides and some Maybe. I'm not saying I.

[Taylor Rapp]

Have you gotten on testosterone yet?

[Greg Olson]

No, I'm on. I'm on hot dog beers and espresso martinis.

[Taylor Rapp]

Maybe look into some tea. You're not having any more kids, are you?

[Will Compton]

That's the next con. That's next week's conversation, next week's convo.

[Greg Olson]

We'll talk about after the new year, what we're doing to get our vibes. Right? But having said that, like, I just want to get back to, like, middle baseline, 41 year old dad.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Like, I'm fine taking my shirt off at the pool. No one's gonna be like, wow, that guy's in great shape. But everyone's gonna be like, yeah, I could see how he used to play pro ball. Like, he's a big guy.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you want.

[Greg Olson]

I'm looking for that. I'm not looking to be a hero.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, well, the thing you have going for you already, exquisite jawline. So in a T shirt, you're already running the game. The goal is not to look like a bodybuilder. The goal is to look in the mirror and not want to throw, grow up and be like, all right, I can understand why she wants to sleep with me. And that's. Oh, yeah, well, you. You would check this out. Be like, this can't be the reason that.

[Greg Olson]

It's sure not me. Check.

[Will Compton]

Yeah, it's not my body. Maybe it's just my personality now, you.

[Greg Olson]

Know, it's not my humor.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

It's not my body. Maybe I'm just a shitty dad.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. The goal is to feel good about having sex with the lights on.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Taylor Rapp]

Because I'm at a point where I need to be pitchfork black. I got to close the curtains. I got to close everything else.

[Will Compton]

Something to be said about the senses, though. You take away a sense and the other ones get stronger.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah.

[Will Compton]

It's nice.

[Greg Olson]

You can't see.

[Will Compton]

Yeah.

[Greg Olson]

Just. You're all over the map.

[Taylor Rapp]

Yeah. I'm in the world where I'm having sex with a T shirt on now. Right?

[Greg Olson]

Great show. Great show. Great show. In the last four months, this might be my favorite episode we've ever.

[Will Compton]

Oh, yeah. By far. By far. It's the end of the year, man. Nothing matters anymore. Nothing matters.

[Greg Olson]

New Year's resolution. We're getting back in shape. We're not going to be heroes.

[Taylor Rapp]

Not going to be heroes.

[Greg Olson]

I think we can do it together. We got to hold each other accountable.

[Will Compton]

Accountability buddies.

[Greg Olson]

I'm leaving this call, putting on my hoodie, my sweats. I'm going on the treadmill, incline walk, sauna. That's my afternoon.

[Taylor Rapp]

That's a great Olson.

[Will Compton]

We love it.

[Greg Olson]

Happy New Year's, boys.

[Will Compton]

Happy New Year, brother.

[Taylor Rapp]

See you next week, man. See you in the group chat.

[Will Compton]

Yep.

[Greg Olson]

Will set the group chat.

[Taylor Rapp]

I'll set it up right now.

[Will Compton]

The group chat. Set the group chat.

[Taylor Rapp]

Dude, I don't want to tell him. I gotta log his name.

[Will Compton]

All right. Hey. What an episode, huh? Mitch, we still roll. I saw you press some buttons. We're good.

[Taylor Rapp]

We're good.

[Will Compton]

All right, Greg. By the way, that was my favorite episode we've ever done with him. Incredible. Guys, we are gonna go and now shoot our best of episode for Bustle with the Boys that comes out out tomorrow, which is Tuesday at 6am Please check that out. All the boys will be on this thing. All the boys will be on. We have a cool little setup in the back we're not going to talk about. You'll be able to see it on YouTube, but once again, you've stayed this long with us. Please subscribe, please comment. We really appreciate you. Incredible year. It's been. Incredible year. Cannot wait to make 2026 our and it's all thanks to you guys viewing the show. Big hugs, tiny kisses.

[Greg Olson]

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[Greg Olson]

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[Greg Olson]

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[Will Compton]

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[Greg Olson]

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[Will Compton]

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[Greg Olson]

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[Will Compton]

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[Greg Olson]

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