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Damanze
This is an iHeart podcast.
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Nick Wright
Welcome in what's Right with Nick Wright Episode 414 Fresh off inarguably the greatest wild card weekend in NFL history. And we were Listen Sunday Night Football Chargers Patriots was fine but not great. And last night's game was a tough watch, but at least close until it was just a catastrophe. But prior to that we were on the following run of football games. Game 272 of the NFL season Raven Steelers comes down to the final moments. Game 1 of the College Football Playoff. Ole Miss Miami one of the best college football games in a decade. Game 2 of the College Football Playoffs Indiana trounces Oregon. Game 1 of the NFL Playoffs Panthers 10 1/2 point home Dogs against the Rams up at the two minute warning. Rams come back. Game two an instant all time legacy writing classic between the packers and the Bears. Packers up at the two minute warning and up 18 in that game. Bears come back and win. Game three. Jags Bills the There are four different lead changes in the fourth quarter, including a final two minute comeback by the Bills. And game four of the NFL playoffs. Eagles Niners another comeback in the final two minutes, including our long national nightmare of the Eagles title reign finally ending. Listen, not everybody can defend a championship. Not everybody can win the super bowl and then either win another one or go back to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs did every single time they won one. The Patriots did it a lot. That's not. That's not how the Eagles roll. So be it. And if that sounds petty and if I sound like a hater, and if I sound a little unprofessional, the answer to all those things are yes, yes and yes. I've had Eagles fans harassing me in the streets for 11 months of how was that super bowl worst year the Chiefs had in a decade. Eagles coming off defending super bowl championship one same amount of playoff games. Fellas. It just is what it is. How are you doing Damanze?
Damanze
I'm doing great. You got to see Pops. You're doing pretty good.
Nick Wright
I'm doing I. You know what? I do think this and then we'll get I want to start with Monday Night Football and get to this. I do think that of the nine best teams in the NFL this year, eight of them are left. And the only one who maybe could argue was in the top eight that didn't make it was Jacksonville. But Jacksonville over the course of the entire season wasn't as like you could say Jacksonville, you know, was better than Houston this year. But it felt like Houston had the really tough opening month and then was outstanding. Jacksonville was kind of mediocre for two months and then finished really hot. And so the the right eight teams are left and it sets up my favorite weekend of the sports year, divisional round weekend, which should be four epic games before we get to Rogers. Before we get to any of that, I I already reminded you guys, this episode of what's Right is All of Them is presented by Boost Mobile. Straight to voicemail. Also brought to you by Boost Mobile. Big Dom helped out. Oh, oh, sideline snag. I thought we were talking about the AJ Brown, Nick Sirianni, Ker fluffle. But no, Big Dom did catch a pass. Big Dom also is wearing a headset. I don't really know why. I'm not sure what what Big Dom, you know what he's chiming in on, but he's wearing a headset. NFL All Pro teams have been announced. Gives you a pretty strong indicator that Matt Stafford's going to win league mvp. Now I understand last year was the rare year year that first team all pro quarterback was one guy and the MVP was the other. With it being Lamar, first team All Pro quarterback but Josh league mvp. I don't think that's going to happen in back to back years. And Timmy Chalamet wins Golden Globe for best actor in Marty Supreme. I have not seen that yet. I want to see it. I like Timmy Chalamet. I kind of like the way he conducts himself. He also seems like a hell of an actor. I really liked him in Dune. He has an underrated small role in an all time movie but very hard. Not hard to watch but very emotional. And Interstellar before Real quick Demons. Have you ever seen Interstellar?
Damanze
I've not seen it but I've heard the pictures are great. I've seen that one scene where like the thing is coming to save. Yeah, that scene is me. Yeah.
Nick Wright
Okay, cool. So here's the thing. Interstellar's Christopher Nolan movie. Almost all Christopher Nolan movies except for the Dark Knight movie, he likes to mess with time. So it's a little confusing to wrap your mind around. Exactly. All of it but here's the other thing. It will have you found give me 30 seconds here and then we'll get to the sports. I promise. Have you found just like commercials or since you've become a dad in the last two months that all of a sudden like there are certain things that are otherwise would be banal that make you emotional.
Damanze
Sit on a little bit longer. Yeah, 100%.
Nick Wright
Yeah. So Interstellar @ it. It's a, you know, interstellar space travel movie but it's also a father daughter relationship movie. I think interstellar would make you cry like you like tears down your face cry. But it is an awesome movie. Timmy Chalamet's in that. All right. Reminder everybody like rate subscribe review to the pod. It helps us out a ton. We're still sitting. We we seem to have petered out on YouTube. We're just we didn't sit at 228,000 for a while. Maybe you guys can give me the updated numbers. We'd love to increase that. It also helps us a ton if you subscribe on Spotify or itunes. This was probably the worst game of the weekend, but it was the game last night. Oh, 229,000 now maybe you get to 230,000 by next week. It was the worst game of the weekend, but it's the one that happened last night. It also might have been the final game for a legend. So we'll start with Texan.
Damanze
Steelers. Yeah. Wild card. Wild card weekend ended with the Texans defeating the Steelers. Steelers offense couldn't do anything. Texans offense couldn't do anything, but the Texans won the game. When asked about his future after the game, Aaron Rodgers said, I'm not going to make any emotional decisions, but at 42 years old, do you think that this is the end of the road for.
Nick Wright
Him? Well, I didn't think that at all going into the game because Rogers had been talking about how he thought he would have one or two teams that would that showed interest. The fact that he had seemed to be playing some of his best ball at the end of the year. Steelers made the playoffs, all of that. But Buck and Aikman talked like they knew. The way Buck and Aikman talked at the end of that game and the way ESPN produced the end of that game following Rogers and all of that, it felt to me like they got a heads up that he's planning on retiring now if this wasn't already the case. Thanks to Philip Rivers Couple game cameo the long tale of Philip Rivers coming back after five years on the Couch is going to be that certainly next year and maybe for the next couple after. If any good team suffers a November or December quarterback injury, Rogers name will be floated and maybe he would come back in a setting like that. You know something the that if next year The Rams are 9 and 4 and Stafford goes down, could, you know, could he come back in that spot? I also think Aaron likes the spotlight enough that I don't think we are going to get a quick resolution on this. I think he's going to take his time. But I do think that last night was the de facto end for Aaron Rodgers and I do want to take some time here to talk about how I will remember and think about Rogers because last night's game will have no real impact on how I think about him down the road. I did think that you saw some things last night that were part and parcel to why a player as talented and generational as Aaron Rodgers was not considered a great leader and was not did not win at the level that his talent would have made you think he was going to win at. Because there was no less than half a dozen times last night where a play was not made by the Steelers or a pass was missed or the Texans got pressure, quick pressure, and Aaron made it very clear to everyone on the field, in the stadium and at home that that was someone else's fault. A lot of pointing, a lot of gesticulation, a lot of making it very clear to the whole world he screwed up, not me. Also. And I listen, I don't. I haven't watched the All 22. I don't know if the Texans change something in their coverage, but I do know that I've seen Aaron do this in big spots before. One of his guys let him down with a drop and he simply stopped going to him. DK Metcalf, which was one of the reasons I thought the Steelers could win this game was getting DK Metcalf back. DK Metcalf was a featured part of the game plan early. He then had a huge drop and Rogers didn't throw him another pass for two hours. And that is those things have always been part of the Rogers experience and. His career is so interesting because it would have seemed impossible. Demons A you weren't. You're only 12 years old and you were not a big football fan as a little kid. But it would not have seemed believable at all in 2010 that Rogers would never get back to another Super Bowl. It is not different at all from how people thought about Mahomes after his first super bowl. Want an mvp? You know, instantly came on the scene and was awesome. Obviously, Rogers had to sit, you know, for three years behind Favre, but by. By his second year in the league was considered maybe the best quarterback in football. And if in that moment people had said, Patrick's never making another super bowl, it would have seemed impossible. That's what it felt like for Aaron. And I know the biggest Rogers defenders, and once upon a time I was. I don't know if I was one of the biggest Rogers defenders, but I was certainly more sympathetic to his cause than I've been over the last decade. There are extenuating circumstances and some really unfortunate playoff losses that had nothing to do with him. Okay, so his first ever playoff game to Monze. They scored 45 points and lost in.
Damanze
Overtime.
Nick Wright
Wow. The. The first ever playoff game was a 51:45 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Now, the loss was on a strip sack returned for a. A touchdown. But that you score 45 points, that should be.
Damanze
Enough.
Nick Wright
Yeah. Second year in the playoffs, they win the Super Bowl. I'm now going to jump to the playoff losses that you feel like he has no culpability on. 2012, they score 31 in the divisional round against San Francisco. The Niners and Colin Kaepernick score 4. 45. And just. The packers defense has no answer whatsoever. 2016, the Falcons put up 44 on the packers defense in the NFC championship game. Feel like there's not much you can do there. The very next year. 2019, the Niners and a rushing attack that I think in that game they threw the ball. Was that the game? They threw the ball eight times. Yep. The Niners threw the ball eight times and scored 37 points to go to the Super Bowl. Those three playoff losses, and those are all huge ones, it's fair to say. What did you want from Aaron? What more could he have done? I'll add one more. The year they're defending their championship, they're 15 and 1. They're at home against the New York Giants. The Giants score 37 points in freezing cold and send them home to go on to win the Super Bowl. Those ones, the. Right. Those packers defenses were brutal.
Damanze
Right?
Nick Wright
Right. There are some other ones, though, that. That was not the. The story. And people remember the Seattle NFC Championship game. And what they remember is the packers were up 16 nothing and 19 to 7 demands A. With three minutes left in that game, up 19 to 7 with three minutes left in the game, they end up allowing a fake field goal touchdown. They allow an onside kick. They then don't get tough, they don't get the coin toss in overtime, Russell Wilson hits a 35 yard pass, they go to the super bowl, end up losing to Tom Brady and the Patriots. What people don't remember so much about that game was Rogers was awful. He had one touchdown, two picks, a 56 rating and they couldn't score in the red zone. The next year they're playing a Cardinals team. This is the game where Rogers hits back to back Hail Mary's to force overtime. And what they, and when I, when I say back to back Hail Mary's again, if people can't visualize the situation, they are in a fourth and 20 demand say on their own four yard line with 55 seconds left and Rogers hits a 60 yard pass. They then rush to the line of scrimmage, couple deep shots and then five seconds left on the 41, Rogers hits another Hail Mary. He threw 101 yards of passes on that possession to Jeff Janis to tie a playoff game. And then on the very first possession of overtime, the Cardinals go right down the field and score the first play of overtime. Larry Fitzgerald takes it 75 yards. They score the next play. But in that game prior to those two Hail Marys, the Packers had 14 points. Rogers had a passer rating in the 50s, again had 150 yards, one touchdown, one pick. And then obviously people remember the very end NFC championship game against Tom Brady in Tampa is really bad in the first half they dig a huge hole. They then are down eight with two and a half minutes left. They can't punch it in. LaFleur kicks the weird field goal. And then his final playoff game with the Steelers. The Niners did not score an offensive touchdown, but Rogers once again had a really weird game where all he would do was target Devonte Adams and they end up losing the game on a blocked punt touchdown. 13 to 10 with Rogers kind of throwing away the final possession. So well we with all that said, he's a four time MVP who has the all time record for passer rating and as far as the all time record for lowest interception percentage and at times looked like the most physically gifted player the positions ever seen. But the combination of his what I would call prickly leadership style, plus it's not me, it's you when things went wrong, plus not playing to an Aaron Rodgers level consistently in the playoffs is why a guy that good is going to finish his career. 11 and 10 in the playoffs. Or is it 11 and 11 now? Oh, 11 and 11 in the playoffs because they lost yesterday. And with only the one trip to the super bowl. If I were doing the all time quarterback rankings, he has the talent of a no doubt top five guy, but he can't. And I understand it's become very in vogue to throw, you know, a lot of people in top fives. You're not going to find a bigger Matt Stafford fan than me. But the idea that Stafford is a Super bowl win away from being top five all time quarterback is obviously on its face ludicrous. But if we're talking about the greatest quarterbacks ever, you have Brady Mahomes, Manning Montana, you can argue about the order for them. For me, John Elway and I don't know what you want to do with the old folks, Johnny Unitis, Bart Star, Otto Graham, those guys. But they've got to be accounted for in some degree. I can't speak to them, but I can't pretend. You can't do an NBA top 10 and not include Russell and Wilt. I don't know that you can do an NF top 10 quarterbacks and not include United star and Graham. So I don't know what you want to do with them. But now we're at eight names and then we can start having the Steve Young, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees discussion. And I know my colleagues are about to put Josh Allen in there as well as the most talented players. You see Josh Allen wild card weekend. The oh.
Damanze
Yeah.
Nick Wright
And so I think it's fair if this is the end for Rogers, one of the greatest players ever who underachieved. There is an element of Wilt Chamberlain to Rogers in that a uniquely talented player that up to that point in his career we had never seen anyone quite like him but didn't quite win at the level that that talent would have demanded. And it was because of some own leadership and stylistic failings. So there's my Rogers piece of it. I know you want to ask me about the Tomlin.
Damanze
Piece. So there's rumors about them wanting to move on from Tomlin, the Steelers at that. Do you think that they.
Nick Wright
Should? I don't. I don't think that they should, but I would understand if they did that these playoff. It's not just that he's now tied Marvin Lewis for most consecutive losses in the playoffs at seven. It's not just that it'll now be 10 years since they won a playoff game at a minimum, it's that they have been wholly non competitive in these playoff games. The first one. So. Well, if we're going to do the full streak. I guess I got to be fair. The first one was the conference championship game to the Patriots and again you're playing an all time Patriots teams conference championship game. But you instantly fell down 10 nothing. You're down 36 to 9 with minutes left. You lose 36 to 17. So you get annihilated in that football game that's lost one, lost two. On this Tomlin losing streak, you're at home with the buy playing Blake Bortles Jacksonville Jaguars and 20 minutes into the game Demons A, you're down 21 to nothing and you end up scoring a bunch of points. You know, you cut it to seven a couple times but you trail the entirety of the game. You lose 45, 42 and they get grizzlier from there. Lost three on this playoff losing streak. You're playing the Cleveland Browns and Baker Mayfield. You are down 28 to nothing in the first quarter. That's right. And you lose 48 to 37. Game two or I'm sorry, game two. Where are we at in this game five game? Game five, game five of the playoff losing streak. You're playing the Chiefs. You go up 7 nothing on a TJ Watt strip sack in the second quarter. You then find yourself down after being up 7 nothing 35 to 7, 35 to 7. Game 6 of the playoff losing streak last year against Buffalo. Midway through the second quarter you're down 21 to nothing. And so you lose 31.
Damanze
17. If they keep Tomlin, he has to focus on.
Nick Wright
Offense. The. Well, it's just. Hold on, hold on. Just because I got that wrong. That wasn't the. I got the year wrong on that last one, the Bills loss. That was not last year when you're down. That was two years ago. Last year's loss was to the Ravens where once again at halftime you're down 21 to nothing. And so, and then this year was a weird one because you were in it but your offense could do nothing and then you get annihilated but in the final score. So I would understand if Steelers fans are like, I'm, I've had my full here, Phil here. But I still think he is a really good coach and I would be scared of getting on that coaching carousel again. Now what were you saying to.
Damanze
Monze? No, I just think that maybe focus on something else. Bring in somebody else to help Tomlin on the offensive side of things. It's clear that he doesn't. It's not his side of the.
Nick Wright
Ball. I think.
Damanze
So. But that's a huge.
Nick Wright
Problem. So here's the thing though. So I think that makes sense in general, except for in these playoff games last night notwithstanding, the defense has been getting just absolutely.
Damanze
Crushed.
Nick Wright
Yeah. Now I want to give the Texans their credit and we'll talk more about the Texans on Thursday Show Weird game because CJ was awful. CJ was awful and it didn't matter because that defense was that good and that defense was that ferocious. But you saw how tough it is to do business that way because as great as that defense was and as inept as that Steelers offense was, that was a one point game or a four point game deep into the game. Yeah, it felt like they were one busted coverage away at any point from. Holy shit, the Steelers are going to steal this. I mean that game seven to six entering the fourth quarter. It's 10:6 in the fourth quarter with the Steelers having the ball before the Rankins fumble return touchdown that essentially ended the game. That Texans defense and d' Amico Ryan's deserve massive credit. But if that's how that offense looked against a good but not great Steelers defense in a game they had Nico Collins for a lot of next week, that defense is going to have to be just as good because I don't know what that Texans offense is going to be able to do. And by the way, I want to say something about the Nico Collins thing. Nico Collins pretty clearly got concussed on like the third game.
Damanze
Yes.
Nick Wright
Yeah. And they, they put him back out there and I understand it's the playoffs and I get. They put him back out there. Again. This is, I, this is naked reckless speculation by me. It looked to me like he got concussed on the first drive of the game. They checked him for it. They put him back out there and then when he got hit again later in the game, they, it was such a bad concussion at that point they said he didn't know where he was. He tried to walk back to the huddle and they had to cart him off. That's brutal, man. And again, maybe it was just coincidence that it looked like he got concussed. He didn't. And then a pretty typical hit gave him one of the worst concussions of the NFL season. But that's hard to sell. Me and the Patriots. Christian Gonzalez got a concussion, tried to go back out there and they prevented him from going back out there and he went in the protocol may. So maybe both those guys are missing next week. It would be impossible for me to think Nico Collins going to be able to play next week. Credit to the Texans defense maybe. You know what, Damanze? Maybe Caleb should call CJ and give him some pointers on on how to get back to the level he needs to be.
Damanze
At. Yeah, he should be.
Nick Wright
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Damanze
Eagles. After a season of iffiness The Eagles were defeated by the Niners even with George Kittle getting an Achilles injury. Chance got to get coach of the year, but he's just doing everything with.
Nick Wright
Nothing. It's been.
Damanze
Unbelievable. You've been on this train for the entire season. How are you feeling now that Philly is out of the.
Nick Wright
Postseason? Listen, I. I don't have anything against the players on the Eagles. To be clear. I find their coach wildly annoying. And the fans that I have interacted with in person, some of them have been some of the most irrationally annoying adults I've met in 10 years. So that's colored maybe my feelings on the Eagles a bit, to be fair. With that said, I'm able to remove myself from those feelings to analyze what I think is going to happen with a team. Not what I want. Everything I said right there informs what I want to happen, but the games and the information inform what I think is going to happen. And what I thought was going to happen with the Eagles in the playoffs was what happened with them all year long, which is they're impossibly inconsistent. Wildly underachieving offense would be that in the playoffs. And even against a Niners defense that was starting three linebackers who were not on the roster, two of them a month ago, and all backups, that is exactly what that Eagles team ended up being. A defense that could only do so much, as great as it was, and an offense that killed their season. You can't have a higher three and out percentage than just about any team in the NFL in a decade and flip a switch come the playoffs. You can't have 14 of your 36 halves this year Score 7 points or less and just flip a switch come the playoffs. And what has been consistent under Sirianni's tenure in Philly is every year, even before Saquon, they had a dominant running game with a quarterback that was a huge part of it. They did not have that this year. Saquon wasn't as dominant, the offensive line wasn't as good, Jalen wouldn't run the way he would in the past and they became a more traditional Other teams were able to defend them in a more traditional fashion where we don't have to devote every single one of our resources to stopping the run. Going to be able to devote a little bit more to stopping the pass. And they didn't have a consistent drop back passing offense all year. And for me, this season is a far bigger indictment on Sirianni than it is on Jalen. Jalen has earned to me Far more benefit of the doubt than Sirianni. We also know, listen, this was not a good game by Jalen Hurts. This was the. There have only been three. He's lost four career playoff games, a Super bowl and three in the wild card round. The three wild card round losses were all three losses where he played poorly. So this was only the third time he's ever they've lost a playoff game. And one of the fair fingers you can point is at him. With that said, that happens. And Jalen I thought was a steady hand for this team. Even though I thought his ability to read the field and his ability to make passes to every quadrant of the field or lack of ability there hurt them this year. But that, that's a. You'll deal with that. Because he's such a good leader. He's so tough. He's been so clutch historically. Like he's not. Listen, is he one of the five best quarterbacks in football? To me, pretty clearly not. Is he a guy you can win a Super bowl with? Literally? Obviously, yes. Has he upped his level of play in the two biggest games he's ever played in? Absolutely. So you can deal with some of that from Jalen. A bad game, missing a couple guys. Sirianni is a different situation where there were three major jobs for Nick Sirianni this year that presented themselves during the year. The first one was as an offensive minded head coach, how do we get our offense on track? He never answered that bell. The second one was do I need to make a mid season coordinator change? And as we've done in the past because Kevin Patullo ain't ready for this and isn't equipped for it, he chose not to. And the third one was am I going to be able to get my arms around whatever's going on with AJ Brown and if not, do we need to cut bait with him at the trade deadline? He was not able to get his arms around it at any point all year and they didn't trade him. He did find time to. Excuse me, he did find time to flip his shit at Bill's fans for no reason whatsoever and to generally act in a way no other NFL head coach acts. But he didn't do a good job this year and we have seen this from Philadelphia before. So I will say it again. Nick Sirianni enters next season with one of the hottest seats in the NFL. Like because we so many coaches got fired, it's hard to really like find coaching hot seats because most of the guys on the hot seat got fired already. But I would say next year. Just sitting here today. Aaron Glenn after that train wreck of a season. Zach Taylor after three consecutive missed postseasons with Joe Burrow, Shane Steichen after another cold season where they were.
Damanze
Okay, Tomlin or.
Nick Wright
No? Well, I don't know. The Tomlin thing that's the thing is I Tomlin, I'm not, I'm not sure where that's going to go. Tomlin laflore, are they going to be there or not? Like those are the two guys. Todd Bowles enters next season with a warm seat, but I don't know if any of those seats are hotter than Sirian next.
Damanze
Year. Well, yeah, I mean all those other coaches, this guy doesn't even really get along with his players. So I think those other guys.
Nick Wright
Don'T have that that to them the most of those other the packers would be the exception to this. Most of those other teams also don't have a front office that feels like yeah, you have a Super bowl caliber great team. And here is the other thing for Philly, that void money time bomb is waiting. And by that, here's what I mean. I'm gonna see if I can find the tweet the the Eagles run their cap in a way. Let me see if I can find it. No one else does and if I do find it, I'll send it to you guys. Maybe we can get it on the show, maybe not. But if not, it's okay. The I should have pulled this up before and okay, here it is. I'm. I'm gonna text it to our group chat right now. This is from Dan Rogers, so credit to him for doing the work here and sorry for doing this on the fly guys. The Eagles the one of the reasons the Eagles are able to have such a great roster is because they borrow from future years and oh you know what? I gave Dan Rogers credit. I really should have given SF data 49ers credit because they're the ones who built the graphic initially. So the Eagles have structured contracts to where and I don't think this necessarily dumb at all, but as I've talked about 90 seconds of nerd cap stuff here, every single dollar you pay any player on your roster at some point shows up on your salary cap books as a salary cap charge. The Eagles because their owner is willing to pay a lot of cash up front. The Eagles borrow from way down the line years by adding voided voidable years on the end of contracts to stack the roster. Now because it's like we've got A Super bowl caliber roster, team, quarterback, all of it. And then they take their medicine in a couple years, have a reset season and then you know, started started a new. But they have done it in a way that no team has ever. And don't put the tweet up yet, no team has ever structured it contracts quite like this. Like there's a half dozen teams in the league that just don't do void years that have 00 players on their salary cap with voidable future years. And again, if I'm describing this put demons on the screen. The way to explain it I think is the best way. So like let me use a league average team as far as void money in the future. The Rams are dead in the middle. 17th out of 32 teams and most money and void years they have 47 million in future salary cap charges that are going to hit their books in future years for money they have played. They have paid players that are on their current roster who won't be on the roster those years. Do you understand? So they have borrowed $47 million from future Rams teams for the players that are there now. Yeah, right, exactly. So now the cap will go up and so they'll, you know, the end. They probably think in, in a few years we won't have a super expensive quarterback. It'll be fine. So the Rams are league average at 47 million. Now throw up the tweet. The Eagles are at $422 million borrowed from future cap years, including $249 million as it's currently written, borrowed from the 2028 Philadelphia Eagles. So no, the only other team in the league that's above 200 million is the Browns. And more than half of that is the disastrous to Sean Watson contract. The the Broncos are in fifth. They did it to deal with in part the Russell Wilson dead money. You know, so the dead money the Lions, you know, have borrowed from well down the road a bit because they feel like basically the Lions philosophy I think is be as awesome as we can be right now and then by the time this void money hits, golf will be off the books. The Eagles have a contractual bomb ticking in the form of the 2028 season is when the chickens come home to roost and you retool. Which makes the 2026 season all the more valuable to them. And it also is why when people talk about them trading AJ Brown, it's really not that simple. So AJ Brown, because they've structured his contract and with AJ they have all those void years as well. If they wanted to cut him to Monze right now for next season. AJ Brown's cap hit is a super manageable, super cheap $23 million. But if they were to cut him, his cap hit to not play for them is $72 million. Because all that other money gets accelerated. If they trade him, his cap hit becomes $43 million. Now you can split that up into the 2026 and 2027 year. We don't have to spend as much time on this as I'm doing right now. My point is this. The Eagles have. Because they have an aggressive owner who's willing to spend money, they have an aggressive gm. They have put. And they won a damn Super Bowl. Like they went to a Super bowl two years ago or three years ago. They won it last year. This philosophy objectively has worked and has been smart, but it makes this type of season failing all the more painful. And it.
Damanze
Makes. Because they're going to be trash in a few.
Nick Wright
Years. Well, I, I don't think the amount of money they have, I think that they will have much like they had after their last super bowl win a couple like years later. They had a super down year and then immediately got back. So I don't think they're going to be. It's not like the Saints. You're like just off in the wilderness four years, but you're going to reset the roster in a couple years. So having. It's a really weird trend they've been on of the last five years. Bounced in round one, make a Super bowl, bounced in round one, win the super bowl, bounced in round one. Now you win another super bowl, make another super bowl, feels great. If next year goes poorly, I think a ton of changes come to Philly. So that's my Eagles, you know, stance on it. And I just think Sirianni's got to grow up a.
Damanze
Bit.
Nick Wright
Yeah. And I also think that the thing for Jalen is because the film is never going to be super impressive. The thing about your, your rep being I'm just a winner, you gotta win. And them getting bounced in round one in a home playoff game and him playing poorly, it's not, you know, cataclysmic, but it dings him a bit. All right, let's talk Niners for a.
Damanze
Second. So we know the 49ers guys have been dropping throughout the year and they just.
Nick Wright
Lost. Yeah, it's that power plant. Have you following that.
Damanze
Story. Well, what's going on with the power.
Nick Wright
Plant? The. I don't know. It's probably. I Probably sound like an idiot, but there is some like energy way station or something that's next to the Niners practice facility and stadium. And this guy who wrote a book called Sunlight is Life went out there with a gaussometer and checked like the energy waves and basically he's telling us the Niners players, ligaments, tendons, all that are getting Chernobyl. Yes, exactly. Getting Chernobyl. And that's why for a decade they've been the most injured team. I'm not saying I believe that theory, but I'm not saying I don't believe it. They have been so injured every year for a decade and there's been no explanation. This guy thinks he figured it out. I can't rule it out, but go.
Damanze
Ahead. So, yeah, Kittle. Kittle just tore his Achilles. Do you believe in this team still or is this just too many injuries for them to still keep.
Nick Wright
Winning? I mean it. We just saw him play the Seahawks and that game was close. Yeah, they were in it like that game turned. Didn't that game turn on a Brock interception late. And I'm going to give Brock some credit here in a minute but like I. Let me, let me check this. I feel like that's how I remember it. Yeah, I mean threw a picnic. That game was third. I guess turned is maybe unfair, but that game was 13 to 3 niners and. Yeah, that's.
Damanze
The. Yeah. And then he.
Nick Wright
Threw. I'm sorry, 13 to three Seahawks. I misspoke. 13 to three Seahawks and the Niners in the early fourth quarter have a second and goal from the six to make it 13 to 10. And that was the pass he threw to McCaffrey. McCaffrey bobbled it and the Seahawks guy took it and that basically ended it. Point is they were in that game kind of their deep. The Niners defense did a good job against Darnold in the game for the one seed last Sunday night or the last Saturday night. Two Saturdays ago. So it feels like ruling them out would be disrespectful. But Seattle's on two week is on a week of rest. The Niners are on a short week. The Niners are keeping it together with scotch.
Damanze
Tape to the Seahawks too. They have their most of their team. This is understandable. They're playing with guys that weren't even playing this year.
Nick Wright
That's. And it would take a Darnold catastrophe, I think for the Seahawks to win that game. But none of that should take anything away from what I think is an all time great coaching job by Kyle.
Damanze
Shanahan.
Nick Wright
Yeah. Just an all time coaching job by Shanahan this year. And I know he turned the ball over. I know he made some mistakes. I thought Purdy had a hell of a gutsy performance against an excellent Eagles defense. Like I'll give Purdy credit now, was the nicest pass thrown all day by a Niner. Thrown by their wide receiver. Yes. But I still will give Purdy credit for what I thought was a really impressive and another nice come from behind playoff victory like that was. And the play to McCaffrey was great. And so. But I, I think this is the end of the road. I also think that is a hell of an impressive season for the Niners in that division and with those injuries. All right, we maybe could have led with this. Let's talk about the game of the.
Damanze
Weekend. Your boy Caleb pulled off the upset. Were we calling this an upset? Were they favored in that.
Nick Wright
Game? It went back and.
Damanze
Forth. Yeah. So he pulled, he pulled off the comeback. I think they won a game where he didn't lead in an offensive snap. Is this you. You put, you put. You waved him earlier in the year. Is this where you imagined him last year when you said that they were going to win the Super.
Nick Wright
Bowl? Well, I didn't say they're going to win the Super.
Damanze
Bowl. I said make the Super Bowl.
Nick Wright
Sorry. And listen. Yeah. I thought Caleb at the beginning of this year was shaky because he was and he has been shaky in the first half of all three of these Packer games. They played the packers three times. Demonte, they beat them twice. They had the ball with the lead, zero.
Damanze
Snaps.
Nick Wright
Yeah. In the whole, in the whole. In all three.
Damanze
Games.
Nick Wright
Right. The packers had 106 snaps with the lead. The Bears had zero and the Bears won two of.
Damanze
Them.
Nick Wright
Resiliency. But the, the, the reason that. So there's, I mean, there's two angles here. There's the packers absolutely blowing it, even though Jordan Love your guy was awesome and just fight like I've never seen a team. The packers had the ball seven times after going up 21 to three and scored a touchdown and never turned it over and the Bears got. Did turn it over and the Bears came back anyway. Like when the, when the Jags came back against the Chargers four years ago, the Jags every single time they had the ball to scored a touchdown. The Bears are kicking field goals, they're getting stopped on fourth down and they still came back. That's a catastrophe of a.
Damanze
Loss. Also a Ben Johnson thing. Yeah, it's. It's Ben Johnson in what direction? I will in a good way. Like, I just feel like if he's able to do that type of stuff even after turning the ball over.
Nick Wright
Having to kick field goals, I mean that's what's interesting. He also had what I thought was a bizarre fourth down decision early in the game when they went for it on like 4th and 4 on their own 32. Like, I didn't know what they were doing. He seemed like he was on tilt, but they came back. And yes, he gets a lot of credit for the play design on coming back. But the story of that game and why that game will be remembered is it was Caleb Williams on full display that there are things he can do that only two other guys in the league, Mahomes and Josh can do. That throw he made on 4th and 8 down 11 season on the line, gliding to his left without his feet set, with three defenders around the guy he's throwing to. I say this without hyperbole. It's one of the five best catches or one of the five best throws when you consider the degree of difficulty, the context and the stakes in the last decade in the NFL and the, the things he can do cannot be taught. So you just hope he gets better at the things that are easily taught. But the Bears that teams this year not named the Chicago Bears demons a when trailing by double digits in the final five minutes are 3 and 1:59, the Bears are 3 and 3. It is these comebacks that they've had. It's not down four goes get a drive. It's down two scores late and they just do it again and again. Now that's a not year over year. Well, the Chiefs weren't down big. They just oh yeah, they close.
Damanze
Games. Yeah, it's just very.
Nick Wright
Close. And but to your point about the Chiefs, that's, that's not year over year sustainable, but it might be sustainable next week. It does mean that they are the only team in these playoffs that if they're down 10 entering the fourth quarter, feels.
Damanze
Fine.
Nick Wright
Right. And, and it I if Matt Stafford retires and I don't think he will but just let's say they win the super bowl and he's like, all right, I'm done. For me, Caleb will enter next year the best quarterback in the nfc, as good as Jordan Love was yesterday. I like Caleb Moore. I, I think he is I, I, I take him over golf. I take him over anyone in the NFC east, take him over anyone in the NFC South. I Stafford's the best, but he he is that guy. And for all you know, whatever people want to say about his personality or his emo, how emotional he is, and you can see the emotion for good or for bad during the game. His teammates have rallied around him and his coach loves him. And I, I think Caleb Stafford. Next week is the game of the divisional round weekend on the Green Bay side of things. Quickly, before we get to Bill's Jags. To Monse, this team was 9, 3 and 1, and then Micah Parsons got hurt and they never won again. Two teams this year anticipated they were going to have Micah Parsons, and when they didn't have him, their season just fell apart. And it's now. The packers should have won that game anyway, but their. Their championship hopes ended up when Micah went down. You ever notice how everything keeps going up? Rent's going up, streaming services are going up. Even your favorite burrito spot is all of a sudden charging you extra for salsa. But with Boost Mobile, you and your phone bill don't have to play the will this go up soon Game. Why? Because Boost Mobile has an unlimited talk, text and data plan at a price that'll never go up. In fact, it's the same price you'll pay for life. So switch now for unlimited wireless at a price that'll never go up. Only at boost mobile, after 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. All right, let's talk Bill's.
Damanze
Jags. All right. Probably game of the week. Trevor ended up losing this game. I know that's your guy. The Bills won. You called that one. You said earlier in the show that the winner of this game was going to the Super Bowl. After seeing that game and how it played out, is that still how you.
Nick Wright
Feel? I mean, listen, the Bills are a flawed team. They're not as bad as some people make them out to be. They have a great offensive line, they have a great running back, they have a good pass defense, they don't have good receivers and they don't have a good run defense. But they also have the second best quarterback of his generation and the best quarterback generation in these playoffs with respect to Stafford. And Josh is on an all time playoff heater. Since Josh Allen Demons A lost to the Bengals in the divisional round three years ago, he's played six playoff games. Now he's lost two of them to Mahomes. But in those six playoff games, he has 16 touchdowns, no. No turnovers and a 105 rating. And this is why the some folks thought they were defending Josh Allen by giving pre writing excuses for how the Bills were going to lose and explaining how it was unfair to ask Josh Allen to win a road wild card game against the Jags. And that's disrespect. That what, what doing that does is it lowers the stakes. And if you lower the stakes then when you come through it's less impactful, it's less resonant. It was important that Josh Allen find a way to win that game. It was important after in 2023 he had the ball in his hands down less than a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the divisional round against the Chiefs and didn't come through. And then in 2024 had the ball in his hands down less than a touchdown in the conference championship game against the Chiefs and didn't come through that this year. He had the ball on his hands in the fourth quarter, down less than a touchdown against the Jags and he made one of the best plays of his life, that 40 yard throw down the field to Brandon Cooks to then set up the game winning touchdown. That's how you write your legend. And if the Bills now have an opportunity to go into Denver and keep in mind Josh Allen played college football in Wyoming, which is at a higher elevation than Denver. So he's got, he's used to it. He goes in there against that defense and does it again. He then gets to be a game away from finally reaching a Super bowl and knowing he's not going to have to deal with Mahomes to get there. He was great. He was great. Now do people go a little over, you know, Collins calling him the greatest, I think the greatest quarterback he's ever seen, is that too much for me? Sure. But he's great. He is a future hall of Famer. He is at his peak of his powers. He's banged up, it doesn't matter. He's finding a way. That's how you become a legend. I hate that it came at the expense of my guy Trevor. Trevor in that game demons, a third quarterback ever to in the fourth quarter of a playoff game have to go ahead touchdowns and lose the game. Drew Brees in 2011. It happened to Josh in the 13 seconds game and Trevor in that game. Now Trevor made a huge mistake at the end of that game. You're down three of a minute left, you have the strongest leg kicker in the league. You don't need to force it and he forced it. And the reason they were in that position was because in my opinion The Bills made a huge mistake by scoring when they did. There's a minute five left. The Jags have no timeouts. You're on the one. You can do a fake quarterback sneak, essentially. You don't have to go, but you don't have to kneel and lose a bunch of yards. But the optimal thing for the Bills to do in that spot would have been snap the ball to Josh, have Josh fall down right where he gets it a little bit forward. The Jags aren't going to hit you because they want you to score. And then you have three timeouts. There's a minute five left. The Jags have zero. You can. It's a very simple math equation there. What scares you more if your goal is to win the game? Only having three chances to get one yard and the Jags being left with less than 20 seconds, or having four chances to get one yard and the Jags being left potentially with a minute? The bills and Sean McDermott chose the latter. They obviously should have chosen the former. The. The optimal decision there is what Vrabel did at the end of a first half earlier this year. Have your guy go down, let the clock run all the way to 20 seconds, call your first timeout, and then you have three shots, if you need it, to score and leave the Jags with no time. The Jags were thrilled the Bills scored when they did. But then Trevor made the big mistake, and I. If Trevor had come through, if Trevor had driven the length of the field in that final minute and the Jags scored a touchdown, I promise you, I wouldn't be on TV or on here killing Josh Allen. Ah, you got to win that game. He was great. That would have been a junior varsity version of the 13 seconds game when no one has ever criticized him for that game. So it's not that it's binary, win or lose, but it is. How did you play and did you put your team in position? And Josh was brilliant. Josh was absolutely brilliant. Did you want to say something to.
Damanze
Monza? Yeah. No, he was solid. And it kind of reminded me when. When they got the ball after the pick or just in the late games, I just kind of felt. Late in the game, I just felt like the Bills, it was their destiny. And I knew that Josh Allen.
Nick Wright
Was kind of going to do whatever he sure felt like. Yes. You had that confidence that he's going to make this.
Damanze
Happen.
Nick Wright
Yeah. And that's the last step of.
Damanze
Greatness. Yeah. Also, this is like a very, very sidebar. The. The Jags. The Jags reporter that, you know, telling hype and Liam calling up, you know, saying you'll get him next year. That was crazy. Like, that was because I feel like there's a lot of outrage for it. And I.
Nick Wright
Just. What do you think of the.
Damanze
Outrage? I think, I think that it's for something else. Like, I, I think that. I don't know. I, I think that it's crazy. Like, I think that there's, like those press conferences are, are there for, you know, reporters. I don't want to say poke fun at coaches, but just kind of make their life a little bit more difficult and explain themselves. And I feel like most of the time it's in. I wouldn't call it condescending or derogatory, but it's more negative than it is positive. And this one time somebody tried to make it positive. And, you know, people are pissed about.
Nick Wright
It. The number of people that publicly whined about this old black lady trying to make Liam Cohen feel better showed their ass so much in this. Let me tell you something. You know what feels great? No matter how down you are, having an old, nice black woman tell you, pick yourself.
Damanze
Up. Yeah, I'm.
Nick Wright
Familiar. I'm just, I'm.
Damanze
Just. I get it. It's like a Southern hospitality type.
Nick Wright
Thing. Yes. And it, and that woman's been part of the press for decades. And now would it be a problem if that's what the entirety of the press conference was or if it.
Damanze
Were like a regular season? Like, if it were like, games but they're out of the playoffs? Like, it's done. Like, just this.
Nick Wright
One. Everybody's the. Some of the media is so self serious. It was 30 seconds. Doesn't matter. It also gave me an idea for this week's sports media ombudsman on the TV show. I'll share it with you guys right now. A little sneak preview, because I loved it. I think every NFL team's postgame press conference for the coaches needs to have two designated chairs. And they each get one.
Damanze
Question.
Nick Wright
Okay. And one chair is. And you call it the homer and the haters. And the coach has to answer a question. The homer gets to say whatever they want, pick them up, and the hater gets to just Absolutely. Even in wins or losses, rip up the. And so the homer and the hater we. The coach can decide he has to start with one and end with the other, and he can decide how he wants to do it. And in the middle is everybody else's questions. But I, I, the. And here's the other thing. Just to my media colleagues. You're allowed to have an opinion on that lady, and keep it to yourself or keep it to your group chat. You don't have to tweet about it. You really, really don't. All right, we, we've gone so long, we haven't even gotten to two of the games. So let me just try to quickly get to these other two patch Chargers. Listen, Drake May was shaky early and then was very good late. It was a pretty typical first playoff game. You saw some jitters. But he's so talented. He came through. And the Patriots defense was awesome. I'm not. I spent enough on this yesterday on TV arguing with Danny and at this point, it just it the facts are what the facts are. Justin Herbert's played 10 consecutive F minus quarters of playoff football. Justin Herbert has the second lowest career playoff passer rating ahead of only Andy Dalton. Justin Herbert, now that the all 22 guys have gotten a hold of that film, had guys open the first three quarters of that game a lot and wouldn't pull the trigger. Justin Herbert's comments after the game make it sound like a guy who's in his own head. No one has denied that Justin Herbert is talented. But the fact that in consecutive years he has played his single worst game of the year in a horrible postseason loss is not nothing. The fact that no quarterback in NFL history has lost three playoff games in a row where their defense forces 10 turnovers like Herbert has is not nothing. No quarterback in the last quarter century has lost three playoff games in a row where their defense forces more than five turnovers. Only one other quarterback, Chad Pennington, has lost three playoff games in a row where their defense forced more than four turnovers, more than four turnovers in the last 25 years. Herbert's defense has forced 10 turnovers in all three of these games. His defense has put his team in the catbird seat early in these games by a lot or by a little. And in all three of these games he has been somewhere from below average in the first one to God awful in the last two. That is what it is. And if six years into his career you're still holding on to what a pretty ball he throws against the Broncos in September. I don't know what to tell you for the Patriots moving forward. They sh that they should be able to handle Houston as great as that Houston offense is, the Patriots in a really good position to either be going to Denver, who they're better than, or at home against Buffalo, who they've beaten. And last but not least Rams, Panthers. Listen, this would have been a catastrophe for the Rams. A true. How the hell did that happen? Loss. Instead, it was just an ugly, ugly win where Stafford was not that good and Puka saved the game with a super high IQ play, breaking up the interception. I also had De Mon, if I can pat myself on the back. An all time impromptu line yesterday on the TV show, did you see.
Damanze
It?
Nick Wright
No.
Damanze
Puka. What was.
Nick Wright
It? We showed Puka saving the game, breaking up what would have been the game.
Damanze
Ceiling. Did it have something to do with the tackle that turned the tide or something like.
Nick Wright
That? No, no, no, I said. Because it was such a heady play by Puka. Yeah, and I said that Puka uses up all his IQ points while on the field. And it's just once he leaves the. Once he leaves the game, he's just, he's such a smart player. Like it just. It. The reserve is totally tapped and the next six days he can't use any IQ points because he has to save them for the.
Damanze
Game. That's pretty.
Nick Wright
Good. And then in the game he's just unbelievable and he's making smart plays and he's one of the best receivers we've ever seen. And then the game ends and he's just like in rest mode, it's like, all right, and so that's pretty solid. But he saved the game. But here's the thing. It's the playoff. So it doesn't matter how it looks in a win. We know the Rams can be great offensively. We know they can be. And now they get an opportunity to be great offensively against a bad Bears defense. And you know, the Panthers, that was a valiant performance. They were, they, they hung way tougher than I thought they would. They had a real chance to win the.
Damanze
Game. Beat the Rams once. Man, we on the Carolina might be something we might not know, but.
Nick Wright
You know, I don't, I don't buy that. But it's a nice season for them. Yeah, this is like a cowardly way to do things. But right now, this moment, as we sit at the divisional round, because I had said, I thought I going into the playoffs, I said I thought the Rams were going to the super bowl and they were my pick to win it once the, you know, when the playoffs were set and I said I thought the winner of Bill's Jags goes to the Super Bowl Bowl. That is what I right now. That would be my pick. Rams over Bills in the Super Bowl. That's what I think we are going to get and the Rams survive in.
Damanze
Advance. So heartbreak for Josh coming.
Nick Wright
Up. Well, but getting to the super bowl is a big deal. I mean that yes, for the and for the Bills fans that would be five Super Bowls and five super bowl losses and so that obviously wouldn't be great. All right. Do me a favor. I appreciate everyone who sent in questions today. We will add those to the questions we're going to do on Thursday. We'll do more questions from the audience and these on Thursday. But I gotta run. Great show. Great weekend to playoff football. We will see you guys back here on Thursday. A huge thanks to Hard Rock bet to boost to Blue Duck and the volume. Thank you to you demons A say hi to your mom for me who's out in LA and I will see you guys on Thursday. I'll see you on with Colin in about an.
RingCentral Advertiser
Hour. What's right this is an I heart.
Damanze
Podcast. Guaranteed.
Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Nick Wright, with co-host Damanze
Network: iHeartPodcasts and The Volume
This episode is a rapid-fire, passionate recap of what Nick Wright calls “inarguably the greatest wild card weekend in NFL history.” Nick and Damanze break down all the major storylines from the weekend’s NFL playoff games, including Aaron Rodgers’ possible finale, the Eagles’ flame out, the Bears’ historic comeback, and stunning performances across the board. The episode delves into QB legacies, coaching futures, and what’s next for the NFL’s most dramatic franchises. Peppered with humor, blunt opinions, and technical football analysis, this episode is a must-listen for NFL fans who want depth with personality.
[00:35–03:08]
[07:24–22:29]
Rodgers’ potential retirement looms after the Steelers’ offensive collapse to the Texans.
Nick on TV cues indicating a Rodgers farewell:
“The way Buck and Aikman talked at the end of that game... it felt to me like they got a heads up that he's planning on retiring.”
[08:06]
Leadership critique:
“There was no less than half a dozen times last night where... Aaron made it clear that [failure] was someone else’s fault. A lot of pointing, a lot of gesticulation, a lot of making it clear to the whole world—he screwed up, not me.”
[09:05]
Rodgers’ underachievement:
“His career is so interesting because it would have seemed impossible... in 2010, that Rodgers would never get back to another Super Bowl.”
[11:56]
Comprehensive breakdown of Rodgers’ playoff history—what was and wasn’t his fault (extensive stats, specific games called out).
On legacy:
“He has the talent of a no doubt top five guy, but he can’t... If this is the end for Rodgers, one of the greatest players ever who underachieved. There is an element of Wilt Chamberlain to Rodgers.”
[22:29]
[23:22–29:51]
Discussion shifts to Steelers coaching.
Nick reluctantly acknowledges Tomlin’s run has gotten stale (“I would understand if Steelers fans are like, I’ve had my fill here. But I still think he is a really good coach... I’d be scared of getting on that coaching carousel again”).
[27:23]
Critique on Steelers’ playoff competitiveness: many games not close, often big early deficits.
[28:06–31:22]
“It looked to me like he got concussed on the first drive... and then when he got hit again... it was such a bad concussion at that point they said he didn’t know where he was. That’s brutal, man.”
[29:55]
[33:42–50:27]
“The Eagles were defeated by the Niners even with George Kittle getting an Achilles injury. Sirianni’s got to get coach of the year—but he’s just doing everything with nothing.”
[33:53] (Damanze)
Nick goes in on Eagles fans and Sirianni:
“I don’t have anything against the players on the Eagles. I find their coach wildly annoying. And the fans… some of the most irrationally annoying adults I’ve met in 10 years.”
[33:59]
On why the offense failed: inconsistent, unable to “flip a switch” in playoffs, running game not dominant, Hurts forced to pass.
On Sirianni:
“He did not do a good job this year. Nick Sirianni enters next season with one of the hottest seats in the NFL... I just think Sirianni’s got to grow up a bit.”
[50:25]
Salary cap “time bomb” explained—Eagles have borrowed $422 million from future cap years, making the 2026 season crucial.
[42:10–49:27]
[51:04–54:26]
Niners’ unprecedented injury woes brought up—joking theory about a nearby power plant’s energy waves “Chernobyl-ing” players’ ligaments.
Despite injuries (Kittle’s Achilles), Nick credits Kyle Shanahan:
“Just an all-time coaching job by Shanahan this year.”
[54:27]
Brock Purdy gets props for “gutsy” playoff performance.
[55:25–62:37]
Bears complete a comeback over the Packers despite never holding a lead until the end (“Resiliency!”).
Nick on Caleb Williams’ talent:
“There are things he can do that only two other guys in the league, Mahomes and Josh [Allen], can do.”
[57:56]
Bears’ historic trend:
“Teams this year not named the Chicago Bears, when trailing by double digits in the final five minutes, are 3–159. The Bears are 3–3.”
[59:17]
On Bears' late-game confidence:
“They are the only team in these playoffs that if they’re down 10 entering the fourth quarter, feels fine.”
[60:08]
Caleb’s stock: will be best QB in the NFC if Stafford retires
[62:37–69:21]
Bills beat Jags in a wild finish; Josh Allen praised as “on an all-time playoff heater” (16 TDs, 0 turnovers, 105 rating in 6 games).
Nick on Allen:
“This is why the some folks thought they were defending Josh Allen by pre-writing excuses... that lowers the stakes. And if you lower the stakes then when you come through, it’s less impactful.”
[63:25]
On Trevor Lawrence’s critical late-game mistake, but “not just binary, win or lose—it is, how did you play, did you put your team in position?”
[69:42–72:02]
Viral clip: Jags reporter told coach Liam Cohen, “You’ll get ‘em next year.” Nick defends the gesture against media outrage:
“You know what feels great? No matter how down you are, having an old, nice black woman tell you, pick yourself up.”
[70:59]
Suggests each coach’s press conference should include “the homer and the hater” chairs for balance.
[72:44–79:23]
Drake May “shaky early and then was very good late”; Patriots defense “awesome.”
Justin Herbert playoff disappointment chronicled:
“Justin Herbert's played 10 consecutive F- minus quarters of playoff football. Herbert has the second lowest career playoff passer rating ahead of only Andy Dalton.”
[74:33]
Rams survive a scare vs. Panthers; Puka’s game-saving play and Nick’s running sports IQ joke.
Nick’s Super Bowl pick (as of divisional round):
“Rams over Bills in the Super Bowl.”
[79:18]
| Segment | Start (MM:SS) |
|-----------------------------|--------------|
| NFL Wild Card Recap | 00:35 |
| Rodgers' Legacy | 07:44 |
| Tomlin Discussion | 23:22 |
| Texans’ Victory/Collins | 28:06 |
| Eagles Meltdown & Sirianni | 33:42 |
| Niners Injuries | 51:04 |
| Bears Comeback & Caleb | 55:25 |
| Bills-Jags Thriller | 62:37 |
| Media Outrage Segment | 69:41 |
| Quick Hitters, Others | 72:44 |
This episode is a comprehensive, candid review of every major NFL playoff storyline from a legendary wild card weekend. Expect critical legacy discussions (Rodgers), biting coach analysis (Sirianni, Tomlin), historic comebacks (Bears/Caleb Williams), injury mysteries (Niners), and a variety of football meta-commentaries—even media and press conference culture. If you want strong opinions, stats, and genuine playoff passion wrapped into a single podcast, this is the replay you need.