PMS 2.0 1493 - NFL Conference Championship Weekend Preview/Picks, Adam Schefter, Bill Cowher, Shams Charania, Jim Cantore, & AJ Hawk

Summary

The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 – Episode 1493

AFC & NFC Championship Weekend Preview / Coaching Carousel / NBA Trade Buzz
Date: January 23, 2026
Host: Pat McAfee
Co-hosts: AJ Hawk, Connor Rogers, The Toxic Table (feat. Bone & Tone Digs)
Notable Guests: Adam Schefter, Bill Cowher, Shams Charania, Jim Cantore

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Episode Overview

On the eve of NFL Championship Weekend, Pat McAfee and crew host a packed Friday show, previewing both the AFC and NFC title games, breaking down the ongoing NFL coaching carousel, and taking a look around key NBA trade rumors as football season winds down. Guest insiders Adam Schefter and Shams Charania join to discuss the latest headlines, while Hall of Fame coach Bill Cowher offers stories and perspective on culture, leadership, and the Steelers’ coaching search. Weather icon Jim Cantore closes it out with talk about the impending winter storm set to impact the games. The episode mixes sharp analysis, high-profile scoops, classic McAfee banter, and plenty of memorable moments.

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Table of Contents

1. Championship Sunday Preview & Storylines
2. Sean Payton, Mike Vrabel, and the AFC Title
3. NFC Preview: Rams vs Seahawks & the Sam Darnold Narrative
4. Adam Schefter: Coaching Carousel Updates
5. Bill Cowher: Steelers Legacy, Coaching Insights, and the Vrabel Effect
6. Gambling Lines, Matchups & Playoff X-Factors
7. NBA Headlines: Shams Charania on Giannis, LeBron, & the Trade Market
8. Weather & Game Impacts (Jim Cantore)
9. Fun, Memes & Memorable Quotes
10. Timestamps for Key Segments

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1. Championship Sunday Preview & Storylines

• Pat sets the stage for a weekend where “banners are being hung” and Super Bowl tickets are on the line ([00:17]).
• “The New England Patriots, way ahead of schedule in a rebuild, with Mike Vrabel as the head coach, the chosen son coming back... Taking on Denver... number one seed…” ([00:27])
• The AFC: Patriots’ dominant defense squares off against Denver’s surprise backup QB, Stidham, in a battle of coaching titans.
• The NFC: Rams (Stafford, McVay, “maybe two of the top five wide receivers in the NFL”) travel to Seattle, whose coach “set the precedent 21 months ago—‘It’s going to be hell for them, just right for us.’” ([01:00])
• Reverence for the rise of Geno Smith and the resurrection of Sam Darnold’s career.
• McAfee celebrates the rarity and urgency of playoff football compared to other sports: “This is win or go home. There is nothing like playoff football.” – Connor Rogers ([05:38])

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2. Sean Payton, Mike Vrabel, and the AFC Title

• Patriots’ defense credited as possibly “historic—what they did to C.J. Stroud, five turnovers last week.”
• Denver QB Stidham highlighted: “His first actions in the AFC Championship go back to the second preseason game... 300 yards in a preseason game. Absolutely going crazy.” ([00:41])
• Vrabel’s leadership lauded, and his now legendary “cut off my bleep for another Super Bowl” comment is referenced ([09:13]).
• Both franchises respected for their turnarounds, with coaching and organizational culture front and center.

Memorable Quote:

• “Sean Payton’s considering crowd part of the team. ‘Hey, we need you in the huddle. If we’re going to have home field, let’s get a huddle yell.’”
  — Pat McAfee ([07:03])

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3. NFC Preview: Rams vs Seahawks & the Sam Darnold Narrative

• Rams: “Always had success... now back where they think they’re supposed to be.”
• Seahawks: “Got a coach that’s a prophet... I want dogs, I want toughness, I want togetherness.” ([00:57])
• Extended discussion on Sam Darnold—his perceived reputation as unable to "win the big one,” and the ghosts of his past in Minnesota.
  Pat: “I would like to say this is not the same Darnold... A story being resurrected... would be beautiful.” ([02:53])
• Both NFC teams noted for toughness and high-end skill players; Seattle praised for organizational unity.

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4. Adam Schefter: Coaching Carousel Updates

Segment Start: [10:23]

• Jesse Minter to Baltimore as DC: “He was supposed to fly out to Cleveland, never made the trip... Baltimore just saw Jesse Minter, knew him from the four years he spent in the organization.” — Adam Schefter ([11:31])
• Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti’s approach: “They will have input, but they will not have power. I have all the power.” ([13:14])
• Buffalo’s head coach search: Unique process, Josh Allen “sitting in on the interviews”—debate over how normal this is ([14:44]).
  • “If you’re an MVP... why would you not include him in the conversation to hire a head coach?” - Schefter ([17:09])
• Philip Rivers interviewing for Bills HC: Would join rare company going directly from player to NFL head coach ([16:27]).
• Browns, Cardinals, Steelers, Raiders also searching—Schefter details latest buzz and candidate buckets ([19:57]).

Notable Quotes:

• “Phil Rivers has a chance to become the third person in history to become a head coach without any prior head coaching experience at all.” — Schefter ([16:25])
• “A loss for one of those coaches is a win for their head coaching chance.” — Schefter ([22:51])

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5. Bill Cowher: Steelers Legacy, Coaching Insights, and the Vrabel Effect

Segment Start: [24:16]

• On the “mystique” and standards in the Steelers building: “It’s a special place... total transparency, total collaboration.” ([25:01])
• On hiring trends: “Chuck Noll was 36, I was 34, Mike Tomlin was 34... the trend has been young.” — Bill Cowher ([25:55])
• Advantages of veteran coaches (e.g., Mike McCarthy) but value in growing a young staff “underneath what your system is about.”
• Offensive coordinator succession especially key for defensive HCs: “If you have success, that guy’s going to get a head coaching job.” ([27:32])
• Cowher’s leadership philosophy: “I coached the coaches, so I let the coaches coach the players.” — Bill Cowher ([29:40])
• On letting great players “be them”: “I did not want to harness greatness. The more you could trust his instincts... you allowed him to do certain things.” (Troy Polamalu, Rod Woodson stories) ([32:10])
• Vrabel praise: “He was not a pain in the butt to coach... He would ask questions nobody else would.” ([39:12])
• “When you break someone’s will is when you know you’re going to run it and they know you’re going to run it—and you continue to do it... That’s breaking the will of an opponent.” — Cowher ([41:22])

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6. Gambling Lines, Matchups & Playoff X-Factors

Segment Start: [60:16]

• Patriots/Broncos:
  • Line moved from -5.5 to -4.5 Pats, “reverse line movement.”
  • This would be only the 2nd time ever a home team (Broncos) is a 4+ pt underdog in a conference title game ([61:14]).
  • Defensive sack matchup: “Pats have given up five sacks in both of their playoff games. Broncos #1 in sacks by a wide, wide margin.” — Bone ([66:35])
• Rams/Seahawks:
  • Seahawks -2.5, about 80% of betting action, but line holding steady.
  • “After watching film, Seahawks dog walk the Rams.” — Bone ([63:07])

7. NBA Headlines: Shams Charania on Giannis, LeBron, & the Trade Market

Segment Start: [79:18]

• Celtics lauded for regular season dominance despite injuries: “You have to give Jaylen Brown a lot of credit.”
• Thunder, Spurs, Denver in the West; “OKC is a machine... SGA is a leader for MVP.”
• Giannis Watch: Frustration in Milwaukee is “at an all-time high.”
  • “The writing is on the wall for Giannis and the Bucks. The only question is how, when, and what it looks like.” — Shams ([85:58])
  • Knicks offered for Giannis last summer; both sides pointed fingers over lacking seriousness ([93:28]).
  • “His comments after the game, the frustration Giannis has, it’s at an all-time high... a splintering environment.” ([85:58])
• LeBron & Lakers: “The end is near... whether that comes at the end of this season, or if LeBron decides to retire, or comes back for one more year.” — Shams ([98:04])
• Other buzz: Ja Morant’s future, Jaren Jackson Jr. trade interest, Zion as a question mark.

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8. Weather & Game Impacts (Jim Cantore)

Segment Start: [112:51]

• Massive winter storm moving across the country: “Huge area of ice... adds 800-1000 lbs to a power line, trees down, catastrophe.”
• “Broncos had all home games above 60° this year... now, for the AFC title, they’ll get teens, 20s, wind chills single digits. A whole different animal.” — Cantore ([118:48])
• Denver: not much snow, bitter cold.
• Midwest/Northeast: “8-12 inches of snow, big pow!”
• “When you break the will of your opponent... that’s breaking the will of football. Same as with the weather.” — (paraphrased)
• Fun aside: “Exploding trees” explained (sap freezes, bark blasts off).
• “Stay safe!”—classic Cantore sign-off ([122:50])

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9. Fun, Memes & Memorable Quotes

• “Do you love ball?” — McAfee to Cowher ([36:41])
• “Not everyone is Rod Woodson. Not everyone can do that.” — Bill Cowher ([32:10])
• “They’re like Greek yogurt ass!” — Pat describing the Bucks underperforming with Giannis ([90:14])
• Extended riff on Pittsburgh’s McGee Women’s Hospital:
  “What a place, what a magical hospital.” — Pat ([51:00])
• “If you don’t know if you’re a five star, you’re not.” — Bruce Arians, as relayed by Cowher ([34:51])
• “I did a sit-down with Vrabel... he would ask questions nobody else would even think of. That’s why I knew he was going to be something special.” — Cowher ([39:12])
• “Reverse line movement” and betting jargon gets the full McAfee banter treatment.
• Pat and crew break down the mechanics of “fresh pow” (snow powder) and snowball fights ([124:01]).

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10. Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |--------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00-06:15 | Episode opening, championship weekend setup | | 10:23-23:17 | Adam Schefter joins: coaching carousel breakdown | | 24:16-53:22 | Bill Cowher on Steelers, coaching, Patriots culture | | 60:16-70:00 | Playoff lines, key matchups, “reverse line movement” | | 79:18-104:57 | Shams Charania on NBA trades, Giannis, LeBron | | 112:51-122:50| Jim Cantore: weather impacts on the games | | 124:01-128:00| Betting picks, closing banter, show wrap-up |

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For Listeners Who Missed the Show

This episode of The Pat McAfee Show is the full McAfee playoff experience—big games, big guests, sharp analysis and plenty of laughs. The AFC and NFC Championship Games are broken down wall-to-wall, with deep dives into coaching storylines and underdog narratives (Stidham! Sam Darnold!) as well as the inner workings of NFL team culture, roster building, and even player input into coaching hires. Plus, Adam Schefter and Shams Charania serve up the latest NFL and NBA headlines, some of which are set to rock their respective leagues in the coming weeks.

Cowher offers a masterclass in Pittsburgh tough, explaining leadership, assistant coach management, and how Vrabel’s fingerprints are already all over the Patriots. The show doesn’t shy away from the fun—whether it’s breaking down McGee Women’s Hospital, lost-in-translation media controversy, or the science of “fresh pow.” And, with a major winter storm rolling in, Jim Cantore ensures you’re as ready for the weather as you are for Championship Sunday.

For NFL and NBA fans, this episode is loaded with content, entertainment, and insight—not to mention highly quotable moments and all the irreverent McAfee energy that’s made the show a daily staple.

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Bonus: Notable Quotes to Remember

• “There is nothing like playoff football.” – Connor Rogers ([05:38])
• “If you’re an MVP... why would you not include him in the conversation to hire a head coach?” – Adam Schefter ([17:09])
• “I did not want to harness greatness.” – Bill Cowher ([32:10])
• “The writing is on the wall for Giannis and the Bucks. The only question is how, when, and what it looks like.” – Shams Charania ([85:58])
• “Broncos had all home games above 60°... now the AFC title, teens, 20s, wind chills single digits. A whole different animal.” – Jim Cantore ([118:48])
• “Do you love ball?” – Pat McAfee ([36:41])

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Enjoy Championship Weekend!

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humbled abode, the Thunderdome. On this championship weekend eve, Feel good. Friday, January 23, 2026. This program begins now.

[Connor Rogers]

Football.

[Bone]

He didn't play it safe.

[Connor Rogers]

Are you kidding me?

[Pat McAfee]

It is championship weekend. Even due to a illness in Ty Schmidt's family, he is not able to make it here today. And we appreciate him and Godspeed to his family as they battle, I think the flu hitting their house or something along those lines. So we appreciate so today's show on this championship weekend eve. And I know this show is going to be spectacular because what we're doing this weekend is we're crowning champions. We're hanging banners in some buildings. We are seeing who will be representing in the super bowl now. The New England Patriots, way ahead of schedule in a rebuild. With Mike Vrabel as the head coach, the chosen son may be coming back to New England to restore glory to a team that had the greatest dynasty in the history of sports. Taking on the Denver Broncos, number one seed in Sean Payton has a backup quarterback who used to run rough shot on all of high school football in the state of Texas. And now his first actions in the AFC Championship game go back to the second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, though, in stutham. And Sean Payton's offense one bananas 300 some yards in a preseason game. Absolutely going crazy. Maybe he'll be able to do the same to the New England Patriots, who have a defense that should be talked about, maybe as historic, especially with what they were able to do to C.J. stroud, five turnovers last week. Obviously they were smothering everybody. And then the Los Angeles rams and Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, who've had a couple different iterations of this particular team, have always had success. And now they're back where they think they're supposed to be, which is the NFC Championship game. Trying to fight to get to the super bowl against the Seattle Seahawks squad. That is awesome. Now, not that the Rams aren't. The Rams are special. They got the mvp. They got maybe two of the top five wide receivers in the NFL at any given time. They got a couple running backs, great offensive line, a defense full of hungry dogs. But in Seattle, they got a coach that's a prophet. This guy's first team meeting just 21 months ago said, I want you guys to envision something, okay? It's going to be January, it's going to be about 30 degrees. There's going to be a little bit of rain. We're going to be hosting NFC Championship game. It's going to be hell for them. Just right for us. As he was trying to set the precedent of what this era of his football is going to look like in the Seattle Seahawks building, he told everybody what he wanted. I want dogs, I want toughness, and I wanted togetherness. That was the first meeting, and now he's living it out. And Sam Darnold, listen, I didn't. Kyle Van Noy came on the show yesterday. We love Kyle Van Noy, the man. We think you're probably going to see a lot more of Kyle Van Noy in this particular program going forward, which we certainly hope for. And if he goes and plays football again, still, the entire thing he said and did something that I think. I don't. I don't think it's fair.

[Connor Rogers]

It's ridiculous. It was unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Only. Only people that are rude would do this.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Into a micro.

[Jim Cantore]

Not us.

[Pat McAfee]

He was reading what other people were saying about Sam Darnold and said, hey, people are saying it's the same Darnold. The same Darnold that everybody would be referring to would be. A guy that can't win in the big game in the biggest moment's not going to be able to play his best ball. Just a year ago, whenever he's with the Minnesota Vikings, they were competing for the number one overall seed in the NFC the last week of the regular season. Shit the bed, then next shit the bed again. And then they said it's Sam Darnold's fault. Not because the team played bad, not just because he had an off night, but because Sam Darnold can't play well in the biggest game. And they're in the NFC Championship game right now hosting it, number one seed. And people are still saying that about Sam Darnold. Until people see Sam Darnold win a championship, till they see him win a Super bowl, there's always going to be the ghosts haunting him from the past. There's always going to be conversations about, can he get it done. I would like to say this is not the same. Donald. And I believe Kyle Van Noy was hoping for that as well. Because what we would like to see is a guy's story being resurrected both in Minnesota and here in Seattle as maybe a trash scrap bust, as they would call it. Becoming a Super bowl champion would be a beautiful story, especially because, you know, other people will be inspired by it all. So congrats to the Seahawks and McDonald. Congrats to the Rams getting back to where they think they're supposed to be and they always have been with McVay and then the Patriots and the Broncos having a massive Sunday for us. We're lucky to be a part of all of it and chat about it. Let's go to the toxic table. Looks a little different today at BostonConnor. Obviously ready for playoff football. I appreciate that. And next to him, Eric Murphy, 32, also referred to and known as Deebone. Thank you for joining us, Debone. Thank you guys for having me. Oh, man.

[Jim Cantore]

Move a little close.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, jeez.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm a big fish out of water up here, but I'm happy to be here. Thank you guys for having me.

[Connor Rogers]

That's it. That I. I thought the football thing at the beginning was going to be enough. That's it. Bo. I can't even freaking look at you, man. Scoot closer to the mic. Move up, move up. Maybe turn your headset up a little. You sound like a fool. Friggin talk into this thing, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, is this better? No, no, it was definitely better. Yes. It was definitely not the best. Okay, good. Better. We're trying to get there with Ben Johnson. You do need to potentially bring the boom a little bit. Con man, this is obviously on you, but let's get back to you. Championship weekend, you're back in. All of us are thinking to ourselves, there's only three games left. We got two championship games, the AFC and the nfc. And then we just call it Super Bowl. We got Tuesday night flag football game happening in a convention center over there in San Francisco a week or so away.

[Connor Rogers]

Can't wait.

[Pat McAfee]

Can't wait for that side to start. That's the bell of the ball. Yeah, you packed out in there. But for the rest of us, it's like we only got three football games left. Let's go ahead and enjoy it. And the numbers for these games, everybody seemingly is enjoying that. I appreciate that fact. But you're like still have the anxiety. You're still in it, you're backing it if you know, I guess I could describe it more accurately. How does it feel to have your team still dancing?

[Connor Rogers]

It feels amazing. It is truly one of those things you were dreaming about when your team is bad and then to actually be here is remarkable. There's no real sports like football. You wait all week for one game. You know, you think about the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs and it's every other night, you know, you kind of bounce back immediately after that game and it's a seven game series. This is win or go home. There is nothing like playoff football. There's nothing like being a fan of playoff football. And I'm just so, so grateful that the Patriots are here and I can't wait for Sunday, especially with Staddy at the helm for Denver. It's a big challenge.

[Pat McAfee]

And you know, you said wear and go home. Booty kind of said something along those lines as well.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And then that kind of ran and had a life of its own in its entirety. You know, a lot of people looking for any sense of disrespect, but what Booty was trying to say was, hey, we got two week break regardless here, maybe even more. If you lose this game, you're off. Because Sean Payton came out, I believe, and told his fans like, hey, we need all you got here. Again, I like what Sean Payton's doing with the crowd. He's acknowledging that the crowd could be an advantage. I think the crowd appreciates that. As opposed to it coming off as condescending to crowd or questioning crowd. It feels like Sean Payton is considering crowd part of team. Hey, we need you in the huddle. Hey, if we're going to have home field advantage, let's go ahead and get a huddle. Yell, okay, going forward. Not saying you guys stink. We're just saying, hey, we can all get better. He is coaching them up. He did it again. He said, hey, listen, if we're worried about energy or juice or anything like that, you don't have anything for two weeks until the Super Bowl. Okay. And then case on Booty comes back and says, yeah, like actually you can go Cancun out. It's no matter what, you're going to have a break for a while. If you're just kind of selling out the program, how do you feel about kind of potentially trying to find some disrespect? And also, how do you feel about Sean Payton getting his crowd to be a member of the team? I love it, Con man.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. I love what Sean Payton is doing. And this has always been his thing. This isn't like a exclusive to him in Denver, like him talking trash, kind of being that guy. I think it's awesome. And he's not saying anything about the team, by the way. He's just saying like, hey, everything you got here, then you can have a nice little two week break after going to the Super Bowl. His expectation is to go to the Super Bowl. That makes sense. Now, the case on Booty thing, you know, people running with that first. It started with underdog sports who does fake stuff all the time. And they kind of misquoted K's on Booty because he said, hey, look, you. Like you mentioned, you can go to Cancun and get a rest there. They do that underdog sports on the Internet. Keisha Booty then comes out and says like, hey, that's not what I was saying this morning. Fake news. First take, they go on and they basically say like, no, this is a real rift back and forth type thing. Surprising that they did that because it's completely irrelevant. And Keisha Booty clarifying immediately after seeing the firestorm starting. That makes a little sense. Yeah. I was saying it's obviously win or go home, so you'll rest regardless. Trying to clarify.

[Pat McAfee]

Isn't it crazy though? Just like one change of you and they in the quote, can really change the narrative of everything. That's why context matters, you know, and if you happen to just hear things out of context about people, you can't just automatically judge them or their stories. We've certainly been got before.

[Connor Rogers]

No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

First take, I got here with this entire thing. But on that note, feels like these are two teams that probably respect the hell out of each other, if I had to guess. Because if you look just back a few years ago, they weren't supposed to be here. You know, that is not how both these teams are supposed to be. Sean Payton, we all assume hall of Fame coach, certainly Vrabel gonna be a Hall of Fame coach, has to win a Super bowl. Obviously. He says he would. He says he cut off his.

[Bone]

Yeah, his dong.

[Connor Rogers]

His Song Ya dong.

[Bone]

Is that the tennis player?

[Connor Rogers]

No, that UFC fighter Suga Sean. They're going up against each other on Saturday.

[Pat McAfee]

Which one of the greatest names we have heard.

[Connor Rogers]

Awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

I wish I would have known that this name existed before Song Yadong is taking on Suga Sean. I mean, you're talking about some really clever word playing there, but yeah, Vrabel told the boys on the bus, the bussin boys, he said I would cut off my baby maker to get another Super Bowl. You know, he had family already, obviously has kids that have grown up, and that's how much he wants another one. I think when he accomplishes that, whether it's this year or in years to come, I think he's hall of Fame coach as well. So I think they both feel like they're tough teams. They both are built with a great defense. I mean, an absolutely great defense. Young quarterbacks. Now, the $32 million deficit that the Denver Broncos are operating with right now, still incredibly impressive and should be chatted about at least one half of the Hammer Done. Cowboys looks incredible today. That's AP Tone joining us now. We'll dive into some of numbers of the game here in a little bit. Joining us now is a man who can give us the behind the scenes of what happened with a couple of the hirings that have taken place here or potential hirings that have taken place. Ladies and gentlemen, senior NFL Insider for espn, Adam Schefter. Hey, get ready. It's called it's coming. Cold's coming, but the cold is coming. Is it already there?

[Adam Schefter]

It's here and then we're expecting a major storm here on the east coast down South. Now moving up to the East Coast. All I could say is if the conference championship game had been in New England this year. Oh boy, oh boy.

[Pat McAfee]

It was close. It was close. I mean, there was some things that had to happen there last week and it could have taken place. Con man just wrote on his whiteboard and said 16 inches. We got more than a foot coming up to New England.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, yeah, big time. It is going to be an absolute shite show. And I think it starts Sunday, Saturday.

[Pat McAfee]

Night into Sunday, which by the way, if you're coming in to play the Patriots, you would say, of course. Isn't this just such an interesting little thing that this always takes place? Now on that note, we hope everybody stays safe with the weather. Let's talk about Minter getting hired in Baltimore. Congratulations to Michigan man. Breaking Michigan man news there. Minter obviously with Harbaugh. Michigan goes over to the Chargers with him. Everybody talks about his greatness, his leadership, how good of a defense he has. Jesse Minter being hired. What was the conversation that went into it? But Shotty obviously has confidence in himself in finding a great leader of men. What does this mean for Lamar? Just if you could give us all these things as we now have a new leader in Baltimore.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, Jesse Minter flew in there Wednesday and I think it became very apparent to the people in Baltimore that that was somebody that they were going to want to hire asap. He was supposed to fly out, was supposed to go to Cleveland, never made the trip to Cleveland, stayed behind in Baltimore as they discussed a deal the entire time. And I think Baltimore probably went into this thinking that Jesse Minter would be one of the ideal candidates to hire from the cycle. I think that there were other people that they were really impressed with during the cycle. The issue is, can you wait on some of these coaches that are in the conference championship games? Can you wait on a Nate Shieldhouse or a Davis Webb or a Chris Shula and you know, if they win on Sunday, those guys cannot be hired until Monday, February 9th. And if you're a team like the Buffalo Bills who didn't interview them in the window provided by the NFL rules, you can't even talk to them until their season's done. So I think Baltimore just saw Jesse Minter, knew him from the four years that he spent in the organization, obviously very comfortable. He was incredibly impressive during the interview. So much so that they wanted him not to fly out and they were able to knock out the deal during the course of the day. It's a five year deal. He stays in Baltimore and working with Lamar will be a huge part of it. Like we know that Josh Allen is actually sitting in on the Bills head coaching interviews. Sitting in. Lamar didn't do that. But I have to believe that they spoke to Lamar and are like, hey, you good with this? You want to talk to this guy? I don't know if they ever spoke or not, but there's no way you just hire the guy without Lamar having any knowledge of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Bishotti said they will certainly have input, but they will not have power. I have all the power. I will be the one doing the hire. I believe was Bishotti's actual quote. And I assume that he definitely reached out to Lamar. Feels like Lamar was potentially a part of the reason for the new iteration of the Baltimore Ravens going forward. Good luck to them. Everybody loves Minter. Hopefully they're able to find an offense that continues to roll because this year the defense was a ass in shite. So Bashawi saying, if we would have had a good defense, this, we're probably in a much better spot going with a defensive mind. Cool. You talk about the Buffalo Bills missing the window to talk to some people because they're still playing or whatever, they're still in it. Is that why Phil Rivers is getting an interview? Potentially, because he's one of the people they can certainly talk to at this exact moment. They just want to leave no stone unturned. What's the realistic opportunity here for the Buffalo Phils to be taking a brand new stadium? And if Josh Allen sitting in on these, which is fascinating, I appreciate their respect for Josh Allen and his importance to the program and his relationship with the head coach mattering for the success of them going forward. I know there's detractors to it and I will certainly listen to them and I understand they have their take as well. For me, I think a quarterback is a CEO of locker room. I think that person should have seat in there, but only if they've earned it. Has Josh Allen earned it? I would say yes, but there's certainly some people that would say no as well in the entirety. Aaron Rodgers was not asked, I don't think, whenever LaFleur was hired in Green Bay, I think that was a big story. I think that ended up being something. There's been other situations in the past, but anyways, I assume Peyton was asked whenever Jim Caldwell got the job after Tony Dungy here in Indianapolis. So, interesting dilemma there, but if you could explain a little bit more about Josh Allen's role in there and how normal this would be or abnormal this would be. And then also, the Buffalo Phils, Phil Rivers, obviously, we love him here in Indianapolis. And did you see what he did to Seattle? Everybody's talking about the Seattle Seahawks defense.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Phil Rivers, fresh off the bulletin board, fresh off the headset. A coach in high school football almost beats the Seattle Seals Hawks in Seattle. And everybody's like, this guy can't complete a pass. Nobody can against Seattle. But Phil Rivers still can. And that's because Phil Rivers knows this offense. Would he be offensive coordinator and head coach? Just all that involved there? She. Sorry, I went on a ramp, but it needed to be said.

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah. Let's start with Philip Rivers. And, you know, he's been busy getting ready for this interview with the Bills. And my understanding is he was ready to go when he was being called into that interview this morning in Florida. He's there. That's where the Bills are doing the interviews. Philip Rivers doesn't do anything without being thoroughly prepared. And I'm going to be really surprised because he's in there right now as we speak. I'm going to be really surprised if Philip Rivers doesn't wow them in the interview. Now, are they going to hire him? I have no idea how Brian Dabel and Brady and Davis west, some of these other candidates are going to do, but I can tell you that Philip Rivers has a chance to become the third person in history to become a head coach without any prior head coaching experience at all. Jeff, Saturday did it for your Colts. Norm Van Brocklin did it back in 1961.

[Pat McAfee]

They call him Coach Rocky.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, he'd be the third. Again, here's the thing. Philip Rivers, that's just who he is. Like, he elevates people, he raises up people. He's never been the head coach of a NFL team. He's been the head coach of a high school team. But this is his chance to present his ideas and his perspective to see whether or not he's ready for a job like that. Like we've seen other people in similar situations. If you remember a few years ago, people were interviewing Josh McCown right away. I think the Texans did. And there were some people who thought Josh McCown was going to get the Texans job. That I think that year went to Lovey Smith. So Philip Rivers, if he wants, can be a head coach one day. Is it this day?

[Jim Cantore]

We'll find out.

[Adam Schefter]

That's up to the Bills and him and that presentation. And Josh Allen will be sitting in. And that tweet that you held up, I know Ryan Fitzpatrick said he strongly disagrees. I think certain players, this is me. Are in different categories. They're in different categories. Josh Allen is an mvp. If you win an MVP and you're the best player in the league or amongst the two or three best players in the league and you're going to be in that city for the next five, six, seven, eight years to me, why would you not include him in the conversation to hire a head coach? You're going to get his input anyway. What does it matter if he's sitting in? It's just a different perspective, different ideas. I don't have any issue. I know players don't ordinarily sit in on interviews and maybe you could say it's a bad precedent. But I always say when there's a player holding out that you know is an eight time all pro player and they, and the team does something for him that they haven't done for anybody, like include a no trade clause. Well, you say, you say to the other people, when you go to eight straight all pro teams, when you win the NFL, we'll do the same for you. And I just think he's a different. In a different category and it's being reflected in the way that they're conducting interviews with him being a part of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, and also if he wants to be a part of it, you know, like we go back to Baltimore who just made their hire. Like did Lamar want to be a part of it? Was Lamar a part of it? How much a part of it was he? You know, all those things. Cause Bishadi said they definitely have input. They don't have power, I believe was his exact quote. So is he also. You know what I mean? So like I assume Josh Allen's the same thing. Like he certainly has his input, but he's not the one that's gonna be making the decision. Ultimately, Pegula sounds like he's potentially gonna Be hey, a lot of talking out of Terry. Lot of talking out of Terry. I like this One of these owners. You need to start because I know you text with the owners. You need to tell them we need more microphones in front of them.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

We need podcasts from these owners. We need them talking more. You know what I mean? She tell them that not just through anonymous sources of like Schefter tweets. No, no, anonymously. The building is very pissed off at the coach. It's like, well, who's shefty? Who'd you get that from? A building sent you? How's that even exact? We know you got connections everywhere. We know you got a busy day. We appreciate you joining us talking about the big news. Okay, coaching cycle, real quick. What do we who's next to get hired? Because I mentioned Stefanski going to Atlanta is wild. Like I mentioned that as wild. I did not think that he would just get hired as quickly as he got for another head coaching role because of how it all went in Cleveland. And a lot of people in Atlanta are telling me that I need treat this Phil Rivers interview is the same. Like, hey, this is. You're attacking us. What about them? I think there's not a lot of huge names in this particular coach. Like who do you think goes next? What do you think goes next? And is it just a waiting game for Schielhaus, Shula and maybe Kubiak or and the guys that are still coaching right now in the championship weekend?

[Adam Schefter]

Well, I think that enters into it right now. Again, if you're Buffalo, you can't talk to the people that are a part of it right now and you're not allowed to talk to these coaches until they're out. Cleveland, to me, it seems like the Browns are looking at one of these young offensive minds, whether that's the Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Yudinsky or the Rams passing coordinator Nate Shieldhouse or Jim Schwartz. And I think that that's something that, that they're going to be looking at strongly because if you want to keep that defense, the continuity of it, you can't hire another defensive coach. You got to keep Jim Schwartz and he's got to be the head coach. And these young offensive minded head coaches, it's up to the Browns to determine when and if they're ready. So to me, that's the Browns choice. These one of these young offensive minds or Jim Schwartz. The Cardinals they had in Anthony Campanile, the Jaguars defensive coordinator yesterday. I still think they're looking at Raheem Morris, Mike LaFleur, the Rams offensive coordinator who's involved this weekend. Pittsburgh, like Chris Shula, Anthony Weaver, Mike McCarthy definitely very much in play. We'll see what the Steelers do. The Bills are just getting started. Philip Rivers is with them right now as we're on the line going through his interview in Florida. And then there's one other team that's out there we're forgetting. Raiders. The Raiders. I think in a perfect world, you'd also like a young, bright offensive mind to shepherd along Fernando Mendoza and to grow with him as your quarterback. Like Davis Webb would fit in Vegas. But Davis Webb might be the play in Buffalo. I think Buffalo to me, like I said, you start with the three guys that have Buffalo connections in one bucket. Joe Brady, who had a great interview yesterday, Brian Dabel, who also is in contention, and Davis Webb. Those are the three guys to me that are. That are in one bucket. In another bucket, you got the outsiders. Although Anthony Lynn's got got great Buffalo connections, too. He was the runner up to Sean McDermott in 2017, and basically there were some people that wanted him and other people that wanted Sean McDermott, and the people who wanted Sean McDermott won out. Lynn was the runner up. He took the Chargers head coaching job in the midst of a relocation. He led them to a 33 and 31 record. So maybe we'll put him in that Buffalo bucket, too. And then when the other bucket will put Mike McDaniel and Anthony Weaver and Grant Yudinsky and Philip Rivers, some of the outsiders. But the Bills also want to see how this weekend's games go because Chris Shula, Nate Shieldhouse, Davis Webb, they'll also could be in play depending on whether those teams win or lose. A loss for one of those coaches is a win for their head coaching chance.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no, no. We don't say that for the good of ball. We can't start that, but seems like that is the accurate depiction of the situation. You're the best. Have a great day. Enjoy Championship weekend. Chefy, we appreciate you appreh having me.

[Adam Schefter]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Where are we headed? Anywhere cool right now? We go anywhere cool? We're doing some errands. What do we got going on?

[Adam Schefter]

We're running around. We got, you know, we're trying to take care of some things before the storm hits.

[Pat McAfee]

Here, smart Buy bread.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Good move.

[Pat McAfee]

Toilet paper.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah, There you go.

[Connor Rogers]

Water.

[Pat McAfee]

Water. I think dog food.

[Connor Rogers]

Dog food.

[Pat McAfee]

Dog food, certainly good. Eggs. Good, good. Maybe some of those Eggo waffles.

[Bone]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Some of those pizzas are Good. Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Protein pockets.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Enjoy it all. Good luck out there. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Adam Schefter. What you hear about the Pittsburgh Steelers right there.

[Bone]

So every. He just confirmed kind of everything that I've heard so far. They are allowed to talk to Shula and Shield House because they talked to them before this round of playoffs.

[Bill Cowher]

They.

[Bone]

They're smart. They got ahead of it, unlike some other teams. And then Anthony Weaver, the DC for the Miami Dolphins, he is picking up some steam as well. And then you got the homegrown native himself, Big Mike McCarthy.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. On that note, he would be taking over the Pittsburgh Steelers as the fourth coach since 1969 or something. Chuck Noel forever. Mike Tomlin most recently. Forever.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah. Y.

[Pat McAfee]

In between there, Yenzer dog. Not only an incredible leadership ability in fight about every single word coming out of his mouth. One of the greatest chins in the history of mankind. Ladies and gentlemen, homegrown super bowl champion for the Steelers, hall of Famer, Yinzer legend Bill K.

[Bill Cowher]

Hey, guys. Pat, how we doing?

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, life is good, Coach. Let's Talk about Mike McCarthy potentially getting the gig. You, Yinzer legend becomes Steelers head coach. There's a lot of pressure, I think, just on that job as a whole, let alone being a Yinzer. What was it like and how do you view the head coaching role of the Pittsburgh Steelers now that it's opened up for the first time in what, 19 years or something like that?

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, it's interesting. I actually talked to Mike yesterday. He got done, and he just talked about how surreal it was for him. He grew up in Greenfield, and he went then to the facility for the first time, which they share with Pittsburgh. And just being in that building in itself, it's. Again, you know, I remember when I went in there for the first time, there was a mystique about that building. And you get inside there and then you operate underneath that whole scenario that you operate under. It's a. It's a special place. It's a unique place. I think that's the biggest thing, I would say there's total transparency, total collaboration, and I think it's a. It's a great place to kind of grow your resume, whatever it may be, whether it's from the beginning or if Mike happens to go back there. I think it'd almost be like a full circle coming back home.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of young coaches. Obviously, you hired young. Tomlin hired young. I don't know when Chuck got hired, I assume he was young as well.

[Bill Cowher]

He was 36. I was 34. Mike was 34.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So been the trend. Young. And you hear a lot of yinzers right now just expecting the same thing. Hey, a lot of yinzers voicing. We want young, we want young. Could it be maybe you go different here and bring in the older veteran like Coach McCarthy and what do you think he potentially brings to a team where maybe young guy doesn't know yet or young guy growing with team a part of the entire process to make it great, like you had to do.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, I think those are two ways that you talk about going about this, Pat. And I think, you know, again, you put those in separate categories. You saw the first two guys ago, obviously, John Harbaugh and then Kevin Stefanski and, you know, Hafni had been a coach at BC and Robert Sala was a head coach before. And I think as you talk to the people going through this process, that you can see a big difference between guys who have coached before. They're much more prepared for some of the questions. When the young guys and I. The only thing I'll say about the young guys is it's nice to mold a guy underneath what your system is all about, what those core values are all about. I know when I came to Pittsburgh, you know, Mr. Rooney was very good about allowing me to be a part of everything. But then you had to earn the right to have input. I think that's the biggest thing I came in there. I wanted to make sure I had my hands on. Everything was free agency, whether it was a salary cap, obviously the draft you're going to be involved with. But the biggest thing for me was making sure I got myself a staff. And I think that's the biggest thing right now for some of these teams is there are some good assistant coaches out there, but they're going to keep taking. Be taken up as you wait, the longer you wait. So I think there's a lot to be said for that from the standpoint, if you make your coach now, he's got a little bit of a more pool of coaches that he can put around him, and I think that's a big part of your success is your assistant coaches.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And if you're a defensive coach who gets a head coaching job now and you got a young quarterback or MVP quarterback like Minter just got hired at Baltimore, it's like, who's the offensive coordinator now? That's going to have to come with you. Obviously, you rely on your network, but coordinator is very important. Offensive coordinator, very important. Especially if you're a defensive head coach and you Got to have guys in line, too, because if you have success, that guy's going to get a head coaching job. That's a fascinating little wrinkle to this all, coach.

[Bill Cowher]

You know, it really is. But as a matter of fact, when I lost Chan gailey back in 1997 after his second year as an OC and the Dallas Cowboys, they signed him really right around the time we were in Indy at the combine. And so I really. That had a very late search to go through. We had Cordell Stewart coming off his best year, his first year as a starter in 97, we hired Ray Sherman. That did not work out. And so I went out and got Kevin Gilbride to bring some credibility back. And after two years, I didn't. That did not work his way I thought it should. And I went back on my staff with Malarkey then and then having Wizen Hunt. So I think a big part I learned and the advice I give to people is have a backup plan. I remember saying this to Dan Campbell a couple years ago. You're going to lose some of these guys is make sure that you want to be able to keep it in house. Don't have to change the system. I'd rather have the coach learn it new as opposed to the players. And so I think that's the system we had was the same system Ron Earhart had when I hired him back in 1992. We had that to the very end. Yes, you come in, you put your little plan on. You can, you know, do some variations to what that is, but the terminology was the same for both sides of the ball. That way, when players came and coaches might have lost your coaches, we didn't lose a beat. We were able again. You put your fingerprints and your mold on what you wanted do within the terminology that you have so that not everyone has to relearn it again. So I think that's one of the things you have to be able to do. And again, I go back to the same thing. The first stabs you have. Like, I made a lot of changes my first couple of years because then you have to. Till you work with someone, you really don't know who they are and do they think like you think. And you really don't know that till you're with people 70 hours a week.

[Pat McAfee]

And you said that you would actually move on from a member just to shake some things up. Hey, every once in a while you got to keep everybody fresh. And you say that. I think you've told us that before.

[Bill Cowher]

I have told you that before, there was probably no metric that would quantify me making a change, except for the fact that I just had a feel and a pulse for the fact that we needed to have a different voice in the room. And so, you know, and that to me was like trying to hold people accountable. You know, I do with the players. I did it with the coaches as well. I was pretty hard on the coaches, and I coached the coaches, and so I let the coaches coach the players. And I. Because I think that it was really important to have that relationship and ability to have that one on one. I interceded when I needed to and stepped in at times when I had to. I was a lot of times the bad cop, and they could be the good cop. I was fine with that. But, you know, I think it's also important that they have that opportunity, you know, to have, you know, some flexibility with what we're doing. We had collaboration, but, you know, I wanted people to also be. Think outside the box. So I wanted them to put some input. I want everyone to kind of think they were a coordinator, to get up there and talk in front of the team. And so a lot of times I did have other coaches and even players go up and talk to the team because I think. I think it's my voice. It's the same messaging after you get to a period of time, the same core values, but sometimes there's different ways of saying it.

[Pat McAfee]

You were the Pittsburgh dad of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's what it sounded pretty much.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's what it sounded like. Yeah. I'll be the bad cop, I guess. Yeah, sure. I hate it. Get it out of here. Also, you're fired. Why? I don't just. We don't like you being around. Why not? We need. We need to move along.

[Bill Cowher]

There were reasons for it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, of course.

[Connor Rogers]

Of course.

[Pat McAfee]

Of course. Yeah, of course. Of course. There's. Yeah, there's certainly an argument against it, but how you feel and how the team feels, I think is a big part of being like this CEO type head coach, which you certainly were leader of men, great at rallying the crew. Now, if the refs are wrong, they were getting held accountable as well, which was also an incredible part of it. But you were CEO like Operation Tone has a question for you about that.

[Bone]

Yeah, Coach. There's a lot of talk about the CEO type head coach versus an offensive coordinator coming in, defensive coordinator coming. Obviously you were a DC coming in before you were at the Steelers, but we talked to Kyle Van Noy yesterday and he said he doesn't care or players shouldn't care if it's a offense coordinator come in or defense coordinator in. But all the guys in the league this day are looking for an X's and O's type guy because a lot of the players in the league today want to know why they are doing something and explain why. What's the purpose of what we're. We're doing in this situation? Do you agree with that sentiment that it has changed where in the old, in the older days, maybe players are just like, sure, you got to coach whatever you say versus today, guys, just what they want to know the why. And do you think it's important for coaches today to explain that why and be X's and O's guys?

[Bill Cowher]

Tone, I think that's the most important thing you can do. And listen, I played for five years in the National Football League. I went from playing right to be an assistant coach. I coached special teams. I coached a secondary. I was coaching the secondary in Cleveland with Hanford Dixon and Frank Middlefield, guys I'd played with three years before that as a special teams linebacker. And you're saying you're going to tell me about bump and run? Tell me about off, off, off coverage. What do you know about secondary work? Well, I said, I just spent the whole summer with Larry Weaver, who was a great secondary coach. I says, you asked a question. If I don't have the answer, I'll get the answer for you. But I think we should try this thing. Just trust me along the way, but I'll work with you as well. And I think that's the thing that you said, hey, Rod Woodson used to catch punts over his head. And I'm thinking that, hey, Rod, that's. I think that's not the way you catch a punt. That's the way. But he said, that's coach, that's the way I catch a punt. I go, okay, well, you're Rod Woodson. And I said, the next guy go, you guys are not Rod Woodson. Right here. You look it in, you put it right there. So I think it's important you let players be them. Same thing when Troy Palomalo came in. The more that you could trust his instincts, that the more then you allowed him to do certain things and gave him freedom. I did not want to harness greatness. I don't want to sit there and tell you, you, okay, you have to coach this way. You have to turn this ball in. Or I can turn it in. But you know, if I Go any of this block, I maybe can make a play. So I want you to be aggressive. I want you to take chances. I want you have the freedom to be a disruptive guy on the field. If you're wrong more than you're right, you're probably gonna be standing mid next to me. But. But when you're right, a lot of the times a guy like Troy Potomalo, he did. He went against the grain of things we did. He would void a coverage at times, but he was right 90% of the time. Time. So I remember when Ryan Clark came in, I said, your job, your first job you have as free safety with Troy is you have to cover up for Troy. He's going to do some things at times that may not be what he's supposed to be doing, but I said, he's right nine out of ten times. Every now and then, he's wrong. And I said, when he's wrong, you need to make sure you cover up for him. So that's your first responsibility. So you want to give certain players just the freedom to be able to do whatever they want to do and have that confidence out there that they can take over a game, that they take ownership on the field. And if they do that and you let them have input, they take ownership in the locker room. And those are kind of the dogs that you. You're going to. And my message went to those guys. I knew who those guys were. So if I want to send the message, hey, man, hey. Just put the word out, we win Sunday, you're going to get a couple days off. Oh, okay. Particularly early in the season. You got it. I said so. But we lose. We're watching that tape. So I just want you to know that. So it was working with the players and being able to, having been a player, is you ask them to make the sacrifice, the commitment to things. You got to scratch each other's back, and sometimes you got to give them a little bit leeway as well, have input and take ownership over what we're doing on the field.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but they got to earn that. Just like, you know, the runes said to you, that you're not just going to everybody and treating them the same way. Bruce Arians, he was the most blunt about it. Bruce Arians was the most blunt about it that I've ever heard. In team meetings, he would walk in and go, hey, this is a five stars game, okay? Our five stars got to beat their five stars. And if you don't know if you're a five star, you're not. Okay. So all you other guys need to just show up. Okay. We need you guys just to show up. This is our five stars. Need to beat their five stars. Got it. Team break. Let's go. Move. That was literally Bruce Arians and to.

[Bill Cowher]

Me there's always going to be three matchups during the course of the game that could determine the outcome of the game. And let's talk about those matchups. It may be our left tackle tackle against their right defensive end. And you know what, we have a backup plan. If you're struggling, we have a backup plan for you. But if you can win, I got one more guy I could put out into, into the route. So you know that's going to be a big part of a pivot, part of that. We have to be able to stop this running game on the inside and once we stop it, just make them one dimensional. I always, first thing I wanted to do on defense is make a team one dimensional. I was going to take away what I perceived to be your strength and I was going to make you beat me with I would I perceive to be your second strength. So I want to make you beat me. Me left handed, not right handed. And you know what, the biggest thing I want to do also on offense is be able to impose myself and have a backup plan for any matchup that I don't feel comfortable with. Receiver out there, I'm going to put you out there periodically. One on one or I take my best corner. I'm going to put him on number two and I'm going to just take him out of the game. And I'm a double number one. So it's the different approaches you can take. Best on best. How about best on second and we can put two on one on your first guy. So it's those types of things that you have to be able to do in the course of a game. You adapt, you adjust and I love that strategical part of football. I love doing it. I loved it.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you love ball?

[Connor Rogers]

Huh?

[Pat McAfee]

Do you think you love ball?

[Bill Cowher]

I love it. I still to this day, Pat, I said, you know, I've talked to some coaches and I, I still have some blitzes to this day that I've given to some people that, you know, I, I love to get four guys on one side. If I can scheme a guy open with a five man rush, man, I beat you. And you know what? I remember playing Lindy Infante one time and Lindy and Fonte who was with the Colts for a while, he was a Head coach and I was with Lindy in Cleveland and Lindy wanted to get everybody out. And I remember one time when we were playing him and he was up in Green Bay and he brought the tight end back into the backfield with the back. There was two backs back there. So I said, man, that's like him just waving the white flag. He hated to have to have all that protection in there because he couldn't. He couldn't block the blitz. And we had had some guys in Kansas City that we could do some things on the grass, in the dirt in Green Bay. Lloyd Burris and Duron Cherry, they'll be up there and mugging the A gap and dry. Says, I'm telling you, coach, if I go, there's no one. They're not, they're not. They're ignoring me. I said, well, then you go. I said, drawn, you better get your butt back in the middle of the field as fast as you can. But if you guys are doing it, then do it. I said, you have a. You're out there. I'm not out there, but let's talk about it and scream something up.

[Pat McAfee]

I would like to hear about this first, though.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, just let me know you're doing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I like that thought. And I also appreciate the fact of you now at this stage of life on a dry race board somewhere, probably spitting all over it if I had to get an idea, taking a picture, sending yourself video, recording yourself, sending it to a defense coordinator. I think this is. I think now I don't want to dive completely into X's and O's and modern ball. We got 13 personnel showing up now. We got six offensive linemen having for people. I think everybody's trying to protect their shit right now. Now you talk about being former player and your ability to be able to connect. And also, coach, there's something happening up in New England that was very special. Go ahead, con man.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, coach. All the fans are ready. As you can see, I got my helmet on for Sunday. And as you, you know, mentioned, all those blitzes, I'm going to be rip shit if you didn't give one to Mike Vrabel while you're up there in New England. But when you're talking about culture, you know, and Vrabel has established it very quickly in one year. Mike McDonald, another guy in two years, you know, he's gotten. They've gotten their teams to the conference championship game. What is kind of the steps you have to take right away when you are establishing that culture? And also what is the importance of kind of bringing in veteran guys that understand you, your culture, what you're trying to do. And are those the ones that you mentioned that are kind of leaking things to the rest of the locker room, like, hey, we might take a couple days off if we win?

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, I mean, I think they are. And Mike understands that very well. Just having coached him his first four years and you know, we drafted him out of Ohio State and, and then really, it's funny we talk about this. I did a sit down with them and we shared the conversation we had after four years. He came in, it was at the end of his four year contract. I knew he was going to be a free agent and I just said, listen, Mike, I can pay you the same, but I just can't give you the same opportunity if you go somewhere else, if you want to start, because I got Joey Porter and I got, I got Jason Gilden, I got two outside linebackers and you'll be able in the rotation system. That's just the way we're going to do it. So if you have a chance to go start somewhere else, if they do feel it's important and do it. And I get it, totally understand that. So we had that conversation and he appreciated that. I think the fact is that like the transparency that you have and I think up there, Mike, as you go to that practice, and I saw those guys, they're loose. It's a very fast pace that he has. HE INTERJECTS Special teams in there, you have some time to sit over talking to Booty and Diggs and you know, they said, give me some, give me some dirt on Mike Vrabel. I said, listen, he was, he was not a pain in the butt to coach. I said, method. I knew he was going to be a coach because he would ask questions that nobody else would even think of. And so, and I said, that's why I knew that this guy was pretty special in what he did. And I said, but he was also a guy. Whatever you asked him to do, he would do it. And I think when you look at this, the other guy is Josh McDaniel. Just talking to Josh yesterday too. That drive he had at the end of the game last week against Houston, which was about six minutes, he took off the ball, they ran it and they just this one time, six offensive linemen, the fullbacks in the game. Chisholm comes in as the blocking receiver. He's like a little pit bull. It's just getting in people's way. And I just loved it. And I think it was like one of those staple drives. That's what they were all about. And I said. And it reminded me of our teams. I said, you're snapping a ball with 1 second left. You're using the clock, and all you're doing is just taking away the Houston will. And because all of a sudden the time's just going down. I said, when you break someone's will is when you know you're going to run it, and they know you're going to run it, and you continue to do it, snap after snap. That's breaking the will of the opponent.

[Pat McAfee]

Four or five yards a pop, too. Just right on schedule. No problem, no stress. Maybe one for seven or eight, maybe one for 10, maybe one for two. Okay. Then we're gonna get up.

[Connor Rogers]

Bang, New running back coming in.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, fresh. Fresh guy coming in here. Fourth quarter. And then. Oh, yeah, our defense, it's gonna be quick. So the defense, your defense could be on the field again like that. That turnovers are about to come. You're about to be on the field again. So this is just coming right down. Your math. Yeah, you get it.

[Bill Cowher]

I'll tell you. But you look at the free agents that they spent and they spent their money. Every one of them has made a significant impact on that team. I mean, Chisholm is playing as good as he's played. Ellis is playing. You also talked about Landry, the leadership that he brought in, Carlton Davis on the other side there of Gonzalez. So they have gotten some play on the other side of the ball. You know, you get the whole offensive line. You get Bradbury in there, and then Diggs and what he's done for that wide receiver room. It's a great, great group of people that came to come together that were like, Mike Rabel, guys, they came up there and it's a culture. And it was ironic. I said, you know, when rabel left in 2000, he did leave. He went to New England. He went to New England to play linebacker and beat us in the championship game in 2001. So, you know, I'm just. And I asked him, I just wondering is this team got a little bit of that sense. You went on there for the first time and you brought it. A lot of people came up there was Bill's second year is Tom's first year of being a starter. And so there's a lot of similarities. You kind of feel what's going on in that building right now. It's like a turnover is a little bit different vibe that's in There you had a five year period of time, you did not go to the playoffs or win a playoff game, but now you're, you can feel it coming back. And there's a little bit of that sense right there. And that guy right there, Drake May and that catch by Booty, how good was that? But Drake May has really been a big, big part of this right now. He's, he's a great leader, humble and tough, and I think that represents a Mike Vable team.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm excited to watch this Patriots team, I guess, for the next 20 years.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, ye.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I guess that's what this is now. Smoky, go ahead.

[Bill Cowher]

No, I just. Listen, it's. Hey, Sean Payton is going to have a plan in place so you can talk about what you want to lose the quarterback, but he's going to be fine with Stidham. And actually Josh McDaniel knows Stidham very, very well, obviously from his time in with the Raiders and initially even with the Patriots when he was there last time. So Stidham, I don't think he's going to give you the, the, the outside, the running that Bo Nix did, but he'll be able to stay in that pocket. I could see him coming with a game plan. It's kind of like one of those things for Sean is, you know, we are the biggest home underdog in a championship game in the history of football. So you know what? Go out there, you have nothing to lose. No one's giving you a chance. So it's one of those us against the world kind of things. Playing at home and playing in Denver is going to be a big challenge for New England because I tell you, Denver Broncos play very well at home. The altitude is a real thing, particularly in the fourth quarter of those games. So we'll see what happens as the game goes on. But you know, I think I, I would be surprised if this is not a good, a close game.

[Pat McAfee]

The altitude's real, the crowd is awesome. They got a great fan base over there. They're obviously ready. And to your point about already having built in excuses to not have success in this game, that can be a little bit of a relief. And on that note, the pressure is all on the Patriots. Oh, yeah, that is crazy to think about that. The Patriots have first year headquarters coach, second year quarterback. Nowhere near supposed to be this amount of success for this quick of a turnaround. And then going in the championship game, it's like, all right, you lose now, you guys stink. Basically. It's like, that is a crazy Little narrative that could potentially happen here, way ahead of schedule for this Patriots team.

[Connor Rogers]

And it's the complete flip of what it's. Sorry, coach, but it's the complete flip of what it's been all year. All year. It's easy schedule, easy schedule, easy schedule. Now it's conference championship in the afc. See, if you don't win, then it is a huge letdown. Whereas the. The whole entire thing, after everyone or most people took Houston to win in New England, now it's completely flipped to, hey, if they don't win. I mean, we're talking about easiest schedule, and they don't beat Jared Stidham. Whereas if they win, it'll go back to. Is the easiest path in the history. In the history of the playoffs. Yeah, like the. The narrative is comedy for whatever it will be on Monday.

[Pat McAfee]

It's loud, coach. It's loud up there.

[Bill Cowher]

And listen, I. It's loud on the outside, but I'm telling you, I watched this team work through practice, and there's just a kind of quiet confidence going about business that they're doing it. And I tell you, Mike is all over it. He's got his hands in everything that they're doing, making sure that everyone's okay, you know? And so I was over there talking. He goes, you know, boots dig you guys okay, Steph? He goes, yeah, we're good. We're good, Coach. So, like. And so he. He's. He's got his hands on it. I mean, took some time to come over the middle practice, show me his. He showed me what his structure of his practice was. I was just curious, like, what. How many plays you guys playing today? And they took the pads off. They don't have the pads on Wednesday. They put the pads on Thursday. So. Which is I. Which I thought was a little unusual, but he said, no, some of these guys, they need till Thursday, till they're full. And they. And they performed well all year with that. So he's got a system in place. Earn a routine. You know, I just remember when we went on those runs, the biggest thing you can do is stay in routine. Just stay in routine. Because I think that makes every game just seem the same. It's like there's no. One game isn't bigger than anything else. You don't do. Don't deviate from. Because you're playing a championship game or even playing in the super bowl, whatever it is, you try to keep that week the same. The Wednesday, the Thursday, the Friday, they're gonna. They're gonna fly out Saturday. Don't worry about the altitude. We'd have to go out there two weeks ahead for the altitude. But we couldn't because we had to play a game last week. So you know, he's, he's just. Don't make a big deal about it. So he's just, you know, I think when he's played and he stands in front of that room, there's, there's, he's got, he's got a presence about him. I think he's got a calmness and a confidence that this football team is following.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, coach. And I don't want to do this because of all the incredible compliments you just gave. So I don't want to turn it to a completely combative segment. But, but you and your prime. Okay.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Vs. I think he's still in, in, in his prime.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Mcdc, Dan Campbell up there in Detroit.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. If there is there any other coaches I'm missing, I think Theo Ryan probably put him.

[Bill Cowher]

Yes, you can put, put them in there. Put, put who? Good. Where you going with this? Just put them all, put them all in the room. Ring.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Bill Cowher]

Who's going to come out standing?

[Pat McAfee]

Kind of. Yeah. And who else deserves to be in the ring? You thinking? Yeah. Okay. I like your face.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I thought so. I want to let you know I want the bat for you earlier today. Pretty hard.

[Bone]

Coach, we know the neck roll at NC State happened.

[Connor Rogers]

We know. Yeah. A couple people are unverable. Won't say who.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Bill Cowher]

Hey well listen to. Oh, no way. Braves is good. Very one dimensional. I mean I think when you look at him so. But I love the guy that death. He is what he is. Listen, it was a defensive lineman. I made him a linebacker. So you know, I mean I taught. I got him standing a two point stance. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You ever.

[Bill Cowher]

But you know what? Just. Yeah, he did. He did. And he was smart, he was tough, he was all those things. But you know, I. You guys take a. Stay a step ahead, you know. Hey, matter of fact, do you know that I was. I was just talking to Mark Cuban the other day and we're talking about Kirk Signetti and what a great run that is and his background. I guess you know, Frank went to West Virginia. Pat, where you went to. Do you know that I was down at West Virginia Football camp when Jim Carlin was there. I was 12 years old his last year and my. I went the next year it was Bobby Bowden. So it was a Jim Carlin Mountain State Achievement camp. My parents took me down there. I was 12 years old and dropped me off and said, we'll be back in a week. And I thought I did something wrong at home. I said, you guys are coming back, right? And so to get me. And so that was like one of my, you know, West Virginia. So I had those West Virginia roots, and Signetti kind of just reminds me of that. And so what a great run that was. I know, deviate from the NFL. But no, I just thought that. I think that was fantastic. You guys did a great job with game day and just, you know, the field pass stuff that you guys did, that was really a tremendous run by him and them. And I just. I love everything he stands for. And obviously with Mark Cuban was a big part of that success as well. But, you know, he's another Pittsburgh guy that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Were you McGee? Were you McGee Women's Hospital?

[Bill Cowher]

No, no, I was. No, I was not at McGee. No.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So. Because Mark Cuban was born in McGee. Signetti was born in McGee. I was born at McGee. We thought maybe you were born McGee. Yes. I thought there was a chance that there was about to be, like, wow. Because McGee Women's Hospital reached out to us, and we're like, we are so thankful that you guys are shouting us out. But also, maybe we should look into who all was born at Tyrone Diggs, born in the Big Mike.

[Bill Cowher]

Oh, you were McGee.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Where were you born?

[Bill Cowher]

Like, you know what? Maybe I was. I got. I got. I don't even remember.

[Bone]

Probably a hardware store, if I had to guess.

[Pat McAfee]

Potentially.

[Connor Rogers]

Winter storm.

[Bill Cowher]

I know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That's why you win that fight, by the way. That's why you win that fight.

[Bill Cowher]

Hey, listen, I was a boilermaker through high school. I was actually. Actually, I had my first years in college. So I went back, I got. Freddie Galtier from the local got me into there, and I was getting full rate. I was telling Cuban, I said, you know, you were working, making a buck 30. I was making like 12 and half a. And a half. 12, 12, 12, 30 an hour.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Bill Cowher]

So I work for, like, I work 712 for one month. I get my money, and I go back down to college, Man, I was. I was picking up the check, going out to the bars, you know, But I mean, after one shot.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Good union. Yeah, good union. I. Obviously, that's good working out there. Pittsburgh. Hell, yeah. That's just classic. Insert story right there. You're the man built AQ, Shipley, McGee Women's Hospital as well.

[Bone]

He just got just.

[Connor Rogers]

Wow.

[Bill Cowher]

AQ.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Joe DiNardo, probably in there, Coach, we need to find out where you got came into the world at, brother, because I think this.

[Bill Cowher]

I, I, I'm gonna let, I'm gonna find out too because I, it might have been McGee. Yeah, it might have been. I mean, listen, I, I grew up in Beachview. I was in Beachview, you know, right down downtown. I mean it was.

[Pat McAfee]

So that would definitely be. We would assume. I, I don't know all the.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, I think, I think you must be. It must be McGee. It has to be.

[Connor Rogers]

I believe we had this conversation with Big Mike McCarthy. Him as well. McGee at McGee. Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

You're definitely there, Bill. You're definitely there.

[Bill Cowher]

Much I know, I know.

[Pat McAfee]

What a place, what a, what a magical hospital. So many.

[Connor Rogers]

That is incredible. Yeah, that, that's like a documentary worthy hospital.

[Pat McAfee]

And I think that's what the McGee people were saying. Like we didn't even think of this. But it feels like we should maybe look into first breath in this particular.

[Connor Rogers]

Because like Aaron Donald, I would assume.

[Bill Cowher]

I would assume Revis, I would assume Darrell Reavis. Curtis Martin.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bone]

My favorite.

[Pat McAfee]

Dan Marino. Joe Tony. I mean you. Yeah, yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Go down the line of those names, McGee.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to McGee and, and coach. We're just going to assume you're born there and wherever you were born as well, and we're thankful you're still in ball and love ball so much. We appreciate you stopping by, Coach. You're the man.

[Bill Cowher]

Thanks, man. Thanks, Pat.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you going to be in Pittsburgh for the draft or what?

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, I, I, I plan on going, I plan on being there. You, you're going to be there, right? You guys are going to be there?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Do you want to, do you want to work?

[Bill Cowher]

Yes. Well, I mean, let me, let me, let me, let me see about that one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Yes. Got it, got it, got it. Yeah. Smart. Smart. If you are allowed to. We would love to have you work. We would love to have you be a part of our shit.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah. Talk. Yeah. You guys, you're talking about the draft show.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the draft spectacular. The fact you know field pass exists. Crazy too, by the way. You just dropped that in there. Thank you for knowing that that exists. That was very cool of you. Good preparation on the. For this particular combo. You're the man. But yeah, our draft spectacular is outrageous. Outrageous would be awesome if. Obviously we don't want to ruffle any feathers, piss anybody off. We know how it goes.

[Bill Cowher]

No, no, no, no. I mean, listen, Pittsburgh's still Pittsburgh. The draft's coming to Pittsburgh. That's pretty special. I Wanted to host committee. So you know that's. I know that. So I don't know what that consists of. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of this. Hey, good to see you. Welcome to time. Yeah, absolutely. You might be able to win. Good. You might be the one doing the first. First chest bump, actually, before Goodell does the entirety. We appreciate you, Coach. You're the man.

[Bill Cowher]

All right. Thanks, man. Thanks, guys.

[Pat McAfee]

That's hall of Famer Bill Cow.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, Coach.

[Bone]

Absolute goat.

[Connor Rogers]

If he didn't give Rabel a blitz, then his ass better not be.

[Bone]

He's not sharing knowledge with your stupid team.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, yeah?

[Bill Cowher]

Why was he there?

[Connor Rogers]

Tony, don't be jealous. Don't be jealous.

[Bone]

No. He was there to ruin your team.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Bone, let's talk about it. How do you feel like the first 53 minutes have gone? And do you think maybe after the first 25 seconds there was a decision made that we're not doing that again? Absolutely. Okay. Little basic. There you go.

[Bone]

He was talking like he was reading a nighttime story to somebody.

[Connor Rogers]

With the football decision. I just want to go over that one. Like, what was the decision when you thought, like, you know what? I will say football first before.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I think he was trying to hit it. I think he just got excited. I think it was a false start. Every day when you guys do that, I'm back there trying to time it it up and I do the same thing every day. So that's What. False start. D3 National Champion Offensive lineman. You do get a little excited. Maybe a lot of false starts in my career. Hold your water.

[Connor Rogers]

Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom. Hold your water. Bone? Yep. You're recently a Buffalo Bills fan, potentially a Buffalo Phils fan. Was going to bring you in to ask a question. Didn't know if your voice would make it to Schefter in his car. What are your thoughts on the Buffalo Bills in the situation there and can't interview anybody because they missed the window. Yeah. I mean, first year as a fan, I'm kind of in for everything. I don't have a favorite yet.

[Connor Rogers]

I.

[Pat McAfee]

You know what? I was going to correct Shefty, but Weaver was also a Bills D line coach in 2013, so there's another connection there. Oh, really? He's a Buffalo guy? Yeah, he's a Buffalo. So we got three to four Buffalo guys that could get the call and could run the show. You're saying take them to a place they'd never been. The Buffalonians have been there before. They've shoveled the snow, they've gone through a Buffalo winner. They understand what it's like to be a Buffalo beal. Is that what you're saying? Absolutely. And I'm here for it. Josh Allen, this guy's making decisions for you guys. Is he hiring the coach? Is that. How do you feel about that? Whatever Josh wants, let him do it. I like that. That's it. That's a new age fan. But I also appreciate the fact that we're all kind of understanding that maybe the MVP should have a little bit of a say. I do appreciate also if the MVP quarterback doesn't like. If Lamar's like, that's on, please. I would like a guy that is. Is this. And I don't want to necessarily be in there or somebody else, but if you have become an mvp, I think it's only smart to kind of get. Cuz they are the CEO of the locker room like you. You should get all the leaders of the building in there. I know Fitz doesn't like it. And if I think Fitz is wondering if they're only going to hire to appease Josh, they shouldn't just do that. If Fitz is saying, as a quarterback, like, you shouldn't just be making a decision, that's just good for me. So you just have to assume that they're handling it in the proper fashion. I would like to hear more from Fitz, actually. We're going to try to reach out.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I have a lot of respect for Fitz. I personally have a lot of respect for Fitz. He's been in a lot of buildings, so I respect the hell out of him.

[Connor Rogers]

Buffalo being one of them. But like, I feel like what Steve Bashadi said was kind of what I thought it was going to more so be like, hey, I want all the opinions, I want them all. But as far as sitting in there and like the power of kind of swaying it, maybe like that is where it comes too far because you can see down the pipeline like Bill's got off to a slow start perhaps, or there is a little bit of a lull in the offense. Like you can see people already saying like, oh, this is the guy Josh Allen wanted. Even though definitely should ask.

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah.

[Bone]

But shoddy during that conference said like, Lamar's not in these introductory ones, but if he wants to fly up with me for the. The ending ones, he can definitely do that if he wants.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So it feels like that's it. The Aaron not getting asked was crazy. That's insane because it was Aaron Rodgers. But now I guess having too much power. We can see how bad maybe people don't want so fascinating development up there in Buffalo and they might have Phil Rivers as their next head coach.

[Connor Rogers]

I hope.

[Pat McAfee]

I love it. There's a lot of people that'll kill it. Maybe he wins though. Hour two on the other side.

[Bill Cowher]

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[Pat McAfee]

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[Bill Cowher]

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[Pat McAfee]

Is the most fan friendly daily fantasy app. Download the prizepix app today and use code TPMS and get $50 instantly in site credits when you play $5. That's code TPMS on prizepix to get $50 instantly in site credits when you play $5. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks in site credits for just playing. Guaranteed Prize Picks. It's good to be right.

[Bill Cowher]

Must be present in certain states.

[Pat McAfee]

Visit prizepix.com for restrictions and details. Welcome back to oh yeah, that's a pepper fish. First up, we've got Harrison wrapping his Dr. Pepper in a tiny quilt so.

[Jim Cantore]

It feels at home.

[Bone]

Oh how tender.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a pepper thing. And over to Becca, who's whispering affirmations to her can. You're sweet. You're unique. You're the best thing I ever poured over ice. She swears it makes it taste better. It's not a science thing, but it's a pepper thing. Why do they all do it all for that sweet, delicious, truly one of a kind taste of Dr. Pepper. It's a pepper thing. Football it is the greatest unbelievable work. And it's not just me that has the opportunity to chit chat about sports and ball every single day. It's not just me that happens to be the luckiest person on earth. It is also a group of dudes that are up here on the stage right now. The Talks to table AustinConnor and EricMurphy 32 1/2 of the Hammer done. Did he not.

[Connor Rogers]

I mean, baby steps here. He hit the volume.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it would be early jump. I. I think it would be one of those ones in slow replay. They would notice it, but the ref's eyes didn't call it. So good work on that one half of the Hammer done. Cowboys ap. Tony's here.

[Connor Rogers]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

How's it feel about the bone sandwich you and Connor are making here today?

[Bone]

It's actually a dream come true. I've dreamt about this many, many nights, and it's finally here.

[Pat McAfee]

Can you tell me about the numbers of the game this weekend? I know you're going to be distracted with Bone and. And his car heart Uggs he's wearing.

[Connor Rogers]

Aren't those sweet?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, those are. He did not know he was going to be on air today. This all came about. Ty had to go home and be dad, you know, because mom work in very serious world. So Ty literally just got the call he was not going to be here today. We put Bone in here first hour couldn't. He didn't speak. So it was tough to offer him up another opportunity to do that.

[Adam Schefter]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But as we're looking at it and the car heart Uggs, with that particular quarter zip with the Sager hat, feels like today was the right day for you to do what you're doing right now. We're proud of you, Bone. Thank you, guys.

[Bone]

He did.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you, guys.

[Connor Rogers]

Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Unbelievable.

[Connor Rogers]

Dial it.

[Bone]

They're kind of like. They have air force bottoms and then the.

[Connor Rogers]

There.

[Bone]

I like the. I like the air heart.

[Pat McAfee]

They're pretty good. The air heart.

[Connor Rogers]

Perfect for dumb hicks.

[Pat McAfee]

Jeez. I don't think that's the case. I. I think it's perfect for a lot of situations debuting at the talks table. Certainly one of them. Hammer, Cowboy, AP Town. What are the numbers on the weekend's game telling us and what should we be looking at?

[Bone]

Okay, so yesterday we talked about pats and Broncos. Pats Yesterday moved from -5 and a half to -4 and a half, even though they were getting a ton of the money. And by a ton of the money, I over 70%. They're currently sitting at 73% last time I checked. And they moved from five and a half to four and a half, which in that world is called reverse line movement. Normally when a team is getting majority of the action, their number would get larger. So they would go from minus five and a half to minus six and a half. Because the book is trying to get more money on the Broncos. But that did not happen. And we have been sitting at four and a half ever since in that situation. And then the Rams.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry, hold on on that. More on the Patriots, Broncos, Denver +4/2 is in line to become the second home team to get 4 points in conference.

[Connor Rogers]

Check.

[Pat McAfee]

Championship in history when it was at five and a half points, it was the most ever at four and a half. Second time it's happened in 1976. You remember the Raiders beat the Steelers. They had just gone back to back 24. Seven is a four and a half point underdog shout out to the Raiders at that point in la.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that right?

[Connor Rogers]

LA Raiders?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I would assume. Yeah, I think that is the LA Raiders at that particular time. So congrats to them on getting a big time, huge, huge underdog story movie like win over to back to back Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976. Will history repeat itself this weekend in Denver? It could.

[Bone]

I believe the. If my memory is serving me correct, I believe the Steelers won the next two after that. Could have had five in the decade that would have been. That would have been sick.

[Pat McAfee]

Guys blew it. Yeah, four and a half point doll or favorites and you guys blow it to the 1976 Raiders.

[Bone]

Hell, you saw that seven on the board. If I remember correct, Terry didn't have a great game. But that's okay, that'll happen. So yes, that's what we've talked about as far as, you know, the.

[Pat McAfee]

They were in Oakland. They were in Oakland. We apologize to the Los Angeles Raiders fans.

[Bone]

They might have played it at the Coliseum. That's where a lot of Super Bowls were played back in the day. But yes, four and a half as a home dog is a huge number. Obviously five and a half was, was historic. And then you go to the other game, the Seahawks minus two and a half. That line has not moved at all all. Even though the Seahawks have been over 80% of the action so far up to this date. And as we talked about yesterday, it's probably a lot of recency bias because the Seahawks have just been absolutely trouncing people, especially on defense. And the Rams, you know, over the last, I don't know, five, six, seven games have been playing tight, close games. They had the tight one against the Bears and the Panthers in the playoffs.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so Bone, after watching film, what does the NFC championship look like in your your eyes after watching every play from both these teams? I think the Seahawks dog walked the Rams.

[Connor Rogers]

Bone.

[Pat McAfee]

Bone, you didn't really say with your chest, but the words that you said would be Something that would be said with somebody's chest. Pretty, pretty heavy. That was a pretty heavy hammer. There you went. Hammer. You like the Seahawks team, huh? I do, I do. Is it just because of what they just did to the Niners? Because the seasons work. Why do you think the Seahawks dog walk? Your words, not mine. The Los Angeles Rams. You know, we were at the Dom Toretto's garage and we saw him put up an ass whooping. And it convinced me that these guys have a real shot going to the super bowl. And I think it's going to happen. I completely forgot about Dom Toretto's garage being a part of our story down there at College Football Playoff championship in Miami. We were actually sitting in between a really cool looking building and Dom Toretto's garage from Too Fast tra. Too Furious.

[Connor Rogers]

Tra.

[Pat McAfee]

Too fast for y'.

[Bill Cowher]

All.

[Pat McAfee]

We were sitting in the garage. It was as if the garage was just reserved for us. It was another party that I guess wasn't happening until like midnight. Ish. We wanted to watch the game. The ESPN event was happening across the street. We were. There was no way we're going into what we heard that ESPN event was at the time. There was not a lot of people in there. So we walk right across the street to this place, Dom Torero's garage, and owner George says, hey, come on, boy, do what you guys need to do. We have an entire patio, open area. We could smoke entire inside. Two bartenders, DJ playing. We had this entire thing. And then we're told by George, he comes out too Fast, Too Furious. Right here. Filmed it and we looked it up. It's like, excuse me. Literally right here we were where the cars were lined up to race against each other. Dom's in there, we're having a couple cocktails. And at that moment we did watch. We watched that Seattle Seahawks team just absolutely. It was good times. We were having a blast while they were doing it. Felt bad for the Niners, but the Seahawks do have a chance to do that. Especially with the 12th man humming the way that it's humming. We talked earlier today. It feels like both these games are going to be good games.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But if they were to become blowouts, what could it possibly be? Well, I guess Seattle could blow out the Rams, especially if that home field gets rolling. And then on the flip side of that, what if it is same Darnold? What if the Rams defense gets a couple quick turnovers early and then all of a sudden the Rams are able to roll because they're able to Run the ball. They're able to kind of keep the defense on the field. They're able to do that type of stuff.

[Bill Cowher]

Stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

So I guess both teams could kind of blow out each other if they really wanted to. And then we go Patriots, Broncos. You would think the Patriots maybe just absolutely demolished if Stidham is not prepared for the moment. But on the flip side of that, what if Stutham is ready for the moment? What if Steady is ready to turn Denver into steady city? There's a chance that that happens. And all of a sudden the Patriots, which we don't think is possible, just weren't ready for a Stidham led offense. I guess there's a chance any of these games, both of these games could get ugly. But we feel four best teams actually available right now and we're going to have dog fights through both of them is how I feel about it. But there is a chance. I guess it gets ugly in a couple of different ways.

[Connor Rogers]

No, I think we're all on the same page. Like, it's impossible to see one of these teams, any of these four, pulling away. You know, maybe there's a lead at some point during the game where it's, you know, 10 points, 14 points, but then you would expect the other team to make a big play and make that thing a game in the fourth quarter. Like, it's very, very difficult to see that. But at the same time, like you mentioned, like, even with, you know, Darnold, could he turn the ball over four times? Drake May could. He had three turnovers against the Texans. Could he do that against the Broncos? Stidham very well could too. So it's one of those situations. But that's why, I mean, these games are so good. You know, I feel like every single year when it comes to conference title games, we're all ready for a very, very close game. And they've delivered for the most, most part, you know, as teams have stayed healthy.

[Bone]

Yeah, we talked about, you know, you could see the Broncos just because Stidham is a backup quarterback, he hasn't played in two years or whatever. But the one thing to watch, to potentially keep it close no matter how Stidham is playing. The Pats have given up five sacks in both of their playoff games. They are 28th in the league in protecting Drake May. The Broncos are number one in sacks by a wide, wide margin. So even if Sidham is playing horrendous, there's a chance of that Broncos D line could keep them in the most.

[Pat McAfee]

Sacks off the right edge to Your point? Nick Bonito right in that middle of that thing there. Will Campbell, now Rookie left tackle. Three sacks on 13 pressures this postseason. Who knows what those stats mean. What we do know is Drake has been getting hit. And also Drake's turnovers have been happening. Whenever he's in pocket. Getting hit feels like he has no fear. Feels like he has no fear about what could potentially come. Now, some people will say he has no awareness either that this was happening, is how some, like experts would say. And I think he'll develop that as he has. But he has no thoughts. He goes into the pocket. A lot of these young quarterbacks do not do that. Especially as athletic as Drake may is, he could easily have this constant. I'm going to get out to the left, I'm going to get out to right. Because we seen him go left and go across his body. We seen him go right. We've seen him get the edge. We've seen him lead a team in rushing before. So it's like you could see how he would maybe want to just get out and move outside the pocket. He steps up in pocket on a lot of different occasions. That is a pro quarterback, first of all. That takes years to do. But when you step up in the pocket after you've already come out, there's a chance that that thing is already starting to kind of collapse. But if you're able to get up in there, obviously you're going to have your best options and escape through there is normally a huge gash. So he's way ahead of schedule, it feels like, with the way he operates. But he's a little bit behind how normal pocket guys operate because they have a sense of when this shit's about to happen and when that thing's collapsing. He had two against. I don't know. There was. Wasn't Houston was the Chargers. Chargers in the first round, two against the Chargers that were him stepping back up into it and then just having no real. I'm good. And then bang, ball just out. It's like, hey, if you're going to step up in the pocket, that thing you're. The reason why you're stepping up in is because it's already coming down. So you got to figure out what the hell you're doing now, not tomorrow.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes. And that's. And, you know, maybe it's. He has so much faith in Will Campbell, which I do love, and I think we all expect him to get much better after his rookie year, but something he did against the Chargers that he didn't do against the Texans at all was run like he moved a lot more up into the pocket and then escape, hey, let's go get 10 yards. I feel like that will be a massive thing against Denver. Darius Butler sent me a bunch of stats about how Denver plays the most man to man. So you assume that with the team that plays man to man that maybe there will be a couple, you know, escape hatches that he can get through. That's what I think a lot of Patriots fans were shocked at about against the Texans. Against Texans, I think he had 15 rushing yards. Maybe like even in that play right there where he gets strip sacked by either Will Anderson or Daniel Hunter. Like you thought he would kind of escape to the left there and maybe pick up a first down because that's what he did against the Chargers. He went away from that last week completely. So I think that will be a massive thing against the Broncos, especially because they play a lot of man to man coverage. You would think, hey, a lot of backs turn turned, let's go get a first down.

[Pat McAfee]

He is only in a second year, first year in this system. It does feel like some of his strengths can also be kind of weaknesses every once in a while. Like hey, ultimate faith in offensive line. Hey, you're going to have that thing good for me in the back there. I think a sixth sense is going to be developed. I think that is only only can come through football, but what he can do with his legs, I don't even think we've even seen it to it like what it could be. No, and they might save that, I mean super bowl if they were to make it it there. Two weeks of preparation, whoever's preparing for it, it's like okay, yeah and we got a quarterback that grown like 4, 5, 4, 6 and this dude is durable, seemingly takes massive shots and keeps it rolling.

[Connor Rogers]

Dude, the only game that they did this was against Buffalo at home when they had that where they were up 24 nothing, 24 seven whatever and gave up that lead. He started the game off with a read option touchdown run and then a quarterback draw touchdown run. And that's the only game all you year where we've seen like very legitimate.

[Pat McAfee]

Design runs for and I think they don't want him to be a run first quarterback. Like it's very much like hey, you're going to be a passing quarterback. The only reason why quarterback or the only way that quarterbacks who win a Super bowl is they have to be able to pass the ball okay. If you want to run later, we can do that. So I think it is by design to be like, hey, you're staying in, you're staying in, you're staying in. But they haven't even really unleashed the run and I don't know if they will ever because maybe they think it's too many hits and maybe they think it's not worth it. What you're able to do in the the pocket without taking all those different shots is much better for our team as a whole. As opposed to you always scrambling and take maybe getting concussed, maybe get knocked out for a few. So maybe it is by design for them not to do that. But it's like what Drake May can do on the ground is very lethal. I mean like very, very, very lethal. You're talking about ball in his hands, makes plays on a very regular basis.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, like underestimated to. To your point because we don't use it enough. But that was his problem his Rookie year before McDaniels got there is that when he would escape, you know, he would get blasted. He didn't really slide. And we've even seen it this year. I still remember against Tampa Bay, him taking the ball to the outside can easily, you know, step out of bounds and he gets eviscerated because he was trying to get a couple extra yards. It's to the point where it isn't worth, you know, him doing stuff like that. But it will be very interesting to see if they do break that out.

[Bone]

This week to all these points. Josh Allen ran 12 times last last week for 66 yards. His long was 26. And with. And also with the man, the amount of man that they play are there. I believe they are also the most penalized secondary in the league as well. Backs returned a lot. Obviously that happens. You know, tendencies draw PIs in that situation as well. So something to watch for that game as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen is a man who's a Super bowl champion. He's a college football national champion Rodder cup winner. The all time leading tackler for the Green Bay packers, ladies and gentlemen, A.J.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Hawker. Hawker. Hawker. Hawker. You see boner out here?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I see Boner. I was leaning. I was leaning heavy rams. But after bones breakdown I might have to rethink my thoughts.

[Pat McAfee]

Dog walk was just too persuasive for you.

[AJ Hawk]

It was especially when you springing on me after watching all the film and everything. What's your thoughts on the championships games? So Bone like credit to him thinking I may have missed a snap or two. I might as well. Just throw something crazy out there to, you know, nail it home, you know, drive home, I guess.

[Pat McAfee]

And D3 national champion, brother. I mean, you. You talk D3 football. You're talking attention to detail. You're talking no stone unturned. You're talking about watching every single snap of every single player that's on the field ever for both these teams. Just so you know, you get your shot on a microphone. You know what you're talking about and what he said. I watch everything Sean McVay has done, going all the way back to whenever he was on Washington.

[Connor Rogers]

The Washington J. Rudens.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

That particular staff or whatever the case was. I watch everything he does. I know his tendencies. I know what he's thinking and if I know what his tendencies are. D3 national champion. What do you think, McDonald? McDonald's the stats for Sean McVay and McDonald, by the way, special. This is awesome that we're getting this in the NFC championship time, 2 and 2, 109 to 107 yards, 1600, both of them. And time leading botse. So these teams match up very well. And if you're the Seattle Seahawks, you are very thankful that you found a young coach that is able to keep up with McVeigh out there in the NBC west, because Sean McVeigh, potentially, and now none of us believe this would be the case because there has to be burnout at some point in every single profession. Even if you are a football coach. Him having so much success, so much pressure at such a young age has kind of changed things. We don't know if he's going to coach as long as some of these other coaches. I don't know if he's going to 70. I don't know if he's going to 60.

[AJ Hawk]

Not even 40 yet. Right?

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. Exactly. We don't know. Maybe he will. Maybe he goes down as the guy who coaches as a head coach in the NFL for the longest of all time. Maybe that is the case. But if he is to get to 55, 60, which 50 to 60, which we all assume head coaches can definitely get to, I mean, that's a long time in the NFC west of these people having to deal with Sean McVay. So then McDonald gets hired. He's young. This guy could do it. Maybe he'll put up. He's the defensive Sean McVay.

[Connor Rogers]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, he's a young lad as well. It's like what a great horse. Tiger for them. And also, it turns out these teams are going to be Fist fighting for the next 20 years against each other the exact same way.

[Connor Rogers]

Not to mention Kyle Shanahan. Like Kyle Shanahan. Also young guy who loves ball, from a football family, who's been doing it for a long, long time, who has had devastating loss after devastating loss and has had to rebuild his team like multiple times already.

[Pat McAfee]

He has more heartbreak than 75 year old coaches.

[Connor Rogers]

No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

Shanahan is still young. And Speaking of Sean McVay, it's his birthday tomorrow.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, really?

[Pat McAfee]

Happy birthday, Sean. Birthday, Sean. Championship weekend. Having a birthday, this boy was destined for it.

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah, he was.

[Pat McAfee]

Might as well be super bowl weekend, this guy. Oh my gosh. Most important weekends, championship weekend. Because that's get to the big dance. Then once you get to the big dance, you let the big dogs kind of do what they got to do. You let them go. They need Happy birthday. Sean McVeigh. I was born May 2, 1980, him January 24, 1986. Man, he's been a head coach for 45 years already. Yeah, this guy's unbelievable.

[Connor Rogers]

And he's been offered every other job under the sun too.

[Pat McAfee]

Hi, we're Amazon. We got this thing, a lot of people are going to watch. We just invested a billion dollars. We're wondering if you just want to. You've already done the whole thing. Maybe you just come into the booth, you be the next Madden plank.

[Connor Rogers]

Check.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What do you want? What do you want to get paid? 20, 30, 40, you know, you decide we're paid a billion for. So if you think in comparison, you.

[AJ Hawk]

Had to think about it, don't you think?

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, from what we were told. Now, granted, what was being reported, what was real, you know, who knows what's actually real? But if I'm Amazon and Sean McVeigh is potentially going to be opening every single week at that stage, we've already put a billion in. It's like whenever you're getting a mortgage for 30 years and they ask if you want another 10,000 for these things added into a 30 year payment, it's like, yeah, you want to add another 35 million a year for Sean McVeigh, it's going to up the everything. Oh, we can find that in here somewhere, don't we? We have a billion dollars we put into this thing. We could do that. That kind of was a situation that's only going to continue for him as his teams continue to be great and he continues to be exactly who he is. So I guess that temptation is what's going to be drawing, driving him maybe away from what he's doing. Because all I've seen from Sean McVay is he wins games.

[Connor Rogers]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And his team loves him and he's in it. And he's an offensive guy. So that whenever he does well, the offense coordinator is not getting plucked. He's not having to continue to battle that whole thing. Sean McVay is an incredible story and an incredible story.

[Connor Rogers]

I mean, even ESPN, like before they got Joe and Troy, I thought ESPN was in it for, you know, Sean McVeigh to maybe pull him out. That's the good thing about the booths now, though. They're so close to having all good primetime booths that maybe some of these coaches that were thinking about it at one point are now, hey, let's just go win Super Bowls.

[Pat McAfee]

And I will say this, I will say this. There's going to be more primetime games because they're going to go to 18.

[Jim Cantore]

Yep.

[Bone]

For sure.

[Pat McAfee]

There's going to be more little gimmick games.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, the international ones.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But there's going to be a Wednesday game coming. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Wednesday night action is going to be. Have a two week period, a two week run because some streaming platform is going to be like $2 billion. Wednesday games, I guess. Yeah, we'll give those guys. They're already getting two buys. 18 games, they get a back end buy. But most guys aren't healthy by Wednesday. Well, they have to be. So that's just how this is going to be. There's only going to be more of those. I think there's only going to be more people being tasked with going into the booth.

[Connor Rogers]

The Black Friday games do so well. You would assume Fridays, maybe towards the end of the season where, yeah, there's no more bye week. Like 14, what is it? 15, 16, 17, 18. I guess maybe 19 now those weeks when there's nothing on Fridays, kind of high school football. I know, that was the thing. Hey, we're not going to do Friday night games because high school football, high school football by then is kind of done.

[Pat McAfee]

So you would think they would do Friday Night lights.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

The NFL's Friday Night Lights.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

They'll have a whole thing. Boys of Fall, Kenny Chester probably singing that entire thing. I mean, I mean there's only more and more and more coming. And I think the NFL understands that. Let's pivot away from the NFL and let's pivot to the association. Something we're going to be paying attention to after this super bowl ends. And who's going to be in the Super Bowl. We Find out this weekend, championship weekend, who matters in the NBA. Okay. That's what we need to know. And I'm doing this not only for us, but I feel like for the people watching. We're about to be in the. Hey, we're watching other sports.

[Connor Rogers]

Time.

[Jim Cantore]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. We are in it next week.

[Jim Cantore]

Week.

[Pat McAfee]

It's coming.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, it's here fast.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, granted, there's other sports happening, which we will certainly talk about here in a little bit that are awesome and storylines that have been developing around there, but the NBA is about to be a big part of our lives after this super bowl, after this playoff run to give us everything we need to know. Ladies and gentlemen, senior NBA insider for espn, friend of the program, Sham Sharan. Yeah.

[Shams Charania]

Congrats to your Hoosiers. Congrats to your Hoosiers. And I know Boston Connors got a big week weekend with the Pats, so best of luck to him as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, thank you for that. The state of Indiana is certainly pumped. I was very thankful that the Hooers got a win. Obviously, the house is much happier whenever they're doing that, and it's great for the state. Connor actually picked the Hoosiers as his college team like last year, so. So not only does he have a national championship in his short college football fan hood, but now he's got a chance to have the Patriots all the way back. It's a wild time to be Connor, and I want to let you know we do appreciate the aura he is radiating.

[Shams Charania]

Sean, listen, I. If you would have told me that IU would win a national championship in football, I did not expect them to ever be a football school. So shout out to the Hoosiers.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah. Shout out.

[Shams Charania]

And Mark Cuban.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, and Mark Cuban. And also Yorkman, I believe, who's the head of Cook Medical Group, Bloomington. There's, like a lot of nil people. Cuban certainly a part of that. Cuban, not the biggest. I don't think he's ever said that. He's the biggest donor to the nil. He has certainly helped. There are others. Indiana's got a lot of people that are pumped about Signetti and the Hoosiers. Anyways, let's move. And their basketball team. Anyways, let's move to your sport, shall we? In the NBA, we talk about Connor having the Hoosiers win and maybe the Patriots win. Are the Celtics once again dominant? Like, who are the teams that are doing well this season that we need to maybe think about as we look ahead to post football season?

[Shams Charania]

The Celtics definitely, like, they've surprised everyone. You have to give Jalen Brown a lot of crazy credit. You think about MVP candidates. He has to be up there his game. He's going to be an all NBA player. He's already voted an All Star starter. So you know what he's been able to do to propel this team to being a top three seed in the Eastern Conference without Jason Tatum. And we'll see if and when Jason Tatum exactly when he comes back the second half of this NBA season. But you know, when I look at the Eastern Conference, I think of Boston, I think of Detroit. You have to still put New York in there even though they've had had this lull over the last 12, 13 games where they, I think they've lost nine of the last 12 games. Cleveland still has some talent. Philadelphia's come on pretty strong. So those are really the teams. But the, the, the east is wide open. Detroit has been far and away the best team in that conference so far from a regular season perspective. But you look at what Boston has, they've got the talent, they've done it before. So you have to put them up there. And then I, I think you look at this trade deadline, right, Pat? So I think, you know, as the schedule is starting to turn here, I think hopefully, you know, we're going to be having a lot more chatting coming up because trade deadline is less than two weeks away and Boston could be a team where going into the year it's like, okay, are they going to shed some salary? We know they shed Christophs Porzingis and Jrue Holiday last offseason. Who else will they shed in season? Will be, will it be Anfernee Simons? Will it be, you know, another Payton Pritchard. But those guys are essential parts of this team.

[Connor Rogers]

Team.

[Shams Charania]

I could see Boston going the other way and maybe adding a player, maybe adding another big man. Like they've been in the marketplace trying to go get a big time starting center potentially. So they're going to be, I think, aggressive in moving the needle. They've got assets, they've got contracts to use and play with in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City, I, I said it early in the year, it's Oklahoma City and then it's everyone else in the NBA like Oklahoma City right now with, with the even though Jalen Woods Williams, AKA J Dub, he started the year out and now he came back and he got hurt again. But this team is a machine. Shay Gills Alexander right now is a leader for mvp. But then San Antonio, they had a stretch within two Weeks where they beat Oklahoma City three times. So San Antonio's shown they've got the pieces and the parts to give Oklahoma City real problems. And we know Victor Romanyama loves to go up against not only Shay Gillis Alexander, but Chet Holmgren as well. So you have to put San Antonio in there. Denver, you have to put in there. They're the third seed right now, I think 30 and 15. They were the, I think the third seed when Nikola Jokic got hurt a month ago. And a lot of people around the league are like, this is a team that's going to fall into the play in. You know, they're going to, they're going to become a wild card type team, but they're still in that third position. They've been able to do more than enough without Jokic in the lineup to, to keep their heads above water. And then we see the standings there. Houston, I think, I think, you know, after you get by Oklahoma City and San Antonio and Denver, you have like that second tier of teams that's like Houston, the Lakers, Minnesota, you have to put up there. They've been in the conference finals the last two years. And then Phoenix, like Shout out the Suns, they lose Kevin Durant, and they're a team that's now fighting hard even though they're, they're. They can be without Devin Booker, they can be without this guy, but they hired a new coach, Jordan out there, that's been able to change the entire foundation and the culture there. So you have to give them a lot of credit. And then the two hottest teams in the NBA right now, Portland and the Clippers, and so the Western Conference is absolutely loaded.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so those are the teams that we'll be looking forward to make a run and maybe make a move at the trade deadline. Less than two weeks away, which we appreciate. Congrats to the Celtics being buyers and not sellers, and Tatum potentially coming back, which is absurd to think about after he tears an Achilles in the playoffs last year. So congrats to Boston. Okay. Having New England in the AFC championship and then also having the Celtics and what was supposed to be a down year in an up year. Trade deadline. Let's talk about it as you. Your connection comes unstable. Feels like somebody's trying to throttle you a little bit.

[Connor Rogers]

Missoula.

[Pat McAfee]

They know what I'm bringing up here. They know what I'm about to bring up here. Trade deadline. Any big names that we should think about. Giannis, for instance. So you have been on this, on our show for a long time. I remember Pacers in the Finals talking about this. I remember in the off season talking about this. I remember you throughout this season talking about this on your ex. The big thing for me is it has seemingly been that Giannis's team business. People, you know, around him have certainly been wondering if Giannis and his time at the buck should come to an end and maybe he has a chance to win a championship or relevancy or anything like that somewhere else. Giannis seemingly has not loved that you've been messaging that publicly. Now, you, as an insider, are only saying this because your credibility relies upon it, your legacy relies upon it. And also, you're new in this business, so you can't be wrong. You have very reliable sources to be saying what you are saying. Giannis has come out publicly and said, to hell with this. This ain't it. Because I don't think Giannis wants to piss off the entire city, doesn't want to piss off the organization. He wants to be kind of a hero, but maybe also understands, like, if I was to go somewhere else, there'd be a whole new career potentially sitting for me, which could benefit me publicly. Am I accurately depicting that? And are we anywhere near an end to this entire story? As the trade deadline looms with the.

[Shams Charania]

Greek free week, I mean, the totality of. And we see right there the. The time stamp. And Giannis and the Bucks, they've been having ongoing conversations about his future, even going back to May. Those conversations have just every single passing week, every passing month since May, when I first reported that he is exploring his best fits outside of Milwaukee for the. For really the first time and really getting down to which team he would want to go, go to where he would want to be. Those conversations have only grown with every passing week and month since May. And recently, the Bucks and Giannis's conversations have intensified in nature because we saw Pat, he made some comments after their game on Wednesday. They've had some big blowout losses recently, and they got blown out on our airwaves at ESPN against Oklahoma City Thunder. They lost another blowout game and he came out and absolutely went off on his team. Like, these are very uncharacteristic comments from Giannis and Titokounmpo. We know Pat also about a week, two weeks ago, the fans in Milwaukee were booing him and the team when they were playing, and he booed them back, as we saw in that clip right there. That is also something we have not seen from Giannis and the Bucks fans, is the booing. And so his comments after the game, game. The frustration that Giannis Antetokounmpo has is at an all time high. He's frustrated with the losing, he's frustrated with the situation. And I will say this, I've spoken to about a dozen sources on and off for weeks now. And the tension that's in the air within that organization, in that locker room, it's at an all time high. And there's a somewhat of a splintering environment that we're seeing going on there because when, when a player of Giannis's caliber, caliber is maybe has a wandering eye or maybe doesn't know what his future holds there and is having these intense conversations with the organization about what that looks like. There's going to be such high levels and degrees of uncertainty within that organization. And all of this is, is, you know, to me it's, again, it's hap. It's been going on all year. But I just think back to the summer, late July, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucs general manager John Horn Horst are meeting face to face. And John Horst is in the Bucks and Doc Rivers and ownership, they're selling Giannis and Kounmpo and competing for a championship. Like we have a title contending roster. And Giannis makes it very clear that he has concerns, he has issues with the roster, that he maybe doesn't believe that this is a truly contending teams. And that leads to conversations with the Knicks. That's a preferred destination that he had in the offseason season. Those team, two teams spoke, there were offers made. Obviously there was no deal that happened. The Bucs end up signing his brother Tanasis, he ends up committing to the season and he ends up starting the year there. And so everything about Giannis's brand has been loyalty. He spent 13 years in Milwaukee. It's clear he loves the city, he loves the organization. But what I've been hearing over and over for months now is that the writing is on the wall for Yan Giannis and the Bucks. It's just how do they get there? When do they get there? And really when is either side ready to step up to the plate and have that level of understanding? Or will it continue to live in this nebulous state where, you know, will they or won't they? Will he or won't he? And that has a direct impact on the team and how the performance is and just the level of the air. And so everything that happened in the summer, everything that I reported, that is all just a backdrop to what we're seeing play out now in real time. The only difference with what was going on in the summer and right now is it's all happening in everyone's public domain because there are games to be played. This is a team that's 18 and 25. They're in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. If the season ended today, they would not even be a play in team or a playoff team.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, they're booty. Jeez, these guys.

[Shams Charania]

Way out of the realm of what Giannis wants from this team. And so we're seeing all of the frustrations, all of the feelings all play out in real time.

[Pat McAfee]

It's like, they're like. With the Greek freak. They're like Greek yogurt ass.

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, that is. That's crazy that that's what they are right now. And obviously, he's not happy. Nebulous. It's an adjective meaning hazy, vague, or indistinct. So kind of a purgatory situation between the Bucks and Giannis. And you talked about Giannis's brand is, like, loyalty, and obviously he loves the city and brought a title there, has brought a lot of success there. We had a similar situation in football where it was like, Russell Wilson and then Team three. There was like, Team three was reporting things or leaking things, and then Russell Wilson was like, well, kind of what they're saying. It's like, because Russell Wilson loves Seattle as well. Russell Wilson loved to see Hawks. Russell Wilson wanted people, you know, good guy Russell Wilson, consummate movie, like, character of a football player. So you never want to be associated with that for some reason. There's a negative connotation potentially. But Team three, though, was like, yeah, but we. We're here to think about him. Okay? And what we think is this feels like you've been potentially talking to team freak. Okay? Potentially team freak.

[Shams Charania]

You know, I'll be honest. This is now reaching different levels. Levels. Because, you know, maybe in the off season, you know, you have to really trust your sourcing and trust you're getting it from. From people and things like that. But this is now happening in real time with the Bucks. Like, this is. There are games being played, there are. Are pregames, there are post games, there are in game environments that are going on right now that, you know, maybe it is a lot more sheltered in the offseason, right, where it is very much between players, player, an agent and team, you know, but as the season continues to go on, there's frustration that happens, there's conversations that take place, and the Reality is when you have a star player who is. Giannis is the one that said on Monday, on MLK Day, he was asked, are you going to spend. Do you have confidence you're going to be with the Bucks for the rest of the season? His response was, I don't know.

[Bill Cowher]

Know.

[Shams Charania]

I don't know. I take it day by day. Now, I'll be honest, how that's interpreted to everyone around the league and everyone in that locker room is not a sign of full investment. That's just.

[Pat McAfee]

Sean, do you. Do you feel vindication here? Because I assume the Bucks people. Because that was part of some of your mentions, because you said stuff on.

[Shams Charania]

I'm sure they wanted to. I'm sure they wanted to do some very, very mean and harsh things to me all summer when, when, when out.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they were saying mean stuff to you, Sean, and there was a lot of things they were saying with what rhymes with your names and other stuff. I mean, they were getting clever with it, I don't think. They were certainly thrilled with what you were saying. But what you are saying now is it seems like the rest of the world is kind of seeing what you've been kind of told since May seemingly is kind of how this whole thing was going. And it's crazy if this ends in a super negative way, because for me, it feels like Giannis has only been good for the NBA. My eyes, you know, just learning his documentary, learning his story, where he played in Greece, obviously bringing his brother along, what all he's been able to do for the city, how committed he is, how much better he's gotten at basketball since getting into the NBA. So it's like, we obviously think nothing but positive things, but you get him to where would he go? Because New York, I think you reported, was the only team that was very interesting.

[Shams Charania]

New York was his preferred. So think about it, right? If, if, if. If the, The New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks are having trade conversations and August, what is. What is leading to that, right? Like, like, just if, if people just look at it just like, think about that, right? And so, yeah, I mean, the Knicks were a team in the offseason where it was made clear to all parties, whether it's the Knicks, whether it was the Bucks, whether it was people around the Giannis situation, that that was a spot that was a preferred destination. But obviously no deal happened. There were offers made. The Knicks made offers, offers. The Bucks obviously didn't feel like, you know, there was two sides of the coin, right? On one side, the Knicks felt that the Bucks were never serious about trading Giannis in the off season. And, and then the buck side, there were people there that were like, there were never offers that were really serious enough for us to really even consider. Like there weren't offers made to the level that made sense for us to even think about it. And so there's two different sides of that story. Either way, it ended in no trade. But the reality was all sun, summer, Giannis, he, he didn't want a gap year. This is a player that's 31 years old, he's a two time MVP. He won a championship in 2021. He's been on the record, he's made it very, very, very clear I want to compete and win a second NBA championship. That level of competitiveness and, and window looks like it has run its course in Milwaukee potentially. At least that's what he feels. That's what the concerns that he shares paired with the Bucks. The Bucks on the other hand, felt like they had a roster and a team and still do apparently that can compete for a championship and can go compete with Giannis and win a championship there. And so, you know, you have two differing kind of opinions or two different kind of takes on where this organization might be at. And so he was sold on competing for a championship that obviously where they're at right now with the record, that isn't what has transpired. And so that's why you're seeing the frustration, that's why you're seeing the conversations continue to intensify and something that we could very well see play out over the next two weeks. The Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo have major decisions to make these next two weeks. That part is abundantly clear to everyone in the NBA.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, and the nebulicity of it all is just kind of part of the problem. You know, if we could get out of the nebulousness and maybe just address the elephant in the room, you know, maybe address the tension head on, then we'll be able to get past it and what that looks like, we'll see, I guess. But then we'll no longer be nebula. And that's true. I think that's a big part of it all. So good luck to the Bucks and good luck to Giannis. Here's another storyline that's seemingly brewing in your world and will never stop. Go ahead, A.J.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, sh. Pat's talking about the Lakers. I know there's some drama there. Rich Paul goes on his podcast, gives his opinion on what he thinks the Direction of, of the. The franchise should be, I guess, what's. What's going there with LeBron, Jeannie Buss, the whole situation. How. How does this, how do they figure all this out?

[Shams Charania]

Yeah, you know, you know, Rich Paul, you know, I think everyone with the Lakers feels Rich Paul is, I guess, entitled to however he, you know, he wants. I mean, he's got his own podcast. He can say what he wants.

[Bill Cowher]

Now.

[Shams Charania]

There's no doubt, like Austin Reeves, his camp, how they might feel about the comments. They made that clear. Dave McMenamin put out a story a few weeks ago saying, saying one of Austin Reeves agent approached Rich Paul had a, you know, really, really, you know, I think a good conversation with Rich Paul about where things are at. I actually saw that take place in front of me. It was a very respectful conversation. It's two people that have known each other for years. But the reality is here, you know, what we're having right now, this is, this is, you know, an end of a relationship, right, in terms of LeBron James and the Lakers. Now, whether that comes at the end of this season, if LeBron James decides, decides as a free agent to sign somewhere else, or if he decides to retire or he decides to come back for one more year and, you know, decide that he wants to retire as a Laker, like the end is near with this relationship either, however you want to slice it. And so the end, there's always seems to be some sort of, of, you know, storyline with that. And, and it can be unceremonious at different points. We've seen fallouts the Lakers have had, whether it's, you know, Jerry west, rest in peace piece, you know, he had a falling out with, with Genie Buss to an extent. And, and so at the end of the day, I think LeBron James, when he made his comments last night, he was very succinct. I mean, he's someone who's 41 years old. He spends most of his time playing golf. I don't think he cares much for really anything that goes on with, with, you know, basketball other than him playing in games and trying to win on, on a nightly basis. I think he's got other things on his mind right.

[Connor Rogers]

Right now.

[Shams Charania]

That's the reality of the situation. But, you know, before LeBron got to the Lakers, this was a team that was a lottery team. LeBron James goes there, they win a championship. This is, I think, his eighth season there. And so we'll see how much longer he wants to play, but this is a Lakers team. With Luka Donches that wants to compete for a championship. But how do they get there? Do they make moves to get there as well? These are all questions going into the trade deadline.

[Pat McAfee]

LeBron's still playing after this season. It sound like you kind of left it open for interpretation. And then I think you said Lakers as well. If he was to play, is there a chance free agency? LeBron's playing somewhere else next year.

[Shams Charania]

I don't think LeBron James knows right now, January 23, 1:41pm Eastern time, what he wants to do with, with his the rest of his career. Like, I think there are multiple pathways that this could play out now. It's made a lot of sense to people that he's in year 23. Three is numbers 23 in Los Angeles. The All Star Game is in Los Angeles. Could this be the year? But, you know, maybe it's in part because of how this season's going with the Lakers, how the relationship has gone with the Lakers over the last year, year and a half. They make the trade, moving out Anthony Davis. You can see they've clearly turned the page. Like, Luka Doncic is this team's franchise cornerstone. Luka Doncic is where this team is going. And, and I mean, that's understandable to everyone, especially LeBron James. But how he wants the end of his career to play out, does he want to retire a Laker? Does he want to retire somewhere else next season, or does he just want to retire, period? Those are all questions that he's going to have and things that he's going to have to answer, but on what time it's going to be on his time.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Excited to find out what that is. We're always on Braun watch. Always.

[Bone]

Yeah, we are.

[Pat McAfee]

Ever since the LeBron versation. You know, I feel like I, I, I know him a little bit better. It feels like we know him a little bit better. Feels like he's earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants. And I think that's what everybody's saying is he is doing whatever the hell he wants. He enough of it, you know. Rich Paul, good news. New podcast dropping today.

[Connor Rogers]

Okay, Pumped.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Rich Paul's got a new podcast. I feel like he's probably going to address everything in his own way. Rich Paul has done a lot of really good business with the NBA. You know, now his name's getting brought up a lot. Now he's got a podcast as well to come. So there isn't like, oh, Rich is doing this. Clutch is doing this. I Called him this morning, and I asked him. I'm like, hey, you pissed everybody off. What's going on? It feels like everybody's talking about it or whatever. And he goes, yeah, you know, another podcast dropping today. I'm like, okay, so we're still doing a podcast. Okay, so we are. We got one coming today. Rich Paul's been very good to us. I think he has done a lot good for a lot of different cities and a lot of different places. But certainly having a podcast and being a pundit as well as an agent and an insider, you know, it is an interesting thing to have. He's got the people talking, though.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes, he does.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got the people talking. People be talking about people. All right, last headline we need to address. Go ahead, con man.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, Sean's not sure if he is a Rich Paul guy, but John Morant has been in the news. I believe he requested a trade two or three weeks ago. And then last week, they said, hey, I don't want to trade. Trade. What is kind of the situation with Jaw in the Grizzlies and then staying with that team? You've mentioned a big man being available for trade. It feels like Jaren Jackson Jr. Is that guy, and he is also with Memphis. Are they going to sell everything, completely restart this thing, or what's the deal with the Grizzlies right now?

[Shams Charania]

Right now, the focus around the league with the. With the Grizzlies is John Morant, because that's the player that they are openly entertaining off offers. They're taking calls, they're getting calls, they're taking offers. And, you know, this is a situation where there hasn't been a formal trade request, to my knowledge, but it is something that I think, could both sides be ready for a fresh start? My understanding is, yes, that.

[Bill Cowher]

That.

[Shams Charania]

That is the case, that this is something that does go both ways. But how does that play out? John Morant, there's, you know, Trey Young got traded. He was the first big blockbuster deal of this trade season. And that happened in the way it happened and the timeliness of it. He has one year left on his deal, player option for next year. And so the return that Atlanta got was just salaries. The difference between John Morant and Trey Young is John Morant's got three seasons left on his deal. Like, this is a player that's under team control for the long term. So Memphis, if they want to keep him, they don't get offers that they feel are satisfiable. They could keep him certainly after the deadline. But I think there is a level of motivation and the calls are in contact coming to the Grizzlies there. I. My understanding is there's multiple teams interested, making offers, and then from there, the Grizzlies are gonna have to sift it out. Sift all of them out. And then, you know, they could go multiple pathways after that. Do you continue to build your organization? You know, Jaren Jackson is a piece that has, you know, a ton of value on the marketplace. I think there are several teams that would throw multiple picks, multiple swaps like the kitchen sink. Add a guy like Jaren Jackson because he can play the full four, the five, he can defend, he can shoot. He's a Defensive Player of the year award winner. Like, he's so versatile. But the Grizzlies view him as a player where, if they move John Morant and you have a young team with Jaren Jackson, you can move forward if there's someone that completely blows them away. You know, I think that is something you have to take a look at too, if you're the Grizzlies. But I think, I think the first piece of this all is going to be what happens with John Morant's future. You know, you think about Giannis. Giannis hovers around all these guys. But whether it's John Morant, whether it's a Demonte Sabonis, whether it's an Anthony Davis, a Michael Porter Jr. These are all players that, that are big names that, that could have a big swing on. On what the NBA looks like in the second half of the season.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, you said a lot of names. You didn't say one big name in our eyes. And Ty Schmidt is at home dadding right, right now. We will see him on Monday. Sitting in for him. Bone has the last question for you. What's up, Shams? It wouldn't be a Sham's appearance if we didn't ask an update about Zion Williamson. Is he still just crushing it for New Orleans?

[Connor Rogers]

Last time I checked, he was putting.

[Pat McAfee]

Up massive numbers for the team. Way to go, Bo. I would be proud of that.

[Shams Charania]

This is the Zion show, though. If we're not giving a Zion update on this show before or after me coming on like, come on, we're not doing it right. Z. Wilson is playing basketball. The New Orleans Pelicans. You know, record wise, I can't say season there's shite. But listen, I, I think, I think there, there, there's going to be a level of interest in Zion Williamson. Do the Pelicans want to Move him. Do they want to stand firm? I think there's still, you know, questions around where his long term future is there. But I think right now the Pelicans are taking a lot of call balls and he's someone that he just needs to stack games. He just needs to play in games.

[Pat McAfee]

They need to let him play. Maybe coming to Pacers. Coach Carlisle would love that. Keep going it forward. Shams, we appreciate your basketball season's about to happen for us. We'll talk to you soon.

[Shams Charania]

Appreciate you guys. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

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[Connor Rogers]

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[Pat McAfee]

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[Bone]

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[Pat McAfee]

Call 1-800-GRAINGER Click grainger.com or just stop by by. Way to go, Bone.

[AJ Hawk]

Bone.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you, Bone.

[AJ Hawk]

Coming in there strong.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Cuz you even said you even checked the notes too to make sure you got it all. And he said every time I see him, he's crushing it. That was good. Tai would have added at least one. Everybody says he's a fat, so. But every time he plays basketball, he's good. You did not do that. No, I. I don't fat shame anybody around here.

[Jim Cantore]

Why?

[Pat McAfee]

It's not. It's not shaming. It's just pointing things out. I think that is kind of the wrong thing to. To say is it's a shame. It's just like. No, this is what people are saying about Zion. People are saying. You're not saying it. Yeah. You're not saying. This is just journalism. We're talking about what the story is. Okay. It's not same Darno. It's not same darn exactly.

[Connor Rogers]

And it kind of makes sense. That is a big storyline with him. Not to mention the Bumpus hounds. Ty might have threw in a Bumpus hounds. Are they still okay with the grocery store?

[Pat McAfee]

Quick before show ends, we got to cover all the stuff happening, happening around the world of sport. I guess Penn State basketball ass this year from my understanding. But they've been doing this full court putt thing where you win one year worth of apartment lease money. And I guess this guy was getting booed. Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

What?

[Pat McAfee]

He's just got. Raised it up a little bit. Thumb down right There, full court. What do you do? The place is booing that you're a part of. Give me that apartment. What a putt. I think a lot of people didn't know it was a Penn State jersey he was wearing because it's a black Penn State jersey. So I think their natural reaction was, you know, home of white out up there. Everybody else was wearing white. I think their natural reaction was, oh, this must be from the away team. This guy got randomly selected. Boo. They ain't drains any obvious, I'm white, I'm one of you guys. I actually spent more money on this thing. They go crazy for him. I guess that's the second person ever hit it. Let's go a little high school basketball, shall we? How about an eighth grader? Eighth grader, Rajon Rondo's kid, Pierre Prodige. Rondo, eighth grade, playing varsity. This is all from one game you're about to watch. This guy might be the one. This might be the one. Oh, yeah, he's eighth grade, doesn't look obviously undersized or overmatched. Talks, plays the whole game. And this highlight from one game is over three. It's three minutes long in total. You're talking everywhere, passes, dishes. Number one, the white kid in the corner always makes a shot. By the way. He's unbelievable. This kid's an 8th grade, needs to be talked about.

[Bone]

Also, this isn't against some scrub team. This was against the number one team in Kentucky. So against incredible competition. And yeah, he was unbelievable. Also. Everyone he passes to makes every single shot, there was a big man they hit a pick and pop with. That was, I mean, this, this team very good as an eighth grader, a 13 year old, I believe. Unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I, I don't think you're supposed to be this comfortable and confident as an eighth grader on varsity. AJ Hawk.

[AJ Hawk]

No. Yeah, that's the thing. Like, he looks like he absolutely belongs. I mean, eighth grade, Think of the rest. This guy's. Imagine the rest of this guy's high school career. How fun it's going to be to watch this team play.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And in the age of content and I guess nil and everything like that, the only issue would be like, can you keep him hungry? Can you keep Pierre hungry through this whole thing? Because I like watching his teams react to him too. This one, he dives on the ground, gets the ball. Let me go ahead and get that thing back. He passed it to number one there to save himself. Number one. Where's he at? Corner, Ray Allen. Splash. This team's unstopped. I assume the rest of the team, I assume they had to be in on it knowing that an eighth grader was coming to play with him as soon as they found out that, oh, Rajon Rondo kid is also just like him and making us all a lot better. The buy in feels real and that's it's Rondo's team. He's an eighth grader. It's clearly his team.

[Connor Rogers]

Whenever you're watching this, yeah, it's unbelievable. And it feels like this is why maybe GMs trade for draft picks in 2030 because he's part of the 2030 class. He will probably do what Cooper Flagg did, reclassify. Hey look, I played four years of high school basketball, but I started in eighth grade. I just need to go to the big league to because I'm ready for it.

[Pat McAfee]

Tonight, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern on Netflix Free Solo yes, Alex Honnold will be attempting to climb one of the tallest buildings in the world. Taipei 101, 1,667ft to the top. And Alex Hond's doing it all without a robot. I wonder how he's going to get to certain spots because there's going to be little patios where he's just going to be able to hang out a little bit, maybe breathe.

[AJ Hawk]

Is he gonna go to the very top, like the big antenna looking thing? Is he going to the top of that?

[Pat McAfee]

I would assume, yeah. He had to map it out and all these little latches I guess would probably make it easier for Honl. But there's certainly going to be parts of that where we're going to think about him dying, you know, and I appreciate the fact that he's doing without a rope. I appreciate there is no backup plan. If he gets up that high and he falls, he's going to die. Because we started getting to death defying stunts that weren't actually death defying because lawyers got involved and said we can't have this on tv. This feels like he could actually die. As they show us right here, this is his body if he was to slip and fall. So that should be pretty insane. As we look ahead to this evening.

[Bone]

I hope it is what we hope it's going to be because as you just said, when the lawyers got involved, all these things started to suck. Okay. We watched the across the Grand Canyon. There was a big giant net under underneath. We watched what's his name? David Blaine. He was riding a hot air balloon and it was the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

The wild and wonderful. That one made me upset.

[Bone]

Remember we two, we were super pumped about the Blaine one. Like he was gonna walk on a hot air balloon. He was just taking a ride.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, he was. He was strapped in hondle that she talked about in free solo how like hey, I don't do ropes. Like that is my thing. I'm not a big. So this would be one of those things where he actually does show up. No ropes. Hopefully there is a net maybe to catch him.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's get back to ball. Fernando Mendoza made his late night debut last night with Jimmy Fallon and he was breaking more records. You get it?

[Jim Cantore]

Breaking more records.

[Pat McAfee]

Jimmy and he got into a good groove. Jimmy threw some fast balls, some high balls, some different balls. And Fernando was spinning it all over New York. He also showed up on morning shows. Fernando Mendoza are representing ball in a great way. And when he was standing next to Jimmy Fallon it almost felt like we were watching the bigger Jimmy Fallon as they were kind of going at it. AJ I thought it was a good appearance. I thought he handled himself well and represented for ball well as he didn't snipe one at Jimmy Fallon's head right there with seven seconds left.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he, I thought he handled himself beautifully. He, you can see he can obviously sling it. But Jimmy wasn't giving him the easiest tosses there. That last one I think, I think Fernandez should have buzzed, buzzed the tower there and throw one right, right by his ear when he threw it behind his head at the end.

[Pat McAfee]

Great work, Fernando. I believe we'll be talking to him at some point next week. They have a celebration happening.

[Connor Rogers]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Tomorrow down in Bloomington. It's going to be cold as shit. Good luck out there. Shout out to him, Andy. Indiana Hoosiers being 16 and 0, first 16 and oh team since Yale in 1800s. This weekend, obviously we look at the championship weekend and weather across the board. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen is the weatherman of all weather people now, Joe Dinar. DiNardo passed on so this man could do his thing. Amen, ladies and gentlemen. You'll see him wherever his bad weather telling us what we need to do and what we need to expect. We appreciate him for that. Jim Cantor.

[Jim Cantore]

Hey, what's going on man? Hey listen, I, I actually did the Wanda crossing of the Grand Canyon. I was the forecaster for that. And when they did the buildings in Chicago and they had a huge. And he, he, Nick had a huge gust that came when he was in the middle of that and I'm just. I'm right there, dude. I'm watching it. And I was like, oh, no way am I gonna see this. Please God, don't let me see this. But I remember that and what Alex is gonna do. Holy smoke.

[Pat McAfee]

So that was some stone. That was back in the day. Honestly, I'm not saying we could do it. But whenever they were hyping it up, it was like actual chance of like what could happen here. That's like the part of it you. I don't want to see it. It's like a train wreck. You don't want to see it. But they. But that is the entire purpose of the gimmick. So then whenever it started getting too safe, I think networks started getting scared of everything. And it was like worst case scenario here up at Niagara Falls was he was going to bungee jump above Niagara Falls. They had him tethered to the thing. It would have literally just been a bungee jump. It was like, oh no. Is this type of entertainment been ruined forever? And then Travis Pastran was like, nope, just come over the Internet. We're doing dumb shit crazy shit over here all the time. And now Honnold's Climbing Taipei 101. It feels like we're a little bit back. Cantor. Feels like we're almost a little bit back over.

[Jim Cantore]

Listen, what do you think the weather is over there for the visual of Alex doesn't make it. You painted a great picture. If Alex doesn't make it. I got a whole picture on that. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you think the weather's gonna be like over there? Jim, you got any insight on what Alex Honnold's gonna be battling? I think you froze up there a little bit there throttle and you made the weather slowing you down. What do you think it's gonna be like as he climbs this building?

[Jim Cantore]

Well, there's gonna be more wind the higher up you go because you're away from the surface of the earth. Less friction. Right. It also could be a little bit cooler up there on top. That's usually how it works.

[Pat McAfee]

Hot air rises.

[Jim Cantore]

I thought temperatures decrease with height.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay? Temperatures decrease with height. Hot air rises. I mean, there's a reason we call you into this thing.

[Jim Cantore]

I'll teach you, bro. I'll teach you. You teach me how. How to jump off a diving board in Miami in your. In your underwear and I'll teach you some weather.

[Pat McAfee]

That was an Olympic speedo. Thank you so much. Not underwear. I see you are potentially close to your underwear.

[Jim Cantore]

That bronnana Hammock. Did you well, thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

I feel like it worked out almost all of that there. We'll be back for Overreaction Monday. We continue digitally here with Jim Cantor as we say goodbye to the ESPN audience. SportsCenter is next. Be a friend. Tell friends something nice. It might change their life. Have a great weekend. Okay, so, Jim, we're still live.

[Connor Rogers]

That was a great one, by the way.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you. I feel like we got in there pretty good. Okay, let's.

[Jim Cantore]

You hammer that one.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you. Let's talk about what you're on for. And I don't know if you. You are in a robe right now in a hotel room and if it came or you brought your own, but where are you and what should we be expecting? This?

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah, I, I forgot my kimona. So the hotel robe has to do. That's exactly what I am. I'm comfortable. Some of us have been up since 3am So I said, you know, my producer, Peter, he's in his pajamas, too. But we're not staying in the same room. Don't worry about it. He. He's like, pat wants to have you on. I'm like, oh, my God, that's my beauty sleep time. Okay, so I'm just gonna get in. In that mode.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jim Cantore]

And then we're. When we're done, I'm just going to put my head down on a pillow.

[Pat McAfee]

Get you some rest. We're going to need you. I heard this is going to be a sustained one here. What is this storm? This storm's different than most cold storms. How is this. Because we got a northern clip coming down, and then we got some precip coming from the south there. Not a lot of pressure here. So it wasn't expecting. Did this. Did the southern precip one kind of outpower the northern clip? That's why this thing's moving north.

[Jim Cantore]

What the hell are you talking about? What in the.

[Pat McAfee]

You tell me.

[AJ Hawk]

It's what Fike told us.

[Pat McAfee]

We got clippers coming from the north.

[Jim Cantore]

He's gonna break his fingers with all that fingering going on.

[Pat McAfee]

We got precinct.

[Jim Cantore]

No, seriously, I. I mean, here's the deal. It's shallow, cold air, so you're gonna get this huge area of ice. I mean, picture trees down. Picture. You know, since I didn't talk to you in hurricane season, you know, so that bottom graph that you're looking at right there, there, that's where we're expecting, you know, ice accretion maybe over an inch. And that, that adds about between pole, you know, or power poles. That's about 800 to a thousand pounds, just an inch. So down, down they come, trees come down, it's an absolute mess. And then it turns cold afterward, which is what really makes this storm the worst. Usually we can get some melting, we can get some cleanup going, but it's going to turn bitter cold afterward. So whether you're in the snow or even in the ice ice, this catastrophe will be far from over.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so it. The line of ice and snow and everything seemingly has moved a bit north from original projections. Will that continue to move north or what are expectations?

[Jim Cantore]

No, nothing. Since we're locked in now, the. The hurricane hunter planes. Here's a neat one for you, Pat, that they usually go out and chase hurricanes with. They actually sent these planes out to the storm when it was over the Pacific, Pacific and down in the Gulf to get, like a high resolution grid so that they could put that into the models. So they really started coming in line as soon as they did that. And so now we're pretty confident in. In what we see forecast wise and what we're going to get. Now, it's still a disaster. Okay. It didn't take the disaster away. That's still a catastrophe. But now models are in agreement.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so models are in agreement. We basically know who's getting what. This is a long one, right? That we're going to be in this for a while is kind of the expectation.

[Jim Cantore]

It's really this. It's starting this afternoon in Oklahoma and Texas and New Mexico, and it's going to scream across the Mississippi Valley tonight, scream up into the Northeast on Sunday, which is where I am in New York City for this, maybe about 12 to 18 inches of snow.

[Pat McAfee]

God. Go ahead.

[Jim Cantore]

Snow is easy, though. It's the ice. No bueno.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, no bueno. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Hey, what do you think it's going to be like in the middle?

[Jim Cantore]

Listen, I got to back you.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay? Okay.

[Jim Cantore]

Well, go ahead, A.J. go ahead.

[AJ Hawk]

I need to know what's on this card. I need to know.

[Jim Cantore]

Oh, you want my stuff now?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we like your Y.

[Jim Cantore]

Okay. You want my now. All right. So the Broncos during, and you may, you may know this already, all of their regular season games at home. At home, they did not have a temperature below 60 degree Fahrenheit.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow.

[Jim Cantore]

It was. It was 60 or above for every home game for the Broncos. Now they go into this weekend, you know, championship, and we're talking about, oh, my God, teens, 20s, wind chills in the single digits. So a whole different animal for them. We'll see if it plays A role I like.

[Connor Rogers]

I like the web you're spinning.

[Jim Cantore]

I think they'd rather have a quarterback than a warmer temperature.

[Pat McAfee]

Certainly back in the quarterback back in the championship is not the best time to have that. But they are not necessarily Denver, not necessarily getting the full wrath of this particular storm. Right. Just the cold weather coming in.

[Jim Cantore]

No, they'll get. They'll get a little bit of snow, I think. But I mean, when you think about the regular season home games that they have 60 and Denver, that. That's so rare to go their whole regular season at home with temperatures that warm. I mean, they could have snowstorms, you know, wind, everything, but it was just incredibly mild. And I thought that was interesting in the fact that, oh, they got to wait till the NFC Championship or the. The championship, ABC Championship to get into the good stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a good stat. I'm happy you did that, A.J. now back to your regular schedule program that you were.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I'm just. Mr. Cantor, I'm curious that. What's the Midwest going to be like? Are we dealing with 8 to 12? Like, say, Ohio, Indiana, places like that? Are we going to have tons of. No, we have the ice as well.

[Connor Rogers]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Indianapolis in Columbus, Ohio.

[Bone]

Thank you.

[Shams Charania]

H. All right.

[Jim Cantore]

Very similar. Probably. Probably 8 to 4, 8 to 8 to 12 inches of snow.

[AJ Hawk]

What kind of ice? We have that series ice.

[Jim Cantore]

The kind of snow you ski on it in Colorado.

[Pat McAfee]

We're gonna have pow, pow out here.

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah, big dude. This is big pow because of the air so cold and dry. You get a lot more bang for your buck out of nice. The cold, dry air mass with less moisture, you don't need as much. That's why we talk about snow to liquid ratios. On average, 10 inches of snow equal 1 inch of water. Now we're talking about 18, 20 inches of snow out of 1 inch of water. You see what I'm saying? So you get a lot more bang.

[Pat McAfee]

For your buck because that's the no pressure, low pressure coming in from the north. The Clipper coming in from.

[Jim Cantore]

You know what? Quit where you're. Quit where you're ahead. It's the big. It's the biggest big high I thought it was. It's the big high to the north, the big Arctic high. That's. What's that?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, the big Arctic high from the north. They be smoking up there. Big Arctic high.

[Connor Rogers]

Big time.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm trying to get big arcing. Yeah, I'm trying to get Baltic high up there, aren't I, Gump? Are we trying to get Baltic High up there. That's what's coming down from the north. Canadians are sending us down this to. To start this entire run. Thank you, Gumpy.

[Jim Cantore]

Absolutely. Baltic.

[Shams Charania]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, Jim. Anything else we need to think about?

[Jim Cantore]

40S in Seattle. Who do you.

[Pat McAfee]

Who do you.

[Jim Cantore]

I think Seattle takes it all. That's just me.

[Pat McAfee]

How about exploding trees? Can we talk about this real quick? Just before we let you get out of here?

[AJ Hawk]

That's not exploding, though. That just broke apart.

[Jim Cantore]

Oh, exploding. Oh, yeah. So. And, you know, this is another thing from that big Arctic high. You know you have SAP in those trees.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jim Cantore]

It's still liquid. And you get like this, you know, 20, 30 degree temperature drop down into zero or below, and all of a sudden that the water that's inside those trees goes pow. It's got to go somewhere because it's expanding. Right. You ever put a full glass of bottled water in your freezer and all of a sudden it's like. It pops the top off of it?

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, the worst.

[Jim Cantore]

Same thing with the trees. Same thing with the trees.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so let's keep our eyes out for the trees. It's just the bark's blowing up, not the inside tree. Right. We're not going to get a big, big boom boom.

[Jim Cantore]

Like, oh, no, the SAP's on the inside, so sometimes it is the inside also.

[Pat McAfee]

Zambeli fireworks potentially happening everywhere. Yeah, I don't like that. Stay safe out there, man. What are you gonna be doing? Are you just gonna jump your ass into 18 inches of snow and be like, hi, I'm down here? They're like, what is the. What is the weekend look like for you?

[Jim Cantore]

That's not. That's not a height comment by any chance?

[Pat McAfee]

18Ft? Are you 18ft tall?

[Jim Cantore]

You like the robe?

[Pat McAfee]

I'm sorry. You're 18 inches. 18 inches. Yeah. Sorry. Not 18ft.

[Connor Rogers]

Russia.

[Jim Cantore]

That's something to brag about right there. Right? All right.

[Pat McAfee]

18 inches. Hey, all right, Jim, we appreciate the hell out of you. Good luck this weekend. We appreciate your service.

[Jim Cantore]

Hey, thanks, man. Great. Great catching up with you guys again. Thank you. I'll be here in New York for the entire event. Sunday's game day here. Sunday's game day with the weather.

[Pat McAfee]

Championship Sunday. Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Amen.

[Pat McAfee]

You're the man. Good luck out there. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Cantool. Give. He's kind of taking that.

[AJ Hawk]

He's awesome.

[Bone]

Yeah, he's been up all.

[Connor Rogers]

More ice.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they. They sent the hurricane plans to get a little bit better on when this thing's coming, and they Are all aligned?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they're locked in.

[Pat McAfee]

They know what's coming now. We got it. How long has he been in the game, Ton?

[Bone]

Since the day he's born.

[Bill Cowher]

Yeah, yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Weatherman.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom. And he said, yes, please.

[Connor Rogers]

Kendrick Garden.

[AJ Hawk]

Does that mean the snow will be packing snow? Sorry, Is that, like, if it's. I don't know anything about skiing, but.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no, no. Dry snow is tough.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah. Fresh powder.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, we need. We need some liquid in there.

[Jim Cantore]

You're right.

[Connor Rogers]

Fresh.

[Pat McAfee]

Pow.

[Connor Rogers]

Nice.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we like fun. We like fun snow. You know, stuff we can do with.

[AJ Hawk]

Snowballs, sledding, all that. Bam.

[Pat McAfee]

Toss one up. It's crazy.

[Jim Cantore]

Boom.

[AJ Hawk]

Bam.

[Pat McAfee]

Right down the suckle. Debone. We shouldn't even told you that. You would have fell for that. Immediately. Immediately. First time we have snow outside.

[Connor Rogers]

Sorry, I'll forget.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he will. Yeah, he will. What did you learn today, you think, on the microphone? Are they bone? For a couple times, I realized that the show is four quarters. You know, you might not start off the best, but it's how you finish. How many points were in the first quarter? Over 76 games or something like that?

[Bone]

They haven't scored more than seven over the first quarter and 77 straight games, I believe so.

[Pat McAfee]

You're like Mike Tomlin. I'll take it.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah, I'll take it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, you certainly should. Just started horrendously early. Do you see him? He was 14ft away from the microphone talking.

[AJ Hawk]

His voice did change a bit. His voice did change a little bit from the beginning to the second hour.

[Pat McAfee]

So we did put it on pretty quick. And he always said, like, if I was practicing a tackle, and then game day, they told me I got to be guard.

[Jim Cantore]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I was not fully prepared. And that's where the mistakes came.

[Connor Rogers]

Jumped off.

[Shams Charania]

Kind of reminds me of Jim Tomsula more than Mike Tomlin.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, what about McAdoo before the haircut?

[Connor Rogers]

I think he's got some Jacksonville Urban Meyer in him.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yes, he certainly does. Might miss the plane. Go see the boys. Exactly. Time. Yeah, there's a chance there's a little bit of that happening. You never know. AJ Any motivational speeches for Debone as we try to wrap up the show today?

[AJ Hawk]

I. I give D Bone credit. When did he find out he was going to be in that seat?

[Pat McAfee]

I'd say 10, 15.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, that's. That's probably good, but that gave him just enough time to freak out, probably, and have some anxiety leading up to it. No question. But it's better than the night before. Do you Think it'd be better if you. If you'd have known last night?

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely not. His graphics were shite. Immediately upon learning that he was going up there.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He actually stopped making graphics and started taking notes for the show. And I said, that's absolutely worthless, Bone. Let's just keep going with the graphics.

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And he did. And we appreciate it. Just like we appreciate Doordash. Oh, yeah. I'll tell you what. Anything you need, Doordash has got your back. And right now, if you were to scan that QR code, that'll get you a part of something special. Now, I think the contest is over because I think it was during the regular season during game days, but nonetheless, Doordash will show up for you on any day, especially on game days. Make sure you're not distracted from anything. With friends at DoorDash being your assistant, they're running pants if you need it. Oh, what?

[Connor Rogers]

That's. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Power tools.

[Connor Rogers]

Holy shit. Everyone's trying to get fit for the national championship.

[Bone]

You can get salt.

[Pat McAfee]

Door Dash can get you ready for a national championship. Salt on DoorDash for the big snow that is coming.

[AJ Hawk]

They're all sold out. There's not much of it available.

[Pat McAfee]

I've checked. That's in where he lives. Obviously. It might not be where you live, but you should have got in ahead of time. Yeah, it's. I will say that. Yes. Yes. I just saw the updated graphic. I didn't know that I came back and won this. Wow.

[Bone]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

8, 8 and 4. Just where we want to be heading into championship Sunday. This is it. Me and the hawker. You know, this isn't it necessarily true. This isn't it necessarily. Anything can still happen.

[Shams Charania]

True.

[Pat McAfee]

We got a Super bowl that awaits us in Santa Clara, California, where we will be there Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from Radio Row with a litany of guests and maybe even a special show on Friday. Oh, let's get to the picks, shall we, for champions Championship Sunday. Patriots, Broncos. Everything that needs to be said has already been said from both teams. The line moved from five and a half to four and a half while having 70 plus percent of the bets on that little reverse line movement from the sports books. But it has not changed much. Still 70 plus on the Patriots over under at 42 and a half. Tone, what's the final takeaway from this line and what the over under is.

[Bone]

Final takeaway on the line Line is that the sports books, if I'm reading correctly, like the Broncos in this one, and then the 42 and a half feels a little low. The Broncos when playing other good teams, you know, the Jaguars, the Bills recently come to mind they've been higher scoring games surprisingly. Now obviously a different quarterback for the Broncos, but you know, it's just something to look at.

[Pat McAfee]

Harold Landry has been ruled out of Sunday's AFC championship game due to a knee injury. Matt Collins, Carlton Davis and Mapu are questionable. Okay, so questionable. Obviously better than doubtful or out I think is what we just saw from Connor right there. Connor, your final thoughts as we head into championship weekend with your team playing as four and a half point favorites on the road.

[Connor Rogers]

Mac Hollins being back would be huge. He's been on ir so him even being questionable up to be able to play is massive, huge second half every single game thus far in the throughout the playoffs rather. Charles Chargers second half, they ran away with it. Texans second half, sorry, I'm all jacked up.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor Rogers]

Texas second half, ran away with it. Broncos, I would expect kind of a early kind of feel each other out. First half's going to be tough. Second half, they're going to run away with it. They play a lot of man to man. We just mentioned it. Drake May's got to run. He's got to be able to move. I hope they kind of go into their bag of tricks when it comes to his qb, run some, some things of that nature. And then again a couple deep shots need to get Kyle Williams the ball. They missed the first two playoff games on him deep down the field even though he's been open. Let's get one of those in. Let's get Drake May running and let's go to the super bowl, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

AJ with all that being said, are you with Connor, are you with this Denver Broncos team number one seed in the AFC with Stiddy getting the start at home?

[Connor Rogers]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

So Stidham, I am a fan of Stidham. I think this guy can absolutely slang it and I'm a huge fan of this Broncos defense. I think they will generate plenty of pressure but I think it's going to be one of those iconic days in Foxborough. Give me the Patriots. Sorry, sorry. I think the Patriots are not in Foxborough. Are going to do are going to figure it out on the road. Sorry I'm a bit jacked up as well because I'm excited for Braves and the boys but four and a half does feel like a lot but I do. I still am taking the Patriots here.

[Pat McAfee]

Just because Bulls called us out. I'm with the Patriots as well and if we could provide motorcycle To Stitty in the boys. We certainly feel honored about that. Love the way the Broncos play. But this Patriots team, what their defense just did against the Texans when we were talking about the Texans with Drake may not play his best football yet ever in his life and so has that opportunity Stiddy stepping in there. I like the way he operates. I just like the Patriots defense as well. I'll take the Patriots and let's go to the NFC championship. Rams, Seahawks. Seahawks favored by two and a half at home. Oh, over under 46 and a half. Tone your thoughts on draftkings.

[Bone]

So the last time they played on that Thursday night the total flew over this earlier in the season it stayed low. Sam Darnold had thrown a ton of interception in this one. You see the 81% on the Seahawks. We talked about it earlier in the show. You know that's probably recency bias on the Seahawks -2 and a half there these days. Home field is around 1.8 to 2.2. Is what's sportsbooks kick in for that. So this is basically a pick him in the sports books.

[Pat McAfee]

81 of the bets on the Seahawks. AJ are you riding with the Seahawks at home or the Rams and MVP probable Matthew Stafford.

[AJ Hawk]

Well bones breakdown of the Seahawks really got me worried as a as a person that was leaning Rams early but I just can't pick against him. I like this LA Rams football team. I like Puka. I love what the defense can do and I think Stafford is having a magical year and I think he gets the Super Bowl.

[Pat McAfee]

Give me the Seahawks minus two and a half at home. Can't wait to watch it. We appreciate you all so much for allowing us to do this for the living. We are the luckiest people on earth. Have an incredible championship Sunday. We will see you on Monday for overreaction Monday. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together in the back. Great work this week, boys. Graphic design boys. Great work. Debone. Way to step in here, Mick. Cedo, Tim. We appreciate you all. Aj you crushed it this week. Anything to say as we head into the greatest weekend of all time, AJ.

[AJ Hawk]

I think enjoy it. I know we keep talking about that. Football is almost over. No, football is right here. And the times that matter the most are right here. So we need to enjoy these games while we have them.

[Pat McAfee]

That's right. Perspective. We have it. Let's enjoy it. I got a piss team on me. Team on three. One, two, three.

[Adam Schefter]

Team.

[Connor Rogers]

Goodbye.