Wild Card Saturday Recap: Caleb Williams and Matthew Stafford Deliver Two Classics

29:05They get blown out by the Ravens where Derrick Henry looks like he's an MVP candidate for a week, and then they weren't trying against the Vikings. I'm not going to fault them too much for that. I'm going to fault Cleetan Tune mostly for that, but I mean, they're 9-3-1 after that interception by Keyshawn Nixon of Caleb Williams, and they lose their final five games of the season. I would say it's the combo of not only how they lost in the postseason, but the fact that they couldn't find a victory and really blew the NFC North with a big advantage over the Bears. We're certainly in full position to top the Bears if they had swept Chicago.

29:45It feels like a missed opportunity. This is a team now where three years in a row, they've been the seventh seed. I feel confident we're not thinking about this team the same way if we're in the 12-team playoff era. I mean, it's not like being the seventh seed is good. It's better than not being the eighth seed. It's better than being the eighth seed, but it's not like sneaking into the postseason as the final seed is a sign that you're one of the great teams in football. I know the numbers say the Packers are better than their record, but this has been a consistent thing for them where it feels like we're sitting here at the end of the year and saying, well, their DVOA is good.

30:21ESPN Football Power Index says they're good. but it doesn't look all that great when we get to January. Yeah. And I'm seeing a comment here in the chat that say Packers lost this game. Bears didn't win it. Let's be honest. And to that, I point to that fourth and eight play. And I point to another hole shot to Colton Colston Loveland. After that, there were, there were so many jaw dropping throws by Caleb Williams, even like before they were really making the comeback. And the thing about Caleb Williams is, like the play before that he was just a little inaccurate and he missed the third down throw and then the play after that he had an open receiver and missed that throw too and he ends up throwing 50 completion uh in this game you know and he was dead last in the league in completion percentage and the more that you watch him this year the more you realize like for now that's just part of the package and the the good is is making up yeah for any of the inconsistency and for such a young player you really feel like uh you can improve on that consistency and you're having a hell of a lot of fun uh along yeah i mean he had a negative 15 completion percentage over expectation in this game and still made at least two three four i'm like just making a like great Caleb throws in my head.

31:48Just fantastic throws in this game. One of which wasn't caught. I don't blame him for that. I think it's just you have to accept that flawed and all, this is what the Bears can do. They can look totally hopeless on offense for a half. They can look like they can't cover anybody on defense. They can look like they're going to miss wide open receivers. They're going to be screaming at each other on the sideline. But they also have the potential to be great and they can be great for a quarter and a half or even a few series and that might be enough if the other team lets them hang around long enough to pull that off I mean they can have four fourth down fails in a game where they can't get many stops they can have a total of two successful runs in the first half you know if you're talking about like success rate they can have Ben Johnson on the sideline looking like, yeah, his dog had died or something like that.

32:42And pre-answering questions, as you mentioned, like about the fourth down plays and almost just like defending it. And then they turn it all around. They are different and they are going to the divisional round. What a season. This is it for the Bears. Like I've had a hard time imagining them making it all the way to the Super Bowl because of this lack of a pass rush, because of this defense. And, you know, tonight they lose TJ Edwards, their linebacker. It's still hard to see them winning like two more. But who knows? They found a way to win this one. We'll find out their opponent on Sunday. Before we get to Sunday, though, we had another classic earlier in the day on Saturday.

33:24Yes, there's been a total of three playoff games in the history of the NFL. This one was from Brian Knowles, who we used to work with over at Football Outsiders, who pointed out there's only been three games ever where there's been four fourth quarter lead changes with touchdowns in the playoffs. It was that great 49er Saints divisional round matchup between Alex Smith and Drew Brees. It was the great AFC championship between Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady. And let's go to Carolina, where, yes, Matthew Stafford and Rice Young gave us a classic.

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38:25Gregg Rosenthal:Colby Parkinson gives the Rams the lead. With 38 seconds to go, an absolute dot from Stafford, 33-31, and the try coming. Our friend JB Long excited for an absolutely fantastic throw, fantastic drive, fantastic fourth quarter by Matthew Stafford in what was otherwise an uneven game for this entire Los Angeles Rams team, including Stafford. Yes, that was Colby Parkinson. That was JB Long on KSPN. The Rams defense holds, gets a four and out on Bryce Young to win. 34 to 31 back and forth. We went Bill Barnwell in a game that a lot of us thought it was going to be a blowout. Like myself, I was wrong.

39:22We really thought it when it was 14, nothing early. We probably thought it when it was 17, seven. And it looked like the Rams were driving in for another score right before halftime. But this Panthers team, there's just something about them that is inexplicable. and they were that close to knocking off one of the best teams in the NFL today. I mean, we got a Bryce Young drive to take the lead. I mean, it wasn't like, you know, like you mentioned the four and out to end the game. That was going to be a tough spot. They did have a drop on that fourth down that would have extended the game from Horn.

39:59But I was so impressed with how Bryce Young played in this game. this was not a great matchup for the Rams on defense I'm sorry, great matchup for the Panthers on offense given the Rams front they were in Bryce Young's face all day I mean he just was getting hit he was being forced to scramble he was being forced to create out of structure and did throw an interception I don't think that was his fault I think it was Jalen Coker I believe stopped on a route where Bryce Young was expecting him to keep running But I thought if you're a Panthers fan, I know you're upset. You're going to be bummed that you lost.

40:38This was a winnable game. They played really well. But I think you have to be impressed with Bryshen in this game. And I think you have to be optimistic about Bryshen in this game. He was just making plays, extending plays, accurate throws. It felt like this was the closest thing in a big game that I think we've seen to Alabama Bryce Young in terms of the improvisation, in terms of the creativity. And we're one where you can move from, frankly, a pretty bad Bryce Young game against Tampa for most of the day. So I think seeing that against a Rams team where they were being physically dominated up front just felt like it has to make you feel good.

41:22It does. And yeah, you mentioned the Rams front winning. And I think that was the biggest difference in this game. Pressure rate, it really depends on where you look. But Sumer Sports, which has a great kind of live box score going in this postseason, had the Rams pressure rate at 47 % in this game and the Panthers down at 9%. And I think they're valuing quicker pressures much more because NextGen has it, you know, still double for the Rams. NextGen is 46 to 23. 23. But the thing is, NextGen does like proximity and you could be like somewhat close pretty late in the down. The thing that is telling most to me is even at next gen, 14 quick pressures for the Rams in this game and two for the Panthers.

42:05And so Matthew Stafford was operating in a much more advantageous situation. And the idea with Matthew Stafford is when he's clean, he's going to kill you. And he did early in this game and he absolutely did late in this game. And there was a whole bunch in the middle where maybe it was this finger injury that he suffered. and maybe it was just decision-making. It was a little bit of everything. To me, it was more of the decisions. But ultimately, he goes 12 for 15 in the fourth quarter with over 100 yards and a couple touchdown drives. And supposedly, before that fourth quarter drive, he gets the ball back down four.

42:45And Devontae Adams, as he tells the story, says, let's go snatch those guys' hearts. And Devontae Adams says, that's one of the most gangster things I've heard. Let's actually listen to Kobe Turner, friend of the show, talking after the game about Stafford. Yeah, I mean, 9's been in these situations all the time, so I'm used to it. Honestly, I was just telling somebody else, I was just telling Gary. I looked up at the clock, it said 2.34 with three timeouts left. My first thought is, do you not know who's on the other side?

43:13Gregg Rosenthal:Like, do you guys not know who 9 is? Like, 9 is that guy. 9 is that guy. I have to stop you. He's fixing 9. He's saving this 9. You can't. No. You cannot call someone nine in this culture right now. You have to wait. Let J.J. McCarthy pass by, and then you can start using nine again. If you're the first-team All-Pro, and Stafford did get first-team All-Pro, 13 more votes than May, very similar to the Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen vote a year ago, so you can't really say that Stafford's definitely going to win MVP. We don't know. I think he's taken back nine, Bill. Like, it's his. Now, you do what he did in the fourth quarter because they, I was not expecting this situation, but there they were in this situation.

44:00And the offense, and this team has to be led by the offense, ultimately did respond. And they picked on the Panthers in the middle of the field. They took advantage of the fact that J.C. Horn went out with a concussion in the fourth quarter of this game. And they diced up Carolina when they needed to. yeah I mean outbreaking routes 26 of Matthew Stafford's uh 304 yards everything else was either vertical or in breaking for Matthew Stafford that's how the Rams got back in this game was finding those digs finding the play action shots finding um you know some of the option routes where they hit a Karen Williams for a touchdown coming out of the backfield um I have to be honest with you, though, Greg.

44:45Like, I was not super impressed with Sean McVay in this game. It really felt like for a long stretch, the Rams did not have answers for what the Panthers wanted to do. It felt like Matthew Stafford was throwing a ton to the sidelines. It felt like after they went through their first 15 where they had some fun stuff like the Pukunikua vertical shot out of the backfield for a touchdown, it felt like Sean McVay got away from running the football. It felt like it was a lot of shotgun tossing the ball around. And if you did believe Stafford's finger was injured, it seemed like you would have leaned further into the run.

45:20And the Rams were pretty successful running the ball in this game, a 50 % success rate for the run game that has one of the highest success rates in recent NFL history this season. And yet, really felt like for a long stretch, it was just, we're going to put Matthew Stafford in shotgun and throw the ball. And it wasn't working. And it's fine that they found solutions later in the game. Obviously, Sean McVay is a Hall of Fame caliber coach for a reason, but this is not the first time. I go back to the Super Bowl run. I mean, they almost lost that game against the Bucs because they just kept handing the ball to Cam Akers.

45:53They almost lost the Super Bowl to the Bengals because they were insisting on committing to a bad run game at that time. And so, you know, with the Rams, they did win. Our memories are going to be Stafford's final drive and the quote from Devontae Adams, which, by the way, do you want to waste that on the first round? Like, do you think Stafford had that in line for, like, a Super Bowl quote and was like, whoa, we got to toss it out now. I got to think of something more clever for the Super Bowl. But, you know, this is a Rams team where the results have been kind of disappointing for a month now.

46:30Do you feel like there's a reason to sort of treat them as something less than what we think they can be based on how they've played recently. I have thought a lot about that since the end of this game. Like how much do you take basically everything from when the fourth quarter started in Seattle to now and think that carries forward and knock the Rams and their chances to win the Super Bowl? Because they've looked mediocre since then. You know, they blow that lead in Seattle. They had no business blowing that game. I know it was against a good team, but the way they blew it, they did not play well.

47:05They lose the Falcons game in a game they're pretty outplayed. When I finally got back to watching that Cardinals game this week, I was like, man, they were losing like two minutes left in the third quarter of that game against the Cardinals team that had just been absolutely collapsing. And then you have this performance where it goes back and forth. I tend to think, Bill, it doesn't matter. I know, like, I actually don't feel, I tend to think in the playoffs, like it's survive in advance. They have all the pieces that matter that like, I don't think it necessarily is going to carry over week to week.

47:41Like you think about that bucks game that they, that they almost lost when they, when they did go on that Superbowl run, like the team overall is not like playing at the highest level of where they've been this season, certainly, but they're going to be in the final eight. And would it surprise me if they just start playing better football consistently from here out? Like it wouldn't surprise me at all because for the most, most part, like they're healthy and there are reasons to believe that they can turn around. It was not a good Devontae Adams game today. Like maybe that helps with him another week back into the lineup after being out for five weeks.

48:18Maybe they get Kevin Dotson back. But yeah, like I, I think they can still straighten it out, but they, they survived one today. Here's the part that concerns me though. If this had been like a Panthers have everything go right for the game if it had been like a you know panthers are like the first game panthers go for three for three on fourth down hit a couple long touchdowns they win the turnover battle that was not this game great the panthers handed them three short fields one on a muffed punt yeah uh one on and then two on failed fourth down tries the panthers do turn the ball over or an interception um they lost their left tackle almost immediately in the game they lost Ikea Kwanu early on to it apparently is a serious injury, unfortunately.

49:05Then they go to Josh Diamond, who has allowed, he had allowed as many quick pressures per next gen in two starts as Garrett Bowles did all season for the Broncos. He allowed four more in this game at left tackle. I mean, they brought Robert Hunt back and they had to take him out for a stretch because he was just getting run over. Like, it was a, like you mentioned the pressure numbers earlier in this game, like, The fact that the Rams could not turn this game script and the things that happened in this game into a 20-point victory does concern me a bit. And, like, I know they're capable of hitting a gear that maybe nobody else in football can hit, but I want to see them do it.

49:50I want to see them do it for the first time since Thanksgiving. I want to see them do it for an extended period of time for a full game. Like this was supposed to be a, we're going to dictate the situation. We're going to tell you who we are. We're favorites. We're going to get revenge on the 25th best team in football per DVOA. And the Panthers played them to a three-point game. And it felt like they deserved to be in a three-point game at the very end. Yeah, it's a great point that it did not feel like the Panthers were lucky to be in this game. If you took the uniforms off, you would have just said like, oh, these are two pretty equal teams.

50:27These are two quarterbacks playing at a pretty high level. Like, but that made a handful of mistakes each throughout the game and went through little rough patches. But like the quarterbacks were kind of even, you know, you could you could almost give Pricely, you know, a lot of credit because he withstood the advantages. That part of it is concerning. And I do kind of want to run through a little bit of the run of play. because if you go back to the first half and they get that 14-0 lead, they go for it on a fourth down late in the second quarter, they don't get it, and then Bryce Young drives down the field, gets a scramble touchdown before halftime.

51:13That makes it a game at that point, and then you're just in it. And then if you're watching us on YouTube, You can watch the interception that Matthew Stafford had where Mike Jackson picks him off. And at this point, it's 2017. It's a third and long late in the third quarter. That was the first moment where I thought, my God, they actually might lose this game. Mike Jackson, Bill Barnwell, played the game of his life. He's had a really good season for them in terms of advanced metrics. Like he's been one of the better cornerbacks in the league and both him and JC Horn played an outstanding game.

51:54And that was kind of the moment that got the Panthers going for their fourth quarter comeback. And that was like kind of kickstarted what was a really fun end to this game and made me realize like, okay, they actually could win this game when throughout before that, I just kept expecting the Rams to kind of run away with it. Yeah. I mean, if the Rams hit that fourth down, you sort of figure, okay, they're going to go in and score. The Panthers are not going to score, and that's going to be like a perhaps an unassailable lead for the Rams in this game. And yet the Panthers didn't really even seem desperate to try to score when they got the ball back at the end of the second quarter.

52:32They sort of like hit a couple big plays, and it was like, oh, well, I guess we'll try. And then they score a touchdown, and then Pukunikua drops, which should have been a 50-yard touchdown, hit him right in the hands. which is why i kind of struggle with the the stafford finger thing because stafford actually had a number of dimes throughout that he actually had a two for 12 streak during the game where he he only completed two of 12 throws but davante adams had two killer drops in this game and puka had that one and if like if you gave him those yards he throws for 450 yards or something in this game so i don't it's kind of hard to separate if there was an injury like what impact that was Right.

53:11And I mean, like, I think sometimes when we think about a quarterback being injured less than 100 percent, we assume that like every pass is going to suck. And sometimes that is the case if you have like a, you know, a certain kind of injury. But quarterbacks can also be inconsistent. They can feel at some plays and not feel at some plays. You know, they might, if you have an ankle injury, maybe you step into a throw right. Maybe you don't step into the next throw right. Like it is there's a certain level of erraticism that I think comes into play with these injuries. And so if you told me Stafford was sore, but not really impacted, I'd believe that.

53:46If you told me Stafford was injured and it was actually impacting his throws, but not every one, I'd believe that too. I just, you know, it felt like he wasn't confident for that stretch. And I was a little surprised the Rams did not respond to that by maybe leaning a little more into their run game. Yeah, the run game was quiet. It wasn't ineffective, but you're right. They did kind of go away from it. So the Panthers, you know, respond and get a touchdown, you know, to take their first lead of the entire game after that interception. Then the Rams are driving and a play happens that I think is going to be remembered throughout the week as like the biggest non-scoring play of the game, which was Puka Nakua breaking up a potential interception of Stafford.

54:32It was the ensuing drive. It's a third and one and they decide to take a shot. And I think he thinks Puka Nakua is going to keep running on the play. Nick Scott has a chance to make an interception in the end zone. And Puka basically acts like a defensive back and knocks the ball out. That is when they are down four and then they end up scoring later in that drive. And so Puka Nakua, who goes over, you know, 100 yards, has 10 catches between Puka and Devante. they had 31 targets. It was just spamming the two of them. Puka also had three carries. I mean, they did that end around play that they absolutely love like over and over.

55:12But, you know, they threw the ball to him 18 times today to get that the 111 yards. But that that pass breakup might have been like the biggest play that he made. Yeah, I mean, Xavier Smith, 2-2 Atwell, kind of on field, cardio club, 42 routes, one target between the three of them at wide receiver. I was a little surprised. I know our friend Mina Kimes also was a little surprised that they did not lean into the tight ends in this game. You know, they didn't have Terrence Ferguson. Maybe that impacted things here and there, but they had Tyler Higbee, had Colby Parkinson, had Davis Allen. The Panthers have been terrible on throws, tight ends this year.

55:53We saw as the game were on, they wanted to attack Christian Roseboom, wanted to attack Nick Scott, wanted to attack the linebackers. and yet didn't really do that for much of this game until, of course, the game-winning touchdown pass from Stafford to Colby Parkinson. And so I understand wanting to force-feed Puka Nakua and Devontae Adams. I think Puka made a great play to break up that touchdown. But again, I sit here and say, this is week 19 of the NFL season. You are a veteran offense operating at a high level with the probable MVP at quarterback, a Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame wide receiver, a wide receiver who's probably the ever-offensive player of the year, it shouldn't look this disjointed.

56:38Not against the Panthers' defense. You should have answers that are not, you know, low-percentage curls and out-routes that aren't working against the strength of the team. And it just felt like the Panthers made it more difficult. Sorry, the Rams made it more difficult for themselves, just sort of thought they were going to dominate with their talent. and it almost cost them their playoff lives. Yeah, they end up, you know, when I looked at the final numbers, it wasn't a ton in the first half in terms of going two tight end or three tight end. But now when I look, like they still, you know, went either two or three tight end over 40 % of the time, which is a ton, and pretty much went at their season average in terms of three tight ends, which was by far the most of any team in NFL history.

57:21It just didn't work very well. I mean, they average under four yards per play with three tight ends on the field, under five yards per play with two tight ends. So, you know, it was a lot of the numbers are coming in those last two drives where they kind of finally figured out. And that was mostly with three wide receivers. And it's really just the offense wasn't consistent in general. I do want to give them some credit of like the things, you know, that they did do well. Like Stafford, I thought his decision making was a little all over the place, but he also did some things that not many like quarterbacks would would do.

58:01He had an audible on a fourth and one to a Kyron Williams run, which was like the exact perfect play call in the in the time. He had a sneak by himself, which was literally the first one of the season, right? His first first down of the entire season. Matthew Stafford as a runner. He's now 40 behind Drake May if he wants to try and catch up. I like what you did. Good call. Good time for him. And then there was another third and long on one of their field goal drives in the second half where he sees exactly where the blitz is going to come from. He moves everything over to the side. They get it blocked up.

58:43He hits it, and they hit a field goal later in that drive. So sometimes it's the small things that he does is really good. And yet, you know, they got the ball back with four minutes to go. And sometimes you don't need the game winning drive. If if you just finish it off earlier, they get it with about seven minutes left up three. And I think they're going to put the game away here and they take a holding penalty and they end up settling for a couple underneath passes. And they punt the ball away or at least they try to. This is where the game got really crazy. Let's actually listen to the Panthers' block run.

59:21Gregg Rosenthal:Short and had to check that ball down. Evans gets the start. He blocks it. The kick is blocked. It's loose. It's on the ground. It doesn't matter who has it. It's Carolina football at the 30-yard line of L.A. Isaiah Simmons with the block. He recovers the ball. Special teams. Comes through. So they get that punt block. They drive down. That's with just over four minutes to go. And Bryce Young is set up on a fourth down situation. And he does what Bryce Young does and has done really the last two seasons. If you've watched him every game, you know. The prettiest Bryce Young throws are extremely pretty.

1:00:07He does the hard stuff really well. Let's actually listen to the go-ahead touchdown pass to Jalen Coker.

1:00:14Gregg Rosenthal:Young out of the gun. Here's the snap. Bryce looking left. Throws. Deep left corner. The outside. Dylan Coker pulls it in for a touchdown. And the Panthers have the lead with 2.39 to go. Bryce's magic is real. And Coker has played the game of his life. Great call there. Coker goes over 100 yards, by the way. I wanted to correct my mistake. That was a third and three. I think in my head it was a fourth down because they're down three, and I'm thinking they're probably going to kick the field goal there, and he just puts that in the spot only Coker can get it. Yeah, I thought Jalen Coker was really good in this game, running away from cornerbacks.

1:00:58By the way, be honest, Greg. Yes. I'll be honest after you're honest. Did you know Isaiah Simmons was on the Panthers when he blocked that one? No, no. I had no idea. I was like, are there two Isaiah Simmonses? I was thinking, I'm like, Giants? I know he's in the NFL somewhere, but man. He was bouncing around. He was with the Packers at one point, obviously, back in the day. No, I did not know he was kicking around on special teams because they are not using him on that defensive defense. Big play. And you're right about Bryce Young in that. He makes the hard stuff look easy. And I think, like, you know, there's sort of like a meme or some meme element to him about, like, you know, all his best passes or touch passes.

1:01:43It's like the only thing he can do is a touch pass. But like, man, when he's throwing those outbreaking routes and there's a little bit of space to work with, those throws are on the money. He was, again, I just think, it reminded me a little bit of like Tony Romo to some extent. I mean, he was like scrambling and like spinning out of pressures and escaping and then hitting receivers on the run. I just, you know, they're, if he had been terrible in this game, I still think they pick up his fifth-year option, but you don't feel good about it. And I think if you're the Panthers, you're like running to the window to hand in Bryce Young's fifth-year option after that game.

1:02:28And not like, you know, this was the biggest game of his career. I don't think it was a game that was single-handedly going to decide his future, but I think it made life so much easier for the Panthers to envision a future with Bryce Young being a focal point of it. Because he was every bit as good as the NFL MVP against worse pressure, with worse receivers, with a less imposing coaching staff, and put Carolina in position to win this football game. Yeah, I think that the fifth-year option decision is easy, as you said. I think it would have been easy barring just like a disastrous performance.

1:03:08It's a$26 million contract for 2027. And in fact, you could argue if you're Bryce Young, that the fact that they're just happy giving him the fifth year option is almost disrespectful. I, you know, like because it's Bryce Young, he'll probably, he just doesn't seem like he's going to be pushing for a new long-term contract this off season. But overall, I think his play over the last two years, certainly overall down the stretch, like has been good enough to get that sort of middle tier quarterback contract. And the fifth year option actually does them a favor because it kind of kicks the can for a year down the road to make that decision.

1:03:51But yeah, Coker had a good game. He gets nine catches for 134 yards. Tedaroa McMillan has five catches for 81 yards. And I did think it was a bad game for the Rams secondary in general, because you're getting that pass rush for the most part pretty quick. You would have liked to see them maybe like finish a few more plays like Jared verse and Kobe Turner. Kobe Turner did finish plays on that last drive, certainly. But, you know, Kobe Durant's getting picked on. Akela Weatherspoon left this game pretty early with an injury, and they were playing a lot in base with like an extra safety, basically playing a linebacker position and they're just not impressive and if you're looking for the the biggest problem that they could have it's going to depend on the matchups but let's say they're in philadelphia next week you know you got to have jalen hurts take advantage of it but you're loving those matchups of those receivers on the outside against these rams cornerback i mean that's what that's what won the eagles the game well two things ironically enough won the Eagles the game when they played the Rams earlier this year, which was A.J.

1:04:56Brown beating up Emmanuel Forbes, who was the best Rams cornerback, and he, like you said, briefly got the game injured before coming back in. But block kicks, Greg, decided that game for the Eagles, and it almost decided this game for the Panthers. And I guess I want to ask, maybe it's not realistic, but do you think the Rams special teams especially when it comes to blocks and um punting are they so bad that you think Sean McVay drastically needs to change the way he approaches yes fourth downs for the rest of the postseason oh okay different question than expected um I thought you were just gonna say uh drastically changes the approach that he has the special teams in general which he doesn't seem like he really respects it that much or tries that hard at it he fired his coordinator and changed the kicker like what else can you do they like just the way he talks about it the fact that they wouldn't kick the ball last year in bounds they just took the they took the you know touch back all season long i think he's been aggressive going for it on fourth down and you know they didn't get it a couple times today did they have two turnovers on downs or they just had one turnover on downs uh today the panthers actually were quite aggressive and you know got stopped twice uh including on their first drive of the game and one yeah i think he needs to stay aggressive because that's that's where the money maker is that's where matthew stafford is this this should be one of the best running teams in the league like they are an offense first team and yeah like you know i'm all for the thicker kicker uh and he hit a couple kicks today that wasn't their their problem but uh yeah i think they they should be aggressive but i mean like i'm saying like to an extreme extent like let's say middle of the game fourth and three on your own 30 yard line I don't think Sean McVay is ever thinking about going forward before this season but is do you believe their punting game and their their penchant for having stuff blocked is so bad that that should become a go-for-it spot for them when maybe it wouldn't have been uh if they had competent punting this season I mean Ben Johnson essentially went for that tonight in the first quarter of of the game so it's not that crazy um I don't think he will go that far though uh I I do think it's a problem though and uh like special teams was a draw today because as you mentioned it is an interesting game to think back about because the Rams were given a lot including a special teams turnover that sort of made you know sort of evened out that fake block right punt it just was a ball bouncing off the Panthers' helmet on a punt earlier in the game.

1:07:41They also had a wide-open drop, the Panthers, that killed the drive on third down. And then the Rams, credit to them, did have a couple fourth-down stops that gave the ball back to their offense. It's an interesting game, too, because you look at the score and you think it was a great game by the offense, and you see that the Rams got over 400 yards. It wasn't a terrible game, but they had 13 possessions. It was the exact opposite of what happened when these two teams played the first time around, where it was just very limited possessions. The Rams got as many possessions in the first half of this game as I think they might have gotten in the entire game last time.

1:08:18They had seven possessions in the first half. So they had five punts. They had an interception. They had the block punt. They had the turnover on downs. There was actually a lot of Rams possessions that didn't end up in points, and I think that's why it left you feeling so underwhelmed. Maybe I'm biased here in a house with a couple women wearing Rams gear today, but I kind of look at playoff games where you shouldn't win and you win usually as just like, eh, the odds are you'll probably play better next time because that's like how the regular season works too. People are always like, oh, they're lucky to win, but it's like, no, they'll probably play more at their level the next time around, you know, like if they've established the level and then you don't need to be as lucky.

1:09:00If they've been playing great for the last month of the year and then they had a stinker here. I'd be like, okay, whatever. But it's been a month where they've been okay and losing and in danger of losing. I mean, I don't know. I picked them to win the Super Bowl after the season, so I don't know any better. I'm with you on this, but I don't know. I was expecting, especially after the 14-0 lead. I mean, it felt like I wasn't going to turn it off. too but but i thought about like maybe i'll put something else on the second tv and see if i'll focus on that maybe there's some i mean it was so easy that first drive was like a four play drive and there was no one within 10 yards of any of those vendors it almost looked uh unfair early which is why you know i give uh i give coker and bryce and yeah in that coaching staff because look i know the bill barnwell article about teams most likely to regress is coming out next august or whatever and the numbers aren't going to be that kind to the panthers granted they only won eight games but they they've kind of profiled all year like a six and eleven type of team not really even an eight nine type of team but this will make you know everyone feel good i think about how this season oh sure and yet they have a lot to work on i think just roster wise it did show some proof of concept though of that okay maybe dave canals really can be the spiritual godson to Pete Carroll and just like make everyone super positive.

1:10:30And that somehow overwhelms like logic. Well, let me ask you, Clay. It feels like the last two years we've entered the offseason and the Panthers have like their goal has just been, oh my God, we have to help Bryce. Oh God, Bryce is a disaster. We have to fix him. We have to help him. Is this the first offseason where the Panthers can go into the offseason and not be like, oh my God, we have to get three more receivers and another running back, another offensive line. Do you feel like they've done enough? No. The crazy thing is I think they kind of still need – I mean, they couldn't run the ball all down the stretch.

1:11:07They were a little better today. Not really. A 42 % success rate isn't bad, but they only ended up with 83 yards on the ground. They were one of the, I think, the two worst running teams in the league since week 10. So you can't run the ball, and your number three receiver is who? like no one essentially it's jimmy horn who's dropping the ball at the end of this game you don't yeah it's savior legate but you can't trust him so you don't have much receiver depth you don't really have a tight end that that you love so no they need they still need more on on both sides of the ball but i think they'll feel they'll feel better about it it would have been an interesting what if if jimmy horn catches that ball he's probably is he probably in bounds or he gets out of bounds at like the the Rams 45 and and you're throwing a Hail Mary or maybe you have two plays and you can get a little closer and throw a Hail Mary they're probably not really going to win this game either way probably not but or kick or kick a field goal there like can you get Ryan Fitzgerald like a 65 yard attempt it wasn't that far away and it wasn't like it was the Bears conditions either it was a little nicer out there than it was in Chicago um what a day Bill, thanks for honking and going all over the place.

1:12:19I love a little like a bombs away type of game because that Panthers-Rams game kind of was a sneaky bombs away game. You know, everyone complains about how it's just like everything's short passing in the NFL today. Bryce, way over his average, 9.4 air yards per attempt. And Matthew Stafford was almost at 12. Like he was just hucking that thing down the field. And he got it done. you can't ask for anything more for an nf for an nfc wild card saturday than the two games we got today yes um that has to be i'd have to go through all the wild card saturdays but it is off to uh a rollicking start for this wild card weekend i can't imagine there's been any better than those two games that it was an all-timer in chicago and uh can i tell you i think if we went into the panthers were some great team we would be calling that an all-timer too because that was back and forth as good as it gets can i tell you what the two saturday games were last year greg okay please texans 32 chargers 12 a game where neither offense looked like it had ever played football before for the first half of the game and Ravens 28 Steelers 14 a game where I literally could not tell you one thing that happened in it and yet you were on live with me uh on YouTube after that game too we've made this Saturday evening it's the year before the year before Texans 45 Browns 14 Chiefs 26 Dolphins 7 the game where I was afraid Tua was going to freeze um we did get Jags Chargers a couple years ago as the Saturday night game.

1:14:00That was a pretty good one. That was great. But I think this is the best two-game Saturday slate we have seen in the Super Wild Card era. They're no longer calling it Super Wild Card, and you know what the key was, Bill? They took the Texans out, and it's the first time, I can't believe this, literally the first time they haven't been in the early Saturday game, the West of this game. Our great friend Chris Wesseling, who named it West of this, because it was the day every year, the time every year, that the Cincinnati Bengals would go bye-bye for the playoff. Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton and the whole crew.

1:14:33Well, you know who was on the Carolina Panthers? And they gave it a good try, but they also said bye-bye in the west of this slot early. It was Andy Dalton and the Carolina Panthers. Thank you, Bill. Appreciate you. We will be back on Sunday night. We're not going live on Sunday night, but we will be in the studio with all the trimmings, me, Nick Shook, and Patrick Claibon recapping all the Sunday games. Looking forward to the triple header. Man, I thought that Bill's Dag game was going to be the best game of the weekend. Got a lot to live up to. We'll see you then. Mm-hmm.

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