Best of NFL Divisional Round Part 1: C.J. Stroud DISASTROUS 4-INT playoff meltdown, Caleb Williams’ 3 INTs, DOOM Bears in OT Loss

25:38I can't turn the ball over. I just can't. And the Watts film, the understanding that you got by, by the grace of God, you come back in this game and you still, come on now. You got the best defense that can take you all the way to Santa Clara. All I have to do as a quarterback of this team is don't put the ball in harm's way. Don't turn it over. That's it. I mean it sounds easy obviously sitting here on the goddamn No it's not I would have thought he learned his lesson Monday night Ocho we talked about it We talked about it Ocho He fumbled four times They got two of them back So he had two fumbles and two picks Or would he have two fumbles and one pick What did he have on Monday But he got seven turnovers in two games Ocho this is what Troy Aikman said on the broadcast CJ Stroud has been chasing his rookie success for the last two years.

26:31He's not been the same player. We've not seen the development from him. There's a reason for that, and it needs to be addressed. Now, when Shannon said C.J. Stroud has not been the same since his rookie year, what did they say, Ocho? Go ahead and tell them. What did they say about Ocho when I say C.J. has not been the same? They say you hating, huh? They say you hating. You hating. Where is that energy for the white quarterback? Now, what y 'all say about Troy? Maybe because Troy played the quarterback position, and I give you that. You know what? I'll give you that. Right. He played at an elite level.

27:09The guy with a Super Bowl MVP led a team to three Super Bowls. So if you want to say, well, Troy know more about that position, I'll concede that. But all he said was the exact same thing that I said. It was just a different voice. You see, C.J. Stroud, he got intoxicated by the success that he had. Listen at him talk. This man said his rookie season, he was one of the five best quarterbacks in the NFL as a rookie. Yeah. He was going on everybody's platform. He that guy. He that guy. And he's regressed every year. But y 'all don't want to have real conversations. Y 'all want us. Because before, well, you wanted guys like Ochoa and myself, guys that played the game, guys that played the game at an elite level.

27:55But then when we tell you the hardest truth, well, oh, where's that energy? I said something today, I said, think about this. I said, Chad, think about this. If we want to debate Peyton and Tom, Joe Montana and Patrick Mahomes, okay, we can critique that. I said, think about this here. Y 'all talking about Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Neither guy has won a championship, and now we're debating who's turned the ball over the most in a playoff game. Let that sink in. Something we've never done before. We're not talking about championships where we can compare. You want to compare LeBron? Well, LeBron got four championships, Kobe got five.

28:34LeBron got four MVPs, Kobe got one. LeBron got four finals MVPs, Kobe got two. Kobe's been the 19 All-Star, LeBron has 21. All-Star game MVP. If you want to debate that, we can have a conversation. But since when do we debate guys that don't have a championship, we start picking apart. All right, well, one guy turned the ball over four times. The other guy turned it over three. One guy turned it over three. The other guy turned it over two. When do we start doing that, Ocho? No, because there's nothing else to talk about. You have to pull something out the air to create dialogue, to tell the difference between two quarterbacks that haven't won a championship yet.

29:11Back to the C.J. Stroud thing, I want to have a better understanding on why he's regressing the way he is. Is it the coaching? Is it his OC is gone from his rookie year? What can it be? What is the issue behind it? Because he has a talent around him. Yes. He has a great supporting cast around him offensively where the struggles that he's having, he shouldn't be having them. One of the best chances as far as that window for them and having the opportunity to compete for a Lombardi trophy was this year having the defense that they do have. Yes. This was the year. Yes. I just don't understand. He's been very inconsistent.

29:48He's been up and down. He has good games and he has a string that are bad. It leaves you scratching your head. Based on the standard in which he set from his rookie season, you expect him to continue to get better and keep chopping wood, keep chopping wood. Sophomore year, okay, it was a little shaky. Okay, we can live with that. We know going into your third year, maybe things will continue to get better and you build off some of the things that you've seen that have been mistakes, you learn from them and you don't do them again. But now those same mistakes are continuously happening. Those same intercessions, those same fumbles, that clock in your head has to go off sometime as a quarterback, understanding when you got to get rid of the ball.

30:29No one will let it go. Let me ask you this, Ocho. Is he getting better or is he talking about getting better? Because here's the thing now. See, it's kind of like winking in the dark. You know what you're doing, but nobody else does. You can tell us whatever you want to tell us. We have no choice but to believe you because we're not there in your most private moments. But that's not what the work says. But I will say this, I will say this. You don't get, you don't have the success he's had. You don't get to where he's gotten to and done some of the things he's done in his career without putting in the work.

31:04Ocho, how many guys got to the NFL? There have been a lot of guys that had great college careers. We've seen a lot of guys have great one years. Yeah. The trick is to do, Ocho, if you go to the Pro Bowl one time, man, didn't nobody know you had that in you. But now can you go back again? Yeah. Can you go back again? Can you go back again? When they build a game plan to stop you, Ocho, can you still have success? Okay, so now you have that outstanding rookie season. What you going to do about it in your sophomore year? Yeah, you got to keep building. What about your junior season? You got to keep building.

31:35Are you going to talk about it or are you going to be about it? Come on now.

31:41Damn, man. Hey. Sometimes you have to have real hard conversations about these guys. Like I said, I came in the league in 1990, so that means I've seen a lot of quarterbacks. I saw Mahomes, I saw Brady, I saw Manning, I saw Rivers, I saw Roethlisberger. I've seen a lot of quarterbacks. I've never ever since 1990, so that's about 37 years, of being in the NFL and covering. I've never heard a rookie quarterback talk as much as this young man did after success that he enjoyed in one season. I've never. You know, it's funny. So it's hard for me to be able to give my context and perspective on what he said because most of the time, the times that I've heard him talk, it's obviously God-fearing God.

32:34So I haven't seen or heard some of the things you might have heard. So it's hard for me to give my piece on that. But I just don't understand what the issue and why, as good as he is, as great of a thrower of the football that he is, having Nico Collins and having some of the other weapons. Well, Nico was out today, Ocho. I'm just saying in general. Yeah, overall, yeah. But he had Nico the large part of the season. Yeah, during the season. I just don't understand. I get what you're saying. Maybe next year. We got Tank Dale coming back. You got Tank. Tank, one hell of a player. Yeah. Tank is one hell of a player, and he changes everything.

33:10Hopefully he can come back. That was a gruesome injury, Ocho. Yeah, he'd be back though. That was a gruesome, Ocho. It was. It was. And then if he comes back, it's still going to take another year for him to get his timing and his legs up. And whereabouts. Because Ocho, he's been rehabbing all this time. He ain't training. Yeah. Fuck, I hate. My bad. Excuse me. Sorry about that. No, you're good. I hate stuff like that. you understand how that position is scrutinized in general. But you also understand why they get$60 million a year.

33:49Come on now. Look at your Bradys. Look at your Mannings. Look at your Jacksons. Lamar this year, I'm going to chalk it up to injury. He was injured. He was in and out. And when he came back, he wasn't the same Lamar. But you go back and look at Lamar's track record, Lamar is a proven commodity. You look at it. His first year, he started like six games. They make the playoffs. He come back the next year, he wins the MVP. Yeah. You look at Mahomes, boy, and maybe it's unfair. Because everybody in their second year, third year, not winning MVPs, everybody can't have the level of success that Lamar Jackson has had.

34:29Patrick Mahomes has had. Drake may have been the running for the MVP. In his second year. Could win. I think Matthew Stafford's going to win. They're going to give it. But the mere fact that he's in the discussion only in year two. Says a lot, yeah. Yes. Now, maybe we look at the coordinator. Who's coaching him? What's he teaching him? And is he processing? Is he learning what he's being taught? Because we've seen coaching matters. we look at Mac Jones when he had Josh McDaniel and we look at Mac Jones when he had the other guys in his ear yeah we look at Cable on Chesson now that he's here with Brable he looks like a different player than what he was with the Jags yeah coaching matters systems matter organizations matter Sam Darnold ta-da those things matter so i would ask domico look at your office who's coaching him the quarterback who's in his ear oc he's regressed he has not gotten better he has not and you cannot convince anybody that's watched him his rookie year and watched him sophomore and junior year that says that C.J.

35:58Stroud has gotten better at anything than what he was as a rookie. Yeah, and I don't understand it. You know, from the outside looking in, I'm not in that building. All I get to see is I get to see the finished product like everybody else in the chat. I get to see him on Sundays. Obviously, playing that position, you understand the work that has to go in to improve from your rookie year to your sophomore to your junior year. And for some reason, things haven't – it just hadn't done that. Now, the one thing that we can't hoop and holler about is the goddamn defense over there in Houston. That's one of the best, if not the best in the NFL, outside of the goddamn Seahawks and the goddamn Broncos.

36:35Yes. Can you imagine understanding? I'm putting myself in C.J. Stroud's shoes. Me having a defense like that? Just don't F it up. All I got to do, I ain't got to mess it up. You ain't got to be a hero. It sounds easy, you know? but obviously, oh man that's... Ocho, how about just not Ocho look at the plays that he was turning the ball over on though Ocho what was complex or overly complicated about that? Just don't throw it to the other team, hold on to the damn ball they would have won this game if the Texans could have got those scooping scores like they got against Pittsburgh they'd have won this game Yeah.

37:26Drake may fumble twice. He only lost two. He fumbled four times. What if one of those or two of those, they scoop and score? Of course, yeah. Like we saw against Pittsburgh. They got a scoop and score and they got a pick six. Mm-hmm.

37:46Changes everything. It changes everything. But when you got a defense like that, you don't have to do much. you don't

37:57you just I don't know maybe he goes to Whitfield or he go to Tom House or he goes to someone but whomever is in his ear currently Ocho you can't regress like that you can't now I promise you Ocho they're having real conversations do we extend this guy for 300 million or do we make him play, oh, do we just pick up that fifth year option and make sure he plays year four?

38:31300 million or play out year four and we pick up year five? That's, oh, that's, see, that's one that, I wouldn't want to be Nick Sicario. Is it Sicario? No, you said you want to be a GM. You said you want to be Matt Ryan. That's what you're saying. Chad, did he not say that? Why the Bengals should call me, one of these teams should call me So now here you are. You're a GM. So, okay, I'm the GM of the Houston Texans right now. Yes. Do I pick up, do I pay C. Day Stroud what? $300 million. $300 million. Or do I pick up the fifth-year option and make him prove himself one more year? Yep. I'm going to take option two.

39:10I'm going to pick up that fifth year. I'm going to make him prove himself next year. Yes. And then, boom, okay, you know what? You're the future for the next 10 years. I got you. Let's go. I can do that. I mean, both guys were just, like, staking up the joint for a long time. I mean, Ocho, if you go back and think about it, Drake may got three touchdowns, but Boutte touchdown and Stephon Diggs, I don't know how they held on to that. I still don't know how Stephon Diggs – Stephon Diggs was looking at his damn hand like, how did I hold on to that? What the hell? Yeah. Boutte, in those elements, he caught the ball with one hand against Stingley Jr.

39:50Yeah. Yeah, he had him beat. And you know what? That was great coverage by Stingley, but a perfect ball placed will be great coverage any day. No, absolutely. That was perfect ball placement. Ain't nobody can get to that except Stingley. A perfect shot beats a perfect defense. I don't care how – oh, you see, we've seen Kobe and Steph and LeBron and Jordan, all these guys, the defender. I mean, bro, how you – first of all, how you – KD, how you even see the basket? We watched Steph last year at the Olympics. Yeah. I mean, 24 at the Olympics. And you're like, hold on, wait a minute. Baton and these guys are basically in the job.

40:36Bro, how you making shots from 35 like that? Like it ain't nothing. Ain't nothing you can do. We've seen the hottest hitters. And the pitch come pick, the perfect placement, ain't nothing you can do. Mm-hmm. That was a perfect throw. Boot tape.

40:55Guess what? He caught the ball. He survived the contact from the ground. He got up with it. That is a catch. Yeah.

41:08But this defense, at some point in time, Mocho, you can't pay everybody on that defense now. Oh, Will Anderson Jr. contracts up. What you going to do with him? Hold on. That's what I'm going to say. He's a three-time. I think he's going to what? three Pro Bowls? Yes. Two or three Pro Bowls. He's an All-Pro this year. He's going to be probably a top 20 of the top 100 players. He's probably going to be in the top 20. Mm-hmm. Okay. CJ, if you get CJ 300, oh, you just saw what Amiles Garrett got. You just saw what Michael Parsons got. Mm-hmm. And he younger than Michael Parsons. Yeah. So you're going to have to be looking at to give him 190, 200.

41:50you just paid Stingley and you paid the other guy Lasseter on the other side Petrie wait no Lasseter, Petrie Bullock this was their year man they got a squad man Shazier is up or he still I think Shazier might be up too oh they got a squad it, man. Yes. This was their year, boy. Look, they've taken care of Schultz. They've taken care of Nico. Huh? Stingley. Lassiter. Didn't they take care of Lassiter?

42:39No, Lassiter only in his second year, ain't he? Oh, is he? Yeah, he only in his second year. What about Petrie? I'm not sure. I'm not sure about Petrie. All them boys, man. Hey, God. Hey, could you imagine if I was out there at the quarterback at Houston? What? Huh? Hey, I call Mike McDaniel, Joe. Blue Rape? Ooh, that's a good one. For the OC? Yes. Hey. Oh, hold on. I'd rather, I mean, honestly, I like the idea. I like where you're going with it. But I prefer, I prefer goddamn Mike McDaniel over there in Detroit. because he has more to play with. He has more tools to play with. He got more tools in his toolbox and that kind of offense, and it's basically what he's already used to running.

43:28I like what you're talking about, though. I like that. I like that. Check this out. This is what D 'Amico said. He never considered bitching, CJ. CJ is our guy. I believe that he could come back out in the second half and flip it. I believe that he could come play better, and he did that in the second half. He did play better. We had some positive drives there in the second half. I believe that we would do that, and he did that. As I always tell our guys at halftime, it really doesn't matter what happened in the first half. Yeah. It's a two-half game, huh? It is. Two-half game. You can sting it up the first half and come back and look all world in the second.

44:04Yep. Yep. But in a game like this, it's hard to overcome four turnovers in the first half. The only thing that saved them It was that Drake May Was throwing picks and fumbling the football That's what kept them in the ball game

44:24And they needed their defense To get some scooping scores Or some pick sixes like they got against Pittsburgh And they had one The guy tried to pick it up in that area of the field You gotta just jump on it Just jump on it Will Anderson Jr. got one out and he almost had it between his legs and then Campbell jumped on that one. That could have been another one that could have led to points. Maybe a touchdown, maybe a field goal. We don't know. But there were some opportunities there for the defense, but it's just hard when your offense puts your defense on short fields and keeps putting you in harm's way.

45:04Because I don't care how great you are. That's what we had to learn at the 2000 Ravens. As great as our defense were, if we kept putting them on short fields with a guy, All they got to do is just kneel down and kick a field goal. Yeah. And then a busted play or a broken tackle, that's a touchdown. Make them drive 70-80. You weren't driving 70-80 on that defense. Not that year. I don't believe a team is going to consistently drive 70-80 yards on that Houston, Texas defense. Nah. The only thing that would harm them or put them in harm's way? Yeah. Turnovers. Offense turning the ball over. Eh. And the Patriots, hey, they got their hands on the ball.

45:43Gonzalez got it out from Woody Marks. Carlton Davis had two outstanding picks. Hey, they intercessible night. Hey, Carlton Davis played a little receiver, boy. He must have played a little receiver back in the day. Those guys played well. They did a great job. Anthony Jennings had a sack. Tonga had a sack. K. LeVon Chason had a sack. They put pressure on him. But, man, Will Anderson Jr. was playing out of his mind. Three sacks. Danelle Hunter, two sacks. Countless pressures. Hey, they're supposed to come away. I mean, they're supposed to come away. Ocho, your defense do that for you. Five sacks, you're supposed to repay the favor, though.

46:31But you know what's funny? It's them five sacks, the four turnovers. It counters. It evens everything out. Yes. It evens everything out. Yep. And the thing is, the reason why it was a close ball game is that, like you said, one team had five turnovers. No, they had – no, Woody Marks lost – yeah. Woody Marks lost one. And so that's five turnovers. And the other team had three turnovers. Mm-hmm. It's crazy. But look, I got to try something because something is going on with my quarterback. And I believe he's the guy. If I'm D 'Amico, this is how I'm thinking. I'm D 'Amico Ryan. My quarterback is not the same as he was in his rookie season.

47:22Now, I need to know why. I'm not going to leave a stone unturned. Yeah. I'm going to scour heaven and earth. Mm-hmm. Maybe he needs to get an old OC. Maybe he needs somebody else in his ear. I don't know what it is. They need to do something because when C.J. Stroud missed a few games, David Mills came in and kept their head above water. David Mills came in and kept that Houston Texans offense above water until C.J. Stroud got back. He did. So if David Mills can do it and look the way he looked in such a short amount of time, I'm sure C.J. Stroud can come back and do it. I'm not sure if his confidence may be shot a little bit.

47:58Maybe they need to have a different approach into getting him in rhythm, Stop having plays that are so long. Stop having plays that require play action. I don't know. I don't know. You know, that team, D 'Amico, they understand what C.J. Stroud's strengths are as a quarterback, and they understand what his weaknesses are. You need to make sure you play to his strengths and hide his weaknesses the best way you can until you can make his weaknesses a part of his strength. And that takes years and years and years of working at your craft to do that. Yeah, well, today was the AFC championship game in 97?

48:43Oh. Yeah, that was 97. I think we did pick off Cordell a couple of times. What did we pick him off, three times, two times? You played against Cordell Stewart? Yeah. When he was with the Steelers, huh? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. three times yeah well I think because one year Cordell I think it might have been that year Cordell finished like second or third in the MVP voting who won the MVP in 97 Barry and Brett Favre tied Brett won it three years in a row 95, 96, 97 and then TD won it in 98 and then

49:31Kurt Warner won it in 2000, 99. And I think Marshall won it in 2000. And then Kurt won it again in 01. I think. With the Rams, huh? Nah, Rich Gannon. Yeah, I think Kurt won it in 01. I think Rich won it in 02. That's with the Raiders. Yes. Yeah, with Jerry and Tim. Yeah. Yeah. but Houston you got too much talent don't squatter this you got to find out what's going on with CJ because you're about to have to invest a boatload of money in him so you might want to make sure everything is on the that you got you you give him the best tools possible from an offensive perspective as a coordinator and a quarterback coach to make sure you're maximizing his ability yeah

50:24after the game several fans posted stride stride infamous post-game moments with caleb williams from week two of last season stride big brother williams despite them being the same age and told caleb stop taking those big hits and that he would be a hell of a player in the nfl well he didn't lie uh williams did not look at all interested in what stride had to say since that moment, C.J. Stroud, 5 ,795 yards, 34 touchdowns, 18 picks. Caleb Williams, 6 ,612 yards, 48 touchdowns, 12 picks. Eh. Eh. Tough. He just tried to look out. He just tried to look out. That was a genuine moment, too, from two players, obviously, knowing each other.

51:16before they even made it to the NFL. Just give me some, because you know how they were giving Caleb crap. CJ from California. From L.A. No, I'm saying. Caleb is from the DMV. They know each other, Unk. Come on, man. I'm talking about from college. I'm not talking about when you know you're competitive. That's what you're saying. Have you been wronged by your nicotine pouches? Settled for sharp edges, rough texture, flavor that drops off? Your pouches are a total wreck, and we're here to get results. Introducing On Plus, the softest pouch on the planet, made with plush stretchy Niko-soaked mesh.

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53:35Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

53:41The number one Seattle Seahawks bullied the San Francisco 49ers by the score of 41-6. The Seahawks advance to the NFC Championship game. They'll host either the Rams or the Bears next week. Raheem Shaheed returned to opening kickoff 95 yards to set the tone, and they never looked back. Seattle's defense was stifling as they were the last game of the season when they beat the 49ers 13-3. This time, it was even more convincing. Seattle defense dominated, forcing three turnovers, holding the 49ers to 236 yards and three turnovers on downs three consecutive times. Kenneth Walker finished the game 116 rushing yards and three touchdowns tying the great Alexander the Great, Sean Alexander the Great Seattle running back, Seattle Seahawks running back for the most touchdowns in a playoff game.

54:32Ocho, this thing got started from the jump. It's hard to overcome. You know special team touchdowns, Ocho? They just do something to you. Hey, listen, they take the win out yourselves. For one, you're already playing on the goddamn road, having to deal with the 12th man. Then, obviously, you know, you practice all week and you focus on the offense and the high-power octane that is the Seattle Seahawks offense. then you know what they look like on defense. And then they have to deal with the special teams too. They come out and score. As soon as the game starts, it already puts you behind the eight ball.

55:06Then you can't get them going offensively. On top of the turnovers you have in the game, hell, you really don't stand a chance to actually, let alone win. You can't even compete playing like that. And so, I mean, damn, all three phases. They dominated. All three phases, they dominated the entirety of the game. At no point, at no point in the game were the goddamn 49ers in the game at all. And listen, I tweeted at one point, they were up by maybe about 14. What, 17-3, 17-6, something like that? It was 17-6. I said, listen, at some point, the pendulum is going to shift. The momentum is going to shift.

55:49Can the Seahawks get enough of a lead when that momentum shifts? Where the 49ers don't have a chance to come back most of the time monkey watch the ball for a very long time Most of the time when it does shift the other team makes a way and finds a way to come back and crawl their way back into the game tonight Man, yeah, that wasn't even close. I don't know what that was Oh, I don't know if I've ever seen this before a team only had 50 plays Team ran 50 plays though. So you get 41 points. Okay, let's just say for the sake of argument and we're going to take that special teams play away. But still, they got 34 points on 50 plays.

56:24That's crazy. That is crazy. You cannot, in the postseason, I don't care how good your team. And we're going to talk about this. Buffalo, you turned the ball a little four times. Now, you know, Sean got a little conservative there. Whoa, whoa, whoa. They had five turnovers, my bad. Five. But in this game right here, Seattle, man, that defense, they're good at all three levels. Their back end is really good. Ernest Jones, the fourth, takes the ball away. Big Leonard Williams and D-Long, DeMarcus Lawrence has found new life getting out of Dallas. He finds the guys are playing for one another. They fly to the football.

57:05Big Leonard Williams has been sensational. Man, you know, they got guys that can make plays on the offensive side of football. They can run the football with Kenneth Walker III. but the third, Charbonneau, but the receiving end, they make plays. I mean, they're just a sound football team. Very, very well coached. And I think the thing is, defensively, Ocho, when you watch them, they don't do a whole lot. They don't do a whole lot. I mean, from what I see, they play some quarters and maybe man down in the red zone. But other than that, simplicity. Let's do a few things great as opposed to doing a lot of things okay.

57:45Yeah, and I think that's one of the reasons why defensively, most of the time, they're really not ever out of position because they do the simple things and they do the simple things very, very well. Obviously, when you have the personnel that they do have defensively, it makes it a lot easier. We don't have to do all the exotic shit. You don't have to confuse your opponent with all type of different coverages and schemes and tactics to be able to do things. and the fact they were able to put up 41 points tonight, minus, like you said, let's take out the return from Shee Sheehy. They still put up 34, 35 goddamn points.

58:19Sam Donald tonight, he was only 12 and 17. That's it. One TD to JSN. That was it. That is how good they played tonight. Kenneth Walker Jr. played well. Cooper Cup led the team with 5 and 60. But that goddamn defense, boy. that goddamn deep. I don't I'm not sure who they gonna play. I don't know who they gonna play. Obviously we'll find out tomorrow. I'm not sure it matters. Oh, Joe, I'll be honest with you, Ojo, and you never want to put the, you know, the card in front of the horse in front of the cart. Well, that's where it goes. The cart in front of the horse. The cart in front of the horse.

58:56The horse got to pull the cart. I mean, when you look at Ojo, when you just look at them and the way they rally to the effing football. I mean, it's not one. I'm like, well, hold on. Hey, ref. I bet they got too many men on the show. You sure 11? Ain't no way to hell, bro. Hey. Hey, nah, nah, nah. We all are supposed to have 11. They got to have 13. Ain't no way they get to the ball that quick. And they do. That's exactly what it looks like. The front four, they can generate pressure. Occasionally, they'll come with a blitz. But most of the time, they just generate pressure with that front four.

59:32A. That number three? Ooh. Ooh. But if you look at them, they play defense just like the old Legion of Boom. The Legion of Boom basically plays one cover. They play single high robber. Back then, they used to call it Lurt. Cam Chasley lurking, looking to pick up any crossers. They call it robber. Now, he's looking to rob the crossing route or the end cover. Other than that, that's it. That's all they play. If you look at this team, They're a very simplistic coverage team. Good luck getting up against Spoon and Wolin. Got love at safety. You got Ernest Jones the fourth, and then you got those guys just swarmed.

1:00:11The D-lines just swarmed. They're fundamentally sound. McDonald, you know, this is really tough because Ben Johnson could get coach of the year. Brable could get coach of the year. D 'Amico Ryan can get coach of the year. McDonald up in Seattle could get coach of the year. I mean, look, there are a lot of words that can't. Hell, Sean Payton can get coach of the year. There are a lot of worthy candidates. But the job that McDonald has done with this team in his short time there, this is only the second year. Yeah. Only the second year. Phenomenal. And here it is, the NFC Championship game, with that game on their home field.

1:00:47Go ahead, Ocho. The funny thing about it, too, those that are in the chat that are watching, now you understand the importance of a quarterback. You look at some of the teams that have struggled, and it's his goal to say for Sam Donald, situations matter. Where you go matters. Coaching matters. The person that surrounds you. Organizations matter. I don't give a damn. Tom Brady could go to the Jets. He ain't going to be what we know. Well, yeah, what we're used to seeing. So, I mean, Sam Donald is in the perfect situation. I know I've said it multiple times on the show. I know Minnesota is kicking themselves in the foot, you know, for actually allowing him to get out.

1:01:23It's kind of hard to kick yourself in the foot. But I get what you said. We know what you said, Chad. Come on, now that's our show, man. Listen, I'm trying to prevent from cursing. That's why I said that. We know what you mean. Right, right, right. But Sam Donner's playing exceptional. He's playing exceptional. Obviously, I've been worried about him. He's been turnover - Yeah, he's been very inconsistent. You're right. I think he had 20-something interceptions, huh? He had 20-plus turnovers. 20 plus turnovers so I was worried about him going to the playoffs I was hoping he just took care of the ball because the defense was so well and if they can play defense the way they played tonight and special teams, they do what they need to do and Sam Donald doesn't put the ball in harm's way and just allow offensively, whatever the defense gives you just don't lose it just don't lose the game trying to make bad situations worse you're right, Ochoa And when you look at this team, like I said, they're very well coached.

1:02:22They're disciplined. They're good in the special teams area, especially on punt kick return because he is a pro bowl player. On their special teams, on the other end, they do a great job of tackling. They pin you down. They don't give you big plays. They make you nickel and dime your way down the field. And that's the best way to play defense. Defense is not to give up anything cheap, anything deep. I believe if you have to consistently drive the ball 10, 12, 15 plays, I believe I can make you turn it over as opposed to giving up a one or two, you know, a 60-yard run or a 50-yard pass play. I believe if I make you go first down, first, second, okay, convert third down, first, second, convert third down, I believe if I make you continuously have to nickel and dime your way down the field, I believe you'll stub your toe.

1:03:11I believe you'll make a mistake. And that's all I need. Yeah. And you know what else is good? if you look at the landscape of the teams that are left let's say for the nfc in general you look at a game like tonight offensively christian mccaffrey christian mccaffrey causes an issue regardless of who they're playing because they can create mismatches by using him in a multitude of ways offensively but because the goddamn seahawks are so good in all three levels whether it be the front whether it be the second level or they got them back in they match up so extremely well some of the things that Christian McCaffrey is able to exploit when they're playing other teams when you play somebody like Seattle?

1:03:52Uh-uh. It's not happening. He had some runs. He wasn't able to do what he does. Nah, there were no gasses tonight. And boy, they was putting a hat on him tonight, boy. Boy, they was putting a hat on him tonight, boy. I mean, Mernus Jones, the fourth, had two takeaways. He had a pick. He had a forced fumble. Ripped it out on the tight end. but I thought from about week I mean for like the last month after what they did to the Rams they showed me something being down like they were and finding a way to get that off the mat and to win that game in overtime in a fashion not only did they tie because the Rams go right down the field in overtime get a touchdown PAT they're up 7 and for Seattle to match it to go down the field and then say, you know what?

1:04:44We ain't doing no more overtime because the next score wins. We're going to win it or lose it right here. And then say, you know what? We're going to win it. And Sam Donald did a great job. Seattle's going to be a tough out on you. I don't care. Look, the game, obviously we can say the game favors Chicago because they practice in that and they play more often in those kind of conditions than the Rams. But anything can happen on a given Sunday. That's why we love football so much, because it's one game. It's win or go home. There is no tomorrow. There's finality once postseason. It's not like that in any other sport.

1:05:21They say game seven. There's nothing like game seven. Well, in the NFL, every playoff game is a game seven, whether it's the wild card, division, or the AFC championship. Obviously, the Super Bowl, we know what that is. But every playoff game in the postseason, I mean, every playoff game in the NFL is a game seven. No other sport has that, because I get four chances. I got to beat you four times. But it doesn't work like that in the NFL. I ain't got to beat nobody four times. If I win four games, if I'm a wild card, I'm going to be the Super Bowl champ. I'm holding up the trophy. In other sports, if you win four games, all you did was advance to the next round.

1:05:59Oh, yeah. Win four games in the NFL in the postseason, you're Super Bowl champ. But, look, San Francisco, you know, the injuries, the in and out, They lost Trent for a minute. The wide receiver, I thought they played well. But sometimes teams just have your number. Teams just have your number. Seattle, I'm not so sure if the 49ers have all their pieces, that they're a better football team than Seattle. You know, when I think about it, I think about if they had Bosa, if they had Fred Warner. Okay, yeah. Because they can't get pressure on the quarterback, Ojo. It's so hard for them to get pressure.

1:06:44And you got to have somebody that can win quick. You need somebody that can win right now. That can win his one-on-one matchup. And they don't really have that. Fred Warner is not going to make some of the mistakes that these guys were making. They're trying to go under and they get pinned and it spits out. Or they go over and the guy cuts back. Fred is not going to make some of the mistakes. He's too veteran of a player. He's going to re-diagnose what's going on a lot sooner. than these guys but i think from look and it's these games are always close normally normally i mean the first time they played up in uh seattle they uh the 49ers won but it was a very close ball game the second time it was a 13-3 ball game the 49ers felt that you know what if we eliminate some of these turnovers oh joe we like our chances because we've already we've already been here and won before so it's not like it's foreign to us it's like like it's out of the realm of possibility that we can win because we've won here before.

1:07:39So, you know, you feel somewhat good. You like to have Bosa because you had Bosa when you won the first time. You had Fred Warner when you won the first time. You had Kittle when you won the first time. So you would have liked to have some of those pieces. But you got what you got. You got what you got. Seattle look good. Yeah, you got to make do it what you have. Obviously, I think it hurts not having Kittle, not having Bosa, not having Fred Warner. But when you think about it, when it comes to this time, when it comes to playoff time, there are a lot of teams that have injuries. Maybe not injuries to some of their star players to the extent of that of the 49ers, but you've got to make do with what you've got.

1:08:17You've got to make do with what you've got. So, I mean, it's unfortunate. I think for the 49ers, it's hard for me to understand why. Right back in position next year. So, I mean, it is what it is. Yeah. I'm trying to think. I'm looking at the 49ers, maybe a D lineman, maybe a corner. I mean, losing Huff for Fanga, who's in Denver right now. Their safeties, man, I just don't know. I mean, the pass didn't jig, but I don't know what 36 was looking at. I don't know what he's looking at. Oh, so why would he look back inside? The quarterback is rolling towards the sideline. You look back inside, and he throws it, and Jigba slides and catches it.

1:09:07I'm like, what are you looking for? That was a nice drop in the bucket, too, now. I mean, he looking like his mom called him. Like he heard somebody, you called me, mom?

1:09:18No. Oh, man, see, Ocho, I mean, when I go to games, this is why, and we're going to talk about the Broncos, this is why I came, man. I see some stuff, bro. I'm like, bro, what? I just, okay. Come here, son. Let me ask you something real quick. Tell me what you saw. What did you see? Right. I don't know. I don't know. But you got to understand too, Unc. Now, when you're watching the game from a fan perspective, even though you've played the game, and when you're watching from an eye level view, as you were today. Huh? Sometimes. That's the 22. Because we can see everything. up high, Ocho. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:10:03Sometimes, you know, what we see with a clear eyesight, not the same when you feel bad. Yeah, you know, and the bullet, you know, is flying. And you know, it's a thinking man's game out there, huh? It's a thinking man's game. So one mistake, one slip up, one step behind, well, you done. You look the wrong way. You hesitate. You peek in the backfield. That's all it takes. The only thing that I tried to do, Ocho. Go ahead. Go ahead. You say, yeah, you have a take, you beat. You're out of position. The only thing that I really emphasize, Ocho, is that I never tried to get beat on what I've seen on tape.

1:10:39If I know a guy like to cross face, I can't let you beat me cross. Now, if you step cross like you're going to cross my face and come out the backside, we need to get a different running back because he too got them slow to hit the hole. Other than that, Ocho, you're going to have drops. You're going to make some mistakes. but as I told I remember Pat Sutan I got a chance to holler at him I saw his dad I saw his dad also talk to him I say in the playoffs there are no incidental plays every play matters in the regular season Ocho sometimes the first quarter play might not have an impact in the rest of the game but in the postseason every play matters every play matters and so you're like oh, don't worry about it, we'll get it back.

1:11:26But that's the difference. You know, now all of a sudden, instead of a seven point, you got three. Now that's four point swing.

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