Houston, We Have Liftoff: Previewing Wild Card Weekend

30:14Ben Solak:I think your office is going to move the ball on them. So just chill. But y 'all know, they're chilling right now. I have zero, zero belief in this bears defense. Tell me why I'm wrong. Tell me why they can do any, because love killed them last time, as you alluded to before he got hurt in the last game, he was killing them again. What can they like? Tell me what do you have to hang your hat on in your Chicago that makes you think that you could stop jordan love this time around i want to know there were it was only 16 regulation points because the packers in the second game i mean it was um the when did he get hurt the first quarter was it it was early in the second i think um it is there is enough individual talent in guys like jalen johnson and kevin byard and austin booker such that you can get one or two game tipping plays it's not dissimilar to carolina where snap to snap you're gonna get leaned on right and if you want to make this a put together your 12 play or 13 play drives you know force them to be perfect the Packers have shown you and other teams they're solid at that but then again like the Packers played those Panthers tried to have those long execution drives and they had the red zone turnover so you can make them play in that mode if you want it didn't work great for you in b16 but okay you can try it again but there still is again enough individual talent that like you know think about that first drive in week 16 Jalen Johnson gets a pass breakup on a fourth and whatever fourth and two attempt it was there in the red zone and that's an empty drive it's zero points like they have enough playmakers to get individual stops such that if the offense is pulling its weight you get you get a lead you're able to control the game what concerns me like you know i think the bears defense against the packers is pretty well known they're going to try some kitchen sink stuff they're going to give up some explosives they're going to you know straight together your long drives you're going to give up points offensively you cannot have an empty first half for the third time against this team right you have to be able to come out the gates faster and protect your defense give them more time on the sidelines give them a lead and a pass rush to play with that's what's been really hurting the team against the Packers specifically that's a really good point about the offense is like the Bears offense I think is better than the Packers defense but it wasn't the case for a decent amount of that game and I think that's really important they heated up at the end but there's been some inconsistency there despite the fact we'll talk about that side of the ball in a second I think that's their best chance of course of winning this this thing um but like I the Bears defense it's so funny because like okay it's like the Their stats are bad.

32:37Ben Solak:Okay, but they have turnovers that cover up for some of that. Even if you take out, or probably even if you include the turnovers, so, you know, they're still bottom 10 in EPA per play, or 19th, pardon me, but they're 32nd in success rate. That's crazy, man. I mean, it's worse than the Commanders, the Cowboys, the Cardinals, and the Niners, and the Bengals, and the Giants. Like that's, I know you're 32nd, I don't have to name teams, but I just, I think like the saving grace you have is I do think, you know, the bears run game is better than the Packers run game, but I'm, I'm just struggling. Um, and I'm, I'm so interested in your theory about them blitzing him.

33:24Ben Solak:I don't know, man, because if you, okay, if you don't, if you foreign zone, right, let's say Kyler Gordon's back. You, you, you don't feel the receivers too much. All right. We're in a rush for him. we're gonna we're gonna zone it off love and like and in the the two games that he's played against them has been just wonderful i just taking it taking it taking it taking it and for better for worse like packers fans listening to this are screaming right now matt lafleur loves to play those games right sometimes it kills the the packers but against the bears they've been so far successful and so if love had more like i love gets talked about always is this like crazy gunslinger and like that hasn't really been an accurate read on his play style for the last like year year and a half if love had more you know trevor lawrence to him we're like eventually he's just gonna start you know ripping one because he feels like he needs to then okay we can talk about it but they've been pretty execution sound against the bears you know i haven't just watched these two last games i will say chicago from a per drive perspective pretty good in terms of goal to go efficiency right they're i think 10th in terms of limiting touchdowns on goal to go downs they're like 17th in the red zone and so when they when the space that's what yeah that's what i mean like That's why I don't think like, I just feel like if they blitz and play man, Christian Watson's going to kill them again.

34:34If they can try to put a roof on it,

34:38Ben Solak:be a little bit more conservative and then just bow up in the red zone, I feel a little bit better. I mean, I would, I would rather like, I feel like that because when, when you play zone, it becomes more about a Romeo Dobbs offense. I feel better about that. Probably. I'm not saying it's going to Packers fans. Clearly, I think your offense is going to have success here. I just think like in terms of picking your poison, I would rather play it that way than be aggressive and let them just pick on CJ Gardner Johnson. My most like zoomer brain Madden take is okay. Christian Watson hits the explosive, but at least now on offense, I'm not dying to time of possession anymore because they scored in two seconds.

35:13You know that the, I remember being at that second game in Chicago and Johnson, Ben Johnson, after the game talked about how difficult it was to get the offense in a rhythm because they just did not have the ball for the first three quarters because they had six total first half drives in two games against green bay and scored three points on them like it's it's so

35:30Ben Solak:hard for them to get out just to be clear your take here is that they should let them score on them quickly so that's why i said it's my most zoomer madden brain take i don't actually believe this but i do think that some variance hunting more than in the week yeah yeah it's kind of like we were talking about the panthers you're saying like i try to force lovesman great against the blitz this year but maybe you can force him to make a bad back back back bad back foot decision throw an avu i just want to be able to get my offense on the field for for longer drives they have two first downs in the first half against two packers this year let's talk about that offense um yeah it was odd i mean it is so weird to watching the packers defense since they lost michael parsons it's insane to me that chicago was stopped at all on the ground um despairs like if you're green bay you want to make this a caleb williams game obviously and that's not slander on Kayla Williams it's more about how dominant the Bears run game is I think what's tricky is um one you know Kayla's obviously been amazing on third down he makes really really difficult throws whatever he can scramble he can kill you that way but like on first down which is where the Bears kill people they actually pass more than they throw defenses just are so fearful of the run they you know they play a ton of they face a lot of base defense but I I mentioned this on live and people are shocked the bears pass at the seventh highest rate on first down so if you're if you have halfley and you're green bay after your team just got run on um you know by the ravens most recently the starters what do you do here like what is your approach on first down against this bears offense which has been fantastic they're a neat neighbor i think you saw a lot of movement at the snap right to get uh defensive linemen to get penetration and to kind of manufacture some of the stuff that you're that was absent from from parsons right the fact that when you don't have him you need to be able to create some some disruption you also just generally have to protect your defensive tackle room one of the best ways to do that is to not ask them to play man to a man play a gap or you know okay two gap or whatever but to stunt them to twist them to gain them because you flip a coin you know if we get the the way the runs going then all right we got penetration if we go the wrong way we might be in some trouble but we're gonna be in trouble anyway that also allows you to get guys like quay walker uh isaiah mcduffie who plays a lot against the Bears because they're heavy personnel.

37:50That allows them to get those guys moving to the line of scrimmage, which you kind of want McDuffie run filling and blitzing because if he's not, then he's in coverage. And if he's in coverage, the Bears know who they want to throw the ball at. Right? Allows Evan Williams to move down to the second level to where he's at his best when he's stepping downhill. So I think you game up a lot of stuff on first down, which is why I would love to see Chicago in this game actually be willing to go a little bit more gun, a little bit more spread, and let Caleb see it on early downs as opposed to being one of the reasons they have such a high pass rate on first down is because they go under center, they go play action, and they bluff the run just by down a distance by alignment, and then they throw the football.

38:25You can actually just turn into the skid and just be willing to be, all right, we're clearly going to be a pass team, especially if Rome's back, right? Expected back after these five weeks off. Then you'd be a little bit more distribution because, man, these corners, if you don't like your outside matchups against these corners, you don't like them against anybody. And I feel like with Rome back in the fold, you should be able to win those.

38:43Ben Solak:Yeah, but I love running on those damn corners. They can't tackle. Right. Screens. One part of Ben Johnson is not going to look at that cornerback room and think, let's just go at him on the ground. Right. That's another interesting facet here, right? This is Ben's first playoff game as the head coach.

39:07Ben Solak:Just a little bit of the, you know, like, OK, we're playing with house money aspect to all of this. I think I feel like he's going to go pretty run heavy, especially with having seen what his defense has given up, especially the way that they lost to San Francisco, as you alluded to that they weren't able to possess the football in the first half. It's the last time the team played green Bay. I don't know. I just, I don't feel like he's going to, maybe I'm wrong. This doesn't feel like an aggressive game plan for Caleb kind of game. It's I waffle on it because I think the, the header at the top of the offensive game plan, is get a rhythm string together drives.

39:45I cannot harp on this enough. How did, how the bears offense has been totally empty in the first half against the Packers. They haven't been able to get on the field. They've had penalties. They've had drops. Like it's just, you're digging yourself a hole immediately. You have to try to pull yourself out of almost it in the first match. Didn't do it in the second. That's been a kind of Chicago's issue all year. It's going to be a playoff environment against a team you've played three times who the Packers, like if you're green Bay with all these injuries, you're in the postseason for one reason, one reason only let's ruin Chicago's time, right?

40:09Like this, this is it. Everything after this is, is gravy. Let's embarrass Chicago at Soldier Field, knock them out of the postseason. And so you have to find a way to settle Caleb, settle the tone, settle the intensity, which means to me, like does lean running game early and reliably. It's just the Packers' second level run players are really, really, really good, right? Save for those corners. Those linebackers and those safeties are excellent. And so I agree with you. Like this is the DeAndre game maybe to get him more so off tackle instead of between the tackles. And then to me, quick throws.

40:38Like I would want Caleb in the gun, a couple of quick passes. get some completions feel that first drive pick up some yardage at least you're okay in the field position battle you have something nice to talk about on the sideline which of these defenses is better i think it's green green bay's is better yeah yeah it's structurally better and then they also have their playmakers as well green bay's has more obvious weaknesses a little bit because chicago it's like you can kind of get it yeah but for green bay it's like i whenever green bay losing the postseason I'll be able to tell you how right they got gash up the middle to the defensive tackles and they lost to yards after the catch on the outside because the corners

41:14Ben Solak:you and I talked at the top about uh you know I said no to Jeff Halfley and a lot of the reason why is like you know with this without Micah Parsons this defense has really fallen apart this is a big spot for him right like yo you want me a head coach show me that this defense which without Micah Parsons and they're they're missing other players Devontae Wyatt I think has been a massive industry that's not talked about enough um but like you know show me a game plan like show me that you've fixed some of the issues we've seen over the last few weeks i my struggle with this game is i think the most the thing that i feel the best about either side of the ball is the bears run game and it's a snowy home game but then when i take a step back I feel better about the Packers both offense and defense as a whole so it's kind of you know what I mean like it's kind of like it's it I think this is why like matchups matter so much because even though I feel better about the Packers offensive defense quarterback

42:25Ben Solak:if the Packers can't stop the run none of that will matter the Bears will just control the entire game I'm gonna take I'm still gonna take the Packers here I know you're on the Bears so I I felt myself being unable to convince you as we went about it. Yeah. Well, it's just that defense. I mean, I can't get over watching them against San Francisco, man. Great game. I'm going to take this. We're going to get to the Niners defense. You are not escaping my. I'm in on Chicago. I like them to win this game. I think that Green Bay has given them a lot of schematic difficulty and game script difficulty over the last two performances, and it's really hard to do that for a third time.

43:02I think the defense is going to find enough solutions on offense. to be about actually get out the gate um packers on a trailing script against chicago though still like you know this one this one just given how chicago's won these late games and then given love's ability to create big plays against the chicago defense this is one that like until it reads triple zeros for sure i think it's gonna be quite tight i lean chicago at home i lean chicago the higher seed and as the slight underdog but it's a tight one for sure one of the ideas we

43:27Ben Solak:talked about whether or not the bears should blitz jordan love um the packers are now also unable to get pressure and they actually blitzed caleb a lot and then kind of backed off of it a bit they had a great game plan for caleb in that game because they were they were really keyed on the boots on the rollouts keeping him in the pocket getting pressure off the play action fakes again why i want to be a little bit away from under center rollout in this game i want to be a little bit more gun rpo and spread in this game yeah i hear you i love this you're like yeah but think about this. Kyle got the middle for four yards, baby.

44:00Ben Solak:I just I'm like, do you really I I'm like I said, I'm I'm. Caleb was unbelievable in this game. He made some like point zero zero percentile throws that no humans on Earth outside of him and like two other people could make. But he's been streaky this season at times. And I don't know if I'm comfortable going away from what we're the best at and putting more on his shoulders, even if but I hear you. I like what you're you know, I think you're onto something in terms of like some breaking some tendencies because the Packers are probably going to roll out again, such a like a bespoke game plan to both cover up their weaknesses.

44:36Ben Solak:And so I do, I do think that there's some legitimacy to that, that, but I can also just see the headline the next day, Ben Johnson, that idiot, not just running the ball. I'm under center on every down. You know, I just, I don't know. This is a close one. It's a close one for me. If Rome plays, I should clarify. Rome doesn't play. I think this is probably Green Bay. All right. All right. Bills-Jags. I changed my mind on this about an hour ago. Yeah, this is what I need help from you on. Bills-Jags, I cannot get anywhere on this game. All right. So let's start with what I say about every Bills game, and I think has to be said about every Bills game, which comes down to whether or not they can run the ball and set the run.

45:19Ben Solak:So I grabbed this to check myself. The Bills offense in games where they have a success rate on the ground, so not just in yards, which are obviously game plans specific, of over 40%, they went 9-1 this year. Under 40%, they went 3-4. Yeah. If they can run the ball, you're going to lose. The Jags, fourth in a defensive DVOA against the run. top five or three in just about every meaningful metric. Second only to Seattle in yards after contact per carry. Yeah, that's the one that stood out to me. Excellent tackling team. The backers and the safeties watching them, to me, have just been phenomenal against the run this year.

46:11Foye, Devin Lloyd, Wilson, Johnson, probably not Wilson,

46:19Ben Solak:Wingard, I combined three names. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is like a true strength on strength matchup. So let's start there. Do you think the Bills are going to jump that 40 % threshold that I've arbitrarily set? So I think I lean no. I talked myself much closer. I talked myself closer to yes over the course of prep, right? Because I went in, Jags run defense, fifth best in terms of yards per carry, 10th best in terms of success rate against, right? And then I said, okay, what about Jumbo? Because the heavier personnel, the Bills are going to put the tight ends on the field. They're going to put Reggie Gilliam on the field.

46:54Fifth best success rate, only 3.4 yards per carry. Jags defense is great. You get a little deeper into the numbers. No team has seen fewer heavy personnel snaps runs than Jacksonville has this year. They've only seen 11 rushes per game this season with multiple tight ends on the field or with multiple backs on the field or the six offensive linemen on the field. It's the lowest by a couple of carries per game. This is a little bit just by virtue of who they've played, what the schedule has looked like, a little bit by virtue of teams testing their corner depth because they've had these injuries and they want to go a little bit lighter.

47:26Because when you look at how Jacksonville plays this, they tend to go to base. They try to get a seventh heavy body on the field. And it's not necessarily the scariest bodies along the defensive line, right? When you're making an 80 % of the snaps Devon Hamilton sort of a game. That feels like it should be an advantage for the offense. And so while the Jags' overall numbers are good, I would call their run defense against heavier teams, teams that are willing to put the extra bodies on the field, a little bit untested. You think about that Davis Mills Texans game, right? Where what was Houston doing in the four minute drive?

47:59They're running the ball. They're running the ball with multiple tight ends, even though they are down in that game, because they just think from a body count perspective, from a personnel perspective, we have an advantage here. And so I lean Jags have a good enough run defense to stop Buffalo. But I will say that the Bills can show them a style of running the ball. that the Jags haven't really seen a lot this season. And we might have some unanswered questions still about what Jacksonville does there.

48:21Ben Solak:Yeah, I asked, wrote down, how will the Jags match the Bills heavy groupings? And I put a question mark because I wasn't sure either. They match 12, pretty 50-50, a little bit more base. When they played two back sets, it's been more base, but it's not been a lot. But I think if you're Buffalo, I would love to see Reggie Gilliam on the field. Yep. And throw him a lot. I was texting you like crazy during that Eagles game because we did that whole prep, and I'm thinking to myself, obviously you're going to put Vic in heavy personnel sets, and they were 11 that whole game. I just didn't understand it.

48:57I really hope they press the Gilliam button in this one.

48:58Ben Solak:What I wouldn't want if I'm Buffalo is for them to just go five out, go 11, and the Jags will match that with Nickel. We know that they will. And think that you can run on him that way. I don't think that's a formula. You can't pass them on them that way either. I think you got to make this one weird from a personnel standpoint. I will be very interested in seeing how Anthony Campanile approaches coverage here because another thing teams have done against the Bills of Success is play man coverage. The Jags this year are a very heavy zone team. They play the eighth most zone in the NFL. But when they do play man, they're very good at it statistically.

49:38Ben Solak:realistically they have good corners uh jordan lewis is injured for the season yeah it's mon terrick brown greg news brown so new sim is the one i would attack yeah but eric brown man jerry and jones like they they're playing yeah they have the ability to go heavy in the nickel and get eric murray to be that that that third player or they can put monteric there and be a little bit smaller in the nickel which is very nice because sometimes buffalo will go multiple tight ends on you to spread you out to go for their tight end in the slot to go for Kinkade and go for Knox. They have good bodies for that because they have the three safeties they can play.

50:11Ben Solak:I'm also interested in seeing how he approaches pressure. This is a Jags defense that has not blitzed at a super high rate. They've been able to get pressure with four. Heinz Allen has been amazing. They also are really good at running simulated pressures and playing games to confuse quarterbacks. Josh Allen's gettable this year. That's one of the biggest changes, right? Yeah. Like him and Lamar, like he is pressured to Zach rate has fallen from like best in the NFL. And most of that is not about Alan himself. It's him holding on the football because nobody's open. So, but, but I was, but he's not killing the blitz the way he did before.

50:49Ben Solak:So I guess that would be my other question for you. Like, what would you do if you're Anthony Caponiglia in terms of like, how are you going to approach? We talked about coverage. How are you approaching pressure here? Well, that's him. We're sending him right. And one of the modes that they have which they haven't tapped into a lot because they haven't needed to but when you have like a dennis gardek player who's like their third edge that comes onto the field as like you know on ball sand but he can drop when you have a devin lloyd player who's always an off-ball linebacker but has always been a good blitzer and has been a good pressure player off the edge you have the ability on third down to get really aggressive with the front to show six guys to show four but actually send six and then okay i think for the jags all season it's been yeah but we don't want to be playing you know fire zones and hot zones like we you know like let's just keep our guys in coverage and pack it well against these bills you can just play man right you if you if you lose a playoff game to brandon cooks you lose a playoff game in brandon cooks in 2026 like what are we going to do and so i think you have the ability to come with a package that you've seen them do this right they they they're doing against the eagles and against jalen hurts a little bit they did against the packers in that game as well but in general you can pitch a little bit of a curveball something they haven't seen you can be willing to pressure the allen games where the Bills lose are games where you force a lot of third downs because you went on the early down runs, which we think the Jags can do.

52:02And then on third down, you show quick pressure to Josh, right? Even if you're not getting him down every single time and he's scrambling and he's getting some first downs on you, if you're able to move him off a spot quick, Josh gets a little bit harebrained, and that's where you get the negative plays out of him.

52:14Ben Solak:And, you know, doesn't have, like, who's their guy? You know, like, who do you fear truly who's going to, when you said pressure, is going to punish you for it? right i mean like third down back go ty johnson down the field he got the broncos in the wild card round last year back in the end zone fourth down baby like it's but it's all seriousness like it's it's ty johnson it's gabe davis which gave you his revenge game huge narrative no one's talking about this uh kinkade obviously being available is a big deal um and jacks i i did versus 12 personnel they have been weak versus the pass uh 21st in the ep ever play when they played nickel pardon me so i wouldn't be surprised if he's the focus of the bills game plan um i would line him up wide if i was and just basically treat him as my functional wide receiver one against this jags team um but yeah it's this is okay so my theory about this game this is why it's really hard to pick is i think for the the bills offense this is a very difficult and tricky matchup but I think for the Bills defense it's not easy by any means but as I said in the beginning every Bills game comes down to can you run the ball and stop the run and they're very fortunate that the Jags can't run full run the ball well but the Jags run the offense since like in terms of tailing offs and since the bye week since the week nine bye they only have two games to the positive EPA per carry they only have three games of the success rate over 40 percent two of those three games were against the Raiders doesn't count.

53:50And then against the chargers in that massive win where you're a, you're playing the chargers and B you're also nursing a 20 point lead the entire time. Uh, the Jags running game has, has really become unreliable over the last half of the season. Some of it has been offensive line injuries. I understand they've been missing interior guys. They're trying to get Patrick McCrory back. Like I, there's reasons for faith. You also are playing Buffalo, but I do not think this is a game where the Jags can write reliably chunk it on the ground. So then it becomes a drop back game. The solution for the Jaguars offense since the bye week has been shooting.

54:19Trevor Lawrence throwing 10 plus yards down the field, fourth highest rate, fourth highest EPA when he does it, 12 touchdowns, three interceptions. They've been firing. If there's one thing that over nine dramatic and beleaguered and difficult years of Sean McDermott and Buffalo, if there's one thing he has reliably delivered for you, it is that he will pack the intermediate zones and he will force you to check that ball down. And Trevor has had games where he's done it, right? That Colts game, I thought, was a tremendous, like, you know, they fell down early. They had the bad turnover. over like I was ready for Trevor to kind of tilt and he just kept on taking it just kept just every five to seven yards eight to ten yards balls out quick so Trevor has matured I think he can play a good game against that style of defense but there is a little voice in the back of Trevor's head and there has been since the Clemson days it's like hey hey hey hey you can

55:02Ben Solak:hit the throw you can hit it hit it now she have some similarities in their DNA um Josh has kind of had that beaten out of him but I on that along those lines we took focusing on the drop back game i wrote a parker washington yak god uh the new here some are saying it's actually not a bad comp he actually gets targets down the field i'm sure khalil watches on in great envy parker washington has to lead the league in yak over the likes over the last month or so or he probably is maybe behind jsn and puka he's got to be like top five no question Yeah, no, I think to your point, the Bills are, I can already tell you, Bobby Babbage and Sean McDonough, they are going to focus on putting a roof on this and stopping the pass.

55:46Ben Solak:They will be creative with their pressures, which they have been. I think they are also really creative with their run blitzes too. But they're going to say, run the ball, please. We love it. Run the ball. Fine. And so for Jacksonville, it becomes like, okay, are you willing to take what's given to you? Are you able to take advantage of some of the matchup advantages? I think they do have. The Bills' pass defense is much better than the Bills' run defense. but no Maxwell Harrison. So you're probably getting a full game of Tredavious White. So whoever, you know, with the Jags, it's kind of hard to project wide receiver corner matchups because they love moving their receivers around.

56:24Ben Solak:But if Christian Benford takes Brian Thomas Jr. for the most part, then you're looking at, you know, a combination of Jacoby and Parker and they mix up where they line up. But yeah, I think I don't hate that for Jacksonville. I don't hate, even though I think the Bills' pass defense is good. I really do. I think the run defense is very bad and the pass defense is good. I think this Jags passing attack has been good enough, has been creative enough to give them some trouble, even if Buffalo prioritizes what you're describing. Since week 10, Parker Washington, 11th among all players, 6th among just receivers in yak over expectation.

56:59He is 9th in yak per reception. He just doesn't have the volume like Puka does. He can't actually get up there. But still, the list is like Puka, Nico Collins, George Pickens, Jackson Smith and Jigba, James Williams, Parker Washington, which is very funny to be that sixth name in that group. The Maxwell Harrison injury to me is an enormous deal because the Bills have found a nice second mode in coverage where they're able to move away from zone coverage a little bit more this year than they have in years past, especially on third downs. And they can play a little bit more aggressively man coverage.

57:31It also, Harrison allows them to have a backside man coverage solution that can give them more numbers when you're playing like three by one and you're dealing with a lot of strong receivers. Something the Jags do really well is get three or four eligibles to one side, get Brian Thomas Jr. on the backside, and force you to solve that problem. You go and you're watching Denver, they got Patrick Sertan there, and then they can play six over four. If that's Christian Benford in this game, I don't love it as much as I would if it were Maxwell Harrison. So the Harrison injury is an enormous deal. You've got to be willing to get creative, but Liam Cohen right now, like Liam Cohen could draw a 13-yard gain out of a stone.

58:03You know what I'm saying? Like the way that they've figured out what works for Trevor, they've cut down on the screens, how to get ETN involved in the passing game, the return of Brenton Strange. Like they just have pitches on pitches on pitches right now in the passing game design-wise. You're going to give up completions. You're going to give up yards after the catch. This is a matter of surviving when you get down to the red area.

58:23Ben Solak:That was my other question for you with regards to Liam Cohen is whether or not we think he will try to run the ball against his team. I think you will see them cheese the running game around the margins, right? The Bills have a rookie defensive tackle, Deion Walker, out of Kentucky fourth-round pick, who's just been an absolute delight this season. They're playing much better in the interior. There's big, heavy-handed edges, Greg Rousseau, AJF Vanessa. There are a lot to deal with in the defensive trenches. Second level, you feel a lot better about it. and so to me like this is going to be a rpo game and you're going to see some of those screens that used to be going to travis hunter those jet touches used to be on travis hunter they go to jacoby myers now instead and parker washington and brian thomas jr instead you're going to see etn get quick throws out of the backfield you might see i think a little bit more return of the screen game and i think it's going to be a game where they don't hand the ball off often but they replace the running game with a lot of cheesy stuff at around the line of scrimmage those are good those are good though versus passes uh short passes to back screens things like that And you say to yourself, they're good against it, but we're doing this instead of a run, right?

59:28We're trying to pick up four or five yards here. We're happy with that. It's a first intense solution for us.

59:32Ben Solak:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, the other thing, I guess. If I'm Sean McDermott, I alluded to this when I talked about some of the creativity. They've really been doing a lot of stuff in terms of how they get to their pressure. This actually is a great pressure design game between these two coordinators. They are some of the more creative pressure designers in football and the Bills do a lot of stuff on the back end as well in terms of disguising their coverage. I'm just trying to get Trevor to make a mistake. With Josh, he doesn't make a mistake. So much as he just gets frustrated, holds onto the football.

1:00:12Ben Solak:And with Trevor, I'm trying to fool him and give him to give us one.

1:00:20Ben Solak:It's I wish Jacksonville, if I could count on them to just be like an average running team, I would be so comfortable in this game. The thing that pushed me over the edge. It's Cam Little versus the Bills kicker. Absolutely. I was already planning my Amina. We haven't discussed the biggest matchup yet. It's the biggest matchup with Wild Card Weekend. It is the biggest that you got on one hand, the greatest long distance weapon right now. Sorry, Brandon Aubrey, but there's a new sheriff in town. He banged a 67 yarder in week 18 outside. And then and then told everybody to stop celebrating so he could get off the very nerdy celebration he himself had planned.

1:01:05Very much channeling a 16 year old Ben Solak the first time he ever hit a three point shot.

1:01:09Ben Solak:it's unbelievable and then on the other side you have how old is matt prater man 42 you have 42 year old who that's a joke that's a guess is he 42 i don't know i thought it felt right okay wait let's see 41 dang it you have a 41 year old whose hammy got or quad got tight last week i just as many 41 year old quads got tight across the country last week these things matter in the playoffs nobody talks about special teams until it does i guess we could talk about that with the rams um if the rams game is close i wouldn't talk about it um that's i i'm very close in this game because i do think that the bills past defense has been good and but um i'm gonna go jacksonville here they're the better team yeah there's a better team like and ever like it's just yeah i promised myself that i would be comfortable fading the bills in the playoffs when it became clear that this team is really incomplete around Allen and that because of that Allen's kind of a little bit devolved into some of his old bad habits they get a Jags team that like oh it's the Jags like they're unreliable Trevor's actually been like pretty good in the postseason right it's just that they haven't made it as much as expected they've been kind of wonkier against bad teams in the regular season Trevor generally does rise to the occasion so I do I do like the Jags here I'm very pleased we both wanted to do a cam a little bit independent of one another here at at the end, but I also definitely think that like, you know, McDermott's willing to go for more fourth downs and willing to be more aggressive, but this is going to be a game where like situational play matters a ton and the bills, you know, they go for that two point conversion because they don't trust their extra point against the Eagles.

1:02:44And it's like, man, if you are that devolved in terms of your kicking game right now, that's going to matter. And once more games, what we anticipate in the post season. So I, I think the Jags win this game. There are a lot of worlds where Buffalo runs for 175 yards and sits on this thing, right? James Cook, that offensive line, that is, you talked about how you trust the Bears rushing attack more than anybody else in that game. Jags passing attack, I really trust. I definitely do, but that Bill's running game. Holy Moses, it's good. And so there are a lot of worlds where none of this matters because they sit on it.

1:03:12Ben Solak:Jags running defense is really good too. It is, but is it, have they seen something like this? Yeah. Have they seen it? They've been good, but the DVOA is high because I went and looked at like some of the backs, Kyron. Right, and they played the Colts twice. Colts. Yeah, but the two games of the Colts were the Daniel Jones gets hurt game and the Riley Leonard game. So they could index to the run. All right, let's take a quick break. Come back and talk about, let's do the, let's do a Niners Eagles next. Speaking of those Eagles. As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy.

1:03:45Ben Solak:But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery. They are there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. If you're looking to bring a little celebration to the everyday, Confetti Craze 5-Hour Energy tastes just like birthday cake.

1:04:14Ben Solak:Think rich vanilla, buttery funfetti flavor, basically a party in a bottle. And here's what makes it even better. It's all the delicious cake flavor you're craving with none of the sugar to worry about. And the small, portable bottles let you bring your favorite flavor with you to kegify your day with a tasty caffeine boost wherever you are. With Confetti Craze, you get to enjoy your cake. No fork required. The Confetti flavor is back on 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. Crack open Confetti Craze 5-Hour Energy shot today. Quick time out. Some breakfast intel you want to know about. Kodiak frozen power waffles and flapjacks are built for busy mornings.

1:04:49Heat it, eat it, and you're out the door. No long prep, no complicated game plan. They're packed with 12 to 14 grams of protein per serving, a good source of fiber, and crafted with 100 % whole grains, not refined white flour. So you're getting something that actually fuels you. And there's depth on the roster. Buttermilk and vanilla, blueberry, chocolate chip, even gluten-free options. Breakfast that delivers, snack that delivers. Find Kodiak frozen waffles and flapjacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box.

1:05:24Ben Solak:All right, we're back. Do you want to talk about the strength on strength matchup here or the weakness question mark on weakness question mark matchup? We can start with strength on strength. I think that's a lot more fun. I think that Shanahan versus Vic is a good time. Everybody's looking forward to it. It's great. Okay, it's an awesome matchup, right? So the question I found myself asking after week 18 is whether or not the Eagles, who share some similarities to Seattle's defense, can reproduce that. I think there are some differences that make it a little hard, as much as I like this Eagles defense, but I want to get your thoughts on that comp and whether or not, because obviously the Niners' offense got completely stomped by Seattle.

1:06:15can Philadelphia come close to that I don't think so I think that they can do 80 percent of a facsimile of a of a you know what that looks like but there's too many glaring weaknesses in Philadelphia's defense relative to Seattle which is just so smooth across the board right like yeah Adorey Jackson's numbers the back half of the season much better than in the first half of the season he absolutely has elevated his caliber of play he's still the guy you throw at and he still is the guy that you can be successful throwing on him though.

1:06:44Ben Solak:Who's on him? If you're San Francisco, I like, I, I almost don't not, and I don't care. That's a little bit too much, but San Francisco is one of these offenses who just like, they'll have a six catch 116 yard Juwan Jennings games out of nowhere. And then the next week he has one target, right? Like, because so much of it is scheme, they can be a little bit modular at receiver where it's like, all right, Kendrick Bourne's going off now. This is what we do. You know? I think that's right. I think that's fair. Yeah. So, so, so I think that like you still go after a Dory Jackson, linebacker play right nicobe dean expected back for this game nicobe's a good player everybody likes a nicobe dean blitzing player tackling between the tackles nicobe is not the fastest dude he's not the best tackler and like we've just he's a little bit stubby right so it's hard for him to like tackle at range we have seen shanahan just for seven years take advantage of these players in space and especially since christian mcafree okay like nicobe's gonna have him in tight coverage but mcafree's going to break tackles there right like they're the thing about seattle is that it's really hard to figure out what to do because they're they're they're not really gettable anywhere.

1:07:41Philadelphia, like it's obvious how they lose when they lose, you know, this rushing attack of Trump. They're light edges.

1:07:47Ben Solak:Yeah. William speaking back is a big deal. It's still not a good run game. Like it's been, it got better. Yeah. So, so with Philadelphia, you know, they're much better past defense and run defense. They're not a bad run defense, but there's, you know, the numbers drop off. Some of that is by a lot of that is by design to play with the light boxes. success rate is always going to be worse. It starts up front for them more so than at the second and third level. They're 26 in adjusted line yards, 27 in stuff rate. But this Niners run game has not been good all season long. And Williams is back, sure, and he's a massive – before the Seattle game, I made the point that I thought he was more important to the run game than the pass game.

1:08:34Ben Solak:um you know they've done a good job of um creating favorable angles for mccaffrey with kittle uh or no my kill a use check uh but i think philadelphia is pretty good against that so okay then let's shift the focus a little bit to the passing tag you talk about mccaffrey as a weapon getting him in space if you're a vic fangio you play any bass here i like i versus their 21 personnel? I've said it. I've asked for it. It's very rare to see it. I think it is a good idea. I think it gets Jahad Campbell on the field, which is something you really want to do. You want to find ways to... And you kick Cooper DeGene outside, to be clear.

1:09:17Yeah, and you get a Dory off the field. I think it's directionally great. I do think that the moment you see base, Shanahan's going to take that 21 personnel and go empty with it and then go to huddle with it and then going to get you in a spot where you don't get to get your ideal personnel on the field, get to play Cooper in the nickel. And that thing is Cooper is just so unbelievably valuable as a tackler from the slot, such that if I wanted to go base, I would be terrified of getting no huddle out of it. And you see across the NFL, teams will get into these no huddle drives, these no huddle modes, when they feel like they've got you in a bad personnel grouping.

1:09:52And I would imagine the Niners feel that way about the Eagles-based defense. And so I think it's got some viability to it, but I would be scared in this particular matchup because the Niners can go four wide, five wide out of their 21 personnel. is the unique thing they've always been able to do did i did i skip over too fast on the idea that

1:10:08Ben Solak:the niners are going to run the ball in philadelphia you know do you think i look because you know the numbers i know you i said they're 23rd i mean they're bottom of the league in a few metrics not bottom of the league but like bottom 10 against the run one thing that i think is notable just it was kind of breaking it down a little bit they're much better on runs outside the tackles than between the tackles when you get the backers going side to side they're very fast they're very good zach bond can set a hard edge for you um but again i just don't i just haven't seen anything from this niners offense over the course of the season that makes me think they could take advantage of that was i being too pat though that by saying that no i think that you if you look at last eight weeks the eagles run defense has improved when the jaylen carter on off splits are significant and like carter's going to be there in this game nolan smith also like you know again i i have my questions about nolan in this game specifically because of the size but nolan is an impactful run defender he's back now and so i do think the eagles run defense is good enough and the niners rushing attack even when successful is more so a grindy attack than it is explosive mcafree's not really a third year player right now at this age in his career such that yeah i think the eagles are generally gonna have success against the running game there'll be a couple of drives there'll be a couple of 10-yard runs like the niners will keep them honest on it but it's not going to be a game where where the niners could so like i could see the bills being so dominant against the Jaguars running the ball, the control clock, Niners against the Eagles, I don't think they could get there because I don't trust the running game enough.

1:11:31What I will say is that in the games in which McCaffrey doesn't get used heavily as a runner, they use him more heavily as a receiver. And I do think the Eagles are well-equipped to deal with that because the Eagles have so many solutions coverage-wise to steal numbers on the back end. They have Quinny Mitchell who can play in isolation and they're really good tackling, right? And so I am really interested to see if, if, if I don't want to say if McCaffrey gets neutralized, that's a preposterous thing to say out loud. It cannot happen. But if McCaffrey is minimized, who becomes your lion's share player in San Francisco?

1:12:05This very much feels like a game where Brock's going to have to be willing to spread and shred, right? It's going to be a game where he's going to have to have time to process. And now it becomes a Trent Williams question. Because, okay, if it's going to be a spread and shred game, it's going to be a time in the pocket game. We're going to find our matchups to create space. Okay. Are you in the pocket for 2.75, three seconds? and is that Trent Williams or Aubrey Pleasant there on the left tackle spot?

1:12:25Ben Solak:Yeah, the challenge of picking on Adorey Jackson is because Quinnian, you can count on him. And so, you know, especially like the, look, I really like Pearsall. I think he's a really good player, but I'm still taking Quinnian there, right? If that ends up being a match. Oh, yeah. I'm taking Quinnian against, you know, Jerry Wright. First team also for me. Yeah, right. But because he's so good, it is a really, the Eagles is a really good case study in how having a shutdown corner allows you to, compensate for so many other things, namely Adore Jackson. They're going to have help on them. I think if you're Kyle, it's kind of like, all right.

1:13:02Ben Solak:So if you can't really pick on the linebackers in coverage and you can pick on one corner, but he's protected because he's zoned off, how do you do that? What is your approach towards creating? It's the one real mismatch you have in this game, I think. I think with the Eagles defense, I started off by this conversation by saying what's the difference between the Eagles and the Seahawks defense. The difference is the Seahawks defense is elite against the Eagles or not. I just don't think San Francisco is primed to exploit that as we've been talking about. So the biggest matchup advantage you have is this one player.

1:13:40Ben Solak:How do you take advantage of that? Yeah, well, because I think you're going to zone to that side and you're trying to leave Quinnian more in isolation. because I have, at the very least, a deep room of receivers, right? Maybe Juwan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Ricky Fierce, Alder Marcus Robinson isn't a great group, but I'm willing to trust all those guys and all the routes. All right, I'm going to unbalance the formation, right? I'm going to get to my three-by-ones and my four-by-ones. I'm going to put McCaffrey weak. And if you want to be able to play, oh, man, coverage of Quinn on the backside.

1:14:06All right, what? You stick in the weak side backer on McCaffrey in space, right? Because I'll just pepper the weak side option, pepper the weak side option all day. But I get my three receiver strong, and all right, you're trying to protect a door by zoning him off. The other safety to that side is Marcus Epps because Andrew Makuba's out, right? So now I've got a backup safety there too. I'm going to be able to hit some big plays. I'm going to throw the ball down the field. I'm going to test those guys' ability at the catch point. Those guys' ability to make tackles there down the field. I do think that the Eagles structurally are very sound in coverage and they present a lot of challenges to the average NFL passing game accordingly.

1:14:40Kyle is a different cat in terms of like, you know, you can only do so much from a, we are dropping seven, we are matching routes, who are reading the distributions. All of a sudden, it's, you know, like I said, it's McCaffrey week. It's Kittle on vertical routes, like tight of the guy from the Y can run 15 yards down the field. And all of their receivers, there's no like, oh, here's Jamison Williams, the speed guy. Here's a Monroe St. Brown, the slot guy. We know what we're getting. All of their receivers do everything. So it's quite hard to survive in zone coverage and match coverage for three seconds, 3.5 seconds against this Niner team.

1:15:09And Brock can buy that time. And if they have Trent, they should be able to pass decently well off the edge.

1:15:14Ben Solak:I think that you hit on the other thing that's really important is Brock's ability to buy time. I mean, this to me is like prime game of like, this is why Brock birdie matters in this offense, because this is not a game that Mac Jones could win. I feel comfortable saying, no, just like, right. This is, this is the game where you get like the trademark Brock difference, like his ability. I also think he can scramble, by the way. The Eagles have given the most first downs up to quarterbacks on the ground in the NFL. And it's better. You talked about the match coverage. There's going to be opportunities for Brock.

1:15:41Ben Solak:If he extends to scramble with his feet. He looks so much better on the top. Like I think about that Panthers game versus what he was in the last couple weeks. He's moving better. He's driving better. Brock has to throw outside the numbers downfield. Brock has to throw downfield. Generally, this is not a defense you dink and dunk against all of the things that Niners fans are like, you never, I talk about all the time, whatever that like, we won't talk good product. This is it. Like, this is, this is it. Um, all right. On the other side of the ball, uh, a little less excitement in the voice for the other side of the ball.

1:16:14Ben Solak:It's a bad offense against a bad defense. Sorry. It just is. I think both fan bases would agree with that, though. I don't know. I'm apologizing, too. Big return. Lane Johnson, back at practice. Massive. On NFL Live, this game came up, and I asked everyone to try to name the Niners Mike Linebacker on air. Yeah. And unfortunately, Dan Rolowski had just called Colts Niners, so he knew that eric kendrick into the practice squad but so it's ruined the bet but whatever the point remains the niners have literally run out of linebackers uh so i guess they added a street free agent kaiser white who hasn't played with anybody this season they added him to the practice squad and like every insider had the tweet that was like 49ers banged up by injury linebacker i've added kaiser white and i was like is it week five like this is not a this is not a January behavior?

1:17:08We're just picking up street free agents to play backer?

1:17:10Ben Solak:Alright, so here's my question for you and I think this is decisive and very important. Can this Eagles offense take advantage of the fact that the Niners are down to their ninth straight linebackers? Like, no, I don't think so. I'll put it to you this way. I don't think that like, oh, Kevin Petulo, press your the linebacker room is bad game plan button. They just have not shown the ability to game plan well against specific defenses and what they do poorly over the course of the season. Right. So if I could point to a couple of games where it's OK, you know, they're facing the Cowboys and the Cowboys are really bad.

1:17:49You know, and these cornerbacks in isolation, like that's what they did with A.J. Brown. Then I feel better about it. But just there have not been many, if any, moments this season where you've said, wow, that's exactly how the Eagles offense should have been built to go against, you know, this particular defense. I do think that their default mode of offense which is where is AJ Brown is he very large is he down the field is he on the sideline throw him the ball like I think that works well against Jamador Lenore and Renardo Green who are both pound for pound depressive outside corners but are not the biggest dudes I am worried about the running game because this 49ers run defense man I mean like let's okay it's so bad it is but they fly down they penetrate they tackle and And like the Eagles have no creativity in terms of how they run the football.

1:18:39And so you're going to know what you're going to get. You're going to be able to play fast to it. And Malik Mustafa is going to hit. Malik Mustafa is going to bounce off Saquon Barkley a couple of times, but they're still going to be able to hit and get TFLs against Philadelphia. Like my faith in the Eagles ability to surprise Robert Sala is very, very low. And so I do think Sala is going to be able to find the X's and O's solutions that he's been able to find all season to account for the fact that his talent is deficient.

1:19:02Ben Solak:Wait, did you say that he has been able to find all season or hasn't had that he has been able to he's the worst run defense in football ben what are you like what are we doing here they got one stop on like against the bears yes they get they get penetration right they're able to get disruption they do die anytime a run gets past the first level and that is very concerning but like the eagles running attack has not been consistent over the course of the year i mean yeah i just you know they're not here um i'd love to see jalen hurts be a part of the run game between the tackles here so been banging that drum for for months now yeah but i really think that because i think i think if they try to run zone read on them they'll be prepared for that um and he's just not good at it anymore um love to see jaylen scrambling out of empty against this these jaylen hurts against these linebackers is an explosive play i do like empty in this game quite a bit because i think that you're structurally you're going to be able to spread the niners out a lot they're not going to be able to like put dime on the field all of a sudden, especially with the linebacker room being where it is.

1:20:01So then you can get linebackers and coverage a lot of space around them and also simplifies the look for Jalen. So this does feel like an empty game to me.

1:20:11Ben Solak:RPOs, my kingdom for an RPO heavy game plan against this team. But I do think you're onto something when you talk about sort of the passing game, because as bad as the Niners run defenses, they can't rush the passer either. And I mean, there's just so many mismatches to be found. I like you know I like both these receivers against both these corners but um if you're a little bit less comfortable throwing at Lenore which you should be because he's their best corner anyone on this team against Renardo Green I feel good about like Devante great give you a give me a 150 yard Devante Smith game fine I don't even think the Eagles really need to from a passing perspective i would i actually would rather see some more creativity and i know we're asking at this point in season and the run game or some difference than in the passing game because i just think they're bread and butter in the passing game is yeah their default passing game is nice right in terms of the jump ball in terms of contested cash in terms of the vertical stuff and also i do think you want to be able to score on big plays and score outside of the 20s eagles are the best you know touchdown scoring team and they get to goal to go but the niners defense that like statistically actually like they're a top eight defense in terms of goal line efficiency, right?

1:21:21Because they just play one for a gap. They're extremely very physical. They play very, very fast. And so I do think you want to be able to score from distance and score from the big play. This does feel like a more pass on first and 10 sort of a game plan, a little bit more of a shot play game plan because you want to be able to get your big chunks in isolation with your receivers against these corners. I'd like, you know, Eagles, Eagles have the first half lead. They walk into the halftime locker room up, you know, 14 to three up 21 to 10. how confident are you having just recently watched that bills game that they can sit on the ball and manage the lead for the second half and they can minimize the number of downs the number of drives that this 49ers offense gets to account for that deficit that's the thing with me about the running game where it's like okay like on paper should they win yes are they really good like when the niners know it's run are they going to be able to get blocks and get stops this the way this line is played like i i'm i'm very dubious and so i'm i am worried about a game that plays out quite similar to the Buffalo game where the Eagles feel like they should be able to shut the door, shut the door, shut the door.

1:22:18They don't. And then all of a sudden they're putting to Brock down six with two and a half minutes left. And it's like, man, I don't know if they're gonna be able to get this last stop.

1:22:29Can you hear my daughter at the door?

1:22:30Ben Solak:I can. I just think we're going to be able to, I don't know, man. Like the, the rush lanes against Seattle were so big. I could have driven like a Humvee through them. Like I, I just, this front defense is so bad. maybe I just clip this off. I had a big rock and then they show up and I know that the Eagles running game has been bad. And I certainly don't have conviction in them being good throughout the playoffs, but like Lane Johnson back that bad of a game. Seahawks scored 13 points. Yeah. Well, that's not because, okay. Who do you have more faith in right now? Sam or Jalen?

1:23:03That's what I'm saying.

1:23:06Ben Solak:Um, what was I going to say? I, I do like the idea of spread to run here too, though. One more thought on the offense. I think you and I both agree about the passing attack and some advantages there. But I think with the Eagles run game is just so disgusting when they get congested and put the tight ends on the field. And I think if they're able to spread to run with Hurts adding to the numbers, I just don't see San Francisco stopping them on the ground. So I'm picking the Eagles here if it's not obvious. I think the other side of the ball is very fun and a bit of a wash. and I think on this side of the ball, it's just as bad as the Eagles offense has been, and I understand that they've been bad, I do think that they'll be able to move the ball.

1:23:46Ben Solak:Yeah. We haven't seen Kyle coach against Vic since 2018. Two games in 2017 and 2018, Niners against Bears. Niners scored nine and 15 points in those two games respectively, right? And then it's been seven years. Think about how much these offenses and defense have changed since either coach or coordinator has been Kyle against Vic. I walked into the week thinking Niners are going to win this game. I've become less confident the more prep that I've done. You thought the Niners would win? Really? Yeah. I'm 40-60 probably at this point. I still lean 49ers. I think the defensive improvement for the Eagles is there, but I still give a clear edge to the Niners on that side of the ball offensively.

1:24:27And then on paper, Eagles offense should have a day against the 49ers defense. I have seen the Eagles offense play one half of a football game far too often this season to have full faith in it. And so I was I'm much closer to 50 50 than I thought I would be. But I'm 49ers picking for this one.

1:24:44Ben Solak:Nice. I like that we're on opposite sides of a lot of these. You always say that when you think I make an insane pick. Oh, I like run opposite sides. We'll see. All right. A game that this to me was the hardest one. I've had the hardest time. Chargers Patriots sucks. It's impossible to figure out. Bills Jags is the smallest line. That's interesting. Bears. This is great. It's great games this weekend. But personally, I struggled with this because I think the Patriots are a better team. I think their quarterback is playing at an MVP level. I will be expanding upon those thoughts, of course. I also think the Chargers are weirdly a bad matchup for them, especially after doing the work on this game.

1:25:25Ben Solak:I was like, oh, I don't like a lot of this for New England. Let's start with the Chargers offense against the Patriots defense. So the reason why I think that the Chargers are a bad matchup for them is the Chargers biggest weakness is the offensive line, which stinks and obviously has been dramatically injured. And Salyer, let's see, what's his status? I've been dipping in on that one. Oh, yeah, they haven't practiced yet. That in and of itself is a question. Like it's in sentence like. It's so funny that it's like, oh, thank God, Jamari Salyer might be back. I mean, it's just been, you know, a revolving door of players.

1:26:03Ben Solak:Um, but the Patriots pass rush is also not great. They do have guys coming back. Milton Williams returned to the lineup. He to me is a massive player in this one. Um, look good, you know, in week 18, he came back. So he's, I like that he had a game. This isn't just like his first game back. Landry's I think going to play. Um, the, the, the thing though, I think that gives me like a lot of concern here is, I I mean, the Patriots run defense has just been horrendous since the halfway point of the season. And there's nothing Greg Roman would love more than to just play a disgusting game, grind them down.

1:26:46Ben Solak:The Chargers, by the way, second in the league in time possession margin this year. Just really explain. Jesse mentor defense plus Greg Roman offense, baby. The Venn diagram right there is we get the football and you don't. The Chargers run game isn't amazing by any means, but I do think Amari and Hampton has looked good since coming back. And I just don't, I don't know. Like I will say this, the Patriots run defense did look a little bit better, but granted it was against like the Dolphins back. I don't think H.A. did play. Yeah. Okay. So I guess I should give some numbers on that. Since week 10, the Patriots have been very good against the pass.

1:27:24Ben Solak:And I like their corners against the Chargers pass catchers. But they are 32nd in success rate against the run, 26 in the APA per play, terrible in yards before contact. This is the line of scrimmage on power runs, power success. FTN has a stat, which is basically, are you converting on third or fourth and short? They are dead last in the NFL, allowing the most conversions. They are playing a patient pay play caller and head coach who would love nothing more than to just muck this up. Tell me why I'm wrong. Tell me why the Patriots run defense can get it done here. I am. I'm with you, right? I think that you like you have to have to have to protect your offensive line from a lot of dropbacks, right?

1:28:09The you brought up the Milton Williams return next gen stats had a cool note in their packet with both Mill and Christian Barmore on the field this season. Barmore, by the way, is like third among all defensive tackles and pressure rate. Unbelievable comeback season, given the fact that he missed all 2024 with both of them on the field. 42 % pressure rate, 10 % sack rate. They are 31 % and 1 % with not both of them on the field, right? That interior pressure and the ability to separate from the guard and get the guy down is bringing you back. But it's especially critical against Justin Herbert because Herbert, big, long body, explosive guy.

1:28:42Herbert, not twitchy. Herbert don't want to go out the back door, spin out there, avoid an edge and run around. Herbert likes to climb up and through the pocket. So the fact that you have that presence on the guards in Milton Williams and in Barmore is quite valuable. How do I solve that as an offensive play caller? I move those guys off the line. I'm going to tire their legs out. I'm going to make them get off the field. I'm going to make them go get a breather, get some Gatorade by running the football at them. You brought up the difficulty getting penetration, getting stops at the line of scrimmage from the rushing attack.

1:29:10Omari in Hampton this year, it is 52.4 % of his carries in which he's been contacted behind the line of scrimmage. Third highest in the NFL. You saw that for the Texans. The Texans' run defense plan was very similar. We're shooting, right? We're going to be able to penetrate. We're going to be able to hit you by a line of scrimmage and then somebody else will clean it up. Hampton does a great job breaking these tackles, but if you can get him clean into the first level, that's where I actually get production. And so to me, it's a very heavy inside game, grind between the tackles, get your double teams.

1:29:38Absolutely, it's a Tucker Fisk game. Let's do it, baby. And really try to get vertical movement on those defensive tackles to slow down their penetration ability to actually give Herbert time when you need to drop back. Do you think they're capable of that? I think that's what they need to try. I think they can get, I think they can get decent production, right? I think that when Makai Beckton is at his best, like that's what they're getting out of him. I don't trust anything with involving the Chargers offensive line in terms of 60 minutes down to down, we're going to be able to do X. No, you're going to be able to occasionally do it.

1:30:11Then you're also going to have massive busts because that's just the offensive line right now.

1:30:15Ben Solak:Uh, Herbert as a scrambler, I would, I, you talked about, it's funny because Herbert and may kind of similar in some ways and when they run. Um, but I, I feel a formula where the Chargers offense has that time position advantage, as I talk about, and keeps Drake May off the field is I think one where Herbert's converting a lot on third down. I took this up because I was like, this feels... The New England Patriots, when quarterbacks run on third down, have allowed a conversion rate of 87%, which doesn't feel real. Yeah, could be better. But look, I'm not betting... I want to be clear. I'm not saying that the charge offenses like the offensive line is so bad.

1:30:57Ben Solak:And I do really think the return of Williams and Mombardo are playing next to each other is a really, really big deal. We do not know if Kairos Tonga goes in this game yet or not. He was absent from Wednesday practice with the foot. Kairos Tonga is their run defending nose tackle. He's real stinking good at it too. Without him, you have to play more of a penetration style game playing. Cause he's really more of your, your space eating reset the line of scrimmage guy. And so that's why I kind of jumped that in my explanation. You really want to be able to run the ball in the interior if there's no Tonga, because then you punish Milton and Barmore for being undersized.

1:31:30Ben Solak:I said I like the Patriots in the past game. Is there anything in the past game that you feel like LA can do or that they have an advantage anywhere against these Patriots DBs? Yeah, you're exactly right. We love the corners. Gonzalez numbers, amazing this year. Carlton Davis on the outside, numbers are amazing this year. Marcus Jones on the slot, numbers are fine this year. They're good. Marcus Jones got the extension, deservedly so. He's a good slot corner, he's a great returner. Herbert does throw the slot a lot, whether it's Ladd McConkie or Keenan Allen. If you're going to get man across the board, I think you're going to see them target Marcus Jones.

1:32:02That's going to be the player that they circle, and rightfully so. It's where they're stronger in the passing game so the Patriots are weaker. And then you have the linebackers over the middle. We had that four-week Aranda Gadsden moment that was like, holy God, the Chargers passing game is now found. And then he just vanished off the face of the earth. After he got a little bit banged up, they got um i forget they had one receiver who missed time that kind of led to him playing a little bit more but they got healthier receiver and then he's vanished you'd like to be able to get a little bit more middle of the field action there as well there's gettable spots on the patriots past defense it's the fact they have such a good rush there's such good outside corners that gets most teams they don't have well they don't have such a good rush that have a good enough rush and they will against the chargers to you know against this offensive line so yeah you got

1:32:42Ben Solak:to be able to throw middle of the field yeah first down feels just essential i feel like and then that side of the ball. The other side is the strength on strength matchup. It's a good one. I'm actually very excited to watch Drake May versus this Jesse Minter defense. I think it's a great challenge for him. But I'm actually going to move off of May for a second. I think what I want to see in this is if New England, I guess I just said this about the other side of the ball too, but I feel the same way here. I want to see if this New England rushing attack can kind of continue building on what we've seen over the last few weeks.

1:33:21Ben Solak:Because that's where the Chargers are getable. Chargers defense, and some of that, similar to Philadelphia, is by design for sure. Light boxes, light bodies, all of that. Offenses have been able to run on them.

1:33:38Ben Solak:Cody, what's his last name? Alexander did a great piece on Jesse Minter's defense where he talked about how they see almost the highest rate of gap scheme runs in the NFL. because of the structure of the defense. And that was something I had in mind watching the Patriots over the last few weeks. I was watching their runs against Miami this morning, and it was a mixture of things. They tried a lot of duo. But the Stevenson touchdown, which was a power run where they put six offensive linemen on the field, I was watching that and I was thinking, I'm running that back against Chargers because I really feel if they can continue to run the football, the way that they did.

1:34:19Ben Solak:I haven't pulled the splits, but it feels like over the last few games or so, that's how you have success against it. And then you can, you know, I don't, I'm not saying the Drake, the passing game doesn't matter. And there's certainly things that would attack there, but I do think the run game is where this starts for new England with Travian Henderson, Romano Stevenson. Yeah. And it's where Henderson's been at his best has been on the design track, right? There's a runs that have one lane, just hit this lane, hit it very fast. Young man, you bring up the jumbo. They, they discovered jumbo halfway through the year, which is very funny.

1:34:45Cause like, it was a big thing. like you know week seven week eight and they were the pages weren't really running it and then all of a sudden they started to get viderian low a little bit more activated and um you're mumford uh yeah they're mumford thank you it is and so uh next gen stats had it 75 of their last of their 80 jumbo snaps have come between week 11 and week 18 really yeah this has been something that's been a second half of the season move for them okay and it is a really like talked about the rams 13 personnel and kind of getting wrinkles coming into january this is one such instance where they have a mode now with a stevenson henderson both healthy and they know how they want to use them and now they have this jumbo set they're previously doing like a lot more like fullbacky stuff they're trying to move away from that this is how they want to run the football and i think that they have a a very good opportunity to do so against the chargers chargers a are very light and b you you might be giving up five yards a pop 5.5 yards a pop you can't walk in a halftime locker room and go okay we're gonna you know let's get a little heavier personnel wise let's you know we're going to start run blitzing because then it's, it's may in the drop back game with all of these receivers.

1:35:44They have such a depth of players to throw the football to going up against a secondary that does pack it very well. But like we saw against the Texans, you can go deeper than deep on them and may does that so well.

1:35:53Ben Solak:Jesse Minder is not going to want to blitz Drake may not be right. He's, he's not, yeah, he wants to put a lot of bodies and coverage, confuse him on the back end, but none of that can happen if he can't stop the run. I feel like I probably hit this a lot today, but some of these really good defenses, I would say actually the Chargers are more similar to the Eagles than the Seahawks are similar to either of them in that way. But yeah, and look, I think there's things that you can attack. The Chargers are 25th in DVOA versus tight ends. I could see this being a big Hunter Henry game for sure. Drake May, quarters over the top.

1:36:37Ben Solak:Let's do it, baby. You're going to get your Kyle Williams. Yes. I mean, I'm joking, but there's going to be explosive opportunities over the shell, I think. But yeah, I do think this starts on the ground for New England, and it really comes down to, like, is your run game what we've seen in recent weeks? Because this was not a good running team for the bulk of the season. This was a big part of my MVP case for Drake Bay. Like, they're going to run the damn ball. Right. But glimpses. Glimpses are good. Glimpses could be happening at the right time. Yeah. And I like, I don't know. I, I promised myself all regular season that I would get to the post season and I would have an honest conversation with myself and say, the Patriots strength of schedule objectively sucks.

1:37:16They have not played a lot of good teams. It's going to be hosting a postseason game. It's going to be a young team. A lot of these guys not played in the postseason. Like I know Vrabel obviously has this, like, uh, I don't want to say myth because it's got some accuracy, but it's this reputation of like being this like, you know, clutch postseason guy. And then there was some truth that early in Tennessee and then they started losing some games, but still like, the Patriots are going to be a very gettable wildcard team. They are just because they have not faced a lot of postseason opponents. With that said, they're really good.

1:37:43Like they play great ball. I promised myself I'd be serious about it. And then I'm sitting here still thinking to myself like, man, I feel like they're a better team pole to pole than the Chargers are. The Chargers, man, like if we had one insane Justin Herbert playoff performance in which he just showed, like and he has a bunch of game winning drives. He's done this in the regular season. If we had one postseason game to point to, to say, this was the time the Chargers were outgunned and Herbert just yanked them through the game on the back of how spectacular he is. I think it'd be a lot easier for me to say, you know, Chargers can get the upset here.

1:38:13Like Herbert can just be so good against the defense that like, yes, the pass defense is great, but there are gettable spots. There are matchups to attack. I would feel better about it. We haven't gotten that game, obviously, and I would love to see that for Herbert. I lean Patriots in this one. This game, more than any other game on the docket, has two elite quarterbacks. Two quarterbacks playing an extremely elite ball. And in that matchup, you pick one team, but you leave the door wide open for the second quarterback, the other quarterback, to just make you look like an idiot. And Herbert's certainly capable of that.

1:38:44So lean Patriots, but this one is the hardest one to pick for me.

1:38:50Ben Solak:I'm going to go Pats here. The Milton Williams availability. Thinking about him against that horrendous offensive line that gives up so much A-gap pressure. Yeah. if he wasn't in this game i would not pick the patriots to be clicker they're getting like you know they're hoping to get wilson back i know he was non-contact on wednesday but he still has a shot to come out of the the concussion protocol like they're hoping to get landry back they're they're they're they're healthy enough i think right there was a concern i think in december that they're going to be totally banged up and they're getting back yeah right who he hasn't played like six weeks at this point yeah best run defending linebacker on the roster that's a big big freaking deal.

1:39:27Ben Solak:All right. I also like Josh McDaniels more than Greg Roman from a game plan perspective here. I think we're going to. I like, you know, you and me and action stats from a game planning perspective better than I think I like Greg Roman in a playoff environment. Yeah, Josh's got the edge. Chargers fans are so funny right now with the Ravens firing. Bring him home. Yeah.

1:39:48Ben Solak:I think I want to run back the tape because I think on like my preseason pod, I was like, they're going to be Chargers fans are going to be calling for it by like, yeah. Do you know what the scariest sound to hear on the factory floor is? Silence. That means something somewhere broke. Production has stopped and now you're paying workers to wait while the team troubleshoots and fixes the problem. Finally, there's a proactive way to reduce equipment downtime thanks to MaintainX. MaintainX is the AI-powered maintenance and asset management system that brings your unplanned maintenance downtime to zero.

1:40:19MaintainX lets you build preventative maintenance schedules, manage work orders in real time, and access the data you need to make better decisions. Try MaintainX for free. Control the daily operations of your business and transform your maintenance program. Go to maintainx.com slash sports. That's maintain and the letter x dot com slash sports. If you're a contractor, you know how important data is to your business. And the data is clear. Service-tightened customers increase their revenue by an average of 15 % every single year. That doesn't happen by accident. From call booking to dispatch to marketing, payroll, project tracking, and more, Service Titan takes every single play you run to the next level.

1:40:59If you want to scale efficiently, there's only one answer. Visit servicetitan.com to learn more. That's servicetitan.com. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talked to my doctor about self-injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo pre-filled syringe, which contains F-Gartigamide Alpha and Hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment, my way. Visit VivgardMyWay.com. That's V-Y-V-G-A-R-T MyWay.com. And talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hytrulo. Brought to you by Argenics. All right.

1:41:41Ben Solak:Steelers, Texans. We're here. We're fired up. We're ready to go. Let's start with the Steelers offense against the Texas defense. My question for you is this. We know, like you and I have been like, what are they going to make some of the game plan or whatever? I think we kind of just know who these units are at this point. We know what the Steelers want to do. We know the ball is coming out quick. We know they want to run the ball. They want eight yards after the catch. We know Aaron Waters wants to go ball to DK Metcalf. Will that work against this Texas defense? That if you throw the ball quick and defense offenses do, is one of the best, if not the best tackling defenses in football.

1:42:15Ben Solak:They are first league wide versus short passes in success rate and yards per attempt. They allow first downs less than 25 % of the time when teams throw it under 10 yards to put that in context, which is extremely good. Can it work? Or do they have to pull something out of their hat and change up their identity? It can work. You get two mistakes over the course of 75 plays, right? It really is that, right it is margins are yeah your approach on offense has been hey if kenny gainwell makes an unbelievable catch falling over 40 yards down the field we score we score touchdowns and we win games if you know cheeto woozy eight trips on on a slippery part of the field we get a calvin austin touchdown and we win games like you have been a very thin margin passing game and now you are going against the texans defense that like the texans give up a decently high explosive pass rate right like the texans are like hey if you you know if you get derrick stingley to bite on the double move like it's just stingly you know we're leaving him on an island you can go and score seven off that play but maybe on the plays you don't get explosives on the ones where we don't make mistakes we are punishingly good right there is no incrementing down the field on us because eventually we're getting a sack eventually we're getting a pressure drawing a holding we're getting a pass breakup like it is you you have to be able to be explosive and you know there's there's seven plays a game where rogers lines up for it where he says all right like you know i'm I'm actually throwing the vertical here, right?

1:43:41Like we're going to take the seam ball down the middle and you got to be able to hit them every single one. That's just a real thin way to live.

1:43:46Ben Solak:I looked this up after the Ravens game because Rodgers hit two beautiful seam balls against the Baltimore Ravens. Like two of his best throws of the entire one was to Thielen. There was to Fryer. He exists. Before that week, Rodgers had averaged under two and a half attempts over the middle of the field over 10 yards between the numbers. yeah so the biggest part of the football field between the numbers over 10 yards 2.4 attempts per game he just it drives me up the wall like and it's not this season only by the way it's actually going on for it it's all the olds okay everybody gets so excited oh philip rivers is back and then the moment like the philip thing fell apart we're like oh look rogers did elevate the stairs passing game no he didn't he didn't he you you cannot excommunicate 40 of the field and then tell me that this is a healthy passing game.

1:44:34It isn't. Now, DK Metcalf is very, very big and very fast. And he's going to get one-on-one coverage. Right. And so the path up the mountain is always there. But this is not a good way to live. And it is doubly true when the moment that Rodgers hesitates on a throw, the route isn't exactly where he wants it to be. Metcalf gets pressed off the line. There's a miscommunication on a check. It's not like, oh, pitter-patter, get outside the pocket, let's find something. Will Anderson is coming to rip you limb from limb, right? This pass rush is so consistently good that you have to be perfect in the passing game.

1:45:08Now, run this sucker. I mean, run it, run it, run it. And if Darnell Washington were available in this game, I think it'd be a good conversation about Steven Anderson's sixth offensive line, Darnell Washington, and we just get super heavy on a team that lives in the nickel. But there's no Darnell Washington. And I think even if you get them to put base on the field, EJ Speed's a pretty good third backer. You have to, have to, have to, have to find ways to create explosives in the running game against a front that's going to be very penetration-oriented. It could be very pass rush-oriented. So huge Jalen Warren game in that regard.

1:45:39Ben Solak:Texans defense, first and first are like top five in everything. 22nd in EA paper play versus runs between the tackles. Yeah. Trap, wham, power, counter. The B gap's going to be open. You got to hit it as many ways as you can.

1:45:56Ben Solak:The best chance of winning this thing is not this side of the game for me. It's the other side of the ball. and just dragging them to hell. And it is possible. It is why I don't think like, I think it makes sense that the line is within three. Because this Houston offense has been much better since week eight, but they're streaky. They are streaky. We saw that over the course of the year. What they've been very good at is, there's a few things that they've been doing well. Throwing the ball over the middle of the field. you and I have talked about this in breakers, they're best in the league. Actually, second best of the course of the season, but since week eight, they're best by like a massive margin.

1:46:37Ben Solak:First need paper play versus first down rate. And the Steelers have struggled to stop those. 27th, 24th EPA played success rate. Since Ramsey has moved to safety, it's improved some, but it's still not a strength of theirs. One thing I wanted to throw at you that I think Pittsburgh should strongly consider doing here. And this kind of addresses the in breakers to some degree. since week eight since that time frame houston is first amongst every team in the nfl in e-paper play versus single high coverage yeah split safety drops to 16th see there's love to play single high coverage yeah but there have been games where they have mixed the colts game is the one i keep going back to because i think about like the colts come out they're like first down play action let's go this team's gonna sell out we're gonna get single high and then the the steers actually took them by do you remember that this is one of the coolest i'm pretty sure against detroit as well i'm trying to remember there's another game where they were weirdly another team that loves yeah um i'm i am absolutely mixing it up changing my tendencies on defense versus this houston team because they houston wants nothing more than for you to give them those single high looks.

1:47:52Ben Solak:And then for, you know, so I think for Pittsburgh, there's an opportunity here to take them by surprise bit. Yeah. And, and the, we get you into single high by formation and by personnel grouping and by getting a center running a football. And then we're able to rip digs and rip isolation. And Nico Collins is like the 2023 game plan from Houston to a tee, right? That's how Stroud hit so successfully as a rookie was they just got so much cover three on the field. And if you turn into that skid, you're going to get some stops but when you don't get stops again going back to the explosives thing like it's not that houston gets a 10 yard dina first down on you no it's they hit a big guy running in stride and then it's 15 it's 17 it's 20 it's 40 it's 80 because they have that big play ability with nico with jayden higgins who's emerged so wonderfully uh you know the xavier hudgerton's had a couple good games jaylen noel is getting more involved like they have a better ancillary group of pass catchers uh yeah the bangles game they were very low it's the yeah bangles and then lions yeah those are the games now i will say pittsburgh this year is the number one pass even in terms of epa per drop back against play action, right?

1:48:52Houston's number two. It's very fun. These are two defenses who by virtue of the simplicity with which they play, right? We're just, Hey, like we know, no, you know, run past share of responsibilities for the nickel. No, you got this, you do this like very, you know, tunnels. They have a little bit of an immunity to play action because it's harder to get players in conflict for them. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pittsburgh still live in loaded boxes and still live in single high early and say, we like Joey Porter against Nico Collins. is the way that we play.

1:49:20Ben Solak:I do not like that. I think that would be a mistake. You just need to have an eject. You need to have an eject. What's that? You said you can't run the ball. Yeah. I think, I think, I think that you're good enough in terms of, of, against the action pass against the pass that that's how you start. I do think you need to have a change up and you want to be able to get to some too high stuff as well. That's just the playoffs for you. You need to have. I hear you. I use has been so good to you. You alluded to this, getting guys running away from defenders, just, you know, like that. And they put CJ on the move a lot now.

1:49:49Ben Solak:That's a big piece of this, you know, to help compensate. They have found ways to make this to protect their offensive line. And the offensive line is obviously, they're still not good, but they're better. But I do think that Nick Haley has done something that Bobby Slowett couldn't do is found ways to protect them. Also, throw over the course of the year, change things, yes. I'm very interested to see how much Stroud runs in this game. because I was gonna say I like Stroud on the move here yeah and they he has ran a lot less since coming back from the concussion and I think that is in some parts correlated and in some parts just the opposite line is playing better the whole passing game is working better so he doesn't need to scramble as much in the postseason you tend to see quarterbacks just generally ramp up their legs more Stroud is actually a really really good scrambler in terms of like you know the Baker Mayfield theorem you're not good enough at this the defense is feared but you are good enough at this to go get the first down and so there's a good stick mover in that regard and yeah you're not going to be able to consistently hand the ball off against Pittsburgh not with the way this defensive line is playing right and whenever the Steelers author these upset wins that we don't expect it's usually because like Cam Hayward Keanu Benton who's playing great ball in December TJ Watt yeah Nick Herbig right it's because these guys take a a gettable offensive line was the case of the Ravens and they just ragdoll them right not in every single drive not always but but enough high impact stops at the line of scrimmage that they make your offense very herky-jerky.

1:51:10And when Texans lose, when they have bad offensive games, it's usually exactly in that mold. And so while I am very dubious of the Steelers' ability to score more than six points against the Texans' defense, there is a chance that six wins this game because the way that the Steelers win in the defensive front is viable against Houston.

1:51:29Ben Solak:Totally agree.

1:51:33Ben Solak:One thing I do like about Houston's offense is I don't think they'll turtle up. I think Nick Cayley understands the assignment, and you seen that like i don't think he's gonna say well i play with an elite defense we just can't turn the ball over we have to play conservatively i think they'll be aggressive in the passing game as i hope they will um but i do think that the steelers defense absolutely has the ability and the potential to make this gross and bring it down to earth and if it becomes yeah if it becomes muck fight rock fight two explosives win the game and you have to ask yourself who do you trust more aaron to dk or stroud and nico that's why i even though i can see the worlds for the for the ceos I still just lean Texans in this game because they just have a better version of what you've got.

1:52:12Right. And you're like, oh, he's going to win the verticals. Yeah, well, they got a younger guy who also has more routes. And then like we'll throw to different parts of the field. Right, exactly. So I, I, even if the Steelers get the game plan they want to get, I still trust Houston to get the four explosives. They need more than, than Rogers and the Steelers do. But, you know, it's Tomlin, it's Steelers. They're going to miss a 20 yard kick. I'm like, it's going to be ridiculous. He's going to chest dump again, which is the greatest moment of the season, by the way. It was the most elite shot I've ever seen in my life.

1:52:39Regardless, I like the Texans.

1:52:41Ben Solak:I just think Aaron Rodgers against this Texans defense is like... He can't move. It's not happening. You can't play the Texans with an immobile quarterback. It's like... The Ravens, you and I talked about this at the beginning, to bring this full circle. They missed 100 million tackles. The Texans are not missing those tackles. They're not. This team swarms to the ball. There's nowhere... I also, like, I'm looking at the Texans teams. I'm like, what do you even, they can give up some big plays and they can give up yards to scrambling quarterbacks, which obviously Aaron Rodgers is not. Do we trust them to hit on, I think, like the three go balls to Metcalf, you know?

1:53:18Ben Solak:Maybe, but there's been only, it's not been reliable a year. So I'm going Houston here. That said, you know, the devil, well, the devil magic tends to expire in the playoffs. So I think. Yeah, historically so. I think that I know I very much take Houston and I think that I like while acknowledging the Steelers improvement especially on the defensive side of the ball is legitimate I think there's a lot of legwork being done right now to be like and also the offense is working where it just isn't like this is not a working offense this is a barely holding together offense that just has a name at quarterback that everybody knows the other thing about yeah Aaron Rodgers when he does throw those like seam balls which he's still perfectly capable of but he just does not do because he doesn't want to turn the ball over Houston's better defending the middle of field the 19 of football right now yeah they're unbelievable yeah and and the the level of team speed from houston too where it's just like all right rogers the arm is still sick in terms of the touch the ball doesn't really drive and houston will arrive at the catch point he can zip it zero to ten but like like if you're if you're trying to hit the explosives down the field that ball's in the air for a bit and like houston will again use the word swarm like they will get to that football and they'll create turnovers it's just it's so hard like the steelers need to break everything to beat a team like this.

1:54:29And I know they've had such nice breaking games lately, but I just, I can't buy it. It's Houston.

1:54:34Ben Solak:Texas Seahawks Super Bowl. It's going to look so stupid in two days. It's going to be terrible. Texas Seahawks Super Bowl. Real defense is back, baby. Broncos fans screaming from the outside in right now. We'll get to you next week. All right, that's it for this week. Thank you, as always, to Ben for joining us. You have an article about the playoffs. I saw that out. People can go check that out on us about the playoff teams. I will be back on Tuesday to talk about to recap the results of the wildcard round with Dominique Foxworth also on Friday you can check out my recap of the latest episode of Fallout and the first few episodes of The Traitors with David Dennis Jr the pod is viewer discretion you can also find it on wherever you get your podcasts Donna Kelsey on The Traitors their mom is on this is the show that's in England where they all just do games Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:55:24Why is she on that show?

1:55:26Ben Solak:I'm just having the time of her life. Lovely woman. Thank you, as always, to my friends at Omaha Productions, Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster, Tavaster, Tucker Tashin, and see you guys next week. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

1:55:48Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! All of ESPN, all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network in service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional cost. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN, all in one place. Sign up or activate now.