Sam Darnold's Moment, Snow Football, and a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl!

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1:07Welcome to the Ringer NFL Show. I am your host, Shiel Kapadia. We have a Super Bowl matchup set. Seahawks, Patriots, and Super Bowl 60, they are the winners of championship weekend. Again, what stood out from these games? A snow game. Patriots-Broncos. Should every game be played in a dome? Did the snow mess it up or was the snow compelling? And then, of course, the NFC Championship game. Did the Rams let one slip away? What did we learn about the Seahawks as they get ready for this Super Bowl matchup? We'll talk about all the storylines. My guest today is the Ringers, Billy Gill. Let's take a break.

1:43We'll come back with Billy. The Ringer NFL Show is presented by FanDuel. FanDuel's got it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live and your way so you can build the bet that fits your play. Plus, don't miss out on the NFL playoffs all month long. Download the FanDuel app or head to fanduel.com slash ringer NFL to get started. 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.

2:34All right, we are back here on the Ringer NFL show with Billy Gill. So, Billy, we got the Super Bowl matchup. Patriots, Seahawks in Santa Clara, San Francisco. I don't know what we're saying. Super Bowl 60. We're going to get into the games for sure. But first, just give me a little first impression. How are we feeling about this matchup?

2:54Sheil Kapadia:I think of the matchups that we could have gotten headed into it, this is top two, right? I mean, I think both top matchups would have been Patriots just because of the fact that the Broncos are without their starting quarterback. You could have had the Patriots and the Rams where you would have had the dueling MVPs go head-to-head against each other. But the Seahawks have been, I think, the most impressive team in the playoffs so far. So I think this is going to be a good Super Bowl. I think it's a good matchup. Now, you might look at it. There is a chance, if you're listening to this, you're saying, give me a break, you guys.

3:24Just try to build it up. The Rams-Seahawks was the actual Super Bowl. There is a chance we look back into it, you know, two weeks from now when we're doing the postgame pod for the Super Bowl and we're like, Oh, actually the NFC Championship was actually the Super Bowl, but it's a four and a half point line. Seahawks are favored. It's not anything massive. You know, I'm with you. I think the Seahawks have looked like a Super Bowl team for much of the year. Certainly once we got to the kind of the second half and down the stretch and they're beating the Rams and they're beating the Niners and they're blowing teams out.

3:54They look like a Super Bowl contender. Drake May, I feel like, has not played his best yet in the playoffs. Certainly didn't play his best today. So maybe we get a great Drake May game and we end up getting a really good Super Bowl. So I'm not ready to call it a blowout or anything like that. Let's let it marinate here for a couple of weeks and then we'll see where we're at. Let's talk about this NFC Championship game because it was fantastic game. Rams, Seahawks early on, I'm thinking, oh man, Seahawks are going to blow them out. Then Rams come back. They take the lead. You think, man, they can actually pull the upset here.

4:28Kind of a horrible end of first half beginning to the second half for the Rams, where again, I'm thinking Seahawks are going to run away with this. It's going to be like, it's going to end up being a two touchdown game. Stafford and McVay would not go away. And I think the biggest story from this game is that Sam Darnold was phenomenal, Philly. And I don't know what your personal journey has been like with Sam Darnold. I have been a skeptic. I was a skeptic in the off season. I thought, what are the Seahawks doing? This isn't going to work out. And even this season, you know, I thought, all right, the Seahawks are a great team.

5:01but in a big spot, are they going to trust this guy? Will they even need him to be great in a big spot? And in this game, they needed him to be great because their defense didn't have it. They needed to go up and down the field there. They needed to score points. They need to move it through the air. And I thought he was terrific in this game. 25 for 36, 346 yards, three touchdowns. He wasn't playing tentative. He wasn't getting lucky. He was making high degree of difficulty throws. and it's just like, what a wild career for this guy. From the Jets, to the Panthers, to the Niners, to the Vikings, and now he's one game away from winning the Super Bowl and regardless of how he plays in the actual Super Bowl, if they win, it's not going to be like, oh, the Seahawks just kind of put him on their shoulders and he didn't have to do anything.

5:47He had to do something in what could end up being their biggest win of the season en route to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.

5:53Sheil Kapadia:To go from that to where he was today, leading his team out of the Super Bowl, it's hard to not root for Sam Darnold and he didn't give you any indications today that that is going to come next week and I feel like he he could have I mean maybe not the same game that he had today but I feel like he could have a great Super Bowl and then he kind of has changed the direct trajectory of his career and what you really think of Sam Darnold you and I did an episode months ago where we said Bryce Young is our last hope for a normal quarterback And I think, I don't know if you remember this, Billy, but you asked me, well, who else?

6:31And the only other guy I said was, I said Sam Darnold. Seems pretty normal. You know, he seems like his teammates like him. Even when he was playing poorly for the Jets, like his teammates weren't ripping him. You weren't hearing from leaks inside the building. Like Sam Darnold's not in the playbook. You know, Sam Darnold's a jerk. He thinks he's God's gift to quarterback. He's arrogant. It's like kind of wherever he's gone, whether you think he's a good quarterback or a bad quarterback, It seems like people like him. And so maybe we have our chance for the first normal quarterback ever to win the Super Bowl.

7:04What do you think?

7:05Sheil Kapadia:I think he might be an everyman too because he also has kind of like that thing where he struggled and he lost his job and then he went to another place and he was a backup there. And then he last year lost his job again. And now he's starting for another team. And I feel like it's hard for him to kind of be arrogant or be like, you know, above the rest of his teammates where he's kind of just grinding to start for a team. And now he could end up winning the Super Bowl. Yeah, you remember when he did throw those interceptions against the Rams and like their linebacker, Ernest Jones came out and he's like, screw you if you're putting this on Sam Darnold.

7:42This isn't on him. And like the Seahawks account was tweeting it out. So it's very different because it's not like he's the guy who came out of nowhere, you know? This isn't like, oh, Brock Purdy's in the Super Bowl. This was Mr. Irrelevant. It's like Sam Darnold has been in our lives for a long time. And we all acknowledge he's very talented. It's not like he's just somebody who, he is very talented, but he still had this, I think, I think it's a one of a kind journey. I truly can't remember somebody else having this kind of journey where you are a high draft pick. We knew you in college. It doesn't work out at the first time.

8:14Like he was statistically one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL for like his first five years in the league. And then you had the excuse making, well, no one can be good with the Jets. and I get that, but I was like, all right, fine. Maybe he'll turn into like the 18th best quarterback in the NFL, but I didn't envision that he would be playing this well in an NFC championship game and one win away from the Super Bowl. So I'm with it. Now we're really talking up like Darnold and like, oh, it'd be a good story. Do you think the neutral fan is basically, like, is it, what is the percentage? Is the neutral fan who's not a Patriots fan, and let's say not a 49ers fan, I think 49ers fans would never root for the Seahawks, But everybody else, is it like 90 % going to be rooting for the Seahawks?

8:58I actually don't know. Is that too high? What do you think?

9:01Sheil Kapadia:Well, okay. So I think so because we talked about this either last episode or the episode before where you were talking about are the villainous Patriots back? And I was like, I don't know if they are. I think people will root for them to get to the Super Bowl just because you don't want a team with a backup quarterback, even though Jared Stoom did not look that bad today. if we're going to be given the conditions, given the circumstances. He was not terrible. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than it was. We'll get to that later on. We'll get to it. We'll get to that. But, okay, I think that the majority of people tuning in who are not following football on a regular basis are just going to see the Patriots look and be like, oh, the Patriots again.

9:40Sheil Kapadia:And they'll probably be rooting for the Seahawks. Now, I have a question for you. There is one fan base that is uniquely in hell with this Super Bowl. And I feel like it's an obvious one, but for those who are not connecting the dots, I feel like it's the Jets fans because the Jets fans can either watch the Patriots win the Super Bowl again, or they can watch Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl. I think you're wrong. I think you're wrong about that. I think Jets fans are absolutely rooting for Sam Darnold. Really? It's what we talked about earlier. When he left, I don't think the Jets fans were like, this guy sucks, he's a loser, get him out of here.

10:16I think they were like, our organization sucks. Maybe they were a little bit like that.

10:20Sheil Kapadia:They hated him when he was on their team. They could have been happier. Yeah. I don't know. We need to hear from some Jets. I'm sure that's true. But it's just like years of losing and being incompetent. But I don't think it was a personal thing. You know how it is with sports. Sometimes it's like a personal thing with the player you're rooting for or rooting against. I don't think that was a personal thing. I think Jets fans absolutely will be rooting for Sam Darnold in this game over the Patriots. but do you think they feel good seeing their quarterbacks leave and then be good on other teams?

10:51Sheil Kapadia:So you had Gino Smith leave, and then he ends up being good on, on the Seahawks. Now you have Sam Darnold leave, and now he's leading the Seahawks to a Superbowl. All right. McVay and Stafford, Billy, are they going to sleep this off season? Cause that was my other big takeaway after Darnold, because they were amazing in this game. I thought they were incredible. I was writing down in my notes, McVay is the best coach in the NFL. I was just like, bar none, if you handed me an expansion franchise tomorrow and said, take one coach, I'm like, give me Sean McVay. And then Stafford, even after that fumbled punt, and they go down 24-13, he comes back against the best defense in the NFL.

11:30He's just chucking it downfield, making high degree of difficulty throws. That scramble he had where he breaks the tackle, and then the next play, flips it to Puka Nakua. I'm like, this is an all-time drive. But then they don't score on the drive. They fail on third and four and fourth and four. And I was just looking at like some of the advanced numbers. This was basically a 90th percentile offensive performance against the best defense in the NFL. And it didn't matter. They got to be sick, Billy, that it was special teams, a fumbled punt, and their defense that let them down in this game. They played so, so well.

12:06Sheil Kapadia:I honestly thought that they had a better game than the Seahawks. I thought that they deserved to win the game better. and even overcoming the mistakes of, you know, coming out of halftime, they forced the Rams to, I'm sorry, they forced the Seahawks to punt the ball. Then they botched the punt. They fumbled the ball. They give it right back to him that leads to score. And then even towards the end of the game, which you were mentioning on the drive, they had a touchdown where Kobe Parkinson just dropped a pass where he had daylight in front of him. They could have given them the lead in that game and no one ended up scoring in the fourth quarter.

12:41Sheil Kapadia:So if they take the lead there, they went back and forth a couple of times, but they had the game. They could have won. And even with those mistakes, they were still in it at the end. It takes Pukunakua, you know, not getting completely out of bounds there. So the clock keeps running. Well, that would have been like a Hail Mary situation. Yeah, I mean, they still would have shot. But you know what? That thing goes back to, had they completed that pass, right? And the drive before, knock on for it on fourth down. They would have made it, kicked in and made it a one-point game. They could have potentially kicked a field goal.

13:10Sheil Kapadia:we've lost the era of kicking field goals No, no, no because the Seahawks then would have tried to score, the Seahawks weren't actually trying to score on their ensuing drive so the Seahawks would have been up one, but then the Seahawks would have gotten the ball and they would have tried harder to score there if they're only up by one, they're up by four, they know the other team has to score a touchdown I think the fourth down thing applies more to the Broncos Patriots game. I think that's the more controversial one. I don't think McVay's you're down by four and there was, there was what, like four minutes left.

13:48Yeah.

13:48Sheil Kapadia:They would, they would have had four and four. Yeah. Yeah. I would have been killing if they, if they didn't go for it there. So I thought that was the right move, but yeah, I mean, you're right. It was just big swing at the end of the first half where they have the ball. They can't score. Even worry makes a couple of great plays. And then the Seahawks go right down the field and score a touchdown. They take a 17-13 lead. And in the beginning of the second half, Xavier Smith stubble. How do you feel when you see a player like that? So Xavier Smith, he stumbles, he tries to catch the ball, he fumbles it.

14:19It's a disaster. Darnold throws a touchdown. Seahawks go up 24-13. I mean, legitimately, to what you were just saying, without that play, it's a coin flip game. I don't want to sound like the Seahawks deserve to win. You could say the Rams deserve to win, but that was the play right there When you see that, are you like, oh, you moron? Are you like, oh, I feel so bad for this guy? Are you like, what is your, what goes on in the Billy Gill body when they see something like that?

14:46Sheil Kapadia:As a human being, I feel bad for him, right? I always feel so, so bad. As a sports fan though, I'm like, oh man, like how I, it's just like, you know, kind of like you teach outfielders like in baseball to always kind of be like trying to run in to catch a ball. When you're running backwards on a punt, it's never going to go well for you. You run backwards, you trip, you fall. Now you're on the ground. At that point, reaching up over your head to try to catch it as you're falling back. It's kind of like best case scenario is just like, you know, get in a fetal position and hope that that ball doesn't hit you and just stop.

15:21Sheil Kapadia:Exactly right. Don't let that thing touch you in any way because you're not going to make a miraculous catch. Even if you do, it's kind of like, wow, you averted disaster there. Better not to even try to touch it and just let that ball roll into the 10 yard line, five yard line, whatever. And at least you keep possession because that went about as poorly as it could. And I got, and by the way, then after that, Hey, guess what? You're out of the game. Heron Smith is going to be returning kicks for the rest of the game. Like that, that's not what you want. I swear. If I were a coach, I would just be like, we're not fielding any of these in a big game.

15:53It makes me so nervous. I always think they're going to fumble every single time. Like they're going to fumble. I'm like, no, they're going to fall fumble. And it's just like, Where was he? Was that the 10 or something? It's not worth the risk. It's like, if you catch it, you're at the 10. If you don't catch it, what? You're going to beat the six? Who cares? And look at what can happen there. And this one was especially painful because he tripped over himself. Like you said, he fell at that point. Yeah, I don't know what you do. Maybe you do try to roll out of the way and just, hey, let's not try to fumble.

16:25But that's easy for me to say. It's a split second decision. I feel for the guy. But man, that really flipped the game there. And then the other thing on this game, Billy, towards the end, Seahawks had the ball. 320 left, third and seven. This is after the Rams had that fourth down failure, which by the way, seemed like a great call by Mike McDonald, where he's like, we are dropping everybody. We're only rushing two. You're going to have nowhere to go with the ball. And Stafford had nowhere to go with the ball. Witherspoon with a great play there. But then Seahawks get the ball back. They're trying to run out the clock.

16:57Third and seven, pass to Cooper Cup.

16:59Sheil Kapadia:A revenge game. He makes the catch, but in this era of the NFL where we don't know what's a catch and what's not a catch, I'm watching it going, did he finish the process of the catch? Because the ball pops out as he hits the ground. And then I'm going, well, even if he did, did he get the first down? And so Fox brings in their rules analyst. I'm not even going to mention his name. It's unclear whether this rules analyst was watching the football game or was like behind on the pit like I was and watched, you know, three episodes this weekend because this was no analysis. He was basically like, I don't think it gets overturned, but who knows?

17:41That's what you're there for? What do you think the right call is? We don't, you need, I think it's, what's it called? An economy of words and efficiency of words. Like just say what you think the right call is. Not all this blabber. And then at the end, we don't even know what you think it was. He never told us. And so Sean McVay calls a timeout, which McVay, if you're going to call a timeout, just throw the challenge flag because then you at least get them to look at it. And then if you lose it, then you lose the timeout. But instead of throwing a challenge flag, Sean McVay calls the timeout.

18:16So he loses the timeout. It never gets looked at. Then they bring the rules analyst back. And I'm like, all right, he has a chance to redeem himself again. He doesn't redeem himself. He just explains that Sean McVay called timeout. They don't even mention that. Why did he call timeout? He should have just thrown the challenge flag. So as you can tell, that kind of grinded my gears a bit. Billy, it's a big spot. NFC Championship game. You only get called on a few times this entire game. You're like a third, fourth wide receiver where you're only going to get a few targets. I need you to make a play on one of them.

18:51You didn't make a play. Now, having said all that, I don't even know if it should have been overturned or not. I would have liked to get a better view of it. I would have liked an expert to tell me whether what the right call should have been. But alas, we'll never know. Seahawks, great job. Super Bowl worthy. No doubt about it. Sam Darnold, great game. They've had a great team all season long. And Rams, you had a great team. It's yeah, it comes down to weird stuff. You can't even blame it on. Yeah, you can't blame it on the coach or the quarterback. But now they got to run it back next year. presumably.

19:22And I think they'll have a chance to do it again next year. I thought, Matthew Stafford at this age, can he do this again for another year? We said that this year and he was able to do it. So who are we to doubt it? All right, let's take a break. Don't take a nap. Let's take a break. We'll come back. We want to talk about that. This episode is brought to you by Hotels.com. Save Your Way is a new feature on Hotels.com and it's as simple as it sounds. When you book a trip as a Hotels.com member, you decide how to use your savings. Take the instant savings now or bank the savings as rewards for later.