S6E51: Ohio State's Dominance, Lamar's Legacy, Did the Lions' Super Bowl Window Close?

Ohio State caps off an incredible CFP run with a dominant National Championship win. We break down their historic playoff journey, the expanded format, and what’s next for Notre Dame. In the NFL, we recap the Divisional Round games, dive into Lamar Jackson's playoff struggles, the Chiefs' officiating controversies, and whether the Lions' Super Bowl window just slammed shut. Plus, Jayden Daniels’ historic rise and more!

Transcription:
Welcome to the Pint Glass Football Podcast.
0:15
I'm your host, Brad Fowler. What's up, PGF Nation? Ohio State takes home the title. We'll give you our reaction to that game and, of course, our reaction to the NFL Divisional Round. Another great weekend of playoff football, but joining me as always, my co-host, Alex Higdon. Alex, what is going on?
0:36
Hey, you know, Brad, just on the eve of my birthday, as we're recording this on a Tuesday, my birthday is tomorrow on a Wednesday. I'll be the big four nine, but looking like I'm two nine.
0:46
Hey, I like it, man. Well, happy birthday from myself and I'm sure from the rest of PGF Nation and all you guys. and gals who listen to the podcast, who check out the YouTube videos that we make, that read the newsletter. Look, all of you guys, we really do appreciate you guys,
1:01
and I'm sure you're all wishing Alex here a big happy birthday. Getting old, Alex. Man, getting old. 4'9". My goodness.
1:09
Hey, man, listen, I can get out there and box and play with the best of them still.
1:15
Yeah, I'm going to get you an AARP membership for your birthday.
1:19
Listen, I've never seen so many emails coming. It's funny seeing the mail that's coming in recently and what's on it. It's interesting.
1:30
No, all jokes aside, happy birthday, man, and excited to do this episode. Man, we've got three football games left. I can't even believe it. We're going to put a bow on college football. What a season, Alex. What a year for college football, the first 12-team playoff. I'm just going to say this.
1:47
This might be one of the best years ever for college football. I really believe the growth of the sport, where it's headed. I know there's a lot of people that kind of have some negative pushback that aren't fans of the NIL, that aren't fans of all the realignment stuff. But look, I thought it was a fantastic year.
2:02
I thought it was a fantastic playoff. And I thought it actually turned out to be kind of an exciting ending to that college football playoff game, even though it was definitely a blowout there early on, but ended up having some excitement at the end.
2:14
Yeah, I think the first thing is just to take it a few steps back to what you were speaking to before. The naysayers out there, listen, every time there's something new in any sport or any business, it becomes this whole thing.
2:28
And then what happens is they corral it and then they get it in order the way that it should be so that it works smooth and goes on the way that it should go on so that – everybody benefits i think one of the things you spoke about you have this 12 team
2:41
playoff matchup all of college football with the exception of the big 10 you all let an independent into the championship game so you know there's a whole big five versus everybody else and so on and so forth well the big 10 held their own with
2:53
ohio state but on the other side you know specifically on the sec side you guys let an independent in in notre dame
3:02
Notre Dame had an unbelievable year. And I want to just start by giving a hats off to Notre Dame and giving a hats off to that program, Marcus Freeman, and what they did here. But the credit right now obviously deserves to go to Ohio State. 34-23 win over Notre Dame.
3:17
And like I said a minute ago, this game was really out of hand at one point. And I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people changed the channel, found something else to watch, and then realized after a couple notifications on their phone, wait a second, this is a ball game. and maybe came back to this game.
3:31
But quarterback Will Howard, I think one of the big takeaways for me, Alex, was that he absolutely silenced any doubters with his performance, not only in college football playoff, but of course in the big game against one of the best secondaries in college football. He completed 81% of his passes, add on 61 yards rushing.
3:51
How about that third and long throw to put the game on ice? I mean, that was a big time play by this kid because look, if Notre Dame gets a stop right there, I think it was third and 11, if I'm not mistaken, they have a legit shot to come back and tie this game late.
4:07
I thought he was awesome in this game.
4:09
Yeah, you know, I can't say anything bad about Will Howard or anything as such. You know, what I really will talk more to is Notre Dame. And this is something, Brad, that we spoke about that, you know, I particularly was worried about with Notre Dame.
4:22
And critical plays, when you need to pass the ball, they were going to struggle. Because Riley Lennon, that really, truly works at Duke. And I'm not even going to say it didn't work here at Notre Dame because obviously you're in – The national championship game. So I don't want this is not necessarily a shot at him,
4:38
you know, who's very Tim Tebow esque in what he does. And we know what Riley Leonard is, but I have to be critical here because of the magnitude of this game and the magnitude of both of these players. I mean, hell, you had Lou Holtz in the house.
4:54
Riley Leonard's inability to throw a simple out was so glaring. And these are just a simple five and out route, a simple bang eight. He cannot hit these passes. And as a person who looks at things with a not necessarily a critical eye, but with a prospect eye on Riley Leonard, it's like, I don't know.
5:13
Where he truly goes from here, like I said before, he's really a poor man's Tim Tebow, in a sense. Had he completed some of those passes, I think some of those drives stay alive. It's just that his inability to make those simple passes is just terrible, but that does not take away from anything.
5:30
That the Ohio State Buckeyes did, I think, really in the trenches because their offensive line and their defensive line really held up strong, especially their offensive line, because Notre Dame does have a pass rush, but they were non-existent in that first half. They, you know, Ohio State ran off 21 straight points. In that second half, excuse me,
5:52
in that second quarter, that really kind of to Brad's point where we started to make the changes. And then Marcus Freeman's decision or he and I will say the defensive coordinator on how they decided to defend Jeremiah Smith was kind of baffling to me.
6:06
Yeah, it was one of the things that I was really circling in this game because we know Notre Dame typically runs a lot of man coverage. They run a lot of single high safety. And look, they have a great secondary, and they have some really good safeties, guys that are going to play on Sunday.
6:22
But we know the South Ohio State team is different, and they're loaded at wide receiver. They're really, really explosive. And I wondered – Would they be able to get away with that against this team? Because really no one's been able to play them that way. And we saw them kind of mix in some zone.
6:36
They played a lot more zone than we've seen in the past, but they did try to go man-to-man at times, and they got burnt a few times trying to play man versus some of these Ohio State wide receivers. Like I said, I got to give credit to Marcus Freeman, though,
6:49
because they fought back after being down 24 points in this game. Yes. And look, there's a lot of teams that would have rolled over, but this team showed a lot of grit versus a very good team. Look, Ohio State was just too good. You can't get down that big and make the comeback.
7:04
Obviously, that's going to be a tall mountain to climb, but they almost pulled it off here. Just too talented of a team. I think maybe the most talented Ohio State team I've seen maybe ever. They're certainly in the conversation this team is that good. But there's an addition that happened this offseason.
7:20
I don't know if it's being talked about enough because this might have been the biggest offseason addition in college football this year. That was Chip Kelly coming over to be the offensive coordinator for this Ohio State team because he really changed the identity of the way they do things. And look, as a head coach, very mixed results.
7:38
He's had some highs and some lows as a head coach. But as a play caller, And as a play designer, this guy is elite. And he had, I went back and looked, he had nine brand new plays that for the Oregon rematch in that college football playoff game that they never ran before that game.
7:57
Oregon was totally caught off guard by all nine of those plays. His offensive plays and his philosophies really changed football forever. I mean, this guy was way ahead of the curve on a lot of things he did that now are normal.
8:10
We see every weekend on Saturdays and Sundays a lot of the things that he brought to the game. And on Monday night, I thought, especially in the first half, it was a master class against the nation's number two scoring defense. Ohio State's first score,
8:27
that play where Jeremiah Smith faked the reverse and then rolled back into the flat. No Irish defenders in sight. Totally caught off guard. What a play call that was. And after the game, Jeremiah Smith said, quote, it was something that we put in this week. So... Hats off to Chip Kelly and the staff because I was really,
8:47
really impressed, not just in this game, but throughout the college football playoff, of just how good this offense has been since he took over that job.
8:56
I don't want to nerd out, but just for a moment, that specific play, because I was going to bring that up. I don't remember the defender's name that was standing there. He was jumping up and down, doing jumping jacks, trying to alert the rest of his teammates. Hey, this is, you know,
9:11
he's uncovered because he had a certain responsibility and Jeremiah Smith was out there uncovered. At that point, when nobody's making a move to the adjustment that you're calling for, you can't leave, for all intents and purposes, the Randy Moss of college football wide open because somebody wasn't doing their job. You didn't have to take that on.
9:31
I thought that was very poor, and I won't even say that's Marcus Freeman. I'll call that very poor awareness by that respective player who said, well, he's not my man. I'm going to go cover whoever he had to cover because that, to me, was just crazy. Jeremiah Smith at all costs.
9:47
Yeah, I remember what you're talking about. You're absolutely right. Or just to call it timeout. Yeah, just a really impressive performance from this offense, the defense, of course. I mean, just a all-around team effort here because this team is loaded at every position. That's why they were my preseason pick to win it all.
10:05
They go on and do it. And look, they won in impressive fashion in this college football playoff because this is a team that won all four of their playoff games by double digits. When you look at the teams they beat, Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, now Notre Dame, I mean, unbelievable. And the expanded playoff to me, Alex,
10:22
really showed me in year one why we needed this format so much. Because in years past, this Ohio State team would have been out after that loss to Michigan. They wouldn't have had a chance to play for a national title, but they showed in this playoff why they are without a doubt the best team in the country,
10:40
and it's all because of this expanded playoff. So I think this was a massive success year one.
10:45
Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's talk about perhaps going to 14. Honestly, I believe 12 is enough. I know there were some schools that if they go to 14, well, Miami probably gets in and so on and so forth. No, no, no, that's okay.
11:00
If they should have won the games, they should have won in order to get in there. They had an opportunity. 12 is enough. We don't need to expand it anymore. The bowl games will still matter outside of the top 12. It'll be okay. But I like the competitiveness that we have at 12 right now. I hope
11:15
They don't move the needle any further beyond 12.
11:18
I think it's too much. I'm with you. I think at a certain point you water down the product. And I really hope that's not the case. Now, before we shift gears, I think I've heard some people kind of questioning like, well, this was kind of a Cinderella run for the fighting Irish.
11:32
And I'm going to push back on that right here, Alex, because this fighting Irish team is going to return eight. Of their 15 best players, they've got a strong recruiting class coming in. And from what I'm seeing right now, even though there's been some buzz about Marcus Freeman being an NFL candidate,
11:49
it sounds like he's going to be back with Notre Dame. So this team should be right back in the college football playoff again next year. Really, really believe that this was not a flash in the pan for this program. I think they are on the right trajectory to be a regular in this playoff.
12:05
Yeah, they look good, obviously, given that they don't belong to a specific conference. They can only go as high as five no matter what. I mean, you're going to get – I believe you'll get Gene Greathouse back. I don't think he was redshirted, so I think he's only a sophomore, so you'll get him back.
12:20
It'll really depend on who that quarterback is going to be. I'm not sure if he's already on. I haven't been checking what they're – Who's on the roster and who they may have been trying to pick up in a portal. But I think it's really going to come down again, similar to what it did, I guess,
12:33
with Ohio State. You know, who is going to be the quarterback or kind of determine where they'll end up next year.
12:41
Ravens, Bills, this game really lived up to the hype. And look, football, as we know, it's a complex game. But in this one, it's simple. Turnovers simply killed the Ravens in this game. Look, the excuses that I've been hearing from the rest of the sports media right now, I think is crazy.
12:59
Because I'm hearing things like fire Harbaugh and it's Todd Munkin's fault and all this others talk. Look, the coaches didn't throw a horrible interception. The coaches didn't fumble the ball and the coaches didn't drop passes. The players did. And right now, Lamar Jackson is about to win, more than likely about to win his third MVP.
13:21
Look, he's shown he's an elite player in this league. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And three MVPs, that's going to put you on a short list of really all-time great players and all-time great quarterbacks at that. But yet, once again, he goes into a big playoff game. with a top-rated defense,
13:38
a now generational running back, a better overall roster than his opponent, and he plays his worst game of the year. Look, he has earned the expectations that we're putting on him at this point. When Peyton Manning was winning MVPs and the Colts were winning 11 or 12 or more games every year, it seemed like,
13:59
but then they weren't getting it done in the playoffs, we killed the guy for it. The media killed the guy. The fans were killing him, saying, why is this guy so great he can't get it done in the playoffs? And he got destroyed for it.
14:10
But right now in the media, I'm hearing a whole lot of excuses right now. I don't know why Lamar is getting a pass because, look, he's not getting a pass from me. I'm sorry. I'm not giving this guy a pass. I'm not saying it's all his fault.
14:25
But he played a major role once again on why the Ravens are at home this weekend instead of advancing. Now, look, to be fair, he's 28 years old. He has time to change this narrative. But in this moment, right now, he deserves the criticisms.
14:42
Yeah, absolutely. I'm not going to hold any punches. I think Lamar had a great regular season, as did Josh Allen, but we're talking about Lamar. He had a one for the ages. It was really, to be honest with you, it was really Aaron Rodgers, like the touchdown and interception ratio that he had. He had a great year,
15:00
but again, in these critical games, this is where I say, this is where you separate why I have certain people respectfully like Patrick Mahomes in a class by himself than everybody else because it's the mistakes that you don't make. The Bills have had the least amount of turnovers in NFL history, eight.
15:19
They as a team have turned the ball over less than some of your favorite quarterbacks through interceptions. eight times so you knew coming in you're gonna have to be perfect the fumble I'm sorry that is on Lamar I understand you're trying to make a play and you are a
15:35
fantastic athlete but ball security trumps everything in these critical games because there is no neck well we'll bounce back next week no you're on you're on the cruise ship whatever with with us the Raiders and everybody else So you can't have those type of mistakes. The interception, I looked at it. I checked the 0-22.
15:54
I still don't know unless somebody tells me, did Rashard Bateman run the wrong route or did Lamar throw the ball into the correct – was he off? I don't know who's wrong on that play because –
16:05
I was watching the press conference after this game. Okay, good. And Lamar made a comment, and I don't want to quote him directly because I don't have it in front of me, but if I recall correctly, he said something along the lines of when he was asked about that play specifically, he misread the safety. Got it.
16:21
I believe is what he said. Now, to his credit, he took ownership.
16:24
Which he always does.
16:26
He was a real pro at the podium. Absolutely. And I tipped the cap. He took all the bullets. But yeah, I believe on that play, Alex, he said something about misreading the safety there was the explanation he gave.
16:38
Okay, so perfect. So then we know that that was on Lamar. So those two are both on Lamar. Mark Andrews, uncharacteristically, I'm sorry, fumbled the ball on the great play. I'd rather say a peanut punch by Terrell Bernard because the defense did make that play. And then he also dropped that two-point conversion, which he was wide open.
16:57
I mean, it wasn't like he was hit. He was just wide open and simply just dropped it. I mean, there's a culmination of things, but like I always say, because you are in the quarterback position. You get all the praise when you win. You get all the heat when you lose. So, yeah, you know,
17:11
to your Peyton Manning point, does anybody remember 41-0 against the Jets and Herm Edwards? The Peyton Manning that had Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, and Edwin James, they got beat 41-0 by the Jets. And there were a lot of similarities that were called to him, like calling him Dan Marino, all these stats, all these great regular season awards.
17:30
But when you get into the playoffs, you have a problem. You know, I'm big on keeping the same energy. This is going to be the same thing with Lamar. Now, Josh Allen, he has this on him as well. It's just the difference is he's made it a lot further. And a lot of people don't blame 13 seconds.
17:45
If you know what I'm talking about, you know, you know, they don't blame 13 seconds on him. But he's been in that AFC championship game. He's battled back. And this was a team. Remember, the Bills to now start to talk about the Bills. They weren't supposed to be here.
17:58
There were a lot of people in the beginning of the season that some of them did take the Bills, but there were a lot of people, myself included, on the Jets and what they could do and probably dethrone the Bills. And along with the fact that they got rid of Stephon Diggs as well.
18:12
So we have to on the other side now, as we transition to talk about the Bills, we have to give them a lot of credit. For the way they handled this, they really truly bear down on running the ball. 36 carries for 147 yards between all of the running backs,
18:26
including Josh Allen was really running back by committee. Once again, no Keon Coleman, no Amari Cooper. Amari Cooper had one target for zero yards. Keon Coleman had one target and one catch for five yards. That was their wide receiver. Once again, this was the Khalil Shakur show. And to top it off,
18:46
Josh Allen only threw four passes more than 10 yards the entire game on 22 attempts.
18:51
The reason I like the Ravens so much in this game is because I just thought they had a way better roster. I thought this was going to be a mismatch because to your point, this Bills defense is not very good. He doesn't have a whole lot of premier playmakers.
19:04
They have a nice running game, and James Cook's a good running back, but it's not a lead. It's not Derrick Henry. I thought this was going to be a mismatch. I really did, and it felt like if the Ravens don't turn the ball over as much as they do,
19:15
they'd probably run away from the Bills in this game. I mean, those turnovers kept the Bills in this game. And when really those two early ones by Lamar were really killer, because even though Lamar and the Ravens kind of bounced back in the second half, you can't get in that hole.
19:30
That's what really hurt them was you let the Bills get that big early lead, and now you're playing catch-up when if you don't turn the ball over in those spots, the whole game is different. And to your point, Alex... and you mentioned it earlier, they're way more balanced and buttoned up than they've ever been in years past,
19:45
and it's little things. Like you said, Josh Allen, the younger Josh Allen probably would have tried to make that pitch. He thought better of it. The younger Josh Allen probably tries to force some balls downfield, but he saw what the defense was doing, and he took the underneath stuff.
19:58
He played the smart game in this game, and they've been doing that all year. This team has been doing it all year. They only had one penalty. That offensive line only gave up one sack, and they had no turnovers. Those are the stats that I was really looking at in this game.
20:13
You know what? And before we move on, I know we're about 20 minutes in and we spent a lot of time on this game, but let me ask you a question because I've heard it a lot today and I've seen it on social media. Do you think the Ravens ran enough? And by that, I mean,
20:27
so they ran a total of 30 times for 176 in the touchdown, but really Derrick Henry, 16 carries, 84 yards, 5.3 a clip and a touchdown. So, Do you think they ran their, I'll call it Mack truck, enough in this game?
20:44
No, probably not. And look, it goes back to the way this team exited the playoffs last year and all the criticism they got from me and a bunch of other media outlets and a bunch of fans when they lost that game to the Chiefs was their lack of committing to the run, which is their identity,
21:00
and they went away from it and it cost them in that game. What did they do to try to solve that? They go and get Derrick Henry. And so they say, okay, we're going to fix this problem. We're going to lean into the run more than ever. We're going to be a run-first dominant team.
21:12
And they were pretty much all year. And then in the playoffs, they ran the ball well, but I felt like they probably could have utilized it more. Now, the only pushback I would have is that both of those turnovers – killed drives where they were moving the ball.
21:29
And so because of that, it kind of makes you wonder. The interception from Lamar kills a drive, fumble. They were near midfield. They were moving the ball. It kills a drive. And, of course, the Andrews fumble. They were in Bill's territory and moving the ball well. So, you know, those are drive killers. If those don't happen,
21:47
Derrick Henry's carries are probably closer to 20-plus, and we're looking at a completely different game. And once again, we're probably looking at a big Ravens win here. Chiefs win another just low-scoring defensive. Oh, wait. Hang on, Alex. Oh, wait. The refs just threw another flag on the Texans.
22:07
Look, nobody is even talking about the game, the actual game game. Everybody. And I mean, everybody is talking about the story once again with Kansas City and the refs. And look, it's not just upset fans on Twitter. This is getting loud, Alex. This is former players. This is current players.
22:31
This is respected media analysts that are going on podcasts, radio shows, and Twitter, and they are blasting the NFL for this. Look, you can't tell me that those officials... didn't let those guys in the Baltimore game play. When I say play,
22:46
I mean they let them play the game differently than what we saw in that Kansas City game. It was shocking. I mean, it was a completely different game as far as the way it was officiated. Josh Allen gets hit hard, helmet to helmet in that game, no call. Lamar Jackson gets tackled three yards out of bounds.
23:04
No call. Mahomes gets a slight shove near the sideline, and it's a flag. I mean, Jared Goff on that interception, when he threw the pick six, he took a shot to the chin. I mean, literally... takes the helmet straight to the chin. There's no flag. I don't know what is going on here.
23:24
But look, even Coach D'Amico Ryan said after the game, you know what it is. You know what it's going to be when you play the Chiefs. We knew what he meant. I mean, he could only say so much without getting fines from the NFL. So he was kind of biting his tongue here.
23:40
But I think we all know what's going on here. I mean, those terrible roughing the passer calls in this game multiple times. These are game changing penalties that you can't have, especially in these big spotlight games. And Alex, I think the competition committee this offseason,
23:56
I think they need to get together and put together a proposal where they can use replay assist on these types of calls. The calls that aren't challengeable because this is embarrassing for the NFL. And this is going on two plus years. where it's becoming a disturbing narrative that the Chiefs get all the calls.
24:19
And look, this game poured gas on that fire.
24:23
Yeah, you know, it's not even D'Amico Ryans. It was really Trey Aikman, who's usually very buttoned up and kind of straight-laced, where he just was like, I'm sorry. When it looked like you see some basketball plays where a guy will, when he's about to go for a shot,
24:38
he'll stop because the other guy behind him is running full speed, and he'll then just flail his hands because he got hit, and it becomes a foul. That's exactly what it looked like, Patrick Mahomes, and I was happy that Trey Kuhn called it out.
24:50
I will give them grace on one of those calls when it looked like the two Texas players, they actually ran and hit each other. But in real time in a bang, bang play, I thought Patrick Mahone was knocked out from just personally. So I know that there's some bang, bang plays that you don't put that.
25:04
But to your point, if you had that viewable, if it's reviewable, then you see they never touched him. He actually slid in under. So I can understand, depending on what a reference stand, it looks like and how fast the play is going because I thought he was hit too.
25:18
So I give them a pass there, but I get it being reviewable. But, you know, they don't want to stop the game. So we'll see how that goes. And I don't know if any of those players may have turned the game in any way, shape or form. But that Kansas City defense was phenomenal.
25:31
There's something about what Kansas City does when they decide that it's shut that second half, whatever Spagnuolo, not Andy Reid. Whatever Spagnuolo is doing in that second and when he goes into that locker room, they are there to shut you down. And if they decide to play like that,
25:49
this is going to be a very interesting postseason as we move forward. But I will say this. The Texans defense, very tough. I know Kansas City struggling on offense. They don't have, you know, I guess the Terry kills or a lot of consistency. But still, this Texans defense is tough.
26:07
This is a team that I have on my early, early list for Super Bowl bound. I can say that about the Texans. They shouldn't be ashamed about anything that happened. Refs and everything. We're just talking about the actual player on the field. They shouldn't be ashamed about anything. This team is ready. This team is primed.
26:24
You can still add more players. They can still add more wide receivers. We know Stephon Diggs. We'll get into that later on as we go. But I wouldn't be ashamed of anything from what I saw from the Houston Texans right here.
26:38
Eagles, Rams, not a ton to say about this game, Alex. Maybe you have more thoughts on it than I do, but I'm just going to say this. I think better weather and the Rams probably win this game. I think the weather was a big, big factor, and it's something we talked about.
26:52
We thought that it would play a factor in this game. Now, granted, I think the Eagles are the better team, and I think they were built better. For this game, and I think it is a roster mismatch, especially on the offensive and defensive lines. I mean, this team is just so big and tough up front.
27:09
They have the edge versus really, I think, everybody that's left in the playoffs when you're talking about up front. But what were some of your takeaways from this game?
27:19
Well, I'll say this. Just talk about the Eagles really quick. You said that you talk, you look at them the same way. I guess you look at Ohio State. They're the most talented team in left in this playoffs. Right. I think we would all agree that overall talent there, you know, Jalen Carter was a.
27:35
He did some Aaron Donald-like things. He shut the game down. I don't want to say he won the game, but he ended the game with some of his players. He was a wrecking ball, as he's been all season long. But I don't have too much. I mean, no wide receivers on Philadelphia side. A.J.
27:50
Brown, two catches, 14 yards. But again, like you said, the weather. And it's shocking because I thought Philadelphia should have won by more, given the weather and L.A. being a dome team from the West Coast.
28:01
Yeah, when the Rams got the ball back late and they started moving the ball and Stafford hit, I believe it was Pukin Nakua on the sideline with that deep shot that got them into the red zone. I thought they were going to win that game. I thought right there, I'm like, they're going to win this game.
28:13
And then to your point, Jalen Carter just takes over. Now, one of those plays, the center just makes a really bad read.
28:19
Yeah, he missed it, yeah.
28:20
Do you think the Eagles can win a Super Bowl with this passing game and what we've seen from Jalen Hurts throwing the ball?
28:27
Yeah, if you're going to get 200 yards rushing from Saquon Barkley at eight yards a clip, then yeah, you're going to have a chance. Because if you're running for 200 yards, that means whoever is on the other side, they're going to have to be playing. That person, that offense is going to be sitting on the sideline,
28:43
and that defense is in for a long day. And you're going to have to be pinpoint perfect on the other side and not make mistakes if Saquon is going to continue to run like this.
28:52
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Download the SeatGeek app and remember to enter the code PGFPOD to grab your $20 discount. Did the Lions Super Bowl window close this weekend?
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Absolutely. It closed, but they had their foot in the door. It hasn't slammed, but they definitely have their foot in the door.
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Yeah, I think this window could be closing. I like your analogy about having their foot in the door because it's really going to come down to can Dan Campbell replace these assistant coaches, this offensive and defensive coordinators that most likely are both gone. Ben Johnson, of course. we found out is taking the job for the Chicago bears.
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I think it's a great hire. We both thought Mike McCarthy would be the guy going and getting a more established coach, a guy with a proven track record of a head coach. But I think they went for the upside play. Definitely a lot more risk taking a guy like Ben Johnson,
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but I think there's more upside because if you hit on this coach, He could be really special, and I like that they went in the direction of a young offensive mind to help develop this young quarterback in Caleb Williams. So I like the hire. It's not shocking,
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but I thought they would go a little more of the safe route with Mike McCarthy, but that's kind of a side note here. I think when we're looking at this Lions team, the fact that Ben Johnson is now gone, Aaron Glenn, I'm hearing lots of reports that he could be the Jets' next head coach.
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This is going to be such an important offseason for Dan Campbell. Yeah. I'm hearing rumors that they're going to stay in-house. I don't know if that's always the best choice. Kind of reminds me of what we saw in Philly a couple of years ago when they lost
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both their OC and DC and they went in-house and it really kind of blew up in their face. And then of course this year, They go outside of the house and they go get more proven guys at those positions and they're right back in the Super Bowl mix. So very,
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very interesting offseason that I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to jump into with the Detroit Lions.
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You know, Dan Campbell is not a play caller. Dan Campbell is a motivator. So his his coordinators really truly matter because he leans on them a lot. So it'll be interesting what we see there. But in regards to the game, and I don't, you know, to be honest with you,
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I don't really think they called a great Ben Johnson called a great game for it to be his last game. Honestly, honestly, there was a, there was a lot of questionable things that I saw there. A lot of, and then a lot of questionable decisions by some of the players, Jamison Williams, I am talking about you specifically.
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That was crazy.
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Why is Ben Johnson putting that ball in his hands, though? I mean, look, Jamison Williams makes a bad throw, but why are you having your wide receiver throwing in that situation?
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I didn't understand. There was a lot of weird play calls during this game that I kind of scratched my head on. I was... I'm kind of confused because the commander's defense isn't this knockout defense. They only have recently become a bend-don't-break because they couldn't stop the run, which is why the Lions ran for 200 yards,
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and it's their bread and butter. They probably should have stuck with it a little bit more to kind of slow things up, but I know that second quarter got out of hand. On the Washington side, I really give a lot of credit to that defense for just playing like their hair was on fire all over the place,
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you know, getting three interceptions, getting three interceptions there, plus a fumble loss on a fumble by Jared Goff. So they have four turnovers in the game. And then Jaden Daniels, I mean, play after play, third down. After third down, whatever they needed, he made it happen.
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And that's very uncharacteristic when you get a player that is that young, even though it regards how long he spent in college, a player that's that young in these positions to show that type of poise and control and leadership in that we have to give him advantage.
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a lot of credit i know people have been talking about me and how i spoke about jane daniels i will continue to say i do not crown anybody after one year i called him a boomer bus pick what is he doing right now i guess for most people he'd be booming
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so we'll see how his career continues but for right now he's playing i don't want to say he's playing out of his mind but he's playing like a 10-year vet right now that's leading this team and has them in the first year in the championship game. You know, Josh Harris bought this team.
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I don't know if you saw, Brad, what I put in our group chat. I said, Josh Harris bought these 76ers in 2011. They haven't even gotten to a championship game, and they have some pretty big-time players on their team throughout those 14 years.
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And here he comes into the commanders, which a lot of people would deem a mess. And in one year, just one year, one year, one draft, and they are in the NFC championship game 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl.
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Yeah, I guess that's why you should buy an NFL team and not an NBA team to begin with. We'll just start and leave it there. But it really is, though, on a bigger picture, it really is just the difference of the two models, though, and just the difference of the two sports.
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And I think it's one of the reasons that the NFL is king is because you can turn it around and you can turn it around quickly. And that's why so many fan bases go into every April and they go into every offseason with hope.
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And you can sell hope to even franchises that haven't had a lot of wins or a lot of success because all it takes is hitting on a few picks, getting the right coach. And all of a sudden the ball starts rolling in your favor.
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And we can, we've seen how quickly these teams can turn it around once that happens. And, um, This is a great story once again of that happening. So, look, as far as this game, look, we knew the defense for Detroit was still going to be the weaker side of the ball going into this year.
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I'm sure they're going to address it again this offseason in April. And the injury bug, I mean, it bit these guys hard on that side of the ball. And sometimes that's just the way it goes in the NFL. It's unfortunate they lost a lot of key players on that side.
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But they let a rookie and a great rookie, don't get me wrong, this guy's been unbelievable, but they still let a rookie and a roster with way less talent light them up at home as the number one seed. And it was alarming how bad they were on that side of the ball.
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Now, turnovers, of course, big story this whole weekend. And Jared Goff was awful. This is a guy that really was playing at an MVP level during the stretch. There was a point in midseason, Alex, where we were talking about, is Jared Goff a real MVP candidate? I mean, he was playing that good,
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and to see him kind of come unglued, look, he deserves criticism just like all these other quarterbacks. Herbert had to take bullets, and just a minute ago, Lamar had to take some bullets. Jordan Love took bullets. Look, all these guys, they're not going to escape the heat here because these playoff games and these big moments,
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these are legacy games. And for a guy who's been really good, he really didn't show up in a big spot for his team. Now, I'm with you. I don't think Ben Johnson called a very good game. I think he tried to get cute way too much in this game.
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And also to your point, I think they just needed to stick to their identity and run the ball. Because like you said, that's where Washington was weakest this year versus the run. Stick to that run game because it's elite. I didn't like the game plan at all. for the lions.
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And as far as Jane Daniels, look, this guy has been incredible down the stretch. I mean, early on, you're right. Alex, we talked about it. Boomer bus prospect. Cause we thought he's either going to be really good or it's really not going to work. And look, he's been really good. So, I mean, we thought,
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but even with that being said, right, early in the year, we thought, okay, athletic quarterback with some upside. And you had to like what you were seeing. But he's taking things to another level. And the maturity of this kid and the poise, I mean,
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that's the kind of stuff that doesn't really always show up on the scouting report. Over the last 10 games, he's thrown 20 touchdowns, just seven picks. with a 98 passer rating. And those are against some really good teams down the stretch. His ability to just take over in big moments in different ways,
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whether it's with his arm or his legs, I mean, it makes him one of the most dynamic quarterbacks coming out of college that we've seen in a really long time, and quite frankly, maybe ever.
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This is the great thing about the NFL, Brad, that we talk about. Washington had the second overall pick. They had basically essentially gone from worst to first in the NFC because they're sitting here. For them to be in the position that they are, when you get to what happened with Dan Snyder and just the organization,
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not the team, the organization and what came out of that, which eventually led to had a downstream effect to what happened in Vegas and where this whole franchise was, to enter Josh Harris, to enter Magic Johnson, which was, I'm not sure if you saw, but I did see Magic Johnson dapping up every single,
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all 53 or 90 players, however many people were there, coaches, water boys, dapping up every single person as they came into that locker room. To see where this team is now, I know a lot of people, you know, I'll shout out my guy John included, as well as Breezy, where they feel they were destitute.
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Two years ago, they were destitute into where they are now. You've got to be able to sit back and say, wow, what a difference a year makes.
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If you enjoy the podcast, do us a favor and subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Once again, I'm Brad Fowler. He's Alex Higdon. This is Pint Glass Football, and we'll catch you next time.
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