Divisional round of the playoffs coming up, coaching moves everywhere, Harbob about the sign with the Giants.

Chris Sims is with us from NBC PFT with Mike Florio every day of Peacock on the Unbuttoned podcast Football Fight in America.

All that stuff going on, But we start with Verizon.

Chris Sims, your reaction when you saw an SOS and an airplane on your phone yesterday?

No, it was like, I mean, it was a freaking annoying day.

There's a lot of days.

I don't like the phone, right, I hate the phone.

I think it's one of the most annoying inventions in the history of mankind.

It's bringing down mankind, all right.

Mankind is like this.

They don't even look up anymore.

It just walks around like this, or they drive like this, and they just drive and you go, hey, you just ran over a mailbox.

You just killed somebody.

Well, I was texting.

Sorry, it's more important.

So I'm not in favor of the phone.

I fucking hate it, actually, But like, yeah, I had work to do yesterday.

I had interviews I was trying to do and I couldn't do anything.

And then got into a part where you needed navigation and you're like, what the I can't And so I didn't know what was going.

On for a while there.

All I want to do is I want to really make sure at the end of the month that my Verizon bill is one thirty first taken off, right, there's got to be it should be a lesser charge.

You guys fucked up a day and gave me no fucking.

Service, right and cut off phone calls because did you guys.

Have a too where it worked for a little while and.

Then went back off, Rightah, yeah, so that was crazy too.

I'd get on the phone and be like hey, and I was doing some interviews, start the interview, and then it was back off again.

So yeah, that was that was annoying.

I don't have you pouring over the Verizon bill when it comes in to make sure they discounted you.

You have someone to do that for you.

I'm assuming, right, Well, yeah, it's called my wife, all right, that's what she's here for, all right.

But either way, I think my phone is the whatever or the household lead phone, right or the all so it's your name on the I usually get some of the texts that goes thank you for paying the bill, right, and so this week they might get a response when I get that thank you for paying the bill.

Let me make sure that's.

Right, because we might have to call you up and tell you, hey, you're fucking ripping us off.

Mikey A has a conspiracy theory.

I'll let him share it with you.

Go ahead, mikey A.

I believe that the Giants caused the Verizon outage.

I think they knew John Harbaugh had Verizon and they wanted to make sure when he was in the building nobody else could contact it.

Hey, listen, I guess the Titans aren't interested in you.

They're not even calling.

If that is it, man, I love it.

I'm all in on it.

I love it.

It's giants thinking next level.

I like all that.

That's why we buried Jimmy Hoff into the twenty yard line.

We got, we got all the things.

We work it all together here, Okay, up in New York, you know how it goes.

But no, I am super pumped just speaking of that that John Harbaugh is in the next head coach of the New Yet Giants, Like, I can't tell you, I'm ecstatic.

I haven't felt like this in a while, Harbaugh feels like a giant.

He feels like he's made to be a Giants head coach.

He's kind of got that same tough, stoic demeanor like a Parcels or a Tom Coughlin.

So I love that aspect about it.

We needed a.

Coach that had been there, done that, no first time.

We hope it could work right, so he'll get us believe in that way, we got a good young nucleus that he can grow together.

I think there's that aspect.

And then, as I said to like Mike Florio today, I think he sees the game in a giant type of way.

And what I mean by that is like my dad's teams.

In the eighties the early nineties, right, Jim Fossil and some of those teams with Kerry Collins and Michael Strahan and then of course to Tom Coughlin.

The Giants were always famous for being like when they would come on the field, you were like, holy shit, look at the size of the New York Giants.

Oh my gosh, Like huge offensive line.

Well it's Jeremy Shockey or Mark Bavaro at tight end.

WHOA that's their tight end?

WHOA their receiver is Plexico Burress.

Holy shit, he's huge.

Brandon Jacobs is the running back.

Is that a garter running back?

Right, So they've always had that.

And Harbaugh comes from a team that in Baltimore, where I always kind of say with a grin in my face, they pillaged the biggest, baddest motherfuckers on the planet every year, and so that's what I like about that.

And we got a few of them already in New York, so super pumped about that, and then pumped on top of that, which I kind of knew was gonna I mean, I knew Harbaugh was pretty much gonna happen.

I had heard enough and had a goough Inklings.

And the thing I'm most excited about is he's bringing Todd Munkin.

I love Todd Munkin as the OC.

I think it's creative in the past game.

He can be physical and creative in the run game.

He knows how to move the quarterback and use him in the run game, and Jackson Dark can do that.

So good day to be a Giant fan right now, Chris.

Just because we have spoken so much over the land few years, my guess is and spoken about John Harbam.

My guess is one of the things you love most about him, if not the most about him, is his ability to identify good coordinators.

Yeah, that's it, you know, you think about Baltimore, they've been on the cutting edge there, defensive minds, offensive minds, not been afraid to make changes as he has to.

Hey, we got a guy, a quarterback in Lamar that's different than anything we've ever seen before.

Let's get somebody in here that can kind of usher that era in and then it's okay, got stale, It's time to make a move, right.

But I do think he has an eye for the right coaches the defensive side of the ball too.

I mean it's been Wink Martindale and Mike McDonald and people rooted into that scheme, right, So that's where you know it's been special as well.

And then of course being relevant and battle tested, and you know, I know a lot of people are gonna sit here and go, well, gosh, they haven't been able to go get over the hump the last few years.

Ever since he got to a super Bowl.

They're in the playoffs a lot, they've been in the AFC Championship game, but they can't get.

To the Super Bowl.

Yeah, okay.

I mean people talk about it sometimes like it's just like, hey, flip the coin.

Hey I'm in the championship game this year, no problem.

I mean one, let's like context matters.

I'm sick of seeing just blind, stupid, fucking comments like that on social media.

I mean, he had to deal with the greatest dynasty in the history of football, and he was one of the only teams that stood up to them and was like, we ain't scared of you in the Patriots.

And then he got unlucky and had to deal with maybe the second or third gradest dynasty in the history of football as soon as that one ended in the Kansas City Chiefs.

And they're special, so that hasn't necessarily been the easiest thing to overcome.

And you guys know, the AFC has been damn good the last seven or eight years.

It's definitely got all the great quarterbacks.

And that's where I give them a little leeway here for the people that are kind of trying to poop poo.

This whole thing was this unanimous inside the Simms family household.

Everyone has this hired Like I imagine Yale is going Christopher definitely.

Well, we're on a group text with a few friends, like a few of my high school buddies, and they're all excited and they put my dad on the group text, and my dad's excited.

I knew he was excited.

I mean, that's this is what hey, John.

The hardballs are very much in the Sims school of coaching thought.

Right again, it's it's no nonsense, it's ball all the time.

Yea, right.

It feels like exactly it's you know Belichick that way too, that attitude.

Hey, I'm your friend, but I'm not so much your friend that we can sit here and giggle all the time.

I got to be the coach and you know, yell at you and tell you what to do with times too.

So uh, the Giants are still a top notch organization.

And when you couple that together with we got a quarterback, the offensive lines on the right track, and we have a franchise left tackle, and we got MO League neighbors, and hopefully we can keep Wandale Robinson.

And we got the three pass rushers with Dexter Lawrence and some good guys in the secondary, and kao Kee's a good middle linebacker.

There's pieces here with the Giants, where you could go, hey, next year, not saying they'll go to the Super super Bowl, but could they be one of those teams that we go, Wow, the Giants win Week seventeen and eighteen, they can go to the playoffs.

I don't think that would be a shocking revelation at all.

Plus, they have the fifth pick right, exactly.

Right, so you think they'd be able to improve on that.

They're gonna spend a little money, They're gonna bring a little bit of what Harbaugh and envisions is a football team and free agency, right, So all of that plus the bump of energy he's going to bring to the whole fan base, the building, the organization, everything there, that's where I'm super pumped.

Taylor texted it, texted this to me earlier and I didn't bring it up, and I regret not bringing it up.

But you can make an argument today that the Giants have the best quarterback coach combination in the NFC East.

Is that fair?

Oh?

That's it.

I haven't thought about it, Taylor.

I mean Taylor looking like he again yet another day where he's just rolling out of bed right before this, but getting credit for that take contributed a good text at least here, So.

That's a good one.

You know.

It's still I know, you know, and we all know I got my issues with Hurts and and everything he does there, but they still have done some damn good stuff.

Yes, as we know, so's you.

Would take Carball over Sirianni though I know you would.

Well it's a you know, yeah, it's you know, I respect Sirianni a lot.

I do.

I think Sirianni is in an incredibly tough spot, and I do think he's a damn good football coach.

Like I joked with you last week, they didn't hire Sirianni because he's like, hey, I have five plays I want to be the head coach.

I got five of them.

I mean, something's happened.

Come on, everybody connect the dots.

As you know, everybody there in Philadelphia is talking about it now, I mean everybody.

So it's a real thing.

But you know that.

Of course, you know, the Cowboys won.

Dak Prescott is a phenomenal football Playertenheimer, right, And then.

There's I mean, gosh, I don't know if I could say that.

I can't say that Jackson Dard and them are at the top because Dan Quinn, damn he's been in the Super Bowl, and Jayson Daniels is damn good too.

But they never came away from the Super Bowl last ye.

Right, yes, right, right, So they've made it a lot closer and there's a potential there that they can take that lead at the end of next year.

So I'll say that much.

And just for the record, you took my Todd Monkin question.

I had the Todd Monkin question lined up.

Well, sorry, you're too Once you get me rattling on the g men, you can't.

Say no, no, Chris hold On.

The coaching carousel is going on, it's divisional rounds of the playoff, it's coming up.

And all you had was one question about Monkin.

Yeah.

The other question I had, Simms was you're looking at the AFC North Mike Tomlin steps down, Hardball gets fired, Kevin Stefanski gets fired.

How do you think Zach Taylor sitting involved in Cincinnati because it kind of feels like everybody just forgot about him and he's missed the playoffs three straight years, and he's like, I guess I just survived the cycle.

Yeah it is, I mean, yeah, your bingo card like Zach Taylor will be the only coach still standing after the AFC after the year in the AFC North, Like, yeah, I don't know if I would have had that for sure, I can understand it, though.

I do think there is some logic.

I mean, first off, has discussed a million times.

They're not an organization or a family that tends to fire people, and when there's years left on the contract, they're just not into paying people who aren't working for them.

So they're patient that way or whatever else, what other phrase you want to do it with the Zach Taylor thing too, You know, I do think, hey, you go to the Super Bowl, you go to the AFC Championship game, and have the Chiefs on the ropes in a big, big way, right, and you get a kind of a controversial late hit call on Mahomes coming out of bounds, so that kind of changed that game.

But then I think Taylor, the injuries of Joe Burrow are saving him or giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I think that's probably the biggest thing in this whole thing.

He is a damn good coach.

He does a lot.

They play physical, and we see their offense is capable of.

Being really special at times.

They just need to keep Joe Burrow healthy and play cleaner football earlier in the year.

But yeah, I'm not shocked you're still there.

I kind of thought he would still be there, Chris.

If he was fired and John Harbaugh was let go by the Baltimore Ravens, would Harbaugh go to Cincinnati.

Oh that's a good question, which.

Because that has to drive Bengals fans crazy.

If you have one of those kind of coaches out there with that quarterback, you have a shot.

And the Bengals stay with the guy that they have.

You know, you're right, you got you got some pieces you could really have to work on that defense, right.

The offense would be good, but you know the hard part.

Of having a franchise that guy type of quarterback would certainly be there.

Yeah, and you know, from from from everything I know and heard, like Harball was, you know, intrigued by the Atlanta Falcons and by the Tennessee Titans.

Those are the three that came down to.

And I think it comes down to kind of the things we were talking about.

Wait, quarterbacks in place, right, Oh, both places Tennessee and Atlanta got pretty good offensive line there's some pieces on defense.

Tennessee's got maybe the best he tackling football and Simmons.

The Falcons got some guys that are coming up in the ranks where you go, ooh, watch out for them here in the next few years.

So I could see him.

You know, a lot of coaches liking those because I think they're teams that are not far off the Bengals.

Yeah, they would fit that mold too, but but have more work to do than those teams, probably on the defensive side of the ball.

I would have liked to have seen it play out because you have the players that you have t Higgins, you have Chase, you have Joe Burrow, you have the talent, but it's also the Bengals and you don't trust them whatsoever to take care of you and to make the roster better.

That would have been a fascinating decision.

It definitely would have been definitely and you know, and we'll see the dynamics here of Joe Shane, right and what goes on with that at the Giants.

I fully expect Joe Shane is going to be the GM.

Yeah, but there's a part of me that would think he's probably lost a little power.

With John Harball coming to town, I would think that the word on the street was John how John Harboll wanted final say on roster, final say on players and things like that to where Yeah.

He might have that.

In fact, I'd be shocked if he doesn't.

But that doesn't change anything.

And Joe Shane, even if he did, have a little power cut off from it.

Either way, you got a guy here that can coach, and he's the guy, and no.

One's gonna really remember if you win football games, who has final say on the roster.

No one's gonna give a shit.

No one cares because anybody.

Going, Oh Andy Reid's got final say over Brett Veach.

That's the problem.

Like no Kyle Shanahan has final say over John No, we just go They're awesome, they know what they're doing.

And that's the potential.

I hope we can get to with New.

York who has final say.

It's never been discussed or debated or cared about.

Three of the NFL.

You're right, it's.

A lot of just mural in the weeds football talk really and a tight art one it doesn't matter and smart ones go whatever, we've gotta make this work.

So let's work together, and sure you can make the final call.

But here's the two or three guys we all like, Now, let's figure out which is.

The one we want to actually take.

What you will about Joe Shane, but that roster was good enough where John Harbam wanted to come coach it, you.

Know, definitely, definitely, yeah.

I mean Joe Shane had that bad first draft and and some misses me.

You're gonna have missus for sure.

But yeah, he's set up.

This is where I think Harball looks at it and he's going, wait, Malik Neighbors year three, Jackson Dart year two, Right, yeah, there is a Cam Scattabo.

I know he's got the injury.

Well, THEO Johnson.

What do we go in year three or four with him at tight end?

Right?

Andrew Thomas is certainly not an old left tackle.

Dexter Lawrence is just in the prime of his career.

Abdul Carter and Cavon Thibodeau and Brian Burns.

Wow, they're ready in there, about to be in their prime, in their prime already.

So I think he looks at all that.

And goes, wait, and we keep this little nucleus together here.

We can grow something here and I can really build something to stay that has staying power.

And I think that's what's got to be appealing to the coaches out there with the New York Giants.

And that's yeah, I think ultimately why Hardball took the New York Giant job.

Sims, How would you grate Drake May's playoff debut?

Well?

It was not very good, right, I mean, come on, I mean it wasn't CJ.

Stroud esque.

Okay, all right, because CJ.

Stroud clearly was the worst quarterback on playoff week wild Card weekend.

He's also the first quarterback in NFL history and to win a playoff game is first three seasons.

Well, yeah, I've been a fan of CJ.

Stroud, but he's done some head scratching stuff here that season at times where I'm just like, what is going on with him in the game the other night.

I mean, I've never seen a quarterback play that bad or that stupidly and still win a playoff game.

Right.

That just speaks to how awesome that Texans defense is.

This is where with Drake May.

You know, yeah, I respect and love Drake May's like toughness and the ability to block out the pass rush, right, but you can't block it out to such a point where we're just gonna throw the ball and act like nobody's there when somebody's actually pulling on your shoulder right right.

You know, the guys has another hand.

He might hit the ball with the other hand or that.

So I feel like he got a little too relax.

It's playoff football.

The defensive linement are better, the teams you're playing are better, the coaches are better.

Everything there, So you gotta be a little bit more careful.

And he didn't throw the ball all that well, right, you guys saw it.

I mean, I know the season.

This is where stats can lie.

Drake May made a comment after the game and told you he didn't throw the ball all that well.

Even on some of the completions.

The ball was off target a little bit.

But first playoff game, you know, first playoff game anxiousness, and it's his first experience in that.

I would think he's a little bit more comfortable himself this weekend, but he's playing a defense that's a lot better, that's gonna try very hard to make him uncomfortable.

He's playing a defense that Mark Schlayrit Stink said when he watches them, it makes them have diarrhea.

Well, that's how fucking good they are.

They're amazing.

Since does it feel to say something fourteen weeks before everyone else starts talking about it?

Hey, because you've been talking about that defense forever.

Man, Thanks man, I appreciate you saying that.

Yet they've kind of been my team, right they were, And I try to take pride early on in the year to go, wait, this team's not doing that good.

But I'm sitting here like a dork watching film and going, man, there's some things that really like about this football team.

And yeah, I.

Would say about week ten on Football Night in America, I said to Jason Garan Democrats, I'm starting to get vibes of the twenty fifteen Broncos in the twenty thirteen Seahawks with this Texans football team, Like it's just like, we don't care who you are, we're gonna stop you.

The game's gonna be tough and close, it doesn't matter, and we're gonna outhit you.

And so that's what and I do in this era of we favor the offense for everything, I find myself rooting for defensive football team, kind of like bucking the trend and going.

Oh yeah, we're gonna have this rule in this rule to help the team.

He still can't fucking move the ball on us, and they got everything at all three levels.

Yeah, I mean I'm amazed by that.

And then again it's c J.

Stroud.

If he can just play some good quality football this weekend.

I do think of course they can go into New England and upset them.

And I have them upsetting New England twenty to seventeen on the road.

Oh wow.

Teler asked you about Drake May.

I was more focused as I was watching that game unfold on Justin Herbert.

I see the physical talents.

I know how gifted he is.

I know how great the guy could be.

And every year seems like this is going to be the year, and then it's not.

He has to be better in the playoffs, Chris, he just has to.

Yeah, I don't deny that.

And then they got to do better on helping him.

I mean, come on that you talk about getting your ass whoop, right, I mean, holy crap, I don't care that was a game where you go I don't care whose quarterback you can bring John Elway in his prime.

You know, Mahomes Rogers in their prime.

It doesn't matter.

That felt like a game like I was watching Daniel Jones with the New York Giants three years ago, where I was like, set hut duck duck whoa, holy cow, whoa he he just got the ball off before he was murdered.

I mean it was amazing that way.

I feel bad for the Chargers because their team was built around their offensive line, and of course that was beat the shit, so that was the first thing that hurt them.

I do think they need another scary weapon on both sides of the ball.

Right, there's no front seven guy with the Chargers on defense that you go ooh, we got a game plan around him.

And on the offensive side of the ball, there's really no receiver or anybody you go ooh, watch out.

So I do think they need a little bit more of that and the other thing I'll do.

And I think this is why you saw this is when you watch their offense, you don't go wow, right, And I think that's why Greg Roman was fired.

Yeah, there was some good run game ideas and all that, but the pass game, you know, is not the most creative and watching that game back against the Patriots too.

Man, some of the route patterns and what they did.

I want to be like, you thought this was going to get open against the Mike Rabel defense, Like it's third and nine and we're all going to go to the ten yard mark and just do a crow route, like you thought that was gonna get it done against Mike fucking Rabel.

And so that's where, you know, I don't know if they always gave him the right opportunities to really show what he can Doce to Gods, I'm still a believer.

I still am a believer, but they got to help him out a little bit.

Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, has he done he should be?

I think he is.

I mean, yeah, you know, you guys know I love Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Rodgers eyes.

I always say in his prime, I'm not sure he wasn't the greatest quarterback I've ever seen in my life.

Right, Any quarterback that I've ever talked to, Josh Allen Mahomes, Joe Burrow, they'll all tell you that Aaron Rodgers was the idol growing up watching him as well.

Right when I had my Bleacher Report podcast, Simson Lefko back in the day, I used to ask everybody, right, if I had fifty defensive players over a three year period, come on the podcast.

I'd go, who's the best player you played against?

But I couldn't even get the answer out of my question, and people got Aaron Rodgerson.

Aaron Rodgers is unreal.

It's on.

It was always like, holy crap.

We had one player whoever, said Tom Brady, it was Vince Wolfork, so you could there was a little bias there, right, so, but that's how amazing he was.

But he's not that anymore.

I mean, he's forty two.

This is why I didn't think they had any chance against Houston the other night, was because it's too hard to play dink and dunk football and think you're gonna win.

This is it's a new age.

Completion percentage is not Nobody gives a shit anymore.

All the guys you see winning the playoffs are making plays.

Nobody went back after the Bears game and went, you know, Caleb Williams completion percentage wasn't very good.

I want to go, na, the completions he made absolutely changed the fucking game.

That's what matters.

That's what matters, and yeah.

I just think his unwillingness to stand in the pocket and make throws down the field and do all that.

I'd like to see him retire.

It's been a great career.

At the time has come.

Did I see on your socials that you said that was the greatest the fourth and eighth pass that Caleb made was the greatest pass in playoff history.

It's one of them.

It's one of them, right, I mean, yeah, well, yeah, I mean he's but that right there in the moment.

It's fourth and three, and then we get a penalty, and now it's fourth and eight, and it's oh no, we didn't block blitzing middle linebacker.

And then he's got to run to his left, run to his left, turn his body.

Then he knows, oh no, he's gonna get my ankles and trip me up.

And he jumps in the air and throws a thirty yard corner route or a crossing route, and where he had to throw a dot because Cassine Kashawn Kayshawn Nixon, right, he's gonna undercut it if he just throws it right into a done Day's chest.

So he throws it up and over him.

I mean, it's up there.

That's all I'm saying, right.

I mean, we've seen Aaron Rodgers on the sideline to Jared Cook and the Cowboys game, you know, Montana Clark in the back of the end zone to win it back in the day.

Those type of throws.

I'm just saying it's in that category as far as one of the biggest throws I've seen in playoff history.

It felt like you were asking us how to pronounce that name, and I don't know.

So, yeah, I think I can't pronounce kay Shaw.

Don't ask me either.

I'm the worst.

I butcher English language more than anybody.

Since I want to go back to the Steelers for a second job security aside, if Rogers leaves and now Tomlin's going.

Is that a good job?

Like looking at that roster, looking at what they've got, it's a weak quarterback class and you're picking in the twenties.

Anyway, I would say what makes it a good job is their loyalty.

That's a sure, But I don't love it, Mike.

Yeah, I mean the job is great because it's the Steelers and they're a nationwide brand, right, and the loyalty and it's an organization that we know it runs at a top Knoch function, so that's positive.

Coaches are gonna like that.

But Mike, Yeah, I tend to be where you are in that convo.

Like, I don't think it's in the same category as the Giants or the Ravens, or, like I said, the Titans or the Atlanta Falcons.

I would put all four of those over the Pittsburgh job.

I mean the Pittsburgh job.

The quarterback situation.

Like you mentioned, Okay, we got DK Metcalf, we don't really have another receiver, right.

Yeah, offensive line is good.

You get to the defensive side of the ball and you go, wait, I mean secondary is not very good.

Middle linebacker plays not been anything special.

Cam Hayward, We're down to what maybe one more year, right TJ.

Watt, who's still really damn good, but on the down slope of his career.

Yeah, there's a lot of holes to be filled and a team that feels like it needs to get younger.

And I feel like that's probably part of why Mike Tomlin walked away.

Not only is he probably exhausted of eighteen years and just needs a break and whatever, but he's probably looking at it going, wait, we made some moves this offseason.

But we just got too many.

We got too many spots where we got to put a band aid over.

We got to actually kind of like rip things down a little bit, take a step back to go two steps forward.

So yeah, I don't think it's up there, mike Ya.

I'm with you, Chris.

What would you do if you're Philadel what do you do with AJ Brown?

Oh?

Trade him?

He's got to be gone.

I think that's just over.

I would be shocked if he's back, right, I mean this is I came on here and told you I thought they should have traded him during the trade deadline.

He did, right.

I was like, why, I mean you went four and oh and you didn't throw him the ball to start the year the season, like so you know, get out in front of it.

And I think they knew that he was a little disgruntled.

I feel bad for AJ Brown in a lot of ways.

First off, like people say, oh, he had four drops last week.

I'm gonna go May had two.

The other two will be like, oh my gosh, I can't believe he caught that.

So like we got to people love the pile on and I think a J.

Brown and some of the stuff he said, you know, to the media about the offense.

Again, I think he was speaking for the locker room a little bit, because, as you've heard me say, I think the whole locker room was like, wait, everybody's getting blamed except the guy that needs to get blamed.

And I think A.

J.

Brown tried to say that along was saying, We're not going to win playoff games to get to the super Bowl if we continue to play like this, and so yeah, I think that that relationship's probably over because it's just put too much pressure on the situation in general.

Steve Gott's here.

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Do you love Philadelphia going after day ball as the offensive coordinator because I did.

I think it's well, yeah, I do.

Listen, I would take that job over the Tennessee head coaching job.

I'll tell you, all right, Well I hear you.

I mean that's a one where it's like you can strike gold or you could have egg on your face.

I think offensive play callers are going to think twice a little bit about going to Philadelphia, which is crazy, but I do because again, the league knows all the things that you've heard me say about Jalen Hurts.

They know, right, you're hearing it again.

Lashawn McCoy just said it this week.

I heard another Philly Beat writer, right, Lashawn McCoy.

I saw him on one of his Instagram videos and he was going.

I made some calls, I did some digging, and all I kept hearing was Jalen Hurts doesn't want more offense, he doesn't want new schemes, he doesn't want to do this, he doesn't want to do that.

When he does do something in practice, he doesn't do it out on the practice the game field.

So you know, again, those are real.

That's what I've been trying to tell everybody really for about a year and a half.

And it's a problem.

And that's not going to embolden anybody.

Kellen Moore, right, he got a head coaching job with there.

They didn't do shit on offense last year, right.

I mean, this is where it's crazy, and this is where I don't think people realize the passing offense last year going to the Super Bowl was worse than this year, except you just didn't have Saquon Barkley running for two thousand yards, so there's more of a spotlight on it.

Right, Last year they were the worst passing offense to ever win a Super Bowl, and Kellen Moore couldn't even run his offense and got to a head job in New Orleans, and that offense already does more than what he did in Philadelphia.

So you tell me right there, right, And that's where I'll be interested to see who goes there and takes on this job.

They have to have a sit down conversation with Jalen Hurts at some point to go, hey, like, we have the most talented offense in football, but even with that, we can't win consistently running this limit of a playbook.

We can't this with.

Something's got to change, And hey, Jalen, it's gonna help you.

You're gonna look better, We're all gonna look better.

Blah blah blah.

They got to do that at some point because it's too hard to operate the way they're functioning.

SAMs.

I look at the NFL media in two groups, the Stu Goatsa's of the world, who say the only thing that matters is the quarterback position, and then the Chris simms Is of the world, who are like, Hey, that other group, they're a bunch of idiots.

It's a lot more than the quarterback position.

But the Nuance group, Yes, if the Bills.

Keep on winning SIMS, that feels like a massive win for the Stu Gottses of the world.

Yeah, I hear you that.

I mean, it is, it is and we understand, you know, I understand how important a quarterback is.

I just don't like it.

And I the Stugats's of the world aren't wrong, I just don't like it.

Sometimes when the quarterback gets the blame and I'm gonna go, wait, but the rest of the team is shit, like we really think he's gonna be able to cover all this up just for that right, or sometimes it goes overboard the other way.

The quarterback gets all this credit and I go, like, if Jalen hurts in certain years, and I go, it's an all star team, Like they can't even complete a pass and we're going, hey, he's awesome.

Look at their offense.

So it just there's no one between there, and that's where I just try to bring it back.

I of course understand importance of quarterback and all that.

The Bills.

Here's the big thing the Bills won.

Their offensive line really gives Josh Allen a chance no matter who they play against, because they can protect.

And they can at least keep you on its defending.

The running the football at the very least defensively, they've been better than I've given them a credit for.

I think that's the big thing.

They're The way they've.

Covered in the secondary, I think has been the part that I didn't think they were capable of, and they have proved me wrong in that department right there.

So with that, and then you play a Denver team where we know is not awesome on offense.

Right they're a little bit of a roller coaster as well and not a well oiled machine.

Yeah, I give them a chance.

And then you talk about playoff football in a game like this, where you go it's gonna come down to just a few plays, I'm gonna go with the guy that I see make those few plays almost all.

The time, right all the time.

And the greatest player left in the playoffs is Number seventeen for Buffalo.

I'm taking the Bills twenty four to twenty one on the road here.

But I hear what you're saying, Taylor.

I do.

But there's also another side of the story where I'd go, hey, look at that team in Houston.

Their quarterback literally tried to throw the game and lose it, and they still won because of what the team.

So it's just it's a good combo and I'd like to try to remind people of it sometimes.

Sims on my team, do you know has the C on his chest on your team?

Yeah, the captain Taylor.

I mean, it's Taylor.

He's the captain of my fucking team.

And with that being said, Trevor Lawrence, is he good?

Oh?

I know, man, right, all that work, all the good stuff he did, and it kind of like the things we were like, oh, I think he's wiped us away.

He's in the zone.

It kind of bubbled up now.

I mean the first interception was really bad, right, That was bad to start the game and give the Parables short field, right.

Yes.

Equally as bad was him tripping over his feet on the fourth down where they go, Yes, it's it's what was it seven to three, and you're like, if they score a touchdown right here and go up fourteen to three, the Bills are gonna feel tremendous pressure and have to play a game that they don't want to play where they're gonna have to drop back all the time and hope Josh Allen can just carry the team.

And then it's like Jacksonville can rush the back.

But so that's where they dropped the ball.

Really, it was that early part of the game where you went they were controlling the game.

They looked like they were the better team in the field.

They kind of let Bills get their equilibrium back, and then they let mister Bazuka Arms start to get in a little rhythm and then he started throwing piss missiles all over the football field.

And when that starts to happen, watch out.

If you told Bazuka Arm he would be Bo Nicks and Drake May away from the Super Bowl, he would have taken it before the season.

Man, yeah, I hear that.

Well, don't forget about the Houston Texas too.

Don't count go and cancel them out right right.

Taylor said this earlier.

I feel like we're disrespecting the Broncos and no one.

Believes it all.

I know, you know I feel that way too a little bit.

I thought about that as I was writing down notes and picking the game last night.

I was like, damn, but with Denver, Hey, it's a match up league, right, it's a matchup league.

I think the first thing that scares me a little bit is the inconsistencies on offense.

Like we've talked about, They've had a lot of games where you go, wait, they didn't really play that all that well, or they only played for two quarters.

It's very rare to see a number one seed really go through a year and not really have one dominant win other than at home against Dallas right as the only game.

So that's odd to go like, hey, they were the best team in that league.

They never really dominated anybody all year.

But they're the number one seed.

So I think that gives at least a guy like me cold feet a little bit.

And then the matchup itself, Like I told you about the Bill's defense versus the Broncos offense, the other side of that is, hey, I know the Broncos defense is awesome, right, I don't think it's as awesome as the Texans, but it's the next team down.

With the Seattle Seahawks.

Where I go, Yeah, they got a good pass rush, I know that, But Buffalo's strength is protecting the passer.

They're really good in that department right at times.

Denver to me, can play too aggressive.

Where I go, you're too good to have to take this chance or do this, and within that right, I hope they don't over blitz.

We'll see.

Jacksonville, I thought sent too many five man pressures last week because they were worried about Josh Allen scrambling and buying time or just running and making a play.

But what happened with that?

Send extra guys on pressure?

WHOA, there's big holes down the field and he found them.

So I feel like Buffalo's offense matches up with a really good Denver defense too, So we'll see where that goes.

I think it's a nail bier, and I do think the pressure is on Broncos being at home.

They're supposed to win.

They're the one seed, right and the Bills have played a lot of playoff football, gonna be ready to go.

So that's where I'm just favoring them a little bit, all.

Right, Sims, I'm Looking at stats Matthew Stafford's last ten games outdoors in the rain or snow, He's one to nine, sixteen touchdowns, eleven interceptions.

Current forecast for Sunday's game in Chicago fifty five percent chance of snow twenty degrees.

Whether when you combine that with maybe injuring his hand against Carolina, do the Bears have a chance to upset the Rams here?

Yeah?

I do think so, right, you know, And I think, like, if it's just cold and windy, I don't think anything's gonna affect either one of these quarterbacks.

I mean, these two right right, they got they got they got rifles for arms.

So I mean, I'm not worried about that.

If it gets sloppy, okay, but that that's where you worry about it.

Where if okay, now it's snow, now the ball is wet, now people are slipping.

We'll see with that.

You know, the Rams are they're not built to play that kind of football, and that's probably what some of the reasons lead to the record you're talking about whatever else.

But I still don't I don't look at them like as a soft West Coast team.

I don't.

We saw them last year in the.

Snow in Philadelphia, they were marching down to upset the Eagles.

I mean it was like, oh my god, they're gonna beat the Eagles.

This is incredible.

So when he can handle that environment, and I think this is gonna be the most fun game of the weekend, because, right, you know, the Bears defense isn't very good.

I'd be shocked if the Rams don't have their way and move the ball up and down the field.

The Rams defense is not real good either, Right, they have some playmakers, they can create some chaos up front and do all that.

But do I think the Bears might be able to run the ball on them a little bit?

Yeah?

I do.

And the other thing that bothers me with the Rams is they play a lot of zone, a lot of zone defense.

And when you.

Play a good quarterback and a good offensive coordinator like Ben Johnson, if you just overly play zone, zone, zone, they're gonna find little ways to spread that zone out and get a guy to sit in a soft spot and do all that.

So, you know, if Kleb Williams is sharp in the drop back pass game like he was in the second half last week, then I go, man, we're gonna have some sort of shootout and it's gonna be a lot of fun to watch.

Who do you like there?

I took the Rams, Okay.

I think the Rams are a better football team in totality.

I worry about that Bears defense.

Like I said, I don't know if I think they can stop the Rams.

They're gonna have to play for we can turn the ball over and do that.

I took Rams thirty eight twenty seven.

I know that's an eleven point spread, but I kind of looked at it like, you know, it's thirty five twenty seven and they get a late field goal to kind of put the game away.

That rat pack of coaches, and you're friends with one of them, Kyle Shanahan, who's done a tremendous job, but Lafleur McVeigh, Shanahan.

They don't like Ben Johnson, right, They just flatly don't like.

Him, right, they don't like who Ben Johnson?

Yeah, he's fucking annoying to that.

I like, first off, how you added like a French accent, right, Barnell?

But he wins something.

But listen, I've said I said this.

I don't think I said this to you guys, Shanahan and Ben Johnson are are very similar, very similar.

Like I feel like Ben Johnson's southern version of Shanahan.

It's our attitude, offensive genius, like he really is.

They're like brothers from another mother.

Edge they have, like I don't know, maybe Kyle's not quite as edgy as Ben Johnson to where he'd run across the field like a psycho and do that, but he's still a psycho nonetheless, you know, I don't And I would think McVeigh has great respect for him too, right, you know, Ben Johnson just he likes it.

He likes fuel in the fire, he likes He's like, you're a rival.

Fuck you, you're a rival.

I don't care.

I'm old school.

I want to hate you.

Because I feel better getting ready to play you when.

I hate you.

But he called them like Nepo babies at one point.

I yeah, He's said a lot of crazy stuff.

It is crazy.

I love it, right, And I don't even know if there's a route to this other than that.

Ben Johnson just like they're their arrivals and I'm going to make sure they stay our rivals, which is also insane.

On top of that, I don't think there's anything personal there.

Yes, speaking of your boy Kyle Shadann, who should be coach of the Year.

He's done such a great job.

And they might get Fred Warner back.

But I think the team.

Tell me, if you agree with this, the team and the player that has the most pressure on them this weekend.

Maybe it's Josh Allen, but I think it's Seattle.

I think Seattle and Sam Darnald because you have a banged up Niners team coming in there, flying across the country again to take on the Seahawks, and the Seahawks.

Are at home, and I think Seattle has a ton of pressure on them.

Yeah, I hear you.

I mean I don't think you're wrong with that, you know, and then then the Sam Donald factor, like you're talking about.

Yeah he one week eighteen.

We know that, but it was still one of those games where you were like, wait, they won thirteen to three.

There was opportunities there.

I mean, you heard the head coach in Shanahan at halftime go, I'm just glad we're dumped down by ten points because he knew they should have been down by twenty, right, So they're going to take advantage of those opportunities here in the playoffs to put teams away to where they can't come back or make something happen.

I'm with you, I expect Seattle to win.

Right.

Seattle is clearly the more physically talented football team Seattle.

If you asked me and rank the defenses in the playoffs right now, you know Houston's won, but I would make Seattle two and Denver three.

I mean, Seattle's got it all.

They really do speed, physicality.

I did a full breakdown of the Week eighteen matchup on my pod on Tuesday, or it might have been the Wednesday pod of that game, and I mean I wrote in my notes at one point, like the wow, the forty nine ers got a first down, Like it feels like it's a victory for them.

To get a first down.

And then I wrote underneath it, I've never said that about a Kyle Shanahan offense never.

I mean it was it was like whoa hoo man, Okay, they got a first down.

Let's let's see what they can do here.

I mean it was crazy.

I mean it was a total domination.

And what's crazy about Seattle is they don't have to be super creative.

They just sprinkle in a little third down magic every now and then or something like that.

But they're kind of play like, hey, we're playing simple, basic coverages.

We're so good, fuck you, you still can't beat us.

And I love that attitude about them.

I think they're going like this.

I think they're going like this.

I'm gonna say, see wins this game twenty seven to seventeen.

I'm gonna say they control the forty nine ers.

PFT with Mike Florio every day on Peacock the Unbuttoned podcast as well Football Night in America.

Final question here, I think the most important hire this offseason is going to be who Baltimore hires as its next head coach, because that team is obviously close, and you have that quarterback who's twenty nine years old, who's two years removed from forty one touchdowns at four interceptions.

Who would you hire if you were running the Baltimore Ravens.

Yeah, it's a tough one here.

I mean, you know, I do love Jesse Minner, right, and a lot of people do Chris.

I mean, and he's from the Baltimore Ravens defensive coaching tree of Mike McDonald and Wink Martindale and all those guys.

Right, he was up in Michigan, right, those guys were two, right, It's all it's all connected there.

I do look at Brian Flores and go, gosh, does he not feel like he'd be the greatest Ravens coach ever?

I mean, he feels like he could be out there playing middle linebacker for him, let alone coaching the team.

So be a good Steelers right right?

But those so those are two that I really look at that I go would embody the the raven way.

But within that too, as we know, it's going to be really important to get the right offensive guy in there too, and and and so yeah, I think I favor those guys because I don't know if there's an offensive guy that I really love.

Other than Mike McDaniel out there.

And what I would say to Mike McDaniel is, just don't go take any head coaching job just to take a head coaching job, right, Don't do that because the next one you get is the last one you're going to get, right, and you know you got to make it work or go to a place and be an awesome offensive coordinator and get your stock up again to where now you're back into I can pick wherever I want to go in this coaching cycle, and you can really pick the best of those situations for yourself.

But yeah, I tend to think those two defensive guys for Baltimore.

So I meant to tell you that we miss Billy so much and voice and his opinions and his picks.

That Taylor offered to pay Billy to do a cameo to make picks for a wild Court weekend and Billy rejected his money, and how about that?

Wow, Yeah, that's unbelievable crazy.

I mean, your money's not good enough for him?

Is that that is?

He texted me back, But he texted me back said I'm not doing for you.

I mean, I haven't seen Billy in forever.

I mean what I mean, I can't even believe the way he left.

I'm just I'm offended.

I really he bailed on us.

It's unbelievable.

He's never text to say goodbye nothing.

And somehow spin making my fault.

It's unbelievable.

It's crazy.

And Sims.

If you turn on Netflix and you put on the Ring or NFL show, right Billy right there?

Does he miss that show like he used to miss this show to go to like, oh he likes them, Oh, he likes them.

He doesn't go like, I'm gonna go hang out in a parking garage and look at Marlin's players come out of a building or like what I mean some of the ship he did, right, I'm gonna go watch the worst baseball team ever do this today.

I Oh, I flew up here to watch you know, an ex Marlin U up in Detroit, and I missed the show.

Like what?

Like he had some of the dumbest shit excuses I've ever seen.

The miswork.

It's unbelievable.

I also noticed he took your jersey down for that show.

Oh did he really?

I'm not on there anymore.

Yeah, no, I don't see.

I mean, keep it up there forever.

Check to see if I got his number.

I gotta I gotta got some words for him.

I need to get him straight.

Is the first one?

Fuck?

Of course, they're all fun.

Might be the first two or three really.

All right, but get out of here.

Enjoy the football this weekend, because you know, depression sets it right after this weekend because you're staring at pitchers of gadgers.

We'll be on the field in Chicago, you know, for that game, so you'll see me there Sunday night, freezing my ass off.

Right, it's gonna be I think.

They're saying eighteen degrees gonna feel like five.

I mean it's it's gonna look real football weather.

So I'm excited about that.

You have a Kalable throw it like it's seventy three degrees and on a cloud.

This guy and.

Stafford, it's gonna be missiles all over the field.

I'm not worried about them.