Rams, Bengals, Brady, McDaniels, and Madness | The MMQB NFL Podcast

Rams vs. Bengals Super Bowl, what is happening with Tom Brady? And Josh McDaniels to the Raiders, plus other head coach hires.

Super Bowl LVI is set, and Conor and Gary break down everything that happened in the conference title games. In the NFC, how Raheem Morris dialed up the right blitz at the right time—again—to put away the 49ers on an otherwise off night for the Rams. Plus, the likely end of the Jimmy Garoppolo era, and how Kyle Shanahan basically maxed out this team.

In the AFC, never pick against the Bengals again. How the Cincy defense foiled Patrick Mahomes with three- and four-man rushes, and how Joe Burrow had enough magic to pull out another unlikely win.

Plus, a look at the post–Tom Brady Bucs in light of retirement reports, and a run down of the coaching hires: Josh McDaniels to the Raiders, Brian Daboll to the Giants, Matt Eberflus to the Bears and Nathaniel Hackett in Denver.

Have a comment, critique or question for a future mailbag? Have a question for the show? Email themmqb@gmail.com or tweet at @GGramling_SI or @ConorOrr.

The following is an automatically generated transcript from The MMQB NFL Podcast. Listen to the full episode on podcast players everywhere or on SI.com.

Gary Gramling: Hello and welcome to the MMQB NFL Podcast, I'm Gary Gramling

Conor Orr: And I'm Connor Orr.

Gary Gramling: Connor, we have Super Bowl participants. We have head coaches in new places. We have Tom Brady, uh, maybe retiring, probably retiring. We'll get them all that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but we are going to start with the Sunday conference championship games. And, uh, let's, uh, let's start out in LA here with the Rams 49ers game. And, uh, the ending was, I dunno, perfect. That isn't the word, but, uh, it was a day where the Rams pass rush. Wasn't really, there also, maybe didn't really have a chance to get there because they just weren't on the field that much. But, uh, they really just took over the last two possessions and they also took over because of things that Raheem Morris was doing.

Conor Orr: Okay. So, uh, let's go back to the Cardinals game where they beat the Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs, in that, to the blitz that he designed for the Kyler Murray pick-six, he had Aaron, Donald as sort of a decoy. So he had like three offensive linemen, just not blocking anybody worried about Aaron Donald. He had a defensive tackle taking up two spaces, and then he had his Blitzer and Von Miller, both singled up. Brilliant. Uh, and then tonight, Against Jimmy Garappolo key play the game, both Aaron, Donald, and Von Miller singled up and his, he had a late Blitzer there that drew, uh, two 49er blockers. How does that happen? I don't know how that continually happens, but if you're the offensive lineman, I understand you have emergency rules for blitzes where you're like, okay. Inside guy or whatever, but how does that keep happening? I don't know. Like, these are just like the two guys, like if you walked into, like, the 49ers are meant to be like, just don't let these two guys in the backfield, here's the two.

Gary Gramling: But that was it, man. And, and that's why I kind of, uh, said perfect. And then walked it back. Cause I just don't have a very wide vocabulary. But, uh, you had those two guys, and Leonard, Floyd was just all in Jimmy Garoppolo's face on that final play. And uh, that's how this one ended. And yet it was. It was a weird game. It really was such, such a strange game because, uh, if the 49ers were gonna win this game, it was kind of like, okay, well, you know, it's, it's gonna be like a, that Monday night game in, in Santa Clara earlier this year, you know, they're going to be more physical. It's going to be a big Eli Mitchell game, a big Deebo Samuel game. Really outside of that third-quarter touchdown drive. There just, wasn't a whole lot of sustained offense here for the 49ers. And yet, because the Rams kept on moving into scoring, uh, basically scoring range and coming away empty. This ended up being a game that the 49ers led late and we're probably a dropped interception away, from winning.

Conor Orr: Yeah. I mean, it's hard. It's hard to put this well, let's back up. I think that we saw. Um, why everybody copies Kyle Shanahan's scheme, why everybody wants to run the team, essentially like the 49ers are running their team and, you know, kind of copying the organizational alignment and all that stuff. And I think we also saw, and this is not an indictment of Jimmy Garoppolo. I think he is. He's Jimmy Garappolo right. And you know what you're going to get with him. But I think we also saw the reason why Kyle Shanahan eventually wants to pivot to a mobile quarterback. You know, a guy that can pick up stuff with his legs. And I just think that there were just so many occasions where I think just even Mahomesnot who is not the fastest guy, even someone to give you that I think would have diversified the game plan a lot, but especially a guy who could do zone-read consistently, but also like throw the ball and, and be active in the pocket too. I, think once Lance has caught up, I mean, the 49ers are gonna really start torching people, but I think we saw that like, you know, this is still a good team. It's a really well-coached team, you know, I think. They were taken to their limits this year. Like the 49ers overachieved, I think in a lot of, in a lot of respects. And so, you know, I don't know what you guys really get upset about. I mean, are you really gonna, you know, be all frustrated about a Jaquiski Tartt dropped interception, you know, I mean, that's kind of a break, a break of the game.

Gary Gramling: The one Shanahan decision that is coming under some level of criticism, I guess, was the punt on fourth and two, uh, in the fourth quarter that sort of proceeded the Tartt dropped interception. And, uh, you know, I think this does come back to Jimmy Garoppolo and, and when I say it. If you isolate the clip, it sounds like a criticism of Jimmy Garappolo, it's not, um, Jimmy Garappolo is not a quarterback who you can trust in the same way that Brandon Staley would trust Justin Herbert or Zac Taylor would trust Joe Burrow or Andy Reid would trust, uh, uh, Patrick Mahomes et cetera, et cetera. Um, that is your quarterback. It's a highly schemed offense. The way you are going to convert that first down is by some sort of, you know, schematic advantage. Yeah. I thought Shanahan threw his best punch on third down. They, they ran that tendency breaker, uh, you know, that Trent Williams motion, uh, to, to the right side the formation where he just, um, you know, he, he basically, uh, destroys the entire right side of the world and you run in behind it and you get, uh, eight yards or whatever. And, you know, they, they, they knew everyone knew about that. They figured the Rams would, uh, would overreact to the Williams motion. They didn't, they stayed home. They, they made the play. You know, we, we kind of lose track when we sort of say, okay, well, what does, what is the, what do the numbers say? What are the analytics say in this situation? If you don't have the play and you don't have the quarterback who you can just sort of say, okay, well I'll put the ball in his hands and he'll, he'll do it. He'll make the play. Uh, you really it's maybe not a great, uh, uh, The chance to, to go for it at that point, I didn't mind the punt at all.

Conor Orr: No, I didn't either. And you know what I love though, uh, Trent Williams, uh, if you watch that play in slow motion, so it's not just, it's not just a typical like motion or like jet motion, right. If you watch all the. If you watch all the 49ers players, all their tight ends, especially when it's a running play like that. There, they arch their motion in order to get a little extra velocity going at the line of scrimmage. And it's so cool. Like they just kill people with that. Um, and it's just, it's super awesome. And I just love it and I think that'll be like watching next year, every single team in the NFL is going to be teaching that this off-season. They're all going to run that, that sort of arched motion sort of getting them more, uh, leverage at the line of scrimmage. But, um, yeah, I. Not that I saw this, but I can anticipate the complaint that like, well, why wouldn't you have just stuck Trey Lance out there and run zone-read because you could have picked up the first down. I mean, Trey Lance was really not that great in short-yard, critical, short-yard situations during his starts this year. So like, If you're Kyle Shanahan, you run the best rush, rushing offense in the league. And like you said, you're sitting there, your pockets are dry. And you're saying, boy, I don't know. I mean, you know, what else can we do here? Just punt the ball. I mean, you know, do like assume that you're just playing clock control football at this point. You know, I see no problem with that.

Gary Gramling: And it's not, it's not like the Rams at any point really, uh, just took off on him and, you know, it's amazing. I'm looking at the box score now and it's like, wow, Matthew Stafford threw for 337? Uh, that felt like a real like C minus performance from him in this game. And, uh, I guess that says something about our expectations of him and, and how well he played this season when things are going well for the Rams. But, uh, yeah, I, you know, again, it, it just, the entire game felt like such a slog and the 49ers pass rush was winning, uh, at the line of scrimmage against the Rams offensive line for basically the third time this season you just expect, you can get a stop at some point in the fourth quarter, and they did.

Conor Orr: Yeah, really strange. Um, and I would say, I mean, maybe more so than the fourth-down call, I mean, the delay of game penalty I thought was the biggest was the backbreaker in that really? I mean, you push Jimmy Garappolo into first and 15, or was it? I think it was first and 15th. First down, you push them back to first and 15 situations. You're removing all sensible. Run calls from the playbook right there. And then that's when you can start pinning your ears back. That's when you can activate the full force of the pass rush. And that's really what they were looking for, but just an invitation because what the 49ers do well is they just condense possessions, right. They make second. More attainable. They make third down, more attainable for themselves, you know, and they're just not, you know, they're not worried about getting it all in one in one fell swoop. And so I think it was, you know, I think that was the ultimate kind of backbreaker for them. And I'm actually like, you know, that's what surprises me more than anything, right? Is you have the coach, you have the quarterback, you know, uh, it was sort of a neutral field, even though like the Rams were running silent, count more than the 49ers were so it's like, get the ball off, you know. Th that, that one really kind of blew me away.

Gary Gramling: It was, and that was the second down. So that pushing back second, and 15, which, uh, um, was pretty devastating. But, uh, yeah, you're absolutely right, because look, you saw a couple of Deebo Samuel runs where it was kind of like, ah, this isn't going anywhere like, oh, okay. You broke a tackle and now it's a six-yard gain, and now you're in third and four. Um, and that sort of goes out the window at that point. And, uh, yeah, they, I mean, look, they, they didn't go anywhere on their last two possessions. so, that's a that's the way it goes. I think it is Trey Lance time, uh, next season. And, uh, I think Jimmy Garappolo is still a starter somewhere in the league. And I look, what do you think? I, I was thinking they could trade like a fourth-rounder for him.

Conor Orr: I think it'll be the, uh, the very sexy and very trendy, like conditional forth. Yeah. I mean, you know, maybe like a third and a fifth, right? A third this year and then like a fifth next year.

Gary Gramling: I thought there was a point in December where you could, you could argue, you could get maybe a two. The for him uh, I think that's sort of whenever it was just, it was too Rocky, a postseason, and I hate to, you know, emphasize the three games sample size. But, uh, you know, if, if you, if you're bringing in a quarterback, you want a guy you can trust in a playoff game. And, uh, I don't think Kyle Shanahan ever completely got there. Uh, you know, and again, we're talking when we say trust and we're talking in the way that like, you know, you trust a star quarterback in this league and Garappolo is just not there. He's, he's a pure system guy and he fits that system well,

Conor Orr: Yeah, no, I agree. I'm also randomly in the Jimmy Garoppolo file just for my notes. Uh, there was like. Something happened, there was like a penalty called and, uh, Aaron Donald came up with the football and he just like walked right up to Jimmy. Like nobody mentioned this, they didn't spotlight it on the broadcast. But he just walks right up to Jimmy Garappolo and kind of goes like, he's going to hand it to him and then just throws it on the ground and then Jimmy Garoppolo just like put his hands up like, what was that you Dick? You know, and it was really funny. I really enjoyed that. Nobody, uh, no respect for Jimmy Garappolo. And the horrendous timing of the Fox broadcast, where I think they put like a Deebo Samuel is Jimmy Garappolo tweet on the screen, like right before he made some sort of horrendous play.

Gary Gramling: Well, it kind of led them into that Nick Scott hit, which people get on foot, but also that's, that's kind of the offense. If you throw that many in-breaking routes, it's gonna happen. Uh, everything's between the numbers there. Th that's, that's a risky run, uh, constantly, no matter how, no matter who your quarterback is, but man, Nick Scott laid him out -perfectly legal hit.

Conor Orr: Unlike the Jimmy Ward hit, which was terrible and, uh, not good. And this is like the third time he's done that this year, by the way. I think I remember Davante Adams one earlier in the season that was. That was gross during a primetime game. Uh, and so like, it's just stuff you can't do, you know, you can't get delay of game penalties. You can't whack a guy in the helmet to helmet and helmet to helmet. I understand. Uh, and I've tried to be more way more understanding of, because even though we are the Monday morning quarterback, like, uh, I'm not gonna speak for you, Gary athletically, I don't want this podcast to be, you know, two guys in their thirties being like, oh, this is, this was a terrible thing. And I understand, I understand the bang-bang nature of helmet to helmet, but that was. That was egregious. That was bad. That was you wanting to inflict damage and just kind of losing your cool for a second.

Gary Gramling: Yup. I, uh, I thought it was ejection worthy. Um, you know, it's always kind of a bummer when you eject a guy in the fourth quarter, of a tie playoff game. But, uh, that was, I think that rose to that level and in a regular-season game, it probably would be.

Yeah, there, there you go. Rams are going to the Super Bowl. They won this game. Uh, I thought it was kind of a, again, sort of a C plus game here, C minus game here for a Matthew Stafford. Uh, but they, they survive it anyway and, uh, and get through and get to play at home in two weeks,

Conor Orr: they just get to walk right into this "Bangle buzzsaw"

Gary Gramling: boy, so, uh, You and I, we talked about this last week on the midweek show. It was just, it was difficult to find a path to victory for this Bengals team in Kansas City, even though they already beat them. Uh, you know, when they beat in the first time they got to, you know, 70 something yard touchdowns from Ja'Marr Chase, uh, you know, the chances of that happening again, just were very low and they didn't happen. Uh, I don't know, like at the end of the first half, as the Chiefs were, were, as you know, we thought in range to put more points on the board and basically go in with a commanding lead, uh, at halftime, which they had any way at 21 to 10. Uh, it just looked like it might be ugly and all of a sudden the Bengals just end up hanging around and I thought it was look, I thought it was Lou Anarumo's defense. Who, who did most of the lifting here.

Conor Orr: Yeah, and really kind of some surprising adjustments there, because at the beginning of the game, I, it was really interesting to see how many really easy throws, and I guess, running, running lanes that Patrick Mahomes had, it seemed like they were really scared at the beginning and scared is probably not the right word. They were, uh, trying to prevent that back-breaking touchdown. Like, you know, they're not scared, they're just trying to not make it happen. You know, they're doing, they're doing what they're supposed to do. They want to prevent that back-breaking touchdown. Um, at the beginning of that game, Mahomes had a lot of running lanes. And so it was just kinda like here, you know? Yeah. Let Tyreek Hill, take the five-yard stop. Be like, go ahead. You can have that. But the problem is like that, that can really snowball quickly if you're the Chiefs offense, because they know then how to transform that little bit of momentum into a quick game. And then they just kind of keep rolling on you like that. But, um, I was shocked at the way that, as they came back, they just tightened and tightened and tightened and their lateral tackling, their lateral coverage ability when the Chiefs tried to start expanding them to the sidelines was fantastic. I mean, the Tyreek Hill fourth down attempt, which was one of the two plays that I think absolutely changed the tenor of this game for the Bengals was, was fantastic. Uh, it was also a bad play call, I think, um, because he didn't have any blockers out there. Um, but that said, to tackle him in that moment if your Eli Apple is hard, it's not, it's like one of the hardest things to do.

Gary Gramling: Yeah, absolutely. And look on that play. Look, you want to put Tyreek hill in motion and, and okay. If there are still dudes on that side of the field, uh, he is no longer an option for you for Patrick Mahomes so that's an issue there, you know, you gotta look away from him and if no one else soap and you gotta fire it into the stands and, and go take your three points. But, uh, the way they were able to. Look, we'll have to see all 22, because I don't know exactly what was going on downfield on some of these plays where Mahomes was extending plays behind the line of scrimmage. You know, there were some three-man rush, uh, approaches to them, but there were plays where Mahomes is doing his thing, where he's running in circles behind the line of scrimmage and just no one ever came open and he ends up, you know, he ended up taking a couple of coverage sacks. Uh, he ended up throwing the ball away a couple of times, but, uh, they were not giving anything at that point. And Tony Romo said it during the first half when the Chiefs just kept on taking these just, you know, eight-yard plays again and again and again and again, and he was kind of like, this is, this is going to be unstoppable. And it felt that way. And, in the end, the Bengals found a way to stop it. They shut them down in the second half, they gave up the field goal at the end of regulation. And that was it.

Conor Orr: Yeah. So Mahomes in the pocket was interesting. So is that, is that Kelsey touchdown, the Travis Kelsey touchdown, the third and two. Um, and that was the first time I saw it where he was like, just sort of like, almost looked like a Madden figure, like, you know, just sort of like still perfectly upright and erect, but like weirdly shuffling in the pocket and, uh, and just like almost. In a perfect quarterback stance, but just facing the wrong end of the field, you know? And like, it was a really weird thing where he kept like, just circumnavigating that way. But I think sometimes in a game like that if you can get away with it once, and then you throw a touchdown, it just becomes your modus operandi. Like it becomes your comfort zone. And we saw him do that again and again and again, but then later in the game, it actually stopped working, right? Nobody came open. There was no second chance throws Bengals coverage was excellent on, you know, kind of these, you know, streetball throws that they're so good at the second, third, fourth chance emergency routes. Um, and they shut them down. They kind of lured him into a false sense of security, probably incidentally, because I doubt the game plan was to allow them to go up 21 to three and then come back.

Gary Gramling: As far as the Chiefs are concerned. Look, we, we wondered all season, uh, with this offensive line, be able to protect the Patrick Mahomes and the end will be, see another, uh, you know, would they go out the same way? They went out in the Super Bowl last year were, uh, some of the really good pass rushers just overwhelmed them. And that was it. And that's, that's not what happened. I thought they were offensive line. Did a decent job in this game. Uh, I mean, Mahomes took four sacks, I think three of them were just pure coverage sacks. So, uh, Held up. It was just, and you know, it almost had a feel of like what was going on with the Chief's mid-season during their slump was, okay. You know, the offensive line, isn't quite the biggest issue. They just seem uncomfortable. They're doing, uh, out there as far as, uh, Mahomes and, and his receivers go and, uh, I, I don't know. Then that is kind of just how it played out and, uh, you know, uh, Lou Anarumo had one. Unfortunate call on a third and one from, uh, uh, from midfield where Kelsey, you know, reminiscent of last week, uh, just sorta got loose up the seam there. And they gave a big conversion there that put the Chiefs in scoring range, but that was like it, and it was kind of like the yellow, they moved inside the 10 and it was kind of like, all right, well, this is, this is going to be a touchdown. And, but no, and it really wasn't close to being in touch at any point.

Conor Orr: It's interesting. You wonder Patrick Mahomes put the game on his shoulders after and he said, you know, you can't be up that much and lose and that's on me. And again, I mean, I hate to. You know, I ate like half a tub of hummus during this game. So it's like Patrick Mahomes and I are living different lives. You know, I'm not, I'm not in the pocket there and being able to make these decisions, but it like, like the whole game, he just looked a little off, you know, uh, even in the good moments, like the Mecole Hardman touchdown, um, that's a throw that needs to be on the other side of him. Like, you don't want that to be out in front of him because somebody could jump that and pick that off. And the Tyreek Hill play that we were just talking about, like, If you turn around and you run the other way, like everybody is, is flooding with that play. There was nobody, um, on the backside of that. And you could have just run it in for a touchdown. Again, it's really easy for me to say that, you know, um, so I don't know what's going on, you know, in his world, you know, obviously I would have run it in. I would have, you know, I would have the Chiefs in the Super Bowl right now, but, um, you know, that's the difference between Patrick, Mahomes that I.

Gary Gramling: We can sort of spin this forward a little bit with the, uh, you know, the Bengals, not the same protection issues they had against the Titans last week, but still, uh, that right side of the line is completely overwhelmed no matter who is across from them. Uh, you did see Joe Burrow escape. A couple of times it is sort of a classic Burrow managing the free rushers type of thing. I mean, he shrugged Chris Jones off on that one play, that was just a fairly insane kind of reminiscent of the Josh Allen fourth-down conversions last week, but a. When you think about this line going against that Ram's front four uh, where, you know, it's, it's going to be, I mean, Ray Morris will undoubtedly line up Aaron, Donald, and Von Miller on the same side of the line. And, uh, you're going to have to figure something out here for the Bengals and they have not really. Change their M.O. To this point there's. Yeah, there, there's still just a spread you out. Uh, you know, Burrow is, is doing the thing like a 36-year-old quarterback. Uh, and that's how they're going to try and beat you when it just seems like there's a chance. This is just a really bad matchup for them.

Conor Orr: We keep saying it. And then, you know, I don't know what happens. One thing that I will say that was interesting that Zac Taylor was trying to do and Romo was on them throughout the broadcast. And so again, I mean, he is an NFL quarterback. He probably sees this a lot differently than I do, but they're saying, why do they keep trying to run the ball? And I was like because like the plan should have worked like the way, like what they were trying to do was smart. They would put like, they were trying to establish Ja'Marr Chase, a runner, then you would put him in the backfield and then you would spread them out. And when you did that, you were like getting Chief's players to follow him out of the box. You were lightening the box. And then that makes total sense. You have Joe Mixon and you plow it forward and you pick up easy yards and like, Even if it wasn't working early, I would've stuck with it if I was getting those numbers because I would be interested to see his eight-man box percentage for that game. Um, but you know, I would've taken that 10 times out of 10 and I think, I think you could probably manipulate something similar against the Rams where like, you know, you'd be able to get mixed and go in there. But I don't know.  We just keep saying that these are going to be bad match-ups for the Bengals. And, and their defense played awesome. I mean, It was their defense and it was like a great play from like Samaje Perine, you know, and then, and that was it. Like, you know, and then they somehow won the game. I still don't know how it happened. Exactly.

Gary Gramling: We should have done the midweek show on Samaje Perine in the screen game and BJ Hill, uh, ball skills.

Conor Orr: I get that, that's the side that you're blocked up on. And so you have the blockers, but that was kind of like a, like a dual-screen concept. And the tight end on the other side was wide open. Like if you were, if you were looking to just pick up chunk yards to get a field goal, that's probably where, you know, a pro might've been where you've gone with the football, but, uh, Kudos to Burrow for having faith in him and then Perine he's like, nobody's going to talk about that play like three weeks from now, but holy shit, that was like an amazing play, like broke a tackle, wedged his way through some defenders, there's some great downfield blocking on that scheme, which, you know, and that's, that's your bad side of the offensive line too.

Gary Gramling: So that, that whole thing was really surprising. It's your bad side of the offensive line. It's your, your running back who is just so. Uh, tremendously unreliable in the passing game. Later in the game, he ran the wrong way, uh, on the one screen. And then he had, uh, you know, he had the deflected ball that turned into an interception the last week. And then, uh, he, he had another play this week where it's like he got out on the perimeter, against a cornerback and just got completely like stood up like, if you're Samaje Perine and you got fresh legs and you're 220 pounds, you got to at least fall forward here against this, uh, uh, against this defensive back. But, uh, that was right before they kick the, uh, Evan McPherson 52 yarder. And I guess it worked out in the end and Evan McPherson will just never miss a kick again.

Conor Orr: Yeah, good for Evan McPherson. I think they said what he's already made like $600,000 in incentives or something throughout the playoffs uh, just pretty amazing. Odell Beckham, I think they said made like $700,000 already in incentives during the playoffs. So similar to the similar to us and kind of how we're, how we're rolling along here. Um, but yeah, I mean, you just don't know. I mean, I wrote this for the, for the site. It's like, I've never I, in my lifetime and I guess like, I've been aware of football, like, I mean, I've been covering football for 12 years. I've been like a die-hard professional football fan since probably 2002. Uh, you have, uh, a little bit longer of a lifespan there, but I don't remember a team like the Bengals making the Super Bowl, I guess you could say the nine and seven Giants year where they backed their way into the playoffs and then they made the Super Bowl, but like you have Tom Coughlin is your coach. You were like two years removed from like another Super Bowl. Like you won the Super Bowl like two years before that you're like Justin Tuck and JPP like you had dominant pro bowl players and the Bengals do too but like, I don't remember a run quite like this.

Gary Gramling: No I mean, you could say that Falcons team that lost to Elway, uh, I mean, that's, that's going back to the nineties, uh, that the Carrie Collins Giants it's. It's been a while. We're probably forgetting someone super obvious, but, uh, uh, it feels like it's been a while since we've seen a run like this. And, uh, I think it's just a product of the two of us being far too confident in our assessments and our predictions in these games.

Conor Orr: It's so bad. Like, so I, I predicted the Bengals to win three games this year, and then the Bengals made the playoff. And our editor, our colleague, Mitch Goldich uh, uh, picked them to go to the Super Bowl. And then I blasted him on this podcast. We did Twitter spaces and I blasted him on Twitter spaces. And I was like, you're treating this team like the goddamn Rams like from 2000 and lo and behold. They're playing like amazing football right now. And they're just, you know, but I love the idea that like every Super Bowl that I've covered, the coach has, has bent himself backward to sort of perpetuating this narrative that like nobody has believed in us when like, almost everybody believed in you because you're good enough to win the Super Bowl. Nobody believed in the Bengals. And like Zac Taylor will be able to look around and be like, nobody except for good morning football because they say nice things about every team here's the secret. And then they clip it on Instagram so they can bring it back up later in the season when something good happens. That's the strategy, you know. You and I don't do that.

Gary Gramling: We rip everyone.

Conor Orr: We just say shitty things about everybody. Yeah. And then just don't even want a Super Bowl this year everything is Stupid. But, uh, yeah, I mean, nobody believed the Bengals. I think someone tweeted the Texans had more sportsbook, Super Bowl picks this year than the Bengals both, they both had the worst odds, 200 to 1 and more people thought that the Jack Easterby led Houston Texans were going to win the Super Bowl.

Gary Gramling: They got the culture there. I already made my. Uh, snap decision, bad Super Bowl pick I already picked, 28-21 Rams. So I'll just, I'll stay with that on the record. I, uh, I'm just done with field goals. No more field goals this year. Uh, no more. Evan McPherson, just, just all touchdowns. 28, 21 Rams.

Conor Orr: So in, in an homage to our former colleague, Andy Benoit, who works for the Rams now and, uh, is a couple of 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl ring, which is pretty cool to say, congratulations, Andy. First of all, I remember sitting next to Andy at the Rams Patriots Super Bowl, and I had an NFL game pass. I had the European version of the NFL game pass. And so Andy was sitting next to me and he was blown away that I could, uh, watch the game in real-time, pause it, and then put the plays in slow motion. And so it was awesome because Andy knows a lot about football, obviously. And, uh, He would walk me through everything, but he needed to see it for himself too. He needed to see slow Mo. And so, and he was like, this is the greatest thing. This is the greatest thing ever. And I dunno why I remember that, but that was fun, uh, that was a fun memory, um, for, uh, from that night. And now he's going to win a Super Bowl. But Andy and I used to argue a lot. I don't actually believe this, but I used to just tell them that football was rigged and like, uh, like the commissioner was, was just creating everything like world wrestling Federation. And he got really angry at me all the time for saying that. So in an homage to Andy, uh, here's the conspiracy theory stuff, right? Um, uh, the Bengals winning the Super Bowl or going to the Super Bowl is obviously. Highlighting the NFL's connection to their sportsbooks and their gambling, because what they want is they want more of us to believe that this can happen to increase the amount of bets that long shots will get at the beginning of the season. So, the Bengals will win the Super Bowl. Uh, they're going to win it, uh, 26 -field goal, uh, 26, 24

Gary Gramling: Two missed PATs

Conor Orr: Or they get to 14 and they just kick a shit ton of field goals. It could be a real McPherson game. The Rams just buckled down inside the 50.

Gary Gramling: Ah, Andy Benoit loses a rigged Super Bowl.

Conor Orr: It all comes full circle. 

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