Super Bowl LVI Recap

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Speaker 1: Less than he already gain on fourth down. The forty three seconds romantic Rams Croupy, Hey rush fourth, Harold, and for a fourth he's sit, he's hit, he's sacked. He throws it away. He flings it away on fourth down. Aaron Donald got there. Donald takes his helmet off in celebration. He flips Burrow to the tournament forces the incompletion on fourth and one, and he signals to his ring finger on his left hand, and you can build that man's statue out so by stadium right now. The greatest of all time on defense does it in the biggest moment of Super Bowl fifty six. Matthew Stafford under center. Here's the snap, here's toned. The Bengals will knots all the time out the sidelines, empty rings for the Rams. A Lombardi Trophy for Los Angeles twenty three twenty is the final on their home field. You're at Super five Stadium, It's Super Bowl fifty The Los Angeles Rams are world tripping from the Chris Westling podcast studio. It's around the NFL Super Bowl fifty six edition, and you just heard it there. Aaron Donald makes the biggest play of his life on fourth and one near midfield after Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup went down the field and put the Rams ahead late in the fourth quarter. That big drive combined with that big stop led to Los Angeles Cincinnati twenty. The Bengals come up painfully short in a very very fun and exciting and tension field Super Bowl. Dan Hans is here with Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler, Ricky Hollywood behind the glass. Yes, we're back in the Chris Westling podcast studio, which is so nice in so fitting on what was a really special day even though the Bengals didn't get the win. Uh, still very special day and great to be back in the studio with you guys. Yeah it was. It was a beautiful day to be be in a stadium for a Super Bowl again, to be in this studio again. On our way out, we saw all the Wesleyan brothers and Lakisha and all of the emotion and we'll hear from them later. And just as a corny fan of football, Marks always making fun of me for just carrying that water, carrying that NFL water, I did have a little bit of Keisha's outlook on this game, which is that I just wanted it wanted to be great. I had emotions on both sides, my daughters at the stadium rooting for the Rams, everything with the Bengals. I just wanted it to be great. And I think we got that. We got a game with a little bit of everything that you could sink your teeth into. But more than anything, we got all time great players putting a stamp on a Super Bowl fourth quarter in a way that will never be forgotten. The Cooper Cup drive and Aaron Donald's sack that I just found it very satisfying, Like I would have found a different Bengals type of ending at the end satisfying too, But for Cup to have the Cup drive and hoist that Super Bowl m v P. For Aaron Donald, the greatest defensive player of my lifetime at least that I've seen play, to finish it off that way with a couple of sacks, Von Miller have a couple of sec It was like greatness rising to the top at the end, and and yeah, football wins there. Mark, I know that, doesn't you know? I don't. I don't know why I'm meaning. I mean, I'm making like straw Man that Greg is um constructed here. I mean I couldn't agree with you more, to be honest, like, this Rams team is the perfect fit for the way that we feel about Los Angeles. Their star heavy and you know, they made bold moves in the middle of the year. They were all about this season being a crowning mountaintop moment, and it's a high risk, high reward thing because if it doesn't go l there's gonna be a lot of fingers pointed the way that they've kind of mortgaged the future for today. But today is a golden moment for the Rams because of their star players. And Aaron Donald ended that Niners game a couple of weeks ago, he ended it tonight. He had you know that at one point, you know, they had been held to I think was one sack the Rams in the first half. Then they suddenly exploded in that third quarter. Joe Burrow has been sacked nineteen times in four playoff games. That's the most in twenty years for any quarterback in the postseason. The next highest is twelve. And so kind of what we thought might happen against this Rams pass rush did happen, and it spoiled the Bengals, who at one point in the second half had four drives that went for a total of eleven yards. Were the Rams perfect? No? Could they run the ball? No? They could not. When they lost Odell Beckham, another guy who contributed big time early, their yards per play in this game went from six point six to three point six. But as Matthew Stafford and this offense and the Rams team in general and Sean McVeigh have done, they worked their way out of some dark corners and it didn't need to be perfect by either one of these teams. Stafford Cup got it done at the end, and then Donald did his thing. That's the Rams, I thought, And you're right. This has been everything that was built up to this moment, the famous tweet, we're putting all our chips to the center of the table. We're going and we're getting von Miller, We're getting Odell. We went and got Stafford. We were aggressive and we're going for this. We don't have a first round pick for another seventeen to eighteen years, but it doesn't matter because flags fly forever. And now they have it. And I think I'll remember so much about the lead up to this game, this entire playoff, and then being in that building and seeing how the game was slipping away from the Rams. You know, they're up thirteen three early, they give up a touchdown on a trick play sandwiches for you, Mark Um, and all of a sudden things start to get away to the point you're thinking, oh, this is a Cincinnati Bengals destiny season. The seventy five yard Tahiggins touchdown right on the other side of the third quarter. I was in a restroom at the time. That was great, Um, And uh, you know Jalen it looked like Jalen Ramsey got messed with his his face masks pretty easily been an offensive past interference. And then the offense goes cold. But because Aaron Donald and that defense tightened up and shut absolutely shut down the Cincinnati offense. After that touchdown twelve seconds into the third quarter, Cincinnati kicked one field goal on a short field on an eight play eleven yard drive after an interception that was not Matthew Stafford's fault. Other than that, they shut the game down. And then it became about three guys Stafford. Not to reduce it to this, but really Stafford and Cup on that fifteen place seventy nine yard drive making the big plays and then Aaron Donald coming on the field and doing what he's done his whole career and saying, I'm taking this thing home, right. So Donald gets that glory moment and it's the biggest play that you can possibly have. A fourth and short, essentially with the Super Bowl on the line, beats the guard, clean ends the game, just like you did in the NFC Championship. It's so fitting. But the defensive line in general just kept winning over and over. I mean, the numbers they are putting up are just outrageous. Eight sacks, seven sacks rather and eleven quarterick hits in a Super Bowl is just silly. And yet the Bengals defense was just this game. I mean, there was a six possession stretch there in the second half that total six yards UH from both teams combined, three and out for the Rams, three in a row, four in a row basically at one point, and then the same on the other side for the Bengals. So the Bengals defense kept giving the ball back to Joe Burrow with a chance to basically put the game away, including in the fourth quarter. And I just go back to that cup drive. In that touchdown drive, he converted five first downs the entire season was on the line fourth and one from their own thirty. I've been picking up Sean. I'm picking on Sean McVeigh all year for not being aggressive, not going for fourth downs, and he goes for it on his own thirty in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, down four. That took incredible confidence in his defense, and it took belief in Cup. Let's get it to Cup on the biggest play of the game that they they're ready for that call, they get it to Cup. He ends up getting a twenty two yard play later that drive. He has two other catches other than those five first downs. He draws three penalties in the red zone to that result in first down, So not even plays that he made catches on he's the key factor. And then what really sticks out to me is that play that he caught and he got wasted in the head and they called the penalty um for the hit to the head, but there was also a holding if he doesn't hold onto that, and that was an incredible catch there at first and goal on the fourteen yard line. And it is a very different final sequence. But because Cup made all those plays, play after play after play, they end up scoring the touchdown. Let's listen to after that all that plays out and the penalties playing Eli Apple who, by the way, I had a really good game until that last drive is in coverage with the Bangles holding onto a lead, and this is what happened. Stafford from under center steps back, crows the faith fact solder Cooper cubscot its Cooper cut brings it in touchdown, touchsdown, touchdown alone. J B Long, of course with the call, Mark did a great job tonight based on the eight seconds that I've listened to from him. Now it's time for you to have that offseason hang out with jav Long. So it's gonna be even more sweet when we're in the park listening to a yacht rock band, sitting on the blankets with our families. We could reminisce on a championship season for his rams. Yeah, it was so. I thought that was to me when I think about that drive and Stafford, I thought, even though the box score, it's so, it's a strange game really for Stafford because um, he throws two interceptions and one to me, I know you disagree, Greg, to me was a quasi arm punt where he got flushed out of the pocket on third and fourteen through mid midfield and just threw the ball into the end zone. The second one was a, as Chris Russo had said, a terrible drop by Ben Swarnak, who really, I don't know how many times he needs to get the ball at this point. Uh in this offense. Uh So he throws three touchdowns, two interceptions. It's hard to really put on him. And yet, yes, there was that long stretch after Odell Beckham goes out of the game, which was a huge subpot. In fact, Mark I thought, when Beckham, who was dominating early in this game, goes out with a knee injury, and we hope it's not an a c L, but it certainly seems like a serious knee injury. Um, their offense went in the tank, and it looked to me like that was gonna be the story that the Rams were gonna win. They were gonna put up thirty plus. Beckham goes out and they just didn't have enough, ammo. And yet they find a way. Well, they were so one dimensional. All eight of their first downs in the first half were through the air. I mean, this is a team that probably produced one of the worst rushing performances we've ever seen in a Super Bowl one point nine yards per carrying cam akers that you can make a case at one of the worst postseasons ever when statistically he averaged about two yards to carry on probably over fifty carries with those two phones. It was rough. It was rough, but no one, I mean, no one was reliable tonight. And then that you know, five different people had rushing attempts and no one, no one was able to do it. I think it was really clear that Odell Beckham was going to be a huge part of the plan tonight, and I think when he went down, it took them some time to figure out, what do we do now because we don't we know, you don't have Robert Woods. Uh, you don't didn't have Tyler Higbee, which I think mattered a lot in this game in terms of his relationship with Stafford and what they would have done with Tyler Higbee once Odell Beckham went out, and that only makes Cooper Cups performance, especially on that final drive, all the more impressive, all the more super bowlish and Super Bowl m v p ish. I mean, his thirty three catches in the postseason and the most by any wide receiver ever, and he's been that guy all year long and on the final drive, you know, and also the chemistry that he had with Matthew Stafford this whole season, but in this postseason was the differentiator because you know, we we We've talked about Joe Burrow all for two weeks straight and frankly, Joe Burrow has not had the best couple of games for himself. And tonight the Bengals offense. I look at Zach Taylor and just say, I don't know what's special about Zach Taylor, but their play calling got wicked tight during this game. When they went into a funk, they why are we not running the ball a little bit more? I think they were struggling. I mean for the I felt like everything was hard for the Bengals offense the whole game because they were overmatched. If you think about how they scored their points. Higgins gets away with a clear penalty, big play for a touchdown. There there's seven of them. Their last big player of the game, really Chase gets free for a forty six yard or when when Burrow through that pass, I thought that's either gonna get picked off or I don't know what he's doing, and he trust Chase so much that Chase makes an in edible play on the ball against Ramsey. And I love that Burrow keeps giving his guys chances because that was their best chance. Even even if te Higgins you should have made that call. That's sort of what happened. Sometimes when you throw it up deep to your guy, you get a break on a non call. Everything else was very difficult, Like they could not protect uh. They could not run the ball for the most part. Mixing had a couple of runs in the second half, but I have a hard time saying that they didn't run it enough when they were running quite a bit on first uh in second down and they were in a lot of second and eight, second and nine uh. They they were overmatched. I mean it was it was the defensive line holding the four for the Rams until the offense for the Rams could finally make a play. You can make a case. And Mixing had five catches for one yard in this game. So I would almost want to watch the game again. But I remember one of the things we talked about entering this game was Los Angeles, which on balanced defensively did not have a great year. They took a step back, and one of the things they were vulnerable against was the screen game. Maybe there are some there are some opportunities with mix and getting him the ball in space that alleviates some of the issues with the pass rush as well. Um I didn't think either coach seemed put on a clinic offensively the second half. But I think I think Zach Taylor was aggressive, to be fair, he he went for the fourth down in the first half. He went for the fourth down in the second half, which I thought was a really gutsy call and ended up leading that quarter. The third quarter. It's like, I'm not here killing Zach Taylor necessarily, but like they had ten of thirteen drives that went for under twenty six yards, and I thought that they did a terrible drive in terrible job in the second half when they had a chance to you know, one touchdown drive would have changed everything. It was constant, like one and a half two minute marches, if you want to call it a march, I mean they were. They were off the field so quickly, and they kept They allowed the Rams to get a new position to have that glorious final march. Tee Higgins was a big time player in this game. That the play that we're talking about almost a clear pass interference. I did check in. We were way up in the five hundred sext and but I had a ear in and listening to Collinsworth who was going nuts about that. But he he ends up with two touchdowns. Chase, they mostly keep in check. Now he has a big completion on the final drive that gets them near midfield that seems to really set them up, and it's like, when you think about it, let's yeah, when you think about it, yes, you you fall behind twenty uh in dramatic fashion that that you give up that drive, but you're still in good shape because you've got you've got Joe Burrow, and you got Jamaar Chase and Tee Higgins and he got Jalen Uh. You have Jalen Ramsey has been beat for two touchdowns already, and you have Evan McPherson waiting in the wings. So you just need a field goal. Because of a bad job on a snap earlier by the Rams led to a botched extra point, it's a three point game. So the drive goes five plays twenty six yards. So you have a Jamaar Chase out a bound seventeen yards on a short pass left short term as they're making a terrible angle. Did not have a good game in general. That one was a mental error in a big spot. And then burrowed to Tyler Boyd, who had a big drop himself in the third quarter um for nine yards, so that sets him up second and one at the l a ram forty nine from that. From that point it's an incomplete pass to Chase. Now it's third and one, they target p Ryan or they give it to p Ryan on the right tackle to get a yard and Aaron Donald says no, he rips him back and p Ran is two fifty pound guy. This guy's a bowling ball. And then of course they call it time out. And then there it is Aaron Donald with the hurry and the knockdown to force the incompletion game over another pass two p Ryan. I know Bengals fans are going to replay those last three plays, especially the last two, for the rest of the time. Giving the ball to j p Ryan on third and one when you have Joe Mixon on the sidelines is a tough one. It's just tough because Joe Mixon is one of the best pure runners in the NFL. He's certainly one of the best pure power run I understand why p Ryan's in the game. They like him in the two minute situation. They like him in the passing game a little more. They were trying to catch the Rams in a formation that was really set up to stop the pass, considering it was third and one and they're trying to trust their offensive line to get a yard. But they couldn't get that yard all game. And it wasn't just Donald Gains in a Sean Robinson, certainly Von Miller, but especially Gains and Asian Robinson in the middle of that line. We're stuffing them throughout. They could not get short yardage situations. If you think about how they gave the ball over to the Rams on that first drive of the game. So you can't pick up a yard and then you have your season on the line, and what do you do. I don't have a problem with them putting the ball in Joe Burrow's hand, but it's ultimately a failure of your team that you can't run the ball for a yard, and that when you do go forth in one with Joe Burrow, that you can't protect them for even a second and a half. I know it's against Burrow kind of through the first one away, I think almost because he knew he had a couple of plays. He gave up on that play quick. But that was another play where again, you like couldn't protect. So there's a lot of different ways you can shake up the globe and in the blame, but the fact is, like they couldn't block anyone for well, I know they did a little bit in the first half, but not really. They couldn't block anyone for sixty minutes. They made it to the Super Bowl, and they got very close to winning the Super Bowl, and at no point could they block anything because you know, the nine sacks in the Tennessee game that would have ended their season except the turnovers by the defense in a terrible game by Ryan Tanhill tonight, Matthew Stafford did not fall into those depths. And this in the seven sacks, especially the past rush in the third quarter into the fourth, I think turned Cincinnati into a disorganized mess to some degree. And we can't say we're not gonna blame Zach Taylor, but then also point out everything we just pointed out because I've been killing them all throughout, it just felt like they were over math. I think it's just you're out of You're out of options when you cannot protect your quarterback, when Joe Burrows running for his life. I mean, there was just too much of that going on. And to me, it was just like you can not have a one person team. I mean they had they were aggressive, they took some deep shots, but that was essentially like the only big plays they had in this game. I I do like, though, when you think about how the second half of because everything you're saying about them the Bengals offense is true, Mark, and yet I kind of felt that about the Rams the second Oh b J went out. I mean everything, everything was difficult for them. They couldn't block in particular, they certainly couldn't run all game, and you were at a point where you're lining up Darrell Henderson on the outside as a wide receiver. Basically every key passing down, you are throwing the ball the square nick way too much. You're counting on Bryce Hopkins. It's like I was there at the preseason game against the Chargers. There was no one that had a future with the Los Angeles Rams for the two thousand and twenty one season that was on the field that night except for Bryce Hopkins was like the key player in that preseason game, and that's who you're throwing it do. Van Jefferson was a disappointment throughout this play off run. He had single coverage throughout. He could not make a play. He was wide open on that last drive. He should have caught the game winning touch and Stafford airmil Stafford missed him. And so both offenses from this McVeigh tree couldn't run the ball and we're having to try to come up with solutions and not not to go on a too long of a rain here, but that's why I like on that drive, Matthew Stafford Sean McVeigh went to what they do best and they tried to do it all game, but they didn't give up. And that was tempo. They played so fast on that drive, and you could have questioned it too because they like took the play before the two minute warning and it gave the Bengals more time. They were really rushing down the field, but that's what they do best. They were trying to really test the Bengals defensive communication and that's what won them the game. Their ability to play fast. They were snapping the ball with about twenty five seconds left on the play clock throughout that drive, and it wasn't clean. Uh, it wasn't like fast moving. But when the plays worked, they got a couple going in a row. And I think that's really a hallmark of McVeigh and I love that they kept doing kind of if you're to go down, go down, doing what you do best. I thought maybe it took a little too long for him to get to that conclusion because I'm watching the game and and the way you're down a little bit on Zach Taylor, I'm down on Sean McVeigh, who they it was almost like tweeted this one a super Bowl. There's no big would have been. You can win the Super Bowl and not have the greatest game as a head coach. And I think with that, he really he was desperate to get the running game going. I think especially after Beckham went out, because he knew if you take Beckham out and you take Higbee out and Van Jeff Jefferson has not been healthy. He's barely on the field. Uh, they almost like we're running out of options of how to move the football. But you know, all those plays, especially the early down runs, which I just hate. I hate when I see Taylor do it. I hate when I see McVeigh do it. Put them in a lot of second and third and longs uh. And it was when they finally said this isn't gonna work and really turned it over to Stafford, and that last drive you saw what happened. I wonder if maybe they they would have away from that sooner, maybe they would have had more luck in the second half scoring. Ultimately, they scored enough, but Acres, I will say this for all, and I came after Acre's pretty hard earlier that it's one of the worst postseasons ever. And statistically, by the way it is if you look at yards per carry um. That eight yard run that's set up first and goal, that was huge too, because that you know that they needed just anything from their running game to keep the the opposing defense honest. He did it. And then Cincinnati, which was not a penalized a team that was heavily penalized, got penalized in three consecutive play setting up the first and goal which led to the touchdown. I just I look at the Rams early in this game, though, before O'Dell went out and I thought that they were creative. I thought that they came up with some good concepts and something they looked out was so bad. I went from six point six to three point six yards per play. I mean, it seemed they were hitting a lot of first reads like that. As the kids would say, Sean McVeigh was in his bag that second touchdown drive, like he was calling the wheel route to Henderson. He's getting cup wide open heat, like everything is flowing and fast. And you're right, the Odell Beckham was pretty much injury was the moment of change. That's the thing, Like I don't I'm hearing you with McVeigh after you know post Odell. But like the I chalked that up to losing key people, key players and going into the game without Higbee. You can't say that with the Bengals, but it's not. Here's the thing that the Rams offense, and especially after losing these players, but even before losing they're not a dominant offense. They're really good offense and uh, really good defense. I would say the defense was better on balance over the course of the playoffs. Their pass rush was the truly special unit. Like as a group throughout these playoffs. That carried them through all four of these games. But even even with O'Dell and it's like they they punted quickly on their first drive, they go three and out on their third drive. They've been an opportunistic and I think resourceful offense where they've made key drives when they've absolutely needed to, but they haven't been perfect. The offensive line was certainly out of sorts today, a lot of communication problems like Sam Harbard and Hendrick Sin and Reader were also making massive plays in the second half, and it sort of seems perfect. Wasn't this like an imperfect season, Like we've got two four seeds. These aren't like hugely dominant teams. I don't know if we had hugely dominant teams in the NFL this year. I enjoyed that there was eight or nine teams. I think if you shook up this playoff tournament and Kip played it over and over, that maybe had a chance to win it. And it was an imperfect game won by the team that showed again and again that in the last five minutes we're going to be the best, right And it's the kind of game where you know, I not that I'm gonna sit around and do this because you know reality has given us a result. But you're like, hmm, I wonder what Mahomes and the Chiefs could have done today, would it be different? I mean, it's like, the Bengals were this great story, but there's no there's no argument that they were the best team in the a f C. They just were a wonderful narrative. I'm glad they I'm glad they didn't and the Bengals that if they never get blown out. So I'm I knew I was getting a good game with the Bengals either way, and it was I have to say, like when they fall behind early and and then when the Rams botch the extra point and it keeps it ten points. I'm thinking Walker's got the six on the back of this jersey that he owns. It was actually for his age at the time, but it might not be around too much longer. Johnny is not well, he's not the same thing. Might not be the only one. We'll get to that. But yeah, after that happens, you again, you're thinking to yourself, is the Cincinnati mojo starting to come around again? Because it's instead of eleven point game, it's ten. And then when and this isn't anything to celebrate when Beckham goes out, like wow, that was quite a break because this guy was lighting them up and the Rams offense was humming. And then you get the team and went into halftime feeling good the fact they were down. I think they felt good the way they got out of that first half and stopped right and I go, I go to the bathroom and made the because usually it's like Maroon five was playing and we'll get to the halftime show. I'm going to use the restroom. Then what I did was I watched the entire halftime show, just like everybody else. The loudest that stadium was tonight, other than the Aaron Donald play was halftime um great hip hop performance there by the good crowd in general, it was a great, great atmosphere both Bengals fans. Some I think Nick Westling thought it was more like fifty three forty seven Bengals. I felt like the Bengals at the top and the Rams at the bottom in the middle, and yeah, I think it was like, so I'm in the laboratory waiting on the line. There's a bunch of drunk bozos in there, and then you hear like a sound like what was that? And nobody in the restroom knows what it is. And what it is is te Higgins changing the game, Joe mixing in the backfield. He had forty rushing yards in the first half. They faked to him burrowing. I was scrambling fires deep down field for Higgins defender that just the ball runs it into the end zone yard touchdown to Higgins. Has he knocked over chair and ring into the end zone to get the bagel the lead. So Ramsey was interfered with it doesn't the flagman called, so my point being you have the missed extra point. Beckham goes out that play. I get back from the bathroom. Not only is are they a winning they have the ball in the red zone again because I had missed the interception too, and it just felt like everything was this was It was twenty two seconds of tight and it was the coronation. It started to feel like this dream season for Cincinnati. But really from that point, when um Donald pushes out Burrow violently for one yard loss, that was his first sack. That began the chain reaction of sacks. Donald gets him again on the third down. They get a McPherson field goal. That's their last points of the game, and really things went downhill from there. And it's just kind of a reminder you brought up my homes. You just can't predict the sport. It's one of the reasons why it's the greatest product, uh in this country in terms of sports and maybe the world. Like you think, you know things just like Patrick Mahomes melting down and they've seen title game in the Chiefs offense. But from that point, Cincinnati the storybook came to an end because everything after that was a Rams rising. Well that that felt like the opportunity for Cincinnati to just completely take over the game. And and to my frustration again with this offense today, that drive was eight plays for eleven yards. You mentioned it, Aaron Donald, I mean who ended the game also ended that drive to force the field goal had they scored a touchdown there, Because we it's not it's it's reality. If you look at all of Cincinnati's drives, they've been a field goal offense in the in the postseason way too often, to the point where it's like, yes, we love Joe Burrow, but like part of his job is to complete these drives and the and we love their kicker too, but like you don't want to see the kicker seven times in the game. You want to see him once or you want to see him on that point after touchdown. Yeah, to your point, just to hammer that home that it's thirteen ten at halftime. In twelve seconds at seventeen thirteen, the next play is the interception on the swarne am I saying that right sneck drop and then they stall in the red zone and it goes twenty from thirteen ten. But you're right, if it's the way the Rams offense is playing, you know they could get a little tight butts and and so one thing with the Rams which they get the like had they changed the game psychologically Cincinnati with a touchdown right there, I think you start to get into mcveigh's mind. And that didn't happen because they made the stop. He didn't in they being Donald And that is like the part of it that I that I did find very satisfying here with Donald because it's not just when he made the plays, I mean not just the place that he made it's when he made those plays that sack that he got to end that drive when it felt like the roof is caving in on the Rams. Was a third and three play, a very makeable. It wasn't like this obvious passing situation where they're an empty or anything, and that's where you need your great players to stop the bleeding and Donald just pushes the guard into Burrow. Burrow has no chance. That was the thing. For the most part. I would only put one of these sacks on Burrow off the top of my head. Maybe two. Uh. It was guys winning quickly, and that was the absolute moment of the game where they needed Aaron Donald to step up, and Aaron Donald the greatest defends I've ever seen. That's when one could have gotten the m v P. Absolutely. I don't know where this ended, but one quick stat to your point. In the first half, Burrow had two point three or five seconds to throw. That's the lowest of any game in his career. And some of the Bengals finished this game with a higher DEVO than the Rams. So it's like these were two imperfect teams clashing. This the true great ones, like the all timers, they rise up and they do they truly do. People say, oh, they put the team on his back as a guy hit a couple of threes or had a long run or something. It's like, no, the one the games where you see it, you could actually see a player decide, no, I need to take this into my own hands, like a classic game for that for me to use, uh, the NBA is an analogy here. Um was Lebron in Game seven against the Warriors when he just went mad. He had a great playoff, but that game where he pinned the block against the backboard and he and he was just he was a guy that was a man possessed and wasn't gonna let his team lose. And Donald and I brought it up on the show, but it is to me one of the great moments of the season when he gathered the team on the sideline down ten points against the forty nine in the NFC title game and then one out and singlehandedly took that game over. And then he did the same thing in this game. And if if you're a Bengals fan and you rewatch this game or you're reading about it afterwards, and sorry guys, that was a tough way to lose. But like when Donald pushed Burrow out of bounds on that after the interception, and the Bengals players were not happy that he gave him an extra push. To that point, Donald hadn't done a lot in terms of the stuffing the box sheet, and they got in, They got in Donald's face and got him really fired up. I think I thought that was a bad idea because Donald then goes and gets another sack, and then he makes the big plays at the end of the game as well. Just an unbelievable performance by an all time great. Let's hear from Aaron Donald. I wanted this open. I dreamed this, man, I dreamed this, and it's like it's a real. Look at this, Look at this man, this is it's feel amazing. It feel amazing to feel great. Why did you see on that last play that enables you to do what you did and make that stop straight straight? You know we'll last place to be world chaps. Give it everything you got. I thought the way to get to him. How does this measure up to what you thought it might be? Like, Aaron is the best living in the world. God is great. God is great. I just I muster where I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. This is a blessing This is a blessing. I really love the Lebron comparison you made, because for two weeks we've been hearing from the Rams players everywhere. We're doing this for Aaron Donald, Aaron Donald talking about it being like a moment of destiny for and we knew that this was a strength on weakness that probably could tilt the whole contest. It's exactly what happened. Sometimes you know, you projected, and it's it's what everyone thought could happen to Cincinnati. And they've been victimized four games in a row in the playoffs with their protection. In tonight, they felt they met a force too big for them. And you know the way that Donald hearing his voice right there, it's it's interesting to combine that with the report from Rodney Harrison that maybe Aaron Donald right that he would that Aaron Donald um is pondering or would consider potentially walking away from football after this moment. It's crazy just because it came out of nowhere. It's such a random source, Rodney Harrison, that that actually makes me put more into it. It's like Rodney Harrison, and then that's kind of like counteracted by the fact that it's Rodney Harris. I think it's like, I don't know what their relationship is, but for him to just throw out there that there's a strong possibility Aaron Donald could walk away from the game and retires. He's not making that up out of thin air. And he's already been proven right because Aaron Donald has all of his kids on the podium. You know, it's it's after the Super Bowl. That's not the craziest thing that had happened. But I've never seen that with Aaron Donald. I've never seen all his kids up there, and he's asked about it and he just said, give me a couple of days to talk about it. So before this Sunday, before I woke up today, there was no thought that Aaron Donald could possibly be retiring. And just with Aaron Donald's answer, he indicated that he's either not sure or he doesn't want to talk about it right now, because if he's not considering retiring, you just say it there. It didn't come out of this is also something that popped up. Sean McVeigh had some introspective thoughts about maybe needing some time with his family. You know, if I had if I had a guess I'd say neither walk away, but I didn't think Tom Brady was leaving either. Uh, you don't know, like Donald that was. That's an indelible moment. H J. B. Long did a great job with the call. After he makes that stop to to basically win the Super Bowl, Uh, pointing at his watch or where a wristwatch would be, and then pointing at the ring. It's time for him to have the ring. And it's just like he's a He's had an obviously an incredible and amazing career, and sometimes I feel like the football gagna sent don't cut this part out, has kind of gone out of their way to be like, make sure you pay attention to this guy. Like people that know football heads like this guy is just special. Sometimes the position he plays doesn't allow you to see it the way you can see a wide receiver be special. So for him to now have the ring, he enters this pantheon. Like um Todd Sperry, who runs our news division and was sitting next to me at the game. He asked me when Stafford after he goes on that drive, Stafford enter a Hall of Fame conversation, and I said, well, maybe needs another three or four years of being a big time player. But this takes you a long way in terms of getting a bust in canon. But for Donald, I think now you start to have that conversation and about where he fits in the greatest ever defensively, Yeah, and there were reports that the Rams are interested in an extension for Stafford, so he's likely going to be around. But let's just say, and it shows how quickly things change. If Aaron Donald walked away, Von Miller is probably not back. Odell Beckham is probably not. I'm just you know, he's coming off a knee injuries, a free agent. If anything, I might actually make it a little easier for the Rams to bring him back because yeah, but Odell was saying he would take a paycu I don't know, but that's what I'm saying. And just emphasizes that this was a win not just in general now but this year team and we don't know what will happen with McVeigh. And if you're the Bengals, it's like you came really close. It's a really great story. But the shine of this great story starts to diminish because the reality is you look at the Chiefs, you look at other teams. It is so hard to get back and the windows starts to shut. And by the way, they aren't a roster that screams like five year dynasty run beyond the belief in a quarterback to begin with. So it's fleeting. It's just so very There's also a report out there that you know, ESPN wants to potentially offer Sean McVeigh Monday Night Football. Our guy Ian Rappaport did report that Sean McVeigh he's gonna, you know, wants to be staying with the Rams. He's not thinking about that in the short term. He was talking about it more as his family situation. When maybe he would be ready to have kids, that would be something he would consider that it wasn't gonna be in the next couple of years. But it is crazy because I've actually thought the whole all in thing was overblown by a lot, but because because they're they're really set up contract wise with with almost all of these guys for the next two or three years. And I think what's the Rams secret sauce is how good they are at finding guys in the middle of the draft or unrestricted free agency or undrafted free agents and making them into contributors and filling out the roster. If you look that they can have a very similar roster in the next year or two. But that change is totally if Aaron Donald this is retiring, or if Sean McVeigh is leaving, what is that An McVeigh leaving to spend time with family is not even married and has no kids yet, am I am? I? Well, I guess YEA. Well that's fine. But I would just say in general, in life, you you are going to continue to work and continue to pursue goals while having shown Mark Yes, UM, maybe I never know what that will be entailed. I mean to get regardless, I'm gonna ask you questions, UM, because last night, on the eve of the Super Bowl, you tweeted, um over all of it. How are you doing right now? I I was in a bit of a mood last night, but on I I thought, this was honestly a great day like I had this. This was also when I saw that on the eve of the Super Bowl it was not that was not it was not really on, it was not work related, and I then I felt that I felt I felt that it was like a darkness coming over my bedroom. Actually in Santa Monica. I just I felt I like having that power, felt that you do you could just because we're can ghost where you see like the spirit's kind of starting to come out. What wouldn't you describe my attitude today as affable or or or you know, silar intensity. I don't know there, I actually thought I I was incredibly chilled out before the game. I was just sort of sat in that little wooden seat and I didn't feel worried about you did book it out of the stadium immediately after the game. Well, you know, there are things happening with my body sometimes that you know, kept me out of a couple of weeks early in the season. That was sitting in the same seat. For that, I did sit next to Nick Shook, which was a great I haven't seen him in a well type incredible to sit next to that. You weren't feeling so good because the pipe takes up space with those no no, no, you know what you know what takes up spaces when people move a certain way in their seat or if they like have four thousand objects like he was like, are you all right? Like do you have enough spaces? Like I'm good and your courtesy alone makes me just think more highly of Nick Shook in general. So it's crazy because we we keep doing these you know, there's these big takeaways from all this, and that's just how it goes. There's like a winner, there's a loser. It's like, for the most part, it's like we're talking positive rams a little bit negative for the Bengals, and and that's how it's gonna go for the rest of the time. There were there's so much randomness and there's so many plays in this game that came that if it's a little different, the whole game is different. I felt like the the entire fourth quarter was chock full of those plays that if just a little thing is different than maybe the Bengals are the Super Bowl champs. One of them was the Tyler Boyd dropped that you mentioned that was in the fourth quarter. It was the last play of their drive before they punted it before the rams Um game winning touchdown drive. Now where we were and looking at the replays, I'm not sure he would have picked up. I think it's fourth and two, fourth and one around midfield, and that was a sliding doors moment in this game because of the of the way that Zach Taylor was approaching this game and where they were in the game, I kind of think he would have gone for on fourth and two, So that was like a huge or fourth in one. Maybe Tyler Boyd even breaks a tackle and he gets the first time that that was one. Another one was actually a running play earlier in that dry earlier in the fourth quarter, to where Joe Mixon finally has some space they call the outside zone. He he gets to the outside, there's only one guy there and it's Darius Williams, the worst tackling player in the Rams secondary. He kind of does the I'm gonna throw my shoulder and not even look at what's going on and hope I tackle him. And I think Nixon kind of stumbled a little bit in that spot, like that's a play where they would expect Mixing to break that tackle and that play could have gone for a long time, and Mixing immediately afterwards was kicking himself because he knew that was an opportunity and yet that was a tackle. Ultimately, Darius Williams deserves credit. They end up forcing the punt, and it's like all these little plays, if it's just like a little bit different, who knows how this thing well, and it's the coaches are gonna be, you know, flying home and watching the tape tonight. It's gonna be one of those games where it's a horror show. It's it's it's gonna be a snuff film. To some degree, it's painful to watch all these little moments because these were two imperfect teams, and you're right, whoever lost, we would be we would be pointing to a lot of little Rams moments saying, but the defense, the defensive coaches, I don't think I feeling like I think that both defensive coaches are feeling pretty good about what they did. Like but largely because these two like young geniuses like did not um suggest geniuses as offensive like Ernest Jones had a monster game for the Rams. He they decided to start him over Troy Reader, who we've seen throughout these playoffs and has been a huge letdown. Ernest Jones, who was a rookie this year, was another guy playing in that preseason game back back in Augusty the preseason counts sometimes mid round pick was injured earlier in the playoffs. He had multiple open field tackles, he had a sack, he had he brusted up a play in the first drive to force them to punt. And sometimes in the Super Bowl that's like what it's like. The Ashean Robinson's and the Ernest Jones and the Darius Williams and the Taylor Raps and really that Rams defense for the most part making everything difficult. Because there's another scenario where the Bengals wouldn't even have scored twenty points. They were a little lucky to get the point. If the Bengals had pulled this out. You can also talk about the fact that I think they had like nine or ten tackles for losses as well. I mean, it's just the simple thing is the Rams win, and so that we're going to shine the light a little more positively on the on the defensive staff point, Greg I, we just want to underline it a little bit. Do you who do you think had a better game assistant defensive line coach Marcus Dixon of the Rams or for the Bengals. How about Jordan's Kovacs defensive quality control coach for the Bengals Covid. I mean, I'm going more top level. I do think we should give Raheem Morris shout out why don't we answer that question? Just let's let's stick to here first. I mean, you can go wax poetics. Everyone knows Kovacs doesn't really show. Yeah, I was hoping that. I think Kovacs though, more that you know about him, there's a big future there. Brahea Morris have a great playoff run. I mean the whole idea was, like their their defense was, it was gonna be tough to maintain how great their defense was a year ago. And if you look at this four game playoff stretch, they were as good or better than that number one RAMS defense from a year ago. And they did it when it mattered, Like, Okay, in the regular season, they weren't as great. Who cares. You just brought in von Miller and they absolutely rolled. So did my guy. When you got it to night with Jalen Ramsey getting beat twice nine, I get one of the face mask things bothers me. I like that there can't review review that, but that that was a big issue. I mean that changed the game right there. Uh, Chris Russo was right bang the under on this game. I was right about that. I wasn't right about anything else, but I was feeling I picked the under you banged the under as well. My final score was unfortunately, I had the Bengals winning. Let's take a break and uh, we'll hit a bunch of other stuff as we can continue our recap a Super Bowl fifty six bunch of other stuff. All right, we're gonna get to sandwich props in a minute. We're going to settle up some other business. But before that, the Westling Brothers were in town, five of them. In fact, the city was lousy with Westlings. I got I met them over at the Elsa Gundo Brewing Company for some drinks on Saturday night, and then after the game, uh, you know, after Cincinnati's football team very nearly won the Super Bowl but lost in excruciating fashion. I'm happy to report that the Westling brothers were in good spirits overall. Um. Stephanie, Nick's wife was really the biggest fan of the bunch, to be honest with you, and she was a good sport about it too. And we have we did some on site reporting with Ricky Hollywood that you can listen to at the end of the show. But I think overall, the Westling brothers really soaked it in and had a great time. So that was cool. It was crazy to walk down from our seats and we were leaving the stadium, Dan, we weren't exactly sure where the Wesleyan brothers were and we just run into them, and of course we did, because that's just the way this whole em But the stadium is like sixteen city blocks wide and we happen to pop out right where they were. Keisha is there that there's an NFL films crew that was following Keisha and the Wesleyan brothers. They were also at Keisha's house a week ago when when we were celebrating West and uh, I'm really excited to see that. But it was just I don't know, it's like you're feeling so many different emotions at once, but to see them all there, like it just felt right. You know, they were they were all in good spirits. Um. I felt so wrong for Chris not to be in that mix. And and Dan, you said it to me before the start of the game, just just like you just wish Chris could be here to see it. And it was kind of like when the Reds were winning early in the season, I was like, Okay, Reds, you got now. You actually picked now to have a good season, and and it was different because the Bengals and and we've talked about a lot, West had a different relationship with it. But it it's cliche, but all being together and like seeing us there and like seeing us all in that one spot at the super Bowl and the Bengals and all the Wesley brothers and Keisha, and you just think about how this this great friend of ours, Chris brought us all together exactly. That's what That's what I was just about to say that, like we we've had a lot of fun because it is a fun way to remember West is to think what West would where he'd be at headspace wise about this game. But I think the most important thing is that Chris is the reason why um Lakisha is so close to us and why the brothers were at this game. With the help from a lot of people at the NFL, which we really are thankful to everyone, Matt Schneider and the whole crew who made sure all the Westlings had a ticket, we're able to get in the building. Like they're all in that building celebrating Uh Chris and celebrating the hometown team. And even though it didn't come out the way you wanted it to come out. It was still like this special way to celebrate someone we all loved. And I mean we saw the pre Lakisha Chris Wesley, and we saw the post Lakisha Chris Wesley. And I don't really know if I've had a friend that went through a more um visual but also internal transformation because of one encounter, and so I wonder. I mean, yes, there is the Bengals mystery side to what Chris would have thought, but I think he ultimately would have just wanted Lakisha to be as happy as possible too, and she got her RAMS victory. I mean that would have been She was super dug into the Rams and on such an emotional level that like, maybe this is how Chris would want it to go. And I just had to say, like, Lakisha, who, you know, we have so much respect for her and how she's gone through this and come out of it and and been there and a great mother to link like this whole week has been highly stressful for her and there's NFL films falling around and she's wearing the half the half Rams jersey, half Bengals jersey, and I give her a big hug when I saw her and congratulated her on the Rams winning. It's almost like that was almost secondary to her, and it was her hometown team St. Louis Style winning the Super Bowl tonight. You just again, you can't make any of this up and we'll never forget this whole run because coming on the nearly year anniversary of losing West, for he to like play out this way still hard to be. Yeah, she's she was. She was happy, I think with the Rams winning and she also and I feel this way too. You almost don't want it to end, you know, like this week, because this week has been special. And I think about it because the Super Bowl is always going to be associated with West now for us, because we did that show after West died on Super All Sunday, and it's always it's always gonna have his you know, the day that it's always gonna happen the week before, and so it's always going to be associated. But I think it's sad, but it's also beautiful too, like it's it's a yearly celebration that we're going to have of him and of football. And I thought the same thing Dan in terms of how the game ended, And I talked to Nick a little about that, Like I think he would have wanted he should have been as happy as possible if he was here, you know what I mean. Like and and when those three plays went sideways, I sort of thought, like he he would have been like that, there's the Bengals, Like that's that's the Bengals for you. And he had so much love um for Keisha, of course, and she's such a pure fan that like that, That's like how he would And he was one of those smart football people who was always pounding the table about Donald's greatness. So Donald, I just I think it kind of worked out in a lot of ways, in a beautiful way that the Bengals didn't win, but everybody was together and and Lakisha got um, she got the ship there, so that is that's awesome. Um alright, let's see, let's get to the sandwich props. Always a difficult game. The victory. Winning is always about cashing in on others failures. It's like they say, like, what's the toughest sport of golf? Is the most difficult sport? No, no, no, no, it's success rate And it's hard to walk around in like a white eyesod shirt and like kick a ball around a green lawn. Wait, soccer, Now, you're no golf. I mean, I mean, I get that. It's you think people just I'm just saying like it's like, I'm not gonna die on that. Super weird like the ad reference and then kicking of ball. It's like, have you ever played a sport? I didn't nail the kicking thing, but I think the clothing part is on point. Some people say, you know, tennis, it's a one on one there's no coaches out there, You're all by yourself. A mental that that's one of the toughest sports out there that you corn hole the most difficult, especially if you're drunk. But I would say, uh, go get my lunch. Gets heard is up there as well. We'll start with Mark Sessler, Higgins sample and boyd out to the right and a cluster. The Bengals toss it to the right, Nicks throws into the back of the young tone. It is called by te Higgin touch down. Bengals show mixing floating one into the back right corner of the end zone and Tee Higgins pulls it in for the Bengals. Touched out a non quarterback completes a meaningful pass. Now, I don't know if Nick for Tier got this one right. It's according to Nick, I'm the only one who took you up on it? Did you not take because I remember specifically saying on one of the wagers, I wasn't taking you up on it, just I didn't want to. And apparently Nick's got this wrong. It's just a matter of which one I didn't take you up that was mine? A Sony Michelle, You're like, I have a weird feeling. I'm just not going to do that with you. Oh yeah, that's right. So we could also just you could just check the tape that there would be one simple way to all right, we're gonna stop down and Mark's going to check the tape. No, I could not be bothered. But I mean, you know, did you just say that that the Sony Michelle thing. Yeah, so that's what you're right, Thank you, Ricky. So Mark has a non QB finishes with two yards on two carries, by the way, not exactly the same performance as the hundred plus against Greg. Greg did not take you up on that, So you but you collected a sandwich on Meregregny, Michelle, me and Mark were there, Greg, Greg talked about other players throwing passes as not unusual or important. I said, I said that that's how often ces are. I took you on just because that's the way the game is played. The second half starts with an onside kick that did not happen when South it was a touchback, and then the big te Higgins and it should have tried an onsete kick, things would have maybe been different, Greg Rosenthal. So you're five and two there, Mark, that's a nice job about you, Greg Rosenthal. Four and three. Jamar Chase delivers a key memorable block that I think that's the worst super Bowl properly, don't just in terms of like here's the failed, but also like what are we even doing? Here's the thing you guys. I agree that it was weird, but for it to be a memorable block, it would have like the odds of that happening, we're very small. So if nothing else like it was it was an onion hanger. But you were trying to not even give me credit for where's the juice? Like what's fun about it? You know? Unless he's like I just sort of saw it in my mind, and I just wanted to go with it. I saw like Higgins running down and then Chase like delivers this thing. Your second one was looking really good at halftime, but then things went sideways for the Cincinnati offensive line. Joe Burrow sack less than three times, he was sex seven times, it's just gone for the under and nineteen times in the playoffs. Once again like proving that Kansas City game was so bizarre. Things got so strange in that game where he was able to get away and scramble and sacked once, but he was sacked nine times by the Tennessee tickle Monsters in the divisional playoffs, and then seven times by the Rams and the Super Bowl, including six in the second half. So there that is all right. The old Zeuser three and five. I had Cooper Cup in Jamaar Chase each half a hundred yards receiving one gets there by halftime. I don't think either got there. Both were close to one hundred. Both had an impact to the game, Cup, especially Super Bowl MVP, but neither um eclipsed the century mark or got there at halftime. So I lost two there and then the halftime show UM I had still dre opening. I thought that the Scott Storch the keyboard that instantly uh iconic keyboard riff would start the show that actually closed. So it was like church, wrong Pew situation, good sensibility though that it was a something they want to emphasize, right, and I do like it was like Dr Joe was like, Hey, in this house set that we're doing for halftime, um, get me a big white grand piano. So I'm gonna show him I could play piano. It was a great closer in the end. I was wishing I thought that would be the opener, but it was a great closer. I love that they started with a snoop verse expulsive, and I love how they ended up with drinks. Right. So we opened with next episode no Nate Dogg of course, but you get a little snoop starting things off. Turn off my headphones, r it will be dego, you know. And you can't like this is not trying to oversell it. The auxiliary we were in the five hundreds in this auxiliary press area. It was shaking. Uh. During the halftime set, people were just way into it. Smelled a little bit like a certain wacky tobaccy, right, I mean it could have been uh. And then I My other prediction was that they closed with California Love. They went from next episode into California Love, and they actually closed with uh, what did they close with? What they close with? What they close? Still drained? They close to it? What can I say something? Yes, I don't. Did we need like? It was cool that fifty did the whole you know in the club music video coming down from the ceiling thing, But I didn't need it. Can I tell you something? I think not to um to man spread on this one and man explain it, Man splain, man spread. I think if you are a fan of that era of hip hop or you were kind of super plugged in when he hit that was like one of the biggest songs ever and Dre. The show was ultimately about Dre and Dre found fifties that and that was the the the image of him dropping down. Everyone that followed hip hop hip hop in the early two thousand's was like, oh, that was him from the music video, like you know, shredded doing his sit ups or whatever he was doing in the gym. So I was I got it. I liked it. Actually, I was in I gotta have a little bit of a surprise. I guess I didn't. I'm with you. I didn't need it. But it also felt like every song was perfectly chosen. I mean it really was crazy. We live in California and yeah, Wesley, I'm just saying it was like, how so Cow can you get? You know, it was a moment these two guys from you know, from Inglewood that and that they're here at so Fi Stadium, that the weeds for us to be at a super Bowl. You know, you walk everywhere in so Cow and I think it's a beautiful smell. You just walk around the street. There's weed in the air pretty much everywhere you go. And for for every everything happening, for that to happen in the super Bowl Stadium and Dre and Snoop and then Kendrick, it's like it felt like the good guys one. It felt like a nice so this is as so Cow as you could possibly get. We've been to ten super Bowls. I think it was the best halftime show. I think there's recency biasm a little bit. The only thing that I would say that um that I easily had as my favorite was Beyonce before this, and I still think Beyonce is my favorite. But this one. We're in the bathroom for like thirty minutes after Shakira and j Lo in Miami. True, I have no idea what you're talking about. I like Beyonce one a lot. I thought New Orleans, Yes, New Orleans. Beyonce was excellent. I like Gaga a lot too. She was good. Um, and this one I thought was this was like the most joyous. But I'm with you, but with you, I don't think we worked together. But I really go back to that Black Eyed Piece performance. We weren't. We weren't together, but I remember I was in the building for that and it was up with people. It was like, wait, the super Bowl, what is happening? Um? All right? And then finally Greg so I that cost me, saying uh and Greg, you did me? We got Erica. That's it? Oh we did Greg, Erica? You said, Sony Michelle scores a touchdown? What did you have? What do you finished with? Like two yards? He could have had a one year touchdown in another scenario. He did not um any other kind of big picture thoughts about the game Boys. What you said before about Joe Burrow and the Bengals that you gotta take advantage when you do get there. There was a feeling I think with this Bengals team, and James Palmer was talking about it when I saw him in the press box today that like, they couldn't have possibly been looser this morning, throughout the week, they couldn't have possibly been more confident, They couldn't have possibly acted more like this was their destiny, and that they couldn't possibly be more confident that they're going to be back here year after year. That if they didn't get it he he said something to the effect that, well, if they don't get it done here, they act they they almost feel like they don't mind because that this They're gonna make this a regular habit. Now they have proven to us this season when you doubt Joe Burrow, when you doubt these Bengals, uh, they can have a way of surprising you, even if it doesn't make any sense. But this was an incredible opportunity, an incredibly winnable game that their defense really set up for them. And uh, it's gonna be you can say whatever you want about coming back. It's going to be a painful a couple of months. I think they'll learn that, you know, you can say whatever you want about we think there's gonna be a lot of these moments again for the Bengals, but all last offseason for the Super Bowl loser, the Chiefs, it was they're going to get it. He had all their resources to fix that line to make sure what happened against the Bucks and Tom Brady did not happen this season, and the Bengals going with a as laser focused to like, you cannot put Joe Burrow in that situation next year. They tried to put resources. But like for all the good job at their front office is done in general, that's one area that remains a disaster. And so you already know what your number one job is because there's a lot of other things to like about the fact that your core talent is all on the rookie contracts, there's there. They are right now the odds on favorite to win the a f C North again with those other teams haven't been weakened if anything else, And if you're the Rams, you're you're playing with house money at this point because you're the team that did pull out an imperfect game by both squads. And that's why I think with the all in thing, Greg, I think ultimately Yeah, if mcveighan donald their different team. Even if yeah, even if the core comes back and they don't get to the mountaintop and again, or maybe the people retire and the team goes under a complete they have the rings. They did it. This was successful, less sneed. Who's a guy that's been there for a long time and there was some down years where he could have gotten swept out and he didn't, And now he's got a ring with this team. I think that is It is a reminder that there is more than one way to build a team, and they showed it and it absolutely worked in for Cincinnati. Yeah, everyone everyone kind of has the same take with his team, which is, we're still in great shape. Let's go and pour a lot of resources into the offensive line and we'll get right back here. But that's not the looks looks stacked. The a f C North looks stacked. You got the Bills, you got who knows the Patriots coming up like you've got that entire a f C West Division. Uh, it's pretty brutal. I do like that. The Rams did it a different way by trading all these picks and they're coaching up these mid round picks like Ernest Jones that they give to me. It's like Odell Beckham was one thing in Stafford. Those weren't Those weren't balls he trades. Those were North You know, Aode Beckham was a no brainer. Signing Stafford was a smart trade. I don't think they went crazy, you know, I think that they were aggressive with von Miller was kind of a crazy trade. To give up two quality picks for two months of von Miller was an intense trade that was as all in as you get. And then he delivers two sacks three quarterback hits tonight. He's the first player ever to have two sacks in a Super Bowl for two different teams because he had a couple of course, getting the Super Bowl MVP a couple of years ago. Uh, it was incredible. It was incredible vision. And to keep less sneed with Sean McVeigh and make that partner partnership work, even though McVeigh is sort of in the lead. It's an interesting setup that Sneads there first, he works well with McVeigh. The ownership wanted to bring Snead from St. Louis to here. Everything worked out well, and then here they are. You almost can't write it that Sofi Stadium and they win the Super Bowl. I feel like Mark was dreading this sort of thing happening, almost that like the NFL preordained it and like that we were going to be the Rams little uh like employees. But in the end you didn't end up that way. I'm getting to the point that like, in the end, I don't think you minded, because even if that felt strange, that like we're essentially at work right now, it's happened right now. That now, if if you want to project it as a goal or something that they envisioned, it's happened. I think the bigger thing that's happening because it's not. I don't really have strong personal feelings about what happened to the Rams tonight. If anything, we kind of know them as well as any team and some of the people, and like I'm kind of cool with it and good for them. My thing is more than probably, but even that, even that, it's like, like how much mental space am I spending on Odell Beckham? Literally none at this point? Good, I'm no, But it's like, I mean, not as much as his like Instagram story that I was. It's isn't it nice to just walk over from the super Bowl though, Like we just watched the Super Bowl and then we walked over to the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio and it took us five minutes. Also, Drew drove like three miles this week. So I don't know what it's a trade off, but I would I would just say this, it's the second year in a row where the home team wins in their stadium. I don't care about that. It's the second year in a row where a veteran quarterback of high value decided to go from or was able to go from Team A to Team B and win the Super Bowl in year one with Team B. And I don't think that trend is going away. I simply don't. I think you've got other veteran quarterbacks looking at what's happened to Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford and said, these guys changed their storylines and their destinies. And Odell and it ends with O'Dell suffering a bad knee injury. He comes to the sideline and he's got a ring. He's crying after the game, but he you know, he tweets out, it's all God's plan. He's got a ring. Now. But that is that is part of what the league is now. It's why Kyler Murray and we don't want to get head of that story. But that's why Kyler Murray might be saying I could do whatever I want. I'm a star in this league. And I think it's a major kind of thread now to follow uh in the NFL because things are changing and well and we'll just continue to see. I think players kind of pick where they want to go the way the NBA has turned into that, like these teams kind of finding themselves and maybe there's some back channel chatter and then they say, let's go for it together. Now that is with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVeigh. That is now the stuff of legend for the Rams. The meeting in Cabo. There will be more meetings in Cabo across the league, I think going forward, even if it's not actually in Cabo, because it works. It works. It seems like we need a quarterback, we need this. Okay, I can come to your town and become the star and get a ring. Okay, let's do that. And football players don't have the mentality of well, that's just the NBA. They're thinking, No, it's just us too. We're actually ten times bigger sport than the NBA. Baseball's like a minor child sized dwarfs compared to us. No or what do you argue that football is like literally has nothing to do with anything we're talking about right now, you're ranking of what's popular, minor child side. I am saying that, like football players should be as empowered as any athlete on the planet, because the NFL is king. There's no other sport where. But it's it's saying that the football warty years ago, football was in the mix with these other sports. It's completely changed. Football is the King's sport, and their stars should have as much, say leverage and power is any athlete on the planet, not just NBA, not just baseball, not just fill in the blank. There are different dynamics. I think the Kyler, the Kyler Murray one is an interesting one to watch because and we'll get into it throughout the off season, so we don't need to hear, but you could hear the little sparrows from either the front office most likely or the coaching staff starting to try to drag Kyler through the mud. As as potentially there's a power struggle here and both sides don't want to look like the bad guy. Russ could be up for grabs. Deshaun Watson's legal situation is still uncertain, but he could be up for grabs later this offseason. Aaron Rodgers is maybe returning sounds more likely than not, but we don't know at this point. Like there's a lot of these quarterbacks hanging out there right now. Mhm alright, we'll keep us busy. You know you ready for that? Mark, Well, we'll do a podcast tomorrow, just a quarterback like emergency. You two will what's that? There is a new champion for the locks competition? Dan? Are you ready to announce your retirement? Oh? Aaron Donald, I need to get Jack and Harrison up here. I tried to retire from this. You guys wouldn't live me. I would like Greg, could you hand it over to me into some Yeah, Sean Kelly can get in here. Snap a photo of the transfer of lock trophy. It was one of very nearly one of the great collapses of all time. But um, I'm humbled. Let's make sure you I'm humbled and uh, Mark, you had an incredible comeback, but at the end of the day. The trophy is with me for the first time as a solo venture and that means a lot. So I want to thank everybody, and I'm not sure what the future holds. I want to go home. I want to talk to my family about this and see where we are. But we'll go spend more time with him, maybe walk away from the sport in general, as everyone else seems to be doing right now. Maybe maybe baby, but we're taking it home. I'm getting vibes from that episode where Mark wasn't happy with the lack of I think humility that you were showing on you know what, it's it came down to the end. You are vicariously we have you know, we win or lose through what other men do in um tight pants and pads. And that's what's happened tonight. I couldn't be more excited for you. I'm sure, I'm sure it was. It's it's nice to have it. It's gonna be right, it's gonna be right behind me over my right shoulder, um at my home. And then, uh, I know, Greg, you're hungry to come back for it next year because it's it was a humbling season for you, no doubt to go from back to back champion two or nothing. Guy. You know, I tried to retire the lock trophy period um the format in general, but it sounds like I'll never I'll never get rid of it. It's an odd battle that you're fighting on that front. I don't think it's going away. Um all right, any other thoughts, boys, This is obviously a uh still a surreal thing one year later without Chris. UM. Wish he was with us right now, and you you mentioned it always gets me. I don't know what it is the when they do America the Beautiful and goes into the national anthem and then the Jets go over and then you look down and you saw all the orange and you saw Cincinnati everywhere, and it's like, oh man, I wish he was here to see this. I don't even care what we're really where he would come down on. I just wish he was there, um with us. I want to do mention one thing I want to get uh if you did not happen to check out John Gonzalez, Colleen's husband's SI weekly podcast, which he launched last month, and it's, you know, really good um journalistic program that covers a lot of different things. And last week he had us on the show with Lakisha and we had a really, you know, great group conversation. So if you guys want to check that out, just talking about everything that's happened in the last year. UM, I highly recommend that. UM. Any other thoughts, guys, I mean, when I think of West, you know, and I think we we it's so clear at this point that we interact with West in our own unique ways. But now, starting tomorrow, was the time that West and I used to hang out a lot. It was the beginning of the off season, and and it like football will never be the same for me, And like, I like, I think that I kind of admire I think Greg specifically, like you seem to be galvanized to kind of do this season for West and to find love of football through him. And I certainly found my love of football growing by hanging out with West in general. I don't know if I can call this season that. I'm not sure it did that for me in the same way. And I it's just that I think I'm still processing, like a lot of what happened this year. It's been dark, it's been rough personally. UM, But Mason majorly because of that, and um so I just miss him now, like hanging out with him and all the stuff that we would do when he'd start to get deep into his other interests in life. And and there's really no one else, um that can duplicate that in a friendship way. Yeah, days like today you wake up two Bengals rams super Bowl, you just sort of like feel him. You you think about him, you feel his presence in days like today where you're just like so alive to the excitement of the of the moment. You know, that's living, like to quote damage, like that's living and that's what that was, what West was all about. You wish he was here, but you also love that like he feels part of this. It's you know, not to be too much of a downer, but it's like the next week or two that's like that's harder, you know, because I love that he's part of this. I love when we were in London that he was sort of part of that. And it's like you want those moments, those special days where he it almost feels like he's part of it uh to last forever, and they don't. But the best you can do is make sure you are really living in those days, well said, And it was another really special year for our show. And so thankful to the audience, UM, who went through the loss as well in their own way and how to make a decision whether they wanted to stay with us and continue to listen to the show. And and so many of you did stay with the show, and you saw us kind of try to process West's loss and figure out how to even do a show when Chris isn't around, who's such an integral part of what we did. So thank you to everyone who's who did that and UM and we hope to be around for a long time with you guys UH doing this show. It's just a a real honor to be able to UM, to have the audience we saw, you know, so many people UH this this week in l A coming up to us big podcast fans, whether it's here or visiting from different parts of the world, and we do not take that for granted. So thank you to everybody for the support of this show. Still hard to believe that this is our We're gonna go into our tenth season of the Around the NFL Podcast starting in September, which it's changed all of our lives and it's like, I don't know what happens next to the show things. You know, this is gonna be an interesting year for us, um, but I could tell you that we love doing it and uh, we're not going anywhere. It's crazy you think that that those first episodes where we had to basically sneak around, we had to leave people on the desk, that it was this this side thing that we almost had to be ashamed of, that our bosses didn't want to do. And now here we are and the great man Chris Westleyan's podcast studio across the street right. It was pitched as well, if there's four of you, two of you can go up and do a show maybe at the same time. And we never um followed that rule specifically and where it came from and who it came from. And I think that we've um inside this corporation not followed a lot of rules, and I'm proud of that. Living well or podcasting well is the best revenge and that's certainly case with us. So yes, from the Chris Westling podcast studio and we're gonna of course throw to our conversation now we with all the Westling brothers and let's just take him off. We got Larry, he's the stoic one. Oh what, he's the sardonic stoic. Stoic is a compliment. I mean in many princess by his brothers, that doesn't quite much stoic. But we got Nick the bad boy. We got Phil the quiet beatle in some ways but not really. It's got opinions, a lot of heart. Eddie, Eddie. I haven't had too much time with Eddie. Definitely the quiet one. He's the quiet one plotting in the background. And great, it was great to see him out here. I was pleasant surprised. And of course Tim, Tim Westling, the wild card, the wild card, that's an easy one. And Stephanie uh Nick's wife, who's yeah. Great to see everybody. So, um, here's the conversation we had with them, and what's been a really special week, um for the Westlings, and and what's been a wild year. Thank you everybody for listening. And we're gonna take a little bit of a break. We're gonna take the rest of this week off and be back with you at some point next week. So until then, you know what you gotta do. Heat the call. I feel Okay, I think it was a just and it was a good game. A little disappointed for my brothers, huge Bengals fans, but you know, it was a good game, and I'm happy for Lakisha that the Rams one, and hey, the Bengals will be back. Plenty of cheer for over the next decade. Of My wife extremely upset right now, season ticket holder, does not like the fact that the Bengals lost. The rest of us happy to be here. A little disappointment, but we'll be all right, and we also think the Bengals we'll be back. This was a very, very, very amazing experience. I don't bring myself to be back as a Rams fan, and just in this moment, like in the building Ram's house, we won the Super Bowl and that like a lot of people don't get a Chase experience this moment, and it's just like I don't take it for granted, like this is such a wonderful experience. If Chris is looking down on us now, he's probably thinking exactly what you said. On the other hand, this is a different Bengals team and he knows it. He would love Joe Burrow, j Mar Chase. He loved the whole deal except for Mike Brown, Boss Brown