After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 3

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself, because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash positive. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself, because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit betterhelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp.com slash positive. The best thing I saw on Wildcard Weekend is what? We're asking you to fill in the blank, and we're getting a fair amount of traffic on Twitter, A Law Radio, but if you check out our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence, we're talking about a lot of people who are using their holiday weekend to hang out with us, which makes me happy. So yes, whether it's Twitter, whether it's Facebook, our phone number, 855-212-4227, glad to have you with us.

We're heading into Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so a holiday weekend for a lot of people, which means you're out of your regular routines. And if you're hanging out with us or we're airing on a local affiliate where you don't normally hear the show, great. You can always catch us on Sirius XM 158, or you can hear us easily on the CBS Sports Radio website. There's a listen live button there at the bottom of the page.

We've got the free and easy Odyssey app as well as a variety of other apps. So however you choose to listen, of course we love our affiliates, but if you're in a space where the affiliate is either not airing the show or it's out of range, we've got many other options. The entire show is podcasted every weekday morning with fewer commercial breaks. It's after hours on CBS Sports Radio and we're making our way through what was a supersized wildcard weekend. So we still have a couple of games to get to that we haven't yet. I'm excited about those, but I do have your schedule for divisional weekend, even though our picture is not yet complete. Kansas City and Philadelphia, the top seeds will be in action on Saturday. So it's a doubleheader on Saturday. You've got the Jaguars who we'll talk about coming up this hour at the Kansas City Chiefs.

That's your first game, 3.30 Central Time, 4.30 Eastern Time to be followed by a rematch of a rematch. The last time the Eagles played Week 18, they still had the top seed on the line. So they were playing not only a lot of their starters, but Jalen Hurts returned and they saw the Giants, a familiar foe.

Well, looky here, we've got yet another divisional game. Giants and Eagles. I don't know, are the Eagles happy to see the Giants? Are the Giants happy to be in Philadelphia? They've lost both games to them.

That Week 18 game, the Giants didn't use many of their starters. In fact, they rested most of their guys because they were locked in as the 5 seed. 6 seed?

6 seed? Yes. Yes. This is what happens when there's numbers everywhere.

My brain. But it's fine because the deets are still there. You get the gist. You know what I'm saying. So yes, New York and Philadelphia. Philadelphia won both those games, but it's hard to beat a team three times in a row. It's not easy. You're going to get a fight. If this wildcard weekend showed us anything, it's that the division games, the divisional rivalries, they're extra.

You can throw out records because that does not matter. And the games can turn on a dime, which is why taking care of the football is so important. So Giants and Eagles under the lights at Lincoln Financial Field. That comes up on Saturday evening, 815 Eastern Time. We know the game between the Bengals and the Bills is set for 3 o'clock Eastern, 3 o'clock Buffalo Time at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. It's the game that we did not get in week 17. And the NFL did the right thing by canceling it, calling it a no contest, but we will get this game in the divisional round of the playoffs.

It just happens to be in a different place. And what we've been told is that Damar Hamlin, not only did he visit his teammates this week, but he will be in attendance at the stadium for that game. Let's hope that's the case, that nothing comes up that prevents his being there. Can you imagine what happens inside Highmark Stadium when they show him on the big screen, wherever he is?

Oh my goodness. And then San Francisco will host the winner of Dallas and Tampa Bay, which comes up on Monday night. But the Niners, they've got the last game.

So they go from having the first game of Wild Card Weekend to the last game of the divisional round and they can try to extend their winning streak to 12 games. That is hard to do. Man, it's hard to win one game in a row.

They're working on a 12 game win streak. So, we've still got a lot to do. We're halfway through.

Please find us on Twitter and Facebook and we'll get to some of your answers. Some of you are saying to me that you can't ask us what's the best thing we saw this Wild Card Weekend until we finish Wild Card Weekend. So fine, we'll have more time to go over your answers come Monday night. But yes, we don't have that full picture yet. And boy, is there a lot riding on Monday night for both the Cowboys as well as the Buccaneers, though I dare say more for Dallas. And I kind of wondered, this is just a side note. It's more rhetorical.

There isn't really an answer. Could you imagine if it was Dak Prescott that threw four interceptions in the first half of a Cowboys playoff game? Now, he comes back and he throws four TDs in the second half and the Cowboys win by one.

I still say most people are down on him. Or what if he has a Josh Allen game? And we're about to talk about the Bills and the Dolphins. But if he has a Josh Allen game where he has three turnovers and the Bills are, in this case, the Cowboys barely win.

I think people are so much harder on him than a lot of other quarterbacks in the NFL. Of course, there's some recency bias there because the Cowboys have run into a lot of disappointment. Just ask them.

They will tell you. And I've already got a lot of Cowboys fans who are preparing for the worst. But let's not count our chickens yet.

We're not quite there yet. We're still talking about Sunday. The Miami Dolphins. The Buffalo Bills. Two receivers to the right, one to the left. Fix the handoff to Singletary. Allen looking to run. Now going to fire to Knox. Caught in the end zone. Touchdown Buffalo.

Somebody get the fire extinguisher. Dawson Knox is as hot as a firecracker. Five touchdowns in five straight games. Buffalo on the board first. Coming up on five minutes left in this first quarter. The Gibbs to Cook coming around the left side. Out running. Landon Roberts to the end zone.

Now we're cooking with gas. James Cook with a 12-yard touchdown run. Buffalo up 13-0 with 5.07 left in this first quarter. It was a loud explosive start for the Buffalo Bills. A deep shot to Stephon Diggs actually was an incomplete very beginning of the game. But you knew right away that Josh Allen and Sean McDermott and Ken Dorsey, they were going for it. They were trying to come up with that shot that kind of knocks you flat right away with these Miami Dolphins. Remember, these two teams had played twice already this season and the games together had a five-point margin of victory.

Five points. That's all that separated the Bills and the Dolphins in splitting the season series. So that deep shot to Diggs doesn't work, but they also go for it on fourth down.

Doesn't work. Miami on its possession, first possession, tries a deep shot to Jaylen Waddle and he dropped it. You don't see that very often. He dropped it the very first pass from Skylar Thompson because Teddy Bridgewater could not go into a... was not available. So yeah, even before there's any points on the board, you're seeing these two teams are going to go body blow, body blow. So the second Buffalo drives gives you that 52-yard strike to Diggs and setting up the Dawson-Knox touchdown. Did you guys see how close that came to grazing the ear of the defender? It was really impressive because Dawson-Knox was outside. And a lot of times the quarterback will go over the top with a receiver and drop the ball in on the outside in the corner, maybe against the end line where he has to toe tap and only he can grab it. This one actually whizzed by the left ear. So the inside of the Miami defender right into the arms of Dawson-Knox.

So that was phenomenal. And Dawson, yes, as you hear with Chris Brown on Bill's radio, is heating up at just the right time. And then after Skylar Thompson throws an interception, he's picked off by Dean Marlowe.

Buffalo then has a short field. You heard the James Cook 12-yard rushing touchdown. And then with a field goal, it's a 17-nothing lead early in the second quarter. I'm not going to name any names, but somebody sent me a text saying it was another blowout and another dud.

Oh, well, not so fast. A pair of Josh Allen interceptions really changed the tone of this game before half. Miami is able to grab a couple of field goals at the 2-minute warning. Buffalo then goes 3-and-out. By the way, this first half took 17 hours.

Oh my gosh. I don't know if it was the longest playoff game in the history of the world, but it certainly felt like it. Anyway, so at the 2-minute warning, it's 17-6. Buffalo goes 3-and-out, and then there's plenty of time for Miami to possess the ball again. So yes, another field goal.

Now it's 17-9. And this is when Josh Allen throws another pick. It's a short field then for the Dolphins, and they don't need much time. They're going quick. Kind of feeling it. Not out of their rhythm because they were just on the field.

Little again is an eligible receiver on the offensive line. Thompson out of the gun. Play clock down to 2. Takes the snap. Looks right. Throws right. Passes complete right.

Gasicki's got it. Back of the end zone. Touchdown Dolphins within 2 with 33 seconds to play here in the first half. What a turn of events.

Back of the end zone, 7 yards after Josh Allen throws a second pick, which was off Cole Beasley's hand. So it's not always cut and dried and the mistake of the quarterback, but man, when the Bills have allowed their opponents, and this definitely counts inside the AFC East, when they've allowed their opponents to stick around, it's because of turnovers or miscues by the Bills. Now it comes with being aggressive.

I certainly understand that. It comes with Josh Allen having this humongous arm like a rocket. And a lot of times those footballs are thrown in there like nobody's business.

Zing. John Elway used to do that with his receivers too. And sometimes they would bounce off his receivers. And so Josh Allen has a lot of power.

But the aggressiveness can come back to bite you. And so at the half, it's 20-17. Miami did the same thing on defense that it did on offense. Mike McDaniel definitely told his team to ratchet up the defense.

Because right away, in the second half, the Miami defense comes up with another gem. Gilliam is in motion. The fullback. Allen under pressure. He is hit.

And he fumbled the ball. It's loose inside the 10. Squirts toward the 5. Picked up by the Dolphins. Into the end zone. It's Seeler.

And the Dolphins take the lead. It was knocked away by Eric Rowe. Seeler was able to pick it up and rumble into the end zone. Another turnover. Zach Seeler, defensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills, with Josh Allen lying on the turf. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't get to the ball. The Bills had a chance to recover it and did not.

But as you hear with Tom McCarthy on Westwood 1, it was recovered for a 5-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. And Miami has the lead. Come on, that's stunning. That is stunning in and of itself. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio.

I did the math myself just because I wanted to be sure of this. Miami puts 24 points on the board in under 9 minutes. That only happens with turnovers.

It doesn't happen any other way. So the Bills threw open the door. They decided to give them some Orchard Park hospitality. Here, come enjoy yourself.

Have a nice visit. It's like the welcoming committee in the form of turnovers. But the Buffalo defense also responds. And at this point, what else can you do, right? You don't have a choice. Yeah, you've lost the lead.

But there's a long way to go. If you sit around and you lick your wounds and you're pouting and you're frustrated and you're upset, well, certainly you're not going to get back in the game. But instead, the Buffalo Bills with the leadership and with that crowd behind them, they find a way to fight scratch and claw. Three receivers to the left. Thompson in the shotgun.

The crowd in a frenzy. Back from his own end zone. Heaving down the left sideline. Intercepted by Khair Elam at the 32-yard line. The rookie with the biggest defensive play of the game for the Bills.

12-yard gain on the carry by Allen. Three receivers to the left. Knox on the right side. Singletary in the backfield. To the right of Allen in the shotgun.

Here's the snap. Fires it to Beasley at the three. Lunches for the end zone. Touchdown. Welcome back, Cole Beasley. Buffalo back in front. You know, it's great.

This is one of my favorite things that I saw this weekend, too, in wildcard, supersized drama. Cole Beasley is 33 years old. He's played more than a decade in the NFL, and that was his first career postseason touchdown. After the Khair Elam interception of Skylar Thompson, a short field.

Man, how huge is that? It was that way for the Dolphins. It was that way for the Bills. We saw it that way in most of the games this weekend. That takeaways promptly stuffed momentum. You know, momentum is fleeting in sports. And very often set up the teams on short fields. It's a heck of a lot easier when you don't have to go 80-plus yards. So Cole Beasley gets into the end zone.

27-24. Bills are back in front. And then the next drive is much more like the Bills. It's much more like Josh Howard. In fact, I tweeted right after their next drive that Allen needed that.

He's on point. He's locked in. Short passes. Sharp passes.

And then a Gabe Davis. 23-yard touchdown grab. And boy, the toe-tap swag. He wasn't really dragging.

He was more tapping at the side of the end zone. Puts them up by 10. Now you've got to give credit to Miami because they answer. Another 6-minute drive engineered by Skylar Thompson. Jeff Wilson, who got the start. No Raheem Mostert.

I think he had a broken thumb. Wilson had a touchdown rush himself early in the fourth quarter. And so they're right back there within three. Within field goal distance. So the last two possessions, it's really up to the Bills defense.

Coming into focus. This is one of the moments that makes you want to bang your head against the wall if you're a head coach. Although Mike Daniel takes responsibility for it. Fourth and one. And the Dolphins, who have a drive going, earn a delay of game penalty that bumps them back to a fourth and six.

And this is what it all comes down to. How much more challenging a fourth and six than a fourth and one. So Thompson's pass goes off the fingertips of his tight end with two and a half minutes to go. Buffalo does have to get a first down, but is able to run out the clock after Devin Singletary picks up seven yards to convert. And so they're able to keep the ball away from Miami the rest of the way. But yeah, this was not an easy win and it shouldn't be. It's a divisional game. They played each other tight three times. Three times and none of the games was separated by more than three points. That's pretty amazing. Give credit to the Dolphins.

Not that it's any less painful. We will hear from them coming up, as well as the Buffalo Bills, who have the chance to host now a divisional playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This was a game that had a 13 and a half point spread. At least that's what it was leading into game time. I don't know if it stayed there, but it was pretty darn close. But turnovers, the great equalizer and divisional play.

The dolphins don't care about your spread. On Twitter, a law radio, also on our Facebook page, grit, a lot of grit in this game from both sides. It's after hours with Amy. This show is sponsored by better help. When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. Better help is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit better help dot com slash positive to get 10 percent off your first month.

That's better h e l p dot com slash positive. This show is sponsored by better help. When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. Better help is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit better help dot com slash positive to get 10 percent off your first month.

That's better h e l p dot com slash positive. This show is sponsored by better help. When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. Better help is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online, and it matches you with a licensed therapist. Let therapy help empower you. Visit better help dot com slash positive to get 10 percent off your first month.

That's better h e l p dot com slash positive. It feels great. You know how important these games are. It's a one and done, you know, around this time. So just be able to contribute and have my team win.

I mean, especially in these big moments, you know, it's awesome. One week seasons, man, that's it. Got to take it one and oh, one game at a time. Thought we did some good things today.

I did some bad things today, you know, some stuff to clean up, some things to learn from. But we'll grow from it. All that matters is surviving and advancing. It doesn't matter how we win, it's if we win. And I'm proud of our guys for playing the way they did. It's a football feeding frenzy.

After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Gabe Davis on the receiving end of a Josh Allen strike. As the Bills were able to put a 10-point lead on the board in the late stages, still the Dolphins would not quit and would not go away. And that's what divisional matchups are all about.

There's no love lost, there was a ton of our extracurricular activity. Did you see the one, oh gosh, was it, it might have been after Josh Allen's second interception in which he gets kind of knocked out of the way by a Dolphin in case he were planning on trying to make a tackle of the defender who just snagged, had snagged the, was it Javon Holland? I think it was Javon Holland who had the interception. So Josh Allen is kind of angling toward the sideline in case he needs to make a tackle. And he gets shoved by a Miami defender.

And so what does he do? He shoves back. And all of a sudden there is a scrum, a big brouhaha that ends up tipping over and falling on the ground.

Why? Because the Bills offensive linemen were defending their quarterback's honor. But I don't think they needed a whole lot of excuses to get up close and personal and into each other's personal space. Nah, that's the best thing about divisional matchups. There is history. And there is this familiarity that breeds contempt. Man, that adage, that saying is very true when it comes to divisional rivalries in football. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So Miami Resilient, and we'd heard that from Mike McDaniel all season long.

That was the word he used about them over and over again. We'll get back to more of Josh Allen and Sean McDermott. But the biggest question from McDaniel following this game was about the fourth down in which the Dolphins had... Not only did they have extra time because the officials were conferring over something to do with the clock. I think the clock in the stadium wasn't syncing with the officials' clock. And so there's this big conference about a clock after a flag is thrown. And meanwhile the Dolphins have all this extra time to set up a play on fourth and one. But they get a delay of game.

How does that happen? You not just have the play clock, but you have all this extra time to confer and still they earn a flag and it goes from fourth and one to fourth and six. The last one in particular had to do with whether it was officials or coaching. There was some communication that we had gotten the first down. So then we were deploying a group of players for the first and ten call. And then it was articulated that no, it was fourth down. So that miscommunication, that's all the stuff that you do in this business.

You never stop finding the things that you can improve on. And it was a piece of the reason why we were unable to come out with a victory. But it definitely wasn't the only reason. Yeah, he takes the circuitous route there in explaining it.

Little awkward. But essentially what Mike McDaniel is saying is that of all the flags, and the Dolphins had seven flags, that last one, which was the most damaging, he thought they had a first down. Whether it was communicated to him directly or he thought it was communicated to him directly by the officials or whether it came from his coaches, he's not exactly sure. But because of that, he was under the impression they had a first down. And so he has got his guys ready for a first down set, a first down package. He's got guys out there that he would want on the field for first down.

And then they realize it's a fourth down and they're not ready. And it's an excuse. Well, it's not an excuse, it's a reason. He's not making excuses. They screwed up.

But that flag particularly was one of those that makes you want to do a face palm. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Again, he's been proud of his team all year. They went three wins, three losses, five wins, five losses. Ultimately able to sneak into the playoffs with a victory in Week 18, only to battle Buffalo brilliantly on Sunday. Remember, they've used multiple quarterbacks.

Two a time go below, only available for what, about half the year? Teddy Bridgewater, both times he came into spell two, ended up getting hurt, which put the onus on the rookie, Skylar Thompson. But this was, what, his third career start, eighth game, but a tough situation to throw him into.

And yet the Dolphins did not back down. It's the same story as all season. We had lost five in a row, but it wasn't because we weren't competitive. I think there was a couple games this season that late in the third, early in the fourth, the game kind of got out of hand.

But from my memory, I think it's a group of individuals that take their job, take their teammates, take the opportunity very serious. And we've expected to be in every game. We were very aware that no one really gave us a shot. That was definitely an extra motivating factor, not that we needed any other motivation.

The Dolphins fans and the organization, we really wanted to bring, very aware of the drought of winning a playoff game. Our team fought really, really hard today. You could tell there was no quit in us, and walking into this game, nobody gave us a chance at all. And we had a chance to win it.

And that's what you want. It speaks volumes about the fight in this team, the guys that we have in this locker room, the people we have in this organization from top to bottom. I do feel like we are moving in the right direction in this organization, and guys are hungry.

So it would be important to remember this feeling that we have right now in this offseason and get to work. A lot of Dolphins have had the feeling before you, Skylar Thompson, because Miami's last playoff win? December 30, 2000. That's more than two decades. And it's now five consecutive playoff losses in a row. So yeah, that spans two decades.

Remember, they hadn't been to the postseason since 2016. And not only did Skylar Thompson give it everything he's got and try to do whatever he could to be ready, and Mike McDaniel definitely helps. Tyreek Hill, Jaylen. There were a lot of drops, though. Did you see the number of drops by the Dolphins in this game? A lot of drops. So Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, they got a lot of weapons.

Mike Kiseki. We know that these guys can put up points. It's just been a revolving door quarterback. And that can be jarring.

It's not easy when you're constantly adjusting and readjusting. But the Miami defense played so well. I was very impressed. A touchdown on a fumble return. Three takeaways.

And how about this? A team playoff record seven sacks of Josh Allen. As for Buffalo, the Bills defense forced six punts and also came away with two turnovers. So both defenses were physical and they were aggressive.

They were attacking. They really mirrored the effort of the offense, which I appreciate. Dean Marlo had an interception.

He was actually starting in place of DeMar Hamlin. For him to be in the building, man, it brought smiles and happy tears to everybody in the building. Just to see him walking around, healthy, recovering well, we sat next to him all around the facility and just kind of asked him a couple questions of how he was feeling and all that kind of stuff. All we needed was to see his face and see him walking around. Once we knew he was healthy, we kind of had a weight lifted off our shoulders. But then actually seeing him in person, it was amazing, man. Every guy on the team just was so happy to see him. That's awesome.

That makes me smile. A reminder that football's not the most important thing. And DeMar Hamlin is expected to be at the stadium come next Sunday for Bengals and Bills. Sean McDermott knows the Bills made this one harder than it needed to be because of their mistakes. At the end of the day, you turn the ball over, you die normally a pretty quick death. And when you turn the ball over, I think we had three turnovers, one for a score. And then we had the big punt return in there mixed in there as well.

So not very good complementary football. The turnovers, they hurt us, you know, really let them back in the game, up 17-0 with chances. And I gave them the ball two times and gave them a touchdown. So it's just things you can't do and you can't expect to win like that.

So some such cleanup. You know how people say, some people, that it's the NBA, everybody makes a run? You hear Josh Allen talking about the 17-point lead. Twice the Giants had a 10-point lead only to see the Vikings rally. We know in the Niner-Seahawks game, the biggest spread, I guess you could call it a blowout if you want to, if it fits your narrative. But the Seahawks rallied from double figures down to be able to take the lead.

I mean, this was a weekend of wild swings. None greater, none more dramatic, none more shocking and unlikely than the Jaguars. After five turnovers in the first half and a 27-point deficit, Doug Peterson, the Jacksonville Jaguars, they pulled a win out of their rear ends. They snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat.

And it was like a dinosaur jaw somehow, someway. That's our next game right here on After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio, on Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page too. The best thing I saw this wild card weekend was what? You can fill in the blank. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself. Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp is a great therapy option. It's flexible, affordable, entirely online and it matches you with a licensed therapist.

Let therapy help empower you. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. When you're at your best, you can do great things. Working with a therapist can help you get closer to the best version of yourself.

Because when you feel empowered, you're more ready for life's challenges. BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. Visit BetterHelp.com slash positive to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. If you are leading change, building a team or implementing new procedures, Gonzaga University's Online Masters in Organizational Leadership gives you the tools for success. With concentrations in change, global and servant leadership, you'll get the most relevant training and education to help you tackle any challenge. Visit Gonzaga.edu slash leader and find out how Gonzaga's Organizational Leadership degree can affect positive change in your life and career.

That's Gonzaga.edu slash leader. Oh, the second play of the game is a turnover and the bolts are in business. This a fourth and seven.

They go empty. Shotgun snap. Here comes the blitz. Hit as he throws. Intercepted. Intercepted left sideline. Ahsante Samuel. Shotgun snap.

Lawrence with time. Throws. Intercepted again. Ahsante Samuel jumped the route and picked it off. Oh my. Oh, Ahsante have a game.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. This was the game of the weekend with my apologies to all of the other winners and those teams that put up a great fight. This was history.

I mean, there was history all the way through Wild Card Weekend, but you know what I mean? It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. The computer is going to cut me off in nine minutes, so I have to get to this game.

Chop chop. Matt Smith on Chargers radio. Why was it a montage of interceptions? Well, because it seemed like there was one every time the Jaguars touched the ball. Unheard of disaster for Trevor Lawrence in the first half of this game in Jacksonville on Saturday night.

Four picks and a muff punt in the first half. It wasn't just Trevor Lawrence, but he's the guy that had propelled them to this point. He's the guy who was getting all this attention for the way the Jaguars were playing and how they earned a spot in the playoffs at the AFC South Champions. He's the guy who's been in such pressure cookers going back to his days at Clemson. He's the guy who stopped throwing interceptions after his rookie year. And it meant such a huge difference for his offense. Only to see it come back and bite him in the rear end in the first half on Saturday. Four interceptions and a muff punt and, while they're at it, a huge deficit.

Because why don't we amp up the degree of difficulty? The Chargers rack up 20 points off their takeaways. So 20 points off turnovers in that first half. Are you kidding me?

You're just spotting your opponent? 20 points. And actually, before the second quarter was done, the Chargers are up 27-0. Austin Eckler, a pair of first half scores. Gerald Everett, a 9-yard TD catch from Justin Herbert.

They're failing themselves. This is the moment, the coronation for Justin Herbert as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, let's be fair. But then, you know, they have to keep playing because they don't stop after a quarter and a half. Jacksonville uses its 2-minute drill to at least stop the bleeding and get on the board. Shotgun on second and five.

Lawrence. Step. Throw.

Delivers. End zone. Caught. Ingram. Touchdown. Jacksonville. The Jaguars are on the board with 24 seconds left in the first half.

Ian Eagle on Westwood 1. Yes, that may not have seemed like a big deal at the time. I'll be fair. I didn't think it was such a huge deal at the time. It was almost laughable. But Evan Ingram, who had a big game, does hole in a 9-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence with 24 seconds to go in the second quarter.

And yes, it was massive. It sparked the Jaguars. And they come roaring out of their halftime locker room.

ETN circles. Now sets up to the left of Lawrence. Back to throw.

Lawrence looking. Throws left corner. Touchdown. Marvin Jones wide open. And the Jaguars are roaring back.

Oh, I said that. Lawrence in the pocket looking for the deep shot. And he's got his man, Zay Jones. Separation. Touchdown.

Jacksonville. A rope for 39 yards. ETN in the backfield to the left of Lawrence.

Shotgun. He's got the snap. Lawrence drifts back. Throws.

Enzo near side. Hauled in. Christian Kirk. Touchdown.

Jacksonville. I swear to you that I did not remember. I'd heard the calls before because I listened to everything before the show. But I did not remember that Ian Eagle used that same verb, roaring back. I kind of liked it.

I thought I was being unique. That's what I wrote down in my notes. Nope, not so much. Yeah, they do, in fact, come loudly rushing out of the halftime locker room. 14 plays.

A seven-minute drive. And it's Marvin Jones then who gets them started in the second half with his touchdown catch. They're heavy on the pass, of course.

They have to be. And they also overcome a delay of game on third and goal with the one-yard line. So the Dolphins could take a page out of their book. Meanwhile, the Chargers are managing only a field goal and a missed field goal in the second half.

And it may surprise you, but this is true. Not only did Brandon Staley talk about it, but I went back just to check. Four possessions in the second half.

That's it. Three points on four possessions in the second half. So they only had limited chances. Jacksonville dominated the ball and all the momentum shifted because the Jags scored on all four drives in the second half. 31 points from late in the second quarter to the finish of this game. So you hear Zane Jones, 39-yarder that he hauls in, and Jacksonville is feeling it.

Though still, there's work to be done. So in the fourth quarter, Trevor Lawrence is spreading the ball around. He's keeping L.A. off balance. He even goes over the top.

Oh, a la Tyler Huntley, but it actually worked. He goes over the top for a two-point conversion and pokes the ball over the goal line. Those are so dangerous, as you can see, for the Bengals. And L.A. can do nothing with a football, so after a three-and-out, the Jags are on the move again, and they're steady, and they're confident, and you know what Doug Peterson does with fourth and one, right? Fourth down, less than a yard, tight formation. They go three backs in the backfield. They're going to hand it to ETN, gets to the outside, he's to the 35, 30, 25, and he's thrown down at the 15. They just faked out the Chargers. Big play call from Peterson, and ETN executes it to perfection for 25 yards. Thirty-six yarder from the right hash to win the game. Logan Cook will put it down, Riley Patterson.

Cook puts it down, Patterson's kick is up. The field goal is good! Good!

Good! The Jaguars have won it! The Jaguars have won it! They have come back from 27-nothing to win the game and move on!

How good is that? My hat's off to our guys, our team. I told them after the game that, you know, other than obviously winning the Super Bowl a few years ago, greatest coaching victory as a team, this one's right up there with it. I heard tell that the locker room celebration and speech by Doug Peterson was pretty impressive, and so we'll try to grab that, if not for tonight then, for our next show.

So yes, congratulations to Doug Peterson. We've talked all year about the credibility that he brings to that locker room, and boy did it work. But, how did Trevor Lawrence move on after four interceptions in the first half, and then have four touchdowns in the second half? Coach showed a video of, I don't know if you guys heard of Jocko, you guys can look it up, it's this video where he talks about good, and it's like, no matter what happens, that's your response, good. You know, threw four picks in the first half, good. You know, he showed that back in, I don't know if it was training camp or during the season, maybe when we were on that losing streak, I don't know when it was, but it's just been our mindset, you know, then we say it on the sideline joking around, one of the linemen, I forget who it was, said to me after I threw three or four picks, he was like, good.

That's what I love about Trevor and his demeanor and his aggressiveness and the ability to just forget and move on. It's just what I told him at halftime, you know, it's kind of like our season, you know, and we've put ourselves in a hole at times, and then we've worked ourselves out of it at times, and just to have the resiliency and the fight and the desire and the ability to continue to play, you know, because it could have easily gone the other way. Guys put everything they had into it this year, and especially this game, and, you know, you hate to see it go that way, but I know that everyone in that locker room who comes back is going to use this one for fuel for the next year, and they're excited to get back to work and definitely tough to process, but, you know, got to keep it going and use this one as fuel. Justin Herbert, 25 of 43 for 273 yards and a score, but no touchdowns, in fact, only a field goal in the second half, and it went horribly wrong.

We'll hear from Brandon Staley and more from Herbert next hour. Largest comeback in Jacksonville Jaguars history? Good.

Third largest comeback in NFL playoff history? Good. I love that story about Jocko. Now I need to go and find that audio myself, because that's a great response. All right, so you failed, you fell flat on your face. All right.

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