After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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We hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you in the next one. Nick Saban raised the bar, not just for Alabama football, but for college football around the country. A little bit like say, UConn women's basketball. Right? If you want to compete, well, you better get better.

Otherwise, you're going to get left behind. That's what Nick Saban did for college football and he will be missed. We'll talk more about him. You can find me on Twitter, ALawRadio. I know a lot of you are weighing in on our Facebook page and is Alabama now a more popular job than any of the NFL openings? So on our show Twitter, that post is up after our CBS.

You can also, as I say, weigh in on Facebook 855-212-4227. Had a chance to sit and watch and listen to our friend Mark Ross, who's a long time scout and player evaluator. Of course, was in a front office for years in the NFL, including those New York Giants when they were winning two Super Bowls. Now with NFL Network as an analyst and often works game day on Sundays, which is one of my favorite shows.

Mark, I'm blown away by the Wednesday, just specifically in the NFL. Even after Pete Carroll said he wanted to keep coaching. He had energy.

He had joy for the journey. He's out as coach of the Seahawks. What's your reaction? That was definitely a shocker. You know, Pete Carroll still one of the best coaches in the league.

It seemed as if he had plenty of energy and plenty of want to. But, you know, I guess whatever the decision making with the powers that be decided they need to do something a little different. You're going forward and, you know, we don't know how it is on the inside when something the coach is there a long time, no matter how great that the coach is. And, you know, sometimes maybe the players just kind of when they're hearing the same message year after year after year, maybe that was getting lost or something. I don't want to speculate.

I don't know. But all in all, definitely was a surprise. You know, to hear that you heard all the rumbling about all these other coaches that weren't going to make it. But to hear Pete Carroll, that definitely was a shock. He is the most successful head coach in Seahawks history, helped the city earn its first Super Bowl title.

They went to another Super Bowl. What made him such a successful coach, Mark? I think his energy, you know, and his relatability to players. When I looked at him the outside looking in and I even interviewed for that the GM job there in Seattle when Schneider got its interview with Pete and I knew him at USC with scouting and whatnot. So, you know, his energy was just unmatched and his relatability was kind of unmatched and that's what really made him unique.

You know, forget X's and O's and all that. The great coaches I've been around, players are motivated by those guys and they sense the authenticity and consistency in them. And Pete did it a different way. Like no other coach kind of has done it. I think that really is what motivated those guys and got them to play hard for him. And, you know, outside of the organizational things and hiring great coaches as well was just that unbridled passion that he always seemed to have.

He could coach a water bottle and a pair of socks. It seemed as though he would get the most out of a group of players. He went through a couple of different rebuild iterations there with the Seahawks, the most recently being post Russell Wilson.

And even with Geno Smith and with a group of guys that most people rode off, they still made the playoffs last year as a wild card. Always seemed like he could maximize the talent that he had on his roster. Yeah, no doubt. And that's what you want as a coach. You want coaches who are going to take what they've got and maximize it, as you said. And not coaches who, you know, want the world and then complain about it too and don't want to coach anybody up. And yeah, you definitely, as you said, his history of success, it's there.

It's clear. And this really cemented these last couple of years kind of. They're right in the mix there this year. I was shocked that they didn't make it.

I thought they were going to make it in. But, you know, the Geno injury threw him off a little bit. But yeah, his success now, the last few years, has really cemented his greatness. We're so excited to have Mark Ross back on the show with us from NFL Network, a guy who spent years in front offices in the league and also in player evaluation. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Mark, we were asking our listeners on the last show to rank him, so to speak, the most attractive jobs from, say, a coaching standpoint. Now we've got seven openings. Which of these head coaching gigs do you believe are most attractive?

I've got to go with, number one, the Chargers, just because you've got the quarterback. You know, everybody's trying to get a quarterback. There's only a handful, under 10, walking around the face of the earth that you can say, this guy is going to be the guy for us and we can build around him.

So, you know, every off-season, if you don't have one, that's the goal to get one. So, you know, I know they've got other issues there, but if you've got that guy, that's really the start. And that's really where you want to be so that you can just build around him. And then I think the Washington situation is very intriguing for those teams that don't have one, just because you've got a high enough draft pick that you should be able to get one. If they're the right one, who knows if any of these guys are going to be the ones. But at least you're picking that high to make it the right one. And you've got a ton of cap space and you've got a new owner who wants to do things the right way and wants to make his mark and I'm sure will put everything together to make it successful.

So, you know, those kind of are the pillars that you want. High draft pick, a lot of free agency money and an owner that believes in you and gives you a chance. I mean, that's, outside of not having Justin Herbert, that one really I'd take. It seems as though you're talking about a situation that's completely opposite of what the Panthers have, where the owner has made some dubious decisions, right? They gave away their top draft pick, which they would be selecting number one overall. What is your reaction to what we saw in Carolina this year?

Yeah, I was really shocked. I had high hopes coming into that situation for Bryce where I thought that they did have a nice foundation for him. Whenever you've got a young quarterback that you're trying to start out, you want to have a nice foundation on the field and off the field. And I really thought they had that with the coaching staff and with some veteran players that they surrounded him with. But it really just all fell apart quick, where it just seemed as if there was not a lack of competency in the coaching staff, shockingly, despite a bunch of guys. And then all those players that they had sort of fell apart, you know, did not live up to what they thought they would be.

You know, really it was just kind of Bryce, go do it. And it was a bad situation for him. And I know he's going to take a lot of blame.

And when you're the first pick of the draft and you're a franchise guy, of course he will. But, I mean, he really had no chance from the start. And it looked bad there.

And it just kept getting worse. And I believe in Bryce. I believe in him coming out. I thought he was going to be a really good player in the league. And I think he still can be.

Chose some flashes. And, you know, I'm just encouraged by the young man, you know, the whole thing with the size. You know, he made it through after taking up beating the whole year with that bad offensive line that he made it through.

Right. Relatively injury-free. But also, you know, mentally, you know, I think he'll bounce back. You know, that this won't crush him.

What happened to him this season won't crush him and he'll bounce back. But a lot of work to be done there in Carolina. They did a lot of players. And, you know, with an owner who's shown that he has zero patience.

So, yes, that is sort of the opposite of what you want and what's going on in Washington. From your scouting brain, why did it work so well in Houston for C.J. Stroud? And the flip side, I was in Carolina and Houston for training camp with the network and covering both of those teams. And I really had more high hopes for the Panthers than I did for the Texans. Because when you look at their roster, like, they don't have much here. And, you know, first-time head coach in D'Amico Ryan, how would he adjust even though I thought he would. I really loved him as a coordinator. I thought he was a home run hire as a head coach.

But I just looked at that roster and said, you know, they don't have much. And with C.J., the big thing was, you know, how quickly he would adapt and adjust to it. Because, you know, at Ohio State, you know, for 11 games there or, you know, two years, you saw a good C.J.

Stroud. And it was like, okay, you know, there's some things here that, you know, he really doesn't do great. And then he played that Georgia game, the last game he played. And he absolutely looked like a star, you know, a superstar in that Georgia game, if you remember that.

But, you know, the quandary was, okay, are we going to get that C.J. Stroud or the kind of the 95% C.J. Stroud coming into the NFL? Well, he was that Georgia game C.J. Stroud where everything to him right from the start, he just looked like he'd been playing for five years, confident, poised, big-time playmaker. And he raised the level of everybody else on that, in that organization, not just on the offense, but in the organization and gave everybody confidence. And it started game after game after game. It just kept happening. It wasn't a first-game fluke.

And they didn't go conservative with him. It wasn't run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, throw some play-action passes. It was wide open right from the start with C.J. So he has really just crushed it in that aspect of he has stepped in and mentally, physically, confidence-wise has played as if he's been playing in the league forever.

And it's going to continue. He got hurt this year and had a little bit of down stretch, and then he bounced right back and looked like an absolute superstar. And when you look at, you count quarterbacks around the league and you say, how many more guys would you take over C.J.

Stroud, you might not get it off of one hand. So it's really been amazing how quickly he's adapted and adjusted and became such a big-time playmaker. What a story there in the AFC South with D'Amico and C.J. and a young crew. Mark Ross is with us from NFL Network.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. The number one pick now belongs to Chicago. So the Bears decide to keep their head coach in Matt Eberfluse. What direction would you go? Yeah, I think when you have a player of Caleb Williams, of his talent, that you have to – you've got to go there.

You've got to restart and reset. And I like Justin. I've always liked Justin Fields. But it's been, you know, really just – he's shown flashes of a playmaker with the legs. Mostly he just hasn't really developed as a passer like he needs to and the consistency with certain things. So when you've got that number one pick, you've got to go with a guy like Caleb Williams. Now there was another year where there's some question marks about the talent and the quality of whatever quarterbacks was coming out. Then you say, all right, let's keep Justin. And keep trying to build around him, take a Marvin Harrison Jr. or a trade out of there, get more picks to help Justin. But where they're sitting, I think they've got to do that. And they've got a bunch more picks. So, you know, keep building around, you know, Caleb from there. And yeah, yeah, and it's just – yeah, I thought there would be a total reset. You know, it's with Ivar Flus and even Ryan Pols. Yeah, I thought maybe start over, but – because they made some questionable decisions in that Chicago team. I just didn't have a lot of confidence in them throughout the season about the way they played. But Justin's up in the air. Do you keep them?

Do you trade them? There's a lot of questions with Chicago, not just what to do with the first pick, but what to do to Justin. And they're really fascinating to see how they're going to attack this offseason. Do you think there are other teams who will line up or be interested at the very least in Justin if he's offered as trade? Oh, without a doubt. As I mentioned, Amy, there's not many guys around the earth walking that, you know, our top ten caliber quarterback play. Well, Justin feels there's not many people that can do what he does either.

Right. And I think some other teams will be intrigued by that and say, you know what, if we do this with him or do that or have a certain system to maximize what he does, I think that there will 100 percent be a market for Justin Fields and what he's shown. Mark Ross is with us from NFL Network as we head into Super Sized Wild Card Weekend. Some really cool reunions as we go into this first weekend of the playoffs. And the NFL is actually putting Dolphins Chiefs on Peacock Network.

That's exclusively on Saturday at 8 o'clock Eastern Time, which is interesting. I know a lot of fans reacting to that, though it certainly seems to be the new wave of sports, Mark. But I'd love to ask you about momentum going into the playoffs. The Dolphins continue to lose guys to injuries. The Eagles have not played well. They're kind of backing into the playoffs after their hot start.

How much does it matter when you get to this point, how you played in, say, the last month of the season? You know, each situation is different when you talk about momentum. I mean, when you get decimated by injuries, that's a different story than momentum. You know, when you got no pass rushers left, you're talking about, you know, Miami, and that's different than, okay, our pass rushers just aren't playing very well right now. The Eagles, you know, they got a lot of issues that's messing up their momentum. There might be some things in the locker room that are questionable.

But there's certain things, I think, that play into that. Of course, you sort of want to say you're playing well, but in our 2007 year, Eli threw five picks against the Vikings, you know, two games before the season was over. We aren't going anywhere, and we end up winning the Super Bowl. So, we didn't have the best momentum going on then. So, you never know how that's going to play out.

Now, of course, you kind of want to be peaking at the right time. But, you know, if you're looking at a team like the Eagles, then all right, you know, this is a new season. We can go down and beat Tampa. And you go down and beat Tampa, and you get a whole new set of confidence and say, you know, we're that team that was at 11-1, and we can still do it. Miami is a different story just because, again, the injuries, and they've shown to be seriously flawed with their offense and with Tua and his capabilities and lack of playmaking, you know, they're kind of a different story. And then going into a terrible situation to go play in minus five degrees against the defensive chips and Patrick Mahomes, you know, that's just set up for them to get crushed.

So, but yes, ideally, you want to be playing well. You want to be healthy going into the playoffs. What's a matchup that you think will be really competitive based on where the teams are right now? You know, that Browns-Texans game, to me, that's just a toss-up right there of what's going to happen. The Browns are favored. I'm pretty surprised that they're favored, and we talked about C.J.

Stroud, and I think that could go either way. Are we going to see the Joe Flacco that has been on the five-game hot streak or the Joe Flacco over the last couple of years that was sitting on his couch, you know, before the Browns signed him? So, I keep waiting for the wheel to fall off of him, but he just keeps exceeding expectations. You know, the young Texans, like, another step, right?

Who cares, right? With playoffs, we've over-exceeded expectations already. One of the vision, all right, let's go. We're going to go crush that. So, you know, I think that one will be really tight and really competitive. That Rams-Lions game, you talk about reunions, of course, with Stafford going back to Detroit, and, you know, the Rams could very easily win that game. I could see them going in there winning that game, especially since everybody talks about Stafford, but that coaching staff for the Rams, they know Jared Goff, and they got rid of him for a reason. So, here it is, a team of coaching staff that got rid of their quarterback, going to play him so they know more than anybody his strengths and weaknesses, what he can do and what he cannot do, and Raheem Morris has got to be sitting there with Sean McVay and they're cooking up stuff to say, he can do this and he cannot do this, you know, outside of the film that they just see anyway. And really, it wouldn't shock me if they go in there and that Lions offense struggles just because of the familiarity that Sean McVay has with Jared Goff.

So, you know, to me, those two were the really, really close competitive games. The other one's slight favorites, but, you know, the Packers, I would love to see them upset and the run that they've been on with Jordan Love because I've always loved him, but that might be a little bit of a tall task going into Dallas. And I think the Eagles will go down to Tampa and go win that. As I mentioned, you know, I just think they'll right the ship because the Tampa team, to me, is not great. Right, offensively, they've really scuffled along.

Mark, before I let you go, you were part of two Super Bowl champions with the New York Giants. What does it feel like at this point? You're on the cusp of a playoff weekend.

You've got everything you want in front of you, right? The regular season's behind. What are the emotions? You're just, everyone's just excited, and everyone is just focused, and you're trying to eliminate all distractions, and you want everybody to be all in, and it's just a really fun feeling, especially if you start winning a couple games.

But, you know, I think for different teams, there's different emotions. So I say that, and, you know, everyone knows the Giants and winning two Super Bowls. We started with the Eagles way back in 98, and we drafted a big nab, and, you know, we started becoming good, and we made the playoffs, and we made the playoffs, you know, after being 3 and 13, and 6 and 10, and then making the playoffs. And that was the Super Bowl, you know, just making the playoffs. It was amazing. That was the mentality.

This is awesome. We made the playoffs, and then you lose. You're like, okay, what's next? And then the next year, making the playoffs isn't good enough.

All right, where do we go from here? And then you make the NFC championship game, and, you know, each year you want to take a step and have that mentality of getting better. So for different teams getting in the playoffs now this year, you know, their mentality is different. A team like Houston might be, yo, we're just happy to be here.

This is amazing. The playoffs, we made the playoffs, and that's kind of the feeling around everybody in the building, whereas KC is just like, yep, okay, win the Super Bowl. You know, what do we need to do to get there? And they're not phased by being in the playoffs. It's all about winning the Super Bowl again. So, you know, all these teams that are in it right now kind of have different feelings and mentality of where they are as an organization, the goals. Of course, they're all going to say they're trying to get to the Super Bowl, but, you know, certain teams have been there, done that. They know they can do it, and their goals are a lot higher than a team that's just, this is amazing just to be here.

But, you know, overall you better be all locked in with everybody in that organization to have a chance. You can find Mark on Twitter, at Mark Ross and Mark with a C on NFL Network. Always enjoy listening to your insights on Sundays during games.

And now we head into Wild Card Weekend. Thank you so much, Mark. We'll talk to you soon. My pleasure, Amy.

Take care. And again, that Saturday night game between Dolphins and Chiefs in which the weather is the big star right now, or could be the big star. That game exclusively on Peacock Network. It's the first ever playoff game to be streamed, and people ask me why.

Oh, I think it's pretty obvious why. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. I have a pretty good relationship with Ryan and the guys upstairs, but at the end of the day this is a business, so they have to make the tough decisions. My job is just to go out there and play my best, but it would mean a lot just to get that confirmation from them and just really send a message that they trust me to lead this team and be the quarterback for the day.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Justin Fields is still standing, and right now he's still standing in Chicago, but will that be the case moving forward? Ryan Polce keeping Matt Eberfluse but letting go a myriad of coaches off his staff, including the offensive coordinator, which means Justin Fields will be working with someone new.

What, his third OC in four years or third system in four years? Should he remain there in Chicago? The overall number one pick, you just heard our talent scout and player evaluator, NFL network analyst Mark Ross, say you don't pass up on Caleb Williams. You don't pass up on this generational talent even if you do have Justin Fields. Now Justin is still under his rookie contract, which means he's not making the going rate for veteran quarterbacks. He's still relatively cheap. And obviously, even if they draft Caleb number one overall, Caleb would be on a rookie contract and also not making $50 million per year, the going rate for quarterbacks. But would you keep them both?

Would you want to throw Caleb or one of the other young stud QBs coming out of college into the fire right away? Or maybe, just maybe, this seems unlikely to me, but Ryan Polce was asked whether that number one pick is up for grabs. I'm wide open to anything, so if someone wants to call me with an idea, that's fine. I'm open to it.

Alright, interesting. Now coming up on the back half of this hour, following the update, we'll get into our first installment of QB News, wildcard weekend style. And Micah Parsons changes his pick for MVP again. He cracks me up. Also, he's pretty upset at himself for not meeting his stated goal for sacks this season.

He fell short. A preview for the Packers game as well. Yeah, we'll go hot and heavy with wildcard weekend preview come this time tomorrow. But at this point, we're still sifting through what was one heck of a day.

The floor is littered with news. A.J. McCarron played for Nick Saban in Alabama, and he was one of the ones that I saw make comments. I'm sure there were many.

There were plenty of people who were weighing in on social, but this is radio, and it's more fun if we can hear it. And so A.J. McCarron giving you his reaction to Nick Saban's retirement.

That's ahead as well. Good stuff. It's so funny because we get through a week like this, and it feels as though we've worked our arses off. It's just nonstop. And the games haven't even started yet. Just go home and rest. Oh, that's a great idea. Thank you, Micah.

Marco Belletti is here in studio. Are you tired? I'm tired. And all I did was follow the news earlier today. I didn't see either one of them coming today, no. We kind of knew Nick Saban was somewhat close. I didn't think it was going to be this year, necessarily. The Pete Carroll one surprised me.

And I will say this. Side note. This is back-to-back days.

Vrabel and Pete Carroll. What happened to Black Monday in the NFL? Why are we dragging this to two and three and four days later? Meetings. I think meetings with the coaches. Yeah, that's making me think that ownership doesn't know what they want to do. The longer it takes, the more it's like, well, I'm just trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

Usually it was Black Monday because you knew what you were doing. In the case of Pete, though, it sounds like the ownership, the Allen family and John Schneider, they knew they wanted to part ways with him because he lobbied to remain the coach, and they ultimately said no. But I think as a courtesy to Pete, you have this conversation first, and you speak to him, and you talk to him about an advisory role. And I think, again, in the case of Pete, we haven't heard this from any of the other coaches. He gets this interview where he can address the media, and you've got players there, and you've got team employees there. So I think it was done as a courtesy to Pete that you let him speak on his way out. Yeah, no, the speaking, yes.

And I guess it's nice that he gets to make his case, but if you know there's no chance, I mean, I almost feel like it's somewhat disrespectful that you're going to have him sit there and grovel and beg for a job that he's had for 14 years, that he's done such a good job for you, that he's asked now grovel to say, can I keep it? You keep saying, well, keep making the case, but no, we really don't. At some point you just go, Pete, I appreciate it. Stop. I know what you're going to say before you say it. I know we are moving in another direction. The more you talk, it doesn't matter. We've already made up our minds.

Just speak Carol. He'd be really convincing. I get it. I feel bad for him.

I can't imagine he's sitting there and trying to fight for a job that he's had forever that he's done such a good job with. The ownership has already said, well, aren't we moving on? How long did this meeting take?

I feel like this should have been a five-minute thing. No? We didn't really get those details.

And the statement, and also Pete declined to give any real details. You know what this is, Producer J? It's a complete crap.

Did you hear the rant from the Toronto Raptors head coach? It's a complete crap. It's my new favorite drop. I've got so many, though. I've got to tell you, there's a lot.

We're going to do a Hall of Flame induction on our show tomorrow because we've got some good ones. What are we talking about? How are we supposed to play? Yeah, Darko had a... Where's the part about the BS?

He's going to get fined heavily for this one. It's a complete crap. It's a complete crap.

I was telling my hubs about this and we walked around the house this evening saying, it's a complete crap. He was heated. He was hot.

It was a fun three minutes. He's going to get, I mean, that's going to be a major fine. He attacked everybody. Why do we even bother showing up? Just give him the win. What's happening over here?

The only thing I will say is I was with him for a lot of it. Scotty Barnes is going to be the face of the NBA. Did I miss something? Scotty Barnes is going to be all star.

He's going to be the face of this league. It's a complete crap. I don't want to stop you. You're hot and you're on a roll.

You need to have a coach who believes in you. There's also a part in there about BS too. It's fantastic. He lost his mind.

It was so great. That's why it's almost like, you know, he's on a roll, let him go. But I mean, Scotty Barnes, a nice player.

Scotty Barnes. Crap. The way he yells it is the best. Crap. Crap. He emphasizes crap. At least he didn't have to be bleeped out.

Like some coaches. Made my life easier. Yes. Complete crap. I love how he enunciates it too.

Complete crap. I like that he thanked the reporter right from the start. If you get the beginning of that, Botch, I don't know if you have that. The reporter asked him, like, did you see the free throws? Thank you. That's the first thing out of his mouth. He thanks the reporter for going that direction. He was waiting for it. He was waiting for the open.

I appreciate it. Maybe he slipped him some money out of the table. Thank you, Doug. I mean, he was waiting for it. I don't know who Doug is. We didn't even get the words out of his mouth.

Thank you, Doug. That's good. No, it's going to be a Hall of Flame candidate. Along with, who else do we have recently? Jason Kidd from the NBA. He had to be bleeped out. Oh, okay. And then, right, Brennan Staley lately.

Actually, I guess not that lately. This is pre-me getting married because he got fired right before I got married. And then, Mike Grable. Oh, gosh, two fired coaches.

If we choose to go, Mike Grable. Or maybe Travis Kelce. Or Jim Harbaugh bought the chickens. But the chickens didn't need to be bleeped out. That's the thing.

If we're going to go all rants for Hall of Flame, maybe we go all rants where guys are losing their minds. Low maintenance and high production. Yes. The chickens. The chickens. I remember the chickens. Yes.

Yes. Big fan of chickens. I kind of like the fact that chickens can be outside in their coop and you don't have to walk them and pick up their poop.

It's a complete crap. Yeah. Because right now it's complete crap with my two dogs. Our two dogs. And I thought it was a lot to deal with two pets and their schedules.

Two older pets. But now throw a puppy into the mix and it is just a lot. Yeah. It's a lot. We're learning.

We're learning. Puppies or something. Puppies.

Yeah, I told him. Now he feels the same way about me having Sugar, who's my cat, because he is not a cat guy. Or wasn't until Sugar adopted him. I never wanted a puppy.

You are the only way that I would ever have a puppy. Puppies are awesome. No, they are. They're just so much work. Yeah. But they're cool. And she's crazy. Yeah. Daisy's crazy.

I love puppies. It'll take about three years. Oh. A little less.

A little less. That's awesome. Crap. It's a complete crap.

I love just the enunciation. Complete crap. It's a complete crap. Jay keeps mouthing it every time he says it.

All right, then. After hours with Amy Lawrence on Facebook is Alabama. Instantly more attractive than the NFL head coaching jobs. We're going to miss Nick Saban, but I am suspecting we will hear him in a broadcast booth near you or on a set near you.

He's pretty good at media. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. It's time for QB News on After Hours. QB News reunion style. QB News wild card weekend style.

That's how we roll. It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, yeah, we all want to hear about Jared Goff and the Rams, Matthew Stafford, and the Lions, right? Because they got traded straight up for each other. And here they are about to clash on the same field in the same wild card game. So is there extra motivation, Jared Goff, to beat the team that unceremoniously dumped you even though you were part of a Super Bowl appearance with them?

Obviously, there's a personal connection there. And they're not just for me, but for a lot of our players and some of theirs as well. But no, I think, you know, I so badly want to win a game for this city and win a playoff game for the city that hasn't had one in so long. We had a home playoff game for the first time in so long.

And that's so much more important than anything personally for me. I want to be a part of this win and do my job to the best of my ability. I love, love, love that Jared Goff has found some redemption and some vindication with the Lions. And they will host the Rams Sunday night.

That will be an 8 o'clock Eastern Time start, a 5 o'clock L.A. Time start. And Jared Goff tries to clear the air. He admits that he has a chip on his shoulder, but no bad blood with Sean McVay.

Sean and I are good. I think he's a great coach. I think he's, you know, obviously we had our differences there at the end. But he's a great coach. He's done a lot of great things. And, you know, he's a guy that taught me a lot. Matthew Stafford, of course, spent a decade with the Lions and did appear at a couple of playoff games with them, but didn't win a Super Bowl until he went to L.A. He's one of the best quarterbacks ever to wear a Lions uniform. So what kind of a reception will he get at Ford Field? I'm not expecting anything, to be honest with you.

I was asked this question a couple of times, you know, just by friends and family. And I think the biggest thing for me is just go experience whatever that experience is going to be. I understand, you know, what the people of Detroit and what the city of Detroit meant to me in my time and my career, what they meant to my family.

I hope they feel that back. But at the same time, I'm not a stranger to the situation and understanding that I'm the bad guy coming to town. You know, I'm on the other team and, you know, they don't want success for me. So whatever happens, happens.

You know, I'm going to go experience it. Play the game. Once the ball snaps, man, let's go. Let's go to good football teams, go compete and see what happens. A strange place for Matthew Stafford to be, and he understands the angst of Lions fans. First home playoff game in 30 years, one playoff win since the 50s. And he can actually extend that futility if he's successful with L.A.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Green Bay at Dallas. Mike McCarthy with the team that he wants to lead to a Super Bowl against the team with whom he won a Super Bowl. Jordan Love going where Aaron Rodgers could not go last year with the Packers. But it's going to be a tough challenge in Dallas. They're a really good team, really good defense. So definitely one of the best defense we've seen all year. But, I mean, yeah, like you said, going back to the Kansas City game, Detroit, I mean, those are two games we played really good defense as well. So just having that mindset, we've got to play our best ball. And obviously going into the playoffs, the mindset, you know, you know, the room for errors, you know, shrinks.

You know, we've got to be able to take advantage of every play, execute every play, and be able to play at a high level going against them because they do a really good job. Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys will be waiting for Jordan Love on his podcast, The Edge with Micah Parsons. He believes that Jordan will pose a problem. I've been praising Jordan Love all season. He had one of the best debuts as a Packer quarterback in, you know, Packer history.

Obviously over 4,100 yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions. And guess I said Jordan is a friend of mine, but we are not friends on Sunday. This is going to be a great matchup.

More with Micah as we head through the second half of the show. He's changed his mind on MVP again. Baker Mayfield, the Buccaneers, hosting the NFC champion Eagles on Monday night. And this is also an opportunity for redemption with Baker and the Bucks as they win the NFC South. We were really trying to find ourselves at that point in the season, trying to figure out who we were going to be, especially offensively. And yeah, I think we've kind of realized what we're good at, you know, the bread and butter for us. And also they've changed on defense. They've had some injuries, a different play caller now for them as well, Matt Patricia calling it.

So got to handle it, got to prepare. And so luckily we have four games where he's been calling the games. And so we've got to, you know, key into that and what's his go-to. But yeah, we're just different in the sense that we've been more foundationally better within the run game, knowing what we're good at scheme-wise and just got to get the passing game back going again. Yeah, these two teams are not the same as they were in week three when they met in the regular season and the Buccaneers lost by 14 points at home. Matt Patricia, de facto defensive coordinator for the Eagles, he praises Baker. The one thing that sticks out right away, and I got to start with this, is just, you know, how strong he is. He's really, I think he's number two when you look at it in forced missed tackles.

You just can't get him down. And I think that's where he extends plays and he can get his eyes back downfield. And he's got, obviously, you know, between Mike and Godwin and some of the other guys he has out there. He's got speed. You know, they have speed on the field and they have, you know, an issue downfield if you don't have those guys handled.

And some guys you can just put the ball up to and they're going to go make plays. That's the Monday night game. And so in the NFC, those are your three matchups coming up during this first supersized playoff weekend. So we'll have an AFC doubleheader on Saturday. And then we'll go right into the third AFC matchup on Sunday to start the tripleheader.

That's interesting, right? Three AFC matchups begin the playoffs. Three right in a row. And then it's the three NFC. But considering the storylines, the drama, Green Bay at Dallas, Los Angeles at Detroit, and then, of course, the Eagles who have dropped five of their last six at Tampa Bay, I can understand why they backload NFC.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS 4tradio. Around New Year's, we get a little obsessed with changing ourselves and forgetting the things we're already doing right, like taking our supplements every morning or scheduling me time into our day. Therapy helps you recognize those victories and keep up the good work in the New Year without changing everything. BetterHelp offers affordable online therapy so you can try New Year's same you with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash grow today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp H-E-L-P dot com slash grow.

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