What The Football - Andrew Whitworth talks NFL Playoffs with Suzy and Amy

Now, your ideas don't have to wait.

Now, they have everything they need to come to life. Dell Technologies and Intel are creating technology that loves ideas, loves expanding your business, evolving your passions. We push what technology can do so great ideas can happen right now.

Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com slash welcome to now. Hey, everybody, welcome to this week's edition of what the football brought to you by game time, the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all of the sports, music, comedy and theater events near you. Game time's got killer last minute deals all in prices views from your seat so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive.

Take the guesswork out of guessing of buying tickets with game time or don't guess. Download the game time app. Create an account. Use the code WTF for twenty dollars off of your first purchase. Restrictions apply. Visit gametime.co for terms again. Create that account. Redeem the code WTF for twenty dollars off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets.

Lowest price guaranteed. We've got a great guest today, guys. We've got Andrew Whitworth, who is. Let's get it out of the way, because here's the guy who doesn't want to be told how great he is. So we'll do it when he's not here. But Super Bowl champ and we'll call him all around great guy. Andrew Whitworth joins us soon to spin ahead and look at what's happening.

Coming up in the championship round, a tremendous man on the field and even more tremendous man off the field. And Amy, you're how tall are you? Let's give you a little bit of license here. I like to say that I'm five three. I'm told I'm just a skosh under that. So I try to stand really tall and go with five three. Yeah. You look pocket size next to him. Yeah, I did kind of come up to his waist. Yeah, it was kind of funny.

Aim. Lot of talk. Lot of talk about a certain quarterback named Brock Purdy. And, you know, I got to tell you, they win. The Niners win.

They advance to the conference at the conference championship. But even Steve Young, all time legend, San Francisco two time champion, had some reservations about his thoughts on watching Brock Purdy over the weekend. Let's roll it. So many passes. You like what? Like it was just it was a confusing watch. It was unnerving watch because of the first time you thought, well, wait, hold on.

I thought I thought he was Superman in his own way. And all of a sudden there's just weird stuff happening. Balls coming out. There wasn't even they weren't even close. And that was Hall of Famer and San Francisco legend Steve Young on the Rich Eisen show on Monday. And just to contextualize, he was effusive in his praise for Purdy, but he did point out that it was a very different game for Purdy for most of the game until the last two minutes.

And I'll give you some numbers just to back this up, Amy. Brock Purdy, the rest of the game up into the last couple minutes. Seventeen of thirty two, one hundred and ninety yards, a touchdown, a fifty three percentage completion rating. The last drive, six of seven, sixty two yards, eighty six completion percentage, two carries, eleven yards.

So, Amy, in fact, most of his play backed up your feelings coming into the game. Well, let me start with the end of the game, because you did and you pointed to that final drive. And in that final drive, Brock did what everyone wants their quarterback to do. He found a way to get it done.

He got it done. And after the game, I shared this with him on social media. I said, Dear Brock Purdy, you led your 49ers team to a game winning touchdown. Congratulations. If you advance to the Super Bowl, which I believe you will, I'll treat to ice cream in Las Vegas. Congratulations, 49ers fans.

Enjoy this. And anyone who knows how I feel about ice cream knows that that was a sincere offer. You know, an offer of ice cream is a big deal for me. There are people who said ice cream? Really, Amy? Only ice cream?

If you know me, you know my views about ice cream and it was a sincere offer. As to the views I shared last week on what the football, they created quite a, here's a professional term for you, whoop-dee-doo. There was quite a whoop-dee-doo about those. And Suzy, it's fine for people to disagree. I made a comment. I shared an opinion. Could I have done so in a less flip manner?

Perhaps. But I shared my view. And I believe in disagreement. Disagreement can be healthy, disagreement can be productive, but disagreement should be agreeably shared. Do I have a problem in the world with someone saying, Amy, you're wrong, here's why you're wrong? No, I don't.

But until we as a society, as a world, as a species learn to exchange thoughts in a reasoned and reasonable manner, and disagree agreeably, we're not going to solve any problems in this world. And let me give you some examples of the ones that I found objectionable. I made some notes for you because I knew you'd want to hear this. My parents should have aborted me.

I should die so that the 49er fans can walk in the parade at my funeral. I performed a lot of sex acts to get my job. Then there were those who gave me detailed instructions as to how to perform those sex acts. And there were those who called me ugly and far worse. You know, what are you doing when you when you do something like that?

Does that make people feel good about themselves? Again, to be clear, I have no issue whatsoever with people disagreeing with me. I don't understand the need to be venomous. And Susie, you're a mom. I know you understand this. It's one thing for people to do this to me. I'm a grown up. I'm fine. Don't do this to kids.

I mean, I don't know how I would have handled something like this with social media if it existed when I was in my early teens. And by the way, it's going on in Buffalo right now. Tyler Bass missed a kick and he is now getting death threats. So to those of you who are making death threats to someone who missed a kick in a game, what are you doing?

And thank you to the Bills fans who instead are donating to a charity about which he cares. And just to follow up, I thought that the reaction that people had to your personal accountability by going forward and saying I was wrong and great job. I think people were really shocked.

And the comments, you know, I always tell you don't look at the comments because it's just for the ugliest of people out there, the trolls of the world who are the armchair quarterbacks and they got to get out there and hide from their mom's house. But I really do feel like you showed what is right in the media. You showed personal accountability by saying, you know what, I was wrong and you weren't wrong. I mean, that's the thing is you weren't wrong. So I take it back. You weren't wrong.

It was not a pretty game from Brock Purdy. But and you're right. Exactly. And what you said, I gave credit where credit was due.

And, you know, and you're right. You tell me, don't look at the comments. My husband has told me since the outset of my career when there were fan pages on the Internet, there was no X or or other social media. Don't look at the comments. The reason I do look at comments is I want to thank the people who responded in a reasoned and reasonable manner. If someone disagreed with me, but they did it in a reasoned manner and they disagreed agreeably, I want to thank them. And I will say there were a few people to whom I responded and said, you know what? Fair enough. You disagree with me, but there's no reason to be venomous and ridiculous. There's no reason to spew venom and be cruel.

And a few of them responded and said, you know what, Amy? You're right. I do disagree with you, but you're right.

I didn't need to share what I shared. So if I can change one person's mind about engaging in civil discourse, well, then I feel that we've used social media effectively. But, you know, again, disagreement is healthy. Disagreement is productive. Disagreeing in the manner some people disagree is not.

And, you know, death threats to a kicker who misses a field goal. What are we doing, people? We are not going to fix the world until we learn to communicate in a civil manner. Yeah, we're trying to build a community here on what the football.

So I do go into the comments every so often on YouTube and address things and try to have you guys feel like you're part of the conversation with us. But there is zero room for any of the other. And by the way, take the hate elsewhere. Football is meant to be fun. And I get it that we all saw the shot of the Bills fan just sobbing his eyes out at the end of the game.

I get it. That's the most beautiful thing about being in sports, right? It's like the old the old tea is like, you know, was that the agony of defeat? And I don't remember the other part of it, but we feel these losses so greatly. But don't take out your hate on us just for having an opinion.

And you're absolutely right. The beauty of sports is the passion. And I spent almost 30 years with a team and I understand how crushing defeats are like the one the Bills experienced. I understand how the team feels and the fans feel and the community feels. I do not understand people sending death threats to a kicker. And again, Bills fans, Bills mafia that started the contributions to him to the cat rescue charity. You are what is the best about fans. And now there are fans of other teams donating. This is sports.

And for someone who has spent their entire career in sports, I can say it's just sports. There are things in life to be more upset about. But again, and I'm going to say this over and over and over again with every breath in my body, if we as a species throughout this world, don't learn to communicate with one another reason and reasonably and disagree agreeably.

We're not going to fix problems. Yeah. Or or just get your fat ass off the couch and you try to kick a field goal with all the pressure of the world on you. And then get right back to me. OK, get back.

I love you. Andrew Whitworth will be with us in a moment. We will ask him about Brock Purdy.

I'll be curious to hear his takes on that, as well as his take on who's going to advance to the Super Bowl. That is all ahead of us on this week's edition of what the football. But first, guys, it's game time time. And by the way, I just use game time for Indian Wells.

Yep. Going to go to tennis with the kids. And of course, I thought, oh, God, I got to get a good deal. I've got all these tickets.

I've got three kids plus me. Rich is going to come, I think. And I had to go and shop online, but I had to make sure I was going to get good seats.

I thought to myself, it's hot out in the desert. And where's the sun going to be and all that? I thought I'm going to get some guarantee. I'm going to go to game time. I'm going to know where my seats are. Also, I've got a couple more concerts on the road, so it adds up.

I need to save the money. So that's why I use game time. I got the greatest deals and I'm going to get the right until the very end, because let's face it, at the last minute, someone's going to want to bring a friend. I'm going to have to have flexibility, which is why I want to find those last minute seats. And the game time guarantee means that I'm always going to get the best price. If you find tickets in the same section or row for less, by the way, they will credit you one hundred and ten percent of the difference.

So I love that. Take all of the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time. Download the app, create the account, use the code WTF for twenty dollars off of your first purchase.

You are welcome. Restrictions apply. Visit game time for terms.

Again, create the account. Redeem the code WTF for twenty dollars off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets.

Lowest price guaranteed. Welcome to Talkville, the ultimate small rewatch podcast. Karen, what you got? Hi, guys.

Karen from Australia with a quick question for season three talisman. That knife wound was so powerful. Tom, what was it like to do that scene with John as your director? It's great that I was with those people, because when your eyes are closed and someone is supposed to stab you in the chest, you have to really trust that they're not going to hurt you. So I was in good hands with John.

Jump in now or catch up on any of the past seasons of Talkville on YouTube or wherever you listen. And as promised, Andrew Whitworth joins us now, and we were just talking a second ago about Brock Purdy. I would be remiss if I didn't before we spin ahead and talk about the games coming up this weekend. I'd be remiss to ask you what your thoughts were when you watched him play this past weekend. Yeah, I think you look at it, there was definitely some struggles in the game, you know, especially early. You know, I think wet ball conditions, we've seen different quarterbacks struggle over time. And I think one of the things that I'd probably say for him is it's like, you know, obviously he's played the position really well this season. You know, people talk a lot about the things around him. But to see him in this game struggle and then find a way to get to get in the game at the end with the ball in his hand.

And hey, I'm going to will myself to put my team in a position to being successful. I thought it's something we really haven't seen him have to do. And I thought it was good because I think it's a step like it's a step to if he wants more credit and people to probably take away some of the things they always say about how good his team is and those things. I mean, these are his opportunities to prove that. And I think as a young quarterback, there's just not enough yet that we've seen of all those different moments.

And I think he had one this past week, which is great. We want to continue to see that one of the expressions I heard throughout my years in the league and it was among the highest compliments paid to a player was he got it done. And that's what he did.

He got it done. And that's what you want. And they won the game.

That's the truth. I mean, it doesn't always have to be pretty. Sometimes it is the ball in your hand with a chance to go win a game and you find a way to get it done. And I think it's something that builds that character of if you want to be a great quarterback in this league, those moments are continue to show up and who you look like in that will ultimately tell the story. What's the conversation like for no lineman when you have a quarterback who's playing like that, who might need a little support, who might be hearing about his performance from all over the place and who is trying to prove himself like he is?

So what's that relationship like? Like what is that conversation when you try to encourage that guy to be better? Yeah, I think sometimes you get a little torn in games. I've been in those where you feel like, man, we're just off offensively in the sense of is it going to be better to go up and challenge a guy? Or is that going to send them further down a tunnel of, oh, man, like, all right, now the guys are mad at me, too.

Or, you know, you got to kind of know their personality and you got to kind of know what it is that drives them and makes them who they are. Let's spin ahead and put a plug on that for right now. But as we spin ahead and look at this weekend coming up, you've seen all four teams. They've all won on Thursday Night Football. And I'm curious about which one of them stood out to you the most that you may be most intrigued about thinking that they're going to win this game. And before you answer that, I'll just say, based on what Suzy said, one of those teams should be on the phone with you right now saying, could you come to this game? Because any time you're at one of these games, you know, the team wins. Yeah.

You know, I think this. I think probably midseason or whenever it was later in the year when Joe Burrow got hurt, I kind of pivoted from the Bengals having a chance to get hot. Obviously, they didn't start the year great. But I just thought, you know, Burrow's proved it over and over again.

He can have these runs. And once he got injured, it was like, all right, I feel like this is the Ravens opportunity. And then you kind of saw their team take off.

And I think for me, it's always been I kind of felt like it was going to be Niners Ravens from that point. But now the Lions have intrigued me because I think that they're actually built in a way, their style of football is something that probably the San Francisco 49ers don't want to have to deal with. A team that could run the football on them. They could protect the quarterback. And I think for them, that's not what they want to see. They don't have a closer in a guy like Aiden Hutchison who can get to the quarterback. If you really think of what I just said, it's a lot of the Rams and how they beat them in the NFC Championship when I was there a couple of years ago. That's really the thing for them. I think the Niners probably didn't want this opponent.

All right. You were at games in both Baltimore and San Francisco. To what extent do you believe home field advantage will be an advantage? Is it going to help the home teams this weekend? I think it kind of depends on the team. I think it will be an advantage for San Francisco only because for Detroit, you know, they've had these home games, loud crowds. You've been a little used to having that advantage.

And now all of a sudden it gets taken from you. I think sometimes when we see these teams that have to be road warriors and they kind of get in this, you know, they can get hot and you're like, all right, they're just they're going to handle anywhere they go and they're going to be successful. I think being used to the noise and it being silent count for your alignment and not having to adjust that week to that, that is a factor in the game. Just like I think it's an advantage for the Chiefs to have just gone to Buffalo, had that environment. And now this next week they get to go to Baltimore and it's like, hey, we already were in a terrible environment, lots of noise, no chance we're going to win this game.

That's not even going to be a factor for us. So we've got two traditional pocket passes. We've got two guys who run like crazy. Let's start with Lamar because you've seen him. What's it like to be up front and protect a guy like that where you have no idea where he's going to go?

What do you think that could be like? You know, no hate towards Carson Palmer, Andy Dalton. Carson is not a mobile group.

I've never really had an opportunity to have a guy like that. And Stafford as well, right? So I really protected mostly pocket passes in my career.

But, you know, for me, I always watch it from the other side. These dead linemen look so frustrated because it's like they've done everything they can to have a positive down, win against a blocker or even late winning. And they think they can get him on the ground. And it's like they just slide off of him constantly.

And I just, I'm on my mind, I'm like, just grab him. And you can tell that's how elusive and just dynamic he is that they just can't seem to get their hands on him all the time. It happens every week. And it's amplified by the fact that many times now when he appears to be taking off running, he will immediately stop and throw. So if you're a defender, are you defending the run? Are you defending the pass?

No, you better be defending both and you don't know when he's going to pivot. Yeah, I think that's one of the things you've seen change in his game is that it's not always running. It's that sometimes he's doing what you probably saw my homes do more often, where it's like, hey, buys time and then all men kills you down the field with a throw. He has really developed, and I think that's one of the things that I would say with Todd Monken and really who they've become offensively is there's so much balance to how they can beat you.

Like, there's not just one way. They have so many different ways offensively that they've been able to show they can play football, whether it be physicality in the run game, be able to throw the ball, play actions, all the different dynamic things they can do with Lamar, you know, beat you down the field with throws. They've just shown that, hey, whatever style of football you want to play, we can adjust to it and play. And Lamar Jackson has grown in that way to where, you know, you don't really just sit there and go, hey, there's this one thing we want to do to slow down this offense. When you go to games on Thursday night, do you seek out O'Lehman to talk to? Because I was telling you guys before, when I was traveling with ABC, I would always ask for O'Lehman because I would learn the most from them.

Trico, like the pretty boys, he always wanted a quarterback, but I would always talk to the big guys because they would kind of show me what was going to happen. Do you do the same when you go on the road? I do. I love going and talking to O'Lehman. More like pregame, you know, kind of catch them when they're warming up and just kind of talking about how they feel. And a lot of times you can get just an attitude or dynamic, a confidence of really what they feel about their team or maybe certain guys on their team. And even, you know, I love to just, I think O'Lehman, for whatever reason, have a feel of the culture of the locker room and kind of the building. You can sometimes get a feel for, hey, man, this, you know, this coach feels like, you know, we can really lean on him or really believe in him because I think if you think of any position, that's the position that has to feel in the building they're appreciated the most. So they probably have a really good feeling for, you know, coaches who are able to do that and inspire a room or a locker room because their names really aren't going to come up.

Most of the time, unless it's bad or as a group, you know, hey, they played well this week, you know, because the team had success, but never really individually named. So a lot of times you can get a good feel of how well they feel appreciated or maybe the respect they have in their building. So those guys are always a lot of fun to talk in pregame. Plus, they're O'Lehman, man. They're like, you know, ornery. They're like Eeyore sometimes. They're grumpy.

So you always get a good response about how they really feel. Well, let me tell you about offensive lineman and he failed at this abysmally. Lincoln Kennedy tried to get me to stop swearing. And after one home game, when I was walking out the tunnel by the locker room and I had my parents with me, he stopped my parents and said, could you help me?

I am trying to get her to stop swearing. And my dad looked at him and said, good luck. So that's the only thing at which Lincoln Kennedy ever failed in football. But to your point, I was told very, very early in my career and it proves true all the time.

Most games are won or lost at the line of scrimmage. No kidding. There's no doubt about it. I think what's interesting, too, in this dynamic of football that we're at now with NFL media and everything else is that you're starting to see some of these O'Lehman and their personalities, whether it be Jason Kelsey or, you know, I think a Taylor Lewan and some of the guys that have been on TV now, Jeff Saturday and Damian Woody. I just love it that we're seeing more and more of those faces, because I think one aspect people don't realize is like when I got in the NFL in 2006, when you got in an NFL offensive line room, the first thing your offensive line coach said is, I don't want to see your name in an article. I don't want to see you speak about the team. I don't want to see you say a thing, because we are a five group that plays as five.

We don't talk. We just play football. And you were almost like shunned or made fun of if you did media or talked.

And so I think there's kind of that a little bit that's been ingrained in you to not be in the media. And now you've seen guys start to show their personality and who they really are and how dynamic of personalities they actually have to live and breathe and be an offensive lineman. It's just such a different position.

The only one in the world where you play with your back to the ball the entire game. So it's just a unique position to play, a very servanthood position. And so it's fun to see these guys show their personalities and who they are.

Yeah. When I think of servanthood, I don't think of Jason Kelce with that one. How has he single-handedly kind of transformed the way attention is put on an o-lineman? And it's not just about you know who. It's about how he lives his life. I mean, have you ever seen anybody having more fun in the world than Jason Kelce? You know what?

I love it. His opportunity to show his personality and have fun and he's really embraced it over the last few years. And you think of being the center for that offensive line. I mean, the tush-push, everything they do, they lean on Jason Kelce. And it's up to him to command that offense, to lead in how they block, who they block, and the style.

I mean, you think of him and Lane Johnson and what they've been for the Philadelphia Eagles. They have represented how you really are what an offense builds themselves around is this group. And so I think for those guys, it was their opportunity to do that and they've relished it and they've been amazing throughout their entire career. And now to see him having fun and enjoying it on both sides, I think is just awesome.

You ever want to get up there and watch a game, rip your shirt off, and perform like Jason did in a game? Are we going to see that maybe in so far? You know, who knows? I'll never say that it'll never happen. I won't say that. And I will say this.

I thought the most magnificent thing he did was go into the stands and pick that little girl up so she could say hello to her idol, Taylor Swift. And you know what? That's just being a good person.

And he made that a memory of a lifetime for that little girl. It is. And I think to me, that's the position.

I think you owe Lyman. That's what we do, right? Like your job is to go out and play well enough that the quarterback has the best game possible, that the running back has the most opportunities to score in a game. To me, that's what you sign up for, to be an offensive lineman in this league, to stand in the way or provide the opportunity for someone to have their best and live their moment.

And in that moment, that's just Jason Kelce being Jason Kelce. You mentioned the tush push. What are your thoughts on it? Hey, look, they're really successful with it. I think it's one of those things, obviously, just knowing how the league works in the sense of they don't like this play.

They can see that, hey, maybe there's some way that someone's going to get injured or things are going to happen. So I think it's going to be one of those that's going to continue to be a point of contention. Like, hey, it's just going to be a contentious thing. Should we get rid of it?

Should we not? But I don't know that there's really anything other than they're really good at doing it and there's not a lot of other teams that are. So I don't know how you can say it's a super play that's not against the rules or maybe not as fair as others, because the reality is they're just really good at it. Well, I'm going to give you a multiple choice question, but because I went to law school, I'm also going to give you the ability to say, I object.

I'm not answering either. Number one, do you think it should be ruled out? Should the league disallow it? And number two, do you think the league will disallow it irrespective of whether you think they should or not?

I think my best guess is I think they will find a way to get rid of it only because of this. I think there's multiple things. I think there's obviously player safety things involved. I think there's a little bit of hypocrisy in the sense of obviously being an offensive lineman who came in before all these rule changes. When you kick a field goal, when I started in the league and I obviously played in the AFC North, I had to get down there in protection as a guard or a tackle on a field goal. And Elodie Negada was standing there on all fours and Ray Lewis or Terrell Suggs or whoever's got their hands on him and they are pushing him through the line of scrimmage, which was unbelievable to try and stop.

But I think that how is that different? If that's an advantage for a defense to be able to stand and push a player through the line of scrimmage, I think at the end of the day, you could probably say, why is the offense getting the opportunity to push from the other side? If defensively, we can't push on a field goal. So I think that that's really where it's going to come down to is that there is some other instances in the game where you're not allowing this and then now you are allowing it. And of course, the answer is if they keep the play in and you don't like it, find a way to stop it.

Exactly. I know, but I hate it from a player safety perspective. I get nervous every time watching that. Every time I see, you know, I see like a quarterback's neck, I get nervous the whole thing. It's just my perspective having covered injuries for so long, I guess.

But I don't know if you saw the Jordan Love sneak the other day, like that's a perfect example. And I think to your point, what's going to happen and we know this is that quarterbacks, the rules get changed for I mean, more than anybody. So one quarterback gets injured from this whole situation and there and it will be stopped to state the obvious.

I'm quite a bit older than you. So think about this. When I started in the league, imagine what defenders were able to do then that's been ruled out. I mean, I remember talking to George Atkinson and, you know, he would say there were certain safeties who want. I don't want anyone coming over the middle ever.

And George would say, I want them coming once. Yeah. Different day and age. Different day. There are four offensive lines left. Rank them best tours please.

Good question. That's a good one. You know, I'm going to probably say that the Lions and the Chiefs would be in my two and the Ravens. So I'd probably go Lions one. I think you could probably say that right now how they're playing the Ravens are two for me. And then the Chiefs would be three only because I think for me, the Chiefs that tackle, you know, they've been there's been some inconsistency throughout the year. Now, I think here recently they've obviously played really well. And if they continue to get that play, that'll be the story. But and then I think San Francisco's last only because Trent Williams is obviously one of the best football players in the planet. One of the best left tackles of all time. But I think as a group, they're not quite as good as the other four.

That was a phenomenal question. So I'm going to do the reverse as an offensive lineman. Which pass rush of the four teams do you least rank that ranked the one from I least want to face it to. All right.

I'll be OK facing it. You know, I'll probably say this. Detroit would probably be them in Kansas City would be the two that I put at the bottom of the list. So probably Kansas City. I'm trying to think of who I would face. You know, I'll probably say Kansas City would be four to me only because I'm not going to face Chris Jones a lot as a tackle.

So a little bit here or there. But I usually like the big guys that are going to try and knock into the quarterback. So I would say Kansas City will be probably fourth and the Lions would be third just because you're going to have a couple of downs against Hutchinson for sure. And then I think that Ravens and the Niners rush is pretty special. So for me, I'm going to put San Fran two because for the most part, Bosa always played over the right tackle when I played them.

And Baltimore's group would probably be one. Who's the baddest man you've ever lined up against? I just don't want to be out here right now.

I always say this. That's situational, you know, because it's like certain games. The worst for me in my career and he knows it well enough would be Dwight Freeney in the old RCA dome. Peyton Manning's up two scores and you've got a game where it's three quarters of third and, you know, forever or second and 14. And you're trying to chase this guy around. He can run you over, spin on a dime and run right by you at the same time.

Him and Robert Mathis in that stadium, when you had to go to Indianapolis with that offense, they got a lot of opportunities to get after the quarterback. That was not a lot of fun. I can put it that way. All right.

So that game was fairly successful. So let's go back to those four teams again and rank the quarterbacks best to worst. Oh, that's a really good one.

All right. Let's see. Obviously, Mahomes is one. I'm going to go Lamar two. I'm going to be, you know, a homer to a guy I played with. You know, Jared Goff's three and then I'll go Brock Purdy four. OK, I'm just saying this with love and a big smile on my face. Duck, duck. Oh, it's OK.

I'll be all right. So is it really that obvious that Mahomes is the best? I think he is because of, you know, really not just that great he is. But you look at him. There's not many quarterbacks in the NFL that we sit there and go, hey, you got to fix this.

You've got to figure it out. Like, do you look at this game all season long? All we did was talk about the receivers are dropping footballs, but Mahomes has got to get a fix. He's got to find a way. Him and Andy Reid to get this offense going. And then lo and behold, he has. And I just think these two seasons back to back, if he finds a way to get in the Super Bowl and win again, you could argue that, you know, Tom Brady, he's he's going to go after everything that Tom Brady accomplished and more. And I think that you have to give him that credit.

And then Lamar, it's the same thing. We we hold those two guys are really high standard, which I think is funny when you get into the Brock Purdy conversation, because it's like, well, all we do is destroy Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes and even Josh Allen. If if they ever like get close in the game and almost don't win, you know, it's like, man, they should have done more. They should have done this.

And then on the other side of it, it's like, man, who else has those expectations? But in like a San Francisco game, Brock Purdy doesn't play great. It's like you're bashing him to say one negative thing. I think Brock Purdy's played great at the quarterback position this season. I don't think he's one of those guys yet.

Over time, the truest measure of performance is consistency. And over time, if he continues to show that he can play the position that well, he will, without a question, be in that conversation. And then I think Jared Goff's three just because he's got to have his moment. He's got to continue to show in an NFC championship, an AFC championship, whatever it is, he can have one of his biggest games, take a team to a Super Bowl and win a game in the Super Bowl.

I mean, that that will be that next thing for him. And one note about Goff, and I know that you know this, but we talked earlier about the home field environment with those 49er fans who are just going to be cacophonous and just create a magnificent environment for their team. Well, Goff went to high school in Marin County and he went to the best university in the entire world. That would be Cal Berkeley. And of course, I'm saying that with a big smile because that's my alma mater. But he's got family and friends and a community in the Bay Area.

So interesting for him to be going back there to play. And by the way, it's not since 1957. And no, I was not born. So let's just knock that off the discussion table.

That was the last time the Lions won a road playoff game and it was in San Francisco. Wow. Let's go look at that. That was a number I glazed over when you started going stat. I was like, wait, wait.

She's talking stats. I'm just going to tune out for a minute. I just had to make clear for anyone who wondered.

No, I was not alive then. Thank you for that. We're going to talk Ravens in a minute. Calm down, everybody who's worried that we're not going to talk Ravens. But I want to ask you a little bit about Jared Goff, just because we really have enjoyed watching him this year. And just the yin to the yang of the Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, what kind of guy is he?

What is he like? Well, I think when you really look at Jared, I think what's tremendous about him is that he's one of these guys that immediately when he walks in a room and he's a part of a locker room, everybody in that locker room wants to win for this guy. They just feel endeared to him because he's just such a lovable guy. He's such a huge heart. His character is so rare. I mean, you never see him ever want to offend or object or do anything.

Sometimes you almost want him to speak his mind more because you're like, dude, just say whatever it is you feel because he cares so much about everybody around him. And I think that he's one of those that really, truly appreciates the opportunity to just play in this league and even be a part of it. And that's his heart and his passion to be one of those guys.

And I think that that to me is what separates him. I was saying when you watch this Lions Rams game, even for somebody like me, who's obviously I'm affiliated with the Rams. I'm obviously rooting for the Rams. It was like rooting against the most lovable character of all time and like Jerry Goff and John Wayne.

It's like, who do you want to pick? Because Matthew Stafford is like John Wayne. He's this bad dude who's an awesome guy. He's the baddest cowboy there is to where he's so tough. He's such a dynamic guy.

He's going to has all the different weapons and arm angles you can ever imagine. And he's just like a guy's guy in that sense. And then Jerry Goff's like, man, here's this dude that you love.

You just man, his heart, his passion for the community, for his city, for being a part of something bigger than him is so rare and unique for a guy that's in his limelight and his position that it's like, man, you just how could you not root for both of these guys at the same time? And yet you mentioned on Rich's show earlier on Tuesday that he walked around a lot of the time with a chip on his shoulder, whether it was in the locker room or the golf course or what have you. And I'm wondering how that plays into how he is out on the field. Yeah, I think that, you know, what I mean by that is that he's kind of this guy's like if it's a hole in the golf course where, you know, he feels like he just hit a great shot and just got up on you like he's chippy.

Like you're going to hear it. He's going to mouth about. He's going to be confident about himself. He almost has like this little annoying swagger about how good he just did something. And it's the same way on the football field, but it's just not how he's going to, you know, really. I think he's really conscious of I don't ever want guys around me to think it's just about me.

It's about all of us. And I think that's what's at the forefront of his mind all the time. So behind the scenes, you get to hear a little more of his personality when he's fired up to make a throw or like I always laugh as a left tackle. Like I can sometimes hear, you know, whether they throw a ball and like, oh, that's a good I can hear them kind of compliment themselves sometimes.

So it's like you can hear that little chatter in certain or in certain elements and stadiums. And so I think that is that chippiness. He has a little of that. But you don't necessarily see that in the media because I think he's so conscious of like never want to put his team in a bad situation, never want to put his PR person in a bad situation, his head coach. Like he's one of those people who's literally almost overthinking all the time. Very well educated. I don't ever want to offend or put anybody in a bad position.

Of course, he's thinking he's well educated. But to the point of Chip, there were two things I liked going or chippiness or a chip on the shoulder. There were two things I really liked going into that game where the Rams went to Detroit. Jared admitted, I've got a chip on my shoulder about the way things ended in Los Angeles. I will always have that chip on my shoulder. And the reason I like that is all too often during my career, I heard players say, no, no, no, I don't have a chip. No, no, no, no revenge game.

No, no, no. Yeah, they did. And it was a revenge game and they had that chip. But Jared admitted, I've got a chip on my shoulder.

I always will. And the other thing I loved was Sean McVeigh coming out and saying, you know what? I didn't handle that well. I did not handle the manner in which we informed Jared that he would be leaving. I didn't handle it well. So credit to Jared for being honest.

Credit to Sean for acknowledging it could have been handled better. And credit to you for not yelling at me when I again made a Cal Berkeley reference. That's all good. Hey, listen, every week I get to sit in between Cal, Stanford and Harvard with the three other guys on my set.

So I am, without question, the dumbest guy up there on our analyst desk every week on Thursday night. I'm not stipulating to that. I'm not stipulating. I went to a football powerhouse. So I'm just letting you know, like I went to Columbia. So I'm just saying, like, I'm always in trouble. I mean, the Lions were really, I think we didn't win a game the entire time I was there, which, by the way, was not yesterday.

But stop me if you heard that. Well, no, but when I went to Cal one year, we were two and nine. And, you know, one year we went four and seven and we're like Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl.

We can do this. And you won a national championship with LSU. So you knew something about winning. We had the atom bomb and you had a championship.

That's true. I won a national championship and it's the one that Nick Saban won there that nobody even remembers he coached there. You know, it's like, you know, everybody forgets that Nick Saban was at LSU first. Did Nick ever party with you guys? No, that would not be Nick's style. When I had Nick, that was young Nick who was fired up and intense and a rare guy. When I got brought here to the Los Angeles Rams in free agency in 2017, then Sean McVay and I got to be around each other for, you know, the first month.

We would hang out here and just kind of spend time together, getting to know one another. I told him that he was the closest thing I'd ever been to like Nick Saban being around Nick. And he was, you know, at first like, well, wait, hold on.

Like I kind of, you know, I'm thinking of Nick and who he was and, you know, more similar to probably Bill. He didn't just see that in his personality. I was like, I'm not talking about your personality. I'm talking about the intensity you have to be great every single day. There's just not a lot of people that have that. They might have it in moments and spurts. But you are somebody who wakes up and goes to sleep with that same intensity every second of every day.

And that's a very rare trait. And, you know, and it's come to fruition. I mean, you talked about him and what he admitted about with the Jared thing. But you look at him this past season. I mean, maybe even a better coaching job than he did winning a Super Bowl with a talented football team, what he was able to accomplish with that Rams team this year. And when L.A. was just awarded another Super Bowl, I loved Kevin Demoff's comments, which was, OK, we'll just put all those chips to the middle of the table and we'll go win another one. That's it.

Why not? Who's the better coach, Sean McVeigh or Nick Saban? Oh, well, I think you always have to give respect to accomplishments that have been earned. And so Nick Saban at this point is still the best coach that I've ever had.

I think Sean McVeigh is well on his way if he wants to. I mean, obviously there was a lot of speculation a couple of years ago about what he would do, you know, after winning a Super Bowl and then even last year struggling. I think that's one of the things that I was probably a little partial on that I want him to keep coaching, because I think he can be one of the best that's ever done it if he really has that in his mind and in his heart to do, because he's a rare, rare communicator and his ability to convey the message and the message be received is out of this world, not just from a culture standpoint, from whatever information he wants you to intake to be ready for this plan or what we're going to do every week.

His ability to communicate it in a way where every single person in the room, their walk of life, their education or anything they walk out of it with a clear understanding of exactly what it's going to take to go win and go execute and what their job is. I just don't think there's many people in this game that have that, and he does. Real quick, were you surprised when Stephen retired?

I was very surprised, but I also in some ways wasn't only because of this new NIL world. That's just hard for Nick and the belief system he has, and I would be the same way. It's one reason I have zero interest when I get asked about coaching that would ever be in the college level. That world to me is going to ruin, it is and it probably already started ruining college football, but it just is because the game is about loving it, and it's about the passion and the dedication to go be great at something. It's not about every single day thinking about how much money you're worth and what you deserve to do something. The guys who are great at it do it because it's their passion to excel at a sport that they believe in and love. I think it's tough to tell an 18-year-old to be more worried about the money side of it than investing in the community and the school that they're at and where their feet are. They're not thinking about, hey, be where my feet are and represent myself and my school and my community in a certain way.

They're thinking about where's the best opportunity financially for me to go and get this and that. I played at LSU, and LSU wasn't very good when I got there. We won a national championship when I left. I went to Cincinnati. They'd been in the playoffs once in 20-something years when I got there. We went to the playoffs six times while I was there.

I went to Los Angeles. They hadn't been good for 15 years when I got there. We went to the playoffs multiple times, two Super Bowls and won one.

It was about investing yourself in a place and making something better than it was in the day you walked into it. I don't know if right now the college football landscape is teaching that message. By the way, what you just described about your time at LSU and then Cincinnati and then at the Los Angeles Rams, let's go with the fact that that's causation, not correlation, that you helped do that tremendously in each of those locations. I'm not educational what any of that means, but I appreciate the compliment.

Two last questions before we let you go. I did promise the Ravens people out there that we would talk about Lamar and the team. I feel we don't talk about them enough.

Maybe it's because of where they are. Maybe it's because there's a lot of acrimony and a lot of conversation about how Lamar conducted himself in the offseason, how the Ravens were, the relationship that they had going back and forth with each other. I'm just curious about what your thoughts are on this team as we just break down that in particular, just because, like I said, the pretty conversation is a sexier conversation.

There's that whole Jared Goff, your relationship with him, with Stafford, with the Rams, et cetera, and how he was punted, shall we say. And I feel like the Lions are the, they're a sexier conversation than the Ravens, but are they like a sneaky team that we should be on the lookout for thinking, I feel like they're always the last part of the conversation, as great as Lamar is? Yeah, you think about the four teams left. I mean, between the Chiefs, Lions, and Niners and Ravens, it's just way more interesting right now, I think, because there's so many hot topics to talk about those other three. But when you really look at what this Ravens team has continued to do, I mean, is there a team that's been more battle-tested in the sense of playing in big games and showing up? I mean, they have dominated in some big, big football games, right? And so you look at that and you go, all right, maybe it's because it's almost boring in the sense that they've shown up in these games. All right, well, what are they going to look like against the Niners when they have to show up and play this team that has this style that, you know what, a lot of people haven't been able to beat, and then they dominate. And then it's like, all right, can they go repeat a big emotional game against the Niners and play that way against Miami, who was a team that had been hot, and they dominate?

And so it's one of those things, I think, that it's almost like, all right, everyone's kind of sitting around to talk about them when they fail, and that's what they're waiting on. And they're so well-balanced. The defense is good. The offense is good. The head coach is good. The quarterback is good.

Ownership is good. I mean, it's hard to find a weakness there. Yeah, I think it's funny hearing people talk about how tough it is to go play at that stadium. And it's like, I played there for 11 years. I've always told people that's my favorite place to go play because the energy, the passion you can fill in that stadium back.

Now, granted, in my days, it was Ed Reed and Ray Lewis and all those guys. And so it was insane to go there and play against that defense to begin with. But now you think of really the culture they've created again there and really what Roquan Smith has meant, coming to this team and this defense last year to now. You just see that, to me, I love the guys that you can tell they've clearly had an impact on the room they've walked into. And so with a guy like Roquan, the defense has been different since the day he got there. You know, you look at Kyle Hamilton and really since they got him, what it's looked like, and he's kind of found his way in his position, they've been different since he's been there. And so I think you look at this defense, they are balanced because they have a lot of talent up front. They got talent on the second level, the third level. And then, oh, by the way, on offense, you have Lamar Jackson, a big, strong offensive line that's really good and a ton of skill and talent.

And so they are almost boring to talk about because I actually think people are waiting to see what is the chink in the armor, what is like, all right, how some team's going to figure out a way to attack them and beat them. And it's only rightfully so that they're going to have to beat the Kansas City Chiefs who've dominated the AFC. If you want to take over the reins, you've got to do it through us.

And I think it's going to be great. If you come for the king, you best not miss. That's it. All right, so who wins? Who wins? I'm going with the Ravens, and here's why. I clearly haven't learned my lesson to stop picking against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, but I think this. I think when you really look at who this Dolphins team was at the end of the season with all the injuries they've had, really, they weren't the same football team, but they were early in the year, and they really had never proved that they really could beat a team at their best anyways. And then you look at this Buffalo team, there was a lot of the year that they did not play very well once they lost Matt Milano and some of these talent, there's Dravius White, some of the guys on defense up front, and Von Miller was really never Von Miller.

So I think of it as they really got a little hot. I don't know that they truly had all the horses they needed to make a real run, because I think eventually they were going to play a team like this, and it was going to be like, all right, can you stop a great offense with this defense and a lack of talent that you don't have because of injuries? They've kind of run their course, and you look at the playoffs. When you get to the championship games and you get to the Super Bowl, how healthy are you?

And it matters, and it just does. And so here we are. The Chiefs are a really healthy football team. The Ravens are a really healthy football team. The Lions and Niners, really healthy football teams.

When you talk about their guys are there to play in the game. And so I think the Ravens win this game because I just don't think the Chiefs have actually played one of those teams that you would say, all right, this is one of the best teams in football yet, and this will be their chance to prove it. They beat Baltimore. I think they win the Super Bowl.

That's how I'd put it. Wow. NFC? NFC. I picked Niners Ravens many weeks ago, but this Lions team has got me going. I love a good story. I love a good scripted story. Jared Goff going home to San Fran and have a chance to win. All his cow buddies are going to be there.

I love this. And like I said at the beginning, I really think this Lions team is kind of built in a way that this isn't probably the kind of team the Niners want to have to beat in this moment. But I still think that the 49ers are going to get it done.

I just think that this team is too talented. And if Deebo Samuel plays, I think that, you know, last week was there. We sat out at week 18. We had a bye week.

It was rusty. And you saw the Ravens, same thing. The only difference is they kind of turned it on in the second half and the Niners didn't, but they found a way to win the game. And so I think this week you'll have none of that and both teams are going to be at their best.

And I think the Niners and Ravens handle it. Man, that went by fast. Thanks for your time, Andrew. Thank you for having me. Oh, it's such a treat to have you with us.

It's an honor for me. And I owe you a cup of coffee. What about an ice cream?

Well, that too. I'll take the cup of coffee. You don't want the ice cream. I'm trying to be good right now. You know, traveling in season, it's tough. It's hard.

It is really hard. I do owe you coffee. I should rephrase that. A lot of great food. A lot of bad for me food. Understood. That sounds like a country music song.

You know, like bad food, bad decisions, right? That's it. Let's do it.

Because I really needed another career. Hey, thank you guys for taking in this edition of What the Football. He mentioned Ray Lewis. He is our guest next week. But I like the idea of the ball hawk. I feel like Ed Reed is a really good call, too, because I do love him so very much. I've chased him on a few interceptions throughout my career, that's for sure.

He's a very, very, very bad man. Let's put it that way. Thanks again, you guys. We will talk to you next Tuesday. Take care. Have a great week. See you next time.