This is exactly why you have to listen to the football junkies podcast
Because I knew one of the games that I predicted last week
It was going to happen and it was the game that I least expected that it was actually going to happen
And what was that game the commanders in the Lions?
Man, oh man, if the commanders make it to the Super Bowl, I
Won't have a leg to stand on in my own household. I can't talk trash to me to none of my parents or anybody else
I know they're commander's fans
Hopefully that doesn't happen though, but let's get into the things we do need to talk about which is
Ben Johnson is now the head coach for the Chicago Bears. Okay Lou and a rumo joins the cults
Okay, Texans versus chiefs. We got to talk about that game because there's a lot of controversy behind that
Okay commanders and Detroit Lions the lion was slayed in Detroit
Rams and Eagles and
Ravens and Bill okay all of this and more on the 61st episode of the football junkies podcast
I am your host with the most okay. I'm your GM who currently is not on a team right now
But don't you worry about it? Okay. I am all these things and more. Okay. I am your chief
Bagro Domus. I am your chief head of the table chief meteorologist with everything that is related to the bag in
The draft in the offseason hot takes in more okay
But most importantly the most important title that you must remember is I am your host kale
You already know what I'm doing right say this is going to be a very
Controversial episode and may ruffle some feathers, but it's okay because guess what you're gonna love me at the end
Once I say it on three you already know how we do this thing on three one two three. Let's lock in
Oh
Right folks, let's get into the meat and potatoes of everything that is going on in the league right now
I know I just sound like a rapper. That's crazy. But who cares about that. So Ben Johnson going to the Bayer's
Okay, so let's just get into this thing now on one hand. I do understand this decision
You know, you want to pivot you want to you know make a different decision with
Drafting Kayla Williams and one night and Kayla Williams
I said publicly that he wants an offensive minded head coach, which is perfectly fine
But I would have thought the Bears would have taken a route and decided to go with a more veteran approach
When it comes to head coach simply because for one, this is still a fairly young team and two you want somebody
Who has experience being a head coach and who has experience dealing with multiple types of personalities, right?
You may have somebody that is a drama king. You may have someone that's super emotional
You may have someone that's a crash out
You may have someone that you know, you have to push a little bit just to get certain responses and whatnot
That's when you have a veteran head coach who knows how to deal with all those things compared to somebody who this is their first time
Being a head coach like it's different being a coordinator when you just have to focus on
Your side of the ball compared to being a head coach because now anything and everything that happens is now brought to your plate
if
Somebody you know gets into a car accident at two o'clock in the morning and they find out that they were drunk driving
guess what you're getting that phone call if
Somebody gets robbed and their house gets broken into most likely you're gonna get that phone call all of those different scenarios
And more are gonna be brought to your plate and you're gonna have to deal with that granted
His choice for defensive coordinator is actually a really good hire because why he has experience being a head coach
And he has enough experience in the game that he can show him how to maneuver in certain
Situations with certain different types of personalities on this team
Me personally I would have thought the Bears would have tried to go after Mike McCarthy because Mike McCarthy knows
For one the entire division, but he knows how to deal with quarterbacks who are sort of like Kayla Williams
Now I will say this the Bears did keep their word and said that they was going to cast out a wide net when it comes to
Their next head coaching hire
Let's just read off some of these names that they brought in for you know for a head coaching job Arthur Smith Brian Flores Joe Brady
Top Munkin Mike McCarthy Thomas Brown Ron Rivera
Aaron Glenn Ben Johnson Mike Kafka Pete Carroll Anthony Weaver Drew Petzing Eddie George. Yes, the Eddie George Mike Vrable
They even called about Mike Tomlin to see if the Steelers will be willing to trade for him in the Steelers
You know redirected that to Mike Tomlin and Mike Tomlin said no and even then Mike Tomlin has no trade clause in his contract
So he has the final say in that anyway, so they did their job now
It's time to see how things are going to go moving forward because again
This team has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball
And if you bring in the right coaching staff this team could be competitive against
The Packers and the Vikings and the Lions within their division they can do it is just they need the right coaching staff to really
Bring out the best of this team now. Do I think Ben Johnson can do it?
I don't know only time will tell but when we look at you know his track record with the Lions when he came to the offense
It does speak for itself. I mean, let's let's just look at this for a second here
Okay, according to next gen stats shout out to them. All right
So in 2022 the Lions offense was eighth in passing and 11th in rushing in 2023
second in passing fifth in rushing in 2024 second in passing
sixth in rushing I
Mean it's only three seasons, but I mean they was doing a lot in those three seasons. They were ultra competitive
They were putting points on people's heads and they were doing a lot of crazy play calling and it was working
Is that going to translate with the Bears? I don't know
This is a you know a situation where only time will tell
Before we start to you know make our assumptions and predictions and I heard it from this person that person
We have to give this thing time. That is the only way we will know if this was a good hire if this was a bad hire
Or this was a hire they never should have done or never even should have
Entertain but we do have to talk about another hiring
But this one isn't the head coach. This is a defensive coordinator
So former Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anna rumo is now joining the cults. Okay
Now this is somewhat of an interesting hire simply because
The cults defense is actually pretty good. All right, you got Julius Brent. You got Kenny Moore
You got the force Buckner. You got Quitty pay you got Grover Stewart. You got Zaire Franklin
They got some pieces on that defense and I think somebody like Lou Anna rumo is actually a really good hire now granted
I understand Bengals fans. You're probably saying something a little bit different
But the fact of the matter is you have a veteran defensive coordinator who did have a little bit of success
Just a little bit and I'm saying a whole lot, but just a little bit. We're gonna get into the rankings
Just in a moment
He did have some success and so I think being in a more stable situation
With a team that does have a variety of you know, great defensive pieces
I think he can do something with this compared to being with the Bengals who
Outside of their sumo year. They basically lost a majority their players to either free agency or trades
But let's get into these rankings. Okay, so in 2019 the Bengals defense ranked
21st and passing defense and 32nd and run defense
2020 19th and past defense 29th and run defense
2021 26th and past defense fifth and run defense 2022 the Super Bowl year
23rd and past defense 7th and run defense 2023
28th and past defense and 26th and run defense 2024 21st and past defense and 19th and run defense
He was trying to do the best that he could do with little to no talent
Outside of Trey Hendricks and Mike Hilton and Sam Hubbard
Who else could you really say was really doing a whole lot even genome stone?
You know, you know, he he was doing this thing every once in a while
But compared to those years were when they had Jesse Bates and they had DJ reader and Larry Ogunjobi
And you know, they just had a really good defense and they lost it because why a lot of those people were only there for maybe
One to three years at best. So again
some of this falls on his lap because
You know, you are supposed to do a little bit better with what you have
But at the same time he can only do so much when the team hasn't been hitting on their draft picks
Especially on their defensive draft picks. They've allowed certain players to just walk and not even try to at least try to put up a fight
We're trying to keep them like a lot of this stuff was out of his control
but ultimately he was the scapegoat because
Since the Super Bowl year this defense has just nose died to the ground
Sometimes you do have to be the scapegoat and he was but at the same time this could be a blessing and disguise for him because now
He's put into a more stable situation with better pieces
They have more upside with their game. So only time will tell with this situation
Now we'll say this this does make things very interesting for that division because now
That you have someone like him with the Colts
I don't know it may make things a little bit difficult for the Texans and everybody else who know
I don't know just saying let's just get into these games though the first one the most controversial one
Texans and Chiefs
so CJ Stroud 19 for 28
245 passing yards 8.8 yards per attempt in a 67.9 completion percentage
Joe Mixon 18 attempts for 88 rushing yards
4.9 rushing yards per attempt one touchdown and two rushes of 10 plus yards and more
Nico Collins 8 targets for five receptions
81 receiving yards and 16.2 receiving yards per reception Patrick Mahomes 16 for 25
177 passing yards 7.1 yards per attempt in a 64 completion percentage
Kareem Hunt 8 attempts for 44 rushing yards
5.5 rushing yards per attempt one touchdown and two rushes of 10 plus yards and more Travis Kelsey
8 targets for seven receptions
117 receiving yards one touchdown and 16.7 receiving yards per reception. This is what I will say about this game
Lowkey, this was a very
interesting game
For starters the Texan special teams was just not there. Okay. They failed them horribly
I get it. There was some wind
But come on man. That was just egregious when it comes to the special teams. Okay, not to mention
The Texans offensive line was not helping CJ Stroud out at all. Okay, George Colostus was doing his thing
Chris Jones was doing their thing. They were getting through. I know this a little bit too early to talk about it, but
Most likely the number one priority for the Texans will be
the offensive line for sure 100% especially after this game because
The chief's defensive line just came in and they created constant pressure on CJ Stroud to the point where he really wasn't as effective
As what he probably should have been
We also have to talk about
the refs
Okay, and I understand, you know, some people gonna say well refs only trying to do their job
You know, it's a very hard job. I understand that I get all of that
But at the same time
We need to implement replay assist at this point because this is bad. Well, Anderson
That was not a late hit. So I don't understand. Why are you guys calling it?
And then you have Patrick my homes who basically flopped to get the other call
What are we doing here folks? Even Troy Eggman said it and Troy Eggman usually is aligned with the quarterbacks, but
I had to side with him. This was egregious
This was a bad
Referring type of game, but these are the type of games
That nobody really likes to watch because why?
Everybody knows they're always going to side with the chiefs every single time
And that is something that needs to be talked about a little bit more because
You need to implement replay assist, especially for for both of those plays
Especially for that second one because when you look at the replay, neither one of those players
Created contact with Patrick my homes. They actually ran into each other. They didn't even run into Patrick my homes
They ran into each other. So why are you calling the flag?
And then when they asked him about it
Their explanation was even worse
But all in all
We can all say that we definitely expected the chiefs to make it today FC championship as usual because why?
The chiefs are the cash cow and you got to keep the cash cow going because if you don't
No one's going to be interested in watching the playoffs. So
That's that and I want to get into it because if I do I'll just go on an entire
You know 30 minute rant about the refs and the chiefs and whatnot. It's not worth it
So let's just get into another game that was definitely interesting and that is the commanders in lions game
Now if you would have told me the commanders would have won the way that they would have won
I would have called you alive
But before we go any further, let's just get into these stats. Okay, because I know this is going to be a pretty long
Well, actually not even really it's going to be pretty short with with this one though
Jayden Daniels 22 to 31
299 passing yards two touchdowns 9.6 yards per attempt in a 71
completion percentage, okay, brian rovinson 15 attempts for 77 rushing yards 5.1 rushing yards per attempt
10 2 touchdowns and 3 rushes of 10 plus yards or more jerry golf
23 for 40 313 passing yards 1 touchdown
7.8 yards per attempt in a 57.5 completion percentage jimera gibbs 14 attempts for 105 rushing yards
7.5 rushing yards per attempt in two touchdowns and five rushes of 10 plus yards or more
Amon Ross a brown 10 targets for eight receptions
137 receiving yards and 17.1 receiving yards per reception. Now. This is what I will say about this game
I'm just gonna be completely honest here
I don't think jerry golf should have continued to play
Because you could see jerry golf was definitely affected after that hit from frankie louvue
You can definitely tell that he was seeing stars
Stars and rubber ducks and whatever else that they used to show in the old cartoons because man. Oh man
He was gone after that hit, but the commanders came in
And they basically said listen
We know that everybody is saying that you guys are gonna beat us wipe the floor with us and everything
Well, we're gonna put up a fight
And we're gonna punch you in the mouth and there's nothing that you can do about it
And that's exactly what they did jaden daniels from the first drive to the last drive came in guns blazing
Okay, I don't know if we are really talking about jaden daniels as high as we probably should
because for him to go into detroit
against
the best
or supposedly the best nfc team
And put 45 points on this team
And do it in such a way that just looks like it was so effortless like he was just in a zone
Oh, man. Oh man. He is going to be a problem. Which is actually, you know what side note
I do have to talk about this especially for the cowboys fans. It's just weird to me
How jaden daniels has done more in his first year than what dag prescott has ever done in his entire career
Just saying moving forward back to the game though
But all jokes aside
You can definitely tell that the commanders came in on a mission. Okay
They were trying to prove people wrong that listen. We are that team. This is our year
We are going to fight tooth and nail with the best of we don't care who you have
We don't care what stats you've done. We don't care how many points you put on all those other teams
You guys are going to go against us and that is what carry them to victory. Okay, but when we look at it from the lion's standpoint
especially on the defense
They were struggling
They were struggling and granted
The commanders were doing their thing, but it's just
They could not
Get home when it came to trying to sack jaden daniels when it came to you know trying to throw jaden daniels off
They could not do it jaden daniels kept his composure and was just throwing lasers
Every single time laser laser laser laser laser
But from the lion side though, you have to be disappointed because
You worked so hard to get the number one C
You overcame multiple, you know season ending injuries from your top players. You made a big trade for you know
Zadarias you're thinking okay. We still have a chance. We can still piece things together
If we can make it to the Super Bowl, we'll be fine and
You didn't and that's another failed year. And so now it's going to be harder next year
Especially now that the bears hired ben johnson and we don't even know what moves
The bears are going to make in the off season and the Vikings and everybody else. So
Again, this was probably their best chance of actually making it to the Super Bowl
Because now everybody else in the NFC is about to retool. Let's be real here folks
The NFC is starting to get a little bit more competitive in certain spots
Not saying every single team, but there are certain teams that are starting to
You know, they're starting to get their act together. So
If you're the lions, you now have to figure out what you're going to do moving forward
Not to mention Dan Campbell now has to figure out
Who is going to be his next offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator now me personally?
Do I think they're going to hire somebody?
You know from from outside of the organization? No, I think they're probably just going to promote people
Internally and just the ball rolling they may add in maybe one or two more people, you know as like
You know assistants or whatever, but I don't think they're going to make like a
A big time, you know hire both offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, but
I am a little bit curious to see
Will jeregov still have the same success that he has had
With a new, you know, offensive coordinator with a new system. I am curious about that same thing with the defense too
There's a lot of question marks with this team, but let's get into this rams and eagles game
All right, so Matthew Stafford 26 for 44
324 passing yards two touchdowns
7.4 yards per attempt in a 59.1 completion percentage
Kyren Williams 19 attempts for 106 rushing yards
5.6 rushing yards per attempt in two rushes of 10 plus yards more
Pukka Nakua 14 attempts for six receptions 97 receiving yards and 16.2 receiving yards per reception
Jaylen Hertz 15 for 20 128 passing yards
6.4 yards per attempt in a 75 completion percentage
Seyquan Barkley 26 attempts for 205 rushing yards 7.9 rushing yards per attempt
Two touchdowns and two rushes of 10 plus yards or more Dallas Goddard
4 targets for four receptions 56 receiving yards and 14 receiving yards per reception
This game was really good. Okay on top of it being somewhat of a snow game too. It was actually really good
I'm not gonna lie
I was low key rooting for the rams to win because
Eagles fans you guys are a little bit too cocky for me personally, but that's another story for another day, but
this was one of those games where
The Rams could have won, but they made a mistake at the wrong time
Kyren Williams fumbled at the wrong time
And before you know it the Eagles are starting to gain some momentum
The crowd is getting a little bit loud and then Jaylen Carter makes, you know, the game ceiling sack and the rest is history
But I will say this for all the Rams fans that think, you know, this was a bust of a season
No, you actually overcame your own struggles because in the beginning of the season
I wasn't of the impression that okay, this is going to be a down year
They're most likely going to you know, offload some of their veterans and probably, you know, get a high pick and really, you know
Continue to build this team, but no they persevere
They fought tooth and nail towards the end of the regular season
Got into the playoffs kept on winning and then went up against the Eagles and they were holding their own against the Eagles for a while
But as time progressed and as you know, the mistakes started to pile up and them not converting on, you know
Third downs and whatnot. It just made things even worse
And so ultimately I think
They exceeded their expectations
This definitely shows that there is a lot of upside with this team
And I do think that is something that the Rams can, you know, hang their hat on
Because again, this is a fairly young team outside of Cooper Cup and Matthew Stafford
Everybody is still fairly young. Everybody has is either, you know, in their prime or about to hit their prime
And so this is a good sign for the Rams now for all the other NFC teams
This is actually bad for them because why if the Rams can make it
This far with this team and face the hold their own against the Eagles. What makes you think they can do it against you?
Just saying
But for the Eagles though
They played mistake free football
They realized that listen, we are not going to turn this ball over. We are going to run the ball
We're going to play great defense and we are going to fight tooth and nail
Because right now the Rams are going to give us a problem and they did that defensive line for the Rams
Was giving the Eagles some problems at first
But then the Eagles started to find a rhythm and before you know it say, Kwame Barkley was doing his thing
And the rest was history
But if you are the Eagles
There is a level of concern that you have to have because why instead of you going up against the Lions
You're going to begin to your division rival and they know you better than what the Lions would know you
And last time I checked if I'm not mistaken. I could be wrong
The commanders came back and they beat the Eagles
That last matchup because I think that was a woman Jalen Hurts
Had the concussion he was ruled out and then Kenny Piggy came in and you know, he basically just choked the lead away and
Up just checked it. I was right. They definitely choked that came away
So again all jokes aside here that game that is a game that
I think everyone is going to need to watch because I'm telling you
If the commanders make it to the Super Bowl
Cowboys fans is sick
Everybody else at NFC. You're going to be sick. Okay sick. I tell you because
This team this is a special team. I don't know what it is
But Jaden Daniels every single game when they need him to make a play. He makes the play
I don't know how he does it, but he is a magician when he is on the field
And granted I understand that the Eagles defense is really good
But I won't keep putting my money on Jaden Daniels. I'm just saying I'm just saying I would not be surprised
If we have another DMV miracle like how he did against the Bears. I would not be surprised
Let me tell you something if the commanders make it to the Super Bowl. I will get a Jaden Daniels jersey
Okay, I will be the first one in line to wear a Jaden Daniels jersey
Okay for all of my fellow football junkies. I would do that. Okay
Shoot, I would even try to see if I could get an autograph or better yet an interview with him on this podcast
Talking about those games if they make it to the Super Bowl, but I have to save the best game for last
Yes
All of you Ravens fans that was talking all of that smack especially Roquon Smith
Well, guess what guess where you are you're with us. You're on the you're on the couch. Yeah, get comfortable, buddy
Get your popcorn get your drink get you a nice chair get comfortable because guess what we're all going to be watching this Super Bowl together
Okay, so let's get into this game with Marjaxon 18 for 25
254 passing yards two touchdowns
10.2 yards per attempt in a 72 percent completion percentage Derek Henry 16 attempts for 84 rushing yards
5.3 rushing yards per attempt one touchdown and four rushes of 10 plus yards or more
Rashad Bateman five targets for four receptions
66 receiving yards one touchdown and 16.5 receiving yards per reception Josh Allen 16 for 22
127 passing yards 5.8 yards per attempt in 72.7 completion percentage
James Cook
17 attempts for 67 rushing yards 3.9 rushing yards per attempt and one rush of 10 plus yards or more
Khalil Shakir seven targets for six receptions
67 receiving yards and 11.2 receiving yards per reception. This was a game
That the Ravens definitely should have won. Okay, and the reason why I say that is because
They in my mind had the advantage
over the bills
I thought personally that they were going to do the same recipe that they did against us in the wildcard
run the ball with Derek Henry and
Granite, you know Derek Henry had the stats that he had but I feel like they could have ran the ball with him more
personally because
This is his type of weather. This is in type of
uh environment
This is the type of weather where you need someone like a Derek Henry who can bruise and beat up this defense
To the point where the passing game is more open and it's more effective
But clearly that was not the case and clearly the bills came in with the mindset of
Don't turn the ball over run the ball effectively as well as pass the ball effectively and it worked
now granite
I do have to give a little bit of criticism. You know
to Lamar because
the
Fumbles and then the interception it wasn't good. Okay, and the reason why I say that is because
You know, you're in a playoff game
You know that this bill's defense
Is looking for you to make one mistake and you're going to pay for that mistake every single time
And remember remember what I said leading up to this game the two things
That would mess up the ravens were
injuries
And self-inflicted mistakes and what happened self-inflicted mistakes, especially at the wrong time because
Every single time that they turn the ball over they were building momentum every single time
And guess what happened they lost that momentum. They would build it. They will lose it
They would build it. They will lose it. They will build it. They will lose it
They will build it and they will lose it and then ultimately
Once the game, you know started to to wind down. Okay, you're moving you're moving and then you score the touchdown great
You go for the two-point conversion ultimately mark. Andrews drops the ball. Now. This is what I will say
I understand people are upset. I understand that people are in their feelings, but let's be real here folks
It happens
Okay, if I am, you know a ravens play caller, I maybe I probably wouldn't have put mark andrews in
I probably would have put isaia likely in I probably would have put richard babin in
I probably would have chose somebody else other than mark andrews
And it's no slight to mark andrews at all, but I just would have done something different
because
This was the same play that they ran against us against the Steelers
I think two or three years ago if i'm not mistaken and it failed
So again, they
Didn't have to get to that point
Have they just you know kick a field goal when they needed to kick a field goal instead of going forward on fourth down and
You know just trying
To make sure that they play mistake-free football because in the playoffs is when you have to play mistake-free football
Case and point when we look at the stats for a lot of the the teams that won especially the quarterbacks
They didn't throw for a whole lot. The only person that did was jaden daniels
outside of that
Jaylen Hertz 128 passing yards
josh allen 127 passing yards
They didn't pass for a whole lot because why they were making sure that they were playing mistake-free football
They were relying more on the run game
And they were relying on the defense and ultimately those
Three factors mix it in together and guess what you got a w
You move to the next round and you are one step closer to making it to the Super Bowl now for the Ravens
You know, this is very frustrating because for two years in a row
You should be in the Super Bowl and you're not
And granted I understand everyone says, you know, there's always next year. I'm sorry in this afc
There is no next year you
Have to hit
When you have the opportunity to do it because if you don't guess what's going to happen the chiefs are going to reload
every other afc
Contending team are going to reload and when they do it may make things a little bit harder for you
To make it to the Super Bowl last year the Ravens should have easily made it to the Super Bowl
Okay, and then this year they definitely should have made it
But again those self-inflicted wounds at the wrong time
essentially costed them
The games and ultimately costed them a chance of making it to the Super Bowl
But I'm going to end this episode here if you guys like what you are listening
Please please please please please make sure that you guys
Download the episodes and leave a five star review on anywhere that you listen to the football junkies podcast
Okay, we are available on rssv spotify avapodcast and anywhere else that you listen to
podcasts, okay
For my youtube people football junkies pod, okay football junkies pod when you go on the youtube page
We do have a link tree that link tree will direct you to anywhere and everywhere that we have football junkies content
Okay for my tiktok people football junkies pod as well football junkies pod clips
I'm going to be working on those once I am done recording this episode. Okay, so stay tuned for those
For my instagram people football underscore junkies pod. Okay football underscore junkies pod junkies pod is not what?
It is together not spaced. Okay. It is together
Not spaced for my blue sky people. Yes. I know we got some people there on blue sky. All right
You can find me on blue sky at gm kale blue sky social. Okay gm kale. That's all together. It's not spaced together gm kale
kaile
blue sky social, okay
For my twitter people. All right. I forgot which which one is it?
Yeah, it's that one for my twitter people. You can follow me at sir football junk. Okay
Sir football junk. I was trying to add junkie, but they won't allow me to do it
But I'll probably fix it
But you can follow me on twitter at gm kale as well on there. That's where I put a lot of my mock drafts
I interact with a lot of people share my thoughts about you know
People's mock drafts and all those different things. So just you know, find me on on all my socials and everywhere that I have football
Junkies uh content on all right. So as always, I hope I gave you guys the fix that you guys need
I love you guys. I appreciate you guys so much. I will say this
There's a good chance we may try to get into the offseason just a little bit if enough people
Comment on this episode. I can probably start working on you know, a small little topic
For the offseason for certain teams because I want to save the bigger
The bigger stuff for the offseason once the season is completely over and we can go by
Vision and you know, we can talk about teams and the cap space and their draft needs and free agency needs and you know
They're free agents and all those variety of different things. Okay, so that's probably going to be a series
Because then that can tie us into free agency. Then you know once once
That's when the episode start cranking and then then you got you know training camp and the draft
Who knows it's a lot of stuff coming. So just just work with me. All right, so as always
I love you guys. I appreciate you guys so much. This is your gm who currently is not on the team right now
But don't you worry about it. Don't you worry about it?
kale
Signing out peace and love. I'm out