NFL Conference Championship Round Preview 2024

In this episode, the guys recap the divisional-round playoff games in the NFL.  This includes the historical victory for the Detroit Lions as well as another agonizing defeat for the Buffalo Bills. They will dive deep into each matchup, and analyze each quarterback's performance. In this part of the conversation, the hosts discuss Josh Allen's struggles in the playoffs and the future of the Buffalo Bills.  The conversation then shifts to a preview of the Conference Championship in the NFL including the Ravens vs. Chiefs game and 49ers vs. Lions game. Finally, they finish up with their Superbowl predictions.

Transcript

Alix Harris (00:22.05)
Hello everybody. Thank you for listening. This is the Call Your Shot podcast with your hosts, Alex Harris and Drew Moore. Before we get started, we just want to give a quick shout out to Drew for holding down the fort last week. We weren't able to really, you know, agree on a time where we could both film, we weren't both busy. So Drew just took one for the team and did the thing all solo. So shout out to you, Drew. Okay. All right. Nope. No need for applause. Take a bow. I'd like to thank the Academy. The Academy.

Drew Moore (00:47.066)
Oh, you're far too kind. You're far too kind.

Alix Harris (00:51.998)
But we got a jam packed episode. We cover a few of the games that happened this week, preview our conference championship matchups, and then get in the NBA just a little bit at the end. So what game would you like to get in first here, Drew? So a lot of good games.

Drew Moore (01:06.866)
Um, I mean, we can start off with the one that I guess I was most wrong about. Um, I mean, I wouldn't say I was most wrong about, but the Lions and the, and the, uh, Buccaneers game, you know, I had a couple of good picks in there. I had, I had, uh, you know, Mike Evans over a hundred, uh, over, over a hundred receiving yards, which is great. I hit, um, and I was plus 200. So, I mean, that covered up for what we lost there in that pick.

taking the six and a half with the bucks. But I did like what the bucks were trying to do there at the end, which a lot of people are gonna give them flack for. And I get it, I get it. Why would you go for two instead of just kicking the field goal, making it a one score game regardless, so on and so forth. But the analytics make sense, exactly. The math was mapping and if they would have gotten that, all you gotta do...

Alix Harris (01:59.767)
math.

Drew Moore (02:05.974)
is just kick the extra point and after you score again, game over, ball game. But, you know, that's the risk you run. If you don't get it, then you end up losing by eight instead of six. So.

Alix Harris (02:21.75)
Did you see the end of the game too? Apparently there was like a lot of, I don't want to say if it's controversy, but like apparently the lions kneeled the ball a little too quickly, um, on their down. So the bucks had one timeout left and I think the lions need the ball with like 37 seconds left. So they look, he could have taken a timeout and tried to, you know, it would have been a long field goal or the lions would have punted or something like that, but at least give them a chance. But the bucks were just like, nah, we'll, we'll just, we'll, we'll take this one. I'm like, oh, nah, it couldn't have been me. Yep.

Drew Moore (02:43.108)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (02:46.398)
I'm like, this is it, or done. But I mean, yeah.

Alix Harris (02:50.546)
I was really impressed honestly by Baker in this game.

Drew Moore (02:54.862)
I mean, I was impressed, but I wasn't surprised. I talked about it last week, how the Lions defense have been trending down and I still can't get that Nick Mullins game out of my head. Like if you allow that man to throw for anything, if you allow him just to throw, okay. You allow him to throw anything more than, I don't know, like 250 yards, you have a bad defense. And so the fact that

Alix Harris (03:01.111)
That's fair.

Alix Harris (03:12.254)
Elite.

Drew Moore (03:23.59)
you know, Baker Mayfield walking in here and just putting up three, basically 350 yards, 349 if you want to be exact. And, you know, three touchdowns, yeah, you had two picks or whatever, but that's Baker, that's what you're gonna get from him. I should have, honestly, thinking back in hindsight, 2020, I should have also played Baker Mayfield over on his passing yards if I was expecting a big game from Mike Evans. The only way you can have a big game as wide receiver is from the quarterback, so, but, you know.

Alix Harris (03:29.311)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (03:53.154)
I think this game was interesting too, because this is yet another game where the Lions were outgained in the game. And it's starting to make me think that a lot of those interviews that their coaches are getting might be getting to them in the sense that they're not able to have as much time to scheme up the correct defenses, even though they weren't really scheming up the right defenses throughout the whole year. But you know.

even more so in this point because this is ultimately going to be their next move in their career, like having a chance to be a head coach somewhere. So I think that that's kind of interesting that they had 10 less plays or 11 less plays than the Lions did, yet they still outgained them.

Alix Harris (04:42.778)
kind of been a trend to like overall throughout the league when there be the Lions assistant coaches or the Texans or even the Ravens like people talking about like could it potentially play a role when it comes to planning for a game plan and things of that nature when you kind of have all these other things going on try to potential interviews coming up things of that nature trying to be a head coach so that is kind of like an interesting point I'm not exactly sure how much of a role it plays into the games but I mean it is it is definitely possible factor

The Lions, it was a weird game. So Baker had that early interception and the Lions looked kind of like they are going to take control of the game throughout. But then the Bucs were slowly able to start coming back. And then towards the end of the half, they tie up the game and then they get ball at half or get ball after halftime. Ultimately they aren't able to capitalize on that, but it was kind of like a reverse script for the Lions because last year or last week against the Rams, they.

scored early and then they kind of mellowed out throughout and basically just had to hold the ramps. This time they started off kind of slow and they have three touchdowns in the second half. So I'm not exactly sure how much confidence I have in the 49ers or in the Lions over the 49ers. We'll get into that in a little bit, but it was kind of a weird script for the Lions here. Baker again though, I think played very well. This is the big underdog, just a big underdog, but I think he played well. I think that he deserves this contract that he's probably going to get in the off season.

And yeah, I think that the Bucks ended up kind of. Making the best out of the season, you know, you lose Tom Brady and then you basically go into the divisional playoffs the next the next season. So I don't think it's too bad. And they were playing with has money. We both agreed with that, them and the Packers.

Drew Moore (06:17.714)
Hmm. And I mean...

Yeah. And I mean, does this does this mean that Tom Brady is just a system quarterback? If I mean, you know, I guess I guess. But yeah, I mean, you know, going up against well, we'll get into it later. But I mean, going up against the 49ers is going to be a whole different beast and going up against Baker Mayfield and that offense. Because if you're

Alix Harris (06:32.206)
means he's 45.

Drew Moore (06:52.246)
To bacon Mayfield just imagine what Brock Purdy is gonna do in a game where there's not rain so like You know like Whenever there's not rain he can be still slinging that thing But if there's rain then it's I guess he has like tiny hands is what people were saying and you know It's causing problems. So Yeah

Alix Harris (06:58.021)
I'm rocking out. Okay, fair enough. I'm like, you look too great

Alix Harris (07:05.816)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (07:18.538)
Any points on Jared Goff? It's kind of like, I don't want to say like they're the Cinderella story because the Lions have been good all season. But I mean, at least for me, I didn't expect them to get this far. You could say that they I don't want to say that they lucked into anything because the Eagles were out. They were obviously dwindling and falling apart right in between the playoffs. The Bucks took care of them. And then you kind of have to face Baker Mayfield on the Bucks, who are kind of an overachieving team. I guess you could say it now. You got the Lions in the Conference Championship for the first time since the 90s. But.

I think it will be a solid game between them and the 49ers. And Jared Goff played this game and he actually had to deal with a little bit more pressure. That's what the Bucks did last game against Jalen Hurts, and they got a little bit of pressure to Jared Goff, too. But he was still able to take care of the ball, had about almost 300 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. So it was a solid game overall and still have a dual threat with Jameer Gibbs, Dave Montgomery and then Amon Rao just being solid. And then Lamporta, who had more volume than anybody on the team and has been kind of like a godsend for them as a rookie.

Drew Moore (08:19.15)
Yeah, I mean, Jared Gough's been solid. He's passed really all the tests over the past, you know, a few weeks or so down the stretch where everybody's like, Oh, it's a big game. It's Jared Gough. He's just going to, you know, flounder. He's going to do what he does and turn over the ball, lose the game for the team and everything. But I mean, you know, ever since that, that Dallas game where he pretty much had his worst game possible, um, he went against Minnesota, had two touchdowns.

No pigs, one touchdown against the Rams last week, or two weeks ago, no interceptions. Two touchdowns last week, no interceptions. And I mean, he's doing what he can in terms of being, I don't wanna say a game manager, but he's doing more than what he's asked for in the system. And he's actually.

being a productive member of the team, I'll say, versus on the Rams, he was more so like, okay, Sean McVeigh's like whispering in his ear, throw it to this player on your third drop back or whatever, and basically telling them, do this, do that. And now we're seeing the Jared Goff that was drafted as the top overall pick, doing the things that we expected him to do when he first came into the league.

Alix Harris (09:18.242)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (09:28.9)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (09:41.254)
and this is ultimately the result when you give him full reins and you give him more than just one weapon to use in offense. But also, I mean, I think you gotta tip your cap to the lion's front office. I feel like the panthers should take some notes on what they're doing over there, because I don't think that you can make four better picks if you are

if you were picking in a draft in your first two rounds. Like those like Branch, Jameer Gibbs, Laporta, I'm missing one, don't remember who it was, but, yeah. So like all of those players have been pivotal parts of this journey that they've been on. And ultimately, if they do end up making it to the Super Bowl, they will be the reason why they make it as well.

Alix Harris (10:18.638)
It's like a linebacker.

Alix Harris (10:33.982)
And they got a lot of flack low key post draft about that because they're like, you know, people like, okay, B John should go as a first round running back because he, people thought he was a generation talent, generational talent. And it's good of running back as we've seen since Saquon, but then they're like, we, they, people thought that they overreached on Jameer. People thought drafting a linebacker in the first round and then La Porta and all that kind of stuff. So they had, they did a lot of flack. But I, I agree with you got to have, give kudos to their front office and everything's paid off. Got to give respect to Dan Campbell, who I'm not sure if he'll end up getting coach of the year.

based on how everything's going. I feel like you still kind of, I feel like you have to give him the nod personally, not just because I picked him, but I just think that the expectations that people had from him and people thought he was just kind of like a meathead, former Titans coach didn't really know, completely how to actually run a team. And they just thought he was just like an energy monster. He's been great. I think he's been great. But I guess we can stick with the NFC against their opponent. The other games that we had in NFC, obviously was the Green Bay Packers versus the 49ers.

Drew Moore (11:24.478)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (11:33.058)
And as Drew mentioned, it was kind of a rain game. Brock Purdy did not look very great at all. The Packers had, I feel like, a lot of opportunities to win this game. You know, they dropped a potential pick six off Brock Purdy, and they were up by seven going into the fourth quarter. And as many people have already talked about, Kyle Shanahan was 0 and 30 while being down by seven points or more going into a fourth quarter. And they ended up, you know, getting the drive to seal the deal. And Chris McCaffrey ended up punching it in.

And so what were your thoughts on that game? How do you feel about the 49ers going against the Lions? And now there's talk, obviously, Debo Samuel ended up getting hurt in that game. And now he's a 50-50 with a similar shoulder injury that he had earlier this year.

Drew Moore (12:15.41)
Mm hmm. Yeah. First thing is like I it's tough to say that the Packers would be a more interesting game this week than the in the 49ers going up against the Lions. I mean, divisional game and also the resurgence of the Packers offense building it up. And it's like, you know,

like the Packers have owned that division. And then the one last step for the Lions is to go through your division rival. Like how great of a game would that have been as opposed to this potential blowout between the 49ers and the Lions. But I mentioned it last week and I'll mention it again. I thought that the resurgence of one Jordan Love was too large.

to be just a, oh, this is him. This is how he always is. This is how he's going to be. Because he went from, I believe it was like 16th or so in the league in EPA per play as a quarterback, all the way up to third in the league, EPA per play as a quarterback. No, like, you know, that just doesn't happen. Like that kind of a jump just doesn't happen. And especially in...

in the playoffs when the teams are going to be better, the competition is a lot better. It's not...

Alix Harris (13:48.67)
He played pretty well this play outside. You can't lie. Did I have the best game against 49ers, but I think over always played pretty

Drew Moore (13:51.367)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (13:54.606)
I mean, he put up, he had a 54 offensive rating this past week against the 49ers who, yeah, you can't throw against them, but also I think that a lot of people were under rating the 49ers defense and over rating the Jordan Love comparisons to, you know, Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre and things like that. Like, yeah.

Alix Harris (13:59.714)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (14:20.714)
That's true. We're getting a little out of hand. They're like ready to deem him the one already. I think he is a great franchise quarterback going forward for the Packers, but you know, stop comparing him to A-Rod.

Drew Moore (14:30.17)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And the biggest thing, too, in this game, I believe, was that they went, like, they stopped going with the run. Like, they were gashing them on the ground. That's the one area that you can beat the 49ers is on the ground. 18 carries, 108 yards, six yards per carry. Six yards per carry. Now we're gonna throw it. Braggarty's gonna pass it. Like, come on. And...

Alix Harris (14:42.049)
Mm.

Alix Harris (14:53.802)
Aaron Jones is nasty. That's his, yeah.

Drew Moore (14:59.386)
Along with that too, I just, that was probably one of the worst throws I've ever seen in my life that Jordan Love made on that last play. Yeah, it reminded me of when Brett Favre was in Nolens and he was throwing across his body. It was like the last game that he played and just threw an interception. The Saints picked it off and ran it all the way back and it was just glorious.

Alix Harris (15:08.106)
Yeah, I don't know what he saw in that. I don't understand it.

Drew Moore (15:28.442)
That's exactly what that reminded me of. Granted, that was when he was on the...

Alix Harris (15:30.786)
Green law was wanting step for step with him too. But I don't know what grid all was doing. He was like, I was trying to house that. I was like, bro, if you don't get down on the ground.

Drew Moore (15:34.01)
So.

Drew Moore (15:38.458)
Well, apparently he had a bet or like a deal with one with one of the other linebackers that they would get a pick six. Yeah, Fred Warner, then you get a pick six. And so he was trying to run it back. They almost damn near cost the game. They fumble that. Hit it back. Yeah. Exactly. Literally. But yeah, moral of the story.

Alix Harris (15:46.803)
It was with Fred Warner, yeah.

Alix Harris (15:55.782)
legit almost fumbling it back to him we running like it was like a loaf of bread and i was like bro what are you doing go sit down all that stuff

Drew Moore (16:08.002)
is that I am scared for the 49ers because though this was, I believe, one of their better wins of the season because it showed that when we're down we can actually come back as opposed to before, it was like we can win if we're ahead. If you were down, then it's over. So...

Alix Harris (16:26.114)
Yeah.

People are moving the goalposts to forum because they're talking obviously it was like, you know When Brock Purdy actually has to come back in a game like we'll see how the 49ers look and all these kind of things But then he actually did it and people are like, well Technically he was only down by four because they kicked the field goal like right in the fourth quarter And you know when we talk about coming back from a deficit They were talking about like double digits and all that kind of stuff. I was like, okay Well, we're just moving the goalpost I guess

Drew Moore (16:51.582)
Mm-hmm Yeah, true But I don't know it'll be it'll be interesting for sure

Alix Harris (17:00.586)
Seven points is a lot for opening like seven point favorites. Like I would, I would take the lions plus seven.

Drew Moore (17:08.382)
I'm sure you would, Alex. Sure you would. It's...

Alix Harris (17:10.57)
Would you not? You just talked about how the 49ers can struggle in all this kind of stuff, so I'm like, would you?

Drew Moore (17:16.486)
Well, yeah, if Debo is playing, I will I will take it that it's all the way down to that my thing hasn't refreshed yet. There we go. Oh, yeah, I've been pumped up to seven. It was down at was down at six and a half earlier when I was looking at it.

Alix Harris (17:20.52)
Exactly.

Alix Harris (17:32.846)
That's what I'm saying, yeah, it's at seven.

Alix Harris (17:37.162)
And they said, D-Bow with injury, it's not a fracture, but it is basically a similar injury that he had early in the season. He missed two weeks with that injury, so.

Drew Moore (17:43.35)
Yeah, yeah, because he had a hairline fracture earlier. But I mean, I mean, obviously he's going to play regardless. Like it's a chance to go to the Super Bowl. I think he's still going to try and gut it out. Especially if it's like 50-50 and it's up to the player. He's going to be like, yep, I'm playing. Just like shoot me up with whatever you got. And he's just going to be numb the whole game.

Alix Harris (17:47.501)
Mm.

Alix Harris (17:55.474)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (18:04.117)
Literally.

He said that they can run on the 49ers and stuff and the Lions have one of the best Russian attacks left in the league Obviously besides the Ravens, so

Drew Moore (18:14.082)
Yeah, exactly. That's one of the reasons why I'm scared. That's why I haven't made a pick on this game yet. I'm just saying. It's one of those things where on paper it's like, oh yeah, how can you not take the 49ers in this game? But then you look a little deeper and you're like, okay, well the 49ers actually haven't been that great at defending the run.

Alix Harris (18:19.541)
I'm gonna have to change.

Drew Moore (18:43.23)
They're great at defending the pass, but when it comes to defending the rush, they just like fall off a cliff. If I look for them down here, they are, oh wow, 22nd in the league at defending the run this year. So, not good, if you ask me. It's not what you want. Versus ninth when it comes to defending the pass. So.

Alix Harris (18:50.673)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (19:06.814)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (19:13.762)
It's definitely one of those things that you gotta watch out for if you are looking to back the 49ers at that steep price that Mr. Harris talked about. But you know, it is tempting. It is tempting for sure. So we'll see.

Alix Harris (19:31.37)
We're filming on a Monday, so basically we still have about five or six more days until the game on Saturday and Sunday. But Drew, like, you know, we're not going to film again. So I feel like you're going to have to make some little prediction by at least the end of the episode. You know, we ain't going to. Why not?

Drew Moore (19:46.11)
G'Wane.

Drew Moore (19:50.862)
I gotta I gotta know the details I could just be given out I'm just gonna be putting my reputation on the line on the Monday with no information Fly me down. I'll be there in a sec

Alix Harris (20:00.553)
I'll give Debo the injection myself. I don't care. He needs to play. Fair enough. OK, moving on to the AFC, I guess we can cover the Ravens Texans game first, CJ Stroud. In the Texans, Cinderella's story and themselves finally came to a close as

They were hanging pretty tough in the beginning of the game, but then the Ravens slowly started to pull away. Lamar Jackson has been great in these playoffs, obviously is going to be the MVP this season. Had 100 yards rushing along with his two touchdowns on the ground and two touchdowns through the air, only 150 yards passing, but he didn't really need to pass a whole bunch. And the Ravens ultimately just ended up locking down CJ Stroud, especially in the second half. So thoughts on the game and expectations for the Ravens going forward. You already said that you have them in their Super Bowl.

See if that changes now that you got my homeboy.

Drew Moore (20:46.946)
Yup. No, well one thing real quick is that we had we had under 44 and a half in this game. So that well that hurt or sorry. No, we had under 43 and a half. My bad. Yeah, that hurt. I was like, oh yeah, we won and then I was like you.

Alix Harris (21:01.46)
button.

Alix Harris (21:08.27)
43 and a half.

Drew Moore (21:15.858)
Got to be kidding me.

Alix Harris (21:17.634)
Well, I don't mess with them halfs. Them halfs, they're annoying, man.

Drew Moore (21:20.99)
Yep, you get hooked. But that's part of getting the best numbers, so on and so forth, all that good stuff, but whatever. Anyways, moral of the story is Lamar Jackson is him. CJ Stroud is him, however, they just went up against a buzzsaw in the Baltimore Ravens. And they made an adjustment at halftime, because at first, what they were doing to Lamar Jackson on the defensive end was actually working. They were blitzing them, they weren't expecting that, because...

Alix Harris (21:31.706)
Mm.

Yeah.

Drew Moore (21:49.81)
The Texans usually don't blitz. They usually kind of lay back a little bit. And obviously that didn't go very well with them before. So they were like, okay, that obviously didn't work before. Let's try something new. Go out, start blitzing them. Okay, good. Holding them down, not moving the ball at all. But then you go into the second half and the Ravens, I guess, switched up their scheme back to a combination of what they were running last year along with what they're running this year.

So they brought in some plays that ended up obviously doing pretty damn well and ended up pulling away in the second half of the game. Lamar Jackson ended up finishing up with what you would think wouldn't look like too much of a big game with only 152 passing yards. But then you go down to his rushing yards and you see that he had 11 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns as well as two passing touchdowns as well. So like.

Alix Harris (22:25.259)
Hmm

Alix Harris (22:44.427)
It's not fair.

Drew Moore (22:50.087)
He's basically the MVP. I know it's a regular season award and everything like that, but for all those people out there that are saying, oh, Lamar Jackson can't get the job done, he won the MVP, but that's all he can do is just do that and be a regular season player, well, here you go. Take this.

Alix Harris (23:13.29)
Yeah, I think he was like one in three or one in four, something like that prior to this playoffs. So now taking the Ravens to the conference championship, especially as we mentioned before, coming off the off season that he had, where it was a dispute between him and the Ravens, not looking to resign him. Then it looked like he was on the trade market. Nobody wanted to play the two first rounders for him. And now he just, you know, goes on to win his second MVP in this potentially one game away from making the Super Bowl. But.

Drew Moore (23:16.805)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (23:42.066)
I digress and again shout out to their defense and you know, the Texans really couldn't do anything. The one touchdown that they did have came on a punt return and it was 10-10 going into half. So the Texans defense was able to hold them, but then the Ravens decided to outscore the Texans 24 to 0 in the second half.

Drew Moore (23:43.452)
Yep.

Drew Moore (24:00.59)
And I mean, even it was last year, two years ago, when they put, when they lost against the Titans, they had about like 500 yards in that game too. So like, it's not like, oh, they're not able to do this. Like they're, they've always been a very well-rounded franchise and they have minimal holes everywhere. Like it, whenever they, it doesn't matter like what year it is or what, what the...

Alix Harris (24:07.426)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (24:29.73)
makeup of the team is they're always solid all the way around, whether it's completely average or whether it's completely elite. There is not one part of their team that is ever lacking. Special teams, solid. You got the offense, solid. Defense, solid. You know, I think it's the most well-rounded team that's left. And I give the nod to basically whoever is in the AFC is going to win this role this year.

Alix Harris (24:59.314)
Oh, yeah. There we go. And again, shout out to the Texans and the Packers, both of them are playing basically with house money, being very two young teams. Obviously, the floor has been coached for the Packers for a while, but to make Orion's this his first year as a Texans head coach and what him and CJ Stroud are able to do. And again, this was out without who? Not not Nikko Collins, who's the tank down tank down. So I think that both the Texans with CJ Stroud and the receiving core with Tankdale and.

Drew Moore (25:00.648)
Mm-mm.

Drew Moore (25:19.942)
tank down.

Alix Harris (25:28.606)
Nico Collins along with Schultz and the Packers with their with their Romeo Dobs, Krishna Watson. I think they all have bright futures, so. Definitely wasn't a bad season overall. Lastly, we probably have the game of the weekend and you know, it was another, you know, just infamous or famous, depending on what side of the coin you were on between the Bills and the Chiefs. And twenty seven, twenty four overall. I'll let you go first, Drew, what are your thoughts on this game?

Drew Moore (25:37.745)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (25:58.498)
Um, well, my bills mafia, um, they, they gave me money for one last time. And I appreciate that out of them. Uh, we have, they, they've saved me in multiple times. What do you mean? They, they made me money. Yeah. I didn't, I was so tempted to take some futures on them too. Uh, but I had, I had missed the boat on, on the resurgence and everything. So I was just like, well.

Alix Harris (26:12.338)
Wow. Oh, okay, because you will be picked against them. That's right, that's right, that's right. There you go.

Drew Moore (26:28.086)
It can't last, can it? And then they kept on winning and I was like, well, I'll just play him in spots then. And that'd be my version of a future. But I feel bad for Josh Allen. The dude did everything he could to try and win this game, but like, oh, okay. They're not scheming up any downfield plays. The plays that they do scheme up downfield are to like randoms that are running down the field.

Alix Harris (26:30.294)
Yes.

Alix Harris (26:34.179)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (26:56.51)
They didn't have Gabe Davis, who's usually your downfield target. And it's not like he wasn't putting the ball right in the bread basket either. Like he was putting it right there and people is going through people's hands. And yeah. Uh, and then on top of that, speaking of digs, my boy always open. He was on the back of a milk carton for like the exactly he's on the back of a milk carton, like the past nine weeks. So I don't know what happened to him or where he's going, but basically

Alix Harris (27:05.354)
Yeah, Diggs had a big drop. Diggs had a big drop.

Alix Harris (27:17.164)
Intel.

Alix Harris (27:22.2)
legit.

Drew Moore (27:26.478)
He might as well be wearing a ski mask with a gun and taking every check that he gets. Like it's ridiculous. That is my guy. I always draft him every year in fantasy, but I don't know what happened to him. I... Exactly. I think they must have had like a falling out or whatever with McDermott because wow, has his play completely fallen off. And you can tell...

Alix Harris (27:40.778)
be wearing some new threads next season.

Drew Moore (27:55.434)
how much is impacting Josh Allen because he's not able to get it to his best player and you're not able to get the ball to your best player, no, that's going to be a problem. This is going to be the result. You're going to end up losing again for a trip to go to the conference championship game. So yeah.

Alix Harris (28:15.542)
I don't know what's going on with Diggs and Josh Allen, especially over the last half of the season. Shakir, who's really come on for them since Gabe Davis has been out, has over the past 10 games has 37 targets compared to Diggs's 80 targets from Josh Allen, and he still has more receiving yards than Stephon Diggs. I don't understand what's going on. Usually with Stephon Diggs would have the blowups on the sidelines, stuff like that, even though he wasn't getting...

I guess the volume of yards that he's used to over the past 10 games, I didn't see him blowing up or anything like that on the sideline. So I was like, well, maybe you should, you know, they're winning. So he can't really complain, but yeah, it just seems like their connection and their chemistry that they've had over the past four years kind of just completely disappeared over these past 10 games. And I think that Josh Allen did play a very good game and they, him along with the bills definitely missing some opportunities. We obviously know that the bills defense was basically torn to shreds and they were losing their backups to their backups midway through the game. But you know, I think that Josh Allen,

kind of have to play perfectly to be Patrick Mahomes. And I don't think that he played perfect game because he missed a throw. That would have been a touchdown to go ahead of the game before they missed the field goal. I don't know if it was Sherfield or Shakira was one of the two. It was basically like a 30 yard throw right in the back of the end zone. He just didn't get enough on it. So it ended up under throwing it. And that was basically it because then you go to, you know, try to depend on your kicker who they talked about before the game with the crosswinds and

Drew Moore (29:31.912)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (29:43.314)
everything going on, it was going to be hard for them to kick anything over 40, 45 yards. And that was what the kick was. And then you have the wide right with the infamous bill saying, um, going back to the super bowl. So very unfortunate for the bills. And I don't know. I just feel because they were favorites in this game and everybody was always talking about like, this is the year the bills finally have home field against the chiefs and they were owing to against my homes and the playoffs and everything's aligning perfectly for them. And the chiefs have been bad.

Not bad, but they have not been the normal chiefs that were used all season. Travis Kelsey hasn't looked that great. The chiefs were still dropping passes and all these kinds of stuff. And then, you know, when the rubber needs to meet the road, the chiefs just do what they do and just, you know, roll out of bed during the season to make the conference championship that, you know, that's all we do that. So, I don't know. I don't know. Patrick Mahomes played solid and you know, Travis Kelsey, Hey, caught some touchdowns. Crazy. Taylor was there.

Drew Moore (30:27.214)
We did. Yeah, I mean...

Drew Moore (30:36.878)
Yeah, well, exactly. That's why you had to do it. But yeah, like one, one other note, too, just a, just on a salty side, I guess we can say is Josh Allen, 12 carries this game. He had been trending up the basically the past, I don't know, three or four weeks in terms of the amount of times he's carried the ball. And so last week I had played.

Alix Harris (30:40.514)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (31:06.474)
over eight and a half carries. And that man decided to get eight carries. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me. All the games, the past three games before that, dude, the, like the three games before that, he, I believe I had like 10, nine and like 11 or whatever. And I was like, okay, you know, we're chilling. And then eight and a half. And then you come into this week, 12, and the week I don't play it. And I'm like, okay, you know what?

Alix Harris (31:15.746)
These haves drew.

Drew Moore (31:36.066)
I'm done with you. So, yeah, that's just an interesting note, though, that whenever the games were close, they went back to all reliable, and that's Josh Allen with his legs. And also, the one other concerning thing was that how much success that the Bills were having running the ball against the Chiefs. And going up against the Ravens,

the team that wants to run the ball might be something that is concerning, especially with a mobile quarterback, especially with, well, Gus Edwards is a little banged up, but with the type of running backs that they do have with the O-line to make every job easier for them, it could be something that is a little bit of a problem for the Chiefs, I'm just saying.

Alix Harris (32:31.082)
Yeah, I don't know what the like, I understand what the game plan is, I guess, originally with the bills and they were, you know, possessing. You want to limit Patrick Mahomes' possession. So you want to try to take as long as you can with your, with your possessions. And they were running all over the Chiefs and they could not get a stop. Every single run that they had was like seven yards and it was like two and second and two or second and three every single play. So they were ahead of the sticks. And, you know, as we mentioned, Josh Allen had 72 yards, James Cook had 61.

He had like 61 going into like the fourth quarter and then he had like negative three yards total. So they were able to stop them there, but they had 182 yards rushing overall. But like, I don't know if it was just the game plan or Sean McDermott didn't necessarily 100% trust Josh because like he had 26 of 39 from his attempts and 16 of them were screenplays or behind the line of scrimmage, things like that. As you mentioned, they didn't really air it out. So like at times it seemed like they were playing not to lose rather than playing to try to win against Patrick Homes.

Like I said, I understand that to a degree when you try to want to limit his possessions, but at the same time, I feel like you also kind of have to go out there and win the game. And then by the time they're like, Oh, maybe we should try to win the game and go for this fake punt on fourth and five when the ball is in our like 12 yard line, I'm like, I don't understand. So I just feel like from a coaching perspective, Sean McDermott, who I feel actually had a pretty good season based off how the bill started and the way that they were able to close at like nine and one or something like that to close out the season, I think was completely out coached.

Drew Moore (33:40.673)
Dude, literally.

Drew Moore (33:54.674)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (33:56.374)
by Andy Reid in this situation. So that's very unfortunate for him. And then as I mentioned, I think Josh Allen just with a couple of missed opportunities. And that's basically all it takes for you to lose by three to the Chiefs.

Drew Moore (34:09.258)
Yeah, and it's also the fact that, you know, I don't want to say he's not a good coach because he is a good coach, but his decision making is what has always cost them the games. He does two conflicting things. He's like, I want to be aggressive. I don't want the media to get on me, but I want to be conservative because I'm also in charge of the defense and I don't want my defense to look bad. So we got to hold on to the ball as long as possible.

Alix Harris (34:21.858)
Doesn't it?

Alix Harris (34:33.641)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (34:39.45)
but we also got to move the ball and score. Okay, well, we're just going to go for it on fourth down and give it to Demar Hamlin. Like, what?

Alix Harris (34:42.015)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (34:46.89)
Yeah. You know how good of a headline this is going to make for us if we come back win this game. I'm like, DeMar Hamlin. I'm like, OK, like that was that was terrible. And I don't know if it was like they said that there was like less players on the Chiefs or they only had like 10. It was like a check play or something like that. They checked to the fake. I don't.

Drew Moore (34:51.344)
No, I do.

Drew Moore (34:54.938)
Wait, I was, like when I saw.

Drew Moore (35:01.814)
Yeah, yeah, they only had 10 players on the defense or whatever. So they thought they had an advantage and even with 10 players, they still couldn't get it. Yeah. It wasn't even like it was like, you know, fourth and one or you know what it was like, like fourth. Yeah, I was like, dude, what are you doing? And then you give him the homes a short field. I don't I don't know.

Alix Harris (35:10.171)
It wasn't close.

Alix Harris (35:14.286)
That's like fourth and five or fourth and six.

Alix Harris (35:22.602)
Yeah, and they actually like, you know, lived by that because I feel like the Chiefs had a chance to obviously they only won by three, but they had a chance to blow this open because like they got the ball there and then Mikhail Harbin fumbled into the end zone at the one yard line.

Drew Moore (35:30.206)
Mm-hmm. Because of the worst call in NFL history, or the worst rule in NFL history. I hate that rule.

Alix Harris (35:39.294)
Yeah, I don't agree with the rule either, but it is the rules. I don't know why he was like trying to stretch out, trying to break the pile on whatever the case may be. But I mean, the chief had a potential to go up like 10 points midway through the fourth quarter. So, um, all of that. And then at the end, you just could not get a stop. You missed the field goal. You still have an opportunity to get a stop. You have timeouts, but you know, Pacheco runs, you know, kind of turns the tables and runs for seven yards on the first play and then basically runs for our first down closes out the game. So it's very.

Drew Moore (35:46.764)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (35:52.68)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (35:59.315)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (36:07.31)
I feel bad for Josh. Like you're saying, we started this before we started recording. It's like talked about it's Jordan and all the good players that played in the 90s and things like that, like Reggie Miller and Carl Malone, Stockton and Patrick Ewing, all these players. But, you know, you just happen to play with the goat in your era. And Josh Allen, who I feel like is a very good quarterback, as a great quarterback and has all the potential in the world, whether I say he's volatile, whatever the case may be, I feel like he's arguably the most talented quarterback when you consider his arm.

Drew Moore (36:23.847)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (36:34.87)
his ability to throw, his ability to run, scramble out of the pocket and his size, but he just can't get over the hump and can't beat Patrick Mahomes in playoffs. He's now 0-3 against him. He lost last year to Joe Burrow and is the, you know, only one quarterback in NFL history has had like 50 touchdowns in a season, like total touchdowns and not made the conference. It's Josh Allen twice. It's, I feel kind of bad.

Drew Moore (36:57.702)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I mean, it like I feel like they like I brought this up so many times you keep on saying it's not that's not the reason but the defense finally caught up with them this game. Dude, they had they were pulling people off the side of the street to put on Jersey at linebacker. They literally do AJ. He used to be on the

Alix Harris (37:12.908)
Not the reason.

Alix Harris (37:20.407)
I mean, 27 points, I don't think is that bad. Like, they...

Drew Moore (37:29.383)
Like he was even in the league.

Alix Harris (37:29.407)
I understand. I understand. A von Miller had a couple plays. He had a couple tackles and stuff like that. I was like, Oh my God, I forgot that he played football. Like it was kind of great. It was kind of crazy. But yeah, I know that the defense was completely decimated coming into this game and everybody knew that, but they're like, well, we don't think that the chiefs defense, no matter how good it is being a top three divas in the league, we don't think that they're going to be able to stop Josh Allen and the role that the bills are on. And they honestly weren't able to, the bills had like 27 first downs and they had no sex.

But I said, like, you have to play a perfect game to beat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, albeit he didn't have any turnovers, but he had some throws. Some of them that his players dropped one that he missed, like he missed that touchdown. Like that was the play of the game that they need it. And then they didn't get it. So.

I don't know. And now I don't know what you do because as we had mentioned, like this, the Josh Allen and the Bills had only made the conference championship once. And that was basically the breakthrough season. I don't know if that was the first or second season where they had Stefan Diggs and they were basically like a year early and you know, people didn't expect them to go that far. Since then they haven't been back there. And now you're at the point where Josh Allen's contract is going to start taking a major hit when it comes to...

the cap hit for them. And now Stephon Diggs is gonna be probably be gone. So, I mean, where do you go? You have James Cook, who's a good young running back for them. And then obviously Shakir and Gabe Davis, I guess, but like things I feel like are gonna look a lot differently next season for the Bills. When all these contracts start catching up to them because they didn't win the Super Bowl in the window that you need to do it, which is early.

Drew Moore (39:08.422)
You want to know something though? Salary caps ain't real. Like, they literally just keep on moving the goalposts, so to speak. They're like, oh, they're going to take a big salary cap, they can't afford this, they got to release this, that, and the other. And then somehow they always end up getting more players and end up paying people out the ass. For example, especially in baseball too, how...

Alix Harris (39:13.61)
Okay.

Alix Harris (39:32.12)
Yeah, if

Drew Moore (39:37.554)
Do the LA Dodgers always, how are they always able to afford everybody? How are all of these teams always able to afford anybody that they want if they can get a good price on them? Regardless of.

Alix Harris (39:50.946)
well that's the thing though like he said what?

Drew Moore (39:54.374)
I was going to say regardless of how much it cost, like, oh, well, it only cost us $500,000 or $500 million to, you know, re-sign Patrick Mahomes to this contract. But then, you know, somehow they have enough salary in cap to sign pretty much anybody else that they want. That being said, the chiefs are also set up very nicely in terms of salary cap.

to continue doing this for like the next five years because everybody else other than Mahomes and Kelsey and Chris Jones have like microscopic contracts, so.

Alix Harris (40:27.342)
Yeah, that's the thing though. I feel like, you know, for a small minority of teams within like sports, so you talked about like the Dodgers or like the Yankees in baseball, like when you're those huge ginormous franchises, you have the money to do that. Or if you're like the Cowboys in football or you're like the Rams or a couple years ago, those big franchises in those, you know, whether it be in New York or Texas or California.

I feel like have a lot more ability and a lot more wiggle room when it kind of goes into the luxury tax or I guess it depends on your owner and what they're willing to do and things like that. When you're in Buffalo, I don't think that they're doing even the Kansas City chief. So with their contract with Patrick Mahomes, the way that they spread out that contract and the way that did spread out his guarantee and you know, they had to make the decision not to resign Tyree kill because they didn't want to pay that $30 million and go into luxury tax and stuff like that. So they did it well, but I just don't think that the bills are going to go all in to make a splash like that.

especially I don't even know who they would get at this point, but. I don't know, I think it's yeah, the windows closed. It's not closed because, you know, Josh Allen's going to be a great quarterback in the AFC for the next 10 plus years, but like. It's not going to be like, oh, OK, the past three or four seasons, the Bills have opened up as like one of the favorites to win the AFC championship or get to the Super Bowl is not going to. It's not going to be like that no more. And I think people need to stop.

Drew Moore (41:23.11)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (41:49.526)
doing the Brady Peyton Manning this era as Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, or Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. I think it's a lot closer with Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow than it is with Josh Allen because, you know, these are good games, very entertaining games, but they always end up in the same way. So definition of insanity. I don't know what you want.

Drew Moore (41:53.894)
Thank you.

Drew Moore (42:07.67)
Okay. I guess, I guess that's fair.

Alix Harris (42:12.694)
But you've already kind of previewed it. So you feel that the Ravens are going to end up beating my homeboy. And this will be the first time that Patrick my homes and John or Patrick my homes in the bar Jackson meet in the playoffs. So how do you feel that this game is going to go? Do you think it's going to be one of the games where the Ravens are just able to completely control the ball and end up being a blowout type thing? Or you think it's going to be another close game like similar to this last one?

Drew Moore (42:39.53)
Um, yeah, I mean, I feel like, you know, it's not going to be a blowout. It's hard to blow out the Chiefs. You know, they always have an opportunity to score. Even if they're on the 20 yard line, like it doesn't matter. They always have opportunities to score. But the thing that I, I think is getting, I guess, not talked about enough is the defenses that they've gone against. So like, is it really a resurgence of the Chiefs offense or is it just, you know?

Alix Harris (42:44.942)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (43:08.486)
bad defenses that they've been playing against and they've been kind of opportunistic in this situation. I think it's maybe a combination of the two. And looking back at who they've played since week 15, they played against the Patriots. Okay, they had a pretty solid defense. They only scored 27 points against a team that was quite honestly one of the worst teams in the NFL. They ended up losing to the Raiders week 16. They put up 14 points.

they put out 25 points against the Bengals who were, I think bottom five in EPA for play this year. And we know, yeah. And against the Chargers, we don't really need to talk about that game, that was week 18. So that didn't really count. But then you go into a wild card round, 26 points against the Dolphins who again, just like the Bills were.

Alix Harris (43:45.122)
There are no starters in that game either.

Drew Moore (44:04.55)
bringing people in off the sideline, or off the practice squad and off the streets because they didn't have anybody to fill the linebacker position. So opportunistic in that place. Okay, not their major player. And they literally had like, their top five starters and the Dolphins were all hurt. So, and then you go against the Bills who've been decimated by injuries the whole season, and it finally caught up to them. So,

Alix Harris (44:13.338)
Everybody's hurt.

Alix Harris (44:26.414)
Thanks for watching!

Drew Moore (44:34.458)
I, and they only scored 27 points again. So I just think that it's a combination of the two for where, you know, it's really convenient that the position that happens to guard your best player, Travis Kelsey, is also the position that was hurt in the last two games, where they were basically going against like, randoms, essentially. So now that being said, it is still my home.

is Mahomes as a dog, he's nine and one as a dog or whatever the status like, okay, I'll say it again. Nine and one as a dog, whatever. Cool. You can't you can't give Mahomes points. It's just a bad decision to do if you're going to go against him. You know, all these things, whatever they're saying, I don't care. I live and breathe. The Baltimore Ravens are the most complete team that we have in the NFL as it stands today. And they're going to prove that.

Alix Harris (45:05.967)
Say again.

I'm sorry.

Drew Moore (45:31.822)
Like I said before our boss just win doesn't matter how they do it whether it's legal or not They just win so I think they're gonna go in there and get the job done

Alix Harris (45:38.118)
It's like you gave him his props at the end, but your whole little soliloquy prior to that was basically watering down everything that the Chiefs have done up until this point. Even though you did choose them over the Bills, the Bills were favored. And at Buffalo, yeah, the Chiefs won.

Drew Moore (45:49.918)
I mean...

Yeah. Did he win?

Did it win? You don't bet teams, you bet numbers. And that was a bad number that they had on the Chiefs.

Alix Harris (46:06.674)
Yeah, but like, I don't think that based on like midway through the season or, you know, 10 games into the season, how the Chiefs were playing, I do not think that most people would have been like, yeah, they're a lock for the AFC championship. And that's not what most people are saying. And that's not what I don't think that's what Drew was saying or a lot of people. But now that they got in here, people are like, oh, basically, it was basically a cakewalk. Basically, you know, it...

Happened and now they actually have to and now they actually have to play a good team as if the Buffalo Bills weren't Like nine and one over their past ten games and like were favored in that game. I Don't know the only time that somebody's beaten my home when he was an underdog He just happens to be the goat and Tom Brady. I don't know I agree with you I think that the overall that the Ravens are a Better team from top to bottom because I would give the nod to Patrick Mahomes from a quarterback standpoint But I think it's close obviously with Lamar who's?

Drew Moore (46:35.038)
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Alix Harris (47:02.802)
uh, gonna be the two time MVP with my homes. And I guess you could say with Travis Kelsey, who hadn't looked great for the majority of the season, but you know, did kind of have a resurgence last game, but everywhere else, basically, I would pretty much choose the Ravens. Although besides maybe in the trenches with Chris Jones, that's basically it. But I don't think it's going to be nothing easy, which you said it, you didn't say it was, but I, I have more respect for Patrick Mahomes than you do. I.

Drew Moore (47:32.572)
Okay, I'm just saying that since week nine, EPA for play, they're 17th on offense.

Alix Harris (47:41.27)
Yeah, and they have the third-rank defense, too. I think that their defense is not as good as the Ravens, but I think it's arguably comparable.

Drew Moore (47:53.775)
9th rank defense.

Alix Harris (47:56.764)
Arguably comparable.

Drew Moore (47:59.426)
I'm just saying, I'm just saying, like, you know, I just, I just think that, you know, people are thinking that this is the same Chiefs team. Do it. Like people, just my homes as a dog, Alex, just take it. It's so easy. A caveman can do it. Like, just. I.

Alix Harris (48:08.43)
Why don't you just cheat so bad? I'm scared. I'm scared. No.

Alix Harris (48:17.002)
I do.

Alix Harris (48:21.346)
I'm gonna wait for that spread to go up a little higher. You know, it's plus three and a half right now. If it gets to like, you know, four and a half, it might, it might, it might. Maybe Travis Kelsey is like, ah, I got a knee, you know, a little, just give me a questionable tag. That's all I need. You know, that'll be enough to bump it to a.5. That's all I want.

Drew Moore (48:25.498)
No, it's not gonna go any higher than that. Dude, it's not getting the four. No, it's not. It's three and a half is the higher. Oh my God.

Okay. No. The thing that does scare me is the potential advantage that the Chiefs would have in terms of running or rushing the ball, I should say. That scares me because that is, I don't know what it is about these defenses, like the 49ers and also the Ravens and stuff like that. But when it comes to stopping the run, neither of them can really do that all that well.

Alix Harris (48:48.214)
check us that man.

Drew Moore (49:03.482)
The Ravens are 24th in the league in EPA per play when it comes to stopping the rush. That's not good. So that would be one area that if they're able to firm up that position, then they would have a chance to hold the Chiefs in this game. However, if Pacheco gets loose, then it's going to be kind of hard to stop both of them. You can stop one, but you can't stop both. So...

Alix Harris (49:13.024)
Uh.

Drew Moore (49:33.274)
Um, yeah, that'll be a problem for sure for the Chiefs.

Alix Harris (49:39.102)
Yeah, somebody else is going to have to step up for the Chiefs because somebody, yeah, I think somebody else is going to have to step up for the Chiefs because I think they're going to dial in or try to dial in on Travis Kelsey. And then obviously something, as you mentioned, they don't do that great. And slowing down the run is something that they're going to have to try to emphasize and stop in and slowing down. But Checo, we had it, um, last game against the Bills MVS who had struggled all season with catching the ball, which is what he's paid to do actually had

Drew Moore (49:40.846)
or for the Ravens. Freudian slip.

Alix Harris (50:08.726)
ginormous catches in the game against the Bills. So I don't know if it's him or she rice didn't really have that big of a game. He went for four 47. I don't know if it's a Rishi, but somebody else. Yeah, that's true. But somebody else is going to have to come along for the ride. Um, so I know though, shout out to Clyde Edwards, a layer, you know, he had a very big run of that game. I think that he, uh, former first round, you know, former want to be, want to be fantasy great still on the team, but yeah.

Drew Moore (50:16.719)
Well, he got hurt.

Drew Moore (50:30.706)
Like that.

Drew Moore (50:35.807)
I think that it was kind of funny because the year before that was when I picked up Kareem Hunt and then he was like, fantasy gold and then the next year you picked up CEH and then he was like, meh.

Alix Harris (50:43.703)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (50:48.187)
Yep. He had like one game. His first game against the Texans, he had like 22 points, something like that. And then from there on out, mediocrity. So, but you know, he's still on the team. He's been formidable as a backup for the Met Times. Man. Yeah. I, nah. You know what I'm saying? Alternative splits.

Drew Moore (50:57.167)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (51:03.75)
Take them Alex. They're right now, right now 61% of the bets are on the Ravens and only 39% are on the Chiefs. So I mean, you know, take the dog.

Alix Harris (51:20.332)
I will take the chiefs with an alternative split.

Drew Moore (51:25.15)
You don't get that you play it how it is play it how it lies god damn it

Alix Harris (51:26.514)
Why not? I don't like it. And you know, Oh my gosh, we, cause we talked about it before. Actually, I don't know if we've talked about it on the show or not. Like Lamar Jackson and the, no, we have talked about, yeah, Lamar Jackson and the basically the path that he's had to go through to get to this point, whether it be.

People wanted him to change his position to ride receiver running back, coming into the draft. People are not thinking that he could be a quarterback based off the way that he plays, the way that he looks, the way he sounds, whatever the case may be. And now it's just a two-time MVP and finally has to seem the conference championship, the team that really didn't really want to pay him or the rest of the league that didn't want to pay him to trade for him, you know, now he's here. So like, I'm going to root for the chiefs because I like Patrick Mahomes, but like, I am not going to be mad at all if Pam Lamar Jackson is able to take the Ravens to the super bowl. And I think this is the.

The Ravens always usually have a good solid defense. They're always known for physicality, but I think that him and Patrick Mahomes, I think it's fitting because both of them finally have, you know, good defenses and good weapons around them. Patrick Mahomes, I guess you could argue whatever, but both have good defenses and good weapons. So I think that is going to be a fair matchup. And I don't think people are going to be able to make these excuses like Drew's making for the Bills and their decimated defense and Patrick and Josh Allen playing phenomenally and perfect and still losing the game and stuff like that. I don't want to hear any of that after this game. So Patrick Mahomes come.

Drew Moore (52:42.659)
Dude.

Drew Moore (52:47.939)
Oh my god.

Alix Harris (52:48.15)
vaccine and he beats the Ravens. I don't want to hear, Oh, he only had a flower is a throw through a OBJ is 27,000 years old and you know, Mark and actually I don't know if Mark Andrews have they talked about him or not? Because

Drew Moore (53:01.378)
Nah, they, I think it's like if they make the cerebral event, he'll probably play in that.

Alix Harris (53:06.498)
Okay, yeah, because Isaiah likely is filled informatively. So, give that man his respect.

Drew Moore (53:09.39)
Yeah. I mean, that's like one of those things too, where it's like, okay, well, now we're playing against the Ravens in the Super Bowl. Oh, now our best receiver is coming back. So good luck. Like.

Alix Harris (53:23.199)
Right, that's not very fair.

Drew Moore (53:25.314)
Mm-hmm. But I mean, I'm just saying. I'm just saying they have been very fortunate with the teams that they've been playing this year in the back half of the season that has inflated some of their numbers. So just tread lightly if you are looking to back the Chiefs this weekend.

Alix Harris (53:44.434)
what numbers are inflated exactly.

Drew Moore (53:48.923)
Oh. On the defensive end, man.

Alix Harris (53:49.955)
What?

Okay, well... what? You saying that their numbers are inflated for their defense or numbers are inflated for their offense for the Chiefs?

Drew Moore (53:55.422)
What do you mean what? How do you do that?

Sorry, sorry, on the offensive end, their numbers are inflated because of the competition that they've been playing. People are like, oh yeah, this is the Mahomes of yesteryear and they're going to be putting up 40 points a game, 30 points and everything like this before. If I read you off, this is what the Kansas City did at the end of the last season, starting in

Alix Harris (54:02.613)
Oh, okay.

Alix Harris (54:10.312)
out.

Drew Moore (54:28.442)
Week 15 like we did before, 30 points, 24, 27, 31, 27, 23, 38. So, and then you go to this season, going back to week 15, 27, 14, 25, 13, 26, 27. I don't see any 30 point games in there. And the 27 and 25 point games were against teams that had basically piss poor defenses. So.

or the defense was severely decimated to where they were pulling scraps together to make a linebacking position.

Alix Harris (55:07.106)
You can only play who's in front of you. And I don't know if the...

Drew Moore (55:09.994)
I know, and that's what I'm just saying. You gotta look deeper than just, oh, well, look at these are the stats. This is how it is. You gotta ask yourself, how are these stats coming to be? Because it's not all just in the numbers. There's a story behind everything as well too. You know, make me sick. I need a drink of this kombucha.

Alix Harris (55:25.994)
Yeah, I think you could say you could, you could, you could say that their offensive numbers are inflated. I think everybody's unanimously agreed that this is the worst offense or I guess group of weapons that Patrick Mahomes has ever had in his career. And, you know, obviously we talked about Rashid Rice coming on over the past, um, you know, 10 weeks or so like that, but this is obviously Travis Kelsey's looked old, he looks like he's lost a step, even though he had a good game.

But this is why I talked about, I feel like you should have re-signed Juju, especially over MVS to have another possession receiver, somebody that can actually catch the ball that you can depend on. And then if you would have added him with Rishi Rice, I think that would have been a better combination than what they have right now. But again, it doesn't matter what he has. It doesn't matter what his offense are, if it's overrated or inflated, whatever the case may be. All we do is roll out of bed and make them AFC championship.

Drew Moore (56:22.288)
Now I will give them it was impressive that they on 47 plays only 47 plays they were able to put up 27 points that I was impressive as because the bills ran 78 plays those ran 78 plays and put up 24 points so yeah.

Alix Harris (56:22.85)
That's all we know.

Alix Harris (56:34.326)
Yeah, that's what they do. That's what they do.

that's the recipe that's why i was the recipe is that's what i was able to do you need to score your possessions and you be long positions you need to be able to run the ball efficiently and the new not be able to make mistakes and the bills did all of that but they didn't make a mistake because they cannot throw the touchdowns issue here and then and that's what it is and i think that so what i don't know i think that people over rating josh allen's game

Drew Moore (57:10.81)
Oh really? Like this game? Like this last game that he just had? Or like overall?

Alix Harris (57:12.586)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (57:17.77)
Yeah, no, this game. And I think that's partly to do with Sean McDermott, because I think that, I don't wanna say training wheels, but like they did not let him play the way that he has the potential to play. But I feel like you do that because when Josh plays the way that he has the ability to play, that also can lead to him turning the ball over a lot when he's basically airing it out and things like that. They didn't have any plays down the field. The Chiefs had 20 or eight plays of 20 plus yards.

in the game in the bills have anything over half of Josh Allen's throws were behind the line of scrimmage because they're all dinking dunks and they just didn't let him air it out and then the one time that he did the two times that he did Stefan digs drop the ball and he missed the passage here so I think that you know if you look at his numbers yeah he had 70 yards rushing with his touchdowns and then he only had 180 yards passing or whatever but that was because they were all dinking dunks but I think that

Drew Moore (57:46.758)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (58:01.202)
Thank you.

Alix Harris (58:12.558)
he could have played, I think that he could have played better. And I feel like you have to play basically perfect to be Patrick Mahomes, but I don't think that the Ravens need that's the, that's one thing I'm talking about. I don't think that the Ravens because of the weapons and the ways that they can beat you, whether it be defensively, whether it be ground and pound, whether it be the receiving core weapons that they have, they have multiple ways to beat you. And I don't think that the Ravens need to play perfect in Baltimore to beat the chiefs. That's why I'm scared.

Drew Moore (58:40.842)
And with that, you're taking the Chiefs though, right? What number would you need to say, yep, I'm gonna take the Chiefs?

Alix Harris (58:45.29)
with an alternative split.

Alix Harris (58:55.778)
Uh... What is it right now?

Drew Moore (58:59.474)
Three and a half.

Alix Harris (59:00.918)
Five. Four and a half.

Drew Moore (59:02.53)
Dude. I... Really.

Why four and a half? Four and a half is like no man's land.

Alix Harris (59:11.19)
Because I think that it could be a four point game and I'd want the 0.5 to win. That's why. If somebody scores a touchdown and the other person scores a field goal, then the difference is four points. And if you would have taken that three and a half and it would have boiled down to that, then you lose. And we're on the wrong side of these 0.5 splits like we have been over the past.

Drew Moore (59:17.442)
I hate you. I'm sorry. They have logic. Duh. It's a...

Alix Harris (59:38.998)
Three weeks or whatever with some of these certain games and in vets and things like that So I think that one extra point isn't being greedy or anything like that is four and a half You know I'm saying you guys are already the juggernaut you guys are already this oh my god Jesus got the MVP and everything and you guys a flowers and you got OBJ and you got Bateman you got Gus Edwards and whatever the case may be yeah four and a half

Drew Moore (59:54.989)
Okay.

Alix Harris (01:00:04.266)
And we don't even, would you like to bet me with the four and a half?

Drew Moore (01:00:09.886)
I'll do it. I'll take the money blind.

Alix Harris (01:00:09.93)
be our last bet before the Super Bowl. If you give me the four and a half, then I will give you the 49ers and I'll lower the spread on that game because yeah. So I'll take the Chiefs plus four and a half and then I will take the Lions minus six and a half or plus six and a half.

Drew Moore (01:00:22.366)
That's great.

Drew Moore (01:00:33.89)
Wait, plus six and a half? Wait, no, no. Why are you? It's in seven. Why are you? Why do you only get a half point? Yeah, I want, I want, I want three.

Alix Harris (01:00:36.927)
Yeah. Right now it's seven and a half, seven, seven and a half, is it not? Oh, okay. Then six. Then six.

I don't know. I don't know how much better I can make that.

What? You judging me for trying to go up one and a half inches? Like, nah, four. Huh? You might.

Drew Moore (01:00:57.038)
I don't have Devo. I don't have Devo. You know what? I don't have Devo. That's scary. I don't want Might. Why Might? I want three points.

Alix Harris (01:01:05.47)
You have Brock Purdy, who at one point in time was leading the MVP race. You have George Kittle, top three Titan in the league. You have Christian McCaffrey, who's the best running back in the league. And then you probably have arguably like a top five number two in Brandon Naouk, even if Debo doesn't play, with a better defense than the, a far better defense than the Lions, who got Jared Goff. I don't want to, I don't want to hear nothing.

Drew Moore (01:01:29.11)
Well, I mean, apparently Jared Goff is like the second coming of Christ because he can make all the throws now and he's just like flawless.

Alix Harris (01:01:33.386)
No. If he's not pressured, then he's like a great quarterback. But if you get pressure on him, then he's prone to making mistakes. And he almost made some mistakes against the Bucks, but they are only able to get two sacks. And I'm going to say go on a wild limb here. And even though the Bucks have very fast linebackers, I'm going to say that the rush for the 49ers is just a little bit better than the Bucks because they just went out and got every fucking rusher on earth. They have everything.

Drew Moore (01:01:59.102)
I'm sorry.

Alix Harris (01:02:01.81)
on top of Joey Bosa or Nick Bosa.

Drew Moore (01:02:06.638)
I mean, Nick didn't really do anything last game though. So like.

Alix Harris (01:02:10.443)
Where are the Lions better than the 49ers?

Drew Moore (01:02:17.343)
I think that they have an advantage running the ball against the 49ers defense.

Alix Harris (01:02:26.742)
I don't care if you have Jameer Gibbs, David Montgomery, Chris McCaffrey's better than all of them. And he's versatile, too. So, well, I mean.

Drew Moore (01:02:33.526)
Well, I mean, yeah, no shit, Sherlock. Captain Obvious checking in, but I'm saying that there is an advantage at that spot on the offense compared to their defense.

Alix Harris (01:02:44.778)
What's the Lions rush defense rank compared to the 49ers? So I don't think it's that big of a difference, especially when you compare the running backs.

Drew Moore (01:02:52.734)
Let's see, so you want to last nine weeks or do you want all the whole season?

Alix Harris (01:02:59.99)
give well fine we'll go then last nine weeks

Drew Moore (01:03:02.692)
Because if you go last nine weeks, rushing EPA, the Detroit Lions are actually second in the NFL.

Alix Harris (01:03:08.523)
And mind you...

Alix Harris (01:03:12.21)
And mind you, the 49ers just came off the game. Obviously Aaron Jones went ham sandwich and had like 100 plus yards. And Rashad White, who you even said is not a good running back, did not have. So they were able to limit that. So I think that helps our numbers a lot if you want to compare the last nine weeks on the small sample size. So but so there you go. Fine, like I said, I want the Chiefs plus 4 and 1

Drew Moore (01:03:18.434)
Exactly, which is part of my point.

Drew Moore (01:03:33.416)
I'm just saying, well finally I'll expand it out.

Alix Harris (01:03:41.366)
get the 49ers minus six. One point on each side.

Drew Moore (01:03:48.346)
You know what Alex, you know what I want to do? You know what I want to do instead? I'll take, I'll take the Ravens minus six and a half. If you give me the, give me the 49ers minus, minus three and a half, I'll give you the hook. All right? All right.

Alix Harris (01:04:07.094)
fine there we go all right six and a half and three I don't know why you did think you're just completely disrespecting Patrick Mahomes he was like nope screw it no all right anything else that you want oh I guess I didn't really get a chance to like I think that the 14 I have no idea who's gonna be in this super bowl I'm not gonna lie to you I'm not gonna lie to you when in doubt you know just lean to whatever the Super Bowl graphic was which was the 49ers and the Ravens but

Drew Moore (01:04:15.42)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:04:33.182)
Thank you.

Alix Harris (01:04:35.174)
I want Patrick Roles in the Super Bowl and I think it'd be really cool if the Lions made the Super Bowl, but I mean, I don't know. Which is weird though, because a lot of people talk about the Lions are low-key built to kind of beat the 49ers at this point in time, especially if Debo doesn't play. And the way that they run the ball, the versatility, and if they're able to keep Jared Goff semi-clean, maybe he can do some things. But I don't know.

anything else that you wanted to cover in the NFL then, because I'm scared.

Drew Moore (01:05:04.674)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:05:08.802)
I mean we didn't really touch on that Lions point-and-errors game too much, but I think yeah, like you like you were saying a big key to the game is it's gonna be whether or not you know, you can keep Jared Goff upright and one of the biggest things too is Is Jared Goff on the road is Jared Goff playing outdoors? you're checking two of those boxes already and

It's a big game for Jared Goff as well. And granted he has passed those tests, but the last factor that you had brought up was Jared Goff under pressure. And oh man, hold your horses for this one. Go ahead and sit down if you're in a place to sit down. If you're driving, pull off to the side here, all right? So Jared Goff, Jared Goff with a clean pocket.

Alix Harris (01:05:47.278)
playing.

Alix Harris (01:05:52.243)
Oh boy.

Mm-mm. We're not liable.

Drew Moore (01:06:01.498)
has a passer rating of 116.1. Yeah, it's great, solid. However, Jared Goff under pressure. You wanna take a guess?

Alix Harris (01:06:02.687)
It's Tom Brady.

Alix Harris (01:06:11.007)
He's James Winston.

Drew Moore (01:06:13.338)
Yep, 62.9 passer rating. That is basically on par with probably Kenny Pickett in his clean pocket passer rating, but so it is not pretty whenever Jared Goff gets pressure on him. And guess who's coming to town or I guess who they're going to meet in their other town, Jared Goff's old stomping grounds, Rock Purdy, 49ers.

Alix Harris (01:06:27.369)
I'm sorry.

Drew Moore (01:06:42.854)
Debo and oh yeah, that defense that like you had mentioned before, rush everybody and have the most pressures in the NFL. It's gonna be a problem for sure.

Alix Harris (01:06:54.122)
Exactly. Like it don't, it don't make no sense because yeah, like I said, if we keep Jared Goff clean, then he'll pick you apart and he'll get these passes to Raymond and, and Williams who's come on a lot for them over the past few weeks. And obviously Amon Ross, ain't Brown and Laporta. He'll even, you know, have versatile with Jameera Gibbs.

rush him it looks terrible and all you have is Nick Bosa and Hargrave and oh yeah they picked up Chase Young towards midway through the season for no reason because there's like why not and Eric Armstead and all of these players and I think one of the things that the Lions do best is being able to run these stretch plays to the outside especially with Jameer Gibbs and then when they get to the goal line then they're able to punch it down the middle with David Montgomery I think that with Fred Warner and with Greenlaw being very fast

Drew Moore (01:07:26.246)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:07:34.747)
Just cuz.

Alix Harris (01:07:52.654)
trouble and it'll make it harder for that. And meaning over time, you're just going to have to depend more and more on Jared golf, especially if they have to start coming from behind, if they, um, 49ers get out to an early lead pause. Um, but I mean, I guess you could argue the same thing if Hutchinson's able to get some pressure on, um, on, uh, what's his, what's his name? Um, on Brock Purdy.

Drew Moore (01:08:02.654)
Pause.

Drew Moore (01:08:14.363)
Rock, ready?

Alix Harris (01:08:16.526)
And, you know, the Lions actually capitalize on these potential turnovers, like the Green Bay Packers did, where they dropped a pick six and they dropped another interception, then, you know, it could go either way. As many people said, oh, you know, let's see how Brock Purdy looks when he actually has to face this pressure or come from behind or going out and win a game. They didn't want to give him disrespect and props for the win against the Packers and that comeback win. But, you know, let's see how it looks against the Lions who, you know, have been great offensively and at times defensively, they've shown sparks and.

We'll just have to wait and see. I just don't think that the Lions defense is that great. And if the 49ers do have everybody playing with the Debo, even at 70%, 60%, whatever you want to call it. I don't know if they'll be able to stop them with just how versatile the 49ers are with Debo and IU with Kittle and with CMAC. I mean, I just don't see where the stops are coming from unless Brock Purdy starts to revert back to that 0-3 Brock Purdy that we saw.

Drew Moore (01:09:07.334)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:09:15.306)
midway through the season and partly through the Green Bay Packers game.

Drew Moore (01:09:19.357)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And another cherry on top of that for our good old buddy boy Jared Goff is that, oh, your starting center is also hurt. He's also the number one center per pro football focus in the league. So if you're not gonna have that guy out there right now out there and you're also going up against the number three ranked pass rush in the league, like that's...

Alix Harris (01:09:20.162)
which is possible.

Drew Moore (01:09:48.962)
recipe for disaster. And if it doesn't get much worse than that, sure, you know, the pass rush isn't great for the Detroit Lions, their 19th in the league. It gets worse when it comes to the coverage. They are, let me scroll all the way down here, 29th. They are below the Philadelphia Eagles when it comes to coverage. And we saw how well they did in their game against the Buccaneers. So

Alix Harris (01:10:17.858)
Yeah, and I think they had some injuries in the coverage as well. And then they immediately started going to them. And then Mike Evans again, just had 150 yards and a touchdown. Even K. Doughton was out there looking like Travis Kelsey. Like they couldn't stop anything. So.

Drew Moore (01:10:27.769)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:10:31.506)
Mm-hmm for real. Yeah, it's uh, I mean now okay all that to be and all that said I am still scared because of how easy the Packers Made moving the ball look against the 49ers like it looked pretty effortless Whenever they had the ball except for when you know, they started passing the ball with

with Jordan Love against one of the best passing defenses in the league, instead of just continually running the ball with Aaron Jones, getting six yards a carry. Why would you stop doing me? I digress. But it was concerning if I am a 49ers fan or 49ers backer in this spot, which is why I haven't played anything in this game just yet. Because again, I need to see the injury report. Make sure Debo is...

gonna play and also I am scared.

Alix Harris (01:11:34.578)
Yeah, fair enough. I think it's going to be a close game, which is why I think that the I would take that seven points um Me myself personally, would you take that? Would you take seven points?

Drew Moore (01:11:38.523)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:11:43.08)
Hmm.

Drew Moore (01:11:47.202)
It is tempting. It is very tempting for sure, but it is scary. That's why I wanted three and a half and not seven.

Alix Harris (01:11:48.83)
Okay, well, that's why they made it.

Drew Moore (01:11:57.879)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:11:57.922)
Vax, anything else that you wanted to touch on in the NFL before we touch a little bit on this NBA?

Drew Moore (01:12:04.822)
Um, no, I believe that's uh, that's everything. Did you say who your usual ball pick was?

Alix Harris (01:12:11.018)
I did not. You know what? Fine. I, you know, I'll go ahead and I'll go ahead and say that it's going to be a 2020, 2021 rematch 49 is chiefs. That's what I'm gonna say. That's what I'm saying. I'm rolling, rolling with my homies, you know, I can't, you know.

Drew Moore (01:12:13.868)
Who are you locking in?

Drew Moore (01:12:18.628)
Lions.

Drew Moore (01:12:29.306)
You're gross. Gross. I think. I think the, the best matchup would be probably either Ravens or chiefs, but I really want to see the lions get there. Um, like I feel like.

Alix Harris (01:12:48.138)
I mean, I want to see that too. If I had a choice, I would choose the Chiefs in the lines just because I'd like to see that. But I mean, I think that 49ers Chiefs definitely has more history from their Super Bowl already. So that would be that would be a nice game. But like I said, Lamar Jackson, Super Bowl, I would be thrilled either way. So I'm content no matter how this goes. I think that these teams did ultimately end up being the four best teams.

Drew Moore (01:12:54.329)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:12:59.659)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:13:06.703)
Yeah.

Alix Harris (01:13:14.814)
I don't even get to talk about the cow. I don't know what happened with the cowboys. That's so bad That's so bad, and they're not doing they're not making any changes either. They're like nope Carthy. You're coming back. Nope, Dak We're gonna pay you probably but yeah, they're not making any changes, too I know you covered it a little bit, but that's bad. That's bad

Drew Moore (01:13:24.419)
Run it back.

Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:13:33.991)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:13:34.798)
And I think that the only silver lining in that situation was the fact that the Packers almost beat the 49ers and it was a very close game to be like, okay, you know, well, you know, they were a really good team because if the 49ers would have stopped the Packers, that would have made it even look even worse. But Packers dismantled the Cowboys. And wow, that's just so bad. And if you're a Cowboys fan, like you're very used to that. You know, it's been going like that for the past 27 years, whatever the case may be, but you know.

Drew Moore (01:13:46.192)
Yep.

Drew Moore (01:13:58.442)
Mm-hmm. That was original.

Alix Harris (01:14:03.966)
I'm sure y'all be back next year talking about this is the one. So, yep. It's hard here. So yeah, I signed up. Who, what situation would you rather be in? Would you rather be in the Packers situation who now have Jordan Love, who seems like he's taking the reins and obviously have the great young receiver core, um, along with Aaron Jones, who is an older and aging, running back, I believe he's like 28.

Drew Moore (01:14:08.262)
This is our year. We can do it guys.

Alix Harris (01:14:32.206)
Or would you have the CJ Stroud situation with him and the great receiving core that they have with Nico and Tankdell and Schultz, even though they don't have that great of a running game, even though Singletary showed his, you know, sparks, but both good young situations.

Drew Moore (01:14:47.354)
easy decision here it's got to be the Texans um like not only not only do you have a young up-and-coming offense but you also have a young up-and-coming defense as well and D'Amico Ryan's is he is that dude like I wouldn't be surprised if he won coach of the year this year exceeding all expectations winning a playoff game as well I mean dude

Alix Harris (01:14:52.127)
of Reed.

Alix Harris (01:15:05.462)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:15:11.694)
Campbell.

Drew Moore (01:15:15.206)
like their win total was like I think four or four and a half or something like that and they made it to the they made it to the uh the divisional uh game so I think that the Texans are definitely in a better position than the uh Patriots the Packers are right now um and I mean you know how I feel about Jordan Love I'm still not a believer um but I think yeah the

Alix Harris (01:15:22.444)
Mm-hmm.

Drew Moore (01:15:44.518)
CJ shroud showed that regardless of what you think about him as a you know, he's throwing the wide open receivers or whatever he's not gonna be the same and in the NFL. Take some time for him to for most rookie quarterbacks to get the hang of it. No, no, that Amy, I've been doing this thing since I was like three years old, slanging that thing.

I am him. Nico Ryan's is him. Tank Del is him. Nico Collins is him. Like.

Alix Harris (01:16:18.406)
Yeah, they're saying that the CJ Stroud is probably going to be like a top seven MVP potential favorite next season, which is kind of crazy to think about. But I mean, shoot. I don't know. Also, so I know, you know, Raiders did what they were supposed to do and they did sign Antonio Pierce deserving contracts from a coach. They're literally not even by Raiders fans, which would have been scary enough. They would have been just by like just the world.

Drew Moore (01:16:28.955)
Yeah.

Drew Moore (01:16:33.393)
Uh-uh.

Drew Moore (01:16:37.231)
Yep. There would have been a revolt. There literally would have been.

Drew Moore (01:16:47.186)
Mm-hmm.

Alix Harris (01:16:47.21)
So that was good news, but that's pretty much everything I got in the NFL. Yeah. She's 49ers. Book it.

Drew Moore (01:16:52.214)
Yeah, that's um, okay. All right, we'll see. We'll see.