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00:00Every Thursday, we hook up with our great NFL insider, the one and only Adam Kaplan.
00:05You can follow him on X at Kaplan NFL.
00:08Almost 30 years covering the National Football League.
00:12And we got him on C2C every week.
00:14To break it all down, we start today with the NFL Championship key lineup changes,
00:19injury updates, and info.
00:21Let's start with the Commanders and Eagles at the link.
00:25It should be awesome.
00:27Yes, sir.
00:27And first of all, Scott, the weather.
00:29You saw the slop at the link last week.
00:32Nothing like that for this game.
00:33As a matter of fact, the warmest day of the week on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
00:38Game time temp around 3 Eastern, about 40 degrees.
00:41Shouldn't get lower than 37 as of now.
00:44No precip in the forecast.
00:45Wind should be low to moderate.
00:47So wind is not to be a factor.
00:49Weather's not to be a factor.
00:50That's a good thing.
00:51Now, first of all, this is the third time they've played, right?
00:54First time, Jane Daniels had that rib injury.
00:57Second time, Daniels went off against the Eagles.
00:59He had five touchdown passes in Landover, Maryland at FedEx.
01:04So the Eagles were looking for a little bit of revenge.
01:06Now, you got to understand, Scott, if you look at that game, right?
01:10This is when Jalen Hurts had the concussion after 12 plays.
01:14I give the Eagles credit.
01:15They fought.
01:15They actually had to lead most of the game with Kenny Pickett as quarterback.
01:18But the defense choked in the end and they wound up losing that game.
01:22Now, when we look at Washington, they do have one key injury we have to mention.
01:26This is interesting to watch here.
01:28John Payne, their stud defensive tackle, he's got a dislocated thumb.
01:33He'll play with that.
01:34He's already played with it.
01:35But he also has a knee injury.
01:36So we got to watch that.
01:37But turning our attention to the Eagles, Scott, this surprised me because Dallas Goddard had
01:42an excellent game last week against the Rams.
01:45He's got an ankle injury.
01:46Now, he watched practice today.
01:47He didn't practice.
01:49And then Cam Juergens, their starting center, he's got a back injury.
01:53Now, offensive linemen, Scott, and back injuries, you're always concerned.
01:57So what they did today is they moved Landon Dickerson, their left guard, over to center.
02:01He played center in college.
02:03So he's taking those center snaps today.
02:04And the tight end, man, for some reason, Dallas Goddard can't play.
02:08Grant Calcaterra, who's not a good blocker and a pretty good athlete, good pass catcher,
02:12he would fill in.
02:13But, man, Dallas Goddard, Scott, is one of the better two-way tight ends of the National
02:17Football League.
02:17That would be a problem for me, Scott, if Goddard couldn't play.
02:21Really, when you look at this series, Scott, it's very fascinating.
02:24When you look at Washington, remember, in the first matchup, they held that big lead
02:29going into the fourth quarter.
02:30Then the Eagles went off.
02:32In fact, scored 20 straight points, markedly two touchdown runs.
02:36And then in the second game, Daniels, absolutely, Scott, just went off.
02:41And that's, there were, Scott, to be honest with you, that game was the only one where
02:46the Eagles' defense struck.
02:48And that's something to keep an eye on as we get closer to Sunday.
02:51All right.
02:52What about, you know, on the commander's side?
02:55What are their problems?
02:57Well, other than Jerron Payne, Scott, who's got that injury, they're going to be healthy
03:02enough.
03:02Now, the one thing you worry about, OK, I know Marshawn Lattimore is a very good corner.
03:07But some people around the league would argue, is he what he once was?
03:10You and I have talked about the hamstring problems.
03:13He didn't play in that first matchup.
03:14Remember, that game was before the trade deadline.
03:17So it actually was after it.
03:19But the problem is, remember when Scott, when they got Lattimore, he didn't play for several
03:22weeks with that hamstring.
03:23So he's healthy.
03:24He's over.
03:25That's a good thing.
03:27The thing, though, that teams have told me, if you go or you're trying to score against
03:31Washington, you throw the football.
03:32You're not going to make your money running.
03:34I know the Eagles will run the ball.
03:35We know that.
03:35It starts with them.
03:37But the bottom line is, there will be opportunities if you could block up front.
03:40And we know the Eagles have the NFL's best offensive line.
03:43It's either Detroit or Philly.
03:45And most people think it's Philly.
03:46So I expect, now with the weather clearing up a little bit.
03:49And by the way, Jalen Hurts, we should add this.
03:51He's taken his reps.
03:52He did today.
03:54He had that left knee injury in the last game.
03:56And AJ Brown said he feels better with that left knee injury.
04:00Remember, he got hurt against your Steelers in week 15, when the Eagles were actually
04:04throwing the ball to run the clock out.
04:06And he jammed his knee in the turf.
04:07So that's one thing to look at.
04:10I'll tell you this.
04:10The Commanders are way healthier right now than the Eagles are.
04:13Just stay tuned for that.
04:15Yeah, that is a huge difference for me.
04:19It really is.
04:20And then I want you to break down how good they are at the link, the Eagles.
04:27Scott, this is the thing about getting home field.
04:30Now, I know the Eagles didn't have the number one seed.
04:31But they were the number two seed.
04:33And the Eagles are absolutely dominant.
04:35If you look at the last three seasons, including playoffs, they're 25 and 5.
04:40Second best home win record, other than the Bills.
04:44The Bills have 26.
04:46It's so hard to win a link.
04:47I know you've been there.
04:48You and I have talked about this.
04:49You've been to the link.
04:49I've been there, obviously, since 03, when it opened.
04:53It's just so hard to win there.
04:55The fans get out of their mind.
04:56If they get a lead, it's really hard to come back there.
04:59Washington did not hold that lead.
05:01Remember, they didn't play great in the first matchup.
05:03But they did hold a pretty decisive lead going into the fourth quarter.
05:06Then the Eagles went off in that first game.
05:08But it's so hard to win there.
05:10The weather's going to be clean.
05:11It's not going to be a problem like last week against the Rams.
05:14Oh, by the way, we should mention this.
05:16A lot of the players were slipping.
05:17They complain about that.
05:19Now, the number went still over the total last week, which is surprising.
05:22But a number of players complain about the conditions because of the slipping.
05:26You're not going to have that problem on Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern.
05:30Again, Scott, the conditions are going to be fine.
05:32So I'm not worried about it at all.
05:34I mean, it's going to be perfect for football.
05:36So there'll be no excuses.
05:38We'll see who gets it done.
05:39Let's talk about the big one.
05:42Let's face facts.
05:43The coup de grace, the night game is the Bills and Chiefs at Arrowhead.
05:48Yeah, and you know what's funny?
05:49The Bills, if you talk to anyone there, the Bills know in the regular season,
05:55they've looked really, really good.
05:57And then in the postseason against the Chiefs, no matter where the game is,
06:01they should not be able to get the job done 0-3 in the postseason.
06:04We know about the overtime game.
06:05Then the overtime rules change because of that game.
06:08But the bottom line is, when you look at the Chiefs, they're on a roll at home, Scott.
06:13They're also one of the best home teams in the National Football League.
06:17The two teams, they're a little bit healthier than the Bills.
06:19Now, the Bills, the only concern they have is with Taylor Rapp,
06:22one of their starting safeties.
06:23He's got two injuries.
06:24He's been hurt a lot this season.
06:26They're not deep at safety.
06:28That does worry me a little bit.
06:29But overall, look, the Chiefs are healthier.
06:32They've got a number of players back.
06:33Remember, Pacheco missed time on inter-reserve.
06:36Hollywood Brown missed most of the season.
06:38He's back.
06:39OK, he's a deep threat.
06:40Defensively, they had a number of players in their secondary hurt.
06:44They're all back, including Jalen Watson, who's a good cornerback.
06:47He returned last week.
06:48So they're healthy.
06:49They're no excuses, Scott, as you said, for the Eagles and Washington game,
06:53particularly with Washington, because they're healthier.
06:55But the Chiefs are the healthiest they've been all season, Scott.
06:58But the one issue is at left tackle.
07:00Remember, you and I talked about this.
07:02Joe Tooney, their left guard, started left tackle again.
07:05Now, D.J. Humphreys is actually healthy now off that hamstring.
07:08And that's one thing to keep an eye on Sunday, what they do at left tackle.
07:12So, I mean, the Bills do have the Rapp injury.
07:16They've had, you know, we were talking about it with Carver High.
07:20They've got some guys banged up going into this game in Kansas City.
07:24But they expect all their starters, Scott, to be available for this game.
07:27And you know what's interesting, Scott, one aside before we move on here,
07:31is how both teams have morphed into not turning the ball over,
07:36winning with defense, and the run game.
07:38More the Bills than the Chiefs.
07:40But the Chiefs, the high octane passing game is gone.
07:43They're more efficient.
07:44Kelsey went off last week.
07:45But they're not throwing the ball deep downfield at all,
07:48despite all the speed that they have.
07:50And the Bills have been more of an intermediate to short passing game.
07:53Josh Allen's been efficient.
07:55He's running the ball well as a direct quarterback.
07:58It's interesting, Scott.
07:59We'll talk more about the over-under total in the next segment.
08:01But it's not quite what we thought from both teams.
08:04And it's hard to believe, but it's happening.
08:06The Bills have become more of a run offense.
08:08I didn't see it coming with James Cook, who's had a breakout season.
08:11They've done a great job of running the ball.
08:12I give Joe Brady credit.
08:14Joe Brady has kind of revived his career.
08:16There's no question about it.
08:17I'm looking forward to seeing what happens here in this game.
08:19And again, by the way, Scott, weather is going to be fine.
08:22It's going to be in the 20s.
08:24Wind's not going to be a factor.
08:25You, as a matter of fact, weather will not be a factor in this game.
08:29I have no problem with it.
08:30But the point is, again, Scott, they're not throwing the ball over the yard like they used to.
08:35That's the thing about these teams opposed to what they would do in the past in these games.
08:39So we're talking to Adam Kaplan here and later,
08:44always anticipated the bust a cap in your ass segment.
08:48I want to ask you this question.
08:49Earlier, we were talking about the Cowboys and Brian Schottenheimer.
08:53Is it true that he's going to hire Rex Ryan to be his defensive coordinator
08:58when he gets this cowboy job?
09:00I can't even believe that Brian Schottenheimer is Jerry Jones choice.
09:04Yeah, OK, let's start with shoddy.
09:06OK, Brian Schottenheimer, who was their offensive coordinator of the season under Mike McCarthy.
09:11He's very analytically driven.
09:12I'm told by people who work with him.
09:15He he he runs a West Coast offense.
09:17He's a really good coach.
09:18But being a head coach in this situation,
09:23he's got a second interview, Scott.
09:24And now Kellen Moore, as one source told me,
09:26if Kellen Moore could get to Monday without Schottenheimer being hired,
09:30he's got a better chance of Schottenheimer getting the job.
09:33But Jerry's kind of run this thing on his own with with some advisors.
09:38Schottenheimer is a guy who's very well liked in their building.
09:40I know the fans are up in arms over this.
09:42It's legit.
09:42It's not fake.
09:43It's actually legitimate.
09:45Doesn't mean he's getting the job, but he's a legitimate candidate is my point.
09:47But Kellen Moore was very well liked in that building.
09:50Remember now.
09:51Mike McCarthy wanted to run his own offense.
09:53So he ran Kellen Moore out of there.
09:55Now he's with Eagles, of course, and coaching the NFC Championship game.
09:58So but it's a legitimate son of obviously the late Marty Schottenheimer.
10:02So I know people are up in arms.
10:04I see it in social media, but it's legit.
10:06It's legit.
10:07Jerry likes Schottenheimer.
10:08We'll see what happens.
10:10Is he going to hire Rex Ryan?
10:12All right.
10:13So here's the story here.
10:14So as I told you, when you asked about Rex Ryan being a legit candidate for the Jets head
10:18coach job, I said absolutely no chance because it was I think it was more of a favor to be honest
10:23with you here.
10:24It's a little different.
10:26Remember, Shottie worked for Rex many, many years ago.
10:30I think it's something to keep an eye on.
10:31I'm not saying he's getting the job.
10:32To be clear, I'm not dismissing this one because of their relationship.
10:37And they know each other very, very well.
10:39But to come out of coaching for so many years.
10:42It's very, very hard to do.
10:44And now I could tell you Rex Ryan runs a different defense of the one that Mike Zimmer is running.
10:49Completely different.
10:50It would look very, very different.
10:53But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
10:54We'll talk more about this obviously next week.
10:56If Shottie gets the job.
10:57But this is interesting because this went from Dion to other candidates to Kelly Moore.
11:03Everyone's saying he's a lot to get the job.
11:05He was never a lot to get the job.
11:07He was the early favorite.
11:08As I always tell people, you got to be careful with saying someone's a favorite.
11:12It could change in an instant.
11:14Who's going to get the Jags and Saints jobs?
11:18Yeah, Mike McCarthy is the name to watch for the Saints.
11:20He worked there many, many years ago.
11:22I know he's very well liked by Saints people.
11:24And the Jaguars, this one is fascinating.
11:27Liam Cohen was the favorite to get the job.
11:29The Bucs, I was told on Monday.
11:33They talked to the agents said, hey, what can we do to keep them?
11:37They met his price.
11:38He stayed.
11:39I give Cohen credit.
11:40It's hard to turn down a job.
11:41The fact that Jags job was my second or third rated job.
11:44Bears was number one that got filled by Ben Johnson.
11:47Keep an eye on Robert Sala, who worked there many, many years ago.
11:49The former Jets head coach.
11:52Right now, he's got a real chance to get there.
11:53A couple other names.
11:54But the shocking story, Scott.
11:57How about Trent Baalke no longer being the Jaguars general manager?
12:02He was in on the interviews.
12:03They didn't get Liam Cohen.
12:05Ben Johnson did not give them a second interview.
12:07That didn't bode well for Trent Baalke.
12:09But that situation is very, very odd that.
12:12They announced that they mutually agreed to part ways.
12:15Listen, it's rarely mutual.
12:18That was stunning at the timing of it.
12:19When the Jaguars made that announcement that that was a very odd one.
12:23My shotgun, the owner of the Jaguar.
12:25So keep an eye on Robert Sala.
12:26He's very well like I'm told in their building.
12:29What about the Jets GM gig?
12:31They got their coach.
12:33But what about the GM?
12:35Yeah, this is surprising that Lance Newmark,
12:37the assistant general manager of the commanders,
12:39didn't get this job because he worked with Aaron Glenn in Detroit.
12:43Aaron Glenn, the new head coach of the Jets.
12:45It's a little surprising.
12:46Now, the Jets are having second round of interviews.
12:48They have a couple more lined up.
12:50But Newmark was the early favorite.
12:52He hasn't gotten it yet.
12:54And he's a guy that was with the Lions over two decades.
12:56And he was very helpful in the turnaround with GM Brad Holmes.
13:00But that job is still open right now, Scott.
13:03It's time for the always exciting bust the cap in your ass.
13:07Everyone's favorite segment on SportsGrid and on Coast to Coast.
13:11Of course, Adam is pushing a 6-3-1 number right now with his spread picks.
13:16Too bad, Pharrell, 7-3.
13:18So we go into the championship weekend as a head to head.
13:23Here we go.
13:24We'll start with the commanders and Eagles at the link in Pharrell, Adelphia.
13:30All right.
13:30We talked about the weather will not be a factor.
13:32I am concerned about the Eagles injuries.
13:34Now, again, when we talk about it, it's as of today's number.
13:38Now, you tell me.
13:40I think it's still 6.
13:44I like the commanders to cover that number of 6.
13:47I didn't say they're going to win.
13:49But the way that they're playing, I could tell you they're not.
13:52They don't believe they're playing with house money.
13:54They're playing with a ton of confidence.
13:55That was a huge win, a dominant win.
13:57I get the Lions are beat up.
13:59I get it.
14:00But I like the commanders.
14:02I believe they're going to cover this number.
14:03They're fearless.
14:04They fear nobody.
14:06And they're going to give the Eagles a run for their money.
14:08And boy, these Washington Philly games, even when Washington wasn't good,
14:13typically, they give the Eagles a tough game.
14:15And look, the commanders and Daniels was not healthy that first matchup.
14:21And remember, Scott, as I said in the first segment,
14:23they had a nice lead going in the fourth quarter.
14:25Then they blew it.
14:25So bottom line is I like Washington to cover that 6.
14:29I'm on the commanders, not only to cover the 6,
14:32I'm on him to win the game outright and go to the Super Bowl.
14:35And I don't think anything can stop this kid right now.
14:38And I flat out think he's better than Jalen Hurts.
14:42I don't care what anybody says.
14:44And I think they're going to give him problems all day.
14:45Let's talk about Bills and Chiefs now.
14:49And the number is Kansas City minus one and a half at Arrowhead over Buffalo.
14:55Yeah, Bills have not done it in the playoffs.
14:57I think this is another nail biter.
14:59I think it's tight.
15:00In fact, with the weather going to be OK, the Chiefs have the better defense.
15:05It's much better secondary.
15:07That's the difference in this game.
15:10I like the Chiefs to win by three points and cover that number,
15:13probably somewhere around 27-24 or something like that.
15:16So do you think you're going to be upset when the commanders
15:19play the Bills in the Super Bowl after I take Buffalo to win again,
15:22like I did last week against the Raimonds?
15:24No.
15:25I want our boy Carver to finally be happy, OK?
15:29I will be secretly rooting for the Bills.
15:31I got lucky last week, Mike.
15:33I had the Bills.
15:34I got lucky that they got outplayed.
15:36Yeah, I didn't get the Bills and they won outright.
15:40That was all she wrote.
15:41Nice job by Mark Andrews.
15:43No mercy.
15:44Sweep the leg and they're going to win again.
15:46It's going to be Buffalo and Washington.
15:48We're finally going to get something else to be able to enjoy in the Super Bowl
15:53and the Kansas City Chiefs.