Every March, our brackets, the only thing you can think about, do you have symptoms such as constant bracket obsession? Or moderate to severe bracket-related distractions? You may be living with bracket brain. Thankfully, there's ESPN Tournament Challenge, the number one proven way to treat bracket brain right at the source. So this March, download the ESPN Tournament Challenge app, fill out your men's bracket, and get you and your brain in the game. ESPN Tournament Challenge, play the number one bracket game presented by Allstate. Part of the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbaugh. We're on one hour early today, Tony. You like this early start? I'm Tony Cornheye, so yeah, I even woke up an hour early at 3 a.m. So that means you were waking up at about the time I was finally getting a wink of sleep. Yeah, a wink. Well, I got a lot more than a wink. No, I got a wink and a nod. Welcome to FTI, boys and girls. We will get to the bills firing Sean McDermott, the injury to Zach Sharmanate, and tonight's college football title game in a moment. But we begin today with the Chicago Bears finally actually losing a football game. This came in over time as the Rams kicked a game winning 42-yard field goal last night. But that came over the most after-rather, the most remarkable play in years. The fourth and fourth with only 18 seconds to play Caleb Williams ran backwards while being chased by a bevy of Rams and floated a perfect pass. Some 40 yards to Cole Comet who was unbelievably unguarded in the end zone. That forced the overtime. Wilbaugh, you were physically there after that touchdown pass that you expect the Bears to win. Not exactly then. And the touchdown pass is not possible. No. It's not possible. And yes, I'm sitting there seeing the whole thing play out. And I'm thinking he had not been sacked Caleb Williams last night. The Rams did not get to him. They did not get home as the analysts like to say now. But they called a beautiful play defensively where they just got after him. And he is sprinting in the other direction like Carl Lewis. And now you're going to throw the ball with a 60 yards in the air. So 45. Tony, Tony, when Comet catches the pass, I didn't have words. I didn't scream. I didn't shout. I didn't hug anybody. I just sat there because it's not possible. But I thought we were going to win the game in the plays subsequent to that. Stopping the Rams in overtime. And then moving the ball in a position where two short passes are going to get us in field goal position to win the game and get to the NSC championship game. That's what I thought we'd win. So I am sitting in my living room and I am watching this game. And that play happens. And I pull out my phone and I text you the following words. Just these three words. Unbelievable, unbelievable, inevitable with a lot of exclamation points. And I used the inevitable because we had talked on Friday about the inevitability of either the Rams winning or the Bears winning. And I said I thought if it was inevitable, then the Bears were going to win. On that point. Well, yes. Well, okay, I've got a few things to say here. I've never seen anything like that. Nobody was guarding him. The pass was not challenged. It's in the end zone. I can't believe that which led me to this. And you're the Bears fan here. I'm not. Should they have gone for two? Should they have gone to win it right there? No. Because the Rams were disperited right there. Because previously, I guess the Packers in overtime. And I'm cheating here. I'm taking some wisdom from Richard Denton, Otis Wilson, who played many games together defensively in that uniform. And their philosophy is no, you go into overtime, particularly at home. And you don't want the ball first. You want to play defense first. Because if you can stop them, then any score wins the game. If you think in the moment he should have gone for two, that exact. No, because of that reason. You never thought that. I'll give no. All right, so Caleb Williams has it. He's really good. But he throws a pick. And he threw three picks at the same time. He's career. So I think, and I'm going to my notes here, he wasn't the only bad quarterback in bad weather. Matthew Stafford did not have a touch-emptice. He was sailing the ball. Yeah. He didn't have a touch-emptice for the first time in 19 games. Look, I think, I don't know what you think. I think the Bears are not as good a team as the Rams. But I think this, and I need to ask you this, I think this play lives forever. Had they won the game, it becomes the pass, the drive, something like that. So the mythology is different. I still think it lives forever to you. Yes. Because I find myself resigned today. I'm not angry. I'm not disappointed in the team. I'm not walking around going, yes, there's a what if quality to it. Because two short passes, feel go range, feel go, let's go to Seattle. On to Seattle. But Caleb Williams is in his second year, right? There's some things he's got to improve on. He's got to learn to take short routes and take the cape off and take the six-sharp pass at the tight end over the middle, or a manungai, who I think was open. And you just keep matriculating the ball down the field. He's got to get to that point. It's his second year, his first with Ben Johnson. I hope there's time. You can't presume there's time, but the play lives forever. You just said Chris Collinsworth, I went back, I couldn't sleep. I watched the broadcast, and Tureka went Collinsworth, of course, were great. Collinsworth said he'd never seen anything like it like you just said. Never saw him. That's why I'm still wearing my colors, too. Let's move to the fallout for the other overtime game this weekend. The bills this morning, firehead coach Sean McDermott, after Buffalo fell to Denver 3330, the bills lost this game after a hugely controversial interception by the Broncos, Juquamac, Millenin, and O.T. And Denver lost Bo Nick's for the season with a right ankle fracture. So where's all this put the bills? And how do you see the Broncos rode ahead now with Jared Stittum? Let me deal with the Broncos first. I think it's going to be very hard for them to win the next two games in a row. The AFC Championship game and the Super Bowl, if they get there. And maybe they can beat New England at home. Well, this guy hasn't thrown a pass in the NFL in two years. It's a hard ask to come and win those two. The last pass. You know what happened to it? No, picked. Okay. Let me get quickly to the bills. The firing of McDermott. It just, it feels like they were waiting for him to lose a game. And when he lost a game, they're going to fire him. It feels like a John Harbos situation in which the die was cast. Okay. The irony here, of course, is that Josh Allen could have saved him by being Superman, which he has been many, many times. But he had a bad game for him, right? Four turnovers, two interceptions, and two fumbles, I believe that was. He now has, if I'm correct on this, 15 fumbles and 15 playoff games. It's a lot. Yeah. And he's also got the most... He puts himself at Harbos' way to be seen. Yeah, he's got, yes. Well, he's trying to do it all, and he should, because he doesn't have much around him. He's got the most wins of anybody in a playoff situation who's never been to a Super Bowl among quarterbacks. He's got eight. But I'm going to say this, because you mentioned this earlier, and they showed video of it. I think the bills got host. I thought that was a catch. That was a catch. That was a catch in the Rams game. Why wasn't that a catch in the bills game? And I also thought the first pass interference was a bad call, although there was roughing the passer on that same. But it put the team in position to get a feel goal, an easy feel goal. And I mean, I just... I guess Josh Allen picked a bad time to not have a great game. There was a pass in the first call. It should have been made. It could have won the game for Buffalo against Denver. What made? But yet, and it was pass in the interference. But you didn't call it earlier. What happened to some evenness here in officiating? I didn't see that. It's a catch. Once he has control of the ball, they established that. And his knee is down. It's a catch. So basically, Sean McDermick got fired because of an officiating call. Well, because... If they win that game, he ain't fired. You're still playing? Nobody's fired the next time they lose. Well, that's what it feels like. And they don't lose. No. Okay, I agree with you that this is Josh Allen doing everything around him. And so you promote the GM, even though you're lacking in talent, you've the last 56 players you've drafted, you got two or three pro-ballers, huh? That's Sean McDermick's fault. It's a good job. The Buffalo job is a good job. Yeah. Because Josh Allen's only 29 years old. His motivation level is going to be through the title. By the way, Iron Off has been a emotional show after the game. It just made me really like... Warming. Yes, absolutely. Warming. 100... Easy R2 route for him, and that was already rooting for him. 100%. Let's move to the Patriots beating the Texans yesterday, 28 to 16. In this game, CJ Stroud had four interceptions in the first half, including a pick six, and Yusin was only down 21-10. Ultimately, the difference in the game was a touchdown pass from Drake made a K-Shorn booty, who made a great catch in the fourth quarter that sealed the game for New England. Well, but it was a story of this game, the Patriots successes, or CJ Stroud's struggles. Well, it's hard to have one without the other, and the picture that's snow, and the fact that Drake may have turnovers, he had fumbles. They could have been worse. They had four fumbles. So-so-so, no, so I'm not going to... Right. Both quarterbacks had trouble handling the ball in awful weather. Right. The weather was a bigger story in Chicago, but the weather was worse in New England. It was worse in Foxboro. That's fine. So no, I'm going to choose to give New England credit. You and I are about the only people who picked the Patriots going in. Everybody else looked at Houston's defense. But my whole thing was, you don't have Nico Collins. You don't have an office I can count on. You got a quarterback coming off five turnovers. I'm not going to pick you at New England. Right. No, and this makes sense. And I, again, I went to my phone at the half, and I texted you, and I texted you this. I don't think New England will win. They should be up by 25, and they are up by 11. You've used them... You've used them... Houston's had a marginal offense all year. If I have this correct, they rushed for 48 yards on 23 carries. You know? So, but here's... That pass to booty is a great pass in cash. Let me ask you a question. There's four 17 to go. You're used to and you're down 12 points. You have a fourth and 18. It's a lot. Fourth and 18 is a lot, but you punt. Wouldn't you have punted there? No, when you're a defensive coach, I think I expected that and fourth and 18 and you're playing. Let's get the ball back. Don't you have to go? I have five, four and 18. If you kept your quarter back in the game, right? By the way, you were wondering in real time. Yes, would they go to the guy who had won two or three games? I think three and O as a... In the least? Yes. But then that could be a correct way to do that. Houston's situation is a bigger picture situation. There's some teams that have to do things already and they're drafted, genders, and their offseason, free agent, agendas are set. The players have to go get past rushers in a defense. They do. Playing it simple. The Houston Texans have to get offense. You can't just have Nico Collins out there by himself. You got to go get a receiver, a lead back, if you don't think you have one, and some peripheral... You have to get a quarter back. I don't know. You know what? What is his mental state and you have to pay him yet? He's eligible. But you can wait. And he has such a... I know rookie years. What's new years ago? Great. You know, I know it is. But how about giving him some help and let's find out that way? Because even then... I mentioned one thing we talked at... Not at Great Lane, but at some length about coach of the year candidates. And I had mentioned... Vrable and I had mentioned Ben Johnson. I had mentioned Liam Coleman. And then last week you put in Kyle Shanning. Yeah. You know, the only guy still standing is Vrable right now. Yeah. He's the only guy still standing. They went from three and 14 to 16 and three. That's pretty good. Let's take a break. Coming up, they had news for the Seahawks today. How could it affect them moving forward? And should Indiana be a big favorite over Miami tonight in the title game? So you wouldn't have gone for two and you would have punted the ball. I'm not sure about punting. I would not have gone for two. But I persuaded. But at least I persuaded by people in gold jackets. Right? Come on now. I never got on the text thing. What happened? Why? There was a dent in the bottle. Well, what happened? Okay, we got to fix that. Oh, wait, the season's over. You can get in on the draft from 30 for 30 podcasts. I'm going to be a shot. You can take how I got shot. Brian Pada, senior defensive lineman for Miami. Gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. What are you doing? It's a rip, man. I heard before he died, he was on a phone arguing what's about. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. We have a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. 9-1-1, where is the emergency? It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey Shore. Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver. 19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point nobody knows. Old friendships. Buried cash. And a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies, wherever you get your podcasts. Let's find out what's on the minds of the minions and male time 3M's. Let me get to the first one. But on my glass. Literation homes. Have Sam Donald in the Seahawks addressed any skepticism you had about them? No. I have less skepticism than most because the trade deadline day, we talked about who we thought was the number one seed, not number one seed, but the best team in the league. And I said Seattle. Definitively, I would take Seattle over San Francisco and LA, which was a bit much at the time. But still no. No, Sam Donald had these games last year. Key games. It was a turnover machine. His career. Where are the different teams? With a different team. With Minnesota. His career is marked by less than success. Okay. So no, you have to win. At least this one. I'm not even saying he's got to win the Super Bowl. But he's got to win this game at home against a hated division rival. So I don't like to root against anyone. Right. And Seattle demolished San Francisco. Two times in three weeks. So Kyle Shanahan has coached 163 games for San Francisco. Only four times. Has his team been held under seven points twice in a month? By the same team. Now, now they didn't need anything from Sam Donald. No, they didn't. Now they played the Rams. They have played the Rams twice. The total points back and forth in those two games were to establish two different wins or three points. So they may need Sam Donald to be great in this game. They may. If not great, really good. So we have not addressed this issue directly. No. It is fair. It seems to me to wonder about Sam Donald in it. Maybe they won't need him. Maybe they'll beat him by 25. But I'd like great defense. You know, they might. I mean, the Bears defense, which is not great. No, it's not. He'll the Rams to seven to 20. 17 regulation. Sharbinay now out for the year. Sharbinay out of her sister. I still think Seattle. That's wonderful. You know who I picked four weeks ago. When you picked the Rams. And I picked. We did pretty good on the show. How about all the other pundits? Not as good. Not as good. Yeah. They've taken the pun out of pundits. Yeah. CFP title game. You see Indiana as a big fave over my am. A big favorite. No, for two reasons. One, they're playing at home. Yeah. So that means this whole week has been spent in relative relaxation, because they haven't had to go anywhere and do anything. More importantly, they don't lose by a lot of points. They've lost five games in two years. None of them by more than seven. This year, they lost by three. And this is big favorite to me is 10 plus. This year, they lost by three and by six. So I think Indiana should be favored. Absolutely. Indiana is undefeated. Indiana is doing great. Yeah. Can I see Miami winning the game? I can. I don't want that. I got to be honest. I'm a sports writer in my heart. The better story is Indiana. I don't know. Indiana call. Yes. Indiana coming out of nowhere 100 years of losing. And suddenly with a new coach, suddenly in two years, they're undefeated and they win the national championship. I'm a big 10 guy. And I don't know. That's the best story. Look, how do you think Miami's a better story? I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you that because Miami would be returning to waking up the echoes. I was around and so were you. I was around. We covered games where Miami was thought to be some up and come. Or people didn't want them to vision. One A people did not want the U. They didn't. And the U came up and they beat Oklahoma. And they beat. They won those games. I was there. They beat everybody. They did. Yeah. And they beat them as a. These other guys haven't beaten anybody. Oh, wait a minute. So my amnesty. Can't see Miami. They undefeated. No, they can't be undefeated. No, but they can not undefeated team out. And by the way, what do you want? I'm admitting I want Indiana. I don't know. Oh, that's not fair. You know, I usually tell you. And I'm, again, I should be rooting for the conference team. Yeah. But there's something about this. There's something that reminds me of those games in the early 80s when they beat Nebraska, when Nebraska was being called the greatest team ever. We're Irving Fryer in those guys. Because the UB is going to have 20 years of history going into that. Indiana has zero other ways of history. Where do you win that game against Nebraska? I don't know. Doesn't it same stadium? Orange ball. Orange. Not the same stadium, but the same place. Another female. Let's take one last break still to come. The giants in Falcons lock up new head coaches. And 45-year-old Venus Williams comes very close to doing something remarkable at the Oceola. The big tent should throw you out if you don't root for it. That's why I didn't really go all the way up to the beach. They should throw you out. It should. Damn. Yeah. You should be a trustee of Miami. Go to Coral Games. Go with Levitard. Go with Levitard. Hey, Danny. Prime 112, baby. Let's get a reservation. Happy time. People. Happy 27th birthday. Jonathan Taylor. The cult's workhorse running back had the most carries in the NFL. This past season, 323. Third most rushing yards, 1585 in the most rushing touchdowns, 18. The average, 4.9 yards per attempt. For the first half of the season before Daniel Jones got hurt, Jones and Taylor had the cult surprising everybody. Taylor was a second round pick by the cult's out of Wisconsin in 2020. In 2021, he led the NFL in rushing a three-year-old. The first half of the season, the first half of the season, before Daniel Jones got hurt, Jones and Taylor had the cult surprising everybody. Taylor was a second round pick by the cult's out of Wisconsin in 2020. The NFL in rushing attempts, 332. Rushing yards, 1,800, 11 and rushing touchdowns again, 18. Taylor also had 360 yards worth of catches, and it's not like Taylor snuck up on people. That was constantly set in NCAA record for rushing yards as a freshman. 1,977. Yeah, I think he's undervalued. And halfway through this season, he would have been my MVP. Yeah. Before it all fell apart. Yeah. Indianapolis, yeah. He had anything to do with that. But wow. Well, he and Jones were going. Yes, it was pretty damn good, weren't they? Happy anniversary, Patrick Mahomes, on this day six years ago. Mahomes led the chiefs to another come from behind win, this time after trailing Tennessee early 10 to nothing. Mahomes had three touchdown passes, but his most memorable play was this 27-yard run in the second quarter. Mahomes is currently recovering from surgery to repair two toy tournaments in his left knee. He says he hopes to be ready by week one next season. The upcoming AFC Championship game will be the first without Kansas City since 2018. Before that, the Patriots were in eight straight championship games from 2011 to 2018. Brady and Mahomes remarkably, by beating Houston, the Patriots have extended this streak to 16 straight AFC title games for the Patriots and or the chiefs. By the way, wasn't Vrable, coach Vrable, who helped extend that streak? Was he the coach of the title games? Tennessee at that time. When Mahomes made that run? Tennessee at that time leading 10 to nothing. A melancholy trails to Wilbur Wood. The knuckleballer passed away on Saturday at the age of 84. Wood had four 20 win seasons for the White Sox in the early 1970s. In 1972, the lefty threw a preposterous 376 and two-thirds innings the most since 1917. In 1973, he started both games of a double header. He once told the New York Times, quote, I'd much rather start on two days rest than sit on the darn bench for a week, unquote. In 1976, he was hit on the knee by a line drive and never again reached the same level of performance. Wilbur, he was a star of your youth? Yes. He and Dick Allen. Don't call me Richie. On the White Sox. On that fabulous White Sox scene, Bill Melton, some other guys. Tony, you know, back in the day when I was a teenager and I was 13, 14 years old, you can go to the players parking lot and just talk to the players after that. Really? And I, there are two pictures who taught me how to grip a ball to throw a certain pitch. Ferguson Arthur Jenkins, I believe it was a sinker. In Wilbur Wood, knuckleball. And I could throw a knuckleball, a little bit in high school and the wind in Chicago can be effective. Wilbur Wood, with 2420, I remember those days. He was indestructible. That's correct. Now he's pitching 100 innings. That's 100 innings more than guys go now. 100. Let's go to the big finish if we could. The Giants have just actually hired John Harboh on the Falcon Tired Kevin Stephansky, okay, by you. I think so. Time will tell, right? And the seat gets hot so early these days for coaches. The Steelers say they're open to Aaron Rogers returning a quarter back. This has got a surprise. It does. They don't have a coach yet. Right. Does the coach have what way in that? Venus Williams, what's up? Four love in the third set of the Oc Open but lost your thoughts. I just think it's cool that Venus Williams is somehow the main drawback. Somehow the main draw playing singles at 45 years old at a slam of that. Chris Gotter up when the Sony opened. Is that significant? He's really good. He kills it. He carries 315 on average. That's a ball speed. Last one, Matthew Kuchuck makes a season debut for the Panthers tonight. It's had a big deal. Yeah, Tony there a little bit off the second wild card spot that they need in the long run. Here we are, halfway through. We're out of time. We will try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheim. I'm Mike Wilbaum back at 530 Eastern to Wild Look With.
