PMT DB
PMT DB
NFL Championship Sunday Recap and Baron Davis on NBA Grittiness
Three hours after the final whistle and Big Cat’s heart is still beating. We just witnessed arguably the greatest Championship Sunday in NFL history, and of course, it was defined by a mix of Tom Brady’s inevitability and the most egregious missed call in the history of the sport. Hank made his debut performing the Fastest 2 Minutes, complete with some late-millennial references that PFT Commenter correctly identified as a bit much, but the energy was there for a pair of overtime classics.
The Brady Inevitability and Andy Reid's Clock
Tom Brady is reaching a point where sports just don't make sense anymore. Every time the Chiefs looked like they had the game won, Brady would just convert another third-and-long to Julian Edelman or a sandbagging Rob Gronkowski.
PFT CommenterRob Gronkowski was sandbagging all season and is actually the best tight end in the NFL again
I'm going to eat a bird, a big black bird with feathers, and say that Rob Gronkowski was sandbagging the entire season. He's totally healthy. He's actually the best tight end in the NFL right now. I'm sure he'll show up for the Super Bowl.
While Brady was being Brady, Andy Reid was being Andy Reid. The guys were baffled by Big Red’s refusal to use his timeouts during the Patriots' final drive in overtime. He basically let his defense tire out and die on the field while the clock didn't even matter because the game couldn't end in a tie.
Big CatAndy Reid's clock management in overtime was baffling and classic Andy Reid
I still don't understand Andy Reid, and I don't want to blame, you know, do the timeout thing, but you have three timeouts in overtime that can't end in a tie... And he let his defense just die out there without calling one timeout, whether it be at a third and ten, whether it be when the Patriots get to the goal line. It was baffling to see... That happened. I guess it wasn't really baffling because that's Andy Reid.
There was also some serious “Stay Woke” energy regarding Tony Romo’s performance in the booth. Romo was predicting plays with such accuracy that PFT floated a conspiracy theory that the CBS production team was feeding the coordinators' audio directly into Romo’s earpiece.
PFT CommenterTony Romo is receiving the coordinators' play-call audio in his earpiece during broadcasts
I know someone who works for the CBS football production team, and CBS is pulling play-call audio and hot routes from the same radio channel that the coordinators send to play into the QB's helmet. They direct the audio into Romo's earpiece, and he appears to know all the calls beforehand.
Heartbreak in the Bayou
The Saints got absolutely jobbed. We all saw it. Bill Vinovich and his crew missed a pass interference call so blatant it looked like a glitch in the Matrix. Big Cat, ever the conspiracy theorist, thinks there might be a bit of historical balancing happening with that specific officiating crew.
Big CatThe NFL is fixed and Bill Vinovich deliberately blew the pass interference call against the Saints to 'even out' his reputation for hating the Rams.
It was Bill Vinovich saying, everyone knows I go against the Rams, so I've got to even it out here. Fix was in. The league's fixed.
Beyond the officiating, the guys noted that Sean Payton might be a little too obsessed with Taysom Hill. Every time the Saints had momentum with Drew Brees, Hill would swap in and the rhythm would vanish. Big Cat argued that in a game of this magnitude, you don't take your Hall of Fame QB off the field.
Big CatAny play the Saints run without Drew Brees under center is a disservice to the team
Anytime you snap the football without Drew Brees under center you're doing your team a disservice. I get it, there's some fun things you can do with Taysom Hill... But, like, it was seriously every fifth or sixth play, like, oh, we haven't had Taysom Hill. Let's get him in there. What are you doing? Just play the Rams straight up, and you'd probably win that game.
Ultimately, the vibe is that the window might be slammed shut for the Saints, while Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are just getting their engines warm.
Big CatThe Saints' championship window is likely closing, whereas the Chiefs' run is just getting started.
The losses are not equal because the NFC Championship game, that's probably it. It's close to it for Drew Brees and Sean Payton, those Saints. For the Chiefs, it feels like this is just getting started.
Baron Davis on the Modern NBA
Former All-Star Baron Davis joined the show to discuss his new series *WTF Baron Davis* and his career in the league. He gave us a great look into the old-school NBA culture where teammates actually fought each other. He recounted the time Derek Coleman literally punched him in the locker room because he let Steve Kerr hit too many threes. Davis also explained why the current crop of stars is so friendly, pointing out that many of them have known each other since they were children in his own camps.
Baron DavisModern NBA players are too friendly because they all grew up together in AAU and camps
Back in my day, like, everybody was mean, dude... I think that times evolve times change... if I was playing in those last five years, I can look and see that there were 30 guys who've been to my camp that are in the NBA. They were little kids in my camp. So why wouldn't we be friends, right? ... we didn't grow up on the same AAU team in people's basketball camp.
When asked how he would handle a superstar personality like LeBron James if he were coaching, Davis had a specific strategy centered around blue-collar challenges rather than just ego-stroking.
Baron DavisThe best way to manage LeBron James is to challenge him to set picks and focus on team-oriented tasks
You have to challenge LeBron, right? ... finding little things in the game that could be challenging to LeBron that would ultimately dictate a better outcome... Can you set five incredible picks to get somebody open? Can you set a backdoor screen? Things off the ball that allows his teammates to like – so he's in the play but not in the play but still affecting the play.
He also took a moment to educate Big Cat on why he needs to stop saying "Ball is Life," calling it a "walking hashtag" look that real hoopers don't actually use.
Segments
Who’s Back featured a heated debate about Soulja Boy’s comeback status and the impending apocalypse. PFT is convinced the Super Wolf Blood Moon is a sign that the end is nigh.
PFT CommenterThe Super Wolf Blood Moon is a sign of the apocalypse, and all hell is going to break loose on January 22nd.
Obviously these apocalyptic signs in the heavens are pointing to a catastrophic event that is just on the horizon... on January 22nd, all hell's going to break loose. If you're listening to this, we're dead.
We wrapped things up with a Monday Reading from the *Toronto Star* about a man whose wife openly sleeps with other men because of his physical shortcomings and now wants to have a child that isn't his. It was the ultimate cuck story to end a wild episode.
If the world doesn't end on Tuesday, we'll see you in Atlanta.
