Playoff Preview The NFL Show

And it will be time for these two teams to settle it. He will fire

towards the end zone. Touchdown! Rogers looking downfield. A one-man

wrecking crew. Unbelievable. How did he do that? For the win.

Unstoppable. We've got it all tonight,

sad Dolphins, soaring It is the playoff game. You dream

about this day. We go home to playoff next week. Let's go shark

them. Every early morning, it all comes

down to right now. Welcome to the playoffs. Let's go. We just play

football like we always wanted. This is the best game that we have played

this year. We have to keep going. It's the Divisional Round where

the winners from last week's wildcard round meet the two best

teams from each conference. We started with 32 teams and now

we are down to the final eight, Three more wins and the Super

Bowl can be claimed. So a quick look at that

path to the Super Bowl In the AFC wild card

matchups there were wins for the Houston Texans

and the Pittsburgh Steelers which means that this weekend

the New England Patriots will welcome the Texans

and the Kansas City Chiefs host In the NFC there were wins

for the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers

which means that the Dallas Cowboys play host to the Packers,

and Seahawks travel to the Atlanta I'm joined once again

by Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell who will be using their experience,

insight, wit and in Jason's case his ability to read stuff to guide us

through what to expect this weekend. Now, I"m not one to try and disrupt

the beautiful harmony that exists on this sofa but....Osi

you have a lot of ground to make up. I am 100% picking the New York

Giants. I am going with the Giants. I think that Detroit Lions will take

this. Seattle. I will go with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers. I

am picking Oakland Raiders in this game. Texas all day. I got a text

from you on Monday this week saying I will need about two minutes to

explain myself. It is really funny what really happened. I got home

yesterday and believe it or not, MI5, the intelligence agency, they

were at my house. They told me, and all of Britain should be concerned,

he told me that the Russians had hacked into my brain and they

deposited... They deposited some false information. Vladimir Putin

watches the show, he is a big fan, he loves Jason Bell, he hates my

guts. He wanted to do it to make me look bad! If I sort this out during

the course of the show, your predictions from -- for next week

will be fine? As long as you can get the Russians to stop hacking into my

brain, stop liking Jason, we will be OK, Mark! Unbelievable. I will see

what I can do. I might not have that power, but hopefully over the course

of the show we will be OK. You're OK, Vladimir likes you.

The first fixture we're going to look at this weekend is probably

It's between the NFC top seeds the Dallas Cowboys

To talk about this game we have to, and I'm really sorry about this -

not sorry at all - we have to take a look at how

the Packers dismantled - some might say humiliated -

At the start you wondered if the Giants could have done better,

because of the opportunities they missed. They had tremendous

opportunities. Eli started off playing fantastically. You cannot

drop that many when you have opportunities, especially against

the Packers. Then this happened and Nelson fractured two reds but

everything would seem to be going the way of the Giants at this stage.

You were both tweeting, you were both very confident. I needed the

Packers to do something or else the next week would be horrendous. All

of a sudden, the most watchable player in the whole of the NFL,

Aaron Rodgers turned it on. At that point, I thought it was smooth

sailing for the Giants. We may lose their top receiver, but when he got

hurt and went out, Aaron Rodgers took advantage of the defense.

Rogers is a special football player. That is the straw that broke the

camels back. Going into half-time after this, they could not recover.

We saw the Giants get themselves back into it and Rogers responded

right away. In the commentary, they said that his heart hampers starting

to work, he found Randall Cobb and they were in control. They are on a

seven-game winning streak, the Packers, I was reading on a website,

one of the articles described his performance and how has been as

being like Jordan. Do you know what they mean? It means he has that

clutch gene. It means he has that, he is taking his game to a level of

greatness that few people have been able to perform in. Is unstoppable?

It looks like it and he is making everybody else so good. He put that

team on his shoulders and they are going for a win.

If you're looking to extended highlights and analysis of any

of last weekends games you'll find them on NFL this

In the NFL it this hard every week. Let's go and get it. Touchdown! They

cannot stop us at all. We have got to get the ball now. They will ride

us all the way home. I have never seen anything quite like it. The

Cowboys are going to win the game. I am proud to be a part of this team

right now. The Dallas Cowboys finished the NFC as top seeds and

they had a record of 13-3 with Dak Prescott, Ezequiel Eliot impressing

everyone and their offense is fantastic and in week six Dallas

thrashed Green Bay. They won 30-16, what is different? Everything is

different. They are completely different team. Seven games in a

row, no one has been able to slow them down, defensively they are

playing better than they did before. Everything is completely different.

We talk about momentum and people think there is something about

momentum, other people say we pay too much attention, but if you

think, the Cowboys in their final game against Philadelphia, Romo came

in for a play and lost that game and then they had a weak off. They have

got to find their feet again. That last game against Philadelphia and a

weak off, can it disrupt things? If they start slow, that obviously did.

It can happen to teams that do not have that leadership in the locker

room. This is not the time to be playing a team like Green Bay, it is

the worst time if you are the Dallas Cowboys. You do not have that

momentum, I have been on teams who did not play well at the start of

the season who smashed through the playoffs and it seems that is what

the Green Bay Packers are doing now. The difference you could argue about

the differences between the Giants and the Cowboys, the Giants have

struggled for a running game all season but the Cowboys have no

problem because of Elliott, can he run a mark against Green Bay or do

they have the weapons to stop him? You will see a great running game by

the Cowboys. The one significant weakness on their team is the

linebackers. The best way to keep a great offense like Green Bay off the

fielders with a running game. They are going to pound away at the Green

Bay Packers and it will be an outstanding game to watch. Hopefully

your brain is free of interference. Who is going to win? And when to go

with the Green Bay Packers. Dallas Cowboys will win. Who do you want to

win? That is tough because the Green Bay Packers have just defeated the

Giants and I am upset with them but the Cowboys are an old rival and I

never want to see them succeed. I say Green Bay. Dallas. They gave me

a shot. The winner of this game will meet the winner of the Seattle

Seahawks and the Falcons. They had a bye last

weekend. The stuttering Seahawks hosted the

It was not really until the second quarter that the Seahawks got going.

What changed for the Seahawks in this game? Running game. They've got

that running game going. Rawls was like last year. He is running hard

and physical and that is what they need to get the offense going and to

be dynamic. This amazing one-handed catch by Paul Richardson. Detroit

were unhappy and you can probably see why, because of Richardson's

hand on it. It was definitely pass interference but the game is about

scoring points. How did they miss it? When you see a play so

spectacular, you have to let things go. The play was so good, you have

to let things go and I think that is what happened here. Don't try to get

back in my good books talking about the scorpion kick? Back to this

football that we are talking about. Detroit never really fired. They

never really fired. They never got going. This is the problem, this is

a game built on who could run and stop the run and Detroit have been

having problems and this is what happens. If we go back to our

earlier conversation about momentum and the Packers have in it, the

Lions came into this on and awful run having lost the last four of the

regular season. It had gone the other way for them. They had some

problems, Stafford hurt his finger and everything went downhill. They

have the opposite of momentum and it showed in this game. You see him

steal that play from another guy? He said, no, that is mine!

LAUGHTER. If you look ahead to what is coming up against Atlanta, the

fact that Rawls is running now, does that add a new weapon to their

offense? Yes. The whole thing about this team is that they need to be

able to run the ball for Russell Wilson to be effective. He was to be

able to do play actions. That offensive line has not protected him

particularly well and they get them into a situation where the defensive

line pin them back, coming after Russell Wilson will be a long day.

Let's focus on the game. A convincing win for

the Seahawks against a Lions The Atlanta Falcons are a team that

never look short of energy. Let's have some fun today, fellows.

Wait for the guy next year. Bring it up. The other guys stands up. Get

set to Jones. Touchdown for Julio Jones. This is a big win for this

team, it really is. Touchdown at Lantern. Another team when. This

Atlanta's side are going to be a different proposition. No doubt

about it. This offense is ridiculous. That running game,

Freeman, I am concerned about them on defense. They are not that good

on defense could be a problem. It will be a battle and I think Seattle

can pull this off but they will have to do what they did in the last

game. Defensively, they will have to get after Julio Jones. The last time

they played. They did that by stopping a run and putting Sherman

on Julio Jones. There are two things there, that game was in Seattle and

on the show over the course of this season, we talked about Seattle's

weakness on the road. And that stadium is a crazy place to play.

But played there for the Falcons. Why is it crazy? The people get so

into the game. It is a ridiculous atmosphere. They are going to be

jacked up, they have not had a successful season like this in a

number of years and they will be excited to see their offense rising

up and playing good football. It will be crazy. Just to balance that,

Matt Ryan second in the NFL, Julia Jones second for receiving yards,

they will be excited. The Atlanta Falcons and their fans will go in

there with the big question mark over whether they can continue the

football they played in a regular season into the playoffs. More

nerves for them than for Pete Carroll on the Seahawks.

I likelet the way they have been playing this year. It should be an

exciting game. OK. Here we go. You went first last time. Who do you

think will win? Seattle. I'm being with Seattle. I'm going with the

Dirty Bird, the Atlanta Falcons. They are a great organisation from

top to bottom. Not even bias they have a great football team this

year. OK. That's the NFC covered so now

on to the two match-ups in the AFC. The Houston Texans will be

taking on the mighty New England Patriots

in Massachesetts and The Pittsburgh Steelers will be

at the Kansas City Chiefs. Let's look at those Steelers,

who made it comfortably through the Wild Card

round against the Miami Dolphins. It was very, very comfortable on

what was a chilly day in Pittsburgh. It was well below zero ahead of the

game. Yet, the Steelers in that first quarter, put Miami away and

the game out of reach in that first corner. Brown cruising past them,

50-yard touchdown. 2nd inside eight minutes. Another 62-yards. That was

game over, really? Best receiver of football.

Had. He makes plays week in and week out. As soon as he did that, the

Miami Dolphins went straight to sleep. They didn't want to tackle

anybody from the Miami Dolphins. The cold got to them. I'm assuming it

hurts more to tackle in the cold? Is They didn't want to engage and put

their hands on guys. It was sloppy. Think were happy to be there, man. .

They had a great season by their standards. There is something wrong

with that. I mean, nobody expected them to be there. The fact that they

made it there, I think they were happy with that. Maybe. The Dolphins

had Matt Moore, Hill was out - oh, my word. My goodness. That was a

massive hit on Moore. Oh, my gosh. You thought he was out of the game.

I thought they were bringing the stretcher out for him. That was

serious.s it looked like he sped up when we ran through them. Remarkably

he came on to finish the game. They said he was tough. They never

questioned that when we talked about them. They will never question it

again. Not at They went after all. Him as well. Remarkable still to be

on the If we talk field. About the Atlanta Falcons and their attacking

weapons, where do Pittsburgh rank with their attacking weapons All the

way up there. You have big Ben the cannon back there throwing the

football. They have it all covered. They have a pretty good offensive

line. Offensively they are up there. You talk about Bell, he is a

different type of running back, isn't he? I don't the NFL has ever

seen a guy with the patience he has. I mean, at the goalline he stopped,

way before block to come in front of him and shot through the hole. I've

never seen anything like it. Were you surprised in the 4th quarter,

when Big Ben went over, four minutes left, with the game sown up they

were still using Roethlisberger and Brown and Bell. Surely, given what

the NFL has seen happen to other important players going into these

playoffs, wouldn't you have taken them out? They wanted to get them.

They rested them the last week of the season. They had to come in.

They didn't want to take them out. I see you giving me the look. Nice

try. Snoop they took Bell out. They kept Roethlisberger in, and they

should have took him out. I mean, he got his ankle rolled up. This is

your money, man. Without those guys... Those things can happen at

any point in the game. When you are winning like that. Yeah, I know. You

have to take them out. Your' right. Another win for his brain.

I think we all can agree, for once, that this was always going to be

However, the Steeler's next oponents are a team that Jason and Osi have

had very different views on all year - The Kansas City Chiefs.

Don't try to be nobody else, man. Be the best you can be. Give me all

you've got, man. COMMENTATOR: Throwing long left for

the business - touchdown! Steps up. He can run this thing. The momentum

going, baby. More and more and more! Touchdown! Time! Can you feel it? I

can feel it. Oh the Kansas City Chiefs. Where would you like to

begin? What do you want me to do? What do you want me to say, do you

want me to apologise for all the things I've said. I meant every last

word. They are a boring football team. They have an exciting player,

good defense and exciting football coach. They are a boring football

team. A good football team, they still put me to sleep. Do you think

arguably they are the most balanced football team in the playoffs left,

ie, offense, defense - No. I would give that to the New England

Patriots. OK. Outside of them you have to give it to the Kansas City

Chiefs, basically. I agree. That's a good statement, they are very

balanced. A's more a question, I'm not allowed to make a statement. A,

I'm the presenter. B, I don't know anything. Well-informed. I liked it.

That is why it gets equated to being boring. They know what they are good

at. They keep the game tight and don't make mistakes. Alex Smith

thrown for 15 touchdowns and eight enter acceptingses.

Is that one of the reasons why you... It's hard to score touchdowns

when you dink, donk, run the ball. It's hard to score touchdowns like

that. They are not taking risks. When they do they are intercepted.

They can dink the ball to Hill, he can score a touchdown. Outside of

that, what do they have? Pittsburgh thrashed them in Week 4. Since then,

the Chiefs have only lost twice, once to Tampa and the Titans. Yeah,

they will lose again. Really? Yeah, they are. They are. You have

championed them on this sofa for the last three months. Tell him about

himself. Why are you changing your mind now? Pittsburgh are dangerous.

They are dangerous and have three weapons. You saw what they can do

last week. These pundits aren't loyal! A nightmare, Jason. You

always sort of dig us out of this... You balance it up. It will be tight,

I like KC, but, you know, I have to go with the weapons. You are being

Pittsburgh? I'm being pits duringburg. I'm going Pittsburgh. If

Kansas City win I won't be on this couch. If they win this game against

the Pittsburgh Steelers. I will say the whole thing! Change that. All

right. Kansas City chief fans are on social media. Make your points to

themly rather than through me. The last game we are going

to look at this weekend is between the Houston Texans

and the bookies favourite for the Super Bowl,

the New England Patriots. The Texans got here by winning -

and I'm quoting Osi here - the BBQ game, or the Battle

of the Bad Quarterbacks. This was the Texans

against the poor, poor Oakland Raiders who were rudderless

without their talismatic It was a real struggle for the

Raiders in Houston. Cook couldn't get going, could he, Jason? No, you

were hoping he would do something miraculous and he was so unknown we

didn't know he was so great. . Saw he was just a third string

quarterback. The third string is important here because people might

think - hang on, you have these reserves so if you get somebody

injured they can come in. When you are the third string quarterback,

your role during practice is to help out your defense, isn't it? To play

the part of the quarterback that your defense will play that week?

Yes. A lot of times they don't even get those right because the

second-string quarterback wants to get his reps in he runs the scout

team or the team giving the other team look. The third string barely

plays at all during the season, even in practice. So much attention on

Cook and analysis and reaction to him.

Osweiller is battling through. He didn't lose in this game. That is

what he needed to do. He needed to maintain the offense and not turn

the ball over. That is what he did. Houston's biggest post i has been

their defense. You saw them in this game. I have to feel guilty about

them because I didn't know they were that good. When you watch them, they

are really good on each level. Defense align and linebackers and

DB's are competitive. If they are competitive and a great defense, why

as a team have they been so inconsistent this season? We have

hardly really spoken about them? Teams with a great defense have a

quarterback that doesn't turn the football over. He's a guy like a gay

manager. They had a quarterback who would turn the football over, put

the defense in ridiculous positions that allowed them to been

inconsistent over the Will it be years. A missed opportunity for the

Raiders? Definitely. Everybody was excited about that team. I was. I

thought they could do something special. They lost are their star.

A good defensive display and an improved Brock Osweiller.

Maybe this isn't the last of the Texans, they've only got the...

Oh, yeah, they've only got the New England Patriots.

COMMENTATOR: Fans of New England have been marking their calendars

with this day. Get better. We will play our best football. Go, baby. He

takes it. COMMENTATOR: The kick is airborne.

Upright. It is good. They have a lead over the Sea Hawks.

What were you saying, beat the Raiders - Yeah, here's your prize.

Pack your stuff, and go back home. They met in Week 3. Finished

patriots 27, Texans 0. Thats tells you the difference between the two

teams. I'm excited to see this defense against New England's

offense. Sglp are you? I really am. I'm excited... Look how he looks -

are you? Are you trying to sell the game to us? Is we are allowed a

tough game. I'm excited because, if they lose, which Texans will lose,

probably, this is going to give them a blueprint on how to stop them. I

think the defense will do good things against that offense. They

have good pressure. The way to beat a Tom Brady team is to put pressure

on the quarterback. I don't think they will be able to do to the New

England Patriots that was done last year or when the Giants beat them. I

don't think the Texans are built that way. Do the offense have enough

to worry the defense in If Miller has one of his best days of his life

they can be a threat. It might be tighter than they think. Another

coach who came from one team playing against another. NFL, the coaching

fraternity is so tight. A lot of "ifs" in your answers in that

discussion. You are being Patriots. Patriots. Patriots.

A quick reminder of when these games will be over the weekend.

Finally, some highs and lows from last weekend for you.

They warmed up without their jumpers on. Odell found a top. Like it was

chilly in Pittsburgh as well. So cold the whistle-stopped working.

Most unlucky player of the week is Houston's Tyler Irvine. He is so

happy. He returned this punt against the Raiders all the way. Oh. And

then the touchdown was disallowed. For that. I pet bet that hurt.

Sucks, man. We know that Dolphins are warm weather creatures and don't

react well out of any environment. We talked about this. You have to

get the tip. Know the tip. Nothing anything Aaron Rogers threw was on

the money at the weekend. Randall was hopping mad at something, or

just trying to stay warm. One man who kept his cool, this was a great

play from Matthews. It was. Forced the fumble. They wanted it more.

Recovered ball. Standing around watching the football. They dive on

it. That's all we have

time for this week. This Sunday 5Live Extra will be

bringing you all the action from the Steelers at the Chiefs

and also the Packers against the Cowboys with coverage

starting from 6.00pm. You can join us again this Tuesday

at 11.15pm for NFL This Week where we will bring you all the best

of the action from this weekend. From Osi, Jason and myself,

it's good night. They want me to write and

produce - for a boy band. Oh. Your album's

getting five-star reviews, I mean, you must feel like

you're dreaming.