00:00I heard Fulger and Mads talking about this yesterday.
00:02It was interesting.
00:03These warm-weather teams going to cold-weather stadiums in the playoffs.
00:10Terrible records.
00:11Do you buy into that?
00:13Is a Harbaugh tough-coached team?
00:17They're a tough physical team.
00:19Are they going to struggle in the cold?
00:22I think just because they have a good head coach,
00:24I think it might be a little bit overblown.
00:26Like you said, John Harbaugh, he's a good coach.
00:29He has a good roster.
00:30The Chargers' defense is really good.
00:32Justin Harbaugh is a good quarterback, although he has a broken left hand.
00:36I mean, maybe it gives you a minor advantage,
00:39but I don't think at the end of the day the Pats winning or losing
00:41is because the Chargers play in L.A. and they're coming to Foxborough.
00:45If the Pats don't play well, they're going to lose.
00:47This team is really, really good.
00:49So it's like it would be one thing if they had an inexperienced head coach
00:53with sort of a mediocre quarterback who's sort of backed into the wild-card round,
00:57but you're playing a decent, I'd say a good Chargers team.
01:01So I don't know how much you can rely on them getting cold to beat them.
01:05I think you're just going to have to play good football.
01:06It seems like the 85 Dolphins, right, that had no defense
01:10and they were all relying on speed in the passing game.
01:15You go into a bad weather game, you're kind of screwed.
01:19And Felger Mets had facts.
01:20They weren't making it up.
01:22I mean, what they were saying is true.
01:24It just doesn't happen very often.
01:28But also there's not a lot of outdoor cold-weather stadiums anymore.
01:31But, yeah, I heard a lot of this too, and I'm thinking the whole time,
01:34it's like, yeah, these teams that, you know, the dome teams that have to go
01:37on the road outdoors in the playoffs.
01:40And, you know, the numbers certainly back it up
01:43and point toward the Patriots being able to win this.
01:46But as much as it could be about these teams being soft because of where they play,
01:52how about that they're always the lower seed?
01:55They're the ones that are on the road.
01:57They're the ones that are traveling.
01:59So how much does that factor into the calculus of their record being so poor
02:03in these games?
02:04Yeah, they're having to play outdoors.
02:06They're having to travel.
02:07But they're also probably not as good a football team almost every single time
02:11based on the way they were seeded going into the playoffs.
02:13So, you know, let's not ignore that fact too.
02:16So I'm not saying, Mark, that the Chargers are bad,
02:19but out of the two teams just going in, who's the better team right now?
02:24Yeah, yeah, the Patriots are the better team.
02:27And I always point to, like, the quarterback.
02:29You know, they have the better quarterback.
02:30They've had a better offense.
02:32The Chargers are missing two starting tackles.
02:35It's an interesting matchup.
02:36I haven't looked at a lot of the Chargers until, you know, this week.
02:39And, like, their defense, honestly, might be the best defense the Pats have faced this year
02:43around a lot of different metrics.
02:45I mean, they have one of the best pass rushes in the NFL.
02:48They intercept the ball, I would say, more than every team other than one in the NFL.
02:52So I think the Pats have the edge.
02:54But, like, the Chargers are, like, fifth in total defense, second interception rate,
02:59sixth in sack per pass attempt.
03:01Their, you know, points per game is, I want to say it's, like, sixth or seventh in the NFL.
03:05So, like, they're a really good team.
03:07But sort of their, some of their downfall this year has been injury.
03:10So Justin Herbert has a broken left hand.
03:12They have two tackles out.
03:14They were missing their rookie running back, Omari Hampton, for a good chunk.
03:17And I think their passing game and their offense, because of that, it's been a little inconsistent.
03:20So the Pats have a better team, but the Chargers are by no means a pushover.
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