(LAUGHTER)
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Even though it's the NFL's wild-card playoff weekend, the reality of fires in LA has forced the league to move Monday's Vikings/Rams game to Arizona out of concern for public safety. Martenzie Johnson of ESPN's Andscape is on the line with us now. So, Martenzie, how big of a deal is it to have a game move this close to kickoff?
MARTENZIE JOHNSON: I mean, I think it's biggest for the Rams, right? Like, they were expecting a home crowd for a playoff game, which - home field advantage is key in all the sports, especially in football, and to now have to move it to a completely different state - you don't know if your fans will be, you know, able to show up because, one, they're going through this fire situation in California, not to mention traveling is not something you can just do on a whim for a lot of people. So as far as that, that's going to be hard for them, but also, you know, some of their homes might have been destroyed. Some of their family might have been impacted, and their attention might be more on the fires than the actual game. So this could really upend some things, particularly for the Rams, but it could affect the Vikings as well.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. They train - the Rams train in Woodland Hills, which is near the Kenneth fires. So we'll see how that winds up affecting them. But every other game is set to go off as scheduled. So last year, Martenzie, Jim Harbaugh led Michigan to a national championship. This season, he turned around a Chargers team that went 5-12 the season before and made them into a playoff team. They play the Texans in Houston tomorrow. I mean, how incredible of a story is Jim Harbaugh doing what he's done with the Chargers?
JOHNSON: Well, I'll explain how incredible of a story it is by giving you an incredible story that Jim Harbaugh recently, apparently, told his own team, which is he remembers the day that he was born. Like...
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) OK.
JOHNSON: ...That's just who Jim Harbaugh is. Somehow, some way, he's this quirky guy, but he gets the best out of his players, whether it's at the University of San Diego, University - Stanford, whether it's the San Francisco 49ers. You mentioned the Michigan Wolverines, who hadn't won a championship in so long, comes in and wins it. And now he has the Chargers back in the playoffs. So I can't really explain it, but there's just something with Jim Harbaugh that brings out the best in his players.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, the second game tomorrow is the Ravens and Steelers. That is some rugged football right there.
JOHNSON: Yes. These two teams hate each other. They're divisional rivals. They split their series this year, so it's really up in the air. To an extent, I think the Ravens will handedly probably beat them. Lamar Jackson, you've heard this before, is playing the best football of his career. He's probably on his way to winning his third MVP in, I think, six or seven seasons. But the demons of his past are what you worry about with Lamar Jackson. He's excellent in the regular season, and then he's a turnover machine when he gets into the playoffs, where he has, in six career game, six interceptions in the playoffs. So you have to worry about that, but he also now has a really big X factor in Derrick Henry, a large man of a running back, who will divert some attention to him on defense. So possibly, hopefully, Lamar can get over, kind of, that hump.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So those are some AFC games. In the NFC, a lot of people around this area, here in D.C., are really rooting for the Commanders. They haven't been in the playoffs since 2020. What are their chances against Tampa, and then maybe the rest of the playoffs?
JOHNSON: Look, I wouldn't have thought much of the Commanders because they are the Commanders...
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
JOHNSON: ...But Dan Snyder, A, has been gone, and it's a completely different team.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
JOHNSON: Jayden Daniels was an MVP candidate at one point. He's an exceptional rookie, the best you can kind of expect from a rookie. I have high hopes for them, though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Baker Mayfield, are very high-power offense, so who knows? But for you, A, I think that the Commanders might pull this off.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. that's for everyone in D.C. I'm doing this wearing a Chargers cap.
JOHNSON: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Martenzie Johnson of ESPN's Andscape. Thanks a lot, Martenzie.
JOHNSON: Thanks, A.
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