ESPN Daily

The final four matchups are set:In Baltimore, the presumed MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, who also boast the best defense in the NFL, will welcome in Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who looked like they remembered who they were, Sunday night in Buffalo.Across the country, the San Francisco 49ers, fresh off a sloppy victory over the Green Bay Packers, will host the Detroit Lions, a team and a city, with dreams of reaching heights the team hasn’t achieved in the Super Bowl era.So today, Jason Reid joins us from Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, where he tells us what he saw at the ballpark in a frigid Orchard Park as the Bills and Chiefs clashed. And then walks us through the rest of the divisional round action from the warmth of his hotel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The midpoint of the NBA season is here, meaning that the trade deadline is around the corner. That often raises more questions than answers. Should the Sixers make a move in a wide open Eastern Conference? Is Chicago’s Zach Levine the answer for another franchise? And is there another blockbuster trade looming on the horizon?So today, Ramona Shelburne joins the show to break down all the possibilities and also honor the tragic loss of a beloved Warriors coach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This weekend, the divisional round of the NFL playoffs begin, and eight teams are still alive in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy.Kevin Clark, host of the This is Football podcast, shares his analysis of this weekend’s matchups, and tells how each team got here, and predicts what they have to do to win. He also looks at some of the hottest news from the NFL coaching carousel where names like: Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh and Mike Vrabel are waiting in the wings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It only became official last Thursday, but the writing had been on the wall for weeks, if not months. Bill Belichick’s reign in New England, the greatest run by any coach in NFL history, was ending. A 13-loss season, the worst of his career, and growing dysfunction in the organization were the ultimate undoing.But the seeds of his decline go back much, much further –– long before Tom Brady’s departure, in fact.So today, our Patriots whisperer, Seth Wickersham, helps pinpoint when Belichick’s fall started and how much of his so-called 'Patriot Way' was illusion and how much was real. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lionel Messi's MLS debut last summer with Inter Miami was spectacular with dramatic goals and record-setting ticket prices. But now Messi faces a tougher test with a somewhat aging super team getting prepared for a nine-month marathon of a season. So today, Luis Miguel Echegaray checks in with us to talk about the evolution of the Messi brand and why, when it comes to The Beautiful Game, Lionel Messi is always the most important guy in the room… even when he’s not actually in it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re halfway through the NFL Super Wild Card weekend, and for some teams, the playoffs have been like kryptonite. The Dallas Cowboys were routed by the Green Bay Packers and the Miami Dolphins couldn't overcome a slew of injuries and temperatures so low in Kansas City that even Taylor Swift couldn’t bring the heat. We also saw history as the Detroit Lions won their first playoff game in 32 years over the LA Rams, who couldn’t muster a strong finish. And the Texans brought Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns’ storybook season to a screeching halt. ESPN Senior NFL writer Jason Reid puts these wins and losses into context and gives us a peek at what’s coming in tonight’s final wild card games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Naomi Osaka burst onto the tennis scene with a 2018 US Open championship win over Serena Williams. After winning four major titles in as many years, Osaka was anointed the next face of the game, on and off the court. But in the years since, the superstar of Japanese and Haitian descent stepped away from the game twice –– first in 2021 to prioritize her mental health, and then again early last year to welcome her first child. So today, on the eve of Osaka’s first grand slam match in 17 months, ESPN tennis writer D’arcy Maine brings us exclusive access inside Osaka’s comeback, examines how motherhood has changed her relationship with the sport, and discerns whether this Australian Open will see a return to greatness. D'arcy's full conversation with Naomi Osaka is available on ESPN's YouTube channel, and Clinton Yates' commentary on Osaka's withdrawal from the 2021 French Open is on Andscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NFL postseason is upon us, with six games spread over three days, and a myriad of storylines so juicy, you’ve got to call it Super Wild Card weekend.So Mina Kimes drops by to take us inside the matchups. She tells us what to look for in “you can’t go home again” games, like Matthew Stafford’s return to the city of Detroit, as the Lions host their first playoff game since 1993. And Tyreek Hill’s return to Kansas City, where he’s hoping to send the Chiefs plenty of shivers at a frigid Arrowhead Stadium.Then there’s the “revenge games,” like the one Jared Goff hopes to deliver to the Los Angeles Rams, who sent him out of town as an afterthought a few years back. And for Mike McCarthy, who is looking to lead his Dallas Cowboys to victory over the Green Bay Packers, a team McCarthy once led to the promised land.There's also the matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills. Two teams who changed their seasons by firing their offensive coordinators. And you can't forget the two young quarterbacks C.J Stroud and Jordan Love making their own playoff debuts, with Stroud and the Texans facing the Cleveland Browns who had their season saved by Joe Flacco, who was literally throwing balls to his family on a pee wee football field a couple of months ago.It’s all here ahead of the wild card round kicking off on Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This NFL season, we saw an alarming number of teams unravel after losing starting quarterbacks to injury, including the Jets (Aaron Rodgers), the Bengals (Joe Burrow), and the Vikings (Kirk Cousins), just to name a few. But week after week, Joe Flacco, the Super Bowl winning 38-year old veteran, remained stuck at home without a place to play.Mystified by the league-wide snub, Flacco held out hope. So, with help from the best NFL-wideout-impersonation his dad could muster, and the good fortune of an unlocked pee wee field near his home, Flacco kept his arm fresh and his body ready. And by mid-November he was rewarded. The Browns had just lost Deshaun Watson to a shoulder fracture and wanted to give the former Baltimore Ravens star a workout. Now, more than seven weeks and five starts later, Joe Flacco is the hottest quarterback in the league, has led the Browns to the playoffs, and is setting records in the process. So today, our Browns reporter Jake Trotter takes us inside one of the NFL’s great comeback stories, explaining why the Browns were excited from the moment their new QB showed up and why Flacco and this team are no fluke.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill Belichick is thought of by many as the greatest coach in NFL history. His tenure as the head coach of the New England Patriots has produced nine AFC Championships, six Super Bowl rings, and put Belichick within striking distance of catching Don Shula for the most wins of any coach ever.But after two decades of dominance, and a little bit of controversy, the past few years have been anything but what we’ve come to expect from the Patriots. Instead of being “onto Cincinnati,” they’ve fallen onto hard times, ultimately ending up with their worst record since 1992, landing at 4-13. And so now, with the season now over, we wait for the answer to the question people have been asking since midway through the 2023 season. Will Bill Belichick be the Patriots coach come next season? Or is it time for his career to move to a new city? Would the grass be greener in Atlanta, or Washington, or Los Angeles?Field Yates, host of the Fantasy Focus podcast, joins the show to tell us how this all looks to a lifelong New Englander. And explore what comes next for both Belichick and the Patriots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices