Speaker 1: The volume.
Speaker 2: Our divisional reaction is presented by Uber Eats. Get game
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Speaker 2: here we go, Let's chop it up for over an hour.
Speaker 2: John Middlecoff, former NFL scout, has his own podcasts Three
Speaker 2: and Out and twenty seven to twenty five Bills Win.
Speaker 2: I had a three and oh weekend, which is rare
Speaker 2: because I've been awful this year. Listen, I feel so
Speaker 2: bad for Mark Andrews. Who's I just think he's a
Speaker 2: tremendous player. I remember in Oklahoma, I thought that fumble felt,
Speaker 2: I mean to me, for Baltimore come back down and
Speaker 2: score and have a chance to tie it. After that
Speaker 2: fumble by Mark Andrews. Then the drop by Mark Andrews
Speaker 2: which he catches ninety nine out of one hundred times,
Speaker 2: before we get into Lamar. This has been one of
Speaker 2: my favorite tight ends in the league. I thought that
Speaker 2: fumble forgets to drop. I thought the fumble it felt
Speaker 2: like Buffalo didn't score until he got a field goal.
Speaker 2: I think in some of my notes here, somewhere in
Speaker 2: the third quarter, I thought the fumble really sucked the
Speaker 2: emotion out of Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Romo had mentioned it. They had scored
Speaker 1: on it essentially three straight drives, one of them was
Speaker 1: a kneel down at the end of the half. But
Speaker 1: Buffalo couldn't stop them. I mean, the game had kind
Speaker 1: of shifted. Lamar had settled down. They were running the
Speaker 1: ball right down their throat. That was I think we
Speaker 1: saw tonight and we saw last night. The games were
Speaker 1: different because obviously this was much lower scoring than the
Speaker 1: Commander game. You can't turn the ball over at the
Speaker 1: rates in which the Lions and the Ravens did and
Speaker 1: lose and win the game. It can't. This is not
Speaker 1: basketball or baseball where it's a seven or five game series.
Speaker 1: You your margin for air in a sixty minute game.
Speaker 1: In a half, you could lose a game in a half. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I honestly I thought when he threw the interception
Speaker 1: and the fumble in the first half, I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't know if they can overcome that. But the Rave
Speaker 1: have a good defense. They settled down, they started stopping
Speaker 1: Josh Brady started kind of calling some lateral plays. But
Speaker 1: that Andrews, I'm with you, Mark Andrews is a stud. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean for him to have that fumble and that drop.
Speaker 1: It's hard to shake. I mean, that's kind of because
Speaker 1: the goat of the moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Lamar is gonna take the heat because
Speaker 2: he had a multiple turnover game. I mean, Buffalo, I
Speaker 2: think had one penalty and no turnovers. But it was
Speaker 2: also the fumble that von Miller picked up, and so
Speaker 2: it was just you know, Mark Andrews drop, the Mark
Speaker 2: Andrews fumble, the fumble that von Miller takes in. I
Speaker 2: thought Lamar played well enough. Obviously one awful pick. I
Speaker 2: thought he played well enough to win. Hell, if Mark
Speaker 2: Andrews catches it, I would not want to play Baltimore
Speaker 2: in overtime because I thought they'd seize momentum in the
Speaker 2: second half. So I think Lamar will get tagged for it.
Speaker 2: But I you know, like I'm not blaming C. J.
Speaker 2: Stroud for the loss in can City. The Texan special
Speaker 2: teams were awful. They were like collegiate goff, he can
Speaker 2: take the hit. I thought Lamar wasn't as good as
Speaker 2: Josh Allen did. One of the takeaways for me was
Speaker 2: they really they didn't ask Josh to do a lot
Speaker 2: in this game. It was a lot of passes to
Speaker 2: the backfield, I thought they came in they didn't want
Speaker 2: it to be a Lamar versus Josh. I think they
Speaker 2: looked at the film and thought we can kind of
Speaker 2: death by a thousand cuts. They didn't ask him to
Speaker 2: make big throws much.
Speaker 1: To me, this is a coaching loss for the Ravens,
Speaker 1: just like it was last year against the Chiefs. It
Speaker 1: feels like when they played last year Mahomes and they
Speaker 1: played Josh to night. They're obsessed with trying to prove
Speaker 1: he could pass early in the game. It's like you
Speaker 1: have the Shaquille O'Neal of running backs who as they
Speaker 1: started running as the game went on, it's like, why
Speaker 1: don't you do this? And then what happened on the
Speaker 1: two point time the first time they passed, As they
Speaker 1: ran it right down their throats, It's like, why wouldn't
Speaker 1: you just hand it to him again? But you hit
Speaker 1: it on the nail on the head. I thought that
Speaker 1: this game felt like what the Steelers and Ravens used
Speaker 1: to feel like. Right It's like, Okay, the Buffalo Bill
Speaker 1: said we're gonna be as tough as you, and sometimes
Speaker 1: that doesn't work for a pass heavy team. We've seen
Speaker 1: it with Ohio State against Michigan, and I thought the
Speaker 1: first half, on their first drive of the game, they
Speaker 1: ran it right down the Ravens throats who their strength
Speaker 1: is their run defense. It's like, whoa, they are not intimidated.
Speaker 1: We know Josh can run, but how good were their
Speaker 1: running backs? Their You know their line is not gonna
Speaker 1: look like Saquon Barkley or anything in terms of yardage.
Speaker 1: But I thought James Cook was fantastic. The data was fantastic,
Speaker 1: was awesome, and it sets the tone in these games,
Speaker 1: like this game was not gonna be like last night.
Speaker 1: It was gonna be lower scoring. Every yard mattered, every
Speaker 1: first down mattered. And Sean McDermott deserves credit because his
Speaker 1: team came in physically ready to match the Ravens, who
Speaker 1: I think we all would have said are the more
Speaker 1: physical team, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I think Davis. By the way, if you
Speaker 2: go read the life story of Davis, that running back
Speaker 2: to backup running back who is a big, strong kid.
Speaker 2: It's his life is remarkable. He's bounced around and it's
Speaker 2: so easy to guy to root for. But I wrote
Speaker 2: this down. I think Buffalo has a much better offensive
Speaker 2: line than people give them credit for. Now We know
Speaker 2: Philadelphia and Detroit feel like two of the best old
Speaker 2: lines in a decade, kind of like that cowboy line
Speaker 2: dak inherited when he was really young. But I think
Speaker 2: Buffalo's old line and now again we know Dion Dawkins
Speaker 2: is excellent left tackle, but I thought there were you know,
Speaker 2: one of the only times they failed to me was
Speaker 2: on that chance to wrap it up and Josh Allen
Speaker 2: got stuffed near the goal line in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: That was one of the only times where I thought,
Speaker 2: being a shotgun, there didn't and don't I just don't.
Speaker 2: So that was one of the few and he almost
Speaker 2: tried to later all it, but that was one of
Speaker 2: those that was one of those where they got stuffed. Listen,
Speaker 2: Sean McDermott is a little like Doc Rivers. We know
Speaker 2: he's good enough coach, and Doc ended up with a title.
Speaker 2: But I find myself really wanting Buffalo to get to
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl because it's like we all know Lamar
Speaker 2: Jackson's a really special quarterback, but it's hard when Josh
Speaker 2: Allen and Patrick Mahomes are in their prime and one
Speaker 2: of them's got Andy Reid. It's like and by the way,
Speaker 2: Kansas City and Buffalo may have the two best front
Speaker 2: offices in the NFL, along with Detroit. When it comes
Speaker 2: to drafting, Rams are pretty good as well.
Speaker 3: So I.
Speaker 2: My takeaway today, I liked Sean McDermott and Buffalo's game plan.
Speaker 2: I like how they created They were physical early. They
Speaker 2: didn't ask Josh to be superman. It's almost like they
Speaker 2: prepared a game plan John expecting whether to be worse
Speaker 2: than it was.
Speaker 1: The one thing they're going to go back to Lamar
Speaker 1: about running. It's one thing to run into mahomes when
Speaker 1: you lose to Josh Allen in this moment, I get
Speaker 1: it was on the road and you have multiple turnovers,
Speaker 1: and I will defend his overall play. He was much
Speaker 1: better today than he was in that AFC Championship game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you get to the point where if he ends
Speaker 1: up with this MVP and you and I both I
Speaker 1: think are on the same page here. I don't actually
Speaker 1: care about awards. You win three MVPs, you're on a
Speaker 1: short list of guys in this league. You kind of
Speaker 1: become the James Harden of football really fast. And you know,
Speaker 1: I saw on Twitter this is his fourth game in
Speaker 1: the playoffs where he has multiple turnovers, yes, and that
Speaker 1: those are type things that listen the interception. You could
Speaker 1: have an interception and then you can have that interception
Speaker 1: right right. It was like Jared Goff's pick six. It's like, Jared,
Speaker 1: where are you throwing this? That. It's one thing to
Speaker 1: have a ball tipped or you know, a dB just
Speaker 1: make an incredible play that when you hit guys in
Speaker 1: the bread basket, it's like that can't happen. And then
Speaker 1: the fumble, it's like you're trying to do too much.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you got to learn to go down. I mean
Speaker 1: that was a big deal with Josh and I did
Speaker 1: not turn the ball over. They actually played the game
Speaker 1: like you said, Like I thought the Raven. I had
Speaker 1: the bills tonight and I had a decent amount of
Speaker 1: money on it, and I got nervous as they started running.
Speaker 1: I was like, why don't they just run it NonStop?
Speaker 1: Because the bills are not built to stop them. But
Speaker 1: sometimes it feels like, no, we have to prove final drive.
Speaker 1: Totally get it. But in the EBB and flow of
Speaker 1: a game, when it's fourteen to seven or fourteen to ten,
Speaker 1: it's like, guys, your great strength right now is you
Speaker 1: have this Earl Campbell Walter Payton player in the prime
Speaker 1: of his career, and your quarterback is, I don't know,
Speaker 1: the greatest runner in the history of the league. Don't
Speaker 1: call pass plays. I don't know if it's Monken, I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's Lamar, combination of them both. I
Speaker 1: would have ran it. They did it against the Steelers
Speaker 1: fifty times. I never would have called pass plays until
Speaker 1: I absolutely had to.
Speaker 2: Like the end of the game, Yeah, in the third
Speaker 2: quarter they had that Derrick Henry run, Justice Hill run,
Speaker 2: Derrick Henry run than Derreck Henry for the touchdown. They
Speaker 2: had sixty eight rushing yards on that one drive in
Speaker 2: the third and you're like, yeah, that's who they are.
Speaker 2: By the way, again, the Bills prepared like it was
Speaker 2: gonna be a blizzard. They only passed the ball seven
Speaker 2: times with Josh Allen in the first half. I just
Speaker 2: felt like, I felt like Baltimore. I felt like I
Speaker 2: got to give Sean McDermott credit. They came in with
Speaker 2: a plan. They're like, we're going to create physicality. We
Speaker 2: believe we can run on them.
Speaker 3: We're not.
Speaker 2: We don't know what The weather could get worse than
Speaker 2: we predict and you know, Josh did his Superman stuff.
Speaker 2: But I really got to give McDermott credit. I thought
Speaker 2: it would what do they have one penalty? No turnovers?
Speaker 2: You know, and even when Mark Andrews dropped that they
Speaker 2: still had time left on the clock. I mean that,
Speaker 2: like a minute thirty left on the clock. It felt
Speaker 2: a little like a Kansas City game where I kind
Speaker 2: of just felt I really did John.
Speaker 3: It's easy in hindsight to say this. I had Buffalo too.
Speaker 2: I I really thought Buffalo the entire day was going
Speaker 2: to win the game. And I know a lot of
Speaker 2: people thought early, you know, here comes Buffalo, They're more physical.
Speaker 2: But I just liked their game plan. I thought the
Speaker 2: Bills were really focused, laser focused on what they tried
Speaker 2: to accomplish.
Speaker 1: Well. I think last week when we talked, I said,
Speaker 1: you know, I I think this is going to be
Speaker 1: a tough matchup for the Bills because the Ravens are
Speaker 1: so good against the run, and obviously, the I would
Speaker 1: say separating factor this year than in years past and
Speaker 1: even at the end of last year is James Cook.
Speaker 1: And it's just like it's not easy to run it
Speaker 1: against these guys, and they can run it against you,
Speaker 1: and it's like it becomes a time of possession deal.
Speaker 1: First drive of the game, the Bills had a lot
Speaker 1: After the Ravens went right down the field and scored,
Speaker 1: You're like, okay, this is going to be a shootout.
Speaker 1: The Bills went they had nine carries for thirty six
Speaker 1: yards on that touchdown drive, and it was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this feels like a Hardbob brother in Sean McDermott, like
Speaker 1: I'm here for the fight.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think the Bills, remember when they've lost to Cincinnati
Speaker 1: and they've lost to Kansas City in the past, it's
Speaker 1: like they're not quite tough enough. And listen, personnel wise,
Speaker 1: they're not as tough just because they don't have the
Speaker 1: bodies as the Ravens, but mentally and the way they
Speaker 1: showed up with the game plan. They showed up to
Speaker 1: play like that, and I think that really benefited them
Speaker 1: as the game went on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel bad Lamar's gonna take the hit. But
Speaker 2: on that Von Miller play, it was a really bad
Speaker 2: in bad weather. That's a tough snap.
Speaker 1: He was dramatically better than years past and flops. He
Speaker 1: wasn't a couple bad plays, but overall, I thought he
Speaker 1: was pretty damn good that final drive. It was like
Speaker 1: he looked like mid season Lamar.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I mean, listen, Kansas City Buffalo is I think
Speaker 2: what most of us. I mean, I do think Josh
Speaker 2: Allen and Patrick Mahomes, I think we can say this now.
Speaker 2: And I feel bad for Joe Burrow. They had to
Speaker 2: sell naming rights to pay him. It is an antiplated
Speaker 2: front office. I mean, it's really sad, and Tobin the
Speaker 2: GM is kind of a powerless guy. So the Chiefs
Speaker 2: are minus one and a half against the Bills. I'll
Speaker 2: take Buffalo plus one and a half. I took Buffalo
Speaker 2: plus one and a half today. I think Buffalo is
Speaker 2: going to go into Arrowhead and win. They're they're pretty healthy.
Speaker 2: Boy Milano again making nice plays. You know that guy
Speaker 2: doesn't get a ton of credit football. People know he
Speaker 2: made a couple of big plays near the goal line tonight.
Speaker 2: So I think it's been established obviously where you land matters,
Speaker 2: and you know Brady got Belichick and Joe Montana got
Speaker 2: Bill Walsh. But that's just the way it works. I
Speaker 2: think Josh Allen, Mahomes to me, John have separated themselves
Speaker 2: as the best two quarterbacks.
Speaker 3: In the league.
Speaker 2: I like Joe Burrow a lot, but he gets hurt
Speaker 2: and that's you know, genetics are what they are. You
Speaker 2: get hurt, it's part of your legacy. And then I
Speaker 2: think the next tier of quarterbacks after those two starts
Speaker 2: with Joe Burrow and Jaden Daniels may be right behind him.
Speaker 2: We'll get to that later in the podcast. But I
Speaker 2: kind of feel like I've watched these NFC teams, John,
Speaker 2: I do not believe. I think Kansas City and Buffalo
Speaker 2: are going to win the Super Bowl. One of those two.
Speaker 2: I just don't think Philadelphia has buttoned up. I think
Speaker 2: Washington season well, and if it doesn't, they're just not
Speaker 2: talented enough.
Speaker 1: Agree or disagree, totally agree. This game feels like forty
Speaker 1: nine ers Cowboy. He's nineteen ninety three at Arrowhead and listen,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are my people. I probably wouldn't be sitting
Speaker 1: here with you if it wasn't for them. I do
Speaker 1: think this is the Bill's year. I think the Bills
Speaker 1: are gonna win next week, and I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: win the super Bowl. And you know, for one year
Speaker 1: when I was with Philadelphia, Sean was there and he's
Speaker 1: just I mean, he's a really really impressive guy. I
Speaker 1: think he's become a really good head coach, and he
Speaker 1: hired the right coordinator. I mean, going from Dorsey to
Speaker 1: Joe Brady has changed their offense. But let's be real
Speaker 1: about this. The Bills. You know, if you look back
Speaker 1: when I was younger, Manning Brady was a rivalry. But
Speaker 1: up until six oh seven, Manning could not beat him
Speaker 1: and Brady at three Super Bowls. That's kind of what
Speaker 1: this feels like. This Lamar Mahomes is not a rivalry.
Speaker 1: This is the third time in recent memory and the
Speaker 1: Bills have lost these games like last year the overtime
Speaker 1: game where they went three plays and fifty yards or whatever.
Speaker 1: But this is the game. It's Josh vers Moms and listen,
Speaker 1: you could make the argument because of the last lack
Speaker 1: of play off success, we got to reorder this is
Speaker 1: it goes Mahomes, Josh, then Joe Burrow and then Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: And the one thing and you just mentioned about Joe Burrow,
Speaker 1: he does not have the infrastructure that Lamar has. I
Speaker 1: mean the team that he took to the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and went toe to toe with Mahomes in the other
Speaker 1: playoff game that he lost in the AFC Championship game,
Speaker 1: Like I'm sorry, Like he's just accomplished way more now.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I used the NBA comps sometimes,
Speaker 1: like James Harden or Joel Embiid in that individual sport.
Speaker 1: I would much rather have Lamar in football than if
Speaker 1: I was in basketball and have one of those guys.
Speaker 1: So I and I think big picture, right, I still
Speaker 1: think the Ravens can win a Super Bowl. But as
Speaker 1: we sit here in twenty twenty five, like it's been
Speaker 1: a pretty big letdown given a guy that I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy could have like four MVPs and he easily
Speaker 1: could get his third. So it's this is tough. But
Speaker 1: the Ravens put themselves in this position having to go
Speaker 1: on the road. They lost a terrible game to Cleveland
Speaker 1: the second week to the Raiders. That first half against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, they didn't play very well. I mean that
Speaker 1: Raiders loss was really really bad. So I mean the
Speaker 1: Ravens and John Arbob put himself in this position.
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Speaker 2: It's time to look at this weekend's tastiest matchup and
Speaker 2: this week's Sunday Night food ball, brought to you by
Speaker 2: Uber Eats. Philadelphia going to the NFC Championship against Washington again.
Speaker 2: We'll get the Jade and Daniels later. Philadelphia twenty eight,
Speaker 2: Rams twenty two. It was thirteen to ten Philly at half,
Speaker 2: closer than I thought, and I'll give the Rams credit.
Speaker 2: I still feel there are about four players away. I
Speaker 2: think again like I felt last year, they're just incredibly coached,
Speaker 2: smartly quarterbacked, a little pooka reliant Kyron Williams again, a
Speaker 2: big fumble, he doesn't he fumbles too much. Remember cam Akers,
Speaker 2: they shipped him out of town. He fumbled too much.
Speaker 2: I feel like Kiron Williams is getting that point where
Speaker 2: he's fumbling in big games. But Philadelphia, Jalen Carter was spectacular.
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley was spectacular. And when I watched Philadelphia, I mean,
Speaker 2: they have the best interior D lineman in the league
Speaker 2: along with Chris Jones. They have the best running back
Speaker 2: in the league along with McCaffrey, who's hurt. It just
Speaker 2: this team is not led by Jalen Hurts. And it's
Speaker 2: not a knock. I just feel like it's their physicality
Speaker 2: on that defensive front. I feel like it's these young corners.
Speaker 2: You know I was thinking about this was Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 2: I always root for great players to play with great teams,
Speaker 2: Lebron to Miami, OTAWNI needed to be a Dodger or
Speaker 2: a Yankee, not an Angel, and I look at Saquon
Speaker 2: Barkley and he was just too damn good to be
Speaker 2: stuck in a circus in New York. Now, he maybe
Speaker 2: he doesn't rise to Otawi or Lebron, but I will
Speaker 2: say this, I really believe this. Just in terms of
Speaker 2: jumping over people. Remember when he jumped over that player
Speaker 2: backwards John. He is on a short list of the
Speaker 2: best running backs I've ever seen. Maybe He's not Walter
Speaker 2: Payton and Barry Sanders. Maybe he doesn't have the dexterity
Speaker 2: at Christian McCaffrey. John He's one of the five or
Speaker 2: six seminal running backs I've seen in my life. In
Speaker 2: terms of just talent, I think he's sensational.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think in recent memory, just as
Speaker 1: a pure runner between the tackles. When you talk about vision,
Speaker 1: power and speed, I think he's got to be on
Speaker 1: the short list with Derrick Henry and Adrian Peterson, who
Speaker 1: are too low Hall of famers. The difference is Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson got to play some pretty good teams in Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and obviously Derek Henry had vrabel the Titans, and now
Speaker 1: he has the Ravens. I thought today and I said this,
Speaker 1: I did a quick reaction after that game. I thought
Speaker 1: today was a pretty big Howie Roseman muscle flex because
Speaker 1: the quarterback. We watch four quarterbacks today, three of them
Speaker 1: all have something in common when they pass. And then
Speaker 1: there's Jalen Hurts, who just feels like everyone's so critical
Speaker 1: of Kellen Moore. It's like, guys, you can call any
Speaker 1: play you want in the pocket. He's he's a coin
Speaker 1: flip you have no clue what's coming in, and it
Speaker 1: usually it's more tails than heads. Saquon Barkley they got
Speaker 1: for under thirty million dollars guaranteed in a day and age.
Speaker 1: When guards you're getting fifty million dollars. Jalen Carter's a
Speaker 1: good example of let's face it. He was drafted ninth.
Speaker 1: He was the best player in that draft by a
Speaker 1: country mile. Pure talent, but like from like four to eight,
Speaker 1: everyone was terrified and it took balls to draft them.
Speaker 1: But you not only needed balls to take them, you
Speaker 1: needed the infrastructure then of high character leaders. They had
Speaker 1: Fletcher Cox, Jason Kelsey, they had a bunch of Georgia guys,
Speaker 1: so they took the risk, but they had the infrastructure there.
Speaker 1: I mean Saquon and Jalen Carter and Jared Verse were
Speaker 1: the two best players. But Jared Verse you could argue
Speaker 1: relatively easy pick if you need a defensive lineman, high
Speaker 1: character guy, great player. I mean, Jalen Carter was a
Speaker 1: He had to leave the combine to go to the
Speaker 1: police station. I mean remember that story. What this was
Speaker 1: a walking red flag? Who is an all time great talent,
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, one of the more talented guys in
Speaker 1: the last like five years of the NFL draft. I
Speaker 1: mean today it was just what is going on their
Speaker 1: talent with just those two guys, and then on top
Speaker 1: of the rest of the talent that they have on
Speaker 1: the team, like how well they can play with their quarterback.
Speaker 1: They I mean, it is conceivable they could win a
Speaker 1: super Bowl and he could not throw one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty yards in any playoff game or the super Bowl,
Speaker 1: like that could be on the table because how good
Speaker 1: they are.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I said last week I thought Bo Limmer,
Speaker 2: you know, the rookie center six round Arkansas and Jalen
Speaker 2: Carter was a problem. I will say this in defense
Speaker 2: of Sean McVay. I mean, but that safety cut it
Speaker 2: to sixteen fifteen.
Speaker 3: John.
Speaker 2: I kept watching this game thinking, how in the hell
Speaker 2: are the Rams as close? They don't have the personnel
Speaker 2: they just I thought their offensive line played well. There
Speaker 2: was it was one of those games that got really loose,
Speaker 2: really fast. It's almost like, you know, it's like when
Speaker 2: you played the Dodgers in the playoffs. At some point
Speaker 2: if you go up against Otani Betson Freeman, there's guys
Speaker 2: on bass Taoscar Hernandez. You're like, shit, we can't. We
Speaker 2: don't get a break here. Philadelphia can can just make
Speaker 2: play after play after play on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 2: and the Rams you really have to be smartly designed
Speaker 2: to face Philadelphia because the games go sideways. They can
Speaker 2: go on a four play drive and it's Saquon Goddard,
Speaker 2: AJ Brown hurts and you're like, shit, that's eighty yards
Speaker 2: and four plays. But I thought the Rams did a
Speaker 2: good job to hang around in like really bad weather
Speaker 2: for an LA team on a short week.
Speaker 1: I think the conversation has dramatically changed this year, but
Speaker 1: I think the way Mike Tomlin was talked about, probably
Speaker 1: from like twenty fifteen up until like last year, is
Speaker 1: actually what Sean McVay is. I mean, what he does
Speaker 1: to overcome as an underdog. I am totally with you.
Speaker 1: One last week was like a Picasso moment for the guy.
Speaker 1: His city's on fire. He has to pick up this whole,
Speaker 1: not just his team, but they're family and their animals
Speaker 1: and fly out to what was a road game at Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Then take a team. I mean, think about this. We
Speaker 1: talk about Miami NonStop. Well they're in seventy five degree weather. Well,
Speaker 1: what Weather's la in. The difference is the way him
Speaker 1: and Less build that team. Like they take Jared Versu
Speaker 1: and Braden Fisk. You know where those guys translate to.
Speaker 1: They could play in Alaska, They'd be awesome players. They
Speaker 1: build a tough team. This is what the Niners did
Speaker 1: for years. Build a tough team. It doesn't matter where
Speaker 1: you play. Part of the reason Miami sucks in cold weather.
Speaker 1: They have a soft team for him to go and
Speaker 1: do that. I mean Jared Verse. The three best players
Speaker 1: on the field today were Saquon Barkley, Jalen Carter, and
Speaker 1: Jared Verse, who was a man amongst boys. And the
Speaker 1: difference is is Listen, Jalen's has a matchup problem against
Speaker 1: the You know, unless you're playing Larry Allen, he's gonna
Speaker 1: be better than your guarter center. Jared Versus going up
Speaker 1: against two of the better tackles in the league.
Speaker 2: I was watching, John, I was watching. I was watching
Speaker 2: today and the two best defensive players I've ever seen
Speaker 2: in my life are Reggie White and Lawrence Taylor. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I was just thinking against Philadelphia's old line and
Speaker 2: I'm like, holy, holy shit, are we looking at like,
Speaker 2: not Lawrence Taylor, but the closest thing to Lawrence Taylor. Now,
Speaker 2: I think Lawrence a lot of what Verse does is
Speaker 2: he just bulldozes you.
Speaker 1: He goes right at you.
Speaker 2: He doesn't have kind of the ability. I don't think
Speaker 2: he's quite as athletic as Lawrence Taylor, who was. But
Speaker 2: you look at Philadelphia's tackles and you watch what Verse
Speaker 2: did as a rookie. I mean it, I guarantee you
Speaker 2: if you're if you're Kyle Shanahan, or you're McDonald and Seattle,
Speaker 2: or you're the guy down in Arizona. I mean when
Speaker 2: you look you when you put that film in, you're
Speaker 2: gonna draft an offensive tackle this year, Like you have
Speaker 2: to get that right. You cannot face the Rams and
Speaker 2: Verse for the next seven years if you don't have
Speaker 2: your tackles right.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I talked to someone who was at a joint
Speaker 1: practice this year with the Rams, and he said, about
Speaker 1: five snaps in to their first practice with him, some
Speaker 1: of their veteran guys on their team were like, Holy Molly,
Speaker 1: who is this guy? You know? And the thing with
Speaker 1: Jared Verse, do you know who he reminds me of?
Speaker 1: Is young? Is and I don't know if he's gonna
Speaker 1: become this good. But what Khalil Mack was early on
Speaker 1: in his career with the Raiders, because Khalil Mack's first
Speaker 1: year for the Raiders, he had four and a half
Speaker 1: sacks because the pushbacks always well first only had four
Speaker 1: and a half sacks. It was pretty clear. I remember
Speaker 1: a buddy on that coaching staff with the Raiders. Now,
Speaker 1: their talent on that team wasn't very good. The first
Speaker 1: OTA practice, He's like, this guy's the best player on
Speaker 1: our team by a mile. Now that's not necessarily the
Speaker 1: case on the Rams because they got Pooka and Stafford, right,
Speaker 1: but he clearly has a chance. Like this guy could
Speaker 1: win Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 2: I think he is the Belay I think I think
Speaker 2: right now him or Pooka, Yeah, Matt Puka and Jared Vers.
Speaker 2: Jared Verse was on the field today with a shirt
Speaker 2: off for the game. Dude, I it just doesn't look normal,
Speaker 2: Like it's like, I mean his speed. Remember last week
Speaker 2: against Men when he's picked up the Fumbland scored and
Speaker 2: then he was chasing down Sam Darnel and you're like,
Speaker 2: does he run like a four four five like, how
Speaker 2: fast is he for two sixty five?
Speaker 1: Well, it's one thing to have the nine sacks last
Speaker 1: week against that offensive line. What they have to day
Speaker 1: six or seven. I mean they had sixteen sacks in
Speaker 1: two games. They said on the broadcast they had under
Speaker 1: forty on the season. I was like, where is this
Speaker 1: coming from? And to me is really And Braydon Fisk
Speaker 1: went out of the game, which I thought, you know
Speaker 1: on some of Saquon's runs, Braiden Fisk having him in
Speaker 1: there as an extra body, that's a big deal. You
Speaker 1: only dressed so many guys in a game. He gets
Speaker 1: hurt early. I think you saw as the game went
Speaker 1: on the attrition of just the guys being out there.
Speaker 1: But I'm listen, the Eagles should win that they were
Speaker 1: basically a touchdown favorite for a reason. Their talent is
Speaker 1: I would say. Now, then the Chiefs and the Bills,
Speaker 1: you would say, subtract the quarterback. They are the most
Speaker 1: talented team. But the coaching job by McVeigh and him
Speaker 1: hiring his buddy Shula, where there's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 1: He felt a little insecure about how what is that
Speaker 1: guy Dan? I mean down the stretch, getting those guys
Speaker 1: going I thought today was I was kind of rooting
Speaker 1: for the Rams to win because I like like historic
Speaker 1: moments from coaches, and it's like, how is McVeigh has
Speaker 1: this team on the brink of a super Bowl with
Speaker 1: this talent and stafford. He's been so bad outside and
Speaker 1: I know his numbers weren't great, but I guess it's
Speaker 1: a big time plays.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he had a couple of no lookers.
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley against the Rams this year rushed for four
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty four yards, four rushing touchdowns, eight receptions
Speaker 2: for seventy four yards. A he's a superhero. He basically
Speaker 2: saved Nick Sirianni from getting canned, Jalen Hurts from harsh criticism,
Speaker 2: and AJ Brown going off the rails. I mean, really,
Speaker 2: this team is about Saquon Barkley. To me, it really is.
Speaker 2: He's a superhero.
Speaker 3: It doesn't.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is what's amazing about that I have
Speaker 2: this conversation with people around the league, either reporters or executives.
Speaker 2: This letting him go to the Eagles from the Giants
Speaker 2: is to me a fireable offense. And I'm never calling
Speaker 2: for a GM job, but Jesus, like, like I remember
Speaker 2: when they made that move, and I remember saying on
Speaker 2: the air, so he's going from arguably the bottom three
Speaker 2: to zero line to the best with Jalen Hurts and
Speaker 2: two receivers that will. You can't cheat in the box
Speaker 2: like Barkley and New York had a quarterback that didn't
Speaker 2: move or they didn't they didn't do a lot of
Speaker 2: running with him, and they were bad at receiver because
Speaker 2: it was pre Malik Neighbors. So you could just cheat,
Speaker 2: you could bring a strong safety in the box. So
Speaker 2: it was like, guys, you can't put a safety in
Speaker 2: the box against Philip. He's gonna be He's gonna I mean,
Speaker 2: it is the least. It's like KD to the Warriors.
Speaker 2: It's like it's like, although with KD, you thought, well, geez,
Speaker 2: they got so many guys that want to shoot on
Speaker 2: this team because Jalen's so limited as a passer. He's
Speaker 2: you know, as we've discussed, nobody in the league I
Speaker 2: talked to, everybody went, oh, he may rush for two
Speaker 2: thousand arms with his team.
Speaker 1: Well, I think John Mara got a lot of like
Speaker 1: weird criticism for his comments in that in Joe Shane's
Speaker 1: office when he said, I don't think I could sleep
Speaker 1: at night if I lose him, And everyone's like, why
Speaker 1: is he so obsessed with his star player? And it's
Speaker 1: as simple as this guy's been around the team for
Speaker 1: a long long time and seeing obviously Lawrence Taylor's one
Speaker 1: of the greatest players. He's seen some of the ELI teams.
Speaker 1: He has a pretty good understanding of what a superstar
Speaker 1: player looks like. And it feels a little bit like
Speaker 1: when Joe Shane said, I don't think he's going to
Speaker 1: go to the Eagles. Then he goes and he has
Speaker 1: a historic season. Now he has a historic playoff game.
Speaker 1: Like when you tell your parents like and they're just like,
Speaker 1: do not do this, do not do this, and you
Speaker 1: do it anyway and then it just blows up in
Speaker 1: your face and you have to walk back and look
Speaker 1: them in the eye. How can those guys walk into
Speaker 1: the office tomorrow and if they have to cross John
Speaker 1: Mara in the hallway. I mean, this guy just carried
Speaker 1: the team, your bitter rival, this right down the street.
Speaker 1: I mean he's a superstar. Like you say, his individual
Speaker 1: years is good of a year. I mean Terrell Davis
Speaker 1: got to the Hall of Fame based on two years,
Speaker 1: if they were to win the Super Bowl and this
Speaker 1: guy has another one hundred and fifty yards and another
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty yards in the playoffs, and he
Speaker 1: would run for a lot of yards if they played
Speaker 1: Buffalo because they don't have a great run defense. That like,
Speaker 1: that's one of those Obviously they kept their jobs this year.
Speaker 1: How could you look at them the same You cannot
Speaker 1: look them in the face and go, I can't. I
Speaker 1: can't and listen even well, it's running backs and the
Speaker 1: value and we get it, but there aren't that many
Speaker 1: humans that can play like that on the field. I
Speaker 1: would say the same thing about the Titans. GM got fired.
Speaker 1: You're like, wait, Derek Henry just cost the Ravens eight
Speaker 1: million dollars. That's what it cost the Ravens eight million
Speaker 1: dollars and he ran for sixteen seventeen hundred yards and
Speaker 1: he's clearly one of the best players on the planet.
Speaker 1: We couldn't have just used that this year. Like I think,
Speaker 1: sometimes these decisions, you know, get a lot of people
Speaker 1: fired really fast. I think Joe Shane and Brian Dable
Speaker 1: are the only reason they have a job right now.
Speaker 1: And I'm with you. Like, I don't want these guys
Speaker 1: to lose their job and at the back of their family.
Speaker 1: But is John Morris said, like he doesn't want to
Speaker 1: fire anyone anymore, Like he's just tired of firing people.
Speaker 1: If he had had like if these guys have replaced
Speaker 1: Tom Coughlin, these guys would have been fired three weeks ago.
Speaker 2: That's right, he doesn't want to be the Raiders. We'll
Speaker 2: get to a Raiders story before the end of this podcast.
Speaker 2: That was this week's Sunday Night Food Ball brought to
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Speaker 2: now for our next segment. Whiskey Business, brought to you
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Speaker 2: com and discover a legend in a bottle today. So
Speaker 2: let's talk about Jaden Daniels in Detroit. So I'm going
Speaker 2: to get to Detroit first. So Philadelphia, Nick Sirianni is
Speaker 2: not a scheme wizard, nor is Dan Campbell. So when
Speaker 2: siriani lost his coordinators, that team circle the drain about Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: Campbell's not a scheme guy as well. McVeigh is Andy
Speaker 2: Reid is. They can lose coordinators. It doesn't affect the
Speaker 2: outcome or the momentum of the franchise. But Dan Campbell
Speaker 2: probably isn't going to land Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn
Speaker 2: and I think because of their own line and running game.
Speaker 2: I think offensively, they're a double digit win team for
Speaker 2: the next three to four years. But I think there's
Speaker 2: a chance Detroit takes a slight step back because.
Speaker 3: Coordinators.
Speaker 2: I mean, we've seen it through the playoffs. Spagnola is
Speaker 2: worth it feels like a touchdown. I mean, he's that
Speaker 2: valuable in situational football, we're watching McVeigh. I mean, look
Speaker 2: what Flores did to the Vikings defense.
Speaker 1: We know that coordinators, you can say McDermott, I mean
Speaker 1: with his personnel, he's a defensive guy. He knows what
Speaker 1: he's doing.
Speaker 2: So I look at the Lions and they'll be good,
Speaker 2: but they're gonna lose both coordinators and I and I
Speaker 2: also do you think they're looking at golf because look
Speaker 2: at this weekend golf and Stafford, the last two pocket
Speaker 2: quarterbacks in the playoff lost. If it was a really
Speaker 2: good quarterback year in the draft, I think Detroit would
Speaker 2: draft one. I really do.
Speaker 1: I think Golf after he got his head slammed, you know,
Speaker 1: might have been playing a little fuzzy because he had
Speaker 1: not looked like that really for two years he had,
Speaker 1: especially in the Dome. I think looking back on Detroit,
Speaker 1: I think the Ravens fall under this too. Last year
Speaker 1: was your shot. I mean, they could they kick a
Speaker 1: field goal. They have a seventeen point lead against the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers on the road in the second half.
Speaker 1: The Baltimore Ravens had Mike McDonald as their defensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: the number one defense in the league, the MVPA quarterback,
Speaker 1: and we're hosting the Chiefs. So both those two teams
Speaker 1: get bounced to the second round this year. It's like
Speaker 1: last year they were controlling their own destiny. I understand,
Speaker 1: you know, the Lions head home field. But that team
Speaker 1: on defense. I mean, what happens on that first drive.
Speaker 1: The guy that just locked up justin Jefferson two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: his arms pointing the opposite way, So they lose their
Speaker 1: best corner. It's like their team's already banged up and
Speaker 1: they just ran into the greatest rookie quarterback we've ever seen.
Speaker 1: And they had even if they wouldn't have turned it over.
Speaker 1: One of them was a pick six. You can't win
Speaker 1: a playoff game if the offense is gonna score thirty
Speaker 1: five plus points at home. You know, Jared Goff obviously
Speaker 1: was atrocious. I thought Ben Johnson kind of got weird.
Speaker 1: I mean, anytime you call a double pass, like the
Speaker 1: one thing with Jared Goff, he does have a long
Speaker 1: body of work for you to just turn on him
Speaker 1: in that moment. The wide receiver is very inclined, whether
Speaker 1: the guy's open or not, to always throw the ball,
Speaker 1: and I know the coaches tell him, hey it's not open,
Speaker 1: throw the ball away. They always throw it, and he
Speaker 1: threw it. You're like, hey, you can't do that, but
Speaker 1: that's just you call that play. It's it's I thought
Speaker 1: it was pretty unnecessary. I know, you got that he
Speaker 1: was getting cute, and I tend to agree. I don't
Speaker 1: know if he's showing off for a Brady at that moment.
Speaker 1: I dodn't think he's necessarily showing off, But I just
Speaker 1: thought it was a poorly timed moment and it felt
Speaker 1: like he had turned on jer Goff. He didn't trust
Speaker 1: him because to call that play in that spot they
Speaker 1: were down ten points.
Speaker 2: How about this, Josh Harris in twenty eleven buys with
Speaker 2: a group the Sixers. He still hasn't gotten to an
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference championship. With Joel Embiid, who's always hurt. He
Speaker 2: buys the Commander's first year NFC championship, which shows you
Speaker 2: why this league is so great. Houston was the embarrassment
Speaker 2: of the league playoffs. Washington had a fifteen year smell
Speaker 2: with Dan Snyder NFC Championship. One of the reasons I
Speaker 2: love this league. I mean two a year ago, we
Speaker 2: thought Denver was just you know, they were a heap
Speaker 2: of tires on the freeway on fire. The Commanders for
Speaker 2: the next three years can just surround Jaden Daniels with talent,
Speaker 2: and I want to talk about him. I had a
Speaker 2: five game stretch middle of the season, he got banged up,
Speaker 2: bo Nick started to surge, and you were like, Okay,
Speaker 2: Jaden's more athletic maybe, but you know, but his last
Speaker 2: like eight games, his ability, I've never seen anything like this.
Speaker 2: His last ten games, it says here, twenty touchdowns, seven picks,
Speaker 2: ninety eight passer rating, and they played some good teams.
Speaker 2: His ability to he's not Lamar the runner. And I'll
Speaker 2: tell you why it's an advantage. Lamar is so gifted
Speaker 2: as a runner, So was Michael Vick, Steve Young was
Speaker 2: to a large degree to and Josh Allen. That you're
Speaker 2: so great as a runner, it's always an easy out,
Speaker 2: especially in high school and college.
Speaker 3: It's just an easy.
Speaker 2: Jaden's fast, but he's not quite a vic or a
Speaker 2: Josh Allen when he can roll over you. But what
Speaker 2: he is he's evasive more so than like Kyler Murray.
Speaker 2: So he's he's fast enough to get out of trouble.
Speaker 2: But he's not as big and strong as Allen, or
Speaker 2: as shifty or pure speed as Lamar. So he's never
Speaker 2: he's always relied on the pocket. Right like he sits
Speaker 2: in the pocket. He feels so advanced to me, is
Speaker 2: a late game pocket passer. I thought Andrew Lucke was
Speaker 2: the best rookie quarterback I ever saw, but you got
Speaker 2: downside with him. He was a risk taker. He had
Speaker 2: little sam Donold and Carson Wentz. I get no downside
Speaker 2: with this kid.
Speaker 3: None.
Speaker 1: If you just look at the best players in the
Speaker 1: NFL at quarterback, there's like three or four guys, and
Speaker 1: you know, I think Mahomes and Josh Allen are much
Speaker 1: more playmakers than Drew pocket quarterbacks. Obviously, Lamar's a hybrid.
Speaker 1: It would really be Burrow and what to Burrow and
Speaker 1: Jayden have in common. They both had a transfer to LSU.
Speaker 1: Their first year at LSU did not go well, and
Speaker 1: their second year they kind of mastered it. Well, think
Speaker 1: about this. You know, Burrow's the talent he went against
Speaker 1: on defense every day in practice was better than Jaden's.
Speaker 1: But think about you play every year Alabama a Nick
Speaker 1: Saban Alabama, So with several NFL guys on the front,
Speaker 1: you play A and M who's always loaded with talent,
Speaker 1: and you just play an SEC schedule. So over the
Speaker 1: course of a couple of years, after you had already
Speaker 1: been in another school, got some reps Jayden had played
Speaker 1: today as U Burrow hadn't, and you kind of get
Speaker 1: to master your craft because I watched Jayden Daniels and
Speaker 1: you go, he's pretty calm like Joe Burrow in the pocket,
Speaker 1: you know which, And he was considered this dual threat
Speaker 1: because last year was like, well, he's really good neat
Speaker 1: ball thrower, that was like his Russell Wilson thing. But
Speaker 1: over the middle of the field, blitzes can get him.
Speaker 1: He looks completely under control. That's the craziest part about
Speaker 1: his game is how cool, calm and collected he is.
Speaker 1: To me, he's the more athletic running version of Burrow
Speaker 1: because he really plays much more like a pocket quarterback.
Speaker 1: How good is he throwing over the middle of the field.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's he's the crazy part.
Speaker 3: In congested areas, He's just credible. It's just incredible.
Speaker 2: And you know, my favorite part of this is I
Speaker 2: love I thought like cam Ward was a winner this weekend.
Speaker 2: You know you're watching You're watching Jade and Daniels come
Speaker 2: out of that draft and Tennessee's probably thinking, well, I mean,
Speaker 2: cam Ward's like a thicker version of him like Jade
Speaker 2: and Daniels' ability to just improvise. I mean Cliff Kingsbury.
Speaker 2: Steve Kaiin was texting me, He's like Cliff Kingsbury, you know,
Speaker 2: after that mess at USC in Arizona. He's like, he
Speaker 2: earned this and deserved it. But I just think sometimes
Speaker 2: people are special. And whereas Mahomes gott to sit for
Speaker 2: his first year and Lamar didn't play until week eleven,
Speaker 2: this kid was inserted onto a really I would argue
Speaker 2: at best, second, probably third, best roster in that division.
Speaker 2: And and the other thing is that Brian Kelly said
Speaker 2: us in college, he said, he's just he's just a
Speaker 2: great student of the game. He was good early, little
Speaker 2: turbulent middle of the season, got banged up. He's just
Speaker 2: gotten better. He's a better quarterback now than he was
Speaker 2: ten weeks ago.
Speaker 1: He's just totally I was thinking about this, think about
Speaker 1: the first three quarterbacks, Caleb, him and Drake. You know,
Speaker 1: Caleb goes to a place where every coach got fired
Speaker 1: halfway through the season. Drake goes to a place where
Speaker 1: clearly the guy was in over his head. And this
Speaker 1: guy gets to go to Dan Quinn, who had taken
Speaker 1: a team to a super Bowl, had gone to Kingsbury,
Speaker 1: who had coached in the NFL, had been a head
Speaker 1: coach for a long long time as the play caller,
Speaker 1: head coach in college, and the pros of just a
Speaker 1: very stable place immediately because they don't have that much talent.
Speaker 1: Mclaurin's a good player, but Zach Hurtz is like my age,
Speaker 1: the brown guy. Most people that follow the NFL don't
Speaker 1: know that much about defensively, Bobby Wagner's been in the
Speaker 1: league forever. I mean he's on whole seventeen or eighteen
Speaker 1: of his career.
Speaker 2: It gets best John at best, it's the twelfth to
Speaker 2: fifteenth best roster in the league.
Speaker 1: At best, I think it's probably closer to low twenties.
Speaker 1: And what he's doing and the coaching staff's doing. And
Speaker 1: there's something in football right more than these other sports,
Speaker 1: Like in baseball, I can't even if Bochie's my manager,
Speaker 1: if I don't have the talent. I can't overachieve against
Speaker 1: the Dodgers over six seven games. Right if I'm playing
Speaker 1: the Kadie Warriors or the Shaq Kobe Lakers, I'm fucked.
Speaker 1: Phil Jackson and doesn't John Wooden could be the coach
Speaker 1: in football coaching staffs won just the belief coming into
Speaker 1: a game. I think we saw it today with McDermott
Speaker 1: and the Bills. They believe they could win that game.
Speaker 1: That matters a lot. The Lions have had this for
Speaker 1: a couple of years with Dan Campbell and then the
Speaker 1: schematics of everything, But there is just an element that
Speaker 1: they just got this guy. I mean they go for
Speaker 1: it a lot on these fourth and shorts because they
Speaker 1: got this guy. That's right, four fourth and two with
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston or some random quarterbacks is not the same, Like,
Speaker 1: I think part of the reason he's going for it
Speaker 1: constantly is this guy. The Lions do it a lot.
Speaker 1: They got the best defensive line in the league. They
Speaker 1: got a star tight end, they got a star wide receiver,
Speaker 1: they got multiple backs. It's a high percentage play. It's
Speaker 1: not the same if you've got Tommy DeVito in that
Speaker 1: offensive line, right, So things aren't all equal. I don't
Speaker 1: think he's this crazy gun slinger. He's just going we
Speaker 1: have one of the most dynamic players I've probably ever seen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I said this yesterday in my pod, you
Speaker 2: knew you had something special when a veteran coach Dan
Speaker 2: Quinn and you know a guy who had been a
Speaker 2: head coach in two plays is Cliff Kingsbury. In camp
Speaker 2: were effusive with their praise. I mean, the rule with
Speaker 2: rookie quarterbacks is he'll get there, let's lower expectations. And
Speaker 2: they kept talking to Dan Quinn zach Ertz told me
Speaker 2: this last week. He's like, yeah, this is different. This
Speaker 2: doesn't look like this. This is way better than a
Speaker 2: rookie quarterback. And I remember people saying that about Andrew Lock,
Speaker 2: how he memorized the Colts playbook in like two and
Speaker 2: a half days. The instincts, the poise, to me, it's
Speaker 2: just unprecedented. I've never seen anything like it. And again,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't have guessed he would be the greatest rookie
Speaker 2: quarterback of all time. In Week eight, they had played
Speaker 2: bad against Pittsburgh, a couple of picks against the Cowboys.
Speaker 2: He was banged up his last like eight weeks. It's like,
Speaker 2: is he a top five quarterback in the league.
Speaker 3: He may be.
Speaker 1: I had a scouting buddy texted me last night and said,
Speaker 1: you know, the Bears didn't even bring in Jade Daniels
Speaker 1: for a visit, and listen, I'm not trying to write
Speaker 1: off Caleb's career. We've seen Peyton Manning as bad as
Speaker 1: a rookie by all means he can give.
Speaker 3: Caleb is not this accurate, no way.
Speaker 1: But your job as a GM Adam Peters took a
Speaker 1: lot of crap because remember he had like all five
Speaker 1: quarterbacks not named Caleb Williams. He took him to top golf.
Speaker 1: That's kind of his job. Do we evaluate everybody who's
Speaker 1: going to be available. So I think you look back
Speaker 1: at Ryan Poles. It would have taken a lot of
Speaker 1: balls to not take Caleb Williams. It was the easy pick.
Speaker 1: But his job isn't to playgate to the media. His
Speaker 1: job is to get it right and get the right player.
Speaker 1: And they didn't even look at this guy and listen,
Speaker 1: Caleb can become a good player. This guy is. It's
Speaker 1: mind blowing because his team's not that talented. It'd be
Speaker 1: one thing. It's like, well, he inherited this great roster.
Speaker 1: They actually traded up from pick twenty to pick two
Speaker 1: to get them. No, like this team was terrible. It's
Speaker 1: essentially the same roster that we all made fun of
Speaker 1: last year with Ron Rivera that ended up at number two.
Speaker 1: And it's actually not because remember they traded sweat mid season.
Speaker 1: They traded sweat Chase Young. They don't even have a
Speaker 1: great defensive line. I mean, they don't have many defensive
Speaker 1: line beside the tackles. It's crazy what he's doing. They're
Speaker 1: the running backs for Eckler, who's a good little scat back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: McK nichols, who Adam Peters likes. And Brian Robinson, who
Speaker 1: a couple you know. Mid season started fumbling, so they
Speaker 1: kind of kicked to the curve. It's not like they're
Speaker 1: handing the ball to Saquon. That's not what's going on here.
Speaker 1: It's crazy.
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Speaker 2: going to the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
Speaker 3: Can't wait.
Speaker 2: The original Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce perfect for those who
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Speaker 2: This stuff is remarkable. Let's talk Kansas City Houston. So
Speaker 2: Houston had the worst special teams performance by any team
Speaker 2: in the playoffs that I can remember, starting with the
Speaker 2: opening kickoff by the Chiefs. They also had eight penalties.
Speaker 2: There were a couple of calls. I thought the referees
Speaker 2: over the course of the weekend let guys play, and
Speaker 2: then they clearly on two instances got over protective of Mahomes.
Speaker 2: You know, it's what happens when you're the marque player
Speaker 2: in the league. The team only had Kansas City and
Speaker 2: it had two hundred and twelve yards and Travis Kelcey
Speaker 2: at one hundred and seventeen of them. It's interesting because dynasties,
Speaker 2: it reminds me a lot of grong dynasties tend to
Speaker 2: do this. New England had at Kansas City has it,
Speaker 2: and I've seen this. You know, Steelers had this probably
Speaker 2: if you go back to their dynasty, maybe the Niners
Speaker 2: did you know that dynasty very well. In television terms
Speaker 2: and local TV, you know, there's kind of a term
Speaker 2: like red light guys, like when the red light of
Speaker 2: the camera goes on you're on a live shot. My
Speaker 2: buddy I worked with for years, Trace Gallagher, is a
Speaker 2: good friend he's at Fox News. We bounced around the
Speaker 2: country together, getting jobs in the same stations or markets.
Speaker 2: And the first thing I noticed his first job in
Speaker 2: Las Vegas is I'd never seen anybody that could get
Speaker 2: dropped off in front of a hotel fire and we
Speaker 2: could go twelve minutes with very little information and just talk.
Speaker 2: And I'm like, that's a red light guy. And that's
Speaker 2: Travis kelce Like when you look at this season, and
Speaker 2: I mean there are there have been times the last
Speaker 2: two years, John I've looked at him in Week four
Speaker 2: and thought he looks overweight, Like I'm not even.
Speaker 3: I mean, well, I don't even know what you do
Speaker 3: with him.
Speaker 2: It's like Gronk. You get those big mits and big games,
Speaker 2: he gets open. He is just I mean, dynasties always
Speaker 2: have one of these guys. And and by the way,
Speaker 2: you can tell who Mahomes trusts he's getting. He's building
Speaker 2: a trust.
Speaker 3: With Xavier Worthy.
Speaker 2: He really likes Kareem Haunt, but he is looking for
Speaker 2: Travis kelcey on big plays.
Speaker 1: Yeah, to me, you hear a lot is like, why
Speaker 1: how's he How's eighty seven always open in these big moments.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, guys, he's not running just routes that
Speaker 1: these teams have prepared for. Right, there are plays that
Speaker 1: every team runs, and you know, if you're running this
Speaker 1: defense kind of cheat here. This is where he wants
Speaker 1: to go. He will go wherever you don't, and Mahomes
Speaker 1: knows that, and then we'll go to him. So in
Speaker 1: these biggest moments, it's like, well, we know what play
Speaker 1: they're gonna run, and he should end up in this
Speaker 1: like two yard radius instead in the hangar left, he'll
Speaker 1: hang a right because he knows you know that, and
Speaker 1: he'll be wide open. It kind of feels like almost
Speaker 1: like John Stock and Karl Malone in the pick and Roll.
Speaker 1: I'm sure there are some basic defensive rules for coaches,
Speaker 1: but they knew each other so well. By the peak
Speaker 1: of their powers. You could go left, they could go right,
Speaker 1: and he knew he would go right. And that's what
Speaker 1: it feels like in these big moments, because he gets open,
Speaker 1: and it's not because someone's just screwing up. It's because
Speaker 1: they're playing chess and you can't play on their level.
Speaker 1: They're Bobby Fisher at this point, those two guys, because
Speaker 1: on his big play that kind of exploded the game open.
Speaker 1: He's not as fast as he once was. His top
Speaker 1: ten speed used to be elite for a tight end
Speaker 1: and now it's probably average, like NFL average. But his
Speaker 1: instincts with the ball in his hands are still elite
Speaker 1: as it gets. Just like Gronk, because he got older,
Speaker 1: he couldn't move like he wants could, but he still
Speaker 1: had the strength and he still had the size. That
Speaker 1: was his separating factor, Travis. The separating factor is his
Speaker 1: instinctive athleticism. He's like you know at this point Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan nineteen ninety eight. Michael Jordan wasn't jumping and dunking
Speaker 1: over guys then, but he was so much smarter than
Speaker 1: you and his instincts were so elite that to me
Speaker 1: is Travis. So it's like, yes, ninth one hundred yard
Speaker 1: game does not look like the game in seventeen when
Speaker 1: he was run by guys because he's not really running
Speaker 1: by guys now, he's making moves to get around guys.
Speaker 1: So I listen. He's one of the greatest champions this
Speaker 1: league has ever seen. And Andy said it last night.
Speaker 1: Mahomes said it. He's just he's not just a bright
Speaker 1: lights guy like I just think he's smarter than you.
Speaker 1: I think his football intellect in IQ is Peyton Manning,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Steve Young at tight end, which
Speaker 1: I would say is pretty rare.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, Kansas City gets ding done because
Speaker 2: we say, you know, it's kind of lucky. But the
Speaker 2: john they are taking leads on people. You know, that's
Speaker 2: what they do. They kind of come out, they take
Speaker 2: a lead on you a lot of the times. Now
Speaker 2: they don't make many mistakes. And then what they do
Speaker 2: in the second half is they start getting really situationally
Speaker 2: great on third, on fourth down, on goal line stands.
Speaker 2: And I think, Johnny, you and I have talked about this,
Speaker 2: and I think this is now more true than ever.
Speaker 2: The five things you have to be really good at
Speaker 2: the NFL, like head coach, quarterback. You have to have
Speaker 2: a stable ow line, one reliable weapon. It can be Kelsey,
Speaker 2: it could be Puka, it could be Saquon Barkley. You
Speaker 2: have to have a reliable weapon, and you have to
Speaker 2: have some defensive presence on the D line, a difference maker,
Speaker 2: which now the Lions don't really have. The Bills have
Speaker 2: a Von Miller. The by the way, their weapons they're
Speaker 2: running backs in Buffalo are underrated in my opinion. But
Speaker 2: I think about Kansas City is this weekend two or
Speaker 2: three things were really on display. Quarterback Jayden Daniels probably
Speaker 2: was one of the stars of the weekend. But I
Speaker 2: think when you watch McVeagh and Andy Reeve's teams, they
Speaker 2: are so resourceful, like they just figure out ways to
Speaker 2: convert and even if it's a field position, even if
Speaker 2: it's stopping you on third or getting an extra first down.
Speaker 3: I just feel like they're always winning the margins. And
Speaker 3: that's why it's not luck. They just do that regularly.
Speaker 1: Why I think one knock on Ay and Philly Fair
Speaker 1: or not was the situational stuff. And I think situationally,
Speaker 1: you look back, well like was it him or was
Speaker 1: it you know, Donovan Nabb was really out of shape
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl and not make some great decisions.
Speaker 1: You know, Michael Vick was just a hard guy to
Speaker 1: coach because of the way he played. And I think
Speaker 1: he's like he Bill wallsh finally found his found his
Speaker 1: Joe Montana, Andy Reid found his Mahomes and now I
Speaker 1: think he's situationally brilliant. And Demiko yesterday like it's it's
Speaker 1: two sided. Demiko is a stud like that team showed
Speaker 1: up ready to win. Dimiko is a high level coach.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think one of the best, if not
Speaker 1: the best young coach in the league. On defense. I
Speaker 1: mean just Demiko is awesome. But kicking that ball into
Speaker 1: the win for the field goal, It's like, this is
Speaker 1: what are we doing here? It's almost like a par
Speaker 1: five over the waters, like lay up. You know this
Speaker 1: is not a good decision. And then late in the game,
Speaker 1: who was calling that game, was Collinsworth or Brady whoever
Speaker 1: was calling that game, was like, oh was Apeman. He's like,
Speaker 1: I'd call time out because it was fourth and long, yes,
Speaker 1: And Aikman's like I called they're all discombobulated. Call timeout.
Speaker 1: You either got a call timeout or just take the
Speaker 1: delay game and punt. He was just in no man's land.
Speaker 1: And that was this is not week four or week ten.
Speaker 1: That was John.
Speaker 2: I thought, I'm glad you mentioned that.
Speaker 3: That is mcvahan Reid.
Speaker 2: That's the difference between mcvaann Reid Aikman, a former quarterback
Speaker 2: is screaming on TV, take a time out. You've got
Speaker 2: to take a time out. The defensive coaches and I
Speaker 2: like Demiko, but I swear if mcveighor Reid in that situation,
Speaker 2: they would have called a time out. And when when
Speaker 2: you're on the road and your special teams are a
Speaker 2: grease fire, you have to get that play right. That's
Speaker 2: one of those classic Nobody in Houston wants to talk
Speaker 2: about it. It's about the officiating. That play is why
Speaker 2: I tend to lean toward offensive coaches. It's that playoff football, situational,
Speaker 2: circumstantial moment. I'm glad you brought that up, because that,
Speaker 2: to me, was a seminal play in the game.
Speaker 1: I do think this, and I love Andy Naggi v
Speaker 1: those guys are my guys. But the mahomes going out
Speaker 1: of bounds and stopping is not just unbecoming. It's got
Speaker 1: to stop it. It's got to be penalized. I remember
Speaker 1: when it happened against the Niners earlier this season and
Speaker 1: Nick Bosa said, it's all the officiating is against these
Speaker 1: defensive players. I mean, there was a play today when
Speaker 1: DeVante Smith got blown up. In the history of the
Speaker 1: NFL up until three or four years ago, that's called
Speaker 1: the hospital ball. When you throw that ball in the
Speaker 1: middle of the field, and get him killed. Now it's
Speaker 1: a fifteen yard penalty. The Mahomes thing of stopping at
Speaker 1: the sideline, and look, they didn't end up calling a
Speaker 1: penalty there, but one he's gonna get hurt. It's just stupid.
Speaker 1: Just go out of bounds. It's it's and he does
Speaker 1: this sometimes he stops and you stop and then he
Speaker 1: gains a couple extra yards that I don't blame the
Speaker 1: Chiefs and Mahomes like it's like Chris Paul and James Harden.
Speaker 1: That's his version of what he's doing. The league has
Speaker 1: to say, if that happens again, we're gonna penalize you.
Speaker 1: And I don't know exactly how they do it. And listen,
Speaker 1: I thought the second penalty on Mahomes, you know, the
Speaker 1: the unnecessary roughness where they hit each other in the
Speaker 1: head and he didn't even get really touched, was pretty egregious.
Speaker 1: But that was the worst moment of all. And that
Speaker 1: this is to me a Mahomes thing of like, I'm
Speaker 1: pro you guys, but that's it's starting to get embarrassing
Speaker 1: because it's like this is unfair. It's already not fair
Speaker 1: to the defense what the rules are, but that moment
Speaker 1: is like you talk, I'm all for loopholes in life.
Speaker 1: That feels like a loophole that is just screwing over
Speaker 1: people and that I honestly, I was surprised they didn't
Speaker 1: throw the fifteen yard penalty.
Speaker 2: Okay, I want to touch on this. So we're gonna
Speaker 2: start seeing here in the next week some coaches, I
Speaker 2: imagine this this week. Do you think we'll see some
Speaker 2: coaches take jobs? Because I saw a story today, and
Speaker 2: there's so much information out there, I can't separate fact
Speaker 2: from fiction, like rumor from substantial unless it's somebody I trust.
Speaker 2: But one of the things floated out there is Ben
Speaker 2: Johnson actually is leaning Raiders, And I thought, whoa, whoa
Speaker 2: whoa toughest division, no quarterback, impulsive owner and one of
Speaker 2: the poorest owners, mahomes Herbert, even bo Nicks. I'm like,
Speaker 2: week quarterback draft, what in the hell are you doing?
Speaker 2: Give me your feeling? And maybe that's the power of Brady,
Speaker 2: who's clearly running the franchise right now. Like that, that's
Speaker 2: clear obvious if you were Ben Johnson, Because I thought
Speaker 2: I thought New England was the best job, and I
Speaker 2: thought Rabel was the best candidate, Like I thought Harbaugh
Speaker 2: was the best candidate in the Chargers was the best
Speaker 2: job last year. I don't think it's hard to spot.
Speaker 2: You could see it a mile away. Where would you
Speaker 2: go if you were Ben Johnson. They're all somewhat dysfunctional.
Speaker 1: To me, I could understand go to the Raiders if
Speaker 1: you told me Tom Brady lived in Las Vegas and
Speaker 1: was gonna be doing this full time, and I essentially
Speaker 1: answered to him. But that is not what is happening.
Speaker 1: He's gonna stay in Florida and buy all reports, go
Speaker 1: keep rocking with Fox. Mark Davis is the guy in
Speaker 1: that building every single day. So even if you just go,
Speaker 1: don't even factor in the roster or the division with
Speaker 1: the coaches and the quarterbacks. The Mark Davis situation is
Speaker 1: not one that I could get into business if I
Speaker 1: have options. The problem is what are his other options?
Speaker 1: The Bears. I'm sorry, like at least with if you
Speaker 1: can't fix Caleb, it'll kind of be on you, not
Speaker 1: him because of the hype coming in and you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to coach him for a couple of years, and
Speaker 1: what if you're not that indu him and you got
Speaker 1: to answer to Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren. I'm sorry
Speaker 1: the Jags, like if Trent Balky's there, I'm not taking
Speaker 1: that job, say the Jets. He didn't even interview. So
Speaker 1: I do understand the Raiders like Tom Brady. Maybe he's
Speaker 1: just an all time great salesman. But if I was
Speaker 1: recommending to Ben Johnson, I'd go, well, is he to
Speaker 1: be there every day? Because if he's not, like Mark
Speaker 1: Davis used to yell at assistant coaches on the plane,
Speaker 1: and I'm not people are gonna say you're just a
Speaker 1: Raider hater. No, I'm just telling you this that used
Speaker 1: to happen a lot. Well, it's been reported on like
Speaker 1: it's just a chaotic organization, right, I mean, it's just
Speaker 1: I think going there, especially when then if you factor
Speaker 1: in the division no quarterback, it's not like a quarterback draft.
Speaker 1: Pretty nuts. And I would have been like, well, maybe
Speaker 1: he can take his you know, Matt shabb with him
Speaker 1: or whatever. His backup quarterback last night, Hendon Hooker. They
Speaker 1: clearly don't trust him because they made him the third
Speaker 1: string quarterback in Teddy Bridgewater, whose coach in high school
Speaker 1: was the backup quarterback. That shows you it's not like
Speaker 1: even likes the backup guy to take with him. So
Speaker 1: I would say talent just on the roster the Bears,
Speaker 1: but that situation's kind of messed up. The only good
Speaker 1: thing the Raiders have going for him is you get
Speaker 1: to essentially hire your GM as well. But like I've
Speaker 1: seen that Dog and Pony show, Gruden and got to
Speaker 1: hire what's his name from the NFL network, Josh McDaniel's
Speaker 1: got to bring Ziegel. They all fail. You could argue
Speaker 1: this cycles just awful. Maybe just stay with the Lions.
Speaker 1: Don't touch any of these jobs. No, And I get
Speaker 1: there's a lot of money on the line, Chefter saying
Speaker 1: he's good as gone. I think all these jobs are terrible, Colin,
Speaker 1: I mean not terrible.
Speaker 2: The only one I like, because remember we thought the
Speaker 2: Washington job was a bit of a risk. I think
Speaker 2: I actually think I've been lucky on this three years
Speaker 2: in a row. I've picked the double digit win team
Speaker 2: Denver this year, Rams last year, Minnesota before where there's
Speaker 2: a team, and I think they are twice as good
Speaker 2: as Vegas things. I actually think because the Jets in
Speaker 2: Miami are pretty dysfunctional, and I actually think between Craft
Speaker 2: Drake May.
Speaker 1: I'm not counting that one. I agree with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a pretty good job. Actually, I
Speaker 2: think I think the next year they're gonna Patriots could
Speaker 2: make the playoffs, because I mean, let's be honest about it,
Speaker 2: like Steelers are going backwards.
Speaker 3: They can't.
Speaker 2: We know who's gonna win. Divisions like the AFC is
Speaker 2: pretty damn predictable. If you told me the same four
Speaker 2: teams ended up back here, I would say, I think
Speaker 2: the Chargers with another four or five players with Harbor
Speaker 2: Herbert will be better. But I just thought that that
Speaker 2: rumor for Ben Johnson to the Raiders. I And it's
Speaker 2: funny because I've bounced around the country before, and you know,
Speaker 2: I get people and the things I always think about
Speaker 2: whenever I join a job. I've had to replace really
Speaker 2: good people. I replaced Tony Kornheiser at ESPN, even locally,
Speaker 2: I replaced a couple of really talented people.
Speaker 3: It Fox.
Speaker 2: It was easier because the network was FS one was
Speaker 2: kind of you know, it just wasn't substantial. But one
Speaker 2: of the things I look at is you know who
Speaker 2: was the predecessor, and so that's the one thing I
Speaker 2: like about the job is you know you're going to
Speaker 2: be a really clever offensive coach. But I got to
Speaker 2: tell you there, they'd have to give up so much
Speaker 2: draft capital to get cam Ward and they just don't
Speaker 2: have a roster good enough.
Speaker 3: I just and yet, I don't.
Speaker 2: Know how you don't consider read Harbond, Sean Payton. How
Speaker 2: do you not consider that?
Speaker 1: You know? I started texting around because Mike Porgazzi viaches
Speaker 1: number two took the Titans job, and I texted my
Speaker 1: buddies on different teams. I said, what's the difference, because
Speaker 1: you would say the Titans job. I mean they've just
Speaker 1: run through two GMS in like a year, so that's
Speaker 1: a pretty risky job, right, even though they got the
Speaker 1: number one overall pick. But it's not like viewed as
Speaker 1: Andrew Lucker, Peyton Manning in this draft, cam Ward is
Speaker 1: a very risky player. I mean, I've texted my friends.
Speaker 1: They're college directors. Draft grades are all over the board
Speaker 1: on that kid. This is not viewed in shador. And
Speaker 1: they said, simply because as the number two, depending on
Speaker 1: your organization, you make anywhere between seven hundred to one
Speaker 1: million dollars depending on your experience. As a GM, you
Speaker 1: get a five year contract. Usually somewhere three to four
Speaker 1: million dollars, and that's obviously substantial, game changing money. But
Speaker 1: as an assistant coach for Ben Johnson, let's say he's
Speaker 1: making four or five million dollars, and it's for how
Speaker 1: are the Lions not going to be good on offense
Speaker 1: next year?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: They will? Yeah, his star wouldn't diminish. Now as a
Speaker 1: head CoA, he might get ten to twelve. But that's
Speaker 1: a big difference of like going from one hundred grand
Speaker 1: to five hundred grand, which changes your life. He's making
Speaker 1: five million dollars, he's at the office ninety hours. His
Speaker 1: life doesn't change at all. When he makes twelve million dollars,
Speaker 1: he gets more money in the bank. But he's thirty nine,
Speaker 1: forty years old. He's going to be a head coach.
Speaker 1: These jobs like, okay, you get a four year contract.
Speaker 1: I see the Raiders fire someone every other year. I
Speaker 1: see the Bears is not a conducive place to win.
Speaker 1: The Jags with Trent Bulky, he will stab you in
Speaker 1: the back if the offense looks terrible. If these jobs,
Speaker 1: I don't He didn't interview with the Jets and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys field dead set on Kellen Moore that like, these
Speaker 1: jobs are places where people go to get fired and
Speaker 1: it changes your career.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I said this before. Next year is a much
Speaker 2: better college quarterback class. And you also have the potential
Speaker 2: that like Joe Burrow would need a coach.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: There you kind of look around and you're like, oh,
Speaker 2: there's next year is interesting. There could be some interesting
Speaker 2: job openings. And if you look at the last two years,
Speaker 2: I mean just think of the last four or five
Speaker 2: jobs that a coach took that we considered really good jobs.
Speaker 2: Matt Lafleur, Aaron Rodgers in his prime, Mike McCarthy, Dak
Speaker 2: in his prime, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert going into his prime,
Speaker 2: and Mike Frabele Drake may looks like he could be
Speaker 2: really special, kind of a Justin Herbert comp. What you
Speaker 2: look at as a head coach is do they have
Speaker 2: the quarterback? Right in the Raiders, you face two of
Speaker 2: the top eight quarterbacks and the best quarterback and arguably
Speaker 2: two of the top four coaches, and you don't have
Speaker 2: a quarterback.
Speaker 3: Like to me, I.
Speaker 2: Listed a couple of weeks ago of the seven openings
Speaker 2: one through seven, I put the Raiders last. So to me,
Speaker 2: it's just Tom Brady has this gravitas or this aura
Speaker 2: and Ben Johnson's kind of starry eyed. But I would
Speaker 2: stand Detroit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the Bears is a sexy job in theory,
Speaker 1: but also a lot like the Raiders' division's really good.
Speaker 1: All three teams, I mean, you know, I know they've
Speaker 1: went oh and three in the playoffs, like would Shakas
Speaker 1: have had minimum two of those three teams are back
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Another job I would put as this
Speaker 1: being like doesn't quite fit the criteria of dak or
Speaker 1: definitely Aaron Rodgers, but Seattle ton of talent. They had
Speaker 1: a guy that you can function with, and they have
Speaker 1: a high level GM and a team that had just
Speaker 1: been kind of winning not big, but nine games a
Speaker 1: year and Mike McDonald that was a safe job. Seattle
Speaker 1: last year is way better than any of these jobs
Speaker 1: when you factor in GM that knows what he's doing,
Speaker 1: a ton of talent on the roster in just a
Speaker 1: stable place. I think I think the Bears and I
Speaker 1: got a DM, an unsolicited beat DM that said they
Speaker 1: thought this Raider thing, he could still end up in Chicago,
Speaker 1: because listen, he's trying to get a lot of money.
Speaker 1: I mean there is a chance that, you know, if
Speaker 1: he gets a couple of teams bidding against him, that
Speaker 1: his salary, instead of being ten million dollars, could be
Speaker 1: like fifty. He could be one of the higher paid
Speaker 1: coaches in the league, just based on like NFL free agency,
Speaker 1: right when guys get overpaid because you got people driving
Speaker 1: up the price. I don't know, man, I'd have a
Speaker 1: hard time accepting any I couldn't do the Bears because
Speaker 1: of the setup and the Raiders thing. I get it,
Speaker 1: you bring in your guy, but that is a tough
Speaker 1: building to change when the number one reason you'd be
Speaker 1: doing it is because Tom and he lives on the
Speaker 1: other side of the country.
Speaker 2: All right, so we go into Ohio state and Notre Dame.
Speaker 2: I think we both probably like the Buckeyes. I'll throw
Speaker 2: this out to you. I said this last week.
Speaker 3: On radio on TV.
Speaker 2: I don't think Marcus Freeman has the horses to win,
Speaker 2: but if he kept it close or by chance won
Speaker 2: I wonder if he's not the second best candidate to
Speaker 2: Mike Rabel. I mean, there's a Sean McVay quality to
Speaker 2: this guy that people that have met him are just
Speaker 2: kind of blown away by him. Yeah, And first, do
Speaker 2: you think Notre Dame has a chance? And do you
Speaker 2: think if he again he put on a make vaylight
Speaker 2: classic work. I mean they the fact that the Rams
Speaker 2: had the ball late with a chance to win made
Speaker 2: no sense, right like, it just made no sense at all.
Speaker 1: Did you follow your chair when he had Pooka down
Speaker 1: the sideline?
Speaker 3: I could not believe you.
Speaker 2: I went, you have got to be kidding me. I
Speaker 2: literally Tethern thought, this is going to be the ultimate theft.
Speaker 2: They have no business being in this game, and I
Speaker 2: don't think Notre Dame has any business being in that game.
Speaker 2: If it was thirty to ten, I wouldn't be shocked
Speaker 2: if you were Marcus Freeman knowing that Notre Dame the
Speaker 2: academic umbrella, the religious realities. You know, the campus is
Speaker 2: in a cold weather campus, not in the big ten.
Speaker 2: If you're Marcus Freeman in won would you go to
Speaker 2: the NFL?
Speaker 1: No, because these jobs are terrible. I think we just
Speaker 1: saw Sark re up with Texas coach in college now
Speaker 1: pays ten to twelve million dollars. You're the coach GM
Speaker 1: and your owner does not exist. Now with the nil
Speaker 1: situations why Belichick was kind of intrigued. It's actually much
Speaker 1: more like the NFL, and you don't have an owner
Speaker 1: breathing down today morning, yeah, with his three kids telling
Speaker 1: you seven different ideas of what plays to call. I
Speaker 1: actually think college has kind of changed in the sense
Speaker 1: the money's huge and a place like Notre Dame you
Speaker 1: can pay your coordinators. There's no different than the NFL.
Speaker 1: Where's he gonna go? Like, I guess you'd go the
Speaker 1: Bears right down the street, but I just don't think
Speaker 1: the Bears a good job. He then has to answer
Speaker 1: to Kevin Warren and deal with Ryan Poles where he's
Speaker 1: the Ryan Polse and his Kevin Warren is who the
Speaker 1: father you know, was like, as long as he's winning,
Speaker 1: they leave him alone.
Speaker 2: And you know, I was thinking about this. Ryan Day
Speaker 2: was going to get run out of town without the playoff,
Speaker 2: right because he wouldn't have got into the Final four
Speaker 2: because of that Home lost to Michigan and that in
Speaker 2: a weird way, the twelve team playoff is a little
Speaker 2: like March Madness. March Madness because it's so vast with
Speaker 2: sixty eight teams. You know, guys like Jim Beheim you
Speaker 2: could always say, well, I made the tournament. I've made
Speaker 2: the tournament fourteen straight years.
Speaker 1: I think this, well, that's Calipari's thing for a decade.
Speaker 1: He hasn't done shit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he was losing to Oakland School in Michigan.
Speaker 2: He was losing. But in the end, you could always say, well,
Speaker 2: I made the tournament. I made the tournament twenty two
Speaker 2: years and I won a couple games in the tournament.
Speaker 2: I made the sweet sixteen, which pretty isn't that hard
Speaker 2: if you're like a Yukon and who you face in
Speaker 2: the first two games. But I think if you get
Speaker 2: to the twelve team playoff every year and you win
Speaker 2: your opening game, it's hard to fire a guy because
Speaker 2: the reality is Chad Melman and I talked about this.
Speaker 2: Northern schools in the NIL most of them have more money.
Speaker 2: I think it's twelve of the top twenty three schools
Speaker 2: in terms of enrollment size are big ten schools. They
Speaker 2: have a lot of graduates, a lot of those kids
Speaker 2: make a lot of money. They give money back to
Speaker 2: the university, and that I think. I think the money
Speaker 2: between Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oregon, even
Speaker 2: I mean, God, USC's up in the twenty million. Now.
Speaker 2: They may not spend it wisely, but they have a
Speaker 2: lot of money in their collective. And my take is
Speaker 2: nobody's going undefeated in college football. You will be able
Speaker 2: to eventually get in with three losses, but certainly two
Speaker 2: you can lose to your rival at home as a
Speaker 2: twenty one point favorite Ohio State, and that I think
Speaker 2: guys like if Ryan Day wins Natty, he set for
Speaker 2: the next four years. I think this playoff was great
Speaker 2: for college coaches.
Speaker 1: Well think about this, if you know, remember when baseball,
Speaker 1: if there were no wildcards, you had to win your
Speaker 1: division to get into the playoffs. If that would have
Speaker 1: been in the NFL, Tom Coughlin wouldn't have made it
Speaker 1: past like two thousand and eight. I mean he won
Speaker 1: both his Super Bowls as a wild card, so forever.
Speaker 1: Like you said, neither one of these teams would have
Speaker 1: been in the final four. So I do give them
Speaker 1: a five chance to notre Dame because I think you
Speaker 1: saw with Texas. If you have a really good defense,
Speaker 1: ugly the thing up. Just stay in the game and
Speaker 1: then your quarterback needs to make some plays. Your guy
Speaker 1: Riley Leonard's coming around on me. He made some big
Speaker 1: throws in that game against Penn State, two huge throws.
Speaker 1: If he can be superman, control the clock, run the ball.
Speaker 1: You know, I heard people saying they run a lot
Speaker 1: of man demand defense, where Texas played a lot of
Speaker 1: zone against them and it's slowed down Jeremiah Smith, So
Speaker 1: can they change their defensive game plan? Al Golden's a
Speaker 1: really good defense. Like the coaching in this game, and
Speaker 1: really in the Final four, I mean, all these coordinators
Speaker 1: are seven figure guys. I thought the Final four in
Speaker 1: college football felt like today in the end, it was
Speaker 1: really high level two nights, and I do think, you know,
Speaker 1: coaching belief, like if you're Notre Dame right now, you've
Speaker 1: just beat Georgia and Penn State. You just talked about
Speaker 1: the talent both those rosters. If you pulled the top
Speaker 1: thirty college coaches, they would take Georgia and Penn State's
Speaker 1: roster over Notre Dame right over Marcus from They have
Speaker 1: to be believing that they can win. Now, this is
Speaker 1: going to be the toughest test. But what if Will Howard,
Speaker 1: who had a little stretch where he looked like Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning in his prime, just has an off half a turnover.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you just get a freaky fumble. First split second,
Speaker 1: I thought the Ravens were gonna win, and then Mark
Speaker 1: Andrews fumbles the ball right right. I thought the Rams
Speaker 1: were gonna win, and then all of a sudden, Jalen
Speaker 1: Carter sacks a big play and a key moment. These
Speaker 1: are nineteen year old guys, not thirty two year old
Speaker 1: four time pro bowler, guy worth one hundred million dollars,
Speaker 1: who's seen you know, already been divorced, seen a lot
Speaker 1: in his life. Things can change fast. We saw Ohio
Speaker 1: State they gotten that weird game with Michigan and kind
Speaker 1: of crumbled. The only thing is, I do think from
Speaker 1: that moment on it's been like an enlightening moment for
Speaker 1: the team. But I think you can say the same
Speaker 1: thing about Notre Dame. That NIU loss right kind of
Speaker 1: was an enlightening moment for them. They have not looked
Speaker 1: back since. So I'm running for Notre Dame. I'm Ohio
Speaker 1: State hater, but I just think it'd be a pretty
Speaker 1: cool story. If Notre Dame it'd be one of the
Speaker 1: bigger upsets. What are they eight and a half point.
Speaker 2: Underdock, Marcus Freeman with his energy, and I think you
Speaker 2: see this now in college football a lot of these
Speaker 2: older coaches like Brian Kelly, I'm not sure. I don't
Speaker 2: think he wants the I mean, Chip Kelly wouldn't recruit
Speaker 2: at the end. I don't think Brian Kelly's He's not.
Speaker 1: Dabble the best recruiters. It's Kirby, you know, Dabbo for
Speaker 1: a long time, who's kind of viewed a little older now.
Speaker 1: But Ryan Day, Steve Sarkisian. I mean that's the thing
Speaker 1: with Lincoln. It's like Lincoln, you're young. Where's your energy
Speaker 1: with this? Dan Lanning, It's like you guys, Kenny Dillingham,
Speaker 1: I mean, you need some.
Speaker 3: It's a lot, It is all right.
Speaker 2: John Middlecoff love chopping it up for about an hour
Speaker 2: and ten to fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3: Loved it.
Speaker 2: He has a podcast, three and out former NFL Scout
Speaker 2: and Ohio State Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: We're doing this Sunday night on the docket for tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Thanks buddy, see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1: The volume