Speaker 1: The conquer. Give it to Henry. Henry is going to
Speaker 1: try to get to the goal line and dush touch out.
Speaker 1: Ticket to the ends up touchdown and there it was.
Speaker 1: The Ante Johnson finally gets into the end zone. Let
Speaker 1: us steps up, fires and it's pick up Juan Alexander Cementia.
Speaker 2: Kwan Alexander finishes it off for the Steelers. You knew
Speaker 2: they had to win tonight twenty to sixteen the moment.
Speaker 2: I booked Dave Damashek, who helped birth this podcast by
Speaker 2: helping Dan and Mark out and putting him on the
Speaker 2: back of his podcast, the old Dave Damashek Football. I
Speaker 2: knew something magical would happen with the Steelers, that they
Speaker 2: would look like the inferior team for most of the game,
Speaker 2: and then they would have a game winning drive, because
Speaker 2: that's what the Steelers do. They are five and three,
Speaker 2: and yes, my guest is Dave Danishek, the host of
Speaker 2: the Minus three podcast with our old friend Eddie Spaghetti.
Speaker 2: Kevin henches on there. Dave Damashek, I was glad. I didn't.
Speaker 2: I thought it'd be fun podcasting if we had an
Speaker 2: angry scheck with the loss. But I'm happy to see
Speaker 2: my friend happy.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that you're looking well, the Boss back from
Speaker 3: your European swing. You and the fellas. Glad that went
Speaker 3: well for you. Glad even more that the Pittsburgh Steelers
Speaker 3: survived an another knuckleball game. It is remarkable, It really is.
Speaker 3: The other side of the equation is that that's what
Speaker 3: the Steelers do to everybody, no matter how good or
Speaker 3: bad they are, every game. As you always have to
Speaker 3: just understand that what Mike Tomlin wants, whether you like
Speaker 3: it or not, even in the lead year of The
Speaker 3: Lord twenty twenty three, his goal isn't to just win,
Speaker 3: it's to win every game twelve to eleven, and that
Speaker 3: results in ugly ball on both sides of things. So listen,
Speaker 3: they survived again, so be it.
Speaker 2: And you know what, I think they survived in a
Speaker 2: more replicable way. That should give the Steelers fans a
Speaker 2: little bit of optimism. That last interception by Kwan Alexander
Speaker 2: in their partly because Cole Holcom gets hurt. You're without
Speaker 2: Minka Fitzpatrick, so you got some holes here in the secondary.
Speaker 2: You don't totally trust your quarterback Kenny Pickett. We'll get
Speaker 2: to all that, we'll start really talking about the Steelers,
Speaker 2: and then yes, Titans fans who do want to listen
Speaker 2: to this, we'll get to Will Levis because I think,
Speaker 2: big picture wise, Will Levis is probably the biggest story
Speaker 2: in this game. I think we've met a gentleman the
Speaker 2: last two weeks who's now going to be part of
Speaker 2: our lives, I believe, for many years to come. So
Speaker 2: that's always interesting. But the Steelers are the team in
Speaker 2: position for the playoffs, and I would say, and I've
Speaker 2: watched every Dealers game, that this was probably their best
Speaker 2: offensive game of the season, that they had a tang
Speaker 2: in that.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's wild.
Speaker 2: They had a ten play drive to start the game
Speaker 2: for a touchdown. That was nice. They had three other
Speaker 2: drives ten players or more. And when they got the
Speaker 2: ball back with about nine minutes to go, I thought,
Speaker 2: the way they run offense, look, their best chance to
Speaker 2: win might be to go run an eight you know,
Speaker 2: have an eight minute drive. They can't go down the field.
Speaker 2: They don't really trust piket. Once it gets in long yardage,
Speaker 2: they seem like they're in trouble. But at least they
Speaker 2: were running the ball. They were setting themselves up and
Speaker 2: when they needed Picket to make one big throw at
Speaker 2: the end of the game, he did it. He dropped
Speaker 2: it in the bucket to Deontay Johnson, who made a
Speaker 2: really nice catch along the sidelines that was on a
Speaker 2: third and long that was part of their ninety four
Speaker 2: yard touchdown drive to take the lead. And then they
Speaker 2: didn't let Picket throw the ball again the rest of
Speaker 2: the game essentially, and it worked. It's remarkable how this
Speaker 2: formula seems to work for them. But I have seen
Speaker 2: since the buy Pickett playing at a reasonable level, maybe
Speaker 2: not even as good as he was as a rookie,
Speaker 2: but at a level where you have a chance to win.
Speaker 2: I wasn't seeing that the first five weeks, the five
Speaker 2: week first five weeks felt like a mirage. Now he
Speaker 2: at least looks competent enough that it's something to build off.
Speaker 3: Well, you know old news And in fact, you are
Speaker 3: the one who sort of responded to my cynicism five six,
Speaker 3: seven years ago when it was starting to set up
Speaker 3: that you know, guy at the QB at the end
Speaker 3: of his rookie contract, you got to shell out forty
Speaker 3: then I guess it was thirty five million forty million,
Speaker 3: and I'll a shame that devil.
Speaker 4: You can't give that the.
Speaker 3: Matt Ryan and you pointed out, hey, you know that
Speaker 3: they are raising that cap to accommodate those quarterbacks. But
Speaker 3: there is sort of a ebb and flow to it,
Speaker 3: and it does every year three kind of catch up
Speaker 3: with teams like we can't afford this guy who ain't
Speaker 3: worth the forty or fifty million. So sorry for that setup,
Speaker 3: because that's not where the Steelers are. They're in the
Speaker 3: sweet spot year two of their rookie QB. I mean
Speaker 3: of their youngster QB. Well not that young, he's mid twenties.
Speaker 3: But either way, you know, the oddity is, as you say,
Speaker 3: all they need theoretically, given that this is supposed to
Speaker 3: be a defense dominant team the offensive line.
Speaker 4: That's been the big disappointment to me.
Speaker 3: Nine games through or eight games through, I should say
Speaker 3: in nine weeks is I thought that the offensive line
Speaker 3: was going to be collectively a position of strength and
Speaker 3: it hasn't really been that. That's been I mean, all
Speaker 3: the Matt Canada stuff overstated in my opinion. And you know,
Speaker 3: I thought Kenny Pickett was going to be the steady hand,
Speaker 3: you know, take care of the ball and all that
Speaker 3: classic game manager. But the thing that has plagued him
Speaker 3: all season long, and I'm sure you've observed it, is
Speaker 3: he misses wide open throws and nim is They're right.
Speaker 4: I mean they are.
Speaker 3: The throws he misses all season long are directly over
Speaker 3: the line of scrimmage about ten yards ten yards depth.
Speaker 3: It's what do you not see it? He's either late
Speaker 3: or just flat out misses it. And yet he does
Speaker 3: the most remarkable thing in sports. We always talk about
Speaker 3: clutch and whether clutch exists, and in fact, clutch is
Speaker 3: maintaining your level when it gets hottest.
Speaker 4: Kenny Pickett does the opposite.
Speaker 3: He's he is the bizarro Clayton Kershaw who goes high
Speaker 3: level all season and then when the playoffs start it's
Speaker 3: a diminished version of the stud pitcher. Kenny Pickott somehow
Speaker 3: actually plays better in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 4: What gives? I have no explanation.
Speaker 2: I guess I don't know if it's going to keep
Speaker 2: up forever. The numbers support you. They showed it. I
Speaker 2: always watch you know, this is the most football hipster
Speaker 2: thing about me, or maybe not the most you would
Speaker 2: say I was one. I love the next gen stats,
Speaker 2: Prime Vision cast. Me and the boy watch it and
Speaker 2: it's beautiful, and they sow the numbers for pick it.
Speaker 2: But the first three quarters and the fourth quarter this year,
Speaker 2: last year, it's all actually true. He's second in the
Speaker 2: NFL in fourth quarter or overtime comebacks over the last
Speaker 2: two years too. And that that's with that's with Kirk
Speaker 2: Cousins in first place, not two guys who you think
Speaker 2: coming up big. But he does have the kN accurate
Speaker 2: part of it is that they're always trailing and I
Speaker 2: have a chance to go win a game, and they're
Speaker 2: always in one score games. But you're right, he missthrows
Speaker 2: early in this game. There was one two pickens which
Speaker 2: killed the drive that was on a third and eight
Speaker 2: goes right over Sinim. There was one early to Deontay
Speaker 2: Johnson just sales right over there was there was a
Speaker 2: dirt ball at one point, and he even said in
Speaker 2: the postgame interview with Amazon, just yeah. He was really
Speaker 2: pissed off at himself and he said, excuse me for
Speaker 2: my language. I was like, you don't need to see
Speaker 2: excuse me for pissed off. That's that's too much.
Speaker 4: He's taking a classy that's the way he does it.
Speaker 4: The uh yeah.
Speaker 3: And the other one that he too was he had
Speaker 3: Connor Hayward to my earlier point, why the goal line
Speaker 3: directly in what would look to be his line of
Speaker 3: site and just doesn't even look at him.
Speaker 2: So he's got he's got an issue.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: One of my guests on this program, Jp Acosta, a
Speaker 2: young writer who was with vespidation, you know, pointed out
Speaker 2: is his spray chart tonight where he's throwing the ball,
Speaker 2: and he's like, this is a high school offense. He
Speaker 2: can't go anything over the middle and high school. It's counterintuitive,
Speaker 2: but everything's on the boundary because that's where they can
Speaker 2: see better. Uh, even though it's further to throw it.
Speaker 2: And teams play the Steelers in a certain way. They
Speaker 2: play backed up, they play zone, and they just try
Speaker 2: to prevent the long ball and the back shoulder throws
Speaker 2: because that's what he's good at. That's like the one
Speaker 2: thing they're good at now that the Auntie Johnson is healthy,
Speaker 2: that it gives him something else they can maybe be
Speaker 2: good at. It's not it's not just that that's what
Speaker 2: George Pickens is good at, but at a certain point
Speaker 2: Kenny Pickett's gotta need to be better than just those throws.
Speaker 2: But tonight he got it done. And the reason I
Speaker 2: say they had the best looking offense is definitely the
Speaker 2: best game running the ball all game. And you said
Speaker 2: you're disappointed with the offensive line, but they protected Picket
Speaker 2: well tonight and they ran the ball well tonight. So
Speaker 2: tonight was a nice night for their offensive line.
Speaker 3: I completely agree with that. And it does feel like they're.
Speaker 4: Starting to turn the corner.
Speaker 3: Slow going as it is, I mean, as I said
Speaker 3: earlier too, I get the Canada concerns. I see the
Speaker 3: limitations and all of that. It's now crossed the line
Speaker 3: into being group think nonsense.
Speaker 4: It's just the abject job.
Speaker 3: It's not Matt Canada's fault that Kenny Pickett is missing
Speaker 3: wide open guys.
Speaker 2: But what about the fact he's on the sideline tonight
Speaker 2: and then suddenly everything looks better. Matt Canada on the sideline,
Speaker 2: he's a totally different guy.
Speaker 3: Yeah right, What what do you think that was about accountability?
Speaker 3: You think that's some old coach t thing Like Matt,
Speaker 3: You're gonna have to look them in the eyes when
Speaker 3: you when you when you, I mean I don't know
Speaker 3: what the what the notion was? I listen, I think.
Speaker 2: Just think things aren't working, and so we're and then
Speaker 2: try something different.
Speaker 4: Here's here's a little sunshine for you.
Speaker 3: And you know me well enough to know that I
Speaker 3: am not I'm not optimistic about any of the teams
Speaker 3: that I root for.
Speaker 2: And yet always picked the Steelers record. Right, what was
Speaker 2: your prediction before this season? You're always like one game
Speaker 2: or right.
Speaker 3: I've never been more than a game off, and as
Speaker 3: you may recall, six straight years, I hit it on
Speaker 3: the nose. I went with eleven and six this year
Speaker 3: now exactly where they're gonna.
Speaker 2: Wind up, and they might. I mean that's the thing.
Speaker 2: They've played poorly. Sorry to cut you off, they've played poorly,
Speaker 2: and they've gotten to five and three. Our friend Mark
Speaker 2: Sessler said off season they're winning twelve games, so he
Speaker 2: won up to you. I mean, at some point a
Speaker 2: team that looks bad and is four and three usually
Speaker 2: ends up starting to play better and then they'll win
Speaker 2: more games. And that's what I'm fryking well.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the thing that specifically with this
Speaker 3: game and all the hand ringing again on the banks
Speaker 3: of the three Rivers. I don't know if Football America
Speaker 3: is obsessing over the nitty gritty with personnel on the
Speaker 3: Pittsburgh Steelers, but you know a lot of concern about
Speaker 3: why in Broderick Jones, the first round draft pick, getting
Speaker 3: the shot over Chukes on the right side, which he
Speaker 3: did tonight on on Thursday Night Football or Dan Moore,
Speaker 3: people are indifferent about which tackle he replaces. Just David,
Speaker 3: you go put in Broderick James. You got put him
Speaker 3: in there. Dad's a first round pick. JPJ. How come
Speaker 3: he's not playing well? You see why when you watch
Speaker 3: a game like this, you have to fuel the plane
Speaker 3: at thirty thousand feet.
Speaker 4: You want the.
Speaker 3: High pedigree specimens on the field, of course, But on
Speaker 3: the other hand, then they make rookie plays like JPJ
Speaker 3: made a handful of times. I also think Nuke Hopkins.
Speaker 2: Really JPJ being Joey Porter Junior.
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, yes, I was working short.
Speaker 2: I even have to think about it for a second.
Speaker 3: One of those people who just refer to band members
Speaker 3: by their first name, like they're my friends.
Speaker 4: You see when.
Speaker 3: Jerry was when he was jamming during space like you know,
Speaker 3: drums man.
Speaker 4: Man Bob was, he was man.
Speaker 3: He was grooving with like, you know, like, who are
Speaker 3: you talking about? Are these are your friends in the ground? No, no, no,
Speaker 3: I was talking about the Big Show anyway. Yes, Joey
Speaker 3: Porter Junior is coming on, but made a couple of
Speaker 3: boneheaded plays. Broderick Jones really set the Titans up in
Speaker 3: a great spot at midfield, essentially with a taking his
Speaker 3: helmet off on the.
Speaker 4: Field, so you know, fits and starts.
Speaker 3: As far as that goes, I will say optimistically, at
Speaker 3: this point, you would like to think Joey Porter Junior
Speaker 3: becomes a bigger factor, not less. You would like to
Speaker 3: think Broderick Jones becomes a position of strength for you
Speaker 3: out there the rest of the way. And I really
Speaker 3: do think, and you know, we can talk about Kyle
Speaker 3: Shanahan's offense and the fungibility of receivers and otherwise, but
Speaker 3: the Steelers need to have George Pickens and Deontay Johnson
Speaker 3: on the field or they're kind of going to be
Speaker 3: a high school offense.
Speaker 4: I mean that's just the fact. Yeah. Not, Oh, George.
Speaker 3: Pickens is down for for Deontay Johnson's going to miss
Speaker 3: the next four games when he got hurt in Week one.
Speaker 3: I knew that the that they were going to be
Speaker 3: bunking their heads on the ceilings for the next month.
Speaker 3: When you don't have one of those two guys, they're
Speaker 3: just not at that place roster wise or even philosophically.
Speaker 2: Or they can't take advantage keep them out there. They
Speaker 2: don't have an offense I can make up for it,
Speaker 2: even if Canada is not as bad as everyone thinks, Like,
Speaker 2: you're absolutely right. I thought that too, because Deonty Johnson,
Speaker 2: if I had to choose just one as great as
Speaker 2: Pickens is at this point in their careers, just to
Speaker 2: help Kenny Picket along in this offense, like Deonty Johnson
Speaker 2: is probably more valuable because he's going to create more
Speaker 2: first downs ultimately, uh than Pickens, who you know cost
Speaker 2: the Steelers four points tonight on a nice throw from
Speaker 2: Pickett just by not getting.
Speaker 4: His Yeah, that was wild. That was weird.
Speaker 3: But did you see the Deontay Johnson I mean he
Speaker 3: didn't cross paths directly or did now Yeah, no, Antonio
Speaker 3: Brown was long gone by the time, but he gave
Speaker 3: He gave the ab special on that deep shot up
Speaker 3: the right sideline on the game winning drive, just just
Speaker 3: as the ball's about to get there. Little ghost push,
Speaker 3: little ghost push. Ref can't flag that one when you
Speaker 3: when you when you short arm the dB to.
Speaker 4: Create just an space. I got a little Dashavey.
Speaker 2: He's I think he's an underage. He's a great player.
Speaker 2: He had gone seven hundred and seventy one snaps without
Speaker 2: a touchdown. The Titans sort of dared the Steelers to
Speaker 2: run all night. They were pointing that out on next
Speaker 2: one stats. I tried to give them credit. Sam Schwarztein,
Speaker 2: I believe is his name, saying that they play with
Speaker 2: the lightest box in the league, like six guys in
Speaker 2: the box, and they did it the whole night. At
Speaker 2: like no point did they ever Were they ever afraid
Speaker 2: of the Steelers running. They thought were bigger and stronger
Speaker 2: than you were going to be able to stop your
Speaker 2: lame running attack and it has been pretty lame all season.
Speaker 2: And have extra guys on the back end, but it
Speaker 2: didn't work because Naje Harris ran pretty well. It was
Speaker 2: more about the holes to me, but he still broke
Speaker 2: a few tackles. And then Jalen Warren as a dynamic player,
Speaker 2: he's one of your three best offensive players. In my mind,
Speaker 2: along with the two wide receivers. He had eighty eight
Speaker 2: rushing yards. He had twenty five yards receiving, and he
Speaker 2: made that to in the last drive. Really happened with
Speaker 2: just like a special run. That's what that's what you need.
Speaker 2: It's what the Patriots don't have for insans. They have
Speaker 2: no special players who just make plays on their own.
Speaker 2: They were lying their coaches to do everything. On defense,
Speaker 2: he got some special players though, and Alex Heismith, I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna say he's playing better than TJ. Watt, Watts
Speaker 2: the defensive player of the year, can it? But tonight
Speaker 2: he did. He had five quarterback hits. He had eight pressures.
Speaker 2: Next Gen stat says he's got four games with at
Speaker 2: least seven pressures. The only person in the league I
Speaker 2: believe that has that is is Miles Garrett, I think
Speaker 2: other than him, So that that's he's very consistent. He's
Speaker 2: very good. And him and Watt were bigger difference makers
Speaker 2: than any of the Titans defenders.
Speaker 3: And it's true they was kind of upside down almost
Speaker 3: in the way that the game typically flows, which is
Speaker 3: the TJ. Watt comes on as the game goes on
Speaker 3: and wears down the U that, No, he was relative.
Speaker 3: I thought, if he's getting off like this in quarter
Speaker 3: one and this many old lineman on the Titans are
Speaker 3: going over to the sidelines, I don't know who's going
Speaker 3: to be left to try and stop one of the
Speaker 3: five best non quarterbacks in football the rest of the night.
Speaker 3: But yeah, to your point, you know, they swung help
Speaker 3: over against TJ. Watt and they were moving them around,
Speaker 3: which I love to see that, But I mean, I
Speaker 3: do think you know, it's easy to get swept up in.
Speaker 4: Boy, they are one ugly team.
Speaker 3: This team has no chance and I'm not saying in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three that they're going to compete with the
Speaker 3: superhero quarterbacks come January Chiefs or or Bengals or any
Speaker 3: of those teams. But I do think that, you know,
Speaker 3: if you're looking at the pieces the last couple of years,
Speaker 3: the Marvin Leal is not a name that most football
Speaker 3: fans are probably tracking too much, but he's he's a
Speaker 3: difference maker up front. They are starting to piece together,
Speaker 3: not guys that hold their own.
Speaker 2: But is a good young player and a naked already
Speaker 2: a chance right, He's a concern, is picket because I
Speaker 2: mean that is that's the ceiling on them, it feels like,
Speaker 2: except for the fact that it's you know, I talk
Speaker 2: about being jammed into this uncomfortable position of optimism with
Speaker 2: these Steelers, and I'm forced to because everybody else is
Speaker 2: so cynical, from local media there and the.
Speaker 3: Fan base doing its impression of Philadelphia Eagles fans and
Speaker 3: doing everybody and all that kind of stuff all the time.
Speaker 3: It is strange. But you know, I think Pickett is
Speaker 3: the is the guy who has a chance to as
Speaker 3: you say, it's the premise is not carry this team,
Speaker 3: Josh Allen the Steelers to the playoffs? Can he Pickett
Speaker 3: take care of the ball, make a couple few special
Speaker 3: plays and it's crazy how few of those he seems
Speaker 3: capable of making for at least three quarters, but he
Speaker 3: does have an act of turning it on and as
Speaker 3: far as that goes, So five and three.
Speaker 4: And where are they in the standings?
Speaker 3: If you if you know, if you feel like this
Speaker 3: is a terrible team, an ugly game to watch, that's
Speaker 3: what they want to do, first of all, and secondly,
Speaker 3: they're in the playoff picture and the only way really
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three, with very few exceptions, the Eagles
Speaker 3: fan is feeling good right now?
Speaker 2: Right the Dolphins fan unless they Loday night, When are we.
Speaker 3: Going to talk about the fact that you are exactly
Speaker 3: like Mike McDaniel. You kind of look like him on
Speaker 3: no offense to Mike McDaniel, but you're you're a slightly
Speaker 3: more attractive version of him. Maybe we've got to put
Speaker 3: you in the glasses, but you know your vibe, You've
Speaker 3: got that, You've got that subtle sense of humor and everything.
Speaker 3: I think that this is a compliment to you and
Speaker 3: the Mike McDaniel. There are no losers in this equation.
Speaker 3: But I mean, so Dolphins fans are happy. Texans fans
Speaker 3: are probably feeling good because they feel like, well, we
Speaker 3: got our guy and we know that we're gonna be
Speaker 3: good and brighter days are ahead. And maybe now Titans
Speaker 3: fans feel that way about Levis. But after that, who's
Speaker 3: happy right now?
Speaker 4: You know who? Chiefs fans probably not.
Speaker 3: They know that that team hasn't played very well and
Speaker 3: and there's a lot of grumbling.
Speaker 2: There's not a lot of enjoying the moment, and not
Speaker 2: a lot of enjoying the where you're at. It's just
Speaker 2: whatever happened last week, So the Bengals, the Bengals fans are.
Speaker 3: Having Okay, now that's turned to courd. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 3: there just isn't as much splash. Obviously, empirically that's true,
Speaker 3: but statistically it bears out too with point totals this
Speaker 3: season and otherwise. But you know the thing about these
Speaker 3: knuckleball Steelers is that remains true that to finish the
Speaker 3: point is Okay, Mitchell, the Jags are a good team
Speaker 3: and the Steelers once again turned that thing into a
Speaker 3: knuckleball last Sunday. And I don't know what would have
Speaker 3: happen if it would have been Picket instead of Truebisky
Speaker 3: with his magic fourth quarter powers. It was a one
Speaker 3: score game. How do we know he wouldn't have done
Speaker 3: exactly what he's done. Every other time he's been putting
Speaker 3: that spot in a close game, he tends to win it.
Speaker 3: They either get whipped once to three times a year.
Speaker 3: Lately they get annihilated by an outclassed Otherwise, every game
Speaker 3: is somewhere around thirteen to twelve.
Speaker 2: I mean, they're five and three if they were in
Speaker 2: the NFC, like they're better than any of the seven
Speaker 2: seed candidates. It's gonna be tougher to be the seventh
Speaker 2: seed in the a f C, but they're probably the most.
Speaker 2: They're about as likely as anyone. If I had to
Speaker 2: choose one today, they would probably be my seventh team.
Speaker 2: Am I Is that right? Yeah? They would be.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I'm counting.
Speaker 2: I'm counting Dolphins and Bills, they're both in right, I'm
Speaker 2: counting who was ahead in the division right now, I'm
Speaker 2: counting Ravens and Bengals, and then i'd put the Steelers
Speaker 2: because you look, you got here's who's coming up for
Speaker 2: the Steelers. You finished with the tough three games, Bengals,
Speaker 2: the Ravens, that's gonna be tough. But before that you
Speaker 2: have Packers, Browns, Bengals. It's at at Bengals, Cardinals, Patriots, Colts.
Speaker 2: Those are a lot of winnable games, and I think
Speaker 2: they're gonna get better the one thing they gotta do,
Speaker 2: and then we're gonna take a break quickly and then
Speaker 2: talk Titans.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Dan was right, he said, oh it's you and check.
Speaker 2: This is going to be a honk fest. He was
Speaker 2: like putting the over under, you know, higher than way
Speaker 2: higher than our tnf ever. The last thing I'll say, though,
Speaker 2: is to get to the playoffs, or at least to
Speaker 2: even be a reasonable threat to win that first playoff game.
Speaker 2: They can't be a team that when they get the
Speaker 2: ball back with two h six to go and the
Speaker 2: other team has three timeouts just calls, you know, loses
Speaker 2: two on their first run and calls two more runs. Anyways,
Speaker 2: they just say, like, we don't even trust our quarterback
Speaker 2: to throw the ball one time. It's just Mike Tomlin
Speaker 2: is great, but he's and he's one of the last
Speaker 2: coaches that'll ever be dragged into the twenty first century
Speaker 2: in terms of like going for it on fourth down
Speaker 2: or making aggressive decisions like that. But he was better
Speaker 2: when he had bet when a real quarterback. At some
Speaker 2: point they will have to make decisions like throw the
Speaker 2: ball and.
Speaker 4: Not just be bad.
Speaker 2: Let's Titans a whole other drive and a chance to
Speaker 2: go win the game, and let's not even try to
Speaker 2: play football here because we're so afraid of Kenny Pickett
Speaker 2: and they were.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think the call there on third nine.
Speaker 3: First of all, they have thrown in that in a
Speaker 3: similar spot this year, which now they could have.
Speaker 2: Fed on first down two because it was like you
Speaker 2: would have had the two minute one. I just I
Speaker 2: fully expected them to run the ball three times in
Speaker 2: punt there and it was like you weren't even burning
Speaker 2: all the Titans timeouts. He still would add one. So
Speaker 2: I'm just saying the.
Speaker 3: Ball there at mid right, I agree with you. Of
Speaker 3: course at midfield, third, nine, third and ten whatever it
Speaker 3: was in that spot, there's no danger in not just
Speaker 3: throwing the ball but taking a deep shot. You know
Speaker 3: that you're sacked. You know, if you get sacked, okay,
Speaker 3: you punt it away. Just you know, take care of
Speaker 3: the ball, make sure that there's not someone about the
Speaker 3: blind side. You ate and you will be all right.
Speaker 3: And if you if you're on cork it, throw it
Speaker 3: as far as you can ken throw it as far
Speaker 3: as you can. Fella, it gets picked at the you
Speaker 3: know at the ten, all right, it's a punt.
Speaker 2: So he just he just wanted to get rid of
Speaker 2: the time out. And it's like that's very Mike Rabel
Speaker 2: would have done the same thing. These two teams watching
Speaker 2: them are mirror images. We're gonna take a quick break. Wait, wait, wait,
Speaker 2: I just want to say this. I say, I say
Speaker 2: you're on after the break, shot. I understand, but I
Speaker 2: want to say.
Speaker 3: I want to say here and now, I want to
Speaker 3: chat and Hans Us, I say we go four and
Speaker 3: a half hours or shame the devil.
Speaker 4: I'll say you let's go, Neil, Dawn, what do you
Speaker 4: think about that? All night? Me and the ball stream
Speaker 4: come true.
Speaker 2: I mean, we'll keep talking even after we stop hitting record.
Speaker 2: We love to honk. All right, take quick break, we'll
Speaker 2: get come back. All right, we're back I for the
Speaker 2: first time this season. Actually just gotten Emica, my beautiful
Speaker 2: wife to and my daughter Ellis are both peeking out
Speaker 2: of the main house. I'm in the garage and they're
Speaker 2: They're just giving me a shush. They're like, you are
Speaker 2: screaming and yelling. You're like the whole neighborhood can hear you.
Speaker 2: But I think this is.
Speaker 3: Just me getting Tomlin turns every game into a knuckleball
Speaker 3: damn ashek turns every conversation into a shout fest.
Speaker 4: Welcome to it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I I would anyways, Hans, this is right.
Speaker 2: Once spend as much time on the Titans.
Speaker 5: But actually, when you're gonna talk about the don't you
Speaker 5: see Zach Wilson. You see he's gonna be our hero.
Speaker 5: He's gonna carry us until we get the A Rod.
Speaker 5: Don't count us out of the playoff picture yet.
Speaker 2: Boll No, no one is. No one is Will Levis.
Speaker 2: He was the biggest story in this game to me,
Speaker 2: just because he's new and I've seen the Steelers team
Speaker 2: and I think they're building. And I thought this Titans team,
Speaker 2: I never count them out because they're the Titans and
Speaker 2: they're three and five. I don't even count them out
Speaker 2: for the seven seed either right now, because I think
Speaker 2: they have something. I watched that first game and I thought, Wow,
Speaker 2: he did some really next level things. Not just those
Speaker 2: touchdown passes, but he was like getting to the second
Speaker 2: read and when pressure was there, he was making good decisions.
Speaker 2: He was like getting rid of the ball. He was
Speaker 2: looking like a tough guy. Okay, let's let's see it again. Now,
Speaker 2: he's got to be on a short week. He's gonna
Speaker 2: be in Pittsburgh. He didn't have two weeks to prepare
Speaker 2: for Atlanta, and he played as well or better. And
Speaker 2: you can point out a few misthrows in the second half,
Speaker 2: and he got picked off there at the end when
Speaker 2: he's you know, trying to make it play he's got
Speaker 2: to try to go for the end zone there, and
Speaker 2: that was a nice play, like kwant Alexander, But man,
Speaker 2: he looked like a dude. He looked like a dude.
Speaker 2: That's just like I'm gonna be watching him play for
Speaker 2: the Titans most every week for the next six years,
Speaker 2: eight years. However, whatever it turns out to be, he
Speaker 2: just looks like a dude because it doesn't seem too
Speaker 2: big for him. He's clearly talented at throwing the ball
Speaker 2: down the field and the game isn't going that fast.
Speaker 2: He's processing it all pretty quick, which I think was
Speaker 2: one of the big questions about him coming out of Kentucky.
Speaker 2: And he's obviously athletically very talented. So I could go
Speaker 2: through like which plays I loved, like the play where
Speaker 2: he threw it across his body and Hopkins actually dropped it,
Speaker 2: which was almost like, wow, why are you trying that pass?
Speaker 4: But it worked.
Speaker 2: It was a Mahomesyan type pass, but also some just
Speaker 2: like regular old third and nine, like whole shots over
Speaker 2: his zone defense. He looks good and I think he.
Speaker 3: Made I mean just so yeah, I know that the
Speaker 3: weird are angles and you know, throwing across basically two
Speaker 3: yards behind the line of scrimmage, all the way across
Speaker 3: the field from one sideline to the other, or just about.
Speaker 4: Get your attention.
Speaker 3: But yeah, he just made some real good strong arm
Speaker 3: throws throughout the night. And the other thing we didn't
Speaker 3: even see tonight was him taking off, which he can do.
Speaker 3: He's a big physical runner when he wants to be.
Speaker 3: You know, I've told you this before and you've poo
Speaker 3: pooed it. You've you've played skeptic to Damashek when I've
Speaker 3: claimed unironically, I'm a QB whisper. Listen, I can't be
Speaker 3: a draft guru because I can't analyze the left guard
Speaker 3: from the MAC team who might go in the fifth round.
Speaker 3: But with QBS, no one has a better track record
Speaker 3: than Damnashk. Maybe it is good. Now, Okay, I've had
Speaker 3: my missus. I had the late Ryan Mallett, that's the
Speaker 3: one you always point to. But I said, you can
Speaker 3: find it on social media. I suspect I said three
Speaker 3: years ago, no, two and a half years ago. I said,
Speaker 3: this guy it can touch, who transferred from Penn State,
Speaker 3: Will Levis is the real deal and he's going to
Speaker 3: be dynamite in the NFL. So I mean, I don't
Speaker 3: know that I'm right two games in, but he does
Speaker 3: look like the real deer.
Speaker 4: Here's the question.
Speaker 2: All I know is you remember whatever slights anyone sends
Speaker 2: your way, even for a football take, like giving you
Speaker 2: grief about Yes, the late Ryan Mallett rest in peace.
Speaker 3: Of course, of course I do. You know, I don't
Speaker 3: care what any.
Speaker 2: It's not that I don't care. I don't remember. My
Speaker 2: brain is is uh, it's made of cheese. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean I remember some of the football stuff.
Speaker 3: But thank you for not condescending to me, because you
Speaker 3: could have put yourself in a better light by saying,
Speaker 3: like I have better things to worry about, you petulant ass.
Speaker 4: You know that's that's how you should be.
Speaker 2: No, I mean, I'll certainly remember some slates, but it
Speaker 2: has to be real personal. It wouldn't be a football
Speaker 2: Have I ever slighted you? No, not that I remember.
Speaker 2: You know now presents a tough exterior outside.
Speaker 1: But.
Speaker 3: I am He's a og tough guy, that's for sure.
Speaker 3: That's how everybody knows me.
Speaker 2: They wait got a quarterback. They can't go back to
Speaker 2: Ryan Tannehill the rest of this season.
Speaker 4: Is that will Money Clint Eastwood in unforgiven?
Speaker 3: Or is that Dave damashek I can't tell the difference
Speaker 3: both rugged souls. That's that's right. I'm a tough yeah,
Speaker 3: of course. And you know it's funny because I've been
Speaker 3: saying since I don't know, February March April, what are
Speaker 3: the Titans doing holding on to Ryan Tannehill at this point?
Speaker 3: Maybe it was post draft, but either way, to me,
Speaker 3: the guy who instead of Sam Darnold Kyle Shanahan should
Speaker 3: have gotten Ryan Tannehill.
Speaker 4: Do you imagine if you plug him in right now?
Speaker 3: That was when I assumed that Brock Purdy wasn't possibly
Speaker 3: going to be ready to go by week one. I
Speaker 3: mean he had major arm surgery, we thought, or but
Speaker 3: still Tannehill is the solve or would have been for
Speaker 3: several teams. I don't know the state of his health
Speaker 3: right now, but if he had been one hundred percent
Speaker 3: a week ago, do you suspect he would be on
Speaker 3: a contending team right now? Imagine him if you could
Speaker 3: have just said, if you're the Vikings, okay we don't
Speaker 3: have Kirk, come on up, Ryan Tannehill they would have
Speaker 3: been just fine in that NFC.
Speaker 4: I think they would have had a chance to chase
Speaker 4: a playoff spot.
Speaker 2: They would have been the team I think that would
Speaker 2: have bothered maybe a fourth round pick. And I think
Speaker 2: the Titans, if they had seen this first game from
Speaker 2: Levis and then now certainly too, would have been.
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, do it.
Speaker 2: The thing is and it's a reminder, man, the preseason
Speaker 2: can be a lie. I mean so often is, but
Speaker 2: it can be a lie in the in the opposite
Speaker 2: direction too, because I believe all the reporters and the
Speaker 2: way that Rabel talked and the coaches, it wasn't just
Speaker 2: that Will Levis looked awful in the preseason. His training
Speaker 2: camp was reportedly awful, like he just when he was
Speaker 2: in the joint practice. It was actually against the Vikings,
Speaker 2: so maybe they maybe they weren't too high too high
Speaker 2: on Tannehill, maybe they saw something I don't even know
Speaker 2: that like he could barely operate what was going on.
Speaker 2: It was just he wasn't ready for it. But you
Speaker 2: do kind of forget, well, that was eight weeks ago
Speaker 2: and training camp is only four weeks long, and he's
Speaker 2: had all that time in the building to continue to
Speaker 2: get better, and the regular season is just a totally
Speaker 2: different animal than being good in practice every day too
Speaker 2: at training camp. So who knows, Maybe he's stunk at
Speaker 2: practice the last couple of weeks too. I don't even know.
Speaker 2: And he just knows how to play. But whatever it is,
Speaker 2: everyone said Malik Willis was out dueling him every practice,
Speaker 2: practice after practice, and in the preseason when we got
Speaker 2: to see it a little bit like, oh yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean he's totally lost. And now you know, he looks
Speaker 2: as good as any rookie over the last two years
Speaker 2: in terms of his first two seas.
Speaker 4: Wouldn't that be the bunch?
Speaker 3: It really is wild, the the you know, the certitude
Speaker 3: that we provide, what we gave you know. Obviously Daniel
Speaker 3: Jeremiah you remember him.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, he's the guy that said Darnold was the
Speaker 2: number one player in the singing him.
Speaker 4: You better be careful with yourself. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't know who outweighs who over there at the
Speaker 3: NFL at this point.
Speaker 2: Oh I think I know. I think it's the one
Speaker 2: on the NFL Draft.
Speaker 4: Well, then keep on keep on flapping your gums. He'll
Speaker 4: make a call. I want the guy, I want the boss.
Speaker 4: He's out, but.
Speaker 3: The I don't remember what we were talking oh with
Speaker 3: with Okay, yeah, that was a swinging miss from dj DA.
Speaker 4: I do remember having that.
Speaker 2: Kind of sash. I feel bad now, you know, I
Speaker 2: do bring you know, I do? I did. I've always
Speaker 2: been mad that I didn't ask Justin Herbert if he
Speaker 2: ever brought it up that, you know, because Jeremiah is
Speaker 2: always around the Chargers that he had Herbert like ranked
Speaker 2: twentieth behind. This would be a fun question to ask
Speaker 2: behind this guy Ross Blacklock, who I you know? It
Speaker 2: was like, I don't even know if he's in the
Speaker 2: league right now.
Speaker 4: Here's my question for you.
Speaker 3: Do you think now this may sound like a hot take,
Speaker 3: and perhaps that's what it stands as and the hyperbole
Speaker 3: and whatever else, can you make a case when why
Speaker 3: is that quarterback playing so well? What's going on with
Speaker 3: Jared Goff? This big resurrection from this guy? I have
Speaker 3: long said, if you know my lament, you may recall
Speaker 3: I don't remember when it was eight ten years ago,
Speaker 3: that how is it possible in a world of seven
Speaker 3: billion people, we can't find thirty two people that can
Speaker 3: halfway decently play quarterback?
Speaker 2: In pro football.
Speaker 3: I think it's largely been solved QB saturation injuries aside,
Speaker 3: the injuries happened, But there are thirty to thirty five
Speaker 3: guys that you could throw in there. I suspect though,
Speaker 3: they're like, how come that guy in the fourth round
Speaker 3: worked out when the first round who everybody was in on.
Speaker 3: Agree or disagree, it's not the offensive lines, not the
Speaker 3: pass catcher.
Speaker 4: Maybe it's not even the quarterback.
Speaker 3: The most valuable thing you can have on your team
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three is a heady offensive coordinator. Is
Speaker 3: Ben Johnson more valuable than any any player on that
Speaker 3: Lion's roster? Maybe Kyle Shanahan. What's the voodoo he can
Speaker 3: make Brock Purty work? And people say, hey, don't kidknop
Speaker 3: brock Purdy. You don't know what you're talking about. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I mean I can kind of take some shots at
Speaker 3: brock Purdy when every other guy who's ever played for
Speaker 3: Kyle Shanahan is good too, Right, I mean you see
Speaker 3: what I'm getting at.
Speaker 4: Respond.
Speaker 2: I guess I disagree because I They'll still think that
Speaker 2: eight to ten quarterbacks that maybe transcend that are more valuable. Now, No,
Speaker 2: eight to ten, three to six at tops Lamar. You know, okay,
Speaker 2: I would even you.
Speaker 3: Know, we've already seen Lamar can't do it if he
Speaker 3: now he's Lamar Is, I mean he transcends it. I mean,
Speaker 3: how many of these coordinators make that big a difference.
Speaker 3: You might be a difference as Joe Burrow or Josh Allen.
Speaker 2: Here's the thing, Tim Kelly is not one of those guys.
Speaker 2: Do you know who Tim Kelly is? He's the offensive
Speaker 2: coordinator in the play caller. Nobody knows who Tim Kelly is.
Speaker 2: But I can see right off the bat, Will Levis
Speaker 2: is a dude. And actually you could see Ryan Tannaan
Speaker 2: when he got to Tennessee and kind of matured in
Speaker 2: his career. He was enough of a dude that the
Speaker 2: play action scheme they ran helped him look like statistically
Speaker 2: EPA wise the top five quarterback link. No one believed that,
Speaker 2: but he was good enough. And so that's that, to me,
Speaker 2: is still more valuable than there's only so many of
Speaker 2: these great play colors.
Speaker 3: I don't know, I guess there are only so many
Speaker 3: of those qbs that are actual drivers who overcome mediocrity
Speaker 3: around them.
Speaker 4: Everybody else is sold as being that.
Speaker 3: But they're only you know three maybe you know you
Speaker 3: could boil it down to Mahomes in Burrow and Josh Allen,
Speaker 3: is you crazy?
Speaker 2: Howie long Allen, Jalen Hurts whatever? Uh.
Speaker 3: I'd even throw those names you just throwed, would not?
Speaker 3: You could not just plug them into any team.
Speaker 2: No, But if they're in a good system with a
Speaker 2: good enough coach, then then they'll be Then they'll be
Speaker 2: a difference maker. I think that the Titans have a chance.
Speaker 2: I'm not putting him there either. I think another problem
Speaker 2: people do is like all the people just assume after
Speaker 2: two games, okay, like we were right about Levis and
Speaker 2: you guys are wrong about Bryce Younger this year, Like, okay,
Speaker 2: let's give it a little bit of time, but he
Speaker 2: looks like a dude who's gonna be around. I feel
Speaker 2: pretty confident after two weeks of that, and that's great news.
Speaker 2: I'm not giving up in this Titans team. Quietly. Their
Speaker 2: offensive line has been better this year. They improve from
Speaker 2: catastrophically bad for the last two to three years. And
Speaker 2: I've been saying this this year, like if you watch
Speaker 2: the Titans game, they're actually just like okay, or maybe
Speaker 2: even slightly below average. Or maybe average. I don't know,
Speaker 2: but it's it's huge when you go from the worst
Speaker 2: in the league to like, okay, it gives you a
Speaker 2: chance to grow. Nucas playing pretty well. I like the
Speaker 2: way Derrick Henry ran. They're like, they're a receiver short,
Speaker 2: They're a little short, they're deep. Isn't quite good enough
Speaker 2: for a defensive minded head coach, and they've put a
Speaker 2: lot of resources there, so they probably won't get it done.
Speaker 2: But their schedule is very easy, and they're the Titans,
Speaker 2: so I think they sell that encourage and I think
Speaker 2: they might be in the mix here by the end.
Speaker 3: I think that's true, and that has a lot to
Speaker 3: do with the mediocrity around them. I mean, you think
Speaker 3: about the AFC North and all those games still upcoming
Speaker 3: between each other. Obviously they're going to cannibalize each other,
Speaker 3: so that's going to knock them down. Who are you,
Speaker 3: I mean the Jags. You know, the Jags are the
Speaker 3: team that legitimizes the South. Potentially they may end up
Speaker 3: with a number.
Speaker 2: Of Jags are a real team, Jackson.
Speaker 4: I agree, I'm not knocking them.
Speaker 3: I'm saying, but you know, the Texans are are fun,
Speaker 3: but are they definitely going to play out the rest
Speaker 3: of the season here and be a threat week in
Speaker 3: and week out.
Speaker 4: Maybe not.
Speaker 3: I bet there's a there's a chance for the Titans,
Speaker 3: to your point, with an easy schedule to be a factor.
Speaker 3: We thought in August, I assume you would have when
Speaker 3: you looked at the AFC. I said, more hyperbole, possibly
Speaker 3: from Dave, but I said, I don't think in the
Speaker 3: Super Bowl era there has been as loaded a conference
Speaker 3: top to bottom. I don't mean high end teams. I
Speaker 3: mean one through sixteen that you would look at and
Speaker 3: say like, well, definitely that team, and that that you
Speaker 3: could cobble together a list of four teams that definitely
Speaker 3: weren't going to the playoffs. There were so many good
Speaker 3: teams that you thought had a chance, and now even
Speaker 3: five six weeks and you were like, that team is
Speaker 3: not nearly as good as I thought they were. And
Speaker 3: so based on the sea of mediocrity in which all
Speaker 3: these teams have ended up swimming in, I don't you know,
Speaker 3: Steelers are fine, Browns may get in. You know, Chargers
Speaker 3: I have I have a hunch, Well, this is a
Speaker 3: big one, almost an elimination game in New York.
Speaker 4: This weekend right between Zach.
Speaker 2: Wilson and that.
Speaker 3: But all right, well you better get red hot after
Speaker 3: that if you're either one of those teams when you
Speaker 3: have to play the Bills and Dolphins again, or if
Speaker 3: you're the Larder you still have the Chiefs and you
Speaker 3: know the Broncos are playing a wee bit better.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, at the Titans have are only a negative twelve
Speaker 2: point differential in the year that Steelers are negative thirty
Speaker 2: the Titans. There's nothing better as a fan than feeling like, ooh,
Speaker 2: we might have a quarterback. I don't think the Steelers
Speaker 2: fans feel that way after too. You think that one
Speaker 2: consolation for the Titans they lost the game. But I
Speaker 2: feel if I was a Titans fan, I would be
Speaker 2: if I was justin Graver, the old Grave Digger, I'd
Speaker 2: be very excited about the future and maybe even this
Speaker 2: season they could.
Speaker 3: Make Grave Digger was a nice person. He's still alive, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, celebrating Texas Rangers winning the World Series. He's over
Speaker 2: there working at Fox and he's covering it live, sees
Speaker 2: his team win it live. It was like my first
Speaker 2: Super Bowl when I saw Randy Moss catch the game
Speaker 2: winning touchdown with just over two minutes to go to
Speaker 2: cap off the first undefeated season in NFL history for
Speaker 2: the Patriots. I want to wait, wait, let's get back
Speaker 2: to it.
Speaker 4: Let's get back to that in one second.
Speaker 3: The one thing I want to say to the Titans
Speaker 3: fans and any football fan if the game didn't go
Speaker 3: your way on Thursday night, or even if you're a
Speaker 3: Steelers fan and feeling frustrated, because this is the way
Speaker 3: you have to say even after a loss, like Dave
Speaker 3: Matt Cannada is nay good, dude, they got fired at
Speaker 3: Dave Tomlin. The standard ain't the standard, nay more. We
Speaker 3: don't win no playoff games, ny more, all that kind
Speaker 3: of stuff. But you know, we all just bore witness
Speaker 3: to history. Eight v eight Kenny Pickett or number eight
Speaker 3: against Will Levis Number eight. Now, of course, not enough
Speaker 3: to replace the all time greatest eight quarterback versus eight
Speaker 3: quarterback matchup, Aikman versus Steve Young, but this is still noteworthy.
Speaker 4: Maybe we'll look back.
Speaker 3: On this one in decade, in a decade from now
Speaker 3: and say, you know, what's time to amend the Aikman
Speaker 3: Steve Young thing. You know, so we saw a little
Speaker 3: bit of history. But now, speaking of history, what do
Speaker 3: you think about the Patriots maybe trading Bill Belichick to who?
Speaker 4: You haven't heard that.
Speaker 3: That's the rumor this week is at the end of
Speaker 3: the season, they're gonna trade him to the Washington comedies.
Speaker 2: I mean, what do you think that's where Lombardi ended
Speaker 2: his career. I hope that doesn't happen for Belichick. I
Speaker 2: remember Lombardy was mediocre and then more or less. I
Speaker 2: gotta check, I gotta check the facts. But yeah, I
Speaker 2: think he almost kind of died on the job, like
Speaker 2: he quit and like it wasn't going you know, it
Speaker 2: wasn't going well. Yeah, it's unceremonious. I wouldn't want to
Speaker 2: see that happen, but it's pain good for you.
Speaker 1: I like you.
Speaker 3: That's that you're a man of loyalty and honor, and
Speaker 3: you wouldn't because a lot. I'm sure you've heard Patriots fans.
Speaker 3: They're not very happy at all about what's going on.
Speaker 3: I think the big winner, do you agree with this?
Speaker 3: The big winner of the last three years and this
Speaker 3: season for sure, is Tom Brady because now it's just
Speaker 3: been laid bare. The debate that went on for at
Speaker 3: least the last fifteen years. Like who's what do you
Speaker 3: think tom Brady or Belichick? Belichick or Tom Brady. It's
Speaker 3: pretty obvious that the guy left went to play for
Speaker 3: Bruce Arians in Florida somewhere, got drunk in his mid forties,
Speaker 3: and won the Super Bowl, while Bill Belichick's scuffles along.
Speaker 3: Funny how, I'm not saying he's a bad coach, and
Speaker 3: I certainly think that these people in New England saying, like, man,
Speaker 3: maybe it's time for the old man to move on.
Speaker 3: He gets as much rope as he wants. He delivered
Speaker 3: you all those Super Bowls.
Speaker 2: He writes his own ticket, right, I'm with that. I agree,
Speaker 2: and I've never liked that argument. Of course, it's the
Speaker 2: player that matters more, but it's the combination, and they
Speaker 2: were a beautiful combination. And yeah, I do like Bomani
Speaker 2: Jones's take that, like he did win a Super Bowl
Speaker 2: without Tom Brady. It was Tom Brady's second year in
Speaker 2: the league, when Tom Brady was like the twenty second
Speaker 2: best quarterback in the and I was like, that's a good.
Speaker 3: Point, nah, But then that goes back to where we
Speaker 3: started twenty or thirty minutes ago. That when your quarterback,
Speaker 3: when you find the guy and he's still on his
Speaker 3: rookie deal, now you're in the sweet spot. Do you
Speaker 3: know the boss that even in the age of Tom
Speaker 3: Brady over the last I forget what the number is.
Speaker 3: I think it's since the start of the millennium. If
Speaker 3: I counted this right. You know, I'm not a numbers guy,
Speaker 3: but I think I counted this right. I think it's
Speaker 3: forty nine or fifty one percent of all Super Bowl
Speaker 3: starting qbs were on their rookie deals over in the
Speaker 3: last twenty three to twenty four super Bowls. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's in the age of Brady, when he was going
Speaker 3: to Super Bowls in his fifteenth year and whatever. So
Speaker 3: that's going to offset those skew those numbers in favor
Speaker 3: of the Vets anyway, and despite that half the QBS,
Speaker 3: it's inarguable that that's where you want to be. Obviously,
Speaker 3: the trick is to actually have the guy and not
Speaker 3: try to delude yourself into thinking because you used the
Speaker 3: first round pick on.
Speaker 4: Him, we got to make him work. At year four,
Speaker 4: we're sticking with it.
Speaker 2: I mean, okay, there's Matthew Stafford just won the Super
Speaker 2: Bowl Patrick Mahomes just won the suit. I don't know.
Speaker 2: You can't tell me. It's a disadvantage to have like
Speaker 2: one of the best quarterbacks no matter what you're paying them.
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts didn't win it last year, but he played
Speaker 2: well enough it. You just need a great quarterback.
Speaker 4: Okay, I'm trying to work.
Speaker 2: Why can't And by the way, Vince Lombardi, God rest
Speaker 2: his soul. One of the greatest ever, maybe the greatest. Oh,
Speaker 2: I have another hot tak. I haven't talked to that
Speaker 2: whole run with the Packers. He was emotionally exhausted. He
Speaker 2: sat out one year. He couldn't stay on the sideline.
Speaker 2: So he went to Washington and he went seven five.
Speaker 4: And who knows his history, good for I'm checking it.
Speaker 2: He went to Washington, went seven to five and two. Well,
Speaker 2: the part that I was checking on, unfortunately, was the
Speaker 2: circumstances surrounding his death. And I believe he only coached
Speaker 2: that one year and had to step down because he
Speaker 2: got cancer. And he did passed right, But.
Speaker 4: He was that People think he just yeah, he just walked.
Speaker 3: He walked off the field at the Orange Bowl after
Speaker 3: Super Bowl two, after vanquishing Daryl Lamonica and company and
Speaker 3: and went off into the sunset. In fact, as you
Speaker 3: point out, yes, people don't know that extra chapter of
Speaker 3: his coaching life. You know what, while we're talking about Washington,
Speaker 3: I have one more hot take.
Speaker 4: I want to tell you real quick.
Speaker 2: Proving hands is so right here.
Speaker 4: I want to do. That's what I want to do.
Speaker 2: I'm having a good time. I heard we're going till dawn.
Speaker 4: We're settle in.
Speaker 3: Man, we got like six eight hours to go till
Speaker 3: sun up. Now listen, dig this. Here's my big one Belichick.
Speaker 3: Who is he the best? Don Shula overrated? Our pal
Speaker 3: handsome Hank Hodgson will agree with that. The diehard Dolphins
Speaker 3: fan boy. What a wonderful I'm.
Speaker 2: Not accepting this as a premise. He's not overrated.
Speaker 4: Yeah he is.
Speaker 3: Let me tell you why he Okay, he makes the
Speaker 3: paradigm shift from we're a run team, we're a run
Speaker 3: team at Zonka and Mercury Morris and Jim Kick and
Speaker 3: Bob Greasy is the most the most fraudulent, the most
Speaker 3: fraudulent Hall of Famer that exists. And when people like
Speaker 3: Eli Manning better not get into the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 3: and so on whenever people saw many names like Bob
Speaker 3: Greasey's in the Hall of Fame. He threw five passes
Speaker 3: in a playoff game and what were we talking about?
Speaker 3: I think he threw four passes in a full playoff
Speaker 3: game once. Talk about a passenger. Anyhow, he had Marino
Speaker 3: for all those years, got the one Super Bowl with
Speaker 3: him because he blew the personnel side of it. But anyway,
Speaker 3: Bill Walsh is the real deal. And there you know,
Speaker 3: it's the best Super Bowl coach. Joe Gibbs, that's it.
Speaker 3: He's the only one who did it with non Hall
Speaker 3: of famers, and.
Speaker 4: He did it three times.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing, right, And then he went to a
Speaker 2: completely different sport that most of the football populist doesn't
Speaker 2: care about, but built like a dominant franchise as dominant
Speaker 2: in that entirely different sport, which to me, I'm no
Speaker 2: NASCAR expert. My son likes it, and it's like that's
Speaker 2: I think that just proves what a great coach he is.
Speaker 2: Anyone that could possibly have pulled that off and then
Speaker 2: done it in another it's like it's un isn't it crazy?
Speaker 3: The week that Bob Knight passes away, I knew this,
Speaker 3: and I'd forgotten. Nobody was brought up in all the
Speaker 3: memorials to Bob Knight, but Bill Parcells was on Bob
Speaker 3: Knight's army basketball coaching staff. That's wild, right, But you
Speaker 3: know Bo Jackson, I mean, Joe Gibbs is Bo Jackson
Speaker 3: of coaching. To your to your point right, I mean
Speaker 3: he left the highest level of football and went over
Speaker 3: and did stock car racing and then and then took
Speaker 3: that over too.
Speaker 4: That's amazing he did.
Speaker 3: I mean he won a Super Bowl with Mark Rippin
Speaker 3: and with Doug Williams and with Joe thisman three times.
Speaker 3: He did that, four super bowls in what was that
Speaker 3: nine ten years?
Speaker 4: Remarkable. He loaded it NFC.
Speaker 2: Return, you know, to the Washington team and go to
Speaker 2: the playoffs, I believe with Mark Brunel. I don't know
Speaker 2: if anyone remembers that, but.
Speaker 4: I do remember that. You're right.
Speaker 2: Good for you.
Speaker 3: I thought that you picked up on football around like
Speaker 3: two thousand two.
Speaker 2: But good for that. Look, well, that is that's past that.
Speaker 2: I I was always a fan, but it wasn't my job.
Speaker 2: Now now we get paid to just honk and make
Speaker 2: my family yell at me for being too loud. Late.
Speaker 3: Now your time to keep it down for the For
Speaker 3: the next seven and a half hours, we're gonna we're
Speaker 3: gonna whisper because it's nighttime now.
Speaker 2: Dave Danisek is the host of the Minus three podcast.
Speaker 2: They've Got a fun a little like fifteen minute pregame
Speaker 2: at four pm on Fridays. What is that? You got
Speaker 2: the extra points? It's part of the extra points you got.
Speaker 2: You got a lot cooking over there. You got our
Speaker 2: old friend from NFL Media, Eddie Spaghetti with you. It's
Speaker 2: a lot of that.
Speaker 3: He's Eddie Spaghetti is in his usual spot behind the glass,
Speaker 3: chiming in as as he's wont to do. And Kevin
Speaker 3: Hanch very funny, deeply knowledgeable sports.
Speaker 4: Fan, big comedy writer and all that. But but.
Speaker 3: iHeart Boston sports fans. My Patriots based opinions have been
Speaker 3: are well worn. If you listen to Minus three, I'm
Speaker 3: throwing some of those at you, But yeah, listen.
Speaker 2: With all the responss of your opinions eventually become well worn.
Speaker 2: The good ones, the good ones, you got to reuse them.
Speaker 2: This was you know, your old friend Emma would always
Speaker 2: point that out from her favorite times of the year
Speaker 2: when you'd bring out the old.
Speaker 4: That's right, yeah, most overused bits. I think she called
Speaker 4: it all right.
Speaker 3: Listen, I have three or four thoughts in my head
Speaker 3: and I've I've leaned on them for the last three decades.
Speaker 3: It's it's worked out halfway decently. But yes, it occurs
Speaker 3: to me. It did occur to me over summer. I
Speaker 3: don't know who decided that pregame shows needed to be
Speaker 3: more than a half hour, and then they went to
Speaker 3: an hour, and then they went to three hours and
Speaker 3: the four hours, and now they're all about like and I.
Speaker 4: Like the feel good story.
Speaker 3: You know, you know me, Dave one of the great
Speaker 3: impaths of society. I like to hear people's nice stories
Speaker 3: and their journeys about like.
Speaker 4: He may be a superstar now, but he was born
Speaker 4: without a head.
Speaker 3: And then you know, like you hear those stories and
Speaker 3: they feel good and the nice music.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 3: I just don't need them right before the game. Tell
Speaker 3: me those on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Before the game, just
Speaker 3: tell me who's gonna win by how much, who's gonna
Speaker 3: have a good game.
Speaker 4: We do it all in fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3: Then you can get out the door and Live Your
Speaker 3: Life fifteen minutes the minus three pregame show. It's a breeze,
Speaker 3: lots of fun. It's a little bit if you're old
Speaker 3: school enough, it's a little bit like the Shame Report
Speaker 3: projecting ahead for the week over fifteen good times.
Speaker 2: I did love the same report, and I like that
Speaker 2: idea that it's quick. We don't need all the time.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm glad that the pregame shows are keeping
Speaker 2: a lot of our friends, and yeah, this industry happy.
Speaker 2: That's fine, but I'm with you. I need it to
Speaker 2: be sure for newer listeners of the show, and I
Speaker 2: find more and more. It's crazy, you know. Of course
Speaker 2: it happens. Listeners drop off, new listeners, come on. I've
Speaker 2: been told by many listeners, like they started listening after
Speaker 2: Wes was on the show. Like, of course we haven't
Speaker 2: some plenty of new listeners. It's been a few years.
Speaker 2: That sort of blows my mind. But we love hearing
Speaker 2: about him and learning that you know and and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. And it's like, so people might not know,
Speaker 2: you know that the first the very first iteration was
Speaker 2: the atl Debate club Mark Sessler. Dan hansis on the
Speaker 2: back of the Dave Danischek football.
Speaker 3: Flames because they break out the flame throwers. The flames
Speaker 3: would make the scene flame on.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: So we owe a debt to Dave, but not just
Speaker 2: for that, just for his friendship and helping the whole
Speaker 2: thing go at the NFL. And now over with the
Speaker 2: Minus three podcasts, it's been it's been a pleasure. It's
Speaker 2: been a thin slice of heaven.
Speaker 4: David, all right, I guess we can. We'll do this
Speaker 4: in parts, but we are going to be an hour.
Speaker 2: We can just keep talking after. But this is the
Speaker 2: time to hit the music. Randy, let's go.
Speaker 4: For d talk more. You better get in soon or
Speaker 4: else I'm gonna start going.
Speaker 2: It's been fun. Titans, Steelers. They gave us a good game.
Speaker 2: They gave us a lot to talk about. Dan was right,
Speaker 2: We're always gonna find a lot to talk about.
Speaker 4: Sunday seven and three and get them Brownie heap the call.
Speaker 1: H h