Speaker 1: The volume. This week on Prime Cutch Chad Millman, Sharper Square,
Speaker 1: John Middlkoff on Brandon Staley's big flaw Are the Lions
Speaker 1: legit NFC contenders and my top takes of the week
Speaker 1: Jim Harbaugh and he's done this in his entire career,
Speaker 1: will send messages and I know he burns hot. I
Speaker 1: know he's not perfect. I know he wears people out.
Speaker 1: I have said, everybody speeds on the four or five
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles. You don't want to go ninety sunglasses
Speaker 1: in a maserati taunting law enforcement. Did Michigan go over
Speaker 1: the top? Appear so? But you can't convince me a
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four rule that none of you knew is
Speaker 1: suddenly embezzlement and forfeit wins and fire the coach. The
Speaker 1: other thing that jumped out to me is find me
Speaker 1: the great college football coaches that have been and pristine.
Speaker 1: Want to go back and look at some of the
Speaker 1: methods of Bear Bryant or Barry Switzer or would he
Speaker 1: Hayes Jimmy Johnson was polarizing Blunkeye fans, Urban Meyer, really
Speaker 1: great coach Nick Saban. They wear people out, they're tough.
Speaker 1: I mean Pete Carroll one of the great college football coaches.
Speaker 1: Ever when he left there was all sorts of NCUBA
Speaker 1: issues around the program. So I'm not looking for pristine Okay.
Speaker 1: In the NFL, coaches have to deal with wacko, impulsive,
Speaker 1: ego infested owners. And in college football you got to
Speaker 1: deal with needy donors Los Angeles phone book, thick, nc
Speaker 1: doublea handbook. You have to deal with seventeen hours of practice.
Speaker 1: Kids are emotional, They come from all different backgrounds. I
Speaker 1: think Jim Harball, you see his coaches crying on the
Speaker 1: sideline in riches. Coaches in which is players elevates young
Speaker 1: people's lives, and I think that's such an important part
Speaker 1: of college football, coaching, basketball, men's, women's, whatever, it is
Speaker 1: enriching their lives. But if you're looking for pristine, wrong business.
Speaker 1: Our churches aren't pristine, Okay. Wall Street's not, Silicon Valley's not.
Speaker 1: College sports is not a lot of handouts, Folks. For
Speaker 1: years and years they were paying players. Now they are
Speaker 1: legally right. That's why it's so balanced now because not
Speaker 1: just the SEC is paying players. The idea that Jim
Speaker 1: Harbaugh is the bad guy in all this, all of
Speaker 1: this is laughable to me. And I also thought about this.
Speaker 1: The Big Ten sees itself as like, you know, either
Speaker 1: the most important conference. Certainly, I'd argue it is because
Speaker 1: it's located right in the middle of the country, massive
Speaker 1: tradition filled universities, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin. But
Speaker 1: it's really become a two team conference. Penn State doesn't
Speaker 1: win these kind of games. It's Michigan and Ohio State.
Speaker 1: And I think Big Ten fans think by adding Michigan, Washington, Oregon, USCUCLA,
Speaker 1: they look at the South California schools and then they
Speaker 1: look at Washington and Oregon is sort of like Oregon
Speaker 1: plus Michigan State ish plus no. Right now, Washington and
Speaker 1: Oregon have as good at coaches as maybe they've ever had,
Speaker 1: and they are Ohio State. You're adding two Ohio states
Speaker 1: to the conference. I don't think Big Ten fans get this.
Speaker 1: Every time Washington has had an elite coach, Don James
Speaker 1: National title, Rick neuheizel one Rose Bulls, Chris Peterson got
Speaker 1: to the playoff, Caitlin de Bores. When's the last time
Speaker 1: they lost on like a sixteen to seventeen game winning
Speaker 1: street same for Oregon since Phil Knight got involved. Mike
Speaker 1: Bolotti with Jeff Headford number two in the country, Mike
Speaker 1: Bolotti with Chip Kelly blewe people out Chip Kelly, Mark
Speaker 1: Helfridge get to a Natty, and right now with Dan Lanning,
Speaker 1: I think there's an argument that Oregon's the second team
Speaker 1: in the country to Michigan. They're in that Georgia, Alabama,
Speaker 1: Oregon Texas class. In my opinion, i'd take him against
Speaker 1: Texas and Alabama, not sure what against Georgia, but it
Speaker 1: would be close. So the Big Ten. Maybe it's the
Speaker 1: perfect time for Jim Harbaugh exit if he wins a
Speaker 1: national championship or even if he doesn't. But the truth
Speaker 1: is for him to continue to win when he's not
Speaker 1: on the sidelines. It shows the formidable culture that he's built.
Speaker 1: Running and just running in the second half, to me,
Speaker 1: was a sign to the conference that we will do
Speaker 1: it our way, that Michigan football, power football, regardless of
Speaker 1: I'm on the sidelines, will prevail. I wish Maryland and
Speaker 1: Ohio State the best of luck. But listen, man, if
Speaker 1: you're looking for pristine, you gotta be kidding yourself. I
Speaker 1: mean Buckeye fans slow down on Pristine, Woody Hayes smacking
Speaker 1: a player during a game, love Urbinmeier, all sorts of noise,
Speaker 1: Urban was there, Jim Harball's not the bad guy. Hey,
Speaker 1: we all make mistakes again. Jimmy Johnson polarizing, Barry Switzer,
Speaker 1: Pete Carroll, lou Holts. These are not These are not
Speaker 1: perfect jobs or perfect men. But I loved, I loved.
Speaker 1: I don't generally root in these games. I just like
Speaker 1: a good TV product. I loved not only that Michigan
Speaker 1: won Hardball one, but how they won. I think what
Speaker 1: you're seeing with Denver is a really well coached team.
Speaker 1: As Sean Payton was asked to fix Russell, he has
Speaker 1: I mean Russell Tonight twenty four to twenty nine, couple
Speaker 1: of touchdowns, multiple laterals, couple of huge long drives late
Speaker 1: in the game. You got to give Russell Wilson credit
Speaker 1: for that. They don't have a star receiver, Courtland Sutton,
Speaker 1: Jerry Judy Mims, no stars, tight ends, Okay, no stars.
Speaker 1: You know a couple of nice running backs. Williams I
Speaker 1: think is a good young running back off an injury.
Speaker 1: No stars, p Ryan good backup. There's no real stars
Speaker 1: on the offense, and Russell Wilson's probably about seventy five
Speaker 1: to eighty percent of what he was. Didn't quite have
Speaker 1: the speed, the twitchiness or the juice, but he still
Speaker 1: makes really good decisions. He doesn't make a lot of
Speaker 1: big mistakes. He plays with himself. Sean Payton has centered
Speaker 1: the ship. He was asked to fix Russell Wilson. He has.
Speaker 1: I think this is about what Russell Wilson is now
Speaker 1: if they had an elite deep threat. I think Jerry
Speaker 1: Judy's always been disappointing, very fast. The old line's not great,
Speaker 1: so Russell's not going to have very rarely a lot
Speaker 1: of time to throw. Tonight he had a nineteen yard
Speaker 1: completion to Jerry Judy on that play. He had great
Speaker 1: protection by and large, though Russell is getting the ball
Speaker 1: out very quickly because it's not a great offensive line.
Speaker 1: Mcglinchy's been kind of not a bust, but he's been
Speaker 1: in suboptimal acquisition at right tackle. So but I mean,
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson had thirty six thirty seven minutes time of possession.
Speaker 1: Sean Peyton has fixed Russell Wilson to the level he
Speaker 1: can be fixed relative to what he has to work
Speaker 1: with the defense. It was a mess early. They moved
Speaker 1: off a couple of older players, one Randy Gregory. They're
Speaker 1: playing younger players. It's not a great unit, but they
Speaker 1: keep things in front of them, don't let cheap touchdowns
Speaker 1: over the top. They don't make a ton of mistakes.
Speaker 1: They had a lot of penallies tonight, but not a
Speaker 1: lot of turnovers. Buffalo was a mess meanwhile, and so
Speaker 1: I think Peyton was in charge of fix the culture,
Speaker 1: fix the quarterback, get the roster as right as you
Speaker 1: possibly can. And I think he's done it.
Speaker 2: I think he's done it.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Chargers are four and five, the Broncos
Speaker 1: are four and five. What did Brandon Staley have to fix? Right?
Speaker 1: What did he have to fix? So Sean Payton comes
Speaker 1: in and it takes a while, It took him five
Speaker 1: six weeks to get it right. But I think Denver's
Speaker 1: as good as they can possibly be. And that's why
Speaker 1: I liked him tonight. The kind of know what they
Speaker 1: are to keep things in front of them. They dominate
Speaker 1: time of possession, you know. Buffalo, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: I wrote this down just in the first half, fumble, interception,
Speaker 1: three drops, no run game, and Buffalo trailed twelve eight
Speaker 1: at half. At home, they were just not prepared to play.
Speaker 1: So I look at a Buffalo team that has a
Speaker 1: superstar quarterback, a really star wide receiver, a couple of
Speaker 1: star defensive linemen, and at home felt like they were
Speaker 1: I mean, let's be honest. There's an old saying you
Speaker 1: lose more games and then you win in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Buffalo lost that thing tonight. Who is the quarterback? Last
Speaker 1: couple of drives, didn't make any mistakes, kept picking up
Speaker 1: third downs. I mean, Russell Wilson was eight for nineteen
Speaker 1: on the road third down against the defensive coach Sean McDermott.
Speaker 1: Good defensive front, pretty good. So you know, if you
Speaker 1: want to know what coaching looks like, it's not just
Speaker 1: the coaches. To get to the playoffs Denver, Sean Payton
Speaker 1: was asked to fix the coaching staff, fix Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: fix the culture, and in the middle of a season,
Speaker 1: fix the defense. He's done all four Denver relative to
Speaker 1: their talent, is okay? Listen, the smartest guys in the
Speaker 1: NFL miss all the time during drafts, and I didn't
Speaker 1: know what Lamar Jackson was going to be. I really
Speaker 1: didn't know. I don't think anybody did. That's why virtually
Speaker 1: everybody passed on him, and the Baltimore Ravens got him
Speaker 1: at the end of the first round. I mean, as
Speaker 1: good as Russell Wilson was in his prime, everybody passed
Speaker 1: on him, including Seattle a couple of times. Everybody passed
Speaker 1: on Brady five times and six in many instances. So
Speaker 1: there's no great valor in saying, you know, well, you
Speaker 1: were wrong on a quarterback. Everybody's wrong. The best gms
Speaker 1: in the history of the league are wrong. But you
Speaker 1: know it became very evident, very quickly with Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: when he started Week eleven of year one. He was
Speaker 1: really a unique talent. And I say this all the time,
Speaker 1: and I would say this. I argued with Jason McIntyre
Speaker 1: today about Brock Purty. Every great quarterback in my life
Speaker 1: there is something that is special, and which Brock Purtty
Speaker 1: there's not. He throws a good ball, not a great ball.
Speaker 1: There's no wow with Lamar Jackson. I don't get the critics.
Speaker 1: I just I don't. I don't get it when you
Speaker 1: watch him He had a couple of plays in the
Speaker 1: first half. One in the second half it was incompletely
Speaker 1: He threw a ball deep into the end zone. It
Speaker 1: was caught, but out of the end zone. His escapability,
Speaker 1: his ability to move to his left or is right
Speaker 1: and keep his eyes down field, his ability to throw
Speaker 1: accurately deep when he's running. Lamar Jackson just doesn't play
Speaker 1: the game like anybody else. And you know when he
Speaker 1: first broke into the league, the knock was, well, he
Speaker 1: doesn't play well from behind. For the record, almost nobody does.
Speaker 1: You know, outside of Pat Mahomes, almost nobody has a
Speaker 1: winning record playing from behind if they've played, you know,
Speaker 1: at least fifty starts in their career. And now the
Speaker 1: knock is, well, he can't. He can't keep a lead,
Speaker 1: so we know he can play from behind. I can't
Speaker 1: hold a lead. He can hold a lead. A lot
Speaker 1: of that's on the defense. You know, his turnovers are
Speaker 1: up this year. He can be frenetic, he can play
Speaker 1: a little bit too fast. But just ask yourself Herbert
Speaker 1: size wow, arm strength wow, josh Allen Mahomes, Burrow's accuracy.
Speaker 1: If your quarterback doesn't have any wow. That was the
Speaker 1: knock on c J. Stroud. He's big enough. He was accurate,
Speaker 1: but it was sort of his comp was Jared Goff,
Speaker 1: and I had said with Goff and I still say it,
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of juice with Jared Goff, but
Speaker 1: he's really good. And that's c J. Stroud. His it
Speaker 1: is at his ability to see the field very quickly,
Speaker 1: recognize and throw the ball accurately. Burrow and c J.
Speaker 1: Stroud have the same wow, and it's the ability to
Speaker 1: accurately throw a football from forty five yards in with
Speaker 1: dead eye accuracy. That wow. Drew Brees as wow was
Speaker 1: accuracy like through a tire from thirty yards, you know,
Speaker 1: regularly over and over and over. Your WOW doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be size or speed or arm strength. It can
Speaker 1: be just Drew Brees, Joe Burrow, c J. Stroud accuracy
Speaker 1: that there's just not that many people can just drop
Speaker 1: a ball over linebackers in front of safeties twenty eight
Speaker 1: yards on a dime every time. But Lamar's just jumps
Speaker 1: off the television set. Like when I watch him, I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't know how it would work. But if you're
Speaker 1: still denying it, I don't know what you're watching the
Speaker 1: guys won seventy eight percent of his games. This is
Speaker 1: the first year he's had good receivers. He's got a
Speaker 1: good tight end, but he's had running back injuries and
Speaker 1: O line injuries and Ronnie Stanley, and I think the
Speaker 1: guy's just incredibly special. In the NBA, the games can
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Speaker 1: Responsible gaming Resources. Former NFL scout, he's on the volume,
Speaker 1: one of our faves, John Middlecoff joining us. So let's
Speaker 1: start with something that I know irritates the hell out
Speaker 1: of both of us. The Chargers gave up five hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty three yards and about eight and a half
Speaker 1: yards of play to Jared Goff and the lines, who,
Speaker 1: by the way, were off a bye. I thought it
Speaker 1: was my favorite bet of the week. It was a push.
Speaker 1: It was at minus one Monday, but by Friday I
Speaker 1: get blazing five. I got minus three. But listen, this
Speaker 1: is not an easy team to defend. Although Baltimore did
Speaker 1: it they were off a bye, but the ease in
Speaker 1: which Detroit scored quickly in the second half Derwin James,
Speaker 1: and I say this all the time when I watch
Speaker 1: a coach, do your players get better? We tend to
Speaker 1: think that good players in the NFL like they're set,
Speaker 1: like they can't be coached. Derwin James between between the
Speaker 1: penalties getting beat and all, obviously he can be sporadic
Speaker 1: in terms of availability. I don't think Derwin James. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't resign him. I mean, I like him, but I
Speaker 1: wouldn't pay a safety that anymore what you have to
Speaker 1: pay Herbert. I am just it's John. At some point
Speaker 1: we have to acknowledge. I like Jared Goff. I like
Speaker 1: this on line, They're not eight and a half yards
Speaker 1: of play good right.
Speaker 3: I think the defining thing of the Brandon Staley ten
Speaker 3: year so far as the defensive coordinator while he's the
Speaker 3: head coach, he calls the defense has been in big spots.
Speaker 3: Guys are wide open, and I think as a coach,
Speaker 3: it doesn't matter what you know. And guys like Brandon Staley,
Speaker 3: I'm sure on a white board, just like Josh McDaniels,
Speaker 3: who was fired last week, knows a lot like their
Speaker 3: football knowledge. Understanding every yard, every landmark, where everyone's supposed
Speaker 3: to be, what you're supposed to do against this, If
Speaker 3: this happens, do your players know?
Speaker 2: That's what coaching is.
Speaker 3: That's what separated Belichick for twenty years. His players always
Speaker 3: knew what to do. Andy Reid now with mahomes the
Speaker 3: player and for his whole career, but now they gun
Speaker 3: up a level that he has a quarterback. And you
Speaker 3: watch Brandon sale in that last drive, the first play
Speaker 3: that game, guys wide open, goes for forty yards and
Speaker 3: then ultimately getting field goal position because of that play.
Speaker 3: And I think it's always going back to the playoff
Speaker 3: game what happened against the Jacks. They had an enormous
Speaker 3: lead and then blown coverage, blown coverage, and listen, most
Speaker 3: guys aren't Deon Sanders, Durell, Reeves, dvs are there. They
Speaker 3: get plays made on them. Football is hard, but when
Speaker 3: no one's around you, that's the problem with USC's defense
Speaker 3: the last couple of years, Like there's not even a
Speaker 3: soul around. This can't be normal, you know, And I
Speaker 3: think that's the Brandon Staley ultimately his undoing because Herbert
Speaker 3: today had a little bit of a muscle flex Like
Speaker 3: this is the reason I'm one hundred and seventy hundred
Speaker 3: and eighty million dollars. Quarterback Keenan Allen's been fantastic this season.
Speaker 3: Clearly playing injured, you can't have a quarterback at that level.
Speaker 2: Like you said, Jared Goff resurrected his career.
Speaker 3: Everyone has a lot of respect if you like football,
Speaker 3: for what he's done. But Herbert's on a different level.
Speaker 3: But his defense is just better.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Quintin Johnson had a touchdown today, which is big
Speaker 1: for the Chargers because you know, and I called the
Speaker 1: Chargers and asked him. They're like, we really like him.
Speaker 1: But the TCU offense was different than the Chargers offense completely,
Speaker 1: and we're asking a lot of our receivers. That's why
Speaker 1: even Palmer, year two, year three, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams,
Speaker 1: they've been in the system, Gerald Everett, this is a
Speaker 1: hard offense. We are Kellen Moore. Now we introduced a
Speaker 1: new offense. So I was happy to see that happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, people can believe what they
Speaker 1: want about quarterbacks. I mean, Jordan Love had two picks today,
Speaker 1: lost and people will say, oh, he made some great throws,
Speaker 1: you know, justin Herbert was throwing dimes all over the field.
Speaker 1: Loses and people will say he's overrated. I felt today,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Spanos family and Tom Telesco have been frustrated.
Speaker 1: I mean, I could tell you that that with some
Speaker 1: of what's gone on, great disappointment and the money spent
Speaker 1: on the defense and the inability for it to make stops.
Speaker 1: But I thought today I thought, I mean, Herbert march
Speaker 1: down the field, doesn't have Mike Williams, doesn't have that
Speaker 1: offensive line. I thought he was stupendous. It's funny I
Speaker 1: told you this. Obviously there's a communication. We don't think
Speaker 1: Brandon and Staley's a dumb guy. There's a communication gap
Speaker 1: between brand that and the players. When you get Mike Vrabel,
Speaker 1: Dan Campbell and Andy Reid and Mike Tomlin, there's almost
Speaker 1: a physical presence, or with Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh sort
Speaker 1: of a legendary presence. They they're like almost brands. With
Speaker 1: Brandon Staley, he's a smart guy. Is he willing to
Speaker 1: confront a player? He's a smaller guy. Is he willing
Speaker 1: to confront a player. Is he willing to bark? Is
Speaker 1: he willing to use willing to use volume, because I
Speaker 1: don't understand how you can have veteran players and older
Speaker 1: expensive defense in the wrong spot. Is he willing to
Speaker 1: call players out? And by the way, Vrabel is Tomlin
Speaker 1: is Pete is Harbaugh? Is that part of this whole
Speaker 1: thing is connecting. I mean, I know guys Greg Olsen
Speaker 1: told me Pete Carroll's meetings, you didn't make a sound.
Speaker 1: There was reverence to Pete, Andy Reid. He will bark
Speaker 1: at Mahomes, He's intimidating, you know, Spolstra Kerr. These guys
Speaker 1: will snip, they'll get after you. Staley to me is
Speaker 1: sort of this intellectual. Do players respect him? They may
Speaker 1: know he's smart, But a lot of times, John, I've
Speaker 1: had bosses they're smart. It doesn't connect with me. And
Speaker 1: that's what I wonder that.
Speaker 3: There was a famous story when I worked in the
Speaker 3: Eagles office about Andy and a high draft pick at
Speaker 3: offensive line. This would have been the mid two thousands,
Speaker 3: basically getting in a shoving match. I don't know if
Speaker 3: it lasted that long, but Andy's enormous. This offensive Lineman
Speaker 3: a tackle enormous and the whole place kind of moved right,
Speaker 3: the whole building. And you bring up Steve Kerr, think
Speaker 3: think how Steve is perceived on the outside, very progressive, liberal, outspoken,
Speaker 3: feels like he resonates with a certain crowd.
Speaker 2: Yet from a sports crowd. He's famous for fighting.
Speaker 3: Michael Jordan had a his oracle knockdown drag out with
Speaker 3: Draymond once upon a time in Oklahoma City that went public.
Speaker 3: A ton more that are not public. And part of it,
Speaker 3: like you said, is Brandon Staley really willing? You got
Speaker 3: to be confrontational. That's part of the sport, and it's
Speaker 3: the football in general is probably the most uncomfortable of
Speaker 3: them all because of the power coaches yield.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: You know in basketball some coaches not everyone has Steve
Speaker 3: Kerr or Spolster's poll. But in football, all the head
Speaker 3: coach can always bench a player at any moment or
Speaker 3: he's in charge.
Speaker 2: Even if you work for Jerry Jones, the coach has
Speaker 2: a lot of poll over you.
Speaker 3: And you watch Brandon Staley like are players intimidated by
Speaker 3: this guy? And nothing ever changes? And listen, I have
Speaker 3: nothing personal against the guy. If people sayn't hate him.
Speaker 3: I just you know, I just watched his thing over
Speaker 3: and over. Now, the one thing I read Flag is,
Speaker 3: you know, the media is not that difficult to deal with.
Speaker 3: If you just call him by their first name, you
Speaker 3: can get on their great graces. And he was good
Speaker 3: at that, so I and that was the phony element
Speaker 3: I saw it, and with the San Franco Giants with Gabeler,
Speaker 3: because ultimately, if you win or lose, who cares what
Speaker 3: they think about you. That's what you're paid there to do.
Speaker 3: And he's just struggled at that. And now you know,
Speaker 3: this year's been hanging on by a thread. And when
Speaker 3: you have this quarterback. There's a couple of players I
Speaker 3: think that are pretty polarizing who are pretty good, Trevor
Speaker 3: Lawrence and Justin Herbert, and I think, oh, I got
Speaker 3: a couple of texts today about Trevor Lawrence are like, yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, there's some intangible stuff I wish he had
Speaker 3: a little more of.
Speaker 2: I think he can be a little overrated. One guy.
Speaker 2: I never hear that from. I don't care.
Speaker 3: It could be the Chiefs, the Eagles are just other
Speaker 3: random teams. Everyone supports Justin Herbert as a player. There's
Speaker 3: no he is not polarizing internally in the NFL. Good teams,
Speaker 3: bad teams, in the middle of the road teams. Everyone
Speaker 3: stamps this guy is a baller, right, He's in that
Speaker 3: crew of what gets universal agreement, and you know you
Speaker 3: wasted his rookie contract.
Speaker 2: Now you're paying him big money.
Speaker 3: Luckily, the way football is, he can play at this
Speaker 3: level for a long period of time, but the time
Speaker 3: is now.
Speaker 2: I mean, what are we doing.
Speaker 3: Whether it's Jim Harball, whether it's I don't know exactly
Speaker 3: who the coach is, but you have to upgrade.
Speaker 2: It's not even debatable.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about Bengals Houston Texans because this
Speaker 1: was a spot. This is one of the bets I
Speaker 1: should have taken. I should have taken Houston. Plus the
Speaker 1: point everybody told me to take this because you know
Speaker 1: Cincinnati had beaten Buffalo. Raven's next and this is that
Speaker 1: classic Sandwich game. Is that I don't want to hear
Speaker 1: any excuses for Daniel Jones. I don't want to hear
Speaker 1: it for Jordan Love or Kenny Pickett. I watched every
Speaker 1: snap of that thing today. C J. Stroud is so accurate,
Speaker 1: so impressive. He had a bad pick, very much like
Speaker 1: Andrew Luck shrugged it off, had zero effect, very short memory.
Speaker 1: And listen, we all know Burls great. But I gotta
Speaker 1: tell you something. When I watched C. J. Stroud, that
Speaker 1: was a real moment. That is a better roster on
Speaker 1: the road. Bad pick bounced back, marched down the field
Speaker 1: with no time left. Now, if Boyd could catch, maybe
Speaker 1: it's a different outcome. But I gotta tell you, John,
Speaker 1: I looked at him, so it's funny his comp was
Speaker 1: Jared Goff with a little more mobility. Well if I
Speaker 1: told you, you know, if you think about that, that's like, well,
Speaker 1: hell if GoF had mobility, maybe like a top eight quarterback.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: So I watched Stroud and I'm just like, I'm sold.
Speaker 1: I mean today was just like that last drive. It's like, man,
Speaker 1: I am sold on him.
Speaker 3: Well, you and I have been talking about it all
Speaker 3: season long. The separating factor what makes guys have success
Speaker 3: that are drafted high or not their ability to layer
Speaker 3: those throws. It's not the Brett faarv seventy yard on
Speaker 3: a rope, you know, into double coverage. Most guys can't
Speaker 3: do that. Can you layer the throw over an underneath
Speaker 3: the fender, whether it's a corner or a linebacker, and
Speaker 3: then a safety behind him and put it in there.
Speaker 3: And a lot of guys can't. Most guys can't, and
Speaker 3: most guys can't consistently do it. This guy does it
Speaker 3: with the East and let's face it with a Thursday
Speaker 3: night game with Bryce on display. And this when I
Speaker 3: got out of football and went to radio, started to
Speaker 3: go into a lot of baseball games and basketball games.
Speaker 2: And I knew this being so many NFL games, but.
Speaker 3: The importance of size in pro sports, that the outliers
Speaker 3: of small guys is so small, like Steph Curry is
Speaker 3: considered a small guy. Steph Curry six's four and now
Speaker 3: he's jacked, but he's not that small. He's not Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 3: You know, he's not as small as you think.
Speaker 1: Listen, I'm I'm I'm six to two. I'd be like
Speaker 1: the fifth tallest president in the history of the country.
Speaker 1: And I've been around Steph Curry twice. He's bigger than
Speaker 1: me and fifteen pounds heavier.
Speaker 3: I remember going to Giants baseball games seeing Hunter Pence
Speaker 3: and Madison Bumber on the size of these guys. And
Speaker 3: you see Bryce Young I just don't see how that's
Speaker 3: gonna work. He is so small, that's one thing to
Speaker 3: be Kyler Murray small, but he's two hundred and twenty
Speaker 3: pounds and he's faster than every guy on the field,
Speaker 3: so he has things that he can hang his hat on.
Speaker 2: Even today, I'm watching some of his highlights.
Speaker 3: I don't know if he's one hundred percent, but he's
Speaker 3: still faster than every one in the Atlanta Falcons. Bryce
Speaker 3: is not that fast, doesn't have a great arm anyways,
Speaker 3: one hundred and seventy pounds, and when von Hargrave or
Speaker 3: some of these defensive linemen fall on you, there's no
Speaker 3: way to just get back up. You watch DJ Straud,
Speaker 3: He's big, he can move, and throwing is the easiest
Speaker 3: part of this game. It just comes like, I don't
Speaker 3: even think it's that debatable. I'm not trying to We're
Speaker 3: only in November. The Texans wouldn't even pick up their
Speaker 3: phone call if they try to do a trade, And
Speaker 3: how would Carolina not have a redo on that?
Speaker 2: And is that just David Temper forcing it?
Speaker 3: Because I'd say the Houston Texans, who also really like
Speaker 3: Bryce Young, sometimes you need a little luck.
Speaker 2: Hell, the Chargers would have taken to a he's on
Speaker 2: your team, that's all that matters. They should be.
Speaker 3: Doing cartwheels that this guy, the way it all played out,
Speaker 3: fell to them, because I don't see any chance Bryce
Speaker 3: Young could be like a.
Speaker 2: Quarter of as good as this guy. Well.
Speaker 1: And also, Ohio State has a history. Think how great
Speaker 1: Ohio State football's had and they've never had a great
Speaker 1: NFL quarterback. And part of that is because Ohio State,
Speaker 1: outside of Michigan, has significantly better talent than everybody in
Speaker 1: their conference. Alabama's great even during their run, LSU, Georgia stacked,
Speaker 1: Texas and m didn't have the coach stacked Ohio State
Speaker 1: faces one game a year and they out recruit historically
Speaker 1: Michigan that they're even so c J. Stroud five star
Speaker 1: tackle a lot of time, five star receivers, heartline recruits
Speaker 1: better than anybody in the country at wide receiver. So
Speaker 1: there's a reason Ohio State it's not USC similar Matt Lioner,
Speaker 1: it barely got touched in college. There is a reason
Speaker 1: it's not really living an NFL experience.
Speaker 2: So c J.
Speaker 1: Stroud, My thing was, these Ohio State quarterbacks are talented,
Speaker 1: but God, they all put up gigantic numbers, but his
Speaker 1: accuracy is just today he had a coup and now
Speaker 1: it helps Demiko Ryan's great coach, Tank Dell. Holy moly,
Speaker 1: is that pick what?
Speaker 2: So like?
Speaker 1: Sometimes you need he's got juice? Bryce Young has no
Speaker 1: juice Bryce Young. Herbstreet said the other day, he goes,
Speaker 1: they ran one offense, they're transitioning to another, and they
Speaker 1: have none of the players, so it's going to be
Speaker 1: really ugly. Some of this for Houston is they had
Speaker 1: a very good offseason. They sign in free agency, if
Speaker 1: you remember John, some B level players, and I remember
Speaker 1: saying on FS one, I was like, they're having a quietly.
Speaker 1: They picked up about six seven rotational starters, you know,
Speaker 1: guys that will play. So then you head on Tank Dell.
Speaker 1: So I will say CJ's got a little better talent
Speaker 1: that I think. I think Houston's pretty got some juice,
Speaker 1: don't you think a little bit?
Speaker 2: For sure?
Speaker 3: They've drafted, Well, they're gonna have a ton of money.
Speaker 3: You know, the Cowboys never have any cash base to
Speaker 3: sign free agents because Jerry's always overpaying his own guys.
Speaker 2: If they ever did, people would love to go to
Speaker 2: Texas in no state income text Houston.
Speaker 3: Now, if they can take advantage of these next couple
Speaker 3: of years, could have a chance to kind of load
Speaker 3: up that make some bold trades. They got some picks
Speaker 3: from the Deshaun Watson's thing still coming in, they'd have
Speaker 3: a chance.
Speaker 2: They got a star coach. I heard what Herbstreet said.
Speaker 3: The only thing I would disagree because I don't disagree
Speaker 3: that their offense looks terrible and their lack of talent,
Speaker 3: but there is a physical characteristic attribute thing at the
Speaker 3: highest level of pro sports that you go.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be difficult for them.
Speaker 3: So even if they get the right offense, they upgrade
Speaker 3: an offensive coordinator, how they fire Frank and get a
Speaker 3: better coach?
Speaker 2: When does that what it looks like to all of us,
Speaker 2: how miniscule the guy is gonna work? Yea, even if
Speaker 2: c J. Strowd hadn't been this good, his body type,
Speaker 2: his movement, we've seen that before.
Speaker 3: Well seen anything like Bryce before coming out of Alabama.
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to act like I'm some genius. I
Speaker 3: thought he was sweet, but it ain't working and it
Speaker 3: doesn't even look like it has a chance.
Speaker 1: To listen, fran Tarkenton was small but nobody drafted small
Speaker 1: guys after Fran. It's more of a copycat league now,
Speaker 1: like that was just a unique player Georgia Fran Tarkenton
Speaker 1: ran around, but there wasn't like seven eight guys drafted
Speaker 1: after it. It was six four six ' five guys
Speaker 1: that could throw the ball down the field did not move.
Speaker 1: The truth is Russell Wilson got Johnny Manziel drafted, Baker drafted,
Speaker 1: Kyler drafted. He got a lot of these guys drafted,
Speaker 1: and we've watched I think fairly. Even though Russell over
Speaker 1: the last three weeks has been better because they've established
Speaker 1: a run game under Payton, he's lost his juice. It's
Speaker 1: just it's just the bottom line is when you're that
Speaker 1: small in this league, it doesn't take as many hits.
Speaker 1: Christ I saw Cam Newton Ben age thirty three, You're like, whoa,
Speaker 1: that doesn't look anything like it than at twenty nine.
Speaker 1: So it's like Ben got old fast, Cam got old fast.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen's got about three more years of this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he's he's for sure and he's six six, two sixty.
Speaker 1: So I do think with Bryce and your point on
Speaker 1: Kyler is right. Kyle, for the record, Kyler's been banged
Speaker 1: up several times. Kyler did not want to run in
Speaker 1: the playoff game, like you know, five ten guys don't
Speaker 1: want to run. Sharper Square. Chad Millman, CEEO Action Network.
Speaker 1: I actually this week love the lines and I love
Speaker 1: dogs everywhere. This week I'm going I'm going value shopping
Speaker 1: because I've been heavy on the favorites for about a month.
Speaker 1: It's done me. Okay, you ready to go.
Speaker 4: I'm ready, brother, let me hear what you're selling.
Speaker 1: I don't like the line as much now, but Chicago
Speaker 1: plus seven and a half at Detroit Lions off a
Speaker 1: big win. Justin Fields is capable of big plays. Detroit
Speaker 1: gives up a lot of them. Lost in that win
Speaker 1: is that the Chargers marched up and down the field
Speaker 1: and then five straight touchdowns at the end, and often
Speaker 1: very quickly. I would love it. At nine and a half,
Speaker 1: I thought it was the second best line of the week.
Speaker 1: But at seven and a half, I would take the bear.
Speaker 1: Sharper Square, totally sharp.
Speaker 4: Look, you're still getting more than a touchdown. The line
Speaker 4: was at ten on Tuesday, went to nine, went to
Speaker 4: eight and a half, went to eight. Woke up Thursday morning,
Speaker 4: forty eight hours later, it's at seven and a half.
Speaker 4: A couple things going on here. One when it was
Speaker 4: at ten. A load of inflation. And what I mean
Speaker 4: is the Lions are now a public team. People want
Speaker 4: to bet them. People who don't know anything about football
Speaker 4: want to bet on the Lions the same way they
Speaker 4: used to want to bet in the Patriots, the same
Speaker 4: way they used to want to bet on the Packers,
Speaker 4: the same way they still want to bet on the Cowboys. Right,
Speaker 4: So there was inflation. That's why the wise guys came
Speaker 4: in and took the ten, and took the nine, and
Speaker 4: took the eight, and now it's down to seven and
Speaker 4: a half. That's number one. Number two. Divisional matchups. Divisional
Speaker 4: matchups favor the road team. They favor the underdog. So
Speaker 4: when you get that, then diagram, you want to bet
Speaker 4: the road underdog. It's a lot of divisional matchups this week.
Speaker 4: This is when the wise guys spoted right away.
Speaker 1: This, I'm gonna throw my theory at you. I like
Speaker 1: the Vikings plus two and a half at Denver. Denver,
Speaker 1: you always talk about lucky. That was the luckiest win
Speaker 1: in the league this year. Twelve man multiple fumbles, three
Speaker 1: drop passes. I mean, how many time did the Broncos
Speaker 1: get a drive starting at the fifty and not give
Speaker 1: me points? Meanwhile, Buffalo was a bit unlucky twelfth man
Speaker 1: among them. Minnesota, I think a lot of people think, hey,
Speaker 1: it's a cute story. Well it's more than that. Josh
Speaker 1: Dobbs is effective, he's accurate, justin Jefferson could come back.
Speaker 1: They have an excellent offensive coach. I like their personal
Speaker 1: A lot two and a half is too much, I think.
Speaker 1: I think Minnesota is a real team. The Josh job thing.
Speaker 1: He's more mobile now than Russell. He's accurate. They have
Speaker 1: better weapons too. I know the numbers telling me to
Speaker 1: bet Denver. I'm gonna take Minnesota plus two and a
Speaker 1: half sharper square square.
Speaker 4: The wise guys are taking Denver, the public is taking Minnesota.
Speaker 4: You can see this by what's called the reverse line move.
Speaker 4: You see all the bets coming in on Minnesota. He
Speaker 4: yet the line continues to go up. It's gone from
Speaker 4: one to one and a half before the Buffalo game,
Speaker 4: is at one and a half after the game. It
Speaker 4: only went up to two. Because bookmakers are trying to
Speaker 4: figure out which way is the public and which way
Speaker 4: the wise guy's going to go. With two teams that
Speaker 4: are winning in surprising ways. The public came in on Minnesota,
Speaker 4: the wise guys came in on Denver. So what you're
Speaker 4: saying about Josh Jobs is totally accurate. But look at
Speaker 4: what Denver has done. Denver has won three games in
Speaker 4: a row. After that devastating loss to the Chiefs on
Speaker 4: a Thursday night, Russell Wilson had fewer than one hundred
Speaker 4: yards passing. He had two picks. That was following up
Speaker 4: a week in which they lost to the Jets, in
Speaker 4: which the game was clinched by Russell Wilson scrambling and
Speaker 4: then forcing his own fumble by knocking the ball out
Speaker 4: of his hand with his own leg and the Jets
Speaker 4: pick it up and run it back for a touchdown.
Speaker 4: Since then, they've completely retooled, not just this defense, which
Speaker 4: has been considerably better, but Russell Wilson. In this offense.
Speaker 4: They get him into a position to make a decision faster.
Speaker 4: They were snapping the ball with ten seconds or less
Speaker 4: too often. Now they're not doing that. Even saw it
Speaker 4: last week against the Bills. They weren't game changing plays,
Speaker 4: except they were plays that didn't cause Denver to lose
Speaker 4: yardage and lose momentum. It was a simple pass under
Speaker 4: the first quarter. Russell Wilson second and one looks down
Speaker 4: the field instead of scrambling, instead of trying to find
Speaker 4: someone deep, he just dumps it off right first down.
Speaker 4: Very next play, pass rush is coming up both sides,
Speaker 4: the middle of the field opens, Russell Wilson doesn't hesitate,
Speaker 4: sprints for ten yards. Russell Wilson has eighteen touchdown passes,
Speaker 4: second in the league behind Tua. Four interceptions, second fewest,
Speaker 4: seventh best rated passer against the rush according to PFF.
Speaker 4: They're a better team right now.
Speaker 1: Okay, there's a line, and it happens maybe twice a
Speaker 1: year that I do not get. And my instinct is
Speaker 1: Vegas knows something I don't, and this is the first
Speaker 1: one this year. The Bills minus seven against the Jets
Speaker 1: seems outrageous. Vegas knows. I'm taking Buffalo minus seven. That
Speaker 1: line makes no sense. The Jets are an awful, awful
Speaker 1: third down team. They can't move the chains. Buffalo is
Speaker 1: incredibly unlucky between drops and penalties against Denver. They were
Speaker 1: the better team. This line, I thought I guess Lions
Speaker 1: before they come out. I'm like three. I'm like seven
Speaker 1: Buffalo fires, a coach inspired. Everybody's backs against the wall.
Speaker 1: The country's bailed on them, the cities on their ass.
Speaker 1: I'm taking Buffalo minus seven here sharper square.
Speaker 4: So in the same way that CJ. Stroud might be
Speaker 4: a bit of a cheat code, Zach Wilson is the
Speaker 4: opposite in every way. Whise guys want to take the
Speaker 4: Jets in this spot, a much much better defense, a
Speaker 4: team in the Bills that is fading. They are now
Speaker 4: not even They're not even in plus money to make
Speaker 4: their minus money to make the playoffs. They're not favorites
Speaker 4: to make the playoffs anymore. They're in a real struggle spot.
Speaker 4: Except nobody wants to back Zach Wilson. They just can't
Speaker 4: find it within themselves to back this quarterback at this number,
Speaker 4: no matter how big it is. Meanwhile, Josh Allen historically
Speaker 4: in this spot at home, when Josh Allen wins, he
Speaker 4: covers that isn't the story this year, right, It's been
Speaker 4: a lot more of a struggle. There's zero consensus on
Speaker 4: this colin Like, you're not going to find any wise
Speaker 4: guy who's like, oh my god, I love Josh Allen
Speaker 4: at minus seven. There are games where they do like
Speaker 4: big favorites. This week, you're on your own on this one.
Speaker 4: There's nobody who's like, yeah, I got it, there's value
Speaker 4: on this one. Don't forget whise. Guys like to bet
Speaker 4: where they think they have an edge. They do not
Speaker 4: have an on the field edge against this number.
Speaker 1: Finally, Eagles plus three at the Chiefs. Jalen Hurts has
Speaker 1: beaten twelve straight winning teams. This is weird. I never
Speaker 1: do this. I think Philly blows them out. I think
Speaker 1: Philly blows out Kansas City. I think it's one of
Speaker 1: those games that makes for great sports talk radio on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: I'm going to take Philly like thirty three twenty six.
Speaker 1: Thirty three twenty three physically pushes them around Sharper Square.
Speaker 4: Dude, this is the scariest game on the board. I
Speaker 4: have bet the Eagles my first instinct on this game.
Speaker 4: Me and Simon Hunter, both professional better Simon Hunter are
Speaker 4: the coast of my podcast with me. We looked at
Speaker 4: this game and we're like, the Eagles are the better team, right, Like,
Speaker 4: every single way you look at it, they are the
Speaker 4: better team, and we bet the Eagles. We've heard some
Speaker 4: wise guys coming in on the Eagles. But what's scary
Speaker 4: is Patrick Mahomes. This isn't hyperbole. Virtually unbeatable in November December,
Speaker 4: virtually unbeatable as a favorite of three or less. Andy
Speaker 4: Reid great off the buy like we're talking about. We're
Speaker 4: talking about bucking incredibly strong historical trends. You and I
Speaker 4: can make an executive decision on this. I'm with you.
Speaker 4: I think the Eagles are going to cover, but we're
Speaker 4: not going to find a ton of support from the
Speaker 4: betting community that is consensus on this. There are games
Speaker 4: where we're going to get consensus. They same one of them.
Speaker 1: Okay, give me as you know. There's a game I
Speaker 1: thought about I want you to talk me into and
Speaker 1: then pull one or two out that I didn't think of.
Speaker 1: So the number was smaller earlier. But I think Miami
Speaker 1: could destroy the Raiders. I think it could be absolutely
Speaker 1: one of the ugly games of the year. Last week
Speaker 1: I took Dallas over the Giants. I felt great about it.
Speaker 1: That thing was over in eight minutes. I think Miami's
Speaker 1: going to win by three touchdowns over the Raiders. The
Speaker 1: numbers now like minus thirteen and a half. I would
Speaker 1: take the huge favorite Sharper square one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: That's that's the play. The reason this number's gone from
Speaker 4: eleven and a half to twelve, to twelve and a
Speaker 4: half to thirteen to thirteen and a half in the
Speaker 4: past forty eight hours. West guys are piling on. They're
Speaker 4: not looking at the Raiders, going too and oh with
Speaker 4: Antonio Pearson eight in O'Connell and thinking, oh, yeah, they
Speaker 4: got a shot. When the Dolphins play bad teams, they
Speaker 4: blow them out. When they play good teams, they lose.
Speaker 4: That's just their mo right now. Maybe one day they'll
Speaker 4: get better. Maybe one day they'll be competitive with more
Speaker 4: higher caliber teams. But they blow out bad teams. Look
Speaker 4: at that Carolina and Gain. Remember it, Carolina was up
Speaker 4: by fourteen. You're like, oh my god, they got a
Speaker 4: shot before halftime. It was thirty five fourteen.
Speaker 1: All right, Melman, that's pretty good. Could to see you're
Speaker 1: back from ducial door for wherever you were at, it
Speaker 1: was very Listen.
Speaker 4: It was Copenhagen. You love Copenhagen.
Speaker 1: You want to move there, Hagen.
Speaker 4: Copin, thank you for correcting me. Yeah, you know what
Speaker 4: you got, content, you got class.
Speaker 1: I don't know about that, all right, buddy
Speaker 4: I see later the volume