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Speaker 1: terms and responsible gaming resources. What an S show was
Speaker 1: that by Philadelphia. So I went three and two on
Speaker 1: my playoff picks. But I thought Philadelphia, you know, it
Speaker 1: was one of the games. I thought, you know, they'll win.
Speaker 1: There's not much there with Tampa. This thing. If Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay could catch in the first half, the game would
Speaker 1: have been over. Started the second quarter. Philadelphia was not
Speaker 1: even competitive. And you know I was thinking about this
Speaker 1: is that we all know that even competent NFL coaches.
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn for Atlanta was a competent coach, not great,
Speaker 1: but competent. He was elevated significantly by Kyle Shanahan. That
Speaker 1: we know, and there have been a lot of coaches
Speaker 1: through the years who have been helped by an assistant.
Speaker 1: They they reached their highest form of head coaching with
Speaker 1: a really good assistant, But they don't necessarily fall off
Speaker 1: the table. I mean Sean McVay, Shanahan. They just run
Speaker 1: through assistants and coordinators. They're elite coaches. It doesn't affect him.
Speaker 1: And then the B coaches Dan Quinn are clearly elevated
Speaker 1: by an elite coordinator. But Nick Siriani's not an A
Speaker 1: or a B. He's probably a C or a D.
Speaker 1: And if you take Shane Steikin's play calling, not Shane
Speaker 1: steiken just being in the building, just his play calling
Speaker 1: away from Nick Sirianni, you have a coach that had
Speaker 1: the most embarrassing opening press conference ever, who struggled in
Speaker 1: year one when he called the plays, and here in
Speaker 1: his final year the team got progressively worse. Like Brandon Staley,
Speaker 1: bad every week. Brandon Staley, good job of climbing the
Speaker 1: coaching ladder. He wasn't ready to be a head coach
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. Nick Sirianni's not. I remember
Speaker 1: when he first got the job. You know, I said,
Speaker 1: I call people, And I was talking to a GM
Speaker 1: tonight about Jedfish going from Arizona to Washington, and I
Speaker 1: was just asking some questions about recruiting and personnel and blah,
Speaker 1: blah blah. But I usually do that. I'll call gms,
Speaker 1: text gms and say, hey, what do you know? What
Speaker 1: do you think? And on Sirianni, two of my executive
Speaker 1: friends said, I don't think he's ready for the job.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's ready for the Philadelphia Eagles. It's
Speaker 1: a high pressure, high leverage job. That's a tough job.
Speaker 1: And so then he butchers the press conference, and I'm like, oh, Jesus,
Speaker 1: google it. I've never seen anything like it. Go look
Speaker 1: at Sean mcvay's opening press conference, Kyle Shanahan's, Go look
Speaker 1: at the young code, Demiko Ryans, I mean, Mike Tomlin's
Speaker 1: first press conference. Go look at Nick Sirianni's. And so
Speaker 1: I had sources say he's not ready. The opening press conference,
Speaker 1: his first year is ugly. Then he relinquished his play calling,
Speaker 1: and you think, well, this guy is something, this guy
Speaker 1: is something here, folks. The truth eventually comes out, and
Speaker 1: I don't think my problem with Brandon and Staley is
Speaker 1: my same problem with Nick Sirianni. What does Philadelphia do well?
Speaker 1: What are the Chargers do well? You went from narrow
Speaker 1: losses to touchdown losses to embarrassing losses. It just got
Speaker 1: worse over time. It's like having a bad boss in
Speaker 1: any industry. The company gets worse really fast. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, you could certainly argue Mike McCarthy as Kellen
Speaker 1: Moore left, upgraded the cowboy offense. You could argue he's
Speaker 1: won twelve games, twelve games, twelve games, best dack we've
Speaker 1: ever seen. You got to keep him. You could certainly
Speaker 1: argue Mike Tomlin they lost today. He's Mike Tomley. He's
Speaker 1: never had a losing season, right, Those are different conversations.
Speaker 1: But with Brandon Staley and Nick Sirianni, this isn't gonna
Speaker 1: get better. I mean, this doesn't. I don't see the hope.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what I watched. And like the Chargers,
Speaker 1: you have these young coaches who prob had somebody on
Speaker 1: that resume. For the record, the Eagles were going to
Speaker 1: hire Staley until the Chargers did think about that. You know,
Speaker 1: he had probably somebody on the resume, made a call
Speaker 1: for him and maybe interviews. Well, but I don't know
Speaker 1: where you go if you're Philadelphia. Like again, look at
Speaker 1: the losses in the playoffs. Kevin Stefanski lost, he was
Speaker 1: on his fourth quarterback. Mike McDaniel lost warm Weather to
Speaker 1: on the road against Mahomes. Sean McVay lost hell of
Speaker 1: a game, rebuilding year to begin with. I can look
Speaker 1: at Mike McCarthy. I mean, the offense was better when
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore left. I could make arguments for all the
Speaker 1: losing coaches. I don't know what to do with this.
Speaker 1: I don't know what to do with this. It doesn't
Speaker 1: look like he's read. He can't coach. I mean, what
Speaker 1: do they do well? And they got personnel, so I
Speaker 1: mean Troy Aikman said on the broadcast very early he
Speaker 1: didn't like the body language of Philadelphia. I mean for
Speaker 1: Troy to say that, go out and say that, it's like, wow,
Speaker 1: he's seeing something or hearing something. And he was right.
Speaker 1: The coaching disparities in these playoffs, man, I know it
Speaker 1: sounds impulsive and overreactionary to say Sirianni was in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. You know you got to move on. You
Speaker 1: tell me his theatrics on the sidelines, the regression of
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts. I mean Jalen Hurts, justin Herbert. We know
Speaker 1: they're talented. We've seen it wrong, coach, we know the quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: the most valuable player in the league and the most
Speaker 1: valuable element to a franchise. But if you don't think
Speaker 1: coaching can puncture quarterback momentum, I give you the Chargers
Speaker 1: and the Eagles, and this isn't all about Philadelphia. Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield went twenty one of thirty five, two touchdowns three
Speaker 1: hundred and fourteen yards. And I know all of you
Speaker 1: really do think that I'm rooting against Baker Mayfield. I
Speaker 1: am not. I've always thought Baker is one of the
Speaker 1: top twenty throwers of the football. I think he's matured,
Speaker 1: I think he got humbled, and I think he has
Speaker 1: the ability. He throws a very very nice football when
Speaker 1: he's feeling it, when he's confident, and he has decent protection.
Speaker 1: When he gets in trouble is when he thinks he's
Speaker 1: more athletic than he is. He tries to move a
Speaker 1: little bit more than he should, or he loses confidence,
Speaker 1: or he's banged up, which he wasn't one hundred percent healthy.
Speaker 1: But I've said this, I would have no problem with Tampa.
Speaker 1: I when I start looking at franchise quarterbacks, there's different
Speaker 1: levels to them. Baker Mayfield with a chip on his
Speaker 1: shoulder and a reasonable contract, whatever reasonable is eighteen million
Speaker 1: a year, twenty four. You can do worse than Baker Mayfield.
Speaker 1: I mean, I he throws a good football. I think
Speaker 1: he's a good person. I think being a number one
Speaker 1: pick thrown into dysfunctional Cleveland would have over a lot
Speaker 1: of people. And then eventually he found Kevin Stefanski and
Speaker 1: by that time his situation in Cleveland had been eroding.
Speaker 1: Maybe if he would have started with Kevin Stefanski, it
Speaker 1: would have worked differently. I like Stefanski a lot. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, getting Joe Flacco into the playoffs this year
Speaker 1: is fourth quarterback is a testament to Kevin Stefanski. But
Speaker 1: I think, you know, you can look in the rear
Speaker 1: view mirror what could have been, what should have been.
Speaker 1: But the Cleveland situation was tough for Baker again, Hugh Jackson,
Speaker 1: they didn't connect, you know, Freddie Kitchens, not a lot
Speaker 1: of people are going to succeed with that, right, you'd
Speaker 1: have to be like next level. I mean, even Josh
Speaker 1: Allen has been in his career, you know, reliant on
Speaker 1: certain coordinators. And Josh Allen stepped into a situation where
Speaker 1: the Bills had made the playoffs with Tyrod Taylor, so
Speaker 1: that wasn't chaos. I think. I think Cleveland for Baker
Speaker 1: was just a lot for him to handle. And Cleveland
Speaker 1: has historically been a lot for I mean, how many
Speaker 1: great quarterbacks have they had. But Tampa has always had talent.
Speaker 1: I don't look at Tampa as dysfunctional or chaotic. They've
Speaker 1: been an interesting franchise. They can never get the quarterback right.
Speaker 1: So Brady, they got the quarterback right. Baker wins a
Speaker 1: home playoff game. That feels right to me. So he's
Speaker 1: won a playoff game in the AFC, in the playoff
Speaker 1: game in the NFC. So when Baker has felt supported
Speaker 1: in his career, when he's had like a number one receiver,
Speaker 1: you know, I thought tonight, I thought Baker played really well.
Speaker 1: I mean, Tampa just could not catch the football in
Speaker 1: the first half or the game would have been over then.
Speaker 1: So Baker's numbers would have been far better, far more
Speaker 1: yards had the Bucks had a bad night of catching
Speaker 1: the football. And so, you know, fit is so essential
Speaker 1: for young people. I mean it's important for everybody. But
Speaker 1: when you're young, get a little money, got a little fame,
Speaker 1: you get thrown into Cleveland. That just wasn't that easy. There.
Speaker 1: That's a circus. You got the Steelers, you got the
Speaker 1: Ravens twice a year. Pretty soon, here's Joe Burrell. That's
Speaker 1: a lot. And I think Tampa Baker can kind of hide.
Speaker 1: It's not a high profile organization. He can sort of hide.
Speaker 1: He gets his good warm weather, you know, Texas, Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: he gets some good warm weather. He's got some nice targets,
Speaker 1: lower expectations. Nobody talks about him being a number one pick.
Speaker 1: He's got a little bit of a Geno Smith to
Speaker 1: the Seahawks field, where everybody kind of likes his story
Speaker 1: and embraces him. I think this is a really really
Speaker 1: good fit for Baker. And again, Tampa's a winning playoff team.
Speaker 1: They're not going to have a great opportunity to get
Speaker 1: one of the top five quarterbacks. I think you roll
Speaker 1: the dice. I think you're signed kind of a Gino
Speaker 1: Smith contract with Baker. You can draft a quarterback, you know,
Speaker 1: late first round, second. The roster's not bad. They've had
Speaker 1: some protection issues a little bit. But I'm happy for Baker.
Speaker 1: I really am. I really am. I think I think
Speaker 1: you know, I've got between step kids and my biological kids.
Speaker 1: I got six young people in my life, and I've
Speaker 1: watched them grow, and I've watched how important fit is,
Speaker 1: and the better the fit, the happier the person, the
Speaker 1: faster they grow. I think Tampa and Baker work. You
Speaker 1: can hide in Tampa. You know, Cleveland may not win
Speaker 1: a lot, but it's hard to hide in a division
Speaker 1: with the Ravens and the Steelers, the number one pick
Speaker 1: and all the commercials. You can go hide in Tampa.
Speaker 1: Mobsters used to hide in Tampa, Kansas City and Tampa.
Speaker 1: You didn't know that, did you? I did. I lived there.
Speaker 1: A lot of dead mobsters down in Tampa. All right.
Speaker 1: The playoffs are set next weekend, so we're going to
Speaker 1: have Detroit and Tampa. I like Detroit. San Francisco, Green Bay.
Speaker 1: I like San Francisco, but that line nine and a half,
Speaker 1: I'm not giving Green Bay nine and a half points.
Speaker 1: That's too lethal of an offense. In the AFC, the Texans,
Speaker 1: I think their season will end facing a superior team
Speaker 1: with a lot of experience in the Ravens, and then
Speaker 1: Buffalo hosts Kansas City. Buffalo lost a linebacker. I think
Speaker 1: I like the Bills. I think it's narrow. That's a
Speaker 1: tough one. I have to let that bake. I really
Speaker 1: like this version of the Bills. I know when they
Speaker 1: lost that game to Philly, everybody bailed and I'm like, Nope,
Speaker 1: their twitch year, They're faster, they're less reliant in Josh Allen.
Speaker 1: I like these Bills. I think I'll take Buffalo to
Speaker 1: beat Kansas City. Let me think about it, all right.
Speaker 1: John Middlecoff, former NFL scout Philadelphia Eagles. Buffalo with a
Speaker 1: decisive lead eventually turns out to be a decisive win.
Speaker 1: They did lose a linebacker, Terrell Bernard, which I that's
Speaker 1: a loss. It's a linebacker, not a quarterback or a
Speaker 1: rush in. But it's a loss for a team that
Speaker 1: will for the last couple of years they get banged up.
Speaker 1: It's a physical team like Baltimore San Francisco. They're rarely
Speaker 1: at full strength. You know. The one thing I like
Speaker 1: about Buffalo and in previous years, I thought they're very,
Speaker 1: very reliant on Josh Allen's superpowers. But Khalil Shakir, James Cook,
Speaker 1: they're a little twitchier, they're a little better after the catch.
Speaker 1: It gives them a little spice. They're a little less
Speaker 1: Josh reliant. He still had to play the game. But
Speaker 1: when I do watch their offense, I'm like, they are
Speaker 1: gears to it now, and I didn't really feel there
Speaker 1: were gears. There are times Stefan dis disappears for a
Speaker 1: quarter and they're fine, And that to me feels more
Speaker 1: like a Super Bowl team, where previously it was like, okay,
Speaker 1: can Josh. It was almost like watching a high school
Speaker 1: offense with a Division one quarterback. You're like, all right,
Speaker 1: four or five touchdowns. I feel they're balanced, even though
Speaker 1: Josh is still putting up like league leading numbers.
Speaker 2: Totally agree. I mean the definitive drive to me is
Speaker 2: they get the ball back up a touchdown with about
Speaker 2: ten minutes left, and there were a couple Josh Allen
Speaker 2: runs in there, which ultimately was capped off by the
Speaker 2: Shakir touchdown. Who in that offense, right, they had Cole
Speaker 2: Beasley forever. That's a great little security blanket over the
Speaker 2: middle of the field. They had digs on a screen,
Speaker 2: and Cook had several runs. I mean, he's he's a
Speaker 2: legitimate player right now, yes, so you know this is
Speaker 2: it kind of becoming the Brady Manning. Now Mahomes and
Speaker 2: Allen next week it's mahomes first ever road game, and
Speaker 2: I think for the first time you feel Buffalo can win.
Speaker 2: I mean, I haven't seen the line yet. I'm sure
Speaker 2: they're going to be favored. It's a tough place to play.
Speaker 2: And Josh I texted a buddy in the league. I
Speaker 2: don't think he's the best quarterback, but he's definitely has
Speaker 2: the most raw talent of any quarterback in the NFL. Right,
Speaker 2: and it was on full display with some of those
Speaker 2: He's a cheat code in cold weather, which they said
Speaker 2: the kickoff it was negative, you know, zero degrees at
Speaker 2: the field, the wind, the chill. He's unfazed at like Mahomes.
Speaker 2: So that was always a huge advantage in the Brady
Speaker 2: Manning thing. Right, Brady had a huge advantage if the
Speaker 2: game was in New England. Well, it's a coin flip, right,
Speaker 2: Mahomes and Allen, there's no difference when they're outside and
Speaker 2: to me, I totally agree. They're a little more balanced
Speaker 2: and digs at any moment can make a big play.
Speaker 2: But the Cook's emergence this season really has taken their team.
Speaker 2: They feel like the real deal now can they overcome
Speaker 2: some of the injuries. They have some scar tissue in
Speaker 2: some of these big moments, Like what happens next week?
Speaker 2: If it's twenty to fourteen going in to the fourth
Speaker 2: quarter and they're down, do they get tight? Does that
Speaker 2: place get tight? Today? They have the momentum. The Steelers,
Speaker 2: let's face it, a little bit of a fraudulent team.
Speaker 2: You know, historically in the playoffs, seven seeds weren't even there.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm bullish on Buffalo. They've really never forget
Speaker 2: when ty Dunn, I know you have them on friend
Speaker 2: of mine, that definitive piece that he wrote, it felt like, well,
Speaker 2: they're gonna start losing a bunch of games and this
Speaker 2: guy's gonna get fired. They never lost and they still
Speaker 2: haven't lost to this day. So that you talk about
Speaker 2: a team with a lot of momentum, you got to
Speaker 2: like where the Bills the way they've played over the
Speaker 2: last whatever six plus weeks. Right.
Speaker 1: Well, in the other thing, ty Dunn's article wasn't inaccurate
Speaker 1: what the Bills did in which good operations do. Remember
Speaker 1: when Tom Coughlin started getting heat and instead of holding
Speaker 1: a grudge, Tom Coughlin improved, He listened to his players. Yep,
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott instead of getting defensive. McDermott's like, we got
Speaker 1: some issues here and a lot of them are me
Speaker 1: and so they make a change at OC. So you know,
Speaker 1: whenever a reporter writes something and has inside sources, you
Speaker 1: have sources, and there was unhappiness in the room. But
Speaker 1: I think, much like a Coughlin, a McDermott's like, Okay, listen,
Speaker 1: this can go two ways. I can be stubborn and
Speaker 1: get fired and by the way a lot of coaches
Speaker 1: would or I can learn from it. You know, when
Speaker 1: Shawan's a fighter, high school wrestler, tough guy, I fight
Speaker 1: or been around the league a long time, and I
Speaker 1: think I think Sean also knows. There's three quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: the league that are just different, Lamar, Josh and Mahomes.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of good players, those guys are different.
Speaker 1: They can just peel off a twenty eight yard run
Speaker 1: at any moment and be faster than the defensive players
Speaker 1: chasing them. You know, I like Herbert, but he can
Speaker 1: be a bit wooden. I like Trevor Lawrence, but sometimes
Speaker 1: I don't think he's that accurate. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: guys I like CJ. Strouds Xlent. He's a lot like golf,
Speaker 1: clean pocket, beautiful, not a real mover. But I think
Speaker 1: I think Sean McDermott looks at this and thinks, Okay,
Speaker 1: if I left, I will get no more Josh you
Speaker 1: like everybody's always like everybody's always like John Harbaugh really
Speaker 1: embraces lamar. No shit, there's one of the planets.
Speaker 2: It's not hard to go it.
Speaker 1: Don't make them like that. So it's I think Buffalo,
Speaker 1: you know, had a fork in the road, and McDermott's like,
Speaker 1: we have to be open and communicate. And I like him.
Speaker 1: This is an easy team to root for that kind
Speaker 1: of like Detroit in the AFC been beaten up historically.
Speaker 2: I like him. I would say this about Sean McDermot
Speaker 2: having to spend a year around him. A lot of
Speaker 2: defensive coaches can just kind of lean tough guy, meathead,
Speaker 2: and at Sean's core, he is a tough guy, but
Speaker 2: he's a well read intellectual right. He could have a
Speaker 2: conversation with you about a lot of different things. He's
Speaker 2: not just some old school hitch you hit you now.
Speaker 2: His personality, he can get tight as was written about
Speaker 2: in that article. But he is a smart guy. I mean,
Speaker 2: this is someone that could have worked in finance. This
Speaker 2: is a guy that could have been successful in a
Speaker 2: lot of different industries. And to me, he a lot
Speaker 2: of deserves a lot of credit for clearly just maintaining
Speaker 2: that infrastructure inside the team, because sometimes you can unravel
Speaker 2: in that situation. They were six and six, they were
Speaker 2: headed to implode. Now they're hosting the second round, right,
Speaker 2: I mean, they've turned this thing around and quick. Now.
Speaker 2: They benefited because the team that they had to catch
Speaker 2: in the division was not Brady and Belichick. It was
Speaker 2: Tua and a team that was getting injured, losing multiple
Speaker 2: players a game for a month straight. I give this
Speaker 2: Bills team. You talk about a team that went through
Speaker 2: a lot of shit early in the season, and now
Speaker 2: they have a player that on any given you know, week,
Speaker 2: on any given game, I don't care if you've got
Speaker 2: Patrick Mahomes, I don't care if you've got Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 2: Which is the two teams are gonna play the next
Speaker 2: two weeks, they can have the best player on the field,
Speaker 2: which you saw today. He had stretches where it's like,
Speaker 2: I don't know if I've ever seen that quite before
Speaker 2: from a pocket passer, right, because he's running like Cam Newton,
Speaker 2: but then he's throwing like Elway or Marina.
Speaker 1: Now they have a short week, they face Kansas City,
Speaker 1: but I do think many of their best players have
Speaker 1: been around the block the coaching staff. I don't think
Speaker 1: short weeks necessarily are punitive to a Baltimore, Kansas City, Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: I mean, these teams play on Thursday, and the good
Speaker 1: teams are usually ready to go. So I don't think
Speaker 1: that's punishing.
Speaker 2: And they're at home.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So I think I think, you know, Buffalo
Speaker 1: should be favored, and and I would, I would. My
Speaker 1: gut feeling is they should be favored by about two
Speaker 1: and a half points. It'll be a classic game. Let's
Speaker 1: talk Pittsburgh, And I was thinking about this. So Green
Speaker 1: Bay and Pittsburgh are very similar, loyal, smaller market, not
Speaker 1: big free agent players, winning organizations both draft and develop
Speaker 1: at a very very high level. The difference is one
Speaker 1: has an offensive coach and an offensive culture, home grown McCarthy,
Speaker 1: Lafleur far of Rogers Love. One has a defensive coach
Speaker 1: and very much a defensive culture. They spend their money
Speaker 1: on defense. The difference is the Packers have shown an
Speaker 1: ability to just keep hitting on quarterbacks. Between Bradshaw and
Speaker 1: Big Ben, there were a lot of misses. Kenny Pickett
Speaker 1: feels like a very average player. Rudolph's been around for
Speaker 1: a while, limitations, lower ceiling, and I think green Bay
Speaker 1: rolls this weekend, and if I look at green Bay
Speaker 1: going forward, I get nothing but answers, speed, quarterback, coach,
Speaker 1: salary cap. They'll go spend money on an edge rusher,
Speaker 1: like I got nothing but answers with green Bay. Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: is picked at the right guy. Is Tomlin perfect? Are
Speaker 1: they gonna spend money on offense? What do you do
Speaker 1: in the draft? You have to address the local kid
Speaker 1: that's not much better than your backup, and this is
Speaker 1: not It's just funny. When I look at Pittsburgh today
Speaker 1: and forward, I have nothing but questions. Despite the fact
Speaker 1: they have good players everywhere. I like a lot of it,
Speaker 1: But are they gonna address this well? To me, Alan
Speaker 1: Lamar now CJ. Stroud Burrow, their divisions packed at quarterback.
Speaker 2: I don't pivot on my take that this is run
Speaker 2: its course with Mike Tomlin like today making the playoffs,
Speaker 2: as some seven seed and losing by a couple of
Speaker 2: touchdowns does not change my opinion. And I thought that
Speaker 2: was defined this season. What were they watching at practice
Speaker 2: to keep rolling with Mitch Trubisky over Mason Rudolph. Right,
Speaker 2: Mason Rutop's not your franchise quarterback, but he was way
Speaker 2: better than Mitch that they were losing games with, which
Speaker 2: forced them to play everybody in that final game. And
Speaker 2: today they didn't have TJ. Watt. He's one of the
Speaker 2: best players in the league. And they got there because
Speaker 2: they were in a position of loyalty Mitch Trubisky. We
Speaker 2: paid him eight million dollars. It's like, guys, have you
Speaker 2: guys watched this guy play over the last five years?
Speaker 2: What are you doing? Say what you want about Mason
Speaker 2: ruff He made some plays a day. Him and Trubisky
Speaker 2: are there's a wide gap, But I'm with you. I
Speaker 2: mean that there is a culture in Green Bay and
Speaker 2: it goes back to Ron Wolfenholmgren quarterback, quarterback, quarterback, quarterback.
Speaker 2: And in this league, you can't just roll out Tommy
Speaker 2: Maddox or some of these guys and expect to compete.
Speaker 2: You have no chance none, I mean not a snowball's
Speaker 2: chance in hell. And like you said, the division, they're
Speaker 2: in a different stratosphere. And now CJ. Stroud's in the conference,
Speaker 2: Herbert is gonna get Horbaugh. What are we doing? So yeah,
Speaker 2: I think I think it's time for divorce. I've been
Speaker 2: saying it for a while. The Tomlin thing, it doesn't
Speaker 2: reflect like he's some bum as a coach. He would
Speaker 2: get hired immediately, But I think it's just time for
Speaker 2: a change now. Organizationally, that's not their style, let's face it.
Speaker 2: Beside Roethlisberger, they've really struggled at that position. Right, even
Speaker 2: with Coward, It's not like they had big time quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: So I mean, I remember being a kid Neil O'Donnell
Speaker 2: they were in the super Bowl with like this. That's
Speaker 2: not Elway, Marino or Steve Young or Aikman. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I don't see much changing next year.
Speaker 2: Their organization is so well run like the Packers with
Speaker 2: all the other positions, that they're never going to have
Speaker 2: a six win season. So this notion saying that Tomlin
Speaker 2: never losess, well, most good coaches would be competitive with
Speaker 2: their roster. I mean they're missing star players and they
Speaker 2: still got studs everywhere. So yeah, I think that's a
Speaker 2: little overblown. I think it's time for a change now.
Speaker 2: Will they do that obviously highly unlikely, But there have
Speaker 2: been some rumblings out there that maybe we've come to
Speaker 2: a fork in the road and that they've had some
Speaker 2: management turnover. The longtime GM is gone, they got some
Speaker 2: new people running the organization. I think these next couple
Speaker 2: days it'll be interesting if a story pops out of
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh that maybe they're both looking at each other. Maybe
Speaker 2: Mike Tomlin, you go, I don't want to coach these quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: Go somewhere else where you get better infrastructure.
Speaker 1: Dave Wanstat once told me that the Steelers were always
Speaker 1: a little reluctant to draft pit players University of Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: players because if they had to let go of the
Speaker 1: player or cut them, it wouldn't play well in the community.
Speaker 1: And the Runies are so community based. And so if
Speaker 1: I'm Mike Tomlin, do I consider saying I got a
Speaker 1: ring here? Right? Like, I've done my job. I know
Speaker 1: this organization three more years of Kenny Pickett, They're not
Speaker 1: moving off him. I'm best served going to the market
Speaker 1: doing Fox TV or CBS for a year. I mean,
Speaker 1: both those companies would hire him overnight. NBC, I mean Mike.
Speaker 1: I mean, I can't say with any certainty, but I
Speaker 1: can tell you Fox, CBS you a heartbeat, are guys
Speaker 1: and no inside information. We have smart executives. You'd absolutely
Speaker 1: call Mike Tomlin tomorrow, fly him out and say let's talk.
Speaker 1: So my takeaway is it's not an indictment of Mike.
Speaker 1: It's a smart business pursuit. Let's do TV for a year,
Speaker 1: show everybody like Sean Payton. Hey, when I come back
Speaker 1: in ten years, you'll want to hire me really good
Speaker 1: at this stuff, and then wait for a really good
Speaker 1: young quarterback to hit in this draft and then go
Speaker 1: somewhere and win again. I don't think it's an indictment
Speaker 1: if after ten years you're looking around going I kind
Speaker 1: of think I can't win with this quarterback, and my
Speaker 1: organization's not bailing on this quarterback. I mean, the Roonies
Speaker 1: would push back on that.
Speaker 2: But don't you think there would be teams? You know,
Speaker 2: not everyone's gonna land harbor on Belichick. So the Washington
Speaker 2: football team Commanders, whatever the hell their name is, Atlanta Falcons,
Speaker 2: Belichick's on his yacht. Well, if the cowboy job becomes available,
Speaker 2: the Atlanta Falcons are not getting Bill Belichick, so they'd
Speaker 2: be all over him. He's from you know, that area,
Speaker 2: the Eastern Seaboard. I think Mike Tomlin would have to
Speaker 2: turn people down right the different Sean Payton quit right
Speaker 2: to me. Mike Tomlin, Now we'll see where his head's at.
Speaker 2: I think could immediately garner fifteen plus million dollars a
Speaker 2: year for a team that just wants some relevance and
Speaker 2: some important I think you'll just get the train of
Speaker 2: think about Washington at the number two pick in the draft.
Speaker 2: I've known Adam Peters for a long time. He kind
Speaker 2: of knows what he's doing. I mean, that's that seems
Speaker 2: like a pretty good spot.
Speaker 1: Well, and also there's this thing in the media that
Speaker 1: if you, if you suggest what we're suggesting, your anti Tomlin.
Speaker 1: No that this is by the way, Pete Carroll fired
Speaker 1: three times, Belichick now fired, basically fired twice, Andy Reid fired.
Speaker 1: The reality is what Mike provides culture and toughness. The
Speaker 1: Steelers have that coming out of their ears. I agree,
Speaker 1: And I was talking to a GM today, how many
Speaker 1: great cultures because a coach sets the culture, and then
Speaker 1: the GM follows suit becomes the mason lays the bricks. Right,
Speaker 1: you create the identity as a coach, the GM follows you.
Speaker 1: How many great cultures are they in the NFL? San Francisco, Baltimore, Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: Green Bay, Los Angeles, Rams, Chiefs, Philip Chiefs, and I
Speaker 1: can name about four. There's about eight nine. One of
Speaker 1: those is Mike Tomlin. So what it means is there's
Speaker 1: about twenty teams twenty two that don't have it. That's
Speaker 1: Mike's specialty, toughness, alpha dog culture. Twenty teams need Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 1: So when people get defensive about Tomlin, it's like nobody
Speaker 1: is safe. By the way, Sean Payton and I had dinner,
Speaker 1: he knew it's just time I've been here, breeze is leaving,
Speaker 1: It's just time to take a deep breath. So I'd
Speaker 1: love to see Tomlin in Dallas. Oh, I love it.
Speaker 2: Pete Carroll was running out of town after back to
Speaker 2: back nine win seasons of trading the best player in
Speaker 2: franchise history. Right, So it's like this is a unique industry.
Speaker 2: You know you can be successful. Rattle off nine and
Speaker 2: ten wins like Mike is and go, where are we
Speaker 2: really going with this? Even if we have to take
Speaker 2: a step back to take a step forward, And sometimes
Speaker 2: you know, coaches have talked about this forever, your message
Speaker 2: eventually kind of runs runs this course. And that's where
Speaker 2: I think Pittsburgh is at. And they've done the same
Speaker 2: thing now. It feels like for five straight years they've
Speaker 2: looked the same when the season ended. It's not a failure.
Speaker 2: Most of the league would sign up for that, but
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh, I would say they desire.
Speaker 1: A little more. Here's the outther thing that Tomlin is
Speaker 1: so good at. Just throw Dallas out. He's great in
Speaker 1: front of the mic, and a cowboy coach is in
Speaker 1: front of the mic. He is very capable of dealing
Speaker 1: with drama. Le'van bell ab He's more than capable of drama.
Speaker 1: Big Ben created some drama Pickens, I mean they got pickenss.
Speaker 1: So he can handle the mic. He'd be great. Jerry
Speaker 1: would say something you know that you have to dig
Speaker 1: out from under. Nobody'd be better than Mike. He's the
Speaker 1: best guy in front of the mic in the league,
Speaker 1: has been for several years. He's just great at the podium.
Speaker 1: He can handle drama. The Cowboys always have it, and
Speaker 1: I think it's fair to say in some big games
Speaker 1: this year Niners Buffalo, Green Bay, the Cowboys lack toughness.
Speaker 1: They really lacked. I mean there were times Micah disappeared.
Speaker 1: The fact that this game was really relatively close today
Speaker 1: speaks volumes of the without TJ. Watt and with Mason
Speaker 1: Rudolph tells you toughness. That was a brutal environment. I
Speaker 1: thought they were when they scored that touchdown, I was like,
Speaker 1: how did they get within seven? How did this happen?
Speaker 2: Colin? My first thought, you know, halfway through the first quarter,
Speaker 2: was like, well a fifty to ten game is still
Speaker 2: better than no game. So I'm glad football is on.
Speaker 2: But my theory and I was thinking about it this
Speaker 2: morning at the gym. Jerry just an all time great marketer,
Speaker 2: do you think because even if he needed to sleep
Speaker 2: on it, the decision he has to have already made.
Speaker 2: But you don't want to fire your coach on a
Speaker 2: day where there are two games, even though it would
Speaker 2: be a huge story. Gets a loss a little in translation,
Speaker 2: easier to pull the trigger Tuesday morning or Wednesday, when
Speaker 2: you kind of get the day to just be the
Speaker 2: whole headline, or do you think he's truly just kind
Speaker 2: of pacing back and forth in his office thinking about it,
Speaker 2: because I don't really know what's to think about. After
Speaker 2: I've had twenty four hours to think about that game,
Speaker 2: it still is one of the crazier things I can
Speaker 2: remember watching.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know, Jerry, he may do it
Speaker 1: after next weekend would feel maybe more appropriate. There's no
Speaker 1: hurry to name it over the next ten days, right,
Speaker 1: like they're really is.
Speaker 2: You can't just hire Belichick Wednesday because of the new rules,
Speaker 2: So yeah, you're not competing against other people to hire
Speaker 2: him by Thursday. This is college football.
Speaker 1: And basically I don't know. Tomlin would be way up
Speaker 1: at the top of my list. Rabel and Tomlin for
Speaker 1: the Cowboys would kind of a no nub because there's
Speaker 1: a lot of nonsense with Dallas. Tomlin and Vrabel are
Speaker 1: no nonsense. Yeah, and I think they'd be really good fits.
Speaker 1: So Mike Tomlin after the game was asked about his
Speaker 1: contract and walked off. What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2: Well, to me, we saw with Mike Vrabel, things have
Speaker 2: gotten weird, right, Things were getting weird in Pittsburgh. There
Speaker 2: have been rumblings that this has run its course. I've
Speaker 2: been saying forever it's time. Mike Tomlin's no idiot. I
Speaker 2: mean he knows Ben Roethlisberg Grant walking through that door.
Speaker 2: Their quarterback situation is a disaster. You start feeling unappreciated.
Speaker 2: That's part of Belichick's thing, like, hey, guys, you know
Speaker 2: what I've done for you. Now The problem is like
Speaker 2: part of football is like the future, not the past.
Speaker 2: But once you start feeling like that as a coach,
Speaker 2: big egos, These guys are super rich. I've been predicting
Speaker 2: for a while. I think this thing's over and now
Speaker 2: maybe Tomlin's a little hot, doesn't feel the respect coming
Speaker 2: from the organization. Obviously, the fans are on him. I
Speaker 2: mean the fans now in Pittsburgh have kind of been
Speaker 2: on them for several years, several I think it's run
Speaker 2: its course.
Speaker 1: Calling. By the way, let's pivot to talk about that
Speaker 1: game the Cowboys and Packers. Let's talk about it again.
Speaker 1: Is that Did you see Matt Lafleur's reaction after the game.
Speaker 1: It was really something. In Week eight, I think it
Speaker 1: was at home against Minnesota, he was bad. There were
Speaker 1: some fifty five completion percentage pre buy for Jordan Love,
Speaker 1: so this idea that Packer fans, we're ahead of everybody
Speaker 1: on this. He was bad. Lafleur was condemning him after
Speaker 1: games and had to apologize like we were too hard
Speaker 1: on him. Lafleur's reaction after this Dallas game was one
Speaker 1: almost of disbelief, as if he was saying, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's good at practice, but we don't see that. I
Speaker 1: mean he was like that guy's and wow, rarely do
Speaker 1: you see a coach act almost surprised by the performance,
Speaker 1: and it is interesting. So he's obviously always had it
Speaker 1: in him, right, He's obviously done this in moments. But
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of a player I've ever seen
Speaker 1: in season that's improved like that. I can't remember anybody.
Speaker 2: Well, this is why Josh Allen, after one of the
Speaker 2: worst college careers statistically, who ever see gets drafted at seven.
Speaker 2: This is why people will still take a chance on
Speaker 2: justin fields. When you have physical in the sport of
Speaker 2: football with a huge arm, and you're a good athlete,
Speaker 2: you know coaches are gonna want to work with you.
Speaker 2: And the overwhelming majority of them don't work. The other
Speaker 2: thing with football coaches, this is not basketball or baseball.
Speaker 2: You practice, you know, five times more than you play
Speaker 2: during the week. Right, ray Lewis used to say, you
Speaker 2: pay me Monday through Saturday. Sundays are for free. So
Speaker 2: it's practice and study and it's you know, coaches get
Speaker 2: very caught up in what it looks like in practice
Speaker 2: because for the most part that translates to the game.
Speaker 2: Then there are the outliers. Right Alan Iverson didn't even
Speaker 2: show up to practice and then he can score forty
Speaker 2: in a game. Bar Now that's not Yeah, this is
Speaker 2: I'm not saying this guy is not trying or whatever
Speaker 2: in practice, but you can't part of what Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 2: You had seen it so often in games you knew
Speaker 2: what you had. When you have an unknown, especially he's
Speaker 2: not front. It's not like he had played at se
Speaker 2: Texas or Bama. So you'd seen him in the guys
Speaker 2: playing at Utah State and they weren't even that successful
Speaker 2: of a program his last year there. So there was
Speaker 2: a lot of guessing, and rightfully, the contract told you
Speaker 2: everything you needed to know. It's like, yeah, you're not
Speaker 2: going to pick up the fifth year option, but will
Speaker 2: give you eleven million dollars. I don't know if you
Speaker 2: saw all the incentives. I mean it's hit like seven
Speaker 2: million dollars in incentives.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Right, So it's been remarkable. But listen, the most powerful
Speaker 2: thing you can have in football is the head coach
Speaker 2: who's also the play caller, because when he can develop
Speaker 2: that guy, no matter how much success your program has
Speaker 2: Sean McVay, Kyle Shannan and Andy Reid, Sean Payton. Now Lafleur,
Speaker 2: you can't hire that guy away. This is not college.
Speaker 2: I can't pluck your head coach. So you have the
Speaker 2: most valuable asset from your coaching staff. Who's always standing
Speaker 2: next to Jordan Love going over is Matt Lafleur. I
Speaker 2: think Matt Lafleur, not that I questioned him, but you
Speaker 2: know it was kind of Listen, you inherited Rogers. As
Speaker 2: you said, it's one of the great all time openings.
Speaker 2: I mean, you got back to back MVPs. He kind
Speaker 2: of met him in the middle. Remember, Aaron didn't do
Speaker 2: the entire offense. He liked the shotgun stuff. Now they've
Speaker 2: instituted this playbook, Jordan has no choice. But hey, I'll
Speaker 2: do whatever you guys want me to do. The organization
Speaker 2: great job around him, and the rest is history. Even
Speaker 2: if they lose this game, coming up by seventeen points.
Speaker 2: What a freaking season. I mean, what if I'm a Packer?
Speaker 2: Can you imagine being a Bears fan or a Minnesota
Speaker 2: Vikings fan. These teams run through quarterbacks constantly, and you
Speaker 2: see the Packers do this because he made those throws
Speaker 2: last night. Even if the game quote unquote's a little
Speaker 2: easier to throw, as Brady would say, because you're not
Speaker 2: getting lit up across the middle. That ability to throw
Speaker 2: off your back foot and throw lasers thirty plus yards
Speaker 2: on a string and hit guys over the shoulder with
Speaker 2: the dB in front of him, only a small hand
Speaker 2: like only a small handful of guys can't can do
Speaker 2: that well.
Speaker 1: And I was I was watching that game. I was
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, this is another reason you gotta go
Speaker 1: get Kayla Williams. If your Chicago, You've got three years
Speaker 1: of Justin Fields, I've got one year of Jordan Love.
Speaker 1: Think about Jordan Love's improvement week eight to now like
Speaker 1: week nineteen, per se, it's a different It's like it's
Speaker 1: like almost I said today, It's like a guy went
Speaker 1: from missing the cut at the Valero Open to a
Speaker 1: nine stroke lead at the Masters on Saturday, and like
Speaker 1: eight weeks, you're like, what am I doing? Justin Fields,
Speaker 1: I got three years. We've got these tiny incremental leaps.
Speaker 1: Like usually star quarterbacks are either good initially CJ. Stroud
Speaker 1: or they do a Josh Allen a Jordan Love. We're
Speaker 1: over like a ten game Stretcher're like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
Speaker 1: whoa whoa. There's the magic. And I think some of
Speaker 1: it is building relationships with the young receivers. But I
Speaker 1: as I watched that, I thought, Okay, Chicago fanboys, you
Speaker 1: gotta go restart the clock because to beat Green Bay
Speaker 1: going forward, you got to go and buy some players
Speaker 1: because you don't draft offense like the Packers do. And
Speaker 1: right now, Fields is not close to Jordan Love.
Speaker 2: Well, imagine me and you were, you know, ran the
Speaker 2: Chicago Bears front office, and we showed up to the
Speaker 2: office this morning after not just watching Jordan Love, but
Speaker 2: also saw Jared Goff, who's under contract next year for
Speaker 2: twenty five million, who they clearly like, those two guys
Speaker 2: are going nowhere, and those teams have a lot of talent,
Speaker 2: So what can they both do? Throw from within the pocket?
Speaker 2: Now Love can move, GoF can't, but GoF can really
Speaker 2: throw from within the pocket. And they happen to have
Speaker 2: the best offensive line who's all under contract. So I've
Speaker 2: been saying this forever. Caleb Williams is going to be
Speaker 2: their quarterback. There's no ifans or butts. I don't even
Speaker 2: think it's a question internally, but obviously it's going to
Speaker 2: be an internet conversation. I listen to Justin Fields go
Speaker 2: for a second of fourth. It doesn't really matter. You're
Speaker 2: drafting Caleb Williams number one, and now you know, a
Speaker 2: couple hours ago he officially declared, which he always was
Speaker 2: going to do. But Caleb Williams is going to be
Speaker 2: a Bear unless him and his dad, you know, pulling
Speaker 2: you know, Eli or John Elway. But even then, if
Speaker 2: I'm the Chicago Bears, I'm just drafting him and we'll
Speaker 2: figure it out.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I feel the same way, So you know I
Speaker 1: was I was thinking yesterday. I said this is that
Speaker 1: there's not as many franchise quarterbacks as you think. Stroud
Speaker 1: and Jordan Love are very significant because the AFC and
Speaker 1: the NFC both get another young star quarterback. And I
Speaker 1: counted seventeen. I did not count Geno Smith. I count
Speaker 1: Derek Carr, I don't consider him top ten. Twelve. I
Speaker 1: counted Kirk Cousins off an injury. I did count Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: though I don't think his career. I think he's got
Speaker 1: about a year left behind that old line and he
Speaker 1: may just wave the white flag. But it is remarkable.
Speaker 1: I counted seventeen, maybe eighteen if you count Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 1: who I give a contract to. We you know, if
Speaker 1: the number's right, probably in the teens, as you noted,
Speaker 1: But it's pretty remarkable. John. It's about fifty five percent
Speaker 1: of the league has a franchise quarterback, and it leads
Speaker 1: me to believe I thought about this due to the
Speaker 1: injuries and the scarcity of them. Could I make an
Speaker 1: argument unless you have a young one who's healthy, like
Speaker 1: at Buffalo, you could draft a quarterback every single year.
Speaker 1: Every now obviously some year second round, some fifth. But
Speaker 1: when you watch a brock pretty come out from Iowa
Speaker 1: State and you're like, shit, I'm going to draft one
Speaker 1: of these guys. It maybe the fifth, you know, Belichick
Speaker 1: did it every other year. Garoppolo, Ryan Malley, he drafted
Speaker 1: a lot.
Speaker 2: Andy reidid it for years in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: And by the way, most won't hit. If one out
Speaker 1: of four does you sell him on the market, Or
Speaker 1: when your guy gets hurt for three games, you can
Speaker 1: win one of them. But I thought watching this, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I don't know who the quarterback. The league is so
Speaker 1: quarterback centric if you don't draft one a year.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you. One thing I thought about this
Speaker 2: morning was one I can't even imagine if Stafford could
Speaker 2: get out of bed this morning, you know, would he
Speaker 2: have been able to play if they had won that game.
Speaker 2: But aren't they a team that if you told me
Speaker 2: they traded up five spots in the first round and
Speaker 2: drafted a guy in the teams and kind of tried
Speaker 2: to pull the Mahomes Alex Smith and red shirted, who cares?
Speaker 2: They drafted Stetson Bennett in the fourth round. Hell, he
Speaker 2: wasn't even around this season. Like it's just whatever, move on, yeah, right.
Speaker 2: I treat it like the forty nine ers with Trey Lance.
Speaker 2: Look at they're a good example. Boom pivot, get more
Speaker 2: guys in go sign see Donold's brock Purty just keep
Speaker 2: turning that bad boy. And even if you have a
Speaker 2: high priced guy. Look look at the the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 2: They drafted Hendon Hooker last year off in ACL He's
Speaker 2: the backup to Jared Goff. So I'm totally for that.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of teams though in the twenties.
Speaker 2: You know, we'll see Pittsburgh, but we talked so much
Speaker 2: about Seattle and we'll have to see who their new
Speaker 2: head coaches. But aren't the Rams a team that you
Speaker 2: just watch Stafford? You go how many more years is
Speaker 2: he gonna And he was remarkable last year? But is
Speaker 2: his body gonna hold up? I mean he's a thirty
Speaker 2: five year old. That body has to feel like he's
Speaker 2: fifty six, you know, like Roethlisberger at the end, you're like, god,
Speaker 2: he's just he's been through the war. You know. That's
Speaker 2: what Stafford feels to me. The Rams are a team.
Speaker 2: They have other needs, but you have to look and
Speaker 2: go at any moment, this guy does not feel like
Speaker 2: he's just walking off in the sunset. The way he's
Speaker 2: played over his fourteen fifteen years.
Speaker 1: This is my gut feeling on that that they believe
Speaker 1: with their draft picks and cap space, they're gonna go
Speaker 1: buy an edge rusher they needed. Their gonna go get
Speaker 1: another receiver, Cooper Cups aging, they want another back. They're
Speaker 1: gonna go get a left tackle. If Havenstein moves uh,
Speaker 1: they're gonna get a defensive end. My guess is they
Speaker 1: may buy a tight end and an edge rusher. Higbe
Speaker 1: may not be ready for the start of next year.
Speaker 1: They like David Allen, the backup from Clemson's okay's a backup.
Speaker 1: My take is they're gonna go one more year with
Speaker 1: Matt Stafford Wentz the backup. You could win games with wins.
Speaker 1: They're actually they're very similar players. Arm little reckless played
Speaker 1: in big games. Staffords a better player.
Speaker 2: Obviously.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna go one more year and then
Speaker 1: the take is and they'll convince Aaron Donald to stay.
Speaker 1: Then mcveay has been and it'll be a good team
Speaker 1: next year. They'll be a very good team next year.
Speaker 1: Agree Because Kobe Turner, uh uh Avilla, the inturior young,
Speaker 1: the rush end, Pooka. They hit on like four or
Speaker 1: five draft picks. It's a good scouting department. McVeigh. I
Speaker 1: think they'll go to the market. I think they'll just say, listen,
Speaker 1: there's four quarterbacks available in the market. Wouldn't you choose McVeigh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so might might takes how the Niners got Sam
Speaker 2: Darnold for two million dollars, right, so you wanted to
Speaker 2: come there to rest.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna run Matt back. They're going to
Speaker 1: try to embolden the offensive line, which, by the way, if.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying getting rid of Stafford, I'm saying almost
Speaker 2: do a Mahomes Alex Smith have a guy around him,
Speaker 2: but you'd have to use a high pick probably to
Speaker 2: get a guy you like.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they're gonna run it back. I think
Speaker 1: they think they can be a super Bowl team next year.
Speaker 1: I think they were. They knew in the building their
Speaker 1: defense is young, needs another year, and they have about
Speaker 1: four holes to fill, and the scouting department they trust.
Speaker 1: They have their first, second, third, fourth, fifth, six. So
Speaker 1: but I do think the advantage to having an offensive
Speaker 1: coach is as your quarterback ages, they age a little
Speaker 1: more elegantly, not inelegantly like being Big Ben. And the
Speaker 1: second thing is when the market has free agent quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: they look to you. They I mean, I mean, hell
Speaker 1: elway didn't. Elway was a front office guy, and he
Speaker 1: recruited Peyton Manning. Peyton trusted Elwaye's brain power in the
Speaker 1: building to go to Denver.
Speaker 2: I think mcveigh's comment after the game, too, is pretty powerful,
Speaker 2: essentially saying like these guys made me fall in love
Speaker 2: with football again because he clearly almost tapped out and
Speaker 2: had enough of it last year, and now he has
Speaker 2: this young team where you're kind of bullish on the future.
Speaker 2: It's almost like a college coach that's a little older
Speaker 2: sugnds like a four year deal, like, guys, I'm not
Speaker 2: going anywhere. And he kind of I thought was pretty
Speaker 2: open and honest with that comment of like I'm here,
Speaker 2: like we got a chance to be pretty good in
Speaker 2: the next several years. I mean, Puka, what he did
Speaker 2: last night in all season, I don't think it's you
Speaker 2: can overstate. I mean, that's one of the greatest. You know,
Speaker 2: Randy Moss was sexier looking the way he played, but
Speaker 2: it's his impact. I mean, that guy's an unstoppable force.
Speaker 2: And it's not like you beg well he's the number two. Well, no,
Speaker 2: he was way better than Cooper cup given how he's
Speaker 2: not the same player right now based off the injuries.
Speaker 2: So when you're going into a game, you're trying to
Speaker 2: take Puka in the cool you know where Matt Stafford's
Speaker 2: looking and that no one can cover him. I don't
Speaker 2: care if you the Lions, DBS or Good DBS. That
Speaker 2: guy is getting seven to ten catches every single game.
Speaker 2: He is what a draft pick, that's that's remarkable.
Speaker 1: Had they not taken it was funny after the draft
Speaker 1: the next day, I said, I didn't love the Stets
Speaker 1: and Bennett pick, but their second round pick aces, they're
Speaker 1: two thirds aces their fifth. They got Allen and Puka Nakua.
Speaker 1: They had a hell of a draft.
Speaker 2: And I talked to you out of it too. You
Speaker 2: loved him, and I thought they were gonna suck, and
Speaker 2: they were, well, here's the thing, but that they were
Speaker 2: damn good down the stretch.
Speaker 1: Stafford and Aaron Donald, I argue, are still top five
Speaker 1: in the league at their position, maybe top three. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think Stafford's that good easily, but Donald is so
Speaker 1: perpetually triple team. Did you see multiple times Detroit trippled
Speaker 1: him and he stopped rushing because his feeling was well,
Speaker 1: I've done my job. I've taken three offensive linemen. You
Speaker 1: guys go get him Is if they can keep talking.
Speaker 1: I think he has two more great years, and I
Speaker 1: think Stafford's got two more so I think I think
Speaker 1: Cooper cup you could argue it's time to move off him.
Speaker 1: Can you get a fifth round pick for him? But
Speaker 1: or he could restructure his deal because they do have
Speaker 1: some cap space.
Speaker 2: The analytical community is always down on linebackers. They view
Speaker 2: them like utility players, like in baseball. And I've always
Speaker 2: pushed back on that, having lived through the Willis and
Speaker 2: Bowman teams and now with Fred Warner with the Niners.
Speaker 2: Ernest Jones fifty three, no one talks about him. He's
Speaker 2: easily one of the best linebackers. He's definitely probably the
Speaker 2: best blitzing linebacker. And Michael Lombardi has always said this,
Speaker 2: when your middle linebacker is fast and impact player, your
Speaker 2: whole defense plays like that. To me, he lifts their
Speaker 2: level of play. Think about last year Bobby Wagner they signed,
Speaker 2: he was old, not the same player. They pivoted off him,
Speaker 2: they went, they built the defense now around Jones in
Speaker 2: the middle. Look how much better their unit is and
Speaker 2: they might get lucky. Rahie Morris should get a second chance,
Speaker 2: but who knows, maybe defensive coaches, a lot of other
Speaker 2: big name coaches on the market, they might be able
Speaker 2: to just bring him back. You bring this coaching staff back.
Speaker 2: McVeigh turned over that whole staff right, six seven new
Speaker 2: guys like Ryan Windell their offensive line coach. How much
Speaker 2: better was their offensive line this year than it has
Speaker 2: been years past? And they have some good young players,
Speaker 2: but just a remarkable job as an organization.
Speaker 1: John Middlecoff, former NFL stout scout for the Eagles three
Speaker 1: and Out podcast You See the Hat as always great
Speaker 1: talking to you about see you con
Speaker 2: The volume