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Speaker 2: welcome in great podcast. We're going to start it off
Speaker 2: with fifteen minutes my observations on the early games, and
Speaker 2: boy do I have strong opinions on this. I've been
Speaker 2: very critical of defensive coaches not understanding how to help
Speaker 2: young quarterbacks. Two examples of this today. So there's about
Speaker 2: a buck fifty five left tie game twenty eight, twenty eight,
Speaker 2: Matt Eberfluse fourth and one has the opportunity for Justin
Speaker 2: Fields to kick a field goal. Right, he leads the
Speaker 2: team down field goal, take a thirty one to twenty
Speaker 2: eight lead on the Broncos. And what would the feeling be.
Speaker 2: Justin Field's had a good day. Justin Field's got you
Speaker 2: in scoring position. Justin Field's got you the lead, regardless
Speaker 2: if Denver comes down and wins it. The vibe all
Speaker 2: week is positive for Justin Fields gave you the lead,
Speaker 2: not his fault if the defense couldn't hold it. Instead,
Speaker 2: Eberflus and I don't care what analytics say, decides to
Speaker 2: go for it instead of at home for a team
Speaker 2: that hasn't won in forever, instead of kicking a field
Speaker 2: goal for the lead as a defensive coach and trusting
Speaker 2: your schemes. Nope, they go for it. Fail. Denver goes down,
Speaker 2: takes a lead, then you give the ball back to
Speaker 2: Justin Fields very little time left, Hey, kid, go save us.
Speaker 2: Terrible managing of a young quarterback. I don't care what
Speaker 2: analytics say. Justin Fields had a good day, showed promise,
Speaker 2: you had to feel great. He leaves the field, you
Speaker 2: have a lead. It would just be the way to
Speaker 2: support a young quarterback. And by the way, if you
Speaker 2: can take a lead at home and you haven't won,
Speaker 2: how many games do it? Prime example. I don't think
Speaker 2: Denver's very good. I think Russell, Wilson and Sean Payton
Speaker 2: have found a comfort zone. I think they sort of
Speaker 2: understand now what they are and what they're not a
Speaker 2: lot of it's under these stuff. In the first half,
Speaker 2: I think Russell was twelve to thirteen for seventy nine
Speaker 2: yards and seven first downs. But they've come to an
Speaker 2: understanding of what each other offers. And that's not the
Speaker 2: huge issue for this team. They have to do with
Speaker 2: the trade deadline or probably in the draft just to
Speaker 2: drafts the defense and maybe the defensive coordinator. But it
Speaker 2: was the use of the clock and late game managing
Speaker 2: which drove me nuts for the Chicago Bears. Protect your
Speaker 2: young quarterback. So let's talk about a second game defensive
Speaker 2: coach Ron Rivera. It's thirty one, thirty commanders, drive down
Speaker 2: Sam Howe get within a point. Now, remember in this instance,
Speaker 2: Philadelphia's got the better roster had averaged almost seven yards
Speaker 2: of play. At that moment I went online, they'd averaged
Speaker 2: six point six yards of play. It's in Philadelphia, they're
Speaker 2: huge favorites. You had momentum. Eagles defense has been on
Speaker 2: the field a while. You get the touchdown there, you
Speaker 2: go for it. Different circumstances with the young quarterback, steal
Speaker 2: a win, big dog on the road. If you lose
Speaker 2: in Sam Howe can't deliver. Listen, Sam Howe has over
Speaker 2: Achie to this point. He's not justin fields whose jobs
Speaker 2: on the line. Sam Hall has overachieved. Even if you
Speaker 2: lose that game, you talk about the guts and the
Speaker 2: toughness and the willingness to make a play, and Ron
Speaker 2: Rivera's trust in him going forward against a super bowl
Speaker 2: team in Philadelphia. Nope, they kick the easy extra point,
Speaker 2: go to overtime against the better team, and the better
Speaker 2: team eventually wins. The better quarterback wins, the better O
Speaker 2: line and D line win. So in that instance, you
Speaker 2: kick the field goal for Justin Fields. The kid needs
Speaker 2: positive vibes. You're not a good team. Washington's a better
Speaker 2: team on the road, huge dogs steal a win in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: Now it's easy in hindsight to say this, but this
Speaker 2: is what I have been. One of my knocks is that
Speaker 2: how do you handle young quarterbacks? There is a way
Speaker 2: to do it, and I thought Washington made the wrong call.
Speaker 2: Chicago made the wrong call. So one of the things
Speaker 2: I thought about what watching Buffalo hammer Miami and I
Speaker 2: had a very good early day today. I went four
Speaker 2: and er my picks and Buffalo was one of my
Speaker 2: favorite plays. Dolphins couldn't stop man. We never thought the
Speaker 2: Dolphins had a great defense, but it was just you
Speaker 2: get into Buffalo they get some momentum. I've called them
Speaker 2: the Mike Tyson of the NFL. When they get rolling
Speaker 2: and punching and swinging and delivering, they are they are
Speaker 2: an avalanche. They're coming downhill one hundred miles an hour,
Speaker 2: and Miami found out about it. But you know, it's
Speaker 2: really interesting when I watched that game, is that now
Speaker 2: that we've moved to seventeen weeks, gms and coaches manage
Speaker 2: the roster differently. Almost no starters are playing in the preseason.
Speaker 2: So in Week one, Buffalo looked awful this morning, this afternoon, tonight,
Speaker 2: they may be the best team in the league. Week one,
Speaker 2: the Jets look competent offensively with Zach Wilson. You know,
Speaker 2: Week one the Rams destroyed Seattle. Seattle looked completely over
Speaker 2: their skis. We now think Seattle playing the Giants tomorrow
Speaker 2: is pretty good. So Week one and to some degree,
Speaker 2: Week two. You know, I'm trying to figure out what
Speaker 2: everybody is because I think gms and coaches manage rosters differently,
Speaker 2: and so Buffalo, Aaron Rodgers goes down, it's a very
Speaker 2: emotional night. They're on the road. It just felt like
Speaker 2: the Jets night. Since then, they have dismantled teams. The
Speaker 2: offense is cooking. They're running the ball more. Josh Allen
Speaker 2: not the primary ball carrier is often and I think
Speaker 2: Buffalo looks really good. And again we've seen this from Buffalo.
Speaker 2: They are a momentum team. Josh Allen is a momentum player,
Speaker 2: a power thrower, a power runner. They play with a
Speaker 2: ton of emotion. Now it's a defensive head coach. I
Speaker 2: still think at times the offensive line and run game
Speaker 2: are inconsistent. But I do think what Miami has been doing.
Speaker 2: They're a little bit ahead the league with all the motion,
Speaker 2: and they had a very good first half. But you
Speaker 2: just can't keep that up. At some point, players get hurt,
Speaker 2: you go on the road, you fall behind. It's a
Speaker 2: different game playing with the lead and trailing. It's a
Speaker 2: completely different game for a coaching staff and a quarterback
Speaker 2: into it. So now you're behind, Buffalo knows you have
Speaker 2: to throw. It's at Buffalo. They're getting a pass rush
Speaker 2: two is not highly mobile. Oh suddenly they look like
Speaker 2: everybody else. The way to always beat a great offense.
Speaker 2: It can be the fastest show on turf, it can
Speaker 2: be Miami. It doesn't matter who it is the way
Speaker 2: to beat a great offense has always been the same.
Speaker 2: The ability to get a pass rush with four, don't
Speaker 2: have to bring extra people, don't have to take big risks.
Speaker 2: You get a pass rush with four and it disrupts
Speaker 2: even Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, fastest show on turf, all
Speaker 2: the great offenses. And I do believe Miami is going
Speaker 2: to drop a lot of points on a lot of teams.
Speaker 2: In fact, I don't know what the line is next week.
Speaker 2: I would take Miami next week because Buffalo is playing
Speaker 2: downhill football and they look like the best team of
Speaker 2: the National Football League. So I had said during the
Speaker 2: off season at one point on the Houston Texans, they
Speaker 2: were making a lot of solid b moves in free agency,
Speaker 2: not big swings.
Speaker 1: You know, c J.
Speaker 2: Stroud doesn't cost anything. They're not paying their quarterback, so
Speaker 2: they could have taken some big swings. They didn't. Solid
Speaker 2: running back, solid linebacker, solid people in the secondary. They
Speaker 2: were just really solid acquisitions in free agency, no hype,
Speaker 2: no big egos, just easy stuff for CJ. Stroud to
Speaker 2: enter into a building slow growth, and so far c J.
Speaker 2: Stroud has been remarkable for a rookie quarterback remarkable, a professional,
Speaker 2: stands in the pocket, delivers strikes, doesn't have nervous feet,
Speaker 2: has nice mechanics. His comp was Jared Goff, which I
Speaker 2: know you like Jared Goff, but he was a number
Speaker 2: one pick and is the best quarterback in the NFL
Speaker 2: last six years against the spread. C J. Stroud, Lance Zerline,
Speaker 2: who's a Houston radio host, dad coached in the NFL,
Speaker 2: works for NFL dot Com. I rely on him, bring
Speaker 2: him on the herd often. You know, during the draft season,
Speaker 2: his comp was Jared Goff. Not going to give you
Speaker 2: a lot of juice on the outside, but if you
Speaker 2: can protect him, stands tall, throws a beautiful ball, accurate
Speaker 2: when not hurried. C J. Scroud's been terrific and again
Speaker 2: Nico Collins had a big game for them. You know
Speaker 2: it's different. Bryce Young has nobody to throw to, Nobody separates.
Speaker 2: Houston did a good job finding receivers in the mid round.
Speaker 2: Guys that have a little wiggle, a little juice. They've
Speaker 2: got just enough speed to make you uncomfortable, make Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: uncomfortable defensively, and the Houston Texans and c J. Stroud listen,
Speaker 2: this stuff is so much fun to me. You never
Speaker 2: know what you get.
Speaker 1: You know, c J.
Speaker 2: Stroud at Ohio State walks into every game with a
Speaker 2: personnel advantage. But I think c J. Stroud reminds me
Speaker 2: a little of Justin Herbert, where they didn't move much
Speaker 2: in college until their final game. Herbert against the Badgers
Speaker 2: at the Rose Bowl, Stroud against the Georgia Bulldogs and
Speaker 2: the coach knowing it was potentially the last game, right,
Speaker 2: let him run. And then you look at Herbert and
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, he can move. And you look at
Speaker 2: c J. Stroud against Georgia and you're like, oh he
Speaker 2: can move. It's not who he is. But if c J.
Speaker 2: Stroud is Jared Goff with better mobility, that's a hell
Speaker 2: of a quarterback. The only thing I'm surprised at because
Speaker 2: I thought the comp I said up multiple times I
Speaker 2: thought it was a reasonable comp, is that he was
Speaker 2: this good this early. He looks very composed. Got to
Speaker 2: give the coaching staff credit. Demico Ryans was the DC
Speaker 2: at San Francisco, beloved in the building, heartbroken when he left.
Speaker 2: They really they knew he was going to get a
Speaker 2: head coaching job. He's been horrific, But again, CJ. Stroud,
Speaker 2: no egos to deal with rookie coaching coordinator. They're all
Speaker 2: in it together, putting them in situations to succeed. And
Speaker 2: they've done this with all sorts of offensive line injuries.
Speaker 2: So the Texans hammer the Steelers. I'll hammer the Steelers
Speaker 2: later this week. But I thought the story, the positive
Speaker 2: vibes on the Texans managing expectations. Stroud, big kid sits
Speaker 2: in the pocket and delivers strikes the goff with more
Speaker 2: mobility comp was reasonable. Didn't think he'd beat this good
Speaker 2: this early. It's been fantastic, really really good early window.
Speaker 2: A lot of fun. Okay, I went four and oh
Speaker 2: on my picks that made it more fun. Zero and
Speaker 2: five to start the year, four and oh today cross
Speaker 2: my fingers. Good stuff.
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Speaker 2: the full season. Get it before it's gone. John Middlecoff
Speaker 2: three and out in the volume. If you put the
Speaker 2: twenty five to thirty best throws of Zach Wilson's career
Speaker 2: on a film on a tape twenty or tonight, he
Speaker 2: was you know what was interesting?
Speaker 1: John?
Speaker 2: So he didn't play with a ton of confidence. First
Speaker 2: quarter Chiefs made some mistakes, he had a good drive
Speaker 2: game confidence, third quarter played with a ton of confidence,
Speaker 2: and then fourth quarter played well, had a fumble, But
Speaker 2: it's interesting. He is a player and I saw a
Speaker 2: little bit of this with Justin Fields today. He's a
Speaker 2: momentum player like you know, when Mahomes started struggling, it
Speaker 2: sort of empowered him, like, hey, we're all human here,
Speaker 2: I'm playing pretty well. He's always had a good arm,
Speaker 2: but it was like he found some golden touch, some confidence.
Speaker 2: You saw him grow in the game. And if he
Speaker 2: was just that, which is you know, missed an open
Speaker 2: throw in the Endzo should have had a fumble. If
Speaker 2: I got this, this is a this team could win
Speaker 2: five six in a row. I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 2: it's just it's it's strange. Both Justin Fields and Zac
Speaker 2: Wilson today it was like something happened star quarterbacks, you know,
Speaker 2: came back down to earth and they felt empowered and
Speaker 2: played pretty well.
Speaker 1: I think confidence is a powerful thing for young players.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think confidence is a powerful thing for
Speaker 1: young people, right, I mean I think it was on
Speaker 1: full display today, right, Guys like Canny Pickett and Mac
Speaker 1: Jones completely unraveling. It's not like they have a ten
Speaker 1: year career to lean back on. And you saw Mac
Speaker 1: jon or i mean Zach Wilson today it looked for
Speaker 1: a second like the Chiefs were gonna win this game
Speaker 1: fifty to nothing. I mean early on it was like
Speaker 1: they're gonna play a lot of Taylor Swift here to
Speaker 1: keep this thing going. The safety then it flipped. Then
Speaker 1: he hit a couple passes and listen the players, whether
Speaker 1: they love the guy or not, they want to play well.
Speaker 1: So that what happens. A lot of the receivers start
Speaker 1: going over there, they start picking him up. He makes
Speaker 1: a couple of plays and the place kind of erupts.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've had two nights now in the first
Speaker 1: month of the season where when it's been going good,
Speaker 1: that place has been electric. I've watched a lot of games.
Speaker 1: It's not the most you know, it's not exactly an
Speaker 1: SEC football game, but this Jets team and just what's
Speaker 1: going on this year, especially tonight, Rogers in the house,
Speaker 1: Swift in the house. That was That was fun. I
Speaker 1: mean it is something that didn't feel like it was
Speaker 1: gonna happen, kind of came out of nowhere. That was
Speaker 1: an enjoyable three quarters.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's mostly a young team with a young,
Speaker 2: highly passionate coach, and you can sometimes mirror your coach,
Speaker 2: and I think they play like Solo would play young
Speaker 2: teams Green Bay. You make more mistakes, you tend to
Speaker 2: play in streaks. I mean, the Packers have been like,
Speaker 2: terrible first half, great second half. The Jets do that
Speaker 2: terrible first quarter, great second quarter. So I think I
Speaker 2: think young teams. You see this in basketball all the time.
Speaker 2: Young player Jordan Poole's a great example. Just depends on
Speaker 2: the quarter. They're very streaky. So you know, I think
Speaker 2: the Jets. Listen after watching Buffalo today, it's like, and
Speaker 2: the Jets beat Buffalo, either we should disregard the first
Speaker 2: game of the season, or we can see that the
Speaker 2: Jets can line up pretty much with anybody physically. Becton
Speaker 2: was okay tonight. You know, he's not great, but he
Speaker 2: was capable. And if he becomes capable your old line
Speaker 2: Vera Tucker is good on the inside, then you're like, okay,
Speaker 2: we can hang around. Early in the season you had
Speaker 2: bad Zach badole line. Now Dwayne Brown's out, Becton comes
Speaker 2: in and can block a little. It's like, okay, this
Speaker 2: is a because Brice Hall Garrett Wilson are really nice players.
Speaker 1: I talked to a personnel guy this week and he said,
Speaker 1: if you look at the way the Jets built their defense,
Speaker 1: what happened when Rogers went out, It really screwed him
Speaker 1: because they weren't built like with Tony, Sarah Gusa and
Speaker 1: Luke Keigley. You know CJ. Mosley is an overrated player.
Speaker 1: But they were built to get a lead and then
Speaker 1: just tee off Peyton Manning style, you know with Dwight
Speaker 1: Freeney Mathis and just get after you. They got one
Speaker 1: good corner and they were built to have a seventeen
Speaker 1: to seven lead and know you were going to pass.
Speaker 1: But what happened the moment Rogers tears Achilles. They've been
Speaker 1: down and they get in these rock fights and they're
Speaker 1: not built that way. You know, you can run it
Speaker 1: on them. But if they get a little lead or
Speaker 1: they're just in the game, and Andy, regardless what the
Speaker 1: score is, historically likes to throw the ball that plays
Speaker 1: to their strengths on defense. The last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: you know it's a ten to nothing game and it's
Speaker 1: like they can just run it. The Jets have no shot.
Speaker 1: But tonight when it's third and ten, if they can
Speaker 1: get you in third and long and you're not, you know,
Speaker 1: have a ten point, fifteen point seventeen point lead, they
Speaker 1: got a shot. Because their defensive front is pretty special
Speaker 1: as pass rushers. They're not just gonna hold the point.
Speaker 1: I mean, they wouldn't play the ninety two Cowboys very well.
Speaker 1: But a team like the Chiefs, maybe a team like
Speaker 1: the Bills, they can at least hang because you like
Speaker 1: the pass and I think you saw that tonight and
Speaker 1: obviously you know Zach. I think the hard part is, though, Colin,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of play. Once you get to
Speaker 1: that level, you have the talent. What makes you just
Speaker 1: a solid player is just being able to consistently do it.
Speaker 1: And we'll really only see and be able. He said
Speaker 1: two last year he had a Steeler game. I remember
Speaker 1: he was really good, and this year he's had one game.
Speaker 1: But like, what's the likelihood of doing that again?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that's That's one of the
Speaker 2: reasons C. J. Stroud has been so remarkable is I
Speaker 2: feel like I get the same game from him. He
Speaker 2: doesn't even have Zach's arm. That's not what he's about.
Speaker 2: He can move better than GoF, but that was his
Speaker 2: comp you know, sit in the pocket, give him protection,
Speaker 2: throw it. But with Stroud, I feel like you get
Speaker 2: the exact same every time I watch him, I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I kind of know what I'm getting, and it's pretty
Speaker 2: high functioning. And with Zach you get fumbles, you get
Speaker 2: you know what's interesting too. He's six two and two
Speaker 2: eighteen and I always think he looks small. Rogers is
Speaker 2: six one and a half two twenty five, and I
Speaker 2: never think that Mahomes is six two two twenty five.
Speaker 2: I never think small. It's the shoulders. He's got kind
Speaker 2: of a Johnny Manzel build at like small hills, small shoulders. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And so he is one of those guys that I
Speaker 2: think he throws to me, he throws the ball better
Speaker 2: on the outside because he has a clear pass lane.
Speaker 2: You know too has talked about that before. You can
Speaker 2: see it with sometimes Russell Wilson. You know, there are
Speaker 2: certain player I feel like Zach when he's throwing, moving
Speaker 2: and throwing outside. He's got a whip, he's got a
Speaker 2: beautiful arm.
Speaker 1: Well. I think Fields falls under that today too. Once
Speaker 1: you get him moving around using athleticism, you don't have
Speaker 1: to think it's not one two three, Mississippi. I gotta
Speaker 1: get rid of this ball. I gotta go from right
Speaker 1: to left. I got to diagnose the defense. Move him
Speaker 1: to the right, move him to the left. I basically
Speaker 1: have one option maybe too, and then I'm and then
Speaker 1: I'm running forward. You can't. That's the simplicity. Even at
Speaker 1: the highest level of football, only so many guys, right,
Speaker 1: and Mahomes, you know, for his standards, was pretty shitty tonight.
Speaker 1: But he, like many other great players, can just sit
Speaker 1: in the pocket and pick you apart when they're dialed in.
Speaker 1: That's very difficult to do. Only a small percentage of
Speaker 1: people at that position have been able to do it.
Speaker 1: Zach most guy, he's not alone, but you can put
Speaker 1: him in more advantageous situations, and then once you hit
Speaker 1: a couple of those, you're more likely to hit the
Speaker 1: pocket pass, which he did to night, which you went,
Speaker 1: damn that like a guy that you would draft high.
Speaker 1: He definitely had some of those throws to Night.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think Sola deserves credit. They ran the
Speaker 2: ball enough, play action, they rolled the pocket. I thought
Speaker 2: they set him up to succeed tonight. They moved the pocket.
Speaker 2: It looked different. Used a lot of different players, you know,
Speaker 2: I think, And to your point is at any one
Speaker 2: time I remember Mahomes talking about and I think Mahomes cognitively,
Speaker 2: I've never seen a player who can see something and
Speaker 2: get the ball there faster.
Speaker 1: He just is a whip just I mean, look at
Speaker 1: how that game ended. How many guys walk right into
Speaker 1: the end zone. No one would have blamed him. The
Speaker 1: game ends too, Yeah, hits the ground. That was like
Speaker 1: a Brady Belichick level move in their prime, wasn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's he's playing he's playing chess. I mean, Mahomes
Speaker 2: is going a thou and he and Reed are going
Speaker 2: on thousand miles an hour upstairs. But I do think
Speaker 2: there's ways as players develop to let them succeed, and
Speaker 2: I think it's moving the pocket play action, leaning into
Speaker 2: your run game. Now. I thought Sala was super conservative
Speaker 2: on fourth downs in the first half, more conservative than
Speaker 2: I would have been. But in the end, you know
Speaker 2: his takeaways, let's get like there was a fourth and one,
Speaker 2: He's like, hey, if we don't get it, it's points
Speaker 2: for Kansas City. So he was a tad Sala more
Speaker 2: conservative than I like. But I also understand that he
Speaker 2: was seeing in the second quarter how much Mahomes was
Speaker 2: having trouble. That's about as poorly as Mahomes plays. So
Speaker 2: I'm not a huge moral victory fan, but I think
Speaker 2: you come out of that game a little impassioned. I
Speaker 2: think you're energized if you're the Jets. I mean I
Speaker 2: sat back and I said, they're giving Kansas City. Some
Speaker 2: of these problems are just New York is speeding up
Speaker 2: the game. For Mahomes, It's hard to me.
Speaker 1: The key, though, is you got to build on it
Speaker 1: next week, like your next game. You have to look
Speaker 1: good or they turned because you could feel the last
Speaker 1: couple weeks the Jet, the New York negativity. It was
Speaker 1: coming and rightfully so they had earned it. And then
Speaker 1: tonight it felt like a completely different football team. So
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you win a game next week
Speaker 1: or I don't know, I don't think they have a
Speaker 1: buy and you're two and three, then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: it feels like like you said, why couldn't you rattle
Speaker 1: off four or five? And then all of a sudden
Speaker 1: being the wildcard mix. And I think on the flip side,
Speaker 1: this Chiefs team is just a completely different version than
Speaker 1: the first iteration of the Mahomes era. I mean they
Speaker 1: are defensive, they have I mean Andy's had some good
Speaker 1: running backs over his career. Obviously, when he got to
Speaker 1: Kansas City, Jamal Charles Shady McCoy, some of the Westbrooks
Speaker 1: induce Daly this Isaah, but Jaco is like a throwback
Speaker 1: guy from the eighties. So you get this physical presence
Speaker 1: and even Andy, who wants to pass it every play,
Speaker 1: knows he's got to give it to this guy. And
Speaker 1: now he's clearly right. Kelsey's their best weapon. This guy's
Speaker 1: our second best weapon. And they defensive run game tight end.
Speaker 1: This is not different than the you know, scoring forty
Speaker 1: eight points a game Chief Chiefs, but it's this is
Speaker 1: sustainable too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean one of the reasons the Chiefs had
Speaker 2: trouble in the second quarter. The Jets corners are outstanding
Speaker 2: for sure, and so the bottom line is nobody was open.
Speaker 2: And I do think I think at the trading deadline,
Speaker 2: Kansas City, yeah, I think they'll I feel like they
Speaker 2: would go if there was a Juju Smith Schuster type
Speaker 2: player just who was very productive for them, just a
Speaker 2: guy that's good after the catch, kind of a physical
Speaker 2: banger and experienced guy. Because I think that's the whole.
Speaker 2: But to your point, this is the best fastest defense
Speaker 2: Kansas City's had under Mahomes. It's the youngest cheapest and fastest.
Speaker 2: But also by the next draft, you have to start
Speaker 2: considering for Kittle and Travis Kelcey drafting tight ends. These
Speaker 2: guys take a lot of hits and so overall, great
Speaker 2: teams win on bad nights on the road. That's Kansas City.
Speaker 2: Philadelphia didn't play very well today. I mean they know
Speaker 2: their defense got shredded.
Speaker 1: Washington has their number though, you know, I mean certain
Speaker 1: teams in certain sports. The Trailblazers forever would Lillard and
Speaker 1: CJ always played the Warriors well, even when they had
Speaker 1: Durant Washington now two years in a row. Remember they
Speaker 1: beat him last year. I think on Monday a fe
Speaker 1: football today, they easily could have won that game. They
Speaker 1: were to control the majority of it until some of
Speaker 1: Philly's athletes just made plays. That's the thing. Like you
Speaker 1: watch a team like Philly, the Niners, their skill guys
Speaker 1: look more like the nineteen Chiefs than this Chiefs team, right,
Speaker 1: I mean the talent at the high end. When you
Speaker 1: have that much firepower a sixty minute game, if your
Speaker 1: quarterback's good, you're just never really out of the game
Speaker 1: unless you're down twenty.
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk Patriots, Cowboys, so Zach Wilson can struggle,
Speaker 2: Justin Fields can struggle, but I never doubt they have talent.
Speaker 2: They both move and controw. Today Mac Jones looked untalented,
Speaker 2: looked overwhelmed. So here's what we know to be true.
Speaker 2: The Patriot coaches. I've been told this and it's been written,
Speaker 2: We're furious with him last year, like just didn't like
Speaker 2: him as a player, you know, McEnroe, Jones, Braddy, the
Speaker 2: cheap shots. It just looked bad for the culture. And
Speaker 2: so we know that's documented. Belichick was furious with him.
Speaker 2: We also know he's had several of these moments, and
Speaker 2: I've been told last year he was called out by
Speaker 2: one of his offensive linemen. He's had several of these moments.
Speaker 2: You know, chippy hitting, guys kicking. That doesn't play well
Speaker 2: in pro sports because what players think is if you're
Speaker 2: doing that to them, they can do that to us.
Speaker 2: So that doesn't play in a locker room at all.
Speaker 2: This chippy stuff, the Grace and Allen stuff doesn't play.
Speaker 2: And then today completely listless, no energy, completely overwhelmed, with
Speaker 2: Trayvon digs out, Micah parsonshurt. Briefly, I thought it was
Speaker 2: one of those I wrote this down is that I
Speaker 2: think there's five. I think there's ten teams that are
Speaker 2: going to draft quarterbacks. Some of them I think Atlanta,
Speaker 2: you know, Vegas, Tampa very early, and then probably you
Speaker 2: know Rams, Green Bay, Minnesota maybe a little later. I
Speaker 2: put down ten teams, and I put in New England
Speaker 2: in the sooner than later. Like he's not popular in
Speaker 2: the locker room. He looks overwhelmed and untalented, the braddy
Speaker 2: cheap shot stuff. I don't know where his alliances are
Speaker 2: in the organization. I don't know justin fields. Those guys
Speaker 2: still in that locker room, I think they like him.
Speaker 2: Zach Wilson. You can see his teammates, his receivers come
Speaker 2: to him. Watch Mac Jones on the sideline. Who's an
Speaker 2: ally in that locker room.
Speaker 1: My thought coming into training camp, once we knew all
Speaker 1: the AFC rosters is that Mac Jones was inevitably gonna
Speaker 1: get in Bill Belichick's career. Now, I hate to say
Speaker 1: get him fired because it sounds like, you know, Joe
Speaker 1: Judge gets fired. You know, if coaches like that get fired.
Speaker 1: I don't know how this ends, mutual departation. It's over
Speaker 1: like this This team's terrible, and it starts their quarterback
Speaker 1: play is horrendous. Like you said, he he's not talented enough.
Speaker 1: I remember when Kyle Shanahan liked him and I thought
Speaker 1: it is insane. No player of this talent has ever
Speaker 1: been drafted this high. In my opinion, he's more even
Speaker 1: based going back to college. More third fourth round pick.
Speaker 1: That's where guys of Kirk Cousins, Dak Prescott, those guys
Speaker 1: go in the third fourth round. And unlike those guys,
Speaker 1: his floor he can't reach it right now because he's
Speaker 1: so mistake prone. His turnovers are outrageous. I mean they
Speaker 1: and they never end. It's pick sixes. He could have
Speaker 1: thrown multiple pick six today as a fumble. He just
Speaker 1: feels like most lopsided game and loss of Bill Belichick's career.
Speaker 1: I mean the Cowboys they're not bad. I mean they're solid,
Speaker 1: twelve win team, thirty eight to three. I mean that
Speaker 1: was a full that was a bloodbath in Belichick. There
Speaker 1: was the one when he was going like this on
Speaker 1: his said, what's his other pitch? It's not like, well
Speaker 1: I just throw a change up? Now what does he do?
Speaker 1: You can't go to the bullpens it's like Zappie's any good.
Speaker 1: They're screwed. And listen, they missed the playoffs last year.
Speaker 1: This team feels worse. Judon got hurt. Now it's starting
Speaker 1: to unravel a little bit and it's clearly not well.
Speaker 1: It's Matt Patricia calling the place. No, they got a
Speaker 1: grown up call in the place. I mean, this team looks.
Speaker 1: I know he's an all time great coach and I
Speaker 1: believe that, but this individual team, even with him five
Speaker 1: six wins. I mean, look how hard the division is,
Speaker 1: let alone just how they play in general.
Speaker 2: You know what's interesting too, he's regressed. So when he
Speaker 2: first gets to New England his rookie year, again, you
Speaker 2: haven't lived with him long. You haven't traveled with him much, right,
Speaker 2: you haven't been through crisis with him. He had a
Speaker 2: pretty good rookie year.
Speaker 1: I made the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Just like when you're a coworker, you're an employee. The
Speaker 2: first year, you win some games, you're like I kind
Speaker 2: of like Bob. And then you work with him a
Speaker 2: second year. You travel with him, multiple camps with him,
Speaker 2: practices with him. Have you noticed he seems less popular today,
Speaker 2: He has less allies today, He's one of those players.
Speaker 2: I mean, I had somebody who I respect, a former
Speaker 2: Patriot recently out east, use the word brat like he's
Speaker 2: bratty like, and you know, I think you told me
Speaker 2: this last week or the week before. As long as
Speaker 2: you're loved in the room, nobody.
Speaker 1: Cares outside of the room.
Speaker 2: I do not think. I think the coaches have tolerated him.
Speaker 2: I think I mean today, I know it feels like
Speaker 2: I'm being hyperbolic here, it feels like today was a
Speaker 2: tipping point, like the coaches are just like, all right,
Speaker 2: they have to go to craft and say, what do Bob,
Speaker 2: we have to draft the quarterback?
Speaker 1: Do you think that if this thing gets really ugly
Speaker 1: and it's trure headed that way? They win six games.
Speaker 1: Bill's always been a little prickly with Robert, but he's
Speaker 1: making him so much money. They're winning so big. You
Speaker 1: deal with it. Now, this back to back years, Let's
Speaker 1: say they win thirteen games over a two year span.
Speaker 1: Maybe they just go it's time for a change, does Bill?
Speaker 1: Because I was thinking about this, like if you're the
Speaker 1: chart or some of these other teams, or is he
Speaker 1: just too old and too crimogeny. He's kind of fascinating, right,
Speaker 1: because his resume is unprecedented. I mean yeah, but it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, this is he's not a spring chicken. He's
Speaker 1: not mister get along with everybody.
Speaker 2: Here's the other thing. We always thought they were just
Speaker 2: such a smart football team. They make the same mistakes
Speaker 2: as everybody post Brady, they're not. They make special teams blunders.
Speaker 2: So you know, Brady covered up a lot of issues
Speaker 2: with this team. He was so good pre snap. He
Speaker 2: got you out of trouble. It's like a good boss.
Speaker 2: You don't really know the trouble you would have been in.
Speaker 2: He gets you out of it before your company's in it.
Speaker 2: Brady got this team out of a lot of trouble.
Speaker 1: But it gets back to Tom also worked basically as
Speaker 1: like his second job was also a coach. I mean
Speaker 1: you talked to Adelman and Gronk and all these guys.
Speaker 1: What was tolerated in practice? It wasn't just Bill setting
Speaker 1: the tone, it was Tom setting the tone. So they
Speaker 1: screw ups didn't happen in practice. What's Mac gonna do
Speaker 1: yell at you for running the wrong route on Thursday.
Speaker 1: So it kind of unravels from within because Tom set
Speaker 1: the tone from a leadership standpoint, it's unreplaceable. And it
Speaker 1: shows now their talent, I mean, their margin ferrer was
Speaker 1: already so slim. They were gonna have to win games
Speaker 1: what like seventeen to fifteen, and if Max's gonna play,
Speaker 1: you know, like a bottom five quarterback, they don't have
Speaker 1: a snowballs chance in hell at this rate.
Speaker 2: The you know the other thing, and I I there's
Speaker 2: a lot of different things to talk about, so I'd
Speaker 2: feel like we're sort of you know, you have a
Speaker 2: Niner take. I had a brand and Staley take. So
Speaker 2: when Assante Samuel at the end of that game intercepted
Speaker 2: the ball and apparently Brandon Staley was telling him to
Speaker 2: get down, get down, and I thought to myself, there's
Speaker 2: been so many gaffes, so many snaff foos from Staley.
Speaker 2: And my takeaway is if there had been forty eight
Speaker 2: seconds or a minute four but there wasn't. There was
Speaker 2: like two thirty two forty on the interception and you're
Speaker 2: deep in your own territory. And my takeaway was as
Speaker 2: a code, which if the Sante Samuels had intercepted that
Speaker 2: and just gone down the sideline as he was going
Speaker 2: down the sideline. You know, you could say sit at
Speaker 2: the fifty, but to sit at like you're eight or
Speaker 2: wherever it was. So my takeaway was, oh, god, you're
Speaker 2: just overthinking it. There's just I don't know what the
Speaker 2: analytics are. If you intercept the ball and it can
Speaker 2: be a pick six and go up fourteen, just go,
Speaker 2: just go. Now, the theory is, well, you may never
Speaker 2: get the ball back. They could get the on site.
Speaker 2: There's like two fifty left. So that really bothered me.
Speaker 2: Should it or analytically that's understood.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I just let him run. Why are
Speaker 1: you telling him get down at all? They play in
Speaker 1: the same game every week for two years and four games,
Speaker 1: don't they. I mean, they got a big fourth down
Speaker 1: with under three minutes to go, the other team is driving,
Speaker 1: with a chance to tie or to take the leak.
Speaker 1: They play Honestly, you could even go back to the
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers days. It feels like this team's cursed. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Raiders are so far gone it's they're not even
Speaker 1: worth saving. But the Chargers with this quarterback who he's
Speaker 1: proven his physical capabilities, his production, his toughness. Now a
Speaker 1: couple of years in a row, what was it last
Speaker 1: year he had the rib or splint injury. This year
Speaker 1: his fingers pointing the other way and him battling through.
Speaker 1: What more could you want? I think how many franchises
Speaker 1: are watching this, and how many gms and former gms
Speaker 1: what they would have done for a chance of a
Speaker 1: talent like that when he had a coach.
Speaker 2: He bailed Staley out, so you know, then they try
Speaker 2: to they run the ball on the clock and the
Speaker 2: Raiders use a timeout so they have to get a
Speaker 2: first out or they're punning it from their end zone.
Speaker 2: And he hits a beautiful, perfect deep throw and you're
Speaker 2: like you and I are on the West Coast. I
Speaker 2: wonder if people like Midwest who are watching their own
Speaker 2: games East understand what's happening here with the Chargers. Justin
Speaker 2: Justin Herbert is literally saving the franchise Staley is making.
Speaker 2: They sometimes they overthink, then they underthink, I just I
Speaker 2: watched this team, and if I'm Tom Telesco, this roster's
Speaker 2: really really good. Today they were six acts, so it's
Speaker 2: it's it's they won this game without five starters. I mean,
Speaker 2: they have depth. They have players everywhere. I even if
Speaker 2: they're a playoff too. It's pretty remarkable that a coach
Speaker 2: would go playoffs back to back and be fired. But
Speaker 2: I think it's been so discussed. Los Angeles is a
Speaker 2: very kind of laid back, chill market. It's not Philly, Boston,
Speaker 2: New York.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: You read the La Times, you go to messageboards, you
Speaker 2: listen to sports talk radio in La. Staley is the
Speaker 2: topic of conversation every Monday.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I think because the quarterback's so good,
Speaker 1: he might be able to will into ten wins and
Speaker 1: you're right there in the playoffs. But with their lack
Speaker 1: of discipline, decision making, defense, you never know what you're
Speaker 1: gonna get. It's hard to see them winning a playoff game,
Speaker 1: let alone several. So I think that the elephant in
Speaker 1: the room, though, is even if they were to get
Speaker 1: rid of him, would they ever be willing to pay
Speaker 1: for a big time coach, because you see around just
Speaker 1: this sport the impact of high end coach, I mean
Speaker 1: San Francisco Christian McCaffrey. I think I can't imagine there's
Speaker 1: ever been a better midseason NFL trade in the history
Speaker 1: of the league. Last week, he broke Jerry Rice's record
Speaker 1: twelve straight tds. This week, he tied Emmitt Smith's record
Speaker 1: thirteen straight touchdowns fourteen. Next week he has a chance
Speaker 1: to break it longest since nineteen ninety. So you're talking
Speaker 1: about a guy that and I thought it was kind
Speaker 1: of crazy too. Running Backs twenty twenty two, he had
Speaker 1: been banged up. I'm like, wait, you're gonna give a second,
Speaker 1: a third, and a fourth. He would have been worth
Speaker 1: three seconds, thirds and fourth for his impact on the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers. Yeah, he is easily. I think Josh
Speaker 1: Allen threw his hat back in the ring. You know,
Speaker 1: Lamar's having a pretty awesome season, but he's right there.
Speaker 1: If it ended to day, he would be have every
Speaker 1: bit as good of a chance as anyone to be
Speaker 1: the NFL MVP. And he's clearly one of the best
Speaker 1: players in the league. And he's taken a team that
Speaker 1: was pretty damn good, right, they were in the conference
Speaker 1: title a couple of years ago, they were in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and Purty's an upgrade over over Jimmy clearly.
Speaker 1: But Christian has become like a superstar. I remember being
Speaker 1: a kid when they signed Dean Sanders. Niners never looked
Speaker 1: back and they dominated. It's different because he's an offensive player,
Speaker 1: but it's similar in terms of the impact. It's like
Speaker 1: it's impossible, despite his production, which is freaking elite, to
Speaker 1: quantify how good this guy is.
Speaker 2: Well, listen, Deebo is a Hall of Fame talent and
Speaker 2: Kittle probably makes the Hall of Fame. They almost shrink
Speaker 2: when they're on the field with Christian McCaffrey. I mean
Speaker 2: they're I mean, like Kittle two years ago, pre McCaffrey,
Speaker 2: that was your third down target. You couldn't wait to
Speaker 2: watch Kiittle play. He's still remarkable when he's on the
Speaker 2: field with Christian McCaffrey on a big third down, it's
Speaker 2: like Deebo and Kittle become second tier players and their
Speaker 2: Hall of fame. Kittle's gonna make the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: So it's like McCaffrey is that rare athlete that among
Speaker 2: other great athletes, it doesn't even it doesn't. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's like this kid for the Rams, Pooka Nakua. I
Speaker 2: keep waiting and it's like this is insane. He's physical,
Speaker 2: he gets open, he reads corners like a twelve year veteran.
Speaker 2: He manipulates him. It's like, oh, that's just different. I mean,
Speaker 2: among other elite players. So, and the thing about McCaffrey,
Speaker 2: despite his size, he's one of the most physical running
Speaker 2: backs I've ever seen. And I mean seriously, he plays
Speaker 2: three inches taller and thirty pounds heavier.
Speaker 1: Well, David Shaw have pounded the table when he was
Speaker 1: coming out. I was wrong. I thought, you know, I
Speaker 1: bet he turns into more of like an Edelman Whelker
Speaker 1: and he's more receiver than he ever is true down
Speaker 1: running back he is. I mean, it's gonna sound like
Speaker 1: a Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith. I mean he's a true
Speaker 1: I mean Kyle's getting into him twenty twenty five times
Speaker 1: a game, and it's not at the corners. It is
Speaker 1: right up the gut, yeah, and breaking tackles, he shoulder.
Speaker 1: He's really more of like a throwback to his dad's
Speaker 1: era of a guy that would have thrived in the nineties.
Speaker 1: And now I think, you know, to me, the Cowboys
Speaker 1: a little bit of a front running team. When they
Speaker 1: get a lead on you, which they've done three out
Speaker 1: of the four games, run you out the building as
Speaker 1: they did, and they're celebrated, and it's awesome. Their defense
Speaker 1: pins their ears back. They got into one kind of
Speaker 1: dogfight when they were down and they crumbled, and now
Speaker 1: they're playing the Niner Sunday. The Eagles, I give them
Speaker 1: some credit. They have not played their best football, but
Speaker 1: their talent, like the Niners, they've been through, you know,
Speaker 1: the ups and downs they've handled like today was not
Speaker 1: an easy win, right, And I think when you look
Speaker 1: at the Niners and the Eagles, the amount of high
Speaker 1: end I mean, both teams could have ten Pro Bowlers.
Speaker 1: I mean like ten, you know, all pro guys when
Speaker 1: those two teams shake out. But the Cowboys, you know,
Speaker 1: I just don't think they're quite on their level. I
Speaker 1: think those two teams in the top tier of the NFC,
Speaker 1: and then the next tier is the Cowboys and probably
Speaker 1: than the Lions.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's a way Dallas has to play.
Speaker 2: And I think again, Buffalo, I think is more talented,
Speaker 2: but is similar. They're an avalanche. When Buffalo gets a
Speaker 2: lead on you and you're struggling with Josh Allen and
Speaker 2: he's in a groove and Davis is getting open with
Speaker 2: Diggs and now Kincaid and Knox, it's like, shit, this
Speaker 2: is just too much. They play down.
Speaker 1: Hill and he turns into John Elway basically like he
Speaker 1: did today.
Speaker 2: You know, so like I think, whereas I think Stan
Speaker 2: Francisco and Philadelphia can win multiple ways, I tend to
Speaker 2: think certain teams Buffalo's this way. I think Dallas is
Speaker 2: this way. They're momentum teams, and when they're headed downhill,
Speaker 2: watch out. They're even more lethal than a Stan Francisco
Speaker 2: or Philadelphia because they can score so quickly and they're
Speaker 2: so aggressive, so hyper aggressive Miami. Let's talk Miami Buffalo.
Speaker 2: What is interesting because I did think Buffalo would win.
Speaker 2: I did not. I had a good day of gambling
Speaker 2: four and one, four to zero in the afternoon games.
Speaker 2: But my takeaway is what really changes is when you
Speaker 2: can get pressure with four guys without bringing people at
Speaker 2: Oliver today was very good. Is that the way to
Speaker 2: disrupt Miami is very it's it's it's tried and true.
Speaker 2: It was the way to beat Peyton Manning or any
Speaker 2: great quarterback is you get pressure with four and then
Speaker 2: you occasionally bring other people. Were you should I read
Speaker 2: into anything that Miami was just boat race, just overwhelm
Speaker 2: man overboard. Should we or is it just one of
Speaker 2: those that came off a huge game on the road
Speaker 2: against the rival. It was bound to happen.
Speaker 1: I think it's more they're going on the road to
Speaker 1: a team that's won their division three years in a row,
Speaker 1: who two of the last three years won thirteen games,
Speaker 1: and have a quarterback who I'd say this year has
Speaker 1: got a chance to be the MVP of the league.
Speaker 1: I mean when he's on and he's been like this
Speaker 1: last couple of years. Buffalo had to win that game, right,
Speaker 1: I mean you're talking about they've already lost, so all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, Miami would have technically, you know, they'd
Speaker 1: have two losses, they would be undefeated. This was a
Speaker 1: team that they should have beaten twice last year. Remember
Speaker 1: Buffalo had the weird loss of them when they outgained
Speaker 1: them and every statistic was in there, you know. On
Speaker 1: the side. To me, this was a draw in the
Speaker 1: line game from Seohan McDermott, who's taken over the defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator and like you said that he got after him too.
Speaker 1: Hasn't been touched, right. And the other thing is they've
Speaker 1: been running it down the hill like untouched on everyone.
Speaker 1: So slow him down from the running game, hit to
Speaker 1: a and have Josh Allen be an all pro level
Speaker 1: guy that formula. In general, you're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: play with anyone in the league, right Stefan Diggs when
Speaker 1: he's humming, he's a top two or three quarter or
Speaker 1: a wide receiver in the league. And that in terms
Speaker 1: of home field advantage and big picture, is Miami going
Speaker 1: on the road in the AFC to Kansas City to
Speaker 1: I don't even know. I guess you know, obviously Buffalo.
Speaker 1: I don't know who would be in the north, maybe Baltimore.
Speaker 1: That's you know, historically hasn't always been. Miami doesn't win
Speaker 1: those games under forty or thirty five degrees. What would
Speaker 1: change the way this team plays? Their defense is terrible?
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I think that's the in the AFC. The
Speaker 2: best team's Buffalo can get after you defensively. Kansas City
Speaker 2: can get after you defensively. You start looking even the
Speaker 2: heightens the way they played today can get after you defensively.
Speaker 2: We know Baltimore always figures out a way to get
Speaker 2: after you defensively. And then you start looking around and
Speaker 2: you're like, yeah, Miami already can't. Now Jalen Ramsey comes back. Listen,
Speaker 2: this is Vic Fangio and they're struggling. So the players
Speaker 2: they just don't have the players, and so listen, New
Speaker 2: England gave them fits in Foxborough in the second half. Like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I think Miami is. I think they're the best team
Speaker 2: to watch offensively. I think they're smart and clever and
Speaker 2: it's a little bit of a firework show. But today
Speaker 2: is a great example of and I think they're really
Speaker 2: well coached. They just have some personnel limitations. They're just
Speaker 2: they don't have a lot of guys that would start
Speaker 2: for Buffalo on defense. Maybe two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, I just think today was a day when
Speaker 1: you know Tua once everything's not schemed and there are
Speaker 1: some plays in their first couple drives, you're like, geez, Luise, Mike,
Speaker 1: he's got you know, Tyreek Hill in the backfield, these
Speaker 1: guys guys motioning. I don't. I thought it was incredible.
Speaker 1: He was the MVP so far. You realize how special
Speaker 1: their offensive coordinator is. But once you just have to
Speaker 1: play football straight up against a team that you're equal,
Speaker 1: maybe even slightly, yeah, it becomes a lot more difficult.
Speaker 1: So to me, they got a lot to prove just
Speaker 1: historically they've never done it, you know, and think of
Speaker 1: all the teams in the AFC that play in the cold.
Speaker 1: I like Buffalo. If he's going to play under control,
Speaker 1: their quarterback has a chance. I mean, he is an
Speaker 1: all time great talent, but to have the best year
Speaker 1: of his career, because after that first week clunker where
Speaker 1: it was like god, we had to red flag that situation,
Speaker 1: the last three weeks he's been brilliant. I mean he's
Speaker 1: been you could argue the best player in the league. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think I think I talked about this earlier. Is
Speaker 2: that because once the schedule was length in the game,
Speaker 2: I think a lot of GMS and coaches scaled back
Speaker 2: on playing guys in the preseason and they kind of
Speaker 2: used the first week as a little bit of a
Speaker 2: regular season game with a preseason feel. On snaps, you
Speaker 2: can't take much from the first game. Seattle looked awful,
Speaker 2: Buffalo looked awful. Maybe that is what Pittsburgh is. They
Speaker 2: looked awful. I will say this before we go. I
Speaker 2: had said during the summer, is that I always think,
Speaker 2: because I would love to be a GM in the NFL,
Speaker 2: never gonna happen. But if I didn't do this, that
Speaker 2: would be my choice, probably yours. Just to run an
Speaker 2: NFL franchise is that. I always think in free agency
Speaker 2: the big mistake is the splashy moves. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of B. If you take your time and get through
Speaker 2: the first four days, there's a lot of B moves,
Speaker 2: and I thought Houston made several of those. Just get
Speaker 2: a little better at running back, a little deeper receiver,
Speaker 2: a little better on the offensive line. And Tamiko Ryans,
Speaker 2: as we both know, was really respected and loved in
Speaker 2: San Francisco stud They really felt like they lost a
Speaker 2: little bit of the soul of their defense. And then
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, it's such a dysfunctional organization, but
Speaker 2: they made a lot of these kind of like B moves,
Speaker 2: B plus just get slightly kind of bill parcels, get
Speaker 2: better in the locker room, the weight room, the culture.
Speaker 2: Just get a second tied, a backup, just interior lineman.
Speaker 2: Everything feels better. And they did. And then CJ. Stroud
Speaker 2: The team makes no noise, they don't talk a lot.
Speaker 2: Stroud just sits back and throws the ball confidently. And
Speaker 2: there's not a ton of juice. But I gotta tell you,
Speaker 2: I don't think it's a fluke. I think they look
Speaker 2: I think they look like a well coached team that
Speaker 2: knows exactly what they are. And I sat there today
Speaker 2: and I watched them, and I thought, this isn't a fluke.
Speaker 2: Now we're in Week four, that's a good That's a
Speaker 2: pretty solid football team. That's my view on the surprise
Speaker 2: team in the league. Houston's a solid, not great. They'll
Speaker 2: meet up with their talent level at some point, but
Speaker 2: I think they're a pretty solid team that's well coached.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I think he's got a little burrow
Speaker 1: to his game. You know, he's not a great athlete,
Speaker 1: but he can move. He's really accurate. I mean he
Speaker 1: has thrown the ball, pushed the ball down the field,
Speaker 1: very calm and collected. I mean, you watch him the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. He doesn't look like a guy
Speaker 1: playing the fourth game of his career. He looks like
Speaker 1: a guy who's been six years in the NFL. And obviously,
Speaker 1: from a coaching standpoint, this guy, I think he's got
Speaker 1: a chance to be like a Mike Vrabel. I think
Speaker 1: he already is. I mean, he's a stud. I mean
Speaker 1: he's the real deal. I don't know how good they
Speaker 1: will be as the you know, as the season goes on.
Speaker 1: Are they more likely to win six than nine? Probably?
Speaker 1: But this is definitely a team. They got a lot
Speaker 1: of firepower in the draft. That's the other thing. Remember
Speaker 1: they're not done getting that back from Cleveland. Cleveland still
Speaker 1: owes them. I think their first round pick this year.
Speaker 1: So I think Houston, who knows that division? I mean
Speaker 1: the Titans are just this gritty, ugly I mean Jacksonville.
Speaker 1: I think Atlanta is terrible. One thing that hit me
Speaker 1: this morning, how come like last night? Lsu Ole Miss
Speaker 1: I have zero ties to the South. I don't care
Speaker 1: about Like, I've never been I don't know anyone that
Speaker 1: goes SEC schools. I've honestly never even been there, Like
Speaker 1: it didn't go there scouting or whatever. I just mesmerized
Speaker 1: by their games. I'm I'm glued to my couch watching
Speaker 1: lsu Ole Miss. Yet whatever the NFC and AFC South
Speaker 1: like the morning game does, I don't even want to turn.
Speaker 1: I just think it's irrelevant. Why does college football for
Speaker 1: them feel so gigantic on TV? And then an NFL game,
Speaker 1: even one that sat by itself this morning felt like
Speaker 1: I'm gonna watch the news or something before the morning
Speaker 1: games come on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it's there's been some quirky owners.
Speaker 1: There's not the brands too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I also think there haven't been I mean,
Speaker 2: Brady drops in on the Buccaneers, but before Brady, they'd
Speaker 2: never had a great quarterback in the in the entire franchise.
Speaker 2: They'd had great players everywhere, they'd never had a great quarterback.
Speaker 2: Atlanta's had a lot of Chris Chandler's Matt Ryan. You know,
Speaker 2: Matt's more than capable. But I think here, Jamie, I mean,
Speaker 2: if you look at Carolina, Jake Dell, Holme, Cam Newton.
Speaker 1: Ryan, Tannehill, Mariota. Yeah, these players down.
Speaker 2: There, it's always been athletic conference. Those rivalries are bigger
Speaker 2: if you live in the South. You know, the Saints
Speaker 2: in Atlanta is a bigger rivalry if you live in
Speaker 2: the South. But I tend to think AFC South, NFC South,
Speaker 2: that the SEC is so big. It's almost why pro
Speaker 2: sports is so big in the Northeast and the West
Speaker 2: that it shrinks college football, right, And I think college
Speaker 2: football is so big in the South it kind of
Speaker 2: pulls down the NFL. But they're just it just seems
Speaker 2: to me that the NFC South, you know, Breeze wasn't
Speaker 2: drafted by the Saints. They went and got him. It's
Speaker 2: Brady entered at the end of his career. I don't
Speaker 2: I don't see a lot of historically great quarterback play
Speaker 2: in that division. Maybe it's some of its ownership.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I feel like in the Northeast, baseball and the NFL
Speaker 2: mean more, you know. I feel in the West, the
Speaker 2: NBA just means more, and so you get better GMS,
Speaker 2: better scouts. The owners pay a little more. You have
Speaker 2: really wealthy owners bal or Joe Lake of Paul Allen,
Speaker 2: You've had some really wealthy Western owners. Now the Suns
Speaker 2: have one of the richer owners. So I always tend
Speaker 2: to if if there's a theme or a trend, I
Speaker 2: always looked to ownership or passion, Like if you don't
Speaker 2: win baseball games, they'll just fire you. In the Northeast,
Speaker 2: you're just done, right, Stave. In the West, you don't win.
Speaker 2: I thought Terry Stott was a good coaching Portland boom out,
Speaker 2: I know, right, So yeah, so they're just I think
Speaker 2: in certain regions, certain things matter more.
Speaker 1: Last thing on college really quick. It really hit me yesterday.
Speaker 1: This year's wide open right, I mean, there are teams
Speaker 1: that can win. How is this this is Harbaugh's opportunity?
Speaker 1: I was. I think his team's pretty good. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: quarterback is better than I thought he was. Yep, like
Speaker 1: this is I mean, he'd have to beat a sark.
Speaker 1: This Georgia team's not as good now. LSU's down Notre Dame,
Speaker 1: Ohio State. You know, USC can't play any defense. Two
Speaker 1: years ago that Georgia team he ran into a buzzsaw,
Speaker 1: got his ass kicked. Last year, drop the ball. You
Speaker 1: gotta be TCU in that situation. This year he's got
Speaker 1: to beat Ohio State and then it's wide open for him.
Speaker 1: I think. I think the gates have opened for Jim
Speaker 1: Harbaugh and Michigan to take advantage. And if he's an
Speaker 1: all time great coach, which I think he is, you
Speaker 1: gotta win a championship and this year is right there
Speaker 1: for him. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The interesting thing is we know now he's very successful.
Speaker 2: He not only it took him, you know, it took
Speaker 2: Brian Kelly a lot of years to get noted at
Speaker 2: these northern schools. They're not LSU, USC, Texas, Alabama, Georgia,
Speaker 2: where you know your state has so many players that
Speaker 2: you can really you can really dominate your state it
Speaker 2: Brian Kelly, you have to ask kids to come play
Speaker 2: in cold weather. Jim Harbaugh, you have to ask players.
Speaker 2: You know, it's convinced that school, school's hard, school's hard.
Speaker 2: So if Northern you know, James Franklin now feels like
Speaker 2: he has his best team. I think it's about a
Speaker 2: four or five year process. In the North Washington Chris
Speaker 2: Peterson got it going I think year two to year three.
Speaker 2: But I always feel it's a little easier in the
Speaker 2: South because the states are so productive with recruiting. So
Speaker 2: I think it took Kelly and Harbab about five or
Speaker 2: six years to really I mean they were good early.
Speaker 2: I mean I think Jim won ten games year one
Speaker 2: and Kelly won big, but they were kind of fraudulent
Speaker 2: teams right like they couldn't run with Ohio State or Georgia.
Speaker 2: I think right now after now, Georgia's quarterback played well
Speaker 2: this weekend. But I think the question becomes if he
Speaker 2: gets to the championship winn or lose, and I think
Speaker 2: they could win. He can be really picky because I
Speaker 2: think Jim realized something in the NFL, is you can
Speaker 2: be a great coach, but if you don't have the
Speaker 2: guy pulling the trigger, they're just limitations on what you
Speaker 2: can do. And now we who have Josh Allen in
Speaker 2: his prime and Lamar and is prime, and Herbert is prime,
Speaker 2: Mahlmes his prime. You can't take a second. You can't
Speaker 2: go into this league with a second tier quarterback. Jalen
Speaker 2: hurts like, you just can't do it anymore. So it's
Speaker 2: different than when Jim left. It's more quarterback centric. And
Speaker 2: there's all these guys that weren't in the league and
Speaker 2: they're all in their primes. So I think you have
Speaker 2: to be really picky Chargers job. I would absolutely take.
Speaker 2: If Zach Taylor got run in two years, I would
Speaker 2: look into that. But it's when Jim. When Jim left
Speaker 2: this league, you didn't have all these Trevor Lawrence, Mahomes, Burrow, Allen, Lamar,
Speaker 2: the guys weren't in the league. So it's just a
Speaker 2: it's a whole different ballgame. You can still be physical,
Speaker 2: but as great as Rabel is as a physical guy,
Speaker 2: he's kind of a one and donner in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: He just doesn't have And Tannehill's not terrible he's competent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he's even maxed out even if he maximizes
Speaker 1: the team what he's doing, what's he gonna win nine games?
Speaker 2: Yep?
Speaker 1: Right, I mean he can only go so far, so
Speaker 1: not going on. I mean, what a what a first
Speaker 1: month of football.
Speaker 2: It was great. John Middlecoff three and out the volume. Good,
Speaker 2: see anybody see you Colin
Speaker 1: The volume