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Speaker 1: Ho Ho ho and Mary Freaking Christmas. What's Up Everybody?

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Speaker 1: John Middlecoff three and Out podcast, A little little Christmas

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Speaker 1: Eve edition. Gonna keep this a little shorter fly around

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Speaker 1: the league, not even gonna do a Middlecoff mail bag.

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Speaker 1: Will will lead that till the end of this week.

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Speaker 1: I'll answer some questions maybe in the middle of the

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Speaker 1: week on Instagram. But I know you guys are with

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Speaker 1: your family the holidays, a lot going on. Might not

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Speaker 1: even be able to listen to this. Uh. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's crazy time these next couple of days, But I

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Speaker 1: had to do something. These games were too good. I'm

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Speaker 1: recording this part actually right before the Sunday night game starts.

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Speaker 1: I just finished watching Steelers Saints. What an incredible game. Uh.

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Speaker 1: The Steelers are now in danger of missing the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: It feels like the first time in like ten plus years. Uh. Uh,

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Speaker 1: clearly you know that the heat and the conversation tomorrow

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Speaker 1: is gonna be about Mike Tomlin and did he screw

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Speaker 1: up on a fake punt? Two things stood out to

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Speaker 1: me in this game. One Mike Tomlin the fake punt.

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Speaker 1: I don't really have as big of an issue with it.

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Speaker 1: I know some will be how do you if your

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Speaker 1: season on the line, which there's kind of was you're

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Speaker 1: up for at midfield, how do you go for a

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Speaker 1: punt or how do you you go fake punt in

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Speaker 1: that situation? Clearly they felt they had the look. Uh,

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Speaker 1: something they worked on and you know, listen, I I

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Speaker 1: think Mike Tomlin is a good coach. Uh. They were

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Speaker 1: in control of this game pretty much the majority of

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Speaker 1: it when I was watching, especially in the second half. Uh,

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Speaker 1: late in the fourth quarter, you're in that position, I

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Speaker 1: don't mind going for the kill shot. Now. The counter

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Speaker 1: is you live and die with Brothlisberger. You have the

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Speaker 1: best receivers in the league, you're passing games elite. Why

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Speaker 1: not just leave him on the field. Uh, listen, that's

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Speaker 1: it's It's a tough way to go out because more

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Speaker 1: than likely the Browns are humming right now, but I

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Speaker 1: don't see them beating Baltimore. That Baltimore is gonna end

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Speaker 1: up winning the division and we'll get to Lamar Jackson

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Speaker 1: a little bit later. Um. Kind of just a crazy

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Speaker 1: way to go for Mike Tomlin to go out. While

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Speaker 1: I don't hate the move, when it backfires, you get

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Speaker 1: destroyed and that's part of the deal. And if they

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Speaker 1: missed the playoffs, I think Mike Tomlin could get fired

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Speaker 1: because of this. Now that being said, Mike Tomlin would

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Speaker 1: immediately get hired the Browns, the Jets, the Buccaneers, you

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Speaker 1: name it. He'd have his pick of the litter when

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Speaker 1: it came to jobs. But that was a career defining

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Speaker 1: play in the sense of there is a lot of

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Speaker 1: a lot writing on this dealer season, given that they

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Speaker 1: have no business not making the playoffs. There have been

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Speaker 1: some rumblings like is he the guy? There have also

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Speaker 1: been questions about the details and the little things, and

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Speaker 1: that's a situation where you go for it, fake punt,

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Speaker 1: I get it. I understand both sides. I don't think

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Speaker 1: there's a right or wrong answer. Me personally, no issue

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Speaker 1: going for I have a bigger issue with the continuous

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Speaker 1: poor calls with the referees. I thought, on a season

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Speaker 1: or during this season start to finish, worst season I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen with the referees. And that's saying something. I

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Speaker 1: think today was arguably the worst day of the season.

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Speaker 1: Just an atrocious performance by these men. And listen, I

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Speaker 1: don't necessarily have a solution. There is a human element

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Speaker 1: to this. But there's too much writing on these games.

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Speaker 1: Gambling is now legal. We have too much cash on

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Speaker 1: this on this league. This league is thriving because of

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Speaker 1: gambling and fantasy football. It's a separating factor between the

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Speaker 1: NFL and the other two sports which the NFL is

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Speaker 1: running circles around. But I can't have my referees being incompetent.

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Speaker 1: And that's the level of refereeing that I saw on Sunday.

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Speaker 1: In the Saints game, I saw incompetent. In the Niners

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Speaker 1: and Bears game, I saw incompetence. I saw consistent in

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Speaker 1: competence all around the league. And it's just not okay

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Speaker 1: that there is too much cash on the line now

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Speaker 1: and the league is had. There's a scandal coming down

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Speaker 1: the train tracks. I don't know if it's this year,

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Speaker 1: next year, and years of coming, but it's coming, and

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Speaker 1: it's gonna involve money, it's gonna involve gambling, and it's

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Speaker 1: gonna involve referees. I listen, I'm not a lawyer. I

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Speaker 1: did not go to law school. I don't even pretend

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Speaker 1: to know or how the the case would be tried.

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Speaker 1: But the league is gonna get sued and once upon

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Speaker 1: a time, the league never thought they'd have to deal

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Speaker 1: with head injuries. And then CT became a big deal,

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Speaker 1: and all the media jumped on the train, and they

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Speaker 1: got sued, and the the ball started rolling down the hill,

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Speaker 1: and it created a huge avalanche, and it became a

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Speaker 1: problem for the league. You can see it from a

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Speaker 1: mile away. The officiating is a problem right now in

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Speaker 1: the NFL. It is not okay. It should not be acceptable.

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Speaker 1: The league has a major problem on their hands. That's

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Speaker 1: not even arguable at this point in time that when

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Speaker 1: you watch an NFL game, someone that dictates the outcome

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Speaker 1: of the sport, which billions upon billions of dollars now

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Speaker 1: legally are being gambled on this sport through through gambling

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Speaker 1: and through daily fantasy and just fantasy leagues in general,

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Speaker 1: that this is not an okay outcome. They have to

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Speaker 1: be better. The standard has just been risen. It just has.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not saying they're on the take or any

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Speaker 1: of that thing. I'm just saying they are not good enough.

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Speaker 1: Multiple call every game you watch, you see a call

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Speaker 1: like what is going on? And these calls have major ramifications,

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Speaker 1: fifteen yard penalties at the end of the game are

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Speaker 1: the difference between the team winning and losing. You're costing

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Speaker 1: people jobs, You're costing people just fans that consume the game. Hell,

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Speaker 1: they might be their home mortgage and you can counter me.

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Speaker 1: They shouldn't be gambling that money, but they do. And

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Speaker 1: that is a huge reason the NFL is excelling in

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Speaker 1: terms of television ratings, in terms of just fan interest.

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Speaker 1: People do gamble on the game and listen. I'm not

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Speaker 1: saying that everyone should win money every week. That's not

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Speaker 1: the way it works. But you should not be losing money,

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Speaker 1: whether it's gambling or fantasy because the referees are screwing

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Speaker 1: up calls. You lose, you lose. I got no problem

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Speaker 1: with it. But in that Saints game, in some of

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Speaker 1: these calls are just detrocious. There was a call in

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Speaker 1: the Eagles game where Clowney at the end of the

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Speaker 1: game or the last final drive, got called for a

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Speaker 1: fifteen yard penalty driving Nick Foles into the ground. He

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Speaker 1: literally threw his hands up and did not drive him

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Speaker 1: hit him in the chest. It is just not okay

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Speaker 1: and something has to get done because again I don't

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Speaker 1: pretend to be no tradamis here, but you can see

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Speaker 1: it coming from a mile away. A massive, massive lawsuit

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Speaker 1: is coming down the pipe. I don't know if it's

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Speaker 1: this year. I don't know if it's next year, but

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Speaker 1: it's going to happen, and it's gonna be a problem

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Speaker 1: for the NFL if they do not fix the officiating. Well,

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Speaker 1: the Sunday night game was just remarkable. Uh and it

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Speaker 1: really it shows two things with both teams. One, starting

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Speaker 1: with Seattle, the NFC, let's call it what it is,

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Speaker 1: is really lucky that Seattle is a wild card team

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Speaker 1: because if they and I think they're gonna have a

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Speaker 1: legitimate chance, they'll they'll be much improved at for an offseason.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna make the playoffs obviously this year, but they're

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Speaker 1: a team. If they make the playoffs and they have

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Speaker 1: home games, they are not gonna lose at home like

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Speaker 1: the Saints. The Saints, it runs through New Orleans. More

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Speaker 1: than likely, they're just gonna win the NFC. You're not

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Speaker 1: beating them there, like you're not going to Chicago and

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Speaker 1: winning a game. But and ultimately Kansas City is gonna

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Speaker 1: have the home field advantage when they beat the Raiders

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Speaker 1: next week. Like Seattle. This story, this year, most people,

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Speaker 1: including myself, thought they were gonna suck. But here's what

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Speaker 1: we know about Seattle now, like there was no longer

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Speaker 1: it's even a conversation. And I think this was a

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Speaker 1: conversation like his pete lost his fastball, no pizza, elite

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Speaker 1: coach and absolutely elite football coach to get this team

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Speaker 1: to the playoffs. Uh you know that, Derek Jeter, you

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Speaker 1: know meme or Jeff on Twitter. Whereas whereas Nephew tips

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Speaker 1: the hat and with respect that's all you can do,

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Speaker 1: because this was as big of a muscle flex and

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Speaker 1: f you to everyone that wrote him off. Is a

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Speaker 1: season for a good coach that I remember in a

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Speaker 1: long long time, people writing them off, people crushing them,

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Speaker 1: and again including myself, and they didn't do a good job,

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Speaker 1: you know, of getting rid of Earl Thomas, selling high

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Speaker 1: on Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, all those guys. But it

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Speaker 1: didn't matter because at the end of the day, pizza

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Speaker 1: big time coach. But Russell is and I tweeted this

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Speaker 1: out during the game. He there's in my lifetime that

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Speaker 1: I remember he is as as beautiful and as good.

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Speaker 1: And I use the word beautiful because that's how the

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Speaker 1: ball looks when it's in the air. In my lifetime,

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Speaker 1: I don't remember a better deep ball thrower. I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to Randall Cunningham, remember he used to just let it

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Speaker 1: rip a through a beautiful deep ball. But Russell's precision

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Speaker 1: and the arc of his ball is just it doesn't

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Speaker 1: get any better than that. And he's just such a remarkable,

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Speaker 1: you know, an all time outlier as a talent. You

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Speaker 1: don't see midgets be that elite at quarterback, and that's

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Speaker 1: what he is. He's just an elite quarterback. And for

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Speaker 1: NFL terms and standards at that position, he's a midget.

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Speaker 1: And Patrick Mahomes like they're ahead of schedule this year.

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Speaker 1: They're they're gonna beat the Raiders next week and they're

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Speaker 1: gonna have home field, but they might lose that first game,

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Speaker 1: they may lose that second game to go to the the

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Speaker 1: super Bowl. Like to me, it doesn't matter that the

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Speaker 1: ceiling on this guy, and I think we say this

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Speaker 1: all the time, like the guys ceiling and then he

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Speaker 1: doesn't become it. But Patrick Mahomes is gonna win the

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Speaker 1: m v P, win the m v P. And as

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Speaker 1: this game was going and now he hit the one throw,

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Speaker 1: like when he's un into his left and he throws

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Speaker 1: it like a short stop. I mean, it's just like

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Speaker 1: he's the MVP of the league, and he had like

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Speaker 1: when I think of this season, like when Steph Curry

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Speaker 1: won his two m v ps, he deserved those m

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Speaker 1: v ps. He defined that season. And as the season

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Speaker 1: has played out, and I know Colin is I. I

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Speaker 1: don't blame the homes really for any lot, Like he

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Speaker 1: didn't lose this game the night. You know, their defense

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Speaker 1: is just beyond atrocious. He has been like when you

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Speaker 1: think about the two thousand eighteen regular season, because that's

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Speaker 1: what it is, a regular season award, he's the first

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Speaker 1: thing you think about, and he should be the first

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Speaker 1: thing you think about. He's been the funnest player, UH

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Speaker 1: to watch all season long, any position, Like, if that

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Speaker 1: guy's on, he's what I want to see. UM a

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Speaker 1: little biased here, but remember when Barry Bonds was chasing

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Speaker 1: as the record. Anytime he'd come up to bat, you

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Speaker 1: stopped what you were doing. You had to watch. And

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Speaker 1: again we always watched his A B s in Northern California,

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Speaker 1: but the whole country started watching as he started chasing

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Speaker 1: the record. That's what feels like when Patrick Mahomes and

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Speaker 1: I watched football for a living, so I'm already watching

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Speaker 1: the game, but if I didn't, he would be one

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Speaker 1: guy I would circle to make sure I watched. And

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Speaker 1: the league, you know, they're in the perfect spot where

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Speaker 1: he has the perfect head coach to coach him, and

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Speaker 1: he's only scratching this like he's gonna get so much

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Speaker 1: better what he does, his accuracy on the move outside

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Speaker 1: of the pocket. I think I saw a tweet the

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Speaker 1: middle of the game that he's uh this game. But

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Speaker 1: two of them, they combined for five touchdowns outside of

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Speaker 1: the pocket. That's an NFL record. It's just those two

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Speaker 1: guys that that's box office like, that's what we want,

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Speaker 1: that's what the league wants. You give me two quarterbacks.

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Speaker 1: You don't allow people to hit him and listen, I

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Speaker 1: the league has got soft. The whatsification of football is

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Speaker 1: a fact. I mean, that's truth like that that has happened.

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Speaker 1: But I I get it and I understand it because

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Speaker 1: I don't want these guys to get hurt. I want

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Speaker 1: to when I sit on my couch on a Sunday night,

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Speaker 1: I want Mahomes or Russell Wilson to be one of

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Speaker 1: the two quarterbacks in that game. They consistently entertained me,

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Speaker 1: and they entertained the country, like they consistently live up

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Speaker 1: to the billing of these primetime games. My homes, you

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Speaker 1: put them on all these primetime games. He's kicked ass

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Speaker 1: and taking names. Russell Wilson has been doing this now

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Speaker 1: for five plus years, just playing at a remarkably high

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Speaker 1: level in big games, in big moments. And I thought, tonight,

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Speaker 1: my it was just fun, like that's that's what I

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Speaker 1: want out of an NFL game. And the Chiefs had

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Speaker 1: a little less on the line the moment the Chargers lost,

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Speaker 1: so maybe it changed it a little bit. Seattle was

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Speaker 1: playing like this was a playoff game. This was awesome.

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Speaker 1: That was thirty one with those two guys making plays

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Speaker 1: left and right. It kind of felt like like watching

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Speaker 1: like Michael Jordan play Kobe Bryant one on one, Like

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Speaker 1: obviously there's you know, ten other players with each guy,

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Speaker 1: and they don't even they're not even on the field

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Speaker 1: at the same time. But that was awesome. The league's

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Speaker 1: in such great hands with some of these young quarterbacks,

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Speaker 1: and again Seattle to make the playoffs after everyone wrote

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Speaker 1: them off and the roster looked terrible for Andy and

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Speaker 1: Mahomes to be this good year one win that win

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Speaker 1: them m v P because the m v P was

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Speaker 1: locked up. It's in concrete. Now it's over. It's Mahomes

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Speaker 1: in year one. Just just awesome. What a game. Okay,

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Speaker 1: let's let's dive into the Saturday experience that was the NFL,

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Speaker 1: and thank god for the NFL playing Saturday games because

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Speaker 1: we wouldn't have had much to watch. Let's start with

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Speaker 1: the morning game. The Tennessee Titans played the Washington Redskins.

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Speaker 1: Actually a pretty good more pretty good morning football game.

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Speaker 1: But my big takeaway was this. John Robinson, the general

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Speaker 1: manager for the Titans, came on this show. I went

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Speaker 1: to a bachelor party. My buddy Ryan Fry got married.

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Speaker 1: We went to Nashville. I made a little work trip

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Speaker 1: out of it. Expense that bad boy. That's a great

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Speaker 1: part about when you when your business is yourself, you

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Speaker 1: just expense everything. And so I went to UH went,

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Speaker 1: oh he has I interviewed him. We didn't really talk

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Speaker 1: about Mariota, but to me, that's the number one conversation

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Speaker 1: that he has to have moving forward. What do I

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Speaker 1: do with my quarterback. The problem with Mariota's physical situation

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Speaker 1: is he can't stay healthy, he cannot stay on the field.

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Speaker 1: He gets injured, and he's at the point right now

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Speaker 1: where what do you do? You don't extend him this

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Speaker 1: offseason unless he cuts you a discount. Well, I got

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Speaker 1: news for your. Quarterbacks don't really cut teams discounts. They

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Speaker 1: usually bend teams over because they are like an NBA

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Speaker 1: player and they have all the leverage, so they get

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Speaker 1: paid like an NBA star player. And I know Lebron

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Speaker 1: loves to call the NFL owners slave, you know, masters,

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Speaker 1: Not necessarily true. They pay quarterbacks a premium. Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 1: got eighty million dollars for six months of work. Jimmy

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Speaker 1: Garoppolo got like forty for the last six months. Quarterbacks

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Speaker 1: get paid, and Mariota is in a situation this is

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Speaker 1: gonna be his fourth year is gonna be over. He's

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Speaker 1: had multiple injuries out And I thought Saturday was a

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Speaker 1: great example of a game where it was basically a

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Speaker 1: playoff game for the Tennessee Titans. They were able to

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Speaker 1: win it luckily they were playing the Redskins. It was

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Speaker 1: actually just a well played game but he couldn't finish

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Speaker 1: the game. He got knocked out at the end of

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Speaker 1: the first half and never came back and they had

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Speaker 1: to win the game with playing Gabbert. Luckily, they have

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Speaker 1: a really good defense and Derrick Henry's humming. But what

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Speaker 1: do you do with Mariota because you're not gonna pay

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Speaker 1: him huge cash? You know, I I wouldn't pay him

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Speaker 1: more than fifty million dollars guaranteed. But if you're Mariota,

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Speaker 1: you know, the moment you get what are you gonna do?

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Speaker 1: Cut me? You're not gonna get rid of me because

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Speaker 1: someone would pay me, and I know, worst case, you'll

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Speaker 1: probably franchise me after this year, so I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to take a team discount. And then if you're John Robinson,

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Speaker 1: you're like, even if you wanted to move on, you

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Speaker 1: can't really upgrade. You're in this weird quarterback purgatory that's

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Speaker 1: you know, been talked about by a bunch of media

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Speaker 1: members the last couple of years. The thing is, though Mariota,

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Speaker 1: your team is good when he's healthy, is definitely good

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Speaker 1: enough to make the playoffs every year. The problem, so

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Speaker 1: you're not really in purgatory because he's not a good player,

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Speaker 1: even though he's not playing that great. But I do

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Speaker 1: think he's a fringe top ten guy when he is healthy.

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Speaker 1: The problem is he can't stay healthy. So what do

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Speaker 1: you do? I don't. To me, there's not really a

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Speaker 1: black and white answer to this. There is no right answer.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the answer is probably you just let it

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Speaker 1: play it out. He plays on the fifth year option,

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Speaker 1: and you see if he can stay healthy. Uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: I haven't seen the latest on his injury. I can't

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Speaker 1: assume that he's gonna play this week. So let's say

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Speaker 1: he doesn't play this week, the Colts winning, and the

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Speaker 1: Tennessee It Titians don't make the playoffs. One of the

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Speaker 1: big reasons for them not making the playoffs is because

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Speaker 1: Mariota can't stay on the field. He's officially now kind

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Speaker 1: of a problem in the sense that he cannot stay

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Speaker 1: healthy and there is no chance you can pay him

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Speaker 1: huge you know, seventies seventy five million dollars guaranteed at

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Speaker 1: this point given his injury history. So I think they're

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Speaker 1: at the point where they just got to write it out.

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Speaker 1: And luckily they had a team that was equipped to

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Speaker 1: be competitive without their starting quarterback. But listen, we all

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Speaker 1: know this is a quarterback league for a reason. There's

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Speaker 1: a reason that position gets broken off because it's by

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Speaker 1: far the most important position going and really there is

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Speaker 1: no close second. But I also think there are some similarities.

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Speaker 1: And I tweeted once upon a time that Marcus Mariotta

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Speaker 1: has some parallels to Alex Smith. I thought he could

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Speaker 1: be a better version than Alex Smith. I tweeted this

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Speaker 1: like four years ago and Titans Twitter freaked out. Tightens

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Speaker 1: Twitter is actually an underrated group and they were not

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Speaker 1: happy with me at all. And now I think it's

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Speaker 1: starting to look more and more like, yeah, he's closer

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Speaker 1: to Alex Smith's skill set, he's a little faster, but hell,

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Speaker 1: i'd say Alex more accurate. But Alex's career before Jim

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Speaker 1: Harbaugh got there, like six seven years in, he could

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Speaker 1: not stay healthy. He had a bunch of injuries, and

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Speaker 1: finally they upgraded the offensive line and he got better.

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Speaker 1: And I think that they could look into maybe he

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Speaker 1: could have that second half of his career when even

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Speaker 1: be second half, like the second third of his career,

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Speaker 1: that he can be healthy, he can stay healthy. That's

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Speaker 1: how I would look at it. If I'm a glass

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Speaker 1: half full guy, but you can't dispute that. It would

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Speaker 1: be negligent to not have the honest conversation to be

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Speaker 1: can this guy stay healthy or is it on the

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Speaker 1: offensive line? I think that can be debated. I think

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Speaker 1: it's a combination of it both. Then the Night Game,

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Speaker 1: which was actually a really fun game to watch. Listen,

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Speaker 1: let's start with Lamar. He is a fun player to watch.

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Speaker 1: I have a rule in life, Uh, this world, whether

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Speaker 1: you're talking about sports or business, is not a zero

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Speaker 1: sum game. Like I can make money and you can

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Speaker 1: get money. Just because I don't like you or even

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Speaker 1: in the same industry with you, I hope you succeed.

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Speaker 1: When when I evaluate players and I don't like them

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Speaker 1: as a player, I'm not selfish. If Lamar Jackson becomes

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Speaker 1: a three time Super Bowl champ one day and the

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Speaker 1: greatest player in the NFL, I'd be the firstest hip

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Speaker 1: by cap be like, you know what I was wrong?

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Speaker 1: The guy was remarkable, but I didn't like Lamar Jackson

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Speaker 1: coming out. I don't like him right now. I do

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Speaker 1: not think what they're doing is sustainable. He's not accurate.

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Speaker 1: And Josh Allen, who I did not like either gets

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Speaker 1: eviscerated on Twitter, throws balls into the ground, can't complete

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Speaker 1: basic routes. Neither Ken Lamar Jackson. I saw a tweet

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Speaker 1: yesterday from one of the PF guys like, I haven't

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Speaker 1: seen this many duck since Tebow. He is so much

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Speaker 1: closer to Tebow than anyone wants to admit. But the

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Speaker 1: media and social media, with the with the draft knicks,

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Speaker 1: they all love Lamar Jackson. He thought he was a superstar,

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Speaker 1: so like, oh my god, the team's winning. Yeah, the

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Speaker 1: team's winning because the defense is dominating. He went twelve

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Speaker 1: of twenty two yesterday and really hit one big play

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Speaker 1: that was a sixty eight yard play. So he threw

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Speaker 1: in like the low one twenties. You subtract that play now.

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Speaker 1: The big play was nice. It was a beautiful ball.

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Speaker 1: He's always hit big plays, myke, even in college. My

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Speaker 1: problem with Lamar Jackson Louisville is he can't make the

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Speaker 1: basic throws. He threw how many near incompletions to raven defenders.

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Speaker 1: He was like, he hit him in the chest, They

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Speaker 1: dropped a couple. He could easily had three or four picks.

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Speaker 1: It's just not good enough now, will it improve. I

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Speaker 1: don't know. I hope it does, but in my evaluation

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Speaker 1: I bet against it. I don't think it will happen.

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Speaker 1: Could it for sure? But right now what he's doing

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Speaker 1: and what's crazy is the Ravens might end up winning

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Speaker 1: the division. That I just I mean, it's smoking mirrors.

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Speaker 1: Well what they're doing right now. You could see it

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Speaker 1: on John Harbaugh's face. He's like, we're holding on for

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Speaker 1: dear life right now. That this is not normal. And

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Speaker 1: it would be one thing if Lamar was having these

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Speaker 1: games of like you know, eighteen of twenty three and

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Speaker 1: just you know, even if it was in the low

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Speaker 1: two hunters, I'd be like, you know what, he's playing

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Speaker 1: pretty well, he can barely get He would struggle to

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Speaker 1: hit water right now if he was floating in a boat.

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Speaker 1: But you're not gonna see it on social media because

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Speaker 1: they went all in and called Lamar Jackson a star.

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Speaker 1: I got news for you right now. The Ravens as

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Speaker 1: a team are playing game are great. He is not

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Speaker 1: Phil And then let's go to the other side. That

405
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Speaker 1: wasn't good enough from Philip Rivers. Clear the Chiefs game

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Speaker 1: was their super Bowl and they came out flat. But

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Speaker 1: I need more at the Philip. You had a career

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Speaker 1: defining win ten days ago or I guess nine days

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Speaker 1: ago because they played on Saturday, Thursday to Saturday. It

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Speaker 1: was an incredible win, and Philip did some of his

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Speaker 1: best work. But now all the pressure was on you.

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Speaker 1: You got to win this game. You're playing one of

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Speaker 1: the best defense in the league. You get him at home.

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Speaker 1: I know you understand you don't really have a home

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Speaker 1: field advantage, but everyone wants to annoint you as a

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Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, and I do too. You're one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite players in the league. But that was an

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Speaker 1: atrocious train wreck of a football game. To start the game,

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Speaker 1: the first play throwing interception that he was off all game,

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Speaker 1: no rhythm. Now, their offensive line didn't block very well,

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Speaker 1: but Rivers was not good. Uh, you just need more

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Speaker 1: of that guy in that situation. And he didn't even

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Speaker 1: give him a chance to win. And by the second half,

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Speaker 1: the defensive line was just eating his offensive line. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, alive. But he was twenty three and thirty

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Speaker 1: seven for eight yards four almost under five yards an attempt,

427
00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:01,480
Speaker 1: and the eye test was even work. Uh. Now again

428
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,040
Speaker 1: he was sacked four times, so I'm not putting it

429
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,480
Speaker 1: one on him. But when you're a Hall of Famer

430
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,199
Speaker 1: and you're coming off one of the biggest wins of

431
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,040
Speaker 1: your career in the regular season, you have a chance.

432
00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 1: You know, depending on I'm recording this part before the

433
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,199
Speaker 1: night game, what happens with Kansas City. You just have

434
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,440
Speaker 1: to be better, maybe get bailed out, maybe you don't.

435
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,359
Speaker 1: But you can't lay an egg on national television after

436
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 1: the biggest game of your career. I think that's the

437
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:31,159
Speaker 1: knock on Rivers. Like I'm watching Ben in Breeze, and

438
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,560
Speaker 1: the faith that I have and those two guys in

439
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: big spots is just incredible. I feel both guys are

440
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,600
Speaker 1: gonna make big passes. They might not and they might

441
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,200
Speaker 1: not always win, but I have full confidence in those guys.

442
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:45,719
Speaker 1: I have the same thing with Russell Wilson. I had

443
00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 1: the same thing with Brady, same thing when Rogers is humming.

444
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 1: I've never quite felt that for Philip Rivers. I used

445
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 1: to be like that early on in Peyton Manning's career.

446
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 1: I did not trust him in big games, and then

447
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 1: he finally got over that hump, and even still towards

448
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:00,840
Speaker 1: the end of his where you kind of held on

449
00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,720
Speaker 1: for dear life. He lost a couple of bad playoff

450
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,360
Speaker 1: games in Denver, obviously the Super Bowl. He didn't really

451
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,320
Speaker 1: do much, but he just Rivers has always been the

452
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,920
Speaker 1: guy that he leaves a little to be desired. Now

453
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:15,639
Speaker 1: he can make us all forget about it with a

454
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,040
Speaker 1: big playoff performance. But man, how am I gonna be

455
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 1: confident about a big playoff performance when he's playing a

456
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,080
Speaker 1: playoff I mean an elite level defense that he might

457
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,360
Speaker 1: play in the playoffs, and he gets his as kicked

458
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: and he looks overwhelmed. It's a problem for Rivers. He

459
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,439
Speaker 1: just wasn't very good. Pretty fascinating coaching carousel going on

460
00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,400
Speaker 1: right now. I had a running theory all season long,

461
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,560
Speaker 1: did John Harbaugh because I thought they were gonna miss

462
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,720
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I thought he was gonna be fired, and

463
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 1: then I thought he did the next USC coach. Well,

464
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,520
Speaker 1: when USC did not fire Clay Hilton, then they hired

465
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury, that that theory went out the window. And

466
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,440
Speaker 1: then it was reported on Friday, not reported. The Baltimore

467
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,719
Speaker 1: Ravens tweeted out, not only is John Harbag gonna come

468
00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: back for two thousand nineteen, but they're working on extension.

469
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 1: He's it's looking likely now he's gonna win the division,

470
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,360
Speaker 1: so that theory is out the window. When you look

471
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: at around the league, you have the Cleveland Browns. I know,

472
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,879
Speaker 1: Greg Williams is five and two as the head coach.

473
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 1: He's beat Cincinnati twice, he's beat Denver, he's beat Atlanta.

474
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,240
Speaker 1: I mean, they've beat shitty teams. So let's pump the

475
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,640
Speaker 1: brakes a little bit. That being said, I think the Browns,

476
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 1: if they were to get into the playoffs right now,

477
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 1: no one would want to play with him. And I

478
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,400
Speaker 1: said it from the beginning of the year that Hugh Jackson,

479
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: I mean, lasted way longer than he should have. They

480
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,119
Speaker 1: had a playoff roster, and I didn't even think that

481
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: Baker would be this good, and he is. He's been fantastic.

482
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 1: I still think Sam Donald will be the better player

483
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 1: big picture, but I won't dispute that Baker Mayfield is

484
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,080
Speaker 1: gonna be a big time pro. I mean, he's gonna

485
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,240
Speaker 1: be a really good player. He's a really accurate player.

486
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 1: He's good, and the roster is good. But the Cleveland

487
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,720
Speaker 1: Browns need to coach the deest ney to coach. It's

488
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 1: been reported that Arizona's gonna fire Wilkes. Who would have

489
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,479
Speaker 1: thought a one year defensive coordinator in two thousand eighteen

490
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:03,119
Speaker 1: wouldn't work? Shocker. Then you have the Pittsburgh Steelers, which

491
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 1: I think they threw their hat in the ring today, Like,

492
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,040
Speaker 1: is Mike Tomlin gonna make it Tampa Bay dirt cutter done?

493
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,160
Speaker 1: So the turnover in this league is gonna be pretty big,

494
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 1: and they're gonna be several jobs. Cleveland has a quarterback,

495
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,159
Speaker 1: a young quarterback. The Jets have a young quarterback. So

496
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,439
Speaker 1: to me, both those two jobs are very intriguing. The

497
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 1: one big flag on Cleveland and I say it all

498
00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 1: the time. John Dorsey's ego is as big as you

499
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,560
Speaker 1: know the state of Ohio. Jim Haslum has proven to

500
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: be a clown owner. The Jets their ownership now that

501
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,119
Speaker 1: Chris Johnson, I think Woody's brothers in charge seems to

502
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 1: be a little more normal. It's not as crazy with

503
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,119
Speaker 1: Woody around. But they got Mike mccagnet who's proven to

504
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,520
Speaker 1: not be a very good general manager. So is he

505
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,119
Speaker 1: the one picking the coach? Is he the one hiring

506
00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,119
Speaker 1: the coach? Or do they fire him too? If they

507
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:55,880
Speaker 1: fire him, too. To me, then that job is really interesting.

508
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay. You have Jamis for a year, You do

509
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 1: have some young nucleus, but they got a long way

510
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: to go and probably the best division in football. And

511
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 1: then you look, you know, could Carolina fire Ron Rivera?

512
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,000
Speaker 1: I would say it's kind of unlikely. I know it

513
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 1: was reported that that they won't. But when you pay

514
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 1: two point two billion dollars for something, you have the

515
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,680
Speaker 1: right to do whatever you want, even if the decision

516
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 1: might not be right. And I don't think firing Ron

517
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,400
Speaker 1: Rivera would be the correct decision. But again, you pay

518
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 1: two point two billion dollars cash if you have higher

519
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 1: expectations and a higher standard than losing seven straight games

520
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,040
Speaker 1: or whatever the numbers at now that that's okay with me.

521
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,840
Speaker 1: So I think the carousel and the coaching turnover this

522
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,679
Speaker 1: year is gonna be fascinating because there's not many just

523
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,719
Speaker 1: no brainer coaches. To me, Mike McCarthy is gonna get

524
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: a job. He's you know, it's his resume, by far

525
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,119
Speaker 1: is the best of any unemployed coach. Schefter wrote today

526
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 1: or said on NFL whatever his show he's on that

527
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:55,880
Speaker 1: you know, Jim Caldwell is gonna be in the mix,

528
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:58,879
Speaker 1: which sounds kind of crazy when you first read it,

529
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,359
Speaker 1: and then you look like Jim called was one multiple places.

530
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,640
Speaker 1: He's taken multiple teams to the to the playoffs. Now

531
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,000
Speaker 1: granted one of the teams was Peyton Manning, but the

532
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:08,919
Speaker 1: other way he took the lines of the playoffs like

533
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: that happened. So that's not that crazy. And you just

534
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,160
Speaker 1: look around the landscape. I got news for you, Lincoln

535
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,600
Speaker 1: Riley's not leaving Oklahoma. Are you gonna hire Matt Campbell

536
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 1: at Iowa State to be your NFL head coach? That

537
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 1: that would be pretty bold. You know, there aren't that

538
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,440
Speaker 1: many just can't miss offensive coordinators around the NFL. I

539
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,119
Speaker 1: also forgot the Denver Broncos Vance Joseph has done. I

540
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,000
Speaker 1: just don't see that there are gonna be more job

541
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: openings than actually good coaches available. So just because you

542
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 1: fire your coach, like, who is John Elway gonna hire

543
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:47,680
Speaker 1: Mike Shanahan? Seriously, who's he gonna hire Because last last

544
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 1: time he went down this road, he interviewed Vance Joseph,

545
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,080
Speaker 1: He interviewed Kyle Shanahan, and he hired Advanced Joseph. So

546
00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 1: now I'm supposed to have faith that he's just gonna

547
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,760
Speaker 1: get it right. He's proven to not be have the

548
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: greatest feel for these situations. Like Gary Kubiak was an

549
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,080
Speaker 1: easy one for him. It was just buddy, they played together.

550
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,919
Speaker 1: I think there is way, like you know, when you

551
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: do the supply demand chart, the demand for the amount

552
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 1: of good coaches and the actual supply of them on

553
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,800
Speaker 1: the open market and guys you would potentially hire to

554
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: fill these spots is a pretty stark difference. I think

555
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:27,560
Speaker 1: they're gonna be way more openings than good coaches available. Uh,

556
00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,840
Speaker 1: that's gonna be it. Keep this short and sweet. Thanks

557
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,680
Speaker 1: for listening. I appreciate all year. I mean we kicked

558
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,119
Speaker 1: this thing off. When was that around the Combine? I

559
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 1: think was the first podcast, And it's been fun. I've

560
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,320
Speaker 1: really enjoyed doing this. We're gonna keep it rolling. Uh.

561
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 1: Kept it short because I know, you know, Christmas, Merry Christmas.

562
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,560
Speaker 1: Uh if you're Jewish, happy Hanaka. I know it already ended,

563
00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 1: but uh we're pro every damn holiday on on this show.

564
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 1: But I know these are a fun couple of days

565
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 1: to you know, see your family and and enjoy it.

566
00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 1: And we got the college football playoff right around the corner.

567
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,040
Speaker 1: We got a couple we gotta win or get in

568
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: game next Sunday Night with the Colts and the Titans,

569
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,120
Speaker 1: and just just a fantastic time for football. And again,

570
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 1: I really appreciate everyone listening to the show. And two

571
00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: thousand nineteen is gonna be even bigger. Let's roll, baby,

572
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: m