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January 14, 2025 47 mins

Today on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, the Rams take it to the Vikings, leaving Sam Darnold’s future in doubt. The Cowboys were clearly not prepared for Mike McCarthy to turn them down, so is Deion Sanders the answer? Pete Prisco stops by to rip Wildcard Weekend and more!

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Is the best of two pros and a couple Joe
with Lamar Arrings rating win and Jonas Knox on radio.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to Round one of the NFL Playoffs, the wild
card weekend, if you will, and welcome to another wipeout.
Uh the l A Rams completing total domination of the
Minnesota Vikings and the Vikings.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Committe shouldn't have selected the Vikings, I mean, bottom line.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Yeah, I mean, just what a mistake. Not a blue
blood don't belong, you know, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Actually what how mad is that going to make Pete
Prisco at some point?

Speaker 5 (00:44):
Yeah, I can't wait for that.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
He's gonna argue in circles around himself about it.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
There were definitely some better teams that got left out
of the playoffs, you know, but oh well, they got
to play the games.

Speaker 6 (00:58):
Yeah, it's just what happens.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
I mean, the Rams winning that game, not surprising, winning
like that. I did not expect. I did not expect
Minnesota to come out and look really similar to how
they looked last week against Detroit. And yet here we
are and the Minnesota Vikings are going home with a

(01:20):
fourteen win season.

Speaker 5 (01:22):
It's a little odd.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
I think it was stated, if a snowball is going
downhill and it's gaining momentum and more snow can you
stop that snowball from going downhill and start to go
back up. It's just very difficult. Again, there's a reason
why experts when they're talking about and even coaches and

(01:47):
people who understand the game, there's a reason why they
say you want to be playing your best football in January.
There's a reason why at the end of a season
a team team wants to be playing their best football.
It's nice to play great football in the beginning, but
even if you're a team that isn't playing at a

(02:09):
high level at the beginning of the year, there's always
the chance that if you continue to improve and you
stay in playoff contention, that if you really really get
to a point of hitting your stride towards the end
of your regular season, those are the teams that it's
usually always the teams that get hot. They always say

(02:31):
you get hot at the end of the year, they
could be a dangerous team in the playoffs.

Speaker 6 (02:35):
Right.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
So, this Minnesota team was hot during the regular season.
They were amazing year for the team, amazing year for
the coach, amazing year for the quarterback.

Speaker 6 (02:46):
Just an amazing year. But they got cold at the
wrong time.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
You can't get cold at that time and expect that
you're going to be able to turn it back on
magically and it's going to happen for you in the
upcoming game, whether it was a regular season game, whether
it was a playoff game. And this Rams team is
not a bad team. I think they're very under I

(03:13):
guess underappreciated, maybe maybe under like you know, rated in
terms of how they're viewed. But this is a pretty
solid Rams team. And when they're all healthy, it's just
always been a matter of if this team is healthy,
if they have all of their pieces, they can be
a dangerous team. So yeah, I mean, I wasn't surprised

(03:36):
that they got caught up the way that they did.
I will say I agree, I was surprised at how
bad the whooping was that took place last night.

Speaker 7 (03:45):
Okay, so I want to address that because it was
a whooping. It was a really boring second half. What
do you guys think about the Matt Stafford fumble return
for a touchdown that was then overturned and caught an
incomplete path. I'm just an issue with it.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
I didn't think it was a fumble, but intentional grounding
probably should have been called.

Speaker 7 (04:11):
Well, here's the issue with Pukaku was in the vicinity,
so I don't you couldn't call it intentional grounding. My
issue with it was I I knew what he was
trying to do, and it was such a lackluster, kind
of half assed way of doing it that I felt
like they got away with it. Well, it was just

(04:35):
like there really wasn't much of a forward pitch motion.
It was very nonchalant, and so I almost feel like
there was some subjectivity to it, which I hate. And
it obviously would have tied up the game at that point.
So it's a huge momentum swing. And I'm not saying
that the Vikings win if that call stands, but it

(04:57):
obviously changes the you know, the the outlook on the
game at that moment, and maybe they do find a
way of hanging around in this one. So I'm not
sure that's one that I would I would almost want
the Competition committee to look at it and say, we
have to figure out a way of determining.

Speaker 6 (05:15):
You know.

Speaker 7 (05:15):
Again, it's almost like going back to the tuck rule,
because then you were looking at intent, and I understand
by me saying this, like I'm looking at the intent
of that Stafford, and I fully understood what his intent was.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
He was trying to get rid of the football of
what a sack.

Speaker 7 (05:30):
He knew he had a guy in the vicinity and
Nikua who came across and ran into the lineman, so
he could do what he did and then call it
any complete pass, which I guess you'd call it savvy
on his part. But I still looked at it was like,
I don't know, I'd like, I knew what he was
trying to do, but I almost wish they just gave it,
gave the touchdown of the defense.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, yeah, I mean the.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
Motion of his own was it was not to me,
it was not significant enough to say even though I
knew what was trying to do. As well the motion
of his arm, or I should say, the lack thereof
of motion of his arm. It just should have been
it should have been a fumble. They weren't playing, they
weren't playing in the cold. No, it didn't look like
he does. His thumb didn't flick. It wasn't You didn't

(06:16):
see his hand in his wrist flick. You just saw
the ball come out. You just saw the ball come
out and took it, took away fumble. Yeah yeah, I
mean I didn't like it. I didn't like the call,
but you know, it is what it is, and that
was a pivotal play. It definitely was a very very

(06:36):
big moment in the game.

Speaker 5 (06:38):
So, you know, I mean, Sam Darnold took a beating.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
He took I mean, reputation wise, physically wise, all of it,
all of it took a beating.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
Last night, had a rough night. The rams were on
him from the get go, and you know, afterwards, the
conversation becomes, now, what now, what happens with Sam Darnold,
What does his future look like? And Kevin O'Connell, the
head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, spoke about just the

(07:11):
year that they had and what it should mean in totality.

Speaker 8 (07:15):
I think it's very important we all think about Sam's
body of work, what he was able to do this
year when not very many people thought he would be
able to lead a team to fourteen wins, just the
way he came in, committed himself to just that daily
process to be the best version of himself. It did
not work out in the end, and I think Sam

(07:38):
would be the first one to tell you could he
have played better tonight?

Speaker 6 (07:42):
I'm sure he.

Speaker 8 (07:43):
Would tell you that he could have the other phase
of it for Sam is acknowledging the things that made
him a winning quarterback this year and the consistency at
the times he had it throughout the year, and what
that meant for our team, because I think that can
stay with him moving forward as he goes back to work.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
All Right, this year felt like a little bit of
a well, you know, you hope for the best, but
the reality is JJ McCarthy's done. And you know they
had a seat over under winding total before the year
of what six and a half or seven something like that,
and so they overachieved based on that metric, and they
overachieved based on what the expectation was. But the reality

(08:20):
is the two biggest games of the year, he probably
played his worst. And I just wonder, and we threw
out the hypothetically yesterday, how does this change the conversation.
It has to change the conversation about what you do
with him moving forward?

Speaker 6 (08:34):
Right?

Speaker 7 (08:34):
Well, yeah, because literally in one season's time, you got
the idea of what can Sam Donald be for our franchise. Well,
he could be a guy goes in and helps you
win a lot of games, but if you're talking about
winning a.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
Super Bowl, probably not that guy.

Speaker 7 (08:51):
I mean, that's ultimately what it comes down to it
and I hate to put it like that so blunt,
but that's what we've seen the past two weeks. It's
not like there was a dramatic shift or change for him,
this team, the offense, anything. But that's the hard part
about how harmful the last two weeks are is in
back to back weeks, in the most pivotal games of

(09:14):
their season, he played his worst.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
And it's not all on him.

Speaker 7 (09:20):
Heyes sacked what like seven times last night, it was
constantly under her rest, whatever it was.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
I mean, it's ridiculous.

Speaker 7 (09:27):
So it's not all on him, but that's gonna be
the perception that's going to be the conclusion of what
the past two weeks have meant. And so it's stinks man,
that the unfortunately has come to this. And I think
the Vikings find themselves a little bit on a tough
spot because if you don't bring him back, you're starting
over in JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
Have no idea what you have in him.

Speaker 7 (09:48):
And at least in Sam Darnold, you know, you can
get to the playoffs, right, you win a lot of
football games.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
In the regular season. I just look at it like this.

Speaker 4 (09:58):
You know, Troy Aikman was a tap bit critical of
Sam Darnold holding the ball knowing that the rush was
getting there, the pressures were getting there. You know, I'll
defer that to you guys as the quarterbacks. But when
I watched it, When I watched it, I just I
just felt as though we were looking at a player

(10:22):
and it was his, his opportunity to be looked at
as a legitimate starter in this league melt away. It
was melting as quickly as snow on a on a
warm spring morning.

Speaker 6 (10:39):
It was melting away pretty quickly.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
I don't think that he you like that imagery, I
don't think that he will.

Speaker 6 (10:45):
I'm just being honest.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
I just don't think he'll ever be looked at seriously
as a starter after after this season. And it's sad
because he played so well during the regular season. He
you know, resurrected, you know, maybe feelings of what he
could have possibly been, the promise that was there when

(11:08):
he came from college. But I just think that the
way the year ended, the way it finished out in
the in the playoffs. Not only do I not think
that he'll get the type of money that maybe he
was going to be seeking originally. I don't think that
there's just like, what what do you do with Daniel Jones?

(11:29):
You have three quarterbacks? Daniel Jones. I believe he's younger.
He's he's much younger than than Sam Darnold, right, I
think so is he much younger, like at least three
four years?

Speaker 6 (11:41):
Right?

Speaker 5 (11:41):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (11:42):
I think they're kind of maybe more, are they?

Speaker 3 (11:45):
Yeah, well Jones is twenty seven.

Speaker 7 (11:48):
Sam Darnald, we usually would have lead a lap on
that actually the same twenty seven two.

Speaker 3 (11:52):
Yeah, they're both the same age. They're both twenty seven.
I think. Good to hear for youybody, Yeah they're twenty.

Speaker 6 (11:57):
They came in how long Donald?

Speaker 4 (12:00):
Well, Donald came out a year early earlier. Okay, a
year earlier, Okay. So I just I don't know that
you look at Sam Donald and say, with JJ McCarthy
coming back, that's who they're going to go with and
Daniel Jones, Like, I think it's going to come down

(12:20):
to how much it costs. But I think that I
think that at this point you might think that it's
more more feasible to let let Sam Donald walk and
test the market and see where he's at and go
with McCarthy and Daniel Jones. I mean, it just seems
like that would make more sense since you brought Daniel

(12:40):
Jones in after he left New York for Sam Donald
going to another team. I just don't think that he
gets a serious look at being a starting quarterback and
would need circumstances like a starter going down and getting
injured for him to get that opportunity to be a
starter again. And that's I think that that's just the

(13:01):
reality of where he is at this point in his career.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Sam Donald might have lost sixty million dollars in two
weeks kind of while that's a lot of money, man,
that that went out the window based on the last
two performances, and I just, yeah, it seems like it
makes the most sense to just turn it over to
JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 5 (13:20):
You've got Daniel Jones.

Speaker 2 (13:22):
As the veteran back up there, and you just let
Kevin O'Connell try and you know, work his magic again
that he's done before. Whether it be Kirk Cousins or
when Kirk Cousins went down with injury, back up here,
Sam Donald there, but that sucks, man, Like it was,
he had played so well leading up into those points
and then and.

Speaker 7 (13:41):
There were so many touching moments about the course of
the year. You know how the NFL just such a
great job with audio. I think at one point you
heard like Kevin O'Connell in the headset, you know, talking
to him and just saying how proud he was of
him and how proud he is of how he's played.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
I mean, those are real conversations, man.

Speaker 7 (13:56):
I mean, people can say whatever they want, and they
were you know, I'm I'm even part of it with
how he played the last two weeks. But he's resurrected
his career in a sense of yeah, he may not
be viewed as a starting quarterback for other teams or
a guy that like you can go win.

Speaker 3 (14:11):
A super Bowl with, but he damn sure has looked.

Speaker 7 (14:14):
At as a great backup, like a guy that teams
can rely on to go win games, teams can feel
confident in having on their roster and at least making
a good living that way for the rest of his career.
If he wants like that's how monumental this season would
has been for him, at least as far as his
long jevy of his career.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
So I don't know.

Speaker 7 (14:32):
I mean, it's it's not gonna be an easy decision
for Minnesota, but I do think they have to stay
the chorus with JJ McCarthy because if this lingers on
for another year, I'm not sure that helps them in
any capacity seeing what they have in JJ. But also,
you know, continuing to kind of build with Sam even
though he's young and he's still what three years away

(14:53):
from being thirty.

Speaker 6 (14:55):
I think they getting rid of J. J McCarthy.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
I know he was trying to trade him earlier.

Speaker 6 (14:59):
This tad him away.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
You know what I think, you know I'd love to
do because we never get this enough.

Speaker 9 (15:04):
Lee.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
What do you think the Minnesota Vikings should do this offseason?

Speaker 10 (15:10):
What should the Vikings do? They should.

Speaker 11 (15:13):
Dan Well, I just whatever the wrong decision is is
what I want them to do. This is why I
would say, this is why I asked you would stick
with JJ McCarthy.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
Because you're a Packers fan.

Speaker 7 (15:27):
So what's interesting about this is you're trying to be professional,
but at the same time you also want them to
make a mistake.

Speaker 3 (15:33):
So what do you think they should do?

Speaker 11 (15:35):
I'd say stick with JJ. You've already kind of hitched
your wagon to him. You could still develop him. This
is so funny, And why pay Sam Donald when you
but this?

Speaker 7 (15:47):
This sounds like a reasonable decision the way you're talking
about it, Like, I guess if I gave you three options,
JJ McCarthy, Sam Donald or what's in the bag?

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Like, which would you pick.

Speaker 10 (15:57):
If it were me and I was rooting for them?
What's in the bag?

Speaker 6 (16:01):
But what.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
Is a what's in the bad guys?

Speaker 10 (16:06):
What's the bad guy? Let me see what's behind.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
I see what you did? You set him up? Okay,
I see what you did. His his his ability to
reason went all the way away.

Speaker 7 (16:15):
All the way out in the bag once you gave
him that wrapped gift where you're like, or you can
have this lee He's like, we.

Speaker 5 (16:24):
Do, but it could be could.

Speaker 6 (16:29):
The mystery beer?

Speaker 2 (16:30):
The mystery beer in Arizona is still one of my favorite.

Speaker 5 (16:33):
It's in the world and you should have seen.

Speaker 7 (16:35):
Well you got there the way was that what they
gave him? A brown paper bag with a beer in it?

Speaker 5 (16:42):
Yeah, it was a surprise beer.

Speaker 6 (16:43):
It was a dollar cheaper.

Speaker 7 (16:44):
Which is the is an unbelievable way of selling a
beer on discount.

Speaker 3 (16:51):
You won't get rid of just anywhere. It makes it better.
Becaustead of brown bag.

Speaker 10 (16:56):
It was because they gave me two the same ones,
wasn't it.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
That wasn't like that brown Amber Lagger.

Speaker 5 (17:03):
Or whatever it was. And I'm like, Lee, it's it's
on the menu.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
It's not like this is a special beer they got
shipped in from somewhere else and they're like, hey, what's
it going to be. It's literally the same beer, but
they wrapped a brown back.

Speaker 3 (17:18):
It doesn't sell like that's what they're doing.

Speaker 10 (17:20):
It was good, it was good beer, but I was
upset that it wasn't different. Every single day I got
two beers the same. Yeah, it was upsetting.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
Well, look, congratulations, I'm.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
Just glad the Rams won it for Gavin News some
of all the people out there.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
And really, you know, he's really working hard man, really
really doing a bang up job out here.

Speaker 7 (17:39):
Is there anyone that you want to slap more than
Gavin News? I'm dead seriously, Like you could say that
about a lot of politicians. He might be at the
top of the list, like he comes off as so smug,
and it's like, dude, just do more, like go help people,
Like stop talking to the media all the time.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
Go actually help people.

Speaker 7 (18:00):
Get your hands out there and you do some physical
labor to help some people instead of doing another interview
and saying whatever you're spewing.

Speaker 5 (18:08):
My god, yeah, it's uh, you know it's for you here.

Speaker 7 (18:13):
It's just like, dude, go help you stop talking, go
go actually take action, do something. Damnan, I didn't even
live there, but it's hard to watch because you see
him all He's on like every single news channel talking like, guys,
go go help people.

Speaker 6 (18:30):
What are we doing.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
I mean, listen, you gotta get your you gotta get
your FaceTime on on the news stations.

Speaker 6 (18:37):
You know.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
That's how it works. Means, while LeVar always wants the
local news on here in the studio like I don't
mean I can't.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Ex I thought that was silence and support you. That's
what I thought.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
Yeah, and that's why the local channel is on today
and yesterday. You know, that's why, because LeVar needs them.

Speaker 6 (18:56):
Canon Planets Planets, be.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and a
Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Arrington, and Jonas
Knox weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
I assumed that when the Dallas Cowboys stepped up and said, hey, look,
you know, Mike McCarthy, we're not letting you go interview
for that Bears job. We're going to have conversations. I
just assumed that that meant they were going to get
a deal done. And then yes, yesterday happened and Nope,
no deal done, and the Cowboys and Mike McCarthy are

(19:35):
parting ways now.

Speaker 5 (19:36):
Jerry Jones would.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
Have you to believe that there were no negotiations that
were happening. They were still having discussions about the overall
picture of the team. Others have said no, it was
the length of the contract. Mike McCarthy wanted one thing,
the Dallas Cowboys were offering another. And thus Mike McCarthy
has now been thrown into the mix of potential coaching

(19:58):
fill ins, coaching h and the new coaching cycle in
the NFL, and teams out there looking for a guy,
and Dallas is out there now looking for their guy.
So awkward, ending to an awkwardly run organization based on
every other organization that we see in sports.

Speaker 5 (20:16):
There you go, Dallas, job well done by everybody.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Man, that's how you feel.

Speaker 5 (20:20):
Huh Yeah, I just.

Speaker 7 (20:23):
I think I look at it this way and listening
said Troy Aman talk about it from last night's game,
I this can't be the design or the plan that
they had, because if it was, then maybe their top
candidates not Ben Jonson, maybe it's not Aaron Glenn. Otherwise,

(20:46):
you took so long dragging your feet with this decision
on Mike McCarthy that you basically didn't give yourself a
chance to interview either one of those two, or any
other coach that's still coaching the playoffs for that matter,
until after they're done. So the rumors come out that hey,
Deon Sanders has been contacted by Jerry Jones. They've had

(21:07):
good conversations, and it sounds like from all reports, Deanne
wants to stay in Colorado. So maybe he wasn't a
fan of whatever was offered or whatever was discussed. But
this can't be by design because it feels like not
only did it hamstring Mike McCarthy for a little bit,
but at Hamstrong the organization moving forward to whoever the

(21:29):
next head coach is going to be. And now you
can't talk to one of the best candidates because while
he's still in the playoffs. Maybe that changes this week.
But I look at it and just go it feels
like everything's kind of haphazardly being done for a guy
who's trying to win a Super Bowl or went hashtag
all in last year. Like it's like almost like they
don't really have a blueprint for how to do this,

(21:51):
even though they did this thirty years ago.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
I mean, at least I didn't have to say they
fired him. You know, it's just it came to an
end and we're not going to renew you. I mean,
I don't know how often that happens. I do think
it was a tad bit peculiar, Like you said, Jonas,
that they did not allow for him to start the
interview process.

Speaker 6 (22:16):
I thought that maybe.

Speaker 4 (22:18):
That was a foreshadowing of do you look at it
as McCarthy leveraging for a little bit of you know,
kind of I am a good coach, I am important,
I am in need or in demand to some capacity,
So you know, what are you guys going to do?

Speaker 6 (22:41):
So when you let.

Speaker 4 (22:42):
His contract run out and say you're not going to
renew him and you're letting them go. I almost feel
like that's kind of an insult, you know, to the
injury of we're not going to renew you and we're
letting you go, you know, and we weren't going to
let you do anything early on either. But it also
maybe he makes me start to think tentatively that they

(23:03):
did have an idea of who they may have wanted
to come in and take the job. And I would
not be surprised if it was Prime, you know. I
start thinking to myself when when I saw that, you
know that there was conversations between Dion and Jerry Jones
that you remember that old Nike commercial where it was like,

(23:24):
get me.

Speaker 6 (23:25):
Dion, I don't care what it costs.

Speaker 4 (23:27):
You remember that, like and it had the song from
Dallas playing and it was like a Nike commercial for Dion.

Speaker 6 (23:35):
Well, those same shoes.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
I believe maybe it's a different pair, but you know
it's I guess it gives me. It gives me the
vibes of you want to make a splash, a splash higher.
You're probably not going to get Ben Johnson, who would
probably be the other splash higher, And to be honest
with you, I mean, what the candidate out there would

(24:01):
you say would be a significant upgrade to Mike McCarthy
being your head coach. You had him, you know, you
had him on your You had him on.

Speaker 6 (24:14):
Your staff last year, and you let him get away.

Speaker 4 (24:17):
If you were going to let his contract run out
and get rid of him, why didn't you just hire
Dan Quinn last year?

Speaker 6 (24:24):
Why didn't you just hire him? Then?

Speaker 3 (24:25):
Like do you think there's uh?

Speaker 7 (24:27):
I don't want to say, you know, sellers remorse or
have you want to describe it, but there is because
the betting odds favorite right now is Kellen Moore, which
takes me back to like, well, wait.

Speaker 6 (24:39):
A second, why would you do that?

Speaker 7 (24:42):
And hired him Quinn on his staff and he moved
on from he let they let Dan Quinn go, and
then they moved on from Kellen Moore?

Speaker 3 (24:49):
So how does that make any sense? This doesn't It
feels like Dan Kallen does.

Speaker 2 (24:56):
The Cowboys are going to try and spin this as hey,
look we've got a plan, We've got to No, you
don't like you thought Mike McCarthy was going to come
back and just take whatever terms you were going to
throw at him because you were saying nice things about
him at the end, and Mike McCarthy's like, I've got options.
I'm not going to take a half assed deal to
go come back and be a part of the chaos.
And the fact that you had all those players sticking

(25:19):
up for him, and now you've got Dallas kind of
scrambling and trying to you know, let everybody know, like, oh, listen,
you know, well, it feels like they've got to almost
get desperate and try and make a splash higher. And
I don't know if it's Dion or if they go
knock on Belichick's door, but it's just typical cowboys wait
until the last minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, and

(25:40):
except this time the guy on the other side was like, no, man, like,
I'm not just going to accept these terms. I'll go
I'll go my own way and go in a different direction.
And then if you ask a big picture about the organization,
you mentioned Troy Aikman. Aikman did talk last night just
about the overall opinion of the organization, whether it's this

(26:01):
big time job that everybody says it is.

Speaker 5 (26:03):
Let's take a listen as.

Speaker 12 (26:05):
Far as a coveted job. I don't know that that's accurate.
I mean, I do think that. I do think the
Cowboys are obviously a high profile team. Whoever is covered
or whoever is head coaching of that team is certainly
going to draw a lot of attention. But I think
most football people that take over as a head coach
they want to do it on their terms, and that's
hard to do.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
So, I mean I just sang, I'm good luck, bang bang,
good luck bang bang. Now there was a report that,
you know, the conversations between Dion and Jerry Jones are
expected to continue.

Speaker 5 (26:43):
Whatever that means, you know, I mean I would be surprised.

Speaker 4 (26:46):
Do you think he can do it? Do you guys
think he can do it at the pro level?

Speaker 5 (26:51):
I'm not going to down him.

Speaker 7 (26:53):
Yeah, yeah, sure, I mean why not, I'm not. I
think he ran I mean, look at what he did
this year. He runs it more as a pro style
organization anyway. I think the biggest difference is and not
that they have a big NIO collective and we're paying,
you know, paying players a lot of money because the

(27:13):
transfer portal has allowed them to turn over their roster
in a very dramatic fashion. The NFL level, it's really
hard to do that because you have to have an
ownero's willing to pay all that money out and Jerry Jones,
at least of late, has not been wanting to spend
a lot of cash. So I would say that the
biggest struggle is his model of how he's built his

(27:34):
rosters in college is not going to work in the NFL.
But Pat Shermer's an offensive you know coordinator NFL style,
you know system and play caller. His defensive coordinator he
brought from the NFL ranks. I mean, his approach from
year one to year two is really Oh, I've had
a lot of college guys, I need more NFL guys.

(27:54):
So there is definitely is that NFL mindset, and so
I'm not going to count them out by any means,
But I do you think he'd have to make some
big adjustments with how he's constructed his roster and some
of the things he's done at Colorado and how that
would apply it at Dallas.

Speaker 4 (28:09):
Yeah, I think it'd be much harder to win at
the league level. But I will say this, if there
was a match of energy or a clone of energy
in terms of marketing and selling. I mean, imagine Jerry
Jones and Deon Sanders together because to me, it has

(28:30):
it hasn't been about winning for a really long time
for the Dallas Cowboys. So whether Dion Sanders was able
to deliver a Super Bowl or just win right, if
he was able to win in Dallas, it would be
a major major come up for Jerry Jones and that
organization and to me, the value of that organization because

(28:54):
they both are masterful in the way that they do
things that that garnered and and and just get get
people's you know, their interest level up. In terms of winning,
I just think that it would be it would be
a difficult it's it's going to be a difficult proposition
for any coach to win at the league level.

Speaker 6 (29:15):
But I will say this.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
I look at a guy like Demico Ryans, you know,
as as as a pretty cool example. You know, he
came in as just a defensive coordinator. He didn't come
in as as a head coach, a former head coach.
He came in as a decoordinator and was able to
change a culture and in little time, and and that

(29:39):
team is in its second playoffs as many years as
he's been a head coach so and the reason why
I pinpointed him is not because he's black. I know
a lot of people are probably thinking that I don't
make everything about color and race.

Speaker 6 (29:53):
People really, but yeah, he is.

Speaker 4 (29:56):
But I will say the reason why I made him
as a comparison is because I think the way that
players react to Jamico Ryans in terms of their relatability
and him being a player coach, I think that Dion
Sanders has that in in a whole different stratusphere. The

(30:19):
way that the pros would relate to Prime, the way
that they would want to play for Prime, I think
would be a tremendous difference maker in terms of what
the level of expectation and the level of achievement would
be if he came there as a coach. Because he's
not a gimmick, I think people should settle in on

(30:41):
the fact now more than ever that Deon Sanders coaching
is not a gimmick. He really can coach. He really
is a leader of men, and so to me, I
think it would be an excellent move if Jerry Jones
was able to lure him away from from Boulder, Colorado.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and
a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and
Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
It is a Tuesday, and this is a Tuesday tradition.
He's the one and only Pete Prisco, senior NFL columnists
for CBS Sports, CBS Sports HQ Analyst. Get him on
x at Prisco CBS and if you want that smoke
on Twitter, you can get that smoke if you hit up.

Speaker 5 (31:33):
Pete and he's our smooth operator Pee.

Speaker 6 (31:35):
Good morning.

Speaker 9 (31:36):
What's up guys?

Speaker 6 (31:37):
Are you We're good, sir.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
How are you feeling after the first weekend of the
NFL playoffs? Your thoughts on the games?

Speaker 9 (31:45):
And it kind of they were kind of duds, weren't they.
I mean, you know, they weren't very good games. There
are a couple of them that were One of them
was okay, but the rest of them are very good.

Speaker 3 (31:55):
Two years two years in a row.

Speaker 6 (31:58):
Peat.

Speaker 9 (32:00):
Yeah, But at least in this sport you got to
earn your way in.

Speaker 7 (32:03):
Its not like you get oh that's right, because I
guess winning games in college football like Arizona State then
earn their way in right because they didn't win their
conference and getting and get in because that right, well.

Speaker 9 (32:11):
They did, But it doesn't mean that that everybody else did.
I mean, Brady, you know there's a committee that boats
put teams in in that sport.

Speaker 7 (32:19):
You know that, well, I mean, yes, Pete, I do
know that, Pete. Do you know there's one hundred and
thirty three teams that are in that sport. So it's
a little different. It's a little apples orangs just comparison
as far as how they get in. But you know, again,
we can we can argue semantics all we want. The
reality is, much like you joked about the playoff, the
wower card round has traditionally been crap for the NFL.

Speaker 6 (32:41):
Damn take that, Pete.

Speaker 9 (32:43):
By adding to take those I think it's I think
by adding the seventh team, it's diluted. It almost like
to the point where you don't need that seventeen.

Speaker 3 (32:53):
You had one. You had one competitive game, buddy won.

Speaker 9 (32:57):
But in the well, you had one competitive game in
college football until this past weekend.

Speaker 7 (33:03):
Exain, same thing, same thing, So why are we complaining
about it?

Speaker 9 (33:09):
Everybody in the NFL earns their way in. It's not
it's not picked by a bunch of committee members sitting
in a room going, oh, I think this strength of
schedule looks better than that one, and they beat them.

Speaker 6 (33:19):
But who cares?

Speaker 9 (33:20):
You know, it's not you earn your way in. That's
the way.

Speaker 7 (33:23):
It's the stupidest thing I think I've ever heard you say,
and I've heard you say some really dumb things. They
have to play throughout the course of the regular season
to earn their way in.

Speaker 6 (33:32):
It's no different than the NFL.

Speaker 7 (33:34):
It's just a smaller league, and they obviously have divisions,
which I think if anything, Pete, if you really want
to like have a discussion, you should reevaluate how teams
are seated based on their overall record and not winning
their division. When when you and I both know the
NFC South stinks, the AFC South stinks, and they probably

(33:54):
shouldn't be hosting a home playoff game. We've seen teams
of losing records make the playoffs. Are you saying that
those teams earn their way in?

Speaker 6 (34:03):
Pete, Pete? Take that, Pete, Pete.

Speaker 9 (34:07):
You want that, Pete, that's all they want?

Speaker 6 (34:11):
Pete, Pete.

Speaker 7 (34:12):
Have we ever seen have we ever seen a team
with a losing record make the college football playoff?

Speaker 6 (34:17):
Tell us, Pete, tell us that they.

Speaker 7 (34:22):
I know why, Pete, But the reality is you're saying
they earn their way in the losing record.

Speaker 6 (34:28):
That's ridiculous, Pete.

Speaker 9 (34:29):
By the way, you want to lose record, you want.

Speaker 6 (34:32):
To get ridiculous, Pete.

Speaker 9 (34:34):
College football is a great sport, but it's second fiddle
to that league.

Speaker 6 (34:37):
And you know it. Damn as far.

Speaker 3 (34:40):
As riddings, I'm sure.

Speaker 7 (34:41):
But here's the thing is, we'll see if NFL readings
continue whatever to.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
Grow the way college has.

Speaker 7 (34:47):
That's the reality is it's not growing as fast as
college has.

Speaker 6 (34:50):
Yeah, take that, Pete, take nothing.

Speaker 9 (34:54):
I want. I always win. You take that.

Speaker 6 (34:57):
You take that.

Speaker 7 (34:58):
Pet So you're telling me a losing team should get
in the playoffs because they the.

Speaker 9 (35:06):
Only argument, the only arguments where there's never a winner,
or when you argue against yourself, Pete.

Speaker 4 (35:12):
We're not laughing with you, Pete, we're laughing at you.

Speaker 6 (35:15):
Damn. Take that, Pete.

Speaker 3 (35:18):
He always wins.

Speaker 7 (35:19):
Besides, when we do our picks, and obviously we saw
that one the last two years.

Speaker 6 (35:22):
That's right. Take that, Pete. Q just owned you. Q
just owned you. Pete. Own game.

Speaker 9 (35:30):
The games of college football stunt except for the Arizona
State Texas game, the only one.

Speaker 6 (35:37):
Disagree.

Speaker 9 (35:38):
I mean, look, the Notre Dame Penn State. The Notre
Dame Penn State game was close. Was Was that an
exciting game?

Speaker 6 (35:46):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (35:47):
Was it not?

Speaker 6 (35:49):
Yes? It was? It was?

Speaker 5 (35:51):
Okay?

Speaker 9 (35:52):
I mean you got one quarter throw the ball down
the field, you got another one that's going to be
runs around all right?

Speaker 4 (36:00):
You throwing out insults does not make your arguments better, Pete.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
That's true, Pete.

Speaker 7 (36:05):
How would you grade Ley Leonard as an NFL quarterback
since you went there?

Speaker 9 (36:09):
Well, I so somebody your network said he's the next
Josh Allen. I don't know where they hell that came from?

Speaker 3 (36:16):
Which networks?

Speaker 9 (36:16):
That?

Speaker 3 (36:17):
Fox?

Speaker 9 (36:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (36:20):
No, that was that was Jordan Palmer. He's not Fox.

Speaker 9 (36:24):
No Colin toward Colin Coward said out a tweet comparing
him to Josh Allen, which is, give me a rank.
Come on, Colin, you know better than that Josh Allen.
Is there anything in that guy's game that makes you
think Josh Allen? Not one thing makes you think Josh Allen.

Speaker 6 (36:40):
He can run pretty well.

Speaker 9 (36:42):
Okay, but he's not physical like John Come on, give
me a break. He's nothing his arm strength, he's white thrower.

Speaker 4 (36:48):
Yeah, there you go, Jonas, There you go, Jonas, get
in there, get in there on him, Jonas.

Speaker 6 (36:54):
Who's compared to in the NFL another white quarterback?

Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yeah, yeah, honestly, you won my comparison.

Speaker 7 (37:01):
I think he's Ryan tannehill.

Speaker 9 (37:07):
Yon Tanney hill Man.

Speaker 6 (37:08):
I mean that's what I'm saying. Look, I think that's
a good comp not as.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
Far along as a passer as Ryan obviously.

Speaker 6 (37:16):
Was when he left. I think it's a good comp.

Speaker 7 (37:18):
I think as far as size, athleticism, like all this,
all this intangibles, I think he's similar.

Speaker 6 (37:22):
Z Yeah, yeah, take that broad the bar.

Speaker 9 (37:26):
Like Drew Aller in that game.

Speaker 4 (37:29):
Pete, your insults will not pull me out of character.
Drew Aller is a fire quarterback. He's a young man
finding his way. That's all.

Speaker 6 (37:38):
Hey. By the way, you know what about.

Speaker 4 (37:39):
The quarterback Arizona State, Let's talk about him and now
good he is?

Speaker 9 (37:44):
Well, you know what he's gonna be. He's gonna be
really good, and he's only a wretch. I saw the
picture where you you took with the number elevens. I
like that.

Speaker 6 (37:53):
That's good picture. Yeah, did you like that, Thanks, Pete.
I'll be I'll be your friend. Now, look, i'll be
I'll be your friend. I like it.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
Yeah, you're set me up for a backhanded Uh, I'm
not going for your bait.

Speaker 9 (38:11):
Relevant that. I'm not setting you up.

Speaker 6 (38:14):
Okay, okay, all right, good right, thank you.

Speaker 5 (38:16):
Pet Pete.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
What did you think of the fiasco that was the
Cowboys handling of Mike McCarthy's departure.

Speaker 9 (38:24):
Well, I think it'll become more of a fiasco depending
on who they hire. I mean, if they wanted to
keep them, why didn't they keep them? And all the
coaches contracts were expiring, they started panicking and he started
getting looked somewhere else, and they said no, and then
all of a sudden he couldn't come to a deal.
And look, it wasn't handled very well. They should have
just kept them. I mean, the bottom line is the
problem with that team isn't Mike McCarthy. It's Jerry Jones

(38:49):
and and the you know, the situation with the roster,
and so if he wants to blame somebody, look in
the mirror and fire himself. And I've always i've always
defended him in that situation, but he's the problem in
large part because their roster isn't very good, or at
least it wasn't with all the injuries this year. So
now where do they go? You think he's going to
pay ten million dollars to buy out beyond fantherers.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
He doesn't.

Speaker 9 (39:11):
He doesn't pay that kind of thing. He doesn't make
those kind of deals. I doubt that's going to happen.
But where do they go?

Speaker 6 (39:17):
What do they do?

Speaker 9 (39:17):
They're gonna get a better coach to Mike McCarthy, good luck,
So what.

Speaker 7 (39:21):
About Ben Johnson? I know they have to wait a
while until he star out of the playoffs. Well what
about Ben Johnson?

Speaker 9 (39:26):
Didn't they kind of I mean they kind of hurt
themselves in that scenario too, but not you know, they
could have talked to him last week. Now they can't, right,
I mean, just the timing of it is very good.
I think Ben Johnson needs to go to Jackson. Well,
I think Ben Johnson wants to go to Jackson. I
think the problem is Trent Balkey. You know, Ken Ben
Johnson go in there, wowming up and get rid of
Trent Falke in the GM role. Then I think he

(39:47):
goes in there he gets Ryan Newmark from Washington, who's
his work with him in Detroit, and I think they
make they make that decision to go in there. So
that's what I think ideally happens for Ben Johnson. You
know the Raiders look, working for Tom Brady might be
something you're intrigued by, and I know their agents are close,
or it might be the same guy either. But where's

(40:07):
the quarterback in that scenario? I mean, you're setting yourself up.
You're setting yourself up almost to be a failure because
you can't win without a quarterback. So what do you
do if you go to the Raiders, I think you're
going to be, you know, have big problems winning there.

Speaker 7 (40:21):
I want to go back to Jacksonville because I saw
Shod Cohn on a video recording with Trem Balk and
he flat out sad like, if the head coach wants
trend Balky out, he's out. The problem with that is
is is Tren Bulk a part of the decision making
process for who the head coach.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
Is going to be?

Speaker 9 (40:40):
Well, what it is Brady is Shod Cohn doesn't have
any real confidence in that building, So there's one that
he can lean on that knows the process, can do
all the interviews, talk to all the people in the league,
because he's you know, he's not that guy, and so
he's using him in the process. And if somebody comes
in there, and why I've been told this, if somebody
comes in there and wows him to the point that

(41:01):
they want to hire him as head coach and he
doesn't want Trent bal Key, he will either be reassigned
in the organization, which would be a good thing, or
booted out the door. And quite frankly, he should be
booted out the door. I mean, the guy's had two
coaches already. This is number three. Give me a break.
Look look at the drafting that he's done over the
years and some of the free the free agent moves
he made. He needs to go. And I think ultimately

(41:23):
whoever gets that job will get him out.

Speaker 4 (41:26):
I want to revisit the playoffs, Pete, and get your
opinion on, you know, since we had such a spirited
discussion about the playoffs, you know, and pros versus college Listen,
you got Baltimore and and Buffalo coming up. What's your
what's your expectations of this one? I feel like that's
probably the super Bowl Chad that's coming out of that game.

Speaker 9 (41:48):
Well, you're just going to discount the Michael Jordan over
in Kansas City, are you?

Speaker 6 (41:52):
LeVar? Huh? I mean, I am? I am?

Speaker 4 (41:55):
Because their defense is what Bell's Bell's Patrick Homes out
quite a bit more times than maybe what people might
want to give credit for, and I don't know that
their defenses can hold up to either one of those
offenses out of Buffalo or Baltimore.

Speaker 9 (42:11):
Wow, you you just dissed Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 4 (42:15):
I did not, I just was stating facts.

Speaker 9 (42:19):
Look, Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs makes the big plays.
Let's be real, He's always has. He did it last year.
He made this a big throw down?

Speaker 6 (42:25):
So does his defenses? Right? You? You would agree that
his defense is making play over.

Speaker 9 (42:30):
The course of the of the course of his career.
The defense hasn't been that good as as it was
last year, and it's not that good this year. They're
going to win this year. It's going to be because of him.
But look, could Baltimore and win. They can go in
there and win. I'm not going to argue with you
on that. I think they're more than k Both of
them are more than capable of going in there and
win winning, but you know it's not easy to go

(42:51):
there and win, and they need to know two wins
and they're in the super Bowl, a game going for
number three, and so who do I think I think
Buffalo wins this time? And the reason I think Buffalo
wins this time last time they played him, No Milano,
no Bernard, no Taron Johnson. I mean that's your starting
nickel corner, your two linebackers, Derrick Henry Win ran wild

(43:12):
in that game. I think they're gonna do a better
job on them, and I do worry about the Ravens.
Second that we saw a little bit of that last
week when Russell Wilson actually completed passes in the second half.
So I think Buffalo wins that game in Buffalo or Baltimore,
whoever does win going to Kansas City and win? Yeah,
are you picking them? Are you picking them? I picked
Buffalo before the season, and I'm not sure I'm going

(43:33):
to pick them to beat Kansas City.

Speaker 4 (43:34):
I picked Kansas City before the season, and I'm not
sure I'm picking Kansas City to win either one against
either one of those teams.

Speaker 6 (43:41):
Wow, I think they're too hot. I think by the way.

Speaker 4 (43:45):
I actually think Baltimore is the hottest team.

Speaker 9 (43:48):
The old adage came true again last night, didn't it.
You are what you are?

Speaker 3 (43:54):
Come on, Pete, Hey, come on, Pete.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
How much money did Sam Darnold cost himself the past
two oh boatload?

Speaker 9 (44:02):
I mean, look, he wasn't going to get the fifty
million dollars deal, but you got to think that the
Vikings were sitting there saying, you know what, maybe we
should just keep him and and you know, maybe give
him the Baker Mayfield plus deal. I don't know if
he's going to get that. And if he does get that,
where else is he going to get it from? He
melted down the last two weeks he had that. He

(44:23):
was almost like he stepped in and he took over
the Kirk Cousins glazed look role. And you know, I
mean it was awful. It was he looked like he
held the ball for a half and it was terrible.
And so again the adage usually comes through. You are
what you are, and you can hide it for a
little while. You can mask it with some games, but

(44:45):
usually plays true. You are what you are.

Speaker 7 (44:49):
Hell of a season, Pete, So I know you want
to try to won a Super Bowl.

Speaker 6 (44:54):
Nick Bowles won a Super Bowl exactly.

Speaker 9 (44:56):
The greatest accident in the history of the National Football League.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
Pete, he's got a Super Bowl ring.

Speaker 7 (45:01):
So you can try to say you are what you are,
but it doesn't take away from the fact that they
didn't win fourteen games.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
They did get into playoffs.

Speaker 7 (45:10):
Like, it's hard to kind of counter that he will
be making a decent contract the off season. The questions
more moving forward, what would you do with Sam Donald
and JJ McCarthy. Would you just move on to JJ
or would you do something to allow Sam to be
there and then see what you have in JJ? And
I allow them both and maybe Pete compete whatever. As

(45:30):
you head into twenty twenty five.

Speaker 9 (45:32):
Well, how do you do that? Do you tag him?

Speaker 3 (45:35):
I mean one, that's one way of going about it.

Speaker 9 (45:38):
Well, let's put it this way, Brady. I thought there
was a real chance they could try and get assets
and trade JJ McCarthy a couple of weeks ago. There
isn't a chance in hell of that happening now. Zero damn.
I mean no way. And look, Sam Darnold did some
good things this year, There's no question about it. But
do you want him being the quarterback of your football

(46:00):
see if you have true super Bowl aspirations, yes or no.

Speaker 7 (46:04):
We said this to start the show, and that's more
of my sentiment was I think he proved that he's
probably not that guy that's going to be able to
elevate the entire team to win a Super Bowl. But
again it's it's you know, I don't know if Kevin
O'Connell sees it the same way. I don't know if
Quasio do Flamensa sees it the same way.

Speaker 3 (46:21):
Right, they might.

Speaker 7 (46:23):
They might look at the entire body of work, and
there might be some things they go back and look
at and say, hey, our protection wasn't great.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
You need to get rid of the football.

Speaker 7 (46:30):
But of those nine sacks, maybe you know, five of
them were still hitting home regardless, Right, I.

Speaker 9 (46:36):
Would agree with you on a lot of that. I'm
not I'm not saying he's all as blamed for it, No,
but you gotta admit the look on his face.

Speaker 7 (46:45):
What was the look, Pete, what was the look? Describe
it for us?

Speaker 9 (46:48):
It was it was like it was show. I mean,
when you kid, he looked like he was he would
never be able to complete a path again in his life.
That's what he looked like.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
You.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
When have you ever had that look in your face?

Speaker 7 (47:00):
You know, you got, Pete, When have you ever had
that look on your face before?

Speaker 3 (47:04):
Give us a time? You remember having this glazed look?

Speaker 6 (47:07):
When did you have it?

Speaker 9 (47:08):
I never had that look. I never have that look
on my face ever, one of those guys.

Speaker 7 (47:14):
Even when riding your bike around the neighborhood, you never
had any close calls where you thought some guys going
to take you out or something.

Speaker 9 (47:21):
No, no, no, I did not And could somebody take
me out?

Speaker 6 (47:27):
Sure?

Speaker 9 (47:27):
Absolutely, you get some big monster, he's gonna take me out.
But you know what I always do, Brady, I get even.

Speaker 6 (47:37):
Pete City gets even at Prisco.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
CBS is where you can find him on social media.

Speaker 6 (47:42):
Pete, thanks so much.

Speaker 5 (47:43):
We appreciate it. We'll do it again.

Speaker 9 (47:46):
Hey, by the way, let's go Irish.

Speaker 4 (47:48):
Yeah, there we go, Pete Prisco.

Speaker 5 (47:52):
What a man, Pete Prisco got always a fun ride.
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Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

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