December 31, 2025 • 37 mins
Today on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, Brian Noe & Jason Martin fill in and talk about who you can trust this upcoming weekend in NFL games with playoff implications, the coaches left in the college football playoffs you can trust the most, if the Bears are for real, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of two pros and a couple
of Joe with Lamar Airings and Rady Quinn and Jonas
Knox on Fox Orts Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, I want to talk to you Jason about trust. Okay,
it's the theme of the first segment, if you will. Now,
I got a couple of examples, couple of subjects that
turn into a couple of questions. Right, So if you
look at this battle on Saturday, we'll start with the
NFL will weave our way to college football. Now, if
you look at this battle on Saturday between the Seahawks
(00:35):
and the forty nine ers, winner gets the division, winner
clinches the one seed, big steaks, big steaks. Who do
you trust more? Is it Sam Darnald or is it
that forty nine Ers defense? And it's one of these
like oh oh gosh, Like it's not easy to pick one.
But if you have to break the tie, do you
trust Donald or that forty nine Ers defense more?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Man? I think just because this is the time of
year where Sam Darnald has historically turned into a pumpkin. Yeah,
I don't know if it's different with Jasi. I mean,
he's looked great this year and the forty nine Ers
(01:20):
defense definitely has been spotty. Man. That is a really
really tough question because there's reasons not to pick both.
But then you're just like, well, but San Francisco often
wins games, rises to occasions when you're least expecting it.
But then I'm watching Fred Warner in a varsity jacket
(01:40):
on TV on Sunday, so obviously he's not going to
be in a game, and I will take I'm gonna
I'm gonna do the weird. I'm gonna take Darnald. Yeah,
I'm gonna take Darnald. Maybe not by a lot, but
I think the connection that he has with with Barner
(02:04):
and with JSN and just the way that he can
hand the ball off to Charbonnay, I'm not sure that
San Francisco is going to be particularly adept at stopping
to run. So I just I'm gonna go with what
Darnald has around him as much as him and just
give him the benefit of the doubt for one week
and say, all right, end of the season. This is
the one where you usually don't show up prove us wrong.
(02:26):
That's right. Yeah, you know what I'm with you, and
I don't like it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Not that I don't like being with Donald, right, I
love being with you, Jmar, but don't I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I don't love being on the Donald side. It feels weird.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You're just like you have nightmares going right back to
last season, same scenarios, right, yeah, I'm seeing ghosts with
the Jets. And then last season division on the line,
one set on the line, can you beat the Lions?
And it was a disaster. He played badly, He had
guys wide open in the end zone, couldn't get him
the football. They don't win the one seed. And then
(03:00):
the next week in the playoffs, right, he was even worse.
He took nine sacks in a loss against the Rams.
So yeah, yeah, these big stage games, you're like, oh gosh,
am I really going with Donald? But listen, Jackson, Smith
and Jigba has been fantastic. If that running game is
working anywhere near what it was last week against Carolina,
(03:21):
Charboney went crazy, Right, So if you've got that running
game cranked up, which you could against the forty nine
Ers defense, that obviously takes some of the responsibilities off
of Donald's plate. And I just look at this Niners defense, man,
they're dead last in the NFL. In sacks defensively. There,
they have eighteen sacks on the season. The Broncos have
(03:43):
sixty four. Like, now, that's that's first place, and that's
last place in that category.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
And they lost their main guy, right, I mean they
lost Nick Bosa, that's right. And he was the guy
that caught that. Even when he was not the one
getting the sack, you had to account for him so much.
She was such a disruptive force that you took him
out of the equation. And they just there's no teeth
on that front line, right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
He doesn't free anybody up, right, like he right, he
isn't getting chipped, and well, this frees up somebody else,
or he forces the quarterback to step up and there's
a defensive tackle right there who gets the sack.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yeah, it's completely different.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
If you look at the Niners dead last in sacks,
they're looking up at the Jets.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Is that Jets pass rush fears him over there?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Like the Jets have twenty six sacks on the season,
the Niners have eighteen. That is just terrible. They just
got carved up, not only by the Bears. And you're like, okay,
Caleb Williams, he's got a ton of skill. They got
carved up by old man Rivers like Philip Rivers came
off the couch after a five year hiatus and carved
up the forty nine ers. So what do you think
(04:51):
is gonna happen come playoff time? And in this game,
right before playoff time. I think Donald has a leg
up on the forty nine ers defense, is what I think.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think that is the smartest play
if you had to, if you had to bet on one.
And look if Darnald can kind of shake off that
reputation of him in crucial moments at the end of
the season. I mean, all of a sudden, you're looking
at Seattle and saying, all right, they they could go
all the way, like because they're very dangerous. We know
(05:23):
what they can do defensively, we know what they can
do running the ball if he just doesn't turn it over.
And and you know, eighteen sacks on the season is
barely one per game as a team. Not that's right.
I mean, Miles Garrett is laughing at them, that's right
right now.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
But Miles Garrett himself has more than the forty nine
ers collectively, right, So one would.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Think one would think if you're Donald, you've got a
pretty good chance at a clean pocket most of that game. Like,
you're gonna have more of an opportunity in that spot.
If that's the case, like, just don't turn it over,
find the open man, and don't try to do too much.
You know, it's all the problem for the forty nine
ers or playing against the forty nine ers is you're
(06:08):
gonna be playing against genius Shanahan and whatever he's got offensively,
and you're catching brock Party at a time where all
of a sudden he decided he's really good again. We'll
see whether or not that changes in a couple of weeks,
but you know, he's making all the plays and CMC
is having an incredible season. He's been healthy pretty much throughout.
(06:28):
So you're gonna have to outscore them potentially, but that's
a very doable thing because their defense is likely to
give you an opportunity to put up four or five touchdowns.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay, So let me give you another one here, Trust,
which coincidentally is a halfway decent Megadeth song. J Mart,
you know, no real metal, You're all over the medal.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
There is that countdown to extinction where oh Megadeth, Oh gosh,
I think it's cryptic writings is what it is?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, that one. Who do you trust more? The Steelers
offense or Lamar Jackson?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Who is?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh yeah, I know it. It's gonna be ugly here.
You gotta pick one. Who you got.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I'm gonna have to get some an acid during the
break for the for the way this show has started
with these super questions. Oh yeah, student offensive Lamar Jackson
right now? No Metcalf.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
No Metcalf scored six points against the Browns.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I'm gonna take Lamar. And the reason why if well,
if Lamar can play or whatever like that. But like,
I'm gonna take Lamar simply because in this scenario, he
knows if I just go out and ball out once
we're in the playoffs with all of what we've done, Dude,
I have Baltimore winning the Super Bowl this year. Wow. Yeah,
(07:49):
so did my regular co host Aaron Torres. We both
picked Baltimore before the season, and I said this would
be the year that the Steelers didn't finish, this would
be the end of Tomlins streak. They're not gonna do that.
I ended up getting that wrong because for whatever. They
started out really strong, but there's nothing about what they
(08:11):
do right now offensively that concerns me. If I am
a defense like maybe Rogers has got one more in him.
He certainly played pretty well in the last game. But
I'm gonna take Lamar because again, Lamar's got He's got
a semi truck he can hand the football to as well,
and Derrick Henry. He's coming off a two hundred and
(08:32):
fourteen yard four touchdown performance. That's that's the biggest reason
is Lamar can be Lamar without having to go for
four hundred yards and win this game. And the Steelers
defense is not what it has been in years past.
Even if TJ. Watts is able to play in this game,
I like the chances of Lamar to pull one out
(08:54):
because the Ravens were supposed to make it and then
it's like, how are they still possibly able to make
it with the season that they that they've had. I
feel like that's enough to spur Lamar onto one of
those performances that has people saying, well, it's Baltimore the
team you don't want to face now, And to answer
that question's gonna be no. But I think I think
I'll take Lamar. I get it.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I totally understand what you're you're thinking on that one.
But yeah, but I just cannot trust Lamar. I don't
even know that he's gonna play, which is a.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Whole That's what I'm saying. If he doesn't play, it
doesn't matter. If he's not healthy, it doesn't matter. I
will say this. I the one I don't trust right
now is John Harball. And it's not as a coach.
When they had their little tiff or there was the
question about their relationship last week, he said, our relationship
is a plus, him and Lamar. And I said, as
(09:48):
soon as I heard that, oh, there's a problem. Have
you ever heard anybody in your life say our relationship
is a plus? Like that sounds like a fake thing
that you say to try it stop something like it. Yeah,
maybe that is how he talks. I don't know, but
when I heard that, that's like, you're going you've you've
(10:09):
over said. It's like, how's your relationship? Man? How are you?
And how are you and Gina doing? Right? Oh? Man,
couldn't be better? A plus? Gonna give her a ring
next week, we're gonna get married. It's just like, oh, Okay,
you've oversold it. I'm sorry things are going poorly for you.
Like when I heard that, I immediately thought, oh, there's
a problem here, there's a problem in this relationship. There's
(10:29):
just this season has been rough on everybody involved. So
I don't think the vibes are particularly good right now. Now.
It's yeah, if you can believe it, A team with
Aaron Rodgers, the vibes are better in twenty twenty five
than whatever's happening in Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, it's a man, that's a good point. If someone
came up to you, like, hey, Brian Man, you and
you and Lisa all right, everything good, and I'm like,
we have an A plus relationship. Whoever I said that
to would be like they're breaking up on place and
Lisa flowers there's.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
A that's right, it's it's over. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I just look, man, I don't trust the Steelers offense,
especially without DK. I mean, you saw what happened against
the Browns six points, and it somehow looked uglier than that,
if that's even possible, it did.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
So I don't have great faith in them.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
But that Ravens defense has not been like the you know,
the two thousand Ravens out there exactly right. They have
not been fantastic defensively, and I'm just looking at how
many points is that Steelers offense gonna have to generate here?
This is gonna be an ugly, gross, you know, a
game in the teams type game, right, it's not gonna
(11:39):
be a score fest. It's gonna be gritty, it's for
the division. It's gonna be AFC North to a te
So I don't think the Steelers offense has to be
prolific at all.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
And I just don't know that Lamar's gonna play. I
can't believe he hasn't gotten back out there yet.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
He's day to day with the brus He's got an
aUI and he's still out like and if he gets
back there, I just don't know how effective he's going
to be. This is not the Lamar we're accustomed to.
He's a special player, he's a special talent. He's done
insane things. He's a two time MVP, he probably should
be a three time MVP. And yet the version we've
(12:15):
seen gutting through some injuries. Right, He's had a hammy
and knee, he's had a toe, he's had an ankle,
he's had all this stuff. He's not looking to run,
he's not dynamic, he's not himself. This season he went
three straight games with zero touchdowns. Yeah, so like off
the show, off another in, another one off, another injury,
and I'm expecting Lamar to just like ball out against
(12:37):
the Steelers defense at home with the division on the line.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I don't trust him at all in this spot. Yeah, look,
all of that is right. I really don't either, I guess.
And you talked about it not being a shootout, Well,
I would say both teams are going to hope for that.
Remember the Week one classic between the Jets and the
Steelers that no one saw coming way back in the
day when they had a shootout. I even think that
(13:02):
game might have gotten to the forties. It was wildly entertaining.
It's like, may maybe this justin Fields thing is gonna work. Nope, nope, no, no,
not not so much. But yeah, I mean it definitely
has like seventeen thirteen written all over it. Yeah, it's
definitely a game. Yeah, it's definitely a game like that.
The bigger thing to me is just like, man, I
(13:22):
don't want to see either one of these teams in
the playoffs, you know, like the AFC is and maybe
we'll talk about this sum and hour two. But there
are definitely there are some teams that are going to
make the playoffs that I absolutely one don't know what
to make of those teams. I should know right now
what I think of you as a football team. And
(13:43):
there are a few teams with records that are good
where I'm just like, I don't know if that team's
good or not. I have no idea these two teams.
I know these two teams are mid at best. Like
these teams have, they're just mediocre. Could be on the
back of all their jersey. It could be like the
salute to service where you have unity or something on
the back of the jersey. All this could just say
(14:05):
mid on all their jerseys and that would be it.
Just because it's the season that they've had this division.
The whole way through has been this, So yeah, I mean,
I don't know. Maybe the bigger questions like do you
do you like Tomlin or do you like Lamar, at
which point I might have gone the other way. I
think it's just when I heard Steelers offense, do you
think about no Metcalf? Yeah, it's just like I don't
(14:27):
know where the dynamic. I don't know where it's coming
from at this point, but you could end up being right.
I'm glad we found one of the two of them
to disagree on, but yeah, at the very least, it
should be a dramatic, hard hitting game.
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Speaker 3 (15:25):
You let off with a couple of questions about Trusty,
So I want to stick with that theory and stick
with that idea, that paradigm, if you will, and say,
from eight to one, let's rank the coaches remaining in
a college football playoff based on your trust level in them.
So you don't have to like go eight to one.
(15:47):
We can kind of banter back and forth after each one.
But who do you have the least amount of trust
or faith in on game day? Now that everything is
set up, you know, all the practice time is done,
and now it's time to get on the field.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Number eight, I would go Pete Golding. He's the errum
coach at Ole Miss and listen, man, it's just one
of these deals where it sounds like we're on the
same page where hey, he might be a great coach
you know, one day, but just like a player, it
takes reps, it takes time. Like he's the interim guy.
He's taking over for Lane Kiffen who left to take
the LSU job.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
It's a tough ask.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You're going up against Kirby Smart and the Dogs in
a quarterfinal college football playoff game.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Like, that's a lot to ask of a guy.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Who's a former defensive coordinator and is now just your
interim head coach. So all these other guys, the seven
other head coaches have a world of head coaching experience
that's greater than what Pete Golding has, so he's got
to be at the bottom for me.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah. I mean, look, he might be great, and he
might be the great. He may be better than Kiffin.
That's a head coach of Old Miss. But if you're
asking the question based on trust and faith, it has
to be him because you just don't have enough. There's
not enough data points to back it up, Like there's
zero evidence of any of it, so it would be
straight up blind faith based on absolutely nothing. I will
(17:11):
say this, the best story imaginable like ripped straight out
of a movie and straight on too, like Multiple thirty
for thirties is if Kiffen goes to LSU, largely because
I don't think I can actually win a title on
Old Miss. I could. I could probably get closed, but
it's just gonna be too hard year after year to
(17:31):
try to win. If he goes to LSU and then
Pete Golding wins with that team, like imagine if they
actually won the national championship. I don't think they're going to,
by the way, but what a story, because I feel like,
do you think Ole Miss is just sympathetic. Like everybody's
rooting for Old Miss in a lot of ways right
(17:51):
now because everything that's happened has been out of their control.
And the more stories you've read with the players kind
of talking about the last month, Lane kind of being
checked out and you know, looking at the mistress instead
of the wife and all of that kind of stuff,
like it does like it's I can't imagine at this
point rooting against Ole Miss, like because they've just kind
(18:15):
of had to play.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Football around this circus. Yeah, listen, I think that the
first round smacking around to Lane. I think most people
were asleep at the wheel when it came to that
game or they watched a little bit of it and
they're like, Okay, I see where this is going.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
First was like an eight yeard touchdown. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So if they're able to beat Kirby Smart and Georgia,
that would really start some momentum of like, hey, let's
go Old Miss, Like maybe this is a great story.
No Lane Kiff, And they might be even hate rooting
for Old Miss just because they want Lane Kiffin to
look stupid for leaving, right, Like it could be part
of that too, is and I think of that. I
(18:57):
still think of Pete Golding as the interim guy. He's
the actual head coach. When you said, I'm like, no,
they don't have an interim tech.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
That's right. Hired him.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
He was for a second and then they're like, you
know what, screw it. This probably the best we can do.
He's the head guy, but he doesn't have head coaching experience.
So yeah, he's at the bottom of the list for me.
And going up against Kirby, that's a man. If you're
thinking about a way, think about this. If you're putting
your list together of coaches that you trust, you can
very well have Kirby Smart number one, Pete Golding number eight.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Yeah, could be the one to eight matchup A yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Right, So if you're looking at a you know, like
laying six and a half with the dogs.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
That might be the way to go.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Might be the way to go if you're you're breaking
down the coaching matchups like this, all.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Right, so who do you have next? Who do you
have seventh in your list of trust on the coaches
in the college football playoff? Chris de Ball, Yeah, I
have him. The boy we're together there on right. I
think it's gonna get more interesting as we Yeah, dude,
I just just look at look at what's on the resume.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Okay, it's not just being tight and being conservative to
a fault. And look at a couple of guys. I'll
tell you what real fast, Jason. As a Dolphins fan,
I was pleading with the football GUIDs in the twenty
twenty draft for my Fins to not draft Justin Herbert.
And I watched every Oregon game I was in Portland.
(20:16):
I talked Ducks football all the time. I watched every game,
and I didn't think Herbert was special at all based
on how Mario Cristabaal misused him.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Dude, his final year, Herbert's final year at Oregon was baffling,
like the year before. He could be the number one pick,
and then he came back to school and then it
was this guy's gonna be a bust. Yeah, beg it's
the NFL and he's borderline like rookie pro bowler.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
He's fantastic in the NFL. But christ of Ball is
so conservative, so he coaches scared.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
It's so weird.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
As a former offensive lineman, I would think it's almost
like Dan Campbell in.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
A way where it's like, let's go, we're aggressive here,
we're gambling. It's not the way it is.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
And the weird part about it is when they needed
to be conservative against Georgia Tech a couple of years ago,
they have the game won. All you have to do
is kneel on the ball and run out the clock
and you win. And they didn't even do that. He's like,
let's run some running plays over here. They fumbled, Georgia
Tech scores a touchdown. It was a debacle. Mario Cristobal
(21:19):
cannot be trusted whatsoever. And that doesn't mean he's destined
to screw everything up, but as far as trust goes, no,
you can't trust him at all.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
All Right, So those two we completely agree on. I
feel like we probably will here too. But give me
your number six, Ryan Day. Ah Man, I couldn't quite
get there, but yeah, yeah, I'm not shocked.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I'm not shocked the way I think of Ryan Day.
And I'm curious who your number six coach is in
the pyramid of trust. I love this is a great topic.
I go Ryan Day because listen, even though he's coming
off of a national championship last season, we've seen him
get tight to a fault time and time and time again.
Can't beat Michigan time and time and time again with
(22:05):
the much more talented team. I just can't think about
considering the late great bum Phillips, fantastic former NFL coach,
no longer with us, but he has one of the
famous quotes in all of football history. He was talking
about Don Shula and he said he can take his
in and beat Urine, and he can take.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Urine and beat his in, which means, if.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You translate the bum Philip bum Phillips vernacular, here, he's
saying he can take your team. He can take his
team and beat your team, and then he could also
take your team and beat his team.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
The latter is.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Something Ryan Day is completely incapable of doing. He can
take his team and beat your team and just out
talent you. He cannot take your team and beat his team.
He can't take the lesser talented team and beat a
more talented team. He had a hard time doing the
first part of it. Again, it's Michigan for years. So
(23:02):
I don't think highly of Ryan Day at all. He's
way too tight, He's way too conservative. You can feel
it as a team. The team gets tight in turn
because he's so tight. So yeah, I don't base this
on winning a title last season. He's got some things
in his favor, no doubt, but overall, no, I think
it's more so the byproduct of great talent instead of
(23:23):
great coaching.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
So I've got him sixth on my list of trust.
All right, So I've got maguire. Yeah, And it's not
because I think he's a bad coach. It's just again,
I don't know enough. I mean, he's thirty five and
seventeen into Texas Tech. There's nothing wrong with that. We
understand why Texas Tech is still in this thing. We
knew what they were doing before the season. I had
them in my playoff. I felt like this was going
(23:45):
to be an experiment that if it worked, holy cow,
are we going to see. You know, at least if
you where you have deep pockets, if you have the
right kind of enthusiasm, you're going to see stuff like this.
But I mean, I just don't know an about what
he looks like on this level against this kind of competition. Yeah,
(24:07):
I'm not counting them out. I do have them losing
to Oregon, but I mean the defense is phenomenal. I
just don't trust the offense quite as much. He might
be great. I just at the very least I have
seen Ryan Day win a championship. I've seen him in
pressure moments. That doesn't always reflect the best on him,
to your point, but I just I know a little
(24:30):
bit more about Ryan Day to do Joey McGuire.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
So that's why I would put McGuire six fair Enough,
I flip flopped him. I had Joey fifth on my
list for basically the same reasons you're talking about, where
he's done a really good job. They've had obviously a
phenomenal season. I just don't know enough about him come
playoff time and we're gonna get some answers here. So
it's more so the unknown with McGuire. So that's why
(24:54):
I just put Ryan Day sixth and then McGuire fifth.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
On my list. Yeah, so I flipped him. Yeah, Now
it's a bad day at five for basically the same
reasons that you laid out. He's definitely not somebody who
built the program from nothing like. He's somebody that at
the very least you could say he was on second
with a big lead towards third, but he was probably
already on third base when he took that job, hadn't
done a bad job. But you can look, I feel
(25:19):
like there are there's at least a handful of coaches
that could be in the same spot as he's been
and done almost exactly what he's done. That's right, So
I think that's what it is. I just don't know
that he has like distinguished himself as this gravitating force.
I mean with the talent that they have with and
he has built a great staff, but you know you're
(25:41):
losing a few of those guys now. So I definitely
agree with you and his decisions. When it comes to
just being conservative in big games, that's a real concern. Like,
with the talent you have, you should be aggressive all
the time, it feels like to me, and he's just
not been that way. So we don't have to belabor
just because you you made good points about him. So
(26:02):
who do you have fourth? Now is when it gets
pretty interesting. Yeah, I go Dan Lanning. I go with
the Oregon coach.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
And listen, we're in the top half of trust, so
there's nothing wrong with being fortune.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
All these guys are good.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, I'd go with the Oregon head coach where he's
had a ton of regular season success. It's just we
haven't seen the playoff success. Obviously, they got blown out
of the water against Ohio State last season. But what
I like about Lanning is, look, he's a grinder, and
I like it's. I like the tone that he sets
where he's, uh, he takes things personally.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
I think it was a dumb quote, but I do
like that he's feisty. Where, yeah, they're getting ready to
play Colorado last year and he's like, they're fighting for clicks,
we're fighting for wins. I thought that was totally unfair.
But he's feisty, Like he's like that that yappy dog
that's a little bit bigger than the you know, he's
not quite a chihuahua, you know, he's like a mid
(26:55):
sized dog that's yappy and like, what's up?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
You want something that?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Like, that's that's Dan Lanning is a And I like
that in terms of like a twelve team college football
playoff and trying to emerge from this take it on
Texas Tech. I think that serves you well overall. It's
just we got to see more playoff success. So I'd
have him fourth on my list.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Okay, so I would too, and it's mainly just because
I want to see a couple more signature wins out
of his program. Right, most of the best games I've
seen him coachher games they've lost, and it's not because
he's been bad. I'm not including the Ohio State game
that was just I was insane last year at college
football plaoff. But like the battles with de Bors Washington
(27:36):
teams the Indiana lost this season, like he's done a
good job and losses, but they've lost most of those games.
I just want to see them. He's the guy I
want to see take the next step because I really
like him. I like the way he goes about what
he does. I like the confidence, borderline cockiness here and there,
but I think you kind of have to have a
(27:57):
little bit of that, and I like the way teams
play him. Saying that we were below the standard because
of the second half against James Madison did have me
roll my eyes because it's not like the starters are
in the game at that point in time. And I
just think that was an overblown storyline that, oh, this
is getting close. I know it's a really not but yeah,
(28:17):
I'm not going there but yeah, I've got Landing at
four as well. But I like him. This is kind
of the year where like, if they could step up
win a couple of couple of games from here, you
might have a completely different feeling about him. But I
love that the way that he's built that program, and
I like them going forward. So but I'm with you.
So I've got him at four. Yeah, who do you
(28:38):
have at three?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
I went Kaylin to Bore and a couple of things
with this. I like Kaylin a lot. What he did
at Washington very good, got to a championship game. They
crashed and burned against Michigan, but it's not a mortal
sin to lose to a Jim Harbaugh team that was
really good that season.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
And I look at Kaylen now what I like about him.
He's aggressive, man.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
He is not shy of being maybe even overly aggressive.
You go back to the Iron Bowl against Auburn this
season and they're going for it on fourth and two.
They didn't take the points, they didn't take a field
goal to take the lead. They went for it on
fourth and two. If he doesn't get that first down,
if they don't get that first down, and somehow Auburn
(29:25):
wins that game. J Mart, good lord, Like they are
ready to not just get him out of town, they
are ready to like end his days here on earth.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Is what they'd be ready to do. So for him to.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Make that gutsy of a call, which was like borderline
reckless to not take the points and go for it
on fourth and two, it worked out. But he is
not afraid at all to be public enemy number one.
He's like, I think this gives us the best chance
to win. So this is the decision. This is the call.
I really respect that about him. It's more so what
(30:00):
he has right now. Do I trust him with no
running game? Wait man, no pass rush?
Speaker 3 (30:06):
With a quarterback in Tys Simpson who's been good most
of this year, but he's not Michael Pennock Jr. Right,
that's right, And they're overly relying on him.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
He's been skittish, he's been inaccurate down the stretch. I
don't trust them at all in this spot. So that's
a big part of it as well.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Yeah, So I agree with that, and I think that's
exactly the way to talk about it is. You can't
separate in a lot of these cases, but especially in
Alabama's case, you cannot separate the coach from what he
has on that team right now. And without Jam Miller,
they haven't ever run it at all. But even with
Jam they haven't been that good. The old line has
not been good, the defense has not been as advertised.
(30:44):
You can have them a lot in the passing game,
and then yeah, Simpson played his best early in the season.
Actually probably during the middle of the seasons, probably when
he really kind of hit his stride. But I mean,
Ryan Williams has disappeared completely on that team. I still
think Debor de Bor is just a different kind of guy.
Like when you listen to him and stuff, you like him,
(31:07):
you like him, you trust him, you like the way
he's doing things. But I think that's the difference between them,
is that when you look at uh, some of these
other guys, do Bor just doesn't have the horses this year.
That's right. I know, you look at you look at
that matchup with Indiana, You're like, but it's still Alabama.
It's like, yeah, it's Alabama in name only, It's not.
(31:29):
This is not that same Alabama team. I think I'm
gonna hold off. Okay, We're gonna go to break and
we'll come back and we'll do two in one, and
then I have at least one other question I want
to pose to you, like just based on something we
talked about the last time we hosted together. So two
and one, honestly, you could say two and one, you're
arguing between maybe the two best coaches in the sport
(31:51):
period at this point. Yeah, at least I think it's arguable.
There's a couple other guys you might want to throw
in there that didn't make the College Football Playoff. Don't
want to open up wounds about notre name, but Marcus
Freeman's definitely a good coach.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
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 (32:14):
You had a question that we didn't get to last second,
So let's let's tie off.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Let's let's get that. Uh, let's check that box real
quick and then we'll move on. Yeah, this is an
NFL question. Okay, Well, we hosted I think it was
Thanksgiving when we hosted, and this came up. You called
the Bears frauds. You didn't forget you said they were
You said they were foogazy. Yeah, and you made a
good case, right with the schedule and uh, the way
(32:39):
they've won late close games and all this kind of stuff.
I was just curious. And this isn't me calling you out.
I literally want to know if your take, if that
take has evolved based on what you've seen in the
last month, or if you're still side eyeing them a bit.
And this is kind of a trust question too, because
obviously they've won a lot of games. They played a
Game of the Year contender on Sunday Night Football. Clearly
(33:00):
they're better than they were last year. I'm not even
asking that question. I'm just what, how are you feeling
about the Bears now, now that you've gotten a little
bit more time to watch them.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I still feel the same way about this, Okay. I'll
put it this way. I like their offense even more
and I dislike their defense even more.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Okay, and I think that's gonna be their undoing.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
You know, like, you can't, bro, you can't score thirty
eight points in a game and lose. Can't happen, And
it just did on the road against the forty nine ers.
You can't try. You can't have your offense. Hey guys,
you've scored thirty eight points. We're gonna need one more
touchdown though to win. It's like, bro, come on, defense,
you gotta do better than this. And they started off
(33:44):
the game with the pick six. They started up first
play of the game. They're up seven to nothing, and
they still gave up forty two points. Their defense cannot
stay above water without forcing turnover after turnover after turnover.
I don't trust their defense at all, Man, And you
can't walk into the playoffs, even though it's wide open
this year, it's not as wide open in the NFC,
(34:07):
I don't think. And you just can't play no defense
and expect to go anywhere. So no, I think they're
total fools, gold Man, I don't think alright.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
I was just curious if you had changed it all.
Like I said, it wasn't like a call out thing. Yeah, yeah,
because I mean, obviously they've won games. I literally just
wanted to know how you felt about them right now,
because we're so close to the end of the regular season.
How about you, What do you think of the Bears.
I just think you call it fools, gold I call
it house money right now. Yeah, I understand. I don't
believe in championship windows because things can change on a dime.
(34:39):
And what you're seeing this year, especially with the Bears
winning so many close games, is not something that generally
translates year after year after year. But this is better
than any Bears fan could have possibly hoped already. Like Williams,
no doubt r for real. I mean, but like Caleb
Williams was broken last year, right right, there were people
(35:01):
talking about him being a bust. Everybody's talking about Jayden
Daniels and all this, and like all he's done is
come back and been a whole lot more like the
Caleb that you liked in college. Yeah, he's still Yeah,
there's some things where you still want to see him
be more consistent, but he's doing less of the stuff
that used to truly irritate you, holding the ball too
(35:21):
long and some of the things that he was doing.
He's being smarter with the ball. He's got a decent
chemistry I think with his receivers. And look, I mean,
considering what the Lions were and then you take their
OC and you're sitting there about to win that division,
which coming into the year was maybe going to be
the most competitive division in football. Even though you didn't
(35:42):
know what you were going to get with JJ McCarthy
in year one, you know what O'Connell is as a coach,
and you know what kind of weapons they had on
that team. The Packers, even though I've never been a giant,
Jordan love guy Lafleur's done a lot of really good
things there. You then go get Micah Parsons at the deadline,
and then the Lions were my pick in the NFC
(36:03):
to go face the Ravens in the Super Bowl. Crazy,
and it's the It's the freaking Chicago Bears. They're gonna
win that division before. They don't even have to do
anything this week to win that. It's incredible to me.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, it really is wild how it went down. And listen,
the Bears are well ahead of schedule. They've done a
lot of great things, but man, you just you gotta
be realistic about what's gonna happen in the playoffs when
they don't play defense. They've won six games with come
from behind wins in the final two minutes. Yeah, that's crazy,
(36:39):
that's crazy, and that's great. Hats off to them. They've
done it. With some great play. They've done it with
some fluky plays, right, but they recovered an on sidekick
against the Packers. Nobody recovers on sidekick, so there's been
some weird stuff that just is unsustainable. And that's how
I look at the Bears man heading into the playoffs.
A lot of their formula for success is totally unsustainable.
(37:02):
So no, I haven't readjusted. I don't think there's a
need to readjust on the Bears. I think they're total
frauds in terms of like they're gonna have great playoff
success in your one of the Ben Johnson regime.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I just don't think they are man. I don't think
they have the goods too
This is the best of two pros and a couple
of Joe with Lamar Airings and Rady Quinn and Jonas
Knox on Fox Orts Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, I want to talk to you Jason about trust. Okay,
it's the theme of the first segment, if you will. Now,
I got a couple of examples, couple of subjects that
turn into a couple of questions. Right, So if you
look at this battle on Saturday, we'll start with the
NFL will weave our way to college football. Now, if
you look at this battle on Saturday between the Seahawks
(00:35):
and the forty nine ers, winner gets the division, winner
clinches the one seed, big steaks, big steaks. Who do
you trust more? Is it Sam Darnald or is it
that forty nine Ers defense? And it's one of these
like oh oh gosh, Like it's not easy to pick one.
But if you have to break the tie, do you
trust Donald or that forty nine Ers defense more?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Man? I think just because this is the time of
year where Sam Darnald has historically turned into a pumpkin. Yeah,
I don't know if it's different with Jasi. I mean,
he's looked great this year and the forty nine Ers
(01:20):
defense definitely has been spotty. Man. That is a really
really tough question because there's reasons not to pick both.
But then you're just like, well, but San Francisco often
wins games, rises to occasions when you're least expecting it.
But then I'm watching Fred Warner in a varsity jacket
(01:40):
on TV on Sunday, so obviously he's not going to
be in a game, and I will take I'm gonna
I'm gonna do the weird. I'm gonna take Darnald. Yeah,
I'm gonna take Darnald. Maybe not by a lot, but
I think the connection that he has with with Barner
(02:04):
and with JSN and just the way that he can
hand the ball off to Charbonnay, I'm not sure that
San Francisco is going to be particularly adept at stopping
to run. So I just I'm gonna go with what
Darnald has around him as much as him and just
give him the benefit of the doubt for one week
and say, all right, end of the season. This is
the one where you usually don't show up prove us wrong.
(02:26):
That's right. Yeah, you know what I'm with you, and
I don't like it.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Not that I don't like being with Donald, right, I
love being with you, Jmar, but don't I don't.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I don't love being on the Donald side. It feels weird.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
You're just like you have nightmares going right back to
last season, same scenarios, right, yeah, I'm seeing ghosts with
the Jets. And then last season division on the line,
one set on the line, can you beat the Lions?
And it was a disaster. He played badly, He had
guys wide open in the end zone, couldn't get him
the football. They don't win the one seed. And then
(03:00):
the next week in the playoffs, right, he was even worse.
He took nine sacks in a loss against the Rams.
So yeah, yeah, these big stage games, you're like, oh gosh,
am I really going with Donald? But listen, Jackson, Smith
and Jigba has been fantastic. If that running game is
working anywhere near what it was last week against Carolina,
(03:21):
Charboney went crazy, Right, So if you've got that running
game cranked up, which you could against the forty nine
Ers defense, that obviously takes some of the responsibilities off
of Donald's plate. And I just look at this Niners defense, man,
they're dead last in the NFL. In sacks defensively. There,
they have eighteen sacks on the season. The Broncos have
(03:43):
sixty four. Like, now, that's that's first place, and that's
last place in that category.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
And they lost their main guy, right, I mean they
lost Nick Bosa, that's right. And he was the guy
that caught that. Even when he was not the one
getting the sack, you had to account for him so much.
She was such a disruptive force that you took him
out of the equation. And they just there's no teeth
on that front line, right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
He doesn't free anybody up, right, like he right, he
isn't getting chipped, and well, this frees up somebody else,
or he forces the quarterback to step up and there's
a defensive tackle right there who gets the sack.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Yeah, it's completely different.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
If you look at the Niners dead last in sacks,
they're looking up at the Jets.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Is that Jets pass rush fears him over there?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Like the Jets have twenty six sacks on the season,
the Niners have eighteen. That is just terrible. They just
got carved up, not only by the Bears. And you're like, okay,
Caleb Williams, he's got a ton of skill. They got
carved up by old man Rivers like Philip Rivers came
off the couch after a five year hiatus and carved
up the forty nine ers. So what do you think
(04:51):
is gonna happen come playoff time? And in this game,
right before playoff time. I think Donald has a leg
up on the forty nine ers defense, is what I think.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think that is the smartest play
if you had to, if you had to bet on one.
And look if Darnald can kind of shake off that
reputation of him in crucial moments at the end of
the season. I mean, all of a sudden, you're looking
at Seattle and saying, all right, they they could go
all the way, like because they're very dangerous. We know
(05:23):
what they can do defensively, we know what they can
do running the ball if he just doesn't turn it over.
And and you know, eighteen sacks on the season is
barely one per game as a team. Not that's right.
I mean, Miles Garrett is laughing at them, that's right
right now.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
But Miles Garrett himself has more than the forty nine
ers collectively, right, So one would.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Think one would think if you're Donald, you've got a
pretty good chance at a clean pocket most of that game. Like,
you're gonna have more of an opportunity in that spot.
If that's the case, like, just don't turn it over,
find the open man, and don't try to do too much.
You know, it's all the problem for the forty nine
ers or playing against the forty nine ers is you're
(06:08):
gonna be playing against genius Shanahan and whatever he's got offensively,
and you're catching brock Party at a time where all
of a sudden he decided he's really good again. We'll
see whether or not that changes in a couple of weeks,
but you know, he's making all the plays and CMC
is having an incredible season. He's been healthy pretty much throughout.
(06:28):
So you're gonna have to outscore them potentially, but that's
a very doable thing because their defense is likely to
give you an opportunity to put up four or five touchdowns.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay, So let me give you another one here, Trust,
which coincidentally is a halfway decent Megadeth song. J Mart,
you know, no real metal, You're all over the medal.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
There is that countdown to extinction where oh Megadeth, Oh gosh,
I think it's cryptic writings is what it is?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, that one. Who do you trust more? The Steelers
offense or Lamar Jackson?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Who is?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh yeah, I know it. It's gonna be ugly here.
You gotta pick one. Who you got.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I'm gonna have to get some an acid during the
break for the for the way this show has started
with these super questions. Oh yeah, student offensive Lamar Jackson
right now? No Metcalf.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
No Metcalf scored six points against the Browns.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I'm gonna take Lamar. And the reason why if well,
if Lamar can play or whatever like that. But like,
I'm gonna take Lamar simply because in this scenario, he
knows if I just go out and ball out once
we're in the playoffs with all of what we've done, Dude,
I have Baltimore winning the Super Bowl this year. Wow. Yeah,
(07:49):
so did my regular co host Aaron Torres. We both
picked Baltimore before the season, and I said this would
be the year that the Steelers didn't finish, this would
be the end of Tomlins streak. They're not gonna do that.
I ended up getting that wrong because for whatever. They
started out really strong, but there's nothing about what they
(08:11):
do right now offensively that concerns me. If I am
a defense like maybe Rogers has got one more in him.
He certainly played pretty well in the last game. But
I'm gonna take Lamar because again, Lamar's got He's got
a semi truck he can hand the football to as well,
and Derrick Henry. He's coming off a two hundred and
(08:32):
fourteen yard four touchdown performance. That's that's the biggest reason
is Lamar can be Lamar without having to go for
four hundred yards and win this game. And the Steelers
defense is not what it has been in years past.
Even if TJ. Watts is able to play in this game,
I like the chances of Lamar to pull one out
(08:54):
because the Ravens were supposed to make it and then
it's like, how are they still possibly able to make
it with the season that they that they've had. I
feel like that's enough to spur Lamar onto one of
those performances that has people saying, well, it's Baltimore the
team you don't want to face now, And to answer
that question's gonna be no. But I think I think
I'll take Lamar. I get it.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
I totally understand what you're you're thinking on that one.
But yeah, but I just cannot trust Lamar. I don't
even know that he's gonna play, which is a.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Whole That's what I'm saying. If he doesn't play, it
doesn't matter. If he's not healthy, it doesn't matter. I
will say this. I the one I don't trust right
now is John Harball. And it's not as a coach.
When they had their little tiff or there was the
question about their relationship last week, he said, our relationship
is a plus, him and Lamar. And I said, as
(09:48):
soon as I heard that, oh, there's a problem. Have
you ever heard anybody in your life say our relationship
is a plus? Like that sounds like a fake thing
that you say to try it stop something like it. Yeah,
maybe that is how he talks. I don't know, but
when I heard that, that's like, you're going you've you've
(10:09):
over said. It's like, how's your relationship? Man? How are you?
And how are you and Gina doing? Right? Oh? Man,
couldn't be better? A plus? Gonna give her a ring
next week, we're gonna get married. It's just like, oh, Okay,
you've oversold it. I'm sorry things are going poorly for you.
Like when I heard that, I immediately thought, oh, there's
a problem here, there's a problem in this relationship. There's
(10:29):
just this season has been rough on everybody involved. So
I don't think the vibes are particularly good right now. Now.
It's yeah, if you can believe it, A team with
Aaron Rodgers, the vibes are better in twenty twenty five
than whatever's happening in Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, it's a man, that's a good point. If someone
came up to you, like, hey, Brian Man, you and
you and Lisa all right, everything good, and I'm like,
we have an A plus relationship. Whoever I said that
to would be like they're breaking up on place and
Lisa flowers there's.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
A that's right, it's it's over. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
I just look, man, I don't trust the Steelers offense,
especially without DK. I mean, you saw what happened against
the Browns six points, and it somehow looked uglier than that,
if that's even possible, it did.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
So I don't have great faith in them.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
But that Ravens defense has not been like the you know,
the two thousand Ravens out there exactly right. They have
not been fantastic defensively, and I'm just looking at how
many points is that Steelers offense gonna have to generate here?
This is gonna be an ugly, gross, you know, a
game in the teams type game, right, it's not gonna
(11:39):
be a score fest. It's gonna be gritty, it's for
the division. It's gonna be AFC North to a te
So I don't think the Steelers offense has to be
prolific at all.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
And I just don't know that Lamar's gonna play. I
can't believe he hasn't gotten back out there yet.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
He's day to day with the brus He's got an
aUI and he's still out like and if he gets
back there, I just don't know how effective he's going
to be. This is not the Lamar we're accustomed to.
He's a special player, he's a special talent. He's done
insane things. He's a two time MVP, he probably should
be a three time MVP. And yet the version we've
(12:15):
seen gutting through some injuries. Right, He's had a hammy
and knee, he's had a toe, he's had an ankle,
he's had all this stuff. He's not looking to run,
he's not dynamic, he's not himself. This season he went
three straight games with zero touchdowns. Yeah, so like off
the show, off another in, another one off, another injury,
and I'm expecting Lamar to just like ball out against
(12:37):
the Steelers defense at home with the division on the line.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
I don't trust him at all in this spot. Yeah, look,
all of that is right. I really don't either, I guess.
And you talked about it not being a shootout, Well,
I would say both teams are going to hope for that.
Remember the Week one classic between the Jets and the
Steelers that no one saw coming way back in the
day when they had a shootout. I even think that
(13:02):
game might have gotten to the forties. It was wildly entertaining.
It's like, may maybe this justin Fields thing is gonna work. Nope, nope, no, no,
not not so much. But yeah, I mean it definitely
has like seventeen thirteen written all over it. Yeah, it's
definitely a game. Yeah, it's definitely a game like that.
The bigger thing to me is just like, man, I
(13:22):
don't want to see either one of these teams in
the playoffs, you know, like the AFC is and maybe
we'll talk about this sum and hour two. But there
are definitely there are some teams that are going to
make the playoffs that I absolutely one don't know what
to make of those teams. I should know right now
what I think of you as a football team. And
(13:43):
there are a few teams with records that are good
where I'm just like, I don't know if that team's
good or not. I have no idea these two teams.
I know these two teams are mid at best. Like
these teams have, they're just mediocre. Could be on the
back of all their jersey. It could be like the
salute to service where you have unity or something on
the back of the jersey. All this could just say
(14:05):
mid on all their jerseys and that would be it.
Just because it's the season that they've had this division.
The whole way through has been this, So yeah, I mean,
I don't know. Maybe the bigger questions like do you
do you like Tomlin or do you like Lamar, at
which point I might have gone the other way. I
think it's just when I heard Steelers offense, do you
think about no Metcalf? Yeah, it's just like I don't
(14:27):
know where the dynamic. I don't know where it's coming
from at this point, but you could end up being right.
I'm glad we found one of the two of them
to disagree on, but yeah, at the very least, it
should be a dramatic, hard hitting game.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
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Speaker 3 (15:25):
You let off with a couple of questions about Trusty,
So I want to stick with that theory and stick
with that idea, that paradigm, if you will, and say,
from eight to one, let's rank the coaches remaining in
a college football playoff based on your trust level in them.
So you don't have to like go eight to one.
(15:47):
We can kind of banter back and forth after each one.
But who do you have the least amount of trust
or faith in on game day? Now that everything is
set up, you know, all the practice time is done,
and now it's time to get on the field.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Number eight, I would go Pete Golding. He's the errum
coach at Ole Miss and listen, man, it's just one
of these deals where it sounds like we're on the
same page where hey, he might be a great coach
you know, one day, but just like a player, it
takes reps, it takes time. Like he's the interim guy.
He's taking over for Lane Kiffen who left to take
the LSU job.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
It's a tough ask.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
You're going up against Kirby Smart and the Dogs in
a quarterfinal college football playoff game.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Like, that's a lot to ask of a guy.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Who's a former defensive coordinator and is now just your
interim head coach. So all these other guys, the seven
other head coaches have a world of head coaching experience
that's greater than what Pete Golding has, so he's got
to be at the bottom for me.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah. I mean, look, he might be great, and he
might be the great. He may be better than Kiffin.
That's a head coach of Old Miss. But if you're
asking the question based on trust and faith, it has
to be him because you just don't have enough. There's
not enough data points to back it up, Like there's
zero evidence of any of it, so it would be
straight up blind faith based on absolutely nothing. I will
(17:11):
say this, the best story imaginable like ripped straight out
of a movie and straight on too, like Multiple thirty
for thirties is if Kiffen goes to LSU, largely because
I don't think I can actually win a title on
Old Miss. I could. I could probably get closed, but
it's just gonna be too hard year after year to
(17:31):
try to win. If he goes to LSU and then
Pete Golding wins with that team, like imagine if they
actually won the national championship. I don't think they're going to,
by the way, but what a story, because I feel like,
do you think Ole Miss is just sympathetic. Like everybody's
rooting for Old Miss in a lot of ways right
(17:51):
now because everything that's happened has been out of their control.
And the more stories you've read with the players kind
of talking about the last month, Lane kind of being
checked out and you know, looking at the mistress instead
of the wife and all of that kind of stuff,
like it does like it's I can't imagine at this
point rooting against Ole Miss, like because they've just kind
(18:15):
of had to play.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Football around this circus. Yeah, listen, I think that the
first round smacking around to Lane. I think most people
were asleep at the wheel when it came to that
game or they watched a little bit of it and
they're like, Okay, I see where this is going.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
First was like an eight yeard touchdown. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
So if they're able to beat Kirby Smart and Georgia,
that would really start some momentum of like, hey, let's
go Old Miss, Like maybe this is a great story.
No Lane Kiff, And they might be even hate rooting
for Old Miss just because they want Lane Kiffin to
look stupid for leaving, right, Like it could be part
of that too, is and I think of that. I
(18:57):
still think of Pete Golding as the interim guy. He's
the actual head coach. When you said, I'm like, no,
they don't have an interim tech.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
That's right. Hired him.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
He was for a second and then they're like, you
know what, screw it. This probably the best we can do.
He's the head guy, but he doesn't have head coaching experience.
So yeah, he's at the bottom of the list for me.
And going up against Kirby, that's a man. If you're
thinking about a way, think about this. If you're putting
your list together of coaches that you trust, you can
very well have Kirby Smart number one, Pete Golding number eight.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Yeah, could be the one to eight matchup A yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Right, So if you're looking at a you know, like
laying six and a half with the dogs.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
That might be the way to go.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Might be the way to go if you're you're breaking
down the coaching matchups like this, all.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
Right, so who do you have next? Who do you
have seventh in your list of trust on the coaches
in the college football playoff? Chris de Ball, Yeah, I
have him. The boy we're together there on right. I
think it's gonna get more interesting as we Yeah, dude,
I just just look at look at what's on the resume.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
Okay, it's not just being tight and being conservative to
a fault. And look at a couple of guys. I'll
tell you what real fast, Jason. As a Dolphins fan,
I was pleading with the football GUIDs in the twenty
twenty draft for my Fins to not draft Justin Herbert.
And I watched every Oregon game I was in Portland.
(20:16):
I talked Ducks football all the time. I watched every game,
and I didn't think Herbert was special at all based
on how Mario Cristabaal misused him.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Dude, his final year, Herbert's final year at Oregon was baffling,
like the year before. He could be the number one pick,
and then he came back to school and then it
was this guy's gonna be a bust. Yeah, beg it's
the NFL and he's borderline like rookie pro bowler.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
He's fantastic in the NFL. But christ of Ball is
so conservative, so he coaches scared.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
It's so weird.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
As a former offensive lineman, I would think it's almost
like Dan Campbell in.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
A way where it's like, let's go, we're aggressive here,
we're gambling. It's not the way it is.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
And the weird part about it is when they needed
to be conservative against Georgia Tech a couple of years ago,
they have the game won. All you have to do
is kneel on the ball and run out the clock
and you win. And they didn't even do that. He's like,
let's run some running plays over here. They fumbled, Georgia
Tech scores a touchdown. It was a debacle. Mario Cristobal
(21:19):
cannot be trusted whatsoever. And that doesn't mean he's destined
to screw everything up, but as far as trust goes, no,
you can't trust him at all.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
All Right, So those two we completely agree on. I
feel like we probably will here too. But give me
your number six, Ryan Day. Ah Man, I couldn't quite
get there, but yeah, yeah, I'm not shocked.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
I'm not shocked the way I think of Ryan Day.
And I'm curious who your number six coach is in
the pyramid of trust. I love this is a great topic.
I go Ryan Day because listen, even though he's coming
off of a national championship last season, we've seen him
get tight to a fault time and time and time again.
Can't beat Michigan time and time and time again with
(22:05):
the much more talented team. I just can't think about
considering the late great bum Phillips, fantastic former NFL coach,
no longer with us, but he has one of the
famous quotes in all of football history. He was talking
about Don Shula and he said he can take his
in and beat Urine, and he can take.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Urine and beat his in, which means, if.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You translate the bum Philip bum Phillips vernacular, here, he's
saying he can take your team. He can take his
team and beat your team, and then he could also
take your team and beat his team.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
The latter is.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Something Ryan Day is completely incapable of doing. He can
take his team and beat your team and just out
talent you. He cannot take your team and beat his team.
He can't take the lesser talented team and beat a
more talented team. He had a hard time doing the
first part of it. Again, it's Michigan for years. So
(23:02):
I don't think highly of Ryan Day at all. He's
way too tight, He's way too conservative. You can feel
it as a team. The team gets tight in turn
because he's so tight. So yeah, I don't base this
on winning a title last season. He's got some things
in his favor, no doubt, but overall, no, I think
it's more so the byproduct of great talent instead of
(23:23):
great coaching.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
So I've got him sixth on my list of trust.
All right, So I've got maguire. Yeah, And it's not
because I think he's a bad coach. It's just again,
I don't know enough. I mean, he's thirty five and
seventeen into Texas Tech. There's nothing wrong with that. We
understand why Texas Tech is still in this thing. We
knew what they were doing before the season. I had
them in my playoff. I felt like this was going
(23:45):
to be an experiment that if it worked, holy cow,
are we going to see. You know, at least if
you where you have deep pockets, if you have the
right kind of enthusiasm, you're going to see stuff like this.
But I mean, I just don't know an about what
he looks like on this level against this kind of competition. Yeah,
(24:07):
I'm not counting them out. I do have them losing
to Oregon, but I mean the defense is phenomenal. I
just don't trust the offense quite as much. He might
be great. I just at the very least I have
seen Ryan Day win a championship. I've seen him in
pressure moments. That doesn't always reflect the best on him,
to your point, but I just I know a little
(24:30):
bit more about Ryan Day to do Joey McGuire.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
So that's why I would put McGuire six fair Enough,
I flip flopped him. I had Joey fifth on my
list for basically the same reasons you're talking about, where
he's done a really good job. They've had obviously a
phenomenal season. I just don't know enough about him come
playoff time and we're gonna get some answers here. So
it's more so the unknown with McGuire. So that's why
(24:54):
I just put Ryan Day sixth and then McGuire fifth.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
On my list. Yeah, so I flipped him. Yeah, Now
it's a bad day at five for basically the same
reasons that you laid out. He's definitely not somebody who
built the program from nothing like. He's somebody that at
the very least you could say he was on second
with a big lead towards third, but he was probably
already on third base when he took that job, hadn't
done a bad job. But you can look, I feel
(25:19):
like there are there's at least a handful of coaches
that could be in the same spot as he's been
and done almost exactly what he's done. That's right, So
I think that's what it is. I just don't know
that he has like distinguished himself as this gravitating force.
I mean with the talent that they have with and
he has built a great staff, but you know you're
(25:41):
losing a few of those guys now. So I definitely
agree with you and his decisions. When it comes to
just being conservative in big games, that's a real concern. Like,
with the talent you have, you should be aggressive all
the time, it feels like to me, and he's just
not been that way. So we don't have to belabor
just because you you made good points about him. So
(26:02):
who do you have fourth? Now is when it gets
pretty interesting. Yeah, I go Dan Lanning. I go with
the Oregon coach.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
And listen, we're in the top half of trust, so
there's nothing wrong with being fortune.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
All these guys are good.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, I'd go with the Oregon head coach where he's
had a ton of regular season success. It's just we
haven't seen the playoff success. Obviously, they got blown out
of the water against Ohio State last season. But what
I like about Lanning is, look, he's a grinder, and
I like it's. I like the tone that he sets
where he's, uh, he takes things personally.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
You know.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
I think it was a dumb quote, but I do
like that he's feisty. Where, yeah, they're getting ready to
play Colorado last year and he's like, they're fighting for clicks,
we're fighting for wins. I thought that was totally unfair.
But he's feisty, Like he's like that that yappy dog
that's a little bit bigger than the you know, he's
not quite a chihuahua, you know, he's like a mid
(26:55):
sized dog that's yappy and like, what's up?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
You want something that?
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Like, that's that's Dan Lanning is a And I like
that in terms of like a twelve team college football
playoff and trying to emerge from this take it on
Texas Tech. I think that serves you well overall. It's
just we got to see more playoff success. So I'd
have him fourth on my list.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Okay, so I would too, and it's mainly just because
I want to see a couple more signature wins out
of his program. Right, most of the best games I've
seen him coachher games they've lost, and it's not because
he's been bad. I'm not including the Ohio State game
that was just I was insane last year at college
football plaoff. But like the battles with de Bors Washington
(27:36):
teams the Indiana lost this season, like he's done a
good job and losses, but they've lost most of those games.
I just want to see them. He's the guy I
want to see take the next step because I really
like him. I like the way he goes about what
he does. I like the confidence, borderline cockiness here and there,
but I think you kind of have to have a
(27:57):
little bit of that, and I like the way teams
play him. Saying that we were below the standard because
of the second half against James Madison did have me
roll my eyes because it's not like the starters are
in the game at that point in time. And I
just think that was an overblown storyline that, oh, this
is getting close. I know it's a really not but yeah,
(28:17):
I'm not going there but yeah, I've got Landing at
four as well. But I like him. This is kind
of the year where like, if they could step up
win a couple of couple of games from here, you
might have a completely different feeling about him. But I
love that the way that he's built that program, and
I like them going forward. So but I'm with you.
So I've got him at four. Yeah, who do you
(28:38):
have at three?
Speaker 2 (28:39):
I went Kaylin to Bore and a couple of things
with this. I like Kaylin a lot. What he did
at Washington very good, got to a championship game. They
crashed and burned against Michigan, but it's not a mortal
sin to lose to a Jim Harbaugh team that was
really good that season.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
And I look at Kaylen now what I like about him.
He's aggressive, man.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
He is not shy of being maybe even overly aggressive.
You go back to the Iron Bowl against Auburn this
season and they're going for it on fourth and two.
They didn't take the points, they didn't take a field
goal to take the lead. They went for it on
fourth and two. If he doesn't get that first down,
if they don't get that first down, and somehow Auburn
(29:25):
wins that game. J Mart, good lord, Like they are
ready to not just get him out of town, they
are ready to like end his days here on earth.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Is what they'd be ready to do. So for him to.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Make that gutsy of a call, which was like borderline
reckless to not take the points and go for it
on fourth and two, it worked out. But he is
not afraid at all to be public enemy number one.
He's like, I think this gives us the best chance
to win. So this is the decision. This is the call.
I really respect that about him. It's more so what
(30:00):
he has right now. Do I trust him with no
running game? Wait man, no pass rush?
Speaker 3 (30:06):
With a quarterback in Tys Simpson who's been good most
of this year, but he's not Michael Pennock Jr. Right,
that's right, And they're overly relying on him.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
He's been skittish, he's been inaccurate down the stretch. I
don't trust them at all in this spot. So that's
a big part of it as well.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Yeah, So I agree with that, and I think that's
exactly the way to talk about it is. You can't
separate in a lot of these cases, but especially in
Alabama's case, you cannot separate the coach from what he
has on that team right now. And without Jam Miller,
they haven't ever run it at all. But even with
Jam they haven't been that good. The old line has
not been good, the defense has not been as advertised.
(30:44):
You can have them a lot in the passing game,
and then yeah, Simpson played his best early in the season.
Actually probably during the middle of the seasons, probably when
he really kind of hit his stride. But I mean,
Ryan Williams has disappeared completely on that team. I still
think Debor de Bor is just a different kind of guy.
Like when you listen to him and stuff, you like him,
(31:07):
you like him, you trust him, you like the way
he's doing things. But I think that's the difference between them,
is that when you look at uh, some of these
other guys, do Bor just doesn't have the horses this year.
That's right. I know, you look at you look at
that matchup with Indiana, You're like, but it's still Alabama.
It's like, yeah, it's Alabama in name only, It's not.
(31:29):
This is not that same Alabama team. I think I'm
gonna hold off. Okay, We're gonna go to break and
we'll come back and we'll do two in one, and
then I have at least one other question I want
to pose to you, like just based on something we
talked about the last time we hosted together. So two
and one, honestly, you could say two and one, you're
arguing between maybe the two best coaches in the sport
(31:51):
period at this point. Yeah, at least I think it's arguable.
There's a couple other guys you might want to throw
in there that didn't make the College Football Playoff. Don't
want to open up wounds about notre name, but Marcus
Freeman's definitely a good coach.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
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 (32:14):
You had a question that we didn't get to last second,
So let's let's tie off.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Let's let's get that. Uh, let's check that box real
quick and then we'll move on. Yeah, this is an
NFL question. Okay, Well, we hosted I think it was
Thanksgiving when we hosted, and this came up. You called
the Bears frauds. You didn't forget you said they were
You said they were foogazy. Yeah, and you made a
good case, right with the schedule and uh, the way
(32:39):
they've won late close games and all this kind of stuff.
I was just curious. And this isn't me calling you out.
I literally want to know if your take, if that
take has evolved based on what you've seen in the
last month, or if you're still side eyeing them a bit.
And this is kind of a trust question too, because
obviously they've won a lot of games. They played a
Game of the Year contender on Sunday Night Football. Clearly
(33:00):
they're better than they were last year. I'm not even
asking that question. I'm just what, how are you feeling
about the Bears now, now that you've gotten a little
bit more time to watch them.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I still feel the same way about this, Okay. I'll
put it this way. I like their offense even more
and I dislike their defense even more.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Okay, and I think that's gonna be their undoing.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
You know, like, you can't, bro, you can't score thirty
eight points in a game and lose. Can't happen, And
it just did on the road against the forty nine ers.
You can't try. You can't have your offense. Hey guys,
you've scored thirty eight points. We're gonna need one more
touchdown though to win. It's like, bro, come on, defense,
you gotta do better than this. And they started off
(33:44):
the game with the pick six. They started up first
play of the game. They're up seven to nothing, and
they still gave up forty two points. Their defense cannot
stay above water without forcing turnover after turnover after turnover.
I don't trust their defense at all, Man, And you
can't walk into the playoffs, even though it's wide open
this year, it's not as wide open in the NFC,
(34:07):
I don't think. And you just can't play no defense
and expect to go anywhere. So no, I think they're
total fools, gold Man, I don't think alright.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
I was just curious if you had changed it all.
Like I said, it wasn't like a call out thing. Yeah, yeah,
because I mean, obviously they've won games. I literally just
wanted to know how you felt about them right now,
because we're so close to the end of the regular season.
How about you, What do you think of the Bears.
I just think you call it fools, gold I call
it house money right now. Yeah, I understand. I don't
believe in championship windows because things can change on a dime.
(34:39):
And what you're seeing this year, especially with the Bears
winning so many close games, is not something that generally
translates year after year after year. But this is better
than any Bears fan could have possibly hoped already. Like Williams,
no doubt r for real. I mean, but like Caleb
Williams was broken last year, right right, there were people
(35:01):
talking about him being a bust. Everybody's talking about Jayden
Daniels and all this, and like all he's done is
come back and been a whole lot more like the
Caleb that you liked in college. Yeah, he's still Yeah,
there's some things where you still want to see him
be more consistent, but he's doing less of the stuff
that used to truly irritate you, holding the ball too
(35:21):
long and some of the things that he was doing.
He's being smarter with the ball. He's got a decent
chemistry I think with his receivers. And look, I mean,
considering what the Lions were and then you take their
OC and you're sitting there about to win that division,
which coming into the year was maybe going to be
the most competitive division in football. Even though you didn't
(35:42):
know what you were going to get with JJ McCarthy
in year one, you know what O'Connell is as a coach,
and you know what kind of weapons they had on
that team. The Packers, even though I've never been a giant,
Jordan love guy Lafleur's done a lot of really good
things there. You then go get Micah Parsons at the deadline,
and then the Lions were my pick in the NFC
(36:03):
to go face the Ravens in the Super Bowl. Crazy,
and it's the It's the freaking Chicago Bears. They're gonna
win that division before. They don't even have to do
anything this week to win that. It's incredible to me.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, it really is wild how it went down. And listen,
the Bears are well ahead of schedule. They've done a
lot of great things, but man, you just you gotta
be realistic about what's gonna happen in the playoffs when
they don't play defense. They've won six games with come
from behind wins in the final two minutes. Yeah, that's crazy,
(36:39):
that's crazy, and that's great. Hats off to them. They've
done it. With some great play. They've done it with
some fluky plays, right, but they recovered an on sidekick
against the Packers. Nobody recovers on sidekick, so there's been
some weird stuff that just is unsustainable. And that's how
I look at the Bears man heading into the playoffs.
A lot of their formula for success is totally unsustainable.
(37:02):
So no, I haven't readjusted. I don't think there's a
need to readjust on the Bears. I think they're total
frauds in terms of like they're gonna have great playoff
success in your one of the Ben Johnson regime.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I just don't think they are man. I don't think
they have the goods too
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