January 15, 2026 • 37 mins
Dan and Monse discuss John Harbaugh as the Giants are very close to hiring him as their next head coach. Dan and Monse welcome The Athletic's Mike Jones to talk about Harbaugh, the coaching carousel and all of the headlines around the NFL. Plus, Dan and Monse break down the ratings for the NFL's Wild Card weekend.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
radio dot Com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
One down, a bunch more to go. Welcome in. It
is a Thursday. A happy Thursday to you, Monty, oh,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
And a happy birthday Eve to you. Yes, it is
my birthday.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Right now in Sydney. Good it is good, ay, good day.
I'm calling it the uh the farewell to forty eight.
What I'm saying, Wow, here's the worst thing. Here's the
worst thing as a Seahawks fan entering the weekend. As
of tomorrow, Monty, I will actually be a forty nine er.
(00:41):
I will actually be.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Terrible weekend.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
This to happen.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Honestly, think about that, atrocious. Ah, that's rude. The countdown
is on not to my birthday, but to NFL had
and NFL teams coming together as one as we have
one less vacancy in the NFL as we did at
(01:10):
this time a day ago. Welcome in, hit Mancy up
at Monte Belanos. You can find me at Dan Byer
on Fox. Jason Stewart's here, Iowa Sam is here, Chris
burfettis here. John Harbaugh is not here because he is
the new head coach of the New York Giants. Word
broke late last night, and we'll get to the insider
(01:30):
portion of this, but word broke last night that the
Giants and Harbaugh were finalizing a deal. We knew that
he was meeting with Giants brass yesterday in New Jersey
at Giants headquarters, and ultimately the first domino falls as
John Harbaugh is out of work for about a week
(01:50):
and has now landed on his feet in the Big Apple.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah, the story quickly changed.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
He was there all day, they were trying to woo him,
and then the reports of he is officially left back
to go home on the private jet. This was around
seven thirty Eastern and then the next report he is
supposed to meet with the Titans on Thursday, that is
his next scheduled appointment. Then not long after that, it
was oh no, no, no, they're already actually finalizing a deal.
(02:22):
I mean, if you really want we've talked about this.
There is no greater feeling than wanting to be wanted.
Feeling wanted. Yeah, and if you really if the Giants
wanted him, that bad.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Good for them. You're not gonna go talk to nobody else.
You are not going anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Correct, And there is no worse feeling than being not
wanted right that there is. It is a huge, huge
polar opposite. And John Harbaugh was wanted by a lot
of teams. He had the right to be picky after
his eighteen years with the Baltimore Ravens. Even told Jay
Glazer over the weekend, I'm gonna speak with three, three
or four teams. It was interesting to try to figure
(02:59):
out which team they were. And as it came down
to Moncy, he didn't even get to three or four.
He got down to two, but he did interview with
the Atlanta Falcons ultimately chose to go to the New
York Giants. And I think when you look at how
the National Football League has looked over this coaching search, Monzi,
I think that the Giants job is thought to be
(03:22):
one of the better jobs available. Now I've seen people
trying to make a case for the Raiders job to
be good. It's a bit of a stretch, but people
are trying to make it look good. People have told
us that the Tennessee job is good because of cam Ward.
But I think if you really looked at it. The
two jobs that are the best jobs available were New
(03:42):
York and they were Atlanta, and John Harbaugh did interview
with Atlanta. They just hired Matt Ryan to be their
president of football Operations. He's going to be looking for
a GM. And with the criteria that we had heard
Moncey that John Harbaugh wanted, is he wanted to say
in the general manager. He wanted to pick his GM.
Arthur Blank, I think is an owner that many players, coaches,
(04:05):
anybody would want to work for in the NFL. And
that's not to say people wouldn't want to work with
the mayor or Tish families with the Giants, because they
absolutely would. The history with the Giants, the relationships that
they had. But the Giants already had a general manager.
They had it in Joe Shane. He was told that
he was going to stick around when they fired Brian Dable,
(04:26):
that Joe Shane would be the one picking the next
head coach. And we'll get into the process and all
of that. But the information we heard over the last
week about what John Harball wanted was he wanted to
maybe have his own say in a GM. And Atlanta
doesn't have one. So all signs pointed to Atlanta that
maybe that would be a destination for John Harbaugh. But
he ultimately picks the Giants, which many people predicted that
(04:48):
he would. But I think the reason why he picked
the Giants Monci is not because of ownership, because I
think it's good on both sides. I don't think it's
because Joe Shane in place because we thought that he
wanted to pick a GM I think ultimately John Harball
looked at the landscape of the NFL and said, I
know people think the NFC South stinks because teams are
(05:11):
eight to nine and eight and nine and eight and nine,
But I'm not sure the NFC East is any good.
Philadelphia is making a change in offensive coordinator, they seem
to crumble. Who knows how long Sequon Barkley as who
knows how long Jalen Hurts has. Do we really believe
in the Dallas Cowboys and that Jerry Jones can put
together a championship team And if things go bad for
the Commander's next season, dan Quinn's likely going to be
(05:32):
out of a job. I actually think John Harball looked
at the NFC East and said, with a talent we
have here winnable. I can win here. It's not that
he couldn't win in Atlanta, but that he can win
in the NFC East. I actually think he looked at
the NFC East and said, yeah, I'd rather be here
than the NFC South.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I don't know if I totally agree with you. I
see what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Don't agree with me at all. Let's be real. I
know it's my birthday, Eve, but you don't have to sugarcoat.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
It because I see what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
And maybe maybe the truth here is that the gap
between the NFC East and the NFC South is not
as big as maybe some people have thought. Because the
NFC South, I mean, if you look at the record, yeah,
eight and nine teams across the board except for the Saints,
who went it on in a good note. But then
on the East, yeah, the Giants only four and thirteen.
(06:24):
The Commanders though five and twelve. You don't think the
Commanders are gonna get better next year?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Like for me, there's no one knew they were gonna
get worse this year. These were gonna go as well
as they did two years.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Correct, But I feel like they're gonna take a step up.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I can only imagine that the Eagles make a move
here and there, maybe shift aj Brown somewhere else, and
all of a sudden, the Eagles are maybe back in it.
The Cowboys, I feel like, yes, I know they're low
hanging fruit to make fun of because Jerry Jones, but
I feel like there's no reason to think that the
NFC East is more gettable than the NFC South. I
(06:56):
think he picked the Giants for other reasons, one of
them being Jackson dar He's going to Atlanta and is
where the question marks surrounding the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
That is not the ideal situation. There is hope and
Jackson Dart.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
You have Camp Scattabow, you have a young team on
the Giants that should that should be able to compete.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Also, it's New York, not Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
I've never been to Atlanta, and as my headphones get
stuck in my hair, I'm good, though, guys, I'm good
to buy.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
So you're and you're talking to someone who, by the way,
loves Atlanta. I absolutely love Atlanta. It's one of my
I would say, honestly, if I had the rink, one
of my top five cities in the US. I love
it for I don't know if it's because of the
sports of Atlanta, because of the South, because of the city,
because of the food, or what it is. But I
(07:42):
am an Atlanta fan. I love Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I'm not even I've never been. I want to go,
and I agree. I think there's a lot of things
that I would do sports wise if I went to Atlanta,
and it is on my on my bucket list to go.
But a lot of people have told me, have you
been to Atlanta, don't worry whenever you go, just get
out like that.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I can never get out fast enough of Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
So there's New York and it's just kind of like
they're like New York seems like the cool table in
high school, Like the cool kids are there where I
look at Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
New York's can always win.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
That's but not just New York with Jackson.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
They look fun, they look like a breath of fresh air.
All of that is saying New York. I feel like
the hype is there with Atlanta. It's like you have
a good team, but what about your quarterback? And I
feel like that's such a big issue. But there's all
these other things, like I really don't think it's a division.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Maybe maybe it's a closer gap.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Well, here's what I would push back and saying, who
wouldn't want to coach b John Robinson, right, who wouldn't
want to coach Drake London? Yes, Michael Pennick.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Has just coached Derrick Henry, just coach Derik Henty.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Sure, So just like these gots camp Scadboo Molie neighbors
all of this young talent on the Giant side that
looks fun.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I think that the Falcons are fun. The question is
is the health of Michael Pennocks junior coming back next season?
And so I don't think it's as clear cut that
the Giants that think have more pieces on defense that
you would like. But offensively, I think they can go
toe to toe with what the Giants provide and actually
are better because I think Bijon is magnificent and Drake g.
(09:15):
London if he's healthy, it's just a question of the quarterback.
So while you think it's a slam dunk with the
core of the players, I'm not saying the Giants don't
have a nice core, but I think that Atlanta could
rival that as well. And I'm just surprised that Harbaugh
would want to take on the New York media in
all of this, the pressure cooker that is New York,
(09:37):
where if you did go to Atlanta, maybe a little softer,
softer landing, you're not as much under the microscope. So
that was another twist, Like if you had to compare
the two, there's the New York media to deal with.
Maybe that's something that Harball wanted to bring on. But
I thought it was I just thought it was I
don't think that the jobs are that different, and so
(10:00):
trying to find the real reason. Why was it? Money?
Was it this? Was it that? And I actually think
maybe it's the actual road to having success. Jason Stewart,
he's our executive producer, He was not as enthralled with
this hire as Maazi and i Aron. Looking at the
different angles, would enthralled be the right way to put it.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Jason, Yeah, I don't know what the word is. I
guess enthralled, but like he's definitely the best candidate on
the market. But every single year there's going to be
the best candidate on the market. So that's why you
gotta make a big deal out of this. My question
for you guys is this is this a big splash
hire because in my mind, it's the safest hire. The
(10:42):
Giants are going to be celebrated for getting the best
candidate available. I think that he's probably going to eventually
make you a stable, winning franchise. That there's nothing sexy
about that, right. So when in my recent I guess lifetime,
the big splash hires to compare this to would be
John Gruden returning to the Raiders. We made a huge
deal out of that. It was a big deal. I
(11:04):
would even put Jim Harbaugh as a most recent example.
Does he raised to that level or is this just
a very safe down the middle higher.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
For you guys. I think it was the easy higher.
I think that if you're Joe Shane and your job
is on the line, I think it's the easy higher.
I also don't think that he made the higher, to
be honest with you, I think ownership made the higher.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
That's the way it seems if you read between the
lines of the details of how this all went down yesterday,
I agree.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I think that it's a way of instead of taking
a risk on a young coordinator or a different coordinator,
something that they have done in the past. If you
were to look at at who had previously been there,
not even coordinators, just of other assistant coaches, of getting
someone with this track record, Veer's it's Tom Coughlin has
(11:56):
been the name that has been brought up a lot
by NFL inside saying that the Giants are looking for
that Coughlin stability and Kaughlan had a successful run with
the Jacksonville Jaguars, not eighteen years worth as John Harbaugh,
but I think that they were probably fed up with
going coordinator assistant coach sort of route, and this allowed
(12:18):
them to not only not go that route, but when
we have the report cards coming out after this coaching cycle,
I think more grades than not, we'll say the Giants
got an A because they have a Super Bowl winning
head coach.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, I think it's like you said, the easy hire.
It's a win win for both.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
The Giants again are going to get the credit for
getting Harbaugh. And then Harbaugh goes into a situation that
seems like it's ready to take off. If you went
somewhere else, the expectation is like if you let's just
say you went to the Titans and it didn't work out,
would be like you failed Cam Mordan the Titans.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
There would be a different narrative if he.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Picked another team that had maybe not the pieces as
well as well set up up as the Giants or
even the Falcons, because I agree, I think the Falcons
are a good team.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
This is if you went somewhere else, it would be
more on him.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Like this, He's going into a situation where you almost
can't fail.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah if they if they lose, you just say, like, ah,
that's the Giants and Joe Shane. They can never get
it right, Like John Harball was a victim of the Giants.
If he went to Atlanta and they didn't win and
he had to say and who the GM was, then
you're saying John Harball has lost his fastball. Right. So
maybe it was easy for both. Maybe in that way
it was it was easy for both. But I do
think that he looks at the NFC East as a
(13:33):
path that maybe isn't as daunting. I mean, when Arizona
may not hire a coach until June, considering what the
Cardinals are gonna have to go up through in that division,
I mean, seriously, he was gonna, Oh, we get Sean McVay,
Kyle shanahan and Mike McDonald, Thank you very much, Sam,
you might as well apply, Like, like, who in the
world is gonna want that job? Somebody'd be like, there's
(13:54):
only thirty two of them. Yeah, but that's one like
like right now, like you can think of worse timing
for organization.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
That's not what you want to walk in.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
No, no, But when the report cards come out, it's
going to be an a from the New York Giants.
And this probably is you know, easyps for both sides.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
It really is, it really is.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Again, it just seems like he's walking into an ideal situation,
and yeah, the others aren't.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
But for both win win, I.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Think it would be good. We just disagree on the
reasons why, and the Giants end up being the pick
of John Harbaugh. But I think also Jason's right, it's
almost like this coaching search is greater on a curve
because of who is available and the names that are
out there. I mean there are names that are I
mean Jason Garrett on an interview right like, I mean,
that's that's where we're going in all of this. There
(14:41):
doesn't seem to be a war between two teams. People
are already finding their avenues of what team, what player
they like. Going here and what player they're like going there.
With that connection, I think a lot of insiders will
probably be six of eight for their predictions or six
of nine for their predictions. Now that the Steelers won,
and if you haven't made it already, then it is
(15:02):
eight because Harball is already in place. But I think that, yeah,
it was the the easy higher. It's just I think
John Harball thinks that the NFC East is easier than
what some might think.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I haven't been I haven't stopped laughing internally about the
just thinking about how Iowa Sam would be as a
head coach in an NFL team. We too think about
those meetings. So it's like long winded. Uh, I disagree,
And I think players falling asleep and trying to having
to wait, trying to keep it lake, and.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
This is what I think it would be. I think
like in the film session, it would be Kyler Murray
like overthrowing Marvin Harrison Junior, and Sam would be like,
that's that's okay, Kyler, that's okay, that's okay. Those that
that that sometimes happens. It's football. You sometimes miss it.
Or Marvin Harrison Junior drops a pass that's Okay, just
catch the next one. You've caught other ones before, Sam,
(15:53):
Do you think that would be more on your way?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Sam?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Right, I don't know why I'm catching all these.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
He's not astray. It's not a stray at all.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
I think, first of all, I'd cut Kyler Murray on
my first I would, Uh, I would. I'd rather have
Aaron Rodgers back in all of his baggage in oldness.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
So now I can see the headlines Iowa Sam racist
question mark.
Speaker 6 (16:16):
No, he's just you know when he when he sits
down on a curb, his heads, his feet dangle.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That's all my feet angle, that's Iowa. Sam would have
the ride arm. That would be like if you are
shorter than this, you are cut.
Speaker 7 (16:29):
You are cut.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And it would be at five eight that's right. Yeah,
And so like Kyler Murray like it's like, hey, I
didn't do it to you this sign did.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
The good thing about those head coaching me is that
have it has incredible time timely bump music when he
comes of the room and then he leaves it, and
then he would have drops being played in the middle
of his speeches.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Would you play they might be giants the week you
play the Giants. Would that would that maybe be oh yeah,
that would all be top of it.
Speaker 6 (16:56):
Yeah, it'll be music connect to the next opponent, you know, Yeah,
I get the soundtrack of my coaching tenure.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Iowa was Sam the next head coach of the Cardinals. Again,
you may get that opportunity because no one's gonna take
that job. I just imagine that. All right, Okay, you're
gonna start the year you're at LA, then you have
Seattle coming to town, and then then you get to
go to San Francisco and face forty nine ers.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Can I be the person that makes sure you don't
get on the field, like the guy that Sean McVay has.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
To get back they get back? Can I be that true?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
You're hired? Gal?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
Even if I mean it like nine days on this job,
I'd still make so much money and like nine days
that I'd just be like, Okay, yeah, I got I
came here for something.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I'm not leaving empty handed. Kevin Burkhard I could say, well,
he wouldn't be doing Arizona Cardinal games, but if he did,
he would he would be saying. And io was Sam
taking over in his first year in Arizona. His assistant
coaches are all ferences. Everybody is related to Kirk Farence
on this also thee would get Hired.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio dot com
and within the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
App Fox Sports Radio. She's Monty Milano. Sam dan Beyer
with you for the next ninety minutes or so, joining
us as he did a week ago to talk NFL
and coaching and so much more covering the NFL for
the athletic. You can find him on Exit by Mike Jones. Mike.
Mike Jones joins the program, Mike Happy Thursday. How are
(18:28):
you well?
Speaker 8 (18:30):
How are you guys doing great?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
How great was the hire by the New York Giants.
We just had a discussion to open up the show.
Our executive producer, Jason Stewart says, it's not flashy, Manzi,
I don't want to put words in your mouth. You say,
I understand why he wants to go to New York.
I think it was an easy hire. How would you
characterize what the Giants did in bringing in John Harbaugh?
Speaker 9 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean I think that they got the best
coach that was on the market, and so they should
feel very fortunate that they were to do that and
that he was that he found them appealing. You know,
when you look at that roster, it's still not complete.
It's a work in progress. But they might have a quarterback,
(19:13):
you know, if Jackson Dark can stop you know, banging
his head into defenders and getting checked for concussions. They
have a talented wide receiver, you know, and they've got
some some pieces on defense. But I think that John
Harball is exactly what the Giants needed. They needed someone
to bring stability, bring credibility and and he is a
(19:37):
strong leader and so uh this is you know, it
feels right, and we'll see, uh who It'll be interesting
to see what his coaching staff looks like, who he
brings with him, you know, and uh, you know, we'll
see where it goes. But they have work to do,
you know. I have some questions about Joe Shane, their
(19:58):
general manager, but he has been accumulating some young talent
and we'll see how much input Harball has about the
roster as well.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
You said something there that just had something pop up
in my head. Is is it risky for teams to
maybe fire their coach midseason not knowing who was going
to be available, because if if John Harbaugh stayed in Baltimore,
maybe they're you know, maybe they're rolling the dice, like
could this be you know, could this be a scenario
where maybe or a reason why teams don't want to
(20:28):
fire head coaches during the season because they don't know
who's available.
Speaker 9 (20:32):
Yeah, I mean I think that they probably you get
an indication of who the top candidates are going to be.
And so look, it was pretty apparent midway through the
year that Kevin Stefanski was going to be fired. You know,
it just was not working there in Cleveland, and he's
a two time Coach of the Year. So if it
(20:52):
hadn't been John Harball, it probably been Kevin Stefanski getting
that job there in New York possibly, But you know,
there's talented assistant coaches that are coming up through the ranks.
So I think that I don't think it hurt the
Giants that they fired Dable with before the season was over.
(21:13):
They had their mind made up. But I do think
that they had probably started evaluating, you know, candidates, and
then when Harball became available, they had done a lot
of you know, they've done interviews, they'd done homework, and
then they were able to spring and turn their attention
to him and move quickly because they had a head start.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Now that this domino has fallen, do you think there
are specific coaches out there that are going to be
now pushed towards teams, specific teams.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Like do you see this happening now that the first
domino has fallen?
Speaker 9 (21:44):
Well, yeah, now that you know the say, the best,
the top choice everybody, you know, I think it was
six or seven teams, so they were at the time
there were eight openings, and all those teams had reached
out to John Harball. Now he's gone, and so teams
have to go with their contingency plans. And so I
think that, okay, we'll see, you know, a team like
(22:09):
the Falcons, you know, they will go ahead and probably
make a hire very soon, unless the guy that they
want is holding up to see how things play out
with the Ravens, because the Ravens I think are the
best coaching jobs available right now. But I think that,
you know, maybe a team like the Titans who were
planning on meeting with John Harball and now he is
(22:32):
off the market, and then they go ahead and be like, okay,
we really liked Matt Nagie before John Harball became available,
and we were doing our homework on him. Now let's
turn our attention back to mcnaggie and we'll bring him in.
So I do think that some of these teams were
probably waiting to see where Halborro would go, and now
that he's gone, there back to their their first choice
(22:54):
before he surprisingly became available.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Mike John's joining us here on Fox Sports Radio. She's
Monty Belanios, I'm Dan Byer. I have one more coaching
one for myself. It is with Miami. Because the timeline,
or at least the the order of events was John
Harbaugh fired by the Ravens, then Mike McDaniel fired by
the Dolphins, and some thought, well, Stephen Ross is going
(23:18):
after Harbaugh now that he's gone. We know the hire
of John Eric Sullivan from Green Bay to be the
Dolphins GM. Does that allow Jeff Halfley then to be
the front runner for the gig in Miami or where
are the Dolphins looking?
Speaker 9 (23:32):
Yeah, I mean we'll see there. You do always try to,
you know, connect dots and like it's such a relationship
driven business. Okay, who worked with who before? And how
do they know each other, because that's what you know
when you look at what San Francisco did. Kyle Shanahan
and John Lynch came in there together and they were
on the same page and they wanted to work together
(23:52):
before they even got there, and you see how that
partnership has played out. Well. So you want a GM
that has input on who the head coach is going
to be somebody lots of times like said who they've
worked with before, and Halfley might make make a lot
of sense there now that you know they know that
they're not in on Harball, I do think that a
(24:13):
defensive minded coach would probably be the direction that they'll go.
It might not be half Lee. I know that they
are interested in Chris Shula as well. And you know, look,
his grandfather was their longtime coach of the Dolphins, and
so that would make a lot of sense for sentimental reasons.
And he's also a talented defensive coach. So we'll see.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
All right, let's move on to the divisional round happening
this weekend.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Forty nine Ers and Seahawks. You know Dan Seahawks here.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
How have the forty nine ers managed to stay afloat
with all the injuries throughout the season, and is Sam
Darnold the one under most pressure in this matchup?
Speaker 9 (24:51):
The like I was saying, with Kyle Shanahan and John
Lynch working together, I think that what we see is
the result of their partnership and looks so they've been
together I think seven years now, and they've been drafting
and they're on the same page. There's no division, there's
no conflict on what kind of players that they're looking for.
They both know, Okay, a forty nine er hits this criteria,
(25:15):
and so they've been able to draft players and develop
them and then when starters have gotten hurt, they're plugging
them in and they're making meaningful contributions. And that's what
every team's dream is. But very few are as good
at drafting and developing as what the forty nine ers
have been, So that's how they've been able to stay afloat.
I do think that there's a lot of pressure on
(25:35):
Sam Darnold here. You know, they have split and they've
been close games. I think it's a combined fourteen points
of those two games they've played, and we've seen him
when he's under pressure, he kind of makes the mistakes
and turns the ball over. But down the stretch of
the season, we saw him kind of take his game
to another level. He beat the Rams, he beat the
(25:57):
forty nine ers. He did not make any mistakes and
that really hurt his team. He rose to the occasion.
So they are hoping he can continue to do that
now that they're in the playoffs and they are a
game away from their first NFC championship game since twenty fourteen,
So of that matchup, there's a lot writing on him.
(26:20):
But if he can stay within the system, and you know,
he's got valuable weapons wide receiver too talented running backs,
then they could possibly get the job done.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Mike Jones joining us here on Fox Sports Radio covering
the NFL for the Athletics. She's Monty Belanos. I'm Dan Beyer.
I thought if the Bills could get past Jacksonville, this
train could be rolling. Now it rolls into Denver. Are
they going to get much of the same against another
top defense? They just made it through Jacksonville. Can they
have the same kind of script that they did against
(26:51):
the Jaguars to beat Denver? How do you see the
first game of Saturday playing out.
Speaker 9 (26:56):
I think that we're going to see Denver struggle a
little bit. You know, yes to under number one seed,
but they're a young team. You know, Bonix had made improvements,
but downfield accuracy is an issue, and he's going against
a Bill's defense that's top in the league against the pass.
(27:18):
He also, I think that their run game, they should
be able to get that going. James Cook last time
that he played Denver in the playoffs last year, he
really gashed them. So I do I agree with you.
I think that the Bills could get rolling. I think
that you know, Josh Allen is on a mission. It
(27:39):
was amazing the way he kept bouncing back last week
getting hit as hard as he did. And so we'll
see what happens. But I have a feeling that the
Bills will be able to pull this one out.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
It should be a magnificent weekend of football. Saturday Bills Broncos,
followed by the Niners and Seahawks, and then Sunday I
love Texans Patriots. I think got a great one, and
then the Bears at home of the Rams on Sunday night.
Football should be a lot of fun. Mike, we appreciate
the time. I can't wait to talk to you again,
thanks so much.
Speaker 9 (28:07):
All right, thanks for having me. You'll have a good one.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
It's a funky game. It's on Prime Video. It's uh
so you know for those sitting at home maybe watching
and searching around, you gotta have Prime to have it on.
Uh maybe if you're at the bar, they've got it.
You know, they've got those like nine five five two
channels where the NFL is able to get those and
play the games. But yeah, you get a little what.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
What are you trying to give the channel?
Speaker 9 (28:35):
I was?
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I was, I was trying to help him out without
making I know the channel I'm looking for. It doesn't
exist on Oxygen. It's on like five.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
Four nine.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah. I tried typing it in and just said channel
on available if that.
Speaker 8 (28:54):
Or that's my social security not.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oxygen has Dateline Unforgettable twenty twenty. You know another one.
Uh great, great programming in the afternoon. That's why we're glad.
We're glad you listened to us here on Fox Sports Radio.
She's Monty Bolanos. She saw through my my secret, my
secret move. I hit her up at Monty Bolagos. You
(29:17):
can find me at Dan Byer on Fox. We got it.
I told you see see he refused to listen, but
he found he found he was no, I was looking.
I just trying back here. I have to also do
my main job.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
And he's also going to go coach through job and
great job, much job, great job, everybody a great job.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
And I was Sam Nundy the grand job at Jason
Stewart multitasking Jason. Now the two teams are left standing.
Be sure to check out the updated leaderboard for the
Fox Sports Radio dot com College Football Playoff Bracket Challenge.
There are eight listeners in the bracket challenge, with a
perfect bracket heading into the championship game. One lucky listener
will win one thousand dollars for the best bracket leading.
(29:57):
The host standings are not Monty Bolanos and Dan By
there they are Carrie Rhoads and Andy Furman, who each
have made only one incorrect pick. Visit Foxsports Radio dot
com to check out the leader board. Wild card was
wild in the NFL. What's even crazier was how many
people watched on Prime Gez Monte, I'm dan that's next
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Speaker 1 (31:35):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
App Fox Sports Radio. She's Monty Bolanos, I'm Dan Bayer.
Jason Stewart's here, Iowa Sam. Chris Purfett, Iowa Sam. Possibly
the new next head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Possibly,
we shall see, we shall see.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I'm jumping on the bandwagon. If you gets tired, I'll.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Tell you what. Something just something just happened with my headset.
So we got to figure something out anyway. Yeah, I
don't know something. Something's crazy. The point is is we've
got to get into I can. I can't even hear
you right now. There we go, Okay, there we go. Okay, Yes,
everything is now. Okay.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I was here now I couldn't tell if you were
doing a setup of.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah I did. I'm sorry. I apologize for but something
just happened with my headphones where the source was different.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yes, correct, and you were listening to dateline.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I was listening to nothing. And so that's what really
threw me off. I couldn't Yeah, I couldn't hear what
Sam was saying the other week, like you're the the
arm rest of your chair fell off. I mean, that's
that did the ground. Now wild Card weekend had the
ratings come in for the six games, and leading up
to Wildcard Weekend, we wondered how the Packers and Bears
(33:04):
were going to fare on prime video because it's this huge,
storied rivalry, and the Chicago Sun Times had revealed that
the NFL, all of the networks wanted forty nine ers
in Eagles, but that was going to be in the
prime window of Sunday afternoons. Smack Dab in the Middle
on Fox. That got forty one point one million viewers.
(33:26):
Second highest rated game from Wildcard Weekend not the Sunday
night game between the Chargers and Patriots. It was the
first game on Sunday. Thirty two point eight million viewers
on average watched the Bills in Jaguars, and then the
third highest Packers Bears on Prime Packers and Bears beat
(33:49):
Monday Night Football. It beat the first game on Fox
on Saturday between the Rams and Panthers, and it beat
Sunday Night Football between the Chargers and Patriots. So all
of our fears or wondering if people were going to
tune in, they got their wish. The NFL did and
had success with the Packers Bears on the streaming service.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
I'm not even that surprised.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
We've talked about Prime and how I feel like Prime
is just more than streaming, so I feel like a
lot of people have it.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
But also Monday Night Football.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
I know it's an isolated game, but I think people
saw the Texans and the Steelers and were like, I
don't need to watch that. So they probably like I
don't need to watch that, so they probably planned around
being able to watch the others. I am a little
bit surprised that the Bills and the Jaguars were number one, To.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Be honest, they were.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
They were too, they were behind Eagles, and I'm surprised
they were so high.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
To be honest, I am not because I think America
loves the Bills and they love Josh Allen. That is
the sense. In fact, as shocking as it was that
Prime beat out Sunday Night Football beat out Monday Night
Football and beat out the afternoon game on Fox, even
though it's Packers Bears. Great obviously great rivalry and even
(35:04):
better now with the Ben Johnson Matt Lafleur rivalry. But
I just think, like I like, Buffalo is America's team.
There are so many people who are rooting for the
Bills right now that I am not surprised. In Manzi,
they played the Jaguars, Yeah, yeah, so this is It's
not like Jacksonville was gonna have this. It's not like
(35:24):
they played the Chiefs. It's not like they played the
Ravens or you know, a team where you would expect
other fans, or the Steelers. It was Jacksonville and they
pulled the second biggest number of wild Card weekend, which
tells me that that again, America is all behind the
Buffalo Bills in this playoff run.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
I'm surprised you're saying that.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Maybe it's just my feed, but I feel like there's
a lot of Josh Allen hate.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
So are people hate watching Josh Allen? I am rooting
now that the Chargers are out. I am rooting for
the Bills to get it and get there.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yes, that'll be great for Josh Allen and the Bills,
especially with their history.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
But on my feet, I feel like there's a lot
of Allan. I'm surprised that you think that.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I didn't get any sense of that at all. It's
your algorithm, Jason Stewart, do you think America's I mean,
you're talking to two guys who went to Buffalo September.
You know it had to experience the real deal.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
So your algorithm is all positive?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, it is. It is. It's farewell videos to high
Mark Stadium.
Speaker 8 (36:20):
Sam knows this.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
I take every chance I can to blame the algorithm
for most of the world's problems. I'm guessing that's the case. Absolutely.
And I think if anyone's hate watching anything, people are
hate watching Tony Romo.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Yeah, I get I'm just surprised it's gotta be my algorithm.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Yeah, I don't think. I yeah, I don't know. If
anybody's like, you got to honey, come over here listening
to this bozo he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Listen to his partner despises him. That's what's going on.
Speaker 10 (36:47):
Chris prophett I feel like America's team right now might
be the Bears. I feel like I feel like the
mood around them is But also I also someone made
the point earlier. I think we all almost want the
Bears to win just so people shut up about the
eighty five Bears.
Speaker 8 (37:01):
I can finally bury that there.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I don't think there's anyway the Bears are America's team.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
I don't think what did I say, though, Bears Bills
would make a great Super Bowl Bills Bears Super Bowl
sixty battle start Bears beat Bears, Bills, Bears Bills Beats.
Speaker 8 (37:19):
I take I take no pleasure in saying it either
as a lot.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, I just it's funny on the world you guys
live in, Like Manzi's like people hate Josh Allen, Chris
is thinking that the Bears.
Speaker 6 (37:30):
I think there's a lot of doubting Thomas is out
there for for Josh Allen, Yeah, I agree that, Like
he's an athletic guy, Doubting Thomas are a plenty.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
That is fair, he is. Iowa was saying, that's Chris
profered Jason Stewart this year, she's Mancy Belagos, I'm Dan Bayer.
And last night someone put up triple digits in a
high school hoops game. We talk about it next
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
radio dot Com and within the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
One down, a bunch more to go. Welcome in. It
is a Thursday. A happy Thursday to you, Monty, oh,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
And a happy birthday Eve to you. Yes, it is
my birthday.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Right now in Sydney. Good it is good, ay, good day.
I'm calling it the uh the farewell to forty eight.
What I'm saying, Wow, here's the worst thing. Here's the
worst thing as a Seahawks fan entering the weekend. As
of tomorrow, Monty, I will actually be a forty nine er.
(00:41):
I will actually be.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Terrible weekend.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
This to happen.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Honestly, think about that, atrocious. Ah, that's rude. The countdown
is on not to my birthday, but to NFL had
and NFL teams coming together as one as we have
one less vacancy in the NFL as we did at
(01:10):
this time a day ago. Welcome in, hit Mancy up
at Monte Belanos. You can find me at Dan Byer
on Fox. Jason Stewart's here, Iowa Sam is here, Chris
burfettis here. John Harbaugh is not here because he is
the new head coach of the New York Giants. Word
broke late last night, and we'll get to the insider
(01:30):
portion of this, but word broke last night that the
Giants and Harbaugh were finalizing a deal. We knew that
he was meeting with Giants brass yesterday in New Jersey
at Giants headquarters, and ultimately the first domino falls as
John Harbaugh is out of work for about a week
(01:50):
and has now landed on his feet in the Big Apple.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yeah, the story quickly changed.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
He was there all day, they were trying to woo him,
and then the reports of he is officially left back
to go home on the private jet. This was around
seven thirty Eastern and then the next report he is
supposed to meet with the Titans on Thursday, that is
his next scheduled appointment. Then not long after that, it
was oh no, no, no, they're already actually finalizing a deal.
(02:22):
I mean, if you really want we've talked about this.
There is no greater feeling than wanting to be wanted.
Feeling wanted. Yeah, and if you really if the Giants
wanted him, that bad.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Good for them. You're not gonna go talk to nobody else.
You are not going anywhere else.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Correct, And there is no worse feeling than being not
wanted right that there is. It is a huge, huge
polar opposite. And John Harbaugh was wanted by a lot
of teams. He had the right to be picky after
his eighteen years with the Baltimore Ravens. Even told Jay
Glazer over the weekend, I'm gonna speak with three, three
or four teams. It was interesting to try to figure
(02:59):
out which team they were. And as it came down
to Moncy, he didn't even get to three or four.
He got down to two, but he did interview with
the Atlanta Falcons ultimately chose to go to the New
York Giants. And I think when you look at how
the National Football League has looked over this coaching search, Monzi,
I think that the Giants job is thought to be
(03:22):
one of the better jobs available. Now I've seen people
trying to make a case for the Raiders job to
be good. It's a bit of a stretch, but people
are trying to make it look good. People have told
us that the Tennessee job is good because of cam Ward.
But I think if you really looked at it. The
two jobs that are the best jobs available were New
(03:42):
York and they were Atlanta, and John Harbaugh did interview
with Atlanta. They just hired Matt Ryan to be their
president of football Operations. He's going to be looking for
a GM. And with the criteria that we had heard
Moncey that John Harbaugh wanted, is he wanted to say
in the general manager. He wanted to pick his GM.
Arthur Blank, I think is an owner that many players, coaches,
(04:05):
anybody would want to work for in the NFL. And
that's not to say people wouldn't want to work with
the mayor or Tish families with the Giants, because they
absolutely would. The history with the Giants, the relationships that
they had. But the Giants already had a general manager.
They had it in Joe Shane. He was told that
he was going to stick around when they fired Brian Dable,
(04:26):
that Joe Shane would be the one picking the next
head coach. And we'll get into the process and all
of that. But the information we heard over the last
week about what John Harball wanted was he wanted to
maybe have his own say in a GM. And Atlanta
doesn't have one. So all signs pointed to Atlanta that
maybe that would be a destination for John Harbaugh. But
he ultimately picks the Giants, which many people predicted that
(04:48):
he would. But I think the reason why he picked
the Giants Monci is not because of ownership, because I
think it's good on both sides. I don't think it's
because Joe Shane in place because we thought that he
wanted to pick a GM I think ultimately John Harball
looked at the landscape of the NFL and said, I
know people think the NFC South stinks because teams are
(05:11):
eight to nine and eight and nine and eight and nine,
But I'm not sure the NFC East is any good.
Philadelphia is making a change in offensive coordinator, they seem
to crumble. Who knows how long Sequon Barkley as who
knows how long Jalen Hurts has. Do we really believe
in the Dallas Cowboys and that Jerry Jones can put
together a championship team And if things go bad for
the Commander's next season, dan Quinn's likely going to be
(05:32):
out of a job. I actually think John Harball looked
at the NFC East and said, with a talent we
have here winnable. I can win here. It's not that
he couldn't win in Atlanta, but that he can win
in the NFC East. I actually think he looked at
the NFC East and said, yeah, I'd rather be here
than the NFC South.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I don't know if I totally agree with you. I
see what you're saying.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Don't agree with me at all. Let's be real. I
know it's my birthday, Eve, but you don't have to sugarcoat.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
It because I see what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
And maybe maybe the truth here is that the gap
between the NFC East and the NFC South is not
as big as maybe some people have thought. Because the
NFC South, I mean, if you look at the record, yeah,
eight and nine teams across the board except for the Saints,
who went it on in a good note. But then
on the East, yeah, the Giants only four and thirteen.
(06:24):
The Commanders though five and twelve. You don't think the
Commanders are gonna get better next year?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Like for me, there's no one knew they were gonna
get worse this year. These were gonna go as well
as they did two years.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Correct, But I feel like they're gonna take a step up.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
I can only imagine that the Eagles make a move
here and there, maybe shift aj Brown somewhere else, and
all of a sudden, the Eagles are maybe back in it.
The Cowboys, I feel like, yes, I know they're low
hanging fruit to make fun of because Jerry Jones, but
I feel like there's no reason to think that the
NFC East is more gettable than the NFC South. I
(06:56):
think he picked the Giants for other reasons, one of
them being Jackson dar He's going to Atlanta and is
where the question marks surrounding the quarterback.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
That is not the ideal situation. There is hope and
Jackson Dart.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
You have Camp Scattabow, you have a young team on
the Giants that should that should be able to compete.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Also, it's New York, not Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
I've never been to Atlanta, and as my headphones get
stuck in my hair, I'm good, though, guys, I'm good
to buy.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
So you're and you're talking to someone who, by the way,
loves Atlanta. I absolutely love Atlanta. It's one of my
I would say, honestly, if I had the rink, one
of my top five cities in the US. I love
it for I don't know if it's because of the
sports of Atlanta, because of the South, because of the city,
because of the food, or what it is. But I
(07:42):
am an Atlanta fan. I love Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I'm not even I've never been. I want to go,
and I agree. I think there's a lot of things
that I would do sports wise if I went to Atlanta,
and it is on my on my bucket list to go.
But a lot of people have told me, have you
been to Atlanta, don't worry whenever you go, just get
out like that.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I can never get out fast enough of Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
So there's New York and it's just kind of like
they're like New York seems like the cool table in
high school, Like the cool kids are there where I
look at Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
New York's can always win.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
That's but not just New York with Jackson.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
They look fun, they look like a breath of fresh air.
All of that is saying New York. I feel like
the hype is there with Atlanta. It's like you have
a good team, but what about your quarterback? And I
feel like that's such a big issue. But there's all
these other things, like I really don't think it's a division.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Maybe maybe it's a closer gap.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Well, here's what I would push back and saying, who
wouldn't want to coach b John Robinson, right, who wouldn't
want to coach Drake London? Yes, Michael Pennick.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Has just coached Derrick Henry, just coach Derik Henty.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
Sure, So just like these gots camp Scadboo Molie neighbors
all of this young talent on the Giant side that
looks fun.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I think that the Falcons are fun. The question is
is the health of Michael Pennocks junior coming back next season?
And so I don't think it's as clear cut that
the Giants that think have more pieces on defense that
you would like. But offensively, I think they can go
toe to toe with what the Giants provide and actually
are better because I think Bijon is magnificent and Drake g.
(09:15):
London if he's healthy, it's just a question of the quarterback.
So while you think it's a slam dunk with the
core of the players, I'm not saying the Giants don't
have a nice core, but I think that Atlanta could
rival that as well. And I'm just surprised that Harbaugh
would want to take on the New York media in
all of this, the pressure cooker that is New York,
(09:37):
where if you did go to Atlanta, maybe a little softer,
softer landing, you're not as much under the microscope. So
that was another twist, Like if you had to compare
the two, there's the New York media to deal with.
Maybe that's something that Harball wanted to bring on. But
I thought it was I just thought it was I
don't think that the jobs are that different, and so
(10:00):
trying to find the real reason. Why was it? Money?
Was it this? Was it that? And I actually think
maybe it's the actual road to having success. Jason Stewart,
he's our executive producer, He was not as enthralled with
this hire as Maazi and i Aron. Looking at the
different angles, would enthralled be the right way to put it.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
Jason, Yeah, I don't know what the word is. I
guess enthralled, but like he's definitely the best candidate on
the market. But every single year there's going to be
the best candidate on the market. So that's why you
gotta make a big deal out of this. My question
for you guys is this is this a big splash
hire because in my mind, it's the safest hire. The
(10:42):
Giants are going to be celebrated for getting the best
candidate available. I think that he's probably going to eventually
make you a stable, winning franchise. That there's nothing sexy
about that, right. So when in my recent I guess lifetime,
the big splash hires to compare this to would be
John Gruden returning to the Raiders. We made a huge
deal out of that. It was a big deal. I
(11:04):
would even put Jim Harbaugh as a most recent example.
Does he raised to that level or is this just
a very safe down the middle higher.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
For you guys. I think it was the easy higher.
I think that if you're Joe Shane and your job
is on the line, I think it's the easy higher.
I also don't think that he made the higher, to
be honest with you, I think ownership made the higher.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
That's the way it seems if you read between the
lines of the details of how this all went down yesterday,
I agree.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I think that it's a way of instead of taking
a risk on a young coordinator or a different coordinator,
something that they have done in the past. If you
were to look at at who had previously been there,
not even coordinators, just of other assistant coaches, of getting
someone with this track record, Veer's it's Tom Coughlin has
(11:56):
been the name that has been brought up a lot
by NFL inside saying that the Giants are looking for
that Coughlin stability and Kaughlan had a successful run with
the Jacksonville Jaguars, not eighteen years worth as John Harbaugh,
but I think that they were probably fed up with
going coordinator assistant coach sort of route, and this allowed
(12:18):
them to not only not go that route, but when
we have the report cards coming out after this coaching cycle,
I think more grades than not, we'll say the Giants
got an A because they have a Super Bowl winning
head coach.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, I think it's like you said, the easy hire.
It's a win win for both.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
The Giants again are going to get the credit for
getting Harbaugh. And then Harbaugh goes into a situation that
seems like it's ready to take off. If you went
somewhere else, the expectation is like if you let's just
say you went to the Titans and it didn't work out,
would be like you failed Cam Mordan the Titans.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
There would be a different narrative if he.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
Picked another team that had maybe not the pieces as
well as well set up up as the Giants or
even the Falcons, because I agree, I think the Falcons
are a good team.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
This is if you went somewhere else, it would be
more on him.
Speaker 4 (13:08):
Like this, He's going into a situation where you almost
can't fail.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah if they if they lose, you just say, like, ah,
that's the Giants and Joe Shane. They can never get
it right, Like John Harball was a victim of the Giants.
If he went to Atlanta and they didn't win and
he had to say and who the GM was, then
you're saying John Harball has lost his fastball. Right. So
maybe it was easy for both. Maybe in that way
it was it was easy for both. But I do
think that he looks at the NFC East as a
(13:33):
path that maybe isn't as daunting. I mean, when Arizona
may not hire a coach until June, considering what the
Cardinals are gonna have to go up through in that division,
I mean, seriously, he was gonna, Oh, we get Sean McVay,
Kyle shanahan and Mike McDonald, Thank you very much, Sam,
you might as well apply, Like, like, who in the
world is gonna want that job? Somebody'd be like, there's
(13:54):
only thirty two of them. Yeah, but that's one like
like right now, like you can think of worse timing
for organization.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
That's not what you want to walk in.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
No, no, But when the report cards come out, it's
going to be an a from the New York Giants.
And this probably is you know, easyps for both sides.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
It really is, it really is.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Again, it just seems like he's walking into an ideal situation,
and yeah, the others aren't.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
But for both win win, I.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Think it would be good. We just disagree on the
reasons why, and the Giants end up being the pick
of John Harbaugh. But I think also Jason's right, it's
almost like this coaching search is greater on a curve
because of who is available and the names that are
out there. I mean there are names that are I
mean Jason Garrett on an interview right like, I mean,
that's that's where we're going in all of this. There
(14:41):
doesn't seem to be a war between two teams. People
are already finding their avenues of what team, what player
they like. Going here and what player they're like going there.
With that connection, I think a lot of insiders will
probably be six of eight for their predictions or six
of nine for their predictions. Now that the Steelers won,
and if you haven't made it already, then it is
(15:02):
eight because Harball is already in place. But I think that, yeah,
it was the the easy higher. It's just I think
John Harball thinks that the NFC East is easier than
what some might think.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
I haven't been I haven't stopped laughing internally about the
just thinking about how Iowa Sam would be as a
head coach in an NFL team. We too think about
those meetings. So it's like long winded. Uh, I disagree,
And I think players falling asleep and trying to having
to wait, trying to keep it lake, and.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
This is what I think it would be. I think
like in the film session, it would be Kyler Murray
like overthrowing Marvin Harrison Junior, and Sam would be like,
that's that's okay, Kyler, that's okay, that's okay. Those that
that that sometimes happens. It's football. You sometimes miss it.
Or Marvin Harrison Junior drops a pass that's Okay, just
catch the next one. You've caught other ones before, Sam,
(15:53):
Do you think that would be more on your way?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Sam?
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Right, I don't know why I'm catching all these.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
He's not astray. It's not a stray at all.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
I think, first of all, I'd cut Kyler Murray on
my first I would, Uh, I would. I'd rather have
Aaron Rodgers back in all of his baggage in oldness.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
So now I can see the headlines Iowa Sam racist
question mark.
Speaker 6 (16:16):
No, he's just you know when he when he sits
down on a curb, his heads, his feet dangle.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That's all my feet angle, that's Iowa. Sam would have
the ride arm. That would be like if you are
shorter than this, you are cut.
Speaker 7 (16:29):
You are cut.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
And it would be at five eight that's right. Yeah,
And so like Kyler Murray like it's like, hey, I
didn't do it to you this sign did.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
The good thing about those head coaching me is that
have it has incredible time timely bump music when he
comes of the room and then he leaves it, and
then he would have drops being played in the middle
of his speeches.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Would you play they might be giants the week you
play the Giants. Would that would that maybe be oh yeah,
that would all be top of it.
Speaker 6 (16:56):
Yeah, it'll be music connect to the next opponent, you know, Yeah,
I get the soundtrack of my coaching tenure.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Iowa was Sam the next head coach of the Cardinals. Again,
you may get that opportunity because no one's gonna take
that job. I just imagine that. All right, Okay, you're
gonna start the year you're at LA, then you have
Seattle coming to town, and then then you get to
go to San Francisco and face forty nine ers.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
Can I be the person that makes sure you don't
get on the field, like the guy that Sean McVay has.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
To get back they get back? Can I be that true?
Speaker 2 (17:28):
You're hired? Gal?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
Even if I mean it like nine days on this job,
I'd still make so much money and like nine days
that I'd just be like, Okay, yeah, I got I
came here for something.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I'm not leaving empty handed. Kevin Burkhard I could say, well,
he wouldn't be doing Arizona Cardinal games, but if he did,
he would he would be saying. And io was Sam
taking over in his first year in Arizona. His assistant
coaches are all ferences. Everybody is related to Kirk Farence
on this also thee would get Hired.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Sports Radio had the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio dot com
and within the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
App Fox Sports Radio. She's Monty Milano. Sam dan Beyer
with you for the next ninety minutes or so, joining
us as he did a week ago to talk NFL
and coaching and so much more covering the NFL for
the athletic. You can find him on Exit by Mike Jones. Mike.
Mike Jones joins the program, Mike Happy Thursday. How are
(18:28):
you well?
Speaker 8 (18:30):
How are you guys doing great?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
How great was the hire by the New York Giants.
We just had a discussion to open up the show.
Our executive producer, Jason Stewart says, it's not flashy, Manzi,
I don't want to put words in your mouth. You say,
I understand why he wants to go to New York.
I think it was an easy hire. How would you
characterize what the Giants did in bringing in John Harbaugh?
Speaker 9 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean I think that they got the best
coach that was on the market, and so they should
feel very fortunate that they were to do that and
that he was that he found them appealing. You know,
when you look at that roster, it's still not complete.
It's a work in progress. But they might have a quarterback,
(19:13):
you know, if Jackson Dark can stop you know, banging
his head into defenders and getting checked for concussions. They
have a talented wide receiver, you know, and they've got
some some pieces on defense. But I think that John
Harball is exactly what the Giants needed. They needed someone
to bring stability, bring credibility and and he is a
(19:37):
strong leader and so uh this is you know, it
feels right, and we'll see, uh who It'll be interesting
to see what his coaching staff looks like, who he
brings with him, you know, and uh, you know, we'll
see where it goes. But they have work to do,
you know. I have some questions about Joe Shane, their
(19:58):
general manager, but he has been accumulating some young talent
and we'll see how much input Harball has about the
roster as well.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
You said something there that just had something pop up
in my head. Is is it risky for teams to
maybe fire their coach midseason not knowing who was going
to be available, because if if John Harbaugh stayed in Baltimore,
maybe they're you know, maybe they're rolling the dice, like
could this be you know, could this be a scenario
where maybe or a reason why teams don't want to
(20:28):
fire head coaches during the season because they don't know
who's available.
Speaker 9 (20:32):
Yeah, I mean I think that they probably you get
an indication of who the top candidates are going to be.
And so look, it was pretty apparent midway through the
year that Kevin Stefanski was going to be fired. You know,
it just was not working there in Cleveland, and he's
a two time Coach of the Year. So if it
(20:52):
hadn't been John Harball, it probably been Kevin Stefanski getting
that job there in New York possibly, But you know,
there's talented assistant coaches that are coming up through the ranks.
So I think that I don't think it hurt the
Giants that they fired Dable with before the season was over.
(21:13):
They had their mind made up. But I do think
that they had probably started evaluating, you know, candidates, and
then when Harball became available, they had done a lot
of you know, they've done interviews, they'd done homework, and
then they were able to spring and turn their attention
to him and move quickly because they had a head start.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
Now that this domino has fallen, do you think there
are specific coaches out there that are going to be
now pushed towards teams, specific teams.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Like do you see this happening now that the first
domino has fallen?
Speaker 9 (21:44):
Well, yeah, now that you know the say, the best,
the top choice everybody, you know, I think it was
six or seven teams, so they were at the time
there were eight openings, and all those teams had reached
out to John Harball. Now he's gone, and so teams
have to go with their contingency plans. And so I
think that, okay, we'll see, you know, a team like
(22:09):
the Falcons, you know, they will go ahead and probably
make a hire very soon, unless the guy that they
want is holding up to see how things play out
with the Ravens, because the Ravens I think are the
best coaching jobs available right now. But I think that,
you know, maybe a team like the Titans who were
planning on meeting with John Harball and now he is
(22:32):
off the market, and then they go ahead and be like, okay,
we really liked Matt Nagie before John Harball became available,
and we were doing our homework on him. Now let's
turn our attention back to mcnaggie and we'll bring him in.
So I do think that some of these teams were
probably waiting to see where Halborro would go, and now
that he's gone, there back to their their first choice
(22:54):
before he surprisingly became available.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Mike John's joining us here on Fox Sports Radio. She's
Monty Belanios, I'm Dan Byer. I have one more coaching
one for myself. It is with Miami. Because the timeline,
or at least the the order of events was John
Harbaugh fired by the Ravens, then Mike McDaniel fired by
the Dolphins, and some thought, well, Stephen Ross is going
(23:18):
after Harbaugh now that he's gone. We know the hire
of John Eric Sullivan from Green Bay to be the
Dolphins GM. Does that allow Jeff Halfley then to be
the front runner for the gig in Miami or where
are the Dolphins looking?
Speaker 9 (23:32):
Yeah, I mean we'll see there. You do always try to,
you know, connect dots and like it's such a relationship
driven business. Okay, who worked with who before? And how
do they know each other, because that's what you know
when you look at what San Francisco did. Kyle Shanahan
and John Lynch came in there together and they were
on the same page and they wanted to work together
(23:52):
before they even got there, and you see how that
partnership has played out. Well. So you want a GM
that has input on who the head coach is going
to be somebody lots of times like said who they've
worked with before, and Halfley might make make a lot
of sense there now that you know they know that
they're not in on Harball, I do think that a
(24:13):
defensive minded coach would probably be the direction that they'll go.
It might not be half Lee. I know that they
are interested in Chris Shula as well. And you know, look,
his grandfather was their longtime coach of the Dolphins, and
so that would make a lot of sense for sentimental reasons.
And he's also a talented defensive coach. So we'll see.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
All right, let's move on to the divisional round happening
this weekend.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
Forty nine Ers and Seahawks. You know Dan Seahawks here.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
How have the forty nine ers managed to stay afloat
with all the injuries throughout the season, and is Sam
Darnold the one under most pressure in this matchup?
Speaker 9 (24:51):
The like I was saying, with Kyle Shanahan and John
Lynch working together, I think that what we see is
the result of their partnership and looks so they've been
together I think seven years now, and they've been drafting
and they're on the same page. There's no division, there's
no conflict on what kind of players that they're looking for.
They both know, Okay, a forty nine er hits this criteria,
(25:15):
and so they've been able to draft players and develop
them and then when starters have gotten hurt, they're plugging
them in and they're making meaningful contributions. And that's what
every team's dream is. But very few are as good
at drafting and developing as what the forty nine ers
have been, So that's how they've been able to stay afloat.
I do think that there's a lot of pressure on
(25:35):
Sam Darnold here. You know, they have split and they've
been close games. I think it's a combined fourteen points
of those two games they've played, and we've seen him
when he's under pressure, he kind of makes the mistakes
and turns the ball over. But down the stretch of
the season, we saw him kind of take his game
to another level. He beat the Rams, he beat the
(25:57):
forty nine ers. He did not make any mistakes and
that really hurt his team. He rose to the occasion.
So they are hoping he can continue to do that
now that they're in the playoffs and they are a
game away from their first NFC championship game since twenty fourteen,
So of that matchup, there's a lot writing on him.
(26:20):
But if he can stay within the system, and you know,
he's got valuable weapons wide receiver too talented running backs,
then they could possibly get the job done.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Mike Jones joining us here on Fox Sports Radio covering
the NFL for the Athletics. She's Monty Belanos. I'm Dan Beyer.
I thought if the Bills could get past Jacksonville, this
train could be rolling. Now it rolls into Denver. Are
they going to get much of the same against another
top defense? They just made it through Jacksonville. Can they
have the same kind of script that they did against
(26:51):
the Jaguars to beat Denver? How do you see the
first game of Saturday playing out.
Speaker 9 (26:56):
I think that we're going to see Denver struggle a
little bit. You know, yes to under number one seed,
but they're a young team. You know, Bonix had made improvements,
but downfield accuracy is an issue, and he's going against
a Bill's defense that's top in the league against the pass.
(27:18):
He also, I think that their run game, they should
be able to get that going. James Cook last time
that he played Denver in the playoffs last year, he
really gashed them. So I do I agree with you.
I think that the Bills could get rolling. I think
that you know, Josh Allen is on a mission. It
(27:39):
was amazing the way he kept bouncing back last week
getting hit as hard as he did. And so we'll
see what happens. But I have a feeling that the
Bills will be able to pull this one out.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
It should be a magnificent weekend of football. Saturday Bills Broncos,
followed by the Niners and Seahawks, and then Sunday I
love Texans Patriots. I think got a great one, and
then the Bears at home of the Rams on Sunday night.
Football should be a lot of fun. Mike, we appreciate
the time. I can't wait to talk to you again,
thanks so much.
Speaker 9 (28:07):
All right, thanks for having me. You'll have a good one.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
It's a funky game. It's on Prime Video. It's uh
so you know for those sitting at home maybe watching
and searching around, you gotta have Prime to have it on.
Uh maybe if you're at the bar, they've got it.
You know, they've got those like nine five five two
channels where the NFL is able to get those and
play the games. But yeah, you get a little what.
Speaker 3 (28:31):
What are you trying to give the channel?
Speaker 9 (28:35):
I was?
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I was, I was trying to help him out without
making I know the channel I'm looking for. It doesn't
exist on Oxygen. It's on like five.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
Four nine.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Yeah. I tried typing it in and just said channel
on available if that.
Speaker 8 (28:54):
Or that's my social security not.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oxygen has Dateline Unforgettable twenty twenty. You know another one.
Uh great, great programming in the afternoon. That's why we're glad.
We're glad you listened to us here on Fox Sports Radio.
She's Monty Bolanos. She saw through my my secret, my
secret move. I hit her up at Monty Bolagos. You
(29:17):
can find me at Dan Byer on Fox. We got it.
I told you see see he refused to listen, but
he found he found he was no, I was looking.
I just trying back here. I have to also do
my main job.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
And he's also going to go coach through job and
great job, much job, great job, everybody a great job.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
And I was Sam Nundy the grand job at Jason
Stewart multitasking Jason. Now the two teams are left standing.
Be sure to check out the updated leaderboard for the
Fox Sports Radio dot com College Football Playoff Bracket Challenge.
There are eight listeners in the bracket challenge, with a
perfect bracket heading into the championship game. One lucky listener
will win one thousand dollars for the best bracket leading.
(29:57):
The host standings are not Monty Bolanos and Dan By
there they are Carrie Rhoads and Andy Furman, who each
have made only one incorrect pick. Visit Foxsports Radio dot
com to check out the leader board. Wild card was
wild in the NFL. What's even crazier was how many
people watched on Prime Gez Monte, I'm dan that's next
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Speaker 1 (31:35):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
App Fox Sports Radio. She's Monty Bolanos, I'm Dan Bayer.
Jason Stewart's here, Iowa Sam. Chris Purfett, Iowa Sam. Possibly
the new next head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Possibly,
we shall see, we shall see.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
I'm jumping on the bandwagon. If you gets tired, I'll.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Tell you what. Something just something just happened with my headset.
So we got to figure something out anyway. Yeah, I
don't know something. Something's crazy. The point is is we've
got to get into I can. I can't even hear
you right now. There we go, Okay, there we go. Okay, Yes,
everything is now. Okay.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
I was here now I couldn't tell if you were
doing a setup of.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah I did. I'm sorry. I apologize for but something
just happened with my headphones where the source was different.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Yes, correct, and you were listening to dateline.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
I was listening to nothing. And so that's what really
threw me off. I couldn't Yeah, I couldn't hear what
Sam was saying the other week, like you're the the
arm rest of your chair fell off. I mean, that's
that did the ground. Now wild Card weekend had the
ratings come in for the six games, and leading up
to Wildcard Weekend, we wondered how the Packers and Bears
(33:04):
were going to fare on prime video because it's this huge,
storied rivalry, and the Chicago Sun Times had revealed that
the NFL, all of the networks wanted forty nine ers
in Eagles, but that was going to be in the
prime window of Sunday afternoons. Smack Dab in the Middle
on Fox. That got forty one point one million viewers.
(33:26):
Second highest rated game from Wildcard Weekend not the Sunday
night game between the Chargers and Patriots. It was the
first game on Sunday. Thirty two point eight million viewers
on average watched the Bills in Jaguars, and then the
third highest Packers Bears on Prime Packers and Bears beat
(33:49):
Monday Night Football. It beat the first game on Fox
on Saturday between the Rams and Panthers, and it beat
Sunday Night Football between the Chargers and Patriots. So all
of our fears or wondering if people were going to
tune in, they got their wish. The NFL did and
had success with the Packers Bears on the streaming service.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
I'm not even that surprised.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
We've talked about Prime and how I feel like Prime
is just more than streaming, so I feel like a
lot of people have it.
Speaker 3 (34:19):
But also Monday Night Football.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
I know it's an isolated game, but I think people
saw the Texans and the Steelers and were like, I
don't need to watch that. So they probably like I
don't need to watch that, so they probably planned around
being able to watch the others. I am a little
bit surprised that the Bills and the Jaguars were number one, To.
Speaker 2 (34:38):
Be honest, they were.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
They were too, they were behind Eagles, and I'm surprised
they were so high.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
To be honest, I am not because I think America
loves the Bills and they love Josh Allen. That is
the sense. In fact, as shocking as it was that
Prime beat out Sunday Night Football beat out Monday Night
Football and beat out the afternoon game on Fox, even
though it's Packers Bears. Great obviously great rivalry and even
(35:04):
better now with the Ben Johnson Matt Lafleur rivalry. But
I just think, like I like, Buffalo is America's team.
There are so many people who are rooting for the
Bills right now that I am not surprised. In Manzi,
they played the Jaguars, Yeah, yeah, so this is It's
not like Jacksonville was gonna have this. It's not like
(35:24):
they played the Chiefs. It's not like they played the
Ravens or you know, a team where you would expect
other fans, or the Steelers. It was Jacksonville and they
pulled the second biggest number of wild Card weekend, which
tells me that that again, America is all behind the
Buffalo Bills in this playoff run.
Speaker 3 (35:42):
I'm surprised you're saying that.
Speaker 4 (35:43):
Maybe it's just my feed, but I feel like there's
a lot of Josh Allen hate.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
So are people hate watching Josh Allen? I am rooting
now that the Chargers are out. I am rooting for
the Bills to get it and get there.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yes, that'll be great for Josh Allen and the Bills,
especially with their history.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
But on my feet, I feel like there's a lot
of Allan. I'm surprised that you think that.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
I didn't get any sense of that at all. It's
your algorithm, Jason Stewart, do you think America's I mean,
you're talking to two guys who went to Buffalo September.
You know it had to experience the real deal.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
So your algorithm is all positive?
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, it is. It is. It's farewell videos to high
Mark Stadium.
Speaker 8 (36:20):
Sam knows this.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
I take every chance I can to blame the algorithm
for most of the world's problems. I'm guessing that's the case. Absolutely.
And I think if anyone's hate watching anything, people are
hate watching Tony Romo.
Speaker 4 (36:34):
Yeah, I get I'm just surprised it's gotta be my algorithm.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Yeah, I don't think. I yeah, I don't know. If
anybody's like, you got to honey, come over here listening
to this bozo he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Listen to his partner despises him. That's what's going on.
Speaker 10 (36:47):
Chris prophett I feel like America's team right now might
be the Bears. I feel like I feel like the
mood around them is But also I also someone made
the point earlier. I think we all almost want the
Bears to win just so people shut up about the
eighty five Bears.
Speaker 8 (37:01):
I can finally bury that there.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
I don't think there's anyway the Bears are America's team.
Speaker 6 (37:07):
I don't think what did I say, though, Bears Bills
would make a great Super Bowl Bills Bears Super Bowl
sixty battle start Bears beat Bears, Bills, Bears Bills Beats.
Speaker 8 (37:19):
I take I take no pleasure in saying it either
as a lot.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, I just it's funny on the world you guys
live in, Like Manzi's like people hate Josh Allen, Chris
is thinking that the Bears.
Speaker 6 (37:30):
I think there's a lot of doubting Thomas is out
there for for Josh Allen, Yeah, I agree that, Like
he's an athletic guy, Doubting Thomas are a plenty.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
That is fair, he is. Iowa was saying, that's Chris
profered Jason Stewart this year, she's Mancy Belagos, I'm Dan Bayer.
And last night someone put up triple digits in a
high school hoops game. We talk about it next
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.