December 30, 2025 • 40 mins
Brian Noe talks about why there is a serious need for the NFL to change how the playoff seeding works as there is a serious chance that a team with a losing record hosts a playoff game in the NFC, how the 49ers entire playoff picture can be changed, and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh what's going on? Happy Tuesday to you. Thrilled to
be here with you, Mallard Militia. Feel free to check in.
Love being interactive with you. But I want to, uh, listen.
I like to point out things that I like. I
like to point out things that are stupid from time
to time, and this, to me is peak stupidity. It
(00:22):
would be the NFL playoff format. Now here's the thing.
I'm fully aware that sometimes when we have these these
discussions I fully care about like, uh, I don't know
my ideas. I care about my ideas a lot. But
(00:43):
if you were to just tell me your ideas, I
might not care about them as much.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So the point is, I'm not saying like, don't don't
give me your ideas. I'm just saying I'm going to
try to keep my ideas at a relative minimum, with
the thought in mind that you just might not really
care a whole like of a lot about it. Right,
Like it could work out that way. But with the Rams.
(01:09):
The Rams lost on Monday night, and yet they still
have an eleven and five record, And I'm just looking
at the playoff picture in both conferences in every year
and this year, more than some recent years, the standings
just look dumb. I really don't understand why I get
(01:32):
as much pushback on this as I get, because this
has driven me crazy for a number of years, and
this year is no different. This year it's just more intense,
if anything. But I'm looking at the records and it
just something just stands out like a sore thumb. Remember
the old school, Like, one of these things is not
(01:53):
like the other. I don't know how the melody went,
but it was like that. It was a sesame street thing.
One of these things is not like the And as
a little kid, you had to be like, oh, what
is it? All right, that's not the same. Yeah, that
guy's wearing a yellow sweater, that girl's wearing a yellow sweater,
that kid is wearing a yellow sweater, and this other
(02:13):
guy is wearing a black sweater. It's like, that's what's difference,
the black sweater guy. Right, that's what it looks like
in the AFC and the NFC playoff pictures if you
look at the AFC. Okay, now, I'll just give you
the records, so right now, in order, it is Denver
thirteen and three, Patriots thirteen and three, Jags twelve and four,
(02:39):
Pittsburgh nine and seven. They don't even have ten wins,
they don't have double digit wins. Then underneath the Steelers,
Houston eleven and five, Chargers eleven and five, Bills eleven
and five, all these wild card teams in the AFC
have eleven wins, and yet Pittsburgh, who right now is
(03:02):
leading the AFC North, they have to beat the Ravens
to win the division. Otherwise the Ravens will will win it.
So I don't understand why it's structured this way. It's
so dumb. It's so dumb. The way it is is
the division winners, they're seeded one through four. We don't
(03:22):
care about their records. If you win your division, no
questions asked, You get a playoff berth, you get a
home playoff game. You're seeded one through four. And that's
the way it remains throughout the entire playoffs. It's crazy,
it's insanity. In no world has the Steelers season been
better or more impressive than the Texans, the Chargers, the Bills.
(03:48):
All those teams have two more wins than the Steelers.
The Steelers play in a bad division like that, it's
not an impressive season. It's not an impressive achievement that
they've won their division. What I want to do, here's
my idea. It's not very difficult. The four division winners,
they get into the playoffs. Okay, you get a playoff spot.
(04:12):
We might not even have that, like in the NFC
Carolina they might if they win the NFC South, they
might not be guaranteed a playoff spot, right like, it
might not work that way. So at least you get
a playoff spot. You're guaranteed you're in the playoffs. We
don't care if you're under five hundred. That's happened. By
(04:32):
the way, there have been teams that made the playoffs
that had a sub five hundred record that would not
have made the playoffs unless they won their division. So
if you win your division, you're in the playoffs, no
questions asked. That's your reward. But you don't get the
extreme luxury of then hosting a playoff game on top
(04:54):
of that. You don't get that. No, sorry, it's too much.
So what you do. Division winners, you're in one, two, three, four,
You guys are in the field. Then we have three
wildcard teams one two, three. Those seven teams make it
in each conference, and then we seed the teams based
on record. That's what we do. We see them based
(05:17):
on record. You know who figured this out in one
year college football? College football. What they did is what
the NFL currently does college football. Last season, they said, hey,
we're gonna have the uh, the highest conference winners. If
(05:38):
you win your conference, you guys are gonna be seeded
one through four. You guys are gonna get the buye,
which is a big deal. You get to rest, you
don't risk injury, you don't risk losing, you don't risk anything.
You get, you earn a bye. It's a big deal.
And then they had Arizona State and Boise State get
buys and college football is like, this is stupid, dude,
(06:00):
Like these teams are ranked low. I forget the rank.
I'd have to look, but uh, it's like Boise State
was I don't know, like twelfth in Arizona State was
ranked sixteenth, And somehow these teams got buys. They're seated
like three and four. It was insanity. And college football
looked at that and they were like, yeah, we're changing
(06:20):
that immediately. This is dumb. This is just this is dumb.
And so they seated teams one through four based on
record based on rankings, like the way they ranked them
is the way they seeded them, and they're ranked primarily
based on record. So it's not like, oh, okay, you
(06:41):
won the UH, you won the Big twelve, Okay, you
get a buye. You won the UH, you won the
ACC Okay you get a bye. Like no, no, no, no, no, no,
no no. You actually have to be ranked one through
four to get one of the top four seatings and
thus a bye. College football figured it out in one year.
(07:02):
It took them one year to be like, our system
is dumb. Visit this is freaking crazy, and the NFL
is still beholden on their dumb system if you look
at it, like right now, Carolina, the Carolina Panthers, who
lead their division, which sucks. They're like Boise State. Last
(07:23):
year Boise State won a sucky conference. They they were
ranked lower and they were inappropriately handed a bye and
college football changed it. The same thing with Arizona State.
They were ranked too low and college football was like,
all right, yeah, we kind of messed that up, or
(07:44):
we're changing that. You know, I'm looking at the let
me see the rankings here. The UH well, we have
the final rankings. Sorry, let me try to get this
week sixty. Okay, So going in here we go. Arizona
State was ranked twelve and they were seeded number four
(08:05):
just because they won the Big Twelve. They're like, hey,
you won your conference, so you get a bye. I
guess the twelfth ranked team gets the number four seed.
That makes a ton of sense. Boise State was ranked
ninth and they got the number three seed. Again, makes
zero sense whatsoever. One year and college football was like, yeah,
(08:30):
all right, that's kind of change. That's dumb. We're dumb.
We admit that we're dumb, and we're changing this immediately.
So if you look at what happened in college football now,
look at this lines up a little bit more logically.
So Indiana ranked number one, seeded number one, Ohio State
ranked number two, seeded number two, Georgia three and three,
(08:56):
Texas Tech ranked four, seeded number four. Wow, it's amazing
how that works out. It almost like makes sense, right, Like,
I don't know why the NFL doesn't do that. It
really is ridiculous. Ask yourself this. If we were ranking
these teams in the AFC and we're looking at their records,
(09:19):
and we're factoring in some other things like what's your
strength of schedule, the things we do in college football,
what's your strength of record, like who did you play,
who did you beat? Who are your quality losses? All
of that stuff we do in college football. If we
were to do that in the NFL, where do you
think the Steelers would be? Do you think they would
(09:39):
be fourth out of these seven teams that make it
into the playoffs? No chance, they would be dead last
out of those seven. So why are they seated number four?
It's dumb, It makes no sense. So you win your division,
you're in the playoffs. The three other wild card teams
based on record, you're in the playoffs as well, And
(10:02):
then you see those teams based on record. There's no
world where if you look at the NFC playoff picture,
Carolina is number four right now because they lead their division,
and below them you've got San Francisco twelve and four.
Carolina's eight and eight. So right now, an eight and
(10:23):
eight football team would host a twelve and four football team.
In no world does that make sense. It makes absolutely
zero sense. And for anyone who says, well, I just
think you should get more for winning your division. Why
why do you get more for winning the NFC South,
(10:43):
which sucks this year? They might not have one team
with a winning record if Carolina loses to Tampa, and
by the way, I don't think they will, but if
they do, no team will have a winning record in
that division. Is winning that division more impressive than the
Niners being a twelve and four football team, at worse
(11:07):
a twelve and five football team. How is that more impressive?
It isn't, so they shouldn't be rewarded as if it is.
They should break these teams, seed these teams based on
record all day and for anyway. I was thinking about
this too, thinking about this today, because you'll hear this
quite a bit. It's like, okay, we just let's how
about this. I hate this idea, but let's keep it
(11:30):
the way it is, which is dumb and makes no sense,
which I've outlined in great detail, probably more detailed than
I initially set out thinking I would do. But you know,
you know me, I'm a bal junkie and I just
get off and run, and you know, I get passionate
about this stuff. Anyway, So a lot of people say,
let's just keep it out. It is the four division
(11:51):
winners one, two, three four Boo boo boom, boo boom.
That might have been one too many booms. I don't
know if it was four or five booms. It was
one too many boom. I apologize, but boom boom, boom boom.
There you go. Then you get the three wild card
teams boom boom boom, and then we keep it just
the way it is. And then after the first round,
let's recede. You hear that a lot. Let's reseed these
(12:13):
teams based on record. And I was playing this game,
so like, play this game out here real quick, just
based on the playoff picture right now. Okay, so the
playoff picture right now, what you would have is your
two to seven matchup would be the Bears hosting the Packers. Okay, now,
humor me on this one. Let's say the Bears win
(12:34):
that game. They just beat the Packers in at Soldier
Field a week ago. Right, Let's say they do it again.
Packers have lost three in a row. Jordan Love has
been banged up, like, it wouldn't be crazy if if
the Packers went to Soldier Field and lost again. So
let's say the Bears win that game. Then we also
(12:54):
get the four to five matchup that would be right now,
Carolina against San Francisco. Let's be radical here and say
San Francisco wins that game on the road, okay, And
then the last one that we would have in the
first round, we would have the Rams at the Eagles.
Let's say the Rams win that game. Rams went into
(13:16):
you know, Philly before, and if not for a couple
of missed field goals, one was blocked at the end
in return for a touchdown, they win that game. Like
the Rams should have won that game. Wouldn't be crazy
at all if they went in there and beat the Eagles.
So let's just say that's what we have, all right.
If you were then to reseed teams based on record
(13:41):
after the first round, this is what you would get
based on what I just said. Bears beat Packers, the
Rams beat the Eagles, and the Panthers they lose to
the Niners. Right, so your three winners are what Bears, Rams, Niners.
If you reseed those teams, what you would have is
(14:01):
Seattle would be the one seed, San Francisco would be
the two seed, then it would be Chicago and the
Rams Rams would be the four seed. You know what's
funny about this? Two would play three, right, So you
would have a wild card team in the forty nine
ers hosting a division winner in the Bears. So if
(14:25):
you're okay with the idea, if you're one of these like, hey,
let's receed after the first round, if you're up for that,
then you do realize, right that a wild card team
could very well host a division winner in the second round.
So if you're cool with that in the second round,
why are you not cool with that in the first round?
(14:48):
That makes no sense. None, I hear that all the time. No,
I think, I think you should get a home playoff
game if you win your division, but they should definitely
re se after that going forward. It's like, you do
realize that you could have a wildcard team hosting a
division winner in the second round, right, Like when the
stakes are growing and it's getting more serious and we're
(15:11):
inching closer to Championship Sunday and then Super Bowl Sunday.
It just blows my vine. Man, it makes no sense.
And yet you'll have team after team after team in
the NFL ownership. They're just they're dead set against changing
the playoff format. They don't want to see these teams
based on record, and they're like, hey, if you win
(15:33):
your division, you should get a home game. I think
it's like this, Really, if we cut down to it,
more franchises benefit from the way it is right now,
Like Carolina would benefit from the way it is right now.
The winner of the AFC North, the Steelers or the Ravens,
they would benefit from the way it is right now.
And yet you might have one team or a couple
(15:55):
of teams that get screwed right now. It would be
the forty nine Ers, they're a wild card team right now.
It'd be the Rams, they're a wild card team right now.
All these teams in the AFC, Texans, Chargers, Bills, they
have better records than the Steelers. I really don't know
why they aren't thinking the way I'm thinking, Like I
just I don't know, man, Like they don't think, hey, man,
(16:17):
why are we on the road exactly? This socks that
shouldn't be like this. I would think there'd be more
of a groundswell to change this format, but there just isn't.
There isn't when they bring it up, like, hey, should
we even vote on this? I don't even think it
gets voted on. I don't think. I don't think it
even gets to that stage where they're like, yeah, yeah,
(16:38):
I think it was what the Lions brought it up
last year. So the Lions, if they didn't win their
Week eighteen game, they would have fallen from the number
one seed to the number five seed, and they brought
this up, like, yo, we might want to change this.
It's a kind of dumb slash. We almost got screwed
by this stupid setup, and it got shot down right away.
(17:00):
I don't think they even voted on it. I don't
think it even got to that stage. So there is
not any momentum for changing this rule, and I think
it should be changed immediately. It makes absolutely no sense.
I don't care that you won your sucky division. I
don't care. You know what's funny too, they they rank
(17:25):
these teams or see these teams based on record among
the division winners and among the wild card teams. It's like,
why don't we do that altogether? Why? Why not?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Like?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
In what world is Carolina's season this year more impressive
than the Niners or the Rams. It's it's not even close,
even with the Rams losing on Monday Night to the
Falcons not even close to more impressed. They're a five
hundred team. They're eight and eight. It's not more impressive. Like,
which division is more impressive? Is it the NFC South
(17:58):
with no teams with a winning record they have no
teams with the winning record right now, or the NFC West,
where you've got three teams with at least eleven wins.
The NFC West is light years better than the NFC South.
So why are we acting like winning the NFC South
is better than being a wildcard team in the NFC West.
(18:21):
It's just dumb. It makes absolutely no sense. I wish
they would change it right away, and for now you
have a little bit of ammo. I just figured this out,
maybe a little bit late to the party. But for
anyone who's like guy, I think the division winners should
have home games, but I'm in favor of reseeding after
the first round. It's like, you do realize that wildcard
(18:41):
teams could then host division winners, right they could be
hosting the game, Like the wildcard team would get the
home game, something that for some reason you're against in
the first round. Like that argument makes absolutely no sense.
It's a complete contradiction for anyone who's like, I don't
think that a wildcard team should host games in the
first round, but we should recede going forward, it's a
(19:04):
complete contradiction. It's like they don't even realize what they're saying.
So no, they should just base these teams. They should
see these teams based on record, whether you win your
division or your wild card team, all in order, based
on record. But your comments are more than welcome. I
know a lot of people, for whatever reason, they rage
(19:26):
against logic. I put it this way. Sometimes people just
get used to stuff. Okay, there is no way if
the setup all along is what I'm saying it should be.
We've got our seven teams, or back in the day
when we had six teams from each conference make the playoffs,
(19:49):
if they just seed it all these teams based on record,
nobody would suggest changing it to the system we currently
have a right. We're seeding these teams one through seven
based on record, whether you won your division or you're
a wildcard team. We're basing it on record, okay, and
we'll have tie breakers if we need to, just like
(20:10):
we do as now. Right, Well, you don't change anything
like that. We're one through seven based on record and tiebreakers.
No one would be like, hey, I got an idea.
How about we do this so you get a playoff
berth if you win your division and you automatically get
a home game.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
I know you might be like eight to nine and
you might host a team that's like four or five
wins better than you, but we think you should get
something more for winning your division. Right, Everybody would look
at that guy like he had three heads, Like who
invited this freaking guy to the meeting? Get the hell
out of here? Like that makes no sense at all.
(20:48):
I think we just get used to stuff, and a
lot of people are used to this format. We're the
top four teams, top four seeds, they win their division,
no questions asked. That's who seeded one through four, one, two, three, four.
They're just used to it. If you stop and think
about it, it makes zero sense, no sense at all.
(21:09):
San Francisco, if they're a wildcard team, they should be
seated ahead of Carolina the Rams. If they're a wildcard team,
they should be seated ahead of the Carolina Panthers all
day long. And yet that's just not how the NFL
does it. They do it just like college football. Last season,
when Boise State ranked ninth, they're the three seed, and
(21:33):
when Arizona State ranked twelfth is the fourth seed. Makes
absolutely no sense. College football is like, this is dumb.
We're changing it then, and the NFL is like, it's
not dumb. Our system that resembles college football to a t,
you know, the one that college football changed. No, we're
sticking to our guns. Ours ours makes sense, or if
it doesn't make sense, we're just used to it so
(21:54):
we're comfortable with it. It's terrible, man, it's it's a
horrible format. As much as I love the NFL, that
format in the playoffs makes no sense. Feel free to
check in on this or whatever's on your mind. Eight seven,
seven ninety nine on Fox, also on x at the
No Show is where you can find me. Ooh, I'll
(22:15):
tell you what. We got some choppy waters. You ever
see Wolf on Wall Street? Wolf of Wall Street, not
Wolf on Wolf of Wall Street, right with Leo and
they're sailing through some bad waters. I forget the whole context.
They have to get to a certain place because Leo
has to get to his money, right, his whole thing,
(22:37):
and the guy sailing the boat he goes, there might
be some chop. There might be some chop, and Leo's like,
that's fine, we can get right out. Let's go. We're fine,
we can get through chop. Like there might be some
chop on the show tonight. Because guess what, Melard Militia,
I know, I know, Ben has you programmed into thinking
that lists are bad. I'm here to tell you not
(23:00):
all lists are bad. I have what I think is
a great list for you. If you look at the
playoff quarterbacks as of right now, if you were to
rank the top five qbs who would benefit the most
from winning a Super Bowl this season, what would your
(23:22):
list look like? Huh? I mean that is you can
have to do some mental gymnastics to come up with
a solid list as far as that goes. I have
a list. I'm gonna share it with you tonight. We'll
get to that at the top of the third hour,
is what we're gonna do. So that's coming your way
in thirty five minutes from now. But right around the
(23:43):
corner the heel coach of the entire NFL, and he
owns it, he loves it. We got the latest installment
of him being a heel. He's like the wrestler that
comes out and yells at the fans for being overweight,
and you know job listen, that's this guy. This NFL
(24:03):
coach is that WWE heel and he wears it. We'll
tell you about the latest installment of what he's up
to next. I'm Brian no In for Big Ben Malor.
Keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mallor
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning
on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't
your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Throat every day.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
And all the best guests.
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Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
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Speaker 1 (24:56):
It is Fox Sports Radio. I'm Brian no In for
Big Ben Maller. Let's see the malicious checking in over here.
Very nice. Love to see this based on what I
was just saying. Let me go to the Beast of
the East. He's in Rochester. I'm curious what he has
to say about receding. I'm curious about this. Just talking
about the the NFL's playoff format and not a fan,
(25:19):
but uh, some people feel very strongly about this. They
want to keep it the same or I'm curious what
your thoughts are, Beast of the East. What's going on? Man,
Good morning to you. Welcome to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
Very good, John Den.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
I always just the Mallards though, but nice still is.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Thank you. I just want to bring up one aspect
of your repat theory.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
There's a lot of things I ruined sports. I can
write a book.
Speaker 7 (25:46):
On them, but this is just one aspect of it.
Speaker 6 (25:50):
And what it is is that you're forgetting one very
very important thing A lot of this year.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
I have no argument against it, but.
Speaker 6 (26:01):
There's been years where a division winner.
Speaker 7 (26:04):
Was eight and eight in the sixteen game, maybe even
seven and nine, one of them in Seattle Seahawks, and
they won their division seven and nine hosts of the
playoff game. Well, when people forget not this year Seattle
was in a division that beat the heck out of
each other, so obviously the record's going to be less.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
I don't think you penalize. I hate them to switch.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
You look in the NBA box.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Scores now it's all by record.
Speaker 7 (26:34):
I can't stand that.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
I really can't.
Speaker 7 (26:37):
It takes hog.
Speaker 6 (26:40):
Negative effect on rivalries. We could talk about fantasy sports
where people don't even root for their teams, they root
for other players. But this is just one aspect of it.
I never want to see the division's gone and best record.
I just think many times when somebody has an even
or a little better, I just think it's because their
(27:02):
division is so com you know, competitive.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
That's all tobably want to say.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
All right, Beast to the East. But I mean, listen,
you're entitled to your opinion, but I just don't buy
it at all. Like, let's look at the NFC South.
Are we saying that the Carolina Panthers are only eight
and eight because it's such a tough division and they're
just beating each other up. No, they're eight and eight
because they're not any good. Like, here's the thing, man,
you play six games, six division games, six of your
(27:31):
seventeen games are in your division. So if your overall
record is eight and eight, you're not a good football team. Like,
it's not because your division is so difficult about No,
those are only six of your seventeen games. You got
eleven games outside of your division. So like, if you're
(27:51):
just hovering around five hundred or you're below five hundred,
you're not any good. Like, I just don't buy the
oh man, it's because you're your division is a gauntlet. Like, No,
that's not the rule. That's more the exception than the norm.
I don't buy that at all. I'm very standoffice here tonight.
I guess I don't know normally, I'm you know, open minded,
(28:13):
but you know I don't agree with everything. Is what
I'll tell you right now, my guy, Sir scratch Off,
I just saw an a AI generated you know, kind
of video of Sir scratch Offs that was very entertaining.
Sir scratch Off, what's going on with you?
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Man?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Welcome to Fox Sports Radio, Sir scratch Off, you with us,
Buddy Man, I I don't know what's going on. Sounds
like he's driving or something. He's not taking a nap
like holler and James. It sounds like he's a he's
going somewhere. I don't know what's going on with Sir
(28:48):
scratch Off. He doesn't have his his listening years on
right there. I wish I was like, I didn't realize
I was a big Dukes of Hazzard fan when I
was a little kid, you know, because I just like
the car. I didn't realize like anything beyond the car.
I had no idea. And yeah, like Sir scratch Off,
you know, driving a truck and not not hearing me
(29:10):
right now. I'm just assuming he's doing something behind the wheel.
I don't know. It's a bad assumption. But when I
was a when I was a kid, I loved the
Dukes of Hazzard because the car was amazing, and they
would replay these episodes on CMT, like the country TV station.
I'm like, why the hell would they replay these these
(29:32):
episodes on CMT. And then being older, I would watch
an episode and it'd be like it'd be like a
crazy codeer, this is lost Shepherd, you got your ears on?
Come out, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I had
no I had no idea any of that was. I
just like the car that was it. But I uh,
you know, I'm just assuming that's what's going on with
(29:54):
Sir scratch Off. Someone's like, what's Sir scratch Off's like
trucker identity, you know, like in the Dukes of Hazzard
we had Loss Shepherd. I can't crazy Cooter. I can't
remember the other ones, right, But maybe that's what Sir
scratch Off is. Maybe he's crazy Cooter, Crazy Cooter. He
got years on como, you know, I don't know. Maybe
(30:16):
that's that's what I would say to him. If I
was a fellow trucker, I would say that all day.
I develop an accent just to say it more cool.
That's what I would do. All right, hollerin James is
with us? Let's see if he's loosen again. Back to
back nights. What's going on? Hollerin James. You're on FSR.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Hey, how you doing?
Speaker 7 (30:33):
Brain?
Speaker 4 (30:33):
No to say I still am going with my picks.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
You're still you're doubling down on Max Brosmer, is what
you're telling me?
Speaker 8 (30:44):
Huh, I'm on Max Brosurn like Max Hacker from We'll
get to see him, all right.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
You're doubling down on Brosmer. Someone has to write. I
don't see anybody else doing it. Maybe this is an
untapped valuable mark that you've stumbled.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Up born and rage.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
That's what I'm worried about. I'm worried about this being
a Homer pick. They had three passing yards against the Lions.
When you factor in zack yards three passing yards? What
is up with that? Holler in James, where's.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
The got establish or running a pack?
Speaker 4 (31:19):
And they gotta establish a screen?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Maybe throwing maybe a sweet flicker was justin Jefferson throwing
them all?
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Wow, all right, we got we got Jefferson throwing passes. Now, Okay,
I'm up for it. Let's get crazy over it's week eighteen.
We're throwing stuff against the wall. See what sticks? I
like it.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Let's run some gadget.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Hey, I'm all for gadgets. Look at Look at Ben Johnson.
He's the gadget guy. Gadgets work. There are there's a
time and place for gadgets in week eighteen? Is that time?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Here?
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Hollering James, Hey.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
You pan, I got this for you too. Let's go
with my picks.
Speaker 8 (31:59):
Okay, I got the Vikings over Green Bay, yep, I
got Denver went in at home, okay, And I'll go
with Seattle eating Tampa Bay.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
And they don't play Tampa Bay though, Holler and James,
they play somebody else.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Tampa's playing Carolina.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
I like Caroline over Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
I said, oh, you like Caro, Okay, you like Carolin.
I'm with you on that. I love Carolina.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
You know why because I'm a big fan of Jake Delone.
I promised a jersey to trist Ward, who I met
at Sawya and Saya was for young adults and the
Catholic religious program at Sant Loomscatholic Church. And now tell Minneapolis.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
You're the man, Holler and James.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
And I got a Carolina panther jacket from Randy Johnston
Ship and when I saw it, I saw it.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Jake Delone, hey.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Man with rage and cage and Jake the Loan. Once
Louisiana Lafayette, they've rebranded, it's just Louisiana. I think you
got to keep the Lafayette right there. You know, I
don't like that rebranding. But the old raging Cajun Jake
the Loam, and he played very well then the Super
Bowl against the Patriots. Right there, I want a couple
of squares. I want a couple of pools on that one,
(33:19):
because I just had a flashback this Probably no one cares.
I'll keep this short. You know how you fill out
Super Bowl squares where you get like the number for
the Patriots, the number for the Panthers. Right, if the
score matches your numbers, you get a payout. It was
the same score for a couple of quarters, and I
(33:40):
cashed in. I think one team was on the doorstep
of scoring at the end of the third quarter and
they didn't. They got held like within the five yard line.
And the very first play of the fourth quarter they
scored a touchdown. But yours truly cashed in. I doubled
up because the score stayed the same. Wow, he was amazing.
It was an awesome some thing, man, I've made like
(34:01):
a couple hundred bucks something like that, maybe like three
hundred dollars.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
Doig on you.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
It's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 6 (34:08):
All right.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Let me sneak in one more at least because a
couple of people want to check in on the format.
I'm very curious what they have to say about this.
Let me go to rich Is in Washington. He's got
an idea on seating. Very curious about this playoff format.
What's going on here?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Rich?
Speaker 4 (34:23):
Hey, how you doing tonight, guys? Good topic, you know,
thinking about this and the whole seating team. I'm totally
on board with you, guys. I think it's bes the
way it's structured and everything. But one of the things
I've always thought about this, you know, the National Football
League the NFL and it's teams. They make a significant
amount of money through the stadiums obviously, as you know,
(34:46):
through everything from local revenue, tickets, concessions, parking, sponsorships. It
goes on and on. You know, have you ever thought
about you know, wildcard, no wildcard? Okay, they have these
teams eight and eight teams with no winning records. They
get into their foot inside the door on a playoff thing.
Because this is secondary only to the massive national revenue
(35:10):
from the TV deals that also follow this. And I'm
just wondering how much you know, I don't know what
the numbers would be on this. I'd have to do
some some checking on that, but it just seems like,
you know, they say the teams control their local funds. Okay, well,
how much does the league share on that? You know,
local or national funds. Is it all equally? Is it making?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
You know?
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Generated you know, the revenue is a key differentiator. I
guess you could say for the team profits. You know,
the longer they keep these teams in and the more
extended we can do on these brackets and stuff, that's
more people supporting their teams. I don't know, just something
that you on. You know, football is a money making industry.
(35:53):
Any professional sports is, you know, but the NFL, I
think is at the top of the top of the
food chain.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah. Man, I'll tell you what, rich. I appreciate you
checking in. You took it in a way different direction,
you know. I just care about who's getting the home games.
I don't know how the money gets distributed and chopped
up and who gets I don't know, that's a completely
different category. I just look, man, if you have a
twelve and four record and you're a wild card team,
it's dumb that you're on the road facing an eight
(36:23):
and eight division winner. That's just ridiculous. And I know
this is as of week eighteen. I know we have
a seventeen game schedule, and you know, Carolina, they might
be nine and eight, maybe the forty nine ers are
twelve and five, so it's a three win difference. It's
still dumb. That makes absolutely no sense. I hate the
playoff format. It's what college football was last season and
(36:44):
that made no sense. That's what the NFL still is
rocking out. So I just I'm not in favor of it.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Now.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
I'll tell you one thing coming up next, there's one
other layer. I'll mention this very quickly, very quickly, very painlessly,
and we'll get right back to the militia because it's
not just about the first week of the playoffs. It's
about the entire path that you have in the playoffs.
That's what matters so much here. So we'll get to
(37:10):
that here very quickly. I'm Brian no In for Big
Ben Malor. Keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I'm Brian no In for Big Ben Malor here on
Fox Sports Radio. Okay, as promised something very very painless.
I'll make this very quick because I was talking about
the NFL changing their playoff format I think they should
see these teams based on record, whether you're a wildcard
team or whether you won your division. That's just my thought.
(37:49):
But the thing that matters, it's so far beyond the
first round. It's your entire playoff path that is altered,
that has changed, that is a affected based on the
playoff format. So take a team like the forty nine ers. Okay,
the forty nine ers, if they're seeded based on record
(38:10):
right now, they're a two seed, Like they're a number
two seed. And before you think, oh, that's that's crazy,
that's right. So we have a an NFC West team
that's number one, that would be Seattle, and we've got
an NFC West team that's number two in San Francisco. Like,
what's up with Why would we do this? That's what
college football does.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Matt.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Look at who's the number one seed in the college
football playoff Indiana, who's the number two seed Ohio State?
Those are both Big ten teams. You're not bent out
of shape, You're not like they should change this is radical. No,
it could do this the same way in the NFL.
So if the the Niners are the two seed, now
think of their entire playoff path. If you're the two seed,
(38:54):
we're saying you keep winning, okay, so you get two
home playoff games. The Niners win their first home playoff game,
they get a second home playoff game guaranteed, and then
if the one seed loses before the conference championship game,
the Niners get a third home playoff game. They have
(39:16):
two guaranteed home games and at worst one road game
in the playoffs. That's as a two seed. If they're
a five seed, which they are right now, they are
most likely to be on the road for three straight
playoff games. So two at home, maybe a third at
(39:36):
home as a two seed, three road playoff games as
a five seed. That's why it matters so much. It's
not just the first round. It's not just well, I mean,
San Francisco should host this game against Carolina if that's
the four to five matchup. It's so much deeper than that.
It's their entire path throughout the playoff. And that's why
(40:01):
I hate the format so much. Man, as much as
I love ball, as much as I love the NFL,
their playoff structure makes absolutely no sense, makes no sense, none,
not even a shred of sense. But they're just rocking
it man, they're keeping it all right. We'll get to
your tweets, we'll get to the heel of the NFL
(40:22):
and ooh list radio coming up this hour, looking forward
to it.
Oh what's going on? Happy Tuesday to you. Thrilled to
be here with you, Mallard Militia. Feel free to check in.
Love being interactive with you. But I want to, uh, listen.
I like to point out things that I like. I
like to point out things that are stupid from time
to time, and this, to me is peak stupidity. It
(00:22):
would be the NFL playoff format. Now here's the thing.
I'm fully aware that sometimes when we have these these
discussions I fully care about like, uh, I don't know
my ideas. I care about my ideas a lot. But
(00:43):
if you were to just tell me your ideas, I
might not care about them as much.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
So the point is, I'm not saying like, don't don't
give me your ideas. I'm just saying I'm going to
try to keep my ideas at a relative minimum, with
the thought in mind that you just might not really
care a whole like of a lot about it. Right,
Like it could work out that way. But with the Rams.
(01:09):
The Rams lost on Monday night, and yet they still
have an eleven and five record, And I'm just looking
at the playoff picture in both conferences in every year
and this year, more than some recent years, the standings
just look dumb. I really don't understand why I get
(01:32):
as much pushback on this as I get, because this
has driven me crazy for a number of years, and
this year is no different. This year it's just more intense,
if anything. But I'm looking at the records and it
just something just stands out like a sore thumb. Remember
the old school, Like, one of these things is not
(01:53):
like the other. I don't know how the melody went,
but it was like that. It was a sesame street thing.
One of these things is not like the And as
a little kid, you had to be like, oh, what
is it? All right, that's not the same. Yeah, that
guy's wearing a yellow sweater, that girl's wearing a yellow sweater,
that kid is wearing a yellow sweater, and this other
(02:13):
guy is wearing a black sweater. It's like, that's what's difference,
the black sweater guy. Right, that's what it looks like
in the AFC and the NFC playoff pictures if you
look at the AFC. Okay, now, I'll just give you
the records, so right now, in order, it is Denver
thirteen and three, Patriots thirteen and three, Jags twelve and four,
(02:39):
Pittsburgh nine and seven. They don't even have ten wins,
they don't have double digit wins. Then underneath the Steelers,
Houston eleven and five, Chargers eleven and five, Bills eleven
and five, all these wild card teams in the AFC
have eleven wins, and yet Pittsburgh, who right now is
(03:02):
leading the AFC North, they have to beat the Ravens
to win the division. Otherwise the Ravens will will win it.
So I don't understand why it's structured this way. It's
so dumb. It's so dumb. The way it is is
the division winners, they're seeded one through four. We don't
(03:22):
care about their records. If you win your division, no
questions asked, You get a playoff berth, you get a
home playoff game. You're seeded one through four. And that's
the way it remains throughout the entire playoffs. It's crazy,
it's insanity. In no world has the Steelers season been
better or more impressive than the Texans, the Chargers, the Bills.
(03:48):
All those teams have two more wins than the Steelers.
The Steelers play in a bad division like that, it's
not an impressive season. It's not an impressive achievement that
they've won their division. What I want to do, here's
my idea. It's not very difficult. The four division winners,
they get into the playoffs. Okay, you get a playoff spot.
(04:12):
We might not even have that, like in the NFC
Carolina they might if they win the NFC South, they
might not be guaranteed a playoff spot, right like, it
might not work that way. So at least you get
a playoff spot. You're guaranteed you're in the playoffs. We
don't care if you're under five hundred. That's happened. By
(04:32):
the way, there have been teams that made the playoffs
that had a sub five hundred record that would not
have made the playoffs unless they won their division. So
if you win your division, you're in the playoffs, no
questions asked. That's your reward. But you don't get the
extreme luxury of then hosting a playoff game on top
(04:54):
of that. You don't get that. No, sorry, it's too much.
So what you do. Division winners, you're in one, two, three, four,
You guys are in the field. Then we have three
wildcard teams one two, three. Those seven teams make it
in each conference, and then we seed the teams based
on record. That's what we do. We see them based
(05:17):
on record. You know who figured this out in one
year college football? College football. What they did is what
the NFL currently does college football. Last season, they said, hey,
we're gonna have the uh, the highest conference winners. If
(05:38):
you win your conference, you guys are gonna be seeded
one through four. You guys are gonna get the buye,
which is a big deal. You get to rest, you
don't risk injury, you don't risk losing, you don't risk anything.
You get, you earn a bye. It's a big deal.
And then they had Arizona State and Boise State get
buys and college football is like, this is stupid, dude,
(06:00):
Like these teams are ranked low. I forget the rank.
I'd have to look, but uh, it's like Boise State
was I don't know, like twelfth in Arizona State was
ranked sixteenth, And somehow these teams got buys. They're seated
like three and four. It was insanity. And college football
looked at that and they were like, yeah, we're changing
(06:20):
that immediately. This is dumb. This is just this is dumb.
And so they seated teams one through four based on
record based on rankings, like the way they ranked them
is the way they seeded them, and they're ranked primarily
based on record. So it's not like, oh, okay, you
(06:41):
won the UH, you won the Big twelve, Okay, you
get a buye. You won the UH, you won the
ACC Okay you get a bye. Like no, no, no, no, no, no,
no no. You actually have to be ranked one through
four to get one of the top four seatings and
thus a bye. College football figured it out in one year.
(07:02):
It took them one year to be like, our system
is dumb. Visit this is freaking crazy, and the NFL
is still beholden on their dumb system if you look
at it, like right now, Carolina, the Carolina Panthers, who
lead their division, which sucks. They're like Boise State. Last
(07:23):
year Boise State won a sucky conference. They they were
ranked lower and they were inappropriately handed a bye and
college football changed it. The same thing with Arizona State.
They were ranked too low and college football was like,
all right, yeah, we kind of messed that up, or
(07:44):
we're changing that. You know, I'm looking at the let
me see the rankings here. The UH well, we have
the final rankings. Sorry, let me try to get this
week sixty. Okay, So going in here we go. Arizona
State was ranked twelve and they were seeded number four
(08:05):
just because they won the Big Twelve. They're like, hey,
you won your conference, so you get a bye. I
guess the twelfth ranked team gets the number four seed.
That makes a ton of sense. Boise State was ranked
ninth and they got the number three seed. Again, makes
zero sense whatsoever. One year and college football was like, yeah,
(08:30):
all right, that's kind of change. That's dumb. We're dumb.
We admit that we're dumb, and we're changing this immediately.
So if you look at what happened in college football now,
look at this lines up a little bit more logically.
So Indiana ranked number one, seeded number one, Ohio State
ranked number two, seeded number two, Georgia three and three,
(08:56):
Texas Tech ranked four, seeded number four. Wow, it's amazing
how that works out. It almost like makes sense, right, Like,
I don't know why the NFL doesn't do that. It
really is ridiculous. Ask yourself this. If we were ranking
these teams in the AFC and we're looking at their records,
(09:19):
and we're factoring in some other things like what's your
strength of schedule, the things we do in college football,
what's your strength of record, like who did you play,
who did you beat? Who are your quality losses? All
of that stuff we do in college football. If we
were to do that in the NFL, where do you
think the Steelers would be? Do you think they would
(09:39):
be fourth out of these seven teams that make it
into the playoffs? No chance, they would be dead last
out of those seven. So why are they seated number four?
It's dumb, It makes no sense. So you win your division,
you're in the playoffs. The three other wild card teams
based on record, you're in the playoffs as well, And
(10:02):
then you see those teams based on record. There's no
world where if you look at the NFC playoff picture,
Carolina is number four right now because they lead their division,
and below them you've got San Francisco twelve and four.
Carolina's eight and eight. So right now, an eight and
(10:23):
eight football team would host a twelve and four football team.
In no world does that make sense. It makes absolutely
zero sense. And for anyone who says, well, I just
think you should get more for winning your division. Why
why do you get more for winning the NFC South,
(10:43):
which sucks this year? They might not have one team
with a winning record if Carolina loses to Tampa, and
by the way, I don't think they will, but if
they do, no team will have a winning record in
that division. Is winning that division more impressive than the
Niners being a twelve and four football team, at worse
(11:07):
a twelve and five football team. How is that more impressive?
It isn't, so they shouldn't be rewarded as if it is.
They should break these teams, seed these teams based on
record all day and for anyway. I was thinking about
this too, thinking about this today, because you'll hear this
quite a bit. It's like, okay, we just let's how
about this. I hate this idea, but let's keep it
(11:30):
the way it is, which is dumb and makes no sense,
which I've outlined in great detail, probably more detailed than
I initially set out thinking I would do. But you know,
you know me, I'm a bal junkie and I just
get off and run, and you know, I get passionate
about this stuff. Anyway, So a lot of people say,
let's just keep it out. It is the four division
(11:51):
winners one, two, three four Boo boo boom, boo boom.
That might have been one too many booms. I don't
know if it was four or five booms. It was
one too many boom. I apologize, but boom boom, boom boom.
There you go. Then you get the three wild card
teams boom boom boom, and then we keep it just
the way it is. And then after the first round,
let's recede. You hear that a lot. Let's reseed these
(12:13):
teams based on record. And I was playing this game,
so like, play this game out here real quick, just
based on the playoff picture right now. Okay, so the
playoff picture right now, what you would have is your
two to seven matchup would be the Bears hosting the Packers. Okay, now,
humor me on this one. Let's say the Bears win
(12:34):
that game. They just beat the Packers in at Soldier
Field a week ago. Right, Let's say they do it again.
Packers have lost three in a row. Jordan Love has
been banged up, like, it wouldn't be crazy if if
the Packers went to Soldier Field and lost again. So
let's say the Bears win that game. Then we also
(12:54):
get the four to five matchup that would be right now,
Carolina against San Francisco. Let's be radical here and say
San Francisco wins that game on the road, okay, And
then the last one that we would have in the
first round, we would have the Rams at the Eagles.
Let's say the Rams win that game. Rams went into
(13:16):
you know, Philly before, and if not for a couple
of missed field goals, one was blocked at the end
in return for a touchdown, they win that game. Like
the Rams should have won that game. Wouldn't be crazy
at all if they went in there and beat the Eagles.
So let's just say that's what we have, all right.
If you were then to reseed teams based on record
(13:41):
after the first round, this is what you would get
based on what I just said. Bears beat Packers, the
Rams beat the Eagles, and the Panthers they lose to
the Niners. Right, so your three winners are what Bears, Rams, Niners.
If you reseed those teams, what you would have is
(14:01):
Seattle would be the one seed, San Francisco would be
the two seed, then it would be Chicago and the
Rams Rams would be the four seed. You know what's
funny about this? Two would play three, right, So you
would have a wild card team in the forty nine
ers hosting a division winner in the Bears. So if
(14:25):
you're okay with the idea, if you're one of these like, hey,
let's receed after the first round, if you're up for that,
then you do realize, right that a wild card team
could very well host a division winner in the second round.
So if you're cool with that in the second round,
why are you not cool with that in the first round?
(14:48):
That makes no sense. None, I hear that all the time. No,
I think, I think you should get a home playoff
game if you win your division, but they should definitely
re se after that going forward. It's like, you do
realize that you could have a wildcard team hosting a
division winner in the second round, right, Like when the
stakes are growing and it's getting more serious and we're
(15:11):
inching closer to Championship Sunday and then Super Bowl Sunday.
It just blows my vine. Man, it makes no sense.
And yet you'll have team after team after team in
the NFL ownership. They're just they're dead set against changing
the playoff format. They don't want to see these teams
based on record, and they're like, hey, if you win
(15:33):
your division, you should get a home game. I think
it's like this, Really, if we cut down to it,
more franchises benefit from the way it is right now,
Like Carolina would benefit from the way it is right now.
The winner of the AFC North, the Steelers or the Ravens,
they would benefit from the way it is right now.
And yet you might have one team or a couple
(15:55):
of teams that get screwed right now. It would be
the forty nine Ers, they're a wild card team right now.
It'd be the Rams, they're a wild card team right now.
All these teams in the AFC, Texans, Chargers, Bills, they
have better records than the Steelers. I really don't know
why they aren't thinking the way I'm thinking, Like I
just I don't know, man, Like they don't think, hey, man,
(16:17):
why are we on the road exactly? This socks that
shouldn't be like this. I would think there'd be more
of a groundswell to change this format, but there just isn't.
There isn't when they bring it up, like, hey, should
we even vote on this? I don't even think it
gets voted on. I don't think. I don't think it
even gets to that stage where they're like, yeah, yeah,
(16:38):
I think it was what the Lions brought it up
last year. So the Lions, if they didn't win their
Week eighteen game, they would have fallen from the number
one seed to the number five seed, and they brought
this up, like, yo, we might want to change this.
It's a kind of dumb slash. We almost got screwed
by this stupid setup, and it got shot down right away.
(17:00):
I don't think they even voted on it. I don't
think it even got to that stage. So there is
not any momentum for changing this rule, and I think
it should be changed immediately. It makes absolutely no sense.
I don't care that you won your sucky division. I
don't care. You know what's funny too, they they rank
(17:25):
these teams or see these teams based on record among
the division winners and among the wild card teams. It's like,
why don't we do that altogether? Why? Why not?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Like?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
In what world is Carolina's season this year more impressive
than the Niners or the Rams. It's it's not even close,
even with the Rams losing on Monday Night to the
Falcons not even close to more impressed. They're a five
hundred team. They're eight and eight. It's not more impressive. Like,
which division is more impressive? Is it the NFC South
(17:58):
with no teams with a winning record they have no
teams with the winning record right now, or the NFC West,
where you've got three teams with at least eleven wins.
The NFC West is light years better than the NFC South.
So why are we acting like winning the NFC South
is better than being a wildcard team in the NFC West.
(18:21):
It's just dumb. It makes absolutely no sense. I wish
they would change it right away, and for now you
have a little bit of ammo. I just figured this out,
maybe a little bit late to the party. But for
anyone who's like guy, I think the division winners should
have home games, but I'm in favor of reseeding after
the first round. It's like, you do realize that wildcard
(18:41):
teams could then host division winners, right they could be
hosting the game, Like the wildcard team would get the
home game, something that for some reason you're against in
the first round. Like that argument makes absolutely no sense.
It's a complete contradiction for anyone who's like, I don't
think that a wildcard team should host games in the
first round, but we should recede going forward, it's a
(19:04):
complete contradiction. It's like they don't even realize what they're saying.
So no, they should just base these teams. They should
see these teams based on record, whether you win your
division or your wild card team, all in order, based
on record. But your comments are more than welcome. I
know a lot of people, for whatever reason, they rage
(19:26):
against logic. I put it this way. Sometimes people just
get used to stuff. Okay, there is no way if
the setup all along is what I'm saying it should be.
We've got our seven teams, or back in the day
when we had six teams from each conference make the playoffs,
(19:49):
if they just seed it all these teams based on record,
nobody would suggest changing it to the system we currently
have a right. We're seeding these teams one through seven
based on record, whether you won your division or you're
a wildcard team. We're basing it on record, okay, and
we'll have tie breakers if we need to, just like
(20:10):
we do as now. Right, Well, you don't change anything
like that. We're one through seven based on record and tiebreakers.
No one would be like, hey, I got an idea.
How about we do this so you get a playoff
berth if you win your division and you automatically get
a home game.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
I know you might be like eight to nine and
you might host a team that's like four or five
wins better than you, but we think you should get
something more for winning your division. Right, Everybody would look
at that guy like he had three heads, Like who
invited this freaking guy to the meeting? Get the hell
out of here? Like that makes no sense at all.
(20:48):
I think we just get used to stuff, and a
lot of people are used to this format. We're the
top four teams, top four seeds, they win their division,
no questions asked. That's who seeded one through four, one, two, three, four.
They're just used to it. If you stop and think
about it, it makes zero sense, no sense at all.
(21:09):
San Francisco, if they're a wildcard team, they should be
seated ahead of Carolina the Rams. If they're a wildcard team,
they should be seated ahead of the Carolina Panthers all
day long. And yet that's just not how the NFL
does it. They do it just like college football. Last season,
when Boise State ranked ninth, they're the three seed, and
(21:33):
when Arizona State ranked twelfth is the fourth seed. Makes
absolutely no sense. College football is like, this is dumb.
We're changing it then, and the NFL is like, it's
not dumb. Our system that resembles college football to a t,
you know, the one that college football changed. No, we're
sticking to our guns. Ours ours makes sense, or if
it doesn't make sense, we're just used to it so
(21:54):
we're comfortable with it. It's terrible, man, it's it's a
horrible format. As much as I love the NFL, that
format in the playoffs makes no sense. Feel free to
check in on this or whatever's on your mind. Eight seven,
seven ninety nine on Fox, also on x at the
No Show is where you can find me. Ooh, I'll
(22:15):
tell you what. We got some choppy waters. You ever
see Wolf on Wall Street? Wolf of Wall Street, not
Wolf on Wolf of Wall Street, right with Leo and
they're sailing through some bad waters. I forget the whole context.
They have to get to a certain place because Leo
has to get to his money, right, his whole thing,
(22:37):
and the guy sailing the boat he goes, there might
be some chop. There might be some chop, and Leo's like,
that's fine, we can get right out. Let's go. We're fine,
we can get through chop. Like there might be some
chop on the show tonight. Because guess what, Melard Militia,
I know, I know, Ben has you programmed into thinking
that lists are bad. I'm here to tell you not
(23:00):
all lists are bad. I have what I think is
a great list for you. If you look at the
playoff quarterbacks as of right now, if you were to
rank the top five qbs who would benefit the most
from winning a Super Bowl this season, what would your
(23:22):
list look like? Huh? I mean that is you can
have to do some mental gymnastics to come up with
a solid list as far as that goes. I have
a list. I'm gonna share it with you tonight. We'll
get to that at the top of the third hour,
is what we're gonna do. So that's coming your way
in thirty five minutes from now. But right around the
(23:43):
corner the heel coach of the entire NFL, and he
owns it, he loves it. We got the latest installment
of him being a heel. He's like the wrestler that
comes out and yells at the fans for being overweight,
and you know job listen, that's this guy. This NFL
(24:03):
coach is that WWE heel and he wears it. We'll
tell you about the latest installment of what he's up
to next. I'm Brian no In for Big Ben Malor.
Keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Mallor
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every weekday morning
on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't
your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Throat every day.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
And all the best guests.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with
Jason McIntyre on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
It is Fox Sports Radio. I'm Brian no In for
Big Ben Maller. Let's see the malicious checking in over here.
Very nice. Love to see this based on what I
was just saying. Let me go to the Beast of
the East. He's in Rochester. I'm curious what he has
to say about receding. I'm curious about this. Just talking
about the the NFL's playoff format and not a fan,
(25:19):
but uh, some people feel very strongly about this. They
want to keep it the same or I'm curious what
your thoughts are, Beast of the East. What's going on? Man,
Good morning to you. Welcome to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
Very good, John Den.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
I always just the Mallards though, but nice still is.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Thank you. I just want to bring up one aspect
of your repat theory.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
There's a lot of things I ruined sports. I can
write a book.
Speaker 7 (25:46):
On them, but this is just one aspect of it.
Speaker 6 (25:50):
And what it is is that you're forgetting one very
very important thing A lot of this year.
Speaker 7 (25:58):
I have no argument against it, but.
Speaker 6 (26:01):
There's been years where a division winner.
Speaker 7 (26:04):
Was eight and eight in the sixteen game, maybe even
seven and nine, one of them in Seattle Seahawks, and
they won their division seven and nine hosts of the
playoff game. Well, when people forget not this year Seattle
was in a division that beat the heck out of
each other, so obviously the record's going to be less.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
I don't think you penalize. I hate them to switch.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
You look in the NBA box.
Speaker 6 (26:32):
Scores now it's all by record.
Speaker 7 (26:34):
I can't stand that.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
I really can't.
Speaker 7 (26:37):
It takes hog.
Speaker 6 (26:40):
Negative effect on rivalries. We could talk about fantasy sports
where people don't even root for their teams, they root
for other players. But this is just one aspect of it.
I never want to see the division's gone and best record.
I just think many times when somebody has an even
or a little better, I just think it's because their
(27:02):
division is so com you know, competitive.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
That's all tobably want to say.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
All right, Beast to the East. But I mean, listen,
you're entitled to your opinion, but I just don't buy
it at all. Like, let's look at the NFC South.
Are we saying that the Carolina Panthers are only eight
and eight because it's such a tough division and they're
just beating each other up. No, they're eight and eight
because they're not any good. Like, here's the thing, man,
you play six games, six division games, six of your
(27:31):
seventeen games are in your division. So if your overall
record is eight and eight, you're not a good football team. Like,
it's not because your division is so difficult about No,
those are only six of your seventeen games. You got
eleven games outside of your division. So like, if you're
(27:51):
just hovering around five hundred or you're below five hundred,
you're not any good. Like, I just don't buy the
oh man, it's because you're your division is a gauntlet. Like, No,
that's not the rule. That's more the exception than the norm.
I don't buy that at all. I'm very standoffice here tonight.
I guess I don't know normally, I'm you know, open minded,
(28:13):
but you know I don't agree with everything. Is what
I'll tell you right now, my guy, Sir scratch Off,
I just saw an a AI generated you know, kind
of video of Sir scratch Offs that was very entertaining.
Sir scratch Off, what's going on with you?
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Man?
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Welcome to Fox Sports Radio, Sir scratch Off, you with us,
Buddy Man, I I don't know what's going on. Sounds
like he's driving or something. He's not taking a nap
like holler and James. It sounds like he's a he's
going somewhere. I don't know what's going on with Sir
(28:48):
scratch Off. He doesn't have his his listening years on
right there. I wish I was like, I didn't realize
I was a big Dukes of Hazzard fan when I
was a little kid, you know, because I just like
the car. I didn't realize like anything beyond the car.
I had no idea. And yeah, like Sir scratch Off,
you know, driving a truck and not not hearing me
(29:10):
right now. I'm just assuming he's doing something behind the wheel.
I don't know. It's a bad assumption. But when I
was a when I was a kid, I loved the
Dukes of Hazzard because the car was amazing, and they
would replay these episodes on CMT, like the country TV station.
I'm like, why the hell would they replay these these
(29:32):
episodes on CMT. And then being older, I would watch
an episode and it'd be like it'd be like a
crazy codeer, this is lost Shepherd, you got your ears on?
Come out, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I had
no I had no idea any of that was. I
just like the car that was it. But I uh,
you know, I'm just assuming that's what's going on with
(29:54):
Sir scratch Off. Someone's like, what's Sir scratch Off's like
trucker identity, you know, like in the Dukes of Hazzard
we had Loss Shepherd. I can't crazy Cooter. I can't
remember the other ones, right, But maybe that's what Sir
scratch Off is. Maybe he's crazy Cooter, Crazy Cooter. He
got years on como, you know, I don't know. Maybe
(30:16):
that's that's what I would say to him. If I
was a fellow trucker, I would say that all day.
I develop an accent just to say it more cool.
That's what I would do. All right, hollerin James is
with us? Let's see if he's loosen again. Back to
back nights. What's going on? Hollerin James. You're on FSR.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Hey, how you doing?
Speaker 7 (30:33):
Brain?
Speaker 4 (30:33):
No to say I still am going with my picks.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
You're still you're doubling down on Max Brosmer, is what
you're telling me?
Speaker 8 (30:44):
Huh, I'm on Max Brosurn like Max Hacker from We'll
get to see him, all right.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
You're doubling down on Brosmer. Someone has to write. I
don't see anybody else doing it. Maybe this is an
untapped valuable mark that you've stumbled.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Up born and rage.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
That's what I'm worried about. I'm worried about this being
a Homer pick. They had three passing yards against the Lions.
When you factor in zack yards three passing yards? What
is up with that? Holler in James, where's.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
The got establish or running a pack?
Speaker 4 (31:19):
And they gotta establish a screen?
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Maybe throwing maybe a sweet flicker was justin Jefferson throwing
them all?
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Wow, all right, we got we got Jefferson throwing passes. Now, Okay,
I'm up for it. Let's get crazy over it's week eighteen.
We're throwing stuff against the wall. See what sticks? I
like it.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Let's run some gadget.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Hey, I'm all for gadgets. Look at Look at Ben Johnson.
He's the gadget guy. Gadgets work. There are there's a
time and place for gadgets in week eighteen? Is that time?
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Here?
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Hollering James, Hey.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
You pan, I got this for you too. Let's go
with my picks.
Speaker 8 (31:59):
Okay, I got the Vikings over Green Bay, yep, I
got Denver went in at home, okay, And I'll go
with Seattle eating Tampa Bay.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
And they don't play Tampa Bay though, Holler and James,
they play somebody else.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Tampa's playing Carolina.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
I like Caroline over Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
I said, oh, you like Caro, Okay, you like Carolin.
I'm with you on that. I love Carolina.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
You know why because I'm a big fan of Jake Delone.
I promised a jersey to trist Ward, who I met
at Sawya and Saya was for young adults and the
Catholic religious program at Sant Loomscatholic Church. And now tell Minneapolis.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
You're the man, Holler and James.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
And I got a Carolina panther jacket from Randy Johnston
Ship and when I saw it, I saw it.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Jake Delone, hey.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Man with rage and cage and Jake the Loan. Once
Louisiana Lafayette, they've rebranded, it's just Louisiana. I think you
got to keep the Lafayette right there. You know, I
don't like that rebranding. But the old raging Cajun Jake
the Loam, and he played very well then the Super
Bowl against the Patriots. Right there, I want a couple
of squares. I want a couple of pools on that one,
(33:19):
because I just had a flashback this Probably no one cares.
I'll keep this short. You know how you fill out
Super Bowl squares where you get like the number for
the Patriots, the number for the Panthers. Right, if the
score matches your numbers, you get a payout. It was
the same score for a couple of quarters, and I
(33:40):
cashed in. I think one team was on the doorstep
of scoring at the end of the third quarter and
they didn't. They got held like within the five yard line.
And the very first play of the fourth quarter they
scored a touchdown. But yours truly cashed in. I doubled
up because the score stayed the same. Wow, he was amazing.
It was an awesome some thing, man, I've made like
(34:01):
a couple hundred bucks something like that, maybe like three
hundred dollars.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
Doig on you.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
It's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 6 (34:08):
All right.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Let me sneak in one more at least because a
couple of people want to check in on the format.
I'm very curious what they have to say about this.
Let me go to rich Is in Washington. He's got
an idea on seating. Very curious about this playoff format.
What's going on here?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Rich?
Speaker 4 (34:23):
Hey, how you doing tonight, guys? Good topic, you know,
thinking about this and the whole seating team. I'm totally
on board with you, guys. I think it's bes the
way it's structured and everything. But one of the things
I've always thought about this, you know, the National Football
League the NFL and it's teams. They make a significant
amount of money through the stadiums obviously, as you know,
(34:46):
through everything from local revenue, tickets, concessions, parking, sponsorships. It
goes on and on. You know, have you ever thought
about you know, wildcard, no wildcard? Okay, they have these
teams eight and eight teams with no winning records. They
get into their foot inside the door on a playoff thing.
Because this is secondary only to the massive national revenue
(35:10):
from the TV deals that also follow this. And I'm
just wondering how much you know, I don't know what
the numbers would be on this. I'd have to do
some some checking on that, but it just seems like,
you know, they say the teams control their local funds. Okay, well,
how much does the league share on that? You know,
local or national funds. Is it all equally? Is it making?
Speaker 2 (35:32):
You know?
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Generated you know, the revenue is a key differentiator. I
guess you could say for the team profits. You know,
the longer they keep these teams in and the more
extended we can do on these brackets and stuff, that's
more people supporting their teams. I don't know, just something
that you on. You know, football is a money making industry.
(35:53):
Any professional sports is, you know, but the NFL, I
think is at the top of the top of the
food chain.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah. Man, I'll tell you what, rich. I appreciate you
checking in. You took it in a way different direction,
you know. I just care about who's getting the home games.
I don't know how the money gets distributed and chopped
up and who gets I don't know, that's a completely
different category. I just look, man, if you have a
twelve and four record and you're a wild card team,
it's dumb that you're on the road facing an eight
(36:23):
and eight division winner. That's just ridiculous. And I know
this is as of week eighteen. I know we have
a seventeen game schedule, and you know, Carolina, they might
be nine and eight, maybe the forty nine ers are
twelve and five, so it's a three win difference. It's
still dumb. That makes absolutely no sense. I hate the
playoff format. It's what college football was last season and
(36:44):
that made no sense. That's what the NFL still is
rocking out. So I just I'm not in favor of it.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
Now.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
I'll tell you one thing coming up next, there's one
other layer. I'll mention this very quickly, very quickly, very painlessly,
and we'll get right back to the militia because it's
not just about the first week of the playoffs. It's
about the entire path that you have in the playoffs.
That's what matters so much here. So we'll get to
(37:10):
that here very quickly. I'm Brian no In for Big
Ben Malor. Keep it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I'm Brian no In for Big Ben Malor here on
Fox Sports Radio. Okay, as promised something very very painless.
I'll make this very quick because I was talking about
the NFL changing their playoff format I think they should
see these teams based on record, whether you're a wildcard
team or whether you won your division. That's just my thought.
(37:49):
But the thing that matters, it's so far beyond the
first round. It's your entire playoff path that is altered,
that has changed, that is a affected based on the
playoff format. So take a team like the forty nine ers. Okay,
the forty nine ers, if they're seeded based on record
(38:10):
right now, they're a two seed, Like they're a number
two seed. And before you think, oh, that's that's crazy,
that's right. So we have a an NFC West team
that's number one, that would be Seattle, and we've got
an NFC West team that's number two in San Francisco. Like,
what's up with Why would we do this? That's what
college football does.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Matt.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
Look at who's the number one seed in the college
football playoff Indiana, who's the number two seed Ohio State?
Those are both Big ten teams. You're not bent out
of shape, You're not like they should change this is radical. No,
it could do this the same way in the NFL.
So if the the Niners are the two seed, now
think of their entire playoff path. If you're the two seed,
(38:54):
we're saying you keep winning, okay, so you get two
home playoff games. The Niners win their first home playoff game,
they get a second home playoff game guaranteed, and then
if the one seed loses before the conference championship game,
the Niners get a third home playoff game. They have
(39:16):
two guaranteed home games and at worst one road game
in the playoffs. That's as a two seed. If they're
a five seed, which they are right now, they are
most likely to be on the road for three straight
playoff games. So two at home, maybe a third at
(39:36):
home as a two seed, three road playoff games as
a five seed. That's why it matters so much. It's
not just the first round. It's not just well, I mean,
San Francisco should host this game against Carolina if that's
the four to five matchup. It's so much deeper than that.
It's their entire path throughout the playoff. And that's why
(40:01):
I hate the format so much. Man, as much as
I love ball, as much as I love the NFL,
their playoff structure makes absolutely no sense, makes no sense, none,
not even a shred of sense. But they're just rocking
it man, they're keeping it all right. We'll get to
your tweets, we'll get to the heel of the NFL
(40:22):
and ooh list radio coming up this hour, looking forward
to it.
Host
Ben Maller
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