3 & Out - 49ers and the injury report, Latest with Watson, Wednesday's on Campus

John dives into the controversy surrounding the 49ers, Jordan Mason, and how the team handled the injury report regarding Christian McCaffrey. Next, John talks about the NFL investigating the latest lawsuit with Deshaun Watson. He also talks about a potential sleeper team that could look to hire Bill Belichick, and the introduction of a new segment called "Wednesday's on Campus".

Later, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.

6:52 - 49ers and the injury report

11:36 - Deshaun Watson is being investigated 

19:40 - Sleeper for Belichick

22:26 - Wednesday's on Campus

40:28 - Mailbag

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #Herd

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume touchdowns pd Huddy take it into the house
in for six. I like to call it a tug.
Whatever you call touchdown. One thing's for sure, touchdowns matter
more at Draftking Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of
the NFL. On the ground, in the air, special teams

(00:24):
or defense, we do not care how you score them.
We just want to bet touchdowns and Draftking Sportsbook is
the number one place to bet touchdowns. Ready to place
your first NFL bet? Try betting on something simple like
a player to score a touchdown. Go to Draftking Sportsbook
app and make your bet today. Ready to do a
touchdown dance of your own? I know I do it

(00:45):
all the time. New DraftKings customers bet five bucks to
get two hundred and fifty in bonus bets instantly and
get one month of NFL Plus Premium. Download the Draftking
Sportsbook app and use the code John. That's code John
for new customers to get two hundred and fifty in
bonus bets when you bet just five bucks and get

(01:06):
one month NFL Plus Premium only on DraftKings. The Crown is.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yours gambling problem. Call one eight hundred gambler in New
York call eight seven seven eight hope and Y, or
text hope and Y four six seven three six nine.
In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling Call eight
eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or
visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of
Boothill Casino in Resorting, Kansas twenty one and over. Agent
eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void in New Hampshire, Oregon. In Ontario,

(01:32):
bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issue.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Ince.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG dot co.
Slash ft Ball NFL Plus premium offer available only to
new and former NFL Plus subscribers. Additional NFL Plus premium
terms at NFL dot com slash terms.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
What is going on? Everybody? How are we doing? I'm
John this three and Now podcast. I got some thoughts
today because we recorded right after the game last night,
and then I saw the controversial statement by Jordan Mason
saying he was told he was the starter, and then
everyone's freaking out about McCaffrey's injury. I don't quite understand

(02:22):
what we're talking about when you add up the timeline
of everything, but I do want to hit on that situation,
Deshaun Watson. I do think his trade, at his age,
at his position, I want to dive into what an
outlier situation that is in modern day football. So obviously

(02:45):
it's been a disaster, but looking back, there should have
been some pretty big question marks at the time. I
mean there were, but they should have been even bigger.
Is there a team because we've talked so much about
specific spots for Bella that we're overlooking. I just see
Belichick all over my feeds, so I'm thinking about them

(03:06):
a lot. I do think there's a team to kind
of keep an eye on that could be a potential fit,
even if when you say it out loud, it's a
little weird, but I do think it's in play. And
we're gonna start something new moving forward, and we're gonna
call it Wednesdays on campus and every week I'm gonna
ask five questions regarding college football, then I'll answer them.

(03:29):
So basically, just things I want to talk about, but
from USC to Texas to prime time, and we'll do
a little mailbag at John Middlecoffe's the Instagram fire. In
those dms, we have content out, we have reactions, to
the Sunday night game. The forty nine er game we
did went on with Colin. We will have Marty Smith,
who covers the SEC and does stuff with augusta NASCAR

(03:52):
guy on the show tomorrow and stuck you on Friday.
So let's keep rocking and rolling. Subscribe to the pot
if you listen to Collins feed, make sure you subscribe
a three and out and the YouTube channel hammer that subscribe.
Maybe even throw alike in there. But first, do you
want to go to a game? Do you want to
go to a football game, an NFL game, a college game? Why?

(04:15):
Got you covered? Because game Time, the official ticketing app
of this podcast is the best. Been using them for
a long time now they have you covered any event
you want to go as your team? And do you
live in a city where your baseball team's gonna be
in the playoffs? Playoff baseball is awesome. Do you want
to go to a concert to a comedy show? Well?
I got you covered. Just take the guestswork out of

(04:36):
buying tickets with game Time. Download the game Time app,
create an account and use the code John for twenty
dollars off your first purchase. Terms of play again, create
an account and redeem the code John for twenty dollars
off down to the game time app today last minute
ticket's lowest prices guaranteed. I just want to hit on
this really quick because I think a lot of people
chime in when it comes to gambling, and if you

(05:00):
don't gamble, I don't really care what your opinion is,
because listen, I've gambled for a long time and I've
been screwed. And as someone that gambles a lot on golf,
when it comes to injuries, like they do a terrible job.
You never know when guys are injured, and then all
of a sudden they withdraw on Friday and you have

(05:20):
a lot of money on them, and it's like, ah,
to top ten. It's like, yeah, I've been dealing with
a bad risk. I'm out. It's like, what you know, Ludwig,
who's one of the best golfers, has had a knee
issue all season long, and then over the last two
weeks it was like, hey, he's gonna need knee surgery
after the year. Well, it's like the public should know this,
there should be an injury report. So if we're all

(05:42):
in bed together, I'm pro gambling. I'm pro the league's
being I'm pro it's all involved, but only one league
takes that seriously. The NBA doesn't. I don't fallow baseball,
so can't comment. I know for a fact golf doesn't.
The NFL has consistent injury reports, and Christian McCaffrey has
on that thing all of training camp when there wasn't

(06:02):
even official training camp injury report because you legally don't
have to. But every single day reporters didn't practice, didn't practice,
didn't practice. Everyone in the world knows he's injured. And
then the actual season starts and he's on the injury report,
not just with a calf but also with an achilles,
so it's not a hidden thing. Everyone knows it. He

(06:23):
is questionable throughout the week to not practice. So when
Jordan Mason is asked when did you know you were
gonna start and he says Friday, everyone freaks out And
I think to myself, I didn't have any money on
that game. But who could be mad, right, Because if
I told you Christian McCaffrey, if you thought he was
gonna play, and then he doesn't, and listen, I was

(06:44):
when he was inactive. It was surprising, but not out
of left field because he's been dealing with his calf
slash achilles. But who would have benefited from that? Because
if I told you Christian McCaffrey on Monday, so you
had all week long, like last Monday, Christian McCaffrey's out,
what are you proba do put some money on the Jets? Well,
if you would have done that, you would have lost.

(07:06):
So who's actually mad? Fantasy drafts have already happened literally
when the guy was injured, So I don't know what
crew is mad. Jordan Mason said he was starting. Jordan
Mason's never been the backup, so he's officially the backup
this offseason, and then he's in a position week one
when the guy might not play. What do you think
a position coach tells a guy who where the starter

(07:29):
is questionable in dealing with something, who's never been a backup,
probably all training camp. Better get ready to play, you
better get ready to play. You might be the starter.
You might be the starter. You might have to play.
We might need to get twenty five carres. It's probably
being told that every single game. So a controversy to
me when it comes to injury report is a guy
not on the injury report at all. Who is a

(07:50):
key person? Who is someone that seriously impacts the line.
Christian McCaffrey is one of those people. Obviously, he doesn't
actually change it that many points point if anything's like
a half a point or a point. But when Christian
McCaffrey is not playing, it's a huge concern. So a
player of that level, not injured, not injured, not injured,
and then the game comes and he's inactive, Like, to me,

(08:12):
that's a controversy. Not someone who's literally been consistently on
the injury report, and not just with like a flu
like symptoms. The word achilles, which popped up two weeks ago.
The moment that did I went red flag. Now I
was actually under selling it when he just had a
calf because he kept saying he could play. But when
the Achilles popped up, I'm I think that's a big concern.

(08:35):
But what's shocking about a guy who's been dealing with
an injury who's not good enough to go on a Sunday.
It literally happens all the time. It's happened my entire life.
So the forty nine are like, what are they hiding?
You don't have to announce starters in the NFL. There
are guys on the injury report that end up starting
and guys that end up being inactive. You don't say

(08:55):
on Thursday of a game week or Friday of a
game week. Hey, just so everyone knows, these three guys
are gonna start. They've never started before. That never happens.
You're not legally mandated to do it. But I think
this fake controversy because the only person that would have
helped in theory would have been someone that would have
hammered the Jets. Well, if you hammered the Jets, you

(09:17):
lost money. I could have made the Jets of I
don't know, twelve point underdog, you still would have lost.
I don't even know what the final score was because
there was a garbage time touchdown. But what are we
talking about here? Obviously, Shan Watson is a conversation that
just will not die, and it's you know, he plays

(09:37):
the Jags this week, so sneaky pressure on Doug And
we'll get into that in a second. But I looked
around at all the biggest contracts in the NFL, which
are all quarterbacks. If you look at guaranteed money, if
you look at practical guarantees. If you just look at
the total of a contract, like Patrick Mahomes doesn't have
a quote unquote the most guaranteed money, but his contract
is four hundred and fifty million dollars. I think it's

(10:00):
fair to say he's gonna see every penny of that.
And most of the guys Burrow, Lawrence to uh, Dak,
you know, all these got Jalen Hurts like they're gonna
see the overwhelming majority of their cash guaranteed and non guaranteed. Right,
So unless you have a Russell Wilson fall off a cliff,
you see most of it. Like Derek Carr has never

(10:22):
had huge guarantees. He's made like two hundred million dollars
in his career. Why because he just he starts every
single year. As long as you continue to start on
that contract, like you get paid. And when I looked
at all the names, Deshaun Watson was the one that
stuck out because he was the only player to change
teams in their mid twenties. All those guys, Dak Hurts, Mahomes,

(10:48):
Allen Lamar, Herbert Burrow drafted by a team, invested in
a team, and the team starting quarterback ideally. For fifteen
plus years now we have seen quarterbacks move teams. Peyton Manning,
Colts got his neck might never be the same, and
they got the number one pick, and they went with
Andrew luck Kirk Cousins last year, thirty six years old

(11:12):
off of torn achilles. Tom Brady went to Tampa Bay.
He was forty two years old. But when you look
at all the sweet quarterbacks over really the history of
the last twenty years, guys in the prime of their
career twenty five, twenty six years old never changed teams.

(11:32):
Even Russell Wilson, who felt younger than like Brady and Manning,
was traded when he was thirty three years old. He
had been on Seattle for a decade for he had
been a ten year starter for them. Do you think
in a million years they ever would have pulled the
trigger when he was twenty five, twenty six years old.

(11:53):
So Deshaun Watson contract is a great example. Who are
the two teams at the end of the day the
most interested in him? Carolina in Cleveland? What do those
teams have in common? Not sure the owners have any
clue what they're doing and are very desperate to be relevant.
Let things marinate and figure each other out. They ran

(12:14):
Baker Mayfield out of town, which at the time felt
like the right move. But sometimes when you rush into things,
you look back and you go, well, I'd much rather
have Baker Mayfield than Deshaun Watson. And then you look
at Baker Mayfield now, it's like, God, he feels like
a really mature guy, had a kid, feels like he's
kind of coming to his own as a man. Deshaun

(12:35):
Watson's being sued again for like what feels like the
fiftieth time, and this didn't have to happen, And looking back,
I don't think this ever happens again, because when does
a player? And I know he was really good, but
it was for like two and a half seasons. It's
not like he had some long resume. So the decision

(12:57):
for the Denver Broncos to trade for Russell Wilson is
all time bad, but I don't really blame them. I
also left out Aaron Rodgers, who was traded at thirty
nine years old, who had been starting for the Packers
for fifteen plus years, and who had been on the
team for basically nineteen This never happens, that these guys
are available, and I think it's a great lesson. If

(13:19):
a twenty five, twenty six year old quarterback who is
viewed as a sweet player is available, something is way off,
and I mean way off. Now I'm hearing a lot
of people talk about this, is this the worst trade
in the history of sports. We have talked about Bryce
Young before, but I will say this, if Bryce is

(13:42):
just a disaster, We've seen disasters before. When you get
the character stuff, how could if I was a Browns fan.
I'm just a guy living in Ohio that loves the Browns.
It's one thing to have a player struggle. It's pro sports.
It happens, guys go through downs. Turned to some guys,
it's like, yeah, it was maybe a flash in the

(14:02):
pant that sucks. But then when you get the toxicity
of the baggage he brings and just the way he
carries himself, he kind of has this negative aura to
him that would be really, really hard. And this is
why when you invest in your own guy, like let's
say Joe Burrow has a down year, you know what,
every Cleveland or Cincinnati Bengal fan will say, that's my

(14:23):
fucking guy. That guy got us a Super Bowl I'll
ride or die with Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
Justin Herbert Listen, even Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts, and
some of these guys, like the Trevor Lawrence bad example.
I don't know how many Jacksonville fans, but let's use
Jalen as an example. Let's say he's up and down
this year, throws a bunch of picks, I'll throw some touchdowns.

(14:45):
It's like this guy two years ago led us to
a super Bowl. This guy was in the MVP mix.
I'm giving this guy the benefit of doubt. Now, none
of these guys, you know, the only guy that had
even a semblance of a character question mark looking through
the top contra like the top twelve was Kyler Murray.
And what was that? He played too many video games.

(15:08):
Every other guy is pretty spotless. And let's face it,
when you're a starting quarterback, everyone's looking at you, so
no matter what you do would be a big story.
I actually think it's pretty impressive. Most of these guys
avoid every issue possible, except this guy, Like he feels
like the ultimate turd right now in the NFL. I'm

(15:30):
not some moral high horse guy like I'm not. I
would never be like I refuse to watch DeShawn Watson
because of that. No, I just don't want to watch
him because he's terrible at football and he's unwatchable. So
I feel for all the Browns fans who it's one
of the most passionate fan bases that place on big
downs when everyone's hitting the side of the wall, that

(15:51):
sound have to watch this guy that sucks. I mean,
this really sucks, and it could get really bad really fast.
Obviously it's already bad, but it's September tenth. If this
sustains and it just he doesn't get any better. How
do you bench a player that you owe this much money?

(16:13):
To think? How bad like there is. It's unfathomable to
think any other guys that I've listed in the top
ten twelve salaries, beside Cousins, who again is a mercenary
new team, any of the guys, even you know, Trevor Lawrence,
Justin Herbert. I'm not even talking about the top three

(16:36):
or four guys. I'm talking about the next eight. They
would never be benched if they're healthy. It just would
not happen, and no one expects it to happen right
in terms of like what they would have to do
on the field. You're living through three four straight games
of five picks a game. It's like, we're gonna figure
this out. It feels like you're just stuck. He has

(17:00):
an anchor to you. No matter how poor he plays.
The only way he doesn't play is an injury. Other
than that, you're just financially obligated in a day and
age when no one's financially obligated to really anyone. Because
there's so much money the league you can get off
contracts like this is the one where you are kind
of stuck. Everyone's probably heard that the numbers of cutting

(17:20):
him and what that would mean. Someone said one hundred
and seventy five million dollars next year because it would
all accelerate. You're just stuck with this player. And like
I said, it's one thing if you're just a bad player,
but you know what he's trying, he's just not good.
It's another thing when you're like, I can't stand looking
at this guy. I feel for you. Guys. We've tried

(17:41):
to put Bill Belichick in a lot of places, right, Eagles,
the Cowboys made those two. I think the Cowboys is
gonna be off limits. I would expect Mike McCarthy to
be their coach moving forward, and the Eagles, like time
will tell, uh. I do think if I were sleeping
on a team because the Jacksonville Jags, who have gone

(18:06):
nine to eight these last two years and look headed
toward that at best, I do think that Doug, who
is a great guy, is in trouble because their owner said,
this is the best team we've ever had, this is
the best team we've ever had. And I think there
was tangible pressure on this operation Doug and Trampalkey. Anything

(18:29):
less than making the playoffs is a disaster. And think
about this week. If you lose to the Browns, like
losing last week, it was an atrocious loss. It was
props to the Dolphins for finding a way and creating
a fumble and getting to stop when the guy's pinned
on his own thirty yard line and going for it.
But you lose the Browns, like you could argue like

(18:52):
is that a fireable offense? I do wonder when you
think about Belichick that, like the Giants make sense in theory.
Coach there back in the eighties, pretty legendary coordinator, his
game plan is in the Hall of Fame against them
because of the beating Montanas and the k gun offense
with Buffalo like legendary game planner working for Purcell's and

(19:16):
Northeast guy would fit right in. The New York media
would eat him up. But why would he go there?
They have nothing going for themselves, even if they have
the number one overall pick. We just saw Caleb Williams.
There's not a quarterback in this draft that will have
as much hype as Caleb Williams, and it shows you
how difficult it is. You have to wonder if Trevor

(19:37):
Lawrence just looks solid this year and salvageable, Bill and
his guy Josh go, Let's go to Jacksonville, no state
income tax. The AFC not as good as the NFC.
Now that division is difficult. Houston's not going away. Obviously
Indy's really good, but I think that's a team that
we should be keeping an eye on. Belichick and the Jags.

(20:00):
Just a couple of years ago, Coln tried to make
a huge splash hire an Urban Meyer obviously blew up
in his face, but he's tried, and then he goes
with a little less sexy pick. I know Doug's won
a Super Bowl, but if this doesn't work out, you
have to imagine he'd pivot hard and be very very
interested in Bill Belichick, and you'd have to wonder if
there'd be some mutual interest back. I want to do

(20:23):
this every Wednesday moving forward. I'm gonna ask myself five questions.
We're gonna call this Wednesdays on campus. I can't imagine
being a student any students listening to this. Props to you.
I don't know how much money you would have to
pay me to sit into a class and listen to
a professor, but somehow we all kind of attempt to
get through it in our youth. So those of you

(20:43):
that are doing it, keep doing it, because that piece
of paper wall is kind of worthless. Also not kind
of worthless. I'm pro school because it keeps your options open,
even though I thought it was pretty stupid, and still
kind of do. So I'm torn, but I love college
football and so everyone I'll just ask myself five questions.
Might even expand. I got a couple ideas with this

(21:03):
that we'll see how this goes, uh, and I'll just answer.
So I'll answer myself. I might get a guy asked
me questions. I got an idea of my sleeve. But
this is the first iteration of Wednesdays on campus. We'll
start with one. Is USC the second best team in
the Big Ten? Can you imagine someone like myself who

(21:26):
thought that Lincoln Riley and USC was destined to break up?
Not because I thought Lincoln sucked. I just thought it
was a weird mix. I didn't see the fit. I
was like, I don't know if he knows how to
higher defensive coordinators. And two weeks later I go, I
don't know if they're the second best team because I
think if they played on a neutral field right now
against Penn State, I'd be interested to see how Miller

(21:49):
Moss would look against that defense. Now, Drew Aller is
still a bit of a question mark. They were just
bowling Green was giving them all they could handle. Was
watching that game at the gym on Saturday morning. But
it's clearly not Oregon right now. Michigan has a ton
of issues. I think USC looks like a playoff team.
I said this to Colin the other day. Obviously, that

(22:10):
LSU win was one of the biggest of Lincoln's career,
but I thought the next week against Utah State, and
I get it. Utah State, who knows? I mean, are
they even a six and sixteen? UFC dismantled them like
a top team does playing a Mountain West team. They
eviscerated them. They look like we're back, not like Pete

(22:31):
Carroll in his heyday back, but like we're a real team.
And I went from the LSU game thinking when I
thought USC was gonna lose, I'm like, I still think
they'd get eight and four. Then to a week later
looking at their schedule, going could they get to ten?
And if they get to ten, they're a playoff team.
So when the dust sells, are they the second best team?

(22:54):
I would still hesitate. Like Miller Moss has blown me away.
He's been excellent, He's like almost seventy five percent complete percentage.
But I think as of right now, they're a playoff team.
They're better. Let's ask the next question, what the hell
is wrong with Oregon? I've thought about this a lot.
I think sometimes like Georgia's won national championships, right, Ohio

(23:17):
State has been a national champion contender, like legit for
I don't know, twelve fifteen straight years. Oregon has not
beat Washington in two years. Kaylan Duboor beat them three
straight times. So they have been in some big games
and they've lost them all. Like we saw them against

(23:39):
Washington as a nine point favorite in the Pac twelve
championship game against Kaylan Duboor and Ryan Grubb who's now
Seattle's offensive coordinator, and they got fucking worked. I don't
know remember the final score. That game was not close. Now,
everyone thought this team was better than that version last year,

(24:00):
and I bought into the hype. Two you're watching this team.
Obviously their offensive line play has been not good, but
all I've heard forever is like how well they've recruited,
how well they've recruited. When you play, I'll never forget
Leonard Fournette, like his last year at LSU and going

(24:20):
into the Alabama game, it was like he's gonna go
off against Alabama. It was obviously LSU Alabama most year
is a massive game, and I'll never forget watching that
game and thinking, I don't think Leonard Fournette can gain
five yards and Alabama treated him like he was me.
And that's what good teams do against a team that

(24:43):
is very dependent on one great player. Well, Boise State
has clearly one of the best running backs in college football.
Who is gonna I've kind of compared him to Darren
Sproles because he's short and probably end up being a
second top fifty pick depending on what he runs or whatever.
But he's an NFL player. That's a type game if

(25:04):
you're a national championship contender, even if your offensive line
has issues. And let's face it, Dylan Gabriel is not
as good as Boon Nicks, so you downgrade at quarterback.
Even if Dylan Gabriel is a good player like bo
Nick's top fifteen pick starting in the NFL, Dylan Gabriel
is not gonna be a top fifteen pick. He's not
gonna be starting in the NFL. So that's what you
call it downgrade. You do not let the guy. Listen,

(25:25):
he's gonna get his You don't let him go for
almost two hundred yards at home. If you're a national
championship team. Now maybe it can change, maybe you can
get better. Dan Lanny, he's a defensive guy, but right
now it ain't even close. It ain't even close. To
let him go for one ninety two against you is embarrassing.

(25:46):
Even if he's an excellent player, one thing to get
eighty on you over the course of the game, But
three touchdowns seventy yard run, I can't take you that
seriously right now. Relative to the way we talked about
you coming into year, which was like Final four or
bust could if it all goes well in National Championship,
they don't even look remotely close to that right now.

(26:08):
Who would have thought two weeks in USC would be
way better if they played right now? How would you
not bet on USC to win that game the way
Oregon's planned? Are we tired of Colorado? Yet? It's hard
for me to say yes, because I was glued Week

(26:29):
one against North Dakota State, and I was glued Saturday
night against Nebraska. So like, I enjoy watching these games,
and I'm not necessarily rooting four against them. I just
kind of want to see what happens. Now, here's what
I will say, because I saw this clip of Roussillo
talking on his podcast. Listen off the stats. I mean,

(26:50):
he's two to nine in his last eleven game. It's ugly,
and they got worked Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dion
clearly loves like NFL guys on a staff, which I
have no problem, like hiring Warren Sapp to coach my
defensive lineman, that's what I'm talking. Pat Shermer, that's a
fucking embarrassing hire. In that game against Nebraska, and it's

(27:14):
been like this since Dion has been there. They can't
block anybody. Yet every single time that they broke the huddle,
they're going four and five wide. It's like, hey, guys,
Dion one thing I admire, Like my parents were huge
supporters of me, but there were levels and there was

(27:37):
a cutoff point, like the way Dion is with Shador,
Like I don't think you could pay my dad ten
million dollars to get to that level. You know, there
would be there had to be some humility in there.
I think Dion looks at Shador like Shador is better
than Dion, which again he's pretty talented, but they're going

(27:57):
four and five wide. Like Deon's been around football enough.
I know he's not the guy calling the plays, but like, hey, Pat,
you want to throw in an extra offensive lineman or
a tight end and maybe not spread this thing out
when we can't block a soul. It was terrible football.
It was just like listen. It's one thing to lose.

(28:17):
Nebraska is better than you, okay, but to just like
we're gonna do this over and over. Can you imagine
what some of the Nebraska coaching staff, what was Matt
Rule thinking, Like, are they really just gonna make it
this easy? They can't block our guys four on five?
It's advantage us? What would you do? Would you keep
just spreading it out? It wasn't fifty to ten at

(28:38):
one point in time, it was like twenty one nothing, like,
you're not this college football. Things can change pretty quick
to me. They're just poorly coached on offense. There are
a few and maybe it's de On because he wants
to get Chador all these points, like the point of
this whole thing is to win. Shador's going to the
NFL whether he throws for one hundred touchdowns or two touchdowns.

(29:00):
He can move, he's got a big arm, Like Josh
Allen didn't do shit in college and went seventh. Are
you trying to win the game or are we trying
to do something else? It doesn't quite add up to me.
It just that was bad, Like to me, out of
the two years, that was one of the most glaring,
and if they lose this week to Colorado State, I

(29:22):
will say I'm out, like I'm not paying attention to
him anymore, because it just none of it matters. Because
if they lose this week, which remember they almost lost
last year to Colorado State at home, they're headed for
three or four wins. They win this week, maybe they
can get some stuff together and compete to be six
and six this week. Zero chance at five hundred is

(29:44):
Texas back. There are several teams that I just kind
of root against. I would say Ohio State, Notre Dame,
I would say pretty consistently, and Texas would be one also,
but again Militia. It's not like I hate these programs
when they're good. I do enjoy watching them, but I

(30:05):
kind of I like it when they lose. And Texas
always been a program like I enjoyed when they were
really down. They don't determine my happiness or whatever. And
even against Michigan, I was kind of hoping that, hey,
you know, maybe Michigan MUCKs up this game by about
four series in my takeaway was one separate from my

(30:27):
Texas agenda. I just kind of thought Quinn yours was
a lot of hype last year, I remember watching games going, wait,
people are talking about this guy like a top ten pick.
The guy I'm watching this year looks fantastic. That game
he just played against Michigan through three touchdowns but avoiding
the rush, stepping up in the pocket, keeping plays alive,

(30:47):
his arm strength, how quick he is to make a decision,
how fast he is to kind of keep him play
alive but keep his eyes up he was. I guess
I'm sold because I watched that. Obviously, their team as
one of the best squad's money can buy. I think
Texas is a legitimate national championship contender, and I think

(31:08):
they're back. And in this modern day, when you pay
to play and you have the most money, you're gonna
have a shot. Right, when you can pay to play
Google Apple Texas, right, I mean, you're gonna win when
you have the most money. In a market like this,
where the most money counts for a lot, it's impossible

(31:31):
to suck. And I've been very critical of Sark and
I do wonder like when it really gets tough in
a game against Georgia, in a game against even Alabama,
I know they look shitit, but a game like that
in the second or third round of the playoffs. Are
they tough enough? I don't know. Time will tell. I
get we're gonna see it this year because they're in
the SEC. But that was a win, like, yeah, we

(31:52):
can win the Natty. Last year that win against Alabama
wasn't was impressive, but their defense sucked. Their defense doesn't
look like it's this year. Here's the question Notre Dame
question mark? In what world? This is the stupid part
about the Top twenty five? Because Notre Dame was a

(32:14):
highly touted program coming in this year. They can only
fall so far after I don't know, losing at home
is a thirty point favorite. In what world? If we're
going to rank the top twenty five, I play you,
we're both one to zero. It's a second game of
the season. I play you at your place and I

(32:36):
beat you, and you're ranked ahead of me. How does
that make any sense? Just because I'm a program that
no one talks about and not a program that anyone
thinks about when they say the words top twenty five.
But we played it on the field. I played you
and I beat you. That's the whole point of this

(32:59):
is sport. We played four quarters worth a football in
front of seventy thousand people, and when the score ended
or when the clock went to double zeros, we had
more points than you. How is Northern Illinois not ranked
ahead of Notre Dame? In what world can you lose
to Northern Illinois, I'd argue and still be a top

(33:22):
twenty five team. I got no problem putting Northern Illinois
in there. Notre Dame can't be there, and they definitely
can't be ahead of Notre Dame on the rankings. And
Riley Leonard I read a long athletic article on him.
How it was hard. You know, it was weird because
in spring he was injured and he couldn't practice. He's
trying to take this leadership role, and he brought the

(33:44):
boys home and he seems like a great kid, seems
like a dude that you'd want to be in your
life as a friend, as a neighbor, as a business partner.
He can't throw. So when you pay all this money,
Saban said this a couple weeks ago on college game day,

(34:05):
you can have all the money in the world, you
better not pay the wrong guys. And they pay the guy,
high character guy, big guy can run. He can't throw
in Notre Dame in twenty twenty four, is not gonna
have you know, Jerry Judy and Jamison Williams at wide receiver.
The receivers are always maybe they hit on one, but it's

(34:26):
gonna be rare. They have some of the best wide
receivers in the country. Maybe get a tight end in
a solid running back, but their offensive personnel is always
gonna be relative to the Ohio States, the Bamas, the LSUS,
the Georgia's Ole Missus. Texas is not gonna be on
their level because even with nil there are academic requirements.

(34:46):
It's just a fact of life. So you better have
a quarterback who can complete passes and be pretty accurate.
And this guy is not. So I get falling in
love with them once you meet him. He's probably just
like God, you gotta make plays on the field, and
he can't pass. I mean, he can't pass, and I

(35:07):
wanted to root for him, but as a buddy two
weeks ago said when they were playing, text saying to
him and we were texting about the game, and he's
a high ranking official for a big time NFL team.
He said, these are the two most over hyped quarterbacks
in the country. And it ain't close because the hype
on those two guys, but specifically Riley Leonard because of

(35:28):
going to Notre Dame is the old Even the Jets,
no one and I mean no one gets more hype
than Notre Dame. Nobody, and nobody consistently doesn't live up
to it. Like after a while, we're just like, yeah,
USC is not that good, Like they didn't even get hype.
Hell this year they had no hype. Top twenty five?
How are they still in the top? How is how

(35:50):
could you walk into the office if you're Thomas Hammock
the Northern Illinois coach and go wait, our number were
ranked below notreed. How's that possible? We literally just played them.
Now I understand we going into week three, it doesn't
determine anything, but still like, how can I take a

(36:11):
top twenty five list seriously? And they all have it?
If that's the case and the reality is you can't
Wednesdays on campus, Okay, it's that time for the middle
Cough mail bag. You guys know, the drill dms wide

(36:35):
open at John Middlecoff two f's fire in those dms
and get your question answered on the show. Let's start
with Nicholas, twenty three year old Santa Monica, freshly graduated
from college. Congrats Nicholas, Welcome to the real world. College

(36:55):
a lot easier on your mental health, that's for sure.
I know it's But as a Charger Rams fan, yes
we exist, I have already seen the culture change Harboz brought.
I get that it's early to talk about coaching changes
for some teams, but for teams that have been dysfunctional
for years Bears Giants Carolina, such as the Chargers, who

(37:20):
were cycling through head coaches embarrassing themselves week in week out.
True at Homie, Why don't those teams go and chase
Vrabel this offseason? I know reports came out that teams
didn't want to hire him because he's big and seems intimidating,
but come on, do owners really care about that when

(37:40):
they don't win? Are they scared to take the big swing?
Wouldn't he provide a floor of competitive plus watchable physical
football every week as long as he has a competent quarterback.
It's clear to me that Dable Eberflusala are on the
way out. And I'm ninety nine percent sure Canalis ain't it. Secondly,

(38:01):
how long? Well, here's the thing with Brabel. I think
he's got Chicago written all over him. I don't think
it necessarily was owners were intimidated. I'd have to go
google that report again. I think general managers. And speaking
of Harbaugh, Harbaugh intimidated a lot of people in the building.
And Trent Balke, who a lot of people talk shit

(38:22):
about my personal interactions. He's always been cool to me,
except the first time I met him back in like
eight nine when I was at President of State. But
then ever since, once I worked in the league and
was doing media stuff in the Bay, he was cool
to me. So I people don't like him my interactions
with him, but one like him and Harbaugh's relationship started

(38:46):
fracturing because Jim was the alpha and it got weird.
And Jim to me, is a much different guy right now.
Like I heard him on with Coward yesterday. You watch
these videos, he's loosened up dramatically. An age does that,
like you just don't have the same fire in terms
of getting angry over everything that you did fifteen years ago.

(39:10):
As you age. It doesn't mean your competitive fire diminishes.
It just means, like I don't need to be so
angry about this. I don't need to approach this this way.
He seems like he's this is gonna sound weird, but
matured a lot, and I think you're seeing a new
version of Jim Harbaugh Vrabel. You know, if you watch
Hard Knocks Ryan Poles, I didn't realize this college roommates

(39:36):
with Matt Ryan. He was guard tackle in college. I'm
not sure he played one of those. He's a I mean,
he was a fringe like NFL practice squad. He's a
big dude. He's not gonna be intimidated by Vrabel. Two
football guys in the trenches. No, Vrabel's technically a stand
up linebacker, but he's looks like a defensive lineman, which

(39:56):
he kind of was a hybrid version of that, which
he would be in this modern day f ball because
he wouldn't be able to stand up. But you know
what I mean. So I think Vrabel and the Bears
are a match made in heaven. Like I just think
that the culture of the toughness, getting a guy that
can just corral Caleb if he prafleus, I mean, if

(40:16):
they don't win nine games, even if they went nine
to eight and they don't get the seven seed, I
think he would be in trouble. Secondly, how long do
you think it will take for the Rams and the
Chargers to establish themselves in LA and have a real
home field advantage. Every time I watch either of them
at home, it's always fifty percent road fans. It's out

(40:39):
of my control, but I wish it were different. I
understand the Lakers and Dodgers are light years ahead of them,
but the Rams won it all a few years ago
and the Chargers have Harball. I've been saying this about
our fans situation that i've So you're a hybrid, like
I didn't quite realize. I guess I read it. You
root for them both pretty genius. It's like more than

(41:03):
likely you're gonna have a good weekend and then when
they both win, you're gonna be on fire. That I
didn't know you could really do that. Maybe you're just
an LA guy, so you just root for the LA squad,
Like do you root for the Lakers and the Clippers?
You root for the Angels and the Dodgers. That seems
a little weird to me. Where I come from Northern California,
there's a direct line. You root for the Giants or
the A's and you root for the Niners of the Raiders.

(41:24):
Now just happened that the pie chart the Giants and
the forty nine Ers have the heavy majority of fans.
But I think when you look at and the Raiders
are a good example, why did the Niners their fan
base in terms of numbers outdraw the Raiders at pretty
high proportions in northern California. Well, the Raiders left, So

(41:46):
the Raiders left. I don't have the year off the
top of my head, but when they were gone in
the eighties and they came back in the mid nineties,
you know what happened. Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, and Steve
Young showed up and they built a dynasty. So when
they came back, it's like you got generations of new fans.
People are born, young kids are becoming. It's an easy
team to root for. Well, the Rams were gone for

(42:10):
a long period of time, and what happened during that
period of time. Niners are cool. So I think the
Niners have such a big presence in southern California, and
like we said, the Raiders literally played down there as well,
so their fan base I think it's very, very difficult,
and I think Southern California is nicer than Northern California.

(42:34):
Like there's no there's no Newport Beach in northern California.
There's no Manhattan Beach. San Diego is fucking beautiful. But
the Chargers like had Where I went to school at
cal Poly, we were Northern California and southern California, Like
that's where the majority of people came, and then the
ad kids all came from the Central Valley. But I
knew people. I spent a lot of time with, had

(42:56):
dudes in my fraternity that were from San Diego and
love the Chargers, like watching those games like people would
in Philadelphia, like people would in the Bay Area with
the Niners, like people would in Dallas with the Cowboys.
So anytime you do constant movement, you know why the Eagles,
the Bears, the Cowboys, the Niners, like all these teams

(43:19):
they don't move around. So when you're constantly moving I
saw with the Raiders, it creates it's weird. It's hard
for people to get behind. I've seen it with the
A's just get absolutely lapped by the Giants. It's like
you're always threatening to leave like that gets old. And
I know the Rams and the Chargers are there for
the long haul now, but like the Chargers were San

(43:40):
Diego's team, like that was a pretty big distinction. And
then the Rams when they had success, I don't know,
and won a Super Bowl, they were in Saint Louis,
so like, I know, you guys recently won. But I
went to the game week seventeen, three weeks before the
NFC Camponship game where the Rams beat the Niners. It

(44:03):
felt like seventy to thirty, maybe eighty to twenty. And
I just think it's difficult to overcome that the Lakers
have been in Los Angeles for a long long time now.
The Brooklyn Dodgers moved I don't know, seventy five eighty
years ago. So time fan bases generations of people, it

(44:24):
takes a while. It does not happen overnight. It just
it's to become entrenched in the culture, like what's entrenched
in the culture in LA. From a sports standpoint, I
would say, obviously the Dodgers and the Lakers and USC
football and UCLA basketball have always been a really big deal.
Why's that they've fucking been there forever? I mean, they

(44:47):
have a lot of history, you have generations of people.
They didn't have to worry. Well, actually, for the next
twenty years, they're gonna pay usc is, gonna play in
the SEC. But they're not just gonna play in the SEC.
They're gonna move to Mississippi. That wouldn't work. So I
think it's part of that. Jim Harbaugh is a force
of nature. He will do everything humanly possible to make

(45:07):
you guys really relevant. Obviously, Sean McVay is a superstar,
and I just I think it's hard to overcome the
I don't know, transient nature of the franchises. I just
think it turns a lot of people off teams. I've
rooted for my entire life, like San Franco Giants. I
don't know they've They've moved stadiums, but they've never moved

(45:29):
within a ten mile radius. The forty nine Ers moved stadiums,
but my entire life from the day I was born
to a dam, I'm sitting here play in the Bay
Area my entire life. The Sacramento Kings. I guess the
Kings might have moved in like eighty six, but have
been a Sacramento so it's like teams that matters, that
has a huge impact on people. So I think that's

(45:52):
an element that's an element that's kind of hard to overcome.
For the mail bag, do you think the sign meaning
of Antonio Pierce was the right move for the Raiders?
Not going for it on fourth and one was a
head scratcher. I think Mark was in a really tough
spot because I've said this and I'll reiterate it again,

(46:14):
him and Dean Spanos up until Harbaugh. Even though you know,
Mark was looked at like this dysfunctional was face and
most people like call him a loser because he looks
weird and he's never had a job. He said that,
not me, but I will say this twice. Mark Davis
really really tried to hit a huge home run. He

(46:34):
fired Jack del Rio on the field and immediately and
because he was hiring John Gruden, he gave him ten
years one hundred million dollars like that was a pretty
big deal. Obviously, that unraveled on him, and then he
has a situation with Bisacia that listen, you probably could
have done that. But then he had the opportunity to
hire Josh McDaniels, which was a catastrophic disaster, only coaching

(46:59):
NFL history to not make it through year two twice
two separate spots. But I like the forty nine ers
wanted Josh McDaniels the year they hired Kyle Shanahan. The
Indianapolis Colts wanted Josh McDaniels. So now we know no
one will ever hire him to be their head coach again.
But he had been in high demand for the last
six seven years, and Mark through I mean, rumors are

(47:23):
he gave him like six year contract worth ten million
dollars a year. He's paying him sixty million dollars. So
two coaches in like a four year, five year span
he divvied out over one hundred and sixty million dollars.
He was willing to pay guys. And then I think
he finds himself in this position. His best player, Max Crosby,
loves the guy, and Davonte, his second best player, loves

(47:48):
the guy as well. I think it was an easy one.
He just needed to take a deep breath. Who else
what were his other options? Mike Vrabel a guy like
that that could even take the job. I'll defend Mark
on this one. I think he was in a tough spot, though,
I would bet against this working unless they get the
number one overall pick and the next quarterback they draft

(48:09):
is high end player. Uh. What do you think about
this proposed rule change? Like many others, my least favorite
play in football is the Tiki tack defensive holding wipe
out a third and long automatic first down. I added
that part. I was thinking about how to fix this
so that's not extremely punitive, but also doesn't allow the

(48:32):
defense to take advantage in mug receivers on obvious passing downs.
Here's my solution, get rid of the auto first down
and instead make it a spot foul with a minimum
of five yards and with a redo of the down.
Example third and seventeen. So this offense has had a
rough little stretch here on this series holding flag thrown

(48:55):
eight yards past the line of scrimmage. It now becomes
third and nine instead of first and ten. I've always believed,
and I'm glad you bring this up, defensive holding should
be a spot foul. I've even gone as far as
like pass interference. I like the college rule. I don't
like you getting fifty yards. I really don't like. To me,

(49:18):
it should just be an automatic fifteen yards. Like if
a ball is not caught and I get it, some
guys get tackled and I would have no problem. I
mean zero. I'm behind you. I've been saying for a decade.
Spot foul defensive holding and fifteen yards for pass interference.
I just I hate these penalties, and I get some

(49:39):
are egregious, right, And like you said, not all defensive
holdings are the same. I honestly think most of them
lean on the side of tiki tak. Clearly, there are
some pass interferences that are no brainers, But is there
anything worse than a quarterback making a throw on like
third and twelve. It has no chance. I mean, Calvin

(50:01):
Johnson meets Michael Jordan in his prime, couldn't have touched
the ball, and the defender's not looking runs into him
and you get sixty yards or even thirty eight yards.
It's like, I don't know if that should be rewarded.
I'm all for if you take a guy out a penalty,
but fifteen yards to me just universally twenty four to

(50:22):
seven three sixty five college in pro Like I get
the two foot rule in the pros, it should be
more difficult in college I'm not holding Alabama star player
right now on offense is a seventeen year old guy
if he can't get two feet down all the time,
seventeen years old. But I watched Cooper Cup thirty years old,

(50:43):
made however much money in the NFL Super Bowl. Champ like,
hold him to a high regard so he gets two
feet down, which was an incredible catch on Sunday night early,
I would say early potential catch of the year. I'm
a sucker for a ball all thrown into the sideline
and the Chris Carter for those of you that are

(51:05):
too young to get that reference, he's not even on
TV anymore. But in the nineties, nobody, and I mean
it includes Jerry, Rice Michael, Irvin, Brandy Moss. Nobody could
work a sideline better than Chris Carter. He could have
those two feet in. It was a thing of beauty.
And that's what Cooper Cup did. But I hear you

(51:30):
John this from Justin. I thought it was justin Tuck.
It was justin Tack. It's like, oh man, big tug listens.
Why do nearly all analysts talk about offense today in
quarterbacks in general, like they're better than ten years ago.
In my opinion, the average quarterback now is much worse
than the twenty tens. Scoring is actually down the past

(51:53):
couple of years, and other than Alan and Mahomes, no
one really compares to an era where we had Manning, Brady, Briey, Rogers, Ben,
Philip Eli, Matt Ryan. Those guys threw four thousand yards
and thirty touchdowns in sixteen games, and most of them
reached five and forty touchdowns at some point in their career.
Just judging by the eye test, Mahomes and now and

(52:14):
seem light years beyond everyone else right now, totally agree.
I mean one million. Do you think Lamar Jackson would
have had the same success twenty five years ago? You
have to be accurate your quarterbacks getting killed and when
you are running is a huge part of your game.

(52:34):
What do you think these players would have done to him? Now?
He's hard to hit, but when they were allowed to
break you in half, it would have been much harder
to be that confident as a runner. You had to
kind of pick your spots. Michael Vick got his leg
shattered in a preseason game. I was there, infillated with
Michael Vick. He broke ribs and punctured Spleens all that

(52:57):
he was getting crushed. I mean, and he's one of
the greatest athletes in the history of the league. So
that's my issue with Gardner Minshew is last year, who
are they playing the Steelers. This is a bad Steeler loss.
I think they were rolling out Trubisky and Minshew threw
a ball and I forget the DB's name, but he

(53:17):
got helmet to helmet and he got kicked out of
the game or whatever, and it's like, that is such
a shitty pass in the history of the sport. Up
until five years ago, that is called a hospital ball.
Hospital balls don't exist anymore because no one through hitting
for the most part ever goes to the hospital. The

(53:38):
only guys we've seen go to the hospital in a
recent memory were like Alex when his leg got twisted,
demor Hamlin when his heart stopped right. But people used
to I remember being at Eagles game where Austin Khley
got I thought he was dead on the field. I
wasn't at the game, but when I was with the

(53:59):
Eagle I think we were playing in Atlanta, DeShawn Jackson
might have been killed on the field. And if you
put those balls into harm or what people would get injured.
It's why when Tom Brady talks about it, he's like,
people think he's being a hater. No, he's just saying
like this is not really allowed. It's like when Anthony
Edwards the other day, within the last couple of weeks,

(54:22):
said that, like, none of the guys in the nineties
could play today, and everyone that plays today would be
the best player back then. It's like, what are you
talking about. The NBA's never been less skilled. There's never
been better athletes, but they've never been less skilled. And
back then you weren't just allowed to drive to the

(54:43):
basket every play cause you know what, you would get
a forearm to the teeth. And it sounds like old
guy acting tough, but like that was legitimately sports. Just
YouTube some of the brawls in baseball. You throw in
some a couple of times, like we're throwing fists at
each other's face. Now there's so much money, the world

(55:06):
change and it's obviously not the same. But playing quarterback
now one has never been easier. And the totality of it,
I think you could argue has never We just assume,
for example, and I'm guilty of this that Caleb Bownicks
and Jaden Daniels will be able to play in the league.
There's a decent chance that two out of the three

(55:27):
of them will not have their fifth year option picked up.
And it's never been easier to play quarterback, So what
would they have looked like twenty years ago? Now? To me,
a huge part of the game is obviously in the shotgun,
guys are really comfortable, but when you're under center, there
are some pretty easy plays because play action is such

(55:48):
a big part of it that if you could teams
that can run the ball, and good teams have always
been able to run the ball, play action under center
gives you a lot of layups. Well, now everyone's just
for the most part out of shit. Someone hit me up
the other day is like, why is Kirk Cousins out
of the shotgun NonStop? Well, could be partly because he

(56:08):
the Achilles. He can't move nearly as good as he
wants good, and he never moved that great. Rogers loved
the shotgun always. It's why when the floor got there
and wanted him to play kind of more of the
Shanahan offense, and he kind of pushed back. Then Eventually
they kind of met in the middle and he won
a couple MVPs. But I completely agree like Gardner, Minshew
could not start if this was nineteen ninety nine, and

(56:30):
if he could, he'd last three games. It doesn't mean
that every quarterback was good, but it was way harder
to play, way harder to play because you couldn't throw
balls all over the map. Guys would get killed and
you'd get yanked. Now, I do think the top guys
could all play. Like I'm not saying Lamar couldn't play.

(56:53):
He would play, but like when you look at Vic
who had a stronger arm than him, he got hurt
a lot, a lot, you know, And I just think
it's hard to play. It's easier to play a running style.
If you told me Jayden Daniels was doing what he
just did week one in nineteen ninety six, I'd be like,
I don't know if he's gonna make it a month.

(57:15):
They weren't throwing flags that there was no sliding in
these off limits. So I think we have to acknowledge
the game is dramatically changed. Like I don't want to
see quarterbacks get hurt, so I don't really push back
against it, but I think you're right. Lifelong Steelers fan
nice Win Sunday, the defense looked pretty good, I'd say excellent,

(57:39):
But even with the new offensive coordinator and quarterback Justin Fields,
the offense looked the same it has dating back to
when Ben's arm gave out. I like Tomlin, but is
this defensive coaching mentality holding us back or what change
do you need to happen to give a shot to
contend in the AFC. I like this player, I've been

(58:01):
following him since high school, but I think he's closer
to just a guy than a high end player. And
it's not all his fault. I think your offensive line
has been a little hit or missed, but if you
had a do over, you would not have taken Naji
Harris in the first round. And every I watched the
game today, I was on the StairMaster, no big deal,
just trying to shed a few pounds. And he gets

(58:22):
a lot of carries, you know, and he has his
entire career when he's when he's healthy for you guys,
and to me, he's just kind of he's fine. Like
I watched Jordan Mason, I go, yeah, he's a better player.
I wouldn't trade Jordan Mason, an undrafted free agent, for
Naji Harris. So that to me, if you had a
high end player there, I do think your offense would
just look a lot better. Like to me, he's as

(58:46):
the kid say mid I thought Field's actually played pretty well.
Pickens is obviously really good. Friar Mouth is a really
good player. I just think when I think back of
some of the better Pittsburgh team Tames, I think you
guys had good running backs. I mean, the best offenses
were when Ben was in this latter years of his prime.

(59:08):
With AB you had Leveon Bell, who was a stud.
I remember Rashad Minnen Hall was a really good player
for a couple of years. Like you guys have always
had really good running backs. I watch Naji, I just
go eh again, I like him. Antioch California played Pittsburgh
high h followed his career since Alabama. But that was

(59:31):
a big time overdraft and they've just kind of stuck
it out. I have a potential fix to the new
kickoff that I think you should consider. Well. I mean,
I don't get to consider any It's not my call
to keep kickers from booting it through the back of
the end zone. They should treat the boundary in the
back of the end zone the same as they treat
the sidelines on kickoffs. If the kick lands between twenty

(59:55):
and the goal, it should still have to be returned,
and there should be no penalty if it hits the
white out of the back of the end zone after rolling.
But if the ball lands in the end zone and
does not stop before the boundary, they should place the
ball at the forty Don't hate that. It doesn't seem
just based on reporting, that they plan on doing anything

(01:00:16):
drastic to this rule. But I think it's pretty clear.
I watched a little bit of Andy's press conference the
other day would have been Monday. They're like, why did
you just kick it through the end zone. He's like, ah, yeah,
we just felt that was the percentages not worth the risk.
He's like, then at home and at the office watching
games on Sunday, saw a couple of big returns. So yeah,

(01:00:39):
I think we feel pretty good about that decision. And
I think more and more and more you're gonna see
I mean, the forty nine ers are putting Deebo Samuel
back there. You would have to be on cocaine to
kick him the ball that was the most aggressive, and
I don't agree with that. It's like, guys, Christian McCaffrey's
injured right now and who knows his staff us. I

(01:01:01):
don't think it's worth Debo getting in some weird collision
on this. Just throw a rookie back there. And I'm
pro doing that in like a playoff game or you know,
to win the division, or even a divisional game the
last kick of the game. But I also think one
thing's clear if you do throw a Tyreek a Debo
back there. In general, to me, that's not oh, kick

(01:01:21):
it out of bounce. But like you said, if you
weren't allowed to kick it out of bounds, then it
would change. But I don't think that's necessarily going to
change anytime soon. Love the pod. This from Adam. Congrats
on the recent engagement. Appreciate it was. Listen to your
take on the overtime rules, and I feel like there's
an easy solution to both teams to get a chance.

(01:01:43):
If the first team that gets the ball scores a touchdown,
they have the choice to either kick the extra point
or go for two. If they kick the extra point,
the second team must go for two. If they also
score a touchdown on their possession, as they would either
win or lose on the two point try. If the
first team scores and chooses to go for two and fails,

(01:02:07):
the second team has to score a touchdown and kick
an extra point to win the game. If both teams
score a touchdown and a two point on their first
overtime possession, the next team to score wins. At some
point a defense has to make a stop. Would make
for legendary decisions and moments. Listen, I think the overtime rule,

(01:02:32):
which I don't know, on average on a sixteen game season,
how many overtime games you see? It's probably not as
many as I think you would guess if I have
no clue, I haven't looked it up. If I was
taking an educated guess over the last ten years, on average,
how many overtime games a year, I'd pick well under ten.

(01:02:57):
I'd probably go six or seven. Maybe I'm crazy. That's
what it feels like to meet. There just aren't that many.
But I'm not against what you just said. This is
from Marco. What's the deal with Zach Taylor? Despite leading
the Bangers are Super Bowl, no one seems to talk

(01:03:18):
about him. Ever, the team's uninspiring performance in Week one
raises concerns about whether he had the team prepared to compete.
I don't think it raises concerns. I mean, we witnessed it.
He did not that they scored ten points at home
against the New England Patriots while their quarterback threw for
one hundred and twenty one yards. Red flag. If you're

(01:03:39):
coach that can't get the team fired up for the season.
I don't know much about him, Like I don't know
him personally. I've just followed his career in sincey. I
think anytime that kind of out of the blue you
make a Super Bowl and they were winning late in
that Super Bowl, it buys you a lot of equity
with the owner, especially you're an offensive coach. Burrow's has

(01:04:03):
one of the biggest contracts in the league. But I
don't know. I would say, what if he won like
seven games this year. I don't quite know what his
defining characteristic is because I wouldn't call him some genius
offensive coordinator. Maybe this is fair, maybe it's not. I

(01:04:25):
felt like when I watched them play really well, it's
just like Burrow throwing go routes and post routes to
their sweet receivers. I mean, I could call those. He
has nothing to do with the defense. I give him
credit for the lou amar Amaruno higher because that was
this guy. They knew each other from Miami. But yeah,
I mean, I would say there are some legitimate questions

(01:04:46):
out there with this guy. And if Burrow is a
shell of himself this year, it could be a long
freaking season for them. But say this, if Zach Taylor's fired,
let's say they go well under five hundred fired we
at Black Monday, is he getting hired? I would say,
no question for the pod. If the Patriots keep winning

(01:05:11):
but Jakobe keeps playing mediocre, bare minimum, what does that
mean for Drake may I think ideally they didn't want
to plan. Now, are the Patriots gonna keep winning? Let's
let's just fire up. I don't even know. I haven't
even looked at the schedule this week. Really beside a
couple of games, who do the old New England Patriots

(01:05:33):
play Week one? Week two? The Patriots play Seattle? I
think that would be a little more difficult. I don't know,
if you can throw for one hundred and twenty one
yards and beat Seattle because Kenneth Walker, Lockett, DK Jackson Smith,

(01:05:58):
I would expect Seattle to win. I haven't even looked
at the line. My guests would be Seattle's favored by
four or five on the road. Maybe it's three and
a half four, but kind of like Seattle on that spot. Actually,
I have to look at the line. Let's let's bring
up my old friends at DraftKings here. Seattle's a three

(01:06:18):
and a half point favorite. I think that's an ott
O hammer for me. Do you believe Doug Peterson is
on the hot seat? He threw Ryan Nielsen under the
bus after the loss of their Dolphins, only threw the
ball seven times in the second half, despite with success
in the first half. He went for it on fourth
down on their own thirty, which I think is fair

(01:06:39):
to say is the most egregious call. His team looked
completely clueless on offense and special teams as well. What
happened to him? He looked like a bad head coach
for roughly ten weeks in a row. Now, I was
listening to I think like a Bill Simmons podcast before
the season. Do you know that he's only had one
winning season. I'm saying that out loud. It doesn't even

(01:07:03):
sound true. Maybe it was one ten win season. Bringing
up his coaching resume. Obviously the year he won the
Super Bowl, they were really good, but he has a eurostats.
Doug Peterson twenty sixteen, seven and nine, next year, Super
Bowl year thirteen and three wins, super Bowl nine and seven,

(01:07:25):
nine and seven, four and eleven obviously fired, takes the
year off, comes back in twenty two, nine and eight.
That was the year that they beat the Chargers on
that crazy game with Brandon Staley. Last year nine and eight,
and this year obviously awful loss. So I think it's

(01:07:45):
fair to assume four and eleven outlier year twenty twenty
COVID not holding that against him. Thirteen and three Super
Bowl clearly an outlier year. But if you're gonna have
an outlier year, beating Belichick in the Super Bowl is
an all time for Super Bowl in the history of
the Eagles, I think it's fair to assume that Doug

(01:08:06):
Peterson is exactly who you think he is. Nine and seven,
nine and seven, nine and eight, nine and eight, like,
that's him. He is the ultimate nine and eight coach
who's like more likable. I know him, but like than
like Jason Garrett, who I think fallen fell under the
same thing but never won a Super Bowl? So are
you just cool with always being nine wins? But I

(01:08:29):
think the day and age, like when you look at
the coaches that can win like twelve thirteen, like Andy
Kyle McVeigh, John Harbaugh, I would say Dan Campbell this year.
I would not put Doug in that. So would he
get fired for going nine and eight? I don't know.

(01:08:50):
We talked about it on the podcast like earlier. I
do think that's one to keep an eye on for
old William Belichick. Assuming that Trevor Lawrence show something this
year because they're gonna be cowboys, don't come open. Would
he rather have Trevor Lawrence? Would he rather have? You know?

(01:09:11):
If Sirianni to me McCarthy, if he makes the playoffs,
probably's getting a contract extension or Sirianni better do some
serious stuff or he could get fired. You know who
would Bill like mor Jalen Hurts or Trevor Lawrence? What
division would he like to play in more? That's why
the Giants don't make that much sense. But keep the
questions coming, baby, We'll keep answering. Thanks for doing it Peace.

(01:09:37):
The volume