3 & Out - CONCERN for Micah's back, Super Bowl FAVORITES, Jaxson Dart named BACK-UP

John opens the podcast continuing the conversation about Micah Parsons and if there should be any concerns about his back and how he feels the Packers are going to handle that situation. Next, he talks about some of the teams that he thinks has a shot to win the Super Bowl and what team might be a dark horse. Later, John dives into how Bill Belichick has been handling the NFL scouts that are trying to attend UNC practices and how he might need to change his way. John also talks about the Giants naming Jaxson Dart as the back-up and what it means for Russell Wilson's future in NY.

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

4:52 - Concern for Micah's back

6:40 - Super Bowl favorites

19:22 - Belichick and the scouting community

28:33 - Jaxson Dart named the back-up

36:27 - Mailbag

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on? Everybody, John Middlecoff three
and out podcast. We're finally here. We got NFL games

(00:21):
coming up right around the corner. If you're listening to this,
probably less than thirty six hours, maybe twenty four hours.
Four Eagles, Cowboys, So let's get fired up. A lot
of content the last couple of days pods with Colin
pods on Arch Manning pods on Alabama and LSU and
Bill Belichick. So we've had content for days. We've been grinding.

(00:44):
My people behind the scenes have been working their ass off.
So props to everybody not named middle cough that's part
of this podcast. Appreciate you guys a lot. Other than that,
that'd be Adam Shane Jackson. Noah, We've got a crew.
Is not just me here, I'm just I'm just along
for the along for the ride on the back of
the boat. Big show today, talk some football, some big

(01:08):
picture stuff in the NFL. Michael Parkson's the back, Bill
Belichick want to chime in on something there, some other
stuff as well as a mail bag at John Middlecoff.
Fire in those dms and get your questions answered here
on the show at John Middlecoff Fire in those dms.
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(01:29):
type in my name subscribe. All of our content is there.
So let's talk. I can't even speak. Let's talk some football.
But before we do, you know, we gotta tell you
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ticket as low as prices guaranteed. Okay, well, let's just
start with this. I've seen a lot of talk on
the internet. I was at the gym this morning. I
looked up. Everyone was screaming at each other on the

(02:35):
television shows about the Micah Parsons back situation with Green
Bay Listen. Teams have a lot of leverage in these situations.
They can just kind of try to smoke you out
right and do nothing and just go, I bet you're
not going to miss games. Where's the player can be
in a difficult situation, especially nowadays, where if you hold

(02:55):
out and you're a veteran player, they can find you
and you can't get the money back. It just becomes complicated.
But this whole notion with the back injury, if you
think there's a reason that sixteen and seventeen year olds
when they get their license have to pay a lot
for insurance, there's an enormous risk when you give a
seventeen year olds the car keys to the suburban, right,

(03:17):
he's much more likely to get into an accident. Why
he hasn't been driving very long. And let's face it,
especially young boys, we do dumb ass shit behind the wheel,
and insurance companies go, well, we're gonna charge you a lot.
If you think that a team would trade multiple first
round picks and then give a historic amount of money

(03:38):
for a guy with a back injury, I want to
know what you're smoking. The reason I'm out on the
Rams their quarterback, I mean, potential Hall of Famer. His
back's messed up, and yeah he might play Week one,
and hell he could play all of September. You have
no clue when that thing flares up. Could be on
a Tuesday, could be on a Friday, could be the

(04:00):
warning of a game, and all of a sudden he's like,
I do not feel right. I'll never forget. Steve Kerr
literally couldn't coach, couldn't coach a basketball team because of
his back. It is by far, at least if you
have something with your foot, something with your elbow, it
becomes very like, very black and white typically with an injury,
it's like, okay, if we get this surgery, this lab

(04:20):
with the back of the unknowns are kind of like
the brain. So you can throw around discs and L
four's and L five's. Here's what I know. The Packers
would never have given the thumbs up on this trade
if there was a problem with the back. Now, if
you're the cowboys, like, it's over this thing regardless, what
the uh? You know? Nailing the coffin was the straw

(04:45):
that broke the camel's back, the reason that you pulled
the trigger. Who cares. He's not your problem anymore, he's
the Packers. But if you think this he might need
an epidural to play Sunday. Do you think the Packers
just gave this guy historic amount of money is gonna
put a shot into his back so he can play
week one of the first moment they give him a

(05:05):
direct deposit for this contract. You're crazy because Gudakins couldn't
risk his career because that would be a career end,
or at least in Green Bay. If this guy had
a messed up back and couldn't play, there's no way
they would greenlight it. So this story, I'm glad it's
about to go away and he can just play and
we can all move forward, and the Cowboys can move forward,

(05:27):
probably getting their ass kicked. You know, people like Middlecoff,
what are your predictions? Who do you like in each division?
Who are your playoff teams? I've heard that stuff kind
of boring, honestly, and luckily, like in the podcast space
we're in, I don't have to do that. I kind
of do whatever I want, and I think we'd all agree,
like we'd all be on the same page. There's a group,

(05:47):
you know, if you want to be conservative, four five teams,
if you want to be a little more aggressive, eight
to nine teams, they can win the Super Bowl. There's
easily half the league that doesn't have a snowballs chance
and help. I think we all agreed. There's a group
of the Eagles, the Bills, the Ravens, and the Chiefs.
Right those three teams in the AFC have consistently been

(06:07):
in the mix the last couple of years, the Chiefs
for more than half a decade, and the Eagles have
been two of the last three Super Bowls and look
absolutely loaded on paper. They're gonna be really, really good.
Now the Packers. I like to win the division. I
like clearly in theory more now with Micah Parsons, I
do think that adds a wrinkle to inside the locker room,

(06:28):
the money dynamics, how he embraces it all. But if
it goes well, their ceiling is clearly now much higher,
and I would put them right there with Washington Detroit
as a team that would not shock me at all
if they are in the NFC championship game. I think
the NFC can be a little more difficult because if

(06:49):
you want to say everything goes right in Denver, I
think they could be right in the mix. If you
want to say the offense is greatly improved in Houston,
I'd be like, I could see them being right in
the mix right because both those two teams defense is
gonna be really good. Obviously, Sean Payton's resume speaks for herself,
and I'm a big believer in Demico Ryans. I think
the AFC top to bottom is clearly better, which makes
it more difficult. Like if the Chiefs are gonna keep

(07:11):
going to the super Bowl even if they lose some
of these super Bowls, what they're doing winning these playoff
games is fucking insane. I mean, it really is. Right
think about the Eagles got a Packer team that wasn't
really that good last year, at least wasn't playing that
well coming in, and then they got a Washington team
in the championship game that they were clearly way better than,
and then just Curbs Nominal. Hell, they beat the shit

(07:33):
out of the Chiefs. So their road was a little
bit easier than you know, having to play Buffalo, having
to play ball. It's just harder. It just is because
anytime you got to play Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, potentially
Joe Burrow, it is difficult. But I think they're listen,
It's hard for me to bet against the Eagles. I'd

(07:54):
be a little surprised. It's football. Guys can get injured. Obviously,
they have a new play caller, though he's been there,
which I don't think you could just be confident on
because a couple of years ago I would have said
the same thing and then it was kind of a disaster.
But I'd be a little surprised if there aren't major injuries,
if the Eagles aren't at minimum in the Final four
and representing the NFC. I've picked the Bills before and

(08:17):
they've let me down. I've picked against the Chiefs and
they've basically done it every time. I've rarely ever picked
the Ravens because until Lamar does it, I do believe
he can do it, but until he does it, I'm
not picking them. I like Denver a lot this season
in Houston's kind of my wild card because I think
their defense might be the number one defense. FCJ Stroud's

(08:38):
a good player, You're going to be a major factor.
But I think that's pretty clear. I do think there's
one team in the NFC that like we did. We
had a meeting on my show maybe like a month ago,
and one of the guys behind the scenes, Noah, was
like throwing out some bets he liked, and once he said,

(08:58):
I'm like, I kind of loved it. Is Baker Mayfield
about twenty five to one to win the MVP. Well,
if you like Baker Mayfield to win the MVP, gotta
like Tampa Bay. And if you like Baker Mayfield to
win the MVP, if he plays like he did last
year and they win twelve or thirteen games, more than
likely they're a two or three seed, right, I mean,
who knows. If things go really well thirteen or fourteen,

(09:18):
they could be the number one seed and all of
a sudden, maybe they're in the mix to be going
up against the Eagles, who actually they've played well against
the last couple of years. So that is one bet.
And I've mentioned this before. Listen, you're not getting great
odds on all the top quarterbacks. You would say Joe
Burrow could have a huge season, But I like, I'm
not picking the Bengals to make the playoffs. Actually I

(09:40):
think the Bengals and the Chargers missed the playoffs this year.
You know, I just think Cincinnati, you can't be that
shitty a defense. You really can't be that shitty a defense.
And me to take you seriously, like, we have seen
a lot of teams over the history of football have
great offenses and just come up short. I'm not even
talking about come up short in the playoffs or the

(10:00):
Super Bowl. I'm talking just literally in games throughout the season.
So like, I'm out on Cincinnati, not because I don't
love Joe Burrow in their offense, it's the same reason
I'm kind of out on the Chargers. You lose a
star left tackle, which messes up your offensive line, your
offense to begin with wasn't great, Your margin forera was
already pretty small. Like, I think both these two teams

(10:22):
are probably like nine ish wins, and I think the
Patriots get in this year the one team, the one
sleeper team I got, you can get almost four to
one the Titans to make the playoffs. I actually think
the Titans could be pretty solid this year. Why I'm
a believer in cam wardon and if cam Ward's good,
Like that team was a couple awful plays away from

(10:43):
Will Levis from instead of drafting one, drafting like tenth,
and their quarterback play was atrocious early on in the season.
Their defense wasn't bad, So if cam Ward is good,
I don't think it's crazy that the Titans are just
like a competitive team. Now. Do I think they are
the equivalent of what Washington was last year? No, but
I definitely think that if you tell me they're in

(11:04):
the wild card mix come December, I think it's very believable.
And I've been saying this for a while. I think
the best value on the board is Seattle at five
to one to win the division. I mean, most teams
they had the same record as the Rams that won
the division last year, the same exact record that the
Rams that they're starting quarterback at any moment could just

(11:25):
be out a month with a fucked up back and
then they got to go to Jimmy Garoppolo or Stinson Bennett.
So the Seattle won ten games last year, they have
an improved roster. I think Sam Darnold's a better player
than Geno Smith, so you can get him five to
one to win the division. Now, I'm not saying they're
gonna win the division. I'm just saying from a value perspective,
that's fantastic. Hell, the Packers, who I liked a lot

(11:48):
pre Micah Parsons, were like plus two fifty. It's like
half the odds of what Seattle is going into the
season when they literally won ten games last year. They
have a coach who we know is good, like he proved.
It's not like a first time It's not a Ben
Johnson situation where it's like a like, listen, I'm kind
of out on the Bears. Not because I don't like
Ben Johnson, not because I don't think Dennis Allen's a

(12:08):
good defensive coordinator. I just think this thing's gonna be weird.
Not like they're gonna suck and bottom out, but I
do think that they will not live up to the
expectation of Ben Johnson's here. He'll save Caleb and everything
will be right. Same thing with Minnesota. It's like, I
don't really know. I love their coaching staff, obviously like
their roster, but it's just hard when you have an

(12:31):
unknown at quarterback. We're basically just kind of could be
great because at least I know with cam Ward coming
from college, they have been depending on this guy throwing
the ball for years Washington State in Miami. So yeah,
the NFL is a lot different than Miami playing Boston College.
But in terms of hey, this game, we're gonna need
you to carry us, he's been doing it for like

(12:53):
three years in the Pac twelve at Washington State and
then obviously last year in Miami. J j never was
asked to play like that, And so if they get
in situations like that's how Sam was playing last year
because that's how Washington was kind of built. Now you
could say they're gonna run the ball more this year.
They got Jordan Mason to go with Aaron Jones. Yeah,
maybe I gotta see it. First, so I like Minnesota

(13:13):
more than Chicago, but I think both those are pretty
big wild cards with the quarterback. He's got more questions
about teams in the AFC than the NFL or the
NFC than the AFC. Like Detroit, who doesn't like their
roster it's really good. They got a bunch of stud players.
They've got like four or five guys that are under
twenty five that are some of the best players in
the league. They have a group of like six seven

(13:35):
guys on their team that is good of a nucleus
as any in the NFL. But when you change an
offensive coordinator like Ben Johnson wasn't just good, he was great.
And this Johnny Morton guy, I always get a little
nervous when you have a coach that I'm pretty sure
Johnny Morton's like fifty five years old, Johnny Morton junior.

(13:59):
He is fifty three. And am I looking at the
wrong I'm looking at the wrong guy here? This is
I'm looking at the right guy now. He is fifty five,
fifty five year old. So look at some of the
off star offensive coordinators recently in the NFL. You know,
Kyle Sean Lafleur, O'Connell, Ben Johnson, A lot of these

(14:21):
guys are younger, so you haven't got your opportunity in
all these years to shine in a league that yearns
for offensive guys that are good with the quarterback, good
with the offense. This guy was the wide receiver coach
for Jim Harbaugh from twenty eleven to twenty fourteen with
the San Franco forty nine ers, and it just didn't materialize.

(14:44):
It's like you've been this offensive senior assistant. Doesn't mean
that he can't be good, but a little weird. I
just got that situation red flag. I would say more
than likely there's a little bit of a comeback to
Earth still being good, but nowhere is dominant as they've
been because it's just he's not as good as Ben Johnson.
We saw a couple of years ago with Brian Johnson

(15:05):
taking over for Shane's psyching, there's going to be a
drop off. One thing I do want to talk about
is Bill Belichick, and on Monday night I've talked. We

(15:28):
did a podcast the other night. He got his ass kicked.
We all saw it. It was ugly, it was embarrassing.
And this has nothing to do with that in the
end in college football, you right when you're a big school,
scouts are coming to your program constantly. And I never
actually did a school visit to this place, but have

(15:49):
been told by literally everyone I know that the best
school in America to deal with as a scout, as
a GM, as a person, as just anyone in the NFL,
not even close, was Alabama. The doors were open literally
twenty four to seven. As a buddy described it to
me one time, that if you called someone at two
or three in the morning and needed to get in

(16:10):
for something, they would have someone at the front door
opening it for you. They were as NFL friendly as
you could possibly be. One guy who's taken a lot
of shit the last couple of years is Lincoln Riley.
He's been at USC it hasn't been going that well.
He like closes practice, closes to NFL scouts. It's like,
why are you doing that? Like we're all in this
together now. One thing I had always heard about Gus

(16:34):
Melzan when he was an Auburn, he used to close
practice as the season went on because he thought that
a lot of scouts wanted to curry favor with Nick
Saban and they would steal things that were happening at
practice or make notes of it and give it to
coach Saban, so he would have an advantage when they
played the Iron Bowl, even though I'm not saying that's

(16:57):
never happened in the history of the sport. I also
understand where Gus's being a little insecure. He's not nick like.
Of course, if they have to choose one guy to
get in with, it would be saved. And he was
just very not confident in the situation, right, so he
would close practice as the season went on, and it
was very unfriendly to the NFL scouts. Well, one thing

(17:21):
that I was told is that, and there was a
report last night. This is what got my mind going
is Pete Dammel of ESPN reported that Bill Belichick has
made it very difficult on the scouting community so far
this fall because basically, the NFL training camp starts right
July twentieth to twenty fourth. Most of the scouts go,

(17:45):
like the college scouts, go give or take seven to
ten days at their NFL facility at the you know
wherever they're holding training camp, do a bunch of stuff
with the GM, go to practice, and then they go
out on the road and they start hitting school right
because a lot of these guys, these sophomores becoming juniors
that are gonna be stars. They're now draft eligible in

(18:06):
some of these seniors, and you start getting information on
these players. You start gathering information right they haven't played
a game, but for the next couple of weeks before
the college season starts, you're hitting all the big schools.
And if you knock on Alabama's door or you knock
on Texas door, a lot of these programs come on in.
You meet with the pro liaison, which typically is like
the GM or a personnel guy who knows the players well,

(18:29):
and they just break it down from a player to
the main thing, especially during the fall, is the person,
the character, what he's like in the program. It can
be a little more difficult now with the transfer portal
way more difficult, so you got to like it takes
a little more time gathering the off the field information
when a guy's been moving schools, but any guy that's
been in the program for a couple of years, you

(18:51):
can talk to people and they give you a bunch
of information. Well, Belichick hasn't been very accommodating, and I
was told by multiple people that he has banned the
New England Patriots, the New England Patriots. If you're a
scout for the New England Patriots, you are not allowed
at the University of North Carolina, which is funny but

(19:12):
also kind of embarrassing because Bill Belichick for multiple decades,
my guess is, made over two hundred million dollars working
for Robert Craft, became an absolute NFL legend, winning super Bowls,
going to Super Bowls and just kicking the shit out
of everybody with Tom Brady, and then it got ugly
and he lost and he got fired. You know what

(19:33):
that's called football. Tom Landry got fired, Andy Reid got fired,
Pete Carroll's been fired. People get fired, But to ban
the New England Patriots, it's like an f you to
Robert Craft. Guess what rober Craft's not doing ever making
a school call. In the history of his life. He's
never going to any of these universities collected. It's just

(19:53):
some random kid, you know, random guy that works for
Elliott Wolf going to the school one North Carolina doesn't
have much talent right now. But regardless, I do think
like I understand being old, bitter, grouchy, and angry. If
life's been shitty, right, if you're lonely, if your financial

(20:16):
situation's bad, if you have no hope in life, just
being miserable like that is understandable. Now, I wouldn't choose
that mindset. I think it'll just lead you to more misery.
It's a shitty way to live. But when you're super
rich and like life's going pretty well, someone just paid
you ten million dollars to coach the University of North

(20:37):
Carolina when no one else would hire you. It's a
beautiful campus by all accounts, everyone on campus was fired
up to watch your game, like it's pretty exciting, like
you were a really big deal. They made you Monday
Night Football. Like life's not that shitty for Bill Belichick
yet he is like this egotistical, angry, grouchy, just asshole

(21:00):
right now, and listen, that's always been his thing. Well,
it's much more understandable and easy to deal with when
you're winning. When you're losing, and what we witnessed last night,
no one's going to handle that stuff very well. And
the thing I was thinking about, once you ban all
the scouts and make it hard for the scouts and
ban the new England Patriots, and maybe Bill knows this

(21:21):
clearly he's never getting a job in the NFL again,
because even if it goes well in a couple of
years in New England or in North Carolina, he'd be
seventy five to seventy six years old. Like this is
it and he knows it. But to go out like this, honestly,
kind of symbolizes who Bill Belichick is. Petty, vindictive. I
understand it with Goodell, you know, having the issues you

(21:42):
had when you felt you got fined or Brady got
suspended and whatever and it was unfair. In this situation,
it just feels kind of like low level. It really does,
because I asked a couple of people, have you ever
heard about this? Because guess what a lot of people
in the NFL have been fired ahead coaches have been
fired and then gone on to college to run become

(22:03):
head coaches. Do you know what? None of them have
ever done to my knowledge ban the team that fired them.
And Belichick isn't just synonymous with the Patriots. He is
famous because of the Patriots. He's interwoven into them. So
I understand having a bad divorce, But bro, you went
four and twelve like if she dumps you because you

(22:26):
lose your job, you're miserable, you don't do anything, and
you're like potentially violent. Like hard to blame her, Right,
does anyone really blame Robert Kraft for firing you? Like
it was time? Like you weren't just there ten years,
twenty years, you were there like twenty three years. It
was a long freaking time and it had run its course.

(22:47):
I just can't understand. And I was thinking about this.
I mentioned this on Monday night. He can't hide, he
can't fake his personality, which I appreciated in most people,
but now in his job there is somewhat of like
a political angle to it. You kind of got to
put on a brave face and just pretend to be

(23:09):
semi happy. Sometimes in college football, do you think every
day Nick Saban wanted to smile when he just knew, like, hey,
recruits are gonna be watching, or to do this media
hit or to do whatever. Of course, not, well, Belichick's
never had to do any of that because in the
pros none of that matters. In college it kind of does.
So now the NFL people are like, God, this guy,

(23:30):
what the fuck is wrong with Bill? And most people
would just be like, yeah, this is who he's always
kind of been. Which, listen, you can make excuses when
you're winning thirteen fourteen games and going to the super Bowl.
You just become a laughingstock when you start losing by
forty points and you know, have a four and eight season.
So that's what they look like they got. And I

(23:52):
can't imagine that Mike Lombardi, who is like they've said
they're the thirty thirteen, Like that's what they want to do. Well,
we know who the boss is, the guy making ten
million dollars, He's the guy banning New England. He's the
guy making it hard on the scouts, which I just
think he put out a too deep yesterday which was
completely blank. It's like, bro, you're kind of turning into

(24:14):
a joke. It's kind of sad. And I'm a defender
of Belichick. I'm a fan. I'm the guy that's been
calling him the greatest coach I've ever seen forever, and
I stand by what I said based on what I
saw in his heyday. But what's going on right now?
You know, Jerry Jones gets made fun of a lot
for being old and senile. What the hell has happened
to Belichick a couple other things. Jackson Dart the backup.

(24:37):
You know, there's certain things you can see coming from
a mile away. You know, sometimes when you're like when
you go out for cocktails, or you have a friend
that starts dating someone and you come home with your
significant other and you're like, they're never gonna last and
they don't write. Or you have a buddy that gets
into a business he's like, I'm telling you, bro, just
either invest or. This thing's gonna be big. And you're like,

(24:58):
this thing's got no shot, like you just you just know,
like from the jump. And sometimes it is the opposite.
Sometimes you're like, damn, this thing is it's gonna work.
Like you get a restaurant, You're like, this food's good.
This thing's gonna be a hit in this town. Jackson
darts the backup quarterback. You can see what's gonna happen
coming from a mile away. Russell Wilson's giant career is

(25:20):
hanging by a shoe string, and that shoe string is
gonna rip apart every single day. And I'm not even
talking on Sundays. I'm talking Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That
I have a hard time seeing Jackson Dart not being
in the game by the end of the month. I mean,
I really do, and I think that the way he
played this this fall, the pressure that's on the head coach,

(25:45):
the fan base. Like fan bases do have some juice,
like obviously everyone wants Klein to bore fired. Where there
comes to a line where it's like, well, are you
gonna pay the seventy million dollars buy out? Where it
gets complicated. In the NFL is not that complicated. Brian
Dayball does not win. He's gone. And the one way
that you don't have to totally win, like win some games,

(26:07):
but also keep your job is to go, this is
my quarterback. This quarterback looks good with me, and I'm
a quarterback guy, and that could save the guy's gig.
So I would imagine that Jackson Dart is inserted really,
really quick, because I know football fans, and no one's
gonna watch Wanta watch Russell Wilson dunking and Duncan for

(26:27):
seventeen points a game and listen. That might be what
Jackson Dart ends up doing as a rookie, but I
would rather watch that as a fan, as an owner
as a GM than anything. Russell Wilson's bringing the table
in twenty twenty five. You know, it's funny like the Patriots,
and just anytime you hire a new coach, for the
most part, when you've been really bad, it's like, blow

(26:49):
this bitch up. And Pete Carroll got there. He's like,
I want Max Crosby, extend him. Spy text like extend him.
Colton Miller like this guy, extend him. Sometimes you go
to a and they got pieces. Other times you go
to a place you're like that this thing needs to
be burned to the studs. I've always said this about
the Oakland Coliseum where the Raiders and A's used to play.

(27:10):
They should take dynamite around that whole thing and blow
it to fucking smitherings, you know. And that was when
I thought maybe teams would stay. They've all left. Everyone's
gone that thing every day. That's the thing's erect is insane.
It's the biggest dump I've ever been in my entire life.
How stadium, any structure. I mean, it doesn't get any

(27:30):
worse than that place. It's no different. Teams. Sometimes you
show up, You're like, what is going on here? I
can't even imagine what Mike Vrabel walked into. Now, listen
some of the some of the captains. It's not like,
you know, Jacoby Brisset's a high level guy. But if
Jacoby presets a captain on your team in twenty twenty four,
you're gonna lose a lot of games. So I'm high

(27:51):
on New England this year. Now, I think their ceiling
is somewhat limited, just because explosive players on offense beside
the running back, not that many we have to see
with the quarterback. I'm just a believer in the head coach.
I'm a believer in the system. I'm a believer also
in their schedule. So nine to ten wins is probably
the ceiling, but I would expect a very very quick turnaround. Okay,

(28:27):
time for a little thing we like to call the
mail bag at John Middlecoff is my Instagram handle two f's.
It's always weird, and you know, I'm relatively newly married.
But whenever we today we were at the doctors and
we're on just we were in Hawaii and ever she goes, yeah,
Maria Middlecoff. When you hear your last name on someone
else's name, you're like two f's middlecoff at John Middlecoff

(28:50):
Packer fan, here's one for the back. Personally, I'm a
little worried about the pack about the back and what
our run defense will look like. We got them to
get more pressure on golf, but that doesn't matter if
Gibbs and Montgomery or running all over us. I feel
like Goody and Lafleur know their jobs are on the clock,
so they felt they had to make a big swing.

(29:11):
It's boom or bust, no in between. Only time will
tell who won. For it to be a success. The
Packers they need at least one Lombardi in the next
three seasons. Well, they've only been to one Super Bowl
with Aaron Rodgers and Brett Farv since ninety eight, so

(29:32):
I would say I understand winning a Super Bowl is
easy to say that winning you know, NBA finals, Like
if the Lakers don't win an NBA finals with Luca,
it's a disappointment. When you make it to the championship,
even if you lose, it's pretty impressive. Like you guys
have been to a lot of NFC Championship games, but
winning that game and going to the Super Bowl and

(29:53):
winning the NFC to me would be a pretty big deal.
So if you tell me the next three years you
get to a super Bowl, I think that's a pretty
big success. I said this earlier. If you think they
would give him almost one hundred and forty million dollars guaranteed,
which is about the same amount giver image a little
bit less then they gave Jordan Love with a questionable back.

(30:14):
I just think you're on crack cocaine. The back thing
to me is nothing. I don't think it exists. I
really don't, because I can't imagine you going, yeah, we're
gonna give him a contract, but as back might have
some issues, that'd be malpractice, that'd be a fire bull fence.
I think they made the trade because they justified in

(30:36):
their head like, how we ever get this player? How
do we ever get a player like this? And the
answer is, you don't really unless you do this. But
I'm with you. There's a lot of risk involved because
think about who you have to go through. Like you
said the Lions, that pine sool is going to be
on him. You think Michael Parsons can shed pine sool
in the run game. You can't. I mean no, one can't.

(30:58):
Lane Johnson and Jordan mylotta for the Eagles that those
teams want to run the ball down your throat. You
know Washington, well, you know their offense a little softer
because it's a little more spread with the Cliff, But
you know, the Rams can be a physical offense. The
forty nine ers can be a physical offense. We know
the Seattle's gonna want to run the ball. I mean,
the NFC has a lot of run heavy type teams.

(31:21):
Who else is good in the South Tampa? I mean
Bucky Irvey had a big year last year. They got
two good tackles. So it's a run heavy conference that
this is not the The NFC is not the AFC
where it's like Burrow mahomes Lamar, like just go out
there sling that pill baby. The NFC is like, buckle up.
We plan on running power and outside zone till the

(31:43):
cows come home and then play action off that. I
was thinking with Garrett with the Garrett trade request earlier
this year, would it have been a way to package
Deshaun Watson into that and offload part of his contract,
Like if Garrett went for a first and a third,
could the Browns say give us a first and a five,

(32:05):
and you get Garrett Ann Watson. Garrett on the Browns
is kind of in limbo. Oh is a lamba in
a trailer house situation. It's like that meme with the
with the lambo next to the trailer house. I agree
a little bit, yes, not like they are just one
player away from winning a ton of games. Would be
curious to hear your thoughts. I do think he would
have gone for a lot more than a one and

(32:26):
a three. I know he's older than Micah, but I
think he gets multiple ones. He's that good of a player.
I think he's the most you could argue he's just
the most purely talented player in the NFL. You know,
Trent Williams is older. Now, if you could say, like
Jamar Chase Justin Jefferson, like he's on the short list

(32:46):
of just pure raw talent, might be number one overall
regardless of position. I just have a hard time going, Okay,
let's just say I have to give you one of
a first, and I take Tshown Watson as well. I
don't think he's tradable. I don't think I would be
interested as a GM to get Miles Garrett to take

(33:08):
to Shaun Watson to essentially cut him. So I'm just
taking his money to ruin my books to cut him.
Because whenever Deshaun Watson is cut, however this plays out,
he'll eventually be cut, whether that's in a couple of
years from the Brown I don't think he ever plays
in the NFL. Again, I don't think he ever plays
another snap in the NFL. And I don't say that lightly.

(33:28):
I'm not throwing that around. This is not a moral
stance either. I don't give a shit. We know the
teams do not care. If Sean Watson was a good player,
no one would care. But he's atrocious on the field.
I mean, he's objectively one of the worst players in
the league last couple of years. And then you factor
in all the baggage. I don't think he's touchable because
he's not a backup quarterback. It's why if this Russell

(33:53):
Wilson thing doesn't work out, kind of feels like his
career is kind of coming down the home stretch unless
he's just cool with being backup and is like, is
he too famous to be a backup quarterback? And obviously
Russell is I mean, has nothing in common with Deshaun
Watson from a negative standpoint, beside him just being kind
of annoying with the packers taking golden in the first

(34:13):
round and going all in on the Micah trade. Do
you think this has to do with the president, with
the new president ed policy or just the right circumstance.
I thought Gutakins had a quote that was like he
didn't say yes or no, he just said do it.
You know, they didn't have to run it by him,

(34:34):
like he was the owner. Could be screwing that up.
This has been a long weekend and I remember that
that quote was like on Thursday. I think it has
less to do I think this trade happens if Murphy's there,
if ed policy's there, whoever's the president, this trade happens
because Mike is available, and Gudikins wanted them. And Lafour said,

(34:57):
like I knew when Goot came down to my office
and said this might a possibility, and that could have
been a month ago. But like to me, this felt
like a front office led pursuit. And the one thing
Goot said, I'll call him Gooty. I don't know if
anyone calls him Goot's probably easy to call him gooty.
I think I'm messing. I don't know if his name's
Gutikins that I could be screwing that up the pronunciation there,

(35:20):
but we'll just go with goody, he said, was it
the khalil Mac trade that he felt? Now He's like,
we probably wouldn't have got him anyway. But one thing
I regret about that situation is I was late. I
felt late to the party, and I wonder if he's
looking at it in this situation of like, I'm not

(35:41):
going to be late to the party when it comes
to this trade. And he was probably one of Jerry's
first calls and then just kept on and kept on
and like a sales guy, you know, probably like you know,
I've never been a part of one of these trades
in terms of being a GM, but I would imagine
you kind of got to be a little annoying because
when you end up a guy that was, let's face it,

(36:03):
for a long period of time not available, you're probably
wearing them out, like, hey, any interest, what would it take?
And then when the dialogue starts, it's a lot because
you have created the dialogue for months when he's telling
you no, and then once I think it becomes a
little bit of a stronger possibility. You go, hey, Matt,

(36:23):
are you on board with this? Obviously Matt probably is
like you sure, And then you get your defensive coordinator involved,
like is this are you very comfortable with this scheme
fit with this player? And once he gives you the
go ahead, because if you make the trade and your
defensive coordinators not fully on board, it could make you
look bad. So I think the coaches were clearly on board.

(36:45):
The GM led this pursuit, and ed policy is not
really in the business of telling you when and where
to make personnel decisions, right, that's not really his gig.
And I think Gudakins also said that he about this
because it was such a big deal, but he doesn't
bother him, like he doesn't tell him when he's making
practice squad moves. Right if he's making a move with

(37:08):
the fifty third guy on the roster, cutting him and
bringing a guy up, like he's not telling him. But
this is a type move that you keep everyone involved.
But at policy's job is not to tell you win
and win not to do this. Now, maybe from a
financial standpoint, you have to run by some of the
numbers but you know, this is why the Packers are good.
Their GM and their head coach run the football. That

(37:30):
there's no the ed policy. The Murphy guy like Murphy
maybe a little more than policy is not dictating the
football decisions. But I'm with you. You make this trade,
you're in win now mode. I like the Packers before
this move. I actually this move makes me a little
more nervous, to be completely honest. It is one of
my favorite bets on the board was taking the Packers

(37:52):
to win the division. And I liked him when it
was like plus two fifty. So one hundred bucks gets
you two Would you bet one hundred dollars, If you win,
you make three hund fifty bucks. If he bet one
thousand dollars, you win thirty five hundred. Now the odds
are you know, basically, I think I have looked there's
like plus one thirty or plus one forty, so they're
diminished dramatically. I also think there are just human elements

(38:15):
to this. You know, there have been reports about Micah
in the locker room just you know, it's not like
he's a bad guy, but he's just kind of into
Micah when that's you know, Dack's the opposite, Zach Martin's
the opposite. By all accounts, seed He Lamb's the opposite.
So you're getting this big personality that's kind of into him,

(38:36):
who's going to this place that has kind of like
a low key, easygoing culture, but everyone kind of buys in.
I don't know, it just makes me learn it could work,
like I'm not expecting it to derail them, but everyone's
expecting fireworks and my first response, and maybe it's just
my natural inclination. When everyone's scared, I'm probably more bullish,

(38:57):
and when everyone's bullsh I'm a little more down on it.
Maybe it's just playing the stock market for years, it's
kind of developed that habit. Now you can't always just
hang a left when everyone's hanging right. Sometimes the left
will take you right into the tsunami or the fire.
So I'm not anti this move from the packers standpoint,
but we have to acknowledge separate from the money, there

(39:20):
are risks. I mean, this is a guy that does
he listen to the coaches now because he goes, well,
I'm the highest paid guy here. So this defensive coordinator
that is not some I like Halfley a lot but
he's not some well established vic Vangio that can tell
any player or anything, or Brian Flores. So if if
Parsons at a point, if he doesn't like what Halfley's

(39:42):
saying and doesn't agree, freelances like it's Halflee lighting them
up like a Christmas tree. I don't know. I just
think there are some inherent risks with this situation. You
know in football, you say basketball too. Anytime you get
these big name, big talent, high priced guys that move teams,

(40:04):
especially to like smaller markets, it can go really, really well,
and you can become a Michael Parks could become a
fucking legend, or so like I could get weird. I
was born, raised, and still reside in the suburbs of
Philly all my life. I'm twenty five. The entire area
are big Eagles fans. As a guy who roots for

(40:26):
my fantasy team and doesn't have one team to root for,
it's been super annoying dealing with the Eagles fans. They
seem to be even worse than your average crazy football fan. I,
as a supporter of the Eagles fans, have been human
that lived in that area, that really liked it and
appreciated it. I think all fans are a little crazy,

(40:46):
and I don't think Eagle fans are that much different
than anyone else, given your time working for and being
around the organization, as well as your experience with people
fans from other teams and circles, do you also find
Eagles fans to be specifically intolerable love the show? I
really don't. I think if you maybe because of the area,

(41:11):
like you're just gonna be more negative in the Northeast.
Their inclination to lean negative in Philly, in New York,
in New England, just with their disposition as an area
is different than we are growing up in northern California,
or people in southern California, or people in Seattle, or
people here in Arizona, even like Kansas City. It's just

(41:33):
it's just the wiring of the people. But I would say,
what the hell's the difference between Eagles fans and Jets
fans or Giants fans or New England fans, Like if
your team sucks, you get mad, and if your team's
really good, you start feeling yourself. It's called sports. I
really I hated Philadelphia in the winter. I don't like
living in the cold. If I want to go to

(41:55):
the cold, I either get in a plane or get
in my car and go there so I can leave.
But in terms of the character of the city, the
character of the people, I thoroughly enjoyed my time. You know,
I'm born and raised, spent thirty plus years in California.
Now I've lived in Arizona for four plus years, so

(42:16):
the overwhelming majority of my life has been spent in
California slash the West Coast. But those couple of years
in Philadelphia, I mean, really changed my perspective of Like
I might be born on the West Coast, but I
got a little East Coast Northeast in Me. I actually
have a lot of different parts of the country. I
feel I got a little Southern in Me. I definitely

(42:37):
have a Northeast personality at times. In Me, I have
a chill California side. But I love Philadelphia and I
love the fans. I really did. I really really enjoyed
it there, And yeah, I mean in a weird way
still like have buddies on the work for the team
and root for Howie to do well. We are extremely

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If you were the Steelers GM, would you have entered
this year with this team? And what would you do

(44:34):
post the twenty five season? I think it's like someone
told me last night about Belichick's quarterback. I'm like, why
did they take this guy? And this guy's response was
he didn't have many options. And I think when you
look at the Pittsburgh Steelers, you went your drafting whatever
twentieth you go, what are you gonna do? Trade for Gino?

(44:57):
Smith signed Sam Darnold. If they would have re signed
Justin or not Justin fields at the number in which
the Jets did, that would have been insanity. That would
have been the craziest thing the Steelers have ever done.
So thank god they didn't do that. Listen, the Rogers
thing is probably way more bust than Boom, but there

(45:18):
is It could work out if they can run the ball,
if they play good defense. They clearly didn't love having
this high priced safety and not being able to cover.
So they get Sleigh, they get Jalen Ramsey. They kind
of free themselves from Minka's money. They double down on TJ.
They think they're gonna be better on defense. They historically

(45:39):
have had the tall, long corners, physical corners. I mean
both Sleigh and Jalen are physical corners. I mean Jalen's
a hit her. You know, DK doesn't really feel like
a Steeler, but who knows. I think the Steelers could
be solid. I think they could be similar outcome as
last year, like not the last couple of years nine

(46:00):
Kennish wins first round and out, but be a better team.
I just don't know what else he was supposed to do.
Like Baker Mayfield wasn't available, He couldn't just like trade
for Jared Goff, so how he had to have someone
to play quarterback. Shador Sanders the third stringer on fucking Cleveland,
so that surely wasn't the answer. I just think it

(46:20):
was the best option, and ideally you get a quarterback
moving forward, but that's easier said than done. It's like,
well you need a quarterback, Okay, well draft Kenny Pickett.
Well that's gonna be a disaster. We need a quarterback. Okay,
draft Mac Jones. That's a disaster. I think sometimes when
you forced the quarterback for every Mahomes and Josh Allen,
you get some of these just epic train wrecks. Even

(46:44):
Lamar like the Ravens didn't force it. Remember they drafted
a guy ahead of them. So I think you're just
in a tough situation. It's like it's easy for me
to say, well, he's got to find a quarterback. Well, okay,
who win? Well, if you win nine ten games, you're
drafting the twenties. You're not drafting Garrett Nesmier, you're not
drafting sellers. You're not drafted probably Cad club Nick. You

(47:06):
wouldn't think, and who knows even good enough for the bag.
Curious to hear your thoughts on this article. Essentially, the
NFL has called out Nielsen on diluting their viewership numbers,
saying it cost them millions of dollars when they inaccurately
under report total viewers for the game. I just find
it funny that the NFL is running circles around every

(47:27):
other major sports league in America and is still fighting
for every penny do you think this means that the
NFL and its teams are still quote unquote undervalued and
could potentially be worth a few hundred million more. I
would say the NFL wiring as a business right now
is very similar to Alabama and Saban. You're thinking like why,

(47:48):
I remember thinking this the last like four or five
years with Nick, How do you still care this much?
How do you still care this much? And it felt
like he did he would still lose it. He was
still so driven. His teams were still so buttoned up.
It was like, it's incredible to have this stamina. I'd
say the same thing for Pete Carroll, like how is
he so excited for life to coach the Raiders at

(48:10):
seventy three, seventy four years old? I get bill, he
has this like f you to the Patriots. It feels
like that's the only reason he's coaching, just as an
f you to Robbercraft. It feels like Pete Carroll's just
just driven to coach. The NFL is just driven to
make money. We've I've known a couple of these guys
that are like business owners that essentially own like family businesses,

(48:31):
so their sons are part of their businesses. I've known
farmers like this and they'll be like seventy five years old.
It's like they're driving around the ranch at six am.
It's like, why aren't you just at your house in
the country club, relaxing. Why why aren't you at Maui?
Why aren't you in the Bahamas? Like what are you
doing this for? It's like that's all they know in

(48:54):
the NFL right now. It's like it's never enough. It's
never enough, It's never enough, and they just keep going
after it for more. I would say this, I didn't
read the article. I saw the headlines separate from what
you sent me. I think these like if if YouTube
or Apple says that seventy five, four hundred and thirty

(49:17):
four people listen to the podcast on Apple and ten
twenty five ten thousand, two hundred and fifty three people
listened on YouTube, like you have an exact number? You
know that many people click based on if you watch
for more than a minute, if you listen for more
than five minutes, whatever the requirements are. You know, how

(49:40):
does television have any clue? If I'm watching television at
my house, Let's say I pull up YouTube TV Thursday night, Cowboys, Eagles,
and Patty and Ron, my neighbor Sam and Julie who
live down the street, and ten other people that are
their friends as well, come over to my house and

(50:01):
watch the game. Let's assume I'm getting credit me and
my wife for watching the game. What if I have
fifteen other people at my house watching the game? How
can they possibly account for that? Now? I think we
all agree, and we know that a lot of people
are watching football games, right, Like, if you telled me
seven million people watched Belichick, but fifteen million people watched

(50:24):
the first thirty minutes of that game, I'd be like,
I believe you. But could that number be five million
people more, three million people less? I think it's a
purely educated guess. I was thinking about this today because
was it like yesterday one of the it might have
been Sunday. It was Sunday because ABC had Miami Notre

(50:47):
Dame and ESPN had South Carolina Virginia Tech. Well, when
that game ended, it became a bunch of like baseball
talk about Major League Baseball. And I've loved sports my
whole life. I've made a career out of it. It's
pretty clear less people than ever are watching baseball, right,
it's just not culturally relevant. And you kind of feel
that at times with the NBA. But when I see

(51:09):
these numbers, if you sell me ten million people watch
the finals, yeah, that number could have been eight and
also could have been like fifteen if you factor in bars,
if you factor in you know, group settings, how do
you account for you know, whenever I travel, you realize, God,
Fox Sports one is on at every airport I've been
to over the last six months. So every time I

(51:31):
go there, Collin's on. So I started thinking, like, when
I was on with Colin, imagine all the people in
the airport that's on. Now the sound's not necessarily on,
So do you get credit? Do you not get credit?
But it's all kind of an educated guess. I mean,
the biggest scam of all time, not even close, was
terrestrial radio that some of these people in big markets
are like, yeah, I think one hundred thousand people are listening, Well,

(51:53):
it could be or it could be thirty thousand, or
could be five hundred thousand people. Now there are certain
shows like Howard Stern is Prime in York, or Mike
and the Mad Dog or Rush Limbaugh, Jim Rome clearly
in like the nineties, a lot of people were listening
to certain specific shows, but it was a complete educated
guess based on meters representing a segment of society on

(52:15):
how many people are listening. And television and Nielsen to
me is a little bit like that, which is crazy
because the amount of money that's online, specifically for the NFL,
you're talking billions of dollars in these sales. So if
you think about it, if you're gonna pitch to Netflix
and Amazon Prime in these people and you say concrete

(52:37):
numbers because they'll know. So when you watch Amazon Prime.
When I watch Amazon Prime, I keep saying, Bezos, he's
not even around anymore. But Amazon knows exactly how many
people are watching for how long specific like where else
you go if you're watching on your computer, do you
buy anything? They have all the information. Television has none
of that, and radio legitimately has none of that. That's

(53:00):
why I say, hey, advertisers, you are getting scammed in
terrestrial radio. Come over to where we push product and
you can quantify it. And that's why they have and
they continue to and that's why where the money's flown.
Major Longhorns fan here, I know Arch looked bad against
Ohio State. But my question isn't about that. My question

(53:20):
is why the hell was start calling quarterback power over
and over again in the red zone. He's athletic, but
he's not a big body like Cam Newton. Stark willingly
put his quarterback, who was already struggling in a position
where he's meeting a linebacker in the hole. They ran
a quarterback sneak? Was it fourth down in the goal line?

(53:43):
I forget that game feels like a lifetime ago. Whenever
they ran a quarterback sneak, it might have been the worst.
I saw someone tweet this and I agreed. It's the
worst quarterback sneak I've ever seen. The offensive line didn't
know what to do. Arch like barely moved. I mean
it was it was pretty bad. Now, I heard someone
else say the thing with quarterback sneaks, especially with a

(54:03):
new quarterback, it's not a play you practice, so it
can be a little hit or miss. Yeah, they clearly
are were not good in the red zone. I heard
someone break down, like the last four years of Sark,
they have been getting progressively worse in the red zone.
I don't know. I'm with you on Arch he's athletic

(54:26):
like Caleb Williams athletic. You're not gonna run quarterback power
with Kayleb Williams, but you can get him out on
the move to throw like I thought that was part
of Arch. But are you gonna run like Arch like
he's Cam Newton or Kyler Murray. Clearly he's not that
comfortable now again, Ohio State is gonna be one of
the best teams you play all season long, potentially the best.
But like when you play Georgia Florida in A and M,

(54:49):
you know, Arch is gonna be feels like a little
intimidated to like lower his shoulder against these guys, thinking
that he's faster than these guys. I defend sark I
felt like he was feeling out his quarterback and trying
to figure out what he did well and what he
didn't do well, specifically against a really good opponent. Theoretically,
after a bad season from both programs, could Bama and

(55:12):
USC do a coach trade. The schools agree to assume
the contracts of each Klan would get to go back
to the West Coast and Lincoln could go back to
the South. Both the big guys are big name guys,
and after another bad season, I think they would sign
up for change with their money preserved. It's a good question.

(55:35):
I think if if Lincoln Riley had a bad season,
I don't think Alabama would want any part of them.
I think USC would be more open to Debor than
I think Alabama would be to Lincoln. But I'm with you,
neither one of these guys. It would get way uglier

(55:57):
because of the standard who he's replacing in Alley Obama,
where I could see if they just went like six
and six, Kaitlin being like, I want to quit, but
no human alive could give up that type of money.
So he's kind of in a predicament with Lincoln. I
would imagine in USC this year's like eight or nine

(56:17):
wins Bama. You could convince me everything's on the table
right now. If the Bengals defense is as bad as
it was last year, how close to a twenty eleven
Aaron Rodgers does Joe Burrow have to be to drag
the Bengals to the playoffs. Rogers that year forty six
hundred yards, forty five touchdowns, six interceptions. Packers went fifteen

(56:40):
to one thirty second in total defense. If you told
me Burrow right now is forty five and six, I
would change my opinion. I would put the Bengals in
the playoffs. But if you told me the Bengals had
the thirty second ranked defense, I don't think it'd be
possible for them to go fifteen to one. I think

(57:01):
the most wins they could have would be like twelve
or thirteen. In this day and age, I just think
the quarterback plays so much better in twenty twelve or
twenty twenty five than it was in twenty eleven. I mean,
you know Stafford was there. Who would have been the

(57:23):
Vikings quarterback then? I don't even know. I'm gonna click Cincinnati,
just see who they play. You know, they play Flaco,
so they would win that game. Jack could win that game.
But then you just get like at the Vikings, at
the Broncos, the Lions, the Packers, the Steelers, the Steelers,
Pats at home, the Ravens, the Bills, the Ravens, Kyler Murray. Yeah,

(57:49):
I mean, if he had a historic like no doubt
about an MVP year, twelve or thirteen wins, thirteen fight
probably feel like the max. If your defense was atrocious,
testa tour is so bad. Dude definitely lives and dies
by what people say about him on Twitter. I saw
Peter Schrager tweet this, and I don't necessarily disagree that,

(58:12):
Like he really appreciated Joe Testatur's passion and how excited
he is because a lot of people in sports, I
would say, broadcasters, podcasters, definitely, people on TV sometimes feel
like they don't even like it, Like why are you
Are you just doing this for the money? And the
answer is yes, especially for some of these people with
the amount of money they're making, Like do you like football?

(58:33):
I remember when I stayed with Colin like a month ago,
we were just like watching shitty preseason football, having cocktails
and ordering food and just talking about like football philosophies.
And I think there are a lot of people that
talk about sports that would just not would not want
to watch preseason football, And I think a lot of

(58:55):
people in this business don't necessarily like it. Where there
is no disputing that test Tour gets really excited, I'd
argue it's a little over the top. I thought it
was a little much this weekend. I mean there were
moments where I felt like he was just screaming at
every play which I would if you told me you
get that or you get a guy that's monotone and sucks.

(59:18):
I guess I will take that, but I am in
agreement that it is a little overkill. Now I will
say this. One of my best friends, dude that officiated
my wedding, I was in his wedding. Guy Haberman is
now the forty nine ers play by play guy this
year because Greg Papa got sick and he does he
does big ten games. He did pack twelve games for

(59:40):
everyone at forever. I'm talking football, basketball, baseball. That profession
is really hard. Whenever someone that doesn't quite knows sports
asked me like, do you want to call games? No One,
I can't. Like, I don't have that capability. I don't
have that talent. And two I don't even pretend or
think that I could. Like I tried play by play

(01:00:04):
for a couple games in college for college baseball at
cal Pauly on like internet radio, and I remember thinking
this is impossible. So it is. It's a very difficult
thing to do and be good at. But I do
think his style can be a little much. But I
say the same thing for Gus with Joel, Like I

(01:00:26):
don't mind Gus, but I think sometimes it's like, okay,
we get it, like jeez, Louise, and Gus is like,
that's kind of his lane. Tess treats some of these moments.
It's like a b he's a boxing guy, like a
boxing knockout, which, again you feel like a hater. You're

(01:00:49):
talking shit, and I do respect that profession is really
hard to do. If you took a random sports fan
and put him in that seat, I'm not talking the
analyst syat and be like, oh, it's a great catch, Joe,
Oh that's a big time hit. Oh he's got to
get down in the hole. I'm talking about calling me
play by play radio or television. I don't think the
common person understands how hard you would fail and how

(01:01:12):
embarrassing you would sound. I'm talking about someone that knows sports.
So it's just not really my style. Again, it's hard.
There's different strokes for different folks. Uh, congrats on the baby.
Wife and I are expecting are first in February. We
actually went to the doctor to day, and I don't
think I quite realized once we got in, Maria knew

(01:01:36):
and she had kind of mentioned it. Maybe I wasn't
totally paying attention, but said, oh, this is the big
appointment where we go over one hundred things to make
sure your baby, you know, just has toes heart brain.
I'm like, so you find bad stuff here, like every
once in a while, Yeah, some devastating happens. My heart
just started pounding, and I'm sitting there. I started like praying.
I'm not even religious. It's exhilarating. Twenty minutes. Everything's good

(01:02:01):
so far. So we're good in the clear? Are you
on the packers? For the value? Lions have a better quarterback,
better wide receiver, better wide receiver too, better tight end,
better running back, better running back. Two. I mean, Josh
Jacobs is better than Montgomery. If you want to take
Gibbs over Jacobs, okay, I mean Josh Jacobs a high
end player, better a line, and Hutchinson is probably the

(01:02:24):
best defensive player between the two teams. And I agree,
I would take Hutchinson over Michael Parsons. Do you think
losing Ben Johnson sets all of that off? I just
think losing two coordinators a really big deal. You know,
when you are John Harbus's proven that he can go
through coordinators, and it all kind of works out, but
he's been doing it for twenty years. Right. We have

(01:02:44):
seen Jim Harball, We saw him at Michigan, Like when
he gets the wrong coordinator, it can kind of go bad.
So I just don't know. I'm not acting like the
Lions can't win this division. And you could argue there's
value in betting the Lions, maybe because if you told
me that Aaron and Ben Johnson had returned, they would
be the heavy favorites to win this division. But what

(01:03:05):
matters in the NFL when, for the most part, like
the gap between the Packers and the Lions is not
that big, right, you would agree with that. It's not
like you guys are some unbeatable team and they're just
like an average good team, Like they're pretty freaking good.
They add Micah Parsons. But coaching really really matters. So
who do I feel better about? Matt Lafleur or Johnny Morton, who,

(01:03:29):
for whatever reason is fifty five and no one ever
wants to make him his offensive coordinator, Halfley who had
the best Packer defense in a long time, or a
guy that's a young, a young coach that's never been
a coordinator. Now, by all accounts is going to be good.
I feel better about the Lions on defense than I
do offense. I just think sometimes when you lose the ingenuity,

(01:03:54):
the innovation, the creativity, like you can't fake that. It's
why it's like, hey, this guy is our next CEO.
It looks great on paper, and then he gets in
charge and it just fails. It happens all the time
in all sorts of industries. You put people in positions,
you go, God, this guy checks every box. Look who
he's worked with, Look what he's accomplished, Look who signs
off on him. And then he gets in the position.

(01:04:14):
This is not good. And some people you're like to
look at his resume. It sucks. Yeah, he's just a natural.
No one would have thought when he was twenty eight
theo Epstein was gonna be one of the great gms.
You know what, He's got a great feel for it.
He's pretty fucking good. I would have bet everything I
had against Sean McVay working out. I'm like, wait, thirty
thirty one year old is gonna coach be a head
coach in the NFL in the internet era. No chance,

(01:04:35):
not gonna work. It's the hall of favor. So you
you just don't know, and when it works, it's incredible.
No one knew Ben Johnson was Ben Johnson four years ago.
Two years ago, Ben Johnson's turning down jobs. It's like,
I'm just I'm gonna wait. Redskins are like what we
want to make you the head coach like, now, I'm good,
turn your plane around. But no one would have thought

(01:04:58):
that two years previously. Don't know and that variable, you
know again talking insurance, mitigating risks. It could go well,
could be fine, or it could be a major problem
and they could just be off. Because calling plays is

(01:05:19):
there's a feel element to it that can't be quantified.
I saw, I guess the Browns assistant GM is some chick,
and she was like talking about the quarterback situation. She
was like talking data points. I mean, she's clearly very analytical.
She's talking like a robot. It's like you're dealing with
people here. These are people like with brains and hearts

(01:05:42):
and souls and you know, the tangibles or intangibles. It's
impossible to quantify. So yeah, there's data points on specific stuff,
how fast a guy can run, how many catches he's
gonna have. But you can't quantify what a guy's gonna
be like as a play caller. You can't quantify how
intune Ben Johnson was one clearly a natural, but two

(01:06:06):
like just understood his personnel and been there the whole
time and then bringing in a new guy. I'd say
the same thing for Aaron Glenn though. I do think
you know, defensively, if they're healthy, they're going to be
pretty good. They got a lot of good players there. Yeah,
I don't know. I just I'm betting on the Packers structure, coach,

(01:06:28):
the GM, just the whole operation. That's what I'm betting on.
And for the first time, you know, not saying Dan
Campbell can't win the division. I'm a Dan Campbell fan,
huge fan. I fucking love Dan Campbell. But when you're
a CEO head coach, like, if there's a drop off
that can cost you a couple of games, and the
difference of winning fifteen games and twelve or thirteen games,

(01:06:50):
could simply be the coordinator and if you win twelve
and the Packers win thirteen, all of a sudden, you're
a wild card. They win the division. I'm not acting
like the Lions are gonna win seven games. Here, but
I am fascinated and I wasn't even like Colin It
made a big deal about the the Hall of Fame game.
It's like they were just not buttoned up. I'm more
worried about legitimately. Third quarter TI game, third and seven.

(01:07:13):
I felt like Ben Johnson knew what to call Johnny
Moore than I don't know. All the other NFL teams
are like, yeah, we don't really believe he does because
we don't make him. The offensive teams all over the
league could have made the offensive coordinator for years, Jim
Harbaugh could have. No one ever did. The volume delete

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