3 & Out - Dak Prescott & Cowboys suffer HUGE LOSS vs. Jared Goff & Lions on TNF - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
What is going on everybody? How are we doing? John
Middlecoff three and Out podcast brought to you by my
friends its own pouches. Hopefully everyone is doing well, Probably
not as well as the Lions, who get a massive
win save their season are now eight and five. The Cowboys,
we're terrible early kind of came storming back and then
ended up losing by fourteen points. But lou Ceedee Lamb

(00:38):
who concussion. George Pickens did not have this finest day
at the office, and we'll dive into that game, Big Ben.
Since Tomlin should go to Penn State's Fugazi Friday, so
does Lane Kiffin. They actually fake own a dog and
we'll dive into that. But we'll also have Stucky on
the show. We recorded earlier before obviously the game and

(01:00):
went over some of the college games and obviously the
big NFL slag. We got a lot on the line
on on Sunday and Monday night. So good time of year,
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(01:23):
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app today. I was thinking about this tonight, you know,
when the game was I think twenty seven to nine
at one point. It obviously got within three points in
the fourth quarter, but then Detroit pulled again, with Dan
Campbell putting his cohonuses on the table when he called

(02:47):
a nice play action shot to Amen Ross Saint Brown,
who essentially ice the game. When your back's against the
wall and the Lions back was against the wall. I
don't know about you, but we've all been through trying times.
I've been fired from a couple of jobs. My back's
been against the wall. I do think you got to

(03:08):
stand on two things. One thing that is one hundred
percent required for anyone, regardless of the industry you're in.
You gotta be mentally tough, right. You cannot mentally break
because it'll just get worse. And to me too, you
gotta lean into whatever you're good at and almost double down.
That's the only way to get out when you're in

(03:28):
a shitty situation professionally, and the Detroit Lions work in
that position. Tonight. They're back and their season was against
the line, and obviously in football it's mentally and physically
that you got to lean into when it comes to toughness.
And I thought the game was set, or at least
the tone was set for the Lions in pregame warmups

(03:50):
when Dan Campbell last week was like, I'm and Ron's
gonna miss some time. And to me, your culture for
a football team obviously is set by the head coach.
They determine the type practices you have, how intense your
days are. I mean, the majority of football is not
the three hours you see on game day. It's the

(04:11):
hours upon hours Monday through Saturday you spend in the
facility you're training. It's a grind, and the head coach
really sets that. But he sets that through the type
guys that they acquire, and in college through recruiting or
the transfer portal, and in the NFL through draft and
free agency. You develop the culture through the type guys

(04:32):
that you have run your team, and your best players
usually dictate how far you're gonna go. And I remember
Dan Campbell earlier this season said I'm never really get
that worried about our squad because our best players are
our hardest workers and most focused guys. And tonight, Saint Brown,
when you have an ankle injury, and you're a wide receiver,

(04:54):
like you can gut it out a little bit of
like guard or even quarterback because you're kind of playing
with within a phone booth. Not as much now a
quarterback because there's so much quarterback run and scrambling around
the old days when you kind of just stayed in
the pocket. But Saint Brown's toughness to me set the
tone for the game, like, hey, guys, yeah, we're not

(05:15):
gonna be the number one seed like last year, but
we sure as hell are not going down tonight. And
I didn't accept all this money. I'm not one of
the leaders and one of the best players in the
league three straight years in the Pro Bowl. I'm a
highly paid guy, and the coach relies on me to
set the tone from a toughness standpoint. On offense, I'm
the guy going over the middle. I'm the guy blocking.

(05:36):
I'm the guy who for years now have been one
of the leaders of one of the better teams in
the league. And to me, it was like, okay, and
the first play of the game, right to fourteen on
a quick out route. I love that guy. I mean
that guy could play that. There is not a good
coach in the history of this sport or a good
team in the history of the NFL that wouldn't want

(05:56):
that guy in the trances with him. And then to me,
the game as it went was like, we're going like
our defense has problems. Our secondary is not good. Now
Brian Branch is getting carted off, you know, toward the
end of the game. Right our pass rush is okay,
but our defense isn't good. So we're gonna have to
win games even if our defense is playing as hard

(06:17):
as they possibly can, and they did early in that game.
They're flying around, they're trying, they just have physical limitations.
Right Ceedee Lamb before we got the concussion, felt like
he was on pace like three hundred and fifty yards.
It was like they cannot stop this guy. And in FAIRSS, like,
who the hell is gonna cover him? You gotta rely
on your best players. So Saint Brown says like, we

(06:39):
are a tough team, Dan me, that's how we roll.
But then it's like Jamiir Gibbs has to dominate in
this game. Jamison Williams has to dominate in this game.
And that's what happened because the one thing that's a
bugaboo for the Cowboys, and they've played a lot better
right defensively over the course of the last month. The
defensive tackles up the middle. The young kid from Boston College,

(07:02):
the second round pick, he's really good Overshown's back. Their
defense has been much better. But you could tell the
team speed the Lions was on a different level than
the Cowboys and tonight when you look Jamison Williams seven
catches for ninety six yards, I'm and Ross Saint Brown
six catches for ninety two yards, Jamiir Gibbs seven catches
for seventy seven yards. He also obviously had three rushing touchdowns.

(07:26):
David Montgomery had the big thirty five yard touchdown. So
their best offensive players completely dominated tonight, and that was
the difference in the game. It was like you cannot
stop the speed of Jamier Gibbs and Jameis and Williams,
and they made big play after big play after big play,
and it felt like all their guys, starting with Saint

(07:47):
Brown setting the tone. You know that first played the game,
but really in warm ups and I'm sure the last
couple of days that guys I'm playing maybe gets shot up,
gets double tapped or double taped not sure what he did,
but it's pretty rare that you see a guy it's
not like they were just lying. When he leaves the
game last week, it's like he's gonna be a while
and then he's able to play like that's really really impressive,

(08:10):
especially at that position, but kind of speaks the type
guy is and those type guys you want. And that's
the reason the Lions when they're they're seasons on the line,
they lose to they're not making the playoffs, no chance.
I mean it's over and they're still not guaranteed, but
they definitely are alive now. And I thought the performance

(08:32):
by Gibbs and Jamison Williams was freaking awesome, and obviously
Jared Goff played well. There was just a level of
that offense, and they had these moments last year where
it's like, guys, especially at home, we're gonna rely on you.
More than likely the Cowboys are gonna score. At the
beginning of the game, you would have said somewhere between
twenty seven and thirty two points. So I think if

(08:54):
you're the Lions to start the game like we need
thirty five and we don't have much margin, and Dan
Campbell's a guy that it's I don't want to say
taking shit because I know Colin's hard on him about
the offensive coordinator situation. You know, you got to have
a more exhaustive search when you're replacing a guy like

(09:15):
Ben Johnson, you know, hiring Johnny Morton, who clearly was
a failure. Dan Campbell's already taking the play calling back.
I like Dave Shaw a lot. Every time I've ever
dealt with him or been around him, he was always
awesome to me. His success at Stanford spoke for itself.
But when I think David Shaw, he's not really an
innovator on offense. He really was kind of a carbon

(09:39):
copy of Jim Harbaugh, which I expected, old school between
the tackles. They kind of tried to spread it out.
At the end of a Stanford ten year, I think
they brought a guy from like wake Forest in to
run the offense. At the time, wake Forest was like
running and gunning and scoring a bunch of points. It
did not work like David Shaw's background school two tight ends,

(10:01):
two running backs, like going back to like the nineties.
He was John Gruden guy, And you know, Dan Campbell
just had to take it into his own hands and
called a really really good game tonight. And I think
Lions fans have DM me this like one thing that
changed once he took it away from Johnny Morton was
the explosion of James and Williams. And to me, like,

(10:25):
you can't teach speed. I mean him and Jamior Gibbs.
I mean the speed in which they play is just
at a different level, right, I mean compare that to
George Pickens, Like, George, you running, GEORGEE are you going
full speed? Mike Tom was like, I told you, I
told you, guys, this is the this is the George Pickens.
George is like, I'm just chilling. I'm just chilling. Meanwhile,

(10:47):
CD's over there is elbow's pointing this way. He's got
a concussion, He's got one hundred and fifty yards. He's like, George,
come on, man. Even the play where Dak threw the slant,
I think Dan Campbell manifested the interception to start the
second half because they come out and I've actually kind
of enjoy that I get the NFL credit on this one.

(11:09):
They created that rule this year that both coaches want
us to talk at the end of the half and
want us to talk at the beginning of the second half,
you gotta just get a little star power of the
two coaches, and Dan Campbell's like, we just got to
get a turnover right here, get the ball back and
start running. First play Dak slant, George kind of I

(11:29):
don't know, doesn't stick his arm out, and you know,
you could say the dB made a play, but then
you see Dak like George, you have to attack the
ball type stuff you learn in like high level high
school football, and it just kind of felt that, you know,
George going through the motions. I feel like Dak's playing
his ass off. The six round pick was playing his
ass off, Javonte's playing their ass off. They're really trying. Meanwhile,

(11:51):
every one of the Lions is just playing their balls
off and listen. Defensively, like I said, this team has
no chance to go far in the playoffs, just like
last year. They just do not have a defense. And
if you don't have a defense, you got no shot.
I think pat Riley's old thing like you can't rebound,
no rebounds, no rins. It's like no defensive stops, you

(12:12):
can't cover anybody. It's not gonna work out. But offensively,
when they get on, they can hang with you just
because they can score points. Clearly, they're built for a
dome where their team speed can really show. And listen,
you got you gotta give Dan Campbell credit. He had
the glasses on. He's calling the plays and he was
dialing up pretty well, and he was exposing their lack

(12:32):
of team speed in the middle of the field with
the linebacker play running those little like option or choice
routes with Jamiir Gibbs who was just flying and hitting
James and Williams over the middle of the field and
just letting them scoot. And I thought the Lions today
that that was a gut check win. They might have
limitations on their ceiling this year. They obviously some stuff's

(12:56):
out of their control. I think where they're sitting today,
they got to root for a couple of things here.
I think if you're them, you would either want, you
either need the Bears or the Packers to win both
these next two games over the next thirteen days. And
I think in a perfect world, the way it shapes up,

(13:18):
I think you're rooting for Green Bay to sweep the Bears,
and then the Niners to beat the Bears, and then
you play the Bears at the end of the season. Now,
I don't know how realistic that is. You know, it's
hard to bet against the Bears. The way the season
is going. It feels like they're like a team of
destiny right now. But I think that's what you would
be rooting for if you're the Lions. But still like
you got some catching up to do. The forty nine ers.

(13:39):
Next game off the buys the Titans. They'll have ten wins,
So you know, you still got a scratching claw when
your defense is this limited because of the injuries. It's
kind of starting to hit me. We don't really talk
about Detroit's field, but like MetLife gets crushed because you
know the turf and I do wonder is there something

(14:01):
with the Lions turf? Do they have a cheap turf?
The amount of it, and it feels like it's more
Lions than the other team. Obviously brands at the end
of the game, but there were three or four other guys.
Even when guys get up, He's like, what's going on?
How do these How do the Lions lose to It
feels like the Niners early in the season. It's like
that they lose three or four guys a game. Somehow

(14:23):
CD comes down. Honestly, I thought he had dislocated his
elbow and maybe it was just the way his body
dexterity works, but it looked to me like he popped
in his elbow. I'm like, oh my god, And it
actually wasn't. He was completely fine. It turned out he
had a concussion, But that was the play. If that,
If CD would have been a Lion, his shoulder and

(14:44):
his elbow would have been dislocated. He would have been
out for the season. So props the Lions. Props for
Dan Campbell, Kelvin Shephard is playing. And this is where
Aaron Glenn got a lot of credit. And you know,
defense is a lot about it. Ef you think about
like basic basketball, like the defense. Obviously, to be a

(15:05):
great player like Miles Garrett or Ray Lewis or whoever,
there's a level of talent and that you have to possess.
But there are a lot of guys in the NFL
who do not possess pro bowl upside, that just play
their balls off, that are smart, that are willing tacklers,
that just play with their hair on fire. And that's

(15:25):
I thought the Lions couldn't have played any harder, you say,
Jonas the NFL, there are a lot of teams that
kind of go through the motions, and this is a
team that showed a lot of pride to night. I respect.
I've been saying this for a while, the hell out
of Dan Campbell and what he's done to resurrect this
franchise that, let's face it, was a complete joke. Today's

(15:50):
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(17:15):
New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. On the flip side, like
it felt like the game was a little off from
the beginning for the Cowboys, it was like something was
just off and you know, CD was dominating the game
and they were still is like twenty to nine. You're like, ah,

(17:37):
this is just this is not the type game Dallas
wants to be and usually set a field goals, they're
scoring touchdowns. The weapon they have of Brandon Audrey or robbery,
he's hitting fifty seven yards, hitting sixty three yarders. I mean,
you talk about a weapon. But then when CD goes
out and it really puts the magnifying glass on George
Pickens because everything. Listen, I don't care what you're in

(18:01):
a relationship, a company, a football team. When things are
going well, right, when you're in the honeymoon phase, when
the company's printing cash, when the football team is winning,
everyone's got smiles on their face. You know, historically there's
been like two miserable sobs when you win. Bill Belichick,
Nick Saban. They've always said anyone that's ever worked for

(18:24):
Nick Saban, they're like, you know, when he's at his
best is when we lose. He's the happiest. When we win,
everyone's on pins and needles. Yeah, the Cowboys like their owner,
and we're all guilty of this. We're like, damn Dallas,
Dallas is homing. I listen. They were They're fun to
watch beat the Chiefs, come back against the Eagles, destroy
the Raiders, and Chip Kelly's career. It's like this team

(18:46):
is just kind of bad. Ass right now, they're scoring
on left and right. Brian Schottenheimer's is being asked about
his number one offense. He's got all these new pieces
on defense that they're a fun team. And then a
night you're like this kind of feels like a little
earlier in the season now, and then when the magnifying
glass went on, George, I don't pretend to be a
wide receiver coach, been around a few good ones in

(19:07):
my day. One of the positions that I most of
us that grow up on Madden you kind of focus on.
You know, you live long enough, you get you know
what the good ones look like. And there's no disputing
George's physical gifts and his talent. But there was a
little lazy, fair effort tonight and some of those routes
you could tell Dak was like, problem is he couldn't

(19:28):
totally lay into him because he needed him, and it
just felt like his head that was the guy the
Steelers traded. Now, listen, you play seventeen games, you're gonna
have some bad games. He has been remarkable this season,
so I'm not trying to act like he's some scrub
or whatever. But tonight, when they really needed him, didn't
feel like he was there mentally. I mean, he had

(19:49):
five catches for thirty seven yards. I feel like I
don't even remember two of them. He had the one
nice one at the goal line which he fumbled. Don't
totally blame him. He was trying to make a play,
but there were just some of these the routes where
it looked like he's not even trying. Now, maybe in
his mind he's the third or fourth option. I don't know,
but it was that was a night that you feel

(20:10):
better if you're a Pittsburgh Steeler fan, or Pittsburgh Steeler
front office member, Mike Tomlin, or anyone in that crew,
because that was the guy that they traded and felt
good about trading. That was not the guy who before
this game had more yards and was more productive than
the entire Steelers wide receiver room. And this also brings
into question down the stretch of this season. Now the Dallas,

(20:32):
I mean, if the Eagles will dive into them in
a second, but it's gonna be a lot harder for
the Cowboys to win the division now that they would
need the Eagles to seriously implode. You're judging this guy
on Okay, it's been good, but now it's like the
final stretch. Are you still playing your balls off? Or
have we arrived right? Because the going rate for wide

(20:53):
receivers is not cheap. I mean, the forty nine ers
made a catastrophic mistake in brandon AYUK. Now they got
very lucky that somehow they got twenty five million dollars back.
Still not quite sure how that happened. But wide receiver
mistakes are not tight ends or linebackers. They are extremely expensive.

(21:13):
Average guys want twenty five million dollars a year, so
you know, and Jerry his negotiation tactics, you know, when
he likes you, he ends up paying you. Someone would
say over paying you. And I think this is just
a situation to monitor. It was always gonna be interesting,
like if George had some incredible like his pace never stopped,

(21:35):
Like were they really about to give him like eighty
ninety million dollars guaranteed? Who knows? I mean, nothing is
out of the realm possibility when it comes to Jerry
and it comes to the Cowboys. But I think you
have nights like tonight where you go we gotta keep
letting this play out. Obviously not just probably gonna let
him walk. But it's it's it's a more complicated situation

(21:57):
than when he's playing the Raiders going for one hundred
and fifty and he can make these plays, and he
did it the other night against on Thanksgiving, fifty seven
million people watched. He's catching slants. He got four slants
for like eighty yards. Slant is like a seven yard route.
So there's no one disputes his ability, his upside, his

(22:19):
playmaking capabilities. But then tonight it's like, this is a business,
and I do like investing in Saint Brown's that. Yeah,
not the physically most gifted guy in the league, not
the tallest, not the fastest, but you know what, that
motherfucker will do go to war for me. Not when
times are great and we're headed to the number one seed.

(22:40):
How about when we're seven and five in our seasons
on the line and his ankle looks like a grapefruit.
You think he's gonna go above and beyond to ice it,
to rehabit, to stem cell it, to do whatever it
takes to put himself in position to maybe be eighty
percent to play a game. And the answer is, hell, yeah,

(23:01):
I'm watching George. It's like, hey, George Arstie is kind
of on the line too. I don't know if you
saw the ticker today, but Jalen Carter Is had surgery
and I had to read this try on both shoulders injections. Again,
not a doctor did enough Twitter research to know that, Yeah,
you missed a couple of weeks. He's definitely out Monday.
It's like all of a sudden the Eagles. I mean,

(23:24):
I don't know where on the hierarchy of players, but
he sure is held near the top and in terms
of like most unblockable and unstoppable when he's on, he's
probably number one for the Philadelphia Eagles. Pretty big blow.
Now that wasn't news for them today. I think it
happened a couple of days ago. It broke to us civilians,
the public. But it's like I had a lot of

(23:46):
respect for the way most of the guys on Dallas,
Like I thought Dallas' effort was high, Like they were
left tackle. Who's a backup? Was happening a rough night.
He's a backup. They got some good pass rushers, Ay
Nutson like a super pass rusher. He's not gonna be
able to block them. I mean, Dak was getting punished tonight.
How many times was he sacked tonight? Five for fifty?

(24:07):
If I had to guess, I'd didn't see the final
numbers hit seventeen eighteen times. I mean, he was getting peppered.
And that's the thing. That's the thing in football. It's
like you're getting these big games, and tonight was a
massive game because this wasn't your typical Thursday night game.
They're both on normal rest because they played last Thursday.
Both these two teams. Now you know, the Cowboys have

(24:30):
this playoff life and the Lions have this holding on
to a thread of what has been a consistent playoff team.
And all of a sudden they meet tonight and I thought,
like ninety nine percent of the guys are just playing
their hair with their hair on fire and their balls off.
Some guys are better than others, so it looks better.
But the defining moment of Saint Brown and then the

(24:52):
kind of lackadaisical nature of George Pickens was on full display.
And this this is a business, and it's a There
was no salary cap. Jerry could pay whoever, it wouldn't matter,
but there is. And you got to invest in the
right people and when you invest in the right people,
you know, when the tough times hit, those are the
type guys that come through. That's why the Chiefs have

(25:13):
had so much success because they're guys mentally and physically.
Obviously they're talented, but they're mentally and physically so tough. Right,
all those Patriot teams help. They didn't even have like
the best players. How many Hall of Famers did they
have in the second iteration of the Dynasty from twenty
twelve to nineteen Tom and Gronk that was kind of it.

(25:37):
But they had a ton of guys who were tough
at shit, smartest shit, and when it came to the game,
you're gonna have to, you know, take their helmet and
their shoulder pads away. If they were fifty percent they
were on the field. And the Lions got a lot
of guys like that, and they deserve a lot of credit.
And listen, the Cowboys do too. I mean, Javonte Williams,
guys resurrected his career. He was guy runs that guy

(26:01):
runs hard. I have a lot of respect for I
think a lot of people, you know, definitely in the
NFL circles, UH fans, fantasy people, kind of wrote his
career off and he's he's had a good season. But
you know, I think some of their defensive awards showed
up to Night. Now, in fairness, how many teams have

(26:21):
guys that can run with with Gibbs and uh and
Jamis and Williams. And the answer is not many, right,
I mean, I don't know, Deon Sanders and ned Reied
aren't walking through that door, Like, what are you gonna
do when those guys are humming and you're not getting
I mean, the one way to slow down the Lions?
And this is what the Cowboys had been doing pretty good. Now,

(26:42):
Clowney was an active to Night. Was hit Jared Goff
Hitcher a couple times early in that game. They did,
and and it kind of derailed them a little bit.
I know, there was the one controversial moment about the
sack uh safety. They said the ball was out. It was,
it was iffy, it was. There were some shitty calls.
I've got to the point where it's like I have

(27:05):
such little respect, not for them as humans. I mean,
I'm sure there are a lot of good a lot
of good men, but God, most of these guys feel
really bad at their jobs and we got the technology,
how are we? I mean the PI on Ferguson At
the end there was the double the past interference on Pickens.
They would have put him at the one yard line,
but they called it like a double penalty. There was
also like a defensive holding or an offensive holding. It's

(27:29):
like what it was, hands to the face on Ferguson
or something. It's like, what what's going on here? And
this is the That's the one thing with the NFL.
They don't care. I mean they're laughing all the way
to the bank. They do not care. I see these clips.
I saw My hometown, Sacramento was not I grew up
in Davis, but right across the Couseway there was a

(27:49):
fan thrown out the other day for screaming at Zach
Levine for saying he paid money to sit in the
front row and he was disgusted watching him play, how
little he cared, how little effort he put on defense.
And the fan got thrown out, And I was thinking,
I don't think you guys realize how little the NBA
cares about you sitting wherever. They will throw anyone out.

(28:13):
They care about the television deals. That's where they make
their money. They don't give a shit about you. The NFL.
You could complain all the way, all night, all day.
Roger Goodell ain't losing an ounce asleep probably you know,
getting ready to go teet off at Augusta. They're probably
close for the winner, but he does not care. So
the officials. I'm not gonna get too caught up because

(28:36):
in most of these big games are just atrocious and
I don't really know what we can do. Like I said,
I think one of the big winners to night as
well as the Lions, had to be Philly because if
Dallas wins this game with Jalen being out, the pressure
on them come Monday night would have been a mens Now,
even if they lose, they still got a little breathing room.

(28:57):
It felt like when that came across, and I learned
to day when I was recording with Stucky, He's like,
Jalen Carter's out. I'm like Jalen Carter, Jalen Who It's like, yeah, shoulders,
like what I mean, that's that's a pretty big blow.
It's also just something to monitor, you know. Anytime a
guy first gets injured, sometimes it's Saint Brown. He's back
the next week. And sometimes we just don't see him

(29:20):
for like a month, so you just never know. That's
that's really concerning, and that's that's a problem, but it
is what it is. And now Philly, I mean, if
they win on Monday night against the Chargers, when you
look at their schedule, you'd be like, Okay, if they
can win that game on the road three thousand miles away,
they would feel I don't want to say a lock

(29:40):
lock because you just never know. Their things get weird fast,
but they would be in the complete driver's seat with
nine wins and the Cowboys only having six. Okay, a
couple of quick fugazist, we got a lot going on, okay,
really quick. On Big Ben. I saw he's got a podcast,

(30:02):
and I think he does in his basement, which looks enormous,
looks pretty bad Ass's probably got a big pad in Pittsburgh.
You know, there are some comments James Harrison said that
Tomlin's good, not great, big beds basically like he should
go coach Penn State. It's like, guys, I mean, I
don't know what your personal relationships are with the guy,

(30:23):
but both of you had a lot of successful with him.
It felt like kind of backhanded jabs at the guy,
but specifically the Penn State thing. I used to think,
like four years ago when they ended up hiring Lincoln Riley,
Mike Tomlin, if he had any interest, USC would be
a would be like an incredible spot for him, right

(30:43):
bright lights, big city. They paid Lincoln one hundred and
twenty million dollars. They would blow you away with cash.
You could live on the water. If he wanted to
do that, I think like he would. They were going
to the Big ten, he could dominate recruiting and it
would just be like a glamorous job. And he was
pissed off. I remember his I watched his press conference

(31:04):
when he was asked about it felt like he wanted
to take the microphone and throw it at the report.
He was offended, and I don't blame him. It's like, hey, motherfuckers,
I go to the playoffs every year in the National
Football League. You think I want to go to USC?
At the time was a complete embarrassment and coach college football?
Are you guys crazy? But I always said, like, hey,
it's USC unlimited money. Tomlin's kind of Hollywood. It would

(31:25):
work right now. I get it. If I was seeing him
I wouldn't want to go to the college either, but
bed going to Penn State. Like, hey Ben, you think
Mike Tomlin's gonna move to state college? Mike Tomlin? I mean,
there are multiple jobs open right now, the Tennessee Titans
of the New York Giants. If Mike Tomlin was quote
unquote available or was just on the street, he would

(31:45):
have been hired like three weeks ago by both. He
is going to be if he's available, the number one
candidate by a mile in this cycle, which I got
news for you ain't a great cycle. Google some of
the names, right, So it's a lot of Robert Solace,
who I like a lot as my defensive coordinator. I
think just immediately make him a head coach feels a

(32:06):
little risky to me. And I just think this notion
Big Ben's saying he should go coach Penn State. Say,
hey Ben, the Tennessee freaking Titans are a complete embarrassment.
They don't have a coach. You think Mike Tomlin, if
he's no longer wanted in Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Titans
wouldn't taken him, let alone the New York Giants. What

(32:26):
are we talking about now. I do think Penn State.
It also reflects one thing I think you've got to
be careful in life, is I see people getting very offended.
Like Jimmy Sexton runs college football. He's got too much power. No,
he just has all the power, because it shows you
how inept a lot of these different schools are at

(32:48):
understanding the business of football. He has the leverage because
he knows what he's doing. Clearly, a lot of these
athletic directors, most of them are kind of embarrassments. I
mean really, they're not like I think this notion. I'm
not saying all of them. They are clearly some high
level guys. There are also a lot of complete jokes.

(33:09):
No different, there are a lot of people in sports,
and maybe it's like this in other industries where it's like, oh,
just because this guy has a position. I mean, I've
heard stories about conference commissioners, athletic directors, how even successful
college head coaches. You'd be like, yeah, if you actually
knew how little he actually did and the people behind,
but he gets all the credits the way world kind

(33:30):
of works. But when you fire a guy, and there
have been a lot of rumors that Penn State really
pissed off Jimmy Sexton because the way they fired James Franklin.
And I don't know if you've checked lately, but they
don't have a football coach and they try to get
the BYU guy. Turns out the Crumble cookie, I mean
Crumble cookie is basically, you know, diabetes in a three

(33:52):
inch by three inch cookie. Google what's in those things?
Don't get me wrong, Fat guy at heart eating my
fair share of Crumble cookies after I saw this instant like,
I don't think I'm ever eating a Crumble cookie again.
Not great for you. That being said, they're like seventy
five dollars a cookie and the CEO of Crumble Cookie
printing money. Big BYU guy, and so he made sure
that they didn't steal his coach. And I thought, like,

(34:14):
well if Kline Sataki, who I'm pretty sure is LDS
Mormon guy, Like, I don't know why he would go
to Penn State stay at BUYU when they have an
unlimited amount of money, you know, potentially the number one
pick in the NBA draft. Do you know that he
didn't go to Kansas, Kentucky or Duke. He went to BUYU? Why?
Because they made him seven million dollars. Like money ain't

(34:36):
a big deal in the church. They got a lot
of coin. And you know Penn State, you piss off
the wrong person, right. One thing I learned early. Anyone
knows this. If they're in sales, who you know who's
the gatekeeper to the guy you want to talk to
or the lady you want to talk to. If it's
the assistant, you got to go through her. You better
figure out a way to create a relationship with that

(34:58):
assistant because that's the only way you're getting past that
gate to get to the person who's gonna have the
decision making power on what you want to sell them.
And I just think Jimmy Sexton is the gatekeeper. And
if you ain't playing the game. I remember when I
worked for the Eagles. One thing, Howie and I saw
this back then, and it's clearly been true for the
last decade plus. He's great with agents, especially the ones

(35:21):
that matter. Why they hold a lot of the cards.
You need to deal with them. Historically, GM's big fucking agents. Well,
it's like do you want the player or not? Because
if you think like the player's making the decision, it's
not the way it works. How Micah Parks has just
told you that guy just got one hundred and eighty
eight million dollars, Doctor Dave, I'm not dealing. That's the

(35:42):
way it works. So if you don't realize who's in power,
that's on you. And I don't fault them if they
wanted to fire James Franklin, but clearly it happened in
an emotional state and it looks to have backfired on
them because I don't know if you'd notice put Jimmy

(36:02):
Sexon placing guy over here, guy over there, guy over here,
guy over there. He in full control. And that's just
the way it is. That's the rules of engagement right now.
So if you're gonna play and everyone tries and I
know nothing about this guy beside what people write about
him in the Athletic or talked about him when he
fired James Franklin, or that he worked with Matt Ruled

(36:22):
in this eight packcraft. But you can't be that good
at your job if you find yourself in a position
like this at some quote unquote glamorous program. Mike Tomlin
would quit before he went and coached Penn State. I
do believe that another all time potential Fugasci again allegedly.
There have been rumors floating out there, and listen, there

(36:43):
are a lot of rumors and this is how you
know if you're deep in the SEC Twitter accounts, message boards.
A lot going on between Old Miss and LSU, A
lot of stories floating around out there, which makes me
love it that there is nothing like SEC football, I
mean really nothing. It just it warms my heart. And
there is a rumor that Juice Kiffen, who was allegedly

(37:08):
Lane's dog, is not actually his dog doesn't actually live
with Lane. Kiffen lives with a handler, and a lot
of people think that he's not going to take it
to LSU. And I do think if you are going
to promote like listen, Kirkhurbstreet, I think pisses some people
off at least based on the comments you'll see on
Twitter or social media. Taking his dog everywhere now, personally,

(37:31):
my wife loves it. She always says, what time is
college game Day on? I want to see Peter. But
the one thing, you know, whether you like that the
dog's able to travel with them to the Amazon Prime
games in college game Day and the game he's calling
that night, or you don't that is his freaking dog.
And listen, as any dog owner knows one, I like

(37:52):
dogs more than ninety nine percent of society, right. And
once you get a dog, whether you purchase or adopt,
or however you get the dog from a young age
or even like me who's comes into a dog's life
after she had had it forever, there is a love
in a bond there that's pretty special. Even going back
to the COVID Draft when we met Nike Belichick's dog.

(38:13):
You know what, no one's ever argued that that's Belichick's
fake dog, that he just used a fucker. No, that's
his dog. He lets out in the morning before he
goes to work, he comes home, he lets out at night.
He feeds it. Like, take some responsibility. Haven't a child yet,
but part of having a dog is a responsibility that
comes along with it. There are a lot of football
coaches that have dogs part of it too, Like you're
gonna be the family man. Well, sometimes guess what with

(38:36):
a dog? Your family chips in, Well, hey I can't
walk today, can you give it a walk? Can you
feed it? It's like, what do we got going on?
Because I haven't had a big issue with lame going
to LSU. The way he handled it, it was never
gonna be clean. It was actually, from my standpoint, pretty
and entertaining. But if you have a fake dog all
for social media and a Twitter account and just I'm

(39:01):
gonna judge you as kind of a d bag, I
really am. If it truly comes out and this story
is still you know, percolat, and we'll see how it
all ends up. If the dog's in his office at
LSU and starts staying at his house, I'll give him
a little bit of a pass. But as of right now,
the dog living with the handler, and you can't be like, well,
I'm a football coach, don't have much time. You're family,
those of you. Now, your son's in high school right,

(39:23):
your ex wife she living with you, what's going on there?
I just think that's got to be an all time fugazi.
You faked owning a dog for the pr and the publicity.
That's the first time that I will support the old
miss crowd of Come on, bro, that's that's pretty low.
And yeah, other than that, like like I said, I

(39:44):
right before I hit Polay today, I just heard this
crazy noise coming from pipes under my house, and I
told you about that water spill that I have the
other day out of my front yard. And for those
of you that don't, you know, own a house and
are renting some where, and sometimes you think, like I
want to own something. The power of being able to
call someone to help you. And I had to call

(40:06):
my my landscaper, Francisco, who's a badass. Since I moved
to this house, I've had about four different landscapers. My
buddy Jeff Fong, who I played golf with, Big Arkansas
guy can't be happy with the new coach, but he's
in the cal Pari so he's probably doing okay. Actually
a cowboy fan too, love loved me some. Jeffong hooked
me up with this guy, Francisco, and he's been a badass.
I call him. I sat Francisco, we got this, we

(40:27):
got this big leak. I told you guys about that.
And he comes out and I was like, okay, man,
just knock on my door or whatever if you find
out what's going on. I don't even know what to say.
And then all of a sudden, I hear in my
backyard he's like a meig oh, a meig oh, and
he's he's smiling. He's with I think one of his guys,
and they're both laughing. And I come out there. And

(40:48):
part of the reason I bought this house because we
kind of remodeled it. But he had already done a
big ass remodel. So he had like wiped out walls,
opened it up, put these big doors in the back
that can open up to the backyard. He had kind
of done part of the backyard, so he had done
a lot of leg work that made like if you
could just kind of do some cosmetic upgrades. He had

(41:09):
taken care of a lot of stuff. But the way
he remodeled the backyard is the is like the slope
of it kind of comes into the house, which is
not what you're supposed to do. But it doesn't rain
that much in Arizona, so it's not that big a deal.
And there's like sets of drains every like I don't know,
five feet, and so when it rains, if the water

(41:30):
comes to the house, it all drains in there and
comes out the front of the house. Well, I had
this guy, you know, I built this office in the backyard,
and I think they needed some water and they were
using the hose for dry wall or something, and this
crazy rainstorm came, so I think they were doing something
with the hose and they like took off, you know,
to find cover. It was like it was like a tornado,

(41:53):
and I guess they just forgot about it. So for
two days it was just my hose. And so Francisco
shows me the hoe is just onto the drain and
it's just coming out the front yard. I even had
like this h o. A security guard come by and
put like a put a flag. He's like, you got
to take care of this. I'm like, I don't know
what's going on, and it turned in fairness, I didn't

(42:13):
do it. So it's like, why would I even look
at the hose. But when he showed me that it
was just the hose on in the drain going out
to the front yard and looking like, yeah, it was
pretty embarrassing. So you know, sometimes just do a primeter
check and you'll figure out this not actually a major problem. Okay,

(42:46):
back at it again after a crazy, crazy holiday week
where we missed him. We were busy, we had a
lot of stuff going on. But he's back and he's
gonna help me because I'm not quite as deaf fully
not even close to as sick as him. Like I
just we're gonna dive into some college football because this
weekend might might we might be coming down the home

(43:08):
stretch of these conference championship games, but we do have
them this week and there's some big implications. And there
are a couple of games that have teams that are
gonna make it that I know nothing about besides that
their coaches are clearly pretty good because they just got
big jobs. But back here with Stucky, all of our
lines here are presented by our friends at hard Rock Bet,
and uh, you know, Stucky out, I'm looking at a game,

(43:30):
and I know you know a lot about these teams.
And I only know a lot about Tulane because I've
been hearing about their coach forever. I only know about
North Texas. Now. These two teams have been good, especially Tulane.
Now this is their second coach that they have just put.
Didn't Willie Fritz was their coach who went to Houston
and now Summer All who by all accounts is pretty legit.
I know, you know, Florida is a little hesitant to

(43:52):
their fan base because they're saying it's Billy Napier two
point zero. This to me feels a little different. I mean,
this guy, I don't know, I'm buying stocking this guy again,
just based on a couple of press conferences and texting around.
And it did also feel like he could have taken
three different SEC jobs if you wanted Arkansas, definitely Auburn
in Florida. Now both these guys North Texas coach went

(44:13):
to Oklahoma State, right and the winner of this game
is in So these guys have been you know, I
don't want to say he's dipping their toes in not
his focus, but like they've had press conference, they've been
flying around though Oklahoma State hired him what a couple
of weeks ago, So it's a little different than this
Summer All was was he introduced on Monday.

Speaker 1 (44:32):
Yeah, he had to do a presser like Morris hasn't
done any of that. I would have liked summer summers
went to Kentucky, used to coach at Kentucky's. It was
a ga was an i'mbacker coach co DC. I don't know,
six seven years ago, I would have liked Kentucky to
get them. So I'm a believer in Summer All as well.

(44:52):
I think it was a good hire that was like
who I wanted the Kentucky Kentucky to get after the inevitable.
That's what I've been saying for like the past couple
of years after the inevitable Stoops departure. But yeah, so
I'll the funny thing is, I'll try to give you a,
you know, a high level view of how this is,

(45:15):
how this all all these games playing to the College
Wawall Playoff because it is pretty interesting. I think inevitably
it's gonna end end up leading to a expanded College
Wall Playoff with sixteen teams. But that's a discussion for
another day. One interesting nugget is the quarterbacks for Tulane
in North Texas last year are the starting quarterbacks in

(45:37):
the ACC Championship game. Mensa came from Tulane and Morris
came from North Texas. North Texas their quarterback. Now is
this kid Drew Meskamaker, who didn't start a single varsity
game in high school, walked on at North Texas and
leads the nation and passing yards. The North Texas offense
is electric. I mean, this team can put up fifty

(45:58):
on anybody.

Speaker 2 (45:59):
And was like Cade club. Nick the guy starting over
I mean, how does he now start a game? Was
he at a powerhouse program? How's that even possible?

Speaker 1 (46:08):
I'm trying to think, who's trying to put you on.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
The spot here. I just think that's insane and not
what you would have to be if you're a college
level quarterback to be on a team with a blue
chip quarterback or like the coach's son. I'm Matt Castle
of high school football.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
No, it was this guy. I think it was Deuce
Adams did not. It wasn't anyone who's who's like turned
out to anything. But he didn't start. He had a
walk on at North Texas so but he leads the
nation in passing yards and North Texas also has an
electric I mean their offense. He watched their offense. It
is Morris is considered like a quarterback whisper offense, a guru.

(46:46):
But Kavib Hawkins, their freshman running back, is also a stud.
So they're really well balanced. Their defense, you can run
on them a bit, but they hired a defensive coordinator
from sam Houston State last year, brought him in with
a lot of the Sam Houston players, and Sam Houston's
defense lat year was really good defense, like predicated on
this position lists. They kind of want to force turnovers

(47:08):
and they're pretty good against the past. But their defense
is much improved because in recent seasons, the North Texas
offense has been electric, but their defense been really bad.
Now their defense is much more respectable. Tulane's quarterback is
Jake Retz laugh got kicked out of BYU and then
came over to tu Lane. North Texas is the better team,
but this is on the road. Tulane gets to host
this game. The winner of that game will be in

(47:32):
the College Football Playoff the top the five highest rated
conference championship. Conference champions get automatic bids. So you know,
you have your sec you have your Big twelve, you
have your Big ten, and then you're gonna have you're
You're gonna have the winner of the American between North

(47:53):
Texas and Tulane. And then if Virginia beats Duke and
Duke's i mean five losses on the season, but if
Virginia beats Duke, They're in. They're the ACC champ. Duke's
defense has been horrendous, I mean, the drop off from
last year this year has been stunning. Their defense can't
stop anybody. I mean they won last week. They won
a crazy tiebreaker. It really should be Miami here. But

(48:16):
if Virginia wins, they're in. If Duke wins, I don't
know if they're necessarily in. They have five losses. They
lost to tu Lane, they lost to Yukon, so it
has not been a great season for due.

Speaker 2 (48:30):
They should not be in win agree now, But.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
Could I see the committee saying, all right, well, now,
they got to win over a ranked Virginia team. Their
schedule was harder than JMU because JMU is the other team.
If Duke wins, many presume that JMU. Assuming JMU beats Troy,
that JMU would then go in and JMU is a

(48:53):
twenty three point favorite. I actually bet JMU against Troy.
It's a really good matchup. Troy cannot run the ball,
they're pass protection. They lost both their tackles earlier in
the season. They have two freshman tackles jam you can
really get after the quarterback. Troy's not a very good team,
and this is at home. JMU knows they need to
run it up, and they have run it up a
number of times this year. They've I think they have

(49:14):
five league wins by more than twenty five points on
the season, they're going to keep their foot on the gas.
So I did bet JMU. But it's a fascinating discussion
between JMU and if Duke wins. Now. The other fascinating
part of this entire weekend is let's say BYU. You know,

(49:39):
I if BYU loses, they're out, and then all of
a sudden, you have Notre ed Aime and Miami right
next to each other on in the rankings line.

Speaker 2 (49:55):
So do they.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
Would they then say, oh, well, the head to head
now matters and put Miami in. Another interesting angle is
they might also like because there's politics involve in this,
they might also do that because say Duke wins, and
they might say to the ACC, okay, you don't have
a team then, so we'll put Miami in discussions on

(50:22):
the back end, and then Notre Dame gets bumped out.
I think Notre Dame is one of the best five
teams in the country, but if they lost to Miami,
they don't have great wins on the resume. They're not
going to play this weekend.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
If they had two spots, they would just put those
two teams in. But more likely it's just gonna be
the one spot, So they're kind.

Speaker 1 (50:39):
Of yes or but if you BYU wins, they might
bump them both. Now that might be what the committee
is rooting for. I think that would be bad for Like,
I think Miami is a top ten team overall, I
think Notre Dame is a top five team. I think
the actual bracket in the playoff will be better off
if both those teams are in it instead of you know,

(50:59):
two group of five teams. But it is what it is.
If you're a Notre Dame fan, you're rooting for I
think you're rooting for. You want to also want to
root for Boise State because it's a small it's a
small point, but the Notre name did beat Boise earlier

(51:20):
this year. Boise State now is hosting the Mountain West
championship game against UNLV. That was a four way tiewerker
that came down the computers. But Boise State's getting its quarterback,
Mattocks Mattson back this week, so that's another It could
be like a feather in the cap of Notre Dame saying,
how hey, one of our wins also is against the
Mountain West champion. Now the Mountain West is way down

(51:41):
this year. They have no chance of getting in the
college wallcloff, but fascinating storylines across the board, and then
you have some rematches in some really good games. Texas Tech.
Byu mentioned that Texas texts twelve and a half thirteen
point favorite. I don't know if BYU can move the
ball on Texas Techno the grant. The first meeting was
in wind outdoors in Lubbock. This will be indoors and

(52:03):
Jerry World. But you just can't run on Texas Tech.
And nobody can run on Texas Tech. Their defensive line
is like top of the SEC caliber with what they
did out in the portal. Their linebackers are really good
and I'm not sure b why you can block them.
So we'll see. I mean, they could not. They could
barely move the ball in the first meeting. Georgia Alabama

(52:26):
rematch should be fascinating. Georgia arguably should have won that
first game. Alabama has some key injuries. Georgia lost at
center last week and for some reason they couldn't score
on Georgia Tech. Maybe Drew Bobo their center is that important,
but their run game created without them. But they should
have won that first game, and they average almost seven
yards per play and they dropped the bomb that would
have won the game. They had the ball fourth and won.

(52:47):
Alabama didn't score in the second half of that game.
This game is pretty if everything goes according to and look,
Kirby's been owned by Alabama. I mean he's one in seven. Again,
it's Alabama. If everything goes according to how these matchups
have gone and how every Georgia and most Alabama games go,
this game is pretty easy to predict. Alabama gets out,

(53:11):
jumps out to a lead. They're really good in the
first quarters under the bor, they usually have a really
good script. We've seen them jump out against Georgia number
of times. Georgia also falls behind whenever they play a
competent opponent, and then they come back because Kirby smart
is the best in game adjuster in college football. So

(53:32):
what makes the most sense here is Alabama gets out
to the lead and then I'll be looking to bet
Georgia live. And then you have Ohio State Indiana, two
undefeateds playing in Indianapolis. I think that's gonna be very
pro heavy Indian Indiana crowd. Obviously, the location, Ohio State
fans probably don't want to travel this I mean that
they're out for national champions and national championships. They probably

(53:53):
want to book tickets to a college football playoff game.
This game means a lot more to Indiana, so I
could seed taking taking the points with Indiana. I'm not
sure like Ohio State needs to or wants to show
everything here. Indiana probably does, like, hey, how would Ryan
day at this point?

Speaker 2 (54:10):
And once you got the Michigan thing off his back,
this game really doesn't mean much.

Speaker 1 (54:13):
Yeah, maybe a little bit of an emotional letdown too
after that Michigan game there. They've been load managing all year.
They have the slowest they're the slowest paced team in
college football there. They've basically played two fewer games than
most teams if you look at the snaps that they've played.
They've been load managing for the college fotball playoff all seasons.
It's really smart and I think it's eventually going to

(54:35):
pay off. So I could see taking the points there
that Indiana just on the intangibles. I think the line
is about right, But I think the loser that game
will still get a buye. The winner will get the
one seed, and I don't think it's that big of
a difference. Depending on how everything breaks, the one seed
could end up being worse than the two. The three seed,

(54:56):
as of right now, would be the one that you
want because you would play the winner of Ole Miss
without coach and one of the Group of five champions.
So most likely all missed about a coach that's a
lot better than potentially Notre Dame or Alabama. So it's
not a big difference between the one, two or three.
If Ohio State loses and doesn't get the one, I mean,

(55:17):
they're gonna try and want to win, but it's not
the end of the world if they don't get the
one seed. But yeah, some really really really good games.
The other game, the MAC Championship, I kind of like
the under a bit there, and then you got the
Conference USA on Friday night Kenna Saul Jacksonville State, another
rematch from earlier in the season, So it should be

(55:39):
a fun weekend, I think. So, just a lot of
committee storylines and how everything's gonna break. Notre Dame fans
are gonna be tuned in, Miami fans, and I think
what this is all going to eventually lead to is
an expanded playoff, and then probably I don't know, if
the conference championship weekend will look like it does in

(56:01):
the future and what it currently looks like in the future,
like there's gonna be something on this weekend. There's too
much money, but there might be like playing games, right,
and that that would make more sense if you haven't
expanded sixteen team field, so you would have like this weekend,
you would have you know, maybe Vandy is playing someone,
Miami is playing someone Alabama Notre Dame, right, all Texas

(56:27):
is playing Texas, and then that helps the side who
the final spots go to in the expanded field. So yeah,
college football it's going to continue to change on an
almost annual basis. I do think they got it right
with that that the automatic conference champions don't automatically get

(56:52):
a buy which was obviously the wrong way to go
about it last year. Imagine this year. I mean you'd
have you could even you would have like Duke or
North Texas or James Madison with a BUYE would be
something and then all of a sudden, you'd want to
be in that five The five seed would be the
best place to be. But so I do think they

(57:14):
got it right. But yeah, it's just it's it's a
changing game, and it's going to continue to change every week,
but should be an exciting weekend.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Well because look, Penn State lost to Oregon last year
and they ended up getting boys SMU back to back games,
right or Oregon.

Speaker 1 (57:27):
I said it for all week. Oregon should lose that
game on purpose, and they would have been better off.
They would have had an easier path. Who knows how
it would have played out, but they would have had
an easier route to the national championship instead of getting
blown out by Ohio State. It was the best team,
but at least that's no longer a thing whereas you

(57:48):
don't know, like now there's no incentive lose because you
just don't know, Like you can't say if through Ohio State,
all right, well if we lose, will be the two
or three and we're going to play this team. It's
a lot easier to project out if you know you're
going to be the five and you've got to play
a team that has a buye that's you're gonna be
double digit favored over. So they did get that right,
But yeah, it's crazy. World of college football continues to change.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Honestly, the most interesting part about the Indiana Ohio State game,
given that, like at the end of the day, there's
just not that much on the line, given they're both
gonna get to buys. The GM John Spytech of the Raiders,
Andrew Berry assuming he's going to keep his job in Cleveland,
and the Jets New GM, like they got to be
in attendance at that game. Like, if I'm those guys,

(58:32):
I gotta be in attendance. I mean, I listen. You
gotta give Ryan Day a lot of credit that Matt
Patricia higher, the guy had been a lifetime NFL guy.
You just never quite know though, you know, wink, you've
seen guys, they transition relatively well. It couldn't have gone
much better from Matt Patricia. So you get Matt Patricia
against Fernando, even if they end up losing, you know,

(58:53):
thirty to twenty. If he leads several touchdown drives and
looks confident, you'd feel pretty good about his stock and
kind of solidifying. Maybe will Stein leaving to Kentucky is
kind of signaling that Dante Moore might come out as well.
I don't know to put that much stock in that.
I mean, he got what thirty thirty five million dollars,
so he got a lot of money. And I didn't
know his dad had played to Kentucky two, so he

(59:15):
clearly has roots. You know, he played at Louisville, So
it's not really that crazy of a jump, even though
to me, and like, wait, if you're will Stein, why
would you take that job? But I do think Fernando
can could do a lot for his draft stock. Obviously
it's already good, but I just mean to like these
these data points and these check marks, like this is
as good as it gets. I mean, he answered the
bell after he threw that pick six in Oregon and

(59:36):
came right back down. He's had some incredible moments. He's
clearly very physically gifted, but this is the type moment
even if he were to I mean, if they were
to upset him and he looks awesome against this defense,
and awesome could be a twenty one to seventeen win.
I mean, it's not like he's gonna throw four or
five touchdowns. More likely, hell, he throws two touchdowns, that'd
be pretty I mean, I mean, don't they average like

(59:56):
under ten points a game against Big ten opponents. I mean,
no one's going on these guys.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
No one's scored more than sixteen all year. Now, I mean,
I do they're their best defense in the country, but
I will say like they haven't really been tested. This
will be their best their biggest test for both Mendoza
and the Ohio State defense. And it's on a fast track.
But you could say this is anybody. The Ohio State offense,
which has really just been kind of managing time. Like
they're on a fast track now with Carnell Tate and
Jeremiah Smith, the best wide receiver duo in the country.

(01:00:24):
So yeah, we'll learn a lot about both teams because
Ohio State, I mean, the best offenses they played this
year were like Washington who had offensive line injuries, and
we've seen Washington struggle against better competition this year, and
then Texas, who early in the year their offense was
a mess against everyone. So and then Michigan's offense this
year just isn't it, especially away from home. So this

(01:00:45):
will be the biggest test. Now, Mendoza, I mean, he
was only eight of fifteen for one hundred yards against Perdue.
He should have had a couple of interceptions, you know.
He struggled a bit against Penn State. He struggled a
bit against Ia. Now he's had some big moments and
I do think he's very good. I don't think he's
like should be like a number one overall pick me.

(01:01:07):
I think this quarterback class is pretty weak, but he's
going to go in the top five or top ten.
It's a very good test for him. I will say.
One of the things you have to question about Ohio
State is I think that Bryan Day would love if
this game goes down to the wire because the one
thing Ohio State hasn't done has been in like a
close game with a freshman quarterback. Right like everything's been

(01:01:28):
easy and Indiana has been They were in a dogfight
at Iowa, close game against Oregon, they had to have
a drive to win it against Penn State. The one
thing I am confident in is that Indiana this year
is much more capable than the team last year at
competing with the team's full of five stars. They're much
better in the trenches and they proved that at Oregon,

(01:01:52):
and that win on the road in Eugene, not an
easy place to play, has aged very well because Oregon
has won every game and looked good. Oregon was healthy
then as well, so Indiana can compete in the trenches here.
The one remaining question for Ohio State is that, like
how we'll say and play if it's a close team.

(01:02:12):
They just haven't been tested yet, so I think Day
would like that. And yeah, Patricia's been phenomenal. Obviously they
have great players. There's NFL players on both teams. So yeah,
your point on the scouts spot on, But I was
wrong on Patricia and he's been great schematically, and he
seems to get along with Day better. They like really
they have. It seems like they really like each other.

(01:02:33):
And Ryan Day has been a covering machine. This has
been number one team in the country since they lost
to Michigan last year. It's almost hard to believe they're
fourteen one and one against the spread. They haven't. They've
only not covered one game over their past sixteen and
they're number one in the country, the team everyone wants
to bet market just hasn't been able to catch up

(01:02:55):
to them. So yeah, this is uh. It's a game
looking forward to watching. But as far as the big implications,
doesn't really mean much. It might based on how these
teams fall and how the rest of the bracket holes.
But I do think it means a lot more to
Indiana because they can really say no one can say
like you don't belong anymore. You have wins over Oregon
in Ohio State, so yeah, should be a fun one.

Speaker 2 (01:03:18):
This is crazy to say because you know, he feels
like an NFL guy. He'd want to go back. But
for some reason my YouTube algorithm, I get some like
Matt Patricia interviews. He's always now again, they're winning, they're dominating.
He's had a loaded program. He feels much more like
kind of lighthearted. He's smiling a lot. Obviously he's lost
a bunch of weight. Maybe he's found his colleague, like

(01:03:40):
he's really enjoyed. Like you said, they're always hugging and smiling.
Like he doesn't feel like the Belichickian grumpy kind of
a hole that went to Detroit. There's like a looseness
to him. I mean, as we record this Penn State
doesn't have a coach. I don't know. I mean, this
guy's been an NFL head coach before. Schematically, he's clearly

(01:04:00):
really bright guy. Yeah, and you know, recruiting wise, I
mean he's got a he's got a year apprenticeship at
Ohio State. Like he's seen the blueprint of what you do.
Like I mean, I just keep an eye. Maybe if
you're him, you just stay in college. There's a ton
of money in it. Maybe he's just found a sweet
spot because no one's hiring him to be an NFL
head coach, and like the Ohio State will pay as

(01:04:20):
much as the NFL team, So I I think he's
gonna be there for a little bit if unless he
wants to become a head coach in college like that
might that might be the route.

Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
I agree, I think that's the road he might end
up taking. But as of right now, yeah, it seems
like he's in a good spot.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Let's transition, and let's start with a game that when
they were one and five and they were still favored
to win the division, it did feel a little crazy. Uh.
And you know, if I would have told you that
they would have been six and six at that moment,
you'd be like, Okay, they battled back, but they would
have probably been a game or two back. Turns out
that Steelers are a mess and like legitimately circling the drain,

(01:05:08):
and I understand you know that it's your squad. They looked
awful on Thursday night, the turnovers. It was just a
disastrous performance. But I'm going to take the same mindset
it comes if JJ McCarthy's playing, I'm going to short
the Vikings. I don't really care who they're playing unless
they're playing the Titans. I'm gonna take the same logic

(01:05:29):
when it comes to the Steelers. This game's in Baltimore,
and I understand the Steelers have played Lamar well over
the years, but this is Lamar actually is a little
different player than the guy like he's kind of banged up,
He's not moving around quite as well. This is more
like this does feel like a lot of points, but
it's just a bet against the Steelers, and I'm gonna
hammer the Ravens minu six. Honestly, it's like one of

(01:05:50):
my favorite bets on the board.

Speaker 1 (01:05:53):
Yeah, as a Ravens fan, I'm programmed to expect that
this game will in twenty to seventeen, and it's just
that's how all these games end. I mean, if you
look his story, they've these Hardball and Tomlin have met
what the since sixteen years where they're both there thirty

(01:06:13):
two times in the regular season, Twenty six of them
have been decided by one possession when either as an
underdog of three or more points, The underdog has gone
nineteen three and three against the spread eighty six and
a half percent. But and Tomlin as a dog has
always been good. But this isn't the same Steelers team.
They don't. Their defense is really bad. I mean it

(01:06:37):
was eye opening last week to watch them against the Bills,
who were without both tackles, without Kincaid, and they just ran.
They ran the same rushing play twenty seven times and
it worked almost every single time. They didn't adjust, They
couldn't do anything. They have defensive injuries. Now, is this
a game where the Ravens can just do the same
and just hand it off to Henry use their backs?

(01:06:59):
It might now. The Ravens offense in fairness, and Rogers
is a mess. I mean, he has a minus thirteen
point six completion percentage over expectations since Week ten. That's
dead last among every quarterback. I mean, Gabriel McCarthy, Brosmer,
you name him, he hasn't. They haven't completed a pass
longer than twenty yards in a month. And he has

(01:07:21):
a hand injury now, so they're always in pistol and
it's predictable, and their receivers can't get separation. It's a mess.
Now the Ravens can't get pressure on defense, so maybe
that's a reprieve. But and the one thing I will
say is the Ravens offense is also a mess because
Lamar isn't healthy. And I mean, if you look at

(01:07:41):
some of his numbers since he came back, I mean
he's second worse than the league in catchable ball rate,
third worst and on target rate when he's not being pressured.
Those are troubling signs. And that's because you know it's
the hamstring and knee, a toe and ankle. But the
Ravens might be able to just line it up here
and run the ball. Yeah, and their offense is a mess,

(01:08:05):
And you're right, like, the Steelers done a really good
job containing Lamar and his legs, but that's not really
his game at the moment. And the Ravens do have
upside in their offense in that there is going to
be a point where Lamar does get healthier and he
keeps saying he's getting closer, and then once that happens,
I think this offense is going to take off. I
don't see what The upside is with the Steelers offense,

(01:08:29):
like it's it's what forty two year old Rogers now
with the weather getting colder and colder and hurt hand
and they just signed. They just went on and got
Adam feeling like that's when you know it's bad.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
Yeah, So he can he can brace on sacks because
the arm you're holding the ball in the one hand,
you naturally kind of it's just a human reaction, whether
you and me are playing pick up football out on
the grass or whether you're playing NFL football. Even that
play with Joey Bosa, he's kind of limp and you know,
you're just kinda I mean you're.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
Here.

Speaker 2 (01:09:05):
Yeah, So, which which I respect. At forty two years old,
with I'm sure hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank,
he does not need to be doing this. But he
signed up, and I think there's some pride in him,
you know, to even come back into that game. It's like,
what is he doing? But he he doesn't want to
let down, like he signed up for Tomlin and now

(01:09:27):
he feels, you know, he's compromised. It's just it does
just feel like this thing's unraveling. And for the first time.
There's like substance behind, like this could really kind of
be the end of this of this coaching era for
this guy.

Speaker 1 (01:09:40):
Yeah, I mean they're Look, they're six and six. There's
a huge game in the division. Now they play each
other again. They put in the last game of the year,
and the Steelers do have games against the Dolphins and
the Browns left, So maybe they find a way to
get the nine and eight again, which would be very fitting.

(01:10:01):
They it just needs Look, Tomlin's a great coach, He's
I mean, he's never had a losing record, great motivator,
but there's comes a time when I think it would
be best for him and the organization to part ways.
The voice. Sometimes you need a new voice. And the
Steelers need to just stop going nine to eight because

(01:10:22):
they need a franchise quarterback they otherwise they're just going
to be stuck in purgatory forever at eight nine, nine
and eight with no chance of winning a playoff game,
a super Bowl. And that's where they're at now. There
are like a couple weeks are they're talk about Rogers
coming back next year. It's like, if I was a
Steelers fan, it's fun that you're in it and like

(01:10:43):
in the playoff race, in the division race all the time,
but you don't feel like you've ever a chance to
win at all. And that's ultimately the goal in this
whole gig. And so yeah, the Steelers eventually need to
blow it up, which is why I said at the time,
like I don't know why, I know they had to
do it, but I wouldn't have given lot all of
that money because you just need a reset, you need

(01:11:03):
to find your quarterback. But uh yeah, so my fan
of me says this is gonna be close, because that's
all Raven Steeers games ever are. But it's hard for
me to see the Steelers offense and then their defense,
their run dyes so bad. There's so many issues. So
I don't hate your luck there.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
The Rogers thing, they didn't really have a choice, that
weren't any other options. But the Watt thing is going
to be the DK Metcalf move is devastating to give
him that much money and a second.

Speaker 1 (01:11:31):
When you're Watchings become like the best receiver in the well.

Speaker 2 (01:11:33):
So yeah, so the swap out there they gave, like
when you are paying a bunch of people a lot
of money, you don't have that much wiggle room. So
when you give a guy a one year, ten million
dollar deal like they did Dislay, that's pretty important for
that guy, even if he's not a pro bowler, to
be like a legit solid start. He didn't make it
to December. He was in a healthy scratch by Thanksgiving.
It's like, that's a disastrous personnel move, you know, and

(01:11:56):
it's just their personnel moves. And I put something on Twitter,
people are like, well, Kevin Colbert was bad the last
couple of years. For most of his run, that organization
was viewed like the Ravens, like the Packers, just one
of the most consistent. They know what they're doing. They
don't feel like that right now. They feel really out
of whack. So I love the Ravens another team.

Speaker 1 (01:12:16):
Well, they're because they're stuck in like the middle.

Speaker 2 (01:12:19):
They're trying to maintain it, yeah, and they're.

Speaker 1 (01:12:21):
Trying to just like do these band aids and it's
just not gonna work.

Speaker 2 (01:12:27):
Turns out Collinsworth was right the way that he was
pronouncing Maryota, and Maryota got his back saying that's the
actual way to pronounce it, though I just say Mariota.
He actually looked pretty good on Sunday Night football. My
simple logic is this, if JJ McCarthy is starting a
game against a team with just some capable players, I'm

(01:12:49):
going to take the other team and taking Washington plus
two and a half. Listen, you know, I just think
this JJ thing, you get to a situation where you're
gonna they'll start in Minnesota is less likely to booth
and like let's say a Philly or some of these
other places, that place is gonna be on tilt if
he goes three and out a couple times of like,

(01:13:11):
this is a disastrous situation. Most people you know, like, listen,
he's not the first guy to show say hey I
got a headache or whatever on the plane ride home
or the next day. So I'm not gonna say that
he made that up. But there've just been two kind
of all of a sudden, this guy's injured after just
disastrous performances and coming back he obviously hasn't played much football.

(01:13:33):
When he has, he's been awful. I could just see like,
all of a sudden, he's just gonna look good. I
mean I have a hard time seeing that. So I'm
hammering Washington in this game.

Speaker 1 (01:13:44):
I played the Vikings, but at a bunch of different number.
I can't blame you for Padie McCarthy. I mean, this
line opened as with the Commander is a favorite, and
this is my case for the Vikings and the rebuttal
can just be mcarthy.

Speaker 2 (01:14:00):
He's not going to hit that's my logic. I'm just
against J. J. McCarthy.

Speaker 1 (01:14:03):
Yeah, but I'm saying like DVI just said, McCarthy's not
going to hit a wide open pass because the Commanders
can't get pressure. Their defense has been a little better
since Quinn took over. They're playing more zone. He simplified
some things, but it's still a really bad defense. Like
the second they're dead last and drop back EPA. They
cannot get any pressu anymore. They don't have any players
left on the defensive line. They have no edge rushers,

(01:14:24):
so there's gonna be opportunities for McCarthy to hit wide
open receivers. Can he hit them. I don't know. So far,
he's shown that he can't do it consistently. But like
the Vikings, their defense is still very formidable. It's still
a really good home field Evan. And this is the
first road game for the Commanders in forty one days.
They're coming off of devastating overtime loss. Their defense is

(01:14:44):
on the field they were on. There's so many plays
in that game. There's a chance Daniels is going to
play at quarterback. I actually think that would be a
bad thing. He's struggled against the blitz. He's been off
for so long. Mariota's numbers have actually been better than Daniels.
They've got the same amount of snaps this year. I'm
not the same Mariot as Mariota is better, But this
year Daniels has just had like a little bit of

(01:15:05):
a sophomore slump. He never got in rhythm with his receivers.
There's been so many injuries, and now coming back from
a long absence facing that Vikings defense, that could be problematic.
But I do think now that this numbers jumped, it's
not the same. But originally I was like, this is
the bottom of the market on the Vikings they've and
for what it's worth, teams off of a shut getting

(01:15:26):
shut out historically have hit at about sixty percent against
his spread the next week. I mean, who wants to
Usually who wants to play the team that just got
shut out, you might get a you know, a point
or two of value and the in fairness to the vikings,
they were three and two before the bye week, and
then after their bye they played the Eagles arguably should

(01:15:48):
have won at the Chargers at the Lions. They won
that game with McCarthy, Ravens, Bears at Packers, at Seahawks.
That's been their last seven games vicious. Yes, so now
this is definitely more of a break. So yeah, I
did play some some early vikings. But you can just

(01:16:10):
say McCarthy. Why McCarthy favored over whatever, it's Mariodo or Daniels.
No way. He hasn't shown that he can complete even
wide open passes consistently NFL, and historically team quarterbacks coming
off of a concussion there is a dip in production.
So I could see the case for the Commanders. But

(01:16:32):
I do have some vikings. Am I scared about it? Yes?
I also bet the Raiders. Am I scared about that? Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:16:42):
But yeah, I don't know who the Raiders even playing
the Broncos.

Speaker 1 (01:16:46):
They're catching eight home divisional dog above a touchdown. Historically,
fifty six fifty percent usually a good bet total when
the totals below forty two seventy. Historically, I just don't
trust this Broncos offense. Now do I trust? The Raiders
offensive line is a disaster. Of g know Smith's a disaster,
It's all a disaster. But this Broncos offense will go

(01:17:09):
in like bo Knicks, will just be completely He can't
complete a pass for quarters. It's very difficult for them
to bill margin. There are games away from home this year,
they lost to the Chargers and the Colts. They beat
the Eagles by four, crazy comeback, the Jets by two,
it was twelve to ten. The Jets had negative ten
passing yards, the one by two, the Texans by three,

(01:17:32):
crazy comeback when Stroud got hurt against Davis Mills, and
then Washington by one in overtime. So they're four and
two of a plus six point different show on the road.
They haven't won a game by more than four away
from home, so and their defense is coming off a
game where they're on the field for one hundred plays
in overtime in primetime. Now another road game, you should

(01:17:53):
get the Raiders' best effort. And these two teams played
in Denver, with the Raiders coming off of an overtime
game where they're defense on the field ninety on a
short week, teams were six and twenty six against the
spread in this spot short week, go into altitude and
the Raiders won lost ten to seven. That was the
score in the first meeting. So it's it's horrible, I

(01:18:13):
but I did bet the Raiders plus eight.

Speaker 2 (01:18:15):
Well, my last hammer is the Saints that fit that
criteria because the over unders forty one and a half.
You know, you look at the Tampa obviously they had
that struggle, that three game losing streak where they were
in shambles. I mean, it's not like they blew out
the Cardinals last week. Now, in fairness, the Cardinals are
going to be like one of the truly great four
and thirteen teams of all time because they've been in

(01:18:37):
like the overwhelming majority of every game. Yeah, so I'm
just taking the Saints here plus eight and a half.
And it's more of a bet against Tampa that you know,
the injuries. Obviously Baker hasn't been right all year. You know,
once he kind of got banged up, it looked like
an MVP there through like a month, which at the
time you get them like twenty five to one coming
in I think it was actually fifty to one coming

(01:18:57):
into the season and went down to like twenty five
twenty to one. Now he's got really no chance, even
though the MVP discussion is really wide open. I just listen,
I'm not gonna be some big believer in the Saints.
They've got two wins, but it feels like a number
that's very, very coverable.

Speaker 1 (01:19:15):
Bucks offense has quietly been a disaster. I mean, since
Week nine, they're twenty fourth in EPA per play.

Speaker 2 (01:19:20):
Why do you think that is a lot?

Speaker 1 (01:19:22):
There's a just I don't think Baker's fully healthy. I
mean last week against you mentioned the Cardinals out gain
them three eighty six to two seventy nine six point
three yards per play Bucks four point nine.

Speaker 2 (01:19:32):
Cardinals are bad. They're not, but.

Speaker 1 (01:19:34):
I'm saying the BUNC should have lost that game sisticly.
Their offense wasn't great, and I mean there's just been
so many injuries with the Bucks, right So you've had
all the injuries in the backfield, the offensive line, wide receiver,
Baker's been banged up. So it's all just added up
and the operation is just broken right now. Now, Is

(01:19:54):
there at some point an inflection point? Where like as
they get healthier, you're going to start to see that
offense trend up. Maybe this is that the the you know,
the bottom as far as the market on their offense. Maybe,
but until I see further evidence, yeah, I have no
interest in wanting to lay eight and a half with Tampa. Now,

(01:20:16):
the Saints won't be able to run the ball at all,
Like they'll have zero rushing yards in this game, So
it's just gonna be shuck against the Blitz having to
throw it, which might is a bit concerning, But the
Saints defense is fighty enough to keep them in this game.

Speaker 2 (01:20:32):
I don't have that Campa kind of needs to win.
I mean, you lose, you're seven and six, Carolina seven
and six, you still play them twice. Carolina would have
nothing to lose, right, they got house money. You know,
there's all the pressure would be on Tampa in those games.
This could get weird. I mean this is this obviously,
you know it must win when you're playing bad teams,
but like when you're just not playing well, it would

(01:20:54):
shock you if it's like ten ten in the third
quarter or something.

Speaker 1 (01:20:57):
Yeah, I mean last year in Week eighteen in Tampa,
the Bucks needed to win, and they were playing Spencer
Rattler and.

Speaker 2 (01:21:15):
Crazy comeback when he took off on the run, right.

Speaker 1 (01:21:18):
They were down nineteen thirteen in the fourth quarter in
one twenty seven nineteen, like they were on the brink
of losing that game. So yeah, that's the Panthers win
over the Rams was enormous for many reasons. I mean,
the one seed in the NFC where hold seating breaks,

(01:21:38):
but also that division race, Like they were ten point dogs,
you assume that they were going to lose that game.
Then picking picking that win up with two meetings with
the Bucks left makes that division race very very interesting,
especially since you know the Panthers go, they have a
bye in the Saints, and you know they have a

(01:22:01):
game they host the Seahawks, and then they have two
games against the Bucks. So yeah, that division race is
going to be super interesting. I'm excited there's been a
lot of boring games in the NFL this year because
there's just a lot more there's more parody at the
top overall. I mean, think about the AFC, the f S.

(01:22:21):
There's a world where Lamar, Mahomes, Burrow, and Alan all
missed the playoffs. But there's a lot more parody at
the top, but there's a lot more. Just the bottom
is bad to get just some really bad football games.
But now this stretch run over the last five weeks

(01:22:45):
is going to be really exciting. I mean just this weekend,
This weekend is gonna set I mean this weekend could
decide so many things. You have Raven Steelers, which could
decide the division and a playoff spot with the loser
potentially beating out. We're recording this on a Thursday, so
you'll know the result of ready. But Cowboys Lions could
be an elimination game in the NFC playoffs, you have.

Speaker 2 (01:23:06):
It definitely is for the I mean, the Lions lose,
the Niners Bears would feel like they're both in right.

Speaker 1 (01:23:12):
Yeah, yeah. And the Cowboys, I mean they're six five
and one, they got a pretty.

Speaker 2 (01:23:15):
Much they got to win the division now and.

Speaker 1 (01:23:18):
Win the division. Eagles, I mean they have a tough
schedule and they just Jalen Carter looks like he's gonna
be out for a couple of weeks, which.

Speaker 2 (01:23:24):
Just happened to him. I must miss that.

Speaker 1 (01:23:27):
Yeah, that came out like a half hour ago. He's
gonna have surgery. Wow, So that definitely hurts their defense,
not a position that they have a ton of depth at.

Speaker 2 (01:23:37):
But well, he's just such a difference making player because.

Speaker 1 (01:23:43):
Man so much attention. But I mean that game Monday
night Eagles Chargers, Eagles lose, Cowboys win, That division gets
a lot shakier. I mean, Eagles played the Commanders twice more.
Daniels will be back. They go to the Bills. All
of a sudden, it gets shaky for them. Chargers in
the AFC. They lose this game. You know, they're eight
and four now they it was this game. They go
to eight and five. You have the Herbert hand question.

(01:24:04):
You still have an offensive line. Their remaining schedule is
at the Chiefs, at the Cowboys home against the Texans
at the Broncos. All of a sudden, that gets really dicey.
You have the Texans Chiefs is that Sunday night. That's
potentially an elimination game. If Chiefs louse, they go to
six and seven. On the year, they don't have a
tie break over anyone ahead of them. They've lost almost

(01:24:25):
every other team that they would be batting for. Bear's
Packers for first place. I mean, just awesome, high leverage
playoff leverage games this weekend. So the NFL is gonna
get really good from now all the way through the
Super Bowl.

Speaker 2 (01:24:39):
Well, let's talk about a couple of the big games.
Indy at Jacksonville. INDI's leaking some serious oil. Sauces now
out their quarterback. Obviously shelled himself even before he got injured.
Once he started getting hit, and now it's not gonna
be the same. You know, it's not like I love Jacksonville,
but this is one of those games Indy could be
in trouble. Assuming I like Houston at Kansas City. You know,

(01:25:03):
just that their ability to rush the passers. Simmons now
is on ir right with a broken wrist, so and
that would have been a tough matchup for a rookie
against those pass rushers in general. So there's gonna be
a drop off there if Houston wins. Like to me, Houston,
if they take care of business against Kansas City, they
just need these two teams when they play just somehow
split is the way I've looked at it. I don't know

(01:25:25):
if you look at it differently. I have some futures
on Houston win this division. It's still alive. They got
to win, but they just need whoever wins this game
and then that other team to win the other game
when they play each other, and then I just think
they are that defense is just ferocious. That is the
best unit of these three teams, would you agree?

Speaker 1 (01:25:42):
Yes? Yeah? And they host the Cardinals and Raiders next, so.

Speaker 2 (01:25:48):
This is their season. They just got to go to
Kansas City and win.

Speaker 1 (01:25:51):
Yep, find a way to win a team they haven't
been able to be like yeah. I mean, the Chiefs
have other offensive line injuries as well. I haven't seen
their injury report, but Trey Smith, their stud right guard
Taylor got banged up last week, so you get a
three herd offensive lineman against that defensive line could be trouble.

(01:26:13):
And the Texans offense is improving like what he marks
gives them some juice and out of the backfield, their
offensive line has been getting better. And then when Nico
Collins was out, these other receivers were able to kind
of step up, build confidence and like a guy like Higgins.
So their entire offense operation is improving. So the Texans

(01:26:33):
are a really dangerous team. I don't if you're in
the se you don't want to see the Texans in
the playoffs. You don't want to see that defense that
they will be in every game because of it. So, yeah,
they're they're super loud to win the division, but this game,
they're not out of it if they lose it, but
it's going to be very tough. And then the Chiefs
are So they lose their six and seven, they could

(01:26:54):
get the ten and seven, but that doesn't guarantee anything.
And yeah, this might be lights out for the chief
especially they have no time They lose every timebreaker with everyone.
I mean, they lost to the Jags, they lost to
the Bills, they would have lost to the Texans, like
basically just the Colts. So yeah, I taking the three
and a half. Find a three and a half there,

(01:27:14):
I think makes sense. These are also the two best
under teams in the NFL over the past three years.
Texans unders are just a cash go. I mean they're
thirty one and fifteen of the under over the past
three years sixty seven and a half percent. The next
best under team is the Chiefs thirty and sixteen, sixty
five percent. The Chiefs unders at home over the past
three years seventeen and six. They just go on these

(01:27:36):
and this is what they're gonna have to do this
on Sunday night, they're gonna have to go on these
long and they can do this at home. They go
on these long, methodical drives where it's like dnk and
dunk and dank and dunk and then thirty one run.
That's what they're gonna do because Moman's not gonna have
any time here and no protection. So I don't mind
the under I don't mind taking the Texans there. Yeah,

(01:27:58):
Texans are a very dangerous team.

Speaker 2 (01:27:59):
The chief say, actually, if they lose this game, this
is crazy to say, are better off just finishing seven
and ten because that would give them a position. All
of a sudden, it's like, oh, the Chiefs have the
fourteenth pick. They could kind of reset the run, you know,
because they've been drafting every single year thirty thirty one,
thirty two. All of a sudden, you're drafting fourteen. That's
every round. Maybe the first round Beach goes from fourteen

(01:28:21):
to like eight to get some incredible pass rusher or something.
You could just kind of reset your franchise with some
players who are cheap that they just haven't I mean,
they're they taken swings on Worthy who worthy out of
play in that Sunday night game, or maybe it was
a couple weeks ago. It's like, he's good, but he's
not quite. I mean, he's clear, he's not Deshaun Jackson
or Tyreek Hill or whatever. It's just but that's what

(01:28:42):
happens when you drafted the end of the rounds, so
you you just don't have the act. They would be
the first to say, it's pretty crazy that Josh Shimmons
is sitting there. I mean we all agreed. I mean,
there were some question marks with his injury and some
other stuff, but he was like one of the more
talented players in the draft. Right Typically they're gonna be
picking from Xavier Worthy or key On Coleman, right, Well,
that that's not the case if you're drafting fourteenth and

(01:29:05):
and I just think that they are picking from a
litter of players that way, and who knows, maybe last
couple of weeks you just kind of it's not worth
getting Mahomes a major injury and like you know, when
you're out of it. Uh. They've never been in this
position obviously, honestly for since Andy's been there, because they've
just been good. But this is the first time where
it's just like Okay, he ran out of gas. I don't.
I don't look at him any differently. I mean, they

(01:29:27):
lost some crazy games this year. It's not like some
indictment on the run. I think it just was a
year that didn't go there well.

Speaker 1 (01:29:32):
I mean last year they were eleven in home one games.
This year they've lost by six three three, seven, three
and three, So they're one in six and one position
games this year.

Speaker 2 (01:29:45):
To mean, their defense clearly just doesn't quite quite have
the same momth. They're missing a couple of players. Carlofftin
get the same pressure, not quite the same player. I
think they had hoped that he was going to continue
to become.

Speaker 1 (01:29:56):
Yeah, now I agree with you. But if they in
this game, and it's just the narratives, actually so will
change Draska for both these teams, depending on the olcome here.
They win this game, they're seven and six, and the
remaining schedule is you got revenge against the Chargers at
home with the Bank of Herbert, no offensive line at
the Titans, revenge against the Broncos at home at the Raiders.

(01:30:17):
To win this game. All of a sudden, it's looking
decent chance. You're going to eleven and six and the Chiefs
are back in the playoffs and they're always gonna be
dangers in the playoffs. So but if you lose the
best you can get his ten and seven, I'm not
sure they getsch in the playoffs in the FC, so
especially Becau you're gonna lose every tie breaker. So yeah,
huge game for both teams. And then what was the
other game you mentioned first Andie Jacksonville. Yeah, I'm waiting

(01:30:42):
for the Jags. Look that the cheap the Colts defense
is not the same without Sauce corner. He his lockdown
corner was gonna make you know with Ward and Kenny Moore,
they were gonna have one of the best corner groups
in the NFL. Without him, they just don't have the
same flexibility. They're also not the same group with alt
to Forest Buckner in the middle, with to Forest Buckner

(01:31:04):
and Grover Stort in the lineup versus when one of
them's not on the field, they give up one yard
more per rush. So if both were on the field,
they're allowing one yard fewer p rush and that's important
against the Jags. Basically, with the Jags, you want any
liam counting, you want to say, first, can they run
the ball, and if they're able to run the ball,

(01:31:25):
everything else stems from that. And they have one of
the best, most dynamic, well schemed running games in the NFL.
And then you have Daniel Jones, who's playing with a
broken leg, doesn't have that same lateral movement taking more
sacks now, and it's it's just not going well. I mean,
they're lucky that they've won. They beat the Falcons in overtime,

(01:31:46):
Otherwise they would have lost four straight. And their schedule
is brutal coming down the stretch. I mean, Colt Slew's
this game can make a case that they don't win
another game. I mean they're at Seattle, they got Sant
Fran Jacksonville again, then at Houston, so they could go

(01:32:08):
from looking like the one seed a month ago to
missing the playoffs very quickly if they don't win this game,
and it's a place where they have it won very
often over the past ten years. The Jags, I don't.
I think they're a decent team. They're not a great team.
They do have some good wins this year. I mean, look,
they beat the Texans, they beat the Chiefs at home,
they won at Sant fram when they were healthier. They

(01:32:28):
dominated the Chargers. They've been much better at home, and
Jacoby Myers has been an amazing addition. He's not dropping
the ball, he's providing juice to the offense. They got
Brenton strange back. I do want to see the injury
report for the Jags. Armstead, Trevron Walker, Olokon, Devin Lloyd.
They all are banged up. You want that full compliment

(01:32:50):
of your defensive front to not only stop Jonathan Taylor,
but to get after Jones with his hurt leg. So
I think the injury report for the Jags very critical.
Huge game. I think it's more of a toss up.
I wouldn't I don't mind anyone taking the points if
you wanted to tease the Jags. I don't have a
strong feel on it. There's a lot of injuries that

(01:33:10):
I'm watching for the Jags as of right now.

Speaker 2 (01:33:12):
Do you think it's a good indictment on Anthony Richson
They rather roll with Daniel Jones on a broken leg
than him. Yeah, not ideal.

Speaker 1 (01:33:21):
Not great. And you have Packers packers bears.

Speaker 2 (01:33:37):
Yeah, let's hit on that. I mean a couple of
weeks ago, hell, a month ago would have been like
I'm a Hammer of the Green Bay. It does feel
like the Bears. I mean, we get these type teams
every once in a while. Minnesota was like this what
that That Kirk Cousins year when they I think won
twelve games.

Speaker 1 (01:33:52):
It's just a same Ben at the end of his
career when they were like they started like eleven and zero.

Speaker 2 (01:33:56):
Just a scary team to bet against. I it's gonna
be hard obviously for the Bears. But I mean Ben Johnson,
I mean that performance he had on Thursday was unreal.
I mean that made Eagles fans go, what is happening
to us? I think Canalis saw that and was like,
you know, I should just copy that and run the
ball a little bit more. It's like, yeah, Dave, you should.

(01:34:17):
And Ben Johnson, he's the Midwest Kyle Shanahan. You don't
see many of these young coaches in college or the
pros that are play callers, that are the head coach
that consistently like I would rather run it forty times
a game than pass at fifty and he would rather
even if Caleb Williams was the best quarterback in the league.
I don't think his philosophical belief on how to play

(01:34:40):
football would change, which I respect because those days we
just don't really have them anymore. I mean even Sean Payton.
It's like Sean call some Moore runs for your guy.
But these guys like to pass. I mean, listen, I
love coach Reid. Coach Reid, if you had to give
him a choice, he would throw it every time if
he could, you know. And it's just a lot of
these coaches like passing the ball more. And Ben jons
Wson not only likes calling runs, he's a great run schemer.

(01:35:03):
I mean some of the breakdowns of using those tight
ends and motions, like it was incredible that performs he
had on against Philly, but he's done that all year
long running the ball. So I just think that this
is gonna be a really fun matchup. I guess I
would have to take the Bears, and this is a
stay away from me. I just can't wait to watch
this game. But Ben Johnson has been a fucking stud

(01:35:25):
this year.

Speaker 1 (01:35:27):
We look at the Lions. Part of the reason I
know their their intier offensive line isn't as good, but
their run game all year has not been anywhere close
to what it was. Their offense hasn't been operating anywhere
close to what it was and a lot of that.
And look at the Bears. Their run game, I mean,
especially over the past month, has been dominant and that
will always make them a scary dog. Now their defense

(01:35:47):
has benefited from extreme turnover luck, like plus seventeen turnover margin.
They even did it last week, they got the tush
push strip.

Speaker 2 (01:35:55):
Have the Eagles ever even fumbled on that play like
in their heyday? It doesn't feel like they really have.

Speaker 1 (01:36:00):
They did it once, I forget the game, but the
rest like blew it dead. But it really was a
fun us against the Giants.

Speaker 2 (01:36:05):
I think, oh yeah, it was Shane, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:36:11):
I mean, their run game is incredible. Now their defense
is very bad. They have injuries at linebacker, they can't
get pressure, but they've survived without. I mean they got
getting Jalen Johnson, getting Kyler Gordon back, they were able
to develop some depth in the secondary and they held up.
You have to give him credit for the wins. And
now they've become a scary team. But the the Packers

(01:36:33):
are also a scary team. And they've started to figure
out their offense a bit post Craft and I think,
you know, you might get Jayden Reid back Christian Watson.
I think him coming back has really given juice to
the offense. Yeah, they should be able to move the ball.
And the Bears am I rushing to lay six and

(01:36:54):
a half against a team that should the should have
success running the Ballgaspacers me, they're going to success runing
against everyone. And I mean the Packers now lost Wyat,
another defensive lineman, to a season ending injury. So I
think it should be a really good game. I think
the Packers eventually win. But would it shock me if
the Bears do? Know a huge game in the division though,
winner of this in the driver's seat and.

Speaker 2 (01:37:16):
When do you say the Bears I mean would be
in pretty good shape given that tie is kind of
a swing. They'd have two more wins than the Packers
if they win this game.

Speaker 1 (01:37:24):
Yeah, and they play again, but it would be they
host the Packers. Now, the Bears do have a tough schedule,
but they would have the.

Speaker 2 (01:37:32):
Forty nine er games, Like, how are the forty nine
ers gonna stop their run game?

Speaker 1 (01:37:36):
Their score? I don't I don't know how that game
doesn't go over the total. By the way, both teams
should just move it at will. It should be like
an offensive clinic on both sides. So yeah, the Bears
after this, did you get the Browns at home and
they're the one seed in the NFC as of the
time we're talking right now. But you know, then they

(01:37:57):
get the host of Packers at San fer and then
you get the post Jared Goff outdoors at the end.
So you win this game, it looks a lot better.
If you lose it, then you're looking at that schedule
a little differently, so and the Packers will be in
the driver's seat for the for the division. So yeah,
really excited to watch that game. Just a lot of
great games the NFL this week.

Speaker 2 (01:38:14):
Okay, let's in with the Monday night game. You mentioned,
you know Herbert had the surgery. I mean, do you
expect him to have like a cast similar to Rogers
type deal.

Speaker 1 (01:38:23):
Yeah, I assume I think that they'll just they'll have
to go shotgun. I mean, they usually go shotgun. I
don't know eighty percent of the.

Speaker 2 (01:38:28):
Time you expect him to play though, I do, but
I don't know for sure. Harbaugh's weird with that. You know,
it's it's hard to get much information out of them.

Speaker 1 (01:38:37):
Yeah, it is a huge game for the Chargers. I
just listed their schedule like they're scheduled now. There's not
a really easy schedule so far. Now it's one of
the hardest. So they I think they've come out they
said they're gonna use like Trey Lance and in like
goal line packages, so he's gonna get snaps regardless. I
assume they're just going to be in shotgun all the time.

(01:38:58):
So does that make their offense more predictable? We saw
how that worked with Aaron Rodgers, and you don't have
an offensive line now. Jalen Carter being out, that's that's
very helpful to that offensive line. That's a massive, massive
loss for Philadelphia. The one guy on their defense that
they really couldn't afford to lose. He just commands so
much attention. They don't have great depth there and he's

(01:39:21):
just the game wrecker. And this Eagles offense it's still broken.
I don't see how they can fix it. Every week
they go almost a half without scoring. It doesn't matter.
I mean, the Bears defense has not been good all year.
Couldn't run it against the Bears. Their offensive line, there's
no lane Johnson VENs. The line hasn't been as good
in the interior. I think they missed back then they've

(01:39:41):
all been. They've just been beat up too in the
offensive line. They can't figure out zones. Well, they're gonna
get a ton of that against the Chargers defense. So yeah,
the Herbert injury throws a wrench into this. But like
every week, you gotta look at the Eagles under I
don't know how you could ever bet an Eagles over

(01:40:02):
because their defense is still good and their offense will
just die for a half plus And it's hard to
see this Chargers offense doing, you know, with a Herd Herbert,
that offensive line doing a ton, So I would lean
on I would lean it taking the points too, But
the Herbert uncertaday makes it tough. But big game for

(01:40:23):
both teams.

Speaker 2 (01:40:24):
Well, if your Philly, you lose, you know, you just
obviously at the Bills, if I'm giving them a loss there,
you would have given them wins against the Raiders and
the two Commanders games. But I can see them dropping
one to Yeah, That's what I'm saying. Then it starts
getting weird. Then you just can't trust them playing whoever
they're playing beside, like the Titans You're like, I don't
know this thing. It's got some similarities and parallels of

(01:40:46):
a couple of years ago when it all kind of unraveled.
And I've been saying this for a while. When you
have this bubbling weirdness with your just two star marquee guys,
just I just think it's hard to hide that. And
then the petula thing, the way the fans like, listen,
it's it looked like young kids egg in his house.
It wasn't some indictment on like the city, you know.

(01:41:08):
I mean, I'd be lying if I hadn't egged a
few homes in day. Yeah. Yeah, So it's like welcome
to seventeen year old kids. But I just think we
know the pressure in that organization if they lose this thing,
and there's just so much pressure, you know, And listen,
siriani Is has proven to be able to handle and
be a leader, but he ultimately doesn't call the plays

(01:41:30):
or anything. So it's like it's like, what, Okay, he can.
It's kind of like the Tomlin thing, like he's a
great rally the troops guy, but if the fucking offense
ain't gaining yards, the offense ain't gaining yards. It's like nothing,
he can't do anything about it.

Speaker 1 (01:41:41):
Yeah, I mean, it's just this is the Eagles every
other year. It seems to be like the San Francisco Giants.
It was like odd years or even years they would
go to It.

Speaker 2 (01:41:49):
Was eleven and thirteen. They won the World Series three
out of five years and missed the playoffs on the
other two.

Speaker 1 (01:41:54):
So like they have an offensive coordinator every other year,
this is like Brian Johnson two point out.

Speaker 2 (01:41:59):
And you get the stats. He's worse than Brian Johnson,
worse against zone.

Speaker 1 (01:42:04):
There's no creativity office, they don't use there's no motion,
no play action. It's just it's bad. So yeah, so
if they lose this game, you give them a win
over the Raiders, you will say they lose at the Bills,
and I mean especially the Carter is out for weeks.
So then they're at eight and six and if excuse me,

(01:42:32):
nine and six. So if you split with Washington, you
finish ten and seven. And the question is that's not
getting in the NFC.

Speaker 2 (01:42:47):
So can the Cowboys get ten and.

Speaker 1 (01:42:49):
The Cowboys catch them? So if the Cowboys there's six,
five and one, the best that the Cowboys can finish
is eleven five and one. I doubt they're gonna win out,
but they beat the Lions all of a sudden, there's
seven to five and one, and I mean they're playing

(01:43:09):
very well. Their defense is trending up.

Speaker 2 (01:43:12):
I win the division if I'm ten ten six and
one and you're ten and seven, right.

Speaker 1 (01:43:17):
Yes, so they have to just get to ten. Yeah,
you're right. They just have to get the ten wins.
So if they win tonight, they're at seven. Can they
host the Vikings? Next win, they host the Chargers, then
they're at the Commanders and at the Giants.

Speaker 2 (01:43:35):
It's doable, winnable games. Yeah. Yeah, well it's gonna get interesting.
You're right, this has because I get some dms like,
has this season been shittier? I'm like, there definitely have
been stretches where there's been bad mornings and afternoons, like
there have been some rough games. I'd be love football
as much as anyone, but there have been some rough Sundays.
There's no disputing there's been some rough primetime games. There's

(01:43:57):
been bad games, but at least they matter now, so
I'd even argue in college football there's been some stretches
where it's eh, it's been a It's been a weird
football season, even though historic ratings. More people watch it,
more people talk about it, which is awesome for our business.
You know, the games, I would like a little more action.
But part of that is some of these teams are
just are just shitty. What they're just huffle uh. And

(01:44:19):
then like you said, some of the good teams, the
parodia top makes them kind of hit or miss, right,
So it's that's why. I mean, the Packers went through
a stretch where they were rough. The Eagles are going
through a stretch when they were rough. The steep the Ravens.
I mean, most years, even a random Ravens team would
be nine to three right now, right the Bills are
a team that's eight and four.

Speaker 1 (01:44:36):
Yeah, it's been an a year, but it's about to
get good. We've we're gonna it's we're gonna get paid
off for our for suffering through some of the bad
football we've watched.

Speaker 2 (01:44:45):
Well, thanks for firing us up, Stucky, and let's enjoy
the weekend, and let's let's buckle in here to the
home stretch. And you got a baby here what the
next couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (01:44:55):
Twenty second is induction date. So it's gonna be a interesting.

Speaker 2 (01:45:01):
I get asked all the time like are you ready.
I'm like, I mean, I guess. I mean it's yeah.
Ask her, she's the one the baby's getting hiccups and
kicking her.

Speaker 1 (01:45:10):
I found that out yesterday that there's hiccups. When When
is your date?

Speaker 2 (01:45:16):
Like middle of January, so hopefully like like a Wednesday.
Ideally if he could come like Tuesday or Wednesday of
one of those playoff weeks.

Speaker 1 (01:45:24):
Yeah, we're inducing on a Monday, so you already don't
Yeah the twenty seconds, so it's uh, it'll be a
busy week.

Speaker 2 (01:45:34):
But I'll still people ask like, do you are you
going on maternity? I'm like, well, it's not like this
isn't a normal job.

Speaker 1 (01:45:41):
So it's like you can't.

Speaker 2 (01:45:43):
Yeah, It's like, yeah, I might have to miss depending
on the date, maybe like a Saturday or Sunday. But
I don't just disappear for a month. That's not the
way this thing works.

Speaker 1 (01:45:53):
The day of I will not be able to do anything.
But other than that, it's business as usual.

Speaker 2 (01:45:59):
I hear it. Stucky, thanks Bro.

Speaker 1 (01:46:01):
Absolutely have going the volume. Mhm

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3 & Out - Dak Prescott & Cowboys suffer HUGE LOSS vs. Jared Goff & Lions on TNF

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Colin Cowherd

Jason McIntyre

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}3 & Out - Dak Prescott & Cowboys suffer HUGE LOSS vs. Jared Goff & Lions on TNF