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November 9, 2024 50 mins

John opens the weekend with a massive mailbag. He answers your questions about the Seahawks offensive issues, should Joe Burrow be compared to Mahomes, and much more during today's podcast that is exclusively mailbag questions.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? It would be
your boy John Middlecop.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
That's me.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
This is a little podcast we call the Three and
Out Weekend Mailbag. We try to get a little content
for the weekend because I know some of you go
on walks driving around need something to listen to. I
know I fall under that category. And whenever I get
a new, fresh podcast from the rotation, not mine. I

(00:42):
don't listen to myself, but someone else. It's always enjoyable,
you know, getting a little Saturday morning sweat running, some
errand some honeydewes. You guys know the drill. If you
listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to the
three and outfeed. We basically have a podcast every day
and they don't all show up on this so make
sure you subscribe as well as basically all of our

(01:03):
content is on YouTube. The Saturday mail Bag is audio exclusive,
so we try to we try to mix it up
a little bit. Sometimes there's breaking news. I do a
video only segment every once in a while, but that's
that's pretty rare. Most of it is on both platforms,
you know, share with the people. I actually just saw

(01:25):
before I press record that Miller Moss, the USC quarterback
who had a great start to the season, beat LSU
on national television on Sunday night in Vegas and looked
like he had waited his turn behind Caleb Williams for
a couple of years. He had beat out the dude

(01:46):
that transferred to the Boise State that also got beat
out that they had paid like almost a million bucks.
He gets benched, and then next day he's like, I'm
going to transfer, And I mean, I guess I see
both sides of it, Like I guess if I was
in his shoes and I had waited and then I
got my shot and it was kind of rocky. Even

(02:08):
though it's not all my fault, we're losing these games.
Though clearly he's had some bad moments. I'd be like, well,
what's the point of staying here? But I also understand
where people are like, wait, what you just like quit?
You spend all this time. It just shows the the

(02:29):
loyalty to the teammates. And I saw Brady went on
this rant. I forget where it was, but sometimes you
see it on your Instagram reels. He's like, when I
was in college, it was a program. I learned everything
from the fundamentals of football to how to deal with
adversity and just how to deal with people teammates for

(02:51):
five years and that served me really well once I
got to the NFL. I do think there is it's
fair to come into question because in the NFL things
are inevitably gonna get hard, just like in life, things
are inevitably gonna get hard. And if your first response

(03:11):
is like I'm leaving, I quit. Obviously we've all had
that response at one point in time. But the one
thing college football is clearly just advocating for is like,
the moment shit goes wrong, I'm out. And while I
understand it, I think we all do. If you put
yourself in the individual shoes, I just think big picture,

(03:34):
it can't be serving everyone well. It clearly works out
for some people and not everyone transfers for the same reasons,
right Like Caleb left Oklahoma to go with Lincoln Riley,
not that weird. Cam Ward went from Washington State to
the U Like no shit, I would have done that too,
Will Howard Kansas State to to Ohio State. That one's

(03:59):
pre black and white. Even Caleb Downs, the safety that
transferred from Alabama to Ohio State, well, he ain't transferring
if Nick Saban still there. And I also understand the
star defensive lineman at South Carolina who looks like, I
don't know, Miles Garrett meets Clowney. There was a story
yesterday I saw on the old Twitter formerly known as

(04:22):
Twitter now x that he's already negotiating with the collective
because his new value is like two to five million dollars. Well,
where do you think that new value comes from? Can
you imagine it's not very difficult to figure it out
who's got the money? Well, Ohio State, Texas, Texas A,
and m Oregon. Let's just use those schools as an example.

(04:46):
Do you think they're hitting him up constantly? And this
is where college is a little out of whack. It's like,
I got this guy at my school. Obviously he's worth
a ton to us, but you guys are just constantly
hitting them up during the season. So it's just I'm
not some moral high horse on this. And even I understand,

(05:07):
like if i'm him, like I'm worth more like yesterday's price.
Ain't today's price like welcome to the big league's life.
I mean, that's how it works. But there has to
be some sort of rules, right, Like Jamar Chase can't
just pick up and leave in the middle of the
season from the Bengals because.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's not going well.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
And that's where I think we gotta find some middle
ground on everything, coaches included. But it's just crazy. The
moment anyone gets bench now, it's like fuck you, I'm out.
It's like, okay, well what about the all your buddies
for four years? And listen. Maybe I'm jaded. I came
up in a different world, but I do think it's
pretty cool to just like when I was a jia

(05:47):
at Fresno State, you know, I'm still fall A lot
of these guys you know them, you know, through social
media or whatever, and obviously they're very very close with that.
I don't know the people that they spent four to
five years with and now it's I guess it's cool
that some of these people play for like seven different teams.
It's like you get friends everywhere. So I guess it
has its benefits both ways. Just it's it just seems

(06:09):
out of whack. Okay From Aaron Mailbag, big Fan of
the Pod, Sunday was a real wake up call for me.
Seahawks fan I've defended Gino for a couple of years
and still think there's a strong case for him having
the best value contract outside of the rookies. But those
red zone iron t's were brutal. I agree. I mean

(06:32):
the one the pick six was obviously horrendous, but the
one he threw that, I think it was a tight
end screen where the line the D lineman kind of
holds the tight end and so he's not even looking.
Gino's looking right at him and sees the guy's backs
to him. You cannot throw that ball like that is

(06:53):
just one oh one. Throw it at the guy's ankles.
I think that pick ended up not leading to points,
but that that was that was worse than the pick six.
That said, our offensive line has been awful and that
hasn't helped either. There's a quote from Schneider back in
March that's resurfacing on Seahawks' Twitter where he mentioned that

(07:15):
guards tend to get overdrafted and overpaid. Maybe that explains
where O line has struggled for over a decade. I
don't think John should be in the hot seat, but
I do feel he hasn't faced enough criticism for neglecting
the O line, I'm going to disagree with him on
getting overdrafted. I think you can find good players in

(07:40):
the third, fourth, and fifth round at guard and center. Now,
I do agree with them that they get overpaid last
free agency cycle. I mean, we had guards, solid players,
like solid starters. But we're not talking Larry Allen here
or Steve Hutchinson. We're talking just you know, got plug

(08:00):
and play starters making eighteen nineteen twenty million dollars. That's
where I jumped the shark. But like I'll use the
Niners as an example. They got Dominic Pooney from Kansas,
who Brian Baldinger talks about like every day. I mean,
he's like clearly one of the best guards immediately in
the league, and I think he was a third round pick.
So to me, guards, I've always believed this guards and

(08:22):
centers you can find. Obviously, there are some elite centers
and elite guards that go in the first round, and
I'm not disputing that. Especially the last couple of years,
we've seen some centers go high and if you think
the guy is a can't miss, then okay. But I
do think historically you can find a ton of both
those positions. I would say pass pick fifty. You know

(08:45):
Pooney was pick eighty six. When I was with the Eagles,
Jason Kelce was six round pick. I think, I just
think that you can find guards, and I also think
then you know, part of what makes mid round picks
become high end players, Like it's much harder to find
Max Crosby's in the fourth or fifth round, like he's

(09:09):
an outlier. Most of the best defensive linemen right in
the NFL, at defensive end or defensive tackle, are really
high picks. They're not all number one picks, but like
you know, Bosa, Miles Garrett obviously top five picks. But
TJ Watt first round pick, Chris Jones, pretty sure he's

(09:32):
a second round pick. Jj Watt first round pick Aaron
Donald first. Like to get big time defensive lineman like
Max Crosby's an outlier in that group. But when you
and same with tackles, most high end tackles are either
first or second round picks. You don't see like many
superstar tackles, like in the sixth, seventh round. You know,

(09:53):
the Eagles what they have in what's his name that's
injured right now? Malata pretty unique scenario dude's coming from Australia. Right.
If you put Jordan Mylotta at like Texas A and
M or Bama or Oregon at eighteen and let him
play college football for a couple of years, I think
it's safe to say he's not going in the seventh round.

(10:15):
So I just think that you have to a lot
of pressures on the coaching staff to coach those guys up.
I guess that's long winded way of saying that why
do teams consistently draft projects in the draft, especially at quarterback?

(10:36):
Anthony Richardson and Lance are good examples of complete bus
But players like Burrow, Stroud, Daniels, Knicks, Lawrence, Tua, Kyler, etc.
All had a lot of snaps under their belts by
the time they got to the league and can all
at least play. It seems like experience should be a

(10:59):
bigger dear than physical tools. Well, the guys you listed
Burrow won, Stroud to Jayden two, Lawrence one two a five,
Kyler one. Bo. Nick's little outlier in the group was
like pick what twelve? I mean he just listed all
these guys that went really high. So I think if

(11:22):
you gave Chris Ballard the option, would you rather have
Joe Burrow, Stroud, Jaden Daniels or Anthony Richardson. I think
he would have taken that group of guys over Anthony Richardson.
You know, looking when the forty nine ers took Trey Lance,
which to me is way worse than Anthony Richardson. Anthony
Richardson is dramatically better than Trey Lance. He's way more

(11:44):
talented one. So if you're gonna take a huge project,
take the more talented guy. And he's just it's crazy
to say a better player, because he's much better athlete
running around. But like CJ. Stroud was already off the board,
so he didn't really have any options. Part of taking
it's like why do I invest in some stocks that

(12:05):
are way down because I think they have a high upside?
Like why do I risk anything in life? Cause I
think there's value to the risk. I think there's a reward.
It doesn't mean like sometimes when you risk, whether you're gambling,
playing blackjack, whether you're investing in stocks, whether you take
a risk on a relationship, whether you take a risk.

(12:27):
You know, how many people do know that have left
a job for a quote unquote startup company? Or a
guy stole someone from a company and he gave him
a little equity in the deal and he incentivized him.
Like I mean, life's full of risks and it's just
about taking educated risk. And let's face it, no matter
how much information you have, there's always going to be unknown.

(12:48):
And unlike most of our jobs, where it's like you
can kind of see an industry going, Like if you
go into local TV and news right now, like I like,
get ready, you're going to get fired price soon. Like
if you're trying to start your radio career in twenty
twenty four, godspeed, good luck. But if you're like, hey, man,
I have this idea for this digital marketing or this

(13:10):
digital media or whatever, like okay, you can see the
future there. I'm just using an example that I'm comfortable with.
But it's no different than like the quarterback. You're like, hey,
we really like this guy. We think he's really sharp.
We just have a lot of work to do. So
that they took a huge risk, But sometimes with huge
risks come huge payoffs, and sometimes with huge risks equal disaster.

(13:36):
And I would say, as of right now, they have disaster,
But I would also say they didn't pass on CJ.
Stroud or Jaden Daniels or Joe Burrow, or even like
a guy like Tua for Anthony Richardson. You talk a
lot about how organizations need key pieces to be competitive,
such as a quarterback, an elite coach, a good wide receiver,

(13:57):
a pass rush, a left tackle. Suppose the Raiders fire
Antonio Pierce. What's the path you would take? I think
Vrabel makes a lot of sense, and he can bring
along his own offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. They already
have a left tackle, they have Crosby. If they could
land t Higgins in free agency, that would be a

(14:19):
major upgrade in their receiving corps. In the draft, they
could find a running back. This draft's loaded with running backs,
so the biggest hurdle would be a quarterback. But maybe
they could try and make a deal with Atlanta for Pennix.
That would be a solid starting quarterback with key pieces
on the team and.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
A lead coach.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
To me, I hear Michael Lombardi talk about this a lot,
and I think every team is in a different scenario
like to me, the let's use the Patriots for example. Obviously,
you know there are a lot of question marks they
are going. But if you've watched a couple snaps of
Drake May, it's pretty clear his physical attributes are pretty special.

(15:03):
Like he is the type quarterback that everyone would want
to work with, right, Like the Colts, for example, would
die to trade their project Anthony Richardson for that. But
it's incumbent on them now to build the team around him,
get an offensive line, and get wide receivers. The Raiders

(15:23):
have no quarterback, and depending on where they end up
in the draft, you know, they might not even have
an option on a couple of the guys that are
worthy of the top pick, and none of these other
guys are.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
Why don't we build the team first?

Speaker 1 (15:39):
Why don't we If I'm vverable and I come in,
just go Can we just get a good team and
get solid players and get going in the right direction
and do our version of maybe like pay a Sam Donald.
Why don't we just give Sam Donald like two years,
forty million dollars and let's just get going in the
right direction and figure it out from there. Let's no

(16:01):
longer be a constant joke every single week, like, let's
not be obsessed with the quarterback because I think sometimes
you do that it backfires, but also understanding we need
one eventually. But historically this organization, like you know, Derek
was a nine year starter for them, and he was

(16:24):
better then than he is now. But if they would
have done a better job of building around him having
a good defense, like they could have been a competitive team.
They got rich Gannon in his thirties and he was
leading them to the playoffs every year and won an MVP.
So like, not every quarterback you just need to get
the number one pick and landed Joe Burrow, Like there
are different ways to find a guy. The Cowboys won

(16:48):
twelve games three straight years with Dak Prescott drafted the
middle rounds. Kirk Cousins won a lot of games. Rock
Purty was drafted in the seventh round. Jalen Hurts was
drafted in the second round. So it's like, I think,
you just how can we pick the best players, get
the best coaches, and just start making progress. I think

(17:09):
that's part of the problem with the Raiders is there's
just no progress ever made. And part of that is
when you fire people constantly, It's like, how do you
ever get a vision? Because we all think differently, so
everyone has a different thought on how to build a
football team, and it kind of reflects and shows Joe

(17:32):
Burrow is sixty percent against the spread. Don't bet against
Joe Burrow. Jared Goff is sixty against the spread. Bruce
Arians is gonna wind up the Bengals head coach next season.
You know, it's awfully interesting. I haven't I haven't listened
to Bruce talk lately, so I don't know his desire

(17:54):
and drive to get back in the mix. I mean
he did have a job, did Brady for some out
that he just quit. Obviously, I think we could argue
till we're blue in the face on that one. Everyone's
got a different opinion. He how old is Bruce Arians
right now? I mean he has had some Hell's issues.
I typed in Bruce Arena, the old soccer coach, Bruce

(18:19):
Arians seventy two years old. I don't know if he
still wants to coach now. I could see him doing
this maybe just hey, I'll be your offensive coordinator for
a year or two, just because I love football, and
it'd be a pretty unique spot to you know, coach Burrow.
I don't know. I think the Bengals would be a
pretty big wild card if they fire Zach Taylor, which,

(18:42):
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Speaker 1 (20:39):
First, I just wanted to say, I think it's hilarious
when you say a guy couldn't hit water if he
was on the boat in the middle of the ocean.
You should come up with a saying for the Ravens dbs,
like they couldn't cover a small leak with a full
roll of flexeal tape. Yeah, they got issues, man, I
just don't understand. Like great players regardless in any sport.

(21:05):
You know, a great shooter is always gonna make shots
over great defense, a great wide receiver is always gonna
get some catches. But there has to be a limit
of Like, hey guys, this Jamar Chase guy. He I
saw Florio write today that it was his historic two games,
Like it's the most yards for a divisional opponent in

(21:26):
the history of the league. I think it was like
four sixty or something. I mean had five touchdowns in
three games, or in two games, five touchdowns over twenty catches.
I mean the first game he almost had two hundred yards.
In the second game he flies. But how's that possible?
How is that possible? Why wouldn't you let all these

(21:48):
other cats, Like what are they gonna do? Go for
five ten yards? This guy can go for fifty at
any moment. How are you not? Well, double coverage, We're
gonna throw off a car. I don't give a fuck
about your rules. It doesn't matter. I don't care who
you got back there. Marcus Williams. If the guy's out
there and he's wearing a Ravens jersey, we need two

(22:08):
guys to figure out whether we attack him like a punt, right,
you know the way you do gunners bracket coverage, a
guy to blow them, a guy ahead of them something.
But even on what could have been the game winning
touchdown when they ended up going for two, how does
he get behind both dps? How is that possible? I'm

(22:33):
not you know, George Seaford here, I'm not some defensive guru,
but there are just basic principles you're watching like, I
don't think this should be happening, which is crazy because
the Ravens offense is so much fun to watch and
their defense is just so terrible, which is somewhat ironic
because historically the Ravens, when you close your eyes and
think about it, you think elite defenses, which has also

(22:56):
changed because they have a guy who's won two MVPs
and who's playing the best football well of his career
by a mile, even relative for those two MVPs, I
don't know. At least your offense is sweet. If the
Bears had any clue what they were doing, they would
fire you for flues at the end of the season.
Who would you hire as the next head coach? I
really like Liam Cohen and I know Ben Johnson would

(23:18):
be the ultimate favorite. You know. I was talking to
Stucky about this yesterday. I think when you look at
these coordinators and you got a job like the Bears,
where there is going to be a ton of pressure,
I mean a ton, it would be a very difficult
job for a first time coordinator, you know, a first

(23:42):
time head coach, a guy coming from a coordinator. I
think I just looked up Liam Cohen. He's thirty nine
years old. I think Ben Johnson's basically the same. They're
basically my age. It's a great time for my generation,
guys born in like eighty four, eighty five, eighty six,
eighty three, Like we're fucking taken over. So props to
Liam Cohen and Ben Johnson. But one point I had

(24:07):
with Stucky is when someone knocks on Andy Reid's door,
and it could be anything from hey, hey, coach so
and so team just called they offered us this for
a second round pick, or hey, coach, our starting linebacker

(24:29):
just got into a car crash and he was drunk
and he's in the drunk tank right now. Or hey,
coach our quality control's wife just got diagnosed with a
bad disease. He's gonna have to step away. There is
literally nothing that he hasn't seen or has an experience

(24:52):
dealing with. Now he's obviously at the highest end of
the food chain in terms of longevity experience. But if
you just look at coaches right from the Harbab brothers
to Tomlin to even McVeigh and Kyle, Now those guys
have been coaching eight years. Look at Lafloor, he hasn't

(25:12):
coached as long as those guys are the head coach.
But what has he dealt with, Well, he's dealt with
Aaron Rodgers, which is worth like ten years of experience.
He dealt with a huge quarterback change, He's made massive trades,
He's had injuries, He's had seen it all, coordinator changes.
So you get these guys that come in and it's
easy when you go to a shitty team with no expectations,

(25:34):
it's like you get to find under the radar a
little bit that Bear's job is going to be very difficult.
There are going to be a lot of people paying attention.
There's a lot of just eyeballs behind that gig. It's
not the Cowboys or the Steelers of the forty nine
ers because they just haven't been that good for a
long time. But it's pretty important now, especially when you

(25:56):
bring Caleb Williams and just the talent that's on their team,
Like people just acknow and that division's really good. People
think you should be good. So if you're gonna go
between Ben Johnson and Liam Cohen, like, I'd argue that
Liam Cohen has just done more. He's been a coordinator,
started at a release. I got his resume out at

(26:17):
Maine in twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen. Then McVeigh hired him.
He's an assistant wide receiver coach, then he's assistant quarterback coach,
and then he goes to Kentucky in twenty one, where
will Levis has his best season of his career still
to this date. Then he goes back to the Rams

(26:37):
in twenty two. OC. Pretty sure they won the Super
Bowl that.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
Year, do they not? They super Bowl champs? No, that
was the year they were shitty.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
Okay, never mind, he left the Super Bowl year. Then
he comes back last year offensive coordinator and quarterback coach
to Kentucky and then this year he's the offensive coordinator
of the Bucks. So like to me, he's got a
ton of experience now coaching different type players Stafford Baker, Levis,

(27:13):
Ben Johnson. The only time he's ever been a coordinator
is with Pinay Seul, Jared goff Am and Rossaint Brown
and that crew, and he's been awesome. But one guy
has just seen a lot more stuff. They both were.

(27:35):
Was Liam a college quarterback? Yeah, he played quarterback at
UMass and Ben Johnson was he attended and play He
was a walk on quarterback in North Carolina, So they
basically were both, you know.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
Walk on type quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
I don't know what I've seen out of Liam Cohen,
you know, weird, this is gonna sound crazy. Is every
bit as impressive as Ben Johnson? Because I think Liam Cohen,
if you gave him to Dan Campbell right now at
that offense, would be awesome too, just like if you
gave Lafleur McVeagh, Andy Reid, like they would all kick ass.
Good coordinator is gonna kick ass. He's a good coordinator,

(28:16):
But like what about all the other stuff? And I
just don't know. I'm not anti Ben Johnson by any means.
I'm not trying to be some hater, but in a
job that, like it's the fucking Hunger Games, ambitious people
dominate that profession. It's why immediately Jonathan Gannon got offered

(28:37):
a job, left the Eagles and it didn't even hesitate.
These people leave in a heartbeat. This guy's had the opportunity,
he just turned down.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
Washington.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Think about that. But you could have been coaching Jayden
Daniels and listen, I know he's in the heat of
the battle. It's the playoffs, so he's not he doesn't
want that much LSU football, But like, that's a pretty
big mistake. And if you're gonna be in the head
coaching mix, you better fucking know who can play and

(29:09):
who can't play in college. If you're gonna take one
of the jobs that you're gonna have a top pick.
And honestly, there's less pressure on those jobs, but there
ain't less pressure on the Bears. So this is a
guy that was hesitant to handle pressure and now he's
gonna go the Bears. I think it's I think a
lot of people the conversation on him. It's there's two

(29:32):
separate angles to this. One is a play caller and
two like can he be the lead dog? I don't
know can Liam? I don't know much about Liam Cohen.
I've heard about an interviewer too. I think Schreger had
him on one time. Seems like a cool guy. I
just think, like, if I'm the Bears, I need someone
that I know has some experience. You know, if Bruce

(29:55):
Arians was younger, like I'd be all over Bruce Arians,
Like Bruce Arians is perfect, Mike Vrabel is perfect. Like
this is a this is an intense gig. I don't
know if there's much learning on the job. Like you
can learn on the job in Jacksonville? Who cares? Right?
Who else been fired already? Like you can learn on

(30:17):
the job with the Raiders, Like whatever, it doesn't necessarily matter.
Look at the Chargers that they did not need to
learn on the job guy.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
They have had that before.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
They need a guy that could hit.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
The ground running.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
So what do they do? They called Jim Harbaugh shit.
He might have called them considering the Bengals early season
was Unfortunately, it clouts the performance of Joe Burrow objectively,
He's playing arguably the best ball.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
Of his career.

Speaker 1 (30:41):
Week after week, him and Chase put up video game numbers.
The Bengals historically being a more fiscally cheap franchise and
the fact that they haven't paid Chase yet long term,
how do you see the future play out? Does Zach
Taylor come back? Do they pay Chase? I think? I mean,

(31:02):
there is no way on God's green Earth, Jamar Chase
isn't on the team next year. Part of the reason
they didn't pay him this year is looking as contract,
they owed him five million dollars, So it's like, would
you rather pay a guy five million dollars in cash
this year or next year? Give him a huge race?

(31:24):
And I think a lot of these teams when they
draft these guys in the first round, ideally they just
want to play it out through their first round contract.
Jamar Chase is a dominant elite player. You just don't
let those guys go. And I would expect him to
be on the team next year with a huge contract.
And props to Jamar for dominating so much this year

(31:46):
that they're not going to be able to get him.
You know, they could have got him cheaper this year,
but they'd say whatever, what the Hell's difference between one
hundred and five million and one hundred.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
And eighteen million. It's all a line item does.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
But through ten games, he's got sixty six catches for
almost one thousand yards and ten touchdowns. He's on pace
for by far his best season of his career. I mean,
he's gonna end up with looks like I would say,
one hundred and ten plus catches, fifteen sixteen hundred yards

(32:22):
and seventeen eighteen touchdowns. That's like, isn't that part of life? Like, Hey,
you don't think I'm worthy to pay? Now, we'll get
ready because it's gonna be more. I would say, Zach
Taylor again on Edgy. It's not like Mike Brown's telling
me this, but after watching him in that game, and
I obviously I've watched the two Ravens games start to finish,

(32:44):
which I mean are two defining games of their season.
How can you have Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow in
two games against the Ravens do what they did and
lose both games? It seriously is kind of unacceptable. Like
if I was a Bengals fan right now, I'd be like,

(33:07):
how is this possible? So against the Ravens on October sixth,
my fortieth birthday, Joe Burrow threw for four hundred yards,
five touchdowns seventy seven percent completion percentage. Last night, he
threw four hundred and thirty yards and four touchdowns. In
the two games, he threw nine touchdowns. If I say

(33:28):
Joe Burrow is gonna play a team in the AFC
North and throw nine touchdowns in two games, he'd be like, well,
they're gonna win them both. It's like, no, actually, they
lost them both. That's pretty bad. Why do players re
sign with bad organizations? Take Burrow organization historically cheap owner,

(33:52):
a coach who's been there a few years and we
don't know if he's really actually good or not. Why
sign an extension with them instead of playing out the
contract and signing with the team who will put him
in a better position to get a ring. Well, in
fairness to the Bengals, in Joe Burrow, they were leading
in a Super Bowl his whatever second or third year.

(34:14):
They had the lead in the Super Bowl in the
second in the fourth quarter. The following year they went
to the AFC Championship Game. So if I tell you
a guy on his rookie contract back to back years
AFC Championship games. One year he's in a Super Bowl
and they easily could have won it. I think you'd

(34:34):
be hard pressed to say, well, that guy's gonna think
he's on a pretty good team, pretty good organization, so
like he had had tangible success with them. I also think,
and I remember this when I lived in Philadelphia, there
was at the time Cole Hamil's was going to be

(34:56):
a free agent, and back then, like one hundred, one
hundred and twenty million dollars was a lot of money
for these pictures, and people thought if he could make
it the free agency, someone might offer one hundred and
fifty million dollars. And I remember they offered him a
contract and he signed it, and it basically came out

(35:16):
that like, yeah, they put one hundred and twenty million
dollars on my desk. It was really difficult to not
put my name to it. And I think when you
use Joe Burrow as an example, they come to his
agent and they say, hey, we want to sign you
to an extension. They're like, well, what's the extension. They're like, well,

(35:39):
five years, two hundred and seventy five million dollars, one
hundred and fifty guaranteed at signing bonus or at signing
and tomorrow there'll be forty million dollars in your bank account.
So it's like, yeah, I was already rich and I'd
already made up to that point in time. So before

(36:00):
I signed the huge extension, you know, he had made
forty five million dollars. That's what he made off, you know,
his rookie contract, which is not bad at all, But
then they offered that type money, what are you supposed
to do? I think there's a human element to it,
and they had proven that they weren't a joke. So

(36:21):
I think when when the way sometimes the Bengals are
talked about, I feel can be a little unfair. I
think sometimes they get discussed like they are I don't know,
the Raiders or the Jags like in my adult life.
The Bengals have won a lot of games like just

(36:44):
let's just go the last decade twenty twelve, ten, eleven, ten,
twelve rough stretch here, they had a rough stretch from
sixteen to twenty then twenty one, ten, twenty two twelve.
Last year, which was a shitty year for them, they
won nine and this year they're four and six. They'll

(37:08):
probably end up eight to nine, nine and eight. To me,
they're like the better version of the pre harbought Chargers
Cowboys fan. This week, with the Cowboys hosting the Eagles,
do you think there's a possibility of an upset? The
Eagles schedule after this game is home versus the Comis

(37:28):
and then away at Rams and Ravens. Could they get
caught looking ahead? I think it's hard to look ahead
when the core of your team has all viewed this
team like a rival because the games in which you've
played them the last couple of years. I think this
is the thing with division games. Even if my team

(37:53):
as a player, as a coach, even as a fan
is having a shitty year or vice versa. I'm having
a good year, but my rival, Like, look at the Bengals,
they're gonna miss the playoffs. Let's say they end up
going eight to nine and the Ravens end up going
twelve or thirteen wins, probably with that defense, probably more
eleven or twelve wins, but.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (38:15):
So there's a three or four game difference between the
two teams. When they play. These guys get up for
it like the Super Bowl. I saw it last year
with the Rams or two years ago when the Rams
are having a bad season. The forty nine Ers took
those games seriously and vice versa. So I think the

(38:35):
division games, I think it's much much easier for non
divisional opponents. Me and Stuck you were talking. You can
already see the Kansasy Chiefs laying an egg at Carolina.
In what world can the Chiefs take the Carolina Panthers seriously?

(38:57):
If you tell me the Chiefs went sixteen and one
or fifteen and two and one of their losses was
to the Carolina Panthers, I would believe you, because think
about this. The Chiefs last couple games. They went the
forty nine Ers, which was a huge game for them.
Then they played the Raiders, a divisional game. Then they

(39:17):
had a Monday night football game which they clearly took
really seriously. Then they come home against the Broncos, which
is like a historic rivalry. Then they played the Bills,
then they played the Panthers. You'd go, in no world,
could Patrick Mahomes, Kelsey Chris Jones. They should be able
to beat them with their eyes closed, But what if

(39:39):
their eyes are literally closed throughout the week sleeping, napping,
not taking it seriously. They're human beings, so I think
it's very, very difficult for teams in your division to
not be taken seriously. I think it's much easier if
you told me, like the Cowboys played some good team
late in the season.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Let me just pull up your schedule.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
You guys could have an upset, because that's the NFL.
I mean, they're going to be countless upsets the rest
of the season. So you got the Eagles, the Texans,
the Commanders, the Giants, the Bengals, the Panthers, the Bucks.
I guess you just have so many division games. It's
a bad example. But if you told me you were

(40:23):
playing like the Steelers, you know, or you know, a
team late in the season now that you suck, I
would say you could win those games. That's just the
way football works. Before my first ever mail, bad question,
I want to let you know I've been listening for
about four years. Doubt I've ever missed an episode. I
appreciate this. Thank you, William. I was away from family

(40:46):
and friends for work for a couple of years, and
listening to the pod was like hanging out with the buddy.
Huge Packer fan but question about Joe Burrow. If he
were more durable, any chance he would be considered as
good as Mahomes. I think it's less about that he's
durable or not. Because he got hurt his first year.

(41:08):
He did not miss a game in twenty one or
twenty two, where he was pretty awesome, thirty four touchdowns,
thirty five touchdowns. He got injured last year with the
wrist where he was, you know, kind of struggling. They
were five and five, and he was probably on pace
for his worst statistical year non rookie year, and then
he came back this year. His defense is clearly not

(41:30):
as good, his offensive line kind of stinks, but he
is having I mean, he's on pace to have the
best statistical year of his career. He's got twenty four touchdowns,
four interceptions. I mean, he could throw. It's not inconceivable.
He throws thirty eight touchdowns this season. Now, part of
that is they're down, so he's trying to bring him back,

(41:54):
I would guess. But I guess think about the Rannits
game they've had, they had the lead in a couple
of those. Maybe it's because they can't really the ball.
I think it's less about if he was more durable.
I think if you put him with a better coach,
I think we would discuss him differently. And I think
he has a chance now to be the new Stafford

(42:16):
where a couple of Ravens fans DM me, They're like, God,
that guy's tough. He's getting slammed to the ground, I
mean body slammed. He doesn't even look at the referee,
which honestly, I really respect, even though it probably would
help his cause if he kind of went NBA player.
But like you know, Stafford was an incredible talent and

(42:40):
an awesome player that everyone around the NFL loved, but
he played for the Lions and for a lot of
his career is just a little out of sight, out
of mind, And Burrow is probably a steroid version of that,
because you know, ten and six, twelve and four last year,
he's five and five this year, four and six, Like
his team feels like more competitive. And he's been excellent

(43:01):
in the playoffs. I mean his playoff records five and two,
nine touchdowns, sixty seven in the playoffs. Like, he's been
really good in the playoffs. I think we all know
Joe Burrow is really good, but if you're gonna if
your owner is gonna fire Zach Taylor, Like, who's he
gonna hire? Because if you were to hire like Bill Belichick,
I think we'd all pay attention to him if he's

(43:22):
gonna hire I don't know some rando then who knows?
Lifelong Lions fan thirty five years Good time to be
a Lions fan. Just wondering your thoughts on the Coach

(43:44):
of the Year award. It always seems to go to
a coach with a surprise season. But don't you think
that Dan Campbell is more deserving. I mean, the Lions
have been a dumpster fire my whole life, and we
are arguably the best team in the NFL. Florio touched
on this on his pod. Curious your thoughts. I'll be honest,

(44:09):
I don't get that caught up in Like to me,
the MVP award or All pros and stuff for players
is something we really use as an argument. Think about
Andy Reid. He has won AP Coach of the Year,
which I think is the one that most people value

(44:31):
one time in his career. I'm looking at all these
coach of the years like Football Weekly or Sporting News.
He's won none of these since he had Patrick Mahomes,
none of them. I think Bill Belichick is the same way.
I think the great part about coaching is the only

(44:54):
thing that truly defines you. Belichick won AP Coach the
Year three times. But do you know what defines Belichick
and Andy and the guys that we hold the highest team?
You know, over the course of my life, home grined
Mike Shanahan is like wins and losses. It's honestly the
only thing that matters as a coach. How many games
you win, how do you do in the playoffs. It's

(45:18):
not like, Hey, you know Brett Farvel won won Super Bowl,
he won three MVPs, he was a seven time First
team All Pro. You know Peyton Manning won two Super Bowls,
he won four or five MVPs, he was ten time
All Pro as a coach. You just go, yeah, Andy
Reid won a lot three Super Bowls, went to five.

(45:38):
I mean yeah, I think the argument kind of ends there.
I think you could argue when we talk about coaching,
and I think Dan Campbell is of the mold of
the Harball Brothers. I think I think he's like the
third Harrorball Brothers. When you talk about John Harbaugh or
Jim Harbaugh, like coach of the year. I think if
we sat down and we buy six pack, or I

(46:01):
poured a couple of stiff cocktails and I just said, Hey,
we're just gonna talk football coaches for the next hour,
I don't think the words coach of the year would
ever come up. Ever, I do think it matters for players,
just like in college, like the Heisman that matters, Like
if Travis Hunter wins the Heisman this year, that's really

(46:23):
important for the legacy of him, the sport, his program.
I don't think in football, I don't think coach of
the Year means anything. Honestly, doesn't mean a thing, because
you couldn't tell me how many times does Bill Walsh

(46:43):
one coach of the year. I don't know how many
times did Mike Holmgrin or Mike Shanahan. You'd have no clue.
But I go, how many Super Bowls Mike Shanahan win?
Be Oh, he went to how many Super bowls?

Speaker 2 (46:56):
Andy Reid has? Oh, he's got three?

Speaker 1 (46:59):
How many super Bowls? John ha have he's got one?

Speaker 2 (47:01):
But got it?

Speaker 1 (47:02):
Thought, you have a super Bowl team last year? Can
he win a Super Bowl this year? Like that's all that.
I think that's the only thing that matters. And I
think that's what cool if you're a Lions fan, Like,
none of that means shit. Like it was cool to
have Barry Sanders win the MVP, you know when I
was a kid, because who didn't love Barry Sanders Whether
you lived in Michigan or whether you live in Sacramento, California,

(47:25):
it didn't matter. But like, would he have traded that
MVP to have a thirteen win Super Bowl team?

Speaker 2 (47:32):
Of course he would have.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
So it's like the only thing that matters right now
is like your team's unreal and everyone's on the same page, like, yeah,
the Lions are sweet, Lions are good. So I guess
my overall take is I think Coach of the Year,
I just don't care. I really don't. It means nothing
to me. I think Dan Campbell is just provenly knows
what he's doing. He's really good. He's really really good.

(48:01):
And I think the way you judge a coach is
like you watch his team player, like, god, it's a
well coach team. I mean, honestly, I think that was
the defining characteristic for Bill Belichick. It's why all this
back and forth, whose team whatever, it's like anyone of
I would say thirty five years older that it's a
football fan that watched Brady and Belichick's teams for twenty

(48:23):
years just went God. They out coached everybody. And I
think that is the defining characteristic of Andy Reids and
Patrick Mahomes Scott. They beat you like seven different ways
over the course of like five or six years. They
can win this way, they can win that way. They
can win in this environment, they can win in that environment.
They can win playing this way, they can win play
that way. That's what a great coach is. And I

(48:47):
think that's gonna be the defining characteristic in the alliance.
Like can they win a super Bowl? Because if they do,
it'll change his life forever, It'll change the franchise forever.
You could argue a super Bowl like, for example, I'm
a Niner guy. It's really important to Kyle's career to
win a super Bowl because it would validate.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
The way people talk about him.

Speaker 1 (49:11):
But like the forty nine Ers is a franchise have
been to what three super Bowls since twenty twelve, They've
been to like seven championship games. They've already won five
Super Bowls, So yeah, it would be a big deal,
but it doesn't like change the franchise forever. Like this year,
if Ohio State wins the National championship, it's a really

(49:34):
big deal, and it's a really big deal for Ryan Day,
but they've won national championships before and they will win
national championships again. If Oregon wins the national Championship, you'd
be like, holy shit, Oregon won their first ever national championship.

(49:54):
Or if like Boise State, like Boise State made it
to the Final four, they beat Penn State Miami, that's insane.
Like if the Lions were to win a Super Bowl,
I would put the Bills too. It'd be like the
Bills finally did it. They freaking did it. It's just

(50:15):
my take. Have a great weekend. Appreciate everyone listening. Make
sure you subscribe to the podcast also YouTube, and I'll
talk to everyone soon. Audios the volume
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