3 & Out - Reaction to the Philadelphia Eagles DEFEATING the Dallas Cowboys on TNF - The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on? Everybody? How are you doing?
John Middlecoffe here Three and Out podcast. We just did

(00:24):
a live reaction on YouTube, which is also our podcast,
so you will hear that from the game that we
just witnessed the Eagles beat the Cowboys, from the spitgate
to Jalen Carter getting ejected before the first snap, to
the lightning delay two ceedee lambs drops to tush pushes.

(00:47):
We got it all the night. What a start for
the National Football League. So we'll dive into that. Christian
McCaffrey injured again, shocker, and you know you're I'm not
exactly Adam Scheff, but boy went a little viral today,
and we'll dive into kind of the ramifications of the

(01:07):
story that was discussed with the scouts being banned and
then Stucky. A lot of you guys have asked to
Stucky return my guy Stucky from the Action Network, degenerate gambler. No,
I mean this guy when it comes to college football
and basketball, no one's is locked in in football. He
knows every player and every roster. So we bonded years

(01:29):
ago with gambling and he comes on I record with
him every Thursday morning and we'll hit on a couple
of college games, we'll hit on the NFL slate who
he likes, some prop bets, and that'll be basically every
Friday podcast. He actually has a baby on the way too,
so yeah, so we'll see how that plays out in
December and January for both of us. But we're gonna

(01:51):
be rocking and rolling here. You guys know the deal.
Subscribe to the podcast wherever you may listen, Spotify, Apple,
you guys know the Drill also YouTube channel. Subscribe after that,
we're going live after some of these primetime games, and
then we just obviously put it out as a podcast
with the anything else we do, So go check that out.
We got it. We got a lot going on and

(02:12):
we will dive into it all. But before we dive
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price is guaranteed. Where oh where do we start? That
game was a marathon literally with the lightning delay, our delay,
bananas start to the game with Jalen getting kicked out.
The Cowboys get the ball back with under three minutes

(03:18):
with a chance to drive right down the field. I
thought Dak played really well tonight. Even at one point
in time, my wife looks over to me, She's like,
did Dak get good? I'm like, well, you know, he's
actually a decent player. He's playing pretty well tonight. He
was slinging that pill around. Obviously at the end of
the game, hit seedee lamb right in the bread basket

(03:39):
and that ball comes flying right out of his hands.
Everyone was moving so fast. It really wasn't that close
to get getting intercepted, even though it went through a
Philadelphia Eagles defender's hands as well. But that was kind
of the game I personally, you know, I think it
was fourth and three or fourth and four. It was
fourth and three.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
I hate a go route. I hate something deep breaking
down field. I understand you're in a one on one situation.
I understand you're with one of the more talented players
at any position in the NFL. You give him a
spot to make a play. But you know, Dak kind
of off his back put throwing it up now. I'm
also not a proponent of running like a I don't know,

(04:21):
some quick moving play outside of the pocket that takes
out half the field. You see that play run sometimes,
and if it gets taken away, the quarterback has nowhere
to go. I don't pretend to be some offensive schematic genius,
but I do like some relatively easier options. Listen, you know,
more than likely Fangio had been blitzing down the stretch.
You might need to get the ball out of your

(04:42):
hands quickly, But when you throw that moon ball, I
don't care if it's Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Calvin Johnson,
Ceede Lamb. I mean elite. Obviously you're throwing it up
to an elite player. It's kind of like a coin flip.
Feels a little bit like you're playing roulette. I love
playing Roulette as much as the next guy. When you're hot,
it's badass. But when you're putting chips around. Hell, when

(05:04):
you're putting on a red and black and it's going
up the opposite, it sucks. And when that ball's in
the air, let's face it, it's not a high percentage
to being completed. So the Cowboys were in a position
where they were massive underdogs with the Eagles. As Chris
Collins were said, the moment it happened, the best defensive
player on the team and easily one of the more

(05:26):
talented young players in the entire NFL, in the entire NFL,
gets booted before you can even blink. Huge advantage for
the young offensive line. They're in a position to drive
and win the game, and they don't really give themselves
a chance. Now, I also think let's start with that
situation because that's gonna be a major headline tomorrow, I

(05:48):
would says the first half played out, It's one of
the more jarring starts to a game I've ever seen.
I don't ever remember. Now. You can argue my memories
slipping a little as I age, but I'm pretty go
to the football stuff. Don't remember a player getting ejected
in a situation where the game. You've seen crazy things
happen before the game. You remember guys have been suspended

(06:11):
by their own team, Like remember Jamis came out in
college in his pads and Jimbo Fisher was pissed off
and told him to take him off. Like, we've seen
crazy stuff happen way before the game fights, probably more
in college that happened in the pregame warmups. But once
the game starts and the kickoff happens, and they're kind
of setting it up to start for TV, and the

(06:31):
two huddles are taking place, all of a sudden, you
don't really know what's going on because this dude on
the Eagles just tore his acl who is coming off
last season where he tore his knee and missed the
entire season. You see his face going, how the fuck
can this be happening again? Kind of feel bad for
the guy, and then all of a sudden, Jalen Carter
is ejected. You're like, what is going on? Obviously as

(06:53):
it plays out, you realize he spit on him. I'm
getting text from people in the NFL like he's getting suspended.
He's gonna get suspended how many games? I don't know,
one game, two games, and I'm not Some proponents like
this guy has to get suspended for this. Honestly, it
didn't cross my mind he was gonna get spended at first.
Then Florio reports about the rules, He's like, Jayn Carr
is gonna be in some trouble. He just impromptu, you know, unprovoked,

(07:14):
goes up to the starting quarterback on the opening night
for the National Football League and you could say, listen,
you know, Jalen Carter was in a vehicle that ran
another vehicle off the road where people died. Now you
could argue he wasn't in the NFL yet, But like
the NFL looks past a lot of shit. But when
you mess with their games, when you devalue the shield

(07:37):
on the this is how they make their money. That
is the revenue generator. NBC Thursday Night, Sunday Night Monday
night the primetime games. If I had to guess, I mean,
I don't know, but I seventeen million people just watch
arch Manning play Ohio State. So if you told me
Cowboys Eagles Thursday night, thirty five million people, And clearly
we've seen the demos a growing number of women that

(07:59):
was not gonna fly with rog He was fucked. But
then the video comes out and I would imagine it
took place this way. Jalen Carter's in the locker room
telling you know, Sirianni, who's telling the trainers, telling Dom.
They're forwarded to Howie. They get word that, hey, he
provoked me. Now Dack spit at the ground and gave

(08:21):
him a nod. Part of sports is getting under people's
skin like that. Welcome to I don't know the NFL,
and listen. This is why during the draft season so
many people in the media is always like, you're so mean.
You can't say this about their character. You don't know.
Jalen Carter was a massive red flag and one of

(08:42):
the main things I consistently heard, and this happens to
a lot of players struggles with emotional maturity. And you
saw it right there. The guy was tossed before they
played a snap. I started thinking, I can't even imagine
how mad Fangio is. I mean, he's your best player,
and he's the player that the the other team with
young offensive linemen, a rookie guard has spent all week long,

(09:05):
and probably all training camp long, talking, thinking and game
playing against and he's gone. And it was a huge
advantage for the Cowboys. They go right down the field
and really offensively in the first half, they fucking dominated.
And this was an offense that last year couldn't run
the ball. It was in just I mean, their running
back room was terrible. And the night Javonte Williams, once
upon a time was viewed as as like a pretty

(09:26):
good prospect, a pretty talented guy. Obviously had a bad
knee injury. I thought tonight he was running pretty hard.
I don't know what his final numbers were tonight, fifteen carries,
fifty four yards, had a couple of touchdowns, But I
just thought he ran hard. He gave them kind of
a physical element and not having Jalen Carter, I mean,
has a huge domino effect on the defense. Now, I
do believe this. The video of Dak does not absolve

(09:50):
Jalen like, he's gonna get fined one thousand percent. If
you ask me right now, do you think he's gonna
get suspended? That probably gets him off the hook. I
wouldn't bet on it. You never know with rog because again,
that just made the whole thing look a little bad.
And there are a lot of people. It's not just
me and you drinking beer sitting on our couch watching

(10:11):
the game kind of laughing, going that was crazy. It's
a lot of women now, and it's a changing demographics
of the people that watch the sports. Why so many
people were watching the sport. So I would say it's
still on the table. But clearly the Eagles wanted that
message out because listen, I had to google, like, well,
who do the Eagles play next? Oh, they play the
Chiefs in Kansas City and they're coming off a long week,

(10:33):
but so is Kansas City. And I'm going to assume.
I would imagine the Chiefs win in Brazil, and if
they win, you get two one to no teams. Losing
Chris Jones or I mean losing, I mean you're Chris Jones.
Jalen Carter would be a pretty big deal. But this
all show shows and I'm not going to try to,
you know, psychoanalyze this entire situation, him as a player,

(10:54):
their situation big picture. But I always struggle with like,
you know, they're gonna have to pay this guy. We
always love doing that, like seven games into a guy's career,
even Jaden Daniels, Like, you don't have to pay him
for four years, Let's just see him do it for
three more. And I love Jaden Daniels as much as
the next guy. It was like Jalen Carter, They're really
gonna have to break the bank. He had one good season.

(11:16):
You know, part of getting paid huge amounts of money
is every year doing it at a really high level. Right,
So especially with the amounts of money that we're talking
about with defensive lineman, we got a long way to go.
Because that was a moment. Even if you want to say, hey, listen,
Dak got under his skin. The Eagles gotta be furious.
Howie Fangio like that was embarrassing the other players on

(11:37):
the team, Like like Collins Or said the night, it's
basically spitting on all your teammates. That's essentially what you're
doing getting booted out. I mean, you're screwing everybody and
you immediately become a man down right. It's one thing
when guys get injured, it's part of the sport. No
one can't control that, like Landon Dickerson's tort roll and
you know, painkillers wear off as the game goes on.

(11:58):
No one can't control that, so they're down an offensive lineman.
When you do that and you get booted, especially when
you are I mean, there are some star players in
this game that night. There's a lot of money on
this field, from Saquon Barkley to Dak Prescott to Ceedee
Lamb obviously to Jalen Carter as one of these guys.
So you remove one of the major chess pieces, it

(12:21):
just has a huge, huge impact. And listen, you could
argue like that was the Cowboys chance. Now it's hard
to really figure out and quantify, like the second half
was everyone thrown off. They have to disappear in the
locker room for an hour. I can't even imagine the
build up for this game. It's I'm sure it's humid there.

(12:43):
You're just naturally exhausted as the first game of the year,
and then it's a tight game. It's actually a very
entertaining game, and all of a sudden, we call time
out for you know, over sixty minutes and you got
to go back in the locker room and just kind
of sit there. That really threw off the flow. So
trying to act like the end of the game or
the last whatever twenty plus minutes and put that into context,

(13:06):
it's hard because the game had a much different flow
until that happened, and then the game became completely different.
I mean the Cowboys defense, and this was the argument
of like, hey, even if Mike is there, this defense
is gonna be atrocious. Obviously he would help. He's a
fantastic pass ruger. You watch the Cowboys defense in the
first half, You're like, Jalen Carter looks like Barry Sanders,

(13:27):
or I mean, Jalen Hurts looks like Barry Sanders running around.
It's like, what is going on here? They look atrocious.
And then they come back from the delay and they're
just stuffing Sakuan behind the line of scrimmage. They're chasing
Jalen out of the pockets. Like god, they look fast,
they look pretty good. So I think that it's that

(13:48):
delay had a huge, huge impact on the game. But Listen,
if you're the Eagles, you get your best defensive player
kicked out of the game, you know you're starting quarterback.
This is the thing with Jalen Hursts, and this is
why I think it's very, very difficult. Like Dak at
this point in time, he had one run where he
ran for four or five yards. He looked like me
running like his days as a mobile quarterback they're done now.

(14:10):
I wouldn't say Dax's mobility is Kirk Cousins or Jared
Goff but you know, or Joe Flacco. But he is
no longer what I would consider a mobile quarterback. He
is a pocket quarterback who could run a couple of yards.
So the ankle injury, the hamstring injury, he is a
pocket quarterback. Now tonight he was twenty one to thirty

(14:30):
four countless drops. I thought he was slinging that pill.
I thought he was playing at a really really high level.
Jalen very efficient. But you look up and at one
point before that, AJ Brown, and I love this AJ Brown.
The elephant in the room is like AJ Brown hasn't
had a target at one point in times, Like you
guys are up in this game. Why are we word
isn't the goal isn't a team game? Aren't we worried?

(14:51):
AJ Brown's on his third contract, so it's I understand.
Sometimes if you're a young player, it's like production leads
to getting paid. AJ Brown's not contract, not a second contract,
his third contract. He's a fucking elite player, a dominant,
dominant player. No one questions like I wonder if AJ
can produce. We know he can produce. He is a

(15:11):
dominant individual player. They're gonna be games for whatever reason
that he doesn't have much production. Who cares. The point
of the game is to win. And then he gets
that final, final catch but we all know it. We're like, well,
I bet he was gonna be really hot. Probably still
not happy, but at least he gets his target. Now, listen,
that's part of dealing with the wide receivers. You gotta
deal with it. But that was clearly like kind of

(15:33):
floating around, you know, like a cloud. It's like, oh,
this is you. You could win this game by ten.
But man, if he goes, if he gets a goose egg,
not even a target, you know that dude is not
gonna be happy. Be'st the thing with Jalen. He's got
like one hundred and forty yards passing, but he only
has a couple incompletions. You watched him, you think he's
been pretty solid, but he doesn't throw for that many yards,
kind of dinks and dunks a little bit. But his running,

(15:56):
especially in the first half, is just such an element. Listen.
I was head wrong on the player when he came out,
and I watch a lot of Oklahoma and Alabama football,
especially when Lincoln was the coach and Nick Saban was
the coach. I did not think he was an NFL quarterback,
completely wrong. He throws it dramatically better now than he
did in college, obviously, but he's turned into a very
solid thrower of the ball. I did not think it's

(16:18):
throwing college hell, neither Nick Saban. But his running. I said, listen,
if he can't, if this throwing never works out, and
Nick Saban was right. He could be one hundred percent
like a Pro Bowl level starting running back. And you
watch him run the night and listen, he could go
for spurts over the course of a season, especially the
last couple of seasons, where he doesn't really run tonight.

(16:41):
Maybe it's early in the season, maybe its because they're
playing the Cowboys. Maybe he's just amped up, hasn't really
played live football in a while. He just turns that
running back like he's not He's not Kyler, he's not Lamar.
He's really more like a Frank Gore in the open field.
He's kind of slow, steady, instinctive. And you look and
he's got fourteen carries sixty two yards, a couple of touchdowns.
He it is just it's natural. There is a calmness

(17:04):
to his game. Honestly, both these quarterbacks I thought very
under control the night. Nope, I mean the opposite what
we saw of like Arch and some of these quarterbacks
in college kind of freaking out getting those frenetic feet.
Like both these guys is very calm, cool and collected.
Obviously a couple of times both their offensive lines got smoked.
You know, Jalen can scramble much better than Dak at
this point in time. But you know Jalen, it's weird.

(17:26):
He's not he's kind of hit or miss in the pocket.
But he does throw a nice ball, and he hit
Dotson on the one deep ball. He throws a beautiful
deep ball. He's kind of turned into a better version
because he's a much better runner than this player. But
like when Deshaun Watson was really good with Houston because
he's such a good playmaker outside the pockets and he
turns into a great runner and he's pretty solid from

(17:47):
within the pocket. He's definitely just good. One thing that
he brings to the table that I don't think he
gets enough credit for is he will just get rid
of the ball. And he's good at just getting rid
of the ball, either to his check down or his
tight end kind of near round the line of scrimmage,
kind of down in the flats. He does that a lot,
and it just kind of keeps the chain moving. Now, listen,

(18:11):
they voted on it this summer or I guess this spring,
And my take was simple, like, listen, I don't care
either way if they if they let him keep playing,
it's a legal play. This is football. They do it
better than everyone. They have this quarterback and really they're
running back that squat like combined, you know, fifteen hundred pounds.
It's part of strength. My lotta was being quoted by

(18:34):
collins Worth like this play sucks on my body, but
it obviously works. And if they banned it, like I
wasn't gonna complain. I gotta be honest, it's a terrible
play to watch. Now, I get it. If I'm an
Eagle fan, you know it, and I think part of
it's a terrible play to watch. You just know what's
gonna happen. Part of what makes football fun, whether it's

(18:54):
Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or like Daniel Jones, when the
ball is snapped you so even if you're very confident
like Tom Brady's gonna complete it, you don't one hundred
percent know what's gonna happen. I mean, there were plays
to nights like, ah, they're gonna give it to Saquon.
Saquon's probably gonna bust a long run and he get
like a TfL for three or four yards. It's part
of the great part about football. It's why people often

(19:16):
freak out, especially the coaches when it comes like the
Connor stallions or the Belichick you know, deflate gate or
not to play gate, but spygate, or stealing of the signs.
It's like the the purity of the game is the
defense does not know what's coming. Now, they can study
and they can get a good idea, but if I

(19:36):
even have half the idea that I know you're running left,
even if I don't know the run, whether it's an
off tackle, whether it's a pitch, whether it's off the
inside of the guard. That is a huge advantage most defense.
Most times the defense is taking educated guesses, but they
don't know run past what is coming, and the tush
push just feels like an inevitable play right It's it's

(19:58):
almost feels like wh in baseball. I don't even think
they do this anymore because they automatically send them to
first base. But most of my life when they just
go like this and they just throw four straight balls,
you're like, what's the point? And thankfully baseball just kind
of outlawed that and just sends the guy to first base.
But it's just not a fun play to watch now.
I don't blame them for doing it. I would do

(20:19):
it too. It clearly is a very effective play and
it works, but it's kind of a crappy play to watch.
Other than that from this game, yeah, CD man, I'll
reiterate what I said earlier. I do think on fourth
and three, in situations where the game is on the line,
I just don't like kind of go routes and just

(20:43):
fifty to fifty balls down the sideline. I'll just never
be okay with that. I just think that that is
that's taking too big of a chance, especially in a
situation where it's one thing if you're down multiple scores
and you're kind of desperate. It's another thing when you're
down four points and you're driving the football and your
quarterbacks played really well, Like you have a sixty million

(21:04):
dollar quarterback. Who listen, we can nitpick Dak all we want.
He's not a top five quarterback, but tonight like he
played like a guy that you'd feel confident calling the seventh, eighth, ninth,
tenth guy like in that range. Right, So he's he's
been very accurate, very confident in the pocket. I don't
know the exact route combo to run, but run two

(21:25):
or three routes that are breaking off a yard or
two past the first down marker. Give yourself a much
higher percentage pass that. Like I just said about Jalen Hurts,
one thing, they do a really good job with him
as a passer, and I get it drives people nuts
because he does have these explosive plays, but he's got
no problem on first and ten. Turn it into second

(21:45):
and six because he just threw the check down or
some little curl route to God or for four yards.
They do it all the time. He's gonna do it
all season long. Most of his stat lines are gonna
be one hundred and sixty yards, are gonna be a
two hundred yards, like, he's not throwing that often for
three hund in eighty yards. This isn't Joe Burrow, you know,
he's not having Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes and his
Brian stat lines. But it's very effective and keeps the

(22:09):
clock moving, keeps the momentum going down. And listen, I
did get not not emotional, but as someone who's lost
his dad, and my dad meant a lot to me.
And I don't even do like my dad was a farmer,
like my brother works in that world. So I can't
imagine being a guy like Brian Schottenheimer whose dad was
an extremely famous coach, a really high level coach, and

(22:33):
him talking about his dad pregame and then during the
break when they showed him getting emotional during the during
the anthem like that, that was a pretty powerful moment
and it was cool, dude, And I'm guilty of this too.
Everyone's been talking a lot of shit about the higher
and I stand by, like no one else was hiring
him to be their offensive coordinator, let alone be the

(22:54):
head coach, but Jerry Hyron be the head coach. And
I thought tonight he did an extremely respectable joke. He's
also the play caller, and I get it they lose Jalen,
but him going against Fangio, who is I don't know,
five six million dollar coordinator. Probably, I mean, I think
there's a pretty good chance he's the highest paid coordinator
in the NFL. Maybe solid for them to get him

(23:16):
back this year, But I mean, you're talking paying a
guy a ton of money who is elite at his job,
and Shott Nimer went blow for blow with him tonight
with Dak Prescott, who, while he makes a lot of money,
we all think is a little overpaid. Now I also
think you saw and I might have been wrong on
this a little bit. George Pickens does definitely add from
a talent standpoint, a huge positive for them. Gives them,

(23:39):
you know, an explosive player on the other side of CD. Obviously,
he in theory, should be a fifty to fifty guy.
He got a nice kind of contested catch down the sideline.
Did have an awful penalty where he tried to decapitate
a guy, but hey, that's the George Pickens experience. But overall,
long game, fun game, and we're off and running. Got
we got Chiefs Chargers tomorrow. I don't have much to

(24:03):
say on this game besides just big picture. I think
the Chargers, I think you're gonna come back there with
a little bit. I know they're the five seed last year.
I think losing Slaters a death blow, A ton of
pressure on this young running back who in theory I
was high on. But when I've seen them in pads
in training camp, haven't loved it. Their receiver group is

(24:24):
still pretty questionable. I just I never bet against Harbaugh.
And it's not like I think they're gonna suck. But
if you told me they went eight to nine this year,
I wouldn't be shocked. If you told me they went
nine and eight missed the payoffs, I wouldn't be shocked.
To me, they're an eight to nine win team, and
I think Chiefs I don't know if they win fifteen
games again. But the more I think about it, like
I'm just I'm done picking against them. I'm done betting

(24:45):
against them. I've done it for a couple of years.
Took the Ravens in the ANFC Championship a couple of
years ago, took the Niners in the Super Bowl. I
took the Bills last year. I was like, I kept thinking,
like most people, like, how are the Chiefs doing it?
They just do it because I got Andy Reid and
Patrick Mahomes. It's that complicated and e lead defensive coordinator,
a fantastic GM who's a good personnel guy who builds

(25:06):
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(26:44):
we get out of here. Listen, This player, when he's right,
is one of the more fun players offensively in recent
memory to watch, and once he got with Kyle Shanahan,
it was like the football gods created a marriage. And
I remember when McCaffrey first got there, Kyle Uschek was

(27:06):
doing an interview and he said, he said, it was
crazy how often when Christian first got traded through the
first couple of weeks, he looked at me. He would
look at me during these team meetings and be like,
is this really happening right now? Because like the way
and how deep they got on offense, and Christian's a
football junkie, and obviously when he's on the field in

(27:28):
this scheme, he went healthy, a dominant player, an MVP
level player. Now it's hard for any non quarterback to
win the MVP, but that's how good he is. Right,
Sometimes injuries just derail people and for whatever reason, whether
it's just wear and tear, whether it's muscle composition, you're
just wound too tight, whether it's just you know, age,

(27:52):
I don't know. I'm not a doctor. As a sports lover,
we have seen guys that you wouldn't think be able
to stay healthy, that are just durable for fifteen years,
and then guys that are built like Greek gods just
can't stay on the field, so that there aren't any answers.
But at this point in time, we have a long
history of going. You kind of just got a bet
on Christian McCaffrey being an injury question mark, and it's

(28:15):
almost like a couple of years ago in twenty twenty
three was an outlier. So when the news broke today,
I was shocked when Christian McCaffrey had to leave practice
with a calf, But then I started thinking about it.
Part of the reason I guess I was shocked is
because he's been healthy all offseason. He's been healthy all
trading camp, and then going into Week one, just like
last year, all of a sudden, he's injured. How does

(28:37):
that happen? But it did, and it does, and I
think it's extremely concerning because the reality is, if Christian
McCaffrey is injured, is I would even say compromised. Is
not one hundred percent For the majority of twenty and
twenty five, the forty nine ers are not making the playoffs.

(28:57):
They could still be a competitive team. But if you
tell me Christian McCaffrey is in and out of lineup,
if this calf turns into an achilles, turns into missing games,
but they're not good enough, They're not deep enough, They're
not talented enough, and they are just too Christian McCaffrey dependent.
And I think this offseason, anytime that you try to
quote unquote save money, I think it's hard for people

(29:21):
to get behind you. Now, when you cut a player
who's making a lot of money to quote unquote save
money because that guy's not good, no one has an
issue with it. It's like, yeah, that guy you're paying,
this guy who's a diminishing player. You cut him before
week one, so you have to pay them twenty million
dollars or fifteen million dollars or whatever. The money's not
guaranteed any fan, anyone in the league, Like, totally makes sense.

(29:43):
But when you just start cutting guys or trading guys like, oh,
we don't want to pay Jordan Mason a couple million
dollars as our backup running back, Well, you don't know
that Christian McCaffrey can stay healthy, because based on recent evidence,
you would say that is definitely up in the air.
And then you get a a bunch of young defensive linemen.
You go, well, we go want some young defensive We'll
save ten million dollars by cutting Leonard Floyd. We didn't

(30:06):
miss a game last year, even if he's diminished slightly,
you have a bunch of cap space. You don't have
that many proven players at those positions. Why wouldn't you
keep him around? Was he a bad guy? No, he's
a really high character guy. We really like him. We
just want to save some money. That's hard for people
to get behind. It's understandable in baseball. Pirate fans expect

(30:27):
you to not spend money. Sacramento A's fans, like I
dropped that they're actually the Oakland A's, Vegas A's who
knows where they're playing, they're actually currently playing in Sacramento,
expect for a low payroll. But when hal Steinbrenner comes
out and says, you know, we're gonna trade a couple
of players because we got to reduce the payroll, no
one's gonna give you any compassion. No one's gonna get

(30:48):
behind you on that one. And I think when you're
an NFL team, whether you are Mike Brown and the
Cincinnati Bengals or you're Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys,
we all know you got money and you can afford it.
You're just choosing not to. So I think if this
forty nine er season. If Christian's injured and he's in
out of lineup and they end up missing the playoffs

(31:08):
with this joke of a schedule, it's like, God, he
didn't have enough good players, like you chose to get
rid of some guys like I understand letting Tyle and
Noah who fun could go like he's been injured multiple times,
You're not they're gonna offer him a big contract to
go to Denver. Okay, you drafted a bunch of safeties.
Totally get it when you just end prompt. Yeah, we'll
just trade Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings. What are

(31:29):
they paying them, like ten million dollars? Yere, No, just
a couple million dollars. But we got like a you know,
fifth or six round pick, like no one cares. And
then all of a sudden, McCaffrey misses Week one against
the Attle. It's like, well we go with the Brian Robinson.
He just showed up a week ago. Was it Jordan
Mason better than him? Could you have both of those guys? Yeah,
we could have, but like we you know, we want
a little extra money. It's it's hard for people, and

(31:51):
I'm not you know, one of those people. I'm the opposite. Actually,
when it comes, you got to pay everybody. Everyone deserves
the max contract. Like, I'm not pro that, but I'm
also not for pinching pennies just to get rid of
a guy to have a bigger cap number just for
the hell of it. And that's what it feels like.
The forty nine ers did a little bit with a
couple guys, and now the injury props up, and you go,

(32:13):
what's gonna be the end result here? This thing could
get weird before it even starts, And if Christian McCaffrey's injured,
it derails a lot of your guys fantasy teams. Because hell,
I mean, maybe I have too much faith. Maybe I'm
just you know, I don't know rose colored glasses with
the guy. But if you would have told me, should
I draft him number one overall that's a little risky.

(32:33):
Should draft him seventh? I'd be like, yeah, why not? Fifth? Yeah?
Do it had one? Why not? I mean, what if
he plays, you know, sixteen games, he could have eighteen
hundred yards and score twenty touchdowns and it turns out, yeah,
he ends up playing three games. That's if you told
me right now, he plays three games, totally believable. He
told me he plays ten games, totally believable. If you
tell me he plays the majority of games, that feels

(32:55):
kind of unbelievable at this point because certain players, their
body just breaks down on them. Okay, we'll end on this.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
During the Belichick game the other night, and I've talked
about this now I think three days this week. When
the peat Damil report came out that he was being
hard on the scouts and given out shitty you know,
too deep to the scouts and the media, I just
immediately started texting some of my buddies and I started
getting people just peppering me back, like yeah, man, it's

(33:30):
I haven't gone. But one of our guys went it
was a it's a shit show, it's a disaster. It's
not very pro friendly, and they've banned the New England Patriots.
And so I put it out just as used it
as a take. And I knew if it, you know,
people heard it, which they would, you know, people listening
to this podcasts, they would gain some steen. It gained
a lot of traction today and it kind of went
a little viral that Belichick has banned the Patriots, and

(33:52):
then Benjamin Albright, who's in Denver on the Broncos tight
end with the Broncos, tweeted out that they've banned the
Broncos too. I guess one of the dudes that works
for the North Carolina personnel staff is was fired by
General Patton in Denver. So they're just extremely bitter. One

(34:12):
thing I just can't wrap my head around, and I won't,
is I understand hating someone for firing you. I do
get that, whether you've made one hundred million dollars or
whether you've made five dollars, we all would, emotionally, if
we've invested a lot, have some resentment and bitterness. Even
if you're an optimistic person, even if you're just Gary

(34:33):
Vee always like the positive side. Just head up, smile,
battle through it, don't look back. Listen. We're all human beings,
whether you're Belichick or whether you're me or you. But
there does get to a point where you're running an organization,
especially in college. The NFL is very interwoven in the
college game. The scouts, especially in these power forward programs,

(34:56):
Scouts assists in gms, held gms around all the time.
It's a huge It's very normal if you're at Alabama,
if you're at Georgia, if you're at Ohio State, if
you're at Texas. You see these people constantly. They're just
interwoven in your day to day. So to push back
on that side of it, which again, I like Michael Lombardi.

(35:19):
I've said over and over. I listened to his podcast
for years. He's come on this podcast, I've texted with him.
He was a GM like you. They would know that
doing this is counterproductive from their entire messaging. And I
heard someone say this. I forget who to give credit to.

(35:40):
Might have been Josh Pate when he was talking with Colin.
A lot of people have been saying this, but I
think it was Josh that coaching in college and coaching
in the pros, well, you're both coaching football, and first
and ten is first and ten right, Fourth and goal
from the two is fourth and goal from the two.
A forty yard field goal is a forty yard field goal.
Now ashes are a little bit differently, but still football's football.

(36:02):
A couple of rule changes. Right, one foot in out
of bounds if your knee hits you can get up
in football in the pros if you're not touched there
are Obviously there's a lot of different rules. OT's a
little different, but the NFL coaching job is dramatically different
than the college coaching job. And whether you like it
or not, and listen, I'm a believer that recruiting isn't

(36:24):
as important as it used to be. Like being a
great recruiter twenty thirty, forty years ago. A huge part
of that, Like you're going in people's homes. You are
having dinner with mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, the high school coach,
their family, their uncles, their brothers, their sisters, you're going
to high school basketball games. You're doing a lot of

(36:46):
shit that NFL people never have to do, don't even
have to contemplate doing, honestly laughed at. Nowadays, you don't
have to do that as much. You know, Deon Sanders
has never done a home visit. He doesn't have to now.
I would imagine that Sark and some of these guys
still do occasional home visits. But money has changed the game.
What have we been talking about it all week? Like,

(37:08):
you know, ten years ago been hard being critical of Arch. Well,
arch is making eight nine million dollars makes it a
little less Like, Bro, you know different than any of us.
You're making more money than ninety nine percent of society,
ninety nine point nine percent of society, So you're gonna
play that bad like we're gonna talk about you like
a pro. And hell, I've been told by my scouting
buddies that the head coaches tell them that they've become

(37:30):
a little more cutthroat, Like when they know the nil
is paying their middle linebacker seven hundred thousand dollars and
he's supposed to be an All American and then he
goes a month and he's just missing tackles left and right,
like it's it's a different experience than ten years ago
when that was my guy. I've known him. I'm gonna
build with him. I know. If this doesn't work, I'm
either gonna cut him or if he hates me, he's
gonna leave. So we're in a different day and age.

(37:52):
But being a college coach is a completely different job
than the NFL. You're dealing with boosters, you're dealing with
the board of regents, you're dealing with the president, you're
dealing with the ad. You see the softball coach every day.
You just deal with stuff that you would never deal
with in the pros, and I have changed my tune
in a short period of time. I thought Belichick would
probably be able to turn it around. But when I

(38:12):
see stuff like this happen, and listen, it's not even
about banning the Patriots. I'd say the bigger issue than
banning the Patriots is being anti NFL, being anti the
NFL scouts. Do you know what an advantage that is
for Miami Clemson in Florida State, who already had a
massive advantage on the University of North Carolina for the

(38:33):
last I don't know my entire life, So you're putting
yourself at a disadvantage when you were already behind. That
feels like the opposite of everything Bill's already always done
in Texas. With some people today, it's like when you're
that stubborn, you almost don't care about things that when
you were in your right mind and younger, you never

(38:57):
would have operated like this. And listen, we give Jerry
a lot of crap. Listen, everyone has ripped Jerry Jones.
It feels like at one point in time over the
last couple of years, and a lot of it is
like he's brought that on himself and some of you
are so young you don't remember this. The last four
or five six years of Val Davis were pretty ugly,

(39:19):
and if he would have been in this modern era
of social media and more podcasts and TV shows, it
would have been really, really ugly. But again a lot
of itself inflicted. And it feels like this stuff will Bill.
You're gonna make mistakes naturally, right. You're gonna recruit the
wrong guy NFL too. You're gonna hire the wrong coordinator.
What with the Cowboys, they had a first round pick
that didn't even dress tonight. You have the wrong draft picks,

(39:43):
you hire the wrong trainer. Humans we all make mistakes.
There is not a human alive that hasn't made a
mistake this week. Some bigger than others. But the more
and more you rise and whatever business you're in, the
more mistakes you're gonna make, and the quicker you can
pivot from them, and the quicker you could realize, well,
if I don't do this, I can avoid that mistake.

(40:05):
I don't need to step in this situation. I can
just avoid it. And it feels like he's just stepping
in it double middle fingers, because that's how he's been
in New England, where I just I don't think that's
a good idea, you know, and I clearly it's gonna backfire.
And this story is just an ugly one for him,
it really is. And it's one of those I didn't

(40:28):
make it up. I was told by enough people. I'm like,
it's true, and you never truly know. It's like, it's
not like I had tried to do a school call
and then the North Carolina confirmed it. Yeah, They're like, yeah,
they're not welcome. I'm like, damn. Not only did they
not hide from it, they embraced it. They said, well,
the way they treated us that there's no way we're
gonna treat them well. So f you to them. I'm like, geez,

(40:50):
Louise that I've been hard on a lot of coaches.
Two guys that I would say until it's hard for
me to be critical because they've won a lot of games,
would be Sark and Ryan Day. One thing, and I
like Sark more than I like Ryan Day. But one
thing you cannot dispute with either guy is they take recruiting.

(41:11):
They take dealing with the NFL world and helping their
guys take the next level, and dealing with the Scouts
very seriously. And you know you saw that Ryan Day
learned that from Irbyn Meyer, and Sark learned that from
Nick Saban and that that's a really really big deal, right,
And I just think it's kind of a sad ordeal
at this point in time. Okay, that'll wrap it up

(41:34):
for Night one, and uh, I guess sources say that
we will be back for tomorrow night Chiefs Chargers, and
let's just keep our fingers crossed that we don't get
a lightning delay and uh, we don't get pushed back
in an hour. But hopefully everyone enjoyed the football and
I will see you soon. Okay. I've been getting asked

(42:08):
when the hell is Stucky making his return? And I
just assumed we were just and I realized I hadn't
texted him, and he texted me, and I'm in Hawaii
drinking my ties. I'm like, hell, yeah, next Thursday, let's
roll back. And Adam from the Action Network Big Bets
on campus. Go subscribe Action Network podcast. This guy is
a gambling extraordinary and I can't imagine, like me, you

(42:31):
just last week was pretty fun. You know, obviously the NFL.
We're recording this before Thursday night game is awesome, but
that college football weekend, especially with the Big Game. Do
you see some of those television ratings? Stucky? Action Network?
What's up, bro?

Speaker 3 (42:43):
What's going on? Yeah, it's good to be back. We
were like halfway back last week with college football full
slate this week, now we're all the way back. It's
like NFL Thursday, Friday, full college football slate, Saturday, full
NFL slate Sunday, and from here until the Super bowlers

(43:04):
there's there's no rest. So yeah, looking forward to another
season of chopping it up and hopefully you can pick
some winners.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Okay, before we dive into the NFL. I remember last year,
was it one of your favorite college bets Michigan to
miss the playoffs? Like two or three to one? Yeap?
You know you live in Lexington, SEC Country. You're a
college just fucking fanatic when it comes to football and basketball.
Anything you saw last week, like did you change on Clemson?
Are you now all in on LSU Arch looking kind

(43:36):
of like a scrub? I mean, clearly Texas is good,
but does that give you pause? Ohio State more impressed
expect that any big takeaways from your big picture maybe
a big bet you had in terms of the playoffs,
something you saw last best week that that impacts the
you know, final eight, final four, National championship hunt.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
Yeah, I mean the biggest question this year it's wide open.
I mean you can go look at the odds board.
There's no like clear uh, there's no clear alpha team.
And the biggest questions with many of the teams at
the top or quarterback. A lot of the teams have
uncertainty at quarterback. You can look at Texas like everyone
just assumes the manning name that he's going to be

(44:16):
the guy, but we still haven't seen a lot. Like
last week was his first road snaps and he was
pretty inacurate. It doesn't mean he can't get it together,
but there's definitely questions there. And Texas also lost a
lot of pro town elsewhere. Ohio State new quarterback lost
a lot, and I think saying looked okay. I don't
think they really tried to do much. They were lying
on their defense, but they only have two hundred and

(44:36):
two hundred and three yards of total offense. So there's
still some questions there with saying Alabama I was low.
I am not a ty Simpson guy. He did not
impress me at all. I don't know what's going on
with Alabama and Debor, who's like always so trustworthy and.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
Now he's we love gambling on him. The biggest bet
of my life to date is still betting on him
against Sark in that semi final game. Yeah, it's it's
remember the week before he beat Landing, he was like,
you know, almost a ten point dog in the championship game.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
Yeah, anywhere, and even before then, anywhere he's gone, like
offensive coordinator had like he's always been so successful. I
don't know. I mean, I don't think since I think
they have to go to one of the younger kids
at quarterback. But we'll see. The effort just wasn't there
on defense, like some of the clips you saw of
some of the guys it was. It was definitely concerning.
So I'm curious to see where Alabama goes from here.

(45:31):
The team that I was, I was pretty low. I
was lower than the market. On Clemson, everyone was just
like crowning Clemson. I said, like pumped the brakes like
this team last year. I know they bring everyone back,
but this team that shouldn't have made even made the playoff.
They needed Syracuse to beat Miami. They lost to every
SEC team they played. Club Nick. Yes, he played better
against Texas, but like for the whole season, if you
looked at the toughest competition, he didn't play that well.

(45:55):
So I still had questions about Clemson. Like I knew
that they were a good team, a top tennis team
that I people were just like crowning them already. The
team that I came most impressed with, the team that
I was high on coming to their I that's on
the win the SEC. The only national title future have
now is LSU. I was super impressed them. The biggest
question on the team. I loved all the trances they

(46:16):
brought in on a defense. I'm a Blake bigger guy.
That defense is trending up. It seems like they figured
out how to use Perkins. That defense was outstanding last week.
The biggest question, and we know neuss Meyer, of all
the top teams, who do you trust their quarterback situation?
The LSU asked to be up there at the top.
So that's a good starting point. That's a good place
to be right now. It doesn't mean like someone else
can't come and catch them. And one of these younger

(46:37):
quarterbacks can ascend. But ls's in a really really good
spot compared to a lot of these other top teams
from a quarterback perspective. They have all the town on
the outside. The biggest question with their offensive line, and
you know, you lose four guys to the NFL. But
if you go back to last year, they could not
run the ball. They were the worst rushing team in
the SEC. They had no bounce, so it was just
now must Meyer had all day. He was protected well

(46:59):
by all these NFL offense lineman, but they couldn't figure
out the zone run blocking team. So you got you
put all these new guys together, some young you know,
five star freshmen, some transfers. If you can actually get
some semblance of a rushing attack and then give that
give Nussmeyer some balance because he's not going to run
the ball like that, this offense could be really good.
So yeah, them going on the road. They even had

(47:20):
a touchdown taken off the board they fumbled, give him
a field goal. Super impressed with LSU. You told me
to pick a national champion right now. I know you
could say it's overreacting, but I'm going with LSU. A
known quantity at quarterback that I'm very confident in.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
What's your take on Florida. I know it's hard to
I mean, half the top teams played, you know, nobody's
but clearly that quarterback. I was texting with someone yesterday
who's just you know, diehard football guy, and we were
texting about Arch and I was like, you know, the
next couple of weeks, no one's even gonna make it
doesn't even matter. But in you know what, three weeks

(47:54):
from Saturday, he takes on Lagway, like to see another
guy that clearly is an elite town with a team
that might be pretty good. That that could be a
really tough spot if if all of a sudden Florida's
three and zh going in that game wins that game,
could they be a legitimate SEC contender or are they
not as good as like, you know, George, I got Tennessee,
you know, against Syracuse, but they thought they look pretty good.

Speaker 3 (48:16):
Yeah, that Syracuse is way down this year. I mean
they lost just a ton. I don't know if Joey
Aguilar can the app State transfer was it UCLA for
a minute, can actually you know, lead them to an
SEC championships kind of like a rebuilding year and a
way for Tennessee. They're still gonna be very competitive, but
it's not a team that went into the portal heavy

(48:36):
like they're like developing guys. They're doing it. I think
more of the right way. I think you want to
have a good balance. So just from a roster perspective,
I think that they understand that this is they have
a couple freshmen waiting in the wings at quarterback, that
this is probably a reset year. Florida is interesting with
Lagways one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country.
Their schedule is just acid. I mean, they should beat
South Florida this week, but that game is, you know,

(48:59):
not might be difficult. Then they go LSU, Miami, Texas,
Texas A and m Mississippi State's better, Georgia at Kentucky
at Ole, miss Tennessee, and then Florida State now looks
significant proves So that's that looked like a gimme coming
into the year.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
That could be one of the hardest schedules in like
the history of sports.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
It's it's it's insane. The one thing I'll bring a Fardi.
You can't take too much away from playing the Long
Island Sharks.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
I didn't know they had a football team.

Speaker 3 (49:30):
It's they're bad. But the one thing I'll mention is
that they have a new right tackle who was getting
destroyed by Long Island. They get up with eleven tackles
for the loss. He was getting destroyed. I don't think
they can have him out there. Like you want to
go play Miami in a couple of weeks and those
Miami defensive ends with a right tackle who was horrendous,
So their offensive line was like a strength. They have

(49:51):
a bunch of guys attorney with the right tackle. New
guy in there had a horrendous game against Long Island.
So something to watch with Florida as they ramp up
a competition is that right tackle spot. But yeah, I
mean they're a really good team. I think I'm like
a top fifteen team Power ratings s last they could
ascend to top ten, maybe in the top five. But
the problem is can you get through this schedule without

(50:13):
maybe you think of nine to three though with this
schedule you can still get them in. But uh, yeah,
they're they're They're one of the better teams in the country,
and they have a quarterback that you can definitely rely on.

Speaker 1 (50:22):
I watched a little bit of the Michigan game and
didn't watch any of Oklahoma. So I went back and
watched the highlights last night of the two quarterbacks. I mean,
obviously underwould easy to see why, you know, like relative
his talent compared to Arch not even in the same ballpark.
But Matier, I thought I had like a little like
Farvian Josh Allen gunslinger to him. I mean's just like

(50:44):
totally shit. But the ball comes out of his hands,
I do I get it? Like, And I texted a
buddy with Oklahoma He's like, yeah, he's got a chance. Now,
this is a huge game. I do think if Oklahoma covers,
you know, Michigan's getting four and a half. It's always hard.
I mean, this guy's a true freshman now, probably the
highest paid freshman not named Cooper Flag in the history
of the NCAA. But like that, that's gonna be a

(51:05):
tough That place is gonna be rocking. It's at night.
Oklahoma's defense right, a ton of returning guys. Honestly, last year,
remember when I went to the Texas Oklahoma game. That
game was basically tied. It was a couple of minutes
left to the first They were good on defense last year.
Their offense was just a joke. And I do think
if Oklahoma kind of commands and wins this game, they
might have something with this quarterback that four and a

(51:27):
half kind of in that weird zone. I guess you
would just have to take history true freshman, But what
if this guy really is that special? It would make
me a little nervous. But that's historically been a pretty
tough place to play. Now. Michigan's probably got you know,
they got an NFL defensive coordinator in Wink going up
against Matier. If Matier plays well in this game and

(51:47):
like throws three or four touchdowns, yeah, well just throws
a couple of touchdowns, has like a Nusmeyer type game,
and you just like he's gonna start darting up the
draft boards, is he not?

Speaker 3 (51:56):
Yeah? At the number one, Underwood was super impressive.

Speaker 1 (52:00):
Guys all over that running back they have from Alabama,
Haynes justiceames.

Speaker 3 (52:05):
The problem with Michigan like Underwood, yet every throw you're like, Wow,
this kid can make every throw. The problem with Michigan
is they still have like their offensive line still has
some questions, and their receivers just aren't great. So and
you lost Lovelin at tight end, so he doesn't have
as much help as you might think. Michigan's recruiting very well,
Like I think next year they should look better in

(52:26):
that department, but they're they're like supporting cast outside of
the running backs. We LLave a bit to be desired.
So I'm very curiously how he looks against the oaklhum
the defense which is really good. You like Oklahoma in
this spot, yeah, I mean if you just over the
like if you look at last week, a lot of
these very young quarterbacks like making their first start going

(52:47):
on the road. I mean, look at Alabama, Notre Dame.
If you faded all of them, you had a good weekend.
So it's a tough spot, like really tough. Defense off
of the line isn't great. Secondary, I mean, excuse to
be wide receivers aren't great going on the road, hostel
environment first, true a roadsard is a true freshman. That's tough.

(53:08):
But Oklahoma is not without its flaws. I mean they
played Illinois State last week. There's not too much you
could take away him, but they couldn't really run the ball.
Their offensive line is still a question mark. They couldn't
run block last week. They have two true freshmen on
the offensive line. So Michigan's defensive line down the step
from last year, but still really talented. I assume that

(53:30):
Wink is gonna blitz a ton year. So if they can,
like if Oklahoma can't run and they're in like third
and long and obvious pass downs, Wink is gonna blitz.
He loves the blitz, and we're gonna see how Matier
can process the blitz against a much talent or defense,
because you could look at this two ways. At Washington State,
he struggled a bit when he played Power four teams,

(53:53):
so if you look he was you know, if he
had he was sacked ten He was sacked eight times
against Boise last year, who blitzed Ton. He had a
little trouble processing the blitz and getting it out to
his hot read Texas Tech and Washington last year, like
he wasn't great. It was great running, but not throwing.
And this is a step up from there. So we're

(54:13):
going to see what he can do throw the ball
because I don't think Okahoma's gonna be able to run it.
So this really profiles is like I mean, it's boring
to say but it probably pro even with so much
excitement at quarterbacks. It probably profiles is an undergame now
that it's come way down. It was at like fifty
four the summer until like forty five and a half now.
But it's hard for me to see Underwood as talented.
He is having much success without his you know, without

(54:36):
much a wide receiver offensive line, and then I think
Michigan's defense will come to play here. So this probably
profiles is an undergame at four and a half. It's
probably a stay away from me. Oklahoma got back really early.
They were minus one and a half, went up to
six and a half, Michigan got bought. Now it's sitting
at four and a half. But I'm really I want
to learn more about both quarterbacks. It's the tier against

(54:58):
top tier competition, and then Underwood wo me doing a
hostile environment because if he can win this game, man,
you got to be super impressed. The last note is Barham,
one of their Michigan's best linebackers. He suspended for the
first half due to a targeting so that's not worthy.
He's really important in like the blitz and pass rush,
so we'll see if Oklahoma can take advantage early.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
My favorite story of Week one none on the field
was Clemson, was it? Yeah, Clemson realized that that LSU
transfer from Houston got kicked out in the second half
of his last game, and no one's knew, no one's
paying attention, no one's watching that game. That's that's that's
college football for you. Before we dive into the NFL's

(55:37):
transition through Belichick, did I see it correctly that that
number was originally at about three touchdowns like twenty four and.

Speaker 3 (55:45):
Now I went down twenty one before the games last week,
and then obviously it comes down under two touchdowns now
and then yeah, it opened back up around like seventeen
and then got that down to like twelve and a half.
I did go over two touchdowns. It's worth a bat
on Charlotte just on the spot. Charlotte might be really,
really bad. I mean I had Charlotte Week one plus seven,

(56:08):
they closed plus two. They got destroyed. They should have
lost by sixty tap State and nap S eighteen. That
was brand new. They looked horrendous, So it's hard to
really quantify how bad they are.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
But it's also what was the score of that game?
The final score a lot too a little because Belichick
I saw him say that they got killed too. I
didn't even.

Speaker 3 (56:24):
Forty forty two to fourteen or something. Let me say so,
it completely blow up thirty four eleven, but like it
could have been worse. Their defense looked really bad. Brand
new team, brand new coach. So it's same with North Carolina.
But the spot is so bad for North Carolina, Like
so much went into that game, so much hype, so

(56:45):
much build up. It was on a Monday night. Now
you're turning around playing on Saturday, like that never happens
in college, and you're playing at Charlotte in their stadium,
which is weird that the North Carolina is playing there,
but that's their super Bowl. It also played last week,
like during the weekday, so they have extra rest, extra
time to prepair, which is important with both of these

(57:06):
teams which are brand new, and North Carolina looked completely lost,
like after that opening script, it was bad. So I
think i'd need over two touchdowns or fourteen plus, but
just on the spot alone and the uncertainty, I think
I gotta I gotta make North kind of prove they
can win by two touchdowns on short rest with Charlotte
Super Bowl extra rest here. They could just come out

(57:28):
a little flatter than you might think.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
I know this Belichick loses this week. Uh, you're looking
at a long season. I mean you might be talking
like two win team, right, I mean they clearly would
have no talent.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
H look at brand new team after they were national
title contenders to Super and they went they won two games.
North Carolina is not at that even at that tier,
so it could happen.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Let's dive into the league. Okay, I'm gonna start with
some dogs. These games are ugly, but the morning slate,
especially a week one there. You know, we don't have
bye weeks some of that. We don't even have the
double headers quite yet on Monday Night football. So we
got a lot of games early on. You got a
lot of Carolina Jacksonville's. And that number jumps out to me,
like I'm out on Jacksonville this year. I'm just like,

(58:25):
I know, everyone's like William Cohen, Travis Hunter. We've seen
this song and dance with so many different coaches, with
so many different players. I just I'm just betting against
Trevor Lawrence. Now, listen, Carolina, what we saw down the stretch,
was it a little of no one taking them seriously?
Was it a little of Bryce actually might be pretty decent?
Is their coach decent? Getting over a field goal in

(58:48):
this game? Now? Still defensively is gonna have some issues.
But I got a buddy that works on the staff.
He's like our offensive line Carolina is fucking good. Like that.
Their offensive line is good if Bryce is just solid
now weapons wise, obviously, draft McMillan really high. You know,
we'll see I've seen a lot of question marks still
with Lagett. You get rid of what's his name, trade
him to Minnesota, and then you bring back renfro which

(59:09):
clearly didn't make your team because you didn't think he
was good enough a week ago. So that's not ideal.
But Carolina, plus, we're gonna have I'm doing it.

Speaker 3 (59:18):
I can't get there, mainly because I don't mind your
line of thinking. I am a Liam Cohen guy. I mean,
you look at the Kentucky teams of the last four
years he was there. He had two stops, so it
was the only time Kentucky's offense been good, but other
times really bad. He saw him with the Bucks last year,
it's really good. Last year's Jacksonville team was a joke,
like just schematically the things that they were running in
no motion, no platch, and no innovation, like he should

(59:40):
be able to provide a bump. You said, you don't
don't want to bet on Trevor Lawrence. If you do
want to bet on Trevor Lawrence, I did bet anytime
touchdown like four to one, you can find even a
little better. There's word that they might be going to
tush push on all short yard situations. So you can
get four to one and they're gonna do toush push

(01:00:01):
and Lawrence can run a little bit anyway, like sometime
like a boot. He could run it in that way.
But if they're gonna do toush push I near the
goal line, that's a good bet in my opinion. But
the thing that scares me the most about Carolina obviously
their defense is terrible. It should be a little better
this year because last year they were terrible and hurt,
so you get guys like Derek Brown back. They're a
little healthier, but it's still not a great defense. You

(01:00:22):
mentioned the offense. The offense line, yes, is very underrated,
very strong, but they might be without their left tackle.
I think he's doubtful. Now Ikuanu their left guard, who's
really good. Namian lewis super underrated, he's questionable. I think
they're right guards even qut So, like the offensive line
is on healthy and then you mentioned the weapons. You
lose Feeling Coker, who they were gonna rely on, just
got put on ir So now you need Lagats to hit,

(01:00:44):
You need McMillan in his first start on the road
to be good. And then like it's David Moore. So
all of a sudden, this offense, which was starting to
ascend last year, they need the offensive line which doesn't
look like it's going to be fully put together, and
then the weapons don't look as strong as they did
a few weeks ago. So that's a pass for me.
But I did bet on Lawrence touchdown would lean over.

(01:01:05):
I'm a little afraid about the Carolina but with some
of these injuries, but I think both these offense still
score and this could be a higher scoring game. And
you have the new kickoff rules. Field position could be
much better this year and there could be a lot
lot more exposive plays on them return, so that's something
worth watching as well.

Speaker 1 (01:01:20):
Okay, Giants Washington, are are you of the I guess
conventional wisdom that Washington's got a little regression in them
last year after winning some of those crazy games.

Speaker 3 (01:01:30):
Yeah, I mean they were. They went twenty of twenty
three and fourth down. That is completely and obscene. It's
like it's hard to even put into words how crazy
that is because it's not like they had twenty three
fourth and ones with the toush push and jails fourth
and sixes and yeah, and that even with twenty of
twenty three for the Eagles on touch bushes, like that's
like pretty good. Like you probably they're like ninety you know,

(01:01:53):
eighty five ninety percent. They did that on just all
fourth downs. A lot of them are fourth and five,
fourth and four. They were throwing it a lot. There's
just no no way. And think about they played in
a bunch of close games, and they did well in
close games. Think about all those four down Like if
you take away like six or seven of those and
then you're still good on four down. But in close
games like those swing entire games the win probability. And

(01:02:14):
so yeah, they will probably due for some aggression. I
still questions about the defense. I think the key's probably
gonna be Latimore. What does he have left at corner?
Is he washed? Is he bounced back? And because if
they can have him as a lockdown corner, that does
a lot more for quitting that defense. So I'll be
curious to watch him against neighbors who torched them last year.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
But I well, really they did it. They did it
with three guys right at Latimore was last year during
the season. But then they instead of using cab space,
which I don't I'm not against because who you're really
buying in free agency, they trade for Debo, who's sixteen
million dollars in a contract year that he could be
washed or this is a rebound season. And Tunzel, while
still good Casario I think pretty well established this point,

(01:02:54):
pretty good at his job, was like I'm not gonna
give this guy one hundred million dollar contract, so I'm
punning right now, and Washington gohot. So they get Debo,
they get Latimore, and they get Tunsl who are veteran
guys who are you know, especially Debo and Tunnel are
gonna think like the time for me to get paid
if I started doing well, that's this young, kind of
vibrant locker room. Now it's like oldest team in the league.

(01:03:14):
You bring back Ertz is Bobby Wagner still on the squad,
so it's like you had Von Miller so for sexy
as Jayden Daniels is like no one would argue against that.
A lot of like interesting kind of dynamics in that
locker room. That's not just like young and hungry, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:03:30):
Yeah, fascinating, fascinating team to watch. But there there's definitely
some some aggression. I mean, there's a team that won
on a they won on a hell Mary against the
Bears like that. That doesn't happen to ye sick, insane
one of the Bears. The second just telem unbelievable, tawning fans,

(01:03:52):
one of the funniest moments of the year. So yeah,
there's some natural aggression. And historically Week one it's a
dog week, divisional dogs, you know, you're talking and sixties
sixty five percent depending on the timeframe you're looking. So yeah,
I think the Giants are the only way you look here.
I do think the Giants are a bit underrated coming
in the year, Like I don't know how much Russ
has left, but look at the quarterback situation last year,

(01:04:14):
and this is a team that went was in a
ton of close games. Still, the offensive line, you have
your left tackle back that's big, so that the offensive
line should be a little better. Then, Like defensively, this
team could be feisty. I mean they have one of
the best pass rushes on paper in the league. I
like their safeties. You add Holland, I'm always been a
NUBN guy since he came out of Minnesota last year.

(01:04:36):
And then your corners, their cornerback two is still a
major question, but you bolstered that room. So this Giants
team could be feisty. And you know they have there's
tape down on what this Daniel's offense is going to
look like. There's some potential aggression. So yeah, I think
the only way you can look there is the Giants.

Speaker 1 (01:04:54):
Well, I think there are two teams last year, the
Giants and the Titans that if you just give them,
you know, like the middle of the road quarterback maybe
slightly better like Dak Prescott what he'll probably be this year.
Someone like that. They go from drafting one and third
overall to drafting like fourteenth. Right, they're not a playoff team,
but they are on a weekly basis. If they're playing well,
can beat anybody. Last year, I mean the Levis situation

(01:05:17):
and the Daniel Jones getting cut in the middle of
the year, I mean it was it just couldn't get
been much worse in the modern day NFL when your
quarterback is that shitty, this is not college where, you know.
I mean, Texas even if arches average can win eight
nine games with ease. Right in the NFL, if you
get really bad quarterback player below average quarterback late, you're
gonna lose a lot of games. And I think the Giants,

(01:05:40):
Now I'm not a roughs guy, I do think is
pretty interesting. I don't know if it was shocking, but
once it comes out that Jackson Dart is the number two.
I saw Jordan Renan, who covers the team. He's like
when you're at practice, Brian Dayball is by this guy's side.
He's like a dog, you know, just falls around Jackson
Dart and the other two guys just kind of do
their own shit. It's pretty clear, like I don't know
if they're gonna go to the bullpen in week one,

(01:06:01):
but I what you're over under for Ussy and Jackson
dark month.

Speaker 3 (01:06:06):
Yeah, I mean it depends the Giants have tough schedules,
so like there's a chance there's probably a good chance
that they fall behind record wise, and then yeah, I
think then he pulled the trigger.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
And Russ could just get hurt. I mean, he's older player,
It's not like he's that mobile anymore. He takes a
lot of sacks. I mean, I I my guess with
this happens much sooner than later. This is Brian Daboll's
hand pick guy. Clearly likes him a lot. He's in
this weird dynamic of like kind of coaching for his job,
but kind of if you're if you're the owner, do
you let them hand pick a guy in the first

(01:06:39):
round and then fire the coach who's a quarterback guy?
Kind of in a weird spot.

Speaker 3 (01:06:43):
Right, Yeah, yeah, I think he if you go to
Dart like it's all as it's not a complete disaster
this year, I think you give him another year. And
so I agree, let's see what you have. I think,
I mean, Dave All he's he wasn't putting a great
spot like the this Giants team was ruined like cap
On management wise, and like it was a disaster that

(01:07:04):
he walked into. And then they had that one that
what Daniel Jones somehow had that one year where he
led them to the playoffs out of nowhere and won
a game. So but yeah, I played. I did play
the Titans week one. If you go back to say
ninety six, four, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,

(01:07:26):
eight plus point favorites in week one, sixteen and thirty
six against the spread. So I mentioned it's a dog
week like a lot of that. What's baked into this
is that, Okay, the Broncos are going to be as
dominant defensively as they were last year. On paper, yes
they are, but that's not guaranteed. Like defenses are fickle
year to year, year over year, so they might not be.

(01:07:48):
And they were one of the twenty five best defenses
from an EPA perspective over the last ten years. Twenty
three of the previous twenty four dropped by an average
of eight in the rankings from an EPA perspective. The
next year. It's hard to maintain it though, hard to
maintain that level of health. So we'll see. Think about
last year. Just throw this out there. Going into last year,
everyone was saying the Jets and the Browns defenses are

(01:08:10):
two of the best. No, that didn't really play out
that way. Their secondaries didn't play as well. There were
some injuries, and so we don't know if Denver's going
to be as dominant. And last year, look, they won
ten games, but they got their tenth win because Kansasity
benched everyone. They only beat one playoff team all year.
They went one and six against playoff teams. Like this
is a big number to cover in the NFL with
a small total like forty two. And yes, the Titans

(01:08:31):
all they had they upgraded a quarterback with Cam Wore,
and there's uncertainly there. It could be a disaster. It's
a tough spot going to Denver and altitude. Week one.
First start rookie quarterbacks have not had success. Number one
draftings have not had success in their first start in
the road. I think they're like six and twenty three,
but they're usually on bad teams. They're about five hundred
against the spread last year disasterrous quarterback play like a

(01:08:52):
guy just giving the ball to the other team. So
as long as Camwore doesn't do that, you're a step
ahead the offensive line. Last year it wasn't all on
Levis was uh does that so they bring in a
left tackle, it allows Latham to go to right tackle.
You bring in one of the better right guards. Four
to five unit, really good offensive line coach. They should
be much better there. So the offense is not just
the complete Desentster defense is pretty good. It's like it

(01:09:13):
can be a league average unit, especially if Snead can
give them something as a number one corner.

Speaker 1 (01:09:19):
And then this didn't Simmons drop a bunch of weight
to try to be a little bit more of a
pass rusher than like one stuffing defensive lineman.

Speaker 3 (01:09:24):
Yeah, a little a little quicker off the ball because
you have now you have sweat there too. It's kind
of like you can take that role. So, yeah, the
defense has potential. And then something that a lot of
people don't talk about last year with this tight team
because they were just they were the worst against the
spread team of all time. Their special teams are one
of the worst in the history of the NFL. I mean,
like middle school type plays that cost them games, cost

(01:09:47):
them close games. They overhauled the whole unit. It's not
going to be an elite special teams. But as long
as you're not again like the quarterback giving away games,
then you should be better there too. So yeah, I
think that this in what profiles is a lower scoring game.
I think cam wod can keep them in this game.
I wouldn't be shocked. There's always one or there's gonna

(01:10:07):
be a couple. There's gonna be a couple games this
week where you're like every year where you're like, WHOA,
how did that happen? If Tennessee won at Dender, wouldn't
completely for me.

Speaker 1 (01:10:18):
Well, it's different. I actually think Titans. I mean, if
cam Ward is just like rookie of the year level good,
the upgrade you would have from Levis to him is dramatic,
and you can get him seven and one to make
the playoffs. I mean, I think they you know, their
their floor is much more seven or eight wins than
what they were last year. I'm with you. I like

(01:10:40):
the Titans just this year to be kind of feisty.
But that's a lot betting on cam Ward, which you
never truly know with the rookies. But I think it's
a pretty good player. And I mean you watch some
of these quarterbacks in college, like he was so good
last year. I mean he was kind of he's a
different type player. But I mean, you have watched a
lot of college football in your life. Like I'm not
saying he's Jayden Daniels, but in terms of like carrying

(01:11:01):
a team that was atrocious on defense, I mean, what
do they win four or five wins if they just
have an average quarterback play at Miami last year?

Speaker 3 (01:11:09):
Yep, yeah, to get that last wildcard spot. If cam
Ward hits, I don't hate it. I played their win
total over over five and a half. I think, yeah,
like you said, floor is much higher, but yeah, this
could be one of the shockers. There's probably gonna be one,
maybe two every year.

Speaker 1 (01:11:23):
It was Patriots Bengals last year, right.

Speaker 3 (01:11:26):
Ptrix Bengals was last year. There's always gonna be a chockra.
Like I said, eight plus point favorites in Week one
sixteen and thirty six against the spread last thirty years.

Speaker 1 (01:11:37):
Okay, one team I liked a lot last year. I
mean you get them like eight to one to get
the number one seed that didn't hit because their offensive
line and offensive coordinator in offense was just atrocious. I
do think they're gonna be better on offense and defensively.
You know, you talk to people in the league, if
you just it's pretty clear when you just look at
the talent. I mean they got two guys that are
under twenty five that are top I don't know, fifteen

(01:11:59):
twenty players in the league in will Anderson definitely dere
I think Derek Stingley, you know, if you put him
on the Cowboys, on the Rams, on the Packer, I
mean he would be considered, you know, like one of
the Like the way we talked about revus Or Sherman.
I mean, he's a fucking elite like Sasce Garter is
never gonna be good as him again, like they met
at a fork in the road and Stingley hung the
left and saus hoping to resurrect his career. Uh. And

(01:12:22):
I just think Demiko is just like Mike McDonald, one
of those coaches. If they were offensive coaches, we would
discuss them way different. But we just discriminate a little
bit against defensive guys there. It's not as sexy, especially
younger ones right the way that we hype up Kevin
O'Connell or you know, Lafleur and those type guys. I
think Houston's gonna be really really good this year. And

(01:12:42):
getting three points at LA. We got a lot of
question marks at Stafford, you know, with this back, I mean,
is it something that if he gets hit during the
game it could happen. Is it something that's gonna catch
up to him as the season goes. Obviously there's a
lot of hype about the Rams before the Stafford back
situation propped up. Like you were saying, before we hit record,
I mean, the question mark still is going to be

(01:13:03):
Houston's offensive line. The one thing, you know, part of
the reason Florida State suck last year is because Versus
Braden Fist disappeared and those two guys were awesome in
the NFL. So those two guys are ass kickers, and
they already had what's his name from wake Forest they
drafted the year before, who's a good player. So yeah,
I mean, I just like Houston in this spot, not
saying they're gonna win. I'm not taking them to win
the game outright, but you're getting three points. I think

(01:13:25):
Houston's gonna be one of my favorite bets of the year. Stucky.
It's come down a little bit. It was plus one
ten probably a month ago. It's like plus one oh
five is just Houston to win that division. I just
have a hard time seeing them. I think that would
you know, the way the Ravens and the Bills get
treated in their division, I think Houston should probably get
that treatment. And I think a lot of it is
some of that's the stench from the slow offense. I
think they're gonna be a lot better this year.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47):
Yeah, one of the interesting storylines here, I mean the
slow play calling, the timing of the plays. The first
down play was so bad that wasn't all on him.
The offensive line is also a mess, and they had
wide receivers injuries which were killer last year. But I
think from an off it's a coordinator perspective, huge upgrade.
They bringing Nick Kelly. One of the good the interesting

(01:14:08):
storylines of this game is he comes from the Rams
convey guy who's the passing game coordinator last year. He's
now their off coordinator. Upgrade clearly in my eyes. But
who get who has the edge there? Like, so he
knows the Rams defense was just the passing game coordinator.
But this is a McVay offense that McVeigh knows we've
had all off season. So that's interesting chess match. I think, yeah,

(01:14:28):
you gotta take get three here. You got to take it.
I think this profile is a lower scoring game. The
Texans defense one of the best the NFL. You mentioned
stinglying is certain. That's like the corner conversation there and
their edge rushers. They have all the pieces on that defense.
The one thing that concerns me with the Rams defense
is always their their back end. But their front is

(01:14:50):
really good. Their first team in NFL history to have
their first their top four sack guys in a season
be all first or second year players, which happened last year.

Speaker 1 (01:14:59):
So young. They hit on the draft. He's a wait
Forest guy, right? Young? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:15:04):
They they they hit on the draft. They needed to
because they were in a tough position. They went Look,
they did it right. You gotta get Steve credit because
they went out, they sacrificed their future on paper to
get a Super Bowl. Got it and they were they
were they were gonna be in a tough shape, rosterized
depth wise, everything unless they hit on their draft picks

(01:15:25):
specific of defense, and they did so. That front is
really good and the biggest concern for Houston coming into
the year. They upgraded. Their weapons should be healthier, they
upgrade to the offense coordinator should be better from a
play cang perspective, But the offensive line, did they upgrade it?
I don't know. It could have got worse. It's hard
to be worse than it was last year, but major

(01:15:48):
questions there. So that's gonna be the biggest question. So
Los Angeles could really dictate the line of scrimmage when
they're on defense. It might be tough sledding for the
Houston offense. But on the other side of the ball,
I don't see this Rams offense coming out firing. And
we have a ton of data that says quarterbacks that
don't play in the preseason, also that we're dealing with injuries.
I mean, look at Joe Burrow over the last couple
of years, was fit that same exach Molton. He's a

(01:16:10):
lot younger and right at this point, better than Matt Stafford.
It's a struggle early timing, and especially at Stafford's age.
So I wouldn't be shocked if that offense looks extremely
clunky early on, and who knows the back it could
flare up and he might not finish the game. It's
gonna be something that's at his age with that injury

(01:16:33):
all year long, it's gonna be an issue. So we'll
see how the Rams handle that left tackles. Also concerned
for the Rams, I don't. I think Jackson might play.
But another thing that's gonna be storyline all year long.
Really good left tackle got paid, he's got blood clocks
cost him. I think eight games twenty twenty two, that
could be a problem, something worth monitoring. I think there

(01:16:54):
it's probably be a gay. They'll make the decision this weekend.
I might in this something today, but that's something worth noting.
But this Profiles is a lower scoring game, So yeah,
taking the points here makes sense, especially with the uncertainty
with Stafford. So I would agree with you. Matchup to
watch does that that coordinator battle that new offense coordinator
against mcday knowing each other, and then how how does

(01:17:15):
this Texans offensive line hold up? And it's not like
the rests of it made a crazy home field advantage,
so it's like home field doesn't and there's a travel
like they've known this game. So yeah, I think you
got to take the points here. And I would look
under as well.

Speaker 1 (01:17:28):
I think my favorite long shot division winner bet because
I think I don't. I don't really like any of
them except Seattle at like five to one who went
ten to seven last year. Who you know, their coach
is good. They get Kubiak, who, I mean, through the
first two games last year with the Saints looked like
he was his dad just I mean, I think clearly

(01:17:50):
knows offensive football and that is very quarterback friendly. Bring
in Sam Donald. Uh they have a couple talented running
backs there. Their defense on paper, with some young and
interesting guys fall college football could be excellent. Now I'm
not saying that, you know, the Niners somehow are still favored.
I think that that's a little bit of what has
happened in the past more than now. Not saying they

(01:18:11):
can't do it, but their margin for air pretty top
heavy team, you know, with a lot of young, random
question marks. They're trying to do what the Rams did
two years ago, right, reset the roster building with pieces
and we just don't we just don't know. Uh So
to me, five to one with Seattle is by far
to me the best long shot. This game's a little weird.
I think the Niners are gonna have a huge I mean,

(01:18:32):
they were such an embarrassment last year in the Vision.
Remember what they lose like four games where they had
leads in the fourth quarter to all three teams, but
specifically Seattle. They had a bad loss of Seattle at home.
The DK back calf score a touchdown. Geno's like celebrating
on their field. U Now, granted he's gone, but I
don't know. This is to me is a stay away
because the Niners are getting cup, you know, are favored

(01:18:55):
on the road, which to me feels a little off.

Speaker 3 (01:18:58):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:18:58):
But whenever I bet on the Niners, I lose. Whatever
I bet against him, I lose. So I don't even know.
I'm just I'm saying it. But this game is one
of the better games the weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:19:07):
That it's a good overtime. So yeah that who's I mean?
Last year of the forty hours was so unlucky from
an injury perspective, which it seems to happen. Who's the
their strengthened, strengthened training coach has been there for like
six years. But is there any I had not saying
it's their fault, but this is all but one year
where they've been like one of the most injured teams

(01:19:28):
in the league. Do you have any thoughts there? Like
why does this happen every year?

Speaker 1 (01:19:31):
It seem I mean I think they have draft like
they drafted Ricky Piersoll, who had some shoulder injuries, and
then he gets there and he's got shoulder injuries, right,
And you know, they just sometimes draft some guys that
have been injured. And then the quote, you know, Nick
Bosa was hurt in college and they got hurt again
in the pros. You know, I mean they and they do,
like Kyle really likes physical players, and it's like, yeah,

(01:19:54):
they wear and tear on these guys. Body. You're Trent's older,
but McCaffrey's been hurt a lot, you know, so he
gets hurt there. And the other thing is Kyle's not
really a big like let's rotate our guys. You know,
it's like Jesus, give us some of these guys a blow. Now.
By all accounts, Kittle's really healthy, mccaffre's really healthy, Trent's
really healthy, Boast is really healthy, Warren is really healthy.
They love piersall. Remember last year, offensively, I think we

(01:20:17):
view ah shitty last year they were actually really good
twenty to twenty. They were just terrible in the red zone. Yeah,
now I think they're high on Piersoll. Juwan Jennings a
little happier now you're yeah, it gets and got his
three million dollars. The calf injuries kind of like the
Micah Parsons were actually goes away. But I do think
it kind of comes down to Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey.
If you tell me they play fifteen of the seventeen games,

(01:20:38):
I think they'll be okay. If you tell me one
of those guys miss half the season the other guy's
banged up, I'd say there'd be in some trouble. Yeah.
The Seahawks, Uh, Saul's back. That helps.

Speaker 3 (01:20:47):
Yeah, if they've needed him, it's not gonna be an
enormous skim out of change. A lot of a lot
of the other coaches still on staff. They just needed
his voice and presence for years. So I think that's
a good marriage. Their defense is gonna come down to
their offense gonna go out of his health, as you mentioned,
and then their defense is like all these guys like
I don't I'm looking at the rosst they could start

(01:21:10):
Nick Martin. I don't think it's gonna start, but they could.

Speaker 1 (01:21:12):
They like they like him, he's he'll he'll end up.
I bet in a couple of years be a really
good player, but I mean depending on him as a rookie.
The kid from Georgia, mikell.

Speaker 3 (01:21:20):
Now, who I like, his size is the question mark when.

Speaker 1 (01:21:22):
He's one hundred and twenty pounds.

Speaker 3 (01:21:24):
Yeah, we're gonna see if you can hold up in
the nickel. Uh, you're gonna get missed offfa back eventually.
I know a lot of forty undersons Sonting like.

Speaker 1 (01:21:31):
Brown Lanier's a good Leonor is a good player obviously.
You know There'scaro Green from Florida State. When he played
had showed promise, but he's been banged up.

Speaker 3 (01:21:40):
Yeah, but there's like three or four rookies that if
they hit this defense could be really good. If they're bad,
you're gonna need the offense to be good and stay healthy.
So yeah, there's some variants there. The Cardinals do they
not fade away like they do every year, and then
the Rams with Stafford could be hurt, might not make
it through the So yeah, this could the Seahawks take

(01:22:02):
advantage possibly. I think now look like taking a step back.
Ryan Grubb like to bor if we're gonna start the
question them, I mean Pennix. But by the way, that
the Falcons this week. How much did Penix help them?
And then last year the offense really wasn't that great
of a fit Schematically. I love some of the things

(01:22:25):
Kubiak does. Their offensive line is a big question. But
they seem to have hit on Zabel, that kid from
North Dakota State, and like they've hit on some of
these guys who really they run the same type of
run blocking scheme in North Dakota State that Kubiak wants
to run. So it was like a really natural fit
and they look like they hit some of those guys.
So their offense could be better than many expected. And yeah,

(01:22:45):
this is gonna be a top ten defense as long
as they stay healthy under McDonald. So h yeah, do you.

Speaker 1 (01:22:50):
Think Seattle's a playoff team not necessarily win the division?
But are like are you viewing those.

Speaker 3 (01:22:55):
No, they're close, they're fringe a lot of it, but
like they have could. I don't mind the bet to
win the division because there's a lot of variance with
some of these other teams. The Niners defense and health,
Stafford's health, and then you know the Cardinals like Kyler,
the next step does Kyler fade away? And the second
half like every year. So yeah, that they're they're close,

(01:23:16):
Like it's gonna come down to pack. Can they protect
Darnald enough that the pass protection when he needs to throw.
That's what I worry about it he doesn't have Darnald
doesn't have the same weapons like kupp Is. He's not
what he once was. He doesn't have the same weapons
that he had in Minnesota, So that we might concern there,
but there could be massive upside with with this Kubiak
and like, so, yeah, very interesting game. I will say

(01:23:39):
I don't expect a ton of explosive plays in this game,
like so that the forty nine ers right now they
don't have their full complement of weapons, and the Seahawks
defense is really good and good at taking away explosive plays.
And then if you look at the Seahawks offense, it's
like there's no dk Metcalf to go down the field.
They're gonna rely on the run game. There's gonna be

(01:24:00):
a lot of running in this game. So I don't
mind the under but I will say I'm probably not
gonna bet at pregame. What's probably gonna happen here is
I would expect Kubiak to have a good game script here,
and then you're gonna have them at home hyped up
against you know, young defense. I could see Seattle going
down and score a touchdown. Shanahan one of the best

(01:24:20):
in the NFL, if not the best at opening game script.
I could see that all off season. I could see
the forty nine ers going down clinically scoring a touchdown.
At seven to seven in the first quarter, total live
total goes up, I'll probably look at taking a live
under because then I can see that game dying and
this becomes more of a running possession battle. So if

(01:24:42):
this gets the three, i'd take Seattle two and a half,
probably passed, but would look at a live under there.
And I don't hate the Seattle take a shot for
the division game with the combo of Kubiak and McDonald.
The only the longest.

Speaker 1 (01:24:55):
Kid Kittles own Seattle, and they drafted that kid in
the second round from South Carolina. Who's is Kyle Hamilton? Right?

Speaker 3 (01:25:01):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean where he's They're gonna use him
like Hamilton really really impressive players, So yeah, just another
piece for McDonald to work with. The only long shot
I took division wise is disgusting. It's the Giants at
thirty to one, probably has no prayer, would need help,
would need like hurts or Barkley to get hurt right,
Washington to regressed hard. You know, the Cowboys trading Parson's helped.

(01:25:25):
But it's like they're gonna win a ton of close games,
have a ton of things go their way, and then
like Washington and Philly with injuries, like fall behind. But
maybe Dart is like the guy they bring him in
and he ends up beating. So there's some variants there,
and I think the defense will be really good. That's
a lot I would not recommend following along on that,
but that is the longest division shot that I played.

Speaker 1 (01:25:46):
That is sick.

Speaker 2 (01:25:46):
Oh material, Yeah, okay, let's let's get to the to
the to the main event.

Speaker 1 (01:26:05):
We got night game Bills Ravens. This thing they played
multiple times last year. Obviously, the Ravens worked him in
the one game at home, which was a pretty big moment,
and then obviously the Bills somehow pulled that game out
of their ass in the second round of playoffs last year,
which was, you know, one of the best wins in
the franchise in you know, decades. It was a big,

(01:26:25):
big win. I don't really know what to make of
this game. You were telling me before obviously the Bills,
you know, the first round rookie from Kentucky, he's been
banged up and he's not playing this game. Trey White.
Did he get hurt in practice? So he I mean,
so now he granted he's hurt a lot and he
was older player bringing him back. But you it's easy
to root for when you're watching hard Knock, You're like, yeah,

(01:26:46):
this is coming on home. This is sweet. He just
seems like a good guy. Clearly that kind of fell
fell apart. It just feels like when they're playing, it's
almost like in a boxing match if a dude that
weighed like one hundred and seventy pounds was playing, was
fighting the guy that was like two hundred and twenty pounds,
but that one seventy pounder is just like, you don't
want to bet against him, but he should not win

(01:27:06):
this fight. That's kind of what it feels like when
they're both on the field at the same time. But
they got like a crazy right hook and that's just
Josh Allen, So it's like he can just keep him
in the game. But it just doesn't feel like the Bills,
guy for guy removed the quarterback. It's even that close,
does it?

Speaker 3 (01:27:22):
Yeah? I mean the Ravens are probably better. I mean,
the Bill's offensive line is better, but the Ravens from
a whole roster perspective are better now the rookie, they're
gonna have a new kicker, Tucker who fell off anyway,
So that's that's worth watching that I'm interested in As
a Ravens fan myself, I always and I can sympathize.

(01:27:44):
I deal, he's a forty nine Ers fan. We did
one of the things last year that was a disasters
or special teams dealing with Moody. But I had like
ten fifteen years where you just were like, Okay, we're
gonna make this kick, which is a very nice feeling
because most NFL it.

Speaker 1 (01:27:59):
Was pretty rare. It's pretty rare.

Speaker 3 (01:28:00):
Yeah, So we'll see how that works out for the
For the Ravens who had a they fell off special teams,
like the first time they didn't finish in the top
ten in fifteen years. Part of that was Tucker falling off.
So yeah, these two teams, like I had, the Rings
had the better roster. I haven't powered to hire number
one Tho're the most like complete roster in the NFL
right now and then, But you know, you get the

(01:28:22):
Bill's home field avantage and the Bills do it. Don't
lose at home. Over the last three seasons. They lost
twice at home.

Speaker 1 (01:28:28):
That's it, Jesus.

Speaker 3 (01:28:30):
They lost to the Vikings one year in a weird
game by like one, I think, and then the Broncos
in a really weird game I think, in overtime by three.
Like that's it. Those are the two games they lost
at home.

Speaker 1 (01:28:41):
And it wasn't the that Vikings game. Weren't they down
big and Cousins. That was when Justin Jefferson one handed catch,
remember that and there was.

Speaker 3 (01:28:47):
Like a big review. Yeah that that that game was crazy.
So that's it. That's the only games they've lost at
home in the regular season. But the I mean, so
I get the Bills respect home field advantage. Hardball, by
the way, is the most profitable coach in Week one
in NFL history. I think he's They're twelve and five
against the spread, really good with prep, really good Week one,

(01:29:10):
So they'll be ready the team that knocked them out
last year, whatever, The Bills will be ready to that's
narrative street, but I think the Ravens are in better
shape roster wise. It's hard to bet against Allen at home.
Usually when either of these two quarterbacks are a dog,
you take them. The Ravens are a dog. Now the
Ravens are favored, So I think the Ravens win this game.
Do I really want to go bet at now that

(01:29:31):
they're favored? Probably not. I have to have too much
respect for Alan. This is what about. I'm projected right
where this is now because the Bills are beat up
and they have a couple guys they added in free
agency on the defensive line who were suspended the first
four to six games of the year. They're gonna be
death pieces, but they'll contribute. That's no worthy. But they're
still fine. They they have a lot of depth of defense. Fine.
The most important thing, it's their secondary. That's the biggest

(01:29:53):
question coming into the year. Every year for the last
I mean, the Bills have average twelve point two wins,
were the last since COVID, and they have no Super
Bowl appearance to show for it because their defense left
him down, specifically the secondary. Ken they put it all together.
Their safeties very big question mark. Again this year. Right,
there's no hide anymore, like there's no Poyer. It's can

(01:30:14):
Bishop and Rat be the guys in the back end
and then the cornerback room, there's a major question mark.
You drafted Harriston out of Kentucky's now and I are
you're gonna need him. Hit Trey White way past his prime.
He's hurt. Didn't practice again today. Christian Bedford one of
the better corners in the NFL, really good fit for
that scheme. He didn't practice yesterday. I think he returned

(01:30:37):
today that I just read five minutes ago. But it's
a groin. I don't know if he's gonna go. If
he can't go, you're talking about a questionable safety room.
I think they would start. I don't know for sure,
but I don't even know he's on the rock, like
I know every roster inside and out. I think it's
Dorian Strong, a rookie from BOTECH. I don't even know
who the other corner is. That's because you have Ben,
you have Arren Johnson. The nickel was real good about

(01:30:59):
it down your last but he's really good. I don't
even know the other corner would be if both him
are out because now you're down your top three corners
on the outside. It's probably rookies. That's bad news against
the Ravens. So yeah, the injury situation is definitely worth monitoring.
That's why the line is flipped. I think the Ravens
win this game. But I do have a ton of
respect for Allen. If Down guides his team down opening

(01:31:20):
drive touchdown, I'll bet in the Ravens lide. I'll tell
you that. And you want to bet narrative street Mark
Andrews touchdown anytime, touchdown like two to one. He fumbled
the game away last year against the Bills. The Bills
can't cover tight ends questions in safety. Now there's cornerback questions.
They're gonna have to help on the outside way more.
That's gonna open the middle of the field up. Likely's hurt Mark,

(01:31:44):
you know, I just know. Knowing the Ravens harball, I
can already he wants to get Andrews in the end zone,
probably early, to shake those demons off from last year.
Stark fresh Andrews which killing himself all off season because
of this. They're gonna try to get him the en zone.
Doesn't mean it's a lock, but two to one. I
think it's worth a flywer. I can already see like
him Harball laughing and like hugging him after he gets

(01:32:05):
in the end zone that all the team surrounds him
like they're gonna try to have that moment. So and
it's a good matchup for him, So I think that's
worth a bet. But really fascinating game. Generally speaking, you
get one of these, any of these quarterbacks as an underdog,
you take them. So I couldn't fault anyone for taking
either side. Like you you're gonna say, like, hey, even
if you give me a point and a half with

(01:32:26):
Allen at home, I'm taking it. I just think these
bills injuries on defense are probably too much, especially given
that the roster was already a step behind the Ravens overall.

Speaker 1 (01:32:37):
And what you're saying. They do a little of the
quarterback sneak stuff with Mark.

Speaker 3 (01:32:41):
Yeah, and he's also could get in any time touchdown
he you get in. Lamar doesn't do the tush push
quarterback sneaks, So every once in a while, though motion
andrews like you'll see it on the fourth down, the
Lamar will being shotgun. It's like fourth inches and I'm like,
oh my god, because there's nothing that makes me anger

(01:33:02):
than shotgun. The mart usually gets it, but snapping the
ball five yards back on fourth inches, but then you'll
see fourth inches of Mar' shotg on Andrews will come motion,
get under center, quick snap. So they could do that
at the goal line for sure, And this game, after
what happened last year, you want to get Andrews in
the end zone. Probably a higher likelihood of that happening
at the goal line as well.

Speaker 1 (01:33:23):
I think I think John Harbaugh saw when the Mahomes
did that sneak and that kneecap came out. He's like,
we ain't ever risking that as long as I'm here.
I don't think Andy hasn't done it since.

Speaker 3 (01:33:33):
Yeah, I don't think he's sneaked it no one time since.

Speaker 1 (01:33:37):
I do think the quarterback sneak. Some guys are good
at it. You know, Brady was really good and some
guy you could tell arch In fairness, it's not a
play you really practice. It's kind of an instinctive. You
either got it, like Jalen Hurt's probably been natural if
that since he was like seven years old. Quarterback sneak
and you just feel comfortable. Some guys are just like you.
We were talking before Drew Brees like it takes some balls.

(01:33:57):
Drew's not the biggest guy. I mean he's leaping over
three twenty pounders putting that ball over now linebackers, you know,
like Troy Paul. He was unfazed, fearless.

Speaker 3 (01:34:07):
Yeah, so I mean the two best, by the way, Yeah,
it's weird how some guys are good at it. The
two best in the NFL history with a sample size
from a success right standpoint I purchased probably out there.
I haven't looked at this in a year or two
as historically, but going back ways, the two best were Brady,

(01:34:29):
who was like automatic and not the biggest guy, uh
just knew knew how to do it. And Joe Flacco.
Joe Flacco with the Ravens for like ten years, was
automatic on quarterback sneaks. So you can't even look at
a guy and know, but once you see them do it,
you're like, Okay, he's a good atitor is not like,

(01:34:50):
but you can't if you put like ten quarterbacks in
a room and like with their body types, height, no clue,
you wouldn't be able to tell. But some guys have
the knack and know how to do it, and some
guys just don't. But Brady and Flacco were always, uh,
the elite, like ninety ninety three percent of the time,
they were gonna get it. So but yeah, it should

(01:35:12):
be a fun game on a fun weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:35:15):
I guess I won't talk to you still after Monday
night football. You got kleb making his debut with Ben
Johnson against Flores. I guess Ben Johnson obviously has experience
coaching against Flores. But this combination, you know, the Vikings,
you have the Ravens, Power Raiders, the best roster in
the league. I would imagine you have the Vikings pretty high,

(01:35:36):
don't you, guy for guy non quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:35:38):
Yeah, the question is the quarterback with them.

Speaker 1 (01:35:41):
But just remove if we just remove every quarterback from
every team, just do roster for roster. There they top
two or three roster in the league.

Speaker 3 (01:35:47):
Help. Yeah, removing quarterbacks. They got the receivers now, receivers
not in as good as shape right now.

Speaker 1 (01:35:54):
Assuming they're healthy and not suspended and stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:35:56):
Yeah, the offensive line elite. They added Mason in the
running back room, so I thinks the boards the running
back round is really good. The defense added to the
defensive line secondary has questions. They got to make up
for that schematically. That's where they're like a step behind
the Ravens, who have just like five first round draft
picks in their secondary. But they're up there, and then
everything's gonna come down to the quarterback who's basically a

(01:36:18):
rookie compared to like a multiple MVP Award winner. But yeah,
their roster's up there, Flores, and they're coaching. They have
arguably the best coaching combo. Like now you can put
the forty nine ers up there, chiefs and uh yeah, chiefs,
but they're they're you have O'Connell calling the offense, and

(01:36:38):
we've seen what O'Connell could do with all kinds of quarterbacks. Like,
so that's that's got to be. It gives you at
least to feel safe for your Viking stand with McCarthy,
and then you have Flora's the Mad Scientists. Defensively, I
will say Johnson has gotten the better of him over
the past couple of years. This is a perfect litmus
test for Caleb Williams. The Bears roster is pretty good

(01:37:01):
as well. It's just gonna come down to does Williams take
the next step or is he so in order to
beat this Flora's defense, What did Goff do? It's you're
he's sending pressure, blitzing. Gof's getting rid of the ball quick,
getting into his playmakers in space. It's gonna be well schemed.
So that's what's gonna happen here. We're gonna bring pressure,

(01:37:21):
They're gonna be blitzing. Does Williams is he able to
process and understand the offense? Understand his reids, not pat
the ball, not fail, and Kenny command the offense is
a perfect test. It's like, Okay, you have Johns. We're
gonna learn so much about did Williams progress? Did he
grasp this offense? Is this Bears team gonna be a

(01:37:43):
real player in that division because you're going up against
the Flores. You have Johnson, who's that success against Flores,
knows how to call an offense there, knows how to
put a quarterback in position to have success. Ken Williams
do it, Kenny make Now you're not not trying to
make the superhuman play every once in a while. Yeah
you can do that, but Kenny at actually make the
quick read, make the right throw, understand what the defense
is doing what Johnson wants him to do, So I

(01:38:07):
can't wait to watch to see how far along he's
calm under Johnson. And that chess match between Johnson and Flores,
which is always fun.

Speaker 1 (01:38:16):
It's the best game of the week from a podcast
sports radio stamp. Oh yeah, hot takes because because even
Bills and Ravens, it's like, oh, it's Bills gets It's
all They're both gonna be good, you know, even nin
er Seattle, it's like, let it play out, they'll be fine. Good,
goching this. There are a lot of unknowns and there's
a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:38:33):
Of your Cliff on Twitter going viral Tyson badget Hale
Williams is done when they lose thirty eight nothing So.

Speaker 1 (01:38:42):
Well, you agree, it's a little weird how the head
coach constantly talked up the backup and then they gave
him a random extension. Now, you could argue from a
value standpoint, it's not crazy, little weird to do when
you still have an unknown with the number one overall
pick a quarterback and then you're like, okay, that second
preseason game happens. But you go, well, if you look
at the Bills and Chiefs in the second preseason game,

(01:39:04):
they clearly are hard charging in practice and their guys
are done and then they don't even play their starters.
But by the third preseason game, the Chiefs are a
good example. They treat that kind of seriously and they
tried and Ben Johnson was like, this is an embarrassment.
What the fuck was that? So you're like, it's just
a little just unknown. I'm not writing Caleb off, but
let's face it, his style of play unless he can

(01:39:25):
change it, which is much more Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson,
which is the antithesis of what Ben Johnson clearly is
looking for. A couple steps, get rid of the ball,
do what I tell you to do. It's why you
love Jared Goff.

Speaker 3 (01:39:38):
It's also the same way in New York with the Jets.
Not someone who came from the line staff justin Fields
does not fit that line.

Speaker 1 (01:39:47):
That's gonna be a disaster than some offense.

Speaker 3 (01:39:50):
So Fairs are a little better shape roster wise, yeah,
and Williams a little better than Fields, but same kind
of thing. Like Ken Ken. They mold Williams, well, you
want to keep some of those traits, but for sure,
can they rain him in enough to operate this offense.
It's gonna be fascinating to watch. That's what that whole
division is going to be a fascinating watch.

Speaker 1 (01:40:11):
Well, I was flowing when I'll get you out here
on the last flying to Hawaii, and I watched I
downloaded like the first half of that game. And you
watch Mahomes, I think what makes Mahomes so awesome? And
you watch them against the Bears, and it was a
preseason game, but the Chiefs clearly like focused, like it
was like, we want to get some real reps here.
He can make the spectacular play, but he can also
just like on third and six, knows how to get

(01:40:32):
rid of the ball, can diagnose. It's just like he's
just playing quarterback. Now, I'm not comparing Caleb Williams to Mahomes,
but ultimately to be the quote unquote playmaking guy. What
Mahomes does it's so great is he can also do
the easy shit. That's why Peyton tom with his eyes
close and you gotta be able to You can't function
in the NFL when you can't do the easy shit.
It's impossible to be good teams. It's impossible to beat

(01:40:53):
random teams if it's like, well, you just third and eight.
He wasn't even close. He fucking went to the wrong spot.
You're fucked.

Speaker 3 (01:40:59):
Yeah, and it's so much. Teams are making you drive
the field consistently now taking away explosive plays more more,
you know, too high safety looks changing. It's hard. Look
at the Chiefs off The Chiefs offense is not explosive.
In order to drive them, you're gonna have to hit
some of those easy throws. You're gonna have to execute consistently,
otherwise you're gonna kill way too many drives.

Speaker 1 (01:41:21):
Okay, stucky, you know how coaches talk like we I
don't sleep much Monday through Friday. I feel the same way.
Like Thursday through Monday, I'm just watching football, getting up
for early. This is when I turned into a coach,
just to sit on my couch and consume.

Speaker 3 (01:41:34):
Yeah, it's uh, there's I don't I don't find a
nap every once in a while. Yeah, not even during
the weekend like Tuesdays in that Monday sometimes that that's uh.
I'll sleep in April, Uh, April sleep. But yeah, I'll
be running on fumes in a month. But it's good

(01:41:55):
to be back.

Speaker 1 (01:41:55):
Okay, enjoy the weekend. I'll talk to you next week.

Speaker 3 (01:42:01):
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3 & Out - Reaction to the Philadelphia Eagles DEFEATING the Dallas Cowboys 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 - Reaction to the Philadelphia Eagles DEFEATING the Dallas Cowboys on TNF