3 & Out - Reaction to Dak Prescott & Cowboys TIE vs. Micah Parsons & Packers on SNF

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff is reacting LIVE immediately following the Sunday Night Football TIE between Micah Parsons & the Green Bay Packers and Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys as well as a crazy Week 4 in the NFL. John will react to Micah Parsons return to Dallas, the top plays of the day, breaking news around the NFL, & much more!

04:50 - Packers-Cowboys

21:59 - Injuries piling up around the NFL

32:03 - Ravens-Chiefs

36:48 - Jaguars-49ers / Brock Purdy

43:09 - Colts-Rams / Puka Nacua

45:06 - Lane Kiffin

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
Hopefully everyone's doing well. Off a couple of day bender

(00:23):
in New York City. Just watch some football really for
the last twenty four hours College football, NFL football, and
just witness the Packers get kind of lucky to tie
because Jordan Love almost blew that thing at the end.
But we will be reacting to the tie game and

(00:43):
some thoughts from that, as well as some other stuff
from around the league. I mean, I don't know why
so many guys are getting injured, to to Purty's performance,
to h Yeah, just a lot of other stuff happening.
Lane Kiffen, I do want to end on Lane Kiffin
because I watched the documentary he got a big win
at LU, and some thoughts on him. I went on

(01:03):
with Colin earlier. We talked about a lot of stuff.
So go check that out and make sure you subscribe
to the podcast wherever you listen. If you're listening to
this podcast three and out, Apple, Spotify, you name it, obviously, YouTube,
make sure you subscribe to YouTube, and we go live
after all these primetime games. Just went live after this
uh this game the night, so we got you covered.

(01:25):
But first Before we dive in to any football time,
I'm pretty I'm pretty excited right now. Today's been. It's been.
It's been a fun couple hours of watching that game
go back and forth scoring points. If you like offense,
now if you like defense, not so much. But before
we dive into anything, you know, we gotta tell you
about my friends, my partners, and the official ticketing app
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(01:48):
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(02:10):
just at the Ryder Cup, any event you want to
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was with a buddy that had gone to the US
Open for tennis. He was telling me about all the
honey dues that he was slamming. I've never had a honeydee,
but they sound fantastic. I would like to go to
the US Open, not even a big tennis guy, but
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minute ticket's lowest price is guaranteed. Now listen, it's been
a rough seven day stretch for the packers of the

(02:55):
best team in the league. Your boy, if this was
an ap pole would have been the number one team
in the country after two weeks. And also, like football
is like a family, like it's a team game, right,
you need help people balance you out. Some days you
carry more the load, other days other people carry more

(03:16):
the load. Some days I cook and clean, some days
she cooks and cleans, like on football Sundays. Some days
you do things, some days she does things. Some day.
Especially those of you with kids, as they get older,
they pitch in. Everyone does their part. A football team
is no different. Sometimes your offense has to carry you.
Sometimes your defense has to carry you. Sometimes a kicker

(03:39):
has to make five or six kicks, or a punder.
Your offense is off and has to pin the other
team countless times throughout the other You know, throughout the game,
you have a bunch of guys on offensive defense making
millions of dollars, Your offensive defensive coordinator, your head coach,
they're all making millions of dollars, like everyone is paid
to contribute. Now, this is we're dealing with humans here,

(04:02):
and obviously some teams. You know, in theory, the Packers
are more talented than the Cowboys have to come through
more often. Look at the Packers last week. Their offense
was a knemick. Now, the Browns defense is good, but
their offense was not good, did not make any plays
and honestly lost them the game. I mean, their defense
played pretty good. The Browns had three points the overwhelming

(04:23):
majority of the game. Packers had no business to not
win that game. And then tonight it's like the Packers defense,
I don't know through us Moses just looking at the
Cowboys turned into the Cowboys defense. They were Jeff Hafley
and I even saw a headline sometime last week talking
about coaching candidates because we might have into John Harbaugh.

(04:47):
That thing could get weird if you are just like,
is my coach not like you know, some of these
teams that you know, Brian day ball or something might
get fired. I know he won today, but a guy
like that, I'm just saying, a random team thinking about
firing their coach. We've heard this with Mike Tomlin forever,
like who would we replace him with? And you look
around the landscape like who's the next Sean McVay, who's

(05:10):
the next you know, Mike Vrabele or Ben Johnson, like
who are these guys available? You look around, Jeff Hafley's
name was zooming up the list, and then you watch today,
You're like, uh, Brian Schottenheimer. Kids say belt two ass
destroyed him. I get you had injuries. Every team in
the league has them right now. Because the Packers defense
was really beside a couple of plays. You know, Michaeh.

(05:32):
Parsons at the end was atrocious. I mean, Dakota Prescott,
you look like he was going to complete a pass
on every time he dropped back and listen, the offense
came through and Jordan Love was excellent, except that last play.
Of the game. And we got extremely lucky that this podcast,
all the podcasts, and all the shows were opening up

(05:55):
tonight and leading into tomorrow with Jordan Love's epic collapse
in the last fifteen seconds. And I'm not gonna put
it all on him because Laflour could still communicate with him,
because it wasn't under fifteen seconds on the shot clock.
Once it got close to ten seconds to me, and
everything was off and he was still trying to, you know,

(06:15):
point people out and line them up. I think you
gotta get on the headset and scream at him to
clock the ball. And yeah, ideally you would like to
kick a field goal with no time left, but in
that situation, you couldn't risk what almost happened literally one
second away. And I bet if we broke it down,
it was probably closer to half a second than one second.

(06:38):
If that ball's a little higher and flies over everybody,
it's off. If the defensive player tips it or the
ball bounces off him in the air instead of straight down,
the game is over. And I'm not blaming Jordan Love
in the sense of like his time management and his
clock management, Like there's a lot going on. He's a

(06:59):
guy that doesn't have that much experience, Like that's not
Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson with seventy
eighty or however many starts. Right, Matt Stafford, he's still
a relatively new quarterback. Right in terms of on the
field experiment experience, he had let him right down the field.
Not that it should be that difficult because the Cowboys offense.

(07:21):
I think that the coach has to help him out
in that situation and just say clock the ball, because
that was way too close for comfort. And honestly, the
Packers probably should have lost in that moment, and if
they lose in that moment, it's beyond devastating. Now, you
could argue when you're a team like the Packers that
trades two first round picks, gives a guy one hundred

(07:43):
and eighty eight million dollars to essentially be Miles Garrett
or Max Crosby or TJ. Watt or whoever, just to
be a superstar four your team. Let's face it, be
the face of your team. Your expectations are not to
be two to one and one after four games, especially
with Listen, I thought they were the best bet of
the weekend, this team ceedee lamb in sweats that defense.

(08:09):
The offense did their part. They were moving the ball
with easet scoring at will. Not sure what happened in
the Packers defense, but that's also concerning big picture is
this is the type of game, even if it is
somewhat of an anomaly. I know they had some injuries
on the defensive side of the ball and their defensive
line was pretty decimated, but let's just say that wasn't

(08:30):
an anomaly. Well, at the end of the year, like
watching the Lions, and I understand they're playing the Browns,
but the last couple weeks it kind of looks like
the Lions got the swag back. And that first weekend
you're like, Okay, the Lions are gonna be in trouble.
And the Lions started playing more games, You're like, okay,
they're gonna be a good they're gonna win twelve thirteen games. Well,
if you finish with one less win than them, and

(08:51):
it's because of this tie, like that's kind of a problem.
And listen, we feel like in November and December the
games mean more. But when you a stupid game or
in a situation like this, have a tie in a
game like this, in a game where you're not a
kind of a favorite, you were a touchdown plus favorite
on the road against one of the worst defenses I've

(09:13):
ever seen. Like, I'm not trying to be negative. I
try to be positive on this podcast. I like football.
I love football, but I also like good football, and
I understand as the world's changed, not even the world's changed,
but the concussion lawsuits a decade plus ago, the league
had to dramatically change. And Kyle Brandt was on this

(09:35):
podcast a couple weeks ago and he ran to like,
I support protecting the quarterbacks because when they get hurt,
it sucks, and I've always agreed with that. I do
as well, But there is a level of like in
college nothing grinds my gears, then a questionable targeting penalty
and the kid getting thrown out of the game, not

(09:56):
just thrown out of that game, but then he has
to miss a half of the next game. News for everybody,
most of those kids in college are not going to
be playing in the pros. They only get so many
years to start in major college football. It's the peak
of their athletic career, and a pretty awesome peak. I
fucking despise that rule. You know why because in twenty
twenty five, this isn't the seventies or eighties or the nineties.

(10:19):
No one's trying to hurt anybody. Those days are long gone.
These guys all get coached to be safe. Sometimes, yeah,
they hit them with a helmet. Okay, throw the flag,
kick him out of the game. That really irks me.
But tonight it looked like everyone coached to like, just
you know, instead of taking one step closer to the
offensive player, let him get an angle on you, then

(10:40):
see if you can tackle him. And my expectations for
the Packers defense are low, just like everybody. They're atrocious
and trading Micah Parsons while the process the way they
got there, I don't love because if you are going
to trade them, no issue. Your team's not remotely close
to compete eating for a super Bowl despite having a

(11:01):
pretty good offense. Looks like you, your head coach, pretty
good play caller. You should have traded him around the draft.
Not only would you have gotten more, but you could
have drafted players to help replace him. Right, you could
have immediately used like you always want money now over
money in two years, anyone in the NFL will tell
you future draft picks are worth less than draft picks

(11:25):
right now. Why it's like time value money. And I
just think you watch the Cowboys defense, it's a tough watch,
it really is. It's why people think I'm a hater
with the Bears. I'm not. I actually thought Caleb like
made some impressive plays day. Also, it's a bad ones,
but I hope Caleb's awesome. I watch football for a living.
You know what I want, more good teams, more good players,

(11:47):
more good quarterbacks, you know who. I don't like watching
backup quarterbacks, shitty quarterbacks. I enjoy watching Dak Prescott. Honestly,
I've always been a supporter at Dak Prescott. Now, I
also think you have to put him in perspective, like,
don't compare him to Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers or
Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. But relative to most of
these quarterbacks, he's fucking better there. And if you're gonna

(12:08):
play defense like that as the Green Bay Packers, like,
you got no shot to win the super Bowl. And
I think you know, Brian Schottenheimer, one thing we got
to give him credit for is last year, last week
against the Bears, who also are pretty bad on defense,
I mean really bad, pretty eye opening. Somehow Gino Smith
kept throwing on the ball. That's a whole nother conversation.
But like, it's hard when you lose a player early

(12:32):
in a game who is one of your key players.
We saw it with Xavier Worthy week one on the
third play of the game, and Andy Reid was like,
he was a major part of our game plan and
you have to adapt and there's no replacing specific players.
And with the Cowboys, Ceede Lambs a stud. So the
game plan, especially against a team like the Bears that
doesn't have any corners, like it's hard to you're kind

(12:53):
of screwed. But when you have all week and any
this is a you know, a a mark of any
good coach when they know the guys out, they can
build a game plan with what they have. And Brian
Schottenheimer came into this game held. I mean they were
down what looked like was going to be like fourteen
to nothing. I mean, I got done doing the podcast
with Colin and I turned on the game and the

(13:16):
Packers had just drove down the field to score their
second touchdown. They blocked the field goal the pat score
the two pointer, the Cowboys kind of got some momentum
and they just started rolling and Dak and the play
calls and it never stopped throughout the whole game. And
even collins Worth or Tariko mentioned it. He's like, you know,
Brian Schottenheimer, Dak Prescott, they have called and played a
hell of a game. And his numbers Mirrord, that of

(13:38):
Laflor and Jordan Love. They were like basically the exact
same up until a couple plays left. I think probably
were right when the Packers were at the fifty yard line,
give or take on that final drive where they ended
up kicking a field goal to end on the tie.
But like two things to night would be a little concerning,
is you know halfway because part of being a great

(13:59):
defense coordinator is if you do have some injuries, you
start playing with the backups. It's pretty difficult, it really is.
Like I thought, Aaron Glenn has proved himself over the
course of a couple of years, like he was an
excellent defensive coordinator. But you get to a point where
you get enough injuries where you're rolling out me and
you at linebacker and a d tackle and a safety.

(14:20):
It is hard to stop people and then your your
offense just has to be lights out. So like the
Cowboys know they have to play like that. I don't
think the Packers go into these games thinking they're gonna
have to play like that. And luckily Jordan Love and
the floor, you know, kind of picked up the slack,
so which would have sucked if for him and that

(14:40):
unit specifically, if they would have blown the game, which
again they came one second away from having. They wanted
this Micah Parsons story to be, you know, I don't
even know it's not. This isn't basketball. Like when Kevin
Durant returned to Oklahoma City and they had the CUPCA

(15:00):
they were all calling him pussy's Like that wasn't gonna
be the case here because the Cowboy fans really liked
Michael Parsons and didn't want the team to trade him.
Like in basketball's happened Lebron and Cleveland, those guys won
were with their programs a lot longer and they left
in free agency. This guy didn't really choose to leave.
It was just a chaotic situation. But then Parsons, you know,

(15:22):
he fell on his back, like didn't really play a
huge part of this game. Despite I was like, who's
playing Dackle for the Cowboys here? So just it's kind
of a bizarre watching experience beside these two historic brands
just lighting up the field and like feels like no
one obviously they're trying on defense, but relative to a

(15:43):
lot of the day, like the tackling couldn't have been
much worse. The dB play was horrendous. I mean some
of these plays the wide receivers are pickings. Dobbs, who
had a really good is like catching the ball in
front of the corner and then like making one move
and then getting by him. There are a couple plays
a night like Jacobs would just give a little juke
and he'd be gone. It's like, guy, so do we

(16:04):
practice tackling? And the answer really is no because it
doesn't really happen in the league And that's where I
want to get into next. But yeah, forty forty the
Green Bay Packers. You know, you saw the look on
Dak's face, a huge smile, like Dax some tim he's
been in the league long enough, he knows his team
is like, wasn't supposed to win this? Most people would

(16:27):
have thought. He said, what's the score tonight when the
ball kicked off of this game, I bet the average
football fan would be like thirty five to thirteen would
be a blowout. So he had a huge smile on
his face, like it's pretty respectable, and I can't imagine
that Packer's playing flying back to Green Bay will be
pretty quiet. I would guess they're pretty embarrassed. And there's

(16:49):
a little pressure now, Like there's not pressure on Brian Shott. Ever.
We leave this game like really impressed with the guy.
I actually think he's had a really impressive season. Everyone
thought that he was gonna be just this village idiot,
being this guy that was one and done being a joke.
Like he clearly is not a joke. He's a good
offensive coach. The team is playing hard, their defensive personnel sucks,

(17:12):
and you know where I stand. Again, might have been
a little aggressive last week with Eberflus, but he would
not be in the top twenty defensive coaches. If we
did a draft from scratch that I would draft as
my defensive coordinator. Hell I start texting around, I'd hire
some like linebackers or dB coaches around the league. So
I'm impressed with Brian Schottenheimer, and I do think that Lafleur,

(17:36):
like there's just a lot of pressure on this team,
and at the end of the day, like his job.
He's the head coach. He's not just the offensive coordinator.
He's clearly a good offensive coordinator. His quarterback was slinging
that thing around. Of course the Cowboys, you should, but
like you gotta win the game. And I just think
the special teams with the Packers, that the special teams

(17:59):
around the league right now. I don't quite understand how
all these kicks are getting blocked, but the Packers just
how many times? You know Rich Pasaccia, who everyone with
the Raiders loved and I was told over and over
like greatest coach of all time? Like is he a
good special teams coach? Like are most of these guys
a good special teams coach? Or they just pull on

(18:20):
an all time scam because most of these coaches, especially
the offensive guys, don't know dick about that side of
the ball. I mean don't not only don't know, they
do not care. Honestly, they despise it, they judge it,
they hate it. If they could, they would take it
out of the sport, you know, McVeigh. Their special team's

(18:42):
been bad. Shanahan's special teams have been like historically poor
over the years. The Packers special teams now for a
long long time have not been good because and people
ask me all the time, like some of these defensive guys,
I think they value it more because it has more
of a defensive feel coverage. You know, it's tackling in space,

(19:02):
angles to tackle, angles to corral the ball carrier. And
I think the I think these offensive coaches view it
as like, I don't even know, childish is probably the
wrong way to describe it, but just dumb. I mean,
they just don't like it, and at the end of
the day, like they're paid a lot of money to
run the entire team. And I somewhat agree. I'm not

(19:25):
the biggest like special teams home er here, but you
gotta put some emphasis, even if it just means you
standing there during practice and being a presence being seen,
so the guys know that you value it even if
you don't know anything about it. Like they're like, no
one will blame you, but to be around I just
don't think that happens a lot. I think I think

(19:45):
you'd be really shocked that during these periods of practice,
these guys go over to the quarterback, go to the
offensive guys. They're just talking what they love, what they
view as their baby, and I think I think it shows.
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(21:54):
I do think the injuries I looked up today in
the morning games I had like two TVs on and
I have a screen right in front of me, so
I can if I really want to get aggressive. There
were seven games on this morning. I don't even know
if I had that on the Texans and the Titans game,
so I had them like a four screen. Then I
had like a three screen or a two screen with

(22:16):
red zone. I had the Ryder Cup going, so I
had a lot going on, and I'm just I'm mainly
watching in the morning Dart and the Chargers and the
Eagles in Tampa, so I'm really focused on one and
keeping an eye on everything else that's going on. But
there was at one moment when I looked up and
there was a cart out for multiple teams, and multiple

(22:38):
other games had guys lying on the ground. And obviously
the turf monster that is MetLife is a disaster. And
I feel like, and I don't have the data to
back this up, but injuries in the NFL have never
been worse like in twenty twenty five. Specifically, every single
game I watched held the night. Guys go down by

(23:02):
the series, sometimes star players, sometimes just random rotational guys.
Sometimes it's like a random guard. Sometimes the most famous
guy on the field but I mean the forty nine
Ers that obviously lead the league had again today a
dude in the tent and a waiting line outside of
the tent. They might be the worst, but they are

(23:22):
not alone. The Chargers today had a devastating day. They
lost Joe Alt to a high ankle sprain, and their
offensive line was in shambles. And I get asked a lot,
what do you think the theory is why all these
injuries are happening. My theory is two things. One, there's
like a concrete moment. There's a specific time in place
where everything changed when I got into real football. I

(23:46):
mean I was at cal Pauly, but it's cal Pauly
like no shade the guys that have played there. It's
much closer to high school football than it is Bama,
Georgia and Penn State, Oregon. When I went to Fresno State,
it was like, I mean, we were playing Wisconsin, we
were playing Illinois, we were playing you know. UCLA actually
was good back then, like real teams in Boise State,

(24:07):
Like it was real football. Just I'm pretty sure maybe
there was one day off. We had three straight weeks
of double days, and a lot of those were full
on tackling to the ground and Freso's hot. It's like
one hundred and ten degrees some days. It's not quite
as hot as where I live in Arizona, but it's
for California beside, like the Mohave Desert, probably one of

(24:28):
the hottest areas in the state. And it was run
like an NFL practice. You know why Pat Hill came
from Belichick. That's where he learned to coach with Kirk Farnce.
He was the assistant offensive line coach. Kirk Ferrance was
the offensive line coach, and they went against Belichick and
Nick Saban every day training camp. OTA's the regular season,

(24:50):
and they wore pads and double days forever, just like
all these teams. And then I went to Andy Reid
in twenty ten, and I remember in Lehigh where the
camp was double day after double day after double day,
and it was just so intense, and I thought, these
guys are such badasses. This is so hard, Like it's
not the junction boys like you get water breaks and stuff,
but it was extremely physical and it was like that

(25:11):
all around football college hell high school. I remember Davis
High School in two thousand and one, two thousand and
two like weeks of double days every single day, no
no off days. And then twenty eleven happened a little
thing called the lockout, and the league thought, for more money,
it's what they wanted. But one thing the players were

(25:31):
adamant to do, which I understood I guess at the time,
was like, no more double days. We want to have
a practice and then like a walkthrough. So double days
were essentially canceled. And the other thing that went along
with that was you couldn't have I think like more
than four straight days of practice. You would have to

(25:54):
give the players a day off. Pretty sure that did
not exist before. So not only did you have double days,
you go as many weeks as you wanted. Now, starting
in twenty eleven, no more double days, and you couldn't
practice after the fourth day. The players had to get
a day off. And then there were also rules during
the season about how often you could wear pats. So

(26:16):
basically the NFL owners and the team side said we'll
get to keep more money and you get that, and
they said yes. And in theory, it's like a lot
of like government decisions, you know, when academia, well this
on the whiteboard, it sounds great, and it probably did
sound great. It makes sense of the time. It is

(26:36):
not great because they don't play football anymore part of
training for football. This isn't basketball where you can play
pickup games year round. If Lebron wants to get nine
other All Stars or nine other NBA players, they could
play legit games in the summer. Right. It's the same thing,
same thing in baseball, like you can run simulated batting practice,

(26:58):
like you can do a lot of things just in
a batting cage. In football, you're either playing actual football
or you're not training camp. Even when you do have
the pads on, you don't tackle to the ground, let
alone touch the quarterback. So it's not even what you
do in the game. Now, you can thud, but you're

(27:18):
still not going the same exact speed because you're not
going to tackle the guy to the ground, So you're
not simulating what you're going to do in the game.
And the one thing we know now with health and
wellness and all these how much money these guys put
in their body. These guys have never trained more, which
I admire and I respect, but I also think that
some of these guys became so in shape and almost

(27:42):
so fast that all they do is train and play games,
and then during training camp and obviously during the season
you play a little like fifty percent football, but there's
like you can't there's no build up to the games.
There's just training, which these guys do at a really

(28:02):
high level throughout the year, and then playing the games. Now,
these guys aren't as big as they once were safeties
and linebackers, but they've never been faster. So you see
all these guys constantly pulling acls, you know, just getting
injured because of the speed of the collisions. They're not
used to that because they don't have it in practice anymore.

(28:23):
So basically, the NFLPA fought for less money but more
time off, which has led to more injuries, which I
would imagine is gonna lead to shorter careers for guys
that who knows, we'll never know the answer. If they
just would have trained like they had been training before,
would have been more physically fit. Now, maybe you could

(28:43):
argue that the wear and tear, Like the older guys,
a guy that's sixty five years old, they played in
the NFL for ten years in the eighties, so your
body feels it. The wear and tear of all those
practices and the games over time, but they definitely were
more equipped to playing the games now. The other thing is,
you know, the turf is a huge argument, and I

(29:04):
do think, like MetLife, the turf is really bad. And
people have argued that some of the turf that they
have used at these fields is not even the best
turf that they can buy, which I'm no turf expert,
though I need to put some into my backyard. I
can't imagine owning in an NFL team, especially if I'm
the Mars or Woody Johnson. The two assets that are

(29:24):
worth probably a combined You could tell me whatever Forbes
wants to tell you either one of those assets. And
I was just in New York City. I think you know,
the Giants probably sell for fifteen billion and the Jets
would sell for ten plus. So you're talking two things
worth twenty five billion dollars and don't even have good turf.
How's that possible? How cause I don't know if like

(29:45):
some of these domes, could they handle the grass. I'm
not an agronomous here. No a few superintendents at golf courses,
that's about it. But clearly the turf situation is dramatically
worse than grass, and what we have seen I met
life has had dramatic impacts on human's career. And if
you're the Giants and you don't have the best turf,

(30:07):
we just have one of the more talented young players
that you've had in a long, long time. And it
looks like we'll find out. I'm recording this on Sunday night.
You'll probably know by lunch time on Monday. If Malie
Dabors blew out his knee and Joe Allt, who's one
of the better young players any position in the NFL,

(30:27):
is he more likely to get a high ankle sprain
on that shitty turf than he is on the grass.
And I could be wrong. I'm not a doctor or trainer,
but the injury situation, here's what I know as just
a fan of football. It's just not sustainable to lose
all these guys, guys game after game after game after

(30:48):
game throughout the league. There aren't enough players on the
street to replace them. I used to work in this business.
I used to have the sheets of if someone was injured,
who would we bring up. It feels like half the
league's already use those lists. We're not even to October.
I don't have an answer how to. There's no button

(31:08):
to fix. But I think it all stems back to
twenty eleven, which is never gonna change. But I think
what the players fought for is actually counterproductive into what
they want, and that's to be able to stay healthy
and have longer careers. So yeah, just sucks, that's all
I know. It just sucks. No one wants to watch.

(31:30):
Obviously the quarterbacks, but just all the other random players
just get constantly carted off, hurt and just feel like
their season ends or they have to go on injury
reserve for four games or eight games. It's just brutal,
I mean, and it feels like it's never been worse.
And I feel extremely confident, and I've seen I have

(31:51):
no data in front of me. I'm very confident. This
is as bad as ever been. Here's why I know
as bad as ever been. The Ravens suck right now.
I mean they blow. They can't stop a high school team. Now.
We talked about it last week. Their two best defensive
linemen are missing, their two best pass rushers are missing.

(32:12):
Meta Bouquet is a stud. I mean, he's a badass.
He's got a bad neck. That's pretty concerning. They put
him on IR so he's gone for a while. Van
Oy right banged up. Roquan Smith got banged up. Their
defense is getting shredded. The Chiefs, whose offense has struggled
to put it mildly for year and a half, lit
them up like a Christmas tree. Worked them. Game was

(32:34):
that Kansas City place where they don't lose much. But
Kansas City's got to be feeling pretty good. Charges a
million injuries. Raiders got Geno Smith. We'll see the Broncos tomorrow.
That got a long way to go after the becoming
the offseason super Bowl champs. I'm guilty too. I hyped
him up. Chiefs gonna be okay. You know they got
Andy Reid, Patrick Mahlmes. I don't know if you ever

(32:55):
heard of him. But the Steelers, who I was like,
I don't know, man, Aaron I forty two. The defense
looks like, crap, this is not gonna work. I wake
up today and they are just leaning on Minnesota. When
I got up and DK had just scored the long touchdown,
and I felt like it got worse from there. Gain

(33:15):
Well's looking like Rashard Mendenhall, the defense is flying around,
Sack and Carson Wentz just making plays, and then I
would imagine those guys. I saw Cam Hayward on Instagram
post a picture of him and TJ slamming a Guinness.
Can't even imagine how good it tastes over there. I mean,
because I had about fifty in New York in a
thirty six hour period. They taste great, and just the

(33:36):
Irish pubs, so they've always said it tastes way better
over there. So then they look up, you go, well,
the Browns gotta be one of the worst teams in
the league. I mean, just just a mess of an
NFL football team, and the one thing they got going
for him is their defense. When your offense sucks that bad,
your defense is gonna get worse over the year. They're

(33:58):
gonna get tired, and it's just human nature. You're gonna
give up because you have no hope. The Bengals who
did not play today that play tomorrow don't have Joe
Burrow for three months. I don't know about you. I'm out.
And then the Ravens are one to three and there
are no defensive reinforcements coming, and while their offense is

(34:18):
gonna have games where they score forty plus points. It's
not gonna happen every game. And if you're gonna have
turnover problems, which they have had, you're screwed. And I
do think we have to ask two questions. Is their
super Bowl window closed? I do feel pretty confident that
their best chance to win a Super Bowl, beside when

(34:39):
they beat the forty nine ers in the Super Bowl
over the last like twenty plus years, was two years ago.
They had the best defense in the league, They had
the MVP at quarterback, They had the game at Baltimore
in the AFC Championship Game. They were favored for a reason.
They have the best defensive coordinator that year on their side.

(35:02):
They were healthy, and they were fucking loaded, and they
got curb stomped and Lamar shited the bed. And now
a couple of years later, their defense is hurt. They've
you know, that coordinator's gone, and like you know, it
gets to one of those things that you just gonna
John Harbaugh just out of scholarship forever. You know, does
he does he get after the last couple of years

(35:23):
that have been good, does he get a six and
eleven season does he get an anomaly year? Uh, you know,
Ravens fans have had it better than Steelers fans because
you guys have won playoff games. But you'd be like,
that's Lamar, you know now, I think John has proven
a lot. But I things get weird, and that's the
best part of football. When you start losing, things get weird.

(35:45):
That's why it's entertaining, because like what is going on
right now? And these last two weeks, you've played two
real teams and you just played, you know, a team
that you've played a lot, do you know really well?
A team that was one and two as well, and
you should have had a lot to play for and
they kicked your ass. And obviously last week the Lions

(36:06):
destroyed them. So I think the Ravens I would never
just say I'm totally out on them because you got
Lamar Jackson, but clearly got a lot of issues. So
massive day for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and I'm pretty sure
the Ravens the Bills might have been the Ravens might
have been number two of biggest odds to win their division.

(36:30):
I mean, I'd be a little stunned at this point
in time. I guess you never know. If Rogers were
to get hurt, the Steelers would change dramatically. But Pittsburgh's
in pretty good shape. Someone who's not in good shape
right now is the forty nine ers health situation in general,
and party Like a huge part of your job when

(36:53):
you are the franchise quarterback is to be relied upon,
And to me, that is like you got to be healthy.
Like google, how many games Patrick Mahomes is missing his career?
How many games Josh Allen is missing his career? You know,
Dak Prescott has shattered a leg, ripped a hammy, but
like for the most part, like unless it's been a
season ender, like Dak Prescott plays in a lot of games.

(37:16):
Jared Goss's pretty durable. Jalen Hurts. I mean how many
games he missed over the last five years. I just
seem my guy to show up. You're gonna have bad games.
It's the NFL, Tom Brady, Peyton, Manning, Rogers, Joe Montana.
People have bad games. Tiger Wood shot seventy five every
once in a while, but for the last nineteen games,

(37:38):
pretty as twenty interceptions. And to me, like Brock, like
Baker Mayfield, they try to pull things out of their ass.
But the one thing Baker has done a pretty good
job of over the last couple of years is throwing
a lot of touchdown passes, you know, pretty I don't

(37:58):
think ideally they wanted to play, but the problem is
if you play for the forty nine ers, you get injured.
It's hard to avoid. So mac Jones, who was banged
up at the end of last week and all week long,
it's like, well, perty's probably a little healthier in mac Jones,
so throw him out there and mac Jones will be,
you know, eighty percent backup because that's at what he

(38:19):
is at best. So the forty nine ers went a
weird situation from a health standpoint, which is not ideal
because they got to play the Rams here in four
days and then today. It's like if Purty was a pitcher,
you know, if this is like the playoffs, right, if
a pitcher's off, you take him out because the games
are so important. Every at bat, every run matters. You

(38:40):
could tell early on, balls are flying on Brock all
over the map, overthrows, McCaffrey leads to a pick, had
a couple of plays that DeMarcus Robinson and Juwan Jennings
made incredible high point catches that if they were an
inch shorter, it would have hit the safety behind him

(39:02):
in the bread back. I thought he was atrocious today
because he couldn't control his ball placement. And he is
a great play from a backup tight end away from
that being a pick Week one, and I just think
he's gotten pretty reckless with the ball. And I've had
people and it's hard for short guys to see right.

(39:23):
There was a play today, I'm trying to think who
it was from. Oh, it was Carson Wentz that you
just realized they had a backshot of him looking at
like the Steelers defense. He realized, like he's six' five the.
Advantage And i've said this forever about the era of
the quarterbacks THAT i grew up on through high school
and then through, college like the late, nineties throughout the two.

(39:44):
Thousands all those guys are. Enormous The, eli's The, rivers
The Carson, palmers The, peytons the Tom, BRADIES i, mean The.
Roethlisbers these. Guys if you ever Seen Cam newton in
human in, person he looks Like Lebron. James guys aren't
struggling to see over their center guard or. Tackle and
some of these quarterbacks are short in the. League it's

(40:06):
hard for them sometimes just basic. Math If i'm six
one or six y two and the guy ahead of
me is six,' four Or if i'm six feet and
the guy ahead of me, sixty, three like especially when
you factor. In helmets might not have the great light
Eyesight where i'm, throwing it and a lot of it's
based on anticipation. And, timing WELL if i don't see,
that well and it's based on anticipation, and timing and

(40:28):
my accuracy is a little. Bit off who knows what's,
gonna happen kind of like keep your fingers crossed right
and the only time that almost comes through is like
grenades and horseshoes right where you can be close and
it still gets. Your points it's not how it works.
Playing quarterback the precision of throws on just, basic routes

(40:53):
let alone over the middle routes are, extremely HIGH and
i think balls are just flying all over for the guy,
and TODAY like i know he's got, multiple injuries which
to me is already, a concern, BUT man i mean
that was that was a. Rough watch it. Really is
then He got Sala And liam COHEN BARKIN u I

(41:18):
saw i said Something About liam cohen sign STEALING and
i couldn't even follow his traveling. This week, i'm like
this is it's two into the weeds. For. Me uh
And Then liam cohens, like says keep my name out of,
your Mouth And robert Sawa said i'll fucking, kill you,
like Literally like i'll, murder you which you Know In,
San Francisco robert sawall probably back at work the. NEXT
day I Take robert sala in that situation if if

(41:41):
they did get into a heated conversation one Of the
Jags offensive lineman's looking at song like what are we doing?
Right now but it's just not of AN embarrassing, i
mean it really is just the. Whole thing getting to
lose To the jags throw a bunch. Of, Picks listen
trema laws is not. That good he's Just not i'm
sorry to two quick things On. THE jacks i just

(42:03):
Don't Think trevor lawrence is. That GOOD and I Like.
Travis hunter i'm Rooting For. Travis hunter the dude just
enjoyed washing him play going back for a couple of years.
In college but you just you can't trade up multiple
ones to take that player over a. PASS rusher, i
Mean the giant should feel very fortunate That abdual carner
fell in their lap and a team made that pick

(42:25):
because it's just The wrong it was insane at the
time and watching it, play out it's just not a.
GOOD move, i mean he's not playing. Both ways you,
Know why it's impossible to play. Both ways this isn't
basketball where it's like you play offense and you. Play
defense you played. Back offense you played to get back.
On defense to how. Football works defense comes off, the
field offense goes on. The field, you know no one plays.
Both ways LAST time. I checked some of the greatest

(42:47):
athletes in the history of the world have played football
that wide receiver AND. A dB they don't. Go both
they don't, just, LIKE yeah i played, ninety snaps not how,
it works and it's not how it's gonna work on this.
HERE either a couple other quick Things like stafford was really.

(43:17):
Good today it's crazy How Good puka. NIKU is i
Mean today i'm watching. Him play i'm like, this guy
how physical? He is he Turns in you Know how
deebo used to be with the ball in. His hands
now it was he couldn't really, run route so you
had to like pitch him the ball or hand him off.
The ball but Then once deebo had like a head,
of steam he could run. You over he could break like.

(43:38):
Three tackles he was just he turned into a monster
with a full head. Of speed puka, does that stopped catching,
the ball and then it'll turn around and like run.
Through you and obviously when he catches the ball, in
motion the power and like his body, and balance control
and strength when the ball's in, His hands he's just a.

(43:59):
Freaking monster. He IS and i, SAID this I told.
COLIN this i Do think debo did this To the
niners in. HIS heyday I think pucah's doing this With.
The rams is when you have a good physical defense
and then you have physical guys on offense in your,
skill positions it creates like an extra level. Of physicality

(44:20):
and you Watch the rams like they are a really,
physical team and it's not because. THEY are, I Mean
karen williams a. GOOD player I Like blake korham, as
WELL but I think pukah's physical nature makes their entire
offense feel physical And obviously stafford is, a tough, physical
GUY but i mean he IS just I maybe I

(44:40):
just i, don't know didn't give him as proper respect
in my Mind because i'm watching him play just, This
season i'm going, that guy when's the last time we've?
Seen it guy? Like this you put Him With, Devanta
adams they're they're. A problem that was that was a
big win. FOR them i also Think the colts. ARE
good I mean i Think, THERE joe i Think the angel's.

(45:03):
PRETTY good, i mean He's that they're a questionable holding
call away from winning. THAT game i want to end
on this. LAST week i think ON like I guess
i watched it the night that it, came OUT as
i Watched the lane keivin documentary. AND documentary i mean
it was like, hour LONG and i followed his career.

(45:24):
REALLY closely i mean going back when he Played At.
Fresno state his best friend on, The Team, scott thompson
is very close to. My family i've had Family in
fresno for forty. Plus years they used to be over at.
Their House like I've known lane's name, well BEFORE like
i was probably in college and THEN when i Worked At,

(45:45):
Fresno State, tim skipper who is now the interim COACH,
for ucla was a star linebacker on those Teams. With
lane he's very close. With him So when lane GOT the,
usc job Me and tim used to. Go down he
Had Hired john baxter from, our staff Who ran lane's
academics and special TEAMS. With USC like I followed lane's career.

(46:06):
Extremely closely and the one Thing with, lane is, you
know he's always been a pretty big. Wild card and
it shows you on the on. The documentary, you know
not only was he very arrogant, and brash BUT like, i,
think drinking and, you know he's got a Little Like
bill clinton in his prime to him that most ads
over the last three or, four years even as he's

(46:27):
won a lot, of games would not. TOUCH him i
feel pretty confident. Saying that several, years Ago when oregon
was Open and mario went To the University, Of miami
lane desperately wanted. That job why Wouldn't he he knows
he could. Dominate there they wouldn't even talk. To him
that was the year They Hired. Dan lanning how's? That
going but, that ad who's an, EXCELLENT ad, i mean

(46:50):
hired guys like, You Know chip Kelly To mario crystabal
To Now. Dan lanning they weren't going to mess. With him,
you know the only school rules that are really Interested
in lane over the course of, his success and he's
been having a lot of success as a. Head Coach
post Alabama, was auburn so ole Miss, and auburn let's,

(47:12):
face it kind of SECOND rate. Sec programs alabama had.
An opening he was their offensive coordinator when they won.
NATIONAL championships i mean really two. But one he got
fired right before they played, in it and clearly they.
Weren't interested they hired a guy who'd never coached In,
The South So. LANE kiffin i HERE'S why i give

(47:32):
him a lot of CREDIT because i think, we all,
you know at a certain point in time in, our
life have, to, go yeah this isn't the Best thing
i'm doing. IN life i need to make. A change
i need to look myself in the mirror and go
this isn't. Gonna work and clearly you just look at.
Him physically he's lost a ton. Of weight and you watch.
That documentary he does hot yoga at like one hundred

(47:54):
and ten degrees, every morning seven days. A week, he says.
Non negotiable but obviously anyone that likes to have a
few cocktails and a few pops knows that you, remove
that you remove some of the excess eating that goes along.
With it it can change. Your LIFE and i think
you watch this and you watch, him coach and you
watch he's very secure in himself and he doesn't come

(48:15):
off as arrogant and brash as he once did because
he doesn't have. To ANYMORE and i think a huge
part of that documentary was trying to show these athletic,
Directors like i'm not that guy that you had red
flagged over. The years i'm a. Change man my family's
a huge part of, my life. You know in, that
documentary his DAUGHTER obviously i don't think she lives with
him now because she's, in college but. Moved back, his,

(48:38):
son obviously his, brother's there even. His wife he doesn't
really make it clear if they're. Back, Together layla who's
just a smoke show, That like i'm not running around
and being, An idiot BUT what i am Doing is
I've almost i've gone forty nine and Eighteen since i've
Been At ole miss and in The sec i'm twenty

(48:58):
eight and Sixteen and i've beaten the Likes of Kirby
And brian kelly three years in. A row. I'M dominating
i JUST beat lsu with a Quarterback From. Farris state
now he was the player of the year last Year in,
division two but he Went From farris State To ole
miss AND beating lsu and currently, you'd, go well if

(49:21):
they get to ten, and two they're gonna be in.
The playoffs and he Took. Ole miss like it's. One
Thing If brian kelly won a national CHAMPIONSHIP at Lsu
Or kirby smart won a couple of Championships, in georgia, like, yeah,
no shit that's what you're supposed. To Do Even, Ryan
day like obviously last year was really Impressive For ryan
Day And ohio state getting hot in. The playoffs but
It's Like, ohio state they win national championships kind of what, they,

(49:43):
do right it mean is kind of. The, standard whoever
if someone Gets the florida job and in five years
they're in, the, finals, like Yeah, it's florida they should be, doing.
This Right If mario Cristobal gets miami To the, final four,
like yeah that's what we pay you, to, Do Right
Or dan lanning wins a bunch Games, In, oregon, like, yeah,
no shit you should not be doing this, at, all
miss even in nil transfer. Portal ERA so i Think

(50:07):
What lane kiffen transforming, is LIFE which i respect. A
lot you should always as, you age and, you know
children as, they grow and, families grow and, you know
you get perspective you lose. A parent i think that
shit changes YOU like i have loss. Of dad it
has dramatic impact. On YOU and i think there are
probably people in the Business go lane's just full. OF
shit I mean i know people that know him that

(50:29):
or not know him well but knew him in previous
worlds like ten twenty thirty. Years, AGO yeah i don't
KNOW if i. BUY it i kind. Of do but
HERE'S what i. Do buy he's a dominant coach and,
right now especially when you factor in, his school he's
as good of a coach as there is in. College
football the way We Hold dan Lanning Or ryan Day

(50:49):
Or kirby Smart or kaylin de boor, you know We'll
see MARIO like i Would put lane right there in
the upper echelon of. College COACHING and i. Know this
this stuff doesn't randomly Get made this is like a
bat signal because, like it it is about as good
as it Gets At ole miss his daughter is gonna
graduate in a year, or two and she was a

(51:10):
big reason that. He stayed but like there are going
to be a Job like florida, OR whatever, i mean
whatever the job by you have to be pretty offended
if you're laying like You hired Kaylen deborr over talking
to me like you didn't even you wouldn't. Interview me You.
Wanted sark and it's Not like sarks. Choir boy he
was once FIRED for i, don't know being intoxicated at a.

(51:31):
Team meeting but he changed his life and we all.
Respect it and he's doing a great Job. In texas
but like he Got the, Texas job texas wouldn't have Talk.
To lane they Talked to Sark because stark had a
better reputation even for his faults like he. Just DID
and I think lane was had a bit pretty bad
one and is really it feels like kind of. You Know,

(51:52):
john baxter His Former special, teams coach used to have
a go to saying that when you find yourself in,
a hole what he was the easiest way to get
out got to drop, the shovel and it Feels like
lane has and what. HE did, I mean i thought
that WIN against lsu was, extremely IMPRESSIVE and I just
I find lane a, fascinating Individual and i'm, pretty just,

(52:15):
you know it's, been really really impressive To Watch Audios.
Night night the volume