Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Our wild Card reaction is presented by uber eats get
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Speaker 3 (00:17):
All right.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Instant reaction on tonight's twenty three to twenty walk off
doink by the Commanders to beat Tampa an upset, But
if you had to pick one, you know this may
have been the upset. I don't think many people thought
Denver or green Bay were going to come out with wins.
I'm a little surprised, but I mean, as Jaden Daniels
the best rookie quarterback ever. I mean, he had a
(00:40):
little bit of turbulence in the mid season, but it's
a lot like Andrew Luck. I mean, Andrew Lock came
into the league with a terrible roster and this isn't
a great one. It's better than Andrew Lucks. But Andrew
Luck was a top ten quarterback as a rookie, intelligence, toughness, mobility,
arm Jaden's much thinner, He's not quite a rugged. I mean,
(01:02):
the guy finished. I think I'm right on this fifth
fourth quarter comeback this season. That's tied with Patrick Mahomes
for the most in the NFL. I mean, it was interesting.
I guess this was my best prediction of the year.
I picked Washington to be a playoff team, and I
think that's one of my favorite things to do, is
do future bets where you try to predict. I picked
(01:25):
Washington and Denver were my surprise teams last year. It
was the Rams year before it was Minnesota. I have
as much fun doing that as anything. But I didn't
think Jaden Daniels would be this. I knew Cliff Kingsbury
pounded the table for him. The kid, his quickness, his smarts,
I mean in the red zone, I'm looking at this.
(01:48):
On fourth down tonight, his passer rating was one oh
three's that's just incredible. On the final drive, you know,
three for three, ran for a first fifty seven passing yards.
His decision making. I mean, do you know how fast
you got to be above the shoulders to do all
this stuff. I mean some of it's, you know, you're
(02:10):
just kind of instinctive. Like obviously, great athletes are just
naturally gifted. But I've said this about some players in sports,
like some guys. I mean, Lebron broke into the NBA
and he was such a smart player, had some limitations
early on shooting from the outside, but he just had
(02:31):
a feel for the game. This kid's making decisions in
crisis in a congested red zone that, I mean, like
eight year veterans make. I just I can't tell you
how impressed I am with Jayden Daniels. And I had
said Friday on the show, I like Tampa to win.
And the only way that I thought Washington would win,
because Tampa's got a better overall roster was if you
(02:53):
know Jade and Daniels just perform magic. Yeah he did.
What was he twenty four or thirty five and seven
yards two two? D's no picks eleven rushes eight for
fifteen on third down. I mean, and Tampa's defense is
you know, Vita via upfront. I mean, it's active. Todd
Bowles likes, it's aggressive. Tampa's always been a little bit
(03:17):
of an underrated place to play. It gets pretty rowdy
down in Tampa. Now they're on to Detroit, which will
be a real test for Washington. But I think what
you're watching this all time stuff, and you know, and
I'm going to talk to John Middlcoff today about We've
(03:38):
got a really good podcast that talks about Mike Tomlin,
Mike Vrabel, Eagles, Packers, Bill's Broncos at the end of
it twenty minutes. I think you'll be interested. John, a
native Californian, his thoughts on the wildfires and the disaster
in California. I think you'll really enjoy it. I'm sitting
(04:00):
there watching that game tonight and I thought, after that
goal line stand by Tampa, that was a great goal
line stand, I thought, wow, that's game changing. And then
Tampa fumbles, Washington gets it right back in jad and
Daniels throws a ball a seed to the back of
the end zone. But you got to give Dan coinn
the credit too, because Dan, you know, a lot of
(04:20):
people would have struggled to go forward on fourth down.
But that's very Dan Campbell. So Dan Quinn's a very
aggressive guy. Dan Campbell's a very aggressive guy. You'll see
Mike Rabele do this in New England. Very aggressive guys.
They're trying to create a culture, a culture of confidence,
a culture of alpha, a culture of belief. And when
you're as bad as Washington has been for this long,
(04:43):
you've got to really change everything. I remember when Barry
Alvarez took over Wisconsin and Wisconsin was a bottom ten
college football program. And they had outdated facilities, and nobody
thought Camp Randall was an intimidating place to play. And
you know, Barry Alvarez was like, you've got to be proud.
I mean, we are so lucky to have these facilities.
(05:04):
And he really changed the way Badger players thought about
Badger facilities and Camp Randall in the stadium and the environment.
And he just instilled this pride, in this confidence in
wis Wisconsin Badger football. And you can go back and
look at it. You know, it took a couple of years,
but I can remember him going to Rose Bulls and
(05:26):
Wisconsin was just big, tough, physical, a little bit like
Barry Alvarez, Oh h'sba A lot of confidence. And I
think that's what and I think players become the coach.
And I think, you know, Detroit a lot of belief.
Say what you want about the Chargers end of the season,
but the defense was tough and physical, and I think
dan Quinn has implemented that. That's why he's going forward
(05:48):
on fourth down. It's like, hey, we've got nothing to lose.
It's in Tampa. Baker Mayfield's a veteran, I got a
rookie quarterback I'm going for it house money here and
I love it high pressure situations. And obviously, and I
had noted this multiple times. You know, there's kind of
a rule when you get a rookie quarterback is downplay
it in camp, like you know, hey, it's going to
take a time. Let's reset expectations. When dan Quinn and
(06:10):
Cliff Kingsbury came out in camp and we're like, yeah,
this kid's unbelievable. Already knows the playbook. I mean, it's unbelievable.
What a leader he is.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
You're like, and dan Quinn's been around the block, and
dan Quinn was just heaping praise on Jaden Daniels in
camp before preseason games, and you're thinking, man, this kid
must be really, really special.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And you read some of those early DC media reports
i'd bed anyway in the Athletic or in print, and
you're like, man, this kid is tearing it up. It
is camp. But it's not that Washington doesn't McLaurin. Terry
mclaurin's a great player, and they've got some defensive linemen.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
They have talent.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
That's not make it. The Commanders don't have talent, but
it's it's all centered around, an aggressive coach and a
remarkable rookie quarterback. And I've noted this a few times before.
I grew up in the seventies and eighties and Washington
was a football power and there was like a thirty
year waiting list for tickets. This is a win starved
(07:14):
football community. DC loves it's NFL football, and I just
welcome back. This is great. Detroit is a big lift,
but I think we're all watching an all timer in
Jaden Daniels. Mobility, release, accuracy, twitchiness. I mean, just to
(07:41):
be this good in the fourth quarter and on fourth
down and on third down in a playoff game, you
just don't see this. You get all the upside occasional picks,
but you bake that in for somebody his age, you
bake it in. What a performance. I mean, this is
(08:03):
the first Commander playoff win in twenty years. But they
had talent for years, but they were so poorly owned
and so poorly run and so poorly coached, like they
had players. It just upstairs was such a chaotic zoo.
(08:25):
And the line is out. The Lions are minus eight
and a half against the Commanders. That's a big number,
but so was Buffalo. Over Denver, and so was Baltimore
over Pittsburgh. I'm not sure which we id lean on
that to go into Tampa and win with something else,
(08:46):
finally got ourselves a close playoff game. I'll walk off
point and for Tampa. Hell of a year. Baker Mayfield
earned every bit of that contract. One of the more
underrated underplay paid play in the league. I mean Baker
is He is one of the most underpaid players in
the league right now and earned every penny of his contract.
(09:09):
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Speaker 2 (10:43):
Not as many games and lopsided games. But John Millicoff
and I are here to discuss Philadelphia's win over Green Bay,
Denver getting hammered by Buffalo despite scoring first. We'll get
to Mike Rable to the Patriots and Mike Tomlin's disaster
against the Ravens. Let's start with Philadelphia's sort of dominating
(11:04):
win from the opening kickoff that was fumbled. You Packer
fans grumbling about that, You know, John, as I looked
at the weekend, Buffalo much better than Denver, Baltimore, much
better than Pittsburgh, Philly, much better than Green Bay. If
you go to last year's wild card weekend as well,
there were some really lobsided scores. And this is something
(11:26):
I've hit on a lot as the league, and I've
been on this for about three years. As the league
has tilted the rules towards the offense. Quarterback now is
the only way seemingly to win. The better quarterback and
today Jalen Hurts wasn't great, but Jordan Love, like he
was in college, was reckless. I do feel like this year,
more than any I can remember, it had an NBA feel,
(11:49):
four or five six teams at the top, special a
pretty small middle, and a bunch of garbage in the
back end. I mean, were you surprised by Philadelphia controlling
this game over Green Bay?
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Well, Jalen was not very good, and granted he hadn't
played in a while because of the concussion, and he
looked I would say, you know, before they kind of
hit their stride, their offense had struggled passing wise, and
he wasn't good. The problem is Jordan Love was atrocious.
Jordan Love saw justin Herbert's effort and tried to duplicate
it because I mean, he throwing those interceptions all over
(12:23):
the place, and I know he's banged up, but that
offense was I thought if they would have played not
the game they played last year against the Cowboys, but
just had a solid offensive performance, they would have been
right in it. Yeah, and he kind of he shot
him right out of the game really really quick, because
I think how often during the McCarthy era and then
even during the laflor era with with Rogers early on,
(12:46):
the defense often let the Packers down. They were joke
on him. Ye're Actually they played.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Pretty good today and they kept him in the game.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Their offense was really really bad. I'm not shocked I
mean Bo Nicks on the road rookie quarterback in Buffalo
Wilson in that performance. I think we both saw that coming.
I would say the Herbert performance was, you know, it's
one of the worst games you'll ever see him play
for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Well, and I talked about this yesterday in the pod.
They don't have a number one receiver, they're number two.
Palmer was hurt. Their best receiver, Keenan Allen's a bear,
you know. I mean, it's what happens in these playoff games.
Young road quarterback falls behind, you know, starts making throws
he may hold back on in the regular season because
(13:29):
he knows it's the last game of the year. I mean,
I thought Jordan Love made some throws today that felt like, hey,
I got to get some juice here, I got to
make something happen. I don't know if he makes those
throws three weeks ago, four weeks ago. So I kind
of defend quarterbacks young quarterbacks who, By the way, Jordan
Love's always been a bit reckless. He's always been more
farv than he has Aaron Rodgers. And I'll give the
(13:52):
Packers credit, Xavier McKinney. They went out and spent some
money on Josh Jacobs. You know, green Bay historically in
the free agent market doesn't take a lot of swings.
I thought they did. I think they need a pass rusher.
I think that's and I could. You know, we'll see
what they do at corner. I don't feel bad about
this for green Bay. I don't. I think they're young.
I don't think they have Philadelphia's roster. They were on
(14:14):
the road that didn't play well down the stretch like
I thought Philly would win. It was a weird game.
I mean green Bay was out of rhythm, out of
sorts offensively. But I don't feel like if you're a
Packer fan, you look at this hell at one point
they were down six and were being totally dominated.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Totally well. I mean, listen, even if some miracle they
would have been able to kind of get back in
this game, they had lost half their team. They would
have had no chance to play anybody after this game
with all their injuries. And one thing that really stands
out when you just look at this weekend, but specifically
that you know when it comes to the Eagles, they
spend a lot of money on Vic Fangio and that defense.
As the season has gone on has looked fantastic. I
(14:51):
mean the two young defensive backs they signed Zach Bond.
He played a different position. They moved him to line
like stand up middle linebacker. He became a first team
All Pro. That happens when you hire one of the
best defensive coordinators in the NFL. And you know, look
at Miami, they were complaining that Vic Fangio was an
asshole and demanded too much of them. Yeah you think, Philly,
(15:16):
I mean, come on, I mean, Mike McDaniel. I don't
know if you saw the story last week. He said,
I can't find these guys enough. They just don't show
up on time. Meanwhile, Philly y'urned for that accountability and
look what it shows now their defense. Listen the playoffs.
Sometimes your quarterback is just gonna play like crap or
have rough stretches. Your defense can carry you. Defense the
(15:37):
history of this league, even as rules have changed, the
best defense is win in January's no different college football.
You gotta have big time defensive plays in these big
games because you're playing All Pro Hall of Fame level
guys on offense.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think Also Philadelphia take out the
concussion for Jalen Hurts. From week four on, Philadelphia was humming.
They weren't very good in the first quarter, but they
finally got good in the first quarter late in the season.
They took a ten tozhing lead in this one. But
all year along with Philly from about week four on,
we were like, God, they're awful in the first quarter,
(16:14):
but they're really good. We said this two years ago
about Philadelphia. We said it the first ten weeks of
last year, like for seven weeks of last year. If
you go to Philadelphia over the last three years, there
have been stretches where they looked like the forty nine
ers four years ago. They just have more good players.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Well, think about this. If you just said who are
the best players on Philadelphia's offense, you would list You
would probably include some offensive lineman before you even got
to Dallas Goddard. You'd be like a guy seven or eight.
He made a play tonight that looked like a high
school kid that's going to Alabama Ohio State would make
you know in a high school game. And again that's
by far. Saquon Jalen the two wide receivers. He is
(16:55):
their fifth weapon and he's a Pro Bowl level ten.
I mean that play. It does sometimes in the playoffs.
Obviously x's nose play a big role, and the best
coaches are usually playing in these games. But sometimes you
get a one on one against another guy and you
shot with Jacobs like the cream of the crop rises
in January, and that played by Dallas Goddard. I mean wow.
(17:17):
I mean, if that's your fifth option on offense, good
luck trying to stop them.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Yeah, And I think you see it in college and
you see it in the pros. You know, in college,
what schools have better recruiters, Ryan Day and more transfer
portal money, Ohio State. You know, go look at who's
left Marcus Freeman, Ryan Day and Chip Kelly, pretty good staffs.
And then you go in the NFL and who has
the best general managers? Well, Kansas City, Brett Veech, Howie Roseman,
(17:43):
a lot of that. Detroit, by the way, has been
on like a four year run.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Baltimore, Yep.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
You start looking around this league, and I mean Philadelphia
in the end, I think we've felt this for three years.
When he had Shane Stichen, they were good enough to
win the Super He had a couple of bad picks
at coordinators. They righted the ship this year. For all
my misgivings about Nick Sirianni, this freaking roster is good.
I mean, God, Slay today had a great pick, and
(18:11):
I mean he's a guy now that's fallen sort of,
you know, off the out of the front page of
the sports section in Philly because they've got these two
Mitchell and the other corner. So I mean, Philadelphia, when
Slay can be like the third most talked about corner
you have, I just think Philadelphia again. I look at
Green Bay and I think to myself, you know what,
(18:31):
if you're gonna lose, You're gonna lose twenty two to
ten to Philadelphia on a game that Jordan loved, didn't
play well. It's not a terrible day for the Packers.
They're not call equipped to beat this team in Philly.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
No, I no, I agree. I think if you're a
Packer fan, especially, I think you've kind of come to
grips with it down the stretch. But I think big picture,
they got to figure Love out a little bit. I mean,
I was high on him after last year. This year
was a little bit of a roller coaster ride. Obviously,
the injuries played up, but this reckless nature. I mean,
but far as one of the greatest players in the
(19:05):
history of the league. For like a ten year stretch,
you want three straight MVPs, you can't just you don't
just get to play like Brett Forth. You know, you
gotta corral yourself a little bit. And that's why they
went out and got Josh Jacobs right just to just
kind of I would say, take a little pressure off
of Jordan Love. But man, I mean, at one point
in time on a second interception, he had thrown two
(19:26):
last year against the Niners, and then to this game
in the first half. That was four interceptions through his
last six quarters in the playoffs. You can't win like that.
I'd rather have a guy playing like crap, like Jalen Hurts,
who's not turning the ball over. At least I just
punt and play defense.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
By the way, there's a play that happened in this
game with about a minute left where Saquon Barkley got
a handoff, could have broken for a sixty seventy yard touchdown,
and instead he slid to end the game essentially, and
it really states I'll tell you something, Saquon Barkley has
been such a class guy in this league in New York.
(20:02):
He comes out smelling like a rose when he gets traded.
He didn't complain about, you know, not breaking the all
time single season record that slide at the end of
the game against Green Bay. I got to tell you something.
There are not many running backs that I can remember.
I loved Walter Payton just as a guy, as a human.
I love McCaffrey. I've met Christian a couple of times.
(20:25):
I by the way, can we just admit this. This
is a Saquon Barkley led team. I mean they Jalen
Hurts went two quarters without a completion. This is Saquon
Barkley's team. And by the way, I love it. He
is really If somebody gave him MVP and it'll go
to a quarterback, I just there's everything about him. His toughness,
(20:46):
his elusiveness, his intelligence, his class. I just think he
is such and And the truth is, Jalen Hurts I
don't think I think he's got enough self confidence. I
don't think it bothers him at all. I don't think
it bother's Lamar Jackson that Derek Henry gets all the flowers.
I think it's just a really cool thing when star
quarterbacks are fans of the star running back.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Well. I think one thing with the Eagles specifically is
is Jalen. I think Lamar is more of a little
He's got more raw raw to him in terms of
outspoken leadership inside those walls. That's not Jalen's thing. And
last year, think of who retired on their team. Jason Kelsey,
one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise,
and Fletcher Cox. I mean, those are two guys that
(21:30):
are going to be in the Ring of Honor that
were the leaders on the team. So you replace him,
like Saquon Barkley. One thing I don't think Howie gets
enough credit, And I think he's learned this is like
you know, he was pigeonholed early as being like an
analytical GM like a Daryl Morey. Daryl Mory doesn't give
a shit about character cohesion. He just puts the best
players together, right. How he has learned to value that greatly.
(21:52):
And Saquon Barkley, obviously he has to have the ability
when you're gonna pay a guy money, But from the
off the field character stuff seamless fit and he fills
a void that they lacked once Kelsey retires, so you
know that this team has hit him in Brandon Graham,
who's nominated for the Man of the Year. I forget
his injury off the oh he tears his shoulder is out,
(22:14):
so he's just gone, and having Saquon around there is
a really, really big deal. I mean, think about the
last game of the year, he has a chance to
break the record and we can say it doesn't mean anything.
It doesn't mean anything to me. I think they had
already won, but that would have been something. I think
Saquan be like, hey man, this has been my cole
career has been a little underachieving, given that I played
with the mess I want. Didn't say a people didn't
(22:34):
say a word. It's like, yeah, whatever I need to do.
And he remember earlier in the season when they wanted
him to like, hey, you want to break the record
against the Giants. He's like, now, let the other guys
run it. And that's in this sport with so much
going on. I don't think he gets enough credit for
the guy. We know how great of a player is
And I thought, Brady, you know one thing with to
be a great running back, you don't need elite, top
(22:55):
end speed. It's not a him and Derrick Henry. You know,
he compared him to a It's like if you could
pitch and hit, because I can live with twenty yard
runs all day long, but at any moment him and
Henry could go seventy eighty yarts.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Yeah. I think there is something about Philadelphia. They do
things that dysfunctional organizations do and it works for them,
I think. And it may be just the city of Philadelphia.
It's such a glue city. You know. Washington has the
political power, LA's got the famous people, New York's got
the money. Boston's got a lot of history, Dallas has
(23:31):
a lot of flair.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Philadelphia has kind of a small town feel for a
big city. Like everybody in that city, anybody in my life.
I've been doing this for a long time. It is
amazing how often I'm in an airport, on a ski slope,
at a restaurant anywhere that I live, and they're Eagle
(23:53):
fans and Phillies fans. They're just something about the loyalty
they've been, you know, they they've had so much that's
recently the Eagle has been so good now for a
stretch and the Phillies are very good. The Sixers are
still disappointing, but their sports teams are pretty damn good.
They went long stretches of just being like Chicago is
now or they just got beat up. There's something about Philadelphia,
(24:15):
the city like there's it's almost like the fans keep
you in line. You know, embiid you know fans. Fans
aren't gonna mess with that bullshit, Like if you don't play,
fans can turn on you very quickly. And I don't know,
I just I just look at Philadelphia stars. I can
go back to Mike Schmidt, Ron Jaworski. It just there's
(24:38):
a toughness and a unique kind of I don't know
how to describe it. When I when I watched this
Philadelphia team, it feels like a Philadelphia team. Young stars,
stars in their prime, older stars, and they all just gel.
They all kind of get along. And I I didn't
think Jalen played well today. I'm not sure he's a
(24:59):
hu undred percent healthy, but I thought that game. Honestly,
if you could bet a football game after one series,
I was like, Yep, Philadelphia, I could. Green Bay was
out of their element. They look rattled. I'm like, oh,
this is over. This game I feel I felt five
out ten. I felt that with Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it's like, Okay,
(25:20):
this is done. I can tell you right now Pittsburgh's
not ready to play. It's time to look at this
weekend's tastiest matchup. In this week's Sunday Night food Ball,
brought to you by Uber Eats. Okay, let's pivot to
Buffalo thirty one Denver seven. I don't think this surprised anybody.
A lot of the Sharps looked at some Sean Payton
stats historically, but I think we've both said this. Denver
(25:46):
lost by twenty four. I'd still rather be the Broncos
than the Pittsburgh Steelers. I've got a great offensive coach
and a quarterback who's going to be a hell of
a player. We'll get to Pittsburgh later. But I kind
of looked at this Denver lost and I thought, listen, man,
this was not a winnable game. This Buffalo team. Kencaid's
now been added. I think James Cook is terrific. Josh
(26:09):
Allen right now is playing as well as he's ever
played in his life. He's getting very, very good protection.
I don't see a lot of flaws with Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Do you No. I mean, I think when the schedule
came out, when we found out who was playing who,
we were destined to get Buffalo hole hosting Baltimore, and
it played out there pretty seamlessly. I think Buffalo I
think they have more pressure on him in this upcoming
game than Baltimore given how well their offense James Cook
has changed their offense. I mean, early on in Josh's career,
(26:39):
they did not have a runner like that, and he.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Just smells the end zone. He feels it.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
How about Khalil Shakir, I mean that stat they said
today that no one has more yards after contact beside
Jamar Chase than him. I mean, he has been fantastic.
Keyan Coleman that the Florida State rookie has really come
on as the season and there is a calmness to
Josh's game. I think both Josh and Lamar I think,
you know, for guys that are runners and make these
just spectacular, all time great plays are so under control.
(27:06):
It's always what Patrick has had and he had it earlier.
In those two guys, it always felt like Mahomes from
day one, was just completely under control. Even when chaotic situations.
You watch those two guys, it's like, even when chaos happens,
it's like, I don't feel like they're freaking out as
they're scrambling around to make a play. I mean they are.
They are in the peak of their powers right now.
And like, how does a rookie quarterback And I'm sure
(27:30):
you saw the stat about Sean Payton's record against bald coaches,
it was it John Paidon. I just think a rookie
quarterback on the road, they were gonna need a historic
defensive performance. And playing at Buffalo, I mean that place,
do you know? It kind of hit me today. And
there's been a lot of great games at Lambeau as well.
The one thing cool about the NFL is some of
(27:51):
these smaller cities. For as big as it's, how fun
does a home game at Buffalo feel in the playoffs?
The buzz in that place? I mean, I would imagine
we don't have that. We're recording this even before the
Sunday night game that's probably going to be a night
game next week. That place is going to be ripping
and rocking and cold, and the snow and the fans.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Well, one of the of the of the many reasons
football is king and there's about eight In the NBA,
there are clearly glamour cities where the stars want to play.
In Major League Baseball, there's about six teams that can
win a World Series based on payroll. Think about the
dominant teams in the NFL right now, Buffalo, Kansas City, Baltimore,
(28:31):
Green Bay. Those are four of the winningest teams. The
New York teams are in the toilet. Washington was for
ten to fifteen years, and the one big market team
is Philadelphia and they've just been They're exceedingly well run,
and I think that's just part of the appeal. I
(28:51):
gotta tell you, I am such a big fan of
Kansas City and Baltimore. I can't lose this year. I
would love to see Lamar make a super I would
love to see Josh Allen make it. I mean, the
AFC division winners and the AFC Final four is the
same as last season, and I don't think it's gonna change.
I think Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo are going and
(29:15):
I should say I think Houston's gonna mostly win their division. C. J.
Stroud was down this year, the O line wasn't as good.
I think the AFC. I don't think there's gonna be
a lot of change. It's gonna look like college football.
You're gonna see about four names, five names every year.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
I know, you know, listen, I mean Beach and in Andy.
Their resume speaks for herself. Same with Baltimore. I do
think Buffalo's shorter. I do think we have to throw
them in the mix of just how well run they are.
Obviously quarterback led operation, but they transitioned. Everyone thought they
were cutting a bunch of guys. A lot of people
picked the Jets to win the division. They had a
(29:51):
hat and teacher game like basically in Thanksgiving, and they
have become the patriots now of that division five straight times.
They are I mean a huge part of this upcoming
game is they are the two seed. I mean, these
home games in the playoffs. We just saw the Chargers
go on the road and get smacked. It really really matters.
And obviously Baltimore had kind of a weird regular season
(30:14):
with some losses. Buffalo handled business and they're hosting this
game for a reason. And I think, you know, the
I don't know if much separates them and Baltimore at
least they have been doing it, not as long, but
in terms of like they're the two elite second tier
teams in the AFC. They just haven't been able to
beat Mahomes, but they're kicking everyone else's ass.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, twenty eight unanswered points at one point, I mean,
it was just and it was Alan to Kincaid, Alan
to Curtis Samuel, Alan to a running back in the
end zone. I mean, Josh has just become an unbelievable player.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
I feel like Buffalo's a little Phil Mickelson and Tigers
Prime where sometimes it just and I look at it
and I think to myself, God, Now I do think
Buffalo is gonna beat Baltimore. I do I think at
home they're gonna beat them. I don't know if Kansas City,
(31:15):
Kansas City will take care of business. I mean, I
Kansas City is gonna beat Houston. I may be a sucker.
I think this is the year for Buffalo to get
to the Super Bowl. I think this is the best
version there's there's just if they can stay healthy. There's
nothing I don't like about them. There's nothing I can't
find a flaw with the team the game. Their defense
(31:37):
is not great that game against the Rams when Stafford
went out and down the field. They're not a great
defensive team. But Kansas City is not a great offensive team.
And and now I do I mean, do you like
Buffalo against Baltimore?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
I would say, no team down the stretch beside the
Chiefs who flipped a switch is playing better than Baltimore.
I mean there are. Last year they were the number
one overall seat and had the best defense since like
the Pete Carroll peak days, this offense is dramatically better
than last year because Lamar's better. They added Derrick Henry,
who somehow does not age. I mean, he's in the
(32:13):
peak of his powers running for a hundred and ninetyees.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
What's funny is he wasn't great his first two years
in the league, and now he got better as an
old running back, which is is the opposite of what
happens for star running backs.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
It's crazy. Mark Andrews is now back. Looks fantastic. Yeah. Bateman,
who they've kind of ridden out over the course of
his career, has turned into a really good player. If
say Flowers comes back, I do think guy for guy.
If we just say the quarterbacks cancel each other out.
I think Baltimore is better than Buffalo, but home field,
there's gonna be a lot of Listen, this is one
(32:44):
of the best games of the year. I mean, it
doesn't get any better than this, And I would lean
slight lean Baltimore. But I'm rooting for one of these
two teams unless Andy Viach. I know all these guys.
I do think it would be cool. Part of philis
Phil never took down Tiger in a big moment. You know,
it's Kansas City just gonna kick the crap out of
(33:05):
Houston and then beat this team and then just be
back in the Super Bowl and then everyone's gonna pick
them and they're gonna win another super Bowl. Football shouldn't
be that easy. You know. It wasn't even for New England, right.
It never happens three three peat. Usually most of the
time you get bounced. I actually think Houston the one
thing you saw Houston Demiko. If you did a coach
draft from scratch, he'd go in the top ten. He
(33:27):
is an elite defensive mind. He's an elite leader.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
C J.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Stroud finally got his twenty twenty three mojo back you.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Know, it's funny CJ. At home. I think he's now
like thirteen and five or twelve and five and one
hundred passerwaight, he actually is a much different quarterback at home.
I don't think there's any question for sure.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Nico Collins is one of the most talented young players
in the league. They have two, they have one pass rusher.
They just gave a two year contract for fifty million
dollars and they guaranteed every penny and Danelle Hunter, who
was who was kind of working Joe Alt yesterday at
moments tough first matchup on Anderson is one of the
best players to ever played for Safe and got drafted
third overall. I mean they got some high, high end
guys and a real coach. Now we just saw the map.
(34:09):
One advantage for Andy is they literally just played him,
so they had already game planned for him three weeks ago.
They only have to watch these last couple of games.
I've been around Andy Reid, he's been in the office
these last two days. They're already on it. I mean,
this is it's a tough spot for Houston, but you
watch them, you go got it. They got If CJ
is gonna play like that they have more talent or
(34:30):
every bit. The talent is the Chargers, and they're high
end players are so high you think they could give
a game. Remember last year against Baltimore for a half,
they gave him a game. Then they ran out of juice.
I would imagine I haven't seen the line. Probably a
seven point spread for the Chiefs. I would guess someone.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I think it's I think it's a steps league. I
think I went into this season saying about green Bay
they're too young, they're a year away. That bears itself
out watching today, and I think Houston the same thing.
I still think Houston needs another draft. I think they're
an inconsistent football team because they're not a team that
if they suffer injuries in certain spots. Their old line
(35:06):
wasn't as good this year good, so they're not a
super Bowl. I think green Bay and Houston are good
enough to win a playoff game. They're not good enough
to win two. Certainly not good enough to get to
a super Bowl. But you know there's there's CG.
Speaker 3 (35:20):
CJ is a better play. I would I would take
CG over Love.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
I would too at this point. Absolutely, that was this
week Sunday Night food Ball brought to you by Uber
Eats as the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL.
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I do we do great company. Let's let's go into
(35:51):
the Mike Tomlin Pittsburgh stuff. So I thought it was interesting.
This may have been the moment dan Orlowsky at ESPN
as the Steelers just look unprepared and no juice. I mean,
the one thing about Tomlin, he was always known as
an elite motivator, the best underdog coach in the NFL
statistically for a decade, they had no juice. None. It
(36:14):
was almost as if they weren't concentrating. Dan Orlofsky had
a breakdown of some tape in the first half from
the offensive line. They it was brutal, it was embarrassing,
you like guards pulling into each other, and the O
line has been This has been my criticism for a
(36:35):
lot of defensive coaches. Mike Tomlin, Pete Carroll, you know
McVeigh and Andy Reid can fix an offensive line and
an off season, and he's done it multiple times. These
defensive coaches really struggle with it. And I watched this
offensive line. It's they've drafted it. They've got some good talent.
(36:57):
They couldn't create a run game, but it was it
was Baltimore going into a game without Zay Flowers and
having a fifteen straight runs and still doing it. And
I think Pittsburgh's got very conservative owners. They're not big spenders.
That's always been the reputation. As you are an eagle scout,
Steelers always had a reputation they didn't take as many
big swing as it was draft and develop. I think
(37:19):
they need innovation. I would say Ben Johnson feels like
a good fit here. Do you think they have the
kahonas to let go of Mike Tomlin?
Speaker 3 (37:28):
Well, I don't. And you and I have been talking
this about for a year. We said it last year
and it doesn't even feel like they entertained it. So
I guess another year they should entertain it. I don't
expect them to, but eventually you're going to get the
line of diminishing returns where his value is going to
start to go down. Yeah, right and right now because
of think of the desperate team from the Jets to
(37:48):
the Jags to the Bears, his value is pretty high,
Like you could trade him for valuable draft picks. You're
a couple of years away from that not being the case. Like,
you can't just keep going about this because think about
this Mike Tomlin, like you said, he's a defensive guy
and known as just one of the best leaders in
the NFL. So even if we removed but if you're
Tomlin's defense attorney, like they can't fix the quarterback, Okay,
(38:12):
I will remove the offense. Let's just talk defense and effort. Well,
you're coming out against your bitter rivalry and Herbertreet now
are questioning have they quit on Mike Tomlin in.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
The first half?
Speaker 3 (38:23):
Have they quit? So his whole thing was like effort
and leading the boys and the troops into battle. Well
that clearly went away, and their defense has been atrocious
down the stretch. I mean, guys, wide open. It felt
like Lamar Jackson. It was like a preseason practice. I mean,
it's like, what are we doing? You could have called
the game at halftime, he really could, and they went
(38:45):
with Russell Wilson. Anytime that you are celebrating that our
quarterback room only cost us a couple million dollars, it's
probably and you got rid of the guy that you
just drafted twentieth. Overall, I mean we probably saw this coming.
I mean as it got cold, Colin Russell really came
back to earth. Now, he hit a couple of big
plays in the second half, but the game was already out.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
Of that's more Pickens than russ Why.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Wouldn't you if you're Ben Johnson, And clearly he's still
apprehensive about Like you know, he's very worried about taking
a job that's gonna ruin his career. Don't blame him
because he sees all these other guys take jobs and
just derails their career. He's got a great thing going on.
I think he makes like five six million dollars in
Detroit with an offense full of Pro bowlers. Well, you
can trade Mike Tomlin if you're Pittsburgh. You can take
(39:29):
a young coordinator, a young guy like they did with
Mike Tomlin and put him in a position to succeed,
and then it just gives you some life. The other
problem is maybe bottoming out wouldn't be the worst thing ever.
The forty nine ers this year sucked. They kind of
need some high draft picks. Why because their roster's really expensive.
It's actually a healthy thing. The way it played out
for him. If they get it right, winning nine to
(39:51):
ten games every year and just getting curb stomped in
the first round is that they're making no progress. You know,
it's impossible to get a quarterback. It's hard. You gotta hope,
cross your fingers, hope you can get a TJ. Watt
and pick twenty two. That happens once every five years.
So your draft is difficult, and you're just seeing a
team that they take a lot of flyers for character
(40:11):
and eventually like Antonio Brown, yeah, okay, you get a
Hall of Famer, and then you get George Pickens, who
it's like, yeah that guy.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Team Well, I couldn't tell you the last time Chase Claypool,
I couldn't tell you the last time they had a
receiver room without an attitude, Deontae Johnson. It's just it's
what they do. And it's funny because Tomlin doesn't get
those guys on defense, but it's almost as if, hey,
I'll let the offensive guys worry about the drama. Defensively,
he doesn't get a lot of attitude, but the dape
(40:41):
So it's again it's the lack of urgency at quarterback,
the lack of development offensive line. All that stuff is obvious,
but when you see the lack of effort, it's like, Mike,
that's kind of your hallmark. That would be like, that
would be like Kyle Shanahan can't run the ball. It's like, well, dude,
that's kind of that's kind of who you are. You know,
if the run stops in San Francisco, then you got
(41:01):
real questions. I think it's time to make a move.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
I listen, I would trade him one hundred and if
I was Mike. I understand. I've said this over and over.
Being the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, if you're
going to be a coach, is awesome. Like, I don't
blame him for not wanting to leave that post. But
we saw specifically with Andy Reid, he got a fresh
lease on life and it changed the course of his career.
(41:27):
Because it invigorates you, it's lights a fire under you.
It kind of puts the chip back on your shoulder.
I don't know if you saw Jimmy Johnson throw out
a trade for Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh guy. To me,
if I'm the Pittsburgh Steelers. I just let Jerry resign,
Mike the Ben Johnson thing take a swing and listen.
It might not work out, but the loyalty commendable. But
you get to a point where it's like the loyalty
(41:49):
thing feels like it's run out. This is not where
you're You're now kind of an embarrassment. Tomins whole thing
is the standard is the standard. So the standard is
this is back to back years double did you blowouts
by the second tier of the AFC listen to this than.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
You If cam Ward or Shaduere Sanders lands in Cleveland, Burrow,
Lamar Jackson, Shaduur Sanders, you will have the fourth best
quarterback in the division. That is just that's a that's
a death sentence for a coach. You're just you're I
mean in Sefanski. With a good college quarterback, a lot
of energy, youthful, healthy, you'll keep your eye on you know.
(42:25):
We just saw what bo Nix did with an offensive coach.
We saw what Sam Darnold did with Kevin O'Connell. I
just I think if you just look down the road,
this is not getting better. There is no great quarterback
on the horizon for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3 (42:38):
Well, if Joe Burrow's healthy, how often are they going
to go nine to eight? So if you played this
season over again, the Steelers are not in are not
the right the like the Bengals are in their spot right.
We saw the last game of the season when they
played it, it was nineteen to seven going into the fourth quarter. Now,
the thing with Cleveland, if we just let's just assume
cam Ward goes one. Yeah, I cannot imagine prime Time
(43:00):
allows his son to go to Cleveland. I can't. He's
already kind of hinted that, you know, he would go,
you know, Archie Manning free like I think he would
would draw a line in the stands. Though, with Deshaun's
career looking over, Shador would start immediately on a team
that has a bunch of talent. But I have a
hard time seeing Primetime allowing that one to have.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
And now for our next segment, Whiskey Business brought to
you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey of the
Colin Coward Podcast. It's good stuff. When you want to
enjoy life, simple pleasures, reach for Green River Whiskey. All right,
let's pivot to something that we saw coming. I talked
about it on my show Thursday and Friday. I thought
the Patriots was the best job because of the stability
(43:44):
at ownership and Drake May even Joe Milton is a backup.
The quarterback room is set, they're young, they're inexpensive. You
got a good owner here. I was thinking about this,
John about once every two or three years, somebody gets
a job and you know it's going to work. Andy
Reid the Kansas City, Jim hardbought of the Chargers. Sean
Payton to Denver, Dan Quinn to a lesser degree to
(44:07):
Washington with Cliff Kingsbury, Mike Frable to New England. He's
gonna bring up his GM buddy from Tennessee. He's gonna
get his OC this one. And then also conversely, eber
Fluse in Chicago, Dennis Allen to New Orleans. Some shit
doesn't sound like it's gonna work. The minute the inkstry,
I think Vrabel is gonna get I think this team's
(44:28):
gonna get good really quickly. And I'm and I'm serious,
I think they'll I think there'll be an eight. When
I predicted that Denver this year was going to be
better than people think. I think Drake may with a
run game with Rabel, I think, I think this is
a great choice. I don't see it failing.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
I would say this, he also gets to take over.
You know. It turns out Gerrod Mayo, while he was
a high level player and a team captain, was like
the Jim tom Sula of coaches. I mean, you read
some of these articles, it was pretty embarrassing what was
going on there. So you take over an operation that
is just desperate to be led. And one thought I
had when I was doing the reaction videos and podcasts
(45:07):
last night, do you know who the big loser in
all this is? Like? The Bills are good and they're
not going anyway anywhere, But how about Miami and the Jets?
I mean, Miami has major question marks with the coach
and the direction and just the accountability in that franchise.
And I don't know if you've seen the list of
the Jets interviews, They've interviewed seven hundred and seventy five people.
(45:27):
It just feels like every day there's a new GM
or coach, Like what is going on here? So those
two franchises, to me, with Rabel going there, got no
shot got no shot. The Bills. Listen, they're way better
and they got Josh Allen. But I think the Miami
Dolphins and the Jets got to be like, this is
not an ideal situation for us.
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Think about this. The best coaching candidate last year Jim
Hartbaugh went to the Chargers primarily for one reason, Justin Herbert.
And this year the best coaching candidate is Mike Rabel
primarily for one or two reasons. Takes that job justin
Herbert komp Drake May, big mobile, nice arm, smart kid,
(46:09):
doesn't you know, totally focused. I think Drake May actually
showed signs with a bad coaching staff and a pretty
weak receiving corps. Polk didn't do anything. The receiver from Washington.
I think he's got some kids developed more slowly. I
don't know. I look at Vrabel in New England. It
feels very much hardbought Chargers, Peyton, Denver, dan Quinn, Washington.
(46:34):
I think Josh McDaniels may take that job. I think
it's gonna work. They just need another back, another receiver.
They need juice on offense. But they have some nice
defensive pieces.
Speaker 3 (46:46):
And I think clearly the crafts their relationship with him.
I mean, Belichick has battled disc always claimed that they
were sneaky, cheap more than it was him. Yeah at times.
And this is a guy with a huge person that
if he wants something, I do think they will acquiesce.
I'd forgotten about this, but he led the type. They
(47:07):
were the number one overall seed the year. Remember Tannyhill
ended up throwing three or four picks in that game
and the Bengals beat him. But you look back on
these Titans teams, You're like, how the hell did he
have them that competitive? With Ryan Tannehill, AJ Brown, Derrek Henry.
Those two guys were good, but tanny Hill was never
better than what the fifteenth best quarterback in the NFL. Well, well,
and some solid defensive pieces, but it's not like they
(47:29):
had Lawrence Taylor and Ed Reid on the squad.
Speaker 2 (47:31):
And when they let AJ Brown go, Remember Mike Rabel
came to Yeah, he went to the podium and just
said yeah. I mean he didn't even hide his displeasure.
I mean he just went to the podium and said, yeah,
this sucks. Were so's It's like he knew it. That
was the end of Mike Vrabel I've text him a
couple of times. I'm not going to get in too much,
but you know this is somebody that had options. It's
(47:54):
like Jim Harbaugh. Jim Harbaugh was going to find I mean,
Harbaugh said, yeah, I'll go up against Sean Payton, I'll
go up against Andy Reid.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
I don't care.
Speaker 2 (48:02):
I need a quarterback in college you can win. I mean,
look at our quarterbacks now, Will Howard at Ohio State,
quinn Ewers, Riley Leonard. College football is really about the roster,
it really is. You can have a b quarterback in
the NFL.
Speaker 3 (48:17):
You can't.
Speaker 2 (48:17):
And I think Drake May is gonna pop. I think
by the end of next year, mid to by Thanksgiving
and we're gonna look at Drake Man go. You know,
they found a fifteen year NFL quarterback.
Speaker 3 (48:28):
I also think what makes Vrabel unique is why so
many of these Belichick guys have failed is all they
know is Bill and they just copy everything he does.
Vrabel took I think the best parts about Bill and
I saw Taylor Luwan go on a rant like Bill
used to like question guys in a team meeting offensive
guys about defensive stuff or what's the guy at the
cafeteria's name. I mean, what's who's the guy on the
(48:50):
picture in the hallway. He would just have these and
it was Belichick's thing, and then every guy that the McDaniels,
the Patricia, the Florest, they all tried to copy it.
And it doesn't work. It doesn't feel authentic. And Vrabel
is able to integrate I think the best parts of
the accountability, of the discipline and the detail, but also
the personality of just a guy. You know, I played
in this league. I'm a tough guy. I can relate
(49:11):
to you as a human being. We could. I'm probably
not gonna have a beer with you, but you know,
I'm just a guy. And I think those other guys
really struggle with that. And I think Rab will never coach.
You know, he's noticed about he just played for and
then he went off to coach for Urban and then
Bill O'Brien. So I think he's got a pretty unique
perspective there. And that's why I was so high on Dable, Right,
he had coached under Belichick, but then he went to Sabin,
(49:33):
and he went to Sean mcdermoty. He saw this of
other stuff, but clearly they haven't figured out the quarterback,
and that's just a huge advantage. I think that I
think they knew this was the higher what a month ago? Like, yeah,
you know when when when the Patriots released eight paragraph
statement two minutes after the final game. It's pretty clear
that thing was written not on Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
So listen, the games this weekend were pretty lousy, a
lot of blowouts, ugly games. So John and I are
going to spend about twenty minutes talking about something here.
And if you're just into football and nothing more, that's fine.
But John until recently lived in California his entire life,
and I've lived here now for close to a decade.
And you know, over the last four or five days,
(50:26):
I have watched an area of Los Angeles burn to
the ground to a large extent, an area I lived
right next to and have many friends in who have
been displaced. My agents, my company has been a little displaced,
just people that mean the world to me. And so
the last couple of days have been brutal. And this
(50:48):
is not really going to be a political discussion. I
said this yesterday. I voted for Rick Caruso. I would
do it again. I think he's the right person for
the right time, especially going forward. But what I watched
over the last four days now, I will say this,
eighty five mile an hour winds did not allow for
choppers or planes for a day and a half to
(51:09):
drop water. Combined with the fact it was a hurricane
and instead of rain it had fire, this was going
to cause immense damage, regardless who was mayor and some
political decisions. But it has been first, the media in
Los Angeles has been remarkable. The local TV stations CBSNBCABC, Fox,
(51:34):
the quality of the photo journalism, the reporting, the helicopter pilots.
It's been better than CNN. It's been better than network television.
So tip of the cap to Los Angeles media. It
has been astounding. People are up all night. You can
turn it on two in the morning.
Speaker 1 (51:50):
They're on.
Speaker 2 (51:51):
So I want to start with that. The local media
and Los Angeles has been better than the network coverage.
It has been remarkable. It's been awe inspiring. Somebody who
was in local for you know, thirteen fourteen years. But
I wanted to start with you, John, because listen, the
fire was devastating. This was not a fire with the
winds that was going to burn down six houses. It however,
(52:13):
exploded to a level and it's become very political. As
somebody who has lived in California until recently for your
entire life and your family, what do you make of
the polity, the political nature of the argument, and sort
of your thoughts on what you've watched.
Speaker 3 (52:31):
Yeah, I mean, I've spent thirty five of my forty
years of life in California and mainly in north of
the California, a little bit on the Central Coast. But
I would say this fires have been a big issue
for us, you know, when I lived in the Bay Area,
in Santa Rosa, in the nap Areas, and obviously Tahoe
a couple of years ago. I do think there's an
element of in these states. You know, people say over politicized.
(52:53):
I would say the ethos of San Francisco in LA
is very political. Yeas driven that way, and when it
comes to regulation, over regulation in people that run these
things that are faceless, Right, Gavin's got a face, he's
the governor, but these people, a lot of these people
in these environmental boards, no one knows who any of
these people are. And I do think the brush thing
(53:14):
and I saw it in Tahoe is these environmental groups
refuse to let you clean up anything. Yes, I don't
know when this began, but it's happened for a long time.
And these things we know, these fires and it's dry.
I've never lived in La Obviously, Santa Ana wins because
I was thinking about, like, this is about the time,
right when Kobe gott in the helicopter crash, And wasn't
(53:35):
that the fog and the wind and you guys get
this weather that it's just very difficult in those hills.
It's hard.
Speaker 2 (53:41):
It's crazy. I was gonna. I lived in Brentwood for
a while. The reason I didn't live deep into Palisades
was access. I always thought if I had an accident
or there was a fire, nobody could get to me.
You're up these small, windy canyon roads. And I always
told Anna, I'm like, this is I age. I think
about stuff, you know, well, getting into an accident, get
(54:01):
having a heart attack, It's like who could get to me?
Speaker 3 (54:05):
And Lake Tahoe is a lot like that. And when
they have those fires a couple of years ago, everyone
was sitting ducks because you got one lane roads, it's
windy roads. You can't go that fast. But to me,
the element and listen, I come from generation of farmers
that deal with these environmental groups for different things. They're very,
very tough to deal with. And I do think I
can't speak to like, you know, the winds in northern
(54:27):
California are nowhere near eighty. I've never been a hardmunt
our wins either. I do know that these brushes, it's
just like a sitting fire zone that it is dry.
So and I just saw Gavin hit an executive order
we got to start cleaning the brushes. People have been
saying this for a long time. Yeah, And I can't
speak to the hydrations. Clearly they were empty. And we
(54:49):
got Maria, one of our best friends as a San
Francisco fireman. He's down there and he's been there now
for a week and it'll be there for another two weeks.
He's sending us videos. I mean that video of the
stretch of street where the cars that uh yeah, basically
the tractor is moving the cars out. He drove it's
it's it's like something you would see in a movie.
(55:10):
When he sent the video to I mean, it's crazy.
Obviously these people they were deadlocked and just got out
of their car and the police told him start running.
I mean, listen, that's true.
Speaker 2 (55:19):
Trump said it two years ago. He talked about that
brush issue two years ago.
Speaker 3 (55:24):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
I have always been moderate left leaning, but there is
no question the kind of left leaning das in Seattle, Portland,
San Francisco, Los Angeles. A lot of these people are
getting voted out. They're just they don't you don't have
to change laws when you don't adhere to laws.
Speaker 3 (55:40):
California, California turned on them right Prop thirty six seventy
almost seventy five percent of people voted against it when
Gavin was the opposite. So it's clear that people in
California are tired of some of this. I grew up
in Davis, California, which is like Berkeley Light. Oh, I know,
it's gotten much more liberal. I would say since I
left twenty years ago, when I was probably in junior
(56:01):
higher and high school. We built an overpass to connect
part of Davis's over Highway eighty and they couldn't build
it until there were toads, And to keep the toads alive,
they had to build them a toad tunnel, which I mean,
this is the late nineties, at the time, it costs
like one hundred thousand dollars, which was a lot of money.
(56:22):
And I had friends in construction whenever they tried to
build something, they'd find the burrowing owls. And you're constantly
battling this stuff in California that you're just not battling
in these other and they and when anything goes wrong,
they're never anywhere to be seen. It's like, if something
goes wrong on our podcast. From my podcast, it's pretty
clear it's one of three people that screwed something up.
(56:43):
Everyone in the in the business world is responsible. In
a company, it's pretty clear who. But in the government
in California specifically, there were all these faceless people and
I loved it. I come from generations of people that
lived there, and my family still lives there. And I
left because I was like, this is my business where
I wanted to raise my children. I'm like, I don't
(57:04):
vibe with all this stuff. And it's no and you
see these people like do you think And I don't know.
I haven't spent time down there, but a lot of
people don't believe that they're gonna be able to rebuild
on the P eight because of the groups. They won't
allow it to happen. It's cores.
Speaker 2 (57:18):
Here's the other thing. Who wants to rebuild in an
area where every house is being rebuilt. I mean, you're
going to have four hundred houses connected. I don't want
to raise my kids around construction sites. It's dangerous. Tractors,
you know, all these gigantic utility vehicles like listen, I
(57:38):
and it it's my wife doesn't like. My wife's not
a huge fan of Los Angeles. So I think I've
talked to you about this. I don't know if the
audience knows this is I am moving some operations to Chicago.
We purchased a house in Chicago, and I love Chicago.
First of all, I don't dislike LA but I you know,
and and I had talked about this. I remember seeing
(57:59):
a story about two years ago in the La Times
where they'd spent twenty four billion dollars on the homeless
problem and it got worse. And I remember when I
lived up near Palisades and my wife had a couple
instances where an aggressive person, you know, at a coffee
place or a pharmacy like, approached her and she was
just like, I'm not paying this for a house in
(58:20):
this zip code and dealing with this shit. And it's like,
you know, when my my sister, or my wife, or
the women in my life, my daughter feel less safe,
and so you know, it's I don't like people politicizing
eighty mile an hour wins, but I think the points
you make are points I hear from all my friends,
(58:42):
and I think.
Speaker 3 (58:43):
Because we know this is coming at this point now,
it's been happening for a long period of time, so
to have some proactive measures. There are going to be
times when something is going one hundred miles an hour.
If something does life, there is no stopping that. I
have every firefighter in the world, there is no slowing
that down. But there is ways to lessen the ability
(59:03):
for that to get going right. And I do think
the brush thing. And again, anything Donald says, like the
comment about the fish, everyone's like, oh, he's crazy. This
is stuff people in California, especially in the business world,
constantly make fun of about we got to take care
of this. And I'm pro animals, but it is it
is over the top again with faceless people and faceless
(59:26):
groups that when it does come out, I say, oh,
the average salary in this group is four hundred and
seventy five thousand dollars, and that's it's just become to me.
And part of the reason I liked Arizona is there
was a wild, wild West and up and coming vibe
to it in California. You know, my grandparents moved there
in the forties or late forties after World War Two,
(59:46):
and for a long period of time when it really
took off, it had that vibe from Hollywood to the
Central Valley, to farming to San Francisco with Silicon Valley.
And I would say over these last ten to fifteen years,
the overregulation of everything and just it's got I mean,
it's taken on a life of its own. And I
think this la thing has impacted a lot of people
(01:00:06):
that have been very, very loyal Democrats that you see
are really taken back by no one cares about me,
No one gives a shit. And I'm paying I'm paying
over fifty percent, so the government is the majority shareholder
in my own income and they don't even care. It's crazy.
Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
Yeah, No, I listen, I hear this. The two people
that I vacation with regularly are moderate to leaning right,
really really good people, philanthropic, great dads, great husbands, just
really good dudes. And they're in my age, so my
wife and I travel with them, and believe me, I
hear this constantly about the regulations and how difficult it is.
(01:00:45):
And I think, you know, some of the stuff infuriates
me because now anybody can say anything but Trump winning
a second term and people the first time there was
a lot of outrage, there wasn't a lot of outrage
(01:01:05):
this time. I think there's a lot of Democrats who
were very quietly accepting the fact that their party has
lost its way. And maybe you find Trump crass, maybe
even repugnant, but he's kind of a bottom line economy,
border crime guy, and I think that's really appealing to people,
(01:01:28):
especially when they're in crisis COVID wildfires. People want answers,
and they're not really interested in being you know, they're
not really interested in bureaucratic answers and safe answers. They
want definitive, hard, uncomfortable questions and answers. And I think
(01:01:49):
that's what Trump provides. And I was really taken back
by when he won the election. There was a resignation
by the left. You know what, we ran a poor
campaign and he connects with more people. And I think
listening and watching what's being said during this it is
(01:02:12):
I sit here and I look at America and I think,
you know, I think you and I both were very
lucky people. But there's also a reason in this country
that football is so damn popular. Players play hurt, they
play in crappy weather, there's no load management, they don't
complain about games, they bust their ass, They treat the
(01:02:33):
fans with respect. I think there was a there was
a in that COVID space. There was a time in
this country where people felt like they couldn't they had
to walk on eggshells on social media, at parties, in
public with what they said. And I think people in
this country are over it.
Speaker 3 (01:02:54):
Yeah, I mean I would be one of those people.
It's why California, everything that happened to the Bay Area
during COVID, me and them did not see eye eye.
And I was coming to Arizona a lot. I'm talking
in like May of twenty twenty, and it was completely
normal relative to twenty twenty, and I kept thinking, we're
all breathing the same air. What is going on here?
And like you said about the costs of living I
(01:03:16):
had a good buddy a couple of years ago, by
I mean just a complete tear down shithole in a
really nice area in the East Bay for well over
three million dollars, and I was like, I'm not I
don't even this is crazy, And I just moved my
life and I came to a place that I've seen
is just completely different. I can't tell you how many
(01:03:37):
people that guys I played golf with, or people I've
met that are California transplants who were just I didn't
want to raise my children in that environment. I couldn't
do the regulations. It was healthier for my business to
come here. And overall, I think, you know, people are
tired of being lectured constantly, and it's one thing when
something crazy happens to like, okay, everyone calmed down when
(01:03:59):
you just never let off the gas pedal on the lecturing.
And it cost me seven percent to buy an overpriced house.
I go into the store and I get three items
and it cost me one hundred dollars. I just don't
want to hear it. Yeah, most human beings, I would say,
the overwhelming majority of human beings all have the same needs.
They just want to live somewhere safe. They want their
kids to be safe and have a place to go
(01:04:20):
to school, and have good friends and just have a
pretty peaceful life. And I think we jump the shark
on constantly screaming at everybody about the moral outrage. People
are over it because most people wherever you go, most
of my life, I mean, I'm forty years old, up
until the last decade of Democrats Republic, people just got along.
You just say, yeah, have these friends, my family had
(01:04:42):
these friends. We all and it's just everyone just and
this becomes so polarizing. But then it got and I
think this has obviously hurt so many people in like
the political media, Like I just don't scream at me.
I don't care. I don't I think what I think,
I'm not going to change for you. And I think
it's been very difficult for people with the lecturing of
just the average income in America is like sixty grand,
(01:05:03):
Like it is very expensive to live in all these places. Yeah,
the port is trying to get by on a daily, weekly,
monthly basis to live life. Life's not that complicated. I
think we over complicate some stuff, but I do understand,
like this is a traumatic event right with the palisades,
with the money that's gonna be involved, it's gonna get
very like, it's gonna get very hairy, right, the no
(01:05:26):
insurance California's gonna have to step in. It's it's gonna
be it's gonna get way uglier. I mean, it's it's
kind of crazy that, at least so far, I think
the numbers under twenty people have died, given the given
the ferocity of these fires, which obviously is a lot,
but I mean relative to what you see, it's crazy
that it's the number is only that high. But the
(01:05:47):
rebuild the people, I think it's gonna be very eye
opening experience for a lot of people that, let's face it,
live a pretty, you know, a great I mean, these
are pretty some of these areas. You know, Pacific Palisade
is way better than me. But when the average price
is five to thirty million dollars. But I don't know
if you saw Steve Kerr. I think we talked so
much about these celebrities and these people worth a lot
of money. Steve Kerr is like my mom, my parents
(01:06:08):
bought the house in nineteen sixty nine and whatever, I
forget the props like Prop thirteen, whatever the year is,
seventy nine or eighty five or whatever. These people haven't
been paying updated property tax. That's the only way they
could afford to live.
Speaker 2 (01:06:22):
Yeah, I think there's there's a feeling, you know that
in Los Angeles, in these areas Beverly Hills, Palisades, Manhattan
Beach where I used to live. I used to live
next to a fireman and a school teacher and they
bought their homes thirty five years ago. Is that? And
I also think there is a feeling that Los Angeles
(01:06:43):
is all crazy left. Beverly Hills voted for Trump, I
believe twice. And the truth is San Francisco and Los
Angeles proper are left leaning. But I think people don't
realize outside of the state, when you get out of
LA and San Francisco proper, it's very moderate in this state.
It's just it can get looney Tunes left up in
(01:07:05):
San Francisco and certainly in like Hollywood. But I have
a pretty wide group of friends. Nobody's far left, nobody's
far right, but there's a lot more centrist in this area.
And the outrage at the politicians. Remember Palisades is one
of the bluest areas of LA. It's it is agents,
(01:07:26):
it is actors, it is celebrities, it leans. It's not
Hollywood West Hollywood blue, but it's blue. And they are pissed.
And I don't know if it will create a seismic
shift in the political landscape. But I mean, I wouldn't
be shocked if if this Karen Bass stuff the mayor,
(01:07:47):
I wouldn't be shocked. I think this thing may unravel quickly. Listen.
Speaker 3 (01:07:54):
I don't see her having any shot with the amount
of I mean the toll of obviously the homes. When
you talk about the financial and most importantly whether you're
worth five hundred million dollars or five hundred dollars total,
where you live is probably your most personal thing. It's
where your family lays their head every night. It's a
very emotional thing to lose your home and then feel
(01:08:16):
like no one gives a shit and kind of let
didn't help you out to begin with and didn't put
you in a position to save it, right, And look
at Caruso, didn't he save the area his own whatever
it is.
Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
Rick Caruso is a legendary builder in southern California. He's
one of the richest people in southern California. I also
he's a friend. He's one of the nicest, most gracious,
genuine people I've ever met. I mean Rick Caruso. I
could tell you stories for fifteen minutes about Rick Caruso,
how kind he's been to me, and how thoughtful. I
(01:08:50):
thought he was the choice. I think he's the choice now.
And that's not even a political statement, that's a common
sense statement. He's a builder, he'll get it done, he'll
zip through regular relations. But he was an obvious choice
I thought the first time. But you know, here's a
guy that had been a Republican, he's a rich male
in Los Angeles. That's a hard ask, and you know
(01:09:11):
he lost a close race. But listen at this point,
if you don't see the value of Rick Caruso, I
can't help you because we.
Speaker 3 (01:09:18):
Need amplemented tomorrow morning at seven am and say Rick,
fix it, help out. Let's go.
Speaker 2 (01:09:24):
John Middlecoff. I don't even think that was a political discussion.
I really don't.
Speaker 3 (01:09:29):
It's a life discussion. I mean, city burned down the
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