Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh we got a Friday, We got a Friday, all right,
live in Los Angeles. It's the Herd wherever you may
be and however you may be listening. Thanks for making
us part of your day. One hour from now, Urban
Meyer stops by Ohio, State and Texas will not look
like last night. It will be a fireworks show. Although
I thought last night was exactly why college football is amazing,
(00:49):
bad officiating, nervous quarterbacks, a team that lost to Northern
Illinois earlier. Now is rising thought last night was just
a flawed, messy, fantastic newt Rockney feeling moment for Notre Dame.
Jay Mack and I watched it together, knocked down some
(01:11):
waters and great food. That was a wild one.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Yeah it was. I mean I lost the under which
is feeling great for three quarters. Oh yeah, but you know,
when it's a great game like that, you can't.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Bet all right, So Notre Dame moves to the national Championship.
I think James Franklin is a good football coach, but
he got out coached his twelve straight loss to a
top five team just at Penn State. And in big games,
the little things matter. There was a million excuses for
Notre Dame. First of all, they had two balls interception intercepted.
(01:45):
They were both taken away on penalties. One of them
the worst calls I've ever seen in a huge game.
They called a pass interference on a wildly underthrown ball,
and again both picks that I'm showing you here got
called back. Their quarterback got hurt in the first half.
People thought he was concussed. Their running backs planned at about
(02:06):
fifty sixty percent. They've got injuries all over their offensive line.
They fell behind, yet they were amazing on third down.
They had very few penalties, they had very specific plans
on their final drive, and in every big third down
or every big down defensively, they were completely buttoned up.
(02:27):
Marcus Freeman, to me, feels like you're watching the college
version of Sean McVay. The energy, the presence, the intensity,
the way his team believes in him. He's like the
classic player coach, Like you almost wonder if they could
use him at like safety. He's got that physical presence
and the players love him. And this team lost to
(02:49):
Northern Illinois at home, and you got to remember about
Marcus Freeman. I'll get to this in a bit, but
this guy his first home game when he got the job,
when he was thirty five, he lost to Marshall. What
they have done at Notre Dame is a direct correlation
and reflection on Marcus Freeman. This guy is a rock star.
They're all banged up, and I thought it was fascinating
(03:12):
at the end of the game. James Franklin's a good coach,
but he can't learn from his mistakes. They make too
many in big games. I mean, they had the eight
guys on the field in that final Notre Dame field, goalkick,
Why are you throwing the ball with thirty three seconds
left in that game? What are you doing? I mean,
you don't trust your quarterback. He didn't complete a ball
to the receivers all night. You ran before that, so
(03:34):
you kind of wanted to get to overtime. When I
watched Notre Dame's final drive. I saw, you know, seven
plays twenty six seconds, using time out, using Riley Leonard.
There was a absolute plan on how to use this
big I like this kid way more than everybody else. Apparently,
I see a little bit of Josh Allen, maybe just
a little bit. But they had a specific plan. It
(03:56):
looked like Penn State decided, hey, let's go to overtime.
Wait what twelve yards? Hey, let's go for it. That's
not a plan, that's just making crap up as you go.
So I thought that, and again I'm not anti James Franklin,
but what you saw was a specific, buttoned up smart team. Injuries,
O line injuries, running back. We thought the quarterback was Cancuss.
(04:19):
Two picks taken away, one an agregious call. If Notre
Dame would have lost, you'd literally, as a Notre Dame fan,
belay man, we couldn't get a break. We're falling apart
here physically, and yet they won. So what I saw
in this game was two young quarterbacks with talent, both
a little nervous, two strong defenses, two huge brands, two
(04:43):
limited passing attacks down the field, especially for Penn State,
but one head coach that everybody in America with one
five star recruit, one is playing in the national Championship.
You go to Georgia, Bama. These teams the last couple
of years, iiO State, Notre Dame. It's different. The rosters
(05:03):
are different, Texas, Notre Dame. The rosters are different. How
is Notre Dame here? They're here because of the coach
and why did Penn State lose? Here's their coach.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
Everybody wants to pick out a specific play. There's probably
eight to twelve plays in that game that if we
could have found a way to make a few more
plays in that game, and we're that close, right, it's
a game of inches.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Now, it's a game of decisions, and there was one play.
Go watch the final drives. Penn State should not have
thrown that ball. They had not completed the pastor receivers.
You could tell they really didn't trust their quarterback a lot.
That's a long way to go against an excellent secondary
(05:54):
and a very well coached team that was making it
up as you go. And I want to talk about
Marcus Freeman here because first of all, Notre Dame is
doing it the right way when he took over for
Brian Kelly. I was like, he's a great recruiter, but
he's thirty five, he's a defensive coach. I'm not sure
if this is gonna work. He went nine to four,
(06:15):
ten and three, fourteen and one, and now he is
five and one in Bowl games. But what's more redeeming
about it? In my opinion? He went zero to three
to start, and he lost his first game at home
at Notre Dame to Marshall Right, right right, think about that,
and this year they lost to Northern Illinois. And this
(06:36):
is a great life lesson for young people and young
coaches and young athletes. I've said this about Michael Jordan.
I mean Michael Jordan struggled with his owner, his GM
Dennis Rodman, his first couple of coaches, the Pistons, the Celtics.
Life is hard. You gotta believe in yourself, and if
you believe in yourself, young people around you will believe
(06:59):
in you. We talk about this all the time about
players developing. What you have watched with Marcus Freeman is
a young coach developing. He probably wasn't quite ready to
be Notre Dame's coach. The first two months he got
the job thirty five year old coach. That is a
that's not just a job. Notre Dame's got academic umbrellas.
(07:22):
It's a really tough job. I mean, Brian Kelly was
successful into Notre Dame, and Brian Kelly stumbled a lot
in his first several years, and he'd been a successful
coach previously. This isn't Marcus Furman's first Marcus Damon's first job.
Your first head coaching job is Notre Dame. You know
(07:45):
how many guys have failed at Notre Dame that have
previous winning experience. And I don't think he probably was
quite ready in the first few weeks. But I'm watching
a rock star here. I see Sean McVay. That's exactly
what I see, chest out energy talking to the refts,
motivating players. Notre Dame had every reason to lose last night,
(08:06):
and I'm telling you that pass interference call that took
away the interception of the end zone was awful. You
can't call pi a football as wildly overthrown or wildly underthrown.
You can't call that. Here's Marcus after.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
But these guys are resilient and they found a way
to make a play when it mattered the most. And
that's what, again is to me what great teams, great organizations.
They're able to at that moment that they need to
do their job or make a play, they do it
and the last play doesn't matter. There's unpredictable things that
happen all the time and they find a way to.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Make it work.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Just to give you more context, it is harder to
get into Notre Dame, and then once you're in Notre Dame,
the workload for student athletes is as hard as maybe
any place not called Stanford. I mean it's hard. They
can't take anybody. Think about this. Texas is going to
play for the right to go to the national championship tonight.
(09:07):
They have eleven five star athletes. Ohio State's playing Texas
they have fourteen. Okay, Georgia just got beat by Notre Dame.
They had fourteen five star recruits. Notre Dame's got one.
It is virtually unheard of to be playing for a
national championship with one elite five star recruit. And this
(09:31):
program also in this world of the transfer portal and
nil players don't transfer out a Notre Dame. They go in,
they buy in, they stay in. That was a coaching
masterpiece last night on a game where you got banged
up players and bad calls and you're playing a good team.
And I mean I watched that game. I'm not so
sure Penn State didn't have more good players. I mean,
(09:53):
I watched it last night. I'm like, halfway through that game,
I'm like, I think I picked the wrong team. I
think Penn State's got better players. Carter a kid. You
can't block him al that tight end. That kid's insane.
They got him throwing passes. Coaching rock star Marcus Freeman,
J Mac. That is what college football is all about.
It was flawed. It had wards, it had pimples, it
(10:15):
had everything. It had a motion. I had fun.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Watch Marcus Freeman. You're right, man, he is the winner.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
If I'm the Chicago Bears of some of these other
teams in the NFL, I'm just waiting until Notre Dame's
done the championship.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
That was like LinkedIn on TV. That was a resume.
Here's what you want as a coach. I can't believe
there's no camera in the locker room to find out
what the halftime speech was because Notre Dame after getting
blitzed in the first half. They dominated well. They came
out in the second half and run the ball. Ry mean,
they just got very physical, run the ball between the
tackles us Riley Leonard, and they got a break. One
(10:48):
of the breaks they got his Penn State had a
couple of defensive backs fall down on a big play.
I mean, listen, when you win games like that, you
did get a break somewhere. They got a big break
when a Penn State DV just fell down.
Speaker 6 (11:00):
James Franklin stuff though, let's I feel like people are
crushing him for this loss. I don't know that it's
on him. You got three timeouts. Yeah, all you need
is to get in field goal rings to have a shot. Okay,
now taking three knees there at the end timeout. That
is a great secondary. They were great against Georgia. It
is a great secondary. People aren't throwing the ball on
Notre Dame. You don't trust your quarterback, you don't have
(11:24):
a completion in the game to a wide receiver. Overtime
is built for what Penn State does. Great tight end
and I mean singletary, big time running back.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
So if I'm Penn State and I look at my team.
I don't have a pass completed to a receiver. I'm
not trying to drive the ball forty five yards. By
the way, kickers, when Jeter went up there to kick
the winner, did you think he was gonna make it?
I was like, God, this is I mean, this is.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Just like football coaches want to try to win.
Speaker 6 (11:53):
We're out here, we got timeout, we got the ball,
Let's give it a shot. I personally would have gone
to Warren and drawn another flag because it's all he's doing.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
All is n flash.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
And I said before, I think James Franklin is a
good coach, but I didn't think they used their running
back enough. I think the kid, I think we talked
about him earlier, it's big. It's a bad I was
just talking to an NFL GM yesterday about Penn State's
run game.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yards like they I thought they had a good and
the game plan was good.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
I can't blame frank I thought they were making it
up on the final drive.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Fair and that's been one of the knocks on him,
like a late game situations.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
He's just and I like James Franklin. This is not
an indictment. He beats everybody except you know, like Notre
Dame in Ohio State and Harbaugh's Michigan. James Franklin is
a very good football, no break through.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Remember Harball.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
We said this about him for a few years.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
When he was at That's You watched this game last night.
Does Penn State have better high end talent?
Speaker 3 (12:54):
It's at least equal maybe maybe I mean.
Speaker 6 (12:57):
Carter Like you said, well, the tight end and Carter
are the two best players. Carter wasn't even one hundred
percent coming off an injury. Like he looks like I means,
weren't Michael Parson's number. He looks like Michael Parsons.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
He's everywhere.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
All right. We got a lot of stuff. The college
football Playoff, by the way, is working perfectly. We'll talk
about that coming up.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and noon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
So tonight's game is not gonna look like last night's game.
I can assure you both Ohio State and Texas will
have a wide receiver that catches a ball last night
with sparklers. Tonight, get your welders mask. This thing is
going to be a fourth of July show, It's Playmaker City.
But the College Football Playoff what I love about it.
(13:46):
It is giving teams a chance to develop. Ohio State
late in the year a devastating lost to Michigan is
a twenty point favorite, and Texas just can't beat Georgia
They lost to the same team twice. But yet college
football now is like the NFL. You can lose a
game late. It's not about the schedule. Oh you lose late,
(14:07):
it's over. The Chiefs lost to the Raiders last year
late Peyton Manning at a Super Bowl Trophy in Denver.
They were two and two down the stretch. It's about
the ability for talented teams to stumble. But our eyes
don't lie, the data doesn't lie. Texas and Ohio State
are fantastic. Using last year's playoff formatt you know who
(14:30):
we would have ended up this year in the playoff
Oregon boat raced by Ohio State, Penn State can't beat
good teams Georgia with a backup quarterback, and Texas there
would be no Ohio State. There would be no Notre
Dame story. So the playoff has allowed teams to stumble,
I mean Notre Dame lost in Northern Illinois in the
old format, you're not getting in the national Championship. It's
(14:51):
not the way it's going to be. Texas lost twice
to Georgia, you're not getting in. It's not the way
it normally works. And so tonight, tonight is going to
be the opposite of last night. If you have any
eclipse glasses left over, grab them. There's gonna be shiny
objects and comments every where. It's gonna be wild. We
are now left within college football an overachieving Notre Dame
(15:15):
team that's brilliantly coached, an Ohio State team that if
they lose, they'll want the coach fired. And then a
Texas team that is always mercurial, that can't beat Georgia.
Their best quarterback, in my opinions, their backup quarterback, and
they've got an incredibly polarizing coach who I like but
drives me nuts, Steve Sarkeshan, And he talks about tonight.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
I think in this day and.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
Age of college football, to think that you're just gonna
go unblemished is probably not realistic, especially not in our
two conferences with the you know the amount of quality
teams that you have to play week in and week out,
and the grind that it puts on your on your team,
not only physically but mentally. And it's I think the
ones that can be standing here January ninth and tenth,
(16:01):
playing for an opportunity to play for a national championship.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
I think you know the credit is due to all
four teams.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Listen. Alabama had three losses, one of them that got
housed against Vandy late in the year, that got crushed
by Oklahoma, a very average Oklahoma team they almost got in.
I like this formula. I like your allowed. I mean,
we allow NFL teams to have multiple mulligans. And those
are twenty eight year old men. We can't let nineteen
(16:28):
year olds stumble and stub their toe. In Columbus, Ohio
against Michigan, a Michigan team that won a bowl game
beating Didn't they beat the SEC team or something like that.
Didn't Michigan have a really good bowl game? I forgot.
You know, I haven't watched every one of the bowl games,
but if you look at Michigan, you're like, well, I
w on a very good team. Well they're not terrible
beat Alabama and so Ohio State lost at home I
(16:51):
shouldn't eliminate you from a twelve team playoff, and it didn't,
and I love it. This is what I've been hoping
college football would be. Look more like the NFL playoff format,
but still some quirkiness and independence like BYU and Notre
Dame and a little uneven schedules, and the officiating is
not very good, and sometimes the coaching is regrettable. But
(17:15):
what we have now, I mean, look at this final.
You get both. Now you get the Cinderella story. But
we all know Cinderella is not going to win the
national championship. But now Cinderella doesn't keep the big dogs
out as long as they don't have three losses. It
used to be we jam a Cinderella every year into
the fourteen playoff and it would keep like a big
(17:37):
dog out that should have been in. Now you get both.
Now you get Boise State in Arizona State and SMU
and I get to lost Ohio State and Texas and
Notre Dame that lost in Northern Illinois. I love the
new format. The first round. It needs some tweaking, it
needs some receding. It's not perfect, but it's better than
(17:57):
the previous part that I that we all sort of,
you know, tolerated. We knew it wasn't a great formula,
we tolerated it. This has been magic and tonight again
grabbed the welders mask. Fourth of July. It's splash offenses,
five star athletes. It'll look a lot more like Sunday,
(18:18):
Jay mcklin news.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
No turn on the news. This is the herd Line News.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
We got some negative news here, Colin who opened.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson has tour and his achilles again.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
I'm stunned.
Speaker 6 (18:35):
This news just broke literally in the last five minutes.
He had surgery yesterday to repair the torn ligament. This
is the second time he's torn the same achilles in
three plus months.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Yeah, this is probably the end of his career, wouldn't
it be.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
I think I don't see how he comes back. I mean,
he's only played in nineteen games since joining the Browns.
Cleveland does have the second pick in the draft, so
they're in position to get Camra Shador.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Yeah, it's obvious that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Now.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
I just look this up.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
Deshaun Watson is a seventy two point nine million dollar
cap hit next year in twenty five or technically this
calendar year, but next season and also in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
So one of your big tenants that I like, having
known you for a while is, hey, when something's not working,
you move on.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah fast, this is not working.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I don't care about the dead cat money.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I don't want him in the building exactly.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
I think you just clean it out, you take your
medicine for a couple of years, struggle, build the roster,
and deal with it.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Because this is over.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Denver is proven. If you have a smart offensive coach
and you hit on a first round quarterback, you can
literally make the playoffs six months later. So to me,
if you can get cam Ward or Shadouer, you get
Dashaun out of the building, you have an excellent offensive coach,
offensive line in run game more than capable.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
I was just looking into the offensive line. There could
be some flux. Three of them are free agents.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
They're not going to keep all of them.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Yeah, so they've got some work to do. But you
know what, they're gonna be bad for the next couple
years and they'll turn it around. But I think this
Watson experiment, Hey, it's over. Any career ender, no other
player went first of no other team has any interest
in this at all. And also this idea, anytime somebody
(20:17):
asked for a guaranteed contract, they're just gonna you see
that Watson thing.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
We're not doing that.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, the idea. I remember listening to some of the
younger media members all over the landscape when he signed that.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
I think I was one of them. I was I
was pro Watson and get it, get some money.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
But my take was, Okay, Cleveland did it, but the
rest of the league shouldn't be forced to do business
the way the Browns do. They're a poorly run franchise.
I remember when Robinson Canoe signed a ten year deal
with the Mariners, and unlike I'm not signing every second
basement to a ten year deal, would be one thing.
It was Bryce Harper, It's shoeo, Tawny Mookie ba, I'm
not signing Robinson Canoe to a ten year contract. And
(20:53):
that thing didn't work in Seattle. And so this idea
that you have to do what poorly run franchises do.
Watch the good franchises. They usually have much greater discretion
on key positions and what they paid them.
Speaker 6 (21:08):
So Deshaun Watson that's just sad, unbelievab All right, let's
move on. Let's talk about Sam Darnald. He's got a
lot at stake this weekend, coming off the week eighteen clunker. However,
maybe he plays well against the Rams. This game, by
the way, has been moved to State Farm Stadium in
Arizona Monday due to the fires out here in La
(21:28):
So Sam Donald's got a chance.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
He will not be in enemy territory.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
It's so far and you know there's a chance he
could get franchise tag, get a big new deal. But
here's Darnald talking about the big moment in the playoffs.
Speaker 8 (21:40):
It's kind of you know where legacies, I guess are
are made in the playoffs, not not just winning games,
but winning you know those later games like AFC, NFC Championships,
winning Super Bowls like that's you know, that's that's how
you're going to be remembered at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Take a deep what do you make of the move
to Arizona? Does it? I mean, I know McVeigh would
rather play at home. It's kind of a wild back.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Up a little bit minus two and a half, it
was down to one one and a half.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
I do you see a lot of Rams fans all
of a sudden adjusting their their plans on a Monday
and saying, I.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Do think I really do think a lot of Ram fans. Honestly,
So many people in Los Angeles right now are living
in hotels to begin with, because of these devastating fires.
I can see a lot of people in LA saying,
you know what, let's get out of town. Oh, let's
go watch our team. I may be unrealistic, but I
can see people saying, well, we're already at a hotel.
Let's let's make the best of what has been a tragic,
(22:42):
awful week.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
The Minnesota fans trying to skip.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
The Minnesota fans will travel whatever it's Yeah, yeah, Midwest
fans travel like nothing else. They'll be They'll be twenty
five thousand Viking fans. I mean I I would be.
I think it's gonna be a purple crowd.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Yeah, Rams have familiarity with the stadium.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
We got some numbers here on Sam Donald that our
staff pulled Colin I did not realize.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
So look at what Sam.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Donald has done against the Rams and two against the Lions.
He's been bad.
Speaker 6 (23:08):
Look at against everyone else he's been outstanding.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I mean this is I don't listen, man, I know
you like him. He's a US.
Speaker 1 (23:17):
You know what, I will tell you what this pick
is in my blazing five. I know you're rooting for him,
but I'm not rooting for him. I A why I listen.
I'm not going to ever root against McVeigh. I think
Sean McVay is if Andy Reid didn't exist. Sean McVay
and Marcus Freeman are two coaches I think are at
(23:38):
the top of the mountain. So I think anytime you
get into a key game and I get Sean McVay,
I just feel good about it, no matter who the
coach is, maybe even against Andy Reid, I just feel
good about it.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Regarding Donald and the Vikings, I know Flores is a
hot name in the coaching market. Yeah, how much time
do you think he's spending about preparing for interviews this
week versus preparing for the Rams? I think I wonder
how much of a distraction that could possibly be. Nobody
on the RAMS staff's.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Interviewing anywhere now, and the Rams are really.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
Healthy coming off of bye. Basically, you know the rest
of a lot of their guys last week.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
No, it's it's the more you inspect this game. There's
a reason the Whise guys like the Rams.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Final story is back to the Cowboys. We'll get them
in the show here.
Speaker 6 (24:22):
Remember they blocked Mike McCarthy earlier this week from interviewing
with the Bears, and now there reports Jerry Jones was
planning to sit down with McCarthy today to start contract negotiations. Yeah,
McCarthy's Jo Dallas expires on Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It could be some good news for Cowboys fans.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
I don't hit the weekend he's gonna I mean to block.
If you're gonna block a coach, that means you're working
on a new deal. That's not real covert. I mean
if I say you can't interview this employee, that meantimes.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yeah, but don't you think McCarthy's gonna come to the
table with some stipulation. You won't even let me talk
to the Bears. Well, this is a new thing that.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I want in my contract. I think Jerry's gonna offer
him enough money. And you know you saw Jerry in
that land Man clip where it looks like Clint Eastwood
in his prime as an actor. I think Jerry will
put on the old Texas drawl and sell Mike on
are you watching land Man? Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
That shows amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, the writing is amazing.
Speaker 6 (25:15):
Oh yeah, it's basically Yellowstone with oil right in Texas.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
Yeah, I'm swearing. Yeah, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Jmck with the news.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Well that's the news, and thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
Lie So I have blazing five top of the hour.
You know, I like my picks and more headed toward
favorites this week, but I am on a I am
on a very small, lonely island. I think the Steelers
are going to play Baltimore very tough this weekend. I
like Baltimore to win. But I'll give you a couple
of reasons why I think Pittsburgh is going to go
out with with dignity. Number one, Zay Flowers is not
(25:49):
going to play for Baltimore. They don't really have another receiver.
I mean that the next best receiver on that team
has fifteen catches. Bateman like Zay Flowers is their home
run hitter. Okay, against a good pass rush, good corners
like he's out. Second thing is this is a rivalry game.
I mean, i'mly this morning my staff gave me a number.
(26:10):
I could not believe it. I made them google it.
Harvon Tomlin, John Harbon, Mike Tomlin.
Speaker 9 (26:17):
Let me just guess this.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
How many times do you think they've met played against
coach against each other? Thirty eight times? They're having an anniversary.
I don't know what to get them. It's insane. It's
a fistfight in an alley. I mean, this game is
nobody's fooling anybody. And so Baltimore is better missing their
(26:38):
one home run hitter on the perimeter in a rivalry
game that is so often close. And the other thing
we have to acknowledge is Baltimore never looks quite as
fearsome in the playoffs and Mike Tomlin win. He's a
huge underdog. The team plays over at Skis, so even
when they played about a month ago, it was thirty
four to seventeen, but it was twenty five or seventeen
(27:00):
late until Russell Wilson threw a pick six. So if
you look at Lamar Jackson in his career versus the Steelers,
he's two and four against the Steelers, and he's two
and four in the playoffs, and his passer rating is
amazing unless he's in the playoffs and unless he's facing
the Steelers. Well now in the first round, he's in
the playoffs facing the Steelers, and so I think you're
(27:24):
gonna have a really competitive game. I think it's gonna
be a little ugly. It's gonna look like Penn State
Notre Dame a little bit last night with the you know,
experienced quarterback play. Is that it's going to be played
between the thirties, and I feel like I'm on an island.
But when I saw that number, Ravens minus nine and
a half, that thirty four to seventeen game is misleading
(27:47):
nose flowers. Thirty eight times these two teams have played.
I'll take Baltimore, but it feels close to me. Urban
Meyer and the Blazing Five top of Next Hour.
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Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I saw a picture sent to my phone this morning
of somebody driving for two miles through that area. Everything
burned down, every house, every business, absolutely devastating. Give to
the Red Cross if you can. So, just to illustrate,
I mean, you saw it last night when Notre Dame
played Penn State. You can see the pressure. You can
see how it's hard to watch as a dad, to
(29:47):
watch some of these young college athletes and you watch
their parents in the crowd. I get nervous for the kids,
and I don't even know them. In the NFL, it's
a little bit different, but the pressure is insane. So
I mean, Buffalo and Philadelphia combined twenty seven and seven,
and we know Sean McDermott's a good coach, and we
know Nick Sirianni wins a lot of games. Buffalo and Philadelphia,
these are two exceptional teams. They could meet in the
(30:09):
Super Bowl. Nobody would be surprised except maybe Nick Wright.
Nobody would be surprised. But if they lose his home
favorites this weekend, Sean McDermott and Nick Siriani are both
in big trouble twenty seven and seven sustain success regardless
of the coordinators when the division every year, dominate the
(30:32):
division every year, doesn't matter Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel
the phone ring, and if these two guys lose. And
I think some of this is and I've seen this.
I saw Nick Saban do this in the SEC where
he got a lot of coaches fired. Is that Andy
Reid keeps winning super Bowls with basically patchwork offensive lines,
(30:55):
no notable star receiver, an old distracted tied end and
sometimes Patrick Mahomes not at one hundred percent, and Andy
Reid keeps winning super Bowls. And I think these other
owners are like, where's his star receiver? He didn't have
an AJ Brown, he didn't have a Stefan Diggs. I mean,
his offensive line isn't as good as Buffalo's, certainly not
(31:16):
as good as Philadelphia is. I got Jalen Hurts and
I got Josh Allen. I think the owners look at
Andy Reid and he puts so much immense pressure on
other coaches in this sport because they're winning. And what's interesting,
because they pay Mahomes what they pay him, and Chris
Jones and Travis Kelcey is this is not one of
the all time great teams in Kansas City, or I
should say one of the all time great rosters. They
(31:38):
don't have a number one receiver. I mean their best receiver,
Rashid Rice got hurt this year. They're making it up
as they go. Last two years, let go with Tyreek
Hill is making it up as they go, depending on
Sky Moore to make big catches in the Super Bowl.
So Josh Allen is just too darn good not to
get to super Bowls. He has got to get to
(31:58):
super Bowls. He is now for the next six years
in his prime. He got to start getting to him
a lot. And there is a feeling in the NFL.
I think most of us feel this way that if
Josh Allen would have inherited Andy Reid, he'd be the
one hoisting trophies. It's a coach thing. Fair not if
Josh Allen had Andy Reid, Mahomes had McDermott. A lot
of people think, well, Josh would have a couple of trophies,
(32:20):
at least a couple. And Nick Siriani has the best
roster in football now that Detroit doesn't have hutcheson and
are banged up on the back end. The Eagles have
the best roster in football. I don't even think anybody
argues about that. So and now Jalen hurts the good news.
He's gonna play, he practiced, he's going to play. And
(32:42):
can they keep playing as well as they did late
in the regular season against weaker teams. Now it's the
Packers at home.
Speaker 11 (32:48):
Here's Nick Sirianni, same process, same everything. Don't let the
everyone is going to tell you how much more you know,
how much bigger this atmosphere is, and how much bigger
this is. It's really don't do anything different than what
you've been doing. Like when the when the stakes get higher,
(33:09):
when the game gets bigger, right, you need to lock
down and do the tough detail together.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
I agree with him there. So yesterday this week, Antonio
Pierce was fired as the Raiders head coach. I wouldn't
have done that. We'll see who they land. Tom Telesco
talked to him yesterday. He was fired the GM after
one year. So you have six job openings in the NFL.
Here is the order if I was looking for a job,
(33:36):
this is the order I think. In quality of job,
I think now the Patriots is the best job. I
have stability and ownership. They do not run through coaches.
They have a quarterback and a backup quarterback. They have
the most cap space one hundred and twenty four million
in the NFL, and they own the number four pick.
(33:58):
I think I'm not saying this is Green Bay before
Matt Lafleur took it, or the Cowboys before Mike McCarthy
took it. But for a franchise without a lot of juice,
they've got a handful of good players, most on defense.
They've got the quarterback in his backup. I have a
lot of cap space, and outside of Buffalo, there's a
(34:19):
lot of dysfunction in this division, so you can get
the wild card spot here over New York or Miami
in a regular basis. I think the Patriots is the
best job now chicag and it shows you what a
weird year it is. How often do we think of
Chicago as a great job opening. They got Caleb Williams.
You don't have to pay him big boy money for
(34:40):
a long time. They got the fifth most cap space
in the league. They have the number seven draft pick.
You know, I guess my issue and this is one
that I've I've talked to a lot of people outside
of Chicago around the league. It's just a lot of
Pollo ticks, ownership, front office, and a feeling that the
(35:04):
ownership is not terribly progressive. But I like some of
their players. I don't think it's a great roster, especially
in that division. It's a solid roster, a number one receiver,
a star potential quarterback, a lot of cap space, and
a good draft pick. I think the Bears is the
second best job. I actually think the Jets, despite Woody Johnson.
I mean, he kept solid around for years. It's not
(35:26):
like it's the Raiders. I think the Jets is the
third best job. I like the roster now, it's an
aging offensive line. They do have their left tackle for
the future. They do have the number seven pick, but
I like their running back running backs. They got a
couple of receivers. I like an edge rusher. I like
a top three corner in the NFL. They don't have
(35:48):
a clear vision at quarterback for the future, but the
way Aaron Rodgers has played the last two months, I
could deal with it for a year. Aaron's not going
to have a lot of power. The new coach is
gonna have the power and the new GM. So I
think the Jets is not a terrible job. And we
can call Woody Johnson impulsive, but compare to the Raiders,
(36:11):
he's patient. I think that's the third best job. Number
four to me would be the Saints. A winnable division,
stability and ownership. Mickey Loomis's been in the building a
long time. They draft pretty well now. They also have
the number nine pick in the draft. They do not
have cap room. In fact, there's an argument it's the
worst cap situation in the room. So to me, and
(36:34):
is Derek Carr the future? You can win games with
Derek Carr in that division.
Speaker 4 (36:39):
It's not.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
Unlike a New England where you could go buy three
elite players maybe five, and Drake made Pops in year
two with a smart offensive coach. This is going to
be a slower build because of lack of cap space
and the Derek car situation. But I do get ownership
in a front office that has proven that they can
accumulate draft and develop good young players. And it's a
(37:03):
weak division. Saint at number four, I would put the
Jags at number five. I get Trevor Lawrence, but man
you talk about lack of stability. Four different head coaches
over nine season. Again, it's a winnable division with one
good quarterback c J. Stroud. Again, I think they have
some players. I think they have some offensive players.
Speaker 8 (37:25):
I like.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Again, I'm saying it's the fifth best job. So I
don't think they have the roster of the Jets, of
the stability or the young free quarterback of the Patriots.
I don't think they have a quarterback as talented as
the Bears, so I you know, and I don't think
they've got kind of the ownership of stability that the
Saints have shown through the years. But I would say
the Jags is five, and I got to put the
(37:48):
Raiders at six. First of all, you're in a division
with Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Andy Reid, Mahomes, Bownix, and Herbert.
I don't care who you hire. Is you bring Belichick
in brutal You've got great quarterback play and all time
coach stuff there. And the other thing is you got
some cap space. But and you got Brock Bauers and
(38:10):
Max Crosby. Colton Miller's a solid left tackle. The roster
needs upgrading quarterback In a week draft class. You know,
Mark Davis, Antonio Pears thought he was coming back. An
hour later he was fired. Tom Zelesko thought he was
coming back. Two hours later, he was fired. I don't
think the Raiders is a good spot. And again, start
(38:30):
looking at who you have to face in six games
a year, Andy Reid, Mahomes, Herbert Harbaugh, Sean Payton, Boenicks.
Bonnicks is not getting worse, he getting better. This is
the worst the roster will be for Denver. They're gonna
get more cap space over the next three years. So
I would go Patriots, Bears, Jets. Patriots for stability, Bears
(38:51):
for the talent at quarterback, Jets for the overall roster
than Saints, Jaggs. Raiders are jobs I wouldn't want to take.
You're looking at me like you think the Raiders job
is better than that.
Speaker 6 (39:01):
Okay, So here's what's going to give you interesting What
happens if Mike Rabel picks the Raiders, which you rank
as the sixth job. I think there's a lot of
stuff at play here, Like, how are the Saints ahead
of the Jags. The Jags you have your quarterback, at
least you've got that.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
You have nothing with the.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Saints coming okay, but there are increasing concerns about the
ability to stay healthy by Trevor Lawrence. Fair to beat
good teams with Trevor Lawrence. We've watched in a couple
back to back years. He can't stay healthy. There's been
questions about, you know, is he really into it. There's
(39:37):
kind of a a kind of a understandable so I
and you know, I loved him, but he has not
been as good as I thought he would be as
a pro.
Speaker 6 (39:46):
Yeah, agreed, I totally agree. But the Raiders also, you
talked about it. They have the left tackle set, you
got Crosby coming off the edge. You've got Brock Bowers,
who was saying their.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
First team all Pro.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
No, No, they have three star players. So Kobe Myers,
he's not a star, but he's a Yeah. But again,
I have fairly decent insight into the organization.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
It's a bit of a mess.
Speaker 1 (40:08):
We think of the Jets as crazy solo is there?
How many years did Sally get four or five? Well,
how many years did Joe Douglas get. I mean, compared
to the Raiders, the Jets look like IBM. They're like
formidable and patient and so againeah. I mean, the Jets
look incredibly stable compared to the Raiders right now.
Speaker 6 (40:31):
I just think a guy like Rabel is gonna be like,
oh my, got Tom Brady's here, I'm gonna have protection.
Speaker 3 (40:37):
I could shove out the GM and bring in my
own GM.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
If it's a good job for me. If I could
get Robert Kraft, Drake May and the most cap space
in the league, I'm Mike Vrabel. That's and I know
the hallway, I know, I know the skeletons.
Speaker 3 (40:55):
I know he's never gonna be Belichick. He knows that.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
That can't drive you in Kansas City when Andy retires.
It's a good job, Take the job.