January 17, 2026 • 34 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon celebrate the upcoming College Football Championship Game by not only giving you their prediction but breaking down the coaching carrousel in the NFL! Plus, the great Jason Cole - NFL Hall of Fame voter joins the show!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Hello, Welcome in side our two, The Jason Smith Show
with my bass friend Mike Harmon. Don't forget to check
out our brand new YouTube channel. Just search Jason Smith's
Show on YouTube. Again, that's Jason Smith's Show. Hit the
subscribe button, don't stop there, hit the thumbs up icon,
comment away. Let us know what you think, what you
(00:49):
agree with, what you disagree with. Again, check out our
brand new channel on YouTube. Just search Jason Smith Show
and subscribe. Mike and I love putting this content out
for you every single night. Maybe you want to go
in here. How much a better thing the Mets did
today by getting Bobachett than missing out on Kyle Tucker.
That will be there, It will be there for you,
be there at all. It's glory the Mets succeeded by
(01:11):
failing Mike Harmon. I'm so happy, Mike Harmon. It's speechless.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
You get three strikes when it's all said and done.
I mean, that was only strike one in the big
free agency run, right, because you still have more guys
out on the board. You didn't really seem too enamored
with or distraught by prior signings, right, you were just
kind of.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Letting it roll.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And then yesterday you protest a little much about Kyle Tucker.
But then your guy, mister Cohen, rebounded nicely to bring
in Bobaschett. Right, he'll have to probably shift to maybe
write at the start of the season or later playing
third base. Lindora had to have the elbow stuff cleaned up,
so whether he's ready or not, it's a nice insurance
(02:01):
piece to have extra middle infielders with pop on the lineup.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
But yeah, you got off easy.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
You only had twenty four hours of handwringing before you
got your guy.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
My guy, I'm so much I'm so much happy with
how it turned out, you know what I mean, though,
like just like that, you didn't even have to suffer.
It was twenty four hours.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Oh not even what was it fourteen hours or so?
You were asleep for most of it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
That was great. And now we have the best infield
in baseball. Yeah, you got with Bashett and Lindor and
Senmei and Polaco get the best thing to field in baseball.
Now it's all good.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
As Steve de Sager pointed out last Last Hour, though,
two guys who've.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Never played their respective position of that. Let me just
let me just quote first base is incredibly easy. Tell him,
wash me, let me let me go all billy being
in moneyball. His defense does not matter. Okay, if to
just take you, if a guy is a fielding shortstop,
(03:01):
he's gonna be a great third baseman. I'm fine with that.
He's gonna be much better. It will be okay. I
think I think it will be fine. I think it's
gonna be over his defense. His defense does not matter. Now,
before we pick our games this week, and we picked
the Saturday games last hour' gonna pick the Sunday games. Now,
you know, it is part of positivity Friday here on
(03:23):
the show. And I want to have a positivity at
appreciation moment for Brock Purty. All right. Now, he's someone
all year long what have we talked about? How boy
really tough year for him, He's hurt. They've watched mac
Jones come in and up his stock. The Niners offense
looks exactly the same under mac Jones that does with
Brock Purdy. Did you really overpay for Purdy? Who was
(03:46):
really good when he had all his weapons at his disposal,
he doesn't have them now. Mac Jones is putting points
on the board rough rough, rough time. However, Brock Purdy
has saved his image and his future in San Francis
Go because you look at what's gonna happen next year.
Mac Jones will be someplace else. He'll be quarterback of
the Jets next year. The offseason quarterback crop is not great,
(04:08):
the draft is not great. Free agents aren't that great.
Mac Jones has played really well. He's young, he's a
former pro bowler. Yeah, someone's gonna say we'll give you
a fourth or maybe even the third because he's gonna
be our quarterback next year. Right again, probably the Jets
and the Niners will move on from that because they'll
get an asset for him, and also, hey, we don't
want there to be any sort of controversy if Brock
(04:28):
is hurt next year a little bit. I get that
we got him for another year, and generally teams, you know,
if a guy has a chance to start somewhere, they
don't keep him from doing that, right. I think he
got a gentleman's thing happening a little bit there, especially
since they've paid all the money to brock Purty. But
that's the thing is that he has played so well.
And you look at the game last week and a
few times since he's come back, since he got hurt.
(04:50):
He was terrific versus Philadelphia without his weapons, right, lost
George Kittle in that game. He closed the regular season huge.
This is the best stretch his career. They are winning
because of him now where they won before because he
was a great complimentary fit, great game manager, quarterback that
got the ball to Debo, got the ball to Brandon Iu,
(05:13):
got the ball to Kittle, handed the ball to Christian
McCaffrey really well, pitched the ball out to Christian McCaffrey
really well. Called time out when Kyle Shanahan wanted a
time out. You know he did. He did well back then.
But now they're winning because of him. This is a
lesser San Francisco team than in previous years. And I've
talked about how long they're frauds, they're this to that,
and yes they are. San Francisco is fraudulent, but Perty's
(05:35):
become a star again. He has become the piece that
makes that engine go. Yes, McCaffrey is the biggest weapon.
They have obviously wanted to get him the ball as
much as they can, but they are winning now because
of brock Purty, not someone who's kind of helping them along.
So again, positivity Friday, appreciation moment for brock Purty.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, he's had a phenomenal run. And we had disagreements
earlier this year in terms of the mac Jones versus
brock Purty separation, but the result was the same, winning
and pushing on. And there's really been a fun watch
for the forty nine ers this year. Not one of
those hey it's an easy sixty minutes, but the results
(06:12):
have been there for you, right, A lot of injuries,
a lot of inconsistency, and certainly all the big names
that you've missed seen missed significant time along the way.
Bosa and Warner both out for your defense for most
of the year. Offensively, now you move forward without Kittle,
You've had a depleted receiving corps say nothing of even
remember remember when Brandon Ayuk was a guy. It's first
(06:36):
time I think we've said his name in three months time.
It may maybe longer, so just go on down the line.
But you've got a very long, extensive injury report heading
into this one. Warner's still not ready. Looks like you're
gonna get full participation from Chard Williams, which is a
nice boost to the offense. Robert Sala has been magnificent
(07:00):
with what he's been able to do for the defense,
and here it is again. But brock Purty I think
has calmed a lot of the doubters on the other side.
Your guy Sam Sam, Sam still has some work to do.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So appreciation moment for Brock Purdy, which congratulations. I don't
get used to it, but appreciation moment for Brock Purty.
Now to Sunday's games in the divisional round of the playoff.
Let's start. We'll lead up to the big one. Obviously,
because Mike Harmon's palms were already sweating thinking about Sunday night. Well,
I actually no one's going to be sweating Sunday nights
to be minus ten degrees. I would love to be
(07:35):
able to pick the Texans to beat the Patriots. Now
you know I'm not lying when I tell I love
for them to be able to pick them. Their defense
is the best defense in the NFL, and I would
pick them except for one thing, Mike Carmon, one thing.
There's only one thing, one thing. What so many reasons
I'd love to pick the Texans. How well they're play
The Patriots are fraudulent? What are they like when when again,
(07:57):
they're great front runners, just like Indiana has been this
year in college. But there's only one thing, only one thing,
and it's my fault. It's my fault to do this.
If I didn't do this, I would not pick the Patriots.
But it's my fault because last week I watched CJ.
Stroud play quarterback. That was that was the thing. I
watched CJ. Stroud play quarterback last week and that was
(08:21):
no bueno, man.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I know that the Texans defense has been rolling. Nobody
wants to play them. They're the they're the best defense
in the league. But they're not gonna have enough on
offense to win this game. New England is solid. There
at home. Drake May is terrific. His decision making where
to go with the football is great. They're gonna get
just enough offense. It's not gonna be pretty, uh, but
(08:45):
they will get the turnovers defensively for a couple of
short fields because Stroud has to push the play because
they don't have a lot of playmakers there. They're gonna
be without Nico Collins this week. That's gonna be that.
That's a huge, huge blow for them. So you know
he's gonna continue to try to push the ball and
make decisions that probably he's better off not making that's
gonna result in turnovers. It's gonna be ugly. And another
(09:07):
game where I like the under give me the Patriots
nineteen thirteen.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, this one's This one's a field goal kicking contest
and you're just praying and wishing you hope, you just Mike,
we watched on Monday night against the Steelers. Right that
the defense can come up with not only just a
big play, but you actually get you seven points. All
all right, you'll settle for being put up in field
goal range? Are they can they get anything out of
(09:33):
Woody Marks? Right, He's gonna be the key to all this.
The receiving corps depleted. Yeah, you got the tight ends
maybe a little bit, and you had the massive game
from Christian Kirk. But Gonzalez looks like he's gonna be
cleared to play, so maybe you see a little bit
of shadowing with him along the way.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
There.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
It is Christian Kirk. Remember once upon a time when
we lauded his arrival in Jacksonville, and all these years,
here we are. Eight catches one hundred and forty four
yards against the Steelers, gonna be huge. Otherwise it's all
the Iowa State guys that they're trying to make happen.
But the exchanges with the center were problematic, and you
know vverybel and that defense will feast on those for THEMS.
(10:16):
So yeah, I think this one's a low scoring Let's
go twenty sixteen. A lot of field goals mixed in
this one.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Now the Rams and the Bears, which is a really
hard game for me to pick because I picked the
Rams to go to the Super Bowl preseason, but I've
been on the Bears bandwagon since the beginning of the year.
I told you it was the era of good feeling,
and here we are. The weather makes It really really
difficult for me to pick the Rams, but not impossible.
(10:46):
Right this is gonna be an ugly one, but I
just have a feeling the Rams are ready for this.
They're gonna run the football. They're gonna spend a lot
of time trying to ram it down the Bears throat.
They're gonna throw just enough. It's not gonna be a
game where Stafford goes up and down the field in
that cutting wind. But you will see the passing game
open up a little bit as the game goes on.
But they will run the ball a ton. They will
(11:08):
get a couple of turnovers. The Bears are gonna get
a little bit of bounce coming off the way they
played in the second half against Green Bay. And I'll
still take Sean McVay at this point over Ben Johnson.
Maybone'll be saying that for a long time, but I'll
take McVeigh right now over Ben Johnson. The Rams gut
it out twenty to sixteen. They're in the NFC Championship.
Is it only McVay, buddy? I feel bad? I feel bad?
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Is it only McVeigh Because Lafleur and all these other
guys are standing on his shoulders to make him tall
like Voltron, I got the top of them. Yeah, it
goes on the top, all the way on the top.
That's right, slapping around in the win, all right, buddy, Yeah,
what do you think? Yeah, So, as I think of
(11:50):
this that the thing that that is crushing is you
lost two huge members on either side of the ball
for the Bears in the final minutes of that game.
Trapillo did a great job of limping off so they
didn't have to take the run off or calling time
out or any of that stuff. But he's on available,
so all of a sudden you have to shuffle what's
been a great offensive line. He's been one of the
(12:12):
great stories along with those decorated additions via free agency.
So that's a big loss against that Rams front and
cutting through the win. That's the big thing. With Caleb Williams.
We've seen the arm strength, seen those darts downfield. Like
I can't pick against the Bears can't. So you know,
(12:32):
this is where we'll differ that they can get after
Matthew Stafford a little bit. Again, Edward's done for the
year and still banged up in the secondary a bit,
but that's where I think the Bears can get after
the Rams. We've watched their secondary struggle all year. Cairo Santos.
We joked about it a couple times this year, navigating
those wins like he was, you know, on the putting
(12:54):
greens and hey, I gotta kick it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Over here fifteen yards. No, don't worry, it's Watchdots. It's
gonna work.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my bes
friend Mike Harmon. We gave you our picks for this
weekend in the NFL? Does our next guest agree? Disagree?
Who are the Jets taking at number two? All of
these questions and more answered by longtime NFL insider. He
(13:30):
is the author of eight books, some of them don't
have pictures in them, thirty third Team Pro Football Hall
of Very Good voter. It is longtime friend of the show,
Jason Cole. Jake Cole, what's happening?
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Man to do? Oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm ready, Let's go.
I'm as ready as Don cam Or is to go
back to Oregon.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
You know, I'm glad you bring this up because I
want it because I want to throw a little bit
of a of a different take other than he didn't
want the Jets, right, because clear okay, yes, that's low
the Jets, right. I want I want to throw this
at I want to throw this at you because this
is something that's not been talked about because it's always
been assumed that, Okay, Banana Mendoza going number one. Obviously, look,
(14:26):
Heisman Trophy, winner of the year. Yes he's going number one.
But maybe Dante Moore was told we might not take
you at number two. Maybe his evaluation was, we all
think you should go back to school and you might
be on the board longer than you think for the
NFL Draft this year than coming off at number two
to the Jets. And maybe that's why he's going back
to school.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Oh, that's prey, that's quite possible. I doubt the Jets
would have the guts to do that because they're so
badly need a quarterback and they would take the chance.
I would say that overwhelmingly. He probably got a lot
of people saying, hey, look, let's look at the history
of quarterbacks who don't stay in school and throw less
(15:11):
than a thousand passes, and you know that one. And
it's a long list of guys who's who are awful,
like Trey Lance, Anthony Richardson, Tyler Murray and he got
to a second contract. So given credits for that, Mark Sanchez,
if you want a little jets lowre to all of this,
(15:35):
there's another guy in there that I'm trying to think
of who just was not very good. But you know,
there's a bunch of guys. Now everybody will point out
we'll look at Tom Brady. Well, the difference with Tom
Brady is that he stayed in college for five years.
He just didn't start to play a lot, but he
got a lot of practice time and got a lot
of preparation while he was at Michigan and was as
(15:56):
ready as he possibly could be from that standpoint. And
Kurt Warner obviously much different example, but he went and
played in the Arena League and did a lot of
other things. But you got to throw a lot of footballs, okay,
because playing quarterback in the NFL is yeah, you need
athletic ability, but it's just much about sort of PhD
(16:17):
quality learning of the game. And so I do believe
that the Jets easily could have said, hey, look yeah
we might take it number two. It might happen, But
you also might want to look at this history too,
if you really want to max out your career, or
other people who have said number one, you don't have
(16:39):
a lot of experience, and this is what happens guys
with a lot of experience, And you could go to
the Jets, which is not going to help you a lot,
to get that experience.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah, and the Jets said, we'll see you next year.
Go get some more experience. You'll be ready to win
for us next year.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah. Well, I mean well, I mean both of those
things can be true. I mean all of it, and
I think you made a wise long term decision. Then,
man walking away from fifty million dollars like, I don't
know that I could tell my son that I could
lay it out for him and say and say, hey,
look this is the pragmatic way, but you're sitting on
fifteen million dollars possibly with number two. Now you can
(17:18):
also say, hey, look, there's long history of guys who
don't do well, and that type of knock you way
down the board too. There's no guarantee you're going to
go number two. And don't believe somebody today if they
tell you you're going number two. But we can certainly
tell you there's a long history of guys who aren't
very good when they don't when they don't get more
(17:38):
throws at the god's level.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Jason Gole with us here, Jason Smith Show with me,
Mike Harmon, j Cole. As we get ready for the
divisional round. We'll get to the coaching karasel in a minute,
but we look at the divisional round Josh Allen playing Superman.
Is it enough to propel them into the AFC title game?
Speaker 4 (18:00):
God? I hope so, because I'm not sure I can
watch bone Nicks for football in an af championship game.
I mean, if you're again, if you're not going to
take advantage of this year, like what are you? And
I know that there are people who are fans or
Buffalo fans who go, yeah, but look at the rest
(18:22):
of the team around and this night it's like nobody's
got a great team. Don't tell me that this year,
this is the year that you have to grab the
whole thing and take advantage of it, right, And you know,
they survived a scary first round probably scarier than it
should have been, but a scary first round. And they're
going up against a Denver team that you have people
(18:42):
talk about that defense, but it hasn't been great the
last six weeks, and so there are some serious possibilities.
And their pass rush has essentially evaporated over the second
half of the season. So this is when you got
to go. You've got to do make a bunch of
plays because we know that Sean Payton's going to game
(19:04):
it up that even with the inconsistency of Bonnix, they're
going to put up twenty four to twenty eight points.
You're gonna need to probably get to thirty points to
win this game. I think if you're if you're Buffalo,
given you know the sort of tragic mess that your
rush defense, that ain't good.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
All right, So the other game Saturday, looks like Sam
Darnold's gonna play. I think we're getting a lot of
gamesmanshipped now to hey, let's let the guys focus on
the game. It looks like he's going to play. I
got a tough time seeing in San Francisco winning this game.
I just don't think they have the horses and Seattle's
defense was just teeing off on Perty a couple of
weeks ago. I don't know how you fix all of
that having a lesser team than you had when you
(19:51):
lost that game.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Yeah, I kind of agree with that, but that analys
is pretty strong. But man, if Sam Donald has to
make a play, like because that game that they played
a couple of weeks ago, Like if you if you
was like, hey, Clinton Tubiak, do you want to let
Sam Donald do anything? No? How about this? No? But
(20:21):
Sam could know? But what if Sam don't know? No, no, no,
Sam's not doing anything in this game because he doesn't
need to. Yeah, so they you know, they can get
through this game without Sam Donald have to make any big,
big plays because he didn't have to make any big
plays in the previous game. But yeah, but man, they've
(20:44):
played so scared of their quarterback that you just you're
sitting there wondering, like when is this going to catch
up to them? Well, you know, is it going to
catch up time? And maybe that this is such a
mediocre year in the league, you know, like I'm referenced
earlier with Josh Allen, you know, maybe this is such
(21:04):
a mediocre year in the league that this is like
the year you get through sort of like when Tampa
Bay one it's titled with Brad Johnson at quarterback, or
when you know, when Baltimore one would trend Delfer like
the year was so medio for or even you know,
like Philadelphia, everything in the lined up. And now I
think Nick Foles got really hot and played great football
(21:25):
during the playoffs, So that's a little bit different scenario
if he played the best football of his entire career
during that run. But you know, there have been a
few times in the history of the league where you
get through it with a media per quarterback, and that's
mostly because the wrestle of the league is is down.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Jake Ole, I've thought long and hard of how the
best ask this next question, but I'll be as concise
as I can.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Bears, Bears, it's coming cold. That's cold cold.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Iceman cometh if you had if you had Dita versus
an iceman in a snowsuit named Ditta, I would take
asman snowsuit Ditka fifty six, dick Get twenty one.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, I could. I could see that. Dica definitely all day, Dia.
I love mcveago. Oh the cold doesn't matter. Oh yeah
really yeah sure, yeah yeah, when that's when that little
(22:39):
thing rolls up into your body cavity, when it's that cold. Now,
now it's bad, man, It's really bad. It's it's terrible.
That's what's gonna happen this weekend. It's gonna be bad.
That's gonna be bad.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
So what what do you think? I mean? Look, I
we talked about this game a few minutes ago. I
know the weather is terrible, but it does I just
have a sneaking suspicion McVeigh is going to have a
plan that's going to involve a lot of running. They're
not gonna throw the football as much. They're gonna they're
gonna bank on getting a couple of turnovers from Caleb Williams,
and they're going to find a way to escape and
(23:13):
get to the NFC Championship.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I don't know what scenario A few thinks when games
are like this, So all I know is it's really
fun and yeah, that scenario could play out, and and
it is a pretty good one because you've got a
young quarterback in a really big game, and you've got
a team that's been feasting on turnovers all season. Long
and coming from behind in games. This look this Bears team,
(23:42):
I think we've talked about before is very similar to
the last Bears team that made it to the Super Bowl,
with a lot of comeback wins. The differences like Caleb
Williams can really play whereas Rex Rosmond could long term.
So you have this foundation to I'm not trying to
make fun of the Bears on that one. It's just
you know, Rex tros One was again, he gets you
(24:04):
through it to that point, and then they finally lost
their team with a much better quarterback who wasn't going
to make mistakes in the Super Bowl. And so I
can see this one where Matt Stafford is really smart
and is not going to make some kind of hay
wire play. But Matt Stafford does have as great a
(24:25):
quarterback as he is. He's had some nuclalition moments where
the ball just you know, like you're sitting there going
wait a second, you tickle you know, you were a
little bit too brave maybe on that one. I'm not
for what were you trying to do there? There have
been some times like that. Now it's reduced as his
(24:46):
career has gone on, but in these kind of elements
like wow. I mean I was at the Packers Giants
game when Brett Farr was just throwing balls all over
the place and Eli Manning was like, Okay, we'll get
through this somehow. Yeah, And Brett Farr was playing three
(25:10):
flies up with his buddies in the backyard and throwing
the ball to the to the other side all game long.
So well, I just don't know what to expect from
this game. I would tend to take the more experienced
quarterback and the more experienced coach, but I come back
to look, I grew up in Los Angeles. I don't
(25:33):
like the cold. Those guys don't like the cold. It's
going to be miserable for them. I don't care what
McVeigh says. You know it's gonna it's It's brutal. It's
just absolutely brutal to play that stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Good man. It comes all the way back to Bears,
all right. Can the Houston defense score enough to win
against New England?
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Can the Houston defense score enough.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
At least one one touchdown?
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Aren't they?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Look, Jay Cale, I said I would pick the Texas
to win this game, but unfortunately I watched C. J.
Stroud play quarterback last week, so I can't do it well.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
I mean the sport party is like he didn't really
have to play, did he. I mean it's like he
had to get through it. Yeah, like they were gifted
a game. There was a challenge, and I think that
New England's up for this challenge. So yeah, I don't like.
I don't like what Houston is at the moment. I
(26:31):
don't like for CJ. Stroud is that his in his career.
That doesn't mean I'm giving up on CJ. Stroud right
at the moment. I mean they just they're they're they're
just not in a really functional place offensively right now.
They're just there's no consistency there. But I don't think
they're ready for this. I think that New England's you know,
(26:53):
New England doesn't do things to beat itself and they
and they showed that against the Chargers where they just
want from a methodical game and they said we're going
to take away everything that you want to do. We're
going to put the products for pressure on you, stifle you.
It was that was like that was a classic bell
(27:14):
Checkian type of games where it's like, okay, we're going
to this is not. This is not going to be
close because we're going to we're going to take away
everything from you, and you know, we're also not going
to take chances either.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
He's on Twitter at Jason Cole sixty two. He is
also looking No, we'll do that night, We'll do that
next week. We had to get the We got big
games this weekend, Jason Cole. We got big games.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Well, okay, we've got the Steelers. Are you know interviewing
a guy named Kubiak that nobody expected. That's that's firm.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, guys name guys named Kubiak and Schuler are getting interviews.
It's nineteen eighty again. I mean it's everything is fine.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
There you go, Okay, we'll enjoy the game.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Brother, He seems upset. We didn't have a chance to
talk about coaches. But you know, these pesky games just
getting away too much.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Mike Harmon, I'll tell you what, you know, the actual
playing in the games instead of U. You know, the
guy's long dormant and on vacation.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and The iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with my best
friend Mike Harmon. True. So uh, it was earlier this
week we talked about the home run higher the Giants
made and getting John Harbaugh going to become the giants
next head coach. Adam Schefter put it out there. He'd
(28:54):
been talking about it the last few days. However, at
this hour, which is nearly midnight on the East Coast
on Friday, John Harbaugh and the Giants have not been
able to reach an agreement. According to many sources out
of New York, including the New York Daily News, the
hold up is about reporting structure because remember, Joe Shane
(29:18):
kept his job as GM, and Harball allegedly wanted to
get more power and wanted to be the guy calling
the shots. According to Ian O'Connor, hey, both of them
are getting along, but there is a lot to review
in the contract. Other reports out there from the Daily
News say that sources are saying that, hey, Joe Shane,
(29:38):
it's impossible to negotiate this because it's personal and so now,
because the hold up is not about money, but it's
about language, this is now getting really tricky. This was
announced three days ago, three days ago. John Harbor's gonna
be the next head coach of the Giants. It takes
three days to figure out this contract. It takes three
days to figure out the lane. Not money, not the money,
(30:02):
but the language. It takes three days to figure out.
And now it's awkward because here's Joe Shane, who is
the GM that was kept, and here comes John Harbor,
who nobody knew was gonna be on the market. And
Harbaugh comes in, I want more power. I want to
be able to do X, Y and Z and O.
Here's Joe Shane trying to negotiate. This is just a disaster.
(30:24):
Like this, this is not a relationship that's gonna work
when you have a GM that's used to doing it
one way and has picked all the groceries and oh,
by the way, has picked pretty good bleeping groceries for
John Harbor to deal with. If you're looking at Dable
and Joe Shane, Joe Shane's been the one that's picked
all the groceries. Now Here comes Harbaugh saying, yeah, I
want more of a say like, if you're the Giants,
(30:45):
how do you not figure this thing out right? How
do you how do you cause you could just see
now that you know the guy that's doing the negotiating
is Joe Shane. So the fact that Shane and Harbor
are still doing this, how does this tell you their
partnership is gonna go? Right? Like, I'm not gonna be
surprised if we find out tomorrow John Harbaugh is the
head coach and Joe Shane is stepping aside, reassigned to
the ort whatever it is, and he's not gonna be
(31:07):
the Giants GM. I don't You're already off to a
difficult start, and you're hearing many reports that you know, hey,
it's gonna get done. And I'm not saying Harball's not
gonna be the head coach. Don't get me wrong. I'm
not gonna say, oh, suddenly he's out there gonna biffit.
But I have a sneaking suspicion that you know, this
power structure is not gonna work well. If the Giants
are smart, they figure it out. Now I feel like
(31:28):
they will, and Joe Shane's not gonna be the GM
and name whether he's reassigned or moved on or let go.
I got a feeling that's gotta happen at some point.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Well, that's just it, right, It's now becomes the family.
The ownership's gotta step in and be like, all right, Joe,
you did this a great job to set us up.
And from all reports, he was the greatest piece of
the recruitment, right other than the call to Eli Manning
and Jackson Dart more or less speaking into new existence
and that sideline video from a couple of weeks ago.
(31:58):
But all of that to say, you know, there's been
a lot of positive uh talk about Shane and his
uh selling Harbaugh and the roster and what he's got
there and everything else. Well, now you kick him some
extra money if your ownership and you move him into
a new title. Sorry, or we can get you out
of here because there's still other teams that need GMS
(32:21):
and and maybe you've shown enough except for that video
of you cowering to Saquon Barkley. That's not gonna play
well other than that, that's.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
An unfortunate thing. Yeah, you can't scrub that off the internet.
He'd like to.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Yeah, the rest of it was great, Like all the
transactional stuff looks pretty good. Unfortunately that that video will
always be there. But John Harbaugh is not coming there
without control.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
We talked about that long before this was even a
more than a whisper and a and what seemed to
be an obvious fit. Right, We talked about it, and
then it was he wanted twenty million dollars a year
and roster control. Guess what that means. You're an empty
suit as a GM. So unless you want to just
go to ribbon cutting ceremonies at your local wah wah
(33:07):
in Pigley Wiggley and insert bodega over here, you either
accept a reassignment and get neutered in that process, or
you leave, take a buy out and go find another job.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, I mean, look, this is where the giants and
everybody's got to understand. Okay, everything changed, right, Like we
got rid of Brian Dable and you were spearheading the
cut like I'm sure they love the job that Joe
Shane did. Nobody knew that John Harbo was going to
be this available like this, the likelihood of getting him,
you know, it's a needle to thread, right, It's a
lot of steps. But once that happened, it's okay. Now
(33:41):
we kind of have to to do things differently. Right,
when you have an arranged marriage with a GM and
a head coach, where basically, yeah, John Harbor was able
to walk in and say this is what I want,
that's what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, I think you have to kind of pivot on
the fly on this, and I'm surprised the Giants haven't
done it, But like, I think this is the sign
that says, Okay, we got to move on from this
before it gets really problematic. And and and and like
I said, I don't think they want to just say
goodbye to Joe Shane. But maybe if he they don't
feel he can get a GM gig somewhere else. He's
something else, but not calling the shots above Jim Harbaugh.
(34:15):
I think John Harb is.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Gone and we couldn't do nothing about it. What do
you mean he's gone? He's gone.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
What do you mean he's banging the telephone? He's gone? Uh?
Coming up next, we have four big games in the
NFL this weekend. What two people have so much at stake?
The answer is gonna surprise you. Fox
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Foxsports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every night on the
iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Hello, Welcome in side our two, The Jason Smith Show
with my bass friend Mike Harmon. Don't forget to check
out our brand new YouTube channel. Just search Jason Smith's
Show on YouTube. Again, that's Jason Smith's Show. Hit the
subscribe button, don't stop there, hit the thumbs up icon,
comment away. Let us know what you think, what you
(00:49):
agree with, what you disagree with. Again, check out our
brand new channel on YouTube. Just search Jason Smith Show
and subscribe. Mike and I love putting this content out
for you every single night. Maybe you want to go
in here. How much a better thing the Mets did
today by getting Bobachett than missing out on Kyle Tucker.
That will be there, It will be there for you,
be there at all. It's glory the Mets succeeded by
(01:11):
failing Mike Harmon. I'm so happy, Mike Harmon. It's speechless.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
You get three strikes when it's all said and done.
I mean, that was only strike one in the big
free agency run, right, because you still have more guys
out on the board. You didn't really seem too enamored
with or distraught by prior signings, right, you were just
kind of.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Letting it roll.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And then yesterday you protest a little much about Kyle Tucker.
But then your guy, mister Cohen, rebounded nicely to bring
in Bobaschett. Right, he'll have to probably shift to maybe
write at the start of the season or later playing
third base. Lindora had to have the elbow stuff cleaned up,
so whether he's ready or not, it's a nice insurance
(02:01):
piece to have extra middle infielders with pop on the lineup.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
But yeah, you got off easy.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
You only had twenty four hours of handwringing before you
got your guy.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
My guy, I'm so much I'm so much happy with
how it turned out, you know what I mean, though,
like just like that, you didn't even have to suffer.
It was twenty four hours.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Oh not even what was it fourteen hours or so?
You were asleep for most of it.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
That was great. And now we have the best infield
in baseball. Yeah, you got with Bashett and Lindor and
Senmei and Polaco get the best thing to field in baseball.
Now it's all good.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
As Steve de Sager pointed out last Last Hour, though,
two guys who've.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Never played their respective position of that. Let me just
let me just quote first base is incredibly easy. Tell him,
wash me, let me let me go all billy being
in moneyball. His defense does not matter. Okay, if to
just take you, if a guy is a fielding shortstop,
(03:01):
he's gonna be a great third baseman. I'm fine with that.
He's gonna be much better. It will be okay. I
think I think it will be fine. I think it's
gonna be over his defense. His defense does not matter. Now,
before we pick our games this week, and we picked
the Saturday games last hour' gonna pick the Sunday games. Now,
you know, it is part of positivity Friday here on
(03:23):
the show. And I want to have a positivity at
appreciation moment for Brock Purty. All right. Now, he's someone
all year long what have we talked about? How boy
really tough year for him, He's hurt. They've watched mac
Jones come in and up his stock. The Niners offense
looks exactly the same under mac Jones that does with
Brock Purdy. Did you really overpay for Purdy? Who was
(03:46):
really good when he had all his weapons at his disposal,
he doesn't have them now. Mac Jones is putting points
on the board rough rough, rough time. However, Brock Purdy
has saved his image and his future in San Francis
Go because you look at what's gonna happen next year.
Mac Jones will be someplace else. He'll be quarterback of
the Jets next year. The offseason quarterback crop is not great,
(04:08):
the draft is not great. Free agents aren't that great.
Mac Jones has played really well. He's young, he's a
former pro bowler. Yeah, someone's gonna say we'll give you
a fourth or maybe even the third because he's gonna
be our quarterback next year. Right again, probably the Jets
and the Niners will move on from that because they'll
get an asset for him, and also, hey, we don't
want there to be any sort of controversy if Brock
(04:28):
is hurt next year a little bit. I get that
we got him for another year, and generally teams, you know,
if a guy has a chance to start somewhere, they
don't keep him from doing that, right. I think he
got a gentleman's thing happening a little bit there, especially
since they've paid all the money to brock Purty. But
that's the thing is that he has played so well.
And you look at the game last week and a
few times since he's come back, since he got hurt.
(04:50):
He was terrific versus Philadelphia without his weapons, right, lost
George Kittle in that game. He closed the regular season huge.
This is the best stretch his career. They are winning
because of him now where they won before because he
was a great complimentary fit, great game manager, quarterback that
got the ball to Debo, got the ball to Brandon Iu,
(05:13):
got the ball to Kittle, handed the ball to Christian
McCaffrey really well, pitched the ball out to Christian McCaffrey
really well. Called time out when Kyle Shanahan wanted a
time out. You know he did. He did well back then.
But now they're winning because of him. This is a
lesser San Francisco team than in previous years. And I've
talked about how long they're frauds, they're this to that,
and yes they are. San Francisco is fraudulent, but Perty's
(05:35):
become a star again. He has become the piece that
makes that engine go. Yes, McCaffrey is the biggest weapon.
They have obviously wanted to get him the ball as
much as they can, but they are winning now because
of brock Purty, not someone who's kind of helping them along.
So again, positivity Friday, appreciation moment for brock Purty.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Yeah, he's had a phenomenal run. And we had disagreements
earlier this year in terms of the mac Jones versus
brock Purty separation, but the result was the same, winning
and pushing on. And there's really been a fun watch
for the forty nine ers this year. Not one of
those hey it's an easy sixty minutes, but the results
(06:12):
have been there for you, right, A lot of injuries,
a lot of inconsistency, and certainly all the big names
that you've missed seen missed significant time along the way.
Bosa and Warner both out for your defense for most
of the year. Offensively, now you move forward without Kittle,
You've had a depleted receiving corps say nothing of even
remember remember when Brandon Ayuk was a guy. It's first
(06:36):
time I think we've said his name in three months time.
It may maybe longer, so just go on down the line.
But you've got a very long, extensive injury report heading
into this one. Warner's still not ready. Looks like you're
gonna get full participation from Chard Williams, which is a
nice boost to the offense. Robert Sala has been magnificent
(07:00):
with what he's been able to do for the defense,
and here it is again. But brock Purty I think
has calmed a lot of the doubters on the other side.
Your guy Sam Sam, Sam still has some work to do.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So appreciation moment for Brock Purdy, which congratulations. I don't
get used to it, but appreciation moment for Brock Purty.
Now to Sunday's games in the divisional round of the playoff.
Let's start. We'll lead up to the big one. Obviously,
because Mike Harmon's palms were already sweating thinking about Sunday night. Well,
I actually no one's going to be sweating Sunday nights
to be minus ten degrees. I would love to be
(07:35):
able to pick the Texans to beat the Patriots. Now
you know I'm not lying when I tell I love
for them to be able to pick them. Their defense
is the best defense in the NFL, and I would
pick them except for one thing, Mike Carmon, one thing.
There's only one thing, one thing. What so many reasons
I'd love to pick the Texans. How well they're play
The Patriots are fraudulent? What are they like when when again,
(07:57):
they're great front runners, just like Indiana has been this
year in college. But there's only one thing, only one thing,
and it's my fault. It's my fault to do this.
If I didn't do this, I would not pick the Patriots.
But it's my fault because last week I watched CJ.
Stroud play quarterback. That was that was the thing. I
watched CJ. Stroud play quarterback last week and that was
(08:21):
no bueno, man.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I know that the Texans defense has been rolling. Nobody
wants to play them. They're the they're the best defense
in the league. But they're not gonna have enough on
offense to win this game. New England is solid. There
at home. Drake May is terrific. His decision making where
to go with the football is great. They're gonna get
just enough offense. It's not gonna be pretty, uh, but
(08:45):
they will get the turnovers defensively for a couple of
short fields because Stroud has to push the play because
they don't have a lot of playmakers there. They're gonna
be without Nico Collins this week. That's gonna be that.
That's a huge, huge blow for them. So you know
he's gonna continue to try to push the ball and
make decisions that probably he's better off not making that's
gonna result in turnovers. It's gonna be ugly. And another
(09:07):
game where I like the under give me the Patriots
nineteen thirteen.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Yeah, this one's This one's a field goal kicking contest
and you're just praying and wishing you hope, you just Mike,
we watched on Monday night against the Steelers. Right that
the defense can come up with not only just a
big play, but you actually get you seven points. All
all right, you'll settle for being put up in field
goal range? Are they can they get anything out of
(09:33):
Woody Marks? Right, He's gonna be the key to all this.
The receiving corps depleted. Yeah, you got the tight ends
maybe a little bit, and you had the massive game
from Christian Kirk. But Gonzalez looks like he's gonna be
cleared to play, so maybe you see a little bit
of shadowing with him along the way.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
There.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
It is Christian Kirk. Remember once upon a time when
we lauded his arrival in Jacksonville, and all these years,
here we are. Eight catches one hundred and forty four
yards against the Steelers, gonna be huge. Otherwise it's all
the Iowa State guys that they're trying to make happen.
But the exchanges with the center were problematic, and you
know vverybel and that defense will feast on those for THEMS.
(10:16):
So yeah, I think this one's a low scoring Let's
go twenty sixteen. A lot of field goals mixed in
this one.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Now the Rams and the Bears, which is a really
hard game for me to pick because I picked the
Rams to go to the Super Bowl preseason, but I've
been on the Bears bandwagon since the beginning of the year.
I told you it was the era of good feeling,
and here we are. The weather makes It really really
difficult for me to pick the Rams, but not impossible.
(10:46):
Right this is gonna be an ugly one, but I
just have a feeling the Rams are ready for this.
They're gonna run the football. They're gonna spend a lot
of time trying to ram it down the Bears throat.
They're gonna throw just enough. It's not gonna be a
game where Stafford goes up and down the field in
that cutting wind. But you will see the passing game
open up a little bit as the game goes on.
But they will run the ball a ton. They will
(11:08):
get a couple of turnovers. The Bears are gonna get
a little bit of bounce coming off the way they
played in the second half against Green Bay. And I'll
still take Sean McVay at this point over Ben Johnson.
Maybone'll be saying that for a long time, but I'll
take McVeigh right now over Ben Johnson. The Rams gut
it out twenty to sixteen. They're in the NFC Championship.
Is it only McVay, buddy? I feel bad? I feel bad?
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Is it only McVeigh Because Lafleur and all these other
guys are standing on his shoulders to make him tall
like Voltron, I got the top of them. Yeah, it
goes on the top, all the way on the top.
That's right, slapping around in the win, all right, buddy, Yeah,
what do you think? Yeah, So, as I think of
(11:50):
this that the thing that that is crushing is you
lost two huge members on either side of the ball
for the Bears in the final minutes of that game.
Trapillo did a great job of limping off so they
didn't have to take the run off or calling time
out or any of that stuff. But he's on available,
so all of a sudden you have to shuffle what's
been a great offensive line. He's been one of the
(12:12):
great stories along with those decorated additions via free agency.
So that's a big loss against that Rams front and
cutting through the win. That's the big thing. With Caleb Williams.
We've seen the arm strength, seen those darts downfield. Like
I can't pick against the Bears can't. So you know,
(12:32):
this is where we'll differ that they can get after
Matthew Stafford a little bit. Again, Edward's done for the
year and still banged up in the secondary a bit,
but that's where I think the Bears can get after
the Rams. We've watched their secondary struggle all year. Cairo Santos.
We joked about it a couple times this year, navigating
those wins like he was, you know, on the putting
(12:54):
greens and hey, I gotta kick it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Over here fifteen yards. No, don't worry, it's Watchdots. It's
gonna work.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show
with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Fox Sports Radio. The Jason Smith Show with my bes
friend Mike Harmon. We gave you our picks for this
weekend in the NFL? Does our next guest agree? Disagree?
Who are the Jets taking at number two? All of
these questions and more answered by longtime NFL insider. He
(13:30):
is the author of eight books, some of them don't
have pictures in them, thirty third Team Pro Football Hall
of Very Good voter. It is longtime friend of the show,
Jason Cole. Jake Cole, what's happening?
Speaker 4 (13:46):
Man to do? Oh yeah, oh yeah, I'm ready, Let's go.
I'm as ready as Don cam Or is to go
back to Oregon.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
You know, I'm glad you bring this up because I
want it because I want to throw a little bit
of a of a different take other than he didn't
want the Jets, right, because clear okay, yes, that's low
the Jets, right. I want I want to throw this
at I want to throw this at you because this
is something that's not been talked about because it's always
been assumed that, Okay, Banana Mendoza going number one. Obviously, look,
(14:26):
Heisman Trophy, winner of the year. Yes he's going number one.
But maybe Dante Moore was told we might not take
you at number two. Maybe his evaluation was, we all
think you should go back to school and you might
be on the board longer than you think for the
NFL Draft this year than coming off at number two
to the Jets. And maybe that's why he's going back
to school.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Oh, that's prey, that's quite possible. I doubt the Jets
would have the guts to do that because they're so
badly need a quarterback and they would take the chance.
I would say that overwhelmingly. He probably got a lot
of people saying, hey, look, let's look at the history
of quarterbacks who don't stay in school and throw less
(15:11):
than a thousand passes, and you know that one. And
it's a long list of guys who's who are awful,
like Trey Lance, Anthony Richardson, Tyler Murray and he got
to a second contract. So given credits for that, Mark Sanchez,
if you want a little jets lowre to all of this,
(15:35):
there's another guy in there that I'm trying to think
of who just was not very good. But you know,
there's a bunch of guys. Now everybody will point out
we'll look at Tom Brady. Well, the difference with Tom
Brady is that he stayed in college for five years.
He just didn't start to play a lot, but he
got a lot of practice time and got a lot
of preparation while he was at Michigan and was as
(15:56):
ready as he possibly could be from that standpoint. And
Kurt Warner obviously much different example, but he went and
played in the Arena League and did a lot of
other things. But you got to throw a lot of footballs, okay,
because playing quarterback in the NFL is yeah, you need
athletic ability, but it's just much about sort of PhD
(16:17):
quality learning of the game. And so I do believe
that the Jets easily could have said, hey, look yeah
we might take it number two. It might happen, But
you also might want to look at this history too,
if you really want to max out your career, or
other people who have said number one, you don't have
(16:39):
a lot of experience, and this is what happens guys
with a lot of experience, And you could go to
the Jets, which is not going to help you a lot,
to get that experience.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah, and the Jets said, we'll see you next year.
Go get some more experience. You'll be ready to win
for us next year.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yeah. Well, I mean well, I mean both of those
things can be true. I mean all of it, and
I think you made a wise long term decision. Then,
man walking away from fifty million dollars like, I don't
know that I could tell my son that I could
lay it out for him and say and say, hey,
look this is the pragmatic way, but you're sitting on
fifteen million dollars possibly with number two. Now you can
(17:18):
also say, hey, look, there's long history of guys who
don't do well, and that type of knock you way
down the board too. There's no guarantee you're going to
go number two. And don't believe somebody today if they
tell you you're going number two. But we can certainly
tell you there's a long history of guys who aren't
very good when they don't when they don't get more
(17:38):
throws at the god's level.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Jason Gole with us here, Jason Smith Show with me,
Mike Harmon, j Cole. As we get ready for the
divisional round. We'll get to the coaching karasel in a minute,
but we look at the divisional round Josh Allen playing Superman.
Is it enough to propel them into the AFC title game?
Speaker 4 (18:00):
God? I hope so, because I'm not sure I can
watch bone Nicks for football in an af championship game.
I mean, if you're again, if you're not going to
take advantage of this year, like what are you? And
I know that there are people who are fans or
Buffalo fans who go, yeah, but look at the rest
(18:22):
of the team around and this night it's like nobody's
got a great team. Don't tell me that this year,
this is the year that you have to grab the
whole thing and take advantage of it, right, And you know,
they survived a scary first round probably scarier than it
should have been, but a scary first round. And they're
going up against a Denver team that you have people
(18:42):
talk about that defense, but it hasn't been great the
last six weeks, and so there are some serious possibilities.
And their pass rush has essentially evaporated over the second
half of the season. So this is when you got
to go. You've got to do make a bunch of
plays because we know that Sean Payton's going to game
(19:04):
it up that even with the inconsistency of Bonnix, they're
going to put up twenty four to twenty eight points.
You're gonna need to probably get to thirty points to
win this game. I think if you're if you're Buffalo,
given you know the sort of tragic mess that your
rush defense, that ain't good.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
All right, So the other game Saturday, looks like Sam
Darnold's gonna play. I think we're getting a lot of
gamesmanshipped now to hey, let's let the guys focus on
the game. It looks like he's going to play. I
got a tough time seeing in San Francisco winning this game.
I just don't think they have the horses and Seattle's
defense was just teeing off on Perty a couple of
weeks ago. I don't know how you fix all of
that having a lesser team than you had when you
(19:51):
lost that game.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Yeah, I kind of agree with that, but that analys
is pretty strong. But man, if Sam Donald has to
make a play, like because that game that they played
a couple of weeks ago, Like if you if you
was like, hey, Clinton Tubiak, do you want to let
Sam Donald do anything? No? How about this? No? But
(20:21):
Sam could know? But what if Sam don't know? No, no, no,
Sam's not doing anything in this game because he doesn't
need to. Yeah, so they you know, they can get
through this game without Sam Donald have to make any big,
big plays because he didn't have to make any big
plays in the previous game. But yeah, but man, they've
(20:44):
played so scared of their quarterback that you just you're
sitting there wondering, like when is this going to catch
up to them? Well, you know, is it going to
catch up time? And maybe that this is such a
mediocre year in the league, you know, like I'm referenced
earlier with Josh Allen, you know, maybe this is such
(21:04):
a mediocre year in the league that this is like
the year you get through sort of like when Tampa
Bay one it's titled with Brad Johnson at quarterback, or
when you know, when Baltimore one would trend Delfer like
the year was so medio for or even you know,
like Philadelphia, everything in the lined up. And now I
think Nick Foles got really hot and played great football
(21:25):
during the playoffs, So that's a little bit different scenario
if he played the best football of his entire career
during that run. But you know, there have been a
few times in the history of the league where you
get through it with a media per quarterback, and that's
mostly because the wrestle of the league is is down.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Jake Ole, I've thought long and hard of how the
best ask this next question, but I'll be as concise
as I can.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Bears, Bears, it's coming cold. That's cold cold.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
Iceman cometh if you had if you had Dita versus
an iceman in a snowsuit named Ditta, I would take
asman snowsuit Ditka fifty six, dick Get twenty one.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, I could. I could see that. Dica definitely all day, Dia.
I love mcveago. Oh the cold doesn't matter. Oh yeah
really yeah sure, yeah yeah, when that's when that little
(22:39):
thing rolls up into your body cavity, when it's that cold. Now,
now it's bad, man, It's really bad. It's it's terrible.
That's what's gonna happen this weekend. It's gonna be bad.
That's gonna be bad.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
So what what do you think? I mean? Look, I
we talked about this game a few minutes ago. I
know the weather is terrible, but it does I just
have a sneaking suspicion McVeigh is going to have a
plan that's going to involve a lot of running. They're
not gonna throw the football as much. They're gonna they're
gonna bank on getting a couple of turnovers from Caleb Williams,
and they're going to find a way to escape and
(23:13):
get to the NFC Championship.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
I don't know what scenario A few thinks when games
are like this, So all I know is it's really
fun and yeah, that scenario could play out, and and
it is a pretty good one because you've got a
young quarterback in a really big game, and you've got
a team that's been feasting on turnovers all season. Long
and coming from behind in games. This look this Bears team,
(23:42):
I think we've talked about before is very similar to
the last Bears team that made it to the Super Bowl,
with a lot of comeback wins. The differences like Caleb
Williams can really play whereas Rex Rosmond could long term.
So you have this foundation to I'm not trying to
make fun of the Bears on that one. It's just
you know, Rex tros One was again, he gets you
(24:04):
through it to that point, and then they finally lost
their team with a much better quarterback who wasn't going
to make mistakes in the Super Bowl. And so I
can see this one where Matt Stafford is really smart
and is not going to make some kind of hay
wire play. But Matt Stafford does have as great a
(24:25):
quarterback as he is. He's had some nuclalition moments where
the ball just you know, like you're sitting there going
wait a second, you tickle you know, you were a
little bit too brave maybe on that one. I'm not
for what were you trying to do there? There have
been some times like that. Now it's reduced as his
(24:46):
career has gone on, but in these kind of elements
like wow. I mean I was at the Packers Giants
game when Brett Farr was just throwing balls all over
the place and Eli Manning was like, Okay, we'll get
through this somehow. Yeah, And Brett Farr was playing three
(25:10):
flies up with his buddies in the backyard and throwing
the ball to the to the other side all game long.
So well, I just don't know what to expect from
this game. I would tend to take the more experienced
quarterback and the more experienced coach, but I come back
to look, I grew up in Los Angeles. I don't
(25:33):
like the cold. Those guys don't like the cold. It's
going to be miserable for them. I don't care what
McVeigh says. You know it's gonna it's It's brutal. It's
just absolutely brutal to play that stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Good man. It comes all the way back to Bears,
all right. Can the Houston defense score enough to win
against New England?
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Can the Houston defense score enough.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
At least one one touchdown?
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Aren't they?
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Look, Jay Cale, I said I would pick the Texas
to win this game, but unfortunately I watched C. J.
Stroud play quarterback last week, so I can't do it well.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
I mean the sport party is like he didn't really
have to play, did he. I mean it's like he
had to get through it. Yeah, like they were gifted
a game. There was a challenge, and I think that
New England's up for this challenge. So yeah, I don't like.
I don't like what Houston is at the moment. I
(26:31):
don't like for CJ. Stroud is that his in his career.
That doesn't mean I'm giving up on CJ. Stroud right
at the moment. I mean they just they're they're they're
just not in a really functional place offensively right now.
They're just there's no consistency there. But I don't think
they're ready for this. I think that New England's you know,
(26:53):
New England doesn't do things to beat itself and they
and they showed that against the Chargers where they just
want from a methodical game and they said we're going
to take away everything that you want to do. We're
going to put the products for pressure on you, stifle you.
It was that was like that was a classic bell
(27:14):
Checkian type of games where it's like, okay, we're going
to this is not. This is not going to be
close because we're going to we're going to take away
everything from you, and you know, we're also not going
to take chances either.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
He's on Twitter at Jason Cole sixty two. He is
also looking No, we'll do that night, We'll do that
next week. We had to get the We got big
games this weekend, Jason Cole. We got big games.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Well, okay, we've got the Steelers. Are you know interviewing
a guy named Kubiak that nobody expected. That's that's firm.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, guys name guys named Kubiak and Schuler are getting interviews.
It's nineteen eighty again. I mean it's everything is fine.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
There you go, Okay, we'll enjoy the game.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Brother, He seems upset. We didn't have a chance to
talk about coaches. But you know, these pesky games just
getting away too much.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Mike Harmon, I'll tell you what, you know, the actual
playing in the games instead of U. You know, the
guy's long dormant and on vacation.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and The iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with my best
friend Mike Harmon. True. So uh, it was earlier this
week we talked about the home run higher the Giants
made and getting John Harbaugh going to become the giants
next head coach. Adam Schefter put it out there. He'd
(28:54):
been talking about it the last few days. However, at
this hour, which is nearly midnight on the East Coast
on Friday, John Harbaugh and the Giants have not been
able to reach an agreement. According to many sources out
of New York, including the New York Daily News, the
hold up is about reporting structure because remember, Joe Shane
(29:18):
kept his job as GM, and Harball allegedly wanted to
get more power and wanted to be the guy calling
the shots. According to Ian O'Connor, hey, both of them
are getting along, but there is a lot to review
in the contract. Other reports out there from the Daily
News say that sources are saying that, hey, Joe Shane,
(29:38):
it's impossible to negotiate this because it's personal and so now,
because the hold up is not about money, but it's
about language, this is now getting really tricky. This was
announced three days ago, three days ago. John Harbor's gonna
be the next head coach of the Giants. It takes
three days to figure out this contract. It takes three
days to figure out the lane. Not money, not the money,
(30:02):
but the language. It takes three days to figure out.
And now it's awkward because here's Joe Shane, who is
the GM that was kept, and here comes John Harbor,
who nobody knew was gonna be on the market. And
Harbaugh comes in, I want more power. I want to
be able to do X, Y and Z and O.
Here's Joe Shane trying to negotiate. This is just a disaster.
(30:24):
Like this, this is not a relationship that's gonna work
when you have a GM that's used to doing it
one way and has picked all the groceries and oh,
by the way, has picked pretty good bleeping groceries for
John Harbor to deal with. If you're looking at Dable
and Joe Shane, Joe Shane's been the one that's picked
all the groceries. Now Here comes Harbaugh saying, yeah, I
want more of a say like, if you're the Giants,
(30:45):
how do you not figure this thing out right? How
do you how do you cause you could just see
now that you know the guy that's doing the negotiating
is Joe Shane. So the fact that Shane and Harbor
are still doing this, how does this tell you their
partnership is gonna go? Right? Like, I'm not gonna be
surprised if we find out tomorrow John Harbaugh is the
head coach and Joe Shane is stepping aside, reassigned to
the ort whatever it is, and he's not gonna be
(31:07):
the Giants GM. I don't You're already off to a
difficult start, and you're hearing many reports that you know, hey,
it's gonna get done. And I'm not saying Harball's not
gonna be the head coach. Don't get me wrong. I'm
not gonna say, oh, suddenly he's out there gonna biffit.
But I have a sneaking suspicion that you know, this
power structure is not gonna work well. If the Giants
are smart, they figure it out. Now I feel like
(31:28):
they will, and Joe Shane's not gonna be the GM
and name whether he's reassigned or moved on or let go.
I got a feeling that's gotta happen at some point.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Well, that's just it, right, It's now becomes the family.
The ownership's gotta step in and be like, all right, Joe,
you did this a great job to set us up.
And from all reports, he was the greatest piece of
the recruitment, right other than the call to Eli Manning
and Jackson Dart more or less speaking into new existence
and that sideline video from a couple of weeks ago.
(31:58):
But all of that to say, you know, there's been
a lot of positive uh talk about Shane and his
uh selling Harbaugh and the roster and what he's got
there and everything else. Well, now you kick him some
extra money if your ownership and you move him into
a new title. Sorry, or we can get you out
of here because there's still other teams that need GMS
(32:21):
and and maybe you've shown enough except for that video
of you cowering to Saquon Barkley. That's not gonna play
well other than that, that's.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
An unfortunate thing. Yeah, you can't scrub that off the internet.
He'd like to.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Yeah, the rest of it was great, Like all the
transactional stuff looks pretty good. Unfortunately that that video will
always be there. But John Harbaugh is not coming there
without control.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (32:45):
We talked about that long before this was even a
more than a whisper and a and what seemed to
be an obvious fit. Right, We talked about it, and
then it was he wanted twenty million dollars a year
and roster control. Guess what that means. You're an empty
suit as a GM. So unless you want to just
go to ribbon cutting ceremonies at your local wah wah
(33:07):
in Pigley Wiggley and insert bodega over here, you either
accept a reassignment and get neutered in that process, or
you leave, take a buy out and go find another job.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, I mean, look, this is where the giants and
everybody's got to understand. Okay, everything changed, right, Like we
got rid of Brian Dable and you were spearheading the
cut like I'm sure they love the job that Joe
Shane did. Nobody knew that John Harbo was going to
be this available like this, the likelihood of getting him,
you know, it's a needle to thread, right, It's a
lot of steps. But once that happened, it's okay. Now
(33:41):
we kind of have to to do things differently. Right,
when you have an arranged marriage with a GM and
a head coach, where basically, yeah, John Harbor was able
to walk in and say this is what I want,
that's what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, I think you have to kind of pivot on
the fly on this, and I'm surprised the Giants haven't
done it, But like, I think this is the sign
that says, Okay, we got to move on from this
before it gets really problematic. And and and and like
I said, I don't think they want to just say
goodbye to Joe Shane. But maybe if he they don't
feel he can get a GM gig somewhere else. He's
something else, but not calling the shots above Jim Harbaugh.
(34:15):
I think John Harb is.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
Gone and we couldn't do nothing about it. What do
you mean he's gone? He's gone.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
What do you mean he's banging the telephone? He's gone? Uh?
Coming up next, we have four big games in the
NFL this weekend. What two people have so much at stake?
The answer is gonna surprise you. Fox
Hosts And Creators
Jason Smith
Mike Harmon
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