January 27, 2025 • 54 mins
John Middlekauff gives his big picture take on the final two teams left in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, as they get ready to go head-to-head in Super Bowl LIX. John explains why he feels why the coaching prowess of Andy Reid and the Chiefs give them the edge. John also gives his flowers to Eagles GM, Howie Roseman, for being able to put together a team that many GMs would not be able to do. Buckle up as we get ready for a Super Bowl match-up for the ages!
Lastly, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.
5:50 - Kanas City is heading back to the Super Bowl
19:26 - Howie Roseman built the Eagles amazingly
34:45 - Mailbag
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
Beautiful day, beautiful night. I like every Sunday. I did
(00:25):
a podcast with Colin after the Bills game, and I
wanted to do some thoughts as well, so I recorded
just some big picture stuff. When it came to the Chiefs.
When it came to the Eagles, I worked for Howie
and Andy, so I told these guys in twenty ten
when they hired me, I said, you guys know what, Howie,
(00:45):
You're gonna win a Super Bowl, Nick Foles, You're gonna
play Andy twice in Super Bowl. Andy, You're gonna rattle
off Super Bowls like you're Bill Walsh or Phil Jackson.
And I'm just gonna be podcasting about it in Scottsdale.
So let's all enjoy our life. I got a pretty
good insight on these two teams. I know a lot
of people in the front offices, the coaching staff, so
I feel pretty confident talking about the Eagles and the Chiefs.
(01:07):
Very excited for obviously coach Reid and Howie. I mean,
best coach in the league, best GM in the league,
and two best teams in the league. So I know
you can bitch and moan all you want. Washington love
Adam Peters as well, but their team, I mean, it's
just remarkable what they accomplished. They even got that far
in the Bills, man that stinks up again in the
(01:28):
fourth quarter and just can't get it done. Then just
can't get it done. So Specnola calling those blitzes. Other
than that, we're gonna do a lot of podcasts this
week is keep Rocking and Rolling. I'll dive in on
tomorrow's show. I just I didn't talk any cowboys on
this show hiring Brian Schottenheimer, but I'll dive into that
(01:50):
for Tuesday on my Monday podcast when I record it,
we'll talk Brian Schottenheimer for sure. So I'm not gonna
leave you hanging. Colin and I touched on that, which
I don't think any of us aw comment. But super
Bowl is here. I think the matchup that a lot
of people were like, I don't want the Chiefs to
get well you got the Chiefs. Were people saying them
about Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, like I'm just so
tired of Tiger Woods. I don't know why. I guess
(02:13):
we said about the Patriots. People said about the Warriors.
People say that when a team just kicking everyone's ass.
But make sure you subscribe to the podcast. If you
listen on Collins Feed, make sure you subscribe to the YouTube.
We got a lot of content up there as well,
and buckle up. But before we dive into some football,
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(03:19):
Who where do we even start Andy Reid take it
on the Philadelphia Eagles. I thought the overall reaction and listen,
no one gets as angry as the referees or the
officials as your boy right here when he's gambling on
a game. So I get the emotions being high, and
(03:41):
I also understand on individual calls that are egregious. I
thought this conversation, like the Chiefs they've won all these
games over the last half decade just because of the officials,
like got a little crazy. I mean, what the fuck
are we talking about. It's like you think Belichick bent
(04:01):
over the Colts because the balls were deflated or because
he had Eric Mangini's signs. I remember some of these
conversations around the Pats. It's like, guys, they are consistently
better than these other teams in the big moments. And
the same can be said for the Kancy Chiefs. And
that was on full display tonight. When they needed a
big play, they got it. When they needed a big
(04:22):
blitz to hit home, they got it. When the Bills
needed one, they did not get it. Like they had
a lead in the second half at Arrowhead for the
second time and what three or four years and couldn't
get it done enough said, period, point blank, end of story.
And listen, there have been moments the Patrick Mahomes things
on the sideline drives me nuts as well. But the
thing that they're only winning these games and that's how
(04:44):
it felt because of the officials, is like the conversation
just got lost and I honestly stopped following it on
the internet when I saw people screaming at chef third day,
I'm like, I don't care about any of this, because
that's not why the Chiefs have been winning. They make
the critic when they have to, and the Ravens and
the Bills simply do not. And those two teams view
(05:06):
themselves as Super Bowl contenders when the year start for
the last three or four years, and when the dust settles,
the Chiefs are the only team there and the only
team to beat them over this run. Post Tom Brady
is Joe Burrow why because he made big plays that arrowhead.
The other guys do not. The other teams do not,
the other coaches do not. They fuck it up somehow,
slash The Chiefs make place. They're hard to beat. And
(05:30):
if you are gonna lose to a team, if you're
Lamar Jackson, if you're Josh Allen, if you're gonna lose
to Michael Jordan, if you're gonna lose to Tiger Woods,
if you're gonna lose to Tom Brady, it's not the
worst thing in the world you would rather lose to
probably the you know, some of the historic great champions
that the sport is ever gonna see than just some
random one off. They are literally beating everybody. Why. They're
(05:54):
more buttoned up, they're better coached, They're just better than you.
I mean, it's just really that simple. They are just
better than you. I think sometimes we overthink this stuff,
like it's like, well, they're just not quite as good
on offense. Well, yeah, they're defense dramatically better now, and
in big spots. Their defensive coordinator makes the greatest calls ever.
(06:18):
And when he has to have it, Andy Reeve's always
going to get a first down, and when the game
opens up and he gets his first script, it's just brilliant.
It looks like Bill Walsh in his prime. He's not
just the best coach in the NFL. He's one of
the greatest coaches in the history of the sport. He's
one of the greatest coaches in the history of sports,
and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey and Chris Jones are
(06:41):
some of the greatest champions we've ever seen. And that's
who you have to beat. Guys that know how to
do it, Guys that are comfortable in that moment, Guys
that have full belief they're going to get it done.
And the Bills I think are one of the lone
teams that believe they can beat them. I said before, like,
I don't think the Ravens think that. I don't think
(07:03):
I don't think the Eagles are gonna think that when
they show up. I'm not saying that they can't. I'm
just saying they're gonna question can we beat these guys.
I do think the Bills, because they beat him so
many times in the regular season, at least go into
the game believing we can beat these guys. Hell, they
had a lead in the fourth quarter twenty two to
twenty one, but people at the leads against Michael Jordan,
people at leads against Tom Brady, and most of the
(07:24):
time they lost. It's it's pretty crazy. And no one
plays this team better than the Buffalo Bills. And Sean McDermott,
who worked for Andy Reid for a long time. My
first year with the Eagle, Sean McDermott was the defensive coordinator,
high level cat. I think he's a good coach, but
like I want to make some grand statement of like
(07:46):
he's never like I don't know, maybe just no one's
ever beaten these guys. No, you know, I don't know
what else to say. I really don't. I don't think like, well,
they got to make a change at coach. I mean,
they were winning in the four quarter twenty two to
twenty one. What else can you ask for? So Andy
Reid is just he's just an all time great and
(08:10):
he has this unique thing going where his defensive coordinator
is clearly one of the greatest defensive coordinators we've ever seen. Right.
Bill Walsh had George Seffert in the mid eighties, Mike
Ditka had Buddy Ryan in the mid eighties, Bill Parcells
had Bill Belichick in the mid eighties. All those guys. Obviously,
Walsh retires, Seafort becomes a head coach, Buddy Ryan goes
(08:32):
to the Eagles, and Belichick goes the browns. Andy doesn't
have to worry about this guy leaving. It is insane
that every time he calls the blitz in a big
spot it works. Think of most coaches that are known
as blitzers, guys that bring pressure. Sometimes they get burned
(08:53):
dramatically and it loses them a game where it's an
enormous play in a big spot. It feels like during
this run that never happens against Spags, his blitz does
not only work, they like destroy the quarterback or destroy
the play. It's fourth and five. You're like, this is
(09:14):
a big spot for Josh Allen the Bills. Their season
is on the line. Even though technically it wasn't it
kind of was. And then his blitz comes out of nowhere.
It's not like he even showed it. The corner just
lined up and then he is in the backfield before
you even blink. It's like, how does he do this?
Why can't other people do this? Think how many fans
(09:36):
of other teams look at their defensive coordinator five games
into the season, be like, I don't think this guy
knows what he's doing. And you got Spags, who's like
Bobby Fisher out there playing chess, and then you've got
an offense in Mahomes that feels like their numbers aren't
as sexy as they used to be, But are gonna
make the biggest plays in the biggest moments, and you
(09:57):
have the best coach, not just in the league, like
I said, potentially ever, definitely on the short list like
Andy Reid, win or lose this game is easily on
the short list with Belichick, Lombardi, Walsh, Like that's the
group he's in. So Sean McDermott, people are gonna be like, well, what,
I don't know he's taking on? Just just remove Andy
(10:19):
Reid and put in someone else. He's taking on Vince Lombardi,
He's taking on Bill Walsh. Like would anyone I like
Sean a lot if I had the opportunity to hire
Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh or Sean McDermott, who are
you taking You could say the same thing about John
Harbaugh last year. It's not a fair fight. This guy's
way better than you. There's a discrepancy at coach Andy's
(10:45):
all time and he's in the peak of his powers
with the best player he's ever had and obviously the
best team he's ever had. And you know, I think
Jim Johnson, who was an elite defensive coordinator who taught Spags,
who was a lot likes Fags, brought the heat. The
difference was those teams were awesome too. They had Donovan
McNabb this team as Patrick Mahomes. I think if you
(11:08):
take Patrick Mahomes this version in the last five years
and put him on those Eagles teams, they probably win
a couple of Super Bowls. Maybe Tom Brady doesn't win
all the super Bowls in the early two thousands, maybe
Andy Reid wins a couple of them. That's the difference.
Belichick had Brady, he had Donovan McNabb. Donod mcnapp was
a good player, really good player, pro Bowl level guy.
He ain't this so like when you give an all
(11:31):
time great coach an all time great quarterback, they're going
to rattle off super bowls. That's what happened with Belichick,
That's what happened with Walsh, That's what happened with Jimmy Johnson,
That's currently what's happening with Andy Reid. And it's remarkable
to watch if you like sports. I didn't have a
dog in this race. I picked Buffalo. I ended up
not betting on them because I used all my money
(11:53):
in my account a couple of thousand dollars on the
Tory Pines golf tournament, and I thought it was a
lock and it was up until the last and so
I didn't have any money and I was like, I'm
not doing this. It would have all been put on Buffalo.
So it would have been back to back years betting
against Chiefs. You bet against the Chiefs, you lose. There's
just like you're an idiot. I mean, you bet against
the Chiefs, you lose. You bet against Michael Jordan, you lose.
(12:18):
You bet against Tiger Woods, you lose. That's where we're at. Now.
You bet against Andy Reid, You're gonna lose, like no one.
I think the Eagles are pretty good. And I worked
for Howie Roseman like he's elite. I just watched the
Red Sox Yankee documentary. I think it was on Netflix
maybe Amazon Prime. It was awesome a lot about theo Epstein.
There are some parallels there with Howie. Now, I don't
(12:41):
know if there are personalities parallel each other perfectly, but
in terms of how good they are at their job.
When I think about the Chancy Chiefs, I think Andy Reid.
When I think about the Philadelphia Eagles. I think Howie
Roseman and how he's intense. He is go go, go,
one hundred miles an hour. It's an intense environment to
(13:01):
work for, but holy shit, he's good at his job.
And what the Chiefs have done as they turned over
this roster and they become a defensive team and a
little less sexy on offense. You know Howie I said
this a couple weeks ago. His moves changed the franchise
one after the Doug Peterson, Carson Wentz, Nick Foles kind
(13:22):
of era. As they transitioned, they made a massive pivot
when they picked Jalen Rager over Justin Jefferson. It was
like a, you know, an eye opening moment for their
front office, scouting department, and their organization. And they basically said,
never again, we are not going to overthink this. We
(13:43):
are going to take the best players from the best
programs and over a couple of years stretch That's exactly
what they did. Devonte Smith Alabama, Landon Dickerson Alabama, Jalen Carter, Georgia,
Jordan Davis, Georgia, Nolan Smith, Georgia, sign Saquon Barkley number
(14:03):
two overall pick Penn State, even Jalen who I thought
was a little bit of an overdraft Alabama, Oklahoma, We're
not gonna draft, Well, this guy might be pretty good
from Texas Tech. Sometimes it works, you get Patrick Mahomes.
A lot of times it does not. Take the best
players from the best programs and limit your chances of
(14:25):
whiffing on a guy. And the Eagles, when you watch
their team, you're like, holy shit, they're good and this
team is loaded with moves he made. And last year,
and I saw someone tweet this, they were very very
close from firing Nick Sirianni and hiring Bill Belichick. That
almost happened basically a year ago to day, within a
(14:47):
week or two sometime in the middle of January, right,
and they didn't, and they stuck it through. Well, what
does Jeffrey Lury do a really good job of pay
premiums when he needs to. He gives Vic Fangio for
and a half five million dollars a year. He pays
Kellen Moore three and a half four million dollars a year.
So he has two coordinators making a combine eight nine
million dollars. And listen, Sirianni, the guys like him he's
(15:12):
a high energy, positive guy. I'm not really sure what
he's doing. Doesn't totally matter why because they have a
high priced offensive coordinator, they have an elite defensive coordinator,
and they have an elite general manager. You could argue
the Eagles are the only team in the league where
the owner would be comfortable paying the general manager much
more than the coach. Nick Sirianni should not make more
(15:34):
than Howie, even though he probably does, just because his
position pays more than GM. Even of how he's one
of the highest paid gms. I might be five or
six million dollars. Low paid coaches make seven. But when
you watch today, anyone in the league could have had
sakuon Barkley. They gave him twenty seven million dollars. Eight
teams passed on Jalen Carter, and I get why some
of them did it risk This guy's not gonna fit
(15:55):
in our organization. Every time you watch them play, he's
like the best player on the field. No guard can
block the guy. It's why, way too early look ahead.
That defensive line for the Eagles, which has really come on,
is going to be a tough matchup for the Chiefs.
It is, especially you know Nolan Smith's coming on Jalen Carter,
like they got some dudes, and it's because of Howie Roseman,
(16:19):
like think about this draft. He was patient. He got
a little lucky because all the quarterbacks went and no
one took defensive players, and he got the best corner
in the draft by a mile. And then he trades
up in the second round and gets Cooper Dejean, who, listen,
everyone likes making fun of all this white corner who
I don't know is awesome and is a plug and
(16:41):
play starter at nickel, which in the NFL is a starter.
So all of a sudden, in his draft, he gets
Mitchell starting outside corner. He gets Cooper Dejean starting nickel.
The previous year he drafted Jalen Carter, who's one of
the best defensive linemen currently in the NFL. He had
to Saquon Barkley this offseason. It's like, that's kind of
(17:02):
why they're teams so awesome right now because last year
their DB's sucked and Saquon Barkley has chained a franchise
ran for a couple thousand yards. Today first carry goes
for fifty five sixty yards touchdown sets the tone for
the game. And one thing and I mentioned this with
Colin that I learned when I was in Philadelphia and
Andy Reid, Todd Howie, offensive line, defensive line, defensive line,
(17:25):
offensive line. It's why listen, look ahead at this draft.
If I'm the Titans and I am not going to
take a quarterback, under no circumstances, can I take I
love Travis Hunter, He's one of the most remarkable prospects
I've ever seen. But Abdual Carter's an elite prospect as well.
(17:46):
It is a no brainer. You take the guy at
the line of scrimmage. Obviously you take a quarterback. But
if you're not comfortable taking one of the quarterbacks, take
an offensive lineman or take a defensive lineman, because that
is where the game is won. Think about what the
Chiefs did. They traded Tyreek Hill, they added McDuffie, and
they added Karlovski's. They didn't go draft another wide receiver. Well,
(18:11):
they did this upcoming year at the end of the
first round in Xavier Worthy, which I think today and
I mentioned this with Coward, It's like, can imagine being
Bills fan. I'm watching Xavier Worthy this last month? Really,
come on, It's like we traded that pick with the Chiefs.
Couldn't we just have taken Xavier Worthy And I like
Kean Coleman. But all these games come down to because
(18:33):
the NFL, you're constantly churning your roster. You're constantly getting
new guys on the team in the offseason, in the draft,
in free agency, you know, in training camp, so year
to year, your team's change. DeAndre Hopkins wasn't on this
team last year. Savior Worthy wasn't on this team last year. Right,
Kareem Hunt wasn't on this team last year. You I
(18:56):
know he's been on the team before. But like you
add new players, you get new and your general managers,
your team building matters so much. Look at the Chiefs.
They drafted an offensive tackle in the second round. They
thought the guy could be the starter, and then they
found out he could not be the starter. Maybe one
day he'll be ready, but right now he wasn't ready.
So what did they do. They pivoted, and they pivoted quickly.
(19:19):
And I think both these two guys, Andy and Howie,
and I listen, I spent two years when I worked
in the office before I did college scouting. Like I
was around how he a lot. My first year when
I was like the lowest guy in the totem pole,
I was essentially how he's assistant. It is an intense place. Honestly,
a couple weeks in, I'm like, I don't know if
(19:39):
I'm gonna make it. I it really crossed my mind,
like I don't know if I can do this. It
was just my stress levels, the intensity, the pace in
which how he operates. It's just the NFL, the pressure
you felt. There was a scene tonight when the Eagles
won the conference, right, and they they have this libration
(20:00):
in the middle of the field, and they got Jeffrey
Luriy up there on the stage even before when he
was going up with a couple of minutes left, putting
in the face of every one more game, one more game,
Like it's not like Jeffrey Lurry's just content with winning
the NFC. Like he was pretty out of that. He
was barely smiling. And I remember in a documentary about
(20:22):
the Raiders when when the John Madden the seventies Raiders
finally won the Super Bowl, and in the locker room
after they had finally won a Super Bowl, and like,
I think it was seventy five against the Minnesota Vikings,
and Al Davis went up to Kenny Stabler, the quarterback,
and said, like, are you ready to do this again
next year? And Kenny stable, and he was interviewed for
(20:45):
this documentary, he's like, I remember thinking like, ow, we
just won the Super Bowl? Can you just enjoy it
for ten minutes? And there's an element of the Eagles that,
like I remember thinking like that kind of reminds me
of the Eagles, just like next day, next thing, next day,
Like these guys don't celebrate things long. You know, Andy's
probably a little happier than kind of the Eagles operation.
(21:07):
Not that the Eagles aren't happy, but like both these
two operations are going to be one hundred percent like
onto the next opponent at six in the morning, Monday morning,
Like this is not a world of celebratory forever, like
most fans, like fans are gonna be happy as a pig,
and shit, if you're a Chiefs fan or an Eagles
fan all week for the next two weeks. It's not
(21:29):
really how you think, you know, when you're a coach,
when you're a GM, you're just onto the next thing.
You're scouting, staff's at the Senior Bowl, like, what do
we have to do? What scheme do we have to run?
How do we slow down Saquon Barkley. These guys are
just intense man, and I think how he is easily
the best general manager in the NFL. I think his
combination of understanding elite talent, understanding team building, of where
(21:52):
he when he started to where he's at now. The
depth they have at the line of scrimmage. I mean,
think about today. Their centers hurt, can't start the game.
They have to mix and match. Dickerson goes to center,
he gets hurt, he's battling through with a bad knee,
comes out of half, he can't go, So then Jurgensen
(22:14):
comes back in with a bad back, and it's like
they just got plenty they have, I mean the amount
of players they have. Half the teams. I watched the
NFL for eighteenth straight weeks. Some teams lose one offensive
line and the whole thing fucking falls apart. And that
there's a depth to the way these two guys do
it because they just focus on the line of scrimmage
(22:36):
and they value coordinators like Steve Spagnola and Vic Fangier
are the highest paid coordinators in the NFL. Liam Cohen
was going to join that list until he got the
Jags job. But I just the talent discrepancy in the
game today was really really wide, and we knew that
going in. It's like, I just Jayden has to be remarkable,
(22:58):
and he was for a lot of the game, but
they just they're in a gunfight and they got a
revolver and the other team as an oozy. It's like
it's gonna be really hard to take down the dude
with the oozy. And that's what it felt like watching
the Eagles, like the Bills, I don't think are as
talented as the Chiefs, but because of Josh, but because
like they're just mentally tough, they've been through the ringer.
(23:20):
Like that game was close for a reason. Just two
well coached teams. They're tough, they've played in a lot
of big games, they have a superstar quarterback Washington. I mean,
that looked that wasn't even a fair fight. I thought
it was crazy that the game was even that close.
So I just, you know, Sirianni, he's taking a lot
(23:44):
of shit over the years, and rightfully, so again, I
have nothing against the guy person. I don't totally know
what he does, but he clearly rallies the troops and
guys like him. And you know when he was up
there with Jeffrey Lurry and he's hyping up jaling her.
He's good with relationships, and he gets credit for letting
his coordinators cook and being a positive influence on the building,
(24:07):
and clearly how he likes him and people in the
building like him like he's a good guy. He just
gets emotionally spent, and that's you know, big Dom going
back to another Super Bowl. One of his roles is
to keep him calm. But I'm excited. A lot of
people were poop pooing this matchup. I don't want Chiefs.
I don't want the Eagles again. Now, these are two
best teams. I mean, Eagles clearly the best team in
(24:27):
the NFC, and the Chiefs fucking earned it. I mean
this is back to back years. Last year on the
road at Buffalo, on the road against the Ravens, this
year the Texans, but then taking on that Bill's team
who just threw the kitchen sink at him. And it's
just not enough. And I'll never say again that you
just Chiefs man, they just they just find a way
(24:51):
and they covered too, because they were one and a
half point favorite and they win by three. So congrats
to Andy Reid, Congrats to the Chiefs, Kingdom Grass, to
everyone in Philadelphia. Just one game left and let's enjoy it.
We're obviously gonna talk a lot about it brings back
some memories. I'm excited for all my buddies. Try to
(25:12):
get a ring if my friends have worked for the Chiefs,
I mean, they have an unlimited amount of rings, so
this is just like an extra ring for the for
the trophy case. But the Eagles, this would be a
big moment. This is I mean, this is a big
game for both teams obviously. I mean the Chiefs are
chasing such a historic historic like no one's ever winning
three straight Super Bowls. It's never happened before, and if
(25:35):
it happens this time, no one's ever duplicating that again
like that, that's impossible. It's insane that the Chiefs are
even here. But this would be a big moment for Philly.
Their second super Bowl in less than a decade. They've
been to three during that span. They've won them with
two different quarterbacks, and like I said, I mean, I'm
not trying to get how he raised here or anything,
but I don't see how if I was having Rooseveuld,
(25:56):
I'm like twenty million dollars general manager. I mean, Jeffrey,
look at his team I built. I mean, holy shit.
And if we're the team of the Beast Chiefs, enough said,
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(27:30):
hundred and sixty eight hours zephyrishuins four. Additional terms and
responsible gaming resources see DKNG dot co. Slash audio. I'm
gonna do a little middle Coff mail bag. I'm recording
this mail bag before the Conference Championship games. I just
(27:51):
have so many questions from the people out there at
John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff, easiest way to get involved
in the thing called the mail bag, I thought, let's
just bang out some questions so you know the context
of these games. Anything related to any of those players
obviously will not be factored in here because I think Eddie,
(28:13):
who asked this question about Jalen Hurts and Dak, gives
some context here though. Dak, I mean this is Jalen's
second conference championship game.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Dak obviously never been past the second round. But now
he's got a new coach. We'll get into that as
the week goes on. I'm sure, but my buddies call
me a Jalen Hurts meat writer. I think that means Penis.
But can you settle out of debate once and for all?
Is Hurts better than Dak? Question for the mailback, Well,
(28:45):
I think when you look at Jalen and when you
look at Dak, they're completely different players. I mean, Dak
in twenty twenty five moving forward, and really he's been
this way since he shattered his ankle. Is not some
dynamic athlete playmaker. He's a pocket quarterback. And as a
pocket quarterback, is he better than Jalen Hurts? Now? Jalen,
(29:08):
when he's healthy, is a much more dynamic runner. You know,
Jalen can turn into a running back, you know when
he's right. In terms of he's not like super fast
like Lamar Jackson or Jaden Daniels, but his instincts as
a runner are elite angles, just movement in space, and
to me, throwing on the run deep throwing on the
(29:28):
run is something Jalen does really really well. What's up, John?
Got a question for you. I was listening the other day.
I mean, I probably wouldn't really want either, but I
think neither team would probably trade their guy for the other.
I was listening the other day. Maybe the Eagles. Well,
I don't know. I was listening the other day. I
(29:51):
heard you say that it has never been easier to
play quarterback in the NFL. With that being the case,
why do you think we don't see guys getting up
there in the higher four for TD passes as much
as we did with guys like Breeze, Brady, Manning, Packers
AR twelve, Which you would think that, especially with the
added game, that Peyton's record would have been broken by now. Well,
(30:13):
I think it's twofold one. I do think it's objectively
a fact it's never been easier. You are protected at
much higher rates. I saw someone put out a reel
of Tom Brady, uh, you know, making fun. Basically it
was like a real meme making fun of Patrick Mahomes
and all the hits he takes and the flags he gets.
I mean Tom in the two thousands used to get oh, Mike,
(30:38):
it's crazy. The violence in the NFL fifteen to twenty
years ago, it's not even comparable to now in terms
of hitting the quarterback. It was unflagged. It was just
it was called football. The other thing, one hundred percent
you can get away with now are the flags throwing
the ball down the field, right. They used to be
called hospital balls. Now they're just called minimum fifteen year
(30:59):
old penalties. But just because it's easier to play foot,
you know, quarterback, doesn't mean that guys are better at
playing quarterback, you know, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar. I would
say Herbert the top quarterbacks could have played in any era.
But some of these guys, I think it's more than
questionable how good they would have been way back in
the day. I think Jalen's a good example. It was
(31:21):
hard to play like he plays, you know, just takes
a lot of hits. Can't throw from within the pocket,
run all the time, You're gonna get crushed. Lamar is
such an elite athlete that he can avoid some of it.
But some of these quarterbacks, you know, like is he
as good as Roethlisberger was in his prime? Or Philip Rivers.
It's just a different game. So it's hard like to
(31:42):
even compare eras because it's completely different. It is just
completely different. So I think, you know, Mahomes has had
seasons where he's thrown for a lot of touchdown passes.
With Tyreek Hill, I think you know, listen, you throw
for thirty five to forty touchdowns, it's a lot. If
we have a ton of quarterbacks thrown for forty five
(32:03):
to fifty touchdowns, we got a problem because we should
be able to play some defense. Mailbag draft slash. The Jets,
who actually on was that Saturday, hired a general manager
that I'll be honest, had never heard of. But I mean,
there are a lot of guys in the NFL I've
never heard of. But congrats on the Jets. They got
their coach, they got their gym. I got no dog
(32:24):
in the fight. I'm surprised we've never heard anything of
Jordan Travis's contingency plan for when Rogers leaves the Jets.
Didn't he fall to the third round because of his
injury at Florida State seems like a forgotten name who
was one of the better college quarterbacks during a fourteen
playoff before getting hurt in the last game. Well, I
(32:44):
think he went later than the I could be mistaken,
but Jordan Travis got drafted in the fifth round. So
he's a fifth round pick who had a major leg
injury in twenty twenty three. So I think there are
questions about I'm trying to find what the injury was.
(33:10):
So he was fighting for exturee yards but a defender
used the hip drop tackle left leg, causing his ankle
to be twisted. An air cast place was carved off.
It was announced that he had season ending college football. Yeah,
I don't know if there was ligament damage. I remember
it being pretty bad now. When Jordan Travis was healthy,
I liked the player like he was a solid player,
(33:30):
but I never viewed him as an NFL starting quarterback.
You know, good athlete, average arm. Before he got injured,
he had twenty touchdowns, two interceptions. He was doing a
good job obviously not turned the ball over the previous
year for Florida State when they went ten and three
twenty four and five. I always viewed him as like
a solid player, a guy that can compete to be
a backup in the NFL. But I didn't see NFL starter. Now,
(33:53):
if he was healthy, which he might not have been,
I guess I would have played him the last couple
of weeks. They clearly did not. They went with Rogers. Now,
maybe it's because Rogers might retire, so give him just
some games. But overall, I don't know, man, I don't
(34:13):
see it. Now. I'm not acting like I'm Bill wallsh here,
but in my eyes, and I watched a lot of
Florida State because my guy de I call him de Ray.
But Derek Ray was the GM obviously terrible season, I mean,
coming off a rough season, had him on the pod,
did not go well. Previous two years though ten and
three and with Jordan Travis at quarterback ten and three,
(34:35):
eleven and zero. I don't know. I don't see it.
I can't imagine that the Texans let Slowick go. That's
another story. I mean, the amount of stories that dropped
Friday night was we will get into. I'm not gonna
get in depth about my take on Brian Schottenheimer, but
Slowick and Brian Schottenheimer hired Slowick fired Friday afternoon, Friday.
(35:00):
I mean for Schottenheimers hired Friday night is the ultimate like,
we don't want the pr on this, we want no
part of this. Uh the slow thing. I was in
a car. I mean, uh so he may well just
been announced by the time you read this. My two
cents worth, what was the Texans biggest offensive problem this year?
The poorest O line? Which the O line coach has
(35:22):
the best, most consistent protection record, Aaron Kramer, check out
his history all the best, David. Uh, I was in
the car. I think when this got announced on Friday afternoon.
And I don't know if I haven't seen this CJ quote,
So I'm not trying to push disinformation here, but I
(35:45):
did he say something or did a story leak about
c J. Stroud not loving the scheme or not being
on the same page with Slowick. You don't fire the players.
You're clearly not gonna fire c J. Stroud, But anytime
you get sacked a million times, it's gonna be a problem.
And if you're not winning at the highest level, when
(36:05):
your star quarterback is getting destroyed, pressure gets put on
the offensive coordinator and you look back, Bruce arians they
won the super Bowl in Pittsburgh. They won a super
Bowl in Pittsburgh, but the Rooney family, Mike Tomlin didn't
like how often Broethlisberger got hit and how often they
passed the ball. And I think when you look at Slowick,
I don't know if he lost his mojo. If it's
(36:26):
as simple as the line just played really poorly, but
his quarterback was getting destroyed and like ultimately, his personnel's personnel,
so it's on him to kind of adapt, and he
clearly could not. So I'm not acting like he deserved
to get fired, but it was not going well, and
it was not going well at all when it comes to,
(36:46):
let's face it, that they have some fantastic pieces in
that organization. No one is more important than the quarterback.
When the quarterback is getting destroyed, you're gonna be under
the gun, even if you've I mean, he's been the
offensive last two years. They've won two PLAYFF games, and
that was Demko's guy. So I think it's fair to
say that this was quarterback owner. I mean, unless Demko
(37:08):
and Slowak have kind of fallen out of favor. Little
surprised because I mean it's announced on Friday they had lost.
When did they lose? Who'd they lose to. I'm trying
to think, Oh, yes, Chief Saturday. So I guess it's
not as crazy. It's not like they lost the first round.
But they wouldn't have known this Monday or Tuesday. Was
this a conversation going back and forth. Was this where
(37:30):
they kind of looked at each other and realized we're
not going to fix our differences. I don't know. A
little bizarre to me question for the pot. As a
twenty two year old who lives in Orange County, California,
I've been trying to convince my fiance to move to
Arizona for the last couple of months because for our
generation it's nearly impossible to buy a home here. What
(37:51):
are some things your wife likes about Arizona that I
can use to try and convince her to make the move, Specifically,
Orange County Newport Beeacia pretty expensive place. I would say this,
I've been alive a little bit longer than you, and
my advice would be you can't force in situations like
(38:13):
this with relationships, specifically with moving or going to a place.
I've been around long enough to see relationships of other people.
It's never happened to me. But when someone makes a
move that they didn't want to do and the other
person wants, it can create resentment and it can create
a lot of problems. Even though it's not like you're
(38:36):
moving to Arizona, I assume because you've got family, so
you both would be starting from scratch. But if you
want to do it and she doesn't, it's very hard
to convince a human being. So like, you can't force
her to do something she doesn't want to do. Even
if you do have the power to do that and
you succeed, it will create problems. I promise you that
(38:57):
if she doesn't like it, So if she's not comfortable
with moving to whether it's Arizona, whether it's Texas, whether
it's fucking Alaska, it will not matter. So the only
way to convince her is to kind of have her
on the same page. Now, she might want not want
to do it as much as you, but if she
is not on board and is pushing back, it's gonna
(39:17):
be a problem. Now. I think the best advice I
ever got years ago was I used to go to
kind of this family doctor get you know, yearly physicals,
and he's based out of Davis, California, SUTTERA Davis and
wise dude, been in the Army, been around, he's and
I was telling him my plans to move to Arizona
(39:37):
and he'sa liked here's what I recommend because he had
a lot of knew a lot of people over the
years that made professional moves and hated it. And he's like,
just go there for a couple of months and rent,
Just go there and feel it out. And I would say,
whether it's Scottsdale, whether it's Vegas, whether it's wherever you
want to go, just try something out. And you're twenty two.
You guys have your whole life at aby, so you
(39:58):
don't have to make any crazy I mean unless you
start making serious coin. Are you going to buy a
pad in Newport Beach, No, you're just not. I mean
those prices are you know, some of the most expensive
real estate in the in the world, So you're not
going to be able to buy a home where you're
probably want to buy a home. But it's like where
(40:19):
I live in Scotsdale, it's expensive too. I mean it's
expensive any area that people are moving to. So it's
it's that's not going to change. But I say this
all the time, wherever you live, and I've lived in Fresno,
I've lived in Kansas City, I've lived in Philadelphia, I've
lived now in Arizona, I've lived in California. Like, your
(40:39):
life's kind of your life, so you want to be comfortable.
Like I think it's easier for humans that are wired
like me, Like I could be pretty unfazed living most
places because I'm a pretty consistent, routine oriented human. But
I think sometimes people that like to socialize or people
that are kind of busy by where they live kind
(41:01):
of matters. And especially with a woman, if she's pushing back,
it could go really really bad. And it's not like
you know, at your age, it's hard to put into
context money stuff. It just is. I mean, you just
you haven't been in the real world long enough. I
would imagine high school and then college, Like it's just
it's a lot different after ten years in the real
(41:22):
world and you're thirty years old and you kind of
realized this is what cost is how much we can make.
This was my earning potential. And I don't put a
cap on your earning potential because it shouldn't be one.
But it's if she's not on board, it would only
create problems. So I don't I don't have a great
idea because when I came here, Marie already lived here. Maria,
(41:42):
who's from northern California, I had lived here since like
twenty sixteen. She had lived here five years before I
even got here, so I didn't have to convince anything.
And she told me early on, like I'm not doing
some long distance like you either come here or not.
I'm like, hey, honey, like I planned on coming here
before I even knew you existed. So it's it just
worked out. There was never any but I've known situations
(42:04):
where people battle on it, and you know it's it
can create major, major problems that you've got major problems
at homes, you got major problems in your life, So
good luck. I don't have a great advice there of
just like I maybe try to bring her out for
vacation in the winter, just stay somewhere cool, Just see
(42:29):
if she enjoys it for like a week three days.
I don't know, what do you think of my beloved
Cleveland Brown's need to do to get back to the playoffs.
Trade back the number two pick, trade Miles Garrett for
a haul. Where does Thefanski rank in your opinion of
young offensive coaches. He refuses to give up play calling,
(42:49):
but I have yet to see the offensive wizard degree.
What are your thoughts on the hard fall off for
Deshaun Watson. Well, I think Deshaun Watson was a fantastic
play I don't think he was a great quarterback. Like
when you watched him in Texans. A lot of his
awesome plays were like outside the pocket. He was like
the poor man's Russell Wilson. But like his best season, statistically,
(43:13):
the team was not good. I mean, I didn't they
go four to twelve. I mean they were horrendous. So
I think he was. And then obviously everything that came
off the field, he's one of the greatest walking red
flags in the history of the quarterback position. So it's
like he's got a lot of issues. His skills diminished.
He did not work in the Stefanski under center. He
(43:35):
wants to play in the shotgun, and then they put
him in the shotgun and it looked like he lost
his fastball. And I don't know if physically he's not
the same. I mean now it will never be the same.
Multiple Achilles. I mean he's he's just he's awful player.
I mean, if they cut him tomorrow, he would no
one will ever sign him again. Like I feel that confident,
(43:56):
and I don't ever say that about anybody. I think
the best course of action would be, I mean, are
you gonna draft one of these quarterbacks? Because I want
I listen, this is no Shadey you guys, but I
don't think Dion would let shad Or go there. Now
we'll see if cam Ward goes one, maybe he doesn't.
Maybe just take cam Ward and see if Stefanski can
(44:17):
work with him. I think Stefanski's solid coach, but I
do think he needs his type quarterback. Like Stefanski runs
his scheme. You know, Stefanski is actually much closer like
Kyle Shanahan, likes being an understander, likes running the ball,
like the play action. So if you do that, great,
but he doesn't. He's not as comfortable doing all the
other stuff. Uh. I would think about trading Miles Garrett,
(44:41):
and it's tough, but I think in the situation you
guys are in because of DeShawn, he's twenty nine years old.
I mean, if I could trade him, right, now for
three not you're not getting three ones, but two ones.
I think that's probably the move. I think there's a
decent chance he's traded my iPhone. I think is going
(45:02):
I haven't got a new iPhone in years, but I
think we're almost there. I've often heard that when a
rookie quarterback has success that during the offseason DC's will
pound the tape and find ways to slow them down.
I'm curious why these adjustments can't be made during the season.
Is there not enough time during the week, or are
(45:24):
there adjustice more scheme oriented that teams can make on
the fly. Uh, well, I think during the week. To
really really hone in on a place, you have to
have the game plan ready by Wednesday, right, it's when
the players come in. Obviously you can tweak it Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday, but like you got to have a
(45:45):
pretty good idea in forty eight hours. So whenever I
see like why do coaches work so long, Well, they
don't have They have two days to get a game
plan ready for the players. So you basically get you
work late because you're at a game, especially if you're traveling,
you get to the office really really early. You maybe
(46:06):
try to get a workout, bang some breakfast, bang out
the tape, grade the tape. Now if you won, you
put the tape to bed. You know, most coaches give
players Monday and Tuesday off, Like a forty nine er
is Kyle Shanaanleck's going over the tape at noon on
Monday because he thinks you forget it within a couple
of days. So like, players come in no matter what,
(46:26):
so it depends on the coach. But then you have
the rest of that day and then Tuesday to really
develop a game plan. So when I have OTAs and
I am Vic Fangio right or whoever the Cowboys defensive
coordinator is, I can spend a week. Let's go over
(46:47):
every first down, second down, third down, red zone, two minute.
We can do a legit week long breakdown of Jayden
Daniels of bo Knicks where during the season it's like
we kind of have a plan of like we attack
first down, then we attack second down, then we attack
(47:08):
third down, then we attack red zone, then we attack
the run game like everyone kind of has and you're
just in the rhythm now obviously you're also most coaches
playoffs is different, but on like a week seven game.
You're not breaking down all seven games. You're probably really
focused on the last four maybe a game or two more.
(47:31):
But you don't have unlimited time. We're in the offseason.
You have in training camp, you have unlimited time. That's
why the first game of the season Week one, it's
like they've had all off season. So they probably did
some shit for you during OTAs. They probably did some
stuff for you in the summer, and then they spent
(47:51):
a chunk of training camp. When I was with the Eagles,
we used to have, like during OTA's, a giant period
of Washington period in a Dallas period. So like during OTA's,
I'm sure Andy does certain stuff like this now with
the Chiefs that OTAs that you give looks just about
(48:12):
your divisional opponents. You're just kind of, hey, this is
what this is what Benito likes to do. You know.
This is some uh some tells from Patrick certain this
is what vance Joseph some of his go to's. It's
just extra, extra extra, this is extra reps. I just
think you're limited on in season ability time wise. For
(48:51):
the mail bag. This is this is about Mahomes. So
this is before the conference games, but doesn't matter the
whole Mahomes is the go to argue makes zero sense
and it is ridiculous. It seems the media is whipped
to put Pat on a pedestal. Tom beat Pat twice
in the playoffs, So until Pat has six or seven
Super Bowls, he's not even sniffing Brady. Brady was also
(49:11):
able to win another team when he left the Hall
of Fame coach, and I don't think Pack could do
that with no red. Pat is amazing. I believe he
will be the second or first best quarterback ever when
it's all said and done. But you say it will
be the goat if he wins this Year's ridiculous. Who's
really saying that? You know? I mean, Brady's got seven championships,
seven and he played Dell he's forty five, So for
(49:34):
any human to match that it feels borderline impossible. I
think Pat just has the best chance, right. It's like
the whole Lebron argument, Well, he's had a better career.
It's like Jordan's won six, Lebron's never winning another one,
so it's like, yeah, he's gonna be But the career,
he got six championships and none of them and none
(49:56):
of them were in a bubble. So like people can
argue all the they want, no one worth their salt
is ever picking Lebron over Michael Jordan. I think the
same thing with Tom Brady, Like the dude seven championships, hell,
just six with the Patriots, and he got to nine
nine super Bowls, right because he lost the Eagles. He lost, Like,
(50:17):
losing the super Bowls not terrible for your resume, Like
Joe Montana's resume would look better if it's like, he
won four, but he went to three others and lost.
Elway's resume looks better because he's like, well, he won two,
but he also went to three others and lost. That's good.
He went to five super Bowls like Peyton's got too,
but he also went to a couple other ones. Like
(50:37):
that's that's a positive thing. Uh. I had this radical
idea that the NFL should cut the season by a game. Guys,
that's that's a that's a radical idea because it's never happening.
Remove remove a few preseason games, and put it in
a double elimination tournament for the postseason. This would allow
teams like the Lions, who are in the number one seed,
(50:57):
a chance at redemption and allowed games that are flukes
to not change the narrative on a team. It would
also double the amount of playoff games and extend the postseason.
It just feels like sixteen weeks of football are great,
then the sports ends abruptly your thoughts, that's football, man,
I mean, that's why this game is so much different
(51:18):
than everyone else. It's why the NCAA tournament works. You
get sixty minutes, man, you screw up and again, you
screw up in a half. It could be your season.
You have a major injury the week before, you're in
major trouble. You don't get a seven games series. You
don't get a five game series. There are no repriefs.
It's the most powerful part about the games is that
(51:39):
every game means so much, right, Why that game for
the Lions is the biggest kick in the nuts of
all time. It's like, we could go ten more years
of being a good team and never be the one
seed again. Obviously they're probably never winning who It's gonna
be very rare that you have fifteen game winners. So
it's like it's just it's rare to accomplish what they
(52:00):
accomplished in the regular season, but then in the postseason
none of it, Like your seating matters because you get
a home game, but ultimately, like it's just it's what
makes the product so powerful to us the consumer, because
we know it matters. Like I don't have to watch
a game one of an NBA playoff series. I don't
(52:22):
have to watch game two of an NBA playoff series.
You could argue until an elimination game, It's like, yeah,
that's the NFL. Every single game is a Game seven
in the playoffs. That's why college football was raging. Uh,
listen to you every single day. Agree with ninety eight
percent of the things you say. But you said Jaden
would start for the Eagles. Would you really take aj
(52:45):
Brown reading books or DeVante Smith over Scary Terry. My
point was that if you just say, like, would Patrick
Mahomes start for the Cowboys like no one even hesitates, right,
or would Micah Parsons start for the Commanders. I mean,
(53:06):
there are certain things that you don't even Scary Terry
is an excellent player. I would take a j B
if I had to rank the three who I'd want
on my team. Aj Brown, even though he's a little
bit of a headache, he would be the first guy
of the three I would want. Could you make the
argument Scary Terry over Davante Smith? Fine, I'm not like,
I'm not gonna argue all day with you, But in fairness,
(53:28):
Terry is the best quarterback he's ever played with, and
he had eighty two catches for thirteen touchdowns, so obviously
DeVante's had a better situation for catching balls ninety five
catches eighty one catches. Yeah, if you want to take
Terry McLaurin over DeVante Smith, I'm not gonna argue with you. Okay,
we'll get some more questions probably tomorrow, So fire in
(53:50):
those mailbacks at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff is the
Instagram fire in those dms, scary question answered here on
the show. Just wanted to get some of you guys
taken care of because I know a lot of you
that DM me don't get your questions answered right away,
and I feel bad, but it's just it's hard to
include everybody. I try, I really do, so I really
(54:11):
appreciate everyone firing in those d ms, and I will
answer a bunch of questions this week for sure. The
volume
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
Beautiful day, beautiful night. I like every Sunday. I did
(00:25):
a podcast with Colin after the Bills game, and I
wanted to do some thoughts as well, so I recorded
just some big picture stuff. When it came to the Chiefs.
When it came to the Eagles, I worked for Howie
and Andy, so I told these guys in twenty ten
when they hired me, I said, you guys know what, Howie,
(00:45):
You're gonna win a Super Bowl, Nick Foles, You're gonna
play Andy twice in Super Bowl. Andy, You're gonna rattle
off Super Bowls like you're Bill Walsh or Phil Jackson.
And I'm just gonna be podcasting about it in Scottsdale.
So let's all enjoy our life. I got a pretty
good insight on these two teams. I know a lot
of people in the front offices, the coaching staff, so
I feel pretty confident talking about the Eagles and the Chiefs.
(01:07):
Very excited for obviously coach Reid and Howie. I mean,
best coach in the league, best GM in the league,
and two best teams in the league. So I know
you can bitch and moan all you want. Washington love
Adam Peters as well, but their team, I mean, it's
just remarkable what they accomplished. They even got that far
in the Bills, man that stinks up again in the
(01:28):
fourth quarter and just can't get it done. Then just
can't get it done. So Specnola calling those blitzes. Other
than that, we're gonna do a lot of podcasts this
week is keep Rocking and Rolling. I'll dive in on
tomorrow's show. I just I didn't talk any cowboys on
this show hiring Brian Schottenheimer, but I'll dive into that
(01:50):
for Tuesday on my Monday podcast when I record it,
we'll talk Brian Schottenheimer for sure. So I'm not gonna
leave you hanging. Colin and I touched on that, which
I don't think any of us aw comment. But super
Bowl is here. I think the matchup that a lot
of people were like, I don't want the Chiefs to
get well you got the Chiefs. Were people saying them
about Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, like I'm just so
tired of Tiger Woods. I don't know why. I guess
(02:13):
we said about the Patriots. People said about the Warriors.
People say that when a team just kicking everyone's ass.
But make sure you subscribe to the podcast. If you
listen on Collins Feed, make sure you subscribe to the YouTube.
We got a lot of content up there as well,
and buckle up. But before we dive into some football,
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(03:19):
Who where do we even start Andy Reid take it
on the Philadelphia Eagles. I thought the overall reaction and listen,
no one gets as angry as the referees or the
officials as your boy right here when he's gambling on
a game. So I get the emotions being high, and
(03:41):
I also understand on individual calls that are egregious. I
thought this conversation, like the Chiefs they've won all these
games over the last half decade just because of the officials,
like got a little crazy. I mean, what the fuck
are we talking about. It's like you think Belichick bent
(04:01):
over the Colts because the balls were deflated or because
he had Eric Mangini's signs. I remember some of these
conversations around the Pats. It's like, guys, they are consistently
better than these other teams in the big moments. And
the same can be said for the Kancy Chiefs. And
that was on full display tonight. When they needed a
big play, they got it. When they needed a big
(04:22):
blitz to hit home, they got it. When the Bills
needed one, they did not get it. Like they had
a lead in the second half at Arrowhead for the
second time and what three or four years and couldn't
get it done enough said, period, point blank, end of story.
And listen, there have been moments the Patrick Mahomes things
on the sideline drives me nuts as well. But the
thing that they're only winning these games and that's how
(04:44):
it felt because of the officials, is like the conversation
just got lost and I honestly stopped following it on
the internet when I saw people screaming at chef third day,
I'm like, I don't care about any of this, because
that's not why the Chiefs have been winning. They make
the critic when they have to, and the Ravens and
the Bills simply do not. And those two teams view
(05:06):
themselves as Super Bowl contenders when the year start for
the last three or four years, and when the dust settles,
the Chiefs are the only team there and the only
team to beat them over this run. Post Tom Brady
is Joe Burrow why because he made big plays that arrowhead.
The other guys do not. The other teams do not,
the other coaches do not. They fuck it up somehow,
slash The Chiefs make place. They're hard to beat. And
(05:30):
if you are gonna lose to a team, if you're
Lamar Jackson, if you're Josh Allen, if you're gonna lose
to Michael Jordan, if you're gonna lose to Tiger Woods,
if you're gonna lose to Tom Brady, it's not the
worst thing in the world you would rather lose to
probably the you know, some of the historic great champions
that the sport is ever gonna see than just some
random one off. They are literally beating everybody. Why. They're
(05:54):
more buttoned up, they're better coached, They're just better than you.
I mean, it's just really that simple. They are just
better than you. I think sometimes we overthink this stuff,
like it's like, well, they're just not quite as good
on offense. Well, yeah, they're defense dramatically better now, and
in big spots. Their defensive coordinator makes the greatest calls ever.
(06:18):
And when he has to have it, Andy Reeve's always
going to get a first down, and when the game
opens up and he gets his first script, it's just brilliant.
It looks like Bill Walsh in his prime. He's not
just the best coach in the NFL. He's one of
the greatest coaches in the history of the sport. He's
one of the greatest coaches in the history of sports,
and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey and Chris Jones are
(06:41):
some of the greatest champions we've ever seen. And that's
who you have to beat. Guys that know how to
do it, Guys that are comfortable in that moment, Guys
that have full belief they're going to get it done.
And the Bills I think are one of the lone
teams that believe they can beat them. I said before, like,
I don't think the Ravens think that. I don't think
(07:03):
I don't think the Eagles are gonna think that when
they show up. I'm not saying that they can't. I'm
just saying they're gonna question can we beat these guys.
I do think the Bills, because they beat him so
many times in the regular season, at least go into
the game believing we can beat these guys. Hell, they
had a lead in the fourth quarter twenty two to
twenty one, but people at the leads against Michael Jordan,
people at leads against Tom Brady, and most of the
(07:24):
time they lost. It's it's pretty crazy. And no one
plays this team better than the Buffalo Bills. And Sean McDermott,
who worked for Andy Reid for a long time. My
first year with the Eagle, Sean McDermott was the defensive coordinator,
high level cat. I think he's a good coach, but
like I want to make some grand statement of like
(07:46):
he's never like I don't know, maybe just no one's
ever beaten these guys. No, you know, I don't know
what else to say. I really don't. I don't think like, well,
they got to make a change at coach. I mean,
they were winning in the four quarter twenty two to
twenty one. What else can you ask for? So Andy
Reid is just he's just an all time great and
(08:10):
he has this unique thing going where his defensive coordinator
is clearly one of the greatest defensive coordinators we've ever seen. Right.
Bill Walsh had George Seffert in the mid eighties, Mike
Ditka had Buddy Ryan in the mid eighties, Bill Parcells
had Bill Belichick in the mid eighties. All those guys. Obviously,
Walsh retires, Seafort becomes a head coach, Buddy Ryan goes
(08:32):
to the Eagles, and Belichick goes the browns. Andy doesn't
have to worry about this guy leaving. It is insane
that every time he calls the blitz in a big
spot it works. Think of most coaches that are known
as blitzers, guys that bring pressure. Sometimes they get burned
(08:53):
dramatically and it loses them a game where it's an
enormous play in a big spot. It feels like during
this run that never happens against Spags, his blitz does
not only work, they like destroy the quarterback or destroy
the play. It's fourth and five. You're like, this is
(09:14):
a big spot for Josh Allen the Bills. Their season
is on the line. Even though technically it wasn't it
kind of was. And then his blitz comes out of nowhere.
It's not like he even showed it. The corner just
lined up and then he is in the backfield before
you even blink. It's like, how does he do this?
Why can't other people do this? Think how many fans
(09:36):
of other teams look at their defensive coordinator five games
into the season, be like, I don't think this guy
knows what he's doing. And you got Spags, who's like
Bobby Fisher out there playing chess, and then you've got
an offense in Mahomes that feels like their numbers aren't
as sexy as they used to be, But are gonna
make the biggest plays in the biggest moments, and you
(09:57):
have the best coach, not just in the league, like
I said, potentially ever, definitely on the short list like
Andy Reid, win or lose this game is easily on
the short list with Belichick, Lombardi, Walsh, Like that's the
group he's in. So Sean McDermott, people are gonna be like, well, what,
I don't know he's taking on? Just just remove Andy
(10:19):
Reid and put in someone else. He's taking on Vince Lombardi,
He's taking on Bill Walsh. Like would anyone I like
Sean a lot if I had the opportunity to hire
Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh or Sean McDermott, who are
you taking You could say the same thing about John
Harbaugh last year. It's not a fair fight. This guy's
way better than you. There's a discrepancy at coach Andy's
(10:45):
all time and he's in the peak of his powers
with the best player he's ever had and obviously the
best team he's ever had. And you know, I think
Jim Johnson, who was an elite defensive coordinator who taught Spags,
who was a lot likes Fags, brought the heat. The
difference was those teams were awesome too. They had Donovan
McNabb this team as Patrick Mahomes. I think if you
(11:08):
take Patrick Mahomes this version in the last five years
and put him on those Eagles teams, they probably win
a couple of Super Bowls. Maybe Tom Brady doesn't win
all the super Bowls in the early two thousands, maybe
Andy Reid wins a couple of them. That's the difference.
Belichick had Brady, he had Donovan McNabb. Donod mcnapp was
a good player, really good player, pro Bowl level guy.
He ain't this so like when you give an all
(11:31):
time great coach an all time great quarterback, they're going
to rattle off super bowls. That's what happened with Belichick,
That's what happened with Walsh, That's what happened with Jimmy Johnson,
That's currently what's happening with Andy Reid. And it's remarkable
to watch if you like sports. I didn't have a
dog in this race. I picked Buffalo. I ended up
not betting on them because I used all my money
(11:53):
in my account a couple of thousand dollars on the
Tory Pines golf tournament, and I thought it was a
lock and it was up until the last and so
I didn't have any money and I was like, I'm
not doing this. It would have all been put on Buffalo.
So it would have been back to back years betting
against Chiefs. You bet against the Chiefs, you lose. There's
just like you're an idiot. I mean, you bet against
the Chiefs, you lose. You bet against Michael Jordan, you lose.
(12:18):
You bet against Tiger Woods, you lose. That's where we're at. Now.
You bet against Andy Reid, You're gonna lose, like no one.
I think the Eagles are pretty good. And I worked
for Howie Roseman like he's elite. I just watched the
Red Sox Yankee documentary. I think it was on Netflix
maybe Amazon Prime. It was awesome a lot about theo Epstein.
There are some parallels there with Howie. Now, I don't
(12:41):
know if there are personalities parallel each other perfectly, but
in terms of how good they are at their job.
When I think about the Chancy Chiefs, I think Andy Reid.
When I think about the Philadelphia Eagles. I think Howie
Roseman and how he's intense. He is go go, go,
one hundred miles an hour. It's an intense environment to
(13:01):
work for, but holy shit, he's good at his job.
And what the Chiefs have done as they turned over
this roster and they become a defensive team and a
little less sexy on offense. You know Howie I said
this a couple weeks ago. His moves changed the franchise
one after the Doug Peterson, Carson Wentz, Nick Foles kind
(13:22):
of era. As they transitioned, they made a massive pivot
when they picked Jalen Rager over Justin Jefferson. It was
like a, you know, an eye opening moment for their
front office, scouting department, and their organization. And they basically said,
never again, we are not going to overthink this. We
(13:43):
are going to take the best players from the best
programs and over a couple of years stretch That's exactly
what they did. Devonte Smith Alabama, Landon Dickerson Alabama, Jalen Carter, Georgia,
Jordan Davis, Georgia, Nolan Smith, Georgia, sign Saquon Barkley number
(14:03):
two overall pick Penn State, even Jalen who I thought
was a little bit of an overdraft Alabama, Oklahoma, We're
not gonna draft, Well, this guy might be pretty good
from Texas Tech. Sometimes it works, you get Patrick Mahomes.
A lot of times it does not. Take the best
players from the best programs and limit your chances of
(14:25):
whiffing on a guy. And the Eagles, when you watch
their team, you're like, holy shit, they're good and this
team is loaded with moves he made. And last year,
and I saw someone tweet this, they were very very
close from firing Nick Sirianni and hiring Bill Belichick. That
almost happened basically a year ago to day, within a
(14:47):
week or two sometime in the middle of January, right,
and they didn't, and they stuck it through. Well, what
does Jeffrey Lury do a really good job of pay
premiums when he needs to. He gives Vic Fangio for
and a half five million dollars a year. He pays
Kellen Moore three and a half four million dollars a year.
So he has two coordinators making a combine eight nine
million dollars. And listen, Sirianni, the guys like him he's
(15:12):
a high energy, positive guy. I'm not really sure what
he's doing. Doesn't totally matter why because they have a
high priced offensive coordinator, they have an elite defensive coordinator,
and they have an elite general manager. You could argue
the Eagles are the only team in the league where
the owner would be comfortable paying the general manager much
more than the coach. Nick Sirianni should not make more
(15:34):
than Howie, even though he probably does, just because his
position pays more than GM. Even of how he's one
of the highest paid gms. I might be five or
six million dollars. Low paid coaches make seven. But when
you watch today, anyone in the league could have had
sakuon Barkley. They gave him twenty seven million dollars. Eight
teams passed on Jalen Carter, and I get why some
of them did it risk This guy's not gonna fit
(15:55):
in our organization. Every time you watch them play, he's
like the best player on the field. No guard can
block the guy. It's why, way too early look ahead.
That defensive line for the Eagles, which has really come on,
is going to be a tough matchup for the Chiefs.
It is, especially you know Nolan Smith's coming on Jalen Carter,
like they got some dudes, and it's because of Howie Roseman,
(16:19):
like think about this draft. He was patient. He got
a little lucky because all the quarterbacks went and no
one took defensive players, and he got the best corner
in the draft by a mile. And then he trades
up in the second round and gets Cooper Dejean, who, listen,
everyone likes making fun of all this white corner who
I don't know is awesome and is a plug and
(16:41):
play starter at nickel, which in the NFL is a starter.
So all of a sudden, in his draft, he gets
Mitchell starting outside corner. He gets Cooper Dejean starting nickel.
The previous year he drafted Jalen Carter, who's one of
the best defensive linemen currently in the NFL. He had
to Saquon Barkley this offseason. It's like, that's kind of
(17:02):
why they're teams so awesome right now because last year
their DB's sucked and Saquon Barkley has chained a franchise
ran for a couple thousand yards. Today first carry goes
for fifty five sixty yards touchdown sets the tone for
the game. And one thing and I mentioned this with
Colin that I learned when I was in Philadelphia and
Andy Reid, Todd Howie, offensive line, defensive line, defensive line,
(17:25):
offensive line. It's why listen, look ahead at this draft.
If I'm the Titans and I am not going to
take a quarterback, under no circumstances, can I take I
love Travis Hunter, He's one of the most remarkable prospects
I've ever seen. But Abdual Carter's an elite prospect as well.
(17:46):
It is a no brainer. You take the guy at
the line of scrimmage. Obviously you take a quarterback. But
if you're not comfortable taking one of the quarterbacks, take
an offensive lineman or take a defensive lineman, because that
is where the game is won. Think about what the
Chiefs did. They traded Tyreek Hill, they added McDuffie, and
they added Karlovski's. They didn't go draft another wide receiver. Well,
(18:11):
they did this upcoming year at the end of the
first round in Xavier Worthy, which I think today and
I mentioned this with Coward, It's like, can imagine being
Bills fan. I'm watching Xavier Worthy this last month? Really,
come on, It's like we traded that pick with the Chiefs.
Couldn't we just have taken Xavier Worthy And I like
Kean Coleman. But all these games come down to because
(18:33):
the NFL, you're constantly churning your roster. You're constantly getting
new guys on the team in the offseason, in the draft,
in free agency, you know, in training camp, so year
to year, your team's change. DeAndre Hopkins wasn't on this
team last year. Savior Worthy wasn't on this team last year. Right,
Kareem Hunt wasn't on this team last year. You I
(18:56):
know he's been on the team before. But like you
add new players, you get new and your general managers,
your team building matters so much. Look at the Chiefs.
They drafted an offensive tackle in the second round. They
thought the guy could be the starter, and then they
found out he could not be the starter. Maybe one
day he'll be ready, but right now he wasn't ready.
So what did they do. They pivoted, and they pivoted quickly.
(19:19):
And I think both these two guys, Andy and Howie,
and I listen, I spent two years when I worked
in the office before I did college scouting. Like I
was around how he a lot. My first year when
I was like the lowest guy in the totem pole,
I was essentially how he's assistant. It is an intense place. Honestly,
a couple weeks in, I'm like, I don't know if
(19:39):
I'm gonna make it. I it really crossed my mind,
like I don't know if I can do this. It
was just my stress levels, the intensity, the pace in
which how he operates. It's just the NFL, the pressure
you felt. There was a scene tonight when the Eagles
won the conference, right, and they they have this libration
(20:00):
in the middle of the field, and they got Jeffrey
Luriy up there on the stage even before when he
was going up with a couple of minutes left, putting
in the face of every one more game, one more game,
Like it's not like Jeffrey Lurry's just content with winning
the NFC. Like he was pretty out of that. He
was barely smiling. And I remember in a documentary about
(20:22):
the Raiders when when the John Madden the seventies Raiders
finally won the Super Bowl, and in the locker room
after they had finally won a Super Bowl, and like,
I think it was seventy five against the Minnesota Vikings,
and Al Davis went up to Kenny Stabler, the quarterback,
and said, like, are you ready to do this again
next year? And Kenny stable, and he was interviewed for
(20:45):
this documentary, he's like, I remember thinking like, ow, we
just won the Super Bowl? Can you just enjoy it
for ten minutes? And there's an element of the Eagles that,
like I remember thinking like that kind of reminds me
of the Eagles, just like next day, next thing, next day,
Like these guys don't celebrate things long. You know, Andy's
probably a little happier than kind of the Eagles operation.
(21:07):
Not that the Eagles aren't happy, but like both these
two operations are going to be one hundred percent like
onto the next opponent at six in the morning, Monday morning,
Like this is not a world of celebratory forever, like
most fans, like fans are gonna be happy as a pig,
and shit, if you're a Chiefs fan or an Eagles
fan all week for the next two weeks. It's not
(21:29):
really how you think, you know, when you're a coach,
when you're a GM, you're just onto the next thing.
You're scouting, staff's at the Senior Bowl, like, what do
we have to do? What scheme do we have to run?
How do we slow down Saquon Barkley. These guys are
just intense man, and I think how he is easily
the best general manager in the NFL. I think his
combination of understanding elite talent, understanding team building, of where
(21:52):
he when he started to where he's at now. The
depth they have at the line of scrimmage. I mean,
think about today. Their centers hurt, can't start the game.
They have to mix and match. Dickerson goes to center,
he gets hurt, he's battling through with a bad knee,
comes out of half, he can't go, So then Jurgensen
(22:14):
comes back in with a bad back, and it's like
they just got plenty they have, I mean the amount
of players they have. Half the teams. I watched the
NFL for eighteenth straight weeks. Some teams lose one offensive
line and the whole thing fucking falls apart. And that
there's a depth to the way these two guys do
it because they just focus on the line of scrimmage
(22:36):
and they value coordinators like Steve Spagnola and Vic Fangier
are the highest paid coordinators in the NFL. Liam Cohen
was going to join that list until he got the
Jags job. But I just the talent discrepancy in the
game today was really really wide, and we knew that
going in. It's like, I just Jayden has to be remarkable,
(22:58):
and he was for a lot of the game, but
they just they're in a gunfight and they got a
revolver and the other team as an oozy. It's like
it's gonna be really hard to take down the dude
with the oozy. And that's what it felt like watching
the Eagles, like the Bills, I don't think are as
talented as the Chiefs, but because of Josh, but because
like they're just mentally tough, they've been through the ringer.
(23:20):
Like that game was close for a reason. Just two
well coached teams. They're tough, they've played in a lot
of big games, they have a superstar quarterback Washington. I mean,
that looked that wasn't even a fair fight. I thought
it was crazy that the game was even that close.
So I just, you know, Sirianni, he's taking a lot
(23:44):
of shit over the years, and rightfully, so again, I
have nothing against the guy person. I don't totally know
what he does, but he clearly rallies the troops and
guys like him. And you know when he was up
there with Jeffrey Lurry and he's hyping up jaling her.
He's good with relationships, and he gets credit for letting
his coordinators cook and being a positive influence on the building,
(24:07):
and clearly how he likes him and people in the
building like him like he's a good guy. He just
gets emotionally spent, and that's you know, big Dom going
back to another Super Bowl. One of his roles is
to keep him calm. But I'm excited. A lot of
people were poop pooing this matchup. I don't want Chiefs.
I don't want the Eagles again. Now, these are two
best teams. I mean, Eagles clearly the best team in
(24:27):
the NFC, and the Chiefs fucking earned it. I mean
this is back to back years. Last year on the
road at Buffalo, on the road against the Ravens, this
year the Texans, but then taking on that Bill's team
who just threw the kitchen sink at him. And it's
just not enough. And I'll never say again that you
just Chiefs man, they just they just find a way
(24:51):
and they covered too, because they were one and a
half point favorite and they win by three. So congrats
to Andy Reid, Congrats to the Chiefs, Kingdom Grass, to
everyone in Philadelphia. Just one game left and let's enjoy it.
We're obviously gonna talk a lot about it brings back
some memories. I'm excited for all my buddies. Try to
(25:12):
get a ring if my friends have worked for the Chiefs,
I mean, they have an unlimited amount of rings, so
this is just like an extra ring for the for
the trophy case. But the Eagles, this would be a
big moment. This is I mean, this is a big
game for both teams obviously. I mean the Chiefs are
chasing such a historic historic like no one's ever winning
three straight Super Bowls. It's never happened before, and if
(25:35):
it happens this time, no one's ever duplicating that again
like that, that's impossible. It's insane that the Chiefs are
even here. But this would be a big moment for Philly.
Their second super Bowl in less than a decade. They've
been to three during that span. They've won them with
two different quarterbacks, and like I said, I mean, I'm
not trying to get how he raised here or anything,
but I don't see how if I was having Rooseveuld,
(25:56):
I'm like twenty million dollars general manager. I mean, Jeffrey,
look at his team I built. I mean, holy shit.
And if we're the team of the Beast Chiefs, enough said,
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(27:30):
hundred and sixty eight hours zephyrishuins four. Additional terms and
responsible gaming resources see DKNG dot co. Slash audio. I'm
gonna do a little middle Coff mail bag. I'm recording
this mail bag before the Conference Championship games. I just
(27:51):
have so many questions from the people out there at
John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff, easiest way to get involved
in the thing called the mail bag, I thought, let's
just bang out some questions so you know the context
of these games. Anything related to any of those players
obviously will not be factored in here because I think Eddie,
(28:13):
who asked this question about Jalen Hurts and Dak, gives
some context here though. Dak, I mean this is Jalen's
second conference championship game.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Dak obviously never been past the second round. But now
he's got a new coach. We'll get into that as
the week goes on. I'm sure, but my buddies call
me a Jalen Hurts meat writer. I think that means Penis.
But can you settle out of debate once and for all?
Is Hurts better than Dak? Question for the mailback, Well,
(28:45):
I think when you look at Jalen and when you
look at Dak, they're completely different players. I mean, Dak
in twenty twenty five moving forward, and really he's been
this way since he shattered his ankle. Is not some
dynamic athlete playmaker. He's a pocket quarterback. And as a
pocket quarterback, is he better than Jalen Hurts? Now? Jalen,
(29:08):
when he's healthy, is a much more dynamic runner. You know,
Jalen can turn into a running back, you know when
he's right. In terms of he's not like super fast
like Lamar Jackson or Jaden Daniels, but his instincts as
a runner are elite angles, just movement in space, and
to me, throwing on the run deep throwing on the
(29:28):
run is something Jalen does really really well. What's up, John?
Got a question for you. I was listening the other day.
I mean, I probably wouldn't really want either, but I
think neither team would probably trade their guy for the other.
I was listening the other day. Maybe the Eagles. Well,
I don't know. I was listening the other day. I
(29:51):
heard you say that it has never been easier to
play quarterback in the NFL. With that being the case,
why do you think we don't see guys getting up
there in the higher four for TD passes as much
as we did with guys like Breeze, Brady, Manning, Packers
AR twelve, Which you would think that, especially with the
added game, that Peyton's record would have been broken by now. Well,
(30:13):
I think it's twofold one. I do think it's objectively
a fact it's never been easier. You are protected at
much higher rates. I saw someone put out a reel
of Tom Brady, uh, you know, making fun. Basically it
was like a real meme making fun of Patrick Mahomes
and all the hits he takes and the flags he gets.
I mean Tom in the two thousands used to get oh, Mike,
(30:38):
it's crazy. The violence in the NFL fifteen to twenty
years ago, it's not even comparable to now in terms
of hitting the quarterback. It was unflagged. It was just
it was called football. The other thing, one hundred percent
you can get away with now are the flags throwing
the ball down the field, right. They used to be
called hospital balls. Now they're just called minimum fifteen year
(30:59):
old penalties. But just because it's easier to play foot,
you know, quarterback, doesn't mean that guys are better at
playing quarterback, you know, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar. I would
say Herbert the top quarterbacks could have played in any era.
But some of these guys, I think it's more than
questionable how good they would have been way back in
the day. I think Jalen's a good example. It was
(31:21):
hard to play like he plays, you know, just takes
a lot of hits. Can't throw from within the pocket,
run all the time, You're gonna get crushed. Lamar is
such an elite athlete that he can avoid some of it.
But some of these quarterbacks, you know, like is he
as good as Roethlisberger was in his prime? Or Philip Rivers.
It's just a different game. So it's hard like to
(31:42):
even compare eras because it's completely different. It is just
completely different. So I think, you know, Mahomes has had
seasons where he's thrown for a lot of touchdown passes.
With Tyreek Hill, I think you know, listen, you throw
for thirty five to forty touchdowns, it's a lot. If
we have a ton of quarterbacks thrown for forty five
(32:03):
to fifty touchdowns, we got a problem because we should
be able to play some defense. Mailbag draft slash. The Jets,
who actually on was that Saturday, hired a general manager
that I'll be honest, had never heard of. But I mean,
there are a lot of guys in the NFL I've
never heard of. But congrats on the Jets. They got
their coach, they got their gym. I got no dog
(32:24):
in the fight. I'm surprised we've never heard anything of
Jordan Travis's contingency plan for when Rogers leaves the Jets.
Didn't he fall to the third round because of his
injury at Florida State seems like a forgotten name who
was one of the better college quarterbacks during a fourteen
playoff before getting hurt in the last game. Well, I
(32:44):
think he went later than the I could be mistaken,
but Jordan Travis got drafted in the fifth round. So
he's a fifth round pick who had a major leg
injury in twenty twenty three. So I think there are
questions about I'm trying to find what the injury was.
(33:10):
So he was fighting for exturee yards but a defender
used the hip drop tackle left leg, causing his ankle
to be twisted. An air cast place was carved off.
It was announced that he had season ending college football. Yeah,
I don't know if there was ligament damage. I remember
it being pretty bad now. When Jordan Travis was healthy,
I liked the player like he was a solid player,
(33:30):
but I never viewed him as an NFL starting quarterback.
You know, good athlete, average arm. Before he got injured,
he had twenty touchdowns, two interceptions. He was doing a
good job obviously not turned the ball over the previous
year for Florida State when they went ten and three
twenty four and five. I always viewed him as like
a solid player, a guy that can compete to be
a backup in the NFL. But I didn't see NFL starter. Now,
(33:53):
if he was healthy, which he might not have been,
I guess I would have played him the last couple
of weeks. They clearly did not. They went with Rogers. Now,
maybe it's because Rogers might retire, so give him just
some games. But overall, I don't know, man, I don't
(34:13):
see it. Now. I'm not acting like I'm Bill wallsh here,
but in my eyes, and I watched a lot of
Florida State because my guy de I call him de Ray.
But Derek Ray was the GM obviously terrible season, I mean,
coming off a rough season, had him on the pod,
did not go well. Previous two years though ten and
three and with Jordan Travis at quarterback ten and three,
(34:35):
eleven and zero. I don't know. I don't see it.
I can't imagine that the Texans let Slowick go. That's
another story. I mean, the amount of stories that dropped
Friday night was we will get into. I'm not gonna
get in depth about my take on Brian Schottenheimer, but
Slowick and Brian Schottenheimer hired Slowick fired Friday afternoon, Friday.
(35:00):
I mean for Schottenheimers hired Friday night is the ultimate like,
we don't want the pr on this, we want no
part of this. Uh the slow thing. I was in
a car. I mean, uh so he may well just
been announced by the time you read this. My two
cents worth, what was the Texans biggest offensive problem this year?
The poorest O line? Which the O line coach has
(35:22):
the best, most consistent protection record, Aaron Kramer, check out
his history all the best, David. Uh, I was in
the car. I think when this got announced on Friday afternoon.
And I don't know if I haven't seen this CJ quote,
So I'm not trying to push disinformation here, but I
(35:45):
did he say something or did a story leak about
c J. Stroud not loving the scheme or not being
on the same page with Slowick. You don't fire the players.
You're clearly not gonna fire c J. Stroud, But anytime
you get sacked a million times, it's gonna be a problem.
And if you're not winning at the highest level, when
(36:05):
your star quarterback is getting destroyed, pressure gets put on
the offensive coordinator and you look back, Bruce arians they
won the super Bowl in Pittsburgh. They won a super
Bowl in Pittsburgh, but the Rooney family, Mike Tomlin didn't
like how often Broethlisberger got hit and how often they
passed the ball. And I think when you look at Slowick,
I don't know if he lost his mojo. If it's
(36:26):
as simple as the line just played really poorly, but
his quarterback was getting destroyed and like ultimately, his personnel's personnel,
so it's on him to kind of adapt, and he
clearly could not. So I'm not acting like he deserved
to get fired, but it was not going well, and
it was not going well at all when it comes to,
(36:46):
let's face it, that they have some fantastic pieces in
that organization. No one is more important than the quarterback.
When the quarterback is getting destroyed, you're gonna be under
the gun, even if you've I mean, he's been the
offensive last two years. They've won two PLAYFF games, and
that was Demko's guy. So I think it's fair to
say that this was quarterback owner. I mean, unless Demko
(37:08):
and Slowak have kind of fallen out of favor. Little
surprised because I mean it's announced on Friday they had lost.
When did they lose? Who'd they lose to. I'm trying
to think, Oh, yes, Chief Saturday. So I guess it's
not as crazy. It's not like they lost the first round.
But they wouldn't have known this Monday or Tuesday. Was
this a conversation going back and forth. Was this where
(37:30):
they kind of looked at each other and realized we're
not going to fix our differences. I don't know. A
little bizarre to me question for the pot. As a
twenty two year old who lives in Orange County, California,
I've been trying to convince my fiance to move to
Arizona for the last couple of months because for our
generation it's nearly impossible to buy a home here. What
(37:51):
are some things your wife likes about Arizona that I
can use to try and convince her to make the move, Specifically,
Orange County Newport Beeacia pretty expensive place. I would say this,
I've been alive a little bit longer than you, and
my advice would be you can't force in situations like
(38:13):
this with relationships, specifically with moving or going to a place.
I've been around long enough to see relationships of other people.
It's never happened to me. But when someone makes a
move that they didn't want to do and the other
person wants, it can create resentment and it can create
a lot of problems. Even though it's not like you're
(38:36):
moving to Arizona, I assume because you've got family, so
you both would be starting from scratch. But if you
want to do it and she doesn't, it's very hard
to convince a human being. So like, you can't force
her to do something she doesn't want to do. Even
if you do have the power to do that and
you succeed, it will create problems. I promise you that
(38:57):
if she doesn't like it, So if she's not comfortable
with moving to whether it's Arizona, whether it's Texas, whether
it's fucking Alaska, it will not matter. So the only
way to convince her is to kind of have her
on the same page. Now, she might want not want
to do it as much as you, but if she
is not on board and is pushing back, it's gonna
(39:17):
be a problem. Now. I think the best advice I
ever got years ago was I used to go to
kind of this family doctor get you know, yearly physicals,
and he's based out of Davis, California, SUTTERA Davis and
wise dude, been in the Army, been around, he's and
I was telling him my plans to move to Arizona
(39:37):
and he'sa liked here's what I recommend because he had
a lot of knew a lot of people over the
years that made professional moves and hated it. And he's like,
just go there for a couple of months and rent,
Just go there and feel it out. And I would say,
whether it's Scottsdale, whether it's Vegas, whether it's wherever you
want to go, just try something out. And you're twenty two.
You guys have your whole life at aby, so you
(39:58):
don't have to make any crazy I mean unless you
start making serious coin. Are you going to buy a
pad in Newport Beach, No, you're just not. I mean
those prices are you know, some of the most expensive
real estate in the in the world, So you're not
going to be able to buy a home where you're
probably want to buy a home. But it's like where
(40:19):
I live in Scotsdale, it's expensive too. I mean it's
expensive any area that people are moving to. So it's
it's that's not going to change. But I say this
all the time, wherever you live, and I've lived in Fresno,
I've lived in Kansas City, I've lived in Philadelphia, I've
lived now in Arizona, I've lived in California. Like, your
(40:39):
life's kind of your life, so you want to be comfortable.
Like I think it's easier for humans that are wired
like me, Like I could be pretty unfazed living most
places because I'm a pretty consistent, routine oriented human. But
I think sometimes people that like to socialize or people
that are kind of busy by where they live kind
(41:01):
of matters. And especially with a woman, if she's pushing back,
it could go really really bad. And it's not like
you know, at your age, it's hard to put into
context money stuff. It just is. I mean, you just
you haven't been in the real world long enough. I
would imagine high school and then college, Like it's just
it's a lot different after ten years in the real
(41:22):
world and you're thirty years old and you kind of
realized this is what cost is how much we can make.
This was my earning potential. And I don't put a
cap on your earning potential because it shouldn't be one.
But it's if she's not on board, it would only
create problems. So I don't I don't have a great
idea because when I came here, Marie already lived here. Maria,
(41:42):
who's from northern California, I had lived here since like
twenty sixteen. She had lived here five years before I
even got here, so I didn't have to convince anything.
And she told me early on, like I'm not doing
some long distance like you either come here or not.
I'm like, hey, honey, like I planned on coming here
before I even knew you existed. So it's it just
worked out. There was never any but I've known situations
(42:04):
where people battle on it, and you know it's it
can create major, major problems that you've got major problems
at homes, you got major problems in your life, So
good luck. I don't have a great advice there of
just like I maybe try to bring her out for
vacation in the winter, just stay somewhere cool, Just see
(42:29):
if she enjoys it for like a week three days.
I don't know, what do you think of my beloved
Cleveland Brown's need to do to get back to the playoffs.
Trade back the number two pick, trade Miles Garrett for
a haul. Where does Thefanski rank in your opinion of
young offensive coaches. He refuses to give up play calling,
(42:49):
but I have yet to see the offensive wizard degree.
What are your thoughts on the hard fall off for
Deshaun Watson. Well, I think Deshaun Watson was a fantastic
play I don't think he was a great quarterback. Like
when you watched him in Texans. A lot of his
awesome plays were like outside the pocket. He was like
the poor man's Russell Wilson. But like his best season, statistically,
(43:13):
the team was not good. I mean, I didn't they
go four to twelve. I mean they were horrendous. So
I think he was. And then obviously everything that came
off the field, he's one of the greatest walking red
flags in the history of the quarterback position. So it's
like he's got a lot of issues. His skills diminished.
He did not work in the Stefanski under center. He
(43:35):
wants to play in the shotgun, and then they put
him in the shotgun and it looked like he lost
his fastball. And I don't know if physically he's not
the same. I mean now it will never be the same.
Multiple Achilles. I mean he's he's just he's awful player.
I mean, if they cut him tomorrow, he would no
one will ever sign him again. Like I feel that confident,
(43:56):
and I don't ever say that about anybody. I think
the best course of action would be, I mean, are
you gonna draft one of these quarterbacks? Because I want
I listen, this is no Shadey you guys, but I
don't think Dion would let shad Or go there. Now
we'll see if cam Ward goes one, maybe he doesn't.
Maybe just take cam Ward and see if Stefanski can
(44:17):
work with him. I think Stefanski's solid coach, but I
do think he needs his type quarterback. Like Stefanski runs
his scheme. You know, Stefanski is actually much closer like
Kyle Shanahan, likes being an understander, likes running the ball,
like the play action. So if you do that, great,
but he doesn't. He's not as comfortable doing all the
other stuff. Uh. I would think about trading Miles Garrett,
(44:41):
and it's tough, but I think in the situation you
guys are in because of DeShawn, he's twenty nine years old.
I mean, if I could trade him, right, now for
three not you're not getting three ones, but two ones.
I think that's probably the move. I think there's a
decent chance he's traded my iPhone. I think is going
(45:02):
I haven't got a new iPhone in years, but I
think we're almost there. I've often heard that when a
rookie quarterback has success that during the offseason DC's will
pound the tape and find ways to slow them down.
I'm curious why these adjustments can't be made during the season.
Is there not enough time during the week, or are
(45:24):
there adjustice more scheme oriented that teams can make on
the fly. Uh, well, I think during the week. To
really really hone in on a place, you have to
have the game plan ready by Wednesday, right, it's when
the players come in. Obviously you can tweak it Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday, but like you got to have a
(45:45):
pretty good idea in forty eight hours. So whenever I
see like why do coaches work so long, Well, they
don't have They have two days to get a game
plan ready for the players. So you basically get you
work late because you're at a game, especially if you're traveling,
you get to the office really really early. You maybe
(46:06):
try to get a workout, bang some breakfast, bang out
the tape, grade the tape. Now if you won, you
put the tape to bed. You know, most coaches give
players Monday and Tuesday off, Like a forty nine er
is Kyle Shanaanleck's going over the tape at noon on
Monday because he thinks you forget it within a couple
of days. So like, players come in no matter what,
(46:26):
so it depends on the coach. But then you have
the rest of that day and then Tuesday to really
develop a game plan. So when I have OTAs and
I am Vic Fangio right or whoever the Cowboys defensive
coordinator is, I can spend a week. Let's go over
(46:47):
every first down, second down, third down, red zone, two minute.
We can do a legit week long breakdown of Jayden
Daniels of bo Knicks where during the season it's like
we kind of have a plan of like we attack
first down, then we attack second down, then we attack
(47:08):
third down, then we attack red zone, then we attack
the run game like everyone kind of has and you're
just in the rhythm now obviously you're also most coaches
playoffs is different, but on like a week seven game.
You're not breaking down all seven games. You're probably really
focused on the last four maybe a game or two more.
(47:31):
But you don't have unlimited time. We're in the offseason.
You have in training camp, you have unlimited time. That's
why the first game of the season Week one, it's
like they've had all off season. So they probably did
some shit for you during OTAs. They probably did some
stuff for you in the summer, and then they spent
(47:51):
a chunk of training camp. When I was with the Eagles,
we used to have, like during OTA's, a giant period
of Washington period in a Dallas period. So like during OTA's,
I'm sure Andy does certain stuff like this now with
the Chiefs that OTAs that you give looks just about
(48:12):
your divisional opponents. You're just kind of, hey, this is
what this is what Benito likes to do. You know.
This is some uh some tells from Patrick certain this
is what vance Joseph some of his go to's. It's
just extra, extra extra, this is extra reps. I just
think you're limited on in season ability time wise. For
(48:51):
the mail bag. This is this is about Mahomes. So
this is before the conference games, but doesn't matter the
whole Mahomes is the go to argue makes zero sense
and it is ridiculous. It seems the media is whipped
to put Pat on a pedestal. Tom beat Pat twice
in the playoffs, So until Pat has six or seven
Super Bowls, he's not even sniffing Brady. Brady was also
(49:11):
able to win another team when he left the Hall
of Fame coach, and I don't think Pack could do
that with no red. Pat is amazing. I believe he
will be the second or first best quarterback ever when
it's all said and done. But you say it will
be the goat if he wins this Year's ridiculous. Who's
really saying that? You know? I mean, Brady's got seven championships,
seven and he played Dell he's forty five, So for
(49:34):
any human to match that it feels borderline impossible. I
think Pat just has the best chance, right. It's like
the whole Lebron argument, Well, he's had a better career.
It's like Jordan's won six, Lebron's never winning another one,
so it's like, yeah, he's gonna be But the career,
he got six championships and none of them and none
(49:56):
of them were in a bubble. So like people can
argue all the they want, no one worth their salt
is ever picking Lebron over Michael Jordan. I think the
same thing with Tom Brady, Like the dude seven championships, hell,
just six with the Patriots, and he got to nine
nine super Bowls, right because he lost the Eagles. He lost, Like,
(50:17):
losing the super Bowls not terrible for your resume, Like
Joe Montana's resume would look better if it's like, he
won four, but he went to three others and lost.
Elway's resume looks better because he's like, well, he won two,
but he also went to three others and lost. That's good.
He went to five super Bowls like Peyton's got too,
but he also went to a couple other ones. Like
(50:37):
that's that's a positive thing. Uh. I had this radical
idea that the NFL should cut the season by a game. Guys,
that's that's a that's a radical idea because it's never happening.
Remove remove a few preseason games, and put it in
a double elimination tournament for the postseason. This would allow
teams like the Lions, who are in the number one seed,
(50:57):
a chance at redemption and allowed games that are flukes
to not change the narrative on a team. It would
also double the amount of playoff games and extend the postseason.
It just feels like sixteen weeks of football are great,
then the sports ends abruptly your thoughts, that's football, man,
I mean, that's why this game is so much different
(51:18):
than everyone else. It's why the NCAA tournament works. You
get sixty minutes, man, you screw up and again, you
screw up in a half. It could be your season.
You have a major injury the week before, you're in
major trouble. You don't get a seven games series. You
don't get a five game series. There are no repriefs.
It's the most powerful part about the games is that
(51:39):
every game means so much, right, Why that game for
the Lions is the biggest kick in the nuts of
all time. It's like, we could go ten more years
of being a good team and never be the one
seed again. Obviously they're probably never winning who It's gonna
be very rare that you have fifteen game winners. So
it's like it's just it's rare to accomplish what they
(52:00):
accomplished in the regular season, but then in the postseason
none of it, Like your seating matters because you get
a home game, but ultimately, like it's just it's what
makes the product so powerful to us the consumer, because
we know it matters. Like I don't have to watch
a game one of an NBA playoff series. I don't
(52:22):
have to watch game two of an NBA playoff series.
You could argue until an elimination game, It's like, yeah,
that's the NFL. Every single game is a Game seven
in the playoffs. That's why college football was raging. Uh,
listen to you every single day. Agree with ninety eight
percent of the things you say. But you said Jaden
would start for the Eagles. Would you really take aj
(52:45):
Brown reading books or DeVante Smith over Scary Terry. My
point was that if you just say, like, would Patrick
Mahomes start for the Cowboys like no one even hesitates, right,
or would Micah Parsons start for the Commanders. I mean,
(53:06):
there are certain things that you don't even Scary Terry
is an excellent player. I would take a j B
if I had to rank the three who I'd want
on my team. Aj Brown, even though he's a little
bit of a headache, he would be the first guy
of the three I would want. Could you make the
argument Scary Terry over Davante Smith? Fine, I'm not like,
I'm not gonna argue all day with you, But in fairness,
(53:28):
Terry is the best quarterback he's ever played with, and
he had eighty two catches for thirteen touchdowns, so obviously
DeVante's had a better situation for catching balls ninety five
catches eighty one catches. Yeah, if you want to take
Terry McLaurin over DeVante Smith, I'm not gonna argue with you. Okay,
we'll get some more questions probably tomorrow, So fire in
(53:50):
those mailbacks at John Middlecoff at John Middlecoff is the
Instagram fire in those dms, scary question answered here on
the show. Just wanted to get some of you guys
taken care of because I know a lot of you
that DM me don't get your questions answered right away,
and I feel bad, but it's just it's hard to
include everybody. I try, I really do, so I really
(54:11):
appreciate everyone firing in those d ms, and I will
answer a bunch of questions this week for sure. The
volume
Host
John Middlekauff
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