John REACTS to the NFL Schedule being released for the 2025 NFL season. John reacts to Week 1 matchups and gives his early predictions for the Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, and more. John also discusses why he believes the San Francisco 49ers-Brock Purdy extension should be one of the more fascinating storylines as we head into training camp.
04:05 - NFL Schedule Released
10:05 - Netflix, Amazon, Youtube are NFL Partners
17:39 - Week 1 Games
36:13 - NFL International Games
39:02 - 49ers & Brock Purdy's contract
43:29 - Las Vegas Raiders
45:16 - New England Patriots
Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow - for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on? Everybody? How are we doing?
John middlecop three Now podcasts, we are going to react
(00:22):
to every single game.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm gonna go week.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
By week, five minutes a game till week eighteen. Just kidding,
I'm not gonna do that. But we'll talk some big
picture stuff with the schedule release. The Chiefs, I mean
are treated like the Cowboys meet the Yankees.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Now we will talk about that.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Some of the streaming services, I mean YouTube, not YouTube TV.
YouTube has a game. What that means just I think
for the future of the league, to me is fascinating.
These Netflix, Amazon and YouTube aka Google are just that
they're coming. And if I was the big time, you know,
broadcast networks, I'd be a little nervous because I don't
(01:00):
know if you've googled their market caps, but they're pretty big.
They have a lot of money. So we'll talk some
other stuff, individual teams, some things that stood out to me.
Just took a lot of notes so on just it
just there's a lot going on. I mean, it's these
teams post on Twitter. It's like hard to even decipher
some of them. Do videos like what is going on?
The Broncos did a video or a guy like rides
(01:21):
around on a cow. It's like, what's happening here? Can
you just give me the games when and where they're played?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
But this is I get.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
It's a big night for the social guys and they
do a good jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm entertained.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So tonight's just classic NFL modern day sports, you know,
making a big deal out of games that we already
know are happening. We just get to know the time,
which is obviously a big deal for those of you
that did attend these games. But make sure you subscribe
to the podcast. If you listen on Collin's feet, I
will be doing a podcast with him tomorrow. Make sure
(01:55):
you subscribe to the YouTube page. All this content is
up there as well. And yeah we'll have a big
mail bag on Friday. So at John Middlecoff. At John
Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those dms, get your
questions answered on the show. Just fire in my dms.
So let's talk a little football. But before we do, listen,
(02:17):
one of the cool parts, you know, I don't really
get to go to games anymore. I haven't been to
a game in a while because of this little job
we got going. It need to be around on Sunday
to record. But I know a lot of you guys
look forward for this schedule release. Even though we already
know who is playing everybody, we just don't know the dates.
We don't necessarily know the times, the time of year.
(02:39):
If you want to travel to an away game, maybe
if your team's playing at Vegas or playing in a
city that you would like to visit and go to,
it's easy to kind of build and look ahead. Listen
game time. They got you covered. Best ticketing app in America.
You just search by the venue. You just search by
the price point where you want to sit. It gives
you the angle obviously concerts where the stages in football,
(03:01):
like where you're sitting relative to the fifty yard line,
what level, the first level.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
The middle, bowl, the top.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It's it doesn't get any easier to use. So if
you want to go to one of these football games
this fall, no excuses. Now we know when everyone is playing,
maybe late in the year with the flex schedule, So
if you're gonna if you're gonna lock it in, probably
do a non flex game. But they got you covered.
So take the guest work out of buying tickets with
game time download the game Time map. Create an account
and use the code John for twenty dollars off your
(03:30):
first purchase terms of play Again, create an account and
redeem the code JHN for twenty dollars off. Download the
game Time app today last minute ticket's lowest priced se Gurantee.
I actually really want to go to the to Allegiance
Stadium in Vegas. I've been to Vegas so many times
in the last three or four years, and every time
I see it it looks it just looks cool on
the outside and obviously on the inside it by all
(03:54):
accounts anyone listening that has been there. I actually played
golf today with a guy who has gone to a
game there. He's a Bears fan. I know a lot
of people have been game and they say plays badass.
So if you ever want to make a little weekend
trip out of Vegas, that stadium is pretty freaking cool.
I mean hosts other events as well, but I do
speaking of you know, the Raiders in the AFC West.
(04:17):
If I would have told you even a decade ago,
when Andy Reid and Alex Smith were consistently a ten
to eleven win team and going to the playoffs, that
they would Land this quarterback and he would turn them
in to the number one brand in football Like that
is so insane, And I think the power of the NFL,
(04:37):
And we talk a lot about this, like as I'm
recording this right now, the Knicks are playing and whether
I'm pretty sure they're gonna win to night, but even
if they don't win a night that I'm sure they'll
win Game six would tat them out. They're just a
massive brand that they're one of the biggest brands despite
losing a lot the moment they get good because of
their market and because of the quantity of the fan base.
(05:00):
We use the Yankees a lot, like it was a
really big deal last year in the World Series. I
don't know to have the Yankees and the Dodgers why
historic brands. The Yankees have been winning since like Babe
Ruth in the early twenties. The Dodgers are also been
winning well before I was alive, and they just have
a large quantity of fans. So it is way more
(05:24):
powerful to have those two teams in the World Series
than other teams without the amount of fans.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
It's why last year's World Series.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Did huge numbers, and basketball and baseball are so dependent
on the big boy brands. It's like if the Lakers
played the Knicks, be no different than the Dodgers and
the Yankees, it would be incredible do historic numbers.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
The NFL has found a way. I mean, think about this.
Two of the biggest.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Brands in the NFL are in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It's because those two franchises, I mean, the Packers are
also historic brand and haven't really lost for thirty plus years.
And the Steelers have been winning since seventies. I don't
mean Super Bowls, but just winning. So you accumulate a
lot of fans by a bandwagon. The Chiefs, over the
(06:09):
course of like six or seven years of starting Patrick
Mahomes have turned into a team. Five of the first
eight weeks they are on Primetime Week one, Brazil YouTube
standalone games, Week three, at Giants Sunday Night Football, Week five,
at Jacksonville Monday Night Football, Week six, Detroit Sunday Night Football,
(06:30):
Week eight, Washington Monday Night Football. Now, the Giants, in theory,
if they're good, are a big time for They've been
terrible for over a decade, so you just put the
Chiefs on Sunday Night and Monday Night against the Giants
and the Jags, Like we're good because no matter what,
even if those teams suck, we got Mahomes. And it's
just crazy how it's become like this because in a
(06:53):
short period of time they have become you know, I
think a lot of people get tired of.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Like why are we going to talk about the Cowboys?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Why do we got to talk about the Cowboys? Because
this is all a numbers game and there's a reason historically,
like they just got more fans. Now it gets to
the point like last year, if you're gonna suck like
that and if you're not good again, we got to
be able to talk about other teams. And the chiefs
are like, hey, well we will enter the chat. And
they have and it's pretty clear that and I don't
even five of the first eight weeks. They also play
(07:22):
on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it tells you everything you
need to know.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
They wet the.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Beak of NBC and ESPN and even YouTube. They also
take care of Netflix and Amazon. It truly is incredible
how fast they have become just a behemoth of a
cash cow for the league. You put them on television. Listen,
Andy's been winning for almost thirty years now. But to me,
(07:49):
their secret sauce. And you could also call it a
combination of like Mahomes the biggest star in the NFL,
He's the biggest name in the NFL, and I don't
think you can dispute even if it annoys people. And
they show him on.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Travis dating her is kind of a big deal.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I do think that plays a part into the power
of this brand because I don't exactly know where Kansas
City falls on the size of some of these markets,
like the La Rams Now, granted.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
They've moved around a little bit, but they've been good
now since John McVey got there.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
They don't get treated like this. So it really is
crazy how big Mahomes and Taylor Swift slash Kelsey have
turned this franchise into. The other thing I find pretty
fascinating is and we've been talking about this for a while,
and listen, I've benefited from this. My life has directly
benefited because of technology and it changed my life because
(08:44):
I can do a podcast from a home office that
goes on this phone that you guys make sure nothing
crazy is up there, that you guys can listen to.
And obviously YouTube has been incredible for the podcast business again,
but forever in the NFL, like you took care of
your main partners, and in the NFL they make their
(09:04):
money from NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. That is like listen,
you'd be like, well, the NFL doesn't care what anyone thinks,
true except pissing those people off. Why because they write
enormous checks. Well, over the course, I would say of
the last decade, Amazon clearly got into the streaming world.
(09:26):
They now have Thursday Night Football. Netflix had been around,
they dabbled in the live events, and then a couple
of years ago like yeah, we're interested in football. It's like,
oh shit, the power of YouTube.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
The NFL gives Netflix these two Christmas Day games. They're
good games. I mean, Dallas might not be any good,
but they get Dallas at Washington, which will crush Detroit
at Minnesota. I mean that game last year was for
the number one overall seed in the NFC in Denver
at Kansas City, the NFL's current biggest brand against a
playoff team in Denver, which also if they're good, is
(10:00):
big deal. So they are taking care of Netflix and
Amazon at a pretty high level. And if I'm Fox
and I'm CBS and I'm NBC, clearly, the way these
wins have changed over the course the last five six years,
we all know the cable bundle is not going to exist.
And it's why I did defend the NFL a couple
(10:20):
of years ago for putting I think it was Chiefs
Dolphins on Peacock. It's like, listen, I don't love having
to give twenty bucks for one game of Peacock, and
I technically already owned because they had some golf events.
But what I love this just to be on regular NBC. Sure,
but I also don't live under rock and understand that
like NBC, the network is not going to exist.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And at the NFL, like the.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
The older the patriarchs of the family, the Jerry Jones is,
the Al Davis is the the whatever, the oldest Rooney
like the old the Spanos's dad, the people that got
in and when the business started take it off, it
was all the networks. Well now it's like, hey, Amazon,
Google and Netflix. They got way more money than these people.
(11:08):
Oh yeah, they also have a way bigger reach. So
one thing that is clearly inevitable. I mean Amazon. They
got in on a Thursday night game they're now getting.
They got a Black Friday game this year, which is
obviously big for them. I think they had that last
year as well. They have the Amazon Night game on Christmas.
To me, the YouTube thing week one Chiefs Chargers is fascinating. Like,
(11:32):
I mean, we all know most of you. I'm sure
someone asked me the other day, like, how much time
do you spend on Twitter? And I'm like, honestly, if
I'm not sitting at my desk, I used to spend
you know, I would say ten eight, you know, seven
years ago a lot. And I think over the last
several years, the majority of time, even if I'm sitting
(11:52):
at my desk and definitely on my phone, the first
app I go do is either Instagram or YouTube. And
the the NFL knows this and they look like how
much money does Google have an unlimited amount? Yeah, we're
gonna start doing business with you. So if I was
and Lessen not, Fox changed my life when I was
a kid. They got if you're my age, you know, forty,
(12:14):
a little younger and definitely older. You remember when Fox
got into the NFL, and it was I think ninety
three or ninety four, they signed John Madden. They come
in right as the forty nine ers and the Cowboys.
I mean the Cowboys are starting this little five year dynasty.
The forty nine ers had been winning for fifteen years.
Farv gets traded to Green Bay. It was the perfect
(12:35):
storm and it was an incredible move for Fox. For
the NFL. It worked out perfectly, and they have been
very loyal to them forever. And now look at Fox.
They try really hard. They get Tom Brady. I saw
Tom brady schedule. Obviously a bunch of Cowboy games, the
occasional like forty nine or Eagle game, but it's the
Cowboys win or lose.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
The NFC they always lean with the Cowboys.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
But that was a really, really big deal.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
And I think these people and obviously these networks know,
but they got to be a little nervous now, Like
Netflix isn't just dipping their toe in the water. And
here's the other thing the league has done. They have
given these like if you put a game on Netflix,
like just a random game on Sunday afternoon and there
were multiple other games, it would not be as powerful.
(13:23):
Amazon was smart getting the primetime package whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Several years ago on Thursday Night.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
You don't have to compete against anybody, And the NFL
was smart, like, that's what we want you to have.
Because if you told me that, like, oh, the Giants
are playing the Jags, you know, one of the ten
am games on Amazon, you know what I would do,
and you would do more than likely, especially if you
didn't have money on the game, or you didn't have
a player on the fantasy team, you might not put
it on one of your televisions. Yet they give all
(13:50):
these streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon and this YouTube. You're not
competing against anybody else. So even depending on your setup
at home, it's not a paying the acid because it's
the only game on so as we've seen the only
game on television, especially if it's the Cowboys or the
Lions versus Minnesota, or the Chiefs or the Chiefs versus Hardball,
(14:11):
we know these games are gonna do great because they're
big time games with big time people, either coaches or
star players, and they're gonna crush. So you're not only
wetting their beak, you're making them realize.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Like god, this is a powerful fucking product.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Because whenever this new negotiation happens, which I think as
an opportunity in twenty twenty nine. I just wonder how
big the player Fox and NBC and CBS are gonna
be able to compete against this, because the more and
more that these people get a taste of it, it's like, God,
did you see the numbers that Patrick Mahomes and.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Jim Harbaugh did on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I'm speaking as if I was like a Google executive.
It's like, maybe we should ask for a couple more games.
YouTube TV's already in bed because they have the DirecTV.
You know, it's not Direct TV, but what Direct TV
used to have the NFL package. I'm sure, like many
of you watch it every week.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
So it's to me, I'm fascinated by these streaming platforms
that you know, Amazon clearly is not going away, and
Netflix getting more and more involved. And I think Florio
wrote about this, they're just stealing games away that would
have Like where do you think Detroit and Minnesota would
have been if the Christmas Games had never existed in
the league's Like listen, well, Adam Silver, you just you
(15:27):
guys can handle Christmas. Throw Lebron, Steph and Yokich.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
On there, and you guys, just have that day.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
We'll just chill right. Where would Detroit and Minnesota have gone?
That would have been potentially like a Tom Brady game,
you know, on that Sunday, that would have been the
primetime Fox game. Where do you think Denver at Kansas
City would have been? Probably the primetime CBS game, would
Jim Nansen, Antonio Rome. So they're just yanking these games
and handing them to bezos at Netflix.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
So fascinating stuff there.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
The biggest names, the brightest stage, championship level swings are
lighting up Charlotte this week, and Draftking Sportsbook has you
covered for every thrilling moment from the first t shot
to the Sunday's final putt. Experience every shot like never before,
you can live bet, you can play, props, and so
much more new to golf betting. Don't worry, I got
(16:24):
you covered. You're in good company with Draftking Sports Book.
Kick things off with a simple pick, like choosing.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Who you think will win. Here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Lines and odds are subject to change.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
But I love and I don't like.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
I love Bryson d shambaudho win this tournament, plus nine
to fifty other good bets that I like Xander Schaffley
to top ten plus one point eighty, Justin Thomas to
top ten plus one seventy five. And if you want
a little bit of a flyer, a little bit of
a long shot, I can give you Gary Woodland to
(17:01):
top twenty at plus four fifty. And here's the big
win for new users. Bet just five bucks and score
two hundred in bonus bets. Instantly download the Draftings sportsbook
app and use the code John. That's code Jawn for
new customers to get two hundred bonus bets when you
bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight hope and Why, or text
hope and Why four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut,
help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit
CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill
Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one on over agent Eligibility
varies by jurisdiction, Void and Ontario. Bonus bets expire one
(17:46):
hundred and sixty eight hours after issuins, four additional terms
and responsible gaming resources see DKNNG, dot co, slash audio.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
The other thing I did want to go over just
because I'm not gonna go too far down because we
never know what can happen week to week. I just
wanted to go over the games. Week one we obviously
talked about earlier this week Cowboys at Eagles. That's an
easy one. That's what you call a BP fastball. I
think technically, I mean, the league would never do this,
(18:23):
But if they hadn't had the rule or you know,
had gone with the consistency that the team that won
the Super Bowl kicked off opening weekend, I think you
could put like Jags Titans and we would be like,
you know, absolute drug addicts, with someone putting a little
you know, a crack on like a string going, and
we would chase it. I don't think the game would
(18:44):
necessarily matter, but when you go like last year Chiefs Ravens,
this year Cowboys Eagles, I mean they're not coming out slow.
I do think the Friday game.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Is a really big deal to the league.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
I mean, last year they did Eagles Packers, this year
they're doing Chargers Chiefs. Now granted that game in Brazil,
which I think is a little weird. Don't totally get it,
and like, what's the point of going to Brazil. I'm
sure rog and people in the league office would have
like they would have talking points to try to validate
(19:18):
the strategy of the substance behind like this, X, Y
and Z, this is why we do this. But regardless,
it doesn't feel like that Brazil game Friday night is
gonna go away and I would imagine YouTube that thing's
gonna crush. Let's just fly around the rest of the
games on Sunday, so we start with a little Tampa
(19:38):
at the Falcons. I mean, I think Atlanta's just kind
of a dogshit franchise like Tampa in that game. This
is a pretty good one thing though Week one games
things get weird, right. I think you never underestimate overestimate.
You just go into Week one knowing like this is
gonna be a hard game. You don't know who sucks yet,
(19:58):
you know every team in the league, every player in
the league is amped up. The game finally matters after
training camp, no one really plays in preseason. You get
everyone's best effort. You get a lot of tricker ration
from coaches, because you've saved a bunch of stuff. These
guys have had all off season to develop some plays.
So I'll do a little win loss. But I also think, like,
(20:20):
could Atlanta win Week one? I mean Atlanta remember Week
two last year?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Beat the Eagles?
Speaker 1 (20:25):
You know, I think the Eagles that they played Week
whatever fifteen are beating them nine point nine out of
ten times. Bengals at the Browns, this is a big
year for Cinci Man. There's gonna be Obviously, there's some
weird stuff going on with Trey, the texting back and forth,
Like I don't know if people thought like I was
(20:45):
taking the Bengal side because I'm not necessarily taking the
Bengal side in this staring contest with their star pass Rusher.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I just think we're always so quick to like you.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Got to give everyone the money and the complications. A
couple of people were like middle Coffe, you're just so cash.
The reason he didn't resign with the Saints wasn't because
of injuries, it was because we didn't have any money.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Regardless.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
My point is simple, when I sign you later, right
when I draft you, like Miles Garrett or Max Crosby
or Aiden Hutchinson, or Nick Bosa. The equity I have
behind you in my franchise, starting with the owner is
pretty powerful. You mean a lot to me. And any
time that you are a guy that I signed and
you're good, and he was obviously fantastic, the relationship.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Is just a little different. It just is.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Listen, Peyton Manning is one of the greatest players of
all time. I think we'd all agree his relationship with
the Colts franchise while he was playing was a little
different than just with the Broncos. By the end, Kubiak
and John's like, I need to take a pay cut,
and Kubiak's like, you're taking some six or seven weeks off.
I don't know if that's happening in Indy. So ultimately
(21:54):
my point is if they had no one else to pay,
I would be like, just pay him.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Who else are you gonna pay?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
They pay these two wide receivers, they're paying the quarterback.
I just I understand. It's more complicated than the way
I'm sure it gets portrayed by some of these former
players on TV, Like, would would Howie Roseman or Bill
Belichick in his prime?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Not this version, you know, would would those.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Type guys less need Are they just giving this thirty
one year old guy three four years guaranteed?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Right now?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
That's my only point, Like is he a fantastic player?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Would I want them on my team? Would I want
to go to war that guy? Of course?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
But anytime you're talking thirty thirty one year old pass rusher,
you know who's not like your homegrown guy, Like these
are tougher conversations. Fair Not the Browns. Who knows that
they could be a major shit show. But they're another team,
Like they got a weird Week one. I would not
I'd want the Browns. You know, the Bengals are in
their division, so you play multiple times. But if I
(22:50):
was playing the Browns in a one off game, I
want them. Like Week eight, Week one, you get Miles
Garrett amped up shit. All of a sudden, you're like,
oh my god, Dolphins at the Colts. This is one
that's you're gonna need some gambling or fantasy to really
stay locked into that one. Indy better win that game.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
I'll tell you that. Another one.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I'd say this one's a little more interesting. In the
last one, Panthers at the Jags. I am fascinating, Like
Bryce Young number one overall pick is he is a
good player. Now they draft McMillan high, they got Lagett
coming back, They've invested in their offense. Like I was
someone anyone that's listening to this podcast knows.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
I just thought he looked tiny in a league.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I don't care not everyone has to be Carson Palmer
or Eli and Payton six foot Brady sixty five sixty six.
You saw him, You're like, I don't think you can
play in this league at that size. You Washington played
down the stretch. He was fantastic, And everyone know a
couple of people in Carolina they love the guy obviously.
I mean a huge part of Bryce Young's package was
he was an excellent player, but he was like his
character and all that stuff was and he's got.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
A root for.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Same thing with Tua, who was an easy guy to
root for. The question is like is he good enough?
Panthers at Jacks got well slow, you know, Raiders at
the Patriots, Like this is we're easing in these ten
am kickoffs. You go from Eagles and the Chiefs and
the Chargers to a lot of like Falcons, Panthers, Raiders.
(24:21):
You know, it's easier way in this is if the
Patriots are good.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You're winning this game.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
The other thing we realized this last year. People get
mad at this, like middlecuff, you just hate baseball. No,
I just honestly believe there is not a game on
Wednesday the fourteenth that matters at all. I don't think
there's one game that matters at all because you have
so many games to make it up. Same thing in
the NBA, like there is not a game in some
(24:50):
random night in January that matters at all for the
totality of the season. In football, because of the short
sample size, it is important. And two, depending on how
the conference plays out. We saw last year, why weren't
the Bengals in the playoffs. You could make the argument
because they lost Week one to drawd Mayo. So sometimes
(25:12):
you lose early.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
It's like that was kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
By like week ten or week twelve, you're like that
that's the worst loss of the season. So I think
you gotta be careful with that though.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
I think like the.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Raiders and the Patriots are two teams like last year,
rough watch this year that could be a competitive game
and two teams that are gonna have competitive high hopes.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
That's that's kind of a big one.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Cardinals at the Saints got this ten AM Week one.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
It's like, this is you're really easing us in.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
This is you know, if you want to have a
few cocktails the night before, you know, order some breakfast,
just kind of chill this morning is Football's football. But
no one's getting this confused with like Alabama Georgia every
game Cardinals Saints. In theory, the Cardinals should be better.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Every time we think that, they kind of come back
to this is another game that, like in theory, could
be awesome. The Steelers at the Jets. It's like, is
Rogers ever gonna sign? Is he just like just do
it whenever he's ready, maybe like middle of summer, maybe
after fourth of July, maybe like middle of training camp.
I don't know. I guess he's just he's on his
own time. Giants at the Commanders like that.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
This is what I'm talking about. This type game.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
The Giants might not be that good, but division games,
everyone's amped up. Day ball's given like you know, that
was a speech pregame and all of a sudden it's
like tight game in the third quarter, right, and then
you look back when you win eleven games and the
Eagles won twelve. You're like that game might have cost
us the division, so you gotta be careful. Week one,
(26:44):
Titans at the Broncos. Tough little opening spot for cam
Ward mile high against that defense.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Good luck, rookie.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
This is a solid game. Niners at Seattle. The afternoon
games get a little better. Detroit a Green Bay, Houston
at the Rams, Like that's a good way to wash
our palette after the morning. Those are just some potentially
some playoff teams. Obviously the Lions Packers. That's a massive game.
I would imagine Tom Brady's on that call. Rams Houston.
(27:17):
I don't know about Houston. I'm sure Romo's on that call.
And this Sunday night game is just one thing. We
got pretty lucky. And this happened forever with Brady and
Manning because they basically won the division every single year,
right when Manning was with Indy and then when he
was with Denver and obviously Tom I mean, I think
the only year that they lost the division is when
(27:37):
he towards ACL, so he was always going to win
the division. So a first play schedule, the Patriots either
played the Cult or the Broncos every single year in
the regular season and then a decent amount of times
in the playoffs. That's kind of what we're getting right
now with the trio of Patrick versus Josh and Lamar,
and we're pretty lucky because more likely than not, there's
(28:00):
gonna be some combination of these people playing each other
in the playoffs, whether that's Chiefs Ravens, Bills, Ravens Bills Chiefs,
however plays out. Sometimes you get one of them plays
the other one back to back weeks in the playoffs.
But all these guys they played each other last year
in the regular season, right Obviously, it was a huge
win for the Bills beating the Chiefs, and it was
(28:21):
a big win for the Ravens when.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
They beat the Bills.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
And this year we get the same thing and we
get that Sunday night game.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Is just it's just fantastic. I mean, Chiefs, excuse me.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
The place in Buffalo is just gonna be rocking. But
I do think it's pretty special when you just automatically
get these games in the regular season, and sometimes you're
guaranteed because the rotation of the division on the schedule,
But as long as you know the Chiefs have won
the division every year Patrick has started. Obviously, the Bills
have won the division I think five straight years, and
(28:56):
I mean the Ravens have been rattling off some division
wins for several years straight.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
So we're pretty lucky right now.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Because these games. Anytime there's some combination of these three
teams playing each other, that that should be an automatic.
You know, if you're CBS, you want Nance and Romo
like that four to twenty five Eastern slot. But if
you are ESPN, if you are Sunday Night Football, if
you're Amazon, I mean, that is a very very desirable game.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
And then.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I do want to get into these two teams. This
is this is a really good Monday night football game.
It's the Vikings at the Bears.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And we mentioned this the other day, like this is
how I think.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
The NFC North. There's no denying there's just a stupid
amount of talent. It is a pretty special division in
terms of the amount of good players in the division.
Everyone is in agreement there. I mentioned this earlier. The
Detroit Lions until they prove otherwise, I'm giving them kind
of like I'm not saying the Eagles are the chief
(30:00):
Like I expect them to be in the super Bowl,
but I'm basically giving them the treatment. Eleven to fourteen wins,
lock playoff team.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
They've proven that.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Now this year they got some new pieces calling offense,
calling defense. Could be a transitional period, but the head
coach and the roster is back.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
They're gonna be good.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
And I'm sorry, Like, I've been watching football for thirty
plus years and the Packers have been good.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Every single year.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
So I'm just gonna assume now. Whether they win ten games,
whether they win fourteen games, I don't know, but I
think the Packers are gonna be good. The Vikings I
would put right there. If you just told me like
Sam Dartell was coming back, I'd be like, they're gonna
be a.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Lock good team. But we've talked about this.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Your first year, you know, as a rookie quarterback and
never started a regular season game, and then starting for
a team with just a ton of talent a ton
of expectations is not easy. We have seen in recent
memory guys get overwhelmed by it. We saw Trey Lance
and listen, I think JJ McCarthy is much more pro
ready coming from Michigan. I'm not comparing him with Trey
(30:58):
Lance in terms of a player, but in terms of
the pressure. Usually a young rookie guy does not get
cam Ward is no pressure if they win five games
and he throws twenty eight touchdowns. Even if they suck
and he has some bad games, but he shows a
bunch of signs everyone will be cool with it. Every
one will be good with it. That is not the
case with these two quarterbacks. We saw it last year
(31:21):
with Caleb the expectations fair or not, and clearly with
Eberflus it was unfair. We're pretty stupid. It was like goddamn,
and then it overwhelmed him rightfully. So his coach and
the guy calling the plays were a bunch of idiots.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
But you look at the vikings.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Right starting at Chicago, you know that is just not
welcome to the big league's kid. You just look at
the schedule. Listen, Week two, Atlanta, controlled environment.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
That's a pretty good start.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Then you just go on this stretch Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers,
and two of the games. Now here's where I think
JJ gets a little lucky. There are two games against
at Pittsburgh and at Cleveland. Those are just tough places
to play for a young quarterback. It's early in the season,
it's loud, people are fired up.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Both those games are international.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
So I think if I told Kevin Stefanski, like, You're
gonna play JJ Watt and Miles.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Garrett back to back weeks, would you get the choice?
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Would you rather play them at Pittsburgh at Cleveland or
would you rather just fly across the pond and play
two international games, one in Dublin and one in the UK.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
He one million.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Percent would sign up for international games. So I've never
been to an international game, but there is a huge
difference than playing at Cleveland whatever it's called Memorial Stadium
and them hitting that that sound of the side of
the wall and you can hear it echoing on television,
or in Pittsburgh where it gets really loud and rocking
and the defense has a big advantage. But they just
(32:53):
go on a stretch after the bye. Eagles, Chargers, Lions,
Ravens Bay, Packers, Seattle, who again, I mean is even
if they don't make the playoffs, is not gonna be
some bad team commanders at the Cowboys they I mean,
it's just it's just tough, and part of it is
(33:14):
just the conferences or I mean the divisions in which
the rotations here. But I would say the same thing
for Caleb. You get Monday night football at home. It's
obviously an easier environment to play because you're not going
on the road in Minnesota, which is one of the
better home fields. But like we saw last year, if
it gets weird, like people just it's it's borderline unfair
(33:36):
the expectations on these two guys, but specifically Caleb. You know,
in fairness of JJ it's like he was whatever, the
fifth quarterback off the board. He's really gonna be asked
to play like much more of a game manager.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
The expectation for Caleb is to dominate.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
I mean, is you know this is why everyone shits
on on Trevor Lawrence. It's like, guys, I was sold
Andrew Locke or John Elway or Manning?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
What am I watching?
Speaker 1 (34:01):
And I was telling someone today, I was like, you know,
if you could choose of all the teams to not
get drafted to in the NFL, that would be high
on the list to go to Jacksonville, just based on
what happens to your careers there. So is there a
chance that he has been in a weird spot. Maybe
it settles down a little bit more now with Steve
(34:21):
Jobs the GM and Liam Cohens screaming duvall. I don't know,
but this team, you know, you get Ben Johnson, you
got a lot of talent. But I look at the
schedule at the Lions, even like at the Raiders, like
Pete Carroll's a huge upgrade to what they've had at
the Commanders, at the Ravens, at the Bengals, at obviously
the Vikings, playing the Steelers, at the Eagles on Black Friday,
(34:46):
at the Packers playing the Browns, who listen. I don't
think are gonna be good on offense, but the defense
is good at the forty nine Ers versus Allions. It's
just the schedules for these two guys is just really,
really difficult. I think one of these two guys is
gonna have a weird season. I don't know which one.
I wouldn't feel confident bet neither way, because I think
Ben Johnson's gonna be huge upgrade. And I just think
Minnesota they just have so much talent. But I don't
(35:10):
think one thing we know is that all four teams
in this division can't all win double digit games. And
just based on the math, one of these teams is
winning under five hundred and whoever does that, it's going.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
To be pretty devastating.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
World of sports, Vice Sports.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Brings an exciting and diverse range of programming that goes
beyond the game. From action pack live events to gripping
behind the scenes documentaries, to hard hitting investigative pieces and
in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams. Vice Sports captures
the raw energy, drama, and passion that makes sports truly unforgettable.
Catch live events and other exclusive sports programs only on
(35:51):
Vice TV. Go to vicetv dot com to find your
cable channel.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
International. It's pretty clear that the league is going to
have an international package. I mean, Roger has talked about this,
and that international package is basically going to be like
starting week two or week three and go for twelve, thirteen,
fifteen weeks, and they are going to sell that. And
whether that's to an Amazon, to a Netflix, to a YouTube,
(36:21):
I don't like that personally. As someone that watches ten
hours twelve hours of college football sometimes I go to
bed late. It's kind of nice, easy end of the
day and knowing there's not a game on till ten.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Now.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Luckily, historically some of these games you don't exactly need
to be locked in, like the Super Bowl. But I
actually think some of these games internationally are a little
bit better this year. The Vikings at the Steelers and
Vikings at the Browns. I mean, you just got to
pay attention to definitely the Viking Steelers and the Vikings Browns.
What if I told you that Shador start in one
of those games. Definitely got to watch Broncos at the Jets,
(36:56):
Rams at the Jags, Falcons at the Colts, Commanders at
the Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
I think it's pretty clear.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Where we're headed that we are going to get a
full on international package sooner than later.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You know, we know that the.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Eagles are playing Dallas week one, their next four games
like pretty tough just start to the season for the
Super Bowl champs. Then, now, granted you beat Dallas seven
point favorite, probably will beat them potentially handily. The link's
gonna be rocking. You get a longer buye though the
Chiefs play the following night, they're traveling to Brazil. Long
(37:33):
trep home. You do play Kansas City at Kansas City
for their home opener the following week, and I would imagine,
you know, a lot of the guys on the Chiefs
gonna have some pride.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
That's a huge game for them, just given that they got.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
The shit beat out of him in the Super Bowl.
Then they play the Rams, Then they play at Tampa,
who I think if they don't have as many injuries
as last year, Tampa could be a twelve win team.
And then they play Denver, who gave the Chiefs everything
they could handle in a game that if they don't
get a feel goal blocked, they would have beat Kansas
City last year in the regular season been one of
the only teams beside Buffalo, I guess Kansas City through
(38:06):
the last game of the year. But that's just at
Kansas City, Rams, at Tampa, Denver, it's just like, hey, hey, Philly,
there's no just kind.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Of easing into the season. Now.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Luckily, the way that town works, the intensity of howie,
how serious you know, guys like Jalen are, They're definitely
not gonna, you know, ease just kind of sleep walk
into the season. But that is not just a nice
little easy, you know, a Giants game, here a Jags
game here, maybe a Cardinal game here. It's like, now
you're playing the Chiefs, then you're playing the Rams, and
(38:38):
then you're playing Tampa, then you're playing Denver. Just four
playoff teams, buckle up one team that we are just
whenever this actually happens, it'll be. One of the biggest
stories of the offseason is the brock Party contract. And
I get asked about it kind of casually by a
lot of people all the time, like, what do you
think it's gonna be? What do you think it's gonna be.
(38:59):
It's like, honestly, I got no clue. Like I I
think he's a good player. I have a hard time
giving him an astronomical amount of money. But I also
know if I was his agent and I was sitting
in his shoes in his corner and his team, I'd go,
you would.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I watched them give.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Trevor Lawrence two hundred million dollars. I watched them give
Jordan Love a massive contract off eight good games to
a tongue of iloa who couldn't chew gum and walk
straight in playoff games. They gave him one hundred and
fifty hundred and sixty million dollars guaranteed, and people are
acting like I should.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Only get one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Yeah, I'm not Josh Allen, I'm not Mahomes or Lamar
or Joe Burrow, but I'm sure as hell based on
a resume better than those cats. So it's it's complicated now. Luckily,
I think he is he values the situation as he
should a coach who not only loves him an offense
that's perfect for his skill set, and you know, it's
(39:57):
been a very positive merit between those two guys. But
I do think this contract is just a complicated situation.
We'll have to see how it plays out. And clearly
because of that, they have made some transactions the forty
nine ers. I think that opened some eyes. They felt
like they got rid of half thirteen, right, But when
I look at their schedule, it's kind of a joke
(40:19):
and they're not as good as they have been in
the past. So my expectations for them are not twelve
thirteen wins. I do believe though, anything under ten is
a massive, massive disappointment and an indictment on Kyle and
the quarterback. Because there's a lot of Saints, Jags, Falcons, Giants, Panthers, Browns, Titans, Colts.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Bears at home.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I mean, I don't see a lot of Mahomes, Lamar
Jackson and Burrow coming into Levi Stadium. I don't see
Jalen Hurts or Jaden Daniels. I don't see the Lions
on Monday Night football. This is a schedule that I'm sorry,
I get. You got some new faces. It's the NFL,
So do a lot of teams. If you have one
of the highest paid coaches in the NFL, and he
(41:11):
earned it over a four five year stretch, taking the
team to a couple of Super Bowls, going to NFC Championships,
winning a bunch of games, random quarterbacks, and a quarterback that,
like it or not, is going to be making a
ton of money. You just you can't have like a
seven eight win season with that schedule.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
It cannot happen.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Like I do understand, if like JJ McCarthy is just
a little overwhelmed and you win eight nine games, I
think the Vikings fan would be like that. That would
be really disappointing. But there is a path. It's like,
this guy's never started a regular season game, right, Like
you can just see pass a certain if you tell
me that, like cam Ward chose a lot of signs
(41:49):
but doesn't win a lot of games. Very understandable, Like
I don't want to hear it's like we don't love
our safety depth. Like you're playing the Colts and you're
playing the Titans.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
You got to win that game.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
If you're the forty nine ers, you just have to
and you can't, like the Packers, lose a bunch of
divisional games like you did last year. You don't need
to sweep the division. But if you're a good team,
the thing in the NFL, you could have a five
or six win season.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Typically.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
I bet if we did a study over the last
ten years, teams that win five or six games thirty
forty percent. So multiple of their wins typically come from
divisional games, because how often did we see Remember like
Ron Rivera would beat the Eagles. You could play in
a division with I've seen the Raiders over the years,
(42:39):
takedown Andy.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Reid and the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
You are just very very comfortable against your divisional opponents,
regardless who they are, whether it's Lamar, whether it's Jalen
Hurts and the Eagles, it doesn't matter who it is.
You could beat that team, and typically even if you're shitty,
usually win a game like that. And I think the
forty nine ers, I'm sorry, like my expectations for them
(43:02):
are not to make the super Bowl, not even to
rattle off playoff wins. But if you can't win ten games,
I do believe it would be a major, major disappointment
the other team that And listen, I've been high on
this team because, like I think the Raiders and the
Patriots had two guys that were just completely over their head.
(43:26):
Right in fairness to uh, I can't even think of
his name. I'm drawing a complete blank. The oh Antonio Pierce.
It was a bizarre situation. It wasn't his fault. McDaniels
gets fired, he's on the staff interim.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
And it was just kind of a perfect storm.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
But like, should he have gone from linebacker coach to
head coach that quickly completely over his head? It was
crazy and the team was pretty big embarrassment. I would say,
an even bigger embarrassment. I don't Mark Davis was in
a weird spot. Antonio appears the players really liked him,
and then it was kind of crazy because when they
really liked him, by the time the season got there,
it felt like Davante and Crosby had kind of turned
(44:07):
on him, but the male thing, Craft had gone on
a record like this guy was, you know, the coach
in waiting in my mind forever, and it was clear
like this is this is not going to work. And
clearly the press conferences ever, it was a disaster. So
you get Pete Carroll, who is I don't know, one
(44:28):
of the best better coaches college or pro of the
last thirty plus years. And you get Mike Vrabel, who
we can argue all day long like how good is he?
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Where does he fall? Here's what I know. He is
a massive upgrade.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
And what I think the problem for the Raiders is
because I think Spy Tech's gonna be a good GM.
We know Pete Carroll as a solid head coach. They
just play in a division with I don't know the
best team in the AFC and then two other playoff teams,
so it's just going to be really, really difficult. But
when I look at the Patriots, I go, I think
their schedule is actually kind of easy because their division.
(45:05):
Like at the Dolphins Week two, I don't even give
a shit.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
It's hot. I like the.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Patriots in that game week one in Vegas. Like that's
not or I mean at home against Vegas. Not as
easy as it would have been in years past, but
like that's a very, very winnable game. The Pittsburgh Steelers
week three, get him at home. Like, who's their quarterback?
Is Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback?
Speaker 2 (45:27):
What does he look like? Has he done anything for
the last six months?
Speaker 1 (45:31):
He's just gonna show up in training camp at forty
one years old and be good. We saw last year
with all the hype and all the offseason, still didn't
go well. The Panthers, the Saints, the Titans, the Browns,
the Falcons, the Jets again, the Giants. They got some
tough games. Obviously played the Bills twice. They got the
Ravens on here, they got the Bengals. But there's a
lot of Dolphins and Jets and Giants. I don't think
(45:55):
it's inconceivable, a lot like Denver and the Chargers last year.
Both those teams benefited from an easier schedule, and what
did they get They had real coaches.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
They had real coaches.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
Now Jim Harbaugh took over a guy who had could
play quarterback. We can argue all day long about like
how good Herbert is, where he ranks, who he should
rank over He's a real NFL quarterback that you can
go to the playoffs with.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
We know that for a fact.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Where he ranks, Like, we're all gonna have different opinions.
Bo Dex don't have any clue. And let's face it,
most people just like, wait, bo Nick's gonna be any
good in the NFL. Drake May's already played in the NFL.
So now he gets Josh McDaniels, awful head coach. I mean,
Josh McDaniels, he's your head coach. If you're a player,
call your agents and get me out of here, get
me traded before he ruins my career or this place
(46:42):
is so miserable it is.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Gonna make me want to quit football.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
Right, But with Josh McDaniels an offensive courd in it,
I mean, let's face it, Bill Belichick's coaching career fell apart,
crumbled when Josh took the Raiders job.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
The year before.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Josh had Mac Jones and a team that didn't have
much talent on offense in the playoffs. Now, granted, they
got smoked, but there was a big difference between being
that playoff team and what they look like post Josh
with Patricia and Judge.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Like, I think the one.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
Thing if you're a North Carolina fan, it's like, listen,
I'm a little Jordan Hudson doubt, Like I just can't
care enough about how many properties she owns, if she's
taking over the will, is she allowed in the facility?
Like that story has kind of jumped the shark for me,
Like it's we've gone far enough. He's old, he's rich,
he's banging some twenty five year old. We've seen this
(47:36):
song and danced before, and we'll see it again, you know,
unless she's like cutting players on the team or telling
him what plays to run. I think we've crossed the
point of like, okay, let's just see him play some games.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
But who's Belichick's offensive coordinator? Who is Belichick's offensive coordinator?
Speaker 1 (47:51):
Because that's a pretty big freaking deal. Here's the other
thing about Rabel. When Rabel first got to Tennessee, I
went to my boys bachelor party. I knew John Robinson
the GM, so I was like, you know what, I'll
make a trip out of it. I went to practice
and it was cool, it was sweet. I remember standing
there by Derrick Henry. I'm like, this motherfucker is huge.
He is massive, and at that time he hadn't really
(48:13):
broken out. I think this was twenty eighteen, and then
from then his career went like this. You kne who
Rabel's first offensive coordinator was Matt Lafleur. You know his
next offensive coordinator was Arthur Smith. This guy's a pretty
good feel now. Even if this Josh McDaniel's thing was
at the Crafts, no one can argue Josh McDaniels is
good in that role. It's why we see like Ben
(48:35):
Johnson is an elite offensive coordinator, great accomplict. How will
be a head coach? I don't know, there's a big difference.
Like Kevin O'Connell's clearly knows how to call plays.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
He knows how to be a head coach.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
Like that's impressive because a lot of guys get overwhelmeds
like I'm just a play caller.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
I got the sheet.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
It's like I'm reading, you know the menu at Applebeasts.
It's like, no, you got to run the whole team.
Your defensive lineman's having a meltdown over there. You got
to calm him down. When you're coaches is losing his mind.
You gotta go talk to him. Your special team's coach
wants to run a fake uh, you need to tell
him no. Scrap at You gotta time out. Every twenty
(49:10):
million people are watching you cause it's Thursday night football
and you just blew a time out. It's hard. There's
a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
I'm guilty as anybody.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
I can talk shit with the best of them from
my couch about coaches. It's an elite trade I have.
But I also acknowled like it's not easy as the
head coach managing everything. When I when I worked in Philly,
Andy Reid got destroyed for time management.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
You know.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Part of it is like it helps to have a
quarterback who also kind of can look at the clock
and knows the times to not get you in these
compromising positions. But when you're first becoming head coach, that
stuff's really overwhelming. I'm rooting for Ben Johnson because I
loved watching the Lions on offense. How he's gonna handle that,
I don't know. Only time will tell. I know Vrabel
(49:54):
can handle like especially the little details, like he's pretty
good at that, So I do believe that the New
England Patriots are. I would put him as like the
Denver Broncos of twenty twenty five. They benefit from a
shitty schedule. They get a real coach while they have
a young quarterback. The coach is going to try to
(50:16):
manage him. Sean Payton didn't ask bo Nicks to be
Drew Brees in this prime. That's not what he was asking.
He's like, bro, just play under control and as a
season win. He let him make a few plays, but
it was like defense, playing smart, being tough, being physical,
and I do believe that that's what Vrabel's going to
bring to the Patriots. Okay, over the next I'm going
to go on with Colin tomorrow. This schedule thing's hard
(50:39):
because the schedule breaks like where do you even start?
So we'll just keep talking about some of the big games.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
It's fun.
Speaker 1 (50:46):
I think sometimes when you do the win loss stuff,
especially if you're like a team in the middle and
you go we're playing Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes or
whoever you know, Jalen Hurts. One thing we have seen
over the years is like guys miss some games. So
there's a big difference of like, yeah, we're playing the Eagles.
(51:08):
We got Kenny pickt or Marcus Mariota, who is there?
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Backup?
Speaker 1 (51:11):
Dtr or Tanner McKee, Like Jalen's missed some games, right,
some guys Jayden Daniels missed the game last year. Didn't
Mark Mariota start a game? Didn't he hurt a rib
or something?
Speaker 2 (51:22):
Remember that?
Speaker 1 (51:23):
So you just sometimes and we're all guilty of this.
That's what makes football really difficult. We know that teams
go from really crappy to really good. We saw the
stat recently that one team over the last five years
that's drafted in the top five has made the playoffs.
And my choice for that this year will be the
New England Patriots. You know, seven seed, nine to ten wins.
(51:46):
But I think you gotta be careful about going we
got no chance to win this game, because that's not
the way it works.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
And I think clearly the other thing.
Speaker 1 (51:54):
Is like when you have a shitty team in your division,
you can't always just chock up that random game in November.
And I think sometimes would get scary is like if
you're playing a late season Thursday night football game or
Monday night football game against a team that might not
be as good. That is that team's playoff game, that
is that team super Bowl. And we have seen teams
(52:15):
over the years. It feels like recently, like the Giants
have been in a couple of those. You just you
gotta be careful because that's in a weird way, it's
a much bigger game for that team because none of
their other games for the last several weeks have mattered,
and none of the games moving forward will matter. But
they know that everyone's watching that game be played. And
(52:36):
I've always defended good teams. If you're like it's like,
how did the Eagles or how did the Chiefs or
how did the Lions lose that game?
Speaker 2 (52:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (52:45):
They're human beings. And for seven days sitting in meetings
and at home watching film, talking about the team with
their coaches, you can't pretend, like, guys, this team sucks.
And I remember Belichi used to go on these long,
you know, diatribes about like this is the greatest special
teams unit we've ever seen. It's like, Bill, this team
(53:08):
is one and thirteen. They have averaged one hundred and
ten yards of offense for the last six weeks. They
scored three total touchdowns, and they have the worst passing
defense in.
Speaker 2 (53:18):
The league history.
Speaker 1 (53:19):
You can pretend all you want up there, and you
can be a dick to your players, but they have
hearts and they have brains, and they can see straight
and they know this team sucks.
Speaker 2 (53:29):
So I do.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
Understand for some weird losses late in the season, but
that's a long way to go. So let's just focus
on the present, appreciate everyone coming, and yeah football still
a little far away, but at least we get tonight
to celebrate the volume
The volume. What is going on? Everybody? How are we doing?
John middlecop three Now podcasts, we are going to react
(00:22):
to every single game.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm gonna go week.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
By week, five minutes a game till week eighteen. Just kidding,
I'm not gonna do that. But we'll talk some big
picture stuff with the schedule release. The Chiefs, I mean
are treated like the Cowboys meet the Yankees.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Now we will talk about that.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Some of the streaming services, I mean YouTube, not YouTube TV.
YouTube has a game. What that means just I think
for the future of the league, to me is fascinating.
These Netflix, Amazon and YouTube aka Google are just that
they're coming. And if I was the big time, you know,
broadcast networks, I'd be a little nervous because I don't
(01:00):
know if you've googled their market caps, but they're pretty big.
They have a lot of money. So we'll talk some
other stuff, individual teams, some things that stood out to me.
Just took a lot of notes so on just it
just there's a lot going on. I mean, it's these
teams post on Twitter. It's like hard to even decipher
some of them. Do videos like what is going on?
The Broncos did a video or a guy like rides
(01:21):
around on a cow. It's like, what's happening here? Can
you just give me the games when and where they're played?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
But this is I get.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
It's a big night for the social guys and they
do a good jobs.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm entertained.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So tonight's just classic NFL modern day sports, you know,
making a big deal out of games that we already
know are happening. We just get to know the time,
which is obviously a big deal for those of you
that did attend these games. But make sure you subscribe
to the podcast. If you listen on Collin's feet, I
will be doing a podcast with him tomorrow. Make sure
(01:55):
you subscribe to the YouTube page. All this content is
up there as well. And yeah we'll have a big
mail bag on Friday. So at John Middlecoff. At John
Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those dms, get your
questions answered on the show. Just fire in my dms.
So let's talk a little football. But before we do, listen,
(02:17):
one of the cool parts, you know, I don't really
get to go to games anymore. I haven't been to
a game in a while because of this little job
we got going. It need to be around on Sunday
to record. But I know a lot of you guys
look forward for this schedule release. Even though we already
know who is playing everybody, we just don't know the dates.
We don't necessarily know the times, the time of year.
(02:39):
If you want to travel to an away game, maybe
if your team's playing at Vegas or playing in a
city that you would like to visit and go to,
it's easy to kind of build and look ahead. Listen
game time. They got you covered. Best ticketing app in America.
You just search by the venue. You just search by
the price point where you want to sit. It gives
you the angle obviously concerts where the stages in football,
(03:01):
like where you're sitting relative to the fifty yard line,
what level, the first level.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
The middle, bowl, the top.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It's it doesn't get any easier to use. So if
you want to go to one of these football games
this fall, no excuses. Now we know when everyone is playing,
maybe late in the year with the flex schedule, So
if you're gonna if you're gonna lock it in, probably
do a non flex game. But they got you covered.
So take the guest work out of buying tickets with
game time download the game Time map. Create an account
and use the code John for twenty dollars off your
(03:30):
first purchase terms of play Again, create an account and
redeem the code JHN for twenty dollars off. Download the
game Time app today last minute ticket's lowest priced se Gurantee.
I actually really want to go to the to Allegiance
Stadium in Vegas. I've been to Vegas so many times
in the last three or four years, and every time
I see it it looks it just looks cool on
the outside and obviously on the inside it by all
(03:54):
accounts anyone listening that has been there. I actually played
golf today with a guy who has gone to a
game there. He's a Bears fan. I know a lot
of people have been game and they say plays badass.
So if you ever want to make a little weekend
trip out of Vegas, that stadium is pretty freaking cool.
I mean hosts other events as well, but I do
speaking of you know, the Raiders in the AFC West.
(04:17):
If I would have told you even a decade ago,
when Andy Reid and Alex Smith were consistently a ten
to eleven win team and going to the playoffs, that
they would Land this quarterback and he would turn them
in to the number one brand in football Like that
is so insane, And I think the power of the NFL,
(04:37):
And we talk a lot about this, like as I'm
recording this right now, the Knicks are playing and whether
I'm pretty sure they're gonna win to night, but even
if they don't win a night that I'm sure they'll
win Game six would tat them out. They're just a
massive brand that they're one of the biggest brands despite
losing a lot the moment they get good because of
their market and because of the quantity of the fan base.
(05:00):
We use the Yankees a lot, like it was a
really big deal last year in the World Series. I
don't know to have the Yankees and the Dodgers why
historic brands. The Yankees have been winning since like Babe
Ruth in the early twenties. The Dodgers are also been
winning well before I was alive, and they just have
a large quantity of fans. So it is way more
(05:24):
powerful to have those two teams in the World Series
than other teams without the amount of fans.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
It's why last year's World Series.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Did huge numbers, and basketball and baseball are so dependent
on the big boy brands. It's like if the Lakers
played the Knicks, be no different than the Dodgers and
the Yankees, it would be incredible do historic numbers.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
The NFL has found a way. I mean, think about this.
Two of the biggest.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Brands in the NFL are in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It's because those two franchises, I mean, the Packers are
also historic brand and haven't really lost for thirty plus years.
And the Steelers have been winning since seventies. I don't
mean Super Bowls, but just winning. So you accumulate a
lot of fans by a bandwagon. The Chiefs, over the
(06:09):
course of like six or seven years of starting Patrick
Mahomes have turned into a team. Five of the first
eight weeks they are on Primetime Week one, Brazil YouTube
standalone games, Week three, at Giants Sunday Night Football, Week five,
at Jacksonville Monday Night Football, Week six, Detroit Sunday Night Football,
(06:30):
Week eight, Washington Monday Night Football. Now, the Giants, in theory,
if they're good, are a big time for They've been
terrible for over a decade, so you just put the
Chiefs on Sunday Night and Monday Night against the Giants
and the Jags, Like we're good because no matter what,
even if those teams suck, we got Mahomes. And it's
just crazy how it's become like this because in a
(06:53):
short period of time they have become you know, I
think a lot of people get tired of.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Like why are we going to talk about the Cowboys?
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Why do we got to talk about the Cowboys? Because
this is all a numbers game and there's a reason historically,
like they just got more fans. Now it gets to
the point like last year, if you're gonna suck like
that and if you're not good again, we got to
be able to talk about other teams. And the chiefs
are like, hey, well we will enter the chat. And
they have and it's pretty clear that and I don't
even five of the first eight weeks. They also play
(07:22):
on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it tells you everything you
need to know.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
They wet the.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Beak of NBC and ESPN and even YouTube. They also
take care of Netflix and Amazon. It truly is incredible
how fast they have become just a behemoth of a
cash cow for the league. You put them on television. Listen,
Andy's been winning for almost thirty years now. But to me,
(07:49):
their secret sauce. And you could also call it a
combination of like Mahomes the biggest star in the NFL,
He's the biggest name in the NFL, and I don't
think you can dispute even if it annoys people. And
they show him on.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Travis dating her is kind of a big deal.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I do think that plays a part into the power
of this brand because I don't exactly know where Kansas
City falls on the size of some of these markets,
like the La Rams Now, granted.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
They've moved around a little bit, but they've been good
now since John McVey got there.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
They don't get treated like this. So it really is
crazy how big Mahomes and Taylor Swift slash Kelsey have
turned this franchise into. The other thing I find pretty
fascinating is and we've been talking about this for a while,
and listen, I've benefited from this. My life has directly
benefited because of technology and it changed my life because
(08:44):
I can do a podcast from a home office that
goes on this phone that you guys make sure nothing
crazy is up there, that you guys can listen to.
And obviously YouTube has been incredible for the podcast business again,
but forever in the NFL, like you took care of
your main partners, and in the NFL they make their
(09:04):
money from NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. That is like listen,
you'd be like, well, the NFL doesn't care what anyone thinks,
true except pissing those people off. Why because they write
enormous checks. Well, over the course, I would say of
the last decade, Amazon clearly got into the streaming world.
(09:26):
They now have Thursday Night Football. Netflix had been around,
they dabbled in the live events, and then a couple
of years ago like yeah, we're interested in football. It's like,
oh shit, the power of YouTube.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
The NFL gives Netflix these two Christmas Day games. They're
good games. I mean, Dallas might not be any good,
but they get Dallas at Washington, which will crush Detroit
at Minnesota. I mean that game last year was for
the number one overall seed in the NFC in Denver
at Kansas City, the NFL's current biggest brand against a
playoff team in Denver, which also if they're good, is
(10:00):
big deal. So they are taking care of Netflix and
Amazon at a pretty high level. And if I'm Fox
and I'm CBS and I'm NBC, clearly, the way these
wins have changed over the course the last five six years,
we all know the cable bundle is not going to exist.
And it's why I did defend the NFL a couple
(10:20):
of years ago for putting I think it was Chiefs
Dolphins on Peacock. It's like, listen, I don't love having
to give twenty bucks for one game of Peacock, and
I technically already owned because they had some golf events.
But what I love this just to be on regular NBC. Sure,
but I also don't live under rock and understand that
like NBC, the network is not going to exist.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And at the NFL, like the.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
The older the patriarchs of the family, the Jerry Jones is,
the Al Davis is the the whatever, the oldest Rooney
like the old the Spanos's dad, the people that got
in and when the business started take it off, it
was all the networks. Well now it's like, hey, Amazon,
Google and Netflix. They got way more money than these people.
(11:08):
Oh yeah, they also have a way bigger reach. So
one thing that is clearly inevitable. I mean Amazon. They
got in on a Thursday night game they're now getting.
They got a Black Friday game this year, which is
obviously big for them. I think they had that last
year as well. They have the Amazon Night game on Christmas.
To me, the YouTube thing week one Chiefs Chargers is fascinating. Like,
(11:32):
I mean, we all know most of you. I'm sure
someone asked me the other day, like, how much time
do you spend on Twitter? And I'm like, honestly, if
I'm not sitting at my desk, I used to spend
you know, I would say ten eight, you know, seven
years ago a lot. And I think over the last
several years, the majority of time, even if I'm sitting
(11:52):
at my desk and definitely on my phone, the first
app I go do is either Instagram or YouTube. And
the the NFL knows this and they look like how
much money does Google have an unlimited amount? Yeah, we're
gonna start doing business with you. So if I was
and Lessen not, Fox changed my life when I was
a kid. They got if you're my age, you know, forty,
(12:14):
a little younger and definitely older. You remember when Fox
got into the NFL, and it was I think ninety
three or ninety four, they signed John Madden. They come
in right as the forty nine ers and the Cowboys.
I mean the Cowboys are starting this little five year dynasty.
The forty nine ers had been winning for fifteen years.
Farv gets traded to Green Bay. It was the perfect
(12:35):
storm and it was an incredible move for Fox. For
the NFL. It worked out perfectly, and they have been
very loyal to them forever. And now look at Fox.
They try really hard. They get Tom Brady. I saw
Tom brady schedule. Obviously a bunch of Cowboy games, the
occasional like forty nine or Eagle game, but it's the
Cowboys win or lose.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
You know.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
The NFC they always lean with the Cowboys.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
But that was a really, really big deal.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
And I think these people and obviously these networks know,
but they got to be a little nervous now, Like
Netflix isn't just dipping their toe in the water. And
here's the other thing the league has done. They have
given these like if you put a game on Netflix,
like just a random game on Sunday afternoon and there
were multiple other games, it would not be as powerful.
(13:23):
Amazon was smart getting the primetime package whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Several years ago on Thursday Night.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
You don't have to compete against anybody, And the NFL
was smart, like, that's what we want you to have.
Because if you told me that, like, oh, the Giants
are playing the Jags, you know, one of the ten
am games on Amazon, you know what I would do,
and you would do more than likely, especially if you
didn't have money on the game, or you didn't have
a player on the fantasy team, you might not put
it on one of your televisions. Yet they give all
(13:50):
these streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon and this YouTube. You're not
competing against anybody else. So even depending on your setup
at home, it's not a paying the acid because it's
the only game on so as we've seen the only
game on television, especially if it's the Cowboys or the
Lions versus Minnesota, or the Chiefs or the Chiefs versus Hardball,
(14:11):
we know these games are gonna do great because they're
big time games with big time people, either coaches or
star players, and they're gonna crush. So you're not only
wetting their beak, you're making them realize.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Like god, this is a powerful fucking product.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Because whenever this new negotiation happens, which I think as
an opportunity in twenty twenty nine. I just wonder how
big the player Fox and NBC and CBS are gonna
be able to compete against this, because the more and
more that these people get a taste of it, it's like, God,
did you see the numbers that Patrick Mahomes and.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Jim Harbaugh did on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I'm speaking as if I was like a Google executive.
It's like, maybe we should ask for a couple more games.
YouTube TV's already in bed because they have the DirecTV.
You know, it's not Direct TV, but what Direct TV
used to have the NFL package. I'm sure, like many
of you watch it every week.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
So it's to me, I'm fascinated by these streaming platforms
that you know, Amazon clearly is not going away, and
Netflix getting more and more involved. And I think Florio
wrote about this, they're just stealing games away that would
have Like where do you think Detroit and Minnesota would
have been if the Christmas Games had never existed in
the league's Like listen, well, Adam Silver, you just you
(15:27):
guys can handle Christmas. Throw Lebron, Steph and Yokich.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
On there, and you guys, just have that day.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
We'll just chill right. Where would Detroit and Minnesota have gone?
That would have been potentially like a Tom Brady game,
you know, on that Sunday, that would have been the
primetime Fox game. Where do you think Denver at Kansas
City would have been? Probably the primetime CBS game, would
Jim Nansen, Antonio Rome. So they're just yanking these games
and handing them to bezos at Netflix.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
So fascinating stuff there.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
The biggest names, the brightest stage, championship level swings are
lighting up Charlotte this week, and Draftking Sportsbook has you
covered for every thrilling moment from the first t shot
to the Sunday's final putt. Experience every shot like never before,
you can live bet, you can play, props, and so
much more new to golf betting. Don't worry, I got
(16:24):
you covered. You're in good company with Draftking Sports Book.
Kick things off with a simple pick, like choosing.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Who you think will win. Here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Lines and odds are subject to change.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
But I love and I don't like.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
I love Bryson d shambaudho win this tournament, plus nine
to fifty other good bets that I like Xander Schaffley
to top ten plus one point eighty, Justin Thomas to
top ten plus one seventy five. And if you want
a little bit of a flyer, a little bit of
a long shot, I can give you Gary Woodland to
(17:01):
top twenty at plus four fifty. And here's the big
win for new users. Bet just five bucks and score
two hundred in bonus bets. Instantly download the Draftings sportsbook
app and use the code John. That's code Jawn for
new customers to get two hundred bonus bets when you
bet just five bucks only on DraftKings.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
The Crown is yours.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight hope and Why, or text
hope and Why four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut,
help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit
CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill
Casino when resorting Kansas twenty one on over agent Eligibility
varies by jurisdiction, Void and Ontario. Bonus bets expire one
(17:46):
hundred and sixty eight hours after issuins, four additional terms
and responsible gaming resources see DKNNG, dot co, slash audio.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
The other thing I did want to go over just
because I'm not gonna go too far down because we
never know what can happen week to week. I just
wanted to go over the games. Week one we obviously
talked about earlier this week Cowboys at Eagles. That's an
easy one. That's what you call a BP fastball. I
think technically, I mean, the league would never do this,
(18:23):
But if they hadn't had the rule or you know,
had gone with the consistency that the team that won
the Super Bowl kicked off opening weekend, I think you
could put like Jags Titans and we would be like,
you know, absolute drug addicts, with someone putting a little
you know, a crack on like a string going, and
we would chase it. I don't think the game would
(18:44):
necessarily matter, but when you go like last year Chiefs Ravens,
this year Cowboys Eagles, I mean they're not coming out slow.
I do think the Friday game.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Is a really big deal to the league.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
I mean, last year they did Eagles Packers, this year
they're doing Chargers Chiefs. Now granted that game in Brazil,
which I think is a little weird. Don't totally get it,
and like, what's the point of going to Brazil. I'm
sure rog and people in the league office would have
like they would have talking points to try to validate
(19:18):
the strategy of the substance behind like this, X, Y
and Z, this is why we do this. But regardless,
it doesn't feel like that Brazil game Friday night is
gonna go away and I would imagine YouTube that thing's
gonna crush. Let's just fly around the rest of the
games on Sunday, so we start with a little Tampa
(19:38):
at the Falcons. I mean, I think Atlanta's just kind
of a dogshit franchise like Tampa in that game. This
is a pretty good one thing though Week one games
things get weird, right. I think you never underestimate overestimate.
You just go into Week one knowing like this is
gonna be a hard game. You don't know who sucks yet,
(19:58):
you know every team in the league, every player in
the league is amped up. The game finally matters after
training camp, no one really plays in preseason. You get
everyone's best effort. You get a lot of tricker ration
from coaches, because you've saved a bunch of stuff. These
guys have had all off season to develop some plays.
So I'll do a little win loss. But I also think, like,
(20:20):
could Atlanta win Week one? I mean Atlanta remember Week
two last year?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Beat the Eagles?
Speaker 1 (20:25):
You know, I think the Eagles that they played Week
whatever fifteen are beating them nine point nine out of
ten times. Bengals at the Browns, this is a big
year for Cinci Man. There's gonna be Obviously, there's some
weird stuff going on with Trey, the texting back and forth,
Like I don't know if people thought like I was
(20:45):
taking the Bengal side because I'm not necessarily taking the
Bengal side in this staring contest with their star pass Rusher.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I just think we're always so quick to like you.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Got to give everyone the money and the complications. A
couple of people were like middle Coffe, you're just so cash.
The reason he didn't resign with the Saints wasn't because
of injuries, it was because we didn't have any money.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Regardless.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
My point is simple, when I sign you later, right
when I draft you, like Miles Garrett or Max Crosby
or Aiden Hutchinson, or Nick Bosa. The equity I have
behind you in my franchise, starting with the owner is
pretty powerful. You mean a lot to me. And any
time that you are a guy that I signed and
you're good, and he was obviously fantastic, the relationship.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Is just a little different. It just is.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Listen, Peyton Manning is one of the greatest players of
all time. I think we'd all agree his relationship with
the Colts franchise while he was playing was a little
different than just with the Broncos. By the end, Kubiak
and John's like, I need to take a pay cut,
and Kubiak's like, you're taking some six or seven weeks off.
I don't know if that's happening in Indy. So ultimately
(21:54):
my point is if they had no one else to pay,
I would be like, just pay him.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Who else are you gonna pay?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
They pay these two wide receivers, they're paying the quarterback.
I just I understand. It's more complicated than the way
I'm sure it gets portrayed by some of these former
players on TV, Like, would would Howie Roseman or Bill
Belichick in his prime?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Not this version, you know, would would those.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Type guys less need Are they just giving this thirty
one year old guy three four years guaranteed?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Right now?
Speaker 1 (22:23):
That's my only point, Like is he a fantastic player?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Would I want them on my team? Would I want
to go to war that guy? Of course?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
But anytime you're talking thirty thirty one year old pass rusher,
you know who's not like your homegrown guy, Like these
are tougher conversations. Fair Not the Browns. Who knows that
they could be a major shit show. But they're another team,
Like they got a weird Week one. I would not
I'd want the Browns. You know, the Bengals are in
their division, so you play multiple times. But if I
(22:50):
was playing the Browns in a one off game, I
want them. Like Week eight, Week one, you get Miles
Garrett amped up shit. All of a sudden, you're like,
oh my god, Dolphins at the Colts. This is one
that's you're gonna need some gambling or fantasy to really
stay locked into that one. Indy better win that game.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
I'll tell you that. Another one.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I'd say this one's a little more interesting. In the
last one, Panthers at the Jags. I am fascinating, Like
Bryce Young number one overall pick is he is a
good player. Now they draft McMillan high, they got Lagett
coming back, They've invested in their offense. Like I was
someone anyone that's listening to this podcast knows.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
I just thought he looked tiny in a league.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
I don't care not everyone has to be Carson Palmer
or Eli and Payton six foot Brady sixty five sixty six.
You saw him, You're like, I don't think you can
play in this league at that size. You Washington played
down the stretch. He was fantastic, And everyone know a
couple of people in Carolina they love the guy obviously.
I mean a huge part of Bryce Young's package was
he was an excellent player, but he was like his
character and all that stuff was and he's got.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
A root for.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Same thing with Tua, who was an easy guy to
root for. The question is like is he good enough?
Panthers at Jacks got well slow, you know, Raiders at
the Patriots, Like this is we're easing in these ten
am kickoffs. You go from Eagles and the Chiefs and
the Chargers to a lot of like Falcons, Panthers, Raiders.
(24:21):
You know, it's easier way in this is if the
Patriots are good.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
You're winning this game.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
The other thing we realized this last year. People get
mad at this, like middlecuff, you just hate baseball. No,
I just honestly believe there is not a game on
Wednesday the fourteenth that matters at all. I don't think
there's one game that matters at all because you have
so many games to make it up. Same thing in
the NBA, like there is not a game in some
(24:50):
random night in January that matters at all for the
totality of the season. In football, because of the short
sample size, it is important. And two, depending on how
the conference plays out. We saw last year, why weren't
the Bengals in the playoffs. You could make the argument
because they lost Week one to drawd Mayo. So sometimes
(25:12):
you lose early.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
It's like that was kind of weird.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
By like week ten or week twelve, you're like that
that's the worst loss of the season. So I think
you gotta be careful with that though.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
I think like the.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Raiders and the Patriots are two teams like last year,
rough watch this year that could be a competitive game
and two teams that are gonna have competitive high hopes.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
That's that's kind of a big one.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Cardinals at the Saints got this ten AM Week one.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
It's like, this is you're really easing us in.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
This is you know, if you want to have a
few cocktails the night before, you know, order some breakfast,
just kind of chill this morning is Football's football. But
no one's getting this confused with like Alabama Georgia every
game Cardinals Saints. In theory, the Cardinals should be better.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
But I don't know.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Every time we think that, they kind of come back
to this is another game that, like in theory, could
be awesome. The Steelers at the Jets. It's like, is
Rogers ever gonna sign? Is he just like just do
it whenever he's ready, maybe like middle of summer, maybe
after fourth of July, maybe like middle of training camp.
I don't know. I guess he's just he's on his
own time. Giants at the Commanders like that.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
This is what I'm talking about. This type game.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
The Giants might not be that good, but division games,
everyone's amped up. Day ball's given like you know, that
was a speech pregame and all of a sudden it's
like tight game in the third quarter, right, and then
you look back when you win eleven games and the
Eagles won twelve. You're like that game might have cost
us the division, so you gotta be careful. Week one,
(26:44):
Titans at the Broncos. Tough little opening spot for cam
Ward mile high against that defense.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Good luck, rookie.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
This is a solid game. Niners at Seattle. The afternoon
games get a little better. Detroit a Green Bay, Houston
at the Rams, Like that's a good way to wash
our palette after the morning. Those are just some potentially
some playoff teams. Obviously the Lions Packers. That's a massive game.
I would imagine Tom Brady's on that call. Rams Houston.
(27:17):
I don't know about Houston. I'm sure Romo's on that call.
And this Sunday night game is just one thing. We
got pretty lucky. And this happened forever with Brady and
Manning because they basically won the division every single year,
right when Manning was with Indy and then when he
was with Denver and obviously Tom I mean, I think
the only year that they lost the division is when
(27:37):
he towards ACL, so he was always going to win
the division. So a first play schedule, the Patriots either
played the Cult or the Broncos every single year in
the regular season and then a decent amount of times
in the playoffs. That's kind of what we're getting right
now with the trio of Patrick versus Josh and Lamar,
and we're pretty lucky because more likely than not, there's
(28:00):
gonna be some combination of these people playing each other
in the playoffs, whether that's Chiefs Ravens, Bills, Ravens Bills Chiefs,
however plays out. Sometimes you get one of them plays
the other one back to back weeks in the playoffs.
But all these guys they played each other last year
in the regular season, right Obviously, it was a huge
win for the Bills beating the Chiefs, and it was
(28:21):
a big win for the Ravens when.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
They beat the Bills.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
And this year we get the same thing and we
get that Sunday night game.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Is just it's just fantastic. I mean, Chiefs, excuse me.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
The place in Buffalo is just gonna be rocking. But
I do think it's pretty special when you just automatically
get these games in the regular season, and sometimes you're
guaranteed because the rotation of the division on the schedule,
But as long as you know the Chiefs have won
the division every year Patrick has started. Obviously, the Bills
have won the division I think five straight years, and
(28:56):
I mean the Ravens have been rattling off some division
wins for several years straight.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
So we're pretty lucky right now.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Because these games. Anytime there's some combination of these three
teams playing each other, that that should be an automatic.
You know, if you're CBS, you want Nance and Romo
like that four to twenty five Eastern slot. But if
you are ESPN, if you are Sunday Night Football, if
you're Amazon, I mean, that is a very very desirable game.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
And then.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I do want to get into these two teams. This
is this is a really good Monday night football game.
It's the Vikings at the Bears.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And we mentioned this the other day, like this is
how I think.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
The NFC North. There's no denying there's just a stupid
amount of talent. It is a pretty special division in
terms of the amount of good players in the division.
Everyone is in agreement there. I mentioned this earlier. The
Detroit Lions until they prove otherwise, I'm giving them kind
of like I'm not saying the Eagles are the chief
(30:00):
Like I expect them to be in the super Bowl,
but I'm basically giving them the treatment. Eleven to fourteen wins,
lock playoff team.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
They've proven that.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Now this year they got some new pieces calling offense,
calling defense. Could be a transitional period, but the head
coach and the roster is back.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
They're gonna be good.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
And I'm sorry, Like, I've been watching football for thirty
plus years and the Packers have been good.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Every single year.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
So I'm just gonna assume now. Whether they win ten games,
whether they win fourteen games, I don't know, but I
think the Packers are gonna be good. The Vikings I
would put right there. If you just told me like
Sam Dartell was coming back, I'd be like, they're gonna
be a.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Lock good team. But we've talked about this.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Your first year, you know, as a rookie quarterback and
never started a regular season game, and then starting for
a team with just a ton of talent a ton
of expectations is not easy. We have seen in recent
memory guys get overwhelmed by it. We saw Trey Lance
and listen, I think JJ McCarthy is much more pro
ready coming from Michigan. I'm not comparing him with Trey
(30:58):
Lance in terms of a player, but in terms of
the pressure. Usually a young rookie guy does not get
cam Ward is no pressure if they win five games
and he throws twenty eight touchdowns. Even if they suck
and he has some bad games, but he shows a
bunch of signs everyone will be cool with it. Every
one will be good with it. That is not the
case with these two quarterbacks. We saw it last year
(31:21):
with Caleb the expectations fair or not, and clearly with
Eberflus it was unfair. We're pretty stupid. It was like goddamn,
and then it overwhelmed him rightfully. So his coach and
the guy calling the plays were a bunch of idiots.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
But you look at the vikings.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Right starting at Chicago, you know that is just not
welcome to the big league's kid. You just look at
the schedule. Listen, Week two, Atlanta, controlled environment.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
That's a pretty good start.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Then you just go on this stretch Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers,
and two of the games. Now here's where I think
JJ gets a little lucky. There are two games against
at Pittsburgh and at Cleveland. Those are just tough places
to play for a young quarterback. It's early in the season,
it's loud, people are fired up.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
Both those games are international.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
So I think if I told Kevin Stefanski, like, You're
gonna play JJ Watt and Miles.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Garrett back to back weeks, would you get the choice?
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Would you rather play them at Pittsburgh at Cleveland or
would you rather just fly across the pond and play
two international games, one in Dublin and one in the UK.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
He one million.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Percent would sign up for international games. So I've never
been to an international game, but there is a huge
difference than playing at Cleveland whatever it's called Memorial Stadium
and them hitting that that sound of the side of
the wall and you can hear it echoing on television,
or in Pittsburgh where it gets really loud and rocking
and the defense has a big advantage. But they just
(32:53):
go on a stretch after the bye. Eagles, Chargers, Lions,
Ravens Bay, Packers, Seattle, who again, I mean is even
if they don't make the playoffs, is not gonna be
some bad team commanders at the Cowboys they I mean,
it's just it's just tough, and part of it is
(33:14):
just the conferences or I mean the divisions in which
the rotations here. But I would say the same thing
for Caleb. You get Monday night football at home. It's
obviously an easier environment to play because you're not going
on the road in Minnesota, which is one of the
better home fields. But like we saw last year, if
it gets weird, like people just it's it's borderline unfair
(33:36):
the expectations on these two guys, but specifically Caleb. You know,
in fairness of JJ it's like he was whatever, the
fifth quarterback off the board. He's really gonna be asked
to play like much more of a game manager.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
The expectation for Caleb is to dominate.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
I mean, is you know this is why everyone shits
on on Trevor Lawrence. It's like, guys, I was sold
Andrew Locke or John Elway or Manning?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
What am I watching?
Speaker 1 (34:01):
And I was telling someone today, I was like, you know,
if you could choose of all the teams to not
get drafted to in the NFL, that would be high
on the list to go to Jacksonville, just based on
what happens to your careers there. So is there a
chance that he has been in a weird spot. Maybe
it settles down a little bit more now with Steve
(34:21):
Jobs the GM and Liam Cohens screaming duvall. I don't know,
but this team, you know, you get Ben Johnson, you
got a lot of talent. But I look at the
schedule at the Lions, even like at the Raiders, like
Pete Carroll's a huge upgrade to what they've had at
the Commanders, at the Ravens, at the Bengals, at obviously
the Vikings, playing the Steelers, at the Eagles on Black Friday,
(34:46):
at the Packers playing the Browns, who listen. I don't
think are gonna be good on offense, but the defense
is good at the forty nine Ers versus Allions. It's
just the schedules for these two guys is just really,
really difficult. I think one of these two guys is
gonna have a weird season. I don't know which one.
I wouldn't feel confident bet neither way, because I think
Ben Johnson's gonna be huge upgrade. And I just think
Minnesota they just have so much talent. But I don't
(35:10):
think one thing we know is that all four teams
in this division can't all win double digit games. And
just based on the math, one of these teams is
winning under five hundred and whoever does that, it's going.
Speaker 2 (35:21):
To be pretty devastating.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
World of sports, Vice Sports.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Brings an exciting and diverse range of programming that goes
beyond the game. From action pack live events to gripping
behind the scenes documentaries, to hard hitting investigative pieces and
in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams. Vice Sports captures
the raw energy, drama, and passion that makes sports truly unforgettable.
Catch live events and other exclusive sports programs only on
(35:51):
Vice TV. Go to vicetv dot com to find your
cable channel.
Speaker 1 (35:59):
International. It's pretty clear that the league is going to
have an international package. I mean, Roger has talked about this,
and that international package is basically going to be like
starting week two or week three and go for twelve, thirteen,
fifteen weeks, and they are going to sell that. And
whether that's to an Amazon, to a Netflix, to a YouTube,
(36:21):
I don't like that personally. As someone that watches ten
hours twelve hours of college football sometimes I go to
bed late. It's kind of nice, easy end of the
day and knowing there's not a game on till ten.
Speaker 2 (36:33):
Now.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Luckily, historically some of these games you don't exactly need
to be locked in, like the Super Bowl. But I
actually think some of these games internationally are a little
bit better this year. The Vikings at the Steelers and
Vikings at the Browns. I mean, you just got to
pay attention to definitely the Viking Steelers and the Vikings Browns.
What if I told you that Shador start in one
of those games. Definitely got to watch Broncos at the Jets,
(36:56):
Rams at the Jags, Falcons at the Colts, Commanders at
the Dolphins.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
I think it's pretty clear.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Where we're headed that we are going to get a
full on international package sooner than later.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You know, we know that the.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Eagles are playing Dallas week one, their next four games
like pretty tough just start to the season for the
Super Bowl champs. Then, now, granted you beat Dallas seven
point favorite, probably will beat them potentially handily. The link's
gonna be rocking. You get a longer buye though the
Chiefs play the following night, they're traveling to Brazil. Long
(37:33):
trep home. You do play Kansas City at Kansas City
for their home opener the following week, and I would imagine,
you know, a lot of the guys on the Chiefs
gonna have some pride.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
That's a huge game for them, just given that they got.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
The shit beat out of him in the Super Bowl.
Then they play the Rams, Then they play at Tampa,
who I think if they don't have as many injuries
as last year, Tampa could be a twelve win team.
And then they play Denver, who gave the Chiefs everything
they could handle in a game that if they don't
get a feel goal blocked, they would have beat Kansas
City last year in the regular season been one of
the only teams beside Buffalo, I guess Kansas City through
(38:06):
the last game of the year. But that's just at
Kansas City, Rams, at Tampa, Denver, it's just like, hey, hey, Philly,
there's no just kind.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Of easing into the season. Now.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Luckily, the way that town works, the intensity of howie,
how serious you know, guys like Jalen are, They're definitely
not gonna, you know, ease just kind of sleep walk
into the season. But that is not just a nice
little easy, you know, a Giants game, here a Jags
game here, maybe a Cardinal game here. It's like, now
you're playing the Chiefs, then you're playing the Rams, and
(38:38):
then you're playing Tampa, then you're playing Denver. Just four
playoff teams, buckle up one team that we are just
whenever this actually happens, it'll be. One of the biggest
stories of the offseason is the brock Party contract. And
I get asked about it kind of casually by a
lot of people all the time, like, what do you
think it's gonna be? What do you think it's gonna be.
(38:59):
It's like, honestly, I got no clue. Like I I
think he's a good player. I have a hard time
giving him an astronomical amount of money. But I also
know if I was his agent and I was sitting
in his shoes in his corner and his team, I'd go,
you would.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
I watched them give.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Trevor Lawrence two hundred million dollars. I watched them give
Jordan Love a massive contract off eight good games to
a tongue of iloa who couldn't chew gum and walk
straight in playoff games. They gave him one hundred and
fifty hundred and sixty million dollars guaranteed, and people are
acting like I should.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Only get one hundred million dollars.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Yeah, I'm not Josh Allen, I'm not Mahomes or Lamar
or Joe Burrow, but I'm sure as hell based on
a resume better than those cats. So it's it's complicated now. Luckily,
I think he is he values the situation as he
should a coach who not only loves him an offense
that's perfect for his skill set, and you know, it's
(39:57):
been a very positive merit between those two guys. But
I do think this contract is just a complicated situation.
We'll have to see how it plays out. And clearly
because of that, they have made some transactions the forty
nine ers. I think that opened some eyes. They felt
like they got rid of half thirteen, right, But when
I look at their schedule, it's kind of a joke
(40:19):
and they're not as good as they have been in
the past. So my expectations for them are not twelve
thirteen wins. I do believe though, anything under ten is
a massive, massive disappointment and an indictment on Kyle and
the quarterback. Because there's a lot of Saints, Jags, Falcons, Giants, Panthers, Browns, Titans, Colts.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Bears at home.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I mean, I don't see a lot of Mahomes, Lamar
Jackson and Burrow coming into Levi Stadium. I don't see
Jalen Hurts or Jaden Daniels. I don't see the Lions
on Monday Night football. This is a schedule that I'm sorry,
I get. You got some new faces. It's the NFL,
So do a lot of teams. If you have one
of the highest paid coaches in the NFL, and he
(41:11):
earned it over a four five year stretch, taking the
team to a couple of Super Bowls, going to NFC Championships,
winning a bunch of games, random quarterbacks, and a quarterback that,
like it or not, is going to be making a
ton of money. You just you can't have like a
seven eight win season with that schedule.
Speaker 2 (41:26):
It cannot happen.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Like I do understand, if like JJ McCarthy is just
a little overwhelmed and you win eight nine games, I
think the Vikings fan would be like that. That would
be really disappointing. But there is a path. It's like,
this guy's never started a regular season game, right, Like
you can just see pass a certain if you tell
me that, like cam Ward chose a lot of signs
(41:49):
but doesn't win a lot of games. Very understandable, Like
I don't want to hear it's like we don't love
our safety depth. Like you're playing the Colts and you're
playing the Titans.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
You got to win that game.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
If you're the forty nine ers, you just have to
and you can't, like the Packers, lose a bunch of
divisional games like you did last year. You don't need
to sweep the division. But if you're a good team,
the thing in the NFL, you could have a five
or six win season.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Typically.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
I bet if we did a study over the last
ten years, teams that win five or six games thirty
forty percent. So multiple of their wins typically come from
divisional games, because how often did we see Remember like
Ron Rivera would beat the Eagles. You could play in
a division with I've seen the Raiders over the years,
(42:39):
takedown Andy.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Reid and the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (42:41):
You are just very very comfortable against your divisional opponents,
regardless who they are, whether it's Lamar, whether it's Jalen
Hurts and the Eagles, it doesn't matter who it is.
You could beat that team, and typically even if you're shitty,
usually win a game like that. And I think the
forty nine ers, I'm sorry, like my expectations for them
(43:02):
are not to make the super Bowl, not even to
rattle off playoff wins. But if you can't win ten games,
I do believe it would be a major, major disappointment
the other team that And listen, I've been high on
this team because, like I think the Raiders and the
Patriots had two guys that were just completely over their head.
(43:26):
Right in fairness to uh, I can't even think of
his name. I'm drawing a complete blank. The oh Antonio Pierce.
It was a bizarre situation. It wasn't his fault. McDaniels
gets fired, he's on the staff interim.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
And it was just kind of a perfect storm.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
But like, should he have gone from linebacker coach to
head coach that quickly completely over his head? It was
crazy and the team was pretty big embarrassment. I would say,
an even bigger embarrassment. I don't Mark Davis was in
a weird spot. Antonio appears the players really liked him,
and then it was kind of crazy because when they
really liked him, by the time the season got there,
it felt like Davante and Crosby had kind of turned
(44:07):
on him, but the male thing, Craft had gone on
a record like this guy was, you know, the coach
in waiting in my mind forever, and it was clear
like this is this is not going to work. And
clearly the press conferences ever, it was a disaster. So
you get Pete Carroll, who is I don't know, one
(44:28):
of the best better coaches college or pro of the
last thirty plus years. And you get Mike Vrabel, who
we can argue all day long like how good is he?
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Where does he fall? Here's what I know. He is
a massive upgrade.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
And what I think the problem for the Raiders is
because I think Spy Tech's gonna be a good GM.
We know Pete Carroll as a solid head coach. They
just play in a division with I don't know the
best team in the AFC and then two other playoff teams,
so it's just going to be really, really difficult. But
when I look at the Patriots, I go, I think
their schedule is actually kind of easy because their division.
(45:05):
Like at the Dolphins Week two, I don't even give
a shit.
Speaker 2 (45:08):
It's hot. I like the.
Speaker 1 (45:09):
Patriots in that game week one in Vegas. Like that's
not or I mean at home against Vegas. Not as
easy as it would have been in years past, but
like that's a very, very winnable game. The Pittsburgh Steelers
week three, get him at home. Like, who's their quarterback?
Is Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback?
Speaker 2 (45:27):
What does he look like? Has he done anything for
the last six months?
Speaker 1 (45:31):
He's just gonna show up in training camp at forty
one years old and be good. We saw last year
with all the hype and all the offseason, still didn't
go well. The Panthers, the Saints, the Titans, the Browns,
the Falcons, the Jets again, the Giants. They got some
tough games. Obviously played the Bills twice. They got the
Ravens on here, they got the Bengals. But there's a
lot of Dolphins and Jets and Giants. I don't think
(45:55):
it's inconceivable, a lot like Denver and the Chargers last year.
Both those teams benefited from an easier schedule, and what
did they get They had real coaches.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
They had real coaches.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
Now Jim Harbaugh took over a guy who had could
play quarterback. We can argue all day long about like
how good Herbert is, where he ranks, who he should
rank over He's a real NFL quarterback that you can
go to the playoffs with.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
We know that for a fact.
Speaker 1 (46:20):
Where he ranks, Like, we're all gonna have different opinions.
Bo Dex don't have any clue. And let's face it,
most people just like, wait, bo Nick's gonna be any
good in the NFL. Drake May's already played in the NFL.
So now he gets Josh McDaniels, awful head coach. I mean,
Josh McDaniels, he's your head coach. If you're a player,
call your agents and get me out of here, get
me traded before he ruins my career or this place
(46:42):
is so miserable it is.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Gonna make me want to quit football.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
Right, But with Josh McDaniels an offensive courd in it,
I mean, let's face it, Bill Belichick's coaching career fell apart,
crumbled when Josh took the Raiders job.
Speaker 2 (46:57):
The year before.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Josh had Mac Jones and a team that didn't have
much talent on offense in the playoffs. Now, granted, they
got smoked, but there was a big difference between being
that playoff team and what they look like post Josh
with Patricia and Judge.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
Like, I think the one.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
Thing if you're a North Carolina fan, it's like, listen,
I'm a little Jordan Hudson doubt, Like I just can't
care enough about how many properties she owns, if she's
taking over the will, is she allowed in the facility?
Like that story has kind of jumped the shark for me,
Like it's we've gone far enough. He's old, he's rich,
he's banging some twenty five year old. We've seen this
(47:36):
song and danced before, and we'll see it again, you know,
unless she's like cutting players on the team or telling
him what plays to run. I think we've crossed the
point of like, okay, let's just see him play some games.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
But who's Belichick's offensive coordinator? Who is Belichick's offensive coordinator?
Speaker 1 (47:51):
Because that's a pretty big freaking deal. Here's the other
thing about Rabel. When Rabel first got to Tennessee, I
went to my boys bachelor party. I knew John Robinson
the GM, so I was like, you know what, I'll
make a trip out of it. I went to practice
and it was cool, it was sweet. I remember standing
there by Derrick Henry. I'm like, this motherfucker is huge.
He is massive, and at that time he hadn't really
(48:13):
broken out. I think this was twenty eighteen, and then
from then his career went like this. You kne who
Rabel's first offensive coordinator was Matt Lafleur. You know his
next offensive coordinator was Arthur Smith. This guy's a pretty
good feel now. Even if this Josh McDaniel's thing was
at the Crafts, no one can argue Josh McDaniels is
good in that role. It's why we see like Ben
(48:35):
Johnson is an elite offensive coordinator, great accomplict. How will
be a head coach? I don't know, there's a big difference.
Like Kevin O'Connell's clearly knows how to call plays.
Speaker 2 (48:44):
He knows how to be a head coach.
Speaker 1 (48:46):
Like that's impressive because a lot of guys get overwhelmeds
like I'm just a play caller.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
I got the sheet.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
It's like I'm reading, you know the menu at Applebeasts.
It's like, no, you got to run the whole team.
Your defensive lineman's having a meltdown over there. You got
to calm him down. When you're coaches is losing his mind.
You gotta go talk to him. Your special team's coach
wants to run a fake uh, you need to tell
him no. Scrap at You gotta time out. Every twenty
(49:10):
million people are watching you cause it's Thursday night football
and you just blew a time out. It's hard. There's
a lot going on.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
I'm guilty as anybody.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
I can talk shit with the best of them from
my couch about coaches. It's an elite trade I have.
But I also acknowled like it's not easy as the
head coach managing everything. When I when I worked in Philly,
Andy Reid got destroyed for time management.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
You know.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Part of it is like it helps to have a
quarterback who also kind of can look at the clock
and knows the times to not get you in these
compromising positions. But when you're first becoming head coach, that
stuff's really overwhelming. I'm rooting for Ben Johnson because I
loved watching the Lions on offense. How he's gonna handle that,
I don't know. Only time will tell. I know Vrabel
(49:54):
can handle like especially the little details, like he's pretty
good at that, So I do believe that the New
England Patriots are. I would put him as like the
Denver Broncos of twenty twenty five. They benefit from a
shitty schedule. They get a real coach while they have
a young quarterback. The coach is going to try to
(50:16):
manage him. Sean Payton didn't ask bo Nicks to be
Drew Brees in this prime. That's not what he was asking.
He's like, bro, just play under control and as a
season win. He let him make a few plays, but
it was like defense, playing smart, being tough, being physical,
and I do believe that that's what Vrabel's going to
bring to the Patriots. Okay, over the next I'm going
to go on with Colin tomorrow. This schedule thing's hard
(50:39):
because the schedule breaks like where do you even start?
So we'll just keep talking about some of the big games.
Speaker 2 (50:45):
It's fun.
Speaker 1 (50:46):
I think sometimes when you do the win loss stuff,
especially if you're like a team in the middle and
you go we're playing Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes or
whoever you know, Jalen Hurts. One thing we have seen
over the years is like guys miss some games. So
there's a big difference of like, yeah, we're playing the Eagles.
(51:08):
We got Kenny pickt or Marcus Mariota, who is there?
Speaker 2 (51:10):
Backup?
Speaker 1 (51:11):
Dtr or Tanner McKee, Like Jalen's missed some games, right,
some guys Jayden Daniels missed the game last year. Didn't
Mark Mariota start a game? Didn't he hurt a rib
or something?
Speaker 2 (51:22):
Remember that?
Speaker 1 (51:23):
So you just sometimes and we're all guilty of this.
That's what makes football really difficult. We know that teams
go from really crappy to really good. We saw the
stat recently that one team over the last five years
that's drafted in the top five has made the playoffs.
And my choice for that this year will be the
New England Patriots. You know, seven seed, nine to ten wins.
(51:46):
But I think you gotta be careful about going we
got no chance to win this game, because that's not
the way it works.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
And I think clearly the other thing.
Speaker 1 (51:54):
Is like when you have a shitty team in your division,
you can't always just chock up that random game in November.
And I think sometimes would get scary is like if
you're playing a late season Thursday night football game or
Monday night football game against a team that might not
be as good. That is that team's playoff game, that
is that team super Bowl. And we have seen teams
(52:15):
over the years. It feels like recently, like the Giants
have been in a couple of those. You just you
gotta be careful because that's in a weird way, it's
a much bigger game for that team because none of
their other games for the last several weeks have mattered,
and none of the games moving forward will matter. But
they know that everyone's watching that game be played. And
(52:36):
I've always defended good teams. If you're like it's like,
how did the Eagles or how did the Chiefs or
how did the Lions lose that game?
Speaker 2 (52:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (52:45):
They're human beings. And for seven days sitting in meetings
and at home watching film, talking about the team with
their coaches, you can't pretend, like, guys, this team sucks.
And I remember Belichi used to go on these long,
you know, diatribes about like this is the greatest special
teams unit we've ever seen. It's like, Bill, this team
(53:08):
is one and thirteen. They have averaged one hundred and
ten yards of offense for the last six weeks. They
scored three total touchdowns, and they have the worst passing
defense in.
Speaker 2 (53:18):
The league history.
Speaker 1 (53:19):
You can pretend all you want up there, and you
can be a dick to your players, but they have
hearts and they have brains, and they can see straight
and they know this team sucks.
Speaker 2 (53:29):
So I do.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
Understand for some weird losses late in the season, but
that's a long way to go. So let's just focus
on the present, appreciate everyone coming, and yeah football still
a little far away, but at least we get tonight
to celebrate the volume
Host
John Middlekauff
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com