Brady Looks Old; Taysom Hill/Payton Bond; Colts/Packers Takes; Rookie QB Stock Watch; Week 11 Wrap Up; Mailbag

In this episode, John discusses the Rams MNF win over the Bucs, why the age is finally catching up with Tom Brady, why Sean Payton's ego is tied into giving Taysom Hill a shot at QB, his takeaways from the Colts taking down the Packers, and runs down who's up and who's down in his rookie QB stock watch. Middlekauff also recaps the top action and stories from week 11 - including Mike McCarthy smashing watermelons and John Harbaugh playing the tough guy - and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter and SUBSCRIBE now to get all the latest content!!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
What is going on everybody beyond Middletop three and out
podcast on this Thanksgiving week week to give thanks, Eat
some turkey, eat some ham, eat whatever the hell you eat. Hopefully,
uh you're enjoying it with your family or whatever you're doing.
I know this year is a little weird. Two thousand
twenty's just been pretty terrible. So uh, you know, hopefully

(00:33):
everything's okay, and keep your head up and just we'll
grind through it together. Uh. Just finished watching this Monday
night football game. Actually there's like forty seconds left. I
just once Brady through that pick. I had to fire
it up. I I got a couple of takes on tonight. Uh,
we're gonna dive into a lot on what happened this weekend,

(00:55):
Taysom Hill, some thoughts on the Colts Packer game, John
on Harbaugh and Vrabel fighting. We'll do a little rookie
quarterback stock watch. Uh, dive into some of your Middlecoff
mail bag questions at John Middlecoff is my Instagram easiest
way to get ahold of me slide up in my
d m s. I'll probably do a large mail bag

(01:17):
on Friday, which I'm gonna record the next couple of
days before Thanksgiving to go out for the weekend, so
uh anything, hit me up and we'll do a large
mail bag question. Also, get ready for the weekend's games.
Apologize if if anyone took my betting for three and out.
I didn't hit on one pick on Friday's picks. I
also bet on some other games I basically missed. I

(01:39):
lost a lot of money this weekend, so I apologize.
I also lost I bet on my picks that did
not hit. It was embarrassing, no way around it. I'll
just be better. I'll have to be better. I don't
know necessarily how to be better. I'm on a cold
streak right now, but we gotta pick ourselves up off
the mat and uh and win some games. There is
some games to gamble on on Thursday, but the games

(02:02):
look pretty terrible obviously, the Cowboys, the Lions games, I'm
just not that interested. Then the night game. Who knows,
a bunch of Ravens are getting quarantined right now, their
whole backfield and their nose tackle. So we'll see if
that Ravens Steeler game goes down. But let's start with
the Monday night football game. And you hear this when
you're young a lot just wait till you get old,

(02:23):
Wait till you get old, Wait till you get old,
and you never really understand it for a long period
of time. And I'm not some by any means, some
pristine athlete. It didn't play in anything past high school.
But for the most part in my life, in my
like twenties, I've worked out every day since I was
like in college, I could eat whatever I wanted. And

(02:45):
then two or three years ago it kind of hit
me when all those people like, hey man, it's about
the diet. It's about the diet. It's true. Now it
hits everyone at a different age, and they always see,
wait till you get old, different pains and eggs and pains,
and you won't battle back. You'll get a little sore.
And then you get older and you kind of realize,
like I get sore the first time I played golf
in a while like that that that's like the weakest

(03:08):
thing I could ever say in my life. I get
sore playing golf. That actually happens when you're thirty six,
and he just everything works a little slower. I can't
imagine what it's like to be in my forties and
fifties just part of growing older. It's why every older
athlete says father Time is undefeated. And I honestly don't
think it really sinks in as a sports watcher until

(03:31):
you get of the age that they're talking about, And
right now I'm in an age at thirty six years old.
Did a lot of athletes historically kind of just fall
off a cliff thirty seven? Now, some guys, starting with
the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, has pushed
the envelope on that number. Right. He's forty three years old,

(03:53):
he just won a Super Bowl a couple of years ago. He's,
you know, still a good player. But I thought tonight
on Monday Night Ball was one of the most alarming
games I've ever seen him play. He was like skipping balls,
throwing balls right to the other team. He looked old.
And we've been saying it for a long time about
Drew Brees, about Philip Rivers. I saw it happen with

(04:16):
Peyton Manning, Like, it's not that he looks old. Tom
Brady is old. He's forty three years old. This is
not normal. This shouldn't be the norm. What he's doing,
hopefully is an outlier situation because I don't really want
to watch forty three year old, you know, in theory,
especially the greatest quarterback of all time, he shouldn't be

(04:39):
able to dominate at the level in which he did
five or six years ago. It honestly is one of
the most unbelievable things we've ever seen in the history
of sports. The Tom Brady passed his forty you know,
like forty and forty one. Then he went an m
VP at forty like, that's insane, that's that's crazy, that's nuts.
But he can't move. In a league that is becoming,

(05:01):
there are a lot more pressure on the quarterback to
at least be able to roll out to his left
or right. Tom cannot do that. He stays within the pocket.
Now he's the greatest pocket quarterback of all time. But
as you saw tonight, the Colts, excuse me, not the Colts,
the Bucks, who were missing some offensive lineman struggle to
protect him sometimes. And when you hit Tom in his
peak in OH seven and eleven, it rattles him. Why,

(05:25):
because he's a human like any quarterback. If you hit
a quarterback, it's gonna rattle him a little bit. And
then I thought tonight, whether it's the offense, whether it's
not being on the same page as Antonio Brown or
Mike Evans or whatever, his deep ball accuracy today was atrocious.
I mean, he basically is just a tad over. But
to me, the interceptions, even if you don't live in

(05:48):
New England, just because he's played in so many national
televised games. He's played in so many of those afternoon
national games on CBS with Romo and before that Phil Simms.
I feel like I've watched, and I've lived in California
the majority of his career, of Tom Brady's games, I'd
have to go back into a deep dive and I
remember that one Kansas City game, but just those two throws.

(06:11):
I beat that throw to basically end the game where
he overthrew break. It almost felt like, you know, it's
like getting close to midnight. I just want to go home.
You've never ever seen him make that throw. Ever, I'm
honestly it happened probably ten minutes ago. As I'm recording this,
I'm still a little bit of loss. I get, like, listen,

(06:32):
he's old. I don't hold him to the same standard
in which I did in his absolute peak. He shouldn't
be in his peak anymore. He's eating avocado ice cream
and he's playing. But he still has their receiving corps
with Mike Evans, with Chris Godwin, with Antonio Brown, who's
still trying to figure it out. But Antonio Brown's I
don't know if right now he's an elite player, but
he's still damn good. Evans is a monster, Godwin's a monster.

(06:56):
I just I don't even really know what I just witnessed.
Is it that him and Airy Ends aren't on the
same page. Clearly it's throwing them off. They don't have
running backs to dump the ball off to. Tom Brady
is used to doing something pretty simple, throwing the ball
to running backs on wheel routes. Tonight, every single it
felt like the majority of plays on early downs are

(07:16):
running like go routes are running posts are running deep outs.
If you've watched Tom Brady's career with Josh mcgannels, that's
not really what they do, not because he can't do it,
but he's more comfortable doing other stuff. The reality is
this team is built with thoroughbreds to push the ball
down the field, and as we saw tonight, Tom Brady
is just not accurate down the field right now. He's

(07:38):
just not Honestly, it wasn't even close on several balls
like they were embarrassingly bad. They just were. And then
I take a step back and I go, well again,
back to Father Time. He's old as hell. Is it
really that crazy? Should he be kind of bad? Yeah?
That shouldn't that kind of make sense? Of course, maybe

(08:01):
this is just who Tom Brady is. Some games will
be good and some games will be bad. I talked
about Philip Rivers. I'll do it later in the show,
like that's the reality with him. And he's in his
late thirties, you know, I mean, this is probably just
who he is. Father Time has slowly, as the slowest ever,
you know, kind of creeped into Tom Brady's life, and

(08:22):
I think the Arians discomfort probably the wrong word, but
there it doesn't quite feel like the mesh between Tom
and Arians is a perfect mesh. Would they be better
with Jamis Winston? No? I mean Jamis throws a lot
of picks, But the Tom I saw tonight was throwing
the ball the other team and then on the other side.

(08:44):
It ended up working out because Tom threw the pick
at the end of the game. But Sean McVeigh, with
kind of the game on the line in a tie game,
drive in the field, he has Jared Goff make a
great play on third down. It's like third and eight.
He calls a rollout, he runs like a deep out
the Cooper Cup. Goff, as Devin White's chasing him, throws

(09:05):
a dime and then they get in the field goal range.
And then he pusses out on second and third down
and he just runs the ball. I don't understand getting.
I understand if you're always gonna be conservative, but I
never understand a coach. And Jared Goff had thrown a
terrible interception in the second half. But once you call
that third down play and you empower him and he

(09:28):
comes through to me, you just gotta roll with it.
Because the one thing you saw tonight between Woods and
Cup and the rookie Van Jefferson and just their wide receivers,
they they have a dynamic offense in terms of wide receivers.
Those guys can get open, keep putting the pedal to
the medal. Now, ultimately they played for a field goal,

(09:48):
and I'm sitting there and my desk watching the game
gone you know, it feels a little bit like Tiger Woods.
After the ten, he birdies five of his last six
holes of the Masters I've seen, you know, Tom Brady
has had bad games before, and he's had walk off touchdowns.
I think it's pretty risky now. It ended up working
out because Tom didn't come through. But I did not
like the conservative nature from Sean McVeigh, especially after Jared

(10:11):
Goff just made a couple of dice throws on the drive.
It's almost like he showed you I don't really trust
Jared Goff. I don't want him taking a bad sack.
I don't want him turning the ball over. That was
a little alarming, and I think, you know, I don't
know if it was much about the Rams defense tonight,
because everyone's like, oh, Brandon Staley's he's like the next

(10:31):
Vic Fangio meets Bill Porcels, Like, let's just pump the
brakes a little bit. Tom was just throwing the ball
of the other team. I didn't think like the Rams
were just running circles around everyone on defense. But the
result is the result. You could argue that they have
the talent. They definitely have the offensive skill. Guys, they

(10:51):
definitely have those couple of blue chip guys on defense
to make noise in the NFC. And let's face it,
the NFC is wide open. I mean, if Drew brees
My not be able to come back and take them
hill running around, that's gonna be your number one seed.
The Packers, we know they're flawed. Like any team can
win the NFC this year. If you get into the dance,
the Rams will have as good a chance as any
right that they really will. But Sean McVeigh cannot get back,

(11:14):
you know, to the Super Bowl and win the NFC
if he's gonna be conservative, and sometimes weirdly he gets
conservative for being this young Hollywood hot shot. The guys
like me love putting on a pedestal and blowing and
act like this sweet coach because he is. He just can.
When he gets in a rhythm and a flow with
that offense, it looks awesome. But then he, you know,

(11:35):
turns into a defensive head coach. Sometimes it's like, John,
what are you doing? Keep the pedal to the metal,
play for the touchdown, go for the kill shot, hit
him with the hammer in the head, knock him out
in the game, and he calls two runs against one
of the best run defenses in the league, Like, you're
not gonna run it? Are you just playing for the
field goal? Is that kind of weird? Are you gonna
do that against Sean Payton? Are you gonna do that

(11:57):
against Kyler Russell Wilson? That that would make me a
little nervous. Maybe it wouldn't. But I've seen him do
that now a couple of times the last couple of
years that I just got a red flag. Did he
get a little tight in big spots? Because I hope not.
I think he's one of the better coaches in the league,
not just young, just better coaches in the league. I
thought he was kind of run circles around arians like, hey, Bruce,

(12:19):
tell Leftwich, stop calling these go routes in deep posts.
Tom's not getting remotely close. If he was playing, you know, horseshoes,
he wouldn't get any points. He's not even in the vicinity.
Run some small short breaking routes. Put a different running
back in there beside the Leonard four Nett that can
catch the football. Because this is not working out, very

(12:41):
very poor coaching to night from the Tampa Bay Bucks.
Very bizarre, it really was. And you know Sean McVeigh
out coached him, but he got a little lucky there
because because you cannot get conservative. Not too easy to
play offense, too many touchdowns, too easy to drive the field.
We saw it on some to night football. Derrek drives

(13:01):
the field, My homes drive the field like teams can
score so fast. Now it's a possibly defense can't hit
anyone in the passing game. You gotta you gotta be aggressive.
To me, whoever win's Super Bowl this year will just
be super aggressive. I'm not even talking on four pounds.
I'm just talking the mindset to keep scoring touchdowns, not
kick field goals, go forward in short in you know,

(13:25):
fourth and short situations or third and short situation. You've
gotta be aggressive. And it's just it's something to keep
an eye on. With me. Let's dive into probably the
biggest story, or definitely one of them of the weekend.
And I don't think it's that complicated once you take
a step back and look at it, When you just
look at it from a quarterback coach perspective, you go,

(13:47):
why does he want to play him so much? When
you take a step back and realize we all know
that guy and I've seen. All you gotta do is
watch TV. Some of the most famous investors get a
lot of credit for going. You know what, I gave
Apple money in the nineties when no one believed in them.
I invested in Jeff Bezos in the late nineties. I

(14:09):
was one of the initial investors in Facebook or Uber.
I saw something that no one else could see. Those
guys become really famous. Turn on CNBC. Those guys get
interviewed like once a week. It's like, you know, this
is the guy that was a third investor into Uber
because they saw something anyone had the opportunity. How people

(14:31):
take pride in You know, I got this little hole
in the wall restaurant. No one knows about it but me.
Because when you know something that someone else doesn't know
in your own mind, it separates you. And football is
no different. It's a talent acquisition business. Most players, you know,
Nick Bosa, Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, everyone knows those guys

(14:54):
are good. But once upon a time, no one thought
Tom Brady was any good. The Patriots thought clearly enough
to draft him, and then they built a franchise around
the guy. Joe Montana was once drafted in the third round,
the third round. Mahomes. Obviously, the Bears drafted a quarterback,

(15:16):
didn't think about drafting him. The Niners Kyle Shanahan said
he didn't even look at Patrick Mahomes. Part of the
right now, he was a really high pick still, you
know in the top what he's picked tenth. But one
of the reasons the Chiefs get a lot of credit
for Mahomes is it does feel like, you know, the
only two teams that were gonna draft Mahomes in the
first round were Andy Reen Sean Payton, and it just

(15:39):
turns out there two of the better offensive vines. They
saw something that no one else saw. I get asked
this question sometimes. You know, when you were scouting, who
were your diamonds? You know, I I started scouting when
the Internet existed. There are no diamonds. Everyone has access
to every piece of film. We know about every single

(16:01):
when when you have a pro day, if a guy
runs a four three that goes viral, not on Twitter,
but in NFL circles. There's no such thing as a diamond.
But if you are active and you either draft that
guy late in the draft or signed him as an
undrafted free agent, you get credit for the player, Like
was Richard Sherman a diamond for Seattle back in the day. No,

(16:24):
everyone had Richard Sherman on their draft board. Seattle just
pulled the trigger, but ultimately they get credit still to
this day, is like Pete and John Snyder landed him
in the third round. Hell, think how much credit they
get for Russell Wilson. It's like, you know that anyone
else could have had him, and that's true. But everyone
knew about the guy. Remember what the Eagles and he
read loved him. We thought about drafting him. We didn't.

(16:46):
But I would imagine a ton of teams like Russell
Wilson a lot. But the reason Seattle gets all the
credit is they drafted him. He's still on their team.
One of the things I realized watching Sean Payton would
Taysom Hill, is he like, this is his guy. For
whatever reason, he fell in love with him. And the
irony is they didn't even quote unquote find him. Now again,

(17:07):
everyone knew who Tasom Hill was. You know, maybe I
watched more B y U than some people in the
Northeast or the Southeast, just because I don't know. I
guess they're a West Coast School. But I remember seeing
him all the time in like two thousand, two thousand, fourteen,
two fifteen. He was this highly touted guy, like their
version of Tebow, you know, B y U S. But

(17:28):
he kept tearing his A C L. And he was
there for like six or seven years. He was an
undrafted free agent, not to the Saints, but to the
Green Bay Packers. They cut him. Then the Saints acquired him,
and for whatever reason, the moment he got around there,
him and Sean Payton hit it off, and Sean Payton
feels he sees something in this player that no one

(17:48):
else sees, like this is his diamond. He's been rumored
the last couple of years is they're gonna get up
to get a quarterback. They're gonna try to get this guy,
and they haven't been able to do that. He clearly
really like Teddy Bridgewater. Remember they signed him when a
lot of teams could have him. They paid him a
lot as the backup, but eventually he was good enough
that he got a contract they couldn't match. And now

(18:09):
he has this guy. Whether we agree or disagree, whether
he's the future Drew Brees replacement or not, the only
person what do they teach you in business school? You
want to get a deal done, you don't waste any time,
but get to the people that make decisions, or get
to the gatekeepers who can lead you to the decision makers.

(18:29):
All that matters in life. Like we all know if
we've been, you know, to a sales guy buying a
car or whatever, if the guy is has to go, well,
let me go get my manager. That guy's worthless. He's irrelevant.
So whether scouts and I saw the story last week
that you know a lot of people within the Saints
organization didn't didn't agree with Sean Payton. My response was,

(18:51):
who gives a ship? Sean Payton's the boss. If you
need one person to believe believe in you, and in
every franchise, it better be the head coach coach, because
the head coach dictates who plays. And I know Sean
Payton in terms of the hierarchy of head coach in
the NFL, is near the top when it comes to juice.
He's got a lot in his organization and watching Taysom

(19:13):
Hill like it was a little different. He's not like
some natural quarterback in the sense of little frenetic with
his feet like kind of scrambling like a runner, looks
like a guy, like a raw product that. But the
thing is he's not twenty two years old. He's thirty.
If you told me guy he's twenty two, I'd be like, ah, man,

(19:34):
they got something there. But he's thirty. I go. You know,
he's got a strong arm, actually made a lot of
accurate passes, really athletic. I mean he ran a four
four by U s prote still plays like that. He's
really physically, he's tough. There's a lot to like and
I'm gonna lean with I get social media and people
question it. Hell I question it. But Sean Payton is
one of the best coaches you know of the last

(19:56):
several decades. Like he knows what he's doing now. He
might ultimately be wrong on this. A lot of great investors.
If you invest in Ubern, you've invest in Facebook, You've
probably invested in companies that go under the masses that
we never hear of, and your money just disappears, just
like it happens with a lot of coaches that invest

(20:17):
in players, that draft players, that believe in players they
turned out to not be very good. There's been a
lot of six round picks. I'll promise you that didn't
look like Tom Brady just nature of the deal. There
have been a lot of free agent quarterback signings that
didn't work out, like Drew Brees. But I'm gonna get
behind if Sean Payton believes in this guy, he's putting
all his chips in the middle of the table. I'll

(20:38):
get behind it. I think there's a chance it works.
I also think there's a chance that fails. It's a
risky move, but I think he's thinking bigger picture and
there's an ego involved. Like I said, you get a
little credit if Taysom Hill becomes a really good quarterback.
Sean Payton's getting all the credit, and you can say, well,
what what does he need to get credit At this
point in time in his career. He's been making ten

(20:59):
million hours forever, He's won a super Bowl, his team
goes to the playoffs every year. We're all humans, we're
all competitive. We all have egos that like to be
stroked and get more credit for the next thing. Most
achievers don't live in the past. You think he gives
a crap about two thousand nineteen or I mean two
thousand nine wins the Super Bowl, like he's trying to
move on. You know, clearly has and they haven't been

(21:21):
able to get over the hump in the last four
or five years with one of the better teams in
the league. Maybe he thinks it, clearly he does that
a mobile quarterback gives them a more dynamic option. The
Drew Brees just as a guy that can't run, and
let's face it, can't really throw the ball down the field.
Maybe this guy gives him a better option. I'd say
no as of right now novemberye recording this, but maybe

(21:42):
next year it does. And all that matters is Sean
Payton believes that. Okay, let's dive into what was probably
the game of the day. Well, I guess Chiefs Raiders
was the game of the day. The second best game
of the day would have been Colts Packers. And I've
used the analogy before. When Philip Rivers is off, they
have like a five million dollar home that doesn't have
any water. Yesterday Philip Rivers was on, when the water

(22:05):
works and you're in a super nice home. The house
is sweet, the Colts infrastructure is awesome. They have a
really good defense, even though it didn't really play very well,
definitely in the first half. They have a ton of
good young players. They have Jonathan Taylor who kind of
came on for the first time. Michael Pittman looks like
he's got a chance to be really good. I know
Frank reich Uh compared him coming out to Vinca Jackson.

(22:29):
I thought that was a little bold, and then he
had the sweet play yesterday. I'm like, yeah, maybe maybe
he's right. They have a really good offensive line, and
if you get good quarterback, play their Super Bowl contender.
Like if if they had Philip Rivers of like two fourteen,
we'd view them like the Chiefs to or the Steelers,
they'd be viewed as one of the best teams in
the league. But instead we view them ask their records
good and they're good, but their quarterback, like, I don't

(22:51):
know what I'm getting week to week now. I think
Philip Rivers to play his best, he's gonna have to
play in a dome, So they're gonna have to win
the division and have home old advantage at least in
the first round, and then you know, I think it's
gonna be very, very difficult for them to win outside
in Pittsburgh or Kansas City with Rivers arm I don't
think it's really possible, but it's clear we know exactly

(23:13):
who they are. They are a quarterback away, whether that's
trading for Sam Donald, whether that's making some offseason trade
from Matt Stafford, whether that's drafting one of the top guys,
trading up and getting them from being a big Boy contender.
But as long as they have Philip Rivers, you have
no clue what you're gonna get week to week, right,
and if their defense is bad, they're not gonna win

(23:34):
most of these games. But Chris Ballard's built an excellent roster.
I get why they paid, or maybe not paid who
else was payan Rivers. I get why Frank they love Rivers,
but it just it is what it is at this point.
He just he probably gives you five six good games
a year, and you hope a couple of those come
in the playoffs. One game yesterday and he was awesome

(23:55):
and they won the game. I also think they've benefited
a lot from this. I had money on the game.
I bet the under because I'm like, well, I think
the Colts have the best defense in the league. I
think the the Colts offense even though the Packers defense
isn't good, it's just gonna struggle to score like twenty
five points. It'll probably the final score would be like

(24:16):
twenty four to seventeen. I thought it would be something
like that. Instead it was fourteen a halftime and the
Colts defense was getting destroyed. And that was the type game.
And I say it all the time. I say the
same thing about Seattle. You can make the playoffs with
a terrible defense in the NFL. Seattle has done it
several years now in a row. Green Bay went to
the Conference championship last year with it. Their defense wasn't terrible,

(24:39):
but a flawed defense. You cannot win the Super Bowl
with a bad defense. It is impossible. Why because yesterday
is a great example. They're up to fourteen in complete control.
If they have a good defense, they cruised that win.
But their defense just is not dynamic enough. They don't
cover well enough. They cluded on stop the run well enough. Now,

(24:59):
obviously their offense made mistakes, they fumbled the ball, but still,
like to me, their defense it's just soft. I know
Colins said yesterday they kind of got hit in the
mouth and they rolled over. I think that's natural. That
happens to teams with shitty defenses. It just is they
give up leads. No lead is safe, no matter how
good your quarterback is. There's nothing you can do. Because

(25:22):
I thought the first half of the game Matt Lafleur
was having one of his finest moments as a head coach.
When that offense is on the play action, the boots,
the naked, the waggles, and then you got a quarterback
like Rogers, you just eviscerate defenses. And the Colts defense
is fantastic. They're just they're like a whenever you've watched

(25:45):
a good fighter, like you're fighting Floyd Mayweather. Even though
he danced around, he's so fast you don't know if
he's coming right, whether he's coming left. He can't knock
you out, but they're running right. Then they play action
to the left, and then they dump it off a
screen to the left, and then they hit a quick
out to the You you to have no clue what's coming.
But eventually, if your offense is gonna stall, you're not
gonna score every drive. If your defense starts giving it

(26:07):
up and up and up, it just it can wear
you down. Having a bad defense in the NFL is
a little bit like having a bad bullpen in baseball.
You kind of know every game you're just gonna hold
on for your ass because at any moment your dbs
can get smoked. You can give up a seven you know,
seventeen play drive where you just kind of get shoved around.

(26:31):
It just it is what it is, and we knew
coming into the season the Packers didn't do much to
to help out their their run defense, which was not
good last year, it's bad this year. You know, their
secondary in theory Jaire Alexander's a really talented player, the
young Savage Jr. Is a really talented player. But by
no means are they some lockdown unit. And then at

(26:52):
the end of the day, the two coordinator positions makes
seven figures for a reason. Your offensive and defensive coordinators
really matter. This is a coaching league. It's also a
talent league. The Packers have talent. They're coaching scheme on
defense is really really questionable. It continues to let them
down in big games. Now. For example, the Chiefs defense

(27:16):
was pretty atrocious on Sunday Night. The differences I've seen
them with that personnel group and that defensive coordinator play
really good defense. You're allowed to have bad nights, You're
allowed to have bad months. The Packers now have been
pretty inconsistent on defense for a while, and I think
it's fair to say that Mike Petton might be the problem.

(27:39):
And I would imagine big picture. Remember they forced Matt Lafleur,
who was a first time head coach, to hire or
keep Mike Petton on the staff. I think it's fair
to say because Matt Laflour has gained a lot of
juice as a play caller, uh, him and Rogers now
have a very good relationship. He will have the the

(28:00):
power within the organization the poll to say if he
wants to, I don't know their relationship, I don't know
the guy to say I don't want this guy on
my staff anymore. I would say that Mike Petton's job
is in major jeopardy. For example, Uberfluce with the Colts.
Remember he was hired by Indianapolis when Josh McDaniels was
going to be the head coach. They had signed him

(28:20):
to a contract before Josh McDaniels had signed the contract,
and then when Josh backed out and they had to
go fire hire a new coach, Frank just inherited him.
But you know what it turns out. I bet Frank
goes Uberflus a sweet Now he had a bad game yesterday.
We're a bad half, but he goes This guy is
really good. I'm lucky to have him. So just because
you inherit someone or the organization forces him on you

(28:42):
isn't a bad thing. Like some coaches are really good.
Douce Staley has been with the Eagles with Chip Kelly,
Doug Peterson, Andy Reid. Now I've been around Deuce. I'll
tell you this. They should force every coach that comes
in to keep do Staley. He is an elite position coach.
There's a reason he stays. He really good. It's not
that complicated. I do think Pattons. Sometimes you force coaches

(29:05):
on young coaches that don't really have the leverage or
juice or hell may not have a name. That's better
then a couple of years later if they become and
grow into their own as a really good coach. And
I think La Fleur I might have been wrong. He
I'm really impressed with him as a play caller, he's
been good. But his defensive coordinator, which I will defend
him on this. It was not his choice. It was

(29:28):
it was basically an ultimatum, you want this job, you
I'll take him. And what was he supposed to do?
Say no, I don't want to be the head coach
of the Green Bay Packers. Mike Pettons probably come down
the home stretch of his Green Bay Packer career. We
talked about it all the time. Every franchise, what's the
cheapest NFL franchise worth? Like the Jaguars would be like
one five. We know the most expensive franchises, the Giants,

(29:51):
the Cowboys, the Niners. I would imagine the Packers and
Steelers would go for a lot. The Patriots. I mean
you're talking anywhere from three to five billion dollars. So,
I mean these are enormous expensive businesses, right, and the
two most important employees for those businesses by far or

(30:12):
your coach. He's probably your most important, but he's not
your highest paid. You could argue the highest the most
important is your quarterback, and he typically if he's good,
is the highest paid. Here's a reality. When you draft
a guy in the top six, you're swinging for a
Pro Bowl, All Star, franchise changing player. And last draft

(30:34):
we had three guys drafted in the top six, Joe
Burrow to a Tongue Baloa and Justin Herbert. So let's
do a little stock watch. On the Three Eyes. Sunday,
we saw one of the most devastating injuries you can see.
Joe Burrow got his leg basically snapped from the side,

(30:54):
and as Schefter reported on Monday morning, it's really bad.
It's not just a clean a c L, it's an
ace c L, an m c L, multiple ligaments like
it's bad. I mean, it's a it's a year long recovery.
Hopefully he's ready for Week one, you know, in his
second season. But it's it's a devastating injury for a
guy that it's just really good. We all acknowledge, right

(31:18):
we saw him at at L s U. We thought, God,
it can't be this easy. Then he got to Cincinnati,
who couldn't be any worse. I mean, their team is atrocious.
Their offensive line is a turnstile that they're They're not
good at all. It's honestly crazy that he didn't get
injured sooner. But it really sucks. I mean, it put
a damper in the weekend, on a weekend that just

(31:40):
in general with everything going on in the country. It
was just it puts into perspective. I mean, we're talking
about a guy. He's gonna be fine. It's not he's
losing his life or anything. But in terms of football
like it's it's it's devastating, a devastating blow for a
franchise that desperately needs him. He is the savior of
that for Chise, because without him, the franchise is a joke.

(32:03):
I mean, it's the hell with them. They were going
to draft in the top five again, but now they're
not gonna win another game, no chance. I mean, I
honestly they might get rolled from here on out. So
stock watch. There is just I would put a little
emergency side next to it. Just hope the guy can
come back full strength. Don't rush it. The problem now
is he doesn't get an off season. Who knows the

(32:23):
way the off season is gonna work, you know, depending
on the vaccines and corona. I'd imagine O t As
won't happen again, but there is. There're gonna be a
lot of pressure on this organization to put the right
pieces around them. There. They're probably gonna be the number
two drafting team in the league. Can they kind of
parlay and flip that number two pick for a team
that wants a quarterback into several players in the multiple

(32:45):
first round picks for years to come. Remember when they
got rid of Carson Palmer, they changed their franchise around
Andy Dalton and they built a really really good team
around him. Well, it's their team is basically the opposite
right now. They're one really sweet asset is Joe Burrow.
And now he's got a torn a c L, a
torn and m c L and messed up a ligament.
So stockwatch emergency. No fault of his own, but it's

(33:07):
a problem. Stock watched down though, would be to a
second game in four weeks that he threw for under
a hundred yards. I was sinking his praises last week.
I thought it looked good. I thought he was getting
rid of the ball quick. I thought he just I was.
I was impressed with with two of last week. This week,
it really doesn't matter what I think. The head coach

(33:28):
benched him. The head coach yanked him, you know why,
because he was terrible. He couldn't push the ball downfield.
I don't know what the weather was in Denver, didn't
look that cold, but Fangio was taken into the wood shed.
They had no offense. Trust me, I had Gasecki on
my draft Kings team and he had nothing because t

(33:49):
was just through for eighty three arts. At one point
I googled, like, what was his box score? He like
sixty yards in the middle of the third quarter. This
isn't and it's never been easier to throw the football.
Like again, it's irrelevant when I think of to his
head coach tells you everything you need to know. He
thought he was terrible yesterday, like embarrassingly bad, pulled him

(34:10):
from Ryan Fitzpatrick, and then Fitzpatrick came in the second
half and flew right by him. In terms of production,
I'm watching that game on the red zone. They keep
flipping over there. Fitzpatrick leads them right down the field
something to it couldn't do. So that that pretty concerning
that you're having to yank because think about this Joe
Burrow before he got injured, and Justin Herbert, who I'm

(34:32):
gonna get into in a minute, their head coaches and
organizations under zero no chance they would think about yanking
their guy. Not be impossible, would not happen. Just it's
just wouldn't they, It wouldn't yank him. They it's even
in floors his mind. Now, I get it. It's a
little different circumstances. Their team was in the playoff hunt

(34:55):
and they're just focused on winning the game, which I understand,
but pretty big indictment when they coach bench is the
guy in his fourth start. Think about that is fourth started.
He got benched in the middle of the game on
the road against a team that didn't have many wins.
Be one thing of like they were just getting their
breaks beat in by the Chiefs or the Steelers or
the Saints or the Box or just some good team.

(35:16):
They're playing the Denver Broncos and they were getting throttled,
and really Tool was getting throttled. They had no offense,
so stock way down and then Justin Herbert, I get
he's playing the Jets. But he's just a star. I mean,
he is an explosive. He's explosive of a pastor as

(35:37):
we see in the last decade as a rookie since
I mean, we didn't see Mahomes as a rookie. Clearly
Mahomes was doing that in practice, but just in terms
of rookie quarterbacks, there the first season. I mean, Luck
was a better player, but he wasn't a more explosive passer.
Now he Here's the one thing if you are like
you know, because I get this sometimes like you're blowing Herbert,

(35:59):
You're putting him in this pedestal. He was given a
pretty easy landing, you know. Strip In terms of talent
around him, Keenan Allen is one of the best wide
receivers in the league. Mike Williams a monster, and Hunter
Henry is really good. They have a lot of talent
to throw to the ball. But just in terms of
eye test, like you just watched the guy. He consistently

(36:21):
pushes the ball down the field. He makes throws on
the run that are just a rope. He threw a
touchdown yesterday to Keenan Allen rolling to his left, Keenan
in the back of the end zone for about twenty
five yards, just an absolute dart. Hit Keenan right in
the numbers. Playing the Jets, but he did what good
quarterbacks do. He destroyed them. He embarrassed them through three touchdowns,

(36:45):
three plush yards. It just looks like what he is
a star and I talked about it earlier. The only
question is now will Dean span Us someone who is
notoriously cheap, someone who lives to save money, uh, even
though he's inherited all his money and doesn't have any
money in rent? Has this star quarterback in Los Angeles,
a star town? Will he go hire a star coach?

(37:07):
Will he go get his pat Riley, his Phil Jackson,
his you know, when the Dodgers hired Joe Tory, will
he take a big swing or will he just p
is Pete Carroll? Or will he just do what he
historically does? Just go hire a coordinator, take the easy
way out. Because if I was him, I already said
Urban Meyer, I'd go I'd go big game hunting because

(37:28):
you already got the most important player who stock goes
up every week. It keeps going up every week. You're like,
this guy can't sustain this, and then he does. You're like, no,
he's gonna have a bad week, and then he balls.
The guy just does what good quarterbacks do. They dominate
every week. His team sucks, so they lose a lot
of games, but it's no fault of his own. I

(37:50):
just hope Dean Spanos and an organization that you know,
tries to cut corners sometimes financially drives a line in
the sand and realizes, you know, we gotta do everything
we can for this guy, because if we do, we
can be in the mix with Mahomes to just consistently
win in this league. If they don't, they'll be where
they've always been, just, you know, make the playoffs one year,

(38:11):
missing a couple of years, make the playoffs one year
while they have a Pro Bowl quarterback. Because we've seen
this song and dance with the Chargers before. I love
a good motivational story, and one story that came out
Monday was how Mike McCarthy got his squad ready for Sunday.
So usually on Saturday night, a head coach addresses the

(38:33):
team in the hotel on the road, and they do
it at home too, if they, you know, stay most
of these teams stay at a hotel before a before
a home game. And I guess that he took several
watermelons and basically acted like he didn't hammer home some
key points throughout the week that he wanted to get
done about making sure that they hit Dalvin Cook and

(38:56):
contained arguably the best running back in the league. And
he whiped out a sledgehammer, and he started destroying watermelons
like he's like thor or something. And I'm a sucker
for those stories. And I think we had some pretty
good moments this weekend with with McCarthy doing that, and
I don't think that's really why they won. Ultimately, they

(39:18):
were coming off a bye. The Vikings defense and the
secondary is not very good. The Cowboys Cedee Lamb is
a stud, Amari Cooper is good, Gallops good. They should
even with Andy Dalton, should be able to throw Zeke
and Tony Pollard. The offense is really loaded and actually
their front seven is not bad. Can they cover anybody?
They couldn't cover Theineland, They couldn't cover Justin Jefferson. I

(39:41):
don't really think they can. But they should play good
run defense and they should score points. It's why going
into this week they should be Washington on Thanksgiving that
that should be a game that they win. And I
think that ultimately they win that game. And you look at,
you know, the Vikings, like you just once you put
yourself in a huge hole. It's hard to rattle off
a bunch of wins when you're a flawed team. Becauld

(40:03):
you watch the Vikings, you go, you know, cousins. They
do have weapons. He can look pretty good cooking even
if he's not running the ball, can catch the ball too.
Eric Hendricks makes a ton of plays, but they're just
They put themselves in a huge hole and it was
just gonna be Their margin for air was nothing, and
they they ran into the Cowboys coming off of By
and it cost him. The other you know thing that

(40:24):
I loved is John Harbaugh and listen, the hard balls
are crazy Jack Harbaugh. Their father raised a couple of
crazy kids. Jim I think is more outwardly crazy. But
I always know people that from Philadelphia that worked with
John Harbaugh before he got the Ravens job, that like, listen,
just because John Harbaugh wears normal clothes and kind of

(40:45):
comes off like a little more normal, don't get that twisted.
He's a madman and he's starting fights with the Tennessee Titans.
He's like trying to act tough to Mike Vrabel, who
listened heart, Jim Harbaugh could probably fight some people with John.
I don't know. I like Vrabel in that fight. Why
are you talking ship to a team? Did whoop your
ass last year in a playoff game? To me, that's

(41:08):
a wasted energy. Is Belichick doing that? Is Andy Reid
doing that? Is Pete Carroll doing that? Even Sean Payton,
who's yeah, Sean Payton might But why is John Harper
doing that? Why is he starting confrontation confrontation with the
Titans before the game? I don't understand it, especially when

(41:28):
his team and I'm not here to kick a dead
horse here his teams and shambles. His quarterback can't really pass.
He actually made a couple of nice passes in that
game to uh to Mark Andrews, but at the end
of the day, like he can't throw it at three
hundred yards. It's two thousand twenty. I need my star
quarterback to be able to throw in the three yard
mark pretty consistently. And went from like, oh my god,

(41:49):
what are they gonna pay Lamar Jackson? Do let's pump
the brakes. I've been saying all the time. We're always
in a rush to like, what's this guy gonna get paid?
What's this guy gonna get paid? What the hell is
the rush to pay anybody? If you have Patrick Mahomes,
I get it. Lamar Jackson's not even Deshaun Watson. He
can't win a playoff game because he can't pass, and
now his teams and shambles. Their whole team has been

(42:10):
built around the run, and they just don't get to
run it down. Everyone's throat. Tell you the team that's
better running the football the Titans, because they just go,
we got one guy. Our schemes not that crazy. We
run outside and inside zone, and we're gonna hand it
to the big back from Alabama. You're gonna stuff him
a lot of the game, but eventually he's gonna wear
your ask down and he's gonna bust a big run
and you're gonna look up there when the dust settles.

(42:31):
He's gonna have a buck twenty, he's gonna have a
buck forty, he's gonna have a buck fifty, and he's
gonna score a couple of touchdowns. And what did he
do against the Ravens. They got the game into overtime,
he had to walk off touchdown Derrick Henry and the
Tennessee Titans owned the Ravens. But back to what I'm saying,
Like I don't mind McCarthy, McCarthy is is motivating his
own team taking the sledge hammer. It sounds a little

(42:53):
cheesey or whatever. But it's just in his own walls,
trying to get his guys to give everything he has
to attempt to win a game game easily. The Cowboys,
i'd say, are one of the more disappointing teams in
recent memory in years, right, So he's kind of desperate.
I don't understand when Harbaugh is a little desperate too.
Why is he picking a fight with the other team.
Why is he going after Malcolm Butler? Why is he

(43:13):
hooting hollering at Mike Vrabel, Like, why are you creating something?
Just focus on your team. I'm not one to like
act like I know more about motivation than John Harbaugh.
John Harbor is a great motivator. That's really what he's
best at because he's not a scheme guy. He's not
the coordinator on either side of the ball, special teams guy.
They have a kicker who doesn't need any work. I mean,

(43:34):
Tucker is like, uh, like Dustin Johnson with a five iron.
He never misses. I mean it's just right down the
right in the middle of the gold post every time.
So what's he really doing? Justin Tucker, he's a motivator.
I didn't like that was a motivational tactic that went
the wrong way, especially you're playing a good team who who,
like I just didn't understand that, and I think that

(43:56):
that backfire. They can say it didn't matter. I'm gonna
call bullshit because I think and I know the Tennessee Titans.
I was reading Albert Briers piece a lot of their
players said it kind of added some motivation right before
the game. What do you think raybel was saying to
that team before they came out, after kind of warm ups,
before they before they took the field for kickoff? Do
you think they were fired up? You think they were

(44:16):
ready to roll. I just sometimes you you know, you
get a little too amped up and it cost you.
And the other thing I've been saying over and over,
I think Doug Peterson's in trouble man. I I just
another game, another just very very ugly. A couple more
interceptions from Carson Wentz. He's he's one of the worst
players in the sport right now at quarterback. That's not

(44:37):
even arguable. We all know it. And he's not going anywhere.
He's under contract, he makes huge money. He's the franchise quarterback,
and they got to get that fixed. Well, it's every week,
we find out Doug Peterson cannot get that fixed. So
if if you put you know yourself and Jeffrey Luris seat,
what would you do? I think it's pretty simple. You

(44:59):
got think about replacing the coach. And I like Doug
Peterson a lot. I'm He's been really really cool to
me over the years, from the moment I met him
until I saw him at the Combine last year. I'm
not I don't think like I'm not rooting for him
to lose his job. But if I put myself in
Jeffrey Luis seat, and just every week, I mean, we
play the Browns, we go to Cleveland, who's a flawed team,

(45:21):
who has a quarterback that struggles throw for two yards,
who all they do is just run the ball. Myles
Garrett has corona or test positive for corona, so he's
not even in the game. Like we can't just win
one game. We have a quarterback who's six five's got
a huge arm. I don't care if it's raining or
sleeting or whatever. He's built the play in that environment.
We get him from the Dakotas, we play in Philadelphia,

(45:42):
and he's just awful. He's god awful. I don't get it.
I'm someone who's been singing his praises at this big
time talent. At the end of the day, like your talent,
eventually you just become a player. Right So he's he's
no longer a talent. He's just the quarterback and his
version of him elf. Right now, Carson Wentz the player
is awful. Whether it's bad practice happens, I don't know.

(46:05):
I haven't asked. I don't even care. I think it's
kind of irrelevant. I'm just judging him on Sunday. Whatever
he's doing on Sunday. It's like he sees guys that
are covered and he still throws it to him. He
has defensive backs right in the hands. I don't get it.
I mean throws it right to him. He's not a rookie.
He's been the league a long time now, he's nine

(46:26):
years He's an older player. If anything, he should hang
his hat on like he's a mature guy. He has
everything under control. I watched him play. Just go. This
guy's just reckless, and there's only one thing you can
do to contain a reckless player. Let's coach him up
and clearly. Right now, the Philadelphia Eagles and Doug is
just lost control of Carson Wentz because Belichick's famous saying

(46:49):
you're either coaching it allowing it to happen, And clearly
the Eagles are allowing this to happen weekend week out,
weekend week out, because it is a absolute bockle right
now for a guy who I thought if you would
ask me three or four years ago, I'm like, this
guy is gonna win m v PS. This guy's gonna
dominate in this league. He dominates no one except the

(47:11):
interception Ledger, which he just every week, one or two
every week. You cannot win the You can win a
game or two throughout the year, like Mahomes has a
game where he throws a couple of picks right, or
even a pick. Last night, they won a game which
he threw a pick which almost cost him right that
game Sunday night, going back and forth, ma Homes throws
the bad pick even though it's not even his fault.

(47:32):
But turnover to kill you. You cannot when you don't
have a when you're not scoring that many points, turn
the ball over multiple times every again, you have no
shot zero And right now the Eagles, they basically have
no shot. Before the game even starts, because you're like, yeah,
he's gonna turn it over. A couple of times, we're screwed,
and they just constantly look up there down in the
fourth quarter, and then he's trying to play hero ball,

(47:54):
and then he usually throws another pick. Just rinse, wash, repeat.
It's crazy. I never thought i'd see it. Not advocating
for Doug to lose his job, but if you if
you think about it from an owner's perspective, it looks
worse every week. So why why would it change this offseason?
I don't I don't see why it would change because
every time I watched him play, it's just an absolute

(48:16):
train wreck. Okay, let's bang out a couple of quick
mail bag questions. Add John Middlecoff Instagram slide up in
those d m s and uh, and leave a little
question for me. I think I might do a big
mail bag on Friday. I'm probably gonna record the podcast
before Thursday, so send me a mail bag question if

(48:39):
you want to answer. I'll do a big section for
the Friday podcast, but you gotta send it to me
in the next you know, twenty four hours, and I'll
probably record it on Wednesday for a little uh for
the Friday Show. I agree Rivers has consistency issues, but
the Colts have beat the Packers and Titans back to
back on our seven and three. Rivers cost the Colts

(48:59):
then was in the Jacks game. But still I said
in the preseason that was a ten win team with
Rivers because even older, he's much better than Brissette. I
tend to agree. Kind of cool how they still use
Jakobe though. Would it surprise you if the Colts made
the a f C Championship. Defense is great and team
is built for colder weather with good defense in the
run game. Thanks love the pod. Well, let's look at

(49:19):
the a f C. I I think you have the
clear too big guns in the Chiefs and the Steelers,
and then you kind of have that next group, which
might just be the Titans and the Colts. I think
the Titans and the Colts could definitely upset, probably not
the Chiefs, but maybe the Steelers if Roethlisberger's off. Now,
if the Chiefs defense is off like it was against

(49:41):
the Raiders, I would say they definitely could be upset.
But how how would the Rivers expose them? Maybe Tanney
Hill and Derrick Henry could, but probably not so. Probably
it'd have to be the Steelers in a low scoring game.
That would be the way they get to the f
C Championship, to go through the Steelers. So basically, if
we look at the playoff format, if it's one through seven,

(50:03):
let's say the Colts finish you know, eleven and five,
win the division and are the three seed. They play
like the Browns or the Raiders in the first round.
Win that game. Then in the second round, let's say
they play the Steelers or the you know, if they
play the Chiefs. Because of the Chiefs of the two seed,
that would be hard. If somehow the Steelers lose a
couple of games and they played them, maybe it's possible.

(50:25):
I think the a f C Championship game would be
a little shocking if it isn't Steelers Chiefs. But who
you know, if the Chiefs get if somehow get the
one seed and the Steelers are the two seed, it's
not a lock that the Steelers would win both games.
But their defense, they're they're good. I'm not trying to
diminish the Steelers at all. It's just harder if you're
the two seed. Even the Chiefs you gotta win multiple

(50:46):
games before you get to the a f C. You know,
back in the day, back in the day, I mean
literally this year earlier in two thow the one and
two seed gotta buy. So think about the Chiefs. They
just won the Super Bowl. They were the two seeds.
You know, they were the two seat to get eleven
and five last year, remember because of the Patriots lost
Week seventeen to the Dolphins. So the page. So the
Chiefs with the two seeds being the two seeds, pretty

(51:09):
big deal. I mean it was. What's the difference this
year with Lamar Jackson compared to last year? Why does
he suck? I think a big reason. He just can't
run wild against everybody. Uh, they're just taking away the
run game and making him pass and he can't do it.
He can't consistently pass. And their team, for just whatever reason,
isn't his potent. I think Ronnie Stanley, when you lose

(51:32):
an elite player, it's one thing to lose a guarter,
a center. When you lose a tackle, that's a problem.
I mean, losing your left tackle is a big deal.
There's a reason left tackles make twenty plus million dollars
a year that they matter. You know that that was
a major, major injury. And I just think Lamar kind
of You know, band aidd some of his flaws last

(51:55):
year because they ran wild, and he ran wild. You
don't get to just run wild every year. The reason
Kyler Murray's kicking everyone's asses because he's throwing the ball.
He also makes some runs right to piggyback on top
of that. But like when I watched Kyler, the reason
he's so dynamic his right arm, his legs are special,

(52:15):
but he kills people throwing the ball, beautiful deep ball,
passer throw strikes. In that game last week when he
was playing Seattle, he just made some big time throws.
It's a throwing league, man, it's not a running league.
If you wanna, you know that stuff works at Navy
and Army. It doesn't work in the pros. Quick question

(52:35):
for the Pod. Your top three or five quarterbacks you
think would have been better careers if not drafted by
the teams they went to. I think Brady Quinn would
have been great elsewhere. Colt McCoy could have been, Kirk
Cousins thinks. Other names that come to mind, David Carr,
Alex Smith, RG, three, Matt Liner. I think Matt Liner
was probably not made for the NFL, really weak arm

(52:57):
and not a great athlete. Rge red his problem wasn't talented,
was just a enormous ego, and he got injured so
that one. If r G three had been healthy, he
would have been a productive player. Alex Smith's career turned
out pretty well, you know, once hardball got there, took
him to an NFC championship, got traded to Andy one

(53:17):
playoff games one every year, like made a pro bowler two.
I think Alex Smith's career has been pretty positive, made
a ton of money besides his leg falling off, and
luckily he's able to battle through it because he's one
of the more mentally tough guys in the history of
the league. But I don't view Alex Smith's career as
like a failure by any means. Um Brady Quinn, I'll

(53:38):
be honest, I don't watch much Notre Dame football, so
I don't have a great feel for remember watching him
against sc But like I was in college drinking, I
don't I wasn't like a scout then. I don't really know,
I would say in recent memory, I listen I'm a

(53:58):
big believer just in life care him always rises. I
I really believe that, Like I think McCoy has a
weak arm, like Kirk Cousins is a much better arm.
Kirk Cousins just throws the ball a lot better than
Colt McCoy. You watch Kirk Cousins throw now, I didn't
used to think this three or four years ago. His
arm is above average. I mean he throws some strikes

(54:18):
to Finland and Justin Jefferson. Now, I wouldn't say he
has like he's not ma Homes or anything, but he's
got a good arm. Kirk Cousins like I, I just
don't think Colt McCoy could have turned into Kirk Cousins.
Maybe Brady Quinn could have. Maybe, but again I struggle.
I didn't watch him that much. Part of quarterback man
a big separating factor is like work ethic, your mind.

(54:40):
You kind of come become your own coach, manipulating defenses.
Like I think most guys that would have had success
have success. I honestly believe that maybe there are a
few you know guys, but I don't know. Like I
think Johnny Manzel would have failed wherever he went. R
G three, but RG three got hurt. Like ur, RG

(55:03):
three didn't fail because he just sucked. He sucked AF three.
He wasn't a dynamic runner. Part of what Maje r
G three special was he was a runner and then
once it kind of he couldn't run, it changed the game.
I love coach Lafleur, I like most of the Mike
let me let me restart. I love coach Lafleur, I

(55:25):
like most didn't love the draft. However, a J. Dillon
in the second round makes more sense when you realize
that both Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are free agents
after this year and back. He already needed to get
paid and the cap going down money is going to
be tight. With that being said, why on earth is
Lafleur not using a two pound running back on fourth
and one at the goal line? Is driving me insane.

(55:47):
I think sometimes coaches one Lafleur doesn't pick the players
the GM does. So there's a chance the floor is
not in love with a J. Dealon. I had a
good buddy in the NFL when they drafted him, and
everyone was shooting on the Packers draft was bro honestly,
and this guy nails every pick. He's you know, I've
talked to him for a decade. He knows the stuff.
He's like, I like that guy. But sometimes, for whatever reason,

(56:11):
you draft a guy and you get him in your building.
You see it all around the league all the time,
and that rookie year, especially this year when there wasn't
training camp, you just kind of get in the doghouse
and you're just not in the rotation. Whether it's a
wide receiver, whether it's a running back, especially with the
head coach and he's a play caller, that guy can
just be out of the loop, and it can be
the opposite, like I see it with Kyle Shannon with

(56:32):
with Brandon IUK like he he was gonna get Brandon
I you involved, but like those are his guys. Maybe
A J. Dillon isn't exactly the floors guy. But like
you said, the thing is, they didn't draft A J.
Dillon just because they love running backs. Those guys are
free agents and they're not gonna play. Pay Aaron Jones
ten million dollars a year. Maybe keep Jamal Adams or

(56:53):
Jamal excuse me, Jamal Williams for cheaper, but Aaron Jones
gonna get paid. Aaron jon is a really good player,
so that I just think that he probably doesn't trust them.
Maybe the guy doesn't know the offense some of these games,
Like I think Matt Lafour views every game, especially against
good teams, Like when you're playing the Colts, it's like,
that's the super Bowl that week, and you don't put
guys in the super Bowl you don't trust In football,

(57:15):
you only play so many games, and when you're a
good team like Green Bay and you're playing against another
playoff team, that game, in the heat of the moment,
feels like the end all be all. It feels like
you're playing for all the marbles. And I think a
lot of it comes down to these offensive coaches. When
they don't trust a player, they just will not put
him in. They will not put him in now. Sometimes

(57:35):
like Jonathan Taylor, for example, on the flip side, the
Colts kind of played him sparingly, then he fumbled and
he kind of got out of the rotation. But it's
pretty clear that Frank and Chris are on the same
page with with Pittman and Jonathan Taylor, like that they're
gonna get those guys involved now. Pittman got hurt, but

(57:56):
like they didn't just throw Taylor to the Wolves, like
they kept using them. And then in the past her
game he started playing a lot. Trust me, I had
on my daily fantasy I had Hines. I'm like, give
behind the ball and they kept giving it to Taylor
and I'm screaming at the TV. But they believe in them,
and I do too. I loved him at Wisconsin for
whatever reason, Like Flora just doesn't believe in the running back.
I don't know why. How come no one is including

(58:19):
Big Ben in the MVP discussion. To me, the Steelers
are go sixteen. No, he has to win it. Yet
everyone is already coordinating Mahomes as the m v P.
To the point in the season, an undefeated regular season
would have meant something for an m v P, wouldn't
it been his two touchdowns five interceptions. He's been really good,
Like I just think he's been fantastic. And one thing

(58:42):
you know is like their offense last year was a joke, right.
They were one of the worst offense in the league.
When Rothsburg got injured, they had no passing game. Mason
and Dobbs and Duck crewde I guess Dobbs would gone
Duck Hodges, this guy stink. So yeah, I mean he
if they go sixteen and oh and he throws thirty,
I've touchdowns, He's gonna have to get some m VP boats.

(59:05):
I wholeheartedly agree. Hi new to the NFL couple of
years in Welcome, was watching Kyler and Ruscoe added on
Thursday and thought, man, this is special to have two
games of this matchup for the next ten years. Has
there ever been a similarly exciting interdivision quarterback matchup before?

(59:28):
Probably not. I mean they're just we're really in the
age the last decade of these running quarterbacks, and really
the last four or five years of a lot of
them coming into the league. Russell has kind of been
an outli or even the last decade, right r G
three came in and um, you know, he got hurt,
he's out. Michael Vick's career just kind of got derailed.
There haven't been that most of the good quarterbacks. Peyton Rogers,

(59:51):
I mean scrambles, but he's not a runner. Uh, Brady Rivers,
Eli Roethlisberger, like for a long period of my time,
from my life the nineties, definitely the two thousand's, it's
a pocket quarterback league. Montana Young f the l way
like those are the type quarterbacks that thrive. And I

(01:00:14):
think it's just changing where we're gonna see more and
more Kyler. So it might be the first of its kind.
I say it all the time. Brady and Manning were
the bird magic of my life, bird of magic. For
people that are older than that eighties, it must have
been special. I I don't. I don't remember it. I
bare I lived through half of it, but I was
so young. Manning and Brady took the NFL to another

(01:00:35):
level and the rivalry was fantastic. I mean, it's the
greatest quarterback ever and probably a top five guy ever.
And they played each other all the time. It was
just it was elite, and it changed the league. And
those two guys helped change the league. But those two guys, like,
you don't see those guys play like that anymore. I
think we're gonna see maybe not Kyler. I mean, Kyler
is one of the greatest athletes ever. Right, he was

(01:00:57):
drafted in baseball number one picking. But for ball he's
five eight. He's a quarterback. Even Russell's five ten. Ironically,
both are baseball players. But I think we're gonna see
more and more and more and more. Trevor Lawrences an athlete,
Justin Fields an athlete. Uh, Trey Lances an athlete. Zack
Wilson's an athlete. You're just gonna start seeing athletes, man,

(01:01:18):
which which is cool. I appreciate everyone listening. Leave uh
fire in my d ms. You want to get read
on Friday show and um enjoy the week, Happy Thanksgiving,
and talk to you soon. See